welcome to nhk world "newsline." people in north korea have heard the voice of their new leader for only the third time since he succeeded his late father in december 2011. state-run television broadcast a speech criticizing military drills being held by south korea and the united states. >> kim warned that if a single shell is fired into north korean territory, its military is ready

to wage an all-out counteroffensive. political analysts say the speech is an effort to strengthen unity and demonstrate kim's leadership at home and abroad. police and firefighters in south korea are trying to find out what sparked a fire in a subway train. the fire sent about 40 people to the hospital. the subway system started as the train was approaching a station. the subway system operator let the train enter, then about 100 passengers got out. many of them received treatment for smoke inhalation. the operator reported sparks coming from an electric rod that provides power. rescue crews say they put out the fire in 20 minutes. a new u.s. poll suggests republican challenger mitt romney has a slight lead over president barack obama. abc news and "washington post" surveyed registered voters ahead of the republican national convention.

47% of respondents supported romney. 46% favored obama. this is the first time in five months that romney has polled ahead. romney secured the nomination in april. his support rate was unaffected by his selecting paul ryan as his running mate earlier this month. abc news says uncertainty over the u.s. economy is working against obama. the jobless rate remains above 8%, and gasoline prices are rising. the japanese government has turned down a request by the tokyo metropolitan government for permission to land on the senkaku islands. tokyo's governor is considering purchasing the privately owned uninhabited islands in the east china sea. china and taiwan also claim the territories. chief cabinet secretary fujimora said the government's policy allows personnel to land on the senkakus. >> translator: the government concluded that landing on the

islands goes against policy and negatively affects their peaceful and stable management. >> representatives of tokyo's government plan to conduct a survey on board a ship as soon as this week. they want to assess the island's property value. the embassy says ambassador yuchiro niwa was not hurt. the embassy said niwa was in a car traveling on the highway in the chinese capital. it said a man got out of one of the vehicles and stole a japanese flag attached to the ambassador's car. the embassy is investigating the attack. the japanese embassy was -- has lodged a strong protest with the chinese foreign ministry. officials with the chinese foreign ministry say they sincerely regret that the incident occurred. south korea's ambassador to

japan and the governor of nagasaki say they'll work toward more neighborly relations. those ties have cooled in a dispute over the islands in the sea of japan. the japanese call them takeshima. ambassador shin guk-su met with governor nakamura. shin had been scheduled to attend a japanese/south korea forum this week. organizers suspend the event after lee myung-bak visited the islands earlier this month. nakamura called the tensions regrettable. he noted the close ties between nagasaki and soulths korea and said he hopes to rebuild them through tourism and cultural xarchlgs. shin said many south koreans visited nagasaki. he agreed such visits could help mend relations. >> this is a difficult period in our ties with japan, but i think it's important to continue promoting friendly relations.

>> reporters asked shin about the dispute. he didn't comment. a court ruling sent shares of samsung electronics tumbling on the south korean stock exchange. they were down 8% at one point. samsung's stock price started falling right from the open. it closed 7.4% lower from friday. the decline came after a california court ruled last friday that samsung infringed on apple's patents on the designs of the iphone and ipad. it ared the south korean firm to pay more than $1 billion in damages. south korean market sources say investors were afraid sales of some of the samsung's products may be banned from the u.s. market, but they predict the impact of the decision on earnings will be limited, and they say investors don't expect samsung shares to fall further.

japanese university graduates are having a hard time trying to land a good job. a government survey shows more than 1 out of 5 fresh graduates didn't find full-time work. the education ministry survey shows that 357,000 out of a total of some 559,000 graduates found jobs this spring. the rate of employment was 63.9%, up 2.3 percentage points from last year. but the data also show that some 22,000 students who have found jobs are nonregular employees. also about 19,600 are part-time workers and more than 49,400 are still looking for work. when those students who are not trying to find work or are not in grad school are included, about 128,000 students or 22.9% find themselves in a tough job situation. workers at a plant belonging to an indian subsidiary of suzuki motors are making vehicles again.

