welcome to "newsline." it's friday, july 26th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. investigators are trying to determine the cause of spain's worst rail accident in decades. at least 80 people were killed after the train rounded a curve and jumped off of the tracks. 140 others were injured. police suspect the driver had pished the train well above the speed limit.

public broadcaster tve aired video of the crash. the force of the impact sent cars tumbling. the train was traveling from the capital madrid to the northwestern city of el ferrol. more than 240 people were on board. the train went through a tunnel as it approached the city of santiago de compostela. then it entered a curve. the speed limit is 80 kilometers per hour. but the news reports that the driver said the train was traveling at 190 kilometer ps per hour. they modified a car and installed a diesel generator to move the cars on a track that was not electrified. the modifications may have raised the car's center of gravity and that may have upset its balance as the train went around the curve. prime minister mariano rajoy

declared a day of mourning for the victims. the city of santiago de compostela is known as an ancient catholic pilgrimage route. they were getting ready to celebrate an important day on the calendar. now they're trying to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy. nhk world's takayuki kastsuki has more. >> reporter: what was one of spain's newest high speed trains is now evidence in an investigation. emergency workers rushed to the scene soon after the accident. rescuers encountered a chaotic scene. overturned cars, scores of people who needed help or were trapped. seats and luggage scattered everywhere. >> translator: i heard an

explosion when i arrived. one of the carriages was already over the road. >> translator: the derailment was very violent. one train carriage landed on another track. >> reporter: hearses carried bodies to a temporary morgue. people gathered outside to mourn and comfort one another. >> translator: we're missing an uncle and an aunt. >> translator: it's my niece. the daughter of my sister. we're as broken as you can imagine. >> reporter: elsewhere they line up to give blood. after officers put out an urgent call for donations. the accident happened on the eve of a catholic festival in santiago de compostela. some of the passengers were on their way to the annual event. thousands of christians from all over the world visit the city to

honor st. james, one of jesus' 12 disciples. but the festivities have been canceled. instead of celebrating, people here will mourn. and investigators will work to answer a growing list of questions. reporting for nhk world, santiago de compostela, pain. thousands of residents are still waiting to go home. vast tracts of land are still waiting to be restored. and more than half of fishing ports on the pacific coast must be rebuilt. people in northeastern japan still face challenges following the 2011 disaster, but step by step, they're moving forward. see their stories every wednesday on "the road ahead" right here on "newsline."

the operator at fukushima daiichi says it will remove leaky equipment designed to treat radioactive water. last month tepco detected a leak in the welding of a tank used to store pretreated contaminated water. it is part of system being tested to remove radioactive substances from tainted water. tepco found two holes and small dents in the tank. they suspect the breaches were caused by sea water and a chemical to remove impure tis. the company will stop all three treatment systems using the tanks for about 90 days from the beginning of next month. they plan to cover the insides of all the tanks with rubber to prevent corrosion. the fukushima plant sees two tons of water accumulate every day due to an inflow of ground water. tepco plans to store the tainted water in other tanks while the treatment equipment is offline. they hope to put the full system into operation from next month,

but they predict they'll have to delay the plan. the head of japan's fisheries has launched a protest with tepco. the company has revealed that contaminated groundwater at the fukushima power plant has leaked into the sea. the organization's head visited tokyo electric power company headquarters. he handed a letter of protest to the president. >> translator: you must stop leaking contaminated water into the sea we have repeatedly asked your company to do this, but you have ignored us. we feel betrayed. >> he demanded that tepco state how it will contain water accumulating in the complex. he said the company must take immediate measures to stop the leakage. he encouraged the company to increase monitoring for radioactive substances in waters near the plant. he said he would work to comply

with the request. high concentrations of radioactive substances have been detected in monitoring wells near the shore since may. japan's foreign minister is going down a path many of his counterparts have gone before. he's encouraging peace talks. >> reporter: the agenda included regional infrastructure projects proposed by japan. it is known as the corridor for peace and prosperity. kishida visited one of the projects in the west bank now under construction. ations are expected to begin next spring. vegetables will be exported to other countries through jordan. kishida made another proposal to

promote local tourism. the region offers a variety of historical sites. >> translator: i hope the projects will nurture mutual trust between japan and the three parties. and help support the peace process there. >> reporter: kishida later visited jordan and met with the prime minister. he promised japan's continued support for refugees from syria where the civil war continues. he also pitched japan's new technology. jordan plans to construct a nuclear power plant. japan's air force came just after remarks by the u.s. secretary of state john kerry. kerry says it had been reached with israeli and palestinian officials to revive the

