welcome back to "newsline," i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo. first the headlines for this hour. international aid teams are hurrying to search for survivors in vanuatu after a powerful cyclone devastated the south pacific nation. more and more people in japan are taking advantage of crowd sourcing to connect people with jobs they might not otherwise find. and delegates to a u.n.

conference on disaster risk reduction are visiting japan's northeast coast to learn lessons from the 2011 tsunami. teams of international rescuers are on the ground in vanuatu in the south pacific. they're trying to help survivors of a powerful cyclone that ripped through the island nation. red cross officials say at least eight people died in the capital port vila. but some areas remain cut off and aid workers say the death toll could rise. nhk world is on the scene and has this report. >> reporter: cyclone pam struck on friday packing powerful winds and torrential rains. by saturday, it had left a path of destruction across vanuatu. the storm tore roofs off concrete buildings andled trees onto roads. many supermarkets and other stores are closed due to blackouts. those that are managed to reopen are packed with people trying to

get food and other supplies. personnel flew in on military aircraft on sunday from australia and new zealand. they began distributing aid, including water and medicine. officials with the united nations children's fund for unicef have set up makeshift laboratories. many residents have found shelters in schools, churches, and other locations. vanuatu's territory extends to about 80 remote islands. many of them remain out of contact. government officials are conducting an aerial survey with help from australia. they hope to get a full picture of the damage as quickly as possible. nhk world, port vila. business and political leaders from japan and south korea are getting ready for an exchange of ideas. they will gather in tokyo this weekend to explore ways to improve ties between their countries. two days of talks are scheduled

to begin on sunday. former japanese prime minister yoshihiro mori proposed the meeting. about ten political business leaders including mori and former south korean prime minister lee hong-koo will take part. this year is the 50th anniversary of normalized diplomatic ties between japan and south korea. relations have been strained by differences over historical issues. china's state-run xinhua news agency says a former high-ranking army officer under investigation for bribery has died of an illness. xu caihou was 71. he was among senior party members targeted in an anti-corruption campaign by president xi jinping. xu had served as the number two officials of the people's liberation army until march 2013. he was also a vice chairman of the central military commission. prosecutors began procedures last october to indict xu. they say he and his family

members took large bribes in exchange for promoting others. japan's government is preparing more support for refugees in iraq. a senior official has met the prime minister of the kurdish autonomous government in iraq. parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs was trying to find ways to help deal with the humanitarian crisis created by the islamic state insurgency. sunora pledged $90 million in aid for people who have fled from the kurdish region from areas controlled by the militants. he added on top of the short-term humanitarian assistance japan will provide mid to long-term support for the evacuees. kurdish prime minister bar danny expressed his gratitude for the offer. he said the region is bearing a heavy burden dealing with the large number of refugees. barzani said the militants have been pushed back from most of the kurdish areas but he

stressed the need for more international support to eliminate them. sunora later visited a camp housing around 3,000 refugees from mosul and other areas. the senior japanese official handed over relief supplies to a representative. >> translator: i acknowledged that the situation facing the refugees is very difficult. our support should be diversified, and include mental health care, and entertainment. >> sonoura says he will inform prime minister shinzo abe about the situation, and discuss what more the government can do in the region. russian president vladimir putin revealed that his country was ready last year to put its nuclear arsenal on alert. the move would have been to support the annexation of crimea. putin made the comment in a prerecorded documentary aired by russia's state-run television.

putin calls crimea russia's historical territory. he said he decided to take control of it soon after the ouster of the ukrainian president in february last year. this contradicts his previous statement on the incident. he had said that he decided on the annexation only after the referendum. putin said he ordered the deployment of intelligence forces and marines to disarm ukrainian troops in crimea. >> translator: the footage will reveal exactly who ordered the capture of ukrainian territory in crimea. >> ukrainian prime minister arseniy yatsenyuk said it shows a violation of international law. the prime minister added that it's evidence that russia's invasion of crimea was premeditated. nearly 1 million people across brazil have taken to the streets to demand political change. they're calling for president

