tv Newsline 30min KCSMMHZ April 22, 2013 6:00am-6:30am PDT
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u.s. and south korean military forces give the media access to their joint drills. the exercises prompted the latest round of provocations from north korea. south korea's top diplomat has canceled a trip to tokyo. his aides said he was upset that japanese government leaders visited a shrine seen as a symbol of japan's past militarism. and the woman known as the girl in the picture comes to tokyo to tell her story. she uses her experience in the
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vietnam war in her campaign for peace. welcome to nhk world "newsline." u.s. and south korean troops have been carrying out exercises after exercise since the beginning of last month to prepare for any future conflict. the annual drills have angered north korea. now the media are getting an inside look at the operation which is called "full eagle." the troops showed part of an exercise to journalists in the southeastern city of qohang. about 2,000 personnel unloaded military supplies for ground combat troops from ships anchored nearby. they're preparing for the possibility that an enemy attack would destroy ports. the u.s. and south korea plan to continue to do the annual drills until the end of this month. north korean leaders said last week they would agree to dialogue with the countries if they suspended the drills. south korean officials are still concerned about a possible missile launch by pyongyang.
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>> translator: north korea doesn't appear to have removed its ballistic missiles from the sea of japan coast. >> analysts say the u.s. and south korea opened the exercise to the media apparently to show they will not tolerate north korea's provocative words and actions. the latest action involves the north's nuclear program. authorities in pyongyang held a special cabinet meeting on the matter. they confirmed the government's policy in speeding up nuclear development. state-run media say prime minister pac pun-ju and officials from local governments attended the meeting. they backed plans to dig for more uranium which could be used to produce nuclear weapons. some experts believe the country has reserves of as much as 4 million tons of the material. prime minister park and the other officials agreed to prioritize getting the equipment
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and material necessary to restart a nuclear test reactor. north korean crews disabled the unit five years ago as part of an international deal. the government is also planning to build new reactors. leader kim jong-un said last month his country will increase development in this area. this administration established a nuclear ministry in line with this policy. japanese diplomats have been working with their counterparts from south korea and china to deal with threats from north korea. but territorial disputes and historical issues are getting in the way. south korea's foreign minister canceled a trip to tokyo after japanese cabinet ministers visited a shrine honoring japan's war dead. he wanted to discuss the north korean issue and lay the groundwork for an annual three-country summit. but over the weekend the japanese cabinet ministers paid separate visits to the shrine for its spring festival. prime minister shinzo abe sent an offering. the shrine in tokyo honors japan's war dead including some
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who are convicted of war crimes. officials with the south korean foreign ministry expressed deep concern and regret in a statement. they urged the japanese government to correctly recognize history and take responsible action. japan's chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga says the ministers visited the shrine as private citizens. >> translator: every country has a different position. it should not affect bilateral diplomacy. >> as japanese politicians work on relations with south korea, a separate effort to smooth things over with china has hit a snag. a group of lawmakers has canceled a visit to beijing after a request to meet chinese leaders was refused. the vice president of the ruling liberal democratic party was going to lead the mission next week. he is a leader of the bipartisan group that promotes japan/china friendship.
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the delegates wanted to meet xi jinping and the premier li keqiang, but chinese officials say the leaders are too busy dealing with domestic affairs. the japanese lawmakers say friction over the senkaku islands could have played a role. japan controls the islands in the east china sea, but china and taiwan claim them. survivors of an earthquake in china say they are being forced to stay outdoors without shelter. a magnitude 7 quake struck the inland province of sichuan on saturday, but rescue crews have been struggling to get to those who need their help. chinese authorities say the epicenter was in the north. 188 people were killed, 225 missing and more than 11,000 are hurt. aid workers have been frustrated in their efforts to get to the area. landslides have blocked roads, and those that are open are narrow.
