welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we are following at this hour. workers at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant are trying to find out how hundreds of tons of radioactive water leaked from a storage tank. ncht. supporters of the ousted egyptian president continue their protest after the group's spiritual leader was detained.

pakistan's former president indicted on murder charges related to the assassination of benazir bhutto. workers at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant face another challenge. a storage tank has lost 300 tons of highly radioactive water. the plant's operator says it's the worst leak they've had since the nuclear accident two years ago. a low wall surrounds tanks near reactor number four. workers found a puddle forming outside of it. officials from the tokyo electric power company say one tank lost 300 tons of water. they're trying to find out how. tepco officials say the water inside the tank was treated to reduce radioactive cesium, but they found that the leaked water still had high levels of radioactive materials. tepco officials say they think most of the water has seeped into the ground, but they say it's unlikely that it traveled directly into the ocean, 500 meters away. workers plan to remove soil near

the tank, and they'll measure radiation levels to try to understand the extent of the problem. the plant produces 400 tons of contaminated water every day. that's partly because groundwater is coming into the reactor buildings through cracks in the wall. nuclear regulators urged the tight check whether the leaked water has flowed into the sea through the drainage system. tepco has already admitted that tainted ground water is seeping into the ocean. officials from the utility and the government met with fishermen for a second time to update them on the crisis. about 200 fishermen attended the briefing in iwaki city. tepco officials told them that workers have started pumping up contaminated ground water at the plant. they also said they want to build a wall around the reactor building over the next year and they discussed the latest leak

of 3400 tons of waste water from a storage tank. the fishermen are seeking a guarantee from the utility. >> translator: we want you to put your promises in writing so we can stop worrying about this once and for all. >> they accuse tepco of using stopgap measures to handle the crisis and demanding to know when they can go back to work. a group of fukushima residents say authorities have been too slow to help them. they are planning to sue the government for failing to deliver on a promise to provide aid. a law enacted a year ago guarantees medical or housing support to people in areas with high radiation levels. the areas are not included in evacuation zones. 19 current and former residents say they're still waiting for assistance. they're preparing a lawsuit against the government for acting negligently. they say officials have taken too long to draw up guidelines for delivering the aid. their lawyers say it is disgraceful nothing has been done. they're demanding immediate action. day after day supporters of

the ousted egyptian president mohamed morsi clash with security forces. morsi's power base, the muslim brotherhood, demands his reinstatement. the authorities arrested the group's spiritual leader, but has pledged not to back down. security forces arrested mohamed badier neser city. he was charged last month with instigating violence after military leaders removed morsi from power. a statement said the group will continue protesting to protect the rights of the egyptian people. the interim government has stepped up a crackdown on the group calling it a terrorist organization. many members of the brotherhood have been detained and they had to cancel demonstrations over the past few days. more than 850 people have been killed across the country in clashes since last wednesday when the security forces moved in to clear two protest camps in

cairo. a court in pakistan has taken the unprecedented step of indicting a former president and head of military for murder. we're following the story from bangkok. >> pervez musharraf was once the most powerful man in pakistan, but the country's former military ruler found himself in court on tuesday indicted for the murder of his rival benazir bhutto. >> reporter: pervez musharraf appeared before court on tuesday indicted for alleged involvement in the death of former prime minister benazir bhutto.

journalists were excluded from the proceedings. the charges include murder, conspiracy to murder and facilitation of the murder of bhutto. musharraf denies any involvement in her assassination in 2007. he says the charges are baseless. [ gunfire ] the former general grabbed power in a military coup in 1999. he later became an important partner of the united states in its fight against terrorism following the september 11th terrorist attacks. musharraf resigned as president in 2008 after his opponents took control of the government. and fled pakistan to live in self-imposed exile, he returned this year, hoping to make a political comeback in a general election in may. >> translator: where has the pakistan i left five years ago

gone? i ask, where is that pakistan? where is that pakistan? my heart cries tears of blood when i see the state of the country today. >> reporter: but musharraf's political ambitions were thwarted by the election commission and he was later arrested. the military has dominated power in pakistan for most of the 66 years, since the country was founded. this is the first time such a high ranking military figure has faced criminal prosecution. this year saw the first democratic transfer of power by a civilian administration after completing its full term, when current prime minister now as with sharif's party won re-election in may. even so the military remains a powerful force in the background

and the country's democracy is fragile. pakistanis will be closely watching how the court treats the case against the one-time military leader. masaki suda, nhk world, islamabad. >> people fleeing conflict and poverty continue to set out on a treacherous sea journey to try to reach australia, but the search for a better life often comes at a high price. more than 100 suspected asylum seekers were rescued after their boat sank on tuesday near christmas island in the indian ocean. the boat capsized about 220 kilometers north of christmas island. australian border protection officials say a navy vessel pulled 106 people to safety, two of them with minor injuries. afp reported five people are missing. the incident came as a one-day conference to discuss problems of asylum seekers and people

