hello there and welcome to nhk news. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. china politically sensitive sites. a jeep now plowed through tienemen square. the driver and two passersby were killed. the jeep veered off a road

beside the square and crossed over barriers and crashed into a crowd and then it caught fire. microbloggers posted photos of the incident online. but soon after, the pictures were taken down. authorities wiped the crash site clean of any trace of the incident. police keep tienemen square under tight security as close to key political institutions and they don't want december strators to gather there. the square was the scene of pro-democracy protest in 1989 which ended in a military crackdown. police in china have arrested aid man who crashed a bus into police vehicles. lus hit two officers and damages vehicles. the police arrested him at a nearby bus terminal. they're still trying to figure out why he did what he did.

three protester faced judges on monday for campaigning against corruption. the three were charged with subverting the nation and government. the defendants pushed for senior officials to disclose their assets. sympathizers who gathered outside came face-to-face with more than 100 police officers. the authorities hauled some protesters into custody. lawyers said all three defendants pleaded not guilty but court officials adjourned the trial after the first day and said they'll reschedule over the next week. online observers were abuzz with commentary on the case. many users of microblogging site wabo said the activists were brave. voters in georgia have elected a president who's promising to help rebuild ties with russia. former deputy prime minister won

a decisive convict i have in sunday's election. electoral officials say he won 62% of the vote. the president elect has promised to work more closely with georgia's 'trading partner. the relationship with russia deteriorated after the president took office in 2004 and tried to shift georgia's ties away from moscow. the countries went to war in 2008 over georgia's break-away region and the war brought about an economic downturn. prime minister has been working to improve ties since taking office last year. he's a close ally of the incoming president. and officials in spain demand answers after claims that u.s. agents spied on spanish citizens. the spanish newspaper said the national security agency tracked millionless of phone calls. they said about 60 million

telephone calls last december and january. they say agents tracked the numbers of calls and where they took place. they cited classified documents by edward snowden and the spanish law prohibits the collecting of such information without permission. u.s. leaders have been scrambling to reassure their allies after a swrooishs of allegations about spying. a french newspaper said u.s. acts intercepted more than 17 million phone calls and e-mails in france in a one-month period. german newspaper said monitor chancellor angela merkel's mobile phone for more than ten years. officials in north korea have told nhk they plan to keep

a program running that has given people in japan emotional closure. they say they will continue to allow japanese to visit places where their loved ones died. more than 38,000 japanese died in the northern part of the korean peninsula around the end of world war ii. the remains of two-thirds of them are thought to be buried there. nhk world's hiromitsu nagano recently accompanied a group that went to pay respects. >> reporter: three japanese grieved relatives arrived in pyongyang last thursday. one of them was 78-year-old tsuneaki iwata from tokyo. >> translator: i'm deeply moved to be here. arriving in north korea and breathing the air here reminds me that i used to live in this country. i want to tell my father that my mother brought us siblings back to japan safely. >> reporter: iwata used to live with his parents and four

siblings in what is now north korea before returning to japan nearly 70 years ago. since then, he has longed to visit the place where his father passed away. it's in the eastern city of hamhung. the remains of many japanese who died as a result of illness or other causes are believed to be buried on this hill. after laying a photo of his father at the site and burning incense, iwata prayed. >> translator: after 68 years, i was finally reunited with you. i've never been happier. >> reporter: this is the location where iwata thinks he

attended his father on his death bed, but it's now a university campus, leaving no clue as to where his remains are buried. >> translator: those who suffer most in a war are ordinary people. neighboring countries shouldn't be distant neighbors forever. i hope people of japan and north korea will be able to communicate openly. >> reporter: mount kumgang is one of north korea's best-known tourist spots. it's famous for its beautiful scenery, including its autumn colors. the resort was developed under a joint project involving north and south korea, but tourist visits to the area have been suspended since 2008 when a north korea soldier shot a south korean tourist to death there. it is possibly the first time

since 2008 that north korean authorities have allowed japanese citizens and members of the japanese media to access the site. by doing so, they may be trying to publicize the humanitarian problem in favor of the family of japanese citizens who died on the korean peninsula. during my four-hour climb of the mountain, i only came across a dozen tourists from taiwan and none from south korea. >> translator: it's very beautiful here. and the air is very fresh. >> reporter: this is the eighth time that north korea has allowed grieved japanese family members to visit. the country's new leadership appears eager to maintain the program with the aim of improving relations with japan. hiromitsu nagano, nhk world, pyongyang.

managers of japan's damaged nuclear plant seem to be making progress in getting their system to decontaminate radioactive water fully operational. they started up another part of the advanced liquid processing system or a.l.p.s. engineers with tokyo electric power country or teppo began testing one of three operational lines for a.l.p.s. the system can remove 62 kinds of radioactive substances excluding tritium. the engineers suspended the line in june after unprocessed radioactive water leaked out of a stainless steel tank. they discovered salt and chemicals had been eroding these tanks, leaving small holes.

