he lllo and welcome to "nhk newsline," we begin in singapore, where a security forum known as the shangri-la dialog will open. the summit will include a session addressing the common defense challenges countries in europe and the asia pacific region face. the conference will take place over three days. it follows a two-year hiatus due

to the pandemic. taiwan and the south china sea are likely to be on the agenda. the south pacific region will also likely be discussed. both united states and china have been stepping up their engagement there. participants will likely take up the invasion of ukraine as well as north korea, which has recently launched a series of ballistic missiles. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is scheduled to give an online address on saturday.

y now, to eastern ukraine where two british citizens and a moroccan captured by pro-russian forces have been sentenced to death. they were accused of illegally fighting on behalf of ukraine's government as mercenaries. russia's news agencyays the two british nationals were captured in mariupol in the donetsk region in mid april. the moroccan was caught in donetsk back in march. >> they were judging the circumstances in which i helped the situation, all because i surrendered to the donetsk people's republic. >> the court is not internationally recognized. ukraine and western governments have condemned the decision. in a tweet, britain's foreign secretary called the ruling a sham judgment with no legitimacy. a spokesperson for prime minister boris johnson said the fighters should be protected from prosecution under the geneva convention. the court drama comes as intense fighting continues in severodonetsk. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says the battle to maintainontrol of the luhansk region remains a stalemate. ukrainian's defense minister says they need to keep up with firepower.

he says the ukrainian people cannot afford to keep losing sons and daughters to the fighting. a ukrainian university says it has figured out the financial toll taken by the russian invasion. the school of economics estimates that the damage done to ukrainian infrastructure has reached over $100 billion. the report says nearly $40 billion in damage has been done to residential buildings alone. it also says schools and medical facilities are increasingly being caught in the crossfire. a ukrainian soldier captured by russia is revealing to nhk what it was like being a prisoner, and he is asking people to do more to help those still held captive.

>> reporter: this 25-year-old was wounded while battling in mariupol in april. >> translator: the tanks were fired in my direction, and the building started collapsing. i fell from the third floor. i was hit by things falling, i was pinned by concrete slab. >> reporter: he suffered a concussion and broke his pelvis, jaw, and nose. hlib was brought to a russian-controlled city, and that's when he realized he was now a prisoner. >> translator: they did not give me any painkillers. it was only my will that helped me endure the pain. i asked for a bandage to keep my broken pelvis together. they refused. >> reporter: hlib says it felt like torture, being forced to listen to russian propaganda

every day. his captors recorded him. it helped him get released. his loved ones saw one of the videos online. 17 days after his capture, he was freed through a prisoner swap. hlib is being treated now in ukraine territory. he still can't walk and his vision hasn't fully returned. he wants all the soldiers freed, but russia is demanding some of them be put on trial. >> translator: many of my friends are in russian captivity. they are mariupol's defenders who bravely concluded their mission. please remember them and help the families searching for them. >> reporter: hlib is calling on the international community to help ukraine and other groups

trying to free his fellow soldiers. japan's defense ministry says five russian navy vessels were spotted off the northern prefecture of hokkaido on thursday. a maritime self-defense force special confirmed a destroyer and friget were among the ships seen sailing southeast of the peninsula. the defense ministry says it was likely the ships were taking part in a naval exercise. the russians had previously said they'd scheduled a massive drill in the pacific for last friday or later. russia reportedly issued warnings about possible missile firings and other activities in waters near four russian hilled islands claimed by japan. it also includes islands in the economic zone off the coast. >> translator: with the latest

drill, russia may be aiming to demonstrate its ability to conduct activities in the far east while it engages in the invasion of ukraine. >> the ministry will continue to gather intelligence and monitor russian activities. a u.s. congressional panel investigating the january 6th riot shows videos of donald trump. they reject the claim of 2020 election was stolen through voter fraud. trump's supporters stormed the capitol building. the unrest left five people dead. the house committee began the

