welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. iraquis are caught up in the worst wave of violence in years as bombers target cafes and restaurants. astronaut offers an inside look at his training for the international space station where he'll become the first japanese to take command.

>> people have gathered at an okinawa university to highlight risks they continue to face. people in iraq are nervous after a series of bombings at cafes and restaurants. 30 people were killed in the latest round of sectarian violence. security officials say a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a cafe in the city of balad, about 80 kilometers north of baghdad. 23 people were killed in that attack. two hours later, bombs went off near a restaurant in the town of baqubah and near a soccer field, both in central iraq. several people killed in those bombings. sunni muslims have grown frustrated with the shia-dominated administration of nuri al maliki. members of the two sects have launched a series of retaliatory attacks. militants affiliated with al

qaeda have made the situation worse with attacks of their own. more than 1,000 people were killed in july, the highest monthly death toll in five years. one of japan's top astronauts is making final preparations for the most important mission of his career. koichi wakata showed media how he's getting ready for his stint aboard the international space station. he'll be the first japanese to serve as commander of the craft. wakata demonstrated a series of exercises at the cosmonaut training center near moscow. he'll head to the space station in november for six months and he'll take charge for the last two of those. wakata is planning to capture images of the comet ison with high resolution japanese camera while he's there. >> the fire is extinguished. >> wakata led other crew members in a firefighting drill and simulated contacting officials at the control center on earth.

>> translator: many countries have placed their trust in japan's space technology, especially manned space technology. i'm going to do my best to increase that trust. >> wakata will also train in the u.s. and germany before traveling to the space station on the russian soyuz spacecraft. the managers of a resort in the u.s. state of florida are checking if their facility is safe after a sinkhole swallowed part of it. the ground caved in beneath a three-story building. three dozen guests got out before it was too late. the sinkhole opened up late sunday night at the summer bay resort in the town of claremont. it's about 15 meters across and three meters deep. the associated press says guests reported windows were shattering. staff evacuated the three-story building, which is all but destroyed. the nearby structure is damaged.

the summer bay resort is located about 15 kilometers from walt disney world. it's a popular place to stay for families on vacation. sinkholes occur frequently in florida. they form when groundwater erodes limestone in the bedrock. a florida man disappeared earlier this year when one opened under his home while he was in bed. members of japan's maritime self-defense force have carried out a dangerous operation in busy coastal waters. they detonated a mine thought to have been dropped by the u.s. during world war ii. the device was lying on the seabed of the kanmon straits in western japan. more than 500 ships pass through the narrow waterway on a daily basis. workers discovered the mine during a dredging operation off the coast of shimonoseki city. they moved it about four kilometers away into the ocean to blow it up.

defense officials said combatants laid at least 4,500 mines in the strait during the war. it's feared many of the explosives are still lying on the sea floor. students and staff at a university in okinawa are remembering a terrifying day at their campus. they've marked the anniversary of an american helicopter crash on the grounds by calling for the closure of a nearby u.s. air base. the incident nine years ago was one of more than 40 crashes by u.s. military aircraft in okinawa since it reverted to japan in 1972. >> translator: nine years ago a u.s. military helicopter crashed on campus, went up in flames and terrified the faculty, students and people living nearby. another accident can happen as long as the u.s. futenma air station exists and the osprey aircraft keep flying over the city. >> he urged the japanese and

u.s. governments to shut futenma air station. he said the site should go back to okinawa. in 2004 a u.s. helicopter crashed on the campus university. no one died. last week a helicopter from a separate base went down. okinawa assembly lawmakers visited the defense ministry to deliver a petition for an investigation. they also handed a petition to the office of prime minister shinzo abe. >> translator: a new fleet of the osprey have arrived despite safety concerns of the lawmakers and okinawa governor. i've voiced frustration at the results of investigation into the crash have not been shared with the people of okinawa. >> last week's incident occurred in ginoza village. residents will host a rally next week to draw attention to the risks they face.

japan's machinery orders fell for the first time in two months in june. by the figure was better than analysts had expected. data are seen as a key indicator of corporal capital investment. the cabinet office reported that orders fell 2.7% in may to about $8 billion. the orders exclude volatile sectors such as shipbuilding and power companies. orders from manufacturers rose 2.4%. those from nonmanufacturing businesses decreased significantly falling more than 17%. the sector includes companies involved in finance and insurance as well as transportation and postal services. for the april to june quarter, machinery orders rose 6.8%. this is the first increase in five quarters. the cabinet office said orders are gradually picking up and previously said they were showing signs of a slow pickup. now time to check on the stock markets across the asia-pacific region. most ended higher on tuesday. japanese shares led the gains in

