moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the united states' relationship with afghanistan faced new strains today. two u.s. soldiers were killed in an insider attack following pointed accusations by afghan president hamid karzai that the u.s. is colluding with the taliban.

tensions were evident everywhere today from an american officer in kabul yelling at troops who had mistakenly shot to death two civilians to wardeck province where the afghans had ordered all special u.s. forces to leave by yesterday. there an afghan policeman gunned down two american soldiers and two other police officers before being killed himself. all of this, as newly confirmed secretary of defense chuck hagel concluded his first trip to afghanistan. the visit was difficult from the start, a suicide bombing outside the afghan defense ministry on saturday as he met with nato commanders nearby. >> i wasn't sure what it was. i was in a briefing. but we're in a war zone. i've been in war. you know, shouldn't be surprised

when a bomb goes off. >> woodruff: then on sunday a verbal broadside from afghan president hamid karzai charging the u.s. had a role in the attack. >> the bombs which exploded yesterday were not taliban strength to america. it was at the service of america. at the service of america. they are trying to frighten us into thinking that if the foreigners were not in afghanistan we would be facing these sorts of incidents. >> woodruff: all outside combat forces are to leave afghanistan at the end of 2014. but karzai claimed that, in fact, the u.s. is hunting for an excuse to stay longer. hagel met later with the afghan leader and rejected accusations of fomenting violence or of dealing with the taliban behind his back. >> i told the president it was not true, that the united states was unilaterally working with

the taliban in trying to negotiate anything. the fact is any prospect for peace or political settlements, that has to be led by the afghans. >> woodruff: further complicating matters is bagram prison which was to be turned over to afghan control on saturday. u.s. authorities delayed the transfer again, citing problems with the transfer agreement. president karzai has made regaining control of the prison a key issue as he seeks to assert greater afghan authority. for more on this i'm joined by for more on this, i'm joined by ambassador james dobbins, a career diplomat serving in a number of conflict zones, including afghanistan. he's now the director of rand's international security and defense policy center. and said jawad, afghanistan's ambassador to washington from 2003 to 2010. before that, he was president

karzai's chief of staff. he is now president of the non- profit foundation for afghanistan. gentlemen, we welcome you both to the newshour again. said jawad, let me begin with you. why is president karzai making these charges? >> president karzai is facing a transition, a political transition in afghanistan. he would like to remain relevant for the process of the transition. many of the things that he has said publicly are not new to the americans he privately said these things. the issue of the prison, for instance, he has promised certain afghan constituency that as soon as the inmates are transferred to the afghans he will release them. this is something that the u.s. officials are concerned about. >> woodruff: but when you say he's trying to remain relevant, he's worried that he's not going to be relevant? >> well, his term is ending soon. they have an election scheduled for april of next year. he feels that he will be a lame

duck president. therefore, also his calculations personally are that the united states has larger plans and would like to stay in afghanistan and the region. he would like to be seen as the man who is pushing america out or defending the afghan interests. >> woodruff: ambassador james dobbins, this idea that the u.s. would be wanting to stay longer in afghanistan, is there any truth to that? >> there is some truth but i think karzai exaggerates the degree to which the united states is committed and wants to stay in afghanistan. i mean clearly if we had no role in afghanistan, we would have no way of coping with al qaeda either in pakistan or afghanistan. all of the attacks on al qaeda in pakistan a today are conducted from afghanistan. so we have an interest in retaining some role. we see a very modest, small role for the united states.

