hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. we begin this hour in china where the defense minister has not been seen in public for about two weeks prompting speculation about his fate. a british newspaper says u.s. officials believe he's been stripped of his

responsibilities. the last report of him in public was on august 29th when he dlifbed a speech at the africa peace and security forum in beijing. the financial times reported thursday at the u.s. has concluded he's been stripped of his responsibilities and placed under investigation. the paper added its sources did not say why. li had been in charge of china's crude spaceflight project and weapons procurement for the country's military. he was appointed defense minister in march. recently several officials of china's military rumored to be guilty of corruption have been removed. and in late july the former foreign minister was removed from his post about six months after being appointed. that happened nearly a month after he dropped out of sight.

reacting to the situation on social media, u.s. ambassador to japan quoted a line from shakespeare's hamlet "something is rotten in the state of den mark." the worsening slump in china's real estate market is weighing on the nation's broad economy. the latest data released friday indicate that property price declines are spreading further across the nation. the national bureau of statistics said that prices of new homes fell in more major cities in august. prices dropped in 52 out of 72 cities up from 49 in july. the deteriorating business performance of major real estate companies has become a major concern for china's economy. there were some brighter spots, however. industrial production rose 4.5% in august from a year earlier accelerating from ar.

the expansion is largely due to increased automobile production while car exports continue to slow domestic demand for electric vehicles is growing. retail sales grew 4.6% from a year earlier indicating improved consumer sentiment. demand for leisure activities rose in the first holiday season since china lifted strict anti-coronavirus measures. for more on this con ko sachno spoke earlier with nhk world's okitani yuta. >> as mentioned in our earlier report u.s. officials believe china's defense minister has been dismissed. what's happening in chinese politics in. >> li has not been seen in public for nearly three weeks since the end of august.

after xi jinping became general secretary a number of big name executives were arrested for corruption even in the military, this was because they were regarded as not loyal to xi. li was showsen after xi removed senior officials deemed to be disloyal. he previously served as general manager of space development because he was believed to be hily trusted by xi. so this is quite an abnormal situation. this means senior chinese government officials can be fired at any time even if they were appointed and trusted by xi. the latest developments show us china is not stable following the concentration of power. >> the chinese economy also appears to be unstable. do you think this trend will continue? >> i think so. some would say economic growth has slowed because xi jinping broke the principle where people who freely engage in economic

activity as long as they didn't touch political issues. the communist party has recently interfered in the domestic economics of a greater extent than before. for example, in 2020 the founder of chinese jack mark criticized china's financial regulators. after that the group was forced to call off its planned market listing. another factor is the government suspended the operation of numerous companies during the pandemic when it imposed the zero-covid policy. the government banned a setup of new planned schools to ease the burden of education fees, but this damaged the education industries. companies in china are thinking that the free business activities are impossible, and as a result they've started to decrease the vestment. this brought about a decline in

job opportunities especially for young people. the unemployment rate for those age between 16 and 24 in urban areas are more than 20%. but last month china stopped announcing data on the unemployment rate, and many people say this is not the act of a rational government, but previously people in china didn't complain about one-party dictatorship because they could feel economic growth. but now they've lost confidence in the future which has led to decreasing consumption and fears of deflation. as some of the observers say that china opposed the release of treated and diluted water from the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant in order to raise anti-japanese sentiment and divert attention from the economic downturn.

>> real estate also seems to be a major factor in the downturn. what will the chinese government do about it? >> the structure of the chinese economy is unique. real estate and other related industries account for one-third or one-fourth of the country's economy. a slump in the real estate industry would naturally slow overall growth. people are discontent with the surging housing prices. that's why the government imposed regulations three years ago to make it difficult for real estate agents to borrow money from banks. chinese authorities are aiming to artificially keep prices down, but this approached caused difficulties in raising funds. as a result, real estate developer evergrande group announced that its liabilities totaled more than $300 billion. the country's largest property

developer, country garden, also said it posted a net loss of nearly $7 billion in the first half of this year. in ordinary countries such companies would go bankrupt and financial markets would be in turmoil. but under the guidance of chinese authorities, the company will not be allowed to file for bankruptcy. this is because they believe that bankruptcy would spread more competition, and people's dissatisfaction could be directed at the communist party. the party's keeping these failed companies alive as long as possible. the collapse of the real estate bubble under the one-party dictatorship is unprecedented in the world.

