the exercises are based on the scenario that a military emergency occurred on the korean peninsula. 86,000 troops from the u.s. and south korea are taking part in two weeks of computerized war games. representatives from nearly 4,000 south korean organizations and municipalities are also involved. south korean president lee myung-bak acknowledged monday that people may feel anxious because the drills are taking place at a time of heightened tension on the korean peninsula. lee says preparation can help prevent war and maintain peace. the latest exercises are also meant to prepare for possible terror attacks during november's group of 20 meeting in seoul. south korea and the u.s. carried out major joint drill last month in the sea of japan. it was in response to the sinking of a south korean naval vessel in march. south korea's military also held a large-scale exercise on its own in the yellow sea off the korean peninsula. these current u.s./south korean drills prompted north korea to warn on sunday that it would, quote, wield the iron hammer of a merciless response. >>> a former top u.s. g

already rainfall is impacting parts of the korean peninsula as well as the east coast of china. likely that rain will intensify. of course, you could be seeing stronger winds as tropical storm systems get closer. northern japan also today looking at a couple of showers. it should stay largely dry for the tokyo area. it's going to get pretty hot once again today. 34 for those of you here in tokyo and southern areas of japan as well. meanwhile, wet weather will make it on the cool side for shanghai. 29 for you. 33 degrees in hong kong. the same in bangkok. america still looking at a low pressure system along the rockies. this system will drop out of the intermountain west and produce stronger showers across the plains states. more rain breaks off toward central canada as well. that is expected to produce some ample amounts of rain tonight. meanwhile, it's not going to stay dry for too long across the west. a new system will be bringing showers for the pacific northwest as well as british columbia. across the gulf of america and central america, plenty of tropical showers and downp

korean peninsula into northern japan. it's had quite a lot of rain in the last few days. so flooding possibilities here through the weekend. another area of low pressure over the northeast is going to keep things very wet and unsettled through the weekend, too. i want to draw your attention to this area over here which is going to be getting some very heavy rain over quite a wide area, as much as 100 millimeters. this is another area to watch. things are much drier down here to the south and east. monsoon rains will be kicking up through the weekend. 33 degrees for the high. manila, also 33. unsettled for shanghai at 38. absolutely blistering. mostly dry for tokyo. 33 and a cool day, 15 for the high and probably evening showers. all right. into north america, it's across the north that we're going to be seeing the severe weather. we have a few systems here bring widespread rain across central canada down into the midwest here. al bett alberta, down into the far eastern dakotas, wisconsin, minnesota, severe weather is taking place as well as for some very strong gusts. pos

let's talk to this one right here just southwest of the korean peninsula. this one is going to be actually making landfall in northern ininhe next couple of days. so we're monitoring that. and then we have another one just to the west of the philippines, lots of rain with this one. and then the remnants of our tropical storm that landed days ago across indochina. so it's just very, very wet across much of the region. now thisne pnt beusthrafall is going to be quite significant. check out the next 48 hours with this system. over 120 millimeters possible. especially in parts of southern japan. the islands here, liwa these s e toet soaked with an additional 100 millimeters or more in the next day. let's look at the temperatures, 34 in tokyo, warm across the on 33 in shanghai, 34 for new taipei. and 31 with showers in manila. ne inoh era,nder we also have two hurricanes we're looking at as well. hurricane frank, that is going to be movingwafr mic still bringing a lot of showers in its wake. and then hurricane danielle, a very large one, but this one won't be ma

the service was held at yutenji temple on tuesday for people from the korean peninsula who died in japan, southeast asia and china as servicemen and civilian employees of the japanese military. the temple keeps the remains of 702 koreans that have not been returned to their homeland in the 65 years since the war. the remains include those who died on a japanese transport ship that sank off maizuru, kyoto prefecture, shortly after the war. >>> on the tokyo stock exchange, the nikkei index closed below 9000 for the first time in 16 months due to the yen's strength. the key average ended at 8995, down 121 points from monday. the index last finished below the 9000 level on may 1st last year. the broader topix index of all first section issues slid seven points to close at 817, renewing its year-to-date low. investors dumped a wide range of issues, mainly export-related shares. investors are worried that the yen's strength may erode the revenues of japan's export-dependent companies. >> noda said the prime minister will meet the bank of japan governor when necessary, but declined to say wheth

