welcome to welcome to nhk world "newsline". i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we are following this hour. the factory outside cambodian capital has collapsed. the w.h.o. says it has confirmed that two health workers in saudi arabia caught a deadly new strain of the coronavirus from patients, the first such transmission within a hospital. militia groups in lebanon are lining up against each other as the violence in syria spills

over the border. shoe factory in cambodia was the site of a deadly accident on thursday. the ceiling of the building fell in killing two workers and injuring at least six others. the factory is under contract supplied companies and other foreign brands. the incident follows the collapse of a factory in bangladesh last month which killed the garment workers. it occurred in the suburb of the cambodian capital. a representative of the trade union at the factory said the ceiling caved in around 7:00 a.m., causing panic among the workers. around 100 employees were at their posts at the time. this is funded by capital from taiwan and the company asics and

other foreign brands. the local police are investigating whether this is connected to the accident. they contribute to the roast bust economic recovery of the company. the accident in bangladesh on april 24th sent shock waves through cambodia. foreign companies have been setting up factories in bont countries for cheap and abundant labor. cambodia is profiting by supplies the global clothing industry but in recent years workers have been going on strike to demand better pay and working conditions. less than a month after the incident in bangladesh, this is further raising concerns over safety in asian factories. mahasen has struck the coast and is responsible for the death of five people. myanmar has been hit by

torrential rains, and people in refuge, camps are particularly vulnerable. according to reuters, over 1 million people have evacuated to shelters in the country. nearly all they have left, bangladesh's second largest city. myanmar is bracing itself, more than 100,000 people are living in camps and low lying areas in the country. many of them have fled there because of conflicts with buddhists. myanmar's weather department says it may be the hardest storm to hit. state run media in north degree is reporting on a high

level meeting in pyongyang. an advisor to shinzo abe met with north korean leader kim jong-un's second in command. he met with kim yong-am. and they talked about why he is in japan, but it is believed he is discussing the kidnapping of japanese citizens from the 1970s and 80s. the senior u.s. diplomat says he wants the japanese to keep u.s. officials informed about his trip. glyn davies says denuclearization is the top priority in dealing with the north koreans, but they're ready to work with their counterparts

to deal with the abduction issue. the spokesperson says he received no prior notice about his visit. >> it is important that the international community work together to deal with north korea. in that sense, mr. iyjima visit will not help. >> he attended summits in 2002 and 2004 as an aide. the meeting in 2002 led to the return of five japanese who had been abducted. officials with the world health organization are trying to contain a deadly new disease. they confirm that two health care workers caught a strain of coronavirus from patients. they say it's the first transmission in a hospital. w.h.o. scientists started

tracking the virus last year. most people infected develop a fever, cough, and suffer from a shortness of breath. coronavirus is from the same viruses as the one that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome. sars killed about 800 people in 2002 and 2003. w.h.o. officials have seen coronavirus spread rapidly since late month with most cases in saudi arabia. they've confirmed 40 cases across the middle east and europe. 20 patients have died. researchers have not figured out how the virus is being transmitted. a chinese human rights activist asked for lawmakers to improve the human rights situation in his country. he says authorities continue to harass his family. >> he made the speech in front of about o 100 people. he is touring at the invitation of a human rights group.

he gained notarity by exposed forced abortions. he escaped house arrest and fled to the u.s. he said men attacked his younger brother and destroyed his motorcycle. he said the number of protests that involved at least 100 increased to 2,000 a year. he says they're increasingly resulting to violence in dealing with protestors. recent planned construction projects are not exempt from protests. dp demonstrators are concerned about pollution. they're opposed to the construction of a petro chemicals plant by a state company. about 500 people took part of the protest in front of kumming. they said if the plant on the outskirts of the city is open it

will make harmful substances. protestors were wearing pacifics to underline the pose environmental risks. hundreds of security officers were deployed. they scuffled with some protestors as they blocked them. following a massive protest this month, they have met local residents but failed to secure their support for the project. the people who run the airways has suffered another setback with a dreamliner. they say the crew of a boeing 787 ran into trouble on a training flight out of tokyo. they say an electrical switch board on a 787 ran into trouble on a test flight. earlier this month on a training flight from tokyo. they say a message in the cockpit indicated a problem with the electrical system. but the crew did not detect any smoke. the pilot used a backup system and landed the plane safely. a ground crew later found a nut that connects wires to the board had come loose.

