welcome to "newsline." it's 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi with your updates. tokyo electric power company, the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant says it skipped testing the plant's water types as scheduled. on monday, tepco was forced to suspend a water recycling operation due to leaks. the utility began running the filtering system on monday, but it had to halt the operation after only 90 minutes as the treated water was leaking from pipes that were not fastened properly. the system is designed to recycle contaminated water to be used to cool the reactors. the operator says it failed to check the four kilometers of piping because it did not find

any problem during an inspection more than two weeks ago. the company says it will review that decision. circulating the decontaminated water around the reactors is considered an important step in stabilizing them by mid-july as planned. it will also help prevent the volume of waste water from increasing. tepco says it will repair the leaks and hopes to resume the water circulation soon. an operator of waste incineration plants in eastern tokyo says it has found a high concentration of radioactive ash at one of its facilities. a plant in edogawa detected 9,740 becquerels of radioactive materials per kigram of ash from a device that filters exhaust fumes. the operator believes that radioactive cesium had built up in the incinerating process but it says there is no danger of the toxic substances escaping

into the environment as they were trapped by the filter. legally the plant can only bury ash registering 8,000 becquerels or less per kilogram but ash with more than 8,000 becquerels must be stored until the government determines a safe disposal method. the tokyo metropolitan government asked for guidelines. french president nicolas sarkozy announced the country will invest $1.4 billion to develop a next generation nuclear reactor, despite a rising concern about atomic safety after the disaster at the fukushima daiichi plant. >> translator: france remains committed to nuclear power to ensure stable and competitive energy supplies. >> france is currently constructing advanced european pressurized water reactors, but the country is already looking to develop a next generation reactor, which is expected to have enhanced energy efficiency and reduced nuclear waste.

following the disaster at the fukushima daiichi plant, european countries, including germany and italy, announced plans to shift their energy policy from nuclear power to renewable sources. observers say france is hoping to take a global lead in nuclear energy technology and win contracts to build new power plants for other countries. japan's prime minister naoto kan wants three bills to be enacted before he steps down. the bills are related to post disaster reconstruction efforts. kan said in early june that he intends to resign once he fulfills his role in handling the issues from the march 11th earthquake and the fukushima nuclear accident. in a news conference on monday, kan clarified his role. >> translator: passing a second supplementary budget, a bill for renewable energy and a bill to issue bonds to cover debt are what i would like to do.

>> kan has been under strong pressure to step down not only from opposition parties but also from his ruling democratic party. they say he has mishandled the disasters. the international criminal court at the hague has issued arrest warrants for libyan leader moammar gadhafi and two others for crimes against humanity. the court announced on monday that the warrants are for gadhafi his second son saif al islam and the chief of the intelligence after abdullah al is anufie. it says gadhafi and his son had a plan and is anufie carried out the attacks. the three are charged with killing, injung, arresting

hundreds of civilians in the first 12 days of uprising to overthrow gadhafi. protests occurred in tripoli and benghazi in the northeast. the warrants came amid a stalemate in fighting in libya. it's not clear how or if the international community will be able to arrest gadhafi. in 2009 and 2010 the same court issued an arrest warrant for sud sudan's president, omar al bashir, but he has not been arrested yet. china's debt is nearly 30% of the country's gross domestic product at the end of next year. china published its tally from investigations of city, province and autonomous region governments. the report puts the total debt held by local governments at more than 10.7 trill yuan. many local governments set up

investment frirmz and procured bank loans to spend on a high speed rail system. observers say the disclosure reinforces the chinese government's warnings about financial institutions holding bad loans as well as excessive investments in real estate. now let's take a look at the latest in business news with ai uchida. >> good morning. a lot of news for you this morning. let's start with news from the kay dkay ren. hiromasa yonekura commented on a recent proposal on reconstruction efforts monday. he said a combination of tax hikes and more government bonds should be used to fund rebuilding in quake-hit areas. he also welcomed ideas about establishing a reconstruction

agency and special economic zones to help businesses recover. he added that the government needs to make decisions swiftly and implement measures. the chairman then called on the government to clarify redemption dates and repayment methods if bonds are to be issued to ensure confidence in japanese bonds is not affected. china's premier wen jiabao expressed interest in having chinese firms participate in a british rail project. the new high speed railway would connect london and scotland. wen met british prime minister david cameron on monday, the third and final day of his visit to the uk. in a news conference after the meeting, the two leaders said they agreed to double the amount

of bilateral trade by 2015. they added expansion in trade and investment will be beneficial for both countries. following cameron's call for china's investment in the project, wen said his country has made progress in rapid rail technology and welcomes chinese firms' participation. many british support the project because of its economic benefits including job creation but it will come with a price tag of about $50 billion. china's economic strength and expertise in rapid rail developments are boosting the country's presence in the field. and now let's go to the markets on monday, the nikkei fell 100 points but the dow managed to end its three-day losing streak to finish above the 12,000 mark. for more we're joined by business reporter yongghi kang who is at the tokyo stock exchange. how are things looking this morning? >> reporter: well a very good morning to you, ai and thank you very much for that. the overnight gains on wall street are pointing to a positive start here in tokyo.

