Essential measures with the engagement of both nuclear and nonNuclear Weapons treaties. The aim of the proposed treaty will be to oppose Nuclear Weapons on the grounds that they violate international law. School officials in japan are facing tough questions after a mtd climbing Safety Training session ended in tragedy. On monday an avalanche near a ski resort north of tokyo killed seven students and one teacher, injuring dozens more. Reporter one of the described the incident by phone. S mountain climbing Safety Training. It was mandatory for high schools in the prefecture that were planning climbing trips in the spring. An avalanche advisory was in place at the time. It remains in effect. Translator its truly regrettable this sad incident happened. We express our sincere condolences to the students and teachers who were involved in the accident as well as to their families. Reporter the head of the prefectures board of education faced questions about how this happened. He said organizers had originally planned a climbing session on the mountain, but he said teachers canceled it due to the large amount of snow that had fallen and was continuing. He said the participants instead began practicing wading through the deep snow. One of the students says some of them were questioning the wisdom of pushing ahead with the workshop in such bad weather conditions. At the time of the accident, a low pressure system combined with a cold air mass was hardening the snow. The Meteorological Agency suspects an earlier rise in the temperature followed by a drop made the snow surface icy. When the fresh snow fell on it in recent days, it accumulated to the point that it eventually collapsed. Then Ministry Officials say avalanches are common in march. The Education Board official says there will be an investigation into why the trip went ahead despite the risk. Kurando tago, nhk world. The rest of lawmakers University Professors and other activists came on monday, one day after the election of lam as territorys new leader. The nine are charged with creating a public nuisance and other offenses. Investors are unsure about the administrations other promises about boosting businesses, and analysts say this worry led to the dow he wanteding lower for eight sessions in a row. Thats the longest losing streak since august 2011. Thats nearly six years ago. Six years ago nearly. Now, so overnight the dow ended down. 2 . The techheavy nasdaq, though, managing a slight gain up. 2 on the day. Lets see how tokyo is reacting to this. Lets go to the tokyo stock exchange. Tell us what you are seeing over there. As you touched on there in the dow, of course, extending its losing streak, but we can see a bounce, actually, towards this close there. A little bit of positivity there. Some investors still seeming to hold hopes for some of trumps policies maybe such as deregulation to go through, and look at that. For the nikkei and the topix both holding in the positive. Up 0. 87 and the broader topix up 0. 83 for march 28th. Just a quick reminder that the nikkei actually closed between 19,000 for the First Time Since early february on monday. It fell 1. 4 largely on a stronger yen. Because of that exporters were weak, and financials also suffered on the back of dashed hopes of a smooth running for trumps tax as well as spending plan, so a lot of focus those upcoming policies as well. Many investors, of course, rushing to park their money into what they consider safer assets such as the yen and also government bonds. Really perhaps on that, you know, weve seen the dollar weaker against other currencies. Get us an update on Foreign Exchange levels. Exactly. The dollaryen the big focus. One of the key pairs there. 110. 76 to 110. 77. It is ticking higher. The dollar, though, briefly fell to its lowest level since november. Overnight as weve seen now it has bounced a bit. Lets not forget also the greenback has been continuing to lose steam after touching 118 yen level in december. Investors are buying not only the yen, but also government bonds as i said and also gold, and looking at the yields on u. S. Treasury notes, they are staying lower. Its holding below 2. 4 level, it 2. 38 right now. Renewed doubts over the trump rally holding back further moves. Investors also rushing into gold, which had a strongest intraday rally since the end of february. Also we need to keep an eye on crude oil prices. Continued choppy trading there. You are looking at west texas intermediate. 47. Dollar is 84 cents. The investors are playing a tugofwar between concerns about high u. S. Oil inventories and questions on whether opec can agree to extend output cuts. Lets get a quick look at how the kospi and sydney exchanges are trading. Chinas markets open in an hour and a half. Japan, a bit of a focus on toshiba. The share price continues to dominate. Ill have details on that later. Back to you. All right. Sounds good. Speaking of toshiba, the companys restructuring efforts will soon be moving into high gear. The struggling japanese lex trongs maker is looking for buyers for its flash memory business, and wednesday is the deadline. The firm has set that for accepting bids. Executives at sew sheba plan to turn the division into a separate company. They then want to sell a majority of its shares to secure needed funds. Sources say several overseas companies are showing interest in buying the semiconductor business. These include u. S. Precision device maker western digital. South Korean Semiconductor company sk hinex and tsmc, Major Electronics maker precision industry also among them. Japanese industry minister hiroshike seko says they will screen foreign buyers due to National Security concerns. They apparently want to protect critical technology. Show sheba officials hope to get at least 9 billion from the sale, but analysts say it wont be ease why i for one company to offer that amount. Meanwhile, toshibas u. S. Nuclear power unit westinghouse is planning to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That would allow toshiba to separate the subis he citiary from its earnings reports. While the move would hurt toshibas Financial Health for the time being, executives say it would prevent losses from ballooning further. Japans diet has approved the countrys largest ever budget for fiscal 2017. Finance minister aso says looking ahead, the government will turn its focus to balancing its budget. Translator we want to achieve a primary surplus by 2020. We will do this by carrying out further spending reforms and