0:10

Hello and welcome to NHK Newsline.

0:12

I'm Keiko Kitagawa in Tokyo. Thousands

0:15

of people gathered at a rally

0:17

in the Israeli city of Tel

0:19

Aviv on Saturday. They urged the

0:21

government to concentrate on securing the

0:23

release of the hostages instead of

0:25

expanding the military operation in Gaza.

0:32

The protesters also called for

0:34

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resignation.

0:36

They want him to take

0:38

responsibility for failing to solve the

0:40

hostage issue. I

0:43

think the government should

0:45

make more effort to find a

0:47

deal that both sides agree. Negotiations

0:51

aimed at achieving a ceasefire and

0:54

securing the release of the hostages

0:56

have been suspended. That's because Israel

0:59

and Hamas have failed to see

1:01

eye to eye. But Israeli media

1:03

outlets have quoted Israeli officials as

1:06

saying the negotiations will continue. The

1:08

officials say the talks have not

1:10

failed completely. Hamas said in a

1:13

statement it will reconsider its strategies

1:15

for the negotiations. Meanwhile,

1:18

Israeli forces have been increasing pressure

1:20

on Hamas by expanding their military

1:23

operations in Rafa. The city is

1:25

located in the southern part of

1:27

the Gaza Strip. The

1:29

Israeli military issued a new notice

1:31

on Saturday advising people in central

1:34

Rafa to evacuate. It had

1:36

issued a notice advising individuals in

1:38

eastern Rafa to evacuate last Monday.

1:41

A Palestinian media outlet reported

1:43

on Saturday Israeli airstrikes on

1:46

Rafa killed seven Palestinians. Health

1:48

authorities in the territory say more than 34,900 people

1:51

have been killed in Gaza since

1:55

the conflict began. forces

2:00

have seized five border villages

2:02

in Ukraine's eastern regions of

2:04

Kharkiv. Russian

2:07

ground troops entered Kharkiv on Friday

2:09

after crossing the border from the

2:12

north with a large-scale shelling offensive.

2:15

Kharkiv governor Oleg Sineubov said on

2:17

Saturday that fierce fighting has forced

2:19

evacuation of about 2,000 residents. He

2:23

says Ukrainian forces were able to

2:25

block Russian forces from advancing. In

2:29

a video released on Friday,

2:31

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said

2:33

his government is sending reinforcement

2:36

toward Kharkiv. He

2:38

said any attempted invasion by Russians

2:40

would be repelled. The

2:42

Ukrainian military said on Saturday that

2:45

fierce fighting against Russian forces continued

2:47

in the eastern region of Donetsk

2:49

and elsewhere. The

2:52

Institute for the Study of War

2:54

released an assessment report on Friday.

2:56

It said Russian forces will likely

2:59

leverage their tactical foothold in northern

3:01

Kharkiv in the coming days to

3:03

intensify offensive operations. The

3:06

think tanks report adds that

3:08

Russian offensive operations along the

3:10

Kharkiv international border likely have

3:12

the strategic objective of drawing

3:14

and fixing Ukrainian forces to

3:16

this axis to enable Russian

3:18

advances in other areas of

3:21

eastern Ukraine. A

3:24

large crowd has gathered in the

3:26

Georgian capital Tbilisi to protest a

3:29

bill which they say aims to

3:31

control organizations that receive foreign funding.