karzai, i think, has an exaggerated sense of how important this is and how large a role we have. but there's a kernel of truth there. >> woodruff: and how do you see what he's doing? why do you believe he's making these... >> there are two very significant transitions coming up more or less in parallel. one is the fact that the u.s. is drawing down from a major role to a very minor role and our influence will diminish as the result. the second is afghanistan is going through or toward what may be the first peaceful transition of power in its entire national history. this is unprecedented. afghans have never experienced a peaceful transition from one leader to another. and karzai as the ambassador indicated wants to play a role, wants to remain relevant, probably wants to have a role in picking his successor. and he's positioning himself to continue to be influential in the country even when his term

is over. >> woodruff: how do you see this question of whether there's any truth to what he thinks because some of it sounds far fetched to people who are trying to understand what's going on. >> well, the question is does president karzai believe in this or does he pretend? unfortunately there are large audiences for conspiracy theories in all parts of the world. so sometimes when the truths are twisted a little bit or presented to the people in a dramatized way, people do believe in this. as i mentioned, the biggest problem for president karzai is the personal transition of his role in 2014. so many of the things that he says has been agreed upon. for instance when he asked for the transition of certain provinces or the transition of the inmates it's just the way he's saying it that is causing a lot of trouble for him and for afghanistan. >> woodruff: what about the timing of it? doing it while chuck hagel is making his first trip to afghanistan as secretary of

defense? >> i don't know how much significance to attach to that. i don't think there are any bad vibrations between the two. he's met hagel before. he visited afghanistan as a senator. but i don't think hagel has said or done anything that would create an antagonism so it may be that this was largely coincidental. a couple of things came together. maybe the hagel visit was an opportunity to make some statements. >> woodruff: hagel... secretary hagel seemed to shrug it off in many words. how do you think something like this affects the relationship? >> i think it's a serious irritant, but i think we'll see more of it. as i said, we are ratcheting down. he's facing historic transition. the country is is facing an historic transition. and they are entering an electoral period. under those conditions domestic opinion, their domestic opinion is going to be whatnot only karzai but most afghan

politicians are looking toward where our role is diminishing and therefore concerns about our sensitivities are also diminishing. >> woodruff: do you see this continuing too? >> yes. hagel was blunt and direct on his talk with president karzai at the meeting. >> woodruff: in the private talks. >> and a meeting was a very tense meeting. but i think when he came out, he was graceful and cautious. one could understand because of the sensitivity of the transition i think the united states is more interested in the process of the transition and would like to see this process to be good through or be completed. they would like to get some space to president karzai and understand that he has a domestic audience to cater to. i think this is a wise approach, but at the same time we as afghans, we appreciate what the united states is doing.

we understand that some of these statements it makes it even more difficult to sustain support for the mission in afghanistan. we hope that the relation of the two nations will be stronger than the political position of certain leaders because of the political situations of afghanistan that may make some statements that are not necessarily representative of the feeling of the afghan people. >> woodruff: do you believe what's happened today and this kind of statement coming from president karzai represents a serious problem for the relationship going forward or something that the u.s. can just deal with, shrug off and move on? >> the afghan people is spoken through their national and local counsel that they do want long-term relations with the united states. i think the united states is making a distinction between the relations of the two nations and the statements of the leader. i think these statements do affect the sentiment of the u.s. congress which is key to continue to maintain the support

for afghanistan. but those were deeply involved in afghan issues, they will have more tolerance. they will be more composed and patient. >> what should americans look for in the months to come? every reason to believe the troop timetable, withdraw timetable will stick as it is. >> i think it is. i mean we're cutting the troops in half this year. we'll probably take another 80% of them out next year. we'll leave a relatively small number. they're talking about maybe 8,000, 9,000 american troops left after 2014. and those numbers will probably come down in 2016. >> woodruff: in the meantime between now and then, we can expect more of what we saw today in the last few days. >> i think we'll see fewer casualties. there were casualties today as we know but the numbers have been coming down both because we have less troops but also because we're in longer in the lead in combat operations. we're playing a supportive role.

it's the afghans dying and getting killed in greater numbers than our troops now. so we're going to see that continue. i think we will continue to see political tensions and flare-ups of the kind we saw over the weekend. there's a lot of transitional issues that still need to be worked out. frankly, we are hopeful that there can be a negotiated peace with the taliban. we see the importance of that being led by the afghans and karzai is very frustrated while the taliban are willing to talk to us, they're not willing to talk to him or his government. that's a source of deep frustration that the future of afghanistan might be hammered out between parties that don't include the government and kabul. now, i don't think the u.s. administration intends to do that. but the taliban would like to exacerbate tensions between us and karzai and feed his suspicions that there are secret deals being done that he's not party to. >> woodruff: well, it's a story that we must continue to watch.

