welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, july 23rd. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the operator of the damaged fufushima daiichi has admitted that radioactive water has been leaking into the ocean. and a senior japanese government official had sharp words for the

utility. tokyo electric power company officials announced on monday that new findings suggested tainted water has been entering the ocean since april. >> translator: we should have learned more from the mistakes that we've made. so far, we've not seen such a big impact on the ocean. we'll have to analyze more to understand the scale of the leakage. >> officials from the industry ministry inspected the plant later on monday. senior vice minister akaba called the situation deplorable. he criticized tepco officials for being unresponsive. >> translator: tepco's actions seem too slow and don't live up to expectations. >> tepco says the contamination is contained in an area of a port near the plant. workers are using chemicals to solidify the ground surrounding the wells to stop further leakage.

an airplane experienced trouble touching down at laguardia international airport in new york. its front landing gear collapsed. the operator of the plane, southwest airlines, says eight people were hurt. the boeing 737 was coming in from nashville, tennessee. 150 people were on board. emergency crews rushed to the scene. the video shows there's no smoke or flames coming from the jet. the federal aviation administration says flights at laguardia have been halted. the royal buzz in britain is spreading around the world. the duchess of cambridge has given birth to her first child with prince william. it's a boy. now everyone is waiting to find out his name. bumming ham palace officials released the announcement from the hospital in london. they displayed it in the forecourt of palace. the infant weighs 3.8 kilograms and was born at 4:24 p.m. palace spokespersons say mother

and baby are in good health. the child is now third in line to the throne after his grandfather, prince charles, and his father. prince william is on vacation from the royal air force and he'll now start a short paternity leave. prime minister david cameron spoke shortly after news of the bird was announced. >> it's wonderful news from st. mary's padding ton and i'm sure that right across the country, and indeed right across the commonwealth, people will be celebrating and wishing the royal couple well. >> princess diana's eldest son william married kate in april 2011. people all over the world were charmed by the match of an aristocrat with a middle-class girl. well-wshers packed some of the streets of london. some shared messages for the new parents. >> congratulations on the newborn son. i hope he turns out to be as much of a success as you two have been. >> i wish the baby lots of health and happiness and, yeah, i think the whole country's

quite happy about it. so, yeah. well done to them. >> congratulations. i hope you're all well. we're really excited to come and see it. >> now they're waiting to catch a first glimpse. search and rescue crews are looking for people who went missing after an earthquake in northwestern china. it struck a rural area killing more than 80 people and injuring hundreds of others. analysts with china's earthquake monitoring center say the 6.6 tremor shook the inland province of ganzu and surrounding areas. state-run cctv reports at least 89 people are dead and more than 600 injured. it says at least five people are missing.

the quake destroyed buildings and cut power and telephone lines in some areas. cctv reports people felt it in a major city in ganzu province. security forces in iraq are reeling from a spate of violence including a jailbreak at two baghdad prisons. and they're investigating a suicide bombing. someone rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into a military convoy in mosul. the blast killed 12 soldiers and passersby. a day earlier militants carried out two jail breaks, leaving 29 people dead. a suicide bomber detonated a car outside the gates of abu ghraib prison in baghdad. the attackers bombarded the jail with grenades and mortar rounds. militants launched a similar strike north of the capital. about 100 prisoners are on the loose. many are members of extremist groups. independent monitors say terrorist attacks have killed

more than 500 people in iraq this month. people in iran are wondering what's in store for them. hasan will take office as president next month. iranians hope he'll be able to reverse the country's isolation and improve an economy crippled by sanctions. >> reporter: after years of economic stagnation under president mahmoud ahmadinejad, people in iran are starting to feel some rays of hope. the value of iran's currency had plummeted since the start of the economic sanctions imposed by the west. but following rohani's victory,

the real rose by as much as 20%. >> translator: since the presidential election, prices have fallen. i hope life becomes easier. >> translator: i think relations with other countries will improve. i hope the economy will also get better. >> reporter: mohammad has high hopes for the new president. he runs a private company that imports and sells heating equipment, mostly from europe. >> translator: following row h rohani's victory, the mood is brighter here in iran. >> reporter: the collapse in the value of the real has led to a big drop in sales for his company. his revenues are down to one-quarter of their level two years ago. and from the first of this month, sanctions were tightened even further.

this means it is even harder for his company to import certain products. the current administration's focus on its nuclear program has led to economic turmoil. like many others, he's waiting for glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel. iran's business community is economic turnaround. we're now at iran's 13th international exhibition of building and industry. some 900 companies in the construction industry took part, from both iran and abroad. participants express optimism that change is in the air. >> translator: if negotiations lead to sanctions being relaxed, then we'll be able to import industrial equipment from abroad. >> business relations with foreign countries will be more

and more well than it was before the new president. held meetings with 20 companies, many for the first time. he said they were also feeling more positive about the future. >> translator: in areas like manufacturing and trade, i'm hoping the situation will improve. >> reporter: rohani has called for talks with the international community on the issue of iran's nuclear program, there are growing expectations that progress can be made. this professor has been a close advisor to rohani for ten years. he says rohani has the ability to move the dialogue forward. >> translator: rohani is a tenacious negotiator. he can get the west to understand iran's position.

