some spoke to nhk about how they feel. >> translator: the government should explain why the incident occurred despite what they call state as state of the art technology. >> translator: we want to know what the government will do to find the cause of the accident and how they will go about it. >> the bereaved families say they are being monitored to prevent them from collectively criticize the government. >>> more than 20 high speed trains in china were delayed on monday because of a problem with transmission. the delays occurred in dingyuan county. the bullet trains failed between beijing and shanghai. more than 20 trains had been delayed. the cause of the incident has not been disclosed. the high speed service between beijing and shanghai become operating on july 30th but has en plagued with problems. strong winds caused transmission lines to short circuit. another had trains fail to start. using technologying provided by japan, germany and others are behind the problems. observers say the delays shortly after the fatal accident is likely to fuel concerns about the safety of china'

. >>> nhk world's political commentator is with us tonight. masao, japan's basic reconstruction policy seems straight forward but tell us about the issues regarding funding. >> well, the massive rebuilding project is supposed to help the world's third largest economy pull out of a post-disaster slump. and with moderate growth. but covering the huge cost is proving to be a challenge. the government considered a temporary tax hike to raise about $128 billion to fund part of the reconstruction. essentially to redeem bonds. but strong opposition from within prime minister naoto kan's own ruling democratic party forced him to abandon the idea for now. opinions remain divided over if or when taxes should be raised. some ruling party members against the hike insisting that it will slow down the economy. the government plans to mainly increase court access but it hasn't announced a target, the income, corporate or consumption tax. >> what's the background of the inclusion of a renewable energy plan in the policy? >> the nuclear accident and ongoing cr

hiroki najima, nhk world. tokyo. they have mobilized about 2,500 workers in an attempt to bring the crisis under control. this doctor has been in charge of monitoring the health of the employees at the plant for many years. earlier this week he spent several days at the plant to examine the workers health. what tasks are the employees being require dodd and how are they coping physically and psychologically? we spoke with him earlier today right after he returned from the plant. the doctor has been monitoring the health of employees at the fukushima daiichi plant for about ten years. since the nuclear accident, workers have been struggling to repair the damage and lay down pipes and clear the rubble. the doctor has made two previous visits to the plants since the accident in april and may. his primary aim was to evaluate the psychological health of the workers. he was surprised to find out that they were sleeping in crowded gymnasiums and were only being provided with instant mea meals. he suggested that the plant op

nhk has more. . >> translator: the priority is to unify the country. >> reporter: local newspapers have been plastered with photographs of yingluck and headlines declaring her the first female prime minister of island. >> it is a new thing for thailand to have a female prime minister. i'm looking forward to seeing her work in the future. >> translator: this is a turning point. i hope it means the economy will improve. which ever party won, i just ask them to make the economy better. >> reporter: yingluck is a successful 44-year-old business woman. before now, she had never run for office or held a government post. however, as prime minister, she will be confronted with a number of challenges. chief among these is resolving the division between thaksin supporters who are mainly poor and the anti-thaksin group who are middle class and rich. those divisions were all over during last year's violent demonstrators of thaksin supporters and the government crackdown. one of the points at issue is whether thaksin will return to thailand from his exexile, and if so, when will it happen. thaksin s

nhk world reports from bjing. >> the chinese government -- and safety levers of thehi-sed system. it has contradicted its claims and heightened public distrust. sere criticism has been streaming in on chinese websites denouncing the government for championing its ghpe rl t world's best. it was dismissed as a laughing stock. the accent is also expected to affect the chinese government's stride to export its rail technology. the chinese government says chinese trains are the world's fastt. chin haslso emphasized the low cost of its rail technology and undercut offerings from japan and other nations. saturday's disaster deals a serious blow to china. countries concerning high-speed rails -- not just performance and cost but also safety. will the chinese government be able to ease public discrust with its investigation? its own people as well as the rest of the world are closely watching. michitika yamaka, beijing. >>> earlier, gene otani spoke to a railway system expert. >> translator: thank you for joining us today, professor. the chinese railway ministry says that the train control

nhk world, bangkok. >> that's another tourist spot worth visiting. that's it for our bulletin. >> thank you. >>> japan's top prosecutor's office announced its plans for the problem plagued special investigative units of district offices. the head of the prosecutor's office announced a reform proposal on friday. they will apply to the special investigative divisions at district offices in tokyo, osaka and nagoya >> translator: i can't deny some independent investigators were arrogant. they thought they were somehow special and had a sense of superiority over prosecutors. >> the proposals are in response to a justice ministry panel's demand for reform in the wake of a scandal. an osaka investigator tampered with evidence against a woman for abusing the postal discount program but was later acquitted. there was a call for to merge two of three special units that now conduct their own investigations into one section. they called for a systemic oversight of all special unit investigations. the office ordered the special units to videotape questioning of s

