welcome back to "nhk newsline." we begin with the submmmit the white house. the united states is pledging $150 million to help southeast

asian leaders bolster their infrastructure, security, and public health efforts. it is aimed at countering the influence of china. president joe biden made the announcement to open the two-day u.s. asean special summit at the white house. it is their first meeting hosted by a u.s. president since 2016. with china's increasing pressure on taiwan in mind, the biden administration wants to seek stronger relationships with the countries. billion over three years to asean nations for coronavirus measures and economic development. the leaders are also likely to discuss the planned launch of the indo-pacific economic framework. it is meant to set regional standards for trade cooperation. white house officials expect many leaders will sign on. >> there is substantial interest in participating across southeast asia. i think there are a lot of questions. >> experts say biden wants to use the summit to show that his country is committed to the indo-pacific region.

the president will also visit japan and south korea over the next two weeks. sri lanka's president has appointed a political veteran as the new prime minister to help stabilize the nation. this will be his sixth time in the role, replacing the president's brother who resigned after his supporters attacked peaceful protesters, prompting a wave of deadly violence. disappointment has done little to calm a frustrated president. they're demanding the president step down. his oppositionuestioned if the new prime minister's loyalty stands with the sri lankan people. >> translator: he is always a savior, taking power for their protection.

in the same way, they're protectors of the new prime minister. that is what we have seen in the la 2 1/2 years. >> sri lanka is struggling with a debt crisis. for months, its people have struggled through rolling blackouts and shortages of food and medicine. soldiers have been sent out across the country with orders to shoot any protesters who become violent. young people are paying a price in ukraine. 260 children have died since the invasion. and there are new reports of attacks involving schools. the latest was in the north region region of chernihiv. russians killing two people and

wounding 12. an attack on a school killed about 60 people. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy saying russian's commander ordering attacks on schools is sick. officials with unicef, the u.n. verified nearly 100 deaths of children fighting in this past month. the true total is considerably higher. the invasion is having a severe impact on education. ambassador from western countries have criticized russia over the deaths. russia's u.n. ambassador says forces are making every effort to protect children. he claims schools are under attack from ukrainian

as finland and sweden say they're preparing to join nato, they're facing tough words from moscow. without providing details, russia has vowed to retaliate against the nordic countries. finland shares a 1,300 kilometer border with russia and has chosen to stay neutral since world war ii. but public support for joining the alliance has grown amid russia's invasion of ukraine. finland's foreign minister says his country plans to officially file an application to join the alliance as early as next week. >> parliament comes to the conclusion, we'll send an application mid next week, then we shall do it. sweden is planning to take similar steps and almost in a similar timetable. >> russia's foreign ministry says finland joining nato would damage relations with moscow. it says the expansion of the alliance threatens stability and security in the north european region.

for more on nato's potential new members, nhk world spoke to an international relations expert at the university of tsukuba. >> this would never happen if russia didn't invade. if russia thinks it'd stabilize security, it is their own fault. >> reporter: for decades, finland has maintained a no alignment, but russia's invasion of ukraine appears to have prompted a change of heart. finland's public broadcaster says latest opinion polling shows 76% of people support joining nato. the attack on ukraine by finland's neighbor, russia, has left few alternatives, according to higashino.

>> in order to protectinland's serity, economy, ecetera and et cetera, finland had no choice other than joining nato. >> reporter: sweden, ao a close ally, also wants to join up. it provides guarantees. the partnership makes sense. >> i would say finland and sweden are already quasi-nato members. they were close the past several years. nato only could strengthen their own security. >> reporter: moscow is threatening retaliation. it is unclear if it'll attack before the memberships are finalized.

that could take up to a year. >> but i would say that russia would be very, very cautious to attack any of these countries befo they are official. >> reporter: western countries are taking preemptive steps. on wednesday, the uk signed new security deals with finland and sweden to offer military support in case of an attack. >> our armed forces will train, operate, and exercise together, marrying our defense and security capabilities and formalizing a pledge that we will always come to one another's aid. >> reporter: other neutral countries have debated joining nato, but finland and sweden are the closest to making this happen. the latest is nato's door remains open. >> the case that finland and sweden proposed, even neutral country can change their mind and could join nato.

>> reporter: another blow to russia, whose invasion of ukraine was launched, in part, to keep nato's borders in check. nhk world. people in beijing that the capital will fall into a massive zero covid lockdown. city officials urged people to spend the weekend at home. earlier kanako makita naoki.

>> our living space is growing smaller and smaller. if you want to go to any public space, you need a negative pcr test taken 48 hours. for me, it is six tests in ten days. there are really few places to go. some districts are deserted and indoor dining been banned. many are being told to go to the office. if they are allowed to, they can work from home and hoping restrictions to ease and enough to make ends meet. >> my wages are lower than usual. i hope the outbreak is contained soon. it is depressing staying in my room everyday. >> it feels to me like beijing is back to the beginning of the

pandemic. where the government is just as cautious when the first cases were reported in wuhan. >> it sounds some businesses are struggling. how is it going to affect the economy? >> that's what many are worried about. the supply chain disruption are a big issue. i spoke with an economist, allowing 3% in the second quarter. well below the government's target. that's bad news for china and its partner abroad. foreign companies are getting more anxious of china's economic future. this sentiment will push them to scale back. >> if things are that series, why are we seeing a softening of

the zero tolerance approach. >> it is all politico. china says this policy is doing what it is supposed to do, saving lives and ensuring fewer people getting sick. >> health experts disagreed. >> president xi jinping can afford to back the country's taliban rulers have ordered women to cover their faces when they go out in public. the ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice said women must wear a hijab and

