sizzling hot summer, temperatures soar in japan hitting hundreds of people across the country with heat stroke. welcome to nhk world "newsline." summer is always hot here in japan but sometimes it's so scorching it can be a health threat. a blanket of heat is smothering much of the country. nearly 1600 people have gotten heat stroke in the past two days. one person has died. meteorological agency forecasters detected degrees at above 35 degrees celsius.

in seven locations. north of tokyo was the hottest place in the country. the temperatures topped 39 degrees for the first time this year. >> translator: the heat is killing me. >> translator: i just can't make myself leave the shade. >> the heat wave forced consumption above 90% of supply in some areas by mid afternoon, utility companies have warned of power shortages because almost all of the nuclear reactors are offline following last year's accident. at fukushima daiichi. government officials are calling on businesses and households to limit their energy use. how long will this heat wave last? let's bring in mai from our weather team, mai, what can you tell us? >> i can tell you this heat isn't going to go anywhere.

it will remain for the rest of the work week across most of the country. the air, combined with the high, this is the western pacific high that crested across japan, across most of the country during our holiday three-day weekend and that gave us clear skies which means plenty of sunshine that hit the asphalt and heated up the asphalt, remaining those heat. so this combined brought us really record-breaking temperatures. for wednesday's high looking at temperatures you can see a lot of mid-30s. tokyo looking at 32 degrees. the western half still looking at surging, soaring hot heat. back to you. >> hot days ahead, mai, thanks for that. halfway around the world people in the united states are also sweating their way through a hot summer. record heat has triggered bone dry conditions. u.s. weather forecasters say the country is experiencing its worst drought in 56 years.

analysts at noaa reported record-breaking june temperatures and prolonged dryness in many parts of the country. over half of the u.s. excluding hawaii and alaska is experiencing drought. the conditions are serious and 33% of affected areas and noaa spokespersons say it is hitting grain producing regions in the midwest the hardest. the united states is one of the world's major grain exporters. the drought has driven up the price of corn futures 30% in the last month. the spreading hot dry weather is also increasing the risk of wildfires. >> diplomats around the world are intensifying their efforts to seek an end to the on going violence in syria. the red cross is the latest group to label the conflict a civil war. united nations special envoy kofi annan is urging members of the security council to take a unified position as an international observer mission

in syria is set to expire friday. annan is visiting moscow to meet with the syria's close ally russia and annan and putin are expected to hold talks tuesday. putin is pushing to extend the observer mission and his administration opposes the stance of the united states and other western nations and threatening further sanctions against al-assad's government. if he doesn't agree to a cease fire against opposition forces. western nations want to force assad to resign voluntarily. that is simply really innistnor. >> back in april the u.n. security council unanimously adopted a resolution to send 300 unarmed observers to monitor the cease-fire and the on going violence forced the team to suspend activities. the situation in syria seems to

get worse with every passing day. a human rights group says government forces killed at least 100 people last thursday in a village near the central city of hama. forces are jockeying for position in damascus and they tell reuters news agency that the fighting in the capitol is the worst since the revolt against president assad began in march of 2011. nhk's senior commentator and former middle east correspondent came by the studio to tell us where the syria story is heading this week. here he is in conversation with our shery ahn. >> given the on going violence what's next for syria? >> the focus is on whether the u.n. security council will extend the mandate of the u.n. observer mission. they have been monitoring violence by the assad administration and opposition forces. the vote on the expansion is set to take place on wednesday.

western countries insist that the u.n. security council should impose sanctions on syria and assad should step down. russia and china strongly oppose this stance. they have strong military and economic ties with syria. they also fear that antigovernment protests could flare up in their own countries as it is very difficult to bridge a gap between the two positions. resolutions submitted by either side is likely to be vetoed. if the mandate for the observer mission is not extended, the u.n. monitors will have no choice but to leave syria. this may lead to further escalation in the syrian war and mass killing of the citizens. >> as you mentioned, the countries remain divided over syria. given the circumstances, what can they do?

>> with so many people killed by the assad administration i believe it is no longer possible to resolve the conflict if assad remains in office. international community should engage in the dialogue aiming at a peaceful transfer of power. this is expected to take time as russia and china adamantly against such plan. the most pressing issue is keeping the further loss of life to minimum. the international community, the u.n. security council in particular, should take unified action based on the new concept of the responsibility to protect. in other words, they must acknowledge that they all bear responsibility in protecting the lives of syrian citizens. the security council should hurry efforts to adopt resolutions aimed at protecting the city and public from the on

goininviolence such as providing safe passage and safe haven for those civilians that are trying to leave the country. >> analysts say the latest political shake-up in north korea is from a power struggle between the military and its ruling workers party. north korean general has been promoted to a key position in the army. state media won't confirm he is replacing the military chief. he was a close aid to leader kim jong un. the news agency reported he lost his job because he was ill. political analysts say he was pushed out. they didn't give details on the nature of his illness.

