i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we are following this hour. >> japan's nuclear regulators urged fukushima daiichi to check the water tanks after hundreds of tons of water leaked out. >>> al jazeera america has kicked off in new york. some welcome a different angle on the news while others say it's biased against the u.s. >>> and the friends and family of a japanese war correspondent are remembering her one year after her death and trying to spread her message. >>> workers at the damaged fukushima daiichi plant say a leakage of contaminated water may have gone undetected for some time. they say the storage tank doesn't have a water level gauge and their monitoring may not have been adequate. workers found a puddle forming just outside a low wall surrounding tanks near reactor number four. they confirmed one of the tanks lost more than 300 tons of water. the water contains high levels of radioactive substances. officials of the tokyo electric power company says the tank has no wate

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >> the operator of japan's damaged nuclear facility plans to pump up radiation-contaminated ground water to stop it from seeping into the ocean. >>> japan's prime minister has the latest measure of how the economy is doing and it could influence his decision to raise the consumption tax. >>> the operator of the damaged nuclear facility says it will start pumping up underground water at the site. 300 tons of radiation contaminated water there is leaking into the ocean every day. tokyo electric power company proposed the plan on monday to a panel of the nuclear regulation authority. workers at the plant created an underground wall to stop tainted ground water from leaking into the sea. but the water level continues to rise. the firm says it will start pumping out 60 tons of ground water per day near an embankment between the plant's number one and two reactors and 80 more tons per day at another site in september. the auth

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >> officials who inspected fukushima's damaged nuclear plant say tepco's efforts to solve the crisis there are not good enough. >>> tens of thousands of people have gathered in hiroshima to mark the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing. >>> and a u.s. air force helicopter crash in okinawa deepens concerns among residents who worry about the american military aircraft that crisscross their skies. >>> officials appointed by the fukushima government have made an emergency visit to the damaged nuclear plant. they're investigating whether the operator of fukushima daiichi are doing enough to stop leaks of contaminated water, and they're unimpressed by what they found. the 22 officials are part of a council that's overseeing the decommissioning of the plant including municipal government staff and nuclear industry experts. the team inspected areas of the compound where contaminated ground water has been seeping into the sea.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. syrian opposition leaders are calling for prompt action into what they say was a chemical weapons attack. they say on wednesday government forces targeted towns with poison gas. humans of people were reportedly killed. u.s. government officials are urging syrian authorities to grant access to the sites. >> if the regime has nothing to do with these attacks, if there was not a use of chemical weapons here, there is no reason they wouldn't let the un team on the ground, available, happy to investigate in to do just that. >> she said the secretary of state john kerry spoke on the phone with secretary general moon and with french foreign minster. syrian opposition leaders claim that government forces fired rocks loaded with chemical weapons in i suburb of damascus. they demanded the allegations and say the claims are absolutely baseless. the authorities in egypt have released former president mubarak from prison, but he is not free. they went to the military hospital and put him under hou

it's thursday, august 22nd, i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the people who operate the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant are wrestling with yet another challenge. they'd already confirmed that more than 300 tons of highly radioactive waste water has leaked from a storage tank. and now they say it may have flowed into the pacific ocean. workers with tokyo electric power company detected high levels of radiation inside a ditch. the ditch is about 50 meters from the leaking tank. and it runs into the ocean. workers have set up hundreds of tanks on a hillside near the reactors. they erected a low wall around the tanks, still the water seeped out. officials at japan's nuclear regulation authority said they're considering raising the severity rating of the leak. they rated it as a level one incident on the international scale that runs from zero to seven. they're considering raising their assessment to level three for serious incidents. previously tepco officials had said it was unlikely that contaminated water was reaching the shore. they said the le

now to see how shares here in tokyo are trading. let's head over to the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, fomc minutes, a key driver for the markets later today. but what else should we look out for here? >> definitely, as you say. overseas events are going to be a key driver for a lot of investors, but a couple domestic pointers to watch out for as well. let's have a look at the opening levels, shall we? august 21st. a bit of a mixed picture, the nikkei is higher and the topix lower in the first few minutes of trading. just a reminder, the nikkei did come in for heavy bottom selling tuesday as the yen got stronger later in the session. there is also uncertainty over the fed's monetary policy as well as vulnerability in emerging markets, especially emerging currency markets. so we'll keep track of that, as well. still, as i mention, domestically, a few factors or pointers to look out for here. steel production having grown 0.5% in july according to the japan steel federation as demand as grown for autos, home products, as well as construction. so i'm going to look out for shares in

