challenging austerity. a socialist becomes the next president of france as the country veers to the left. welcome to nhk world "newsline." french voters gave a clear no on sunday to the austerity measures put in place to tackle the country's debt burdens. they handed victory to francois hollande over nicolas sarkozy in a runoff election.

hollande says he will adopt a different approach. the socialist party leader indicated in a victory speech that he will revise the country's deficit cutting policies. >> translator: the french people have been wounded over the past few years. i will be easing that pain over my five-year term as well as carrying out restructuring. >> sarkozy has cooperated with germany to undertake extensive measures to ease the continent-wide credit crisis. steps have included raising taxes and reducing social security spending, but the economic pain that this has inflicted has led to widespread frustration. unemployment is over 10%. hollande aims to balance the budget by 2017. he says he wants to focus on economic growth, but plans to hire another 60,000 government

workers. some economists say such moves will keep the president-elect from meeting his goal. nicolas sarkozy became the 11th eurozone leader to be swept out of office since the crisis began in 2009. his successor is likely to change the dynamic in any talks over the region's problems. earlier i spoke with our reporter on the background and impact of the election. >> the election was more about referendum on sarkozy than an approval of hollande. the voters are blaming the incumbent president for its failure to rein in the record high unemployment rate. and they are also angry about eu led austerity measures. so those measures have resulted in economic slowdown in france. and voters want to punish sarkozy. >> france has took a leading

role in fixing this problem in the euro zone. what is going to happen now? >> hollande has targeted a balanced budget by 2017, but his program emphasizes equality and fairness. he plans to raise taxes on rich people while raising the minimum wage and hiring more public sector workers. he wants to lower retirement age from 62 to 60, and he wants to renegotiate the european fiscal treaty and add more concrete measures for economic growth. but some economies are unsure whether france can turn around its budget deficit, particularly with a socialist in office. >> what's the market reaction been like? >> tokyo stocks dropped nearly 3%. that's the biggest point loss this year, but investors are looking towards greece and they full uncertain about a coalition government there. now, the biggest concern is whether the alliance between france and germany can survive. sarkozy and german chancellor

angela merkel built a parter in schaap that safeguarded the future of the bloc. hollande is expected to challenge merkel about proposing a change to the fiscal stability pact. >> how are other leaders looking at hollande's proposal? >> this is the latest eurozone gdp figures. the bloc's economy this rank 2% in the final quarter of 2011. the first contraction in two and a half years. also the unemployment rate hit a record high in march. it was 10.9%, the worst since the euro was introduced in 1999. it's a vicious circle, so the people not working did not contribute to tax revenues, and the deficits can only get worse. so some european leaders are reconsidering their stance for -- on fiscal discipline and looking more at growth. the european central bank

president, for example, and the euro zone government to add a growth strategy to the fiscal discipline. and i spoke with the chief economist at the daiichi research institute. he said it will likely take time to reach agreement. >> it could be a turning point for rethinking the austerity and growth, but what the german government think about the growth is more focusing on structure reforms. but what the other countries like france, french government, is thinking is more of like spending more or employing public employees. so there are certainly contradictions that have the

actual contents of the pact. >> hollande wants to make his first foreign visit, trip later this month to germany and he wants to talk with merkel about renegotiating the fiscal treaty. and the leaders from across the eu will meet later at the end of this month, and we can expect more heated debate there and also in the coming months. >> all right. greece's ruling coalition introduced severe austerity measures. and now it has lost its majority in parliament in sunday's general elections. the results announced by the parliament speaker show the ruling coalition parties won 149 seats, two short of a majority. the coalition consists of the new democracy party and its partner pasok. opposition parties made big gains by opposing deficit cutting policies. the radical left coalition known

as syrzia increased seat count by about five times and came in second. nhk world has more on the latest results. >> reporter: the new democracy party suffered a huge setback. it remained the largest parliamentary force. its coalition partner pasok fell to third place due to public backlash against its support for austerity measures. >> translator: it is good that it has ended. i hope a new government will walk in the interests of greece, not for its own benefit. >> reporter: the radical left coalition was the big winner in the election. the party was so popular, that its campaign rallies drew as

many as 65,000 people. >> translator: this election has put a stop to greece's collapse. let's form a leftist government and end the austerity policies. >> reporter: new democracy won the most votes. it wants organizations to start a new coalition. even if the party can form a bloc in parliament, the new government will have to review austerity measures. a fresh election might be held if attempts to form a government don't work. greece saw its government fall last november in the midst of a massive debt crisis. the eu predicted in february that country's economy will contract 4.4% this year. greece's fiscal condition is deteriorating. it is in a vicious circle where belt tightening measures are cooling the economy, leading to

