hello, welcome to "nhk newsline". we begin in ukraine. experts from the international atomic agency are inspecting the nuclear power plant. fighting near the russian -controlled facility has raised fears of a possible nuclear disaster. the director general heads the team, which checked the damaged

facilities. >> i've just completed the first tour of the key areas that we wanted to see in this approach to the facility. there is a lot more to do. my team is staying on. most importantly, we have a continued presence from the iea here. >> some team members have left the plant. a local pro-russian group says the rest of the team is continuing its inspection. the state nuclear company says the inspection would last until saturday. they say will land on sunday or monday. they make ukrainian president reiterated his demand that the plant he returned to his country's control. estimate the main thing that must happen is the demilitarization of the station's teterritory. it is the goal of ukrainian and

international efforts. >> shelling continue to run the plant on thursday. ukraine and russia each blamed each other, blamed the other for the attacks. argentina's vice president has narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, caught on film. this dramatic video shows the president greet a crowd outside her home in buenos aries. a man's steps forward, points a gun at her head and pulls the trigger. the gun apparently jammed and she escaped unharmed. the news agency reports that authorities detained a brazilian suspect nearby. presidt alberto fernandez says the gun wasn't loaded. it is unclear why it did not fire. the attempted shooting was the most serious event to hit the country since the democracy was

restored this highlights the political divisions. fernandez is a former president that is on trial for corruption. u.s. president joe biden has delivered his fiercest rebuke of donald trump yet. he called the former president and his supporters extremists that are undermining american democracy. he spoke from what he calls sacred ground, the city where the u.s. claimed its independence. here's voters to protect that history by rejecting trumps make america great again policies. >> there is no question that the republican party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by donald trump and the m.a.g.a. republicans. that is a threat to this

country. >> he raised memories of the storming of the u.s. capital, saying the rejection of the 2020 election results put a dagger at the throat of democracy. his speech comes two months between before the midterm elections. as the americans struggling to record inflation, the republicans blame joe biden for rising prices. they are fighting to take back the house with an aim to make biden a lame-duck president. and honolulu, security officials from tokyo, washington and south korea revved up a high-level meeting, the first of its kind a south korean president took office in may. the did affirm close cooperation against the nuclear program of north korea. japan met with his u.s. counterpart, jake sullivan, on thursday. north korea's nuclear missile development efforts topped the agenda.

the officials agreed to work closely toward the complete denuclearization. the south korea reported a strong response if north korea has a seventh nuclear test. japan confirm support and cooperation from the u.s. and south korea to resolve the issue of abductions of japanese nationals. >> south korea could ask the public to weigh in on a debate involving members of bts. the defense ministry says it may conduct a survey to help decide if it should exempt them from mandatory military service. the oldest members of bts, the oldest member turns 30 in december. the south korean men are required to serve in the military by that age. the country gives exptions to classical musicians, dancs, or athletes that enhance

national prestige. th thinit shou be expanded to inude pop stars like bts. the defense minister wants the public to have a say. >> we have set a deadline to decide on the matter. i have told officials to carry out a public survey. >> officials say the survey is one of many factors it will use to make the decision. the media reports say the ministries plan is facing criticism online. officials in japan are tackling the biggest covid-19 wave yet. they are also looking toward the next pandemic. they are wanting to make sure people have access to life-saving

care. >> the government has prepared a new system to make sure that medical care can be accessed during emergencies. for example, the government will make it mandatory for core hospitals to provide necessary medical care. the measures are a response to issue such upon that japan is facing. people infected by the coronavirus have reportedly been turned away by dozens of hospitals, leading to more serious illness or death. in the future, facilities who do so could face consequences. the core proders th do not foow rules laid out in new agreements with see their special status revoked. japan has also struggled to compel people to follow covid- 19 rules. these measures will allow authorities to order people to be infected to self isolate, or potentially face a penalty.

it will widen the rules for who can provide vaccinations. japanese law only allows doctors and nurses to give out jabs. this allows officials to extend the responsibility to lab technicians and dentists. they will discuss the draft legislation this fall. japanese politicians say they are cutting ties with the former eunuch unification church. this comes after the suspect in the killing of former japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, said he was motivated by alleged wrongdoing by the group. a former american member of the organization says the issue is complicated as the groups influence stretches far. our reporter has a report. >> i was believing that world war iii was about to happen that armageddon was coming.

