for many south koreans as temperatures top 40 degrees in some areas and authorities turn off the air conditioning in government buildings. temperatures hit 32.6 degrees celsius in seoul and reached a record 40.3 degrees in the southern city of usan. and south korea xwra is facing a power short anl. technical problems forced two power plants off line monday and

6 of the 23 nuclear reactors are undergoing maintenance. government workers will have to forgo air conditioning for three days. a heat wave in september 2011 resulted in major blackouts across south korea. people in portugal and morocco are dealing with heat of a different kind. wildfires sparked by soaring temperatures. residents of amskroud in southwestern morocco saw fires flare up on saturday night. strong winds fanned the flames. by sunday it had grown to the size of hundreds of sports fields. residents in portugal have seen wildfires spread around their community if past two days. the fires are burning through the mountainous region. firefighters are struggling to bring in enough water to fight the flames. rescue workers in afghanistan and pakistan are searching for survivors after sudden downpours caused deadly

flooding. more than 180 people have been killed. afghan disaster management officials say the waters submerged vehicles near the capital kabul. the afghan government dispatched rescue teams to kabul. and more than 80 people there have been confirmed dead. rivers burst their banks in neighboring pakistan, too. they swept away houses in the central province of punjab and the southern province of sindh. 83 people were killed and more than 4,000 houses destroyed. authorities have installed shelters for those left homeless. pakistani weather officials warn there'll be more downpours in the next few days. members of a u.n. panel investigating human rights abuses in north korea are preparing to visit japan. they'll meet relatives of japanese nationals abducted by

north korean agents. the human rights council set up the panel in march. members will visit south korea and japan to collect information on the abductees. they plan to meet with shinzo abe, an abduction minister keiji fu fur u ya. investigator s had hoped to vist north korea to study prison camps but authorities in pyongyang refused them entry. north korean leader kim jong un seems to be taking a new tack to draw investment from abroad. he's reportedly developing a ski resort. a south korean business leader says it's part of an attempt to attract foreign tourists. workers are cutting trails and putting up equipment on mount masik in the eastern part of the country. the business leader says north korean officials told him they've opened three airports around the resort. park sang kwon is the see of of

pyeonghwa motors. he met kim last month in pyongyang. >> translator: kim is focusing on projects like this in order to build relationships with out nations. >> park said kim believes tourism and foreign currency are keys to reviving the economy. india's leaders are celebrating a milestone in their naval history. they've launched the country's first domestically built aircraft carrier. observers say it's part of an effort to deal with china's growing presence in the indian ocean. defense minister was in kochi, southern india, to complete the completion of the 37,500-ton

vessel. india is looking to protect its maritime interests. the country already has a british-built aircraft carrier and will buy another one from russia by the end of this year. indian leaders said this week they're preparing to test their first home built nuclear submarines. u.s. marines have resumed their transfer of a controversial aircraft to a base in southern japan. people in okinawa have long been concerned about the safety record of the osprey. and the crash of a u.s. military helicopter last week hasn't helped. nine ospreys arrived at futenma in okinawa from a base in iwakuniy in southern japan. two of them had flown to futenma at the start of the month. the base is to have a fleet of 24 ospreys including 12 deployed there last october. the helicopter crashed in place

during a training mission last week. one airman was killed. the u.s. military suspended the os spree transfer following the accident. and as the ospreys arrived at futenma, more than 100 people gathered outside the base to vent their anger. protesters at the north gate held up signs opposing the osprey deployment. they prevented some vehicles from entering the base. >> translator: we've seen too many accidents involving u.s. military planes. they fly over schools. i really can't take this any more. >> some became involved in scuffles with the police. prime minister shinzo abe says the japanese government will continue pushing forward with the deployment of ospreys. >> translator: my administration will continue working closely

with the united states to properly implement our bilateral agreement. i'm determined to do all i can to reduce the burden of american military bases on the people of okinawa. curators at japan's national archives have unveiled an exhibition to show the devastating impact of u.s. air raids during world war ii. they gather together maps and other documents and put them on display in tokyo. it's the first time all of the records have been assembled for public viewing. officials with the now defunct ministry of demobilization compiled the documents at the end of 1945. they were in part responding to inquiries by japanese soldiers about what happened to their home towns. researchers for the ministry found out across japan, they took notes and made maps. they noted the destruction the raids caused in about 130 cities. one map shows extensive damage

to a tokyo ward where many munitions factories were located. an order put into law by late emperor showa is also part of the exhibition. he read it over the radio on august 15th, 1945, announcing japan's surrender to allied forces. a draft of the statement shows changes made for the final version. japanese mark the 68th anniversary at the end of world war ii on thursday. dozens of south koreans who survived the atomic bombings in hiroshima and nagasaki are suing their government. they claim it failed to seek an apology and compensation from japan. 79 survivors of the bombings filed a lawsuit at the district court in seoul. each of them is seeking damages worth nearly $9,000. the plaintiffs say their government failed to comply with the constitutional court decision two years ago. the court ruled it unconstitutional for the government not to seek compensation for a-bomb victims

