welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. the leaders of china and south korea want to use dialogue to resolve the issue of north korea's nuclear program. kevin rudd has been sworn in for a second time as australia's prime minister after winning a political showdown. and family fun. the largest trade expo dedicated to products for young children opens in tokyo. and we'll show you the latest

trends. the presidents of south korea and china have met in beijing. park geun-hye traveled to beijing to the summit. she joined a statement with president xi jinping. >> reporter: we agreed to work for the korean peninsula, maintain stability and solve problems through dialogue. the situation on the peninsula is changing for the better. we hope the six-party talks will resume as soon as possible. >> the two leaders also agreed to boost diplomatic and economic ties. they say they will create a new framework for high level talks. they also agree to work for the conclusion of a free trade agreement. >> translator: a great change is happening in northeast asia. president xi and i share the

view that we should create new bilateral relations, a new korean peninsula and a new northeast asia in this time of change. >> more than 70 business people are accompanying park. china is south korea's largest trade partner. the south sends a quarter of its exports to china. south korean companies needs to expand activities in china to survive the severe economic situation. chinese and south korean leaders also want to reduce their reliance on the u.s. and european markets to achieve stable economic growth. australians have a new prime minister. he's actually one of their old ones. kevin rudd met a dramatic return to the job after ousting julia gi gillard. she's quitting politics and rudd is readying his party for the next election. nhk world reports from sydney.

>> reporter: kevin rudd has been through this wince before. he once thought his days on top were over. now he's back in the prime minister's office after winning a leadership contest against his bitter rival within the ruling labor party, julia gillard. three years ago it was gillard who outed rudd as party leader and prime minister. but she struggled with the difficulties of a minority government. indust industry slammed her pollution levy. polls suggested she would lose an election planned for september. a day after defeating gillard, the new prime minister appealed for truce. >> let us all remember particularly on days like this that in this parliament and in

this place we are all human beings. we all have families and we all have emotions. so let us try, just try, to be a little kinder and gentler with each other. >> reporter: the opposition leader questioned his intentions. >> a former prime minister should have been dealt with by the australian people at an selection, not by the faceless men in the caucus last night. >> reporter: and the public reaction is cool. >> i think democracy has turned into a playground toy for politicians and they are ignoring the people who actually vote for them. >> a little bit sneaky, whispers behind and getting together and ousting what was an elected leader, that's not a great start. >> reporter: australia's economy has grown rapidly thanks mostly to mineral and coal exports to china. but the slowdown of the chinese economy has put the brakes on

growth. plus, the strength of the australian dollar and the increasing cost of labor have become a burden for the manufacturing industry. a major american automaker has announced it will pull out of the country altogether. rudd is promising to reform the economy. >> there are bad things happening out there. the global economy is still experiencing the slowest of recoveries. the china resources boom is over. the time has come for us to adjust to the new challenges. >> reporter: prime minister rudd will need to regain the confidence of the electorate and business community if he wants to have any hope of winning the upcoming election and legitimizing his leadership.

nhk world, sydney. eu officials have come up with new rules for rescuing troubled financial institutions. they've agreed to shield taxpayers from bank failures. finance ministers from the 27-member regional bloc reached the agreement after hours of talks in brussels. >> we have now agreed a structure and hierarchy to deal with failing banks in a manner which protects taxpayers. these common rules which will apply equally across member states are an integral part of the european union's banking union. >> under the new rules, depositors, shareholders and bondholders with more than 100,000 euros or about $130,000 will be asked to help troubled banks. the ministers say the rules will prevent government bailouts from

resulting in a surge in sovereign debt. thursday's agreement is a step toward establishing a common banking union in eurozone nations. under the plan, the european central bank would supervise all eurozone banks. rescue funds contributed by the member nations will be directly given to banks in trouble. major japanese automakers have seen domestic production fall for nine months in a row. eight manufactures say their total output last month came to more than 691,000 units. that's down 6.6% from the same month last year. the drop is due to a shift toward overseas production to minimize the impact of changing exchange rates. the end of the government sub si dies buyers fuel efficient vehicles also had a negative impact. nissan's output plunged 30% afghan production of the vehicles in united states and britain. honda saw a decline of 27.9% after switching productions for mainstream model for the u.s.

