it's the top of the hour and this is nhk "newsline." it's r official. britain has begun the process of exiting the european union. both sides have two years to negotiability the terms of the split 6789 the talks are shaping up to be the toughest ever for the regional bloc. >> it is my fierce determination to get the right deal for every single person in this country. for as we face the opportunities ahead of us on this momentous journey, our shared values, interests and ambitions can and must bring us together. >> may told members of parliament she wants the uk to emerge as a stronger more

outward looking country. brexit got under way on wednesday when the british ambassador to the eu delivered a letter from may to the president of the european council. >> there's to reason to pretend this is a happy day. neither in brussels nor in london. we will remain determined and united, also in the future, also during the difficult negotiations ahead. >> he said he will present draft negotiation guide lines to the 27 other members on friday. leaders will meet in late april to adopt them. britons voted to leave the eu in a referendum last june. the prime minister is expected to demand that britain receive the same preferential matter as member nations regarding tariffs and other matters but eu officials are not expected to simply roll over. it's more likely they will want to make an example of britain. negotiations could begin as

japan's environment minister has said the country's climate change policy will remain unchanged despite u.s. president donald trump's new executive order. the order overturns key measures that former president barack obama introduced to tackle the issue. koichi yamamoto spoke. to reporters on wednesday. >> translator: the new order will not affect japan's policy and we shouldn't allow to it affect us. >> yamamoto says it's no surprise that trump signed the order because it was one of his campaign pledges. the trump review targets clean power plant which restricts carbon emissions from coal fired plants. it's a pillar of obama's climate policy. the order also abolishes restrictions on coal mining on federal land. the u.s. is the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases. a survivor of the 145 atomic nhk has learned the prosecutors

nhk has learned a group of researchers is preparing first for sixth nuclear test. still struggling firm is now facing another impending hurdle. turn to to business for all the details. tell us what's the layoff test

here. in toshiba. projecting a net loss of 9 billion. that would be the biggest loss on record for any japanese manufacturer. planning to zika shareholder approval for spinning off prized flash memory chip operation to cover losses. toshiba will be hold lg extra ordinary shareholders meeting on thursday. manufacturing giant plans to spin off memory chip business and sell a majority stake in the new entity. more than two-thirds need to approve the measure for i represent to go ahead. >> president is hoping the bidders will put a high value on the business. >>

reportedly submitted concrete proposals. observers say negotiations for selling the business without giving away technology may run into difficulties. stocks this morning are trading in negative. down about a quarter of a percent. that is after they ended the day higher on wednesday. some investors picked up shares in hope as bankruptcy would help. let's see how overall stocks are performing. he joins from from tokyo stock exchange. what wrote you seeing over there. >> of course shares will be primary concern. you just touched on it in.

let's have a look at the broader topics. both indexes there in the negative in the first few minutes of trading. a reminder it closed up by a fraction. games capped as many stocks wednesday x difd. meaning buyers after this point will not be eligible for next dividend payment. regarding toshiba, many investors seem caught between hopes of restructuring and fears on the other hand that is deaths may keep mounting even from current levels so little bit of a tug or waf there. the nasdaq up. earlier in europe, major

embassies ended higher despite britain triggering arl 50 which officially starts withdraw from the yumpz union. you can see the ftse 100 in the positive. a lot of factors there for investors to digest. >> absolutely. tell us how currencies are trading. especially following the move. what's happening with euro, what's happening with the pound. >> sure. let's go through it. overnight euro sank. some media reports reported european central bank policymakers wary of making new changes to policy message in april signaling easy money is far from over. now, mean while the british pound did not show any strong moves. even after the uk formerly began its eu exit. down around 17 pgt. let's not forget since the referendum vote on june 23 last year to leave the eu.

they have seen steady decline since that point. dollar yen 111.17-20. moving in clear direction. some officials mentioned positive stance on fut rate hikes. let's have a quick look at asian markets open right now. sidney tradie ining higher. china opens in hour and a half. more updates then. >> touch base with you then. >> ramin from the stock exchange. moving on. analyst waiting for the release on monday for report of business sentiment. many expecting to see continued improvement even so they think the outlook will worsen. 15 research institution haves come up with projections for bank of japan's survey. quarterly report gauges attitudes among managers around 11,000 firms. researchers at all the institutions are protecting it will come in higher than the plus ten in the previous survey. that would mark two straight

quarters of improvement. growing sports in the value is weaker than companies assumed. rates behind the upbeat projection. the reports outlook is another story. 12 institutions expect that to worsen. the concerns include european political developments and uncertainties about proposed u.s. tax cuts and infederal structure investment. supermarket operators here in japan face two big problems. cut throat competition from other retailers and consumers giving hold. some stores looking for high-tehig high-tech solution the. infection has more. >> that is the policy at this sure market. the rule is no more than three customers at one checkout counter. the store has a data checking system. it counts how many poem enter the store using infrared sensors. the system uses the information

to create a checkout forecast. managers can predict how many cash registers will be needed at any time of the day. checkout counter, please. >> data is set to start in realtime. counter number three is now opening. that allows her to open before customers are arrive at the checkout. some people don't have to wait in long lines. >> competition among stores. we've done everything we can on price and product quality. one of the biggest customer complaints is waiting to pay. our data system an effective soluti solution. this supermarket is using teams to digest that plus smart carts.

