nhk world, tokyo. >> officials in tokyo now have seven years to prepare for the games. we look at some of the benefits the olympics might bring and some of the potential challenges. >> reporter: one of the features that japanese bid officials promoted was tokyo's compact plan. 28 of the sports venues will be located within 8 kilometers of the olympic village. the games will be held over 17 days in july and august 2020. the paraolympics will follow for 13 days. officials are expecting as many as 10 million visitors. many people in tokyo hope the games will boost the economy by attracting more tourists and adding infrastructure investment. but the organizers face many challenges. one question, as always, is the budget. national and local officials say they've set aside enough money. but the real cost of hosting the games remains unclear. some experts are concerned about budget overruns. this could put an additional burden on tax payers and divert resources from rebuilding communities and infrastructure affected by the 2011 disaster. japanese authorities must also deal wit

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the heads of the world economies have gathered in russia to chart a path towards growth. they are talking about military action in syria. many of those around the table are pressuring u.s. president barack obama not to authorize strikes. nhk world has a report. >> the g20 summit chaired by vladimir putin began on tuesday. the crisis in syria dominated the talks. the leaders discussed the issue in a dinner in the evening. president obama is believed to have asked for the understanding of u.s. military action against syria once it is approved boy congress. he is also believed to explain that the u.s. has evidence the syrian government unleashed a chemical weapon attack. some leaders including britain and france are possibly supporting the u.s. stance, however britain's parliament rejected a proposal to join any military action. many other members are openly against the u.s. plan. russia and china are strongly opposed to military action without a un security council resolution. the two n

i'm catherine kobiyashi in tokyo. >>> u.s. president obama says a russian proposal could be a potential breakthrough in the debate over a military strike on syria. russian foreign minister lavrov has urged syrian leaders to turn over their chemical weapons to international monitors. he said that might help them avoid military action. >> reporter: if the establishment of international control over chemical weapons in that country would allow avoiding strikes we would immediately start working with the syrian government. >> lavrov urged syrian leaders to join the prohibition of chemical weapons. he was with his syrian counterpart. he said members of his government welcomed the proposals. but he said they're concerned about the security of the syrian people. the united nations secretary-general is urging the syrians to transfer the chemical weapons to a safe place within the nation. he said then the weapons can be destroyed. >>> a chinese defense official has on firmed that an aircraft that threw near japanese air space belonged

i hope our dream comes true and tokyo hosts the olympic games. >> reporter: tokyo was the first city in asia to host the olympic games in 1964. it was a historic event that offered japan a chance to showcase its recovery from world war ii. this time the slogan is again recovery, not from war but from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. tokyo has made its case to the ioc. it says japan is in need of another dream to help build the future. this summer, teams of runners took part in a 1,000-kilometer relay marathon from areas hit by the 2011 tsunami in the northeast to tokyo. it was a last-minute push to build momentum for tokyo's bid. the last time tokyo tried to win the bid to host the olympics was four years ago, but only a little more than half the city's residents supported the idea of hosting the games. this time 70% of tokyoites are behind the bid. >> tokyo will deliver with excellence, friendship and respect. >> reporter: but still some people are critical of pouring enormous amounts of money into the event. they point out that japan is facing a huge national debt. they also say th

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> the u.s. president prepares to seek international backing for a strike on syria as g-20 leaders gather in russia. >>> policy makers at the bank of japan are taking a positive view on the economy but staying the course on stimulus. >>> and religious leaders in thailand struggle to accept a controversial buddhist monk with a past that's hard to believe. >>> the group of 20 leaders are meeting in the russian city of st. petersburg, and the crisis in syria is expected to dominate the talks. u.s. president barack obama is at the summit to try to get other leaders to support a military assault against the regime. it says it attacked their own citizens last month. obama has the backing of president francois hollande. xi jinping has already voiced opposition to a military strike. japan's shinzo abe is scheduled to meet obama on the sideline. the u.s. president has won the support of at least some u.s. senators. the senate com

tokyo is competing against istanbul and madrid. delegates from all three cities have arrived in buenos aires. that's where members are casting secret ballots to decide their winner. they'll announce their decision on saturday. tokyo lost its bid four years ago, and some japanese business owners are hoping that history doesn't repeat itself. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: soon they're hoping to see another kind of competition. >> i very much want tokyo to win its bid. i'm eagerly awaiting that moment. >> reporter: business owners here say they see olympic athletes all the time. the men's gymnastics team won a silver medal at the 2008 olympic games. this woman has won three olympic crowns in wrestling. >> i'm eager to see the olympics play out in tokyo. i want athletes to show us their courage. >> reporter: it's not only that athletes like the shops and restaurants here. the street is close to the national training center, a facility built to nurture athletes. these handball players are hoping to compete in 2020. >> translator

