hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm keikichi hanada in tokyo with the latest at this hour. the u.s. justice department has filed a criminal complaint against a former national security agency contractor for disclosing confidential information. edward snowden is believed to be in hong kong. observers say hong kong authorities are expected to deal with the matter while taking into consideration the intention of the chinese government. snowden revealed to "the guardian" newspaper details of nsa surveillance programs.

he said agency officials had secretly collected personal telephone and internet data. the united states can ask hong kong to extradite snowden based on a treaty. if hong kong's chief executive agrees, a local court will order police to take snowden into custody. >> translator: if extradition is requested, we'll deal with the case in accordance with hong kong's laws and systems. >> however, some experts say china may not allow hong kong to extradite snowden on the grounds that the chinese government can intervene in matters involving defense and diplomatic affairs. delegates from a group of 11 countries say the time has come to intervene in syria's civil war. they've agreed to arm rebel forces against the regime of president bashar al assad. the officials from the friends of syria nations attended the ministerial level meeting in

doha, qatar. the group includes the u.s. and turkey as well as european and arab countries. qatar's prime minister hamad bin jassim al thani said arming the rebels might be the only way to achieve peace. secretary of state john kerry said the support would help lead to a negotiated solution. >> our effort is to allow the people of syria as a whole with every minority respected and protected to be able to choose the future for their country. >> the ministers denounced the lebanese shia militant group hezbollah for joining assad's forces and urged them to leave the country. hezbollah has given the regime the upper hand in recent battles. russia and iran are also supplying arms to the syrian government. the on-again, off-again

talks between the united states and the taliban could be on again. the obama administration has sent a delegation to qatar for direct discussions with representatives of the afghan insurgent group. state department spokesperson patrick ventrell says ambassador james dobbins has left for the qatari capital doha. dobbins is a special representative for afghanistan and pakistan. ventrell suggested that talks could be held in the next few days. the state department initially planned to hold peace negotiations with the taliban on thursday. but it postponed the plan because of strong opposition from the afghan government. secretary of state kerry talked through the issues over the phone with afghan president hamid karzai. scientists at the u.s. energy department are investigating a possible radiation leak at the nuclear site in the state of washington. they say high levels of radiation have been detected outside a storage tank.

a team will visit the site to determine whether radioactive materials have seeped out. workers found in february that the water level inside six underground tanks at the hanford nuclear reservation had fallen. wastewater containing radioactive materials is stored inside 177 tanks at the site. the energy department says high levels of radioactivity were detected outside one of the six tanks on thursday. department officials say there is no immediate health risk to nearby residents. but a state governor has expressed concern. he says the department has a legal obligation to remove or treat the waste. a leading japanese industrial robot maker has opened one of the largest robot factories in china. officials at the yaskawa

electric corporation says china's robot market is big and stands to become even bigger. company and local government officials attended an opening ceremony in changzhou, jiangsu province. the plant is the electric company's first outside japan. yaskawa electric spent about $40 million to build the facility for making, welding other robots. the firm aims to achieve a monthly output of 1,000 units in fiscal 2015. china's robot market is becoming the world's largest as many manufacturers are replacing employees with robots in light of soaring labor costs. another japanese maker also began assembling robots in jiangsu province last month. the bank of tokyo mitsubishi ufj is negotiating to buy a leading thai bank. the japanese bank is planning to

launch full-scale financial business operations in southeast asia. tokyo mitsubishi ufj intends to purchase a majority stake. in the bank public company unlimited. it is aiming to reach an agreement with major shareholders such as general electric of the united states. the japanese bank expects to use the thai bank's network of branches and clients to make loans to japanese firms operating in thailand, as well as to local individuals and small and mid-sized businesses. japanese banks are turning to rapidly growing asian economies to expand their business operations. early last month, sumimoto mitsui banking corporation decided to invest about $1.5 billion in the lender bank tabungan pensiunan nasional. japan's most revered mountain has been chosen as a

unesco world heritage site. the iconic mt. fuji has become the country's 17th site to be awarded world heritage states. >> adopted. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> the world heritage committee decided to designate mt. fuji as a cultural heritage site at the meeting in the cambodian capital of phnom penh. members have been screening 30 heritage candidates. they have also endorsed other sites including the sand sea in namibia and mt. etna in italy. mt. fuji is japan's highest peak. it has been regarded as a sacred site for centuries. it also has been an inspiration for japanese art and culture. the governors of the prefectures of yamanashi and shizuoka, which straddle the mountain, expressed gratitude at the meeting. >> we'll continue to do our

utmost to preserve the natural environment and the current landscape surrounding fuji so that it will forever be loved by the people of the world. >> the governor said they will safeguard and pass the legacy of mt. fuji on to future generations. up next, the world weather forecast.

>> and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm keikichi hanada. on behalf of our team, thank you for staying with us.

. give us this day our daily bread. and forgive us our trass passes as we forgive those who trespass against us. let us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. amen, amen, amen. god said if you show up, if you humble yourself, he will heal our land. what is more wicked than this government? so no, i have no tears for you. i have no boo-hoos because you bit the bear and the bear bit back. the only thing i have for you is applause. i will see you in 2014. . >> >> what if you look at this administration, can we find an angel? on th unres irs >> in many 1954 my family immigrated our founders ensured us indiviuo come on up, guys. >> y'all aren't normally in that crowd so this is awesome. and a i definitely don't w s wdi lindsay graham, freedom works is their thief thug agency. let's do that. > >> i want to thaetp we can't worry what the irs is my wife and i rushed retur once again, god-fearing. thank you and god ble god bless america. >> here we go.