politicians in malaysia are nearing the end of their campaigns ahead of an election on sunday. the latest polls suggest the opposition is threatening to break the ruling coalition's 56-year lock on power. china's ambassador to the united states says look who's talking. he says japan is the one raising tensions over a territorial dispute in the east china sea. and the operator of the damaged nuclear plant in fukushima tries to change its corporate culture.

we sit down with one of the foreign experts advising tokyo electric power company. welcome to nhk world "newsline." the international olympic committee is telling tokyo's governor to respect his rivals in the bid for the 2020 olympics but the ioc says it won't hand down a penalty after ino made remarks critical of istanbul. inose is the chair of tokyo's bid committee. "the new york times" quoted him as saying the only thing islamic countries share is allah and they are fighting with each other. the governor apologized. ioc protocol bans representatives of candidate cities from commenting on others vying to host the games. ioc spokespersons say tokyo olympic bid committee has been asked to abide by the rules and they say the issue has been concluded. tokyo and istanbul are competing against madrid to win the 2020 summer games. the winner will be announced in september.

politicians in malaysia are making their final push for support ahead of an election that could trigger the first power shift in 56 years. the ruling coalition has been in charge since the country gained independence from britain. but the opposition is threatening to shake things up when voters go to the polls on sunday. malaysia is considered an outstanding achiever in southeast asia because of its stable economic growth. representatives of the ruling national front are promising to deliver more development. they warn a change of power would cause instability. >> what is it that you want to change? do you want to change from peace and harmony to a country full of conflict and violence? >> members of the opposition people's alliance are vowing to stamp out the corruption that has flourished under the coalition.

they say they want to build a fairer society. >> translator: our election pledge takes into consideration people's confidence and aspirations and demonstrates our capacity and ability in building a trustworthy federal government. >> the alliance made substantial gains in the 2008 election. based on public dissatisfaction with the ruling party, which mainly represents the ethic malay majority. the tension between malays and wealthier chinese residents has been a long-standing issue. for decades the government has adopted bumiputera policy. the affirmative action scheme offers special opportunities to malays to help reduce the wealth gap. but the policy has come under fire for creating a new gap in education and job opportunities. malaysians also complain about restrictions on free speech. the government says these are necessary to protect social stability.

some people are dissatisfied with the way the government has handled ethnic divisions. others are frustrated at the growing wealth gap. nhk world's kitashi is in kuala lumpur to explain how these factors will affect the election outcome. >> reporter: thousands of protesters hit the streets outside kuala lumpur in november. most were ethnic chinese. they called for more chinese language education at schools. teachers use malay as the official language due to the government's bumiputera policy. >> translator: we face various restrictions on our access to knowledge and jobs. >> reporter: chinese business owners also face disadvantages. this man said his event company has no malay executives.

he says that means they can't win any lucrative government contracts. >> somehow, some way, we always see that we are in -- >> reporter: but ethnic malays are also showing frustration. many say they don't feel the benefits of the bumiputera policy. they say there is a widening wealth gap, even among the malay people. i'm in central malaysia. the majority of population here is ethnic malay, but as you can see, there are a lot of opposition flags on the roadside. rosti grows oil palms. his father started the farm with a government grant offering land

to ethnic malays. government officials promised to offer low-cost housing too. but rosti's application for a house remains unapproved. he said only well-connected people get what they need. rosti lives with his parents. he knows he can't continue like this when his four children grow older. >> translator: i want the process to be carried out transparently. housing should be for those really in need. >> reporter: some young malays have begun to aim criticism at the growing rich/poor divide. adam is a university student who helps provide meals for the poor. he gets around censorship by using the internet.

malaysian newspaper and tv reporters mostly put out pro-government material. but adam has found fewer restrictions on internet radio. >> this is where we convey our messages. this is where we can actually -- can actually bring out the facts. this is where we can expose the heated secrets or things you cannot read or get from the tvs and the newspaper. >> reporter: more malaysians from across ethnic and age boundaries are showing discontent with the coalition's long-term rule. voters are preparing to deliver their verdict at the polling stations on sunday.

