thai authorities found more mass graves in a jungle in southern thailand. believed to be those of victims of human trafficking. a grave containing 26 bodies of discovered recently near the malaysian border. another five mass graves were found on tuesday. thai officials believe most of the bodies are those of ethnic

minorities in myanmar. they are thought to have been held by a group engaged in the illegal smuggling of people from myanmar into malaysia via thailand. thai police have arrested a myanmar national and four thais. police believe some of the victims died from starvation and illness and others were killed after their families failed to pay ransoms or smuggling fees. international human rights groups are urging the thai government to take action against human trafficking networks. myanmar's government has not granted citizenship to the minority people. the united nations estimates more than 80,000 have left myanmar since deadly clashes began three years ago. armed factions in central africa republic have agreed to set free thousands of child soldiers and other exploited children. armed groups are fiercely

fighting in central africa in confrontation between muslims and christians. many gathered in the capital to attend a forum aimed at ending the conflict. on tuesday eight key groups agreed to release all children under their control. it's estimated there are between 6,000120,000 such children. they are said to have been forced to serve as child soldiers and servants. some have been sexually abused. the united nations children's fund unicef is calling for international support to help the children re-integrate into society. a u.n. envoy has started meeting delegate from the syrian government opposition groups and other parties. the consultations are part of the efforts to resume peace talks. work was begun in geneva by meeting representatives of the syrian government. there will be separate talks with delegations from the u.n.

security council members as well as iran and saudi arabia. >> we must do something. we can't wait. perhaps by trying to find out whether they do have realized this conflict not continue we may get some ideas of how to end it. >> the civil war in syria is showing no signs of ending, as various militant groups have joined the fighting. islamic state militants have put wide areas under their control. they've also seized part of a palestinian refugee camp in the suburbs of damascus. local media say the militants continued their offensive on tuesday. the turmoil has killed over 220,000 people. about 4 million have fled to jordan, turkey and other neighboring countries.

>> japanese government officials have released information on the trans-pacific partnership free trade negotiations. some complained about the closed door nature of the talks. information has been posted on the tpp task force's website. it said negotiations are under way to work out an agreement document consisting of 29 chapters covering 21 areas. the website provides an outline of each area of the negotiations but offers few details on progress. government sources say talks are over in seven areas making up ten chapters of the agreement document. these include stream lining customs procedures and accelerating entry procedures for traveling business people. but officials of the tpp task force say they cannot release further information due to a confidentiality agreement among the member nations. the move follows calls from opposition parties and industry groups for the information to be

disclosed. the opposition lawmakers had jointly submit ad bill obliging the government to report progress in the talks to the diet. japan's meteorological agency is warning of a minor eruption at mt. hakone. >> translator: a minor eruption could cause falling rocks around the valley. >> officials raised the alert level by one notch to level two on a scale of five. level two is the lowest warning that calls for people to refrain from approaching areas around the crater. local authorities have also issued an evacuation order around the valley located on the northern slope. they've been banning entry to hiking trails.

>> translator: a volcano warning was issued during golden week. it's usually very crowd at this time. it's a severe blow to us. the taun mayorown mayor is concerned about damage to the tourist area. the mountain is near japan's highest peak mount fuji. it's a popular destination for tourists. a survey by a leading japanese advertising agency suggests one out of 13 respondents can be classified as belong to a sexual minority. dentsu conducted an online survey of 70,000 people between ages of 20 and 59 across japan. it says 7.6% of them fall under the category of sexual minorities known as lgbt. 18.6% of the respondents in this group became aware of their sexual identity between the ages of 13 and 15.

this was the most common answer. 9.8% of people said they developed awareness after they became 40 years old. and 56.8% of respondents said they had told no one about their sexuality. >> translator: growing social recognition will allow sexual minorities to live more easily in japan. this could also lead to the creation of new services and help reviewtalize the economy. >> people in japan have recently begun to recognize sexual diversity. the brother of a japanese woman who was abducted to north korea has called for international support to resolve

the abduction issue. he made the appeal at a symposium in new york. his sister was kidnapped by north korean agents in 1977 when she was 13 years old. >> translator: north korean authorities are a threat to the international community. my sister and others are suffering because of them. we shouldn't ignore the issue. >> japanese abduction minister said north korea set up a special committee to investigate the fate of missing japanese last july but has not yet provided any report. she urged pyongyang to sincerely address the issue. a u.n. official looking into the human rights situation in north korea says the abduction issue is no longer a matter for japan alone. >> this is clearly a source of deep concern within the japanese society, but also should be for the international community as a whole, which must tackle the issue with even more resolve.

