♪ hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. french authorities have issued a warrant for ghosn. . warrants have been issued for the owner of an auto dealer in to man and others. they have been placed on intel

poll's wanted list. french media say suspicious payments were made when he headed the french automaker. they have implicated ghosn in the payments. he's also accused of misusing the funds to pay for his own wedding reception. he was arrested the japan in 2018. they accused him of misconduct while leading nissan, but he fled to lebanon. they looked into whether to pursue the case. south korea's defense ministry says its military successfully fired ballistic missile this is week. the announcement did not include any details. local media say two missiles were launched on monday. the missiles flew about 400 e sea.ters and hit targets in it's the second time the done

the trihas announced a successful test following one in september last year. the ministry said the success will contribute to the defense capability and expects the missiles to be deployed operationally. a new combat force will be set up to ensure peace on the korean peninsula. it could trigger further denunciations by north korea. an explosion at a mosque in afghanistan has claimed 340 people. the islamic group claimed responsibility for the blast. it left at least 31 dead and 87 wounded. worshippers are believed to be at the mosque for worship. it took place in at least three areas in afghanistan if

community is a religious minority in the country and is often targeted by militant groups including the islamic group. russian president vladimir putin is claiming victory in ukraine's southeast earn port city of mariupol saying it's liberated. but ukrainian troops are fighting back as more than 100,000 civilians are standed in the city. putin says the military will not storm a steel plant that's the last ukrainian strong hold in the area. more than 2,000 ukrainian troops are holding out at the plant. russian forces are demanding them to lay down their weaponed and surrender. pentagon spokesperson john kirby says the united states sees the balt over the city as still contested. mariupol's mayor called for a

quick evacuation of the 100,000 civilians trapped in the city. >> translator: it is important to understand that for the people who are still there, their lyes are in the hand of just one person, putin. >> at lite images show what appear to be a mass grave just outside of mariupol. there are long rows of graves. mariupol's mayor accused the russians of hiding crimes by burying the bodies of civilians. ukrainian leaders are making a plea for more weapons. >> we're in a critical window now where they're going to set the stage for the next phase of this war. united states and our allies and partners are moving as fast as possible to continue to provide ukraine the forces they need. >> the u.s. president promised more military aid of

$800 million including armored vehicles and tactical drones. it would bring u.s. assistance to more than $3 billion. biden also announced more economic aid to keep the ukrainian government running and more sanctions. he said the united states will deny russia the benefits it enjoyed in the past by banning russian ships. european leaders are taking their own stepped. they promised zelenskyy more weapons. german and italian leaders are preparing to send shipments of their own. here in japan, the russian invasion is being criticized in the latest diplomatic report. this diplomatic blue book has been compiled every year since 1957. it says russian's ongoing military invasion of ukraine has brutally undermined the order

built over the last 100 years. it notes, acts to change the status by force should never be tolerated. it says through sanctions coordinated with other countries, japan will let russia know it has to pay a high price. japan and russia have had a dispute over four islands known as the northern territories. russia controls the island. japan claims them. they have had bilateral talks for a peace treaty. but they're not in a position to forecast how future talks will develop. the islands have been illegally occupied by russia. it's an inherent part of japan's territory. the report also refers to china as a major security concern as it maintains close ties with

russia. and the report also refers to north korea. it says the country's repeated launching of variousypes of missiles cannot be tolerated and japan will seek cooperation with the international community for repercussions. japan's main ruling party is calling on the government to require an attack capability to defend the country from missile attacks. lawmakers created a set of proposals for the government's revision of the national security strategy and two other documents. it proposes japan to have the capability to hit back in response to missile attacks. another proposal is to increase japan's defense budget so the country can strengthen its defense capabilities within five

years. they would spend at least 2% of gdp on defense. they plan to revise the national security strategy and documents by the end of the year. intense fighting in eastern ukraine has matd nearly impossible to get medical supplies to those in need, once again putting the lives of victims at risk. we report on a japanese group that's trying to help.

