at 18:00 (JST), February 19

20250219180000_english_1.mp3

From our studios in Tokyo, this is NHK Newsline. I'm Ross Mihara.

A court in western Japan has sentenced some man to 10 years in prison for an attack targeting then Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in 2023.
25-year-old Kimura Ryuji was charged with attempted murder after throwing an explosive device toward Kishida during a campaign visit in Wakayama Prefecture.
Kishida was unharmed, but two others were injured. Prosecutors had demanded a 15-year jail term, claiming that Kimura knew the explosive was lethal. Kimura's lawyers sought three years, saying the defendant had no intention of causing harm, but instead was trying to gain attention. The presiding judge at the Wakayama District Court ultimately ruled in favor of prosecutors, citing experts who found that the homemade explosives were deadly. She said that Kimura's actions contributed to a greater feeling of unease across Japan.

A book containing the names of thousands of Japanese Americans sent to internment camps during World War II will be exhibited around the United States.
The book is normally displayed at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. It includes the names of over 125,000 people who were incarcerated as hostile aliens. This was the result of an executive order signed by then US President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. The museum's president and CEO spoke at a ceremony marking the start of the book's national tour. She said the internment of Japanese Americans should serve as a warning about failed leadership and justice.

The importance of history is for a nation to understand its past, not just for the sake of understanding its past, but to be able to learn from the lessons of history. Because it's those lessons of history that are so important in informing the present and shaping the future.

I think it will help, educate people outside of Japanese descent about the stories and about the struggles and about the resilience of Japanese Americans.

The book will be displayed at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. starting on Wednesday. It will then be taken to eight states that hosted internment camps during the war. The tour will last through July of next year.

US President Donald Trump has expressed confidence in the progress of talks between the US and Russia to end the fighting in Ukraine. Officials from the two countries met in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. They agreed to establish high-level teams to continue negotiations. Trump was asked whether he is more confident about a deal after Tuesday's talks.

Well, much more confident. They were very good. Russia wants to do something.

Trump said that Ukraine has had chances to negotiate for three years and for a long time before that, and the conflict could have been settled very easily.
Citing multiple foreign diplomatic sources, Fox News reported that forcing Ukraine to hold new elections could be a key part of a peace deal. Ukraine has postponed elections, citing the imposition of martial law due to the Russian invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made statements questioning Zelenskyy's legitimacy as leader.

Wouldn't the people of Ukraine have to say, like, you know, it's been a long time since we've had an election?
That's not a Russia thing. That's something coming from me and coming from many other countries also.

Meanwhile, Reuters news agency reported that Trump said he will probably meet with Putin before the end of this month.
However, the officials attending Tuesday's talks said no date has been set for US Russia summit.

People in Germany will cast ballots on Sunday after the ruling center-left-led coalition collapsed last November. The Alternative for Germany, or AFD, often described as far right, is gaining ground in the polls. Supporters say the party is safeguarding their future, while critics say it's evoking Germany's dark past.

As Germans gear up for snap parliamentary elections, the AFT is rallying thousands to its side, people attracted by its promise to make Germany great again.
To do that, the party argues it must tighten its borders and send many migrants lacking refugee status back to their countries of origin.

Our fatherland has gone into a blatant imbalance.
No problem drives people as much as having to watch our cities become increasingly unsafe.

It's a platform boosted by conservative figures abroad, including Elon Musk, who spoke during last month's rally.

I'm very excited for the IFT, and I think I think you're really the The best hope for Germany?
It's good to be proud of German culture, German values, um and not to lose that in in some sort of multiculturalism that that dilutes everything.

So-called far-right parties have been surging in popularity across Europe. But the AFD's rise is especially dramatic for a country that has long championed itself as a safe harbor for refugeesIncluding over a million from Syria and other places.
Recent attacks by asylum seekers, including a fatal car ramming just last week in Munich, have fueled discontent over Germany's immigration policies.

Our cities, our parks, our schools. There are no safe areas anymore. It's time for change. It's impossible to keep going like this.

Despite apparently doubling its support base in just the last four years, the AFD remains on the political fringe. Germany's intelligence agency has recognized the party as ultra right. Some of its regional groups have been accused of inciting discrimination against Muslims. Some of its politicians have been accused of speaking favorably about the Nazis.

Hello.
Hello Nice to meet you.

But the AFD's co-chair tells NHK their supporters know what the party is really about.

More of our citizens see who really represents the interests of Germany, especially ordinary workers, and those who create value. Sooner or later, the AFD will form a government.

But it's not expected to do it this time around. The center-right Christian Democratic Union is projected to lead the talks, forming the next coalition government. It says the AFD will not be included.
That doesn't mean it won't have influence, however. Last month, the AFD helped the CDU and other opposition parties push legislation tightening immigration rules.

