cautious approach. u.s. president barack obama softens his threat over syria. he says he won't rush into the syria war but says he wants more information about how and when chemical weapons were used in syria. he said he would consider military action if intelligence agents can find hard evidence. >> the use of chemical weapons would be a game changer. not simply for the united states, but for the international community. >> obama said such weapons have the potential of killing massive

numbers of people in the most n inhumane way possible. he said he'll work with leaders at the united nations and those with the countries neighboring syria to investigate. obama said he ordered the defense department and intelligence agencies last year to prepare the options that might be available. he made it clear he would like to have the backing of his allies before escalating american involvement. residents of damascus have seen another bombing on their streets. a powerful explosion rocked the syrian capital. at least 30 people killed and more than 70 injured. state tv show ed people and the used the word terrorists to refer to opposition forces. the prime minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt a day earlier. a bomb exploded in central damascus as his convoy was passing by. militants have targeted a

government office district in a series of bombings. residents loyal to president bashar al assad could be losing their grip on the capital. farmers are taking drastic measures to feed their livestock and say the embargo on the gaza strip has forced them to feed them flowers. in the 1990s, farmers started exporting about 10 million flowers a year to europe. that changed when israelis started closing checkpoints. farmers have shipp eped only ha their products this year and lost about $1 million. they're giving the flowers to their livestock. >> translator: it is very sad to feed flowers i produced with lots of effort to sheep. and honestly, i have no choice. >> spokespersons for the u.n. and human rights groups have criticized the israeli restrictions. they say the embargo makes it

difficult for palestinians to earn a living. thousands of dutch people crammed outside the royal to catch a capitalism of their new king. queen beatrix stepped down and made way for her son, willem-alexander. he is the first dutch king in 123 years. he turned 46 last week and is the youngest king in europe. he took on a position largely stripped of power. the 2,000 guests included royalty from across europe and the middle east, dutch government officials and leaders of international organizations. king willem-alexander and the queen appeared outside the royal palace with their three daughters to the delight of the 3,000 people in the square below. turn their thumbs down on

another member of the euro zone. joining us with that and other stories from our business desk. good morning to you, yuko. >> very good morning. >> seems as though europeans just get through one thing and we hear about another. >> it seems that way. this time, moody's downgraded its rating for slovenia, a tiny state made in have difficulty rai raising cash from foreign investors. they have downgraded slovenia's debt to junk status. moody's has cut the debt by two notches to ba 1, down from baa 2. the agency leaves the rating with a negative outlook suggesting a further downgrade. after the global credit crunch, slovenia experienced a corporate failures mainly in the construction agency and left the banks with a huge amount of bad

loans prompting the state to put these institutions under state control. moody's said it made the downgrade because slovenia may have to pay more public funds to disposition of the growing loans and fear the government itself may need a bailout from the eu and other international organizations. still in europe, the yo eurozone's unemployment rate hit another record high. the 17 member countries continue to struggle with recession. the jobless rate hit 12.1% in march. this was up from 12% the previous month, according to official figures from euro stat. spain had the highest rate at 26.7% followed by portugal and cypr cyprus. the latest available rate for greece in january is 27.2%. nearly 60% of workers under 25 are jobless in greece. the figure was 55.9% in spain. citizens are calling for new

policies, such as further monetary easing by the european central bank. they say the weak economy and high unemployment are due to the euro zone's austerity policies. now to markets. the dow jones continued higher for a fourth day in a row. the u.s. blue chip index ended at 14,839, up .14%. the nasdaq ended at 3,328 up 6.5% on a jump in apple shares. now, for more on how stocks here are trading, let's go to ramin at the tokyo stock exchange. stock prices ended higher but still some question marks about growth in the world's biggest economy. how is the stock reacting to this, ramin? >> yes. some question marks there that rose from the recent key data in the u.s. on tuesday, we did have positive whole prices as well as consumer spending.

