romney in the spotlight. >> now is a time to restore the promise of america. >> the republican nominee for president pitches voters on his vision of change. u.s. presidential candidate mitt romney reintroduced himself to republicans and voters across the country. delegates wrapped up their national convention in tampa, florida. romney made a speech to accept the party's nomination to represent them in the presidential election in

november. >> i wish president obama had succeeded because i want america to succeed. but his promises gave way to disappointments and division. this isn't something we have to accept. now is the moment when we can do something, and with your help, we will do something. >> romney underlined his credentials as a businessman and governor of massachusetts and he let voters see other sides to his personality. >> you know if every child could drift to sleep feeling wrapped in the love of their family and ga god's love this world would be a far more gentle and better place. >> polls suggest romney has closed the gap with romney, some even put him in a slight lead. others suggest americans find obama more likable.

the international atomic energy agency is trying to find out what is going on in an underground bunker in iran. the u.s. and european leaders hoped economic sanctions would persuade the iranian counterparts to halt the nuclear program. scientists are enriching uranium at an ever increasing pace. the report said the site in central iran has produced 65 kilograms of uranium enriched to 22%. that is double the amount the ie -- iaea confirmed in may. scientists can develop uranium to weapons grade once they reach 20% purity. the facility began operating earlier this year. the number of centrifuges has doubled from 1,000 in may. the figure includes centrifuges which are not operating. the report says the iaea will not be able to resolve concerns about the suspected military dimension to the nuclear program. iaea officials have been trying to inspect the military facility outside tehran which they say

may be used for nuclear development. iranians have rejected their demands. iran's uranium enrichment is expected to be on the agenda at the iaea board meeting in september. now white house press secretary jay carney says the window of opportunity remains open to resolve the issue, but it will not remain open indefinitely. >> the president has made clear that all options are on the table and is committed to preventing iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. >> he says they are in a position to observe the nuclear program. they are able to detect any effort by iran for a nuclear program. iran's supreme leader remains committed to the middle east free of nuclear weapons, but ayatollah khomeini says the peaceful use of nuclear energy is the right of every country. he made the comments.

we have the report from tehran. >> reporter: the meeting held every three years is being attended this time by the leaders of more than 100 states around the world. most of them developing nations. the opening address was made by iran's supreme leader ayatollah khomeini. he said it was time for the non align countries to break-away from the influence of western powers and create a new world order. use of nuclear weapons as a serious crime and does not possess them, but it will never abandon the right to nuclear development for peaceful purposes. nations with nuclear weapons such as the u.s. and israel are a real threat to the world. >> reporter: also among the attendees was egyptian president muhamed morsi.

he was the first egyptian leader since the two countries broke off economic ties more than 30 years ago when egypt signed a peace agreement with israel. morsi's visit comes after repeated invitations with iran. which is facing increasing isolation in the middle east. morsi's aim is to move away from the policies of hosni mubarak who strongly favored the u.s. analysts say iran hopes the summit will end the isolation over the nuclear development and the syrian issue. the conference will continue through friday. the iaea is calling for continued monitoring of the nuclear program in north korea. it says it is concerned about construction facilities at the

nuclear program in north korea. the iaea says a satellite image shows a dome has been built over one of the buildings in the complex. this indicates a reactor in the building. once the reactor goes online, it could be used to extract plutonium. from spent nuclear fuel. iaea officials were allowed to examine the facility in 2007. they were ordered to leave the country in 2009. police in beijing have spent the week taking calls and making inquiries about the diplomatic incident. a man ripped the flag off the hood. police say they identified all the suspects. the chinese foreign officials notified staff of the embassy. embassy officials were told that police have not arrested anyone yet. the officials informed the contacts at the ministry that

they want to keep in close contact. the embassy staff says they are waiting to hear development in the investigation. on monday, two vehicles followed the car carrying ambassador uichiro niwa. a man got out of one of them and ripped off the japanese flag of one of them and fled. officials say anti-japanese sentiment may have led to the incident. japan and china are in a dispute over the senkaku islands in the east china sea. the japanese government has decided to limit its budget execution due to a possible lack of funding. the decision comes as lawmakers face difficulties passing a bill to issue debt covering bonds. these would be used to finance the budget for the current fiscal year. according to the decision on

friday, the government will postpone about $50 billion in tax grants for municipalities. these were originally to be paid out on tuesday of next week. the government will reduce expenditure to at least half. university subsidy will be cut back to the same extent. $480 billion in debt covering bonds are needed to finance the total budget of over $1.1 trillion for the current fiscal year through march 2013. if government spending goes ahead as planned, the state coffers would be empty as early as october. government officials will continue for passage of the bill. they face obstacles. we had a handful of economic indicators out in japan this day for july. let's start with industrial output which fell for the first time in two months. the industry ministry said the figure fell 1.2% from june.