>> international concern is growing over north korea's human rights abuses. members of the u.n. security council have formally taken up the issue. the japanese government says north korean agents capture at least 17 japanese nationals in the 1970s and 80s, and 12 of them are still unaccounted. the people who run japan's tiniest airline are thinking big. the small crew has tasks from takeoff to touchdown and their work doesn't end on the tarmac. they are busy ensuring their presence looms large. >> reporter: ten times a day, ama airlines transports passengers to the islands. you are looking at the whole fleet, one propeller driven

preseason that seats 39. the entire workforce totals only 58 people. it's the country's smallest scheduled airline. the one attendant on each flight operates on a tight schedule inspecting safety equipment and carrying out other responsibilities. >> translator: i complete a task even on time constraint because they are all-important. >> reporter: the ceo doesn't sit behind a desk either. he's busy on the tarmac hand technology luggage. everyone's job description is flexible. >> translator: since we're tiny we can't operate like a large airline but we can give our customers a good experience. and hold the cost down too.

>> reporter: one way of keeping prices under control is to ask flight attend jackpots to edit the airline magazine. the issues feature staff members provide maps so customers can enjoy the scenery. they also offer information about tourist sites and the cuisine. passengers like the publication all the better because it's not too slick. >> translator: i always read the magazine. it's really heart warming. i even have taken a copy home because it had information i wanted to save. >> reporter: the flight attendants take turns at the helm of the magazine. they one that the contents are more than just a way for passengers to pass the time. people react on what they read. >> translator: they pay attention to it. sometimes i see them writing

down addresses and phone numbers of places that we've highlighted. when that happens, i'm very happy. >> reporter: last year about 80,000 people flu with amakusa airlines. even so 40% of the seats are empty on an average trip so the company is spreading the word about what it has to offer. residents of amakusa who tune into the local cable tv channel can find out about what's up at the airport. and that of course, includes the airline. flight attendants make this part of their job too. they introduce products that will be available at markets and fairs near the airport and offer behind-the-scenes clips of working at the facility. if viewers see the airport itself as a fun destination,

they might be inclined to take a flight. >> translator: i think the selling point is that we're close by. i want to do this more often so people know even more about us. >> reporter: other airlines are bigger. but the flight attendants of japan's smallest want customers to be nothing is better than the airline that "feels like home". a japanese researcher suggests the damage from last month's powerful earthquake in nepal was worsened because many buildings have low quake resistance. a professor conduct advair in a town of sako near the capital of kathmandu. the town is known for its old streets. 90% of the builds in the town were destroyed or badly damaged. many of them were four or five

story structures that offered low resistance to the quake. these structures use brick or soil for walls and pillars. >> translator: the buildings with low quake resistance swayed back and forth, causing them to collapse. >> he also presumes a lower resistance put stronger stress on the upper part of the buildings. he says if the buildings had been made with reinforced concrete they would have likely survived the quake. he suggests they experienced wider oscillations because the center of the town sits on top of the hill. the magnitude 7.8 quake on april 25, killed more than 7,700 people in nepal and neighboring countries. over 360,000 buildings were damaged in nepal alone. forcing many people to seek refuge outdoors. a japanese photograph certificate looking through his lens at the past to help preserve the future. he spent 20 years capturing images of stone carvings at

shery ahnan an ancient temple in cambodia and he's hoping his sites are not forgotten. >> reporter: a massive face carved in stone. there are 259 faces like this in the ruins each with a different expression. this photographer is the first person to create photographic record of all these faces. he began working on the project over 20 years ago. >> translator: they are carved into ordinary stone but their expressions feel so human. no matter how many times i come here i never feel as though i'm seeing the same face. >> reporter: in the airily 1990s, cambodia was starting to emerge from its long civil war.

it's historic site-been left abandoned. and many were falling into ruin. he was captivated by the carvings. concerned by their poor condition he joined a japanese government team set up to preserve the site. this marked the start of his photographic project. the faces each about five meters high are carved into the four sides of numerous towers in the ruins. he feels a certain quality in these faces. >> translator: the faces are huge but their expressions are amazingly detailed and the nuances. these faces were carved 1,000 years ago and we're still looking at them today. they must be preserved properly. >> reporter: he realized that

photographing each of the faces head on would be useful for researchers. and it could help prevent further deterioration. but even the lowest of them are 15 meters above the ground. some are 45 meters up. so he had to reassemble his scaffolding for each of the faces. the scaffolding was precarious and would move even in the slightest breeze. it was a major challenge. >> translator: when i was shooting i would ask everyone to get down but even so the deck would sometimes shake. if one of the workers ten meters below was jiggling his foot it would cause the top to sway wildly. >> reporter: thanks to his effort fogs himself directly in front of the faces he made many

new discoveryies. sometimes a face might seem gentle but at other times angry. the more he photographed them the more he saw this. he never got tired of working with the same subject. >> translator: depending on the light or temperature of the air, their expression seemed to change. over the course of 20 years i've been there about a hundred times but i'm always amazed every time. >> reporter: his photographs of the stone faces have been compiled for use as a reference material. the images will be kept at a new museum opening this summer. he hopes they will inspire the local people to protect the ruins. and feel pride in their cultural legacy.