smuggling was held in jakarta. senior officials from australia and 13 other nations took part. they included representatives from countries such as afghanistan and sri lanka. indonesia is the main transit hub for people trying to reach australia. >> we seek to see the involvement of individuals and others in the people smuggling or human trafficking network. this is very much a concern to the government. >> it is not enough for each country to simply in their own nation be communicating their policies. it's also important up and down the pipeline of people smuggling operations for to be communicated and communicated loudly. >> the australian government has said that anyone who arrives illegally by boat will be sent

to the pacific island nation of naru for processing and resettlement if their refugee claims are accepted. more than 80 rohingya detainees escaped. ap reports the escapees cut through cell bars and cuffs. police have been searching for the men in nearby forests. many asylum seekers are being detained after arriving by boat. myanmar has experienced violence between muslim rohingya and the buddhist majority. hundreds of detainees last month staged protest against crowded conditions. that wraps ul

the japanese delegation to the free trade talks has arrived in brunei. they will be holding full fledged talks with other participants on issues involving the abolition of tariffs on industrial and agriculture projects. the 19th round of the tpp negotiations will start on thursday and continue through the end of the month. >> translator: a number of negotiating sessions will be held simultaneously every day from morning until night. we are ready for long and intensive negotiations with other participants in order to achieve meaningful results for japan. >> japan was allowed to join talks last month. cabinet ministers from participating countries plan to meet on thursday and friday. they will be exchanging views on how to steer the discussion so they can wrap up the negotiations this year. and also in brunei japan's trade

minister and his southeast asian counterparts have agreed to work together to help japanese firms do more business in the mekong region. japan's trade minister and economic ministers from thailand, vietnam, cambodia, laos promote across border. this would include simplifying and standardizing trade measures. the japanese government believes the area has a combined population of over 230 million holds great promise for japanese firms as a source of labor as well as a future market. here are the latest market figures.

relations between japan and china have seen better days. over the past year the crews of japanese and chinese patrol ships have faced off in waters around the senkaku islands controlled by japan in the east china sea. it turns out that defense experts from both sides met in secret to discuss the tensions. their exchanges demonstrate how dangerous the situation is. nhk world reports from beijing. >> reporter: the two sides held a secret meeting. a japanese organization asked both sides to hold it.

the organization has provided the meeting's audio files to nhk on condition that the identities of the chinese attendees are kept secret. japan sent six representatives among whom were former senior officers of the self-defense forces. china's seven-member delegation included senior officers of the people's liberation army. from their exchanges confirmed that the two sides hold different points of view and don't trust each other.

what surprised the japanese most was china's view on japan's warning shots prompt by air. when a foreign aircraft enters japan's air space, the air force contact the pilot by radio. he is told to follow sdf-guided planes. if the pilot refuses, the sdf fires a tracer as a warning. japanese delegates say that is the international norm but the chinese counterparts disagree. >> translator: the chinese consider the tracer a forerunner of attack. some even say firing one is an aggressive act. >> reporter: the two sides also held differing views about air defense identification zones. they are set by each country to quickly locate suspicious aircraft approaching a country's airspace.

however, china doesn't use this concept, nor does it have an understanding of it. so, in january, when a chinese plane entered the zone around the senkaku islands controlled by japan, the sdf scrambled. the chinese accused japan of overreacting. japan delegate yukoda, a former self-defense fleet commander, said he was surprised that the two sides disagree on so many points. >> translator: the chinese participants made remarks that they indicated they do not know how to prevent accidents between their ships and the ships of the maritime self-defense forces. they said they had little knowledge about the international rules. >> reporter: for the chinese

participants, the meeting provided an opportunity to reaffirm their sense that the situation is critical. >> translator: no one in china wants a military clash with japan and no one wants disagreement with uninhabited islands to negatively affect the broader bilateral relations. we believe a crisis management mechanism is needed. >> reporter: delegates from each country said they would report back to their government leaders, they also agreed to hold another more meeting essential if the situation is to remain under control. nhk world, beijing.

