glad to have you with us this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the latest at this hour. we start with torrential rain drenching wide areas of japan. officials say bands of clouds are bringing downpours. the level five evacuation

warning advises people to move to higher ground and stay away from slopes. similar weather patterns have caused deadly flooding and land slides in the past. in 2018 more than 200 people were killed in western japan. services on the tokaido shinkansen bullet train between tokyo have been sus spended due to-heavy rain. airline companies have either canceled or plan to cancel more than 260 flights across the nation. and our meteorologist jonathan oh explains the situation for some of the affected regions and what people should continue to watch out for. >> hello. we continue to monitor this combination of mawar and the rainy season front, and for those of you located anywhere from central into the eastern areas of japan, we're looking out for these types of heavy rain bands rolling on through and continue to develop on top of each other, which means intense rainfall in a particular

area for a very short -- or extended period of time for a very short duration, and when that happens it leads to flooding and concerns of land slide. take a look at the landslide risk map here. i want to point out these purplish areas. that's the danger level when it comes to landslide risk and we see that shifting from central areas into places like shizuoka prefecture and continue to move into the north and east. here's a look at some of the reports to give you an idea why we're concerned about this. some areas saw 358 millimeters of rainfall in a 12-hour period. that's a lot of water falling on the ground, and also toward the north and east talking anywhere from 270 to 276 millimeters of rainfall. again, in a 12-hour window and it's not over yet. the rain continue tuesday move to the north and east. especially for those of you along the pacific side on the

central and eastern areas of the country be on the lookout. the setup of that southerly flow into the cold front will continue to bring that chance for significant risk of what we call training rain, those intense heavy rainfall bands. we'll still talk about some gusty winds down to okinawa and amami but we've even seen strong winds rise out of the studios here in tokyo. so, yes, continue to monitor the situation where you are. those landslide risks along with swollen rivers and inundation are all part of the concern. timing wise overnight friday into saturday are part of the concern. late saturday this will start to clear out and things will start to calm down. stay safe wherever you are. the united nations security council will hold an emergency meeting to discuss possible responses to north korea's attempt to launch a spy satellite. the meeting set for friday was

requested by japan, united states and other countries. they say the launch involved ballistic missile technology and violated u.n. resolutions. on wednesday, north korea said it had launched a rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite from the station in the country's northwest. it said the rocket lost thrust and crashed into the yellow sea peninsula. the security council failed to take concerted actions against north korea, while the united states, japan and other parties have called for statements denouncing the north to be issued. china and russia have blamed the u.s. for the increase in tensions around the korean peninsula. a north korean foreign ministry official says launching the satellite was within the country's sovereign rights. now, south korea has announced unilateral sanctions against the north korean hacking group, accusing it of being involve in the country's satellite launch attempt. south korea's foreign ministry

on friday designated an entity subject to a ban on financial transactions. the group is known for collecting intelligence from individuals and government institutions. south korean officials said they and other north korean hacking groups have acquired advanced technology on weapons, satellite and space technology worldwide. they say the hackers have contrited to pyongyang's satellite development. south korea's intelligence service and police agency also released a joint advisory with the u.s. state department and the federal bureau of investigation. it provides detailed information on how they operate and what can be done to enhance network security. a major security conference is kicking off in singapore. defense officials from japan, the u.s., and china will attend the three-day talks known as the shang ri la dialogue.

>> aiko, what's the latest? >> reporter: delegates from around the world have started arriving at the conference venue, many in military uniform. registration for participants is under way. authorities have increased security in and around the hotel where the event is being held. motorists have been advised to avoid the roads near the hotel. over 600 delegates from about 50 countries are expected to attend. the list includes defense ministers and security experts from the u.s., ukraine, china and japan to name a few. they will discuss some of the most pressing security issues that confront the asia pacific region today. from nuclear weapons and disarmament in the region to the south china sea and the south pacific, where china is stepping up its influence. and growing concerns about north korea. >> speaking of north korea, japan was on high alert when pyongyang launched a suspected ballistic missile.

