. hello and welcome to this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we start in north korea. the country is marking the 70th anniversary of the korean war armistice, but ts year pyeongyang has something new. yes, russian defense minister se sergei shoigu is one of several. north korean media report a

personal letter from russian president vladimir putin to the country's leader kim jong-un. they discuss shared views on national security. the north's ruling party newspaper reported shoigu attended a defense exhibition with kim on wednesday. they were pictured examining north korean weaponry including its new solid fueled intercontinental ballistic missile. the paper also published photos of what appears to be a new unmanned aircraft. the news agency reports it resembles the u.s. global hawk drone designed for high altitude surveillance. shoigu is not the only official from pyeongyang. they too reportedly delivered a letter to kim. theirs was written by chinese president xi jinping. south korean officials say north korea is expected to hold a massive military parade thursday night. analysts say the presence of russian and chinese officials is a show of trilateral solidarity

and tensions with the west. now, the korean war armistice left a fortified scar across the korean peninsula's 38th parallel. >> reporter: burning into the sky on july 12th is what pyeongyang considers a key tool for its survival, the intercontinental bu listing missile flying for a record 74 minutes. japan's defense ministry says it can hit anywhere in the u.s. mainland. >> it means even more threat to south korea and the united states. >> reporter: he says it's not just a technological break through. it's part of a strategy of

doubling down on nuclear and ballistic missile development. north korea is doing this by struggling with economic turmoil, hoping for a better deal at the negotiating table. >> i think north korea is trying to endure those kind of situations until next year's presidential election. >> reporter: meanwhile the south korean president says his country's alliance with the u.s. is stronger than ever. the north's missile tests have been answered with american nuclear subs stop in south korean ports. sanctions and crack downs on black market funding operations mean time and money are running out. >> whether it's just for their people or for themselves, kim jong-un is very clear aware of

that in order to develop the economy first they have to negotiate with the united states and the international community. >> reporter: he does believe the pressure will bring pyeongyang back into denuclearization talks. but he also sees troubling rhetoric beyond threats of war. >> north korea has always emphasized so-called one ethnicity and one race. since 2020 north korea -- >> reporter: officials like kim's sister now refer to the south as the republic of korea, suggesting they're no longer a common people but separate political entities. >> they consider north korea, south korea like the enemy country so they have every right to defend themselves. in other words, they can attack.

>> reporter: he says the north once saw reunification has intevitable. several decades later he says the division has grown so deep it's redefined what it means to be korean. the south is also facing a problem, which is why it's believed to be revising its own policies. pak says seoul has to bridge the gap for south koreans too young to remember when reunification seemed possible. nhk world, seoul. russia was notably absent at an emergency u.n. security council meeting where western nations condemned the country for its repeated attacks on southern ukraine. u.s. ambassador linda thomas greenfield was firm in her

remarks against russia. >> the world is paying the price for russia's barbaric attacks. so let's not both sides this issue. only one country, one country, is weaponizing food. >> council members gathered wednesday at the request of ukraine, but russia's deputy ambassador to the u.n. refused to attend. russian forces have carried out a series of missile and drone attacks on the ukrainian port city of odesa and elsewhere. this follows a decision by mus cow to withdraw from a deal to allow grain exports from ukrainian ports. a recent strike hit odesa's old town, which is a designated world heritage site. the attack damaged a historic cathedral. now in brussels nato representatives held a meeting wednesday at the request of ukraine. this is the second time nato's secretary-general jens stoltenberg called together the nato ukraine council. the group was formed earlier this month. the council strongly condemned

moscow's recent warning to ship sailing in the black sea. russia said any ships sailing ukrainian ports would be regarded as possibly carrying military cargo. it also blamed moscow for hindering freedom of navigation. nato said it'll ramp up maritime patrols in the region using aircraft and drones. and among nato members, turkey and hungary have yet to ratify sweden's bid for membership. but the hungarian foreign minister has told nhk his government supports sweden's application. he says its ratification process will likely come earlier than turkey's. >> hungary would not be the last country to ratify, so hungary would not be there as an off-cycle. >> he says the matter is in the hands of the parliament. he says lawmakers will come together around mid-september before it opens. earlier this month turkey agreed

with sweden to move forward its ratification process. turkish president rujeep erdogan indicated policy approval will come after it convenes in october. hungary relies on russia for energy imports. he says his government wants to maintain practical relations with moscow. he says keeping channels of communication open is important since there's always hope some negotiations could lead to peace. now, the turkish president has reportedly said his country does not support the increase of nato activities in the asia pacific region. he made the remarks when he met china's visiting foreign minister, wang yi. the chinese foreign ministry quoted erdogan as saying turkey and china are both countries with global influence. it said erdogan expressed the influence to deepen cooperation in various fields including trade and energy and uplift bilateral relations to a new