3:35

As voting on the bill is expected

3:38

to take place soon, tens of thousands

3:40

of people rallied in a square in

3:42

central Tbilisi on Saturday. If

3:44

adopted, the legislation would require

3:46

non-governmental organizations and media organizations

3:49

receiving more than 20 percent

3:51

of their funding from abroad

3:53

to register as agents of

3:55

foreign influence. Protesters

3:58

say that the bill is similar to a

4:00

Russian law which is used by

4:02

the government to limit the activities

4:04

of organizations and media which the

4:06

government finds objectionable. They protested

4:09

that free and democratic Georgia does not

4:11

need this kind of bill. It's

4:15

actually the Russian law which makes

4:17

huge obstacles to Europe, to the

4:19

parts of European integration of the

4:21

country. So I hope

4:24

that the bill will

4:26

be rejected as a result

4:28

of the protest. Georgia

4:31

has applied to join the EU, but the

4:33

founder of the ruling party is set to

4:35

be close to Russia. European

4:37

Council President Charlotte Michelle said on

4:40

social media, the EU fully supports

4:42

your desire for a democratic and

4:44

free society based on the rule

4:46

of law. The

4:50

Northern Lights were visible in Japan's

4:52

Northern Mall prefecture of Hokkaido from

4:54

Saturday night until dawn on Sunday

4:57

following a series of solar flares

4:59

and coronal mass ejections. The

5:03

lights, also known as the Aurora

5:05

Borealis, lit up the night sky

5:07

in Nairo City in the northern

5:10

part of Hokkaido. The sky began

5:12

to turn purple at around 7

5:14

p.m. on Saturday. In

5:17

Dikubitz town in eastern Hokkaido, a

5:19

video camera captured the night sky,

5:21

tinted light purple from sunset until

5:24

dawn. An official at

5:26

an observatory in the town that

5:28

filmed the image said the lights

5:30

were believed to be low latitude

5:32

auroras as the sky behind the

5:34

clouds shone brightly. The director of

5:36

the observatory pointed out that solar

5:38

flares caused geomagnetic storms which allowed

5:40

the Northern Lights to put on

5:42

a rare shell in a lower

5:44

latitude like Hokkaido. Japan's

5:48

Prime Minister said he will do

5:50

his best to secure the return

5:52

of all Japanese nationals abducted by

5:54

North Korea. Kishita Fumio has

5:56

pledged a step-up efforts to hold a summit

5:58

with the leader of the North. North Kim

6:00

Jong Un. As

6:04

top leaders, it is

6:06

important for us to

6:08

form a relationship first so

6:10

that we can speak frankly. I

6:13

am determined to meet North

6:15

Korean leader Kim Jong Un

6:18

anytime and without conditions. Kishta

6:24

made the remarks that a rally organized

6:26

by relatives of the victims is that

6:28

he will use various channels to try

6:30

to bring about the summit. The

6:33

leader of a relatives group said

6:35

the abduction issue is a human

6:37

rights and humanitarian matter. He noted

6:39

the situation is urgent as many

6:41

of the relatives are elderly people.

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The group leader said only two parents

6:46

of victims are still alive. One

6:48

is 95 years old, the other

6:50

is 88. I

6:53

urge the government to continue to

6:55

negotiate with passion without watering down

6:58

the demand that all victims be

7:00

returned immediately. I

7:03

call on the North Korean leader to

7:05

change his mind and return the victim

7:07

to their parents. The

7:10

Japanese government says at least 17 citizens were

7:13

abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and

7:15

1980s. Five were returned in 2002. The

7:21

other 12 remain unaccounted for. The

7:48

fishes in central Japan have been

7:50

using trained birds to catch fish

7:52

for centuries. Covid restrictions made it

7:54

difficult for sightseers to observe the

7:56

custom, but now that has changed.

8:03

Coma and furs on Leishu swooped down

8:05

to the Nagara River and scooped up

8:07

sweet fish. They then

8:10

delivered their catch to boats lit by

8:12

torches. It's a tradition

8:14

dating back more than 1,300

8:17

years. Six

8:19

boats worked in unison to drive fish

8:21

into shallow waters. It was part of

8:23

a demonstration for spectators. It's

8:30

a really rare opportunity to be able

8:32

to see something like this. It was a great

8:37

experience. If a city official say the

8:40

pandemic forced them to limit the number

8:42

of spectators or council event that they

8:44

have now listed such restrictions, event

8:46

will run through October 15. And

8:51

there's sort of stories for the shot. Now

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on to this edition of NHK Newsline,

9:38

I'm Kefau Kegawa in Tokyo. Thank you for

9:41

joining