. chinese connection. a news agency reports that chinese firms sold north korea the bodies of vehicles that can be used as missile launchers. hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." authorities in china are facing more allegations they may have violated the united nations resolutions on north korea. a canadian news agency is reporting a chinese company sold military hardware to pyongyang.

information center specializes in military news about asia. its reports say the company delivered eight transporters last year. a subsidiary of a state-run enterprise makes customized military vehicles. what appeared to be a ballistic missile was mounted on a similar vessel this month daughter parade. >> translator: the firm must have known the transport vehicles were for military use in north korea.we can conclude technological viewpoint that the vehicles are not for commercial use. >> a u.n. security council resolution bans providing north korea with materials that could be used for missiles.

japanese government officials now admit they were slow to react to north korea's launch of what they say was a missile. they say they should have alerted the public as soon as they received the first report. north korean officials launched what they say was a rocket carrying a satellite two weeks ago. it exploded less than two minutes later. the government took more than 40 minutes to inform the public. so government officials set up a panel to investigate what went wrong. the government announced through its emergency information network that it could not confirm whether north korea had gone ahead with the launch. the panel has yet to release its report. but an advance copy says it was warranted. it says the government should have disclosed information using the alert system once it received reports if the united states. the alert system is used to

issue warnings to local governments via satellite. north korean military leaders and their troops have marked the 80th anniversary of the korean peoples army. they used the occasion to show their loyalty to kim jong-un. he recently became the head of the national defense commission and he head of the ruling workers party. >> translator: our great comrade kim's outstanding leadership, inexhaustible mighty force, and the unity of huge numbers of military and civilians would ensure revolutionary achievements. >> he says his army because of president bat's blasphemy

against the leadership. eight north koreans who escaped a work site in russia are starting new lives. the refugees arrived this month in south korea. 32 others are expected to follow. the officials say authorities in north korea sent the group to the russian region of siberia. the north koreans fled from an agency. human rights activists in south korea have been holding rallies urging chinese leaders not to send people who leave the north back. they say the detectefectors cou severely punished. they'll keep watching the chinese and russian governments and pressure them to act humanely on this issue. one of japan's political heavyweights learns his fate on thursday. the tokyo district court will give its ruling in the trial of former democratic party leader

ozawa. the politician is accused of political funds. the 69-year-old ozawa is accused of conspireing with eight to falsify records. stoke owe prosecutors initially decided to drop the case. but a panel of randomly selected citizens ruled that he should stand trial. court-appointed lawyers serving as prosecutors in the trial have demanded a three year prison term. they said it was most unlikely that eight would handle such a large amount of money. ozawa has maintained his innocence. he says the case is politically motivated. we are an hour away from a ruling. our reporter is in front of the tokyo district court. she joins us live.

>> reporter: ichiro ozawa has been known as the master puppeteer of politics. now it is ozawa's own political career that hangs in the balance. it has attracted a lot of attention since okds last year. officials said around 2,000 will take part in a lottery for one of the 46 gallery seats available to the public. >> translator: i'm interested in tracking the money. >> translator: i want to see a big-name politician like him standing in the dark. >> reporter: ozawa will come through the back door. it is extremely rare in japan for such a powerful politician to be seen standing in the dark.

the decision is about to begin at 10:00 a.m. back to the skud owe. >> thank you. militants have killed at least 12 people in the philippines. the government suspects the communists are to blame. the philippine military says the attacks struck an army convoy in ifugao province. died in an exchange of gun fire. it's not known if any of the militants were hit. the military says the guerrillas appear to be from the new people's army, the military army of the philippines communist party. the ceasefire talks began in february last year. the talks tumbled over the rebels' demands of the release of colleagues. the group continues to have groups across the country.

it's a busy week for central bankers. both americans and japanese in front of their country's monetary policies are holding meetings. the federal reserve just wrapped up theirs. the business team is here to tell us about it. ai? >> the board seems pretty satisfied with the measures already in place. the u.s. central bank says it will keep its ultra low business rate and other things unchanged until 2014. the federal reserve ended a two-day committee meeting wednesday. a statement released after the meeting said household spending and business investment on plants and equipment have continued to increase. the statement also said economic growth is expected to remain moderate over the coming quarters. and then pick up gradually. but the fed warned that the housing sector remains depressed despite signs of improvement. it noted the job market has improved slightly.

