hello and welcome to this edition of nhk newsline. we start here in japan with the world's coronavirus hotspot. cases are skyrocketing this month and the country has broken a record two days in a roe. on thursday authorities reported more than 230,000 new cases for the first time. the capitol also to a new high with more than 40,000 cases.

the search is affecting daily life. japan says with a 150 post offices across the nation were closed on wednesday. workers are infected or designated as close contact. some people only learned this post office was closed when they got there. >> it's inconvenient but it can't be helped under such circumstances. >> the world health organization says japan needs to leads to the planet right now. tensions between the u.s. and china for the focus now is on whether a summit between the countries will go ahead. beijing has expressed strong displeasure over recent u.s. post regarding taiwan. white house says president joe biden will deliver a clear message to chinese president. >> he will reaffirm.

there is no change to america's commitme tohe one china policy. >> a spokesperson said washington continues not wanting to see issues or tensions resolved unilaterally and certainly not by force. the u.s. does not maintain official diplomatic relations with taiwan under its policy but does provide taiwan with the means to defend itself. in may biden answered yes when asked at a news conference whether the u.s. would get involved militarily to defend taiwan. this month there have been reports that u.s. house speaker is considering visiting taiwan. the sparked backlash from beijing. the u.s. wants to prevent tensions with china from escalating further. taiwan president says protecting taiwan goes beyond safeguarding its sovereignty. he made the comment thursday at

a meeting with japanese lawmakers. >> we will continue to deepen cooperation with japan and other democratic partners. in order to protect stability in the region. >> she did not mention china but for security taiwan sits on a critical line of defense on the first island chain. the term is a concept provided by china it stems from okinawa in southern japan to taiwan and the philippines. japan's former defense minister stressed the importance of reaching a consensus before hand on the kind of situation to anticipate. he said otherwise there would be no deterrence. >> we have to be prepared to prevent an emergency situation in the region. >> taiwan's vice president also met with the japanese lawmakers and used stronger terms about

potential threats. >> if japan and taiwan do not cooperate and taiwan is taken over by china, japan will be next. >> he called for stronger cooperation with japan in defending taiwan against threats posed by china. u.s. and has passed a bill aimed at boosting the semiconductor industry at home. lawmakers say the move will help american companies compete with china. the bill was passed on wednesday. it will provide more than $52 billion for domestic chip production and billions more for scientific research. senators call it bad news for the chinese communist party. >> this lumbering giant that is america has finally awakened to the challenge we face from the people's republic of china. their aggressive posture in the region and the potential they would have of cutting off our

access to advance semiconductors. >> semiconductor chips are component and all electronics from smart phones to military technology but the u.s. depends on imports. the government has been trying to revamp the homegrown chip industry him mid a worldwide shortage. china has been investing heavily to boost its own production. north korean leader has warned south korea that they are prepared to mobilize to defend itself. this includes a possibility of using a nuclear weapon. they are not ruling out a preemptive attack on the north. north korea's ruling party newspaper reported on thursday and he delivered a speech at the victory of it the previous day. it was the anniversary of the signing of the korean war pharmacist that left the two koreas at war.

celebrating what it calls the victory over the united states. he also set us countries fully prepared for any military confrontation with the u.s. and more in washington against trying to undermine north korea's security and interests. as a direct warning to south korean president he said any attempt to neutralize the country's military power would be punished immediately by powerful forces. added the north's nuclear deterrence stands at the ready. the comets are believed to be the first time he is criticized them by name. there are more civilian casualties as russian forces continue their attack on eastern and southern ukraine. residents are being advised to leave. russia is trying to seize all of donetsk. the region's governor says five

civilians were killed and eight injured on wednesday. a senior official says the country's second-largest thermal power plant has been seized by russians. debbie prime minister says moscowsn't essentially targeting infrastructure causing issues with supplies of gas, eltricity and water. she is calling on the residence to evacuate. further west ukraine's counter offensive is gathering momentum. that is according to a british defense ministry intelligence update. they have used its new long- range artillery to damage three bridges, crossings russia relies on. anthony lincoln plans to speak by phone to russia in the coming days. he plans to discuss the russian

