member when tokyo won the bid. diac is under investigation for corruption during a doping scandal during his tenure as the head of the world governing body for track and field. the olympic organizationing committee denied involvement in the alleged payments. it says they believe tokyo was selected because they selected the best bid. japanese officials say they'll look into the allegations. >> translator: we will work with relevant government agencies to find out what really happened and will confirm the facts with the tokyo metropolitan government and the japanese olympic committee. >> tokyo was known for having the most honest process of all the candidate cities, which made me confident. i don't think we were involved in the alleged payments. >> he says both the tokyo government and j.o.c. have denied similar allegations in the past. >>> turning to the rio olympics, health officials are advising athletes and other visitors to protect themselves against mosquito bites. they say an outbreak of the zika virus continu

moe komatanhk worl tokyo. >>> tokyo has come no the spotlight for the financial dealings of its governor, yoichi masuzoe has admitted using political funds for private dining and family trips. a weekly magazine alleges that vacatis with fundss for family earmarked for political activities. an expense report shows that his now defunct political organization spent 34,000 for two meetings at a hotel. the meetings were in january 2013 and january 2014, before he took office as governor. he says the expenses were for meetings in hotel rooms with his aides. >> translator: i used rooms where my family was staying for meetings, which caused a misunderstanding. i am ashamed of that. >> masuzoe said the meetings were to plan strategies for the gubernatorial election and other matters. the expense report includes ten payments to restaurants. masuzoe said five were mistakenly listed as related to his political activities. he said he'll remove those five payments from the report and cover the costs himself. >>> u.s. retail sales in april were higher than expected. they marked the largest gain in more

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. anchor: this week, "global 3000" goes to madagascar, where increasing deforestation is threatening the survival of lemurs. we meet people campaigning for artistic freedom in saudi arabia, one of the most authoritarian countries in the world. but first we go to chernobyl in ukraine, where 30 years since the nuclear disaster there, people are choosing to live in the "dead zone" around the power station. why? on april 26th, 1986, problems arose during a systems test of reactor 4 at chernobyl power station. the shift supervisor attempted an emergency shutdown -- but it went wrong. the result -- a meltdown and the

let's see what's happening here in tokyo. ramin joins us with the latest. lots to take in today especially with japan's gdp. what are you seeing? a lot of data to take in. you mentioned the gdp. it also seems like good news for the economy is bad news for the markets. the fed may be readjusting its time line with regards to raising of interest rates. we saw increase in industrial production, housing data and consumer prices. all of that as we have seen a rebound this oil prices. the nikkei helped in large part by a weaker yen. let's have a look at the crude levels. u.s. crude stockpiles are expected to fall for a second week in a row. >> all right. on the back of strong inflation numbers out of the u.s., where are some of the currency pairs trading this morning? >> we saw a bit of movement in the dollar yen. we're keeping above 109. 109.09. remains to be see which way the fed will tilt with many still betting it will fnot make any moves at june policy meeting. holding in a bit of a tight range against the yen. it was trading when many believe it will become

nhk world, tokyo. >>> people in tokyo are enjoying a sunny, warm friday morning. robert speta will stel us whether this will last through the weekend. >> yes. sunny skies really dominated most of japan today. we have a big area of high pressure, it has moved in. clear conditions out there, temperatures definitely on the rise, feeling summer-like for a lot of you across much of the area. something that is kind of contributing to the warmer temperatures, this area of low pressure back toward theest. out ahead of it we have the southerly winds coming in. that is bringing some precipitation across northeastern china, but this is one other thing i want to know. a tight pressure gradient, and out of mongolia over towards western china, you have the gobbi desert, the winds kicked up and it's bringing yellow sand. i'll show you some video coming out of this area. definitely a significant reduced visibility here in northwestern china on wednesday. traffic actually halted in some areas, as visibility dropped to less than 50 meters. that is just absolutely incredible. the ai

she was born in tokyo. her mother is japanese and her father is from new zealand. >> it is 1:00 p.m. in paris. you are watching "france 24." we will be here for the next at next half hour of news. a state of emergency as demonstrators take to the streets across the country. opposition is demanding the validation of a referendum to ro ousted. bernie sanders valve to soldier on after taking oregon.

