hello there. welcome to nhk "newsline." it is tuesday, may 12th, 9:00 a.m. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. nhk has learned that nissan motor is in the final stage of negotiations to effectively acquire scandal-hit mitsubishi motors. sources tell nhk nissan could spend over $1.8 billion to take a take in the ailing firm. the move would make nissan mitsubishi's biggest shareholder. nissan and mitsubishi are set to hold meetings to decide about the move. the two automakers jointly set up a company to develop mini observers say nissan appears to

be aiming to boost its sales in southeast asia, which is mitsubishi's key market. combined global sales of nissan, its partner firm, renault, and mitsubishi topped 9.5 million vehicles last year. the figure is comparable with those of the world's top selling automaker, toyota, and germany's volkswagen. officials admitted to fabricating assumption data. the executives are hoping a new arrangement with nissan could strengthen its research and development capabilities. sources say nissan is pinning its hopes on gaining some advantages in southeast asia.

a key market for mitsubishi. the scandal could result in a more consolidated auto industry. the scandal at mitsubishi is not over yet. executives at mitsubishi motors admit the company manipulated fuel economy figures for at least one more model of vehicle than previously revealed. >> translator: i also responsibility for having failed to inform the staff. i'm also responsible for stabilizing the company's management. i hope people pay attention to how we change our firm from now on. >> in the latest case, data

fabricated for one version of their rvr model was used for another. the company had submitted an additional report on its misconduct to the transport ministry. >> iltd anticipate the president have an opportunity to reflect on his time there. i would -- the president does not plan to deliver a major address in hiroshima. in the spokesperson said a team of u.s. officials will work out the details in japan. obama will be the first sitting american president to visit hiroshima which was devastated by a u.s. atomic bomb. he'll visit the city on may 27th

in a different region of japan. the white house spokesperson did not make it clear if obama will visit hiroshima's peace memorial museum. that's one of the places atomic bomb survivors are asking him to see. a group of sur vvivors will sena letter to the president. >> translator: we really want him to do that. >> they hope the president will meet them and other survivors in hiroshima.

islamic state militant group claimed responsibility for all three attacks. in one of them, a truck blew up at a market. 64 people died and more than 80 were injured. explosions occurred at two check points. car filled with explosives blew up while a suicide attack was carried out at the other. islamic state militants say they targeted shia muslim fighters who have been helping the government fight against the group. iraqi government forces are hoping to retake the city of mosul through a large scale military campaign.

australian police have arrested five men on suspicion of planning to sail to syria to join the islamic state militant group. the police detained the men, aged 21-33, on tuesday. >> we're investigating the allegation that they were planning to make their way through indonesia to the philippines, with a view to ending up in syria. the men are in their 20s and early 30s and lived in melbourne. they've been under police investigation for weeks and their passports had been canceled. about 100 people are believed to have left australia to join the fighting in syria. according to the u.n.'s latest numbers, nearly 5 million s syrians are living as refues after fleeing e turmoil in their country. many have to stay in camps where conditions are squalid. here in japan, a syrian is trying to help make a difference

by starting a grassroots aid program that helps the most vulnerable. nhk world's yurosaku kashima has his story. >> reporter: this camp in southern turkey is a home to thousands of refugees. they are mostly women, children and elderly people who do not have the strength or money to make the journey to europe or other nations. this is a syrian businessman who lives in japan. he's been organizing assistance for its refugees. recently he visited the camp for the first time to see the situation with his own eyes. one woman he met has been there for three years. >> translator: who did you come here with? >> translator: just me and my children and the wife of my eldest son. >> translator: were there no men with you? >> translator: my husband is

dead. >> reporter: the refugees live in very basic huts. when it rains, they have to keep lifting up the plastic sheets to drain off the water so the roof doesn't collapse. there's no running water. and they have to bathe in cold water even in winter. >> translator: seeing the conditions convinced me even more that we must send aid. the actual situation is even worse than i imagined from the media reports. >> reporter: salim has been gathering the goods from all over japan for the refugees. he has sent four shipments of

clothing, food and other items. >> translator: just the fact that we care about their problems is a support for them. it makes them very happy. >> reporter: salim also visited a temporary elementary school. he brought notebooks and pencils for the children. he believes supporting education is essential for syria's future. >> translator: to rebuild the country, education is needed. these children will build the new syria. that's why education is important. >> reporter: right now, only a few children can attend the school. to help it expand, salim wants to send more assistance in the hopes that peace will soon return to his homeland. nhk world. now to our business desk. >> japanese data he released data. they stayed in the black for the 20th consecutive month largely due to lower oil prices and income from invest ms overseas.

