hello there and welcome to "newsline." it's wednesday, august 12th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. dutch investigators have been looking at debris from a malaysian airlines jet brought down in eastern ukraine. they found what could be fragments of a russian-made missile system. >> we found seven pieces, seven pieces which we established that they were not a part of the airplane. and further investigation gives us now the conclusion that it's probably part of a missile system and of a buk missile system. >> the flight was on its way to

malaysia from the netherlands when it was shot down. all 298 on board were killed. the government says pro russian separatists shot down the plane but the separatists and russia insist the aircraft was downed by a ukrainian fighter jet rocket. a spokesperson for the dutch investigators say they have yet to make a causal connection between the fragments and the crash. experts will continue to investigate and aim to draw up a report by the year end. fifa officials say a former director general of the international olympic committee will lead the effort to clean up world soccer's governing body. they say he will chair the 2016 fifa reform committee. he guided the ioc through its own governance reforms after bribery allegations in the bidding for the 2002 salt lake games. to restore the integrity and

reputation of its governing body. fifa formed the panel after nine officials were indicted in may for corruption and other charges. most of these officials had fifa positions. the u.s. attorney handling the investigation issued a warning to the panel members. >> superficial changes at fifa will not be sufficient and likewise, mere changes of personnel or in certain positions without a genuine commitment to good governance will not be sufficient. >> fifa said the reform panel will have 14 other members. the panel is expected to submit proposals to prevent a recurrence of the problem to an extraordinary congress in february. the congress will choose accese blatter's successor. land mines seriously wounded two south korean soldiers. the south has accused the north

of planting the mines. three land mines exploded last week in the demaltarrized zone in paju, gyeongi province. about 400 meters from the zone's military demarcation line. south korea's military on monday said it had determined from debris that the north planted the mines. later in the day the military started broadcasts criticizing the north using loudspeakers in two places near the demarcation line. the propaganda broadcasts are the first by the south in 11 years. the military has also upgraded its alert level in the area to the maximum, and it has increased the number of its unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. a spokesperson for the south korean presidential office on tuesday condemned the north. the official said trespassing on the military demarcation line and planting the mines beyond the border constitutes a prov

ovation from the north korean military. the official said south korea demands that pyongyang apologizes for violating the two countries' arm istice agreement and punishes those responsible. emergency helicopter services in quake-hit nepal may cease at the end of august due to a lack of funding. the massive earthquake and its after shocks left more than 9,000 people dead in nepal and neighboring countries. the united nations has been using six helicopters to send food, shelter and other emergency supplies to communities in mountainous areas severely affected by the april 25th temblor and its aftershocks. officials say they need $18 million. but they've only collected half of that, $8.8 million. they say monsoon rains and landslides have further limited or even cut off access to far

flung communities. almost 140 communities are currently inaccessible by road, and suspending helicopter services would leave 146,000 people without support. the officials say more funds need to be secured as the deliveries are crucial for the ongoing relief operation for remote areas. 70 years ago when war raged across asia, almost no one was out of harm's way. a japanese group is trying to heal some of the emotional scars that remain. its members are using video recollections to connect victims in the philippines with former japanese soldiers. nhk world reports. >> reporter: this woman trains a

camera on a man who was in the philippines during wartime. she's been recording their testimony for over ten years. >> translator: they're in their 80s and 90s, the final stables of life. they want to press their deepest feelings while there's still time. i want to make sure they're recorded. >> reporter: japanese and american troops engaged in fierce fighting across the philippines. it was strategic territory. over a mill filipinos are believed to have died. most were civilians. early in her life, jin knew next no nothing about the scourge of war in asia. but then during a tour 15 years ago jin met a filipino woman.

she said that a japanese soldier had murdered her husband during the war and she wanted nothing to do with the japanese. jin was affected by the woman's anger still burning after more than half a century. jin later heard about the former japanese soldier who blamed himself for his brutality all the way till the day he died. >> translator: i had assumed only filipino people would still be living with the pain of war, but i found that people in japan were suffering, too. it was quite a revelation. >> reporter: jin started collecting interviews with former soldiers. some wanted to finally come out and tell people about the feelings of guilt they'd carried for so long.

>> jin and her colleagues have conducted more than 280 interviews. each year, they screen a number of the videos in the philippines. many residents stay away, but some come to watch and to see if they can come to terms with the horrible memories.