i'm james tengan in tokyo. nhk "newsline" " starts off wita quick look at the hour's top stories. >>> suspect arrested. police in okinawa say an american man admits to strangling a japanese woman. >>> sending a message. a white house official says president barack obama will speak about the many lives lost during world war ii when he visits hiroshima next week. >>> a new chapter. taiwan's first female president takes power as beijing ramps up pressure on her to recognize the one-china policy. >>> police in japan's southern okinawa prefecture arrested an american who works on a u.s. military base. theyey say h he admdmitted to sg and strtrangling a japananese w who went missing three weeks ago. kenneth franklin shinzato works on kadena air base. information from the suspect led them to the body of rina shimabukuro lying by the side of the road. the suspect confessed to attacking the woman and abandoning her body. sources close to the investigation say officers found the victim's blood stains in his car. resident

tokyo. even a bit muggy out there. robert speta joins us with the latest. >> actually, in fact, we are going to be looking at temperatures rising through the week. definitely muggy. the humidity is up across most of japan. we have our area of low pressure that has been pushing overhead, bringing that precipitation with it as well throughout the morning hours to the tokyo area. you have been seeing some showers, and actually into iwate there have been record-breaking rains. the past 48 hours, 151 millimeters of precipitation has come down out here. the good news is that this front is not going to be lingering here all that long. through the rest of the morning we're looking at widespread showers, but that should be tapering over, ospecially towards the back toward the east. include should the shime region. and similarly over there towards hiroshima, a big event taking place during the afternoon hours. it does look like sunny skies are expected to be in place. cloudy in the morning, but once t

let's see how tokyo markets are. good morning, ramin. tell us what you're seeing at the open. >> good morning. extending the gains yesterday from japan as well as wall street. both indexes were up 1.25%. we did see the jump in oil prices. also prospects of debt relief in greece. data out of china yesterday. let's have a look at how the nikkei and topix are kicking off. that's largely backed by a weakening yen. japan finance minister repeatedly talked about possible intervention. still, the yen has this year, in fact risen about 14%. that's up from the beginning of may. that's despite bank of japan policy trying to weaken the yen and introduce negative rates. >> absolutely. in fact, the yen is fallen significantly this week just around 1.7%. where are the key levels now? >> we have seen the yen weaken a touch from levels i was speaking about before. look at it now, 109.13-16. adding to the tensions in the currency market, according to analysts they do not expect any intervention ahead of the g7 meetings. with the euro trading it was a lit

i'm kathryn kobayashi in tokyo. japanese prime minister abe met in paris. abe said he hopes the g 7 member countries will come out with strong statements on counterterrorism. the global economy, europe's migrant crisis and other issues. he welcomed abe's suggestion that the international community needs to work together to fight terrorism. the two leaders also agreed to work on strong statements aimed at stabilizing the global economy including the possibility of fiscal stimulus measures. >> translator: the g 3 leaders have the terrorism migrant crisis. milan supported my idea. our meeting was significant. >> translator: the leaders have to agree on the action plan. the prime minister abe will show at the summit. we share views on syria, ukraine and north korea. >> abe is on a tour of european countries aimed at laying the ground work at the g 7 summit he'll chair. it opens on may 26th in the area of central japan. japan says it's maritime self-defense force will lease up to five aircraft for the training of and use by the philippine military. telephone tal

in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline." i'm james tengan. renowned japanese theater director has died at the age of 80. he was awarded the order of culture, japan's highest artistic honor, in 2010. ninagawa broke through with a tokyo production of shakespeare's romeo and juliette in 1974. he took his unique vision abroad. a new york stage version of kafka on the shore received rave reviews last year. into his 70 he was active across the spectrum of drama ranging from classical to modern subjects creating what many dubbed the ninagawa world. >>> nissan plans to take a controlling stake in scandal hit mitsubishi motors. gene otani has the details. >>> nissan and mitsubishi motors have agreed to strengthen their business ties. nissan says it will spend $2.2 billion to buy 34% of mitsubishi, becoming its largest shareholder. the stake is more than the combined holdings of three companies within the mitsubishi group. >> nissan will become the single largest shareholder in mitsubishi motors, and we will extend our existing partnership into new are