it's not yet clear whether it can be controlled properly. one thing that is clear we now have to think about how we get along with china growing at a slower pace and at odds with foreign countries. the russian government says north korean leader kim jong-un has visited an aircraft factory in russia's far eastern region. according to its official website kim visited the manufacturers of russia's fighter jets along with the country's deputy prime minister, denise venturov. russia's state run house agency says kim has left the city. he'll reportedly head to inspec

russian fleet. russian media reported that defense minister sergei shoigu would accompany him. shoigu suggested this month that moscow was discussing three-way joint military exercises with beijing and pyeongyang. turning now to the devastating floods in libya. the mayor of the eastern city of derna has told nhk that roughly 8,000 people have died. he said the death toll could rise to over 20,000 given the scale of the damage. heavy rains triggered the floods on monday. neighborhoods were swept away in parts of the coastal city after two dams collapsed. teams from turkey, egypt, and tunisia have been brought in to

help with the rescue effort. the libyan red crescent says over 10,000 are reported missing. there's also mounting concerns over potential outbreaks of infectious diseases. the united nations says the devastation could have been avoided if authorities issued proper warnings and that ongoing political turmoil in libya left its citizens vulnerable. a growing number of companies are pulling out of business with johnny & associates. the top japanese talent agency faces a reckoning over sexual abuse allegations against its late founder. some alleged victims are worried about the harm this is causing to performers. but as we hear in the next report, companies say it's the right thing to do. >> reporter: the apology was a long time coming. johnny & associates admitted for the first time that johna

kitagawa possibly abused hundreds of young boys for decades. the agency promised to make amends. it also raised concerns. >> translator: what i really want people to understand is that each performer has made a real effort and earned their own prestige. i hope support for them will continue. >> reporter: but support for the agency is dwindling with at least nine major japanese companies announcing suspension of ads featuring johnny's talent. others are continuing the ads, but two say they won't renew their cracks until they're satisfied that the agency has properly addressed the alleged abuse. mcdonald's says it won't renew its contracts at all. a major japanese business group says using performers from the agency constitutes a corporate acknowledgement of sexual misconduct. and businesses could be condemned for that. >> translator: i feel very sorry for the performers, but they have various options such as moving to other talent agencies.

>> reporter: some who claim to have been victimize by kitagawa are concerned about the pullout saying it's wrong for the scandal to affect the performers. >> translator: i want companies to make decisions carefully instead of just following other companies that are ending business with the agency. >> reporter: a group of performers including alleged victims formerly affiliated with the agency sent a letter to businesses thursday. it says suspending deals may lead to corrective action by the agency, but the group is not advocating for that to happen right away. this lawyer specializes in corporate governance. he says companies have to make decisions that benefit shareholders have other stakeholders, and the talent agency could regape business if it proves itself. >> translator: the effectiveness

of the measures will determine how fast the agency can regain the public's trust. >> reporter: johnny & associates said on thursday it will not turn away any victim who comes forward no matter how long ago the alleged abuse took place, and it will announce measures by the end of this month to prevent a similar scandal from happening again. now it's time for a check on the weather. people in parts of japan have been facing a second round of torrential rain on friday. our meteorologist yuumi hirano

has the details. >> heavy downpours hit western japan on thursday, but another round of severe downpours came back again friday morning. rainfall exceeded 80 millimeters just in an hour in nagasaki prefecture. we have some video. record breaking heavy rain continues in northern ckyushu causing flooding. some train services have been suspended in nagasaki and saga prefectures. officials issued evacuation orders to over 130,000 people as the risk of landslides and flooding increased. scattered heavy rain is also an issue in the kanto region including tokyo, so people should watch out for urban flooding and power cuts due to lightening late into the night on friday. the weather in tokyo is expected to improve on saturday.

you could see sunny skies with a high of 30 degrees. however, in other parts of asia wet weather is still in the forecast for shanghai into hong kong. meanwhile, in the atlantic we are monitoring this system, hurricane lee. it is expected to bring hurricane conditions and a cold cell spreading from maine into nova scotia on saturday. up to 150 millimeters of rainfall is possible. in addition gusts up to 120 kilometers per hour are also expected. in the continental united states the compbination of ample moisture and a frontal system stretching along the deep south is creating unstable weather conditions. thunder showers are possible from houston into miami, but sunny skies will cover new york and washington, d.c. on friday. that's all for me. have a nice weekend.

that's all for this hour on nhk "newsline."