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the people at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant have another problem on their hands. fi officials say the levels of radioactivity in a storage tank have risen. more leaked last month of a tank. it is thought to have seeped into the soil. monitors have assigned more to -- they say the level of tritium rose to 64,000 becquerels per liter. more than twice the reading the previous day. the well is not located near where ground water is flowing and managers say most of the tainted soil around the tank has been removed, so they don't know how the water is getting con tame that ed. workers planted ground water and reroute it into the ocean before it passes through reactor buildings, but their latest finding may change that. the crisis has made headlines around the world, now, the french weekly newspaper has care a ried a car yakture mocking the crisis. a cartoon shows wrestlers fighting about. one wrestler has three arms and the other has three legs. two people in protective gear referee o

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> japan's prime minister has stepped into the spotlight at the u.n. general assembly to weigh in on some of the world's most pressing foreign policy challenges. shinzo abe gave his take on the situation in syria and the threat posed by north korea. we have details. >> reporter: like many leaders, prime minister abe took up the prolonged turmoil in syria. he started his speech condemning the chemical weapons attack against civilians in the country. he said the japanese government strongly supports efforts of the international community to destroy the stockpiles of these weapons. abe also promised more humanitarian support for syrians inside and outside of the country. >> translator: i would like to announce that the government of japan will newly provide additional humanitarian assistance to syria and surrounding countries of approximately 60 million u.s. dollars and implemented right away. >> reporter: abe also brought up japan's neighbor, north korea which he said remains as a thre

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. . . captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: battle lines hardened over federal spending today, a bill to fund the government looks set to clear the senate, but house speaker john boehner warned his chamber may block it. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. also ahead, iran and the u.s. held the highest level face-to- face meetings in more than 30 years, each side reaching out to break the diplomatic ice. >> woodruff: and in film, in journalism, even on the farm, the interns work hard. paul solman reports on the legal debate over whether they should get paid.

the games are coming to tokyo in 2020. so a set of dolls cost 2,020 yen. >>> that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobiyashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: secretary of state john kerry met today with his russian counterpart in geneva, as both searched for a diplomatic solution to securing syria's chemical weapons. >> woodruff: also tonight, the remarkable life story of an internet genius, who was almost certainly the first victim of 9- 11, murdered as he tried to stop the hijackers on one of the planes to hit the world trade center.

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> new concerns. a senior tepco official warns the situation at the fukushima daiichi is not under control. >>> attempting diplomacy, u.s. and russian officials agree to discuss ways to get syria's warring parties to talk. >>> and a japanese opera singer uses her voice to give tribute to victims of two tragedies. >>> a top official from tokyo electric power company says he does not think the situation at fukushima daiichi is under control. his statement comes amid new concerns that radioactive water at the stricken nuclear plant may have reached the ocean. leaders of japan's main opposition are now demanding answers from the government, particularly the prime minister. nhk world reports. >> reporter: japanese prime minister shinzo abe spoke with confidence before the international olympic committee. >> let me assure you that the situation is under control. >> reporter: but a top tepco official appears to have contradicte

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> i see some repeaters in the audience. this is the fourth event of five that we are hosting to celebrate the centennial of woodrow wilson's inauguration as president in 1913. we had a dinner last night at wilson house, which included an interview with the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee, ed royce.

i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thank you very much for joining us until next time. good-bye. >>> oh, yeah! roast beef. now that's living. there's a lunch story behind these pieces of scrap beef. and its main character is hiroka tanaka who cooks for 100 people every day. what's the secret of the lunch that makes people keep up on their plates? lunchtime for miss tanaka at the employee's cafeteria.

