hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. the organizers of the tokyo olympics and paralympics are moving closer to united states choosing official emblems. that i unveiled four sets of logos after those last july were scrapped after allegations of plagiarism. more than 14,000 entries were submitted in the competition. the committee officials widdled the set down to four sets. set a features checkered

patterns in indigo blue. they are laid out in japanese style. set b expresses the connection between athletes and spectators as well as the spreading of peace and harmony around the world. set c is inspired by the japanese gods of wind and thunder and represent the athletes's endeavors. and set d features morning glory flowers to express the bright faces of athletes and spectators. they selected a pair of logos and had to retract them following allegations of plagiarism. they faced criticism and lacked transparency. >> it's a good idea to reflect public opinion. >> translator: i hope everyone can understand the selection process. >> i'm looking forward to see which will be picked.

this will get people excited about the games. >> the committee posted the four sets on the internet for public comment on line and by mail. the opinions will be used to help them choose the winning logos later this month. the panel will decide on the final set by a majority vote. tokyo prosecutors are searching the offices of a government-backed urban development agency and construction company. they are in connection with a funding scandal involving the former revitalization minster in charge of the transpacific partnership negotiations. he and his former secretary received cash from the construction firm between 2013 and 2014. they were in the process of negotiating compensation from the agency. the group of lawyers filed accusations against the men over the funds they received. the group said he and his former secretary violated a law that prohibits politicians and

secretaries from receiving benefits in return for helping to negotiate with civil servants. the tpp negotiations concluded last year but they are causing disagreement in the japanese diet. opposition lawmakers want the government to provide detailed information on how they played out, but prime minister shinzo abe said that could harm the national interest. numbers of a committee met friday to discuss a bill to approve the deal. opposition lawmakers argue they need more information before they can judge whether the talks were in japan's interest. another point of contention is a book that the chairman had planned to publish. opposition lawmakers suspect they helped them write the man script that contains details of the talks. lawmakers boycotted the meeting and the debate was suspended for more than six hours. he will explain the deal to the

committee. >> translator: in our answers to your questions of this committee, we will explain how the tpp will talk to the people. we will give a thorough explanation of how we will deal with the expected impact of the deal. >> but he said disclosing information on recent negotiations would harm japan's relations with other countries and expose strategy and hurt the national interest. japan's aerospace agency is hoping to turn around the troubled history of its probe circling venus. adjustments have been made in a bid to increase the span. it's in an oval orbit around venus. officials at the aerospace exploration agency fired the four thrusters for just 15 seconds earlier this week. that was enough to make the orbits slightly wider. officials say this will extend the president the probe can

observe from 800 days to 2,000. the probe was launched in 2010. a problem prevented it from entering orbit around venus. last december it finally succeeded. it is scheduled to begin gathering data in mid-april. >> we will close low monitor to find trouble and make it possible to observe venus as long as we can. >> scientists at the agency are working to salvage another aerospace project. they launched a satellite name around the earth and they lost all communication with it. the agency has released images of the satellite taken by the telescope in hawaii and a telescope at the observatory of the university of tokyo in central japan. they believe the satellite broke up into at least four pieces and the largest is spinning one

revolution about every five seconds. they had an abnormality in a thruster that may have caused the satellite to move into the wrong position making its solar panels out of alignment with the sun and they may have lost power. they are planning efforts to get the satellite back into working order. japan's defense minster has agreed to continue four of the plans to relocate the base in southern japan. the idea is facing strong opposition from local government. they met to discuss a plan to relocate the air station that would move from a city area to a coastal district within okinawa prefecture. >> translator: we will do whatever we can to complete the

relocation as soon as possible in order to reduce the danger and other concerns posed by the base. >> we will win the race and be patient because we know japan is committed to complete the facility and all the other things we have planned. >> work on the facility is currently suspended and has been since the central and okinawa governments accepted proposals to drop the issues. they insist that no new facilities should be built. he wants the base moved out of okinawa all together. japan's foreign minster is looking forward to meeting his g 7 counterparts in hiroshima. he said he wants them to see for themselves how the u.s. bombing there 71 years ago impacted the

city. >> i think it's important for the foreign minsters to take a look at many things with their own eyes and own hearts. >> on the sidelines of a g 7 foreign minster's meeting, they will visit the peace memorial park and offer flowers to the victims. 290,000 people died as a result of the bomb. it will be the first time a sitting u.s. secretary of state will visit the park. a g 7 includes three nuclear powers, the u.s., britain and france. they referred to the meeting of foreign minsters of nonnuclear powers in hiroshima. he noted all the participants said the visits to the monuments was unforgettable and expressed hope that the foreign minsters will have a similar experience. >> two badminton players said they are sorry for gambling at illegal casinos. they let down supporters and

teammates. >> i enjtake complete responsibility for this. per both players are sponsored by the telecommunications company and they said the two started with the casinos two years ago. he went six times and lost about