how are the delegates reacting there? >> reporter: well, the launch was deemed a failure by pyongyang, but it has vowed to conduct a second launch as soon as possible. experts suggest pyongyang is expecting to make up for the failed attempt. they are likely to condemn north korea's actions. >> aiko, there's speculation over whether or not a meeting will be held between the u.s. and china defense chiefs over the weekend. how likely do you think it will happen? >> reporter: well, speculation is, indeed, high. earlier this week, washington revealed beijing declined an invitation by the u.s. for a meeting of this nature. this comes after u.s. president biden recently said he expects a thaw in the frosty relations to

come shortly. washington views china's rising military, economy and technology as the most serious challenge to the international order. tensions between the two powers have flared over the alleged chinese spy balloon that flew over the u.s. in february. even informal relations or a chat between the defense ministers is likely to make headlines. experts from the international atomic energy agency have completed their final safety assessment of japan's plan to release treated and diluted water from the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. the team visited the plant on friday to inspect preparations for the discharge. since february last year iaea experts from britain, china, south korea, and elsewhere have come to japan multiple times to

assess whether the plan meet international safety standards. the iaea has said its report is likely to be issued by june ahead of the planned release of the treated water, but japanese officials say the experts did not confirm that time frame. the iaea took treated water samples last year and had them analyzed by the plant's operator, third party research institutes, as well as its own labs in various countries. after comparing the results, the agency reported this week the operator tokyo electric power company or tepco has demonstrated a high level of accuracy in its measurements and technical competence. rain and ground water has been seeping into damaged reactor buildings mixing with water used to cool molten nuclear fuel. that water is treated to remove most of the radioactive materials in it, but the filtered water still contains tritium. tepco will be diluting it with seawater to ensure the concentrations of radioactive materials will meet regulatory

standards for safety. the plan is to start releasing the water in the summer. the government wants to promote understanding of the release plan based on the iaea's upcoming report to avoid possible reputational damage. in other news a japanese publisher's organization says the largest website that facilitated access to illegally uploaded content has abruptly shutdown. 13dl was commonly referred to as a leech site. it linked to pirated manga and other japanese publications. such illegal platforms direct users to websites where pirated movies and manga can be viewed or downloaded. 13dl was believed to be based outside japan. its number of users grew over the past six years to hit 25 million a month. the content overseas distribution association and five major japanese publishers

sought a u.s. court order last month to compel the host of the site's server to reveal the operator's identity. they cited the infringement of copyrights owned by by the publisher. ten days after the court ordered the information disclosure the site reportedly shutdown. >> translator: the downloading and reading of piloted works will lead to the destruction of the soil where interesting works will be created without the return of money to authors, distributors, and publishers. this damages the foundation for creating new and captivating works. >> the publishing industry and other works oppose leech sites. but cracking downoon copyright act violations are challenging as leech sites do not host pirated concept themselves. the united states says it's taking further counter measures in response to russia's suspension of the new start nuclear arms control treaty. the state department confirmed

starting thursday the u.s. will no longer notify russia on the status or location of missiles, launchers, and other items as required by the treaty. it also said the u.s. will suspend the acceptance of russian inspectors to relevant facilities. now, tell metric information on test launches of u.s. intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine launch ballistic missiles will no longer be provided. despite these steps it said the united states will continue to notify russia when it test launches icbms and slbms. in february russia unilaterally declared it would put the nuclear treaty on hold. the u.s. says the steps are aimed at encouraging russia to fulfill its obligations under the treaty. it added it's ready to reverse the counter measures if russia returns to compliance. the u.s. senate has passed a bill suspending the government's debt ceiling. it brings the world's largest economy back from the brink of a default, which officials warned was just days away.

