nhk world reports. thi hz ha thwe report ha thwe h. >> reporter: on monday, four privately run daily papers hit news stands in myanmar's largest city of yangon. in the 1960s myanmar's military government forced free publication censorship. because of the time needed to get approval, private publishers could issue only on a weekly basis. daily papers. citizens like having the new sources of information. >> translator: newspapers used to mean government propaganda. but with the private dailies, i can finally learn what's really happening. >> reporter: that all began to change last year while the government lifted regulations. by march, authorities had granted permits to 16 private papers. >> translator: although private dailies have gone on sale, they still have a long way to go to improve their quality. i want them to carry more in-depth reports to satisfy the readers. >> reporter: groups, including -- are set to launch more than 20 daily papers in the country. media analysts view the loosened restrictio

>>> hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm ross mihara in tokyo. >>> heavily armed police are searching door to door for a suspect in boston's marathon bombings. tactical units have surrounded at least one house in watertown. the suburb has been the focus of an hour's long manhunt. a second suspect died there following a gunfight with police. police are hunting for 19-year-old dzhokhar tsarnaev. reports in u.s. media say the suspects are brothers originally from a russian region near chechnya. they say the dead suspect was 26 years old. reports say the brothers had been in the united states for several years. they also say the dead suspect had explosives on his body when he was captured. the manhunt kept people in the boston area on edge overnight and well into the next day. his father says he was a boxer and hoped to join the u.s. olympic team. and he said joe hdzhokhar was studying. ruslan sar any is their uncle. he urged dzhokhar to turn himself in and why he thought his nephews might have committed the bombing. >> what

welcome back to nhk world "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. >>> the south korean unification minister has advised he's telling business people in an industrial complex to leave the com flex in north korea. it is near the demilitarized zone, but it's been effectively closed since earlier this month and north korea is refusing to talk about reopening it. >> translator: our nationals remaining in the kaesong industrial zone are experiencing greater difficulties due to the north's unjust actions. so the government has come to the unavoidable decision to bring back all remaining personnel in order to protect them. >> north korea stopped allowing south korean workers to enter the complex on april 3rd. nearly 180 of them stayed behind in the facility to maintain their facilities. and on april 9th, authorities in pyongyang pulled out the more than 50,000 north koreans who work at kaesong for south korean firms. the unification ministry proposed holding talks on resuming operations, but north korean leaders re

nhk reports. >> reporter: german ideas have had their eyes on this town for decades. they've considered it the main candidate to host the permanent storage facility for nuclear waste. they've been carrying out experiments there to build their case. spent fuel rods and other types of nuclear waste are planned to be stored underground at the maximum death of 933 meters. but as authorities have assessing the plan they face strong resistance from local residents residents. >> translator: we heard the drums get rusty and that radioactive waste can leak out. there's the chance of gas leeks. this place is too dangerous for permanent storage. >> reporter: the position forced the government to reconsider the project. last week environment minister announced a compromise. he launched a commission that will include representatives from environmental groups. the government will come up with new criteria by 2015 to find a proper site for the permanent storage of nuclear waste. there are still doubts. >> translator: there is still possibility that this will be the storage site. so

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." malaysians are getting ready for a vote that could shake up politics as they've known it for decades. prime minister najib razak has dissolved parliament and will soon call an election. his long-ruling coalition will be in for a fight. patchari raksawong in bangkok has more on this story. patchari, good evening. >> good evening, gene. the prime minister is now going over the calendar, and deciding on an election date, whenever malaysians go to the polls, analysts expect najib's coalition will have to battle for an increasingly popular opposition. >> translator: this morning, i asked the king's consent to dissolve the 12th parliament as of april 3rd. his majesty gave his approval. >> reporter: najib razak showed a stern expression during his televised address. political analysts say opposition parties will be tough competition in the general election to be held as early as this month. since winning independence from the british empire in 1957, malaysian politics has been dominated by t

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." the u.s. secretary of state says north korea has nothing to gain by making more threats and everything to lose. john kerry says the north's leaders must get serious about reviewing its missile and nuclear programs. he was in south korea where concerns are high that the north is about to test a midrange missile. >> that it is a huge mistake for him to choose to do that because it would further isolate his country. kim jong-un needs to understand, as i think he probably does, what the outcome of the conflict would be. >> kerry spoke after meeting his south korean counterpart. >> we are all united in the fact that north korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. the rhetoric that we're hearing from north korea is simply unacceptable. >> kerry also met with south korean president park geun-hye. media reports say kerry urged park to respond with caution even if attacked to keep the situation from escalating further. kerry will not -- will travel next to china. he's scheduled to meet with presid

