welcome to nhk world "newsline." a chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic fight has left the u.s. embassy in beijing. chen guangcheng spent a week in protective custody there after he escaped from house arrest. he's expected to be reunited with his family. a chinese ministry spokesperson says chen left the embassy of his own free will. a lawyer who supports the activist told nhk that embassy officials accompanied chen to a hospital for a check-up. the chen issue is threatening to overshadow high level and strategic economic talks between

china and the u.s. they have been looking forward to the dialogue for a chance to push china on pressuring iran and north korea over their nuclear programs. assistant secretary of state kirk campbell had been in intensive discussions in beijing to strike a deal over chen before the arrival of secretary of state hillary clinton. the issue is making chinese officials furious. a foreign ministry spokesperson said they are extremely unhappy the u.s. embassy took chen into custody. he said americans are interfering in chinese domestic affairs and demanded they apologize. beijing and washington are both refusing to comment on specifics about the case. nhk world in beijing tells us about chen guangcheng. >> reporter: civil rights activist chen guangcheng lost his sight as a child.

he started campaigning before being disabled. he also spoke out against forced abortions under the government. chen was detained by police in 2006 and spent the next four years in prison. his ordeal continued after his release in 2010. the dissident was put under house arrest with his family. sources close to chen say the dramatic escape happened on april 22nd. he's said to have broken out climbing over the wall around his house. the sources say he managed to slip past the guards and arrived in beijing four days later. after the escape, chen posted the video message on the internet. it is a direct appeal to chinese premier jiabao. he demands an investigation into his case. he says his house arrest is illegal, and claims he and his family members have been beaten up.

>> on wednesday, a chinese foreign ministry spokesperson accused the u.s. embassy of being deeply involved in chen's case. observers say that while the chinese government wants to draw a line on the issue, public reaction could force it to make a stand against the u.s. it's still difficult to say whether the issue will have any impact on the high-level talks between the two countries due to begin on thursday. u.s. president barack obama took on the role of commander in chief in a surprise visit to afghanistan. he dropped in on troops at an

air base near kabul. he spoke to them one year after special forces killed osama bin laden. he used the opportunity to outline the future of the u.s. mission. >> today i signed an historic agreement between the united states and afghanistan that defines a new kind of relationship between our countries. a future in which afghans are responsible for the security of their nation. and we build an equal partnership between two sovereign states. >> president obama and hamid karzai signed an agreement that cements the u.s. commitment to afghanistan after combat troops are scheduled to leave in 2014. it's expected to remain in effect until 2024. the deal allows u.s. forces to train afghan soldiers and engage in sweep operations against al qaeda. >> our goal is to destroy al qaeda, and we are on a path to do exactly that. >> this was obama's first visit to afghanistan since december 2010 and the third since he took

office. the taliban have claimed responsibility for an attack in kabul just hours after obama left the country. they killed at least seven people. a taliban spokesperson says they carried out their assault to protest obama's visit. the insurgents struck early in the morning at a fortified compound that houses thousands of foreigners. a suicide bomber drove a car filled with explosives into the complex. gunmen and security forces exchanged fire for about an hour afterward. all the militants were reportedly killed. security experts elsewhere have been wary of attacks around the anniversary of bin laden's death. his comrades promised to avenge his killing. and over the past year, they followed through on their threat. >> reporter: in may 2011, osama bin laden was killed by u.s. special forces at a hideout near the pakistani capital, islamabad. >> after a firefight, they

killed osama bin laden and took custody of his body. justice has been done. >> reporter: the next month, u.s. president barack obama announced an exit strategy in afghanistan. his plan called for the withdrawal of one-third of the 100,000 u.s. soldiers deployed in the country by september 2012. the responsibility for security operations is also to be returned to the afghans in a phased manner by the end of 2014. the death of osama bin laden prompted al qaeda and affiliated groups to carry out retaliatory attacks over a wide area. besides afghanistan and pakistan, their attacks included targets in iraq, yemen, somalia and west africa. in afghanistan, the united states pursued behind-the-scenes negotiations with the taliban until the talks collapsed in march.

