♪ hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. greek government leaders appear to be coming under more pressure over their debt. one of their creditors claims they've defaulted, but it's not calling in their loans just yet. they describe the government's nonpayment to the international monetary fund as a default. still, they say they won't immediately demand repayment of more than 130 billion euros, that's about $140 billion. greek leaders had agreed the essf could call in its loans early if they defaulted on their debt to the imf.

analysts say the essf directors are putting pressure on them ahead of the referendum this sunday. north korea an officials have disappointed people across japan. they've spent the last year investigating their country's abductions of japanese nationals, but now they've put off releasing their findings. nhk world has more. >> translator: it's very regrettable that north korea is putting off the results of its investigation. i've told the foreign minister fumio yukishida and abduction minister to further press pyongyang to swiftly act with the return of japanese abductees. >> reporter: north korean officials pledged their full-scale cooperation during negotiations with japan in may of last year. in pyongyang set up a special committee to oversee the probe.

japan temporary lifted sanctions against the country. japanese officials expected the north to report preliminary results within a couple of months, but that never happened. at the end of october, a senior foreign ministry official visited pyongyang for talks with the committee chairman. the chairman said the committee couldn't file any detailed report as the investigation was still in the early stages. now, a year has passed since the launch of the committee, but no progress has been reported. despite repeated calls by the abductees' families for the government to take action. this man is a brother of an abductee. he said the families want the government to set a deadline. >> translator: we've been waiting beyond patience. now they say it will be delayed even more. it's all about whether the

government is really serious about solving this. we don't need a report, we want the government to work out a method to get the abductees back home immediately. >> reporter: experts say north korean officials may be trying to bide their time before japan's government decides to re-impose sanctions. japanese officials say they will make their utmost effort to get concrete action from the north. jun yatsumoto, nhk world. unesco's list of world heritage sites could be getting a little bit longer. a committee is now considering this year's nominations. members are weighing the merits of 36 cultural and natural sites around the globe. one of the nominees is a group of japanese facilities associated with the country's industrial revolution in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. the 23 properties are located in eight prefectures across the country.

the japanese proposal says the site shows the first successful propagation of industrialization from the west to a nonwestern country. south korean government officials initially opposed japan's bid. they say people from the korean peninsula were conscripted to work at some of the sites, but the foreign ministers of the two nations met in june and agreed to work together on gaining world heritage status for sites in both countries. officials in japan said they'll give some consideration to south korea's argument. the countries are making final adjustments to what their representatives will say before the panel. the committee is expected to review the japanese nomination on saturday. syrians have lost more of their country's ancient heritage to vandalism by the islamic state group. militants in the city of palmyra smashed a statue dating from the second century. the syrian state news agency quotes a museum official as saying fighters destroyed a statue of a lion. the piece was 3 1/2 meters tall and weighed 15 tons.

it stood in the museum's garden. museum workers had put iron plates around the statue to protect it from fighting. islamic state militants took control of palmyra in may. the city has ancient ruins that form a unesco world heritage site. islamic state members have used an extreme interpretation of islamic law to justify destroying cultural assets in syria and iraq. they've booby-trapped the ruins in palmyra with bombs and land mines. they have not destroyed a roman amphitheater and shrines. still syrians are concerned they could commit more vandalism. u.s. diplomats have again urged china to halt land reclamation and construction work on reefs in the south china sea. this comes after the release of new satellite images showing work on the disputed islands is progressing rapidly. >> we don't find reclamation activities and certainly don't find the militarization of those outputs to be helpful to

regional security and stability. in fact, quite the contrary. and we're going to continue to impress upon china as we do with all claimants. >> the latest photos come from a u.s. think tank, the center for strategic and international studies. they show that workers have nearly completed the construction of a 3,000-meter runway on fiery cross reef. the group also says work is progressing on what appear to be a taxiway and an area to park planes. but china is unlikely to comply with the request. chinese foreign ministry officials have said the country will continue to build facilities on the reefs for military and other purposes. japanese coast guard officials say three chinese patrol ships have entered territorial waters off the senkaku islands in the east china sea. the ships left about two hours later. the officials say the vessels entered the waters on friday at around 9:00 a.m. they say the patrol ships then

moved out to the contiguous zone just outside japanese waters. and they're warning the ships not to enter japan's territory again. this is the 19th day this year of such intrusions off the senkaku islands. japan controls the islands. china and taiwan claim them. china's xinjiang uighur autonomous region has been hit by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake. four people have been confirmed dead, and at least 48 others are injured. the national earthquake bureau reports the quake struck on friday shortly after 9:00 a.m. local time on friday. the epicenter was in the county of guma, which is known as pishan in chinese. the focus was estimated to be 10 kilometers below the surface. the state-run xinhua news agency says many houses in the area have collapsed. an employee of a restaurant in the area told nhk strong jolts shattered windows, but he didn't witness any toppled buildings. he also reported power outages.

