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00:12welcome to news in Tokyo I'm Yama Sawarina and I'm Raja Prada we're starting our program with
00:18the latest on the clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan Islamabad has launched airstrikes
00:25against the forces of the interim Taliban government there are fears the conflict could
00:29escalate further to that iraqo-san at our bureau in Bangkok has more on that tra Afghan and
00:37Pakistani forces swept fire along the border Thursday night the fighting left a total of
00:42about 180 dead according to both sides tallies Pakistani spokesperson Mosharab Zaidi said on
00:51ex-Friday that his country's troops had bombed military targets in Kabul Kandahar and Paktia he
00:58said the attacks killed 133 Taliban fighters and destroyed headquarters ammunition depots and over
01:0680 tanks artillery pieces and armored carriers the interim Taliban government said its forces killed
01:1355 Pakistani soldiers and seized two bases and 19 posts tensions between the two sides rose after
01:22Pakistan's air force bombed what Islamabad said were strongholds of Afghan extremists on February 21st the
01:31attacks reportedly killed and wounded dozens including women and children there are fears the conflict
01:39could escalate further Pakistani defense minister Hawaja Asif wrote on X our patience has run out now it is open
01:49war between us and you
01:52we're joined now by NHK's Islamabad bureau chief Ota Yusuke who's been covering the story Yusuke what's behind the recent
02:00escalation in fighting
02:04well Islamabad and Kabul are divided more than ever by the issue of attacks carried out by the extremists on
02:12Pakistani soil in Pakistan people face the
02:16containing a threat from terrorism just earlier this month a suicide bombing killed over 30 people here in Islamabad the
02:25the Pakistani government believes the attacks keep recurring because Afghanistan's ruling Taliban won't crack down on the militants but the
02:35Taliban says there are no extremist bases in Afghanistan and the Pakistan's claims are baseless both sides shows no signs
02:45of backing down in the
02:47latest fighting which started with what Pakistan says were strikes on strongholds of
02:53Afghanistan's extremists what could be the key factors to calm the situation
03:03well countries across the Middle East along with China and Russia could play important
03:10roles the two sides agreed on a ceasefire in October when clashes ramped up last time
03:18Qatar and Turkey mediated the talks even though they failed later Russia has strengthened its influence in
03:29Afghanistan after becoming the first country to formally recognize the Taliban's interim government last year
03:35a Russian state-run state-run news agency says the Russian foreign ministry has indicated it's ready to mediate if
03:46asked
03:46China meanwhile has been boosting its economic ties with both sides and the spokesperson for the country's foreign ministry said
03:57Beijing is ready to play a constructive role in de-escalating the crisis and the US president Donald Trump said
04:06he could fix things when clashes between the two sides broke out in October
04:12I believe a broader international engagement is essential to stop the conflict from worsening
04:22thank you used to king and that was NHK's Islam about bureau chief Ota use a cape reporting from Islamabad
04:30and that wraps up our bulletin I'm
04:33thank you for joining us in Bangkok
04:43open AI says it's flagged attempts by a chat GPT account linked to Chinese authorities
04:49to launch a campaign against Japan's Prime Minister Takai Sanai the firm says it's banned the account involved
04:57open AI released the report on Wednesday detailing what it calls China's cyber special operations
05:03it says last October a user associated with Chinese law enforcement asked chat GPT for help designing a negative influence
05:11campaign targeting Takai Chi
05:13the report says the user asked the model for advice on crafting a plan based on six main elements
05:20they included posting and amplifying negative comments about Takai Chi creating email accounts posing as foreign residents to send complaints
05:29to politicians and
05:30accusing Takai Chi of having far right leanings
05:33open AI says chat GPT refused to provide any advice and the user temporarily stopped making the requests
05:41but it says the user later asked the model to polish the text of a status report on the anti
05:47Takai Chi operation
05:48Japan's chief cabinet secretary Kihara Minoru said the case represents a threat to democracy
05:57a situation like this is a danger to Japan's national security and to the foundations of democracy
06:04including fair elections and free press measures against such activities are urgently needed
06:12China's foreign ministry spokesperson now owning on Friday called open AI's findings groundless saying China resolutely opposes such unfounded slander
06:25the third round of high-level talks between the United States and Iran have wrapped up with a mediator from
06:32Oman reporting significant progress
06:34the US government has yet to issue an official response the latest round of negotiations was held Thursday in Geneva
06:44Omani foreign minister Badu Alpsadi said technical teams will be part of the next meeting slated for next week in
06:53Austria
06:54despite the apparent progress the Wall Street Journal says the two sides remain far apart on key issues
