welcome. >> un secretary general antonio good terrace has used a visit to ukraine to proposed russian and ukrainian forces to pull out of the area around europe's largest nuclear plant. he met thursday with ukrainian president zelenskyy and rkish president in the city of tel

aviv. they discussed how secure the safety of the complex in southeastern ukraine has come under repeated shelling. both sides have traded accusations over who is to blame. >> the area needs to be denuclearize and we need to have peace because the potential damage is suicide. >> it is unacceptable that russia puts all of us on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe. we agree with the secretary- general on possible emission of the atomic agency to the plant. >> the site has been under russian control since the early days of the invasion. a russian foreign ministry oaks person dismissed the idea of demilitarization as unacceptable. he said it could make the nuclear power plant more

vulnerable. workers and senior officials have posted an appeal on social media for help from the international community. the statement says the plant has been the target of obsessive military tax for the past tweks. they say the consequences may turn out to be far more horrifying that the nuclear accidents at chernobyl and --. russia said they have deployed fighter jets equipped with hypersonic missiles to the country's baltic exclave of leningrad. the defense ministry says that three big 31 planes with these missiles arrived at the base. russia media claimed that it has the range of 2000 the speed of sound. at 10 times the russian military officials said earlier that meg fighters

destroyed and ammunition depot in western ukraine in march. >> the sister of north korean leader, kim jong-un, has slammed a proposal by south korea's president for economic assistance in exchange for the north denuclearization. >> the friday edition of north korea's ruling party newspaper carried comments made by her. she called the plan the height of absurdity. kim also said that un was shameless for planning a military drill with united states. south korea announced the day after the economic proposal that they would start regular joint drills with u.s. forces on august 22nd. said that he is ready to -- for the denuclearization. kim said that pyongyang does

not like him as a person and stressed the north would not set face-to-face with them. she said wednesday's launch was a weapons test. she also corrected the launch site saying it was in south pyongyang prophets. province. >> a group led by lawyers has asked auditors in osaka to block a free for prefectures use of public money for the state funeral of the former prime minister. the motion was filed on friday by seven petitioners who also include local assemblyman. the group opposes the plan of the state funeral for the late prime minister. he was fatally shot while giving a campaign speech in july. they say it is unconstitutional and call it an activity that

lacks any legal basis. >> public opinion is divided over the state funeral. i think there are quite a few people who are critical of it. >> the group says they would go against the local economy law if the prefecture were to spend public funds to have the governor and local assembly speak or attend. once it is formally received the auditors must give their decision within 60 days. other groups have filed similar positions in some prefectures. nhk has learned a senior official for the tokyo olympics identified tiffany's business attire retail owner -- as a sponsor before the decision was made. for the tokyo olympics and paralympics organizing committee executive, he was

arrested on wednesday. he is suspected of accepting bribes from the then chairman of -- and two others. sources close to the case quoted a senior official as saying that he told others in 2017 that -- intended to be a sponsor to sponsor the games. the amount of sponsorship was said to be %500 billion or $3.7 million. more than a year later he was officially named the sponsor of the tokyo olympics and paralympics with a financial contribution of $3.7 million. sources say that prosecutors suspect that takahashi played a role in the sponsor. he is -- of accepting bribes totaling $280,000. two other people have also been arrested. sources say that takashi has denied involvement and

contributions for the tokyo games. prices for consumers in japan continue to drive higher with inflation and delight exceeding the target for the fourth straight month. officials say a major factor was soaring energy costs. the internal affairs ministry says the price index including fresh fruit climbed 2.4% in july from a year earlier. the government bank of japan set an inflation of 2% to pull the country out of deflation. it has been an on an uptrend for --. energy costs soared over a letter 60%. electricity bills jumped about 19%. shoppers also paid over 3.5 percent more for food including fresh items. prices are rising on the back of higher raw material process and transport cost. it added the weaker yen is also increasing the cost to import.

people in japan suffering from the coronavirus could get easier access to a drug that might soothe symptoms. soon patients might be able to get the pills for more hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. the u.s. army cynical for merck, developed this but supplies are limited. the japanese government only allocates the drug in some places. they have been able to produce more and those pills will be on the market. the government approved this in december. it is the first pill for patients with mild symptoms. the port city in northern

japan is famous for seafood. now it will be known for its unusual jewelry made by a local woman. we have this report. >> reporter: a range of handmade earrings that are perfect for the summer. they look like white gems, but in fact they come from fish. known as the -- or years down, it is an organ that helps animals maintain --. these pieces are created by -- who runs a traditional gift house in the fishing port of --. she began making them two years ago. >> i hope the people who come across my handmade jewelry will come and visit and try eating the fish here. >> since the great japan

