hello there and welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, august 18th. a large explosion in central bangkok has left at least 19 people dead and wounded 123 others. police say it was caused by a bomb detonated by remote control. the blast took place on monday noor -- near erawan shrine, monday evening evening in a busy commercial area also popular are tourists. the deputy prime minister says the perpetrators intended to

damage the country's economy and tourism industry. china's state-run xinhua news agency said two chinese tourists were confirmed dead. a japanese man is also among those hurt. the political situation in thailand has been unstable in recent years, however, this is the first such deadly attack since a military coup in may last year. chinese officials say they've confirmed 114 deaths after huge explosions in and around a warehouse near the port last week. they say a massive amount of hazardous material was stored at the site. the city security authorities made this video. it says firefighters risked their lives to extinguish the blazes and reports that water sprayed by firefighters may have reacted with chemicals and triggered the blast. small explosions continue. city officials say 64 firefighters and six police officers are missing.

[speaking foreign language] officials say about 700 tons of toxic sodium cyanide was at the site. chinese media say that was more than ten times more than the amount allowed to be stored there. people whose homes were destroyed are demanding government compensation. >> translator: we can't go home because the area is contaminated. i can't raise my 9-year-old daughter in that kind of environment. >> some people are voicing their frustration on a chinese equivalent of twitter. they're urging the government to disclose accurate information. the blast site is near the port of tianjin. one of the largest ports in the world. some japanese companies are considering switching their transport routes. toshiba's top manager aim to

regain the trust of investors and prevent another accounting scandal from happening. they say more than half of the new board members will be appointed from outside. that's up from a quarter. the decision was reached by a third party panel set up after toshiba falsified financial statements. the revolution led to the resignation of three former chief executives. toshiba plans to finalize the plan in a board meeting and make the announcement on tuesday. toshiba executives say the external board members will include the holding's chairman and chairman of the japan association of corporate executives. the top managers say the president and chairman will carry on as president but will step down as chairman. the top executives say they will hold a shareholders meeting in late september. they ask stockholders to approve the new management and will announce earnings for the

business year through march. the organizing body of the 2020 tokyo olympic and paralympic games has criticized a lawsuit over the event ee's l. they claim the design infringes on copyrights. olivia filed the suit last week and demands the international olympic committee stop using the current emblem for the tokyo games and says the logo closely resembles one he created two years ago for a theater. in a statement, the committee of the olympic and paralympic games reiterated the stance the design does not infringe on rights owned by them or the theater. the emblem is a completely original one, based on a japanese designer's own creative work. they say it contains the values and messages of the tokyo games and say it uses elements from the logo of the 1964 tokyo olympics. the officials say they have sent

a detailed letter but he chose to file a suit instead of listening to the stance. they criticized the actions of theater officials saying it's unacceptable behavior for a public body. russian prime minister has expressed interest in visiting territory claimed by japan. he would like to attend an event on etorofu island. the prime minister said that a similar forum is now being held there. he said he's very interested in the event and will be able to take part if he can arrange his schedule. the event will be held through august 24th. last month, a russian newspaper quoted his aide as saying the prime minister is considering such a trip. if he visits, the japanese

government will likely postpone foreign minister's visit to moscow. his visit would lay the groundwork for president vladimir putin to visit japan by the end of the year. it is one of four islands called the northern territories. observers say a visit could affect dialogue between japan and russia. russia controls the four islands, japan claims them. the japanese government maintains they are an inherent part of japan's territory. following the crash of an american military helicopter in okinawa, a senior u.s. defense official has promised to provide japan information on the incident. under secretary of defense for policy met in tokyo with the japanese defense minister. on saturday, he had visited and met with the chief of u.s. forces there. he said he asked whistler to take steps to prevent a recurrence. she understands the issue is important for japan and pledged

to provide more details on the crash. the army helicopter crash landed onto a u.s. ship last week. there were no fatalities. competition to be the next leader of fifa is heating up. a former soccer official from south korea has declared his bid to run for president of the sports governing body. he says the organization has become corrupt. he says this is because the same person and his cronies have been running it for decades. he says fifa needs a leader who can bring back transparency and accountability.

