Relations for more than a year because of a territorial dispute. But now they are reaching out to each other and trying to heal their relationship through cultural exchanges. Japanese culture minister sat down with his chinese counterpart cai wu. They held the first ministeria talks between their countries s. Abe became Prime Minister last december. They described the negotiations as having stalled and being in need of improvement. Leaders in tokyo and beijing are at loggerheads over the Senkaku Islands in the east china sea. Japan corols the islands. China claims them. Analysts are waiting to see whether the ministerial talks will lead to better relations. Officials from Tokyo Electric Power company want to restart two nuclear reactors, the same kind that experienced meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The reactors are part of the kashiwazakikariwa Nuclear Power plant in Niigata Prefecture, central japan. Tepco officials submitted an application for a safety screening to the Nuclear Regulation authority on friday. Rules that went into effect in july require that boiling water reactors like those at the plant have filtered vents. Such vents are designed to release pressure in reactor containment vessels during emergencies while limiting the emission of radioactive substances. Tepcos managing executive officer Takafumi Anegawa said niigatas governor has asked that the use of such vents be approved by the prefecture. He said he will relay that request to Regulatory Agency officials. A team of 80 experts at the Regulatory Agency is screening applications for six other plants with pressurized water reactors. This is the first Time Applications for boiling water reactors have been subject to such review. The kashiwazakikariwa plant is the Worlds Largest in terms of total output. It has seven reactors. Theyve been idle for up to six years, but before theyre put back online, the company has to prove that the reactors will be safe in the event of an accident. Nhk worlds Chiaki Ishikawa has more. Reporter the governor of Niigata Prefecture has long opposed the restart. But Hirohiko Izumida changed his mind on thursday, after taking into account concerns about the local economy. However, he attached conditions. Translator i suggested tepco not use filtered vents to ensure peoples safety. Reporter izumida says no matter how well the vents work, there is always a chance that they will release radioactivity into the atmosphere. That could expose residents in surrounding areas to radiation. So the governor says tepco must discuss operational rules for the venting system with local authorities. Tepco Officials Say they would not use filtered vents without the approval of local authorities. They also say they would not use the system before they confirmed thatll the residents had been evacuated. Translator we must work hard to meet the local peoples requests. This does not yet mean that tepco will be able to restart the reactors at a certain date. Reporter an expert says that more discussions are needed between the utility and local governments. Translator tepco should talk with the local authorities, as they belong to the same community. Reporter the effectiveness of the filtered vents will be a main focus of the screening process. Nuclear regulators face the challenge of confirming the reactors safety taking into consideration the Lessons Learned in fukushima. Chiaki ishikawa, nhk world. Now fixes Fukushima Daiichi is the most urgent task at hand, but thats riddled with challenges. Tepco president naomi hirose says his company delayed the construction of underground walls around damaged reactors because other work was given priority. The walls are designed to block any leakage of contaminated water. Hirose testified on friday at a Lower House Committee meeting ld to discuss the problem of massive groundwater contamination at the facility. He admitted tepco was aware at an early stage that radioactive water was leaking into the sea. Three months after the nuclear accident, the utility decided to build underground walls around the reactor buildings. When asked why tepco officials did not pursue the plan, hirose said they had to deal with many hot spots of radiation as well as contaminated debris. Hirose said the government and tepco initially decided to build underground walls near the sea instead of around the reactor buildings. The seaside walls were built by solidifying an embankment with chemicals. The current plan calls for building walls around the reactors by freezing the soil, which is unprecedented in scale and cost. U. S. President Barack Obama Says hes spoken with president rowhani. They had the first conversation between american and iranian leaders in more than 30 years. Obama says he now believes the u. S. And iran can reach a comprehensive solution over tehrans nuclear program. Meanwhile, an iranian diplomat is getting ready for more talks with the International Nuclear watch dog. He spoke with the International AtomicEnergy Agency representative for the First Time Since president rowhani took office next monday and agreed to meet next month for a more comprehensive discussion. The envoy med with the agencys Deputy Director general herman nakaerts. We had constructive discussions on different issues and agreed to meet against on the 28th of october. Analysts say the talks next month will paint the way for inspectors to visit Irans Nuclear facilities. Iaea staff had repeatedly asked for access to a military facility outside of tehran. They suspect the site plays a role in production of nuclear weapons. President rowhani told the u. N. General assembly on tuesday he wants to dispel anxiety about the nuclear program. He said he will ensure transparency. International scientists are urging governments to do more to fight Climate Change. They are calling for bigger reductions in Greenhouse Gas emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report on physical evidence behind the warming climate. The report says its extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause since the 1950s. It says the worlds average temperature could increase by 4. 