glad to have you with us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the latest from tokyo at this hour. u.s. president joe biden has arrived in south korea, the first stop in his five-day asian tour. it's his first visit since he took office last year. the visit comes at a pivotal

time. a pivotal moment, rather. biden will hold a summit with the new president of south korea. they will discuss north korea's missile and nuclear program. he will go to tokyo and then join a summit of "the quad." they want to develop infrasucture and technology in the region. biden is expected to announce the launch of a program. chinese leaders have questioned the motive. foreign ministry spokesperson said the development of relations between the u.s. and japan should not harm the interests of third parties. north korea has surpassed 2 million suspected cases of covid-19. it came just over a week avenue

the country confirmedity first case of the coronavirus. the ruling workers party newspaper says about pa quarta of a million people have been developing fever symptoms each day. so far, they have announced 65 deaths. as pyongyang grapples with the pandemic, kim jong un is in mourning for a general who helped the north korean leader on military matters. the paper reports kim will preside over a state funeral for the 87-year-old officer. his death on thursday appears to be unrelated to north korea's ongoing fever outbreak. taiwan has amended a law to penalize economicspionage lawmaks changed the national security act on friday. it now bans the act of

unlawfully on technology. experts expect taiwan's world-leading chep tech will be included. investigative authorities last year dealt request with 26 ca believed to be linked to chinese. russia is pushing forward with its eastern offensive as more ukrainian soldiers surrender in the southeastern

city of mariupol. but what moscow characterizes as liberation, ukraine is calling a bombardment that's made living in donbas a living hell. russian defense officials declare more wins by the day. the latest they say wiped out a weapons cache. the ukrainian president describes the assault another way. volodymyr zelenskyy says it's an attempt to kill as many people as possible. moscow remains on the edge of taking ful control of mariupol after the fall of the azovstal steel plant. the british defense experts paint a different picture. russian military lead ares remain aggravated by early setbacks and are firing commanders. fear of reprimands could distract officer from their

duties. it's been more than a month since russia pulled out of kyiv and people are rebuilding. many who fled are returning home. families are once again enjoying this park in the city's center. >> translator: i hope everything will stay safe like this. i don't want missiles flying over my head. >> during the worse of the fighting, people used wooden planks to escape across this damaged bridge. the city has decided to preserve it as a symbol of ukrainian resilience. japan's prime minister has agreed with the international nuclear watchdog to work together to ensure the safety of ukraine's power plants. kishida made the pledge on friday when he met rafael grossi. >> translator: japan highly appreciates the iaea's efforts to ensure the safety of nuclear facilities in ukraine.

>> the fact that we have conventional war, troops on the ground, in a country with such a vast nuclear infrastructure is posing extremely high challenges. >> grossi said ensuring the safety of workers at the plant is vital -- iaea chef plans to visit ukraine's largest plant. it's been occupied by russian forces and suffered a fire at a training facility in march. and as russian invasion raises the threat of nuclear war, officials are gearing up for the first funuclear ban treaty. earlier, ross mihara spoke with someone to get her analysis.

>> how significant is this meeting right now? >> so the meeting is definitely timely. and the risk of nuclear attack is the highest since the cold war. we've also seen politicians pushing the importance of possessing nuclear weapons for deterrence, and that runs counter to what the ban is trying to accomplish. i spoke to a campaigner who was very involved in adopting the treaty. akira has devoted most of his life to sharing the stories of atomic bomb survivors. he says the meeting is a chance to wake up the word, especially right now. from so when you come back to the basics, nuclear weapons are so inhumane and unseacceptable means of warfare for any reason. so we need to recall that reality and dismiss those kind

of provocative remarks by politicians for nuclear arment. >> others are raising questions about how meaningful the meeting will be at all. none of the countries that possess nuclear armed weapons will be in vienna. and others like japan that rely on the nuclear umbrella for deterrence will also be absent. >> so who will be there, and what do you think the key take aways will be in. >> well, we don't mknow what peace on twhat's on the agenda yet. we also know japan pie's surviv or hibakusha, will be in the meeting as well.