we will. ambassador james dobbins, ambassador said jawad, we thank you both. >> thank you. ifill: still to come on the >> ifill: still to come on the newshour, kenya's clouded presidential election; life, death, and inheritance online; and a japanese town two years after the tsunami. but first, with the other news of the day, here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: the vatican made ready today for the conclave of cardinals that will elect the next pope. it begins tomorrow. we have a report from jonathan rugman of independent television news. >> reporter: this morning, the princes of the catholic church gathered for the last time before their most important task, voting in the 266th pope. anglo skola the archbishop of mill and is the most talked about for the role. though the italian press claims his main rival from soo paul owe in brazil. this is a race between the old world and the new. skola's italy traditionally

dominates the papacy but the one from brazil is now the biggest catholic country in the world. the cardinals will vote beneath michelangelo's frescoes. gas upwards and there will be no shortage of inspiration. the voters are sleeping in the same vatican hotel where all forms of media along with telephones are banned until the new head of the world's biggest church is revealed. the last six popes he appeared on this famous balcony. this week should be no exception. when one vatican watcher was asked to describe ma the cardinals are looking for in a pope, this is how he summed it. they're looking for jesus christ, he said, but with a degree in business studies. >> i think they're looking for three things in the next pope. a great evangelizers. somebody who can make the message credible particularly in the west. they're looking for somebody with a global vision, somebody who will speak to the global picture of the church now. and they're looking also for a

governor, somebody who can get a grip on some of the scandals, some of the dysfunctions that have come out in recent months from the vatican. it's an almost impossible combination. >> reporter: the chimney has been installed atop the sistine chapel. hundreds of cameras are already practicing, lining up their lenses on it for news. and inside, the stones where the ball locality papers of 115 cardinals will be burned after voting up to four times a day. only white smoke through the chimney signifies a new pontiff. >> sreenivasan: the new pontiff will succeed benedict vxi, who resigned last month, the first pope in 600 years to do so. new york city's move to cut sugary drinks down to size will not take effect tomorrow after all. a state judge today rejected the regulation, saying the loopholes in it defeat the purpose. the measure limits high-calorie sodas and other drinks to no more than 16 ounces, unless they're sold at supermarkets and convenience stores. city officials said they will appeal the judge's decision. former detroit mayor kwame

kilpatrick was convicted today on 24 counts of racketeering and other federal corruption charges. witnesses in the five-month trial said kilpatrick steered city contracts toward a friend for a share of the spoils. he also used political donations and a non-profit fund for personal spending. kilpatrick could get 20 years in prison. he already served 14 months in an unrelated obstruction of justice case. one of six men accused in the gang rape and murder of a new delhi woman died in prison today. police said ram singh hanged himself in a jail cell that he shared with three other inmates. but singh's lawyer vehemently denied that he would have killed himself. >> this is not suicide. there has been foul play one way or the other because this boy was not someone who would commit suicide. everything was going in his favor. he was getting a fair trial. family members were coming to meet him. his children were visiting him. he was happy. whenever we met him he was always in a happy mood.

>> sreenivasan: the case has gained worldwide attention, and sparked protests across india. four other men are still on trial and could face the death penalty. an additional suspect is being tried separately, as a juvenile. an islamist group in nigeria posted an online video today, apparently showing the bodies of seven foreign hostages. the victims were from lebanon, britain, italy, and greece. gunmen from the ansaru extremist group abducted them last month from a construction site in the northern part of the country. the kidnappers said the captives were killed to prevent a possible british rescue mission. state media say north korea has made good on a vow to cancel the 60-year armistice that ended the korean war. the announcement today followed last week's u.n. security council vote to impose new sanctions on the north, over its latest nuclear test. north korea also shut down a red cross hotline with south korea. it is used to facilitate aid shipments and reunions of separated families. japan today marked the second anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people. the most powerful quake ever