negotiations. japan hopes support for u.s. peace efforts in the region will strengthen the u.s./japan security alliance, but it's not sure if japan's air force in the middle east will lead to peace in the unstable region. reporting for nhk world, jordan. delegates from north and south korea met for a sixth round of talks on the resumption of a jointly run industrial zone. but they failed to reach an agreement and to set a date for the next round of negotiations. south korean delegates asked their counterparts for a pledge that there will be no more disruptions but the north insisted that it's not obliged to make such a promise. the north said after the talks that their military would occupy the complex if the joint project failed. the south korean unification ministry said the project now faces a critical turning point. the kaesong industrial come plek has been closed since the north

withdrew its 53,000 workers in april. that came after north korea cut off communication links in protest of u.s./south korea joint military exercises. south korean expert gave us his insights into the industrial complex talks and the armistice anniversary. he works for the institute for policy studies. >> there were issues among them the most difficult one to make agreement that the north is not going to take any kind of measures which has created the current situation. so south korea from the beginning demanded north korea's pledge for the prevention of similar cases in the future. but it is about the responsibility of the past. so i think it's quite difficult for north korea to make a pledge on that issue. on the other hand, south korea cannot accept any other than that.

actually from the beginning the park guen-hye ministry has asked north korea to make a pledge. otherwise it can't start the complex again. it seems to me that there are three motives behind it. first, they observed the formation of a trilateral cooperation among the united states, south korea and china on north korean issues. so they felt isolated and pressured. so drive a wedge among these three countries and also to get out of the international isolation, north korea has made a series of diplomatic activities asking for dialogue and also sent delegates to china and russia as well. the second is about the south korean issues. north korea tried to weaken the people's support for park guen-hye's policy towards north

korean, the trust building process, over the past six months, park guen-hye has enjoyed strong support for that. actually if north can propose a dialogue actually that is intended to create a what you call south-south dispute over north korean policy. third, by having if possible and successful by having a dialogue with the united states north korea can get what it wants from the united states such as food supplies or other humanitarian assistance from the united states. i think one possibility i strongly believe is that maybe north korea is going to wield a new weapons system such as intercontinental ballistic missile as they did in previous years that they claim is a more capable and reliable system than they have. this is a comment made by kim jong un. it is intended to further consolidate kim jong un's

leadership and to signal outside the world it is rather capable of deterring hostile war against north korea. let's take a look at the market figures now.

emensching economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence, the push for peace, the shadow of conflict. get news and ib sight on south and southeast asia every weekday "live from bangkok" only on nhk world "newsline." a court in india has again delayed handing down a verdict related to the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a new delhi bus last december. the delay is the second from the juvenile court trying one of the defendants in a case that caused outrage in india and around the world. a defense lawyer said the verdict was delayed until august 5th because of a pending case at the supreme court that seeks to change the legal definition of a juvenile. the defendant was 17 at the time of the attack. he's being tried as a minor on

charges including murder and rape. a 23-year-old woman died after she was gang raped and thrown out of a moving bus in new delhi in december. a total of six men are standing trial but only one as a minor. the victim's father says he wants them all to receive the death penalty. if convicted, the juvenile defendant could be sent to a correctional facility for a maximum of three years. people across indiana have demanded a severe punishment for the defendant regardless of his age. militants in pakistan have attacked a heavily guarded compound that housed the country's powerful intelligence agency. gunmen attacked a compound belonging to interservices intelligence, or i.s.i., in the southern town of sukkur on

wednesday. a security official told reuters five attackers were killed, along with an intelligence officer and a civilian. at least 40 people were wounded. the incident has raised questions about the new government's goal of opening talks with the taliban. the prime minister pledged to engage with them earlier this year. japanese women have reclaimed their world title for longevity. they fell to second place behind hong kong two years ago. health, welfare and labor administration officials say the expected life expectancy of a japanese woman was a little over 86 years in 2012. that's an increase of one year from 2011. the large number of people who died during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami brought the average down. until then, japanese women's lifespan had been the world's longest for 26 years in a row. for japanese men, ministry officials say the average lifespan was a record high of nearly 80 in 2012.

the average lifespan of all japanese people also rose last year for the first time in three years. the death toll from a summer heat wave in 2010 and the 2011 disaster had caused the average to fall. japanese people like to boast the taste and quality of their rice, but for many consumers around the world, it costs too much. so researchers are cross-breeding varieties to develop new types that are less expensive but still tasty. now exporters are hoping they can capture a bigger share of the international market. >> reporter: the national institute of agro-biological sciences, japan's center of

genetic research into rice. by march scientists here had discovered more than 100 rice genes that could be useful in selective breeding. >> translator: this is dna taken from a grain of rice. it contains all the rice's information. >> reporter: they research chromosomes in the rice cells and analyze the dna. they were able to diagnose each gene. they were able to determine which gene resists disease, tolerate heat or cold as well as which genes result in the growth of larger grains. they crossbreed delicious rice with other varieties that carry the desired qualities and by analyzing the genes they select only suppose specimens that have the best characteristics. this method ensures quick and precise gene selection. and it also saves time. this technique is called genome