last week i spoke to someone who will be a representative. this is one of them. her group organizes events to share the stories of hibakusha. she plans to meet diplomat and other officials and hopes to come home with new ways to help. >> translator: i want the world to know that the treaty is not an idealistic thing, and it is important. that's why i want to learn the process behind international meetings. so i can help build momentum towards nuclear disarmament. >> she also wants the japanese government to play a bigger role as the only incumbecountry to h

suffered from nuclear attack. three women have been selected to be the first female referees for the men's world cup. they include one from japan. soccer's world governing body fifa said on thursday the three will officiate at the games in qata the event will be held from november 21st to december 18th. nhk spoke to one of them online friday. >> translator: to be honest, my first feeling was surprise. then, i was filled with joy, and i began to feel happy and

grateful. >> he wshe was a referee at the tokyo olympics last year and became the first to referee in the j-league last year and the asian champions last month. she says the women deserve to be at the fifa world cup because they constantly perform at a high level, and that's the important factor. next, wakame seaweed has played an important role in japanese cuisine for thousands of years, from koocooking to she offerings. nhk reports from tokushima prefecture, which someone of japan's hubs for wakame farming. >> reporter: in february, two seaweed companies embarked on an innovative new business partnership. the japanese company was established 45 years ago. it

farms, processes and sells wakame in japan and abroad. hiroki, the company's president, has been exploring opportunities overseas. >> translator: domestic consumption a sal are most important, but that will not secure the future of the wakame industry in japan. >> reporter: seaweed is not often associated with french cuisine, but, in recent decades, it's been in growing demand, fueled bit populari fueled by the popularity of japanese cuisine and growing shift toward healthy eating. this company in france has been farming and processing wakame for about ten years. but they have struggled to gaush guarantee the quality of its wakame, in terms of salt levels and the appropriate texture. godo heard about these

challenges and came up with the idea of exporting their processing techniques to help fren the french. it enables the french company to maximize the seaweed's umami flavor. the french company is now using three specialist japanese processing techniques to make and sell wakame locally. godo's company obtained a high sensing fee and obtains a portions of the sale of the wakame. they frequently meet online. he hopes to visit france twice a year to provide quality instruction. >> translator: through this partnership, we would like to learn effective processing methods for wakame in order to

increase consumption. we would like to show that even ma small enterprises can do this kind of business if they put in the time. >> reporter: it's a move that paves the way for a continuous rise in the popularity of seaweed around the world. and, at the same time, ensures its quality. miyazaki, nhk world. moving now to the weather, some residents of northeastern india are seeinged intoes cover their region. >> hello, wove a been monitoring the south perswestern flow. and we saw heavy rainfall that led to flooding in the northwestern portions of the country. here's a look at the video.

floods have displaced over 500,000 people. so far, over 760 millimeters have rain have been recorded this week alone. and some locals were seen taking refuge in a school building. one of the largest rivers burst its banks. this isn't even related to the southwest monsoon. we are looking at rain and thunderstorms for the eastern areas of india, spreading over into southeast asia as we go throughout the day on saturday, but also hot toward the north. new delhi, 40 with thunderstorms coming up on saturday. speaking of heat, we're seeing some of it across the eastern areas of asia. as high pressure dominates the pattern. some places hilike mongolia, te

degrees above average. in the process, we're expecting a little more than average in tokyo. then weel warm up to the mid-20s on monday in beijing. it was a calmer pattern across the central areas of europe, but we have a system coming onshore in the west as the low pressure moves in, looking at the possibility of seeing thunderstorms along with this. be prepared for that. the heat, though, down toward the south, that is going to be this place for a little bit longer with highs in the 30s in pleas places la places like madrid and lisbon. hope you have a good day wherever you are.

and that conclusd this edition of nhk "newsline." coming up next is "newsline" biz with ramin mellegard. so stay right there.

this is "newsline" biz, i'm ramo ramin mellegard. japan's inflation was one of the biggest in 13 years. the main factor was the soaring price of crude oil. the internal affairs ministry says the consumer price index excluding fresh food jumped

2.1%. it was up for the eighth straight month. japan has set an inflation target of 2%. april's increase is the biggest since october of 2008. now bank of japan officials warn that current price rises represent cost push style inflation. boj governo has indicated that pric hikes could wei on household income and corporate earnings. he says the central bank will continue massive easing measures to support the country's economy. and to find out what's behind the change and what the future holds, we spoke with a senior economist. now we asked what impact inflation is having on the japanese economy.

