game on. >> it is my honor to nominate mitt romney for the office of president of the united states of america. >> u.s. republicans put forward their challenger to barack obama. the winds have calmed in tampa, florida and delegates have nominated their candidate for the election in november. a tropical storm curtailed the first day of the convention.

now delegates are back selling romney to the american people. they adopted a platform to push for a smaller government. the plan calls for cutting the deficit, relaxing regulations, and lowering taxes for all levels of income. they criticize the obama administration for reducing the military budget. the republicans are the party of peace through strength. romney has worked for years for the nomination, but many wonder what he stands for. nhk "world's" matt field reports from tampa. >> reporter: mitt romney says he has the experience to lead something he says president barack obama has not led. an economic recovery. >> we will get the economy going again with more jobs and more take home pay. >> reporter: voters four years ago bought obama's promises of change.

but republicans and democrats remain divided. and the jobless rate is stuck above 8%. >> people who did vote for him are just as disappointed as anyone else. >> i don't see any tax breaks coming my way. it's been tough. tough four years. >> reporter: romney rebuilt company after company as the chief executive of bain capital. and he led the organizing committee for the 2002 winter olympics in salt lake city. romney took over with the committee staggering under its debts. he turned things around to a surplus. he stresses that kind of expertise is essential to turn around the economy. >> it was really amazing. he did not leave it for his staff. he laid it all out. where things stood financially. where they were. where they are now. what they anticipated in the future. >> reporter: romney went on to become the governor of massachusetts.

he contrasts his experience in politics and business with that of obama. still, many republicans have felt romney does not go far enough to the right. he helped calm those fears with his choice of a running mate. paul ryan is the chairman of the house of representatives budget committee. the chief architect of the republican plan for tax and spending cuts. >> i believe that my record of getting things done in congress will be a very helpful complement to romney's executive and private sector success outside of washington. >> we are offering a positive governing jenn that will lead to economic growth to widespread and shared prosperity and improve the lives of our fellow citizens. >> reporter: romney's success in business has invited criticism for the millions he has earned. obama has success of his own. in painting his opponent as a

businessman who cuts jobs. romney will have several days to paint himself as a champion of economic recovery and leader who can take back the presidency. matt field, nhk world, tampa, florida. >> a car bomb in the syrian capital killed dozens of people attending a funeral. government and opposition forces are blaming each other for latest bloodshed. the blast ripped through a cemetery in the district, a suburb of southeast damascus. a civil group in syria says 27 people were killed and more than 40 wounded. most victim were attending the funeral of two supporters of president assad. the two men were killed in bombings a day earlier. the state-run news agency has accused anti-government forces of planting the bomb in the cemetery. rebels say the government carried out the bombing to divert attention from the atrocities it has committed. the two side are blaming each

other for mass killings in the town near damascus. body of at least 120 people were found there, on sunday. in the national aid workers are concerned how they will deal with a growing exodus from sear yeah. more than 210,000 syrians have escaped the fighting. the office of u.n. high commissioner for refugees says, more and more people are fleeing across syria's borders. 74,000 have crossed the northern bored near turkey. some 70,000 refugees are in jordan. about 10,000 have arrived there in the past week alone. twice the number of the previous week. another 54,000 have gone to lebanon. many are staying in schools. aid workers are pressed to find new refugee shelters. the school year will begin soon. and officials with the organization estimated 185,000 people would flee syria by the end of the year. the number of refugees has

exceeded their projections. many industries are facing a tough time in the current economic climate. not so, gun makers. the value of otheritrade has do in six years. research institute in geneva, switzerland, running the numbers and estimates the value of international small arms trade at $8.5 billion a year. the figure for 2004 was $4 billion. the report says the rise is due mainly to large scale military spending prompted by the wars in iraq and afghanistan. it also points to increased purchases of small arms and ammunition by u.s. citizens. the report refers to the illegal arms trade and says insurgents continue to obtain guns and light weapons despite 2001 u.n. action program to halt illicit shipments.

