common front. the u.s. and south korean leaders agree to keep up their guard against provocations from north korea. u.s. president barack obama and south korean president park geun-hye are presenting a united message and would not reward what they called bad behavior. leaders in pyongyang have failed to drive a wedge between the u.s. and south korea and the u.s. is prepared to defend itself and its allies and said

the u.s. must take steps towards a korean peninsula that is nuclear free. >> we remain open to the prospect of north korea taking a peaceful path of de-nuclearization, abiding by international commitments. >> translator: north korea cannot survive if it sacrifices the happiness of its people by continuing nuclear development. the country will not be able to achieve prosperity without de-nuclearization. >> park said she's open to talks and ready to build trust. she said south korean and u.s. officials will work together to encourage north koreans to make what she called the right choice. authorities in china appear to be taking their own measure against allies in north korea. the bank of japan is the biggest foreign exchange bank and closed the account of its north korean equivalent. reuters news agency says the

state owned chinese bank notified north korea's foreign trade bank it was stopping all transactions. u.s. officials hit the north korean bank with sanctions in march banning any exchanges with u.s. firms or individuals and accused the bank of helping finance pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. officials said the bank of china gave no reason why they were closing the north korean account and state run media have not reported on the story. syrian rebels have detained four united nations peacekeepers in the golan heights. the took them hostage in march. a group has taken responsibility. the same group seized 21 filipino peacekeepers two months ago in this border area

between syria and israel. they released them three days later. japanese and croatian leaders have pulled out their pace keepers over the last few months over concerns for their security. about 1,000 personnel from austria and the philippines continue to monitor the area. candidates are lining up to become the next president of another ran. the constitution bars mahmoud ahmadinejad from seeking a third term in the election next month. officials have opened up registration for those who want to be his successor. former chief nuclear negotiator hassan rohani was the first to sign up. he has seen economic sanctions hurt the country. mahmoud ahmadinejad has heard repeated criticisms from one of them, the mayor of tehran. former prime minister ali akbar

velayati could draw a lot of votes and khatami and ra raf sanjani may both try to make a come back. former minister of oil has called on japanese firms to benefit from business opportunities there serving as an advisor for prime minister al malaki. they plan to triple the oil production to 9 million barrels by 2020. iraq has already out-paced iran to become the world's second largest producer. >> i firmly believe there is much more room for japanese corporations whether in oil field developments, in gas development, in utilities. >> he added that demand is also expected to surge for highway and housing construction.

the country's unstable security is hampering foreign investment more than 700 people were killed in iraq in april. this was the deadliest month in five years. he says the situation will improve. one thing to mention here, in the story where i mentioned that authorities in china appear to be taking their own measures against their allies in north korea, i mentioned the bank of japan is this country's biggest exchange bank. i incorrectly reported that. it this is bank of china the country's biggest exchange bank. i apologize for any confusion there. people who run japanese stock exchanges are having no problem attracting investors. ai joins us from the business desk with more on that. good morning. >> you're right. the nikkei hit its highest level in about five years on tuesday. this optimistic sentiment is not just in tokyo. investors seem to be feeling

more optimistic about their economic outlooks and firm earnings from american corporates. the dow jones closed above the key 15,000 level the first time ever and ended up 15,056 up. more than half a percent. the s&p 500 also closed at a record high, ending at 1625, also up half a percent. for more on how stocks are trading, let's go to ramin mellegard. stocks keep going higher and higher. how are things starting here in tokyo and what is the big focus for today? >> indeed. quite a surge higher in global stock markets. with the bank of japan and u.s. federal reserve assuring market participants they're continuing to implement measures to boost growth it really looks like investors are persuaded to keep pushing share prices higher and higher. let's look how the nikkei topics are epidemiology up this

wednesday, 14,214, topix, 1,192. and yesterday the nikkei surged higher by over 500 point at one point ending above the 14,000 level you mentioned, ai, the first time since june 2008. since prime minister abe came to power, many were wondering when it would break above 13,000. now the question is, when is it going to hit 15,000. that's the surge and measure we've seen the nikkei higher. the weaker yen has led to a surge in exporters with respect highs and heavy buying from foreign investors and domestic ones and the return in japan which used to be a little bit weaker has shifted and led to domestic and retail investors pouring back into the stock markets as well. >> exciting times at the tse.

