chemical scare. scientists in japan try to figure out if two substances commonly used in the printing industry are giving workers cancer. welcome to "nhk world newsline." people who work in japan's printing industry worry their jobs could be making them sick. an nhk investigation uncovered concerns that certain chemicals could be behind a spate of bile duct cancers. the researchers say these substances could, indeed, be harmful.

nhk worked with university scientists to investigate a high occurrence of bile duct cancer among workers at a printing company in osaka, western japan. medical experts have diagnosed 13 employees with the disease since the 1980s. the workers were responsible for washing ink from printing machines. seven of then have died. one of the deceased mothers says she wants to learn the truth. >> translator: i can't stand it. i want to see a fairer investigation. >> researchers at the health, labor and welfare ministry suspect two chemicals and cleaning agents caused the cancer. they've been studying whether the substances are carcinogenic. >> translator: we usually left the bottle of the cleaning compound open so we could use it quickly. >> translator: i remember the strong smell in the factory. >> government researchers have carried out a new investigation of printing companies nationwide.

they found 24 workers with bile duct cancer. 14 have died. earlier i spoke with nhk world's yohichi was the first to report the story. why did these stories initially attract your attention? >> this type of cancer is usually found in people over the age of 60. it carries the bile from the liver to the duodenum. when i started to investigate the printing company in osaka, i found five workers between the age of 20 and 50 had bile cancer. eventually we discovered more than 10 workers at the company had the disease. experts carried out further studies. they found the incidence of bile duct cancer at the company was more than 600 times the average among average men. >> how do scientists know the chemicals in these cleaning agents though actually harmed the workers? >> well, the chemicals are

called dichloromethane and dichloropropane. they're used in the printing industry. they're not used just in the printing industry but also used for cleaning semi-conductors, metals, and dry cleaning industry among other industries. scientists think once people inhale this chemical, the substance changes the nature of an enzyme called gst. it releases a carcinogenic substance. government scientists have yet to reach a conclusion but they say it is highly likely either one of the two chemicals or both of them are causing these bile cancer cases. >> looks like this is used in many industries. >> that's right. >> you didn't say just printing, semi-conductors and cleaning. >> yes. >> japan and many other countries have regulations to protect people from these harmful agents. how could this happen? >> right. the fact is there are too many chemicals on the market for authorities to track. these substances are everywhere.

we use 60,000 chemicals in japan alone and manufacturers add more than a thousand new substances every year. the government checks including whether something causes a cancer have been conducted on less than 1,500 of them. the united nations and international agency for cancer have not acknowledged the two chemicals in question as causing cancer. >> that's really a small number that they actually test, 1,000. >> that's right. >> out of 60,000. what can governments do better to protect people? >> they can look at the ambitious effort to look at the check call substances. they're aiming to register all chemicals in the e.u. by 2018. they want to create a unified way to track them. chemical substances have become

a part of our daily lives. we can't let them harm us so leaders in japan and elsewhere have to look to their counterparts in the e.u. to find ways to toughen up regulations. prime minister noda's plan faces two charges that can trigger a general election or kill his financial reform package. six minor political parties have -- if theyen can't defeat the motion in a vote he will have to call an election. the second challenge is happening in the upper house. minor opposition parties have submitted a censure motion against noda. members of the main opposition democratic liberal party will only vote against the motion if the prime minister promises to dissolve of the lower house soon and call a general election.

it's really the only way noda can save his financial reform package, which would raise consumption tax from 5 to 10% by 2015. he technically doesn't have to call an election until next summer. but he might be forced to do that sooner. syria's former prime minister says he's now a soldier for the revolution, the highest ranking civilian official to defect from the government of president bashar al assad. the conflict has been going on for 17 months now. hijab fled to jordan. state run television dismisses the story. it says the assad administration dismissed the prime minister. he relayed his comments through spokesman said he deflected from the killing and terrorism regime and joined the ranks of the dignity and freedom revolution, encouraging other officials to leave the government. he comes from the sunni muslim

majority. assad in his inner circle, the departure could suggest widening cracks and british human rights activists say 20,000 people have been killed. >> what has the latest defection had on the assad regime? >> that does not mean the government of al assad will soon fall. hijabis assumed his post only two months ago. and as your report mentioned, he belonged to syria's sunni muslim religious majority. assad, who is from the al alawi majority has tried to give the impression that his government

represents all groups in syria. the defection must have shocked assad quite a lot. but the prime minister did not have real power. his exit is unlikely to trigger the government's immediate collapse. yet, we need to carefully monitor further developments. >> so on what points should we focus our attention? >> there are three key points, number one, how many more government officials will defect. number two, who will succeed assad? number three, how the west and arab nations will respond. hijab released a statement denouncing the government for killing the innocent civilians and calling on other senior officials to defect. so far the west has ruled out military intervention in syria. this is working to the advantage of the government's forces.