. >> and that was nhk world's shinya kutsukake. >>> "newsline" is launching a new segment this fridayand you won't want to miss it. "the road ahead" will examine the impact of the march 11th earthquake and tsunami and japan's efforts to rebuild. that's "the road ahead" every friday night at 8:00 and 11:00 japan time. >>> ai uchida joins us now the latest in business news. headlines out of europe today? >> that's right, today all week and today is no exception. let's start off with a few stories from the ecb, head of the european central bank has indicated that he's against the eurozo eurozone's extra bailout plan for greece which entail psi or private sector involvement. on thursday, the central bank's president jean-claude trichet told reporters there's no change in the bank's view and strongly against any measures that would be considered a default. >> our position is clear in the case of portugal, we are waiving the threshold. in the case of greece, where we have psi, where we have these debate on the nature of psi we say no to selective default, full stop. >> members are consideri

nhk world, tokyo. >>> "newsline" is launching a new segment this friday, and you won't want to miss it. the road ahead will examine the impact of the march 11th earthquake and tsunami, and japan's efforts to rebuild. that's "the road ahead" every friday night at 8:00 and 11:00, japan time. >>> do stay tuned for that. and now the latest in business news. ai, you have news on the euro's own debt? >> that's right. this time it's not greece, it's portugal. portugal's sovereign debt has been downgraded by four notches, rekindling concerns over europe's fiscal problems. on tuesday moody's cut the rating of portuguese government bonds from b-aa 1 to ba-2. they're the second in the euro doan to rated below investment grade after greek bonds. they agreed in may to offer help to portugal, but the government is slow to reduce its deficit amid a sluggish economy. the agency said concerns are mounting that the country may need an additional bailout, possibly forcing private investors to share the burden. >>> a recent decision to extend additional financial support to greece had eads concerns over t

are nhk world, new delhi. >>> and that wraps up our bulletin. 4r. >>> now let's take a look at the latest in sumo. >>> day two of the july bosh show and the star of the show is kaio. he needs just one more win to tie the former record of 1,045 career wins. feisty goeido is his opponent. he gets a firm. right-hand grip right away and shuts down. by denying the milestone vict y victory. another who is trying to write another in history. he wants to be the first to hit eight. the current championship system was established over a century ago. but no one has ever won eight consecutive tournaments. hakuho stunning tokohto. flings to the dirt without any trouble. hoping to make inagoia. he's got to rack up at least 12 wins. after losing on opening day his day two match against -- recovers and convincingly defeats wakakoia. i believe have a chance of making a name for themselves. kaisei and okinomi. comes in aggressively but okinomi places his hand under the armpit. okinomi counters with an underarm throw and takes the match. now gets back to kaio, will take on day three hoping to equal the allt

. >>> nhk learned that radium above the limit was seen in six prefectures. beef from more than 2900 cattle from those farms has been shipped throughout the nation excludeing okinawa. levels of radio active cesium have been detekded in six prefectures. >> i have a small child. i'm too worried to let my family eat beef. >> on july 19th, japan's central government directed authorities in fukushima to put a suspension on cattle shipments. the suspension is making farmers uneasy. about 07 cattle are kept here, about 120 kilometers from the damaged nuclear plant. fear about radiation in food following the fukushima accident has already cut the price of cattle to about a third of what it was before march 11. the suspension has also deprived farmers of the profits they expected to make by selling their cattle. >> translator: i'm troubled, here yod. period. i will try to change things around in toward deliver safe beef to consumers without any worry. i'll have to ask the central government for a help in doing that. >> on july 2 much, the government announced a plan t

nhk has obtained documents that include aerial photos of the islands taken in 2009 and 2010. the photos show that china has built several concrete structures on fiery cross reef. the country apparently added a one-story building and installed a satellite dish on the reef last year. the spratley islands, which are controlled by vietnam, have a runway, a building and a lighthouse. china, taiwan, vietnam, malaysia, brunei, and the philippines claim sovereignty over all or some of the more than 200 islands and reefs. areas near the islands are known to have rich underwater oil and natural gas reserves. the claimants have occupied around 40 of the islands and reefs and built structures and stationed troops there. the countries are believed to be trying to consolidate their control ov the region and ild more facilities on the is to o cteedecessor u.s.enalmony. epatn d local d oatday a an opne w i43il ru thcrd cid tse dd t t y o lhoilme kenatang farhe pina e otheas devop l nd nd rnytaino el asrsut erlt f dnrn , a ndsnewndfrs endohee gi. ntochutor f y . r ,ngt0 nnd s. n . grhe dt9eso