this was mainly due to lower production of semiconductors as demand for smartphones declined in europe. the ministry expects the august figure to improve somewhat. output is likely to pick up for year end sales for consumer electrics. such as pcs and cell phones. but vehicle production may have declined as government subsidies for fuel efficient models are expected to expire. the unemployment rate in july was 4.3%. that is unchanged from the previous month. the internal affairs ministry said the number of people without jobs was 2.88 million. people with jobs stood at over 62 million. meanwhile, the labor ministry said job availability grew. 83 positions were available for every 100 job seekers. internal affairs ministry said

the consumer price index was down 0.3% from a year earlier. prices of televisions dropped sharply from a year earlier. demand for new tvs surged last year ahead of the shift from analog to digital broadcasting. tokyo stock prices are extending their losses on friday -- >> sharp says the firm will keep negotiating for capital tire with its taiwanese partner. the top executives have been visiting japan. they had hoped to conclude the deal with sharp on thursday. but the two side failed to reach an agreement. the firms canceled a meeting schedule ford friday. but sharp and executives say they plan to continue with the talks possibly into the weekend. wanting to reduce capital contribution due to a plunge in

sharp stock price. the jeagenda includes sale of plants in china. they aim to conclude the tie-up deal promptly and restructuring without delay. financial leaders of the asia pacific are committed to boosting growth as the receipt understarts to feel the negative impact of the ongoing european debt crisis. finance ministers of the apec nations gathered in moscow on thursday. the delegation represented 21 countries, regions and international organizations. in a joint statement, the ministers said the world economy was highly uncertain, and that the situation in europe is dampening regional growth. the statement went on to say, the apec members are committed, supporting growth and fostering stability. and urges nations in a strong fiscal position to take a more

positive stance towards spending. fiscal and responses to disasters were on the jenagenda. in light of the disaster and thailand floods last year. and recognized importance of disaster preparedness. exports have fueled the chinese engine of growth. but the debt crisis in europe has jammed things up a bit. government officials are trying to make out of the economic short fall by strengthening the market at home. our report from beijing. >> reporter: just a 90 minute drive from shanghai, the city of kunshan is a major manufacturing hub. this company makes robots. the company had been increasing sales by 50% annually. but the company isn't expecting such high sales this year. the europeans among the firm's

biggest customers are hovered by a debt crisis, so they are buying fewer robots. >> translator: exports fell due to credit uncertainty in europe and also the large construction projects are lagging. >> reporter: the chinese sell more goods to the europeans than to any other foreign customers. from january to july of this year, total sales to europeans fell 0.9% from a year earlier. each day, the impact of europe's credit problems weighs more heavily on chinese exporters. >> translator: as a result of the debt crisis in the european union, china has been unable to increase trade with european countries. as a result, the growth of the total trade in the first half of the year was limited.

>> reporter: to make up for lost business abroad, the government hopes to find buyers at home. they hope to do this by getting customers to buy more goods, including foreign products. china's government hopes to attract foreign investment and business by stressing the country's economy will continue to grow consistently. >> translator: basically, the chinese economy is still growing at a steady pace. that is because we have been implementing several policies to stimulate domestic demand. we aim to develop even more by inviting foreign investments in china. >> reporter: some japanese companies have accepted that invitation. this month in beijing, a japanese organization arranged a display of japanese goods for chinese buyers. the japan external trade organization supports companies that might not be able to operate in china alone.

the trade brings forward the wares. >> translator: we offer safe, reliable products for japan. and we brand them as quality products. as a result, chinese shoppers will trust these firms for the quality of their goods. >> reporter: 130 japanese companies have tried to sell about 1,500 products to chinese retailers. among the goods is high-end tableware. >> translator: even though they are expensive, i think these japanese products will sell well because the quality is good. >> reporter: to encourage chinese to buy more products, the china's government is injecting money into the economy. switching from exporting goods to selling at home could be the

key to the nation's long-term economic success. reporting for nhk world, beijing. japan will go it alone in an attempt to settle its dispute with south korea over sovereignty claims over the takeshima islands. japanese government officials are preparing to present the case to the international court of justice despite south korea's refusal to parcipate. the south korean government rejected a japanese proposal that the two countries approach the court together. south korean officials say the islands are part of their territory so there is nothing to settle. south korean president lee myung bak landed there earlier this month. that prompted the japanese leaders to call for international mediation. japanese foreign minister koichiro gemba said south korea

has failed to offer substantive proposal to resolve the issue. japanese government officials plan to petition the court in the next few months. they will present what they call evidence proving the islands belong to japan. the court will not review the matter unless south korea agrees to participate. international forces in afghanistan are keeping a nervous watch wondering about their allies and enemies. a man wearing an afghan military uniform shot and killed soldiers this week. it brings the number of attacks to 15 this month. hideki yui reports. >> reporter: the latest insider attack happened on wednesday in afghanistan's southern province of uruzgan. among them appeared to be an afghan soldier and an international soldier who shot three australian soldiers. >> an individual wearing an

afghan uniform turned his weapon on soldiers in south afghanistan. as a result, three soldiers confirmed to be australian were killed. this is under investigation. >> reporter: 45 international troops have died so far this year in what have become known as green on blue attacks. the total for the whole of 2011 was 35. chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff general martin dempsey visited kabul last week to discuss how to address the situation. after his visit, afghanistan announced it would reexamine the records of the 350,000 troops and police officers. international forces are scheduled to leave afghanistan by the end of 2014. training afghan soldiers and police to take over security is an argent task.

