The Financial Times is one of the worlds leading economic newspaper. Its circulation was 137,000 last year with 70 of that from online subscriptions. Just general surprise and big news. Yeah, pretty surprising. Im hoping that through the new ownership the quality of the reporting from a business perspective is going to improve. Nikkei issued its first paper in 1876. The Japanese Firm seeks to bolster its Global Economic reporting through the acquisition. It also intends to use the ft groups Customer Base to strengthen its digital operations. Nikkeis chairman tsuneo kita said hes excited about pairing up with the Financial Times. He said both firms share economic values. Well the newspaper industry is suffering from shrinking circulation and advertising revenue. Ramin mellegard joins us from the business desk. Whats behind the planned buyout . A lot of focus, a lot of interest on this story, catherine. Both the nikkei and the ft group really trying to capture new sources of revenue. Media companies have been laying off workers while also pushing their paid online subscriptions as part of their survival strategies. Now, the consumers have been abandoning traditional print media in favor of geing their news from the internet leading to a decline in the number of subscribers. Analysts say this trend is prompting the shakeups. Pearson is a british publishing giant with strengths in educational products. It plans to pour more of its management sources into that area after unloading the Financial Times which it has owned since 1957. Pearsons chief executive john fallon said in a statement the company will now be 100 focused on its Global Education strategy. Need ya executives in the u. S. Have been shaking up operations. The chief executive officer of amazon. Com bought the Washington Post in 2013 for 250 million. An american businessman paid 70 million for the boston globe and its related assets. The newspaper had been unldder the new york times. Now lets get a check on t markets. Following three sessions of losses on wall street markets here markets are did i justing a deluge of corporate earnings. Lets go to may u yoshida to see how markets are being affected. Give us a picture for this friday morning. Thanks, ramin. Some american tech firms surprised the markets in the past couple of days with their sluggish results. The markets on wall street eventually closed lower and the effect has sort of spread to markets here in japan this morning. The nikkei and the topix is opening lower. The nikkei is down about 0. 4 at 20605 and the topix is down 0. 3 at the open. The nikkei may end the week rather flat. Growing confidence in earnings in japan is supporting tokyos markets but falling Commodity Prices and lackluster earnings from u. S. Companies are capping the up side. 3m and American Express all weighed on the dow which finished 0. 67 lower and the techheavy nasdaq fell 0. 5 . Analysts say that Global Business is not as good as expected for corporate usa. Its not just about the strong dollar and volatile commodities but also about china. On Sales Outlook for 3m ibm and caterpillar were all weak in chinese. It could affect hitachi construction. And today chinas pmi numbers are coming out in less than two hours. There will be a lot of focus on that as well. Adding to all the uncertainty is definitely commodities. U. S. Crude oil fell to its lowest since march. Many investors have been bullish on japan. Chief strategist yesterday said that stock prices may rise after september and Japanese Firms are getting benefits from the weaker yen. And were also seeing more positives as the economys recovering and wages are growing. Soy welcome see that as we can see in the media merger more Japanese Firms could become more aggressive in Global Business. Mayu speaking of currencies greece approved a second package of reforms. We saw strong economic figures. How is all that playing into currency markets . The dollar fell and the euro rose after the greek approval of reforms. The euro rose above the 1. 10 level. Its now a little bit lower, around 1. 0989. The losses were later reversed after u. S. Weekly jobless claims actually showed stable job growth. The numbers dropped to the lowest in four decades. The focus fwraulle turns to the feds policy meeting last week with rate hikes on the back of strong employment. Thats it for now. Back to you. Thank you very much for that mayu yoshida reporting live from the tokyo stock exchange. Chief negotiators in the Transpacific Partnership free trade negotiation will meet onned from. The gathering from 12 nations in hawaii comes ahead of a ministerial meeting next week. Japanese officials first aim to forge a bilateral deal with the united states. Theyll propose a new quota of about 80,000 tons for the amount of rice it will import from the united states. Japan also intends to ask the u. S. To eliminate tariffs on most japanesemade auto parts immediately after the tpp takes effect. But the two nations are at odds with other countries on several issues including a protection period for Drug Development data. Differences also remain over conditions to ensure fair competition between state and private companies. The Group Continues to have sticking points with canada and new zealand. Some japanese Officials Say striking a broad agreement will not be easy. And thats it for Business News for this hour but ill leave with you a check on the markets. Japanese officials are set in exactly five years to welcome the world at the Tokyo Olympic and paralympic games. But theyre still trying to nail down the final design for the main centerpiece of the event. Theyve been forced to scrap their plans for a new stadium after public outcry about its price tag. And theyre now scrambling to deliver people a facility that will win their approval. More from nhk world. Reporter countdowns a has started for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. With the clock ticking, the organizing committee has been collecting venues and different athletic events. However, there remains a major question mark hanging over the organizing committee, the status of the main venue. The National Stadium has already been demolished so that it can be rebuilt and reborn as the new main stadium for tokyo 2020. However, nobody knows yet exactly where it is going to look like. In 2012 plans for the new stadium were unveiled based on the designs of a londonbased architect. At the time, the budget for the Construction Cost was set at 1 billion. However, estimates puts the projected cost at more than double. As a result, the size of the stadium was scaled down in order to reduce the outlay to 1. 