it's a friday night here in japan. i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to nhk "newsline." people in japan are remembering the country's worst air disaster. the relatives and friends of victims are traveling to the remote site where tragedy unfolded 31 years ago. on august 12th, 1985, a jumbo jet crashed into a region in

gunma prefecture. 520 people on board died. every august 12th since then, their v loed ones have been climbing up the mountains to pay respects. relatives also want to find a way to pass lessons on from the accident to future generations. we have someone at the venue of the memorial service held near the crash site. >> reporter: the day is similar to that day 31 years ago. a hot summer day, but the families of the victims are growing older. that's what one of them shared with me. and the action was blamed for faulty repair work carried out by the manufacturer boeing. the aircraft on this day 31 years ago suffered the loss of control and 30 minutes later it crashed into a mountain near here. and the families of the victims are concerned that the tragedy

is fading from public memory because many of them find it difficult to climb to the crash site on the ridge. masanaga is one of them. she lost her father in the accident. her last conversation was that on the phone he was looking forward to having dinner. he was 67. masanaga turned 67 herself this year and she's afraid she may not be able to make it to the crash site next year. >> i am healthy now, but i don't know what's going to be maybe next day or next week maybe i get serious condition. so i really concerned about the aging. >> reporter: according to japan airlines, for the 30th anniversary last year, 406 people made the journey. but this year only 273 people

were able to participate. in the service, the families that gathered here had a moment of silence for the loved ones who were killed in the accident. and many children were on that fight too. they were enjoying summer vacations going away from home or coming back home. but most of them never made it. and people attending this ceremony say they hope that every single person in the aviation industry remembers this day and pledges to work hard to make safety the top priority. kazuaki hirima, nhk world.

people in thailand are worried after a series of deadly explosions in popular tourist destinations. two people have been killed and dozens injured over the past two days as the country celebrates a national holiday in honor of the queen's birthday. shortly after 8:00 a.m. on friday, at least one blast occurred. around the same time multiple explosions were also reported in puket. at least four people were injured at the two locations. on thursday night, hua hin was hit in an area with many restaurants and bars. one killed and 21 others injured including foreign tourists. earlier in the day in the province of trong, one person was killed in a separate blast. they are exploring them as a possible terror attack.

a nuclear plant is back in operation for the first time in years. it's going into restrictions implemented after the fukushima disaster. on friday morning control rods designed to suppress nuclear fission reactions were removed. by saturday morning the reactor is expected a chain reaction. the utility plans more next month. the move has gotten mixed reaction from the public. >> translator: i support the restart as long as it's safe. the local community benefits from the nuclear plant. >> translator: i'm against restarting the reactor. it would be a tragedy for my grandchildren and all local kids if a nuclear accident happens. >> the restart was delayed for half a month due to a water leak in the cooling system. there have been no problems in

the rebooting process. as the ikata plant goes back online, they have to look at how to evacuate residents in the chance of an emergency. >> reporter: the plant has been designed to be more resistant to disasters and serious accidents. it improved a new command center and reinforced piping system. the plant is now able to withstand even major earthquakes. but questions remain about the evacuation plan. about 5,000 people live on the peninsula where the plant is located. they may not be able to evacuate by land after a nuclear accident. so local officials drew up plans to take them to a neighboring

prefecture by boat. they held a drill last november. but they also have to take another factor into account. the ikata plant is just eight kilometers from an active fault. when a fault in the region moved earlier this year, it caused massive earthquakes and mudslides in nearby kumamoto prefecture. a powerful earthquake could set off the same kinds of mudslides in ikata town cutting off roads and interfering with operations at the local port. the current evacuation plan calls on residents stranded on the peninsula to evacuate to designated shelters near their homes. many of the shelters are schools and other public facilities. their concrete molds provide some protection against the effects of radiation.

and the structures have been reinforced against earthquakes. but this shelter is located in front of a steep hill in the landslide alert zone. the area is vulnerable to mudslides and rockslides. buildings here could be declared off limits following a quake or heavy rain. this man lives near the shelter with his elderly mother. she can't travel very far on foot, so he was counting on being able to use the nearby building. now he's not sure what to do. >> translator: no one can guarantee safety following a strong quake like the ones that struck kumamoto. i have no idea what we'll do if such an earthquake happens. >> reporter: nhk has learned that more than half of the 68

designated shelters are in landslide alert areas. we asked local officials why they chose shelters in such risky areas. they said that the peninsula's ragged terrain made safer difficult to find. one expert said businesses on private properties should be considered. >> translator: if there are no facilities available, they should develop safe evacuation routes that won't get buried in landslides. >> reporter: as officials refine their evacuation strategy, people in the area will continue to hope for the best and plan for the worst. chikako tanaka, nhk world, tokyo.