and women forced to work in brothels during the war. the plaintiffs say their government has taken action for the women but not for the bombing victims. some people in japan pend this time of year reflecting on the past. that's especially true for those who lived through world war ii. many are getting older and know they have little time left to tell younger generations about their experiences. a university student from south korea is interested in listening. he visited hiroshima recently to find out more about the impact of the atomic bombing on japanese and koreans. nhk world reports. >> reporter: this university student has come to hiroshima to learn. he and nine other members of a volunteer group visited from south korea. they took part in a small annual

memorial for korean victims of the atomic bombing. he prayed for that more koreans. many were working in the city as conscripts or laborers under japanese colonial rule. >> translator: i don't know much about the atomic bombing. i'd like to find out more about the damage it caused. i want to feel the tragedy. >> reporter: before coming to japan, moon and the others went to a nursing home for atomic bomb survivors. moon listened to their stories. the survivors have suffered from health disorders and poverty. and they've faced discrimination for having been exposed to radiation. moon and others have tried to raise awareness about the atomic bomb survivors in their country.

in hiroshima, he visited the peace memorial museum to really understand how the bomb killed tens of thousands of people in an instant. >> translator: i was shocked to see what the atomic bomb did to people. their clothes were torn and their skin was burned and peeled. it is heart-wrenching to think that so many people were killed and hurt. >> reporter: the highlight of moon's trip was meeting japanese a-bomb survivor. this 77-year-old has helped korean victims fight the japanese government in court to receive the same medical and financial assistance as japanese survivors. >> translator: i saw how koreans in japan had been discriminated against. that motivated my work.

>> reporter: with the help of toyonaga and his group, many of the surviving victims in south korea won most of their lawsuits. >> translator: i feel really thankful to meet someone like you who have helped survivors in south korea. >> translator: we've been working together with korean survivors, but we're getting older and have little time left. i want young people in japan and south korea to take over the activities for peace. >> reporter: moon says meeting toyonaga inspired him. >> transla this visit to japan has given me the strength to continue helping survivors back home in south korea. i also want to keep communicating with people here in japan. i hope citizens from both of our nations can become closer and friendlier toward each other. >> reporter: moon says he wants

to be a bridge between south korea and japan. the nations still have disputes tied to the war. as for his future, moon sees himself helping others. he wants to become a doctor, so he can care for people who are suffering from the harmful effects of radiation. chie yam magishi, nhk world, hiroshima, japan. many people in japan are slowing down at the start of the traditional holiday period. some might have noticed the economy is slowing but growing steadily. the cabinet office says gdp grew 0.6% in real terms in the april-to-june period from the previous three months. a preliminary figure translates an annualized 2.6% growth.

gdp expanded for a third consecutive quarter. news of a recovery seems to have encouraged consumers. personal spending rose 0.8%. a weaker yen boosted shipments to other countries especially the u.s. exports grew 3%. government efforts in reconstructing northeast japan helped too. construction surged. but many have been reluctant to invest in their own companies. corporate capital investment has been negative for six quarters, this time down 0.1%. investment in housing decreased, too, by 0.2%. prime minister abe will be studying the april-to-june gdp figures very closely. the figures are among the key economic indicators before deciding on whether to go ahead with the consumer tax hike in 2014. he'll make a final decision at an extraordinary diet session in the autumn.

legislation already passed says the tax rate will be raised to 8% in april 2014 and 10% in october 2015. but the law allows for the hike to be postponed depending on economic conditions. the government is being very careful. later this month it will start discussions with about 50 experts on the impact of the tax hike and on possible delays. japan's modest recovery is creating greater demand for power. the country's energy consumption is set to mark its first year on year rise in three years. the institute of energy economics forecast japan's energy consumption for fiscal 2013 will be up 0.7% from the year before. this is a reversal of two years of declines following the march 2011 disaster. the reason is the rise in power usage by retailers and hotels on the back of an economic recovery. steel and cement plants are also using more energy and they ramp up production. meanwhile, household energy use

continues to drop thanks to power saving efforts. officials at the institute say japan's energy consumption may rise further in fiscal 2014 if the global economy continues to improve. japanese wholesale prices rose in july as a weaker yen pushed up the cost of imports raw materials. bank of japan officials said the corporate goods price index climbed 0.5% from june. the index has shown a month on month increase since december 2012 except for may this year. by category, utility rates surged over 5% month on month as the price of electricity rose. gasoline and other oil products increased to more than 2%. food prices edged up 0.2% due to the rising cost of wheat and bread. bank of japan policymakers have watched mostly positive economic data roll in over the past few months. they considered it a result of their aggressive measures to reboot the economy. but they're still on guard for

