hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we start with an escalating dispute between india and canada that's threatening ties between western allies and the world's post populous country. the indian government has stopped issuing visas for canadians as ottawa claims new delhi was behind the murder of a sikh separatist leader on canadian soil.

hardip singh nijar a canadian citizen was shot outside in june. canadian prime minister justin trudeau has called on india to cooperate with investigators. >> we're not looking to provoke or cause problems, but we are unequivocal around the importance of the rule of law. >> india has rejected the allegations as absurd. both countries have expelled diplomats in tit for tat booths and issued travel advisories for their citizens. and for a closer look at the situation james tengan earlier spoke with nhk world's sato mariko in new york. >> mariko, what has been the reaction in canada?

>> there's been a lot anger from sikh canadians directed at india over these allegations. canada is home to 770,000 sikhs, the highest population outside india, and they are influential. there are a number of prominent canadian politicians who are sikh including the leader of a major political party, so this is not a small group targeted by india. the sikh community has helped and canada is also home to a large number of known sikh indians who may sympathize with new delhi and be skeptical of these allegations. >> mariko, tell us about the political ramifications of this dispute. >> this has put canada and indian relations at a historic

low point. india has previously accused canada of the sikh separatist movement which new delhi considers a terrorist group. the killing has brought those tensions into the forefront. it also comes as canada is at a historic low point with relations with india's neighbor, china. canada's close ally, the u.s. has been courting india as a bulwark in the indo-pacific. this dispute could have a ripple effect on that. >> which brings us to how has the u.s. and canada's other allies responded? >> neighbors the u.s. and the u.k. said they're concerned over the killing, but they stopped short of blaming india. the u.s. national security advisor simply said his country is watching the investigation closely. >> we are in constant contact

with our canadian counter parts. we are consulting with them closely and support the efforts they're undertaking in this investigation and we've also been in touch with the indian government as well. >> at the moment canada has yet to release its evidence showing india's link to the killing. until it's made public, we can expect the u.s. and other g7 members to choose very cautious language. they only want to endanger ties with the most powerful allies in asia and in china. >> mariko, thanks very much. >> that was nhk new york correspondent sato mariko reporting. with analysis from india let's bring in nhk's new delhi bureau chief. can you fill us in on what's happening there? >> yes, india has reacted firmly and has shown no sign of backing down, and he's not just

rejecting the allegations, he's also pointing a finger at canada. india's ministry spokesperson criticized for failing to provide evidence and insisted the accusations were politically motivated. he's even said canada is now a hotbed for terrorism targeting india, and it's doing nothing to stop it. >> any country that looks at canada as a growing haven for terrorists, extremists, and organized crime. >> there's clearly a lot of history that led to this moment. can you tell us the origins of this dispute? >> yes. it can be traced to india's movement which is fighting for an independent sikh homeland in the northern indian state. the violence piece in the 1980s

which led to crack down by the inldian government against terrorists. tensions led to the former indian prime minister assassination. an air india flight out of canada was also bombed by supporters killing all 329 people onboard. crack downs led many sikhs to settle in canada, which has robust proprotections around political speech. as mariko mentions -- >> as we're waiting for more answers from the canadian investigation, what's india's next move in the meantime? >> yes. indian prime minister narendra modei is yet to make an official statement, but i don't think he has any intention of pulling back at this moment.

we've seen outcry here in india against trudeau. modei has fueled domestic support as a leader on the world stage and seek to maintain that ahead of the general election set for next career. he's also riding high after india chaired this year g20 summit. modi summited india's position at bridging the gaps between the u.s., china, russia, can the global south. there's still a chance this issue could harm india's momentum in becoming a respected global power. but the caution being taken by the u.s. and its allies shows how advantageous modi's position has become. >> taro, thank you very much.

china's vice president had given a speech about taiwan at the united nations. he warned other countries not to underestimate the will of the chinese people. han jen was speaking at the general assembly on thursday. he said taiwan has been an inalienable part since ancient times. >> translator: no one with no force should underestimate the resolve and power of the chinese people to safeguard their sovereignty and territorial integrity. >> he also said china's complete reunification is a shared aspiration of the people. han said the chinese government will continue to work towards a peaceful reunification. he also touched on the situation in ukraine. he said ending the hostilities and holding peace negotiations is the only way to end the war. he added china is willing to keep playing a constructive role for that goal.

