hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. we start this hour with an update on the deadly unrest in pakistan following the arrest of former prime minister imran khan earlier this week. plassive protests had erupted across the country as his supporters call for his release. the government has warned any violent demonstrators will face severe penalties.

>> the perpetrators who take the law into their own hands will be dealt with an iron hand. they'll be punished according to the law and the constitution. >> khan was arrested in a land fraud case on tuesday and was reportedly charged with a separate case the day after. local media say he allegedly sold state gifts during his four years in power. some demonstrations have escalated with protesters destroying police vehicles and setting fire to a radio station. at least four people were killed and over 80 others were wounded in the northwestern city on wednesday as crowds clashed with security forces. a hospital in the area says many casualties were caused by gunfire. local media say authorities in the capital islamabad and provinces have called in military troops to restore

order. japan is about a week away from hosting a major gathering of world leaders, the g7 summit. now there's word it might not include a big player at least in person. talks to raise the u.s. debt ceiling have hit a deadlock. that's put president joe biden's trip to hiroshima in doubt. >> depending on the state of play in negotiations, it's possible i will have to delay my trip, not delay, not go and do it virtually. >> on tuesday biden said canceling the trip was possible but not likely. biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy remain divided on whether to raise the federal government's debt limit. biden is asking for an increase to be approved to avoid a default. mccarthy, a republican, said he wants the biden administration to drastically cut spending in exchange for raising the ceiling. the debt ceiling legislation was

created to keep government borrowing in check, but treasury secretary janet yellen said on monday there are no good options left if it is not raised. she has said the u.s. could run out of cash to pay its bills as early as june 1st. meanwhile, biden has invited india's prime minister for an official visit on june 22nd. it will be modi's first state trip to washington and a chance for the u.s. to reinforce ties despite india's neutrality on ukraine. a white house statement says they will strengthen a shared commitment on a free and open indo-pacific. they'll also discuss elevating their strategic partnership on defense, energy and space technologies. india and the u.s. are part of the quad, a security forum which

also includes japan and australia. the framework is seen as an important counter to china's growing influence in the region, but despite close coordination against beijing, modi's government has stayed out of moscow. india has become a major buyer of russian oil and military hardware and has ignored calls to sanction russia after it invaded ukraine. the u.s. government has also recently raised concerns over human rights issues in india. the white house says biden never shies away from discussing that topic with world leaders. turning to taiwan where a group of 14 female reservists is undergoing military training this week, becoming the first women to do so. the move is part of efforts to bolster defense capabilities in the face of china's increasing military pressure. the women are taking part in the five-day training program that

started monday. this kind of training had been limited to men, but taiwan's defense ministry started including women this year. the taiwanese president tsai ing-wen visited the training site wednesday. >> translator: i hope more female soldiers will join the training in the future. taiwan is at the forefront of the defense for democracy. we must unite and show the world our determination to protect our nation regardless of gender. >> the defense ministry plans to train 220 female reservists in the first year. saudi arabia and syria plan to restore diplomatic ties. they announced tuesday they'll send diplomatic delegations to each other. this comes after the arab league decided over the weekend to readmit syria to the group. its membership was suspended in

2011 after president bashar al assad's administration cracked down on pro-democracy protesters. saudi arabia says king solomon -- some arab states including saudi arabia backed anti-government forces in the ongoing syrian civil war, but some countries are trying to improve relations with syria. that's because the assad administration's military victory had become certain with support from russia and iran. the united states says it'll continue its economic sanctions on syria. people in thailand cast their ballots in a general election on sunday. much of the attention is focused on the pro-military ruling camp and largest opposition party,

but there's another political force whose calls for democracy are proving a hit with young voters. nhk world has more. >> reporter: pledges to make changes are claiming a lot of the limelight. the latest polls put up in second with more than a third of the vote. >> translator: vote move forward party for fresh people to change the country. vote move forward for a different thailand. >> reporter: he's one of move forward's supporters. the 22-year-old student wants thailand's democracy to be free of military influence. >> translator: i want to see real democracy built which comes from many reforms.

>> reporter: he was in middle school during the latest power grab. his university classes helped him form his belief that military intervention damages not only the country's economy but also people's freedom of expression. the move over party came into existence after another, the future forward party was disolved in 2020, and its leader was banned from political activities. he felt compelled to speak out. >> i've known since i was young that the military's involvement in politics is wrong. i say this country's problem is caused by the coup. >> reporter: rotests expanded

with young people demanding for his resignation and even called for dissolving the monarchy, bubut they cracked down. >> translator: this is a summons from the royal thai police. >> reporter: this made it harder for him to find a job. chanin visited the sea of past protests. he remembered standing together with his colleagues, some of whom decided to leave to avoid trouble. but he has not given up. in the upcoming election chanin is campaigning for the move forward party. >> translator: i want to have a society with freedom of expression to speak without fear of jail. i want to see true democracy.

