hello and welcome back to "newsline," i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the head lines. the trial is under way for the captain and 14 crew members of the south korean ferry that sank in april. prosecutors have charged four with homicide. crews at fukushima daiichi have a new problem on their hands. the amount of cooling water in one reactor is lower than they expected. and a japanese businessman is eyeing markets abroad to sell

his sweet potatoes. prosecutors have made opening statements in the trial of several crew members from a south korean ferry that sank in april. the sailors are accused of failing to save passengers in one of the country's worst disasters at sea. the "sewol" sank off the country's southern coast leaving more than 300 people dead or missing. 15 crew members have indicted. the captain and three others face charges of homicide through willful negligence. experts in south korea say it's the first case where those who failed to ensure the safety of passengers have faced such a serious charge. prosecutors argued at a court in the southern see of guangzhou that the defendants could have ordered the passengers to evacuate but they failed to take any action that might have saved people's lives. authorities are also searching for the former chairman of the company that operated the ferry. but the whereabouts are unknown. he is wanted on embezzlement and

other charges. 292 people have been confirmed dead in the disaster. 12 people remain unaccounted for. most of the victims were high school students on a school trip. captain yi and other crew members repeatedly told passengers to stay inside their cabins as the ship began to list. they were themselves among the first to flee on coast guard rescue boats. crew members are obliged by law to rescue passengers. prosecutors have pointed out that heavy overloading and insufficient securing of cargo weakened the ship's ability to recover its balance. they say that a crew member turned the vessel too sharply. this also contributed to the accident. president park geun-hye apologized to the nation for not dealing with the accident in an appropriate way. some citizens claim that relations between the public and private sectors resulted in lax safety oversight. park pledged to reform the rules dealing with maritime safety.

park's ruling party voted a major backlash from voters in local elections last week, her party and the opposition split the vote. but the country's media outlets have called on the president to heed the result as a warning. south koreans are paying close attention to the outcome of the trial. and many are eager to watch the case unfold firsthand. nhk world's anna jung reports. >> reporter: many waited outside a district court in the southern city of guangzhou for the trial to start. officials modified a courtroom to add more seats, and they've set up another room with a television screen so families can follow what's happening. all of the 15 crew members were present with their seven lawyers, while prosecutors made a case against them. they're charged with homicide or violation of a ship's safety act. the families of victims showed their anger and demand justice.

the crew members caused widespread outrage in south korea. authorities say they were among the first group of people who evacuated the ship. >> translator: a single death can mean a homicide conviction. these people have to pay the price for lots of deaths. >> translator: it's a great pity our country doesn't have a manual for dealing with this kind of disaster. we need to learn from this experience and come up with safety measures that are precise and thorough. >> the ferry disaster has struck the country's tourism industry. travel agents have seen a downturn in business. transportation companies and restaurants have also seen a slowdown in sales. in the weeks after president park geun-hye announced that she would dissolve the coast guard, she said officers failed to fulfill their duties and government officials said they

will set up a new body to strengthen safety management. many people are watching to see what the government will do next. they want their leaders to put politics aside to make sure south koreans are safe. anna jung, nhk world, seoul. japan's top diplomat briefed south korea's ambassador to japan on recent talks between tokyo and pyongyang. foreign minister fumio kishida says he recognizes the importance of japan, south korea and the united states coordinating their policy toward north korea. >> translator: we agree that the u.s., japan, and south korea should foster communication about pending issues, including pyongyang's nuclear and missile development, as well as the abductions of japanese nationals. >> kishida explained his stance on the talks with north korea to the ambassador. observers say officials in seoul and washington are keeping an

eye on how the japan/north korea talks are developing. on the agenda was the issue of japanese nationals abducted by north korean agents in the 1970s and '80s. north korea has promised to conduct a full-scale investigation into the fate of the missing japanese. both sides agreed that japan will ease some sanctions from the north after the investigation starts. people in indonesia are getting ready to choose a new president. the two candidates have made their appeal to voters in a televised debate. jakarta governor is running against the former general. they're looking to succeed the incumbent president yoed honeo. the election takes place next month. the candidates discussed how to promote democracy and how to get rid of corruption in indonesian politics. joko is backed by democratic party struggle the biggest group in parliament.

