Analysts say the essf directors are putting pressure on them ahead of the referendum this sunday. North korea an officials have disappointed people across japan. Theyve spent the last year investigating their countrys abductions of japanese nationals, but now theyve put off releasing their findings. Nhk world has more. Translator its very regrettable that north korea is putting off the results of its investigation. Ive told the foreign minister fumio yukishida and abduction minister to further press pyongyang to swiftly act with the return of japanese abductees. Reporter north korean officials pledged their fullscale cooperation during negotiations with japan in may of last year. In pyongyang set up a special committee to oversee the probe. Japan temporary lifted sanctions against the country. Japanese officials expected the north to report preliminary results within a couple of months, but that never happened. At the end of october, a Senior Foreign Ministry official visited pyongyang for talks with the committee chairman. The chairman said the committee couldnt file any detailed report as the investigation was still in the early stages. Now, a year has passed since the launch of the committee, but no progress has been reported. Despite repeated calls by the abductees families for the government to take action. This man is a brother of an abductee. He said the families want the government to set a deadline. Translator weve been waiting beyond patience. Now they say it will be delayed even more. Its all about whether the government is really serious about solving this. We dont need a report, we want the government to work out a method to get the abductees back home immediately. Reporter experts say north korean officials may be trying to bide their time before japans government decides to reimpose sanctions. Japanese Officials Say they will make their utmost effort to get concrete action from the north. Jun yatsumoto, nhk world. Unescos list of World Heritage sites could be getting a little bit longer. A committee is now considering this years nominations. Members are weighing the merits of 36 cultural and natural sites around the globe. One of the nominees is a group of japanese facilities associated with the countrys Industrial Revolution in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The 23 properties are located in eight prefectures across the country. The japanese proposal says the site shows the First Successful propagation of industrialization from the west to a nonwestern country. South korean government officials initially opposed japans bid. They say people from the Korean Peninsula were conscripted to work at some of the sites, but the Foreign Ministers of the two nations met in june and agreed to Work Together on gaining World Heritage status for sites in both countries. Officials in japan said theyll give some consideration to south koreas argument. The countries are making final adjustments to what their representatives will say before the panel. The committee is expected to review the japanese nomination on saturday. Syrians have lost more of their countrys ancient heritage to vandalism by the Islamic State group. Militants in the city of palmyra smashed a statue dating from the second century. The Syrian State News Agency quotes a Museum Official as saying fighters destroyed a statue of a lion. The piece was 3 1 2 meters tall and weighed 15 tons. It stood in the museums garden. Museum workers had put iron plates around the statue to protect it from fighting. Islamic state militants took control of palmyra in may. The city has ancient ruins that form a unesco World Heritage site. Islamic state members have used an extreme interpretation of islamic law to justify destroying Cultural Assets in syria and iraq. Theyve boobytrapped the ruins in palmyra with bombs and land mines. They have not destroyed a Roman Amphitheater and shrines. Still syrians are concerned they could commit more vandalism. U. S. Diplomats have again urged china to halt Land Reclamation and construction work on reefs in the South China Sea. This comes after the release of new satellite images showing work on the disputed islands is progressing rapidly. We dont find reclamation activities and certainly dont find the militarization of those outputs to be helpful to Regional Security and stability. In fact, quite the contrary. And were going to continue to impress upon china as we do with all claimants. The latest photos come from a u. S. Think tank, the center for strategic and international studies. They show that workers have nearly completed the construction of a 3,000meter runway on fiery cross reef. The group also says work is progressing on what appear to be a taxiway and an area to park planes. But china is unlikely to comply with the request. Chinese Foreign Ministry officials have said the country will continue to build facilities on the reefs for military and other purposes. Japanese coast guard Officials Say three chinese patrol ships have entered territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in the east china sea. The ships left about two hours later. The Officials Say the vessels entered the waters on friday at around 9 00 a. M. They say the patrol ships then moved out to the contiguous zone just outside japanese waters. And theyre warning the ships not to enter japans territory again. This is the 19th day this year of such intrusions off the Senkaku Islands. Japan controls the islands. China and taiwan claim them. Chinas xinjiang uighur autonomous region has been hit by a magnitude 6. 