hello, and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. we begin in china, where officials have announced one giant leap for the country's manned space program. the state-owned company says a newly constructed chinese space station is set to become fully operational. an official statement confirms construction was completed last year. the space station is made up of three main parts. a core dubbed tianhe and two lab

modules. it's planned to stay in operation for over a decade and host experiments involving scientists from 17 countries. the announcement comes amid a growing space race between china and the u.s. beijing is launching probes to the moon and mars. nasa is working on the artemis program to bring the first humans to the lunar surface in over half a century. china and the philippines say they will restart negotiations on oil and gas development. while it could lead to huge opportunities, key territorial disputes remain. chinese president xi jingping met with president fernand marcos jr. in beijing monday. xi told marcos they will handle maritime issues through friendly

consultation. the countries disagree on their shares of the south china sea. marcos told xi he wants to open a new chapter in regards to bilateral ties. the country signed 14 cooperation documents including one promoteling the bellton road initiative significant economic project for china. they agreed to create a new communication channel. earlier, my colleague yamamoto miki talked with the bureau chief about what came out of the meeting. >> let's delve into the joint research development announcement. >> yes. >> why did marcos agree to resume negotiations, despite unresolved issues in the south china sea? >> securing energy sources is a

pressing issue for the philippines. it owns only one gas deal in those waters. that generates about a quarter of the electricity in luzon island where more than half of the population lives. the gas supply is expected to run out in a few years, forcing the country to find new sources. that's on top of another major struggle for marcos' administration, surging energy costs due to russian invasion of ukraine. >> right. and joint development on oil and gas between manila and beijing is not a new idea. give us a bit of a background. >> work began in the '80s, but negotiations always broke down. the former philippine president rodrigo duterte ended talks last year, saying joint development could undermine the country's sovereignty as china claims

almost all of the south china sea. marcos' government hasn't yet explained its rationale for restarting talks, but it has suggested there will be preconditions that china comply with the philippines' laws. beijing says it will advance cooperation at least in areas in the sea with no territorial disputes. it's not clear which area those includes, but china hasn't changed its stance that it will not budge an inch on territorial dispute in the waterways. some analysts in the philippines are concerned. they say beijing could use negotiations as stalling tactics, give it time to strengthen its control in the area in the sea. >> and marcos' visit touches on

more than just joint resource development. what's the bigger picture here? >> analysts say it appears to play into the battle between the u.s. and china for influence in the region. since taking office in june, marcos has deepened security ties with wang sen chen. in september, he had face-to-face talks with u.s. president joe biden. they discussed strengthening the military alliance between their countries. and several senior u.s. officials including vice president kamala harris, visited the philippines in the past six months. marcos is highlighting his country's close tie with the u.s. by holding large-scale joint military drills in october. the previous administration here relied on its ties to china to try to get economic benefits,

but it failed. analysts say marcos took lessons from that and is trying to use this rival ril -- rivalry to the philippines' advantage. as a number of coronavirus infections continues to grow in countries like china, so does the potential for a new variant. the world health organization is easing that worry at least for now. but it says the country needs to be more open about covid-19's impact. the w.h.o. says chinese authorities presented data based on more than 2,000 samples collected since december 1st. the country detected the same omicron subvariants circulating in other countries, but no new variant. the w.h.o. is raising concern about other data saying china's definition of a covid death is too narrow. >> we believe that the current numbers being published from china unrrepresent the true

impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of icu admissions, and particularly in terms of deaths. >> the organization says it will continue to ask authorities for more rapid regular and reliable data. the outbreak is spurring new precautionary measures. the european union decided on wednesday to urge all incoming travelers from china to wear masks on flights. it also recommends member states to ask them to present a negative covid test result within 48 hours before travel. ♪ u.s. ecommerce giant amazon says it plans to lay off more than 18,000 employees, far more than the number previously

reported. amazon ceo andy blamed the uncertain economy. he said the company had hired rapidly over the last several years. media outlets said in the fall that amazon was planning to cut about 10,000 in the roster. jesse said the cuts will help the firm pursue long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure. amazon's announcement is the latest in a series of job cuts in the u.s. tech industry. and concern is growing that the u.s. federal reserve's sharp interest rate hikes could dampen economic activities. u.s. president joe biden says he is considering giving ukraine some of his military's infantry fighting vehicles. >> what about bradley fighting vehicles for ukraine? is that on the table? >> yes. >> the m2 bradley has been used by the u.s. army since the 1980s.