>>> hello and welcome back to nhk "newsline." an earthquake has been reported. we'll bring you updates as we learn more. i repeat, a magnitude 6 earthquake hit western japan. it occurred at 5:33 a.m. japan time. the epicenter was at a depth of ten kilometers. we'll bring you updates as they become available. >>> u.s. secretary of state john kerry has warned north korea to stop making threats. john kerry said it will be a grave mistake for them to carry out a test of a mid range missile. >> it is a huge mistake for him to choose to do that because it will further isolate his country. kim jong-un needs to understand, as i think probably does, what the outcome of the conflict would be. >> kerry spoke some seoul after a meeting with his counterpart. >> we are all united in the fact that north korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power. the rhetoric we are hearing from north korea is simply unacceptable. >> kerry met separately with president park. kerry is reported to say they should act with caution to keep the situation from escalating further. the meetings wer

>>> hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm ross mihara in tokyo with the stories after this hour. >>> engineers working on the cleanup at the power plant hit another snag. radioactive water may have seeped out of a storage pond. a spokesperson for tokyo electric power company said engineers detected water on the pond outside of a waterproof sheet. the level of radioactivity is low. he said engineers will investigate what caused the problem and he said they plan to transfer the water to another pond. engineers dug the ponds to store ground would the water that floods into the reactor building and gets contaminated. they have to filter and store hundreds of tons every day. they reported a string of other problems, the cooling system for a fuel pool failed on friday. it was off line for three hours. and a power failure last month caused a blackout that lastedñ v transported poultry and a woman with no fixed occupation. one of the 31 people who recently had contact with her has a fever and is being treated in an isolated hosp

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." north korean leaders are pushing ahead with plans that could help them build up their nuclear weapons arsenal. the state-run korean central news agency says scientists in the reclusive nation will restart a reactor that can be used to produce plutonium. the unit is located in yongbyon north of the capital pyongyang. the reactor generates electricity and operators can use the spent fuel to make plutonium. north korean scientists have used plutonium in experiments, and analysts believe they have built several nuclear weapons with it. authorities shut down the reactor in 2007 and destroyed part of its infrastructure. that followed an agreement with members of the six-party talks. the group comprises the two koreas, the u.s., china, japan, and russia. north korean officials say their decision to restart all nuclear-related facilities in yongbyon is part of efforts to deal with an electricity shortage. they add it's in line with leader kim jong-un's pledge to rebuild the economy and streng

satoru aoyama, nhk world, tokyo. >>> watch "nhk world" this weekend to see more of our interview with aung san suu kyi. we'll broadcast it saturday on "close-up." check out website for the times at www.jrc.or.jp/english. >>> terrorists have staged a series of attacks targeting political parties in pakistan. candidates are campaigning ahead of general election for may. citizens are becoming increasingly concern due to slow progress and security conditions in the country. reporting from islamabad. >> reporter: the latest attack his an election rally on tuesday evening. the men brought explosives and detonated them in the evening at the northwestern city of peshawar. >> translator: we were nearby when the blast hit. we rushed over to find body parts lying on the ground and a driver trapped in a burning vehicle. many people were injured. political officials helped us attend to the dead and injured. >> reporter: the blast killed at least 17 people, including three children and a reporter who was covering the event. 78 people were injured. among the wounded was ahmed below, pakistan's forme

susumu kojima, nhk world. iranian officials say that have boosted their nuclear capacity by opening a plan to produce uranium. they said they have activated a plant to produce what is known as yellow cake. >> translator: no country in the world can prevent our nuclear development. which we have achieved with our own technology. >> the government says they can make more than 60 tonights of yellow cake a year. other countries have denounced their work, but iran saying they will use it for peaceful purposes. >>> japanese trade officials are waiting for an endorsement from their closest ally to join the transpacific partnership free trade talks. government leaders say they're in the final stages of negotiations with their u.s. counterparts. >> translator: the negotiations between japan and the united states are making decent progress. we are closer to reaching an agreement. >> negotiators from the countries involved are expected to meet in july for their next round of talks. motegi said they will do their best to

