gan in tokyo. welcome to "newsline." we begin with breaking news out of nepal. another powerful earthquake has stck. people in the country are still struggling to recover from a devastating tremor that hit less than three weeks ago. officials with the u.s. geological survey say the quake had a magnitude of 7.3. it struck at about 12:50 local time on tuesday. the agency estimates the focus was about 76 kilometers east of

the capital, kathmandu, and 15 kilometers deep. local police say three residents are confirmed dead after several buildings collapsed east of the capital. police say buildings and walls collapsed in and around kathmandu causing injuries. reports say shaking was also felt 800 kilometers away in india's capital, new delhi. the earthquake on april 25th had a magnitude of 7.8. more than 8,000 people were killed. a japanese national living in kathmandu spoke to nhk over the phone and described the moment the earthquake struck. japanese police have

arrested three people on suspicion of illegally importing a shipment of prized mushrooms from north korea. one of the suspects is the son of the chairman of a pro-north korea group that serves as the de facto diplomatic mission for north korea in japan. nhk world's tomoko kamata has the details. >> reporter: the suspects are connected to a food wholesale company in tokyo. police say they imported nearly two tons of mushrooms from the north in 2010. one of the men is. police say the three disguised the mushrooms as cheaper chinese products. they arrested the men on suspicion of violating japan's foreign trade law. japanese officials imposed

sanctions on pyongyang in 2006 after the north conducted nuclear tests and committed other provocative acts. the sanctions include a ban on importing north korean products. two months ago, police raided the home of his father in connection with the case. ho heads the general association of korean residents in japan and is a member of the people's assembly. the association calls the arrest unjust and unacceptable. japan's top government spokesperson defended the actions of the police. >> translator: japan is a country ruled by law. it's natural to launch an investigation based on the law and on evidence. >> reporter: police say ko and the other two deny the charges. authorities say they're trying

to figure out the route the men used to get the mushrooms to japan. tomoko kamata nhk world. u.s. defense department officials have announced their plan to deploy a special operations squadron of aircraft in western tokyo. they'll station cv-22 osprey at the yokota air base in 2017. it will be the first deployment of the tilt rotor aircraft in the country outside of okinawa. the first three will arrive in the second half of 2017. and an additional seven are scheduled to be on base by 2021. 24 ospreys are currently deployed at the futenma air station in okinawa. american leaders say the new deployment will increase the capability of u.s. special operations forces to respond quickly to crises and contingencies in japan and the asia-pacific region. the u.s. air force at first proposed sending the aircraft to the air base in okinawa, but the plan was reportedly scrapped in

favor of yokota due to strong opposition from the public in the southern prefecture. there has been mixed reactions to the u.s. announcement. officials in japan's central government have welcomed the news of the deployment. but authorities from local municipalities say they're concerned. >> translator: as part of its asia-focused rebalanced policy and rapid response system i believe that the u.s. plan to deploy ospreys at an air base in tokyo will help boost deterrence of the japan/u.s. alliance and will contribute to the stability of the asia-pacific region. >> suga says the government will carefully try to gain the understanding of local residents. he says safety will be given top priority. officials from japan's foreign and defense ministries visited municipalities in western tokyo around the air base. he explained that the u.s. informed them of its decision to deploy the ospreys on monday. the mayor is critical of the decision. he says the government is trying

to force the municipalities to comply with what's already been decided. >> translator: as the mayor, i cannot accept the government's decision unless they provide a more detailed explanation to ease the concerns of residents. >> he says such actions could harm relations between u.s. forces and municipalities that host u.s. bases. tokyo governor says he'll demand that safety be made a priority in operating the aircraft. >> translator: when the government gives us an explanation of the deployment, i will demand that they ensure that the lives of people in tokyo are protected. the top military commander of the philippines has made a visit to the spratly islands. he says he took the trip to emphasize his country's sovereignty. the philippines, china and others are involved in a territorial dispute over the islands in the south china sea.