he called for more transparency in the public procurement system. prabhal is backed by the third largest group in parliament. he proposed finding corruption by waiving the salaries of civil servants. indonesia's economy is the largest in southeast asia but many people fear that widespread corruption could hinder growth. opinion polls suggest joko is the front-runner but prabahal is narrowing the gap. many people in the united states see hillary clinton as leading contender for president in 2016 but the former secretary of state says she'll likely wait until next year to announce whether she's running for office. clinton spoke to the abc television network ahead of the release of her new memoir. the book chronicles her four years as secretary of state. >> when are you going to decide whether you're running for president? >> you know, i'm going to decide when it feels right for me to decide. >> but probably not announced until next year? >> i'm not positive about that.

but that's probably likely. >> clinton says she plans to travel around the country signing books and helping in the november congressional elections, and then take a deep breath. a news organization poll suggests that nearly 70% of democratic party supporters want her to be the party's nominee for president. officials at tokyo electric power company are facing another setback in their efforts to decommission the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. they found the level of water in one of the reactors is lower than they thought. they say they don't know whether it even covers all the nuclear fuel inside, nhk world's yuri ito has more. >> reporter: the march 11 earthquake and tsunami led to meltdowns at three of the plant's reactors. but officials don't know about the condition of the melted fuel inside. they've been trying to cool the

fuel by filling the reactor containment vessels with water. but water has been leaking from the reactors. earlier this month, workers used a probe to measure the level and temperature of water inside the vessel at the number 2 reactor. a similar measurement two years ago led them to estimate the water was 60 centimeters deep. but now they've found it's only around half that. officials believe the water level at another reactor is about 10 times deeper. >> translator: we cannot tell at this point whether the fuel is entirely submerged, or if part of it is above the water. >> reporter: the official says the temperature of the water is around 35 degrees celsius. he says that suggests it's keeping the melted fuel cool. tepco officials suspect water is leaking through a pipe into a unit called a suppression chamber. they believe it's flowing

through the chamber, then out of the reactor building. workers will try to plug the leak but they haven't been able to find out exactly where the water is leaking from. tepco officials say they may use a camera equipped robotic probe to take a closer look. yuri ito, nhk world. and now let's get the latest business stories from ron madison. >> all right, thanks a lot, shery. consumer prices in china rose in may at the fastest pace in four months. that's an indication that the country's economy was picking up momentum. the national bureau of statistics says the consumer price index jumped 2.5% last month from a year earlier. that compared with a 1.8% increase in april. higher food and clothing prices contributed to the rise. the bureau also released the producer price index. that continued to fall in may down 1.4% year-on-year. but the rate of decline was 0.6 points smaller than in the previous month.

a japanese government report says the country's real estate market is pulling out of asset deflation. it notes prices in three metropolitan areas have started rising and that due in part to development projects for the 2020 tokyo olympics. government officials say in an annual white paper that the upturn in land prices is especially pronounced in tokyo's bay area near the planned sites for the olympic games. the paper points out that land prices in regional cities are also rebounding due to increasing demand for development. the white paper calls for stepped up effort to revitalize the markets for existing homes as well as land plots. it says this will make sure that the markets will emerge completely out of drawn out asset deflation. and another white paper out today, this one on tourism. in the report government officials stress the need to build better transit systems to prepare for the olympics. and also to achieve a goal of attracting 20 million tourists a year from overseas. the document says the government should learn from other cities that have successfully hosted

the olympic games, and of the 2020 event it urges the government to hold more international conferences, and other events to promote tourism. let's get a check of the markets now. japan's benchmark index falling below the key 15,000 level for the first time in a week. the nikkei average declining nearly 0.9%, 14,994. investors took profits today following recent run-ups. the index had risen more than 3% since the beginning of the month. many other markets in the region finished in the positive, though. shanghai and seoul posted solid gains of 1%. investor sentiment was listed by the chinese central bank moved to boost liquidity in the financial system. the people's bank of china announced it will cut reserve requirement ratios for some banks that focused on lending to the farming sector and small companies. the shanghai composite rose anotherly 1.1%, 2,052. the kospi also climbing 1.1%, 2,011. it was the biggest one-day gain in four weeks.

