glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's wednesday, june 17th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. officials from japan and china have been trying to establish better communication to prevent accidental clashes at sea and in the air. they agreed to set up a hot line to deal with emergencies. japanese government sources say the two sides are arranging talks for later this month on how to begin. japan's prime minister shinzo abe and china's president xi jinping agreed in november to restart talks on the matter. they met in january for working level talks. the two countries have agreed to set up the hot line for their

defense officials and hold regular meetings. officials are now expected to discuss whether use of the mechanism should be limited to the high seas or include the two nation' territorial waters about they'll make final adjustments on specific communication procedures. japanese government officials say they hope the mechanism can begin operating this summer at the earliest. officials with the world health organization held an emergency teleconference on south korea's mers outbreak and they invited experts from around the world to weigh in. south korea has confirmed 154 cases. 19 patients have died. w.h.o. officials say the experts discussed the risks of the virus spreading and how to contain it. the emergency committee was established after cases were first reported in saudi arabia and other middle eastern countries. the latest conference was the ninth in the series. w.h.o. assistant director general will give more details of the discussions at a news

conference scheduled for wednesday. he recently visited south korea to assess the outbreak. now, health workers at a hospital in western japan are taking precautionary measures against an outbreak. they're holding training sessions on how to deal with suspected cases of the virus. the briefing was held in the city of totori prefecture. it is connected to suite korea by ferry and airline services. the hospital is one of the medical institutions dedicated to accept mers patients. an expert on infectious disease control advised participants to check if patients with fever have been to south korea or the middle east. >> translator: the most important thing is to identify cases in the early stages and provide appropriate care. make sure to ask patients for their travel records. >> the doctor explained how mers patients should be transferred

to special rooms where the air pressure is kept low. this prevents the virus from escaping the room. >> translator: i understand the need for preparation and to pay attention to the latest information from south korea. >> doctors and nurses were also advised to wear protective gear when near patients. an egyptian court has upheld a ruling that sentences a former president to death. the court in cairo handed down death sentences for morsi and five other leading members of the muslim brotherhood. the court also sentenced morsi to life in prison over charges of conspiring with foreign groups including the palestinian organization hamas. morsi became the country's first democratically elected president in 2011. his predecessor hosni mubarak was ousted in the arab spring uprising. but morsi was deposed in a de

facto coup in 2013. al qaeda says its deputy leader has been killed in a u.s. attack. nasir al wuhayshi was dubbed the number two man in the al qaeda network and also the leader in arabian peninsula. the group announced his death on its website. the statement said he died along with two other members but did not give details. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula says it's named its former military chief qasmam qasmam rimi as his successor. the group has been a target of u.s. air strikes because of its alleged involvement in a series of terrorist activities. they claimed responsibility for the attack in january on the office of the weekly "charlie hebdo" in paris. the group is stepping up its offensive in southern yemen by taking advantage of civil strife in the country. police in japan have filed a new charge against the head of a yakuza crime group considered

the most dangerous organization in the country. the leader faces a charge of tax evasion. authorities say this is just one step toward demolishing the group in the southwestern city. investigators served warrants against him and three other senior group members on tuesday. and they searched his home for evidence. nomura is already under arrest and indicted on murder and other charges. he's suspected of concealing about $1.8 million that they had collected from its affiliated gangsters in the four years until 2013. he faced the charge of evading over $700,000 in income tax. investigators say three others were in charge of the accounts. the money was placed in bank accounts belonging to his relatives. they say this is the first time they've taken action against alleged tax evasion involving money changing hands within a

yakuza organization. >> translator: we assume he collected millions of dollars this way every year. those are the source of funds. we're determined to figure out the money system and lead the effort to annihilate the violent group. >> the u.s. treasury department says that in 2014 it blacklisted the group as a transnational criminal organization. japanese officials have just released key data on the trade balance. ai uchida joins us. >> exports expanded and imports actually shrank. but the trade data remained the same. and the shortfall surged. the trade balance for may comes with a deficit of 216 billion yen. that's about $1.8 billion. exports grew 2% from a year ago. the weakening trend with the japanese currency also helped rising exports. and imports shrank 8.7%.

all nuclear power plants have been offline following the 2011 nuclear disaster. import costs had been rising due to the need for lick ra fiing natural gas for thermal power generators generators. so the trade balance coming in at a deficit still not as bad as market expectations. so let's see how markets are reacting. we're joined by ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. what are you seeing over there? >> good morning, ai. we're seeing a bit of divergence in the sense of growing concerns for greece and also ahead of the federal reserve policy meeting later today, but we did see stocks in europe and the u.s. trading higher and we're seeing pretty much the same here. let's go to the opening levels for today, wednesday, june 17th. the nikkei and the topix both trading higher in the first few minutes of trading. and that bodes well for the rest of the session. we'll see how it continues during the day, but overnight in