general gregorio invited a group of reporters along for his tour of the island. he told them his purpose is to clarify that it belongs to the philippines. the country has effective control of some of the spratly islands, but titu is the only one with a runway. government officials have deployed troops and are urging filipinos to move there. the population stands at about 120. titu is only 25 kilometers from a reef where chinese workers have been engaged in a land reclamation project. philippine military officials say china may be planning to build a large-scale runway there. many japanese companies are releasing their latest earnings reports this week. gene otani from our business desk joins us now. gene, tell us what's happening. >> well today we're talking about shipmakers and not potato chips. renaissance electronics has been struggling since it was launched five years ago. the company has finally posted a profit.

officials at renesa say cutting staff and shutting down plants helped the firm record a net profit of more than $680 million for the business year ending in march. it's the first time renesas has been in the black since hitachi and mitsubishi electric in 2010 merged their semiconductor units to form the company. but revenue fell 5% from the previous year. officials say one reason is the sale of a subsidiary that makes semiconductors for smartphones. executives at toyo tire and rubber company report an extraordinary loss of more than $110 million for the three months from january to march. toyo has come under fire after officials admitted that it sold building materials that don't meet earthquake safety standards. the company plans to replace about 2900 absorbers in more than 150 buildings nationwide. executives have lowered the projected net profit for the 12 months through december this year by 32%.

a key index that shows the health of the japanese economy fell in march for the second straight month. but officials at the cabinet office say things are getting better. they say the index for march was 109.5 against 100 for the base year of 2010. the figure is down 1.2 points from february. the index is based on data such as factory output and consumer spending. officials say one reason for the decline is sluggish retail sales, an indicator that predicts the future state of the economy rose for the first time in three months. the leading index increased 0.8 points. the officials say consumers and small midsize enterprises are becoming more confident about the economy. checking the markets, tokyo stocks reversed earlier losses and managed to extend their gains to a third day. the nikkei average closed up 0.02% at 19,624. some investors sold shares to book profits from the recent rise. but others bet that strong

corporate earnings would continue. in china, the shanghai composite retained its momentum closing up 1.56% at 4,401. the index jumped 3% yesterday following the cut in the country's key interest rate. analysts say market players are now awaiting data on factory output and other key economic indicators that will be released on wednesday. sydney snapped its five-day losing streak. the s&p/asx index gained nearry 0.88% closing at 5674 rebounding banking industry shares supported the rise. qantas hit a seven-year high following its upbeat output. huang dong retreated. the hang seng fell 1.1%. philippines ended this way, up by 0 .2% after exports rose in march for the first time in four months. indonesia up by 0.6%.

physical financials were the main winners. trade officials from ja, china and south korea are meeting in seoul for fresh talks to a free trade deal. they're trying to iron out their differences over tariffs. chief negotiators kicked off their seventh round of talks by discussing a schedule for reducing such duties and how much to cut them. they then plan to talk about tariffs on specific items. the current round of talks ends on wednesday. officials from the three countries have spent the past two years trying to work out a broad framework for a free trade deal. south korea and china have already signed a separate agreement. japanese delegates hope this will have a positive effect on the three-way talks. a u.s. federal court in new york has ruled against nomura holding over a practice that led to the 2008 financial crisis. the court upheld the view that nomura sold mortgage-backed securities without clarifying the risks involved during the

housing bubble. the federal housing finance agency originally sued 18 banks and securities firms. bank of america, jpmorgan chase and other major banks agreed to pay billions of dollars in a settlement with u.s. authorities. but nomura and its codefendant, royal bank of scotland did not. the ruling on monday described the defendants' explanations as incorrect. it said the magnitude of falsity is enormous. agency officials say they plan to propose damages. nomura officials say they don't agree with the court's decision and are planning to appeal it. people in japan have appreciated the craft of bonsai for centuries, but growing the miniature trees requires a lot of work. and the number of enthusiasts is declining. now some people in the industry are looking to cultivate new interest by turning their attention overseas. >> reporter: an export company has been making an appeal to

foreigners by inviting them on bonsai-themed tours. on this day, thee australian visitors signed up. the first stop was a bonsai museum north of tokyo. the museum features about 70 trees crafted in the traditional style. this is the first time they have seen so many high-end bonsai. this pine tree is thought to be about 500 years old. >> standing 1.6 meters or 5'2" this bonsai is one of the largest in this museum's collection. >> yeah. very -- very amazing. i'm quite overwhelmed. >> reporter: the highlight of the tour is an opportunityo meet a world-famous craftsman, kimura.