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we are following this hour. >>> an official with japan's nuclear watchdog says the operator of fukushima daiichi was ill prepared for a leak of highly radioactive water from a storage tank. >>> the head of the united nations is calling on the syrian government to allow inspectors to fully investigate the latest allegation of chemical weapons use. >>> the former rising star of the communist party bo xailai fights back on the second day of his trial denying all charges against him. >>> an official with japan's nuclear -- told them to ask for help if needed. workers scramble to deal with leaks of highly radioactive water. 300 tons of water seeped from the storage plant. workers detected the leak on monday. they've been checking about 350 tanks of the same design to make sure no other water is getting out. he criticized tepco for not considering the possibility of a leak. he said the utility was ill-prepared and said the company should have been keepi

tokyo at 33.'ll leave with you -- you with the extended forecast. >>> sun bathers got a surprise when a huge hovercraft made an unexpected landing on a crowded beach in russia. amateur footage shows the 60-meter-long russian vessel sliding on to the beach facing the baltic sea. reports say no one was injured. a spokesperson for the russian defense ministry told local media the hovercraft was on a tactical mission in an area owned by the military. ministry officials said they did not know why people were there. some local media have suggested the naval officers got the wrong beach. >> that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.  ♪ >> the wilson forum is the living memorial to our first internationalist president. chartered by congress in neck and 68, the u.s. key, nonpartisan non-policy form -- 1968, the u.s. key, non-partisan policy forum. our goal is to create the next generation of leaders for the po c

i'm katherine kobayashi in tokyo. ichiro suzuki earned award after award for his exploits on baseball diamonds in japan. the new york yankee has another moment. 4,000 hits in his career. ichiro set the mark playing at home against the toronto blue jays. he is the first japanese player to reach the milestone. he joined the blue wave in japan's pacific league in 1992. he accumulated more than 1200 hits. in 2001 he moved to the major leagues and cranked out 2,700 hits for the mariers and the yankees. only two other players have amassed that many hits. a chinese communist party boss is set to go on trial in the most politically charged case in decades. he had a promising future and some suggested he would to the top rungs of the party and instead he is going to court facing bribery embezzlement and the abuse of power. he took advantage of his position and embezzled about $4 million in public money. his wife was convict of killing a british businessman. he got caught up in a number of other scandals. in september leaders e

i'm gene otani in tokyo.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>>ed leeers of ja man and russia will meet face to face on a long standing territorial dispute. prime minister shinzo abe and president vladimir putin will talk next month on the sidelines of a summit of the group of 20 nations. they'll try to find common ground over four russian-held islands claimed by japan. deputy foreign minister sugiyama and igo morgolov met in moscow. japanese officials say they didn't make much progress toward resolving differences but the diplomats agreed to make arrangements for abe and putin to talk early next month at the g-20 meetings in st. petersburg, russia. the leaders agreed in april to restart negotiations over the islands. they said they would work towards finding a mutually accept solution and conclude igiing a peace treaty. >>> china's defense minister has warned others not to underestimate the chinese. chang wanquan issued the warning after a meeting with chuck hagel. china is caught up in a number of territorial disputes in the east china seas.

i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. u.n. inspectors are packing up their equipment and preparing to fly out of syria. they've finished gathering evidence on the use of chemical weapons. the experts have spent four days collecting samples and interviewing hospital staff. they were looking into allegations president bashar al assad's troops used chemical weapons last week. several hundred people are believed dead from the attack. the inspectors will now send material for laboratory analysis, then they'll report to u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon. syrian state tv has reported foreign minister walid al-moallem spoke over the phone with tun chief. he said syrian leaders would reject the report if they judge it incomplete. u.s. president barack obama says he has not made a final decision on how to respond to the chemical attack. obama said the syrian military's use of chemical weapons poses a security threat to the united states. he said he's considering a limited narrow military action but will not send ground forces. >> part