breeding. >> translator: the breeding used to take ten years, but now it's possible to cut that time in half or even a third. japan's agricultural industry will find this helpful. >> reporter: japan has a big incentive to promote the genome breeding project. the amount of rice exports around the world has tripled since 1990. to compete in the global market, japanese officials set a goal this year of lowering the cost of rice production by 40%, and it started developing new kinds in earnest. >> translator: our biggest goal right now is figuring out how to grow delicious rice more cheaply. be ha we have to continue to develop new breeds. >> reporter: at the moment they're trying to figure out how to lower the production cost of

koshiikari rice. many japanese consider it the most delicious in the country. it is available outside japan. it could be sold at a competitive price. it is one of the hardest types of rice to cultivate. it has many drawbacks. it can lack sturdiness. it's susceptible to blight and other diseases. when exposed to high temperatures, its grains become white. in toyama prefecture, researchers have developed a type that is immune to sickness and is sturdier than the conventional kind. researchers are working on adding a gene to protect the rice from problems caused by heat. researchers have found that introducing a gene from another variety would reduce the problems caused by high temperatures. now they're working on the selection process. after the natural cross-breeding. >> translator: i want to come up

with a strain that is better than the current koshiikari. we believe we can make it easier to grow and more delicious. >> reporter: is it possible to grow tasty rice that can be cheaply harvested? as japan gets ready to compete more effectively on the world market, its researchers are manging impressive advances. time for a check on the weather with mai shoji. good morning. it seems people in central europe are doing whatever they can to cool off. >> yes, catherine, good morning. it is hot in central europe. let me first show you a picture coming up from italy. residents and tourists from parts of italy sought shade and air conditioning to escape the scorching heat. it forced authorities to issue heat warnings for seven cities on thursday. in the capital people are making use of water fountains and shielding themselves with parasols just like this cute

child. temperatures are expected to further increase into next week. so for those of you traveling across central europe for your summer vacation, i know that you want to see everything you can while you're there, but the temperatures are scorching hot as you can see. it is baking in florence, for example, at 38 degrees. a lot of these areas are seeing temperatures well above the average range. so if you're out and about, try to take -- cool down yourselves at cooling shelters nearby from time to time. this is due to this african high pressure system just sitting across much of this continent and making things very hot. the jet stream is moving all the way to the north and pulling all the hot air. this is where the unstable weather is continuing. we have numerous reports of lightning in germany that damaged houses and people as well as funnel clouds found in france, western france, low countries and germany still

looking at thunderstorms in the forecast. this system is bringing wet and windy conditions to the british isles on your sunday in edinburgh you'll see thundershowers on saturday in london. very heavy rain. as for now, for friday, nice temperatures at 25 with sunny spells. now for your -- excuse me, asia, here across continental asia, we have a low pressure system. an upper level low sitting across the southwestern tip of russia. a typical pattern where the southeastern edge of upper level cold brings weather. so the tohoku region in japan with 150 millimeters of rainfall to slam the area. so it's going to be heavy downpours, also some thunderstorms and it's going to be quite thundery across central japan again today. it will be a southern weather change. do carry your strongest umbrellas if you're going to go out today. here across china we have a couple of places where we're

looking at very heavy rain to the north and to the south. especially here 100 to 150 millimeters are in the forecast. but between these two rainmakers we have a heat dome still in place. temperatures are scorching hot at 40 degrees in chongqing, do stay hydrated and shanghai at 39 degrees. moving over to north america, we've got a cold front that's still hugging the coastal line. so here across the area, thunderstorms, new brunswick and new england these areas will find 100 millimeters of additional rainfall. due to this cold front severe weather is possible. we have three tornado touchdowns reported in the midsection of this country. so this is still capable of spawning these tornadoes. we're looking at 20s in bismarck and in winnipeg. these are mid-september temperatures and the morning low will be in the single digits. i'll leave you now for the extended forecast.

one more story to share with you before we go.

people in osaka, western japan, have taken part in one of japan's top three summer festivals. about 3,000 people paraded from the osaka tenmangu shrine. the tenjin matsuri festival. the deity appears at this time every year. more than 10,000 festival goers boarded boats fitted with their own portable shrines. they sailed up an down a river that flows through the center of the city. the event closed with a display of about 4,000 fireworks in the night sky.

and that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more of your updates at the top of the hour. 

2:00 p.m. >> good afternoon and welcome to the woodrow wilson center. this is america's living tribute to its 20th president. just a memorial like some some of the places you visit in washington d c. you may have noticed that on your way and. the upper floors of this memorial are filled with human beings who are engaged in deep research about issues and importance around the country and the world.