hello and welcome back to "newsline," i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the head lines. the u.s. and the philippines have signed a ten-year agreement on reinforcing military ties with a focus on maritime security. newly released video shows the scene as the first group of rescuers arrived at the sinking south korean ferry "sewol." and we'll meet a blind educator who's backing his job as a home room teacher,

mentoring students after 22 years away. the united states and the philippines have reached an agreement on boosting military cooperation with a focus on maritime security. the pact will see a strengthening in u.s. military pressness in the philippines and will be in effect for ten years. u.s. ambassador to the philippines philip goldberg, and philippine defense secretary voltaire gazmin signed the pact at the defense ministry. the ceremony took place during a visit to the pacific island nation by u.s. president barack obama. under the agreement, the u.s. military will regularly send troops to the philippines. the two sides also agreed to build or improve military facilities and infrastructure for joint use. the two countries say the number of u.s. troops to be deployed and specific plans to build new facilities will be decided in further consultations. sources say the u.s. military could gain access do sites in the subic bay area on luzon island, and facilities on

palaun island. both locations face the south china sea where china's increasing its maritime activities. the philippines once served as a major military outpost for the united states. but american troops withdrew from the country more than 20 years ago. and the defense ministers of japan and australia have agreed to speed up talks to bolster bilateral security. it follows japan's new principles on the transfer of defense equipment to ease its arms export ban. japanese defense minister itsunori onodera and his australian counterpart david johnson met in perth. >> translator: i want us to have an exchange of views so that we can strengthen ties between japan and australia. >> johnson said australia wants to work with japan to develop defense equipment for regional stability. he has shown a strong interest in japan's submarine technology. the ministers say they will

improve joint drills by japan's self-defense forces and the australian military. they also confirmed the importance of trilateral exercises involving the u.s. they both agreed they cannot accept any attempt to change the status quo by force, as china increases its maritime activities. south korean coast guard officials have released a new video of the sinking of the ferry "sewol." it was shot by one of the first rescuers to arrive at the scene on april 16th. authorities have confirmed 188 people died. 114 others are still listed as missing. a coast guard member shot the video on a cell phone. the official was on one of the first patrol vessels to reach the ferry. the first segment starts at around 9:30 a.m. it shows the ferry tilting at an almost 45 degree angle. the captain appears about 15 minutes later. the video shows him escaping from the ship with the help of rescuers.

the video also shows coast guard personnel helping passengers and bringing them to safety. some survivors say the crew told passengers to stay where they were inside the ferry. investigators have arrested 15 crew members, including the captain. u.s. and european leaders are expected to widen their sanctions against russian officials over the crisis in ukraine. they say president vladimir putin's administration is working to make things worse, not better. pro-russian separatists are occupy being government buildings in a bid for more regional autonomy. and now they're using european monitors sent in to help defuse the situation as bargaining chips. more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: one by one they arrived to speak as gunmen stood by. these monitors with the organization for security and

cooperation in europe have been held hostage since friday. >> i can only say please help us. >> reporter: pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine accuse them of being spies for the nato military alliance. the monitors say they haven't been hurt, but -- >> we have no indication when we will be sent home to our countries. >> reporter: the separatists released one in the group for health reasons. they say they could free the rest in exchange for pro-russian activists who are in custody. the osce monitors have been trying to help implement a multinational agreement aimed at ending this weeks-long crisis. armed groups have been occupying government buildings and police stations across the east. they're calling for greater autonomy. this separatist leader in the region of donetsk promised who hold a referendum on independence in mid-may. leaders of ukraine's interim

government, and those in the west, blame russia for fuelling this turmoil with agents and weapons. >> we urge russia to leave us alone. >> reporter: they accuse president vladimir putin of failing to live up to the agreement by helping disarm the separatists, and end the occupations. they say he's plotting to grab more territory as he did when he annexed the ukrainian republic of crimea. >> so long as russia continues down the path of provocation, rather than trying to resolve this issue, deesalating there are going to be consequences. >> reporter: those consequences amount to sanctions on russian officials such as travel bans and asset freezes. the net may widen as early as monday. >> the more names we add to that list, the more they do back in the russian economy. but we are also working on more far-reaching measures of economic, trade, and financial sanctions. >> reporter: officials in moscow have denied they're behind the

unrest. they've told ukraine to pull back its troops from the east. russian media report more than 10,000 soldiers are preparing to move in on separatists in the city of slavyansk. across the border thousands of russian troops have been holding drills. president putin has said he reserves the right to protect ethnic russians in ukraine. elsewhere in the region hundreds of u.s. soldiers have arrived to boost the nato presence. western leaders say they don't intend to let this situation turn into a conflict. but appearances are deceiving. craig dale, nhk world. and concerns are growing within japan about the country's massive debt load. ron madison joins me with the latest on that. ron? >> shery, as you know, japan's debt-to-gdp ratio is famously very high. now a finance ministry panel is warning that japan's already huge national debt could grow more than six-fold by the year