it's equipped with an auto cannon, giving it offensive capabilities while bringing troops to the battlefield. speaking to abc news, ukraine's military intelligence chief says the bradley could soon play a role in repelling russia. >> it's a main vehicle for any infantry unit. that's why we need it. >> ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy also says he is receiving armored fighting vehicles from france. speaking owednesday, he said the deliveries sent a strong more international support.r a senior white house official says the u.s. will conduct more defense exercises with japan and south korea. it's meant to boost security ties between the three countries, amid growing threats from pyongyang. the u.s. held joint drills in the region at the end of last

year after a flurry of north korean missile launches. american officials are now looking to improve trilateral defense cooperations with allies in tokyo and seoul. national security council spokesperson john kirby says the u.s. is devoting more resources to boost intelligence gathering and military capabilities in the region. he also welcomed japan's efforts to revamp its defense strategy and enhance its ability to defend itself. u.s. president joe biden is set to meet with japanese prime minister kishida fumio in washington next week. they're expected to discuss a number of asian issues, including north korea's nuclear threats and the tensions around taiwan. next, a series of japanese cyber bullying cases have impacted two generations of the same family. a reality tv star killed herself

after she received abusive comments. now tokyo prosecutors have taken up the case of a man suspected of directing abuse at her mother. she was a professional wrestler and took her own life in 2020 after being attacked on social media for what she did and said in a reality tv show. she was 22. her mother has since campaigned against cyber bullying in hopes of preventing similar tragedies. she, too, has become a target of online defamation. a criminal complaint led police to track down the poster and refer him to psecutors. the poster is the third to be referred to prosecutors on suspicion of defaming her online. japan's weather agency has started a new web site on one of the country's deadliest quakes. it arrives ahead of the

disaster's 100th anniversary in september. agency officials say they hope it will help people prepare for the next big one. the site has photos and data on the magnitude 7.9 great kanto earthquake that left more than 100,000 people dead. the quake struck south of tokyo in the western part of kanagawa prefecture on september 1st, 1923. it destroyed buildings, triggered landslides and tsunami. wide parts of the tokyo and yokohama areas were engulfed in massive fires. a photo taken in front of tokyo station shows burned out ruins. other photos show damage to historic temples in cam ga wa prefecture. one shows the tsunami hit shore in prefecture. it shows levels of seismic

intensity observed in wide regions from northern to western japan. it also details the characteristics of quakes that occur in the kanto region, including tokyo and lists major quakes that have hit. agency officials say they'll be updating the site to explain a phenomenon known as whirlwind fire storms that have killed many people. they say they'll also add details on weather conditions at the time of the disaster. it's time for world weather with our meteorologist sayaka mori. heavy rain has been impacting western australia, causing major flooding in parts of the state. sayaka has the details. >> hello there, la nina has been bringing weather to australia, and currently torrential rain has been dump ing a lot of rain over western australia. and because of that, the river reached the highest on record and a wallaby was stuck in the water.

we have cyclone elie over western australia. more rain is expected. other areas such as the northern territory, convenienqueensland south wails will recei heavy rainfall that could lead to flooding. 2022 is the warmest of record. it's been on the cd side since last december. we'll see a huge change from next week to the following week. temperatures will be more like spring in many places from hoe kudo to the okinawa region. the tokyo area could see a high of 20 degrees. but the warm weather could lead to avalanches across the northwestern areas of the country. it's been hot across europe. temperatures have been nearly 10 or 15 degrs higher than average for this time of year. and because of that, snow has melted significantly. look at this videorom switzerland.

a mild winter has impacted the usually snowy slopes of switzerland. only a handful of skiers were found in this alpine resort village on wednesday. temperatures hit 21 degrees celsius, severely hampering operations at resorts. some people have been laid off from their jobs as the reduced tourists hit the industry hard. 2022 became the hottest year on record for switzerland. looks like warm conditions will continue across western and central europe. look at moscow, minus 22 for the high on saturday. the bone-chilling weather is expected for the east. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪

♪ and before we go, fishing

crews have marked the first day at sea with a prayer for safety and good catches. an event at the port involved more than 30 boats. crew members hoisted flags that usually signal they have had a rich haul, and they poured sake into the sea where they pray for safe voyages. >> catches were small last year so i hope they're bigger than usual this year. >> officials say the port handled nearly 240,000 tons of fish last year. it handled more than any other port in japan for the 12th year in a row. and 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. japan's finance ministry says it is more than doubling the coupon rate on ten-year government bonds amid a rapid rise in market yields. the ministry says ten-year bonds to be issued in january will have a coupon rate of 0.5%. the rate has been 0.2% since last april. it has been more than eight years since it was set at 0.5% or higher. the move is in response to the sudden jump in yields.