$4,500. they said they will not be recommended from the games in rio. he competed at the london games four years ago. >> the vast trove of leaked do you means known as the panama papers are sending ripples across the globe. britain's prime minister admitted he did profit from shares in an offshore trust set up by his late father. >> i did. we had a joint account and we had 5,000 units in the investment trust that we sold in january 2010. that was worth something like 30,000 pounds. >> journalists are examining the documents obtained from a

panama-based law firm and said cameron's father was involved in managing the trust in panama known as a tax haven. the office previously said camera ron and his family had not benefitted from any offshore investments. the files named a friend of russian president putin as an owner of an offshore company. according to media reports, they allege a long time friend of putin engaged in deals through an offshore company. they were worth about $2 billion and point to a connection to the russian leader. putin denies any links. >> the allegations are part of a disinformation campaign waged against russia to create distrust within society towards the russian administration. >> putin defended his friend saying he never made anywhere near $2 billion.

his frie his. >> politicians and public officials for more than 50 nations have been referenced in the documents. nhk world looks at the links between china and north korea. >> in beijing, they suddenly went black when they reported the leaders are named in the documents. the allegations that include members of ping's family are being sensored online too. the documents allege his brother-in-law owns two shell companies in the tax haven of the british virgin islands. the papers say relatives of two members of china's elite committee own stakes of companies in the islands. chinese officials denounced the allegations. >> translator: we won't comment on such groundless accusations.

>> the report said the british banker helped him set up a finance company for a bank. allegedly they used it help sell arms and expand the nuclear weapons program. the un security counsel said they had suspicious they were transferring funds linked to the program. the consortium of investigative journalists said it will reveal more companies than people in the panama papers. nhk world. >> the panama papers had an impact on a southeast asian company. we have the details from bangkok. >> thailand's anti-money laundering authority said they were investigating 16 people whose names appeared in the massive document leak.

>> from our initial investigation the names of individuals include business men and investors. we haven't found that they breached the law at the moment. >> without naming anyone, the officials said politicians were also included and that his agency sought cooperation from the counterpart in panama. >> we have to check information from the coarse before we can take further steps. we are not just waiting for responses. we are doing checks from the information we have now. >> they said they would check the authorities. >> they released dozens of student activists who had been detained under the former military-backed regime with the latest pledge made by aung san suu kyi.

a myanmar court freed 69 students on friday held in connection with the protests against state education reforms in march last year. the move coincides with this period and the new year falls in mid-april. the previous government headed by a former general made several high profile releases of political prisoners and human rights groups said more than 100 prisoners of conscious remain behind bars while at the beginning of this month, at least 400 activists were awa awaiting trial for political activity. aung san suu kyi said in a statement on thursday that she would prioritize releasing prisoners of conscious. many nld members were improvened for offenses under the decades long period of military rule. and in another story from myanmar, the new stock exchange is starting small with one listed company. many investors believe the market is one of the most

promising in southeast asia. excited by the growth of over 7% a year. they are watching closely as more companies prepare to go public. nhk world has the story. >> trading began on march 25th for the first time on the general stock exchange. just one company, a real estate development firm had qualified for the opening day. the initial share price of the developer was 31,000 or around $25. but orders pushed up the price by 2o% and the maximum daily trading limit. the exchange group that runs the tokyo stock exchange and the institute of research helped to open the force. they want to increase the

listing to around ten before the year's end. >> we are working to bring the quality of the operation up to a certain level including the full disclosure of information on the firms so that the boss can win the investor's trust. >> several major projects are under way in myanmar. only 20% of the people have bank accounts, leaving the banks with infirefighter funds to meet corporate demand for loans. first myanmar investment. the one firm listed on the new exchange is built in this housing complex. a two bedroom unit goes for around $200,000. they are targeting wealthy citizens and foreigners. they plan to sell the units by 2020. >> there is never enough money.