maruti suzuki shut down production last month after a riot. >> translator: it's difficult to know when we'll be back to full production. i think we'll have a better idea about half a month from now. >> suzuki said the plant has only reached about 5% of capacity. he isn't sure when production will return to normal. suzuki said it's still not clear what caused the riot. he urged police to conduct a thorough investigation of union leaders. maruti suzuki shut down the plant in the northern state of hariyana after a labor dispute escalated into a riot. one employee was killed. sales at regular and fast food restaurants were down. many stayed home to watch the london olympic games. the japan food services association says sales at 213 restaurant chains fell 1.7% last month from a year earlier.

that was the first decline in two months. family restaurants reported a 1.2% drop and fast food restaurants a fall of 1.1%. cold beverages didn't sell well due to cool weather in the first half of july. sales at pubs and bars were also hurt by the london olympics. they declined 7.1%. greek leaders are trying to restructure their economy to win more bailout money. tourism accounts for about 15% of gross domestic product, but many tourists are staying away despite the fact that summer is peak season. nhk world's asura kudo shows us why. >> reporter: the summer vacation season is full swing in athens. famous tourist spots are open as usual, but this year the number of foreign visitors has dropped sharply. >> translator: i was expecting to see more tourists, but it's quieter than i thought.

i don't see many people walking around. >> reporter: the main reason is big demonstrations the greek people held to protest austerity measures. although people are not taking to the streets now, foreigners are still worried about security. the number of foreign visitors to greece is expected to fall by about 500,000 this year. tourism is no longer the economic engine it once was. some souvenir shops are starting to close. >> translator: we had fewer customers this year. sales are down 30% to 40% from last year. most stores are having difficult times. >> reporter: popular cruises to the agean sea islands are also

badly affected. fares have gone up as the government has raised the fuel taxes as part of its austerity drive. a trip from athens to the popular resort island now costs about $80. that's up more than 40% from last year. the beaches are normally packed, but not this year. local hotels are facing the same situation. constantino who manages one of the island's hotels slashed the room charges by 40%. but even such a bold step didn't help. just 6 of the 20 rooms were reserved on this day. >> translator: it's impossible to keep our place open anymore. i don't want to do this, but i

think we have to let our six employees go. >> reporter: he decided to close down the hotel in october. greece once had around 10,000 hotels, but since last year, more than 600 of them have been shut down or have been put on the market. the country's tourism organization is clearly alarmed. >> translator: the important thing is what the tourists think of greece. tourism should improve next year if the government projects a positive image for the country. >> reporter: the greek government is considering giving tax breaks and taking other steps to support the tourism industry, but that may be a tall order. after all, greece is barely

managing to make ends meet with a financial lifeline from the eu and the imf. observers say failure to support a key industry may push the country deeper into the financial quagmire. yasushi kudo, nhk world, athens. here are the latest market figures. doctors seeking to abolish nuclear weapons ended a three-day convention in hiroshima on sunday. they discussed thou pass on to

future generations the experiences of atomic bombings. some have very personal reasons. nhk world reports. >> reporter: the doctors call themselves international physicians for the prevention of nuclear war. they hold their congress every two years. they chose hiroshima as a host city to remind the world of the nuclear bombing there. the ippnw's theme this year is "from hiroshima to future generations." by choosing that topic the organizers wanted to stress the number of doctors that survived the blast and who can pass on their experiences is declining because of aging. one of the major events this time was a symposium of physicians of second generation atomic bomb survivors.

this doctor came from brazil. his father is an atomic bomb survivor. or hibaksha, as they are called in japanese. >> translator: i'd like to report on my father's experience and to explain how the atomic bombings are perceived in brazil. >> reporter: his father was 16 years old when he was exposed to radiation while on a rescue mission to nagasaki. habakusha is aging. so maybe 10, 20 years, we will not be able to hear from them story about the terrible effect of the bomb. we have to do something to keep the memory about the horror of the atomic bomb. >> reporter: some members of the audience were moved by this testimony from abroad.

