it's 10:00 p.m. in tokyo. welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima with the news at this hour. the work to build temporary homes for people in japan's devastated northeast is making progress. nearly half a year since the tsunami tore up cities and towns along the pacific coast, most of the shelters are now closed. but thousands of people are still living in public facilities in miyagi prefecture. the shelter at a high school

gymnasium in the town of yamada in iwate prefecture shut its doors on wednesday. at one point 103,000 people were living there. now all the evacuees have moved into temporary housing units. >> translator: it was a big effort. it took a long time. >> most of the shelters in fukushima have also closed. the largest one in the prefecture vut on wednesday. about 2,500 people lived in this building in the city of koriyuma at one time. it got so crowded there was barely enough room for everyone to lie down. >> translator: i really hope i'll be happy living in temporary housing. >> it's a different story in miyagi prefecture, though. authorities say they won't finish building 22,000 temporary

housing units until mid-september. about 3,700 people are still saying in nearly 140 shelters. 1,800 of those evacuees live in ishinomaki. about 80% of the city's planned temporary housing units have been built so far but only three-quarters of them are occupied. one problem is that some houses are located in inconvenient areas. evacuees are avoiding them because they have a hard time commuting to work and school. >> translator: we want to live near our grandchild's school. >> officials in ishinomaki say many people still have no jobs and are worried about paying for living expenses once they move out of the shelters. farmers in eastern japan are seeking more compensation from the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. this latest damage claim totals about $140 million. various groups of farmers have

filed for compensation from tokyo electric power company every month since april. representatives from 11 prefectures met wednesday with tepco president. that's the largest group of prefectures to lobby for payout since the nuclear crisis began. the farmers are demanding compensation for beef, tea leaves and other products banned or lost value following the fukushima daiichi accident. the farmers' demands were paid out since april up to about $750 million. tokyo electric says it would make pay damages every three months but farmers who are strapped for cash want the compensation to come more regularly. >> translator: farmers have been pushed nearly to the edge and cannot wait such a long time. we want the utility to make monthly payments. >> tepco's managing director naomi hirose points out that monthly payouts are almost impossible because the company has so many groups and individuals to compensate.

but he says the utility will consider the request. tokyo electric discovered five active faults near the krpt ld fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. tepco made the discovery after they were asked to reexamine faults around nuclear plants. the directive followed the strong earthquake on april 11th from a fault that was thought to be inactive some 50 kilometers away from fukushima daiichi. tepco said on tuesday geological deformations were observed for the first time at five faults suggesting they are active. the utility says it will continue drilling to investigate the faults, though it believes any tremors would be within the plant's quake resistant capacity. besides tepco, two nuclear agencies have reported nine potentially active faults near their nuclear facilities. another nuclear reactor in japan will soon be shut down for regular inspections. this will leave nearly 80% of the country's reactors out of

service. kyushu electric power service said it started working on the number two reactor at the sendai nuclear power plant in kagoshima prefecture, southwestern japan. the reactor will be shut down by thursday morning. once the unit is shut down, 42 of japan's 54 nuclear reactors will be out of service. kyushu electric wants to restart the reactor in four months after exchanging fuel rods and inspecting the turbines. but it is unclear when the company can restart the reactor. another reactor at the plant remains offline even though regular checkups have been completed. the utility has yet to obtain consent from local governments to restart their operations. following the nuclear accident in fukushima, irregular practices of power companies and the central government have come to light triggering public distrust. many children were left without a mother or father after the earthquake and tsunami last

march. now the youngsters must cope with deep emotional scars. in fact, giving these children proper emotional care is one of japan's more pressing issues. nurse ris and centers for child care are taking up the challenge. nhk world reports. >> reporter: 5-year-old kanta horiuchi in iwate prefecture lost his mother to the tsunami. she was listed as missing for nearly four months. kanta often bursts into tears for no apparent reason. or went ouz on his own to look for his mother. now, he hardly ever talks about her. >> translator: it was good that they finally found mom. >> translator: stop. that makes my heart prickle.

>> translator: kanta doesn't want to hear about the tsunami. it upsets him, as it reminds him his mom is not here. >> reporter: at this nursery in myako, about 35% of the children had their homes damaged or washed away by the tsunami. some children also lost their parents. after the disaster, many children would suddenly break into tears. some have trouble falling asleep. the child care consultation center in myako consulted 51 nurseries and kindergartens. the center wanted to know if there were any changes in behavior. many children needed ongoing monitoring. but also said some children display no emotion. they also reported other behavior changes like using

impolite language. counselors learned that children's emotional scars are too deep for teachers to handle. >> translator: some children use bad language. i'm wondering what to do. >> translator: when we're talking to children, it's always hard to determine how much further we can go into their personal matters. >> reporter: counselors learned that children's emotional scars are too deep for teachers to handle. >> translator: to give children good care, we should do more than focus on the children alone. we need to help their teachers and parents. indirect support like this is crucial for helping children. >> reporter: the child care consultation center says it

