back on the grid. japan has nuclear power for the first time in two months. a web of power lines crosses japan providing electricity to homes and businesses. the power flowing through some of those lines is once again from a nuclear source. operators say a reactor at the ohi plant in central japan is now supplying electricity. japan has been without nuclear power since may. all reactors in the country have been offline for regular inspections. the government ordered further

checks in response to safety concerns after the accident last year at fukushima daiichi. on sunday, engineers at ohi fired up the number three reactor for the first time in 15 months. it reached criticality, the next day. >> translator: it's a relief that we can provide electric power to people in the kansai area. i want the operations to keep going with safety as the top priority. >> the engineers say they expect the reactor to reach full capacity next monday. they are scheduled to restart the number four reactor in about two weeks. so nuclear power is back in the energy mix and japan's demand is expected to peak. we have been following this story. miskuwa what was behind the decision to bring this reactor back online?

>> well the engineers modelled what the reactor would look like if reactors in the region stayed offline through the summer. they estimated supply would fall 15% in the area. they believe the restart should eliminate concerns about a power shortage and the effects of that on the economy. there are 50 commercial reactors across japan. reactor number three at ohi is now the only one online. as we have said, engineers are expected to restart number four later this month. the other 48 reactors will remain offline as they complete the safety checks. >> how sure can the residents be that the government officials have taken the steps necessary to prevent the accident like the one in fukushima? >> right. well many japanese believe the measure s adopted so far are insufficient. they point out that the municipalities that hosted the plants have not updated the evacuation plans. those plants must follow new

government guidelines on disaster prevention, but leaders have not submitted revisions. japanese government officials say they have taken sufficient measures to avoid another nuclear meltdown. they provided a safety plan for ohi. and it calls for additional facilities including a quake-resistant emergency command center. but workers will take another three years to complete that building. >> so when can people expect the other reactors you mentioned to be back online? >> government officials want to resume operations after they clear all those safety measures and safety checks. the accident last year pushed people across the country to join a movement against the plants. thousands of demonstrators staged rallies in front of the prime minister's office and people in ohi formed a human barricade on the road into the plant.

the officials at the plants need to reassure the people and eliminate any distrust. the government cannot allow any other restarts until the creation of the new nuclear regulatory commission so people here will have to wait to find out when power will flow from the plants other than from ohi. >> thank you very much. >> sure. palestinian officials plan to investigate the death of yasser arafat. the long time leader died in 2004. a media report suggests he may have been assassinated. the broadcaster said swiss researchers found traces of highly radioactive materials on arafat's clothing. a palestinian authority spokesperson said president abbas ordered an inquiry into arafat's death. this could involve exhuming his body. a senior member of the palestinian liberation organization called for an investigation by an international panel. the cause of arafat's death has never been clarified. palestinians have long suspected

he was assassinated. egypt's new president took office saying his door would be open to all citizens. members of the public appear to be taking him at his word. crowds have flocked to mohamed morsi's office every day since his inauguration last week. the scenes are a stark contrast to the era of former president hosni mubarak. morsi is egypt's first civilian president since protestors dragged mubarak from office last year. hundreds of people visited his office on wednesday calling for more jobs and improved working conditions. the mubarak administration maintained tight security around the president. security personnel would arrest or even shoot anyone approaching his office. morsi says he will set up a department to hear citizens' requests. egypt's military has a strong grip on legislative power. so egyptians will have to wait to see how far morsi can go in meeting their demands. countries providing aid to

afghanistan have long worried about funds getting swallowed up. a senior afghan official said president hamid karzai's government is riddled with corruption. >> very serious. the most corrupt country in the world. >> ludin says authorities including police and government officials are corrupt. he notes investigators are now looking into the activities of two ministers in karzai's cabinet. he said the judiciary is limited in their ability to chase down those who break the law. authorities prosecuted less than 10% of corruption cases filed last year. people in afghanistan say corrupt officials are hampering the reconstruction efforts. representatives of donor countries will discuss the issue this weekend at a conference in tokyo.

lawmakers in europe rejected an international treaty to crack down on counterfeiting and digital piracy. those who sign on to the dewant to stop intellectual property theft and fake brand goods. legislators in the european parliament overwholeelmingly vo against it. they said the deal could lead to stronger controls on the internet and include unreasonable censorship based on copyright and trademark infringement. this is the first time the european parliament has turned down a trade pact already being signed by the eu. law makers in the eu, japan, the united states and several other countries have signed the agreement. car makers are now betting their future on russia. the country's car industry has been growing despite the european debt crisis japan's

