this is "newsline," welcome. it's tuesday, july 27th, in tokyo. i'm katherine koeb yacatherine . investigators probing a rail derailment in switzerland said equipment might be to blame. 40 were injured, including 28 japanese tourists. swiss government investigators allowed media to observe their examination of the deraileded

carriages on monday. at a news conference, the head of the investigation team commented on what the driver saw just before the accident. so far no evidence has been found that supports the testimony. the investigators will analyze rail measurement data from before and after the accident. they'll also dismantle and exam the derailed carriages. a preliminary report on the cause of the accident is expected to be published by the middle of this week. the european union has unveiled new sanctions against iran over its nuclear development program. it urged the country to hold talks on the issue. on monday, foreign ministers held a meeting in brussels to discuss the move. last month, they slapped iran with separate sanctions, separate from the one from the

u.n. security council. the new sanctions will forbid european firms from investing in and giving technical assistance to iran's oil and gas industries. iranian banks must get permission for transactions of 40,000 euros of more in eu member countries. our objective was, is and will be to bring iran to the table to resolve this issue. eu foreign policy chief ashton advised iran to hold talks with the u.n. security council. miyazaki prefecture in southwestern japan lifted its last remaining ban on the transfer of livestock, about three months after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. at a news conference early in the morning on tuesday, miyazaki prefectural governor hideo higashikokubaru announced that he had lifted the state of emergency declared in may.

>> the governor says disinfection and other preventive measures will continue until it confirms the end of the epidemic. the prefecture and the central government instituted precautionary restrictions on moving livestock after cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed in april. about 290,000 pigs and cattle were slaughtered to contain the disease. shipments of livestock were restricted in 20 cities and isease in miyazaki city s on july 4th. it has been confirmed that no new cases have been found since then. afghan security authorities claim that nato forces are responsible for a rocket attack that mistakenly killed 52 civilians. they announced on monday they have launched an inquiry.

the incident took place in southern helmand province last friday. the nato-led international security assistance force fired a rocket that hit a house. vihouse to flee the fighting between taliban insurgents and the isaf. many women and children were among the victims. president karzai denounced the incident and demandeded that the isaf take every possible measure to avoid civilian casualties. an isaf spokesman said they are still investigating. this is a major source of hostility to isaf and u.s. forces. u.s. and south korean war sxhpz helicopters are carrying out maneuvers off the korean peninsula. the media was shown some of the exercises on monday.

on the second day of the four-day drill, earl morning aircraft staged takeoffs and landings on the "uss george washington." refueling activities were also shown. the large scale war game involves 200 aircraft and submarines. it focuses on detecting submarines and destroying torpedos in the event of an enemy attack. the exercise is apparently a warning to north korea in the wake of the sinking of a south korean naval ship in march. north korea strongly protested against the exercise and threatened to counter with a nuclear test. japanese scientists say they have found a safer way to create a type of human stem cell known as ips. it has the potential to develop into any tissue or organ.

ips cells are generated by introducing three or four different genes to human somatic cells, but one of those genes is believed to be potentially cancerous. a team of kyoto university researchers led by lecturer masato nakagawa created a gene called l-myc. it has a slightly different structure than the gene that could pose a cancer risk. it extracted the ips cells from mice and then transplanted two fertilized eggs. only 10% of the cells died within a year. in a previous comparable experiment, 70% of the cells died and half developed cancer. the researchers also found that the new method was more efficient and increased the number of ips cells five-fold.

new japanese ambassador to china uichiro niwa hopes that the country will be more transparent about its military. he made the comment on monday at a party to celebrate his appointment to the key diplomatic post. the event was sponsored by seven organizations promoting ties between japan and china. niwa is a former chairman of major trading house itochu corporation. he's the first japanese ambassador to china chosen from the private sector. >> china's ambassador to japan cheng yonghua also attended the party. he said japanese investment and technologies are indispensable to china's growth. he said he hopes that niwa, as a japanese business leader, will bring his expertise to bilateral relations. niwa is to assume his post in beijing on saturday.

