hello, welcome to nhk world "newsline." it's now tuesday may 3rd. a national holiday here in japan. the united states has accomplished a mission of killing the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks osama bin laden. >> the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda. and finally, last week, i determined that we had enough intelligence to take action and authorize an operation to get osama bin laden and bring him to justice. today, at my direreioio the

united states launched a targeted operation against that compound in abbottabad, pakistan. no americans were armed. they took care to avoid civilian casualties. after a fire fight, they killed osama bin laden and took custody of his body. we will never tolerateur security being threated, n stand idly by when our people have been killed. >> the operation was carried out in abbottabad, 50 kilometers north of islamabad. the biding in which osama bin laden was hiding is located in a wealthy residential area and surrounded by five meter high walls. the u.s. did not consult with any other country including pakistan before carrying out the mission. the operation which took about 40 minutes to accomplish is said to have resulted in the death of

osama bin laden and four others including one of the al qaeda leader's sons. delighted americans gathered outside the white house after u.s. media began reporting bin laden's death. the united states has long been on the hunt for bin laden to bring him to justice for his part in the terrorist attack of september 11th, 2001. >> a lot of people from my high school lost parents. a lot of community members died. it feels like justice has sort of been served. >> when i heard the news, i just had to come down and reflect upon all the lives that hav been lost, as a result of all the terrorism in our world. >> pakistani intelligence official had told nhk that osama n laden has reportedly been in northern pakistan almost ten years. the official said he learned of the information from a tribal leader. he said bin laden entered pakistan through the eastern afghan city of jalalabad about two months after the september

11th attacks while u.s. forces carried out military offenses against afghanistan. e al qaeda leader then moved arou in on the mountains of northern pakistan with help from an islamic extremist group based in pakistan. bin laden eventually settled in abbotta abbottabad where he was killed. there's speculation some members of pakistan's intelligence community knew about bin laden's whereabouts but did not report it to the united states. a car bomb exploded near a police station in northwestern pakistan killing four civilians on monday. it's the first terrorist attack since osama bin laden was killed in the country. police say women and children were among the dead, and 11 others including police officers were wounded. they're investigating whether the attack is related to the killing of bin laden. islamic insurgents in pakistan pledged to attack u.s. and pakistani security forces in retaliation for the death of the al qaeda leader.

there growing fears of detear rating security in pakistan. >> translator: i am concerned that the number of terrorist attacks might increase in pakistan as a result ofis. but i just hope that things won't get worse. >> many countries around the world are welcoming the news. >> i would like to congratulate the u.s. forces who carried out this brave action. i'd like to thank president obama for ordering this action. >> this news will be welcomed right across our country. of course, it does not mark the end of the threat we face from extremists terror. indeed, we'll have to be particularly vigilant in the weeks ahead. but it is, i believe, a massive steporward. >> pakistan's foreign ministry welcomed the news and confirmed the death of the leader in a statement and said it would be a

major setback for terrorist organizations around the world. saudi arabia's state news agency hopes the death will help the fight against terrorism. bin laden was born and raised in saudi arabia where his wealthy family owned a major construction firm. meanwhile, palestinian leaders gave a mixed reaction. a spokes person for abbas welcomed the news on monday. >> getting rid of bin laden is good for the cause of peace worldwide. >> hamas leader and former palestinian prime minister hania condemned the u.s. policy. >> translator: the killing is a continuation of u.s. policy based on oppression and the shedding of muslim and arab blood. we condemn the assassination of an arab hy warrior. >> ahan president hamid karzai called on nato troops to stop

bombing afghan villages now that bin laden has been killed. emphasizing many afghan civilians were killed in terrorist and military activities during the search for bin laden, karzai said the afghan people are the ultimate victims. about 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks on september 11th, 2001. 24 of the casualties were japanese. their eldest son, a 34-year-old bank employee, was one ofhe victims of the 9/11 attacks. he was working in new york's world trade center. for the past ten years, his parents have agonized over the loss of their son, while also desperately wanting to know why the tragedy happened. >> translator: i personally don't feel satisfied since my son will never come back, but it feels like a turning point has come at last. even though i wanted osama bin laden to be arrested and to

explain his actions in court. >> they added that they want the u.s. government to find out why the attacks occurred and determine how to prevent a recurrence so that their son's death is not in vain. al qaeda is believed to have been involved in a number of terrorist attacks. we asked the japanese expert about the impact of osama bin laden's death on the group. in 2002, the bombing in bali on the indonesian resort island killed more than 200 people. the ringleader was an al qaeda trained bomb making expert. in 2004, bombs went off on commuter trains in madrid. and the following year, subways and buses were targeted in london. the attacks are said to have been carried out by young men inspired by al qaeda. the international terrorist network has left its mark around the world since the 1990s. it is said the network once extended to more than 50

