glad to have you with us on nhk "newsline." i'm yuko fukushima. the u.n. security council is expected to hold an open meeting on the human rights situation in north korea next thursday. it would be the first of discussions since 2017. u.s. and south korean counter parts announced on thursday they had requested the meeting. u.s. ambassador linda thomas

greenfield chairs the council this month. >> the council must address the horrors, the abuses, and crimes being perpetrated daily by the kim regime against his own citizens and people from other member states including japan and republic of korea. >> the diplomats said the u.n. high commissioner for human rights is expected to report on the current situation in north korea. china and russia have opposed calls for an open meeting and are expected to do so again. both are permanent members of the security council. well, russia has launched its first lunar probe in nearly half a century aiming to land on the moon's unvisited south pole. the last russian probe was launched in 1976 during the soviet era. russia's space agency said that the unmanned luna 25 lifted off on friday in the far east and

entered its scheduled flight path. the luna 25 is expected to attempt a soft landing near the moon's south pole on august 21st. it will then spend about a year exploring deposits of water and other resources. the probe was due to carry a navigation camera in cooperation with the european space agency, but the plan was called off after russia's invasion of ukraine. india is also set to attempt a lunar landing in late august with its probe which was launched last month. competition is heating up with the u.s., china, and others also racing to explore the moon. russia is reportedly planning to send another spacecraft to the lunar surface in around 2027 with an eye on a manned landing in the future. a very strong typhoon is

bringing high winds, rough seas and heavy rain to japan's ogasawara island in the pacific. weather authorities are urging people to stay alert for possible mud slides and flooding. japan's meteorological agency says typhoon lan is moving slowly northward near the ogasawara island chain. the sea around the ogasawara islands is expected to be very rough through saturday. high tides are predicted on friday while the storm approaches. that could be accompanied by heavy rain and occasional thunder showers. residents are advised to stay home and be on the alert for disaster risks. seas around the izu islands north of the ogasawara islands are also expected to be rough on saturday. weather officials are asking residents to be particularly careful of high waves. transport officials are warning that the typhoon may cause traffic and rail disruptions for people traveling for the ban holiday period.

the number of people heading to their hometown vacation spots and elsewhere for the holidays appears to have peaked on friday. this is japan's first summer holiday since the government lifted all covid-19 restrictions. reservations for shinkansen bullet trains and domestic flights have returned to pre-pandemic levels. occupancy rates of trains departing tokyo exceeded 100% in nonreserved cars. >> translator: we can enjoy the shinkansen train for the first time in four years. i'm so excited. >> translator: the typhoon might affect so i'll keep checking the weather forecast. >> airlines say very few seats were available on domestic flights departing tokyo's haneda and osaka's airports on friday. railway company officials say

services could be canceled or suspended through next week due to the storm. they say passengers should check the latest schedule information. japan's economy and industry minister has visited the democratic republic of the congo. the african nation is the world's largest producer of cobalt. he wants to ensure a stable supply of important minerals. he visited the capital on thursday. he attended a signing ceremony for a mineral exploration project between the japan organization for metals and energy security and the drc ministry of mines. the project aim is to search for cobalt and lithium by using

satellite data analysis and other advanced technologies. n nishimura also met the japan prime minister. they agreed that japan will send a public/private business mission to strengthen the country's relations and increase investment. >> translator: japan hopes to build a wide range of cooperative relations and human resource development, technical cooperation and infrastructure development. >> japan regards congo as a key country as it rolls out its resources diplomacy, but it is lagging behind china in securing mining interests. authorities on the hawaiian island of maui say at least 53 people have been killed in wildfires. u.s. president joe biden has issued a declaration to ramp up the level of federal aid to affected areas. >> we have just approved a major disaster declaration for hawaii,

which will get aid into the hands of people desperately needing help now. >> one of the fires ravaged the town of lahaina, an economic and tourism hub. over 2,000 people have been displaced. local media say about 10,000 homes and businesses have been without power. cellphone services have been cut in some areas. >> we're pretty isolated, kind of had no idea what's going on because we had, you know, no cell service, no tv, no internet. all we could see was sort of the smoke on the horizon. >> hawaii governor josh green has called the wildfires the largest natural disaster in hawaii's state history. he added that it will take time to know the full extent of the damage and that recovery will require many years. well, the u.s. ambassador in tokyo says that the leaders of japan, the united states, and south korea are expected soon to agree on holding three-way summits once a year.

