i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. u.s. officials say they foiled a plot to bomb a civilian airliner bound for the u.s. >> what this incident makes clear is that this country has to continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country. >> fbi officials say agents tracked an improvised explosive device over seas and seized it in recent days. fbi experts are now examining the bomb. it was similar to the one known as the underwear bomb used in a failed attempt to attack a u.s. bound flight in 2009. u.s. officials have not released any other details of the plot. u.s. media are reporting al qaeda's affiliate in yemen was targeting a flight heading to the u.s.

they say the group had not decided on a specific flight. the reports say the timing was aimed around the first anniversary of the death of al qaeda leader, osama bin laden. u.s. forces killed him a year ago last week. german chancellor angela merkel enjoyed a strong partnership with sarkozy. and she might take some time to get used to his successor and they have a showdown scheduled for how to manage europe's debt crisis. they will meet following francois ohollande's inauguration. she says she wants to develop and understanding with hollande so they can work together stabilize europe. they have different views how to achieve growth. hollande wants to use spending anderkel favors structural

reforms and deregulation of labor markets. nato leaders, too, have some reservations, they say. they're uneasy about his promise to withdraw troops from afghanistan and wants to bring home forces earlier than planned by the end of the year. they toe's spokesperson said they value france's contribution to the mission and called on mr. hollande to remain committed. >> mr. hollande made clear in the election campaign any decisions in the next stage will be taken in consultation with nato allies. >> nato leaders plan to complete the withdrawal from afghanistan by the end of 2014. officials with iran's foreign ministry are weighing in, too, saying they hope his election will open up a new era in iranian ties with the french. sarkozy's defeat shows his

policies on iran were wrong and historically the two countries have had close relations. sarkozy has been one of the most vocal critics of tehran's nuclear program. the leader of greece's ni democracy party said he has given up hope of forming a coalition government. he held talks and the heads of all but pasok refused to join a coalition. they oppose the austerity measures. and samaras said he abandoned the talks even before the end of the three days he had to build a government. the chance to build a ruling coalition will now pass to the radical leader of the left coalition but alexis tsipras says he will only work with left wing parties and makes

it unlikely to succeed. and if he fails, the pasok will have a chance to join a coalition and if not, a new election occurs, that could ignite concerns over greece's abilities to implement reforms. wanting to ease mounting concerns about the implementation of austerity measures. >> greece must remain a member of the euro for instance. everybody has to carry their responsibilities here. we can do lots to assist greece. we are doing so. our member states and taxpayers and other european member states of the euro area are providing this solidarity. >> eu leaders say they will continue to offer emergency financing but say greeks must follow through on commitments to push through reforms.

the u.s. and chinese defense cheap say they'll cooperate on cybersecurity an area of confliction in the past. they met at the pentagon on monday. they say working together on cyber-issues and promoting military exchanges are necessary to insure both countries safety. >> we believe our military to military dialogue is critical to insuring that we avoid dangerous misunderstandings and misperceptions that could lead to crisis. >> the agreement to cybersecurity marks a step in a new direction for the two nations. washington has in the past accused china of being the primary source of attacks on u.s. targets. human rights in china are again in the spotlight. the latest incident sentence on

activest chen geng cheng. he escape d and is in a hospita. a deal was reached after days of tense negotiations between the u.s. and chinese officials. today, we look at how the two major powers negotiated a diplomatic minefield. >> a blind manscapes house arrest and the crisis meetings begins. m civil rights actishivist chen slipped past his guards april 22nd and sought asylum at the embassy. he was against forced abortions, complained of illegal detention, beatings and persecution of his family. his protests couldn't have come

at a worst time for chinese authorities, just days before high level talks. u.s. authorities were equally willing to avoid a confrontation. they need to tackle nuclear programs of north korea and iran. the u.s. said they worked out an agreement with the chinese government. he was in a hospital for treatment. his safety guaranteed. the case looked to be settled. >> reporter: behind me, the hospital where chen guangcheng is staying. dozen

dozens of photographers are in front of the hospital trying to capture his image but we're presented by police officers of going inside and reaching him. it shows how sensitive this case is to the chinese government. >> but then chen suddenly changed his mind. he said he wanted to leave for the u.s. with his family. >> reporter: the u.s. seems to be caught off guard. they were forced to negotiate again with the chinese side. another agreement emerged on friday. china's foreign ministry announced chen would be allowed to leave the country to study abroad. officer are now said to be

preparing for chen u.s. but diplomats will remain on edge until the blind activist and his family boards the plane. >> our reporter joins us now from beijing. can you tell us why this case has become so complicated? >> it's still not clear what went wrong after initial arrangement agreed by the u.s. and chinese officials. according to the chinese activists supporting chen, after moving to the hospital, chen said he felt stressed and became desperate because so many uncomfortable things happened, including first to his wife. it's believed he had no choice but to change his mind about staying in china. >> i see. how do you think this case will affect u.s.-china relations? >> top officials from the u.s.

