welcome to "newsline." it's friday, may 24th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. british prime minister david cameron has moved to calm fears after an attack in london. he said attacks by extremis will only bring the british people together. >> we will never give in to terror or terrorism in any of its forms. >> two men approached a military man and attacked him to death. one was heard shouting islamic slogans. he said they were acting in revenge for war in muslim

countries. investigators have yet to identify the suspects, but local media report at least one of them was a muslim of nigerian origin. the man was born and raised in britain and is in his 20s. members of an anti-islamic group took to the street to protest the killing. riot police moved in to contain the demonstration. u.s. president obama released a statement. he said the u.s. stands resolute with the united kingdom against violent extremism and terror. delegates from the arab league have thrown their weight behind a conference at ending the war in syria. they met at an emergency meeting in cairo. they discussed ways to help peace efforts to succeed. they did not provide any details.

they said they'd submit their proposals to the u.n. security committee. they're willing to bring members of the government and opposition together at a conference. neither side has confirmed they'll participate in the talks. ncht t ncht. the leaders of japan and thailand agreed to stay in talks. japanese prime minister abe met his thai counterpart on thursday in tokyo. abe described thailand as a key country in the association of southeast asia nations. he is eager to help with development in thailand. positive contributions to such developments will bring about

prosperity for both nations. the offer was welcomed. she suggested that her government will give positive consideration to the matter and promote cooperation with japan in various fields. abe also requested that restrictions be relaxed for thai imports of food products from japan. restrictions were imposed two years ago following the fukushima power plant accident. she said she'll consider the request positively. choe is the director of the general political bureau. he met with liu.

they want to restart the six party talks. north korea's appreciate the efforts the chinese have made toward maintaining peace. he's asked china to help end his country's energy crisis. pakistani media says he asked lee for cooperation to build additional nuclear and hyd hydroelectric power plants. lee promised to strengthen

bilateral economic cooperation. sharif's pakistan muslim league won the general election with the promise of solving severe shortages of electricity. pakistan cannot seek cooperation from western countries because it hasn't signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. it's also been criticized for having transferred nuclear technology to north korea and other countries. after becoming prime minister for the third time, sharif says he wants to visit china at an early date to ensure increased assistance. islamist suicide bombers have attacked two countries in niger. militants broke through defenses in a northern city of then they detonated a car packed with explosiv explosives. at least 19 people were killed. at the same time another group drove into a mine some 250

kilometers away. they said the militants killed one of their employees and wounded 14 others. an islamist group claimed responsibility for both attacks. the insurgents have retaliated with cross border attacks. japanese personnel have been busy fixing up roads and helping out others far from home. now those with the self-defense forces will move further afield as part of peace keeping operations in south sudan. about 350 personnel from the ground self-defense force have been upgrading infrastructure. they decided to expand operations into neighboring areas which are relatively

stable. the japanese will step in. government officials are considering sending more peace keepers to the region to help maintain stability. the nikkei took a nose dive. nothing as big as what tokyo suffered. tell us what was behind that drop. >> what we're hearing is it was a correction because the nikkei has risen so significantly in the last few months. the dow jones briefly fell

more .8 of a percent from the previous days close. the dow ended the day less than .1 lower that the 15,294. many traders regard the slump in tokyo shares. earlier in europe frankfurt and paris all posted a drop a 2%. the nikkei plunged on thursday. it was the sharpest point loss in 13 years. let's go to eileen lee at the tokyo stock exchange. after yesterday's dramatic trading session, how are things

looking now? >> what a change of direction on thursday. at the moment investors are back buying shares. let's look at the for friday. the topix is higher by 3%. the nikkei opened higher on thursday. analysts sis analysts say it contributed to the the trade off. it will continue to be a big

focus today. let's have a look at where the yen is trading in light of all this. the dollar is at 102.47 to 49 against the yen compared to the lower 103 level at the same time on thursday. it fell below 101 in overnight trading touching the lowest level in two weeks. renew concerns about the chinese economy prompted investors to sell the dollar and buy the yen. let's have a look at the euro yen. the euro yen is at 132.36 to 41. recovering from a two week low of 129.94. the euro received a light boost from data that showed consumer confidence in the euro zone improved for a sixth straight month. with the yen giving up some of

its gains we may see investors buy back export related shares and will continue to keep track of that. back to you. >> thanks a lot for that update. ei eileen lee from the tokyo stock exchange. >> the european commission is seeking support from eu nations to launch talks for an investment pack with china. the eu and china agreed in february last year to work towards such an agreement which stipulates investment rules including those for protecting investors. the eu says it will push china to ease regulations. this includes a rule that make it mandatory to launch joint businesses for local firms in china. the commission says it helps to start talks this fall. more business head lilines next

hour. here is a check on markets. first it was hollywood then came india's baliwood. a recent festival in folk owe feature ed films made there. >> reporter: this is a nigerian thriller about two men whose

lives are transformed when they find a statue with hidden powers. the film won five awards at africa's version of the oscars. it w box office smash across africa and has screened in the u.s. and europe. the film's director visited tokyo to show his two films. >> i believe to be able to show the world that we're one and we speak the same language, you know, because entertainment is one thing that brings the world together. >> reporter: nigeria's film industry, nollywood releases more than 1,000 titles a year, peaking it the world's send largest producer of films outside of bollywood.

