hello there. welcome to nhk "newsline." it is wednesday, may 11th, 9:00 a.m. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. in a long-awaited develop, the white house has announced barack obama will be visit hiroshima. he'll be the first sitting u.s. president to visit the city that was devastated by an american atomic bomb in 1945. the visit will happen while the president is? japan for the group of 7 summit. >> he looks to send a forward look signal about his ambition for realizing the goals of the

planet without nuclear weapons. the spokesperson stressed the visit is not an apology for america. prime minister abe announced he will accompany president obama. >> translator: i have decided to visit hiroshima with president obama on the 27th of this month. after the summit. i welcome president obama's visit to hiroshima from the bottom of my heart. >> abe says he hopes the visit will be a chance for japan and the u.s. to jointly mourn all the victims of the atomic bombing. u.s. secretary of state john kerry took part in a memorial event at the site of the attack. it believes it is believed that white house officials have been carefully weighing the possible public reaction. in an opinion poll conducted last year, 56% of americans said the u.s. of atomic bombs was

justified. some americans argue that the bombing saved the lives of many u.s. troops by bringing an end to world ii. analysts say a visit by a president could be perceived as an apology by some people. there are many in japan who welcome obama's decision, including the mayors of both cities that suffered is the bombs. mayor matsui says -- and that the president will show other world leaders a clear path towards that goal. mats sui said he was it to serve as a historic starting point for international efforts to abolish nuclear arms. nagasaki's mayor made similar comments.

the head of a group of atomic bomb survivors says he's happy about the visit. >> translator: i want to welcome obama and ask him to do his utmost to abolish all nuclear arms. >> he has been calling for such an american president to come to hiroshima for years. he says he holds no grudge against obama and wants him to pay tribute to the victims. others in hiroshima welcome the announcement, too. >> translator: i want obama to realize what really happened here and send a message to the world. >> translator: i want him to understand how many lives were taken by the bomb. and to pray for a peaceful world without nuclear war. it's time for the latest in business news. japan has the highest level of

debt per gdp. government policymaker haven't had much luck easing the burden. we have some new numbers out. what do they tell us about the current state of japan's finances? >> net borrowing is equivalent to more than 200% of gross domestic product meaning public debt is more than twice the size of the economy. however, the latest numbers from the finance ministry show the debt held has posted its first annual decline in seven years. it does remain at a high level. the quarterly statistics put the numbers at more than 1,000 trillion yen. that's down from the end of the previous fiscal year. the total amount of government bonds grew more than 3%. higher social security costs needed to deal with an aging population pushed that number

higher. the amount of short term government bonds shrank as the yield dipped. that was due to effects of the bank of japan's massive monetary easing policy. japan's fiscal situation remains desire. the latest figures work out to $75,000 worth of debt per person in the country as of april 1st. japanese companies are releasing their earnings reports. two firms have announced yet losses. officials at major oil wholesaler said the group's net loss was about $330 million at the current exchange rate. the group sales fell to about $33 billion. lower crude prices pushed down retail prices of petroleum

products. japan display was found by integrating. let's check on markets. tokyo stock prices have made a good start. the nasdaq gaining about 1.62% on the day. let's see how tokyo markets are. good morning, ramin. tell us what you're seeing at the open. >> good morning. extending the gains yesterday from japan as well as wall street. both indexes were up 1.25%.

we did see the jump in oil prices. also prospects of debt relief in greece. data out of china yesterday. let's have a look at how the nikkei and topix are kicking off. that's largely backed by a weakening yen. japan finance minister repeatedly talked about possible intervention. still, the yen has this year, in fact risen about 14%. that's up from the beginning of may. that's despite bank of japan policy trying to weaken the yen and introduce negative rates.

>> absolutely. in fact, the yen is fallen significantly this week just around 1.7%. where are the key levels now? >> we have seen the yen weaken a touch from levels i was speaking about before. look at it now, 109.13-16. adding to the tensions in the currency market, according to analysts they do not expect any intervention ahead of the g7 meetings. with the euro trading it was a little bit flat. most of the focus on the greek market. the ten-year greek bond fell and we saw stocks on the athens index rising about 3%. hoping of debt relief. let's switch to oil, shall we. look at crude oil prices there. we saw rally in benchmark rising over 3% while wti rose over 2%.

this is concerns continuing over wildfires in oil rich canadian regions and supply concerns. here in japan, volatile commodity markets have dented earnings from major trading houses. you also mentioned from the oil suppliers. that's a big focus here and how the yen plays into a lot of those as well as commodity prices. let's have a quick look before i go. the indexes that are open across asia. seoul's kospi is trading down. china markets open in an hour and a half. i'll have more then. for now, bk you.>> snd good. thanks for that update. we'll check in w hn a few hours time. south koreaens are learning to love green tea again.