bram emmanuel made the comment to japanese reportersers. he said an agreement will likely be made at a meeting next week. prime minister kishida fumio will sit down with u.s. president joe biden and the south korean president near camp david in washington on august 18th. emmanuel said the regular annual meetings should be separate from those held on the side lines from the group of 27 and other national gatherings. emmanuel also said the leaders will agree to launch annual trilateral military exercises, bolster intelligence sharing, and enhance collaboration in the field of cyber security amid increased threats posed by north korea and china. the ambassador said he expects next week's meeting to bring three-way collaboration into a new phase, stressing it will change the strategic landscape of the indo-pacific region. the operator of the crippled

fukushima daiichi power plant has found leaks in a hose used to transfer water. tokyo electric company conducted a probe after higher than usual levels of radioactive material were detected in rainwater around a dike in a storage tank. tepco says the water that leaked remained inside the barrier. the operator said in june it detected 33,000 bankrolls of tritium per liter in tanks storing water. the detention found some water leaked from cuts in a hose being used to transferring treated water at the time. the hose was also used to transfer treated water from another tank, so tepco analyzed water at the dike around the tank and detected up to 67,000 back rolls of tritium per liter, that tops the 60,000 the government set for releasing tritium into the environment.

tepco says no treated water leaked outside the dike. it says the leak will not affect the plan to discharge treated and diluted water from the plant into the ocean. rain and ground water mixes with water used to cool molten fuel at the plant. the accumulated water is treated to remove most radioactive substances but still contains tritium. japan plan tuesday dilute the treated water to reduce tritium levels to about one seventh of the world health organization's guidelines for drinking water quality before releasing it into the sea. the international atomic energy agency released a report last month saying japan's water release plan is consistent with international safety standards. railway operators in parts of japan have seen fewer and fewer passengers for their trains. and the coronavirus pandemic compounded their problems. well, those at one company are hoping to turn things around by

seeking help from the super natural. nhk world explains. >> reporter: in 2023 an epidemic had spread around the world. those infected turned into zombies and attack the people around them. a train is carrying survivors to the safe zone. however, it may already be too late. that is the concept behind the zombie train. the journey runs through the mountains for 35 kilometers following close to the river. ahead of the first run i went to the rehearsal. >> translator: this train really looks like it's haunted.

i'm a bit nervous about the zombies. not long after the journey starts, chaos breaks out. >> translator: that's great. they really are scared. >> reporter: he's the president of the railway. he launched this project together with the local governments as a way to draw attention to this region. >> translator: we're hoping this will have a big impact. we want to encourage young people who have never used our lines to take a ride. >> reporter: shina gawa also asked local hospice students to

act as zombie experts. >> translator: i use the railway to get to school. it's essential for me. >> translator: i'm going to do my best to scare the passengers. >> reporter: the train heads into a long tunnel. for ten minutes the passengers are in darkness. >> translator: i have a bad feeling something's going to happen. i think i can hear groaning sounds. >> reporter: screaming, rocking. at the ending the imaginative ride passes very quickly. >> translator: it was really scary. >> translator: i'm exhausted from screaming so much. it was fun. >> translator: it is truly an entertaining ride.

everyone should come and experience it. >> reporter: for those looking to escape this summer heat, the zombie train will run until the end of the holidays. watanabe miku, nhk world. >> and those were the main stories for this hour. this is nhk "newsline."

that's it for this hour on nhk "newsline." i'm yuko fukushima. more news coming up at the top of the hour, so stay with us. ♪ . hi, i'm shaula vogue. on this special edition of "biz stream" we'll be featuring the businesses we've featured. our partner today is murakami at venture capital fund and partners. great to have you. >> thank you for having me. >> let's take a look at today's

future report. >> a job site made specifically for lgbtq plus people are helping sexual minorities find workplaces they can feel comfortable in. and this company found that the key to profitability lies in a diverse workforce. today's "on-site" report features businesses focused on promoting equality for sexual minorities in the workplace. >> so our topic today is on finding equality for sexual minorities in the job market here in japan. so yumiko it does seem like finally this topic is gaining traction here in japan. >> yes. unfortunately, though, japan still has a lot to do in this area in terms of recognizing and protecting lgbtq rights. but i do think the momentum towards change is really picking up, but we're just getting started. >> yeah, you're right. well, the lgbtq population in japan is currently estimated to be about 11 million, and according to a 2020 survey about

half of all sexual minorities here have faced some kind of disadvantage either when searching for employment or in the workplace, so we began with a job search site that's trying to solve many of these issues. >> shimizu alice works for a major restaurant chain that has over 600 branches in japan and abroad. previously she worked at a hotel where she had to wear a suit. but she wanted to work for a company that didn't have a designed dress code. in order to find a job that gave her the freedom she wanted, shimizu used job rainbow, a job website designed specifically for sexual minorities. the site currently boasts 531

companies. using a variety of search parameters such as flexibility on hair and clothing choices, job seekers can search for companies that offer an ideal work environment. the site now averages about 650,000 active users per month. job rainbow was founded in 2016 by hoshi kento. he was inspired to create the service after a friend from university was turned down for a position after explaining she was transgender during a job interview. >> from the beginning job

rainbow has made sure that any companies wishing to be listed on their site let them conduct a detailed check to see how lgbtq plus friendly they are. the 100 point checklist contains a wide range of criteria such as whether or not a company has a clear anti-discrimination policy and whether or not they recognize same-sex relationships. this check was instituted to prevent users from being matched with companies that wouldn't be able to provide them with a comfortable environment to work in. despite its current success, job rainbow didn't have a single company register with it within its first two years. hoshi, who is gay himself, was appalled at the resistance he faced. >> however, things began to change in recent years as municipal governments across japan gradually began to recognize same-sex partnerships.