japanese women are again leading the world when it comes to living longer. new figures show life expectancy in japan hit a record high in 2009 for the fourth year in a row. the country's health ministry said on monday the average life span for japanese women was 86.44 last year. that's an increase of 0.39 years from 2008. 79.59.fe span for japanese men the life span has been rising since 2000. the exception was in 2005 when a flu outbreak lowered figures. they credit advanced medical treatments for the three major causes of death, cancer, heart disease and stroke. it also says there have been fewer deaths from pneumonia. this is the 25th year in a row japanese women have led the

world when it comes to life exclusi expectan expectancy. japanese men were fifth. with people in japan living longer, some are urging the country's government to revamp its social system. >> translator: despite the fact that japanese enjoy such long lives, their retirement age is too low. we need a new social system to honor a long life. >> japan's maritime self-defense force vessels are visiting baltimore to mark the 50th anniversary of the revision of the japan/u.s. security treaty. the training vessel and two other ships made the port call to the u.s. city on monday. 190 junior officers are aboard the vessels. every year, the msdf. that gates the oceans to train graduates from the maritime officer candidate school. this year, it chose to visit the united states. in a welcoming ceremony at the pier, a u.s. naval officer said

the u.s. navy and japan's msdf forged a strong partnership over the past 50 years. they'll visit arlington national cemetery in washington, then leave for portugal on thursday. welcome back to news line business. tokyo stocks moved within a narrow range on tuesday morning. the nikkei 225 up 2,000 ticks. many investors refrained from active training as major firms are set to release earnings later this week. the current earnings season said to peak friday on japan. on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar falling against the yen on tuesday morning. the greenback at 86.92-96. market sources say that the dollar is depreciating as

uncertainty for the u.s. economy remains strong among investors. concerns over european financial institutions receded, cueing investors to buy back the euro. this contributed to the weakening of the dollar. the euro is changing hands at 113.13-18. and here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. the hang seng opened 0.4%. the blue chips are down 0.8%, coming closer to the 6,000 level. and the sse composite is down 0.32%. new home sales in the united states rebounded sharply in june from a record low in the previous month. the u.s. department of commerce said on monday that 330,000 newly constructed homes were sold in june.

that's up 23.6% in annualized terms. and the largest month to month growth in 30 years. sales in may plunged sharply due to the end of government incentives and slow recovery in employment. june sales were better than forecast, but compared with a year earlier, they were still down 16.7%. sources say the outlook of the u.s. housing market remains unclear. in a bid to promote more electronic publication in japan, firms are discussing regulations for publishing ebooks in japanese. the new council will be led by dai nippon and toppan. they will talk about challenges ahead for ebooks and ereaders. in the wake of successful ereaders such as ipad, ebook readers developed originally by domestic makers are expected to

be put on the market. some experts say japan lags behind the u.s. in the field of epublication. and the council hopes to cultivate ground for a new market. next is our report. the japanese may be renowned for their sushi. one chef is causing a stir in the culinary world through his award-winning pizza. he became the first japanese to win the international pizza championship held in naples. his pizza is not only capturing the hearts of pizza chefs around the world but discerning japanese customers as well. >> reporter: every day, customers form a long line in front of this italian restaurant in central japan. the pizzeria is especially crowded on weekends, attracting almost 1,500 customers a day. customers flock here to get a taste of the traditional pizza served in naples. the birthplace of pizza.

the most popular kind is the 25-centimeter margarita pizza. it's crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. one pizza costs less than $4. that's about 75% less than usual. >> translator: it's so good. i can't eat pizza from anywhere else anymore. >> translator: this is the only restaurant i know of that serves such great pizza at such a low price. >> reporter: he manages the restaurant. he's the head chef over four other pizza chefs. on weekdays they bake 500 pizzas. they nearly double that number on weekends. >> translator: a lot of people who come also watch me make the pizza. i really enjoy putting on a show for them.

seeing customers smiling and enjoying my pizza gives me energy and makes me forget i'm actually really tired. >> reporter: makishima learned the ne poll tan way of making pizza in naples for two months as an apprentice to a master chef. since then, he's gone back every year for a month at a time it to hone his skills. in may, out of 150 participants, he won the first prize at the international championship of pizza. each of the four judges gave him a perfect score. and they reiterated that score by actually calling his pizza perfection. makishima said the key to making perfect pizza is speed. it takes him only about eight

seconds to knead the dough. longer than that and the pizza loses its spuonginess and chewy texture. to prevent it from getting soggy, it must go into the oven immediately. it's in the oven for one and a half minutes. it's also turned often to ensure it is thoroughly baked but not burnt. >> translator: i'm acutely aware of every move i make. because i have to be quick and avoid any unnecessary motion. the faster i make it, the better the pizza. >> reporter: makishima's dream

is to popularize ne po iziz izi pizza across japanese. >> i want to keep learning from him and hope to be like him someday. >> reporter: makishima started uploading video tutorials on the internet to help even more people learn how to make the pizza. he demonstrates in detail how to make the dough and bake the pizza. >> translator: i hope others also fall in love with pizza making. i want to increase demand for neopolitan pizza. >> reporter: italy and japan have world wide reputations for dishes. now makishima is bringing one of