in april, taliban insurgents conducted several attacks in the heart of kabul, where many foreign embassies and the parliament building are located. the taliban have vowed to continue to fight. anti-american feelings in afghanistan have been aggravated by several scandals involving u.s. forces. among others, they included troops burning the koran and the killing of dozens of civilians by a u.s. soldier. a large part of the population are calling for the early withdrawal of american troops. >> earlier my colleague shery ahn spoke with koichiro tanaka from the energy institute of japan. >> mr. tanaka, how has the death of osama bin laden affected al qaeda? >> first of all, we haven't seen any sort of a major attack by the al qaeda network so far for

the year, so that means their capability of striking are, well, other countries, are diminished in that sense. but still, they have proven to, say, launch attacks against targets in countries like yemen or somalia, where the local security is very weak and poor. but we shouldn't forget that the largest safe haven for al qaeda, which has always been pakistan, is still there. ayman al zawahiri, the current leader of al qaeda, is believed to be there, and so was osama bin laden for the past nine years until he was killed. >> international forces are expected to hand over security responsibilities to the afghans in 2014. how do you expect the security situation in the country to change in the run-up to that transfer? >> well, i think it's going to be a very difficult moment that we have to, say, embrace. first of all, the lack of, say, respect on both sides, i mean the international forces and the afghan forces on the other side, is going to be a major task and challenge for us. and also, we shouldn't forget

that the, say, lack of morale on, again, both parties, have driven the forces to conduct very, say, deplorable actions, just as we've been seeing on the camera and videos that have led to major demonstrations and made the security situation even more difficult. >> so, what prospects are there for negotiations with the taliban? will talks resume any time soon? >> well, again, i'm not optimistic, but it could restart any moment when the two parties are ready. but i think we have to always keep in mind that, especially when it comes to the taliban, are they really sincere about the talks? could this be just sort of a tactical maneuver that they're taking, since they already know about the international forces will be leaving? most of them are going to leave the country by 2014. so, i'm not quite sure how sincere they would be in actually negotiating with the

international forces, or the americans, or even with the karzai government in kabul. opposition leader aung san suu kyi has made her debut in myanmar's parliament. she and her national league for democracy colleagues attended an oath-taking ceremony after a week-long boycott. aung san suu kyi stepped inside parliament along with 37 nld members. the lawmakers took the oath of office to officially claim the seats they won in last month's bi-election. they had refused to take the oath. they didn't like that it forced them to promise to safeguard the constitution, which outlines the military superiority. aung san suu kyi and other nld members decided monday to change course. she said they weren't giving up,

just yielding to the aspirations of the people. >> we would like our parliament to be in line with genuine democratic values. >> myanmar's parliament will hold its first session in july. the south korean government officials say disruptions to gps navigation systems have affected hundreds of flights in and out of the country. they're investigating the possibility of deliberate jamming by north korea. transport ministry officials say the crews of at least 250 airports have reported problems. they say they've had trouble with their satellite-based global positioning system since saturday. the disruptions have been occurring between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. the problem has not affected flight safety. crews only use gps systems as a backup tool. officials in north korea threatened last week to take what they call special actions against the south. the comments followed their failed attempt to put what they say was a satellite into orbit.

the unemployment rate across the 17-member euro soern hit a record high in march, pushed up by increases in spain and portugal. the statistical office of the euro stats released the data on wednesday. it says the jobless rate stood at 10.9%, up 0.1 percentage point from february. the rate increased for a ninth straight month. it's the worst level since the single currency was introduced in 1999. spain recorded the highest at 24.1%. among people aged 25 or under, about one in two are without a job. the country's economy posted a second straight quarter of contraction, indicating it has entered a recession. the jobless rate in portugal rose to 15.3%, while italy's went up to 9.8%.

