tv Newsline PBS March 7, 2015 12:00am-12:31am PST
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militants posted a video showing them smashing statues in mosul. they describe the relics as symbols of idol worship. iraqi government forces fighting the islamic state group are pressing an offensive. they are trying to retake tikrit. they have cut supply insurgents are holding their group. nearly 30,000 residents have fled. russian president putin says he will cut his own salary. he ordered a 10% pay cut for himself and the prime minister. they will earn less starting this month.
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officials in the presidential office and other departments will get paid 10% less from may. local media say government leaders are thinking of making more savings by banning civil servants from using airport lounges. falling oil prices have hit russia's economy. sanctions imposed by western governments because of the crisis in ukraine are squeezing businesses even harder. government officials say annual revenue will drop by 4%. putin more than doubled his and others salaries last april after russia annexed crimea. he ordered cuts to prevent public anger about the economic downturn from turning into criticism of his government. farmers in northeastern japan have spent four years restoring land that got contaminated in the nuclear accident. some are stuck with a problem that continues to grow. they are struggling to get rid of grass that is classed as low level radioactive waste.
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this man runs a dairy ranch 70 kilometers from the nuclear plant. he sets aside contaminated hay. but they keep piling up. the law requires local authorities to dispose of waste if it's radioactivity is below a certain level. officials responsibility for this farm have yet to come up weapon a plan. nhk spoke with authorities across the effected region to grasp the scale of the problem. about a third of municipalities said they found ways to dispose of the waste. only a handful said they had finished the job. officials said many residents would not allow them to burn the waste or dispose of the ash in their neighborhoods. they pointed to a lack of incinerateors incinerators. this man says the amount of contaminated waste on his farm has grown to 50 tons. he says the plastic sacks have holes in them and that animals have been getting at the grass.
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>> translator: the contaminated materials are just left at small farms like mine. i want the government to get rid of them as soon as possible. >> officials are the central government say the low level can be treated the same was as garbage. they are offering subsidies to help moo nas municipalities with this problem. the operator of the plant have promised to release any data that could affect the local environment. tokyo electric power failed to inform the public that water had been draining into the sea from the rooftop of the number two reaction tore building. employees knew about the problem last april. they decided it will now release all data that could pose a risk to the local environment.
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examples include the radioactivity of ground water and airborne dust in the plant regardless of the levels. the utility says a third party panel will investigate why the rooftop water leak was not publicized earlier. in addition to reviewing disclosure rules. a report into the latest leakage incident will be released later this month. japanese leaders are working on a package of reforms that would change decades old aspects of the country's defense and security policy. part of the focus is on who has authority within the defense ministry and over the self-defense forces. they want to give uniform personnel equal status to their civilian counterparts. prime minister abe and his cabinet ministers have approved a bill to amend part of the defense ministry establishment law. the revision would give senior uniform personnel the same authority as senior ministry advising the defense minister.
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currently is states that job should be done by civilians. the revision also puts uniform personnel in a section known as the joint staff solely in charge of self-defense force tactical operations. right now, both civilians and uniformed personnel share that role. the change is meant to make sdf deployment faster and more efficient. prime minister abe says civilians will maintain control of the sdf as stipulated in the constitution constitution. >> translator: civilian control basically means the prime minister elected by the people is commander in chief. the defense minister is also a civilian. >> before world war ii, only uniformed personnel could hold cabinet positions that would have authority over the armed forces. article 66 of the constitution was created to keep them out of
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the cabinet and limit their influence. changing the status quo has been a long time coming. in 2008, members of a panel released a report to then primethe then prime minister. they said they should have equal authority in assisting the defense minister. some opposition lawmakers are not in favor of revising the current legislation. >> the bill is designed to facilitate quick and appropriate decisions. it is also meant to better reflect the voices of personnel in the field. the proposal comes amid the self-defense forces participation in increasingly diverse and complicated missions such as u.n. peacekeeping and disaster relief operations. that's why the bill gives senior uniformed personnel the same authority as civilians in aiding the defense minister. but some opposition lawmakers say the legislation underminds a
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key pillar of the civilian control. they say it gives preference to senior civilians over uniformed personnel in directing the self-defense forces. >> translator: i believe the doctrine of civilian control is one in which officials in charge of political policy and chiefs of staff who are expert in military affairs work closely together to reach appropriate decisions. the proposed amendments will likely strengthen civilian control. >> the expansion of self-defense force activities will be a focus point of the current diet session. japan's perception of the doctrine of civilian control is likely to be a contentious point. members of japan's governing coalition are keeping up their push to make one of the most drastic changes to the country's security policy since the war. they are going over an outline of legislation that would allow japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense or the