8 degrees celsius by the end of this century if the density of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere continues to rise. The experts estimate that sea levels could rise by 82 centimeters. They say its very likely that massive storm surges and heat waves will become more frequent in the latter half of this century. We are certainly making an enormous effort to simplify the messages, even though they represent very rigorous scientific phenomena. So i expect that the world will understand the simplicity but the gravity of the message that we provide. Japanese leaders pledged four years ago to reduce their countrys Greenhouse Gas emissions by a quarter from 1990 levels by the year 2020. But officials now say they have to review that goal as Nuclear Power reactors across the country have gone offline. They are trying to set a new goal by the next u. N. Climate change conference in november. Japanese textile and fiber maker Toray Industries is buying a major u. S. Carbon fiber maker. Officials say toray will pay 584 million to acquire the entire stake in zoltek companies. They say the acquisition is aimed at strengthening torays fiber business in promising fields such as auto parts and wind energy. Carbon fibers are lighter and stronger than steel. Torays Carbon Fibers are used in stateoftheart aircraft bodies, but company Officials Say its been difficult to cut costs when the material was used for other applications. They say zolteks technology to produce these fibers at relatively lower costs offers an opportunity for further growth. Japans financial regulators have ordered mizuho bank to improve its business practices. Theyve taken the step because of the banks business ties with organized crime groups. Officials at the Financial Services agency say their investigation last december showed that mizuho had extended about 2 million in 230 loans to organized crime groups. The money was for purchasing cars and other items. Agency Officials Say mizuho managers failed to take any measures to correct the situation for more than two years, though a board member in charge was aware of the transactions. Mizuho officials explained that a Credit Company first screened applications for those loans. If there are no problems, they say the Bank Approves them almost automatically. Officials note that the involvement of organized crime was discovered after further screenings. The bank plans to submit a business practice Improvement Plan to the agency by october 28th. Japans Olympus Corporation has agreed to pay about 2. 6 million to settle an investor lawsuit in the united states. This is the first time that the optical equipment maker has announced an outofcourt settlement in connection with this accounting scandal. Investors filed the suit against olympus in a u. S. District court in pennsylvania in november 2011. They said they suffered losses because of a drop in the value of olympus shares they held. The investors claim the stock price fell because the company had concealed investment losses totaling over 1. 2 billion. This is the first of 20 similar lawsuits olympus is facing in and out of japan. Investors are demanding damages that would amount to about 520 million. China recently announced a plan to establish its first free trade zone. The Pilot Project will take place in shanghai. It aims to increase Foreign Investment to help the country achieve its longterm economic objectives, but as nhk world reports, some Government Agencies are concerned about what it could mean for the rest of the country. Reporter its hoping to increase the status on the International Stage of the last month the Chinese Government unveiled the next step a free trade zone in shanghai. Interest rate deregulation, ifhat is ever exercised successfully, probably we can expand it to the rest the china, namely domestically where we would have a fullscape free trade zone or deregulation of the Interest Rate and Financial Service in general. Reporter the pilot zone will cover some 29 square kilometers, combining four areas of the citys commercial district. Restrictions will be drastically eased in the zone. All banks that operate in it will be able to set Interest Rates at their own discretion. Officials the zone is set to liberalize financial and service sectors, but thats raised concerns. They notice that in china domestically theres still an Interest Rate regulatory things, especially in the security exchanges, so what if what happens they have Interest Rate deregulation within the free trade zone and you have Interest Rate regulated outside the free trade zone. That is going to create a big arbitrage opportunities. How are you going to prevent that arbitrage opportunity from happening, especially if you have Commodity Movement and people free movements within the free trade zone, and that kind of worries are basically supervising agencies that were thinking of. The Pilot Project reflects a pivot in policy by chinas current leaders. 