>> translator: thailand's young protesters keep on fighting for what they call true democracy. how many more voters join their cause will no doubt have a major impact on the country's future. nhk world, bangkok. >> earlier he spoke to -- for more insight. >> what has the move forward party gotten so popular among young voters. >> i think the internet has played a major role. china's gen-z is more tech savvy than older generations and that's made them more politically active. foreign media has help them keep track of crack downs and also witnessed the violent suppressions of pro-democracy

movements in hong kong and myanmar. they say thailand's military leader following a similar path and want to stop them before it's too late. many are also disappointed with the prime minister's handling of the pandemic. they accuse him and his cronies of concentrating thailand's wealth among themselves and tightening the military script on politics. as you heard them say move forward with monarchy reform and ending conscription is the path to true democracy. >> do you think they have a shot at winning the election? >> well, they are polling in second place behind the party which is affiliated with the ousted prime minister. but move forward is gaining ground. its leader was the favorite in a recent survey asking who they

want to be their next prime minister. he came out on top. her party also opposes but has different opinions on the monarchy and the economy. however, move forward's surging popularity means she may need their support in parliament. political analysts say move forward is likely too progressive for a chance at winning an upset. but they could be laying the groundwork for the future elections. . tokyo police say four teenagers suspected of robbing a

luxury watch shop in ginza may have been recruited online. security camera footage from tokyo's mignato ward captured the group abandoning the get away vehicle. about 6 seconds later police arrive on the scene. another camera shows white masks littered around the vehicle. the van and masks seem to match what was used by the robbers monday. the the group ransacked the store on ginza's main street for about two minutes before escaping in the white van. the vehicle was a rental, and the license plate had been stolen from saitama prefecture near tokyo. this footage captured about 18 minutes after the heist appears to show one suspect carrying a black bag. one tried to escape by climbing the balcony of a nearby condo. all four were arrested for trespassing. police have yet to lay charges

in the robbery. all of them are residents of yokohama city near tokyo but reportedly told police they did not know each other. police say it's possible someone recruited them to carry out the crime. investigators say more than 70 wristwatches were stolen but almost all have been recovered. it's time for world weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh. after a bright start to the day in tokyo thursday, things got loud and dark in a hurry during the afternoon. jonathan tells us how things are looking for friday. >> hello. we saw some storms popping up in the afternoon hours on thursday around tokyo. we started off pretty clear, and then we saw the clouds building up, and in the last few frames you'll see the spots popping up due to the these thunderstorms firing off. as you go into friday it's likely going to be calm, but the stability might still bring a little bit of concern, but at this point we're looking at mainly a dry forecast.

and when it's dry and you're in the month of may you tend to see some nice things outdoors. i want to show you some video coming out of wakayama prefecture. thanks to higher than average temperatures and moderate rains this year the fruits were larger and high quality. the harvest will continue to the end of may and the plums will be shipped nationwide. when it comes to the harvesting period, relatively dry weather expected in places like wakayama but return flow with unstable weather for tokyo. and once we go into the day on friday, mainly going to see calm weather, but again might see a few sprinkles here and there. we'll see more rain, though, for tokyo as you go into saturday and sunday. a wet weekend in store for us. osaka and fukuoka also looking at wet weather with some clouds

as well. we've been keeping an eye on this developing system east of india. and as you go into the first part of next week we're going to see it try to make its way to the north and east, focusing in size towards the south eastern portion of asia, so be on the lookout for that. in north america we're watching out for strong to severe thunderstorms along the plain states, and guess what, the story september really going to change. more of that unstable weather expected as we go through the day on thursday. some of these storms could be very strong with severe rain. on the storm path. hope you have a good day wherever you are.

and that's a wrap 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 ramin mellegard. finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the group of seven nations have kicked off talks about some of the world's most pressing issues including support for ukraine and bank failures in the united states. the three-day meeting of g7 financial leaders opened thursday in the japanese city of niigata. japan is represented by finance minister suzuki chinikhi the

bank of japan governor. participants are discussing rising interest rates and bank failures on financial markets and the economy. they're also expected to confirm a united stance on enforcing sanctions against russia and on wavering support for ukraine. officials from several other countries have been invited this time including india, south korea, and current african union chair. the g7 is aiming to step up cooperation with developing and emerging nations collectively known as the global south. >> we hope to further strengthen cooperation with our partner countries and advance discussion under japan's chair. in addition to these urgent issues, we will discuss concrete measures to strengthen the global economy. >> japan hopes it'll start the