the engineers began a trial run of another a.l.p.s. operational line about a month ago. they plan to test the remaining one in mid-november. plant managers wanted the system to be fully running by last month, but the repeated malfunctions and suspensions has forced them to change that to next year. they want to build three more operational lines for a.l.p.s. in 2014 and use government aid to set up a facility capable of decontaminating more radioactive water. tepco plans to finish cleaning up all of its stored wastewater by march 2015. about 440,000 tons of radioactive water is being stored at fukushima daiichi. the president of tepco has been facing tough questions about how the utility is dealing with the nuclear crisis. naomi hirose met with the chairman of the nuclear regulation authority, shunichi tanaka. tanaka asked hirose how tepco managers planned to prevent more problems at fukushima daiichi following a series of radioactive water leaks.

the president said he intends to send more workers to the crippled facility, including those now at another idled nuclear plant. he also said tepco plans to support the workers to ensure they can make full use of their skills. tanaka asked hirose to improve working conditions inside the fukushima plant, including for those who are dealing with the decontamination process. he reportedly said he wants the utility to carry out drastic long-term reforms. members of the media on monday were given a chance to look at a tunnel in japan's north that will be used to test nuclear waste storage techniques. the underground facility was created by the japan atomic energy agency. the government-affiliated body is studying methods of nuclear waste disposal at the site in horonobe town. the research tunnel is in a sedimentary rock formation at a depth of 350 meters. agency experts will soon begin

placing simulated nuclear waste containers in alcoves leading off the tunnel. the vessels are equipped with heat sources that keep them at up to 100 degrees celsius to imitate radioactive waste. researchers will check whether nuclear materials stored at such a site is affected by temperature fluctuations, water seepage and other factors. they'll also check whether the tunnel itself sustains any damage. >> translator: the data will be obtained for various conditions associated with the radioactive waste. it will be the first test of its kind in japan. and the data may help to establish a place to store nuclear waste safely. >> also on monday, the industry ministry launched a panel to reexamine its plan to build such underground disposal sites for atomic energy waste. the review is the first in 14 years. the expert panel consists of eight academics specializing in earthquakes, seismic faults, groundwater and other fields.

>> translator: we will conduct a thorough review that will allow us to look at whether the conventional approach to geological disposal is appropriate. >> translator: if a waste site were engulfed by lava, it could cause immeasurable damage, not only in japan but globally. >> the ministry plans to conclude its review by march of next year. the government in 2000 enacted a law on nuclear waste disposal, and has since tried without success to recruit a candidate municipality. like many farmers those in japan grow theirs vegetables in greenhouses but increases in production costs have cut into profits and they're looking for a solution and they found some inspiration far away.

more on this story. >> reporter: this is one of the main producers of green peppers because they require warm conditions, greenhouses are widely used. this grower has been growing green peppers for over 20 years but the rusie rising productioe been cutting into the bottom line. with the temperatures falling, the greenhouses have to be heated in winter. but oil costs have almost doubled in the last few years. the prices have also gone up. and so has the cost of essential items such as plastic sheeting for the greenhouses. >> translator: it's getting really tough. every year my overhead's just keep climbing.

>> reporter: now, h mhz world view will soon be going out. prime minister shinzo abe has announced that from next april, it will go from 5 to 8%. yamamoto fears the supermarket will -- >> translator: this isn't going to go up but our costs will. that's gng to mean a drop in income for us farmers. >> reporter: but help may be at hand. thanks to a local farming technology center, instead of a complex technology the answer is simple.

they can start the green peppers with a carbon monoxide they need to grow heavily. just by adding carbon monoxide to the air inside, this will improve photoscnthesis. this is being entertained by commercial growers in the netherlands. the cost of using carbon monoxide is just $5,000 per greenhouse. that's nothing compared to the cost of expanding greenhouse facilities. this could come to over $100,000. research indicates that this can boost the harvest by about 10%.

