standing strong. >> you have to respect the law of every country. >> pakistan's foreign minister speaks exclusively to nhk and defends the decision to jail the man who helped track down osama bin laden. welcome to nhk world "newsline." hina rabbani khar has plenty to say about the strained relations between pakistan and the united states. the foreign minister spoke about the sore spot in an exclusive interview with nhk. she says she supports a court decision to imprison a pakistani doctor who helped american

intelligence authorities track down al qaeda leader osama bin laden. >> you have to respect the law of every country. and you have to respect our other's laws and respect our expectations of each other and our realistic expectations and i think the realistic expectations of any one country to go against the laws is not a realistic or healthy expectation. >> pakistani courts sentenced shakil afridi wednesday to 33 years in prison for treason. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton denounced the ruling as unjust. she says the obama administration will continue to pursue the issue with pakistani authorities. u.s./pakistan relations worsened after american special forces raided a compound near islamabad last may and killed bin laden. they took another hit after u.s. helicopters killed 24 pakistani soldiers last november. pakistan's government retaliated by closing supply routes for nato forces in afghanistan. foreign minister khar says u.s. authorities should apologize for

the deaths of the soldiers, if they want their routes reopened. >> as if to say if we lose 24 people, one of the parliamentary recommendations is 24 of our soldiers are killed or lie dead, we must be offered an apology for that loss, because there was nobody hurt on the other side. >> khar argues improving u.s./pakistan relations isn't easy. the anti-american sentiment in her country is growing. >> it's a tough job. we are working on it. we are of course showing a lot of -- we are showing a lot of leadership in pakistan, to try and move forward. we hope that we will get the flexibility to move forward. >> the foreign minister also spoke about her country's relations with india. >> we need to build the trust and we will take the first step in building the trust and pakistan did take the first step in building the trust, so we hope as you know that we have recently tried to normalize trade with india. we are moving on the track that

we had committed to ourselves, to them. >> khar says pakistan and india should find a way to solve the territorial dispute over kashmir through negotiations. representatives from six western nations have left a meeting in baghdad essentially emy-handed. they were trying to reach an agreement with officials from iran about the country's nuclear program but they weren't able to make much progress. the meetings ended in baghdad a day later than scheduled. western delegates demanded that iranian scientists stop enriching uranium toward levels that could be used for weapons. >> it's clear that we both want to make progress and that there is some common ground. however, significant differences remain. >> iranian negotiators pressed u.s. and european officials to lift their economic sanctions. >> translator: iran has the right to enrich uranium and

generate nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. >> the negotiators will meet again in moscow next month. human rights activist chen guangcheng is savoring his freedom, but not forgetting the family he left behind in china when he sought refuge in the united states. nor is he giving up on his commitment to change. chen gave his first in-depth interview since he arrived in the u.s. last saturday. he's there on a one-year student visa after he escaped house arrest last month. he's demanding chinese authorities prosecute the officials who abused him and his family. >> translator: no matter how many people are involved, they must take responsibility for the abuse, because they violated the law. the government promised, and we are demanding they keep this promise. >> chen says keeping that promise would allow china to move toward the rule of law. he also expressed concern for his relatives, especially his

nephew, who police arrested on murder charges. >> translator: my older brother escaped house arrest and came to beijing in search of a lawyer for my nephew. it's the basic right of a chinese citizen. >> chen is urging chinese authorities not to put pressure on his family. chen is a lawyer who has dedicated his career to helping the disabled and also campaigned against forced abortions, resulting from china's one-child policy. south koreans have for the first time welcomed home the remains of soldiers who died in the north fighting for their country during the korean war. no soldiers have been repatriated since both sides signed an armistice in 1953. president lee myung-bak and relatives of some of the soldiers gathered for a ceremony at an airport near seoul. 12 sets of remains and personal belongings arrived from the u.s. american forces excavated it all

