LDP LEADERSHIP ELECTION
PARTY MEMBERS TO DECIDE LEADER SATURDAY
The race to lead Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party is now in the final stretch. Party lawmakers will cast their votes Saturday.Five candidates are hoping to succeed Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru as party leader.
Ishiba triggered the race when he announced his resignation in September.
He faced growing calls to step down after disappointing back-to-back election results. Here are the candidates.
Former Economic Security Minister Kobayashi Takayuki, the party's former Secretary-General Moteki Toshimitsu, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa, former Economic Security Minister Takaichi Sanae, and Agriculture Minister Koizumi Shinjiro.
There are 590 votes up for grabs.
LDP Diet members will cast 295 of them. Rank-and-file members will decide the rest. If no one secures more than half the votes, the top two candidates head to a runoff that would also take place Saturday afternoon.
Rising prices were a major issue during the campaign. All five proposed policies to address it, such as raising wages compared to inflation, and reducing income taxes. Some even suggested ideas similar to those from the opposition, such as cash handouts, tax breaks, and the abolition of the provisional gasoline tax.
The winner will also have to grapple with rebuilding the party. The LDP has struggled to show the public meaningful change and has failed to regain support from voters.
After the LDP chooses a leader, a Diet vote will decide who will lead the country. The ruling coalition lacks a majority in the lower and upper houses.
Meanwhile, senior officials from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Japan Innovation Party, and Democratic Party for the People met Tuesday.
While the CDP proposed working together to pick a different prime minister, the other parties appeared cool on the idea.
The LDP is expected to name its new leader Saturday. The Diet vote for prime minister will likely take place in the coming days.
ISRAEL–HAMAS CONFLICT
HAMAS TO 'SOON' RESPOND TO US PEACE PLAN FOR GAZA
The Islamic group Hamas says it will soon respond to a US proposal to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip.On Monday, the United States announced a 20-point peace plan that includes a ceasefire in the enclave, the release of hostages, and the disarmaments of Hamas. US President Donald Trump has been urging Hamas to accept the terms. He said refusing them would mean a very sad end for the group, and gave its leaders three or four days to respond. A senior official of Hamas spoke with Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera.
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The group said it will discuss the plan with the aim of stopping the war and massacres, but added it has some reservations. Hamas has demanded a complete withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from the Gaza Strip in previous ceasefire negotiations.
The US proposed plan says that battle lines will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal.
TRUMP SAYS US IN 'ARMED CONFLICT' WITH DRUG CARTELS
President Donald Trump has reportedly sent a memo to Congress saying the country is in an armed conflict with drug cartels. Media outlets say the document is intended to provide legal justification for the use of military force against drug traffickers.This comes as experts and opposition lawmakers have questioned the legality of recent US military action, targeting alleged drug boats in international waters. The Trump administration says several such strikes last month killed at least 17 people. The memo to Congress reportedly says, without evidence, that drug cartels caused the deaths of tens of thousands of American citizens each year.
The administration reportedly believes that by describing drug traffickers as enemy combatants, the military would be justified in killing them without due legal process.
S. KOREA MILITARY: NORTH PREPARING MAJOR MILITARY PARADE
South Korea's military says North Korea is preparing for a military parade involving tens of thousands of people.The event is expected to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party on October 10.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Thursday that it had detected the movement of military equipment and vehicles. They say the parade will likely take place at night. If the North conducts the parade, it would be the first since 2023.
In September, NHK obtained satellite images taken by a US firm that showed a large number of military vehicles at an airfield on the outskirts of Pyongyang.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw a test for the engine of the next generation Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile in September. He has also reportedly said his country acquired new secret weapons.
Experts are paying attention to whether the North will showcase those weapons at the parade.
THOUSANDS DISPLACED DAYS AFTER DEADLY PHILIPPINE QUAKE
Turning now to the Philippines, where three days have passed since a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Cebu Island. Authorities now say it killed at least 68 people and displaced around 77,000.NHK's Manila bureau chief Kondo Yukati reports from Boco City in northern Cebu, which was hit hard.
Conditions here are tough. Many buildings were damaged, including Bogo's only city public hospital. These tents have been set up outside to treat people injured by the quake, as well as patients with other urgent needs. Weather has been a problem. It just started raining, but that's not all.
Until now, it's been sunny, with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius.
It's felt very hot inside the tents, making it difficult for medical staff to provide comfort to those in pain. I spoke with a doctor, who says,They're dealing with the shortages of water, sanitary goods and disinfectant.
