hello, and welcome back to nhk "newsline." it's wednesday, august 14th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has skirted controversy. he's decided not to go to a shrine in tokyo on thursday to observe the anniversary of the end of world war ii. the shrine honors japan's war dead including leaders convicted

of crimes after the war. abe himself has not disclosed whether he'll visit the shrine, but government sources say he'll stay away. they say instead he'll pay for a custom honored at the shrine and make an offering of the branch of the sacred tree. chinese and south korean leaders condemned visits to a place that honors war criminals. and the government sources say abe wants to avoid any further strains in foreign relations. but he says the 18 other members of his cabinet are free to visit the shrine. deputy prime minister aso, foreign minister and 12 others say they won't go on the anniversary. the other four members of the cabinet have not said what they'll do. one minister is doing his part to improve foreign relations. the minister for northern territory affairs plans to visit russian-held islands next month. he would become the first serving minister in years.

yamamoto is considering a trip to two of the four islands. soviet troops seized the territory immediately after world war ii. japan still claims them. government officials hope the visit will add momentum to negotiations for settling the dispute. former japanese residents are allowed to visit the islands without a visa. yamamotoa is expected to take part in an exchange program between them and russian residents. a play depicting a sad chapter in american history has made its overseas debut hiroshima. it's a story of japanese americans inturned in camps in world war ii. japanese-american actors have performed the play for nearly three decades, but wanted to bring the story to the land of their ancestors. nhk world reports. >> who do you want to win the war? >> when your mother and father are having a fight, do you want them to kill each other, or do you just want them to stop

fighting? >> reporter: this man is 80 years old and the eldest cast member. he's from the second generation of japanese-americans. his parents emigrated from hiroshima to the u.s. they were made prisoners in their adopted home. now he has returned to hiroshima. >> we are probably the last generation of people that experienced the story ourselves in our personal lives and our family. and if we don't tell that story, who will? >> reporter: breaking the silence, dramatizing the hardship that three generations of japanese-americans endured and overcame. actors have performed the play more than 200 times over nearly three decades in the united states. the show in hiroshima will be

the first premiere abroad. ♪ >> like most newcomers, early japanese came to america full of hope. >> reporter: 340,000 japanese went to america before the second world war. many worked on farms, but laws prohibited them from owning land or even becoming american citizens. >> no japs! >> go home! >> go home, japs! >> reporter: he lived in seattle with his parents and brothers. the u.s. entered the war in 1941 after japan attacked pearl harbor. the government sent 120,000 japanese-americans to internment camps in deserts and swamps.

his family was among them. he was 10. >> we were imprisoned by barbed wires and armed guard watch towers and so we lost our freedom. >> reporter: after the war, the japanese-americans were released. many of them found it difficult to talk about the war. they chose to be silent. it was this man from the third generation who broke the silence. the civil rights movement which started in the late '50s prompted the younger generation to speak out. >> we will have no more of this silence. >> the silence is broken. >> the silence is broken.

>> reporter: finally, in the 1980s, a congressional commission found the camps were not justified by military necessity. the government said the program was a result of racial prejudice and issued an apology. >> and yet, it did not devour me. >> and yet, it did not humble me. >> and yet, it did not break me. >> translator: there are many things i don't know. this play taught me a lot. we know that war is wrong, but this play helps us understand that even more. >> we cannot let this happen again to another group of people, no matter what -- what their race, what their color of their skin is, what their religion is.

