japan time and the phoning us was about 12 kilometers deep. the jolt registered plus on the scale of to in some parts of the prefecture. water is flowing out of a farming reservoir after saturday's earthquake. this caused a water level of a village to rise. they issued an evacuation order to people living along the river. japan's nuclear power plant is located in the same region and they confirmed no irregularities with the two reactors and they remain in operation. government officials are keeping a close eye on developments and the prime minister told reporters that the damage from the latest quake could likely cover a wide area. abe instructed relevant minsters to consolidate in response to the disaster. this includes boosting the number of self defense forces personnel to be deployed for search and rescue efforts and to ensure the safety of residents. in the wake of saturday's largest tremor, jan's meteorological officials were called on to exercise extreme caution. he wants them to stay away from hazardous sites. he said strong jolts were

it has nothing to do with japan. >> wu is scheduled to meet executives of japan's governing parties. government officials say he may be aiming to discourage japan from highlighting the south china sea at the g-7 minister's meeting planned for next week in hiroshima. >>> a swedish research institute said military spending rose for the first time in four years amid conflicts in the middle east and rising tensions in the south china sea. the global military expenditure totalled about $1.86 trillion last year. that's up about 1% from the previous year. the united states tops the list accounting for about 36% of the total. the institute estimates that china's expenditure rose 7.4%. saudi arabia is conducting air strikes against its insurgents in yemen. it's expenditure grew 5.7%. there are no big changes in the standings of the top 15 countries that are combined spending accounts for more than 80% of the total. >>> japanese lawmakers are debating the merits of one of the world's biggest free trade deals. gene otani has that and other business headlines. >> lawmakers have opened talks on w

japan is important. it allowed us to fully deploy in the region and provide credibility for the united states. thanks to the agreement in 1972, the uss navasota was able to do minesweeping. do the math. keep one ship forward, deployed, you need to have three ships in your inventory. to accommodate the transit and maintenance cycles. currently, we have 20 ships in the home port authority in japan. two additional air carriers, eight additional amphibious mine countermeasure ships and a dozen destroyers to meet the mission. these forward deployed ships need downtime for upkeep will -- when i was in navasota, i remember the quality of the work done at the shipyard. i recall we were talking about some radio equipment and this shipyard worker told me, i could get this done for you isn't important?ally and he said, well i have a wedding tomorrow i could put off. works i said it was really not important. -- i said it was really not that important. i was impressed by the dedication and quality of work. next slide

japan's staple food. faced with a decline in consumption, farmers and retailers have cooked up a strategy to win back customers. introducing them to new types of grain. nhk reports. >> ginza, tokyo's high end, retailers specialize in luxury, and that includes rice. this shop tells more than 20 varieties. all grown in japan. this grain arrived on the market last year after ten years of development. top of the line is this rare organic type. it costs five times more than super market rice. customers spend their money wisely. >> translator: the temperature difference in the growing area makes it sweet. it smells great when cooked. >> the rice is in the shop to ensure a fresh taste. >> translator: it's good for a gift or a special occasion. >> the shops operator is well-known for lifestyle markets. gift wrapped sets sell very well. so do the rice related products. including cooking pots. japanese are eating less rice these days, but sales at this store have been rising steadily. >> translator: we started this

it's a story people in japan know too well. the events of the 2011 tsunami, earthquake and nuclear accident. the creator asked survivors who participate in it instead of using actors. >> reporter: the film is called "anguish." as a resident of hiroshima, he understood the suffering of people in fukushima as they dealt with disaster and the pain of losing people. people from the devastated town voiced the characters. the film grew from an earlier project. he created dozens of story board plays, telling the story of the disaster. he said the play showed support for people there. he noticed many survivors kept their feelings bottled up. he decided to create a film in which local people could participate and express themselves. >> translator: this animation is very different because the survivors have poured a whole range of their own feelings and memories into it. >> reporter: the film is based on a story told to fukumoto by a volunteer firefighter. on march 11th, 2011, a massive tsunami swept away about 600 houses on the coast. a

but there's some blustery conditions we're seeing throughout japan. >> it's a wet thursday in japan. it's windy and quite wet. over the last 24 hours, one prefecture had 143 millimeters. that's 80% of the monthly rain for april. a typhoon-strength gust was reported and cherry blossoms are blown over in many parts of japan. the rain and windy weather is now shifting towards the east. so we are looking at stormy weather to affect the tokai region for the next several hours. now watch out for tornados and heavy rain. rain iss winding down in tokyo but t wind is increasing tonigh so t that could affect the eveng commute. thisis ia rainfafall for t the syem and it cocould be o over 0 mimillimetererfor many parts of japan which is s significant. may cause some flooding. waves are going to be up to 6 memeters, coastal fldingng is like as well. ase go to frididay, the e syst will be momoving away from hons, hokkaido will sesee stormy conditions on yourur friday. we'll see sunny weather in tokyo on friday. the temperature could be 22 degrees, and this is temperature that we normally see durin