and china aheld hybrid talks lat week in beijing but all the attention was on chen's case. the two countries made the position clear concerning human rights issues in china. >> we will continue engaging with the chinese government at the highest levels and putting these concerns at the heart of our diplomacy. >> china repeatedly expressed their frustration, saying that the u.s. was interfering in their domestic affairs and this was unacceptable. it seems like china's true intention is to prevent the issue from getting any bigger. one expert says the exchange of strong words is just a part of

rhetoric. >> neither side wanted this case to stand indefinitely. it doesn't work for any side. for president obama, it simply provides a new card for mr. romney to hit back. for china, the chinese leaders and the government, people would be moredissatisfied with the government. >> another case receiving a lot of international attention was the fall of the former chief and rise i rising star. are there any similaritities in the way the chinese government have been handling this and the chen issue? >> yes. there are some similarities. tv reports of guangcheng have been interrupted several times in china. the same measures were taken when bo's case came out and the results for bo and chen's named

are on china's popular blogging service. china seems concern if the issue was it might lead to activists on the one party rule. chinese will have its own elections in the fall. what chinese want the most is a smooth transfer of power and maintain social stability. >> thank you very much. in beijing. russian president vladimir putin got down to work and signed a series of regional defense and diplomacy issues. putin instructed the foreign ministry to improve ties with china, india and japan and called for a peaceful resolution for north korea's nuclear development through six party talks and signalled russia

intends to deepen cooperation with the u.s. and wants the u.s. to guarantee its missile defense project in european will not target russia. putin said he'll revamp the russian navy and called on officials to revamp 70% of the hardware by 2020. syrians went to the polls on monday. the country held parliamentary elections for the first time under its new constitution. but the vote took place as the government continued to crack down on its citizens. the election was the first under the three months old constitution, new rules allowing parties to compete with the governing baf party and about half are believed to be members of the baf party or people with links to the party. e results are expected in several days. members of the opposition told nhk many voters responded to their call to boycott the vote.

they say the multiparty elections are an effort to convince the world the assad government is pursuing democratic reforms. activists say 25 people were killed in the latest round of violence. only a comprehensive and conclusive dialogue can lead to a democratic election in syria. the elections are not taking place within such a framework. americans have spent the la past four years arguing over the nation's finances and how to right them. but the shooting death of a florida high school student has brought another long-time debate to the fore in this election year, the one over hyuns. neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman shot and killed trayvon martin in february. martin was unarmed. now voters across the country are joining against guns. >> no justice, no peace.

>> no justice, no peace. >> reporter: thousand of people turn out for protests against florida's so-called stand your ground law. this law enacted in 2005 allows people to shoot in self-defense when there is reasonable belief of a threat of their home or in public. >> stand your ground on any basis whatever, no, because it don't justice a wrongful death, you know. so you can't use a law to justify a wrongful death. >> reporter: on the other hand, there are many americans who say they have the constitutional right to bear arms and to use them if a threat arises. since 70,000 people attended the national rifle association's annual meeting and gun fair in the middle of last month, where the vast majority express support for florida's stand your ground law, around 20 out of 50

u.s. states now have similar laws on their statutes. >> i think the law is a just law that gives a person who is a civilian the right to protect themselves. >> i do feel that it is the gun laws in this country are a large part of what founded this nation and i'm obviously pro firearms. >> reporter: among the speakers at the event was mitt romney, who's the likely republican party nominee in the presidential election. when romney was governor of massachusetts, he introduced tighter gun control laws. but he's now showing a shift in his position. >> it's time to elect a president who will defend the rights president obama ignores or minimizes and i will protect the second amendment rights of american people. [ applause ]

>> reporter: president obama has not spoken out directly on the issue of gun control, but following martin's death he indicated that these laws need to be examined. >> i think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen. that means that we examine the laws and the context for what happened as well as the specifics of the incident. >> reporter: there is still six months to go before the american people head to the polls but the uproar triggered by trayvon martin's killing is likely to echo right up to election day. "nhk world," sanford, florida. people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster, but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, businesses, entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on the road ahead, every want at 1:00 p.m.

