welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. iran's president-elect has made a victory speech. he's promised to build the economy and improve relations with the west. group of eight leaders are in northern ireland for their annual summit to discuss a wide range of issues including the conflict in syria. "the guardian" newspaper says british agents spied on foreign politicians and

officials in 2009 during a g-20 meeting in london. iran's president-elect has held a news conference in tehran. hassan rouhani made a victory speech. he said his administration will rebuild the economy and improve relations with the international community. president-elect hassan rouhani held a news conference for the first time after winning majority of votes in friday's election. nearly 400 journalists attended. >> rouhani ime promised to

improve the economy in relation to international. >> rouhani garnered 55% of more than votes. moderate and reformist groups came together to help him. but he'll have to work with hard-line conservatives if he wants to push his agenda forward as they occupy majority in the parliament. he'll be inaugurated in early august succeeded outgoing president mahmoud ahmadinejad. leaders are in northern ireland to discuss the global economy. also high on their agenda is the conflict in syria which has killed more than 90,000 people

according to the united nations. on the first day the leaders will discuss measures to boost employment and global economic growth. shinzo abe remains his efforts to the domestic economy will contribute to the world. british prime minister david cameron says another key item will be tackling tax avoidance. the leaders will also discuss how to end the civil war in syria, but they're at odds over how to address the situation. >> what we can try and do here at the g-8 is have further pressure for the peace conference for the transition that's needed to bring this conflict to an end. >> russia has strong ties with syria and opposes foreign intervention in the conflict. it has been supplying weapons to the syrian government. president vladimir putin says russia is acting in full compliance with international law. u.s. president barack obama and other leaders say president bashar al assad must step down. obama announced last week the

u.s. will provide weapons to rebel groups on the grounds that the assad regime has used chemical weapons against its people. the whistleblower who uncovered a top secret u.s. surveillance program has revealed authorities in britain were doing some high-level spying of their own. edward snowden gave "the guardian" newspaper showing information intelligence agents hacked the phones and e-mails of foreign politicians and officials. he says it happened in 2009 in london during the g-20 meeting. snowden discovered the information in classified documents he obtained when he was a contract worker at the national security agency. he revealed earlier this month that the nsa has been collecting telephone and internet records in its fight against terrorism. his latest information suggests british agents monitored the e-mails and phone calls of g-20 delegates around the clock. and it says agents set up internet cafes so they could better eavesdrop on the

delegates and track their communication. "the guardian" report say senior officials of then-prime minister gordon brown okayed the hacking. nhk contacted the british foreign office to get reaction to these revelations. a spokesperson said they do not comment on intelligence matters. criticism of global tax evasion is growing. that's especially true in eu countries where strict austerity measures have been imposed since 2009. now, japan's upper house has approved an international treaty aimed at preventing tax evasions. the upper house has unanimously approved the treaty which has already been signed by 55 countries. until now japan's tax authorities could not seize moneys, securities or other corporate assets shifted overseas in an attempt to escape

taxes. the treaty means they can now demand the seizure of assets transferred to other signatory nations. and tax authorities can request information on bank records and real estate holdings of individuals and corporations in countries that have signed the treaty. signatory nations can ask tax authorities of other members to conduct tax probes. india's central bank has kept its key interest rate unchanged after cutting it three times this year. the reserve bank of india is concerned that the country's weaker currency could re-trigger inflation. the rbi decided on monday to hold its key rate steady at 7.25%. since the beginning of this year the bank had cut the rate at each of its policy meetings. bank officials said they had to be cautious about monetary policy this time. they pointed to risks of capital outflows from the country if they had eased credit further. they said their country's currency, the rupee, is facing a

significant selloff against the dollar amid speculation about the federal reserve's future moves. here are the latest market figures. a survey of south korean students suggests that one in three uses their smartphones so

much that their school grades have suffered. in response the government will launch a program to prevent addiction to the device. the national youth policy institute surveyed 3,000 high school students who have a smartphone. 32% said their school grades had deteriorated since they began using the phone. 44% said they cannot live without the device. and 34% said they had tried but failed to reduce the time they spend using their phone. the report said 35% of those surveyed are at risk of becoming addicted to smartphones. and 7% need professional help. the government plans to ask experts to visit schools to teach students how to use the phones responsibly. they will also encourage students to talk about their experience with others. ties between japan and south korea have been strained because of a territorial dispute and issues dating back to world war ii. now a case involving a buddhist statue is generating more friction. nhk world reports from japan's

border zone island of sushima. >> reporter: one weekend every summer people in tsushima dress of ancient samurai warriors. the festival marks the arriving of some 500 envoys between the 17th and 19th centuries they were on government business on their way to the capital, now tokyo. for the past 30 years this man has dedicated himself to making the event a success. as a result, the number of participants from both sides has topped 400. >> translator: japanese and

south korean participants come together and clap hands. it makes me happy. i don't know what to say when the event turns out successful like this after a year of preparations. >> reporter: no amount of preparations could save the festival from the aftermath of an incident. a statue of buddha was stolen from a temple. south korean police found it across the border. but then the priest of the south korean temple said the statue had -- south korean judges statue not to be returned.