they're outselling hollywood productions. the price sells for about the price of a cup of coffee. >> it shows what's happening in life, real life. >> reporter: nigerians watch movies at home or in makeshift cinemas with dvd players. most nollywood films are in english. that helps exports to other african countries. nollywood films are traditionally low budget and take just one or two weeks to shoot and edit. but he says that nollywood's film quality is improving fast. his latest romantic comedy, the phone swap, premiered on friday. dozens of people lined up to see the premier of the phone swap.

some people say they have high expectations. others say they don't have any expectations at all. the phone swap tells of a man and a woman from contrasts economic backgrounds who accidentally swap mobile phones. they get embroiled in each other's lives and discover new things about themselves. the tokyo audience gave the film a good reception. >> translator: the mobile phone switch allowed me to see the contrasting lives of the rich and relatively poor. it was superb how they came together at the end.

they are hoping to find a distributor in japan. they think this is the right time for the his films to breakthrough internationally. >> africans are beginning to tell their story from their point of view. we have great stories that have not been told. and everybody's looking to tap into that. and i think that is the future. >> reporter: the nollywood boom has been credited with inspiring filmmakers throughout africa. and film lovers the world over are waiting to see what's coming next from the continent. nhk world, tokyo.

japanese government leaders want to boost exports. one of them gives cardiologist a safer and easier way to reach their patient's hearts by going in through the wrist.

>> reporter: a patient with a heart condition heads for the lab. he's going to have a catheter inserted to have an artery opened that's narrowed. until recently most physicians use the femoral artery in the groin to into the artery. he inserts it at the radial artery. it's about 3 millimeters wide. it's narrower in the femoral artery. this makes it less stressful for patients but difficult for doctors to insert. the procedure begins. >> translator: this is the guide wire. it's as thin as a human hire. the tips extremely flexible. it won't damage the blood

vessel. >> reporter: the guide wire is a crucial device. it leads the catheter to its hard. he reaches the heart in only sektds. the next step is to enlarge the narrowed portion of the artery using a stint. it's a three centimeter long expanding device. it remains in place. this reenforces the wall of the artery. the whole procedure is over in half an hour. patients are usually discharged the following day. >> translator: when i heard it was a heart problem i thought i'd be in if hospital for a month or so. this method is amazing. >> reporter: it's patient friendly. developments in catheter

technology has made it possible. >> translator: it made no sense to produce another product based on conventional ideas. we wanted to make something different. >> reporter: older types of guide wires use stainless steel coated at the tip. they weren't as flexible making it difficult to guide through blood vessels be p th. they replaced the stainless steel. water molecules stick to them. this lubricates them. the guide wire can move more smoothly through narrow blood vessels. this has helped the company gain a 60% share in the market.

>> translator: quality devices let us achieve so much more. at the same time our needs for physicians are driving development. we depend on each other. the company's guide wire is used for many types of treatments on parts of the body including the heart and brain. >> just really amazing there. time to get a check on the weather. people in okinawa are dealing with rain and flooding. >> yes, catherine, drenching rain in okinawa. we have had about 210 millimeters of rain over the past 24 hours. and 100 millimeters fell in a span of just three hours. it's a rainy season, but too much rain is certainly not welcomed.

now the rain is expected to continue throughout the okinawa area. but the rain band is expected to head towards the south into tomorrow. so are we seeing clear conditions, calm conditions on saturday in okinawa. we are seeing a new system coming in. we have this low over southwestern china. this is causing heavy rain. we are expecting as much as 100 millimeters of rain into sichuan and chongqing. the system is expected to head east into the weekend. this means very heavy rain, and rain will likely linger throughout the day. up towards the north, scattered thunderstorms for north iron china and showers for northern japan. and temperatures are rising.

29 in seoul. it looks like the residents there will continue to deal with the summer like conditions into the weekend. tokyo coming up 27 degrees. meanwhile, 32 in chongqing, just a couple degrees cooler than what we saw in the last couple of days. now in north america we can see rotating cloud, this means it's a very slow moving system. we also are seeing late season snow in the northern rockies. winter storm warnings will likely be valid into friday morning. another round of severe weather is firing up in the texas pan handle. we've already seen three tornados in texas, hail the size of a golf ball in some places. meanwhile, we are seeing heavy rein across the east coast. flooding is going to be a big concern. but back behind it, dry, extremely chilly in the great lakes region, 15 degrees in

toronto. meanwhile, only 18 degrees in seattle, but heating up to 28 in denver. in europe, then, extremely chilly across the west. scattered heavy rain for the low-lying areas. this low is expected to head towards the north for russia because of this system, thundershowers, heavy rein is likely in the moscow area on friday. extremely warm, 25 degrees for you. 23 in kiev. but meanwhile, extremely chilly, 9 degrees in london and 11 degrees in paris. so do bundle up. here's the extended forecast.

one more story before we leave you. as you know, many musicians dream of performing at new york's carnegie hall. a group of singers from japan has done just that. ♪ members of a nonprofit group organized the concert. they help people with disabilities take part in musical activities.

170 musicians took part, including members of the choir, a local orchestra and professional singers. the singers performed japanese nursery songs and a special arranged version of beethoven's 9th symphony. event planners say the singers' experience will give them more confidence to overcome challenges. and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.

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