blockade of ukrai's grain exports to the black sea. a joint coronation center opened and is stable on wednesday to monitor shipments of grain from ukrainian forest to ensure their safety. it remains unclear whether the center can truly help amid russian ongoing attacks on southern ukraine. philippine officials say a powerful earthquake that struck the countries rth on dnesday has left five pele dead and injured dozens. the magnitude quake shook the island in about a: 40 a.m. local time. the tremor caused houses and buildings to collapse many people were trapped under the rubble. the quake also rattled manila which is hundreds of kilometers away. people were told to evacuate

tall buildings and the city center amid concern about aftershocks. herige budings in a city rld known for its historic architecture. the company's president is expected to visit the hardest hit areas to meet people who are affected. earthquakes are common in the philippines. 2013 a 7.1 quake killed more than 200 people. revisited an area close to the epicenter. >> i've visited a well-known tourist destination. i saw some rows that had partially collapsed. personally most of the city was spared from serious damage. people told me they were still very scared. it brought back memories of the quake here in 1990 which killed

over 2000 people. only a few hours drive away the situation yesterday was much more serious. the quake damaged homes and heritage buildings. people there said the experience was frightening. >> the rocks from our churches belltower fell. the cars were bumping with each other. i could hear people screaming from a nearby mcdonald's. people rushed outside to the plaza and started crying out of fear. >> the quake has also shut down many roads so that could cause problems getting emgency supplies into the area. >> we are also hearing reports of aftershocks. >> there have be about 800

aftershocks up to magnitude 5. officials are also warning people about rain. the philippines is in the middle of the rainy season and rains a lot in the mountains. that could weaken the ground and cause landslides. authorities setting up evacuation centers and advising people to leave their homes. many are still very worried about aftershocks. last night we heard reports about people spending the night outside their homes because they felt it would be safer. tokyo prosecutors have raided the headquarters of a major business retailer in connection with a ssible

bribery case involvinge sponsorship of the tokyo olympic and paralympic games. prosecutors on thursday searched the main office and a subsidiary office in tokyo. they suspect they may have given former games member large sums of money as a bribe. they are denying any wrongdoing. a company he headed allegedly received at least 330,000 dollars in consulting fees since september 28. they sold suits and other items with olympic raining on them a stormy sponsorship agreement. japan's education ministry wants to boost the number of foreign students. the figure has dropped significantly since the start of the pandemic. a record 310,000 foreign students were studying in japan in 2019 and the number dropped

by 20% in the following two years because of the coronavirus border restrictions. students are also finding it more difficult to land a job here in japan after finishing their studies. they want to reverse these trends over the next five years. they plan to include japanese language education and an insurance program to help students find work or start businesses. the number of students studying abroad has also clenched. the ministry says the government and private sector will both contribute funding for the program.

some residents of central japan saw dangerous downpours in their area early thursday morning. i'm meteorologist has the details. >> we have been monitoring some scattered heavy rainfall that moves the portions of japan. we have some of the heavier rain bands nothing along the country and we have some heavy rain into places, here is a look at some of the video. 110

millimeters of rain, they issued a heavy rain alert. the atmosphere is very unstable. we have a boundary that is over the country and we have moisture coming in from the south due to a tropical system nearby. that will juiced things up and bring the possibility of more heavy rainfall scattered around the area. especially towards the west as we go to the next couple days. high of 32 on friday, depending on the instability you make it caught under a pop up shower as you go to today. the depression that is developing is trying to get

itself together and it will move to the north and west. is expected to become a tropical storm late thursday into friday and then move through and between the islands of the impact will be friday, saturday and into sunday as it moves north and west. keep that in mind as a system tries to move into the area. plenty of rain and stronger gust expected. rain and thunderstorms in a central to eastern areas of the country with hot weather continuing towards the west. i hope you have a good day wherever you are.

that wraps up this addition. coming up next newsline, don't go away.

toyota motor remains the world's top-selling automaker for the first six months of 2022. it is the third straight year that it has claimed the title for the period. toyota says it in group companies so they combined 5.1 million vehicles worldwide from january to june.

