welcome to nhk world "newsline" i'm gene otani in tokyo. an islamic group in nigeria says it is responsible for abducting more than 200 school girls. a man claiming to be the leader of boko haram admitted that its members carried out the kidnapping last month in a northern state of borno, and he warns that the group is planning to sell the girls. boko haram released a video on monday saying it was behind the kidnappings.

>> the man said members of boko haram took the girls to prevent them from receiving a western-style education. he has called on the nigerian government to abolish schooling for girls. >> we want our girls! we want our girls! >> hundreds of demonstrators staged a rally in lagos. they're angry at government officials for failing to find the girls even though a large number of security forces have been searching for them. internet users around the world are urging the authorities to do more to bring the girls home. pakistani teenage activist malala yousafzai has added her voice to the campaign. a spokesperson for the u.s. state department said many of the girls may have been taken out of nigeria and into neighboring countries. government forces in eastern ukraine are going on the offensive. they're taking on the armed

separatists who've been occupying public buildings. a gun fight in the city of slavyansk left four people dead and about 30 injured. rebels shot down a military helicopter. it's a month since pro-russian activists seized government offices in the city of donetsk. they're building up their arsenals to prepare for more clashes with government forces. separatists say they will hold referendums on autonomy in two of ukraine's eastern regions on may 11th. the interim government is expected to deploy the military to prevent the poll taking place. the u.s. government has unveiled additional measures to support syria's opposition forces. they're struggling to hold on after losing battles against the government of president bashar al assad. state department spokesperson marie harf said on monday that the u.s. will grant foreign mission status to representative offices of the syrian national coalition in washington and new york. the u.s. also plans to provide $27 million in new nonlethal assistance, including food aid.

the additional measures include providing the free syrian army with transport trucks and medicines worth about $80 million. >> we will look at what more we can do and also what our international partners can do to support the moderate opposition. >> the assistance comes as syrian opposition forces are expected to withdraw from the city of homs. their stronghold in the central region. the withdrawal indicates that assad's government is gaining ground in the civil war ahead of the presidential election in june. assad is seeking a third term. officials at the world health organization are concerned about an outbreak of polio. they say it represents a public health emergency. it's the first time since the swine flu pandemic five years ago that they've issued such an alert. >> the international spread of polio to date in 2014 constitutes an extraordinary event and a public health risk to other states for which a coordinated international response is essential. >> polio is a highly infectious

disease, particularly among young children. it invades the central nervous system and can cause paralysis. the virus had been nearly wiped out around the world, except for pakistan, afghanistan, and nigeria. but w.h.o. officials say the disease has spread to seven other countries, including syria and cameroon. they say 74 cases have been reported so far this year. that's twice as many as this time last year. officials warn the disease may reappear in other countries with a lack of immunization services. a diver has become the latest casualty in last month's sinking of the "sewol" ferry in south korea. he died while searching for missing passengers aboard the vessel that now sits on the seabed off the country's southern coast. south korea's coast guard said contact with the diver was lost at shortly past 6:00 a.m. on tuesday. he was about 25 meters underwater when he was later found unconscious. he was rushed by helicopter to a

hospital but was pronounced dead. the diver belongs to a private company and was taking part in the search for the first time. he is the first death of a diver engaged in the search. some divers have been treated for illness and fatigue due to swift currents, and other dangerous conditions. 264 people on board its neighbors. find out the challenges china faces on "newsline." there's been another knife attack at a railway station in china. six people have been wounded in the southern city of guangzhou in guangdong province. local police say a man wielding a knife attacked people at a square in front of guangzhou's train station before noon on tuesday. police officers shot and subdued a male suspect. a local newspaper reported there was more than one attacker. >> translator: the kniver slashed anyone nearby right here. people were running away from him. >> police are still

investigating the motive for the attack. earlier this month guangzhou police began stepping up security at railway stations. in march 2009 people were stabbed to death in the southwestern city in yunnan province. there was a bomb attack last wednesday and a railway station in urumqi the capital of the xinjiang regional autonomous region. three people died and seven others were wounded. people in china have paid a heavy price for their booming economy. they've seen pollution in the air they breathe, the land they walk on, and the water they drink. but now grassroots activists are trying to change the picture. nhk world reports. >> reporter: this village lies in the river basen in hunan province. an area badly hit by industrial solution. the effect has been so bad that this community of 2,500 is now known as one of china's cancer