this is one of his masterpieces called dancing dragon. kimura developed special machines to shape the winding trunk with intricate curves. last year alone, visitors from 30 countries took part in the tour. it's contributing to a growing interest in bonsai and a boost in exports. >> do you have one favorite tree? too hard. very, very beautiful. yeah. it's something you could only really dream about, having yourself a collection like this. i definitely recommend it to other people, too. >> yeah.

>> translator: when people who take the tour get back home they talk about the charms of bonsai. that helps in our effort to promote it abroad. >> reporter: as bonsai gains popularity around the world, exports are steadily increasing. last year this company in saitama shipped 8,000 trees to 11 countries and territories including europe, china and south korea. some of the bonsai sold for more than $20,000. company officials are looking to reach even more markets by offering plants suited to various climates. olive trees are native to the mediterranean. this one stands just 40 centimeters tall, but its trunk is thick and stout. this tropical plant is called buganbilia.

the company hopes to sell it in the growing markets of southeast asia and africa. >> translator: i want to start exporting to those markets. we're planning to cultivate more trees of foreign origin for that purpose. >> reporter: creating bonsai requires much time and patience. in the same way, increasing the number of bonsai fans around the world will be a long-term effort. >> that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets.

people in japan have seen more and more drones take to the air and land in some surprising places. now, japanese politicians are moving to ban the unmanned aircraft over key facilities. members of a panel created by the governing liberal democratic party have drawn up a draft bill. party leaders acted after a small drone was found last month on the roof of the prime minister's office. the proposed legislation would ban drones over the prime minister's office the diet building the supreme court, the imperial palace and embassies. people who fly drones over restricted facilities without permission will face prison terms of up to one year or a maximum fine of about $4,200. anyone who ignores orders to keep a drone at least 300 meters away from designated facilities will face similar penalties. ldp leaders will try to garner support from other parties for the draft legislation. they hope to have lawmakers pass

the bill during the current diet session. officials in the japanese capital have already introduced some restrictions because of safety concerns. the government of tokyo no longer allows drones inside city parks and gardens. >> translator: if something goes wrong with a drone, someone could get hurt or buildings could be damaged. so some regulation is necessary. >> translator: drones are an amazing invention. but it won't be much fun if there's no place to fly them. >> the ordinance took effect last month. people who violate the rules face a fine of up to about $400. people living in liberia are struggling to rebuild their lives after their country was declared ebola free. the disease claimed more than 4,700 victims in the west

african nation and tore apart families. now many of the survivors face a long journey trying to pick up the pieces. nhk world reports from the capital, monrovia. >> reporter: the official declaration that the ebola outbreak was over made by the world health organization brought joy to the people of liberia. the number of deaths by the deadly virus was by far the most of any nation. liberian president ellen johnson thanked the world for helping put an end to the epidemic. but even though the country is now ebola free the impact can still be felt in every corner of society. this was one of the treatment centers for ebola patients. at one point, there were a few hundred patients receiving treatment here.

now the government has closed it. officials will keep the center for now. they say they will use it if another outbreak occurs. but many who survived infection with ebola are now suffering from aftereffects of the disease. this man in his 40s says his left eye has gone blind. >> i lost my left eye. and my right is going dimmer every day. i mean, i really don't know what life will be if i go totally blind. my knee, my ankle, all over my body, i'm still experiencing severe pain. >> reporter: medical experts call it post-ebola syndrome. the cause of the symptom is unknown. >> several survivors are reporting difficulty with their vision, with their eyes. many survivors are reporting deafness or difficulty with their ears.

