Welcome back to NHK Newsline. Here's the latest we have for you at this hour.
Israel's Prime Minister has praised US President Donald Trump's plan to reshape the Gaza Strip. Binyamin Netanyahu met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Secretary Rubio and I discussed President Trump's bold vision for Gaza, for Gaza's future, how we can work together to ensure that that future becomes a reality.
Earlier this month, Trump said the US will take over Gaza and transform it into the Riviera of the Middle East. He suggested the population would be relocated in the process. The plan was met with fierce protest.
It may have shocked and surprised many. But what cannot continue is the same cycle where we repeat over and over again and wind up in the exact same place.
Meanwhile, talks on the second phase of the agreement have reportedly stalled.
Phase two includes the release of the rest of the hostages held by Hamas and a push for a permanent end to the fighting.
For more on this, earlier, I spoke with NHK World's Jerusalem Bureau Chief Tamura Yusuke, who's been tracking the story for us.
So Yusuke, what is the current status of the ceasefire deal?
Things are stable right now, but just days ago, it looked ready to collapse.
Last week, Hamas suddenly announced it would postpone the release of three hostages. It accused Israeli forces of violating the agreement by attacking Gazans and withholding key humanitarian aid. Prime Minister Netanyahu responded by threatening to resume the fighting. We saw Israel boost its forces around Gaza, but then Egypt and Qatar stepped in to mediate. In the end, Hamas did release those hostages over the weekend as scheduled. People in Israel and Gaza breathed a sigh of relief, but it goes to show how quickly things can deteriorate. Hamas is still demanding Israel allow portable housing and construction equipment into the enclave. We don't know if Netanyahu will let that happen, so we'll see if the issue leads to another standoff.
Are there any signs that any of them want the fight to resume?
Actually, it seems a lot of them support moving to phase two of the ceasefire.
An opinion poll released last Friday showed over 60 percent of Israeli respondents want to stick with the plan, rather than resume fighting before all hostages are released. Phase one ends in about two weeks. The transition is contingent on Hamas fleeing 14 more hostages before them.
If the group delays or refuses, that could change things. We know Israel plans to send a delegation to Cairo to discuss the phase two transition. A lot could happen to stop those talks from advancing.
Well, let's talk about the United States. Now, we know that President Trump took a lot of credit for the ceasefire deal even before he took office last month. Now, how is he impacting things?
Trump seems to be adding a lot of uncertainty to the mix for a few reasons.
For one, the Gaza Strip's future is still being decided. But Trump's offer for the US to take over and turn it into some kind of Middle Eastern libera continues to be opposed by all sides. Except Israel, Netanyahu and his circle have expressed interest. But Hamas and the Arab countries say no way, especially if it means displacing the Palestinians. All sides must agree on Gaza's future for pierced halt. Trump also voiced strong support for Israel resuming the war over the hostages during last week's tensions. That could make Netanyahu more comfortable playing hardball during the upcoming talks around phase two.
So Trump could tip the scales in some unpredictable ways over the next crucial weeks.
A Maritime Self-defense Force frigate has left for drills in Australia and the Philippines. It comes as Canberra considers partnering with Japan to build new ships. The Noshiro is based in Nagasaki Prefecture's Sasebo Base. It was first deployed in 2022 and is designed to be operated by a smaller crew. It will make the port calls through early April and hold joint drills with both countries navies. Australia has plans to build about 11 new frigates to replace its aging ships. Both Japan and Germany have been shortlisted as partners for that project. Canberra is expected to make a final decision later this year.
Japan's Defense Ministry officials say that, if chosen, they will jointly develop frigates similar to the Noshiro with enhanced capabilities.
It also said Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the eastern state of Donetsk, was among the main targets of the Russian attacks. Reuters news agency cited a NATO official as predicting that Moscow would increase the intensity of its assaults, with talks to end the war approaching.