villages. this photographer has led a campaign to clean up the river. >> translator: one person in this house died of cancer a couple of months ago. and someone from that house has already had three operations for cancer of the rectum. >> reporter: over a 20-year period from 1990, more than 100 people have died of cancer in this village alone. through his photographs, he has been trying to raise awareness of the pollution problem. he became an activist 20 years ago after a childhood friend died. he, too, had cancer. >> translator: i visited my friend when he was sick. i told him i would quit my job and spend my time telling people the truth about this pollution. he supported my decision.

>> reporter: hou's photos show the impact of the rapid industrialization from the 1970s. runoff from paper mills and chemical plants were channeled into the river. soon, vast numbers of fish were being found dead. but many local officials hindered his investigation. they did not want the pollution to come to light. the turning point came in 2004, when china's central television ran a report on huo's campaign. the central government finally took steps to tackle the problem. strict regulations were put in place to control the water emitted by factories. then in june of last year the government took the step of acknowledging that the water pollution has caused health problems. the map on the left shows areas with serious pollution, and on the right, areas with the

highest cancer rates. the correlation indicates there is a link. huo's efforts have also had an impact on corporate awareness, too. this company has built treatment facilities at a cost of $5.2 million. previously, if this charge of industrial waste water untreated into the river. although pollution from industry has dropped considerably, the river remains filthy. now the main problem is household trash and sewage. huo keeps four fish in his office. all of them have deformed spines. fish like this are still being caught by people living in the river basin. >> translator: i will work as hard as i can to clean up the river.

because that is what i promised my friend. i will do everything i can to keep that promise. >> reporter: grassroots efforts to fight pollution in china are starting to have an impact. but huo understands much more needs to be done before the water in the river is cleaned up. cup hiro yamamoto, nhk world, hunan, china. nepalese guides known as sherpas are getting help from japan in their campaign for better work compensation. their fight is gaining attention after 13 of them died last month in an avalanche on mt. everest. many sherpas have been refusing to work since the accident.

they claim the government isn't providing enough compensation to the families of those who died in line of duty. that's led to the suspension of most climbing expeditions on the world's highest peak. japanese mountain climber ken knowing uch chi said in kathmandu on monday that he would donate about $100,000 to the families of the deceased sherpas through an npo that he represents. >> translator: we should have systems in place that provide necessary assistance when something happens. that way both foreign climbers and sherpas can be free from anxiety when climbing mountain peaks. >> the nepalese government raised the amount of compensation offered to the victims families from about $10,000 to $15,000. the sherpas say that is still not enough. the people in fukushima prefecture where the damaged nuclear plant stands are still concerned about the health effects of radiation. some of them have been debating

whether it's safe to stay there or not. now a grassroots organization has launched a project to help them make informed decisions. nhk world has more. >> reporter: a do way in downtown tokyo people from around the country are here to learn how to build their own radiation measuring device. >> translator: i've never use a soldiering iron, not even once. i wasn't very confident at first. but it's actually quite interesting. >> i'm proud to be part of the project. it's something that is important for everyone. >> reporter: the workshop is led by peter franken, a dutch engineer who has been in japan for more than 20 years. after the accident franken was struck by the lack of information about radiation. giving people access to their own monitoring device would allow them to make informed

decisions. >> we created it so that people could measure radiation on their own. the problem was that we wanted to measure everywhere, so we had to come up with a way to do that. and the way we're doing that is we make the system so that it can be used while peep are driving or bicycling or walking. >> reporter: the geiger counter is coupled with a gps to keep track of its location. the system is funded by donors around the world, with technical support from engineers in and outside japan. franken and his group recently visited fukushima prefecture to collect radiation data. >> we have a measurement, two measurement systems, outside, one is connected to this monitor here so we can see in the car, we can see what the radiation level is outside.

