a fugitive no longer. police arrest the last wanted member of the japanese cult that carried out the tokyo sarin gas attack. katsuya takahashi kept his identity hidden for 17 years staying out of trouble and dodged authorities who wanted him in connection with the 1995 subway gas attack system. an attack that killed 13 people. takahashi belonged to aum shinrikyo cult and investigators say it is over. they arrest himd ed him on char

murder and other crimes. someone at the cafe tipped off police. he said a man who looked like takahashi was at the shop. investigators rushed to the scene and detained the suspect. newspapers rushed to publish extra additions announcing takahashi's arrest. >> i was surprised but relieved. it is graut news. >> i think the arrest is good news for the bereaved families of the victims of the sarin attack. >> i hope takahashi will tell the police the truth about everything. a lawyer helping victims of aum related crimes is calling for a full review of the police investigation. he said police should clarify why it took them 17 years to arrest takahashi, the lawyer said the arrest brings some closure to aum's case. he wants everyone to know exactly what happened and why.

he himself was one of aum's victims attacked with sarin gas in 1994 while helping people who escaped from the cult. takahashi is 54, one of the oldest members of the cult. he belonged to a group of he belonged to a group of body guard who protected the aum founder. cult members released the gas on trains, and along with 1 dea3 d. investigators say takahashi helped by driving one of the perpetrators to and from a subway station. police also wanted him in connection with a crime committed a month before the attack. investigators suspect takahashi was involved in manufacturing the explosives used in a mail bomb addressed to the tokyo governor

that same year. the explosion seriously wounded one employee. police believe takahashi directed cult members in the killing of a man in osaka who had been critical of the cult. they used toxic gas. investigators say takahashi moved into an apartment near toektoeky -- tokn 1996, with a fellow cult member. they moved apart. he was living in an apartment near tokyo until they arrested her earlier this month. they say the news made him run. investigators released several recent photographs of takahashi. one showed him withdrawing $30,000 in cash the day after her arrest. police across japan joined in the search. they released regular updates on his whereabouts hoping someone might give them a tip.

policy officials at the bank of japan decided there is no need for any change. the central bank has been infusing massive amounts of liquidity into the market as it implements monetary easing measures. the central bank's decision came friday after a two-day policy meeting covering japan and the global economy. board members voted unanimously to maintain current policy saying japan is showing clear signs of revival. however, they expressed continuing concern over the european debt crisis. the bank officials say the greatest threat to the world economy comes from europe. they warned the situation could significantly impact japan if the credit crisis deepens due to troubled spanish banks or the outcome of greek elections. bank officials stress that overall the japanese economy is improving. they saying it is helped by reconstruction demand from the disaster of last year. looking ahead, they continue to warn abut europe but conclude

there is no need to alter their economic assessment. people in greece vote sunday in a parliamentary election. euro zone finance ministers are preparing to hold an emergency teleconference as soon as the results come in. european diplomatic source says the talk will happen late in the evening when it becomes clear which party won. the source adds the teleconference has yet to be finalized. it would only be needed if the anti-austerity series the party wins, a majority. the leader of the leftist coalition is viewing to scrap greece's 130 billion euro bailout and conditions. there are fears that could trigger the country's exit from the euro zone intensifying concerns about the debt crisis. experts say the teleconference is being set up to show the euro zone's responsiveness ahead of the group of 20 summit meeting

that starts monday. another aim might be to men is my the election's negative impact on the financial markets. many key leaders in europe want the greeks to swallow the tough austerity medicine. tackle their debt, and stay within the euro zone. they believe anything else could make their single kcurrency blok economic trouble much worse. the french president visited rome thursday and held talks with it tali ithe italian prime. the italian prime minister hoped that greece would stay in the euro zone. hero posed a french version and respecting economic growth in rebuilding finances and deepening unity among euro zone members by harmonizing fiscal policies.

the head of the japanese bank herbs association warned the debt crisis could have a negative impact on japan's economy. chairman sato told members that uncertainties about europe could continue for the foreseeable future regardless of the results of greece's parliamentary elections sunday. >> translator: china, europe's largest trading partner has already been affected by europe he's economic shrinkage. that will trigger an economic crisis. >> sato said greece's problems and the political and economic situation could remain unstable. that is because greece appears to have no manufacturing industry to drive its economy. sato added he is afraid greek lawmakers will not be able to unite in a way that could take the country forward even after eat elections.