japan's mitsubishi motors admits it falsified test data for 600,000 vehicles. >>> japan's nuclear regulators give the go ahead to extend the life span of two aging reactors throw the operator says it will be years before they come back online. >>> rescuers continue to scour a village in a mountainous part of southwestern japan even as people brace for more jolts. authorities say the death toll from last week's earthquakes in kumamoto rising to 48. they're digging through piles of dirt in a bid to find three people who are still missing. and they say the number of those with injuries exceeds 1,000. >> officials with the meteorologist logical agency are warning people in the area to stay alert. >> reporter: the seismic activity is continuing. >> the chief seismologist forecasts heavy rain for thursday and says that means there could be more landslides. more than 100,000 people are taking refuge in cars and other temporary shelters. >> translator: i'm freezing. it was really cold during the night. >> translator: i have been sleeping outside because my dog is not allowed inside. >> some services

facilities in japan. obama expressed concern about a possible delay, they wants to move it to a less populated coast al area. residents call it the most dangerous in the world. abe explained his government decided to accept a court mediated with okinawa to ensure the plan goes well. abe and obama agreed on a clear message on the global economy on the g7 summit in japan. >>> it is time now to take a look at the latest in business news. ba bank of japan has released important data on the mood of company managers. ai uchida joins us from the business desk. what are the numbers telling us. >> a bit about the tonkan. for april 1st. 16,607. it ended down 0.7% on a pe persistently strong yen, which just ended yesterday, the fiscal year, marking the first decline in five years. now, the decline in the nikkei has been largely the actions or intentions if you will of the federal reserve based only the assumption of the path of interest rate hikes or rises from the u.s. central bank. now wall street headed mixed ove

japan. so i said something to the effect that i would, and with great respect, i have a lot of japanese friends, they are great people, with great respect, but in four years, you are going to say that this guy turned up to be a great president, or maybe eight years. you're going to start saying it in two years. two years. you will see a big difference. right now we are at a great divide. right now we have a great divider as president. ok? he is a great divider. so i would say to japan, "you've got a help us out, we want to help you." and i would rather have them not armed, but i am not going to continue to lose this tremendous amount of money, and frankly, the case could be made to let them protect themselves against north korea. they would probably wipe them out pretty quick. and you know what? that would be a terrible thing. it looks, folks. if they fight, that would be terrible. but if they do, they do. we can't be the police of the world and get all of this debt going and we are sitting

>>> here in japan it's a thursday night. i am james tengan in tokyo. welcome to nhk "newsline." >>> residents in kumamoto prefecture are still dealing with the aftermath of the disastrous squeaearthquakes. hundreds of thousands are still living without water or gas. it's a struggle for some parents to take care of their children's basic needs. >> reporter: raising a growing family is busy for any mother, but when the quake took away li lifeline utilities, this mother faced even bigger charges. with no hot water for baths, diaper rash became a daily battle. she made do, boiling water and using a laundry basket. after 12 days, the first real bath felt like a luxury. they are some of the lucky ones. tens of thousands are still living in shelters. for the littlest family members, the cramped quarters pose a real danger. they're exposed to infectious diseases such as colds and flu. kyo is trying to ease some of those problems. she is a maternity nurse and she is checking on evacuees, especially those living in their cars. she has been visiting this family.

and japan and australia, and particularly japan and australia have been quite operating on regional architecture from aipac and before that. a lot of it came out of japan and australia. even the trilateral security log which i was involved in from the beginning was primarily on the japanese and australian sides telling us to get our act together and telling us the right things to focus on in asia. that set of common interests really drives this. let me first ask each, andrew, the japan-australia security cooperation is 100 years old and write about this time 100 years ago, they were sinking submarines in the mediterranean and the in parallel japanese navy got troops and so forth. there is a long history with an obvious interruption. my sense is in australia, particularly since 15 and 20 years ago the views toward japan shifted quite considerably in a very positive direction. on the other hand, beijing is very clearly opposed to anything like this even if it involves building capacity for humanitarian relief. i think from china's perspective, this is our intention in the three allied capitals, bu