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> u.s. leaders and their allies are gearing up for possible military action against syria. they believe syrian forces were responsible for a chemical weapons attack last week on opposition neighborhoods. some u.s. media report they could launch a strike within days. opposition activists say last wednesday, government forces used poison gas in an attack on the suburbs of damascus. they say hundreds of people were killed. senior u.s. officials told nbc news that they could launch missile strikes against syria as early as thursday. sources say they're planning three days of strikes. but they say they don't want to topple syrian president bashar al assad, or cripple his military. rather, they say, they want to send assad a message. >>> the white house press secretary says president barack obama is still considering his options. jay carney says the president has not made his decision. >> the president continues to work with his national security team, reviewing the options available to him. and w

in tokyo, a concert was held to honor his dream. ezra brown is a saxophone player from the state of mississippi. he arrived in tokyo on august 28th to commemorate the historic day. the message he brought with him? let freedom ring. ♪ brown played a traditional spiritual song that he has been listening to since his childhood. it's a piece that people in the civil rights movement sang in church to help them during their struggle. >> in the words of dr. martin luther king jr., let's keep in our heart and our mind and our soul about universal peace, equality for everyone, freedom. ♪ >> well, it reminds me that i have to be conscious of the inequalities that does exist now in the world. >> i don't know how much longer it's going to take, if it's going to be another 50 years or what, but we still got a ways to go, you know, and we still got to kind of keep the march going. ♪ >>> a series of bombs have exploded in shia muslim areas in and around the iraqi capital baghdad. the blasts killed at least 40 people. another 160 were wounded. iraq

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >> egyptians fear they may see more bloodshed on their streets as supporters of the country's ousted isz lammist president call for nationwide protests after friday prayers. >> south korea proposes working level talks to reunite families separated by the war. a sign that tensions are easing between the two countries. >>> american film director oliver stone visited japan to offer his perspective on world war ii and the importance of history. >>> egyptians are wrestling with range of emotions as they head into the weekend. some are angry two days after authorities came down hard on supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi leaving more than 600 dead. others are fearful because the same supporters are calling for more demonstrations across the country. new video gives another perspective on the security crackdown. it shows authorities moving in in one of two protest camps in cairo. sky news cameraman michael dean shot the

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> people across japan are gathering to observe the 68th anniversary of the end of world war ii and share their hopes for peace. >>> supporters of egypt's ousted islamist president are calling for more demonstrations, a day after a government crackdown that killed hundreds of protesters. >>> and india's prime minister wants pakistan to put words into action to stop terrorists making attacks across the disputed cashmere border. >>> people across japan paused to reflect on their history and their future. they mark 68 years since the end of world war ii. they're holding ceremonies and symposiums across the country to mourn those who died in the war and talk about peace. about 6,000 people attended a memorial service in tokyo. among them, those who lost family members during the war. >> translator: japan's peace and prosperity today are founded on the sacrifices of those who gave their precious lives in the war. we will hum

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the alleged chemical weapons aattack in syria last week could result in military action by the united states and some european nations. some u.s. media report u.s. forces could strike syria within a couple of days. nbc news says senior u.s. officials told them missile strikes against syria could be launched as early as thursday. the sources say three-day strikes are planned and would be limited in scope. they would be aimed at sending a message to syrian president bashar al assad. white house spokesman says the u.s. response to syria has not yet been decided. >> the president continues to work with his national security team reviewing the options available to him. when he has made a decision he will make the announcement. he said the u.s. has a firm assessment that the assad regime has maintained control of the chemical weapons stock pile. carney also said the u.s. officials will release the findings of the probe within a week. >> translator: the chemical massacre of damascus cannot g

even widespread power outages in tokyo this evening. tokyo, korea and central eastern china, we are seeing this high pressure in place. it is just keeping things hot. it's not just japan. temperatures are reflecting this. out of tokyo, still above average here. chongqing up to 30 as well. uisan in korea, you're above average throughout the mid part of the week. let's head over to the americas. severe weather in the central plains. last week we were talking about serious flooding out here. it looks like a cold front is diving in from the north right now, bringing yet more heavy rainfall in kansas, oklahoma. ping pong sized hails, winds out of this storm system as it drifts down to the south. another system moving towards the atlantic seaboard. this will not be as potent but it's still bringing storm systems and ushering in colder air behind it. dry, cooler air mass coming in out of canada. winnipeg, toronto, you'll see temperatures go from the mid 20s down to the low 20s and even the high teens, especially in the overnight hours, by mid

