hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. japan's education and culture minister says the government will seek a court order to strip the religious corporation status of the group formerly known as the unification church. the minister says the decision was made after a meeting with an advisory panel.

>> translator: the group caused anxiety, confusion to many people through donations and sales of goods. they forced many people including their relatives to make sacrifices financially and mentally. they prevented them from living peaceful and prosperous lives. >> moriyama told reporters the advisory panel unanimously approved the ministry's request to revise the group. the ministry interviewed more than 170 people connected to the organization and collected nearly 5,000 pieces of evidence. the minister says they determined the damage caused by the group dates back to at least 1980. he says the courts found the total amount of damage was at least 2.2 billion yen or about $15 million. based on its investigation, the ministry concluded the group's actions were illegal and

significantly harmful to public welfare. if the court order is granted, the organization would lose its tax-exempt status but would still be allowed to conduct religious activities. the group says its practices do not meet criteria or a court order. the ministry can apply for the order as early as friday. so what does all of this mean for followers of the former unification church? nhk world spoke with a former member whose parents are still involved with the group. here is his story. >> reporter: we met the man who was in his 30s at nhk's office in tokyo. he goes by an online name. he requagreed to the interview

provided we not show his face. he was born into a unification church family. his parents was one of the group's mass weddings. >> translator: the second generation of followers trust their parents. they believe the religion their parents believe in is right, and that's why they were born. for them life and the religion are closely connected. >> reporter: his family is struggling financially after repeated donations to the religious group. he says they have always been barely above the poverty line. >> translator: we were really poor. that's one of the ways children of family of unification church have suffered. my parents had to borrow 5,000 yen from other members because we needed the money to eat. we barely had income, and even when we did, we donated it. >> reporter: he started working after high school, gave up

ongoing to university himself, and paid his sister's tuition because his parents couldn't. like his parents, he got married in one of the group's mass weddings to a partner chosen for him by a founder of the church. he did not question it at that time. >> translator: many may wonder why people don't quit being members of the unification church. why can't they just live on their own? but i've been going to church every sunday since i was little. this routine of going to church, praying, offering thanks, and giving donations, is ingrained in us as children. >> reporter: after having his own children, he gradually became skeptical about the religion. it was at this moment he says when he decided to cut his

connection with the church. he identified with -- whose mother is also a member of the church. after the shooting he felt a responsibility to speak out about his experience as a child of church followers to help ensure the tragedy would not be repeated. he started a support group for children of followers and those who have left other religions. they plan to setup a help line for young people brought into and still involved with the church. >> translator: we need to tell those children that they have rights even if they were born into the religion. they need to know they have religious freedom and can live as they want. i hope that society does not

abandon these children. >> reporter: murasko says his mother and father are down to their last hundred dollars but still believe in the church. he says he can't abandon his beloved parents, another reason he says to help the second generation free themselves from the lives they were born into. the gaza strip's only power station has reportedly stopped working due to israel's continuing blockade. international groups say that could have a huge impact on civilians. palestinian media say the station has run out of fuel. fuel supplies have been cut off by what israel calls a complete

siege of gaza. the world health organization says hospitals in the area are operating off their own fuel supplies but warns those will also run out in the coming days. they're calling for humanitarian corridors to deliver supplies. meanwhile the palestinian authority claims israel's using white phosphorus bombs widely considered inhumane by the international community. it's a chemical known to leave serious burns. israel has published footage purported to show air strikes destroying several buildings including a university. israel says hamas was using the site as military bases. the back and forth attacks have caused huge casualties on both sides. the comup bied death toll has topped 2,200. 1,200 in israel, and 1,100 in

gaza. benjamin netanyahu and the opposition leader beni gants announced a war cabinet to deal with the crisis. they're reportedly solely focused on the conflict. japan and australia are planning to hold a joint meeting of their top foreign and defense officials in tokyo as early as friday next week. japanese government sources say the plan is for the foreign minister and the defense minister to meet with their australian counter parts. the two talks were last held in december. the ministers are expected to discuss the situation in the indo-pacific region with an eye on the maritime presence and talk about enhancing the two country's security operation.

