at 18:00 (JST), March 04

20250304180000_english_1.mp3

Welcome back to NHK Newsline. Here's the latest we have for you at this hour.

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has threatened to respond to a US nuclear powered aircraft carrier's port call in South Korea. The USS Carl Vinson arrived in the southeastern city of Busan on Sunday. Local media say the carrier is expected to take part in a joint drill with South Korea and Japan this month. Kim Yo-jong issued a statement through North Korea's state-run media on Tuesday. She said the United States' hostile policy toward her country offers sufficient justification for the North to indefinitely bolster up its nuclear war deterrent. South Korea's defense ministry responded by warning any military provocation will be met with overwhelming retaliation. The South Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Tuesday that Pyongyang has been preparing for another missile launch. The North conducted a drill to launch strategic cruise missiles last week.

Wildfires in Japan's northeastern Iwate Prefecture, now in their sixth day, have scorched about 8% of the city of Ofunato. Officials say about 2,600 hectares had burned as of 6:00 AM Tuesday. Roughly 2,000 people, including members of the Self-Defense Force, have been battling on the ground and from the air to extinguish the flames. Perfectual officials say the fires have spread. Smoke has been confirmed in the force northeast of Ofunato Bay. The fire has forced more than 1,200 people to seek shelter.
The arid conditions in the city are expected to continue through Tuesday.
Snow is forecast from around midnight to the early hours of Wednesday and is expected to gradually turn to rain from around noon.

Ukraine's fight to repel Russia's invasion appears to have just gotten a lot harder. A senior White House official says President Donald Trump has ordered a pause on US military aid to Kiev.
They tell NHK that Washington wants to review whether US assistance is actually helping bring an end to the conflict. The official says Trump has made clear that he is focused on peace and needs America's partners to have that focus as well. It comes just days after a meeting between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy descended into a heated argument. Ukraine has been defending itself from Russia, thanks in large part to US support.
Bloomberg quotes a senior US defense official as saying the pause will continue until Trump determines Ukrainian leaders show a good faith commitment to peace. They also say it impacts shipments of all US military equipment not currently in Ukraine, including weapons in transit.
Well, As for that heated argument I mentioned, it came as the leaders were about to sign a deal on Ukraine's mineral resources. That agreement failed. An expert on US politics says the leaders had very different intentions.

Zelensky was conducting diplomacy in front of television cameras, knowing this was a pivotal moment for the fate of his country. Trump, on the other hand, probably thought this was an opportunity to promote his policies to his supporters.

Maeshima says Trump had wanted to appeal to his supporters by showing the summit marked that he won the right to the minerals. But Zelensky felt that giving away the right to the minerals semi permanently would not guarantee Ukraine's security. Maeshima says Zelensky should have said that he would have discussions with Russia, but it was too difficult for him to say so.
Maishima says Zelensky needed to represent Ukrainians who have lost their families, and his decision to choose that path led to the heated moment.

I think President Trump tried to show supporters that President Zelenskyy is stubborn, not interested in peace negotiations with Russia, and a man who sticks to his own ideas.
So I think the failed summit will have a major negative impact on President Zelenskyy.

Maeshima says Zelensky faces a very challenging situation.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning group of atomic bomb survivors has brought its calls for nuclear weapons abolition to a UN conference.
Hamasumi Jiro represents Nihon Hidankyo at the third meeting of states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The gathering started Monday.
Hamasumi was exposed to radiation in the womb when an atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima in 1945.

Atomic bombs are weapons of evil that deprive people of their future and cause distress to their families. Such a tragedy should never be allowed to happen again.

Nakamitsu Izumi is the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
She says global recognition continues to grow for what she called the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. But she also raised one of her worries.

I am concerned that the unpredictable situations may exacerbate the public fear, leading to increased belief in the false narrative of nuclear weapons being the ultimate provider of security.

Australia is the only country under the US nuclear umbrella attending as an observer. The Japanese government did not send a delegate. Participants hope that momentum will build toward nuclear disarmament, as this year marks 80 years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A political declaration is expected to be adopted at the end of the conference. It wraps up on Friday.
For more on this, NHK World spoke with Akiyama Nobumasa. He's an expert on nuclear disarmament with Hitotsubashi University.
He said this year's conference, also known as the TPNW, comes at a time when many are feeling pessimistic about nuclear abolition.

I think many people think that the momentum for nuclear disarmament is lost because Russia use a nuclear coercion in the escalation of war in Ukraine, and then many countries express interest in the nuclear weapons in order to defend themselves. So, but at the same time the people who are more supportive of the idea that of the world without nuclear weapons need to do something to keep the momentum.

Despite the presence of Nihon Hidankyo, Japan itself is not participating as an official observer. Akiyama said that's unfortunate, but it reflects the current reality. He says that nuclear disarmament isn't just a matter of public policy.