chicago manufacturing data actually missed expectations. so a bit of a mixed picture there. let's see how all that's translating into the opening levels for today, may 1st. both indexes trading lower in the first few minutes of trading. nikkei down and topics down there almost half a percent. just a reminder about april. the dow and nasdaq and the u.s. ended up almost 2%. if you look at the levels for the nikkei, very impressive indeed. one of the best aprils since 1993, almost 20 years. it was up almost 12% in april. 12% for the nikkei. that's largely on the back of the measures taken by the bank of japan earlier in the month to boost growth and to achieve that 2% inflation target or goal that the bank of japan has set itself. that was a big boost for the nikkei. we've also been in the thick of earnings results in japan as

well. with the grounded fleet of boeing 787s, having a distinct impact on the earnings figures for all nippon airway, ana as well as the newly reformed japan airlines, which came out with earnings yesterday, both were relying heavily on that new fleet to boost growth and instead, it's really put a dent in their plans. we'll follow the share prices for ana as well as japan airlines today as well. te telecom shares, soft bank, one of the biggest telecommunications mobile firms in japan, group profits down 8.7% in the just ended fiscal year. it also added its acquisition target of u.s. sprint next tell is still on course. we'll watch shares of that as well. >> what about currencies? what's going on in that market this morning? >> let's have a look. dollar yen.

the data we had in the u.s. weighed a little bit on sentiment. investors really also want to see what the fed may say about the economy when it wraps up a two-day policy meeting wednesday. currently, 97.21-25. euro, 128.02-07 and after we saw a rise for the unemployment rate in march and what the upcoming central bank may do at its meet meeting slated for thursday. back to you. >> thanks. >> ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. major banks are set to raise fixed interest rates for many home loans due to the rise in japanese bond yields. they adjust the rates every month and use government 10 year bonds as a yardstick. it fell to a record .3%. at one point, after the bank of japan announced monetary easing measures in april. the yields rose and now hovering

around .6%. four japanese banks will raise their 10 year mortgage rates to may to at least 1.4%, up .05 percentage points from april. the president of japan airlines says heal be putting 787 dreamliners back into service in a month. aviation authorities grounded the boeing planes in january because of battery problems. airlines can fly the jets again once they make modifications. the president says the carrier will start using the 787s on june 1st for five international flights. destinations include boston and san diego. jal has seven dreamliner jets. last week, u.s. aviation authorities said airlines could fly the planes again provided they fix the battery systems and carry out tests. the japanese transport ministry gave its own approval last friday.

executives say all nippon airways said they will resume 787 service on june 1st. ana has 17 dreamliners. that's all for now. i'll leave you with the market figures. japa is now closer than ever to gaining heritage status. an advisory panel is backing the

bid and a decision could be made in june. officials of the international council on sites recommended the iconic mountain be listed as a world heritage site. >> i was relieved. we cleared the biggest hurdle and now just waiting for the heritage committee in june. >> they will be discussing it in june. japan now has 12 locations registered as unesco cultural heritage sites and four natural heritage sites. a highway connecting cambodia, vietnam and thailand will be widened using financial aid from japan. the road is expected to become a major transportation route when asean or the association of southeast asian natiean nations regional community in 2015. officials attended a ceremony on

tuesd tuesday. the 11 kilometer highway will be widened. the japanese government will provide $91 million for the construction work. [ speaking foreign language ] >> the expansion work is scheduled to be finished in five years. tennis isn't a sport that's particularly associated with the philippines, but that could be about to change if one young player has his way. it could also mean a better future for his family if their support putting him through an elite tennis academy has dividends. >> reporter: a high end it's home to the philippinetenn. rpecutives, some of omto btennisros

built this school with their own money. their goal, to now train junior filipino players to compete on the world stage. children between 12 and 15 are selected from across the country and travel to the academy to live and train. everything is provided for free. and a necessary arrangement as most of the children are from poor families. 13-year-old brian is a student here. he began distinguishing himself la november.ntering the academy he is the sixth in the domestic rankings for 16 year olds and under. >> i make number one in the philippines to play

international games in other country. >> reporter: the children's day begins with a 7 kilometer run. representing the country provide the training. on this day, they work on their serves. >> put your right hand on your ear. >> reporter: brian was born in the mountainous region. it's in the southern philippines, about 800 kilometers from manila. he returned there for the first time in several months. 0 he began playing tennis when he was 8 years old. his family was struggling to make ends meet, so he had to practice with secondhand equipment.

in elementary school, he won regional championships more than 20 times. that drew the attention of academy officials who scouted him. the family has no source of income. they have high expectations for brian's career. >> i have big hope. i hope, i hope bryan will get, will get his ambition in life so that he can help us. >> reporter: an asian regional championship was held in march. it was the first major international competition for brian. he played a south korean boy. brian tried to beat his opponent on the forehand, his strongest side, but the south korean

player still dominated him anyway and won easily. the game made brian realize how tough it is to compete internationally. >> translator: i will practice hard from tomorrow again. i want to work harder to support my family. >> reporter: the children of the academy see tennis as a way to a better future, both for themselves and for their families. that's why when they're on the court, it's more than a game for them. it's also the chance to create the whole new life. nhk world, manila.