nhk has the story. >> reporter: these flowers are not real. they're actually sweets. this thunder god, also made of ingredients you can eat. you could even take a bite out of japan's world heritage site, the shrine. the national confectionary exposition takes place at this site, a nine hector site. it's held about once every four years. it began more than a century ago. the theme has always been passing down the history and culture of japanese confectionary to future generations. the event has just opened and is attracting a large number of people. one of the exhibits that's getting a lot of attention is this art piece called the light. this work depicts a hawk. it's perched on a tree with autumn colored leaves. the bird looks ready to fly off in search of prey. the body, leaves and tree trunk are made of 30 kilograms of sugar and rice flour. >> translator: i'm impressed by how delicate and beautiful it is. >> i like the change from the autumn leaves that are red to yellow. >> reporter: the artist has already won a top prize in a japanese confectionary competition. ju

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." north korean military commanders seem to be raising the stakes. south korea's defense minister says they appear to have put a medium range ballistic missile into position. it's their latest threat in response to ongoing u.s./south korean military drills. defense minister kim kwan-jin spoke at parliamentary committee meeting. >> translator: it's not a long-range missile but it has considerable range. it could be for test firing or for drills. >> a recent u.s. intelligence image shows what looks like a ballistic missile being moved by train to east coast of north korea. the location of a launch site. kim's description matches that of a midrange missile known as musdun. the north koreans unveiled it in 2010 during a military parade. its estimated range of 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers puts it in striking distance of japan and a u.s. base on the pacific island of guam. south korean officials say they cannot rule out the possibility that authorities in pyongyang will fire the missile. they say

nhk has been investigating the chain of events. we looked at how crews used fire engines to inject water. and why their plan failed. >> reporter: workers at fukushima daiichi faced a station blackout on march 11, 2011. a loss of all backup power. reactor one was the first unity to meltdown. reactors three and two followed during our investigation, we learned that before the meltdown in reactor three, a battery continued to power the unity's emergency cooling system. engineers with tokyo power company tried different way does pump water into the unity before the battery died. none worked. so they decided to use fire engines. they manipulated valves in the facility's extensive piping system to make the injection process more efficient. >> they wanted the water to run through a single route. they began injecting water into reactor three shortly after 9:00 on march 13th to try to prevent a meltdown. >> translator: water has been injected. the fuel rods are now safely covered with water. >> reporter: tepco engineers estimate crews injec

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." people in iran a assessing the damage after a powerful earthquake. iranian media say more than 40 people are dead. analysts say that the magnitude 7.8 earthquake his tuesday afternoon local time. they say it was 86 kilometers east/southeast of hash. they felt it in new delhi. some rushed out of buildings and waited in parking lot. in pakistan, there was the shaking in a tv station. >>> a magnitude tremor hit southern iran a week cool. plates that meet underneath have generated two major earthquakes in the last 20 years. . in 2003, a quake struck the southeastern city of baum. and a 7.7 tremor hit north western iran leading 30,000 dead. law enforcement officers are coming through evidence to see who attacked the boston mary on this and why. two bombs wept off and killed two people and injured nearly 30 others. investigators say police have found more explosives near the site. the bombs went off on monday afternoon. the first knocked back runners 30 meters from the finish. the second hi

nhk world. >>> all right. now let's take a look at the market figures. >>> when people read these day, they often turn to electron eck devices. one man in the state of wisconsin is encouraging readers to pick up paper books again. anyone can borrow a book for free provided that they leave one in return. the idea has taken off. nhk has his story. >> reporter: small is beautiful when it comes to reading in america these days. miniature bookshelves like these are popping up on roadsides or in coffee shops across the united states. called little free libraries. they're changing the reading habits of local communities. the idea couldn't be simpler. you grab as many books as you like. and you don't have to bring them back. but you do have to row place them. the rule is, take a book, leave a book. that means the narrow shelves are always full and the stock is always changing. it was todd bowl who came up with the idea for the little free library. >> the first library i built in 2009. and this one has number one. >> r

nhk world, moscow. >>> it's been good weather so far in tokyo.eteorologist robert speta has more on the forecast. >>> yes. we've been seeing some partly cloudy skies across much of the eastern coast of japan today. off towards the north seaing some rain showers on the other hand into hokkaido, extending to the tohoku region. that will be the pattern the next several days. really going to be some foul weather here. nothing too heavy to say the least but it is going to be fall on top of some of the snow melt. there that he risk of some melting know, even the risk of avalanche. farther toward the west, high pressure is ridging in. southern japan, eastern china, things will be on the dry side. southeastern china not so much the case. you're going to see a developing low pressure area here bringing light rain showers at times. nothing too severe but definitely going to be dampening out the end of your work week. meanwhile into the tropics we're also looking at some areas of low pressure which is bringing some rain showers across southern portions of t

