welcome to nhk world "newsline." japan's prime minister is dealing with a problem many of his predecessors have faced. plunging popularity. a new nhk poll suggests support for northbound heeko noda and his cabinet has dropped to its lowest level since he took office last september. the approval rating is at 27%. that's down 2 percentage points from last month. the disapproval rating is sitting at 51%. it's down slightly. the poll also looked at the prime minister's decision to restart two units theatohi nuclear plant in western japan.

all 50 reactors in the country are offline. noda says he wants to avoid power shortages this summer. 25% say they support his decision to restart the ohi units. 32% say they're against it. 38% say they cannot decide. engineers shut down japan's last nuclear reactor in may. it's the first time the country hasn't been using atomic energy in 42 years. reactors must pass new safety tests before they can go back online because of the accident at fukushima daiichi. the next generation of nuclear engineers is in japan. they are taking part in a program run by the international atomic energy agency. the young professionals will learn about nuclear power and they'll also study the accident at the fukushima daiichi plant. the engineers have gathered in the village of tokai north of tokyo. the iaea program is aimed at producing capable managers in

the field of atomic energy. many of those taking part in the nuclear management energy school are from asia and africa. the program will last three weeks. participants will look at the latest developments in nuclear power generation. they will be able to compare notes on the use of this energy source around the world. >> i want to understand about nuclear sector from starting point to the end point. why the world needs nuclear energy. >> participants will visit fukushima prefecture to learn about the accident at the daiichi plant. they'll also be able to see decontamination work firsthand. rainy season has started earlier than usual in thailand this year. it claimed lives affecting economies throughout asia. now the country is bracing itself to avoid a repeat of the

disaster. the head of our bangkok bureau has the details. >> it is still the early months of thailand's rainy season. officials are cautioning residents in at-risk areas about further disasters. in the southern province of nakasi, continuous downpour has caused rivers to spill over their banks. floodwaters submerged tens of thousands of houses, farms and plantations over the weekend. a number of roads and bridges are now impassable. the floods are also causing damage in the northern province where heavy rains and overflowing rivers have inundated over 1600 hectares of rice fields. flooding is spreading to the central districts of the city. the thae premier kicked off a

four-day tour on monday to inspect the disaster prevention areas in the areas most prone to the flooding. this year's rainy staen has started a week earlier than usual. the agency cautions residents near hills in northern and southern regions to beware of possible flash floods and mud slides. nations around the world are making inroads into myanmar and its untapped economic potential. they're building up the infrastructure to pave the way for foreign investment. but obstacles stand in the way. nhk world reports. >> reporter: dawei is a port town on the indian ocean in southeastern myanmar, development is under way to transform the city into the

country's special economic zone. dawei is set to become the western starting point for a major road running upward in the china peninsula. expectations are high for the distribution route that will directly connect the south china sea to the indian ocean. the myanmar government plans to improve laws and port facilities and build a power station in the area. its ultimate goal is to make dawei the largest industrial area in southeast asia. >> it is the center of pacific and pacific oceans and indian ocean. >> reporter: but development is not proceeding as smoothly as the government wishes. two years ago the previous military regime granted

development rights to a general contractor in neighboring thailand. but the current government is having trouble securing the budget, which is set to exceed $50 billion. another issue is ethnic tensions involving minority groups. last year an armed group exchanged fire with government troops in an area of dawei under development. groups have been fighting with government forces for decades. the current national union reached a cease-fire agreement with the government this january. but their distrust of the government is so deeply rooted that they say it would not

approve the development of dawei unless is allows the import of foods. >> translator: we will support the development only if benefits will be diributed to all ethnic minority groups. if the development is likely to ruin our lives and deprive us of freedom, we cannot support it. >> reporter: myanmar is drawing a lot of attention as asia's lost frontier. the key to its economic development lies in whether it can overcome challenges such as ethnic tensions and to transform itself into a true democracy. nhk world, dawei. >> that wraps up our bulletin in bangkok. japanese defense officials are making a sales pitch on behalf of their allies. u.s. military leaders plan to deploy the mv-22 osprey later this year in okinawa to replace

some aging helicopters. but the deployment and even the plan to test the aircraft in western japan is facing strong local opposition. the advanced transport aircraft is capable of vertical takeoffs and landings but it's generated worries about safety. an osprix crashed in april in morocco killing two u.s. marines. american investigators blamed human error rather than mechanical failure. still, japan's parliamentary vice president minister is trying to address concerns. hideo met monday with the mayor fukuda. the city is in yamaguchi prefecture and hosts a u.s. marine corps station. he explained the government's plan to have the osprey undergo test flights at the base for 10 to 14 days. american forces would then move the aircraft to a base in okinawa prefecture. >> translator: my understanding is that the test flights would likely have little impact on the

