"newsline," i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. ready to restart talks, a top north korean official calls for the resumption of long-suspended negotiations of its nuclear program. the people in charge of the fukushima daiichi plant are dismantling a storage tank that leaked hundreds of tons of radioactive water.

and a 78-year-old athlete is aiming for a fourth trophy in one of the world's toughest races, the iron man triathlon. north korea's chief nuclear negotiator says his country is ready to resume six-party talks on its nuclear program. first vice foreign minister, kim kye gwan is calling for a restart of negotiations without any preconditions. kim was speaking at the symposium on north korea's nuclear program in beijing. it's being attended by some 50 officials and researchers from the six countries involved in the talks. >> translator: we support the talks and are willing to resume dialogue, including small-scale discussions within that framework. >> the talks were suspended nearly five years ago. kim criticized the united states for saying it wants north korea to take steps towards

denuclearization before it's willing to resume dialogue. on wednesday, chief cabinet secretary reiterated japan's position on the issue. >> translator: we will work closely with our allies including the u.s. and south korea to tell north korea that it must fully implement what was previously agreed at the six-party talks as well as the u.n. security counsel resolution. >> china's foreign minister wang yi is chairing the talks. in his opening remark, he says the six-party talks is a practical means of denuclearize the korean peninsula. this latest development comes a day after diplomatic sources tell america hk that they

tested an engine that can be used in a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile. it was recently on display at the military parade. laam of researchers said they had reason to suspect pyongyang has restarted the nuclear reactor that's capable of making weapons-grade plutonium. a verdict in the case of bo she lie is expected to be announced on sunday. prosecutors accuse him of corruption and abusive of power. but the former political heavy weight denies all charges. bo is the former party chief chongqing city. he's accused of accepting bribes embezzling funds and blocking investigation into the murder of a british businessman by his wife. the case against bo is china's biggest scandal in decades. political scannedal in decades. they took the unprecedented step of up loading transcripts from the trial on the website.

it maintains strong support among some members of the party. sunday's verdict will test whether the party of xi jinping is serious about fighting corruption. tony abbott has been sworn in as australia's new prime minister, his conservative coalition plans to chart a different course from the labor party which governed australia for the past six years. abbott and his cabinet ministers took their oath of office on wednesday at a ceremony in the capital canberra. abbott says his government will scrap a carbon tax introduced by the outgoing labor administration and he wants to cut australia's fiscal deficit. >> we will be a problem-solving government. we pledge ourselves to serve the people of australia for their benefit to the very best of our ability. >> slowing demand from china for mineral resources has put a break on australia's economy. abbott's government is expected to seek a wider range of trade ties with japan and other asian countries.

abbott was first elected to parliament in 1994. abbott is now 55. he was a health minister in a previous conservative coalition government. thousands of residents are still waiting to go home. vast tracts of land are still waiting to be restored and more than half of the 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." a former japanese government official says the company responsible for the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant failed to keep a promise to contain leaks of radioactive water.

is imio sumio mabuchi is the executive member of japan's democratic party governed the country until last december. he served as an visor to the prime minister in the aftermath of the march 2011 disaster. mabuchi told a meeting wednesday on tokyo electric power company officials had promised back in june of 2011 to build shields around reactor buildings at p e fooum to being shyma deutsche that would block water from getting out. >> translator: tokyo electric asked the government not to announce the agreement. saying that the company was worried that the building costing $1 billion would add to its debt and could lead to market confusion. >> mabuchi said the kan govern am agreed not to make the deal public, but tepco did not follow through. a tepco official says that he cannot confirm what went on at that time. tepco officials say they're dismantling a tank at fukushima daiichi that has caused them a number of problems.

last month more than 300 tons of highly radioactive water may have leaked out and some of it may have flowed into the pacific ocean. officials with tokyo electric power company say they began taking apart the tank to find out what's wrong with it. they say they'll examine the tank to identify where the leak occurred. they say the work could take several days. about 350 similar tanks are installed on the grounds of the plant. >> executives of a japanese railway company have unveiled final plans for their next generation super-speed train. the maglev will travel up to 500 kilometers per hour. central japan railway president yoshiomi yamada disclosed the route and stations. both terminals will be built under ground and there will be four stations between the

cities. workers will dig new tunnels through the the mountains. the maglev service will link the cities in 40 minutes. that's about one hour less than the bullet train. the railway executives plan to extent the route to the biggest city in western japan. they hope to begin construction sometime next year and start the service in 2027. top officials at the u.s. central banks are sitting for two days of policy meetings. investors around the globe are waiting to see if they scale back the easy money policy. ky kyoko fujita takes a look at the last five years of quantitative easing. >> reporter: the collapse of lehman brothers in september 2008 was the largest bankruptcy in u.s. history. the investment bank had over 600

billion in liabilities. the the failure sent shock waves through financial markets. share prices plunged. panec spread from the u.s. to countries around the world. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke took immediate action to prevent a full-blown depression. >> the financial systems in the united states and in much of the rest of the world are under extraordinary stress, particularly the credit and money markets. the fed announced extraordinary measures one after another. officials tried to ease the credit crunch by purchasing mortgage-backed securities. they cut the benchmark interest rate to near zero. first time in the fed's history, and they decided to buy large amounts of long-term government bonds.

