- 5 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:12Welcome to News in Tokyo. I'm Yamasawa Rina and I'm Yamaguchi Hiroaki. Here are the headlines.
00:18As U.S.-Iran nuclear talks continue, President Trump says it will soon be clear whether a deal can be struck.
00:26Japan's health ministry is set to approve the production and the sale of IPS treatments for heart disease and Parkinson's.
00:36Global leaders and tech giant CEOs discussed the safe use of artificial intelligence.
00:43U.S. President Donald Trump has given a timeline of about 10 days for it to become clear whether Washington
00:51will reach a nuclear deal with Iran.
00:55Trump referred to U.S. negotiations with Iran over Tehran's nuclear program in a speech in Washington.
01:02He stressed Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and warned that what he called bad things would happen without a
01:10deal.
01:11Maybe we're going to make a deal. You're going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.
01:18The United States has been ratcheting up military pressure against Iran.
01:23Trump said last week that Washington would send a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East.
01:29Some American media outlets have reported that the U.S. may attack Iran in the near future.
01:37Meanwhile, Iran sent a letter to the U.N. Secretary General and the President of the Security Council about U
01:45.S. threats of force.
01:46The letter asserts that what it calls a belligerent statement by Trump signals a real risk of military aggression.
01:55It also calls on the Security Council to do everything in its power to ensure that the U.S. does
02:02not take any action that could trigger a military confrontation.
02:07North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has opened the first Workers' Party Congress in five years.
02:13It's regarded as the country's highest leadership body.
02:18North Korean state-run media say the Congress opened Thursday in Pyongyang.
02:23Kim kicked off the event with a speech, saying the country has achieved broad success.
02:30This clip was released with a female announcer reading his remarks.
02:55Kim also said the state's position is irreversible, bringing about what he called a great change in the global landscape.
03:02The remark seemingly refers to North Korea's nuclear program and its military ties with Russia.
03:09Kim said Wednesday a new military plan will be unveiled at this Congress.
03:14That may include new initiatives in its nuclear and missile programs.
03:20The Japanese government has compiled plans to support what it considers to be vitally important overseas projects conducted by the
03:29private sector.
03:30Kim also said the state-runner.
03:32Draft revisions to the law promoting economic security were presented at a meeting on Friday of the Policy Research Council
03:40of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
03:43The revisions include launching a support program for overseas projects undertaken by the private sector in such fields as information
03:53technology and port development.
03:56Funding is to be provided by the government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
04:03Another proposed law would establish a national intelligence bureau to strengthen Japanese intelligence capabilities.
04:12A draft says the bureau would also coordinate counterintelligence to protect confidential information from foreign spy agencies.
04:30Turning to Ukraine, Russian strikes on energy-related facilities are making daily life difficult for many people.
04:38One group feeling especially anxious is expectant mothers who are giving birth amid the threat of power blackouts at hospitals.
04:48An NHK crew visited a maternity hospital in the capital, Kyiv.
04:53The facility has two generators in case the electricity goes out.
04:58But if these stop functioning, ventilators for babies and monitors to check the condition of mothers could become unusable.
05:06A doctor at the hospital said that in the event of an air raid, mothers at the hospital would be
05:12forced to evacuate to a shelter to give birth.
05:18We have backup generators, but without them we can't survive.
05:23We need to have constant heat, water and electricity.
05:29Currently, the hospital is caring for almost 90 pregnant women.
05:3337-year-old Tetiana Bondar is set to have a cesarean section soon.
05:38She feels anxious.
05:43I'm worried about whether I'll have to run somewhere to take shelter.
05:47Plus, when you wake up from explosions, you're already scared.
05:51And that's a double burden on pregnant women.
05:54Double or maybe even more.
05:56You're always under stress.
05:59She says it's possible her baby will be born on February 24th, four years since Russia's invasion.
06:06She expressed mixed feelings as the day is associated with a lot of pain, but will also be one of
06:12happiness for her.
06:14Athletes and staff from Ukraine will boycott next month's opening ceremony of the Milano-Kotina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.
06:24The move is in protest against the participation of Russia and Belarus.
06:30Ukraine's National Paralympic Committee announced its support of the government's boycott on Thursday.
06:37The committee demanded the Ukrainian flag not be used in the ceremony.
06:42The International Paralympic Committee last year granted slots to Russia and Belarus, allowing athletes to represent their countries in some
06:51events.
06:52The Italian government is also urging the IPC to reconsider its decision.
06:59Italy says Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its violation of Olympic and Paralympic ideals together with Belarus is incompatible with
07:08participation in the Games.
07:11The European Commissioner for Sport, Glenn Mikalev, will also boycott the opening ceremony.
