glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." i'm katherine kobayashi in tokyo. engineers may be able to start removing fuel at fukushima plant earlier than previously expected. officials of the government and the plant's operators say they

want to speed up the process. they drafted a new road map for getting the work done. the officials jointly released a time table for decommissioning the reactors damaged in the earthquake and tmi ago. they cover various scenarios for removing the nuclear fuel from three of them. it calls for work to begin on separate parts of each reactor. they will start with the number one and two reactors in the year 2020 at earliest. that's 18 months sooner than the previous plan. work on reactor number two could be delayed until 2024. it will depend on how quickly they can decontaminate the building. radiation levels remain high at the plant and they depend on robots to work in the reactors. the time table is subject to change depending on whether they can develop new technology. they have been facing challenging situations.

in september a crane operator knocked a steel beam into a spent fuel pool into the building of reactor three. they were removing debris at the time. a power blackout in march caused a suspension for hours. they believe it was because of a rat on the switch board. leakses are another problem. ground water is seeping into the buildings auto a rate of 400 tons per day. >> translator: the more time it takes to decommission, the more risks engineers will be exposed to and they need to revise the road map to deal with the specific difficulties they encounter and prepare back up plans. >> the biggest challenge to remove the fuel. the nuclear plant in the united

states, with the melted fuel, they remained within the reactions. they caused the fuel to eat through the core of the reactors. they don't know the exact location of the melted fuel. many are not allowed back into the area, but now japanese environment ministry personnel are planning a trial clean up. officials designated certain areas in seven municipalities as no go zones. they delayed clean up operations for fear of exposure. in august they will start cleaning up the town and work on residential areas, roads and fields. then in september they will start work at kindergartens and hospitals. the officials plan to work on the procedures and publish results. regulators have been checking into the safety in japan. they endorsed a risk assessment

by the operator of the oe complex before stricter guidelines come into effect in july. they asked the people to study what might happen if active falls near the planned moved simultaneously. the executives officially argued that such a scenario was unlikely. they agreed to assess the risk. they calculated houcht buildiw buildings would shake and what to expect. they are almost six meters higher than any waves would be. they endorsed most of the assess ams and plan to carry out on site inspections deciding whether the plant can stay online. >> thousands of residents are still waiting to go home. vast tracks are land of waiting to be restored. and more than half of fishing ports on the pacific coast must be rebuilt.

step by step they are moving forward. see their stories. every wednesday on the road ahead right here on "newsline." >> emergency workers in mumbai india why are searching for people trapped under a building that collapsed. one was kill and three others injured. part of the five-story apartment building caved in on monday evening. rescue crews rushed to the scene. they are using heavy machinery to pick through the debris. they don't know what happened, but residents have seen heavy rainfall through the start of monsoon season and reporters said they could have given away. more than 70 people were killed in april and the nearby city when an eight-story building under construction collapsed. leaders plan to build a space

station by 2020. they will take another direction this week. they will send three astronauts into orbit on tuesday. the spacecraft will plast off from western china at 5:38 local time. two men and woman will take part in the 15-day mission, the longest ever by chinese astronauts. the commission commander has been to space before. he told reporters he is looking forward to going back. the mission won't be easy. >> translator: this will be longer than the nine mission. we will be doing more experiments with more risks and challenges. >> the projudge sect is close l linked with the military. all astronauts are military personnel. >> the japanese prime minister abe throws support behind

syria's opposition forces and plans to cent supplies to the rebels if are the first time. abe intends to announce the intention at the g 8 summit in ireland. he promises to send vehicles and power generators. they expect it to be one of the main issues on the g 8 agenda. the japanese government recognizes the opposition has a representative of the syrian people and never before been offered any support. he plans to express support for lebanon and jordan. they are straining the finances of both countries. fighters have attacked the international airport in afghanistan's capital of kabul. security officials say the group was targeting nato-led troops stationed nearby. they were in a building about two clock teres from the airport. they fired rockets based next to the facility. security forces battled the

attackers if are nearly four hours. all of the taliban died in the assault. no casualties were reported among civilians or security personnel. the taliban later issued a statement acknowledging the attack. the out come shows that afghan security traps are improving capabilities. militants stepped up attacks on forces and organizations ahead of the withdrawal of most troops next year. the violence has killed at least 16 people in the past month. analysts at a leading credit agency said they are seeing less fiscal risk. what are you hearing? >> they are saying the outlook doesn't look bad either. americans call for optimism and analysts at ratings agency standard and poor's up greated the u.s. credit outlook. they revised the outlook from negative to stable.