>> i think his work is very important. i was very glad to hear about that. >> reporter: he's determined to continue speaking about the experience of his father and other survivors in brazil. >> translator: i think brazilians don't fully understand the implications of the atomic bombings and exposure to radiation. i feel it's my responsibility to convey what happened at hiroshima and nagasaki. >> reporter: sameshima hopes that other people like him will take over from their parents and promote the cause of nuclear disarmament. shoko koyama, nhk world, hiroshima. thousands of japanese died in what's now north korea at the

end of world war ii. some of their countrymen want to bring home their remains. so a group is heading to north korea to find out where they're buried. the group lived on the korean peninsula during the war. japanese officials don't usually allow citizens to travel to north korea because of sanctions. they gave this group permission on humanitarian grounds. the japanese will visit chongjin in the northeast and cemeteries near pyongyang. about 35,000 japanese died in what's now north korea around the end of the war. the remains of more than 20,000 are still there. japanese and north korean officials will discuss what to do about the remains later this week. they'll hold the first intergovernmental talks in four years. thousands of children were in the area at the time of the nuclear disaster at fukushima daiichi. the japanese government wants to find out how they were affected. it will conduct thyroid tests on children outside the prefecture. it will compare the results to

tests already under way in fukushima. health care professionals discovered lumps in the thyroid glands of 1 in 3 children in the prefecture. radioactive ioh, dine released from fukushima daiichi can ac m accumulate in the glands of children and raise their risk of developing cancer. so health care professionals are testing all children aged 18 or younger. they had checked 38,000 of them by the end of march. they didn't diagnose anyone with cancer, but they found lumps in the thyroid grands of 36% of those tested. prefectural officials explain that lumps can be found in healthy children. still, parents were concerned. thyroid checks will now be conducted on 4,500 children in three areas outside fukushima. researchers will compare the data with the results from fukushima. residents of various evacuated after the disaster are trying rebuild their lives. now the government has come up with a road map for reviving

evacuation zones. parts of 12 municipalities come under the plan. government officials want to finish decontaminating and restoring utilities in the next two years in areas where evacuation orders have been lifted. they plan to create jobs for residents decontaminating and decommissioning the reactors. the road map says the government will take responsibility for promoting nuclear energy and the government commits to seeing the plan through to the end. the road map promises restoration of transportation infrastructure and industry within the next five years. government officials plan to launch new industries with a focus on renewable energy and medical equipment. they hope to attract young people to the area. many people are still replaying their favorite moments from the london olympics, but

people in brazil are already thinking ahead to four years from now. rio de janeiro will host the next summer games. organizers have high expectations for the first olympics in south america, but they're running into a host of nhk world tells us more. >> reporter: the olympic flag arrived earlier this month in the city of rio de janeiro. >> translator: i'm very proud that our city will host the next olympic games. >> hello, everybody. >> hello, teacher. >> reporter: children of this public elementary school are learning english. their teachers want them to be able to communicate with visitors from abroad. >> a chicken. >> a chicken.

>> welcome brazil. >> reporter: people in this soccer-loving nation are also warming up to a new sport, rugby 7s. the discipline will make its debut at the 2016 olympics. >> translator: i love rugby. it's exciting and gives me an adrenaline rush. >> reporter: diego lopez teaches rugby to children. he's represented brazil during the pan-american championship. he says his efforts are not only about developing a new generation of athletes.

>> translator: i want rugby to help make children's lives better. nothing would make me happier. >> reporter: many brazilians hope the olympics will provide an opportunity to enhance their living environment starting with rio's infrastructure. the country has grown into the world's fourth largest market for automobiles. the avenues of brazil's second largest city can't keep up with the traffic. the mountainous terrain where houses are built close together makes it difficult to open additional roads. >> translator: the government needs to do something before the olympics, otherwise, there will be a lot of confusion.