07:19British police have released the former Prince Andrew following his arrest Thursday.
07:25He was taken to custody on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
07:31Police say they arrested a man in his 60s.
07:34They didn't give his name in line with normal practice.
07:37They say their investigations will continue.
07:41He is now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
07:44He had close ties with Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier charged with sex trafficking offenses.
07:51Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal title over those ties.
07:56Authorities reportedly believe he shared confidential information with Epstein during his time as a UK trade envoy.
08:03King Charles is the older brother of the former prince.
08:07He released a statement expressing his deepest concern.
08:10He says the law must take its course and pledged to cooperate with the investigation.
08:17Police say they are carrying out a search in the eastern county of Norfolk.
08:21That's where Mountbatten-Windsor is believed to reside.
08:25They are also searching its former residence known as the Royal Lodge.
08:31Moving now to hopeful news for millions of patients worldwide.
08:36Japan's health ministry has indicated it will approve the production and sale of two products using IPS cells.
08:45One for a serious heart condition and other for Parkinson's disease.
08:51The green light could come as early as next month.
08:54The decision would pave the way for the world's first practical applications of the regenerative therapy.
09:01Induced pluripotent stem cells are created by reprogramming mature cells.
09:06They can be turned into nerve, muscle and other types of cells, potentially restoring lost function.
09:14Japan has long been at the forefront of this research.
09:18Kyoto University professor Yamanaka Shinya won the Nobel Prize in 2012 for discovering that mature cells can be reset to
09:26become pluripotent.
09:30I hope this will truly contribute to society and be applied in medicine as soon as possible.
09:37Twenty years have passed since Yamanaka first announced his breakthrough in generating IPS cells.
09:44During that time, the Japanese government has invested roughly 110 billion yen, about 700 million dollars, into the field.
09:54On Thursday, a health ministry expert panel recommended approving the manufacturing and sale of the two products.
10:03One is a patch of lab-grown heart muscle cells used to treat ischemic cardiomyopathy,
10:10a condition in which reduced blood flow weakens the heart.
10:13It was developed by Kuoripsu, a start-up from the University of Osaka.
10:19The other, developed by Sumitomo Pharma, is designed to treat Parkinson's disease.
10:25It is implanted in the brain and may improve patients' motor function.
10:31The two companies applied for approval last year.
10:35The development offers hope to many patients.
10:39Okada Takashi has lived with Parkinson's for about 10 years.
11:03Parkinson's causes abnormalities in nerve cells in the brain, leaving patients with tremors and difficulty controlling movement.
11:18In Japan alone, an estimated 300,000 Parkinson's patients are waiting for a cure to be found.
11:26Sumitomo Pharma's product uses IPS-derived cells that grow into nerve cells.
11:34They're implanted into the brain to restore nerve function.
11:38In clinical trials, some patients saw improvements in motor skills.
11:43Researchers say they were able to confirm the treatment's safety and effectiveness.
11:53The head of the University of Osaka research team hopes to expand the therapy globally.
12:01We want to bring this treatment to as many patients suffering from severe heart disease as soon as possible.
12:10Hanamura Ryo served on a national regenerative medicine committee.
12:15He says Japan must maintain its global edge in the field.
12:21Success will come when more patients' lives are saved and sustainable investment cycles are established.
12:30In the end, evidence is essential for medical technology to succeed.
12:35The key now is competing on quality.
12:39The panel's approval is conditional.
12:42The product's safety and effectiveness must be re-verified within seven years.
12:48If manufacturing systems and medical institutions are ready, patients could begin receiving the treatments under public insurance as early as
12:57this summer.
12:59This is remarkable.
13:01Rina, I remember you got a chance to see some of this technology up close at the Osaka Expo last
13:06year.
13:07Exactly.
13:07I saw an artificial heart.
13:09It was created by using technology for making IPS cell heart muscle patches.
13:15Many visitors there thought it would be years before this kind of treatment became reality.
13:21Right.
13:21But we're already seeing it move from the lab to practical use, right?
13:26That's amazing.
13:27And today, I spoke with Professor Sawa, who we heard from in the report.
13:32And he told me that getting approval for these patches is a huge step towards a world where no one
13:39dies of heart disease.
13:40But he also said there's still so much more to do, such as establishing sales domestically, holding clinical trials outside
13:50of Japan, and creating a system of mass production.
13:54If all that happens, it could speed up the widespread use of these patches for heart patients.
14:01All right.
14:02And it's also worth mentioning that clinical research using IPS cells has been underway in Japan for some 20 diseases.
14:09So a lot of people are excited to see where things go from here.
14:23Global leaders at a conference in India on artificial intelligence have called for rules to ensure its safe use.