high-tech shares like lg display were higher. investors hopeful for a better earnings result expected later this year. u.s. automakers would like to be able to sell more cars in japan. but they found some barriers blocking their way. trade officials from both countries are trying to find a way around the impasse. negotiators are meeting in washington to push ahead on their part of the trans-pacific partnership free trade deal. the americans are urging the japanese to open up their markets. but the japanese are reluctant to ease standards on safety around the environment. the americans also want to put in a safeguard. it would allow them to raise tariffs temporarily if imports from japan surge. the chief negotiators from all 12 nations participating in the talks are scheduled to meet again next month. the japanese and americans are hoping to reach a breakthrough before then. engineers at japan's mazda motor have unveiled a small, cleaner diesel engine with enhanced fuel efficiency. they say they will be able to produce fuel efficient cars without relying on hybrid

systems. mazda engineers say the 1.5 liter engine will be installed on a subexact model that will go on sale later this year. they say the fuel economy will be better than the 27.6 kilometers a liter that a small toyota car has recorded. that's the best fuel performance to date in japan excluding hybrids and mini vehicles. officials also note that the engine drastically cuts nitrogen oxide emissions. diesel cars are widely popular in europe. they are considered eco-friendly and fuel efficient. the situation is different in japan, though, where hybrids remain more popular. in japan bigger is better at least when it comes to sweet potatoes. but one producer is bucking tradition and finding sweet success with smaller ones overseas. >> reporter: this high end supermarket in hong kong carries a selection of products from japan. one section of the store is set aside for small sweet potatoes

from the southwestern city of kushima. more and more shoppers from been buying them. >> translator: i usually eat sweet potatoes of this size. they taste great. >> reporter: many people here use rice cookers to steam sweet potatoes. smaller ones cook easily, so they sell well. most japanese sweet potato farmers don't grow smaller varieties. preparing them for shipment takes longer than for larger ones. and small potatoes fetch a lower price in japan. but one businessman saw an opportunity overseas. his company grows small sweet potatoes for export to hong kong. they're about half the size of regular ones. the firm has just eight employees, and four hectares of fields. the workers handle everything from growing the potatoes to shipping them.

makoto hikeda is their leader. a few years ago he had a problem. sweet potato prices were falling and the company was losing money and he worried that the trans-pacific partnership free trade talks could open the door to more imports. >> translator: we faced several challenges three years ago, including falling prices, and the tpp. i thought unless i took action, i wouldn't be able to survive. >> reporter: that's when ikeda heard that smaller sweet potatoes sold well in other countries. he decided to bank his company's future on them. ikeda has come up with his own growing method. he makes rows narrower than those used for regular sweet potatoes. planting this way keeps the potatoes from growing too large. most japanese shoppers have little use for small sweet potatoes.

but in hong kong, they now fetch about $2 per half kilogram. ikeda's company ships 30 tons of the tubers there every year, including those grown by other farms. sales have tripled over the past three years, and the company has started exporting to singapore and taiwan. ikeda is always looking for ways to increase sales. he sent some workers to hong kong in march with five varieties of sweet potato. their job was to find out which ones people liked. >> translator: they loved stronger tastes. >> translator: they preferred distinctive tastes like really sweet, or spicy. >> reporter: ikeda decided that this year, he'll grow even sweeter potatoes. >> translator: products that don't meet local needs will gradually be forgotten. so we have to keep making improvements.

>> reporter: ikeda's story shows that with the right approach, a product as simple as the sweet potato can become a hit. other business people might want to follow his lead. maybe they, too, will discover new markets, and new growth opportunities. okay. that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's get a check of the markets. soccer fans are pouring in to brazil ahead of the world cup final. they'll be watching stars from 32 teams.

the players and coaches are making final preparations for the game. the japanese squad faces off this weekend against cote d'ivoire. and they'll have a lot of support in the stands. nhk world has a report. >> reporter: the japanese national team has been training. about 100 kilometers northwest of sao paulo. the players are staying at the hotel away from the city center. and many of the 160,000 strong population have been out to welcome team japan. th club held its first training session in public, winning over a few new supporters.