let's see if japanese shares are, in fact, benefitting from those gains in new york. the nikkei average in fact in positive territory, recovering the 9600 mark so far. now on monday the dow enjoyed its first gain in four trading sessions on two major factors, one was banking shares which rose on news of more favorable capital requirements. on saturday, global banking regulators in basel said banks needed to increase capital by 2.5 percentage points and that compares with 3 percentage points which was originally feared. that includes bank of america and jpmorgan chase. the second factor which pushed up u.s. stocks was greece's debt situation, investors became more optimistic that the greek parliament will pass an unpopular austerity package needed to get the next bailout payment. markets were largely unmoved by consumer spending data for may

that showed a drop of 0.1%. the dow finishing at 12,043, up 0.9%. the nasdaq finishing at 2688 points, that's up about 1.3%. in japan's corporate news one of the biggest events today is tokyo electric power company's shareholder meeting that will take place less than an hour from now at 10:00 a.m. tokyo time. tepco's management is expected to face sharp criticism and questions about his handling of the crisis at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. the rising pressure yields prompted a shift from the yen to the dollar, dollar/yen trading in the upper 80s and the euro, the single currency is now trading around the mid 150 yen level and that is the picture from the tokyo stock exchange. back to you in the studio, ai >> that was our business reporter yongghi kang from the

tokyo stock exchange. competition is heating up in the auto industry, to expand sales in emerging markets. nissan motor is now planning to work closely with its capital alliance partner renault to achieve combined global sales of more than 10 million vehicles in five years from the current 6.7 million. ♪ >> today nissan has a clear and global vision, and established presence in all major markets and segment, and is recognized as a potential leader in innovative technologies, products and services. >> nissan unveiled a medium term business plan through fiscal 2016 on monday. the automaker said it will keep domestic production unchanged at 1 million units a year. the company says it doesn't expect any significant growth in the japanese market. nissan instead plans to expand business in fast growing emerging economies like china,

india and brazil. the carmaker says it will increase the number of dealerships by 1,500 in these countries and also role out new low-priced models. earlier nhk spoke to nissan's ceo. >> we think most of the growth is going to come from emerging markets so in order to compete in emerging markets you have to be present there, you have to sample your product there, you have to have a good relationship with your dealer there, with your supplier there so we're going to put a lot of focus on the emerging market. meanwhile, japan's biggest automaker, toyota motor, has launched a new low priced passenger car in india. the small hatchback, the etias liva, went on sale monday. the body is shorter than the sedan model. passenger car sales last year in india more than doubled from five years ago, but parking space is limited, so

hatchback models are becoming popular since they're easier to park. toyota uses the same parts as the sedan models sold in india to keep costs down. the lowest price for the new vehicle is about $9,000. nakagawa added the company wants to increase its annual output to 210,000 units next year. now let's get you a recap of the latest market figures.

that's all for this hour in business news. back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. four surviving leaders of cambodia's brutal khmer rouge regime went on trial monday for war crimes and crimes against humanity. the united nations set up a tribunal to try the four defendants for pol pot. nuon chea is also on trial. he expressed his dissatisfaction with the proceedings including the witnesses. the 84-year-old left the hearing 15 minutes after the hearing began. many people were either executed or killed by starvation or

forced leader. khmer rouge leader pol pot died in 1998. the tribunal is investigating the mass kilngs in the late 1970s. here's a brief history of the deadly regime. >> at the height of the cold war in the 1970s, cambodia was torn by a civil war.ed by chai fla c rebels took control of the capital phnom penh, and replaced a pro-american government. the communist regime led by pol pot decided to build a new society based on agriculture, buthe khmer rouge took social engineering to an extreme evacuating cities and sending the entire population to forced labor in rural villages. the regime also purged intellectuals and practitioners of traditional culture, resulting in the deaths of more than 1.5 million people.

a basic agreement between cambodia and the united nations was reached more than a decade ago, paving the way for the extraordinary chambers in the courts of cambodia but the tribunal was not established until 2006 as the government sought to retain control of the court. >> earlier michio kijima spoke with senior reporter yusaka nakagawa who coveredt eh tribunal for five years, spoke as our phnom penh bureau chief since 2005. he spoke with nuon chea, a former democrat of the people's assembly. >> would you first tell us a bit more about this man? >> yes, nuon chea is said to be the architect of pol pot's regime's ideology. he was number two, as he was

second in command. the interview took place in 2004 when nuon chea was living a solitary life near the border with thailand. i asked him about the massacres committed by the regime through forced labor and why they happened. >> translator: there was indeed murder. people were forcibly taken away for labor. i won't deny that. back then there were traitors in cambodia linked with elements in north vietnam trying to tackle our government. i strived to investigate those traitors and took actions to partially to sever their network. i understand that there were citizens who starved to death or died due to illness. i clearly state that we, the