There are fears of the spread of infectious diseases. Amid all this, people haven't given birth here. There have been 12 newborns since the quake.
Babies and their mothers are dealing with the heat and the lack of sanitation. And the damage here is totally widespread.
Houses and structures like the city hall have corrupts. Water mains and the power lines has been cut. There's no time when they will be repaired. Local officials are handing out food and water, but they're also appealing for outside assistance.
We need to restore our power system and we need water, food in the northern part of Cebu, and of course financial assistance for those families that has been displaced.
This quake also appears to have been especially strong for this area. Locals said They've never explained swimmers like this before. This was a shadow quake with a depth of about 10 kilometers. This tends to be more disruptive. That's because the swimmers have less distance to travel, and thus create more intense shaking on the surface. This area is home to many old buildings, which may have given why so many gave away. Adding to that, the Philippines is still recovering from the typhoon that fell through just last week. Officials are warning there could be more tremors, so they're advising people not to return to their homes. So tens of thousands of people are living in rough, temporary shelters and unsure when relief arrives. Kondo Yukari NHK World Boco City.
TRUMP THREATENS JOB CUTS AMID US GOVT. SHUTDOWN
The US federal government shutdown is continuing as Republican and Democratic lawmakers remain at odds over the budget for the new fiscal year.Some agencies have been partially closed since funding expired on Wednesday.
The White House website blames the shutdown on opposition Democrats. Its message is accompanied by a clock showing how much time has elapsed since the shutdown started. Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture calls the situation a radical left Democrat shutdown and says there will be no updates on its website during the funding lapse.
At least 10 government organizations are taking similar action.
President Donald Trump said on social media on Thursday that job cuts may be coming for many Democrat agencies. Trump indicated he and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vogt would make the decisions.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt was asked by reporters about the plans.
Can you give us an estimate on the amount of federal workers that the Trump administration wants to fire during the government shutdown?
It's likely going to be in the thousands.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says the action is a continuation of the Trump administration's moves to carry out mass firings since its inauguration in January.
We are able to sit down with anyone, anytime, any place. Unfortunately, Republicans have shown 0 interest in even having a conversation after the White House meeting. On Monday, we've seen behavior by the president that is unserious and unhinged.
The budget impasse continues with no prospect of a deal in sight.
UK POLICE: SYNAGOGUE ATTACK A 'TERRORIST INCIDENT'
British police have launched a terrorism investigation after an attack outside a Manchester synagogue. Two people were killed and three seriously injured when a man rammed his car into a crowd and began attacking with a knife. The assailant was shot dead by police at the scene.He's been identified as 35-year-old Jihad al-Shami, a British citizen of Syrian descent. Police say he appeared to be wearing an explosive vest, but later said the device was not viable. They've also arrested two men and a woman on terrorism-related charges in connection with the attack. A large number of worshippers were at the synagogue to mark Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Officials say some of them stopped the assailant from getting into the building.
Thanks to the immediate bravery of security staff and the worshipers inside, as well as the fast response of the police, the attacker was prevented from gaining access.
The attack prompted Prime Minister Keir Starmer to fly home early from a summit in Denmark. He held an emergency meeting and vowed to protect the Jewish community.
While this is not a new hate, this is something Jews have always lived with.
We must be clear. It is a hatred that is rising once again.
And Britain must defeat it once again.
He says Britain will deploy additional police officers at synagogues across the country.
'SHADOW FLEET' TANKER CAPTAIN FACES TRIAL IN FRANCE
French prosecutors say the captain of an oil tanker seized off the country's western coast will face trial. France alleges that the vessel is part of Russia's shadow fleet of tankers, trying to avoid sanctions.The French Navy boarded the ship on Saturday, taking its captain and the first mate into custody. Both are Chinese nationals. The captain is being prosecuted for refusing to comply with the naval commander's orders. Prosecutors say the vessel was traveling from Russia to India with a large cargo of oil and had no flag under international law.
The tanker has also frequently changed its name. French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that it's important to kill the business model to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and he pointed to the need to crack down on the ships.
Extremely important to increase the pressure on this shadow fleet, because it will clearly reduce the capacity to finance this war effort for Russia.
Macron says his country estimates 30 to 40% of the Russian campaign is financed through the revenues of the shadow fleet.
He says that's more than 30 billion euros, or about $35 billion.
