hello there. welcome to nhk "newsline." it's wednesday, may 4th, a japan's prime minister has agreed to speed up negotiations on according. abe is laying the ground work for the group of seven summit. he met with european counsel president and european commission president in brussels on tuesday.

>> translator: flexible spending is needed to avoid the risk of an economic crisis and revitalize the global economy. i'd like to see an agreement on these points. >> abe called for swifter talks so the two sides can reach a broad consensus on an economic partnership agreement at an early date this year and also conclude a strategic partnership accord. >> i hope we can concludes the negotiations for both agreements in the near future. let me recall that the u.s. interested in the strategic partnership with japan that will be underpinned been an ambitious trade deal. >> the two sides need to combine forces to promote growth and investment. he said he's confident they can seal the deal by the end of this year.

young people from the group of seven countries and european nation unions have come up with a set of proposals for their leaders of the summit in japan about 40 participants wrapped up the y7 summit on tuesday. they discussed terrorism, the refugee crisis and the global economy during the four-day event. the chief delegates signed the proposals on the final day. the participants called for educational programs to be set up to prevent young people from being influenced by radical ideologies. they also want governments to speed up technological development to help curb the social welfare costs projected to rise with aging populations. their proposals will be handed to the host country, japan. >> translator: we reflected young people's opinions in our proposals. i hope the g7 leaders will the listen. he said he's glad the participants cooperated in drawing up the proposals instead of promoting their own agendas.

earthquakes continued tuesday in the southwestern japanese prefecture of kumamoto as residents struggled to deal with the aftermath of the disaster there. more than 1,100 quakes with an intensity of 1.0 or higher on the japanese scale of 0 to 7.0 have occurred since the first massive jolt on april 14th. the quakes have killed 49 people in seven municipalities. 17 people are believed to have died due to stress or illness during evacuation. prefectural officials say the quakes have damaged about 23,000 houses and 28,000 more may have been affected. they say nearly 20,000 people have been evacuated. the kumamoto city government on tuesday drew lots to allocate accommodation in vacant public housing. more than 30,000 houses are feared to have been damaged in the city. nearly 4,000 applications were made for the 250 houses on

offer. the city plans to open 18 new evacuation shelters with better amenities and relocate 3,000 people to them this week. the quakes have dealt a blow to the local economies. a farmer who's been growing rice for 50 years had to give up planting rice seedlings this year due to damaged irrigation channels and foot paths between paddies. a company that produces equipment for automakers has suspended operations because the quakes damaged its facilities. >> translator: i want to restart business by seeking help from lenders and local authorities. >> its relocation costs will be about $3 million. that's 1.5 times its annual sales.

the top military officer has indicated he will help promote democracy under the new civilian government. he argues they want to strengthen and advance demockization. they haven't been completed. he express appreciation. although he's moved to civilian rule, the military still holds strong political power. a quarter of the seats in parliament are reserved for its personnel. she holds dual posts.

>> translator: i said japan will assist myanmar and its new government to develop democratly and other ways. i also shared the hope that japan will help myanmar to face challenges that lie ahead. >> during the years when myanmar was under military rule, western nations were under sanctions. >> translator: i all feel grateful for the japanese people support for my activities. >> the leaders agree that myanmar needs develop a business friendly environment to celebrate its high economic growth.

the united states has cleaned up agent orange. a ceremony was held on tuesday in central vietnam where the 80-million dollar project began four years ago. >> translator: the u.s. and vietnam made a technical diplomatic and historical ng together. working and >> the u.s. military stored a huge stockpile of agent orange at the airport during the war. high levels are still detected there more than 40 years after

the war. the treated soil is used to expand the airport. nearly 30 other locations in the country are highly contaminated. many people are suffering from disabilities and illnesses believed to have been caused by agent orange. delegates of north korea's ruling workers party are gathering in pyongyang ahead of its first congress in 36 years. the congress starts friday. it's expected to reaffirm leader kim jong-un's tight grip on power four years after he assumed the party's top post. on tuesday north korea's state-run media showed delegates from across the country arriving in the capital. no details have been announced on how long the upcoming congress will last or the number of participants. the first congresses were held during the regime of kim's late grandfather, kim il-sung. the last was in 1980. about 3,000 delegates attended that congress which lasted five

days. north korean defectors have to deal with discrimination and are concerned the regimes action could make things worse for them. there's one program trying to help people succeed in the south. we have the story of a man doing just that. >> reporter: north korean defectors are learning how to sound like south koreans. they speak the same language but their accents and dialects are different. their goal is to fit in and not be recognized. life in the south isn't exactly easy.