ri was ranked fifth in the work rs party and considered one of kim jong-un's members. with ri sidelined media in south korea and elsewhere in asia are closely watching another high ranking official. he heads the political buro of the korean people's army. he now holds a top military post but is mainly held important party positions. cho ranked 18th in the party when kim jong il died. in april authorities elected him as a member of the bureau and he shot up to fourth place surpassing ri. cho was spotted next to jong-un in april under parade. he was spotted closer to the leader. ri's departure is a sign of

division between the military and the worker's party. the military dominated under kim jong il's rule, there have been changes in the power structure under kim jong un. he says the new political leadership seems to be more interested in opening up the country than the military. the regime is expected to show more interest in reform. it's not only china's economic growth that's been slowing down, so is investment in the country. foreign direct investment fell in june for the eighth straight month. that's largely due to the credit

crisis in europe and stagnant domestic demand. china's commerce ministry officials say foreign direct investment totalled $12 billion last month, down almost 7% from a year earlier. investment between january and june came to a little more than $59 billion, falling 3%. that marked the first decline for any six-month period since 2009. china's expert cost is rising, but not because of the export itself. >> he said this may affect the country's export driven economy. japan and chien yar planning to work for closely together in the field of foreign exchange. they have decided to consider expanding a currency swap agreement under the core the two countries help each other when they run low on foreign currency

reserves. japanese and chai need leaders agreed last december to allow companies in the two countries to settle their transaction using their currencies instead of the dollar. and last month direct interbanking use of the yen began at commercial banks in both countries. now both governments plan to discuss expanding the currency swap framework between the two banks to about $3 billion. japan is hoping the step will bring further stability to the markets and improve trade with china. small manufacturers in japan and south creeal join hands to boost exports to booming economies and other countries. the trading house had an investment arm of the south korean government, pledging their support for export expansion. they will make arrangements for small companies in the two countries to buy parts and raw materials together and also help manufacturers set up joint ventures to increase exports.

more japanese firms have been seek partners in south korea these days to set up export bases in the country because the yen's strength continues to hurt their exports. for their part south korean businesses are welcoming alliances with japanese firms hoping to capitalize on their technological competitiveness. yahoo! says it will point an executive from rival search engine google to take the helm. the aim is to turn around yahoo!'s struggling business. marisa mayer is to join yahoo! as chief executive on sunday. she is 37 years old, she was vice president at google. she was responsible for major services including google maps. mayer joined google in 1999 as its 20th employee after graduating from stanford university. she has a degree in computer science. mayer was google's first female engineer and has been a public figure of the firm. she often explained key business

plans as a key spokesperson. mayer says she is honored and delighted it lead yahoo!. she said she is looking forward to working with the dedicated employees to bring in products. this is a couple months afa hoo dismissed executives over falsification over its educated background and neither chief execive was let go after a loss to google. here are the latest market figures.loss to google. here are the latest market figures.execive was let go afte to google. here are the latest market figures.uive was let go after as to google. here are the latest market figures.tive was let go after a loss to google. here are the latest market figures.

health authorities have a formidable new weapon in the fight against hiv and aids. people at the u.s. food and drug administration approved the first drug aimed at reducing the risk of hiv infection through sexual activity. they say this marks an important milestone. the drug is called truvada. people who are hiv positive already use it as part of their treatment. but fda officials say the drug is also effective as a preventative measure for people with a high risk of infection. they say clinical trials showed truvada significantly reduces chances of contracting hiv. but they say it's not 100% foolproof and should be used in combination with safe sex measures such as wearing condoms. fda spokespersons say side effects include headaches and weight loss. doctors can only give truvada it

high risk individuals, for example if their partner is hiv positive. proof that life once existed on mars gets roll again in a few weeks. the space agency says the state of the art probe will land on the cold and dry planet on august 6th. the space rover curiosity is the largest mars probe ever. it's the size of a car. nasa launched it last november. the rover will move on wheels. it will use various instruments, such as robotic arm, to collect rock and sand samples from the surface of the red planet. it can analyze those samples on the spot. many scientists believe mars has environments, which could have supported life. >> the curiosity rover has the potential to discover the building blocks of life on mars, if life ever existed on mars. >> the curiosity mission will last two years. it will begin by investing

weather, a place known if the gail crater, ever offered an environment favorable for microbal life. u.s. president obama set a goal of sending humans to mars in the 2030s. one of japan's favorite summer time dishes may be under threat. u.s. officials say they want to impose restrictions on the global trade of eels. they say the species are in danger and must be protected. the government made the announcement in the federal register. it said officials are considering the proposal ahead of an international conference on endangered species next march in thailand. they are acting in response to appeals by environmental groups. the move would add 29 species to appendix two of the convention on international trade in endangered species. the appendix lists animals, not directly threatened with extinction. it allows international trade and lists species only if the exporting country issues