he will advance talks with respect for both sides' claims. i think that tensions will ease. >> reporter: both at home and abroad, all eyes will be on iran after rohani takes office. nhk world, tehran. japanese held an upper house election over the weekend. on monday, investors welcomed the victory by the liberal democratic party and its coalition partner. for what's happening today, ai uchida joins from us the business desk. ai, good morning. >> good morning. investors may be looking at overseas data. u.s. stock prices actually managed to show modest gains. investors did see lackluster housing data and some weak corporate earnings. the dow jones gained less than 2

points to end at 15,545, weighed by disappointing earnings from mcdonald's. for more on the markets here in japan, let's go to the tokyo stock exchange. how are the markets starting off this morning? >> good morning. we're looking at a quite negative start at the moment. here at the opening levels for tuesday, july 23rd. the nikkei is down 0.36% at 14,605. the broader topix is lower by 0.31%. japanese stocks closed higher on monday. investors were encouraged as japan's ruling coalition scored a victory in the upper house election on sunday. now, we may want to keep an eye on resource-related companies today as gold prices climbed to a one-month high on monday

boosted by expectations that the u.s. central bank will maintain its monetary stimulus for some time. and the yield on the ten-year japanese government bond has fallen to its lowest level since may this year. and will continue to keep track of that and see how it may affect real estate and financial stocks today. and moving on to currencies starting with dollar/yen first. dollar vash yen is 99.41-43. in overseas trading the yen remained strong and the dollar extended its losses on weak u.s. existing home sales data. let's take a look at euro/dollar. it's now at 1.3191-3192. market players bought the euro after portuguese government bond yields fell given the positive developments in the country's politics. economic currency rose to the highest level in about a month against the dollar. and last but not least, let's also take a look at euro/yen at

the bottom of the screen. it's currently at 131.10-16. so like i mentioned, a pretty negative start at the moment. we'll see how these currency levels affect shares of japanese exporters today. >> sounds good. thanks a lot for that update from the tokyo stock exchange. japanese trade officials are getting ready to join free trade talks for the transpacific partnership framework for the first time on tuesday. the delegates aim to find out what has been discussed and to explain japan's position to 11 other negotiating nations. the 18th round of the tpp talks began last week in malaysia and will continue through thursday. japanese representatives are expected to be allowed to participate in the discussions starting tuesday afternoon after u.s. officials complete domestic procedures on the matter.

13 working-level meetings will be held in the latest round of talks. japanese officials will probably be able to join about six of them. one will be on intellectual property to discuss patents and copyrights. another will be on government procurement to work out conditions for entry into public works projects. japanese negotiators will be allowed to view huge amounts of documents on past negotiations. a meeting is also planned especially for them. the aim of the tpp agreement is the elimination of tariffs on all products within a decade and setting rules for 21 areas. the total population of the participating countries, including japan, is about 770 million. their combined gdp accounts for about 40% of global production. the trade talks are scheduled to conclude by the end of this year. and that's the latest in business. i'll leave you with another check on markets.

japanese prime minister shinzo abe is riding high after an election victory gave his ruling liberal democratic party a lock on power. the ldp and the coalition partner won a majority of seats in the upper house, and they control the lower house. so the diet is no longer divided. abe is vowing to push ahead with his economic policies. >> translator: with this election victory, we have been able to put an end to the divided diet, which caused

japanese politics to stagnate for a long time. but at the same time, we have to fully appreciate the responsibilities behind the number of seats we won in this election. in particular, the public wants to regain a strong economy that can be felt in every corner of japan. the economy is the basis for the country's power, we cannot achieve diplomatic power or stable social security without a strong economy. >> abe referred to relations between japan and china, which have been strained. >> translator: the ties we have with china make up one of our most important bilateral relationships. i think it's the same on both sides. that is why i believe we should cooperate and make efforts to overcome various challenges.

so, it is important for both of us to discuss matters without any reservations. our doors are open to dialog. we should hold bilateral summits and foreign ministerial talks. >> abe's liberal democrats and coalition partners in new komeito now have 135 seats in the upper house. that's enough for what's called a stable majority in the chamber. that allows coalition members to chair all upper house committees and to hold half the seats on them. prime minister abe returned to power in the lower house election last december, but without control of both houses he was unable to do some of the things he's wanted to do. so, he and his allies have been working toward this election for months. the largest opposition group, the democratic party of japan, had a disappointing showing. they secured 17 seats, the

fewest since the party was formed in 1998. now that prime minister abe has gained the power to push through legislation and implement policies, the question is, how will he use that power? we got insight from an associate professor at kaio university and an expert on japanese politics. >> so last night's election results completes the ldp's return to power. it now has control of both chambers of the diet, which means that this problem of diet twist, in which the ruling party only controls one of the houses, resulting in legislative gridlock, is resolved. at the same time, the ldp has become a very large power, and they're safely in power in a sense, and this may create the risk of infaction, infighting, and factionalism, which has tended to harm the ldp historically.