you've seen many ups and downs covering the markets. regarding the dollar, we are still to see it reach 100. >> exactly. we did come close, didn't we? back in april 11th, if i'm not mistaken, when it hit 9995. but analysts expect it to break above the 100 yen level with stimulus by the central bank and bank of japan and renewed confidence in some of the data we've seen in the u.s. the jobs data on friday. that helped. $98.85-90 yen and euro at 129.26-29 now. let's not forget, we're really not out of the woods yet as far as earnings is concerned. that's center stage today, ai. big focus on toyota. they're coming out with earnings today after the bell. expectations are for a surge in operating profit amid massive restructuring for toyota. the weaker yen has helped and

will be a guide as well for their forecasts. the aggressive sales drives by toyota in the u.s. and europe. we'll focus back to you. >> thanks a lot for that update. remy mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. the japanese officials corrected the nation's gdp figures and said it shrank at a smaller rate in the october period last year. it shrank at an annualized rate at 0.5% in the three month period, less than the previously announced contraction of 1.3%. private sector economists pointed out the inaccuracy. officials said the m miscalculation was in the value of inports and exports. the gdp growth rate is a crucial barometer for the state of the economy. officials apologized for the error and said they'll conduct further checks to prevent similar mistakes. the world trade organization is said to have its first chief

from latin america. brazilian government officials said their ambassador to the wto, roberto ascevado will be the next leader. they said azevedo was chosen over his mexican contender in the selection process. his experience helped him gain suppo support. he will succeed pascal lamy at the end of august. azevedo is expected to face challenges in the more than 10-year-old doha lateral trade talks and stalled due to developed and emerging economies. the days of the samurai are long gone. the skills that produce their sharp swords live on. one company turned traditional craftsmanship into a world class business.

it's a cut above the competition. >> reporter: this knife is so sharp it cuts like a samurai sword, a hot selling knife used in 47 countries in the world. it is made by a company that employees only six workers and its business goes back six centuries and the craftsmanship has been handed down through generations. the workers still make each of nearly 100 different kinds of knives by hand. the firm grew rapidly by expanding its sales channels abroad. on this day, a canadian buyer visited the maker. >> oh! >> i love this. it's a good size. >> reporter: he had fallen in love with the firm's knife. he bought 13 of them on this

da day. >> i cut one imo very ten. it was beautiful. i think it was the best knife experience of my life. >> reporter: the company's president took over the family's business 16 years ago. back in those days, most people preferred cheaper stainless steel blades. he fears he would soon go bankrup bankrupt. >> i thought about quitting right away but i decided to hang on in the end. i didn't want to see my life end without trying everything i could. >> translator: he had to come up with new products in order to survive. he decided to try making razor sharp knives using the craftsmanship he had inherited. the red heated part is iron.

the black part is the blade made of steel. the harder the steel, the sharper the blade. he uses pure and tough carbon steel for knife making. this type of steel is hard to forge. too much heat and it will crack. after some three years of trial and error, the sword smith learned to control the color and size of the flames. and here is his final product. see what it can do. these slices look almost like pieces of art. moritaka next turned his eye to overseas markets. he launched an english websites and peppered it with words like

samurai to appeal to potential customers. soon, he started receiving orders from chefs overseas. he handled requests for knives with the edges angled and thinned down to a tenth of a millimeter. moritaka managed to wipe out loss. sales climbed five-fold in 15 years. >> translator: you need a pair of skilled hands and keen eyes to read the times. they are like two wheels of a cart. we have to have both of them to keep things going. >> reporter: to date, moritaka has been getting orders from the united states and european countries. now, he has his eyes set on the growing markets in asia. >> i will have more stories and business for you next hour.

for now, i will leave you with a check on markets. a fuel tanker truck has exploded on a highway in the out-skirts of mexico city. at least 28 people killed and 38 injured. police believe the driver lost control of the vehicle after it hit a center divide. flames engulfed vehicles in some 20 homes that lined the highways. officials say most of the

casualties are residents. police and firefighters began searching for victims in the debris after the fire was put out. the president has offered condolences through the internet. the driver was injured and detained at a hospital. police are questioning him to find out the cause of the deadly crash. one of the philippines most active volcanos has erupted. four xwegerman climbers and the filipino guide were hurt. it started spewing out rocks and ash tuesday. the eruption lasted just over a minute. an eruption in 2009 forced about 50,000 people to flee the area. a recent period of calm has attracted tourists back to the mountain. the volcano rises almost 2,500 meters. thousands of tourists travel to the area every year to see its

near perfect cone shape. chinese students hear more and more these days about the troubled relations between their country and japan. government leaders have been arguing over a group of islands controlled by japan but claimed by china and taiwan. some high school students are getting a different narrative, learning about life from a different perspective. >> reporter: three years ago, a high school in shanghai started a program for students who want to study in japan. it's the only high school in china where most classes of math and physics are taught in japanese. every teacher and textbook comes from japan.

