ca i'm catherine kobiashi in tokyo. glad you could join us on this edition of "newsline." it's wednesday july 24th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. experts have added up what they think is cost of cleaning up fukushima after the nuclear sdas

ferter. the bill could run to $50 billion, four times the amount the japanese government has allocated. cruise base it on levels of radiation. the government is responsible for cleaning up the no-entry zones around the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant and subsidizing work in other areas. government officials have allocated about $11 billion, but they haven't said what the total cost might be. experts from a science and technology institute carried out a study. they estimated cleaning up the no-entry sdploens zones alone would cost $20 billion. they say work in other areas would add up to more than $30 billion. >> translator: the government should study the costs before deciding whether to complete decontamination. or reallocate the money to help people rebuild their lives. >> she says government officials are overseeing the work without considering the expectations of residents. researchers have been analyzing

highly radioactive materials found near the nuclear plants more than two years after the accident. workers found four types of radioactive substances in the last two months on a river bed that runs through the town. the materials resemble black plastic sheeting and fragments of wood. the researchers detected two types of radioactive cesium in the materials with a telling ratio. a similar ratio is found in materials more than two years after radioactive contamination. the researchers are trying to identify the materials, but they don't understand how they ended up 15 kilometers from the plant. they say it's possible the materials were blown there by the hydrogen explosions during the disaster. the people from the i'll have admitted that contaminated water from underground is seeping into the ocean. but fishermen suspect this may have been happening long before tepco officials made their admission. about 100 fishermen attended a

private briefing. tepco officials told them the spread of contamination is limited. they explained their plan to build walls along the coast to prevent tainted water from leaking into the ocean. some fishermen say tepco officials may have deliberately concealed information. >> translator: i could just hope. >> translator: i feel nothing but anger. >> the fishermen are set to resume fishing in september on a trial basis. they're worried about how the leaks may affect those plans. a tepco official expressed his sympathy. >> translator: the issue of the contaminated water is a real concern for the fishermen. i can't apologize enough. >> he said workers will take a series of measures to try to rectify the situation. britain's new prince has

made his public debut. prince william and his wife, catheri catherine, gave people around the world a first glimpse of their new baby. they left a hospital in london to be met by a curious crowd. the duke and duchess of cambridge followed tradition by giving the first sight of the baby on the hospital steps. prince william made his first appearance that way. >> he is a big boy, quite heavy. we are still working on a name. >> the first time of any parent know what this feeling is like. >> very special. >> they also revealed that william performed the first nappy change. the family left for their home at kensington palace. >> yeah, we could see them really good. we were getting pushed and shoved towards the front. there were lots of people going crazy. it was great. >> check it out. amazing.

>> the bells of westminster abbey rang out for more than three hours of celebration. the royal artillery fired a 41-gun salute at green park and at 62 rounds at the tower of london. the new prince is third in line to the throne after his grandfather, prince charles and his father, prince william. the monarchy has three generations of heirs to the throne. for the first time since 1894. shops in britain aren't missing this chance. many are holding special promotions and refitting their displays. one chain set up a special section last month ahead of the birth. shoppers can buy clothes, caps and shoes. after the new prince arrived, the staff put up congratulatory stickers and displayed clothing for boys with a crown design. >> i'm just moving all of the boys' clothing forward for the royal baby, because the royal baby was a boy. we are just bringing all that

product forward. and putting the girls behind and the boys in front. japanese cosmeticsmaker, kanebo, has been received complaints about their skin whitening products, developing skin problems after using the cosmetics. executives told a news conference tuesday that they have received complaints from 6,80 8 users. they said 2,250 had noticeable problems, such as white blotches five centimeters or larger. >> translator: we will continue to take action until every affected customer is completely cured. it is our responsibility to know the customer's present conditions and come up with measures to deal with their problems. as soon as possible.

>> they said the company which cover their medical expenses and pay damages appropriately as soon as the scale of the issue is determined. kanebo has been recalling 54 types of products. it has voluntarily called back 360,000 items so far but has yet to recover 90,000 more. the company is urging consumers to stop using the products and turn them in. time now for the latest in business news. economists are used to seeing japan's trade balance in the red, so they're not raising their eyebrows at today's figures. ai joins us now. how many months has it been exactly? >> 12, catherine. june marks the 12th straight month that japan's trade balance posted a deficit. and this is mainly due to higher costs of fuel imports, which is stemming from a weak yen. finance ministry officials say the trade deficit came to 1el

80 billion yen or $108 billion dollars. up for a fourth straight month. and this is due to more exports of chemical products and autos. imports also rose nearly 12%. they increased for a eighth straight month. on the trade deficit in the first six months of 2013 stood at more than $48 billion. that's the largest ever for a half-year period. apple executives suffered a decline in profits for two quarters in a row. this indicates the firm is losing momentum after a decade of robust growth. the executives announce on tuesday that sales in the april to june period stood at $35.3 billion. that's slightly up from a year before, but they said their firm's quarterly net income dropped 22% on the year to $6.9 billion. profits fell as sales of new

ipad tablets slowed, and consumers bought older and less expensive iphones. chief executive officer tim cook said his firm is working hard on what he calls a series of amazing new products to be introduced later this year, and in 2014. industry watchers speculate apple engineers plan to release an innovative television system, or a device that can be worn like a wristwatch. they say engineers have made patent applications that could be linked to these devices, but that the firm has yet to announce any details about new products. u.s. stock prices ended mixed on tuesday following weak manufacturing data and mixed corporate earnings. the dow jones was slightly up from monday's close. it inched up a .10 percent and managed to post a record high ending at 15,567. meanwhile, the nasdaq fell by .6 of a percent and ended at 3,579.