it also caution women leaving home without security. >> they're returning to their crude way of the past. our thoughts are with the women of afghanistan who are now facing the hardest restrictions. >> u.n. ambassador ant know gutierrez tweeted. i once again urge the taliban to keep their promises to afghan women and girls. european council president

michel, he made a comment while visiting the atom he a panoramic visual presentation of how the bombing instantly devastated the city in 1945. michel's visit he to, he told reporters we have rules on arms control and we must protect them and strengthen them to secure peace and it is time now for world

weather. our meteorologist sayaka mori has the although the rainy season hasn't started for the main islands of japan, we are seeing days of rainy weather for parts of central and western japan. heavy rain is pounding parts of the west at this moment. we saw about 170 millimeters of rain in 24 hours in kochi prefecture. that's the record for the month of may. we have a stationary front along with a couple low pressure systems. these storms are affecting the pacific side and parts of the country. as the system moves into the tokyo area, tokyo could see heavy rainfall on saturday morning along with strong winds. then as we go into the next 24 hours, we could be seeing up to 200 millimeters of rain for the tokai region. rain could move away the next 24

hours. for tokyo, rain should ease in the afternoon hours on saturday. take advantage of the dry conditions because we could see a return of rain on sunday afternoon and also monday. take a look at the temperature. tokyo's high could be 27 on saturday. it is going to be humid. as we go into sunday, it is going to cool down, and as we go into monday, it'll be in the teens. as you can see, tokyo could be cooler than sapporo. sapporo could see a high of 22 on monday with sunny conditions. meanwhile, a heat dome is anketing many places of pakistan as well as northern india. the high could rise to 50 degrees in pakistan, and the heat could continue into the weekend. keep hydrated. excessively high temperatures can be found across the eastern portions of the united states. the high was 35 in chicago which is 15 degrees higher than normal for this time of year. opposed to the east, it is cooler across the pacific northwest. it'll stay in the teens in vancouver as well as seattle. it could get to the 30 degree

mark again in chicago as well as montreal on friday. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪ that wraps up this edition

of nhk "newsline." thanks very much for joining us. this has newsline biz, gene otani.

the president of eneos holding says the las shipment arrives in april. it will horticulture import from russia. they currently account for 4% of the company's total imports. prime minister fumio announced japan will ban import with russia and with other groups of the seven nations. siemens following the invasion, businessn russi but itn new continue rail ca and mainnance on other activities.

zi siemen has 3,000 employees in the country. the company is evaluating the i am impact on its employees and we'll continue to support them. >> the government mishandling the construction order. the land ministry -- $39 billion annual over an eight year period. the data is japan's gross domestic product. the ministry collects nationwide on monthly orders. they are used to track industry trends. the minuistry double countedhe number for years. the panel examines, some of the sheets for the previous years

had been discarded. the data on construction orders may have inflated statistics by up to around 0.6%. experts police chief it is impact on the country's gdp figure is late. >> receiver countries are testing to move parcels in a lodgistic center. they experience a surge of order while struggling to hire enough workers. >> the process began, the data is transmitted to the robot. they add to the location and move the items. the robots can handle various sizes of items without humans support. warehouse staff can easily set their roots. >> we are thrilled to help customers with this new type of

robots. we have so much to offer bringing from imagery and cameras and remote control technologies. >> the firm decides whether to put robots into practical use after testing is completed. groups representing japan's travel industry is allowing foreign tourists back into the country as soon as possible. the coronavirus pandemic prompting authorities to bar entry for legal stay. >> the japan hello he will association and major airlines. they point out in the document that japan is one of the few countries in the world still close to tourists. with such strict measures drag on. travelers will no longer think

japan is a place they need to visit. >> it will be crucial for japan achieving a quick economic recovery. the level to be lower. >> we believe the weaker yen will help tourism industry and we see this as a business tail wind. this should be a great opportunity for the government to bring tourists back to japan. >> japanese government is considering a lot of foreign travelers in phases starting in june at the earlierest. that'll be only after careful assessing the coronavirus situation in japan and abroad. >> ♪

let's take a look at what's happening the week ahead. we have a wrath of key numbers shed some light on how the world's biggest economy had been performing. the government's strict zero covid policy is putting the brakes on the economy. that gives you an idea of how lockdown with affecting consumer behavior. industrial production grew 5% in march from a year earlier. now it is down 2.5%. beijing reiterated the need to maintain its zero covid policy earlier this month concerns about further disruptions to global supply chains are

mounting on the sluggish economic activities in china. >> the zero zone, the readings and dedicated growth of 0.2% from the previous three months. the block economy had been hampered by rising prices. inflation remaining at a record high in april. the u.s. commerce department will release the numbers for april retail sales. it marks 0.5% from the previous months. increases and u.s. can see the price is slowed in april. >> inflation remains a near 4 decades high, making shoppers careful on how they'll spend your money. >> on wednesday, we'll find out what state the japan economy is going through. many analysts believe the number

will paint a gloomy picture. >> institutes all estimate of the economy shrinking. projections ranged from minus 0 0.2% to 6.4%. there is no consumption, it casts for more than half the nation's gdp. >> inflation jumps 0.8% from a year earlier. that was for the seventh straight month. the impact of higher oil and draw materials crisis will be reflected in the numbers for april and beyond. >> that could bring inflation close to the bank of japan target of 2%. >> april's figures are likely to push t central bank to cut

back on their monetary policy. >> maker noticed at the april meeting that pri rising is not accompanied by higher wages or demand. all right, let's have a look at the markets.

from the newsline biz team from

>> it is a ski resort like no other. a fault line between nuclear rivals india and pakistan. >> we do not want to fight. we do not want trouble with any country. we just want to walk on the mountain. >> the women are among those feeling the freedom of the mountains. >> [speaking foreign language] ♪ >>