2060. an advisory panel to the finance minister wants a radical program of spending cuts and tax rises. the fiscal system council report released is the first-ever long-term projection of fiscal conditions through 2060. japan's debt load is already among the heaviest in the industrialized world. the government has set a goal of financing its policy expenditures without issues new debt by fiscal 2020. but the panel warns that even if that target of primary balance surplus is met, social welfare costs will continue to surge, as the population ages. it says outstanding debt by central and local governments could balloon to about $80 trillion by fiscal 2060. that would put japan's ratio of debt-to-gdp at nearly 400%. the panel proposes designating the six years from fiscal 2021 as a period for intense fiscal restructuring. it says holding debt levels to around twice japan's gdp would mean slashing red ink by about

$300 billion during the period. to balance debt and gdp, it says about $450 billion must be slashed. consumers across japan are set to pay even more for the things that they need. policymakers at the bank of japan will gather again on wednesday. they're expected to say that in the next couple of years, inflation will reach their target of around 2%. consumers started paying more in consumption tax at the beginning of the month. it went up from 5% to 8%, and many cut back on spending but the policymakers are expected to say the economy is still making a moderate recovery. they're expected to suggest that employment and wages will continue to improve and that managers are investing more in their businesses. board members are on track to keep their outlook for iron nation for 2015 at 1.9%. that does not include the effects of the tax hike. a year ago policymakers started pumping billions of dollars into the economy. they promised inflation would

hit 2% within about two years. now they're expected to say they'll hit that target in 2016. they say they're prepared to do more to ease credit, should conditions change drastically. people who buy life insurance in japan contribute to a pool that adds up to billions of dollars. portfolio managers usually put a lot of that money into japanese government bonds but now they're looking overseas to try to get some higher returns. seven out of the nine leading insurers say monetary easing in japan has hurt yields. so they plan to increase their holdings of u.s. and european government bands. managers say over the next year they'll invest nearly $3 billion in foreign bonds. that's about 40% of the assets that they yank. people at sumitomo life will invest more than $1 billion. managers at mitsui life about $500 million. now portfolio managers traditionally shy away from foreign debt. they worry that they'll lose money because of currency fluctuations. all right let's check on the markets now. investors in asia reduced their

stock holdings ahead of a series of key economic events due out later this week. they're keeping a close eye on policy meetings by the federal reserve, and the bank of japan. also, the latest u.s. jobs report and manufacturing data out of china are a big focus. you can see most asian markets under pressure. the nikkei, in fact, down 1%, finished at 14,288. that's a two-week closing low there. lackluster earnings from japanese companies weighed on market sentiment. trading volume remained pretty light ahead of a public holiday on tuesday. the shanghai kols it also with declines of 1.6%, 2,003. that's a level that we haven't seen for that market since late march. investors remain worried about an oversupply of shares due to the expected resumption of initial public offerings. meanwhile, taiwan's taiex with a gain added 0.4%, 8,809, that's a rebound from its lowest point in almost a month on friday. investors bought high tsh deck

shares on improving -- on the back of improving earnings outlooks. japanese government officials trying now no encourage executives to do more to leverage the skills of women. they're considering requiring large companies to disclose the ratio of women on their boards of directors. government leaders hope that by the year 2020, 30% of managers will be women. prime minister shinzo abe says it is key to the future of the country. right now only 1% of board members at publicly traded firms in japan are women. compare that with 16% in the u.s., 28% in france. government leaders hope publishing the ratio of women on boards in financial reports will make it easier to judge how companies are doing. japanese carmakers are unveiling a string of new models this year. they're pulling out all the stops now to avoid a major sales dip following the consumption tax hike on april 1st. some automakers have seen new car sales plummet by up to 30% this month. that's apparently a backlash from the last-minute surge in

pre-hike purchases. die at u plans to launch six new vehicles. one will be a convertible set to hit show rooms in june. hon do has six new models lined up. neither manufacturer has ever unveiled this many new designs in a year. toyota has already started selling two new models this month. automakers say sales will likely remain sluggish in the coming months. analysts are watching to see if the allure of new models will boost demand. that is going to do it for biz this hour. here's a check of the markets.