for the details we go to giang nguyen at the tokyo stock exchange. >> shares in tokyo got off to a bit of a wobbly start. as the dollar rebounded many investors picked up export-related stocks and the nikkei climbed almost 1% to close at 17234. the five days of gains made for the longest winning streak since last november. index reached a five-week high. for the month of may it posted a 3.4% increase. the dollar has gained more than 4% in one month. fed chair janet yellen suggested that u.s. interest r rates coul be increased in the coming months by helped boost the greenback. the relativelyy w weaker yenen boon for export-heavy shares. toyota and mazda both higher 1.8% and 2.7%. panasonic rose on the shift away from making lcd panels for tvs. shares down 3.6% to hit the highest level in a month. inpex g gained for another day oil prices climbed. many market players are watching for the latest manufacturing index for china due out wednesday and an opec meeting thursday. they will be looking to gauge the global economic outlook. i am giang nguyen at the tokyo stock exchange. >>> moving

the officials will also increase security in tokyo and other major cities. officers have been on alert after deadly terrorist attacks in france and belgium. u.s. government officials have looked over the route that obama will take during his visit to hiroshima next week. they walked around hiroshima peace memorial park and the too many -- atomic bomb dome and stopped by the peace museum and the park's cenotaph. it's the same walk john kerry took last month. the officials also inspected the city's international conference center. white house officials are playing up the support for obama's visit. >> there is a large portion of even world war ii veterans who may have risked their lives fighting japanese soldiers in world war ii, who understand the potential that exists and understand the argument that the president has made. >> earnest said the overwhelming response to the trip has been positive. separately, another u.s. senior official said the visit is meant to honor everyone lost in the bombing including japanese, koreans, other asians and american pows. he

let's see what's happening here in tokyo. for that we'll go to ramin. he's at tokyo stock exchange. tell us what you see here in tokyo. >> thank you very much. very good morning to you. focus on the fed minutes there and a pause in the rise in crude oil prices led to hesitancy. let's have a look at how the nikkei and topix kicked off. both indexes well into the positive. we have seen a rally of close to around 80% since oil prices bottomed. a stronger dollar led to pause in crude prices. that's after we saw supply disruptions. a drop in shale oil production in the u.s. and a lot of questions on whether saudi arabia will raise output. >> we saw that rise after the fed minutes. tell us about the key pairs now. it remains to be seen what the fed may do. it looks like many policymakers were tilting, shall we say, towards the june rate hike if economic data warranted. so far labor market, housing and inflation data been heading in the right direction as far as the fed is concerned. that adds to the argument for a rate hike. i want to highlight bond yields. u.s. treasury yields closest ba

i'm james tengan in tokyo. it's 7:00 p.m. on a wednesday here in japan. >>> final preparations are under way as the start of the g7 summit gets closer. it will begin on thursday. nhk "newsline" is bringing you special coverage all week, and miki is at the studio. where are things at right now? >> reporter: right. the g7 leaders have begun arriving in the ise-shima region for the two-day summit. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is hosting the leaders of the industrialized countries. >> translator: i want the g7 leaders to send a strong and clear message at this summit that we can respond to any situation and that we will contribute to sustainable, robust growth of the global economy. >> reporter: abe will give the leaders an official welcome thursday and guide them on a visit to the centuries old ise shrine. he went there on a private visit wednesday and is expected to hold talks with u.s. president barack obama soon. abe plans to urge measures to effectively prevent climbs by u.s. military personnel. in a recent case police

tokyo will continue to see rain for the next couple of hohours. as i mentionene it's going to be beautiful as we go into tomorrow. it's going to be sunny and warm. the high could be 26 degrees. so quite warm for this time of year, staying quite warm into saturday and according to the japan meteorological agency, it's going to be abnormally warm from saturday into next week. so stay hydrated. we will expeperience a taste of susummer as we g go into next w. across the southern areas, it's the monsosoon season for asia. a deadlyy landslide killed 17 people. born yeah will see tororrential rainfall, p probably up to 100 millimeters for the next three days. more heavy rain pounding sri lanka. some areas have seen over 700 mimillimeters in rainfall. in 24 houours about 200 millimeters has fallen in the northern portion of the island. more heavy rain is anticipated. there's a slow moving low pressure system wii will contueue to cause heavy rainfall across sri lanka and the southern areas of india for the next several days. the heaviest rain will likely f

traffic slowed to a crawl on expressways out of tokyo. railway leaders say many trains leaving the capital on tuesday morning were full. they say most domestic flights were fully booked on tuesday morning. some people were flying to the earthquake hit areas of kyushu to volunteer or help their relatives. >> translator: i have an elderly parent living there alone. so i am going back home to see them. >> authorities say the congestion is likely to be even worse on thursday as people head back home. >>> people in japan have a new option to care for their aging pets. elderly canines can live out their final days at nursing homes. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: these dogs are too weak to walk. cataracts have made this one blind. like some humans, they need constant attention. 11 elder dogs live in a canine nursing home in saga prefecture. the director came up with the idea when his dog died of old age. he wanted elderly dogs to spend their last days in peace after a lifetime of devotion to their masters. >> translator: they motivate me