they said fiscal risks receded and they signed at the federal reserve's willingness to sustain growth. they kept the debt at aa plus. two years they downgraded from the top level, aaa. chances of further downgrading receded to less than in three. many welcome news of the credit upgrade, but the gains were overshadowed by continuing concerns over the federal reserve's future monetary policy. the dow jones lost 0.06% to end at 15,238 points. let's head over to the tokyo stock exchange. tell us what to look for on the japanese markets. good morning. now the bank of japan wraps up the two-day meeting today. how are things looking this morning some are. >> good morning. investors are taking a step back ahead of the conclusion of the meeting at this moment.

here are the opening levels for thursday, june 11th. the nikkei is now about 0.5% and the broader topix is also lower by 0.26%. they shrugged off worries about a slow down in the chinese economy and encouraged by the positive revision of the gdp numbers as well as a weaker yen. the nikkei rose almost 5% to close above the 15,000 level after losing 50% from the peak in may. on to japanese bonds. by the end of the boj meeting, bank officials may address the recent volatility in japanese government bonds. jgb hit 1% in may, the highest in a year. it eased from the level, but market warriors will be watching for the direction as they have a big impact on the business of

major financial and real estate companies here in japan. let's have a look at where the yen is trading at right now. the dollar yen is at 98.65-70 compared to the lower 98 level at the same time on monday. overnight they bought the dollar on the outlook of u.s. sovereign credit and say the dollar is being supported by renewed speculation over the asset buying under the program also known as quantitative easing. that is reducing some of the dollar pressure on the u.s. currency. the euro yen is not at 130.76 to 89. the euro is also stronger against the yen. the market players are buying the euro as economic reports show signs of recovery in the eurozone. the japanese currency may also be affected by the ought come of

the meeting and we will keep track of any developments there today. back to you. are. >> sounds good. thanks a lot are if the update. at the tokyo stock exchange. over in the u.s., president barack obama nominated a long t on the economy. jason furman worked alongside him since obama first made a bid for the white house. he was appoint as chairman for the council of economic advisers. they analyzed the climb viet and advised the president on what to do. >> i'm relying on them to provide analysis and recommendations with just one thing in mind. doing the most good for the most people in this country. >>. >> furman served as assistant for economic policy and a key figure in drafting health reforms known as obama care. obama said he is a brilliant economic mind and he is expected

to replace alan krueger, but has to go through a senate confirmation before taking up the post. >> apple unveiled a latest mobile 3r5i9ing system. they said it's the most revolutionary update since the iphone was launched. apple executives introduce the ios 7 at a conference on monday. they said all mobile devices will come with the system starting this fall. the ios 7 has a new look and feel. they, peer thinner as if printed on the screen creating an illougz of depth. it is drawing attention because the top designer was involved in modifying the system for the first time. the ceo said the latest upgrade marks the biggest change to ios since introduction of the iphone in 2007. officials announced a plan to launch a free streaming system

in the u.s. in a bid to compete with google. that's all for now on business news. here's a check on the markets. . in the final stages of world war ii, fierce fighting broke out in the okinawa islands in the far south of japan. events will be held to come em rate the end of the battle and remember those who died. they are taught little about what happened in their homeland after the war.

one young teacher has been trying to find out. nhk world has the story. >> he has been teaching this elementary school in the main island for years. he looked at the facts that are still at the 34i8 temilitary ba. a recent example made him lock at what happened in his homeland. the center of government held them to commemorate the u.s. occupation. it was on that date in 1952, seven years after the end of the wash that japan regained the sovereignty. however the u.s. continued to

administer okinawa until 1972. many called it a day of humiliation. >> my generation doesn't feel like it's anything to do with them. but this is our home. it's part of the history so i think we must be aware of it. >> he felt like he needed to educate himself about what happened in okinawa. he visited an exhibition which showed how after the war that the u.s. military bases were enlarged. ordinary okinawa ans were not protected by japanese law. they spoke with a former teacher about what things were like. working on the u.s. roads, they had drawn on research in the

classroom. on this day, the topic in his class is okinawa, caught between the u.s. and japan. >> translator: may 15th, 1972 when okinawa was returned to japan. what happened if it hadn't be returned. still part of the united states. >> to illustrate the way people felt when okinawa was returned to japan, he showed the students, photos taken at different places on the same day. in tokyo people are showing banzai. people are also cheering. but in a nearby park, people have their fists raced in anger.