chikashi takaoka, nhk world, kuala lumpur. populous, prosperous, pushing ahead. china's rise brought it wealth, power, and problems. pollution threatens their health. and disputed seas strain relations with its neighbors. find out other challenges china faces on "newsline." the chinese ambassador to the united states is speaking out about an ongoing territorial dispute. cui tiankai says japan has been raising the tension over a group of islands in the east china sea. japan controls the senkaku islands. china and taiwan claim them. ambassador cui is accusing japan of making provocations over the islands. he says the country has taken unilateral high-handed action. his comments come a day after the japanese defense minister

onodera and u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel spoke about the issue. they confirm their nation's oppose any un lateral attempt to change the status of the islands. chinese ships have repeatedly entered waters near the islands since japan nationalized them last september. government officials in beijing have started using the term core interests in reference to the islands. they used the same phrase in statements on taiwan and tibet. it means sovereignty it can never yield. the ambassador also said recent remarks and actions by japanese politicians will hurt japan's interests in the long run. he was likely referring to a visit to the shrine in tokyo by cabinet ministers. the shrine honors japan's war dead, including those convicted of war crimes. experts at japan's nuclear watchdog are trying to answer some of the questions that remain about the 2011 nuclear accident in fukushima. they plan to incorporate their findings into new safety

standards for nuclear plants. nuclear regulation authority staff held an initial meeting with outside experts. their inquiry follows investigations by the government, the diet, and plant operator tokyo electric power company, or tepco. their probe will look at the impact of the earthquake on fukushima daiichi, how fuel rods melted, and how radioactive material made it into the environment. the panel is also trying to find out why water leaked in the reactor one building immediately after the quake. tepco engineers said water from a spent fuel pool trickled down through the reactor's cooling system. experts want to study whether the quake disabled the system or if pressure from the leaked water is to blame. they're aiming to nail down as many facts as possible with this investigation which will include on-site surveys, but they won't be able to see everything they want because radiation levels in many parts of the plant are still dangerously high. tepco could be considered one of the most criticized firms in japan. its managers have earned a

reputation for putting profit before safety and withholding key information regarding the nuclear accident. but they're trying to change their corporate culture by reaching out to foreign experts. nhk world sat down with a member of their nuclear reform monitoring committee. >> reporter: lady barbara judge is a former chairman of the uk atomic energy authority. she's an expert in corporate crisis management. tepco has asked her to help reform their corporate culture. >> my specific task has been to help them set up a safety organization. a safety oversight organization within tepco. which will establish a new safety culture. >> reporter: judge took up her role last september. she's seen a string of problems at fukushima daiichi since then. the power for the cooling system

has failed twice, and workers have found contaminated water leaking on several occasions. each time trouble occurred, tepco came under fire. critics said the company was slow to disclose facts. judge says it will take time to change, but they're on the right track. >> tepco is now bringing in outsiders, asking them to look and see what's going on and to tell tepco the good things and the problems. and i think this fact of opening the doors and letting foreigners and outside experts come in shows that tepco wants to know what its problems are to the extent it can't identify them themselves, and they want advice. and they're looking for help. and that's the first step towards fixing things. recognizing the problems and opening the doors for help.

>> reporter: judge says tepco could disclose information swiftly, even if the full picture isn't clear. she says explaining risk without delay is the only way to win public confidence. >> you can't know the whole truth immediately. you have to only know half the truth. we used to wait till we know everything. now we have to keep talking. and that, the japanese and the rest of the world are going to have to learn how to get on the television or on the computer and say, this is what we know now. it may be this or it may not be this. this is just what we know now. it may change. >> reporter: judge says the nuclear industry as a whole will have to open their doors and become more international. she says there will be global solutions in future and full disclosure is the only way forward. >> experts on disaster prevention are outlining what