WSJ: TRUMP OKAYS INTELLIGENCE SHARING WITH KYIV
The Wall Street Journal says US President Donald Trump has approved sharing intelligence with Ukraine to help it strike energy infrastructure deep inside Russia.The newspaper says this will help Ukraine be better able to hit refineries and pipelines far from its borders.
It says these attacks would be aimed at depriving the Kremlin of revenue and oil to sustain its invasion.
Recently, the Ukrainian military has repeatedly launched drone attacks on refineries. Fuel supply has reportedly been running low in some part of Russia. The report comes as Washington is considering supplying Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The newspaper also cites officials as saying this is the first time that the Trump administration will aid Ukraine in these types of strikes.
Analysts say Washington is aiming to increase pressure on Moscow, which has not agreed to hold negotiations for peace or a ceasefire.
BUSINESS
Now, let's see what's happening in the world of business with Ramin Mellegard.Thank you very much indeed.
TOKYO'S NIKKEI 225 ENDS WEEK AT RECORD HIGH
Now, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index that you can see here on the big screen rose sharply on Friday to finish the week at a record high. The gain came after all three major equity indices on Wall Street hit new highs. The Tokyo benchmark closed at 45,769, up 1.85% from Thursday. Investors picked up a wide range of shares led by semiconductor related stocks. The Nikkei rose for two straight days after a four day losing streak. Analysts say Friday's buoyant mood was helped by expectations the US Federal Reserve will cut rates again this month due to weak job numbers.BOJ CHIEF UEDA UNDER SCRUTINY AS RATE HIKES LOOM
OK, next NHK World's John LaDue is here with BizPix. He takes a look at upcoming business and economic stories.Let's start with the events we'll be tracking in the week ahead. On Thursday, Governor Ueda Kazuo crosses the halfway mark in his five-year tenure as chief of the central bank. Ueda took over in April 2023. In this week's Biz Picks, we ask an expert to rate the governor's performance so far and explain the challenges he faces in the second-half of his term.
Ueno Tsuyoshi, executive research fellow at NLI Research Institute, gives Ueno a relatively positive assessment for steering monetary policy in difficult times.
Inflation rates in Japan have remained very high. And we're hearing more accusations recently that the central bank has been too slow to raise interest rates. That criticism is understandable, but it goes too far to say responses by the BOJ under Ueda's leadership have been inappropriate. People have to remember the BOJ has been seeking to normalize its monetary policy after it's unprecedented massive easing.
It would have been quite difficult for the bank to immediately hike rates in response to inflation triggered by rising costs.
But Ueno points out that the BOJ could have done better in conveying information to the markets. This graph shows how the yen moved against the dollar each time Ueno chaired a policy meeting ending 9:00 AM the following business day. He has overseen 20 such meetings since he took the helm, and 16 of these sessions, shown in the green, saw the yen lose ground.
The frequent declines in the yen suggest information dissemination by the BOJ played a major role. UEDA has given detailed reasons for not raising rates. And I suppose there was a tendency for that cautious stance on rate hikes to come across quite strongly. Exchange rates affect underlying price trends, so the bank needs to take the view of market participants into account and communicate information in an implicit way to keep the yen from declining.
Ueno says one of the biggest challenges facing UEDA is determining how much to hike rates. In doing so, he says the BOJ chief will confront a hurdle unique to Japan.
Businesses and households in Japan have become used to ultra-low rates over the years. It's very tough to predict what reactions will emerge when the bank increases the key rate from the current 0.5%.
The BOJ will need to explore how it should guide the policy rate so that it can achieve 2% inflation in the mid to long term.
A steady hand at the top will be critical for the BOJ's policy shift, meaning the governor is likely to be under even more scrutiny in the second-half of his term.
I'm John LaDue, and that wraps up this edition of BizPix.
WWF JAPAN: TOKYO AREA ANIMAL CAFES POSE INFECTION RISK
WWF Japan says some so-called animal cafes in Tokyo area failed to follow hygiene procedures and pose an infectious disease risk to visitors. The venues allow customers to feed and pet exotic animals.The organization, known internationally as the World Wide Fund for Nature, inspected 25 of the cafes in Tokyo and nearby areas between June and July this year. Its report says a strain of E coli bacteria was detected at four of the outlets. It adds that only 14, or a little over half, asked customers to wash their hands after touching animals. NHK visited an owl cafe. In Tokyo's Harajuku district, where staff said about 80% of customers on Sundays are visitors from overseas. Customers eat and drink in one area and engage with the owls in a separate space. Now they're asked to disinfect their hands when moving from one area to the other. Staff also disinfect the owl area after each group of visitors, but the cafe failed to consistently ask customers to wash their hands.