finance ministers say western nations are ready to tap strategic oil reserves and fear that rising prices could hurt growth. mounting tensions over iran helped drive prices up. many worry tropical storm isaac may hit oil production facilities in the gulf of mexico. benchmark crude oil futures rose to $100 in overnight trading. they're concerned about the risk to the global economy and wary of substantial risks posed by elevated oil prices. so they're monitoring the situationen a ein all markets. they're ready to call upon in the national energy agency to step in. the ministers said they're committed to ensuring the market is fully and timely supplied. investors are casting a

nervous eye on spain. they're growing more concerned after their country's largest regional economy asked for government support. officials in catalonia requested 5 billion euros, more than $6 billion. the president said his administration would support catalonia in the say way as other provinces. struggling with credit problems having difficulty getting fund from the markets. its debts exceed $50 billion. more than 20% of its economic output. the province's tax revenue plunged after a real estate bubble collapsed four years ago. spain set up a $22 billion fund in july to help regions with debts. catalonia, the third province to ask for aid. honda motor is considering a building a motorcycle factory in myanmar. the maker of autos and motorcycles, aims to capture growing demand in the economy of

southeast asia. honda will set up an office in the region, the first in the country. the staff will conduct feasibility study. they'll look at potential of the motorcycle market and analyze the infrastructure and labor situation. honda also plans to start selling motorcycles that are made in china and thailand by year end. after the maker conclude an agreement with the local sales agent in myanmar. the country said to be moving toward a full-fledged democracy and leaders are going ahead with economic reforms. japanese auto makers hope to benef benefit. suzuki too plans to build a car factory. while yto open an office. >> off the price of the french wine is on the rise. so some business people from china are buying the wineries and sinking lots of money into production. but the boom is attracting

criminals. nhk "world's" correspondent reports. this summer people have been showing up. and the finest wine sells for $1,300 a bottle. >> this is a $1,400 bottle of rothchild, the wine our chinese customers buy. they tend to purchase it more for the name than for the wine itself. >> reporter: the area's #,000 winery, chateaus make wine with grapes from their own vineyards. now, some owners are selling the winery to chinese business people.

four years ago, the chinese bought this one. the french owner couldn't afford equipment to keep making good wine. the chinese owner poured money into the business. the result, a superior wine. she replaced all the bad grapevines. because newer oak wine barrels improved the wine's quality. the chinese owner, replaced the old barrels. >> translator: the chinese investments have become the standard for us here. everything is good. but the chinese interest in wine has attracted counterfeiters. this chateau has been exporting wine to china for five years. now, criminals are selling the counterfeit version of the

wines. the real one is on the left. and the fake one is on the right. they look exactly the same. several differences, separate the awe then theic from the counterfeit. the logo of the wine is printed there. but on the other bottle, the design is glued on. the chateau's owner was shocked to discover that a kit and corks is sold in china. now, criminals can make a count fit and sell the bottle for $1,500. >> translator: our wine isn't even the most expensive. so i can't believe that they are counterfeiting our wine. >> the wine community is

fighting back. they developed a system to identify a bottle's authenticity. all you have to do is snap a picture or label, with your smart phone. >> this app can analyze distribution information. if you take a picture of the label and the app cannot recognize it, the wine isn't ours. >> we hope that our chinese customers will be satisfied with the quality and that they will want to try other wines. >> winemakers are trying to develop a good relationship with chinese. like fine wine, it may take time to mature. but the continuing effort to protect their eindustry. and the report says 200,000

botherles of rothchild, are produced each year. in china, more than 2 million bottles are sold. counterfeiters pay $400, $500 for empty bottles of the genuine product and fill them with inferior wine. officials from japan and north korea are meeting in the first face to face talks in four years. the japanese want to place the abduction of japanese citizens by north korea agents at the top of the agenda. foreign ministry officials are meeting in beijing. the first since kim jong un took power in december. the talks are expected to lay the ground work for bureau chiefs. red cross officials from both sides set up the meetings, they asked for government help in collecting the remains of japanese people who died at the end of world war ii. the remains of more than 20,000

japanese are buried in what is now north korea. japan plans to bring up the abductions at the talks. the north koreans have maintained the issue has been settled. the japan meteorology agency plans to install three tsunami sensors on the sea bed. agency chiefs hope to speed up the ability to detect tsunamis after earthquakes. engineers will install the sensors around october. they will place them about 300 kilometers off the coast of japan. the sensors measure changes in hydraulic pressure and sent data to satellites from buoys on the sea surface. the monitors are designed to detect tsunamis about ten minutes after the earthquake. that is 10 to 20 minutes faster than current systems such as gps based wave monitors and coastal tide observatories. >> translator: we hope the new monitors will allow more time for people to evacuate.

