a cornerstone of security. >> -- new joint vision to guide our alliance. >> the u.s. and japan agree on a new approach to defense in the asia-pacific region. welcome to "nhk world newsline." u.s. president barack obama and japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda are trying to build on progress between nations on the countries they lead. obama welcomed noda to the white house for the first time in three years. they came out with new tactics for defense, ones that many believe are aimed at countering the strength of china. >> translator: we recognize china as a major partner in the

region and in our exchange of views, both of us, in fact, confirmed that viewpoint. china's development is an opportunity for the international community and for japan and for the asia-pacific. >> we have developed a very important, strategic and economic dialogue with china. we think what they've accomplished in terms of lifting millions of people out of poverty is good for its own sake and it's also potentially good for the world and for the region. >> japan's self defense forces and the u.s. military will jointly use training centers on the pacific island of guam and personnel from both countries will cooperate in reconnaissance activities across the region. obama outlined a new defense strategy in january, placing greater focus on the asia-pacific region. at the same time, he cut the defense budget by nearly half a trillion dollars. so, he has called on japan and other allies to play a greater role.

but some analysts are skeptical of whether the agreement will lead to concrete results. the self-defense forces are restricted in their use of weapons and scope of activities they are able to perform. president obama scolded chinese officials about their human rights record, but shied away from a prominent example. chinese activist chen guangcng escaped last week from house arrest. he is now believed to be under u.s. protection in beijing. >> we also believe that that relationship will be that much stronger and china will be that much more prosperous and strong. as you see improvements on human rights issues in that country. >> obama says he is aware of the reports regarding chen, but is not saying anything that would make it harder to resolve the case. chen is blind. he has campaigned against forced abortions under china's one-child policy. activists say he fled his home. in shandong province.

they say he arrived in beijing and tried to get protection at the u.s. embassy. chinese government leaders and chinese media aren't mentioning chen. security analysts say the authorities are concerned the case could inspire pro-democracy movements and they say the chinese hope to avoid a diplomatic row with the u.s. our colleagues reported on chen earlier in the day, but reporters in our beijing bureau say the broadcast was disrupted during that segment. aung san suu kyi and her colleagues are getting ready to take their seats in myanmar's parliament. the opposition leader agreed to end a week long boycott and swear an oath to the constitution. nhk world reports from yangon. >> reporter: aung san suu kyi met the visiting united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon at her home in yangon on tuesday. >> we always believed in

flexibility in the political process because that is the only way in which we can achieve our goal without violence. >> reporter: ban praised her decision to compromise over the wording of an oath and showed his determination to help myanmar to make progress toward democracy. >> united nations will continue to stand by the people in every step and in any way we can. this is my pledge. >> reporter: aung san suu kyi had agreed on monday to swear to protect a constitution drafted under military control. she says she will take a seat in parliament, which she won in april, out of respect for the wishes of the people. the pro democracy leader's party won by a large margin in last month's bielections. but she decided to boycott parliament rather than take an oath to uphold the country's

constitution that stipulates the military's superiority. aung san suu kyi and her party will travel to the capital naypyidaw on wednesday to make their historic debut in the country's assembly. miki ebharara, nhk world, yangon. u.s. president barack obama has reflected on the death of the man who for years was the face of terrorism. it has been one year since the killing of osama bin laden. u.s. forces killed the al qaeda leader a year ago wednesday. they stormed his hideout near pakistan's capital islamabad. >> the american people rightly remember what we as a country accomplished in bringing to justice somebody who killed over 3,000 of our citizens. >> aides to obama warn al qaeda

son the path to destruction and say related groups remain active so the threat has not disappeared. a new skyscraper is raising above the side where the world trade center once stood. it will become the tallest building in new york. the new one world trade center will also be the tallest in the u.s. when it is completed. at 541 meters. workers fixed steel columns on the 101st floor as the tower rose above the empire state building on the skyline. the new building is widely seen as a symbol of the city's recovery from 9/11. the world trade towers were the tallest structure until they were attacked in 2001. >> i think it will be a great memorial to those who lost their lives on that day. >> we're very happy to have our own diamond, our own building back, being the way finding for lower manhattan. >> new york mayor mike bloomberg said the skyscraper will give residents and visitors a new sense of a bright future.