07:02the newspaper said US negotiators called on Iran to destroy its three main nuclear sites at Fordor Natanz and Isfahan
07:13it also reported they urged Iran to deliver all of its remaining enriched uranium to the US
07:21the paper said Iran rejected the idea of transferring its stockpiles abroad
07:27multiple US media outlets have reported that US President Donald Trump was briefed Thursday on possible military options concerning Iran
07:38but Vice President JD Vance told the Washington Post there was no chance the US would enter a years-long
07:45war in the Middle East with no end in sight
07:48he insisted the administration prefers a diplomatic resolution but added that depends on what the Iranians do and say
08:00now a former senior US official told NHK on Thursday
08:03he also thinks Trump would prefer a diplomatic escape but added this is very unlikely
08:09Elliot Abrams indicated Washington may carry out a limited military strike on Iran to extract concessions if Tehran refuses US
08:20demands
08:22Abrams is the senior fellow at the council on foreign relations
08:25he served as a special representative for Iran during the first administration of US President Donald Trump
08:31if you use the military things may go very well but there's always a chance that they don't and then
08:44Americans die and the president is himself
08:49hurt politically
08:51He argued if Trump takes military action, he would need to be able to explain he offered a deal but
08:57the Iranian side rejected everything
09:00Abrams added such a scenario is possible
09:02He also touched on Trump's aim if he does strike Iran
09:07regime change is not something he ever
09:11talks about
09:12but it is about ending the threat that Iran poses
09:16to our Arab friends in the region
09:19and Israel
09:20He also noted the president doesn't want extended commitments
09:24he said he believed Trump's view is if the regime does not agree to any of the requests limited strike
09:31then negotiate
09:35Australia's government has unveiled a mega project to build high-speed railway linking major cities along the eastern coast
09:44Japanese rail officials are watching the plan closely hoping to export shinkansen technology
09:51the first step is connecting sydney to newcastle which will require 190 kilometers of track
09:59travel time would be slashed from well over two hours to one
10:04groundbreaking could begin in 2029 pending a final government decision
10:10the project whose first phase is priced at 55 billion australian dollars would eventually link brisbane and melbourne a journey
10:19of
10:201800 kilometers
10:23officials from japan's rail sector are already pitching their technology to australian counterparts
10:30shinkansen trains have run for more than 60 years without a major incident resulting in passenger fatalities
10:37india is now building its first high-speed rail line using japanese know-how
10:44the head of an industry association says it's the best option for australia
10:49i sincerely hope that a best-in-class team of japanese companies bringing shinkansen technology and the decades of operational
11:02experience
11:03we'll come together to work closely with australian outstanding local partners
11:11prime minister anthony albanese said last week japanese companies are very interested in playing a role in the project
11:28foreign investors are flocking to japan's financial market
11:33market and some major players in the finance ministry are close on their heels that's right
11:39and yuko fukushima talked to one such company expanding its footprint in tokyo so yuko first
11:43of all uh just how high is the level of interest in japan's market from uh overseas investors
11:48right well the easiest way to see this is through the stock market now this is japan's key stock
11:54index in nikkei 225 it has been climbing steadily since the middle of last year resetting record highs
12:01along the way and almost 70 percent of the traders driving this bull run are foreign investors
12:07i talked to paul taylor the ceo of fitch group fitch is one of the world's big three rating agencies
12:13together with moody's and s p global they assess the debt repayment and default risk of companies
12:19and countries well taylor believes japan's economy is finally coming back to life after decades of
12:26stagnation i sort of feel as though it's reawakening at the moment some of the reforms that have been
12:32happening uh the strong mandate the government has the fact that we're coming out of the last 20 25 years
12:39of you know fairly stagnant growth and uh zero interest rates and no inflation um it feels different
12:47now it feels as though the you know a giant is maybe awakening again the ruling party under prime
12:53minister takaichi sanae won a landslide victory in the general election this month in her policy speech
12:59takaichi pledged to implement what she calls responsible and proactive fiscal policy investors are listening
13:06closely i think there's a combination of factors uh government policy uh will be a factor i think
13:14but um that's to be seen so the the there's a balance to be struck between expansionary policies
13:22and actually having financial discipline that the market will accept as as a sensible way to manage
13:28the economy so the mandate is very clear and i think the messaging is very clear
13:33um execution is going to be key okay apart from government policies what is the reason for japan
13:43recovering and getting all the foreign investors back in the country again uh well rates going up