>> reporter: it's the largest green tea growing area in south korea. about 1,000 tea farms are cramped into this area. he's been doing this for 25 years. he pulls some paids and uses them to fertilize tea plants. once they decay, the weeds become nutrients. organic fert liedser is-- fertilizer is used instead of fish products. >> translator: this is evidence of good soil. >> reporter: the leaves are harvested by hand before damaged by disease and insects. >> translator: it's difficult to

grow tea organically but i persevere for the sake of good green tea production. >> reporter: such efforts are part of a revival of the beverage. drinks and sweets are popular. sales are up by 30% from last year. >> translator: we're gradually regaining trust through organic growing. customers flock to us. >> reporter: to boost the market, they have opened a tea museum among other initiatives. the county is supporting various effort to increase the sales of the regions most famous. this is an instant green tea product. put the product into bottled water, shake it and presto. the drink is water.

it condenses the aroma and nutrients of the tea. >> translator: putting a small amount of this in food improves its fragrance and taste. products like this make me more interested in drinking tea. >> reporter: he plans to triple tea production. >> translator: the government supports our efforts to make tea products. i think the domestic product will survive and we will sell overseas. it were the green tea is getting popular with consumers again. organic tea cultivation is gradually spreading to other areas of the country. >> i'll have more for you in business next hour. i'll leave you with a check on markets.

they were linked the a newspaper and they show links to japan. over 200 individuals and companies are named. about 20 companies appear to have involvement with offshore entities and tax havens. a company affiliated with the telecon giant, softbank.

they saw and commented on the deal. >> translator: the investment was for business purposes. we are doing business under the global rules of competition. if those rules change, then naturally my firm will abide by them. >> the name of major trading house was also named in the documents. >> translator: there was absolutely nothing illegal. panama is a financial hub. so it was a business decision based on that and other reasons. >> and the president of e-commerce firm rakutan is also mentioned in the data. the company quoted him ace saying the offshore account was not set up to avoid taxes, but was an investment, adding there was no wrongdoing. he explained he doesn't believe there's a problem because if s he makes money, he'll pay taxes

based on japan's rule. nhk has interviewed individuals listed in the papers man who runs a dry cleaning shop in tokyo says he has no idea why his name was included. he says he has never been involved in overseas trading another man in his 70s says he has never established a company or invested money. japanese government officials are responding to the revelations in the panama papers. they're putting together an action plan targeting corruption and bribery. g-7 leaders will announce the details when they meet in japan for a summit later this month. the plan is expected to include concrete measures against tax evasion. one proposal is to disclose the names of people who set up firms to reduce their taxes. the plan is also likely to

include measures to help developing nations crack down on wrongdoing. and it's expected to call for greater transparency in contracts. especially as competition heats up for infrastructure projects in asia and africa. the rift between north korea and the international community is expected to widen as the country showed determination to continue its nuclear and missile development at the congress of the rulings workers party. kim jong-un spoke at the congress. it was the first congress in 36 years. he reiterated the north's claim that it is a responsible nuclear power and advocated a policy of carrying out nuclear developments and economic reconstruction at the same time.

north korea could conduct a fifth nuclear test or another ballistic missile launch after kim was given the role of party chairman at the congress. they say the new leadership is expected to use both hard and soft stances towards japan, the u.s., south korea and other countries in the run-up to the u.s. presidential election in november. tough talking politician rodrigo emerged tuesday as the winner of the philippines presidential election. the incendiary mayor rode a wave of popular support to win by a large margin. his pledge to eliminate crime resonated with ordinary people, many of whom seem to be fed up with politics as usual. the promotion of the welfare of the people first before anything. the 71-year-old duterte emerged as front runner to eliminate crime and corruption. after taking power in 1988 the former prosecutor dramatically increased security in the city by expanding police powers.