the korean peninsula and china look quite nice. a little rain in the northeast.lso light amounts of rain. that will include the indochina pep li peninsu peninsula. the monsoon rains are quite active and quite widespread, especially for pakistan, dealing with the heavy rains. you can see the low pressure system here. on the outer rim of it, we're pulling in a lot of humid air off the arabian sea. that's producing that wet weather. and the rain will linger for the next three days. at least this is the three-day outlook. a lot of showers and especially heavy rains on pakistan. a big area of concern. it looks like flood conditions will remain quite serious for a while longer. as for tuesday's highs, we're expecting 33 degrees in tokyo, quite hot in shanghai. 37 and quite hot in tie pay as well. 33 in hong kong. should be looking at mostly sunny skies. as for europe today, rain is going to be approaching the british isles from the atlantic. we've got this it frontal line. there should be some rain on tuesday. however, nothing too heavy. it will be dry tonight. contine

we've had a few days of rain here, but it comes into the korean peninsula. so a soggy and stormy day here. in japan it's mostly going to be thunderstorms during daytime heating rather than any prolonged rainfall. we're looking good across much of mongolia and northern portions of china. temperatures will remain very hot, particularly for central into southern parts of china. 34 in shanghai for friday, 32 in tokyo, and 32 also in beijing. all right. into north america we go. we're going to be talking about three front lines draped across the region at the moment, but it's this one down here to the south, the southern plains, and stretching into the northeast, that is going to be the problematic one, the big rainmaker. you see particularly bad storms and downpours in part of maryland, virginia and delaware so the mid-atlantic really getting it. a few thunderstorms across the northern fronts, but it will be quieter. we have high pressure across central canada and the northern plains into the great lakes. a much calmer picture here than we've seen earlier on in

the korean peninsula and from 1910. many came to work from in japan. some voluntarily, some forcibly. the memorial for korean victims in hiroshima's peace memorial park, a day before the ceremony, hur joined koreans who live in japan at the ceremony commemorating the victims. his parents came to japan in the 1920s to run a construction company. the bomb exploded about 1 1/2 kilometers from his house. he was 3 years old and had moved to the suburban in case of an attack by allied forces. he was exposed to radiation the next day when he went home. he also found out his brother had died. >> i prayed for my brother and said i was sorry that it took 65 years for me to come and see him. >> the health ministry says more than 3,000 atomic bomb survivors live in south korea now. he kept his status as a survivor a secret for a long time. he was afraid he'd face discrimination. he was worried he wouldn't get a job. it even took a while for him to tell his wife and children about his past. hur only found out in the last decade how to apply for support from japan. h

minister pak ui chun, and discussions focused on how to maintain peace and stability on the korean peninsula and resumption of the six-party talks. with wu's visit, china is believed to have attempted to ease tensions between the two koreas after the u.n. security council ended its discussions on the north's alleged sinking of a south korean warship. the move is seen as china's effort toward resumption of the six-party nuclear talks. however, japan, south korea and the united states are still accusing north korea of provocative behavior. north korea is also demanding the lifting of international sanctions as a precondition for its return to the talks. >>> north korea announced an investigation is currently under way into a south korean fishing boat that was seized in the sea of japan. the state-run korean central news agency said on thursday that a south korean squid fishing boat was captured on august 8th by a north korean naval patrol vessel. the news agency said the boat with a crew of four koreans and three chinese had intruded into north korea's territorial waters. the boat is believed

as for the rest of east asia, showers are expected to move into the korean peninsula. that could trigger thunderstorms. then looking at a long line of showers forming up across china today. heavier spots expected in the north. then for the southeast as well. areas like the philippines across the indochina peninsula. here's a look at highs. 30 degrees in manila and 34 for bangkok and 34 for chongqing. extreme heat for you as well. then 14 degrees only for your high. cooler air coming on in. it is going to be on the chilly side, actually about 10 degrees cooler than seasonal averages. as for the americas, looking at low pressure system still in the gulf coast. it will continue to bring in rain for the deep south. expected to stay wet for the next couple of days. frontal line also bringing a couple showers to the northeast. the tail end of that line bringing strong storms tonight. expected across the central plains. also northern plains to areas like dakotas, wisconsin, looking at possible severe storms to develop. meanwhile, out west it's going to remain fairly dry again

forces and has threatened to respond how do you think how dangerous is the situation on the korean peninsula. in the north korea would have been destroyed long ago if they did not have ten or twelve warheads with nobody knows whether they have them or not for sure but it's enough for military containment for both south korea and america that's why they're holding the exercise there i know little about the north korean regime but i definitely know that it's very archaic and more dangerous his sort of mixture of the middle ages with the pseudo marxist slogans of this regime is dangerous for the entire world and in my opinion that's the regime we should take for all kinds of sanctions against a stain just to threaten them with weapons because we cannot predict their reaction and they also have a several million strong army which can cross the border and this may lead to any number of consequences is an empire a monarchy power which could collapse at any moment the world economy is slowly recovering in a sleigh due to the economic growth in asia and especially in china how big do you think is be

