welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday august 9th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. stocks were sold across the board in new york on monday sending the dow industrial average down more than 600 points. amid concern about the global economic slowdown triggered by the u.s. credit rating downgrade at the end of last week. president barack obama delivered a speech on monday but it was lacking fresh content and stocks continued to fall. an earlier statement by the g-7 finance ministers and governors

also failed to calm investor concern. the dow fell 634 points to 10,809. it was the first time for the dow jones industrial average to fall more than 600 points since 2008 in the aftermath of the lehman shock. prices show no sign of bottoming out. they also say investors are eyeing changes in policy from the federal reserve's committee meeting on tuesday. the sharp drop in stock prices drove investors to gold and bonds. gold hit a record high of over $1700 an ounce. bonds from the u.s., italy, and spain also rose. the dollar fell to the middle 77 yen level on the new york foreign exchange as investors bought back the japanese currency to seek refuge in the perceived safety of the yen. now, share prices in major european markets also dropped sharply on monday to their

lowest level of the year. stocks were bought back earlier in the day as the european central bank promised to purchase italian and spanish bonds in an attempt to calm investor concern. sale orders increased following a sharp drop in prices on the new york stock market. european markets closed lower on friday. down 5% in frank further and 4.6% in paris. tuesday marks the 66th anniversary of the atomic bombing of nagasaki. they will reference the nuclear accident in his annual peace

speech calling for a shift to safer power generation. the ceremony will take place at the peace park near the center of the explosion. participants will observe a moment of silence at 11:02 a.m. local time, the precise time the bomb was dropped in 1945. >> representatives from a record 46 countries will attend the ceremony. the mayor will also call for the abolition of nuclear weapons describing them as inhumane. the august anniversaries of the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki help reflect on

war. we report on a group of teachers from the united states who recently came to nagasaki to learn a lesson from the past. >> reporter: 16 teachers from the united states are visiting nagasaki. they've come here on a special educational exchange project jointly sponsored by the japanese and u.s. governments. jenny carr is a junior high school teacher from texas. she learned about the atomic bomb through her grandfather who fought against japan during world war ii. this is carr's late grandfather, dan harrison. she remembers him saying that the u.s. was right to have dropped the atomic bomb. >> i asked him, i was like grandfather do you -- like what do you think about the atomic bomb? it was awful.

all these people died. and he said, well, more people would have died if we hadn't. >> reporter: carr's grandfather passed away when she was 11 years old. she never had a chance to discuss with him the deeper issues of the atomic bomb. she became a teacher years later without ever having settled upon her personal opinion concerning the atomic bomb. in search of answers, she decided to visit the nagasaki atomic bomb memorial museum. she was deeply moved by what she saw. the film clips of the immediate aftermath are tremendously shocking. >> i was just really sad that people could do that to each other. that humans could do that to one another. it's just really sad. really, really sad.

>> reporter: carr and her fellow teachers continue their tour with a visit to an elementary school located just 600 meters from ground zero. 1,300 of the school's pupils were killed by the bomb. this is an a-bomb survivor that attended the yelementary. he shares his experiences of the atomic bomb. this memorial was built in memory of the children who died in the explosion. >> translator: let's observe a moment of silence. >> is there any more anger or animosity against the u.s. over what happens?

>> translator: the fact that japan and the u.s. fought with each other and that the u.s. dropped bombs on nagasaki and hiroshima are for me things of the past. it's our duty to convey to tomorrow's leaders that war and nuclear bombs are wrong. and that we must work towards building a peaceful world. for all of you who are here today, i hope that as educators you will share this message with your students. >> i feel even more than i did before an obligation to take what he's told us about it back to students. >> reporter: jennie carr came to nagasaki to learn something her grandfather could not. she presents a new generation, one that is trying to learn from the past, to promote peace and understanding among the generations of tomorrow.

nhk world, nagasaki. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline. u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon has visited fukushima prefecture to meet survivors of the march 11 disaster and people who evacuated from the nuclear accident. here is more on that. >> reporter: ban visited the coast on monday and offered a moment of silence for tsunami victims.

