hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. saturday will mark one year since the assassination of abe shinzo, japan's former and longest serving prime minister. abe was fatally shot in broad daylight while campaigning in the city of nara in western japan. his death sent shock waves

through japan, and the incident continues to shape the country's politics. 42-year-old yamagama was arrested immediately after opening fire on july 8, 2022. he was arrested and indicted on other charges in january this year. the case against him has yet to be heard in court. he told authorities he did it because he believed abe had close ties with a religious group formerly known the reunification church. he said his mother donated large sums of money to the group which left his family in financial ruin. his trial is expected to be held next year at the earliest. the japanese government is carefully scrutinizing the group to seek a rare court order for restricting its status as a corporate entity. meanwhile since the shooting japanese police have been tightening security measures for high level officials. in april an explosive device was flown toward current prime minister kishida fumio during a

campaign event in the city of wakayama in western japan. he was unhurt. now political parties have asked to use indoor venues to facilitate security checks and make sure there's distance between the speaker and the audience. earlier kanako sachno spoke to nhk world's senior commentator about abe's impact on kishida fumio's administration. >> what kind of influence did abe have on kishida while he say alive? >> abe had a great deal of influence on kishida. in the autumn of 2021 there were many things in which kishida regularly -- he listen pd to others opinions before making major policy decisions. abe would say ultimately it is up to the prime minister to decide, but he would occasionally make suggestions.

so kishida held abe in high esteem. he did earn some criticism for this and some referred to him as abe's puppet. >> did abe's death have any effect on kishida's political beliefs? >> i don't think kishida's political beliefs have changed, but he seems to have become more realistic as the security environment surrounding japan becomes more severe, he appears to have become more determined to follow abe's play book more closely. a leader of one faction said prime minister kishida appears to have become more confident and more sure of his politics over the past three years. we will see how this plays out in the upcoming party presidential election. at this point there is no one within the ldp likely to run against kishida if an election is held next year. >> and how has abe's legacy

shaped kishida's approach as leader on the global stage? >> abe who established a long-term administration has made his presence felt in the international community by advocating diplomacy that takes a panoramic perspective of the world map. kishida has been actively engaged in diplomacy. for instance, a visit to ukraine in march and the summit in hiroshima in may. of course there are some differences. like when it comes to the relationship between japan and south korea. under abe bilateral relations have deteriorated to what was said to be the worst since the end of world war ii. but under kishida and the south korean president there seems to be an express waiting list to improve relations. although kishida was initially

cautious he invited yun to japan in march this year and visited south korea in may. it marks the first visit by leaders of both countries in 12 years. kishida has said he hopes the two countries will continue their efforts to improve relations. japan's nuclear regulator has approved a system to release treated and diluted water into the ocean from the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. it means the system is ready to operate once the government gives the go ahead. the nuclear regulation authority on friday granted plant operator tokyo electric power company a certificate that says the facilities for the ocean release passed the final inspection. nra officials inspected the system that includes pumps to

take in massive amounts of seawater along with emergency shutoff valves. inspectors concluded that there were no performance problems. the tepco executive in charge of the release plan says his company will continue to provide science based information to address public concerns especially among the people in the fishing industry. >> translator: we will keep our promise not to dispose of the water without the understanding of relevant parties. >> the plant suffered a triple melt down in the march 2011 earthquake and tsunami. since then ground water and rain have been seeping into the damaged reactor buildings and mixing with water used to cool molten nuclear fuel. workers treat the water to remove most radioactive materials, but tritium remains. the more than 1,000 tanks being used for storage at the site are nearing full capacity. last year the nra approved a

plan to dilute and discharge the treated water into the ocean. the government says the level of tritium will be lowered to one-seventh of the world health organization's standards for drinking water. this week the international atomic energy agency released a comprehensive report that concluded japan's plan is consistent with international safety standards. japan's industry minister plans to visit the plant on monday to inspect the water release system. >> translator: i'd like to give a thorough explanation to people in fukushima about the iaea report, how we will ensure safety, and our measures to prevent harmful rumors. >> officials plan to start releasing treated and diluted water some time this summer. well, japan's neighbors have shown different reactions to the plan to release the treated and diluted water. the south korean government issued a report on the outcome of its own investigation and

analysis on friday. it says seoul has confirmed the concentration of radioactive material will meet standards for ocean discharge if a release is carried out as planned. >> translator: in our review of the possible effect from the planned release the results show it would not have a significant impact on south korean waters. >> meanwhile, china's general administration of customs issued a statement. it says the iaea report does not fully reflect the opinions of experts who took part in the assessment. china suggested tightening restrictions on food imports from japan saying that it'll take all possible measures to ensure the safety of such products while monitoring the situation. now to potential relief for millions of people suffering from alzheimer's and their

families. the u.s. food and drug administration has fully approved a drug that slows the progress of the disease. it was developed by a japanese pharmaceutical firm and its u.s. partner biogen. a study verified it's an effective treatment for patients with alzheimer's. it's been shown to slow down the disease progress by reducing sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta that form in the brain. the fda says it's the first such treatment to gain full approval. it received accelerated approval from the fda in january. the administration's advisory panel decided in june that the confirmatory study verified the efficacy of the drug. the agency said it should be used for patients with mild cognitive impairment or the mild dementia stage of alzheimer's.

