Hello, and thanks for tuning in to NHK Newsline. I'm Yoshio Gaswara. We begin in Brussels, where the NATO defense ministers have gathered for talks. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is attending for the first time. He says member nations need to ramp up what they spend on defense as a proportion of GDP. The president has said... 2% is not enough, and we're going to argue that up to 5% is the necessary investment from NATO countries to ensure...
We're able to meet the threats of the future. A call for higher defense spending was also made by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. We have to ramp up defense spending because we know. We cannot protect ourselves four or five years from now if we don't. U.S. President Donald Trump has complained the European member nations rely too much on the United States for their own security.
Moving to South Korea, it's been two months since the National Assembly voted to impeach President Yoon Song-ryol. He's been indicted for insurrection over his short-lived declaration of martial law in December. and his impeachment trial has now entered its final stage. NHK World's Kim Chan-ju brings us up to speed on what's happened in the trial so far.
Current and former high-ranking officials have taken the stand as witnesses. They were asked what took place in the run-up to Yoon's martial law announcement and the immediate aftermath. Israel has focused on points including the deployment of troops to the National Assembly and the attempt to arrest lawmakers, which drew outrage from opposition parties. Well, not all the witnesses have been cooperative. Some of them refuse to answer questions.
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who gave Yoon the idea to declare martial law, offered testimony favorable to the president. But other witnesses gave evidence that was more damning. A former senior South Korean intelligence official said Yoon ordered him to catch them all, meaning detain politicians. But at Thursday's hearing, a former senior police officer said he hadn't heard any such order.
The president maintains that his decision to declare martial law was legally justified and there are no grounds for impeachment. He has also questioned claims by investigators that he ordered a commander to drag lawmakers from the National Assembly. You talk about what did not actually happen. Yun's supporters have turned out in force every time a hearing is held. In a recent poll, 59% of respondents supported the impeachment.
Why 36% were opposed? Yoon's legal team is asking to call more witnesses. The constitutional court will discuss that request. on Friday. Once all the witnesses have been called, the court will hear the closing arguments from both sides. Local media say the constitutional court is expected to deliver a verdict as early as as the beginning of March.
If Yun is removed from office, a presidential election will be held within 60 days. People here say the constant turmoil has left them exhausted and they hope their country will... return to normal soon but for now they can only wait for the verdict which could be a step towards stability or lead to further upheaval The United Nations estimates that it'll cost more than $53 billion to rebuild the Gaza Strip. The enclave has been reduced to rubble by Israel's military offensive.
In a report released Tuesday, the UN says over 60% of homes and roads and over 88% of schools have been damaged or destroyed. A six-week ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic group Hamas remains in place. The UN report says the conflict has generated more than 50 million tons of debris. It says removal work will be difficult and costly because the debris likely contains hazardous materials and unexploded artillery.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says the Palestinian Authority must take the lead in Gaza's recovery. Last week, President Trump prompted backlash over his proposal that the US take over and redevelop the territory. An international non-profit that protects the rights of journalists says a record number were killed last year. And it says most were killed in attacks by Israel.
The numbers come from the CPJ, the Committee to Protect Journalists. The group puts the number killed last year at 124. The deadliest year previously was 2007. The number of journalists killed then was 113. Nearly half were killed in the Iraq War. Last year, 85 journalists were killed in Israeli attacks. 82 were in the Gaza Strip. The other three were in Lebanon. The CPJ says at least 24 journalists around the world were deliberately killed because of their work.
The group's chief executive, Jodi Ginsberg, said the war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists. She also said they should be protected in conflict zones. Animal welfare is becoming an increasing priority at many zoos around the world, and one of the keys is to improve the ways zookeepers manage the physical and mental well-being of the animals in their care.
Some zoos in Japan are also doing their part, aiming to create the best environments possible for creatures great and small. NHK World's Hirama Kazaki reports. Workers bring logs into an enclosure. They are zookeepers from around Japan attending an animal welfare workshop at a zoo in Osaka. In this enclosure for wolves, logs are piled up to create a hill. The participants also placed straw on the ground, hoping to see wolves behave like the way they would in the wild.