a young japanese man is helping to heal divisions in the north african nation of sudan. he's using one of the world's oldest martial arts to bring people together. >> reporter: a festive atmosphere and people are getting excited. wrestling. a sport that's 3,000 years old. there is one japanese face in the crowd. it belongs to this wrestler who placed fifth in the world student championships. he came to sudan. sudan's civil war is over but there's still deep seated

hostility between various ethnic groups. one common interest for these divided people is wrestling. the government hopes to send a sudanese competitor to the tokyo olympics. >> translator: in think it would be good if instead of fighting the entire country would move in a positive direction by bonding through sports like wrestling. >> reporter: he has trained 20 hopeful athletes. one challenge is the differences between muba and olympic we feeling. in muba the match is over when the wrestler touches the ground. imuba two wrestlers getting close right from the start. in olympic wrestling on the other hand there is much more

stress on getting the best position. opponents maneuver before they start to grapple. another problem is many sudanese wrestlers skip practice. he went to visit one of his students. he has high hopes for his student. he is from the southern part of the country where there is still active fighting. he left his family in his home town. they depend on him for financial support. >> translator: i want to go practice so that i can be good enough to compete internationally. >> reporter: he was shocked to learn of the extreme poverty his students have to endure.

he later appealed to the sudan olympic committee who agreed to offer financial support. he continues to train. he focuses on positioning. >> translator: you have to make your opponent move more by using a variety of patterns and moves. >> reporter: muba wrestling competition and they will test their progress. can he handle tough wrestlers? he starts by breaking and then maneuver as tradition looking for an opening. he has practiced this move. the match ends in a draw.

he has held his ground against a top wrestler. >> translator: nothing could make me prouder than such a dramatic change in the country since i've been here. >> reporter: his olympic dream is not only to pursue a medal, he is a man fighting for peace. kosei takeno nhk world, sudan. time now for the world weather with our meteorologist. people in tokyo experienced sunny and warm weather on the last day of the golden week holidays, so will the sunny weather continue tomorrow? >> yes, we'll be looking at another day of warm and sunny weather here in tokyo. we haven't had any rain during the golden week in tokyo, by the way. now warmth because of the warmth cherry blossoms started to bloom in eastern hokkaido 11 days than normal and earliest on

record. a high pressure system is ambulance kepting many parts of the japan with the exception of the south. southern portions of the japan especially okinawa will see rainfall and thunderstorms as we go into thursday. the same front is also affecting the south of china more heavy rain is likely as we go into tomorrow. this is the start of the rainy stone for you. more heavy rain is falling over the waters due to a severe tropical storm. this is the storm noh. it has been near the island of yap. has been causing stormy conditions in the island over the past couple of days. it has caused about 110 kilometers of gust. it's expected to intensify even further because of sea surface temperatures. it's about 30 degrees warm enough to provide ample moisture to the system. it could intensify to a very strong system by the time it approaches the east coast of the philippines over the weekend.

wind gusts could be about 270 kilometers per hour. strong enough to cause severe structure damage over the philippines. stormy conditions will likely happen over the weekend and very heavy rainfall is likely to happen over the northern portions of the country and an additional 200 millimeters of rain could fall in several areas enough to cause flooding. after that going towards taiwan and southwestern islands of japan. clouds are occurring over the mid-part of the united states due to a slow moving low pressure system. this was the scene coming out of manhattan, kansas. torrential rain fell in this area on monday. residents had to use canoes to cross the flooded streets. residents drove along the street where muddy waters nearly reached the windows of his car. the system will likely sit there for a couple more days. heavy rain will cause flooding over the mid-part of the united

states and also the system has caused at least seven tornadoes over texas as well as new mexico. more tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds could happen over the central and southern plains of the united states for the next couple of days. now we have another system near the east coast of florida. this time will likely become a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours. this is your pre-hurricane season for the atlantic. temperatures are extremely warm for this time of year over the eastern portions of the united states and also canada. 27 degrees in washington, d.c. 20 degrees in new york city and heavy thunder showers for houston with a high for 29 degrees. let's go over to europe. severe weather is happening over central and western portions of europe because of a cold front that spawned four tornadoes in germany. northern germany was devastated by what is thought to be a tornado on tuesday. one person in hamburg was killed

by fallen debris and dozens of cars are destroyed and houses and hundreds of trees were uprooted by the stormy conditions. this will likely move towards the east as we go into the next couple of days. that's it for now. here's your extended forecast. that's all we have this hour

on "newsline". i'm ross mihara in tokyo. thank you for watching and have a good day. cccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

the u.k. general election and the conservatives and labor arnett and neck. hours left for the israeli prime minister to put together a coalition government or face being forced out by a former ally. controversial words from a southern french mayor. he let slip his office -- sump and forbidden by french law -- something forbidden by french law. plenty more on the british elections, including hit by the global oil price