hello there and welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, may 26th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. indians are suffering through a fatal heat wave. more than 500 people have died from the hot weather. temperatures soared to 47 agrees celsius in eastern parts of the country. people in the capital -- heatstroke and dehydration have caused most of the deaths. patients are flooding hospitals across the country but with frequent blackouts many arrive to find no air-conditioning or

electric fans. officials are trying to set up stations to distribute water and dairy products. they are urging people to stay indoors. weather forecasters predict that the heat may last for a week. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has instructed cabinet ministers to ensure they met in tokyo and issued a joint statement. in the statement the statement says the two countries will start talks towards signen an agreement on the transfer of defense equipment and technology. it will be the first time for japan to engage in such talks with an asean member. >> translator: prime minister -- and i agreed to strengthen our cooperation on a wide range of international issues. we will elevate the relationship between our countries to the level of a strategic

partnership. >> we believe that the relationship between malaysia and japan will grow steadily advance in many, many new areas, including defense, cooperation, maritime cooperation. >> the leaders also confirmed the importance of maritime disputes being settled in a peaceful way and based on international law. abe expressed his hopes that malaysia will adopt the shinkansen bullet train technology. malaysian authorities say they have found more than 100 graves thought to contain the remains of migrants. they were discovered around camps run by human trafficking networks. the authorities are trying to determine whether the remains are those of minority rohingya

muslims who fled persecution in myanmar. the discovery was made in northern malaysia close to the border with thailand. >> we have discovered 139 which we believe to be graves. we don't know what are underneath. the first team has gone in this morning the forensic and medical team to exhume whatever remains there. >> the border region is part of a major people smuggling route from thailand to malaysia. earlier this month the remains of 30 people believed to be rohingyas were found in thailand. a large number have been caught up in human trafficking operations. thousands have been left their home countries but many have been left adrift in the eastern indian ocean for months. some have landed in malaysia and neighboring indonesia. an international conference to be held in bangkok on friday is

expected to discuss the impact of this issue. now countries in the region are becoming more alert to the flight plooigt of myanmar's rohingya muslims. the united nations estimates that 100,000 are living near the border with bangladesh. nhk world reports. >> reporter: people stranded on this boat are jumping into the ocean to retrieve food aid dropped by a helicopter. many on the boat are lying on the floor. they look malnourished and extremely frail. myanmar rohingya muslims do not have citizenship. u.n. officials estimate more than 300,000 migrants are still adrift at sea. an nhk crew has entered the

state near myanmar's border with bangladesh, clash there's years ago left many people dead. since then the rohingyas there have been pushed into isolated areas. many rohingyas make their living farming and fishing but they face hardships, farming poor land with no way to move freely. >> we need to get approval from the police just to leave our village. >> reporter: this boat anchored to the pier was carrying migrants. they managed to leave their villages but were later caught when the boat was seized by myanmar's military. they say they were adrift for three weeks with little food. japanese photojournalist yuzo uda has covered myanmar for over 20 years.

he says the result of the military is a result of discrimination in the country. >> translator: i think people who are not rohingya feel superior to them because they have the rights and all the benefits of citizenship. >> reporter: more than 200 rohingya muslims now live in japan. this man recalls living in myanmar. he says he was not allowed to go outside his town. he says his parents died a few years ago with no medicine or access to medical treatment. neighboring countries, thailand malaysia, and indonesia, last week agreed to set up temporary shelters for the migrants but they have yet to decide when and where the shelters will be built. regional leaders are scheduled to meet on friday in thailand. they will discuss the growing

problem. nhk world. fierce fighting continues in iraq. government forces there are making headway to retain ramadi. islamic state militants seized the city. the troops and shia militia men are ten kilometers east of ramadi. iraqi forces have launched an attack on the northern city of baiji, a militant stronghold. they have fought with suicide attacks, driving explosive laid envehicles into government troops. joe biden has called haider al abadi to praise his force's fight against the militants and biden told abadi that the u.s. pledges its full support in iraq's efforts to liberate territory.

chinese officials have protests to the united states over its military reconnaissance activities in the south china sea. >> the u.s. reconnaissance activity is very dangerous and irresponsible. it could cause unexpected incidents at sea or in the air. >> the chinese foreign ministry spokesperson says that the chinese government opposed provocative acts by the united states military. hua has urged the u.s. to remain rational. china has been carrying out reclamation work in several locations in the spratly islands. the u.s. military has been conducting air and sea reconnaissance activities in the area. they will continue their activities in the area as part of their regular duties.

