it's 10:00 p.m. in tokyo. welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima with the news at this hour. resistance by forces loyal to libyan leader moammar gadhafi has continued in some areas of the capital tripoli after the virtual collapse of his dictatorial regime. anti-governmt forces seized control of gadhafi's compound in the capital on tuesday, but the leader's whereabouts remain unknown and his troops have continued to fight on wednesday. meanwhile, a national transitional council which consists of opposition leaders

is taking steps to launch a new government. the council plans to transfer its base from the northeastern city of benghazi and set up a provisional government in tripoli. a senior member of the council mom mud ja bril has stressed the need to rebuild libya. the council will meet with the u.s. and european and arab nations in qatar on wednesday and ask them for financial assistance. it will also ask for cooperation in rebuilding the country from other nations at a conference to be held in turkey on thursday. the u.s. government has announced plans to release up to $1.5 billion in frozen libyan assets t transitional national council within days. >> we want to give this money back to the tnc for its use, first and foremost, to meet humanitarian needs and to help it establish a secure, stable government and to move on to the next step in its own roadmap.

>> the announcement came after u.s. president barack obama spoke by telephone with french president nicolas sarkozy. they agreed to work with the international community to support a peaceful transition to democracy in libya. let's turn now to nhk world in benghazi where the transitional national council is based. >> reporter: the national council is working hard to find out where gadhafi is hiding. it believes it is unlikely libya's top leader has fled the country. but it seems to have conflicting information on his whereabouts. an opposition spokesperson says he may not be in tripoli and could be hiding in central or southern lya ci citizens are closely watching the hunt for the man who ruled the country for more than four decades. >> translator: i'll be happy when gadhafi is captured.

>> translator: i'm afraid because gadhafi is still free. >> reporter: forces loyal to gadhafi are continuing their fight against opposition. they currently occupy part of tripoli. this transition remains unstable. nhk world, benghazi, libya. russian president dmitry medvedev and north korean leader kim jong-il held talks on wednesday. a spoke woman for medvedev says north korea is ready to resume without preconditions the six-party talks on its nuclear program. medvedev met kim at a russian military facility outside ulan-ude in eastern siberia. it was the first summit between the nations in nine years.

>> after the talks, a russian news agency qteth pridtiposwans yi k io impose a moratorium on testing and production of nuclear weapons. medvedev told reporters both sides agreed to construct a natural gas pipeline from the russia far east to south korea by way of north korea. kim jong-il's visit to russia is his third since becoming leader of north korea in 1994. >> reporter: after succeeding his father kim il-sung, kim jong-il worked on enhancing diplomatic relations with a number of countries. he made his first trip to russia in july 2001, taking his private trn a 24-day, 18,000 loter journe kim held a summit with then russian president vladimir putin in moscow. thleaders ised a joint declaration, callingorloser military and economic ties.

>>epte t dlati w so rctn the u.s. naming north korea a rogue state. in 2002, kim jong-il again visited russia by train. this time, hmepun the country's far east. the north korean lder toured faors thatroce fighter aircraft and submarines. his talking with putin touched on economic cooperation including rail connections between siberia and north korea. kim's current trip to russia has taken him to the city of ulan-u ieastern siberia. herrived on tuesday, after a journey of about 4,000 kilometers from pyongyang.

kim's health has been the subject of speculation ever since he suffered a stroke three years ago. the north korean leader seems to still have some paralysis on the left side of his body. beakisri kim worked on keeping ties with by visiting t country three times last year. north korea appears to be solidifying its economic and strategic links with two of its allies as it prepares for the resumption of the six-party talks on its nuclear program. chinese patrol boats have briefly entered japanese territorial waters near the senkaku islands in the east china sea. the japanese coast guard says it's the first time chinese patrol boat vessels have crossed into the area. on wednesday morning, a japanese patrol boat from the regional coast guard headquarters in okinawa found two chinese fisheries surveillance boats traveling near the island group. china claims sovereignty over the islands.

the ships entered japanese territorial waters and left after 30 minutes. one of them returned later and spent another seven minutes in japanese waters. the coast guard repeatedly warned the chinese crew by radio not to enter japanese territory, but they radioed back and said the islands are a chinese territory and that the ship had a legitimate reason to be in the area. china has been sending patrol ships to the region since one of its fishing boats collided with japanese coast guard vessels last september. the incident strained bilateral relations. the japanese government responded quickly by launching a protest against china. it set up a liaison in the prime minister's office to handle it. >> translator: the government will continue to monitor vessels in these waters with the liaison office coordinating the relevant government agencies. we expect china to act appropriately in the broader context of bilateral cooperation.