for more let's go to ramin mellegard, who is standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, how are tokyo stocks starting the day off, given the concerns over in the u.s.? >> a little bit on a cautious side, ai, investors remain a little bit concerned about the events in the u.s. that you were just mentioning. let's have a look at the opening levels for september 26th, and as you can see there both indexes slightly in the negative, we'll see how that continues into the morning session but just to remind you the nikkei did end wednesday in the negative and besides its u.s. debt ceiling problems the weaker dollar trend against the yen was also a factor. we'll see if that continues today as well and that's despite data which showed in the u.s. yesterday on wednesday a bounce in durable goods orders as well as a rise in new home sales, so data is really being pushed to the side there, and we might see a little bit more hesitation here as well. we have seen some profit-taking in some of the key sectors which had gained earlier in the month specifically olympic related shar

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> russian leaders use their influence with counterparts in syria. foreign ministers sergey lavrov urged the syrian leaders to turn over their chemical weapons saying it might help to avoid a military strike. >> translator: in the establishment of international control over chemical weapons in that country would allow avoiding strikes, we'll immediately start working with the syrian government. >> lavrov urged syrian government leaders to join the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. he presses argument in a meeting in moscow with his syrian counterpart. and they said the government welcomes russia's proposals but he said they're concerned about the security of the syrian people. the united nation's secretary general said he might ask them to transfer the chemical weapons for a safe place for storage and destruction. he said a political solution is the only viable way out of the syrian crisis. he pressed for an international meeting on syria as soon as possible and u

i'm catherine in tokyo. the president of kenya says the siege in nairobi is over. extremists stormed the complex saturday shooting shoppers and taking hostages. they spent four days hold up inside. security force have defeated them. >>> kenyatta spelled out the attack. 61 civilians were killed including foreigners and six soldiers. about 170 were wounded. he said security forces shot and killed five militants and arrested 11 others. gunfire and explosions rang out from the mall during the siege. several bodies including those of militants are thought to be trap in the rubble. members from al-shabab said they carried out the attack for their country. u.s. president barack obama has opened the door to diplomacy with long standing rivals. he addressed wor leaders at the united nations general asse nhk world nicki reports. this was the president's fourth time to address. he spoke in length about the civil war where the u.n. team confirmed use of chemical weapons. he spoke about how the international community should act together. >> now there must be a strong security

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. leaders have drawn up a plan to address the crisis thea the fukushima plant as workers try to deal with a build up of radioactive water. they are ear, maing $210 million to solve the problem. they will use the money to decontaminate the water and try to contain leaks. they try to freeze soil around the damaged reactors. the chief cabinet secretary will lead a panel overseeing work at the plant. the panel will take charge of decommissioning the reactors. the members have promised to improve communications with workers and officials from plant operator tokyo electric power company. the head of japan's nuclear regulation authority said it will legally oblige tepco to address the leaks. he criticized people for continuing to make quick fixes. they discussed the leak of 300 tons of radioactive wastewater from a tank last month. he said reports on what caused it and how it happened and how much water got out are only estimates. he then suggested one possible approach. >> translator: we migh

this is one of the most popular areas for tourists in tokyo. many welcome the ioc's decision to award the city the 2020 olympics. >> we still have seven more years, so i think the japanese government will do good work. so everything's going to be like good for the future. >> i'm just hoping that from a historical point, we can look back on it after it's all said and done and say japan did do the right thing by hosting it, and they did an excellent job in balancing that with the needs of the japanese people during this time of crisis. >> reporter: a professor heads the school of sports sciences. he said the government needs to ensure the olympics will benefit the people affected by the march 2011 disasters. >> translator: if the olympics were to contribute to the reconstruction efforts, then there needs to be a solid plan that outlines how tokyo will work with the disaster-hit areas and what the games will achieve. >> reporter: and he points out that providing credible information on the fukushima daiichi situation is crucial. >> translator: sci

tokyo, sunny, at 29 degrees. last week, temperatures were down to about single digits for chongquinn. now to mexico, we have two storms to talk about. let me show you the condition here. not a good way to start off this week. tropical storm manuel drenched mexico's southwestern pacific coast over the weekend. many people fell victim to heavy rain and land slides. roads flooded and trees toppled by fierce winds. military personnel arrived in flooded areas to help the locals. people can expect wet weather in manuel's wake in the next couple of days. you can see the satellite very messy conditions across much of mexico, especially in much of the southern areas, due to a couple of systems. this is a remnant low. manuel from the video, now changed to a low-pressure system. it will be bringing drenching rain across the area. ingrid used to be a tropical storm, now a tropical depression, but it could top as much as 600 millimeters of rainfall in the next 24 to 48 hours. look at your temperatures. mexico city, rain, of c