nha officials suspect workers from boeing loosened the nut during preflight checks. they grounded all crime liners in january after technical problems. they allowed the plane to fly again on conditions that engineers modify the batteries. >> translator: the incident did not affect the flight and have nothing to do with the battery systems. >> japan's ministry requires airlines to be proactive in providing passengers with information about the 787 but ana officials did not make their latest problem public. they say they will resume flights of the dreamliner as scheduled on june 1st. people in lebanon have watched the violence in neighboring syria go over their border. militant groups are lining up on either side of the fight. shia militia support the regime of syrian president bashar al-assad.

sunnis back the opposition. nhk world's sho beppu has more. >> reporter: the civil war in syria has divided tripoli in northern lebanon, the country's second largest city. we made our way to the front line, guided by sunni residents during a break in the violence. the walls of an elementary school bear the marks of gunfight. just down the street are the positions of the pro-assad militias. when gunfire erupts, bullets from there sometimes fly into the rooms of buildings. >> translator: the enemy positions are just over there. every time a battle erupts, we

exchange fire with them at close range. >> reporter: more and more sunni militia have smuggled themselves into syria to fight alongside the anti-assad rebellion. hussein huru was one of them. he died on the civilian front five months ago. his brother walid says hussein accused the assad government of oppressing the sunnis in syria. >> translator: i'm proud that my brother died fighting in syria. many young people in this area feel the same way. >> translator: our young people are burning with anger. they're heading for syria to protect our children and islam. the shia are trying to take over the middle east with the help of assad and iran.

>> reporter: on the other side of lebanon's divide is the shia group of hezbollah which is drumming up support for assad. its influence is strong in the northeastern city of hermil near syria. militants opposed to the assad regime fire shells from the other side of the border. we saw black smoke rising in the area. hussein abuali lost his 13-year-old son in april. he was killed by a shell on his way to a friend's house. >> translator: this sadness is terrible. my son did nothing wrong. >> reporter: a stream marks the border with syria. there are no fences. only a flag and the occasional

presence of syrian soldiers are signs that it is syria's territory. pro-assad hezbollah ferry militants and weapons across the border. back on the lebanese side, we were allowed to talk with a hezbollah militant. >> translator: anti-assad rebels have driven our people from their homes. they've killed our women and children. we will fight to the death. >> reporter: each death on either side of the sectarian divide feeds a vicious cycle of revenge and further bloodshed. the violence in syria has spilled over into lebanon. and there seems to be no end in sight. sho beppu, nhk world, tripoli

and hermil, lebanon. the japanese economy has been called stagnant. in recent weeks it's shown signs of life. the stock market is up. so our earnings for major companies. now the latest gdp figures thousand that economic growth is beating expectations, suggesting the policies of prime minister shinzo abe could be having an impact. gross domestic product grew 0.9% from the previous period. that translates into an analyzed rate of 3.5%. it marks the second consecutive quarter of growth. looking at the breakdown now. personal spending was up 0.9%. officials credit higher stock prices and improved consumer sentiment. sales of cars and luxury items were strong, too. housing investment rose 1.9%. many people bought homes ahead of a hike in the consumption tax

next year. exports rose 3.8%. they were led by auto shipments to the u.s. market. there were areas of weakness. corporate capital investment for example fell by 0.7%. it has declined for five quarters in a row. for years, many consumers in japan have been tightening their nurse strings, but that is starting to change. nhk world tells us about that. >> reporter: this jewelry section of a tokyo department store. they grew 40% in the past few months. customers are going for the more expensive items such as diamonds and pearls. >> translator: i bought this ring as a treat for myself. >> reporter: in the art section,

sales are also unexpects -- unexpected. >> translator: we're investing in stocks and currencies. so we have more money to spend on our art collection these days. >> reporter: staff have been busy trying to meet demand. pictures worth thousands of dollars are flying out the door. >> translator: we haven't done this well in years. because of the global financial crisis and the earthquake and tsunami disaster. >> reporter: japanese consumers are now more optimistic. the confidence index in march improved to its highest level in about six years. the weaker yen raised the prospect of higher corporate earnings. and boosted the value of people's assets. the market for the biggest purchase in most people's lives, real estate, is also enjoying resurgence. showrooms for condominium development in central tokyo are

crowded every weekend with potential buyers. this couple has been married eight years. they've been seriously considering buying property but weren't convinced the time is right until now. >> translator: both interest rates and consumption tax are relatively low for now. but they are likely to climb soon, so we think this is the best time to buy. >> reporter: manufacturers are encouraging consumers. the consumption tax is expected to rise three percentage points to 8% next april. prices in mortgage rates could also go up on the back of improvements in the market. housing starts for march rose more than 7%. >> translator: we are receiving more inquiries and visitors since the beginning of this

year. we've increased the number of our staff to meet customer needs. >> reporter: but an expert points out that improvement will not be long lived. they warns that exports may not recover as expected. because of uncertainties in europe and china. >> even though we have a weak yen, we may not have a very strong export. i think depending upon the weaker yen is kind of coming to a limit. so what we really have to do is to stimulate our economy by its own, let's say, force. >> reporter: the bottom line is that a sustainable growth strategy is needed for the japanese economy to make a recovery. the government will announce its plan next month. chie tanaka, nhk world, tokyo. all right.