the region on the back of a weaker yen. in tokyo the nikkei average staged a rebound from a six-week low. it jumped nearly 2.6% to 13,867. investors bought back a broad range of stocks particularly export-related issues. the latest report on japan's machinery orders also helped lift sentiment. south korean shares extended gains pushing the key index to the highest level in more than a week. the kospi rose 1.5% to 1913. rallied on bargain hunting. in taipei the tai index climbed. the advance was led by local parts suppliers for apple. investors went after their shares on hopes for an increase in their shipments to the u.s. high-tech giant. shanghai rose for three straight days. the comp sit index was higher. profit taking on recent gainers, but more investors bought bargain shares because of

china's slightly brighter economic outlook. minutes from the bank of japan policy meeting last month show one official expressed caution about using the word recovery to describe the country's economy. in a two-day meeting that ended july 11th, the central bank upgraded its assessment saying the company was starting to recover moderately. it was the first time in two and a half years the boj used the term. they indicate most board members were in agreement on the wording and improving exports. but one member said it was better to spend more time to determine whether the word recovery is appropriate. ed official cited uncertainty regarding overseas economies as a reason. in the end members agreed on the wording. looking ahead, many members said the economic outlook will depend onwet e whether wages will increase as a result of the ongoing recovery. they said summer bonuses show good signs, but it's unclear whether smaller firms will follow large companies in

raising wages. boj policymakers considered the positive economic signs a result of their aggressive measures to boost the economy. but they are 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's board member how she and her colleagues are staying prepared. >> so great to see you. >> nice to meet you. >> how are you? >> very good. thank you. >> we started to see the positive economic data. suggestions that our monetary policy is working. but it still takes some time to see if it will impact. so during this process, of course, there is some up side and down side risk. for example, at this moment, what will happen to the global economies? it is true that we are closely watching about the impact of the shadow banking, but generally

speaking, the chinese government is aware of the potential problem related to the shadow banking sectors. they are trying to address these issues in a stable manner. at the same time, china's total foreign liability is relatively small. and based on these observations, i personally believe that china scenario is still possible and this negative impact on other economies including 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 she is confident the bank can manage volatility. >> it is possible our interest starts to grow. but the important thing is that we continue to buy the japanese

government bond. so this is likely to generate the downward pressure. continues to generate the downward pressure on the japanese government bond. so, of course, we may see a moderate increase in japanese government bond, but it is likely that this increase will be moderate. >> reporter: she's 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 feel that we will come up with more concrete, the additional measures. this is our commitment. if we find it necessary to achieve 2% in stable manner. so suggest that this -- this also suggests that we are not rushing to exit. >> reporter: at last week's news conference, the governor kuroda stated that the government's planned consumption tax hike will not interfere with the bank's goal to end deflation.

she agrees. in fact, she urges government officials to play an indispensable role. >> in order to have effectiveness of our monetary policy, it is essential for the governments to maintain credibility. if the investors start to have some doubt in fiscal 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, effectiveness of our monetary policy. so our monetary policy, effectiveness of monetary policy is really based on credibility of fiscal policies and fiscal disciplines. some people in japan spend this time of the year reflecting on the past. it'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 generatns 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's chie yamagishi has the story. >> reporter: university student moon young-min has come to hiroshima to learn. he and nine other members of a volunteer group visited from south korea. they took part in the small annual memorial for korean victims of the atomic bombing. moon prayed for the more than 20,000 koreans who died. 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 faced discrimination for having been exposed to radiation. moon and others have tried to raise awareness about atomic bomb survivors in the country. in hiroshima, he visited the peace memorial museum to better 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 a japanese a bomb survivor. the 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. >> translator: 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. >> 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 yamagishi, nhk world, hiroshima, japan. the world's appetite for thy food seems to be ensatiable. people all over the planet love the taste, but how can they be sure that what they're eating is the real deal? the thai government has cooked up a campaign to follow recipe, but not everyone can stomach the plan. nhk world's dhra dhirakaosal has more. >> reporter: there's no other way to say it, thai food is hot.

there are more than 20,000 thai restaurants serving consumers in nearly 100 countries, but how can everyone be sure what they're eating is the real deal? the thai government is working on a campaign called thai delicious. it wants to standardize popular recipes and encourage other thai restaurants across the globe to follow them. >> translator: every time we and the government travel abroad, we notice the thai food we eat doesn't taste the way it should. if we can provide a standard recipe using scientific testing, then we would be able to monitor the taste, aroma and all around flavor. >> reporter: i'm here in one of the laboratories they're using to develop a standard recipe. and today they're working on how to make thailand's most famous soup taste universally good with all the right flavors.

