i'm shery ahn in tokyo. let's started with the headlines. the operator of a nuclear plant in southwestern japan is one step closer to restarting two of its reactors. >> the managers are makering efforts to improve conditions of workers at fukishima nuclear

power plans. >> all of the reactors in p japan were i'dled after the 2011 disaster the eassumption of these two could be the first step toward restarting the industry but as nhk reports, there are still safety concerns that need to be addressed. >> japan's nuclear regular regulatory authority has releas

released. >> all of japens 48 reactors are off line. three years ago, an earthquake and tsunami damaged the fukushimadiichi nuclear power plant. strict new rules went into effect last year. the focus is how earthquake resist tan the facilities are. the nra now wants to know the maximum magnitude of possible earthquakes and tsunamis. the operator of the sendai plant set higher estimates.

workers at the plant are hurrying to finish all the upgrades. they have built 10 meter high walls to protect equipment from tsunami or break water and they installed pipes that can withstand tremors. >>translator: we will complete the task quickly so the plants operations can be resumed as soon as possible. >> reporter: the nra approved the upgraded design and safety features of the sendai plant at the wednesday meeting. the decision was welcomed by the government. >>translator: we would like to push for restarting the reactors with the conclusion of the safety screening and understanding of local people. >> reporter: but not everyone was understanding. many are making their voices

heard over the safety concerns. many people are rallying in front of the building where nra's office is located. they are yelling and holding signs to show their discontent toward the decision. protesters say the screening of the plant was fast and sloppy and that the evacuation plan for residents is insufficient. people on the other side are split over the decision. >>translator: i don't want it to be restarted. i'm concerned about the safety of the next generation. >>translator: i agree with the restart because it is necessary for us. some locals benefit from it. >> reporter: the nra's decision isn't final.

the regulator will take a month to collect comments from the public. then they will look for approval from local municipalities. there are still on site operational checks to be done. the sendai plant faces many challenges in regaining trust of those who are cautious about the safety of the nuclear energy. managers at the fukushima daiichi plant are stepping up efforts to improve their employees' long-term working environment but they are facing many obstacles. we went for an inside look on this edition of "nuclear watch." >> reporter: cleaning up fukushima daiichi is a big job. workers are removing radioactive contamination and decommissioning damaged reactors at the same time. the area around the crippled buildings still had high levels

of radiation. people here work in shifts and take breaks every few hours. this is the resting place for workers. so whenever workers finish their works or they wait for another works, they spend the time here. relaxing, maybe have a cup of tea, water, or read a magazine. as many as 6,000 workers come to the site every day. their schedules are designed to minimize radiation exposure. tepco officials explain most of the people here are employees of subcontracting companies. it means the utility is not directly responsible for their safety. but tepco officials have started taking measures to improve conditions at the plant.

>> translator: we consider improving the working environment to be a top priority. >> reporter: they are constructing a new facility for workers. the building will have a dining space where hot meals will be served. it will also have devices people can use to check their internal radiation exposure. it's not just spaces for breaks that are getting improvements. an example is this vehicle repair facility. nothing like it was here before this was built. that worried many workers. the vehicles here can't leave because they may be contaminated so if one broke down or needed repairs, there was no way to fix it. now that problem has been solved. >> translator: insuring worker safety is essential for safe and speedy decommissioning.

>> reporter: but experts say more needs to be done to ensure the safety of workers. >> translator: at fukushima daiichi the task of checking workers' health is handled by the companies that hire them but it's what we need is a centralized system of checking the health of all workers. >> reporter: osaka says the japanese government needs to establish a system for making sure the workers are healthy. there are other issues to consider. when workers finish a shift, they are required to take off their protective gear, their clothing and equipment is treated as contaminated waste. tepco is now constructing an incineration facility to deal with it. but the manager overseeing the project says he's not sure when it will be ready.

