♪ hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. foreign ministers from the group of 20 are meeting for a second day in new delhi. the war in ukraine is expected to take center stage. >> let us remind ourselves that this grouping bears an exceptional responsibility. we first came together in the midst of global crisis. >> the gathering opened on dnesdawith the plenary session underway on the following day. the participants include u.s.

secretary of state antony blinken, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov and china's minister. aside from the war, the top diplomats are expected to cover global surge in energy and food prices. bilateral meetings are scheduled on the sidelines. blinken says he has no plans to meet his chinese counterpart. washington recently warned beijing not to send arms to russia. lavrov met his indian and turkish counterparts on wednesday. apparently mindful that western countries are expected to harshly criticize moscow over the war in ukraine. turkey has served as a mediator between russia and ukraine. rising temperatures are now creating muddy conditions in ukraine, making it difficult for troops to get around. analysts say that could cause a stalemate in the country's east. russians forces are trying to

encircle the ukrainian strohold of khmut. this follows a reportedly significant setback elsewhere in e donetsk region. russia lost at least 130 tanks and armored personnel carriers a three-week battle in vuhledar. that's according to "the new york times" quoting the ukrainian military. the british defense ministry says satellite pictures appear to show an elite russian unit lost many vehicles near the town. the ministry also says muddy conditions will hamper the offroad movement of heavier armored vehicles, especially over churned up ground in the bakhmut area. taiwan's air defenses could receive a big boost from the united states. officials in washington have just approved the sale of more than $600 million worth of arms, including missiles for f-16 fighter jets. the biden administration notified congress on wednesday.

the state department says the package would help maintain regional security. taiwan's defense ministry says the missiles would help deal with china's provocations. the jets to fire those missiles also come from the united states. and last december, washington approved another weapons deal worth more than $400 million. that package includes replacement parts for f-16s and c-130 transport planes. it's not going down well in china. the foreign ministry is urging the u.s. to stop selling arms to taiwan. the u.s. government has concluded its very unlikely a foreign adversary caused a series of unexplained illnesses suffered by its diplomats. national intelligence director avril haines announced there is no credible evidence linking the symptoms to an adversary using a weapon or a device. the intelligence community has

been investigating cases of what's called the havana syndrome. they were first reported by u.s. embassy officials in cuba in 2016 and include hearing loss and headaches. about 1,000 cases have emerged in china, germany, austria and other countries. washington initially blamed cuba, but officials now say the cases were probably the result of factors such as pre-existing conditions and the environment. the greek transport minister has stepped down over a train accident that killed at least 46 people in the country. a passenger train and freight train crashed head on in the central town of tempe. some cars burst into flames after the collision. officials say the search for the missing is continuing. infrastructure and transport minister kostas karamanlis

announced his resignation on wednesday. he said he was taking responsibility for what he referred to as the longlasting errors of the greek political system. greek media reported that police arrested the station master in charge of operations around the accident site r. the report said charges included negligence causing death. the local media also said signal lights and the system monitoring train operations had not been functioning. the european union released a report on railway safety last year. it said greece's death toll from train accidents per 1 million kilometers of travel stood at five times the average for the block. it's been nearly a month since parts of turkey and syria were devastate bid powd by powe earthquakes. help continues to arrive in turkey from around the world, including south korea. as kim chan-ju reports, it is

motivated by a special connection between the two count countries. >> reporter: relief supplies have poured into this university in seoul. donations of clothes, face masks, blankets and heat packs have been organized by turkish study majors. >> reporter: a student includes a note in turkish, explaining how to use heat packs for those who can't read the korean labels. >> translator: news about the quake in turkey gave me the urge to help in some way as a member of the other tur dikish studies department in south korea. i want to do whatever i can. >> reporter: at first, the relief efforts were just on campus, but local residents heard about them and joined in.

some of the goodwill is motivated by the special connection between turkey and south korea. it's rooted in the korean war, which began in 1950. turkey sent thousands of troops. turkey's connection to south korea dates back to the war. turkish troops fought and died here, and people still remember them as blood brothers. around seoul, expressions of support can be seen for the quake victims in turkey. isha is a turkish student living near the capital. she and other turkish residents in south korea have begun working on volunteer projects. they help unloading relief goods and packing them up to be flown to turkey. >> translator: as i take each item to send out, i often find

little notes. there are messages in turkish saying, "keep your spirits up." it warms my heart. now, i feel a greater sense we are blood brother nations. >> reporter: ayse has been helping in other ways, as well. she is volunteering at the turkish embassy to answer phone calls from koreans looking to contribute. >> translator: i want survivors in turkey to know how much support south korea is offering to cheer them up. we also want people in south korea to know what's going on in turkey by using text messages and video to call for more donations. >> reporter: the bond between the two countries has grown even stronger. the aid work in south korea is taking place at all levels, from government to students and ordinary citizens. kim chan-ju, nhk world.