here are the latest market figures. let's turn our attention now h figures. . wrestlers from the u.s., russia, and iran shown that they could put aside their differences, and they wrestled on a mat in times square. they organized the exhibition mat, they called it the rumble on the rails.

they want to persuade the international olympic committee not to drop the games in 2020 to they reached out to those in iran and russia. now the persons are penalized the iranians with sanctions for not giving up their nuclear program. the wrestlers said the iranians overwhelmed their hosts. >> i thank the americans for their efforts to stage the match. i think many people now understand how great this sport is. >> any time you can work together in anything it helps the politics. >> the u.s. and iranian wrestles will face each other on sunday. >> movie makers have gathered on the french rivera. they're showing their work at the cannes film festival and vying for one of the most

prestigious awards. 20 films are in the running, four are asian. >> reporter: filmmakers dream of walking the red carpet at cannes. this year, they have to get to it under torrents of rain. when they did, they had to run the gauntlet between the cameras. the festival draws film royalty from around the world. and a lot of others who want to bathe in their glow. this year, many festival goers are drawn to movies from asia. >> translator: no matter how hard we wish our movies get shown at cannes, our wishes rarely come true, so i'm taking this with genuine pleasure. >> reporter: meikke directed a thriller about policemen who

have to protect a child killer with a bounty on his head. the movie is one of two from japan up for the palme d'or for best film. he directed the other. "like father, like son." in japanese, is a story of two married couples who learn their sons were switched at birth. >> translator: when i think about how a father who has little time to spend with his child can clearly be aware of the bond he has with that child, the question arises, is it blood or time that counts? >> reporter: japanese director naomi kowasi became the youngest winner of best new director when she won in 1997. this year, she's sitting on the jury. and japanese aren't the only

asian filmmakers in the spotlight. movies from china and iran are also up for the palme d'or. 20 films in all are up for the top prize. the winners will be announced on the festival's final day, may 26. nhk world, tokyo. a cyclone is ripping through bangladesh. rachel ferguson has the latest on the havoc it's causing there. . yes, this is the cyclone that's been moving through the bay of bengal over the last week or so. we have seen landfall and the strength come down a it. they're now 65 kilometers per hour. and gusts at 83 kilometers per

hour. it's picked up the pace as well. so it's moving at 50 kilometers per hour. it's moving quickly which is good news because it means the heavy rain will not be hitting the same place for a london period of time. we were talking about the storm surge that inundated villages on bangladesh's coast. hopefully we will see it become a remnant low, very soon as it moves over land. it will still be bringing heavy rain with it before that happens though. to more heavy rain now in china. we have been talking about sustained heavy rain here along a stalled out front all the way from okinawa back to north indo china. there was flash flooding after more than 300 millimeters fell. this is not the first time we have been hearing about floods

this week in southeastern china. well, it's not just the rain that's the problem here. really severe storms have been interrupting as well. there was a tornado in hunan province. on tuesday, in fact. more than ten residents were injuries. landslides were also reported in the area damaging several homes, and most of the province has been hit by heavy rains this week, and it doesn't like like there will be any respite any time soon. you can see an additional 250 millimeters of rain in the next 24 hours. we have another severe storm now, a tornado that erupted in texas. it wasn't just one isolated tornado, there was a few of them.

grandbury is the one we showed you earlier. it was a mile wide and a deadly tornado that claimed six lives. many, many, many more people injured. unfortunately we're not out of the woods yet. this storm system is moving to the east, and we have another coming in from the rockies to the west. and a severe area there. you can expect storms from out west in the rockies right to the atlantic coast. it's because it's so hot here. denver is 27, new york is 28. we have 21 up in winnipeg. just looking cooler up towards the north and west. 17 degrees for you in vancouver. a chilly day also for you in los angeles at 21.

that's "newsline" for this hour, i'm gene otani in tokyo. for all of us here at nhk world, thank you for joining us.

♪ "design talks." >> today's topic is sound design. the tinkling of a wind chime. a refreshing sound that allows us to hear the wind. in the japanese garden, quiet is expressed with this unique sound.