. hello and welcome back to "newsline." i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the headlines. u.s. president barack obama has given moscow a deadline to end its intervention in ukraine before he imposes new sanctions. militants dressed as soldiers have attacked villages in northeastern nigeria, killing hundreds of people. and a chinese man in tokyo is using his skill as a film maker to raise awareness of a defining moment in his country's

history, the tiananmen square crackdown. u.s. president barack obama has given his russian counterpart a stern warning. he says he will consider imposing new sanctions on moscow if president vladimir putin fails to ease tensions in ukraine. obama says it depends on russia's actions over the next month. the leaders of the group of seven industrialized nations wrapped up their summit in brussels. they didn't invite putin following russia's annexation of crimea. the leaders say they are ready to impose further sanctions against russia if necessary. obama told reporters that putin should recognize petro poroshenko as ukraine's new president and hold talks with him. he also said moscow should end support for pro-russian activists in eastern ukraine. >> we will have a chance to see what mr. putin does over the next two, three, four weeks. >> putin met separately with some of the g7 leaders.

british prime minister david cameron urged russia to stop meddling in ukraine and normalize relations with kiev. he later spoke with french president francois hollande and he's scheduled to meet with german chancellor angela merkel. putin will attend a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the d-day landings in normandy on friday. obama is scheduled to attend. islamist militants are reaching deeper into northeastern nigeria in a campaign of fear. gunmen believed to be members of the extremist group boko haram have attacked villages. they killed at least 240 people. security authorities say the militants rode in on military trucks into three villages in the state of borno on monday. the authorities say the gunmen were dressed in military fatigues and tricked villagers into believing they would be protected. the militants gathered people together, then started shooting. gunmen moved into another village on wednesday killing 42 people.

authorities believe boko haram was also behind that attack. members of the group want to create a nation under their interpretation of islam. they've staged a number of bombings and other attacks across the country. they have killed at least 2,000 people this year alone. some members are still holding more than 200 girls they kidnapped in april from a school dormitory. government leaders have launched military operations in three states and have declared a state of emergency. north korean authorities have arrested another u.s. citizen. this brings to three the number of americans known to be held in the country. the state run news agency says authorities detained an american man who entered the country as a tourist in late april. it says he engaged in activities inconsistent with his visa status. a korean-american man has been held in the country since 2012. he was arrested in a special economic zone for what officials

called host still activities. authorities jailed another american man in april. pyongyang has used detaineds u.s. nationals as diplomatic bargains chips. analysts say authorities may use the three americans to try to have direct talks with washington. the u.s. defense department has released its annual report on china's military and security capabilities. the pentagon says china is using reconnaissance drones and adding warships to its operations in the east china sea. the report said china is gradually increasing its development and use of unmanned aircraft. it said china's spending on unmanned systems might one day outpace that of the u.s. the report said what was probably a chinese drone was observed flying over the east china sea in september 2013. it was the first time an unmanned chinese aircraft have been seen in the area. the department also said china

put nine into service last year. it said the ships may be used for operations in shallow waters in the east and south china seas. the report said china may build an additional 20 to 30 such vessels and said it's likely the country will complete its first amphibious assault ship by 2020. the pentagon report noted that exchanges between officials of the u.s. and chinese militaries have made progress but it expressed caution over china's closer military talks with russia. the two countries' militaries conducted three joint drills last year. officials at china's defense ministry say they deeply dispute the report's conclusions. they say china is simply building up its defense capabilities and the military threat is being exaggerated. let's now get the latest business stories from ron madison. >> thanks a lot, shery. ukrainian government officials are getting increasingly concerned about their country's

energy self-efficiency as the nation relies heavily on russia's natural gas. now the japanese government has decided to help ukraine providing technical support for improving aging coal-fired power plants. ukraine depends on natural gas imported from russia for nearly 40% of its energy supply. improving energy self-sufficiency has been a major challenge for ukraine as political tension with russia continues. japanese government officials announced they would extend technical support to ukraine to help reduce its energy dependence on russia. >> translator: i strongly believe japan's technology on coal fired thermal power generation can contribute to ukraine's energy security. it will also help the country to cut its carbon dioxide emissions. >> the government is planning send engineers to ukraine as early as this year to find out which power plants need help. japan's move comes after the g7 leaders agreed to continue supporting ukraine.

