welcome to nhk world "newsline." experts with the international atomic energy agency are going inside a nuclear plan in northeast japan to find out how it weathered last year's disaster. the onagawa plant fared much better than fukushima daiichi. for one, its three reactors shut down as they are designed to do. the iaea wants to apply what it learns at onagawa to global nuclear safety standards. nhk world kaho izumitami

reports. >> reporter: the iaea team wants to investigate what made the difference. 18 experts arrived monday at the onagawa facility in miyagi prefecture. they interviewed plant officials and nuclear regulators. the plant faces the pacific ocean as does fukushima daiichi. the disaster knocked out power at the fukushima plant leading to meltdowns and explosions. onagawa's automatic shutdown and elevated position prevented major damage. the iaea experts will examine what impact the quake had on its control and cooling systems, pipes and pools of nuclear fuel. >> when we look at all the three units, at this point, because it's the beginning of the

mission, we have not any focused area to which we look at. once we look at information, we decide where we will look and what areas. >> reporter: they'll also research the seawall around onagawa. the structure is believed to have helped the plant withstand the tsunami in contrast to the break wall at fukushima daiichi. the iaea experts hope to use their findings to strengthen the quake resistance of plants around the world. kaho izumatani of nhk world from onagawa. >> the operator of fukushima daiichi is trying to learn from the mistakes made during last year's disaster. the accident lowered public confidence in tokyo electric power company. tepco workers struggled to gather and provide information. the utility held its first large-scale emergency drill since march 2011 in an effort to make improvements.

about 300 people, including the firm's new managers, took part in the exercise. tepco officials conducted the drill as if a magnitude 7.3 quake had struck beneath koto ward near tokyo bay. in the scenario, the tremor damaged power lines and substations. utility officials practiced confirming the situation at local thermal power plants. they also calculated electricity ly forecasts after a possible suspension of power. they used a video conferencing system to simulate how they would monitor the impact on the utility's two nuclear plants in fukushima prefecture northeast of tokyo. >> translator: restoring public confidence is a big challenge. we have to review our old system of emergency crisis management. >> reporter: tepco spokespersons say the utility wants to repeatedly stage this kind of drill. japanese ministers are working on streamlining some of their policies. they held a meeting on monday to discuss a report that criticizes

overlapping efforts to promote energy efficiency. the report submitted in november points out three min sfrees are separately encouraging energy-saving measures for homes. notes that several ministries and agencies are also running similar programs to promote geothermal power generation. >> translator: ministries have to coordinate with each other to promote energy saving and renewable energies. that's what's required from us now more than ever. >> ministries and agencies will streamline their policies by the end of august. the results of this effort will be reflected in budgetary requests for the next fiscal year. intense fighting between syrian government forces and opposition troops in the country's second biggest city is forcing residents to flee. a senior united nations official says 200,000 people have flooded out of aleppo in the past two days.

soldiers loyal to president bashar al assad are using tanks and fighter jets to pound opposition strongholds. u.n. urntth undersecretary-general valerie amos says billions took refuge over the weekend in schools and other public buildings outside the northern city. it displaced residents requiring food, hygiene products and other emergency aid. she also says the red crescent society and u.n. agencies are attempting to deliver supplies. amos is calling on all people involved not to target civilians and to give aid workers safe access to people in need. romanian president basescu has survived a referendum on his impeachment due lower voter turnout. >> translator: the people have decided in all good faith to make this referendum invalid. the central election bureau said

turnout for sunday's ballot stood at about 46% below the 50% needed to validate a referendum. as elsewhere in europe, romania's financial situation has been worsening since 2008. the government introduced austerity measures two years ago in return for loans from the european union and the international monetary fund. earlier this month, the opposition controlled parliament voted to extend basescu and hold a referendum on his mandate. they're likely to continue trying to oust the president. japan's defense minister is working overtime to sell an american military aircraft to people living around two u.s. bases in this country. morimoto wants to meet with the newly elected governor of okinawa prefecture about the deployment of the osprey tilt rotor transporter. some people in japan are worried

about the airplane flying above its homes because it's had several accidents overseas. morimoto is yamaguchi's new governor. he opposes the deployment of ospreys in the u.s. air station in the prefecture unless the government addresses the safety concerns of residents. defense minister morimoto gave his thoughts on the matter a day after yamamoto's election. >> people in yamaguchi prefecture continue to be concerned and anxious about the osprey aircraft. i don't think the election of a new governor in the prefecture will affect our policy, however. i hope to meet with the governor soon so that we can talk about how we will proceed. >> u.s. military personnel have brought 12 ospreys to japan last week. they plan to test them at iwakuni. they then want to deploy the aircraft at the futenma air station in okinawa prefecture

later this year for full flight operations. hiromi is nhk's senior commentator on asian affairs. he recently interviewed several key players in the region. how would you describe the current economic situation in indonesia? >> well, the country has recovered from the political unrest that began a decade ago after the fall of the president. it's been enjoying stable economic growth over the past several years with annual rates of 5% and 6%. now the president wants to take it one step further. >> translator: the fruits of economic development must be fairly distributed to allow the entire nation to enjoy its benefits.