recorded in japan launched mountainous waves that devastated the northeastern coast and sent radiation spewing from a damaged nuclear plant. more than 300,000 people had to flee, half of them from the radiation zone. today hundreds sued for compensation. in tokyo, prime minister shinzo abe pledged to speed up the recovery and the cleanup. >> reconstruction is a battle against time. i would like to reprioritize the recovery to one where the people on the ground can actually feel the recovery rather than following what is considered standard operating procedure. >> sreenivasan: following the disaster, japan's 50 nuclear reactors were shut down for inspections and testing. only two have restarted. we'll have more on japan after the tsunami, later in the program. wall street managed modest gains today. the dow jones industrial average added 50 points to close at 14,447. the nasdaq rose eight points to close near 3253. and the lundberg survey reported gas prices have fallen six cents in the last two weeks, the first drop since late december.

those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to gwen. >> ifill: and we turn to the east african nation of kenya, a longtime u.s. ally, where a candidate accused of crimes against humanity is now preparing to lead the country. supporters cheered as ken i can't's president-elect uhuru kenyatta arrived at nairobi's election center over the weekend. a delayed final tally made it official. kenyatta won a razor-thin victory over prime minister raila odinga, enough to diffuse the widespread fear of post election violence. >> we dutifully send out. we voted in peace. we upheld order. and respect for the rule of law. we maintained the fabric of our society. >> ifill: kenyatta is kenya's richest man and the son of the young nation's first president. but his election comes under a

cloud. in 2011 he was indicted by the international criminal court in the hague on charges that he helped orchestrate a post election blood bath in 2007. the violence between rival tribal groups left more than 1,000 people dead. kenyatta and his running mate william faced trial in july and odinga has promised to challenge the election results. >> these elections have serious weaknesses within our election system. weaknesses which we thought we had dealt with in the past. >> ifill: odinga's lieutenant said today the election commission is now hindering efforts to file an appeal. but they still asked for calm. >> our petition is not intended to detract from the normal activities of a country. to the contrary it is intended to create a precedent as to how elections ought to be done or ought not to be done. >> ifill: kenya has been a key

u.s. ally against terrorism in east africa. assistant secretary state of johnny carson warned in advance of the voting that choices have consequences. western nations have been muted in their response to kenyatta's win. secretary of state john kerry congratulated the people of kenya for voting peacefully. but he did not mention the victor by name. in washington today, state department spokeswoman victoria newland played down that omission. >> i wouldn't read too much into the statement, but clearly the post electoral process continues through the courts and that's appropriate. >> ifill: meanwhile prosecutors at the international criminal court dropped all charges today against one of kenyatta's codefendants, francis muthar a top kenyan civil servant. the case against kenyatta will move forward according to court officials. joining me to talk about the local and the global fallout from the joining me now to talk about the local and global fallout from the kenyan election is jendayi frazer, a former u.s. assistant secretary of state for african affairs.

she's now a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations. >> ifill: first off, why is the outcome of the presidential election in kenya important in the u.s.? >> well, kenya is a strategic partner to the united states as was stated earlier, it is a key ally in our fight against terrorism in the region. many will remember that our embassies were bombed in 1998 by terrorists come it out of somalia. kenyan forces are in somalia fighting against those very same terrorist organizations. it also is a economic hub in east africa so many american businesses like ford and others are based there. general electric. and so it's key to the region as a whole and the neighboring countries like south sudan which we've played such an important role diplomatically in trying to bring peace there rely on kenya and its ports. >> ifill: you know something of uhuru kenyatta. what do we know about him other than he's the son of a very famous leader of the country, a very wealthy man and now under

this cloud. >> he's also very much a person who respects the west. he was educated in the united states. he's been pro western in his outlook. he's been the minister of finance before and the deputy prime minister. he's always had strong relations with the united states. now the case against him is problematic. as it was stated it's falling apart. the co-conspiracies of all that were charged with him are charged with attending a particular meeting at state house. in that meeting planning reprisals against the violence that was being meted out. but the key eyewitness said he lied and he's been changing his testimony and even said that he's taken bribes. so the case is falling apart. >> ifill: yet the u.s., britain, canada, the e.u., all very muted, all very nervous about endorsing his election. >> well, they're a little bit in a bad situation because prior to the election, they all essentially threatened the kenyan population, the kenyan