in north korea between 2000 and 2004, according to the terms of a bilateral agreement. president lee told the relatives that finding the remains of those who sacrificed their lives for south korea is something his government must do until the end. the korean war began in 1950, and the fighting stopped three years later. an estimated 130,000 soldiers from the south are still listed as missing in action. top officials from japan and the united states plan to increase their pressure on north korean authorities in an effort to resolve a decade old issue. agents from the north kidnapped japanese citizens in the 1970s and '80s. their goal was to learn about the abductees' language and culture. u.s. envoy for north korea glyn davies spoke about the matter in tokyo with tokyo's abduction issue minister. davies says the six party talks on the north's nuclear development program should also

deal with the abduction of japanese nationals. his country could provide humanitarian aid to north korea if authorities in the reclusive nation resolve the long-standing issue. he says bringing the abductees home has become a race against time for their aging relatives. davies says the u.s. will support japan's efforts to find closure. korea state run central news agency published a commentary indicating the north is not planning to conduct a test. the test was apparently -- the text was apparently a reaction to talks between japan, china and south korea in beijing. leaders from the three countries agreed to cooperate to prevent what they call provocative actions by the north. a similar decision was taken during a recent g-8 summit in the united states.

the comment describes japan's actions as following hostile u.s. policies towas north korea. the security situation in afghanistan is deteriorating. but nato countries are laying plans to pull out of the war torn nation earlier than scheduled. french president francois hollande has made a surprise visit to the country to gain support for his timetable to bring french troops home. dhra dhirakaosal has more. >> afghan president hamid karzai met with francois hollande who was visiting for first time as president of france. hollande has a road map for removing french troops from the war torn nation. during a surprise visit on friday the french leader greeted some of his 3,400 troops stationed in the country, in

addition to meeting with karzai. hollande intends to pull combat forces out by the end of this year, two years ahead of the timetable laid out by nato. french casualties and the high price of maintaining troops have further turned french public opinion from continued presence in afghanistan. it is believed hollande sought karzai's understanding on the early withdrawal during their summit. hollande vowed maintaining french personnel to train afghan police and military. a shadow is being cast over afghanistan's security as it is set to be transferred back to its government. amidngoing terrorist attacks by the taliban militia, france and other nato nations were moving toward an early removal of their forces. nhk world's hideki yui reports from kabul. >> reporter: afghan security forces learn how to search for enemy fighters in civilian homes.

this sort of operation is currently done by u.s. soldiers, but soon afghans will take over. the size of the afghan security forces, including both military and the police, has grown to nearly 350,000 personnel, but most of them are not yet ready to take the lead. >> translator: we don't have enough training or equipment to fight for afghanistan. >> reporter: international troops used to be in charge of training, but now just two or three of them observe as advisers. afghan officials are responsible for training their own soldiers. anti-american sentiment in

afghanistan has been rising, fueled by a series of controversies. in one incident, u.s. soldiers burned the holy koran. amid widespread outrage, afghan soldiers opened fire on u.s. troops has also been increasing. >> we've been in the country for ten years. certain amount of resentment comes in, that's a natural thing when you have foreigners in your country. >> reporter: most coalition troops are scheduled to depart afghanistan by the end of 2014, but afghanistan's dependence on international support will not end when they leave. after 2014, afghanistan will need an estimated $4.1 billion for international assistance every year, but many european nations are struggling with their debt crisis. financial support for afghanistan looks increasingly

hard to justify. that's a worry for afghan president hamid karzai. >> translator: i want the international community to keep its promise and support afghanistan until 2024. >> reporter: the 2014 deadline for achieving stability in afghanistan looms large. whether or not the handover goes smoothly will depend on the readiness of afghan forces to take charge of their own security and right now, that looks far from certain. hideki yui, nhk world, kabul. that wraps up our bulletin. members of a government advisory panel reviewing japan's nuclear fuel recycling policy are being criticized for having a cozy relationship with the

nuclear industry. they held a number of closed door meetings with industry representatives. and they also shared copies of a draft report before making it public. the six members of the panel from the japan atomic energy commission compiled a report last week on nuclear fuel recycling. they started holding open study meetings in january. panel members also held more than 20 closed door sessions between december and april with organizations involved in nuclear fuel recycling. the groups included the natural resources and energy agency and the federation of electric power companies. the panel distributed its draft report in april, along with a note saying the documents should be handled discreetly. atomic energy commission head shunsuke kondo was among those who attended the first four of the closed door sessions. critics are demanding members of the government advisory panel explain what was discussed at the meetings with industry representatives.