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. ♪ >> today on "in good shape," what causes a shulder to dislocate? how can you keep your nose clear when you have a cold? and how do modern therapies treat cancer? here's dr. carsten lekutat. dr. lekutat: hello and welcome to "in good shape." admit it, at some point in your life you thought about getting cancer, didn't you? i mean all of us have. and the truth is one out of two patients will contract the disease at some point. that is what i will be talking about with professei

you need your umbrellas from tokyo and hong kong and taipei. it will be a wet day throughout tuesday. >>> wrapping things up with a look at europe. you might notice the low pressure system sitting off the coast of spain. it's a cut off low. the jet stream is not pushing it. as long as it stays cut off it's going to wrap itself over the same area bringing rainfall over the day on monday. look out for the possibility of unstable weather. maybe thunderstorms. we have another area of unstable weather through the bealkins peninsula. here is a look at the extended forecast. >>> and always, for your thoughts and comments log on to our website and click on contact us. úg: >> hello and thank you for joining us us. fouran has been reduced to years for michel platini. in belgium, the trial is underway for members of they killr cell, plotted to police officers. there are also links to

now let's see what's happening here in tokyo. we're going to go to ramin mellegard for that at the tokyo stock exchange. what are you seeing? >> very good morning to you, ai. now we have the possibility of a rate hike in the u.s. that's playing into investors' minds. and after a long rally, as you mentioned, there's been a bit of a pause in the rise in the prices of crude oil and also a bit of a pause in the rise in the dollar as well. let's have a look at reaction here for the nikkei and the topix for friday, may 20th. and as you can see, both indexes in the negative. that's really probably a cause of the slight pause in the rise in the dollar. i'll come to that in a second. caution seems to be the key word ahead of the -- in the last trading day of the week. that's evidenced here as well especially as we've seen that slight halt in the gains in the dollar. dampening sentiment perhaps for importers. we may see some profit-taking in energy and commodity related stocks which did show gains earlier this week. wti on the screen, $48

i'm katcatherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. @ narrator: on this edition of "native report," we meet artist lia yellowbird and learn about her painting techniques and other art forms. more information about veterans voices-- narrator: we visit the studio kbft, a tribal community radio station. and we watch as a multi-agency tabletop exercise about disaster preparedness of a hypothetical train wreck unfolds. we also learn about what we can do to lead healthier lives and hear from our elders on this edition of native report. narrator: production of "native report" is made possible by grants from the shakopee mdewakanton sioux community, the blandin foundation, and the duluth superior area community foundation.

we'll hand over the program to james tengan in tokyo. >> thanks for the reports. "newsline" will keep you up to speed on the latest developments out of ise-shima, so stay with us. g7 leaders will be in ise-shima until friday. once the summit wraps up, u.s. president barack obama will head to hiroshima for a historic visit. he will be the first sitting american president to visit the city where his country dropped the atomic bomb 71 years ago. at least three atomic bomb survivors will accompany obama when he lays flowers at a cenotaph dedicated to the victims. >> translator: i want to tell the president the goal is for a nuclear free world. if i get a chance, i want to say we're supporting him and let's work together toward the future. >> meanwhile, the head of u.s. veterans group told nhk a former prisoner of war will not join the trip. the group had chosen a 94-year-old veteran who was held by the now defunct imperial japanese army. an official at the white house told nhk they were merely considering inviting a former p.o.w. but decided not to. nuclear disarmamen

i'm kathryn cobb kobayashi in tokyo. political showdown, japan's prime minister with a tax hike and oppositions parties with a no confidence motion against his cabinets in response. >>> recovering from trama. a psychiatrist with disaster experience helps children there after the quake. >>> and display, people around the world get a chance to see mars during its closest approach to the earth in a decade. >>> japanese prime minister shinzo abe has confirmed he intends to delay a planned consumption tax hike by another two and a half years, and he vowed to do it without dissolving the lower house for a snap election. abe told his plans to senior members of his liberal democratic party and its coalition partner komeito on monday. the tax is supposed to rise from 8 to 10% in april, but the government will need to pass another bill to approve the delay. he also met with finance minister taro aso, who had until now taken a cautious stance on the idea, and had called for an election to get the approval of voters. but he eventual

