welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. chinese president xi jinping has arrived in the u.s. for talks with barack obama. officials from the two koreas agreed to meet for their first talks after months of tensions. >> now a newly discovered audio

-- we continue coverage from myanmar, we'll focus on the conflicts the country is facing. >> u.s. president barack obama and chinese president xi jing pink are about to kick off a two-day summit in california. they will meet at a resort near palm springs on friday. the chinese president arrived in the u.s. amid tight security. xi flew in on thsday afternoon from mexico, the last leg of his latin american tour. obama is due to arrive on friday afternoon. the two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of ideas. it will include cyber attacks that the united states says is coming from china. territorial disputes between china and some asian countries are also expected to be on the agenda.

to understand what might be on the agenda, kunihira yapamoto has this report. >> reporter: president xi's predecessor was in office for three years before his made his first visit to the u.s. xi traveled through within three months. some experts say the meeting give the two leaders an opportunity to better understand each other. >> its very focused on building up personal relations, improving personal trust and laying a more solid background and foundation for improving the top level relations. >> the countries have long been at odds over taiwan and they have yet to find middle ground on trade friction, the value of the wan. and human rights in china.

they don't see eye to eye on cyber attacks either. the cyber threat posed by china is growing. chinese leaders have consistently denied any involvement. >> china is the victim of numerous cyber attacks, hacking violations of cyber space integrity, etc. so i think the meeting between the two is actually a rare opportunity and is an opportunity not to be missed for china and the united states to come out as leaders of cyber space countries and propose initiatives for cyber space activity in the whole world. >> the chinese would rather concentrate on building a relationship that let's them tackle international issues as an equal partner with the u.s. >> to think that the world can

resolve any major international issues without cooperation between china and the u.s. is a fallacy. it's not going to work. china and the united states have to, whether they like it or not, they have to deal with each other as partners. they have to collaborate with each other. >> officials in beijing believe stable relations with the u.s. are essential for china's economic growth and for securing the trust of chinese people in their leaders. this will be president xi's basic stance when he meets president obama. >> that was nhk world in beijing. and a desire for a better relationship between the leaders seems to be mutual. kirk campbell served as secretary of state during obama's first term. we spoke to him to get a u.s. perspective.

>> reporter: this will be the first time a u.s. president will meet with a chinese leader in such an informal setting, away from washington and beijing. kirk campbell says it shows relations are evolving. but he says with recognition comes obligation. >> i do think we're going into a new phase and it is the significant features of it are that china is no longer -- it is a developing nation. it has huge challenges but it is essentially a great nation and it has to be treated as a great nation and has to act like a great nation. there are burdens that come with responsibilities that come with the status. >> reporter: campbell says that president obama would want to hear what president xi has proposed as a new type of relationship.

>> what we need is not a 19th century conception of foreign policy and diplomacy but a 21st century one in which we seek to enlist china to support the mechanisms, the rules of the road. the norms and values that have underscored and supported peace and prosperity in the last 40 years. >> president obama will likely put the issues of cyber security and north career ya to the top of the agenda. obama is looking to build a relationship with president xi so they can deal with issues one-on-one. >> he has got to establish a relationship where they can pick up the phone and deal with each other more directly. >> the status of the relationship of these two

leaders will have a significant impact on security and stability in the asia pacific. campbell says the obama administration recognizes the key to a successful relationship involves putting u.s. china policy in a larger regional context. nhk world, washington. the french president is making his first official visit to japan high pressure he and the prime minister have agreed to cooperate on a rang of issues including promoting french and japanese issues around the country. the president and the first lady were greeted by the emperor and

e emporess. they made a joint announcement. >> translator: france and japan share common responsibilities, universal values. we agree that our countries should deeper their special partnership. >> the two leaders said the defense and foreign ministers of their countries will discuss the joint development of defense equipment. they also built a new -- they said they will support overseas sales of a nuclear reactor developed by two countries from france and japan. they m shared concerns especially when it came to tackling the economic turmoil. we poet to hitoshi suzuki.

>> he is not a big fan of the sport, but he expressed his eagerness to strengthen ties with japan. >> i consider that japan and france together are a force. japan experienced a 2011 disaster. there was strong solidarity from the french people. but we have to go further than solidarity and emotions to build together. >> it comes a month after the strip to china. the french president has visited asia several times since taking office. he has been trying to drum up business and accomplish what he calls his most important task, boosting the french economy. they are placing plan emphasis on japan, a country they

describe as sharing their values. >> translator: with japan we don't only think about the inport and export balance, we want to build a stronger partnership. we want to work to create better condition sos that french companies invest more in japan, and japanese companies invest more in france. >> the european crisis has ceased making headlines, but it grinds on. incomes continue to fall. there is little prospect of relief in the short term. he has expressed interest in other economic promises. >> i have confidence in europe.

i know the euro zone is stronger and more unified, but i would like to give them greater prospects for growth. it is the same what has been implemented. >> france faces pressure to steer itself out of it's economic problems. whether the strategy will pay off depends a great deal on on huh he handles problems at home. hitoshi suzuki, nhk world, tokyo. the key u.s. job's data investors have been waiting for is out. they show that while unemployment rates were essentially unchanged in may at

7.6%, employers added 175,000 jobs in the nonfarm sector. better than most analysts expected. they say the unemployment rate edged up to 6. -- 7.6% last month. liars added jobs in the nonfar sector. analysts expected it to be around 160,000. market participants have been waiting around the world. central bank officials are deciding whether they will scale down their stimulus soon. officials at the cabinet office say a key indicator rose for the third month in a row. it stood at 94.8 in april. the index reflects the current

state of the economy and includes factors like out put. it relaces to smart phones, liquid crystal televisions, and auto sales. it went up 1.3 points. april was a fifth consecutive month of gaining. the cabinet office kept it's assessment one changed since march. here are the latest market figures.