electorate by saying if you elect uhuru kenyatta, then there will be consequences, we may put trade sanctions, which was extraordinary frankly. and it was a bit of meddling into the domestic affairs of another country because the case against kenyatta isn't proven so he's innocent until proven guilty. >> ifill: how is this case, for instance, different from what we have seen when another african leader in sudan has been called before the... >> very different. that person is bashir of sudan. he's not cooperating with the court whereas uhuru kenyatta is cooperating. there's no arrest warrant against uhuru kenyatta. there is an international arrest warrant against omar bashir of sudan. the cases are extremely different. in the case of uhuru, he's cooperated with the court. the case is unproven so he's innocent until proven guilty. that's a fundamental right. >> ifill: after all the violence in 2007 and 2008 after the last

presidential election we were all bracing to see if the same thing would happen this time. so far it has not. why do you think that is? >> i think the kenyans learned lessons from 2007. and the civil society very much was guarding their country and guarding against future violence. they also had this election under entirely new institutions. there's a brand new constitution and a deevolution of power from the center from the presidency to governors of 47 counties. there's county assemblies. so i think the diffusion of power, the expectations about their new institutions and the lessons learned from 2007 account for the lack of violence this time. >> ifill: is it possible also that person nations do not have the influence in these kinds of elections and these kinds of outcomes as maybe they once had? >> certainly. that's the strategic environment has changed entirely and particularly china. when you go to nairobi and i've been there twice this year, you see all of this infrastructure development.

no roads. you know, the refurbishment of the port that they're going to bid on, i'm sure. the chinese have changed the playing field. if the u.s. and the u.k. and the europeans don't want to deal with uhuru kenyatta, he has another option. the chinese unvoi was very much at kenyatta's home today welcoming his election as did the chinese foreign ministry and named him, you know, as president-elect uhuru kenyatta. so the united states is playing a dangerous game and putting itself in a very small diplomatic box. >> ifill: have all the tribal rivalries that sparked some of this violence in 2007 and 2008, have they simply gone away? raila odinga and kenyatta -- never the twain shall meet? >> the tribal competition is still very much there. this election was very much based on communities voting for their boys, as they would call them.

so the one tribal group feels very grieved by this election and out of power because they haven't won. one of the fault lines of the 2007 violence was between two people in the rift valley. uhuru kenyatta and his runnate mate william rufo are from thes would tribes. the need for healing and reconciliation is still there in ken i can't. >> ifill: there will be a swearing-in march 25 barring anything... >> yes. ifill: thank you. thank you very much. a pleasure. >> woodruff: next, what happens to what you might call a person's digital estate: the postings, photos, and memories shared online. virginia is the latest among a handful of states trying to navigate a legal and ethical thicket.

and it's a growing concern in the digital age. jeffrey brown has the story. >> brown: millions of people around the world now live part of their lives online. sharing photographs, information on relationships and careers, tweets and more. but what happens when physical lives end and life in cyberspace goes on? of the one billion people who use the social network site facebook, for example, an estimated three die every minute. and that can lead to some painful problems. for one thing, there's no one method or law on the books for how beneficiaries gain access to a deceased person's digital records. virginia dairy farmer ricky rash ran into that problem after his 15-year-old son eric committed suicide in 2011. >> it was a complete shock. as any suicide is. but we had absolutely no warning. eric kissed his mom good night the night before. he did his homework.

