turning the screw. north korean authorities have endorsed plans to bolster their missile programs. delegates have added their voices to weeks of war like rhetoric. members of the supreme people assembly gathered for their annual meeting. they adopted laws to strengthen weapons programs.

the state run news agency says kim attended the meeting. they adopted legislation to reenforce the nation's nuclear capabilities. security analysts say the rocket program is a cover for developing ballistic missiles. delegates agreed to increase the quality and quantity of weapons. the legislation specifies that only the military supreme commander can order their use and kim holds that post. the parliament reappointed him to the top cabinet position. the leadership dismissed him six years ago. his return to the cabinet signals he will play a key role in economic policy. the friction on the korean peninsula is generating heat across asia.

>> these annual exercises always anger and always trigger some sort of reaction. the north korean regime is taking this opportunity to build support for its young leader, kim jong un. it's resulted in old tactic, launching out against an old enemy, the united states. the north korean are trying to heighten the sense of crisis. kim reportedly told a former star american basketball player that he wants to hear from president obama. here's what dennis rodman said in march after his visit to north korea. >> he want obama to do one thing. call him. >> he wants a call from

president obama? >> yeah. he said if you can, dennis, i don't want to do war. i don't want to do war. he said that to me. >> reporter: obama was reluctant to deal with them during his first term. now that he's started his second term they're hoping he will change his position. i'm a little bit worried about one thing. kim jong un's predecessors have experienced war, but he hasn't, because he's too young. so he might expect to get results by using force. but the threats from pyongyang could wiped down at the end of this month, when the u.s., south korea drills finish. north korea is focusing on july 27th. the anniversary of the armistice that ended the korean war in 1953. officials announced they were nullifying the armistice. this sounds like a threat to

provoke south korea and the united states. it's unclear what they will gain with this series of threats. >> a u.s. veteran has finally come face-to-face with a south korean woman he saved during the korean war 60 years ago. former airman and radio mechanic, richard cadwallader was reunited on sunday in seoul. she was severely burned during an accident in the war. her mother carried her to a u.s. base and begged for help. he did his best to make sure she got medical attention. he asked the government to find kim, now 71 years old. >> she and her mother were two

examples of the most courageous people i've ever known. so this is a monumental day for me. i'm very happy. >> officials from south korea's ministry of patriots and veteran's affairs organized the reunion. they hope events like this can help bring south korea and it's allies closer together. japanese government officials have been discussing how to protect japan's maritime interests. they've released a draft of their plans for the next five years. they plan to increase security around the senkaku islands in the east china sea. japan control the islands. china and taiwan claim them. they're calling for a quicker response for vessels found in the area without a permit. it will monitor and protect the key areas.

the defense ministry is planning to install radar systems on the island. human rights activists say march was the bloodiest month yet in the syrian civil war. they say 6,000 people were killed. over 2,000 of the fatalities were civilians. around 300 were children. they're skbeintensifying their attacks. there's been almost 70,000 deaths from the conflict since it began two years ago. managers in big firms in japan like what they see. they're crossing their fingers

that those trends will stick. good morning. what's the outlook? >> not only did the results for the business sentiment by the central bank show improvement for pressing conditions, it showed corporate managers are optimistic about the earnings outlook as well but they remain cautious about investing in new facilities. the report shows executives at large firms predict sales will grow more than 1% on average across all industries from a year ago as a weaker yen lifts exports. that's for the new fiscal year that just started on april 1st. these executives also expect current profits to grow for the first time in three years. they're forecasting gains of more than 6%. managers at manufacturing and nonmanufacturing firms forecast a decline in capital expenditure. executives at large firms across

all industries expect capital spending will fall 2% on average. that will be the largest decline in four years. u.s. stock markets ended lower on monday as they followed negative sentiment stemming from lackluster data from the united states and china. the dow jones industrial average closed down less than a .1 of a percent. the nasdaq closed at 3,239 down just about .9 of a percent. to see how stocks in japan are trading let's go to ramin. good morning. a bit of hesitation in markets here in japan and the u.s. >> a couple of key events this week and the bank of japan

policy board meets on wednesday. both could dictate where dollar/yen trades in the days to come. let's have a look at the opening levels for today. we're seeing both indexes trading lower considerably. the nikkei down 2.3% and the top topix down 2.5%. we're weaker than what many had expected. some of the marketplace also warning that if the bank of japan policy meeting fails to inspire and if the u.s. jobs data falls short of expectations then stocks could take a bit of a hate especially with indexes just as the nikkei and the s&p 500 have been hitting highs. there's a bit of a concern. the nikkei has been down over

