shady deals. u.n. experts say many countries are still trading with north korea, violating u.n. resolutions. welcome to nhk world "newsline." the united nations security council is trying to get all its member states to enforce the rules when it comes to north korea. a new report says goods that are subject to a trade embargo are managing to make their way into the reclusive nation. the security council met behind closed doors to review the work of a panel of experts. they monitored the implementation of u.n. sanctions. sources say their report reveals

some countries are exporting materials that could be converted for use in missiles. and some are sending out luxury items, too. european nations and japan are included in the list of those breaking u.n. sanctions. the report suggests much of the trade is passing through the chinese port of dalian. delegates of western nations are asking the u.n. to release the findings as soon as possible. they want member countries to strengthen their checks on exports to north korea. japan's ambassador to the united nations wants member states to do a better job at following the rules. >> translator: all u.n. members are bound by u.n. resolutions. everyone is obliged to abide by and implement them. >> tsuneo nishida announced a meeting late this month to help developing nations comply with the trade embargo against north korea. north korea officials are facing finger pointing on another issue. they are accused of jamming

navigation systems and disrupting civilian lights in south korea. they deny the allegations. south korean authorities say experts in the north have jammed gps signals between late april and mid-may. they say the actions disrupted flights at the airports of incheon and gimpo. as well as ships in the yellow sea. a spokesperson at north korea's telecommunications ministry issued a denial calling the allegations an attempt to fabricate charges against the north. the telecommunications ministry cited the sinking of a south korean vessel in march 2010 as another example of fabrication. an international investigation blamed the north korean military for the incident which killed more than 40 crew members. a crowded bus plunged into a river in central vietnam killing at least 34 people and leavings donees injured. the bus was traveling from dak lak province to the country's commercial hub ho chi minh city

when it crashed through a bridge railing and fell about 18 meters. police say the accident occurred as the driver tried to overtake a motorbike. they say the bus was crowded with students and people traveling to ho chi minh city to look for work. overnight bus travel is one of the main forms of transportation in vietnam. authorities have been urged to take steps to make buses safer. the head of a chinese trading firm has been sentenced to life in prison in connection with one of the country's largest ever smuggling operat n operations. the state run xinhua ministry says the court handed down the sentence to lai changxing. he smuggled cars, tobacco and other goods worth more than $4 billion in the 1990s. he was also found guilty of paying 64 government officials more than $6 million in bribes. lai fled to canada in 1999. he was repatriated last year,

only after china promised not to torture him or put him to death. lai's smuggling business took place when one of china's top leaders jia qinglin served as communist party secretary in fujian province. lai is known to be close to the former president zemin. media in hong kong speculated that jia's wife may have also been involved in the smuggling. may 12th marked the fourth anniversary of a powerful quake that struck sichuan province. the government spent more than $270 billion on rebuilding the area. but the efforts do little to help bereaved families recover from their pain. nhk world's yuko okatani reports.

>> reporter: four years after the earthquake, the government sponsored memorial services across the province. yingxu was close to the epicenter. powerful jolt flattened all the houses. half of the town's population died. i visited a junior high school that used to stand in the town center. the remains of several students are still buried under the wreckage. officials are preserving what is left of the building as a quake memorial. they say with the parents' consent. china's government is quickly restoring the destroyed areas. because the region has become widely known as the one closest to the epicenter, authorities are making it a tourist spot. the government has spent about $270 million on restoration

projects such as building apartment blocks. souvenir shops occupy first floor. a four-star hotel now stands near the school debris. the government is encouraging local residents to open inns. >> translator: i want to run a high end hotel. in just fuhr years, we have undergone 30 years' worth of development. >> reporter: now, people can reach urban areas on the new expressway. it is said that income of each resident increased around $750. that's up 1.5 times from the level before the earthquake. >> translator: the recovery after the disaster gives us a good opportunity. with further investment and our own human resources, our town has grown.