china's influence around the world has been expanding in recent years backed by generous economic assistance. among the beneficiaries are countries in the south pacific. but not everyone is happy with the state of affairs. >> reporter: the kingdom of tonga has a population of about 100,000. it also has a rapidly growing chinese presence. in the capital, most of the supermarkets are chinese owned. more vegetables on sale are grown by chinese farmers. in all, immigrants from china make up nearly 10% of the population. this man arrived in tonga ten years ago, following his older

brother who had become a naturalized citizen. >> reporter: it's not possible to farm in the winter in china but i can grow vegetables all year round here. i want to live here for the rest of my life. >> reporter: china is expanding its influence throughout the south patchy fogcific, not just in tonga, chinese president xi jinping was part of a meeting of leaders around the region. he promised chinese support for improving infrastructure. tonga has debt of $4 million and 60% of the loans have come from china. when you walk on the road in tonga you often see signs like

this which shows many infrastructure projects have been funded by china. but not everyone is happy with the situation. this man owns a medium-sized construction company. he says some local firms have gone bankrupt because public works projects are given to chinese companies in place of the locals. he admits china's companies have better technology and know how but says they should work together more with the local community. >> we've also lost work because of their coming into take jobs away from us. but we are hoping that there might be guidelines and thresholds that can be put into place that would allow the local developing companies to be able to compete with the chinese. >> good morning. >> good morning.

>> reporter: the prime minister was elected last december. before taking office he was fiercely critical of the previous administration for being pro-china. now his attitude appears to have changed. he told nhk that the situation is no different in australia or new zealand. >> they do the same thing in those countries as they do here in tonga. china has been assisting tonga in various way including technical assistance. >> reporter: tonga is heavily reliant on chinese finances and expertise but the government has not yet responded to the concerns around growing chinese influence. nhk world, tonga. investors are pouring their money into japanese stocks. yesterday the nikkei hit a 15-year high. ai uchida joins us from the

business desk. a bit of confidence in corporate japan. what is behind the gains? >> the stocks are looking attractive for a number of reasons. a lot of listed companies are posting record high earnings and they are giving more back to the shareholders. we are seeing more companies paying out bigger dividends. as katherine mentioned, it also closed at over 20,400 for the first time since april 2,000. mayu yoshida joins us from the japan stock exchange. what is the mood like today? >> not bad. optimism that more japanese companies will announce higher shareholder returns seems to be attracting investors to tokyo markets and this morning stocks are extending gains.

shares are rising eight days in a row. the nikkei is barely in the positive at 20,426 and the topix at 1,659 but with the shares at this level the nikkei may close at the highest level since april 2000 again. what also moved investors is speculation about the timing of rate hikes in the u.s. and last week fed chair janet yellen implied that the rate hike would be appropriate this year if the american economy improves. that fuelled dollar buying. we will see how that will affect asian markets. >> we did see the dollar rise to the highest level in more than seven years at one point yesterday. where the key pairs trading now? >> the dollar was really close to touching an eight-year high of 121.8 yen. and is it in that range around

121.65. but ahead of the u.s. economic data coming out like consumer confidence, the dollar is losing momentum. but the euro is trading at a one-month low against the dollar. fears that greece may leave the eurozone is weighing on the single currency. and the shanghai composite surged over 3% yesterday. and seoul is also -- will reopen after a holiday. so i'll see you in a couple of hours but that's it from me now. back to you, ai. and thank you for that update. we'll check in in a few hours' time. mayu yoshida reporting live from the tokyo stock exchange. there are more than 8 million abandoned homes across japan as the country's

population continues to shrink. the government is taking action to deal more effectively with such empty houses. officials say there were about 8.2 million desserted homes in the country as of october 2013. that's one in seven houses. these empty structures are becoming a big problem. they hinder efforts to prevent crime and disasters and also spoil the look of neighborhoods. the legislation allows local governments to use property tax information to determine who owns such abandoned homes. if the owners can't be identified in this way, municipal officials can enter empty houses to check their safety. if they detect a likelihood of collapse they can order the owners to repair or demolish the brgs. . japanese government officials are planning additional imports of butter as

they're expecting another shortage this year. a plunge in milk production and decreasing number of dairy farmers is behind the shortage. domestic butter production for the current fiscal year is expected to be 65,000 tons. japan imports butter every year. but officials are expecting a shortage of 7,000 tons. the japanese government imported marge butter shipments twice last year. many people who want a quick easy meal may go to a fast food restaurant and if they want to listen to live music they may go to a club. but people in south korea can enjoy these at an unconventional place. >> reporter: this is a college campus in south korea. in march, a new shop opened that was unlike anything the students had seen before. the most popular item is pizza