tokyo rainy weather with a high of 20 degrees. kyoto 25 degrees with sunny weather and a rain chance for your tuesday. on wednesday, sunny weather should come back, temperatures expected to reach early summer-like levels as we go into the latter part of this weekend -- week. 33 degrees for the high in kyoto on friday. so watchut for heatstroke. and across north america, it's going to be a dangerous day on monday across the southern plains. there's a chance for severe weather across the north of texas, as well as the western half of oklahoma. watch out for tornadoes, thunderstorms, and large hail. the heaviest rain will fall across the coast of texas. we have flash flood warnings still in place. rain could raise the potential of flooding, so watch out for bad weather. if you see flooded roadways, don't try to drive through because the water depth could be much deeper compared to what you think. back behind us, dry and quite warm. there's a chance for fire weather across texas or rather new mexico as well as arizona. so watch out wh

you live from tokyo. i'm james tengan. >>> more than 200 companies and individuals in the so-called "panama papers." the national consortium of international services says the database is the largest ever released of its kind. it published the database only monday. it contains information on offshore companies created in 21 locations around the world through the panamanian law firm. setting up an offshore company isn't illegal on its own and the law firm says it followed the rules. but the "panama papers" have exposed the secret financial dealings by high-profile people and have raised many questions. the data includes the names of entities believed to have been set up or run by around 230 people living in japan as well as japanese companies. about 20 of those companies are thought to have been involved with offshore entities in tax havens. the companies include leading trading firms and i.t. related businesses. the papers have led to some political casualties. iceland's prime minister and spain's industr

>>> you're watching nhk "newsline" i'm ross mihara in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >> betrayal of trust. transport ministry officials are conducting their own fuel efficiency tests after mitsubishi admitted to cheating on results. >>> grim statistics, one quarter of the kumamoto quake victims left emergency shelters to return home, where the second major tremor took their lives. >>> and a cold competition. investing in property and business overseas. mitsubishi sales were down 14% from the previous year. after they falsified fuel economy data for some models. mitsubishi sold about 3600 new vehicles last month. it's down 14.8% compared to the same year. mitsubishi stopped selling two mi minivehicles. the group's minivehicle sales fell 44.9% last month. nissan motor stopped selling two mini vehicle models made by mitsubishi. nissan's new car sales fell 22.2%. many vehicles accounted for 60% of mitsubishi's new car sales in japan and 30% of nissan's. >>> japanese government officials are conducting their o

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us.aññ rita aspinwall: on this edition of "native report," we watch master quilt-maker gwen westerman construct a beautiful star quilt. ernie stevens: we view the dreamlike paintings of rabbett before horses strickland. rita aspinwall: and we meet ramona kitto stately, a talented moccasins maker. we also learn something new about leadership in indian country and hear from our elders on this edition of "native report." announcer: production of "native report" is made possible by grants from the shakopee mdewakanton sioux community, the blandin foundation, and the duluth superior area community foundation.

. >> reporter: with the use in tokyo told nhk they are arranging a possible visit to the site. in japan, assembly members in the city include major rallies for next month. residents have long complained about crimes committed by personnel. in 1995, three u.s. servicemen gang raped a school girl sparking massive protests there. this lead to an agreement between the two governments to return the u.s. base to japan. more than 70% of u.s. military facilities in the country are in japan. >>> nhk has learned that chinese authorities have indicted a japanese man on unknown charges. he is one of four japanese arrested in china on suspicion of spying. sources says the man in his early 50s was indicted recently. officials have not specified the charges. he was taken into custody in may last year near a military facility. he was sustained suspected of violating legislation. they detained three others separately. one was held near the border with north korea and beijing and the other in shanghai. chinese authorities have been cracking down on cases of espionage since the introduction of an