the figure improved. the surplus for the primary income account which measures earnings from overseas investments was more than $19.7 billion. now let's check on markets. u.s. stock prices fell. that was after key earnings from the retail sector weighed on sentiment despite a jump in oil prices. over on would you say, the dow jones industrial average falling 1.2% ending the day at 17,711. we saw losses on the tech heavy nasdaq. that was down a little over 1% and it closed at 4,760. ramin has the details on what is happening in tokyo. tell us what you see. >> u.s. market has lost a bit of

steam toward the end. we had weaker than expected earnings results. we did see the reversal. investigators will be gauging the rise of the dollar. shares in nissan are down 2%. shares untraded due to a mass of sell orders. i'll keep track of that. shares will be on toyota.

net profit was down. it expects a stronger yen to hit profits for 2016 by about 35%. that's based on an assumed dollar yen rate of 105 compared with an average of 120 yen in the year just ended in march. a huge difference there. officials at toyota said the impact of the recent earthquakes is not factored into the forecast. i also want to highlight another negative this time for japanese chip equipment makers and component makers due to, they've signalled slowing growth due to sluggish sales of apple's iphone as well as samsung smart phone that may slow capital investment. >> you mentioned the stronger yen opini yen. give us up to date levels. >> we have seen a shift in the

dollar yen. it's coming off a two-week high. looking at 108.31. traders booking profits there. separately disappointing earnings in the retail sector in the u.s. with the likes of disney and macy's department store. that will put the focus on economic data in the u.s. such as retail sales that's due out on friday. looking quickly at crude oil prices. we did see a rally in crude ben mp marks. you're looking at wti, west texas intermediate. seoul's kospi is down and sydney's index is down a third of a percent. china markets open in an hour and a half. we'll see how the shanghai composite opens. back to you. >> thank you. hob lbies are usually done for phone.

a growing number of people are using the internet to make money for them. >> reporter: he draws cartoons as a hobby. he found a website where he could up load his pieces. his cartoons became so popular, he quit his office job. >> it gave me chance today back

to you as a cartoonist. i want to keep using it because the site keeps me very close to my fans. >> reporter: another website made people who want to learn skills as teachers. this instructor is teaching back flip. he's an actor of action scenes and directing students include this class. the class learns five times a month. he started it to earn extra income. there's no registration or monthly fees. students pay on a class by class basis. >> i decided to participate for no particular reason. i can't believe i've come back more than ten times. >> if possible, i would like to add two or three more of these

classes. >> reporter: as for thousands of classes posted on the same website, along with part-time jobs for older people. he's 66. he found a website while trying to decide what to do after retiring. he started to teach knife sharpening skills, which he learned from his old job at a restaurant chain. the class is now held twice a week and has taught more than 400 people. >> wow, the slice ais so thin. i'm delighted. >> my students go home with a smile on their faces because they have learned a new skill. the class has become my passion. >> reporter: the ceo of the website says the future is bright. >> it's growing about 10 to 15%

every month. people want to start small and get a quick peek or glimpse into a new world. >> as this new market grows, hobbies and individual skills have become money making sate i. that makes it likely that expansion will continue. nhk world, tokyo. >> that's the latest in business for this hour. we're seeing a negative start to a lot of asian markets this thursday. i'll leave you with a check on the markets.

the government issued the instruction for the self-defense forces in march. the sdf deployed destroyers and missile intercepters. the government cancelled the order on the grounds that north korea is less likely to carry out further military threats now that the congress has ended. officials from the south western city gave media crews

their most detailed look so far at the wreckage. all 13 structures classed as important cultural assets have suffered major damage. stone walls in more than 50 locations have collapsed. this turret is believed to have been built in the 17th century. a gatehouse was completely destroyed. this is how the structure appeared before the quake. city official says the entire structure has fallen. a supporting wall for another turret has almost collapsed. only a single column remains. >> translator: it is just teetering. >> other walls and ramparts have been reduced to rubble. kumamoto castle was originally built about 400 years ago. the tower and some other structures burned down in the 19th century. the present tower is a reinforced concrete

reconstruction built in 1960. >> translator: it's hard to say exactly, but i'm sure restoration will take over ten years. we can't estimate the cost yet, as the damage is still being assessed, but it's certain to be huge. >> officials at the cultural affairs agency have commissioned a team of experts to come up with a restoration plan. it is time for the latest in sumo. on day four of the summer grand sumo tournament in tokyo, ozeki kisenosato faced off. kisenosato is chasing an elusive first championship title.