he put seats in the olds mobile that was his. he did everything under the sun to show us it was a normal night. so with no answers from home, no answers from school, we were just hoping that there may be something that would give us some insight as to why he chose to make the decision he did. and facebook was literally the last frontier that we had to investigate. >> brown: but getting that insight was harder than rash thought it would be. >> the laws have just not kept up with technology. what really frustrated us was when we learned that as a minor child his parents do not have access to his on-line accounts. once he gets an electronic account that's password protected, he's entitled to free speech. he is entered into a legal and binding contract with the social

media sites. they told me there's case law to show each of those. i said, please share with me the information. share with me in the code of the united states or the state code of virginia where it says a minor can enter into a legal and binding contract because i don't believe it. as a parent. >> brown: rash isn't alone. on the other side of the country in oregon karen williams fought facebook to gain access to her 22-year-old's son account after he died in a motorcycle accident in 2005. her fight spurred a push for legislation in oregon that was ultimately unsuccessful. facebook does allow a profile to be memorialized. certain information is removed and privacy is restricted. current u.s. law is murky at best. a 1986 federal law prohibits companies from sharing a person's information, even if it is stipulated in their last will and testament. simply handing overpass words in a will violates most social

networks' terms of service. five states have now acted to put in place some some form of digital assets laws: idaho, oklahoma, indiana, rhode island and connecticut. but congress has no current plans to take up new federal legislation. we get more about all this from two we get more information about all of this from two experts. naomi cahn is with the george washington university school of law. evan carroll is co-founder of the blog and web site, "the digital beyond." he's also the co-author of "your digital afterlife." for the record facebook and the industry trade group did not respond to our requests for an interview. evan carroll, let's start broadly to help people understand a bit more about what we mean by digital assets. what does that mean? how do you think about it? >> as we said in the tape earlier, we have shifted towards living much of our lives online. there's all sorts of information that both we create and is created about us that is stored in digital form. so some simple examples are your

e-mail accounts or the photos you have. the digital photos you have. the visual videos you have, things you may have stored on sites like twitter and facebook. all those things that together really form data that we are referring to as visual assets. >> brown: you're coming at this from trusts and estates. how big a problem is this becoming for people who are dealing with wills or who are not dealing with wills and what they own? >> i think it's becoming a huge problem as the number of digital assets grows and it grows exponentially each year as we come up with new kinds of products on the internet. the real problem is that although we know what to do with the bank account when you go to a bank and you open a bank account in person we know exactly what to do if you die. but we don't know what to do if you open up a bank account online and everything is done online. there are few laws that have stepped in to address this. >> brown: we don't know because

the law is lagging behind in this digital space. >> exactly. the law is just beginning to catch up. we could say that we deal with everything online in the same way was we deal with everything that's not online. that would probably be the easiest thing to do. but we're not even sure about that. >> brown: i was mentioning wills. i mean, my understanding is very few americans even have wills for all the normal things we call assets never mind digital assets, right? >> that's entirely true. most people don't like to think that they might die. so they don't have a will. them don't think they need a will. and they just haven't gotten around to doing anything. that's even more true when it comes to digital assets. people have no idea how much value they have in their on-line accounts. >> brown: evan carroll, all of this is tied up in privacy law, something we talked a lot on this program over the last few years. on the one hand there's great concerns about the privacy of all of our information online. on the other hand, when someone

dies, you want to know... you want someone perhaps to be able to get access to it. >> sure. namely compare this to how we look at our physical assets and we compare that to our digital ones. let's think about mail. so our physical mail, our hares would very easily access our mailbox on our desk. however, with our email they might not be able to access that as easily. there's a key difference. instead of just having the ability to receive new mail and a few items that have showed up in the last week or months, we have a full archive of everything that was sent and everything that was received provided that it's not yet been deleted. so it would be very easy for us to say, well, of course the executor should have access to that because they would in a tangible world. but unfortunately because there's so much of that information there, it really causes a privacy concern. you can learn things about a person that perhaps it wasn't

intended for you to learn. >> brown: we mentioned some states are starting to look at this. what kinds of things are they doing? >> five states in addition to what we heard about at the beginning of the segment, virginia, five other states have passed laws that try to give a person managing someone else's estate, try to give that person some authority to access either email accounts or more generally other kinds of digital assets. but those laws are just beginning to be used by people managing estates. we don't yet really know how they're going to work out. the virginia bill that we heard about that mr. rash was instrumental in helping to enact has still not yet gone into effect. so we have no idea what will happen. >> brown: and evan carroll, i mean, there has been pushback by companies. there's been some states where this hasn't gone through. what's the argument against

