hello and welcome to this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. israel says it'll allow humanitarian aid into the gaza strip from egypt on the condition it goes to civilians and not into the hands of hamas militants. wednesday's announcement comes after talks with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and u.s. president joe biden. a statement from netanyahu's

office says israel will not prevent humanitarian assistance from egypt as long as it's only food, water, and medicine. truckloads of supplies have been waiting for days to enter gaza at egypt's rafah crossing. biden says egypt's president has agreed to open the crossing and allow 20 trucks through. gaza residents have been left without power, clean water, and food since the fighting began. and a deadly blast on a hospital on tuesday has pushed the humanitarian situation to the brink. the world health organization says 25 medical facilities in gaza have been damaged in the past 11 days. gaza authorities say at least 470 people were killed in the explosion, and it was caused by the israeli air strikes. biden says u.s. intelligence backs up israel's assessment that a failed rocket launch by islamist militants was responsible. russia's foreign minister

sergei lavrov is visiting poeng yong for the first time in five years. he's meeting his north korean counter parts for talks expected to focus on growing military and economic cooperation between their countries. moscow says the top diplomat also held talks with leader kimju unfor about an hour. he greeted lavrov at pyeongyang international airport on wednesday. the russian minister is set to spend two days in north korea after visiting beijing. russia's state run media reports lavrov said his trip offers a valuable opportunity to review and implement agreements made between the countries. the north's ruling workers party newspaper quoted chie as saying she hopes pyeongyang's relations with moscow will reach new heights. it comes after russian president vladimir putin and kim met in russia's far east last month.

a team led by the international atomic energy agency has collected marine samples near the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. this is the first annual iaea monitoring survey on radioactivity since the plant began releasing treated and diluted water into the ocean in august. experts from japan, south korea, canada, and china are joining the iaea team to collect samples of marine life from the area. this is the first time experts from china are taking part. they visited the fishing port on thursday in fukushima prefecture. they collected more than 400 kilos of fish from six different speciesch the samples will be analyzed by laboratories in canada, south korea, and china. the results will be submitted to the iaea and the data will be compiled and released in a public report.

the second round of the treated and diluted water discharge began on october 5th and is expected to last 17 days. before releasing the treated water into the ocean, the plant's operator dilutes it to reduce the amount of tritium to about one seventh of the guidance levels set by the world health organization for drinking water quality. a group of researchers in japan say they've successfully collected gold from a deep sea hot spring using sheets made from algae. they say they are the first to do so. the gold was extracted from mineral rich water from a hidrothermal vent about 400 kilometers south of central tokyo. the temperature of the water from the 700-meter deep vent reaches about 270 degrees celsius. the location was chosen because blocks from around the vent were shown to contain high concentrations of gold. the researchers have from the

japan agency for marine earth science and technology and major machinery maker -- they developed the special sheets by processing the type of algae that absorbs the gold contained in the hot water. the team placed the sheets near the vent in august 2021 and retrieved them in june this year. they say they extracted up to 20 grams of gold per ton. that's about five times the amount of gold found in ore at the world's major gold mines. >> translator: at first i was very worried about whether things would go well, but we found a large amount of gold and silver on the sheets, so i think it was quite a success. >> he says deep sea gold extraction is not commercially viable yet due to the high cost, but he says the same technology could be used to extract gold from above ground hot springs and even sewage water. japanese legal authorities

say a ruling party lawmaker violated human rights when she posted discriminatory remarks about korean residents of japan. liberal democratic party member sugita mio made the online post in 2016 after attending a u.n. conference on the elimination of discrimination against women. she described some participants wearing ethnic korean or ainu clothing as middle-aged women cosplayers. she also wrote their existence is a shame for japan. three korean residents of osaka prefecture filed for human rights regress at a legal affairs bureau in february this year. they claimed sugita's remarks were discriminatory. the bureeo has acknowledged the violation and told her to deepen her understand of human rights. sugita said she already deleted her comments and offered an apology last year. in september another legal affairs bureau also found

sugita's remarks had violated human rights. the ainu are an indigenous people who lived in northern japan. a senior opposition member says the ldp should have sugita hold a news conference to give an explanation. >> translator: i don't know any precedent where a sitting lawmaker has been recognized as violating human rights by legal authorities and told to deepen understanding about respecting human rights. >> sugita has repeatedly made other controversial comments. in 2018 she wrote in a magazine article people from the lgbtq community were unproductive because they cannot have children. turning now to the southern japanese prefecture of okinawa. members of the self-defense forces have flown a tilt rotor transport plane called the v22

