hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara. we start in japan. the government officially announced thursday it'll downgrade covid-19 to its lowest legal classification level. it will soon consider the illness to be on par with seasonal influenza. >> translator: the expert panel finally confirmed there will be no special circumstances that would change the scientific premise. our ministry has decided to

reclassify covid-19 to category five starting may 8th. >> the illness is currently in category two. that allows the government to put strict measures in effect. the health ministry says the downgrade will improve health care access for patients with covid-19. it aims for 64,000 facilities nationwide to offer outpatient care for people with the illness and calls for test results and outpatient care after a positive diagnosis will fall on the patient. the ministry will continue to recommend people with covid-19 stay home for five days starting the day after symptoms appear. officials initially intended to lift covid-19 border restrictions to coincide with the downgrade, but now they're planning to do that on saturday just in time for the spring

holidays. currently people entering japan are asked to show proof that they've received three doses of a covid-19 vaccine, among other requirements. proof of vaccination is expected to no longer be necessary starting this weekend. the government is also considering ending the random testing of some travelers arriving from mainland china on direct flights. travel to and from japan is expected to increase during the week-long spring holidays. analysts say the government wants to make procedures easier for people entering the country. officials will continue checking the health of inbound travelers with symptoms such as fever and cough, but it would be on a volunteer basis. we now go to eastern ukraine, where there are reports russian forces are reinforcing defenses ahead of a much-anticipated spring offensive. the release comes as the leaders of ukraine and china held talks wednesday aimed at restoring

peace. reuters news agency reports images taken by private american firm cappella space show a network of anti-tank defenses and trenches in russian-controlled areas. it says they stretch from eastern ukraine to crimea, which ukraine has vowed to retake. meanwhile, ukrainian president's office says volodymyr zelenskyy told his chinese counterpart, his forces face a difficult situation but are still standing. on wednesday, zelenskyy and xi jinping held their first conversation since the invasion began. the ukrainian leader reportedly told xi, if all states refrain from supporting russia, the war would end sooner. china's foreign ministry says xi told zelenskyy that beijing will continue making efforts toward a cease-fire. beijing says it will send a special representative to

ukraine and other countries aimed at coordinating a diplomatic settlement to the crisis. turning to washington, president joe biden and his south korean counterpart and announced a new agreement regarding nuclear weapons. it'll give seoul a role in planning for the use of those arms in any conflict with the north. >> the defense treaty is ironclad, and that includes our commitment to extended deterrence and -- and that includes the nuclear threat, nuclear deterrent. they are particularly important in the face of dprk's increased threats. >> translator: our two countries have agreed to immediate bilateral consultations in the event of a nuclear attack by north korea and promise to respond quickly, overwhelmingly and decisively, ing the full force of the alliance, including the united states nuclear

weapons. >> yoon suk-yeol's state visit is to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance between the two countries. in the meeting, biden said the two countries are doubling down on cooperation as north korea ramps up its challenges. the two leaders released a washington declaration setting out how they will respond to unpredictable events. it's written with the north in mind, as the country escalates its nuclear and missile development programs. it indicates that the u.s. nuclear submarine fleet will be allowed to use south korean ports. the statement is aimed at making america's deterrence capabilities more visible so as to maintain peace and stability on the korean peninsula. for more we spoke with a

former republican staffer and professor and expert at tokyo's university. >> thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> what were your impressions watching this meeting between the two leaders? >> my impression is that they totally focused on nuclear issue. also, they didn't really get something concrete regarding economic issues such as south korea wanted to have. for example, the unid states is providing so much subdies to electric vehicles that re proded in the united states. also, south korea had a lot of issues to say about producing vehicles in chin batteries and some other supply chain things. those are not really clearly discussed. that was my impression. but washingt declaration

focused nuclear weapon was very important. >> so now with regards to north korea and the two nations committed to nuclear deterrence saying that the united states would protect -- or south korea is not enough. actually, south korea needs some actions by the united states. therefore, they started to promise that nuclear consuive

group is going to be formed. also, the united states would show nuclear submarines and other ways to give presence arou korean peninsula. so north korea would recognize that the united states is truly protecting south korea. also, if north korea uses nuclear weapons, the united states would retaliate. that was a big statement, in my opinion. >> now, japanese leaders will be hosting the group of seven nations in hiroshima next month. how do you see the japan, u.s. and south korean alliance being strengthened by the gathering, and what will those ties look like moving forward? >> president yoon actually worked very hard to be closer to the united states as well as

japan. he visited jap before ite house two leaders summit, and presidenyoon was extremely welcomed in japan as well as in the united states. that effort acally was viewed -- such a great gesture. therefore, when he comes to hiroshima for g7, he's considered to be part of the democratic nations. at the g7 summit, russian issue, ukraine issue and china issues will be discussed. now, president yoon and south korea will be nsidered to be part of the democratic nations. in that context, the united states, japan ansouth korea would tighten its cooperation, friendship and partnership. that is extremely portant for

the safety of indo-pacific area. nhk has learned a large piece of metal that washed ashore on an island in southwestern japan was likely debris from a chinese rocket. a resident of the island in kagoshima prefecture found the object last week. >> translator: we've seen many things drift to our island from other countries, but i was surprised by this. it's the biggest man made object i've ever seen. >> it's about 3 meters long by 2 meters wide. the chinese flag appears to be painted on its surface. it also carries chinese characters meaning exhaust vent. the part's origin is unclear.

