picking their president. egyptians get a chance to choose their leader for the first time in decades. welcome to nhk world "newsline." egyptians gave up so much to be able to do something so simple, mark an "x" on the ballot. the presidential election they fought for and died for is now under way. they are choosing a leader to replace hosni mubarak. demonstrations forced him to step down last year after 30 years in power. the two-day vote started wednesday, it pitted islamists against supporters of the

mubarak regime. >> translator: i'm feeling a sense of freedom to be able to choose the best leader for my country. >> translator: i hope things will stabilize in this country. we also want democracy and security. >> frontrunners include mohamed morsi. of the muslim brotherhood, a fundamentalist group. abdelmonen abol fotoh abdel ises this is also in the race. he's a moderate islamist who left the brotherhood. other strong contenders are ahmed shafik and amre moussa. he's a former foreign minister and arab league secretary-general. egyptians voted in parliamentary elections between last november and january. islamic parties won the largest shares of votes. the result of the presidential election should be known within a week. none of the candidates is likely to win a majority. the first and second-place finishers will face each other

next month in a runoff vote. representatives of six world powers have started new talks with iranian officials. they're trying to come to some sort of agreement over the country's controversial nuclear program. the discussions started wednesday in baghdad. this is the group's second meeting since negotiations resumed in mid-april after a 15-month break. the world powers consist of the united states, russia, china, britain, france, and germany. their representatives are expected to push iran to agree that scientists should stop producing highly enriched uranium. experts say the material could be used for nuclear weapons. the negotiators will also likely demand the iranian government shut down some of its underground nuclear facilities. in exchange, representatives of iran will push for the u.s. and the eu to lift their economic sanctions targeting their country's oil exports. governments around the world are watching to see if the two sides can find common ground and forge an agreement.

executives at mazda and fiat are trying to steer their companies in a similar direction. they're linking up the japanese and italian automakers to give them a fresh, competitive edge. mazda spokespersons announced wednesday the company will form an alliance with fiat which is affiliated with u.s. automaker chrysler. their plan calls for mazda to supply its sports car sold as the roadster in japan to fiat. fiat would market the model under its sports brand alpha romeo. and they may consider working together on echo friendly technology that could include improvements to fuel efficient engines developed by mazda. managers at mazda are looking to expand sales overseas. a tie-up with fiat would pave the way. mazda is seeking new alliances to stay afloat as its ties with ford are getting weaker. the u.s. automaker was once mazda's largest shareholder. fiat for its part would benefit by using mazda's technology to introduce mini vehicles.

the company sold 3.9 million units in 2011, making it the world's second largest automaker. it sells smaller cars under the fiat name and it also has luxury brands such as alpha romeo, ferrari and maserati. the libyan government has launched a protest in the south china sea. the latest developments in this long-running dispute. >> the vessels from the philippines and china have been engaged in a standoff for more than six weeks. the philippines has now launched a protest to the chinese embassy in manila, alleging chinese fishing boats continue to operate near the disputed scar borough shore. >> the idea is to defuse the tension, and not to escalate the

circumstance in the area. and we think that this is going against their statements that they want to de-escalate the situation. >> more than ten chinese fishing boats were still operating near the shore. china said last week it was banning its vessels from fishing in the area. the spokesman added that the patrol of sailing ships increased to five at one point on monday. the standoff began in mid-april when ships blocked a frigate. the philippines banned its own restrictions in the area. ongoing activity by chinese boats could reignite anger among people in the philippines.

turning to south asia now, a group of countries including pakistan has signed a deal to build a gas pipeline from turkmenistan, the long-delayed project could help ease pakistan's chronic energy shortages. it's also attracts attention from the united states as a possible way of adding pressure on iran. we have a report from islamabad. >> reporter: this involves construction of an 1,800-long kilometer pipeline to supply natural gas from turkmenistan to afghanistan, pakistan, and india. turkmenistan has some of the world's largest reserves of natural gas. u.s. firms initially drew up similar plans in the 1990s. asian development bank joined in 2002 with a feasibility study. but the project among the deteriorating situation in afghanistan.