at this time in history, our country is going through a very significant change. therefore it is quite normal to expect that new capital will be required for all companies. >> individual investors also have high hopes for the new exchange. a lot of people in myanmar keep most of their money at home and have little experience in investing. they now think stocks are an attractive investment commodity that can earn them profits. >> i'm looking forward to buying and selling shares. this is the first exchange myanmar ever had. >> some investors placed orders for hundreds of thousands of dollars. securities companies are working to find more investors by

holding seminars for the clients. >> we will have to come up with effective measures in cooperation with the government. they applied for the listings on the exchange. at issue is whether the relevant parties can rapidly create a force that is attractive to both investors and businesses. nhk world. that wraps up the bulletin from bangkok. >> in other news, a group of 13 north koreans defected to south korea. it's the first time workers at a restaurant run by the north fled en masse. a spokesperson for the ministry said they include a male manager and 12 female employees.

they entered the south seeks asylum. the government operates eateries specializing in the country's cuisine as a way to obtain foreign currency for the leadership. they are following the nuclear test and launch of an apparent long range missile. they urged the citizens not to patronize the eateries. >> he hopes britain will use the referendum to stay in the european union. >> britain is an especially part of it. i hope british people decide to remain in the eu. >> on friday he gave an interview to nhk and stressed if the country leaves the block, europe will face many more challenges. he called on the eu members to unite so they can implement the

reforms and revitalizing the economy. a stonia is a strong supporter of european unity. >> jap nose electronics manufacturer made getting around stores and public facilities a little easier. it unveiled a talking robot that will assist people. the robot measures 90 centimeters tall. it is capable of identifying people in need of help by using data from the online surveillance camera. >> where is the tourist information? >> do you mean visitor's center? >> yes. i am looking for a japanese souvenir. >> the robot will be able to identify anyone who looks lost and show them the way. if a person asks a question in english, it switches from japanese.

they hope to put the robot to use in the 2020 olympics and paralympics in tokyo. >> the popularity of costume play or cost play is heating up in china. in cities like beijing, they are held every weekend. they dress up as favorite characters. we went to meet fans at a recent event. one received more than five million views in five days. the subculture a tracked unlikely players. this woman is a politician in the city. she posted photos of herself on her social networking page to promote local tourist spots where plum flowers were in bloom. such photos of someone affiliated with the communist party received positive

reactions. to find out what drives people to cost play, i recently visited an event in beijing. many of the 3,000 participants were dressed as characters from novels in anime that were popular with young people. she is a freshman at a university. she and her friend dressed as characters from a novel they love. she said cost play allows her to escape from reality. >> when we all get together, i can forget about my troubles. it's fun to make friends. >> the boom in cost play is partly due to the growth of social media here in china. people are turning to the mobile phones and sending pictures to their friends online. >> people who enjoy cost play are happy when the photos they post on social networking get responses from other users.

>> the popularity of cost play led to an emergence of new businesses. >> we run a photo studio ex-closively for cost players. please visit us for a photo shoot. >> the february of photo studios is increasing in beijing. the photo studio is advertised on a flyer. more than 100 kinds of costumes are on display there. she ticked a female lead of a love story set in a farm village in ancient chine. what is distinctive is people try to follow the story line of their character's novel. she and her friend paid about $200 for the photo shoot. it was worth a lot of money, but they say it was worth it.

>> the pictures turned out the way we wanted. i'm glad that we did this. >> demand to take photos like this issing as social networking sites become more popular. customers bring in new customers. i believe demand will grow more. >> in china, the spread of social kbleed is fueling passion for costume play. a world where people can set themselves apart from reality is rapidly growing among them. nhk world beijing. >> next here's the three-day outlook on the world's weather.

remembering new scenes from in and around tokyo, people enjoyed the cherry blossoms over the past few weeks and we take

you to osaka western japan where thousands have gathered at the japan mint to feast their eyes on spring. for over 130 years, the agency that produces japan's point has opened grounds to the public for one week when cherry trees are in bloom. more than 800 people were waiting to get in for the first day this year. they were able to see 350 trees at 133 varieties. they selected this as the blossom of the year. >> it's great. so many varieties. >> they were worth seeing. >> officials say the grounds will be open through april 14th and expect more than 600,000 visitors. it is beautiful. that's all for now on this edition of nhk "newsline." from all of us at nhk world,

thanks for watching. óxóoóx

this week's global 3000 heads to brazil where we learn how cities can better protect themselves from flooding. in pakistan we meet a courageous woman who is causing a stir in a male-dominated profession. but we start in the usa where there once high hopes for a new trade agreement was become of them? nafta gaffe to there are more than 3000 two hundred multilateral trade agreements worldwide free trade agreements. but what results to the yield?