new york the dow jones industrial average rebounded after three-day losing streak. it closed 0.6% higher and the tech-heavy nasdaq ended up 0.5%. so pretty positive stuff there. the nikkei fell on tuesday amid these concerns but some analysts point to what they see as some of the truths going through the markets that the u.s. will at some point raise interest rates. especially after a surprise rise in housing permits in the u.s. rising at its fastest pace actually since august 2007. so some of the data also supporting the growth in the u.s. economy. we'll, of course get more clues from that once fed chair janet yellen speaks after the meeting later today. >> what can you tell us about currencies? >> currencies we have seen volatility there. but looking at the euro it held its ground after falling on comments from german chancellor angela merkel saying there was

nothing new on the greek debt talks. analysts pointing out that traders may already have taken into a scenario of greece being out of the euro and that it might bolster the currency as they don't see too much contagion factor playing out to some of the other eurozone economies which look to be a little bit more supported. the eurozone finance ministers' meeting on thursday may provide further clues as to greece's situation. also looking at the asia pacific region a big focus again on shanghai composite. it closed down 3 1/2% on tuesday following a 2% decline on monday. also domestically the auto industry here remains hostage to some of the massive recalls regarding faulty air bags made by takata. toyota announced an increase in the amount of vehicles that it has to recall fitted with takata air bags. so that's really playing through the auto industry and related

industries as well. we'll keep track of all of that and all of the asian share. that's all for me. back to you. >> sounds good. we'll touch base with you again in a few hours' time. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. a group of japanese government and corporate officials have been gathering in indonesia. they hope to cash in on the country's growing demand for infrastructure development. the 160 visitors include executives of construction companies. they want to be part of large scale infrastructure development projects. they've been hearing from indonesian officials explaining projects to build 2,600 kilometers of roads and a railway network of more than 3,000 kilometers in the next five years. japanese construction officials presented a new method to build bridges with small columns to reduce the impact on river currents. >> translator: indonesia is a huge market. it's poshts the japanese government and its companies

work hand in hand for development in asia. >> the indonesian officials showed a strong interest in japan's advanced technologies. well prices on the shanghai stock market hit a seven-year high last week. they've been boosted by monetary easing which has unleashed more money flowing into the market. and deregulation in april has allowed people to trade with a larger number of securities companies. we talked to some small investors to find out what's got them so excited. >> reporter: a crowd gathers in a shanghai square. they're stock investors. they come here every weekend. and there's only one thing on their mind.

>> reporter: one man has a product to sell. >> translator: a yellow line means buy. a white line means sell. it's simple. it only takes a minute to master. >> reporter: he's pitching software he claims can predict share prices. his sign says "guaranteed profits." >> translator: just go with your hunch and buy back the shares. >> reporter: individual investors are driving china's stock market. they account for some 80% of trading volume. and every day more people join them. about 8 million new brokerage accounts were opened in the first three months of this year. that's up more than five times from a year earlier. this man works for a real estate agency.

he's looking to build a nest egg for his family. with property prices turning sluggish, he's put his savings in the stock market instead. he started with about $32,000. three months later, the shares he bought are worth 70% more. he now has most of his assets invested in stocks. about $80,000. >> translator: i bought at this line. now it's here. the price is up 70% to 80%. share prices are rising right now, so i opened an account. i'm confident i can make money in the stock market. >> reporter: prices are rising and so is the risk taking. some people are putting more money than they own into stocks. this brokerage lends money to customers who trade stocks. this allows their clients to

borrow up to four times the amount of collateral they've put up as long as they're willing to pay a high interest. buying stocks with borrowed money can mean bigger profits, but that's only if share prices rise. falling prices can inflict huge losses on the investor. >> translator: the market is doing well. so many so, many people want the borrow money. we don't have enough to lend to everyone. >> reporter: this man is one investor betting on a rising market. he has more than $140,000 invested in stocks. less than 30,000 of that is his own. the rest is borrowed money. that's costing him thousands of dollars in interest every month, but he says the potential gain makes it a risk worth taking. >> translator: if you want to

make huge profits, you have to take big risks. i don't want to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. >> reporter: that kind of talk alarms some analysts. they're warning about an overheated market a warning that, for now, is hard to hear on the street of shanghai. >> that's the latest in business for this hour. i'll leave you with a check on markets.

in women's world cup soccer in canada japan has beaten ecuador 1-0. the defending champion is the group c leader with three straight wins. japan started with three reserve players after winning two games in the group. in the fifth minute she didn't miss a chance to score. jan japan showed its tactical skill in the 16th minute but the goalkeeper stopped the header by the midfielder. japan struggled to add a goal in the second half. the rattled the

crossbar. substitute blasted a close range shot in the 85th minute but they blocked this attempt as well. the defending champion defeated ecuador by only one goal but clinched the top place with three straight victories. [ speaking japanese ] in another match in group c cameroon beat switzerland 2-1. cameroon finished second in the group and has qualified for the knockout stage. people in japan and south korea are marking half a century

of full diplomatic relations but their ties have cooled casting a shadow over the celebrations. a japanese man is using his expertise on south korean culture to help turn things around. nhk world has more. >> reporter: many south korean singers and actors want to work with him. he has served as an event host for artists for the past 15 years. his flewuency in both japanese and korean is an asset. his interest in south korean music began nearly two decades ago when he was in canada to study music therapy. his korean classmate gave him a cd. ♪

