♪ hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara. people in ukraine are digging their heels in, but the reality of the hardships that come from russian attacks on life-saving infrastructure is setting in. many areas are still recovering from attacks that knocked out power, and a community fresh off a victory is now in mourning. kherson was hit by the strongest bombardment until it was recaptured by ukrainian troops. some of the neighborhoods struck this time had reportedly never

been targeted. witnesses told the associated press five people died. the day before, strikes on the capital knocked out power to roughly 60% of kyiv. russian officials admitted to attacks on military infrastructure but denied having civilian targets. s. think tank the institute for the study of war said it was an attempt to break ukrainian wills. but leaders in kyiv say they will not weaken and are rebuilding. >> translator: electricity situation remains difficult in almost all regions. we are little by little recovering from the blackout. >> the head of the international atomic energy agency is keeping an eye on nuclear plants disconnected amid the fighting. the u.n. watchdog says power was restored thursday to the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. three others were separately placed in shutdown mode and are

relying on backup generators. u.s. president joe biden says a plan to punish russia financially for its invasion of ukraine is set to take effect. the g7 proposal would mean a price cap on russian oil shipments. >> yes, and it's in play. >> biden confirmed he'd spoken to his treasury secretary, janet yellen, about the issue. the group of seven economies say they want to impose a price cap on russian oil imports delivered by sea starting december 5th. they want to limit moscow's earnings while avoiding a sharp spike in prices that would come from cutting off supply from russia's oil pipelines. but russia's president says the plan will have severe consequences for the global energy market. vladimir putin made the comments

during a phone call with iraq's new prime minister mohammad shia al sudani on thursday. kremlin spokesperson dmitry peskov also told reporters that russia will not supply oil and gas to any country that takes part in the price cap scheme. russia's invasion isn't the only devastation top of mind in ukraine. every november, people honor ctims of forced famines during the soviet era. one woman is sharing her sry of surviving the worst one 90 years ago, a famine motivating ukrainians to support today's war effort. nhk world's caterina novitska reports. >> reporter: at 102, liubov yarosh is keeping busy. she makes attire for ukrainian forces. >> translator: i'm helping because i think about our

soldiers, and i cry. >> reporter: she understands hardship. at just 12 years old, she lived through the holodomor, a massive human-caused famine the ukrainian government called genocide. >> translator: we were eating tree leaves. my body was swollen. my legs and hands were huge. i was just lying in the garden. my father had to carry me there. >> reporter: the holodomor started in 1932. the soviet government required farmers to give up their harvests as part of a collectivization policy. they opposed it, but the government took everything by force, causing mass starvation. yarosh says about 100 people died in her village. her younger sister from hunger and her older brother from a beating after he was caught

trying to take a few vegetables. she lived in constant fear. >> translator: i gathered some grain, brought them home, and put on the stove. but a government monitor saw me carrying them. he came to our house and took all the grain. i cried, why are you doing this? we have nothing to eat. >> reporter: this history professor says the holodomor killed about 4 million people in ukraine, more than 10% of the population. >> there is an intentional, consciouuse of starvation to break the ukrainian asants, to teach them a lesson. it's a sophisticated operation ofransforming and destroying a nation in order to put a new one in its place.

>> reporter: this year, russia temporily blocked ukrainian grain exports and reportedly also stole some. for ukrainians, it was more reason to continue their resistance. it resurfaced painful memories of the holodomor. >> in the eyes of ukrainians, it was moscow coming to take my grain and kill me. so it's perfectly understandable that they see a continuity. because it was always moscow. >> reporter: yarosh says she doesn't want to live in fear again. three of her grandchildren are fighting in the war. she wants them to return in time to celebrate her 103rd birthday together as a family. >> translator: i am waiting for the radio to announce the war is about to end. i'm really waiting for this. i hope i can live to hear that.

