Welcome to NHK NewsLine. I'm Yamaguchi Hiroaki in Tokyo.

Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday and Friday.

A senior official in the Trump administration says the president will apply pressure on

China over Iran.

The official notice Trump has spoken to Xi multiple times about the revenue and dual

use goods China provides to Iran, as well as the potential of weapons exports.

The official added he expects those talks will continue.

Those could also include the US sanctions placed on Chinese firms Washington believes are supporting Iran.

Regarding the issue of Taiwan, the official said there has been no change to US policy

and none expected in the future.

Trump and Xi are also expected to discuss the launch of a new framework

to discuss ways to expand bilateral trade and investment.

There are also expected to exchange views on the aerospace, farm products and energy sectors.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant has arrived in Japan for talks with Japanese leaders on its way to the summit in China.

Besant flew into Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Monday.

He is due to meet Prime Minister Takai Jisanai and Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki on Tuesday.

We are expected to discuss responses to the Iran situation and ways to deepen Japan-US cooperation on rare earth metals as sector dominated by China.

There are also likely to exchange views on developments in foreign exchange markets amid the yen's continued weakness against the dollar.

Japan's Prime Minister Takai Jisanai says the country has secured enough oil supplies to meet demand.

She says there are no plans to ask the public to reduce further consumption.

Takai Jisanai made the comments at an Upper House Audit Committee meeting Monday.

An opposition lawmaker had asked if the public should be using less oil.

Japan is not in a place where we can say it's okay to consume gasoline freely.

If we only tell people to cut back after the reserves run out, it will be too late.

We urge this policy to be changed.

Japan has secured enough crude oil and oil products to meet overall demand.

Calls for energy conservation are made every year during periods of increased demand such as in summer and winter.

We are not at the point where we need to ask the public to do more.

Takai Jisanai says the economy minister, Akasawa Yosei, is taking charge of the issue.

She says he will address distribution in balances and slowdowns as they come.

She added the government will keep a close eye on the situation.

She says nothing is ruled out so officials can be flexible in how they respond.

NHK's latest opinion poll shows the approval rate for Takai Jisanai's cabinet remains over 60% on change from last month.

NHK conducted the telephone survey over the three days from Friday, with about 1,200 people responding.

61% of them set the approval of the cabinet, matching the previous poll.

The disapproval rate etched up 1 percentage points to 23%.

32% of those who support the administration cited its ability to get things done.

27% set the cabinet seems better than possible alternatives, while 19% set the expect as policies to be effective.

Among those who disapproved, 32% set they did not expect as policies to work.

27% set they cannot trust Takaiji, and 17% set the cabinet does not include political parties they support.

Respondents were asked about the government's steps to address rising crude oil prices and supply concerns amid the Iran conflict.

8% set the highly approved of what Japan has done, 46% set the somewhat approved, 32% set they do not approve much, and 8% set they do not approve at all.

The survey asked people whether they support energy conservation measures to help ensure stable supplies.

65% responded they would support saving energy, while 25% said they would not.

Japan recently revised its guidelines for the overseas transfer of defense equipment to allow exports of lethal weapons in principle.

35% of respondents said they support the revision, 52% said they oppose it, while 12% said they are undecided or gave no response.

Passengers have been leaving a crude ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak.

The World Health Organization says there is a low risk to the public.

The vessel anchored off Tenerife, one of Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday morning.

The operator said about 150 people from 24 countries have been on board.

Spain's health ministry said 14 Spanish nationals got off first.

A bus took them to the airport to be flown to the capital Madrid.

More passengers and crew later disembarked.

They were then set to board airplanes chartered by their countries.

Japan's foreign ministry says one Japanese passenger has arrived in the United Kingdom.

But some of the evacuees are reportedly showing symptoms.

France's health minister says one of the five French evacuees became symptomatic during the flight and later tested positive.

And the US Department of Health says initial tests suggest one of the 17 American evacuees contracted the virus.

