hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. japan's prime minister has now spoken publicly about a possible political scandal. prosecutors raided the offices of a lawmaker in the ruling party friday. it was in connection with bribery allegations. akimoto masatoshi alemgly received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a wind power

generation keim. he resigned as parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs after the raid. prime minister kishida fumio says it's regrettable that the situation has aroused the public's suspicion. he declined to discuss it further due to the ongoing investigation. but he says the government will continue to promote renewable energy policies. japan wind development denies bribery. the company failed to join offshore wind power generation projects. the government held biddings for them between 2020 and 2021. akimoto brought up the bidding process during a diet session in february of last year. he asked for evaluation standards to be reviewed. the government later changed them. akimoto was involved in drafting a bill several years ago on promoting offshore wind power generation. he did not respond to questions from reporters when he returned to japan from an overseas trip

on thursday evening. two u.s. navy sailors have been arrested and indicted on charges of leaking sensitive military information to china. >> the charges demonstrate the prc's determination to obtain information critical to our national or any other public servants. akimoto did not respond to defense by any means so it could be used to their advantage. >> the u.s. justice department said one of the sailors is stationed at the naval base in the state of california. he allegedly received nearly $15,000 between august 2021 and may 2023 from a chinese intelligence officer posing as a maritime economic researcher. >> we charge mr. jao took photographs for blueprints located at a u.s. military base in okinawa, japan.

>> the other sailor was assigned to an amphibious assault ship stationed at another naval base in california. wey allegedly supplied photos and videos of detail of the weapons systems from march 2022 to the present receiving thousands of dollars in payment. he also allegedly provided information about the ship's power and steering systems for which he was paid $5,000. a top federal bureau of investigation official says the arrests are a reminder of china's efforts to undermine u.s. democracies. the official says the fbi remains vigilant in its determination to combat espionage. a scenic tourist destination in southwest china is gaining a reputation as a budding center for young tech entrepreneurs. thanks to its laid-back atmosphere it's becoming a hub

for so-called digital nomads. people can work online anywhere they choose. nhk world's nakamura genta went to find out more. >> reporter: the city of dali lies in china's southwest province. its beautiful setting and traditional landscapes have long made it popular tourist destination. but during the pandemic years the city began a different demographic. younger people grew frustrated with the country's zero covid restrictions. 38-year-old chen moved to dali in march 2022. before that he worked in the internet industry in beijing. he made a good income, but he was working very long hours. that took a toll on his health. >> translator: i developed a pretty serious bipolar disorder. mentally and physically i was in

a bad way. >> reporter: he setup a business and now runs his own company. he lives in a three-story house which would be out of the question in a big city. he says that over the past year his depression has gradually lifted. for him dali offered something money can't buy. >> translator: there has been a certain impact on my income, but winter here is very comfortable, and it's nice and cool in the summer. >> reporter: dali is attracting a growing number of young people in the i.t. and advertising industries who can work as digital nomads. this echoes the early days of silicon valley. some people have nicknamed the city california, but there's a long way to go. for the past two years the

chinese government has a ban on crypto currencies to prevent the sector system from becoming main stream. last summer an i.t. event was planned in dali. even though thousands of people signed up for it the authorities did not allow it to go ahead citing pandemic restrictions. the theme of the event was next generation internet technology used for critical assets. and participants did not think it was illegal. one person who was involved in the event is this software engineer who works in beijing. he would only be identified by the pseudonym -- chen says anti-covid measures were not the omreason for canceling the event. >> translator: there must have been other factors. i don't think we can talk much about this here. >> reporter: another person told nhk that some of those involved had their mobile phones

confiscated by the authorities who were ordered to leave dali. chen decided to stay in beijing. she doesn't think that the dream of california will ever be realized. >> translator: it won't happen. initially there were many people who wanted it to succeed, but dali's history is completely different from that of silicon valley. >> reporter: for young people across china dali still has an allure, but its future as a technology hub is in the hands of the authorities. nakamura genta, nhk world, dali. a senior ukrainian prosecutor says the number of civilians killed since the start of the russian invasion has now exceeded 10,000. but he adds the figure may, in fact, be much higher.

the prosecutor spoke in an interview with the ukraine news agency on wednesday. the official said 10,749 civilians have been killed since february of last year. 499 of them were children. he said the actual figure will climb significantly as it remains difficult to confirm the number of casualties in areas occupied by russia. meanwhile ukraine and russia appear to be intensifying their attacks using unmanned military vehicles. the ukrainians said on tuesday it shot down all 15 drones launched in an attack by russia. ukraine says drones hit the capital of kyiv for a fourth consecutive day. the governor of the region said several drones were intercepted over his region. russia's defense ministry accused ukraine of being behind the attack.