I think Japan's decision is based upon the calculation on the cost benefit in terms of security. You know The observer status would benefit Japan's security. So in other words, you know the big question is, what is the signal sent to the United States, the ally, which extend its deterrence on Japan?

He said Tokyo wouldn't be able to fully participate as an observer while also benefiting from that nuclear umbrella. 

Instead, he said Japan would be better off focusing its efforts where it can make a difference, like diplomacy.

So, you know, if we symbolically participate in the TPNW, does it reduce the threats posed by Chinese nuclear weapons, North Korean nuclear weapons?
The answer is no. This deterrence relationship comes from the hostilities between themselves. So if the hostility is going away, then the role of nuclear weapons is reducing.
So, you know, we have to think about the way how we are going to reduce the role of nuclear weapons and that is the improvement of the relationship.

But he says the conference is useful in other ways, like making sure abolishment is still the long-term goal.

Hearing the voices of Hibakusha is really important for us to remind ourselves that why we are working on this issue and also what are the results of just ignoring you know the reality on the ground to think about and envision the world without nuclear weapons, I think TPNW plays a very important role to remind us on the reason why we are working hopeful and what are the goals that we should achieve.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed serious concerns about Iran's increased stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

The amount of enriched uranium at 60% is growing very, very fast. All of the activities are are being carried out.

Rafael Grossi says that Iran's stockpile increased to about 1.5 fold in the last few months. That percentage is far above the limit set in an agreement Iran signed with world powers 10 years ago.
Iran says its nuclear development program is for peaceful purposes, but experts say uranium enriched to 90 percent or higher can be used to make nuclear weapons. The IAEA revealed Iran had activated a series of advanced centrifuges late last year in response to its resolution criticizing Tehran for its poor cooperation. A landmark deal in 2015 restricted Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. But President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the pact during his first term in office. Since then, Iran has been accelerating its nuclear development.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague has chosen a Japanese judge as its next head. Iwasawa Yuji is the second person from the country to take on the role. The ICJ announced on Monday that Iwasawa had been elected as president through a vote by his fellow judges. The 70-year-old is a former professor of international law at the University of Tokyo Graduate School. He's been an ICJ judge since June 2018. He succeeds Nawaf Salam, who resigned in January before his term expired. Well, speaking to NHK, Iwasawa said that he wants to contribute to the ICJ's efforts to promote the rule of law and peaceful solutions to disputes.
The court was created in 1945 as one of the principal organs of the United Nations. In contentious cases, it resolves disputes between UN member states based on international law.
Iwasawa joins another Japanese in a prominent role in the field of international justice. Akane Tomoko was last year chosen to head the International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague.

And now it's time for us to check the world weather with our meteorologist Jonathan. Oh, well, so Jonathan, what can we expect as the Greater Tokyo area looks at another chance of snow heading into Wednesday?

Hello, we had a bit of a burst of snow on Monday as we had cold air coming on through with some moisture that got squeezed out and it looks like we're going to get a second chance of seeing the possibility of snow in the Greater Tokyo area going overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. Cold air really in place and we are looking at a low pressure system that's located back West near Shanghai to move across the western and central areas of Japan and then during the overnight period trying to really drag in some more of cold air and bring the possibility of more snowfall.
Some locations could get up to 30 centimeters and in central Tokyo maybe about 3 centimeters up to 3 centimeters are possible. It really just depends on how cold the air is once the rain and then possibly even the snow hitting.
But it looks like there were more certain not seeing the snowfall up toward the northeastern portion of Japan as the low pushed on through. So there is the possibility depending on how much snow falls in the greater Tokyo area that it could impact public transit. So you want to plan ahead and just be weather aware that you may want to make plans to leave earlier in the morning if you're going to be heading into town into Tokyo because of the possibility of that disruption.
Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo all looking at snow possibilities, rain back further tour of the west as you go through today on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, we're looking at a system that's off the coast of New South Wales and is likely to continue to bring rough surf and then eventually strong winds and heavy rainfall as that system moves onshore. So those of you near Brisbane and even into as far South of Sydney, you'll be seeing some of the impacts from the system. Showers and highs into the upper 20s with strong winds and even heavy rain possibilities and rough surf continuing as you go through today on Wednesday
For those of you located in the southern United States, pay attention because we're going to be looking at the possibility of strong to even maybe severe thunderstorms. The severe thunderstorm possibility is a little bit more enhanced, especially for those of you down in the Deep South as the cold front moves through. So just pay attention as you go throughout the day on Tuesday.
Stay safe wherever you are.

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And that wraps it up for this edition of NHK Newsline. We'll have more for you soon. Thank you very much for watching.