people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster. but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, businesses, entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time, here on "newsline." japanese government officials are running into more criticism over their plan to restart two nuclear reactors. they approved two of the four units at the the ohi plant in central japan. a government official in a neighboring prefecture says they have a lot more explaining to do. kyoshi yamada met with tetsuo yamamoto, a senior representative of the government's nuclear and industrial safety agency. yamamoto explained the government is dedicated to putting new safety standards in place following the accident at fukushima daiichi. that explanation wasn't enough

for yamada. >> translator: your explanations are inconsistent with our demands. >> government officials decided last month that the reactors need to be restarted to provide sufficient power to the region during the summer. the reactors are now offline for regular checkups. may the 1st marks the start of a yearly drive to get japanese business people to shed their business suits for cooler clothing. the so-called cool biz campaign was launched by the japanese government in 2005 as a way to get public servants to reduce their consumption of electricity. it became a nationwide movement last year after the fukushima accident triggered power shortages across the country. nhk world's ikoudo ishibushi reports. >> reporter: in southwestern japan, municipal employees who

are normally seen in formal business attire now enjoy working in aloha shirts. though summer hasn't arrived yet, a festive spirit is already here. >> translator: i want to brave the summer heat in this bright shirt. >> translator: it's very refreshing. >> reporter: in central tokyo, many businessmen go to work without a neck tie. >> reporter: if you look at me, you'll understand why i feel a lot more comfortable. >> reporter: the walls of this office are adorned with posters, calling on people to conserve energy. the lights have been dimmed and air conditioners are set to 28 degrees celsius. conference rooms are equipped with additional fans to cope with higher temperatures. summer may be a few weeks away but competition among retailers

to sell cool biz related goods has been heating up since mid-april. >> translator: last year, our sales rose by 30% to 40%, and we expect a similar trend this year. our customers are already asking about business polo shirts. >> reporter: hitting the shelves this year is a new type of shirt fitted with several reinforced pockets. it was designed in response to a problem businessmen had when they shed their jackets, fewer pockets to hold their phones and other belongings. a super lightweight jacket is also available for more formal occasions. the absence of inner layers and shoulder pads makes it 50% lighter than traditional jackets. another great hit from last year is this cooling spray, meant to be vaporized over one's clothes.

this year, it's back in full array of fragrances. and in some cases, products focus on blending convenience with style. >> translator: this scarf for women is made from a material that keeps the neck cool. >> reporter: in 2011, the market for cool biz goods was valued at close to $3 billion. with authorities predicting more power shortages in the heat of summer, demand is unlikely to cool any time soon. kaouruko ishibushi, nhk world, tokyo. japanese take great pride in their high tech economy. but last year they had to struggle through the rationing of electricity and they're worried about what might happen this summer. they're currently 50 nuclear reactors in japan. over the last year, those that

were still in service went offline for inspections, one after another. the only one still in operation is hokkaido electric's tomari plant, but it, too, will be shut down for regular inspection this coming saturday. japan's nine power companies have released their estimates for supply and demand this summer. they assume temperatures this year would reach the record highs of 2010. the estimates suggest hokkaido, kansai and kyushu electric power companies will face shortages. the situation is especially serious for kansai electric, which is the most dependent on nuclear power. >> translator: a summer as hot as in 2010 will generate a power demand of 30.3 million kilowatts but we will be 16.3% short. >> the analysts predicted corporations and consumers would contribute to efforts to save power, including the cool biz campaign. demand could exceed supply if the summer turns out to be hotter than expected, rutting in

blackouts. utilities imposed planned blackouts last year to prevent such a situation. that forced in factories to curb production and had a significant impact on people's lives. japanese man who lost his family and his home in last year's tsunami has found at least one of his prized possessions, his motorcycle that was swept away from the northeastern japan has washed up on canada's west coast. the canadian man found the motorcycle last month on a beach off the code of of british columbia, 6500 kilometers from japan. the vehicle's license plate helped identify the owner. the 29-year-old of a coastal town in miyagi prefecture. the area was devastated by the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. he lost three family members and his house in the disaster. >> translator: i'm very thankful that it came back.

