. they designated february 22nd as takashima day eight years ago the they incorporated that date in 1905. south korean citizens marked february 22nd, too, with a demonstration. they protested against the ceremony outside the japanese

embassy in seoul. south korean officials launched a protest through diplomatic channels. >> translator: it's regrettable that they sent an official to attend such an unjustifiable event. we strongly protest the act. >> a short time later the cabinet secretary rejected it. >> translator: we replied that we cannot accept the protest. based on the japanese government stance regarding the takashima issue. >> the islands are in the waters between japan and south korea. the question of who owns them has long divided the nation.

officials in tokyo say they established sovereignty by the mid 17th century. they maintain japan seized them during the colonial rule of the korean peninsula. officials in seoul say the islands were restored as korean territory after their country regained independence following world war ii. guards have been stationed on the islands since the 1950s. jap niz leaders consider it illegal occupation. the outgoing secretary visited the island in august. people in japan protested. japanese leaders want to take the case to the international court of justice. but south korean leaders repeatedly refused to make a joint submission. cooperation between the two nations is increasingly important as authorities

continue to carry out or threaten provocative acts. abe is sending deputy prime minister aso to seoul as part of his efforts to rebuild ties. aso will be there on monday to attend president-elect park's inauguration. the international atomic energy agency is expressing grave concern that iran could be pushing ahead with a development of a nuclear weapon. the agency says that 180 of the so-called ir-2m centrifuges have been installed in natanz in central iran. they are capable of enriching uranium three times faster than other devices iran is using. the nuclear watchdog says that iran has so far refined 280 kilograms of uranium to a fissile purity of 20%. the iaea reports that 167 kilograms of the uranium could be used to develop nuclear

weapons if iran has the technology to enrich it to more than 90% purity. this new assessment is likely to intensify criticism of iran among western nations. representatives of five permanent u.n. security council member nations and germany are due to hold talks with iran next week in kazakhstan concerning its nuclear program. researchers in japan report a significant discovery in the fight against alzheimer's disease. they say they've identified part of the mechanism behind the pathology. the scientists used induced stem cells also known as ips cells that can be programmed to develop into any type of cell. associate professor haruhisa inoue leads the project at kyoto university for cell research and application. his team reprogrammed cells taken from four alzheimer's

patients. they turned them into ips cells to produce brain nerve cells. the researchers identified an abnormal protein that accumulates inside the cells. this protein is called amyloid-beta. it kills nerve cells by preventing the formation of other proteins. scientists have long suspected amyloid-beta of causing alzheimer's disease. the group says ips cell technology has allowed them to discover for the first time how this protein works. >> translator: we believe it might become possible to produce ips cells from a patient and check them for abnormalities before the onset of the disease. >> inoue says the findings will help the prevention and treatment of alzheimer's. he expects them to play a role in the development of new drugs. the european commission says the eurozone economy will contract for the second straight year in 2013.

the commission says it expects gross domestic product to shrink 0.3% in the 17-nation eurozone from last year that compares with the previous forecast of 0.1% growth. tight lending conditions, job cuts, and sluggish investment are dragging the recovery. but it's projecting 1.4% growth for 2014. the commission says leading indicators suggest that the region's economy is bottoming out and economic activity is expected to gradually pick up. it may look like a wrist watch, but it's a computer. i.t. giant apple has filed a patent application for a computer that people can wear like a watch. the u.s. patent and trademark office disclosed the patent filing on thursday. the computer has a flexible touch panel display, censors inside detect a change in the state of substrates and automatically adjust the user interface to a new position.

the computer wirelessly connects with other portable devices like smartphones. there are rumors that apple is developing a wearable computer. google has also been developing a computer that looks like a pair of eyeglasses. competition in the emerging field of wearable computers is expected to further intensify. new home prices rose in major cities in china last month despite the efforts to reign in speculative activity. officials will expand a pilot property tax program and other measures to curb the price hike. new housing prices rose in january in 53 cities. prices soared 2% or more in the industrial hubs of schennzhen.