government, never intended to kill civilians, but it could have been wrong to have failed to check our subordinates duties to let them act at their own discretion and we also didn't have enough opportunities to see for ourselves how ordinary people were living. >> listening to the interview, he sounds like he's denying any responsibity for the atrocities. did nuon chea say he was not involved in the deaths of the citizens from forced labors? >> whether or not that's true it will be examined at the tribunal. but a number of people in cambodian that nuon chea was the leader of the government. they say that means he bears his share of responsibility for what happened and that by itself should be pursued at the trial. in july last year, the tribunal handed down a 35-year sentence to the former chief of the jail. it's expected to take several more years before the tribunal rules on the four khmer

rouge leaders, given the vast number of testimonies involved. it's more than 30 years since the regime collapsed and the average age of the defendants are over 80 and families victims are also aging. many people inside and outside cambodia are closely watching whether the tribunal can rule soon enough to see whether justice will be served. >> we will closely watch the trial as well. yusaka, thank you for your perspective. five japanese high school students traveled to new york to raise money for the disaster victims back home. all five lost parents in the tsunami and earthquake on march 11th. the students received help from several americans who have also lost family members, victims of the terrorist attacks of september 11th, 2001. nhk world's rosa sobrino reports.

>> reporter: these students traveled all the way from miyagi prefecre to new york city. the fund-raising effort was organized by japanese npoashinaga, to help children who have lost their parents. maria kusaka of sendai city, lost her father and her home in the disaster. the high school freshman now lives with her mother, brother and sister. >> translator: dad and i used to fight, and i thought he was annoying. but now i miss him so much.

>> reporter: this is maria's first trip outside japan. when she looks at all the people and sees so many items on display, she cannot help but notice the contrast between new york and her devastated hometown. >> translator: it's very different from home. people from america are just living their normal lives. if the earthquake hadn't happened, my hometown would not be the way it is now. >> reporter: the students visit a memorial near ground zero. it was set up for the victims of the september 11th terrorist attacks, which happened ten years ago. >> so that's what happens downstairs, positive thinking. >> reporter: the director, lee ielpi, greets the students. he lost his son in the attacks.

>> we know how difficult it is when you lose loved ones, but we here at the tribute center want to look positive, that tomorrow can be a better day, by remembering yesterday. >> translator: i'm very sad, but i know it can't be like this forever. somehow, i want to find a way to move forward. >> please help japan. >> please help japan. >> please help japan. >> please help japan. >> reporter: maria and her group begin to fund raise. in just two hours, many people stop and donate money. >> translator: i'm having a

difficult time, but there are more people in worse situations, so i want to help them. >> reporter: hillary strauch also joined the fund-raisers. she lost her father in the september 11th terrorist attacks. >> i've experienced a loss similar to a loss they may have experienced with the tsunami, and some of the feelings i know are the same. >> translator: i'm grateful that many people have donated money and support us. lots of people here are struggling to get through a hard time, too, so i want to try harder. >> reporter: it's been more than three months since the disaster. now survivors are making efforts to help themselves, others affected and create awareness. rosa sobrino nhk world, new york. hello there. welcome to your weather update.

well let's take a look at asia first of all. lots of clouds spreading over northern japan this morning. we are going to see additional heavy rainfall impacting tohoku and hokuriku area, and we have various warnings and advisories in effect for flooding as well as landslides. this frontal system remains very active indeed with a lot of warm air in the region. that's set to move into the korean peninsula next looking much drier today, a little bit cloudy today but as we head into your wednesday we'll see some intense showers developing again. elsewhere across the region widespread rain is going to be affecting southern china, over the next couple of days, watch out for some heavy rain to occur along the southern coast of guandong, that rain expanding, heavy rain pushing across taiwan and northern luzon, hefty showers. indo china peninsula picking up moisture from the bay of bengal. so here we're looking at that

widespread rain to impact much of the region. 31 degrees in hong kong today, temperatures exceeding 30 degrees for many of you in china. 35 in chongqing. 32 in beijing and warming up in tokyo as well to 30 celsius. now we head into the americas, looking very wet out in the east during the overnight hours. we have a very long frontal system that's stretching across the region and areas from missouri extending towards west virginia could pick up some severe thunderstorms, damaging winds, tornadoes not out of the question. a new system coming in from the pacific is going to be spreading some light showers from british columbia all the way down into northern california here, and ahead of this frontal system we'll start to see some winds kicking up as well for the southwestern corner so again we're looking at critical fire conditions from tuesday onward for the southwestern corner here. it stays dry, windy and temperatures remain on the warm side again, 37 degrees in

houston, lots of red showing up in the southern tier of the u.s., 33 in atlanta, and 32 in washington, d.c. high pressure system continues to dominate much of europe again today, but out towards the east, this is very active low pressure system continues to swell over the region, bringing lots of unsettled weather to the ukraine, also showers starting to spread into the balkans as well and the rain will remain put in western russia. now a new system coming in from the northwest is going to be bringing wetter and cooler weather for the british isles so heavy rain expected in the southeastern corner here, some showers and thunderstorms will erupt across france, northern spain as well and the heavy rain pushing into norway as well, but temperatures will remain warm in the iberian peninsula, much of central europe again, 37 degrees in madrid today, 28 in berlin, very warm in paris as well at 29 degrees but turning much, much cooler for places like london, 23 degrees for your daytime high. all right, here is your extended

forecast now. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us.