hello, and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. we begin in the japanese diet where lawmakers are taking a small step back toward life before covid. they have agreed that anyone addressing a plenary session in either chamber no longer has to wear a mask. party representatives say a speaker without a mask must stand behind a clear partition and keep plenty of distance from other lawmakers. they'll bring in the looser rules when the diet begins an

ordinary session next week. and they'll consider whether to apply them in committee meetings. >> translator: i think it's significant that the diet is taking the initiative by doing this. >> meanwhile, the government plans to recategorize covid within a few months so as to treat it the same way as seasonal flu. that would allow more hospitals to accept patients and authorities would no longer urge people to limit their activities. but people would have to start paying some of the cost of covid tests and hospital stays out of their own pockets. officials are looking at easing the transition by continuing to cover those costs with public money for the time being. if the government recategorizes covid, it may also change its recommendation to wear masks indoors. japan's prime minister is

poised to address a major policy issue when he opens the next diet session. kishida fumio has promised to address the birthrate now falling at a record pace. a draft of the speech underscores the scope of the issue. it says japan is now on the verge of losing a functional social support system. population changes have been a challenge for years. japan's rapidly ageing population combined with low births have created a shortage of workers contributing to social programs. and the cost of raising children is going up. critics have pressed kishida for concrete ideas to fund policies which he's vowing to provide. officials from relevant ministries met on thursday to discuss the plan for the first time. >> translator: supporting children and child rearing generations and resolving the declining birthrate is the most important investment that can be

made to ensure the survival of japanese society. >> ogara says he wants to take drastic actions. that will mean breaking down ministerial borders and speeding up discussions. the panel will hear from experts before releasing a draft plan by the end of march. it was a scene so cruel even the word hell doesn't do it justice. that's the way one atomic bomb survivor also known as a hibakusha describes it. she told her story to a group of south korean university students visiting japan. she was 13 when the bomb hit hiroshima in 1945. she was on a streetcar about 2 kilometers away from the center of the blast. >> i didn't realize that

hiroshima had been attacked when what appeared to be fog cleared, i saw no houses in front of me. they had all collapsed. adults and children were shouting, hot, hot, please help. i saw burned skin hanging from their bodies. >> the 15 students listened to park's story at the hiroshima peace memorial museum. of tragedy never happens again. >> park asked the students to protect peace and prosperity, which she says were built on the lives and sorrows of others. many hibakusha share their experiences in an effort to remind the world of the horrors of atomic bombs. as they get older, it's becoming more challenging for them to pass on this message. their average age is now over 84. ♪

eyes around the world will soon turn to germany where defense chiefs with the north atlantic treaty organization are set to meet. the friday talks will once again focus on help for ukraine. and this time the main topic is tanks. german chancellor olaf scholz said in davos that russia's aggression must fail. >> that is why we are continuously supplying ukraine with large quantities of arms in close consultation with our partners. this includes air defense systems like irish tea or peppered artillery and armored infantry fighting vehicles. >> sholz declined to say whether germany would allow the battle tanks to be sent to ukraine.

they're the go-to tanks for 20 countries. poland and finland have announced they want to provide the tanks to ukraine but germany can veto the move. sholz suggested tuesday he would be willing to allow the move under certain conditions. it follows some u.s. prodding as washington seems concerned about a spring offensive from russia. ahead of friday's gathering, germany's new defense minister is hosting his u.s. counter part to discuss the issue. new zealand's prime minister jacinda ardern has announced she's stepping down. she says her time in office has been her greatest honor but says she's no longer the right person for the job. >> i know that i no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. it's that simple. but i absolutely believe and know there are others around me who do. >> ardern says she'll resign no

later than february 7th. there's been no word on who will run to take over leadership of her labour party. new zealand is also gearing up for a general election in october. in 2017, ardern became the world's then youngest woman ever to be elected prime minister. she also became the first ever sitting head of government to take maternity leave. she guided new zealand through the 2019 christ church mosque shootings and the covid-19 pandemic. but her popularity has plagued in recent times over issues like the rising cost of living. an independent poll last month put ardern's approval rating at 29%, her lowest since taking office. north korean lawmakers have wrapped up a two-day discussion on how to balance the country's 2023 budget. its leader kim jong un chose not to attend.