a drop in tax revenues. analysts say if the political situation remains uncertain, current concerns could return. all eyes are on whether greece's political parties can swiftly form a coalition to keep the austerity measures in place. nhk world, athens. vad mire putin has gun his third term as russia's president. he's returning to the post after four years as prime minister. putin took the oath of office in a ceremony at the kremlin on monday following his election victory in march. >> translator: i pledge to guarantee the people's rights in executing the duties of president. >> putin said he would protect russia's national interest and security and the well-being of its citizens. the 59-year-old putin served as

president for two four-year terms from 2000 to 2008. he then became prime minister under his successor dmitry medvedev. the constitution bans the president from serving three terms in a row, but he may now be in office until 2018 because a constitutional amendment has extended the president's term to six years. in the meantime analysts say putin will have to deal with an unprecedented level of criticism that corruption has become rampant during his 12 years as president and prime minister. the air forces of south korea and the united states have begun their largest ever joint drill. the exercise is likely aimed at putting pressure on north korea. the annual drill called max thunder began on monday, west of the korean peninsula and will run through may 18th. south korea and the united states hold drills twice a year to prepare for possible air battles with north korea or attacks on military bases. a south korean defense ministry

spokesperson says the exercise involves more than 60 aircraft including fighter jets, surveillance planes with early warning systems are also involved. south korea says it has deployed cruise missiles that can strike any part of the north, just after north korea's failed attempt to launch a long range missile last month. the north claims it was a rocket carrying a satellite. in the off season, japanese born baseball star yu darvish moved to the major league team the texas rangers. baseball fans in japan and the u.s. have been watching his exploits. but they're not the only ones because darvish's father is from iran. he also has a small but keen following there. nhk world has more. >> reporter: in late march, the west asia baseball cup was held in pakistan. there were four teams in the competition.

pakistan, sri lanka, afghanistan, and iran. iran has long been at odds with the u.s. and there is little interest in baseball, the american national sport. >> translator: i don't know much about baseball. you use a stick, right? >> translator: i've only seen baseball in the movies. >> reporter: iran's national baseball team was formed in 1999. currently there are 24 players in the squad. none play professionally. the team gets little backing from the government and relies on donations for its equipment. conditions are far from ideal. but they're all happy that yu darvish is pitching in the major leagues and is proud of his iranian parentage. 23-year-old is the captain of the iranian national team.

's a huge fan of darvish. he has a white collar job. he trains when he can. he's almost the same age as darvish and first heard about him through the internet. he was introduced to baseball when he was 10 by relatives who are baseball enthusiasts. but he has to learn his pitching skills from books and online. >> translator: i want to be like darvish and throw a fastball like him. my goal is to keep improving so i can pitch in the major leagues too. >> reporter: in the recent west asia baseball cup, abtin was iran's starting pitcher. this is his third appearance in an international tournament. the iranian team has never won an international game. they're hoping to change that

against afghanistan. in the first inning, abtin connects for a hit. and later comes home to score first run. however, the catcher gets injured and has to leave his position. abtin is the only player who can take his place. reluctantly, he puts on the catcher's mitt. he refocuses and carries on leading his players. the iranians batting and base running are too strong for the afghans. they rack up 14 runs. iran has finally won his first international game.

>> translator: i'm so happy that we got our first win. i'm going to continue practicing because i want to win more games. >> reporter: abtin and his teammates are one step closer to their dream of joining yu darvish on the world stage. nhk world, tehran. 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 houses are getting smarter, developers are crafting technology to minimize energy used while maximizing comfort. leading manufacturers are jumping into the market.

major house builders is selling this home. it takes advantage of three types of energy, solar, traditional fuel, and a battery unit to keep everything running. in the event of a power outage, power comes from the battery unit. the wired house keeps track of electricity and gas use reducing utility charges. >> translator: last year was year one for the smart house. this year they will start to take off. >> engineers at honda began tests last month on a vehicle that uses a battery powered in part by solar panels on the car's exterior. the car is the ultimate remote control. the driver can use it to adjust conditions at home. commands are transmitted to a small house through the car's satellite navigation system. this makes it easy to run a bath or turn up the heat before they

even turn into the driveway. the engineers hope to put their smart car on the market within a couple of years. >> translator: we can provide a better quality of life with a car that uses solar energy and an interactive function for smart houses. this will help us to expand sales. >> electronics appliancemaker nec corporation started selling an electricity shortage system in march. it gathers electricity generated by the sun and power taken from the grid during the night when prices are lower. many factories are betting on smart technology as part of the solution to japan's energy supply problems. sri lanka's government is trying to nurture a new generation of skilled workers. they're needed to rebuild a country's economy. sri lanka's 20 year long ethnic conflict ended only three years ago. now the government plans to win lucrative outsourcing and