dilma rousseff to resign. and they're showing their frustration over the corruption the sluggish economy, and rising prices. protesters are angry about a massive bribery and kickback scandal at the state-controlled oil firm petrobras. prosecutors say they're now investigating many senior officials of the ruling party. some demonstrators are also calling on political leaders to improve the nation's struggling economy. >> translator: prices are going up. tomatoes sugar, oil. you name it. everyone is getting poor. >> translator: rousseff is not qualified to be president. she is incompetent politically, ethically, and technically. >> well the president's approval rating sits at 23%, the

lowest number since she took office. analysts say public anger and economic uncertainty may impact the country's hosting of the olympic and paralympic games next year. now, let's see what's happening in the world of business. here's ron madison from the biz desk. ron? >> thank you miki. prime minister shinzo abe has admitted that salary hikes still lag behind inflation in japan. experts say substantial pay rises are vital to the success of abe's economic policies. now abe faced some questions about his economic policies at an upper house budget committee session on monday. he said he accepts that salary growth has not caught up with price increases and he says those increases were caused in part by the consumption tax hike last april. >> translator: it's crucial to take an overall view of workers income excludeing the impact of the tax rise. it's a fact that this income is growing because of my government's economic policies.

>> abe said employee income as a whole for this april could be more than last year because there will be no tax hike. well toyota motor is among many japanese companies planning to pass on improved earnings to workers. management and union chiefs have agreed to the company's highest pay raise in 13 years. the hike of about $33 a month in basic pay for all employees will be toyota's biggest since 2002. unions initially demanded a monthly hike of around $50. the agreement adds about $93 to the average monthly pay slip. that's once seniority-based raises are factored in. the unions will also get the bonuses that they asked for. that's equivalent to nearly seven months pay. japan's other automakers are in the final phase of negotiations. those, too are expected to result in bigger raises than last year. many japanese companies will present their responses to union wage demands on wednesday. let's get a check of the

markets now. the nikkei snapping a three-day winning streak today. investors sold shares to try to take some profits after recent strong gains. tokyo stocks closed down just a touch today, 19,246. the downward pressure was limited. there were reports that many companies are raising wages, as we've been talking about. investors really betting that that will help steadily improve the japanese economy. well, in china, shanghai kosate hit its highest level in more than five years. it rose 2.25% to close at 3,449. investors pretty encouraged by premier li keqiang's comments at the national people's congress. he suggested further stimulus measures are possible to boost the economy. well in terms of the rest of asia south korea's kospi rose after the currency dropped to a 20-month low against the dollar. sydney fell nearly 0.3%. we've got lower crude prices weighing on major energy resource companies. well financial authorities say japanese savers parked nearly $25 billion in the

government's new tax free investment program in the last year. the so-called nisa accounts contain stocks and mutual funds. the nippon individual savings accounts were introduced in january last year. the program exempts investors from taxes on capital gains and dividends for investments of up to 1 million yen, roughly $8,200 per year. now the officials at the financial services agency say more than 8 million people have opened dedicated accounts. even so, they add it may be difficult for salespeople to meet a government target. authorities want outstanding nisa investments to total more than $200 billion by the year 2020. so brokerage firms are trying to attract more young people to sign up. they're holding investment seminars targeting college students. japanese companies are trying to make steel lighter by combining it with other materials. so-called multimaterials are expected to help automakers build lighter, more fuel efficient cars. one of the companies is mitsui

chemicals. it has developed a method of injecting resin into tiny dimples in metals each about 10 micromillimeters across. researchers say they can make a steering wheel component about 20% lighter using this method. the firms hope the technology will be ready in three years. kobe steel launched a special in-house unit for multimaterials last year. it's studying how to weld steel and aluminum by adjusting the temperature and length of welding time. researchers hope to make a product available next year. it's after quality and safety checks in april. a kobe steel official says the company wants to advance its technology to create the lighter vehicles demanded by carmakers. well the internet has made it possible to live and work just about anywhere. people in rural japan are using crowd sourcing to run successful businesses. >> reporter: takizawa city is

