the road to kabul. pakistan agrees to reopen the supply routes to afghanistan. u.s. and pakistani leaders have come to agreement that will help nato soldiers to wrap up the mission in afghanistan. they agreed to reopen the routes to pakistan. the u.s. uses the roads to bring in goods and fuel. secretary of state hillary clinton discussed the details over the phone with the pakstani foreign minister. >> the foreign minister karr has advised her the ground lines of communication will be reopening. >> u.s. troops in afghanistan killed 24 pakistani soldiers in error last november in a

cross-border air strike. pakistani blocked the supply routes. clinton offered an apology and expressed the condolences to the families of the dead soldiers. the islamic extremist group, the pakistani taliban criticized the agreement. members threat tuned attack u.s. convoys. nato leaders said the agreement demonstrates strengthened cooperation between their forces and pakistan. the signed treaties with other central asian countries to provide access into afghanistan, but those roadways prove to be too costly. nato leaders say the routes through pakistan are important as they prepare to withdraw by 2014. afghan president hamid karzai put a price on the financial help he says his country needs. he made it days before leaders will meet to discuss aid to afghanistan. nhk's hideki yui reports from kabul.

>> life in afghanistan, in spite of all the problems, in spite of insecurity, in spite of the unfortunate incidents that we have, in spite of corruption, in spite of deficiencies in defectiveness, in spite of the deficiencies, it has improved considerably. >> reporter: speaking in kabul, karzai stressed the achievement of his administration and appealed to the international community for long term aid. he said afghanistan needs $3.9 billion a year for development from 2015. >> the $3.9 billion that we ask annually is a figure we believe

is in moderation, that the international community can afford and we hope to get the funding required in tokyo. >> reporter: the afghan government originally planned to request $5 billion a year, but nato members and other countries already promised more than $4 billion annually for security. it seems that prompted afghanistan to lower expectations. karzai wants international financial aid to develop afghanistan's natural resources and build infrastructure such as airports and railways. even so, ongoing violence by taliban militants raises questions about what can be achieved. >> how is it in the interest of the taliban to kill civilians? how is it good for their patriotism to kill civilians? how is it good for the religious

to kill civilians and innocent people? rather than doing that, my recommendation to the taliban is to join the peace process and become a political force in afghanistan. enter politics. >> reporter: most troops are due to withdrawal from afghanistan by 2014. karzai is scheduled to step down as president the same year. that combination threatens the power. karzai said he hopes peace talks with the taliban can be restarted in order to improve security in afghanistan and raise prospects for development. hideki yui, nhk world, kabul. technical experts have met from i ran and six major powers, to discuss iran's nuclear program. western diplomats hope the meeting will pave the way for

higher level negotiations. the talks are part of negotiations that resumed in april between iran and the u.n. securi council plus germany. western leaders want iranian scientists to stop higher grade uranium enrichment that can lead to development of nuclear weapons. iranian leaders insist their nuclear program is for purposes. high level talks have failed to reach a break through. the eu and u.s. increased the sanctions that target iran's exports of oil. iranian officials continue to signal their defiance. on tuesday, soldiers carried out test launches of ballistic missiles. the commander of the revolutionary guard said the missiles were targeting what he called iran's hypothetical enemies. the british military is setting up surface-to-air missiles in residential areas of london. the missile defense system is one of the anti-terrorist measures being deployed for the

olympic games. the system will be in place middle of the month. installing in six locations in and around the capital. one site is the roof of a housing complex near the main stadium a nother a residential square in east london also near an olympic venue. defense secretary phillip hammond announced the idea last autumn. military officials scouted 100 possible locations. not all residents are happy about the missile shield. about 100 people stage aid protest march last weekend. hammond called the measure a powerful deterrent that will reassure the public. tokyo tax authorities are seeking more than $60 million in back taxes from olympus. sources say the tokyo regional

tax station bureau notified the optical equipment maker it had underreported more than $180 million in income. olympus declared the fund expenditures related to the acquisition of a british medical equipment maker. tax officials say they were used in an internal transactions to cover up losses from failed investments. owe lympus admitted to $1 milli and acquisition deals. a u.s. port ordered toshiba to bay $87 million in damages, to fix lcd panel prices. u.s. consumers filed a civil class action lawsuit against toshiba and makers of liquid crystal displays and alleged the firms engaged in anti-competitive activities from 1999 to 2006. a california jury ruled in favor of the plaintiffs wednesday.

