Hello, a very warm welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Yamamoto Miki in Tokyo.
Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has given his first official press conference of the year. He called for cooperation from the opposition bloc as his main ruling Liberal Democratic Party continues to deal with fallout from a political fundraising scandal. Ishiba says his minority government, which includes his LDP and his junior partner Komeito, needs to fulfill its responsibility for current and future generations. But he indicates they can't do it alone.
The opposition parties need to share these responsibilities more than ever before. All sides need to conduct thorough discussions to win the understanding and empathy of the people.
Ishiba was elected Prime Minister last year after dozens of LDP lawmakers and staff were caught up in a scandal involving kickbacks from political events. He's promised to discuss political reforms. Ishiba says he hopes to reach a decision on whether to ban donations made by businesses and organizations to political parties by the end of March. He also says there needs to be cross-party consensus on reforming Japan's pension system. Ishiba says Japanese Social Security needs to be maintained and strengthened. He says he wants to create systems where people of all generations can work together and support one another, including senior citizens and those raising children.
Japanese defense officials say North Korea launched A ballistic missile on Monday. The projectile is believed to have fallen into the Sea of Japan.
Officials say the missile appeared to travel about 1,100 kilometers before splashing down just outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. There are no reports of damage to any ships or aircraft. South Korea says it may have been a hypersonic missile capable of traveling five times the speed of sound.
These actions by North Korea threaten the peace and stability of our country, the region and the international community. It is a serious issue affecting the security of our citizens.
This is North Korea's first ballistic missile launch of 2025. It comes just weeks before the upcoming inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Pyongyang's last ballistic missile test was in November, just before Trump won the election.
South Korean investigators say they will request an extension of the warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol. It was set to expire on Monday.
They tried to execute the warrant at the presidential residence Friday, but they were blocked by the president's security personnel. Authorities say it is virtually impossible to bring Yoon in if he's guarded by the Presidential Security Service. The warrant was obtained on charges that Yoon attempted an insurrection by declaring martial law.
Investigators have repeatedly asked Yoon to come in for questioning without success. The opposition led National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon last month. They have also since voted to impeach his first successor, Prime Minister Han Dok Soo.
Presidential authority has now passed to Deputy Prime Minister Choe Sammok.
While an investigation into Yoon continues, the Constitutional Court has to decide whether to uphold the impeachment motion. The National Assembly says it will withdraw charges of interaction from the claim. It says it will instead focus the trial on whether declaring martial law violates the Constitution. Local media reports say the opposition hopes this will streamline the proceedings. Yoon has reportedly criticized the move, saying that insurrection was central to the original motion. He says a hasty trial absolutely cannot be accepted.
Now, another arrest warrant against Yoon could mean another face-off with security forces. We spoke with an expert on South Korean politics on how that might play out.
I believe authorities may refrain from using physical force to break through the blockade. Investigators are also expected to take into consideration that Yun is technically president, so they are likely going to try to avoid fueling more chaos in the country.
He says the opposition wants to speed up the court's decision around Yoon's impeachment.
It is clear the opposition wants the Constitutional Court to make a ruling as soon as possible. This is why they have decided to withdraw charges of insurrection against Yoon. They are hoping to know right away if the impeachment motion against the president is appropriate.
He says while political polarization continues to deepen, the fate of South Korea's leaders remains uncertain.
The court will be making a decision based on the Constitution. But when it comes to making a political judgment, public opinion is an important factor. Some critics say national sentiment will be considered above the law in South Korea.
A UN official who is in the Gaza Strip to provide support for people in need has urged a ceasefire as soon as possible.
Seita Akihiro is the director of health for UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees. He's been in Gaza since December.
The cold winter arrived here for people amid a very severe food shortage. People's only hope is the ceasefire. Everybody says there is no other hope, and their goal for now is to survive.
Israel's parliament passed legislation last October that would ban UNRWA from operating in the country. Seita called for Israel not to enforce the law because UNRWA's activities need coordination with Israeli officials.
UNRWA is the only organization that can properly manage and distribute food and medical products. We hope the law's implementation will be stopped. I think this is a general strong feeling not only for us, but also for people in Gaza.
Israel plans to implement the law in late January.
Now, the TV series Shogun, produced by Japanese actor Sanada Hiroyuki, has won Golden Globes in four categories. The winners were announced at a ceremony in Beverly Hills, California, on Sunday.
Taranobu Asano.
Anna soa.
Shogun.
Shogun won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series Drama and Sanada won Best Performance by an Actor. Anna Sawai and Asano Tadanobu also picked up Best Performance awards in other categories.
I'd love to say thank you for everyone who has been in my life. All of you have brought me here and I'd like to say um for the young actors and creators in the world, please be yourself, believe yourself, and never give up.
Good luck. Thank you.
This is a very big present for me. Thank you so much. Thank you, Southern team. Thank you, everybody. I'm very happy. Thank you.
The series depicts a power struggle in feudal Japan. It was produced in the United States, but most of the dialogue is in Japanese. Shogun also scooped up a record 18 prizes at the Emmy Awards in September last year.
New York City has launched a toll to reduce traffic congestion. It is the first such program in the United States. Toll Collection began on Sunday.
The toll aims to address the worsening traffic conditions in central Manhattan, which includes Times Square and Wall Street. The average speed of vehicles has reportedly fallen to less than 12 kilometers per hour. Under the new program, drivers will be charged nine dollars during the day to enter the area.
The toll is automatically collected through sensors installed on roads.
And I think the congestion pricing probably is a good idea to try to limit the amount of traffic and encourage people to use more public transit.
Now for taxi passengers, they will be required to pay 75 cents per trip.
We're going to lose our customer, so I don't like it. The state of New York expects a 10% reduction in the number of vehicles entering the city center. It says the revenue will be used to expand bus routes and other services.
President-elect Donald Trump is strongly opposed to the congestion pricing. He says it will put New York City at a disadvantage over competing cities and states.
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Let's check out the world weather with our meteorologist Sayaka Moriso. Sayaka, yes, it is very dry in Tokyo, but people are experiencing rain for the first time in a while. What's the latest?
The island of Shikoku could see a lot of snowfall into the next couple of days, watch out for that.
Temperatures are on the warmer side in the northern areas actually, 10 degrees in Niigata because of warmer temperatures. There is a higher risk for avalanches as well as snow falling from the roofs. Tokyo in the double digits.
It's going to be about 5 degrees warmer compared to what we saw on Monday.
People in the U.S. and also other parts of the world are receiving white stuff.
Take a look at this video. This is from Europe first.
Southern island turned into a winter wonderland. Other parts of the British Isles also had snow. And you can see, you'll see an iconic castle also blanketed with snow. Meanwhile, a storm brought a blast of snow, ice, winds and plunging temperatures that triggered dangerous travel conditions in Missouri on Sunday. The National Guard in Kansas, Nebraska and Indiana were activated to help many motorists.
We are looking at winter storm conditions from Missouri into the mid-Atlantic coast. Lots of snow and ice is in the forecast for the area and there's a chance for thunderstorms in the south.
Meanwhile, it's dry and hot in California, we'd have 22 in LA.
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And that's a wrap of this edition of NHK News Line. I'm Yamamoto Miki in Tokyo.
Thank you for staying with us.
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