susumu kojima, nhk world, shandong province, china. >>> for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji. mai? >> heavy downpours have been affecting much of the eastern continental asia. especially in kyushu region as well as kinki region. let me show you a video from fukuoka prefecture. the visibility almost close to none with this really heavy downpours. 137 millimeters has been accumulating in the past 24 hours here in fukuoka. in hyogo, 87 millimeters in just one hour span have targeted the region. so if we can pull back, i can show you that this is going to be an ongoing situation across much of the western half of japan due to this high pressure just sitting over water, bringing all the ample moisture and dumping buckets full of rainfall. now the additional accumulations could be as much as 150 millimeters in the northern kyushu region. kinki has already seen its peak and that's going to be gone. however, short time heavy rain could also still be possible in and around these regions. about 50 millimeters in an hour. across much of the eastern and northern japan, we have

is below t some analysts say the our ooe zone debtuggish d uncertainties nhk's susumu kojima has more from bei europe has taken a toll on statis the >> translator: the chinese government wteady >> reporter: theent had been expecting a somewhat slower quarter, but the ongoing debt concerns in europe could furth demand autumn when the c some chinese authorities to resort to furtto current size the sjudgment could lead to a catastrophic downturn. with this in mind,more >> the formfor the outlook, we spoke to the head of development bank ient has reacted amonetary chance actions with months in ther growth in let me say that we are forecasting gdp fiscal reinforced of avoiding a.s. credit this brings the country' lowering the2,lock to on the nine-year low,. >>> the frencugeot citroen, will6,500 job be reassigned to pany says the streamlining measures are necessary as it expects a loss first half of stemming from a slopean debt crisis. the automaker says it h member. they say they consider the measures as a bite minge plan europe affecting opel. its top executive has resigned.el is >>> gm s

susumu kojima. >> people are becoming increasingly vocal about environmental pollution. but their fight isn't easy. especially in court. xie is not the only person to lose a lawsuit. an expert on incineration issues in china. he told me that companies win 99% of these environmental cases. he says, it's extremely difficult for people to gather the data they need to prove a link between the damage and pollution. to avoid confrontation, xie is asking the government to be more open about its plans for new incinerator incinerators. >> translator: the government needs to regain the trust of the people. government officials should explain all of the facts and explain the benefits and also the concerns. >> reporter: the chinese government can no longer ignore pollution at the expense of economic growth. as awareness of the issue grows in china, people will be watching to see how the ers add environmental problems. >> thank you, that was susumu kojima in beijing. >>> it is easier to extract thanks to new technology. the united states leads the world in producing shale gas which m

hoping to encourage them to buy more wine. >>> earlier, susumu kojima joined us from our beijing studio. we asked him about the prospects for china's wine market. >> people from the wine industry expect the market to grow quickly, just like the beer market did. chinese now buy more beer than any other people in the world. and already the wine market is the world's fifth largest. a source inside the industry tells us the market will keep expanding. >> translator: per capita wine consumption in a developed country like france is 50 to 60 liters a year. in china, it's only about 1 liter. if you think of how big china's population is, you understand how big the market potentially is. >> although many chinese have never drunk even one sip of wine, the chateau is one way of attracting their interest. the chinese winemaker in the report says it is investing about $940 million to build a so-called international wine city. the company expects to attract a lot of tourists, and it wants to introduce more people to wine. meantime, the industry is promoting the health benefits of drinking wine as ch

nhk world's susumu kojima reports from beijing. >> reporter: she and a household staff member will go on trial for killing haywood by poisoning him. chinese authorities said the defendants had disagreements with haywood over money. they were also reportedly worried about threats to the couple's son. the province has accepted the indictment and the trial is expected to begin soon. haywood was found dead in a hotel room in chongqing last november. the british government suspected foul play. it asked china to look into the incident. gu's husband, bo xilai, was communist party chief of chongqing and a member of the communist party's political bureau. he was suspended from key party posting april for suspected involvement in serious violations of discipline. his sudden fall from grace caused instant speculation in china. the chinese authorities are still investigating more. susumu kojima, nhk world, beijing. >>> the mystery of who is north korea's first lady appears to be solved. observers now believe kim jong-un's new wife is a former singer ranamed ri sol ju. the country's media has been