in august they conducted a joint drill with the australian military for the first time. it was based on the bilateral reciprocal access agreement which took effect earlier that month. the agreement facilitates mutual agreement for joint drills by australian and japanese forces. a meeting to address sri lanka's massive debt say they've made progress but many challenges remain. japan, india, and france held the talks wednesday. delegates discussed the debt problem with predator nations. they confirmed their intention to work with the country to reach an early agreement with its creditors. to help, japan and others setup a framework to look at issues such as creditor nations changing repayment conditions. that includes extending deadlines and lowering interest

rates. reaching a final agreement is a major challenge. how each creditor nation implements any agreement will be another issue. the country's biggest creditor, china, is taking part only as an observer. sri lanka has been facing a rapid weakening of its currency and inflation due to failed financial policies. it has not been able to repay foreign debt since april last year and is effectively in default. thursday marks 75 years since north korea and the former soviet union established diplomatic ties. it's also exactly one month since kim jong-un visited russia's far east to meet with president vladimir putin. they're believed to have discussed a deal that could see north korean munitions help fuel the war in ukraine. for insight we spoke with evans revere, former u.s. acting

assistant secretary of state and a senior fellow at the brookings institution. he says details about the arms deal are still obscure. >> we've seen some press reports suggesting that north korean railway cars have been seen at the border passing into russian territory. we don't know what's on those railway cars, but i think in the coming weeks and months it'll become a lot clearer. >> revere says what is clear is that if north korean rockets and shells are deployed against ukraine, it undermines nato support for kyiv. it also presents challenges for seoul. >> if south korean security is threatened by this new relationship, south korea is going to have to respond. >> moscow has said it may help pyeongyang put a satellite into orbit after two failed launches in may and august.

but revere says the north's space program is a cover for weapons development. >> the specifications and the technological sophistication of such a satellite would be at a fairly low level. it's really their way of testing their launch vehicles, particularly their long-range ballistic missile launch capability. >> as the north prepares for its next launch the u.s. has deployed an aircraft carrier to south korea. he says that shows washington's commitment to the region. he says recent events in the middle east should serve as a reminder. >> never underestimate an adversary and be prepared as possible. those are lessons not just applicable to israel but to the

republic of korea, to japan, and to the united states as well. >> revere says the trilateral partnership between tokyo, seoul, and washington, has made a big difference in maintaining peace and stability in north east asia. he also says he's impressed by japan and south korea's efforts to improve relations. >> i think if this relationship can continue along these lines, i believe it will, this will be a real game changer. the mayor of a city in japan has apologized for saying speeches and skirts should both be as short as possible. he's a mayor of nakama in the western prefecture of fukuoka. he made the remark earlier this week at a party for an independent professional baseball team. now he says it was inappropriate. >> translator: i used that

expression to break the ice. but considering i'm in public office, i should be more careful about what i say. >> fukuda also said he's sorry to have offended people. it's time now for a look at the weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh. a powerful typhoon is spinning over the western pacific. jonathan gives us the details on where it's headed next. >> hello. we saw a storm that's intensified incredibly over the

past 24 hours. we were expecting it to become a violent typhoon, and it has. and it looks like in terms of the outer bands, it will be impacting the ogasawara islands as we go throughout the next 24 hours. a look at the pinwheel eye here, it's just spinning along and moving towards the north and east. so we are going to be dealing with high surf and strong winds and even the rain bands as we go throughout the next 24 hours or so. once the storm moves to the north and east, things should start to calm down. and it's going to be over the open waters. and so by the time you go into saturday, we're mainly talking about what we call a fish storm. it's going to be mainly over the ocean and not impacting any land. definitely going to see the impacts over the next 24 hours throughout the day on friday. meanwhile in other portions of of japan, it's been a calm day. nice, blue skies, a few clouds from time to time. high pressure is the reason why we're seeing the nice weather. and that will be the case as we continue on through the day on

friday as high pressure pushes over the area. maybe see a few fair weather clouds trying to speed on through. and it's going to be toward the weekend, first part of next week when we see smuchanges especially the northern areas of japan. we'll be keeping an eye on that as the low pressure system moves through. and highs near 20s as we wrap up the workweek. south africa, watching the storm racing on through the country and increasing strong winds and intense rainfall as well. we'll see this continue as we go throughout the day on thursday. so be on the lookout for that. once it clears the area we'll see improvement. places like johannesburg looking at thunderstorms and a high of 24 on thursday. central areas like africa and including cameroon where we saw that landslide taking place still looking at more rain. be on the look out for that. that's a look at your forecast. hope you have a good day

wherever you are. 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. a japanese online bank and two other firms say they will debut a digital currency as early as next july to facilitate payments between businesses. gmo net bank -- say their

currency chain will be backed by the bank's customer deposits. the group says it'll reduce fees for money transfers and increase transactions fees. the system has the added advantage of being cheaper to maintain and unlike bank to bank transfers, there is no paperwork. >> this digital currency will be for our corporate customers. cashless payments are becoming very common, but digital currenciesvise yet to take root. so this is a significant step. >> a group of eight other japanese firms is planning to issue a digital asset backed by the dollar and the yen as early as next summer. the consortium includes -- toyota motor and idemitsu