north korean leader kim jong-un has instructed his officials to develop relations with russia to what's being described as a new high level in all fields. the ruling workers party newspaper rodung shimun reported on friday members of the party's political bureau were briefed on wednesday on the outcome of kim's first trip to russia in four years where he met president putin. attendees were told kim's visit put bilateral relations on a new strategic level and brought change in the geopolitical situation. the political paper said it valued kim's visit for achieving the value of his results. russian foreign minister sergey lavrov is scheduled to visit

north korea next month to hold ministerial talks. the agenda is likely to include concrete plans for bilateral cooperation. in other news, japan's crown prince and princess have marked 50 years of diplomatic ties with vietnam. they're currently visiting the capital hanoi. the couple attended the ceremony with vietnamese officials thursday evening. the crown prince said he hopes they'll continue to work together going forward. >> the couple also met with 19 descendants of former japanese military members. some men who served in the now

defunct imperial japanese military there remained after world war ii. some fought for vietnamese independence from france. they were later forced to return to japan without their families in part due to political changes in vietnam. next, china is tightening its control over culture and art impacting how works are viewed and created. authorities have a special unit to track down and track down on items they deem to have a potential negative impact on people. nhk world reports on how the changes are affecting china's art. >> reporter: yang yue is a painter. he's produced works in the communist party known as the main melody. >> translator: this scene shows people aiming for common

prosperity under the government's leadership. >> reporter: yang used to create manga, but he felt that changing to works focused on the main melody would give him greater chances for exhibitions and publications. two years ago he won a prize at the national exhibition. yang was also appointed as an illustrator for a book summarizing the words of president xi jinping. >> translator: positive things, people's correct actions, and the brilliance of humanity are worthy subjects for artists. >> reporter: but some artists have a different take on the changes to china's artistic landscape. iae minjun is one of the country's leading contemporary artists. he's known for his smiling

motifs in paintings and sculptures. this piece he created in 1995 has won worldwide acclaim getting him a place on the cover of "time" magazine in 2007. >> translator: these people are forcibly looking backwards and their necks are twisted, something a normal person can't do. it represents a situation where one must anticipate all even though they don't want to. >> reporter: in recent years some of his works have come under fire online. one is a piece which he created nearly 20 years ago. it depicts smiling people wearing hats reminiscent of the people's liberation army. >> it's clearly an insult to the country. >> yue minjun, this makes me sick. there should be an

invest investigation. >> yue thinks art creation in china is no longer the same. >> translator: things like impulse, creativity, and intense emotion have been lost. the art of this era is made as if it's done according to answers that are already given. >> reporter: what should motivate art? authorities in china appear to be narrowing down the answer with broad implications for the country's artists and their works. nhk world. turning now to the weather,

a wide swath of japan saw rough conditions along with sudden downpours the past few days. our meteorologist yuumi hirano explains the forecast in our world weather report. >> we saw gusty winds and heavy downpours leading to major disruptions. let's look at this video. people in different parts of japan are dealing with the aftermath of severe storms that hit on thursday. in iwate prefecture heavy rain causing flooding in some of the towns where a location received 135 millimeters of rainfall in total. strong gusts caused damage thursday night. there is a possibility this was a down burst. now the active front is moving away from the mainland of japan, so the condition is improving. however, if you are in the kanto

region including tokyo some wet weather will persist into saturday morning, so please keep an umbrella with you. sunny skies will come back to much of the country on saturday and then dry weather will finally cover tokyo on sunday. meanwhile in the united states severe weather is also the main story in the upper due to this slow moving system. thunderstorms with risks of gusty winds and large hail are possible in south dakota and in nebraska on friday. we also have the monitor another system in the atlantic. it is expected to become a tropical storm and move along the coast between north carolina on saturday. the system may bring stormy conditions including the risk of storm surge flooding, so please be prepared by friday. thunder showers are possible in

miami, however, dry and calm conditions will dominate much of the western sea board. that's all for me. have a nice day. and 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 don't

go away. ♪ this is "newsline biz." i'm ramin mellegard. now, policy makers of the bank of japan have wrapped up their two-day meeting. they say they're leaving the central bank's easing program unchanged. the bank will keep a short-term bench mark interest rate in negative territory, and it will continue asset purchases to keep long-term rates around 0%. now, the boj also said it's

maintaining an allowance ban around plus or minus half a percentage point as well as a hard cap of 1% in july. in the previous meeting the boj governor met the first policy tweak since he took the helm in april. after friday's meeting ueda was asked when the boj might consider a broader revision to its policy. >> translator: at present it is not yet possible to perceive a sustainable achievement of the price stability target. therefore, it is necessary to continue monetary easing. if we can get to the point when we can achieve the target, it is natural to consider revising the policy, but at this point uncertainty over economic activity and prices is extremely high. it is impossible to decide when to revise the policy and what specific measures to take.