14:31As we reported earlier this week, the AI Impact Summit started on Monday in the country's capital, New Delhi.
14:38Yuko Fukushima joins us now with the latest. Hugo.
14:41Yeah, thanks, Tiroaki.
14:42The event has featured big names, including from major players, OpenAI and Google.
14:47On Thursday, as the state spoke at the event amid the growing importance of the technology.
14:52Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
15:00Modi acknowledged in his speech that AI is bringing huge benefits, but he underscored the need to create clear and
15:09transparent rules for the technology.
15:11He called on developers and firms to follow ethical principles and maintain accountability.
15:17Japan's Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae also addressed the summit in a video message.
15:23AI is the pillar of my Japan growth strategy.
15:29Japan will vigorously promote public and private investment to create a trustworthy AI that reflects our value of trustworthiness.
15:38Let's work together to create this trustworthy AI.
15:45India has launched public and private efforts to host data centers as part of its bid to evolve into a
15:52major AI power.
15:53Analysts say India is holding the summit to highlight its rich IT human resources and massive market of more than
16:001.4 billion people.
16:03U.S. tech giant Microsoft founder Bill Gates had been scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the event, but
16:10his attendance was abruptly canceled.
16:12There was speculation his withdrawal was related to renewed scrutiny of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
16:18The Gates Foundation released a statement saying his cancellation was to ensure the focus remains on the summit's priorities.
16:27Inflation eased across Japan in January.
16:30The shift was largely due to lower gasoline and utility costs, but food prices and rent continued to hover at
16:37high levels.
16:38The Internal Affairs Ministry says the consumer price index was up 2 percent from January last year.
16:44The figure excludes fresh food prices.
16:47It's the first time the index has dropped back to that level in two years.
16:52The main reason was the abolition of a provisional gasoline tax.
16:57That brought gas prices down by nearly 15 percent.
17:01Electricity and city gas bills also fell.
17:04Prices of food excluding perishables jumped by over 6 percent.
17:09Increases in food prices have been tapering for six months, but remain high.
17:14The cost of coffee beans soared by roughly 50 percent.
17:19Rice was up almost 28 percent, and chocolate prices leaped by around 26 percent.
17:26Private housing rent rose by 0.7 percent.
17:29The ministry says that's the biggest increase in nearly three decades.
17:33It attributes the jump to higher condo prices in central Tokyo.
17:37This, in turn, is driving up the nationwide average rent.
17:43The number of overseas passengers on international flights using Narita Airport hit a new high in 2025.
17:50The figure topped the previous record, said just a year earlier, by about 10 percent.
17:56The operator of the Gateway Hub outside Tokyo says the total number of all passengers, including Japanese flyers on international
18:05flights, was about 35 million.
18:07That's the third highest figure, after the pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and 2018.
18:13Nearly 24 million of those passengers were foreigners.
18:17That's up 9.6 percent from the previous record set in 2024.
18:22The airport operator credits new flight routes linking Japan and North America and parts of Asia.
18:28The number of flights between Narita and China plunged by 20 percent in December compared with the same month a
18:35year earlier.
18:36The number of passengers flying out of Narita to China was down by the same amount.
18:41The declines came after China issued an advisory to its citizens against traveling to Japan.
18:49And down to the markets.
18:50Well, in Tokyo, the Nikkei fell 1.12 percent.
18:53Investors are cautious as tensions between the U.S. and Iran heighten and the talks over the country's nuclear development.
19:00Some are holding their bets ahead of a three-day weekend.
19:04Now, taking a look at the rest of the region, traders in Hong Kong came back from the Lunar New
19:10Year holiday.
19:11The Hansen dipped 1.1 percent.
19:13Technology stocks weighed on the index.
19:16Some are worried about the direction of U.S.-China ties.
19:20In South Korea, the KOSPI added over 2.3 percent and at a record high.
19:26Brokerages led the gains as the stock market booms.
19:29And that's the news for this week.
19:32Thank you very much for that, Yuko.
19:34Now, let's go to Tratira Khao-san in our Bangkok studio for stories making headlines across the Asia-Pacific.
19:42Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto says he is prepared to send military personnel to the Gaza Strip, dispatching up to 8
19:51,000 troops or more if necessary to secure peace and preserve the ceasefire.
19:56We will achieve our dream of peace in Palestine, peace, a lasting and peaceful solution for the Palestinian problem and
20:09in Gaza.
20:11The achievements of the ceasefire is real.
20:15Prabowo was in Washington on Thursday to attend the first meeting of the Board of Peace.
20:21U.S. President Donald Trump set up the body last month to oversee the transitional governance of Gaza.
20:27Chairing the meeting, Trump praised Indonesia, Morocco and other countries for their contributions.
