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00:11Welcome to News in Tokyo. I'm Yamasawa Rina and I'm Raja Prada. Here are the headlines.
00:17Iranian clerics have chosen a new supreme leader. We speak with an expert about what
00:22it means for the conflict with the U.S. and Israel. Oil prices have jumped and Asian stocks
00:28plunged. We'll have more on the market reaction so far. And a story of how a rap artist in Pakistan
00:35is breaking barriers. The second son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been named Iran's new supreme
00:44leader. And U.S. President Donald Trump had previously called Mushtaba Khamenei a lightweight
00:50and an unacceptable selection. The younger Khamenei is said to have deep ties with the
00:58Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Bashid's militia group. But he has never held public
01:04posts and little is known about him. Iranian President Masoud Pazeshkian said in a statement
01:11that this decision marks a new era of dignity and will consolidate national unity.
01:19Meanwhile, the region faced another day of attacks. The Israeli military says it continued its
01:26airstrikes on Iran through Monday. Targets included ballistic missile launch sites and facilities linked
01:33to security forces and the Revolutionary Guard. Several oil depots in Tehran were also hit,
01:41blanketing the city in thick black clouds. Iran's Red Crescent Society warned that rain from such clouds
01:50is highly acidic and could seriously damage people's skin and lungs. It urged residents to remain indoors.
02:00In response, Iran repeatedly launched missiles towards Israel and carried out attacks on Gulf countries.
02:08Kuwait's state-run media reported that government facilities had come under fire.
02:14In Saudi Arabia, two people were killed in an explosion near the capital, Riyadh.
02:21CNN reports they were the first fatalities in that country since the conflict began.
02:29Bahrain's health ministry said 32 people were injured in Iranian drone attacks early on Monday,
02:36including a two-month-old baby.
02:40Images from Reuters news agency also show thick smoke rising from the direction of the BAPCO oil refinery.
02:50Amid the widening conflict, the U.S. State Department has ordered government employees
02:57engaged in non-essential duties and their families to leave Saudi Arabia.
03:01It says about 32,000 people have returned to the United States from the Middle East
03:08since the attacks on Iran began.
03:12The Japanese government is also assisting Japanese travelers and others
03:16who wish to leave four Middle Eastern countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
03:25Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru said Monday
03:28that a second charter flight was scheduled to depart from Saudi Arabia
03:33and additional flights would be arranged in the coming days.
03:39The Middle East conflict has sent oil prices to their highest level since mid-2022
03:47after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine.
03:50Yenaka Marie from our biz team is here with the market turmoil.
03:53Marie.
03:53Concerns about global energy supplies have pushed crude oil futures sharply higher.
03:59The benchmark WTI futures surged past $119 a barrel, up more than 30 percent.
04:07That comes on top of a 35 percent gain last week.
04:11WTI futures was trading in the $90 range as of Friday,
04:16but quickly breached the $100 mark when trading resumed on Sunday.
04:20The benchmark later topped $119, 31 percent above Friday's close.
04:27That's the highest since June 2022 after Russia attacked Ukraine.
04:33With shipping already held up in the Strait of Hormuz,
04:36reports that Kuwait and other oil producers have begun cutting back on output
04:41rattled markets even more.
04:43A hotish social media post from U.S. President Donald Trump only added to investors' dismay.
04:50He wrote that the rise in short-term oil prices is a very small price to pay for safety and
04:56peace.
04:58There is growing anxiety that the rapid rise in crude oil prices
05:02could crank up inflationary pressure and put the global economy in peril.
05:08Major world powers may take action to tame the soaring oil prices.
05:13The group of seven nations will reportedly hold an emergency meeting
05:17to discuss a potential joint release of petroleum reserves.
05:21The story comes from the Financial Times on Monday.
05:25It says that G7 finance ministers will hold a call with the executive director
05:29of the International Energy Agency.
05:32The IEA coordinates the reserves.
05:34The call is scheduled for Monday morning U.S. Eastern Time.
05:39The report says three G7 members have so far expressed support for the release.
05:44This includes the United States.
05:48Concerns about higher oil prices triggering inflation spilled over into the stock markets.
05:54Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average nosedived more than 4,200 points on Monday morning.
06:01That's a drop of 7.5%.
06:03In the end, the benchmark closed 5.2% lower at 52,728, the third largest single-day decline in
06:13history.
06:14Investors unloaded a wide range of shares from the opening.
06:18Analysts called it close to panic selling.
06:21Investors are increasingly worried about the outlook for oil prices.
06:25Analysts say investors will be closely watching the new leadership in Tehran
06:30and what stance Khamenei takes towards the U.S.