>> reporter: he also visited a senior high school in fukushima city to meet students. >> your voice is the is much stronger than prime ministers or any politicians. that's your voices i'm carrying back to the united nations. [ applause ] >> reporter: the secretary general of the united nations, mr. ban ki-moon, will soon arrive here at an evacuation center in fukushima city and deliver theessage of the

solidarity from the international community. he also stressed that the united nations will take steps to enhance the safety of nuclear plants. but ban expressed skepticism about prime minister naoto kan's proposal to reduce the nation's dependence on nuclear energy. >> the government should determine that nuclear energy is stl regarded as one of the viable options for energy sources particularly in fighting against the climate change and also providing universal access to many poor people. >> reporter: later in the day, ban met kan in tokyo to ask him to participate in an international conference on nuclear energy in new york next month.

nhk world, fukushima. an nhk poll shows the approval rate for the cabinet of prime minister naoto kan has risen to 18%. the figure is up two percentage points from the previous months when the rate marked a low since the party took place. the disapproval rating is down three points. 44% said it seems better than any potential ruling block. among those who say they do not support the cabinet, 40% said it lacks the power to carry out policies. as when kan should step down, 45% said by the end of this month. 28% said he should resign between september and the end of december while 14% opted for next year or later. a japanese government panel

on space programs has urged the government to put priority on developing a satellite for global positions systems. the body says the government needs to optimize its limited annual budget of about $4 billion for space exploration. the panel says developing a gps satellite should be the top priority as new businesses can be created by providing detailed positioning information. it says the satellite can also be used to confirm the location of individuals in emergencies. the board says the government should also allocate a portion of the budget for unmanned scientific probes like hiobusa which became the first probe to bring back asteroid samples. they plan to submit to the government soon. time to check on the stories we gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin with this send by irib iran. iranian police have received ten

tons of narcotics for the biggest haul in a single raid in the country for more than three decades. a police official said the drugs were recovered from a truck on sunday and that police are working to arrest members of a drug trafficking ring. iran shares a 900 kilometer long border with afghanistan which the united nations says accounts for 90% of the world's illicit opium and heroin production. to stop smuggling to other countries, iran has lost nearly 3,700 of its police officers and spent $700 million over the past 30 years. a landslide triggered by heavy rain at a hill resort in the central malaysia state left two people dead and more injured on sunday. at least 100 personnel spent eight hours working to pull victims from debris and evacuated 60 families who lived

near the site. initial reports say three houses built near a water passage were buried in mud. located more than 1800 meters above sea level, a tea plantation region and a popular tourist destination among locals and foreigners. one of sri lanka's most important religious festivals is underway in the central city of kandi. the event has a worship of buddhist rel lick. the parade begins from the most famous monument and includes dancers, fire acrobats, drummers, and a decorated elephant. the festival began as a ritual to pray for rainfall. the procession became part of the event when the truth relic came to sri lanka.

with the rapid expansion of the internet in china, a new social problem has emerged. net addiction. now, experts on the issue say unhealthy web habits are breeding social problems from truancy to suicides. >> reporter: a shelter from cyber space. this private property creates young internet addicts. >> reporter:. >> reporter: therapy and training. parents bring their children here hoping the environment will help them break their habits.

the government estimates 24 million young people have a net addiction problem. last year a group tried to get cash for online games kidnapped and murdered a child. copy cats have been impersonating characters in the world. >> translator: parents force their children to study more causing stress and among children. to be free, they get hooked on the internet and escape into the virtual world. >> reporter: the center was set up two years ago. more than 200 are said to be offering similar services in other parts of the country. the day starts at 6:30 a.m. 75 aged 12 to 20 are attending

the training camp. as soon as they get out of bed, they get dressed and have breakfast. the idea is to create a simple daily routine. classes are held six hours a day in addition to chinese and mathematics camp members also study psychological well being. the treatment costs $900 a month. more than a worker's average income. this 16-year-old came here in march. he had stopped going to school. instead he spent up to 20 hours a day playing online games. when he wasn't logged on, he became irritated and easily distracted. >> translator: my parents often told me not to play online games. i refused. i wanted to rebel every time