>> war sometimes make men crazy. not because they want to but because they are forced to. maybe with everything was reversed maybe i would be the same as they are. >> jin is also reaching out to younger people in japan. she wants them to know what happened to the war generation and to thing for themselves. >> translator: i can't get the image of people killing out of my mind. it must be painful for the victims and for the soldiers. war is a very cruel thing.

the history of what happened to heart. i believe it's our responsibility to deliver our seven decades of peace to the next generation intact. >> reporter: jin sees the next step of collecting history of war experiences in korean and china person to person, past, present and future. she hopes eventually to build bridges to peace. reporting for nhk world. u.s. government officials have reacted cautiously to a drastic move by china's central bank. they say it's too soon to judge the decision by financial

policymakers to radically devalue the yuan, but they've pressed china to implement reforms that will ensure the currency reflects the market exchange rate. pollmake policymakers caused the rate. the bank allows the currency to rise or fall up to 2% on any day. the market watchers say beijing is trying to boost exports in an effort to spur an economic recovery. u.s. treasury officials say they can't judge the full implication of the change yet. they say they'll continue to pressure china on the pace of its reforms. state department spokesperson also commented on the move. he said the u.s. will demand china press on with financial reforms. greek leaders are confident they've escaped bankruptcy and saved their place in the eurozone. they've agreed to an in-principle deal for a bailout

in exchange for a series of tough reforms. they say they want to convene parliament this week to get approval. greek del he gants ended a marathon session by agreeing to a three-year deal. it includes about 85 billion euros, 94 billion dollars in aid. in return lenders are demanding greece pursue a raft of tough austerity measures. the country must deregulate its energy sector and dispose of nonperforming bank loans. finance ministers will meet soon to discuss how to disburse the aid. they'll check to see how greece will implement the reforms. the global market for drones has been expanding rapidly. chinese manufacturers have been leading the pack in the sale of drones for nonmilitary use. they're all developing cheaper and easier-to-use drones and competing to carve out bigger slices of the market. nhk world has more.

>> reporter: this may look like just another wedding, but wait and see who brings the rings. the drone also takes videos of the ceremony from the air. the service costs about $300. and it's getting increasingly popular. >> the drones has made our wedding really special. >> translator: drones use gps to find out where they are at any given moment. they're safe because they can keep their balance automatically. drones are perfect for events like weddings.

>> reporter: at the trade fair companies visitors flock to the booth of china's biggest drone maker. the firm has been growing past since its establishment in 2006. today analysts say it holds a 70% share in the commercial global drone market. this company is one of them. it plow produces drones that c easily created. this is drone is controlled by a cell phone app. to take off, you just press a button on the screen. when you hold it like, the drone goes forward. when you tilt it back, the drone

comes back. it responds to tig sig nals from the smartphone within a radius of a kilometer. the company takes advantage of the fact that china is a global production hub. easy access to technology and small gyroscopes. and that enables to maker to hold the prices down to as low as $600. its products are drawing domestic as well as international customers. >> translator: we have made drones popular among children and elderly people. these machines are cheap and easy to handle. so their market will continue to expand in the future. up with a retailer to deliver

packages of drones. company officials say they already have a basic technology embraced by the numbers. they don't require any special skill for their job. all they need is the know how to use a smartphone. >> translator: basically our drones will be transportation robots that can be operated extremely easily. if the market for this type of drone matures, it will be a major business opportunity for us. >> reporter: drones may transform our daily lives in the future. smartphones have completely changed the way we will leave. reporting for nhk world. the operator of a nuclear power plant in southwestern japan has brought one of its reactors back online. it's the first time in nearly

two years that any reactors in the country is up and running. but it's done little to dampen the debate over nuclear power. nhk world has more. >> reporter: japanese officials put new regulations in place following the crisis at fukushima daiichi in 2011. the number one reactor at the sendai plant in kagoshima is the first to come online under the agreement. but many people are opposed the restart. some of them held a rally to voice their concerns. >> translator: i'm worried this will rush other restarts to stop the concerns over the nuclear accident four years ago at fukushima. >> reporter: others are showing support. they believe restarting the plant is the only way to

revitalize the local economy. >> translator: we've seen many shops around here go out of business. i hope they'll open up again. >> reporter: the disaster in fukushima forced japan to rely on other sources of energy. by may 2012, all of japan's 54 reactors were offline. some plant operators decided to scrap older facilities including the ones at fukushima daiichi. that leaves a total of 43 reactors in japan and sendai is the only one in operation. at fukushima daiichi, water passed over the reactor core and was turned into steam to power a turbine. that posed the risk of contaminated water being discharged outside the plant. but the reactors at sendai use a different system. contaminated water does not flow

into the turbine. it stays within a container. experts say this poses less risk to the environment. under the new regulations, plant operators are required to take measures to deal with severe accidents. they must draw up emergency scenarios for bigger earthquakes and tsunami than before. government regulators check the plans and two reactors in the sendai plant passed the screenings. some people say the requirements aren't enough to guarantee the safety of local residents. municipalities within 30 kilometers of the plant were required to draft evacuation plans, but they haven't had the time to adapt them. some roads are too narrow with no room for people to evacuate on foot. kagoshima prefecture has begun widening roads, but officials say the work could take as long as eight years to complete.

