Hello and welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Yoshikama Ryuichi in Tokyo. Denmark's Prime Minister is suggesting holding talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the subject of Greenland. Mette Frederiksen says she thinks the two could have a good dialogue concerning the Danish autonomous territory.
Hard remarks came after Trump called for the United States to acquire Greenland for national security reasons. After an emergency meeting with Denmark's ruling and opposition leaders, Fredriksen said... The government has been proposing talks with Trump since last year. She said she hopes that can happen after his inauguration on January 20th.
Greenland's prime minister also weighed in on the issue. Muto Egde said the territory is on its way toward a new era when it becomes a focus of world attention. He added that Greenland's people must be united in order to be ready for a new future. In Italy, comments came from the country's prime minister. Georgia Maloney also mentioned the Panama Canal, a vital transportation channel in Central America, which Trump says the U.S. needs for economic reasons.
She described Trump's remarks as mainly a message aimed at other big global players. She noted that China has been increasing its presence around Greenland and the canal in recent years. Snowfall continues in areas along the Sea of Japan. Authorities say the rapid accumulation appears to be slowing down. but are still warning of blizzards and travel disruptions in the area. Japan Meteorological Agency officials say a winter pressure pattern and a strong cold air mass.
have led to heavy snowfall. Conditions are intensifying in eastern and northern regions in Japan. 1.99 meters of snow has accumulated in Yamagata Prefecture's Okura Village. Uonuma City in Niigata got 1.94 meters. and Gifu's famous Shirakawa village has 1.84 meters. For some areas, it's more than double the amount they usually see this time of year. In Hyogo prefecture's Toyoka city,
A car plunged into a roadside river on Thursday evening. A man was left unconscious and in critical condition. Police investigating the accident say the car might have skidded due to snow. East Japan Railway Company says all services on the Yamagata-Shinkansen line were suspended on Friday morning but have resumed.
Some sections of expressways and national roads are closed to traffic. Heavy snow is expected mainly in areas along the Sea of Japan from northern to western Japan toward Saturday morning. Officials are calling on people to stay vigilant against traffic disruptions, violent winds and high waves, as well as avalanches and power outages. A former member of a popular Japanese pop idol group has responded to media reports claiming he was involved in trouble with the women.
The scandal centers on Nakai Masahiro, once a member of the now-defunct group SMAP. In recent years, he has appeared on several TV programs. Weekly magazines reported last month that the 52-year-old become involved in what they described as trouble with the woman in 2023 and paid settlement money. Nakai released a statement on his agency's website on Thursday. He says he is sorry for causing inconvenience. He says he has refrained from providing information on the case.
in line with a non-disclosure agreement with the other party. Nakai acknowledges the so-called trouble and confirmed that he and the other party reached the out-of-court settlement. with the case resolved through their representatives. In the statement, he says he sincerely responded to the other party's proposal in reaching the resolution.
He flatly denies some media reports that he had inflicted violence in the matter. Nakai says reaching the settlement has allowed him to continue his showbiz activities unimpeded. He blames only himself for the scandal and apologizes from the bottom of his heart. The case has hit Japan's TV industry. Broadcasters suspended airing some shows he hosted. N.H.K. says Nakai does not regularly feature on its channels.
and that he is currently not scheduled for any future programs. SMAP built a huge fan base, not just in Japan, but also China and elsewhere in Asia. Japan's water supply has become increasingly prone to leakage. The problem has been traced to aging pipes. and damage from natural disasters. Moving to block the holes, system operators are drawing on the powers of AI technology.
Last year's earthquake on the northern peninsula cut off the water supply to 140,000 households and businesses. Experts blamed delays in quake-proofing aging pipes. Japan's water pipelines span 700,000 kilometers. 40% of these pipes will exceed their durable life in the next 10 years. Kubota, a machinery maker that produces water pipes, is employing AI data analysis to tackle the problem. Its system predicts corrosion progress and the probability of water leakage.
The predictions are based on how long the pipes have been in use and the quality of soil around them. This allows pipes to be checked without the need for excavation. We have been supplying water pipes for many years, so we know locations where the pipes tend to be eroded and aging. Developing a technology that can map out such pipes one by one will help us further contribute to the water supply business.
Tenchijin is a Tokyo-based venture firm funded by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. It's using satellite data to identify water pipes at risk of leaking. The company's AR system analyzes ground temperature and shifts in the Earth's surface. The age of the pipes is also tracked. Japanese retail giant 7NI Holdings says... Its net profit plunged in the nine months through last November. The figure fell 65% on slaggish sales at convenience stores in the United States.
Seven and I says revenue for the period was up 5.7% from a year earlier at roughly 9 trillion yen or about 57 billion dollars. but net income sunk by nearly two-thirds to 63.6 billion yen, or over 400 million dollars. U.S. consumers passed on buying at convenience stores as prices rose. fell year-on-year for 13 months in a row through last September. The firm also posted special losses of 170 billion yen, or roughly $1 billion,
from the closure of about 400 convenience stores in the U.S. Its supermarket unit Itou Yokado also ended its online business, contributing to the loss. The company plans to sell part of its supermarket business stock and focus on convenience store operations. Meanwhile, Seven & I Holdings... is still mulling a takeover bid by Canadian convenience store giant. An executive at the Japanese firm says it will decide by a shareholder meeting in May.
Seven and I Holdings Chief Financial Officer Maruyama Yoshimichi said on Thursday that the firm still doesn't have everything it needs to make the final call. He acknowledged that the situation can't continue like this forever. Maruyama added that independently operating the 7NI chain is still on the table. Canadian firm Alimentation Good Start has made a 7 trillion yen acquisition offer for 7NI.
But the founders of the Japanese retailer are aiming to take the company private to fend off the proposal. And please do access the NHK Royal Japan website for more details. A series of winter storms have slashed central Europe with heavy snow. Our meteorologist Yoko Komagata is here with the details. A jet stream dipping down into central Europe. has brought downpours and strong winds.
The alpine regions had hurricane-force winds of up to 150 km per hour. In addition to the strong winds, heavy snow has created blizzard-like conditions in the mountain areas. Even low-lying areas have experienced major... Snow began to fall in Brussels on Wednesday evening and continued through Thursday morning. The snow depth reached a peak of 6 cm at noon on a Thursday. Some flights were delayed or cancelled due to the snow.
The snowfall has already stopped, but warnings remain in place throughout the country due to slippery roads. The winter storm associated with upper cold air will spread even as far south as Italy this weekend. So heights will drop to 10 degrees. By Sunday, snow showers will increase in Warsaw and Kiev in the coming days with sub-zero temperatures.
across North America. While Southern California is facing severe wildfires, the southeastern U.S. is experiencing the season-first winter storm with widespread heavy snow. Winter storm warnings are in place from Oklahoma. all the way toward Virginia with up to 20 centimeters of snow is expected. The rain may turn to snow in Atlanta with a hype of only one. If you're in New York and Washington, D.C., you should experience wintry weather in the coming weekend.
Across Japan, back-to-back storms have been dumping heavy snowfall along the northwestern side of the country, but people there will have some improvements over the weekend. Meanwhile, on the Pacific side of the region, you may experience... wintry mixed precipitation. The high will drop to the single digits in Tokyo on Sunday with a chance of light snow. That's all for now. Have a nice weekend. Bye.
And that wraps up this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Yoshikama Ryuichi in Tokyo. Thanks for joining us.