hearing at 8:00 p.m. on thursday by focusing on the events that led up to the riot. the hearing was shown on primetime. william barr testified. >> i told the president that i did not see evidence of fraud. >> trump's daughter said she respected barr and she accepted what he said. >> representative liz cheney, a republican party member said trump responded positively to rioters' chant of hanging mike pence. >> the committee chair says the january 6th represents trump's desperate attempt to disrupt the

transfer of power. the committee plans five more hearings of next week and compiling a final report around september. japan on friday moved a step closer to resuming its place as a must-visit holiday destination as border controls for tourists were eased for the first time in about two years. the country has reopened to inbound visitors from 98 countries and regions, deemed to be the lowest risk for covid-19. they include the united states, south korea and china. visitors from those locations are exempt from virus testing on arrival and quarantine, regardless of vaccination status. even so, the number of arrivals is being capped at 20,000 per day for now. and tourists must be part of guided package tours as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. guidelines from the japan tourism agency requires travel

agencies ensure clients follow anti-infection measures, including wearing masks. they will need private health insurance to cover any medical treatment while in japan. major travel agencies say it will be a month or so before the first tourists arrive, as they need to advertise and some visitors will have to apply for visas. people from outside the 98 approved countries and regions can only enter if it's for business or academic studies. anyone with three doses of an approved vaccine will not have to test or isolate when they reach japan, as long as they don't arrive with the high temperature. but travelers from pakistan, fiji, albania will be suggest to testing and mandatory isolation. researchers studying samples

taken from an asteroid made an important discovery. they say whichever party celestial appeared to have large water. eight teams of scientists have been analyzing the sample and some of the data being released. two group of researchers say they found minerals formed through chemical reaction involving liquid water. the team disagrees on some details like how long the water existed or what its temperatures was at the time. both teams agree the finding from, it was very wet.er it came >> i am looking forward to seeing how this could help us

rewrite history of our solar system. >> a team led by university says samples contains 24 types of amino acid. more data is expected to be made public in the near future. ♪ now to major league baseball, japanese two-way star ohtani helps end angels' record losing streak. he was the starting pitcher against the boston red sox. in the top of the fifth, a sacrifice. otani took back what he lost and

the bottom of the 5th, he gave the angels 2-1 lead. he only allowed one run and 7 innings on the mound. his pitching and hitting helped the angels win 5-2. ending the longest losing streak in history. he got his fourth win and 12th home run of the season. ♪

let's check out the world weather with our meteorologist sayaka mori. people are dealing with lightning and stormy weather impacting the country. >> electrical storms are pummeling new zealand in just 24 hours. nearly 20,000 lightning strikes were detected in the country. hail the size of grapes was also reported. the system will likely continue to affect many places of the country, especially over the

south island with powerful winds, snowfall, and also high waves. the pressure gradient is pretty tight. as we go into sunday, another system will be approaching the country. so, unfortunately, stormy conditions likely continue at least into early next week. temperatures are as follows. 17 in sydney on saturday. going to be breezy on saturday and another chilly day in alice springs. 14 is expected. that's about five degrees cooler than normal for this time of year. and thunderstorms could happen around the perth area. meanwhile, we're seeing some thunderstorms popping up over the mountainous location. central tokyo could see thunderstorms tonight. as we go into the weekend, cloudy or rainy weather will continue in tokyo. this is the rainy season. the sunny weather should return on monday, with highs of 27 degrees. osaka and fukuoka could finally enter the rainy season next week. we saw heavy rain hitting the east coast of the united states. rain was pretty heavy and a concert was canceled.

take a look at thivideo. there was a chaotic scene in colombia, maryland, wednesday as rain caused flooding at a concert venue. people were seen trying to avoid the water pooling on the ground near the electrical equipment as the rain fell from the ceiling. the concert was ultimately canceled with the performance being rescheduled and moved to a different location. thankfully rain is easing across the eastern seaboard, and temperatures will be dangerously high across the southwestern united states. it could be about 50 degrees in death valley. and some cities in arizona could see blazing sunshine for the next several days. that's it for me. stay saf ♪

that's all for this edition of nhk newsline in tokyo, thank

you for watching and do stay with us for more. this is newsline biz, i am geno otani. japan started accepting tourists again after using antiviral border control. in western japan is home to one of the country's most famous

