welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, july 12th in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the operator of the fukushima daiichi plant will begin operations to inject nitrogen into a reactor. the pipes can be connected to the reactor skon taner. tepco plans to inject nitrogen to avoid a hydrogen explosion. utility has set a target of july 17 to complete the task. nitrogen was in the number one

reactor in april and the number two reactor in june. >> translator: we are planning to connect the pipe to the container around 1:00 p.m. on tuesday. we want to begin the injection as soon as we get the approval from the safety agency. >> the utility reported its plan to the nuclear and industrial safety agency on monday. it described the safety measures to limit radiation exposure to the workers. tepco also told the agency how the injection will impact the container. tepco says it has detected airborne radioactive materials in the number two reactor building. tepco has be investigating inside the number three or rather the three reactor buildings and the areas surrounding them since early this month. the utility said on monday that robots found airborne cesium 134 in the number two react ter

building with ranges going to 40 to 60 times above the government standard. it is to believed to have originated from explosions and steam leaking from the damaged reactors. the plant operator said it needs to confirm the amount of origin. it also needs to reduce the amount so work can begin to bring the reactors under control. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives. "nuclear watch" brings you insight on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" focuses on japan's efforts to rebuild. don't forget to watch on "newsline." three officials of the north korean olympic committee have arrived in tokyo to attend a meeting of the olympic council

on sunday. where vice president of the north korean olympic committee and two others arrived monday night. they're the first from that country to visit japan in five years. in october 2006, they were banned from entering the country. the move was in protest against the north's nuclear tests and the abductions of japanese nationals. government officials say they allowed the officials to come to japan in view of the olympic charter that prohibits discrimination for political reasons. the north korean member of the committee and another official will arrive on wednesday for the meeting. they're scheduled to be in japan until friday. the u.s. navy opened its nuclear-powered submarine to the media in south korea on monday in a show of deterrence aimed at

north korea. the uss texas made a port call in pusan on saturday for its crew members' rest. it is armed with tomahawk missiles and intelligence. >> the purpose of our port visit here is to discuss our coordinated operations that we conducted at sea. we are postured to respond to any aggression. >> last year north korea allegedly sank a south korean naval vessel. observers say the united states appears to be trying to discourage further military provocations by showing that a high-performance submarine has been deployed around the korean peninsula. the death toll in the sinking of a tour boat in central russia has risen to about 50.

the cruise ship volga capsized on sunday with about 200 passengers and crew members aboard. officials of russia's emergency situation ministry said that 79 people have been rescued but about 50 have been confirmed dead so far. nearly 70 are still unaccounted for. they're believed to be inside the boat which is lying on the bottom of the river about 20 meters below. it was on its way from volga to the regional capital kazam. it sank within minutes. the vessel was built 56 years ago and was carrying far more passengers than its capacity. a small passenger plane has crashed while attempting an emergency landing on a river in western siberia. russian officials say at least five people were killed.

turbo prompt was carrying 39 passengers and members when it crashed on monday morning. a russian news agency says fire from one of the plane's two engines forced the pilot to attempt to land. the crash is the latest in a series of recent accidents involving planes built in the soviet era. on june 20th, a plane crash landed short of a runway at an airport in northwestern russia killing 46 people. a new nhk poll puts public support for naoto kan at its lowest since september 2009. 16% of respondents said they support kan and his cabinet, a drop of nine points from june.

the cabinet's disapproval rating is up 11 points. when the prime minister should leave office, 38% said immediately and 28% said by the end of august. more than 60% want him to gol soon. the poll found that 13. 6% support the democrats. 23.4% is up 2.3 points. we asked about the prime minister's plummeting rate. >> 16%. why have the ratings fell so low? >> people simply do not support naoto kan anymore. but they have grown fed up of