3 billion. But even with this change, the company contracted to build the stadium estimating the final bill would come to over 2. 4 billion due to rising cost of Construction Materials and labor. So officials decided to delay the installation of a retractable roof that took the budget down to 2 billion. It appears that Construction Cost were not properly taken into consideration. Instead, too much focus was placed on the design. It is still not clear whether the responsibility lies with the Sports Ministry the Japan Sports Council or elsewhere. A leading architect who led the tomorrow that chose the design said the issue of cost was not discussed thoroughly. Translator when i heard it would cost over 2 billion, i was stunned. Everyone must have felt the same. Reporter in the face of growing criticism, Prime Minister shinzo abe stepped in. Translator i decided to review the current plans for the new National Stadium which will serve as the site for the 2020 olympic and paralympic games. We will review the plan from scratch. Reporter the concept of holding the olympics has been lost amid the outcry of the Construction Costs. Most of the sporting venues were to be located within an eight kilometer radius from the olympic village, but due to budget constraints, some venues will now be moved outside of tokyo. The government says it will draw up new plans for the main stadium by early autumn, including a maximum ceiling for Construction Costs. It now needs to gain back the support of the japanese people to ensure the games will provide a Lasting Legacy for the future. Reporting for nhk world from tokyo. Foreign affairs and defense officials from japan and the u. S. Are discussing their plan to return some American Military facilities in okinawa. Theyve gathered in tokyo for the working level talks and theyre examining a proposal to speed up some of the work. Government leaders from both nations agreed in 2013 to give back sites south of Kadena Air Base in the southern prefecture. Their plan is to fully return the mac minkiminato area. But officials are now asking Japanese Counterparts to return part of the facility earlier. They say they want to use the section to help ease Traffic Congestion along a neighboring main road. They say the american side gave no clear response to their proposal, but both sides confirmed theyll step up discussions for the plans review. The new guidelines for japan u. S. Defense cooperation say the two nations will form a Permanent Organization to allow information sharing and coordination in peace time and other circumstances. The japanese government will export software used for its aegis equipped destroyers to the united states. The software export will be japans first under eased defense Equipment Transfer rules. Japans National Security council made the decision on thursday at a ministerial meeting attended by Prime Minister shinzo abe and defense minister gen nakatani. The software displays vessels and aircraft and destroyers. They also approved the export of related parts. The maritime selfdefense force is expected to release two new aegis destroyers by march 2021. Last year the government approved new rules to easy its defense Equipment Transfer principles. Prime minister abes marching ahead with plans to change the way japan handles its National Security but a former japanese Prime Minister has criticized abe for ignoring public pb onopinion on a set of security bills. About 2,000 people attended a rally in front of the diet building on thursday to protest against the bills. The draft legislation would allow japan to exercise its right to collective selfdefense. Translator being Prime Minister and having power doesnt mean you can ignore the peoples will and do whatever you want. Such highhanded behavior is unacceptable. We should never tolerate such an act of oppression. Murayama points out that a majority of legal experts say the bills contravene the countrys warrenouncing constitution. He says its unacceptable that abe changed the interpretation of the constitution to turn japan into a country that can wage war. The package of bills passed the lower house last week. Discussions on them will start in the upper house as early as next week. Organizer of fireworks displays across japan are calling on people not to fly drones during summer festivals. Accidents involving small Unmanned Aircraft have been reported nationwide. A drone crashed in a residential neighborhood on wednesday after being blown away while on a test flight over the defense ministrys premises in tokyo. Fireworks displays are held midsummer across the country. Some organizers say drones pose a potential threat to thousands of spectators. Translator flying drones always runs the risk of causing an accident if they fall. So there should be no drones. A major fireworks display along the sumida river in tokyo on saturday is expected to attract about 900,000 spectators. One Small Community near tokyo has shown that city hall new towns can add a maternal touch when look at the local economy. Nhk world explains. Reporter shes on the story. Her subject is a young entrepreneur. Shes got her photos and now its time to book some quotes. Shes a volunteer blog reporter covering her hometown for the town government. Shes known as a mamarazzi. Thats a pap raetsarazzi for mothers. She has a very personal interest in the story. When shes not homemaking shes helping her husband run a car dealership. In fact the lack of child care information in her area was one reason she decided to become a mamarazzi. Between her work and child caring, she snatches time to write up her stories. She gets no money for her reportering. She says shes motivated by peoples reaction. Translator i hope People Living here will like our town more because of the blog. If people from outside town start coming here thats even better. Reporter the city appointed seven mamarazzi last year. Their job is to report on the town from a mothers perspective. Their stories are posted on the mamarazzi blog site. Subjects range from gourmet eating to play facilities to events and community services. And its not just aimed at locals. The city officials hope the articles will interest outsiders and entice them to move here. Translator the information the town Office Releases is not enough. Mamarazzi can cover what we cant reach and their stories are more timely and