hello there, welcome to "newsline." it's friday, may 29th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. soccer's world governing body is trying to show it's business as usual amid allegations of corruption. fifa has opened its congress as scheduled. sepp balloter has failed to accept responsibility for the scandal. >> i cannot monitor everyone all of the time. >> balloter made his first appearance since u.s. authorities indicted nine high

ranking officials including two vice presidents. authorities say the men took the money in exchange for swaying the outcome of the body's past presidential election, the selection of host nations for the world cup and broadcasting rights. balloter said he vowed to find a way to fix things. balloter is running for his fifth term in office. reactions are coming in from around the world. former brazil striker and current senator romario slammed the officials. >> translator: the most corrupt body in soccer is the brazilian federation and worldwide it's fifa. >> the president of uefa met with reporters ahead of the fifa

congress. uefa is under fifa's umbrella. platini said it's time for change. >> enough is enough. >> fifa's presidential election is scheduled for later on friday. vietnam has reacted sharply to china's recently issued biennial white paper on national defense. the report rules out any compromises on territorial disputes in the south china sea. a forum on the security in the asia pacific region will open on friday. the tense situation in the region is expected to be high on the agenda. >> translator: china should respect the sovereignty of all countries involved with this issue. >> this response came two days after the chinese government released its defense report. the document says china's armed forces will focus on preparations for maritime military struggles, which will firmly safeguard the country's sovereignty. nhk has obtained video taken by a reporter from vietnam's

state-run newspaper. it shows china's maritime activities in the south china sea. the footage reveals rapidly expanding reclamation work on the spratly islands. tall buildings under construction and cranes can be seen on places believed to be the johnson and chigua reefs. china fired a warning shot toward a vietnamese ship while the reporter was recording the video. delegates from 17 nations will meet on friday in thailand to discuss ways to help migrants. the talks in bangkok will deal with ways to combat gangs responsible for human smuggling in the region. a rising number of ethnic minority rohingya have fallen prey to human traffickers. the bodies of more than 170 people discovered in a mountainous area near the border between thailand and malaysia. some of the remains were feared to include those of rohingya. migrants have been traveling by boat to nearby countries, including indonesia and malaysia.

authorities think about 2500 people are still adrift at sea. delegates at the conference are expected to come up with assistance measures to resettle and repatriate the migrants. indonesian and malaysian officials announced plans to set up temporary facilities to shuttler them. officials from myanmar will participate in the meeting. the government refuses to recognize rohingya as citizens and claim most of the migrants did not board boats in myanmar. japanese government leaders are proposing security legislation that would broaden the scope of the self-defense forces. and they're explaining how those changes would work. they want to allow personnel to provide logistical support to foreign troops anywhere in situations that have a serious impact on japan's peace and security. kazuo kitagawa is the deputy chief of komeito, the junior coalition partner of the ruling democratic party. >> translator: i trust there is

a certain limitation in recognizing a situation as having an important influence on japan's peace and security. what would your criterion be? >> prime minister shinzo abe said the government will review each situation case by case. >> translator: we will aim towards an objective and rational judgment after careful consideration of the intentions of the parties involved their capabilities, the location and scale of the situation, repercussions, and how the situation developed. we will also look at how the militaries of the u.s. and other countries are responding, and we will consider the possible impact on japan and its people. >> abe also wants to allow the country to exercise its right to

collective self-defense when a country in a close relationship with japan comes under attack and japan's survival is threatened. >> translator: it is possible japan would suffer damage from a conflict, even if we are not directly attacked. >> abe said the government will consider the severity of that damage in recognizing such a situation. defense minister gen nakatani echoed that view. >> translator: we would consider whether the situation would have a serious, grave impact on the lives of japanese people. that does not necessarily mean there would be deaths. in other stories we are following, chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga says japan will continue to press north korea for results of its probe into the fate of missing japanese. >> translator: we will keep urging north korea to finish the investigation as soon as possible and give an immediate and accurate report of the results.