06:34All right.
06:35Thank you very much for that, Marie.
06:36We're now joined by Sakanashi Sachi, an expert on contemporary Iranian politics at the Institute
06:42of Energy Economics, Japan.
06:44Thank you very much for your time today.
06:47So, oil prices are surging.
06:49What can we expect going forward?
06:51Yes, I think prices will continue rising.
06:54And one of the major reasons could be the appointment of Moshitaba Khamenei as the next supreme leader
07:02because he's known to be a very hard line and market might have expected a quick ceasefire.
07:08But now that he's appointed the next supreme leader, we cannot expect a huge change in Iran's strategy towards the
07:18war.
07:18So, that could be one of the reasons.
07:21So, this new supreme leader, Moshitaba Khamenei, we know very little about him.
07:27He seems not having taken any governmental polls and he hasn't done any interviews or speeches in public.
07:35So, what do we know about him?
07:37How does his selection tell us about the government's strategy towards this conflict?
07:42I think their strategy is to show the continuity of their policy regardless of the demise of the supreme leader.
07:49By appointing its son as the next supreme leader,
07:53I think Iran wants to show that there will be no unconditional surrender and they will keep fighting.
08:01And even though President Trump's demands again and again that Iran needs to completely surrender,
08:09this appointment shows that they won't do that.
08:12And it means that, I mean, this is a signal that the war can only be ended by President Trump.
08:17Trump, this is in Trump's hands.
08:20So, as you said, no condition of surrender with him.
08:25His father's successor, so will he maintain the same confrontational attitudes towards the U.S. and Israel, do you think?
08:34I think so, because his father was just killed and he'll need to take revenge.
08:39And I think he'll follow his father's path and that is the message of disappointment.
08:45So, do you think there's any possibility of negotiating for a ceasefire or do you think Iran will continue fighting?
08:53I think Iran will try to continue to fight until President Trump says,
09:00Yes, I want to exit the war.
09:02I mean, I think they will try to keep fighting as long as U.S. is in the war.
09:09So, you mentioned continuity of the same as the previous stance of his father.
09:15So, how long do you think Iran can continue fighting?
09:19And where do its military capabilities stand at the moment?
09:22We don't know much about it, but some experts say that their missiles or drones will be depleted in only
09:30like two weeks.
09:31So, it could end quite soon.
09:35But even though their missiles and drones are depleted, I think they will try to keep fighting using whichever means
09:42that is available to them.
09:44So, if Iran runs out with their ammunition and military capability after two weeks or so, what tactics could Iran
09:55use to prolong this conflict?
09:57Well, many tactics they can think of, such as closing the Strait of Hormuz, they've already started to do that.
10:06And I think the idea is to pay pressure on President Trump to end the war, whether from a Gulf
10:12country or rising energy prices.
10:15And do you think President Trump has said U.S. military will escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz?
10:23How feasible is that in practice, do you think?
10:26I think U.S. military can escort tankers that go through the Strait of Hormuz.
10:33But there is another question, if the tankers will feel safe enough to do that.
10:39I mean, even though there is U.S. military escort, they might see too much risk to actually go through
10:45the Strait of Hormuz while the Iranian Navy is warning them not to pass through it.
10:51So, if the Strait is closed due to the extent of the conflict, what broader effects will this have on
11:00Japan and the aging economy?
11:03Well, it will have a huge impact because Japan depends on the Middle East for its oil, like 90%
11:11of Japan's oil comes from the Middle East.
11:14So, if the Strait is closed, it will end up in higher prices and it will impact Japan's economy and
11:26daily lives as well.
11:28Do you think there is any possibility of U.S. attacking one of the islands of Iran, which is the
11:36port for U.S.-Iran oil to export?
11:41Well, yeah, they are talking about it, but I'm not sure if it will help end this war more quickly.
11:52I mean, if they try to take the island, I don't know, maybe Iran wants to fight back even more
11:58fiercely.
11:59So, I'm not sure if it is such a good idea to take that island.
12:03It might provoke Iran even more than now.
12:08I want to ask you some questions about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, how strong they are at the moment.
12:15Since Moshtaba just became the supreme leader, isn't he going to be like a symbolic figure and the IRGC will
12:26have more power in Iran towards this conflict?
12:31Or do you think Moshtaba will have a certain power to control them, do you think?
12:37Well, he is a mysterious person.
12:41We don't know much about him, but we only know that Moshtaba Khamenei is very close to IRGC.
12:47So, the appointment of him as the next supreme leader shows the influence that the IRGC has in the political
12:55system of Iran today.
