hello there. welcome to nhk "newsline." it is tuesday, april 26th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. u.s. president obama is planning to increase america's military presence in syria. he says he's deploying more u.s. troops to the country to maintain momentum against islamic state militants. >> and we continue to make progress. pushing isil back from territory that it controlled. so given the success, i've approved the deployment of up to 250 additional u.s. personnel in syria, including special forces to keep up this momentum. >> obama made the announcement

in hannover, germany. he urged european states to step up the fight against isil. the bid for japan to win a contract with australia for a submarine fleet has failed. they are planning for 12 new subs to go into service after the year 2030. the contract is worth at least $38 billion. sources close to the matter say australian ministers told their japanese counterparts that japan was not chosen by phone on monday. japanese officials pitched the deal as a potential step towards strengthening cooperation with australia as china increases maritime activities in the south china sea. japanese officials meanwhile are

waiting for an official announcement from the australian government. they're expected to examine the reasons for not being selected and explore other possibilities of joint defense development with australia. rescue crews in southwestern japan have discovered another victim. after the series of earthquakes that has been rocking the region for over a week. police have confirmed that it is one of the two missing people they've been searching for. the body was found at a site of a massive landslide in kumamoto prefecture. authorities say 49 people died in the quakes. they say 13 others died later, possibly due to the physical burden of evacuating or the worsening condition of diseases they already had. more than 48,000 people are living in shelters or vehicles and not being able to move around much in their cars is taking a toll. officials say 35 people have been diagnosed with so-called

economy class syndrome and need to be admitted to hospital. the syndrome causes blood clots to form and could lead to death. recovery work is ongoing, and on monday, the central government took a step forward to help rebuild the region. >> translator: we have designated the damage caused by the earthquakes in kumamoto as an extremely severe disaster. we have also decided on special measures to be applied to the affected region. >> the designation allows tokyo to provide bigger subsidies to municipalities in the disaster-hit areas. one elementary school in kumamoto city resumed classes after an interval of ten days. >> translator: i'm looking forward to seeing my classmates. >> translator: i want to play in the yard with my friends. >> school officials say they also plan to provide counseling

for the children. now japanese prime minister shinzo abe pledged to rebuild the quake-ihit areas. let's go to ai uchida for more on this. what is he proposing? >> he's turning to the private sector. he's urging business leaders to help rebuild the kumamoto area. he said every day operations are starting to improve, but a decline in foreign and domestic tourists may have a prolonged impact on the local economy. ache said his government will draft an extra budge to t to actively assist quake victims in affected areas. >> translator: the government will do everything to minimize the quake's impact on the local economy, supply chain and tourism. i'd like to request the business community's help. >> council members also

discussed how to boost the gdp to $5.4 trillion. they decided to boost investment in artificial intelligent research to more than 4% of gdp by fiscal 2020. saudi arabia has announced a plan to lower its reliance on oil profits by the year 2030 at country's economy has been hit hard by lower crude oil prices. the saudi cabinet has approved a broad-based economic reform known as, broad-based economic form plan, and it's known as "vision 2030." state immediate what reported that the plan includes raising funds through the sale of less than 5% of state-oil giant. it was compiled by the deputy crown prince salman. it's planning to raise it to $2

trillion. that money will be spent on expanding investment overseas and raising revenue. the shares will go public at stock exchanges around the globe, but the date of the ipo has not been clearly stated. the plan also aims to increase jobs to lower the unemployment rate from the current 11.6% to 7%. the deputy crown prince said saudi arabia will become an economy supported not by crude oil production but by investment in the future. and we're going to check on markets. u.s. stock prices ended with modest declines on monday, a dip in oil prices and lackluster earnings dampened sentiment. the dow jones falling .15%. we are going to see how stocks are opening here this tuesday morning. we're going to go to ramin mellegard for that.