addition to the safety commission and study objective evaluation methods. >> thank you. >> that was an nhk commentator. >> electric power company post tone poned a plan to introduce recycled fuel at a reactor in western japan. it is likely to affect the so-called thermal project, the pillar of the recycling policy. they said a lack of local understanding means it cannot proceed with feeding the number four reactor of the plant with plutonium and uranium mixed or fuel. it is vital for the utility to proceed with the plan to use the fuel in regular check ups on july 21st. it came after the mayor of the town made clear his opposition to the plan. >> translator: the current government is not giving clear messages on nuclear recycling policy, so we can't see any good reason why the reactor needs the fuel. >> the number four reactor was set to become the fifth in japan to introduce repsyched nuclear fuel after the company began using the number three reactor of the plant in january. the plant's number three reactor, the only working reactor using the fuel in japan is scheduled to be suspended fo

nhk world. >> u.s. researchers say they're also interested in the effect that paro has had at the shelters. they may come to be used for people in other countries. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> now let's look at the market figures. >>> a good crowd on hand at the nagoya on this national holiday. they were looking forward to the highlight match between harumafuji and kotoshogiku. he's had seven straight victories. with an awful ten win 22 loss record. so this was pointing to an upset. but harumafuji puts an end to that thought. using speed and muscle on the double inside grip to force back an opponent who's heavier. harumafu

the professor zhou jian made the remark in an interview with nhk on tuesday.u indicated the signal system could be affected by lightning and other weather conditions. >> translator: the country needs to review its railway policies and discuss the cause of the latest accident. >> zhao husband been critical of the construction of the high-speed railway and his comments are being widely reported by the chinese media. >>> and that wrap ups this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

jun motors moto, nhk, tokyo. >>> let's look at the latest in business news with ai uchida. there was a big jump in stock markets. >> european and u.s. markets up overnight. new york stocks surged over 200 points tuesday, marking their largest one-day gain this year. the dow jones industrial average finished the day at 12,587, up 202 points or 1.6%. the key index opened sharply higher following a robust earnings report from ibm. market sentiment received a further boost after president barack obama expressed support for a bipartisan proposal to cut budget deficits. >>> stocks weren't the only thing that rose. u.s. housing starts in june jumped from the previous month. attention is now focused on whether the housing market which is a major component of the u.s. economy continues on a full recovery track. the commerce department says housing starts stood at an annualized 629,000 units, that's up over 14% from may. the figure is far above the market expectation of 570,000 units. building permits which are an indicator of the prospects for the housing market also rose 2.5%. >>>

and we saw video coming in from nhk there in japan.want to go to dale grant who is from usgs from golden, california, tonight. listen, sir, as we look at this video, and you see the shaking there, and you heard our ivan cabrera saying that this is an aftershock from the march 11th quake. this is a big hit even though. >> yes. this actually is one -- well, it is the largest aftershock since the 9.0, and there were a few 7.0s at that time, but since that time, this is the biggest quake that has occurred in the aftershock zone. it has been felt all of the way north in aomori to south of tokyo and it is widely felt. >> so, listen, you are in golden, colorado, tonight, and as we watch the possibility of a tsunami, there was a warning there, and we saw what happened when on march 11th, when there was an earthquake and all of the sudden, this wall of water slams into the coast of japan and took out so much, so many cities there. when might we know if or the possibility of something happening from this not that severe, but when might we know s

you're looking now at nhk, one of our affiliates there in japan.t is what they're reporting and exactly what went on when this struck a short time ago. there was a tsunami warning in effect and you heard mr. grant say these travel at 400 miles an hour or faster. they would have seen it by now if it was going to occur but still from march 11th, we know nerves are on edge there considering there was a double whammy. the earthquake tsunami really triple and then of course, the fukushima nuclear power plant, which went offline and then caused radiation to go into the atmosphere and into the community. we'll continue to follow that developing story with our folks on the phone and also with our ivan cabrera. our meteorologists here in the cnn severe ef weather center. also breaking news tonight. it is out of washington. the debt talks in washington to be specific. it now appears plans to ambitiously attack the deficit have faltered which isn't to say they won't keep trying but already, expectations are being lowered. we just got the breaking news a short

