hello, and thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we start this hour in north korea. state run media has shown how the country marks the 70th anniversary of the korean war armistice. chinese and russian dignitaries -- state run tv

broadcast images thursday night. it was the military's first such parade since february. leader kim jong-un attended the event along the russian defense minister sergey shoigu and pyeongyang also showed off some of its ballistic missiles including the solid fueled that flew from a record 17 minutes july 12th. speaking at the event the defense minister said the united states would not survive a nuclear exchange with north korea. kim himself did not deliver a speech. observers say the parade also served another purpose. experts told south korea's news agency pyeongyang wants to show how china and russia tacitly approve of its nuclear and missile programs. they're banned under u.n. security council resolutions.

china and russia are both permanent members of the council. north korea has fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles in 2023 alone. and for more we earlier spoke with nhk world's seoul bureau chief. >> starting off, what's your analysis of these new north korean drones on display? >> well, i think it's part of a very clear message to the west. obviously north korea is very fond of staging these kinds of military parades. they do it all the time. it's always an opportunity to show-off new hardware. now, this time just ahead of the parade we saw what appeared to be copies of two u.s. military drones. one resembles the mq-d weaver capable of carrying out air strikes. the other drone looked like the hawk, an unarmed recognizance

drone. they prerecorded video appearing to show the drones in flight and one of them launching missiles, but really i think pyeongyang is trying to show its practical military capabilities. unmanned aircraft have been a game changer, so by showing off these designs pyeongyang is saying we're not just relying on our ballistic missiles. >> we also know officials from russia and china were in pyeongyang for this event. what's the significance of their presence? >> well, as you mentioned earlier this parade marks the 70th anniversary of the korean war armistice, which the north insists was a victory over the u.n. forces led by the u.s. the former soviet union and especially china were essential supporters for pyeongyang during

that fight. but recently there's been a bit of reversal for moscow. north korea has actually supplied russia with weapons like artillery shells for its ongoing invasion of ukraine. russian defense minister sergei shoigu may not have just been visiting out of solidarity. they must have been discussing their arms deal. it's also the first major visit by foreign delegations since the covid-19 pandemic, so this also sends a message of internal recovery to the north korean public. >> now, going back to what kind of message the north is trying send, should we be on alert for more aggressive behavior going forward? >> it's hard to say. north korea is unpredictable at the best of times. it will have long stretches where it will threaten its

neighbors and conduct missile launches, but they say they're open to talks. we've seen a record number of ballistics missile tests in the last two years including one believed to have the range to hit anywhere in the u.s. at the same time we see some signs pyeongyang could be open to restarting diplomacy with japan. given north korea's track record the u.s. and its allies should be prepared for another change in tactics. japanese and french fighter jets have soared over spectators as the country's hold their first such joint exercises here in japan. two of france's rafael fighters and japan's air self-defense aircraft including f-15s flew over a park on friday wowing all of us. the demonstrations comes on the

side lines of drills with the french air and space force that are meant to strengthen cooperation. >> translator: france is an indo-pacific nation and is very concerned about geopolitical tensions arising from competition among major powers. >> france suggested it'll deepen cooperation with japan to maintain stability in the region. the countries have been holding exercises in the southwestern prefecture of miyazaki and other locations since wednesday. meanwhile, russia has kicked off a joint naval patrol with china in the pacific ocean. moscow says their pacific fleet destroyers and corvettes are participating while china is dispatching destroyers and other warship. the two sides say they plan to practice in formation, sharing supplies, and preparing to launch helicopters. beijing earlier said the patrol would take place in the western and northern parts of the

pacific ocean. russia and chine raw have held a series of joint drills in and around the sea of japan. the two sides agreed to the exercises when their leaders held a summit in march. the u.s. government says china may be helping russia skirt western sanctions by providing equipment that has both civilian and military use. the house permanent select committee on intelligence released an unclassified assessment on thursday. it was compiled by the office of the director of national intelligence. the report indicates it's possible china is providing russ russia with support. it says it's supplied parts for fighter jets and other dual use equipment to russian defense firms. the report states as of march china had shipped more than $12 million worth of drones and drone parts to russia. the paper says beijing has become an increasingly important

buttress for russia in its war effort, probably supplying moscow with key technology and dual-use equipment used in ukraine. the report warns china may be providing semiconductors and other such dual use products to circumvent u.s. export controls. in other news, u.s. federal prosecutors have filed new criminal charges against former president donald trump in connection with his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office. the justice department unveiled three additional counts. they include a charge of obstruction of justice. the latest counts come on top of others filed against trump last month, which include violating the espionage act. he was indicted on charges of illegally retaining sensitive documents containing information on nuclear weapons and military capabilities at his residence in florida. the revised indictment says trump and his aides told an employee at his mar-a-lago residence to delete a server holding security camera footage.