investors a little hesitant ahead of key events this week. >> good morning to you. markets a little bit nervous. of course u.s. earnings haven't been exactly stellar. crude has dipped as well. and we have the federal reserve policy meeting as well as the bank of japan policy meeting this week, a lot for investors to take in. and they're taking a little bit of a step back. having a look at how the nikkei's opening this morning, both indeces, the nikkei and the broader topix trading lower, were .3%. the nikkei moved step for step with other index, ending with the key focus being the bank of japan meeting which ends on thursday. investors looking for any moves the boj may take to either expand the asset buying program or cut interest rates further into the negative. in fact, currency traders have already reacted sharply to a

media report last year about the boj that it could help banks by offering negative rate loans, and that itself caused one of the biggest one-day dips for the yenst, 2014. so we've already seen some volatility in the currency markets. >> apart from the fed and boj meetings, we also have some key data that could swing the dollar/yen pair. >> the key data out of the use will be very important due out on thursday. the dollar slipped a little. look at it now, 111 flat. now first quarter gdp on thursday will be a key guide for the u.s. and for investors. for all intents and purposes, there's no expectation of a rate hike by the fed at a meeting this week. in fact, the gdp data may have more of a bearing on what the fed may do at its june meeting.

mitsubishi motors will be announcing earnings on wednesday, and that's following the fuel efficiency scandal that broke last week. and we've seen the market value of mitsubishi motor plummet since that point in time. but that will be a big focus. sony also due out on friday, and of course it's already said that it's going to delay its profit outlook until may, and that's really because it's still assessing the effects from the earthquakes in southwestern japan. a quick look at other asian indeces which are up and run being right now. and i'm talking about the kospi and australia's s&p/asx. australia is up just a tenth of a percent. china opens in an hour and a half. very interesting to see what happens with the shanghai composite and the hangseng. that's it for me. >> ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange.

women in japan face formidable barriers in the workplace. more than 60% quit their jobs after giving birth. and the percentage of female managers in japan is much lower than in other nations. now business leaders are beginning to realize something needs to change. this month, a law took effect with the goal of increasing the employment of women. in this three-part series we look at ways women build their careers and how some companies are changing to help them. today nhk focuses on the difficulties for women who want to work. >> reporter: more than 1700 women came to an event in tokyo, hoping to find companies that would offer them a career, not just a job. the event was exclusively for women. >> translator: i want to work at a company that supports women, even when they get married or have children. >> reporter: a manager at the company that put the on the fair says it gets a big response each time. he's always surprised by how many women are not satisfied

with their careers. many actually give up on a career once they have a child. this woman refined from a finance institution five years ago before her child was born. >> translator: i was afraid of losing my credibility at work if i took a day off to see a doctor or when i didn't feel well. people were nice, but i didn't want to cause trouble. >> reporter: before she quit, she was thinking it wouldn't be hard to leave her son at a nursery while she worked somewhere, but the wait for public day care was long and the cost of a private facility too high. her husband has avoided taking paternity leave because no man at his company has ever done so. >> translator: i realized how much i wanted to work after quitting my job. i really hoped to be employed and improve my skills and career, but i am my boy's mother, and he needs me. i even feel guilty about wishing to develop my career. >> reporter: at this major

manufacturer in tokyo, managers are taking steps to attract more women and toward senior roles. this woman is drawing up a plan for increasing the number of women managers and workers. she's developing plans for fellow workers raising children. she conducted a survey to find out what employee the think about their careers. the answers alarmed her. she was concerned by the number of women who don't want to become managers. they say they have no role models and feel their bosses don't expect them to move up the ladder. >> translator: male bosses may seem to be getting along with female workers, but in reality, they may not really be depending on women workers or training them to become managers. >> reporter: she has set a goal of 10% women managers by 2020. she briefed the survey and her

plan. one man talked about the difficulty of giving assignments to women who take maternity leave. >> translator: they work for while, take a leave, work for while and take another leave. it's really hard to assign jobs to them. >> translator: it's important to many believe in supporting women's career development no matter what. there's nothing wrong what taking a long leave. we have to insist that working mothers also assist with work responsibilities and make achievements. >> reporter: she is running training sessions to helpen mana managers see things differently. one executive says he hopes they move beyond the norm. >> translator: our business is changing, so should our way of managing. we need to diversify our workforce. if we can let women workers fully exercise their

capabilities, that will add great power to the entire operation. >> reporter: the government estimates 3 million women in japan westeish to work but don'. that leaves a lot of room for progress. nhk world. and for the second installment of our series, we'll look at one of japan's biggest beverage makers is doing to foster female talent. a quick correction before i go, sony earnings is due out thursday, not friday. i'll be back next hour with more on your headlines. here's a check on your markets.