the fukushima daiichi nuclear disaster fueled worldwide doubts over the merits of nuclear power. in japan, political leaders are debating whether or not to restart nuclear plants. at present, the country's electricity supply is for the first time in 42 years nuclear free. another dilemma japan faces is whether to abandon the decades long objective of establishing a self-sustaining nuclear fuel cycle. in today's nuclear watch, we take a closer look at what has been a pillar of japan's nuclear policy. given its limited natural resources, japan decided in 1956 on a policy to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and use the plutonium extracted in that way. the plutonium was to fuel fast breeder reactors, which theoretically produce more plutonium than they consume. but plans to put fast breeder

reactors into use have been stalled since an accident at the prototype reactor in 1995. the project is already running 60 years behind schedule. another key facility for recycling fuel is the processing plant in aomori prefecture, northern japan. it was sport supposed to start operating around 1990 but a series of problems prevented it from going fully operational. after having spent about 3 trillion yen or more than $37 billion on the two facilities, government officials have asked experts to review the recycling policy. this new stance reflects the aim of reducing japan's reliance on nuclear power. >> translator: we're talking about big policy changes, so we're facing many challenges. >> earlier nhk world's reporter hidehiro hanada told us more on the issue.

>> there had been a lot of debate over the future course of japan's nuclear policy, even before the accident at fukushima, but since the government decided to review its nuclear policy from scratch, a panel of the atomic energy commission has been studying various options from a perspective of economic efficiency and necessity. the main question here is whether to maintain the current costly nuclear fuel recycling program, which is unlikely to be completed anytime soon. and this month, the panel presented three options. first, the option to continue reprocessing all spent nuclear fuel, second, a complete disposal, meaning burying all spent fuel in the ground, and, third, to continue reprocessing and postpone its final decision until 2030. the panel estimated a cost of disposal or the impact of a policy change based on the different scenarios for japan's future reliance on nuclear power. and it has concluded that in any of these scenarios, the cheapest way is the direct disposal of

all spent fuel. but if the reprocessing program is abandoned, spent fuel stored in aomori would end up with nowhere to go, and nuclear power plants in japan would not be able to be restarted. each option has the pros and cons. the united states, france and russia used to do research on nuclear fuel recycling to make effective use of resources. france, which was most advanced in this field, used to operate superphenix, a reactor, but suspended its operation due to a series of problems and rising costs. but japan did not give up the plan for fast breeder reactors. it has been a centerpiece of its nuclear full recycling program. on the other hand, france, russia and china began a

research on fast reactors as a means of reducing radioactive waste. so once again, they are paying attention to nuclear fuel recycling. the options will be presented to a government panel on energy and environment and the panel is expected to make a final decision this summer. as a country with limited natural resources, japan has spent a huge amount of money into the nuclear fuel recycling program, but commercialization of fast breeder reactors would not be possible until 2050. after the accident at fukushima, the government decided to reduce dependence on nuclear power, but whatever the percentage of nuclear power would be in the total energy mix, the government must figure out what to do with final disposal of radioactive wastes and explain to the public at home and abroad why it chose that particular plan.

an international car exhibition got under way on friday in busan, south korea. the busan international motor show is the largest since it first started. it's held once every two years. 22 carmakers from around the world are exhibiting over 170 models on this occasion. south korean makers are especially aggressive, eyeing the eu and u.s. after free trade agreements with them went into effect. they're showcasing passenger cars with innovative designs. hlg hyundai motor released a model that is very popular in the united states. >> translator: while doing our utmost in research and development, we will invest aggressively to build a firmer

foundation. >> meanwhile, toyota motor plans to increase exports of its american-made cars to south korea. it's also making use of the free trade pact. the automaker released a new model this time which will be marketed in the country later this year. fedex is now in the final stages of talks to set up its hub for northeast asia at japan's kansai international airport. the major u.s. air cargo services company is currently using an airport in southern china as its base for the asia-pacific region but it has been trying to find another base for handling its business in northeast asia where it does see services expanding. the company has picked the airport in southwestern japan over another candidate, south korea's incheon airport. and it's been pushing negotiations with japanese authorities. fedex apparently rates kansai airport high because its runways can be used around the clock. strong support from the airport