>> today, fifa is undergoing a profound crisis. under these circumstances, the new fifa president should be a crisis manager. >> he served as fifa vice president from 1994 to 2011. he headed the south korean organizing committee of the 2002 world cup co-hosted with japan. fifa president sepp blatter announced his resignation in june amid a corruption scandal. he'll stay in office until a successor is chosen in february. he will compete with other coaches and also be running against former french soccer star who is president of the sports european governing body.

people living in japan's countryside have seen their communities wither and economic opportunities dry up. to counter blackouts. >> reporter: wearing t-shirts with a lightbulb on the forefront of a lighting evolution. their cheerleading used less electricity and lasts longer than incandescent bulbs. the led distribution scheme was launched in january under a government-led energy saving program. india sufferers from chronic blackouts due to the infrastructure. the project is launched to peopleergy as

possible. an led bulb, cost about $5, a price that's beyond a budget of most, but the government got large discounts on the price by ordering huge volumes of the bulbs and sent the price of each bulb at about 15 cents ed, ed little by little each month to the bills. about a month passed since the project started and about 1 million led bulbs have been sold. >> translator: it helps us a lot. smaller bills and the light lasts long. >> reporter: in the 21st century for india to become a global economy, it is simply not enough to become energy sufficient.

within the next three years, the government plans to replace 770 million incondecent bulbs and street lamps with led bulbs. >> the total reduction in peak demand is estimated about 25,000 mega watts, which if you see in terms of dollars is about $25 billion of savings. >> reporter: the campaign has been taken to rural areas. in the southern states hopes are high the bulbs will solve problems in villages and make people's lives easier. [speaking foreign language].

>> reporter: the distributor says the locals have taken a shine to leds. >> it's making positive changes in their lives. their eletrctrictricity bills a reduced and making home-based businesse businesses. >> reporter: his wife and produce and sell bottled sparkling water. he says his family's life has improved since installed led bulbs in march. before they always worried about the cost of lighting and didn't work late at night but now they can work as long as they like. he's been able to boost production and able to save about $23 over the past three months. >> translator: we can use the

extra money for our children's education and even for the house. >> reporter: india's led energy saving campaign has just begun. indians hope it will reduce the nation's energy shortage and brighten their lives. cambodia's economy is growing but thousands of women still live in poverty and struggle to get a descent education or work. a japanese-owned entrepreneur is trying to give them financial independence by tapping into their talents. >> reporter: in tokyo to support women in cambodia. the designs produced by cambodia

women, she pays a 10% royalty to the designers for every product she sells. >> translator: if women can become financially independent, the status will improve without having to loudly demand >> reporter: settling on cambodia. her experience as the president of a designed company helped hershey he her see an opportunity. >> translator: my first impression is there are so many foreign companies and so few creators. the need for brochures and websites was growing. most ordered design in other countries. so i believed i could get into

the market and expand my business quickly. >> reporter: in 2011, she began a local design contest about 1,000 women have since applied. she sees winning designs. so far about 45 designs have been sold. >> translator: i am amazed at the improvement in design. i'm increasingly confident in the talent of the women and i thought it would make seven years to make a profit but we're one or two years ahead of my earning plan. >> reporter: last year she opened a store developed other products in house. the goods prized to be affordable for local customers.

