Suspicion of human trafficking. They say theyre part of a smuggling ring from africa. The group is suspected of smuggling more than 5,000 people since last year. The iom says tackling trafficking rings is a pressing task. The difficulty in the past is we have only caught those small smugglers who are running the boats but not the big fish who are behind the operation, and we need a breakthrough in that and to do that we need to organize ourselves to go after these gangs. Eu ministers agreed at an emergency meeting to step up measures against smugglers. The eu summit on thursday is also expected to discuss the issue. A court in egypt sentenced the countrys ousted president to 20 years in prison. Mohamed morsi was found guilty of ordering the killings of antigovernment demonstrators. International human Rights Groups are expected to criticize the decision. Morsi and 14 other defendants stood in a steel cage at the cairo criminal court. The men are members of the Muslim Brotherhood group. Morsi is accused of instructing Security Forces to kill opposition protesters in 2012 when he was in office. The Muslim Brotherhood strongly opposed the verdict. The group issued a statement saying the military is exploiting the judiciary as a weapon in the battle against the popular will. Morsi was the countrys first freely elected president in 2012, but he was deposed in a de facto military coup in july 2013. Chinese president xi jinping ended a twoday official visit to pakistan with a speech in the countrys parliament. He expressed hope that pakistan will play a constructive role in advancing peace in neighboring afghanistan. The president said china and pakistan will fight together to eliminate the threat of terrorism. Observers say he was apparently referring to separatists in chinas zin january uighur autonomous region which borders pakistan. China has close ties with pakistan include Economic Cooperation. Observers say chinese officials are also interested in developing resources in afghanistan. Indonesian president joko widodo has called for deeper Economic Cooperation between asia and africa to eliminate poverty. The appeal comes ahead of the asianafrican summit which starts in indonesias capital jakarta on wednesday. Joko spoke at the asianafrican business summit on tuesday. He told Business Leaders that asia and africa have both posted Economic Growth of around 5 in recent years. But he called for deeper ties as indonesia prepares to mark the 60th anniversary of the landmark bandung conference. Translator 75 of the World Population still suffers from poverty and conflict. I believe this forum is a place to realize and strengthen the spirit of bandung to cooperation and investments that ensures mutual benefits. Leaders of newly independent asian and african countries gathered in the indonesian city of bandung in 1955 to oppose colonialism. And promote cooperation between the developing regions. Japanese owe fishes have just released some key Economic Data and are seeing something they havent seen in years. Ai uchida joins us from the business desk with news on the trade balance. Ai good morning. What can you tell us . Good morning, catherine. You and i have been talking about trade deficits every single month for just about three years, catherine. Now a lot of that had to do with the need for japan to import energy since Nuclear Power has not been an option following the fukushima accident but oil prices have plunged recently making those imports significantly less expensive and officials have Just Announced a trade surplus for march. It is the first time for the balance to swing into the black since june 2012. The finance Ministry Officials say the preliminary trade balance for last month came in at around 1. 9 billion in the positive. The figure is the first surplus in 33 months. Exports expanded 8. 5 in yen terms from a year ago. Imports shrank 14. 5 . All Nuclear Power plants have been offline following the 2011 fukushima accident. Import costs had been rising due to the need to for liquefied natural gas for thermal power generators, but the Cheaper Oil Prices have helped cut import costs. A white house spokesperson says its important that u. S. President barack obama and japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe confirm progress in their negotiations over the Transpacific Partnership free trade deal. Abe and obama will hold a summit meeting next week in washington. White House Press Secretary josh earnest expressed hope that the two leader also deepen their personal ties through events planned for the japanese leaders visit. One highprofile topic on the agenda will be the status of the Transpacific Partnership negotiations and the hope that by raising standards and leveling the playing field, we can secure an agreement that is clearly in the best interests of the United States the american businesses and American Workers but also in a way that clearly is beneficial to the japanese economy as well. Ministers from japan and the u. S. Wrapped up their latest round of tpp talks on tuesday. They said challenges still remain although gaps between the two sides were narrowed on rice and autos. The operator of all Nippon Airways is joining a Japanese Investment fund in a bid to turn around skymark airlines. Skymark is undergoing court supersized rehabilitation. Sources say a a holdings the fund integral and other companies will kick in 18 billion yen or 150 million to help rescue skymark. Integral has already injected funds. The sources say integral will contribute 50. 