>> reporter: but not all residents are satisfied with the government's restoration efforts. in a neighboring town, many parents gathered at the cemetery. they prayed for the souls of their children killed when their school building collapsed. the parents cleaned up the graves and made food offerings. when we tried to interview you the parents, security officials tried to stop us. they seized the permits of a driver, took our camera and ordered us to delete the footage. the earthquake toppled many school buildings in the area. experts say they were poorly built. as for the government's response, few bereaved families are satisfied with it. when parents try to make the

issue public, police harassed or detained them. t despite this, we managed to interview a parent. she said when police learned about the interview, they will threaten her. >> translator: i just want officials to explain clearly whether it was shoddy construction or the earthquake itself that caused my child's death. the town is being developed through the sacrifice of our children. but i can never forget my child's death. >> reporter: each time parents ask for the truth about what caused their children to die, the government doesn't give a straight answer. and it cracks down on defiant parents. for their own safety, they have no choice but to keep silent. the chinese government allows no one to criticize it to keep society stable.

in quake-hit areas, that policy is clear to everyone. nhk world. 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." u.s. lawmakers are calling on government leaders to do something about the debris from last year's tsunami in japan that is floating across the pacific. tons of wreckage from the disaster are believed to be nearing the western coast of north america. >> the tsunami unleashed debris on an unprecedented scale, some 5 million tons were swept out to sea. while most quickly sank, noaa estimates 1.5 million tons of tsunami generated debris is

still afloat and being driven by winds and currents toward the west coast of north america. >> begich said large quantities of fishing nets and plastic items are already washing ashore in the states of alaska and washington. lawmakers expressed frustration at the federal government's failure to lay out a plan to retrieve and dispose of the wreckage, cited complaints of residents of coastal communities. the lawmakers demanded the government provide information before debris washes ashore. japan's government is also discussing what it can do to help clean up the debris. deputy chief cabinet secretary tsuyoshi saito told top ministry officials the issue will take on an greater urgency as more debris starts to reach the north american coast. saito told them to forget about conventional ideas and come up with feasible measures after consulting with u.s. officials. millions of households and businesses in japan are getting

ready for a hot summer. and that means they are getting ready to cut back on their power consumption. no nuclear reactors are running right now, more than a year after the fukushima daiichi accident changed safety standards. that hasn't happened in 42 years and that's why government leaders are asking people to save energy. cabinet members set voluntary power-saving targets for areas served by seven utilities. they based their standards on electricity demand in 2010 when japan's summer was unusually hot. people living in the cities of osaka and kyoto are expecting to face the most serious short fall. kansai electric power serves the region. it relies heavily on nuclear energy. customers will be asked to reduce their usage by 15% or more. customers further south in kyushu will be asked to reduce their usage by at least 10%. utilities in neighboring areas will be urged to save 5% or more

so energy can be diverted to kansai and kyushu. shikoku and hokkaido electric power companies will have reduction targets of at least 7%. cabinet ministers will review the standards of two reactors at kansai's ohi plant go back online. municipalities surrounding the facility are debating a government proposal to restart the units. a liquefied natural gas project led by japanese companies has begun in australia. australia's prime minister and japanese government officials attended a ceremony to mark the start of the project on friday. japanese resources developer inpex has been leading preparatory work on the $33 billion project off the australian coast. >> we have worked together with a spirit of optimism. we came out of the global financial crisis strong. and it's investments like this one that are going to get us to the next stage. >> production of 8.4 million

tons of lng a year is scheduled to begin in late 2016. about 70% of it will be shipped to users in japan through tokyo power electric company and osaka gas. the lng is expected to cover about 10% of demand in japan. it will help the country to secure a stable source of energy after the fukushima nuclear power plant accident in march last year. a joint pronl for research and development on next generation smart grid electricity networks. it is a power network that uses a combination of storage batteries and high technology to control supply and demand. >> one, two, three. >> the smart grid plan was unveiled by officials from japan's new energy and industrial technology development organization or nedo on thursday. a commercial building with a solar panel and in-house gas turbine was built to generate power. the smart grid will monitor the electricity used to determine

