tokyo later to be joined by gene otani from the business desk and meteorologist sayaka mori. first let's take a look at the hour's headlines. officials are warning people to stay away from the crater of a volcano in central japan. they say there was a minor eruption on mt. asama. chinese officials say they're about to wrap up reclamation work on disputed territory in the south china

sea. and the u.n. chief has called for a truce in yemen at peace talks in geneva. says there's no time to lose. officials with the japan meteorological agency have con officialed a minor eruption in the central part of the country. they've been seeing increased seismic activity on mt. asama. authorities are warning people in the area to be on alert. more from nhk world's chow key ishikawa. >> reporter: the prefectures of nagano and gumma. the area is popular with hikers and skiers and has a number of hot spots. officials say they are having a hard time getting a full grasp of the situation as the area around the peak is covered in thick clouds. but they say volcanic smoke has been observed near the crater

and that the small amount of volcanic ash fell about four kilometers from the mountain. a professor at the earthquake research institute says relatively large volcanic tremors were recorded by size mom ters installed tuesday morning. he says the tremors likely accompanied an eruption. nakata says they need to be closely examined before it can be confirmed that an eruption has occurred. the officials recorded nearly 19 tremors on june 7th. four days later, they estimated that about 1,700 tons of sulfur dioxide was released. that's about 20 times more compared to a month earlier. the agency raised the alert level to two on the scale five last week.

in september 2004 volcanic ash from an eruption of mt. asama fell over a large area. another small eruption occurred in may 2009. there has been an increase in volcanic activity in recent months. an eruption left seven people dead and six missing. it was the worst volcanic disaster in 73 years. meaning people are not allowed to approach the volcano. then just two weeks ago, another powerful volcanic eruption occurred on kuchuinuabu. they had to evacuate the island and the level alert is at five. since the end of april, the popular resort area around mt.

hakano has been struck by minor earthquakes. officials warn of a possible minor eruption and has raised the alert level to two. chiaki ishikawa nhk world. >> we'll keep you updated here on "newsline." thanks for that report. they've been locked in a sovereignty dispute with several other parties in the south china sea. officials with the foreign ministry said in a statement that reclamation work on some islands and reefs will be completed soon. they'll then move into building facilities on the spratly islands but they haven't given a timeline. it's the first time government officials have mentioned the end of construction work. beijing and several other parties claim the islands. washington is keeping a close watch while conducting reconnaissance activities. the announcement comes as delegates from both nations will meet next week for the strategic

and economic dialogue. the united nations chief has called for humanitarian truce in yemen and warned the country is like a ticking time bomb. ban ki-moon was trying to bring together -- >> today yemen's very existence hangs in the balance. the parties have a responsibility to end the fighting and begin a real process of peace and reconciliation. >> ban called for a respite in the fighting at least two weeks during ramadan starting on thursday. u.n. officials estimate more than 2,500 people have been killed in yemen since march.

the -- saudi arabia and other neighboring countries are backing the president. they have been staging air strikes against the rebels. ban said he hoped for direct discussions but the divide remains wide. government officials are demanding the houthis are from areas they captured. the situation for people in yemen is becoming increasingly worse as fighting between fighting forces intensifies. officials with aid agencies say there are now 1 million displaced people and nearly 80% of the population needs humanitarian assistance. but help is hard to come by because the humanitarian agency's efforts are being hinders. nhk world's ka bu iz ta knee has more. >> reporter: the fighting in yemen seems to be only getting worse. now part of the daily lives of

the people in the country. u.n. officials estimate more than 2,500 people have been killed since march. on friday air strikes hit the capital. it caused much destruction and killed at least five civilians. this man lost one of his relatives. he says the pilots purposely targeted unarmed civilians while they were sleeping. aid agency officials say since march, hundreds of thousands more people have been displaced within the country. they say about 20 million citizens, about 80% of the population desperately need help. last month international aid agencies brought in basic supplies and medical kits during a five-day cease-fire. but there's still a shortage of food, water, and fuel. agency officials say they are frustrated because they're unable to work to their full

capacity. jeremy hopkins is deputy representative of unicef yemen. he says his staff members can't get to their offices in yemen. but in the southern city of aidan, they're continuing to work from their homes. >> aidan is probably the worst-hit city in the country. we are able to operate there, but we have to be very flexible in our approach. you know we may plan to visit certain parts of the city to help support a clinic on monday. but then fighting breaks out in that district so we switch to another. we are very concerned we're not able to move our supplies much-needed life-saving supplies around aidan to -- especially for health and water and sanitation. >> reporter: hopkins says the fighting has left 249 children dead and 4 hurkss wounded. he says there's currently no

safe haven for children in the country. >> the north, the conflict is largely about the air strikes. in the south, there's street fighting in the cities. and children are being needlessly killed almost every day. if children are wounded in the fighting or in the air strikes, they can't even get to the health clinics for treatment. if they can, it's not functioning because there's no fuel and no medicine. it's really a difficult situation for children right now. >> reporter: hopkins says humanitarian aid is needed more than ever for the traumatized children of yemen. he's calling for the immediate halt of fighting between the parties. he says even if the conflict ended today, the repercussions for children and childrens rights is going to last for many years to. kaho izutani, nhk world. health officials in south korea say three more people have