seven other defendant lcd makers agreed to settle. toshiba says it will pursue all available legal avenues to overturn the verdict. the head of the international monetary fund warned the u.s. government about cutting the deficit too quickly. the imf director called on the u.s. to review its belt tightening measures and pointed out downside risks for the global economy. her statement follows the imf release of an annual study of the u.s. economy. >> too strong a contraction of the u.s. economy as a result of say the realization of the fiscal cliff will have significant spillover effects outside of the united states. >> the imf report says the u.s. recovery remains tepid and

growth is likely to remain modest in the next few years. the u.s. tax breaks and cuts in government spending are downside risks. both measures are schedule ford early 2013. the imf cites it could push the u.s. economy into negative groechlt growth. it is critical to assure fiscal development in the short run so ongoing recovery will be supported. ir leland is to return to t bond markets this week first time in two years. the guchlt under a ballout plan says it will offer three month bills thursday and will raise $630 million. the move comes as irish government bonds are selling well in the secondary market. that is on speculation that a recent eu decision will help reduce ireland's borrowing. last week, eu leaders agreed to use the euro zone bailout fund boost the commercial banks directly without going through governments. ireland is currently rebuilding

its finances after receiving a bailout from the eu and imf in late 2010. france's new prime minister re-examined the state of finances there. the french president said the french people need to tackle what he called an unprecedented debt crisis. he slashed the forecast for growth. he said the economy is street to grow this year by only 0.3%. still he said his government will take on the debt. he vowed to keep his promise to raise taxes for the wealthy and for large corporations. he said his government would go ahead with plans to add 60,000 teachers and public servants over the next few years. >> translator: the government will try to reduce expenditures while finding new sources of revenue. this is necessary to revive the french economy. >> auditors warned this week

that government must implement spending cuts and tax increases of more than $12 billion to meet its deficit reduction target. police in paris have searched the home and offices of former french president nicolas sarkozy looking for evidence in an investigation into illegal campaign financing. police say checking claims the heiress to the loreal cosmetic fortune gave illegal donations to the sarkozy campaign. sarkozy and his family are in holiday in canada but denied all wrongdoing. his lawyer said the raids were futile. and that sarkozy submitted reports of activities during the 2007 campaign. sarkozy lost to his socialist chal challenger. his presidential immunity expired last month, the former president, convicted of misusing

public funds while mayor of paris was given a suspended sentence. here is another political scandal, this time from south korea. the elder brother of president has been quizzed on bribery allegations. former legislator was questioned by the supreme prosecutor's office on tuesday. he is suspected of receiving about $440,000 from the chairman of a bank over the last five years to use as a slush fund. the president's brother told reporters, he would respond to the questions honestly, but would be drawn on whether the allegations were true or not. prosecutors are expected to decide soon if they will press ahead and build a case on the allegations. the elder had a role in the ruling party but was forced to pull out of the general election in april over the bribery scandal. the current administration has suffered a series of scandals involving figures close to the president. in april, a presidential aide was arrested over allegations of

bribe taking on a construction project. currently serving his last year in office. his brother's scandal is likely to influence the remainder of the term. 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 wednesday, 1:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." the operators of a nuclear plant on the sea of japan coast have postponed their start of power generation there. a reactor set to start producing power. but the power company pushed it back to thursday or later. sunday, engineers initiated the first restart since reactors across japan were taken off line one by one following the

accident at fukushima daiichi. the earthquake hit northeastern japan while children were in school. educators in other parts of japan took note. now they're studying ways to keep their students safe if a similar disaster hits their area. to learn from people who have firsthand experience, some teachers traveled to the disaster areas. >> reporter: the tsunami smashed through the prefecture. about 16 months later, elementary and junior high teachers from western japan visited the area. heed to see for himself

what they could do for their children if disaster struck. >> i thought i knew all about the horrors of an earthquake. but now that i have seen the damage, the horror is more real. i want to tell my students about it. the tsunami rolled over walls, 10 meters high, and flattened the area. the water flooded the first floor classrooms and schoolrooms at the junior high. the group spoke with the teachers. the visitors wanted to learn what they could do to men is my casualties -- minimize casualties at their old schools. the principal says he evacuated 120 students to one of the

offices. >> translator: parents started coming to pick up their children on the night of the disasterable. i refused. our shelter was the safest place and we had access to the most information. >> we ordered all students to evacuate the area. because we knew that tsunami was coming. >> some of our questions were designed to find out how to provide emotional care for the youngsters. >> translator: did any of the students see the tsunami? >> some did. but i can't verify that. >> reporter: he understood the difficulty of making quick decisions in the midst of the disaster.

as soon as he got home, he held a teachers' workshop at his school. the site of the tsunami approaching the town was truly terrible. i thought that the students shouldn't have to watch the devastation that the tsunami brought to the town. >> and our reporter joins us now from ehime. so, what challenges do school staff face in trying to get children to safe places? >> speed is essential. schools are studying way to get churn to sa children to safe areas as fast as possible and they're looking at ways to help youngsters to cope with their emotions after such a terrifying experience. in some cases the school

themselves become evacuation centers, so the staff must figure out how to get emergency food supplies for the children. last year's daisaster has shown how many challenges they face. >> i see, how will the school take advantage of what they learned during the visit? >> well, he had this to say. >> translator: i hope that we can share the weight of our mission and the responsibility we have as teachers to protect the lives of students. >> he says that the group will compile a report on the visit later this summer. he also says they're using information in teachers workshops in, and in classrooms. >> right. thank you very much there.