>> that was nhk world's catarina novitska reporting. twitter's new ceo, elon musk, says he will reinstate some suspended accounts next week. he posted a poll on twitter on whether to restore accounts that have not broken the law or engaged in spam. the yes vote accounted for more than 72%. musk tweeted on thursday saying, the people have spoken, amnesty begins next week. he has yet to say what kind of accounts will be reinstated. musk has already said former u.s. president donald trump is allowed back on the platform. the new ceo had said no suspended account would be reinstated until the company had formed a content moderation council. it is not known whether such a

council has been created. experts are criticizing such yes-or-no online polls. they say debate over the matter could fall short. others worry that restoring accounts could result in a rise in harassment, hate speech or misinformation. a japanese court has cleared a former high-ranking finance ministry bureaucrat of liability for compensation over the 2018 suicide of a government official he allegedly pressured to falsify official documents. the osaka district court dismissed a claim for damages filed by the official's widow. her husband toshio was forced to tamper with documents tied to the sale of state-owned land in osaka to school operator well

below market value. he later committed suicide. former finance ministry bureaucrat sagawa allegedly ordered the falsifications. the court found he had no individual responsibility to pay compensation. presiding judge akira made the ruling based on a judicial precedent that says the government is responsible for acts by bureaucrats during their duties, not individual public servants. the plaintiff commented that the ruling is regrettable and expressed her intention to appeal. >> translator: i want to know why my husband died and what happened. and i don't want this kind of thing to happen again. >> akagi had also sued the government to find out more about why her husband died. but the trial abruptly ended last december when the government agreed to pay damages

in full. as a result, the officials allegedly involved in the tamper diagnose not have to testify in court. the land deal occurred while former prime minister abe shinzo was in office. it sparked allegations of favoritism as abe's wife was involved with a school the developer was planning to build on the property. tokyo prosecutors have raided the headquarters of japan's largest ad agency dentsu over alleged bid-rigging involving test events for the tokyo olympics and paralympics. japan's fair trade commission also searched the location. sources have told nhk the tokyo olympic and paralympic games organizing committee may have also been involved in bidding that violates japan's anti-monopoly law. sources also say committee officials may have given some ad agencies and other companies an

edge in the competition for contracts. the contracts involved were for checks of security and how athletes would navigate each venue. in 2018, nine companies and one consortium won contracts worth about $3.6 million at the current exchange rate. successful bidders included dentsu. the suspected collusion surfaced during investigations into a series of alleged bribes involving a former executive of the games' organizing committee. takahashi harayuki is a former dentsu executive. he's been indicted on charges of receiving roughly $1.5 million in bribes from game sponsors and others. as the holiday season gets under way, illuminations are popping up across tokyo. managers of one of these displays made changes for this year to be conscious of safety.

nhk world's jonathan oh joins us to tell us more. jonathan? >> reporter: i'm joining you from central tokyo where this location is known for both business and fun. it's also a location for a sight of the holiday season, japan loves illumination. especially as the weather gets colder, feels a bit cooler out here, along with the nights getting long, there are these lights that help brighten up during the long holiday period. here in tokyo midtown, there's one location that's really changed up. and that is talking about the holiday illuminations. it was hard to enjoy this during the covid-19 pandemic because people couldn't gather together. now restrictions are loosening up and people are able to enjoy sights like this. this illumination, the island is showing you 300 tall lights and

lamps, all to music. right in the center there, a big snow globe with l.e.d. ball of lights inside. take a look right now. ♪ ♪ yeah, lots of bright lights and a lot of fun as well. but of course, one of the big things is, what about safety? especially with the concern of the pandemic. so the organizers made sure to think of this by making sure that the timing of the music and the displays is shortened compared to last year's display, and made sure there's plenty of room where people are able to move about. once the program ends they can move to other portions of the park. as japan starts to open up more to tourists, people are coming to places like rappongi, and it looks like japan is trying to

find its way to a more normal life pattern after the covid-19 pandemic. there is hope bright lights like these will really brighten up the holiday spirit. from the bright lights in central tokyo, i'm jonathan oh, nhk world. back to you. >> thank you, jonathan. it's time now for the weather with our meteorologist, sayaka mori. deadly floods have hit parts of saudi arabia after receivie iin record-breaking torrential rains. >> hello, torrential rnfall abruptly hit parts of a desert country. as you can see the satellite imagery, clouds suddenly emerged over western areas of saudi arabia. jeddah had nearly 118 millimeters of rai in a span of only six hours. the average annual rainfall for this area is only 60 millimeters. that means three years' worth of floods took place.six hours. take a look at this video.