japan's prime minister shinzo abe is among them. abe stressed the need to prevent the theft of nuclear materials, attacks on nuclear facilities and cyber attacks. he called for participants to share information and coordinate efforts. u.s. secretary of state john kerry hosted a meeting of foreign ministers. >> to make the world a safer place. for some people, that's sort of a slogan. for everybody in this room, it's our daily work. >> the deadly attacks in brussels last week have heightened the importance of the summit. the leaders are expected to discuss measures to respond to the islamic state group. >>> south korea's defense ministry says the north has launched a short-range surface-to-air missile toward the sea of japan. the missile was fired from sondok at around 1:00 south korean time on friday. they said it fell in the sea of japan. a news agency says the missile flew about 100 kilometers. defense ministry officials are analyzing information. on top of a nuclear test and a rocket launch in recent months, pyongyang has fired a

the officials say japan, they say that japan will grow 0.5%. now, that is half of what they said last time. the outlook is even grimmer for 2017. when the scheduled consumption tax hike goes into effect. the report says japan is expected to become the only major nation with a contracting economy, as you can see here. mis officials are urging tokyo to adopt the policy and strengthen structure al reforms. the ims, let's talk about other economies, they've downgraded the outlook on the u.s. economy to 2 point %, the euro to both down 0.2%. china, ims officials did raise the growth forecast for the world's second largest economy to 6.5%. a slight increase of 0.2%. this is in light of beijing's stimulus policy to a rate of 6.2%. the officials say the rebalance and slower chinese economy continues to pose a risk to the global economy. let's check on what is happening with markets. share prices on wall street did end higher, boosted by a jump in crude oil prices. the dow jones industrial rose almost 1%, tech heavy nasdaq closed higher at 0.8%. let's s

,ne more story out of japan japan airlines, something that came to light in the next hour or so. cancels 24nes domestic and international flights after a system failure. more than 3000 passengers traveling were affected. the airline saying the system that maintains aircraft weight and center of gravity shut down at 7:48 a.m. japan time, but now has been fixed. the delays remain. a close look at some of the numbers behind japan's installing recovery efforts, coming up. ♪ thank you. ordering chinese food is a very predictable experience. i order b14. i get b14. no surprises. buying business internet, on the other hand, can be a roller coaster white knuckle thrill ride. you're promised one speed. but do you consistently get it? you do with comcast business. it's reliable. just like kung pao fish. thank you, ping. reliably fast internet starts at $59.95 a month. comcast business. built for business. rishaad: a look at our top stories. china seeing as a surprise jump in manufacturing activity. 50.2,i for march rose to signaling an expansion. china's widethat raging stimulus is kicki

one of the ambassadors is from japan. putin said promotion of dialogue with japan in various areas is one of the priorities in russian foreign policies. >> translator: i hope japanese prime minister shinzo abe's visit will contribute to the development of mutually beneficial bilateral relationship between the two countries. >>> japanese foreign minister fumio can i shia and his russian counterpart sergei lavrov met in tokyo and agreed to hold working level talks on signing a peace treaty after the summit. the negotiations on the treaty will seek to find a mutually acceptable solution for the territorial dispute over four islands that japanese call the northern territories. a day earlier putin told reporters he and abe will discuss all issues. he said the two countries will be able to reach a compromise on the islands someday. >>> in india's northern state, rescuers are trying to pull people from the rubble of a collapsed building. it happened in early hours of wednesday. police and firefighters launched a rescue operation

he added he would continue to work with japan and south korea to strengthen missile defense. >>> japan's auto industry is slowly getting back to normal. we have the details along with other top business stories. >> toyota is recovering from the earthquakes in japan. it shut down a parts factory in the region. this forced the toyota group to halt most of the assembly plants across the country last week. the car maker is resuming production in phases. workers back in toyota's main plant on monday rning. executives say they sourcing parts. they plan to resume operations at other domestic factories soon but some plants will remain offline for now. executives estimate the suspension will delay production of about 58,000 vehicles as of late april. they say employees may have to work overtime and on weekends to make up for lost time. toyota is aiming to strengthening the production of fuel-efficient cars in china. company officials reveal plans to produce and sell plug-in hybrids in the world's largest auto market. they say they will sell plug-in hybrid editions of the77 their carolla. they can