despite these measures, the recovery was slow. the unemployment rate before the crisis was about 5%. it it reached 10% in late 2009. federal officials wanted to avoid the fate that japan trend in the 1990s. they fear a prolonged depression will lead to inflation. some lawmakers criticized the move. they said the move could weaken the fed's financial half and lead to a loss of investment trust in the bank. >> inflation worries spread. >> but unemployment remll above four years from the lehman brothers' collapse. federal officials have already implemented the stimulus totaling over the$2 trillion, b

they felt they had no choice, but it adopt a program worth $85 billion each month. then came a turning point in may. bernanke suggested the fed might scale back its monetary easing within this year if the u.s. labor markets continue to improve. >> if the incoming data are broadly consistent with this forecast the committee currently anticipates that it would be appropriate to moderate the monthly pace of purchases later this year. he said personal spendsing aing housing market has begun to recover. bernanke's announcement, again, sent ripples throughout the financial world. the recession in the u.s. had led investors to shift their money to emerging economies, but after bernanke's comments they

started pulling on ut their fun and putting it back in the u.s. officials in emerging nations are worried that the sudden outflow of capital will hurt their economies. investors are wondering if the fed will actually go ahead and start winding down its massive easing measures. they'll be carefully watching the outcome of the policy meeting. k yoko fujita, nhk world, tokyo. struggling japanese electronics makers sharp has announced that it aims to revive its business. the firm says it will do this by offering new stocks and receiving investments by some japanese manufacturers. a total of $1.6 billion will be raised. >> executives at sharp say the firm plans to issue new shares to gain funds from the market next month. they also plan to receive investments worth about $177 million from three companies.

the power toolmaker, the makita and autoparts maker denzo. sharp's capital ratio stood at 6%. this is an indicator of a company's financial health. with the planned capital the company estimates that the ratio will reach 10%. looking ahead, the executives revise the upward their earnings forecast for the april to september period. they now expect to post a profit of around $303 million. that's double their initial estimate. strong sales of liquid crystal displays to samsung electronics and apple are cite as a key factor. housing prices in china continue their upward trend in august. the cost of buying a new home was up in more than 90% of major cities compared to a month ago. researchers and china's national bureau of statistics on wednesday received the results of the latest monthly survey. prices increased, rather, in 66

out of 70 cities. they stayed flat in two. the higher cost of housing was more evident in metropolitan areas. shanghai and guangzhou saw a hike while shanghai saw a 1.7% hike. they fear it will fooul discontent among people trying to buy a home. here are the latest market figures.

the iron man triathlon is said to be one of the most grueling competitions in the world. participants must swim for 3.9 kilometer, cycle for 180 kilometers and then run for 42 more. the annual world championship in hawaii attracts some of the fittest athletes on the planet. kojima of japan has won first prize in the 70 to 74 division and twice in the 70 to 79 division and he's determined to come out on top again. nhk world yuri hiraka has the story. >> reporter: he starts training early in the morning. he beefs up his muscles by doing this exercise 3,600 times and then he hits the bike for two hours. later in the day he goes

swimming and runnin kojema has n training like this for two years. >> i started training for the triathlon because i'm just a curious guy. kojima was an average swimmer at school. he kept swimming during his career at a large shipping company. then at age 56 he entered his first triathlon. he took advantage of his prowess in the water to win events in japan and elsewhere. >> translator: the swim is basically all will about how to save as much energy as possible for the last two parts of the race. >> reporter: from 2009 to 2011 kojima won the senior division

at the iron man world championships in hawaii, but last year he became dehydrated near the end of the race and fainted. his winning streak came to an end. >> translator: it's not in my nature to take it easy or pull punches. so i'm going all out to win again. >> reporter: kojima doesn't like to waste a second. he keeps training even when he cooks, but his home life makes it difficult to devote the time he needs. kojima's wife is 74 years old. she has suffered from dementia for about ten years. >> translator: is it tasty? you're doing great today. >> reporter: kojima does all of the cleaning and laundry as well

as care for his wife. when he feels hard, he remembers the way his wife used to be. >> she loved telling jokes and was dedicated to supporting him. >> reporter: kojima says racing and care giving keep him going. on this day he took part in the japanese triathlon, but aninini forced the organizers to change the event. >> translator: they canceled the swimming stage. that's too bad. it's the only part where i feel competitive. even on the bike, kojima gave racers a run for their money.