tokyo stocks extended gains yesterday. how did they open this wednesday morning. >> we're seeing a positive start. here in tokyo, you can see there the nikkei output, 3/10 of a% there, the toppism up. the nikkei really continuing its upward trend so far for september. one big factor in the last 24 hours has been the developments regarding syria. where diplomatic solution as you mentioned there, seems to be coming into place, instead of a military strike. that's going to be a big focus for financial markets. we'll keep focus on that as well, throughout the day. let's get back to economics and fundamentals, of course, data out of china, has been a big focus at the tail end of yesterday's session here in tokyo, we did get some pretty strong numbers out of china. industrial production as you can see on the screen there. rising 10.4%. we had retail sales, which was up 13.4% from a year ago. and, of course, let's not forget the news coming from apple. shares of apple in the u.s. traded lower by just over 2%. we're going to get r

tokyo down to 29 degrees. looks like a nice day out there in seoul, though, with plenty of sunshine at 28 degrees. now to europe. the main focus here is the heat dome over west and central regions. but we do have a rain band coming in. this is an atlantic system that will be swinging by the british isles with that cold front. that's going to be dropping the temperatures dramatically. take a look at this. dublin at 23, down to 15 degrees on your friday. london at 27 into thursday. but a huge drop. a 9 degree drop into your friday. so that's going to be very difficult for your bodies to cope with. do watch out for that. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast. >>> a japanese movie as one big notable film festival in canada. took the prize for best artistic contribution at the montreal world film festival. cab kabuki eye plays the main character. the story is set in the late 16th century and depicts the quest for his own form of tea ceremony while also experiencing for bidden love. it's based on the novel,

"newsline," i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> ready to restart talks, a top north korean official calls for the resumption of long-suspended negotiations of its nuclear program. >>> the people in charge of the fukushima daiichi plant are dismantling a storage tank that leaked hundreds of tons of radioactive water. >>> and a 78-year-old athlete is aiming for a fourth trophy in one of the world's toughest races, the iron man triathlon. >>> north korea's chief nuclear negotiator says his country is ready to resume six-party talks on its nuclear program. first vice foreign minister, kim kye gwan is calling for a restart of negotiations without any preconditions. kim was speaking at the symposium on north korea's nuclear program in beijing. it's being attended by some 50 officials and researchers from the six countries involved in the talks. >> translator: we support the talks and are willing to resume dialogue, including small-scale discussions within that framework.

on september 11th, she a special performance in tokyo. the concert marked the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the united states. it also honored the victims of the great east japan earthquake which struck on march 11th, 2011. the songs were not all from operas. she also sang well-known japanese tunes about hometown nostalgia to give comfort to victims of the earthquake and tsunami. >> translator: i think japanese sojs are unique in that there are so many lyrics about nature and the passing of the four seasons. >> translator: there are many nostalgic songs about hometowns and nature. u sang those songs because after so much deaf station we needed to remind ours of the pain they went through during the past 2 1/2 years. >> reporter: she was in washington when terrorist attacked the u.s. in 2001. she was set to perform three days later. the city was on high alert and terrified citizens were running through the streets. but the concert went ahead anyway. >> translator: when i went on stage, there was almost a full crowd. the audi

let me show you pictures from tokyo. clear skies last night provided ideal conditions to watch the harvest full moon. many people gathered at one of the three great gardens in japan to watch the moon and listen to japanese traditional music. meanwhile, other people enjoyed the view from a boat together with food and beer. the celebration typically takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. we'll be seeing clear skies again today with 30 degrees in tokyo and plenty of sunshine. all right. now moving over to europe, the north is still looking quite messy especially the scandinavian peninsula. heavy downpours have been affecting sweden. we have yellow alert for flooding in place across the area. severe weather will now be moving into western russia. moscow at 12 degrees down from 17 yesterday. berlin looking at 15. paris recovering in the normal range at 20 degrees. now, here across the americas and mexico, manuel is still a tropical storm system steadily moving inland. this has created devastati