i would like to thank the man who found my bike in person. but because it is hard to do that, i would like to thank him here and now. >> yoke yaumia added he thought he would never see the bike again. he said he bought the bike about five years ago and used a cargo container as a garage to store it in his yard. cambodia has built a special economic zone with the help of japanese financial assistance. the ceremony was held to mark the completion of the sihanoukville port special economic zone in southern cambodia. the prime minister hun sen spoke before a crowd of about 1,000 people to thank japan for its support. >> translator: we will try to further promote the country's economic development through this special economic zone we have just completed. >> japan provided about $50 million in official development

assistance to help build the zone. companies located in the government managed zone will be exempted from corporate taxes for up to nine years. a japanese paper manufacturer is already due to move in. japanese, european and north american auto parts makers as well as food processing manufacturers have expressed interest in doing business in the zone. young people in nepal often struggle to find jobs at home. now many of them go abroad to work as chefs. but if you imagine they're cooking up traditional nepalese curries, think again. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: in the nepalese capital katmandu, cooking school teaching western cuisine has opened in the past five years.

at this school, 29 aspiring chefs are learning to cook italian, french and other european food. the school opened in 2010 and teaches all its lessons in english. >> these are the glasses we brought from you and make these. >> reporter: rishendra comes from a farming village in central nepal. before enrolling at the school, all he knew at home was nepalese food. when he started at the school, he made many mistakes. >> translator: i knew i had to cut long, thin pieces but ended up with big chunks. in nepalese cooking, we can cut things any way we want.

>> reporter: rishendra paid more than $4,300 for the six-month course. that almost doubles the average annual income for a nepalese family, but he has good reason. this is an agent in kathmandu. there are so many nepalese young people to get a job in foreign countries. with few jobs at home, about 350,000 nepalese go overseas to work every year in places like the middle east, that's 7,000 of the nation's population, mostly unskilled workers but recently jobs requiring skills are on the rise. >> translator: chefs who can cook western cuisine in particular are in high demand. there are more vacancies than job seekers.

>> reporter: rishendra worked hard to save money for school. now he has to work every penny. if he succeeds in going abroad and becoming a chef, his income will be three times more than most unskilled workers. after three months, he's beginning to learn the ropes. but one hurdle remains. cooking beef. 80% of nepalese are hindu. for them, cows are sacred. putting this belief aside is tough for many students. but rishendra is determined to get used to cooking beef when he goes abroad. this challenge is just one step towards realizing his dream.

>> translator: one day i want to open a western style restaurant near my home. my restaurant will offer better food and be cleaner than the ones already in business. >> reporter: young nepalese are pursuing their dreams of becoming world class chefs. if successful they will have more opportunities to choose from the menu of life no matter what challenges land on their plate. miki upreti, nhk world, kathmandu. hungarians have long considered eating delicious cake in a cozy cafe part of their culture but europe's debt crisis is making them think twice about eating their sweets. nhk world's kyota glans reports. >> reporter: hungary's capital

budapest reflects the grandeur of the days when the monarchs reigned. in the 19th century, queen elizabeth was known throughout the world for two things, her beauty and her love of sweets. one legacy is the 1,000 cafes in budapest. but not even this public tradition is safe from europe's debt crisis. due to financial crisis this family has suffered a 20% drop in income so they buy fewer cakes. >> translator: last year, we bought as many cakes as we wanted, whenever we felt like it, but this year we can only afford to eat cake once a month. >> reporter: city cake shops feel the pinch.