i'm yoshiing so , ogasawara in tokyo. thanks for watching and do stay with us for more. ♪ this is "newsline biz." i'm gene otani. baseball fever is sweeping the kansai region after the hanshin tigers won for the first time in eight years and it sparked a shopping frenzy. the hanshin department store in

osaka opened its doors half an hour earlier than usual, but there were plenty of people already waiting to snap up commemorative goods. fans good-bye commemorative championship cakes for about $12 a piece or all kinds of snacks already bought in packaging to celebrate the win. for those feeling lucky there were bargain priced mystery fortune bags. >> translator: my family was so pumped up last night, i couldn't sleep. >> translator: i bought so much. the prices were really reasonable. >> translator: i'm so happy we can have this kind of sale after an 18-year wait. i want to share this joy with our customers and make it a festival. >> one expert from kansai university estimates hanshin's victory will boost the local

economy by more than 87 billion yen or about $590 million. japanese police have searched the tokyo head office of used car dealer bigmotor on suspicion of systematically damaging public property. the company is accused of destroying trees and other plants along sidewalks outside some of its outlets. the raid on friday comes after police in tokyo and kanagawa prefectures searched bigmotor stores earlier this month. weedkiller residue was found outside nine outlets in tokyo and three in kanagawa. it was confirmed that trees had been cut down at two locations. bigmotor is also under scrutiny in a separate instance of alleged wrongdoing. it has been accused of conducting unnecessary repairs and filing fraudulent insurance claims. companies that provide home care services in japan are going

bankrupt this year at a record pace. analysts say a shortage of caregivers and rising costs of fuel and supplies are the main factors. a survey conducted found 44 such businesses went bust between january and august. that's more than in the same period of 2020 when 42 providers went belly-up amid the pandemic. it's also the highest since the research firm started conducting the survey in 2000. the firm says the number of braemss this year could top the previous record of 58 in 2019. the sector was facing a severe labor shortage even before the pandemic. the jobs to applicants ratio hit a record 15.5 in the last fiscal year meaning there were more than 15 jobs for every applicant. the average age of workers is going up, too. one in every four is now 65 or

older. japan's government is giving a big boost to the country's electric vehicle makers. it sets to ink a deal with canada that ensures access to key battery components and a better foothold in the lucrative north american market. competition is heating up for minerals such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium that are used in ev batteries. canada has large reserves of these minerals but needs technology to extract and process them. japan will provide financial and technological help, and canada will provide subsidies for japanese companies setting up battery plants there. the collaboration also means better supply chains for japanese auto makers with plans in north america. the japanese trade minister is scheduled to visit canada next week to sign a memorandum of cooperation. a major international tourism fair is under way in

china ahead of a week long holiday. japanese officials are on hand to promote sightseeing spots and tourism programs to bring in visitors. the three-day expo began on friday in the southern city of -- the national holiday begins later this month. it's the first since beijing lifted anti-coronavirus restrictions in january. one major travel agency says it's receiving as many as 20 times the reservations for overseas travel than for the same period last year. but some are voicing concerns over visiting japan because of the release of treated and diluted water from the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. an official with the japan national tourism organization says people are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward coming to japan. and now here's nhk world's

john ladue with "biz picks." >> every friday we bring you the latest in business with "biz picks." let's start off with a wrap of the tokyo market this week. the nick kayaverage ended the day at 33,533 this friday, september 15th. the index began the week muted but saw a boost later on. traders in tokyo bought more softbank shares on friday after the company ship designer armings was listed in the nasdaq. on wednesday the japanese government will release the number of foreign visitors for the month of august. now, the figure in july rose to its highest since the pandemic rebounding to about 80% of the pre-pandemic levels. this recovery is expected to

gather momentum especially after china lifted a ban on group travel to japan in august. but there are now growing concerns in the industry that tourists from the country may cancel their visits to japan. this is because china is criticizing japan for releasing treated and diluted water from the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. an expert on the chinese economy says concerns could eventually dissipate. >> translator: i think most chinese are watching this issue calmly. indeed, it might curb travel demand to japan to a certain extent, but it's a political issue. so i think demand will recover if the government softens its stance.

>> but what maruyama see as more problematic for japan is the economic slow down in china itself. he believes that even if chinese visitors begin returning to japan, they may spend less money than before. >> translator: in china the unemployment rate for people from 16 to 24 surpassed 20% from april to june. as this indicates, the job market is becoming increasingly challenging especially for young people. wage hikes are also limited. this might be a major factor that will discourage chinese travelers from visiting japan. >> maruyama also points out the japanese tourism industry is facing a labor shortage. he says a solution lies in raising worker productivity. >> translator: increasing spending per visitor will lead to a rise in productivity for

workers. and this makes it easier for employers to raise wages and to hire new workers. the tourism related sector needs to make efforts to foster this beneficial. >> he also acknowledges some areas of japan are grappling with over-tourism. he says the issue should be addressed not only by individual businesses but by the entire country. i'm john ladue, and that was this week's "biz picks." all right, let's have a look at the markets.

and from the "newsline biz" team in tokyo, i'm gene otani. thanks very much for being with us.

mohammed: earthquakes, floods, fires, and drought. natural disasters have ravaged the world in a scale not seen in decades. with this rise, can countries alone deal with the consequences? should a global? agency be created? -- should a global agency be created? this is inside story. mohammed: welcome to the program, around the world it seems natural disasters have

beco