they went up 1.6% in beijing and 1.1% in wuhan. officials say they will expand taxation on real estate from shanghai to other cities. they say the measure is it to prevent public criticism linked to unaffordable property prices. they also plan to define maximum limits for price fluctuations in beijing and other big cities. authorities in china and japan have been at odds for months over a territorial dispute. but another crisis is prompting them to work together. record levels of air pollution in china have been traveling east spreading fine particles over western japan. officials from both sides have met in beijing to discuss a common response to the issue. a working level meeting took place on friday, following a request from japanese authorities. chinese officials said they introduced emission standard for pm 2.5, the airborne particle

mainly responsible for the pollution. they also announced the creation of a nationwide network to monitor air quality. the delegates said after the meeting that beijing and tokyo have been cooperating for more than 20 years and this has allowed them to develop experience and mutual trust. it's been almost two years since the disaster in fukushima. the accident at the daiichi power plant caused many to question the safety of atomic energy. it also drew attention to another complex issue, how to dispose of nuclear waste? >> reporter: the fukushima plant suffered a string of meltdowns and hydrogen explosions. workers struggled to keep reactors cool after the tsunami knocked out the electricity supply. but that wasn't the only problem. right next to the reactors are

pools that store spent nuclear fuel. the pools started to heat up after the power went down. emergency crews had to pump in water to avoid a worst-case scenario, a meltdown of the fuel rods. thousands of rods stored at the fukushima daiichi plant and thousands more around the country. they are the byproduct of half a century of atomic power generation and it keeps piling up. >> japan has 17,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel that needs to be disposed. nhk world has been covering nuclear energy issues. he says developing suitable technology is not the only challenge. >> japan's original plan was to recycle nuclear fuel, but technical problems have brought the project to a standstill. the processing plant has never gone into operation. nuclear waste remains toxic for

tens of thousands of years, keeping people and the environment safe for this length of time is a huge challenge. one idea is to bury the waste deep underground. japan's government has backed this solution, as have many other countries. they say they have the technology to do this safely. japan's plan for underground burial has been on the drawing board for more than a decade. it would start by separating the waste into cylinders. the cylinders, 1.3 meters high and 70 centimeters in diameter, will be encased in concrete.

the plan is to bury them 300 meters below the surface. they would be housed in a huge repository the size of about 200 soccer stadiums. the problem is where to bury. local authorities would have to give their permission. efforts to find a site began in the year 2000. the government had hoped stronger incentives would encourage bids to host the facility. it has offered up to 2 billion yen in subsidies to any region that applies. but 11 years after launching the

bidding process, not a single candidate has emerged. it's a similar story in many other parts of the world. 30 countries in the world region have nuclear plants. only two have decided where to build a long-term disposal site. they are finland and sweden. the united states has the largest number of reactors. the obama administration introduced a new disposal plant in january. but it won't be implemented until 2048. 35 years from now. finding a place to safely store nuclear waste was never going to be easy. the accident at fukushima has made it that much harder. this issue goes beyond whether

japan should abolish nuclear energy. whatever the decision, this country and others have to deal with enormous amounts of waste and will have to do so for many years to come. >> that was nhk world's youchiro osaki. pakistan is facing an energy shortage and partnering with iran in hoping of finding a solution. we're following the story from bangkok. pakistan is cooperating with iran to import natural gas from the country. the pakistani government again pledged commitment to the project on thursday. but the announcement raises questions of the plant's impact on relations with the u.s. nhk world reports from islamabad. >> reporter: the pakistani government plans to build a pipeline in iran.

construction is already under way on the iranian side of the border. the united states strongly opposes the project, saying it would benefit iran. the u.s. has denounced iran's nuclear development program. washington has urged islamabad to scrap the plan. a spokesperson for the pakistani foreign ministry stresses the country's position to push the project forward. >> we know that americans have reservation. pakistan being enormously energy deficit country, it is in our national interest to have this project and we are committed to have this project. >> reporter: natural gas powers more than 50% of automobiles in pakistan. new domestic gas fields are part of the government's energy

policy centering on the resource. but it is difficult to meet the high demand. groups have destroyed pipelines and chronic financial difficulties have hampered development. gas shortages have significantly disrupted people's lives in the past year and public frustration is mounting. with the general election expected as early as may, the government is hard pressed to fix the problem. amid these difficulties, iran has offered a financial support for the project. this helped pave the way for islamabad to go ahead with plan. u.s./pakistan relations have

grown strained in recent years. the u.s. military launched a unilateral operation to kill al qaeda leader osama bin laden on pakistani soil. u.s. drone air strikes on terrorists in the country have killed pakistani citizens. the prime minister's government is putting high hopes on a partnership with iran as a quick solution to its energy crisis but the move is likely to further jeopardize relations with the u.s. nhk world, islamabad. sunday night is oscar night in los angeles. and film fans in afghanistan have an extra reason to pay attention this year. a short movie made in the country has been nominated for an academy award. that means one young boy from the streets of kabul will soon find himself walking instead down a red carpet in hollywood.