but the unemployment rate does remain high. the statement also said stains have downside risks to the outlook. a conference after the meeting, ben bernanke sounded a cautious note on the u.s. economic outlook. he said that it's a little premature to declare victory. >> and we remain to be prepared to do more for this to continue. those tools remain on the table. we will not hesitate to use them should the support be needed. >> the statement was in line with what market players had expect pd. the that they would not take actions amid signs of a recovery earlier in the year. no surprise moves on wall street overnight. major indices ended higher. that's on the back of continued solid earnings results especially after apple's strong

quarter results that came in above forecasts. well, let's see how stocks are reacting here in tokyo this thursday morning. for that we'll go to ramin mellegard. good morning. high-tech sector surging higher on the back of those apple earnings. >> definitely, ai. we got good cheer in the markets from the earnings results. also from boeing for instance which came out with a strong profits and raised its outlook. which helped the dow. but really the nasdaq outperforming there. it gained around 9% following its earnings results. that also pushed the nasdaq above the 3,000 level for the first time in nearly a week. let's look how all of that translates into the nikkei and the topix opening this thursday morning here in tokyo. both indexes trading a little bit higher this morning. in japan, of course, we will

continue to track apple-related products and component makers. and also mobile phone carriers which actually carry the iphone here in japan. we should also check on other exporters of home electronics and also more durable goods after the durable goods orders numbers in the u.s. fell in march. so we're going to be tracking a lot of product ranges. everything from pcs to electronics goods, to fridges to furniture. all the way out to auto and aircraft. a vast segment of different industries for the u.s. market which a lot of japanese exporters sell into. so those products, we'll be watching that. don't forget the currencies as well. the yen does play a major factor in exporters as we've seen lately. currently trading around the lower 81 yen levels. and 107 levels for the euro/yen.

we'll keep track of that as the morning progresses. >> ramin, there was, of course, a lot of focus on what the fed chairman had to say. so what can you tell us about the effect that that had on the markets? >> a lot of market players here in japan following on the central bank speech from bernanke as you mentioned there. a muted effect because he came out and said the u.s. economy is more or less in the right place. but of course did add that any additional measures would be taken if the economy required it. that was in line. really the big focus here in japan is going to be the bank of japan meeting on friday. and any extra monetary measures that the bank of japan may take or increase asset buying program. and a lot of exporters want to see a weaker yen. we'll see how that plays out. for now the nikkei and the topix just in the positive today. >> that was ramin mellegard from

the tokyo stock exchange. now, i do have more business stories for you next hour. i'll leave you now with a check on other markets. pakistan tested a mid-range ballistic missile on wednesday. the second show of force in seven days in the south asia region. patchari raksawong in bangkok has details. >> a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. it follows last week's successful test of a long range

missile by india. here's the report from islamabad. >> reporter: the pakistani army announced it had completed a test of its mid-range ballistic missile. they say it's an upgraded version of its existing missile. the missile smashed down in the indian ocean. the military did not specify the range of the upgraded weapon. but the range is known to be 700 kilometers. has a range of 2,000 kilometers. the missiles are to be the main delivery system for the nuclear weapons. the army has been conducting launches of mid-range missiles once every two years. this was planned.

to counter india and show off the military strength to people around the world. nhk world, islamabad. and next to the philippines. marines from the united states and the philippines have conducted a mock landing operation on the beach of the edge of the south china sea. >> reporter: while this boat exercise is not needed for the philippine and u.s. marines, this is the first time it is conducted in the philippine part to defend the naval forces west. the philippines and the united states have been conducting their largest joint military exercises starting monday last week. the joint attracted particular attention on wednesday as they conducted a landing exercise on the island.

the island is located near an area disputed by several coun y countries including china. the operation on a military. personnel from both sides took part. >> there are a lot of primary critical government facilities where the possibility is likely. we are preparing. >> reporter: meanwhile they started with armed forces. it included relief operations following a natural disaster. the landing exercise by the

marines seems designed to put pressure on china. the united states has been conducting exercises with several countries in the region to demonstrate its increased military presence. nhk world, philippines. >> and that will wrap up our bulletin for today. i'm patchari raksawong reporting in bangkok. it's been years in the making and next month the world's tallest free styling broadcast tower will open its doors to the public. the tokyo skytree was built to relay signals over a broad area. the structure is becoming a must-see for tourists and area businesses are coming up with ways to get the piece of the action.

>> reporter: the tokyo skytree is standing head and shoulders above a city with skyscrapers. your ears will definitely be popping on this minute and a half vertical ride. at the end of it, a 450 meter tall observation deck. here the public will have access to a never-before-seen panoramic view of tokyo. they'll see every landmark in the tokyo metropolis. even the tower is like a red dot in the distance. these glass floors are on the lower deck. it's 340 meters off the ground. plenty high to give visitors the sensation of floating in midair.

back down on earth, skytree fever is in full swing. the sleek tower provided an ultramodern backdrop this spring for traditional cherry blossom viewing. >> translator: i'm so glad i got to see this. it invigorates me. >> reporter: people try to capture the grandeur from a variety of angles. >> translator: i can only get half of it. it's impossible even if i lie down. >> reporter: snapping a photo of yourself with the world's largest tower is a tricky task. you have to have your camera on the ground. but one way to avoid that is to use something like this. these mirrors allow for a perfect photo op with the tower's reflection.