>> reporter: he and other cast members believe the play will serve as a message to younger generations, even after they're gone. they want people to learn the importance of creating a world without war and discrimination. jun yotsumoto, nhk world, hiroshima. hiroshima, nagasaki. the atomic bombings killed thousands of people in an instant, and left survivors suffering in the ruins. "newsline" is looking back on what happened then and what's happened since. don't miss our special coverage, "war to peace: lessons of 1945" through thursday, august 15. israeli and palestinian

negotiators are set to begin talks in jerusalem under a cloud of tension. israeli leaders have approved the construction of new settlements in occupied territory, anchoring the palestinians. the two sides have not talked in about three years. but last month, they agreed to resume negotiations with u.s. officials serving as mediators. israeli leaders agreed to release more than 100 prisoners to bring the palestinians back to the negotiating table. they have released the first 26 inmates. and palestinians in the west bank and gaza strip are ready to welcome the prisoners home. but any goodwill generated by the release is not expected to last. on monday, the israeli government approved the building of nearly 900 homes in occupied east jerusalem. the settlements are illegal under international law. and the announcement infuriated the palestinians. u.s. state department spokesperson marie harv said u.s. officials had raised concerns with the israeli counterparts. she said the talks will go ahead as scheduled.

supporters of the ousted egyptian president are defying orders from the interim government to get off the streets. they've staged another protest demanding that mohamed morsi be reinstated. morsi supporters in the muslim brotherhood organized a rally in the capital cairo. they ran into supporters of the government, and the two groups started fighting. security forces moved in, firing tear gas to disperse the crowds. leaders of the military-led government have warned morsi supporters repeatedly to end their sit-ins. but the protesters don't seem to be listening. the government leaders are taking other steps to reinforce their control. they removed 20 provincial governors and replaced them with their own lineup. the u.s. justice department is challenging the proposed merger of american airlines and us airways. the merger would create the world's biggest carrier. the department has filed a lawsuit to block the merger, saying it violates antitrust laws. attorney general eric holder

said in a statement that passengers would end up paying higher air fares and have fewer choices. he also said ensuring robust competition in the market serves the best interests of consumers. american airlines is the country's third largest carrier. it went bankrupt two years ago, and has been undergoing business restructuring. american airlines and us airways, the fifth largest carrier, announced in february they would merge in late 2013. global prices for oil and liquified natural gas are going up. so electric companies are taking a second look at coal. the fossil fuel has a reputation for being dirty and dangerous to people's health, but technology developed in japan is turning coal into cleaner and safer energy source. nhk world reports. >> reporter: this coal-fired power station in yokohama has been attracting a lot of attention.

recently, officials from state-run financial institutions from tanzania visited the plant to get a close-up look. >> we normally see smoke coming out. >> reporter: the power plant is the world's cleanest coal-fired power station. the plant's state-of-the-art system uses activated carbon to absorb harmful sulfur oxide in the exhaust fumes. as much as 98% of the sulfur content is removed. equipped with the most advanced type, the plant's carbon dioxide emissions are among the world's lowest. in conventional coal-fired plants, crushed coal is burned to generate steam.

this creates pressure to drive the turbine and make electricity. at this plant, the pipes used to transfer the steam are made of a special stainless alloy. they can endure higher temperatures and pressure, and generate more electricity. this means less coal is burned. the improvement of the pipes increases the turbine output and reduces the amount of coal needed as fuel. carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced by almost 20%. >> i think that power plant we've just seen, it's one, you know -- the best in the world. we hope we'll create enough partnership in order to build the new power generation in africa. >> translator: we've been trying to improve efficiency, use as little fuel as possible and

reduce co2 emissions. i think this technology has reached its highest level. >> reporter: engineers use their experience with serious air pollution to improve a coal-fired power system. at this laboratory, researchers are developing technology to improve power generation efficiency and make the exhaust cleaner. their secret, gasifying coal. this is an experimental device that allows researchers to look inside the furnace. crushed coal is put inside. the researchers then spin the device, raise the temperature and apply pressure to generate gas. the researchers say the device not only eliminates co2 almost

completely, but also the toxic sulfur content. then distilled hydrogen gas is burned and injected, and the pressure drives the turbine. waste heat is used a second time to rotate the turbine, making the system even more efficient. >> translator: by introducing our technology around the world, we can contribute to reducing co2 emissions as well as energy conservation. that's what we're trying to do with this technology. >> reporter: the plant in hiroshima is set to be the first to use the gasified system. when operations commence in 2017, it will mark another step in the search for cleaner energy sources. nhk world.