ospray there for the first time, and that's despite local concern about safety. a ground self-defense force osprey landed on the airport of the island of ishigaki. personnel was training to carry people. the okinawa prefectural government has asked japanese defense authorities not to fly the osprey there because of concerns about safety. prefectural officials say ospreys flown by the u.s. military has are have repeatedly had accidents in other countries. the ground self-defense force and u.s. marines are training together. they're working under a scenario of defending remote japanese islands. they'll be running their drills until the end of this month. more than a year and a half has passed since south korea's last presidential race, but a

divide between the ruling and opposition parties and their supporters has been intensifying. as we approach the next general election nhk world's kim chan ju looks at the current state of the country's politics. >> reporter: this is south korea's national assembly where incumbents and promising lawmakers will be after the april general election. the country's two main political parties are gearing up for the race, and they face a variety of challenges. south korea's conservative ruling people power party is going up against the progressive democratic party. both sides have drawn staunch supporters, a kind of fandom that is unique to south korean politics. however, recent polls suggest they are not doing well in the eyes of the general public.

>> translator: nowadays prices have risen a lot, and life is getting difficult, but no one is working to solve the problem, and they just fight with each other. that's frustrating. >> translator: every time i watch the news the national assembly shows nothing but arguing. it's a shame as they're adults but appear more childish than us. >> reporter: the party's leaders have faced their fair share of scandal stoking some of the mistrust. many opposition party leader lee jae-myung has been indicted on corruption charges. he went ahead to head last year at last year's party election. lee is accused of crimes including bribery, breach of trust, and illegally

transferring millions of dollars to north korea. in late august lee began a hunger strike to protest what he views as yoon's aggressive conservative government policies. >> translator: there's nothing we can do accept this fast. we cannot let yoon's government go on with its unilateral and violent actions. >> reporter: some members inside his own party were among those pushing for his arrest, suggesting lee's leadership is in question. the situation is not looking up for president yoon either. the former prosecutor general is being criticized for appointing his friends to key government posts.

yoon has faced backlash over his response to japan's release of treated and diluted water. his party maintains friendly ties with japan and the u.s. unlike the democrats. and yoon's family has been dealing with legal troubles. in july his mother-in-law was sentenced to one year in prison over various charges including falsifying bank statements. and his wife has also been reportedly accused of being involved in illegal financial market operations. on top of this, the fandom surrounding the parties is keeping polarization. much of this has been fueled by social media. >> translator: people don't look at politics rationally. they think of the opponent as an evil that needs to be overcome,

so extreme polarization is bound to occur. >> reporter: he says the fandomes don't represent the larger voter population in south korea but could still impact the election. shin says the current state of south korean politics is being driven by emotion not ideology. he says it's at risk of resembling what the u.s. went through with donald trump and his supporters, a kind of fandom that is ultimately a danger to democracy. kim chan-ju, nhk world, seoul.

shifting to the weather, people in south eastern areas of asia are keeping an eye on a storm that's bringing some severe conditions to the region. our meteorologist jonathan oh has more on the situation in our world weather report. >> hello. wave been keeping an on on this storm near vietnam and south of china and spinning in the area. it's not necessarily a powerful system but been in the region for the past day or so and continuing to bring some rain into the area. and a lot of it spreading to the north and southern parts of china as we go forward in time. the storm is expected to eventually dissipate and become a bit of a mess. because it was so weak, it's going to take its time to take all that moisture and spread around the area. be on the lookout for heavier rain into the region as we go through friday and even into the weekend as we're looking at some wet weather associated with that for a prolonged period of time and at times heavy, so that can cause some localized flooding possibilities. so be on the lookout for that. we broaden out the view around east asia, and we're looking at

some change across northern areas of japan as we go through the next couple of days. a cold front swinging on through and may see some showers. but by the weekend in the mountains near nagano we may be talking about snow. 25 is the forecast for friday. we may be seeing the cooler weather, though, by the time we go into next week. we go through the weekend into next week. other areas around east asia into the southern areas of china looking at rain and thunderstorms and also seeing some wet weather into manila as we go through friday. meanwhile in europe it's a bit of a mess around the western areas of the continent. we do have a storm impacting the united kingdom into ireland, and we are talking about the possibility in places like scotland where we could be seeing anywhere from 100 to 200 millimeters of rainfall because of the storm. and also a storm moving into the

iberian peninsula. it's going to be wet the next couple of days or so. all looking at wet weather on thursday and dry weather istanbul and down into athens. that's a look at your forecast. hope you have a good day wherever you are. and before we go, we take you to western japan where a flower that's one of the world's

largest and smelliest has finally bloomed at a botanical museum in yamaguchi prefecture. the titan eran began to blossom. it's native to the island of su sumatra. the samen and paistel spike emis an odor. >> i'm happy we got the flower to bloom. i think the visitors enjoyed the smell. >> the rare plant usually blooms for only a few days, but the park staff say it was still open on thursday. all right, 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. japan's honda motor is teaming up with u.s. auto maker general motors to launch a self-driving taxi service in tokyo. the companies plan to rollout the service in 2026. a gm subsidiary cruise will also be involve. the three firms are aiming to setup a joint venture in the first half of next year.