a former employee with japan's space agency told nhk it appears to be part of a chinese long march rocket. it says it may have been from a launch in january this year. local officials say they've received no reports of damage from rocket debris. earlier this week china beefed up its law against espionage. government leaders in japan are concerned about the possible impact on japanese citizens. they say they'll keep pushing for transparency. members of the national peoples congress approved the legal revisions when they met through wednesday. more activities are now classed as espionage. they include theft of documents, data, reference materials, and objects related to national security and interests. they also now include cyber attacks against national institutions and key information infrastructure. japan's top government

spokesperson says authorities here will keep acting on their concerns. >> translator: we're already pushing for transparency in the way the law is enforced and in the judicial process. we're also urging japanese people in china to be careful. we'll keep taking these actions. >> china has detained at least 17 japanese nationals for alleged spying since the law came into effect in 2014. the revised law takes effect on july 1st. a camera believed to belong to a slain japanese journalist has been returned to his family. nagai kenji was killed in myanmar in 2007. his camera had been missing ever since. these images were recovered from the camera. they appear to show nagai moments before he was shot by security forces in yangon. nagai can be heard describing the scene as heavily armed troops arrive to disperse

protectors. it ends with a blurred image of the ground. the democratic voice of burma, a local news outlet, gave the camera to nagai's family wednesday. it said it obtained the camera before the 2021 coup but would not say how. nagai's sister, noriko, went to bangkok to receive it. she said getting the camera back after so long was a relief. >> translator: we had no information about the camera, so this is a great joy and surprise. i wanted to find out what my brother wanted to say and what caused his death. >> she said she will ask police and experts to examine the camera to confirm it was nagai's. taiwan president tsai ing-wen is hoping to improve

taipei's taste for guatemalan coffee. the guatemalan president went with tsai to a local cafe wednesday. coffee is one of the country's biggest exports. it makes up 10% of all coffee in taiwan but only has 2% of the global market. guatemala is hoping to bring that number up. the event is likely an attempt by taiwan to shore up ties. only 13 countries still have diplomatic relations with taipei. last month honduras severed its ties with taiwan and established diplomatic relations with china. >> it's it's time for world weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh. severe storms hit the southern united states wednesday. jonathan has the details. >> hello. we have a pretty extensive low pressure system. it's a bit complicated because while the core of the system is located over the southern

plains, you can see the impact stretching all the way over into the carolinas and down toward florida. as we go through the past 24 hour, you notice a lot of powerful storms blowing out of especially eastern areas of texas and extending through portions of mississippi and into alabama. i want to show video coming out of florida. take a look at this. yes, we're talking about some strong winds and hail that came from this particular storm. 140 kilometer per hour winds reported in southeastern florida and some power outages, but no confirmations of any injuries that came from this particular situation. now, here's a look at the map of what we are going to be expecting. low pressure that was causing problems in texas will continue to move to the east. we'll see the possibility of strong to severe thunderstorms for the region as we go through thursday. meanwhile, back toward the north, into the rockies, we're

coming to the end of april and we're still talking about some snow into the area. with the low dropping through, snow could come as far south as, yeah, colorado as we head late thursday and going into friday. looking at thunderstorms, though, ahead of that on thursday in denver with a high of 17. 16, oklahoma city. thunderstorms extending into atlanta with a drier and sunnier pattern into the pacific northwest as we go through thursday. speaking of sunny, it was gorgeous across japan as high pressure took over the weather pattern. we're talking about temperatures that are on the warmer side as we had a southerly flow coming in. here's a look at the forecast for the next seven days in tokyo. we do have some rain expected by sunday. it's a little bit of a blip moving through. otherwise, look at the highs here. mid 20s, which is slightly above what we typically see for this time of year. we also are expecting, by the time we go to the midweek period, with some people trying to take some break there, looking at partly cloudy skies with highs in the mid 20s as we go to the middle of next week. hope you have a good day wherever you are.