>> translator: the album contained various types of music. and all of the songs were refined. the tunes were rich. i was amazed to find out there is music like this. >> reporter: so amazed in fact he cut his study in canada short and moved to a university in seoul. he stayed for two years learning about everything from language to music. when he returned to japan, he launched the first-ever korean music radio program, and he's been producing similar shows ever since. >> korea entertainment special. >> reporter: at the same time south korea was making efforts to export tv dramas and music arld the world. the so-called korean wave

launched furuya's career. by 2011 he was hosting eight regular tv and radio programs a week. >> translator: at first i was criticized. some listeners told me they quit tuning into my radio station, but the trend reversed. i really felt the power of culture. >> reporter: about a year later that trend reversed again. political relations between the two nations soured over territorial disputes and perceptions of history. anti-south korean sentiment grew in japan while anti-japanese sentiment grew in south korea. major tv networks in japan stopped airing south korean dramas and some of furuya's shows also took a hit. he wondered how people could become so easily influenced by political relations.

and he began to realize media bias plays a big role. so he started to visit cultural centers and colleges across japan to discuss the issue. >> translator: the role i'm supposed to play started to change. at first i just wanted to let people listen to korean music, but my new mission is to try to convey what i believe is true fair and impartial from all genres. >> reporter: during his show this month furuya decided to talk about a difficult issue, the upcoming release of many korean movies about japan's

colonial rule to mark 70 years since the end of world war ii. >> translator: we could say there is a possibility they produce movies to heighten anti-japanese sentiment, but directors say they featured the era because it's visually easier to make and tell the stories. right now we know so little about each other. everything starts from knowing. i believe there should be something i could do to connect the two. >> reporter: furuya thinks he can do more to change the status quo. he says he will dedicate his future to building productive relations between the two nations. reporting for nhk world from tokyo.

we take you over to the u.s. now where people along the gulf coast in texas are dealing with stormy weather. meteorologist robert speta joins us with the details. >> we're looking at a lot of rainfall but also farther inland. i do want to mention this made landfall right around noon time here on tuesday just outside of galveston, texas. max winds reported at 101-kilometers per hour. so max winds across this area but as i mentioned, it's the rain and also even some coastal storm surge. let's go to video we have coming out of this area where the storm system came off shore on tuesday, definitely punched the cool side here. this comes about three weeks after flooding killed over 30 people in the state of texas a couple weeks ago. so definitely not welcome. now, this second tropical storm to make landfall in 2015 here in

hurricane season but this is where it made landfall here along the texas coastline. you can see some of these communities seeing some inundation in the coast. one thing to take away from the video is most of the homes are built on stilts. now, this area is used to seeing that type of storm surge. only less than a meter above sea level, so you get a little bit of wind pushing on shore. you see some coastal flooding. the bigger issue with this is not just right near the immediate coastline, but as this tracks inland it will weaken into a tropical depression but it will still have a lot of moisture with it. that's going to be falling on top of these areas which have already seen a lot of rainfall. look at this past 24 hours total rainfall accumulation back here towards the north some areas well over 100 millimeters, even stretching down here towards the south. then in the fork we still have our high back here towards the east that's still pulling in that moisture plus a tropical system that's pulling in the moisture as well. some areas of texas could see

well over 200 millimeters or rainfall over the next several days. then this will stretch into oklahoma extending across the midwestern states and over there to the northeast. already flood watches are in effect. we still have severe thunderstorm warnings even a few tornado watches in effect near the immediate coast, but here in the forecast a lot of people will see that rainfall and that could result in more flooding. this will be a story that's not over with in the next several hours once this storm system pushes on shore. it will be continuing to linger. speaking of the tropics, don't want to miss out on this one. this is our hurricane and category 1 carlos still nearing the coastline of mexico here. falling off here towards the north. it is expected to weaken but still bring rainfall to the immediate coastal areas here. then into japan talking about the rainfall it is still coming down for those of you across parts of kyushu especially there over towards kagoshima, in the past 72 hours there have been

some rainfall reports, 60 millimeters accumulated. this goes back to a week now. you see the showers day in and day out. another round of o it is expected in the forecast 180 millimeters could fall. strong to potentially severe thunderstorms in northern japan. main reason for that is that cold air aloft and you get that daytime heating. it is starting to warm up summerlike temperatures will increase with the amount of instability. on the bigger picture, still got those showers across parts of china over here. you'll be seeing about 180 millimeters in the forecast. look at chongqing, 25 especially over towards bangkok, strong to severe thunderstorm there on your wednesday. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook.

and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do join us again at the top of the hour.

>> hello and welcome to "global 3000." over the next half hour we'll bring you up to date on some of those key issues that matter wherever you live. and here is what is coming up.

is coexistence impossible? how indigenous groups in peru try to live in harmony with nature. witch hunts in papua new guinea. a barbaric practice that simply won't go away. and moving to the city -- we visit chinese farmers happy to have left traditional life behind. we humans have left our mark on