A wolf advances anxiously while sniffing the air. This is exactly how it would react in the wild. It starts digging the ground, a habit of wild wolves. I think our efforts paid off, because digging is something we've never seen before. Yamanashi Yumi is a workshop organizer. She's also a principal researcher at Kyoto City Zoo, specializing in animal welfare. One of her first projects was to encourage chimpanzees to make their own nests. Unlike wild chimpanzees,
Those in zoos usually never have a chance to learn how to make them. Yamanashi and other staff members put branches in a basket placed about three meters off the ground. One gradually started making a resting spot. A few years later, the skill was successfully passed on to an infant. Every wild chimpanzee. is capable of making nests by themselves. It is behavior that is strongly biologically motivated. I think it's important to meet those needs from an animal welfare point of view. Even so...
Implementing animal welfare can be costly for zoos. Kyoto City Zoo used to hold events where visitors could hold the animals, but it was forced to cancel them during the pandemic. During that time, The animals were taken to a veterinarian half as often as before. Amanashi's idea was to turn the events into observation sessions. She thought keeping the guinea pigs away from human hands would improve their health.
But some of her colleagues were concerned the change would drive visitors away. Yamanashi has started analyzing feedback from visitors attending the observation sessions. She says so far, her research shows that visitors' experiences do not appear to be diminished. Rather, they seem to spend more time talking about the guinea pigs and thus learn more about them. Holding guinea pigs would be cute and fun, but I had fun taking time and observing them. Su's had many rules.
such as teaching about animals, getting to know them, and contributing to conservation. Animal welfare, like maintaining their physical and mental well-being, is the foundation of those activities. Yamanashi hopes these activities will eventually benefit not just the animals but also the zoos and their visitors. Hirama Kazuaki, NHK World.
The head of the World Health Organization is urging the U.S. to resume funding of public health efforts worldwide. He says the pause is having a serious impact on global health. and the sudden disengagement of U.S. institutions is also affecting the response to global efforts to eradicate polio and the response to MPOX epidemics in Africa.
President Trump signed an executive order to halt foreign aid for 90 days. Trump also said he plans to withdraw the U.S. from the agency over concerns that Washington pays too much. The WHO chief said the pause has impacted U.S.-led efforts for AIDS relief, forcing treatment, testing and prevention services in 50 countries to be put on hold. He said the agency will carry out reforms to reduce the U.S.'s financial burden.
It's time for a check on the weather. Parts of the U.S. are dealing with multiple storms. Our meteorologist Yumi Hirano has the details. In the United States, severe weather is happening along the boundary between cold air and warm air. Meanwhile, the cold air is bringing heavy snowfall. A winter storm damped heavy snow from Oklahoma to the Great Lakes. By early Thursday, parts of Illinois and Iowa had nearly 30 centimeters of snow. Parts of Wisconsin had about 20.
Meanwhile to the south, a tornado touched down in southern Mississippi. Officials reported downed trees and damage to homes and businesses. So the snow and rain are expected to shift eastward through Friday. There is a risk of fresh flooding from northern Mississippi to West Virginia, while heavy snow and breezers are an issue in the northeast. The next Pacific storm is uploading the west coast, so snow is possible in Seattle. Showers are likely in LA. Moving to Asia.
A high pressure system is dominating the Korean peninsula and much of Japan. So sunny weather is expected in Seoul and Tokyo with highs in the double digits. Taipei will finally see drier weather after heavy rain. People in Western Australia are experiencing severe weather due to a cyclone. The system has intensified to Category 5, which is the highest level. It's expected to make landfall near Port Headlands.
And on Friday, the biggest concern is strong winds, gusts of up to 320 kilometers per hour are possible. There is a risk of widespread power outages and other disruptions. That's all for the weather. Stay safe. That's all for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Yoshio Goswara in Tokyo. Thanks for staying with us.