the good news about japan, japan has a high productivity growth rate. thans a much higher rate the u.s., britain, the eurozone. robots. thank you for that. let's talk about china and all the rest will me get you back. the south china sea may be on g7 foreign the ministers meet in japan. ♪ rishaad: you are watching "asia edge." the dispute over south china sea is on the agenda. it is a hit of the gc -- is the ahead of the g7 summit. they cannot be happy, beijing. >> they are not part of the g7, obviously. they will talk about all of the geopolitical issues within the g7 and beyond that. and that includes the tensions in the south china sea, which means their resistance to china's claims to more than 80% of those resource rich waters, which are also claimed by five other members. there will be a number of issues discussed throughout the rest of today. we had john kerry among the other foreign ministers laying wreaths this morning at the memorial in hiroshima. the highest-ranking official -- u.s. official having visited. precursor.g is a may 26 and may 2

the most popular tours are to japan and south korea. although the time spent on land is limited to under 12 hours, the visa requirements on cruises have been lifted recently, and this has boecome the easiest wa to enjoy overseas cruises offer another appeal. unlike airplanes, there are no weight limits, and tourists can shop until their heart is content. japan and south korea are popular destinations, and they hope to boost their economies, thanks to the voracious consumption of tourists. inside the busy store, this girl is taking this 19-year-old only child is excited about her long awaited first family trip. meanwhile, an elderly woman stares longingly at a in the shadow of china's economic development, the tradition of children caring for their parents is changing. this mother has a ninth grade son. this couple from rural china is going on their first overseas trip during the chinese new year. up until now, they have always returned to their hometown to pe spend the chinese new year with their family, but this year, they didn't have

japan controls the senkaku islands. the government maintains they are an inherent part of japan's territory. china and taiwan claim them. > >>> a man who once headed japan's air self-defense force is under arrest. prosecutors think he misused money he raised during an unsuccessful campaign to become tokyo governor. he claims his hands are clean. prosecutors arrested him and a former financial manager. they suspect and his then financial manager gave $25,000 in cash to people who would work on his election campaign. he think he let the financial manager keep almost as much for himself. the prosecutors had already raided his financial office. they say staff there have not accounted for nearly $500,000 from donors. >>> the islamic state militant group has hinted at more terror attacks. this came after the three suspected bombers in belgium were also involved in last year's attacks in paris. in an english language online magazine on wednesday the group described last month's attacks in belgium as retaliation for participati

japan and the u.s. will increase cooperation to ensure the nuclear materials are safely transported. the leaders of the two nations highlighted the completion of the removal and separated plutonium from another facility in north eastern japan well ahead of schedule. they will share intelligence on nuclear security. the defense ministry said the north launched a short range sur face to air missile. it was fired in the eastern province around 1:00 p.m. south korean time on friday. they said it fell in the sea of japan. the news agency said the missile flew about 100 kilometers. defense ministry officials are analyzing information. on top of a nuclear test and a rocket launch in recent months, pyongyang fired a series of projectiles. it launched short range ballistic missiles believed to be scuds. they are believed to be a new type of rocket. north korea's state media reported that pyongyang must use nuclear force if its sovereignty is threatened. >>> leaders of china and south korea discussed in washingto

sunny skies and it's going to be warm across most of japan. if you're further to the north into hokkaido, a little different story. you'll still be dealing with snowfall on saturday. then the high pressure system moves in from the west and we'll see nice conditions saturday and sunday. look at some of these gusts and reports throughout the day. on friday, i mean, in tokyo we saw gusts up to 72 kilometers per hour and further up to the north close to 120 kilometers per hour. wow! look at this low. below freezing in the morning hours. chilly there and snow up toward the north in hokkaido. we're expecting the low pressure system, the instigator, that was the problem child causing the intensification and all the wind to come down from the north. that will push to the east and it will take a little bit of time. saturday a little bit more snowfall possible into the northern portions of japan. once that gets out of the area most of the country looking at sunny skies and very warm temperatures. drying conditions. we do have a little bit of moisture co

rain makers pushing away from japan. it will be a dry day across many parts of japan on tuesday. the high will be 16 degrees in tokyo, plenty of sunshine in seoul once again about 20 for the high and exceptionally warm in beijing. 24 for the high. down towards the south, hot att 27 degrees and foggy in bangkok with 35 degrees on tuesday. heavy rain has been causing severe flash floods across fiji. 419, 17-millimeter of rain has fallen and western portions and the capital city had 3500. it's much more than the monthly rarainfall for this time of yea. though more rain is expected, this low pressure system which used to be a tropical depression is pulling away b but another system wil likely movove intoo fiji once again. so morore heavy rain expected. if youou remember, in february cyclone affected fiji andnd caud lots of heavy raininfall. people there arere still dealin with recovery operations. rain and thunderstorms will likely continue at least into your thursday. so more floods could happen, unfortunately. across the certain areas we are looking at dry conditions across many pa

