hello there, and welcome to "newsline." it is wednesday, may 20th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. french president francois hollande is urging countries to make a commitment to reducing greenhouse gases. he is preparing to host the u.n. climate change conference scheduled for december in paris. and he is encouraging participants to get their emissions targets in early. >> translator: we have 200 days before c.o.p. 21. the clock is ticking.

hollande said so far only about 40 countries have submitted targets to the u.n. and he stressed the need for financial support to help developing nations reach their targets. he spoke at a meeting in berlin to delegates from over 30 countries, including japan, the united states and china. they worked on a new framework to tackle global warming. the goal is to create a framework that the nearly 200 members of the u.n. conference in december can agree to. japan is one of the countries that have not yet handed in targets. environment minister yoshio mochizuki says he understands that some countries want japan to announce its target as soon as possible. >> translator: i told the delegates that the prime minister plans to explain japan's ambitious target which is in line with the national standard during the upcoming g-7 summit. >> climb change is expected to be at the top of the agenda at

the g-7 summit scheduled for next month in germany. syrian government troops are facing a new setback. they've lost control of more territory after insurgents seized the last major army base in the northwest. members of a british-based syrian human rights organization say a group with links to al qaeda seized the base. another islamic militant group stormed the base after fierce fighting with security forces. government troops withdrew from the provincial capital in march after it fell to opposition fighters. syria's civil war has been fought between government forces insurgents and islamic state militants. the government has gained the upper hand against anti-government groups since 2013, but among the anti-government forces the front and other islamist groups are cooperating more closely and regaining ground in the northern

region. government forces have control of areas near the palmyra ruins but militants are closing in on the world heritage site. japan's prime minister shinzo abe wants to make it easier for taiwan to import food from his country. and he's asked ruling party lawmakers to get involved. taiwanese officials tightened control last friday over fears of radiation from the 2011 fukushima nuclear accident. the new rules will only allow foods with government issued certificates of origin to enter taiwan. abe met with former state minister for foreign affairs nobuo kish ey and other lawmakers who belong to a group that promotes relations with taiwan. he reported to the prime minister that during a recent visit to taiwan, they asked the president to lift the tighter restrictions as soon as possible. abe said the authorities and general population of taiwan should be made aware of the safety of japanese food. the japanese association of

zoos and aquariums are deciding on whether to leave the global organization. the world association of zoos and aquariums suspended the japanese group's membership on april 21st. it argues that japanese facilities obtain dolphins in a way that runs counter to international ethical rules. the members of the group had nearly 290 dolphins at the end of 2012. many were captured by method called drive hunting in wakayama prefecture. the world body is urging the group not to purchase mammals captured in this way. jaza has asked all members to express their views. the group faces expulsion if it doesn't address the issue by thursday. we've got some fresh snapshot of the health of the world's third largest economy. japan officials have released the latest growth data.

ai uchida joins us with all the details. >> officials have released the preliminary figures for gross domestic product, gdp, it is for the january to march period. they say gdp rose for a second straight quarter. first quarter gdp grew in real terms by 0.6% from the previous quarter. that works out to annualized growth of 2.4%. the figures are higher than what many analysts and investors had expected. the data shows that consumer spending continues to grow rising by 0.4%. capital spending by businesses rose by 0.4% too. that was the first increase in four quarters. and housing investment climbed by 1.8%. shoppers in japan have tightened their wallets since last year's consumption tax rise, but as the impact of the hike weakens, consumers may finally be returning to the stores.

nhk world reports. >> in this housing exhibition in tokyo, major housing companies are s showing o their latest models. housing sales in japan have been in a real slump since the tax hike, but the managers of housing companies say things are starting to turn around. company managers say more visitors are coming this year to view model houses. they say the attitude of visitors is also changing. >> translator: i'm thinking of buying a house. >> translator: my company's performance has improved since the second half of last year so i feel a little more optimistic. >> housing starts have been in a slump for over a year but this march the tide finally turned. rising stock prices and wages. the company that built the show houses, business for the first quarter of this year is up about