>> default was a giant sword hanging over america's head. because of the good work of president biden as well as democrats in the house, democrats in the senate, we are not defaulting. >> schumer praised members of his party in both chambers after the vote. he also lam basted republicans accusing some of them of using the threat of default to push an extremist agenda. despite that, the legislation did pass with bipartisan support. the bill follows a deal reached on sunday between house speaker kevin mccarthy and u.s. president joe biden who's now expected to sign it into law. it casts all nondefense spending for fiscal 2024 and suspends the u.s. federal government's borrowing limit through january 1, 2025. without the legislation, the u.s. risked being unable to pay its bills as soon as next week, which could have led to a global financial crisis.

next, the united nations has expressed concern over the continuous slowdown in ukrainian grain exports across the black sea. a u.n. spokesperson said on thursday that only 33 vessels departed ukrainian ports in may, half the number compared to april. he also noted exports in may reached 1.3 million metric tons of grains and other foodstuffs, less than half of the previous month. the spokesperson said russia informed the u.n. of its decision to limit registrations at ports as long as some of its own exports are not freed up. >> our fear as outlined in what i said is to see a spike in global food prices. >> on thursday a ukrainian official tweeted russia did not allow ships to enter its ports, and 50 vessels are on standby in turkish waters. ukraine's infrastructure ministry said some vessels had

been waiting over three months for inspections. it accuses russia of accelerating a surge in global food prices and causing losses of more than $1 billion due to the delays. and we now bring back our meteorologist jonathan oh for a check on world weather. >> hello. we are continuing to see heavy rain impacting japan along with mawar interacting with the rainy season front, and because of that, we will continue to be looking out for heavy rain overnight friday into the morning hours on saturday before things clear out and things

start to calm down. in the meantime make sure you keep an eye out to the sky. back towards the west, high pressure is the big weather maker which means it's going to be dry and actually quite hot. beijing at 22, seoul at 27, and 20 in shanghai. in the south, looking at instability with rain and thunderstorms expected. plenty of thunderstorms blossoming in the central areas of the united states. a tropical depression in the gulf will move south, not a big deal in terms of the strength of it. denver and oklahoma city and toward the east, highs of 32 in chicago to 34 in washington, d.c., as we wrap up the workweek. that's a look at your forecast. hope you have a good day wherever you are.

and that concludes this edit edition nhk "newsline." yum raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline biz"

with ramin mellegard, so stay right there. ♪ this is "newsline biz." i'm ramin mellegard. now, east japan rail rays started construction of a new train line that will provide better access to tokyo emphasis haneda airport. now, the project comes as an influx of foreign tourists makes haneda an increasingly important hub. officials held a groundbreaking ceremony for the line on friday. the operator aims for it to start carrying passengers in

fiscal 2031. >> translator: japan regards this project as a railway network that will contribute to strengthening the country's international competitiveness. >> people departing from tokyo station currently have to change trains to get to haneda. the trip takes about 30 minutes. the new service will offer direct access to the airport and shorten the travel time to just 18 minutes both ways. and new underground station for the railway will be built between haneda's terminal one and two. and the japanese government has unveiled a list of proposals to mitigate the effects of new limits on overtime by truckers in the delivery industry. >> translator: i hope relevant ministers will unite as an administration and work vigorously towards innovating logistics in japan. >> the regulations come into effect next year. while they are expected to improve working conditions, they

could worsen a nationwide drivers shortage and reduce the industry's capacity. one of the government's proposals addresses wait times at ramps. drivers often must wait long periods before and after loading their cargo. the government wants to make it mandatory for shipping companies to draw up plans that would shrink the periods and improve efficiency. another proposal aims to ensure drivers wages reflect inflation. to achieve that the government would readjust guidelines on fees that it regularly submits to operators. redeliveries are another problem as they require extra working hours. the government hopes to reduce the ratio of redeliveries from the current 12% to 6%. it says such an improvement would require action from operators. one idea is to expand programs to get customers coupons when they receive items on first deliveries. a japanese government white paper is recommending that the country reduce its dependence on