raising the consumption tax. The budget will allow the government to spend an estimated 97 trillion yen. Thats about 880 billion. Officials had hoped to cut rising welfare spending, but tax revenue was not enough. Thats created a 35 budget shortfall that officials plan to cover with a new bond issue. As the gender balance in japanese boardrooms changes, new opportunities are opening up for businesses. Nhk worlds akiko okomoto has the story. Reporter a crowd gathers in a tokyo clothing boutique. They are all ceos or managers. They are here for the launch of a new jacket. The firm that designed the piece ames to sell highend business outfits to women in senior positions. It produced the item especially for these female executives. It costs more than 700 just for the jacket. The stretchy wool is wrinklefree for greater comfort. There are five internal pockets. Theres even a Little Pocket for lipstick. The target audience is impressed. Translator i like how i can put my business cards in the pockets. Translator its really versatile. I can wear it in different business situations. Its a new type of jacket, and i would buy it. Reporter the Clothing Brand sent its designers to talk to the women and find out what they want. Translator many women in their 30s and 40s come to look for business ware for management positions. We have a chance to design more clothes for these women. Reporter its about 11 00 on a thursday night in central tokyo. Now, most people in this business area are thinking about taking a last train home, but some will be checking into this Capsule Hotel instead. These women work nearby and are regular visitors to this hotel. Capsule hotels are made up of small rooms. This one has more than 230. The room may look small, but its actually spacious. I can move around. Inside is a single size bed and a flat screen tv. Each room has a shade for privacy. Translator its clean, and i feel safe here. Its close to my office. Im a frequent user. Translator ive got an early business meeting tomorrow so im staying here beforehand. Reporter traditionally Capsule Hotels were geared towards men who needed a cheap place to crash, but some are trying to change that. Managers here have assigned one floor just for women. The showers have free toiletries like shampoo and body wash. Theres even a lounge with a working space. You need an electronic key to enter the room and facilities for better safety. Its around 30 a night. Thats less than most Business Hotels in tokyo. Translator i want to provide everything for our customers so they dont have to bring anything. Many people are using the lounge for work. I would like to install a fax and photocopier for them in the future. Reporter as japanese women taste greater success in the workplace, the opportunities for businesses will only increase. Akiko okomoto, nhk world, tokyo. Thats the latest in business for this hour. Ill leave you with a check on markets. We take you to hong kong now where police have arrested nine leaders of the massive 2014 prodemocracy protest known as umbrella movement. The arrests of lawmakers, University Professors, and other activists came on monday one day after the election of carrie lamb as the territorys new leader. The nine are charged with creating a public nuisance and other offenses. Before surrendering to police, a former lawmaker told reporters that the arrests are iconic. Translator carrie lam said on she wanted to restore unity, but the latest divides society. Reporter the probeijing leadership in hong kong is expected to face a backlash from prodemocracy activists. Chinas Foreign Ministry has launched a protest with japan over a visit by a senior japanese official to taiwan. Translator the visit by the japanese official is promises to only have nongovernmental and local exchanges. China opposes the move, and we have made official representations to japan. Reporter she said that while japan claims it upholds its promises on taiwan, says its actually being provocative. She says the visit has undermined the improvement of bilateral ties. State minimum for internal affairs and communications visited taiwan over the weekend to take part in a promotional event for tourism. Sources say he was the highest ranking official to visit taiwan since japan severed official diplomatic ties with taipei in 1972. Details remain unclear on negotiations to end a travel ban between malaysia and north korea. The two sides have prevented each others citizens from leaving their respective countries. The ban began after kim jong uns half brother was killed last month. Following the incident some Staff Members of the Malaysian Embassy and their families have not been allowed to leave north korea. Malaysian deputy Prime Minister said the government would provide an update on monday, but that didnt happen. Some local newspapers reported the two countries agreed the body of kim jong nam will be handed over to north korea. One of the sticking points in the negotiations. The reports also said both sides agree that three north koreans under Malaysian Police investigation will be allowed to return to their home country. Two of their names were on a passenger list for a flight from kuala lumpur to beijing on monday, but they didnt board the plane. Japan has provided two training aircraft to the philippines to help the country boost its patrol capability. The aircraft were delivered on monday. Theyre part of a deal reached by the two countries last year to lease five of the planes. Their range is double the Philippines Military aircraft. The country plans to maximize their capability in patrolling surrounding waters. Trirchlts as we face many securityrelated issues, including that of the south china sea, our cooperation with the philippines on Regional Security and stability is now even more significant. One of the issues is increased chinese activity there. Japan hopes it can also boost the philippines capabilities through the lease and training of pilots. The planes are the first to be leased abroad by japan. The leading candidate from south koreas Largest Opposition Party has won his first primary in the leadup to the may president ial election. He is the former leader of the Democratic Party of korea. He beat out his main rival by a large margin, gaining 60 of the votes. Moon ran unsuccessfully in the last president ial election. South koreas president ial race will happen months ahead of schedule due to the impeachment of park. The party should know who will lead it by early next month. The election is