glad to have you with us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we start here in japan where both levels of the diet have now passed a bill meant to promote understanding of the lgbtq community here. the upper house approved the legislation on friday. the bill was put forward by the main ruling liberal democratic party and its coalition party komeito and revised based on opposition feedback.

it called on the government to draw up a basic plan to promote understanding of the lgbtq community. the legislation also says there should be no unfair discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. it must also ensure every citizen can live with a so-called sense of security. the bill has been criticized on several fronts. some conservative lawmakers in the ldp firmly opposed the legislation and walked out just before friday's vote. now japan is the only g7 country that does not recognize same-sex marriage or civil unions. japanese prime minister kishida fumio's cabinet has survived a no confidence vote which was a predictable outcome, but it had peaked a lot of interest in the lead up to a possible special election. the national constitution democratic party submitted the motion on friday. it criticized kishida's boost in defense spending as well as what it calls his failure to tackle

rising prices. >> translator: things are moving in the wrong direction. we need to stop increasing the burden on people while they struggle to make ends meet. >> but the ruling camp argued the motion was just annual attempt by the cbp to delay deliberations in the diet. the motion is considered largely symbolic as kishida's liberal democratic party holds a majority in the lower house. the ruling coalition voted it down as did some opposition parties. still the proposal had attracted a lot of attention. speculation buildup for weeks the motion could prompt kishida to call a snap election, but he seemed to put the kibosh on that thursday saying he was not considering dissolving the house during the current diet session, which is set to wrap up next wednesday.

japan, south korea, and the united states are condemning north korea's latest missile launch. two ballistic missiles were fired on thursday. both are believed to have landed in japan's exclusive economic zone. the statement came from the secretary-general of japan's national security secretariat, the u.s. national security advisor jake sullivan, and south korea's national security advisor. it emphasizes the launch demonstrates the threat north korea's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs pose to the region, international peace, and security. the statement says the u.s. reaffirms its security commitment to japan and south korea. it also refers to a meeting of the three officials in tokyo on thursday ahead of the missile launch. it explains they discuss ways to enhance trilateral cooperation, which they affirmed will not be shaken by provocations. now, concerns are growing among fishers operating in the

sea of japan. officials from japan's western prefecture of totori say grab fishers heard a loud noise thursday night around the time north korea launched a ballistic missile. they held an emergency meeting following the missile launch announcement. the self-defense forces were among the participants. prefectural officials reported red snow crab fishers operating in the fissure grounds off ishikawa prefecture had notified their boat's owner they heard a heavy sound such as that made by an object falling into the sea. the official said there was no damage to the fishing boat and the vessel was able to continue operating. the prefecture says it will urge tokyo to ensure the safety of fishing boats operating in the sea of japan. south korea's military says it's retrieved part of a north korean rocket that crashed into the yellow sea last month. north korea launched its first

military reconnaissance satellite aboard a rocket anime 31st. it later announced the rocket fell due to engine failure. south korea's military recovered part of the sunken rocket on thursday. korean letters and a drawing the military says is supposed to be a flying horse can be seen on the wreckage. south korea's news agency says the wreckage is about 12 meters long and 2 to 3 meters in diameter. it's thought to be the second stage of the rocket. south korea has already retrieved other parts of the wreckage. it plans to work with the united states to study the rocket's performance and determine whether it contains any foreign-made components.

a japanese astronaut is set to return to the international space station some time around next year for his second stay. >> translator: i am very honored and happy to be nominated for a very important role. i want to challenge everything i'm capable of. >> the japanese aerospace exploration agency or jaxa made the announcement friday. the plan is for him to head to a crew board spaceship and stay there for about six months. the spaceship orbits about 400 kilometers above the earth. he first stayed there in 2015 for five months. he served as a pilot in the japanese self-defense force before he was picked from about 1,000 applicants in 2009 to

become an astronaut. another japanese astronaut was on the iss until march. and another will fly there as early as august. he referred to jaxa's selection this year of two candidates for the first time in nearly 14 years. >> translator: i hope to produce as many accomplishments as possible and serve as a good role model as a japanese astronaut. >> he encourages them to work hard so they can one day visit the moon. next, harry potter fans can no immerse themselves in the world of wizardry that a huge theme park that opened here in tokyo. tom faco attended the opening on friday morning along with the

tokyo governor. dozens of fans flocked to the theme park many wearing the hogwart's uniform. the tokyo attraction is the world's second devoted today the potter series following one in london. visitors can explore sets re-creating famous scenes from the film including the great hall in hogwart's castle. sculptures of lions, eagles, badgers and snakes decorate the walls. there's also a replica of the magical moving staircase. fans share their excitement about the moving attraction. >> translator: i've always wanted to visit the studio in london, but it wasn't so easy. i never imagined we'd have a harry potter facility in japan, so i'm really excited. >> sebu railway has renovated a station near the park using

motifs from the movie. lights have been made to veresemble a station in the film. switching gears now to major league baseball where japanese two way sensation ohtani shohei of the los angeles angels has made his presence felt on the mound and at the plate. he helped his team hold onto beat the texas rangers 5-3. ohtani was the team's starting pitcher and designated hitter in thursday's game. he allowed two runs in six innings with one walk and three strikeouts. in the eighth inning he belted a two-run home run on his first pitch from the rangers reliever brock burke. that marked his 22nd homer extending his lead in the american league. ohtani is now tied with the new york mets slugger peat allonzo in the national league. ohtani marked his sixth win as a pitcher, his first in a month.