talks for the g7 leaders summit in hiroshima. japan's current account service fell by more than half in the latest fiscal year as the currency weakened and energy imports soared. the current account is a key indicator of trade and investment with the rest of the world. the finance ministry says the surplus for fiscal 2022 stood at 9.2 trillion yen or about $69 billion. that's down more than $80 billion from the year before. the rapid decline of the japanese currency made imports much more expensive, and now in yen terms it was an all-time high. meanwhile, japanese companies investing overseas earned much more in interest and in dividends. this led to a jump in the primary income surplus which hit a record of about $265 billion. major trading houses posted hefty gains thanks to the rise in the price of energy and

natural resources. japanese electronics maker sharp has reported a net loss of 260 billion yen or nearly $2 billion for the latest fiscal year. it was the company's first loss since fiscal 2016 when it was taken over by taiwan's precision industry. sharp said on thursday the sales for the year ending in march were up by 2%, 2.5 trillion yen or almost $19 billion, but its operating loss was approximately $190 million due mainly to dismal performance by its display business. soaring material costs added to the woes. sharp's latest results were a reversal from a net profit of 74 billion yen or about $554 million in fiscal 2021. the company attributed the down turn to the tis play business which lost $1.6 billion amid a slump in global demand. the company forecaster returned

to the black in the current fiscal year and plans to achieve this by overhauling its display business and making other reforms. and china's new car sales rose sharply in april from the same month a year earlier, but they were down frump march. an industry group says domestic demand continues to be weak. the china association of automobile manufacturers says sales were just under 2.2 million units last month, down almost 12% from march. but compare today the same month last year they were up nearly 83%. it's the third straight month of gains. strict coronavirus measures last year weighed heavily on sales. effective measures are still needed to boost sales. and japan's bullest trains could soon be speeding across the country autonomously. the operator of the hokkaido

shinkansen line is unveiling self-driving train tech that could launch in a few years. central japan railway performed a test of the technology for the media. the train ran at speed over an 80 kilometer route. the company has been testing the system since 2021. it allows an operator to simply press a button to bring the train to its destination. there's no need for human intervention to adjust the speed. the train arrived at the station only 2 seconds earlier than scheduled and stopped less than 1 centimeter from the designated spot. >> translator: we will work hard to build and realize an autonomous system. we'll also do our best to develop other technologies to keep making bullet trains better. >> the company aims to begin introducing the technology from around 2028 to boost efficiency. other shinkansen operators are also conducting other autonomous

bullet train ride tests. now, children's education is always a big concern for families, and the possibilities are endless. now, for parents in asia who are willing to shell out, a traditional british-style education is now something attainable close to home. >> reporter: this international school opened next to a popular ski resort in northern japan last year. it's affiliated with england's herald school, a centuries old institution whose alumni include winston churchill and other british prime ministers. almost two-thirds of the students at the school in japan are from abroad. they represent more than a dozen countries including china and thailand. all of them live in dormitories.

classes are taught in english and follow the british curriculum. as with its u.k. parent, the aim of the school is to graduate well-rounded individuals. there are plenty of extracurricular activities including outdoor and indoor sports and an extensive music program. the school in japan is operated by a company based in hong kong. that company has a licensi reement wh the british school tuition for residential students is about $67,000 a year. >> the quality of the teaching, the provision of the all the pastoral and co-cocurricular tubts, fee find a lot of the families are deciding this is not cheap but it's money well spent. >> while some of theintsitutions involved go back hundreds of

years, the current push to export british education is quite recent. the government started it as a way to increase the u.k. presence abroad in the wake of brexit. wealthy families in asia were a chief target market. there was a particular focus on china and hong kong, but that initiative slowed two years ago when china's rules on establishing schools became stricter. that put the spotlight on japan where a clean and safe environment is seen as a plus to attract students from throughout the region. >> maybe these schools are kind of looking to be kind of hubs for students from around asia to come and study. >> reporter: another british school is holding an event for prospective students and giving them a taste for english

culture. it's set to open its doors in august, and there's more competition. a branch of the storied u.k. institution is also getting ready to open for the fall semester. >> i'll stay in japan for i think the next four years but eventually will go to american or europe. >> reporter: officials at rugby say there's space for 160 students but that over three times as many applications have been received. despite the high tuitions, school operators hope more parents will be attracted by the idea of giving their child a top-notch british education. nhk world. okay, let's get a check on the markets.

and that's all for business news. to bring you more

award-winning documentaries and live news. imran: will turkiye's opposition be able to end recep tayyip erdogan's grip on power? he's outperformed rivals for two decades. but will a united opposition and this vote bring change? this is "inside story." hello and welcome to the program. i am imran khan. it's an