could happen in the quake strikes japan. they say it is possible high rise buildings in tokyo could sway back and forth for more than 20 minutes. it's a subduction zone where one plate descends below the edge of another. it stretches for 900 kilometers off the coast of central to western japan. the government asked disaster prevention experts to look at how the nankai trough quake could affect high-rise buildings. the experts found in the worst case scenario, the surface of the ground would shake more than ten minutes in tokyo, osaka and nagoya, displaying oscillation of buildings would be most pronounced at the top of high rises. a professor used the analysis to run his own oscillation tests. he chose a 29-story building on his campus. he used computer modelling to reproduce its structure. he discovered that the highest

part of the building would shake nearly 3 meters from side to side, about three minutes after the quake. he found the building's oscillation could last more than 20 minutes and could be nearly five times larger than the sway caused by the 2011 earthquake. the force could warp the joints of poles and cross peoples more than expected, possibly causing walls and ceilings to collapse. >> translator: we now know the possible effects of the nankai trough quake. we need to strengthen the structure of buildings, especially tall ones, even though it will cost a lot. >> the professor says the quake wouldn't cause buildings to collapse but he says shelves should be fixed to prevent injuries from long period oscillation. china's business sentiment among its manufacturers declined in april. slower growth of exports is apparently a factor as the chinese currency the yuan has advanced. the latest figures from china's

national bureau of statistics show the purchasing managers index for the manufacturing sector dropped to 50.6. the index stayed above the boom or bust line of 50 for a seventh straight month but it was down 0.3 points from march indicating that the sector's business sentiment has weakened slightly. monetary easing in advanced economies sent the yuan higher against major currencies. this dragged down export growth. a sluggish global economy is another factor. labor unions staged may day rallies across japan. they are calling for better wages and worki ining condition. tokyo workers gathered in a park in the city center. the confederation of trade unions said 21,000 people took part. >> translator: where i work is so understaffed. i don't want to do overtime. i see no benefit from the recent

rise in stock prices. i want a government to take steps to improve our lives. confederation ceremony told the gathering that the economic measures taken by prime minister shinzo abe's administration have not yet shown a positive effect on people's daily lives. >> translator: now the yen is weakening and stock prices are rising, but people's lives have yet to improve. we are seeing h food and gasoline prices which are making our lives more difficult. we will be stepping up our calls for more pay. wage hikes are the right way to get out of deflation. >> the rally adopted a declaration demanding wage increases for all workers. this included nonregular workers that now account for over 35% of the labor force and also urged employers to stop forcing overtime on their workers.

people from around the world recognize mt. fuji as a symbol of japan. people have honored it in art and in song. some even look upon the mountain as sacred. now unesco advisers have recommended mt. fuji be listed as a world heritage site. more from takafumi terui. >> reporter: the japanese have worshipped this mountain for centuries. ♪ they've built shrines to mt. fuji. some even believe what they call fujisan is a god. artists have painted and sketched the peak and carved its image into wood blocks. their works have taken fuji well beyond the borders of japan. now a panel of experts has recommended the mountain be listed as a world heritage site. >> translator: mt. fuji is not

only the icon of japan. i hope people around the world love this mountain. >> translator: as a japanese citizen, i'm proud to hear the news. when i come back from abroad and see the mountain, i feel relieved. >> reporter: the people at unesco have already added 16 japanese sites to their list. ancient kyoto, the atomic bomb dome in hiroshima, shiretoko national park. people who live in the shadow of mt. fuji have wanted for more than 20 years to have it added. they tried to get it on the list of natural heritage sites, but japanese government officials did not authorize their application. they said the area around the mountain was too polluted, and they pointed out mt. fuji does not have many rare plants or animals.