people in japan are feeling the impact of the consumption tax hike in april. a key economic indicator fell for the first time in two months. sales of a wide range of goods showed declines. the cabinet office says the coincident index for april stood at 111.1 against 100 in the base year of 2010. that's down 3.4 points from the previous month. economists at the office calculate monthly indices weighing employment, production and personal spending as well as other data. the pace of decline was the fastest since march 2011 when that devastating earthquake hit northeastern japan. sales of many products including cosmetics, daily necessities and cars fell. output and shipment of auto parts and components suffered. the leading index which forecast the state of the economy in the coming months went down for the third consecutive month. it shed 0.5 points for march. japan's prime minister shinzo abe said the managers in charge of the biggest public pension fund need to be more aggressive. he's instructed his welfare

minister to put money into financial products with greater risk and bigger profits. he says he's keen to overhaul the government pension investment fund as soon as possiblep. >> translator: japan's economy is emerging from deflation. it will be easier to manage risk if we adjust our asset allocation policy to meet the state of the economy. >> the fund is worth $1.2 trillion. the people who manage it are required to invest most of that money at home. a committee of experts is working on new policies that will take effect in the next financial year. but he says he wants to bring in the changes sooner. and the people who oversee pension funds at japanese companies are adopting a more aggressive approach. analysts say last week they bought up large amounts of stocks and helped to drive up tokyo share prices. the key nikkei index rose four days in a row and ended the week up nearly 1.2% or 170 points.

officials at the tokyo stocks exchange say purchases by domestic trust banks exceeded sales by more than $2.4 billion. that's the biggest amount in five years. analysts believe they were buying on behalf of corporate pension funds. individual investors across japan were less enthusiastic, though. they sold more than they bought by about $3 billion. investors were also net sellers. to the markets, investors in asia waiting for a key u.s. jobs report due out later in the day. here's how majors finished throughout the day. many participants not that willing to make aggressive move ace head of the major data release. a number of fresh stimulus measures announced by the european central bank failed to stimulate strong buying across the board. tokyo's nikkei average down finished at 15,077. investors took profits from a four-day winning streak. a stronger yen dragged down export related issues. the shanghai composite designed

half a percent. 2029 at the close. irns staying cautious about china's economic slowdown and imminent public offerings prompted selling today. investors appear to be putting more money into southeast asia market following the ecb measures. finished higher by half a percent, 3296. financials and transport shares led the advance. for years investors in real estate in china have enjoyed a market that's been red hot but they're finding things may be cooling down. new home prices in beijing, shanghai and other cities are still up year on year. but the pace of increase is slowing down. and that trend is more pronounced in smaller cities. investment in housing has been an engine of growth and some analysts say sluggish investment could drag down the economy. we spoke with the head of investment strategy at shk in hong kong. investors in different markets

are seeing different forces at play. >> well, overall we've seen some signs of cooling in the chinese property market in the past couple months after over a year of really tight policies and unfavorable credit conditions. when we look forward, we think that there are two things happening in china right now. there are two worlds in the real estate market. in the major markets the major cities such as beijing, shanghai, and some big cities we believe that healthy demand is still there and that the price drops will not be. prices are still rising in there. when you look in the smaller cities these are areas with a lot of excess inventory and a larger price drop will be seen in the next couple months. >> how do you feel when you hear talk about a property bubble and suggestions that it could burst? >> well, it really depends on how you define a property bubble. if you look a cue mu laysivetive increase in chinese property, over the past couple years, by definition that's a property

bubble. but when you really look at how property buyers have been financing the properties and the utilization level of their loans and the leverage in there, it doesn't seem like the picture is as worrying as many have perceived. so when we look into that we believe that as the fear drops we'll be concentrated in the smaller cities and provinces with excess inventory out there and will not be surprised to see the budget declines in these areas, just like the province in the city the cities in the past years. >> what might this have on the overall economy? >> when you look at it china's economy is still dependent on investments and takes up a significant portion of that. based on estimates, real estate probably takes up around 20% of china's gdp growth contribution. a slowdown in that will hurt china's overall economy and property related sectors when you look at construction materials, cement, glass and these related industries will be hurt by that. so with that we believe that the

