hello and welcome to this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. ethnic armenian forces have agreed to a cease-fire two days after clashes erupted in the disputed region of

nagorno-karabakh. on wednesday the armenian side announced it accepted the terms of a cease-fire. azerbaijan's president declared in a national address sovereignty had been restored over the region. he also praised his country's military. meanwhile an armenian human rights group said on wednesday azerbaijani attacks have killed at least 200 people and injured 400. after the surrender by pro-armenian forces wednesday there were anti-government protests in the armenian capital signaling further unrest in the region. and for more on the situation kawasaki rika earlier spoke with nhk world's senior commentator. >> the leading consensus is that armenia suffered a de facto defeat. how did we get here? >> well basically the local armenians didn't get enough

support from their home country and its ally, russia. moscow has about 2,000 peace keepers in the region. they mediated the cease-fire but didn't intervene to stop azerbaijan's attacks. the azerbaijan military has also secured putting armenia at a further disadvantage. armenia had no choice but to accept this humiliating cease-fire agreement, but there are already signs armenia would concede back in may. the prime minister had announced he would recognize azerbaijan's sovereignty of the region on the condition of the safety of its residents was guaranteed so he likely knew armenia could bring

another conflict with azerbaijan. >> as you mentioned if russia is armenia's ally, why didn't it help? >> russia is bound by a collective treaty to assist armenia. however, moscow's priorities have shifted. russia doesn't want to upset azerbaijan and its ally, turkey, who are increasingly influential. since most of its troops are fighting in ukraine, russia didn't have the resources to help armenia anyway so it pivoted from providing military support to mediation. furthermore, the relationship between armenia and russia has not been great. this month moscow expressed displeasure when armenia conducted joint military exercises with the united states. all this explains why russia wasn't too eager to help

armenia. >> right. so what's your focus now? >> about 120,000 armenians live in the region. there are concerns about what all this means for them. some argue there may be a humanitarian crisis in the making. armenian news agency reports negotiate asians between local armenian population and azerbaijan were beginning thursday. azerbaijan may demand a punishment for extradition of armenian leaders. many have already chosen to flee out of fear of prosecution. this may be the beginning of the end of the conflict but it's unclear what it means for the armenian people and what the international community will do to protect them.

ukraine and russia have traded barbs at a special session of the u.n. security council to discuss the situation in ukraine. the meeting took place at u.n. headquarters in new york on alongside the general assembly. japanese prime minister kishida fumio and u.s. secretary of state antony blinken attended along with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov and ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. >> translator: most of the world recognizes the truth about this war. it is a criminal and unprovoked aggression aimed at seizing ukraine's territory and resources. with its aggression the terrorist state is willing to undermine all the dams of international norms meant to protect the world from wars. >> zuelenskyy also called for

reform and stressed peace cannot be restored while the aggressor remains a member of the security council. lavrov reiterated russia's claim ukraine had created the cause for invasion and justified the position in the u.n. security council. >> translator: the west turns to statutory norms and principles collectively from case to case solely in accordance with its selfish geopolitical needs. the risks for global conflicts are growing. >> there have been questions about whether zelenskyy and lavrov will meet face-to-face at the special session, but neither was present when the other spoke, and they did not come into direct contact with each other. now the polish prime minister says his country is no longer supplying ukraine with weapons. this came when he reacted sharply to comments by the ukrainian president. when zelenskyy addressed the u.n. assembly on tuesday he criticized poland without

mentioning it by name. that criticism came after poland banned imports of ukrainian agricultural products. he spoke on polish tv the following day. he describes zelenskyy's remarks as unfair. he also said poland is modernizing its armaments and therefore no longer supplying any to ukraine. poland was ahead of other european nations in agreeing to supply ukraine with german made leopard 2 tanks. that boosted momentum for military assistance from other european countries and the united states. earlier this month poland banned imports of ukrainian agricultural products to protect its farmers. it did that in defiance of european union policy. the polish government counts farmers among its support base. its actions and dispute with ukraine appear to reflect a desire to get their votes in parliamentary elections next month. it's not clear whether the parliament's decision to stop supplying grain will stop

support from other countries. japan's top government spokesperson says calling for the release of a japanese businessman detained in china on spy charges. the man in his 50s is an employee of a japanese drugmaker and has roughly two decades of experience working in china. he's been held in beijing since march on suspicion of espionage. the chief cabinet secretary was speaking to reporters thursday about the situation. >> translator: the japanese government has been strongly urging china at various levels to quickly release him and will continue to do so. >> beijing has yet to decide whether to formally arrest the man. matsuno says the japanese government has been providing him with support including arranging meetings with consular officials. japan's environment ministry says tritium in seawater off the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant remains below the detectable