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right to defend closely related nations under attack. according to the outline, japan would be allowed to exercise the right in what's described as new situations. the idea is based on three requirements stipulated in a cabinet decision last year. the outline calls for revisions to existing laws to allow the self-defense force personnel to use force even if japan is not under armed attack. members of the main ruling liberal democratic support the outline. they say it's necessary to make the revisions to enable japan to respond to any contingencies. members of the junior coalition partner voice concern over the ambiguity of the concept new situations. they want clearer definitions. both sides decided they need to find a path forward by the end of the month and they agreed to resume talks after draft legislation is drawn up. >> translator: our parties don't
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have big differences at the moment. i think we have a common understanding. >> translator: if we can do it in april or if it will take up to a cabinet decision i don't know. but a final agreement will be made around that time. >> this man says the government has yet to fully answer questions his party has posed. prime minister abe expressed his commitment to changing the constitution. he argues some of the articles are behind the times. >> translator: it's an indisputable fact that the constitution was drafted by 25 people at the headquarters of the allied forces in a short period of time during the occupation of japan. many years have passed since it was created. we need to change some of the articles that no longer fit the present times. >> abe says a constitution is supposed to outline the structure of a country and its
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future. japan's has not been changed since it went into affect in 1947. people in the united states are seeing more and more job opportunities. the number of new openings last month came in higher than analysts expected. department of labor official say employers created 295,000 jobs. the economists expected 240,000. americans saw more than 200,000 new openings for the 12th month in a row. the unemployment rate came down two-tenths of a point. it came in at 5.5% the lowest in more than six and a half years. workers in the private sector saw their average hourly earnings rise by 3 cents, that's an increase of 2% on the year. fed policy makers will be gather
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gathering in ten days. they think they will discuss whether the jobs data are strong enough to warrant a hike in interest rates. we got insight. >> yet another solid report. 259,000 jobs added in february which is a very good healthy clip. two points stand out immediately. one, the u.s. labor market is gaining jobs at a much faster clip 266,000 on average monthly gains in the last 12 months. secondly it's a broad-based jobs gain. but at the same time we're not seeing any wage gains coming in. we have been stuck at this 2% wage gains during this recovery. we do believe that it's only a matter of time that the wage bargaining power is going to shift towards the workers.
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we have already started to see indicators such as workers who are leaving their jobs to find another job, go up to the pre-recession levels. with these numbers coming in and at this fast clip of hiring we do expect the wage gains to go upwards towards 3% by the end of the year. we heard what the chair woman said in her testimony where she actually came out pretty positive about the economic health of the u.s. even more than the last statement. you know on net, we think that there are -- the members are ready to start hiking in june or september. and with this kind of labor market data coming out, you know, the whole -- it's not a matter of whether it's next year
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or this year but it's more a matter of whether it's june or september this year. we think that the fed funds rate will reach 1.25% by the year end. you know, they could stipkip a bit or two. but it's all data dependent like the fed says. a key index of the health of the japanese economy rose in january for the second straight month. officials are maintaining their assessment that the economy is improving. they say the coincidence index stood at 113. that's up 2.4 points from december and the biggest rise in a year. the index is based on a range of data from factory output to personal spending. the improvement is mainly due to higher production of cars for shipment to europe and china and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to south korea. the leading indepartment prox fell 0.2 points.
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officials say production continues to improve and they do not see the drop as a major change in the overall trend. a major japanese maker of liquid crystal display panels is moving to boost its share. executives say they will build a new factory to increase products for smart phones. the executives will spend more than $1.4 billion building the plant. they expect demand for lcd panels for smart phones to grow in industrialized countries and emerging nations such as india. the officials plan to start operating the new factory by the end of next year. they hope it will boost the output capacity by 20%. let's check out the latest market figures.
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chinese authorities have increased security across the country during most important political gathering of the year. the national people's congress. that didn't stop two people from carrying out the lauttest in a string of knife attacks. investigators say the attackers targeted people at random at a train station. photos it and videos taken at the scene have appeared online. 13 people were wounded, including one police officer. police shot one attacker dead and caught another. nearly a year ago, a man with a knife wounded six people at the
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same station. china's premiere is urging they need to put a stronger emphasis on the rule of law. he told representatives at the national people's congress that the government will make it a priority. >> translator: we will govern in accordance with the constitution and other laws and bring all government work in line with the rule of law. >> he used the word law about 40 times during his address. one expert says chinese understand that term in a unique way. he says the president faces a tough challenge proving china is a nation governed by law. >> translator: i want to stress that china's concept of the rule of law is unique. it is completely different from that of western nations. >> this professor is an authority on china's judicial system. as a legal scholar, he is known for his straightforward
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opinions. even when it comes to commenting on the country's regime. he has more than 1.5 million followers on the chinese version of twitter. >> translator: the chinese communist party is considered as a body that transcends the law. legal revisions and proposals are carried out at the command of the party. the party can revise the constitution or other laws as it wishes. the party plays a key role in the judiciary. every court contains a group of official communist party representatives. presiding judges serve concurrently as party secretaries and direct the courts in their capacity as party representatives. and they also make decisions.