9% compared to a year ago. company officials say though orders are still around 9% down from two years ago but they think they've hit bottom. >> translator: the number of customers is edging up. the good thing is that we're seeing people who are serious about buying a house. >> business is picking up in the retail sector too. at this department store in tokyo, sales is of luxury goods slumped after the tax hike last april. but they've since rebounded and now top prehike levels. the stores catering to a growing number of foreign tourists. the store has set up a tax refund desk for foreign customers. in february sales here inched up from a year earlier when consumers were rushing to beat the tax hike. >> i come here every maybe two or three months. the price after the yen depression is more and more

reasonable. >> unlike their foreign counterparts however, many domestic shoppers are still careful with their spending. >> translator: i think it's important to spend only on things that i really need and to buy with good quality in mind. >> the department store has launched a strategy to boost sales. a seasonal dpan. >> translator: this is our new summer item. we started selling summer items two weeks earlier than last year. >> the idea is to lure customers by putting new items from the summer season on display from april. managers say it also gives customers more time to enjoy shopping. department store executives the say sales for may so far are good. >> translator: customers are selecting items more carefully than ever. we must provide something that they don't have or something

that's unique. an item that they really want. >> an economist says consumer spending in japan will continue to recover helped by wage increases and low crude oil prices but he says the recovery lacks strength. >> translator: salary hikes are not enough to make up for the tax hike and the weaker yen. so it will take more time before the economy fully recovers. real income has increased from last year but people are saving not spending. >> as the japanese economy continues its moderate recovery consumers are starting to become less cautious. corporate managers are now working harder to get them to open up their wallets. kyoko fujita nhk world. so with gdp figures better than analysts had expected let's see how tokyo markets are

reacting. we go to ramin mellegard for that, he's standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. what are you seeing so far this morning? >> very good morning to you. a bit of a mixed ending in the u.s. markets, but pretty positive all around here in tokyo. let's have a look at the opening levels for the nikkei and the topix. 20,195, up 0.8% for the nikkei the broader topix up 0.75%. just a reminder overnight the dow jones industrial average posted an awe-time high inching up 0.07%. the tech-heavy nasdaq did fall. investors were cheered by the u.s. april housing starts that were the highest since 2007. that pushed bond yields higher and the dollar higher. and a solid recovery in the u.s. may just be on the cards. now, in sharp contrast and a point investors will be concerned about was the opposite in eurozone.

you're looking at german bonds there. investor confidence data showed a sharp fall for may in germany which caused a sell-off in the euro and bond yields falling as well. investors rushing into the safety of bond. domestically we've been covering earnings for the past two weeks here. a lot of focus on a lot of companies which have shown a spike in higher dividend payments, share buy backs and pretty positive growth forecasts as well. however, one source of negativity according to analysts, has also been some of the recall issues for takata. i know that you're going to go into a lot more detail on that but i will of course cover share price action for takata and, of course related auto sector stocks as well. ai? >> sounds good ramin. i did want to ask you about currency. you mentioned data in the u.s. gave a leg up to the dollar. where are the key levels now. >> housing starts wa a bit of a boost for the greenback.

dollar/yen 120.68 to 73. also the euro on the flipside of course, weakened falling at one point 1.5% against the dollar after that decline in german investor confidence data. now the sell-off in the common currency was also accelerated by words from european central bank official indicating the ecb would possibly increase its bond buying program in coming months. now, i also want to keep on top of asian indexes really. you're looking at the shanghai composite. it skyrocketed on tuesday registering its best day in four months jumping 3.1% investors taking cheer from hopes of economic reforms. taiwan's index rising on component makers for apple products. so pretty positive so far. we'll see how that develops. that's all for me. back to you. >> we'll talk to you in a few hours time. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. japanese airbag manufacturer