in 2019 hoshi organized a job fair with about 20 different large companies. the event received a lot of attention because it allowed job hunters to hear directly from lgbtq plus employees who worked at participating companies. events like this have helped job rainbow to become the largest job search service for sexual minorities in all of japan. job rainbow also provides advice to companies. for example, the restaurant chain where shimizu works used to use uniforms with different colors for male and female staff. after consulting with job rainbow, however, it stopped that practice. it also decided to add all-gender restrooms. over the last five years it's opened five new chains including a barbecue restaurant. annual sales have increased by over $2 million, and the company believes that diversity has played a key role in its recent strong performance.

>> it was really eye opening for me to see how difficult it is for sexual minorities to find work in japan. i was raised in hawaii, and i was raised in a very open environment. and job rainbow is obviously doing a great job, but the fact that a dedicated site is still necessary, does go to show we still have a ways to go when it comes to leveling the playing field. >> you're right. the reality is japan is behind many other countries when it comes to lgbtq rights. the good news is, however, a lot of companies are starting to realize that this is a missed

opportunity in businesses as well and there are a lot of actions being taken by them. and this is not only good for sexual minorities, but this is good for society. this is good for the tire labor market by having more diversity in the workforce. >> well, according to a government survey about 41% of companies with 1,000 or more employees have policies in place for employees from the lgbtq plus community. but the figure dropped significantly for medium-sized businesses, and only 3.5% of small sized companies with 99 employees are left have problems in that regard. what do you make of this? >> the government is improving labor rights in general, but they have a lot more to go. but i think the issue here is the reason why this is good for companies, the reason why it's good for business is not well-understood especially among small/medium companies versus larger companies. so that's the challenge we have

to address. >> well, for the second part of our report we visited a small company that focused on increasing diversity when it found itself struggling to find employees. as you'll soon see the results were beyond positive. >> she works as a truck driver for haugsy transportation. she's long been regarded at pansexual. she's been in a relationship with a transgender person for over eight years and says the restaurant where she used to work wasn't accepting of sexual minorities.

>> ohashi transportation has been committed since 2012. and the company hired a range of employees including women and non-japanese. the reason for the shift in hiring practice, a major driver shortage had put the company in the red. the president believed the company wouldn't be able to recover unless it could quickly grow its workforce. >> nabeshima decided to drop the standard practice of asking applicants about gender. he also changed the company's vacation policy to allow employees in same-sex relationships to receive paid leave after submitting proof of partnership.

>> since changing its stance on diversity ten years ago the company has gone from receiving about 40 job applications per year to about 160. >> after resolving its driver shortage and returning to profitability, the company then decided to expand by offering direct business to consumer services in 2014. one such service is helping clients clear out and dispose of items from vacated or soon to be vacated homes. on the day we visited ushiba was

helping to clear a house who move today a nursing home. she's tasked with cleaning out everything from tiny nicknacks to large pieces of furniture. the company's new businesses now account for 30% of its total sales and have helped to become more profitable than ever. >> you know, clearly these changes had a major impact. not only was this transfer company able to recover by adding diversity, they actually grew. that's incredible. >> exactly. you know, i have to say first of

all this is an extremely important human rights issue for everybody including the sexual minorities, but it means a lot more than that. it does help the economy, it does help the business when you embrace diversity. so we saw very good examples. not only you can actually secure very, very precious labor for your company, but also it creates an environment where there are a lot of interesting innovative ideas because you have diversity of thought. so that's i think really the key. >> and that also creates innovation, right? >> exactly. japan tends to have a very homo genus society, and it's really not easy to embrace people of different backgrounds. and i think that's really what we need to push going forward because japan needs more innovation not only in general just people working and not only labor force, but innovation is really going to be the key in terms of how japan can grow moving forward.

>> definitely. thank you for joining us today. >> thanks for having me. >> i'm shaula vogue, and this was "biz stream." we'll see you next time. on al j.

adrian: niger in crisis two weeks after a military coup. the generals in control ignoring international demands to reinstate president mohamed bazoum. so, what's the future for the vast country and key western ally? what could follow after niger's political upheaval? this is "inside story." ♪ hello. welcome to the program. i'm adrian finighan. niger's new military rer