imported seafood and rely more on fish farming. the report cites the impact of russia's invasion of ukraine on japan's fisheries. it's the first time for the annual fishery's white paper to mention effects from the war. japan imports about 40% of its salmon and cod roe as of about 2021. about a third of its sea urchin was sourced from russia, but the price of its product has risen. japan scrapped tariff rates as part of sanctions for invasion of ukraine. another cause of the higher prices is supply chain disruptions caused by the war. the white paper recommends a boost in sustainable aquaculture to ensure the nation's security. it says the government will diversify the range of suppliers and increase assistance for domestic seafood production. the annual report was approved by the cabinet on friday. now, major japanese

publisher is aiming to create a market for secondhand digital books. the firm is teaming up with an e-book distributor to allow people to sell digital versions of hard copy titles using nfts. they announced they'll offer special editions of new paper books that come with nft versions. nfts or nonfungible tokens are digital items with proof offa then tasty. the publisher will let people buy, sell, or transfer nft versions on special apps. they said unlike with resold hard copy books part of the sales of the nft titles will be distributed to authors and the publisher. now, tokyo stocks surged last week as foreign investors continued to lift japanese markets. this is the ninth week that overseas buyers have kept up their stock shopping spree.

foreign investors bought more shares than they sold on exchanges of tokyo and nagoya for the period of the 22nd through the 26th. they outpaced sellers by about 318 billion yen or roughly $2.7 billion. it's a trend that has been ongoing since the fifth week of march, marking the first time in six years that the trend has continued for nine consecutive weeks. foreign investors have been putting money into japanese stocks on optimism for the country's businesses, but there is an indication that may be tapping the brakes amid the ex10ed run. the amount that buys exceeded sales among foreign investors shrank significantly last week compared to the week before. now, nhk world's john ladue is here with biz picks. >> every friday we bring you the

latest in business with biz picks. let's go straight to the numbers for this friday. the nikkei 225 rose 1.2% to 31,524. the index kicked off the week by surging to a fresh 33-year high. and the mood among investors improved to risk taking. that was after the u.s. government and republican-led congress edged closer to resolving the debt ceiling standoff. in fact, japanese stocks just keep climbing. the bench mark has gained almost 9% over the past month, and more than 22% this year. tokyo is now a hot market for global investors, so for this week's biz pick feature we look at the prospects for japanese equities going forward. the global market strategist, inves co asset management in japan expects the resilience of

japan's economy to continue tracking for investors through the end of the year and maybe even longer. >> i have a constructive view on japanese stocks towards the end of this year. most of the factors that have encouraged foreign investors so far are likely to be intact. so i expect more rise in prices. japanese growth is expected to be stronger than the u.s. and europe on the back of japan's monetary policy. and i think domestic demand is likely to be strong with the increase in wages, expansion on fiscal policy, and an increase in-bound tourism demand. so even though exports are likely to stay weak with the economic downturn in inu.s. and europe, i expect the domestic demand should be substantively strong to raise overall profit from this year beyond last year's level. >> now, he sees potential for japanese stock prices to gain next year, but he says the main

concern is the risk of a deep recession in the u.s. >> i think global supplies have already priced in shallow recession in the u.s. if we have a deep recession in the u.s., some prices may come down which should generate considerable downward pressures on the japanese stock prices. one challenge is a monetary policy tightening by the bank of japan. we are likely to see a rise in underlying inflation rates next year given the growth next year and next. the bank of japan is expected to become more confident about inflation, which leads to a tax rate hike for many years. and this should moderately raise the cost growing for companies and perhaps expand the pressure on the japanese yen. >> now let's take a look what's happening in the week ahead. on monday the u.s. i.t. giant

apple will host the annual worldwide developers conference. there's speculation the event will see the announcement of new hardware included an updated augmented and virtual reality headset for apple devices. i'm john ladue, and that was this week's biz picks. okay, let's get a check on the markets.

that's it for "newsline biz" from tokyo. i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very much for watching.

adrian: leaders from south america's 12 nations meet in brazil. their host president lula da , silva, is calling for more unity and even a new single currency. so what are his plans and could they become reality? and what's bringing these countries together now? this is "inside story." ♪ hello, welcome to the program. i'm adrian finnegan. south america's biggest nation has played host to the continent's leaders.