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travelers using a german airline lufhhansa have had a bad week. they were forced to cancel most of their flights on monday. service personnel walked off the job in the the early hours of the day. their union failed to reach an agreement during a meeting with management. lufthansa canceled nearly all their flights that day. they say differences with management are great, and they will maintain a strike all day. the emergence of smaller trade unions have resulted in strikes at airports in germany. japan's two biggest airlines are working hard to get their troubled 787 dreamliners back in the air. that's after u.s. aviation authorities approved boeing's redesign of the jet's faulty battery system. authorities grounded 787s
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worldwide in january after a series of battery problems. al nippon airways is now working to repair five of its 17 dreamliners. while japan airlines is applying to fix -- to the fix to two of its seven units. airline officials say they need about five days to repair one aircraft. that means a month to fix japan's entire fleet. japan's transport ministry officials say they may give the go-ahead this week for the airlines to resume flying their dreamliners. the jets could be back in the air as early as june. officials at one of japan's biggest heavy industry firms are looking for ways to stay internationally competitive. they're reportedly discussing a merger with a ship builder. sources say kawasaki heavy industries and mitsui are in talks to integrate their businesses. between them the companies made
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more than $18 billion in sales as of fiscal 2011. a merger would create japan's second biggest heavy machinery company after mitsubishi heavy industries. the talks are an indication of how tough competition in ship building has become. orders received before the 2008 global financial crisis have mostly been met. new orders are scarce due to a glut of vessels. kawasaki and mitsui hope it will help them remain globally competitive in ship building as well as other sectors such as aerospace and marine energy development. sources say both companies harbor skeptics who are wary of the plan. company officials have yet to hammer out the details of the deal which would include the merger ratio and the new management structure. japan's supermarket sales increased in march for the first time in 13 months. the japan chain stores association says sales totaled about $10.5 billion last month, up 1.7% from a year earlier. association officials say sales of spring clothes rose due to warm weather.
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they also point to strong demand for air purifiers and masks because of concerns about the spread of air pollution from china. but officials note that food stuff sales that account for a large portion of overall sales continued to fall. they aren't sure if sales will recover any time soon. noting consumers are still cutting back on spending. meanwhile, the japan franchise association says march convenience store sales came to about $7 billion, down 0.4%, that's the tenth straight month of declines. u.s. investigators hav here are the latest market figures.
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reuter blames enmys of the country saying their aim is to stop girls from going to school. i'm seriously asking officials if they really want to put a stop to such attacks so that our children may live in peace and get an education. >> it happened three days after more than a dozen students fell ill at another girls school. investigators had four attacked in may and june last year. it's a hot bed for militants such as the taliban. girls were allowed to return to school. some others fear equal education gains could be lost once international forces pull out of the country. u.s. investigators have started interrogating the surviving suspect in the boston marathon bombings even though he can't
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talk. dzhokhar tsarnaev injured his throat last friday following gunfights with police. u.s. media reports that tsarnaev is unable to speak to police are telling the 19-year-old to respond to their questions in writing. his 26-year-old brother tamerlan tsarnaev died in a standoff with law enforcement officers. their ethnic chechens from the north caucasus region of southern russia. investigators have revealed the suspects were heavily armed. an automatic weapon, two handguns and 250 rounds of ammunition. the brothers threw explosives at police during the standoff. authorities say the men may have been planning more attacks in other places. they say they will question dzhokhar tsarnaev to try to determine the motive for the marathon bombings which killed three people and wounded more than 170 others. they also want to know if the men had any accomplices.
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the boston marathon bombings have forced race organizers around the world to rethink security measures. japan is said to be relatively safe from terrorist attacks. but last weekend, marathon events were held across the country amid tight security. a counterterrorism expert says the risk of a copycat attack is still high. nhk world has more. >> reporter: people running this small race in western japan have noticed something strange from last year. >> translator: i'm worried, but i want to believe it's safe. >> translator: if all events get canceled, it will be like we've lost to the terrorists. >> reporter: running is becoming more popular in japan. municipalities and community groups are planning marathons. counterterrorism expert isao itabashi say international events like the boston marathon
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is the most difficult kind of venue for the organizer to secure its safety. he says it's almost impossible to monitor the entire 40 kilometer route. >> translator: the police had little chance of detecting the attacks, as the perpetrators made the bombs themselves. that's the limitation of current counterterrorism. ♪ >> reporter: spring break in japan starts this weekend. people will be out at festivals and events across the nation. itabashi said organizers must be extra cautious and seek more cooperation from citizens to spot suspicious people and objects at event sites. >> translator: the likelihood of a copycat crime is high.
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officials and organizers should reconsider their damage control measures. >> reporter: he says event workers should be better trained in responding to attacks. the impact of the attacks in boston has spread beyond u.s. borders. runners in london competed on sunday under tight security. authorities in japan will stay vigilant to protect the public from terrorism. nhk world, tokyo. thousands of residents are still waiting to go home. vast tracks of land still waiting to be restored, and more of the fishing ports on the coast must be rebuilt.