that is far more than the closest rival volkswagen. domestic production in a six- month period for toyota alone dropped by 18% to about 1.3 million units. the company had to halt operations at some of the japanese plants due to a semiconductor shortage and part supply disruptions caused by coronavirus lockdowns in shanghai. policymakers have made a big move in the fight against inflation. raising the key interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point that is three times the size of a typical rate height. they increased the rate for the fourth time in five months and this comes after u.s. consumer prices rose by over 9%. the fastest pace in four decades. both the coronavirus pandemic and russia's invasion of ukraine drove up prices and raising rates is a way to discourage people from spending

and cool rising prices. the fed's efforts could cause the economy to grow more slowly than it has been. he doesn't think the u.s. is in a receion. he says another unusually yacht large rate increase could be appropriate but if the economy slows further, the fed may ease the pace of the rate rises. railway workers in britain have staged a walkout to demand wages to cope with surging inflation. and labor unions has about 40,000 members across the country joined wednesday's strike that brought much of the network to a halt. the union says employers of pay raises were only 4% when inflation is above 9%. they formed a picket line at central station in london. they have not had pay increases that keep place with frank

rising prices. >> we need to demonstrate that we are not going to let them bully us around. we will stand up for what we deserve which is a future and good job security and a good working environment. otherwise the industry will suffer. spoke only about 20% of normal train services were running. some passengers were visibly frustrated while others expressed support for the strike thing the staff deserve better treatment. there will be further disruptions because workers in other sectors like medical and postal are considering industrial action. a facebook parent company meta- platforms has suffered its first decline since going public in 2012. mehta said on wednesday that sales dropped 1% to $28.8 billion for the three months

through june compared with a year earlier. net profits are up 36% to $6.7 billion. increasing economic uncertainty weighed on the company's online ad sales inserted a tougher privacy policy that allows users to prevent tailored ads appearing. there also facing intense competition with rivals including tiktok. the company says it expects poor at sales to continue in the current quarter. advertising is a main revenue source for many it firms but it tends to be affected by economic trends. twitter and google have also felt the impact of sluggish ad sales. japan's economy minister says the country will send 1000 japanese entrepreneurs and business development executives to silicon valley for the next five years. is a tenfold increase from the current level in an attempt to

give japanese industries a competitive edge in global markets. the economy minister announced the plan on wednesday after a visit to stanford university and google in california. >> 20,000 people brings sicon valley dynamics back to japan the startup scene will change completely. >> they want to give them the chance to present plans to corporate managers and investors in the innovation hub. an executive with tokyo gas is calling for cooperation across the street and government response of moscow's takeover of a major project and russia's far east. putin ordered the project to be replaced by a russian country.

the executive director was asked what his company would do it the gas supply is cut off and he said it's not easy for individual companies to cope with such a situation on their own. tokyo gaskets 10% of its natural gas from it. >> we are dealing with a situation while keeping close contact with the government, industry groups and other businesses in an effort to keep the natural gas supply unaffected. >> he also said they plan to ask users to reduce consumption, he said the specifics of any such plan are being studied. he indicated that tokyo gas is considering new contracts with major corporate customers to lower peak use. the demand for organic wine is growing globally. one tech company has teamed up with the university and a winery.

they are making a system to support organic winemaking that utilizes the latest technology and detecting risks of pest and diseases. it's a first. >> he is visiting a winery that is trying to grow organic grapes . together with the university he succeeded in developing a system to predict outbreaks of pathogens ingrates. >> utilizing all of the latest technology, it's possible to predict when it's appropriate to use pest control. >> here is how the system works. sensors in a field together information on the environment surrounding the grapevines including temperature and humidity and sends it to a platform in the cloud.

the platform already contains asic data obtained from past cultivation's such as weather information and conditions that can cause pathogen outbreaks. ai is used to analyze the data and predict the need for disease control. when continuous rain raises the risk for disease, that information is sent to the growers artphone enabling a quick response. the system has been set up at the winery or the research and development took place. >> technology that allows growers to see previously invisible data might be attractive. >> there is more the system can do. a pcr test kit makes it easier to predict possible diseases. damage is visible on grape leaves, it's already too late so growers frequently spray

more pesticide than necessary to prevent disease. the inclusion of this test kit and a system to monitor the types and levels of pathogens allows farmers to take measures against diseases without being overly dependent on pesticide. when the entire area start utilizing the system and increasing the amount of stored data, the accuracy of predictions should improve. >> by diagnosing diseases early and combining the data the latest ai, we can, principally detect diseases at an early stage. >> by utilizing the latest technology wineries have the ability to focus on their safe and worry free organic wine. let's get a check on the markets.

that is all for business news. x

>> a quick check of the headlines. european union nations have agreed to russian gas supplies after russia announced another cut to deliverers. they will voluntarily reduce gas use from august to march. anti-e.u. leaders are accusing moscow of playing politics -- but eu leaders are accusing moscow of playing politics. >> consumption will be cut