level. turkey has been boosting its global presence by trying to mediate between russia and ukraine. china apparently wants to stress erdogan's implication he would side with beijing which is wary of nato's growing influence in asia. next, japanese tax authorities have come down on a major osaka-based department store chain that neglected to collect sales tax on items purchased by foreigners. the department stores reportedly had to pay about $1.4 million in back taxes for the breach. foreign visitors get a break on purchases for the first six months they're in japan. they don't have to pay the 10% consumption tax on a range of products from souvenirs to every day items. but there's a catch, the exemption does not apply to items bought for resale in japan. tax officials claim some outlets skirted the tax law. they believe the stores didn't charge tax on about $14 million worth of goods over a three-year

period. officials suspect in some cases foreign residents bought items in both for resale over and over again. the chain's holding company, h2o retailing says tax returns of the stores have been amended and all back taxes have been paid. climate change is making long stretches of intense summer heat more and more normal here in japan. this year it's been especially unrelenting. companies are trying to adapt while keeping sustainability top of mind. earlier nhk world's kawasaki rika reported from an exhibition in tokyo to show us some of the hi-tech ways to stay cool. >> reporter: i'm wearing what's called a fan jacket, and as you can see i have two fans one on each side of me which provides a lot of airflow. and you can adjust this however your liking. and i have to admit even on the lowest level it starts to work.

i feel much cooler with the jacket on rather than off. and this is becoming more and more common among people who work outside. and this is just one of the many displays at this exhibition. it's focused on ways to beat the heat and lessen the impact on the environment including by reducing how much electricity we use. and 60 companies are taking part in this exhibition. and now this is one special mat you can have on your bed. it sucks in air through this area where you have your pillow and the air goes through this mat, under your body and exits here. as you can see the air is exiting here. and this doesn't require a lot of power and that's important in japan where leck electricity bi are rising here.

>> also it's good for the environment. >> reporter: staying cool is important even overnight because heatstroke can happen anytime. but people who have to work outside during the daytime like construction workers are especially at high risk. and let me show you how companies are trying to tackle that issue. and this is another cool tech for construction workers is this one, wearable tech around your neck. these two portions of have a semiconductor inside, which makes it cool. and i have the same one right here, so i'm going to try it on. whoa, feels like it's ice. it feels like i'm wearing really cool ice that just came out of the refrigerator. and this wearable tech brings it

down to 10 degrees celsius, and my body temperature is around 36, so this really keeps me cool. and another company is using a.i. to prevent heatstroke. it uses a camera to spot potential issues. the a.i. considers several factors including facial expressions, sunlight, temperature, and humidity to determine the level of risk for heatstroke. the company is targeting construction workers. >> translator: i think it's important to combine the power of both humans and a.i. when it comes to heatstroke. humans might not recognize some of the risks. with a.i. to support us, i think it will be a very effective tool. >> reporter: climate change is not going down, and the heat is here to stay, so finding new ways to deal with this new norm is becoming more and more important as ever.

moving now to the weather, some people in taiwan have been dealing with rough weather as a typhoon made its way across the region. our meteorologist has more on the outlook in our world weather report. >> we've got the report coming in. we've seen now over 1,000 millimeters of rainfall in just 30 hours. to be exact 1,29 #. that is quite a staggering amount. in a short period of time 39 hours that could lead to flooding and also major, major disruptions along those parts. let us take a look at the following video and you'll see how people have had their

classes especially students and businesses closed down in parts of taiwan over the typhoon that's been rage over the last couple of days. high waves, heavy rainfall and land slides have been reported. more than 300 people have been evacuated. i must say these 300 people were evacuated just as a precaution. now, there could still be more rainfall to come your way there. we're expecting an additional 300 millimeters of rainfall across many parts of the southern region of taiwan, and it will be moving towards the province in china. and that's the storm moving and the kilometer power speeds -- with wind speeds going as high as 1 # 4teres per hour, and those could bring some dangerous debris and also topple down trees and power lines so do expect power cuts across many south eastern parts of taiwan. and many parts of asia are dealing with extreme heat and

still high for beijing, seoul and including tokyo one of the hottest ones around 36 degrees. now, moving towards the united states there is a bit of a frontal and low system across the great lakes and the potential to bring strong gusts and lightening and maybe even tornados in certain parts of the great lakes and heavy showers moving towards eastern canada, and then another concern is the temperature i just want to highlight for you there, and washington 37 and new york 34 degrees. and along the coast and going all the way to the deep south as well and these temperatures keep on getting higher and higher. that's been the theme of the summer so far, temperatures keep on rising. please make sure you stay safe at all-times and do stay hydrated. that's it. bye for now.