ferenc horvath owns four cake shops in budapest. in good times his stores used to sell more than 800 cakes a day but now sales have fallen by 40%. he built some new shops four years ago when business was better. now he can hardly pay the mortgage. which is about $150,000 a year. others in the cake business are also struggling with the effect of the taxes imposed last september. to cut the deficit and promote a healthier lifestyle, the government is taxing some packaged foods with high sugar

or salt content. any shopper who buys one of these products must pay a tax as high as 50% of the sales price. this cake factory used to hire about 100 employees. it tried to avoid the tax by baking cakes with less sugar. but a big client, a major fast food chain, complained that the cakes weren't sweet enough, and canceled the contract. since then, the company has lost 80% of its business. only nine employees remain. >> translator: we made these especially for the fast food chain. losing this client is a real setback. >> reporter: back at horvath's cake shop, he and his daughter esther are developing new

products for sales. they were inspired by japanese sweets. feast both the mouth and the eyes, esther makes cakes from japanese ingredients by citroen, yuzu and sesame and the chefs put extra care into how the cake looks. >>. >> translator: the hungarian cake industry goes back more than 100 years. eating cakes is a hungarian tradition. i want to do all i can to keep the tradition alive. >> reporter: people in hungary's cake businesses are in a jam. they have to alter tradition without losing it. kyota glanz, nhk world, budapest. some were caught in the rain this morning in tokyo, but there were moments of sunshine. for the outlook, robert speta from the weather team. robert? >> it does look like more cloudy skies and rain showers are going to be on tap going into wednesday, though. an area of low pressure is

running across the east china sea here, gaining strength while it is on its way off towards the east. and already here in some of the prefectures along the eastern seaboard of japan, you'll have seen upwards of 140 millimeters of rainfall in the past 24 hours. down here towards the south, up to 72 millimeters of rainfall fell in just one hour earlier this evening. thunderstorms blew through there. now all the energy is starting to work its way off to the northeast, bringing heavy rainfall and the risk of flooding, specifically along the eastern seaboard here in the kanto plain and toward the key prefecture, you'll be seeing your heaviest amounts of rain, up to 120 millimeters here into the next 48 hours could fall. this brings the risk of flooding and also the landslides and some steeper elevations, especially along the eastern seaboard here. this brings a dangerous situation and you do want to slow down on some of the roadways out here if you do plan on traveling. have your windshield wipers on

high. let's pull back the picture here and look elsewhere. in southeastern china, you're seeing some thunderstorm activity down here, especially along the eastern seaboards here. and farther towards the south, a warm and dry there in the indochina peninsula. bangkok, looking at a high of 39. manila, 37 for your high. this will be accompanied by scattered thunderstorms all across the philippine archipelago. farther off to the north in beijing, at 30. ulan batur, warm up to the low 20s for your high on wednesday. now into the americas, here in the northwest, specifically in wyoming, you have been seeing a late season snowstorm here. up to 25 centimeters of snowfall could fall into the next 24 hours as a system continues to push off towards the east. but the central plains, this is where all the rough and severe weather is occurring. actually in oklahoma and texas, you saw several reports of tornadoes, but numerous reports of hail on monday, causing some damage to some cars out here,

but now the hot spot is going to be a little bit farther to the north, out in minnesota, where all the warm air will continue to surge in from the south, clashing with that cold air coming out of canada and bringing the threat of severe weather. talking about winds upwards of 110 kilometer per hour, even hail the size of about five centimeters in diameter. and specifically in minnesota, up to northern minnesota, this is where you're going to be seeing the highest risk of strong tornadoes, especially on tuesday afternoon, going into the evening hours, and that primetime daytime heating. that's where you'll be seeing the highest risk of this severe weather. farther towards the south, though, some rain showers are still occurring out here across the florida peninsula. miami with a high of 25. houston at 29 for your high. chicago at 23. a little cooler into the west with vancouver and seattle at 11 and 12. and los angeles, you're remaining dry with a high of 19 for your tuesday. here is a look at your extended

outlook. we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

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