people in japan are still in shock following a knife attack on a school north of tokyo. a 17-year-old boy is under arrest on suspicion of attempted murder. he reportedly told police that he wanted to kill anyone he could. it happened wednesday at a junior high school in toda city. no students were hurt, but a teacher sustained cutstruder along with other staff. the school held a meeting for parents. those who attended told nhk that the principal explained what happened. the school has also made counselors available. >> translator: my daughter said she was so surprised. the teachers told us we should feel fe to askor anything if we havany coerns. >>olice sathe suspect is hinting at being involved in other incidents that have left many on edge. the bodies of several

dismembered cats were found in a neighboring city last month. >> translator: i think it's important to understand what sort of fe the suspect has been living and his relationships with others. >> the board oeducation says it's ordering all elementary and junior high schools in toda city to be on alert. staff are checking everyone who enters and leaves school property. they're making sure all gates and entrances are shut during classes. the oni awards are known as the oscars. two picked up for "thunder gods tale." it incorporates japanese folk tales. we spoke with the director to find out why it's become such a big hit.

>> it'll eat up alive? so gross. 10-year-old onari as she and her friends prepare to defend their peacefulountain home from the evil forces of oni. >> when i first came up with this idea, historical theory that oni might have been the description of foreigners that lived in japan back in the days, right? it's a darkness we all carry. we have to overcome it. >> reporter: onari sets out on a path of becoming a folklore r hero. this is a story for anye who has ever felt like they don't beng. >> there's so many people from around the world who reached out and said, "that's me.

onari is me." it doesn't matter if they are experiencing that onari story as a foreigner, or it could be someone who is just different from others. >> reporter: the series has also drawn praise for its stop motion style and detailed scenery. he said it s influenced by japanese nature and mythology. during the process, he explored many parts of japan with his team. he wanted to create what he called a tactile experience. >> we all went to yakushima and really just, you know, felt the forest, the ancient forest in japan. that research is so important. so it's not just about matching the photograph, but it's really recreating the feeling you experienced. >> reporter: the chanting dance onari's father, who only speaks

of people all over the world. >> i received from this random father from ukraine, and he sent me the video of his daughter, who is probably, like, 3, 4 years old, and she was dancing. he's scared if his family will survive this war, but he was so grateful tt his daughter can dance and having fun watching oni. it really made me cry. >> reporter: the message throughout the story was the importance of discovering who you are and finding your place in the world. and after the thunderous success of "oni," he says more works with that message are on the way.

nhk world. ♪ it's time for a check on the weather with our meteorologist sayaka mori. well, we've seen some really warm weather the past few days, but some parts of japan are suddenly feeling a lot colder. sayaka has the details. >> hello there. after two days of warm weather, much of japan is now experiencing cooler conditions. it's more like mid february in parts of toyama prefecture. the high rose to about 19 on wednesday, dropped by about 11 degrees on thursday. snow accumulated on the western flank of the nation. tokyo was the exception and temperature warmed up to the 20

degree mark for the first time of the season. however, on friday, it's going to be 13, so it's normal. then sunny weather during the weekend. right now, flowers are blooming beautifully outside the studios. the cherry blossom season should arrive in a couple of weeks. now, it's the cyclone season over the southern hemisphere. over the southern pacific ocean we are looking at a couple of cyclones. judy affected vanuatu, leaving a trail of destruction. it is move agwing away from the country, good news. however, kevin is now a category 2 cyclone and will likely hit the south of the country on friday. lots of winds, rain and high waves are expected to pound the country on friday. now in argentina, large areas of the country areealingith blackouts because of a fire and a heat wave. take a look athis footage. many parts of argentina were left without power wednesday afternoon after a fire caused a

blackout from the national grid. a heat wave is making the issue worse as people are using more energy to keep themselves cool. several power outages have occurred in the country since january. overheated passengers were left stranded in buenos aires as trains and subways were delayed or suspended. we're looking at high temperatures once again this week. in fact, buenos aires could see a high of 38 degrees. it could be one of the highest temperatures for march on record. then remaining quite hot this week. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪

♪ that's all for this hour on 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. the japanese business world has hit a speed bump as the manufacturing sector failed to keep up with the pace of growth. combined pre-tax profits in the october through december period dipped for the first time in eight quarters. the finance mistry says combined ordinary profits came to 22.3 trillion yen, or about $165 billion. that's a 2.8% decrease in yen terms from a year earlier. manufacturers including

producs of food, chemicals, as well as oil and coal, saw earnings plunge by nearly 16% as the cost of raw materials and energy rocketed. firms in the non-manufacturing sector faired better. companies related to transport and other service businesses saw profits jump more than 5%. that's partly due to a government subsidy program to promote domestic travel. meanwhile, capital spending grew almost 8% from the same period last year. investment in the manufacturing sector rose 6% and in non-manufacturing by more than 8%. the ministry says manufacturers are ramping up their production capacity and investing in digital transformation as they prefair pair for a post pandemic surge in demand. the foreign go knovernor of bank of japan says it is time for central banks around the world to rethink the foundation and framework of monetary