but the session appears to have led to some big decisions around the country's language and culture. north korea has adopted a new law aimed at what it calls the protection of the cultured pyongyang dialect. it appears to be an effort to tighten control over the spread of south korean styles of speech and strengthen measures against the influence of foreign pop culture. state media also reports lawmakers discussed ways to help the economy and improve the standard of living. they also agreed to maintain current defense spending. at the ruling party's meeting last month, kim announced plans to ramp up its nuclear and missile programs. that includes the goal of developing a new intercontinental ballistic missile. this week's budget decision appears to be keeping those plans on track. rescuers in china's tibet

autonomous region are digging for survivors after an avalanche buried a stretch of road. at least eight people were killed. local media reports say it happened on tuesday night. the wave of snow slammed into people and motorists traveling in the city of nyingchi. hundreds of workers and dozens of vehicles have been deployed to help the search. china's emergency management ministry has asked officials to verify the number of people still missing. they have also called for to be taken to prevent secondary avalanches. a study in greenland has understo underscored the growing impact of global warming. the average temperatures there are higher than they have been in the last 1,000 years. a team leld by the alfred institute analyzed ice scores to

see changes in temperatures. they found average temperatures from 2001 to 2011 were 1.5 degrees celsius higher in the 20th century. the science appeared in the scientific journal of nature. the melting of the ice sheet would significantly raise global sea levels. the team behind the study said human influence might cause overall loss of mass in the ice sheet to accelerate. mia prefecture in central japan is a major hub for engineering and manufacturing, attracting a high volume of overseas workers. as a result, the issue of how best to educate their children is increasingly important. one newly qualified teacher who is a brazilian of japanese descent shared her thoughts with nhk.

>> reporter: japanese jessica currently works as an interpreter at city hall. more than 3,000 brazilians in the city with constant consultation requests every day. >> i'm most happy when they say thank you. >> reporter: oyama moved to japan when she was 10. at first, she attended a private brazilian school, but after her father lost his job during the 2008 financial crisis, life became more difficult, and she had to transfer to a local public school. she was the only foreigner in her class. in an interview with nhk in 2011, she expressed her

loneliness. >> translator: in the beginning, i couldn't speak japanese, i was always alone, and couldn't understand anything in class. i kept thinking, what am i doing here. why am i still alive? >> reporter: even so, she continued to work hard and followed her father's words, if you put in the effort, you can accomplish anything. she mastered japanese and went on to college. after graduating, she worked at the manufacturing company but the idea of supporting children from overseas kept coming to mind. her friend told her it was possible to become a teacher in japan, even with foreign citizenship. she realized she wanted to become a teacher. >> translator: if i had been able to ask for advice from more people when i was a child, i

might not have had such a difficult time, so i want to be of help when a student is having difficulty. >> reporter: oyama studied until late at night after finishing work and completed her practical training last year. she passed the examination and will start work as an english teacher at the high school. >> tnslator: i want to show children that even if you are from a foreign country, if you put in the effort, you can overcome anything. >> reporter: after surviving countless challenges, oyama understands the importance of support and this is precisely what she hopes to offer when she starts as a teacher, creating a bridge between foreign students and japanese society.

nhk world. it's now time for a check on the weather with our meteorologist sayaka mori. people in northern japan are facing strong winds and heavy snow. sayaka has the details. >> hello there, people in hokkaido experienced an exceptionally chilly day on thursday. the temperature dropped to minus 28 degrees. dime on the dust was seen on the island. however, as we go into friday, we'll see the arrival of a winter storm. there is a concern for a avalanches and snow falling from the roofs because of an additional snowfall. we could be looking at an additional 60 centimeters of sno snow in hokkaido, accompanied by typhoon like gusts, with visibility near zero. a low could provide some rainfall to the south of the kanto region. here are your lows for the next seven days. tokyo could see minus 2 every day in the morning on wednesday

as well as thursday. sapporo could see minus eleven on monday, and could see the first snowfall of the season on monday. meanwhile, we saw a lot of heavy rainfall due to cyclone irene. luckily the system is moving away from the islands. however, we have another system that could be heading towards new caledonia. and across madagascar, there is a concern for heavy rainfall. that could continue into the weekend. we have severe tropical storm med chaneso, striking the island with heavy rain and strong winds, althoh it's going to weaken. we will likely see stormy conditions continue for the next several days. let's go too siberia, mercury dropped to minus 62.7 degrees on wednesday. that's the record all time low for the spot and the lowest in 20 years for russia. people brave the cold i this

way. hundreds of people in moscow took an icy plunge wednesday to celebrate the orthodox epiphany. worshippers believe their sins are symbolically washed away through the ritual. temperatures hovered around freezing, which is actually warmer than average. that's it for me. stay warm up ♪ ♪

and before we go, some school kids in a city north of tokyo are enjoying skating lessons at a rice patty turned ice rink. every winter residents flood the rice patty rink. it's now about 15 centimeters thick. 40 kids from the local elementary school took a skating lesson there on thursday. many had trouble keeping their balance, but they soon got the hang of it. >> translator: i slipped and fell a lot, but i could finally skate well. >> and that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thank you very much for watching, and do stay with us for more. ♪

this is "newsline biz," i'm gene otani. japan has posted its biggest annual trade deficit on record. the weaker yen and soaring energy prices were mostly to blame. preliminary data released by the finance ministry shows a trade deficit of almost 20 trillion yen for 2022. that's the equivalent of about $155 billion. the deficit is the largest since comparable data became available in 1979. imports surged nearly 40% in yen