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. five out of japan's eight auto makers say they produced more vehicles worldwide in fiscal 2022 than the previous year. they cite the easing of the global semiconductor shortage and lifting of pandemic related factory suspensions as reasons for the improvement. toyota motors says it made a record 9.1 million new units in

the year through march. that marks annual increase of 6.5%. subaru's output grew by more than 20% while suzuki and daihatsu each rose more than 14%. mazda was up more than 11%. the auto makers say production is on a recovery path, but unstable supply of some parts makes the forecast unclear. the operator of japanese airline ana says it has posted its first net profit in three years. officials say an easing of travel restrictions around the world boosted demand for international travel. net profit at ana holdings in fiscal 2022 came to nearly 90 billion yen or about $670 million. it's a clear turn around from a net loss of $1 billion in the previous year when the pandemic still weighed heavily on the travel industry. sales stood about $1.7 billion.

that's up 67% in yen terms year on year. revenue from international flights shot up more than 500% compared to the previous year. >> translator: japan's border controls will be lifted and covid-19 downgraded to category 5. the end of surcharges are also subsiding. the moves will make it easier for japanese customers to travel abroad, so we're hoping for more demand. >> but ana holdings is forecasting a smaller net profit of nearly $600 million for the fiscal year that runs until next march. that's due to a reduction in government subsidies for the airline industry. one of japan's biggest breweries says it will buy australian health food maker blackmores for 1.2 billion u.s. dollars. kirin holdings aims to strengthen its presence in the

health products market. >> translator: health science is an area with high growth potential. i'm confident through an acquisition we can gain a business base in the field. >> kirin says the two firms have agreed on a deal. it would make blackmores a fully owned subsidiary. the deal would be completed as early as august after gaining approval from a local court and regulatory authorities. it was founded more than 90 years ago and is australia's leading health food manufacturer. the firm also operates in china and southeast asia. kirin is boosting its health food business using fermentation and other biotechnologies that the beer brewer has developed over many years. the bank of japan's latest two-day board meeting kicked off on thursday. it will be closely watched as it's the first one chaired by governor ueda kazuo since he took the helm earlier this month. japan's new central bank chief

this week gave the hint to his diet of his view on the exit strategy of the current monetary easing. he said it's appropriate to continue the policy with targets for short and long-term interest rates based on the state of the economy and prices. he also said the boj will move towards monitoring monetary policy once there's a trend in stable inflation. but he said it's too early to setout concrete ways for monetary easing. and forecast for fiscal 2025 on friday following the meeting. those predictions come after the consumer price index excluding fresh food rose 3% in fiscal 2022 from the previous year. it's the largest jump in more than four decades. investors are watching closely to see if the central bank will announce adjustments to its monetary policy under the new governor. representatives of japan's dining industry have been

pitching for business in hong kong. it's one of the biggest importers of japanese food. officials from 19 companies met with local business people wednesday at an event organized by invest hong kong. that's a government investment promotion body. one cafe chain operator based in the southwestern prefecture of miyazaki highlighted the fact it uses locally produced wheat and rice flour for its pancakes. officials of the hong kong company asked the operator for details about delivering the ingredients in case it signs a local franchising contract. >> translator: hong kong is an information transmission hub, and there are many people from all over the world. people are very friendly and there are plenty from japan, so i think hong kong is a very attractive market for us. >> local operators, restaurant operators they are very much interested in bringing in more japanese restaurant brands into

hong kong. >> the number of japanese restaurants in hong kong fell during the covid-19 outbreak but has since returned to pre-pandemic levels of around 1,400. sales of skin care products are taking off in vietnam boosted by the spending power of the country's growing middle class. japanese companies aim to increase their hair share of the market but face stiff competition from the influence of k-pop. >> reporter: vietnam basks in strong tropical sunshine throughout the year. that can be a problem for those worried about their looks. even when the mercury tops 35 degrees celsius, it's not uncommon to see city residents opt to wear long sleeves or a hood covering their heads. >> translator: i'm wearing this

because i'm worried about sunburn. >> reporter: the shelves in this drugstore are well stocked with skincare products. data shows the cosmetics market has more than doubled in the past decade. >> translator: demand for skin care items are growing. most customers focus on cosmetics for enhancing the skin. >> reporter: two factors are driving the trend, high economic growth and vietnam's young population. the average age is in the early 30s, and an increasing number are upwardly mobile. steady economic growth has caused monthly per capita income to triple in the past ten years. those demographics have caught the attention of foreign cosmetic makers, riding the kpop wave south korean companies are the biggest players holding a

30% market share. japanese competitors placing third with a 17% market share are working hard to close the gap. one of them is pharmaceutical firm daiichi health care. it started selling skin care products here in december 2022. a company survey found vietnamese are already familiar with its brands thanks largely to increased travel to japan. >> translator: many people here long for clear, beautiful skin, and we want it help serve that need. we hope our brand will be loved by consumers in vietnam and enjoy rapid growth. >> reporter: one obstacle to that goal is fake goods. authorities are cracking down, but forgery of japanese brand items remains rampant in vietnam. company reps say the solution to fake products is heavy exposure

to the real thing. >> translator: we want to help our customers in vietnam become familiar with the genuine product. we aim to create an environment that ensures they will pick items that are not fake. >> reporter: with more japanese companies eyeing the market, competition in vietnam's skin care business will only become more intense. all right, let's have a look at the markets.

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

>> on al jazeera. imran: european leaders have pledged to turn the north sea into a renewable power energy and. they want to cut the use of fossil fuels and reliance on russian gas. the plan is radical and costly. will it work and where will the money come from? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome to the program. i'm imran khan. finding new sources of green energy is no