>> indonesia's strength lies in its population of 240 million people, the largest in southeast asia. and the youth of its workforce. this chart shows how the proportion of younger generations has grown over the past 40 years. this kind of demographic provides a great potential for national development. but having many young people also means you have to provide them with jobs. every year between 2 million and 2.5 million people enter the labor market. analysts say indonesia needs to maintain a growth rate of at least 6% to absorb the additional workforce, and that's a tough job for the government. >> what needs to be done to reach this target? >> two factors are particularly important. the first one is increasing productivity. meaning that industries need to move toward the creation of more value-added products. the government is addressing this issue both in the period of agriculture, which remains a

tough sector of the economy and in the service industry. the president yudhoyono launched a new ministry called the ministry of tourism and creative economy specifically for that purpose. >> translator: i think the challenge with creating economies, how do you create great entrepreneurs? how do you create a great idea and to have economic value and become viable commercially, you know? how do you make that step? how do you create entrepreneurs? how do you have financing? how do you protect the intellectual property rights of their music or of their film or of their design? >> all right. what else needs to be done to continue growth for indonesia? >> that would be maintaining political stability. under the autocratic regime, it

was treated as a top-down process. but this kind of policy failed to withstand the asian financial crisis. and he was forced to resign. the current president enjoyed a broad and stable support for now, but it's not easy to maintain that situation in a vast country and he's well aware of it. to avoid the perils of his predecessor, he is promoting cooperation between the public and private sectors. the administration has set up a system of public/private partnerships to boost the country's infrastructure. >> whether it's airports, ports, roads, power generation, water treatment systems, these are all opportunities because we are going to do public/private partnership, and we want to prioritize accelerating development in a number of locations in indonesia and have

it spread out throughout the country. we've had no chaos, no, you know, violence. so i think this is a very different indonesia. this is an indonesia which is modernizing. it is a country with the largest muslim population. >> indonesia is relatively safe from the effect of the credit crisis in europe. in fact figures indicate that direct foreign investment has reached record levels. the government is now hoping to expand development efforts outside with the ultimate goal of sustaining growth across the country. >> thanks. nhk world's hiromi horosi on emerging countries in asia. tomorrow, we will focus on india.

one of japan's major power companies, kansai electric has reported huge losses for the april through june period. officials at the utility servicing western japan say it suffered a deficit of more than $1.2 billion. they say the reason is soaring operating expenses due to rising fuel costs for thermal power generation as a substitute for nuclear power. the company also known as kepco restarted power generation at its ohi nuclear plant. they are the first reactors to restart operation since the fukushima daiichi disaster last march. >> translator: we aren't planning to raise the electricity rates at the moment. but if our financial situation gets drastically worse and if this hurts our ability to supply

power, we'll have to consider all options. >> japan's leading steelmakers have announced sharp profit drops or losses for the april through june period. that's in part because of the yen's strength. nippon steel reported a pretax profit $1620 million down 83% from a year earlier when calculated in yen. jfe holdings profit plunged 60% to a little over $125 million. sumitomo metal produced a loss of $140 million and kobe steel over $130 million. during the three months, the steelmakers came under strong pressure from customers to cut prices. those customers themselves suffered from the strong yen and other tough business conditions. japan's industrial output fell in june for the third straight month. that's due largely to a drop in the production of cars and auto

parts for foreign markets. the trade minister said industrial production in june fell 0.1% from may. the ministry downgraded its assessment for the first time in nine months. it says manufacturing is leveling out. it comes as europe's credit whoas are weighing down on exports. but they predict a taemp rare increase for july. they say it will likely jump 4.5% from june. the production of electronic parts is expected to pick up for computers and smartphones aimed for year end sales. convenience stores in japan are bringing products straight to the home. the country's biggest chain 7-eleven has started using ultra small electric cars to make deliveries. a 7-eleven store in tokyo began the new service on monday. the single seat electric car has been developed by toyota. it runs about 50 kilometers on a

single battery charge of six hours. the convenience store chain considered using bicycles but chose electric cars instead because they can carry more items. it has recently started delivery of all the merchandise sold at its stores. 7-eleven plans to begin the next new service at 4,000 stores across the country over the next few years. it's hoping delivery will become especially popular among elderly people and mothers with small children. here's the latest market figures.

nurses from abroad working in japan find themselves in a precarious position. they came here to help care for the growing number of senior citizens. but the nurses have to pass a national exam within three years in a language they are still learning. if they fail, they have to leave the country. nhk world reports. >> reporter: anna katarina came here from the philippines two years ago hoping to get a japanese nursing license. previously she worked in saudi arabia. even though she is a professional nurse, she had to

do mundane tasks here until she acquired japanese credentials. anna passed her exam on her second try in march. now she performs vital tests susk as giving patients i.v.s and changing catheters. >> translator: i want to learn advanced medical techniques while i work as a nurse in japan. one day i hope to return to the philippines and pass on japanese methods. >> earlier, yuko aotani spoke to the reporter who filed the report. >> how great a challenge is it for these nurses to qualify? >> well, it's very, very difficult. this year, just 11% of the known japanese candidates, 47 in all, passed the test. the number of non-japanese who succeeded actually rose by 7% over the year before.