she tries to motivate the designers for company's brochures and posters and plans to launch in the cambodia capital this year. >> translator: their dream is to reach people worldwide and love to help their dreams come true and i want them to know the level of competition people around the world must go through. the production, instead of thinking about it, we will succee succeed. >> reporter: they are having

ca cambodia women shake her hand and say thank you. people in indonesia are marking 70 years of independence. the president joined representatives from ethnic groups as well as ambassadors from other countries. it was time that indonesiindone first president declared independence since 1945 and offered silent prayers for those who died from hard labor during the japanese occupation and paid respects to victims of the war of independence fought against the netherlands after the end of japan's rule. south korea and began exercises amid tensions on the korean

peninsula. personnel and 30,000 u.s. troops are taking part and stillating a response to a north korean attack. the exercises run through august 28th. north korea's national defense commission demanded they be cancelled and threatened what it calls a maximum military response if they go ahead. two south koreans were wounded by landmarks planted in the zone. south korea retaliated with loud speaker broadcast across the boarder criticizing the north. the broadcast will resume for the first time in over a decade. people in okinawa have been living by the base. locals argue they are shoulders too much burden and many feel their voices aren't being heard in the rest of japan.

[speaking foreign language] >> on stage is a group of comedians. they are raised and born and have issues for many people are anything but funny. the presence of u.s. military bas

bases. he writes scripts and wants to highlight most concern to local people. >> translator: during class, our teacher would be explaining and writing something on the blackboard and a u.s. military jet would fly over the school like it just did that's life in okinwa. >> reporter: it brings problems for the residents. in 2004, a u.s. helicopter crashed in a university campus. the accident was hit but barely registered elsewhere in japan.

he was living in tokyo at the time and doesn't pay attention to what is happening on the island and little idea what it's like surrounded by bases. >> what i'm trying to do is convert the anger into laughter. i thought people would understand our problem better that way. >> reporter: the latest script deals with an aircraft the u.s. is deploying. loca locals. the venue was packed for the performan performance.

[speaking foreign language] >> translator: i love the way they transform our feelings into laughter. >> translator: when i first hear the jokes, they make me laugh and then get me thinking.

>> translator: u.s. bases are still there 70 years after the war and there is a plan to build a new one so i may have to make this a life-long mission, to keep telling funny tales about military bases. >> reporter: the first step is to get everyone in japan trading the problems as their own. people enjoying sunny skies but residents are seeing damage to their homes after a possible tornado. >> catherine, when you think of weather in japan, you think of

typhoo typhoons, landscapes and volc o volcanos but this occurs more than, occurs here. it's the tornados and we have a video coming out from yokohama. it looks like another possible tornado occurred southwest of tokyo on monday. several structures were damaged and one person was injured and high winds, no casualties reported, that's the good news. if this is confirmed, it will be the second tornado to hit japan in under a week. uprooted and the concrete even completely damaged. there is going to be some more heavy rainfall because the stationary boundary is sitting

in the similar location with the humid wind coming out from the south. we're actually getting reports of 94 kilometers in northern japan and about 50 millimeters of rain fell in over an hour. the bulk of the heavy rain will be here in northern japan about up to 120 millimeters will be possible however, it's clearing out here in much of the region and you may see activity the southern weather change again because the atmosphere is very stable. talking about instability, these are the two typhoons, double trouble we are looking at with a clear eye wall and this is going to possibly go down as much as 950, seeing a very strong typhoon and could go towards taiwan as a very strong typhoon so we'll keep a close eye on this because taiwan has been devastated. here across the americas,

looking at a stretching front from northern texas and into the great lakes region so anywhere, we could probably see some he y severe thunderstorms. out towards the southwest, things are very dry and in fact, we have wildfire threats again because the relative low humidity is down to 10% and the gusts are quite strong, great recipe for the fire weather and the temperature also great risk out there. las vegas hitting 43 degrees. i'll leave you now for the extended forecast.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in

tokyo. thanks for joining us.

>> "euromaxx highlights." and here is your host, meggin leigh. meggin: hello and welcome to "euromaxx highlights." we're bringing you the best picks of the week. here's a look at what we've got in store. an exhibition about dogs in the arts opens in berlin. exploring london from the river thames. and memorable master, german renaissance artist lucas cranach was born 500 years ago. art is going to the dogs, and it's been that way for hundreds of years. when you walk through any major museum in europe, you'll find numerous examples of our four-legged friends, painted by all the great masters. dogs have always been and continue to be a valuable source of inspiration for many artists.