loops at the banks will rise as a result of property market slowdown but we see that the government has really been taking significant action to offset that sort of decline. we've seen infrastructure expanding really quickly and we have seen a lot of measures focusing on investment and social housing inchina. in fact, in the first quarter, we've seen a record level infrastructure investment being announced and after that when you look at the first four months in terms of government sponsored social housing we've seen a 40% increase in that. when you look at the government policy we believe that that's going to help the slowdown and how the property market is going to hurt the overall gdp. >> all right. looks like american farmers don't like the way the wind is blowing on a free trade deal for the asia pacific. they're angry that japanese negotiators working on the transpacific partnership are not opening up their markets. members of two lobby groups say they'll withdraw their support for the deal unless the japanese remove agricultural tariffs. they sent letters to u.s. government officials to press

their demands. >> our industry, both through farmers and companies, are prepared to not support tpp unless we have comprehensive meaningful market access. >> japan's minister in charge of the talks says it's impossible to remove all the tariffs. american pork, rice and wheat farmers say if the japanese insist on the tariffs they should be cut out of the talks. that is going to do it for business hour. i'll give you a check of the markets now.

a group gathered in tokyo this week to call for democracy in china. they were marking the 25th anniversary of the tiananmen square crackdown. some worry that fewer and fewer people know what happened. nhk world's tomoki matsuda met a man who is raising awareness, using his skill as a filmmaker. >> reporter: a small band of protesters marched in tokyo. they called for democracy in china. there was no violence. the police were not troubled. only about 50 people took part.

one of its organizers was a film director from the mainland. he marched in 1989 too. on that day, 25 years ago, several thousand people protested in tokyo, including chinese students. han was studying at the time at a university in tokyo. >> translator: we had more than 100 times the people here today. there was excitement in the air. it was as if crowds of chinese people had just fallen from the sky. so today's turnout is a bit sad. >> reporter: after the incident, he decided to remain in tokyo. he works to keep alive the memory of what happened that day. he makes films and writes.

>> translator: people in china are not even allowed to hold memorial ceremonies. the authorities want to erase the incident from history. so we will continue to do abroad what is impossible inside the country. >> reporter: two month's anniversary, han showed students one of his films. >> reporter: it's a documentary of the chinese people who are forced to flee abroad after the crackdown. the tiananmen square incident is a taboo topic in china, even today. no media outlet discusses it.

no school teaches it. as a result, more and more young people know nothing about it. >> translator: i saw footage of the incident for the first time today. i was really shocked. i didn't know so many young people stood up for freedom in our country. >> translator: i want to continue to record history, society, and reality in an honest manner. my mission to report facts. >> reporter: chinese authorities try hard to separate tiananmen from history, but there will always be those like han raising awareness and passing on what they know.ut the challenges chi

faces on "newsline." soccer fans will have a reminder of where they are landing at the airport in sal paolo. they'll be greeted by massive murals depicts some of brazil's greatest world cup moments. nhk world explains. >> reporter: these are icon images of brazilian stars that bring world cup titles home. this one is in stockholm in 1958. another shows rinaldo who last recorded 12 career world cup goals in 2002. artists painted this 300 meter wide murals.