more than 5,000 local soccer fans turned out. including brazilians of japanese descent, and japanese children living in sao paulo. the coach says his goal is to reach the quarterfinal which will represent japan's best-ever world cup performance. an italian coach has picked ac milan and kagawa of manchester united as his main strikers. after training, the players mingled with fans. >> translator: i'm so glad to see japan's national team. >> translator: i hope japan and brazil will both reach the final. >> translator: i really enjoy playing here. people react with excitement to

every single shot. >> translator: a lot of fans are here in the stadium. it's such a great atmosphere. they give us energy. >> reporter: not everyone is behind the world cup, however. demonstrators gathered outside the stadium to voice their an r anger. although the japanese court was briefly caught up in the process the players were able to leave without incident. soccer fans around the world have been concerned about anti-world cup demonstrations, and delays in the construction of stadiums. but japanese players are focused on getting ready for their first match. nhk world, brazil. a combined seasonal front and a tropical depression are

bringing heavy rain into the philippines. our meteorologist jonathan oh joins me now. jonathan, how long will the rain last? >> hello, shery. this system is going to take a little bit of time before departure from the area. the tropical depression itself, which formed on monday, is likely to dissipate in the next couple of days. but that does not mean the rain will be ending. the seasonal front, the monsoonal front, will continue to remain in place, and it will continue to bring a lot of rain to the philippines and parts of taiwan. and there's some concern with that, because not only are we talking about a lot of rain, we're also talking about strong winds combined with that. so this system is going to create some problems for luzon as we continue on through the next few days. but, in fact, the entire nation of the philippines will continue to be seeing rain as we go throughout this week. we'll talk about more about how much rain will be coming in just a bit. i do want to point out some other areas where we are seeing rain. the continual southern china rains, as we are seeing here, is extending down into indochina

and the peninsula, and it looks like that we're going to see that rain continue. also the western portions of japan seeing the precipitation, and it looks like it will expand toward the north and east into kanto as we go throughout the next couple of days. so the rain will continue, but you can see once again the very heavy rain bands located between taiwan and the philippines, and we are talking about a lot more rain during the next 72 hours. usually, we indicate maybe around 150 to 180 millimeters of rain. but we have to expand the legend to 250 millimeters because that's how much rainfall is expected during the next three days, and you can see here that the reds are actually showing up on the western coast of luzon. so, definitely concerned about heavy flooding and also land slides. so we will be keeping an eye out for that particular situation as we go throughout the week. highs will be anywhere from 30 degrees in hong kong to 31 degrees in manila. 27 in taipei, and tokyo you will see some rain coming up for wednesday with a high of 23 degrees.

let's switch gears and look at the americas. we are seeing a low pressure system in the central plains. this is pushing toward the east and bringing the potential for some severe weather. specifically into the deep south. now we are seeing a warm air mass also pushing into the carolinas. that creates some severe storms on monday, and it looks like coming up for tuesday that we will see the instability remain. flash flooding is also possible anywhere from kentucky down into mississippi, and alabama, and so again we are seeing instability for the eastern half of the united states. meanwhile, very dry and warm weather for the west coast. but because of that we are also looking at the possibility of seeing some fire danger weather for the next few days. so again, staying dry for the western half of the united states, we are seeing some dry conditions in the southeastern portions of canada but the instability remains for the eastern half of the united states. it will be warm for toronto with a high of 24. rain and thunderstorms along the eastern seaboard with a high of anywhere from 26 in new york to 31 in atlanta.

finally we wrap things up with a look at europe. you're talking about some severe weather in france, seven centimeter diameter hail was falling in france on monday. that instability continues to push toward the east, so as we look forward into the future for tuesday into wednesday, very severe weather, especially between france and germany, as we go throughout the next couple of days. but, a good portion of europe will be seeing instability as we go throughout tuesday, with anywhere from rain, thunderstorms for paris, and also into parts of the central portions of europe. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended forecast.

and before we wrap up. a group of animals known for their thick, warm hair is bracing for hot and humid weather in japan. as summer approaches the people

running a farm near tokyo are trying to make them cooler. about 400 alpacas live on the farm. their native habitat in the andes is about 4,000 meters above sea level. and they're sensitive to heat. every year around this time the farm's operators hire professional shearers to give the animals haircuts for summer. it takes just several minutes to shave about two kilograms of fleece from one alpaca. removing the woolly coats helps keep the animals from overheating. >> translator: japan is in such a hot and humid place that alpacas could suffer from heatstroke and other life-threatening problems. >> all that hair won't go to waste. visitors can buy sweaters and accessories made with alpaca fleece. and that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching.

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