13:49makes it makes a difference so um in fact you can get a return you know i think there's also
13:55a trend
13:55here which is and this is a long-term trend which is we've seen some um uh more uncertainty in
14:03the
14:03u.s and in the u.s treasury market which is the benchmark market now there's still good flows going
14:08into the u.s treasuries there's no issues there but i think increasingly international investors are
14:14starting to think about diversification and um you know japanese government bonds with interest
14:22attached to them are looking attractive depending on what happens with the currency of course which is
14:28going to be driven in part by government policy while investors are cheering consumers in japan are
14:34struggling to adjust to the sting of inflation after decades of deflation but taylor says in the long
14:41run higher prices will be good for the economy a bit of inflation is a good thing let's be clear
14:46about
14:47that having some inflation is good um having normalized interest rates is good it will strengthen
14:51financial system i think over time it'll attract overseas investment so and we're seeing a rush of for
14:57example private capital players moving to to the japanese market which in itself will start to
15:04change the nature of the market and i think make it more make it more dynamic over time the yield
15:10on
15:10japan's long-term government bond is heading up after hovering around zero for years now this is stoking
15:16worries about the government's huge debt and the new administration's spending plans could japan
15:22eventually become unable to repay taylor is not too concerned japanese government also have an advantage
15:29in this whole discussion because um the the average tenure on bonds is actually very long so there's no
15:38short-term issue about refinancing huge amounts of debt i mean there's a natural flow that goes on but
15:44the longer maturity of the debt actually helps quite a bit in terms of letting things settle
15:50well taylor's outlook on japan is positive for now but he says future growth will all hinge on economic
15:56policies and whether the government can execute them in a way that maintains the confidence of
16:02financial markets and now to how the stock markets performed on friday the nikkei set an all-time closing
16:10high for the third consecutive session the index fell sharply at the open but later rebounded as buying
16:16kicked in for a wide range of stocks in south korea the cost be fell uh one percent after tech
16:22shares
16:22were sold in the u.s overnight in hong kong the hansen added uh almost one percent investors are counting
16:29on leaders in beijing to back policies that will spur economic growth at the upcoming national people's
16:36congress and that's the biz for this week thank you very much for that yuko uh we turn now to
16:42india where
16:43the economy is showing strong growth india's nominal growth domestic product from october through december
16:512025 grew by 7.8 percent that brings india close to japan the world's fourth biggest economy japan's
17:01nominal gdp for last year was about 4.4 trillion dollars at the average exchange rate india is closing
17:09the gap japan was overtaken by germany in 2023 due to a long period of low growth and deflation
17:18becoming the world's fourth biggest economy the international monetary fund has said japan will be
17:25overtaken by india this year to become the world's fifth biggest the india government announced a draft
17:32budget for the coming fiscal year in february it plans to expand domestic demand by pushing infrastructure
17:39investment and income tax cuts and now we are joined by nhk new delhi bureau chief yamaka michitaka so
17:49michitaka why is india showing continued high economic growth
17:56a one factor is domestic demand that's mainly led by personal consumption from a population of more
18:03than 1.4 billion india overtook china in 2081 to become the biggest in the world the average age is
18:11about 29 which helps create an abundant labor force demand for services and durable goods such as cars and
18:20home appliances is growing because there are more and more people on middle incomes personal consumption
18:26accounts for about 60 percent of gdp to stimulate it the government implemented a tax reduction policy last
18:35september it significantly lowered the goods and services stocks and simplified tax rates experts say this
18:44worked well right uh michitaka are ordinary people feeling the benefits of economic development
18:53not all of them people feeling the benefit are mainly in urban areas such as the capital new dory and
19:01the
19:01western city of mumbai but 60 percent of the population living rural areas they are not happy that they are
19:10being left
19:10behind development of irrigation distribution and other infrastructure essential for agriculture
19:18has been delayed leading to low productivity some rural areas are short of electricity and groundwater and
19:26that's affecting people's lives also it's estimated the average income is only about a third of that
19:34people in urban areas and the income gap is widening michitaka india's attracting more and more attention globally
19:44how are japan and other countries engaging with it
19:51more and more japanese companies are operating in india there are now about 1400 that the five-fold
20:00increase in 15 years behind this is japan's attempt to break away from dependence on china
