♪ hello, and welcome to this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo with the latest at this hour. we start with russia's invasion of ukraine. the united states is reportedly finalizing plans to provide the patriot missile defense system to kyiv. it's considered one of the most advanced u.s. air defense systems. the aim is to help defend infrastructure. cnn and other news outlets quoting u.s. officials say the announcement could come within days. the system can intercept ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft from a

long range. ukrainians have been struggling with major power shortages and freezing weather as russia continues to attack energy infrastructure. the white house says ukraine urgently needs air defense capabilities a that' what the u.s. is prioritizing. russia's embassy in washington says the u.s. providing the patriot system would be another provocative step, one that can lead to what it calls unpredictable consequences. meanwhile, the kremlin says president vladimir putin's annual address to the federal assembly may not happen until next year. he's already cancelled his annual year end news conference. u.s. think tank the institute for the study of war says putin may not be confident in his ability to justify to the public the war's toll on russia's domestic and global affairs. now, there are growing concerns about a new wave of evacuees from ukraine this winter. millions have left the country since the start of the invasion

and many fled to neighboring moldova. as nhk world's, with emergencies is being used to help. the power is out in moldova's capital. the country depends on energy from ukraine, so the war across the border is affecting daily life. but the other big challenge is helping those who fled. about 100,000 ukrainians are now living in tiny moldova, and they need medical care. this is a japanese professor and a public health expert. he's visited moldova several times this year. helping officials deal with a flood of new patients. kubo says medical teams struggle to keep up with demand, especially at the start of the invasion. and as russia steps up its attacks on ukraine, he says

moldova needs to prepare for another surge. >> if the number of evacuees increase, it's simply the amount of medical demands will increase. i mean, this is not just about injuries by warfare, this is about cancer, chronic heart disease. >> reporter: kubo is training staff to react quickly if more people evacuate to moldova. evacuations and emergencies are frequent in japan, so he's come to share knowledge. he says collecting information is critical in a crisis and that's been a problem here. he developed a simple checklist for doctors and medical staff. they can check off people's injuries or ailments and easily share it. >> try to share from our experience and our failure and

try to strengthen the mechanism of moldova and other countries. >> reporter: the world health organization says kubo's strategy are proving helpful. staff are now using his checklist on the ground. >> it was very interesting because as i said, without it, you cannot deliver appropriate services. >> reporter: the w.h.o. says evacuees could arrive with new issues this winter. many in ukraine and moldova are not vaccinated for covid or the flu, so medical teams will need to be organized. yoshida mayu nhk world. next, two russians on the international space station have had a space walk cancelled at the last minute. nasa says ground teams noticed fluid leaking from a docked russian craft. a nasa video shows white

particles spewing out of a soyuz module. the current crew members are three from nasa, three from russia, and one from japan. officials at nasa say the space walk plan for two of the russians on wednesday was cancelled to allow time to evaluate the fluid leak and its potential impact. officials at nasa are working with russian partners to figure out how the leak happened. ♪ peru new government has declared a state of emergency. it gives police new powers to suppress violent protests sparked by the former president's ouster. the clashes have left at least seven people dead. unrest has spread throughout the south american country. protesters have blocked streets, invaded airports and set fire to public facilities. many gathered where former leader pedro castillo is being

held by police for investigating allegations of rebellion. >> translator: the prosecutor is corrupt, the judges are corrupt. they're shameful. our pedro castillo, our president has been kidnapped. >> castillo was elected last year. the leftist politician is suspected of breaking the constitution by attempting to dissolve congress ahead of an impeachment vote. castillo's former vice president has taken leadership. dina has promised to hold an election before his term was due to expire in o 2026, first giving a date of april 2024, then pushing it up by four months. >> translator: because before that date, brothers and sisters who demand the elections be earlier technically and legally it will not fit. >> the new emergency measures suspend the rights of people to assemble and move freely for 30 days. protesters pledged to rise again

after that's lifted. china's latest economic report paints a grim picture. it shows as covid-19 cases surged last month, domestic spending shrank by 5.9%. the national bureau of statistics says november was the second month in a row that saw retail sales decline. it was the largest drop since may when shanghai's pandemic lockdown poured cold water on consumption. industrial production grew 2 pnlt 2% from last year, but the rate went down 2.8 points from october. real estate development, which is one of china's main industries remains sluggish. investment in the sector since january fell by almost 10% compared to the same period in 2021. la last week, china dramatically eased its zero covid policy, but an economic comeback may not be yaeds. for more on the outlook, we

spoke with our correspondent in beijin beijing. >> what are these numbers tellin us? >> they are telling us a few thing, swing how bad covid-19 has been for china's economy in recent months. infection levels and tough restrictions have kept people from going out and spending their money. that's had an effect on a lot of domestic industries, not just realize. china's auto manufacturers have been hurt. and decline year on year for the first time since may. export, one of china's economy's most important areas of growth fell for the second month in a row, and that's due to factors outside beijing's control. high inflation, and interest rate hikes in europe and the united states. to sum up, china's enomic vironment is becoming much

more severe. the government is feeli the pressure, and it's trying to jump start recovery by relaxing zero covid policies. >> and what impact will it have? >> it'sxpected to be positive, but the question is when? we saw protests in major cities last month. people demanded an end to restrictions on where they could go and what they could do. but now that those are released, it's difficult to say whether consumption will bounce back. lots of areas in beijing are still mostly deserted. infections are still believed to be skyrocketing and that's likely keeping people from going out. china has reduced mass testing, but there are concerns the medical system is being strained. even people with mild symptoms are having trouble getting medicine from pharmacies.