nations taking fiscal austerity measures are seeing their labor situations deteriorate. china and south korea are negotiating a trade pact, the latest in a series of rules to relax trade rules in the region. china's communist minister and his south korean counterpart announced their agreement after meeting in beijing. china has been actively working to conclude free trade pacts in asia. an fda linking china and asean nations took place in 2010. a similar deal with china should provide an added boost to south korean firms operating overseas. the asian development has secured a record of contributions to help low-income countries over the next four-year term. the president made the announcement on monday.

this provides loans to low-income nations. kuroda said they have collected $4 billion from member countries for the next four-year face through 2016. the president said the asia-pacific region should be able to maintain its growth momentum but there are concerns over a rising economic gap. >> the benefit of growth have yet to reach several hundred of millions of asians. >> kuroda outlined plans to use the funds to deal with poverty and narrow the economic gap. measures include promoting investments in areas such as education and infrastructure. japanese automakers are taking various approaches to recycling batteries from hybrid and electric vehicles as the market for eco-friendly cars is taking off. honda motor announced last month a process that would extract rare earth metals from batteries in used hybrids. the automaker will do this on a large scale. honda developed the process with

a metals firm. the technology can also be used to recycle other metals from batteries. >> translator: we think they're just like mines in urban areas. recycling rare earth is much better for our environment than actual mining. >> toyota motor is taking a different path. it will extract nickel and other metals from spent batteries for reuse in new batteries. nissan motor and mitsubishi are testing their own methods to reuse used batteries. it's been vital as eco-friendly cars gain popularity. 450,000 hybrid and electric vehicles were sold in japan last year, accounting for 11% of new car sales. here are the latest market figures.

now, a quick look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. occupy wall street protesters are back on the streets of new york after a quiet winter. they're continuing their fight for an end to economic inequality. organizers rekindle the demonstrations in time for may day. about 2,000 people spilled off sidewalks onto fifth avenue. the street is lined with brand-name shops and other symbols of american prosperity. some protesters fought with police. officers arrested at least 30 of them. tuesday's street action was occupy wall street's largest rally since last november. in france, far right

politician lapin has refused to endorse nicholas sarkozy. another blow for the incumbent president. lapin came in third in the first round of the country's presidential election. she told the rally she will not endorse either candidate in the run-off on friday. many of her supporters are expected to follow her lead and cast blank ballots. sarkozy is running behind socialist challenger hollande in the polls. analysts say the president needs the support of lapin's backers to keep his job. more bad news for rupert murdoch. it's said the media tycoon is unfit to run a global business. the parliamentary committee delivered the harsh judgment in its latest report. the lawmakers are investigating illegal phone hacking by staff at the now defunct british tabloid news of the world. the paper was owned by murdoch's news corporation. the panel accused news corp. executives of willful blindness. it said the company's directors, including murdoch, should take responsibility.

these photographs show what life was like in a small town in miyagi prefecture before last year's tsunami. if it weren't for the pictures, former residents would hardly have anything to kindle memories of happier times. so the owner of a local shop decided to publish them in a book for all to see. nhk world has more. >> reporter: former residents are receiving a copy of this book. >> translator: this was before the disaster. now it's all gone. unbelievable. >> reporter: the pictures reawaken memories of their town. sasaki is the man behind the lens.

but the tsunami washed his photo studio away. however, his father saved the hard disks that holds the photos. sasaki and a nonprofit organization published the memories in this book. >> translator: i want people to say, this is what our town looked like, and then we'll make a new town just as wonderful. >> reporter: the photos of cherry trees are on the river bank, and bring special feelings for this woman. she used to live very close to these trees. every year she and her husband went strolling among the cherry blossoms. but she lost to him an illness six months before the disaster.

then during the disaster last march, she lost the cherry trees, too. >> translator: i feel sad and frustrated. i was so confused. >> reporter: this picture brings back happy memories. >> translator: i can't let the disaster depress me. i want to move on, remembering the good things that happened in my life. >> reporter: these pictures before the disaster hold the key to a brighter future. honda and his wife now spend their days in temporary housing. he was a fisherman for 35 years. the sea was his life. but after the tsunami, he hasn't gone near the ocean.