the ozeki came into the bout on the back of a three-day winning streak. he launches at his opponent and drives him back. neither is able to get an advantage. okinoumi tries to throw his opponent and nearly succeeds but kisensato fights back. finally, he gets a weak grip on okinomi's belt and forces him from the ring, to claim his fourth victory. kisenosato said he was determined to win, no matter how long it took. now for the results of some other bouts. takekaze pushed out sadanoumi and kotoyuki defeated ikioi. all three yokozuna grand champions won their bouts. people in central u.s. states have been getting hard hit by severe weather.

what's the latest? >> indeed, this is severe weather season, but there are swaths of damage out here, from oklahoma all the way over towards kentucky. we had our latest tornadoes actually reported across this region, with an area of low pressure pushed there on tuesday, it just fired up some very strong storms. i want to show you some video of the aftermath from one of these tornadoes. you can see the homes right there just completely demolished, and definitely quite serious. it was a particular tornado, where authorities say a touchdown around 3:00 p.m. also same storm system, not the same tornado, but same storm system killed people back towards the west into oklahoma. this has been quite severe, so a severe weather threat is not

over. we have another front pulling in across the central plains and across the mississippi river valley. that would be triggering up that threat. especially as we go ahead through your evening hour in parts of oklahoma, northeastern texas, but even grapefruit size hail has been reported on tuesday. it caused significant damage, and also significant injury if you are caught out on something like that. at the very least, it definitely causes travel delays. planes will not fly anywhere cloud to a storm producing that type of hail. that's what is possible in some of the forecasts. as we look ahead, this storm will continue to roll off toward the east. still looking at some snow possibly, in the higher

elevations, about 15 to 30 centimeters could cause some travel delays there. very wet and sticky snow. eventually this will be looking at improving conditions, but remember, this is still severe weather season, so heading into next week, it could be triggered back up yet again. actually may the peak of severe weather and tornado season across the u.s. june is still quite active. it's not until july and august that things start to calm down as the air masses start to even out. over here towards japan, we still had the rainy season. a little bit of a break in it today, though. this area of low pressure pulling off toward the east, so we're looking at sunny skies, in the korean peninsula over in japan, temperatures on the rise. this is the big topic, northeastern china, some heavy

precipitation coming in out of that, could kick up some dust, eventually into the beijing area, but if we are talking about southeastern china and eventually japan by next week, this area right here, actually you'll be looking at widespread rainfall heading over the next 72 hours in parts of vietnam over southwestern areas of china. bangkok with some tote thunderstorms there. hong kong a high of 28, but you are looking at improving conditions. western europe really there's a large area of low pressure is dominating out here right now, definitely bringing some unsettled conditions. scattered thunderstorms, it will be spotty across parts of france, even into rome there in northern italy. you could be see some thunderstorms. the showers are bringing cooler temperatures in areas of madrid, 14 for your high. believe it or not, it's warming in london with a high of 22, some partly cloudy skies on thursday. here's the extended outlook.

we have one more story to share with you before we go. astronomers at nasa say they found nearly 1300 new planets beyond the earth's solar system and say nine of them may be able to support life like our own. the astronomers made the discovery using the kepler space telescope. they say the planets that offer the most hope are orbiting stars at a distance that could allow for water and, therefore, life. one nasa scientist says the nearest potentially livable planet is 11 light years away. making it a very close neighbor in astronomical terms. the discovery now puts the total of planets beyond our solar system at more than 3,200, 21 of them similar to earth. amazing. that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline," i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

>> welcome to "in good shape." on our show today -- how a teledoctor treats patients at home, from his office. why restless legs syndrome drives patients crazy, and what can help them. and, how short sightedness can be corrected by laser. and here's your host, dr. carsten lekutat. >> hello and welcome to "in good shape." a famous german tv host once said it if you doesn't -- send you begin wearing glasses when your curiosity triumphs over your vanity.