12:57So, it doesn't necessarily mean that Moshtaba Khamenei will be a powerful leader from the very beginning.
13:05It rather shows that the IRGC is very powerful in the system itself.
13:11And it had the influence to make possible the appointment of Moshtaba Khamenei as the next supreme leader.
13:18So, I think it should be the IRGC who will be leading the war effort in the near future.
13:24So, you've been mentioning about that two weeks possible.
13:28But overall, according to your viewpoint, when will this war end?
13:34It seems that Iran will not surrender.
13:38I mean, they showed this determination by appointing Moshtaba Khamenei as the next supreme leader.
13:45So, it means that we have to count on President Trump.
13:48I mean, I don't think he wants to be in this war for too long either, because he has elections
13:54in this autumn.
13:55And higher oil prices will not be good for him in the elections.
14:00So, if there is any exit, I mean, if there is anything that he can claim victory about, about this
14:08war, he might.
14:09I mean, there is a possibility that he wants to end this war quickly, rather than, like, dragged into a
14:16prolonged war.
14:17So, I want to keep focusing on what, how President Trump makes decisions regarding this war.
14:24So, just one last question quickly.
14:26Can we say that Iran is in the second stage that now they have the new supreme leader within this
14:34conflict?
14:35Second stage?
14:37Well, I think they want to show that they are in continuity rather than, like, they are in a new
14:43stage.
14:44They are fighting for their survival.
14:47I mean, because if they don't fight back, they will be defeated.
14:51And it could be the end of the Islamic Republic.
14:53And they want to avoid that.
14:55So, in order to avoid that, I think they will do anything that they can do.
14:59And it doesn't necessarily mean that they are in the second stage.
15:03They are just trying to survive.
15:06All right. Thank you very much for all your insight.
15:08Sakhanashi Sachi, an expert on contemporary Iranian politics at the Institute of Energy Economics,
15:14Japan.
15:16All right.
15:17Now we move to the latest on the general election in Nepal.
15:20Rosalind Devavali at our Bureau in Bangkok has the details on that.
15:24Rosalind.
15:26A relatively new party looks set for a landslide in Thursday's general election.
15:31The Rastriya Swatantra party is backing rapper-turned politician Belendra Shah,
15:36who's won the seat he contested.
15:39The RSP named Shah a 35-year-old former mayor of Kathmandu
15:43as its prime ministerial candidate.
15:45According to vote-counting results as of Monday morning,
15:49the RSP has won over 120 of the 165 single-seat constituencies, or roughly 70%.
15:57It's the country's first parliamentary election since youth-led protests toppled the government in September.
16:05Shah and former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Ali went head-to-head in the same constituency.
16:11Shah won decisively, picking up more than three times as many votes as Ali.
16:16During the campaign, the RSP touted anti-corruption and job creation policies that went down well with younger voters.
16:24The election commission expects the party to win an outright majority
16:29after pulling ahead of other major parties in the proportional representation vote as well.
16:35Hopes are high for the launch of a new administration that reflects the voices of young people.
16:42The Indonesian government says it's banning social media for children under 16.
16:47The country joins others around the world moving to limit children's access.
16:53Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Moutia Hafid outlined the regulation on Friday.
16:59She said the measure will prevent children from having accounts on what she called high-risk platforms.
17:08Our children face increasingly real threats, exposure to pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud, and most importantly, addiction.
17:15The government is here so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giant of algorithms.
17:22The ministry defines targeted sites as those that enable interaction between users and allow them to upload content.
17:31Operators are required to deactivate accounts belonging to underage users.
17:35Mutia said the ban will apply to services such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
17:42The policy will be phased in from March 28th.
17:46Governments are increasingly tightening restrictions on children's social media use.
17:51Australia introduced a blanket ban late last year.
17:55Denmark and Malaysia are considering similar steps.
18:01Deep gender inequality remains a major issue for many societies, including in Pakistan, where one female rapper is using her
18:10music to call for much-needed change.
18:13NHK World's Saeed Mudabir Rizvi has the story.
18:20Local rappers gather here in Karachi each weekend to show off their skills and support each other.
18:30Among them, AK Sky is the only woman.
18:45She is a good female artist.
18:49Even more so, it's really brave to perform in the middle of such a large number of men.
18:57I want to show people that women are also entitled to live life as they choose, without restrictions.
19:04Most Pakistanis follow traditional Islamic teachings in their everyday lives.
19:13But going against tradition can provoke brutal honor killings in which women are murdered by family members or relatives for
19:24bringing shame.