shinto shrine. tourists can take part in a japanese tea ceremony, wear a kimono or meditation. it now opens only on days when there are reservations. the head of the fiacility says she's looking forward to seeing tourists again but she's concerned whether sales will reach to pre-pandemic it

are trending. >> translator: we have been waiting for overseas customers for a long time. we hope this move will encourage many people come to japan and enjoy shopping in our department stores. >> it may take some time until the change sees many tourists as before. 70% of foreign customers were from china. visitors from other countries are expected to be limited for now as beijing maintains their zero covid policies. japan's licensed tour guides still face tough times. officials of the japan federation certified guide says they only receive a few orders for next year.

interpreters extend to tour agencies and hotels. the survey found that 80% of resp respondents had no income from tour guiding. >> we can't afford and some had to change jobs. >> individual tourists are yet not allowed the country. nippon air will resume flights at haneda airport this summer. it is the first time more than two years that service will not be reduced due to the pandemic. ana expects demand for domestic travels to recover. major competitors, japan

airlines also plan to raise the number of domestic flights to near prepandemic levels. the two airlines will continue with drastically reduced services on international route. wholesale inflation in japan increased for 15th month in may. as the conflict in ukraine drove up raw material cost. prices increase for over 80% of goods traded among companies. the biggest rises were for lumber, ironnd steel as well as petroleum products. more firms are passing on higher raw material costs in the price they charge their business customers. bankers intend to raise interest rates by a quarter of a

point next month. the move is to curve inflation. it will be the first rate increase in 11 years. members of the ecb governing council decided to end their quantitative easing program on july 1st. christine lagarde says inflation is a major challenge. >> it has broaden and intensifies many goods and services increasingly strongly. europe staff have revised baseline inflation projection up significantly. this projection indicates that inflation will remain undesirably elevated for some time. >> lagarde says policymakers are expected to raise rates again. they see a path of further increases as appropriate. the bank's key rate stands at

0%. a look at some key economic indicators around the world. we start off from germany. one of the country's key gauges released for june on tuesday. the zew indicator tracks the mood of experts. it rose slightly in may jumping from 41 points to minus 34. analysts expecting the situation in germany deteriorate but at a slower pace than expected. in vs.e investors were worried of the effects of covid restrictions in china as a sluggish country. china will be releasing several

indicators for may on wednesday. retail and factory activities fell sharply in april. that's severely disrupted supply chains. retail sales for the month shrank 11% from the year earlier. that was the biggest contraction since march 2020. industrial productive fell. china's statistic bureau says it expects the economy to improve in may with covid outbreak stays under control. the u.s. commerce department will announce retail sales for may on the same day. sales rose 0.9% in april from the previous month. the fourth consecutive month of increase. personal consumption remains strong despite record level of inflation because of higher

employment and wages. the central bank and the u.s. and japan will be making monetary policy announcements next week. their measures are expected to go in different directions. the u.s. federal reserve will wrap up a two-day meeting on wednesday, the fed raised its benchmark over night interest rates by half a percentage point in may to control inflation. this was the biggest trump in two years. chair jerome powell says policymaker is ready to approve additional half a percentage of hike. some experts are worried this could slow the economy. the bank of japan will finish its two day policy meeting on friday. boj decided to maintain its policy in the last meeting of april, keeping short term negative interest rates and continuing unlimited purchases

of government bond to hold down 10-yr yield to around zero. inflati inflation exceeded 10% in japan. beating the boj f the fst time in seven years. the governor intends to stick with the current stimulus policy as the japanese economy is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic. let's have a look at the markets.

from the newsline team biz in tokyo, i am geno otani, thank you very much for being here with us. wñcñcñcñc

♪ >> you're watching al jazeera, these other top stories now. the summit of the americas is getting underway in los angeles but without key regional leaders. the u.s. refused to invite cuba, venezuela and nicaragua citing their human rights record. the timing of the summit coincides with the movement of a migrant caravan that's heading north towards the u.s. border. the migration crisis at the united states will be higher on the agenda.