level. it conducted its fourth weekly survey after the plant's operator began releasing treated and diluted water into the ocean in august. officials collected seawater samples from 11 points off the coast of fukushima prefecture last week going as far as 40 kilometers away. the ministry says the concentration of tritium at all the locations was below the minimum level. the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant suffered a triple melt down in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. water used to cool molten fuel has been mixing with rain and ground water seeping into the damaged reactor buildings. the accumulated water is being treated to remove most radioactive substances but still contains tritium. before releasing the treated water into the ocean, the plant's operator dilutes it to reduce tritium levels to about one-seventh of the world health organization's guidelines for drinking water. the first round of the release was completed earlier this month with 7,800 tons of treated water

discharged. the operator plans to carry out three more rounds by the end of next march. remote work during the pandemic has spurred some people to try out a few luxurious work environments. residents of one south korean village are trying to capitalize on that in the hopes of revitalizing their community. >> translator: let me first show you around, right this way upstairs. >> reporter: the ocean breeze keeps things cool and the views, well, just look at them. it's vacation time for these travelers from seoul, but they're also on the clock. it's called a workation. >> translator: it's good for me

to get away from my regular office space. it feels refreshing to be here. >> this kind of break from my routine is helping me concentrate better at work. >> reporter: this workation center is located in the small farming village of seha on the island. the building used to be an abandoned hall before some 500 residents fund raised to renovate it. it offers lodging and coworking space. former military officer -- runs the center. he retired five years ago and moved here. yan and other locals are trying to revitalize the community, sometimes organizing flea markets. they also operate a cafe inside the building. the carrot juice and potato bread made with locally grown

ingredients are especially popular. >> translator: a lot of young people from sehwa village moved to other locations for jobs so we wanted the workation program to help fill that void, create opportunities for the elderly in our aging village, attract more people here, and make the area more vibrant. >> connecting with the community is a key part of the program. >> reporter: yang takes guests on a tour after they finish working. they're meeting with sea divers. the women are long-time locals well-known across the country for their traditional way of gathering seafood. >> translator: i would be

disappointed if i had come to cheju just for work. getting to meet female sea divers and tour around the village made this visit memorable. >> translator: i'm happy that a lot of young people are coming to our community. >> reporter: yang went to seoul to promote the program at an event showcasing workation options on cheju. he says the program has lured in more than 600 visitors to the village since may of last year. >> translator: i think our main strength is that we don't operate like a big corporate organization. we work hard to ensure that our guests have a great time. i hope they come back to our village any time whether they need to work or relax. >> reporter: yang says he tries to think of visitors not just as tourists but as neighbors. a shared welcoming spirit proving valuable.

kim chanju, nhk world. next in weather, people here in tokyo and some parts of japan have seen intermittent showers this week. that led to a drop in the mercury but it seems rough conditions are in the weather now. our meteorologist has the outlook in our world weather report. >> a low pressure system and associated front are moving across japan. and the moisture flowing into the system will bring unstable weather conditions including lightening and gusty winds. in addition heavy downpours are the concern into friday morning especially in the tohoku and

tokei regions. up to 150 millimeters of rainfall is possible in tohoku with risks of flash flooding and landslides. in the bigger picture of asia, wet weather is also expected chang ching and shanghai. moving to europe, a small but active storm hit the eastern parts of spain. we have some video. a severe storm brought hail and heavy rain in eastern spain on tuesday night. eyewitnesses took videos of water gushing into streets and buildings. firefighters say they have been draining water from inside peoples homes. this storm is now moving into italy on thursday, and another system is already swinging into

the western parts of the continent. this was hurricane lee, and it is still packing enough power to bring severe conditions, gusty winds and heavy rainfall has been reported in the united kingdom on wednesday. and the same conditions could continue from the british aisles into france on thursday. more thunder showers are possible in london and europe. the temperatures behind the system will be on the cooler side. london will see a high of 18. that's it for me. have a nice day.