delegates from around the world will gather in brazil to talk about the problems facing an increasingly crowded planet. the conference on sustainable development starts next week in rio. china will be sending representatives. the country is one of many trying to balance economic growth with environmental concerns. you can see it playing out across the vast nation. nhks world takes us to a place where a tourism boom is threatening an important natural resource. >> one of the most popular tourist destinations in liljang, this ancient town dating back some 800 years is a unesco world heritage site. another popular tourist site, a nature reserve about 10

kilometers from liljang. an important habitat with more than 70 species of birds. it is now listed for conserving wetlands. recently, it has become popular with city people, keen for a break from the pressures of urban life. >> translator: when i am here, i feel free from all of the stress from my work and life. >> but there is grog cwing conc about the rapid increase in the number of visitors. he set it up nearly ten years ago to protect the environment. chinese are worried that the huge amount of garbage left by the tourists is affecting the lake's water quality. local restaurants are also dumping their garbage. plastic bottles, paper, and

leftover food are strewn all over the place. >> translator: this is garbage. they drink liters. this is very terrible. this trash because it will flow done to the lake. and it is also done harm to the bird. >> reporter: garbage is not the only concern. horse riding has become very popular around the lake. the local people now have over 3,000 horses for the tourists. ten years ago, there were none. the problem is the horse dung. >> this water is, used to be drinking water resource for the town. and also for people here. they can also drink the water the but now, it is >> reporter: although tourism is

the coughs the prause of the pr an important source of income for the local people. he started horse riding tours five years ago. as a farmer he earned $300 a year. he now makes more than 20 times that much. thanks to his new wealth he is building a new house. he says he will never go back to farming. >> now we have food and extra money. for the local people, the priority is up proving their living standard. they are not aware of the impact on the environment. so last october, he began visiting local schools to teach the children, and their parents, what they can do to help. he was there with his son. he explains that some of the

garbage can be recycled. he also tells them that horse manure is a useful resource. it can be fernmented to be used as fuel. >> translator: stop throwing out garbage. >> i am going to take better care of our environment. to >> translator: it takes time. we don't want to be in a hurry. gradually the whole boomer esiason te esiason -- gradually the whole society can change. >> translator: it is key. you can't stop people from earning money from tourism. he just hopes he can slowly get the word out to protect the weltlands. >> and our reporter is back in beijing now. tell us, are there wetlands in china facing the same kind of

environmental damage? >> indeed the state research institute says china has the lost more than 8,000 square kilometers of wetlands. at the wetland we saw new highway and road to bring in even more tourists. it is a protected area, but not easy to regulate what people do. this is especially true as tourists bring in so much money into the nearby city. the attraction is its natural environment. if that is destroyed the tourists might stop coming. bam ansing b balancing environmental and business needs won't be easy. >> thank you.

egypt supreme constitutional court ruled that the parliamentary election was unconstitutional. the desomething cocision two da the run-off election. ruling could bring uncertainty and force the dissolution of the five-month-old parliament. the court decide thursday that the parliamentary election held after the ouster of former president hosni mubarak did not provide equal opportunity for all candidates. it said, independent candidates could run in a single seat constituency while those belonging to political parties, could ru proportional districts. it cou parliamentary elections. isla at odds with the military and former supporters of the mubarak government. the run-off scheduled saturday and sunday between the muz lsli

bru brother hood. it is believed the muslim brotherhood will object which could affectn's nor are challenges of 20911 disaster. it won't be easy. they have to be rirebuild homes businesses, communities. we'll show you00 p japan time he on "newsline." cover your head. that's what teachers tell their students whenarthquakes strike. last year's march earthquake proved that advice may not be good enough if the whole ceiling is coming down. release aid survey that even if the main structure of a building survives the earthquake, the ceiling may not. construction companies are gearing up to make their

resistant as much as the rest of the structure. >> reportedemonstration simulated what happened inside 2,000 buildings across japan on march 11th of last year. after a mockup room at a factory was shaken for three minutes you see the quake damaged the joints of the wires suspending the plaster board ceilings. ceilings in most buildings are hanged beneath the upper floor to make room for ducts and pipes. soon after the disaster a tokyo construction company began

examining the earthquake resistance of the ceilings. the engineers showed that the previous method of ceiling construction couldn't withstand jolts as strong as the march 11th quake. suspended ceilings are common in many kind of buildings in japan. such ceilings at an airport terminal fell down in the earthquake as did those of many large structures in the country. experts point out the dangers of these suspended ceilings. they say the audience in this concert hall would have been in great danger if the earthquake had struck while a performance was under way. kajima corporation is among the many japanese construction companies that are developing reinforcement measures for suspended ceilings. kajima's engineers reinforced the suspension ceiling wires

with additional bolts and added diagonal support beams. in tests with the new part, the new model easily survived shocks of the same level as the initial tests. >> translator: the materials we used to enhance the earthquake resistance are commonly available. we discovered that we can reduce damage without developing something entirely new. >> reporter: officials at the land ministry are working on establishing earthquake resistance standards for ceilings, but there's no reason you shouldn't take a look into your attic now to see whether the ceiling won't fall on your head in the next earthquake. tomoko kamata, nhk world. when last year's massive earthquake hit east japan, many houses suffered damage due to

liquid faction. the softening of soil. this problem was especially serious in residential areas built on land fills in the prefecture. the city is encouraging construction come pans to come up with they are coming up with new approaches to make sure land they build the houses will not liquify. >> a testing site for companies to come up with ways to prevent it. one large construction company use aid method using logs. the logs of cedar or cypress are inverted into the ground vertically. this is how they work. it generally occurs in sandy soil that is water logged. usually sand forms tight clumps. when it is shaken, the grain separates. pounding the logs into the ground increases the pressure on