nhk world, tokyo. >>> the bombings in boston have raised fears as far away as london. authorities in the former olympic host city are reviewing security for a marathon to be held there this weekend. >>> more than 20 people aboard a u.s. military helicopter survived a crash in south korea following a training mission. the transport aircraft went down and then caught fire near the demilitarized zone that divides north and south korea. the crash happened in the northern part of the country. all 21 people on board made it out alive. six of them were lightly wounded and had to be treated in hospital. u.s. military representatives say it was likely an accident. they're working with south korean authorities to try to determine exactly what happened. the helicopter was based in okinawa, japan. now, the crash occurred amid heightened tension on the korean peninsula. north korean military leaders have issued a new warning to their neighbors. they're threatening to attack south korea in response to what they describe as provocative acts. military commanders were reacting to a ral

nhk world. >>> cashmere wool is considered one of the finest types of fiber. it's mostly produced in china. production is on the rise due to booming exports as well as expansion of china's domestic market. but the development of this industry is not without consequences for the environment. nhk world reports. >> reporter: many people consider cashmere wool an ideal fabric for sweaters and scarves. not only is the wool light and soft, it's also very warm. the number of shops in chinese cities that sell cashmere goods has been rising. this one in central beijing opened last year. sweaters like these can cost more than $570. but shoppers are snapping them up. >> translator: it feels so soft, and i feel so comfortable in cashmere. >> reporter: this is in a region of inner mongolia. the people here produce 40% of the world's cashmere. the city is surrounded grasslands. it's an ideal region for raising goats that grow cashmere wool. and the temperature range also makes the wool grow better. as consumers buy more cashmere, the industry is booming. so many farmers her

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." u.s. authorities are carrying out a large-scale manhunt around the city of boston, searching for a suspect they believe is responsible for the city's marathon bombings. a second suspect is dead. >>> media says they're brothers from chechnya. investigators accuse the men of killing a security guard earlier at the massachusetts institute of technology in cambridge. police say the pair car jacked a vehicle after that to make their escape. reuters reports they kept the driver hostage for about a half hour. officers caught up with them in nearby watertown. they engaged in a gunfight. residents heard shots and explosions. after police captured one of the suspects, they announced he had died. boston political identified the man on the run as the one in the white hat. they say he is 19 years old. the dead suspect was 26 years old. the brothers had been in the united states for several years. >> we believe this to be a terrorist. a man that's come here to kill people. we need to get him in custody.

officials told nhk there is still a chance they will be sent back to myanmar. it's a possibility firmly opposed by the u.n. refugee agency. >> if that were to happen, it would be infringing on some international laws, basically the rule of, that people should not be sent to a place where their lives or their freedoms could be in danger. so we would strongly urge the authorities not to send people back to myanmar until we can find solutions for them. >> reporter: unsure of what lies ahead, the survivors are living uncertain lives. this is a mother of four. her youngest boy was born on the boat on their sixth day at sea. >> translator: when i gave birth, i had no one to support me and no medicine or food at all. i washed any new born baby with salty seawater. >> reporter: after surviving the trip. she was separated from her husband. she doesn't know where he was taken. >> translator: i left my parents and relatives in myanmar and fled with my family. but we were separated here, and i don't know where my husband is. our hope is simple. i just want to go to a place

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." security analysts are working around the clock trying to figure out the state of play in north korea. officials in south korea, japan and the u.s. remain on high alert for a possible missile launch. they believe authorities in pyongyang could follow through on their threats at anytime. north degree yaps celebrated the first anniversary of kim jong-unbecoming their country's leader. >> com rad has brought us an epic change with his military mind. >> officials say forces are set to launch a medium-range miss ill from their country's east coast. they think it could travel toward the sea of japan or toward the pacific ocean. it could take place in the coming week. >> translator: we think north korea could conduct the launch on or around april 15th. we must keep close watch on when and how many missiles will be launched. >> on monday, north koreans will observe the birthday of the nation's founder kim il-sung. they're already marking another event. it's been one year since kim jong-un took