♪ after studying for two years the students go to japan. there, they finish their last year at the partner high school. after graduating, they can apply to japanese universities. every student who has taken part in this program has gone on to study in japan. there are 28 students in the first year. most grew interested in japan through anime and other pop culture. >> translator: i love japanese culture, people, and manga. >> reporter: lu ling directs the school. he studied in japan 25 years ago. he says the good manners of the japanese surprised him the most. when he went to a baseball game, he was amazed that no one left any litter in the stands. he says japanese can teach chinese many things. >> translator: a man might have

social responsibilities, but chinese education barely teaches them at all. that's the problem. >> reporter: lu wants to increase the number of the partner schools in japan. but no school has shown any interest, perhaps because of cool relations between the governments. >> translator: i think anti-japan protests here worry them. but i want them to understand that there are many chinese like us who love japan. >> reporter: 16-year-old hu yuliang is in the first year of the program. his mother recommended that he enroll. >> translator: i want to study in japan and get more exposure to the culture.

>> reporter: hu's mother also studied in japan. she thinks that her son's studies there will give him an edge in finding a job. >> translator: since i have a fondness for japan, i hope my son will find a job that's related to the country. >> reporter: his father never lived in japan, but he says he's not worried about his son going there despite tension between the governments. >> translator: relations between japan and china are not good, but politics and ordinary people's lives exist on different plains. while he's there, i hope he learns positive things from the japanese, like their incredible work ethic. >> reporter: even though the two countries aren't seeing eye to eye, the chinese students are excited about going to japan.

one day, they might have warmer relations between the two countries. taichi matsuoka, nhk world, shanghai. >> most chinese students who want to study in other asian countries choose japan. some experts say it's because parents want their children to land good jobs after graduation. they think that despite diplomatic tension between japan and china, economic ties remain strong. white bait fishing has resumed in the ibaraki

prefecture for the first time since 2011. fisherman from northern ibaraki set sail early tuesday. the port is south of the crippled fukushima daiichi plant. white bait fishing was suspended after high-levels of radioactive activity was seen. after the nuclear accident. they found a fish that were free of radioactivity. >> translator: our goal is to sell white bait from our region. now that we are fishing again. >> the white bait caught on tuesday will undergo radiation contamination tests. if the fish is confirmed to be safe, it will be shipped to the wholesale market in tokyo early next week. time to get a check on the weather. people in northern japan are dealing with wintry weather conditions. our meteorologist tells us about

that and more in world weather. a cool air mass is blankets northern japan lowering temperatures. some areas of freezing temperatures in the morning. not just people but cherry trees are shriveling under the cold. yesterday, temperatures were 66 degrees lower than average. the cherry trees started blossoming last month, 10 days later than average years and only part of them have begun to bloom and the cherry festivals have been postponed. the park is deserted. the cold air will move away from japan today so warmer weather is coming into northern japan finally. for example the prefecture you just saw in the video, getting back to temperatures thursday and double digits will continue into friday. winter will finally come to an end in northern japan. as for tokyo, 27 degrees on

friday. this is something we're looking forward to. as for china then, unstable weather will continue in northeastern china including thunderstorms as well as short-time heavy rain. to the south, heavy rain is coming down in southern china. once again, this is the rainy season we have to contend with. however, too much rain is not welcomed. unfortunately, an additional 150 millimeters or more is likely into the next three day, enough to trigger further flooding as well as landslides. you'll noy another area of heavy rain can be found in northern parts parts. and very chilly for this time of year. only 9 degrees expected. still on the warmer side and tokyo coming up 22 degrees with abundance of sunshine today. north america, there are a couple of low pressure systems i want to mention. this one right here is producing heavy rainfall. this has been moving very slowly, so the rainfall total

could be quite huge. some areas had about 300 millimeters of rain over the past three days, enough to trigger flooding and expected to move towards the north while producing thunderstorms and risk of hail and looks like the system will reach the new england states on wednesday. out west, scattered thundershowers for the western u.s. according to the u.s. weather agency. 3,000 lightning strikes have been reported in california. if you're close enough to hear rumbles of thunder, you're close enough to be struck. please be cautious. meanwhile, our severe weather is expected to erupt at the southern plains wednesday and tornadoes cannot be ruled out. temperatures 30 degrees in oklahoma city as well as houston, 21 degrees in the nation's capital. 14 degrees expected in winnipeg, a sharp drop compared to what we saw tuesday. in europe, severe weather continues in the central parts of the mediterranean.

even hail is likely here. by wednesday evening, northern italy will get clear but severe weather continue wednesday and heavy thundershowers in the british isle and widespread rain for the scandinavian part of the peninsula. 25 degrees in berlin, summer-like conditions but towards the west, only 16 degrees in london wednesday. here's our extended forecast.

that is all for this edition of the "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.

do stay with us.

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