>> reporter: authorities have responded with plans for a new subway system. a 16-kilometer line is set to link central rio with olympic venues in the suburbs. rio's authorities face another major challenge in maintaining law and order. last year 60,000 violent crimes were reported in the city. the drug cartels control hundreds of slum districts. police forces are struggling to bring the situation under control. >> translator: the road ahead will be a bumpy one, but rio will continue to change as we prepare for the olympics. >> reporter: members of the international olympic committee visited rio in june.

they said the city needs to speed up its preparations, but some observers say rio de janeiro could run out of money before all projects are complete. now it's up to the organizers to answer the public's high expectations. ayako sasa, nhk world, rio de janeiro. clear and hot here in tokyo, but people in the southern prefecture of okinawa are dealing with the aftermath of a typhoon. robert speta has the details. >> across much of okinawa, still feeling the effects of the storm as it continues to push off toward the northwest. a lot of these outer rain bands are continuing to bring heavy rain showers. upwards of 200 to 250 millimeters still can be expected here. even in the southern portions of kagoshima prefecture, you've been seeing heavy rain. upwards of 433 millimeters of max rainfall has been recorded in the past 24 hours. even some wind gusts upwards of

159 kilometers per hour has also been recorded here. now conditions are gradually starting to improve. you'll still be seeing these high waves well, up to 5 to 10 meters throughout monday going into tuesday morning as well. but on tuesday, all this rough weather really is going to be shifting here towards the koreas. seoul, you'll see this rainfall kick up into the morning hours. expect that to linger throughout the rest of your evening as the storm does move onshore here. by tuesday afternoon into the evening hours, just towards the north of seoul in the north korea, before moving across here, about 2 1/2 centimeters of rainfall really is going to be expected. flooding and landslides will be high at risk. not only here across the koreas, though. down there towards china, eastern china, shanghai. you'll be expecting localized urban flooding and then into taiwan. all tow to tembin here as well. that storm is moving over taiwan. really the storm has been rather erratic. did move across taiwan last week. then stalled out here. made basically a u-turn. now it's getting pulled off toward bolaven and making a

second landfall. some additional rain on this already saturated ground. very steep terrain as well. really going to be bringing that threat of landslides after that storm does move over land. so definitely going to be watching this storm. it's still developing even though it has been going on for quite some time now. just south of that, though, across the philippines, that enhance of the southwest monsoon from the storms off to the north is kicking off strong thunderstorms. localized flooding in some of these metropolitan areas. look at manila, high of 30. that daytime heating going to be kicking up those thunderstorms as well. shanghai, 33. also same temperature there in tokyo here on your tuesday. now over towards the americas, tropical storm isaac really has been the topic here. did cause some deaths out here in haiti last week. now it's moving off towards the gulf of mexico. tornado watches are actually in effect across much of florida due to these outer rain bands. see the higher cloud taps on the map. really setting its eyes in on the gulf states.

look at these. hurricane warnings already in effect across louisiana over towards mississippi. even some evacuation orders already been in place here across southern louisiana. and these very low lying areas. a very shallow slope leading up to these coastlines here. what that means is that a storm surge is really high at risk. you remember seven years ago, this week, hurricane katrina made landfall and that just goes to show how prone this region is to storm surge and the effects of tropical systems. this is not going to be as strong as that storm but really that storm surge could be kicking up and also the heavy rainfall. 400 millimeters or more could be seen here across louisiana toward mississippi in the right front quadrant of the system. toward the north, a cold front moving across the ohio river valley bringing heavy rainfall here. i want to talk about the temperatures further west. a cold front moving across the northwest. dropping down the temperatures. vancouver and seattle into the 20s, but below freezing temperatures are going to be expected here across the cascades into your overnight

hours. on towards the central portions of the u.s. oklahoma city, 32. houston 35. here's a look at your extended outlook. we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us at nhk world, thanks for joining us.