Welcome back to an HK Newsline. I'm Kanako Sachno.
A South Korean court has ordered that the country's impeached president be released from detention. The court said questions remained over the legality of the procedures used by investigation agencies to detain Yoon Suk-yeol. Yoon has been in custody as he faces charges of inciting an insurrection due to his brief declaration of martial law in December.
His defense team has argued that his detention process was unlawful.
The Seoul Central District Court said on Friday that his detainment should be revoked. It said his detention period had expired by the time he was indicted in January. Yoon's lawyers say the decision does not mean the president will be released immediately. They say prosecutors can still appeal the court's decision. Yoon also faces a separate ruling by the Constitutional Court that's considering whether to uphold a parliamentary decision to impeach him. This will determine if he's removed from office. The ruling is expected as early as next week.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on the United States to make concessions on its tariffs of Chinese products. Wang held a news conference alongside the annual session of the National People's Congress. The administration of US President Donald Trump has raised tariffs on Chinese imports, citing the influx of fentanyl and other drugs into the US as a reason. Wang countered that China has supported the US in various ways.
The US should not meet good with evil or impose arbitrary tariffs.
China-US trade relations are based on equality. Cooperation will bring mutual benefits and a win-win relationship. If the US continues to exert pressure, China too will certainly take countermeasures.
Wang accused the Trump administration of pursuing an America First policy. He said if every country emphasizes its own national priorities and believes in strength and status, then small and weak nations will bear the brunt. He said international rules and order will suffer as a result.
Wildfires ravaging northeastern Japan have started to weaken after a bout of rainfall this week. Officials have partially lifted an evacuation order for residents of Ofunato City in Iwate Prefecture.
It came into effect at 10:00 AM on Friday, allowing 957 residents to return home. This resident was relieved to return for the first time in six days.
After all, there's no place like home. There's no damage to my house and we can use electricity, water and everything else. It's perfect as it is.
The orders are still in place for some areas. Roughly 3,500 residents, or 11% of the city's population, remain in evacuation centres.
The wildfires are the biggest to hit Japan in three decades, impacting 9% of the Ofunato area.
City officials say that while no further outbreaks have been confirmed, it's still too early to determine if the fire has been fully suppressed.
US President Trump has complained about his country's security treaty with Japan.
He says it requires the United States to protect Japan, but does not hold Japan to the same obligation.
I love Japan. We have a great relationship with Japan, but we have an interesting deal with Japan that we have to protect them, but they don't have to protect us. They make a fortune with us economically.
There's another case, but we have to protect Japan. But under no circumstances do they have to protect us. I actually asked who makes these deals.
The president brought up Japan when speaking to reporters on Thursday about defense spending by NATO partners.
The Japanese government's top spokesperson has responded to the comments.
The United States has confirmed its obligations to defend Japan under the Japan US Security Treaty at various occasions, including the recent Japan US summit. The Japanese government is fully confident that the US would fulfill its responsibilities under the treaty by using all its available capabilities, including nuclear ones.
Trump has criticized the Security Treaty before. In his first term, he he claimed it was unfair. He said at the time that he told then Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo that the pact had to be changed.
The European Union has reached a broad agreement on a plan to build up its defences at a summit in Brussels. It comes in response to pressure from the US president for the group to shoulder more of the costs of their own defence.
EU leaders talked about increasing defence budgets and what kind of security commitments might be possible following a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also invited.
I want to thank all our European leaders, first of all, and for such signal, strong support. This cast strong support from the very beginning of the war.
All of the EU leaders, with the exception of Hungary, reaffirmed their continued and unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. The leaders also reached a broad agreement on a plan to secure up to 800 billion euros, or around $860 billion, to make Europe safe and resilient. A new instrument would provide up to 150 billion euros in loans to member states for defence investments.
Following the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters he's looking forward to a debate in the coming months on France's proposal to expand its nuclear umbrella to other European nations.