okay, next nhk world's john ladue joins us with biz picks. >> the bank of japan has decided to maintain its current monetary policy framework. in its previous meeting in july, it finally loosened its grip on long-term interest rates. we spoke to a former executive director at the boj for his take on the decision to maintain the status quo. >> basically boj keeps its view about the economic crisis. and the economy is recovering, and prices towards 2% inflation target on the boj, but still there's a lot of uncertainty. so boj will have to keep the market force accommodated and wait and they can move a major

shift of the economy. >> he says the boj's next move is likely to abandon its cap on yields and then end its negative interest rate. or it could do both at the same time. some market participants are speculating that the central bank could end the negative rate earlier than previously expected. >> my presumption is that the boj will have to look at what's going to happen to a wage increase next spring in january, but i think more likely they'll have to wait until the meeting to confirm they're seeing enough data to legitimate their move. this year the negotiation turned out to be 3.5%. but actually 3.5% headline negotiated wage number

translated to about 2% wage inflation on a macro basis. so the boj would like to see the same kind of number next year or even higher in terms of the wage negotiation. >> but with the prospects for wage increases still unclear, he says the chance the boj will change course in april is 50-50. >> there are a lot of possibilities that boj has to keep to accommodate policy beyond april next year. but at the same time the boj is also doing -- and that actually is another piece for boj to formulate market forces next year. so not just because of the inflation and risk dynamics but because of the possibleability

on the broader economy -- at some point next year. >> he also points out the boj is facing greater uncertainties especially with overseas economies. the high interest rate in the u.s. could send it into a recession, and china's economy is very fragile. oil prices and other geopolitical tensions are also elevated. the boj will watch how that plays out for japan's economy. i'm john ladue, and that was this week's biz picks. figures released on friday show that japan's inflation has remained at 3% or above for an entire year now. rising food costs can be blamed for much of the increase.

the internal affairs ministry says the consumer price index excluding fresh food rose 3.1% in august from a year earlier. the figure hit 3% last september, and has stayed above that level ever since. many grocery items were slapped with higher price tags last month. the food index jumped 9%. they vary widely in price based on the weather. now, there was some positive news in the mix. electricity bills fell by more than 20%, the largest decline since january 1971 when comparable data became available. the steep drop was due to the impact of government subsidies to reduce the burden on households and an overall decline in fuel prices. ministry officials say without the subsidies for electricity and ce gas, it top line number would have been above a 4.1%

rise. joining a number of companies moving their main offices out of tokyo as remote work catches on in japan. the tech giant announced it is dispersing its headquarter functions from the capital. the main office will close after 20 years in that role. operations are to be split into three. administration will be setup in fujitsu's plant in kawasaki city in the nearby prefecture of kanagawa. while systems development will remain in tokyo. now fujitsu says the plant will help it adapt to flexible working styles. teleworking became common after the company began to use satellite offices across the country. only about 20% of the employees are working in the head office now. the move also brings the added bonus on saving on the capital's sky high rents. and japan and canada have

signed a memorandum of cooperation to ensure sustainable supplies of key components for electric vehicle batteries. japanese trade minister nishimura yasatoshi signed a memorandum, and canada has large reserves of them. the memorandum says the two countries will cooperate if an emergency threatens stable supply chains and critical minerals. japan will provide financial and technological support of resource exploration of key minerals. the two sides also agreed to publicly support japanese companies wanting to build battery production plants in canada. now, nishimrura told reporters japan's proximity to the giant u.s. auto market makes it favorable. >> translator: we hope that

japan's storage battery related industry will develop significantly through deeper cooperation with canada. we also hope both countries will lead the world by leveraging japan's technological capability in these new fields. >> the minister said he intended to encourage more investment in canada from japanese companies. 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. sikh activist have been

operating for years outside india and now one has been killed in canada. prime minister justin trudeau accuses canada of triggering engine between the two countries. can it be contained? and what does it tell us about the plight of religious minorities in india? this is inside story. mohammed: welcome to the program. the killing of a