nhk world has his story. >> reporter: buzkashi is this country's sport. "buzkashi boys" tells the story of children who long to compete. but without money to buy a horse, they can't even practice. the film highlights harsh realities faced by many children in afghanistan, poverty prevents them from achieving their dreams.

one of the main characters is played by this 14-year-old. in real life he is a street vendor. his father passed away when he was a child. the boy is on the street selling chewing gum and mops since he was 6 years old. he dreamed of becoming a pilot but it was hard enough to make a living, let alone think about going to school. >> translator: i don't want to give up my dream to become a pilot. i want to get many afghan people

on a plane and take them to countries far away to see difficult cultures. >> reporter: it's been 11 years since the u.s.-led military intervention in afghanistan began. financial aid from the international community has helped improve daily life for some afghans. people living here can shop just for pleasure. but he still lives in poverty. less than half the children in the country go to school. in kabul, as many as 40,000 children are said to make money washing cars or selling goods on the street. they use what they earn to buy daily necessities. fawad was one of them until his life took a turn. he caught the eye of this american director trying to shoot the film of the pride of afghan children. fawad was offered a major role. >> as soon as he saw him, he realized he wanted to use fawad.

he has captivating green eyes and we wanted to show the daily life of what afghanistan is like for most kids. >> reporter: the movie has received praise for its depiction of life in afghanistan. at the academy awards it's nominated for best live action shot. >> translator: before doing the movie, i never thought it was possible to make my dream come true. but now i'm thinking there may be a chance. >> reporter: even after the success of the film, it's not hollywood that fawad thinks about. he still sells goods on the streets of kabul to save as much money as he can, hoping that one day his dream of flying around the world as a pilot will come true. nhk world, kabul.

>> fawad is now in the united states. he's been invited to attend the academy awards on sunday. that wraps it up for us here in bangkok. i'm patchari raksawong. a tropical storm is currently bringing flooding rains across southeast asia. robert speta joins us with the details. robert? >> yes, gene. we have been continuing to watch this storm system out in the southern parts of madagascar. we're talking about these rains which just had been pummeling the area and it looks like in the next 72 hours you could be seeing 2 centimeters or month in a few areas here. definitely the risk of flooding, look north, mozambique, northern madagascar, you're getting hit by dangerous floods the last several weeks. this will impact you, definite serious situation to watch here throughout the next several

days. in the southern hemisphere it's tropical season at least at this time. take a look at this, into southeastern china, the middle of february you typically don't expect to see tropical storms. we have this one. this is tropical storm sonson. actually center of circulation is well removed from the max amount of rainfall and precipitation here. it's actually out here towards vietnam, all this being blown towards the west due to strong vertical wind shear. further off towards the west, eventually into the border of thailand and malaysia, you'll be getting in the mix of this as well. take a look over to this area. more rainfall will be hitting your area throughout the next several days, increasing the risk of further flooding. over towards the americas, switching gears here, we're talking about the tropics here. this is a classic case of a severe winter storm.

the air stagnant and risk of pollution to hazardous levels. and toward the americas, really the big topic is this. that massive, comma-shaped cloud. this is expected to split into two separate systems. this will continue to affect the great lakes with snowfall across much of the area. 15 to 20 centimeters it pushes overhead and enhanced by lake-effect. mixing rain and snow here and even freezing rain and drizzle across virginia. definitely the risk of power outages. the south, cold air, and you start to realize that is a recipe for rough to severe weather. and already tornadoes reported in mississippi, and squall line will continue to push off toward the east and affect you toward georgia and south carolina and not to mention as that front lingers and redevelops, it

brings in heavy rainfall and risk of flooding. here in europe, the british isles, cold air and temperatures around london and paris, lingering around 20. you have to go farther to the south for active weather. several systems pushing across the mediterranean and bringing storms along the coastline, farther toward the north to the alps. heavy snowfall expected in austria and hungary. the cold air filters toward the south. london, paris, freezing mark, madrid, you will see temperatures fall down. farther toward the north and east on the cold side, moscow, minus 5 on saturday. that's a look at world weather. here is a look at the extended forecast.

we're back in 30 minutes with more on the latest. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us. have a great day wherever you are.