lunar new year holiday starts next month. hundreds of millions of people traditionally travel across the country, and that will be a real test for china. we know chi will likely miss its gdp growth target for this year. the question now is whether that will change in 2023, and whether beijing can addss both medical and economic anxieties. the united nations has voted to expel iran from its main body promoting gender equality. it comes as iranians continue to protest over women's rights. the u.n. economic and social counsel domted the resolution on wednesday. the u.s. drafted document accuses iran of suppressing the human rights of the country's women and girls. 29 members including japan supported the measure. eight members, including russia and china voted against it. iran's u.n. delegation accused the united states of bullying it

out of the commission on the status of women or csw. >> the baseless and fabricated allegations made against the islamic public of iran are justification for its plan to deprive it of c 7 membership. >> the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. derchfended the expulsion. >> iran's membership directly undermines the commission's work. its membership was a stain on our credibility. >> iran has been hit with unrest since september. it was sparked by the death of mahsa amini, the 22-year-old woman died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly wearing her head scar ch improperly. that was met with widespread outrage against iran's morality police and its treatment of women. iranian authorities have cracked down on the protests. human rights activists say hundreds have been killed. now, there's a push for

change at another u.n. organ, the security council. the latest calls from participants of the group's meeting, and even the head of the u.n. says conflict has evolved dramatically. >> frameworks for global cooperation have not kept pace with this evolution. issues quickly become zero sum and polarizing. our two groups, norms and approaches need upgrading. >> they held a debate on bolstering multilateralism. they say the group is dysfunctional due to conflicts between member states with veto power. some are calling for that option to be curved. others want the number of current members to be increased flt current five. russia's u.n. ambassador agrees change is necessary. he also criticized western countries over their response to the situation in ukraine. russia's invasion has put long standing concerns about the body back into the spotlight. reform of a security council

requires the approval of all permanent council members and amending the u.n. charter. in other news, new research shows long-term effects of the coronavirus known as long covid have contributed to more than 3,500 deaths in the united states. the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention released its report on wednesday. researchers analyzed about 1 million deaths that occurred between january 2020, and june this year. the death certificates state covid-19 was the underlying or contributing cause. they identified 3,544 which mention long covid or other related terms. people aged 65 and over account for nearly 80%. researchers also found the highest number of deaths happened in february of this year. long covid symptoms include shortness of breath and extreme fatigue that persists for months in some people.

♪ shifting now to the weather, people in parts of the u.s. are seeing a series of harsh conditions, including blizzards and tornados. our meteorologist jonathan oh has the details there and elsewhere in our world weather report. hello, earlier this week, we were talking about a developing winter system from the west that was moving its way toward the east and over the past few days, we've seen a really well developed low pressure system locate toward the northern areas of the united states while a separate low was moving down from the south, and this combined action led to serious winter storm conditions for the

north, and severe thunderstorms down toward the south. i want to show you some video coming out from starting with oklahoma where a massive winter storm hit the united states tuesday causing severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. homes and businesses were destroyed in parts of texas, oklahoma, and louisiana. and in louisiana, eyewitnesss capture footage of tornados on their mobile phones. according to local media, at least two people have died and some needed assistance after being trapped in their homes. the story of the unstable weather continues. one low pressure system moving into the carolinas and that's going to bring some thunderstorms as we go through the day on thursday. another low that's been producing the winter weather, it's still impacting the great lakes region with strong winds along with that snowy weather. that's going to be a slow mover, spinning over the general area from the midwest into the great lakes as we go through the day on thursday. be on the lookout for that. snow in chicago, toronto, rain into new york, d.c., back toward

the west, really cold weather here, denver with two partly cloudy skies on thursday. quick note on the doha forecast with the world cup wrapping up this weekend. dry weather, highs in the mid-20s as we go through saturday and sunday. across japan, it's been a winter storm type of set up. we're talking about strong winds up to 105 kilometer per hour gusts with snowfall amounts quite high as we see this low pressure rolling on through. we're looking at snowfall amounts up to 60 centimeters ponl friday morning, gusts 126 kilometers per hour were many chilly weather through sapporo the next few days. hope you have a good weather wherever you are. ♪

♪ . and that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline biz" with ramin mellegard, so stay right there. ♪