how are tokyo stocks looking? >> good morning to you, ai. let's check the opening levels for august 27th in tokyo and go into how events overseas may affect various sectors and shares. both indexes in the negative as you can see and investors becoming worried after john kerry said syria's use of chemical weapons is undeniable. there are concerned tensions regarding syria could escalate. judging by the way crude oil, gold and treasuries have traded higher, they are shifting funds into the relative safety of those specific assets so we'll check commodity related shares, some of the japanese trading houses. also looking at key durable goods exports, on monday the u.s. showed a 7.3% in july, the biggest fall in nearly a year. lot of companies export a large percentage of their products to the u.s. so a drop in durable goods orders or consumer confidence or consumer demand will be crucial to japanese companies so that's a big focus as well. we also need to monitor domestic issues here, developments also over the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant op

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. u.s. president barack obama said officials concluded that syrian forces used chemical weapons on civilians. in an interview he said they looked at the evidence and determined the syrian government is responsible, but he has not decided whether to order a military strike. >> we do not believe given the systems using rockets that the opposition could have carried out the attacks. we have concluded that the syrian government in fact carries out and if that's so, there needs to be international consequences. >> obama said world leaders have to make sure when they break norms on chemical weapons they are held accountable. he be backed up leaders who said last week forces attacked their neighborhoods and hundreds were killed. they are ready to launch strikes if president obama orders an attack. the program warned them not to. he told them and allies that syria would be their grave yard. the world remembers how the west started the war on iraq years ago and said they possessed weapons and guided

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >> japan's prime minister is offering to help the administrator of the fukushima nuclear plant as it tries to stop radioactive water from seeping into the sea every day. >>> north korea says it will reopen the jointly run kaesong complex after south korea says the patience of its people was running out. >>> some important papers of human rights icon nelson mandela are the highlight of an art exhibition in tokyo. >>> japan's prime minister is taking action to stop radioactive groundwater at the fukushima daiichi from flowing into the pacific ocean. shinzo abe is considering a plan to give the operator funding to deal with the problem. tepco managers are considering building a large underground wall to dam the ground water. prime minister abe spoke about his decision during a meeting with government officials. >> translator: people are extremely concerned about these leaks. they must be dealt with. the government cannot lea

i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. the operator of the fukushima nuclear power plant is about to make another attempt to try to get leaking ground water at the crippled facility under control. officials with tokyo electric power company say they'll start pumping out contaminated groundwater on friday to stop it from spilling into the ocean. workers have been solidifying an embankment to prevent ground water from leaking from the plant into the ocean, but there are concerns that the tainted ground water has already overflowed the barrier. tepco officials say they'll bore a small-scale well nearby and pump out contaminated water. they say workers will then sink about 35-meet are-long pipes into the ground along the embankment and pump out ground water from them as well starting next week. they hope to drain 100 tons of water per day. industry ministry officials estimate that 300 tons of tainted water is leaking into the ocean daily. tepco management admits that it still does not know the exact amount of water that's leak

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline," i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we are following this hour. >>> the world braces for a possible military strike by the u.s. and allies against the forces of syrian president al assad. >>> nuclear regulators in japan officially raise the level of the leak of radio active water in fukushima and now consider it a serious incident. >>> and 50 years after his "i have a dream" speech, martin luther king jr. continues to inspire people in the u.s. and around the world with his message of equal rights for all. >>> britain is working to lay the groundwork for international action against syria over allegations the military there is behind a deadly chemical weapons attack. david cameron says his country will draft a resolution to the u.n. security council to protect civilians from this type of attack. cameron says the resolution is based on chapter 7 of the u.n. charter which stipulates how to deal with threats against peace. he will condemn the regime of president bashar al assad for an a