lawyers representing a group of romanians say their clients haven't burned the famous paintings they're accused of stealing. the masterpieces are worth tens of millions of dollars. the heist occurred at a dutch museum last year. lawyers for the suspects made the claim at the opening session of their trial in bucharest. the defendants are accused of stealing seven paintings by picasso, monet, and other renowned artists. the works were stolen from rotterdam last october. the mother of the alleged ringleader reportedly told investigators that she had burned the paintings, but lawyers say she retracted her confession. >> she said all the time what she said today. no burn, no paintings in the fire.

we keep the paintings somewhere. >> they say five of the paintings are probably in romania, and two are for sale in belgium or neighboring countries. more and more people in industrialized nations are developing food allergies, and there's been a corresponding increase in the number of deaths. the risks have prompted school administrators in the u.s. to take extra precautions to protect their students. nhk world's john ellis gordiola has the story. ♪ >> reporter: last month, children with food allergies and their parents gathered to publicize the dangers of their condition. >> to help people understand more about what it -- like, to help prevent people dying from peanut allergies. >> reporter: a 7-year-old girl in the state of virginia died last year after eating a peanut, a food she was allergic to.

since then, parents, schools and legislators in the u.s. have taken steps to avert accidents like that. they are trying a variety of methods to prevent students from accidentally eating allergic foods. at this nebraska elementary school, students' fingers are scanned to identify children who have food allergies. first-grader, coleman savage, is allergic to peanuts. whenever he is scanned, the computer flashes a warning. >> this comes in very handy when -- especially at the beginning of the school year, when we have new kids coming and i don't really know the kids that well. >> reporter: children with peanut allergies sit at a designated table, where they eat nonallergic food. with this arrangement, it's not as likely the children will come into contact with food that contains peanuts.

but if a child should eat a dangerous food and find breathing difficult, or lose consciousness, the staff are prepared. they can administer an epipen. in 1998, nebraska was the first state to adopt a rule requiring schools to have an epipen on handled. if a student goes into severe shock, it's the teacher's responsibility to administer the device. faculty members who give injections are not held responsible if something goes wrong. the teachers must receive regular training on how to use the epipen. >> where is the only place we can give? >> thigh. >> the outer thigh, okay? so we'll go to that area. and how long do we hold it? >> ten seconds. >> ten seconds. you let that medication get in. >> andrea hoka runs a group that spreads information about food

allergies. her group has even investigated accidents at schools and held study sessions so in more rigorous protocol could be implemented. >> this is, you know, a life threatening asthma attack or a life threatening severe allergy. you have to act so quickly. due to those tragic deaths at school, the school community reached out to medical professionals, they came together, and they came up with a protocol. >> reporter: the counter measures have had good results. for example, high school freshman,ly andrea martinez went into sudden shock after eating a sunflower seed at school. a teacher injected an epipen and the girl recovered. >> it really does. it's easy to do. we have been trained here. we train every year at it. as first responder, i look at it as my duty to make sure every student i treat as my own and make sure i give the best care i can at the time.

>> if they didn't, i could have died. you never know. so -- and that scares me. i feel great and i'm happy and i feel thankful there for the teachers there to help me. >> reporter: 15 million people in the united states are said to be allergic to some kind of food. while nearly half of the u.s.'s 50 states have laws requiring schools to stock epipens, other states are still debating legislation to save children. john ellis gordiola, nhk world. record-breaking heat and prolonged drought are withering the tea industry in eastern china. zhejiang province recently had daytime highs of over 40 degrees celsius for eight days in a row. weather officials say there has been less than one fifth the normal rainfall this month. tea farms within the province have been badly affected, including the city of hung joe, famous for its green tea brand. in the plantation area, a third of the tea trees have withered.