one major obstacle for foreigners is having to learn japanese. we followed ana to see how she passed the exam despite the hurdles. ana had a dedicated instructor and passed the exam. ito heads the nursing department. ana shadowed her all day. the filipino got to learn special knowledge and japanese terms not taught in the philippines. the national exam often asks nurses to distinguish between types of syringes. japan uses more kinds than the philippines. ito wrote similar test creations for ana. then she focused on ana's

weaknesses. for example, she often questioned her people about insurance fees for nursing care which they don't have in the philippines. >> translator: ana now understands japanese. and she doesn't find it hard to learn japanese characters. others can barely follow the language so it's hard for them to pass the test. that's why the pass rate is low. >> it does seem quite a challenge. do they have anyone to help them? >> the burden of making sure foreign candidates pass the test seems to fall on the hospitals. if non-japanese nursing candidates do not have a dedicated personal mentor, they probably won't pass. i also learned the government is taking another look at the test. there are plans to accept nursing candidates from vietnam starting in 2014.

but if the high failure rate continues, japan won't have enough health care workers. a lot more needs to be done to attract foreign nurses to japan. health care professionals are turning to technology in an effort to make up for japan's nursing shortfall and accommodate the country's aging population. researchers are finding ways to help the elderly live without nursing care. they've started use rog bottic devices to assist seniors with walking. engineers at the japanese automaker honda developed this technology. it senses the strength of the person's lengths and controls their movements. >> translator: the robot helps me move my legs. it makes me very happy. >> translator: it feels like the machine is telling me to move my feet and walk faster.

>> the researchers will hold exercise classes to study how to keep people in good physical and mental condition. >> translator: we aim to find out whether this kind of exercise will help the elderly avoid getting into a state where they need nursing care. >> the researchers want to make sure the device is effective so they can recommend it to doctors. for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji. mai? >> hi. one is enough to talk about but we've got a couple of tropical systems to talk about. let me show you a video coming out from okinawan islands. one is affecting the southeastern islands of japan. you can see the high waves picking up already in okinawa but in the city side here in naha, storms are also going to be affecting these regions. already stormy conditions are affecting this area.

this is from okinawa. let me pull back and show you where this system is moving ahead. this is the track that it's taking. it's east of northern luzon at the moment. it's going to be tracking towards taiwan and also the southwestern islands of japan. so you can see how far this system is. but it is a big system. already the outer bands are affecting the okinawan islands from where the video came out from. the wind gusts are 144 kph as of now picking up those high waves around the coastal areas. around 9 meters high. in and around the southeastern islands of okinawa as well. overnight hours and into tomorrow morning, the high tides could be as much as 1.3 meters higher than the normal sea level. and plus that, 9 meters of high waves could be very dangerous. stay away from those coastal areas. in the next couple of days it looks like it's going to be intensifying into a very strong typhoon status as it approaches taiwan. this is a very heavy rainmaker as you can see.

the cumulation could be as much as 300 millimeters in some areas in localized areas could be even more in the next 72. in the western seaports of the philippines as well where already this storm has targeted and battered the region with flooding conditions, coastal -- the waves as well. picking up and leaving four fatalities in northern luzon already. so this system will be staying here for a little while longer packing up those accumulation. this is the tropical storm. this is now moving slowly towards the western direction over towards the ogasawara islands as we speak. and it will be nearest overnight hours packing up winds and picking up those waves as much as 6 meters high. it's going to be tracking towards kyushu region which is not good news. temperaturewise, looking at 32 in seoul. 33 in tokyo. and beijing, reflected in the temperatures with that very heavy torrential rain band just

targeting the area in and around beijing in the temperature at 25 degrees. moving over to the states now, well, things are going to be pretty rough around the great lakes region. some severe weather could be found with gusts up to about 90 kph and here in the southeastern areas, we'll be targeted with some severe weather to come as well. take a look at these temperatures. soaring in the 40s in oklahoma city. way above average, even for your standards at this time of the season. really high for that. so do stay hydrated. moving over to the european continent now, we're really worried about what's going to happen here in london with the olympics. looks like rain will be tapering off. especially in the southern region of the british isles and temperatures are shaping up like this. not bad at all. staying in the low 20s and high teeps. on and off showers will be continuing for the next three days. here's our extended forecast.

we're going to wrap up with a quick weather related story. people in japan use a lot of things to keep cool in summer. fans, flavored ice and wind bells. many japanese say the tink ling of the chimes makes the heat more bearable. the unique sound is part of a unique service in okiyama. the town fitted one of its street cars with 40 wind bells made from local pottery decorated with traditional haiku. the vehicle has bells made of traditional iron ware from disaster hit iwate prefecture.

>> translator: the sound makes me feel cool in the summer. >> translator: it's beautiful!