taiwanese police have evicted anti-nuclear protesters staging a sit-in on a road in central taipei. 37 people were injured in the incident. more than 3,000 protesters gathered on sunday evening and continued through the night. a citizens group organized a demonstration to call on the government to halt the construction of a nuclear power plant near taipei. police began using water cannons to disburse the group before dawn on monday. they feared the sit-in would disrupt morning traffic. some of the protesters clashed with authorities during the eviction. more than 90% of the work on taiwan's fourth nuclear plant is complete. but construction was suspended last year due to public concerns over safety. many residents started to worry about atomic energy after the accident three years ago at japan's fukushima daiichi nuclear facility. the president announced on sunday that his government would freeze construction on the plant. he plans to hold a referen

couple to ask voters whether or not building work should go ahead. but analysts say it may be difficult to hold a referendum before the presidential elections scheduled for 2016. japanese regulators are concerned about a series of security violations at nuclear plants. they're worried the facilities might be vulnerable to attack. so they're urging plant operators to do more to guard against the threat of terrorism. >> translator: complying with laws and regulations is not enough to counter nuclear terrorism. power companies should also maintain discipline and a proper organizational culture. >> officials of the nuclear regulation authority held a meeting with senior managers of the utilities. they stressed the importance of stepping up anti-terrorism measures. the regulators are also looking to strengthen their own safeguards. they'll ask infectors from the international atomic energy to make sure they're taking adequate measures. they'll also consider a

mechanism for background checks on workers at nuclear facilities. one of the security violations took place at the tokai number 2 power plant in central japan. security monitors have been switched off. and officials at another facility failed to make copies of visitors' i.d. documents. a japanese teacher sidelined by blindness is back on the job after 22 years away. his motivating he's students by proving that being visually impaired is not a barrier. >> reporter: 52-year-old yoshinori arai teaches students in the first year of junior high school. it's the first day of the new semester. >> translator: this is my special skill. >> reporter: the teacher shows that his sight impairment isn't the obstacle the students might imagine.

by introducing himself this way, he relaxes the children. >> translator: i'm the only vision impaired home room teacher in all of japan. >> reporter: arai contracted a progressive eye disease at the age of 28. by the time he was 34, he had lost his eyesight completely, and was forced to quit teaching. he mastered braille, the writing system for the sight impaired, and was able to return to the classroom as a japanese language teacher. arai devised his own special teaching aids, like magnetic

strips to help him write in a straight vertical lines. during that time, his main goal had been to return to school as a home room teacher. >> translator: in our life we grow the most during the three years of junior high. i witnessed the students' growth, and it helped me grow, too. >> reporter: 39 students are in his class. arai is working hard to quickly memorize each student's name and voice. >> translator: in my situation, memorizing everybody's name and, yes, voice is the key. >> reporter: the teacher records the students introducing themselves.

>> translator: i'm the only one who likes -- >> reporter: he replays the recording over and over to memorize names and voices. >> translator: if i can't recognize who they are, the students will not communicate with me. >> reporter: his blindness motivates a desire to form closer ties with his students. arai eats lunch with the children. >> translator: he's a good eater? >> yes, sort of. >> reporter: arai believes that being among his students like this helps them grow. >> translator: most of the home room teachers each their lunch at their desk. in order to look over the whole classroom.

i can't do that, because i can't see. so i pay attention to individual students. >> translator: he can't see but it's like he can. he's easy to talk to. >> reporter: with the help of an assistant teacher, arai sends messages of encouragement to his students in their home room note books. >> translator: i think the students can learn a lot about life by knowing what arai has been through. >> reporter: 22 years after losing his eyesight, arai is back as a home room teacher. and looking to the future, alongside his students. >> thousands of people have celebrated the opening of this year's tourist season at the gateway to japan's northern alps.