the 2020 tokyo olympic and paralympic games finally have log logos. the original designs were scrapped amid allegations of plagiarism. >> translator: these indigo and white checkers will soon be printed on jerseys, souvenirs and signs for the 2020 games. they reference a traditional japanese pattern. varying in size, they represent different countries, cultures and ways of thinking. and they carry a message of unity in diversity. >> translator: it took a long time to draw this design. i feel like it's my child. i hope the emblems will be used in many ways and be known to many people. >> translator: i like it. it has a sense of japan.

>> translator: i think it's okay. it's unique. >> reporter: in july, the original design by this art director was unveiled. but a belgian graphic designer called on the international olympic committee to prevent the logo's use. he said it closely resembled one he created for theater in belgium. he denied the accusation, but further accusations against his company emerged. in september, the organizers of the tokyo games withdrew the logo. they faced criticism over lack of transparency in the selection process. so they formed a 21-member panel made up of experts. entries increased sharply. there were 14,000, more than 100 times above the previous number. the screening process was made

partially visible online. after considering thousands of comments, the panel selected the logo by a majority vote. >> translator: it feels like we've come a long way to find the most precious one. >> reporter: the new logo went through a long bundle of checks to ensure their originality. and it's hoped they will be widely accepted as the new symbol of the 2020 olympic games. japan, china and south korea are coming together for an annual meeting on air pollution and global warming. the meeting will start tuesday in the japanese city of sheof shizuoka. at the top of the agenda for the two-day meeting is china's severe air pollution problem. the ministers will discuss establishing a network that

would enable china to utilize technologies from japan and south korea to tackle air pollution. nepal is marking a year since the deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake that shattered lives across the poor himalayan nation. almost 9,000 people were killed, and more than 900,000 houses damaged or destroyed. government officials held a memorial service in the capital kathmandu ahead of monday's anniversary. nepalese prime minister paid tribute at a site where a historic building collapsed, killing dozens of people. >> translator: there's nothing we can do about what happened. i just prayed for the victims. >> people lit candles and offered prayers for those lost in the disaster. >> translator: a year has gone so quickly. it feels like just yesterday.

it's frightening. as earthquakes are still happening. i prayed for them to stop. >> the nepalese government and officials of the japan international cooperation agency or jica held a special seminar on monday. international society and aid groups are stressing the importance of speeding up rebuilding efforts. now people across nepal are still struggling to get back on their feet. in the country's remote regions, daily life since the earthquake is especially hard. nhk visited the worse-hit area in the himalayan foothills. >> reporter: this district lies about a three-hour drive from the capital. more than 3,500 people died here in the earthquakes. survivors live in makeshift homes, doing their best just to get by.

these tin sheets are close to useless against the cold of the winter or the heat of the summer. the government has so far failed to provide people with the $1900 it has pledged for a rebuilding scheme. >> translator: the government says it will send the money. but that hasn't happened yet. >> translator: a year has passed since the earthquake. but my house has not been rebuilt yet. the government said it will help us, but it hasn't done a thing. our lives haven't changed at all over the year. >> reporter: and there are other challenges making life extremely difficult. this is a farmer. his family lived on the rice and vegetables they grew. but they had to give up farming as their water stopped running after the earthquake. they think the pipes from the source were damaged.

>> translator: before the quake, water came out from here and flowed down that way. >> reporter: now his wife and daughter have to fetch water from a distant well. each trip takes an hour, meaning they spend almost their entire day going back and forth for water. >> translator: it's hard. but we have to do it to survive. >> reporter: he says he's in debt for the first time in his life. as he needs to buy food now. he has three children and often wonders if the problems will ever end. >> translator: we won't be able to live here if i can't go back to farming. it's so hard just getting water. it's difficult to raise my children without the farm.