1 of the capital and a a holdings up to 19. 9 . Skymark officials hope that increasing coach sharing flights with a a will attract more customers. They also want allknow upon to help with Maintenance System but skymark wants to reduce capital by 100 , making all its outstanding shares worthless. They say integral will name skymarks chairman and a a holdings its president. Skymark hopes to relist its shares within five years, it aims to avoid laying off workers. The companies are expected to make official announcements in a few hours time. Skymark will submit the Rehabilitation Plan to the Tokyo District Court by late may. Now lets check in on markets. Share prices on wall street ended mixed as some major u. S. Companies reported lackluster earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial average that fell by nearly 0. 5 . But the tech heavy nasdaq rose just about 0. 4 to a onemonth high. To see how markets here are trading lets go to Ramin Mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. Ramin, what are you seeing at the open . Very good morning to you, ai. As some of the irngz youearnings you mentioned, dupont verizon, coming in weaker than expected but pretty pass tough start here nerls. Lets look at the opening levels for the nikkei and topix. The trade balance thaw just mentioned is back in black, and the nikkei is back above 20,000. Look at that. So up 0. 6 . The nikkei actually rallied on tuesday as well on the back of a weaker yen, helping to fwoost a lot of exporters. With he had followed panasonic and a lot of the auto sectors and back above 20,000 so that bodes pretty well. The topix also trading above 1,600 for the First Time Since november 2000. Foreign as well as domestic funds placing a lot of buy orders according to analysts as low bond yields force investors to look for higher returns. Concerns about greece always in the Background Holding back a little bit a sentiment and that was pretty evidence with greek stocks as the key index fell over 3 . Also the greek twoyear bond yields spiking to just above 30 and the benchmark tenyear greek bond also the yield is rising and the twoyear actually hitting a twoyear high beg your pardon of 13 . Some investors seem to think theres a real possibility of a greek exit from the eurozone. Also yesterday german bonds had been at record lows talking about the yield there. Meanwhile a key money market rate the euro bore fell into the negative for the first time. European central bank pumping liquidity into the system. Ai . Ramin, concerns over greece looks like its weighing on the euro. What are you seeing this morning . Definitely some of the currency levels. Trading was choppy on the concerns about greece. Yesterday the euro firmed up a little bit against the dollar and the yen. Next guide for the single currency may be the flash Consumer Sentiment due out later today. Ai . And of course currencies will continue to affect corporate earnings so what is expected from here in japan . Well, a lot of the big names, hitachi and mazda among some of the blue chip names expected to report positive earnings. Lifted by the weaker yen, also on hopes for growth in the u. S. Of course its biggest market. Media reports say hitachi is expected to show a 10 gain in operating profit and mazda by the same margin and also as it enjoys a strong sales of its utility sports line of vehicles in the u. S. Well also keep track of asian stocks weve seen the shanghai composite and hong kongs hang seng soaring to new highs. Well see if that can be maintained yet again today if that momentum continues. Thats all from me. Back to you. Sounds good, ramin. Well check in with you in a few hours time. More manufacturers are using electronic data to develop their products and keep them competitive. Nhk worlds tomoyuki minuta explains. Reporter a project is under way at this automaker in hiroshima prek hiroshima prefecture western japan. Workers are collecting data needed for various operations to make engines. Their goal is to boost fuel efficiency. The workers collect at least 300 pieces of data for one of their operations. This tells them all sorts of information including diameters of holes or the thickness and condition of parts. Previously engineers would use their eyes to check conditions inside engine cylinders. Nowadays the job is done by sets of data. The small scratch marks on the surface inside the cylinders can result in air leaks that can reduce an engines combustion efficiency. The workers use a stateoftheart laser scanner to get the data they need opinion they are trying to make the cylinder walls as smooth as possible so that the engine doesnt burn more fuel than necessary. The automaker plans to develop a next generation engine part of the job involves analyzing a vast database. Translator by using data while Manufacturing Products we hope to establish a factory that excels on the world stage. Reporter the company in Niigata Prefecture on the sea of japan coast produces bulbs for use in oil refineries. Skilled workers have long crafted custom order bulbs by hand. That company is a subsidiary of a u. S. National corporation. Last december it introduced a stateoftheart printer that creates threedimensional metal objects. After workers input design plan data, the