>> officials in pyongyang promised a year ago to investigate the whereabouts of all missing japs. they set up a special investigative committee last july but no results have been released. some were abducted by north korea in the 1970s and '80s. 12 of them are still unaccounted for. suga noted that north korean officials said the investigation would take about a year but did not give a specific deadline for reporting results. he says the government is always weighing the most effective ways to encourage the north to take concrete steps. other japanese government officials have just released a handful of economic data. ai uchida joins us from the business desk now. what are you seeing? >> at the end of the month we look at consumer price index, household spending they add up to give us more insight to the

situation with japan consumers. let's start with the price trends. the cpi measures the price of everything from a bar of soap to a house. the price of daily goods and services rose. officials said the index for april came to 103.3. the base year is 2010 when it was 100. the number is up 0.3% from the same month last year. the index doesn't factor in fresh food because their prices tend to be volatile. while prices edged higher, consumers continued to tighten their pursestrings. household spending in april was down 1.3% in yen terms from a year ago. the figure marks the 13th straight month of decline. households with two or more members spend an average of 2,427 dollars.

they spend less on housekeeping holiday activities and tuition fees compared to april 2014. and other key data were released this morning. the industrial output was up 1% from the previous month. the figure was slightly stronger than market expectations. the unemployment rate was 3.3%. this was also stronger than what analysts had expected. so let's see how investors are reacting to all these figures. for that, from the tokyo stock exchange is mayu yoshida. we saw the nikkei marking the longest rally in 27 years. how is the market starting off? >> it's pretty strong. good morning, ai. the market is strong. so let's see exactly where the levels are right now. shares are rising for 11 days in a row now. the nikkei is in the positive at

20,558 and the topix is up .2%. however analysts are saying that tokyo markets are overheating as the nikkei gained 5% in just one day. we may see profit taking today. looking at thursday on wall street, the dow jones closed down .2%. and the tech-heavy nasdaq retreated to close at 5,097. investors at new york sold stocks after a negative handover from china. the composite slumped 6.5% yesterday and thursday and posted the biggest slump in seven years and four months. basically we're seeing a pause in the global rally in stock markets. so we look to see if the profit-taking move will spill over more to tokyo. in fact while foreign investors are on a buying spree of japanese stocks japanese retail

investors are selling stocks to book profit. but they are known for being cautious but this selling thing should be analysts think that the japanese market overall will continue its upward trend in the long term, ai. >> how worried are people about overheating in the markets? is it the longest since japan experienced a bubble in the late '80s. >> they're not that worried, actually. most market players think that corporate performance in japan is different from back then. they think that japanese companies are making enough money that makes share prices reasonable but it's we need to watch out for the sudden plunge of the yen. it may effect smaller businesses. taro aso said that currency moves are rough after the dollar hit 124 yen. now the dollar is pulling back at 123.81.

the euro is showing volatility after concern over greece dented sentiment. euro/yen is around 135.66. that's it for now. i'll be back in a few hours with an update. >> thanks a lot for keeping us up to date. japan's finance minister is concerned about the rapidly weakening yen against the dollar. >> translator: the yen's recent drop has been rough. we will continue to close ily monitor the movements in the currency market. >> aso is in germany for a meeting of finance ministers and finance chiefs from the group of seven nations. before the g-7 meeting, aso spoke with jack lew. they reconfirmed agreements made at past g-7 meetings including

refraining from targeting exchange rates for competitive purposes. they agreed that excessive and disorderly fluctuations in exchange rates can threaten financial stability. the currency moves have not yet come up at the g-7 discussions. the meeting ends friday. foreign visitors to japan have often been frustrated by the lack of network connection services for mobile phones. but that is changing. more companies are starting to sell s.i.m. cards aimed at travellers. mobile phones need them to operate. nhk world's akiko okamoto takes a look at the growing market. >> reporter: a new telecom business has been launched in this tokyo area. i'm in a shopping mall that is popular with foreign tourists. this vending machine sells

s.i.m. cards. >> credit cards can be used to buy s.i.m. cards for internet access. passports are used to verify user i.d.s. this machine reads personal information on a passport and activates the chip. the whole process takes about three minutes. another service is being tried out at ibaraki airport, about 100 kilometers northeast of tokyo. the airport is the gate way for budget international flights from shanghai. s.i.m. cards went on sale this month in the lobby. when visitors buy a card they also get a special coupon issued by the prefectural government. the cards can be used to get discounts on regional specialties like sweets at the airport or sake at local stores.