guma is in hotan prefecture in the southern part of the autonomous region. its population of a quarter million is mostly made up of ethnic uighurs. people in myanmar will go to the polls in november for the first time since the country went from military to civilian role. nhk world's senior commentator aiko doden met with myanmar's president thein sein for an exclusive interview. she asked him about the biggest challenges facing his nation and its path to democracy. >> since you assumed the post of president, how do you evaluate the progress of democratic reform in myanmar? >> translator: our government shares the hope of the people for peaceful transition from a military administration to democracy. that has occurred as a result of our efforts. >> people are paying close attention to the election, upcoming election. do you have any plan to run for the second term as the

president? >> translator: i am yet to decide whether i will run in the next election. it's difficult to predict the results. prior to the election, we need to confirm the country's situation and gauge the hopes of the people. >> so, if it were the wish of the people, are you willing to be the president after 2016? >> translator: if the people want me to be their president, i will consider running. i cannot confirm this, but i am giving the issue deep consideration. myanmar has rich mineral resources and a large working population, but its gdp remains small. i hope myanmar can become a middle income country in the near future. whoever becomes the president, i want them to take the country in that direction. >> as the country strives to

achieve economic growth, it has a role to play in complicated foreign relations involving its neighbors. with regard to myanmar's foreign policy, china is now being a more assertive maritime assertive country. maritime expansion in the south china sea might be one example. but china is a major trade partner to myanmar, also myanmar's neighbor. how would you manage the relations with china? >> translator: as you know, myanmar lies between two economic powers, china and india. we need to maintain friendly relationships with them as they are developing. myanmar's democracy is in progress. we believe that china will accept our policy of having diplomatic relations with various countries. as we have democratized, investment from china has increased.

>> and what is the role for japan? what form of cooperation or investment for myanmar does -- would you expect from japan? >> translator: the areas where we want investment from japan in particular are roads, bridges, power, industrial zones, gas, and other infrastructure projects. we also want japan to build plants to provide job opportunities for our workers. members of an opposition party in japan have come up with a counterproposal to government-sponsored security bills.

leaders in tokyo want to expand the role of the country in self-defense forces and allow japan to claim its right to collective self-defense under certain conditions. >> if conditions are met, we want to submit our proposal to this special committee on wednesday morning. if this committee holds intensive deliberations on friday, we want to thoroughly discuss the government's bills and our party's counterproposal. >> prime minister shinzo abe welcomed the move by the japan innovation party. >> translator: i believe that the bills we submitted are the best, but i respect the japan innovation party for compiling the bills. >> abe said the government's bills and the counterproposal share some basic concepts. he said he hopes deliberations will help promote public understanding. a japanese communist party lawmaker took up the issue of

recent remarks by some of the liberal democratic party. they wrapped local newspapers in okinawa southern japan for the criticism on u.s. bases stationed there. they said public opinion in that prefecture is being distorted. >> translator: the government and the ldp have ignored the will of people in okinawa and have been forcibly building a base there. don't you think that the heart of the problem is that the lawmakers distorted the facts and insulted local people? >> translator: the remarks gravely hurt the public trust in my party, though the people gave us power to govern the country. we have reprimanded those who were responsible. as leaders of the party, i would like to sincerely apologize to the public. >> the ruling bloc hopes to have the security bills passed by the lower house special committee in mid-july. officials from japan's industry ministry have come

under criticism for discussing plans to dispose of high-level nuclear waste behind closed doors. a panel of experts says the move could have a negative impact on getting communities to accept the waste. government leaders decided in may to start selecting prospective sites to bury high level radioactive waste from nuclear plants. officials hope to dispose of it at least 300 meters under ground, but no municipality has stepped forward to host the site because of safety concerns. officials with the industry ministry have been holding briefing on their new policy. they say they decided not to make the sessions open to the public so local government officials would feel free to speak out, but some have refused to protest the closed-door policy. the ministry-appointed experts say their call for information disclosure has fallen on deaf ears. >> translator: the ministry should convince local

authorities that the briefings don't indicate candidacy for waste disposal sites. >> about 2,000 units of nuclear wastes are now being stored at a facility in northern japan, and nuclear plants across the country are storing spent fuel equivalent to about 25,000 units of nuclear waste. also making headlines in japan, a group representing zoos and aquariums in the country has decided to expel facilities that continue to use dolphins caught in a traditional way if the decision came after pressure from a global association that criticized the method as inhumane. executives of the japanese association of zoos and aquariums, or jaza, agreed in may to ban the acquisition of dolphins caught in drive hunts. many of the species are captured off the town of taiji in western japan. even after the association banned drive hunting, some aquariums want to continue the acquisition of dolphins. officials at the world association of zoos and aquariums inquired about the

details of how the japanese association responds to those facilities. jaza informed the global body on friday of its expulsion policy. officials say they will set up a panel to promote the breeding of dolphins instead of capturing them in the wild. nepalese have celebrated the opening of a road that could lead them to a better life. people in the capital now have quicker access to india. and villagers in the mountains are excited about greater mobility and an end to economic isolation. nhk world's jun onozawa has the details. >> reporter: the ceremony was held near kathmandu.

