welcome to "newsline." it is friday, april 1st. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. world leaders from more than 50 countries are in washington for a summit dedicated to preventing the use of nuclear weapons. before it kicked off, u.s. president obama met with asian leaders. he met with shinzo abe, and south korean president for the first time in two years. >> we agreed during this meeting that tri lateral in northeast asia, deterring the north korean

nuclear threat and the potential of nuclear. >> they agreed to jointly deal with the islamic state militants. obama held talks with china's president. for more, we go to washington, covering the talks. he joins us live. shuhe, what did the talks come up with? >> reporter: yes, the three leaders agreed to enhance security and defense ties, prime minister abe called the nuclear development a threat to the international community. >> translator: to cope with such threats, we agree to strengthen tri lateral corporation in every field, this is extremely meaningful.

>> reporter: president obama said the three countries will consider taking additional measures incoming weeks or months to pressure the north. so we should closely watch what those additional measures will be. >> okay, and what about probably pok, what stance did she take? >> well, to put it simply, pressure. pok called the u.n. security council resolution harsh. she added each country live up to agreement and make the north realize it cannot survive unless it gives up its nuclear prap. she even talked about regime collapse. she seems to be frustrate with the current situation where it seems less likely the north will give up its nuclear program. he also said the u.s. is committing a criminal act, by hosting this nuclear summit. >> as we mentioned earlier,

obama and ping also met. what common ground did they find on the north? >> obama and ping agreed on the idea that the north must be de-nuclearized, but their approaches are different. obama stressed that he and ping agreed to push ahead with the u.n. sanctions, but she does not want further tensions. so pointed out that dialogue, including resuming the six party talks is also important. but obama has been saying that the u.s. will not resume the talks unless the north moves for denuclearization. so no agreement there. >> all right, thanks for that insight. we'll keep our eyes on that story. once seen as a warning to the united states, north korea's state media reports that pyongyang might use nuclear force if its sovereignty is threatened. a spokesperson is saying the u.s. suppoposes a threat becaus

its sanctions and joint military drills with south korea. state media says if the u.s. infringing on the sovereignty, he immediately bestow including nuclear attacks. south korean have detected rad radio waves around the northern border, disrupting gps. officials at the ministry says the signals appear to originate in inside north korea. they issued a warning for aviation, shipping and other firms that use gps. they say so far, there have been no reports of disruptions in and around seoul, including its internation international airport. the actions may be intended to protest the drills with the united states.

the officials say in the past, pyongyang has engaged in similar jamming attacks. now, also in washington, abe held a separate meeting with pok, their first since two countries reached agreement last december on those referred to as comfort. the two stressed they would implement the agreement. abe said it should be done steadily. pok said she would follow through. japanese nationals abducted by north korea. she said her country has similar case and wants to cooperate with abductees families. in a separate meeting with obama, abe commented on an american military base. the prefecture hosts more than 70% of u.s. facilities in japan. obama expressed concern about a possible delay, they wants to

move it to a less populated coast al area. residents call it the most dangerous in the world. abe explained his government decided to accept a court mediated with okinawa to ensure the plan goes well. abe and obama agreed on a clear message on the global economy on the g7 summit in japan. it is time now to take a look at the latest in business news. ba bank of japan has released important data on the mood of company managers. ai uchida joins us from the business desk. what are the numbers telling us. >> a bit about the tonkan.

for april 1st. 16,607. it ended down 0.7% on a pe

persistently strong yen, which just ended yesterday, the fiscal year, marking the first decline in five years. now, the decline in the nikkei has been largely the actions or intentions if you will of the federal reserve based only the assumption of the path of interest rate hikes or rises from the u.s. central bank. now wall street headed mixed overnight, as you can see there, ahead of the key jobs data later today. so far, we've seen volatile trading dow managed to raise 1.5 in the first quarter, but pretty volatile in stocks. >> we've also seen a really stubborn strong yen. tell us about some of those currency levels, and what can we expect? >> exactly, that has some wild swin swings, hasn't it? . currently

just this week, the yen has a appreciated more than 6% against the dollar in fiscal 2015, investors buying what they consider safer assets, such as the yen. the yield on the ten year japanese government bond, very interesting as well, as we've been covering, dropped below zero since early february, since the backof japan decided to adapt a negative interest rate policy. as we enter the new fiscal year here in japan, all eyes will be on up coming earnings, banks having to deal with negative rates and exporters having to deal with the strong yen, and then of course, commodity related firms, which had to deal with the volatile swings we've seen in crude oil prices since the beginning of the year. so a lot of the sectors there will be a focus. having a look at the indexes that are open now, also the seoul's kospi down