minister naoto kan should issue a statement on the 100th anniversary of japan's annexation of the korean peninsula later this month. the cabinet is considering a new statement on the centenary of the start of japan's 35-yearzat. it was to emphasize its stance of pursuing future-oriented relations with south korea. but some members of the governing democratic party have expressed concern about the move. they say such a statement could affect the discussions on whether japan should provide compensation to individuals for their wartime suffering. the japanese government takes the view that the issue has been resolved by the 1965 treaty that normalized relations with south korea. many south koreans have already expressed hope that the japanese prime minister will issue a statement for the occasion. they could react sharply if kan fails to do so. >>> senior u.s. officials have expressed hope that japan will work with the united states to take a strong stance against iran for its nuclear development program. the u.s. state department special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control, robert einhorn

that we have actually pulled down by almost half the number of troops we based in -- on the korean peninsula? >> i don't necessarily think so, because what's happened during that period is a huge increase in the capability of the south korean security forces. i mean -- >> but not such a huge increase that they were willing to go through with the command -- >> -- transfer? >> -- operational command transfer in 2012 that was just delayed till 2015. >> right. and -- but i think -- but i mean to your question, there has been a significant increase in the capability of those forces there. and so that -- our withdrawal of some of our forces has been mitigated by that improvement. and then as you just mentioned, the -- we just agreed to president lee's request to delay this transfer of operational control. right now, the commander in korea, as the combined forces command korea is an american. and he basically commands and controls korean forces in the event of an emergency. there had been a plan in place for that control to pass back to the koreans, i think by april of 2012 -- it's 2012, but i'm no

for the chinese government so chinese has no choice but to try to stop them the station on the korean peninsula is hotting up just a while ago that your ass in south korea had joint military exercises in the pacific something north korea was strongly opposed to was china's stance on north korea is the only official ally of china change you support and career in the korean. more than one hundred fifty if you consider the last one million people and of course they treasure those relations they want to. give to state allies of north korea at the same time they do understand that north korean economy doesn't work well they encourage north koreans to promote reforms to make the economy more market oriented they try to encourage north korea to be more open to the world and they're very much against north korea nuclear weapons but they do say cheney is that the reason most korea wants to have nuclear weapons is because america doesn't profit most most korea puts pressure on north korea and the bush for example was very warlike against north korea the chinese way or dealing with this issue is to see to

forces and has threatened to respond how do you think how dangerous is the situation on the korean peninsula so you have a. north korea would have been destroyed long ago if they did not have ten or twelve warheads nobody knows whether they have them or not for sure. but it's enough for military containment by south korea and america that's why they're holding the exercise that i know little about the north korean regime but i definitely know that it's very archaic and dangerous it's sort of a mixture of the middle ages with a pseudo marxist slogans this regime is dangerous for the entire world in my opinion that's the regime we should take all kinds of sanctions against the world economy slowly recovering in the economic growth in asia and especially china how big do you think is the genes for all politics today the third of the work i went to china said to be the locomotive for the world economy this is why there are a lot of things that depend on china politically i think the chinese are aimed at strengthening their economic might they're pursuing a very aggressive economic policy everywh

that there's no hope and there's too much conflict for this to happen but i see hope on the korean peninsula his plans are of both parties of both borders of both conflicts of ideology it's all about giving hope to the people and children around the world the most beautiful thing about children is their innocence their ability to see the world in its purest forms and oftentimes the simple truth that they speak make the most sense and can even make a difference but although some personal diplomatic efforts achieve greatness others fall through the cracks case in point human shield in iraq in january two thousand and three volunteers travel to iraq to act as human shields their goal was to prevent the bombing of certain locations during the invasion. but they came nowhere close to stopping the destruction asked for jonathan just a little bit excited because not many people get to do this kind of stuff. it's kind of you know rare thing history will judge the impact of his efforts but most would agree we're all rooting for him for our t.v. . the u.s. has the largest prison system in the world it

that we have actually pulled down by almost half the number of troops we based in -- on the korean peninsula>> i don't necessarily think so, because what's happened during that period is a huge increase in the capability of the south korean security forces. i mean -- >> but not such a huge increase that they were willing to go through with the command -- >> -- transfer? >> -- operational command transfer in 2012 that was just delayed till 2015. >> right. and -- but i think -- but i mean to your question, there has been a significant increase in the capability of those forces there. and so that -- our withdrawal of some of our forces has been mitigated by that improvement. and then as you just mentioned, the -- we just agreed to president lee's request to delay this transfer of operational control. right now, the commander in korea, as the combined forces command korea is an american. and he basically commands and controls korean forces in the event of an emergency. there had been a plan in place for that control to pass back to the koreans, i think by april of 2012 -- it's 2012, but i'm not

