hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." its etuesday july 10, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo, i'm catherine kobayashi. karzai spoke about combatting corruption with one of his country's biggest creditors. prime minister noda says japan will continue to support afghanistan's development but that support comes with conditions. the leaders met a day after representatives from more than 70 nations gathered in tokyo to

make a four-year multibillion dollar pledge for afghanistan. the money will help the country withdraw troops by the end of 2014. karzai thanks noda for offering $3 billion. he also asks for help with agriculture, engineering and communicationes. prime minister noda says the japanese government is committed to assisting afghans. but he is urging president karzai to conduct fair elections and make sure corruption doesn't eat up any of the aid money. afghanistan can't live without help from foreign nations. world bank analysts say aid accounts for more than 95% of its gdp. this new infusion of cash will fund everything from healthcare to clean water projects, to reconstruction efforts. and n some parts of the country can you see the innational donations at work. but in others, afghans are still waiting for help. nhk world has the story.

>> reporter: another flight lands at kabul international airport. japanese government provide millions to open the airport here four years ago. it's become a gateway for people, supplies, the things afghans need to rebuild. >> without the help of the international community we cannot build such a terminal. >> reporter: building the airport was one thing, supplying it with electricity was another. solar panels supply half the airport's electricity. a japanese business set them up. the japanese will also contribute to the enlargement of the airport scheduled for next year. the construction is going on to expand the taxiway at the airport. this is one of the japanese government's projects. officials with the organization for economic cooperation and development said the japanese government gave about $2.6

billion over the last 11 years. that's second only to the u.s. contribution which was more than $16 billion. some of the aid helps people who live in the suburb of kabul. donors provide funds for this well and others like it. >> translator: i'm happy that we got water. >> translator: our standards of living are better than before. >> reporter: still more than a third of afghans live in poverty. residents of a northern province have not received assistance from the government or from abroad. so this man went back to an old source of revenue. growing poppies to produce opium. the karzai administration has tried to stop the practice. the taliban relies on opium as a main source of funding.

abdul muhammad earned little income in the five years before he turned to farming. he says government officials have not kept their promise to build irrigation facilities and provide the seeds for crops. he has seven children to feed. he says he had little choice but to grow poppies and sell them to the taliban. >> translator: we don't care who buys the poppies. my children would starve to death if i didn't grow the plants. >> reporter: muhammad says public servants and wealthy afghans steal much of the international aid. and people like him are left struggling just to get by. he dropping by our studio to give us insight on the karzai

government, here he is in conversation with our gene otani. >> we just saw in your report, some afghans, not getting aid at all, are turning to growing opium poppies. where is all of the money going? it is going to where international donors fear it is going. the corruption in afghanistan says it reaches all the way up. >> i have cases from the government, from the governor of provinces, the most corrupt country, you know, in the world. >> once again, international donors said karzai must do more to win back trust. they say he must take a stronger measure to fight corruption frps. >> karzai also needs to take into account the role of the taliban. why is the taliban still so powerful? >> well, many afghans are frustrated with the

reconstruction. some say the taliban owes to the karzai government. the afghans provide them with cover and they can recruit new fighters there. on the reason for the resurgence is that taliban have a sanctuary, along with the pakistani side of the border. the pakistani doesn't go over there and many residents oppose the presence. so all these factors continue to the power of the taliban. >> it appears it will take some time for afghan stoes stand on their own. how might that be accomplished? >> international don'ters currently provide the afghan national project. so the afghans have the need to build up their own industries. farmers make up 80% of the population. so the project would be aid to foik is focus on. mining also provides another hope. afghan officials want to have

investors explore copper and oil. interest from china and india have already started. but like many, they are worried about security. and afghan officials cannot hope to attract investment until they get the order. >> nhk world there speaking to our gene otani. palestinian president is looking into the death of his predecessor. he is ordering texhuming arafat. there was a documentary last week based on a nine-month investigation. tommy thomps the tv report stated that there was raid radio active substances on his clothes when he died. they could not determine the cause of the late president's death in their preliminary

report because the plu gnome yum decayed. experts will then examine it. palestinian authority investigators carried out their own probe after arafat died but they were unable to identify the cause of the death. it was long suspected he was assassinated. u.n. special envoy kofi annan says he has held a positive and construction discussion with syrian president, bashar al assad on ways to end the violence in syria. >> we discussed the need to end the violence and ways and means of doing so. we agreed in that approach. >> annan spoke to reporters in the syrian capital damascus on monday after a two-hour meeting with assad. this is his third visit to the country as a special envoy. the former u.n. secretary general did not disclose the terms of the agreement but said