Ladies and gentlemen, we owe it to the people to do all we can to limit illegal immigration, to take asylum seekers who are obligated to leave the country into custody, and to deport them.

Local media reported that a long-held taboo against cooperating with the far-right had been broken.
But Germans are far from unified on this sea change. About 160,000 rallied against the resolution.

We want to continue to live in a diverse and democratic society.

We can't let what happened when the Nazis took power in 1933 happen again.

Analysts say if the next government fails to stabilize the growing divide, it will only strengthen the AFD.

If it acts as disastrously as the last coalition has, it's quite possible that four years from now in the next election, the AFD won't just have grown, it may even become the strongest party.

No longer the alternative for Germany, but the main choice for Germans fed up with politics as usual.

Japan's top prosecutor says prosecutors plan to expand the practice of recording audio and video of interviews with suspects. The move is aimed at improving criminal investigation methods at a time when cases of inappropriate questioning have repeatedly surfaced.

It's deeply concerning that the current way of questioning has become a focus of various criticisms. Inappropriate use of authority can never be tolerated. And even if the deposition obtained through such a process is true, it damages the fairness of the prosecution organization and it cannot be positively evaluated.

Prosecutor General Unemoto Naomi suggested at a meeting of senior prosecutors on Wednesday that some interviews of people who have not been arrested will also be recorded on a trial basis. She also told the participants to thoroughly instruct prosecutors to maintain composure and speak and act properly during interviews. Currently, recording of the questioning of suspects who have been arrested or detained is legally mandated if the case is being handled in a lay judge trial or a prosecutor's independent investigation.
The prosecution has also recorded over 90% of interviews of other suspects who were arrested or detained whose cases were not subject to the rule.
Inappropriate questioning by prosecutors has also been identified in interviews that suspects agreed to give on a voluntary basis.

Japan's National Police Agency says it has identified 11 Nigerians who are suspected to have swindled large amounts of cash from Japanese people in online scams. Agency officials say they traced the money from romance and investment scams targeting people in Japan from 2022 to 2023. The agency was working with Nigerian authorities. The Nigeria-based gang allegedly sent direct messages on social media claiming to be doctors and even astronauts. They allegedly scammed 14 Japanese people of around 150 million yen, or $990,000, under the guise of marriage expenses or investment.
The agency also says nine Japanese nationals are suspected to have been paid by the gang to convert the swindled cash into crypto assets. Losses from such online frauds totaled nearly 127 billion yen, or $830 million in 2024 in Japan. The agency suspects that criminal gangs based in West African countries fund themselves through such scams.

Meteorologist Jonathan Oh has the latest on record-breaking snow in northern parts of Japan.

Hello, we've been telling you about the heavy snowfall that was going to be impacted in northern areas of Japan, extending over into central portions of the country, and that certainly has unfolded from Sapporo way over into portions of Shiga Prefecture.
Here's a look at some of the video to give you an idea of the situation as in record-breaking amounts for February, parts of Sapporo saw 46 centimeters of snow falling in just 12 hours, and parts of Niigata Prefecture also received more than one meter in two days.
Residents have expressed fatigue from shoveling day after day since the snowstorms started earlier this month.
Authorities in Shiga Prefecture reported that cars and vehicles became stranded on slippery roads, disrupting traffic. And while the peak of the heavy snow has passed in the central portions of Japan, officials are expecting the winter weather to continue. We still have this pattern where the low is located to the east and the high located back toward the West, and that helps to really usher in that really frigid air from the north.
And as it continues to flow down, we are talking about more of that snow to take place, maybe not in as a voluminous amount as we saw from Tuesday night into Wednesday, but it will continue to be a big part of the story going forward in time. Sapporo into Niigata, looking at some snow, cold air with that chilly wind. If you've been out and about in Tokyo, you felt it. It felt like midwinter 9 for the high with partly cloudy skies coming up on Thursday. So that means you need to bundle up once again as we go into the next day.
Speaking of some snow, we had some really messy weather down toward the southern plains into Oklahoma City where ice and snow just made it a horrible mess on the ground and all that cold air is now pushing toward the east which means we're looking at a snowy and even icy mess possibilities from the mid-south over into the southern portions of the Mid-Atlantic states. So you need to make sure that you adjust your plans accordingly because it could really become a problem the roadways. Chicago looking a high of -10 with some snow, DC at -3 and snow into Toronto as well with a high of -7 on Wednesday.

Hope you stay safe wherever you are.

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I'm Ross Mihara in Tokyo. Thanks for joining us on NHK Newsline.