wants to work as doctors specialized in emotional care. efforts to have children cope will have to continue for some time. nhk world, miyako. lawmakers of japan's governing democratic party have approved their leadership lineup under new prime minister yoshihiko noda. noda first spoke at a meeting of democratic lawmakers on wednesday. >> translator: what our party needs is the leadership in which all dpj members can exert their full potential. if i were to liken it to soccer, what we need is a bunch of midfielders who can pass strategically. >> participants then endorsed the appointments of the party leadership. in a bid to unite the party, noda gave major party posts to

members who supported other candidates in monday's leadership election. upper house leader azumah koshiishi will be the party's secretary general and former farm minister seiji maehara, chairman of the policy research committee. hirofumi hirano will be the diet affairs chief. and deputy secretary general. the party's new secretary general koshiishi vowed to do his best to unite the party. >> translator: we only have one thing to do, unite the party. i will do my best and i will work together with my fellow democratic party members in both the upper and lower house. >> translator: i would like all the party members to step up to the plate. i would like to do my utmost as the party's new policy chief.

>> translator: with help from all the fellow members of the party, we will be able to ride out the storm of the twisted diet, and i'm ready to be covered with mud to support him. [ speaking in foreign language ] the head of japan business federation says the cabinet to be formed under the new prime minister yeesh hee koe noda should work with the opposition parties to implement key policies. >> translator: i think overall reforms in the tax and social security systems are the key prerequisit prerequisites. i sincerely hope the governing

and opposition parties will all work together to set and achieve the goals. >> the chairman spoke to reporters on wednesday. on the new lineup of the party's executives, he said it demonstrates noda's resolve to unify the party to tackle urgent and important challenges. the president of south korea seems to be trying to improve relations with north korea with this latest cabinet shuffle. pe he held that position until may and was in charge of bilateral dialogue with north korea.

the north has repeatedly condemned his predecessor as a tra traitor. an investigation concluded the north korean military was to blame. south korea and other nations will be watching to see if the new unification minister will help improve interkorean relations. at the end of the muslim holy month of ramadan, people of libya celebrated the downfall of moammar al gadhafi and mourned victims of the uprising of his government. thousands gathered in green square in the capital of tripoli. gadhafi often gave speeches in the square and it was a symbol of his regime. people said they were celebrating their freedom from autocratic rule and

commemorating the victim ts of the uprising. in benghazi, people also gathered in the square for early morning prayers on wednesday. >> translator: this year, we lost many of our friends and colleagues. i feel sorry about that. we cannot feel complete happiness. >> meanwhile, libya's national transition council leader told reuters on tuesday that about 50,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict six months ago. >> i think misratah and zlitan took the most toll. i would say maybe around 15,000 to 17,000, in that area. >> hsham said many others were killed in the western mountains and the northeastern city of brega. he said many protesters arrested by gadhafi's government are now missing and presumed dead suggesting the death toll could

rise. libya's opposition leader has urged followers of gadhafi to surrender before saturday. he said if not, the opposition forces will opt for military action to put them under control. the head of libya's national transitional council mustafa abdul jalil spoke to reporters in the eastern city of benghazi on tuesday. jalil said the ousted leader remains a threat to the libyan people until he is placed in custody. gadhafi's regime has collapsed since opposition forces seized control of the capital tripoli last week, but gadhafi supporters are maintaining a resistance in his hemtown of sirte ands other places across the country. the ntc is continuing talks with loekist tribes on a peaceful solution while mobilizing troops around sirte where gadhafi is said to be hiding. in related news, the north atlantic treaty organization says it will keep up the pressure on libyan forces loyal to gadhafi. nato has been conducting the air strikes in libya for nearly five

months. nato held a video conference from its military base in naples and its brussels headquarters on tuesday. >> despite the presence of remnants of the regime, the tripoli region is essentially freed. with the retreat of pro-gadhafi forces. >> nato military spokesperson colonel roland lavoie commented from naples that the alliance is now focusing on the mediterranean coast around the libyan -- central libyan city of sirte, the last bastion of gadhafi supporters. brussels nato spokesperson oana lungescu said nato will continue its air strikes as long as they are needed. >> the nato mission is important, it's effective and it's still necessary in order to protect civilians. as long as threats remain, there's still a job to be done. >> lavoie referred to the libyan national transitional council's demand for pro-gadhafi forces to

surrender by saturday, saying nato sees this as an encouraging sign and will watch this situation closely. united nations secretary general ban ki-moon says he plans to send u.n. personnel to libya to help nation building efforts. >> the people of libya are looking to the international community for help. the transitional government will be outlining specific requests in the coming days. >> the secretary general announced the plan to the u.n. security council on tuesday. ban said current trends in libya are encouraging and express hope for a quick conclusion to the conflict and an end to the suffering of the people. libya's deputy ambassador to the u.n. welcomed the news. he told nhk the council seeks support in a wide range of field including the formation of military and police force as well as in education, public health industry and agriculture. in neighbors afghanistan,