countries. >> translator: there are probably only a few people at the core, but there are more groups outside the core. those groups used to two by different names but have begun calling themselves al qaeda in iraq, or al qaeda in north africa, for example. >> al qaeda was founded by osama bin laden. bin laden is said to have masterminded president bombings of the u.s. embassies in kenya and tanz zain ya. it's believed he has had no direct involvement in recent al qaeda activity. >> translator: since losing their base in afghanistan, after 9/11, al qaeda has apparently been focusing on ideological propaganda and citing terrorist attacks around the world. bin laden has not been giving

orders to outside groups, and they have probably been acting on their own. >> bombings believes to belinged to al qaeda are a continuing threat. it's feared bin laden's death could galvanize more terrorist activities. >> translator: it's only the death of one symbolic figure. the terrorist network has not been destroyed. terrorist attacks are continuing around the world. it's highly likely the group will carry out reprisal attacks in the near future. japan's diat passed an extra budget of $4 billion 9 billion

devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. the upper house approved the supplementally budget for fiscal 2011 monday. the lower house had already given its nod last saturday. the budget includes $14.7 billion for public works projects to rebuild roads and farming infrastructure. about $4.3 billion is allocated for the removal and disposal of debris and another $4.4 billion for construction of temporary housing. the scale of the emergency budget is far bigger than the roughly $12 billion package that was passed immediately after a major earthquake struck western japan in 1995. plans to work on a second extra budget for full fledged reconstruction spending after mapping out basic relief measures to be implemented by august. the disaster affected salaries of japanese office workers in march. the average monthly pay declined for the first time in 13 months. the labor ministry's monthly survey shows that the average

worker was paid about $3,400 in march, down 0.4% in yen terms from a year earlier. the result also indicated the average employee worked 145.4 hours in march, a drop of 1.6%. the survey excluded small businesses in the region that was hit hard by the disaster. the ministry says the smaller pay apparently came from a drop in work hours as a result of blackouts and furloughs that followed the disaster and nuclear power plant crisis. it says the average pay would have shown a bigger fall if the companies in the disaster area had been included in the survey. the ongoing problems at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant prompted many foreigners living in japan to return to their homeland. businesses that depend on foreign clientele are scrambling to entice them back to japan. >> translator: this is a japanese language school in

tokyo. currently, almost 400 students from 50 countries and regions are enrolled. but these days, only half of them are attending class. there are many empty seats in the back of the classroom. >> translator: we've started to see a lot of students wanting to come back to japan, but their parents say no. >> if nothing is done about this situation, these students will never return. so the school took videos of the surrounding neighborhood and posted them online. they hoped to show the students who returned to their home countries that life in japan is back to normal. >> translator: many japanese language schools are struggling financially, so we really want them to come back soon. it would be great if they could

return for the second semester starting in july. >> regulators raised their crisis rating -- >> foreigners haven't returned to swjapan because of the worsening nuclear crisis. the situation has been classified as a level 7 incident, making it as serious as chernobyl. a lot of people abroad fear that the entire country is unsafe. not just the air around the power plant. some companies are helping to show that japan is safe. >> translator: this real estate company specializes in rechntin apartments to foreign residents. they have 2,000 customers in tokyo. however, occupancy rates fell by 30% immediately after the earthquake. the company has asked the french employee to post messages on the

internet about the current situation in japan. >> my aim is to provide, like, information, of tokyo, of, like, what's going on in tokyo and, like, different information as what is being portrayed in the media. >> today, he is reporting about the daily life of foreign residents who have remained in the country. this american man is currently studying to become an accountant in japan. >> looked on the internet, on several blogs, or on several websites for information, right? >> right now, basically it's just normal life. what is it, like, i have my work which is going normally, actually. besides work, i finally started taking classes. hopefully i'll start taking

accounting classes or tech. >> he wrote about it on the company's blog. this entry shows them going about their lives just like before the quake. it shows them enjoying japanese springtime. the blog is in five languages including french, english and spanish. the company hopes that projects like this will improve japan's global image. >> i'm giving my best to provide information from my point of view so that my readers can trust me. that's the most important. if they trust me, they will understand that tokyo and japan are really safe place, as usually.

>> tokyo has seen the number drop sharply since the disaster. the upcoming summer tourist season will offer a crucial test, whether they're able to lure back foreigners. nhk world. now we go to our series, the japan syndrome. a look at the problems this country faces as its workforce shrinks and its population ages. today we'll introduce you to residents in an apartment complex near tokyo. like many housing complexes, it was built when the country was enjoying high economic growth in the 1960s and '70s. now a fair number of the people who live there are seniors. they're trying to come up with ways to encourage young families

to move in main an effort to ke their community alive. >> she and her husband moved into this apartment 38 years ago with their three small children. now that their kids have married and moved out, the couple lives alone. their situation is similar to many other residents' who live in this housing complex. >> translator: when human bonds are gradually lost and more and more elderly residents live lonely lives, confined to their apartments, then i'm afraid the whole housing complex will quickly become run down and desolate. >> this housing complex sits on the outskirts of yakihama. it opened in 1972 and soon became home to around 8,000 people. mostly young families with