device can turn out components automatically. They are trying to produce bulbs with a printer. The bulbs are then heat treated, but this operation is tricky because the heat can cause deformities in the metal in the hundreds of a millimeter. Tametsu has 50 types of metals. He says he knows by experience how they react under heat depending on the metals type and shape. The Company Plans to gain a Competitive Edge by combining its worker skills with its database. Translator if question use 3d printers at plants around the world, we can manufacture products closer to the markets where they are sold. That would be a revolution. Reporter these Industrial Companies hope the data they collect analyze and process will take their manufacturing skills to a new higher level. Tomoyuki mineta, nhk world. And that is the latest in business. Heres another check on markets. Members of japans ruling parties have settled on a key issue as they move to expand the role of the countrys selfdefense forces. They have agreed in principle that prior approval would always be needed from the diet before sdf units are sent to provide Logistical Support for foreign troops. Lawmakers with the liberal Democratic Party and its Coalition Partner komeito want to create a permanent law so the sdf can be dispatched quickly to assist foreign troops fighting for global peace. Until now the government has sought special legislation each time its wanted to dispatch sdf units for that purpose. Komeito officials have insisted that under a new law, prior approval would be necessary without exception. They say that would prevent an arbitrary sdf dispatch. But ldp Officials Say exceptions should be allowed to ensure the sdf can be dispatched quickly. On tuesday they agreed not to allow any exceptions, even when the diet is out of session or when the lower house has been dissolved. The officials agreed both the upper and lower houses must aim to vote on whether to approve a dispatch within seven days of the Prime Ministers request. Translator government officials have failed to convince us about which kinds of cases the requirement of prior approval could impair a quick dispatch. We should put more weight on securing democratic control. Translator the government would have to present a basic dispatch plan and seek approval of the diet. That procedure would guarantee democratic control. The ruling partys aim to approve a set of security bills by midmay. Contaminated rainwater leaking into the sea from the crippled Fukushima DaiichiNuclear Plant was stopped after pumps resumed operation. The operator of Tokyo Electric PowerCompany Found the pump generator wasnt working. A worker reported the pump malfunction tuesday, until they discovered in february that contaminated rainwater from the reactor building roof was leaking into the sea. It was spilling through the drainage channel. The pumps were installed as a stop gap measure to reroute the channel away from the sea. Officials say the rainwater spilled into the sea for more than 11 hours, but they say the radioactive levels of the drainage water were low in samples shortly before they discovered the problem. Weve seen images of polar bears drifting on ice or water thundering from melting glaciers. These images have become symbolic of Climate Change. But Scientists Say the problems arent just in the arctic anymore. A violent cyclone devastated the island of vanuatu last month. Researchers say the surface of the sea has gotten warmer and that gave the cyclone its deadly power. World leaders have spent decades discussing how to reduce emissions of the gases warming our planet. They meet every year at the conference on Climate Change hosted by the united nations. Officials from participating countries have started evaluations of possible targets to present in paris at the end of this year. Nhk worlds takafumi terui spoke to japans top negotiator and asked him how tokyo plans to contribute. Reporter japanese leaders were expected to submit a set of targets for reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions by march 31st. But they failed to meet the deadline. Now they say they hope to present a plan in june. Atsuyuki oike heads the governments working group on Climate Change. He says everyone involved knows how urgent the situation is. The warming of the climate system is unequivocal. So theres a shared view in the world that Climate Change has affected the lives and activities of people worldwide. Particular evidence of it may be, for example, the super typhoons, the very strong torrential rains and drought in different places. Those things have affected peoples lives. So the Global Change is indeed Climate Change is indeed there. Trusting no objection, so decided. Reporter japan once played a key role in International Efforts to counter Climate Change. In 1997, it hosted a conference that produced the kyoto protocol. The framework set the Mission Targets for industrialized countries, developing nations were exempted. The United States was the worlds biggest emitter at the time. It refused to ratify it, and the protocol faltered. Leaders in washington said they wouldnt support a treaty that didnt include the developing world. Today china and india combined are responsible for onethird of the worlds Greenhouse Gas emissions. Japanese leaders have come to believe its time to include them and other developing nations into a new