>> translator: all of us have to stop working right when our shifts end to minimize radiation exposure. it's not like a normal construction site. >> reporter: he says under these conditions it's hard to stay on schedule. tepco has a lot riding on the safety of the plants' workers. their health and well being is critical for to the success of the decommissioning project. israeli leaders are warning tens of thousands of palestinians living in the gaza strip to head to safe places. they resumed air strikes on targets there after a ceasefire plan proposed by egypt didn't take hold. the israelis accepted it but the

militant group that controls gaza did not. . s israeli leaders took a short pause. they accepted the cease fire proposed by egyptian officials, but hamas leaders rejected it. their fighters continue to fire rocket after rocket at israel. one shell landed at a border checkpoint and killed an israeli man. he's the first israeli fatality prime minister netanyahu says hamas will pay the price for its decision. he's promising to widen and increase the assaults on hamas.

1,400 palestinians have been injured compared to 69 israelis. part of the reason for is israeli's defense system called the iron dome. the israeli operation in gaza has weakened hamas, but they have rejected the cease fire to justify their losses here. they are pushing for easing of theblockade. israelis haven't ruled out a ground invasion. the u.s. is very concerned about palestinians who are in harm's way. >> that's why we've been urging israeli and palestinian leaders to do everything necessary to safeguard the safety and well-being of civilians on both sides of the border.

that's why we have said nobody wants to see a ground invasion. >> reporter: he still repeated the line that israelis have a right to defend themselves. >> growing tension in iraq has pushed up crude oil prices and drivers are paying more for gasoline. the latest data shows the average price of regular gas her liter was 169.9 yen. it's a gain of .2 yen of the previous week. retail prices are likely to fall next week. they say crude oil prices have recently started to show a decline and some wholesalers are beginning to lower their prices. chinese leaders are hoping they are seeing results to their

efforts to stimulate their economy. gdp expanded 7.5% over the same period last year. it edged up from 7.4% in the first quarter and it does suggest the economy has stopped slowing down. >>translator: the chinese economy is generally stable and structural reforms are on track. >> government officials have been investing in urban infrastructure and other public works projects. they have eased credit for some institutions to get more money flowing through the economy and exporters have benefited from the recovery in strilsed country. more for insight on china's grow growth. i asked what was behind the

latest figures. >> the gdp growth rath was higher than the first quarter but this does not economic kroefer because the growth rate over the same quarter over 2013 was lowest in the year. therefore, the economy never allows optimism. the index has been over 50 and has been rising, but the china association of automobile manufacturers announced a downward of sales. >> what about any downward pressure? do you see any of that having an impact on the future economic growth? >> yes. a major challenge is that chinese manufacturing sector has to be highly -- industry. as a result, this is some major

manufactures have lost market shares in the chinese market this year. western manufacturers have increased their shares. chinese shares are required to increase the ability of their product. the government also needs to implement further reforms for raising row ducktivity and research and development expenditures. >> we have been hearing about reform. they are going to have to strike a balance between promoting reform and economic growth. do you think they can strike that balance? >> there is a possibility that the structure reform would depress the economy. the government would use the actions together in order to keep the growth rate. as was the case last year, the government maintains the growth rate by depending on investment.

the government cannot keep using the existing measures due to increasing problem of the shadow banking system. so there is a contradiction in the expansion of domestic demand. so foreign demand over the second half of the year can be a key factor in growth. then the recovery can make the handling of the economy for the chinese government much easier. >> let's talk a little bit more about foreign demand. china does depend a lot on exports. what if we do see demand from foreign countries fall further. what kind of impact do you think that will have? >> then the chinese government will face a tough situation.

so the government needs to depend on investment. it's going to be harder to achieve the target growth rate which is 7.5% in some cases. >> let's get a check of the markets now. many investors in asia saw a positive cue. most markets showed limited price movements. china shanghai fell for the first time in four days. nikki hit 2,067. saw declines of a 10th of a percent, 15,379.