takata says it will comply with u.s. transportation regulators demands. they plan to double a recall in nearly 34 million vehicles. the largest automotive recall in american history. >> today i announce that takata has agreed to declare that air bag inflaters are defective. it is recalling these inflaters and these recalls are nationwide. >> the recall includes 17 million vehicles takata had already agreed to call in for replacement air bags. those models are made by 11 automakers including honda and toyota. authorities believe faulty takata air bags are to blame for six deaths worldwide. takata officials had previously limited their recall to specific regions, most of which are in the southern u.s. they've explained that warm and humid conditions could cause its air bags to malfunction, but transportation regulators

ordered takata to expand the recall nationwide. takata executives say they've told the transportation department of a possible manufacturing problem. the company says it's committed to working with u.s. authorities. more for you in business next hour. here's another check on markets. representatives from around the world have been searching for consensus on nuclear weapons disarmament. discussions have been taking place at the united nations in the review conference of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. a hiroshima atomic bomb survivor screened a documentary he made

to show how the bombing destroyed his home town and people's lives. nhk world reports. >> reporter: an international audience came together in the united nations to see graphic evidence of an atomic bomb attack. >> the characteristic mushroom cloud. >> reporter: masaaki tanabe produced this film. he was born and raised in a house next to the building now known as the atomic bomb dome. he lost his parents and brother to the attack when he was 7. tanabe was outside the city at the time. two days later, he went back. but things would never be the same. he tried to shut out the painful

memories. when tanabe turned 60, he changed his mind. he felt a need to pass down to future generations what ground zero used to look like. tanabe used computer graphics to recreate the streets and houses before the explosion. his documentary films have been screened abroad. he realized that many people didn't know the consequences of the bombing. >> translator: in reality, a large number of civilians were sacrificed and subjected to suffering, but many people don't realize this. >> reporter: tanabe thought hard to make sure the facts were understood. he interviewed former residents to learn more about what they had experienced. creating the new film took five years.

it was ready for viewing in new york. tanabe depicted the daily lives of people in hiroshima before the tragedy. in addition to the computer graphics, he included videos, drawings and photos he collected. in the morning of august 6th, 1945, the bomb was dropped. drawings by survivors portrayed the agony. >> they were drawn by the survivors themselves. >> reporter: including tanabe's

own recollections. >> the baby suckling his dead mother. a young mother singing a lullaby with her burned baby in her arms. >> reporter: details like those have stayed with survivors over the years. [ speaking in japanese ] >> reporter: viewers felt a connection with the survivors by the time the film had ended. >> it is so important that people actually emotionally feel

the tragedy. >> with your struggle, you have created a document that is so important for everyone in the world to see. >> thank you very much. i remember always. thank you. [ applause ] >> translator: i feel a sense of accomplishment in this special environment at the united nations, i could feel that people understood what i wanted to convey. >> reporter: tanabe hopes that people everywhere will think and act in ways to create a world free from wars and nuclear weapons. reporting for nhk world, new york. sumo fans in tokyo are seeing the action in the ring

heat up in the second week of the grand tournament. our sumo expert, hiro morita, is here to tell us about some of the leading contenders for the title. >> going into day ten, three rikishi tied for the lead. as expected, one is yokozuna grand champion, hakuho. he has his sights on winning his 35th empress cup. hakuho's only loss so far the opening day of the tournament. since then, he has been unstoppable. and he came into day ten on an eight-bout winning streak. the rank and file is no match for the mighty yokeozunayokozuna. hakuko shuts down the offense and blows him away. hakuho has won nine straight. his fighting as a sekiwake in the third highest rank but the 23-year-old from mongolia could make the step up to the highest

rank of ozeki as long as he wins the title this time or comes in as runner-up. he went down to his second defeat on monday so he has no margin for error if he wants to achieve his promotion to ozeki. terunofuji catches him and incapacitates the little man with a withering double arm lock. terunofuji goes 8-2. homegrown ozeki got off to a slow start last week but he's been looking strong since then. there are many fans in japan hoping to see him win his first empress cup. sen o satto came into day ten with seven wins and ten losses. the 28-year-old has been competing in the top division over a decade but still hasn't won a championship. can he finally make it this time? he was up against another ozeki goeido. goeido charges forward but