died from the illness known as mers. that brings the number of deaths in the country to 19. authorities at the health ministry said the latest victims were three men aged 65 58 and 49. they were being treated for infections before they died. officials have also confirmed four new cases. all the patients contracted the disease while they were in hospitals. that brings the total number of cases to 154. authorities are making an effort to keep people up to date about the outbreak. they're reaching out to foreigners who are looking for more information. >> translator: we're expanding our multi-lingual hotline. we'll be launching it in those two languages at 9:00 in the morning on thursday. >> government officials say 5500 people have been quarantined at

home or in facilities. that includes japanese national who is have now returned to japan. none of them have shown any symptoms of the disease. japan's foreign minister fumio kawaii -- kishida. >> translator: we don't know of any being suspected with being infected with mers. kurdish fighters in northern syria have made progress against the fight against islamic state militants. they have retaken the border town cutting off a major supply route for the group. their campaign is being led by u.s. coalition air strikes. a kurdish commander says they have advanced and gained control of 90% of the town. heavy fighting continues in surrounding areas. the coalition has stepped up its

air and ground campaigns in the past week. it is close to rocca which the group claims as its capital. they have used it as a hub of oil and weapons. the fighting has prompted citizens to flee their homes and cross the border. humanitarian groups say as many as 20,000 people are displaced. it's time now to put a business perspective on the day's developments with gene otani who's here with some news about the world's largest automaker. gene? >> and of course we are talking about toyota james. toyota has wrapped up its longest shareholder's meeting on record. they approved the issuing of a new type of stock funding technologies like automatic driving systems. the stake holders green lighted

all other proposals at the gathering lasting three hours. the new class of shares is called model aa to cover funding over the median and long-terms. the stock has a sell restriction of five years and toyota guarantees their issue price. shareholders at the meeting also asked abouthe proposed tie in with mazda. they said they have no plan to invest in mazda but they want to work closely with the company noting that the market is demanding more environmental efforts and better safety measures. checking the markets, many asian stocks extended losses on growing concerns that greece might default. nikkei fell 0.6% closing at 20,257. some investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the u.s. federal reserve policy meetings starting later today. over in china, the shanghai composite took another sharp

fall. it ended below the key 5,000 mark for the first time in nearly two weeks. market players were cautious before the launch of 25 initial public offerings this week. hong kong slid more than 1% hitting its lowest in more than two months. analysts say there was concern about a vote on a beijing-backed electoral plan. protesters have gathered in the streets to oppose it and some have been arrested. in other markets in the asia pacific region seoul fell to a three-month low at one stage. indonesia and the philippines bucked that trend. the philippines closed up by almost .7%. more people from asia are visiting japan, but few venture beyond the popular tourist spots in big cities. local officials are trying to change that in the hope more visitors will explore attractions in the rural regions.

travel agents from 11 countries and territories including china and south korea are gathering at an event near tokyo. an official in northeastern japan is making a pitch for his hometown explaining its famous castle apples, and cherry blossoms. >> translator: the number of foreign visitors to the northeastern region of japan has been sluggish since the 2011 tsunami and earthquake. i came here to promote our beautiful spots so more tourists go there. >> we try to get more options for our repeat customer to japan. for malaysian the first golden route is tokyo, osaka. other than that we look for something else. tohoku, yes, will be my first option. >>he japan national tourism says 80% of tourists are from asia and their number is likely to rise.

the oil industry association in japan says some of its computers have been infected with a virus. about 27,000 personal records including names, addresses, and bank account numbers might have leaked as a result. officials at the petroleum agency of japan says they were told early this month that several computers in their tokyo office have been hacked. they say it got into the machines through e-mails. they say most of the records belong to people who applied for water heater subsidies. they also confirmed there was a leak of documents on request made by the policies. officials in tokyo are planning to ease restrictions inside the area designated by a special economic zone. a panel working on the project has approved a proposal to recruit foreign doctors for some hospitals.

the governor submitted the plan to discuss restrictions in areas as the zone. he sames to create an environment where foreigners can receive medical care without having to worry. currently foreign doctors are allowed to see only patients whose nationalities are same as theirs. but according to the plan the restriction will be scrapped inside the special economic zone. four hospitals in tokyo will be staffed with american and british doctors by year end. travelers in japan are taking advantage of tours that promote physical well being in addition to leisure. one think tank says the so-called health tourism market could be worth $32 million a year. that has travel companies working hard to meet the growing demand. >> reporter: this is a resort in nagasaki prefecture. about 2.8 million people come here every year.