19:27Ever since she was a child, AK Sky has pushed back against the status quo.
19:40Fascinated by rap from her early teens, she began sharing her own music online four years ago.
19:48She says the haters soon piled on.
19:54They used to say it was absolutely not good that I rap while wearing a traditional garment as it's a
20:00desecration of the clothes.
20:04Despite the criticism, AK Sky continues to develop her skills alongside her husband, who is also a rapper.
20:28Throughout the songwriting process, AK Sky puts women's feelings into her lyrics, carefully crafting them to match the tone of
20:39each piece.
20:55Four years on, from her initial release, AK Sky is winning Claudettes as one of Pakistan's most promising young rappers.
21:06She takes on board as much advice as possible.
21:13I think what you should focus on is that a large number of honor killings have happened.
21:18And there have been so many rapes.
21:20Many of these women are not heard and get ignored.
21:24You can become their voice.
21:32I'll keep working hard to get the message out through my rap.
21:36I want to empower women.
21:38And one day, I hope to become a top rapper.
21:43AK Sky remains determined to continue rapping and sharing her message of strength with other women.
21:51And that wraps up our bulletin.
22:02I'm Rosalind de Bovalia in Bangkok.
22:14Now, Marie is back with more business news.
22:17Thanks, Rina.
22:19Wages in Japan have finally outpaced inflation.
22:23Real pay in January turned positive for the first time in 13 months.
22:28Preliminary data released by the labor ministry show real pay rose 1.4% from the same month last year.
22:37That was based on a nationwide survey of over 30,000 businesses with at least five employees.
22:43Nominal wages, including overtime, averaged just over 300,000 yen or about $1,900.
22:52That was up 3% year-on-year, the 49th consecutive month of growth.
22:57Fixed wages, including base pay, also rose 3%.
23:01They're at their highest level in over 33 years.
23:05Ministry officials say paychecks are growing steadily, while inflation is easing off.
23:12Now, I mentioned earlier that the Nikkei average had its third worst day ever.
23:17Other benchmarks in the Asia-Pacific took a similar beating on Monday.
23:21Seoul's KOSPI lost nearly 6%.
23:25It plunged over 8% to trigger a circuit breaker in earlier trading.
23:31That was the second time trading came to a halt since the Iran conflict began.
23:35China's Shanghai Composite, though still down, did better than its peers.
23:40Sentiment got a boost from consumer inflation data.
23:44Consumption in February accelerated to the highest in more than three years,
23:48thanks to the effects of the Lunar New Year holiday.
23:51And that's the biz for this Monday.
23:54Thank you very much for that, Marie.
23:56Next, the group widely known as the Unification Church has appealed to Japan's Supreme Court
24:01to overturn a lower court ruling ordering its dissolution.
24:05It's described the order as unfair and claims it was a foregone conclusion.
24:11The Tokyo High Court last week upheld an order to disband the group as a religious corporation.
24:16It found the group had violated civil law by soliciting massive donations from its followers.
24:22The judge said the practice had caused many people to suffer extensive property losses and mental pain.
24:29The order strips the group of its legal status as a religious corporation and denies it tax benefits.
24:34Procedures are underway to dispose of the group's assets and compensate those who suffered financial damage.
24:41The organization was cast into the spotlight after the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo in 2022.
24:49The shooter said he believed Abe had close ties to the group.
24:53He said his mother had made large donations to it, bringing financial ruin to their family.
25:00Japan's defense ministry has sent an extended-range anti-ship missile system to a ground self-defense force camp in
25:09the country's southwest.
25:10It's part of an effort to boost national counter-strike capabilities.
25:16A launcher, a guidance system and other pieces of equipment were delivered to Camp Kengun in Kumamoto Prefecture early on
25:25Monday.
25:26They are intended to be used with an upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missile.
25:33It has an extended range of about 1,000 kilometers and can strike ships at sea and other targets.
25:41The missiles will be deployed at the camp this month for the first time.
25:45This comes amid China's heightened military activities around Japan's Nansi Islands as well as North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches.
25:57Local protesters rallied outside the camp to oppose the deployment.
26:02Some carried placards saying no missiles.
26:06The defense ministry did not hold meetings for residents to explain the reasons for the installation.
26:13Work to roll up extended range missiles is also expected to start at other SDF camps.
26:20...
26:52now let's take a look at the weather forecast for cities around the world
27:34and that wraps up this edition of newsroom tokyo don't forget you can always catch our program on our website
27:40as well i'm rajapada and i'm yamasawa reena thank you very much for watching please join us again tomorrow
27:50you
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