toshiba has reported its first quarterly profit in 18 months. they're trying to streamline operations following accounting irregularities. consolidated operating profits of $195 million for april/june reflecting reduction through job cuts. profits stood at $775 million. the group's net loss sales for the latest quarter stood at nearly $12 billion down 1.9% from a year ago. the company blames the yen's appreciation for the fall. a toshibaxecutive says the group expects an operating profit for the first portion of the fiscal year. china has released weaker than expected data on industrial

production and retail sales for july. experts say a slow domestic demand is weighing on the economy. china's national bureau of statistics and industrial output for july grew 6% from a year earlier. that was 0.2 percentage points down from june. the statistics bureau said retail sales for july were up 10.2% from last year. that's down 0.4 percentage points. tokyo stocks ended higher following strong gains on wall street. all three indexes there closed at record highs. giang nguyen has more from the tokyo stock exchange. >> trading resumed after a national holiday here and enthusiasm after the record finishes on wall street lifted shares. take a look at the closing levels this friday, august 12th. the nikkei added 1.1% closing at 16,919. that's the highest close in ten weeks.

the broader topix gained 0.6%. the nikkei locked its strongest in a month. electronics manufacturers were among the standout stocks this session. toshiba stocks rose 3.8%. they announced they had returned to the black in the april through june quarter. and look at sharp. it surged 19% after they announced the buyout. many people in japan will be on a summer holiday next week and trading volume tends to be light during this session. i'm giang nguyen. most other markets in the asia pacific gained on the rally on wall street. in shanghai the composite rose to 3,050. that's the sharpest gain in a

month. hong kong's hang seng added 0.8% to finish at its highest in months. seoul's kospi ended almost flat and sydney bounced 0.4%. higher oil prices supported the resource heavy benchmark. delta air lines has long used niigata airport as a hub, but now officials say they're shutting down three outside the airport at tokyo. the services to be canceled in october connect narita with new york, bangkok, and western japan. the other major airports serving tokyo haneda is poised to handle more flights to the u.s. due to an agreement in february. haneda is much nearer to downtown tokyo than narita. they expect it will make narita less competitive. the airport could lose its

status as the carrier's asian hub. delta says they will further strengthen ties with asian carriers including korean air and chinese airlines. the u.s. democratic presidential nominee has again expressed her opposition to the transpacific partnership. she said even after elected she would not change her stance on the free trade agreement. clinton was outlining her economic policies in the mid bern statef michigan. she vowed to focus on creating and protecting jobs. >> i will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages including the transpacific partnership. i oppose it now. i'll oppose it after the election. i'll oppose it as president. >> clinton backed the deal as secretary of state but later shifted her position. her rival republican nominee donald trump has been critical over ttp.

he says she'll likely support it once the election is or. president barackbama hopes to gang congressional approval for the tpp by the end of his term in january. but opposition from both presidential candidates is making it uncertain whether the deal will go into effect. the rio olympics is in its seventh day. a japanese woman took gold in a swimming event. and japan also got its first medal ever in table tennis singles. kanito competed in the women's 200-meter breaststroke. she was in second place at the 100-meter mark. then she edged out controversial russian sbimer yulia efimova who was allowed to compete after a doping suspension. she missed the 2012 games.

this is the first gold medal for japan in this event since barcelona in 1992. kanito is from hiroshima prefecture. people got together at an elementary school to cheer her on. >> translator: i'm sure she enjoyed competing. >> translator: i have never cried watching my sister race. but today i burst into tears. she was trying so hard. >> in the men's 200-meter individual medley japan's hagita was in fifth before he made dramatic gains in the final stretch and got the silver. hagino had already won the gold in the individual medley. michael phelps of the u.s. got the gold. it was his 22nd gold medal in the olympics and his fourth consecutive win in the same

event. in hagino's home prefecture, many supporters watched on a screen. >> translator: i believe he's the strongest swimmer. >> in table tennis, mizutani played in a men's singles match to determine the bronze winner. he faced belarus. mizutani won 4-1 in a series of patiently executed rallies. china took the gold and silver. over 100 people watched from a shopping mall in shizuoka prefecture as their local hero paddled his way to history. >> translator: i'm totally impressed. i think he must be so happy with the medal. he's been aying for a long time.