the test is not based only on taste. experts take a scientific approach. this machine tests whether the soup is a correct color. and this one measures whether it contains all the necessary ingredients releasing the right aroma. next comes the taste test. at least 400 people rate the dish and turn feedback data into software program. the top chefs are also taking part. this chef is a contestant on the tv show "iron chef." he samples the final product. >> translator: as a chef, i've been thinking about developing a standard recipe for a long time.

but the question was always would it be acceptable to everybody? now we have a recipe chosen using modern techniques. >> reporter: exports of thai food products are on the rise. in 2012 the food industry generated about 27 billion u.s. dollars, accounting for about 12% of gross domestic product. though the thai government believes the campaign will raise the quality of thai food and push international demand, business operators have mixed feelings. >> translator: a standard recipe by government is good as a guideline, but it should not limit creativity like creating perisian food. >> in my opinion it's a very good idea. because in europe we have many for example thai restaurants or thai foods, which are quite

different what i get here in thailand. >> reporter: thai delicious is in its early stages of developing perfect recipes, but the government is already hoping the project can help the thai food industry taste a stronger flavor of success. dhra dhirakaosal, nhk world, bangkok. there's a typhoon approaching southern china. meteorologist robert speta has more on that. >> typhoon uto, we've been watching this this week. it really is still packing quite a punch out here. right now winds are up over 120 kilometers per hour, but the big thing with this storm system is the cloud field. you're seeing rain all the way towards southern portions of taiwan extending towards vietnam. it was much tighter before it made landfall in luzon but the mountains kind of tore it apart. once it gets reorganized, it's just a very broad circulation. so the tropical storm strength winds extends far from the

center. actually up to about 144 now. it has been gradually intensifying throughout the day here. winds gusting up to about 216 kilometers per hour. once it does make landfall we could be seeing waves up to about 7 to 8 meters high right near the coast here. but that's not the main threat. it will be the rainfall. up to about 250 millimeters could be expected from hong kong to macau towards hainon island. especially in the core and center of the storm system. the other thing is most of the precipitation is going to stay near the coastline. you don't see it moving off towards the north mplgt you need the wet weather out there, it's very dry, but that's because high pressure is in place. we'll talk more about that in a second. also in the accumulation you can see another area off to the east. that looks like the possibility of another named storm system. it's the middle of august, it's

not uncommon to seek back-to-back storms, typically on average in the month of august we see about six storms. so far this month we've seen three. now with this new storm that will put it up to four. so it's just getting closer to the average here for the month of august. as far as the track still that is not online at what it should be for this time of year. typically in the month of july over towards august and september we have the west pack high. it retreats back here to the east. and these storms typically loop around and impact the southern japanese islands. actually, last year we had three back-to-back storms hit okinawa here in the month of august into september. well, it does look like this year we have this high pressure in place combined with the tibetan high over japan over towards eastern china. what we have been seeing is this act like a wall, act like a mountain. it's keeping these tropical systems farther down there to the south and that's why the rainfall is remaining near the coastline. and the next storm is very well going to meander here towards the south.

but the same high is also why we've been seeing extremely hot temperatures across japan. tokyo with a high of 33 on wednesday, that's a cooldown from earlier in the week. we saw that record breaking high on monday there down towards shikoku. shanghai 36, chongqing at 39. all because of the high pressure. look at europe. what's going on here? well, really we have this large low that is anchored over t front extending to the south we're seeing widespread rain showers and thunderstorms. that's going to work its way off to the east. gradually improving conditions behind it. that cold front's going to do just that, bring cooler temperatures with it. london, a high of 21 here going through your wednesday. 24 in paris, berlin getting up to 20. but see down here towards the southwest we have some warmer air. and it does look like that's going to work its way back off towards the northeast. if you don't like the cooler temperatures, warmer air is going to be working its way back in for much of europe by the end

of the week. that's the world weather. here's your extended forecast. russian military commanders have launched a sporting event

with a difference. competitors raced armored vehicles while shooting at targets. they are calling it the tank biathalon. organizers modeled the event on the traditional biathalon. tanks from russia, and armenia turned up at a muddy track to compete outside moscow. >> translator: spectators can watch not just a show but a competition between real men and real tanks. >> russian leaders angered counterparts when they granted temporary asylum to u.s. fugitive edward snowden. but u.s. commanders have accepted an invitation to join the competition next year.

that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

♪ convenience stores in japan nowadays have a wide selection of bento packed lunches. it's hard to decide on just one. this bento has three rice balls, egg flavored, salmon and green soybeans. she bought this bento and has brought it to work and now she is eating it. must be lunchtime. but, hey, it's only 10:00 in the morning. a bit too early for lunch, don't you think? >> i'm afraid to eat right before i perform. once i had a hamburger before i