let us talk about japan. stocks started the fiscal year with one of the biggest losses in seven weeks as business sentiment deteriorated, hitting a three year low. let us get to the bureau chief. the tank can index. on? is going >> this was a pretty bad reading. expected. i was shocked watching the numbers roll in. we all knew that the japanese economy was not doing great in the first order but today's reading does confirm that we are in a bad place right now. it all has to do with the strong yen. japanese companies are fighting to maintain the profit margin. profit margins are challenged, strong yen is a challenge to the corporate. what does that mean for the boj? that is a question we are all asking right now. the consensus a couple of weeks ago was that the boj needs more time to assess the impact from this unprecedented policy which is negative interest rates. given today's reading and the bad data from the last week, there is more of a sense of urgency for the boj to do something right now instead of wai

japan town there. they will want to join us and be part of japan town. >> part of the overall community. thank you both for being here. see you at the festival. the nikkei matsuri japan town festival will color the streets on may 1st. go to nbcbayarea.com. >>> and coming up, hear from the creative mind behind the mindy project and "the office" and what she talked about at the recent conference for women silicon valley next. >>> we featured the water mark conference on our show recently because it is such an important event in which executive women reach out to help increase representation of women at the executive level. and this past thursday nbc bay area anchors jessica aguirre and linda cailing was the keynote speaker. i talked with her for "asian pacific america." joining us is mindy. thank you for being here. give me an idea when you get to address a conference like this, thousands of women aspiring for so much feel responsibility, maybe a perk. what does it feel like to you when you get to speak

in fact we are there in japan. anna: hold that thought, we are getting breaking numbers from deutsche bank. first-quarter net profit 214 million euros, that was against millionate of 484.3 lost when they have managed to turn a profit in the first quarter. which was not what analysts had been expecting. the co-ceo of this company said in march they were not expecting to be profitable in 2016. but i have managed to do that in the first quarter. other details here, they have a ratio of 10.7%. at something talking about tier one capital, 11% going into these numbers. we will see how that goes. that was at the end of third quarter, i should say, the ratio of 10.7%. a few more details here, the revenue number is 8.7 billion. that is ahead of the estimate of 7.6 6 billion. this is a bank as we know, it is facing a number of challenges. john is under pressure to restore confidence. the lowest valued of the major global lenders, eliminating 9 00 jobs, facing mounting costs, past misconduct, rising restructuring charges, cap

japan alliance as well. i think our japanese allies will see what alliances look like when operating globally, when you have integration of senior level commands and staff. not a joint and combined command like nato, but much more trust and integration on an individual level across different commands, intelligence sharing. i think there's going to be an open window for both alliances. not just the australia and japan side and starting to see what the gold standard is in various areas. that's a huge advantage. i like, bob, that you put this in a context as did andrew, the u.s. and japan and australia and in particular japan and australia have been cooperating on regional architecture since -- for those of you you know, apec and various early architectural innovations. a lot came out of japan and australia. it was japan and australia telling us to keep our act together and keeping us focused. that larger context really drives this. let me first ask each -- andrew, the japan, australia security cooperation is 1

robin: the weekend offense will only japan -- will only added to japan's stock market goes -- rose to the countries car giants tickets. there was damage to a plant and toyota said it was suspending production. japan is the most earthquake-prepared country in the world, but it cannot prevent them. all it can do is wait and rescue, repair, and revealed. robin brant, bbc news, southern japan. katty: no one can prevent them. for more on the science behind these quasi-spoke a short time ago with theoretical physicist michio kaku. i guess the abbeys question is are these quakes in ecuador and japan related in some way? michio: first, let me say that my father's family comes from the q shoe area, the epicenter of the latest earthquake -- katty: 12 my hope they are all well. i'm sorry to hear that. michio: yeah. the short answer is no. from therthquakes stem pacific ring of fire, from alaska, california, japan, philippines did there is no relation between the plates. however, the cascadia fault off the coast of portland is we think linked to the san andreas fault. but there's no linkage that

let's turn to japan where matt rivers is live in kumamoto, japan. matt, what are you seeing? >> reporter: let's show you the example of the damage that came from the earthquake on saturday. you said one on thursday and one on saturday. this damage is from saturday. this home here was a two-story home up until saturday. this foundation during the quake, began sliding down the steep slope behind me. it ripped apart the asphalt here. the parking lot. there is a trench that is about a meter and a half deep. it looks like something out of a movie set. this is the kind of damage from the earthquake here on saturday in southwestern japan. >> matt, what is the latest on the rescue efforts there? are they still ongoing? >> reporter: very much so. there was good news this afternoon. they were able to find two of the 11 people that officials said were trapped when we checked in with them this morning. two people were found this afternoon. that was great news for rescuers. they faced an uphill battle battling terrible weather conditions and difficult scenes like this here. they have been