>> translator: i want the statue back. >> translator: we are sad because we feel close. >> reporter: it was a major problem for the festival. for so many years shono worked to make sure the event continued even when relations between the two countries soured. but this year after studying, he decided to cancel. >> translator: to be honest, i want the event to go ahead, but after thinking about how the locals felt, i realized it's not possible. it's a pity. >> reporter: some said they want to continue exchanges with south

korea, but on their minds trust. >> translator: the issue of the statue may be one thing and the parade may be another, but we're not in the mood to go ahead with the festival. >> translator: we must hold the event when the statue is returned as there will no longer be any reason to cancel it. we cannot stage it this year, but we must revive it if the situation significantly changes. >> translator: tsushima are so geographically close that it's impossible to turn. i hope they return the statue soon so we can continue exchanges with them.

>> reporter: being friendly with the neighbors is a long running tradition for people in tsushima. they're trying to find a way to overcome the friction. nhk world, nag sack ki. chinese dissident accuses new york university of caving in to pressure from china. the institution that offered him a research fellowship last year has given him until the end of june to leave. chen, who is blind, is known for criticizing human rights abuses in china including forced abortion. he arrived in the united states in may of last year after escaping house arrest in seeking protection at the u.s. embassy in beijing. in a statement, chen says new york university asked him and his family to leave before the end of the month. he says chinese authorities began pressuring nyu a few months after he arrived in the united states. the university denies any pressure from beijing.

it says chen's fellowship is simply coming to an end after a set term of one year. spokesperson for the chinese foreign ministry has also denied the allegations. the head of a group that supports chen says some u.s. universities avoid mentioning human rights issues in china. he says it's because they have campuses in the country and need to attract chinese students. unesco is holding an annual meeting which will consider 31 sites should be awarded world heritage status. it's a significant moment for the countries under consideration and also for the host nation, cambodia. the country's priceless attractions were damaged during years of conflict but are now held up as examples of preservation. nhk world reports from phnom penh. >> reporter: the decision to allow cambodia to chair the 37th world heritage meeting not only honors the royal government of

cambodia and the cambodia people, but it also shows respect for the value of many of cambodia's heritage sites. >> reporter: cambodia prime minister addressed the opening ceremony gathering on sunday. cambodia was struck by conflict in the 1980s. a tension to protecting cultural assets. cambodia boasts one of the longest and dynamic histories in southeast asia. the world heritage site featured on the national flag. but even the temples were scarred by bullets during the civil war. more than 20 years later cambodia is enjoying an era of peace and development. the country is assessing the damage and restoring its greens

as well as japhelping with the n unesco. several other world heritage sites in other countries have been destroyed over the past year. she said it's an example of how the international community can cooperate to save our global heritage. >> to protect cultural heritage under attack, regions across the globe in syria, in central african republic and elsewhere, these are places we must protect together. >> reporter: after years of destruction, cambodia is now seeking to preserve and restore its cultural sites. the choice of venue for this meeting is a message from unesco

encouraging other countries to follow in cambodia's footsteps. nhk world, phnom penh. environment ministry officials in japan are turning to experts for advice on their plan to store dirt and other debris contaminated by the 2011 nuclear accident. workers have been removing topsoil from the ground in fukushima if their effort to decontaminate the area. the government plans to construct intermediate storage facilities in three towns near the fukushima daiichi plant. the debris will be kept there until final disposal sites are bill but some residents are concerned about high levels of radiation. in response the environmental ministry is bringing in experts.

they will check the ground under the sites to make sure it is stable and also give advice on the structure of the facility as well as safety measures. another panel of experts will discuss how to conserve the environment around the sites. the panels will hold their first meetings before the end of the month. lawmakers in japan are giving local leaders more power in times of crisis. they've revised a law to allow municipalities to give new alerts to residents during disasters. members of the upper house unanimously approved the updated disaster management law. it will allow local authorities to advise residents to remain indoors during a natural disaster. currently municipalities can also call on citizens to evacuate their homes. but authorities were concerned this could put people at an even greater risk during flooding. the legislation also requires local governments to make a list of vulnerable residents such as elderly and handicapped people. rescuers and volunteer community workers will have access to the list provided those residents

approve. the disaster management law will come into effect within a year. government officials began reviewing the law based on lessons from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. they also looked at the impact of major floods across the country. the health and beauty industries are forever searching for ways to turn back the clock, but a discovery by ri searchers in japan can encourage people to think more about then just what comes in a bottle. they've focused on a relationship between how old we look on the outside and the inside. >> reporter: doctors at this university run a specialist unit in aging. they conduct detailed checkups to study the affects of age on patients' health. for this paper they published last year, they compiled data from around 300 people. their conclusion is that how old you look reflects the age of

your veins and arteries. this woman recently had a checkup. the researchers examined the sagging and wrinkles on her face as well as the angles of her eyes. using a database with facial details from a million people, they calculate her perceived age. next, they perform the vascular age test. as we age, the thickness of our blood vessel walls increases. what's known as our vascular age is determined by the thickness of those veins and arteries. she returns to the hospital to learn her results. >> translator: first, your perceived age is 67. >> translator: oh really? >> translator: you're very young. >> reporter: she is in fact 93