>> translator: consumer spending in the country is not strong, so companies have refrained from raising their prices. there's an increasing number of firms in the food industry can no longer hold off and are of mooing to pass on the increased cost of raw materials to consumers. i expect the cpi exceptingresh food will be around 2% this year. >> reporter: but he says it's actually a very difficult balancing act this terms of cost pass through. >> translator: due to weak consumer spending, there are worries that companies could see a drop in sales if they raise prices. they might shoulder the extra costs themselves. but, if they do this, their revenues could take a hit. on the other hand, if more companies pass along cost increases, prices will go up, which could have a negative

impact on the thinking of consumers. >> reporter: she he thinks the current inflation style is not ideal. >> translator: when we look at the 2.1% cpi figure closely, about 2% of it is led by energy and food. this is not acceptable. usually inflation follows wage increases and consumption increase. but wages haven't risen much in japan. meanwhile, in the u.s., the ratio of wage hikes is very high. this strong ratio leads to higher prices. the present inflation in japan is far from being positive inflation. >> reporter: in light of the ongoing conflict in ukraine and the todownward pressure against the yen it is difficult to

predict. the international monetary fund projects that japan will continue to recover this year. >> the high-risk elements we saw relevant for japan were extended global supply chain disruption, and we see that for manucturing in japan. of course continuing potential for further waves of covid. >> imf economist sell gau dough shared the analysis. the imf forecasts japan's economic growth their yeis year 2.4%. he says they are taking appropriate measures to bolster the economy but that after the economy recover it is will be important to continue efforts to boost fiscal reconstruction.

alliance auto makers nissan and mitsubishi have unveiled the many hi mini electric vehicles they will but the put on the japanese market this summer. >> translator: these mini evs form the new generation that will help realize a carbon neutral society. >> they can both run 180 kilometers on a single charge, which is below the average. many compact car owners travel less than 50 kilometers per day. the shorter range allows for a smaller battery, bringing down the overall price.

after government subsidies, the models will be about $14,000. many vehicles account for roughly 40% of new car sales in suzuki and daihatsu are also planning to release ev renault introduced a car that has the same battery that powers electric cars at a green event on thursday. the auto maker says the combination of the battery and fuel cell enables a longer drive range. hydrogen is expected to be the front runner for next generation clean technology. the concept car is part of its vision for cars beyond 2030. an electric-only version will go on sale in 2024.

bmw is developing a fuel cell suv and volvo has announced plans to produce trucks powered by a fuel cell. in japan, toyota already sells a fuel cell car. it's developing cars with an eye toward hydrogen instead of gasoline. now china's move is aimed at revitalizing the real estate market. the people's bank of china lowered the five-year prime rate to 4.45% on friday. the world's second biggest economy has been hit hard by coronavirus lockdowns in shanghai and other cities. investment in property development fell from a year earlier. beijing apparently hopes that

cutting the five-year rate will energize the market and infrastructure investment. mean while, the central bank kept the one-year loan prime rate unchanged. had with the yuan rapidly weakening against the dollar, the bank needs to prevent capital outflow and a further rise in yes, ma'mport costs. u.s. fast food chain mcdonald's says it has reach add deal to sell alli its fast food chains in russia. the company hasn't revealed how much was paid but it expects to get the approval of russian authorities and complete the deal within weeks. the announcement on thursday came only three days after mcdonald's said it would withdraw from the russian market. in march the company shuttered its restaurants across the

country. the first mcdonald's in russia opened opened in 1990 as the soviet union was coming to a close and immediately won over local consumers. okay, let's get a check on the markets.

that's it for "newsline" biz from tokyo. i'm ramin mellegard, thank you very much for watching. acxñññññw o

2023. ♪ host: this is al jazeera, theories of the top stories. the u.s. as it is confident finland and sweden will be accepted into nato. turkey's objected to their joining using the countries harboring -- accusing the countries of harboring terrorists. russian's defense ministry is released footage of hundreds of ukrainian fighters surrendering at eight mariupol'steel plant. at the troops have been taken to up former prison complex in eight russian-controlled territory.