but his no-nonsense approach and comments about extra-judicial killing of criminals has prompted strong criticism from human rights groups. in a country with a history of brutal dictatorship. many filipinos are celebrating duterte's victory, even if they don't all approve of his methods. >> we are so happy for him. and we also support him. he can do and -- can do anything, what people want. and also he can help all filipinos. >> translator: i don't necessarily agree with everything he does. especially if it involved something like killing people. >> the region's dominant security players including the u.s. and china will be assessing the new leader's stance on how to break the deadlock in the south china sea. on monday duterte told reporters he would seek multinational talks to discussion disputes

over the resource-research waters there. >> i would say to china do not claim anything there. i will not insist, also. but then i will just keep a blind eye. and if you don't want a joint venture, fine. to get the gas and oil. so i'd be happy if i do not produce the hardware, if i just say, well, there are a lot of filipinos that work with you. outgoing president aquino has strengthened military ties with the u.s. in march the philippines agreed with the united states to jointly use five philippine bases including one near the spratly islands in the south china sea. >> the united states congratulations the philippines on holding inclusive and democratic elections. our two nations have strong ties based on our shared respect for

democratic values we look forward to continuing the ties. >> we hope the new government will take the appropriate steps with us to deal with the confrontation. >> investors are eager to see how duterte shapes economic policy. aquino's administration had an annual growth rate was 6%. the u.s. has once again sent a warship into the south china sea. it sailed close to one of the artificial islands being developed by china. this is the third such operation by the u.s. since last october. the u.s. defense department announced it conducted the freedom of navigation operations in the spratly islands on tuesday morning. it says the "uss williams lawrence" travelled within 12 nautical i miles of the reef. the department said the aim was

to challenge attempts to restrict navigation by china as was taiwan and vietnam. china has developed the reef constructing a 3,000 meter long runway where a chinese military plane landed for the first time last month. officials in beijing criticized the move. foreign ministry spokesperson kang set the action threatened china's security as well as regional peace and stability. it's time for sumo, the grand summer tournament. he suffered his first loss the a wrestler of much lower rank.

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>> here are the results of some other bouts. shohozan pushed out tokushoryu. ikioi forced out his opponent. lots of action still on day four. people across much of japan are experiencing windy weather conditions. it's looking breezy outside our windows here in tokyo too. robert speta joins us with the latest. >> yes, fairly gusty out there this morning. we have been seeing this area of low pressure push overhead, and if you are out and about, you may be seeing some people's umbrellas snapping back with some of the rain showers pushing through. i want to show you some wind reports. along the key peninsula, and also in key youri, about 340 millimeters in the past 48 hours. look at exactly where this comes out of as well.

this is some some of the hard earthquake-hit areas, so definitely a threat of flooding, even landslides. i want to show you a video closer here coming out of kanagawa. this is where the winds in the morning hours were just kicking up. definite li a rough commute out there. about 80 clop per per hour gusts were reported, including parts of can aga what, and tokyo. actually peaking right around noontime, along with some rain showers pushing through's well. not to mention right along the coastline. as we go ahead through the afternoon, it's not all that bad. lunchtime, you probably want to stay indoors. if you are out and about, hold on to your hats. this is all going to move toward the northeast, the pressure gradient loosens up. still see some showers out there, but tokyo, you have high pressure working its way in, sunnier conditions into the forecast here, heading through wednesday night, and throughout the day on thursday.

along with some southerly winds along the west side of that high, as we go ahead into the latter part of this week, so temperatures will be on the rise. shanghai, tie pie with a break from the rainy season there. and tokyo at 24 as well, but it will be warming up into your thursday and friday. okay. over here towards the americas, the big topic out here is the severe weather, and we're still seeing that today, some strong thunderstorms flaring up here along the ohio river valley. we have the stationary front and also a line of instability across parts of texas. that's where you're going to be seeing these storms through the rest of your tuesday evening, but if you look back here towards the north, we have the upper-level low, continuing to bring -- maybe even some thunderstorms into parts of the northern plains, but this trough that extends off of that, that's

really going to be the line setting up the severe thunderstorm. every day this week is severe weather season, a possibility of a tornado or two is still possible with this as well, so really the severe weather warning, radios ready, and if you have in the travel plans once again in this area, planes will not fly into the severe thunderstorm watching, so do be prepared. oklahoma city, thunderstorms there for you, denver at 6 on, some storms in your forecast, los angeles at 22, whilst we look at miami, look at that sunny skies, 28 there for your high. here into europe, we still have this area of instability across much of the iberian peninsula, showers in portugal, lisbon, madrid, paris, london actually looking at a bit of a cooldown, but still warm ahead of it war saw with a high of 23 on wednesday. here's your extended outlook.

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

anchor: "global 3000" this week goes to colombia, where people are feeling the effects of climate change. how can they tackle this? we head to ghana to meet some activists who want to deter their rural compatriots from heading for europe. and in afghanistan we find artists who are processing the everyday terror in public through painting. after the attacks in paris and brussels, artists around the world responded with a message of defiance -- we are against terrorism and all the terrorists in the world will not silence us. graffiti is stronger than violence. that's a belief shared by artists in kabul.