rescue workers faced a host of challenges after the disaster two years ago in northeastern japan. many had difficulty identifying those who had died. but now some people are setting up a database to help identify victims through their dental records. nhk world has the details. >> reporter: recent ly made a special service -- 25 years. teeth are unique to each person. they can be vital in identifying people. >> translator: it would be good if my identity could be established quickly and my body returned to my family. >> reporter: staff at a dental college convert turn x-rays into

data. in the last year about 200 people have signed up for the service. her sons have grown up and now she's alone. she hasn't had much social life. when the earthquake and tsunami struck, she heard many bodies could not be identified and she decided to make sure that didn't happen to her. >> translator: i would be grateful if people could identify me by using my dental x-rays. >> reporter: japanese dentists are setting up an id system. the 2011 disaster motivated them. more than 80,000 people ended up dead or missing. the national agency said dental records work better than

fingerprints or dna in identifying bodies. right after the disaster this doctor became involved in identifying those who had perished. the unique features of teeth are preserved even after being immersed in salt water for a long time. still, it took a long time to identify the bodies. that's because the tsunami took medical records. they needed uniformity. in the affected areas at least 13 bodies were wrongly identified. the examiners could only identify on appearance. this man lives in iwate prefecture. his aunt was swept away by the tsunami. mistakenly her body was given to another family right after the

disaster. her remains were finally returned to the family nine months after the disaster. >> translator: until the body is found, it's an awful feeling for the family. we kept on thinking what's up with her, what happened to her. >> reporter: how can a person be identified quickly? trying to establish a scheme to register people in a uniform way. they are considering a system that would allow them to quickly matchup dental information with data taken from bodies. >> translator: i want people to know she should register their teeth x-rays as proof of their identity, for the sake of their families and for themselves.

>> reporter: government officials are also looking into this. but it's too early to assess it. however, it's important to set up a system. other words japanese will keep running into problem identifying people killed in disasters. nhk world, tokyo. a tropical storm has brought flooding to the philippine capital of manila. rachel ferguson from the weather team has more. rachel. hi there. this is a storm we've been tracking for the last several days. it's actually just started to move more steadily towards taiwan. it's been sitting here towards the northeast of the philippines for a few days now. it's now heading 20 kilometers an hour fairly steady pace west-northwest. it's expected to make landfall in northern taiwan wednesday night local time. and then on thursday morning a second landfall. now, it is expected to become a tropical depression. it's now a severe tropical

storm. but it will downgrade after making that second landfall in southeastern china. even though it does so it's still expected to bring a lot of heavy rain across southern china for the next several days. it's already brought really tremendous amounts of rain across taiwan, across the northern philippines even though it hasn't made any direct contact with the philippines or taiwan yet. it's because it's really enhancing this southwest monsoon. this time of year we have these monsoonal rains and moisture flow is just coming straight in towards this larger system and that has brought devastation to manila. we've got some video coming out of manila to show you the scene on the street. this is just days of nonstop heavy rain brought in by that southwest monsoon enhanced by tropical storm trame. eight deaths have now been reported at this time with four people still missing. thousands of people have been forced from their homes as the water levels continue to rise throughout manila.

schools have been closed all weekend. many people are still unable to make it to work also because the roads have been closed. now, last year, similar rain event occurred in manila resulting in the worst floods in the city in recent memory, 37 casualties were reported with that event. a really serious situation here. we're just going to be watching this system as it heads towards taiwan, as it heads into southeastern china for more of that heavy rain. the winds of course are going to be very strong as well. but i think the main thing to watch out with this one is going to be the rain. now, japan's also been dealing with some heavy rain, record-breaking rain in fact across parts of nigatta. 63 millimeters of rain in the space of one hour. that's some pretty serious stuff. we could likely see another 100 millimeters of rain for central portions of japan in the next 24 hours. some of that short-time heavy rain which can produce flash flooding. so that will be a concern. southern portions of japan as

well still seeing very, very hot conditions. but thankfully in towards eastern and inland china temperatures are now a little bit lower, down in the low 30s as compared with the upper 30s. and we're seeing some good rain coming in as well. this system as it comes into southeastern china it is going to bring heavy rain. but that also may have the effect of helping to ease the drought situation that's been here for the last little while. however, if there's poor drainage, that could also lead to flash flooding. so it's going to be certainly an area to watch over the next couple of days. on into the americas. fairly quiet here. you're also seeing some heavy rain in the southeast though. it's been ongoing for the last couple of days. georgia particularly is at risk of seeing flash flooding here. north of that high pressure keeping things nice and dry. temperatures rising here as well into the upper 30s. the heat indices we'll probably be showing you upper 30s. and then out towards the southwest, showers, gusts for you over the mountains. but then the plains are going to

be seeing more of that heat. 36 in denver, 35 for you in houston. here's your extended forecast. japan's most-celebrated

conductor is preparing to make a full fledged comeback. seji ozawa has been recovering from illness, but now he's getting ready to wave his baton at a major music festival. ♪ >> ozawa will conduct an orchestra for rava's opera. the performance will take place in nagano central japan. it will be his first concert since january last year. the maestro has been stricken with e sosophagus and a bout of pneumonia. the 77-year-old has served as general director of the annual

festival since 1992. that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

♪ it's summer. and the fields are shrouded in a post-rain mist. morning dew lingers over the