years old. her blood vessels are also in good shape. the tests put them at 71 years old. >> translator: i'm glad. i've been thinking my time was up. >> translator: no need to worry yet. >> reporter: another discovery the researchers made is that people who look old for their age tend to have older blood vessels. for example, the tests put this 62-year-old man's perceived age at 74 and his vascular age at 73. both are more than ten years above his actual age. aging of the blood vessels can be life threatening. in this blood vessel, the walls have thickened into a condition called arterial sclerosis, such narrowing of a blood vessel can choke off circulation leading to a stroke or other emergency. >> translator: data from other research indicate that people who look older do tend to have shorter lives. >> reporter: what's the

connection between aging and our appearance and in our blood vessels? scientists believe they share one substance in common. this research er studies a.g.e. formed when sugars connect with proteins that makeup the body. this is made from cow protein. proteins usually have some flexibility. this helps the elasticity of the skin and blood vessels. but when blood sugar is high for long periods, excess sugar bonds with the proteins, this causes the formation of brown hard a.g.e. when this occurs in the skin, elasticity is lost. this leads to sagging and wrinkles. when a.g.e. forms in blood vessels, it causes arterial

sclerosis and accelerates aging. he says keeping blood sugar low is crucial to preventing the formation of a.g.e. >> translator: a.g.e. formation has a large impact on aging. it occurs everywhere, so preventing it will lead to anti-aging. >> reporter: he recommends eating plenty of vegetables and getting enough exercise. it's some age-old advice for keeping blood vessels clear and our faces looking younger. clear skies is not expected to continue in tokyo. heavy rain is expected across japan later this week. meteorologist robert speta is here with more. robert. >> yeah, those sunny skies we did see across the tokyo area and most of the continental area throughout the day on monday really is going to be changing up here going into tuesday, then eventually wednesday. right now we have this low pressure area pushing across northern japan. that's going to bring rain showers and thunderstorms around

hokkaido, some of these could become strong. but behind it you see this frontal area starting to set up. that is going to be bringing some heavy rain showers along the sea of japan coast even down towards kyushu. some areas will be in risk of landslide even. moisture continues to push off here and start to come down. eventually going into the latter part of the week. that's going to shift towards the pacific coast here mainly because you have this area coming in from the south. that's going to start to pull in some moisture towards this frontal area and really you're going to see some heavy rainfall out here across the tokyo areas. now, this area though that is our tropical depression right now expecting to become a tropical storm as it pushes out to the north. not a typhoon quite yet, but it's still going to bring some gusty winds across the southern japanese islands br weakening and merging with that front. right now it's bringing heavy rainfall across much of the philippines, manila seeing about 250 millimeters of rainfall here in the next several days. some areas you're really looking

at the risk of flash flooding out of this as the moisture continues to stream out of the south china sea, pulls across the philippines here. most of the heaviest rainfall along the west coast and then wraps around our tropical depression some time on tuesday will develop to a tropical storm. bangkok at 34, mainly tropics looking into the 30s, but where you are seeing the scorching hot temperatures and it's expected to remain this way throughout the rest of the week, take a look at chongqing, 39 here going through your tuesday. really, it's going to be hovering near that 40-degree mark. let's take a look towards india. you really have been seeing the heat across portions f india, new delhi, temperatures in the 40s but now it's starting to cool off because early setting in of the southwest monsoon. unfortunately that comes at a price and looking at risk of flooding out here and already has been occurring. i want to show you video out of new delhi of these motorists having to continue to drive through these flooded roads here. the floods have caused some extensive damage in northern portions of the country, but farmers are extremely happy with

this unusual early monsoon. you are going to be seeing, well, some earlier crops. ilt means better harvest later in the year. that's the good news. but really it's dangerous out there because we are seeing this heavy rainfall and still that risk of flooding. take a look at this though. typically by this time of year the monsoon should be back farther here towards the east. july 15th is when it sets in off here towards the north. it's june 16th. that's what we're talking about really start -- a really early start here to that southwest monsoon. let's take a look towards europe talking heavy rain towards the west. that's really the big topic out here right now. low pressure area still pushing through. the risk of some flooding -- actually flood warnings in effect in portions of france extending towards northern spain as this low continues to sit here. it's also going to cool off the temperatures. many of these areas in madrid you're going to see about a ten-degree drop throughout the week. on the flipside of that warm and dry farther out here towards the east. much of eastern europe, central

europe where you need the drier conditions here because you're still seeing some of these rivers go down following that absolutely incredible flooding you saw last week. so that's going to stay in place. and that's some good news. drier weather and warmer weather, vi enna with a high of 33. athens up to 34 with stunny skies on your tuesday. that's a look at your world weather. here's your extended forecast.

that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

♪ david killick. a new zealand journalist visits an area stricken by the 3/11 disaster. on february the 22nd, 2011, less than three weeks before the great east japan earthquake, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit new zealand destroying many buildings around christchurch. over 20,000 houses were effected by liquid faction and parts of