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." u.s. and south korean troops have been carrying out exercises after exercise since the beginning of last month to prepare for any future conflict. the annual drills have angered north korea. now the media are getting an inside look at the operation which is called "full eagle." the troops showed part of an exercise to journalists in the southeastern city of qohang. about 2,000 personnel unloaded military supplies for ground combat troops from ships anchored nearby. they're preparing for the possibility that an enemy attack would destroy ports. the u.s. and south korea plan to continue to do the annual drills until the end of this month. north korean leaders said last week they would agree to dialogue with the countries if they suspended the drills. south korean officials are still concerned about a possible missile launch by pyongyang. >> translator: north korea doesn't appear to have removed its ballistic missiles from the sea of japan coast. >> analysts say the u.s. and south korea opene

. >>> welcome back to nhk world "newsline." investigators in the u.s. have been studying fragments found at the boston marathon bombings. twin explosions near the finish line on monday killed three people and wounded more than 170 others. police say whoever carried out the attack could have followed bomb making instructions on the internet. investigators recovered a mad piece of metal that's thought to have been part of a pressure cooker. they also retrieved a nail that's about one centimeter long. doctors say they have found what appears to be nails inside the victims. the investigators discovered a u.s.-made battery attached to two wires and a small circuit board. they've been quoted in some american media as saying the circuit was likely used to detonate the bombs. they say the explosives may have been set off using timers. it's not difficult to turn pressure cookers into bombs. some media say it costs less than $100. the devices have been used in terrorist attacks in the u.s., afghanistan and elsewhere. investigators also recovered black nylon fiber

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." people in north korea are celebrating an important holiday as people elsewhere continue to watch the country's leaders. north korea's citizens are observing what would have been the 101st birthday of the nation's founder kim il-sung. leader kim jong-un marked the day by visiting his grandfather's mausoleum. >> state-run tv reports kim was accompanied by close aides, including his uncle and mentor. it was kim's first appearance on state media since a session of the north korean parliament two weeks ago. people in neighboring countries fear he'll mark the holiday by ordering the test of a ballistic missile. pictures out of pyongyang send a different message. presidents have laid flowers. at statues of kim il-sung and kim jong-il. >>> north korea's leaders have made repeated threats targeting people in other countries, in spite of repeated calls for restraint. officials in pyongyang escalated tensions after u.n. security council members approved stricter sanctions. they were responding t

more from nhk world's reporter. >> reporter: this plant has sprung leeks. water is seeping in from underground from walls danged by the earthquake and tsunami. once inside it's contaminated. so it is a seemingly endless tafk, removing the water to underground storage tanks and pools. >> translator: there have been leeks since the state of cold shut town was achieved. but the recent case is probably the largest ever. >> reporter: the pools sit about 800 meters from the shore. but there's no fear that that water leaked into the ocean. tepco investigators suspect the problem lies with the design and construction of the facilities. each spool six meeters deep. crews poke add hole in the seats so they could insert a monitor to check leakage. the holes in the surface became the problem. the water pressure pulled the seats down. trade and industry minister asks them to fix the problem. >> translator: i would like you to make sure that contaminated water won't leak into the sea. >> reporter: the assurances from tepco have not calmed residents. >> translator: the le

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." >>> residents of a small town in the u.s. state of texas are reeling following a powerful explosion at a fertilizer plant. the blast blew up homes and buildings. police say it killed between 5 and 15 people and injured more than 160. they're investigating if it was an accident or a crime. the explosion happened in the town of west in central texas. it caused an earth tremor that people reported feeling in the city of dallas more than 100 kilometers away. more than 50 buildings including a nursing home collapsed or were badly damaged. several firefighters are reported missing. >> the casualty numbers, i don't have a hard number to give to you at this point. they are still working on that. i can tell you that it is estimated anywhere from 5 to 15 at this point. >>> police say firefighters cannot approach for fear of toxic fumes. about half of the town's population have evacuated their homes. >>> u.s. officials have released no in information on the progress of their investigation, but some media are reporting about a possible s