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's some of the stories we're following this hour. the u.s. administration says it does not want to go to war with syria but wants to send a strong message to the assad regime. japan's prime minister is considering a tax hike that could help fill some big gaps in the national budget. and that's got some business people nervous. >>> and two and a half years after the nuclear accident in fukushima, we look at the fate of the people who were forced to abandon their homes. >>> the u.s. administration is stepping up efforts to gain support for military action in syria. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is spearheading the diplomatic push while president barack obama is preparing to personally argue the need for a strike to the american people. nhk world reports. >> reporter: at home and abroad, the obama administration continues to make its case for military strike against syria. speaking in london, the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, said washington still believes diplomacy is the only way to solve the syrian crisis. but bashar al assad's re

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> it's been 12 years since the 9/11 terror attacks in the united states. people have gathered to remember the victims and reflect on the day. on the day in 2011, terrorists hijacked four planes. they flew two of them into the twin towers of the world tried center in new yorkity. another plane crashed into the defense department in washington. a fourth plane went down in a field in pennsylvania. in total, almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. people observed the minute of silence at 8:46 local time, the exact moment when the first plane hit one of the towers. victims then read out the names of lost loved ones. the victims' names are inscribed around the monument. u.s. president obama and vice president joe biden marked a moment of silence at the white house, obama then attended a ceremony at the pentagon. >>> and president obama has addressed the country about his plans for syria. he laid out the rationale for a strike against the regime of president bashar al assad and he

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> funds to fight a potential disaster. japan's leaders pledge $470 million to manage the latest crisis at fukushima daiichi. >>> securing support, u.s. president barack obama gets the backing of an old adversary for a strike on syria. >>> and traditional lake farmers of central myanmar float ideas for protecting their way of life as the country rides away towards economic development. >>> japan's leaders have approved a $470 million plan to deal with hundreds of tons of contaminated water accumulating at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. right now about 400 tons of groundwater is leaking into basements of the damaged reactor every day and is being tainted with radioactive substances. the water is being pumped out and stored in tanks. the government plans to use the funds to decontaminate that water and freeze the soil around the buildings to prevent groundwater from seeping into the basements. translator: we've drawn

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. world leaders are set to discuss a range of international crises as they meet in new york for the united nations general assembly. it could end up being one of their most meaningful gatherings in decades. the civil war in syria will be at the top of the agenda. leaders from 193 member states are scheduled to attend when the annual general debate opens later on tuesday. they're expected to focus on the use of chemical weapons in syria. many believe government forces used poison gas last month to kill hundreds of civilians in a suburb of damascus. u.s. president barack obama wanted to bypass the u.n., and carry out punitive strikes on the regime of syrian president bashar al assad. now he's expected to call for a united response. the syrians entered a strategic alliance with iran and many are waiting to hear what rowan hassanny will say. the security council is set to discussion a resolution urging the syrian government to scrap its stockpile. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is sched

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. . >>> north korean leaders pushing to restart talks on their nuclear program and have the backing of a powerful ally. the chinese for when minister wang yi has urged the united states to agree to the resumption of the suspected six-party talks on north korea's nuclear program. >> translator: i look forward to having a deep discussion with secretary kerry and explore how we can work together to relaunch the six-party talks. negotiators from north and south korea, the u.s., china, japan and russia launched the talks in 2003. the north koreans and the chinese want to re-open the talks without any preconditions. but officials from the u.s., south korea and japan want authorities in pyongyang to take concrete steps towards denuclearization before they renegotiate. u.s. eresearchers said a north korean nuclear reactor that's been shut down for years may be back up and running and say the facility is capable of generating weapons' grade plutonium. >>> caroline kennedy says if she becomes the u.s. ambassador to japan, she'll work to bolster bilateral ties in l