they met in turkmenistan on wednesday and agreed to quickly proceed with the plan. the agreement is due to last for 30 years, and cause higher prices for the gas. the agreement is likely to attract the attention of the united states. pakistan is building another pipeline to receive gas from iran. the u.s. is trying to isolate iran because of concerns about its nuclear program. a pipeline from turkmenistan could become a way to bring pressure to iran. security concerns on the project remain because the situation in afghanistan is still unstable. pakistan is suffering from serious power shortages and securing new sources of energy is a national priority. the government needs to seriously consider all its

options. nhk world, islamabad. and in sri lanka, three years have passed since the end of the bloody civil war but the legacy of conflict remains. areas of the country are still littered with land mines and now some of the many women who lost loved ones during that war are joining the effort to make their country safe again. nhk world reports. >> reporter: northern sri lanka, where the scene of fierce fighting during the 20-year civil war. early one morning, a group of women gathered here in protective suits. they are members of a local ngo called assistance for social harmony, the organization worked to remove land mines. more than 1 million land mines

are believed to remain in sri lanka. >> translator: these are the land mines that we found in the past month. >> reporter: of the 200 mine clearers, 40 are women. most of them lost husbands or fathers during the war. the ngo started hiring women two years ago. it's a way to help them gain financial independence. >> translator: i look for other jobs, but couldn't find any, so i came here. >> translator: i'm glad i can contribute to rebuilding the country. >> reporter: this woman is 31. she lost her husband in the war.

she joined the mine-clearing group. despite the sweltering 37-degree heat, she has to wear a protective suit. >> translator: it's hot and hard, but i can't lose concentration, even for a second. >> reporter: suba says her parents and friends disapprove. they say this work is too dangerous. but she carries on for the fate of her three sons. at home, suba's youngest son age 7 waits patiently for her to come home. >> translator: i feel relieved when i see my son's face. >> reporter: suba makes $200 a

month from the ngo, about the average monthly wage. she used to find it hard to feed her family. but these days she manages to make ends meet. during the confusion of the civil war, suba was denied an education. she wants her sons to get the chance she never had. >> translator: i've given my children trouble, so now i want them to study hard and live good lives. i want to keep working hard to make that possible. >> reporter: the legacy of conflict lingers in sri lanka. these women are also victims of war, but they work to clear a path to a better future for the next generation. nhk world. >> and that will conclude our

bulletin from bangkok. north korean authorities are signaling they're not preparing for a nuclear weapons test. western leaders have been warning of the possibility for weeks, but korean state media suggests otherwise. north korean space officials conducted what they call a satellite launch last month. the attempt failed, but many nations said it was a missile test. as a result, the u.s. government suspended planned food aid for the north. the possibility of another nuclear test is keeping tensions high. north korean foreign ministry spokesperson said his country will take countermeasures if the obama administration presses for tougher sanctions. members of a u.s. research institute say authorities in the north are pursuing a project that could be cause for concern.

the experts argue that satellite images show construction crews are working on a missile launch site in the country's northeast. a team from the u.s. korea institute at johns hopkins school of advanced international studies held a press conference on the results of their analysis of the photos of the site taken on april 29th. the researchers believe the work to upgrade the site began last summer. they say the images show the concrete foundations of a launchpad and buildings designed to enclose the fuel. the most progress has been made on one building. the team notes a large structure apparently intended for assembling rockets has been completed in a former residential area near the site. the institute said the work is aimed at testing launches and predicts the new facilities could be operational in four years. earlier nhk world spoke with

a professor at the university. he's an expert on security issues on the korean peninsula. >> the north says they are not planning a nuclear test. what do you make of this latest statement now? >> well, it is a quite interesting statement. the last sentence of what they say, only if the case, to continue with tougher sanctions, they'll be left with no options but to take corresponding measures from the self-defense point of view. we'll see another possibility, if the u.s. will move to negotiations or talks with north korea, maybe they can change

their course of action, or they will not take corresponding measures. >> on the other hand, north korea says it may take countermeasures for defense purposes. is there going to be another ballistic missile launch? >> that is likely. but first of all, we have to say that for the time being, there's almost no possibility north korea will take on another nuclear test. but missile launching is quite possible. but maybe that the missile launching is two different type of deal. launch i launching, are they going to make a missile test, but also, that they will launch the missiles -- >> on purpose. >> that's right, yes. >> i see. one last question. what do you expect in the near future? will there actually be a dialogue with the u.s.? there seems to be a tug-of-war there now. >> for the time being, maybe in

the next couple of months, i think nothing will happen. because both sides are now pushing north korea. they're going to wait and see. both sides want to see if the counterpart will take some first action. so therefore, something probably will not happen. but maybe after that, north korea will move fast. because the u.s. has a presidential election, so it may be very much hard to do. but north korea at least has two options. one, to a much more positive way, meaning to take moratorium on the nuclear ability. and also, they can launch another missile. so they have two options. but at the moment we don't know which options they will take. >> we'll have to wait to see what happens. thank you very much there, professor. >> yeah. moving abroad to pursue a

relationship can bring much happiness, and for some, much frustration. women born elsewhere who married japanese men and moved to the northeast have lived through those ups and downs. many face language barriers. many lack qualifications and they're having an even more difficult time since the earthquake and tsunami hit last year. nhk world has their story. ♪ >> reporter: this woman started working at this nursing care center last december. the people who live here include elderly people with physical disabilities. christina got the job after 20 workers quit. the tsunami destroyed their

homes and they had to move. >> translator: it was really hard during my first days here. i wasn't able to give proper toilet care because i was nervous, but now, i'm so glad. >> translator: she affectionately called me mom from her early days here. she's so cute. she's my filipino daughter. >> reporter: christina came to japan 15 years ago to get married. she's one of many foreign-born wives who once worked in the city's seafood processing plant. but the tsunami devastated the industry. only a third of production has resumed and to make matters worse, plant operators at first tended to favor japanese job seekers.