states taking action? is it that they need more of a federal overview on this? what is it? >> each and every service... let's use facebook or g-mail, for example. when someone signs up for it they enter a terms of service. that's the document that many of us probably don't read as we're checking the boxes trying to set up our account. then there are many things specified. sometimes it does even specify what happens to the account once someone is gone. these service providers they want to make sure that they're honoring the contract they've entered into with the account holder. if they said the account would be private as in the case of yahoo's terms they want to honor that promise. also there's a certain cost to dealing with each and everyone of these situations. i would imagine that many of these firms wouldn't be interested in occurring without an automated way after someone has passed away. unfortunately there is no

reliable electronic record of deaths in the u.s. and certainly not the world at the present time. >> brown: naomi kahn, what in the meantime do you advise people to do as we await to watch what happens with state, federal ledge laitle and the evolving nature of what companies. >> just because there's uncertainty in the law doesn't mean that you still shouldn't plan for what to do with all of your on-line accounts, so the first thing to do -- and everybody should do this -- is to make a list of all of your accounts. the average person has 20 to 25 digital accounts, and... >> brown: 20-25. 20-25. brown: scary to think about it. >> many of us have more if we actually sit down to account. each of those accounts has a password. well, so the first thing to do is to list the account and to list the passwords and figure out how you want to keep track of all of that information. if you put it in a will, a will becomes a public document. so you certainly don't want all of those assets listed in the will along with your password.

then anybody can access that. first of all, keep track. make a list. figure out... give access to that list to somebody else. next thing to do is to write down what you want to have happen. you can't be certain that if you write something down that the courts will enforce it. but it's the best way to make sure everybody knows what you want. and then hope that whatever you want to have happen will, in fact, happen. >> brown: we'll leave it with hope. naomi cahn and evan carroll, thank you both very much. >> thank you very much. . >> brown: read more about ricky rash's story online. while you're there, we want to know, what do you think should happen to your digital assets after you die? join the conversation, which you can find on our home page. >> woodruff: we'll be back shortly with the story of a japanese town, two years after the tsunami. but first, this is pledge week on pbs. this break allows your public television station to ask for

your support. and that s

>> ifill: finally tonight, a japanese town aims for a comeback, two years after the earthquake, the tsunami, and the nuclear meltdown at the fukushima reactor. our story comes from special correspondent emily taguchi, a graduate of the school of journalism at the university of california berkeley, one of our reporting partners.

>> reporter: it's been two years since the meltdowns at the dai- ichi nuclear power plant. the city of minami-soma is celebrating the noma-oi festival, showcasing their heritage as horsemen and warriors. about a third of the city is still uninhabitable. but on this day, residents who fled the city return, standing shoulder to shoulder with former neighbors to honor their history. >> i'm mayor katsunobu sakurai of minami-soma. this year's noma-oi festival, in the hopes of recovery for our residents affected by the nuclear crisis, is being held per the custom. >> reporter: at 20 miles north of the dai-ichi plant, minami- soma was cut off from the rest of the world two years ago by

radioactive plumes. not even aid trucks would come near. mayor sakurai uploaded a plea for help on youtube. >> the banks are closed. the people are literally drying up as if they're under starvation tactics. >> reporter: eiju hangai, a tokyo-based businessman born and raised in minami-soma, felt a particular responsibility to help. he'd spent 32 years working for tepco, the utility that operated the stricken nuclear power plant. he'd wanted to work at the utility since he was a little boy. >> my grandfather took me to the construction site of the fukushima dai-ichi reactor one. this was where japan's energy was going to be made with nuclear power for the first time. that left a powerful impression on me. >> reporter: but now the crying need of his home town was also leaving a powerful impression. so he arranged for supplies to go to a bakery that this woman kept open after the earthquake,