. >> translator: some people were happy that okinawa returned to japan. others protested because they realized the u.s. military bases would remain. their voices were not being heard and that new problems would arise in the future. >> i think they were happy to be part of japan, but opposed to the military bases. >> they were shouting banzai, but inside, i think they must felt betrayed. >> translator: once you know the facts, you can start to think for yourself. are things really good? what changes should we make? i want each of you to make up your own mind. >> a generation in okinawa and the turbulent possible history. now they are beginning to look

back as they search for solutions to present day problems. nhk world. >> people in south africa had been following the trial of the parolympic gold medalist oscar pistorius accused of shooting and killing his girlfriend. they highlighted the problem of gun violence. they have one of the gun violence of the world. . >> translator: 18 people in south africa are shot to death every day. a un survey shows among the ten worst in the world and times higher than the u.s. look closely the resident lost her

brother and relative to a shooting death. years ago her son also died in a gun incident. his firearm discharged by accident. he was 16. they believes that civilians should not be allowed to own guns. >> i would like to see a complete ban of civilian gun ownership in this country. the less guns, the less gun crime there will be. >> down in south africa, it's not out of the ordinary. classes are offered that teaches citizens how to use firearms. more than 300 people receive lessons every week.

>> guns are a part of south africa's history. during the 19th century gold rush, white europeans poured into is the region. many armed themselves for protection against the majority of blacks seen as a potential threat. when apartheid ended in 1994, authorities allowed black people to own guns. this prompted whites to buy firearms to protect themselves. in response, black south africans did the same. >> so we had the cycle of violence. >> government authorities decided to step in. a new law came into effect in 2004. it stipulated that people mead certain requirements like

attending lectures before being allowed to own a gun. this led to a decrease of more than 50% in the number of gun owners. the number of firearms owned illegally increased. the rate of gun-related crimes remains high. among the guns unlawfully agreed to an entry. he said it's not difficult to get a firearm without a license. once you know how. >> he refused to divulge how he obtains guns for selling and won't comment on gun crimes. south africans it know to get ahold of guns through legal channels. others do,a choir firearms to

protect themselves from from unlawful gun owners. like so many vicious cycles, once it is put into motion, it's difficult to stop. nhk world, johannesburg. >> time to get a check on the weather. people in tokyo are seeing cloudy and gloomy skies and it seems there is a storm heading towards japan. we have the latest in world weather. >> there is a tropical storm over water. already now directly heading towards the specific coast of the country. now picked up the pace at 25 kilometers per hour. the bad news is that it's going to decrease the speed and that means the stormy weather will be lingering and it will be a prolonged effect. gusts are up to 126 kilometers per hour. that's along the pacific coast

due to this stationary boundary and moving towards the north from this system. this is quite active now. it foinlly looks like the typil rainy season and battered with heavy rainfall. 240 millimeters in 24 hours. any additional rain could cause flooding and mudslides. they will see the heavy rain along the western arch and the southern half of japan. that includes the contra region. tokyo will see the moderate rain starting this afternoon. the northern half of the country is dominated with the high pressure cresting overhead making things try and hot. seoul was really hot for the past six days with 30 degrees it. or even more continuing for a week. this rain will come in and ease those temperatures down to about 26 degrees towards the south.

they will still be seeing the torrential rainfall with 100 millimeters over the next 24 hours. rain and flooding is still really not alleviated yet here in thailand. a video coming up from the district. locals in holiday makers in thailand's ph uk cet. rains were triggered by a monsoon. drivers found many completely under water. emergency services are on stand by to help anyone in trouble. it looks like a devastating situation ask it will continue with the heavy rains hampering the regions. bangkok at 35. scattered thunderstorms as well. seoul at 26 as i mentioned and down from the 30s. a relief there and not getting that relief. 32 in hokaido, well above the

range. moving over to the north american continent. the western half has dry hot fire weather on the critical level. towards the east it receives severe weather. in manitoba, we do have severe weather warnings posted out and that will shift towards the east and the upper midwest, but severe weather is active across the eastern half and new england states and heavy burst of showers and thundershowers and tornados. we already have at least six reports of tornado touchdowns in new england. towards the eastern half, you can see the temperatures rising. phoenix at 43 and this temperature, stay hydrated and don't leave your children or pets in the car. it only takes ten minutes to heat 10 degrees. now for the extended forecast.

. that concludes this edition of "newsline." do stay with us.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: a 29-year-old n.s.a. contractor claimed responsibility for revealing top security government surveillance programs. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, we talk to former director of national intelligence dennis blair and debate the security and privacy issues raised by the disclosure of the classified programs. >> ifill: we kick off a week dedicated to food security. tonight, a story from costa rica