>> translator: this is also the in my life. that happened to me i couldn't forget. >> reporter: christina struggled to find a job. then she discovered an ngo offing caregiver and language courses to experts. she signed up hoping to find steady work. but she couldn't read or write in japanese. so first, she needed to improve her language skills. she got help from her 86-year-old father-in-law and her son who was in elementary school. christina and seven of her

friends passed the exam to become caregivers last december. however, some experts struggled to get such work. they said her japanese wasn't strong enough. >> translator: i couldn't pass the exam. japanese is really difficult to learn. >> reporter: she got help from christina and her party who had formed a foreign caregiver group. the group has 24 members including chinese and foreign workers. they use japanese as a language to teach about nursing care and to give tips on passing the certification exam. >> translator: this job may be hard, but they say it will be rewarding.

i'll never give up. >> reporter: their efforts in helping people in other parts of the northeast to hold seminars to drum up more interest in a sector that needs more workers. christina said she'll continue to do her part. >> translator: i want to assist with the caregivers, not just in this city but in other areas. i'll work hard to become a role model for other caregivers. >> reporter: it's much different work than what christina did in the seafood processing plant. but she loves her new job which is helping her to start a new life in the hard-hit northeast. nhk world. for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji.

>> we've been tracking the tropical storm, this is sanyu which is located west of the mariana islands. over toward the islands by the weekend local time here in japan, it looks like it's going to be intensifying into the next 24 hours. the winds are already pretty gusty. gusts up to about 120 kilometers per hour. and it is moving in a very slow direction. but it might affects much of the islands during the weekend. we will definitely keep a very close eye on this system for you. but the rest of the country here in japan looking at high pressure cresting overhead, bringing us sunny, clear skies. in the korean peninsula as well. very different story here into central china, though. and southeastern china, where we have a report of up to 80 millimeters in the past 24 hours in gungshoe province.

and also, hunon province, these are areas where heavy rain could be persisting, targeting the area. so further flooding last night. these are all going to be at high risk. indochina peninsula looking messy as well, especially north vietnam region. hanoi is being hit with heavy downpours. 33 degrees, tokyo at 26 degrees, with lots of sunny spells for us, beijing heating up at 29 degrees for your thursday high. moving over to the americas, you can see this cloud formation right over here in southern mexico region, it looks like it's going to be heading toward puerto vallarta. it will not intensify into a hurricane. right now it looks like it will maintain itself as a tropical

storm. and then it looks like it won't be making a landfall and decreasing its intensity into a tropical depression. it will be accumulating heavy rainfall in the coastal areas. we'll be keeping a very close eye on this system as well. elsewhere here in the americas, a low-pressure system over central canada is still bringing some heavy rain in parts, and the associated front just sweeping across the midwest region. that's going to bring us some severe thunderstorms that could erupt. and we cannot rule out primary threats of large hail, damaging winds, as well as tornadic activity. we're still talking about southwestern winds are impacting a lot of this four-corner area. this extreme area has widened. this is critical fire weather that has been -- that could be produced by very low humidity, as low as 5% to 10%. and also, gusty conditions as well as the heat brought by those winds, all combine for a

great recipe for it. degree, 40 degrees. you can see how hot it is there. oklahoma city seeing very windy conditions. and washington, d.c., chances of thunderstorms there at 26 degrees. here in europe, it's a very clear picture of unstable weather in the balkans. out towards the north, things are very clear and sunny for your thursday. so here's your outlook. and temperaturewise, looking at lisbon at 27 degrees. paris at 28. and you're going to be seeing rain here in moscow at 17 degrees. here's your extended forecast.

officials from a prominent organization say all female pop sensation akb 48 is leading japan's music industry by a long shot. they recognize the group for having the top four tracks in terms of copyright revenue during the 2011 fiscal year. it's the first time a single act has ever done that. ♪ executives from the copyright collection society announced the

ranking of the top-earning songs for the business year through march 2011. they said akb's single heavy rotation earned the most in copyright revenue through broadcasting, music sales, and other income streams. ♪ the next three songs are ponytail and shoe, beginner, and everyday kachucha. sales can be attributed to the many appearances on music tv programs. that generated more interest and more people sang their songs at karaoke. >> translator: i am very glad that many people love akb's songs. >> translator: we want to continue singing, so more and more people will like our music. we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.