We are going to display warnings and tell customers where to wash their hands before they leave.
The report says WWF Japan plans to ask the government to set legal rules on hygiene control at animal cafes.
MARKETS
Okay, let's get a check on the markets.♪
And that is it for business news.
NEW VIDEO-GENERATING AI MODEL SPARKS COPYRIGHT CONCERNS
The US developer of ChatGPT has released its latest video-generating artificial intelligence model. But OpenAI's reported policy on video creation will likely turn into a new point of contention surrounding generative AI and copyrights.The company on Tuesday rolled out the Sora 2, which can create high-definition videos from text prompts. This video was created by the new model. The company says the model is more physically accurate than prior systems and excels at realistic cinematic and anime styles. It also launched an app to share the Sora 2 produced clips online.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the model creates videos featuring copyright material unless copyright holders opt out of having their work appear.
The newspaper adds that the opt-out process means that movie studios and other intellectual property owners would have to explicitly ask OpenAI not to include their copyright material in videos created by Sora 2.
Reuters news agency quotes people familiar with the matter as saying that at least one major studio, the Walt Disney Company, has already opted out of having their material appear in the app. Social media users have already uploaded videos they say were generated by Sora 2. Many of the clips feature Japanese anime characters.
AUTONOMOUS DRONE FERRIES SUPPLIES UP MOUNTAIN
A drone in central Japan has made a speedy delivery of supplies to a mountain cabin.It soared to an altitude of about 2,800 meters.
The flight took place on Mount Ontake, which straddles Gifu and Nagano prefectures. The vehicle airlifted beverages and other items. A cabin worker said it takes about 5 hours for a person to carry 30 kilograms of supplies to the site, but the drone did so in around 7 minutes.
The flight was part of a verification test for building a drone-based logistics model for mountainous areas.
We want to build a route where drones can ferry goods to mountain cabins on a daily basis and deliver relief supplies in the event of a disaster or an eruption.
The test was conducted by the Gifu Smart Logistics Promotion Council, which aims to solve staff shortagesand other issues in the industry.
JAPAN'S 'DIAMOND FUJI' DAZZLES EARLY BIRDS
A natural phenomenon known as Diamond Fuji attracted crowds to a mountain in Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture. The rising or setting sun perfectly aligns with Japan's highest peak, creating the appearance of a shining diamond. The sight is visible from this place for just a few days a year.Ropeway services to the top of Mount Minobu began from 5:00 AM on Thursday, opening early for three days. Mount Fuji basked in the glow of the rising sun, surrounded by a sea of clouds.
The sun rose directly above the summit shortly after 6:00 AM, in a burst of lights above the iconic mountain's crest.
The sky full of clouds looked like a sea and was also beautiful. It was really great.
WEATHER
Now let's check out world weather back-to-back storms are affecting parts of Asia. Our meteorologist Yumi Hirano has the details.Storm Matmo made landfall in the northern Philippines on Friday morning.
Strong winds and downpours are likely to persist during Friday. The system is expected to intensify into typhoon and will hit southern China over the weekend. It could be the fourth storm making landfall in southern China in just a month. The total rainfall could exceed 300 millimeters in Hainan. Downpours are also likely in northern Vietnam, causing possible flooding. For the north, low pressure and frontal systems are moving toward Japan. The heaviest rainfall is expected in western Japan, especially in Nagasaki Prefecture from Friday night to early Saturday morning.
Showers are also likely to expand into eastern Japan, including Tokyo on Saturday.
Finally, in Europe, former hurricane Gabriel has developed again as a low-pressure system is now bringing snowfall to the Balkans.
Early-season snow in Bosnia surprised many locals, including tourists, on Thursday. The country experienced one of their hottest summers on record, so the cold weather was fairly welcomed.
Temperatures rapidly dropped to negative 4, bringing about 20 centimeters of snow. This caused some minor disruptions.
So the first snowfall of the season has turned into heavy snow in some areas.
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall is also expected in low-lying areas in parts of Greece and Romania. Further west, another storm system is approaching the British Isles. So stormy conditions are likely in London, but sunny skies are expected in Lisbon and Madrid.
That's it for now. Have a nice weekend.
♫～ 3-DAY FORECAST ～♫
And with that, we end this edition of NHK Newsline. More to come here on NHK World Japan, so stay with us.
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