that wraps up 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. now, the latest video games and related products are on display at the tokyo game show. but this year's event features offerings from some nontraditional companies looking to get into the e-sports game. the show's being held at the convention center near tokyo. the event is taking up the entire venue for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

a record 787 companies and organizations are participating. some unexpected exhibitors are showing off their wares as they try to cash in on the booming e-sports industry. furniture maker nitori is displaying a bedroom for gamers. it features a specialty chair and desk as well as a matching bed. >> translator: furniture makers and other companies who traditionally have nothing to do with gaming are showing off their products. this is a sipe sign the industry is growing. >> the tokyo game show will be open to the public on saturday and sunday. now, shareholders of japanese industrial giant toshiba have accepted a $14 billion takeover bid from an investment fund. now, the deal will allow the firm to go private. a major turning point in efforts

to turn its business around after years of struggles. toshiba announced on thursday japan industrial partners had bought 78.65% of the company's shares. owning a greater than two-thirds stake will allow the investors to squeeze out the remaining shareholders, and that includes overseas activists who have been at odds with toshiba's managementch the company now plans to hold an ad hoc shareholder meeting in november to purchase the remaining stakes. it is then expected to be delisted from the tokyo stock exchange by the end of the year. toshiba's repeat troubles began in 2015 when irreg lirties were uncovered in accounting records. a string of presidents was forced to resign and the company accepted capital from activist investors which only deepened the turmoil. going private will give toshiba executives more authority, but they will face the challenge of investing for growth while also

shouldering the massive cost of the buyout. and the value of japan's domestic home appliance shipments fell for a second straight month in august. industry officials cited lower consumer demand due to higher prices of goods. the japan electrical manufacturer association said demand declined 6.2% from a year earlier and air-conditioners dropped 4%. shipments of personal care devices bucked the trend. electric shavers jumped by 35%, and hair driers rose by 14%. the demand for grooming products comes as people go out more often after the lifting of all anti-coronavirus restrictions in japan. the united auto workers union says members at a parts factory in the southern u.s. state of alabama have joined employees of the big three auto

makers on strike. the uaw says 190 workers at a factory that makes parts for mercedes-benz walked off their jobs on wednesday. the union says they're demanding higher wages and better health care. uaw members at ford, general motors, and chrysler's parent, stellantis, went on strike friday after failing to reach agreements with their employers. it is the first time workers of the big three have walked off their job simull tain ypsly. they have kprelsed concerns about the lingering evidence of inflation and possible job cuts resulting from a shift to electric vehicles. now, evs use a smaller number of parts compared to gasoline cars. the uaw has threatened to expand its strike unless progress is made in negotiations by friday noon local time. now, a record number of

satellites were launched into orbit last year topping 2,000 for the first time. due to the rise in businesses involving global observation and image analysis from outer space, a team in western japan aims to revolutionize the satellite industry with an earth-friendly approach. >> reporter: these are students from tokyo university aimed to develop the world's first wooden satellite. >> translator: this is the actual electronic circuit board in the satellite. >> reporter: electronic circuit boards and other equipment are in a 10 centimeter square meter box. the twice will be able to create to stations on earth. >> translator: wood is a lightweight stronger material. lighter is better because it'll be carried into space on a rocket and is relatively strong.

it's a perfect material for making satellites. >> reporter: the university believes building satellites out of wood has a huge advantage. satellites are usually made of aluminum. when they reenter the atmosphere, they heat up and emit extremely fine particles. these are believed to be one cause of our abnormal weather conditions. wood burns completely, so wooden satellites have a very small environmental impact. but scientists have concerns about whether wood can withstand the strong vibrations during a launch and extreme conditions in outer space. the team is collaborating with a weather wooden housing manufacturer. the company arranged for wood to be transported to the

international space station. it was tested to see how well it could withstand the high energy radiation and other particles floating in space. these photos shows the test results. viewed under microscope the wood revealed no cracking, peeling, or other deterioration i. >> translator: it would be beneficial if there were efforts to use wood on satellites. >> reporter: wooden boxes are usually held together with nails. metal and wood expand at different rates, raising fears significant changes in temperature in space could cause damage. so the university team put in expertise of a traditional

craftsman whose wood work uses no metal hardware. his biggest challenge was the exact tool required for satellite measurements compared to wood crafts, a much higher level of precision is essential. >> translator: i've been asked to keep the margin of error to a thin 0.01 of a millimeter. machines can't do that, so i'll make do using just my fingertips. >> translator: personally i think it's a really big deal that wood was used for the first time to build a satellite. i think it's very meaningful for the wood industry's entry into space in the future. >> reporter: the kyoto team aims to launch a wooden satellite into space in the first half of 2024.

takeuchi haruka, 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. it prisoner swap

between the u.s. and iran. a rare agreement between two nations long at odds on nearly all fronts. does this signal a new dawn in relations, or is it just a one off? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome to the program. i'm mohammed jamjoom. iran and the united states rarely agree on anything, so a deal to swap prisoners is a rare event. two years of delicate negotiations bore fruit my