>> translator: high-end yields will bring the greatest stability for farmers. and improve their income. i hope this system will help get them through these difficult times. >> reporter: yamamoto and 13 other farmers plan to try out the carbon monoxide supply system by the end of next march. back to you. a panel of lawyers says japan's bank didn't realize the importance of cutting its ties with criminal organizations. external lawyers have announced the results over their investigation into mizuho's

lending scandal. bank officials had failed to cancel loans to gangsters for more than two years, even after they discovered the identities of the borrowers. the lawyers noted that mizuho officials weren't fully aware they were lending money to criminals, because the loans were made indirectly through a consumer finance firm. the lawyers noted a management reshuffle in 2011 kept the information from reaching new officials. the lawyers also referred to a false report me sioux hoe had submitted to financial authorities. it said that top executives didn't receive information about the loans. the lawyers said it was not an intentional cover-up but criticized them for not giving proper attention to questions from government regulators. they expressed regrets that the problem occurred at a bank that it said should have been spearheading efforts to sever ties with criminal groups. meanwhile, mizuho bank has announced penalties for its executives in connection with the scandal.

the bank president, yasuhiro sato, told a news conference that chairman takashi tsukamoto will step down. he will remain chairman of the bank's holding company, mizuho financial group, but his pay will be suspended for six months. sato said he will receive a pay suspension for the same period and more than 40 other executives will face penalties including pay cuts. he also explained new measures mizuho will plan to take to prevent similar cases. he said the bank will provide outside board members in november. the step is aimed at improving the bank's transparency and monitoring functions. currently only the holding company has external board members. in addition, the bank plans to set up an inside panel that will keep an eye on transactions with organized crime groups. >> translator: we will implement

the plans we've just announced to improve our business practices. the mizuho group will go all out to eliminate connections with gangsters. negotiators from countries in the transpacific partnership free trade talks ended a five-day working group meeting in tokyo. they have failed to narrow their differences over intellectual property rights. officials of the 12 countries discussed protection of copyrights, patents on medicine and other issues during the meeting. the united states insisted on a long period for the protection of patents on medicines. emerging nations were against the idea. they said a long protection period would restrict their access to new technologies. >> translator: we haven't been able to reach an agreement this time around, but we will try to step up discussions so we can work out in a court by the end of the year. >> the japanese representatives chaired the meeting. they said the negotiators will continue the talks next month.

time now for your latest market figures. asia pacific broadcasters got together to reignite people's interest in tv and they are talking about ways to attract new audiences in the digital era. about 700 people from over 50 countries assembled on monday in

hanoi, vietnam, for the 50th general assembly of the asia-pacific broadcasting union or abu. and nhk's executive vice president gave an opening speech as union acting president. he noted that the use of today do not watch as much television and said participants should share knowledge and find ways to draw people in. vietnamese prime minister issued a rallying cry for people to work together. nhk personnel showcased their ultrahigh definition format super high vision. they say it delivers images 16 times the resolution of current hdtv and they plan to roll out the technology in 2020. participants are wrapping up the two-day event on tuesday. time for a check on the

weather. good morning, people in northern and eastern europe are dealing with stormy weather conditions. what's the latest? good morning, catherine. well, yes, one of the worst storms in decades have been battering the northern half of europe. deadly winds have been generated so look at this video. belgium hunked down on monday in the face of hurricane force winds. a coastal storm with you the strongest in years and more than a dozen people lost their lives in europe and travelers were left stranded at brussels airport. and gusts of 160 kilometers per hour were reported in southern england. hundreds of trees were knocked down and public transportation ground to a halt. france and the netherlands also fac face heavy weather. this system is still battering northern europe and toward the east as it makes it's way towards the southern scandinavian peninsula and the

balkans. the deadly winds will still be impacting much of these regions now so if you're in these i have tinities watch out for downed powerlines and falling trees and the transportation is going to be either cancelled or going to be delayed in a long-time period. a couple of low pressure systems are still going to be left behind, even though the system moves away toward, it's a rapid system hence the very strong winds. so it will be very unsettled across much of these areas and gusty winds as well with southern burst of showers will be remaining across similar regions. now wards the south, especially across the black sea region in the balkans, it's looking quite fine with 15 degrees and kiev at 16. looking at a foggy day and it will continue into saturday.

but still in the 20s and athens looking at 27 degrees. that's well above the average range. now to the continental asia we have been monitoring this system and it's a tropical depression as for now moving away from the mariana islands and not afacting any land masses but it will become a tropical storm system. as it intensifies over water, it will be making its way toward central phillipenes, secondary disastrous from the big earthquake that hit this area a couple of weeks ago. it will be very high concerned with the stormy weather coming in already starting tomorrow. the weather here is not really good. it's going to be very wet and the higher elevations will possibly see snow in western china moving to eastern areas. another rainmaker will taper off by midnight hours and it will linger here for a little while longer in northeastern china and the north korea border. we're looking at rain coming in here actually and tokyo metropolitan region is seeing rain moving in in the daytime. 16 degrees for the high today in

tokyo metropolitan region and that's not that different from wh and a winter storm warning and freakish storm 30 centimeters of sneefl in nevada and the higher elevations and a halloween storm coming in on tuesday likely to see a similar areas hit with this possibility of severe thunderstorms which could spawn only tornadic activity. denver in single digits and oklahoma city looking at, perhaps, thunderstorms and -- thunderstorms and severe weather.

here's the rest of your weather.

and that is all for this edition of nhk. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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