>> she's in tokyo. but for weeks, her heart has been in ukraine. she's a long-time staff member of japan's chernobyl children's fund. over the past 20 years, she helped sick children live normal lives. the group doesn't just send medicine. it also delivers hope to more than 3,000 people who carry physical and emotional scars from the world's worst nuclear disaster. >> translator: the victims faced many struggles but grew up, got married, and had their own children. seeing them have to face hardship again, i have no words. >> this woman is no stranger to hardship. the 22-year-old with spina

bifida is praying for peace from her bed. she tells the japanese group that russian troops have her town surrounded. she's at her wits end. >> translator: people hide in bomb shelters and beg god to keep them alive till daybreak. >> weeks later, she got an update. she escaped but had to leave her family behind. others remain trapped. this woman tells sasaki that she lived in constant fear on growing attacks that cut off supplies for do nesk. this woman was diagnosed with cancer as a child. >> translator: there are no doctors here who can give me treatment. my blood pressure is rising because i'm scared of the

bombings. >> they turn hospitals into empty shells. she's worried she'll lose it and soon. so she turned to a swedish nonprofit group that's getting money into ukraine. >> i think for all our friends, the two organizations are trying to cooperate for the sake because two strong organizations with strong hearts can move a mountain. >> sasaki has a message for the people who seem to be suffering the most. >> translator: i want them not to lose hope. i want them to confirm the safety of everyone we've reported. we'll find a way to help them again. >> nhk world-tokyo.

people here in japan are finding creative ways to show their support for ukraine and raise funds. the traditional japanese good luck charms but with a unique design the one of them. they are making traditional dolls painted in the colors of the ukrainian flag instead of the usual red. this character meaning to pray is also win on the body of the doll. they cost about $13 each. all proceeds will be donated to the ukrainian embassy. >> translator: i hope these dolls will demonstrate that we

are thinking of the people in ukraine. ♪ here in tokyo, an orchestra has composed the music of ukraine. the symphony orchestra added prayer for the ukraine to its program list on thursday. about 1,300 people attended the concert, including ukraine's ambassador to japan. >> representing portland ukrainians in those difficult times to be present in cultural life of tokyo, japan, through such a good home.

the orchestra says some of the money from ticket sales will be donated to ukraine. moving now to the weather. people here in tokyo went through a mixed weather pattern this week. on friday, we saw summer-like conditions. >> hello. in on tokyo, we saw crystal clear skies and warm conditions. the temperature rose to 26 degrees making it more like mid-june. the high rose to about 30 degrees in kiryo. that's pulling ample warm air from the south p. the t-shirt weather will continue into saturday in tokyo. the daytime high could be 27. temperatures could be warned up into next week.

the cherry blossom season, which was the earliest on record and ten days earlier than average. there have been nearly ten active large fires in the southern areas of the united states. the worst conditions are happening in and around arizona take a look at this video. a fire known as the tunnel fire broke out and has burned over 8 thou acres in part of arizona this week. the wind-driven blaze forced thousands of people to evacuate. a commander working on the fires said it was the worst condition he has seen in 50 years of fire fighting. an extreme critical risk is in place, which is the highest category for the fire in and around the south and denver area. any fire could spread rapidly. meanwhile, late season snow will

pound the mountains in california and we have a blizzard warning in place around montana. quite cold in the north, 5 in winnipeg and rainy weather in los angeles. hot weather along the eastern seaboard. finally, over australia, they will continue to see wet weather and scorching hot conditions on saturday. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪

♪ and that's all for now on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is news line biz with ramin mellegard.

so stay right there. ♪ this is news line biz. now, the chair of the u.s. federal reserve has indicated the u.s. bank's intent to double the interest rate to curve inoperation. an increase of half a point will be considered when officials meet next month. >> so inflation is much higher now, and our policy rate is still more accommodative than it

was then, so it is appropriate in my view to move a little more quickly. we'll make the decisions meeting by meeting. >> the fed switched his policy to monetary tightening in march. it raised the key interest rate by a quarter of a point. that was partly due to the effect of russian's invasion of ukraine. in the fed's main meeting, there's also a possibility that policy makers will decide to pursue what's called quantity tif tightening. that means they will reduce to central bank's holding of government bonds and other assets. the value of the dollar has been rising against the yen as the gap widens between u.s. and japanese interest rates. this is on the back of the two countries taking two different directions on their monetary

policies. they have agreed to maintain close communication on currency movements. suzuki said they discussed the recent magnitude of japan's currency against the dollar. >> translator: we confirm the japanese and u.s. monetary authorities will communicate closely on currency movements while maintaining agreements that were reached nd past among g 7 and g 20 members. >> he said he also discussed sanctions on russian with yellen. he said they will continue to steadily carry these out in coordination with other g 7 members. japan's consumer prices in march rose at the fastest pace in over two years.