applications for approval have been filed in other parts of the world including japan, europe, and china. a group of japanese patients and supporter supporters expressed high hopes that it'll get the green light in the country. twitter is threatening to sue the parent company of facebook and instagram over its new threads platform. it's accusing meta of hiring former twitter employees to create a copycat app. twitter's legal team sent a letter to meta's ceo, mark zuckerberg. it says twitter has serious concerns that meta platforms has engaged in systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property. the letter cc'd twitter owner elon musk. he tweeted, competition is fine, cheating is not. meta made its threads app available in more than 100 countries on wednesday. the new app looks similar to

twitter. meta says the number of threads users had exceeded 30 million worldwide as of thursday morning. responded to twitter's accusation in a post on threads. its spokesperson wrote no one on the threads engineering team is a former twitter employee. a town in hokkaido northern japan is sounding the alarm over a geothermal power project. high levels of arsenic have been found in nearby waters after excavation work triggered a geyser of steam. officials say it could pose a major threat to local health and the environment. the site is located in the town not far from a popular site for tourists and skiers. the oil exploration company is conducting the excavation. it says testing found nearly 1,600 times the daily amount of

arsenic safe for drinking water under japanese standards. the world health organization says arsenic contamination in food and water can cause long-term health problems like cancer and skin lesions. the company is currently releasing water from the site into a nearby marsh. the mayor of the town has called for the release to be halted and has told local farmers to stop using the water. he met with company representatives to express his town's concern. >> translator: we have repeatedly requested the water be properly treated. releasing the water is a serious situation that harms the health of residents living in the area and is directly linked to environmental pollution. >> mitsui oil exploration company says it's continuing to work with the town and fire officials to manage the situation. the driver of a mini truck

has been arrested after plowing into a group of elementary students in north eastern japan. four children suffered injuries. the suspect says he drove into them intentionally. it happened thursday afternoon in the city of -- officials say the vehicle drove into the school's playground after entering through a side entrance. the victims are in the fourth grade. the nature of their injuries has not been released though all were found conscious. the school held a briefing for parents after the incident who say their children were shocked by what happened. one mother told nhk she hopes the school provides mental health support for students. >> translator: when i went to pick my daughter up, she said she was so scare. her hands were shaking. >> police arrested 34-year-old -- on suspicion of attempted murder. they say they're still trying to determine a motive.

it's time for a check on the weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh. we've been dealing with both heavy rain and heat this week in japan. jonathan tells us how things are looking for the weekend. >> hello. we certainly had a busy week when it came to the weather across japan. earlier in the week we were really focusing on concern for heavy rain in western japan. now we're focusing on the rain. 30 degrees on friday, and tokyo also made up to 34.2 degrees, both the highest so far this year. and as you go into the weekend both stories will continue. part of the reason is because we do have a seasonal front that's draped over portions of of south korea into western areas of japan especially those of you located into northern areas of kyushu you're going to be seeing the brunt of the rain from this front. as we go through the weekend

we're going to be soog potentially heavy rainfall continuing through the same general area through the weekend into the first part of next week. so make sure you are keeping an eye out on the weather situation and make sure you have the preparation in place because with all the rain we had earlier this week, additional rainfall could easily trigger landslides and flooding. look at the possibility of rainfall amounts some locations over the weekend anywhere from 300 to up to 500 millimeters of rainfall in the western region of japan. osaka, fukuoka looking at wet weather into the first part of next week. tokyo, wet and hot by monday. speaking of seeing the unstable weather across japan, we also had some unstable weather in the northern areas of spain. take a look at this video as severe thunderstorms hit the northern portion of the country thursday and led to severe disruptions. railways in barcelona have been cut and 500 people were caught

in the rain. and thankfully no injuries have been reported. we are looking at a dryer pattern across spain, but we are looking at unstable weather into france, paris looking at thunderstorms as we gow through friday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. and before we go, japanese

basketball star hacimura yuri hooz signed a deal to remain. he agreed to a $51 million deal. heosted aideo mesge on the team's social media account. >> hey, lakerans. this i ru i'm ba, so excited for the next year. >> the lakers acquired hachimura in january from the washington wizards. he became the first japanese player it be acquired in the first round draft. in his career he's averaged 12.5 points with five rebounds and 1.3 assists. the lakers advanced to the nba conference finals in the last season. and that's all for this edit edition 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. japan's real wages fell in may for the 14th straight month as inflation continued to outpace salary gains. preliminary figures from the labor ministry show that inflation adjusted wages dropped 1.2% in the month from a year earlier. the number is from a survey of more than 30,000 businesses