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>> this professor thinks that behind the move to promote the rule of law is a sense of crisis on the part of the authorities. they are concerned that the growing diversity of chinese people's values could undermine the legitimacy of the communist party. >> translator: china needs good reasons to convince its people that the country should stick to the current system. the communist party cannot rely on ideological slogans anymore. it needs a new way to appeal to the people. i think it sees the rule of law as a new theory it can use to justify its existence. for china, the law is a tool to secure power and govern its people. it has never been a tool intended to limit the party's power. i don't think the president actually wants to lead the
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country to become a society governed by the rule of law in any real sense. that's probably the furthest thing from his mind. >> china's persecution of liberals and academics. he sites a case of a human rights activist and nobel peace prize winner who has been in prison since 2009 to allegedly inciting state subversion. >> translator: the government has been tightening control over the ideology of academics. they have been putting pressure on us to resist the western concept of law. i myself have recently received several warnings from state affiliated media. the authorities have just declared that they will govern
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the country according to the constitution and law. as a law professor, i intend to put forward a concrete definition of rule of law from an expert's perspective. and most importantly, i'm determined to point out the authority's mistakes. >> the big question is whether china will be able to develop into a country that is governed by law. he says it's difficult to predict future developments, but he will continue to express his opinions candidly. people in japan will soon be looking back four years to when disaster struck the northeastern part of the country. some are still struggling to rebuild their lives.
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more women than men are receiving unemployment benefits in one area devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. the situation is particularly difficult for single mothers. >> reporter: these children in the disaster hit prefecture are excited to receive new school supplies. it's something their families haven't been able to afford. the bags were donated by an npo to people who lost relatives on march 11 2011. >> translator: usually, a bag like this is a gift from grandparents. but in our case, the bag is full of the thoughtfulness of people who contributed to the npo. >> reporter: this mother picked up one of the donated bags. she has three girls ages 13, 10 and 3.
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before march 11th she was living in this coastal town. this is a picture of her house and her oldest daughter a year after the disaster. the tsunami claimed the life of their father and grandparents. little did she know she would be raising three children on her own. she's barely able to make ends meet with her late husband's pension and her savings. after losing so much she has little enthusiasm for anything. including her work. her family was given a place in temporary accommodation about 70 kilometers from the coast. she had hardly anyone to talk to. >> translator: when you come inland there's barely anyone who had their house swept away or lost a family member in the
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tsunami. i feel out of place here. >> reporter: this person set up an npo to help support single parents. the group has been helping 200 single parent households. this woman believes isolation from the community is one of the biggest challenges facing such families. >> translator: it's important to give single mothers a place where they can talk about their hardships any time they need. it's also necessary to assist in building bridges between mothers and society and to help them find a purpose. >> reporter: every sunday they have a special place to visit. a class hosted by student volunteers. it's for children in disaster areas whose parents can't afford
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cram school. the eldest daughter and her younger sister learn how to solve math problems and develop other skills. it's also a precious opportunity for naomi. moern mothers can shir their experiences with others who face similar hardship. >> translator: there are not many places where i can chat and share the little things. here, the children get help with their studies. i feel reassured to be here. >> reporter: naomi has earned qualification as a bookkeeper and plans to look for work. but right now, her daughters need her full attention. she needs more time to make her decision.
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>> translator: after four years, i'm finally starting to move on from the disaster. i still get flashbacks to that really rough first year. i get pulled back to that place i was in when everything fell apart. the scars are still there. i'm still unsure of my way. >> reporter: buildings and roads can be reconstructed. rebuilding lives is more complicated. for naomi and other single mothers, the struggle to get their lives back on track continues. here is the weekend weather forecast.
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gers in the early '70s and the ride began. first off to new york for dance careers and then to hollywood as actors dancers and coregraphers. tokt they worked on patrick 's movie career from outsiders to dirty dancing. from ghost to point break. but their world dramatically changeed in 2008 when patrick was diagnosed with
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pancreatic cancer. together they would wage a valiant battle against the disease that would take swayze's life. today she works to raise funds for pancreatic cancer research and to help educate the world about its devastating effects. hello i'm ernie manouse coming up on innerviews our conversation with the author of worth fight willing forg for love lost and moving forward. lisa niemi swayze.
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