many are reporting general body weakness or body pains. this is something that we need to document very well. >> reporter: in the outskirts of monrovia lies a cemetery. those who died from ebola infection are buried here. 25-year-old chloe lost her parents. she was infected, too, but recovered. >> my parents, she would cry every night when we'd go to bed. >> reporter: kollie survived, but the stigma remained. neighbors told her to leave the community. many people still fear the virus. >> because they can spray. now we know you get it we may

get it again from you. nobody want to get it again. >> reporter: the outbreak left thousand ss of orphans. these sisters lost both of their parents. they now only have each other to play with. >> translator: we were infected by the ebola virus. before that our friends would play with us but no one plays with us anymore. >> reporter: none of the relatives took the sisters. so a friend of their mother offered to live with them. she says that now she feels shamed from her neighbors. the outbreak may be over, but for many who suffered the disease, the scars of the virus left will take a long time to

heal. nhk, monrovia. we here in tokyo are bracing for the possible landfall of an approaching typhoon or what was a typhoon late tuesday night, early wednesday morning. but presently things are fairly calm. however, over in the u.s. plains things have been far from tranquil as jonathan oh tells us in this hour's weather update. >> hello. we have been tracking these storms one after another moving through the central portions of the united states. and we talked about the tornadoes and the heavy rainfall we had. many tornadoes reported throughout the weekend and even into monday, we saw the aftermath of these storms. i want to take you over into the dakotas first and just give you an idea what it looked like on the ground level coming out on monday. we had up to 25 tornadoes being reported in the plains on sunday. and you can see here the damage because of this. residents trying to get back to their homes came back to just piles of debris instead of their

houses. and tornadoes also causing problems over into texas and arkansas where buildings were flattened and power lines were downed. and officials are reporting at least four people died and injured 50 others from these storms. and i think we're going to probably see a little bit of a break, at least for the big, powerful storms taking place as we go throughout the day because we have high pressure moving in. and whenever that takes place, we start to see some of the more fair-weather conditions. now, down toward the south into texas, we do have the tail end of the cold front that's going to bring a lot of moisture in. flooding threat remains for houston into the bayou of louisiana. along with the remnants of ana, we're going to see rainfall falling into northeastern portions of the united states and also canada and then a big cooling trend will come in behind this cold front. i also want to point out we do have a low moving into the pacific northwest, bringing rain for areas like seattle into vancouver. down toward california though we're staying dry. and we really do need the rain

in the area. 21 for the high coming up on tuesday. again, rain into houston, extending into atlanta. notice the highs up to around 30 degrees for new york and washington, d.c. but then see the transition coming up by wednesday. we'll see the cold air wrapping around that cold front moving through the area. temperatures dropping as far down as the teens in boston as we go into wednesday and thursday. now let's take a look at the forecast for east asia. we are still keeping an eye on the tropics in the western pacific. one is severe tropical storm dolphin. another one is nuor which used to be a typhoon. nevertheless still packing a punch as it moved through the southern islands of japan here. look at some of these wind gusts. up to 211 kilometers per hour in some areas. and in three hours in kabira 143 millimeters of flooding rains that took place. we are now seeing the storm moving to the north and east at 75 kilometers per hour. so it's really picking up speed. and this system is going to be

moving right over japan, especially during the overnight hours into the morning hours of wednesday. and so it's going to be very windy and very wet. we are still concerned about land landslides, flooding, gusts and tornadoes as well. so be prepared for the very active weather during the overnight period. a quick look at dolphin showing us that the system will be moving toward the west. right now stationary but wind speeds gusting to 144 expected to become a typhoon later on this week. and look at all of this rain. close to 180 millimeters of rainfall possible during the next few days. very warm temperatures behind nour. look at this 30 degrees in tokyo for wednesday. 24 in seoul. down toward the south into china, we're also looking at 30 degrees. the warm weather is expected to last as we go through the next few days. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

stay tuned for "newsroom tokyo" live at the top of the hour. i'm james tengan. bye for now.

and in nepal as a new earthquake rocks the country and the number looks set to rise. it registered a few points below the major tremor a few weeks ago that left 8000 dead. the u.n. says thousands of migrants stranded at sea without food or water could die unless governments move now to help. françois hollande calls for an end to the u.s. embargo on cuba. the french president meets with fidel and rival