tourism officials teamed up with food companies to create the coupon scheme. >> translator: we want to work with telecom companies to provide a good network in ibaraki. at the same time the coupon can boost tourist spending here. we hope that will invigorate ibaraki prefecture. >> reporter: but some tourists say that japan's network service still has problems. >> i thought it was quite expensive to what we get in the uk actually. which is we've got s.i.m. cards you can buy data only for one month with unlimited data. >> reporter: there may be a solution. major japanese mobile carriers have long shut out other s.i.m. cards. critics say their monthly rates are expensive. but the government has persuaded

carriers to unlock their devices starting this month. more unlocked phones will come on to the market. many companies see this as a business opportunity. they're starting to sell s.i.m. cards. an expert says competition may lead to lower prices in the long run. >> for visitor to japan they have more chance to purchase a s.i.m. card that can be used in japan at local cost easier. this kind of movement will have a potential to you know effect to increase this kind of -- various kind of services to the visitors to japan. >> reporter: japanese people are getting more out of their mobile devices as the industry liberalizes. that trend is also making it easier for foreign tourists to stay connected when they visit

japan. akiko okamoto, nhk world, tokyo. that's it for business on this hour. the nikkei is a bit choppy this morning. i'll leave you with a check on markets. officials from the japanese association of zoos and aquariums say they will monitor how member aquariums obtain dolphins. the association decided on may 20th to ban the purchase of dolphins caught through the method known as drive hunting. jaza members are meeting for two days in western japan. chairman kazutoshi arai emerged from a closed door session and spoke to reporters. >> translator: we have facilities that breed dolphins.

we would like to hold discussions with their staff to decide how we will proceed on the matter. >> arai said his organization received an e-mail from the world body asking how jaza will oversee its members. he said officials want to know how the purchase of dolphins will be monitored and what will be done if they turn out to be from a drive hunt. arai said jaza will examine new rules on the capture method by autumn, when the drive hunting season starts. the world association of zoos and aquariums had criticized the hunting method and threatened to expel the japanese organization unless it took action on the matter. during the meeting, many officials of member aquariums reportedly voiced concerns that banning dolphins captured in drive hunts will make obtaining them difficult. practitioners of kendo are crossing swords in tokyo at their world championships. they are representing 56 countries and territories, the most ever. one nation competing for the first time is indonesia.

nhk world's yusuke ota showed us how the national team fought to make the cut. >> reporter: the sound of bamboo swords resonates in the country. the indonesian kendo association has about 300 members. 15 members are visiting japan for the championships. i'm joining a practice match to know the skill of international kendo player. it was so fast, i couldn't see at all. this man is the hope of the indonesia team. he started kendo at the age of 17 and has been practicing for the past 13 years.

he watches japanese international competition matches to improve his skills. >> translator: going to the tournament was my dream. when i heard indonesia could compete, i was very excited. >> reporter: this is a sacred place for japanese martial arts. the indonesias path to the world championships has been far from smooth. the country's climate makes things difficult. practicing hard in armor is extremely challenging in the heat. it's even harder during the muslim fasting period. he cannot drink water in the daytime. this makes it almost impossible to practice kendo. it is also hard to find a place to train. the national team usually uses a small fitness center in a

