you It's 1 p.m. on a Monday here in Japan. I'm James Tingan in Tokyo. Welcome to NHK Newsline. We start off with some breaking news. Japan's defense ministry says North Korea launched what appears to be a ballistic missile. They say it already appears to have fallen into the sea. Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen says they still don't know if it fell inside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
But multiple sources told NHK it's believed to have fallen outside of it. North Korea last launched an alleged ballistic missile in November. This is the first such launch of 2025. South Korean investigators say they will request an extension of the warrant for President Yoon Soon-yoo. It was set to expire Monday, but he has so far refused to be questioned.
They tried to execute the warrant at the presidential residence Friday, but they were blocked by the president's security personnel. Authorities say it is virtually impossible to bring Yoon in if he's guarded by the presidential security service. The head of the service released a statement Sunday. He claimed the sitting president is protected by the law. He said complying with the warrant would go against the security services duties.
The warrant was obtained on charges that Yun attempted in insurrection by declaring martial law. Investigators have repeatedly asked Yun to cooperate without success. Yoon's defense team announced Sunday they intend to file a criminal complaint against roughly 150 officials involved in the investigation. His team argues they attempted to execute what it called an illegal warrant.
New York City has launched a toll to reduce traffic congestion. It's the first such program in the United States. Toll collection began on Sunday. The toll aims to address the worsening traffic conditions in central Manhattan, which includes Times Square and Wall Street. The average speed of vehicles has reportedly fallen to less than 12 kilometers per hour.
Under the new program, drivers will be charged $9 during the day to enter the area. The toll is automatically collected through sensors installed on roads. I think that congestion pricing probably is a good idea to try to limit the amount of traffic and encourage people to use more public transit. For taxi passengers, they will be required to pay 75 cents per trip.
We're going to lose customers, so I don't like it. The state of New York expects a 10% reduction in the number of vehicles entering the city center. It says the revenue will be used to expand bus routes and other services. President elect Donald Trump is strongly opposed to the congestion pricing. He says it'll put New York City at a disadvantage over competing cities and states.
The Islamic group Hamas has released a video that it says shows a 19-year-old woman who has been held in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. Relatives of the hostages held a rally in Israel's largest commercial city of Tel Aviv on Saturday. They called for the immediate return of all the captives and an end to the conflict.
The Israeli Prime Minister's office said Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the woman's family after the release of the video and promised to bring her and all the other hostages back home. 100 hostages remain captive in Gaza. There is reportedly a gap in stances between Israel and Hamas on how to proceed with their release, among other issues. Hamas made the move on Saturday in an apparent bid to pressure Israel.
Indirect negotiations between the two sides aimed at a ceasefire and the release of hostages resumed in Qatar on Friday. Hamas is apparently trying to gain an advantage in the resumed talks as casualties in Gaza continue to rise. Health authorities in the enclave said on Sunday that the death toll had risen to 45,805.
Meanwhile, a UN official who is in the Gaza Strip to provide support for people in need has urged a ceasefire as soon as possible. Seita Akihiro is the Director of Health for UNRWA. the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees. He has been in Gaza since December. The cold winter arrived here for people amid a very severe food shortage.
People's only hope is the ceasefire. Everybody says there is no other hope, and the goal for now is to survive. Israel's parliament passed legislation last October that would ban UNRWA from operating in the country. Seta called for Israel not to enforce the law because UNRWA's activities need coordination with Israeli officials. UNRWA is the only organization that can properly manage and distribute food and medical products. We hope the law's implementation will be stopped.
I think this is a general strong feeling not only for us, but also for people in Gaza. Israel plans to implement the law in late January. A media outlet in Ukraine says it is estimated the country lost control of more than 3,600 square kilometers of territory in 2024. Russia's forces seized a number of settlements in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv last year. The outlet released the estimate on Saturday. It made the assessment by analyzing a map provided by a local organization.
The map was based on information obtained from the front lines and other sources. Militar Nui says Russia's troops began to intensify their offensive last summer. Moscow's forces are believed to have taken 610 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory in November alone. Russia claimed in December its troops seized about 4,500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory in 2024. Meanwhile, Moscow's forces continued to carry out attacks against Ukraine on Saturday.