>> actors who work in kabuki have performed their dramas for audiences across japan and around the world. they don't just work in big cities. even today amateur actors in small venues are struggling to keep the art alive. for one troop, it's an a local tradition, using it as a way to revive their community. >> the district gifu city. this area used to be the commercial heart of town.

vibrant, full of life. a decline started after world war ii. businesses moved away and so did many of the residents. a group of young shop owners is trying to do something about it. three years ago they started the gifu young masters club. the group has been promote iing cultu cultural and sports activities. that brought people together again. the club still felt something was missing. a sense of community. that's when they learned at gifu ha bucky, ha buky. it was popular before the war. >> translator: we had to think about ways to get people in this town to come together and get things turned around.

>> reporter: trouble was no one in the group had any kabuki experience, not on the stage anyway. >> translator: when i was a student, i always work behind the scenes at the school arts festivals. >> i'm a british priest. it's hard playing the role of a woman. >> reporter: a meale geisha, he is passing on his performing skills to the group. >> i used to teach these moveme movements everyday, so it comes easily to me.

>> translator: we've been having fun in the rehearsals. hopefully, we can convey that spirit in the show. >> reporter: it's the day of the performance. all the seats are filled. for latecomers, it's standing room only. back stage, the actors can sense the anticipation, and the tension is building. >> translator: let's just have fun out there. item a bit nervous. >> they are performing the story of former lovers who meet again in very different circumstances.

[ applause ] >> this play was first performed more than 150 years ago. and remains popular to this day. the audience relates to the story and to the familiar faces on the stage. >> translator: it was funny that the guy playing a woman still had a beard. >> translator: i hope we can do more things like this. it's our mission to create more events in the future. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: gifu kabuki back to life. the young masters club has found a way to bring neighbors together. they hope other residents will get involved in future performances. people across southeastern china are trying to deal with the effects of widespread

flooding. ma shoji has the details in the world morning report. >> good morning. you're absolutely right. people in southeastern china have been dealing with this now. let me show you a video and the conditions. as you can see, heavy downpours since monday morning have triggered extensive landslides and flooding. officials said that more than 2,000 people were affected and over 10,000 were displaced. hundreds of houses were severely damaged. and unfortunately, conditions could get worse as rain is expected to linger throughout the day in the similar regions across southeastern china. you can see all this rain coverage. it looks like it's going be tapering off. it looks like we're going to be seeing about 50 millimeters of additional rain on top of what we already had. in gaung dang province, 150

millimeters. the ground is well saturated. so further flooding from these, any kind of additional rain will be upping the risk. and also landslides as well as mud slides. to the north of that, high pressure systems will cover, dominating much of central regions as well as northern china. and temperatures will be above norm, especially mongolia. we'll take a look at that temperature later on. here across japan, northern areas are seeing cold air aloft. and that's actually turning the precipitation over in how kkkai to snow. thursday and friday, you're likely to see snow instead of rain. some icy conditions there. and any additional rain will trigger avalanche. we're going to see the temperatures rising up to 18 degrees, beijing at 25 degrees. well above your norm. and 20 degrees.

s summer-like temperatures for you. moving to north america, lots happening in the central regions here. winter storm warnings widely posted in colorado and wyoming. you're likely to see 30 additional centimeters of additional snowfall. looks like you just can't get rid of winter here. this cold front is actually the borderline of the unseasonably cold air. from canada. this is the area where we're looking at some severe weather to erupt. hail, damaging gusts are all likely. and we're not going to be ruling out the fact that there are chances of tornadic activity all the way in the upper midwest. as you can see, temperatures are drastically different from the east to the west. chicago at 28 degrees, well above your normal territory. denver down to 1 degree. and los angeles, you're going to see breezy conditions with 25 degrees, with that warmth combined fire weather is likely. now, moving over to

australia, where we have been tracking this storm system, storm warnings are posted widely across the coastal areas. it is now a category 2 hurricane. tropical cyclone, zane, is going to be increasing in intensity and possibly making landfall thursday your local time. do watch out for flooding and landslides here if you are in the coastal areas. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm raja prada in tokyo. do stay with us on "nhk world."

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