welcome to nhk newsline. we begin in japan where officials are reporting more than 180,000 new covid-19 cases. the country's highest daily count ever, and it has forced authorities to issue a red alert for medical facilities in the capital. more than 30 prefectures top their daily records on the

thursday, that includes tokyo, which logged over 30,000 new infections for the first time, that is 2000 more than the previous record set in february. japan's seventh wave has caused cases to skyrocket since the start of july and led health advisors to raise the medical alerts to the highest level. they said doctors, nurses, and hospital beds are extremely stretched. the head of the government advisory panel says the peak of the surge is not yet insight. necessary measures to keep coronavirus infections at a certain level. instead of taking emergency measures or declaring a state of emergency. >> he does not think new restrictions are necessary yet,

partly because there are significantly fewer serious cases in hospitals than previous peaks. it has now been almost 5 months since russia launched its invasion of ukraine, despite initial fierce resistance, moscow appears to be solidifying its strip on the southeastern part of the country. the governor of the eastern region said on social media on wednesday that russian troops have carried out multiple attacks killing six people and injuring 32. three of the victims including a 13-year-old boy. a russian news agency reports the authorities have been distributing russian passports to residents in the city of ..., the city is home to a nuclear power plant which was seized by russian forces , russia has been issued passports.

>> the geographical target has changed. it includes not only to eastern regions, but also other regions. >> the ukrainian side is on high alert out of concern that the russian offenses is an attempt by russia to tighten its control over the area. russia's state-run energy giant says it is delivering gas to germany again, after a 10 day outage. they told nhk it has resumed the flow of natural gas through the nordstrom one pipeline which runs under the baltic sea. but there are still concerns. the president of germany's network regulator tweeted that flows were only back to 40% of capacity, they said political uncertainty remains. they shut down the pipeline on july 11 for what is said was maintenance, german officials

worried they could stop the flow of gas permanently in retaliation for economic sanctions imposed on moscow. italian prime minister, mario, won a confidence vote in the senate on wednesday. but three key coalition partners refused to take heart. italian media says that has the unity government on the brink of collapse. they call for unity in the latest voting but the lack of support from coalition partners exposed fractures within the government. the three parties that didn't vote include the five-star movement, the largest force in the upper house. the right-wing league party didn't vote, the parties cited their discontent with the handling of the administration as a reason for their boycotts.

the broad-based government led by the former european central bank chief was launched in february last year, wi the aim of responding to the coronavirus crisis. they had offered the resignation last week after the five-star movement pulled out of a confidence vote, but president sergio rejected his resignation, and a confidence vote was held once again. italian media say hewill likely tender his resignation for the second time. if he quits, early parliament truly elections could be held in the autumn, they are currently set for next spring. now to the u.s. where president joe biden says he expects to speak with his beijing counterparts by the end of the month. >> i think i will be talking to the president within the next 10 days. >> he was speaking shortly after a trip to massachusetts, that focused on climate policy.

he said plans for a conversation had not yet been finalized and he would not comment on what topics may be discussed. if confirmed, it will be the first time the two leaders have spoken since march. it comes as they remain at odds on a number of fronts including on economic issues as well as security matters in the taiwan strait. biden suggested that the democrat house speaker nancy pelosi may cancel and confirmed plans for a trip to taipei in the coming weeks, without going into detail, he said the u.s. military had told him such a trip would not be a good id right now. people calling to abolish nuclear weapons have made a series of demands to the japanese government. they are calling for action ahead of an important tree conference by japan's prime minister attending. the japan network for nuclear

weapons abolitn held an online news conference on thursday. it's members spe to foreign ministry officials this week. the group, which includes atomic bomb survivors, submitted five demands. one is for japan recognize the significance of the un treaty on the prohibion of nuclear weapons. the group said the officials told them they regard the treaty pam as a way to end nuclear weapons. their calls come before the review conference of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty in new york. there expected to become the first japanese prime minister to attend. atomic bomb survivors will also speak at the meeting. he survived the bombing of nagasaki, he says there is a new urgency for change. >> the upcoming review coerence holds a differen meaning, as it will be held

after the rear nd trea went into force, it also comes as russia continues its aggression in ukraine. whilmaking threats that involve nuclear weapons. government to take a clear position as the only country to have experienced nuclear attacks. officials in iraq's kurdistan region say in artillery strike has killed nine tourists including children. they say neighboring turkey was behind the attack. it happened wednesday in a resort town near the turkish border. local authorities say over two dozen people were injured. iraq's government convened a national security council meeting and summoned turkey's ambassador. it is demanding an apology for what it condemned as a cruel attack against innocent civilians. however, turkey has denied involvement and has suggested