Another is showing mild symptoms.

The World Health Organization says three people have died since the outbreak began.

US television network CNN says its analysis shows the number of US military intelligence gathering flights around Cuba has surged.

This comes as the United States has tightened economic sanctions on the country.

CNN examining publicly available aviation data.

It found the US Navy and Air Force have carried out at least 25 such flights off the coast of Cuba since early February using manned aircraft and drones.

The report on Sunday said most flights took place near the capital Havana and the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.

Some came within about 60 kilometers off the coast.

CNN says the military flew only a handful of surveillance aircraft off the country and all of last year.

President Trump has hinted at taking steps against Cuba once the US military operations in Iran end.

CNN says the number of surveillance flights near both Venezuela and Iran rose before the US launched military campaigns on those countries.

The report says the increase is likely to be unsettling for Cuban officials.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock index ended lower on Monday after profit taking kicked in.

The benchmark had set a record entry day high earlier in the session, breaking above the 63,000 mark.

The index ended at 62,417 down nearly half a percent.

Buying up semi-conductor-related stocks led the early gains.

This was driven by a recent raft of strong earnings reports from tech companies.

However, market sources say investors then started taking profits amid renewed concerns about the Middle East conflict.

Others turned cautious ahead of the upcoming release of earnings by major Japanese companies.

Consumer prices in China rose in April for the seventh straight month as the Iran conflict pushed up gasoline and other fuel costs.

The National Bureau of Statistics says the consumer price index was up 1.2 percent from a year earlier.

Increased travel drove up service costs.

But consumers were generally more budget conscious and automobile prices declined as a result.

The producer price index rose 2.8 percent year and year reaching the highest level since July 2022.

Rising crude oil and other energy prices could squeeze corporate profits and dampen consumer demand.

Analysts are watching to see how far businesses in China will go to pass on the rising costs to consumers.

Sales of new cars in China fell for the sixth straight month in April amid flagging demand for eco-friendly vehicles.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers set domestic new vehicle sales dropped 21.6 percent from the same month last year to 1.625 million units.

The sluggish sales follow a reduction in tax breaks for purchasing so-called new energy vehicles, including electric cars.

Manufacturers and dealers in China are struggling with fierce price competition in the domestic market.

Some analysts say demand is unlikely to pick up soon because many consumers have already replaced their old cars with EVs and other vehicles.

On the other hand, vehicle exports last month surged 74.4 percent year and year.

The sharp increase was driven by shipments of new energy vehicles.

We now move to what's making headlines in the Asia-Pacific with Rosalind Anvalia at our bureau in Bangkok.

Former Thai Prime Minister Tuxin Shinowat has been freed from prison on parole.

He was serving a one-year sentence for corruption and other offenses.

The charismatic billionaire left the jail in Bangkok on Monday.

He was greeted with hugs by family members including daughter Patong Tan, who also served as premier.

Hundreds of supporters wearing their signature red shirts cheered the former telecoms tycoon.

The 76-year-old Tuxin took office in 2001, but fled abroad five years later following a coup.

He returned to Thailand in 2023, having continued to pull political strings during his self-imposed exile.

Tuxin returned to serve an eight-year sentence on corruption and other charges only to be immediately transferred to a hospital.

A royal pardon later cut his term to a year, where the Supreme Court ruled his hospital stay could not count toward his sentence and ordered him to return to jail.

Tuxin is now on probation for four months.

Philippine lawmakers have again impeached Vice President Sarah Duterte.

For a second time she faces allegations of misusing public funds and threatening to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The House of Representatives adopted the articles on Monday with a backing of 257 of the 318 legislators.

The case now goes to the Senate.

It will hold an impeachment trial to decide whether Duterte should be removed from office.

At least two-thirds of the 24 senators must vote in favor for that to happen.

The eldest daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte plans to run in a 2028 presidential election.

But if the Senate convicts her, forcing her from office, she could be barred from serving in government.