earthquake it has been rebooted, but -- have not regained their popularity. she wants to put her hometown and it seafood back on the map. that is when she came up with the idea of using the fish --. >> here it is. the size and shape will vary depending on the type of fish. >> these are from a rockfish. to me, they look like angels wings. i enjoy collecting them. >> reporter: she has amassed over 100 types. she says the earrings and rings

she makes are in local souvenir shops. her unusual journey is starting to attract a number of fans. this family from tokyo has visited her many times. >> i did not know anything about the fish year stones. but i have learned how to take them out and i have done it myself at home. >> it makes me very happy to hear people are interested. >> reporter: she has also been teaching her neighbors had to make these. >> it is cute. >> this is one of the unique things that visitors can do here. it makes me feel more hopeful about the future. >> it is catching on steadily and people are talking about it.

that is really fun. >> reporter: thanks to the jewelry her goal is giving closer, getting more people to talk about her hometown and it's fish. it is time for world weather with our meteorologist. people in parts of northeastern china could see severe rainfall over the weekend. we have seen showers in northeastern parts of china causing a lot of damage and have a and although they will not be smaller showers, i

expected to remain due to this low pressure along with its front, the tail end of those showers come all the way to us in the eastern part. we have artie seen in mountainous regions of china flooding has inundated some homes and also claimed some lives. otherwise things will slightly improve, one of the other biggest concerns in china is temperatures keep on pricing as chung ching has seen temperatures well above average for the last three or four days up to a maximum of 43 degrees. shanghai will be quite hot with a maximum of 38. it will be slight it slightly dry in tokyo temperatures will stabilize. more concerns are coming in from india as well dearly over the weekend into the new week. you expect widespread showers to move northeast and then into the week some of those showers will be spreading to the northwest side. those showers could be dangerous and could spread

quite quickly in terms of flooding. temperatures for new delhi at 72 and is expected to be warm for the rest of the country.

that was the news this hour. from all of us here at nhk newsline, thank you for joining us. on this vessel edition we will be featuring some of the most interesting businesses we have covered. our commentator today is martin schultz chief policy economist. thank you for coming back. >> thank you for having me. >> the increased number of people staying at home during the pandemic has led to a recent surge in sewing .

>> is so easy to set up and put away . >> with its design and simple controls, this recently released sewing machine has become a hit with novices. and for seamstresses with higher skill levels a new service is giving them access to professional equipment at a reasonable price. the on-site report shows how some businesses are responding for selling products and services. >> today we are talking about how sewing machines are making a come back here in japan. we have some information here. sewing machine sales peaked way back in 1996 when 1.65 million machines were sold. then there was a massive decline and by 2019 the figure dropped 70% with 520,000 units. since the pandemic began in march of 2020, sales

skyrocketed and in fact almost 1.2 million units. >> i love to see this jump in numbers. sewing machines are so good for creativity and they are in important part of history. this is really an important development. >> our report begins with a company that released a new product and found immediate success during the pandemic. >> she is a working mother. last year she decided to buy a sewing machine so she could make several items her two-year- old titer daughter needed for daycare. the first thing she made was a bag to carry her daughter's extra change of clothes. >> i wanted to make use of all the extra time i had at home during the pandemic. after thinking things over i decided to try sewing again

>> reporter: the model she chose debuted in march of 2020. in japan a sewing machine is considered to be a hit sales reached 10,000 units in a year. this out model went on to sell over 50,000 units. it was developed by an osaka base sewing machine manufacture. the company president took over the business in 2015. at the time it was struggling to turn a profit and on the verge of bankruptcy. >> we really had our backs up against the wall, there was no way we were going to give up. >> reporter: determined to turn things around, they set up to create a product to boost sales. they decided to tartar target products for new children and asked people why they were not using sewing machines. the number one reason surprised him. the biggest reason was because they were too large and heavy.

in response the company focused on building a machine that was both compact and lightweight compared to a standard machine they were able to reduce the length by nearly 35%. the weight proved to be a bigger challenge. the most common solution for cutting weight is to use more plastic components. >> if the only goal was to make it smaller or lighter than plastic was the clear choice, but we also to think about durability. >> reporter: to ensure it could withstand heavy usage they had to include aluminum components in case stress points resulting in a machine that weighs in at 2.1 kilograms. >> it is superlight. it is so easy to set up and put away. >> reporter: she is now working on a bag to hold her daughter's drinking cup. since she is a beginner she watches a how-to video on her