surrounding area. in terms of safety and noise. >> translator: it's my job to reassure and guarantee the safety of residents. and it is my duty to confirm the safety of the osprey before giving an answer. >> he later idea the yamaguchi prefecture governor for cooperation on the osprey test flights. >> i can't say yes, and i must express opposition at this time. but i will certainly discuss the issue with the city before coming to a conclusion. if they are approved, the osprey tests are expected to happen next month. u.s. military leaders want to deploy the aircraft in okinawa in october. japan's two economic

indicators show that companies and consumers don't share the same outlook. the finance ministry says the business sentiment index for major companies edged down 0.4 points to minus 3.1 in the april through june quarter from the previous three months. it worsened for three straight quarters. the index is based on the percentage of firms that expect business to improve minus those that see a decline. ministry officials attribute the drop in part to sluggish global demand for televisions and other products stemming from credit concerns in europe. stepped up auto production to make up for losses caused by last year's flooding in thailand also peaked out. officials are upbeat about the future, though. for the july through september period, they see the index rebounding to plus 8.8. that's because they expecty to world economy to get a little better. business sentiment stayed down, consumer confidence picked up in may. the cabinet office says the consumer confidence index rose

0.7 from the previous month standing at 40.7. that's the first gain in two months. officials note that consumers were getting upbeat about jobs and wages as more fresh college graduates found work this spring. government incentives for buyers of eco-friendly vehicles also helped push up consumer sentiment. a global airline group says 2012 will be a bad year for its members. it predicts their profits will nosedive due to the impact of europe's debt crisis. the international air transport association made the prediction at its annual general meeting. the director general tony tyler said the net profits of the 240 members will total about $3 billion this year. that's a pretty sharp drop from $7.9 billion last year. he based his grim prediction on an expected decline in the number of passengers worldwide in the midst prove loof prolongt problems in europe and high fuel

prices. tyler had some good news, however. he notes fuel prices started to fall and more passengers are traveling by air in emerging nations. smartphones aren't just for talking, texting and playing games. now you can use them to read credit cards. japanese i.t. firm has launched a new type of card reader. vendors can attach it to their smartphones or tablet computers. they swipe the credit card and send the data into the cloud. mobile phone carrier soft bank is offering credit card settlement by smartphone. they've teamed up with paypal. the service is targeting small business owners. both companies say they've overcome the security flaws and most smartphone operating systems. managers at i.t. companies have turned to indian and chinese programmers for years when developing the latest

software for finance, education or games. some japanese firms are shifting their focus to vietnam. they are being lured by low costs and a strong workforce. nhk world reports from ho chi minh city. >> reporter: the economy has been expanding rapidly. a group of executives from japanese i.t. companies is visiting ho chi minh city. they are inspecting the country's rapidly growing software development industry. these inspection tours have been on the rise. >> translator: i think vietnam has great potential. there are many excellent engineers in the country. >> reporter: young and hardworking vietnamese software engineers earn about one-fourth of what their counterparts in japan make. also their wages are about 30%

lower than those in china and india. the vietnamese government plans to train 1 million people for the i.t. industry by 2020. it's hoping to turn the i.t. business into one of the country's key growth industries. for this purpose, it plans to build industrial parks, set up preferential investment system and invite foreign firms. he's a director at a software development company. his firm established the sud sidiary in vietnam four years ago. his software development center

handles offers. job turnover in japan is high while many companies in india do business with u.s. and european firms. but unlike these two countries, he says it offers a work environment that's better suited for japanese businesspeople. and that's very attractive. japanese and vietnamese engineers can work together easily. when we say let's become number one in asia, they will immediately respond, yes, let's. the competition among i.t. firms to hire vietnamese engineers is intensifying. more than 40,000 people graduate from i.t. related universities and colleges each year. but their skills and abilities vary posing a problem for companies that want to hire them.

one day he visited a university in ho chi minh city. he's proposing the creation of an internship program to attract talent. >> is it possible for us to have our programs? >> we can send around five to ten students to get experience in your company. >> reporter: in order to secure excellent students, companies have to actively sell ideas. >> we own the facility to become an i.t. center -- >> reporter: developing i.t. engineers is one of vietnam's national policies. the country's fast becoming a key i.t. center for japanese

software companies that are facing stiff competition from their overseas rivals. yuko funazaki, nh co-world, ho chi minh. and here are the latest market figures. now to some of the other news we're following today starting with a story of deadly religious conflict in nigeria. a car exploded on sunday near a church in the central city of jos. the nigerian government says two people were killed and at least