>> translator: one of honda's big goals is to achieve a world free of traffic accidents. with that objective in mind, we hope to expand this project as soon as possible. >> some of the great benefits of driverless technology is that you can still use it even if you have a hard time driving or you're too young and can't drive yourself or if you're disabled and have mobility challenges. >> the plan is to introduce the service in central tokyo first before expanding it to other area. officials say the taxis won't be restricted to fixed routes but travel freely to any roads along a passenger's chosen destination. they say they'll start with a few dozen taxis but eventually grow the fleet to around 500. the vehicle goes on dislay for the first time at the japan mobility show later this month. honda officials say the car will

use level 4 driverless technology. that's one level below full autonomy. level 4 allows for automated driving without a human behind the wheel under certain conditions. and u.s. electric vehicle maker tesla has posted a nearly 45% decline in third quarter net profit. this comes as the company slashes prices to compete with rivals around the world. tesla released its latest earnings report on wednesday. it says revenues in the july to september period rose 9% from the same period last year to about $23.3 billion. but net income plunged to about $1.8 billion. the company said price cuts and greater spending on research and development contributed to the decline. the results highlight the growing competitiveness of the ev market. t emergence of makers in china has

forced tesla to lower its prices. this comes as a rocket shift to electric continues to push down gasoline car sales in the world's top auto market. the japanese company is expected to make an official decision as early as next week, but sources tell nhk the auto maker has already decided to sell its stake in a chinese firm that manages its production in the country. mitsubishi has run a factory in hunan province since 2012 but suspended operations there in march. it's now expected to end its business in china when the current inventory runs out. mitsubishi's line-up of combustion vehicles struggled in china where plug in and electric hybrid models are increasingly dominant. the company plans to instead focus on the southeast asian market. other japanese makers that

depend on gasoline models have also been hit on declining sales and are now reviewing their china strategies. the latest data shows japan's trade deficit in the first six months of fiscal 2023 dropped sharply from a year ago largely on lower priced energy. the finance ministry said the figures stood at about 2.7 trillion yen or around $18 billion in april to september. now, in the same period last year the deficit rose to a record high in yen terms for the first half of a fiscal year. it came in at about $73 billion. this year imports fell to 1.4% to about $353 billion. the price of crude oil and liqu liquefied natural gas were down from a year ago when the russia' ukraine war put a squeeze on supplies. that's the highest half year number on record in yen terms. strong auto exports helped push

the number higher. car makers reported record high figures on an easing of semiconductor shortages. japan's tourism industry is on a recovery path after its covid slump. the number of foreign visitors is back to 96% of pre-pandemic levels. now, to attract more inbound tourists, one region in the country has started offering a unique experience. nhk world's hattori naoko has the story. >> reporter: in the central prefecture of nagano visitors can participate in full-fledged sake brewing during the two-night stay. two members include people from the philippines, brazil, and hong kong. >> keep washing, keep washing.

>> reporter: the chief brewer guides them through the sake making process step by step. the finished sake will later be sent to the participants and sold as product. but guests even get to stay in the brewery. part of the 300-year-old facility has been renovated into accommodations. during their stay the guests can taste various types of local sake. the project was organized by tazawa marika who used work for a major travel agency. using her experience she hopes to revitalize the region through tourism. she thought that offering experiences unique to this area would help attract in-bound tourists. >> translator: by developing great content and adding value

to truly attractive products, i think we can boost the region's tourism and turn it into a sustainable business. >> tazawa's aim is to revitalize a community where many businesses remain closed. this is why the only meal offered by the facility is breakfast. the guests are given an english restaurant map. they are encouraged to go out for lunch and dinner and meet local people. the guests went to a japanese restaurant in the neighborhood. hoping to welcome overseas customers, the restaurant has been developing new menu items options. >> translator: i think foreign tourists will bring a breath of fresh air.

>> re >> on the last day of the tour, each participant receives a certificate for completing the sake brewing experience. >> very enriching, so i think this is really worthwhile experience. one of my most memorable experiences. >> translator: since accommodation is offered, visitors can stay here for an extended period. the brewing experience also helps them feel an attachment to this region. they might tell other people to come here or make a return visit themselves. >> re >> the tour has been selected as one of the projects supported by the japan tourism agency as part of its efforts to achieve full recovery of in-bound tourists. the business model could spread from nagano to regions across the country. hattori naoko, nhk world. okay, let's get a check on the markets.

that's it from "newsline biz" from tokyo. i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very much for watching.