5 earthquake. Four people have been confirmed dead, and at least 48 others are injured. The National Earthquake bureau reports the quake struck on friday shortly after 9 00 a. M. Local time on friday. The epicenter was in the county of guma, which is known as pishan in chinese. The focus was estimated to be 10 kilometers below the surface. The staterun Xinhua News Agency says many houses in the area have collapsed. An employee of a restaurant in the area told nhk strong jolts shattered windows, but he didnt witness any toppled buildings. He also reported power outages. Guma is in hotan prefecture in the southern part of the autonomous region. Its population of a quarter million is mostly made up of ethnic uighurs. People in myanmar will go to the polls in november for the First Time Since the country went from military to civilian role. Nhk worlds senior commentator aiko doden met with myanmars president thein sein for an exclusive interview. She asked him about the Biggest Challenges facing his nation and its path to democracy. Since you assumed the post of president , how do you evaluate the progress of democratic reform in myanmar . Translator our government shares the hope of the people for peaceful transition from a military administration to democracy. That has occurred as a result of our efforts. People are paying close attention to the election, upcoming election. Do you have any plan to run for the second term as the president . Translator i am yet to decide whether i will run in the next election. Its difficult to predict the results. Prior to the election, we need to confirm the countrys situation and gauge the hopes of the people. So, if it were the wish of the people, are you willing to be the president after 2016 . Translator if the people want me to be their president , i will consider running. I cannot confirm this, but i am giving the issue deep consideration. Myanmar has rich Mineral Resources and a large working population, but its gdp remains small. I hope myanmar can become a middle income country in the near future. Whoever becomes the president , i want them to take the country in that direction. As the country strives to achieve economic growth, it has a role to play in complicated Foreign Relations involving its neighbors. With regard to myanmars foreign policy, china is now being a more assertive maritime assertive country. Maritime expansion in the South China Sea might be one example. But china is a major trade partner to myanmar, also myanmars neighbor. How would you manage the relations with china . Translator as you know, myanmar lies between two economic powers, china and india. We need to maintain friendly relationships with them as they are developing. Myanmars democracy is in progress. We believe that china will accept our policy of having diplomatic relations with various countries. As we have democratized, investment from china has increased. And what is the role for japan . What form of cooperation or investment for myanmar does would you expect from japan . Translator the areas where we want investment from japan in particular are roads, bridges, power, industrial zones, gas, and other infrastructure projects. We also want japan to build plants to provide Job Opportunities for our workers. Members of an Opposition Party in japan have come up with a counterproposal to governmentsponsored security bills. Leaders in tokyo want to expand the role of the country in selfdefense forces and allow japan to claim its right to collective selfdefense under certain conditions. If conditions are met, we want to submit our proposal to this special committee on wednesday morning. If this committee holds intensive deliberations on friday, we want to thoroughly discuss the governments bills and our partys counterproposal. Prime minister shinzo abe welcomed the move by the Japan Innovation Party. Translator i believe that the bills we submitted are the best, but i respect the Japan Innovation Party for compiling the bills. Abe said the governments bills and the counterproposal share some basic concepts. He said he hopes deliberations will help promote public understanding. A Japanese Communist Party lawmaker took up the issue of recent remarks by some of the liberal democratic party. They wrapped local newspapers in okinawa southern japan for the criticism on u. S. Bases stationed there. They said Public Opinion in that prefecture is being distorted. Translator the government and the ldp have ignored the will of people in okinawa and have been forcibly building a base there. Dont you think that the heart of the problem is that the lawmakers distorted the facts and insulted local people . Translator the remarks gravely hurt the public trust in my party, though the people gave us power to govern the country. We have reprimanded those who were responsible. As leaders of the party, i would like to sincerely apologize to the public. The ruling bloc hopes to have the security bills passed by the Lower House Special Committee in midjuly. Officials from japans Industry Ministry have come under criticism for discussing plans to dispose of highlevel Nuclear Waste behind closed doors. A panel of experts says the move could have a negative impact on getting communities to accept the waste. Government leaders decided in may to start selecting prospective sites to bury high level radioactive waste from Nuclear Plants. Officials hope to