surrounding soil. embedding many logs in the ground makes that area firmer. tests indicate the logs make the soil hard enough to prevent liquefaction. when shaken. even in water-logged soil, the water resists decay. the company says costs can be kept down by using tree fittings from forests. >> translator: right now, nowhere else in the world is using logs as a way to prevent liquefaction. we are continuing to look at ways to make this more affordable. >> another major company has a different approach to preventing the ground liquifying. under the houses it bits. this method involves the use of steel plates. the plates of solid steel are pounded into the ground on four sides of the house. when soil liquefaction occurs, mud oozes out of the earth often causing houses to tilt. the house surrounded by the

steel plates does not tilt because the plates trap the liquefied soil. here, models are being tested. the house at the front is the one with the steel plates. the house at the back tilts to one side. the one in front with the extra reinforcement remains unaffected. this technique has already been used with success to protect commercial oil storage tanks. to reduce costs when building house, the company plans to use plates that are thinner, but reinforced. >> translator: this approach is being developed for customers buying new homes. in the next year or two, we plan to introduce a method that can be used to prevent liquefaction for existing homes. >> the next step for the companies is to test houses on a large vibration platform. they are hoping to put their

methods into practice for next april. time now to check the world weather forecast and the severe tropical storm in the pacific. with rachel ferguson. >> hi, there, yes, we have a couple storm to talk about this hour. we will start with guchol in the pacific. a severe tropical storm. moving west, 10 kilometers an hour. sustained winds 100 kilometers. gusts at 162 kph. looks like it will be moving parallel to the coast of the philippines, heading towards taiwan and swerving to the japanese southern okinawa island. now, it is going to be a strong typhoon, by saturday morning. and a very strong typhoon by monday morning as it approaches taiwan and the southern japanese islands. that's the forecast. now although it doesn't look like we are going to see a direct landfall, it certainly is going to be causing a lot of problems. this is going to be a very powerful system bring strong

winds th will mean the waves are going to be very choppy, of course. storm surge to deal with. a lot of rain. there has already been a great deal of rain, along the seasonal front stretched out from southern china through taiwan and into japan. so there is already a serious flooding situation in many of these areas. as the guchol moves towards that front. and those areas hit by heavy rain. it really is going to be exacerbating a very dangerous problem. so, we are keeping a close eye on this as we head towards the weekend and beginning of next week. things are going to get fairly wet across japan. a low-pressure system formed over that front. it is going to be bringing heavy rain in through the region as well, and coming into central japan saturday. all right, let's go now to north america. and, another storm. this is, tropical storm to the south of mexico right now. this one looks like it is going to be developing fairly quickly becoming a hurricane by friday morning local time.

so in the next -- six to eight hours. now as it heads in towards the southern coast you will be seeing heavy rain and strong winds coming in. you will already see hurricane warnings and watches posted, along the southern coast of mexico. although it doesn't look like it is going to be making a direct landfall. we might be lucky, just going to graze the coast here. but still going to be some heavy rain up to 300 millimeters in some areas. heavy storms are hitting the rest of the continent as well. you see this potent low-moving through ontario. and along the front sash, sever storms are breaking out. give you outlook. tell you where the hot spots are going to be. south dakota in through, bim m wyoming. severe thunderstorms. spreading in kansas to wisconsin. looks look we are getting rain in colorado. it isn't going to be light enough to alleviate the problem with wildfires being so dry. we have video to show you what has been going on. let's go to that. so this is -- in larimer county,

colorado. high wind, low humidity. the blaze has now consumed, 180 square kilometers of land. a 60-year-old woman was kid. many, many people have been evacuated from the site. over 1,000 fire fighters are working day and night to put the fire out with heavy air tankers. so, very dangerous situation altogether. it is going to stay very dry and hot through the weekend. let's take a look at our temperatures. and houston, 33. 33, oklahoma city. new chicago, see the heat spreading. 30 degrees in denver, colorado. all right, into europe. a potent storm just about to move across the british isles. this will bring heavy rain and strong wind. and it is exactly what we don't want. it is really going to be an issue. there is a serious flooding situation here. the rest of the continent is looking fairly fine and settled. and temperatures will be warming up to about the 30-degree mark for central, southern locations. here is your extended forecast. ♪

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before we go, let me give you our top story. police arrested the last wanted member of the aum cult, the group carried out the deadly sarin gas attack on the tokyo subways in 1995. police found takahashi at a tokyo comic book cafe. they confirmed his identity using his fingerprints. they arrested him on charges of murder and other crimes. an employee of the cafe tipped off police. he said a man who looked like takahashi was at the shop. investigators rushed to the scene and detained the suspect. that wraps up this edition of "newsline."

i'm aotani yuko. thank you fo