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people in northeastern japan still face challenges, but step by step, they're still moving forward. engineered halted cooling of a spent fuel rod pool at the fukushima daiichi plant. a rat caused a temporary power failier at three of the power reactors after making it's way into the complexes electrical slip board. they found two dead rats in the free standing transformer on monday. the cooling system was then suspended for almost four hours. plant officials say the temperature in the pool went up only minimally, and remained well within safety limits. they set up defenses for the
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power failure last month. in the long term, fukushima daiichi will need to be decommissioned. executives say the process could take 30 to 40 years. but experts from the international atomic energy agency say setting a time frame will be tough. >> it will be near impossible to ensure the time for the commissioning. because you have to adopt a very cautious position to ensure that you always are working on the safe side. >> the iaea experts have ended an eight-day review of the efforts to decommission the damaged plant. they visited the site and interviewed officials from the government and tokyo electric. the experts urged company executives to do a better job managing the buildup of radioactive water at the
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facility. they also want tepco to explain the impact the water is having on the environment around the plant. iaea representatives say they will submit their final report on the decommissioning plans within one month. millions of people around the world remember the worst time of kim's life. the pulitzer prize winning picture of her running in pain following napalm bombing in vietnam is considered an image that conveys the atrocity of war. she continues to tell her story to push for peace. nhk world went to hear her speak in tokyo. >> reporter: kim has spent years talking about a moment of her life that is one of the enduring memories of the vietnam war. >> that day changed my life forever.
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>> reporter: it was june 8th, 1972. kim phuc was 9 years old, naked, and running down a road in southern vietnam. she'd been burned by napalm bombs. >> my clothes were burnt off. and my skin was on fire. and someone began screaming. too hot, too hot. >> reporter: the associated press picture captured worldwide attention. some say it helped end the vietnam war. the bombing and the photograph changed kim's life.
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>> the officer would come and pick me up from my school to do a lot of interviews with the foreign press. >> reporter: after the war, the communist government used her as part of its campaign to paint the u.s. and south vietnam forces as cruel. kim says she felt like a bird in a cage. so she escaped, defecting to canada in 1992 with her husband. four years later, she traveled to washington, d.c. to attend a ceremony commemorating the vietnam war. she says she forgave the u.s. who ordered the bombing that left her badly injured and killed some her relatives. with conflicts going on in different corners of the world, kim hopes her story will help promote peace. >> i just really want to -- my life, an example for the people
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who still have hatred, hostility. >> reporter: government leaders in vietnam now welcome refugees and their relatives. they invite to show them how the country has changed. officials has spent years criticizing people who fled during or after the war. but they changed their approach because they wanted to tap into the talents of expatriates to further boost their economy. kim appreciates this policy shift and says she no longer dwells on the past. >> i pray for my people, vietnam
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people, all the time. and i'm so happy that they continue changing the new generation. they learning a lot and the country need to be changed. >> reporter: because of the bombing and because of that picture, life hasn't been easy for kim. she says she wants to draw on her experiences to help create a better world. >> if everyone can learn to live with love, with hope and forgiveness, if everyone can learn that, we don't need war at all. right. and the challenge is for everyone is that little girl can do it. so everyone can do it too.
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>> reporter: she's told her story for three decades. and she's determined to keep telling it to people around the world. takafumi terui, nhk world, tokyo. the wae weather may have a negative effect. robert speta has more. >> the weather is really a big part of the the clean up efforts here in southern china. in the next 24 hours we're seeing scattered rain showers out here in this heavily impacted region. the good news is that on wednesday, some improving conditions will be coming in. everybody out there living in tents now homeless following the earthquake. you definitely don't want any of these rain showers overhead. that's going to shift off to the
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east still, and you're going to see areas up here. but a few isolated regions could get up to 100 millimeters of rainfall. so we have mudslides and steeper elevations. so owl this warm air coming out -- you should watch out for this. it's going to continue to shift to the east here. you're going to start seeing rain showers going into tuesday evening. that's going to work it's way from tokyo. now the thing about this, though, there is some light in it, it will be surging all of this warm air ahead of it. be can see some snow over the weekend. so i want to watch out for that. that will cause snow melt and and risk of an avalanche here.
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temperatures up to 18 here on tuesday, seoul up to 13. the tropics down into the 30s. we're seeing scattered thunderstorms across much of the thunderstorms here going tuesday into wednesday. across the americas, there's the next storm system here. it's this one right here. now it's already bringing snowfall across the northern rockies, expreponderate this to stretch over northern minnesota. also some gusty winds, but that cold plunging in is reacting with this cold air mass and this warmer air mass. you see that squall line setting up here. pulling towards the midwest. seeing some hail out of this. so there is a threat of severe weather. you'll want to check in on this. you see that big difference here, chicago at 18, that will drop down into the single
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digits. now in europe there is two areas i really want to key in on. really nothing severe out of this, but it is gathering moisture out of the mediterranean sea. as it pushes over italy, we'll be seeing widespread rain showers for this. look at all of these lines very close together due to this storm system. that is bringing winds reported up to 96 miles per hour there. and into the scandinavian peninsula as well. the good news is that the strong westerly and southwesterly winds are going up. it could be into the 20s by the mid part of your week. warsaw is 19 here on your tuesday.
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