yesterday the high rose to nearly 35 degrees in tokyo.t has been three days of over 35 degrees since the weekend in tokyo. like a steam sauna. as we have been reporting shimanto city in koichi prefecture 41 degrees has a high that is very intense this year. we have another high pressure system, tibetan high over the atmosphere. the two are compressing the air working as a stubborn heat dome. unfortunately, temperatures will remain on the hot side. as i mentioned, western japan, kyoto 38 degrees on tuesday. the heat is also affecting china and south korea. nearly 40 degrees in chongqing, hang zone and daegu over five degrees higher than seasonal going into your thursday. the dangerous heat will likely remain for some time. farther down towards the south we have a typhoon and yesterday it made landfall across the eastern parts of the philippines. to show you how the situation was, take a look at this footage. the strongest typhoon of the year left a trail of destruction in the northern philippines. typhoon utor has left at least one person

tokyo cooler, not getting up to the 40 degree mark but 35 here into thursday. let's look towards the americas, what's going on here. the cold front that has been diving from the northwest down towards the southeast, that's still bringing heavy rainfall across the gulf states there into portions of the carolinas as well. still about 50 to 100 millimeters can be expected as it draws moisture out of the gulf of mexico. you see that big area in blue, that is a tropical disturbance and this front draws it north. serious flooding across the florida peninsula and gulf states as well. high pressure is setting in. we'll see a little storm system to go down towards nebraska and kansas. that could bring rain showers there. for the most part if you're in the great lakes or northeast, cooler temperatures, chicago high of 23. it will be warming back up though going into next week. now here in europe, really the main topic has been this high pressure down towards the south and been keeping things dry across central and eastern europe. italy is seeing rain showers and further

i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. people from across japan and around the world will soon fill a park in nagasaki to remember the city's darkest day. 68 years ago the u.s. military dropped an atomic bomb there three days after it attacked hiroshima. the mayor of nagasakiy is expected to urge the japanese government to do more to rid the world of nuclear weapons. survivors and rel toivs the victims arrived at peace park near ground zero ahead of the memorial ceremony to offer prayers. >> translator: an atomic bombing should never happen again. i hope there will be no more victims. >> the memorial ceremony will begin at 10:35 a.m. japan time. about representatives from 44 countries will attend along with prime minister shinzo abe. the park will fall silent at 11:02, the moment the bomb was dropped. nagasaki mayor tomihisa taue is expected to read a peace declaration. he's expected to criticize the abe administration for refusing in april to sign a statement by the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. the statement called fo

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us.  - coming up, thinking rationally and behaving ethically. - i think of myself as like a social engineer. people have lots of interests. my interest is the things that we do wrong that we should fix. - duke professor dan ariely discusses behavioral economics, and what beer and vinegar have to do with the israeli-palestinian conflict. that's just ahead on "global ethics forum." - as one of the world's leading behavioral economists, dan ariely has taken direct aim at conventional economic theory. he argues not only that our decisions are often irrational, but that they are predictably irrational. dan ariely is the james b. duke professor of psychology and behavioral economy at duke university. he has not one but two ph.ds under his belt, and is the author of two "new york times" bestsellers,

a nonprofit group held a regional qualifying round in yokohama near tokyo. the contest is designed to help government offices and private companies train experts to counter cyber attacks. six members of the national police agency took part. yasuki competed in an event where participants tried to find security vulnerability in a website and extract personal information. hackers use the technique to steal ids and passwords from a company site. he could solve only one of four problems. he failed to advance to the final. >> translator: i want to use what i experienced here to help my colleagues improve their skills. >> national police agency officials say they want to increase their cooperation with the private sector in the fight against cyber crimes. >>> a large storm is slamming china with strong winds and rain. rachel ferguson from the weather team is here with the details on that. rachel? >> all right. landfall this morning, thursday morning. well, now it is tracking inland in china. it's still packing winds of 65 kilometers an how and gusts of 90 kilometer