kurdish militants may have carried out the attack. it has offered to cooperate with thauthorities to investigate the shelling. the large number of iraqi civilian casualties is likely to increase tension between the two countries as turkey ramps up military operations in neighboring syria. a japanese man and his partner have won their legal battle to register their same- sex marriage in taiwan. it could set a precedent that may help other couples not allowed to officially wed. he is from japan, his partner, is from taiwan. they tried to register their marriage last year in taipei. it rejected them on the grounds that same-sex marriage is not recognized if one of the partners is from a country or jurisdiction where it is

illegal. in this case, japan does not allow it. but the taipei administrative court overturned the office's decision thursday saying the couple should be allowed to register. this is the first ruling recognizing same-sex marriage for a japanese citizen in taiwan. i had always thought that marriage would not be an option in my life. but i wanted to prove that homosexuals and heterosexuals should be treated the same. today, i believe i achieved that. >> the ruling can still be appealed, but if it is confirme that could pave the way for more same-sex couples of different nationalities to be considered officially married in taiwan.

schools in japan are having a tough time tackling cyber bullying. the rise of virtual classrooms during the pandemic and the widespread use of smart phones means harassment is happening online away from the eyes of school staff. educators are trying to find tools to protect their students. >> as kids lives grow more and more online, companies like this one are doing what they can to protect them. they conduct internet patrols tracking online harassment involving students. >> the company has been contract did by about 3500 calls in japan.

they say they have already had success in testing. >> we are committed to helping children who are dealing with feelings of anxiety and are suffering mentally. >> instances of online bullying between 2015 and 2020. experts say covid-19 has made the issue more mmon. >> i think children's relationships are going online with very few opportunities to meet face-to-face, internet communication has become dominant. also think it is likely that onli bullying is rising, with people stressed ouby the pandemic.

>> one tokyo school is taking a small step by giving kids extra tools to diffuse online threats. to patch things up, it can allow kids to express their feelings when text communication is too difficult. >> these students who helped create it, say they were able to use them during an online gaming session. when one friend started picking on another, he said he was able to use them in a lighthearted way to cool things down which led to a peaceful outcome. >> more than anything, i wanted to prevent the fight from escalating, i was able to create a buffer between my friends with the stamps before things got worse.

>> the school's principal says he hopes the program before students do something that they will regret. >> action should be taken so that everyone involved can patch things up. >> with the online world, now just as important as the real world, for many young people in japan, it is working to keep kids safe and they have their work cut out for them. it the weather, with our meteorologist, a mixed bag of heavy rain and high temperatures have been impacting parts of japan, we have the details on what is ahead. >> hello there, it is like a combination of a rainy season

and also a midsummer because we are seeing continued heavy rainfall as well as summertime high temperatures, the high rows to 35.4 degrees making it the all-time record for this spot, and 36 degrees on thursday, and hotter than that with about 36.4 degrees. the hot conditions will continue some parts but we have a low pressure system and a couple of friends approaching japan, we are seeing a lot of heavy rain and it will affect more than japan as we go into friday so be careful of flooding as well as landslides. stormy conditions could pound parts of northern japan during the weekend. we could see stormy conditions on saturday, tokyo will see rain on friday we will have 31 degrees and he will return during the weekend, we will see sunny weather returning on saturday and remain on the sunny side into the next week. meanwhile, yellow flowers are blooming beautifully in japan. take a look at this video.

>> some summertime plans were in full bloom last week, more than 200,000 sunflowers, local farmers grow them in order to produce oil. these sunflowers are about one meter tall. so summer is in full swing in japan and it is the same case for europe, many record high temperatures have been set recently and denmark have 35.9 degrees. that is a national record high for the month of july, and it was over 40 degrees and parts of germany. heat could ease and denmark as well as germany but hot conditions will continue to pound scandinavia oh, so stockholm could see a high of 34 degrees, so be careful of heat stroke. that is it for me, stay safe.

that is all for this edition of nhk newsline. thanks for watching and stay

with us for more. this is newsline, central bank has sharply increased its inflation forecast as the cost of raw materials and energy continue to climb. the bank of japan now expects prices to gain 2.3% in the current fiscal year, up from its previous outlook of 1.9% announced in april. the drg

outlook report at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting on thursday. the inflation figure is the median forecast for the consumer price index in the year ending next march. the outlook excludes fresh foods, the projection means the inflation has technically reached the 2% target, the doj set in 2013. but the governor said that the current price increases are not beficial to the economy as they are not accompanied by wage hikes and growth in demand. >> it is taking time to change deep-rooted ideas and practices in japan. that come from the assumption that long years of deflation mean it is difficult