straight. Thats the advantage of mamaraddi. Reporter the local economy seems to be benefiting. This hotel reports that visitor numbers are up 20 since they appeared on the mamarazzi blog. Its proving especially popular with young families. Translator i came after seeing the mamarazzi blog. We rarely had guests with small children before. But nowadays we have more visitors with kids. I think thats thanks to mamarazzi. Reporter more and more local mothers are interested in become becoming mamarazzis. Eight have been appointed by the town mayor. Impressed by the success stories, the town has decided to boost its pool of volunteer reporters. All recruits are given training. Instructors teach them how to write scripts and use the blog software. They also learn the basics of taking photos. While the women are training babysitters are on hand to look after their kids. The town office covers all expenses. The training ends with an appointment ceremony at the town hall. Translator finally its starting to hit home. Translator i want to send out interesting information about the city to not just all of japan but to the world. Reporter they may not be stalking celebrities, but the citys mamarazzi are just as determined. They want to put their town in the spotlight. Reporting for nhk world. The july grand sumo tournament now under way in nagoya finished its 12th day on thursday. Our play by play sumo announcer joins us with the update. Entering day 12. Yokozuna grand champion mongolian has one title under his belt but yet to win the emperors cup since earning his promotion to the top rank more than a year ago. He sat out the last two tourneys due to a nagging shoulder injury. Hes now back in shape and hoping to come out on top in nagoya. His opponent the new o zuny who suffered a defeat the previous day. Can he pull off a huge upset . Kazoo hoe starts low and starts in an advantageous position. But terunofuji resists. The yokozuna forces the ozeki to the edge. Keeps up the pressure. And puts him away. Hakuho shows pride. The other coleader heading into day 12 was hakuho. After his only loss a few days ago, hakuho has been holding his own. Hakuhos run to his 35th championship was denied in may. So the yokozuna wants this one badly. Hes facing ozeki champion coat owe o kotoshogiku. Hakuho takes him for the best shot. But he wastes no time. Taking on in an under the shoulder takedown. He goes to 111. Here are the current standings after 12 days. The leaderboard stays the same. The two grand champions hakuho and kakuryu share the top spot with just three days to go. Kisenosato and terunofuji are still hanging in each with three losses. And thats our recap on the sumo for today. Well find out who gets the emperors cup this weekend. Ill be back to tell you all about it. So see you then. Looking forward to it. Its time for a check of the weather. People in southern japan are bracing for a typhoon heading their way. Mai shoji joins us with the details. We are still watching the strong typhoon halolo which is steadily coming towards min minimidato island. It is likely to maintain its intensity as a strong fi toontyphoon by sunday. Before it moves over kyushu and the sopeninsula. So the island will see gusts of 198 kilometers per hour. It will be up to eight meters high. Not a day to be venturing out in these waters at all. You can see it disperse into the next 24 hours. But the Korean Peninsula has been seeing about 200 meters of rainfall. So the heavy rain warning is still in place. Were likely to see about 30 millimeters of rain. Because this system is indirectly feeding that moisture towards the north. As for kyushu we dont really want more precipitation but could be surging a lot of that moisture into the weekend. But for now into the next 24 hours this is the area heavy rain across northern japan including tohoku where we have report of about 200 millimeters in and around yamagata prefecture. The bulk of the very heavy rain will also be seen here across Southern China where we have reports of about 250 millimeters just in the past 24 hours, but this has been an ongoing situation, so this is what were looking at. The ongoing rev heavy rain has caused flooding on tuesday and wednesday. Theres a report of nine deaths and injuries. Some areas received over 300 millimeters of rain and over 120,000 people were affected. The rain storm. You can see hundreds of Armed Police Officers were sent for relief operations. It looks like the situation could even get worse because we are going to be seeing this place pounded with more significant amounts of rainfall which could top 100 to 200 millimeters in some areas. Well be looking at this area with drenching rainfall of 200 to even 300 millimeters because of the western monsoonal flow being very active and pulling into the coast of the indo china peninsula. Thunderstorms across bangkok. Chongqing reaching 35 degrees, 35 for saturday and sunday here in tokyo. So heat stroke will be at high risk. Here across europe the great level of instability still continues across the balkans and northern italy as well as southern germany. We have this very active cold front. As for your friday were actually looking at a high risk of severe thunderstorms across the barcelona area here in the Iberian Peninsula including tornadic activities and precipitation. There could be downbursts that could affect these areas. And a wide range of thunderstorms to be felt across the central areas including a lot of those big cities. Paris looking at rainfall at 26 degrees. A cooldown in london. But still were looking at a lot of this heat that is persisting across the central areas. Now quick look here in the americas. Were still looking at these low pressure systems and that stationary boundary in the carolinas. So do watch out if youre in those vicinities. Ill leave you for the extended forecast. Thats all for this edition of newsline. Im katherine kobe ashy in tokyo. Isit the Tantaquidgeon Indian Museum in uncasville, connecticut. We learn the history of the north American Indian center of boston. And we celebrate the life of the late charlie hill. chanting hi, how are you . Hi, how are you . Hi, how are you . Hi, how are you . [laughter] we also learn something new about Indian Country and hear from our elders on this native report. Narrator production of native report is made possible by grants from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the blandin foundation. [music playing]
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