Welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Morishita Erika in Tokyo.
An explosion at the department store in Taiwan has left four people dead, one in critical condition, and seven others injured.
Fire officials were alerted of the blast at Shinkong Mitsukoshi store in Taichun at around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.
I heard a loud explosion and felt a vibration. We thought it was an earthquake. Later, we found debris falling from above the elevator entrance.
Footage shows extensive damage to the building. Fire officials now investigating say there was a gas explosion on the 12th floor. They say the floor was undergoing repairs.I think I can say with great confidence he wants to see it ended also. That's That's good. And we're going to work toward getting it ended and as fast as possible.
Trump made the comments after a phone call with Putin.
He says he'll likely meet his Russian counterpart in Saudi Arabia.
Trump also poured water on Ukraine's hopes for NATO membership. He echoed statements from Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth, who said adding Kyiv to the alliance is unrealistic.
I don't think it's practical to have it, but I think long before President Putin, they said there's no way they'd allow that. This has been going on for many, many years. They've been saying that for a long time, that Ukraine cannot go into NATO.
Russia's presidential spokesperson has rejected exchanging occupied territory with Ukraine, saying it is impossible. This comes after Ukrainian President Zelenskyy suggested the idea in an interview with a British newspaper.
Zelenskyy's remark in an interview with The Guardian was published on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy indicated that if ceasefire talks take place, Ukraine is ready to swap parts of western Russia it controls for Russian-occupied land in Ukraine. But Dmitry Peskov quickly rejected the idea.
This is impossible. Russia has never discussed and will not discuss the topic of the exchange of its territory. And of course, Ukrainian formations will be expelled from this territory. Everyone who is not destroyed will be expelled.
Meanwhile, a survey by an independent research organization in Russia indicates more people now think that mediators will make it easier for the two countries to reach a peace agreement. The survey results released by the Levada Center on Tuesday show 67 percent of respondents are in favor of mediators.
That's up 23 percentage points from November 2023. It also says 23 percent named China as a possible mediator, followed by the United States with 20 percent and Turkey at 8 percent. The Levada Center has been designated as a foreign agent by Putin's administration. The center continues to conduct independent research and analysis, despite pressure from the Russian authorities.
The U.S. Navy has sailed through the Taiwan Strait. It's believed to be the first exercise of its kind under Trump 2.0, and China is fuming.
On official total NHK, two vessels were involved, guided missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and survey ship USNS Bowditch. They transited the strait from north to south between Monday and Wednesday. The official says all nations enjoy freedom of navigation in the corridor. A spokesperson for China's Eastern Theater Command slammed the United States for sending the wrong signal.
China Central Television broadcast naval footage and stressed the country's readiness to fight.
A British think tank says last year's global defense spending reached the highest ever amount amid Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies published its annual military balance report on Wednesday. It says global defense spending reached 2.46 trillion dollars in 2024, up 7.4 percent from the previous year.
By country, the United States spent $968 billion, accounting for nearly 40% of the total.
It was followed by China at $235 billion and Russia at almost $146 billion.
Japan's spending was the ninth largest at $53 billion.
However, in terms of purchasing power parity, the actual value of China's defense budget is more than double, while Russia's more than triple.
Moscow's actual defense spending is higher than all of Europe.
As for North Korea, the report says the country continues to indicate that it's making improvements in its nuclear capacity and that concerns remain that it may renew nuclear testing.
The report says Ukraine's defense spending accounts for more than 15% of its GDP, the highest in the world.
Here's a closer look at the report's findings, as well as why a defense expert says a ceasefire is unlikely to happen soon.
Ben Barry is a retired brigadier in the British Army. He says there's no end in sight to the invasion.
Russia is advancing. It's advancing very slowly at enormous human cost in casualties, but it's inflicting quite a large number of casualties on the Ukrainians and it is slowly advancing, perhaps by no more than a few kilometers a day.
Barry says Russia has an advantage with artillery. The report says the country increased its defense spending last year by more than 40% and received military support from countries including Iran and North Korea.
Russia mainly imports electronic parts and machine tools that can be converted to military use from China.
The report says Beijing's spending accounts for 44 percent of all Asian countries. It says China's focuses include AI, developing a new stealth fighter, and building a fourth aircraft carrier. Equipment and spending are not the only key elements.
Barry points out Ukraine has been suffering a serious shortage of military personnel.
Ukraine says the number of members of its forces killed since the start of the war exceeds 45,000.
There's an important known unknown here, which is the extent to which Ukraine can sustain its manpower. It probably needs between another 50,000 and 100,000 troops on the front line right now, which would greatly increase its its defensive capability. But they need to be trained, and Ukraine's ability to conduct training in Ukraine is pretty limited.
The report says Russia has been able to maintain its troops for now, but it faces the challenge of procuring equipment and ammunition. And has lost more than 4,000 tanks since the fighting began.
What's not clear, though, is if any part of the Ukrainian frontline was actually cracked, whether the Russians would have the reserves that could pass through quickly enough to turn a tactical defeat into an operational level victory. You'll recall the Russians had great difficulty reacting quickly to the Ukrainian counter-offensive around Kursk in the Kursk Oblast last year, Russia seems very short of reserves and also has similar problems sustaining the level of training for troops on the front line.
But he says it is clear Russia is still committed to the fight.
I think a ceasefire is very, very unlikely right now because President Putin has been extremely uncompromisingin his in his remarks and has shown no signs that he's willing to be flexible, which is in contrast to President Zelenskyy, whose remarks may be principally aimed at President Trump, of course.
And Trump may pose one of the biggest challenges going forward. The report says he's expected to take policies that focus on East Asia and China. And that could mean European countries will have to share more of the costs of supporting Ukraine.
An international non-profit that protects the rights of journalists says a record number were killed last year, and it says most were killed in attacks by Israel.
The numbers come from the CPJ, the Committee to Protect Journalists. The group puts the number killed last year at 124. The deadliest year previously was 2007.
The number of journalists killed then was 113. Nearly half were killed in the Iraq war.
Last year, 85 journalists were killed in Israeli attacks. 82 were in the Gaza Strip. The other three were in Lebanon. The CPJ says at least 24 journalists around the world were deliberately killed because of their work. The group's chief executive, Jordi Ginsburg, said the war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists. She also said they should be protected in conflict zones.
It's now time to check the weather. Here in Tokyo, we felt strong winds on Thursday, causing some disruptions. Our meteorologist, Yumi Hirano, has the details.
Central Tokyo is experiencing windy weather with gusts up to 74 kilometers per hour reported, which is the highest this season. The conditions have affected buildings and traffic. In Tokyo's Sumida Ward, police say strong winds tore off a seven-meter-high soundproof sheet covering a building along with its frame.
Nationwide, dozens of flights have been canceled, while many train services have been suspended. A developing low-pressure system which is bringing strong winds will move offshore so that conditions are expected to ease gradually from Thursday night. But the combination of strong winds and snow could lead to blizzards across northern Japan into Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia, dry and calm conditions are expected in Seoul and Beijing. The highs will be in the double digits, which is much warmer than usual. Taipei will finally have drier weather after heavy rain.
♫～
That's all for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Morishita Erika in Tokyo.Thank you for watching.
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