which comes with a rise in wages, by maintaining monetary easing. >> the doj has been keeping short-term interest rates and negative territory, the bank is in the central bank is buying government bonds to keep long- term interest rates at around 0% and help stimulate the economy. the bank added that it won't hesitate to implement additional easing if necessary. japan's trade deficit rose to a record in the first six months of the year. i was as fuel prices remain high, due to russia's invasion of ukraine. it also made imports more expensive. preliminary trade being released by the finance ministry so a deficit of nearly %8 trillion for the january to june period. that is equal to about $57 billion. it is the highest half your number, since the officials started keeping comparable data back in 1979. imports surged 38% in yen terms from a year ago to $390 billion.

they outpaced a 15% increase in exports. the ministry said the trade deficit in june was %1.3 trillion or roughly $10 billion. japan's trade account has stayed in the red for 11 straight months. the head of the international monetary fund said it will lower its global economic outlook again. the ims last downgrade was in april when it protected 3.6% growth in 2022. the new outlook comes out next week. >> i am chris, what is behind the projection? >> we also have identified the downside and unfortunately this has materialized. we have seen a pickup in inflation with financial conditions. >> he cited the impact of covid- 19 on china's economy.

she says they will likely predict positive growth for japan as prices in the country are relatively stable. >> japan's growth will be revised, and projections for inflation in japan are revised slightly upward. however, inflation is still very low in japan. >> she says in light of the situation, the bank of japan and the monetary easing policy is appropriate. trying to a cyber security watchdog has found dd global nearly $1.2 billion for mishandling user data. the cyberspace administration of china said on thursday, they were collecting user information in violation of security laws, it also said the firm's data collection practices seriously threatened national security. the chinese government launched

the investigation immediately after they debuted the u.s. stock market in june last year. beijing has also ordered the withdrawal of the firm's mobile app from stores. they ended the year in the net loss of over $7 billion, and the company shares were delisted from the new york stock exchange last month at its own request. experts say that beijing is concerned that data held by chinese firms is being linked to the united states, officials at the same time have been cracking down on i.t. giants as they gain more influence. chinese imports of russian crude oil, grew in june from a year earlier. the increase stands out as western nations have imposed strict sanctions on moscow. >> china's customs authorities say about 7.3 million tons of crude oil were shipped from russia last month up nearly 10% from a year earlier, but slowed from the previous month. china imported a .4 million tons

in may, that is an increase of more than 50%. shipments of l and g are continuing at a brisk pace. china imported more than 520,000 tons of fuel from russia in june. that is a jump of more than 60% from a year earlier, imports amounted to 390,000 tons up around 50%. politicians and business leaders are increasingly pending their hopes on hydrogen to cut their carbon footprint, but critics say it is too expensive to make and transport the gas. a japanese startup is using space-age technology to address those challenges. >> we want to launch a new industrial revolution with our technology. >> a new type of cylinder that can store and transport hydrogen. unusually, it contains almost no metal.

hydrogen needs to be stored at high pressure. that means it usually requires heavy metal tanks to hold it. but this container is made up mostly of resin and carbon fiber and weighs just one 10th of the amount. the developers have the lightweight material that makes it comfortable for ships to carry much more of the gas. that means it could/transport costs. >> the important is to make it more affordable. >> the company that came up with the container designs and builds for space travel. the founder started the firm five years ago with a goal of offering trips into space by 2029. but they needed to raise money

to fund their ambitions. so they set up a side business. they realized that growing investment in hydrogen powered ships and planes would drive demand for better. >> if we can spread the technology in our tanks, that will help to raise money for our space enterprise. >> the material in the tank is a byproduct of the design and engineering process for the firm's main business. the company has to make storage tanks and other parts in its space craft as light as possible. the team was testing out a way to wind carbon fiber into the shape of a tank so that it requires less material but creates a stronger product. they applied this novel

approach to make hydrogen cylinders that are cheaper to produce than conventional alternatives. they are still running safety checks but they hope to go to market next year. they say they are already fielding inquiries from potential buyers. >> we are going to do everything we can to make a hydrogen society of reality and we will do it by taking space technology and putting it to use here on earth. >> hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in the universe. but using it in a way that is affordable, it remains a challenge. pioneering work in japan and elsewhere could mean the industry is set for a commercial breakthrough. >> let's have a look at the markets.

from the newsline team, i am johnny, thanks for being with us.pgdki■?■■?ç■ç■

♪ >> top stories. the u.k. recorded its highest temperature, breaking 40 degrees for the first time. wildfires also burning across europe. firefighters in western spain are battlingfest fires threatening homes in the northwest province and at least two have