terms. costs for crude oil, coal and liquified natural gas were up significantly. the weaker yen contributed to the increase. this out paced an 18% rise in exports. nli research instute says japan's exports to the largest trading partner china fell sharply last year. the analyst says beijing's zero covid policy stalled the economy dealing a heavy blow to shipments. cito says the strong manufacturing industry used to bring in money through increased exports but he says this has become difficult to keep up over the past 30 to 40 years. >> translator: when an economy develops, more services become available and the power of its manufacturing industry gradually deines. this is not only the case for japan, tit's the same for other countries around the world. japan's exports have weakened and it's difficult for tm to

grow structurally. >> saito expects 2023 to be a tougher year for japan's exporters, due to economic slow downs in the united states and europe, but he believes the large deficit will shrink this year as imports stop growing. trade between china and north korea surged in 2022 as the country's reopened their bilateral shipping routes. the figure more than triples from the year before but it still remains at about 40% of when it was before the pandemic. chinese authorities said on thursday that total shipments between the two countries were worth over $1 billion. freight train services between the nations resumed last year after being suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic. the increase in trade volume is believed to have been largely the result of north korea's expanded imports. the amount still remains far below preh-pandemic levels.

it remains to be seen whether trade will fully recover after infections surge in china and north korea continues with its restrictions. a japanese telecom giant is launching a new business to combat potential issues feeding the world's growing population ntt east has partnered with a farming start up to cultivate an unexpected food source, crickets. the company is working with a firm that specializes in cricket farming. the two have launched a pilot farm near tokyo to optimize raising the insects for food. crickets are rich in protein and have a low environmental footprint. they taste similar to prawns and can be turned into food party. they plan to use its i.t. expertise to maximize the efficiency of large scale production operations. the telecom aims to commercialize the project and provide the system to other

companies. it is already engaged in red salmon farming. the firm believes its food businesses could pull in tens of millions of dollars in a period of five years. a town in northern hokkaido is getting ready to start shipping a winter delicacy to the rest of the country. farmers there are now digging up cabbages that have been preserved under snow since the autumn. harvesting of so-called winteri wintering cabbages is in full swing. they are planted and preserved by about 60 farming households. the town has an average temperature of 0 degrees celsius from december to march and gets more than one meter of snow per month. the cabbages are stored under 70 centimeters of snow during this time, a local agricultural cooperative says this keeps them fresh and increases their sugar content. each cabbage weighs about 2

kilograms, they will be available for delivery until the middle of >> sake is a japanese alcoholic drink made from rice. its global popularity has grown with the spread of japanese cuisine, but the number of sake producers is falling. nhk world highlights some brewers in western japan who are trying to preserve at least one traditional company. >> cheers. >> this restaurant in kyoto attracts sake lovers from all over the world. it offers sake from different regions of japan. >> my goal for this trip is to eat as much sushi and drink as much sake as i possibly could.

>> they have grown over the past decade due to its growing popularity abroad. but the number of japanese sake producers has dropped by more than half compared to 20 years ago. many are small companies, struggling to survive. sake brewery used to be one of them. it has been producing sake for over 140 years. domestic consumption has dropped in line with japan's population. sake also faces competition from other kinds of alcohol. yoshida says four years ago it was unable to hire even a single employee. >> translator: the company was cash strapped and could not hire anyone. i brewed sake by myself until final liquid suspended my job.

>> translato >> reporter: the brewery survived thanks to him. he acquired bank financing. obe used to be an executive at a major brewery. he assembled a team of other senior professionals who had retired from thhis former compa. >> translator: it is inevitable that consumption of sake will keep declining. we have to think about how to preserve the much loved drink. >> reporter: senior experts have started making sake. they assess temperature and humid in order to create the perfect environment essential for the delicate work. >> conditions are different every time, so we're very flexible. >> translator: i enjoy making sake in a lively atmosphere. i don't want to make it alone

anymore. we have produced a dry, well balanced sake. >> reporter: the team's work is not limited to brewing. they also reach out to wholesalers they know from their former jobs. obe has grown the new product to a company operating around 20 restaurants in tokyo and osaka. >> translator: it's dry. i recommend it to restaurants. >> translator: yes, dry sake is more popular. >> translator: the number of deliveries must still be finalized. he hopes he can expand abroad in the future. >> reporter: the overseas market for sake is still unknown, and there's room for it to increase. we know that sake goes well with japanese food and we need to promote it more abroad.

the team wants to introduce new consumers to its sake while preserving its traditional fervor. nhk world. let's have a look at the markets. 134e7b8 ♪ ♪

and from the "newsline biz" team in tokyo, i'm gene otani. thanks for being with us.

anchor: this is al jazeera and these are the top stories. results prosecutor general has filed the first charges against 39 people accused of storming governor -- government buildings on january 8. more than a thousand were arrested. supporters of the former president wanted to overturn the result of october's election. reporter: the majority of the people who have been charged, 22 of them are men, 17 are women. we know they are from the states of sao paulo, which is