quite a lot for investors to take in. pm i manufacturing data. u.s. jobs data later on friday. a lot for investors to take in. the survey expect by a lot of analysts to worsen and a dip for the nikkei. >> thanks for keeping us up-to-date. we'll talk to you in a few hours time. consumers in japan have long been buying electricity, only from major power companies in regions where they live. that changes from today. now, they can choose from among several electricity suppliers as full deregulation of the power retail market comes into effect. the move ends more than six decades of a monopoly held by,

registered to enter the market. they include city gas providers, telecommunications and railway firms. the newcomers are rolling out plans promising lower rates, but the regional power companies are not standing still. they plan to introduce incentives, including point systems to keep their existing customers. they'll also try to tap into markets outside their service regions. the depressation of the chinese yuan is affecting curren currency. businesses in china are feeling the effects, some are profiting, while others are scrambling to deal with new rounds of losses. nhk world tells us more. >> reporter: over 3,000 companies took part in the trade show in shanghai. many are looking for new business partners. this company exports children's

clothing overseas. its managers happy to see, which they say will make them more competitive. >> translator: we might get back some clients who left us for cheaper southeast asian firms. we are ready to increase production. >> reporter: a firm that makes and exports alternative goods, also sees a better road ahead. company officials showing off their calculators and digital clocks at the trade show. >> translator: the exchange rate with the japanese yen is good. we are selling stuff we weren't able to sell before. >> reporter: some businesses are suffering due to the weaker yuan. in particular, struggling with the rising cost of traveling and buying products overseas. at travel agencies that specializes in vacation packages

is seeing a downturn. many who wanted to go to japan, are opting for less expensive destinations, including ones in southeast asia. to maintain its price, the company is shouldering some of the costs of the. >> translator: it's affecting our profits, especially in our tour packages to japan. our profit has gone down 8 to 10%. zrchl >> reporter: strong currencies, such as japanese cosmetics and european supplements online for three years. she is trying hard to keep a lid on her prices, but she says she is being forced to raise her high end cosmetics by 10% z. >> translator: customers are not ordering as much as they used to, especially expensive makeup.

i think they'll buy them once it goes back up. >> reporter: shopping for foreign cosmetics on her site. she likes the variety and quality of the products. >> translator: i think more about what i buy now. i look for cost-effective products. i'm thinking about growing my business. but it's difficult if the yuan stays weak. i may change suppliers, like australia and thailand. >> reporter: chinese companies are keeping a close eye on the movements, which is creating a new set of business winners and losers. nhk world. i'll be back next hour with more of your business headlines. here is another check on markets.

work has begun to free soil around the damaged reactors at the nuclear plant. enginee engineers are trying to clean up, tepco, the owner of the plant, started the work on thursday, after the nuclear regulation authority gave the go ahead. workers began pumping 30 degrees liquid into underground pipes around the buildings. tepco says they'll freeze it in

phases. it will use 1,000 of the 1,700 pipes. engineers will monitor ground level to prevent them from dropping too much and prevent radioactive water from leaking out of the buildings. now, a project of this magnitude has never been done before. nhk world explains how tepco is navigating in unchartered territory. >> reporter: the power company has a big plan. but with complicated and diverse, come large doses of doubt. the task, reduce the contamination of ground water at the nuclear plant. tepco officials have taken several steps to lower the volume. they started by pumping away ground water before it creates the reactor buildings. they built a steel wall to keep contaminated water from

employing into the s flowing into the sea. now it's time to try the ice wall. once completed, it will drastically reduce the ground water into the buildings. steps already in place, the wall will reduce it from 400 tons to about 50 tons a day. so far, they've installed pipes 30 meters into the ground. if all goes according to plan, a 1.5 kilometer wall of ice will be created. construction of the wall began about two years ago. but a nuclear regulation authority has gave the go ahead to start the freezing process. tepco at first plans to freeze the wall the regulator raised concerns the wall could push ground water lower, and cause contaminated water to leak out

from the buildings. so tepco decided to freeze the ground downstream of the reactor building first. the plan is to freeze the ground upstream in stages. tepco had hoped to complete the ice wall by the end of march. but the regulator has only now given the green light, with caution. >> translator: the project is a first of, and a big challenge. it is important that tepco take steps to monitor the progress, and continues to collect data. >> reporter: tepco officials have been waiting for this moment. >> translator: i'm very thankful that that we can operate the ice wall. it's the last remaining option we have of tackling the problem of contaminated water. >> some doubt the $300 million plan will work. >> translator: the frozen soil

will melt if it's left on its own. this is a temporary measure. it could melt one day. what will they do if some parts don't freeze? ideally, it should be a solid wall that lasts a long time. >> tepco says, it will take about six weeks for the wall to start functioning. but whether or not it functions as planned, remains to be seen. nhk world. japan is grabbling with an intolerance problem, for foreigners to be quickkicked ou the country. jackie reports, nhk world. >> reporter: tokyo is the home of the city's most well-known