low cost energy. the power generated can also be sold to utilities. >> translator: following the march 2011 disaster, efficient use of energy is becoming more important. i'd like japan and the u.s. to bring their technologies together. i hope that we can eventually export the system as well. >> the smart grid project will be conducted for a year and a half. government analysts in japan have raised their overall assessment of the country's bottom line for first time in nine months. they say they the economy is on the way to recovery. the government released its monthly report friday. analysts say personal consumption is rising at a moderate pace. that's largely because of robust auto sales driven by subsidies

for fuel efficient vehicles. they also say exports are showing signs of picking up along with employment. but the analysts are warning about the impact of the ongoing european debt crisis. and with all of japan's nuclear reactors off line as we mentioned earlier, they're also wary about the possibility of power shortages this summer. department store sales in japan rose for the second straight month in april, that's due in part to strong sales of clothing. the japan department stores association says sales at 249 stores across the country totaled nearly $6 billion last month. that's up 1.3% from a year earlier. association officials say warmer weather pushed up sales of spring clothes, shirts and other light casual wear related to government's cool biz summer fashion campaign to save on electricity. also helped boost sales. sales of high end products like luxury watches and jewelry grew for six months in a row.

officials also note that purchases by foreign tourists recovered to the levels before the march disaster last year. looking ahead, however, they say the end strength and slumping stock prices make the consumer spending outlook uncertain. japanese internet retailer has bought a stake in a u.s. social networking service pinterest. rakuten is gearing up for its next stage of expansion in japan for social net working services. rakuten summit investment funds spent about $100 million to buy an interest in the image sharing site. pinterest allows users to collect their favorite photos and video clips from the internet, put them on their own panlz and share them with others. it is now the third most popular networking site in the u.s. after facebook and twitter. rakuten also plans to jointly create an online shopping platform for pinterest users. the move will boost sales for rakuten's internet mall.

facebook is going to make its debut on wall street. the social networking giant is set to raise a total of $18.4 billion. that makes its initial public offering the biggest buy an information technology firm. facebook has fixed its ipo price at $38 a share. the stock will start trading on the nhk on friday. the size of the ipo is nearly ten times that of google which went public in 2004 and raise 1d$.9 billion. the price values facebook at $104 billion. that's about the same as amazon.com. here's latest market figures.

the economy of indonesia has been developing rapidly in recent years. and its middle class expanding higher incomes are giving parents the means to provide their children with opportunities they never had. nhk world reports. >> reporter: children play instruments as their parents watch with pride.

these children are performing at the concert in jakarta didn't only make the melodies, they also composed the music. ♪ [ applause ] demand for music lessons is increasing every year. japanese musical instrument firm yamaha has more than 35,000 students at its music schools in indonesia. classes for young children cost over $40 a month. but that hasn't deterred parents from enrolling their kids. >> translator: we want to stimulate his creativity through music. >> translator: music can be her hobby or even her source of income in the future if she's

good at it. >> reporter: increasing numbers of indonesian families are more than $3,000 a year. that officially makes them middle class, able to enjoy the benefits of more disposable income. >> translator: the number of students is increasing by around 15 to 20% a year. the middle class is very important for us and will grow even more in the future. >> reporter: the education boom isn't limited to the capital. kumon is a school from japan where children receive education after school. it has 570 classrooms and more than 110,000 students across indonesia. that number almost tripled in just five years.

this classroom is located in the suburb of jakarta in central japan. the fee of $30 a month isn't cheap. but parents say it is a price worth paying. >> translator: we just hope that our children won't be like us. we want them to be smart. >> translator: it would have been impossible to open a classroom near three or four years ago because the area wasn't so rich then. indonesian parents strongly think that if they can provide a good education for their children, their future will be wealthier. >> reporter: shifa has been studying at the school for 2 1/2 years. she's in the third grade of elementary school. but the material she's studying is third grade junior high.