>> reporter: a japanese non-profit group providing support for nepal is working to help solve the water problem. staff and local people assess the situation together. >> translator: the water here has dried up too. >> reporter: the group aims to offer financial and technical support to repair infrastructure. >> translator: when people lose access to water, they are forced to sell-off their livestock or give up farming. this means their life before the disaster is destroyed. we need to start restoring infrastructure as soon as possible. >> reporter: but the organization cannot start work yet. as the nepalese government has been slow issuing the necessary approval. people have began to criticize the government, saying its lack of urgency is holding back reconstruction efforts.

kay eachy tanaka, nhk world. it is time now for a check of the weather. people in tokyo are experiencing a warm tuesday morning. robert speta tells us how long that will last and more in world weather. >> yes, actually temperatures are up into the may to june-like temperatures across parts of central japan. today sunny skies really dominating, although that is going to be coming at a price over the next 48 hours, because another reason why we are looking at warmer than usual temperatures because of all this cloud cover back here towards the west, that is contributing to winds coming out from the southwest, and that means temperatures will be on the rise. but fortunately, once that moves farther to the east, it will be bringing precipitation with it. already bringing widespread rainfall across regions of china, and i do want to show you video coming out of this area just to show you what has

already been happening. look at that. significant flooding, even washing out a bridge over the past weekend. about 200 millimeters of rain fell, forcing authorities to issue red alert warnings, you can see the flooded streets across much of the area, also some of the stronger storms ripped off the roofs of some buildings. so a potent, slow-moving storm system. as this develops, it's going to be pulling off toward the east, bringing showers across much of kyushu, some areas of south korea, but i do want to zoom into kyushu, because that's where we're looking at recovery efforts still from last week's large earthquake, and a lot of people are still outside in temporary shelters and definitely any more rainfall is not going to be welcome, even spreading that increase in

landslides. and over toward tokyo, you're going to be looking at cooler temperatures, just because the sky will be blocked out by the cloud cover. at least for now, though, tokyo with a high of 24. partly cloudy skies. seoul all the way up to 27. meanwhile, hot and muggy into taipei, 29 with the rain showers in your forecast. do want to take your attention now to south india. it has been hot out here, and that has definitely been a problem. that pre-monsoonal heat. central arias of the country up to about 43. we are seeing strong thunderstorms back towards the east, mainly because of the heat. 38 for your high in bangladesh's capital, but it is definitely very unstable. but this area, you really are not looking at any signs of relief anytime soon. in fact, take a look at the normal onset of the southwest monsoon. when that comes in, it does bring cooler temperatures with it, some rainfall, some cloud cover, but really not until june

or july farther towards the north are you going to be expecting that. so really, that heat is going to be an ongoing problem. over towards the americas, severe weather outbreak ongoing, but this is moving off toward the east, still looking at precipitation across parts of the great lakes, even extending towards new england. as we go ahead into tuesday afternoon and evening hours, we have cool air spilling in from the northwest, and already some instability firing up out here back towards the east it is very warm. we're also looking at some upper-level winds that are quite strong. what that means, as we go into tuesday is that threat of severe weather. thunderstorms, large hail and in some of these isolated super cells, we're going to be looking at very large, long-lasting tornados potentially, and this is going to be one of the severe weather outbreaks you want to be watching very closely. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook.

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

announcer: "euromaxx highlights." and here's your host. host: hello there, friends. thanks for tuning in. we've had an interesting week of "euromaxx," and i'm here to bring you the highlights. here is a taste of what we will enjoy during the next half-hour. catching the wind. dutch inventor theo jansen and his moving sculptures. taming of nature. british designer gavin munro grows furniture from the ground up. cooking up a storm. peter maria schnurr is the german chef of the year. let's get started with a day at the beach in the netherlands. artist theo jansen's imagination has allowed him to create futuristic, animal-like sculptures which he calls "strand beasts." to me,y