>> edano said the vice foreign minister summoned him to japan. he said he told the ambassador the senkaku islands are inheren panese territory, both historically and according to international law and he urged china to prevent such incursions. japan suffered another downgrade in its sovereign debt. major u.s. credit rating agency moody's announced it lowered the country's government bonds by one notch due to concerns over a worsening fiscal condition. >> the one notch downgrade to aa3 to aa2 we think captures the longer term risks from high deficits, high debt, and weak growth. >> moody's senior vice president and regional credit office for asia and the middle east, thomas byrne, held a news conference

in tokyo. he explained the japanese debt now ranks the same as nations like china and chile. the agency says the effects of the march disaster and resulting power shortages are slowing down japan's economic growth and added the country has so far failed to hammer out feasible plans for reforming its social security and tax systems. moody's knows japan has the largest external assets among advanced economies. it says the country will continue to get the trust of the market as long as it manages to improve its fiscal condition. >> the stable outlook reflects are believed that japan's credit strengths will prevail over the next 18 months and that the home buyers that favors low refinancing risk, low refinancing cost for jgbs will remain in place. >> but, byrne warned the agency may move to review its rating for a possible further downgrade

if japan's social welfare and tax reforms are delayed. for an analysis of the rating cut on japanese government bonds or jgbs, we spoke to masaaki kanno. >> basically the downgrade is a warning against the market and the government. but the government doesn't seem to care those are the warning from the market and also from the downgrading of -- by the rating agencies. because despite the downgrading, the bond yield has been lowering. so even if the government expands the fiscal deficit and increases bond issuance, the actual cost is limited. actually falling. >> kanno says japan's position

is unique since over 90% of its government debts are held by domestic investors. they consider investments in jgbs as less risky. >> the u.s. current account is in huge deficit. but japan's current account remains in a big surplus. so which means even with such a very big government deficit, the net domestic savings remains positive. in other words, the government deficit is easily financed in japan domestically. so under those situations, analysts of the domestic investors care much about the risk of holding jgbs -- little influence. so that's the very big difference between japan and the u.s. but if japan's current account falls into deficit, then the

situation would be very much different. >> that was masaaki kanno. japan will set up a $100 billion fund to help businesses buy up foreign firms and natural resources as the yen continues to hover at near record highs. >> translator: we'll establish an emergency fund with up to $100 billion to help the private sector exchange the yen to foreign currencies. woel do that with the help of the japan bank for international cooperation. the fund will allow businesses to acquire foreign firms and secure natural resources. it will also assist smaller firms in boosting exports. >> finance minister noda said on wednesday he decided on the emergency measures to cope with

the persistently strong yen. noda says he hopes they will help companies invest overseas and lead to more stable exchange rates. the government will also monitor foreign exchange transactions. it will require major financial institutions to report on their currency positions. more japanese are becoming conscious of the damage caused by earthquakes and tsunamis following the disaster in march. this has led to a surge in earthquake insurance policy holders. insurance firms gained more than 2.5 million new contracts for earthquake protection in the march to may period according to the nonlife insurance rating organization of japan. that's up by 6.8% compared to the same period last year. the increase is apparent in the three prefectures hit hardest by the march 11th disaster. fukushima prefecture saw about a 50% rise, iwate was up by more than 26% and miyagi prefecture had a 22% increase in earthquake insurance contracts.

the organization says that the number of new contracts is likely to keep increasing for the time being. here are the latest market figures. tuesday's magnitude 5.8 earthquake in the u.s. state of virginia has cut electricity to a nuclear power plant, prompting

it to be placed on alert status. the east coast rarely ha earthqkes. tudas akwathfirst with a mnitude of re than 5.0 vginia sinc1897. the two reactor north anna per stion loted 24 kileters from the quake epicenter shut down autatically after the power loss. thalert stat ithe send lowest of four emergency classifications set by the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission. the watchdog says the shutdown is safe and poses no risk as power is being provided by emergency diesel generators and the plant's cooling system is operating properly. the commission continues to monitor the situation as one of the generators stopped working due to a coolant leak. japan's welfare ministry says about 55,000 cases of child abuse were reported last year. that's the highest number ever. now people from all over japan

are responding to a manga series about child abuse and its prevention. based on true stories, the manga educate youngsters, the nation's future parents. >> reporter: a parent's rage against her child turns to violence. the story follows a rookie social worker who helps abused children. the manga sheds light on child abuse and shows readers how to deal with it. after publication, the magazine received more than 300 e-mails and letters from readers of all ages nationwide. former newspaper journalist jun chukomiya launched the series last autumn. he's been reporting on chi abuse for 20ears. after writing many articles about the problem, he deded ocietyas no hope if it n't value its ildren. quit his newspaper job and began writing exclusively about child abuse.

a publisher heard about komiya and requested a draft for a ri. through manga imes theompany nted to ma hh scho students think about abuse. >> translator:ow can we ve abused children? how do we make sure we're not letting abuse happen over and over again? weave to thorougy examine the cases of the abused children we couldn't save. >> reporter: komiya researched by interviewing adults who had been abused as children. he met a man in his 20s who escaped from his single parent family and now lives on his own. his father spent all his money on alcohol. >> translator: my father told me to buy ten kilograms of flour and make it last for a month. >> translator: what did you do with it? >> translator: i made noodles.

i sometimes added chives from the garden. it was rough. i can't trust adults, ev now. >> reporter: komiya also spoke with a young woman whose mother had abused her. >> translator: if i was holding chopsticks wrong, my mother would hit me or burn me with her cigarette. i thought she was abusing me because i was a bad child. >> translator: adults must learn from the appalling stories told by these young people and think about what to do. >> reporter: on this day, komiya meets with the editorial staff. the team agrees that the abused child in the story must be rescued. the manga shows concrete ways of resolvinthe issue. they also decide not to show shocking scenes of abuse.