500 kilometers north of tokyo. this man has returned to the city after working for a big i.t. company in tokyo. ito set up his own i.t. firm last year. the company develops software such as applications for smartphones. with this app, the user can scan a product's bar code and instantly compare prices between different online stores. ito wins projects like this from companies in tokyo and elsewhere through crowd sourcing. here's how it works. a company that needs a job done puts out a call through a crowd sourcing website. the site matches the job with registered users who have the right skills. these people might live anywhere, even outside japan. the firm is highly rated by clients and is continually winning orders.

it has developed 20 projects this past half year with sales of about $40,000. ito has taken on local college students, he believes training them through crowd source projects will help foster their skills. >> translator: information technology is essential these days. even if you just want to sell products in the countryside. so we need to build up the number of local engineers. >> reporter: in other parts of japan, people are using crowd sourcing as a way to tap in to a potential workforce. a nonprofit organization is helping people learn how to get jobs through crowd sourcing. this woman wants to work while she raises her child. as a part of the training she's

creating an online travel guide by gathering information. >> translator: i think i can do this if i get used to it. it's more fun than i thought. >> reporter: by training people like akaishi the nonprofit group hopes crowd sourcing will eventually take root in the region. >> translator: bringing crowd sourcing to people here can only help create new jobs. and if people come together and an attractive community starts growing, then i believe more people will want to live here. >> reporter: the npo is in partnership with a crowd sourcing website operator. the company plans to expand the program nationwide. >> translator: crowd sourcing is a novel innovation since you don't need capital investment to stimulate the local economy, and you can still secure work opportunities. i'd like to contribute to the

growth of japan and the region by linking the advantages of our crowd sourcing and the growth of our business. >> reporter: crowd sourcing in japan has the potential to grow. it has already begun to take off by connecting jobs with people who might otherwise be hard to reach. chie tanaka, nhk world. all right. that is going to wrap it up for biz this hour. let's get a recap of the markets now.

every morning investors turn their attention to asia. the tokyo market leads the way. and markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy. >> to the companies at the forefront of change. >> up to the minute market reports. >> and analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news and insight every day. here on "newsline." japan coast guard officials say chinese government ships have again entered japanese waters off the senkaku islands. the officials say three chinese patrol vessels were there for two hours on monday. they then moved into the

contiguous zone just outside japanese waters. coast guard personnel warned the vessels to stay away from japan's territory. this is the seventh day this year that chinese ships have entered an area around the senkaku islands. japan controls the islands, china and taiwan claim them. the japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of japan's territory. it says there is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them. delegates to a u.n. conference on disaster risk reduction in japan are gaining firsthand knowledge about the march 2011 earthquake and tsunami. a tour of the host city sendai showed how people are using what they learned to prepare for future disasters. nhk world's kurando tago reports. >> reporter: about 25 representatives from europe and asia took part in a study tour on sunday. 33 they got a close-up look at how the disaster affected sun

die and how people there have responded. this woman is from malaysia. and she is from the philippines. they're working for international ngos. they saw an elementary school damaged by the tsunami. an official from the city explained the scope of the destruction. >> translator: these are aerial photos taken before and after the disaster. the tsunami waves washed away everything. >> reporter: he said more than 300 children fled to the school's roof where they waited until rescuers arrived. >> you can't imagine what they went through then. >> reporter: she said seeing the students' photos made her think of disasters that have affected people in her country.

>> i can remember also that the disaster of the philippines. >> reporter: in this area the tsunami traveled nearly four kilometers inland from the coast. participants heard about how the people are working to lessen the damage of future disasters. officials are taking measures such as building a coastal levee and elevating roads. they've also constructed an evacuation tower that stands 10 meters tall. it has a slope so people in wheelchairs can use it. >> excellent! >> reporter: local residents shared stories. >> translator: the houses in this area were not destroyed by the tsunami. but they were flooded by a meter and a half of water, or more.