heavy rain flooded jeddah thursday afternoon, delaying flights, shutting down schools, and closing the roads to mecca. two people have been killed. floods occur almost every year during winter, but this amount is too much and workers at a holy shrine in mecca were clearing rainwater too. november is typically the wettest month of the year, and in 2009, jeddah was also hit by significant floods that killed nearly 120 people. on the opposite side of the arabian peninsula, the fifa world cup series is taking place and it's going to be sunny as usual. and on sunday it's going to be sunny with a high of 30 degrees. japan will face costa rica on sunday. meanwhile in asia we are seeing a stationary front across the south of china, bringing heavy rainfall and northern vietnam is also receiving a lot of rain. we saw nearly 330 millimeters of rain within 24 hours.

and we are seeing a lot of heavy rainfall continuing in the south. meanwhile, a snow maker is moving across northeastern china and north korea and the system will likely affect northern areas of japan, including hokkaido, during the weekend with heavy rain, powerful winds, and also high waves. now, we are seeing a temperature contrast between the north and the south, and this cold air will be even getting colder as we go into next week. take a look at this. ulaanbaatar, minus 11 saturday. down to minus 26 degrees. that's it for me. stay safe.

that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. thanks for watching, and do stay with us for more.

this is "newsline biz." i'm gene otani. consumer prices in tokyo have been rising this month at their fastest pace in four decades. city residents were hit especially hard by soaring costs for food, electricity, and gas. the internal affairs ministry says the consumer price index for november rose 3.6% from a year ago in the capital's 23 wards. that was the highest figure since april 1982. a series of price hikes by firms lifted retail food prices by

6.7%. the reading excludes fresh foods because weather conditions cause their prices to fluctuate widely. gas bills soared over 32%. electricity rose 26%. tokyo's cpi is considered to be a leading indicator of inflation nationwide. the november figures for all of japan are scheduled to be released on december 23rd. the japan external trade organization says firms doing business overseas expect better financial results this year. a survey by jetro was conducted from august to september. over 700 companies opeting overseas responded. almost 65% said they expect to see operating profits. that's up nearly 2 points from the responses for the same period last year. the latest finding shows business has recovered to about the same level as before the pandemic in 2019.

the recovery is also being seen in the service industry, hit especially hard by covid restrictions. more restaurants and retailers overseas are expecting profits, but the picture is different for japanese firms in china. nearly 42% said their financial results would worsen. less than 27% said they would improve. jetro chairman sasaki highlighted one of the main concerns. >> translator: the more aggressively china imposes its zero covid policy, the heavier the burden on the global economy. so we need to keep watching what policies china takes as infections start rising again. >> beijing eased somof its anti-coronavirus restrictions earlier this month to help the economy, but the authorities have made it clear they are sticking with their zero covid policy. sales at japan's major restaurant chains last month topped prepandemic levels for the first time.

the japan food service association says the october numbers were up 5.5% compared to the same month in 2019. those at fast food outlets grew 18%, leading the rebound. pubs and izakayas did not do so well. sales fell nearly 37% from three years ago, mainly because company parties were slow to come back. the association says the government's come pain to promote domestic tourism helped out. the total figures were also pushed up by higher prices on menu items. but the association says rising costs now present a challenge for many businesses. the number of coronavirus cases in china has hit another record high. that's adding to concerns president xi jinping's zero covid policy will keep weighing on the economy. the government says total new infections in all provinces and autonomous regions hit about