For generations of Australians, the trauma of domestic violence has been all too common, but largely hidden from public view.

The problem is so entrenched that the Prime Minister has called it a national crisis.

Now a push to drag the subject into the open is driving a shift in the recognition of and response to the issue.

NHK World's Jennifer Walpole reports.

Support centres like this one in a state of New South Wales play a crucial role in Australia's fight against domestic violence.

A scouts that claims the lives of three women every month.

New South Wales alone is spending roughly $375 million US dollars over four years to tackle domestic violence.

Is now a safe time to talk?

Social worker Lucy Lawson regularly checks in on female domestic violence victims to see how they are

and connect them with support.

Her interviews follow a government standardised format so the information can be easily shared with other organisations and agencies.

Lawson says the risk to the victims is such that it's essential she gets careful and detailed responses.

The perpetrators can be so unpredictable and they don't know what that looks like so it's that level of fear.

I think it needs to be specialised.

Police are on the front line of the issue.

Officers who handle domestic violence cases connect to victims with support organisations.

We're encouraging the shift in the perception community.

It was previously been a offence that occurred behind closed doors.

It's a whole of government approach so police can't do it alone.

We also reply help from other support services.

The support organisations can provide counselling, temporary shelters and a range of other assistance.

When dealing with the perpetrators of violence, one option is a restraining order.

But they're also encouraged to attend counselling or behavioural reform programmes.

David Nugent runs an organisation that offers programmes like this for men in the state of Victoria.

Nugent attended a similar programme himself after realising he committed domestic violence against his wife.

An argument escalated and he smashed her car window.

Later he went to university to get the qualifications to become a psychotherapist.

He launched his first support programme for men 20 years ago.

Nugent says he's careful to avoid using the word violence because it's likely to put men on the defensive.

Instead he talks about anger management.

There's nothing wrong with being angry.

The difference is how do we express that anger becomes the concern.

And generally when we express it most likely will fall under the category of being abusive.

Always got to have heard my, her in our mind of what must it be like to live with this man if he holds this attitude.

It's an attitude that lies at the heart of a national crisis and only by discussing it openly, honestly and with understanding can Australia hope to break the cycle of suffering.

Jennifer Walpole, NHK World, Sydney

And that wraps up our bulletin, I'm Roslyn Dubovalia, in Bangkok.

Please access the NHK World's Japan website for more details.

Now, Japan is relying on foreign personnel to compensate for the country's labour shortage.

This graph shows the number of foreign nationals working at restaurants across Japan who have come via the specified skilled worker status.

The number has grown so rapidly that it's expected to hit the 50,000 number this month instead of by 2029 as the government planned.

As a result, a freeze was placed on new applications on April 13th, forcing restaurants to rethink their business strategies.

This ramen chain has about 200 shops nationwide.

75 employees, about one quarter of the company's full-time staff, work under the specified skilled worker status.

Hang came to Japan in 2022 from Vietnam.

She works at one of the chain shop in Chiba Prefecture.

She says the food service sector of the program is popular in Vietnam.

I prefer working in the restaurant because I use Japanese more.

To obtain the status, these workers, including Hang, have passed exams to certify their skills and Japanese language abilities.

Hiring foreign workers under the program does involve more costs and effort for the company, but these employees are essential to the operation of its restaurants.

The company says the suspension of the acceptance was very sudden.

It rushed to hire another 24 workers before the change took effect, since the company had already made plans to open new stores this fiscal year.

Securing workers has become much more difficult than before, and the company says it has been forced to reconsider its overall business strategy.

The whole industry has become extremely challenging, and the specified skilled worker system had become an important channel for hiring job-ready personnel.

As the company continues to open new stores each year, the acceptance of specified skilled workers has been factored into its stuffing plans.

However, due to the recent suspension, our company may be forced to reconsider those plans.

An official in charge of the acceptance of foreign workers in the sector told NHK that the government will not revise the upper limit at this point, because no significant change in economic conditions has been observed.