>> translator: he did well and played patiently. that's my brother. >> translator: his victory is worth much more than the bronze medal. >> in judo, haga won the bronze in the men's 100 kilogram category. he defeated ukraine with judo's equivalent of a knockout called on ippon. he suffered a ligament injury in march and his bouts in rio are his first official ones since recovering. japan took the first medal in this category since the 2000 sydney games. japan's gold medal count for the rio games is up to seven, the same as the total number won at the 2012 london games. and we continue with more news from rio. boxer jonas junis who bore the

flag for namibia at the ceremony lost for the light welter class. he was arrested for sexual assault on a housekeeper in the olympic village. the international olympic committee said he was free to compete because he was released and has not been found guilty. athletes are concerned about the pools after water turned green. the world swimming body says the tanks at the pools had run out of treatment chemicals and that the water posed no health risk. organizers of the games said the color will return to normal after the water is treated. that's all for now on the games in rio. tensions are rising between russia and ukraine as moscow accuses crimea -- russia's fsb

security service said on wednesday it had captured ukrainian agents planning attacks on the territory. a russian soldier and worker was killed during the operation, they said. russian president vladimir putin held a meeting of military offices and security officials. >> translator: it should be obvious to everyone that authorities in kiev are not looking for ways to solve problems through talks. but are turning to terror. it is very alarming. >> ukrainian president denies the accusations and has put his army on combat alert. >> translator: i have activated all units of the armed forces,

national guard, and security service. >> phe says he plans to meet wih leaders of western countries to explain the situation. there's been an increase in shelling attacks between government forces and pro-russian separatists. gaza has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world around 40%. now a group from japan is trying to help young people in the palestinian territory become entrepreneurs. it held a contest to encourage proposals that would help improve gaza's harsh living conditions. one team addressed the need for cement blocks to rebuild structures damaged during years of fighting. the members proposed making them from ashes. another suggested producing

equipment to help people carry heavy items up and downstairs. frequent blackouts in the territory make elevators all but unusable. members of the japanese group will provide funds and advice to help turn the best proposals into real-life projects. >> translator: i want to work hard for that our idea gets international recognition. >> translator: this event made us realize that we have potential. >>gaza's economy has been hit hard due to restrictions by israel and egypt on the movement of people and supplies to and from gaza. nhk "newsline" comes to you from tokyo. sayaka mori joins us from the weather desk. for people thinking of visiting tokyo this weekend, what does the outlook liook like? >> it's going to stay sunny and

seasonably hot. >> okay. now tell us what the situation is like in the u.s. >> right. weather is quite rough across parts of the northern united states. we saw extremely heavy rainfall on thursday in parts of wisconsin. the whole of buffalo county was flooded. many roads were closed. i want to show you some video from the area. a storm hit buffalo county, wisconsin, on thursday morning. about 150 millimeters of rain fell in just a few hours. water levels rose to 1.5 meters in some areas. cars and trucks were seen driving around the flooded roads. now, more rain is expected friday in parts of wisconsin as well as minnesota. which is definitely not good news. the risk of floods will rise even further. now, as we go into friday, more rain is expected across the cold front and warm front. there's a potential for severe thunderstorms as well from the ohio river basin into the new england states. watch out for large hail as well as damaging winds.

there's another spot for severe thunderstorms across new mexico as well as colorado. and there's a slow-moving low pressure system creeping over the lower mississippi river basin so the risk of floods will remain extremely high across the south. now, temperatures are going to be 35 in oklahoma city with the chance for thunderstorms. extremely hot in washington, d.c. 35 for the high on friday. but across the west it's going to be gorgeous. 29 degrees for the high in seattle. and sunny weather will likely continue into next week. now let's go to asia. we have been watching a tropical storm named conson. conson is now packing winds of 72 kilometers per hour. it should intensify to a severe tropical storm. then it can move through japan monday as a tropical storm. tropical storm hitting hokkaido is extremely rare. it does, though, we could see heavy rainfall at times and also strong winds across the north of

japan. and there's a frontal system located over the north of china as well as far east russia. but the system is not expected to move intoapan because there is a high pressure dome blanketing much of the nation. so we will see continued sunny weather for the next several days in tokyo. plenty of sunshine for you with a high of 32 degrees as we go into next week. now, osaka will see ab normally hot conditions. the high will remain in the mid-30s as we go into next week. but naha is going to be comfortably warm. 32 on your sunday. now further down to the southern hemisphere, there's a frontal system moving away from australia. but another system is movingin. so it's going to provide heavy rainfall at times and also some snowfall for the mountainous locations in victoria. mt. hotham could see a high of only 1 on the weekend.

and of course across melbourne and sydney, temperatures in the teens or lower 20s. and in brazil, wet conditions. matches were postponed on wednesday. temperatures expected to rise into the weekend. all right. here's your extended forecast.

that was this hour's news and weather from our studios here in tokyo. more to8úxú

>> welcome to the "france 24" newsroom. i'm molly hall. a series of blasts rocks thailand. at least four people are killed, dozens are injured. authorities say the attacks are linked to local sabotage and not matthew perry dismisses his powerful chief of staff. we cross to moscow for the latest. and iran's top