32,000 on thursday. that's a record for the second straight day. the authorities are tightening measures in beijing. they are urging companies to make employees work from home. eat-in restaurant services have been suspended. nomura holdings said as of monday, 48 chinese cities had some kind of lockdowns or restrictions. these cities account for nearly 40% of gdp. japan's food exports to india have been growing steadily. a promotional event in new delhi was aimed at keeping the momentum going. about 200 people attended a trade fair organized by the embassy. visitors tasted local specialties from across japan, including shiitake mushrooms from the southwestern prefectures. there were apples from the northern prefecture of aomori. farmers there officially began shipping the fruit to india just this month. >> very good. >> translator: there are quite a

few vegetarians, so i think there is a lot of potential for vegetables, fruit, and processed food. >> japan's food exports to india have risen each year since 2016. businesses are looking to ship even more to meet demand from a market totaling around 1.4 billion people. russia is bringing back a soviet-era car brand. production is already under way amid an exodus of foreign automakers from the country. the new moskvich is being manufactured at a factory that was used by french automaker renault. moscow's mayor said the brand's reappearance was a historic event. he is expressing hope of a new era of russian car

manufacturing. moskvich was retired two decades ago, but the new model does not appear to be entirely homegrown. many of its parts bear the name of a chinese company. western sanctions that came in response to the invasion of ukraine put the brakes on a big part of the local auto industry. a russian newspaper says the market has shrunk by about 60% this year compared to 2021. let's see what's happening in the week ahead. we expect to have data indicating the health of the global economy. we start with tokyo. female leaders from africa will come to japan's capital for the first asia-pacific and africa women's economic exchange summit. the meeting kicks off on monday and continues until thursday. participants include uganda's first female prime minister and the first ladies of other nations. they will discuss ways to secure stable supplies of clean water and food.

food insecurity in the region has been aggravated by devastating droughts, a plague of locusts that devoured crops, and the war in ukraine. also on wednesday, the japanese finance ministry will report its cost of foreign exchange intervention in the latest month. the country used a record $45 billion to tame the yen's fall last month. this is in addition to about $20 billion in september. the government has stepped into the currency market several times without officially announcing the moves. market analysts will be paying attention to the latest figure to determine whether intervention took place during the past month. china will announce its purchasing managers index for november on the same day. the last reading for october showed that both factory and service sector activities dipped below the 50 mark threshold. any reading above that number indicates expansion. below it shows contraction.

economists are raising the alarm on china's economy as it faces rapidly rising covid infection numbers. authorities have reintroduced restrictions on business activities and factory operations in many parts of the nation this month as beijing keeps most of its stringent anti-pandemic measures in place. we will also see next week how the indian economy has fared in the three months ending september. the country recently overtook the uk as the world's fifth largest economy. it remains a bright spot in an increasingly gloomy global picture. india is set to release its latest gdp figures on wednesday. the economic expansion accelerated by double digits in the april-to-june quarter. many economists expect a slower growth rate in the 6% range for the july-to-september period from a year ago. india's momentum will be

affected by the fading effects of post-covid reopenings coupled with higher inflation and borrowing costs. the nation has also been seeing a weakening of its currency in the wake of u.s. interest rate hikes. still, the reserve bank of india sees its economy expanding at a rate of around 7%. that's more than double the projection for global growth this year. investors are closely watching the inflation number due out of the u.s. on thursday. the core personal consumption expenditures price index is used by the federal reserve to gauge prices. it ticked up in september to 5.1%, returning to its highest rate since march. markets have recently been swayed by expectations about the pace of u.s. rate hikes as the fed says its decision will depend on incoming data. all right, let's have a look at the markets.

that's a look at business news. ■x■xñlkxq#qqqcccwgcg/g'■ >>e

determined than ever to secure its southern border. what has caused the latest escalation, and who are the main players? this is "inside story." >> welcome to the program. tension has increased along turkey's -- turk