i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very much for watching. she is remembs one-of-a-kind and talented beyond measure. ♪ time for a quick check of the headlines, democrats in the u.s. house of representatives have chosen akeem jeffries as the new party leader. the congressman from new york will succeed nancy pelosi in january. he is the first black person to lead a major party in congress. the u.s. military has confirmed the leader of isil has been killed in an operation carried out by the free syrian army in october. he is the second isil leader to be killed this year. here's more from washington dc. >>

," i'm ramin mellegard.ocks gained on thursday following an overnight rally in new york. now, it came after u.s. federal reserve chair jerome powell indicated policy makers may scale back the pace of rate hikes. the nikkei average ended the day at 28,226. the close was up 257 points or a 0.9% from wednesday's finish. the index briefly climbed more than 450 points during trading. the nikkei 225 advanced for the first time in five trading days. investors bought tech shares such as semiconductor firms and electronic parts makers. powell suggested they could introduce a smaller interest rate hike than the previous 3/4 of a percentage point as early as the fed's december meeting. and the combined profits of companies hit a record high from the july to september quarter, thanks to strong earnings by auto manufacturers and the services sector. the finance ministry says combined ordinary profits for the three-month period came to nearly 20 trillion yen or about $145 billion. that's an 18% increase from a year earlie

biz," i'm ramin mellegard.o assembly has enacted a local law allow builders to install solar panels on homes starting in april 2025. the effort to promote decarbonization is the first of its kind in japan. assembly members approved the legislation on thursday. major housing firms will have to submit a report every year on their compliance with the law. they'll also need to report how much energy is being generated from the solar panels. the tokyo assembly also passed a supplementary budget of 110 billion yen or about $810 million. a portion of that will go to help home builders maximize environmental efficiency in their design and installation methods. >>> now, japan marked a trade deficit for the 16th straight month in november. soaring energy prices and a weaker yen were mostly to blame. the finance ministry says the deficit came in at more than 2 trillion yen or about $15 billion. that's the most ever in yen terms for the month of november. the total trade deficit so far this year already exceeds the annual

i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very much for watching. ço ♪ >> e.u.ke a deal to cap the price of natural gas, increasing as russia has invaded ukraine. we look at the deep divisions and if they can be overcome. this is "inside story". ♪ hello. welcome to the program. i am adrian finighan. ministers held their

i'm ramin mellegard in tokyo.e begin with the tokyo stock exchange, which on friday celebrated the last trading day of the year with a closing ceremony. 2022 saw the benchmark nikkei average mark an annual fall for the first time in four years. the nikkei 225 finished the year down over 9%. the slide comes amid the backdrop of the war in ukraine and fears of a global recession amid aggressive monetary tightening by central banks. this year's ceremony was scaled down to prevent the spread of covid-19. prime minister kishida fumio delivered a speech by a sitting pm for the first time in nine years. >> translator: next year, we will start to implement my administration's plan to double asset income. we will carry out bold and drastic reforms to change the flow of funds from savings to investment. let's work together to boost individual investment in securities. >> after the speech, kishida joined in the traditional bell-ringing to call for a rise in stock prices next year. and the event wrapped up with the ritual gro