the newly completed road was completed at a cost of about $200 million. >> translator: today is a very happy day for the people of nepal. this road is wonderful. there is no other road like it in the country. >> reporter: the new 160-kilometer link is much shorter than the previous route connecting kathmandu and india. 80% of nepal's area consists of mountainous terrain. infrastructure projects in the region often come up against geographical and geological obstacles. the ground is especially fragile in the mountain range between kathmandu and india. workers building the roads had to struggle with complex geographical features, including steep mountains and winding rivers. to prevent roads from collapsing and to minimize damage from

flooding rivers, workers used civil engineering technology inspired by techniques used in the construction of japan's castles. but the project didn't go smoothly. a year after construction began, a civil war broke out in nepal. the armed conflict between government forces and maoist fighters destabilized the country's security, and the project had to be suspended many times. the new road will now also make travel easier for people living in the mountainous region east of kathmandu. they previously had to rely on cattle horses or human power to transport goods. hopes are high among locals that the road will help bring an end to their economic isolation. the road withstood an earthquake in april and the aftershocks.

it helped in transporting goods. it is also expected to assume a crucial role for further reconstruction in the country. >> translator: this road enabled many people to bring in relief supplies from both inside and outside of the country. >> reporter: the political -- continues. the road did give a major boost to the country. the completion of the new road is the best news the country has had in a long while, and it's something that gives the people of nepal a reason to be hopeful. jun onozawa, nhk world, kathmandu. health officials in thailand have announced their nation is now free from middle east respiratory syndrome. their first mers patient has left the hospital.

>> translator: as of now, thailand is no longer a country infected with or with an outbreak of middle east respiratory syndrome. >> the patient was a man from oman in his 70s. he entered thailand with his family to get treatment for heart disease. he was confirmed as the first known case of mers at a bangkok hospital. the thai health ministry has confirmed none of the 176 people who were in contact with the man have been infected. over in indonesia, the health ministry conducted a health meeting to prevent the spread of the mers virus. officials used a device to measure body temperature, and they played the role of travelers traveling into and out of the country on a pilgrimage to mecca. >> translator: we expected indonesian people to be aware of mers. there are a few people who were not, but some young people have

already figured it out. we provided kits giving information about what mers is is, and we also asked the minister of transportation to air television announcements on flights. >> no mers cases have been confirmed in indonesia so far. police in thailand are making sure visitors can take a ride without getting ripped off. they are cracking down on conspiracy between tuktuk drivers and shop owners. foreign tourists say tuktuk drivers took them to a jewelry stores. they say they were then pressured into buying items that were fake or exorbitantly priced. police arrested 41 drivers and four shop owners they suspect gave kickbacks. they say many tourists have become victims around the royal palace in bangkok. police say drivers tell tourists the palace is closed and offer them a ride to jewelry stores claiming the prices there are reasonable. they first learned of this ruse

more than 20 years ago. a wave of chinese investment is transforming small countries in southeast asia. the economy of laos is surging with new roads, bridges and shopping malls under construction. some people are feeling richer, but others say the impact on society has not been thought through. nhk world's toshiaki watanuki explains. >> reporter: in laos, with its population of just 6.6 million people, an investment from china accounts for more than 12% of the national budget. flows of chinese money have surged into the capital. entire districts are under construction. this $5 billion china-backed project covers 365 hectares with condominiums, offices, and retail.

the largest scale shopping mall in the country opened in march, built with chinese investment. made-in-china electronics and apparel line the stores. with the laos economy expanding more than 8% a year, firms are more than happy to invest. >> actually, it's better than what we expected. they're getting more rich, and they have more need for the materials and have more need for the living. >> reporter: infrastructure is getting a major boost. this airport was finished two years ago, financed with an $86 million chinese loan. >> translator: it's a privilege for laos to receive china's assistance. >> reporter: but the way china implements assistance programs has raised questions. at a construction site for north/south highway, laotian workers are few and far between.

almost everything is done by chinese firms using chinese workers. locals feel they are missing out on economic benefits. >> translator: the chinese firms only hire people with technical expertise, so they don't employ laotians. >> reporter: villagers whose farmlands were appropriated for the road are also critical. >> translator: we have to give up our land for roads to be built, but we are not compensated enough. >> reporter: the laos government's tax revenues are limited. a senior planning official says development would be difficult without china. >> it's very important that we still rely on foreign investment. 10% has come from our budget.

>> reporter: china isn't the only source of finance. the asian development bank, or adb, provided laos with $224 million in 2014. its representative says building the infrastructure without a sustainable plan can be problematic. >> the infrastructure is important, but it's important to have good financial systems to maintain the infrastructure, to make sure that the budgets are there to maintain it going forward. otherwise, it becomes very costly for the government to keep building new -- new buildings. >> reporter: china's wave of investment into countries like laos has brought dramatic physical changes. but the long-term effects on local communities are still taking shape. toshiaki watanuki, nhk world,

., and now here's a three-day outlook on the world's weather.

and that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. and from all of us at nhk world,

thanks for joining us. g your own island, that's how. it might sound far-fetched, but that's exactly what china is doing in the south china sea far away from the chinese

mainland. and the neighbors? all they can do is watch. welcome to "global 3000," which is looking something like this -- trash and desperation. the long hard battle for haiti's future. should health have a price? hepatitis c is curable, but only if you happen to be rich.