say they've agreed to cooperate. the firms say they've setup a task force to work towards solid state batteries. its first stage will see the development of solid state electrolytes east of tokyo. the material is a key component of batteries. the companies have an ultimate goal of full-scale mass production for commercial use. all solid state batteries offer connections and giving vehicles a greater range. toyota says it hopes to have new batteries in its ev models by as early as 2027. nissan plans to do the same by fiscal 2028 while honda's goal is in the late 2020s. the growing popularity of electric cars helped push sales of new vehicles in china higher

in september. the china association of automobile manufacturers says more than 2.8 million units rolled off dealer lots last month match that's the highest figure for september and up 9.5% from the same period last year. it's also 10.7% higher than in august. evs and other new energy vehicles were the main driver. their sales rose 27.7% year on year. this category accounted for nearly 1 in every three new cars sold during the month. the association is predicting that chinese customers will buy a record 29 million new vehicles in 2023. that is due in part to government measures promoting consumption. toyota's sales in september rose 2.2% from a year earlier. honda's were up 8.5%. nissan's fell nearly 24%. the cost of goods traded

between companies in japan rose in september, but the pace of growth slowed for the ninth month in a row. the bank of japan said the preliminary producer price index rose 2% from the same month a year before. the figure peaked in december as the prices companies paid for goods soared. of the 515 items surveyed the cost of around 82% rose. the central bank says businesses are still passing on the rising cost of food and beverages as well as pulp and paper products, but lumber, electric power, gas, and water all fell. modern comfort meet ancient serenity. a hotel set to open in osaka next month will house a centuries old buddhist temple in its lobby. the main hall of the temple dates back more than 200 years. it now occupies the ground floor

entrance to the 15-story hotel. the unusual combination is the result of financial necessity. temple attendants were struggling to pay the building's maintenance cost. by leasing they can get the money they need. it's a win-win. the deputy priests said the deal will protect the temple for many years to come. >> translator: it's a relief to know that we can maintain the main hall for another 50 to 100 years. >> the deputy priest said the arrangement ensures osaka can keep a piece of its culture, and the temple can pass on its teachings to the next generation. the coronavirus pandemic allowed pet owners to spend more time with their animal companions.

since then, the demand for pets and pet-related services have skyrocketed. and to capitalize on the trend, venture firms are coming up with new services. >> in august a tokyo-based venture firm debuted this service that allows users to chat with their pets virtually. users first choose a photo of their favorite pets or animals and input their name, characteristics, and other data. generative a.i. then instantly creates conversation content, which audio software converts to sound. for example, a user inputs "the dog likes to play with its owner."

>> the pets' facial expressions change according to what they say. others who would like to have a pet but for some reasons can't keep them. >> translator: the appeal of our service is that all you need is a single photo. i look at it as a new way to forge better relationships with pets. >> a bus tour which allows pets to ride along is also gaining popularity. it was once difficult for owners of large dogs to take them along on a trip. but a sightseeing tour bus operator in tokyo has outfitted a special bus for dogs. the new service allows even large breeds to enjoy a

comfortable ride. there are wider spaces between seats, front and rear. each customer grouping can use space that's equivalent to about four seats. the bus is also fitted with partitions that can keep pets from seeing each other and that can prevent them from barking. the floor hassen anti-slip surface that allows dogs to walk with confidence. >> translator: it's very comfortable, and we have lots of space. >> translator: my dog rushed right to the seat and quickly sat down. its usually frightened when riding in a small car but seems more relaxed in this big bus. >> tours are offered about three times a week taking customers to parks and tourist spots where pets and their owners can spend quality time together. the operator says weekends are usually fully booked. >> translator: when i'm the one doing the driving on a trip, i usually can't drink any alcohol.

of course i also can't look at my dog while driving, but today i can pay full attention to my pet. >> translator: we want to expand our special bus services across japan, and our concept to appeal to those who want to travel anywhere with their dogs. >> in the past traveling with pets had been quite restrictive. but it's hoped that these new services will increase demand and prompt other businesses to develop more of these services. all right, let's have a look at the markets.

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

sami: hundreds of civilians killed and injured in israeli attacks on gaza, the government declares a total seizure, fighting what it calls human animals. hundreds of israelis were killed by palestinian fighters. why has politics failed so badly and what is next for both sides? this is inside story. ♪ sami: