welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo with the news at this hour. further tests have found that two workers exposed to radiation at the crippled fukushima daiichi power plant received doses that were more than twice the government mandated emergency limit. the national i understand stint conducted two more rounds of tests to register the iodine and

cesium the two man inhaled. included the man in his 30s was exposed to 678 millisievert '. the man in his 40s, 643 millisieverts. it accounted for more than 80% of the figures. the between men were on duty in the central control rooms of reactors three and four on march 12th. they told health and labor ministry that they don't remember when they put on protective masks on that day. tins stut said separately that it is conducting detailed tests on another fukushima worker in his 50s who could have also received a dose of radiation above the emergency limit. the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant says radiation levels inside unit three remains too high for workers to stay over extended periods of time. it found that thousands of tons of radioactive water has accumulated in the basement.

tepco sent nine workers into the number three reactor building for about 20 minutes on thursday. the workers detected 100 millisieverts of radiation per hour near the reactor's containment vessel. the utility also confirmed that 6,400 tons of water has accumulated in the basement. it suspects it may have leaked from breaches in the reactor. the utility plans to inject gas into the containment vessel to prevent hydrogen explosion and install a system to cool reactor with circulating water. tepco is now considering how it will execute these tasks in light of the high radiation levels. a city0 kilometers from the fukushima plant is going to begin distributing devices to school children to monitor their exposure to radiation. this comes after parents expressed concern about their children's welfare. the mayor of date city in fukushima prefecture announced the plan on thursday, the city will provide dosimeters to about 8,000 children at a cost of

about $300,000. date city is outside the current evacuation zone. but earlier this month, estimated radiation levels at three locations in the city reached 20 millisieverts per year. which is the government limit for evacuation. this is 20 times higher than the level recommended by the international commission on radiological protection. >> translator: the dosimeter will give me some kind of relief in my everyday life. >> u.n. general-secretary ban ki-moon said he hopes to visit northeastern japan in augusto see the regions devastated by the quake and tsunami. ban was speaking on thursday at a meeting in new york sponsored by japanese government. japan arranged the gathering to show gratitude to cotries and organizations for their help in the disaster.

>> i'm considering visiting japan to see for myself and to discuss while we have provided some technical and logistical support. but i believe that it was far, >> ban said he hopes to announce more support from the united nations. he said that assistance from the international community will provide encouragement for the survivors. japanese novelist, haruki murakami, says japan should have continued opposing nuclear power. he made the comment while receiving the humanities prize in spain. murakami was awarded the 2011 international catalonia prize in barcelona on thursday. the prize is given annually by the government of catalonia. local media report that murakami spoke about the nuclear crisis

sparked by the disaster in japan. he described the accident as the country's nuclear tragedy, in an apparent reference to the 1945 atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki. but this time, he said the japanese people destroyed their lives on their own. murakami said japan will move towards restoration. he's ready to donate the prize money, amounting to about $116,000 to support survivors. the west-based electric power company kansai is asking customers to cut theirs to 50% compared to last summer. >> translator: because we have no other choice, we decided to ask users to cut their electricity to avoid possible blackouts. >> power shortages are expected this summer in western japan because kansai electric nuclear plants are undergoing safety checks in the wake of the accident at fukushima daiichi. so household and corporate users will be asked to reduce their power consumption between 9:00

a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekdays from july 1st to september 22nd. one thing they're being encouraged to do is to set air conditioners to a higher temperature. kansai electric also wants them to shift operations to weekends and nights. the tokyo and tohoku power companies have already asked their customers to cut their power consumption by 50% as well. our series of features leading up to the three-month anniversary of the march 11th earthquake and tsunami wraps up today. in our final installment, we're looking at situation at the fukushima daiichi. in a moment, we'll speak to the spokesperson of japan's nuclear watchdog. but first, let's go over what's happened at the nuclear plant and where things stand now. >> on march 11th, the earthquake and tsunami knocked out the cooling systems for reactors one, two, three and four at

fukushima daiichi. reactor four was offline for inspection, but the status of its spent fuel pool became a concern. an inability to keep the fuel cool led to hydrogen explosions in all four reactor buildings. tokyo electric power company used seawater and then freshwater to control the reactors. the nuclear and industrial safety agency revealed in a recent report that full meltdowns happened in reactors one, two, and three between five and 80 hours after the earthquake. it is also likely the fuel burned through the reactor pressure vessel and is now at the bottom of the containment vessel. in the same report, the agency said an estimated 770,000 terrabecquerels of radiation leaked into the air in the six days after march 11, that's nearly double the estimate released in april.

the accident at fukushima daiichi released several radioactive substances into the air, sea and soil. among them, trace amounts of the highly toxic plutonium have been detected. 88,000 people have been forced to leave a large area around the nuclear plant because their homes are too close to the damaged facility. the majority of them are staying in shelters and temporary housing. >> translator: we don't know how much the government and tepco will support our living costs. we want the situation at furyk daiichi to be resolved quickly. so we can return home safely. >> farmers and fishermen have faced bans, restrictions and red tape. >> translator: at any point the ocean to be clean again. that's my sincere wish.

>> tokyo electric power company workers have a lot to do before fukushima daiichi is under control. they need to set up new cooling systems for reactors one through three. they also need to shore up the structure that supports reactor four's spent fuel pool, because it might be too unstable to endure another earthquake. on top of that, tepco workers need to haul away a large amount of radioactive debris. another big task is the removal and decontamination of thousands of tons of radioactive water that has built up at fukushima daiichi because water has been pumped manually into the reactors to keep them cool. despite all of these hurdles, tepco said it will get fukushima daiichi into cold shutdown by january of next year. >> now to our interview with the spokesperson for the nuclear and industrial safety agency. nhk world's junko noda sat down

with hidehiro nishiyama to talk about the current situation at fukushima daiichi and the lessons learned since march 11th. >> as the work continues at fukushima daiichi to bring the crisis under control by january 2012, what is going well and what problems persist? >> we are doing our work according to the roadmap tepco and the government announced. and what is going well is the cooling of fuel core and spent fuel pools. actually the unit two's spent fuel pool is now cooled by the special equipment. that is the most advanced work. on the other hand, treatment of stagnant water is the challenge

of us. and another challenge is how to overcome high radiation dose in every place of the plant. so that's the very difficult thing we have to deal with. >> the seriousness of what happened on march 11th only became public months after the accident. why did the government and tepco let people know about the best-case scenario rather than the worst? >> i don't think that is the case. actually, we have been trying to let our people know, let other countries' people know that fact we found. and we avoided speculation. so then as soon as we found another data or other fact, we will, we have been publicizing the fact.

so in terms of speculation, such as the fuel is melting or something like that is not, the government, not for the government to say. in public. >> reports from the iaea and the japanese government point out the nuclear and industrial safety agency's lack of independence is a problem. what is the plan to resolve this issue? >> i think that nisa as a team has been very strict in implementing the safety regulations. so i don't think nisa's status as part of it was not so problematic in terms of safety. but it might invite some doubt from the people. so it is possible idea that nisa should be independent from meti.

>> if you could talk to a farmer or fisherman who has lost his livelihood or an elderly couple who are staying in an evacuation facility, what would you say to them, given that nuclear authority's failure to protect them as they promised they would? >> i would first apologize for our failure to keep nuclear power stations safe. and we will, we will promise that we will let them know the most recent situation and the reasonable future look at when

the situation will be, will return to normal. if we are successful in finalizing our water purifying system next week and we can continue to pour water to cool the fuel core and spent fuel pool, i think we will be able to reach steady cooling status. so that will shed light on the future of the region affected by the nuclear power plant. >> that was nhk world's junko noda speaking with hidehiko nishiyama, spokesperson for the nuclear and industrial safety agency. a russian spacecraft carrying three crew members has arrived at the international space station. the crew's mission will include hosting the team from nasa's final space shuttle. the soyuz spacecraft docked at the iss on thursday after a two-day voyage from earth.