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> deadline for decontamination. the company in charge at fukushima daiichi says it will deal with all radioactive water by march 2015. >>> what to do with the waste. japan's industry ministry proposes a way to handle tiely dangerous substances from all the country's nuclear plants. >>> and catering this country's curvier consumers. japanese fashion executives see a promising niche. >>> tokyo electric power company set a tentative deadline to have the process complete by march 2015. engineers at the troubled facility will face major hurdles trying to meet that goal. nhk world reports. >> reporter: abe on thursday took his second look at the fukushima daiichi plant. the visit was apparently in response to international concerns of whether the situation at the site is really under control. >> translator: tepco's president said they'll complete the decontamination of radioactive water in fiscal 2014. >> reporter: tepco offi

i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here atd -- at nhk world, thanks for joining us. ♪ ♪ >>> two and a half years after the tohoku earthquake, many traces of the damage can still be seen in the coastal areas of miyagi prefecture. diego laje is a freelance journalist from argentina. based in hong kong, he works on a show for an american network. he came to see the area after the earthquake.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> japan's leaders have drawn up a plan to address the crisis at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. they've watched as workers have tried to deal with the buildup of radioactive water. they're earmarking about 21 billion yen, $210 million to try to solve the problem. they'll use the money to decontaminate the water and to try to contain leaks. they plan to do that by freezing soil around the damaged reactors. chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga will lead a panel overseeing work at the plant. the panel will take charge of decommissioning the reactors. the members have promised to improve communications with workers and officials from plant operator tokyo electric power company. prime minister shinzo abe is scheduled to meet with his cabinet on tuesday to authorize the plan. >>> now the head of japan's nuclear regulation authority says it will legally oblige tepco to address the leaks. he criticized people at the utility for continuing to make quick fixes. shunichi tanaka addressed the concerns about leak of water from a dank last month. he said rep

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> new concerns about north korea. sources tell nhk the country has tested a ballistic missile engine. >>> the company in charge at fukushima daiichi says it's safely disposed of rainwater that built up at the nuclear plant during the severe tropical storm. >>> and as tensions between their governments persist, many japanese are staying away from china, but more chinese are choosing to come to japan. >>> diplomatic sources have told nhk that north korea has tested an engine for a new intercontinental ballistic missile. they say the test happened last month at a launch site in the country's northwest. the sources say the engine tested could be used in this type of missile, which was recently on display at a military parade. similar tests were carried out at the same launch site in february. this comes amid suspicion that pyongyang has restarted a nuclear reactor capable of making weapons grade plutonium. north korean lead

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the world's of the leading economies are fathering to confront the financial challenges they share. they can find themselves debating a military strike on syria. u.s. president barack obama is expected to push for military action at meetings of the group of 20 nations in st. petersburg, russia. he laid out the case in talks with the swedish in stockholm. >> the prime minister and i are in agreement in the face of such barberism, the international community cannot be silent and failing to respond would increase the risk of more attacks. the possibility that other countries would use these weapons as well. >> sweden believes that serious marries concerning international peace and security should be handled by the united nations. i also understand the potential consequences of letting a violation like this go unanswered. >> obama believes syrian forces used chemical weapons were used to kill humans of civil knowias. they need to confront actions to violate common humanity. obama is expec

let's go to ram even who is standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. ramine, what's the reaction on tokyo markets? >> thank you very much. pretty positive reaction. let's have a look at the opening levels. in fact, for the nikkei and the topix, on the screens, up by more than 1% for both indexes. following the dow's record closing high, we're seeing stocks trading higher here. investors really stepping into buy. however, i have to thad the yen strength continues right now against the dollar. that may weigh on exporters. i'm going to keep track of all of those sectors. in fact, let's have a look at currency levels. of course, a crucial factor in how stocks trade. dollar-yen right now 98.25-27. we're going have to monitor how the dollar-yen trades. the dollar did fall against major currencies and touches the lowest level this month in new york trading, but now with the rally in stoko stocks, the yen may face downward pressure as well. investors are shifting their funds into riskier he assets and lowering the appeal of the safe haven yen. euro dollar -- t

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> leaders will discuss and debate a range of issues but will talk about the civil war in syria. us president barack obama and leaders of other nags are expected to weigh in on a u.s./russia agreement to eliminate the country's chemical weapon's arsenal. members of the u.n. security council have been discussing a resolution the make that agreement legally binding. western leaders want to include possible military action and other sanctions if the administration of syrian president bashar al-assad doesn't comply. u.s. secretary of state john kerry met with officials from egypt and the united arab emirates to drum up support for the resolution. russia and china are expected to oppose it. u.s. leaders accuse forces loyal to assad of carrying out a poison gas attack last month in the suburbs of damascus. hundreds of people died. if president blames rebels trying to overthrow his government but he admitted in an interview his country has been stockpiling chemical weapons for years. >> tra