this man came to south korea ten years ago. he works in sales and notices he's at a disadvantage. >> translator: when clients hear me speak, their attitudes change immediately. i cannot succeed. he escaped the country at the age of 12 with his brother. they had no idea where their parents have gone and were totally alone. when he arrived he would hardly read an write and ended up lagging behind in school. that gave other students an excuse to bully him. >> translator: other students mocked me for studying with younger classmates. it hurt me and made me very angry. several years after graduating,

park has found way to try to overcome his challenges. every weekend food trucks at this race park in southern seoul are bustling with customers. the vendors are selling street food. it's a start up business by north korean defectors. this new program began last january. the unification ministry gives tips to truck operators in starting a business. the race authority as well as major auto manufacturer lend them the trucks and offer the venue. park came up with the menu on his own and specializes in tests sandwiches. his truck is in the only fosn'td spot in the area. he sells almost $10,000 worth of food a month.

on weekday, he studies business at college. he juggles that with his business. despite his past, friends feel he's no different from other south korean students. >> translator: he studies so hard, and he's found what he wants to do. i really admire his effort. >> reporter: it is an effort. park works on his food truck operation by himself. he buys a load of groceries once a week and prepares in his apartment the night before. he says he feels happy to be achieving his dream of running his own business. >> translator: i'm feeling tense. i'm the first in this program to go into the food truck business. i operate only one food truck right now, but in the future i'll have 50 or 100.

i will succeed in this business. >> reporter: north koreans with professional backgrounds in medicine, military or technology face difficulties in the south. park started with nothing, he's now finding his own way forward. nhk world, seoul. china's manufacturing sector is showing renewed signs of decline, reviving doubts over the world's second largest economy. it fell to 49.4 in april. down 0.3 points from the previous month. they had forecast a level of 49.8. it remained below the 50-point mark. a reading above 50 indicates expansion, one below that indicates contraction. the survey finds that chinese manufacturers was broadly unchanged in april. the survey says softer client demand has made firms more

cautious about their production schedules. it also says some companies are planning to cut jobs and recruit fewer workers. an expert at tai-shin insight group said that fluctuations indicate the chinese economy lacks a solid foundation for recovery and is still in the process of bottoming out. the expert says the chinese government needs to keep a close watch on the economy due to the risk of a further downturn. many creative people dream of turning their works online. help is at hand due to some web companies crafting a personal touch. >> reporter: this shopping site carries a huge range of product, around two million items. closer inspections reveals

unusual motifs and novelty items. most are made by people purr sighing a hobby. website setting crafts have exploded in recent years. this company is trying a more personal approach. here they can develop the ideas from others with more experience. the company would give them tapes tapips to get started. a group of women had come looking for help. they all enjoy crafts but most have never sold online before. they advise them, a good shot can make or break a sale. background color is key and it helps to shoot in natural light

using a reflector. >> the gray background makes it look classy. it's a small thing that makes such a difference. >> reporter: the experts warn of selling products too cheaply. the makers also have to consider shaping and budgeting. >> the information online is limited. it's great that i can listen to the explanations and have my questions answered. >> translator: a growing number of people want to start create things. last year's transactions totalled about $38 million and this year i'd like to double that. >> reporter: creativity comes in many forms and it doesn't always mean hand made products. she's a part time fashion designer. it all started because she had

trouble finding clothes to fit her petite size. now she sells items online for women in the same situation. >> my dress patterns make clothes that make you look stylish by just wearing them. >> reporter: she's an office worker. she had no training in fashion design. that's not a problem. the online shop has it covered. all she has to do is up load drawings of her design and the site operator does the rest. it creates a paper pattern based on her drawings and places an order to its network of 200 factories where the outfit is tailored by professionals. the service fee starts at around $900. she's site features designs 20 pieces each. >> i always had a dream to do this but it looked like a

difficult process. now after using the system, i learn that everything was surprisingly easy. >> the system inspires people to experiment. the site offers a variety of clothing from casual wear to anime costumes. >> our system enables you to start your own brand without the knowledge, business connections or money. we offer professional skills and technology usually used for mass manufacturing. >> reporter: you don't run into a lot of people in ecommerce. that's worked fine so far. perhaps the key to future success in industry will be all the fashion personal touch.