>> translator: i'm honored to show my work to so many people. people from all over the world will pass here. >> reporter: in the streets of saw paolo there are hardly any commercial billboards because the city has strictly regulated them since 2007. on the other hand, wall art like this one, has become very popular. modern art for more than two decades. he was commissioned to paint a mural by the football club to celebrate their 100 year anniversary. >> translator: when i find a blank wall, i tell myself, this is just a dirty wall. but i'll transform it into something amazing.

no matter how long it takes. >> reporter: he has left a blank space on these walls at the airport. he is determined to paint another mural here soon. >> translator: this space is for this year's world cup. i want young players to contribute to brazil's victory. >> reporter: it's been more than half a century since brazil hosted its first world cup. many soccer fans, including constan tino are hoping the national team will create a masterpiece on the field and become champions once again. lilian magdini, nhk world, san paolo.

and it's time now for a check of the weather with our meteorologist robert speta. robert, a wet friday here in tokyo. how does the weekend look? >> shery, if you have any outdoor plans really on saturday and sunday, i would definitely go ahead and cancel those. have an umbrella at least nearby when you're traveling around the tokyo area. much in japan for that matter. a rainy season already kicking in for many of you out here into the tokyo area on thursday officially, but now it's into the tohoku region in the past 72 hours heavy rainfall has been coming down out here. take a look at the totals. 561 millimeters of rain since wednesday. the tokai region 538. the showers will continue to persist going ahead through your friday. about 100 to 150 millimeters could be seen in the tokyo area on top of what's already been falling. take a look at this video we have out of eastern tokyo here. friday morning, this is a rather

popular tourist area, a popular shrine there, and you can see they're still out and about going ahead with their activities but definitely a lot of people out with their umbrellas. that's a common sight right there into the tokyo metro area during the rainy season which is likely going to be lasting through the rest of june, going ahead into early july. about a month and a half where day in and day out if it's not raining it's going to be rather cloudy. in the near term you can see the next several days, saturday, sunday, monday, those showers just continuing to persist. i want to pull back the picture, though, and look at the rest of eastern asia. it's not just japan contending with those rains. it's also back towards the west. southern china, persist the showers continuing to impact those of you out here towards yaunon province. there's been significant flooding and still that threat of flooding and landslides as we head over towards your weekend.

the rainy season also kicking in for those of you towards bangkok, much of the indo-china peninsula and southwesterly winds pushing in across the philippines with scattered thunderstorms for those of you into manila. let's see what's going on in the americas now. severe thunderstorms continuing to erupt across the ohio river valley, extending back through the central plains, through the afternoon hours. numerous reports of large hail into kentucky and tennessee here on your thursday. some of the areas upwards of baseball-sized hail. that could cause significant damage. you see this front right here that's going to continue to linger through your weekend and even into early part of next week. the instability will continue to persist. that threat of damaging winds definitely there. upwards about 120 kilometer winds. large hail, even tornadoes. you have to watch out for this. also the damaging weather situations and that threat is still going to be here in those areas in yellow. south of that, remaining hot and muggy in houston, toward

atlanta, atlanta you can see thunderstorms as well and cool off towards the north in chicago and toronto, even towards vancouver and seattle. sunny skies with temperatures into the low 20s. i want to show you what's going on in europe as well. a potent low pressure area, that's going to pump some moisture on shore for the british isle and strong thunderstorms could be seen in the southern portions of the uk. large hail, tornadoes possible out of that and flip side, western turkey, eastern portions of the balkans, thunderstorms expected out here for you, but i'll get out of the way because if you're in central europe sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 20s here in your forecast. here's the extended outlook.

and before we go, a creature from the deep has been thrilling moviegoers for decades. "godzilla" made his screen debut in 1954. a japanese artist just completed a monster sized painting to mark the anniversary. >> whoa! >> filmmakers and actors gathered at a studio in central tokyo, the birth place of the "godzilla" series. they celebrated the unveiling of the giant mural. the japanese artist spent three months working on the piece. it's 14 meters high and 17

meters wide. the first "godzilla" movie was released six decades ago. the well-known monster has starred in 28 films produced in japan. they filmed the hollywood version that opened in the u.s. last month. >> it's just fantastic. i'm very honored. it's a phenomenal piece of work. >> the new godzilla has become one of the year's blockbusters. japanese fans can see the film here next month. and that's all for this hour of "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. gg99ññww

world leaders and veterans of the normandy landing are in france to mark the 70th anniversary of what was to become the beginning of the operation that in 11 months had rid europe of the nancy's -- na zis. these are live pictures coming to us from where francois hollande is preparing to host a lunch for some of the world leaders gathered here in france.