china has been dubbed the world's factory for its cheap, plentiful labor. the wages are rising fast. now even china's businesses are looking abroad. >> a new helping hand has arrived in beijing. noodles are being made by this robot. it slices the dough as skillfully as a veteran noodle chef. the robot costs about $2,300. that is equivalent to five months pay for a typical chef. >> translator: good. all the noodles are a consistent size. >> this company manufactured the robot.

every day, restaurant owners struggling with rising labor costs come seeking help. >> translator: robots can do so much. wages are rising, but robots work hard without making any demands. >> attitudes toward work are changing in china. that was clear at a job fair held recently in guandong province. more people are demanding in the job search. >> translator: i want a job that pays well and gives me a lot of days off. >> translator: i'm not in a big hurry. i want a job with good conditions. >> translator: wages are increasing so much. it is putting a strain on the business. >> the strain is already being felt on factory floors.

this company manufactures bags for western brands drawn on by china's low labor costs. the factory needs 400 workers to work at capacity. it only has 300. some sewing machines hit with their covers on. the company has turned to cambodia in its search for cheap labor. wages here are only one-quarter of those in china. an advertisement for staff received ten applications for every position. >> translator: working here has made our life much easier. >> translator: we can have a better life. >> 13 other chinese companies have built factories in the same industrial park. >> translator: cambodian people are hard workers.

i think productivity will increase there and fall in china. >> with labor costs rising, chinese businesses need a new model for success. for some companies, that means a hot sunny day here today. let's turn to rachel ferguson for that and more in her world weather forecast. as we head on through the day i am afraid the torrential downpours are not going to ease up, not until we head on into thursday and slowly the front line that is bringing that heavy rain should move north up into towards the region. unfortunately it is going to be very happy rain moving in there too. so, with the front it will bring

also the likelihood of flooding. and landslides to occur. now if we follow that front back in through eastern china, we are going to notice that more heavy rain here is likely throughout the day and into tomorrow. we are talking about, 100 millimeters of rain. maybe re, locally as well. and very heavy areas going to push farther towards the east the you can see maybe a large purple area, shifting there, heading in towards the korean peninsula. the deluge is going to continue for the next couple of days. let's go now to north america. we have been dealing with some really difficult sich racituati because of the weather. let's start with video showing you what happened when stormed ripped through the mid-atlantic, the weekend. this its d.c. very vigorous summer storm hit here, leaving millions of people -- without power. and this is all of course in the middle of -- of -- very intense

heat wave. 22 people were reportedly killed because of the storm. most from falling trees. officials have feared that the death toll could climb now because of the ongoing heat. and also the widespread use of generators which emit fumes that can be dangerous in closed spaces. now the heat is going to continue for the next couple of days. and as i said, without power, you can't work the air conditioning, so it is a very serious situation altogether. those summer storms are going to continue along the u.s./canada border. northern tier, the continent, a large low over western canada there. that will be shifting towards the east. we have storms for that region. coming into the northeast here too. south of the storms is where the heat gets very intense. particularly in the midwest. let's show you some figures for wednesday, these are the highs, 38 in chicago. 34 in washington, d.c. i would look to give you some good news, as we head on into the fourth of july, your celebrations, i am afraid the

next few days are going to be very trying for many of you. getting up to 39 in chicago. 37 in oklahoma city. even toronto up to 35. and 38 in d.c. as well as the wichita. all right. let's go now to europe. where once again, we are seeing -- some, some pretty difficult weather as well. across the british isles. slow moving weather system is going to intensify bringing heavier rain into, into the region. now, just last week there was widespread flooding for parts of scotland. and england. unfortunately, there is going to be a risk of -- repeated -- flooding event. as the system just brings that heavy rain in over the next couple days. it will spread into western france and low countries too. then for central our up along the front from the alpine region to the baltic states. more intense storms today. can't really move very far east because we have this dome of high pressure. so, sort of restricting the movement. also allowing lots of heat to come up from the south. and there are heat warnings, advisories posted through, the

balkans up towards poland and black sea region. now for your extended forecast. ♪ ♪ our top story once again,

pakistani leaders have agreed to reopen nato supply routes to afghanistan. secretary of state hillary clinton discussed the details over the phone with pakistani foreign minister karr. >> foreign minister karr has the advised her the ground lines of communication will be reopening. >> u.s. troops based in afghanistan killed 24 pakistani soldiers in error last november in a cross-border air strike. then pakistani officials blocked nato from using their roadways. clinton offered an apology for the first time. she expressed her condolences to the families of the dead soldiers. the islamic extremist group, pakistani taliban criticized the agreement. members threatened to attack u.s. convoys. that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. thank you very much for watching.