Hello and welcome to NHKD Newsline. I'm Ross Mihara in Tokyo with the stories at this hour. Japanese Prime Minister Ishibe Shigeru and U.S. President Donald Trump have met for their first summit. The two leaders agreed to enhance deterrence and response capabilities to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The joint statement underlined a sense of crisis felt by both governments toward moves by China.
We've confirmed that we will work closely together with each other to improve the deterrence and response capabilities of the alliance and deal with regional issues. Prime Minister and I will be working closely together to maintain peace and security. And I also say peace through strength and all over the Indo-Pacific.
Ishiba and Trump also said they'll strengthen cooperation with other countries through international frameworks such as the Quad Security Dialogue. Japan and the U.S. are members of the group, along with Australia and India. Regarding moves by China, Ishiba said the leaders confirmed that Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty will be applied to the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. The article stipulates U.S. defense obligations.
Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. China and Taiwan claim them. The Japanese government maintains they are an inherent part of Japan's territory. Ishiba and Trump also confirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. On the issue of economics, and apparently with China in mind, the two leaders also confirmed they would work to counter economic coercion and strengthen supply chains. They also confirmed they would increase bilateral investment.
Japan has been the largest investor for the United States in the last five consecutive years. Building upon that... We are ready to further increase our investment in the U.S. Trump responded by saying his tax policies make the US an attractive destination for automakers, but he said the two nations need to address an imbalance in trade. We do want to work on a deficit. We have about $100 billion deficit with Japan, which I'm not surprised because you're very good negotiators, I will say.
But we want to work on that and get that down to even equality, I call it, let's be equal. Ishiwa said he wants to scale up investment in the U.S. even further to $1 trillion. He and Trump reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate on the development of AI and semiconductors. And they agreed to strengthen energy security by... increasing exports of liquefied natural gas from the US to Japan. Japan in particular, we're very happy that they're going to start immediately.
On the issue of North Korea, they agreed to work together toward the country's complete denuclearization. Ishiba said he gained strong support from Trump for an immediate resolution to the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents. After the summit, Taiwan President Lai Chinta...
welcomed the leader's remark on security in the Taiwan Strait. He said in a post on social media, we will remain steadfast in cooperating with the U.S., Japan and other global partners to advance regional peace and prosperity. Trump says Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel has agreed to invest heavily in U.S. steel as opposed to outright owning it. He said he plans to meet Nippon Steel executives next week. U.S. Steel is a very...
important company to us. We didn't want to see that leave, and it wouldn't actually leave, but the concept psychologically not good. I strongly shared the view with the president. that neither of the two countries should have a one-sided relationship to benefit just one of them. That was a big achievement for today.
In January, then-U.S. President Joe Biden issued an order to block Nippon Steel's buyout, citing national security concerns. The two firms filed a lawsuit seeking to nullify the order and demanding a fresh review of the deal. Trump repeatedly showed his opposition to the takeover bid while campaigning in 2024. Sources say that if the meeting between Trump and Nippon Steel takes place,
The Japanese executives want to explain that the investment plan would expand the growth of U.S. steel and create jobs. They also intend to reassure Trump that the name of the U.S. company would be retained and U.S. citizens would... form a majority of board members even after acquisition is complete.
Three more Israeli hostages were freed this weekend by the Islamic group Hamas. At the same time, Israel also released more than 180 Palestinian detainees under the terms of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. The fifth round of releases took place on Saturday. Israeli forces and other sources said three men were released. This brings the total number of captives released by Hamas to 16.
Families were overjoyed that their family members were among the released hostages. This man is the brother of an Israeli held hostage by Hamas. start to describe the emotions, the excitement. The six-week ceasefire went into effect on January 19th. Under the deal, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages in stages. In return, Israel said it will release about 1,900 Palestinians. This time, it freed
183 Palestinian detainees. More than 760 have now been released under the agreement. Separate from the deal, Hamas also released five Thai nationals on January 30. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said Palestinians in Gaza should be resettled. Hamas has reacted sharply to the remarks. It has also criticized Israeli forces for not allowing sufficient aid to enter Gaza. It remains to be seen if the ceasefire will hold and whether the release of hostages will proceed as planned.
Astronomers say a recently discovered asteroid is hurtling toward Earth, but they say there's only a slim chance that it eventually makes impact. The 2024 YR-4 asteroid was discovered on December 27th of last year. It is estimated to be about 40 to 90 meters wide. Astronomers at the European Space Agency say there is a 2.2% chance it makes impact with Earth on December 22, 2032.
The ESA tracks more than 1,700 asteroids that may approach Earth. The asteroid is currently at the top of its risk list. The agency says an asteroid of this size strikes Earth once every few thousand years on average. It adds the impact could cause severe damage to a local region.
The ESA says the likelihood of it actually hitting Earth will change as more data becomes available. It says long-term observation helps astronomers understand the trajectories of asteroids and in many cases... rule out any chance of impact. Various countries have been studying possible defense measures against an asteroid strike. In 2022, U.S. Space Agency NASA conducted a test in which a spacecraft was used to hit an asteroid and alter its orbit.
People living along Japan's west coast are busy digging out following heavy snow on Saturday brought on by the strongest cold air mass of the season. Snow has piled up not only along the Sea of Japan coast, but in low-lying areas in Sen. Central and Western Japan, which rarely get hit. During the six-hour period through 8 p.m., 17 centimeters of snow had fallen in the town of Maniwa in Okayama Prefecture and 13 centimeters in the city of Oosaki in Miyagi Prefecture.
In many places, this season's snow accumulation has exceeded the seasonal average. The city of Uonuma in Niigata Prefecture and Nishikawa Town in Yamagata Prefecture have already received more than three meters of snow. Snow clouds have also moved over low-lying areas in the Kinki and Tokai regions on Saturday. Snow is expected to keep falling over the next 24 hours through Sunday evening.
Up to 70 centimeters is expected in mountainous areas of the Tohoku region, 60 centimeters in Niigata Prefecture and the Kanto-Koshin region, and 50 centimeters in Gifu Prefecture and the Kinki region. Weather officials are warning of traffic disruptions, high surf, power outages, falling trees and avalanches, as well as lightning strikes and gusting winds. I'm Ross Mihara in Tokyo, and that's all we have for now on NHK Newsline. Thanks for staying with us.