people needed the traditional funeral cakes to give proper burials to their loved ones. >> giving out supplies to people who'd come to buy the sweets was the fastest way to get them to people in need. but then mrs. ishida said, we're thankful for the supplies, but we're going to need many, many years to rebuild. we have to do something for the kids who have their futures ahead of them. hangai-san, please think of something for the kids. >> reporter: the bakers' mandate became a personal mission for hangai. his faith in nuclear-- indeed the whole region's-- had been shattered by the disaster. he listened when the mayor announced an initiative to buy coastal land from former residents and lease it to renewable energy companies to transform the region to solar. >> whether it's nuclear, thermal, or hydro, electricity is electricity. once it's produced, people have

no choice but to use it in our lives today. so selling electricity is a means to revive the industry we lost. >> reporter: to bring together solar and the bakers' plea to help the kids, hangai worked to set up a partnership between toshiba, which makes solar panels, and kidzania, the operator of a theme park where kids experience real-life jobs. the result would be a solar power company in the city that not only generates electricity, but lets kids experiment with working in a renewable energy plant. >> we would prepare a solar power generation system for kids. they'd have to figure out the best angle, direction, and how to place the panels to generate the most electricity. >> so for me to answer mrs. ishida's homework, i thought, okay, couldn't we give the kids the experience of working in minami soma to support their growth?

>> reporter: hangai's solar company became one of the first to sign on to the mayor's plan. radiation levels here have dropped sharply. they are now lower than average background levels in the u.s., and the company is gearing up to open for business this month. for hangai, it's just the beginning of repaying for all those years he spent at tepco. >> the fact that those words of mrs. ishida echoed so heavily for me is because i had a sense of guilt and the need to make amends for the reconstruction of my hometown-- which will take many years from now-- and for the children, who will shoulder that burden. this, in some sense, is my life's work. >> reporter: mayor sakurai tries to imagine a better future mayor sakurai: in our long history,

its only a moment in time that we had nuclear power. 40 years. but it can destroy history itself. but as long as we don't lose our dreams, i think this town will come back in some form. >> reporter: it's a big dream. the city of minami-soma set a goal to produce all of the electricity it needs using only renewable sources by 2030. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. two american soldiers were gunned down by an afghan policeman, one day after afghan president karzai accused u.s. forces of working with the taliban to stage suicide bombings. roman catholic cardinals made ready to open their conclave tomorrow at the vatican to elect a new pope. and a judge in new york city struck down the city's partial ban on large sugary drinks, one day before it was supposed to take effect.

>> ifill: on our web site today, find strategies for getting the most out of social security. hari sreenivasan has more. >> sreenivasan: our resident guru of "ask larry" fame explains his unique start-stop- start method for married couples nearing retirement age. see how they can maximize benefits, on our making sense page. and on art beat, jeff spoke with glenn frankel about his new book, "the searchers: the making of an american legend," about the men and the myths involved in the classic western tale of the hunt for a kidnapped little girl. and be a part of our coverage: we are collecting stories about the voting rights act of 1965. share yours. go to our web site or call 703- 594-6pbs for details. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. gwe? >> ifill; and that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday, we'll look at women juggling work, family and leadership roles. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening.

thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> macarthur foundation. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> this is "nightly business report." >> lucky number seven. the dow and s&p 500 posted a seven-day winning streak. and the dow set, you guessed it, another all time high. >> investors are re-examining their retirement portfolio. >> and women in the workplace. cheryl sandburg ignited a fire storm with her new book. we will weigh in. >> good evening and welcome to our public television viewers. >> early in the day, maybe not so much. but by the end of the day, absolutely true. stocks did overcome a flat and maybe even down-ish open.

that pushed the blue chip dow index. quite a streak. the dow added 50 points to close up 14.447. and the s&p 500 rose five points. it is less than ten points away from its own record close. >> more than half of all americans are invested in stocks and bonds with most of that money in retirement savings plans. with the s&p 500 closing in on its own, many of us are following the markets more closely than ever, retooling our accounts and seeing if the 401 ks are getting bigger every day. jane wells has more. >> reid ruker is checking his 401k again. >> i have looked at it more in the last four months. >> and investors like him are starting to call financial adviso advisors. >> the