>> translator: people were lying down on the bridge because they just couldn't get a good shot of the whole thing. that's why we decided to put these up. >> reporter: and if climbing up the skytree or taking pictures aren't enough, how about using your taste buds to appreciate it? restaurants have added new menu items inspired by the tower. there's this appetizer, the onion ring tree. or a main dish called the skytree curry. and check out this dessert. the tower waffle. >> translator: the shops in this town used to only attract locals. but i hope the area becomes

radiant with the new skytree tourists. >> reporter: mom and pop shops have been busy crafting eye-catching skytree models for tourists to see. they hope the new structure will boost the local economy. >> translator: the skytree is going to bring a lot of visitors from around the world. i am starting to feel the citizens of our town becoming anxious to welcome these guests. we are all getting pumped. >> reporter: neighborhood officials estimate the skytree will bring more than $1 million in annual profits. this city has long been known as a tourist hot spot for its traditional architecture. but now with the opening of the tokyo skytree, visitors can experience both the old and the new at once. nhk world, tokyo. >> tokyo skytree opens to the

public on may 22nd but presale tickets for the observation decks are already booked through mid-june. rachel ferguson is up next with weather. >> hi there. we're going to expect wet and windy days as a slow-moving system plods towards the east. the rain is not going to be too much of an issue with this pair of systems. however, the wind is really going to be very strong. we've already had reports in central and southern japan of gusts exceeding 100 kilometers per hour. that's enough to cause structural damage and bring up the waves at the coast. now, in behind that, things are clearing up for the korean peninsula and eastern china. finally after a very soggy week. there will be showers moving from mongolia to northeastern china. and a front will keep things

unstable and wet. pretty stormy as well for you on the coast. things are starting to get a bit more active across indochina as well. rather than any heavy rain or large systems here, it's a very, very hot period at the moment. and we'll see lots of pop-up thunderstorms. that's accounting for most of this. bangkok today looking for 39 degrees. another scorching day. and many cities are experiencing temperatures past the 40 degree mark. extreme hot to the south. 28 degrees in hong kong. we're seeing the warm spread up to beijing. 24 degrees. however, things are dipping back down just above the freezing point for our high today. 2 degrees. as we head out into north america, we have some severe weather erupting just south of the great lakes through the midwest during your overnight hours wednesday into thursday. so this is where it's going to be around this low. and you can expect strong winds

with this as well as large hail and the potential for tornadoes. now, the good news is it's going to be weakening off as it heads towards the east. then gusty showers up through the northeast and into new england, eastern canada there. there will be a return to severe weather. it's going to be coming out of the west. this time nebraska, colorado, into northern texas. because we've got a lot of heat coming up. temperatures are about 10 degrees above average in anywhere from the southeast arcing up to the northern plains and back down again into the southwest. taking a look at those temperatures is probably a better idea. 27 degrees in denver. we'll be seeing record breaking heat here this week. 31 degrees in oklahoma city and 29 in houston. however, up towards the northwest you're seeing cooler and wetter conditions coming in. that's going to include some significant late season snow for the cascades and the sierra

nevada. as we go on into europe, not much change here towards the west. we've got rainfall warnings posted across the british isles. this is a deep low, powerful system here we're seeing. still bringing thunderstorms along this front here from germany down into portugal. it's going to be pretty nasty stuff. heavy rain once again. elsewhere across the continent not looking too bad. we've got some thunderstorms to the east. they're going to be chasing away up towards the northeast and making way for dry and hot conditions. when i say hot, i mean mid-summer. kiev 23 degrees. these are going to increase in towards the weekend. 22 in vienna. just about average temperatures to the west. and it will be a little bit wet and unpleasant for you. here is your extended forecast.

here's our top story once again. a canadian news agency is adding to suspicions china may have provided north korea with

military hardware. it's reporting a chinese company sold track bodies to pyongyang that can be used as launch pads for missiles. its web version reports the company delivered eight transporters last year. they are is sub si dare of a state-run -- what appeared toe a ballistic missile was on a similar vehicle during a parade. >> translator: the firm must have known the transport vehicles were for military use in north korea. we can conclude from a technological viewpoint that the vehicles are not for commercial use. >> the u.n. security council resolution bans providing north korea with materials that can be used for weapons. and that concludes this

edition of "newsline." on behalf of our team, thank you for staying with us.