financial services contracts. and for that it needs lots of accountants. nhk world kazuo shimizu reports. >> reporter: students at this junior high school in colombo are learning how to manage a shop. >> translator: how would you use 100,000 rupees in the capital? a shelf to display products costs 20,000 rupees. you also need money to buy goods. how much would your profits be? let's calculate. >> reporter: accounting is part of the curriculum at all junior high schools in sri lanka. it is part of a national effort to nurture skills that will benefit the economy. >> translator: we can learn practical matters. it is a very good subject. >> reporter: sri lanka is more stable since the civil war ended

three years ago. its economy grew over 8% in each of the last two years. more foreign businesses are setting up shop to offer services like accounting for clients overseas. this india based firm has 400 employees in sri lanka. many of them are certified accountants. >> mainly our main plant is based in the uk. current currently insurance accounting so we are mainly operations aspects of it. >> reporter: the boom is encouraging many sri lankans to get careers in accounting. this location school offers courses to nurture their skills.

sarah enrolled two years ago. in this class, groups of students discuss management strategies for opening a business school in asia. watching at the back are human resources officers from foreign companies. they are hoping to find competent new employees. >> people we can use right now or tag people we can use in the future. >> reporter: she won high marks from the observers.

>> it is a beautiful place and there is a lot of opportunities. i would like to get experience at some place, in big companies that handle international tra r traders. >> reporter: sri lanka is producing a new generation of skillful accountants. they carry the hopes of the nation on their shoulders as sri lanka looks to build a brighter future. kazuo shimizu, nhk world, colombo. here are the latest market figures.

all right. mai shoji updates us with the weather forecast. >> a deadly tornado touched down in kanto region yesterday, killing 14-year-old, destroying 100 homes and downing power lines. now, this unstable condition still remains and crests overhead in japan. however across much of the country tomorrow, sunny and milder weather will be predominant. we will be seeing some isolated thunderstorms to be popping up across the country, but, yes, mainly much calmer weather to be predominant. however, on wednesday, yet again, upper air will be ushering in and that could actually develop some severe thunderstorms. so yet again on wednesday, something to be precautious of. here in china, across much of the central region and in towards shanghai area, a low

pressure with a rain band will be bringing some heavy downpours, especially in hunan and guangxi provinces, 50 to 100 millimeters of rainfall in the next 24 hours is expected. across much of the philippines as well as the indochina peninsula, pop-up thunderstorms will be erupting throughout the next couple of days. in northern thailand, we have a report of 102 millimeters that has fallen and accumulated in this area, and this ongoing showers, sometimes heavy downpours could be creating just triggering some flash flooding situations. talking about flash floods, yesterday in nepal, we had a very bad situation. we have a video coming up from nepal to show you. now this is coming out from a city of pikara. heavy rain and snow melt led to this flash flood in the city. the river overflowed its banks resulting in this intense surge of water as you can see.

this led to 13 deaths. many residents say this is the worst flash flood they have ever seen. with the monsoon season set to start in early june, more rains can be expected in the mountainous areas. if we pull back to show you that the conditions are much more stable in and around nepal, this is pikara where the video came out from. you will be seeing scattered showers which is very unwelcome to the area that has been hit by flash flooding in the next 24 hours. all right, let's move over to the americas. the ohio river valley as well as the great lakes region, this is where we have a low pressure system that will be moving through the area. and some severe activity could be found just along and ahead of this cold front that is going down towards texas. not even tornadoes cannot be ruled out from the question, especially heavy rainfall could be found in and around southwestern texas. large hail, damaging winds, these are all going to be potential on your monday. the system will then be moving

towards new england region, but very slowly and gradually. our own colorado and the colorado mountains and the higher elevations especially we may even see some snow to make appearances. already may, but late season snow could pile up as much as 10 to 20 centimeters, even in the foothills, about 5 centimeters could be possible. and the temperatures are going to be reflected to that. 12 degrees, that's about 10 degrees below average. and the low is just around 4 degrees hence the snow. los angeles at 24 degrees with some sunny spells for you out there. and new york at 21. washington, d.c. at 22 degrees. now here is the extended forecast.

here is a lead story we have been looking at. vladimir putin has begun his third term as russia's president. he's returning to the post after four years as prime minister. putin took the oath of office in a ceremony at the kremlin on monday, following his election victory in march.

>> translator: i pledge to guarantee the people's rights and execute in the duties of president. >> putin said he would protect russia's national interests and security and the well-being of its citizens. the 59-year-old putin served as president for two four-year terms from 2000 to 2008. he then became prime minister under his successor dmitry medvedev. the constitution bans the president from serving three terms in a row, but he may now be in office until 2018 because the constitutional amendment has extended the president's term to six years. meantime, analysts say putin will have to deal with an unprecedented level of criticism that corruption has become rampant during his 12 years as president and prime minister. we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.