permission. european eels were listed in 2007. j pan imports most of its eels from china and taiwan. japanese fisheries minister says the government will closely monitor the proposal while promoting research on the habitat of eels. he says japan believes eels are not yet endangered. cleaning up the mess in northeastern japan has been a long and slow process. the march 2011 tsunami chewed up huge chunks of the coastline. it also spoiled vast tracks of farm land. restoring those fields is proving to be one of the most difficult jobs. farmers are having a tough time because they have to do the work by hand. so volunteers are putting on boots and picking up shovels to help them clean up and restart their lives. nhk world reports. heroshi has been farming

around sendai for more than 50 years but the tsunami took his equipment, his storage facilities, and his home. worst, it ruined his feels. >> i'm living on the little savings i have. >> the tsunami inundated over 21,000 hectors of farm land. that's about 30,000 soccer fields. agricultural ministry officials pegged damage at more than $11 billion. take a drive around, and you'll see how bad things are. spoiled land stretches as far as you can see. crews have removed most of the rubble. but if you dig into the ground, you will find chunks of concrete and shattered glass.

spears of splintered wood and pieces of metal. the government plans to restore all of the farm land in northeastern japan by 2014. but workers still have to clean more than 60% of the fields. canno couldn't wait because he needs to make a living, but this kind of clean-up operation isn't a one-person job. >> i tried to restore some farm land. i planted seeds. but nothing grew. >> so volunteers are pitching in. a group was formed to help restore farm land. it's called reroots. it started off with a few members. now during the course of a month, more than 2,000 people have all across japan devote their time to this cause. in the past year, reroots has

helped more than 70 farmers get farming again. >> local people are at the center of the restoration effort. we are trying to work as catalysts for the revival of their towns. >> it's tough, physically demanding work. volunteers use shoves, big and small, to pick through the dirt. they have to remove all of the rubble or it could damage tractors or crops. they also cleared dirt away from irrigation ditches so the rain won't flood the fields. when hiroshi heard about the work, he asked for help. reroots volunteers have now

cleaned a third of his land. it's enough space for canno to sow some seeds and reap the rewards. cabbage, corn and more. >> translator: without the volunteers, i couldn't have imagined recovering this far. thanks to their health. i can take one, two steps forward. >> hiroshi's volunteers are booked up for the next month. he can't remember the last time he had a day off. >> if you saw the piles of rubble back then, and the ground ruined by salt water, it's hard to think that crops can be grown again. but the farmers here are different. they will go at it and try. farming is their lives. so we want it keep helping them

until their lives get back to normal. >> hirose hopes the efforts of his reroots group will reroot a part of the country the tsunami all but ripped away. nhk world, sendai. we're back to the rest of the weather forecast with mai shoji. mai. >> we have been monitoring the tropical storm. it is aiming and directing towards the cree yn peninsula. it looks like it'll be closest around wednesday evening in and around seoul region. it is now moving across the okinawa islands of japan. and it has been -- it is already reaching gusts up to about 126 kilometers per hour. so picking up the waves about six meters high in the coastal areas. we have a report of 71 mill meeters that has fallen in just a one-hour span. the additional rain fall amounts

could be staggering as well. 100 millimeters of additional rain fall here in the islands could trigger flooding conditions. and in the next 72 hours it will move towards the korean peninsula in and around seoul around wednesday evening and overnight wednesday. you may even see about 50 mill meeters in just a span of 12 hours. also, this tropical storm is associated with the humid flow from the south and really dropping heavy downpours in kyushu where water levels are saturated. no precipitation is welcome here but unfortunately about 16 mill meeters in an hour, showers will target southern kyushu as well as tote ail accumulation of about a hundred to 250 millimeters in the next 24 hours. so we will definitely keep a very close eye on this system. across much of the rest of the country here in japan,

afternoon/evening hours, be aware of short time shower. this could be about 06 mill meet rs in an hour type of really heavy rain fall. and across much of these region, we may see severe thunderstorms with hail and gusty conditions as well. also really heavy downpours can be found in southwestern and southeastern china. 30 degrees, 29, tokyo reaching 32 yet again. really mushy and nasty weather here. it's going to be another sweltering night here in the contour region. over to the european continenting with let me first start with a video from poland. a tornado blew through poland over the weekend leaving widespread destruction in its wake. one person was killed and ten were injured. the tornado in a wide swath of forest, flattening the countryside and damaging buildings.

the a class two tornado with winds topping -- now if we can pull back and i can show you that this type of severe weather will be continuing across much of germany and into poland. we have 68 kilometers per hour wind in germany. that will be continuing towards poland, about 70 kph can be found. hail can be accompanied with this severe weather along this cold front slicing in this area. the british isles will have weather and across the west, hot and dry. lisbon, 10 degrees above average at 37 degrees on your wednesday. and a couple of 19s here. that's below average but looking at a lot of 20s here in the european couldn't flent. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast..

here is your extended forecast. flent. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast.. here is your extended forecast. we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.