welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, august 22nd. i'm katherine kobayashi in tokyo. ichiro suzuki earned award after award for his exploits on baseball diamonds in japan.

the new york yankee has another moment. 4,000 hits in his career. ichiro set the mark playing at home against the toronto blue jays. he is the first japanese player to reach the milestone. he joined the blue wave in japan's pacific league in 1992. he accumulated more than 1200 hits. in 2001 he moved to the major leagues and cranked out 2,700 hits for the mariers and the yankees. only two other players have amassed that many hits. a chinese communist party boss is set to go on trial in the most politically charged case in decades. he had a promising future and some suggested he would to the top rungs of the party and instead he is going to court

facing bribery embezzlement and the abuse of power. he took advantage of his position and embezzled about $4 million in public money. his wife was convict of killing a british businessman. he got caught up in a number of other scandals. in september leaders expelled him from the party. he was one of the so-called prince links, children of senior party officials and was expected to join the standing committee of the party's bureau until his downfall. still he remains popular with some party officials and among the people he served. security is tight around the court in the eastern city. court officials have set up a briefing room for the many foreign journalists who want to cover the trial and waiting to see how he pleads to the charges. the president responded to frustration among chinese citizens by being crag down on corruption rampant among party officials.

the people who operate the fukushima nuclear plant are wrestling with yet another challenge. they had confirmed that more than 300 tons of highly radioactive wastewater has leaked from a storage tank. now they say it may have flowed into the pacific ocean. workers with tokyo electric power company detected high levels of radiation inside a ditch. the ditch is about 50 meters from the leaking tank and runs into the ocean south of the plant's port. workers have set up hundreds of tanks on a hillside near the reactors. they erected a low wall and still the water seeped out. officials said they are considering raising the severity level of the leak. they rated it level one on the international scale that runs from zero to 7. they are considering raising to level three for serious incidents. previously tepco officials said

it was unlikely that contamin e contaminated water was reaching the shore. the level of substances in the ocean was not as high as that on land. officials at japan's nuclear regulator appear to be losing patience and ordered the company to set up measures to prevent more leaks. they held an emergency meeting on wednesday evening. the commissioner with the agency said he doubts the current system is in any way capable of preventing further leakage. >> there is no record of monitoring? >> no, we didn't keep any. >> you only have the memories of your workers. >> the regulators instructed workers to install gauges on all the storage tanks to warn of any future leaks. they demanded that the operator consider storing the wastewater elsewhere. the members plan to inspect the

tanks on friday. officials at the international atomic energy agency have been tracking the developments at the plants. the people at the world's watch dog said they view the matter seriously and they are ready to provide assistance and said authorities are supplying them with information and experts are following the issue closely. >> a team of un inspectors in syria has begun investigating claims that chemical weapons are being used in the civil war. the forces on wednesday accused the government of using such weapons leading to hundreds of deaths. the team is focusing on three locations that include a suburb in the northern city where

chemical weapons were allegedly used in march. they received reports of 13 cases where the chemical weapons are suspected of having done used. the latest was on wednesday. an anti-government activist said forces fired rockets loaded with chemical weapons on opposition stronghold in a suburb of damascus, killing hundreds. another activist said 1300 people were killed. a government official denies the allegation. the state-run news agency said the opposition issic maing the claims to disrupt the un inspections. an anti-government activist asked the team to inspect the site of wednesday's attack. the movements and actions are being restricted by the syrian government. >> egypt could be on the verge of more unrest. the court ordered that former president mubarak be released on bail. it could trigger angry reactions

from people who took part in the protest that led to mubarak's resignation. the court upheld the argument of counsel that he should be released. it said the president of his detention on corruption charges has expired. he is being held on charges of receiving jewelry and other gifts from the state-owned media. the court ordered his release on separate charges of suppressing anti-government protests and ordering the killing of demonstrators in the 2011 up rising. mubarak was found guilty and sentenced to in prison last year. a retrail surround way. >> the european union will halt weapons exports to egypt in an effort to stop the escalating violence there. hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi since last week. >> member states have agreed to

suspend export licenses to egypt of any equipment used for internal repression and to reassess the export licenses covered by the eu position. >> the eu minsters made the decisions in brussels on wednesday, but failed to reach a conclusion on whether to suspend 88 worth 5 billion euros or $6.7 billion. the impact of such pressure will be limited because arab nations are ready to help egypt if the eu suspension goes ahead. eu foreign policy chief ashton said she is prepared to play a role and visited cairo twice last month. investors are skimming through the latest release by the u.s. central bank looking for clues on when quantitative easing will wind down. we have more on that from our business desk.

