been accusing maehara for receiving illegal political donation. that issue forced maehara forced him to down step as foreign minister in march. >> all right, thank you. that was our senior political commentator. >>> a huge explosion rocked a united nations building on friday in the nigerian capital of abuja. the blast killed several people. nigerian security authorities told reuters a car rammed into the building and exploded. they say it is the work of an islamist extremist group. officials are saying that the blast killed several people, part of the building was destroyed. reuters also says medical authorities estimate at least ten people have been killed. the building has three floors, and it includes the office of the u.n. development program. several embassies, including the american embassy, are located in the area. more than 2 million people live in abuja. in june islamic extremists targeted the police headquarters in a suicide bombing. >>> the situation in the libyan capital tripoli remains tense even though opposition forces have transfer

noda attracted attention as a potential future leader along with former foreign minister seiji maehara. he became senior vice finance minister when the dpj took power in 2009. he was promoted to the post of finance minister in june last year when naoto kan became prime minister. one of the biggest challenges he faces is a strong currency. the yen surged to a record high against the dollar earlier this month. japan's monetary authorities intervened in the currency market in an attempt to apply the brakes. >> translator: carefully monitoring the market, i'll take decisive action if necessary. >> reporter: noda was one of the first dpj lawmakers to announce plans to run for leadership. during the race for party leader, noda repeatedly expressed his intention to tackle fiscal consolidation head-on, including the consumption tax increase. >> translator: in the difficult global financial situation, international attention is focused on whether japan is prepared to make efforts to maintain fiscal discipline. i don't believe the japanese government can evade fiscal reconstruction any longer. >

noda picked the former foreign minister seiji maehara as policy chief. this is a former chief cabinet secretary. >> translator: i filled key positions in a way that unified the party and to show my commitment to work for the japanese people. >> on the formation of his cabinet noda said his priority is party unity. he's considering creating a philippines ter exclusively for administrative reform in order to slash budget spending. noda wants to ready his cabinet to address immediate issues such as the nuclear crisis in fukushima and reconstruction of the disaster-hit areas. earlier we spoke to nhk's senior political commentator about japan's new prime minister. >> thank you for coming in. what is the first order of business for the new prime minister? >> noda has to take his cabinet members and fill executive posts and he'll likely use these appointments as an opportunity to ease friction within the democratic party. noda has already given promotion to a member of the camp that didn't support his leadership. the most important post in the party is secretar

. >> reporter: noda lost some supporters after maehara joined the race. >> we asked people on the streets what they expect of the new leader. >> translator: i don't want the tax rise, but it is needed to rebuild after the disaster. >> translator: noda should stay on as prime minister. for more than a year. he should change his party for the better. >> translator: he oversaw market intervention forrer in market. had he done it much earlier, the yen might be much lower now. i hope he works hard in everyone's interest. >> we also asked for the thoughts of evacuees and residents in disaster-struck areas including fukushima. >> translator: i want noda to clarify whether evacuees will be able to return home. >> translator: if present circumstances continue, i can't foresee my future. i want noda to tell people what measures he will take. i want him to immediately carry out what he pledges. >> translator: i want noda to create jobs for people who lost work in the disaster. >> translator: i want noda to visit the disaster zone, see the devastation, and understand how the evacuees feel. >> many ex

. >> reporter: noda lost some of his supporters after maehara joined the race. in order to win, he had to rebuild his strategy. >> translator: i will work hard to push this country's politics forward. we have the heavy burden of a surging yen, deflation, and finance reforms. i will shoulder all of them. >> noda has a big job ahead of him. earlier shery ahn spoke to nhk world senior political director. >> what is the first order of business for the prime minister? >> noda has to pick his cabinet members. he'll pretty likely use these appointments as an opportunity to ease friction with the democratic party. noda has already given a promotion to a member of the camp that didn't support his leadership. koshiishi will be the secretary general. the most important post in the party. >> noda has many challenges ahead. two of the biggest are managing the ongoing nuclear crisis, drawing up a new energy policy. what can we expect from him when it comes to these two tasks? >> noda supports the idea of reducing japan's dependence on nuclear power. request but he says the nu

. >> reporter: noda lost some of his supporters after seiji maehara joined the race. he had to rebuild his strategy to win. >> we asked people on the streets of tokyo what they expect from the new leader. >> translator: i don't want the tax rise, but it is needed to rebuild after the disaster. >> translator: noda should stay on as prime minister for more than a year. he should change his party for the better. >> translator: he oversaw market intervention to stem the yen's advance, but had he done it earlier, the yen may be much lower now. i hope he'll work hard in everyone's interest. >> we also asked for the thoughts of evacuees and other residents in disaster-struck areas including fukushima. >> translator: i want noda to clarify whether evacuees will be able to return home. >> translator: if present circumstances continue, i can't foresee my future. i want noda to tell people what measures he will take. i want him to immediately carry out what he pledges. >> translator: i want noda to create jobs for people who lost work in the disaster. >> translator: i want noda

. >> reporter: noda lost some supporters after maehara joined the race. >> we asked people on the streets what they expect of the new leader. >> translator: i don't want the tax rise, but it is needed to rebuild after the disaster. >> translator: noda should stay on as prime minister. for more than a year. he should change his party for the better. >> translator: he oversaw market intervention forrer in market. had he done it much earlier, the yen might be much lower now. i hope he works hard in everyone's interest. >> we also asked for the thoughts of evacuees and residents in disaster-struck areas including fukushima. >> translator: i want noda to clarify whether evacuees will be able to return home. >> translator: if present circumstances continue, i can't foresee my future. i want noda to tell people what measures he will take. i want him to immediately carry out what he pledges. >> translator: i want noda to create jobs for people who lost work in the disaster. >> translator: i want noda to visit the disaster zone, see the devastation, and understand how the evacuees feel. >> many ex

house leader azumah koshiishi will be the party's secretary general and former farm minister seiji maehara, chairman of the policy research committee. hirofumi hirano will be the diet affairs chief. and deputy secretary general. the party's new secretary general koshiishi vowed to do his best to unite the party. >> translator: we only have one thing to do, unite the party. i will do my best and i will work together with my fellow democratic party members in both the upper and lower house. >> translator: i would like all the party members to step up to the plate. i would like to do my utmost as the party's new policy chief. >> translator: with help from all the fellow members of the party, we will be able to ride out the storm of the twisted diet, and i'm ready to be covered with mud to support him. [ speaking in foreign language ] >>> the head of japan business federation says the cabinet to be formed under the new prime minister yeesh hee koe noda should work with the opposition parties to implement key policies. >> translator: i think overall reforms in the tax and social security system

next is seiji maehara which has about 50 members behind him. agriculture ministry michihiko kano has garnered support of over 30 law makers. bringing up the rear is the former land ministry sumi sumio mabuchi who is trying to bring his numbers up from just 20 members in support. the candidates' teams are working hard to enlist the backing of over 100 lawmakers who have yet to decide or announce who they support. they're also attempting to gain favor with other candidates for a possible runoff, as it's widely expected, no one will win a majority in the first round of voting. kaieda's campaign office believes he is ahead, but is concerned about the moves of other candidates who may join forces in a runoff election. >>> the ground self-defense force has carried out a massive live fire drill involving tanks and helicopters. the annual event held at a training range is open to the public, and attracted about 24,000 people on sunday. about 2,400 ground self-defense force troops, 80 tanks and armored vehicles, as well as 30 combat helicopters and airc