scheduled for may 9th. Strong, flexible, and light. Bamboo is a material that can be adapted to almost any use from housing to furnishings. In our next story we look at an innovative bamboo product being wheeled out in western japan. Reporter a new bicycle is hitting the road in japan. What makes it special is the frame. Its made of bamboo. The man behind it is kenske oska. Its based on a similar machine he saw two years ago at a Sustainable Design conference in yamaguchi city. That bicycle was from indonesia. Translator when i first saw that bike, it was an eye opener. It wasnt just the design, but the ideas it gave me about sustainability. Reporter aska lives in a part of yamaguchi called otto. Excited by what he had seen, he immediately gathered a group of locals to build their own bike. He was in charge of construction. They cut the bamboo into slices, then laminated them into blocks. The blocks were then milled into cylinders for the tubes of the frame. However, he hit a problem. Japanese bamboo is thinner than its indonesian counterpart. Compared with the indonesian bike frame, more layers would be needed. This would compromise both strength and durability. Fugikki realized they needed help. The only thing was to take pam boo to indonesia and get ideas there about how to build the frame. Reporter last november he traveled to central java where the bamboo bikes are made. He stayed for months working with the people there. He learned to make his tubes stronger by laminating them in different directions. Not with the grain running the same way. Having fewer joints also made the frame stronger. The resulting bike was robust enough for mountain trails. Some of the other locals called it a revelation to see the bamboo used in this way. Translator i was really moved when i first saw it. It must be great to ride it through town, to enjoy it in nature. Translator today is just the beginning for us. We want to look at meaningful ways of using this bike. Were excited by the new opportunities it could bring. Reporter there are still no plans for commercial production, but having achieved his prototype, he hopes the project attracts visitors to otto where the forests of bamboo suggest so many possibilities. Sumos latest star has proven he deserves being named the sports new grand champion. He is the first wrestler to win his debut tournament in more than 20 years. He says winning the march grand sumo tournament was unforgettable. Kinesosoto had a bout on the final day of the competition. Both wrestlers were tied 1313. Kisenosato had previously injured his left shoulder, but that didnt slow him down. Sumo fans all over japan have been celebrating. Reporter it was fabulous. Everybody in japan was deeply moved. Translator i cried. He did a really good job. The next sumo tournament will be held in may. A powerful cyclone is impacting the queensland coast of australia. Tens of thousands of residents have evacuated. Meteorologist Robert Spetta joins us with the latest. This is continuing to bear down on the queensland coastline. South of boan north of makai, and already we have been looking at fairly destructive winds being reported with this. There have been reports of downed trees. Especially nonnative trees in some of the coastal areas and as well as structures being damaged. You can just take a look at the radar imagery. It really gives you an idea of exactly what were talking about here. There is that center of the circulation. Well defined eye. The destructive winds are in that eye wall. Specifically the right front quadrant just south of the center of circulation. Thats where those winds are coming on shore where the highest storm surge is and, of course, these winds. In fact, at hamilton island, we had a wind gust reported at 222 kilometers per hour, plus some of these areas intense rains. 108 millimeters reported in the last 24 hours in mackay. Inside one of those intense rain bands, reported nearly 200 millimeters in a one hour period. Flooding, flash flooding is going to be a big issue with this, where right now its rated a category four cyclone on the ra australian scale. That is very well possible. Then as this comes on shore, it should quickly weaken out, but the big thing is look at this. It just kind of swings a little bit further towards the south. Being picked up by an upper level trough, and that means its going to be close to the moisture source off the coral sea here, though. Even though it does weaken out, we still have plenty of rainfall coming on shore. Some of these areas widespread locations can see over 200 millimeters, but theres a possible of 400 to 500 millimeters. Flooding, storm surge, and, of course, damaging winds still a Severe Threat with this storm and going to continue to watch this over the coming hours as it does roll over the coastline there. Here across northeastern asia, do want to know, well, across japan we have an upper level trough moving overhead. Tokyo, might be seeing increasing cloudy skies. Pressure is working its way in. We do have moisture flowing in from the south, though. Thats going to bring scattered showers in the southeastern showers. In fact, around the we actually have out of kumomoto. This is ending on a high note. The castle, which was severely damaged in last years earthquake. Officially opened this past weekend. It is a famous spot for the Cherry Blossoms, which just started blooming as well. Some good news there. Kind of all timed out rather nicely, and this is really a symbol of the reconstruction taking place out there, and absolutely beautiful sight. Definitely a good sight to check out over the coming weeks with the Cherry Blossoms taking place as well. All right. On that note, ill leave you now with your extended forecast. And that wraps up this edition of nhk newsline. Im Catherine Kobayashi in tokyo. Thank you so much for joining us. Xnox hello and welcome to focus oneurope. We live in an age whee established democratic valueslike freedom of expression and freedom of the press suddenlyseem to be under threat. In turkey, journalists riskimprisonment to have their voices heard. In istanbul, the germanturkish journalist deniz yudshel wasrecently arrested. He is charged with propaganda insupport of a terrorist organization and incitingviolence. Protests against his detainmenthave been staged all across germany. Of course, it is very important that the german governmentintervenes massively and supports german citizens andensures justice, says this
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