>> translator: in one scene, the child draws on all his strength to tell an adult, "my dad beats me up." we thought it better to stress the child's words instead of the bruises on his face. >> reporter: in the second series, komiya shows how a child is rescued from his abusive stepfather. komiya yugss information he learned from youngsters he interviewed. for example, abused children can't always ask for help. they want adults to notice something is strange and take action. >>ralar: wt youn aders to rememr e sss my cartoons teach. and adhem again when the become paren. i'm deeply committed. >> reporter: komiya hopes his cartoons will help build a

society that simply refuses to tolerate child abuse. time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin tonight with this item sent by d dirks on the latest developments in india's anti-corruption movement. the hunger strike by indian cictis haay enre i d dnesspe s deterrating health, he's vowing to continue his fast until the government enacts tough laws against rampant corruption in the country. >> the prime minister and his

cabinet ministers have d wayso break t deadlock. an all-party meeting has also been scheduled to try to resolve the sue. the year 2011 marks the 36th anniversary of sino/thai diplomatic relations. on tuesday thai princes opened a photo exhibition in the capital of bangkok to celebrate the occasion. hundreds of photographs capture the landmark photographs during the visits of the two countries' leader ilunghe princess. her highness visited the country 30 years ago and since visited the country 33 times. last year she won the chinese connection top ten international friends of china award. the 2011 summer universiade gamecao alon thsday. re tha7,500 athletes from nearly 150 countries and regions participated in the games which

kicked off august 12th. in the closing ceremony, 500 performers showcased the country's diverse cultural heritage. the events included opera, acrobatic performances martial arts. ten minute performance after the flag handover ceremony. >> hi there. i'm mai shoji. welcome back. here is the severe prop cal storm called nammadol. it's moving very slowly but looks like it's very stationary, in fact. it's affecting much of the same areas with very strong winds picking up those waves up to about five meters high. taiwan will be affected soon and the okinawa islands, it's approaching towards these

islands in japan and looks like on friday it may become a typhoon. so this is an intensifying system. we'll keep an eye on this and update it for you. this is another tropical storm. as of now, it is a tropical depression. in the next 12 hours it will become a tropical storm west of the mariana islands. already affecting the islands, especially guam with very heavy rain. more rain to come in the similar areas. associated -- the very stationary front is a seasonal front stretching towards northern japan. more rain to come in tohoku region. about 80 millimeters of additional rain will be falling in tohoku. toki region is expected 200 millimeters rain. sotil psiyrier asoong dsan landslidn thosearea. lce erenouea china. w bin tse temperur dn yan

l very hot at 36. beijing, 27. seoul, 30 degrees. tokyo, another hot and humid day for us at 31 degrees. here in north america, let's start off talking about hurricane irene, this dangerous storm right here. it's steadily moving its way towards the bahamas and it just turned into a category 3 which is the first major hurricane in the atlantic for this year. it is going to maintain its strength as it passes over the bahamas. hurricane warnings are posted in much of these areas. it will maiai itrgt and yve makendll in e carolis. 'lsee what happens. it is now min in a west-nor dictn ape of 1 kilomete ahour inheex 48 hos, itoo like itilbe raining lots and lo. ren e bamas wantill e r areas, which mnsha it's goi to be00 millimers or mor accumulated in tse areas which would lel cse

oongn mh ohe vy lnabslds wdo rll wt tee trk tsysmswe. heinba tthigr piurin nthamic he ishe wreoi tbe seng sereaer f yr weesy. rnoe m nveeul erer yee ong rereva y 4 dre s ,l above average. phoenix at 47 with excessive plseoy hdf ou ppinas utrnndnin ifrg onishe the condition is rystable. ano he atlantic system tha is just le onndffhowers will continue r you in e british isles for the next sev is wl pusng in towas centraleu s t evusysm gngo

pulled away. butet to come, another round of unstable weather for you. ceral to eastern europe looking ry hot. vienna at 34. at's plus nine degrees ave the arage bupe36 s. foca.

once again, the top stories at this hour. resistant by forces loyal to libyan leader moammar el gadhafi has continued in some areas of the capital of tripoli after the virtual collapse of his dictatorial regime. anti-government forces seized control of gadhafi's compound in the capital on tuesday but the leader's whereabouts remain unknown and his troops have continued to fight on wednesday. meanwhile, a national transitional council which consists of opposition leaders is taking steps to launch a new government. the council plans to transfer its base from the northeastern city of benghazi and set up a provisional government in tripoli. a senior member of the council mammoub jabril has stressed the need to rebuild libya. the council will meet with the u.s. and european and arab nations in qatar on wednesday and ask them for financial assistance. it will also ask for cooperation in rebuilding the country from other nations at a conference to

be held in turkey on thursday. that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you for watching. bye-bye.