but if more senior government officials and the military officials defect, the tide could change. yet opposition groups are still divided and lack the ability to run the country. many observers say assad is no longer a leader and feel that his government is doomed. but it is very difficult to predict how much time assad's regime has left. >> turkish officials have their own concerns about the situation in syria. they feed separatists are -- they fear they are carrying out an independent state. they've begun a new crackdown against the tpk. turkish troops deployed near the border and the military has killed 115 separatists.

the kurdish population is split between turkey and iraq and syria. turkish officials are concerned separatests may work with ethnic partners in syria. and the turkish army has deployed troops along the border. mars rover is beaming back new images from the planet. curiosity is showing scientists at the u.s. space agency what its new home is like and giving them a look how it made its way toward the martian surface. curiosity's onboard mars descent imager snapped the low resolution shots. the first image shows the heat shield falling away. the equipment protected the craft as it entered the planet's atmosphere. one picture captures the swirls of the dust the rockets kicked up as they ignited to slow the descent.

curiosity also beamed back an image of mount sharp. it looks white but they say that's because the angle of sun beams and camera, rather than proof there is ice on the planet. the space agency is expecting the curiosity rover to send back higher resolution images in the coming months. a volcano has erupted for the first time in 115 years. ash is disrupting air travel but no injuries have been reported. it is in the middle of new zealand's north island and began spewing ash 6,000 meters into the air monday night. the eruption threw volcanic rocks up to a kilometer. volcanic ash was found meters away. air flights around new zealand were delayed or canceled. officials are concerned the disruption could harm the

tourism industry. >> translator: we deeply apologize to our clients for causing this trouble. >> president told the news conference that his pay will be cut by 30% for four months. the company also plans to reduce the salaries of four other managers from 10 to 30%. he added that the firm will work hard to regain the public's confidence by tightening internal controls.

in a separate case smbc has been ordered to pay for leaking confidential information to privileged customers. the japanese government has decided to extend its low interest loan program to companies for six months. the $130 billion program was introduced last august to help japanese firms take advantage of the yen's strength and acquire foreign companies. it is set to expire at the end of september. the government has decided on the extension of the program because the yen remains so strong. >> translator: during the six-month extension i hope more japanese firms will be able to take advantage of the program and buy foreign firms. >> traders were stumped on tuesday morning when a technical glitch left them unable to buy

or sell any derivatives. the problem struck at 9:18 a.m. local time. officials found they couldn't process various financial products like futures for government bonds and also topics stocks. tse technicians took about 90 minutes to get operations back online. they say the failure was in the new system that was installed last november. they're now looking into the problem. investors were also forced to suspend trading in february when the tse database malfunctioned. new york state authorities have accused a major british bank of massive involvement in money laundering for iranian financial institutions. officials at the new york state department of financial services said monday that the new york branch of standard and charter had hidden from authorities some 60,000 illegal transactions with iranian banks this happened between 2001 and 2010. it's said to total $250 billion. the officials say the activities violate u.s. anti-money laundering laws. standard charter has until

wednesday next week to respond. the bank could lose its license in the state of new york. the charges come as the u.s. steps up its watch. they did issue a statement later on monday. it said they did not believe it represents a full and accurate picture of the facts. it added that only $14 million of such transactions failed to comply with regulations. the statement went on to say that the bank seized all new business with iranian customers over five years ago. every summer in japan brings a moment of reflection, monday, august 6th, marked the 67 anniversary of the atomic bombing of hiroshima. here we bring you part two of a series. black rain is the novel by japanese author. published around 50 years ago and has become a classic for its bold depiction of the horrors of

nuclear weapons and talked about the main character who witnessed the blinding blast. the character actually existed. chronic radiation sickened and kept him in and out of the hospital until he passed away in 1980. nhk interviewed his step son. >> reporter: he is 76 years old. he keeps his diaries at home. >> translator: all of them, what he saw and experienced. >> reporter: he recorded what happened that day august 6th

1945, and the end of the world nine days later. >> translator: a dazzling flash struck my eyes. power lines are snapped. roof tiles and wrecked houses are covering the roads. it's like a jungle. later he came to write a novel based on the diaries. he wanted more people to realize the dreadfulness of nuclear weapons. he completed it in 1965. >> translator: it's my mission to spread my late step father's impressions and feelings. it would be good if younger generations could hear what he says and pass it on to their children.