to see how all that will affect stocks here, let's go to ramin millguard at the tokyo stock exchange. we have gone over data for japan, but u.s. earnings may also affect key shares here as well. tell us more. >> yeah, definitely. very good morning to you, a. apple's earnings was one investors are looking out for so i'll be tracking japanese component makers here, as well. let's have a look at the opening levels first before i come to that. and the nikkei and topix starting off in the negative, both indexes marginally negative. just to remind viewers, nikkei rose yesterday on expectations the japanese government has gained majority in the upper house elections, will be able to push through policies more easily. and we did see gains in public work sectors yesterday. i'll follow that today, as well. but the focus really today, major shift to tech sector

stocks in after hours trading following earnings results which, despite showing a decline in profit, actually beat estimates. so i'll track component makers here, such as toshiba, as well as disco, a major maker of precision cutting machine tools for parts which are used in pcs and smartphones and other consumer electronic products. a lot of component-makers used for apple products really are japanese and a big focus on those stocks today. ai. >> ramin, i was tracking the dollar earlier following the manufacturing data out of the u.s. where do we stand in early trading here in tokyo? >> of course, there were some shifts in the dollar and just currently right now, trading at 99.49 to 52. as you say, the drop following the federal reserve bank of richmond's report, the manufacturing ac actually fell sharply in july. and the dollar actually did trade above 100 yen before the data came out during european --

but has been under pressure since. investors booking some profits on earlier dollar gains. let's have a look at the euro yen now, bottom of the screen, 131.55 to 60. gaining a touch against the dollar as well. but against the yen, that's compared to 131.26 levels, when tokyo stocks closed here yesterday. so the euro is stronger. now, still earnings and data to come out in the u.s. and in japan in particular, cannon kicking things off here is going to release its earnings later today on wednesday. but let's not forget, of course, the transpacific partnership, free trade talks. japan, japanese participation and the negotiations was formally approved on tuesday. a lot of focus on that, and it could affect share prices on japanese sectors such as autos. i'll track some of those, as well. back to you, ai. >> ramin, thanks for that update. ramin mill guard from the tokyo stock exchange. tokyo markets are in the red early this morning. but tokyo is not the only market

open. so i'll leave you with a check on some others. members of tokyo's olympic big committee are doing everything they can to win the 2020 summer olympics and paraolympics. they're asking people from the tourism industries to help. groups from tokyo, istanbul and madrid are competing to host the games. members of the entire national olympic committee will announce the winner in september. about 250 people attended a lecture in tokyo. they included representatives of the transport tourism and hotel

industries. >> translator: i want to ask the participants four that i help in encouraging the public to support our bid to host the games. >> one participant pointed out that hosting the olympics produces ripple effects. host cities invest in upgrading rhodes and other infrastructure and they drive an increase in travelers from abroad. leaders in the republic of sudan are betting an a new venture. and promising it will make life better for their citizens. their economy has struggled since they lost oil wells. when south sudan separated. they are hoping to tap into something else that is below their feet. as nhk world reports, some are questioning who will benefit in the end. >> a large part of the republic of sudan's 1.8 million square kilometers is sand.

that includes an area just north of the capital cartoon. a large project is under way to turn it into lush, green land. this is a research and development farm made in the huge desert. as you see, the alfalfas have already started to grow. there is plenty of water underground so crops can grow. authorities plan to have 13,000 hectors cultivated and they want to set up 180 wells to water the farmland. foreigners will be the major partners. a private company from the united arab emirates is funding most of it.

foreign businesses will manage the farmland loaned from sudan's government. in may, sudanese businessmen invited foreign corporations to invest in the country. >> translator: sudan has lots of land that is perfectly suited to farming. and there is an abundant supply of water. >> reporter: saudi arabia, qatar, and other gulf countries don't have much farmland. so they find sudan's access to water appealing. >> we have a different varieties of our food basket, let me say. one of our major investments is really in sudan. >> reporter: sudan's minister of investment expects foreign involvement will help the

development and later create jobs. >> we have no money to this infrastructure. investment is going to do it. investment is going to provide me with jobs, high amount of unemployed people in the sudan. we can not employ them unless we have investors. >> reporter: but not everyone in sudan shares his enthusiasm. the government has forced people who lived on the project land to leave their homes. their only compensation, a well 2.5 kilometers away. and none of the products goes to the sudanese. the gulf nations will get it. this upsets many sudanese as they see little benefit from the project.