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." health authorities across asia have been on guard against the aggressive strain of the bird flu that's spreading in china. now those in taiwan say they've detected the first human infection involving the deadly h7n9 virus. taiwanese public health officials say a 53-year-old man developed the flu after returning from eastern chinese province of jiangsu. he stayed there from march 28 to april 9. officials say after the man returned home he complained of fever and fatigue and was hospitalized a week later. tests showed he had been infected with the h7n9 strain. the man reportedly had no contact with live poultry in china. so far 109 cases of the bird flu have been reported mainly in the eastern part of china, including shanghai and beijing. of them, 22 people have died. >>> rescuers in bangladesh are digging through debris to find survivors of a deadly building collapse. an eight-story structure on the outskirts of the capital dhaka crumbled to the ground. local media say more than 70 pe

nhk world, tokyo. >>> time now to get a check on the weather.he sun's out but it was quite chilly. >> it's a chilly morning. we have a high pressure system dominating much of the country creating clear skies and less winds. so those conditions are ideal for creating overnight cooling. looking dry in the morning hours, however, things will turn wet and windy across the west. a new system is approaching from the west. rain will become quite heavy across the pacific coast. the cue shoe rye john may see up to 120 millimeters of rain in the next 24 hours. watch out for flooding. also waves could hit as high as 4 meters. wet and windy conditions are on the way. across the korean peninsula rain will be heavy across the korean peninsula. and rain is in the cards for you in northeastern china as well as korea. we are seeing rain intensify across china. up to millimeters, we may see showers continuing throughout the day. that could hamper the recovery efforts unfortunately. across indochina peninsula, rain will be falling, temperatures will be chore offin

nhk world. >> officials in pyongyang say that an industrial park that the two koreas have run together may disappear. park says no country or company would invest in the north if officials there continue to break international rules and promises. north korean officials said the suspension was temporary, but they blame park for bringing the complex to the brink of closure. this is the first time they've criticized her by name since she took office. she acknowledged people are worried about the situation. but she said south korean leaders were handling the situation with a strong military deterrence and that citizens were calm. >> translator: i say with confidence that the south will remain a safe and stable place in which to make investments and do business. >>> south korea's stock index fell to its lowest level this year. south korean leaders want to keep investment and tourists coming. they say their country is safe. >>> south korea says the amount north korea has spent onity nuclear and missile development programs is enough to buy a three year supply of corn to feed its people. cost

"nhk world," california. >>> a tiny south pacific airline >> more for you in business next hour. i'll leave you with a check on markets. >>> a tiny south pacific airline has introduced a new way of charging passengers. tickets are now sold not by seat but by weight. the reaction has been mixed but the head of samoa air has defended the decision as the fairest way of traveling. the carrier flies propeller aircraft domestically and to american samoa. starting from wednesday, passengers will have to step on a scale with their baggage to learn the price of their ticket. the airline charges about $1 per kilogram. the ceo admits passengers initially complained but says that has now changed. >> the indications are that once people have acknowledged that the airplane runs by weight and not by seats, it makes it a lot easier for them to understand. >> samoa has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world. the world health organization says more than 8 in 10 samoans are overweight. >>> the operators of japan's oldest nuclear reactors will have to satisfy a tougher set of rules if they

nhk world, los angeles. >>> time now get a check on the weather. many residents in hong kong are looking out of their windows and not seeing much. ma shoji explains in morning washington d.c. >> good morning. let me show you a video coming out from hong kong. it is shrouded in smog and skyscrapers barely visible. the pair pollution hit the highest point this year caused by pollutants, mainly nitrogen dioxide. and elder ly, children and peope with respiratory problems are urged to stay inside. and the air quality has improvement, and if you look at these pictures you can see the rain clouds hiring the visibility to about 10 kilometers well enough for you to be driving. the rain could get heavy across southeasterly areas of china due to the flow in this stationary boundary. we have been seeing rain already in the past 24 hours. this could well have caused some flooding problems. further flooding is also highly concerned across the southern thailand areas. that will move into the central regions of thailand. that could be spread widely and heavy rain

nhk world. >>> time now to get a check on the weather. people in northern europe are enjoining warming weather. mai shoji joins us. >> good morning. the long winter in europe is coming to an end. that warmth could lead to the rapid snow melt and could trigger some flooding. this is what's happening there. spring has been very slow to arrive this year because of the exceptionally cold winter. a burst of warm weather has swept across the country bringing the annual flooding. one of the hardest hit places is the a town in central latvia. the snow will melt and the conditions may get worse. due to the system bringing a cold front into france we may see some thunderstorms popping up but generally speaking really clear and nice except for the british isles with with system moving in. we have reports of wind of 100 kilometers per hour and that's likely to continue in the northern areas especially ireland. mix precipitation will be likely. berlin and vienna, we're looking at 24 degrees. madrid some light temperature at 27 degrees. moving onto nor