300 points in the first few minutes of trading. we could be seeing that slide correction right now in fact. we've also seen the yen regaining strength ahead of bank of japan meeting. that's also going to be very closely watched. >> seems like u.s. manufacturing data not helping the dollar too much. where do we stand this tuesday? >> the ism manufacturing data was in effect just having a look at some of the currency pairs there. let's talk about the euro. it's -- let's begin with the dollar. 92.96 to 93.01. manufacturing data fell in march to 51.3. euro/yen 119.50 to 53. it's holding a bit of a tight rein. key manufacturing data may give

some further cues for the euro. investors will be monitoring unemployment rates. the data to be released later today. overall i think analysts telling us that we expect the nikkei to be in a bit of a mode ahead of the bank of japan meeting. as i said we're seeing some signs of selling. we'll keep track of that. back to you. >> thanks for that. u.s. i.t. giant apple has apologized to chinese consumers after state media criticized the firm over the quality of its customer service. chief executive officer tim cook issued the apology on monday. he said he's aware that insufficient communication may have led some people to believe that apple is arrogant. he expressed apologies for

causing concern to customers. the media accused the company of refusing to exchange faulty products with new ones and only agreeing to replace parts. apple initially rejected the claim saying its customer service is the same in china as in other t global warming and the nuclear accident in japan have focused attention on renewable energy. residents of a small village in austria are making big strides to go green. they have built a renewable system that's powering their homes and economy. we have the story.

>> reporter: it's a village of about 1,600 people. it's becoming self-sufficient in energy. this is where it all happens. what you can see here, for example, is part of the solar power system that generates electricity or over there. tons of woodchips from the region are used to generate heat. we're now at the very middle of this energy production of this village. electricity is generated by solar power and bio gas. the village even sells surplus electricity to a power company. the first near the village burn to boil water for heating and other purposes in the community. the hot water is being funneled to each home by these pipelines. the system supplies 95% of the

heat and hot water needed in the village. the project is run by a group funded by local people. about $30 million have been raised over the past 24 years. any profit from the project is distributed to those who have put up the money. t the. >> translator: our program is supported by funding from as many as 380 people. >> reporter: local people see producing it on their own rather than buying it is in the interest of the village. >> translator: what's important is we make investment locally and cycle profits back so people can go on living in this

community. it's a traditional favorite in austrian homes. it plays a role in this energy project. oil used to fry the meat is never wasted. it's collect and recycled as diesel fuel for vehicles. >> translator: i'm happy that we can help our own community while contributing to environmental protection. >> reporter: use cooking oil is collected in other communities and refined in the village. the project produces about 250 times more diesel fuel than the village needs. sales of the recycle fuels top $10 million last year. today it's one of the major industries in the village. another program is taking off. the village is using solar

energy to grow vegetables in solar houses. the village energy product started more than 20 years ago to cope with the declining population. today for austria and attracted visitors from other countries. >> i'll have more business headlines next hour. here is a check on regional markets.

officials from the world health organization are trying to determine how three chinese people contracted a strain of bird flu. they say two have died and a third is in critical condition. who officials have issued a global alert for the h7n9 strain. they are asking authorities to monitor the spread of the virus. chinese health authorities said sunday at that two men had died of pneumonia in shanghai. a woman in the eastern province is in critical condition. w.h.o. officials say there's no link between the three cases.