>> hatches are open. >> japanese astronaut satoshi furukawa, nasa astronaut, mike fossum, and russian cosmonaut, sergei volkov moved in on friday joining three others on board. they then contacted their families and officials at the russian mission control center near moscow. >> furukawa is scheduled to stay on board the station until november. he will take part in various medical experiments using his expertise as a surgeon. japan's meteorological agency is trying to prepare

people for the hot and humid summer. concern is high because the country's nuclear crisis could trigger a power shortage. in an effort to keep people safe and informed, the meteorological agency will start issuing temperature advisories, or heat advisories, for mid july. they will cover all areas of japan, except for hokkaido and okinawa, where power shortages are not expected. the advisories will be issued for each region when the temperatures are forecast to be 35 degrees celsius or higher. now, last summer more than 1,600 people died of heatstroke in japan between july and september. the environmental ministry said the number of heatstroke cases

increases when the temperature is above 30 degrees. it says health risks become more severe after 35 degrees. we're starting off with details on a cyber crime crack down that's making waves in southeast asia. authorities have arrested more than 300 people in raids across the region. indonesian police made at least 170 of the arrests. the suspects are accused of posing as company employees and of convincing people to transfer their money. authorities in cambodia also went after online fraudsters. they arrested 166 people. the suspects were mainly chinese and taiwanese nationals. similar arrests were also made in taiwan, malaysia, and thailand. those in custody are being questioned by immigration authorities.

it's unclear whether the cyber crimes are connected from country to country. investigators are still trying to determine how much money people lost in these fraud schemes. pakistani authorities are investigating the shooting death of an unarmed teenager by paramilitary troops in karachi. footage of the shooting has sparked public anger in pakistan. video shows the boy being shot at point blank range in a public park in an upscale karachi neighborhood. he died soon after being taken to a hospital. a spoke man part paramilitary rangers said the forces had to detain the 18-year-old because he was trying to rob people in the park. hundreds of people showed up at his funeral thursday and denounced the rangers. his family rejected accusations that he was a robber. s family r that he was a robber. s family r that he was a robber. hs family

that he was a robber. as family s that he was a robber. hs family accusations that he was a robber.'s family rejected accusations that he was a robber. >> the prime minister told the national assembly that the entire nation was in shock over the tragedy. >> demonstrations have been held on the streets of karachi as many people believed the troops have misused their power. next, we look at the pressure facing central asian countries to assist the nato led war in afghanistan. the upper house of parliament has decided not send troops to afghanistan rejecting the government's decision. the lower house had ratified the government's decision to send four servicemen to join the international assistant security force.

but on thursday, the upper house overturned the decision. >> translator: we're talking about gradually enmeshing kazakhstan's troops into military action into afghanistan. >> the taliban issued a warning last month that the deployment plan would have a long-term negative impact on relations between the two countries. kazakhstan has been providing air and ground corridors for the nato troops in afghanistan. but central asian countries are not keen to join the operations as they fear that islamic militants will filter back from afghanistan to the region. the rejection of the bill by kazakhstan's upper house has exposed the complex issue facing the region. members of the east asia world economic forum will meet in indonesia on sunday and monday to discuss various topics including food security.

the issue is an important one for indonesia as agriculture is undergoing rapid change in an urbanized and aging society. it's becoming increasingly difficult to find young workers to continue the traditional way of farming in indonesia. the agricultural ministry says that nearly 80% of the country's 140 million farmers are 45 or older, compared with 40 just three years ago. young people are fleeing world poverty to seek a better future in the cities. >> translator: i prefer to work here rather than in farming. i'll definitely get money. >> indonesia, the most populated nation in southeast asia, has committed itself to strengthening food security by boosting rice production by 150% by 2014. experts say that the country needs to draw concrete plans to

make the industry attractive for young people. >> i think it would be better for the government focus on the young farmers to have training, how to process the food, and also to help them market the product so that the farmer is not just thinking about selling the product but the market, for marketing the product. >> the issue of food security is becoming more important than ever as food prices continue to rise amidst climate change and rise in demand from emerging nations. and that wraps up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. hello again. time for another world weather update. we want to talk about our tropical storm just here in the south of china sea.

it is moving towards the north. continuing its path towards making a landfall saturday afternoon. that's local time. it's moving at 25 kilometers at the moment. 25 kilometers an hour, that is. winds at 72 kilometers an hour. now, it does look like it is just going to be weakening off into a tropical depression after making landfall. still is helping to really kick up those heavy rains across parts of northern luzon as well as taiwan and southern china here. but the really heavy rain i think is going to be coming off of this seasonal rain band that we have here. it's just going to be moving up from eastern china through in towards japan and southern tip of the korean peninsula. it really is going to be bringing some extremely heavy rain. especially towards western japan. if we just zoom in on that and look at the next 48 hour ace cumulation. you can see kushu is getting 300 millimeters of rain. up to 200 millimeters for southern parts offia pan. and this area is already had

quite a lot of rain in the beginning of the week. so saturated land already. potential for flooding and mudslides and landslides. the winds are going to be pretty strong. potential for tornadoes here. so, that is the severe warning as we head into the weekend for southern japan. tokyo is going to be about 25 degrees on saturday. 29 in seoul and a warmer day also in beijing. 29 here. 32 in chongqing and low 30 s in honk con and down into bangkok. i want to move to north america. point down here in the clouds. very well formed hurricane in is adrian, of course, moving away from the southern mexico out over open waters so it doesn't look like it's going to be too much of a threat. it is still a very powerful system, of course, and is generating some sea swells that could well be reaching the southern edge of mexico there. so you need to be really careful and mindful of this system if you're going to be anywhere near the beach.

let's have a look at what's happening across parts of the midwest. actually down into the southern plains, too, we see those thunderstorms. this is where the severe weather is going to be today. just heading further towards the east. once again coming into the northeast on your friday. the severe weather outlook is a little bit like this. anywhere you're seeing in the orange, potential for severe thunderstorms to break out and then down into new mexico, well, we have this air quality warning because of those large fires in eastern arizona blowing all that smoke and ash and smog across into much of new mexico which in itself can be a very big threat indeed. so do look at your local advisories. anywhere you're seeing in the red we're looking at the mid 30s here. new york, 29 for you. which is a bit more comfortable certainly than it was yesterday. still a hot day. and up into the pacific northwest. 19 in vancouver and 18 for you in seattle. let's take a look at europe now. the west is going to be quite unstable, i should say, into the weekend. we've got a few things going on here. mostly scattered thunder showers. and then more severe storms from

scandinavia to the black sea. i think you're going to see the heaviest of the rain in parts of romania as well as southern sweden. here are your temperatures. 26 in kiev. cooling down a little bit. stays very warm across finland and the baltic states. down into athens, 30. paris and london, 19.

a renowned garden north of tokyo is going ahead with the annual plum harvest despite being partially damaged in the march 11th earthquake. thousands of trees are expected to bear several tons of fruit. the garden's located in the city of mito. it boasts some 3,000 plum trees of 100 varieties. the harvest began on friday and ends sunday. the fruit is picked now to encourage the trees to blot some more fully next year. about 50 workers using five-meter bamboo poles shook the trees to make them drop on sheaths below. they expect to harvest 6 tons of plums, the same amount next year. >> translator: these plum trees have grown well, despite the quake. we will also do our best, just like the trees have done. >> the march earthquake caused 120-meter crack to open the southern slope. one-third of the garden remains off limits. that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline". we'll be back with more news in

half an hour. i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you for watching. bye-bye.