As the US and Russia forge ahead with peace talks, leaders in Europe will hold an emergency summit to coordinate a response. The meeting is set to take place Monday in Paris, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, as confirmed by his office. It will include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as European Commission President Ursula fonder. Alliance, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. The meeting comes as the US moves to shut Ukraine and its allies out of negotiations.
Trump's special envoy to Ukraine has suggested that Washington does not expect Europe's direct participation.
Meanwhile, it's come to light that over the weekend the Trump administration has asked its European allies what they can contribute to guarantee Ukraine's security.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's supporters have marked the one-year anniversary of his death by visiting his grave in Moscow.
President Vladimir Putin's administration has been intensifying its crackdown on dissent and free speech since Navalny's demise. People believed to be linked to the interior ministry closely watched mourners at the cemetery on Sunday.
Unfortunately, individuals in Russia live in a reality where freedom of speech or freedom of anything sounds like a fairy tale.
Last year, authorities in Russia announced the news about Navalny's passing on February 16. They said he died of natural causes in an Arctic penal colony, but his widow has accused the authorities of playing a role in his death. Yuliat Navalnya believes her husband was fatally poisoned. An independent investigative reporting outlet in Russia published an article about the matter last September.
It said official documents it obtained confirmed Navalny was poisoned in the prison.
Tensions are mounting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo... after rebels reportedly took control of a major city in the east. An NGO official in Mukavu spoke to NHK Online on Sunday.
He said that M-23 fighters entered on Sunday morning. Government troops were supposed to resist, but fled.
They entered the city, and now they control the city. Then our government is like it's abandoning ours.
A video taken by a relative of the NGO official shows local children picking up weapons and wearing uniforms discarded by the government forces. Reports say the M23 fighters shot some of them.
The DRC claims the rebels are backed by its neighbor to the east, Rwanda. They have intensified their attacks since the beginning of the year. They seized Goma, eastern DRC's largest city, last month, while rapidly expanding their control. The government has strongly condemned Rwandan troops, claiming they crossed the border to join the fighting.
♪
And it's time for world weather as snow blanketed Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido. People and some furry friends took to the powder on Sunday. Our meteorologist Jonathan Oh has the details.
Hello, we have been talking about the snow that's been impacting the northern northeastern portions of Japan. In the process, people are getting a chance to go out and hit that powder. Here's a look at some video. We'll start off over in this location, the top of Mashike. Where 15 competitors battled fiercely to great applause for those big throws right there in a ring made of snow during a single tournament on Sunday. This was the second time this type of event took place in the town. Meanwhile, humans weren't the only ones hitting the powder in Fukugawa City.
Dogs raced through a snow covered park as the program was divided into six events with one dog and two dog sleigh races.
This was the first time the city held the sled race. And so yes, a little bit of the fun side when it comes to the snow, but we're about to talk about more serious stuff when it comes to what's happening up to the north. We've got this pattern with the high back toward the West and the low toward the east, and that's going to really crank up the snow with strong winds and with the really low visibility type of snow that's going to really pile up as we go, especially throughout late Tuesday into Wednesday. And so folks, we've been talking about this pattern before where we have all this heavy snow rolling on through. It's coming back into the picture as we go, especially for the next couple of days. And a lot of the cold air pattern will remain in line to where we'll eventually see it pick back up in terms of intensity as we head toward the end of this week. So we'll keep you posted on how things look as we go throughout the next few days. Sapporo and Niigata snow again, strong winds, a part of the story as we go through today on Tuesday and after seeing temperatures in the mid teens, Tokyo down to 9 for the daytime high as we go through Tuesday.
Meanwhile, looking what's happening across North America, we have a developing system across the Rockies and it's going to really generate a lot of energy. So we're talking about snow really picking up as we go forward throughout the next couple of days as a spread toward the east. And so be on the lookout for that snow to Denver on Monday. For the moment, East Coast dry, but snow picking back up later on this week.
Hope you have a good day wherever you are.
♫～
And that is all we have for this edition of NHK Newsline, and we'll have more for you soon. Thanks for watching.
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