japan as host sets the agenda. japan is a big ally of the 90's states, so obviously it will be on the agenda. you are right. the other claimants are not in the g7, but it is a hot issue right now. china might not be pleased with , butoicing his displeasure the russian foreign minister will also be going to tokyo later this week. russia is excluded this time around from what used to be the g-8, now g7, so they can perhaps also talk then. angie: thanks. else take a look at what is happening on the bloomberg for you. shery: china's inflation figures due later today, cpi forecasts to rise slightly to 2.4% on the year from 2.3% in february. higher food prices blamed for the anticipated acceleration in the cost of living. bloomberg intelligence food price tracker spiked to 7.8% in march, up from 4.6% in february. investingonsidering up to $20 billion in iran's energy industry. says companiesr are looking at exploration and construction opportunities while the government may boost imports of crude and natural gas. revive

that's a bigger focus now into the earning season in japan. let's look at the indexes open right now. seoul's kospi trading down and australia down 0.5%. very quickly, follow-up on 7 and i holdings resigned on thursday. might have caught the markets by surprise. i'll check that share and sector and much more. back to you. >> sounds good. thanks for keeping us up-to-date. we will talk to you in a few hours time. >>> moving on, japan's current account balance stayed in the black for the 20th consecutive month. it measures how much money in and out of the country. finance ministry officials sure place $22.5 billion. the trade account was back in the positive. the surplus stood at $3.9 billion. the trade figure improved, as lower crude oil prices reduced energy imports in value terms. the surplus for the primary income account, which measures earnings from overseas investments was about $18.9 billion. >>> well, japanese lawmakers have started to debate legislation on the transpacific partnership free trade deal. discussions have heated up over the

>>> here in japan it's a wednesday night. i'm james tengan. welcome to nhk "newsline". >>> president obama is still considering a visit to hiroshima during his trip to japan for the may g7 summit. a white house spokesman says the u.s. leader is pursuing a vision of a world without nuclear weapons. >> obviously, probably symbolically, there's no more powerful illustration of that commitment than the city that contained the victims of the first use of that weapon. >> the spokesman says the question about whether to visit hiroshima comes when the president comes to japan. they are considering the option following john kerry's this week. kerry became the first sitting cabinet member to visit the peace memorial. >> japan, which is very moving, very long overdue in many respects. but quit impressive. and if any of you have a chance, you should go see that particular memorial. >> kerry spoke about his trip during a speech in california. >>> a close aide to vladimir putin is also contemplating a visit to hiroshima. a source says russia's lower house s

investors will be watching the central bank of japan and u.s. they will be holding policy meetings in three weeks. >>> in china. shanghai composite down by a fracture shows. 3050 for the closing number. figures showing growth in service sector activity supported but many investors sold shares to lock in profits. let's look at taiwan. the taiex dropped by 1.67% to 8513. shares of hon hai sank more than 2% since a take over deal with sharp. hang seng agained by.15%. sidney regaining by half of a percent. >>> investors are getting another clue on how china's economy is doing. the data shows the service sector is regaining some momentum. the services purchasing manager's index rose to 52.2. that's up one point from february. a figure over 50 indicates business activity is growing. the sector has been helping to offset a slump in chinese manufacturing over the past year. but analysts note that employment in non-manufacturing fell for the first time in over two and a half years. they describe the economy as riding choppy waves. >>> the key index refle

francine: like japan. >> the only differences we can be that surprised japan intervened? no. would you be shocked if the ecb had a mandate to intervene? yes. francine: it's not a great feeling, like japan. we will talk about that next. up, that sinking feeling. corporate sentiment in japan slides to a three-year low. that conversation is next. ♪ live pictures from berlin. manufacturing data, pmi started than expected in germany. the dax, though, has that sinking feeling. we are expected a job support from the u.s. let's get straight to the bloomberg's newsflash. bang has walked away from its proposed takeover of starwood hotels. it clears the way for a purchase by mary at which has been in the works since november. various market considerations. shareholders are expected to vote on marriott's offer it. -- next friday. offerhsh in shares values home retail at 1.4 billion pounds, a premium of 74% for the company's closing price on january 4, the day before the approach became public. the deal was cleared when a south african retailer abandoned its pursuit of home retail last