w.h.o. investigators are conducting genetic tests on the virus. they're trying to find out how it was transmitted and its level of toxicity. authorities in germany we have report on one activist who challenge polluters and paid the ultimate price. >> reporter: once it was a five-member family but now there are only four left. in late february, the head of the family was killed. a memorial met by neighbors is displayed at his house. >> translator: i grieve that he is gone. he is everything to our family. he did so many things for everyone. i'm sure he died because of his

work for the community. >> reporter: i am standing where he was killed in late february. witnesses say gunman shot him four times in broad daylight before fleeing the scene. the killing shocked villagers because he was a prominent leader in the local movement against environmental pollution. for years, toxic waste dumping has been a blight on the province about 100 kilometers east of bangkok. there are 11 industrial dump sites in the village. most of the toxic waste comes in from the industries that are powering the thai economy. underground water, the only source of drinking water for the village, has been contaminated

by leaking chemicals. villagers have been forced to endure bad smells, skin disease, and headaches. >> translator: around 3,000 villagers have been affected. in their blood, we found phenol, which should not be in the human body. they also found contamination in the groundwater. >> reporter: the victim was fighting along with other villagers and his brother, john. it was brought to the attention of the government and singled out those companies accused of dumping toxic waste. the national human rights commission began an

investigation. police told nhk that the man's activism attracted the attention of a wrong people who then gunned him down. >> translator: there must be a mastermind hiring the hit man. because of this killing is as what the media said, and the residents have known this all along. >> reporter: human rights advocates warn that this case is not uncommon. >> since 2010, more than 35 environmentalist and human right defenders have been killed with little investigation by law enforcement. let alone any successful prosecution of the perpetrators so there is a culture of impunity, a culture of violence. >> reporter: the tragic incident left a widow wife struggling to raise three children without a husband. >> translator: my husband used

to say if he did nothing about this problem the next generation would only have to suffer more. now he's no longer with me. i believe he knows i will do everything i have learned from him and seen him doing because i was with my husband all the time. >> reporter: a police investigation is under way, but so far it has failed to yield any arrests. the truth remains elusive. nhk world, central thailand. emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence, the push for peace, the shadow of conflict. get news and insight every weekday live from bangkok. drenching rain battered east

of madgascar over the weekend. we had double the amount of march or april. this caused heavy rain. let's go to some footage out of this area. sudden downpours left ten people dead over the weekend. it's submerged vehicles and power lines. emergency workers on sunday began clearing debris on roads and repairing power lines. eight workers were handing out food and water supplies on monday. because of the rain band lifting towards the north, rain is easing across more regions. on tuesday clearing conditions are in the forecast. i hope it will help the recovery efforts. somewhere else which has been dealing with heavy rain and serious floods are in the south eastern corner of chie anachina.

it looks like the rainy season started earlier than normal in the surrounding areas. because of days of heavy rain is ground is very well saturated. an additional 120 millimeters or more is likely for a wide area and more heavy rain is in the cars as we head into saturday. conditions will remain quite serious into the next several days here. across japan it was dry and warm yesterday. however, it's a different one today. we are seeing wet and windy conditions once again. this one is blinking warm air from the south. we're going to be seeing very unstable weather. that includes thunderstorms, gusting winds and risk of hail and risk of tornadoes. central japan including tokyo will start to see more intense

rain from tonight into tomorrow morning. that could cause traffic delays. it's going to be chilly once again in tokyo. 11 degrees is four degrees cooler than seasonal. ten degrees in seoul and towards the south bangkok. spring is the hottest season for you. in summer we see monsoonal rain and gray skies. very hot rain. 36 degrees on tuesday. finally in north america showers are easing across the north eastern part of the u.s. but very unstable across eastern canada. additional 25 centimeters of snow is unlikely. again dry weather across the north eastern u.s. but strong winds are creating some lake effect snow across the east coast. towards the south severe weather is ongoing across the southern plains. even tornadoes cannot be ruled out as we head into tuesday. here are your highs.

very chilly in oklahoma city. 8 degrees. across the eastern seaboard a cool down once again. 8 degrees in new york city and 11 in washington, d.c. here is the extended forecast.

>> that concludes this edition of "newsline."

do stay with us. >> lucille clifton grew up in western new york, near buffalo, worked as a government clerk and office assistant. her first book, good times, was rated one of the best books of 1969 by the new york times. lucille clifton, who said, "one should wish to celebrate more

than wish to be celebrated." >> won't you celebrate with me what i have shaped into a kind of life? i had no model. born in babylon both nonwhite and woman what did i see to be except myself? i made it up here on this bridge between starshine and clay, my one hand holding tight my other hand; come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed. ( cheers and applause )