20:07for the sake of economic security last year japan and india set up investment worth around 10 trillion yen
20:16in 10 years based on the special strategic and global partnership they are advancing cooperation in cutting-edge technologies
20:25such as semi-conductors and artificial intelligence in their aims to become advanced economy by 2047
20:35which is the 100th anniversary of its independence foreign minister narenda modi is pushing to strengthen
20:42manufacturing in line with a national strategy called make in india another tailwind for india is a strategy
20:51called china plus one that's where countries reduce their independence on china for items such as rare earth
21:00by also investing in other countries and regions meanwhile china is facing a tougher environment
21:06because of tensions with us and rising labor costs by contrast india is being seen as potential new
21:15manufacturing base mainly for high-tech products such as smartphones then there is artificial intelligence
21:23this is a field where the us and china are competing fiercely india is encouraging companies to build data
21:30centers and aiming to become an ai powerhouse but india has its risks too i mentioned poor infrastructure in
21:39rural areas inadequate supplies of electricity and water have often prevented semiconductor plants from being
21:47built and unpaved roads make it difficult to transport products and raw materials some business people say
21:56other risk factors within india include complex administrative procedures for taxation and licensing they also
22:04point to a lack of transparency in law enforcement india is expected to overtake japan to become the world's fourth
22:12biggest economy this year in technology and investment japan and other countries need to engage with it more
22:20closely from a long-term perspective as we call partners that complement each other nhk new daly bureau chief yamaka
22:30michitaka thank you
22:42and now it's time for a look at world weather with our meteorologist yumi hirano
22:48we can see a couple of storm systems around japan one is bringing wider split showers to okinawa and western
22:56japan
22:56but is expected to move away from the country by saturday another storm is likely to develop and approach
23:04hokkaido bringing blizzard conditions snow is also expected in sapporo on saturday sunny skies will return
23:13to tokyo osaka and fukuoka but windy conditions are expected calm and dry weather will finally arrive on
23:21sunday across much of the country moving to europe warm air is covering the continent people in germany
23:30enjoyed a spring-like conditions
23:35people in berlin were finally able to enjoy sunshine and warm weather after a long cold and rainy winter
23:44many took the opportunity on thursday to hit the outdoors and even get an ice cream as spring flowers
23:52started to bloom even some animals couldn't resist the pleasant weather the weather department says although
24:00the return of a cold weather should not be ruled out warmer days are certainly coming
24:07a high pressure system is expected to cover the southern half of europe creating
24:12warm and dry conditions but a frontal system is approaching from the west bringing showers the
24:19combination of warm air and rainfall could lead to a risk of avalanches and the flooding in snowy regions
24:27showers are likely in palace and lisbon the temperature in berlin will be 19 which is as warm as may
24:36the warmth is likely to continue over the weekend that's it for now have a nice weekend
24:56long as you are
24:57you
24:57you
24:57you
24:57you
25:02you
25:53And before we go, Rina, people across Japan are looking forward to the spectacular sights of cherry blossom season.
26:00And a private sector forecaster says many of the blooms should arrive earlier than usual.
26:06The Japan Weather Association says central Tokyo and the southwestern city of Fukuoka will see the country's earliest blossoms on
26:13March 20th.
26:15It predicts they'll be followed by the cities of Nagoya and Kochi on the 21st, Hiroshima on the 22nd, Osaka
26:22on the 24th, Sendai on April 1st, and Akita on April 10th.
26:27People in the northern city of Sapporo will likely have to wait until April 27th.
26:32The association says its forecast takes into account a severe cold snap in January and many days of higher-than
26:39-average temperatures in February.
26:41It also expects March to be warmer than normal.
26:45Kanpai!
26:48Cherry blossom festivals are due to be held across Japan in the coming weeks, but some have been canceled because
26:54of concerns about over-tourism.
26:57They include the one scheduled for Arakurayama Sengen Park in Yamanashi Prefecture.
27:03The location is famous for its majestic view of Mount Fuji and a five-story pagoda.
27:08The popularity of the scenic spot in Fujiyoshida City has increased due to social media posts.
27:14The park now draws about 200,000 visitors, including foreign tourists, during cherry blossom season.
27:20City officials say more than 10,000 people visit the park a day at peak times, creating challenges linked to
27:26over-tourism that affect the daily lives of residents.
27:29The problems include traffic congestion and trash left on the streets.
27:36And that's all for this edition of Newsroom Tokyo.
27:39Be sure to catch our program on our website as well.
27:42I'm Raja Paran.
27:43And I'm Yamasawa Rina.
27:44Thank you very much for watching.
27:46Have a wonderful weekend.
27:59We'll see you next time.
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