japan time here on "newsline." personal belongings believed to have been swept away by last year's tsunami in japan are making their way across the pacific and a number are winding up in the hands of one man in canada. peter marks found a volleyball whooil walking. he found it on a beach in graham island. the writing indicates it's from an elementary school tournament. it was found from rifu, devastated by the tsunami last year. mark found a motorcycle from northeastern japan on the same beach last month and also discovered five plastic fuel containers with japanese writing on them. >> all we can do is our part to pick the items up and clean up the beach and make any effort

possible to return personal belongings to the rightful owner. >> items swept away by the tsunami would have to drift 6500 kilometers across the pacific ocean to reach north america. japanese craftsmen are making a big statement with a product that can barely be seen. their attention to tiny details improving the lives of consumers around the world. >> this is a typical roller ball pen used all around the world. inside the tip is a spring only 1 millimeter across. the expansion and contraction of this delicate piece of metal moves the ball and controls the flow of ink. the tiny spring technology is also used in many other products, such as mobile phones and semiconductor inspection equipment. this type of spring is said to

be the smallest in the world. what does it look like magnified 400 times? it's 0.06 millimeters in diameter, thinner than a human hair. a company called fine parts manufactures this type of spring. 13 engineers work here. the companies ships 70 million springs around the world every month. >> translator: we improved our technology to make smaller springs as the demand of customers rose. it's taken us years to get to these production skills. it's hard to put in words, more like a sense. >> reporter: this is the machine that produces the springs. there is an important component that determines their size. the springs are shaped by winding piano wire at the end of this arbor. the thickness of the arbor also determines the diameter of the springs. one of the key factors enabling

this company to manufacture such tiny springs is their processing technology to produce such small arbors. engineers make them one by one. he has been doing this work for 13 years. he has the skills to process the arbors for the smallest spring. because the parts are almost in visible to the naked eye, they're magnified 40 times. a lot of skill is needed to round off the ends of the arbors. the workers determine which parts to shave off in a split second, judging the amount with their eyes. in order produce the exact size they want, they round the ends by adjusting the strength they want in each move by,0 thousand

of a millimeter. humans are needed to do this work. no machine can do the same job. >> the smaller the springs are the more likely the end could get cut off with one shave. i have the image of the ideal shape in my mind and i try to get as close it to as possible. i've finally managed to acquire this skill after failure upon failure. >> reporter: human senses are vital in producing these parts. engineers continue to push the ability of their senses even further in order to advance technology in the manufacturing of tiny components. it's a pleasant and sunny day in tokyo, getting quite warm, too. let's turn to sayaka mori for

the weather forecast. >> more than half of japan is e experience i experiencing temperature and thundershowers from tomorrow afternoon. behind it, some light showers are affecting the southern half of the korean peninsula and should be difficult heading into tomorrow. strong widths are affect iing northeastern china and southeastern russia, that will be continuing throughout the day, down towards the south, heavy rain, starting to move southward. so the area will see warmer conditions expected tomorrow. the front will be extending into the southern islands of japan tomorrow.

down towards southeast asia, scattered thundershowers are expanding across much of indochina peninsula and like yesterday, northern thailand will see the heavy rain and the ground is already well saturated and not good news. moving to the americas, the southern portions of the u.s., particularly severe from the lower mississippi valley to new mexi mexico. one tornado touched down in telecommunication monda telecommunication -- texas monday. we have wintry precipitation across colorado. that will dissipate as we head to tuesday. good news. lots of sunshine for you, temperatures arising to 28 degrees in l.a., about 10 degrees higher than what we saw on monday. 18 degrees in denver, 22 in oklahoma city.

showers affecting along the east coast, 19 degrees in new york and 24 degrees in washington d.c. finally, let's go over to europe. unstable weather is starting to ease across much of the british isles. instead, southern scan dinavia starting to see wet and windy conditions and late season snow in the windy mountains. then western connent? is turning wet and gusty due to a low pressure system in that area. to the northeast e, a storm producing hail in parts of eastern europe and will continue to mov to the northeast affecting western russia. temperatures looking like this. on the cooler side in london, high of 14 degrees and 18 in paris and berlin and vienna? still on the warmer side, 22, 23 degrees expected in kiev visit

thundershowers. that's it for me now. here's your extended forecast.

that's all for now, this edition of "newsline." thanks very much for joining us.

tonight, in conversation with professor and author jonathan haidt. he is out with a new book about why americans are divided on issues like politics and li