nationwide with at least five employees. workers in may earn an average of a little over 280,000 yen or about $2,000 including overtime. that's up 2.5% from a year earlier as the results of this year's labor management talks showed up in peoples wages. the japanese trade union confederation says employers at this year's wage negotiations offered an average monthly hike of 3.6%. that's the biggest increase in 30 years, but the higher wage trend has yet to catch up with price increases. labor ministry officials say the decline in real wages has narrowed and that they are watching to see if the trend leads to gains. meanwhile, japan's consumers responded by cutting back. household spending fell in may for the third month in a row. the jouinternal affairs ministr

households of two or more people spent about 286,000 yen or around $2,000 an average. that's down 4% from a year earlier adjusted for inflation. expenditures on communications declined 9% as more people signed up for low priced mobile phone plans. spending on supplementary education such as cram school tuition dropped by about 15%. purchases of air-conditioners, vacuum cleaners, and other household durable goods fell over 13%. by contrast consumers spent more on rail tickets, air fares and other forms of transportation. those were up nearly 18%. leisure expenses including travel and lodging rose 8.5%. the positive figures indicate people were going out more often after coronavirus restrictions were lifted. sustainability will be high on the agenda on -- in japan this weekend. that is when the g7's urban development ministers sit down

for talks. it's one of the ministerial level meetings that are held before or after the g7 summit in hiroshima. japan's lab minister will chair the two-day meeting from saturday. the ministers are expected to share ideas on securing green spaces in urban areas. the united nations has said cities are responsible for more than 70% of co2 emissions. ukraine's minister in charge of reconstruction is also expected to join the session remotely to discuss reconstruction in his country. japan's government has been watching companies abroad take the lead in the race to develop generative artificial intelligence models. now it plans to help fund a super computer that can play in the same league. the government says it will provide 5.3 billion yen or about $37 million to a japanese telecom giant softbank to create

a machine capable of the scale of data necessary. the subsidy will cover about a quarter of the money softbank plans, that is budgeting for what it says will be one of the most powerful computers in japan. the company plans to buy high performance semiconductors from u.s.-based nvidia. the industry minister says it's essential that japan has its own a.i. models. >> translator: establishing foundations for the development of generative a.i. in japan is very important for future innovations and also from the standpoint of economic security. >> the government last month pledged about $47 million to japanese data center operator sakura internet to develop its own super computer. police in yamanashi are looking into the attempted theft of some of the prefecture's most prized goods. the perpetrators tried to make

off with about 350 peaches. the police say the fruits were found in baskets near the orchard. they believe the culprits picked them but were forced to abandon their plan. they estimate the damage amounted to around 100,000 yen or $700. the police also say locals patrolling the area the night before the robbery spotted a suspicious car with tokyo license plates. that car was later found abandoned. yamanashi prefecture is the nation's top peach producer, and fruit theft is a recurring problem there. thieves made off with around 8.5 million yens worth last year. that's about $60,000. next, nhk worldia yanaka me is here with biz picks.

every friday we bring you the latest in business with biz picks. let's kick things off with a wrap of the tokyo markets this week. the nikkei average closed at 32,388 on friday, july 7th. it hit a fresh 33-year high on monday but has ended the week down 2.4% as investors took profits. they were also cautious that u.s. jobs data due later on friday might increase the odds of future rate hikes. next, a look at the week ahead. on wednesday the comprehensive and aggressive agreement for transpacific partnership or cptpp will go into effect in brunei bringing the number of nations to 11. and on monday we'll get bankruptcy data on japan. for 13 months in a ray bankruptcies have increased from the previous year.

all eyes are on whether june will see that trend continue. so our feature biz pick this week looks into the state of japanese companies. an expert at daiwa institute of research is especially worried about small and medium sized enterprises. >> translator: management issues are arising for smaller businesses. many have no one to take them over. another problem is inflation skyrocketed last year, and the cost of raw materials is up. the labor shortage presents another problem. >> another burden is the repayment of what are known as zero-zero loans. the lending started with no interest and no collateral in 2020 to support small and medium-sized businesses affected

by the pandemic. he said these loans prevented bankruptcy. before the pandemic in 2019 there were over 8,000 bankruptcies. over the next three years, that figure was held lower. although the zero-zero loans did help companies survive the pandemic, they're compounding their financial burden now. that's because they're only interest-free for three years meaning higher repayments from this year. sure enough in the first five months of this year bankruptcies among recipients of these loans were high, jumping 50% from the same period last year. now, many businesses borrowed after the first state of emergency just around three years ago, so more firms may go under in the coming months. so what should companies do to get through this rough patch? >> translator: business owners should create their own

management improvement plan with lending institutions working together to provide assistance and direct support. i think that improving business profitability is essential to the japanese economy as a whole. >> in the meantime will companies call it quits? we'll find out with the data due monday. i'mia nocy marie, and that was this week's biz picks. all right, let's have a look at the markets.

from the "newsline biz" team in tokyo, i'm gene

adrian: israel under pressure to end so-called automated apartheid. it is accused of using facial recognition technology to control palestinians in the occupied west bank. so how far have they breached's privacy, and does this technology really offer israel greater security? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome to the program. i am adrian finighan. israel's use of artificial