Welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard in Tokyo.
North Korean media say a strategic cruise missile has been test fired while leader Kim Jong Un watched on. This is the first missile launched by the country since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.
The North's ruling Workers Party newspaper, Rodong Singun, reported in its Sunday edition that the country's missile administration conducted the launch of the underwater to surface missile on Saturday. Kim reportedly watched the missile flying in Oval and figure 8 trajectories. The media say it flew about 1,500 kilometers for over 2 hours before hitting a target. Kim reportedly said the armed forces means of deterring war are being perfected. The launch appears to show Pyongyang making progress on weapons development during the final year of its five year National Defense plan. A Foreign Ministry official condemned a joint military exercise this month between the US and South Korea, saying Pyongyang should respond to such continued threats by Washington thoroughly and with extra force.
Chinese government ships navigated near Japan's Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea almost every day last year.
Japanese authorities confirmed that Chinese vessels seen in the latter part of the year were all equipped with what appeared to be cannons. The Japan Coast Guard is ramping up patrols in and around the country's southwestern territorial waters.
Japan Coast Guard officials say Chinese ships were spotted in the contiguous zone out just outside Japan. Japanese territorial waters a total of 355 days in 2024. That's three days more than a year before, marking a record high. They also say Chinese vessels were seen sailing in the contiguous zone for 215 consecutive days last year. The figure is also an all time high. Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. China and Taiwan claim them. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory in terms of history and international law.
It says there is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them. The Japanese officials note that Chinese government ships were usually spotted in groups of four. All of them appeared to be armed with cannons from June onwards.
On December 6, all the four ships sighted appeared to be carrying 76mm cannons. This is the first time that four apparently heavily armed vessels had been sighted together.
JCG Commandant Seguchi Yoshio said the situation is unstable and critical, but that the Coast Guard will respond calmly and resolutely in coordination with relevant organizations.
Japanese police have arrested a man on suspicion of a deadly knife attack in Nagano City, central Japan.
The attack took place on Wednesday near a bus stop in front of the city's main train station. A 49-year-old male resident of the city was killed and two others were injured. Investigative sources say the suspect, Yaguchi Yusuke, who is in his 40s, was taken into custody and then arrested on Sunday morning for attempted murder. The man reportedly lives in Nagano City, several kilometers from the scene. Police were investigating the case as a random attack as the two injured victims told investigators that they do not know the attacker.
Police said at a news conference that the investigation connected images from multiple security cameras, and that played an important role in leading to the arrest. Police say that the suspect is remaining silent during questioning.
Now, many Israelis are urging their government to enter negotiations with the Islamic group Hamas for a permanent ceasefire.
Four female Israeli soldiers were released on Saturday. It was the second release of hostages under the current six-week ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
A week ago, the Islamic group freed three female hostages.
People gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the release and call on the government to work toward a permanent ceasefire and the return of all remaining hostages.
We think that it's not enough. In the past week, 7 hostages came back. We just pray. We can hope for all the hostages to come back very soon. We hope that our government won't stop the deal.
The current agreement calls for Hamas to release a total of 33 hostages in small groups. It also requires Israel to free Palestinian prisoners.
Under the agreement, on the same day, Israel set free 200 Palestinian prisoners. No major fighting in Gaza has been reported since the start of the ceasefire.
And Ukraine's president is accusing his Russian counterpart of trying to manipulate U.S. President Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin indicated on Friday that he's ready to meet Trump. This came after the U.S. leader said he wants a meeting as soon as possible. Also on Friday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a report from the head of his country's foreign intelligence service indicates Putin intends to continue the war.
He wants to manipulate the desire of the US president to achieve peace.
Meanwhile, the independent Russian news outlet Media Zona and the BBC both reported on Friday that they have confirmed that 90,019 Russian military personnel have been killed since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. The report says 23% of them had signed a contract with the military after the start of the invasion. It also says 17% had been sent to the front lines in exchange for their release from prisons, while another 12% had been mobilized. They also said 80% of conscript has come from rural areas or cities with a population of fewer than 100,000. Media, Zona and the BBC added that the actual death toll could be much higher as the tally was based on open source information. They said the data included social media posts by bereaved relatives and reports by local media outlets.
And NHK has learned that Japan's government and ruling coalitions are considering sending died members to a UN Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty Conference without observer status. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has been ratified by 73 countries and territories. Japan has so far rejected calls for it to attend meetings of the Treaty Group as an observer. The third meeting of states parties to the treaty will take place in March at the UN headquarters in New York.
The government and the ruling coalition are mulling over whether to send members of the Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito. They say it is important to listen to the discussions for future reference. They're also considering a plan to make it a cross-party delegation, depending on the willingness of opposition parties.
And Nobel Peace Prize winner Nyong Hidankyo has asked the government to take part in the meeting as an observer.
However, the government and the ruling coalition say the benefit of participating is limited. They reached the conclusion after studying examples of other countries that are seen as relying on U.S. nuclear weapons for their own security. Nihon Hidankiyo co-chair Mimaki Toshiyuki said he feels anger and disappointment that the government cannot participate as an observer for the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing.
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And here's the three-day forecast for selected cities around the globe.
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Thank you very much for joining us.
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