government leases of the land sometimes extend for up to 99 years. seemingly, an indefinite period. that worries the citizens. so does the sparse information about the contract. >> we sit down with the community leader and explain to them. they know that at the end, that the investor is not going to take the land in his pocket and go. >> reporter: if more sudanese are to support the foreign-run projects, the government will have to convince its people that eventually they will benefit. sho beppu, nhk world, khartoun. residents of an old town in

southwestern china are learning there are two sides to prosperity. they have seen visitors interested in history streaming past their homes. they are finding a bit invading. we have their story. >> reporter: the historic city of lijang lies southwest in china. in yunnan province. its traditional architecture and narrow streets involves past centuries. these days,they are filled with tourists, most of them from other parts of china. now, it gets around 16 million visitors a year. many of the traditional houses in the city have been renovated to be shops and restaurants catering to tourists. ly jiang is part of the national ethnic group. now, apart from the old buildings, there is rich

evidence of the people and their culture. >> translator: it is not much different from being in a bar in beijing's entertainment districts. >> reporter: in 1997, the region was registered as a world heritage site in recognition of its traditional architecture and cityscape. but since then, many of the national people are leaving their homes so they can be rented out as restaurants or hotels by outside companies. the rent will boost their incomes five to tenfold. a 93-year-old woman who has lived here all her life says the streets are losing the old feel. >> i used to go to the morning market with my friends after

cleaning my house. now, most of my friends are gone. i don't see any people out on the streets. i have no one to talk to. >> reporter: the change is happening fast as local authorities are concerned. the authorities have begun providing financial assistance to craftsmen to try to keep alive the traditional culture. one distinctive local craft is copperware. for century, copper pots and pans have been essential items for naxi brides. >> translator: without the backing of the local government, it will be impossible pass on our traditional skills to future generations. >> reporter: in ancient times,

the national people developed their own language based on pictographs. this is now being told in elementary schools. this script dates back over 1,000 years but less and less people can read and write it. >> translator: i like it because each picture has its own meaning. >> translator: for the people, the tourist boom that has followed has been a mixed blessing. it has brought greater prosperity and spread their fame around the world. it may spell the end of the ancient culture for the naxi people. nhk world. time for a check on the weather. people in tokyo have been caught

off guard by sudden torrential rains. we have the latest weather. >> good morning, catherine. i hope you didn't catch that southern blinding rain. most residents here in tokyo were caught by surprise. take a look at this. tokyo residents were battered by sudden thunderstorms yesterday. the daytime heat and humid conditions were to blame. the daytime high reached 35 degrees in central tokyo and 100 millimeters of rain fell in one hour in some places. airlines and railway services were affected badly, and thousands of homes were without electricity. i know that in metropolitan tokyo, where the trains were stopped, people had to walk on the railways and still thousands of houses are still under downe not alleviated korean peninsula.

due to the tropical moisture surging and feeding this, the system is generated and bringing torrents of downpour. to give an idea, in north korea, we have a report of about 450 millimeters that fell in the past 24 hours. this is likely to move into central japan, so we're talking about 120 millimeters of additional rainfall in the region, and the hoeduki region up to 100 millimeters, so the conditions not recovered any time quickly. it's not going to be helping at all. and northeastern china is also going to be seeing conditions very unstable due to the upper level low, combined with low pressure system. so main threats will be flooding, frequent lightning, as well as gusts there. down towards the south, we're seeing torrents of rain to be pounding across the southeastern areas, including thailand, due to the southwestern monsoonal

flow rain, very active. so the accumulation of rainfall could be some staggering amounts into the next 24 hours. a lot of these locations will see more than 200 millimeters in localized regions. now the temperatures are seeping up like this. with heat still covering much of the mid section, so rising the temperatures almost up to 40 degrees in shanghai, puck echo also seeing 36 degrees. considering western japan, still chances of sudden weather changes to be aware of. now moving over to north america, quite messy. an ongoing situation here. we're still likely to see more bad weather due to this cold front stretching all the way into new england. into tomorrow on wednesday, we'll see the system move towards the east, hitting the atlantic coast and into southeastern corner of the country. the temperatures are still very high in oklahoma city at 33 degrees. houston at 36. los angeles, 27. quite nice.

but the atmosphere is very unstable. we have a report of about 7,000 lightnings reported yesterday. now here to europe. this section is clear and fine. northwestern russia is wet and windy. and we have a system moving into the atlantic. that's bringing the temperatures down, but numerous thunderstorms have been reported, and that's likely to continue. in fact, we have a red alert in western germany for thunderstorms. paris at 29 degrees, so looking at the same digits here, and berlin at 29. but some of the mid sections are soaring into the 30s and that's going to continue into your friday. here's the extended forecast.

and that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. please join us again. xxx

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> brown: the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff offered a grim assessment of u.s. options in syria, saying military involvement comes at great cost and risk. good evening. i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, two takes on the civil war. we assess the challenges posed by the possibilities, ranging from missile strikes to training the rebels. >> brown: and margaret warner examines the humanitarian crisis as the u.n. and others try to get aid to refugees and citizens still inside the country.