that's 130 hectares of land. this will have a drastic impact on next spring's harvest of the popular tea. >> translator: i've never experienced such dry weather. the rain has fallen only once since early july. i wish it would rain immediately. >> about 350,000 hectares of fruit and vegetables are also showing signs of damage. meanwhile, people in southern china are bracing for a powerful typhoon heading their way. it's expected to make landfall later today. meteorologist sai ga mory gives us the latest. >> strong typhoon utor is getting closer to southern china. it has already brought 165 milli meters of rain and over 70 kilometers of winds in some places. here is the projected path. the center is expected to head

towards the northwest, and will likely reach western guandong by tonight. we thought it could become a strong typhoon yesterday, but it's not going to do that. so that's at least good news. after making landfall, it should quickly weaken to a tropical depression, waves are going to be very gigantic and winds are going to be very strong. and on top of that, drenching rain. more than 200 millimeters of rain is likely to fall in parts of southwestern guangdong and 100 millimeters for hong kong. torrents of heavy rain. the ground is already very well saturated because of the previous storm systems that hit earlier this month. so additional rain has certainly raised the potential for flooding and landslides further. up towards the north in japan, it's summer, of course. stifling hot conditions are continuing, and many people are enjoying summer festivals and their scorching hot conditions.

and this is the one coming out from gifa prefecture. take a look at this video. people danced through the night in the heatwave. this is a traditional festival celebrated for 400 years. they saw temperatures soar to 36 degrees yesterday. the overnight low dipped to 19 degrees. some 60,000 residents and visitors gathered last night. most in their yukata or summer kimo kimono. the summer festival continues until saturday morning. it's a nighttime event, so it's not going to be too much of a problem. if you're heading to the daytime event, please make sure to drink plenty of water to avoid heatstroke. heavy rain is still continuing across the border of north korea and northeast china, heightening the risk of flooding even further. extremely hot across the western japan once again, 38 degrees for you in osaka. the heat had slightly eased across the east coast of china.

shanghai at 35 degrees on wednesday. north america, people in the northeast struggled with flash floods due to drenching rain. 50 millimeters of rain fell in philadelphia over the past 24 hours. but the rain that has shifted over the water. but the frontal system is still lingering across the southeastern corner of the u.s., providing a risk of flooding out there. spotty showers, as well as thunderstorms for the northern and central parts of the plains, and the rain is not going to affect the northwest where rain is desperately needed. wildfires are occurring and the smoke from the wildfires are actually causing low visibility and also bad air quality in the northwest. temperatures are going to be cooling down into comfortable level in chicago at 24 degrees, 24 in new york city with a low of only 14 degrees. so late september-like weather ahead of you on your wednesday. now in europe, severe weather still continues across the northern areas of europe.

but dry weather continues across the southern half of the continent. temperatures are mild in many places. however, soaring up to dangerous level once again into your friday. here's your extended forecast.

we would like to share with you one more story before we go. people in southwestern japan are enjoying the last few days of their summer holiday, not on a beach, but in a limestone cave to escape the scorching heat. the daytime high was 34.4 degrees celsius on tuesday. but the average temperature inside the cave is about 16 degrees celsius throughout the year. visitors enjoy dipping their feet in an underground cold stream. >> translator: wow, it's so cold! >> translator: i don't get sweaty, even with hold ing my child. it's very comfy. >> officials say the heatwave

has boosted the number of visitors to one-and-a-half times the usual number. this week they're expecting over 3,000 visitors per day. that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do join us again.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: the merger between american airlines and u.s. airways hit some turbulence today. the u.s. justice department and several state attorneys general are suing to block the deal. good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, the surprise legal challenge claimed the merger would increase air fares and cut services. we explore the fight over creating the world's largest airline. >> woodruff: then, north carolina joined a growing list of states to pass a voter i.d. law. we debate