and have few clues as to whether the bank of japan will add any further monetary easing boost japan's economy. the recent trend of falling oil prices also to blame, lower crude oil prices, of course, but inflation expectations, which a key driver of b.o.j. monitoring policies. overseas profits for major japanese exporters, and really, large manufacturers have pegged their fixing for dollar/yen conversion rates at much higher rates than where we are now. investors will be glued to watch a lot of the earnings reports coming up. let's look at some of the asian indexes right now trading. seoul's kospi is up, as is australia asx. china opens in an hour and a half. >> thanks a lot for that update. our very own ramin mellegard from the toekyo stock exchange. >>> smartphone in japan has big brands to find buyer for the latest models, but also an opportunity for less known makers to develop their presence. nhk world has more. >> reporter: apple is trying to appeal to new buyers with a smaller phone display. the iphone se joined the lineup last week. it is the company's cheapest model. they're

this is a 2007 declaration with japan. japan and india pays is , aeloping quite strongly similar sort of institutional framework in place. this is a bilateral conservatives and we are seeing but hitting in the right direction. i do not think it is in either or. i do not think we should wait until the perfect edifice is constructed. i think we should patiently build the edifice, but in the meantime, where we can and where it makes sense and where it is everyone's interest, we should bring india in. mike mentioned 2004 synonymy and indian ocean, that was a perfect example where from almost a standing start the four countries generated pretty response toilitary that tragedy. because they are like-minded, licensealues, a lots of interoperability and capability, which when pointed at the same problem can be very effective. it is rather than having a high level goal and waiting until we achieve it. legrier appointed doing better between japan and china. the patterns of behavior have built up. there have been a lot of things. i p

in okinawa, japan and the u.s. made an announcement -- >> translator: the site of marine corps will be returned to japan in five to seven years. >> reporter: the year before, the air base movement was triggered by a rape of a 12-year-old girl by three u.s. military personnel. residents have been afraid that an accident around the base could occur again, like it did in 2004. those fears haven't gone away. the base is located in a densely populated area of this city. schools, kindergartens and hospitals are located nearby. the people of okinawa want the base gone as soon as possible. there's one condition in the agreement that people in okinawa fiercely opposed. japanese and american governments want to move it to a new location within the prefecture. the area off the coast of nago city was agreed to by both countries. in 2013 the previous okinawa governor accepted the government's plan for nonreclamation work. a year later, they elected a new governor who pledged to halt any new base. part of the backlash is also be

japan controls the islands. china and taiwan claim them. china central television reported on wednesday that the man carried out eionage related to the islands between vember 2012 and december 2013. cctv said he took photos of a chinese military facility and provided them to a foreign nation. it noted that the facility belongs to a military unit that mainly operates in the east china sea. around the an eastern province. it warned that his action could threaten chinese security. cctv broadcast images of city-scapes and bank notes and mentioned a person with a japanese-like surname who allegedly gave directions to the chinese man. the japanese government maintains that the islands are an inherent part of japan's territory in terms of history and international law. it says there is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them. >>> china has an anti-espionage law that came into effect in 2014. last year authorities detained four japanese people on suspicion of involvement in espionage. >>> the weather has been all but benign to people in ku

and japan real yield. essentially we are saying that even though ever since the bank of japan went into negative rates, maturities falling to negative territory as well in terms of yields. yields adjusted for inflation, japan is looking attractive compared to the u.s.. morgan stanley had of fx strategy in new york saying this essentially discourages the export of capital, putting further downside pressure on the dollar, upward pressure on the yen. it doesn't make sense why we are seeing the surgeon again, particular when you look at the fundamentals of japanese data. a lot of weakness, a lot of concern, that abenomics is not working. despite all the monetary easing, it has hit the limit of what the boj can do. we are seeing a stubbornly strong yen, so the inverse affect we have come to expect from abenomics. rishaad: what about the amount of pain that the policymakers are prepared to tolerate here? haidi: that's a very good question. the short answer is so far they would be willing to tolerate more. survey

declared extinct in japan. later, birds provided by china were bred in captivity and their offspring released into the wild in 2012, birds raised in captivity produced chicks in the wild. and then in 2014, one raised in the wild and one raised in captivity also produced a hatchling, the latest edition is the first from parents both raised in the wild. >>> and that's all for now on this edition of nhk "newsline," i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. from all of us at nhk world, thanks for watching. >> "global 3000" goes to china. the country needs more children to help care for an aging population. and we travel along the mekong in cambodia in search of the last river dolphins. but first, what happens when baby-making becomes a business? the history of in vitro fertilization began just 37 years ago. the first baby conceived through in vitro fertilization. in july 1978, the birth of louise joy brown made headlines around the world. baby-making still requires an egg and a sperm cell. but apart frha