it said there were no casualties or structural damage. this is the latest in a recent series of drone assaults in russia. one entered moscow's business district on tuesday and crashed into a high rise building, which has already been hit in a similar incident on sunday. ukraine has not acknowledged its involvement in any of the drone strikes in russia. a report from "the new york times" said earlier this week its analysis indicated at least three different ukrainian-made drones had been used inside russia including in moscow. the united states has condemned russia's withdrawal from a deal to allow ukrainian grain exports from black sea ports. they call the move an assault on the world's food system. the u.s. hosted an open debate at the u.n. security counsel on thursday to discuss conflict induced food insecurity and famine. the u.s. holds the council's

presidency this month. washington issued a presidential statement that strongly condemns the use of starvation as a method of warfare. >> every member of the united nations should tell moscow enough -- enough using the black sea as blackmail. enough treating the world's most vulnerable people as leverage. >> u.s. secretary of state antony blinken criticized moscow for bombing ukrainian granaries, mining port entrances, and threatening to attack any vessel in the black sea following the deal's suspension. japan is echoing the accusations. >> russia -- in supplying grains to african countries. we should not accept russia's attempt to weaponize food to destroy grains in ukraine while

increasing its own exports. >> russian u.n. representative dmitry poliansky argued there's more than enough food in the world, the problem is it's distributed unevenly. >> translator: you don't care the slightest bit about the interest of the countries in the global south, but we do. >> poliansky says the west has food surpluses while developing countries face food shortages. meanwhile, a senior u.s. government official says a recent visit to north korea by russian defense minister sergei shoigu. >> our information indicates russia was seeking to increase dpr sales. >> kirby says any arms deal between pyeongyang and moscow would directly violate a series

of u.n. security council redslutions. shoigu led a regz delegation last week. he held separate talks with his north korean counterpart and the country's leader kim jong-un. kirby says russia's going through a vast amount of inventory to try to subjugate ukraine and that president vladimir putin is reaching out to countries like north korea and iran to get support for the war. he says the u.s. is going to continue to identify, expose, and counter russian efforts to acquire ammunition. mines have become a big issue for ukraine due to the invasion. people in the country are learning how to remove them, and japan is providing the equipment for that. demining training is under way in this kyiv suburb. it started in april.

the students are using an advanced japanese mine detector. it's equipped with ground penetrating radar. it'll detect a metal object and the monitor on the device displays the object in red along with its shape. kyiv estimates nearly one-third of the country is littered with land mines and unexploded shells due to russia's invasion. >> translator: ukraine is one of the world's most mined countries. and support from japan is very important. >> authorities say japan is expected to provide the country with an additional 50 mine detecters. donald trump was already the first former or sitting u.s. president to face criminal charges. now he's appeared in court in washington on accusations of plotting to overturn an

election. as he's done before, he pleaded not guilty. trump headed to a courthouse that has hosted dozens of trials stemming from the attack on the u.s. capitol. he's been indicted for the third time in four months. justice department special counsel jack smith unveiled his case earlier this week. he says trump lost the election but was determined to remain in power. the indictment says trump pushed false claims of voter fraud knowingly. trump says this is a sad day for america. >> when you look at what's happening, this is a persecution of a political opponent. this was never supposed to happen in america. >> because we won that election fair and square in 2020. >> trump supporters and opponents have already decided what they think of the process and the man. >> i wanted to witness the election interference first-hand

so i don't have to get it from the news -- the fake news. >> january 6th was appalling, that he could incite people to storm my capitol and tear it down. >> trump is the leading candidate for the republican presidential nomination, and he said that he would not end his run even if he is convicted. typhoon khanun has brought destruction and confusion in okinawa and southwestern japan. it has left two people dead and more than 70 injured. and authorities are warning people that the danger is not over. japan's meteorological agency says the large and powerful storm has changed course and is set to approach the islands again. maximum gusts of 122 kilometers

an hour were recorded at the airport in okinawa on friday. it cause widespread power outages. officials say at one point as much as 30% of the households on the island were without electricity. some residents are using their cars as charging stations. >> translator: smart phones are important. you can check the course of the typhoon and news. >> the water supply was cut off in parts of -- city and emergency supplies were being distributed. >> translator: lelectricity's important, but it's water that is the most vital thing. >> the typhoon is expected to bring increasingly rough weather to okinawa and the amami islands in kagoshima prefecture through sunday. authorities are urging people to stay updated with the latest

information. and now here's your three-day world weather forecast. that's all for this edition of 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 exports of food as well as forestry products in the first half of the year reached a record high. that is due to more people going out to eat as pandemic restrictions are eased around the world as well as the weaker yen. the index groups together prepared food as well as agricultural, forestry, and