soaring crude oil prices were the main factor. the internal affairs ministry says the consumer price index jumped 0.8%. that was up for the seventh straight month and marked the fastest year on year rise since january 2020. motorists paid nearly 20% more in march than a year over. electricity bills jumped 22%. energy prices were more than 20% higher. the biggest increase in january 1981 when the prices soared. shoppers paid 2% more for food. the biggest increase in three months. the price of beef rose due to the yen's weakness. mobile phone charges bumped over 50% because carriers offered new

plans. without these price reductions, the march cpi would have likely topped 2%. the officials expect stronger inflation ahead. they say they impact global prices triggered by russia's invasion of ukraine will probably linger into april and beyond. japan to auction off national reserve in addition to stabilize prices and curve oil prices. it's part of 50 million barrels to be released. about 4.8 million barrels of oil are expected to be released from three storage bases around the country. japan's trade ministry says the amount equates to about two days worth of domestic consumption. the release from the national reserve will be the first since japan introduced the scheme in

1978. the oil will be available to the winning bidder on june 20th or later. as the japanese government has devised a new strategy for artificial intelligence. it considers the two fields important to both the country's economic security and disaster management. the strategies for the development of the first domestically produced quantum computer. the government aims to speed up the masked dopg of quantum technology. it will use ai to predict the scale of damage in core infrastructure as well as how long will be needed to get them up and running again. let's take a look at what's

coming up in the week ahead. now, we'll start with the japanese central bank's policy decision and a u.s. tech giant's earning results. thursday is decision day for the bank of japan. policy makers are expected to stay the course with their long-running monetary easing program. it differs from other banks which have been shifted to rate hiebs. the yen hit its lowest level against the dollar in two decades. the gap widens between the lewis monetary policy and the fed's tightening in the u.s. they ramped up importd inflation pressures in japan and oil costs as well as supply snags in the wake of the ukraine crisis. now, what that all means is that boj governor will inevitably come under the spotlight. now, in the u.s., the same day we'll see apple announce its

financial results for the january to march period. it booked a record net profit in the last three months of 2021. up 20% from a year earlier. withchina's so-called zero-covid policy putting the supply chain at risk, how that affects apple's sales is sure to attract user attention. now, the world's number one currency block will report on their economic growth later in the week. officials of the u.s. commerce department will release on thursday an advanced estimate of gdp growth. 2021 exceeded economists' expectations, but the u.s. economy is experiencing record inflation due to supply chain disruption and labor shortages. it's expected to slow this year

as monetary policy continues to tighten. the next day, the european's office will also release an estimate for the january to march quarter. in the final three months of 2021, it grew 0.3% compared to the previous quarter. it returned to the previous level. output contractions in germany and austria were offset by strong growth in countries including spain, france, and italy as it showed resilience to the impact of the pandemic. china's national statistics for april on saturday. march pmi stood at 7/10 from the month before. it separated growth from

contraction for the first time in five months. the officials say a spike in coronavirus cases forced some factories to suspend operations or reduce output. they say they saw a drop for exports, higher material costs worldwide were another factor behind the decline. let's get a check on the markets.

that's it for news line biz from tokyo. i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very m÷÷ñ■ñ■ñ■ñ■ñ■ñ■ñx

♪ host: john fore-check on top stories, a ukrainian commander has issued an urgent call for heavy weapons as the russian military tries to take the city of mariupol'. tens of thousands of people remain trapped there. ukrainian resident volodymyr zelenskyy says forces defending variable need -- variable -- mariupol need support.