myanmar is hosting the world economic forum on southeast asia. it is now in the second day. aung san suu kyi attended a summit on cultivation of human resources. she is calling on countries to sponsor myanmar following decades of military rule in the country. they want to see if -- religious and ethnic conflicts continue in

the country. today we focus on how to tackle myanmar's major challenges. long running issues on the ethnic minorities and erupting religious violent should be handled immediately. the situation of the sown in central myanmar where severe violence erupted recently. >> just 130 kilometers, the city looks like any other in myanmar. a calm, ordinary place, home to some 100,000 people. back in march, the city made headlines around the world. it was a sight of religious unrest that killed more than 40 people. the president declared a state of emergency in the area sending in the army to restore order.

satellite images show the extent of destruction. reports say more than 800 houses were destroyed. >> this is a city center where religious violence erupted in march. most of the homes here were burnt down. it was apparently triggered by minor incidents. triggered by shop owners and their customers. tension sprad rapidly across the city. the scars of the violence are still fresh. along the city's main road, we saw two mosques abandoned. most local muslims have led to shelters. more than two months after the

unrest, the u.n. says some 7,000 people remain displaced from their homes, afraid to return. we asked the local authorities for permission to enter the camps, but we received no response. at the heavily guarded gate, security forces refused to let us film inside. almost everyone we met declined to be interviewed on camera saying the issue is too sensitive. but a muslim man, one of just a few, there to return home, said the community doesn't understand why violence spread so suddenly after decades of peaceful coexistence. religious tensions have long simmered and been recently brought into focus. ethnic conflict has also existed

in the country. some of them have been fighting for ontonomy for decades. they say the two vieds reached a tentative cease fire agreement last week. nhk world reports on the plight of those crapped in the cross fire. >> the capitol is about 800 kilometers north. the region has witnessed heavy combat between government forces and armed groups, demanding great greater -- >> years of con frikt have brought many people from their homes to the camps.

they came here two years ago. repeated attacks by government troops drove them from their village. they fled with their three children and the few lobelongin they could carry. >> we can't go back because the political situation is unstable. we all miss our home. >> the family relies on relief supplies for food. they earn just $3 a day. >> we're suffering every day. our whole family really suffers from our economic situation. >> many displaced people believes aung san suu kyi would

help improve their lives. but, as a member oaf parliament, she attended the armed forts days ceremony in march. it gave the impression that she is cooperating with the military. displaced people think it's hard to pay attention to their plight. >> the army always discriminates against aung san suu kyi, so why did she have to attend the army ceremony? the army must be using her. >> while we film, mobile phones from nhk crew to call a real tiff that lived in japan. it's the first time they have spoken since the family was forced from their home.

>> translator: we need to pay the children's tuition fees and pocket money and also we have to buy rice, but we can't afford anything because we don't have steady jobs. the phone call can't fix a different situation. but the two sides agree to a temporary end to fighting. the family has little confidence that the recently announced cease fire will be lost. what she thinks the future holds for our children. >> we have no idea how we can manage to raise our kids. i worry about when this situation will improve. the government in myanmar is making head way. that for people displaced by the

fighting, and the hope remains. >> following the end of military rule in myanmar, the country appears to be moving steadily along the path from transparency. but it is bringing ininterntern conflicts. these problems have to be tackled head on, especially as a general election in 2015 draws near. both the ruling government will have to take a stance. the global community is keeping a watch on the leaders regard of the party they belong to. they're working towards national reconciliation. an unusual weather phenomenon north of tokyo,

robert speta has more on that. >> yes, quite uncommon to see out here, at least in japan. we see this over in the united states about this time of year, but it is a tornado, or at least a funnel cloud. coming out of gunma prefecture, it was in the sky for about two minutes. you see on the tail end there was dirt being kicked up. but another area of gunma has severe weather too, this house was set on fire from a lightning strike. that low pressure that brought in that moisture and cooler air is going to start to subside. and with that said, going into the weekend, much fairer weather.

temperatures in tokyo getting into the high 20s. to down to the west, and some areas seeing about 245 millimeters of rain there. that will all continue to shift off toward the east. it is just pumping up one low after another. it will move across central and eastern china. a tropical depression there. the bulk of the precipitation remaining off shore. it that inflow will help it strengthen. the local allege warding on those, and asking the public to take the proper precautions as that rainfall continues to kick up and bring that risk of

flooding. we will continue to watch this also because going into next week it will cause heavy rains and still time to continue to really watch where exactly that's going to continue to go. temperatures into the tropics though, 30s for you tokyo 36 on saturday. tropical storm andrea still the big topic here. we want to show you a photocoming out of florida. just some heavy rainfall, the risk of flooding, winding kicking up here. still see some tropical storm warnings, but heavy rain associated wd thith that. storms popping up along the coast, and then towards the southwest, absolutely hot. take a look at los angeles, 24

for your high, sacramento, you're going to see near record breaking temperatures here as it approaches the 40s, stay hydrated and cool out there. in europe, the weather has dramatically improved. that cut off low that was bringing the wet weather has subsided. and all of that rainfall that fell earlier is going to take time to clean out. for now, sunnier skies in the forecast. temperatures rising for the most part across eastern europe. that's your weather, here is a look at your extended forecast.

that's "newsline" for this

hour. i'm gene otani here in tokyo, have a great day wherever you are.

♪ in november of 2012, a freelance journalist in china obtained evidence of corruption by a high-ranking public servant and uploaded images on the internet.