tok tokyo's high could be 36. oppressively hot conditions today.in heavy rain anywhere across the frontal system. expected amount of heavy rain is looking like this. 100 millimeters or more for the corner of south korea and the sea of japan side of japan with the heaviest rainfall over 200 millimeters in nagasaki prefecture. it looks like the frontal system will intensify even further as we go into the weekend thanks to an incoming tropical storm that's expected to feed ample moisture to the front. the latest information on the tropical storm is that currently winds are as strong as 65 kilometers per hour near the center of the storm with gusts of 90 miles per hour. it's a minimal tropical storm but because of the slow movement it has dropped tremendous amounts of rain for taiwan. we have a course of 800 millimeters of rain over the past three days. very heavy rain. many schools were canceled and flights canceled as well yesterday. it is approaching mainland china, then curve towards the northeast aiming for mainland japan. the center could reach w

i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. about 50,000 people have gathereda the a park in hiroshima reflecting on the events for which their city is known, marking the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing. >> a u.s. war plane dropped the bomb at 8:15 in the morning. people here gather every year to remember. >> translator: an ark tommic bomb steals lives of innocent people and permanently alters the live of those who survive. the stalks their bodies to the end of their days. an inhumane evil, an absolute evil. >> they asked japanese officials to strengthen ties and lead the way to abolish the weapons. representatives from dozens of countries attended the ceremony. this contained the names of 8,500 people who died over the past year who known to have died because of the bombing. 280,000 people are honored in the vault. the japanese have a duty as the citizens of the only country to have come under attacks by atomic bombs. >> translator: we have a responsibility to make nuclear weapons unnecessary, step by step. >> the citiz

nhk world, tokyo. >>> new technology is helping innovators stake out new ground. more on what is being called the maker movement. >> reporter: this pan-sized box posed shock waves in the industry. when connected to a video camera the device can deliver high video over the internet with high resolution and high energy sound all without a computer. the broadcasting device was developed by a company. the company has only ten employees. used to work for panasonic. he says when he tried to develop a digital camera with with built in the company said the market was too small and the idea too risky. disillusioned he started his own business at 29 years old. >> translator: we used ordinary digital camera parts. we created really innovative software to make live distribution possible. it is so exciting to create totally new products for people at the cutting edge of culture. >> reporter: the device for live distribution has gone through social networks and is now sold in 17 countries. the business environment in the manufacturing industry has changed significantly over the

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us.  ♪ >> the wilson forum is the living memorial to our first internationalist president. chartered by congress in neck and 68, the u.s. key, nonpartisan non-policy form -- 1968, the u.s. key, non-partisan policy forum. our goal is to create the next generation of leaders for the policy challenges ahead.

i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. u.s. president barack obama says he's reassessing relations with russia. he says american and russian leaders differ on a growing number of issues. obama spoke two days after canceling a summit with russian president vladimir putin. he says the u.s. relationship with russia changed after putin took over from dmitry medvedev. >> when president putin, who was prime minister when medvedev was president, came back into power, i think we saw more rhetoric on the russian side that was anti-american that played into some of the old stereotypes about the cold war contest between the united states and russia. >> u.s. and russian officials have been at loggerheads over the russian decision to grant temporary asylum to the american fugitive edward snowden. obama said the snowden episode reflects one of many emerging differences. >> it is probably appropriate for us to take a pause, reassess where it is that russia's going, what our core interests are, and cal ib rate the relationships. >> obama said

i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. workers at japan's crippled nuclear plant are getting ready to dig deeper into a worrying mystery. radioactive water has leaked from at least one storage tank on the fukushima daiichi site. crews are preparing to investigate how it got out and how far it spread. officials with the tokyo electric power company said earlier this week that about 300 tons of highly radioactive water had leaked from a tank. they fear the water flowed through a ditch and into the ocean. the tank is made of steel plates bolted together rather than welded. workers checked the joints and surfaces vigily and found no abnormalities. they don't know how the water got out. company officials suggest the water leaked from the bottom of the tank, soaked into the soil and mixed with ground water. crews plan to dig holes next week around the tank and in a nearby ditch, then they'll analyze the soil and ground water. they hope to trace the path the water took and figure out how far it spread. company officials said thur

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us.  >> i'm the executive vice president of the wilson center. i want to welcome all of you today. the wilson center was chartered by the congress as the official memorial to our 28th president. it is the nation's key nonpartisan policy form for tackling global issues through independent research, open