>> steve is a former member of a group he describes as a cult. he says he is now in expert on colts. he was 19 and dealing with the breakup when three women invited him to an event. they did not tell him that they were part of the unification church. he was later convinced to join the group, which was headed by the leader. >> he talked openly about how lying was fine for god. if you lie to recruit somebody or to protect the group from some lawsuit, or bad pr, that is okay. >> he was with the group for 2.5 years. after climbing up the ladder, he was told that you can control people by making them dependent on you.

this will allow you to dictate policy to them. >> the beginning was always to be helpful, can we donate to your campaign. can we give you some free office workers or campaign people to help your elecon campaign. most politicians are about money and free labor. they don't think about the unethical aspects of this. >> he was involved in political activities through organizations that were usually upfront for unification church. he and hundreds of members went to the u.s. capital to show support for president richard nixon. >> moon said god wants nixon to be president, despite watergate, and we will do a lot of media to call attention to how there is grassroots support

for richard nixon. >> after the killing of shinzo abe, it was revealed that several members of japan's liberal democratic party have ties to the group. it now has a new name. the prime minister apologized on behalf of discernment, and called on members to reveal and rake any links to the group. >> to say we are cutting ties is one level of information. for somebody to make a press conference and say, now i understand how evil the moon organization is, and how many people it has hurt, and how it is fundamentally against japanese people. i want nothing to do with them. to me, that would go a long way. >> the group is strongly tied to u.s. politicians. former president donald trump

and other republican party leaders sent a video message went to an event sponsored by moon's widow. >> i would love it if american politicians would have that pressure on them to distance thselves from authoritarian cults. >> cutting ties will be easy. a researcher created a list of entities associated with the group. this is an expanding global web of business and cultural front groups. >> in my experience, the unification church was one of hundreds of front groups that the group used. >> he says addressing these issues will be complex. awareness is an important first step.

♪ [ music ] ♪ now we are going to take a quick look at a watermelon that got the prize. this is an agricultural cooperative holding the event to promote local produce. >> [ speaking non-english ] >> seven jumbo watermelons were up for the prize. there were examples of the carolina cross variety grown for animal feed. the low temperatures throughout the growing season made for less than ideal conditions. the winner weighed 10 kilograms less than last year's price taker. still tipped the scales at 80

kilograms. >> i am happy to win. i put so much effort into this. >> the farmer has been growing the melons for three decades. he says he was thrilled to surpass his previous record of 60 kilograms and will aim to hit 100 kilograms or more, next year. it is time for a check on the weather with our meteorologist. we are obviously following the typhoon in southwestern japan. he has been tracking brain and other parts of the country, and has the latest. hello there, the typhoon sent ample moisture to the main island of japan. we are seeing scattered, heavy rainfall. we saw nearly 120 millimeters of rain in the span of an hour. this system is located south of

okinawa. it has made a u-turn. it will likely go toward the islands and get very close to these islands from late saturday into early sunday, as a very strong typhoon. as a typhoon, it could get close to the korean peninsula. the system could move over the fukushima islands over the weekend. wind gusts could be 250 kilometers per hour. some houses could be destroyed. the center could touch south korea or western japan. we will keep you posted on the meanwhile, a water spout was spotted in canada. look at this video. >> water spout was seen forming on lake huron in ontario, canada on wednesday. there were no warnings issued,

at least one street was closed due to weather related damage. we watch as the funnel shape cloud swirled and went across the water. the northern hemisphere entered meteorological fall. it does not look like fall at all. the valley experienced 51.1 degrees on thursday. temperatures will stay that way into next week. death valley could see a high of 52 degrees on labor day. portland could see a high of 32 on friday. that is it for me. stay cool.

that is all for this edition of "nhk newsline" in

tokyo. thank you for watching. please stay with us for more. this is "newsline biz". the japanese currency dropped below 140 yen against the dollar in trading. that is a 24 year low. it the sustained weakness is pushing up the cost of raw materials for a number of japanese industries, including makers of traditional iron

where. >> the foundry has been in the business for 170 years, making the product requires a large amount of electricity and iron for casting. the local power utility told the company last month, it would raise electricity rates from october, due to the weaker yen and high crude oil prices. they estimate the electricity costs will double as a result. the rising cost of iron is another issue as the main ingredients, iron ore and coal are both imported. they said they cannot turn to cheaper raw materials as the quality standards are very high. the company has been forced to pass on the cost to its customers. >> we are worried that raising prices will drive away customers as iron where products are not something essential to everyday life. >> the company will increase prices of almost all of its products by up to 20% in steps,