china has been called the world's factory, but many small manufacturers there are now struggling to hire workers. as nhk world explains one reason is many young chinese are rejecting the old ways of working. >> reporter: young people gather at night to live stream on their smart phones. they're trying to make money through online tipping. it's big business with some raking in thousands of dollars talking on camera. this woman recently started livestreaming here. she lives with her husband and two young children. her husband earns about $1,300 a

month, but she says it's hard to make ends meet. she saw livestreaming earned more than being a factory worker. >> translator: i want my family to have a more comfortable life. >> reporter: even those struggling to find jobs are choosing not to work for traditional companies. it's estimated that there are 200 million of these so-called workers across china. for young people flexible work means living on their own terms. these people on the beach all work remotely through the internet. an independent video producer is one of them. >> translator: it feels good. it's relaxing and comfortable

place. >> reporter: she used to live in beijing. now she stays in a shared house by the beach. rooms start at $280, and for her it's bigger than the place she had in the city. when she was in beijing she often worked 17 hours a day. it was hard to get a day off even on weekends. all that work took a toll. she fell ill and decided to quit. now she works as a freelancer doing online advertising. work isn't as steady as it was before, but she says she prefers it this way. >> translator: i now have my own time and life, and i've found my own work direction and goals.

>> reporter: as more young people choose flexible work, it's unclear how and if china's companies can lure them back. nhk world. next in weather, people here in tokyo felt the surge in the mercury friday, and it seems sunny skies are on the menu again into the weekend. our meteorologist jonathan oh has the forecast for here and elsewhere in our world weather report. hello. we definitely had a warm day across japan where temperatures are hitting close to 30 degrees in many locations, and we also saw some pretty nice day all in all as we saw clouds slowly departing from the area. we are expecting the weather to continue to be on the hot side as we go forward in time as high pressure continues to dominate the forecast. the exception to that is up toward the south where we had the rainy season run that continues to linger across

okinawa. as that continues we're still going to be talking about wet weather as we go into saturday. look at the forecast over the next 24 hours, looking at tharain down to okinawa. but elsewhere clearing out and looking like a pretty nice weekend. but, again, it's going to be hot, so if you're going to be out and about make sure you take it easy outdoors. 30 fukuoka with sunny skies saturday, 29 osaka, and 31 tokyo. we may be seeing some clouds up toward the north, but down towards the south we're talking about some rain as we go through the day. meanwhile we're keeping an eye out as it has made landfall, and it is weakening but it is still packing quite a punch when it comes to the rain. as we go forward throughout the next 24 hours and go into saturday we're seeing plenty of wet weather continue to be the big story here. those located at the border between pakistan and india, be on the lookout because this storm will continue to bring lots of heavy rain. even as the winds weakening

we're going to look at the possibility of winds causing some damage on top of the rainfall. across north america we are still watching out for the stubborn low pressure system and stationary front down to the south. it will continue to bring some rain and thunderstorms into the area. high pressure back over toward the rockies kind of enforcing a cold front moving in, so the northern plains also looking at the chance for some rain as you go through the day on friday. we head into the weekend and we are talking about a hot pattern down through the south in a place like dallas, highs in the upper 30s as you go through the weekend. hope you have a good day wherever you are.

here's one more story before we wrap up. farmers in northern japan have put the season's first premium watermelons up for auction with one of them fetching about $5,000. the watermelons are grown in the town of toma hokkaido. these summer delicacies weigh around 10 kilograms each. they're characterized by their distinctive black rind and red pulp. >> translator: the watermelons this year are delicious, so i hope everyone gets to taste them. >> shipments of the watermelons will peak from mid to late july driven by their popularity as summer season gifts. and that concludes this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline biz"

with ramin mellegard, so don't go away. ♪ this is "newsline biz." i'm ramin mellegard. policy makers of the bank of japan have wrapped up their two day meeting and thal say they're leaving the easing plan unchanged. the boj will keep a short-term interest rate in negative territory, and it will continue asset purchases to keep long-term rates around 0%. now, this policy is called yield