suzuki posted a drop of 20.3% and daihasu a 7.1% decline. honda has created a new car exclusively for china. honda officials presented the new passenger car made by its chinese joint venture. the vehicle has an 1800 cc engine and targeted at younger chinese drivers. a monitor on the dashboard connects to a smartphone for navigation. honda hopes the new vehicle will boost its new car sales in the country. chinese consumers are expected to purchase more than 20 million new cars this year. >> translator: we started operating in a highly competitive market. there are many players here who sell about 300,000 units a year. we can't be a big player immediately, but we want to move closer to the level of the big

players. >> new car sales have been sluggish for japanese automakers due to sour political relations with china. but sales started showing signs of improvement this spring. japanese economy minister says the government will consider providing tax incentives for business realignments, to help the country's economy to grow. >> translator: three things that distort the japanese economy are too little investment, too much regulation and too intense competition. i think we need to correct them. >> he said realignments would help ease excessive competition. he said when a company spins off a part of its business and makes a new entity in the u.s., the regulations allow the company to report losses from the new entity as if they were the company's own losses. he said the government will discuss the matter further during upcoming tax reform discussions starting this

autumn. here are the latest market figures. japanese engineers are looking to wind power for sustainable energy. they've started operating a major wind turbine on a trial basis in southwestern japan. the turbine is 83 meters wide and stands off the coast of kitakyushu. it can generate enough electricity to meet the needs of 1,500 households. officials pushed the start button to set the turbine in motion. they produce more stable supplies in electricity than

land-based wind power. this is because sea winds are stronger and are less affected by topography. >> translator: we lag behind europeans in offshore wind power, but we have the technology to win. i hope this project marks the start of japan's efforts to catch up with and overtake europe. >> the engineers will analyze the equipment's durability against salt and waves over the next two years. workers at japan's damaged nuclear plant may be able to start removing fuel rods from some reactors sooner than they'd expected. officials with the government and the operator of fukushima daiichi have approved a plan to speed up the process. they've revised their road map for scrapping the four reactors damaged by the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. tokyo lek trek power company engineers could start removing fuel in reactors 1 and 2 in the first half of 2020 at the earliest. that's a year and a half earlier

than the previous plan. the timeline is dirfferent for reactor three. officials warn the roadmap is just a plan. they say work could fall behind schedule because tepco engineers don't know the state of the fuel inside the reactors. >> translator: we have a separate plan for each reactor, so we're ready to make the right decisions. >> the government and tepco also decided to form an organization to ask people in the region how they think the work should proceed. >> translator: this roadmap is just a start. the most important thing is to get the results under the roadmap. >> decommissioning work at fukushima daiichi including tearing down reactor buildings could take as long as 40 years. a ship carrying nuclear fuel has delivered its cargo to a dock on the sea of japan coast. it's the first such shipment in

more than two years since the accident at the fukushima daiichi plant. the fuel came from france and is bound for the takahama power plant. the mixture of reprocessed plutonium and uranium once powered four japanese reactors. those facilities were idle after the nuclear disaster. the operator of the takahama plant wants to use the fuel in the number 3 reactor. it's still offline but officials will seek to resume operations when new safety guidelines take effect next month. scientists in japan have made a discovery that could help them find ways to prevent liver cancer. they say obese people have a higher incidence of the disaster because of a bacterium in their intestines. the scientists work at the japanese foundation for cancer research. they knew from earlier studies that obese people were 70% more likely to develop liver cancer than those of normal weight. they performed an experiment to

find out why. they gave carcinogens to mice that are obese and some normal weight. clostridium had developed three times more in the mice. the bile put stress on liver cells and made them more susceptible to cancer. then they injected a material to kept it from multiplying the s incidence dropped by two-thirds. the leader says the bacterium is also present in the intestines of humans. >> translator: measuring whether the amount of the bacterium is increasing in someone's gut may allow us to predict the risk of cancerer. then we may be able to reduce that risk through improvements in lifestyle. >> he says the research could also lead to new ways of preventing liver cancer.

emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence, the push for peace, the shadow of conflict, get news and insight on south and southeast asia every weekday "live from bangkok" only on nhk world "newsline." aid workers in the north indian state are calling for emergency supplies of clean food and water. more than 2,000 people remain stranded from floods and landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains. about 600 people are confirmed dead after more than ten days of floods in the mountainous state. india's minister says the final death toll may be more than 1,000. emergency services are hurrying to reach stranded people. they've rescued 1,500 far, but another 2,500 are waiting to be evacuated. medics are warning about risks from poor sanitation. >> it is important for them to

have a safe water, safe food, and safe air. if they don't get that, they are going to end up into an epidemic of water and food-borne diseases. it can be other communicable diseases. >> many isolated areas have been cut off by landslides and are accessible only by air, making it hard to reach survivors. the floods are india's worst since at least 2008 when around 500 people were killed. campaigning has kicked off in cambodia ahead of a general election slated for the end of july. the prime minister's party has been in office for the past 28 years. it's asking voters to renew its mandate claiming responsibility for the country's recent period of strong economic growth. election rallies took place in phnom penh on thursday. eight parties are contesting 123 seats in the lower house. five years ago the ruling cambodia people's party scored a landslide victory winning 90

seats. the result was seen as a clear sign of support for the prime minister. many people credit him with achieving peace and economic growth after years of civil war. but opposition parties maintain that his dominance of cambodia politics for almost three decades has bred corruption and human rights abuses. voters will go to the polls on july 28th. mongolians have handed their leader another mandate to use what lies deep underground to grow their economy. electroofficials say incumbent tskahia elbedorj is assured the win in the election. the election commission announced elbedorj the democratic party won the vote securing a second term in office. he faced two challengers. one was a former mongolian sumo champion of the main opposition mongolian people's party. the other was natsag udval of

the revolutionary party. she's the country's first female presidential candidate. elbedorj advocated for more overseas investment to develop mongolia's abundant natural resources. his contenders called for certain restrictions on the investments so the public could benefit more from mineral resource revenues. the re-election of the president is likely to help create a favorable environment for foreign businesses that are trying to expand operations in mongolia. japanese firms are taking part in international bidding for the coal mine, one of the largest in the world. strollers that fold with a push of a button, milk bottles that have a second life in the kitchen and products that are built especially for dads. the latest goods for babies and kids are on display right now at the trade show in tokyo.

nhk world found out the focus is on function and longevity. >> reporter: despite japan's declining birthrate, the cost of raising a child has been steadily increasing. the size of the business is reflected in the baby and kids expo 2013 here in tokyo. this year 340 brands from around the world are at the show. of those about 60% are overseas companies aiming for a chance to expand into japan. >> the japan market is our number one market worldwide. it is the most sophisticated market in our product. >> reporter: the price of baby goods has been on the rise. and that's one reason for the trend toward longer lasting or recyclable products. this baby mat has been designed to last several years. when the child is old enough to sit up, it converts into a miniature sofa. or there's this milk bottle,

once it's no longer needed, it can be used as a bottle for salad dressing. another category of products targets fathers. more men are taking an active role in raising their children. this baby carrier was designed for larger shoulders. it also has adjustable waist straps to accommodate a larger parent. strollers are also attracting more attention. while parents are primarily concerned about the weight, they now tend to look at extra functions as well. this is not just a regular stroller. as you can see here, this monitor shows the speed. and that's not just it. with one touch of button, the stroller automatically folds. strollers like this are particularly attractive in japan where parents often have to get