korea town. chinese, southeast asian in this area. but the multi cultural risk, also attract ace different kind of group. last weekend, a hate parade, demonstra demonstrator demonstrators, they said koreans should leave the country. these types of rallies are being held week in and week out. other messages are met with resistance by anti-discrimination groups. hate speech is also rampant on the internet. video clips showing discriminating campaigns are on sharing sites. a report by the justice ministry released on wednesday, 1,100 cases of discrimination speech, hunltsed out in pop ganropagand. the report says a task to target

people with korean roots. this worker did not want to use her name. she is korean, and has lived in japan for 30 years. she has seen protesters just outside where she works. >> translator: they shouted with big voices and held many rallies. i do not want to see these kinds of demonstrations. the government should do something. >> something is being done. in december 2014, the supreme court ruled that hate speech is illegal. it dismissed an appeal by a group, ordered to pay compensation for repeated discrimination speeches near a korean school. in the wake of the decision, an ordinance to regulate hate speech was adopted at osaka in january. the legislation will take effect in july. the governing coalition parties

have worked out a draft bill for the government to raise public awareness against discrimination speech. this shop employee has worked in this district for nearly ten years. he thinks friction between japanese and non-japanese cannot be avoided. but he has a pragmatic view. >> translator: both sides should get closer. if friction conditions, things will not improve. >> the tokyo olympics are in just four years. with them, comes a global spotlight. as eyes focus on japan, the big question what kind of country would it be, chiaka, nhk world. the weather, southern u.s. states, the aftermath of a power storm, and it's heading towards other states. robert speta joins us with the latest. >> yes, this storm system

continuing to rip across the southeastern u.s. that's in the wake of what it did over here in eastern areas of oenklahoma, tech a texas, no oklahoma, i should say, look at the tornado, at least seven people were injured from it. homes and businesses were destroyed. you could even see some of the debris being kicked up there. a dangerous storm. thousands of people left without power, and still, actually some of the roadways starting to be cleared out across the area. you can see a tree snapped right there. some of the area images, look at this. these are people's homes you could see right down into it. that's what these tornados can do. any time you're put under a tornado warning, take it seriously. the threat is still there. short time heavy rain, damaging

straight line winds back here towards the east, as this continues to move along. that tornadic threat will still be an issue. especially here in the northern areas of alabama, mississippi, northwestern georgia, as we go ahead through your thursday evening, even by friday, the tornado threat will taper off, but you'll see the thunderstorms up and down the seaboards. this is another thing i want to mention. as this low continues to push east, we have this cold front, stretching all the way down towards the gulf of mexico and pulling in the much cooler winter like air from northern canada. we're looking at heavy know fall, ontario, temperatures will be cooling down. ottawa, 10, down to minus 2, even snowfall on sunday. new york city, 23, spring like ahead of this storm system. we've got strong southerly winds coming in. temperatures will drop down to 7

by sunday. i also want to know in washington, d.c., we have the cherry blossom festival going on now. temperatures will be warm, but rain on friday. the thing is, not spring like by the time sunday rolls around. talk about cherry blossoms, how about over here towards japan. we have a wide spread of blooms taking place, central, western areas of the korean peninsula. there is a damper on the situation here. a low pressure pushing through the country, bringing heavy rainfall, 70, 80 millimeters. this will stay along the coastline. could bring cloud cover, but if you want to get out, it will be cooler. still enjoy it, cherry blossoms continuing to be in full bloom into the tokyo area. absolutely beautiful. and really, much of western japan, towards the north. now, if you are northern japan, you're going to have to wait a little longer, as we go ahead

into the mid to latter part of april, and not until may if you're out there in hokkaido. travel toward the north, check it out. look at the extended forecast, though. tokyo, 17 down to 13 here on saturday. nagoya, rainfall, as we go into the weekend, it will warm up. here is the extended outlook.

as robert mentioned, people in tokyo and other cities in japan are enjoying a sign of spring. the cherry blossoms are out in all their glory. tokyo on thursday hit a daytime high of 20.2 degrees celsius, warm enough to bring the cherry trees to full bloom. crowds visited the national park to view the beautiful blossoms. >> translator: it's very beautiful. >> translator: cherry blossoms are the best. >> cherry trees elsewhere in eastern and western japan have started flowering, and are expected to come into full bloom in a week or two. those in northern japan, as robert mentioned, can expect the flowers expect them in april through may. they are nice, aren't they? that wraps up this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.

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rita aspinwall: on this edition of native report, we'll attend the world indoor lacrosse championship. ernie stevens: we'll meet alf jacques, a world-renowned traditional lacrosse stick maker. you can do a lot of things with it rita aspinwall: and we'll interview onondaga faith keeper, oren lyons. this is the oldest standing democratic government in the world. rita aspinwall: we also talk about leadership in indian country and here from our elders on this edition of native report. narrator: production of native report is made possible by grants from the shakopee mdewakanton sioux community, the blandin foundation, and the duluth superior area community foundation. [music playing]