framework. Particularly, the major developing countries producing a lot of Greenhouse Gases have to be a part of the obligation system. And the reason why im saying this is that if you look at the statistics of the seven major developing countries are now producing almost same amount of Greenhouse Gases with all developed countries together. So this means without addressing gas Greenhouse Gas emissions from those developing countries, we cannot achieve our goal. The rift between industrialized and developing nations remains the focus of debate. One of the questions is how much the richest country should help the developing world. Oike says japan can get more than just financial aid. He says the country has some of the worlds most advanced environmental technologies. For example, in the area of transfer technology, there are a lot of things going on on the ground like the japanese steel makers working with indian steel makers for the improvement of production facilities. That is the initiative which is going on. Reporter negotiators will meet in paris in december to set up a framework for regulating emissions beyond 2020. Many delegates say striking that agreement is a matter of survival for the planets most vulnerable communities. Takafumi terui, nhk world. Its time for the weather. Weve been looking at winds the equivalent of Tropical Storm strength for example across the sydney area for about 24 hours now. Winds have been gusting in some areas, rain at Sydney Airport up to 96 Kilometers Per Hour. Stronger near the coastal areas, many of the beaches out here have been closed down even had some reports of winds gusting well over 100 Kilometers Per Hour and of course the rainfall as well. Some areas north of sydney upwards of about 374 millimeters has been reported. Lets go to video we have out of this area because this just kind of puts it in perspective of the rain thats been coming down weve been seeing the damaging winds, also the severe flooding. Three people have actually been killed at this time in an area just north of sydney after their homes got washed away. We also have several people that are still stranded. Rescue efforts are continuing across much of this area. Over 200,000 homes are without power. And even just off the coast you may think if youre off the coast youre missing the worst of it, not the case at all. Many people stranded on ships and boats because they cant pull into harbor because sydney harbor is continuing to see the rough seas as well. Now as we go ahead through the rest of the day, conditions might change up and improve a little bit but nonetheless youre still going to be seeing some foul weather and actually look at some of these reports, 119 millimeters reported in a 24hour period there at sydney. Now this was the wettest 24hour period since 2002, over a decade there. Max temperatures also recorded on tuesday was just 15. 4 degrees, one of the coldest high temperatures in the month of april down here, so the 80s and the big thing you have this low lingering here ushering in that cold air out of the polar regions down there towards the south so temperatures are continuing to drop, combined with the high winds, very unpleasant to say the least. Winds could be gusting upwards of 100 Kilometers Per Hour, waves definitely continuing to be rather high. As far as the forecast as i mentioned a gradual improvement. We still have a few cells here on your wednesday morning. By thursday, another low is even going to be pushing through, coming in from the west, so you see some passing showers with that and finally by friday, look at that temperatures at least in sydney warming back up gradually, partly cloudy skies there, but if you are out here, you definitely are still feeling the effects of the weather, i think recovery is going to be some time, and if you have travel plans to new south wales, be ready for those delays or cancellations if youre flying in, still have that severe turbulence. Clear skies dominating the tropics, farther towards the north talk about the heat, it is warm out here, look at that, into the 40s expected over the next three days. You want to try to stay cool with that, just towards the north, though, we are going to get a little bit of a break from the heat, you see the 72hour rainfall outlook, some areas looking at that cloud cover and the rain showers, so thats going to be dropping the precipitation. Unfortunately, it brings the threat of flooding, but good news, temperatures will cool off at least a little bit there for you. Back towards the north, High Pressure is dominating most of japan and over towards northeastern china a few stray showers could push through the korean peninsula. For the most part some pretty decent weather in the forecast out here. I do want to wrap up quick here whats going on in europe. High pressure dominating Central Europe and that is going to be making for some pretty decent weather over the next several days. Still a few showers back towards the iberian peninsula, might want to have an umbrella ready if youre out there into spain. Ill leave you now with your extended outlook. And that wraps up this edition of newsline. Im Catherine Kobayashi in tokyo. Thanks for staying with us. Hello, and welcome to global 3000. Ever heard it said that variety is the spice of life . Well, in reality, its much much more than that. 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