smart phone as she says. >> i can figure out how to do most things just by watching, so i have not needed the instructions yet. >> reporter: by simply following along with the tutorial she was able to finish the project in 20 minutes. the how-to videos she used was also produced by --. beyond size and weight many said they did not try sewing because it was too difficult. >> the idea dawned on me when i saw my wife preparing dish that she had never made before while following along with a cooking video on her smart phone. >> reporter: so far the company has produced over 60 how-to videos. the tutorials show vel but also have to set up the mache for each project. coming in about three minutes in length they were made to be short and simple. by only offering a limited number of stitches and simple find the controls, they made

the machine not just easy to use, but easy on the wallet, costing about $85, it is less than 1/5 the price of their previous best-selling product. just as the machine was ready for market, the pandemic hit, putting the company in the perfect position to handle the demand. the new product not only helped save the company from bankruptcy, sales have pushed products to record highs. a year has passed since she has purchased the machine and it is being used now more than ever. her 10-year-old daughter has recently started learning to so. >> it is a hair tie. >> that is really cute. >> this company was on the verge of bankruptcy and he came up with a new product and it was a hit. >> it is wonderful to see because that is an important part of japan's history. if you cannot be stuck in history and it really required

integration with a new idea, these videos and these apps are something that connect the user much more closely. >> it really feels like he did a good job at understanding the needs of customers . >> people want to be creative. i recall when our daughter went to primary school and we were challenged with the same problem that we had to so all of these bags and it had to be in your own design and is very important. it made my daughter much better connected with individuals at school where she had to go but we needed support. busy parents, is not so easy to come up with creativity. i think this would have helped.

>> the sewing of the bags is very specific . >> this is very specific and it is good to keep these things, to keep the creativity going with simple machines. >> the next company specializes in making special grade sewing machines. they came up with a new way to offer seamstresses actually access to their products. >> she is on the hunt for the cutest fabric she can find. she specializes in making clothes for dogs and sells them at a special event in her area. she started off making them for her own dogs. after her children grew up she decided to turn her hobby into a business. >> today i want to try making a few difficult designs that i have not been able to make it home on my own machine. >> reporter: with fabrics in hand, she arrives at a sewing machine rental studio.

opened since last year, the rental studio was created by a sewing machine manufacture who wanted to give potential customers a way to fully experience its products. the rental facility offer several types of high- performance over lock sewing machines, normally selling for around $2000 each, customers can come in and use any machine they want for just over eight dollars per hour. used for lock stitching, which prevents edges from frank, these specialized machines are adept at sewing stretchy materials. versatile and able to perform professional grade stitching, this is the second machine that serious seems there's five. >> this is great for doing seams and garment edges. the finished product always come out looking wonderful.

>> reporter: with a number of people sewing and making handmade crafts increasing during the pandemic, petition among the sellers has intensified. between 2019 and 2021 the number of registered sellers on this online marketplace for handmade goods increased by over 30%. >> now there are a lot of similar products being offered. to make my items stand out, i want to offer customers the fit and finish of a professionally made product, while still keeping the uniqueness of being made by hand. >> reporter: it took her about one hour to complete one of the new designs. >> it is amazing. with a machine like this i can make some really nice things. now i really want one for

myself. >> reporter: the rental studio also offers sewing classes that are so popular that they fill up almost immediately. although most participants are middle-aged housewives, sewing classes are seeing an increase in all students as well as young people. after receiving answers to questionnaires, the maker found nearly half plan to buy a over lock machine for personal use. >> a over lock sewing machine is an instrument that most people do not get a chance to use. we provide that opportunity to advertise through our studio and we can increase our where awareness and really appreciate what our machines have to offer. >> according to a survey of nearly 2000 sellers who offer products on the website nearly half earn an extra $100 a month

and some of the top earners bring in over $10,000 a month. this is beyond a hobby. >> $10,000 is an incentive, but to get there you really need to integrate everything. the e-commerce platform with all of your customers, the latest technology in terms of the machine and of course top- notch designs . >> something that comes to mind is this is the complete opposite of fast fashion . >> maybe it is the future and the opportunity. what we are seeing is -- taking on the influencers with their designs and now the technology is to upgrade their business model. i think it is serving a big trend. when i look around at tokyo, young people are really individual with their styles. they also have their own styles . >> it makes an item more

special and more you . >> it makes it so much more special. when people see there is an opportunity for more individualized -- they have an opportunity to do something. >> thank you for being with us today. ñcñcñcñc ♪

>> this is al jazeera. these are your top stories. three major u.s. pharmacy chains have been ordered to pay two counties. a court found pharmacies run by cvs, walmart and walgreens helped create a public nuisance by over supplying addictive pain pills. we report. >> the three retailers were sued by the counties of lake and trumbull, east of cleveland