the alleged request came after federal investigators issued a subpoena from the footage. trump now faces 40 criminal counts in connection with the documents case. trump's campaign lashed out at the latest indictment calling it a des separate attempt by president joe biden and the justice department to harass trump and the people around him. japan 2023 defense white paper is stressing the need for counter strike capability. it says international tensions are at their highest point since world war ii. the annual report was presented to the cabinet on friday. it says japan will need to drastically boost its defense to mask what potential threats are capable of. it said the ability to counter

strike missile launch bases will be key to deterring an invasion. it says all counter attack targets will be military in nature. the report specifically names china as a specific security concern both to japan and international community. it pointed to beijing's use of unmanned aerial vehicles and its activity with russian military. it says pyeongyang will likely keep developing missile-related technologies based on a five-year plan it launched in 2021. japan's transport ministry is searching the offices of major auto retailer bigmotor. the chain of use car dealerships allegedly made unnecessary repairs and filed fraudulent insurance claims. ministry officials began searching 34 of the company's offices in 24 prefectures friday morning. bigmotors own special investigative committee had

pointed out possible wrongdoings at those locations. the ministry decided to conduct on site inspections after questioning five executives including the president about the allegations on wednesday. repair companies are prohibited by law from charging customers for services they did not request. the ministry may penalize bigmotor if it confirms illegal acts were committed. next, japan's labor standards office is earning praise for its decision in what's likely the first case of its kind in the country. it awarded compensation to a man whose sexuality was revealed at his workplace without his permission. an lgbtq advocate says it's a milestone move, but the public still lacks understanding. nhk world has more. >> translator: i couldn't even leave my own home. i thought about killing myself, but i managed to go to the hospital thanks to my partner's

support. >> reporter: he developed a mental illness and had to quit hiss job after being outed as gay. he had listed his partner as an emergency contact. the labor standards office determined that that caused his illness. >> translator: i'm glad that there's now a framework so people can receive workers' compensation when the same thing happens in the future. >> reporter: he heads an organization that supports sexual minorities. he says he hopes people learn why the decision is so important. >> translator: in japan outing sexual minorities is more common than people think, but many don't see this as a problem. they say why is it wrong to reveal that? it's not a big deal. but, in fact, it's very harmful

for sexual minorities. >> reporter: his own partner of eight years has yet to come out. >> translator: hurdles for coming out are still high in japan. my partner sees coworkers mock lgbtq people or make discriminatory remarks, so i totally understand why people are reluctant to come out. >> reporter: he was among the advocates who went to hiroshima this year. they called a leaders meeting for the g7 summit to do more to protect the rights of lgbtq people. japan is the only g7 country that does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions. last month lawmakers passed a bill to promote understanding of the lgbtq community. it says there should be no unfair discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender

identity. >> translator: japan has made a little progress in legislation regarding sexual minorities. we don't have a law banning discrimination or legal guarantees for same-sex couples. the legal hurdles for transgender people to officially change their gender identity are also very strict. >> reporter: he says the decision by the labor standards office shows progress, but ideally coming out would never be something to worry about. nhk world. in weather, we've been

reporting this week on a typhoon that's passed near the philippines, taiwan, and portions of of china, bringing downpours and strong winds. our meteorologist tsietsie monare explains its impact in our world weather report. >> slowly tapering down now, but there's still lots of things to look out for there. you can see from the numbers really the pressure is already starting to increase and it made landfall almost starting to move a lot faster, so those are good signs it will move away from most of these coastal regions where we could see up to 250 millimeters or so of rainfall as we go into the weekend. in terms of your temperatures quite a warm one for north east asia and gets hotter the more east you move. tokyo takes the cake there at just around 36 degrees, so you might want to have an umbrella with you if you're planning to spend the day outdoors. moving into india, people are

also dealing with unstable weather condition. just take a look at this following video, and you'll see how this week people have been dealing with heavy rainfall which caused flooding and landslides. several cities saw severe flooding as water inundated roads. many roads were swept by the flood and you can see lots of cars trapped, so making the situation a lot more difficult for people to get to help and also for authorities to get help to people in affected regions. for the next couple of days we will be seeing a lot of showers coming in on the coastal side and also central and north eastern parts of india and also expect a bit of showers to come there. for the united states the story is the intense heat to the south. a lot of that heat moving towards the midatlantic and also towards the north east. places such as d.c. will go as high as 35 degrees, and new york will be quite hot.