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> nations divided g-20 talks conclude in russia with leaders still split over a possible military strike against syria. >>> taking no chances. south korea says it will stop imports of marine products from parts of japan over fears they could be contaminated by radioactive water. >>> sexual violence in india has caused nationwide soul searching, but we ask has anything actually changed for indian women? >>> u.s. president barack obama went to st. petersburg, russia, hoping to gain international support for a military strike against syria. but after two days of talks, leaders of the world's 20 major economies are still divided over what to do. earlier president obama tried but failed to persuade chinese leader xi jinping to support an armed intervention in syria. the crisis dominated the talks. some leaders called for a swift and united action against the syrian government. others emphasize the need for the u.n. security

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant has resumed decontaminating wastewater after fixing the system it uses to reduce radioactive material. >>> bashar al assad promises to comply to see his stockpile of chemical weapons eliminated. >>> in autumn the skies over china are usually a clear blue. but this year, a cloud of pollution is obscuring the view. >>> the operators of fukushima daiichi nuclear plant have resumed the operation of a system used to filter radioactive materials from water. it says human error caused the suspension last week. workers at tepco resumed their test run of the advanced liquid processing system, or alps, designed to eliminate radioactive materials from the water that is accumulating at the plant. they suspended operations on friday. they had just resumed it for the first time in a month and a half. the workers detected a reduction in the flow of contaminated water in a pipe that

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. >>> high hopes dashed at the u.n. when the u.s. and iranian presidents fail to meet, but their foreign ministers are scheduled to talk for the first time in six years. >>> the number of dead from an earthquake in pakistan rises. as damage to the communications network slows the rescue effort. >>> japanese officials are shoring up their computer defenses as hackers go after top secrets. >>> people who hoped to see the presidents of the u.s. and iran meet at the u.n. general assembly this week have been disappointed. the much-talked about encounter between president obama and rouhani failed to materialize. however, the two countries are maintaining their momentum. their foreign ministers are due to meet on thursday for the first time in six years. a high-ranking u.s. official has revealed the u.s. tried to arrange a meeting between obama and rouhani. it would have been the first presidential encounter since the severing of

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thank you very much for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> welcome. this is a place where the

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more at the top of the hour.  - coming up, a balanced take on china's security challenges. - we do try to look at the world from beijing's point of view, and we see a very challenging environment for beijing. - columbia's andrew nathan discusses china's security concerns both inside and outside of its borders and how the united states fits in. it's just ahead on "global ethics forum." our speaker is andy nathan, and he's an old friend of the carnegie council, so i'm delighted to welcome him back to this forum. as one of our country's most widely respected china scholars, whenever andy writes or speaks about chinese politics or american policy towards china, his remarks are always worth playing close attention to. today he will be talking about a new book

barrett was invited by tokyo electric power company to tour the stricken plant. he inspected the storage tank from which about 300 tons of contaminated water leaked last month. he was also shown a construction site for barriers to prevent radioactive water from seeping into the ocean. barrett said tepco's risk management of the radioactive water was lax and it should have designed higher barriers around the storage tanks to contain any leaks. barrett also met tepco's president. he says the problems at fukushima daiichi are further complicated because of the involvement of groundwater. >> the challenge is huge. it makes three mile island look very simple. what you have is much more complex, much more challenging. >> on friday, barrett is expected to meet tepco officials at the company's headquarters to give advice on how to manage the radioactive water. tepco has released information that indicates problems at fukushima daiichi may be getting worse. water taken from a monitoring well near the faulty storage tank has shown higher levels of radioactivity. workers su

i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we'rfollowing at this hour. a day of remembrance. people in japan honor the victims of a disaster two and a half years ago and reflect on the impact the tsunami still has on lives. >>> a personal appeal. u.s. president barack obama addresses the american people, promising to pursue a diplomatic solution on syria. >> and continuing tension a year after japan nationalizes the senkaku islands, china says it will continue to send vessels to patrol near them. >> many people in japan have marked the day that changed their lives. it's been two and a half years since the march 2011 disaster. the magnitude 9 earthquake and the following tsunami killed nearly 16,000 people. more than 2,600 people are still missing. the disaster triggered the crisis the fukushima daiichi plant. about 290,000 people are still living in temporary housing. many survivors stopped on wednesday to pay tribute to those they lost. they observed a minute of silence at 2:46 p.m., the moment the earthquake struck. people in the city of natori gathere