and that wraps up 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. now, the bank of japan's latest two-day board meeting kicked off on thursday. officials are expected to discuss the merits of their ultra-easing monetary policy in the face of higher than forecast inflation. they will also release their quarterly economic outlook report that includes consumer price forecast until fiscal 2025. the doj is expected to raise its

inflation estimate for from 1.8% in april to about 2%. that's as businesses are raising their prices to flex higher production costs. the course of the monetary policy is likely to be decided on the productions for the course of two years. the japanese government had been purchasing in bulk to support the economy. there is criticism the boj's so-called yield curve disrupts market functions. some executives are urging a review of the policy. others say monetary easing continues until sustainable price increases accompanied by wage hikes are achieved. financial market analysts are closely watching the outcome of the meeting. and nissan motor has posted record sales for the april to june quarter due to a strong performance in japan and north america, but the japanese auto motive giant struggled in the chinese market amid the rapid

shift to electric vehicles. nissan said group revenue for the three months rose 37% year on year to nearly 3 trillion yen. that's about $21 billion. net profit more than doubled in yen terms to $750 million. but unit sales in china plunged 46% to 162,000. nissan cut its sales forecast for china to 800,000 vehicles this business year from 1.13 million. the am president and ceo said the company is strengthening its line-up in china with hybrid modelsch he added nissan will also work its local joint venture partner to introduce new models in the chinese market. and honda motor will start trial oprations of a battery powered outboard motor next month with the goal of making water borne transportation carbon free. a prototype will be installed

ota tourist boat. honda on wednesday demonstrated to the media how the battery powered motor would work on a pleasure boat. the outboard unit has lithium ion batteries normally used in electric motor scooters. it produces zero carbon emissions and less noise and vibration than conventional engines. honda estimates fitting the entire fleet of boats with the electric motors would cut co2 emissions by 47 tons a year. >> translator: the battery car unit is very quiet. i can hear customers voices and what they're saying clearly. >> honda official says the staff will check the unit's practical efficiency and explore ways to make it commercially viable. he said the motor's performance in the tests should be an important step forward in the company's efforts to achieve carbon-free water

transportation. now, rakuten group is offering a new device that offers cashless payments. it will give customers greater access to affiliated payment services. shoppers can use their smart phones, credit cards or digital money with the device. group company rakuten payment is offering to customers for free until the end of october. it's part of strategy to get more customers to use services settled via rakuten group companies. company officials say cashless payments are slow to spread in this sector. r rakuten rival smart phone service pay pay launched its service in 2014. pay pay services spread to over 3.4 million stores during that period. the japanese government has a target for cashless settlements to account for about 40% of the country's total by 2025.

now, a hot spring resort is offering visitors the chance to chill their feet amid a heat wave that has baked much of japan. tourism officials in the resort area hope their new cool footbaths become a summer hit. >> he normally fills his public baths with hot springwater, but now that's been replaced of water around 20 degrees celsius. local temperatures have exceeded 30 degrees on many days this month. the free of charge attraction is available until the end of august. and women's baseball is

gaining popularity in japan. the number of players has nearly doubled in the past seven years. new teams are springing up across the country, and many locals are hoping the sport will help revitalize these areas. nhk world visits one team in western japan. >> reporter: satoshi city is known for its spectacular ocean views. in the city a new women's baseball team went into action this year. the sutoshy blue shines. the team manager supervises 13 players alongside the coach. >> translator: we want to win every game and become number one in japan. >> reporter: she can back up her conviction with experience.

when at university her baseball team won the national tournament. she has unique training methods herself. for the bunting technique she uses wooden sticks to help players hone their skills. the team introduced a system to enable players to work at companies offering support such as this store that sells snacks. >> translator: i put a price tag on each item. i chose this team because it helps us finds work and has a nice atmosphere to continue to play amateur baseball. >> reporter: she found a job at city hall as a sports coach promotion officer. one of her tasks is to create posters introducing the players. >> translator: women's baseball has yet to become well-known.

i struggle to make people aware of its appeal and the player's name. >> reporter: locals are pitching in to support the players. this bakery has been donating surplus items to the team every week. >> translator: so much food! thanks as always. >> translator: i've always wanted to contribute to revitalizing the city. if this helps, i'm happy. >> reporter: the big day has finally come. the team's first official game. soon their offensive power goes into full gear. inning two they score three runs with timely hits.

and then inning five. the bunt technique they have trained on using wooden sticks proves successful. the game finishes with a convincing 11-0 win. >> translator: we will keep working hard so we can give back to the community. >> reporter: the setouchi blue shines baseball team is taking a big step forward to putting its home base on the map. nhk world. 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: israel's parliament has approved a law to weaken the powers of the supreme court. there have been mass demonstrations by opponents who say it gives the far-right government unlimited control. can it be overturned? and what is the impact for palestinians suffering daily israeli brutality? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome to the program. i'm adrian fineghan.