jakarta hotel. one of their japanese coaches has helped them improve. he has been coaching for five years. >> translator: your feet have no power. >> reporter: kasai works at a japanese dye factory in a suburb. at first he struggled with the language barrier. so he made his own instruction booklet and tried to get his message across the athletes. >> translator: i don't want them to give up. i want them to fight until the end. that kind of spirit will determine whether they win the match. >> reporter: he is desperate to meet kasai's expectations. he has problems with stamina and often gets leg cramps. he trained hard to overcome

these challenges before the international competition. before leaving for japan, he took part in practice matches in jakarta. after strikes and defense, he won, demonstrating his readiness for the international competition. >> translator: it's all thanks to the coach. he teaches me to keep moving. we have to do our utmost to give it our all for indonesia. >> i want them to use, aggressive techniques in the championships. i hope they will learn a lot and then come back and keep training hard. >> reporter: fascinated by the sport, the swordsmen in the

country are up for the international challenge. they are studying a new chapter in history. yusuke ota, nhk world, jakarta. people in southern china are dealing with heavy rain. mai shoji joins us now from the weather desk. residents in southern areas of china are used to getting precipitation this time of year but too much of it can certainly wreak havoc. >> exactly right. s's not a rare sight for us to see the rainy season picking up, especially here in southern china. for the past month, we haven't seen this ongoing rainfall and for the past week, we have already seen about 300 to 400 millimeters piling up across this location and severe flooding has occurred. take a look at this. the rainy season is now impacting those in southern china with force this week. the persistent rains have resulted in these kind of floodings which have submerged some homes closed schools and all around made it you know really difficult for those in

the region. one person said the water rose so fast, it was like a reservoir which broke and water just poured in. residents set up planks and sandbags at doorways to prevent water from flowing inside the buildings. the rainy season has a slow-moving build of rain so these kind of images will be continuing across the areas and for the next few days, likely to see even more rainfall to accumulate in similar location where the video came out from. widely about 70 millimeters of additional rainfall on top of what we already saw and about 150 millimeters of rainfall in localized areas which could cause further flooding, i'm afraid. taiwan had a little bit of a break but again another round of heavy rain will be continuing here. so as for the rainy season, we are looking at guangzhou, taipei will still look at ongoing rainfall throughout your weekend and naha, a little bit of a break here friday and saturday but another round of rain here. as for japan, we are actually looking at the high pressure system covering much of the korean peninsula and western japan as well as northern locations.

the low pressure system south of the pacific side will bring some showers, a great cooldown in the temperatures, the humidity levels are about 70% here across tokyo. actually feeling muggy and uncomfortable this morning. as for the korean peninsula, seoul, reaching up to 30s again, these consecutive heat could cause heatstroke. now, down toward the south, keeping its 30s and really hot in the tropics. out here across americas, still widely spread, looking at some thunderstorms and showers, actually looking at another spiral of clouds out here in the waters. these open waters are making it for tropical storm storm development. going to be some swells across the western seaboards and the coastal areas with some high surf conditions, so, do watch out for that. so, again, we are speaking about the large hail, tornadoes. there's about ten tornadoes that spawned the area on your wednesday across much of texas. we are still looking at those

watches in place and that's going to be widely spread all the way in toward washington, d.c. so, lots of these areas seeing rain and thunderstorms in forecasts but new york will be escaping from that and the temperatures will be down to the normal range. out here across europe now, you saw almost 100,000 lightning strikes just yesterday in a 24-hour span, but that's across the continent. mostly concentrated here across southern italy, greece and in turkey, that cold front will still linger here and likely to see chances of large hail and gusty conditions, gusts up to about 60 kilometers per hour, but generally speaking, still looking at some sunny skies again here in our return in vienna and rome. i will leave you now with our extended forecast.

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

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mlike art of rabbett before horses strickland. we interview author erik redix about legendary ojibwe chief joe white. and from this week's native report archives, a tribute to the late chairman of the agua caliente band of cahuilla indians richard milanovich. we also learn something new about indian country and hear from our elders on this native report. [music playing]

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