their kids on and off crowded trains. and this one doubles up as a child carrier as well. it weighs just 3.5 kilograms. >> translator: i think the trend as of now is to not only raise children, but to have fun while doing so. i believe the japanese baby market will continue to grow if they incorporate this into their products. >> reporter: many of the companies at the expo are quick to sense new trends and to introduce products for the increasing number of fathers and grandparents who participate in child care. this new perspective will play a key role in succeeding in a very competitive market. nhk world, tokyo. heavy rain continues in china. rachel ferguson from the weather team has more. rachel. >> hi there. yes, it's been a week of heavy rain across japan and china. well, today, japan's seeing much

better conditions. lots of sunshine here in tokyo. but there will still be heavy rain to come down toward the south. kyushu could be seeing about 150 to 200 millimeters of rain in the next 24 hours. now, the tail end of that front line is going to continue to just batter eastern china down in towards the south with heavy rain. and it doesn't look like it has any sign of easing for the moment. i want to just take a moment before we look at the 72-hour accumulation to point out this tropical system. a tropical depression that has developed just to the east of the philippines here. and that's also going to be really enhancing the rainfall across the archapalego. now you can understand where the streak of red is coming from as it heads towards the north. we're also going to see heavy rain continuing for northeastern india, nepal, remember the oon we've been talking about

has been very fast this year. and also very intense. so there is going to be the risk of extended flooding, landslides and mudslides to occur. up towards the northeast you'll be seeing some thunderstorms in beijing. 33 degrees for you. so muggy and wet. with thunder and lightning possibly. 32 degrees in seoul with some showers, a little bit cooler. some good spots of sunshine in tokyo on friday. meanwhile, chongqing and taipei heating up to 35 degrees. all right. let's go on into the americas and talk about what's happening out east. a lot of storms here. a lot of wet weather. can expect gusts up to about 100 kilometers an hour in places as well as very large hail. and the potential for flash flooding, which is going to be around this low here heading up in towards the northeast. it hasn't been a very good weather week at all around the great lakes region. and now that's going to be really spreading across much of the eastern half of the united states and up into portions of

eastern canada as well. now, things have settled down for the northwest. it's been pretty showery and wet for you. thunderstorms too from northern california up into b.c. this week. well, that is mostly gone. in its place though we have a strong high pressure, which is going to be doing some damage with the temperatures. take a look at the forecast for the next couple of days. death valley expecting to see some records broken on friday as well as sunday, getting up to 54 degrees. las vegas getting up to 48, will also be a broken record. and daily record ties for you in phoenix, arizona, 48 and 47 respectively on friday and saturday. do take care and keep cool in that extreme heat. on we go into europe. things are starting to get pretty unsettled towards the west here. we've got that stream of moisture coming in across the british isles now and down in towards the alpine region as well. and ongoing severe storms out towards the east. i want to show you some video

coming out of romania where some very heavy rain on wednesday triggered, well, a few rivers burst their banks in the northeastern portion of the country. villages were inundated by the floods. many reporting damage to crops and loss of livestock. travel was also impacted. unfortunately, the forecast is not anticipated to improve. heavy rain on the cards in the mountainous regions there out towards the northwest. i'm going to leave you with your temperatures here in europe and also your extended forecast.

before we wrap up we want to show you some cute baby animals who will be making their public debut next month. they are kept at a zoo north of

tokyo. 11 were born between mid-may and early june. it's the world's largest rodent. they've already doubled in size. they were placed on grass to help them get used to the outdoors. they cuddle together and grazed peacefully. children at a kindergarten have released butterflies into the wild. they raised the giant purple butterflies from eggs. the specie is japan's number one butterfly. about 100 children released the butterflies and wished them luck. >> translator: i told the butterfly good luck. >> translator: they flew a long way. >> that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

♪ architect shuhei endo. he boldly plays with materials to create wondrous architecture. his spaces with their looping and coiling adhere to strict engineering rules. china.