>>> welcome to "newsline" on nhk world. >>> japan has advanced to its first ever final in the women's world cup in germany after a win. the united states won the other semifinal against france, 3-1. japan scored nine minutes after sweden was allowed a goal. and then the captain netted a goal putting the team in the lead. and then scored four minutes later. that put the national team into the final securing a first medal for the country. japan will have to beat the united states on sunday to win its first ever world cup victory. the united states is gunning for its third title. >> it was a very good game. we hope japan gets the world championship. >> it was fantastic. i have to root for the usa now. yes. but i hope it will disturbance bo -- both teams will have a good game. >> now we go to the latest in business news. >> thank you. let's look at the united states. in testimony before u.s. congress on wednesday the federal reserve chairman said the central bank would be open to new economic stimulus measures if necessary. the u.s. meeting on the economy is held twice a year. ben bernank

. >>> steve o'brien, vice president for f-35 business development at lockheed martin spoke to nhk on thursday. he denied reports in a massive delay of its development and said the company should be able to ro duce early enough to meet the japanese government deadline. >> f-35, for every year of the japanese program will produce more than a hundred airplanes a year. we believe that we will meet the japanese requirements both in production and capabilities without any real difficulty. >> the vice president said the f35 has the ability to avoid radar detection. that's as well as powerful defensive capabilities. he added the jet could help japan counter china which is enhancing its air force. a pan's defense forces plan to replace the f4 fighter jet replace bed 40 years ago and is scheduled to be decommissioned soon. the defense ministry is considering three possible replacement models and is scheduled it make a choice by the end of this year. the ministers of japan and five southeast asian countries have expressed concern over north korea's uranium enrichment program. before ministers o

maria yamada, nhk world, hanoi. >> so what should be done to put an end to the trafficking of women and improve their living standards? we talked to the first executive director of u.n. women, former chileian president michelle bachelet. >> one is poverty, and again, not only us, the rest of the agencies, we work very strong in trying to ensure that girls finish school because we see that when girls go to school, and study the longest period, you see less rates of early pregnancy, early marriage, and less incidents of hiv-aids. less incidents of rape. for us it is essential women, girls, finish school. the whole -- hopefully the secondary, primary and secondary school that will give her more opportunity. >> reporter: to improve situation, we need the men to understand or to change their way of thinking. >> a lot of things we can do. first of all i believe that a role has women, too. children are raised by the mothers. i think it is very important that young mothers because probably women with more experience or older mothers, it is very difficult to change their mind-set. they're not ra

in me yagie prefecture, nhk has learned that at least six people made homeless by the disaster have had to be hospitalized for heat stroke so far this month. local doctors are expressing concern over the occurrence of heat stroke in emergency shelters and temporary houses. >> translator: people living alone in shelters are often found to be in trouble only after their condition has worsened. i'd like their neighbors to keep an eye on them and make sure they are. >> one area is rikuzentakata, a city in iwate prefecture, where 2,000 people have died or still missing. today we report on efforts to restore them. first we look at the oyster farming industry in hirota bay, one of japan's largest before the disaster. >> reporter: workers go all out to make rafts for oyster farming. producers will use them to cultivate oysters in the sea. before the earthquake, 800 rafts floated here, but not one survived the tsunami. >> translator: without these rafts, we cannot farm, so our first priority is making new ones. >> reporter: akira chida owns more rafts than any other farms in his areas but the ts

satoru aoyama, nhk world, in miyagi prefecture. >> "newsline" is launching a new segment this friday, you won't want to miss it. "the road ahead" will examine the impact of the march 11th earthquake and tsunami and japan's efforts to rebuild. that's "the road ahead," every friday night at 8:00 and 11:00 japan time. >>> time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin with this item sent by cctv china. china's top ocean watchdog said in beijing on tuesday that recent oil leaks in boh achlt bay in northern china will have a long-term impact on the marine environment. the spills from an oil field operated by the country's largest offshore oil producer took place on june 4th and 17th and spread over an area of 840 square kilometers. the state oceanic administration says that the spills are more or less under control. it says about 70 cubic meters of oil has been cleared up. it added that the oil producer faces a fine of about $30,000. >>> iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad inaugurated the country's highest dam in the southwestern province of ch

now, nhk world's washington reporter is here in bali accompanying secretary of state clinton. she joins us for more. now, how is the united states likely to respond to these developments regarding north korea? >> reporter: the u.s. is increasingly concerned that north korea may have been pushing ahead with uranium enrichment while the six-party talks have been suspended. it's been acting in concert with other members indicating a three-stage process for restarting the six-party talks. they aim to have the two koreas open a dialogue first. that would be followed by meetings between the united states and north korea, and finally the multilateral talks would restart. but with that in mind the u.s. repeatedly urged the two koreas to open a dialogue in the lead-up to the asean regional forum. on friday high-level contact meetings between north and south korea did finally take place here in bali. a senior state department official indicated that the u.s. intends to keep tabs on how inter-korean contact development. it seems the u.s. wants to determine whether the north will take con