Authorities in the northeastern region of Sumi say 10 people were wounded in a Russian-guided bomb strike. They note two children were among the victims. A Japanese fishing boat has capsized off the Pacific coast of eastern Japan. Two of the 20 people on board are dead and three are missing. Coast Guard officials say they received a report shortly after 2 a.m. on Monday that a sardine vessel appeared to have capsized about 30 kilometers east of Kashima Port, Ibaraki Prefecture.
They say the crew of the Daihachi Ohamamaru consisted of 15 Japanese and 5 Indonesians. The ship was one of three in a fleet. 17 crew members were taken from the ship and transported to a port in neighboring Chiba Prefecture. Two of them, both Japanese, have died. Three others were thrown into the sea and remain unaccounted for. One crew member told officials that the boat gradually tilted as many fish were caught in the net. The Coast Guard is continuing its search for the missing crew members.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange marked the first trading day of the year with a ceremony on Monday. But the year got off to a lackluster start with share prices falling more than a percent at one point. About 100 participants took part in the ceremony to mark the start of trading in 2025. Japan Exchange Group CEO Yamaji Hiromi said in a speech that Fund flows from savings into investments are finally picking up. It's been a year since the NISA tax-free investment program was expanded.
Yamaji referred to the fact that this year is the year of the snake under the Chinese zodiac. I hope the market will shed its skin and expand, just as snakes do as they become larger. Japan's economy is seeing signs of a recovery. We aim to take this opportunity to fully end deflation. and we want to ensure a transition to a growth-oriented economy, driven by rising wages and investments.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index fell as investors tracked sluggish price movements in New York since the end of last year. The index lost more than 500 points, or over 1%, in intraday trading. The yield on the 10-year government bond rose to 1.115%. the highest in about 13.5 years. A Japanese technology venture estimates the population of two Japanese cities hit by natural disasters last year have declined by about 30%.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo set up the venture firm LocationMind. They used anonymized location data from mobile carrier NTT Docomo to analyze the populations of Wajima and Suzu. The two cities were hit hard by a powerful earthquake and torrential rain last year. They found that from December 2023 to November last year, Wajima's population dropped by 30 percent and Suzu's by 37 percent.
The drop is much bigger than the local government figures, which show the populations of the two cities fell by 9% from January through November last year. The researchers think some people may have left. without updating their certificates of residence. It's important to accelerate the reconstruction work as soon as possible for the people who have left their hometowns.
We invite you to visit the NHK World Japan website for more details and information. Back-to-back storms have been lashing northern Europe. Our meteorologist Yoko Komagata has the details in this world weather update. A large winter storm has dumped heavy rain and snow across northern Europe since last weekend. Many areas of the British Isles are under snowstorm warnings on Monday.
An additional 15 centimeters is possible on top of the recent heavy snowfall. The winter storm already left a white seat over Southern Ireland on a Sunday. An iconic castle in the area was also covered in white and turned into a winter wonderland. There was also plenty of winter precipitation across other parts of the British Isles.
A low-pressure system associated with a strong cold front will continue to produce widespread snow showers across the UK and the Scandinavian Peninsula, and severe weather conditions will develop in the south, such as in Germany, France, and the... alpine regions. Gusts could reach 130 kilometers per hour, possibly damaging trees and power lines.
Showers will increase in Berlin and Paris on Monday. Weather conditions will continue in London, but you'll have much drier conditions in the coming days. Across Japan, Tokyo has experienced a lack of rain since last November, but we are finally expecting some precipitation on Monday. As a strong low pressure system moves along the Pacific coast, showers will increase in the Tokyo.
and the Kanto regions. People there may have up to 80mm rainfall overnight Monday and the rain should ease off by early Tuesday morning. In the meantime, snow showers will continue to develop along the western side of the country due to the winter weather pattern. People in the Tohoku and the Hokurik regions may have further snowfall on Tuesday and more will arrive in the coming days.
On Tuesday, sunny skies will return to Turkey with a high of 13. Beijing will have rather mild temperatures with highs in the single digits. That's all for now. Have a nice day. Bye. Yamamoto Miki will have more news for you at the top of the hour. In the meantime, stay with us here on NHK World.