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. western leaders have been trying to convince l lmakers a aut syria. they believe syrian forces killed hundreds of civilians in the suburbs of damascus with chemical weapons. british prime minister david cameron went to parliament hoping to get approval from military action, but failed to convince enough lawmakers. members of the coalition government proposed a motion that would have authorized british forces to join a strike. the majority of lawmakers rejected the motion. >> it is clear to me that the british parliament rejecting the views of the british people does not want to see british military action. i get that and the government will act accordingly. >> they appeared to all but rule out british involvement. barack obama hopes members of congress will be more receptive to his plans. they are consulting with lawmakers on whether to attack syria and hope to prove to forces to use chemical weapons. a spokesperson said secretary of state john kerry and other senior officials are exp

members of a civic group in tokyo are trying to change that.hk world shows us how. ♪ >> reporter: music to keep the memories alive. the pianist's improvisation was inspired not just by the atomic bombs, but by the piano itself. made in the united states around 1920, this piano was in the city of hiroshima when the bomb exploded. it has been preserved just the way it was with shards of glass still embedded in its wooden surface. >> translator: it really makes me feel as if the piano still remembers what happened that day. i hope my performance can convey that memory to everyone in the audience. >> reporter: a slide show tells the story of the piano and its young owner. akiko kawamoto was a 19-year-old student living in hiroshima. she was born in 1926 in los angeles where her father was working at the time. the piano was bought to commemorate her birth. when akiko was 6, the family returned to japan together with the piano and settled in hiroshima. akiko loved playing the piano more than anything else. she often wrote about it in her diary. akiko

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.  - coming up, new technology and new moral challenges. - these are questions we need to think about before we have the technologies. so, we have to engage in what i call prophylactic ethics. we need to think about what this means for us. - nasa's paul root wolpe talks mind-reading, cerebral privacy, health in the space station, and more from the cutting edge of bioethics. it's just ahead on "global ethics forum." - today's guest has spent his career examining the ethics underlying tomorrow's scientific breakthroughs. as one of the nation's most prominent bioethicists, paul root wolpe encourages scientists to reconsider not only what they can do, but what they should do. dr. wolpe is the asa griggs candler professor of bioethics and the director of the center for ethics at emory university.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. only two nuclear reactors are helping homes and businesses in the steamy days of summer. the people are set to shut them down for inspections in september. they are expected to be nuclear free for the first time in 15 months. nuclear plants across the country shut down for regular inspections after the accident two years ago at fukushima. last july officials with the power company were allowed to restart two reactors at the plant and set to submit an pication to the authority to shut down one of the reactors in early september and another two weeks later. the operators of six other plants have filed applications to restart their reactors. now the regulators are busy checking to see if the facilities are safe. the operator of the fukushima nuclear plant is still struggling to stop radioactive water from reaching the sea. tokyo electric power company learned that the efforts so far have failed. high levels of radio activity have been detected in monitoring wells in the plant site and ne

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. egyptians are seeing things many have seen before. the leaders of the interim government launched a crackdown after more than a month of unrest. they say at least 578 people have been killed, more than 4,000 injured. and they say their forces will continue to use real bullets on groups that threaten peace. supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi have been demanding that he be reinstated. on wednesday security forces stormed two sit-ins in cairo and removed them. protesters elsewhere responded by taking to the streets themselves. they, too, have run into security forces. the state-run news agency says some demonstrators set fire to a government building in giza near the capital. armed protesters in the southern city of beni suef occupied a government building and a police station. >> you have to impose order on the ground, public order is very, very important. >> morsi supporters in the muslim brotherhood are not backing down. they're calling for demonstrations across the country

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has skirted controversy. he's decided not to go to a shrine in tokyo on thursday to observe the anniversary of the end of world war ii. the shrine honors japan's war dead including leaders convicted of crimes after the war. abe himself has not disclosed whether he'll visit the shrine, but government sources say he'll stay away. they say instead he'll pay for a custom honored at the shrine and make an offering of the branch of the sacred tree. chinese and south korean leaders condemned visits to a place that honors war criminals. and the government sources say abe wants to avoid any further strains in foreign relations. but he says the 18 other members of his cabinet are free to visit the shrine. deputy prime minister aso, foreign minister and 12 others say they won't go on the anniversary. the other four members of the cabinet have not said what they'll do. >>> students and staff at a university in okinawa, southern japan are remembering a terrifying