they told me that. >> reporter: he also had therapy. creating a piece of art gives him a feeling of accomplishment and confidence. it also helps foster hope. now his dream is to be an artist. >> translator: at first i escaped from the center. but now i feel fulfilled with my fe of discipline. it is not easy to overcome a net addiction. but i will continue to try. >> translator: i hope that students who had shallow relationships will become confident with their peers. and experience pleasure away from the internet. i want them to get along with people in society. >> reporter: but the training centers are dealing with problems of their own. after some bad practices came to

light, some reportedly used electric shock therapy and drugs. cases of physical abuse also surfaced. and experts say the training camp approach sometimes neglects the most important issue. improving the parents/child relationship. >> translator: to some extent, it is effective for children with net addiction to have military-style training in the center. but what is the most important is to have good communication between parents and children and build up confident with each other. >> reporter: the harsh realities that there are no quick fixes to overcome the problems young internet addicts need consistent help from family, school, and society. nhk world.

now let's take a look at the market figures. hello there. time now for your weather update. heavy rain has been really

impacting north korea. and that's due to tropical storm muifa. still with us packing winds of 65 kilometers per hour. moving 35 kilometers an hour in a northeasterly direction. it is expected to weaken to a tropical depression this afternoon. then a low pressure system. but it will remain a fairly strong system, so a heavy rain will continue to impact this region northeastern corner of china, southeastern russia as well. winds today could reach the northern end of japan by mid-week. down towards the south, south korea looking showery as well. high pressure system over the region pulling in lots of moisture into the peninsula here. also in eastern and southern china looking unsettled over the next couple of days. meanwhile, japan will stay in the dry intense sunshine. today just a couple of strong thunderstorms to watch out for up in the mountains here. the temperatures again exceeding

30 degrees in many areas. today tokyo coming in at 35. sapporo 30 degrees. heat advisories have been issued many areas. 30 degrees in seoul today. 35 in beijing. it stays hot in chongqing at 37 degrees. now heading towards the americas, the western half of the continent looks very calm and pleasant today. out towards the east, it's a different story. we have a couple of systems in the works here bringing lots of unsettled weather, lots of thunderstorms tonight and into your tuesday. tonight especially near the center of the storm for southwestern ontario also near the frontal system for nebraska looking very stormy. looking at the potential of damaging winds as well as large hail and severe thunderstorms. then down towards the south, this low pressure system also will remain fairly strong into tuesday. that will continue to bring lots of thunderstorms across the southeastern corner of the u.s.

otherwise the heat will continue to impact the southern plains again. 38 degrees in houston. 32 in denver. also warm on the east coast as well. now, for europe looking windy and thundery around eastern europe. we have this frontal system bringing stormy conditions to parts of the. balkans. intense rain can be felt around hungary as well. generally looking windy back behind this system across germany up towards southern norway as well containing with pretty strong winds. out towards the west, it will be fairly calm. the british isles expecting sunshine today. but heavy rain will arrive late tuesday. looking dry and calm for much of france as well as spain and portugal. 36 in lizban.

all right. here is your extended forecast now.

stocks were sold across the board in new york on monday sending the dow jones industrial average down more than 600 points. sale orders surged on the stock exchange amid the concern of the slow down triggered by the u.s. credit rating downgrade at the end of last week. u.s. president barack obama delivered a speech on monday but it was perceived as lacking fresh content and stocks continued to fall. an earlier statement by the g7 finance administrators also failed to calm investors. the dow jones fell to 10,809. it was the first time for the dow to slip more than 600 points

since december, 2008 in the aftermath of the lehman shock. stock prices showed no signs of bottoming out. they also say investors are eyeing possible changes in policy from the federal reserve boards open market committee meeting on tuesday. the sharp drop in prices drove investors to gold and bonds. gold hit a record high of $1700 an ounce. bonds from the u.s., italy, and spain also roads. the dollar fell to the middle 77 yen level on the new york exchange as they bought back the currency in the perceived safety of the yen. tuesday marks the 66th anniversary of the atomic bombing of nagasaki. the mayor will reference the nuclear accident in his peace speech calling for a surge to safer power generation. the ceremony will take place at

the peace park near the center of the explosion. participants will observe a moment of silence at 11:02 a.m. local time, the precise time the bomb was dropped in 1945. >> >> representatives from a record 46 countries will attend the ceremony. the mayor will also call for the abolition of nuclear weapons. and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. we'll see you again at the top of the next hour.