>> reporter: the data from all monitoring devices is uploaded on the public website, which can be visualized on the map. a close-up view of the map reveals individual measurements. the monitoring devices are designed to take a spot reading every five seconds. that's one measurement every five to ten meters for someone on foot. radiation levels are color coded. blue indicates a low reading. while red and orange highlights the more contaminated areas. the highest readings appear in yellow. they overlap with the evacuated areas around the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. the japanese government spent much money in fukushima prefecture. this post collects samples continuously over 24 hours. you can see the information in

realtime on the government's website. the prefecture is dotted with a network of more than 3,000 government monitoring posts. the static devices give a general idea of radiation levels. but they don't keep track of local variations between them. and for some residents, the system is not precise enough. watanabe lives about 55 kilometers from fukushima daiichi. after the accident he was still worried about radiation, he considered evacuating the area. >> translator: this is a large city. we all need to understand the situation in the specific area where we live. >> reporter: when he learned about the project, watanabe asked franken to help measure radiation levels near his house.

the readings were lower than what he he expected, and he decided to stay. on this day, franken's team is installing a sensor outside of watanabe's company. >> this will be visible to everybody. if there is anything that changes it will be visible, too. >> translator: it's very important that we ourselves find out the radiation level around us and how it's changing. >> reporter: franken sees the device in the monitoring network has a way of empowering people. >> the worst position is a position that is based not on data but on a rumor, or the wrong assessment of the situation. so, by publishing the maps, by publishing the data, really is about creating transparency, and openness about what's happening. and then that's the best way to take action.

okay, let's look at it. >> reporter: franken's network has spread beyond fukushima with more than 100 volunteers measuring radiation across japan. he hopes more people will join the monitoring effort to improve it even further. ryo asami, nhk world, fukushima. the makers of surveillance systems in japan are eyeing new ways to keep people across the country safe. they're developing state-of-the-art technology that will soon be available on the market. but some of their latest products are spurring privacy concerns with the public. >> reporter: an unmanned surveillance helicopter that tracks suspicious people. equipped with camera and l.e.d. spotlights the drone can take detailed images of the person it is tracking.

a major security services company developed the device and hopes to make it available by march of next year. >> translator: you have no blind spots. you can watch what you want from the best possible angle. >> reporter: another electronics company has developed new surveillance technology. the system uses fragmentary information from eyewitnesses to track a suspicious person. >> translator: if the person is wearing a dark blue jacket you tell the system to look for dark blue. >> reporter: data is taken from eyewitness information, such as location, and easy-to-remember colors of clothing and belongings and entered into the system. multiple surveillance cameras in the network quickly find the suspect and transmit video data. >> translator: there is a huge amount of images from security

cameras. we want to use that data to develop technologies for locating people. >> reporter: however, there is growing concern about such technological innovations. a communications institute planned to test facial recognition cameras at a major train station in osaka, but the project was postponed due to strong objection from commuters. a major electronics manufacturer is developing a system that learns people's faces and video images in realtime. the technology is an effort to protect privacy and prevent complaints. >> translator: no one is sure what is permissible under current laws. i hope the government will introduce legislation enabling further utilization of data. >> reporter: the government is set to revise the personal information protection law.

the abe administration wants to boost the economy by utilizing information from surveillance cameras and other devices while protecting privacy. >> translator: you may feel uneasy if you are identified. but, an individual identifications, and there's no harm to the identified person. i think it's good for corporations to fully utilize personal information in order to grow. >> reporter: but an expert says japan's legislation is being compared with the directives of the eu. they prohibit the collection of personal information obtained from surveillance cameras without the person's consent, and provide the right to request disclosure. >> translator: it seems the government wants to sell systems overseas. but if they ease regulations to make that easier, it would increase public resistance that would have a negative impact.