operator as well as japanese government and business leaders has also prompted fedex to make the decision. more people in japan are eating out these days. sales at restaurants and fast food stores in the country went up for the third straight month in april. the japan food services association says sales at more than 200 restaurants and fast food chains grew over 3% last month from a year earlier. the association officials say many people went out during april to see cherry blossoms and took advantage of the occasion to eat out. restaurant sales have plunged since the march disaster last year through january, that's because japanese people tightened their belt to express support for the victims of the catastrophe, but officials say they aren't sure if the recent uptrend will continue. they point to sources of concern like the yen's continued strength and expected power shortages this summer. japan's prime minister wants to harness the oceans to help feed his nation's power needs.

yoshihiko noda is trying to expand the alternative energy sector in the wake of the nuclear accident at fukushima daiichi. >> translator: the policy will be a foundation for building society with a new energy infrastructure. it is important for ministers to work closely together and push the efforts forward. >> prime minister noda told his ministers to give more support for test projects by the private sector. officials with the government panel on maritime policies met friday. they decided to secure and prepare test areas as early as 2014. the government also plans to create a method to assess the environmental impact and address rights issues with fishery unions. the maritime power generation is to utilize the push and pull of ocean waves and tides to drive generators. so far the japanese government has been slow to support research in this area. this has left the nation behind

other countries in developing practical technologies. for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji. mai? >> hi there. we have been tracking this system over eastern asian water, this is the tropical storm sanvu. which is a severe tropical storm. it looks like it will be aiming toward the islands, moving toward landmasses on saturday local time. it will be picking up the waves as much as five meeters in some coastal areas. the wind gusts are already reaching 157 kilometers per hour and bringing some hefty rain. so we will keep track on this system for you. but as for the rest of the country, honshu region looking pretty clear. hokkaido may see some few isolated thunderstorms. but elsewhere we're getting severe thunderstorms as well as very heavy downpours as down towards southern coastal areas of china, especially hunan

province. hunan province, towards the northwestern regions, this is where things are very dry where we want that rain, we can never get any. and that situation is right over hunan province. so, but, towards the southern areas of hunan province and the gongshu provinces and hong kong, we saw southern coastal areas will continue to accumulate rainfall which could be as much as 100 millimeters in the next 24 hours. indochina peninsula looking messy with a chance of isolated thunderstorms to be popping up through the weekend. staying in the 30s in the tropics. and take a look at ulan batur, rehing up to 28 degrees, summer-like temperature in the north there. and tokyo, we're looking at 26 degrees for a saturday high. you can clearly see the eye here in west of southern mexico. that's the hurricane bud. bud is moving in the -- at the speed of 13 kilometers per hour. wind speed, 175.

so we have hurricane warnings and watches posted along the coastal areas. looks like it is going to be making landfall as it maintains its intensity as a hurricane. and then downgrading as it makes landfall and then moving -- push out towards the water. but we will keep you updated with this one. that's going to be packing a lot of accumulated rainfall as well. so triggering some kind of flooding could be at very high risk. now, over towards the north this low pressure system is actually bringing very cold air and winter storm advisories over montana region especially, which may see snow making appearances, as much as 20 centimeters accumulating in the higher elevations there. now, just down in the south here, though, very different story, things are very hot a dry. so elevating the risk of extreme fire still. in and around new mexico, those plumes could actually spread even more, so reduced visibility, very dangerous for driving and also health concerns are going to be huge issue.

now, towards this south of florida peninsula region, this is the area where things are going to be developing. we may even have another formation of tropical depression. and this is what is happening here in southern florida. a flood situation here. this guy is trying to pump up water from the parking lots and these cattles are just left behind and waiting in flooded waters. so situation not good in miami for your memorial day weekend. looks like you'll be having chances of thunderstormic activity, which is not going to be good news. chicago, washington, d.c., hot, all the heat from the gulf of mexico reaching all the way toward this area. stay hydrated and enjoy your weekend. here's your extended forecast.

all right, we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo. thank you very much for joining us on nhk world.

have a great day wherever you are.