august has been the deadliest month for u.s. troops since the war there started nearly ten years ago. the up spring in violence comes as international forces begin a gradual withdrawal and raises questions about the long-term stability of the country. from the pakistani capital islamabad, nhk world reports. >> reporter: on august 6th, 30 u.s. service members were killed when taliban insurgents shot down a helicopter transporting coalition forces. according to the associated press, 66 americans died in afghanistan during august. that's the most fatalities in any month since the u.s. fwan its military campaign against the taliban after the september 11th attacks in 2001. previously, the deadliest month was july last year when 65 were killed. in a speech on tuesday, afghan

president hamid karzai renew ee calls for peace. >> translator: we repeatedly ask the taliban and those with guns on their shoulders to put the guns down and join the reconstruction are process of their country and not force or deceive the children into destroying their country. >> reporter: the taliban leader issued a statement on sunday saying that the group would continue their fight and rid the country of foreign forces. nhk world, islamabad. russia's largest state run oil company is teaming up with u.s. oil giant exxon mobil to explore for oil and gas in the two countries. representatives of the two companies signed an agreement in southern russia on tuesday. prime minister vladimir putin was also present. under the agreement, exxon mobil

will join the russian company in developing oil and gas fields on the continental shelf in the arctic. the company will take part in the oil exploration projects in the gulf of mexico and texas. experts said an area of the arctic covered by the agreement contains an estimated 5 billion tons of oil reserves. the russian company had reached an agreement with major british oil company bp to develop the arctic continental shelf, but the plan fell through. time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin tonight with this item sent by irib, iran, and rtm, malaysia. more than a billion muslims around the world celebrated a festival on wednesday. the event marked the end of ramadan, the muslim month of fasting, prayer and charity. in iran the leader of islamic revolution led prayers in tehran.

billions of people visited mosques to pray and greet relatives and friends. in malaysia, the prime minister hosted a huge party to celebrate eid. nearly 100,000 people participated including cabinet ministers and foreign diplomats. a variety of malaysian delicacies were served, and a host of artists entertained the guests. a 50-year-old water agreement between singapore and malaysia ended on wednesday with the transfer of four water treatment plants to malaysia. constructing the southern malaysian stay of johor, the plants produce about 50 million gallons of water per day or about 5% of singapore's total water supply. singapore's minister for environment and water resources said the return of the plants to malaysia today will not affect the state's water supply. the governor a cambodian

province visited a thailand province on tuesday to ease border tension between the neighbors. both countries claim sovereignty over the temple on their border. the governor welcomed the cambodian delegation. the cambodian official said the prove -- he urged the thai province to hold an exhibition in cambodia. the thai official says his providence plans to market its local products in cambodia. here are the latest market figures.

hi there. welcome back. time now to check out the weather. let's talk about this typhoon right over here. you can see the big eye that is approaching steadily towards japan pacific coast. it will hit konsai overnight friday and steadily move over land of japan towards northern japan and in towards hokkaido. it is a very slow moving system as of now, but as its makes landfall, it will then pick up its speed. so by monday next week, looks like the eye of this typhoon will be way off from japan. but this one is bringing lots of

strong winds and picking up those waves. this is high waves forecast for thursday. we're looking at seven meters in izu islands, six meters in much of the pacific coast of japan. these are very dangerous waves. it may sometimes even pick up double of what we are predicting, so maybe up to 12 meters in some areas here. we already have reports of a few people dead from these -- this storm related. so please do stay away from those coastal sides if possible. 24 hour rainfall forecasts is as follows. tokai 300 millimeters in a span of 24 hours. kanto reej up to 150 millimeters. heavy rain to come with this typhoon. not just talas, the hokkaido and northern region of japan is looking -- going to be looking at very unstable weather due to this low pressure system and the associated front just over

southeast russia that will be coming in. so i should say all of japan will be looking at very unstable conditions, maybe some thunderstorms even in hokkaido in the next 24. now, this was namaldol. it's a tropical depression now. it has downgraded. still bringing ample moisture to southeastern coast of china, taiwan as well as western luzon. high waves still picking up to six meters high in much of luzon. please stay away from those coastal areas if possible if you're in the vicinities. indochina peninsula looking messy. chongqing still looking very hot. we're looking at 40 degrees on our thursday high. seoul at 32. tokyo at 29 degrees. here in north america, high pressure system will be dominating much of eastern canada and new england, northeastern portion all the way in towards the east of the united states. maybe some few showers in the great lakes. nothing too significant. but this one will be

significant. it may be bringing severe thunderstorms just across northern plains. maybe in the mountains, elevation above 2,000 meters high, mountains in montana may even see early season snowfall due to the cold air that is coming in from the cold front. we will be seeing a few thunderstorms here in the florida peninsula as well. if we do, then the winds will be picking up to about 65 kilometers per hour. we still have fire weather warnings just across much of southwest f southwest. phoenix, 44, oklahoma, 39, heating up there as well and new york at 30 degrees. here in europe we have a low pressure system, associated front just along this front is where we're going to be seeing some severe weather to come. nothing too significant, hope not. high pressure will be dominating much of central and towards the rest. british isles, you will be seeing lots of sunny spells for

you to come. but france looking pretty messy and severe thunderstorms may be coming towards you from the atlantic system in portugal and western spain. here are your temperatures. 25 in paris. moscow, 23. still athens looking hot at 34 degrees. here's your extended forecast.

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.