kan's flops on reconstruction and the nuclear policies. he has announces policies off the top of his head. for example, the government is under pressure to compile unified policy on stress tests for nuclear reactors after the prime minister abruptly announced them. kan's announcement caused confusion and tension because it contradicted an earlier order to restart reactors in southwestern japan. 66% of people questioned in the poll have criticized kan's decision. >> the recent resignation of governments reconstruction minister after nine days after his took office was still fresh in our minds. is that one of the factors behind prime minister's falling approval rating? >> yes. it was supposed to be the center piece of the government's reconstruction efforts. kan wanted to fight criticism of

his handling of the crisis. but the reconstruction minister -- in the devastated northeast. he said his government won't help unless local governments come up with good reconstruction plans. >> right. even the media are critical of the crisis by the prime minister. >> china tv has reported that kan managed to defeat the motion by promising on june 2nd to step down. the broadcasters said the democratic party is dissent grating and lost ability to gain policy. likened tos a major earthquake saying kan triggered aftershocks that will continue for some time. bbc says kan's a lame duck who

has already lost his political clout. they also quoted a cambridge university expert that says his departure seemed certain. only came under fire again for what he said. matsumoto was tapping on for blood type as an indicator of personality. but the public thought he was shifting teleblame for what he said. his remark was posted on the wall street journal website. they criticized kan for clinging to his post. >> unlike matsumoto, though, the prime minister isn't the type to rush his departure. mr. kan has type o blood. >> you know, we must not forget

the world is watching how japan will recover from disaster. >> right. but the world has also noticed that the prime minister kan himself seems to be an obstacle in the reconstruction efforts. at the start of june, kan said he would have stepped down to dodge a no confidence motion. but he is still trying to cling to power. even some of kan's fellow democrats are calling him a swindler. the opposition is refusing to cooperate with his government. kan doesn't want to admit that his administration is losing domestic as well as international support. but, you know, no matter how much criticism he gets, kan repeats he will stay in power and do his best. he says that's what is best for the japanese people. >> all right. thank you for your insight. appreciate it.

next we go to our bureau in bangkok. here's the latest on the region. we start with the regional dispute about islands in the south sea. strong feelings were on display after meeting of senior chinese and u.s. military officials in beijing on monday. china condemned the united states for getting involved in an asian matter. junpei yoshioka has the story. >> reporter: met welcome mike mullen chairman of the u.s. joints chiefs of staff on monday. at the joint press conference, chen expressed displeasure that the united states was seeking to get involved in territorial disputes between asian nations.

>> translator: although the u.s. side has many times expressed it would not intervene in disputes over the south china sea, it's in fact clearly sending the opposite signal to the world. it carried out joint military exercises with vietnam an the philippines. although this is not the first time it was extremely inappropriate to do it at this time. >> reporter: the remark drew a sharp response from mullen. >> the united states has had a presence in the asia pacific region for decades. and we've exercised with our allies and friends in this part of the world for decades. and we will continue to do that. >> reporter: on the south china sea issue, the two nations fail to find common ground. china has said the dispute should be solved through a series of bilateral dialogues but the united states has

insisted on a multinational framework. later this month, the countries involved will sit at the same table at the asean forum. a heated debate is expected to take place. junpei yoshioka, beijing. cambodia's booming economy is attracting attention from private investors and the government is hoping to lure even more money into the country with the opening of its first stock exchange since the country was devastated by a civil war. an official ceremony was held on monday to mark the occasion. the cambodia security exchange was set up with support of south korea. the country has been an aggressive investor in cambodia. three state-owned companies, a water business, a telecoms firm

are expected to be listed for trading within the year. >> translator: today is an important historical day for cambodia's financial sector. it's a new pride of cambodia. >> cambodia's economy grew at an erage annual pace of 7.9% over the past decade. direct investment from overseas is also increasing. >> translator: i expect cambodia to develop in many ways. >> translator: i think about investing. >> cambodia is a member of the ten-country regional block that cams to create an economic community by 2015 and integrate its members' exchanges. laos set up in january. with the establishment of the cam bodian exchange, all countries now have stock exchanges.