>> reporter: political and industry leaders have various opinions on how to balance the use of personal data, and protecting privacy. it is just one example of the challenges advanced technology poses for our society. overcast in japan with rainy season in sight. our meteorologist robert speta is here with more. robert? >> yes, gene. really does have its grasp on japan, going through the day here on tuesday. but there's some good news. that rainy season front a little bit of a break in the forecast for wednesday. rain now you can see where it is just lingering south of mainland japan. you still have cloudy skies from tokyo down through kyushu. even showers tuesday across southern japanese islands. but as we go ahead into midweek high pressure is going to work its way in and break that up a little bit so we're going to be seeing some warming temperatures and even some fairer weather. that will be changing later on in the week and that's first going to be seen down here towards southeastern china.

that front still stretches back here towards the west and even around hong kong by thursday into friday. you're going to be seeing some heavy rain showers, even that threat of thunderstorms, same goes for you there over towards taiwan as that next system starts to develop and you can see it right here on that 72 hour accumulation. look at that rainfall stretching in down towards the south. that's where you're going to be seeing the heaviest rain showers. you still have some showers off towards the north. northeastern china, northern portions of north korea. that's going to be mixed in there. but nothing too intense as it does drift off towards the east. afternoon thunderstorms developing across the tropics still. 34 for your high in manila. same thing over there towards bangkok, as well. not really anything widespread expected through the coming days. then off towards the north, beijing high of 24 there on your wednesday. some sunny skies in the forecast. let's take a look over towards the americas, though, and you can see right here, this area of cloud cover, that is the main topic throughout the rest of the week out here across the u.s., and southern portions of canada. right now that's continuing to push off there towards the east, dragging in some cool air behind it. so we're looking at basically

cold rain from the western great lakes, northern portions of the plains, and then into the mountains, believe it or not, some snowfall could come out of this. now conversely, the southwest is very dry and very warm, so we don't just have critical fire weather risk out here. extreme. what that means, you have the fire bands in place, any fires that do start, they could spread very quickly. we're already seeing numerous wildfires already burning out here into oklahoma, texas, over towards arizona and new mexico. and that is going to be the major problem. but, this is a big contributing factor to that severe weather threat we're going to be talking about on wednesday into thursday across the central plains over towards the southern portions of the mississippi river valley. really just have this moisture out ahead of it. that dry air, this cool air coming in, and that's going to be the area where if you have any travel plans, watch out for that. it's likely going to cause some delays and cancellations of people's flights out here. this is another factor, though. like i said, it is moist, and warm out here. 31 in atlanta. take a look over towards

washington, d.c. 21 there for your high. and even in new york, just 20 going here on your tuesday. let's see what's going on over towards europe now, though. talking about that severe weather threat. you're really seeing it here into low countries, western germany, belgium, netherlands, eastern portions of france. you have a cold front pushing through right now, and there's also been reports of tornadoes out here, and there still is that threat of severe weather right there in the red. but still rain showers, even the threat of thunderstorms anywhere in the green, back towards the west. western portions of the british isles you're going to be looking at gusty winds. already reports about 60 to 70 kilometers per hour. that's into the west. central europe, absolutely beautiful weather in your forecast. and then down towards the peninsula, there is the possibility of some afternoon thunderstorms popping up here. some of them could even produce some hail. that's a look at your world weather. here's the extended forecast.

a private expedition has recovered a treasure trove of gold bars and coins worth more than a million dollars. it's from the steamship that sank off south carolina more than 150 years ago. a u.s. expedition group used a submersible to search the ship's wreckage at a depth of about 2200 meters. the ship was the ss central america. it was on its way to new york from san francisco carrying a massive amount of gold. but it sank in a hurricane in

1857. the expedition's crew says it took two hours to collect five gold bars, and two $20 gold coins. the total amount of recovered gold weighs about 30 kilograms. it's worth an estimated $1.3 million at today's prices. the century and a half ago there were many banks in new york that were waiting for the ship to bring them gold to ease a tight cash shortage. the ship's sinking is considered to be a factor leading to a depression in 1857 when lenders went bankrupt one after another. for the expedition, more gold is thought to remain inside what's left of the sunken ship. that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. a7guc

>> you are watching france 24. the crisis in ukraine hits the all flightsonetsk. have been suspended by the government. the man most likely to be egypt next president says the muslim brotherhood will be finished if he wins. del also taught all cc -- ab al-sisi push the president from power last year. on trial forawatra abuse of power after months of local unrest.