policy. he says the limitations of inflation targeting has become clear. he was the boj governor until 2013. he shared his thoughts in the march issue of the international monetary fund's quarterly publication. he said the impact of the boj's ultra loose monetary policy implemented by his successor and current governor kuroda haruhiko was modest on the growth front. this was also the case in many other countries that adopted measures similar to japan's. he acknowledged that such unconventional monetary policy could be extremely effective, depending on the timing. but he said this is not necessarily the case when the economy is weak. he said japan's stagnant growth due to its rapidly aging and shrinking population required more radical reform, but that

this had been misread as cyclical weakness. this resulted in decades of monetary easing. a 28,000-ton cruise ship sailed into tokyo bay thursday to mark a new milestone in japan's post pandemic reopening. it was the first foreign liner to dock at a two-year-old cruise terminal. some drummers and local government officials assembled to welcome the ship. the terminal opened in 2020 when strict coronavirus rules were in place. ships that had sailed from foreign ports were not allowed to dock in japan. the ship made a port call in shizuoka prefecture on wednesday. it was the first foreign cruise vessel to arrive in japan since the government eased covid-19 measures. the terminal has the capacity to accept the world's largest cruise ships. a single port could bring 200

million yen in economic benefits. the operator of the conveyer belt rest ranaurant chain devel an a.i. system to prevent anyone tampering with their dishes. it follows videos of diners providing unhygienic pranks at conveyer belt restaurants that went viral on social media. >> translator: we think these videos are extremely troubling and pose a threat to the very foundation of the sushi convo conveyer belt system. >> as soon as the system's camera catching anyone returning to plate to the conveyer belt that has been touched by a customer, an alert is sent to the headquarters. officials will contact the manager, who will approach the perpetrator. the company says the alert

system is the first of its kind in the industry and will be deployed in all its restaurants around the country. japanese telecom giants ntt and kddi say they will work together on the next generation optical communication technologi technologies. the traditional rivals aim to use it to set the global standard for 6g networks. ntt has been developing the tech call ed innovative optical and wireless network. around 2030, ntt aims to increase the volume of data that can be handled by a factory of 125 compared with the old 4g standard, while also reducing power consumption to 1%. the two companies plan to soon sign a joint development partnership based on this technology. developers of next generation telecom technologies face a challenge to transfer massive amounts of data and reduce power

requirements. this will be the first time for the two companies to team up in the field, raising high hopes for the new optical technology. turnover materials are creating a big waste problem in japan's construction industry. we focus on how one start-up is making the recovery of discarded building supplies into a business opportunity. >> reporter: these floor boards had been disposed, but they're going to a child care facility under construction in tokyo. toyoda visit add led a lotd of during his work as an architect. plenty of good supplies were being disregarded, so he started a resale business. >> translator: these materials are in short supply and

expensive, but they're being thrown away. construction material waste has become a big problem. >> reporter: in the industry, there is what is called mixed construction waste. much of it is recycled, but almost 30% of it ends up in landfills or incinerators, including unused items. let's see why there is so much waste. it's how the construction business works. multiple contractors are responsible for the various steps. a shortage of material at any stage could mean a halt to construction and costly delays. no one wants to be blamed for that. the view is that it is better to have too much than to have too little. this is where toyoda's company comes in. it buys some of the oversupply and sells it at a discount to contractors. the builder of the tokyo day care center we saw earlier estimates he will get the floor panels for 80% less than from

another supplier. >> translator: we asked about the possibility of reducing cost even a little since materials have become so expensiexpensive. >> reporter: some customers are just grateful they don't have to pay for disposal. toyoda's company agreed to purchase about 2 tons of wall and floor tires from this contractor. >> translator: of course. i'm happy the items i was going to have to pay to discard were purchased. but it is also good that they'll have another chance at being used. >> reporter: business is brisk. his company trades about 120 tons of material a year. social media is important, too. the company's deep discounts off retail prices attract home remodelers and diy enthusiasts alike.

last year, toyoda approached a major home center about selling his products to expand his sales channels. >> translator: by reusing these building materials, our company creates an infrastructure within a circular economy that reduces co2. >> reporter: he hopes that his approach will spread, basing that on the view that what one person might see as trash can be turned into treasure by another. let's have a look at the markets. ♪

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

more award-winning documentaries and live news. >> the u.k. and e.u. have reached an agreement to break the deep stalemate on trade and customs in northern ireland. the deal came nearly seven years since britain voted to leave the bloc, so is brexit finally done ? this is "inside story." ♪ hello. welcome to the program. u.k. and eu leaders have clinched a new deal for northern