so members of the local government changed their approach. they applied for recognition as a site of cultural heritage. the people of unesco will take up the application next month. >> translator: we've cleared the biggest hurdle. now we're just waiting for the unesco world heritage committee meeting in june. >> reporter: committee members will meet in the cambodian capital, phnom penh, to discuss the application for mt. fuji and four other sites. local government officials expect if their application is approved, more tourists will visit. they hope to raise the profile of japan's highest peak even higher. takafumi terui, nhk world, tokyo. office workers in japan are shedding their ties and putting their suit jackets in storage. the cool biz campaign is under

way. it encourages people to help save energy in summer by dressing down. staff at government agencies have taken the lead. they've started going to work in open neck shirts despite rather cool weather. cool biz promotes casual dress in the workplace so offices can cut back on air conditioning and can conserve electricity. it is to begin in june and end in september. the government extended the season in 2011 after the nuclear accident in fukushima. so it now runs from may through october. >> translator: i think it's more refreshing without a tie and easier to work. >> things will get even more relaxed next month when the super cool biz campaign begins. this dress code encourages office workers to sport casual shirts and sandals. heavy rain and floods in southern china. rachel ferguson updates us on that. rachel? >> hi there. we've been following heavy

ongoing rain in southern china. we'll start off with some video coming out of that region to show you what the situation is like on the ground. and this is in guilan city where hundreds of people became trapped in rising floodwaters after heavy rain storms battered southern china this past week. rescue workers came to the aid of the stranded. many being carried away or moved out on boats. no casualties have been reported with this flooding, but thousands of homes have been damaged and the economic impact continued to arise as the cost moves into the millions of u.s. dollars. now we are seeing ongoing heavy rain at the moment. it is affecting southwestern portions of china. so eastern locations getting a little bit of a break, but that is going to change in the next couple of days. we're seeing significant accumulations between 50 and 100 millimeters in a 24-hour period. and that's going to start to

move in towards guijo and guinxhi over the next few days. returning heavy rain to southeastern portions that really do not need to be seeing any more of this rain. the flooding situation, lappedslides and mudslides will be an ongoing risk. it looks like a drier day into tomorrow. morning portions deal with some showers and some breezy conditions because of a system just getting ready to pull away right now. you can see 5 to 10 centimeters of snow in hokkaido. here we are the beginning of may. no snow in beijing. rising up to 30 on sunday. that's your forecast. all right. into the americas, and we're also seeing some snow here. this late season snow to say the least, all the way from colorado up through into just west of the great lakes, you're going to be seeing temperatures really tumbling as the jet stream moves down towards the south. and then ahead of that, it's rain and thunderstorms. and some of them turning quite

severe in texas and up into oklahoma. with this snow, i should mention as well, you are getting some really gusty winds. that's going to be buffeted around talking about 55-kilometer-an hour winds and a good dose of the snow. in terms of the temperatures, here's that arctic old air spilling down to the south and major cities are going to be impacted by this. minneapolis moving from 22 down to just 4 in the space of 24 hours. denver down to almost the freezing point there. kansas city and oklahoma city, you are also going to be impacted. thursday will be your coolest day and then starting to recover just a little bit on friday. on we go into europe where western and central locations have been dealing with thunderstorms. there's been late season snow here. also quite far down south in the southwest. northern portions of spain we're dealing with snow over the weekend. we're still seeing precipitation continuing here. and thunderstorms moving through the alpine region coming down into italy as well.

temperatures, not too bad in central portions. 25 degrees forecast in vienna. and proving a little bit in madrid up to 18 degrees. cooling down a little bit towards the east. kiev down to 19 degrees which is almost a drop of about 10 degrees between your wednesday and your thursday. i leave you to your extended forecast now.

people in japan call it children's day but may 5th is a holiday for all ages. 1,000 carp streamers or coy noburi are fluttering over a river in a city north of tokyo. the fish are traditionally flown to pray that children grow up healthy, just like the carp in the rivers. local people started the decorations nine years ago as a

beautification project. >> konichiwa. >> children's day is not just fun and games. children visited disaster survivors in temporary housing. many residents remain here despite two years having passed since the earthquake and tsunami. dressed like mini samurai, the children sang a children's day song. ♪ they presented the residents with hand-made carp streamers. in a turnaround from tradition, the kids spread hopes for the adults' health and happiness. we're back in 30 minutes with more of the latest. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

♪ from the four winds and the scent of the earth, come the color of the seasons. exploring the four seasons of japan. this is tokyo's oldest buddhist temple. and one of japan's major tourist attractions.