40 others were injured. police believe it was a suicide bombing. earlier in the day a group of gunmen fired on worshipers in a church during a service in the northeastern city. at least one person was killed and many bystanders were injured. the radical islamic group bocaharam has claimed responsibility for both attacks. conflict has been heating up in nigeria between muslims in the north and christians in the south. japan's immigration bureau issued deportation papers on monday for a nepalese man granted a retrial in a murder case. mainali had been serving a life sentence. the tokyo high court granted a retrial. sources say the 45-year-old father of two wants to return to his homeland at his own expense. the deportation order has been held over since before the murder charge when mainali had overstayed his visa. as soon as the nepalese embassy

issued his passport and air tickets are ready, mainali will leave japan. one of napoleon's letters has garnered more than $4,000 at a paris auction. he wrote it in march 1816 in english. the former french emperor was in exile on the remote south atlantic island of st. helena at the time. the british sent him there after defeating him at the battle of waterloo. he wrote the letter for his english teacher. it's filled with misspellings suggesting that once -- the once great leader was struggling with the language. he writes a short note took him two hours to finish. napoleon was famously dismissive of england but the letter shows he was serious about learning the language of those who defeated him. doctors in japan are using a ground-breaking therapy to treat children born with heart problems. regenerative medicine thyself

patient's own heart cells to improve cardiac function. if the new technique fulfills its potential, doctors could save lives without resorting to heart transplants. here's the story. >> reporter: hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a serious condition that affects 1 in 10,000 people. this 3-year-old girl was diagnosed right after she was born. left ventricle of her heart was not functioning. left untreated this condition is usually fatal. she can't live a normal life. to prevent her from contracting pneumonia or other illnesses, she's not allowed to play outside. her liquid intake is restricted as it puts stress on her heart. >> translator: she keeps telling

me i want to gargle or drink some tea. it's really stressful for me and for her as well. >> reporter: up until now the most effective treatment for this condition has been heart transplants. however, organ donations from children are very rare in japan. and there has only been one child heart transplant in the country. so it's not an option for this child. as an alternative approach, okayama university hospital began conducting research into regenerative therapy last year. first, some tissue is taken from the patient's heart. these are the extracted cells and this is what they look like after being cultured for ten days.

the bits that look like fibers are the cells that have multi y multiplied. the cells are then put back into the patient's heart. >> translator: regenerative medicine makes sense because you are using the person's own cells. so there's no need for medication to prevent rejection. >> reporter: the 3-year-old girl underwent this treatment in february. after culturing and multiplying heart cells and replacing them, the doctors are hoping that this will boost her cardiac muscle and allow her heart to pump more strongly. three months after the procedure, the child was brought back to be examined.

>> reporter: there was a 5% increase in the heart's ability to pump blood. this means that the child's restrictions on liquid intake may be removed soon. the other sick children have made similar progress. >> translator: we think regenerative medicine could be used to treat most people in need of heart transplants. >> it's officially rainy season in tokeio, at least according to the japanese meteorological agency. it looks like more rain coming this way tomorrow. robert speta with the forecast for here and elsewhere. >> yes, not only japan is feeling the effects of this rainy season. over towards taiwan, a copious

amount of rainfall has fallen in the past 24 hours. actually in taiwan upwards of 656 millimeters fell here in just one location. and numerous locations recorded over 500 millimeters. what this is bringing is obvious. the high risk of flash flooding across much of taiwan and southeastern china where the rain is also falling. but also landslides and mud slides on steeper elevations where that ground is really s satura saturated. a very dangerous area coming out. we'll keep you posted on it. farther towards the north, the imani region, you could be seeing upwards of 120 millimeters and over towards the konto region as that frontal area starts to lift off. toward the south, though in the philippines and over towards indochin awidespread rain showers will be continuing to expect here. also gusty winds bringing up the seas. but not only here. look over here towards the

tropics just southeast of guam. does look like they are starting to fire up. this is a tropical depression. it's expected to intensify up to a tropical storm within the next 24 hours. and could be bring something foul weather toward the east coast of the philippines. also will be watching this. temperatures are looking like this in hong kong with a high of 30. beijing 29. ulawn ba toulaanbaatar. to the americas. i want to talk about here in the rockies. absolutely dry weather here. and what this is bringing is the high risk of fire weather. let's look at a video coming out of colorado here. and this is actually northern colorado where a fast spreading wildfire has prompted evacuation of dozens of homes in northern colorado on saturday. this is the high park fire. it's scorched 57 square kilometers and destroyed more than 15 buildings. plumes of spoke were visible from denver and as you can see

here, the firefighters attacking the flames with planes loaded with fire retardant. authorities have also sent evacuation notices to about nearly 1800 households. let's pull back the picture because this is a very dangerous situation. firefighters are going to continue to fight this and unfortunately dry weather does look like it will be also continuing to persist out across this region. as cold air as well dives in from the north, freeze warnings are in effect in overnight hours due to the radiational cooling. out ahead of it you have that cold front bringing severe weather. talk about tornadoes, thunderstorms and also large hail here in arkansas. over toward eastern oklahoma and even in western texas while heavy rain in pensacola. you had one of your rainiest days on record here. it looks like more rainfall is going to be expected throughout the next several days. now as that front continues to push toward the east, the cooling down of the atmosphere

in winnipeg. only a high of 15. ahead of , though, chicago and oklahoma city at 31. even houston at 36. that's all for now. we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes.

i'm gene otani in tokyo.