janet yellen voiced concerns that bioshares became too expensive. in indonesia, the key index finished higheren just over an .8%. market players are bracing for official results of the country's election scheduled to be announced last year. leaders of emerging economies want more say on the world stage. the heads of the brics countries and that's brazil, russia, india, china, and south africa have taken their first concrete steps toward that goal. the brazilian president, dilma rousseff, hosted the leaders of other brics countries. they called for reforms in the united nations so delegates from countries such as brazil and india can play a greater role. they will put $100 billion into a development bank to fund infrastructure products and they put aside the same money to help emerging nations in times of crisis. brics leaders want to change the global financial order shaped by western powers after world war ii. they say that people who run institutions such as the world bank and the international

monetary fund have too much control. the operators of a japanese firm have looked into the sky and see sunny days ahead. so the executives at smbc aviation capital have decided to buy more than 100 new planes from airbus. executives from both companies made the announcement at an air show in farnborough, britain. smbc is based in dublin. major shareholders include sumitomo mitsubishi financial group. smbc executives signed a deal worth almost $12 billion to purchase 115 planes. they are expecting to receive the first ones in two years. they plan to lease the aircraft to low-cost carriers and to other airlines in asia. >> that is going to wrap it up for business hour. let's check in on the markets.

>> human rights activists have been looking at the toll exactitude by the extremist group boko haram.

the group claimed responsibility for abducting more than 200 schoolgirls in april, saying the kidnappings were aimed at preventing the girls from receiving a western-style education. on monday, a boko haram attack in borno killed at least 20 people. six civilians were also killed in a battle between the group and nigerian armed forces. the leaders of libya's interim government are weighing on whether to call security forces for help. rival militias have been battling control of the airport. fighters are fired rocket after rocket. spokesperson says 90% of the planes have been damaged and control tower and several fuel tanks have been destroyed. militant groups have been fighting each other since their ruler was overthrown three years ago. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says u.s. officials are

deeply concerned. >> it is not violence that is broken out every single day. it is mostly fighting at night and it's not fighting broadly every interest within libya but it is dangerous and it must stop. >> kerry said diplomats are doing what they can to support the libyan government. >> now a deadly typhoon is wreaking havoc in the philippines. robert speta is joining me. >> the good news is we are starting to see the storm system full away from the philippines at this time, so the winds are starting to decrease but it made landfall here on tuesday afternoon in southern portions of luzon. as a very strong typhoon.

this was the latest visible imagery. somal locations did suffer severe damage. it pushed through manila during the early morning hours while wreaking some havoc there. let's roll that. you can see these typhoon strength winds continue to blow through. 150,000 people have been evacuated across much of the country. there have been reports of deaths at this time. numerous injuries and several people still missing into the city itself, you can see these downed trees that was a problem across much of the area, about 85% of manila at this time is without power so widespread black-outs also being reported. as mentioned the storm is pulling away. we're going to see those recovery efforts taking place. still those scattered thunderstorms and breezy conditions near the coastal areas is going to be possible as

your wednesday. as i mentioned, it's moving toward the northwest. it does not mean it's over with. it's actually expected to reintensify, already a typhoon. still winds 144, gusting up to 198 kilometers per hour. last place that needs heavy rainfall is southern portions of china. the past several days we have been seeing some intense showers coming down here. widespread flooding across the ytzange basin. meanwhile, back toward the east, showers still impacting those of you across northern portions of japan, even in tokyo. the official end of the rainy

season, summer has rolled in and it's rather hot. let's move over to the america's and talk about those hot temperatures into japan, but the big topic is the cool down. temperatures feeling very fall like across much of the north. we have a cold front diving in. that has still has strong thunderstorms across texas and oklahoma. the temperatures i want to talk about, record lows in some areas here. kansas city down to 12, omaha at 10. not much improvement. even your high chicago, only 19. staying hot and muggy in the south. speaking of the heat, the ie beerian peninsula in europe, high, intense heat.

still expecting thunderstorms across the ball can peninsula on your wednesday. here's your extended outlook.

>> that's all for this hour on "news linea7guc