dispose of it at least 300 meters under ground, but no municipality has stepped forward to host the site because of safety concerns. Officials with the Industry Ministry have been holding briefing on their new policy. They say they decided not to make the sessions open to the public so local government officials would feel free to speak out, but some have refused to protest the closeddoor policy. The ministryappointed experts say their call for information disclosure has fallen on deaf ears. Translator the ministry should convince local authorities that the briefings dont indicate candidacy for Waste Disposal sites. About 2,000 units of Nuclear Wastes are now being stored at a facility in northern japan, and Nuclear Plants across the country are storing spent fuel equivalent to about 25,000 units of Nuclear Waste. Also making headlines in japan, a Group Representing zoos and aquariums in the country has decided to expel facilities that continue to use dolphins caught in a traditional way if the decision came after pressure from a Global Association that criticized the method as inhumane. Executives of the Japanese Association of zoos and aquariums, or jaza, agreed in may to ban the acquisition of dolphins caught in drive hunts. Many of the species are captured off the town of taiji in western japan. Even after the association banned drive hunting, some aquariums want to continue the acquisition of dolphins. Officials at the World Association of zoos and aquariums inquired about the details of how the Japanese Association responds to those facilities. Jaza informed the global body on friday of its expulsion policy. Officials say they will set up a panel to promote the breeding of dolphins instead of capturing them in the wild. Nepalese have celebrated the opening of a road that could lead them to a better life. People in the capital now have quicker access to india. And villagers in the mountains are excited about greater mobility and an end to economic isolation. Nhk worlds jun onozawa has the details. Reporter the ceremony was held near kathmandu. The newly completed road was completed at a cost of about 200 million. Translator today is a very happy day for the people of nepal. This road is wonderful. There is no other road like it in the country. Reporter the new 160kilometer link is much shorter than the previous route connecting kathmandu and india. 80 of nepals area consists of mountainous terrain. Infrastructure projects in the region often come up against geographical and geological obstacles. The ground is especially fragile in the Mountain Range between kathmandu and india. Workers building the roads had to struggle with complex geographical features, including steep mountains and winding rivers. To prevent roads from collapsing and to minimize damage from flooding rivers, workers used Civil Engineering technology inspired by techniques used in the construction of japans castles. But the project didnt go smoothly. A year after construction began, a civil war broke out in nepal. The Armed Conflict between Government Forces and maoist fighters destabilized the countrys security, and the project had to be suspended many times. The new road will now also make travel easier for People Living in the mountainous region east of kathmandu. They previously had to rely on cattle horses or human power to transport goods. Hopes are high among locals that the road will help bring an end to their economic isolation. The road withstood an earthquake in april and the aftershocks. It helped in transporting goods. It is also expected to assume a crucial role for further reconstruction in the country. Translator this road enabled many people to bring in relief supplies from both inside and outside of the country. Reporter the political continues. The road did give a major boost to the country. The completion of the new road is the best news the country has had in a long while, and its something that gives the people of nepal a reason to be hopeful. Jun onozawa, nhk world, kathmandu. Health officials in thailand have announced their nation is now free from middle east respiratory syndrome. Their first mers patient has left the hospital. Translator as of now, thailand is no longer a country infected with or with an outbreak of middle east respiratory syndrome. The patient was a man from oman in his 70s. He entered thailand with his family to get treatment for heart disease. He was confirmed as the first known case of mers at a bangkok hospital. The Thai Health Ministry has confirmed none of the 176 people who were in contact with the man have been infected. Over in indonesia, the Health Ministry conducted a Health Meeting to prevent the spread of the mers virus. Officials used a device to measure body temperature, and they played the role of travelers traveling into and out of the country on a pilgrimage to mecca. Translator we expected indonesian people to be aware of mers. There are a few people who were not, but some young people have already figured it out. We provided kits giving information about what mers is is, and we also asked the minister of transportation to air television announcements on flights. No mers cases have been confirmed in indonesia so far. Police in thailand are making sure visitors can take a ride without getting ripped off. They are cracking down on conspiracy between tuktuk drivers and shop owners. Foreign tourists say tuktuk drivers took them to a Jewelry Stores. They say they were then pressured into buyi