last month the operator debuted a new facility that focuses on health. here visitors can get checkups for about 20 types of conditions. some of the services are free while others can cost thousands of dollars. this machine tracks body movement and can diagnose whether your posture is out of alignment. this device scans the user's skin and determines how much aging its gone through. >> translator: i'm only 31 but it says i have the skin of a 37-year-old. >> reporter: visitors can even get checkups from the on-site doctor. >> translator: some of your capillaries look to be normal. but you have irregular ones as well. this is caused by a lack of

balance in your diet. >> translator: i don't normally give too much thought to my health, so i appreciate this service. >> reporter: food is another focus point. the new facility has a restaurant with its own greenhouse for growing vegetables. >> translator: our society is aging, so demand for this kind of service is on the rise. we want to make our facility the go-to destination for people when they feel unwell. >> reporter: another popular spot for health tourism is in kumumoto prefecture. this hotel organizes walking tours every day. about 30 guests have gathered in the lobby. half of them are from the united states. the leisurely walk covered four kilometers in 40 minutes. the tour offers not only the

chance to exercise but also to learn about local culture. like a 300-year-old stone wall that protects the village from strong winds. >> translator: the wall runs on for about 200 meters. >> reporter: guiding the tour is yuko. she helps run the hotel. 13 years ago she was diagnosed with cancer. she started going for walks as a way of maintaining her health. she's come to believe that providing healthy activities is the best hospitality she can offer to the guests. residents in the neighborhood lend a hand as well. they welcome the tour groups into their homes and provide them with a fresh-made lunch. almost all the produce is grown locally. >> translator: there's no meat in any of this. it's all vegetables.

>> reporter: over the past six years, about 40,000 people have taken part in her walking tours. >> translator: i've been four or five times. i enjoy the walk. it actually gets more fun each time i do it. >> i love walking and running, so it was nice to be outside today. get some fresh air. >> translator: people come here from far away and all the walking is helping me to get healthier along with them. >> reporter: japanese officials are planning a certification program for businesses that offer health tourism. they hope the system will improve services. many people in the travel industry are hoping health tourism is a trend that won't go away. that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets.

here in tokyo, it's cloudy with the current temperature reading of 25 degrees celsius. several tropical systems are approaching mexico and parts of the u.s. which already are saturated from recent downpours. sayaka mori has details. >> we'll be watching a couple of tropical systems near mexico and the united states. we have one heading towards texas and the other one here is a hurricane. it's not a huge system but it

has been moving at a slow pace and is expected to stay near the coast of mexico for the next several days. so the precipitation amount will be huge. some areas will see additional 250 millimeters of rainfall. that is enough to cause mudslides as well as flooding. also schools were closed on monday. now, the next system right here this is tropical storm bill. bill is expected to make landfall in texas by tuesday morning local time. it should weaken after that so winds are not a big problem. more of a concern is heavy rainfall. that's going to provide a tropical moisture for the eastern half of the eastern half of the united states. extremely heavy rain likely for many portions of the united states. the worst will happen over the southern plains in texas and oklahoma. some areas will see nearly 200 millimeters of rain over the next three days or so. and these areas received nearly 500 millimeters of rainfall in may. some areas experienced the

wettest may on record. so heavy rain will likely cause flooding as well as mudslides. now, temperatures are going to be as follows. rain and thick clouds will lower temperatures in the southern plains. in the 20sor oklahoma as well as houston. but very hot conditions for the desert southwest. your high will be 45 degrees and expressive heavy high temperatures can be found over the eastern portions of the united states as well. your highs will be in the mid-30s. so watch out for heatstroke. now let's go to japan. i think the biggest story in japan is severe weather in the northern kanto region that occurred yesterday. i want to take you to isesaki. two people were injured because of the strong conditions. winds battered trees and power poles. authorities are now investigating the cause of the gust. hail and drenching heavy rain

battered the city. the reason for the bad weather was the temperature difference. we had cold air in the upper atmosphere but near the ground the temperature was nearly 30 degrees. we still have the cold air in place, so more severe weather can be found over the eastern portions of japan. now, heavy rain is finally tapering off from shikoku but heavy rain is still happening. still happening into central portions of china. some areas will see an additional 200 millimeters of rain over the next three days. but southern portions of china will see clearing up. will see the high of 32 degrees in hong kong. meanwhile 31 degrees in seoul. tokyo down to 25 degrees with cloudy conditions on wednesday. finally over europe severe weather is once again happening over the southern portions of the continent from the iberian peninsula into eastern europe. we have reports of lightning in southern germany with large hail.

more severe weather on your tuesday for many areas. to the south of the area temperatures are quite high. so 36 degrees for the high in athens on your tuesday. all right. here's the extended forecast.

and that wraps up this hour's "newsline." stay tuned for "newsroom tokyo" at the top of the hour. aside from the latest business news and weather, they'll have a report on ramen. you don't want to miss that. in the meantime, stay with us here on nhk world.

men. you don't want to miss that. in the meantime, stay with us here on nhk world. rmen. you don't want to miss that. in the meantime, stay with us here on nhk world. amen. you don't want to miss that. in the meantime, stay with us here on nhk world. .

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'resident mohamed morsi, is sentenced to death. an egyptian court confirmed capital punishment for the leader for his role in the 2011 mass jailbreak. al qaeda's number two figure is killed in a u.s. airstrike. nasser al-wuhayshi's death is the latest in yemen. and the parties come together to form a united political. this at the european parliament.