>> the meteorology agency under estimated the size of the tsunami that would strike after last year's march 11th earthquake. a panel of experts say a majority of japanese don't want to depend on nuclear power. it is urging the government to review the energy policy. the panel found that 70% to 80% of respondents think nuclear power should be reduced by 2030. it says this reflects growing public distrust over government decision making on nuclear policy. the panel insists the government provide concrete plans on spent nuclear fuel and promote renewable energy uses. it stressing the importance on continuing discussions on the nation's energy policy.

in north eastern japan, one custom is helping disaster survivors deal with a sweltering summer. a report on a cotton robe with the power to heal. >> reporter: it is more than just a robe. it is an expression of glamour and grace. in the prefecture, a crowd of people wearing the robe gathered to see fireworks earlier this month. some of them were wearing donated robes. a man working for a kimono

manufacturer in kyoto called out for the donation. people answered. they donated 3,000 in all. >> translator: we hope that wearing the robe will allow the victims of last year's disaster to enjoy themselves a little bit and perhaps to forget even for just a short moment about their ordeal. >> reporter: one of the destinations was the region that experienced devastation by the tsunami. this woman lead the is ne initi. she wears the robe to work at her local restaurant. loving the robe herself, she willingly volunteered. >> translator: when i was distributing, the donations last year, people weren't all that ready. and expressed mixed feelings.

i feel this year, the reaction is more positive. >> women and men, girls and boys, people of all ages lined up and searched through various patterns and colors. she even advised how to complete a style tour make women pretty and elegant. >> i'm glad because i found one that fits me just right. >> i didn't feel like wearing it last year. everything got washed away. so i didn't want to go out at all. this year, i will wear one. along with my family. >> she survived the tsunami. she was trapped in a small restaurant she ran. the waves damaged it, and her

apartment. now, she is determined to help those who need help getting back on their feet. this woman had been looking for a robe for a while. her eldest daughter, struggled after the tsunami and moved to tokyo. she hadn't visited home in a year. her mother hoped, wrapping herself in tradition would help bring a smile become to her face. she came back in time for the fireworks display. and arrived to the venue with her father. she wore a robe, her mother picked out, from the donation. >> i feel really happy.

it was a challenge to wear the robe today. now that i have, i want to keep trying other new things too. >> i need to continue on with this. i want to see more people wearing the robe and smiling. >> many here put on the robe to honor their past. others would prefer to put the past behind them. all of them hope few of find some solace in the rites of summer. >> people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster. it went 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 at 1:00 p.m., japan time. here on "newsline." time now to check the weather forecast with sayaka mori and the latest on hurricane isaac. hurricane isaac made landfallen southeast louisiana, producing, stormy conditions. gusts exceeded 170 kilometers per hour. and flood, coastal flood is occurring along the coast. now, it's moving at a slow pace and it is going to -- do so over the next couple days. that means, rainfall total could be quite significant, more than 200 millimeters is likely, for parts of florida, louisiana, mississippi, and, alabama, at least for the next 72 hours. and, southeastern louisiana, may be seeing as much as 500 millimeters or more. so that certainly is not to cause further flooding.

because it's coastal areas, low lying areas, that means, really prone to flooding, with the help of surf and, storm surge. the situation is really critical. it looks like, isaac will continue to move along the mississippi river valley over the next several days. while it is weakening. but that doesn't mean the heavy ran will decrease, torrentialwi. north america, the southeast coast of the u.s. out west, the tropical storm ileana, over the pacific, a tropical storm. it will stay over the water for the next several days. up toward the north. a cold front swinging through the northwestern corner of the u.s. ahead of the system. windy and dry. conditions are favorable for wildfires. particularly in the northern rockies and the northern half of the plains. and temperatures are really

soaring. look at this. 31 degrees. expected in winnipeg on your wednesday. 36 degrees in denver. but behind the front, looking cooler, 19 degrees in seattle. only 20 degrees in, vancouver. all right, moving into east asia. tropical storm, boliven continues to weeken over northeastern china. heavy rains and strong wind. 100 millimeters of rain lakely over the next 24 hour period. down toward the south. looking dry across the korean peninsula at this moment. you can see a strike of heavy rain extending up toward the peninsula. this is -- tembin. it could make landfall in korea or thursday friday morning local time. so flooding and landslide will remain high, a beg conceig conc.

waves could reach 8 meet ears long the coast of south korea on your thursday. out toward the west. staying dry across eastern china. you will notice heavy rain will found the eastern region tomorrow. up to 250 millimeters is likely. as for japan. looking dry across the eastern half of the country. stay really wet across the western portions country. tembin is bringing ample moisture from the south. here's the extended forecast. ♪ ♪

finally, our top story for this hour once again. u.s. republicans have nominated mitt romney as their party's challenger to president barack obama. representatives from the 50 states chose romney as their candidate for the november presidential election, at their national convention in tampa, florida. the participants adopted a party platform to seek a smaller government. calls for cuts in deficit, relaxation of federal regulations and tax cut for all n come levels. it criticizes the obama administration for reducing the military budget saying it is weakening the united states international standing. it calls for the return of a strong america by achieving peace through strength. that's all for now. on this edition of "news line" i am yuko aotani in tokyo.

thank you for watching.