mitsubishi and pueget set up a plant southwest of moscow. now their assembly lines have started full-scale production. workers at the kaluga plant are churning out 125,000 vehicles per year. or three times their initial output. executives at mitsubishi hope to use the facility as the a platform for the russian market. the global financial crisis stemming from the collapse oflyman brothers, triggered a plunge in russian car sales in 2009. dealers sold 1.5 million units ahalf the year before. the sector has shown strong signs of recovery. salesmen sold 2.6 million cars last year. japan is one of the most indebted nations in the world so it faces a pressing need to improve its fiscal health. one way to cushion the nation's coffers ties raise taxes. lawmakers in the lower house of the dias would raise consumption

tax from 5%. if enacted it will reach 8% by 2014. and 10% by 2015. our business reporter, spoke with the chief economist for a securities company in japan to get her views. >> japan's credibility as a borrower was recently downgraded by a major ratings agency, how will a raise in consumption tax improve or affect japan's ability to borrow. >> i think the decision of the consumption tax hike in 2014, the gdp has reduced considerably. as the the rating agency has announced they were going to -- downgrade gdp credit rating to a single ranges. but things have been -- last week, the government -- lower house has decided to pass the bill consumption tax hike. it ways great decision.

awe j japan's public debt is double the gdp. bigger than greece and spain. their governments are having trouble selling bonds to the open market. >> just looking at for example the public debt, gdp ratio orifice cal deor. fiscal deficit ratio is shocking numbers, comparing the european count countries. but i think from the flow of the money point of view, as long as the -- the japanese economy, the current account surface as it is now, the -- the risk of the -- of the gdp is not that high, just scum paircompared to the f european countries. >> now it has been said a tax hike will hurt japan's economy as households sk cutback on spe what's your take on that? >> if the upper house, finally

decides for the consumption tax hike, we will see rush demand in first quarter of 2014. and the kind of the decline, decline in the second quarter. but if the global demand is in a good shape, as it is now, i think that -- those negative impact should be short-lived. >> with the fiscal deficit, twice that of the gdp. do you think a doubling of the consumption tax will be enough to achieve its aims. if not, what else needs to be done? >> no, i don't think so. it is not enough to cover the fiscal deficit. for example, by raising the consumption tax by 5%, by the -- bite end of year 2015. it can only yield 12.8 -- 12.5 on the end of the tax revenue by the consumption tax hike.

compared to the fiscal deficit, 544 yen at this moment it is not enough to fully cover the, the public issues. the main focus for the government is -- the further increase of the consumption tax hike as imf has suggested. and -- yeah, there is a great saying, consumption tax should be raised to more than 10%. considering the budget constraint for the time beak it is difficult, the business activity and to increase tax revenue. rather than that i think the main focus should be how the government is going to accelerate the reduction of the fiscal expenditure in the near term.

south koreans are living in smart homes, with solar energy and to make sure electric power is used efficiently. as more south koreans want to conserve energy, builders are looking at putting extra technologies into home. nhk's anna jong reports. >> i am in the latest version of a smart home on the market since last march. the builder has installed an electric touch pad with a touch of the button, it can control lights, gas and heat. the system also has home security functions. an alarm will sound if it detects an intruder. just like this. the entry way has a magic

mirror. when you leave the house -- the mirror says it's going to rain today, please bring an umbrella. you can leave home with the latest forecast and temperature and with the numbers here, you can find your parking spot. because the whole system is connected to the internet. all south korean homebuilders are paying close attention to the latest it technology. at this condominium complex, residents can use their smart phones to link to their home networks. with a smart phone, you can contl light switches and even fill the bathtub with hot water.

she has lived here for two years. she says, this gadgets mean she doesn't waste as much electricity as before. >> translator: away from home i see if lights are burning in rooms, no one is using and turn the lights off. but if i know where people are, i can switch off the lights in other rooms. >> reporter: developers are still work on the ultimate new eco home. they call it the zero energy house. you find about 70 eco friendly gadgets in this house. they include heat resistant glass windows and walls and tiles that can control the humidity level. the home also has fuel cells. they produce energy when oxygen and hydrogen react. the house produces 30 liters of hot water a day, and more than

one kilowatt of electricity, enough for 24 hours. the electricity supplied by the house can power an electric car. any electricity over is sold to the utility company. >> there is absolutely no energy supplied from the outside. so residents can enjoy life without any energy costs. >> on south korea's jeju island, researchers are experimenting with a community of smart homes. in other words, a smart city. houses are connected to a power network controlled by original control center. it monitors how much power the whole city uses. the center also encourages residents to use electricity during hours of low power

consumption. the city aims for all households to link to the system within a year. >> from 2015 we will select, seven or eight cities across the country that will implement the smo smart city system the we want to make south korea the global leader in smart cities. >> south korea and government officials have pledged to cut green house gas emissions by 30% before the year 2020. south koreans hope smart home will make this happen. anna jung, nhk world, seoul. >> announcer: 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 will show you their struggles and their successes on "the road

ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." a former leader of the 1989 student protest in tiananmen square has criticized the chinese government for failing to uphold human rights. the protestor fled to the united states in 1998 after spending six years in prison. he told a group in tokyo the political situation in china is getting worse. he said authorities are suppressing freedom of speech. >> when i was a young student at peking university, i organized the democratic salon every week, how can you imagine this happen in today's beijing. every university student if they dare to do this -- >> wan urged the public to pay attention to what is happening in china and to pressure the government to improve human rights record.

more democracy in china would lead to better relations with japan and contribute to peace in east asia. >> myanmar's parliament opened a new session. the party is the largest opposition group following the landslide victory in the april elections. but the leader, was absent from wednesday's session as she is recovering from exhaustion. about 40 nld members attended the parliamentary session in the capital. a statement from the president was presented at the beginning. it announced their resignation of one of the country's two vice presidents, a former military officer. his replacement chosen next week. the area is still in a state of emergency.

aun will face challenges as she works to enact changes. goals that include revising the constitution that now protects their military's dominant position. japan's defense minister keeps hearing complaints about an aircraft, the u.s. military will use in okinawa. the defense minister plans to visit washington to check on the safety of the osprey. he wants to hold talks next month with leon pan spechetta. he wants more information about

accidents involving the tilt motor aircraft. one crashed in april killing two marines. another want down in florida last month injuring five. first 12 ospreys are on a ship. commanders expect pilots at the air force station will be able to fly the aircraft by october. south sudan will soon make its first year of independence, the african nation faces challenges. one is building basic infrastructure. japanese peacekeepers could help turn things around. more than 300 members of japan's ground self defense force are in the capital. they're taking part in a u.n. peacekeeping operation. their first task was to build a base camp. t the peacekeepers main mission is to clear land and build housing for refugees. >> the people of south sudan, the japanese defense force, for

their hard work they are doing in trying to contribute to the building of this nation. benjamin wants the peacekeepers to share their skills and expertise with the people of south sudan. time now to check the world weather forecast including the situation in western japan. rachel ferguson is standing by. >> hi there, yes, dealing with very heavy rain over the last couple days, resulting in flooding and landslides to. day the rain has been easing off. just moving to the north, so affecting the regions of japan. this is the front that is responsible for the flooding downpours. it moves across the korean peninsula. comes into eastern china here. there has been a recording of 250 millimeters of rain in the last 24 hours. very significant totals here. the heavy rain will travel with the low pressure system into the korean peninsula on our friday. south of the front. more heat for areas such as

shanghai. giving 38 degrees. for your high today. so, really, intense heat. and very dry here. but further down towards the south. you run into more heavy rain, particularly in southern thailand. and also southernvietnam. heavy to very heavy is forecast, and that of course will intensify the likelihood of flooding and landslides here as well. let's go now to north america. storms here. more heat you can see, in fact, where this dome of heat is going to be. because the cloud stays around the periphery. that tea where we find our storms today. moving through the plains. into ontario a nother band moving down toward the mid-atlantic. let's take a look at some of the figures you can expect in the next few days. unfortunately it does not look good. 41 degrees in chicago, friday. saturday comes down by 10 degrees. storms roll through. still 31 degrs. a very hot day. have a look at saint louis. we are staying in the 40s in the

next three dates. getting up to 42 degrees on friday. okay. let's go next to europe. i want to start off showing you video of what has been happening. acrosss in europe. poland face sad veer thunderstormand flooding yesterday. also saw hail. the sizechicken eggs from the sky. turkey, flash flooding here. torrential rain has inundated parts of turkey. a river burst its banks sweeping away cars and flooding homes. floods and landslides are not so unusual in the black sea region this time of year. however as you can seep just a critical situation. thankfully the rain here has eased. moving away with the low pressure cyst temperature ostem black sea. things settling down here. out over the east the heat wave will continue and expannd up in

russia. wet and unstable across the british isles and into central europe. heaviest of the rain is going to be found in parts of ireland, scotland, and england. with thunderstorms rattling through in towards central portions. here is a look at your temperatures then. 30 degrees in madrid. little cooler in london. 21. you can expect heavy rain over the weekend. as the we head east, once again. budapest, 36 degrees. there are warnings for parts of southeastern poland. as well as hungary for the heat. i will leave you now with your extended forecast. ♪ ♪

our top story once again.

operators of a nuclear plant in central japan say a reactor is now generating power again. japan has been without nuclear power since may. all reactors in the country have been offline for regular inspections. the government ordered further checks in response to safety concerns after the accident last year at fukushima daiichi. engineers at ohi fired up the three reactor for the first time in 15 months and reached criticality the next day. >> translator: it is a relief that we can provide electric power to people in the kansai area. i want the operations to keep going with safety as the top priority. >> the engineers say they expect the reactor will reach full capacity next monday. they're scheduled to restart their four reactor in about two weeks. and that's all for now on this edition of "newsline."

i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. thank you very much for watching.