he would share it with the armed oppositions forces. annan told french newspaper "le monde" last saturday that efforts to find a peaceful solution in syria had failed. the united states and other major western countries want to remove assad from power but russia continues to support the syrian leader. officials from southeast asian nations are in cambodia this week to try to resolve long-running territorial disputes. ministers of the associations from the southeast asia nations this monday agreed on a draft code of maritime conduct. several asean nations including vietnam and the philippines have clashed be china over islands in the south china sea. the draft protocol asked countries involved in disputes to respect international laws and create a framework to avoid conflict. it also calls for monitoring of whether countries comply with the new rules. asean plans to present the plan to china in a meeting of foreign foreign ministers on wednesday. china's foreign ministry reacted

cautiously to the announcement. a spokesperson said china will consider a code of conduct when the timing is appropriate. he said any new rules should not only help resolve territorial disputes but promote trust and strengthen cooperation among asean members. japan's government has been trying to attract more tourists from china with little success. most group tours from the country say they stopped or will not expand their business because it is unprofitable. to attract chinese tourists, the government in 2010 extended visa eligibility requirements for individuals. instead of granting visas to only annual incomes of over $43,000, the government now well comes those making at least $10,000. this has led to a sharp increase in chinese tourists. although their numbers dropped following last year's march 11

disaster, they are rising at a rate higher than 2010. nhk surveyed 37 companies handling group tours from china. 28 of them or about 76% said they would stop doing so or refrain from adding more tours. all of them said they can't make a profit because chinese tour agencies demand lower prices. japanese tour companies are banned from operating in china. so they work on a contract basis with chinese firms that act as agencies and decide on costs. japanese say competition is fiercer every year and that they are demanding that japanese firms lower their prices. a tour company in tokyo's ward stopped handling tours for visitors from china. the company used to handle a five-day tour between tokyo and osaka. the trip covered mount fuji and other tourists spots for about $600.

the firm's chinese partner demanded that the cost be lowered by 80%. >> the >> reporter: the agency demanded the price for a six-day tour be cut to $125 or even less. that big a cut is simply impossible. >> japan still wants to attract visitors from china. the tourism agency says it plans to urge the chinese government to allow japanese tour companies to operate in the country. people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the chals of the 2011 disaster. but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, communities, entire businesses. we will show you their successes on the road ahead every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time, here on "newsline." japan's prime minister noda has that sinking feeling again. a new nhk poll suggests his

approval rating is low and his disapproval rating is high. voters aren't happy about his leadership or his policies. most of them disagree with his plan to pay for japan's death and pay for its aging society. his approval rating is sitting at 27%. the lowest level since he took over. it's now 56%. 51% of those expressing disapproval say they do not expect much from noda's policies. the poll also looked at the prime minister's decision to raise japan's consumption tax. part of the financial reform package we just mentioned. 30% of those surveyed support the plan. 38% disapprove. we asked nhk world's political reporter to give us some insight on this poll. here she is in conversation with our gene otani.

why are voeders not behind him? >> well noda took office while balancing economic growth and fiscal reform. our poll suggests voters don't like how he's following through on those pledges. he is planning to raise the conception tax from 5 to 10%. noda's popularity has been dropping since he took power less than a year ago. he started out with a 60% support rating. that's fallen to less than 30% as as we just saw. the prime minister staked his political career on the tax hike and it sparked a revolt within his ruling democratic party. he said the revenue is needed to finance japan's debt and pay growing social security costs. but japanese taxpayers told us they want noda to do more, to cut wasteful government spending before anything else. the results in our poll suggest

noda will have to work hard to win back public support. >> and it's not just voters he has to woo back. as you mentioned, noda is dealing with problems within his own party. what kind of impact could that have on noda as prime minister? >> well, noda faced a rebellion two weeks ago when the house voted on the conception tax hike and other reform birls. 73 democratic party lawmakers did not support the bills. some of them quit and are working to form a new party. now the question is, what the dpj dissidents and defectors will do if the opposition puts forward a nonconfidence motion against noda. it is considering doing that once the financial reform bills become law. if these disdends and defectors vote in favor of the motion, it could pass. one key dpj lawmaker, former prime minister, indicated monday he would support the motion. if noda loses a vote, he will be

forced to call a general election or resign. >> nhk world's political reporter speaking with gene otani. south sudan celebrated its first anniversary. the youngest african nation won independence from sudan after more than 20 years of civil w . civil war. thousands of people in traditional dress sang and danced at a ceremony in the capital juba. the president salva kiir said his country had earned its liberty but called the freedom incomplete. >> we have been struggling from conflicts on the outside and conflict from within, including the loss of revenue that we mostly depend on.