>> reporter: on this day, he takes his stepfather's message to a local junior high school. >> translator: i will have failed if people take black rain only as fiction. remember, the atomic bomb and nuclear weapon aren't just somebody else's business. i want you all to accept these issues as your own problem. >> translator: i learned war is evil. hurting so many people's bodies and souls. >> translator: i didn't know much about war, but after listening to his story, i feel a strong urge to learn more about it. >> reporter: one of the settings

for "black rain" is his hometown. more people have been visiting the town lately. that's because of new interest in the novel since the start of the fukushima nuclear disaster last year. he takes visitors to places in the story. a hill overlooking the town, a black rain monument. his wishes for peace expressed in his diary and quoted in black rain are inscribed here. >> i detest war, no matter whether we win or lose. all that matters is that it ends, even unjust peace is better than a just war.

>> translator: wanted to cry out as an atomic bomb survivor who narrowly escaped death and allowed to live. his message was, no war ever again. >> translator: this is my first time here and i learned a lot. i will discuss what i learned. >> reporter: he died before his wish could be realized. but with him taking over, and encouraging others to follow, the mission lives on. yuza oto, nhk world, hiroshima. school bullying has for some students to commit suicide. students from both countries

gathered near tokyo to discuss the issue. here's more. >> reporter: south korea's embassy in tokyo held an event 15 students each from japan and south korea took part. >> translator: bullying is a big problem around the world including in japan and south korea. >> reporter: the korean participants held a play. it was based on real case in which a student committed suicide after bullies forced their victim to give them money. the students shared their experiences. one bullying victim said she felt like everyone was saying bad things about her.

>> translator: i realized that bullying methods differ from country to country. but i don't want to ignore it. i want to do something about it. >> reporter: the students say that sharing their experiences has made them more aware that they face common problems. but that they can also find solutions together. nhk world. for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji. >> we have been monitoring a storm system that is well defined. you can see a clear eye. it will likely intensify into a typhoon and make landfall over the northern coast. which is in an around shanghai. urban flooding and coastal flooding will be the main threat due to this typhoon.

also, high waves of 6 to 9 meters high in the islands here including northwestern taiwan as well will be another threat. storm surge and high tide as well. due to the storm it looks like in the next 48 hours, the accumulation could be staggering amounts in and around shanghai will be battered with 200 millimeters or even about 300 millimeters of additional rainfall to the land where it is still saturated. this storm system is also feeding the southwestern monsoonal flow over the philippines, especially in luzon. we have a report northeast of the capital city. 475 millimeters of rainfall accumulation in the past 24 hours, really staggering amounts. drenching rainfall fell here and the floods paralyzed all of the traffic in manila city.

and it's going to be continuing here for the next couple of days, likely to be falling about -- the rain will be falling about 250 millimeters in the additional accumulation could trigger further flooding conditions as well as mudslides as well. you can see here south of hanoi, a low pressure system will be fed due to the enhanced monsoonal flow. and with that rain moving through the region, manila at 28 degrees. but again, tokyo we're looking at muggy and humid conditions. very hot to be seen on wednesday as well. moving over to the americas, we're still talking about a tropical storm here as well. it's called ernesto, likely to become a hurricane moving towards the yucatan peninsula. this is going to be bringing hefty amounts of drenching rainfall.

already soaked up the cayman islands with the storms and also waves will be high in the coastal areas. the next 48 hours we'll probably see about 150 to be generally speaking along the coastal areas, but exceeding as much as 300 millimeters. and then it will be downgrading overland moving towards the gulf of mexico, bringing hefty amounts of rain as well. temperaturewise, we're looking at phoenix, we're in 44 range. las vegas at 42. we have excessive heat warnings posted across the desert southwest. new york reaching up to 32 and washington, d.c. at 33 degrees. well above average. moving over to the european continent, the scandinavian peninsula has seen stormy weather moving towards northwestern russian region and with the sagging cold front moving across the baltic states, gusty conditions and locally heavy rainfall. gusts could reach 80 kilometers per hour. athens in the 40s and madrid at

36 for your wednesday. into the rest of the workweek, by friday and saturday, you're going to be seeing those 40 range as well. taking a look at your three-day forecast for london, you're going to be seeing a lot of sunny spells. and the temperatures in the mid-20s. here's our extended forecast.

we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

.