from october. >> nissan motors says they will stop taking orders of the leaf model until it raises the cars retail prices. they will temporarily suspend sales of the electric vehicle in japan from september 22. >> nissan is blaming the soaring cost of steel products and a wide range of raw materials, including precious metals used in storage batteries. the rising distribution expenses are another reason. the amount of the price hikes and duration of suspending sales are yet to be decided. the automaker says they will consider raising prices of other models. japan's consumers can expect to pay more for new cars in the coming months as other manufacturers are dealing with higher cost of materials and transportation. sales in department stores rose sharply in august from the

same period in 2021. some parts of the country were under the coronavirus state of emergency last summer. >> the store operators release preliminary figures on thursday, sales rose more than 40%. there was an increase of 30%. brisk sales of jewelry, watches, and luxury items pushed up overall numbers. spending has yet to return to earlier levels. the stores reported decreases from a percent to 14% compared to august in 2019. that was before the pandemic to cold. it was head of a price hike in the consumption tax. a town in japan is turning to folklore in a bid to boost tourism. they help a rental car featuring a mythical creature will convince visitors to stay longer. initiative is the idea of

this town. the officials heard a ceremony to launch the new marketing push. the creature is from a folktale by a famous local author. the town had 490,000 visitors in 2021. it is hoping to build on that this year. >> with 10,000 more, the number of tourist will reach half 1 million. i am really hopeful that this car will play a role in that. >> the cars available for rent from 8:00 aim until 6:00 p.m. on saturdays and sundays. scientists and academics spent years sounding the warning on climate change. those at stanford university have a school that is dedicated to the cause. they launched the door school

of sustainability on september 1. they named it after the prominent investor, john door, that contributed $1.1 billion. this is the first time in 70 years at stanford has opened a new school. the university department, specializing in research are rare in the u.s. stanford says students that attend the school will learn about green technology, food and water security, and urban sustainability. jeff bezos and bill gates have also been investing heavily in the climate cause. their contributions are fueling speculation that the field could give rise to a new i.t. giant. the german research firm estimates that by 2030, the global green technology market will be worth $420 billion. let's take a look at what is happening during the week

ahead. world leaders are struggling with the impact of high oil prices. we start with the moves of oil- producing nations. the members of the organization of the petroleum exporting countries and allies including russia, on monday, will discuss the output plan and have a decision for october. opec plus says it will raise production by 100,000 barrels per day in september. last month, the energy minister of saudi arabia, i keep layer of opec plus, talked about the possibility of cutting production in response to volatile price movements. prices of crude declined after surging to a record high in march. that was as the worries mounted over slowdowns in china and u.s. other producing agents were closely following saudi arabia's suggestion. the european central bank will hold a policy meeting. the bank raised interest rates by a greater than expected, 0.5

percentage points in july to tackle surging inflation. it was the first rate hike in 11 years. inflation hit 9% in august before going toward double- digit territory on the soaring gas prices. policymakers appear worried that even long-term expectations may surpass the 2% target, indicating a loss in confidence in the banks ability to control inflation. the analysts say the coming meetings could see a hike between 50 and 75 basis points. also on thursday, japan will revise gdp numbers for the most recent quarter. the preliminary figures showed gdp expanded 2.2% from the previous quarter. that is a one third quarterly rise. this was due to a recovery in consumer spending, which accounts for more than half of japan's gdp.

the country lifted quasi- emergency measures against covid-19, nationwide in march. a new regional trade initiative by the united dates will start its first in-person meeting on thursday. >> dando pacific economic framework for prosperity hold a two day meeting in los angeles. the delegates of all 14 members are due to attend, including those from japan, india, and thailand. they are expected to discuss four key pillars, including trade, supply chains, clean energy, and tax and anticorruption measures. the u.s. hopes to officially announce the start of negotiations at the meeting. it is seen as a way for the u.s. to counter the increasing influence of china in the region. with the latest inflation data from china on friday, the world's second-largest economy will disclose its producer

price and consumer price indices for august. the ppi rose from year ago. this was a 17 month low, despite the global cost pressures. a slowdown in domestic construction weight on the demand for raw materials. the cpi increased in july from last year. it was the fastest pace since july 2020. the government set an inflation target of about 3%. let's have a look at the markets.

from the "newsline biz" team , thank you for joining us. hurt.

but it was so much fun and totally worth it. ♪ >> you're watching al jazeera. a reminder of our top stories. the u.n. human rights chief has relieved -- released a damning report against china. beijing's arbitrary and discriminatory detention of uighur muslims and other muslims may constitute crimes against humanity. >> it was 13 minutes before the end of her term, the end of her month, that the report was