>> sudan and south sudan are disputing rights to their oil-rich border region. violent clashes erupted in march and april. the conflict has prevented south sudan from exploiting the oil reserves and that's weakened its economy. but kiir said his country will achieve full self-sufficiency by 2015, and he also pledged to build schools, hospitals and other public facilities to improve social welfare. in cambodia, the government and the world health organization have found a clue regarding the origin of a mysterious disease blamed for the deaths of more than 50 children. they say a disease that causes hand, foot and mouth disease may be responsible. the unidentified disease has been spreading in central and southern cambodia since april. it infects children, mainly infants age 3 and younger. symptoms include a high fever and in serious cases, pneumonia

and encephalitis. the disease is lethal with 56 deaths confirmed so far. a joint investigation by the cambodian government and the w.h.o. found samples of 15 victims tested positive for enterovirus 71, that causes hand, foot and mouth disease similar to conditions affecting the children in cambodia. the health minister says investigations are ongoing and said the government and the w.h.o. hope to conclude their investigation within days. the w.h.o. has ruled out the possibility that the deaths were caused by influenza. it's calling on parents to seek immediate medical assistance if their children show symptoms such as a high fever. many view the u.s. as a land of opportunity. but more than 1.6 million children are homeless. a lot of them live on the streets. others in cars or shelters. but in one large city, a school principal is trying to give

homeless children a better quality of life. >> the state of nevada, including las vegas, has the highest unemployment rate in the ugs, 11.7% within banks are forclosing. tom and his family lost their house. for the time being, they must live in a motel. tom used to paint for a living. but he hasn't had a job in seven months. he, his wife, and his son, tyler, a second grader, live on a donations from a food bank. >> i got screwed from trying to take care of my family. i want to give them a better life from what i had. but right now it is just really, really hard for me to do that. >> tyler goes to whitney public elementary school.

about 650 students attend classes there. around 19% of them live in a temporary housing or shelters because their parents have no work. >> it makes me feel like, like kind of uncomfortable because you are moving into a new place and you don't ne what to expect. >> not long after, principal sherry began working at the school, something caught her eye. >> there were children, they were putting ketchup packets in their pockets and taking them home. one of my teachers told me so they could make ketchup soup because they had no food. i started to realize how bad the hunger was. >> she organized a program for children who don't get breakfast at home. the school gives them free bread and fresh fruit.

the school even provides meals on week ends to area residents. many parents of the school children rely on these meals. donations from all over the u.s. support the program. after the principal told local healthcare facilities and stores about children's hunger, word quickly spread. and the donations started to arrive. >> as i started sharing all of their stories, i had people and friends that say, let me help. what can i do to help. >> she also helps parents improve the children's living conditions. the school helps families find temporary housing. even helping out with rent and power bills. so far they have assisted 80 households. the principal also invites staff

from an employment agency to drop in once a week to help parents or guardians find work. >> they help job connect the school, whitney, they provide a lot of help. pay power bills, name it. they're there. >> if i don't do it, if i don't do it today, they don't have food. if i don't do it today, they don't have a place to sleep. i have to. my drive is to be the voice for all of these kids. >> maybe across the nation, they picked up the story so even more americans are taking an interest. the principal hopes people in other areas will follow the example. nhk world, las vegas. now let's take a look at the market figures.

we are joined now with the world weather forecast. commuters are enjoying sunny skies this morning. how long will this weather last? tell me all week. >> i'm afraid, no. sunny weather will last until tomorrow afternoon. and wet weather will return. because this is sat zoeal rain band is lifting towards the north. so they are expecting heavier rain by this evening.

also the pacific side as we head into the evening. so take advantage of the blue skies today. meanwhile, the same front is affecting china, as much as 140 millimeters of rain has fallen over the past 24 hours. it looks like the heaviest rain will be moving in today and to the korean peninsulas tomorrow. down towards the south, southwest monsoon is pressing another wet day. across india, indochina and the philippines. heat is building in the eastern half of china. 37 in shanghai. 29 in seoul. should cool down to 24 by tomorrow. heading into the americas, we

have two appropriate tropical systems over the eastern pacific. there is a category 2 hurricane, and this one is a cat garry 1, daniel. daniel is moving in a direction of packing sustained winds of 116 miles per hour. it should weaken to a low pressure system by thursday. and get very close to the hawaiian islands on friday. so swells and high waves could be a concern along the coast of these islands later this week. for north america, not much change since yesterday. a frontal line and low appreciate iefrt sipressure systems are dragging air across the u.s. and we've got an area of severe weather in the carolinas and northern georgia overnight monday. and then, eastern washington, parts of british columbia and southern alberta are looking at thunderstorms, gusting wind and hail tonight. to the south, dry and hot.

look at this. 30 degrees is the daytime high on tuesday in los angeles. 45 degrees in phoenix. about 4 degrees higher than average. up towards the north returning to more seasonal levels in chicago, 29 and the same gez for w dak. all right, finally, let's go over to europe. active low pressure system and front are production scattered thundershowers from southern scandinavia up into western rush why. and another low pressure system starting it move into the british asles and spreading widespread thunderstorms, gusty winds and hail across the whole lofty isles. unstable weather will likely continue to tomorrow. to the south, i'm unsure whether we will continue in and around the black sea condition. if you remember, any slight amount of rain is not good here. temperatures are shaping up like this. heat is out in the balkan peninsula and southern italy. here is the extended forecast.

that wraps up this edition

of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.