>> one special feature, causeou. these coupons only appear when the customer walks past the product. >> the along-tearm alerts me to hidden coupon so i won't miss it. i always walk around trying to locate them. >> smart coupons benefit the stoerl manager in other ways. track shopping behavior. showing what customers did until the store and where. constantly reviewing the data. use it to adjust their floor layout and hopefully boost sales. >> before they were just three rows of these sausages, now we've expanded this section. the smart coupons are really effective. >> sales for some items have

jumped ten times since the system was introduced. >> translator: we are trying to officer customer as new experience. smart cart coupon haves boosted sales because they think the discounts are just for me. >> high-tech services are changing the way supermarkets operate and the way people shop. "nhk world"." >> i'm going to leave you with the markets.

park geun-hye is scheduled to attend a hearing at a court in seoul on thursday. she is expected to deny all allegations against her. park faces 13 charges. she's alleged to have colluded with her long-time inference choi soon-sil to extort bribes from conglomerates. park is also suspected of abuse of power and pressuring companies to donate money to two foundations linked to choi. authorities were asked to arrest park. south korean media report that the decision will likely come late thursday night or early friday morning. become the third former south korean president to be arrested.

years after a disaster. people may finally find closure. nearly 300 people died when the ship sank in 2014. most of them were high school students. nhk met one family who still looking for their daughter. trying to fair closer to their daughter. she was on the ferry when it sank and has never been found. for the first time they're getting a look at the vessel above the water after it's been resting on the seabed for three years. >> i try to look smart by shafishaf i shaving today just in case she didn't recognize me. as i came closer, i just felt like i could hear her telling me dad, you came. >> was on a high school trip with hundreds of schoolmates

when the ferry capsized. 295 people died. she is listed of one of nine still missing. the government was hesitant to base the vessel. concerned about high cost and the vchallenge of getting it ou of the water. now shelling out more than $19 million to do so. that decision didn't come without a fight. campaigned tirelessly for its recovery. traveled the country urging people to support raising the ferry, but some questioned his motivations. >> translator: i felt very sad when people in the street told me i was so greedy trying to earn additional morning in addition to normal compensation. >> it didn't deter him. quit his job and moved into temporary housing at the nearest

ha harbor to the wreckage next to other grieving families. this family photo serves as motivation for them to continue looking for answers. >> i want to tell her that i love her. and i want to say i really want to see her. >> family members are not alone in their grief. news of the ship's recovery opened an old wood for many south koreans. >> there is still open for those missing. officials say they will conduct a full search when the ferry

arrives in port on friday, but for many relatives, it isn't enough. >> translator: we would not have been annoyed so much if people in charge of operating the ferry had been faithful in their service. i think we need to reveal what went wrong. i hope the disaster reminds people that we need to make the country safe enough to live in. >> although the ship's captain has been sentenced to life in prison and the court says it was overloaded when it sank, he wants a thorough investigation to know exactly what went wrong and why his daughter never came home. "nhk world." japanese government sources say japan will extend sanctions against north korea for duomore years. sanctions were set to expire

next month. measures are embargo of trade with north korea and ban on all vessels that have made poor calls in the north from entering japanese ports. earlier this month fired four missiles into the sea. extension still needs cabinet approval. could come early next month. a japanese district court will rule thursday on an injunction to shut down a nuclear reactor in western japan. residents in the area filed for the injunction last year due to safety concerns. the number three reactor in question is at the ikata nuclear plant. it's run by shikoku electric power company. the reactor was started last august under stricter regulations the government introduced. after the 2011 fukushima incident. slamd serious risk if a big earthquake strikes. there are multiple active faults

around the ikata plant. the electric company calculated the maximum likely tremor, and factored in a wide range of processes. until a in another similar case, a district court issues an injunction last year to suspend operation of the number three and number four reactors at the takahama nuclear plant in central japan. it was the first court ruling to halt an online reactor but a high court nullify that had decision on tuesday, approving the restart of the reactors. nhk has learned that a group of researchers is preparing the world's first clinical trial to treat the largest intractable disease in japan. there is currently no cure for ulcerative colitis but tissue engineering may provide a breakthrough. the disease causes severe abdominal pain and diarrhea. patients with symptoms must undergo surgery to remove the large intestine. there are over 160,000 sufferers in japan. >> translator: it's like a dream. i think it's truly wonderful.