temperatures around 34, and some of the concerns are that with lightening coming up you could spark more forest fires, wildfires across the more dryer and less humid areas there. you might want to report any fires you see as quickly as possible. that's all for the weather. bye for now. that's all for now on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm 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. policy makers at the bank of japan say they're introducing greater flexibility in their yield curve control policy or ycc, but they are otherwise leaving their ultra-loose program unchange. the announcement came after the boj wrapped up it's two-day policy meeting on friday. the official said the yield on

the ten-year bond would be allowed to fluctuate in a range around half a percentage point as before, but now they say they'll conduct ycc with flexibility regarding the upper and lower bounds of the range, viewing them not as rigid limits. the boj will offer to purchase ten-year jgbs at 1%. the yccs is intended to fix distortions by the financial markets. the boj statement says it's appropriate to enhance the policy sustainability under the current framework. this is the first modification to ycc under ueda kazuo. he said after the meeting the central bank will need persistent monitoring because of the 2% inflation target accompanied by wage hikes has yet to be seen. >> translator: taking account of extremely high uncertainties for

economic activity and prices, we agree it's appropriate to enhance sustainability of monetary easing under the current framework by conducting ycc with greater responsibility and nimbly responding to both up side and down side risks to japan's economic activity and prices. >> the central bank will keep a short-term interest rate in negative territory and continue as asset purchases to hold long-term rates. it also released its report on economic activity and prices. it raises the outlook for the current fiscal year that started in april to 2.5%. that's up from the 1.8% announced in april the median forecast for the consumer price index and excludes fresh foods. >> the oboj's move to add flexibility to the long-term government bond yields surprised some experts including a

professor at ko university and a former boj board member. she said she thought the boj would have waited until more data became available. >> because the boj emphasized the 2% target, they want to make sure achieving 2% in a stable manner, and they said inflation at this moment is very high, and already discussed inflation expected to come down. >> she points out the boj's decision as a step toward normalization of the monetary policy. >> so now the maximum yield is permitted, it's shifted from 0.5% to 1%. so it's clear they are all -- the increasing interest rate up

to 1%. so this is due to the tightening of monetary policy. >> she says raising the rate from 0.5% to 1% is a big change. she says it will present a restrictive environment for businesses. >> for small and medium enterprises, which needs to borrow money from banks raising -- right now lots of enterprises increased food prices and high inflation and in addition to that a higher interest rate may be some burden to them. >> but the boj still chose to make the change. she says the bank is prioritizing fixing the market distortion. >> i think the next steps -- if

they remove it the interest rate becomes more volatilized. it's not so good, so there's always side effects of which one boj is going to put more priority. today the decision was moving toward market functionality. >> she says with today's decision the question of whether the 2% inflation target could be achieved has become even more uncertain. john ladue, nhk world. now, the boj decision had an immediate effect on the bond market. investors began selling japanese government bonds and the yield on the bench mark ten-year issue jumped to 0.575% at one stage. now, the more flexible approach to the yield curve means we can expect long-term interest rates

to head higher. and the boj announcement gave a jolt to tokyo stocks and the bench mark index briefly dropped to 850 points or 2.6% on friday. many investors sold auto and other export related shares after the yen strengthen against the dollar on the boj news. but the nikkei stock average rebounded sharply as investors snapped up shares that had earlier tumbled. it ended the day down 0.4% from thursday's close at 32,759. the latest inflation figures for tokyo are out and once again they show prices climbing faster than policy makers want to see. the inconsumer price index with the capital central 23 wards in july was up 3% year on year. that's not quite the 2% we saw last month but far above the bank of japan's target of 2%. the index excludes the volatile

prices of fresh food, which fluctuate based on the weather. the price of other food items rocketed a year earlier, but energy prices dropped again. government subsidies helped drive electricity down 17% and gas about 9%. these figures for the capital are seen as a key indicator for nationwide inflation. we'll get those numbers in mid-august. japan's fishers are expected to see poor catches. the fish is commonly grilled and eaten in autumn in japan. the forecast is from a report by the japan fisheries and research and education agency. it projects volumes of saury expected to come to the pacific coast. the report estimates the volume at 940,000 tons. it adds the haul will remain

small throughout the season. the fisheries agency estimates the total haul will remain at the same level as last year when it dropped to a record low of 18,000 tons. fishers profitability tends to fall the further away they venture from the coast due to the surging cost of boat fuel. booking on shinkansen bullet trains are close to pre-pandemic levels. next month will mark the first period since they downgraded to the same classification as that of the seasonal flu. shinkansen operators say customers have already reserved more than 2 million seats from the period that runs from august 10th through the 17th. that's 93% of 2018's figure. it's also up more than 15% from last year. bookings for journeys to and from tokyo are around 90% of the

pre-pandemic level. the conson its bookings are at 89%. the extension line the kyushu shinkansen is at 83%. the operator says they're experiencing rising demand for long distance domestic travel. 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. season six of hindsigs

out now. scribe wherever you listen to podcasts. adrian: the ethiopian prime minister says is landlocked country will get direct access to a port. abiy ahmed wants to increase economic growth, but how far is he prepared to go, and what could ethiopia's neighbors offer? this is "inside story." ♪ hello. welcome to the program. i'm adrian finighan. ethiopia has been landlocked since eritrega