nhk world. >>> an armed group has ambushed a convoy of u.n. peacekeepers in south sudan. 12 people died. the you need nations says the attack occurred in the eastern state of jongli. the victims are five indiana soldiers and seven civilian staff members. nine others were injured. >> the secretary general is appalled by an attack on a convoy this morning. he calls on the government of south sudan to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice. >> south sudan gained independence from sudan in 2011 after more than two decades of civil war. fighting has continued between government forces and armed groups. observers believe the groups are backed by the sudanese government. a government group killed 85 south sudanese nomads. >>> indiana may be big but it isn't a big soccer country. it's ranked only 143rd, by fifa. but with the professional soccer league kicking off there seven years ago the sport has been growing in popularity. one japanese player is playing his part. "nhk world" has more. >> reporter: one japanese player active in the indian p

nhk world. >>> they will help refugees who fled the country return home. the jica team traveled to a district in the north part of the state. they signed a cease-fire last year with insurgents who had been fighting for independence for more than 60 years. due to progress many of the estimated 400,000 refugees living outside the country now hope to return home. >> translator: we would like to ask the japanese team for assistance in creating long term jobs for returning refugees. >> jica team members will work closely with officials to help the refugees. >>> the republic citizens have long practiced tibetan buddhistism. now with communism behind them believers are trying to revive their religion. nhk has more. >> reporter: the region was once part of the empire but was integrated into the russian empire about 300 years ago. the mongolians became a minority in the republic but their culture and heritage has been passed down over time. buddhism came to this place during mongolian rule. the republic is now home to more than 60 temples supported by a large numbe

nhk world, london. >> that's all for me. i'll leave you with the recap of the markets. >>> japanese lawmakers are struggle with a problem on how to make electoral maps fair. they will split over prime minister abe's approach. pollsters interviewed more than 1,000 people over the weekend. 66% say they approve of abe's cabinet but more people say he's following through on his promises. the current plan is to cut the number of seats in five prefectures with a relatively small population by one each. more than 30% of respon dents approved of that plan. 17% were opposed. more than 40% said they neither approve nor disapprove. abe may be enjoying strong support, but he is under pressure to fix the system that brought him under into power. we have more on what's at stake. >>> vote xpart has been a problem ever since japan adopted the current electoral system in 1994. lawmakers agreed there would be three single seat constituencies. the remaining seats in the sijle seat system are divided in proportion to each prefecture's populatio

. >>> welcome to nhk "newsline". u.s. prosecutors have charged the surviving suspect in the bombings at the boston marathon. they accused dzhokhar tsarnaev of using a weapon of mass destruction. he could face the death penalty. the 19-year-old suspect remains in a boston hospital where he is being treated for his wounds. the justice department said in a statement that he faces a second charge of malicious destruction of property resulting in death. prosecutors accuse tsarnaev and his older brother, tamerlan, of setting off two bombs last week near the finish line of the race. three people were killed. more than 170 were injured. the older brother died on friday after a shootout with police. u.s. media are reporting that dzhokhar tsarnaev told investigators that he and his brother planned and carried out the attacks by themselves. he said they were motivated by religion but had no involvement with terrorist groups. reports say the brothers learned how to make bombs on the internet. white house press secretary jay carney sa

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." first we again with the death of margaret thatcher. she led the country for 11 years. her legacy includes the privatization of dozens of state-run corporations. she also eased financial regulations and cut taxes. thatcher worked with u.s. president ronald reagan to counter the influence of communist countries. she was dubbed the iron lady for her uncompromising stance. >>> a north korean official says his country is pulling staff from a project that has become a symbol of inter-korean cooperation. 53,000 north korean workers have been working at the kaesong industrial complex. state-run media said officials will temporarily halt activities at the industrial park. the official claim that they have been abusing the complex for what he called provocations. he said the north would halt all difficult at the park. the first such operation since 2004. he said officials will decide whether or not to keep the complex open. they have added to tensions between the two koreas. last week they started to refuse to allow south korean workers to enter

nato secretary general spoke to nhk during a visit to japan. he called on them to join dialogue for a peaceful solution. >> i hope the message that they have sent to the north korean leadership will give a clear incentive to the north korean leadership to pursue dialogue and refrain from further provocative actions. >> he also said nato will stand by its allies. >> if a nato ally is attacked, it will probably be raised for consultation among nato ally the. nato allies will discuss the situation and make decisions based on the specific circumstances. >> north korea has been threatening to attack targets in the u.s. and allied countries. >>> america's second largest tv provider has launched a counter bid for sprint nextel. dish network is challenging japan's bank. they have offered over $25 billion in cash and stocks for sprint. that's 13% more than soft bank's proposal. they offered to buy 70% of sprint shares last october for $20 billion. dish's challenge could trigger a bidding war. board members will study the offer carefully. soft bank offic