fishery products. the agriculture ministry seds the figure jumped nearly 10% from the same period last year. it reached 714 billion yen or about $5 billion. shipments to hong kong and elsewhere increased almost 130% in yen terms to almost $150 million. soft drinks were up 24% to over $191 million, and beef increased 22% to about $180 million. the biggest export destination was china, which had goods worth near la180 million. that was followed by hong kong and the united states. the development bank of japan expects large company capital spending to climb about 20% this fiscal year led by makers of semiconductors and electric vehicles. the government backed lender bases the projection on annual survey that drew responses from more than 1,700 large

businesses. expected capital investment among responding companies totaled 20.6 trillion yen or about $144 billion for the year ending in march. that's up about 20% from the previous year's result. the survey shows spending on digitalization and decarbonization are key drivers of the increase. the poll says investments in nonferrous metal production will grow about 140% year on year. bank officials also cited expected increases on spending on equipment and facilities to manufacture silicon wafers. tsmc plans to establish chip making facilities driving investment in the sector. and caltop spending in the automobile sector will rise 21.7%. they'll rise prukds for evs as

well as increase in development fo for autonomous driving. japanese gaming giant nintendo has posted its ever highest sales and profit for the april to jooup period. the highest factor was bris sk sales of new game titles. the quarter came to about 360 billion yen or about $3.2 billion. net profit also jumped 52% to more than 180 billion yen or $1.2 billion. the kyoto based company released the latest game in its long runnin running zelda series and the mario brothers movie drove sales of games and merchandise. and sales of the switch console rose 13% as the global

semiconductor shortage began to ease and production picked up. the company is maintaining its forecast of net profit for the full year. next nhk world's yanaka marie 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 32,192 on friday, august 4th. for the week the index lost 1.7%. early on the nikkei was supported by strong earnings from major japanese corporations, but from mid-week sentiment was pulled down by a downgrade of the newest debt rating. now, our featured biz pick for the week ahead the second quarter earnings report for i.t.

giant rakuten group. the firm has had prolonged losses due to its mobile phone business. annalist at ubs securities predicts results won't be as bad as previous quarters. >> translator: the losses from the mobile unit seem to be peaking out. rakuten's main businesses such as online retailing and finance have continuously performed well. so as a whole earnings should look much better than before. >> rakuten mobile has long been struggling. its market share was only 2% as of late march. but the cellphone cariar has picked up an increasing number of new contacts this year with overall users reaching 4,910,000 in july. this is hardly enough though

according to fukuyama. he calculates the user number must juggle. rakuten has been investing heavily setting up space stations across japan. this has cost the company an excess of $7 billion. the investment might be warranted given that many rakuten users have in the past left for rivals citing bad reception. speaking on wednesday this week the group chairman was optimistic on user numbers. >> translator: the cancellation rate has dropped far below what it was at the start of the program. we are now on an upward trend. >> he also announced plans that may help the group increase profitability. rakuten will team up with open a.i., the creator of chatgpt. now, in the long-term fukuyama

has a positive outlook on rakuten group as a conglomerate. >> translator: industries that constitute rakuten group's core businesses such as retail and finance will continue to move online, so the company will likely see stable growth in these areas. if it's mobile business can create a synergy with rakuten's other businesses, i see a lot of potential for the firm's corporate value. >> in the meantime we'll see what plans the firm announces at its earnings report next week. i'm yanaka marie, and that was this week's biz picks. china's spring airlines has resumed direct flights between shanghai and ibaraki, japan. the service had been suspended for 3 1/2 years because of the pandemic. about 100 passengers disembarked

on friday at ibaraki airport from the low cost carrier's first post-pandemic flight from shanghai. ibaraki prefecture officials welcomed and engaged with souvenir bags including local yogurts, snacks. the hub is about two hours from the tokyo train station by bus. >> translator: ibaraki airport is very convenient. the size is small, and it's easy to use for me. >> spring airlines launched nonstop flights between ibaraki and shanghai in 2010. eight round trips a week on the route at the most, but the service had been suspended since february 2020. the carrier opens four round trip flights per week from now on. a crown and a red gown that belonged to rock star freddy mercury are among items to be

auctioned after a showing in london. the iconic vocalist for u.k. band queen was also known to be fond of things japanese. collectibles set to go on the block included artwork he acquired from the country. roughly 1,500 pieces are to be shown to the public from friday, concert costumes and a memo with the lyrics to the band's signature song bohemian rhapsody are included. a piano used to compose music is expected to fetch over 2 million pounds or about $2.5 million. japanese crafts set for sale inc include intrickicately embroidered kimono. here's a look at the markets.

and that's all for "newsline biz."

♪ >> more criminal charges against donald trump, this time, over the capital riot and efforts to overturn the 2020 u.s. presidential election. despite all the indictments, he remains the front runner to win the republican nomination. so what do the new charges mean for his ambitions to return to the white house? and for americans? this is "inside story." ♪ adrian: hello, welcome to the program. i'm adrian finighan.