most of japan looking at frost advisories this morning. back to the north we have heavy snowfall in a few locations. one area there in northern hokkaido, 33 centimeters came down. look at the video showing you what the snow looks like out here. this is out of yamagata refecture where the snow fell on top of cherry blossoms which blomed this last weekend. not very spring-like at all. they bloomed about nine days earlier than normal. that is because we had warm temperatures in the past week. sapporo, monday's high was 5 degrees. on saturday, up to 13. a significant drop out there. a lot of pictures of flowers with snow on top of them. the thing is, if we look ahead into wednesday, thursday and friday, we have another low developing back towards the west. that's going to be bringing precipitation later this week. but ahead of it, it does usher in those southerly winds along the west side of this high. sunny skies, temperatures start to rebound. back down to the south, the showers across the southern japanese islands. another area of low press

he's hoping to lure them to japan. it stipulates the country will continue to send over skilled workers and the japanese will look after them and help them find employment. they live in the company dorm and pay about $90 a month for rent and utilities. the trainees get free rice and other food. they also have internet in the dorm so they can stay in touch with their families. >> the job is really fun. i'm keen to learn about japanese language, life and work. >> translator: foreign trainees are a big asset. companies deepen exchanges. >> reporter: business owners in rural japan can see domestic labor shortage woes won't ease any time soon. they feel the solution lies abroad. >> that's the latest in business news this hour. i'll leave you with a check on markets. >>> candidates in iran have started. it was incon clousikocon clus i. they won all the seats but did not obtain a majority overall. this round they're working together and hope to obtain another 40 seats. local media report they are neck and neck with anti-weste

the bank of japan's negative .ate policy is shrinking of where we are with japan post and what it is doing here. >> good morning. to the new ceo of the japan post holding company, formerly the ceo of the banking unit, and he told us that with -0.1%,e interest rates, the impact on the bank is manageable. if it goes further, it might start to hurt more. he says the real key was in adjusting their investment strategy. over ¥200as just trillion and assets, and 40% is in japanese government bonds, which are increasingly affected by negative yields. 50% of the market returns negative yields now. they are looking at shifting and nottheir money putting it back into japanese bonds and investing in things like private equity. he also spoke about real estate investment trusts and infrastructure funds as well. rishaad: the government still has that stake in japan post. any idea of the noises out of tokyo and what they will do? are they likely to sell it down more? initially listed the company in november last year, they sold 11% of the company, and in the holding company went on to sell 11% of

a lack of belief in the bank of japan. day in ahe seventh row, the longest winning streak since 2012. hedge funds are the most bullish on this currency since 1992. they have a belief that there is a tolerant level of the bank of japan. they actually really intervened in the fx market. let's look at the repercussions or markets. you are seeing this pressure on the equities story. we seeing money flow out of japan. .oney is exiting tokyo the longest stretch of exit of cash since 1998. $46stors have stopped million worth of stocks. that is the yen against the dollar. yan rising against the dollar. what else is going on as a consequence of the yen moving? this is your risk radar. let's check in on oil. rig's, up of u.s. oil one third of 1%. count the lowest since 1999. brent, $42.11. as the dollar drops, of oil pops, emergent carpet -- emerging-market currencies they rock. emerging-market currencies up for the third day in a row. $1250.99. up 1/10 of 1%. rbc predicts that gold will move by 9%. let's get in touch with the first

angie: everybody focusing on japan. boj quietly intervening in the japanese share market, becoming a top 10 shareholder in the nikkei 225. how did this happen? trillion,uying ¥3 etf'shan $27 billion, of every year, so that is what made it a top 10 holder of more than 200 companies on the nikkei 225, so the central bank controls 9% of fast retailing, 5% of , and a top-five holder in more than 50 companies. we can see that the boj has a huge influence in the stock market there. that it is also a top three holder in some companies in japan. the boj is now thought to be accelerating the purchase of etf's, at least that is the bet right now by a slim majority. if the goldman sachs predictions that it could up the pace to ¥7 trillion a year, then the boj could end up becoming the number one shareholder in about 40 of if askkei 225 companies hsbc says it ups the pace to ¥13 trillion, becoming the number one shareholder in 90 firms. analysts are saying it is becoming like a big hedge fund. angie: we have been talking about t