coffee might come to mind when you think of brazil. now a brazilian woman has been working to revive that industry. . >> reporter: it's her 89th date of birthday and she's celebrating with her family. >> thank you, and thanks to tea which brings me wonderful things. >> reporter: she was born and raised in registro, 200 kilometers. the earliest settleris were japanese. they began focusing on tea growers and it became known as brazil's tea capital. fertile soil and climate contribute to fine conditions for tea. by the golden years of the

1980s, the region produced 12,000 tons of tea per year. most was shipped abroad. then the brazilian currency left in value, exports lost their edge. some 50 processing plants almost all the region's tea industry shut down. she said tshe cried as she ran her hands over her dying tea bushes. >> i wonder what would happen if there were no more tea. even if it was a family's farm, i wanted to save the plant. >> reporter: she worked day in, day out for six months. she inspired other locals for s tea revival.

family members helped too. her daughter goes with her mother to the field every day. we're doing our best to keep it going. i feel i have the responsibility to do that.>we're doing our best going. i feel i have the responsibility to do that.>we're doing our bes it going. i feel i have the responsibility to do that. we're doing our bes it going. i feel i have the responsibility to do that. >> reporter: in 2014, she launched her own brand of organic tea. it has a rich aroma and flavor. tea lovers have noticed it in brazil and abroad. in japan, last year, organizers of black tea festival invited her as a guest. he visited her last december and taught her techniques such as how to pick the finest leaf tips. >> translator: at her age i think it's amazing. she's still so enthusiastic to learn and improve.

>> reporter: now, she's aiming to produce the highest quality black tea twisted and rolled by hand. >> translator: everyone who tries this tea says it's delicious, so i believe it holds promise. in the end all you can do is try your hardest. that's all i'm doing. >> reporter: her enthusiasm for growing tea gets stronger by the day. she's ready to pioneer the industry again. >> an amazing lady there. it's time for a check of the weather with robert speta. it was pouring rain. the weather has improved. what happened? >> the weather improved quickly even back towards the west as well. with have our storm system racing off toward the northeast.

the big thing is it has a strong upper level jet associated with it. it's been fueling it up, making it for rather potent storm. the good news, that's also enhancing it moving rather fast. we did see roughwet r out here on tuesday and also over towards wednesday morning. we had a report of a water spout just off the coastline. high winds into the korean peninsula. over 150 kilometers per hour. it's been windy and heavy rain. let's show you video. this is what we're talking about here into the morning. you mentioned that walking into work it was a rough one. a lot of us had to deal with this this morning. you see people caught off guard. winds picking up across most of tokyo along with the heavy rainfall throughout the morning

hours. also we have seen numerous train delays in suspension of one line earlier on this morning. now since conditions are starting to improve, things getting a little bit back to normal here. as we go into the afternoon hours, tokyo definitely vastly improving. it's going to be a bit cooler here on your wednesday back towards the west across the korean peninsula. this will quickly shif lly shif the northeast. we have the cooler air coming in from the north. right here in south eastern china we're looking at the interaction and thunderstorms flaring up there. how about this out of hong kong. we saw some thunder cells

flaring up. a pretty decent lightning show. hong kong with a high of 31. overall the northeast monsoon still dominating. things are rather hot. >> a little bit closer to the coast. you have the humidity to deal with. the heat index is continuing to rise. you don't get a break in india. the temperatures get warm enough. starts to pull in moisture from the south. showers start to kick up being enhanced.

out here in the americas, showers in the east and thunderstorms there for you but back towards the west, high pressure is dominating and big change in temperature especially in denver. rather warm out there. 24 for your high on wednesday. here is the extended outlook. we have one more story to share before we go.

a traditional boast race kicked off tuesday. the event is held at this time every year to pray for good fishing and safety at sea. the port saw the start of the three-day festival featuring dragon boats. on the first day teams of 32 junior high school students competed over a 200 meter course. it's not just about winning. on day two, visitors get their chance to board the boats too. the final day of the festival sees teas representing the three districts go head to head to decide the 2016 champion. a lot of excitement there. that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline."

thanks for joining us. xnóx

>> global 3000 this week looks at basic commodities. why are many of the earth's resources becoming cheaper. what does that mean for our planet. we go to china where coal companies are struggling with mountains of debt. we are in malaysia where it has been flourishing in the industry. what does this mean for the environment? in south africa, we visit a city that has iron ore to thank for its size. basic commodities rule the world. exports of oil and coal are percent of multimillion dollar business for many countries. arof