20:34Prabowo later told reporters he will send the first unit of troops in about one or two months.
20:40He did not mention their specific role.
20:43The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has said the mission will focus on humanitarian aid, reconstruction and protection of civilians.
20:52But Tairul Fahmy, a co-founder of an Indonesian think tank, says a confrontation with those opposed to the disarmament
21:00is almost inevitable.
21:06I do think this is a difficult challenge.
21:10Prabowo himself has publicly acknowledged that there is a high potential for factions to try to derail this peace process.
21:22Hyrule added that people will strongly oppose the government if they see Palestinian casualties occur as a result of actions
21:30ordered by the U.S.
21:33Next, to Thailand, a surprise twist for festival-goers watching a Lunar New Year performance.
21:39What appeared to be a traditional lion dance turned out to be a sting operation.
21:48At a Buddhist temple near Bangkok, undercover police wait to pounce on a suspected burglar.
21:54The dance ends suddenly.
22:00A wanted man is under arrest.
22:03The 33-year-old man was detained on burglary charges.
22:07He is accused of breaking into the home of a local police station chief earlier this month, not once but
22:13three times.
22:14Police say he stole valuables worth about 2 million baht or $64,000.
22:21The suspect eluded capture on multiple occasions.
22:25Investigators planned their unusual operation after learning he would be meeting friends at the temple in Nontaburi Province.
22:33The accused thief is said to have admitted to the break-ins, telling police he needed money to buy narcotics.
22:40Police added that he will be celebrating Lunar New Year behind bars.
22:47A gas explosion has torn through a residential building in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi.
22:54The blast killed at least 16 people.
22:58The explosion happened on Thursday as residents were preparing a pre-dawn meal on the first day of the holy
23:05month of Ramadan.
23:06Authorities say a 2-year-old child was among the dead, and 30 others were injured after part of the
23:13building collapsed.
23:15Police suspect that a gas leak was the cause of the incident.
23:19Gas explosions have become an ongoing safety crisis in Pakistan.
23:24Aging pipes and the use of substandard gas cylinders are often to blame.
23:29In January, leaking gas triggered a blast during a wedding reception in Islamabad.
23:34Eight people died, including the newly married couple.
23:40And that wraps up our bulletin. I'm Traa Jirakao-san in Bangkok.
23:55Now it's time to take a look at the world weather with our meteorologist, Yumi Hirano.
24:00Many storms have been affecting the U.S. state of California.
24:04Over 230 centimeters of heavy snow was reported at one location in the Sierra Nevada.
24:11Avalanches are a major danger.
24:17Ongoing heavy snow caused traffic problems in parts of California on Thursday.
24:22It's near an area where a deadly avalanche occurred earlier.
24:28Highway patrol helped drivers stuck in the snow.
24:32On Tuesday, an avalanche near the area killed eight skiers and left one missing.
24:38Persistent heavy snow and additional avalanche risks slowed rescue efforts.
24:43The avalanche is the deadliest in the U.S. since 1981.
24:50The storm is now moving toward the plains and the snowfall is tippling up from the west.
24:57Other systems are affecting the Great Lakes region and the east coast.
25:01Snow is expected in Chicago and Toronto.
25:05Showers are likely in New York and Washington.
25:07Dry weather is coming back to L.A., but the high will only be 15.
25:14Now moving to Japan.
25:16Warm air is expected to cover much of the country over the long holiday weekend.
25:21Sapporo will see eight degrees, which is as warm as in April.
25:26So snowy regions should watch out for avalanches and flooding due to melting snow.
25:31The highs in Tokyo will be 15 on Saturday, 17 on Sunday and finally hit 20 on Monday.
25:39This is because strong southerly winds will pump up warm air through the regions.
25:44At the same time, the winds could lead to a risk of wildfires.
25:49So take care and have a nice weekend.
25:51So take care and have a bad band.
26:40and one more story before we go young children in western japan have been
26:45learning the basics of the traditional japanese tea ceremony
26:56about 185 year olds from kindergarten and daycare centers took part in event in sakai de city
27:03kagawa prefecture they prepared tea in bowls using bamboo whisks instructors from the uraseenke school
27:12of tea ceremonies show them how to whisk the tea properly the youngsters first enjoyed butterfly
27:19shaped sweets made from wasan bone a fine-grained japanese sugar before drinking their tea in the
27:26traditional manner楽しかったお茶ちょっといらかったけど美味しかったです
27:35thank you all right and that's it for the solution of newsroom
27:40tokyo you can catch this program on our website and i'm yama saw arena monday is a national holiday
27:47in here in japan so we will be back on
27:49tuesday have a lovely weekend
Comments