the cells will be cultivated into about 1 million cells before being transplanted into the damaged portions of the large intestines. laboratory experiments using mice have been successful. >> translator: no operation and no relapse. i think it will lead to complete recovery. >> the team hopes to clear screening in line with the law before conducting the first operation early next year. roads, bridges and other infrastructure need regular safety checks. it's important work, especially in japan where nature can be extreme. inspections, though, can be costly, but as we see in our next report, a little ingenuity can go a long way. >> reporter: infrastructure under pressure. when rivers swell or a big earthquake occurs, bridges need to be checked, especially those

built half a century ago or more. but inspecting every single bridge takes time, money, and manpower. the cost places an enormous burden on the authorities in charge of those structures. this man is a civil engineering specialist. he's been working with a university team to test methods that are more cost effective. his key item of equipment, secondhand smartphones. >> translator: i came up with the idea of using smartphones to check bridges because they can detect facilitating and also measure vibrations. >> reporter: bridges always sway slightly in the wind and vibrate as traffic crosses them. he places smartphones inside the structures to record these daily tremors. that way, after a natural disaster, any irregular movements can be detected straight away. the smartphones he uses cost

only about $100 apiece. that's just 3% to 4% the cost of special purpose-built sensors. much of japan's infrastructure was built in the period of high economic growth in the late 1950s and '60s. but it's deteriorating now and needs to be checked carefully. one big question is, how to collect data after a natural disaster when the phones may lose their charge and contact may be lost. he has been testing whether the data can be retrieved by drone. >> translator: our aim is to be able to inspect and maintain a wide range of infrastructure without using too much money or manpower. we believe this something can play an important role in ensuring public safety. and we hope it will be used more widely. >> reporter: there is growing interest in matsunaga's project. he's hoping to put his method

into practice from next year. shifting gears and taking a look at weather. people in central u.s. states dealing with severe weather conditions. over a dozen tornados have hit the region. robert has the latest. yes, we are still looking at the severe weather outbreak. heading into your wednesday evening. across central locations. extending from arkansas, missouri, even down towards northern louisiana severe thunderstorm watches in place at this time. you can see this obvious clouds really shaping up here. rolling in out of texas and oklahoma. we had 15 reports of tornados on tuesday out there. mainly in the texas area. show you video from one location here. spur texas wednesday morning. aerial images from aftermath that left 200,000 people without

power. tennis ball size hail was reported. and as i mentioned 15 reports of tornados damaging numerous homes across the area. even school districts were forced to close. one person injured directly from the weather out there. definitely this is rather serious storm system. stimongoing. still looking at conflicts air mass. warm moisture flowing in out of gulf of mexico. behind it a big dip in the jet stream. with that, that cool air that's filtering in. plus the jet straem itself. creates a lot of upper level wind. that creates wind sheer. helps spur up some of these super cells in the rotation. few of these thunderstorms that's why in thursday, we still have that severe weather threat. as that drifts off towards the east. look back towards the west. another system moving through. that's bringing widespread snowfall across the rockies and will be our next storm system to watch as we head into the weekend. want to keep an eye on that one.

meanwhile, this is what your temperatures look like. you do have thunderstorms today. warming up out ahead of the system. behind it shl, a little bit of warm front moving through chicago. wet and windy conditions there on thursday. let's take a look over towards japan now. actually, clear skies today. beautiful conditions. if you are even into a tokyo area. little bit of a low. just going to be bringing some warming temperatures. ahead of that, southerly wind. temperatures spiking up into high teens. and low 20s across these areas. do want to watch, though, this frontal region back fords the west. really lingering around the river basin. that's heavy showers in a few of these locations. will drip towards the pooes then lift towards the north a little bit. bring scattered showers.

and will eventually into saturday. towards the tokyo area. the big thing is, warm emergency room temperatu-- warmer tempera ahead of this. then pushing by. enjoy the temperatures while they last. cooling off quite dramatically. beijing, up to 50 today. dropping down to about 20. good news, warm back up for you heading to the weekend. talking about warmer and above average temperatures. high pressure dom fating central europe today. bringing clear and beautiful conditions for the most part. watching a little bit of a low pushing into areas. leave you now. s

that's it for this edition. thanks for joining us. x

>>welcome to "in good shape."coming up this week, wisdom teeth, when should they comeout? tourette syndrome, how deep brain stimulation helps. high blood pressure, the risks and treatments. here's your host, dr. carsten lekutat. >>about one billion peopleworldwide suffer from hypertension of high bloodpressure. that is not only a problem ofthe western world. more and more people in africaand south asia are affected. what you can do against it.this is something i will talk about.welcome to "in good shape."