risks such as volatile interest rates and the impact of lending through nonfinancial institutions in china also known as shadow banking. nhk world's ai uchida asked boj board member how she and her colleagues are staying prepared. >> how are you? >> very good, thank you. we started to see the positive economic data that suggests our policies are work. but it still takes some time. during this process of course there is up side and down side. for example, at this moment, what happened to the global economies. it is true that we are closely watching all about the impact of this shadow banking, but generally speaking, the chinese government is aware of the potential problem related to the shadow banking sectors and they

are the trying to address this issue in a stable manner. so at the same time, china's liability is relatively small. based on these observations, i personally view that the china scenario is still possible and will have a small effect on other economies like japan is limited. >> japan's debt is ballooning. now more than double the country's gdp, any spike in interest rates is cause for concern, but shirai is confident the bank can manage volatility. >> it is possible that our interest starts to grow, but the important thing is we continue to buy japanese government bond, so this is likely to generate the downward pressure on the japanese government bond. so of course we might see a moderate increase in japanese government bond, but it is

likely that this increase will be moderate. >> shirai is optimistic the bank's measures will lift japan out of deflation, but she is prepared for when they don't. what is your fallback plan for when the economy stagnates? >> this is my personal view, but i view that we will come up with more concrete, additional measures. this is our commitment. if we find it necessary to achieve in a stable manner, this suggests that we are not rushing to, et. >> governor hir oako kuroda stated that the tax hike will not interfere with the bank's goal to end deflation. shirai agrees. in fact, she urges government officials to play an indispensable role. >> in order to have the effectiveness of our monetary

policy it is essential for the governments to maintain. if the investors start to have some doubt on physical credibility, this concern may be reflected in increase in long-term interest rate. and thereby undermining this recovery process of japanese economy and at the same time affecting monetary policy. so our monetary policy is really based on credibility of fiscal policies and fiscal discipline. >> all right. that was our nhk world ai uchida speaking to board member sayuri shir a, i. now let's take a look at the market figures.

time for a check on the weather with meteorologist sayaka mori. what can we expect later today? >> hot weather continues across most of japan. yesterday the high rose to nearly 35 degrees in tokyo. it has been three days of over 35 degrees since the weekend in tokyo. like a steam sauna. as we have been reporting shimanto city in coupkumagaya prefecture has a high that is very intense this year. we have another high pressure system, the tibet high. the two are compressing the air working as a stubborn heat dome. unfortunately, temperatures will remain on the hot side. western japan, kyoto, 38 degrees on tuesday. the heat is also affecting china

and south korea. nearly 40 degrees in chongqing, hangzhou and hotter than seasonal going into thursday. the dangerous heat will likely remain for some time. farther down towards the south we have a typhoon and yesterd yesterday made landfall across the philippines. take a look at this footage. the strongest typhoon of the year left a trail of destruction in the northern philippines. typhoon utor has left one person dead. it flattened houses and uprooted trees. it started landslides that blocked access to coastal towns. very devastating scenes out there. and unfortunately, typhoon is expecting to intensify further. as it moves over the warm waters of the south china sea. it looks like it will move into

western guangdong as a very strong typhoon. waves could be as high as nine meters or more in some places. and hainan island will start to feel the stormy weather today. we're expecting actually 250 millimeters of rain in some places into the next 24 hours. rain is likely into your thursday. so drenching rain could raise the potential of flooding as well as landslide. now, across north america, lots of rain across the east. we're seeing heavy rain, particularly from the plains into the mid-atlantic region and, as we go into tuesday, heavy rain will be across the east and deep south. drenching rain could batter the areas like new york city and washington, d.c. on your tuesday. across the side of the continent, dry weather continues. in fact very dry across the northwest. the wildfires have been reported and unfortunately more wildfires could occur due to strong winds and low humidity.

temperatures will be 27 degrees in seattle and 27 as well in los angeles. it's going to cool down in chicago into the mid-20s as well as toronto and cooling down also in washington, d.c. on tuesday. all right. finally in europe then not much change since yesterday. lots of severe weather is happening in some places and dry across the south and temperatures are going to be quite mild in many areas such as berlin, 21 degrees for the high. 24 in wars ow. and at 19 degrees for you in london. but the iberian peninsula is still on the hot side. 35 for you in madrid with plenty of sunshine. here's the extended forecast.

and that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. 

>> i'm the executive vice president of the wilson center. i want to welcome all of you today. the wilson center was chartered by the congress as the official memorial to our 28th president. it is the nation's key nonpartisan policy form for tackling global issues through independent research, open