those to the eager appetites of the japanese. >> next is a recap of the latest market figures. that's all for now in biz news. japan's farmers have fallen on hard times. that includes farmers in northern japan, famous for its

high quality rice. some farmers are going to great lengths the to make the next generation of japanese aware of what it takes to grow this food staple. the farmers hope to teach the youngsters the importance of rice. >> reporter: all through the night farmers travel to kanagawa prefecture. they belong to their prefekt fekture's agricultural association. after ten hours on the road, they arrive at their destination. an elementary school where familiar faces arc wait them. they haven't seen each other in four months. >> translator: we drove all the way down here so you could learn how the rice you eat is grown, and what kind of work we farmers put into it.

>> reporter: they walk to the school's garden, soon to be transformed into a rice paddy. for the next few months, the students will grow rice with the help of the farmers. farmers show young students how to grow and harvest rice. they call this educational farming. in the past few years, similar programs have sprouted up all over the country. the farmers, used to working hard on the paddies, now work hard with the children. these farmers and city children had never crossed paths until one day the school made a phone call. it asked the agricultural association's youth division for

a video letter for children who had never seen rice paddies. the farmers said a video wouldn't be enough and came in person. with the help of the farmers, over 600 children have experienced the challenges and satisfaction of growing rice and learned its importance. as they spend time with the farmers, the children started to change their behavior. they've stopped wasting food and eat all the rice. >> translator: the first time i grew rice, i realized how important it is. i talked to my mother about it and she said i should finish all the rice granins on my plate. >> translator: i think rice contains all the hard work that all the farmers put into growing it. >> reporter: the farmers pay the entire cost of the soil, fertilizer, seeds, tractors, travel, room and board.

that's because the government stopped funding the project this year. they still manage to teach the children by holding classes twice a year instead of three times and cutting the number of teachers in half. >> translator: we believe this activity will inspire and motivate. we hope students spread the word and become consumers who support local agriculture. >> reporter: they will meet again in the fall to harvest the rice. these farmers are cultivating japan's next generation of rice consumers. already, they've reaped the harvest of grateful smiles. >> the government funded the educational funding project for two years before ending support this year. the group says it plans to

continue the project. now let's look at your world weather forecast with sumi. >> hi, there. welcome back to your world weather update. it will be very hot in japan with lots of sunshine to come. temperatures on the rise. that will lead to afternoon showers, especially up in the mountains. you could experience really heavy showers. up in the north as well, a different system moving through will bring torrential rains in the next 24 hours. here, all the way back into southeastern russia and northeastern china. look at heavy showers as well. much of central china looking good. the rain is weakening somewhat along the yangtse river. the tropical depression continuing to pump in a lot of

heavy rain and into the okinawa islands of japan as well. areas to the south and south southeastern asia will experience heavy thundershowers over the next 24 hours into indochina. this will lead to a southwestern monsoon. you can see some of the figures easily exceedingly 100 millimeters across parts of vietnam and ty landhailathailan. watch out for landslides. 30 degrees in hong kong. 34 in tokyo. beijing at 35 for your daytime high. let's head to north america. we're watching some severe thunderstorms to erupt tonight across central canada and into the northern plains of the usa today. anything from thunderstorms to tornadoes are possible. and then also down in the southeast, you can see lots of heavy rain developing here. that will help to cool things down in the area on your

tuesday. across the midwest, looking much calmer and drier. for the southwest, look for unsettled conditions to start up today. quite windy across much of the western side of the u.s. 36 degrees in denver. in houston, 31. in the northeast, 33 in new york. 30 in toronto. now the heat is beginning to subside in mainland europe. some areas still contending with a heat wave, especially in russia and also the southwestern corner. we'll get to that in just a minute. wet and windy weather will prevail across the british isles today. particularly heavy showers focused down in the south and also some heavy rain to watch out for across central europe as well as the alpine region into southern germany. eastern europe looking very unsettled once again. this widespread rain. that will be do to a frontal system. watch out for flooding

possibilities. that rain not getting into places where we need it. portugal dealing with wildfires in northern areas where the heat and dry weather being a problem, trying to contain the fires. firefighters trying to extinguish those flames late into the night. in western russia as well, dealing with lots of wildfire problems for over a week now. of course, that smog getting into the city. the air quality is quite poor here. temperatures remain quite hot once again. 35 degrees in lis bbon.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." glad you could join us. we'll be back with more of your updates. hope it to see you again. iijj