that we have actually pulled down by almost half the number of troops we based in -- on the korean peninsula? >> i don't necessarily think so, because what's happened during that period is a huge increase in the capability of the south korean security forces. i mean -- >> but not such a huge increase that they were willing to go through with the command -- >> -- transfer? >> -- operational command transfer in 2012 that was just delayed till 2015. >> right. and -- but i think -- but i mean to your question, there has been a significant increase in the capability of those forces there. and so that -- our withdrawal of some of our forces has been mitigated by that improvement. and then as you just mentioned, the -- we just agreed to president lee's request to delay this transfer of operational control. right now, the commander in korea, as the combined forces command korea is an american. and he basically commands and controls korean forces in the event of an emergency. there had been a plan in place for that control to pass back to the koreans, i think by april of 2012 -- it's 2012, but i'm no

others among youth faced a cold korean peninsula. as we mark the 60th anniversary of that conflict this year, i will be proud to travel to the republic of korea in november to pay tribute to our veterans of the korean war. [applause] many of you served in the jungles of vietnam. you also served with honor, exemplary dedication and courage, but more often shunned when you came home. that was a national disgrace. and it must never happen again. [applause] and that is why we are making sure our veterans from today's wars are shown the respect and the dignity they deserve. and whether you served in the gulf to free kuwait or fought in the streets of mogadishu or stop the ethnic slaughter in the balkans, you, too, are part of an unbroken line of services stretching across two centuries. for you, coming home was the beginning of another battle -- the battle to recover. you fought to stand again, waukegan, and work again. you fought for each other -- to walk again and work again. you became leaders in our communities and in our companies, in

and part of his peninsula even south koreans nodar the findings of a u.s. led report that blamed young young for sinking as something more ship in march and out why in a few minutes time. this week the u.s. added thirty seven billion dollars to its war chance to prove by congress after two months of delays it comes as they whistle blowing web site we can leaks publish seventy five thousand classified american documents on the afghan war with some suggesting the killing of hundreds of civilians has been covered up the pentagon is investigating the source of the leak and a soldier has been charged with releasing classified video of the military operation the white house says the leaks threaten national security and has asked wiki leaks to stop posting secret material but the organizations founder and editor in chief julian assange says they tried to cooperate with the u.s. administration but received no response. we're looking at the issue seriously to see whether that is true we did hold back people being thousand reports for for the other because they had t

plus perilous peninsula even south koreans now the findings of a u.s. led report that blame pyongyang for sinking a southern warship in march find out why in a few minutes time here on r.t. . the u.s. state of arizona has enforced new illegal immigration legislation but the most disputed parts of the bill were struck out just before it was enacted it means immigrants will be safe from random police checks which some claim profiling but those against the bill say it's a bittersweet victory as the fate of illegals in the united states remains precarious. i don't think. it was it is. doesn't sound like your typical immigration protests today i feel great as the owner of guy one of my god everybody was so excited for a day and. a hero he was. that's because just one day before the law was to be enacted i. think that harshest provisions i'm here celebrating with the community and our victory. were to be moved a celebration over one hundred a long hot days in the making. i know the love there how much that celebrate and i mean it's not a number assigned immig

and perilous peninsula now even the south koreans now are doubting the findings of a u.s. led report that blamed pyongyang for sinking a southern warship in march find out why in just a few minutes time here on r.t. . the u.s. state of arizona has enforced new illegal immigration legislation but the most disputed parts of the bill were struck out just before it was enacted it means immigrants will be safe from random police checks which some claimed were racial profiling but those against the bill say it's a bittersweet victory to face all the illegals in the u.s. remains precarious. as it is. doesn't sound like your typical immigration protest today i feel great. everybody was so excited. and. it was. because just one day before the law was to be enacted i. harshest provisions. with the. victory. to be removed a celebration over one hundred long hot days in the making. the . salivary. governor were assigned immigration. every. right but it wasn't always. the most diverse summer messing. with we've been in pretty every day twenty four hours this is taking over or our life

korean president three years ago. in recent years, news reports have, of course, been all about the rising tension on the divided peninsulanow, this one-boy peace mission might offer a dose of hope. >> the latest headlines on of an " bbc world news" -- two weeks after pakistan's flood crisis began, mr. larijani is finally seen the devastation -- mr. this arterzardari is finallg the devastation himself. iraq's most senior army officer is called into question over the phased withdrawal of u.s. troops. he says his forces will not be ready for another decade. u.s. officials insist they are on target to be out by the end of the month -- to pull combat troops out by the end of the month and all troops by the end of 2011. >> government policy is to stick to the agreed timetable. >> they are here for support and advice. however, and specials to our senses they are ready to defend the iraqi army. moreover, they control the iraqi airspace. the airports are not complete yet. it consists of 50,000 troops. what will we do without the americans? the iraqi army will only be ready in 2020. >> but from the standpoint of the outgoing senio