♪ some 3,000 people were at the opening event to wish for the safe arrival of as many visitors as possible. shinto priests offered a ritual prayer. it sits on a plateau about 1500 meters above sea level and attracts around 1.5 million visitors annually. this year's first tourists caught a glimpse of snow on the mountain range. others got creative on the river bank, capturing the scene in their own unique way. >> translator: it's so beautiful, and the air is so clean here. >> translator: there's not much snow left. so i'm looking forward to some mountaineering. >> a local community leader says he hopes plenty of tourists will visit the area to see where the beautiful alpine environment.

and severe weather in the southern united states has spanned numerous tornadoes and resulted in several deaths. our meteorologist jonathan oh joins us now. jonathan, how do conditions look now? >> shery, unfortunately it looks like we're going to have to continue to monitor this weather situation, because the low pressure system that has really the instigator of the severe weather, is not moving very quickly. you can see the spin located toward the dakotas. and you can see the line of white clouds over into arkansas and into missouri. and it looks like the story of severe weather will continue as we go through the next couple of days. i have some video coming out of that area, and so far at least 12 people have been killed because of these tornadoes. this is from baxter springs, kansas, where a tornado roared through the area, and left 25 people injured, and the governor of kansas has declared a state of emergency because of that. here's another piece of video. this one's coming out of the northeastern corner of oklahoma.

and at least one person was killed here when the tornado roared through the area during the overnight hours, and it looks like more bad weather is expected further toward the east as we go through the next day. let me show you the reason why. what we have here on the map is an upper level low pressure system that is dragging cold air from the north, and causing this huge trough. meanwhile we have warm air coming in from the south. that collision is the focal point of these numerous tornadoes, also strong, damaging winds, and large hail, and large hail we're talking about baseball-sized hail from sunday. and that is likely to continue into monday. so, as we take a look at this particular map showing us the risk areas. the orange highlighted areas is the moderate risk. but those of you in the yellow she'ds from iowa down to georgia and south carolina you also need to keep an eye out for this because on sunday with the slight risk areas being back to the west those areas also saw some tornadoes being spawned with this particular system. and this is a very extensive system. the low pressure also dragging

in the cold air, bringing heavy snow for the dakotas. and gusty winds down toward the western portions of texas with critical fire weather. you can see the precipitation pushing toward the east. it looks like that more rainstorms are expected for the eastern seaboard into tuesday, as this system is a very slow mover. we're talking about highs of 27 in atlanta with thunderstorms, houston at 31. but the ridge back to the west bringing us sunny conditions and warm temperatures with a high of 26 degrees. taking a look down toward the pacific tropics, here is the side of saipam and into guam. this is tropical storm tapa moving toward the northeast right now but eventually moving toward the north and west and that's going to bring a lot of precipitation for those of you in guam and saipan. up to 200 millimeters of rain in the next 72 hours. taking a look at the asian forecast, high pressure controlling the northern portions of china. that's going to create a little bit of a problem when it comes to air pollution eventually spreading toward the east into the korean peninsula over the next couple of days. we have some rain also moving into western japan.

that's going to bring some more wet weather for tuesday, which is a holiday here in tokyo, and into japan. and so, unfortunately it's going to dampen some outdoor plans. nagano, you'll be seeing a high of 21. tokyo high of 20 with some rain expected. as we take a look at europe we do have some rain down toward the mediterranean coastline. heavy rain warnings for italy and also into southern balkan peninsula. we're taking a look at temperatures here. 20 in vienna, 15 in rome. a high of 22 degrees in athens and looks like rain will eventually move into your area throughout the day. madrid you will see fair conditions. a high of 21 degrees. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's a look at your extended forecast.

here's our top story once again. the united states, and the philippines, have reached an agreement on boosting military cooperation with a focus on maritime security. the pact will see a strengthened u.s. military presence in the philippines, and will be in effect for ten years. u.s. ambassador to the philippines, philip goldberg, and philippine defense secretary voltaire gazmin signed the pact at the defense ministry. the ceremony took place during a visit to the pacific island

nation by u.s. president barack obama. under the agreement, the u.s. military will regularly send troops to the philippines. the two sides also agreed to build or improve military facilities and infrastructure for joint use. the two countries say the number of u.s. troops to be deployed and specific plans to build new facilities will be decided in further consultations. sources say the u.s. military could gain access to sites in the subic bay area on luzon island, and facilities on palawan island. both locations face the south china sea where china's increasing its maritime activities. the philippines once served as a major military outpost for the united states. but american troops withdrew from the country more than 20 years ago. and that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. ?/cúcúc

>> hello. you are watching "france 24." these are the headlines. close to 700 people get a recommended death sentence in egypt over support of ousted president mohamed morsi. the muslim brotherhood leader is among those sentenced. the u.s. and the year new sanctions against russia over ukraine ass in pro-russian militants are holding a team of international observers hostage for a third day. the algerian president is sworn in for a fourth term.