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we are following at this hour. >>> workers at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant are trying to find out how hundreds of tons of radioactive water leaked from a storage tank. ncht. >>> supporters of the ousted egyptian president continue their protest after the group's spiritual leader was detained. pakistan's former president indicted on murder charges related to the assassination of benazir bhutto. >>> workers at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant face another challenge. a storage tank has lost 300 tons of highly radioactive water. the plant's operator says it's the worst leak they've had since the nuclear accident two years ago. a low wall surrounds tanks near reactor number four. workers found a puddle forming outside of it. officials from the tokyo electric power company say one tank lost 300 tons of water. they're trying to find out how. tepco officials say the water inside the tank was treated to reduce radioactive cesium, but they found t

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.hanks for joining us.  - coming up: an urgent call for sustainability. - if we're going to do what we have to do in the short window of time that physics and chemistry allow, then it will be through systemic change that it happens. - environmental activist bill mckibben explains the depressing state of climate change, and tells what governments and private citizens can do. that's just ahead on "global ethics forum." - few people have influenced our understanding of global warming quite like today's guest. though scientists first clued into the warming of our planet more than a century ago, it wasn't until the release of "the end of nature" in 1989 that folks like you and i began to take notice. the person who got our attention was bill mckibben. mckibben has since become one of the world's leading environmentalists. in addition to serving

i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for joining us. until next time. ♪ >>> kengo kuma. the architect is recognized worldwide. these days, he's especially busy in europe and east asia. with many new buildings opening.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. edward snowden walked out of an airport in moscow after more than weeks inside. russian officials granted him a one-year asylum. it angered u.s. leaders and left relations up in the air. snowden arrived from hong kong in late june and has been holed up in the transit zone ever since. his lawyers say he is free to go. >> translator: snowden has left the airport anded hadded for a safer place. >> he wants to move on to latin america that offered him permanent asylum. he worked on contract as an intelligence analyst for the national security agency. he told the guardian newspaper and other media that agents collect private internet and phone data. they defended the surveillance programs saying they prevented terrorist attacks. spokes purposes for the russian presidential office said the decision grant asylum will not affect relations with the u.s. the white house press secretary was less clear cut. >> we are extremely disappointed that the russian government would take this step despite

tokyo electric power company has learned that its efforts so far have failed. high levels of radioactivity have detected in the well sites. tepco has been using a hardening agent to try to solidify the embankment of the power plant to a depth of 16 meters. it hopes that might stop the tainted water from leaking into the pacific. but company officials admit water levels in one of the contaminated wells have risen by about one meter since the work began in early july. it says construction work on the embankment is likely causing the problem. the company says it's struggling to harden the top layer of the soil, and water may be seeping out. the failures propted the head of the state's nuclear regulator to credit size the utility. he said tepco had no sense of crisis despite the emergency. >>> japan's government has pledged to lower issuances of new bonds from next spring. prime minister shinzo abe wants to half japan's staggering deficit of $340 billion by fiscal 2015. a government panel has drafted the outlines of a midterm plan to rebuild the nation's fiscal hea

i was at hitosubashi university in tokyo until march 31st. i came back to this country april 2nd nd in the fall, i will take up my teaching duties at binghamton university in new york. that's part of the state university of new york, where i once taught, and it's a wonderful place. c-span: where are you from originally? >> guest: i was born and grew up in boston. i live in a little town near the airport called winthrop. c-span: and where did you go to school? >> guest: i went to school at the university of massachusetts in amherst, and upon graduation i enlisted in the navy, went to officer candidate school. a--incidentally, i--i received messages, e-mail messages, from my old boss, the chief engineer on my second ship after the book came out, i must say. c-span: how--how long did you serve in the navy? >> guest: four years or active duty... c-span: what years? >> guest: ... in the reserves. i--i think it's 1960--was at ocs in the late fall, early winter of 1960, graduated beginning of '61, and i got out of the navy in, i guess, february of 1