children. but four decades on, the kids who used to play on the grounds have grown u and le. the number of residents aged 65 years or older has increased 13fold in the past 35 years. on the other hand, the number of children younger than 15 is a tenth of what it used to be. residents including matsimoto are trying to reverse the trend and lure younger generations to move in. they formed a non-profit organization and are working on various projects. recently, they opened a childcare support facility on some land adjacent to the housing complex. it's a place where mothers can gather with their small children. staff with expertise offer parenting advice. >> translator: my parents live far away, and so i find this

facility very helpful. >> translator: i like it here because i can get to know mothers who have children of similar ages and exchange information and tips. >> her group is also trying to make the local school more dynamic to increase enrollment. twice a week, elderly residents from the housing complex visit the school after classes to help students with their studies. the one-on-one tutoring is provided free of charge and it's popular. >> translator: the lessons are easy to understand. >> translator: children are treasures to the community. they are the future residents who will support community

activities. >> the efforts by matsimoto's group seem to be paying off. young families are moving into the housing complex. the sacaris came here from a neighboring city looking for a kind ergarten for her daughter. her husband's mother is a resident and she introduced her daughter-in-law to the housing complex's childcare facility. she made friends with other mothers at the daycare. she and her husband eventually decided to sell their condo. even though it was close to a train station. their decision to move into the housing complex wasn't based on convenience. >> translator: we decided to come here because we thought it offers a safe environment for our children to grow up. >> it's one of many small successes for matsimoto and her residence group.

she wants to make sure it's a place people of all generations can call home. >> translator: more young residents will mean more people to provide services and lead activities in the community. this will hopefully increase the number of active elderly residents, too. i'm starting to be hopeful about the future. the housing complex can't avoid aging, but i want ee ee eed it e full of all generations. >> the apartment complex has had some success in dealing with its graying problem because its residents started planning for it ten years ago. in addition, a residence group is offering childcare programs for schoolchildren. their efforts address both the country's aging population and low birthrate and may offer an effective solution to the japan syndrome. more coming up here on "newsline." before that, here's the world weather.

>> hello there, welcome to your weather update. seen quite a bit of yellow sand coming in from the west from mongolia. this will spread into tohoku region by late tonight. reducing visibility quite a bit. that could certainly effect the traffic conditions out here. also poor air quality as well. might be a good idea to wear a mask. in terms of weather conditions, a couple of showers develop in western japan this afternoon. starting off on a sunny note in central and northern areas. but turning increasingly cloudy in the afternoon. here we could see light showers developing in the afternoon as well. now, a whiff of cold air impacting the far north could produce thunderstorms later tonight for hokkaido. winds brisk in hokkaido. elsewhere looking at slightly

lower than seasonal averageaver. 18 in tokyo. 19 degrees in fukuoka. for the quake affected areas, winds calm today. good spells of sunshine as well. temperatures in the mid to upper teens. then as we head into your wednesday, we're holding on to the sunshine and then becoming a bit milder as well. now, from sendai toward mito, similar story. partly cloudy skies on tuesday. then wednesday looking much, much warmer. good spells of sunshine in sendai and soma and temperatures reaching 20 degrees. now, elsewhere across the region, see this very long frontal line stretching from southern china. this will be seasonal rain. producing heavy showers. also dealing with some heavy showers today in southeastern china. watch out for those isolated heavy showers. it has been raining here since the end of last week. risk of flooding and landslides are going to be quite high.

looking very unsettled across indochina as well, especially across the north, watch out for pockets of heavy shower. dealing with thunderstorms. 20 degrees. slightly cooler today. 18 in shanghai. 24 in beijing. stays very mild and pleasant out here. now, for the americas, slight chances of severe storms again in the southeastern corner. mainly for tennessee, mississippi and alabama. we have the humid, warm air coming in from the south meeting that cooler air from the north. and creating these thunderstorms throughout the night. as we head into your tuesday, that rain band starts to shift toward the northeast. looking at much calmer conditions to look forward to on tuesday. looking quite dry across the northern plains down toward the south as well. it is pretty chilly down here rew mexico, western texas as well as colorado. looking a ining at a frosty nig. winter precipitation as well for the northwestern corners,

northern-central rockies into western canada. lots of chilly rain as well as snow. isolated heavy snow expected in british columbia, canada. 14 degrees in vancouver today. slightly cooler day in chicago. 11 degrees. stays hot and steamy in southern california, 31 degrees in l.a. 23 in houston. it stays very mild in washington, c., 28egrees. all right. i will now leave you with your extended forecast.

a japanese woman whose work on march 11th saved many people has been cfirmed dead miki endo spent the last minutes of her life using a loud speaker to tell residents to flee to safety tas a tsunami swept towad her northeastern coastal town. endo was a municipal official responsible for crisis management when the quake and stsunami hit, she remained at hr

post and continued to urge residents to leave the coast. many people who acted on her advice survived. after the tsunami engulfed her office, endo disappeared. her family and relatives spent weeks searching for her. on monday a dna test confirmed a body found in a bay last month was endo. she was wearing an orange ankle bracelet given to her by her husband. they were married last july. endo was 24 years old. and that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." and from all of us at nhk world, thanks for joining us and have a good day. wherever you are.

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