kisenosato holds his ground. he allows him to gain a deep inside position. he finishes him off to stay in touch with the leaders with just two losses. now here are the standings at the end of day ten. hakuho is in the lead with just one loss with rikishi kaisei who is from brazil. right behind them is kisenosato terunofuji and three others. with so many in contention the empress cup looks likely to go down to the wire. over the last five years it will be the survival of the fittest and the rikishi who is in the best shape will walk away with the title. i'll be back next week to let you know who came out on top. >> we look forward to that. hero hero moreiro morita our sumo expert.

robert speta joins us with more on world weather. >> at least at this point we are seeing some improving conditions, especially across the islands. we have 2,000 people out there through the overnight hours. winds recorded upwards of 151 kilometers an hour up on chichijima. is a record breaking high wind gust for the month of may. let's go to video we have out of the area. it shows you what the winds looked like during the overnight hours. big thing about these islands, they do get typhoons quite often but they're typical most of the structures are built out of concrete and most have storm windows. people just brace through the overnight hours and wait for the storm to pass by. now it's racing towards the northeast.

but also back here towards honshu the express was closed due to high waves coming on shore. this is something we're continuing to talk about with this. as that does push east and moves off to the north there, expect this to continue to weaken. technically, still a typhoon at this point, but it really is starting to lose some of its tropical characteristics as it moves off there. high pressure works behind it. we have a little bit of a low pushing over hokekaido today. the tail end could trigger up thunderstorms in parts of honshu, even the plain, i wouldn't be surprised if we hear a few rumbles of thunder as we go through the afternoon hours. hot and moist out there. meanwhile, down toward the south, remember what we were mentioning yesterday official start of the rainy season, you can see with that frontal area. it is continuing to linger. not only southern japanese islands getting showers but also parts of southeastern china, see upwards of 240 millimeters, a few isolated locations, definitely

is the threat of flooding out here for you. let's talk about your temperatures now. hong kong with a high of 29. taipei, 32. staying on the warm side there for you. beijing getting up to 29 as well. tokyo, going to be seeing some decent weather. as i mentioned, some areas of the plain could see some thunder, 26, partly cloudy skies. take a look at the americas. severe weather continuing to erupt here across the central plains. we do have those thunderstorms still flaring up in some fairly heavy precipitation working in with that. also there is the risk of some hail and even tornadoes coming out of this. meanwhile, the other side of the country, there into new england, another storm system, working its way out the door, but the big thing i think with this is we have the cold air wrapping in behind it. temperatures will be going down, even some snowfall possible in parts of ontario as well. new york, high of 22. look at toronto, chicago, just 8 and 14 there for your high. wrap things up here in europe. big topic here is this swirl on the satellite picture extending off of that, the cold front pushing down there toward the

south, tail end of that, another low. the big thing all of this is bringing that threat of some rather rough weather as this drags its way off there towards the east. it is even bringing some cooler temperatures, some snow in the higher elevations. but if you are here in eastern europe the precipitation is going to move through on your wednesday and thursday and temperatures are going to feel a little more spring-like by friday. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in toky than vep for jnings.

michaela: in the end, less than 30 survived. it took the deaths of some 800 migrants during the sinking of one ship for the european union to once again start paying attention to the mass deaths of migrants in the mediterranean. overnight funding for sea rescue has been tripled. italy had organised its own rescue mission before. mare nostrum came in response to an earlier disaster, but when that ran out of funding last october, the eu's focus was firmly back on protecting its borders with no migration policy in sight hello and welcome to our special programme on the growing crisis on the mediterranean. here's what we've got coming up.

why people risk everything to leave. we head to eritr