>> translator: when someone mentions the tsunami, tears well up right away. this never used to happen. i can't control my feelings. >> reporter: he rarely sets foot outside his temporary home, until the couple received the photo book. they saw pictures of their favorite spots by the sea. >> translator: i miss this place. we used to walk there every day. what a wonderful gift. >> reporter: then it happened. his wife asked him to go for a walk. their first since the disaster. together, walking, just like they did before the tsunami. >> translator: i feel brighter.

i think i shouldn't go on like this. i really have to pull myself together. >> reporter: the photos have give helped the survivors to leave the trauma behind and begin the next phase of their lives. a little bird has whispered in a police officer's ear, and it's not a joke. a stray parakeet has been reunited with his owner after telling police the address of his home near tokyo. the 2-year-old male parakeet is named pico. he flew into a hotel guarden on sunday, then perched on the shoulder of a guest. they took him to the police station and a few days later the parakeet started saying a street name and a number. they contacted the woman at the address and found the bird's owner, then they took the

parakeet home. >> translator: i was so happy that i jumped for joy when i heard pico was found. i'll never let him go. >> shef taught the bird to say her address and phone number after another parakeet flew away five years ago. it's been raining in tokyo. for the forecast, robert speta fills us in for the details. robert? >> a rainy day out across japan. the low pressure pushes in, and already in the tokai region. you've seen your rain totals go higher throughout the day and now it's a all the way up to nearly 500 millimeters of rainfall in just the past 24 hours. unfortunately as this energy does continue to push off towards the northeast, with it is the threat of yet more rainfall. another 250 millimeters could fall here in the tokkai region and even out to the tako plain you can see the excessive amount

of rain. and an additional 200 meters could be seen here. it brings a threat of floods but also a risk of land slides in these steeper elevations. not only will the rains be the risky scenario, the winds up to 72 kilometers per hour could be seen in these lines close together here. these are winds pushing onshore and accompanying this is going to be high seas, up to 5 to 7 meters in some locations. if you do plan on vent turg out to any of the beaches, it could be rather dangerous. farther toward the west, following this cold front, you are seeing heavy rainfall due to the beginning of your rainy season here. below that, though, in bangkok, very warm there, with a high of 39. farther down towards the south, in kuala lumpur, the atmosphere is really aggravating it down there, because you are seeing heavy rainfall. up to 130 millimeters in just

the past 24 hours. this did bring some localized flooding therento the malaysian peninsula. it does go to show how the afternoon tropical thunderstorms we talk about all the time can even bring some flooding. but into hong kong, you're going to have a high of 30. unfortunately the low will be all the way down into the single digits. now, into the americas. the rough weather in the plains has been the story all week. once this system starts to push off to the east, that's currently affecting the western great lakes, behind it yet another one coming out of the rockies. this is bringing the threat of more severe weather. heavy rainfall, damaging winds, up to 100 kilometers per hour at times. and large hail, greater than golf ball size could occur here. and plus the possibility of tornadoes. some of these could get strong, especially going into your wednesday afternoon and evening hours. now, towards the south, though, you are seeing very warm

temperatures. houston at 30. oklahoma city a little warmer at 31. and into the east, washington, d.c., you're also sharing in this heat with a high of 28. in miami, some rainfall will be falling there, accompanied by temperatures into the high 20s. now, into europe. a messy situation in the west. we continue to watch areas of low pressure push through france, and now this is going to start to work its way off to the southern portions of the uk. it will be a little bit weaker than it is now, but unfortunately it could drop up to 40 millimeters of rainfall. it does bring the risk of flo flooding because this area is already saturated and any more rainfall could be a dangerous situation. london at 10. paris at 17. and rather warm in east warsaw at 26. and kiev at 27. here's 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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