curve control or ytc. the yield on the ten-year japanese bond will be allowed to fluctuate in a range of around plus and minus half a percentage point. former governor harihiko widened that range last december to correct side effects from years of an ultra-loose policy. now after friday's meeting the central bank governor indicated the possibility the ycc policy could be adjusted in the future. >> translator: a variety of new data and information arrives during the periods between our policy board meetings. we decide on ycc based on this, so it is unavoidable that there may be some surprises including results that differ from one period to the next. that's also true of other measures. >> ueda said the boj will decide on policies by thoroughly

considering the effects of its measures. and next, nhk world's john ladue is here with biz picks. >> every friday we bring you the latest in business with biz picks. tokyo stocks kicked off the week with a fresh 33-year high following the recent bullish trend. on friday shares had a sluggish start to the day, but they picked up steam after the bank of japan said it will maintain its ultra-loose policy. the nikkei average finished up at 33,706. there are, however, concerns over the negative effects of the long-lasting easing policy. investors are watching closely for signs of when the boj will change course. we spoke with ichikawa masahiro

at -- asset management about what to expect. he said one of the boj's key measures called yield curve control might be adjusted at the next meeting in july, but he also says the central bank will be careful not to spook investors and disrupt the current upward trend in the stock market. >> translator: i think the boj will widen the range for long-term rates to 1 percentage point from the current half a percentage point while emphasizing that it will continue its easing monetary policy. i believe the boj will say that the change is just a slight revision to maintain yield curve control. i think the bank of japan will take care to keep policy changes from having a strong impact on the market. >> ichikawa also believes the boj won't be able to make big changes to monetary policy with the u.s. facing rough economic waters.

>> translator: the fed implied at the last meeting that it will hike rates two more times this year, so it's expected that the tightening measures will be kept and the economy will come under pressure. this means japan's economy will also face downward pressure, so the easing policy will be increasingly necessary going forward. and now let's look at some key topics coming up next week. on thursday major energy firm cause mow energy holdings will kick off its annual shareholders meeting. now, japanese companies have been increasingly facing push back from so-called activist investors. cosmo is expected to come under pressure to reshuffle its board and streamline operations. and on friday we'll get japan's inflation rate for may.

the consumer price index for april excluding fresh food exceeded the boj's target rising 3.4% year on year. i'm john ladue, and that was this week's biz picks. group of seven nations transport ministers are set to vow cooperation on promoting sustainable aviation fuel that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. the officials are expected to address the issue in a joint statement to be adopted at their gathering in central japan. now, ministers meetings are scheduled for saturday and sunday in mia prefecture's shima city. saf would have to meet strict standards. the goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions to less than half of levels generated by conventional jet fuel.

saf is made from plants and waste oil. the size of co2 reduction achievable by the fuel is depend on the exact ingredients and how it's made. g7 leaders plan to work jointly towards decarbonization in aviation by sharing the target for reducing co2. now the japanese government is considering legislation to curb app stores run by apple and google. a report has been drawn up by the government's headquarters for digital market competition and contains a set of proposals. says apple with its ios and google's android monopolizes the market. the app and app developers are forced to use their systems. it claims the situation will further tighten the company's control and hamper new market entries possibly leading to higher prices for consumers. now, the report says new legislation should be

established while security and privacy protection must also be considered. one proposal that says when os makers change rules, they should be required to disclose details and reasons in advance. the proposed legislation would also ban os makers from forcing app developers to use their systems. they would also be barred from levying unreasonable fees when the developer sell their products to users and charge for content in the apps. the report highlights the need for measures to prevent major i.t. firms from displaying their services over those of rivals in search engine results. the japanese government has announced it will give subsidies of roughly 120 billion yen or around $850 million to toyota motor so that it can revamp up -- ramp up, i should say, its ev battery production. the auto makers unveiled plans

to sell 1.5 million electric vehicles annually around the world by 2026. but one of toyota's biggest potential headwinds is having sufficient production capacity of lithium ion batteries to meet the target. the newly announced government support is expected to lead to a doubling of the car maker's current capacity. the subsidy covers production in japan. now, the government is designating storage battery as an item important to national economic security. toyota will be receiving a portion of the roughly $2 billion government budget allocation to promote battery development and manufacturing in japan. in april the government decided to provide over $1 billion for a factory to be built jointly by honda motor and major battery maker gsuasa. nissan motor's second highest ranking executive will leave the company. he's been the chief operating

officer at the japanese auto maker since 2019. nissan announced the management change on friday. the company said last month it would not reappoint gupta as a board director or as representative executive officer. it added friday he'll resign as coo. the 52-year-old played a leading role in negotiations to revamp nissan's capital alliance with the french car maker. gupta has been working with president makoto to turn around the troubled auto maker. okay, let's get a check on the markets.

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

>> it is adopted, congratulations. >> it is described as a significant step towards setting a rulebook for ai. european and he's dropped a lot to keep a check on the risk posed by ai. the ai act could serve as a framework for creating a mobile watchdog, but could also suppress innovation. this is "inside story". ♪ welcome to the program,