he topped 50 kilometers per hour on the downhill part of the course. he passed other cyclists even on uphill climbs. kojima kept pushing himself once he got off the bike. he was in last year's race in hawaii and fell behind. this time he felt fatigued again, but kojima stayed focused. and once again, he came out on top in his division. >> translator: i did almost too well in the cycling stage. i didn't mean to go that fast.

i aim for the top in the world championships in hawaii next month. >> reporter: kojima is determined to bring back his first trophy for himself and his wife. yuki hiraka, nhk world, tokyo. >> an amazing athlete. brazil's president has called off a planned trip to washington amid allegations u.s. agents have been spying on her. she was scheduled to meet barack obama in the capital. baum called rusev to change the trip, but he couldn't persuade her to change her mind, it came from downs from edward snowden. they suggest the u.s. eavesdropped on emailses and text messages between her and her aides. he has demanded u.s. officials

investigate the allegations. >> at least 35 people have been killed in a wave of attacks in iraq. car bombs exploded almost simultaneously in baghdad and most of them went off in a predominantly shia neighborhoods. security officials say at least fwien people in the capital were killed and more than 100 wounded. a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in the northern city of mosul, a mainly sunni area. six police officers were killed in that attack. sunnis have grown increasingly frustrated with the government of nuri al maliki. nearly 4,000 people have been killed in acts of terrorism and violence since the start of the year. emergency workers in mexico are fighting landslides and floods amid torrential rainses. government officials say at least 47 people have died. a powerful combination of tropical storm manuel and

hurricane ingrid is being blamed for the deluge. it first hit the country on sunday in the eastern state offer have cruz, 12 people died when a landslide swept a bus. there is more damage in acapulco. landslides blocked a highway to the city center, stranding the visitors. they transferred tourists to the capital mexico city where officials say the rains are likely to continue in mexico's west end surrounding areas. >> our meteorologist has always been tracking the situation there. what's the latest? >> with these storm systems out there across much of mexico, the rains have been coming down recently and like you said not just with the one storm, but both combined together and just to show the accumulation in the past week and you can see the track of manuel and skirted the

pacific coast of mexico and dropping 300 to 400 millimeters in these areas here and also in the gulf of mexico coast with ingrid and this was a slow-moving storm system so it dropped just that tremendous amount of rainfall and that's why we're seeing that very serious threat of flooding and those images coming out with much of mexico here. now manuel is starting to reorganize that together. expect that to continue to track off with the northwest and becoming a tropical storm over the next 12 hours and then making a second landfall there out of baja, california and isolated areas could see more than that in the coming days. we will continue to keep an eye on this and just messy across much of the tropics here across much of mexico. severe weather also in play here. if you look at idaho toward

montana and we have a cold front through this area and this produced some hail and as the really strong low pressure area and the strong southwesterly winds and any time we see that, we see expect expect, expect for your high and even toward new york with the he 20s and the low 30 ates with the forecast. take a look at usag sxishgs now being upgraded to a typhoon still pulling off here toward the west and winds now at 126, gusting up to 180 kilometers per hour and those winds well over open ocean and there will be an impact as we go into friday and the storms continue to track off toward the west and still expected to continue to intensify and likely will be impacting the islands in between taiwan and luzon and taiwan, you

will still ceciing strong winds up to typhoon-strength winds down into taipei, and the heavy rainfall will be a major threat out here as that moisture continues to stream onshore and then toward the south, around metro manila you have the enhanced monsoon bringing herry rainfall for you as well and similar conditions in the indochina peninsula. if you look at hokkaido it's been relatively cooler with the high pressure ahead. right around 34 degrees and getting on the chilly side, and similar conditions there in western europe. the cold air spilling in, with the cold front which indeed has been bringing some unstable weather out here across the low countries. wind advisories in germany up to 120 kilometers per hour possible and put that in perspective and that is similar winds that we're

seeing with our typhoon near the philippines. so very unstable conditions down here and if you want to go somewhere calm and relatively warm. madrid with a high of 28 on thursday. that's a look at your weather, here a here's the extended forecast.

>> a cyclist on a high-tech bicycle has set a world record. he took his bike to more than 133 kilometers per hour. dutch cyclist sebastian boair set the mark at an international event for recompany bent bicycles in the u.s. state of nevada. riders of those kinds o bikes sit in a reclining position. the shape allows them to slip through the the air. students from two dutch universities designed the record-breaking cycle. he went faster and faster until he hit 133.78 kilometers per hour. >> yeah! >> the time is 0.6 kilometers per hour faster than the previous faster set by a

canadian rider in 2009. that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

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