35 years ago, choy ping opened up china to development, and a series of reforming helped the economy boom, but as cheap labor and Foreign Investment shifts to other countries in asia, in recent years Economic Growth in china has slowed down. Analysts say the free trade zone in shanghai is an attempt byhe current premier to show leadership in making sure that chinas Financial System keeps up with the times. But there are also other factors to watch for. He is determined to have this full change in terms of processing trade, and then bring back to domestically having reformed institutions, so his eyes are basically on the financial side. I think we should keep an eye on what is going to be a lot to do within the free trade zones, namely what kind of banking activities are allowed. Without that, theres really no free trade zone. Thats without we need to pay attention, is whether other activities are allowed. For instance, whether the Free Internet exchanges are allowed, even schools, textbooks, and all others, the minute activities that we need to keep an eye on. Reporter leaders are hoping shanghais free trade zone will be just what the country needs to get things back on track. Some predict if implemented properly shanghai s the potential to become a Major International hub for finance, competing with hong kong and sin apour in the years to come. And now a brief look at the market figures. A bomb has exploded on a bus transporting Government Employees in northwestern pakistan. 18 people were killed and 43 wounded. Police say the bomb went off in the back of the bus as it was traveling through the outskirts of the city of peshawar on friday. There is no immediate claim of responsibility, but militants in northwestern pakistan often target troops, government officials and other symbols of authority. The incident happened close to pakistans lawless tribal areas along the Afghan Border known to be a haven for militants. Last sunday, suicide bombers attacked a church in peshawar killing more than 80 christians. Six years have passed since myanmars military government used force to quell a massive antigovernment protest. 31 people were killed in the crackdown. The truth behind the deadly protest has yet to be revealed, even after the country returned to civilian rule in 2011. An eyewitness has told nhk what he saw on that day after keeping quiet all these years. Nhk worlds thi ha thwe reports. Reporter last week Buddhist Monks gather in myanmars largest city of yangon. They had taken part in the deadly demonstrations in 2007. They pressed the government to disclose the truth of the incident which they claim remains unresolved. Translator the government should disclose the cause of the incident, in line with its democratic reforms. Reporter on september 27th, 2007, Buddhist Monks and others protested against the military governments economic policies, which they blamed for soaring prices. The military government resorted to force to suppress the protests. 31 people were killed, including a japanese photojournalist, kenji nagai, who was covering the demonstration. The military government later said that a stray bullet had struck and killed nagai. Even today, the government has been refusing to return his video camera and the tapes it confiscated, despite repeated requests from his family and the japanese government. The tapes could provide decisive evidence to show what happened to him in his last moments. The country and lives in malaysia. Ambrose kap is hoping to return to his home country to take care of the children of those who left myanmar. He was a student at the time. An aspiring journalist. He was on a pedestrian overpass on that day and saw everything. Ambrose kap kept comments on the footage of the scenes at the time. Translator you can see many soldiers aiming their rifles. They must have targeted the protest leaders and journalists to keep the International Community from finding out what happened. Reporter ambrose kap affirms that the military shot nagai deliberately. Incidental, he would not have collapsed the moment i heard the first shot. He was already lying on the ground when the warning shots began. Reporter in 2011, they made the transition from military rule to a civilian government after a general election. Still, ambrose kap distrusts the attitude of the myanmar government which refused to reveal the truth of the incident, and he cannot return to his home country for fear of retaliation by the military. Translator myanmar is not a safe place yet. President thein sein is doing well, but antireform forces remain within the government. I wont return to myanmar until the Upcoming Elections bring genuine democracy. Reporter six years have passed since the bloody demonstration. Ambrose kap yearns for the truth to be told, and for a full recovery of democracy. Thi ha thwe, nhk world, yangon. Now heres the threeday weather outlook on the threeday world weather. Thats all for now on this edition of newsline. Im raja pradhan in tokyo. From all of us at nhk world, thanks for watching, and have a good day wherever you are. Tavis good evening. From los angeles, i am tavis smiley. Tonight, a conversation with one of this countrys most beloved comics, bob newhart. After seven nominations, he won his first award. Album and the button down mind of bob newhart is still the bestselling comedy album of all time. Other sitcoms are judged by that standard. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Tavis his Television Career goes back more than five decades with the bob newhart show and of course, newhart. He got eminem and nations but no statue. His guest star role in the big bang. Resulted in his first emmy win, long overdue. And a standing ovation from the emmy audience. Take a look. Thank you. I am going to need a little more time because this is my seventh shot at this. . Avis what took so long ago there were always better people in the category then me. Tavis i think the voters tend , somee some sort of bias sort of issue with comedians. I think of Jerry Seinfeld who, unless im wrong, never 11. I think of bob newhart, bill cosby. A lot of comedic giants that somehow never graced that stage in that capacity. Maybe they dont see you guys is acting, maybe you are just seen as bob newhart. We took the persona of the standup world and transferred it. If i can exclude myself, in t case of bill and jerry, they just made it look too easy. What do you make of the fact that there might be some disrespect ofnt the craft. That it isnt as easy as it looks. I think that is part of it. I am not classically trained like bill and jerry. I never studied acting