>> translator: we evacuated to the junior high school. i think nearly 1600 people were evacuated at that time. >> the philippines has also experienced a lot of disasters and natural calamities. >> no one knows when so we always need to be prepared. >> reporter: the tour offered participants ideas on how people in their countries can get ready. >> we haven't thought of this thing yet so i think this is one of the things that i can share when i go back to the philippines. >> we have to be build back better, because that is the only way that we are going to

survive. the resilience of the community and actually empower the community in their daily lives. >> reporter: they say they plan to share what they learned. they hope lessons from japan will help inspire people back home to take fresh look at disaster preparation. kurando tago, nhk world, sendai. it's time now to check on the world weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh. jonathan, we've been reporting about the devastation in vanuatu caused by extra tropical cyclone pam. but there are more problems ahead for people in new zealand, i guess. tell us more. >> yes, miki. we are talking about what used to be a severe tropical cyclone named pam. we were monitoring along with a bunch of other storms that was

rolling through the pacific ocean last week. now we're seeing what we're calling extra tropical. when a system that used to have this very tight core with the actual -- there's actually a definition for widespread tropical system. when that starts to fall apart and afterwards the remnants of that system sometimes goes into what we call extra tropical and we see the effects that come from that. the core now has all but started to dissipate. but the outflow that comes out of that we are still seeing the clouds and the wind over in to new zealand. the north island we've been watching out for this and now that rain will be a part of the forecast along with the winds. we should see that start to taper off as we head toward the later part of tuesday. now, the good thing is most of the core of that rain will push eastward, and so i think we'll mainly see some of the coastal rains and that development over on the west coast, that's just about it. but the wind is something you'll be looking out for. now, we are also looking at tropical storm bavi further up north. this system moved past the

mariana islands and is moving westward. the system packing winds of 65 close to 90 for gusts. but this system getting a little bit of resistance. it's continued to progress toward the west but then when we have the westerly winds shearing against it it's going to tear the system apart. as we go into thursday we're looking at a tropical depression, which means it's going to really be a wet system, as it arrives near the philippines towards luzon. we are not looking at any type of intense tropical system by the time it arrives in the philippines. we're talking about a little bit of wet weather as we look at east asia toward japan. low pressure system pushing toward the east bringing some cloud cover, we are looking at the system bringing some rain overnight into tuesday. and then we should start seeing some improvement by the afternoon hours with some warm conditions, as well as the southerly flow moves into the picture. we just have some instability into china bringing rain from shanghai in to chongqing. expect to have the umbrella available. 19 for the high in tokyo. again we're seeing eventual clearing by the afternoon hours for tuesday.

now when it comes to the forecast for europe most of the continent looking at dry weather. down toward the western mediterranean we have this low pressure system bringing a lot of moisture into places like rome. you're going to see some wet weather. may extend into tuesday, as well. dry for the rest of the continent except for a little bit of a disturbance over into the united kingdom. you'll see a chance for some rain as we go into monday. now i want to take you over into the united states. where we had some rain into the ohio river valley that brought some heavy amounts of rain leading to flooding. here's a picture coming out of kentucky, and into louisville, also, saw this type of flooding problem as we went through sunday. and this is an important location, because the basketball tournament, the collegiate basketball tournament is taking place and this flooding problem, i don't think it's going to be going away very quickly. even though we do have dry weather in place, it's going to take some time for the water to dissipate. so look out for that. but this high pressure is bringing all of this warm air in to the central portions of the

united states. so we're seeing temperatures into the 20s. but denver oklahoma city and also into houston. quick note over into newfoundland, we're looking at some blizzard conditions, so look out for that with potentials from 15 to 30 centimeters of snowfall possible. and some wet weather down toward mexico. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo. we'll be back at the top of the hour. thanks for watching.

eekend. 90% of all buildings in the capital have been destroyed. the last day of campaigning as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu fights to keep his job. opinion polls show his main political rival pulling ahead one day before the parliamentary vote. with a deadline for a nuclear agreement on iran just two weeks away talks into the most critical days yet despite interference from u.s. republicans. those are the headlines this hour on "france 24."