the bank of japan has been pursuing a so called yield curve control policy to keep the rate on the ten-year government bond near zero. its aim was to pin the yield from minus 0.25% to plus 0.25%, but last month the boj adjusted the policy, allowed the yield to move in a range around plus or minus 0.5%. the benchmark yield has been getting closer to the central bank's new upper limits. since then, the change to the coupon rate is not expected to have an immediate impact on government projects. that's because the finance ministry already estimates the rate for bonds servicing costs at 1.1% in the fiscal 2022 budget. but further rises in yields will likely increase bond servicing costs. more than 30% of japan's revenue in the draft budget for fiscal 2023. that starts in april will come from newly issued debt. the boj's adjustment to its

monetary policy led it to significantly increase its purchases of government bonds in the last month of 2022. the boj said on wednesday it purchased more than 16 trillion yen or 10-year jgbs in september. that was the second largest amount for a month and follows an all time high set in june. this came amid investor speculation that the boj might move further toward monetary tightening. all of 2022, the boj bought 111 million yen or $800 billion of government bonds, up 37 trillion yen from the previous year and was the biggest purchase in six years. new figures from japan's auto industry show just how much the manufacturers suffered last year from a semiconductor shortage and lockdowns in china. they plummeted to the lowest figure in 25 years.

industry groups say auto makers shifted a 4.2 million new units in 2022. that's down 5 1/2% from a year earlier. auto makers had to slash their output when they couldn't get the chips they needed and the zero covid measures in china forced parts makers to pause production. industry officials say supply issues are still hurting the auto makers and it's hard to see when things will recover. people in las vegas are getting a glimpse of a futuristic and fun mode of transport. sony group and honda have revealed a prototype electric vehicle packed with entertainment technology. the joint venture, sony honda mobility unveiled a vehicle called afee la at the annual ce technology trade show in vegas, one of the world's largest tech events, it features a touch

screen dashboard with games, and the maker says it will seamlessly integrate real and virtual worlds. the firms have enlisted epic games, the maker of the fortnite game series and sony honda mobility hopes the cross industry collaborations will add value to the vehicles and give it a competitive edge in the ev market. >> translator: cars are incorporating i.t. more and more. it will become more natural for companies to cooperate with multiple other firms, rather than doing what they can do alone. >> the company says it aims to start taking orders for the afeela in 2025. if you ever found yourself lugging suitcases full of souvenirs around on vacation, this next idea may be for you. visitors to japan can now do all of their shopping online and pick up their purchases just

before they fly home. the idea comes from tokyo hch based company wamazing, it built an online shopping site. visitors click and buy, get a qr code on their mobile phone. when they leave japan, they use their phone and passport to open a locker. they have been installed in five locations around the country including airports in tokyo, osaka, and sapporo. this week, we have been looking at the 2023 economic outlook for the world's three largest economies. our second report focuses on china as it emerges from strict covid measures, and still expect the country's gdp to fall short of the government's growth target of 2022. they want to turn things around

by boosting consumption but that may be easier said than done. >> reporter: people across china took to the streets late last november calling for an end to the country's zero covid policy. one expert believes the rare public rebuke forced president xi jinping's hand, making him shift away from the harsh coronavirus restrictions dets p despite an outbreak. >> i'm certain that president xi did not expect to see the people revolt linike that. it must have been a big shock for him. i believe that he was hoping for china's economy to pick up under the post of pmiere in march. president xi jinping could not have made the policy shift at a worse time. >> reporter: the rising case numbers have held back economic activity. people will start spending again

in another month or two. but he warns that greater consumption could kaucause pric to rise globally. >> translator: china's economy is expected to see revenge consumer spending in 2023. if beijing doesn't back down from its aim of normalizing economic activities despite the spread of the virus, i wouldn't be surprised to see the country's real term gdp growth exceed 6% this year, but when an economy grows more than projected, demand for various items is likely to spike. growing demand is a good thing, but it also causes prices to rise. >> reporter: not everyone is optimistic about china's prospects. the country's job market shrank over the past three years. last year, youth unemployment rates hit a record high. one expert says young people are unlikely to start spending again

anytim soon. >> translator: major i.t. firms are planning massive layoffs, fueling anxiety about what lays ahead. it's a big question about whether consumption will return to levels seen in 2019 and '18 before the pandemic. young people spend when they have confidence in the future. they won't open their wallets if they don't have optimism about their jobs or the country's direction. the spending could even slow down if people are pessimistic. >> it may take at least three years for china's economy to recover. he says even then it won't regain its former strength. >> translator: it's now extremely unlikely that china will overtake the u.s. as the world's largest economy. i don't think president xi would allow the country's economy to be weak as tt could threaten his political standing.

his gernment faces a big challenge inecovering from the pandemic and resting the nation's fmer economic strength. >> reporter: china will get new economic management in march when its premier changes, but it remains to be seen whether the new leadership will be able to get the country's pandemic scarred economy back on track. let's have a look at the markets.

and from the "newsline biz" team in tokyo, i'm gene otani. thanks for joining us. kxq#qqqcc■ y

qualify. ♪ this is al jazeera and these are the top stories. voting resume on wednesday for a new speaker in the u.s. congress after three failed attempts. kevin mccarthy has become the first nominee in 100 years not to get enough votes from his own party in the first round. he has been blocked by handful of hardline republican conservatives. we have this report from capitol hill in washington dc. they went to ballot