despite these concerns, japanese officials have stressed their determination to bring more nuclear plants back online. >> translator: we have gotten cabinet's approval to promote the restart of nuclear reactors. if we can confirm that the nuclear facilities have passed inspections under the world's strictest levels of regulations. >> reporter: japanese leaders say they'll continue making an effort to win the people's understanding. mitsuko nishikawa, nhk world. >> the plant's operator says the reactor achieved a nuclear chain reaction on tuesday and there's been no trouble so far. the reactor is due to begin generating power on friday if all goes well. and after gradually raising the plant's output, kyushu electric power company plans to start

commercial operations in early september. high temperatures continue in japan in central tokyo. the daytime high rose to at least 35 degrees celsius for the eighth consecutive day. the heat wave has left 32 people dead across the country. the fire management agency says all 32 people were pronounced dead after being hospitalized with symptoms of heat stroke. that's the highest number of deaths to occur in a week this summer. they were among over 11,000 people nationwide who were taken to hospital with such systems between august 3rd and sund. many of those who died were elderly. officials say senior citizens may not feel hot or thirsty, so their families should ensure they use air conditioners and drink plenty of fluids. time for a check of the weather. people in many areas of the u.s. are dealing with severe weather.

thunderstorms, dust storms and even flooding. meteorologist robert speta joins with us the details. >> let's talk about this. because what we have going on is several storm systems across much of the u.s. and canada. starting with the east here, actually in parts of new york down towards new jersey, washington, d.c., you're seeing about a one to two-hour delay at the airport. so if you have travel plans out here, something to watch out for. the reason is you can see on the satellite picture, this front is moving off towards the east. it has been bringing these strong severe storms in some areas even have tornado warnings in effect across parts of new jersey down through the carolinas. the good news is we go ahead through wednesday. this high pressure's going to set in and is going to be pushing this off towards the east. but at least into your tuesday overnight hours still have that threat. now back towards the west, we do have this storm system. part of the north american monsoon. you get this and it triggers up these strong thunderstorms. especially in the afternoon and the evening hours. now in some areas we have been

seeing very heavy rainfall but also some hail this is incredible footage in colorado. this is a river running through the middle of this street here. this area, toppled over cars, even some homes were damaged. concrete sidewalks. but look at that right there. that was not snow. hail. accumulating. piling up here. causing that flooding. see that kid out there helping his family trying to wash up the flash flood that came through. now, one of the big things we talk about with this is when you get these heavy showers and thunderstorms and the hail specifically, all that rushes down. so the air under it has to go somewhere, right? and it moves off towards the sky. when that happens, special in dry areas, which in many of these locations you're looking at drought, it kicks up the dust. this is coming out of phoenix because of this dust storm sometimes called

haboo. yeah, this is something that you see sometimes this time of year not directly associated with these storms but the outflow that comes from it. the flash flood threat is still there in areas where you see the showers. some people still being evacuated due to one fire which has burned 4800 hectares of land. now, let's take a look at hawaii because we do have our storm system hilda here. and a lot of people on vacation especially from japan. it's a summer holiday. the thing with this one, it will be tracking just south of the big island. tropical storm watches in effect. i don't think you'll see a very significant impact outside of the rainfall. there is the threat of flooding and landslides especially on the big island. but the surf is the biggest

issue. heading to the beach, watch out for those rip currents and some of the larger waves coming in with this one. then wrapping things up into eastern asia. this tropical storm bringing some high waves out here. also looking at some rainfall in parts of hokkaido. and then over towards kyushu the remnants of soudalor coming in there. it could eventually make its way to tokyo by wednesday. i'll leave you with your extended outlook.

we have one more story to share with you before we go. astronauts orbiting the earth on the international space station

have had their first taste of a space-grown vegetable. japanese astronaut kimya yui and his two u.s. crew members got to try the first crop of lettuce grown on the station. >> cheers! >> cheers, cheers. >> that's awesome. >> good. >> tastes good. >> yeah. >> i like that. >> the crew grew the lettuce using a device equipped with l.e.d.s. it's designed to prevent water from floating away. the trial is part of an experiment preparing for possible longer manned space missions. the u.s. space agency nasa says it hopes to grow other vegetables in space such as tomatoes and cabbages. that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us.

host: worldwide, we waste about one third of the food we produce. i am not just talking about rich nations. hello, and welcome to "global 3000." we're about to explore why it's so difficult to stop the global waste of food, and here's what we have coming up. how proper storage and transport chains help cut down on food waste in rwanda. how a new app stops sell-by-dates from turning food into garbage. and why five countries open their borders to make more space for elephants. right now we could still feed