served hot from the oven. >> reporter: it's warm and tastes good. i come here a lot. >> reporter: chicken dishes are also prepared and cooked on the premises. but this isn't a student cafeteria. it's a convenience store. the cafeteria corner of the shop is part of a spacious layout that stretches over 330 square meters. students can grab a meal and study at the same time. the shop even has a semiprivate booth where students can put on their makeup. south korea has more than 27,000 convenience stores. that's triple the number compared to ten years ago. more than 1,000 new shops have opened this year alone. >> translator: sales at malls

and department stores have been dropping. only convenience stores have continued to grow. the competition will get more intense as the market gets more and more saturated. >> reporter: last month, this convenience store in the capital, seoul, began a new kind of service. >> translator: we're going to do a live show here today. >> reporter: it's offering equipment and space to bands free of charge so they can give concerts. ♪ managers are hoping this will help the shop stand out and attract more customers. another convenience store in a nightlife district have set up a bank of coin lockers.

the original idea was to target foreign tourists but the 24-hour service has also become popular among young people who go clubbing in the area late at night. >> translator: we're trying to make convenience stores places that not just sell goods but also spaces for customers to have a new experience and have fun. >> reporter: convenience stores have enjoyed a strong growth by offering daily necessities. now they're looking to keep the momentum by giving customers what they want not just what they need. kim chan-ju, seoul. >> and that's the latest in business news for this house. the nikkei and the topix now trading lightly in the negative. i'll leave you with a check on markets.

russian firefighters are battling raging blazes across siberia. the spreading wildfires have led some local officials to declare a state of emergency. authorities say that as of monday, there were 90 fires in siberia. they affect more than 880 square kilometers. over 3,000 people are fighting the flames. officials blame the fires on low precipitation and dry weather that's lasted since march. government authorities have warned there may be more yet to come. siberia's climate tends to be arid until october. scientists in japan now have a powerful new tool.

they upgrade it the supercomputer and it will improve weather forecasts and help them understand global warming. the super computer is ten times faster than the previous version. it's now able to carry out over a quad ril oncalculations per second. this is the third upgrade since developing the technology 13 years ago. a professor used the computer to replicate the cyclone that obliterated van yeah due. >> translator: we want to predict the consequences of disasters. >> a professor at the university of tokyo has plans for the technology. he wants to study the impact of climate change. he hopes it will help governments develop better policies for global warming. people in india are

struggling with extreme heat. hundreds of people have died from heatstroke and dehydration. will residents get any relief some time soon? mai shoji joins us from the weather desk. >> i'm afraid to tell you not too soon. the global warming can increase these kind of heat waves and make it spread globally in the near future. let's look at the digits in india. this is the monday reported highs. we are looking at a lot in the 40s. angul, 47 degrees. we're looking at the heat warnings in place. most of it be prepared be aware and some of it is most individualal vigil. but there are water restrictions in the water shortage areas. these are the areas we are very concerned of. and temperatures will soar into

the 40s all the way into thursday. so we're not seeing that relief in sight. when we are going to be seeing is when the monsoon comes. when the precipitation starts the temperatures will be cooling down. but the humidity and the heat will still be ongoing, which is going to be making things miserable out here. and it's going to take a month or even two for the precipitation onset. so i do want to show you this image of precipitation out here in the higher elevations. we are seeing some late season snowfall while people are suffering from heatstroke in much of india. since sunday it has been snowing on and off in kashmir. it is uncommon to get snow this time of the year. not many people were complaining. the snow was better than the heat in the other parts of the

country. i wish this snow could fall on the grounds here to make a relief for the people out here suffering from that heat. now to the bigger picture we are looking at a high pressure system predominant in northern china and in japan. the summer-like heat will be prevailing here. we are going to be seeing some heat warnings in place in south korea. the seoul temperature reached up to 28.7 which was the hottest day so far this year. and the winds are very strong in northeastern china. in the southern areas of china, the southeastern locations have seen 100 millimeters of precipitation in the last 24 hours. heavy rain and thunderstorms warnings are in place. taiwan light showers but another round of heavy rain will be pulling in. the severe flooding could again happen. seoul, 30 degrees on your tuesday. high in beijing up to 35.

tokyo will be hot at 29 degrees. here in the americas severe weather is happening from texas into the great lakes region. anywhere along this we're likely to find thunderstorms on the severe side and even tornados. this system has spawned at least 15 tornado touchdowns just on monday afternoon hours. that is likely to spread all the way to the east. the temperatures are in the 30s in washington, d.c. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

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