nhk reports. >> reporter: the uss freedom is also known as a total combat ship. it is designed to operate in shallow waters close to shore, making it effective where other combat ships cannot engage. the ship measures 118 meters long by 17 meters wide and can accelerate to more than 70 kilometers per hour in two minutes. the uss freedom is capable of functions ann tie submarine functions anti-submarine operations and mine sweeping. the u.s. plans to station up to four of these ships in singapore. >> mainly, our navy has really focused in more the blue water area. further out to sea. and we've had somewhat a seem in our ability to locate close to land. >> reporter: the vessels are equipped with advanced radar systems. the ships are capable of carrying antisubmarine helicopters and high speed boats. experts say the new equipment will sharply increase the intelligence gathering abilities of navy vessels. in a meeting earlier this month, u.s. president barack obama expressed appreciation for singapore's cooperation. they are moving ahead with a new strategy. singapor

hideki, nhk world, afghanistan. >>> time now to get a check on the weather. it's sunny in tokyo this morning. will it last? we see in world weather. >> the nice weather will continue throughout the day. this system is packing cold air bringing unstable weather across the region. this system is said to move into parts of japan. we may see some hail, thunderstorms and gusty winds for a short period in some places. a lo front line is lying over the areas like okinawa, taiwan and southern end of china and northern parts of thailand and vietnam, bringing thundershowers. some areas, like southern china, may see 50 to 100 millimeters of rain into the next 24 hours. flooding and landslides will be an ongoing risk here. towards southwestern china, where the earthquake occurred on the weekend, sichuan province will continue to see on and off showers throughout the day that will raise the risk of landslides unfortunately. temperatures will be on the warmer side across china. 26 degrees here and 23 in beijing. and cherry blossoms are in bloom. let's look at this video. 2

nhk reports. >> reporter: the uss freedom is also known as a total combat ship. it is designed to operate in shallow waters close to shore, making it effective where other combat ships cannot engage. the ship measures 118 meters long by 17 meters wide and can accelerate to more than 70 kilometers per hour in two minutes. the uss freedom is capable of functions ann tie submarine functions anti-submarine operations and mine sweeping. the u.s. plans to station up to four of these ships in singapore. >> mainly, our navy has really focused in more the blue water area. further out to sea. and we've had somewhat a seem in our ability to locate close to land. >> reporter: the vessels are equipped with advanced radar systems. the ships are capable of carrying antisubmarine helicopters and high speed boats. experts say the new equipment will sharply increase the intelligence gathering abilities of navy vessels. in a meeting earlier this month, u.s. president barack obama expressed appreciation for singapore's cooperation. they are moving ahead with a new strategy. singapor

nhk world, central thailand. >>> emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence, the push for peace, the shadow of conflict. get news and insight every weekday live from bangkok. >>> drenching rain battered east of madgascar over the weekend. we had double the amount of march or april. this caused heavy rain. let's go to some footage out of this area. sudden downpours left ten people dead over the weekend. it's submerged vehicles and power lines. emergency workers on sunday began clearing debris on roads and repairing power lines. eight workers were handing out food and water supplies on monday. because of the rain band lifting towards the north, rain is easing across more regions. on tuesday clearing conditions are in the forecast. i hope it will help the recovery efforts. somewhere else which has been dealing with heavy rain and serious floods are in the south eastern corner of chie anachina. it looks like the rainy season started earlier than normal in the surrounding areas. because of days

kaho izumitani, nhk world, tokyo. >>> time now get a check on the weather. people in europe are in their spring season but folks in the wintry parts are still dealing with wintry conditions. ma shoji shows us more. >> it includes more than half of europe and northern balkans, too and heavy snow and i will show you a video from croatia. spring officially started last months but snow still grips part of grand preurope. people are tired of snow in their highways and driveways. most are expecting rain rather than snow with colder than average temperatures wednesday. but looks like we can probably see a similar picture across northern balkans. that includes some areas of croatia as well as poland. this system towards the south, due to the warm and humid airflowing from north africa is colliding with the cold arctic air bringing severe conditions that includes hail and gusts, and damage iing levels with thunderstorms, too. another atlantic system will be moving in covering these areas. you can see how slow that is and the rain will start accumulating and lingering