We will open strategic and technical dialogue to be followed by talks at the level of heads of states and government to see by the end of the semester if there can be new cooperation.
Macron said on Thursday he'd been approached by several European countries over the proposal. Some European leaders responded positively, but others were cautious.
We see to this proposal with high expectations because, you know, nuclear umbrella would serve as really very serious deterrence towards Russia.
We see as an opportunity to discuss, but it's really too soon to give some real answers to that question.
Russia was sharply critical of Macron's remarks. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called them a threat to Russia. A statement from the ministry accused Paris of wanting to become Europe's nuclear patron, almost replacing the US.
Many children alive today were born after the Great East Japan earthquake. As time goes on, survivors are hoping their stories will teach them some valuable lessons. NHK World's Ideue Yoko reports.
These fourth graders in Sendai were not alive to experience the disaster 14 years ago. So they are learning about what happened here in a different way.
Kinokuni Nanami is a university senior.
She's explaining what the disaster was like for kids like her.
She was in second grade when the tsunami struck her hometown, Shichigahama.
I was leaving school when my friend's mother suddenly covered us with her body to protect us. One night I was sleeping in the car when the oil factory exploded with a big bang. When I looked at the sky, it was bright red. They told us to evacuate to the school, so I stayed there for a day or two.
She later learned that our relative had been swept away.
Kinokuni said for a short time, her hair was falling out from the stress.
But she said she learned how important it was to rely on others.
Even when disaster strikes, you have friends and adults in your life to help you. So never give up.
That's what's important. In your daily life, when something happens,I want you to help your friends and the people around you, and be thankful for their help, too.
Kinokuni's group also created a slideshow about a member who lost their mother and grandmother in the tsunami. The hope is that they will remember this lesson when disaster actually strikes.
We didn't experience the Great East Japan earthquake, so it was good to hear their stories and learn about what it was like.
But as time goes on, there's fierce projects like these are in jeopardy.
The San-ichi-chi Memorial Network surveyed organizations working on programs about the disaster.
93% said they were concerned about continuing their activities.
One expert said it's important to make sure projects like these are sustainable.
That will mean working with various sources, including the government and the private sector. It's important we pass the knowledge and experiences from past natural disasters on to the next generation, no matter where they live.
Kinokuni is also worried about the future. In April, she will start as an elementary school teacher, but as she walks through the school, which was devastated by the tsunami. She said she understands more than ever the need to share her story with the next generation.
Through disaster prevention and life-saving classes, I want to teach children how they can protect their own lives.
The hope is that these lessons can still be taught in another 14 years. And beyond. Ideue Yoko NHK World.
It's now time to check out the weather. While much of Europe is enjoying a warm spring, parts of the Iberian Peninsula are experiencing severe flooding. Our meteorologist Yumi Hirano has the details.
People in parts of eastern Spain were advised to stay at home after severe flooding hit the region. Officials ordered the evacuation of schools and the closure of roads on Thursday. The Weather Service says some areas saw more rain in March than the average for the entire spring. Some media agencies say people are still nervous after Spain suffered a deadly flood late last year.
The storm is moving slowly because a huge high-pressure system is blocking its progress, so the impact will last longer across the peninsula. There are risks of thundershowers, gusty winds and lightning over the weekend. People should watch out for more flooding.
Showers will persist in Lisbon and Madrid, but sunny and warm weather is expected to continue in many cities such as London, Paris and Vienna. So We will see a high of 18, which is as warm as in May.
Moving to Japan, high-pressure systems are bringing calm weather to much of the country. However, in the middle of this, a small low-pressure system is expected to be formed near the Kanto region on Saturday. So Tokyo may have snowfall from Saturday evening to Sunday morning. There is a possibility traffic will be affected on Sunday morning.
And the high on Saturday will drop sharply to only 8, so please bundle up.
That's all for the weather. Have a nice weekend.
♫～
That wraps up this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Kanako Sachno in Tokyo.
Thanks very much for joining us.
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