More details earlier in my colleague, Kamei Ayako, and I spoke with NHGIRROS Muratariho, who filed a story.

Why was the cap reached so fast in the food service sector?

I think this is due to a series of remarkable changes in the restaurant industry. The specified skilled worker system was introduced in 2019 to accept foreign nationals who work in industries struggling to hire local labor.

A dramatic surge in inbound tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic led to a sudden jump in labor demand. The acceptance of workers accelerated.

One more representative for a firm consulting on hiring foreign workers noted that it had been impossible to predict future labor's need during the pandemic.

This led to the 15,000 capping under what the industry did, now that things have recovered.

The industry is also quite attractive for workers from overseas.

An expert said that many jobs that foreign workers can get tend to be harsh and dangerous, but Japanese restaurant jobs are perceived as safe and offer relatively good working conditions.

There are 19 sectors for specified skilled worker status, but for other sectors such as constructions or nursing care, acceptances remain far below the limit.

I spoke to the expert about the situation in food service and what might need to be done.

I believe the government miscalculated the projected number of workers to be accepted.

There are high hurdles involved in hiring them, but that their numbers have increased to this extent indicates there is strong demand, rather than treating the projected number of accepted workers as a rigid numerical cap.

The government should develop a system to accept them and use this figure as a general target.

Well, how's the industry trying to deal with the labor shortage then?

The Japan Food Service Association said the industry has made a significant effort by introducing technologies such as serving robots, mobile ordering systems, and self checkout systems.

The association is also eliminating retirement ages and actively employing elderly workers, despite these efforts, the labor shortage remains severe.

Experts are concerned that if the acceptance of foreign workers is restricted, some employers may secure foreign workers illegally.

As Japan's workforce continues to shrink, the contribution of foreign workers is becoming even more indispensable.

I think there needs to be a way of examining the measure to see if it really matches the changing demands of this industry.

So it's May, but it's feeling more like June and many parts of Japan.

Our meteorologist Jonathan Nau has the details in world weather.

Hello, we had temperatures in a good portion of Japan hitting near 20 or even over 20 degrees, so it's feeling more like June.

We are seeing some rain down toward the southwest into Okinawa, and we're looking at the possibilities for some rain as we go through part of the day on Tuesday.

But we're talking about heat as far north as Hokkaido temperatures moving up into the mid-20s.

High pressure has been the main instigator as we have a southerly flow coming into the picture.

Now we do have some moisture coming out of South Korea.

So western portion of Japan may be picking up some moisture as we go through the day on Tuesday, possibly lingering into Wednesday as well.

24 for the high in South Korea for Tuesday, 25 in Tokyo, 26 in Osaka and Naha, again some of that rain lingering into Okinawa for Tuesday.

But look at this mid-20s for Tokyo for the rest of the week in Osaka as well.

You've been getting close to where 30 in Naha as we go through the rest of this week with some of the drier weather.

I know it's the rainy season in Okinawa, but we still get to see those breaks in the rain and some of the drier pattern starts to take over.

Meanwhile looking at what's happening across North America, we do have some storms and southern plains along a tail end of a stationary front that's extending all the way along the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Behind the high pressure is controlling the weather across the rockies and plains, and so we're talking about temperatures are going to be the upper 20s plus like Denver and Oklahoma City.

Seattle, you're also starting to roast the bid you're going to be warmer than Los Angeles on Tuesday with a high of 25 with sunny skies.

Looking at what's happening across Europe, we have a front that's moving through central portions of the continent.

And how to bring some of the unstable weather with some rain in the forecast as we go from Monday to Tuesday, extending from Stockholm into Warsaw and Moscow.

Vienna looking at the rain as well, drier though back toward the west here, Paris topping off as 17, 16 in London.

Another low pressure system bringing some rain to the Iberian Peninsula for Tuesday.

Hope you have a good day wherever you are.

And that's all for this edition of NHG.

Thanks for watching.

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