you have been reading through the document. did investors find what they were looking for? are. >> yes and no. the tapering could start by the end of this year. they gave no mention of a specific month. minutes of the u.s. federal reserve's last meeting gave no hint of when the bank will scale down bond-buying program. the fed released the minutes of the meeting that ended on july 31st on wednesday. they show most members of the policy board want the current $85 billion purchases to continue. they stress that recovery in the job market has been more gradual than predicted. most members also agreed with fed chairman ben bernanke's view of the program to scale back the amount of purchases by the end of the year, with the possibility of ending them by the middle of next year. some members said the bank should make that decision after

studying the economic data further. others said tapering the purchases in the near future would be appropriate. markets expect the tapering could start as early as next month. the focus is now on the fed's next policy board meeting in mid-september. u.s. stock prices ended lower as investors didn't find new clues as to the exact timing of a pull back. the dow jones average ended down 7/10 of 1% at 14,897. it was the 6th straight loss for the index. to see how stock markets are reacting, we go to the tokyo stock exchange. the minutes were what everyone was waiting for and a bit of a disappointment as tokyo kicking off. >> you went into a lot of details on the minutes, let's go to the opening levels for august

22nd. both indeces ending negative and down for the nikkei. the nikkei remains under pressure. following the u.s. session that we just went over there. ending in the positive on wednesday following bargain hunting moves, but it does remain in the negative so far this week. we can see that in the negative so far today as well. i want to shift to domestic issues and following on from what katherine was talking about earlier on as well regarding tokyo electric power. tepco was down more than 9%. that's after they said they may raise the rating of the severity of the leak from the contaminated water from the fukushima nuclear plant. i will be watching tepco shares today and related shares within that sector as well. that will be a big focus. exporters may come in for more of a sell off. seeing as the dollar gained a

touch following on from the fo in, c minutes and tech-related shares with a bit of a focus. hewlett packard with the third fiscal quarter earnings that is worse than market players had expected. a focus on tech shares as well. a little bit of data on shina. that may dictate market direction for the stocks here as well. which it already does. >> staying in the asia pacific region, we have seen a sharp withdrawal of funds from the currencies this week and the big focus was on the dollar following the fed minutes. where do we stand now? >> quite a big move in the emerging markets. the dollar was a big focus and bounced a touch against the yen following the news. 97.82 to 83 against the yen.

investors remain sure that the fed will pull back on his bond-buying that means less dollars in the u.s. economic system, hence it is expected to appreciate. rising bond yields help the dollar to climb, but it wasn't that big as we are off the 100 yen level. euro yen, a little bit lower. 130.48-52 compared to when stocks closed on wednesday. the next focus will be the annual gathering of central bankers in jackson hole, wyoming. for now a negative start. back to you. >> thanks if are the update from the tokyo stock exchange. minsters from 12 nations taking part in a free trade deal under the transpacific partnership are having a two-day meeting from thursday. they face difficulties in reaching an agreement on certain areas such as tariff cuts and copyrights. japan's revitalization minster

arrive if for the meeting. . >> the meeting is being held at the strong request from the united states. the trade representative michael froman is expected to urge participating nations to speed up talks on tariff cuts on industrial and farm products and rules on copyright production. the aim is to finalize matters by the end of the year. he will support this goal and check other nations's views on japan exempting right, wheat, and three other farm products from being tariff-free from bilateral meetings. working level meetings on areas and one on abolition on terrorists. officials from japan will hold

talks on tariff cuts with countries including new zealand and malaysia. japan imposes tariffs on 9,000 items. it plans to include 80% of the items on a list of industrial and farm products for tariff cuts and putting forward at the start of the talks. many countries participated in the talks and insist 90 to 95% of the items should be tariff-free when the deal becomes effective. the united states which leads the talks seems set to stick to president obama's goal to conclude the deal by year end. countries in southeast asia will maintain a tough stance where their interest conflicts with those of the u.s. also the united states is pushing if are strengthening regulations on state-run firms to expand business opportunities for foreign companies. vietnam and singapore were state-related businesses have a strong influence and were opposed to the u.s. stance.

that's all for now in business news. i will leave you with a check on market figures. >> angela merkel has been the first chancellor to visit the site of the nazi concentration camp in southern germany. she offered a silent prayer near munich. she travelled with a group of survivors from the camp.

more than 40,000 people died at the camp during the holocaust. u.s. troops liberated it in 1945. >> translator: the memory of their fate fills me with deep sadness and shame. at the same time such places as the concentration camp memorial site are upheld for a reminder. >> it was set up for the nazis in 1933 as their first concentration camp. it became a network of death camps in germany and abroad including auschwitz and poll ant. >> japan's defense minster said the government is working hard to win the governor's approval for reclaiming land for a new base. approval is needed before construction can begin of an alternative facility of a marine corps. it is adjacent to a residential