♪ this is "newsline biz," i'm ramin mellegard. now, the tokyo assembly has enacted a local law allow builders to install solar panels on homes starting in april 2025. the effort to promote decarbonization is the first of its kind in japan. assembly members approved the legislation on thursday. major housing firms will have to submit a report every year on their compliance with the law. they'll also need to report how much energy is being generated

from the solar panels. the tokyo assembly also passed a supplementary budget of 110 billion yen or about $810 million. a portion of that will go to help home builders maximize environmental efficiency in their design and installation methods. now, japan marked a trade deficit for the 16th straight month in november. soaring energy prices and a weaker yen were mostly to blame. the finance ministry says the deficit came in at more than 2 trillion yen or about $15 billion. that's the most ever in yen terms for the month of november. the total trade deficit so far this year already exceeds the annual record set in 2014. imports surged more than 30% from a year earlier to around 10 trillion yen or $80 billion. costs for coal more than doubled with crude oil up nearly 70% and liquified natural gas rising more than 50%.

exports also increased but not enough to match the surge in the value of imports. they rose 20% or almost 9 trillion yen or $65 billion. shipments to the united states of vehicles and heavy machinery for construction and mining were strong as were exports of semiconductors and other electronic components to asia. now, the japanese government has authorized groups of food producers and retailers to work together to promote the country's agricultural products. producers representing seven categories attended kredation ceremonies, they're products included sake, fruit, and confectionaries, improving the profile of the food brand abroad and attract new customers. the government targets raising annual exports of agricultural, fishery and forestry products to 5 trillion yen or $37 billion to 2013. the figure this year already

exceeded 1 trillion yen by october and that's tfastest pace recorded so far. the ministry hopes to reach the 5 trillion yen goal earlier. to that end, it plans to give accreditation to more including exporters of beef and marine productings, and encourage cooperation among producers across regions. and a japanese industry group forecasts worldwide output of personal computers and ceremoni smartphones will see a decline this year and next. at the same time, chip makers are moving to scale back their production plans. japan electronics and information technology industries association or jaka says global prukts of pc, in 2022 will amount to $200 billion. that's down 2% from last year. it forecasts the figure will drop 4% further in 2023. for smartphones and similar

mobile devices, they see output amounting to $330 billion this year. that represents a drop of 6% from last year. for next year, it forecasts a 2% fall. global demand for pcs and smartphones had risen as many people opted to work from home due to the pandemic. but that trend appears to have peaked. a slow down of the chinese and other economies is seen as another reason the market is softening. post offices across japan started accepting new year's greeting cards on thursday. in this age of social media, the postal service is encouraging people to give their greetings in the traditional way by sending nengajo. >> new year's cards that convey your thoughts have value as gifts, and these cards will be the first gifts of the year. >> a a ceremony in tokyo, the

president expressed his hope that people will welcome the new year in good spirits. the ceremony included ests, including comedian, he says when he writes greeting cards, the face of each recipient and a feeling of gratitude comes to mind. japan post says 1.64 billion of them have been issued for 2023. about 10% fewer than last year. the figure has fallen by more than 60% from the peak in 2004. to make up for the decline, the postal service has launched digital postcards that can be sent via the line messaging app. this year, 105 designs were on offer. japan post is encouraging people to post their nengajo by december 25th to ensure delivery on new year's day. now, the olive branch has long been seen as a symbol of peace, but one japanese farmer

is hoping it becomes a symbol of renewal. nhk world's story. >> our olive oil gives a fresh flavor. he planted his first olive trees 12 years ago. he wanted to put abandoned farmland back into use. japan's rural areas have seen a decline in farming because the country's farmers are ageing and there are not enough successors. massuzaki had the idea of growing a crop that no one had ever tried before in the area. he had studied in spain and it was from that experience that he came up with the idea of growing the well known mediterranean

olive tree. he and his partner started exploring what it would entail to grow olives in japan's northeast. just as his business was getting underway, a tsunami struck the fukushima daiichi plant in 2007. it only about 40 kilometers away and the shadow of the accident has hung over the area ever since. determined to dispel the negative image, matsuzaki decided to keep on with his plan to grow olives. >> translator: the accident made me even more set on growing olives. >> reporter: an increasing number of people from across japan have joined the effort to help get fukushima back on its feet. japan has more rain and higher humidity than spain.

so matsuzaki had to ensure his trees were able to adapt to the local micro climate. he improved the drainage to make sure water didn't build up around the roots and add the mulch to keep the roots warm. after years of hard work, his efforts are starting to bear fruit. he now has more than 6,000 olive trees and this year, he harvested about 1 1/2 tons of the fruit. he's also trying his hand at producing specialized items such as teas and pastas using olive leaves. matsuzaki is now working on creating an olive village. he has acquired more than a hectopasc hectare and a half of land that

was abandoned after the tsunami. he will start planting 300 olive trees next year and will turn it into a place where people can gather and hold events. >> translator: i will keep growing olives with the hope that this place will become a metown for everyone. >> matsuzaki ultimately hopes his olive trees will become a symbol of the city's recovery from the 2011 disaster. nhk world, iwaki. okay. let's get a check on the markets. ♪

that's it for "newsline biz" from tokyo. i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very much for watching. or

abandoned the popular cause that brought me here. ♪ >> let's get around up of the top stories now on al jazeera. croatia was no match for argentina, losing 3-0. messi opened his scoring from the penalty spot. they will play france -- for the first time researchers have produced more