kumon encourages students to study at their own pace. like shifa, many advance beyond their school grade. >> translator: sometimes it is difficult to answer questions for junior high students, but i'm enjoying the self-learning style. i prefer it. >> reporter: shifa keeps studying, even after she gets home. her mother says these days she can afford to spend more on her daughter's education. >> translator: i'm proud of my daughter. i never imagined she could achieve so much. >> reporter: parents' hopes for their children are rising in indonesia. and businesses are running that there are opportunities to be found all across the archipelago. nhk world, jakarta.

a windy day here in tokyo and some unsteady weather in other parts of japan. for the weekend forecast for here and elsewhere, here is robert speta. robert? well this evening, you have been seeing some thunderstorms actually across much of northeastern honshu. but now good news this is starting to taper off, especially through overnight hours and high pressure is ridging in behind this. this big blue h here, this is suppressing any wet weather over the weekend, just looks like partly cloudy skies for most of japan. down towards the south, that stationary front here is still bringing heavy rainfall. this is bringing the risk of actually some flooding and landslides into taiwan and also over towards southeastern china where you have been seeing a copious amount of rain. any more is not welcomed here this is one of the wettest places on earth at this time and it looks like even a little bit of additional rainfall and in the guangdong province, up to 50 to 100 mill meeters in next 24 hours this is upping the risk of flash floods. going through sunday it looks like low pressure area will be

developing out of this and push off towards east, bringing heavy rainfall there towards the southern japanese islands. down towards the south, the philippines and indochina, widespread scattered thunderstorms are being reported out here as the southwest monsoon continues to kick in. there into portions of thailand, you've seen over 130 millimeters in just the past 24 hours. some showers continue to move overhead. temperatures look like this, 33 in manila, hong kong, 28, beijing, high 20s. 27 to 24 in seoul and tokyo. let's look into europe. much of central europe, you're going to be seeing high pressure dominate here. it is bringing the risk of some fire weather. towards the west, fire burning in spain currently. i want to show you video coming out of there as some firefighters continue to be backed by about 13 helicopters, battling a wind fueled wildfire that ravaged 5,000 acres of land in the region. fire broke out on tuesday in northeastern catalonia region and forced about 52 people to be

evacuated from their homes. and fortunately, as you can see here, rough terrain is dominating a region. this is exasperating the situation and making it that much harder to fight the fire. let's pull back the picture because of some good news on tap here. this low pressure area moving in from the north, this is bringing some rain showers and expecting to see a wet weekend down here in northern spain. also extending out towards france, unstable weather will be persisting, bringing the risk of thunderstorms as well as gusty winds accompanying it. but some sunshine in central europe. we just mentioned that. and also unstable weather is persisting there in towards the southeastern portions of the balkans. temperatures look like this, though. warsaw, 20. moscow at 24 accompanied by sunny skies. london and paris, you're seeing it cool down as that low is moving to the south with only a high of 18 and 20. now, let's talk about what we're all excited about on monday, the solar eclipse. unfortunately cloudy skies in taipei and hong kong do look

like they're going to be on tap here. you might see some breaks in the clouds, sun peeking through there. but unfortunately it looks like overcast skies at this time in the early morning hours. farther to the east, osaka and tokyo, much better, some sunny skies, looks like they're going to be developing here in the early morning hours. 7:30 is looking like it is going to be the optimum viewing time in tokyo. make sure that you do use protection when you look at the sun. don't look directly at it, that would not be very safe at all. let's look across the pond because over towards the western portions of the americas, into the evening hours, that's when you'll be seeing it here. reno, at 18:30, accompanied by sunny skies. and towards arizona, where you've been seeing widespread wildfires, the smoke is not blocking out your sun here, you'll have clear skies as well here for your solar eclipse. now 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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