we may want to keep track of tokyo electron. we'll see if the company will benefit from the merger deal you mentioned earlier. moving on to currencies, starting with dollar yen first. the dollar is now at 98.78 to 890 yens the yen. trading in the currency was uncertain overnight. there's uncertainty for the monetary easing program especially after some mixed u.s. economic reports on tuesday. the case home index price rose in july. the conference bought consumer confidence index declined in september. now investors will be looking for more direction from upcoming u.s. data on durable goods later today, and advise gdp on thursday. the euro is under some selling pressure on continued speculations that the europe and central bank may relaunch following comments from an official tuesday. yen is at 133.04 to 10. the current currency is also hurt by data on german business sentiment that came in weaker than market estimates. with the yen standing firm, we may see some selling pressure on japanese exporters. and we'll be keeping track o

tokyo, just at 24 here on friday. let's take a look at the americas. actually snowfall in the higher elevations. photos coming out of portions of montana, toward idaho, you saw some aaccumulations up to 10 centimeters there. the storm system is moving to the east. rain in portions of central canada as it lifts off to the northeast. but still snowfall very well could occur here in the higher elevations through friday. as far as the northeast, high pressure dominating at this time. beautiful weather. if you have any plans this weekend in much of the northeast, it's going to be just right for that. down to the south, on the other hand, we've been seeing the rain showers over the florida peninsula. those will taper off as well. next week, we want to watch because there's a potential of a new storm system forming along the eastern seaboard. it may start to sour up your plans here. right now, though, it is quite beautiful out there. new york with a high of 22. partly cloudy skies. toronto getting up to 22 as well. you can see the sunny weather in place. now,

i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us.

i'm in tokyo. >>> u.s. president barack obama said he's spoken by phone with his iranian counterpart. they had the first conversation between american and iranian leaders in more than 30 years. >> just now i spoke othe phone with president of the islamic republic of iran. the two of us discussed our ongoing efforts to reach an agreement over iran's nuclear program. >> obama said he promised his country would not develop nuclear weapons. he said he now believes the u.s. and iran can reach a comprehensive solution over tehran's nuclear program. the white house spokesperson says the conversation lasted 15 minutes. the last time u.s. and iranian leaders spoke was the year of the hostage crisis in tehran, 1979. meanwhile, an iranian diplomat is getting ready for more talks with the international nuclear watchdog. he spoke with an international atomic energy agency representative for the first time since the president took office last month. and they agreed to meet again next month for a more comprehensive discus

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> u.s. president barack obama has called on the international community to support military action against syria. obama made the request in a meeting with swedish prime minister fredrik reinfeldt in stockholm. the u.s. president is to attend the g-20 summit in russi >> the prime minister and i are in agreement that in the face of such barbarism, the international community cannot be silent and that failing to respond to this attack would only increase the risk of more attacks. and the possibility other countries would use these weapons as well. >> sweden believes that syria's matters concerning international peace and security should be handled by the united nations, but i also understand the potential consequences of letting a violation like this go unanswered. >> obama says he believes the u.s. congress will approve military action. he said that with such congressional support, his administration will be able to send a stronger message to syria. >>> members of the u.s. senate foreign relat

i'm 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 country's 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 best-selling 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 vot

as for temperatures, tokyo 29 degrees with partly sunny skies. fukuoka 32. i want to show you this beautiful scene coming out of the city. the red rise have started to turn red. farmers in the city began planning red rice to revitalize the community. many visit to see the beautiful scenery this time of year. the long spell of rain delayed the change of color about a week. you can feel the arrival of autumn. today is a different story. 32 for the high. summer has not completely gone yet. across the ameri we've been watching the tropical storm that is gabriel. it died the other day but has reemerged. it's producing rough surf as well as strong winds to burr mu da. we have tropical warnings in place at this moment. the system will likely move over near the island in the next few hours as a tropical storm and head toward the north. nova scotia probably friday or saturday local time. we'll keep updating you on the storm's progress. as for the continent, high pressure is keeping things dry and hot across the east. flooding rain for the four corners region, the pos