now, when it comes to choosing a car, many of asia's emergent consumers are spoiled for choice. in the crowded cities of india, big isn't always best. more and more indians are choosing cars that are easy to afford as well as easy to park. >> reporter: in new delhi's business district. 2.5 million automobiles were sold in india last year which is up 120% from five years ago. japanese car maker nissan motor built a factory in india last year and introduced the low-priced model entering this giant model in earnest. nissan's rivals are not lagging behind. this popular model from

germany's volkswagen is next. toyota also introduced a low-priced automobile. it costs about 9,000 u.s. dollars. the least expensive of all sold in india. hatch backs which are shorter than ordinary cars are especially popular in india's growing market of inexpensive automobiles. in the center of new delhi in this parking lot, you can see large number of hatchback cars parked here. hatchbacks are popular because they are easy to park. there are not enough parking lots.

a car parks too close on this street of the business district. >> parking problem, you have to have a hatchback vehicle. >> reporter: automakers are trying to increase their sales by targeting the indian market. planning to add 25 dealerships in indian this year. >> there are various competitors. i think we will be able to meet this challenge very well. >> translator: toyota and the entire auto industry the placing more hopes on india. toyota is finally able to offer small cars for this market in earnest. >> reporter: the competition between low-priced cared in india's giant market is heating up even further.

are nhk world, new delhi. and that wraps up our bulletin. 4r. now let's take a look at the latest in sumo. day two of the july bosh show and the star of the show is kaio. he needs just one more win to tie the former record of 1,045 career wins. feisty goeido is his opponent. he gets a firm. right-hand grip right away and

shuts down. by denying the milestone vict y victory. another who is trying to write another in history. he wants to be the first to hit eight. the current championship system was established over a century ago. but no one has ever won eight consecutive tournaments. hakuho stunning tokohto. flings to the dirt without any trouble. hoping to make inagoia. he's got to rack up at least 12 wins. after losing on opening day his day two match against --

recovers and convincingly defeats wakakoia. i believe have a chance of making a name for themselves. kaisei and okinomi. comes in aggressively but okinomi places his hand under the armpit. okinomi counters with an underarm throw and takes the match. now gets back to kaio, will take on day three hoping to equal the alltime regard. he has a 6-0 record. he needs to bring his a game

into the ring. we'll see how things play out. don't miss history in the making. now let's take a look at the market figures. hello, there. time now for your weather update.

we're keeping an eye on the tropical depression over the pacific. it is moving in a westerly direction and is expected to become tropical storm in the next couple days. keeping a close eye on this storm system. over towards the north, system covering much of japan. we're looking at intense sunshine, extremely hot conditions throughout th country. but of course daytime heating will lead to those afternoon thunderstorms. so watch out for some sharp showers in many areas. meanwhile, this seasonal rain band remains very active and lingers in the same region effecting eastern china, the korean peninsula. looks like heavy rain will impact south korea swals in china. you see torrential rains beginning to develop in north korea as well. of course around the bay of bengal, we see plenty of moisture developing.

scattered showers in place for the peninsula and the monsoon into the northern tip of the indian subcontinent. fairly widespread rain here, particularly heavy downpours in the northeastern corner. temperaturewise, quite cool in chonging. another hot day. plenty of showers effecting central america again. we've got this high pressure system bringing this mexican monsoon, also the southwest monsoon effecting the u.s. here. over towards the north, we've got this long frontal system on the midwest looking at widespread thunderstorms, rain. anywhere along here could experience severe thunderstorms across wyoming, south dakota, even in west virginia as well. the front of the storm is steadily moving into eastern quebec. here it's looking quite severe. and down in the florida

peninsula looking fairly unsettled as well. temperaturewise, it stays hot in the southwestern corner again. 36 in houston. then coming in at 34 degrees in atlanta. as for europe, a high pressure system covering the british isles. good spells of sunshine there. there will be showers occurring from time to time. nothing severe. we will see rain developing in western europe, western france, northern spain on tuesday scattered of showers scandanavia. it's going to be moving into finland on tuesday. that will be welcomed. behind this it is going to be triggering some sharp showers in places for the balkans as well. that will help cool things down as well. still a few degrees above your averages.

32 in belgrade. coming in at 37 in athens. all right. here is your extended forecast now.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

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