but frequent green on blue attacks leave questions about the reliability of the afghan security sources. officials must come up with ideas to stop incidents and rebuild trust between troops. hideki yui, nhk world. a japanese astronaut has gone on his first spacewalk. akihiko hoshide was unable to complete a spacewalk outside the international space station. they tried all sorts of tools and tactics. they struggled to bolt down the device. the spacewalk lasted for 8.5 hours. two hours longer than scheduled. in the end, they failed to tie down the power unit.

it is now temporarily attached. japanese astronaut soichi spent more than five months on the space station. he returned to earth in 2010. he points out that spacewalks aren't easy. >> translator: i hope he will bring us back some of his own insights on the spacewalk. >> hoshide is scheduled to stay at the space station until november. a violin made from debris from the tsunami has been winning. the instrument was played for di aster survivors at a special concert in the capital on thursday. the violin was made by a japanese craftsman using pine and maple wood found among wreckage in iowata prefecture and it marked the anniversary of the composer's birth. it included vie min aolin and p

played for wounded soldiers. ♪ ♪ many survivors from disaster hit areas attended the event. he told the audience his thoughts are with the tsunami victims in japan, northeastern region. >> translator: i am moved and feel healed despite the worry of life as an evacuee. >> i remember the huge tsunami and that makes me cry. i am really touched by the movement of the music. tomorrow is september. but no sign of autumn yet. it's still sizzling hot here in tokyo. time now to check the world weather forecast. here is sayaka mori.

let's begin with japan and tokyo. we haven't had any rain over the past couple weeks. it is going to bea d a dry day us tomorrow. showers forecast for sunday. that may mitigate the heat we have been experiencing over the past few weeks. as for the rest of japan. unstaeb unstable rain. thunderstorms, are possible throughout the day. this low-pressure system is bringing ample moisture from the south. this its, which was once, typhoon tembin. getting dry across much of the korean peninsula after days of drenching rain. and out towards the west. line of the thundershowers will form over inland china. eastern regions, and upwards of 250 millimeters of ran over 24 hours. more heavy rain will be coming down on your sunday. down towards the south t. torrential rain is ongoing across the peninsula. all right, heading into the

america's then, tropical depression isaac continues to weaken. still bringing stormy conditions across the lower mississippi valley. actually, six tornados were reported. in alabama and mississippi. on a weakening track. heavy rain is still continuing. it looks like more than 100 millimeters is possible across missouri -- missouri -- arkansas as well as indiana, over the next 72 hours or so. eastern, missouri may be seeing more than 150 millimeters which is quite a lot for this region. but it's quite a beneficial rain. because it has been on the dry side the past self weeks here. meanwhile, looking dry, windy, across the midwestern state. upper midwestern states and northern rockies. conditions are ideal for wildfires. parts of the northwestern nebraska, a mandatory evacuation, order has been issued. because wildfires are growing here. temperatures are, should say,

heading over to tropical storm leslie. situated over the atlantic. could become a hurricane. stay over the water. no major impact on any coastal areas are expected. that's good news. here are your temperatures then. 34 degrees in chicago. it should be cooling down by about 7 degrees, as we head into your saturday. 32 degrees in denver. above average temperatures will continue at least into your sunday. out toward the west, looking quite mild in vancouver. 21 degrees in seattle. as -- 21 degrees in vancouver as well as seattle. all right. finally. let's go over to europe. there we can see a long cloud band stretching from scandinavia through central europe into northern italy. and underneath the clouds. lots of heavy rain. gusty wind. risk of hail. conditions are quite severe in northern italy. actually. 100 mile melimeters of rain ove hours. the system will slowly make its

way towards the east. over the next 24 hours. out toward the west. looking dry, towards the southern half of the british isles. the next system is moving into the there theinto -- the northern half of the isles. the southern half of the region. london, escaping of rain. speaking of london, paralympics are taking place. looks like sunny weather for you friday. cloudy skies on your saturday, sunday. temperatures will be about 22 degrees. and 20 degrees on your sunday. here is your extended forecast. ♪ ♪

and our top story once again. the u.s. candidate mitt romney has made an acceptance speech at the republican national convention in tampa, florida. romney will face barack obama in november.

>> i wish president obama succeeded, because i want america to succeed. but his promises gave way to disappointments and division. this isn't something we have to accept. now is the moment when we can do something and with your help, we will do something. >> romney underlines his credentials as a businessman and governor of massachusetts. he let voters see other sides to his personality. >> you know, if every child could drift asleep feeling wrapped in the love of their family and god's love, this world would be a far more gentle an better place. >> some put romney in a slight lead over obama. others suggest americans find obama more likable. that is all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm yuko aotani.

in tokyo. thank you very much for watching.