well people in tokyo are starting wednesday under gray skies. it's a wet one out there, or tuesday rather. it's a wet one out there. robert speta joins us with the latest on world weather. >> actually, this morning we're looking at wide spread showers across much of central japan including tokyo back towards there and the heaviest stuff into kochkochi prefecture. just this conveyer belt of moisture moving across much of central japan extending back towards the southern japanese islands where i want to note the official start of the rainy season began here on monday in later than averageut he be eng t precipitatn y innd out for the several next weeks to come as that rainy season basically lingers. now back towards the north, we are going to get a break from the precipitation across mainland and this low is going to be tracking off there towards the east. bringing sunnier skies and more scattered pripitation here throughout the rest of tuesday but by the time wednesday comes around, high pressure works in from the west. sun snony skies so with a h

nhk world, tokyo. >> that's the latest in business for this hour. we're seeing a negative start to a lot of asian markets this thursday. i'll leave you with a check on the markets. >>> the government issued the instruction for the self-defense forces in march. the sdf deployed destroyers and missile intercepters. the government cancelled the order on the grounds that north korea is less likely to carry out further military threats now that the congress has ended. >>> officials from the south western city gave media crews their most detailed look so far at the wreckage. all 13 structures classed as important cultural assets have suffered major damage. stone walls in more than 50 locations have collapsed. this turret is believed to have been built in the 17th century. a gatehouse was completely destroyed. this is how the structure appeared before the quake. city official says the entire structure has fallen. a supporting wall for another turret has almost collapsed. only a single column remains. >> translator: it is just teetering. >> other walls and

mostly dry across japan but gloomy weather across tokyo. that should be moving away as we go in to tomorrow and temperatures are going to be 26 degrees on tuesday. meanwhile seoul will see a high of 30 degrees on both wednesday as well as thursday. so watch out for heatstroke. all right here's the extended forecast. >>> people in thailand are mourning the death of an animal that symbolized their country's friendship with japan. hanako the elephant arrived in japan 67 years ago and died thursday in a tokyo zoo. about 40 people attended a ceremony for hanako at an elephant sanctuary. officials at the sanctuary said hanako inspired many japanese people to visit thailand. >> translator: hanako served as a bridge between janan and thailand >> the thai govevernnt gave hanako to japan in 1949, and she quickly became a star. many japanese people saw her as a symbol of peace after the turmoil of war. hanako was 69, japan's oldest elephant. >>> more updates at the top of ú genie: you are watching "france 24." time for 60 minutes live around the wor

i'm kathryn kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. announcer: euromaxx highlights, and here is your host. >> greetings from the german capital, and welcome to our highlights edition, shaping up for us this time with the following topics. man and machine, a french artist and his talented drawing robots. designer and dreamer, a catalan designer and his search for new materials. and mountains and sea, a visit to the magical mediterranean city of barcelona. sometimes it does feel like things used to be much simpler. as an artist, you poured your feelings or your particular perspective, your emotional state into you work. yo

>> yes. >> this is miki from tokyo studio. thanks for joining us. i was wondering. your grandfather was a member of the crew that dropped the bomb on both cities. hiroshima and nagasaki. >> yes. >> but now you have made many, many friends among survivors in japan. what was it like to share this moment with them? >> i'm so happy they could live to see the day. that's -- a lot of what i have heard expressed was that they were just happy that they would be alive to see this and a lot of them never thought that they would see the u.s. president come to hiroshima. they survived the bomb. they witnessed what happened hiroshima and nagasaki so it was so incredible that they could actually live to see that day. >> back in hiroshima, i would like to ask one final question to both of you. i'll start with you, yuichi. what message do you want to send to the world? >> what i want to say is that many people in hiroshima are thinking about peace based on their experience. so i really want all of the people in the world to reflect on what peace is and what peace can be based on th

>>> coming to you live from our studios in tokyo this is nhk "newsline." i'm james tengan. we start off with a quick look at the hour's top stories. >>> letter to the white house. american activists and scholars have written to the u.s. president with a request ahead of his visit to the atomic bombed japanese city of hiroshima. >>> fan turned stalker. a japanese pop idol is in critical condition following an attack by a man with a knife leaving fans in shock and wondering how this could have happened. >>> a change in diet. people in emerging countries are eating more meat and bread, causing a new challenge for food suppliers. >>> and exploring the world through design. as japan prepares for the 2020 olympics and paralympics, textile artists are giving a traditional garment international flare. >>> u.s. president barack obama is getting ready to face a chapter of america's wartime history. he'll visit hiroshima in western japan this week becoming the first sitting american president to travel to the atomic bombed city. activists and scholars in the u.s. are urging obama to m