if abe-san is serious about growing, he will also have to invest in educating the workforce. education and also getting women to enter the workforce and stay in the workforce. it's often said that japan's most underused resource or asset is women. if they're serious about long-term growth, one has to educate the workforce to deal with the new economic environment. so where is the abe administration spending? actually, they're spending a lot on public works. it's not quite clear whether all that spending is done in the most efficient manner. as you may know, ldp in the '80s and '90s was notorious for public works, so-called bridges to nowhere, highways to nowhere. if that sort of thing were to be repeated, although prime minister abe said ldp is new

now, it's a new reformist party, there will be a lot of doubts. tpp is always discussed or really kills cussed in the context of free trade, imare improving economies, structural reforms. but it has a lot to do with security architecture in the region. by creating a network camp of free market liberal democracies through tpp, i think the intentions of the u.s. is to try to engage china, china to come into the tpp ultimately. so if the abe administration, because of backbench resistance, resistance from rank and file, fails to enter the tpp, this will not be damaging just to japan's economic reform prospects, but also to its security prospects. southeast asian media say abe's victory will help strengthen economic ties between

japan and asean countries. a thai tv station said the election result reflects voter expectations that the prime minister's administration will revive the country's economy. the broadcaster said the result will help deepen economic ties between japan and thailand. about 4,000 japanese companies operate in the country. the "vietnamese daily" said the result will help abe focus on steering japan towards economic recovery, thereby benefitting its neighbors. japanese economic aid and private sector founding account for the largest part of vietnam's foreign economic investment. vietnam was the first country abe visited after taking office last september. vietnam talked with the prime minister about maritime security. vietnam apparently hopes to strengthen ties with japan in this field. it's currently disputing with china over a group of islands in the south china sea. abe will use this momentum to boost relationships across the region.

abe will visit may layer shark singapore and the philippines. he says the prime minister's hoping to forge stronger ties with members of the association of southeast asian nations. >> translator: asean nations have grown rapidly. japan wants to improve its economic ties with them. >> the prime minister will hold talks with u.s. vice president joe biden in singapore. abe visited vietnam, thailand and indonesia in january and myanmar in may. it's time to take a look at what's going on in world weather. it's a sunny day in tokyo. let's find out what's happening across japan. >> yes, well, the end of the

rainy season was declared pretty early in much of japan this year. however, it looks like it has made a comeback across much of eastern continental asia. this is due to a seasonal front stretching from eastern china into sea of japan. underneath it, heavy rain will be found. in the past 24 hours, 200 millimeters has fallen in south korea. i know that in seoul, people are wading through flooded water at the moment and houses are inundated. this additional rainfall into the next 24 hours, about 150 millimeters, is not going to really help improve that situation. now it's going to be recreated from inland china. but moving into central japan, looks like the rain will be an ongoing situation into wednesday with chances of afternoon and evening showers in tokyo as well. the good news is, as i mentioned, things are couple minute fishing here but showers will be continuing in and around the area where that 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit in

western ganzu province. showers i hope will not be preventing that improvement process. things are soaring into the 30s due to that heat dome created just underneath the rain band. common ching at 37, heating up to 38 on your wednesday. already at 38 in shanghai so heat advisories and warnings are posted widely in this region. that includes nagoya as well at 36 degrees today. tokyo looking at 32 with sunny spells. into the afternoon and evening hours, showers and heavy rain will be possible. heavy rains also possible across the four corners and southern california here in north america. same distinctive feature with the eastern half of the continent looking at very messy situation. today we're looking at some severe thunderstorms across this area into the lower mississippi valley. but starting tomorrow, tuesday, this is going to be focused here. so more severe weather to come and we cannot rule out the chances that this could be

spawning even tornados. towards the four corners region, this is going to be an ongoing situation with flash flood warnings and watches posted widely across california and into new mexico and that includes the four corners region as well. towards the north of that, we have a heat dome that's preventing things from cooling down. take a look at that boise still at 37. salt lake city at 38 degrees, sizzling hot, please sty hydr e hydrated if you are out and about. to europe we head. we've got this spinning cloud system. this is producing quite some windy situations with 72 kilometers per hour gale force winds reported yesterday and a lightning striking a house, making a fire. but that's going to be continuing across the area. and towards the atlantic we have a system moving into the british isles. so finally the temperatures are going to be dropping down. yesterday on monday it reached

33.5 degrees at the heathrow airport which is the highest temperature ever recorded in any area of the uk since july 2006. temperatures in london also very high yesterday at 33 degrees. now down to 28 with chances of showers. but the heat still persists in the central regions with 32 continuing into thursday in budapest. well above the average range will be continuing here. i'll leave you with the extended forecast.

and that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more at the top of the hour.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions ( bell chimes four times ) >> woodruff: a town crier gave the news: a baby boy was born to the duke and duchess of cambridge today, becoming third in line to the british throne. good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> suarez: and i'm ray suarez. on the newshour tonight, we get the latest from london, where crowds celebrated the birth of the royal heir. >> woodruff: then, workers and pension funds are pushing to derail detroit's bankruptcy filing.