area. they made the remark to senator in tokyo. they want to relocate to the coastal direct also in okinawa. mccain hopes the governor will soon approve the central government's plan to begin filling in the offshore area. the governor is expected to decide whether to approve the application as early as next spring. he said he was concerned about drastic budget cuts made by the senate for transferring marines from okinawa to guam with talks from the republican senator. if the transfer doesn't take place, the return of some facilities to japan may not happen. he called on the u.s. to provide funds if are the military's relocation in order to help ease the burden on okinawa. mccain said members of congress are aware of the feelings of the people. he said he hoped for a positive decision from the governor. >> if the governor of okinawa

approves, then we will be able to move forward with a further construction of the camp and other measures taken to eliminate the marines. >> mccain added congress has been worried by the increasing costs of relocating military facilities in japan. he said lawmakers are waiting on a total budget for the move. americans are learning about how their government is tracking what they do. many have been shocked by revelations about the surveillance of their phone calls and internet use. they say government agents are collecting too much information. others feel surveillance makes the country safer. we get more from matt field.

>> stop watching us! >> in early july, more than 300 demonstrators gathered in washington, d.c. they were protesting against domestic surveillance of america's intelligence agencies. >> if you have a government that is watching you or has the ability to, that will prevent people from saying what they think. >> i understand national defense and everything, but not at the expense of privacy for american citizens. >> the practice is widespread. it's not only the intelligence agencies working on national security that are doing it. in pennsylvania police departments hunt criminals with pictures from secure and other cameras. entering them into a facial recognition system. this is where pennsylvania's

system is run. this surveillance camera picture shows someone facing to the side. it could be modified to a front-facing image. >> five major points and the green and gray are secondary. you have the points lined up, the systemic mas a 3d image and you put it in a neutral pose. >> then it is compared with photos in the state's databases and they hold images of people who have been arrest and other people too. starting in may, police were allowed to access the database of driver's license and state id photos without public debate. now almost 40 million images are kept on file. investigators can identify suspects using photos they posted on facebook and other social media sites. >> it's given the lead where they wouldn't have a lead before.

it's useful as an investigative tool. >> some started to speak out against using photos for criminal investigations without permission. they say it's a breech of privacy. however the state government said the database is necessary. >> the sole purpose of this is to solve crimes and get criminals off the street and keep communities and bring justice to the victims. >> in a recent poll, 45% of people said they oppose more surveillance. 40% said they supported it. the number of people in favor is not small. this woman lost her son in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. >> if some of the surveillance programs were in place before 9/11, they could have tracked 11 to 15 of the terrorists. they are willing to give up some

of their civil liberties to make sure that our country and communities are safer. >> president obama spoke on the issue. >> good morning, everybody. you can't have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy. >> he asked for citizens's understanding on the government intelligence activities. >> the u.s. treads a thin line. as the debate continues, the cameras are watching. matt field, nhk world, washington, d.c. >> time now for a check on the weather. people in parts of southern china are dealing with the effects of a storm that made landfall there. we have the latest in world weather. >> we have been monitoring the

system over the city and here in china. it's a severe tropical storm status and likely to downgrade to a tropical depression any time this afternoon into the evening hours. the magnitude of the system will be dramatically downgraded, however it is packing gusts of 162 kilometers an hour. waves around the area will be finding six meter high waves and the floodings will be the key element due to this very heavy rainmaker. even if it downgrades, the heavy rain will continue. despite the proximity of the system, it's far away and will be enhancing the southwestern flow, dumping very heavy rain to the well prone land to flooding. more across taiwan.

additional rainfall as well. lots of things happening with a very heavy rainfall that will be continuing into the next couple of days. across the bigger picture here, a low pressure and it's not a big, but it's slow moving and traveling over towards the river where flooding is occurring. this will be bringing very unstable conditions that includes thunderstorms and showers as well. a change of weather here that includes metropolitan tokyo where suddenly it was dark and we had pop up thunderstorms across the area.

>> hot air pumpingm things very. summer heat wave is back again. plus that is very dry. the humidity levels are really, really dry. what does that make? wildfires. let me show you a video from the peninsula. hot and dry weather is causing wildfires in western europe. a fire in spain is causing serious environmental damage. it follows the worst fires in history last week. over 2,300 acres of land were burned. 30 districts are at high risk of fires. on tuesday, a highway was shut

in both directions as the fire was roomuch prooed. we will not see a lot of precipitation across the area. this is likely to be favorable conditions for wildfires to spread. madrid at 37 reflected in the temperatures and bucharest here across this region is very hot at 34 degrees with plenty of sunshine. here's your extended forecast.

>> that's it for this edition of "newsline." thanks very much for joining us.

ácaptioning sponsored by ámacneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: syrian rebels accused government forces of using poison gas today in a deadly attack near the capital, damascus. good evening, i'm gwen ifill. >> suarez: and i'm ray suarez. on the "newshour" tonight, the alleged attack comes as u.n. investigators look into previous reports of chemical-weapons. we explore how the use of poison gas could be confirmed. >> ifill: then, army private bradley manning gets thirty-five years in prison for releasing classified information to wikileaks. we wrap