hello, and welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, september 1. 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. incoming japanese leader noda will launch his new cabinet as early as friday. he was elected as japan's 95th prime minister earlier this week. on wednesday, noda appointed the main upper house leaders of the governing democratic party.

the appointments were approved by lawmakers at a meeting later in the day. noda hopes to meet the leaders of the main opposition parties on thursday. he is expected to ask for their cooperation in implementing his policies in the opposition controlled upper house. meanwhile, two dpj factions led by former prime minister yama and former secretary general oza wau met on wednesday. some of the group said that party unity will depend on whether noda acts in line with their wishes. the policies will be monitored before deciding whether to cooperate with him. a senior north korean official has demanded reparations from japan ahead of the inauguration of the country's new government.

vice director of the north korean foreign ministry met with reporters on wednesday. >> we will closely monitor the movement of japan's new cabinet. >> he said if the government takes steps to improve bilateral relations, north korea is ready to reciprocate. kim said that the issue of his country's abduction of japanese citizens has been already settled. >> translator: our first priority is the issue of compensation for the past. north korea does not need to discuss the abduction issue with the japanese government anymore. >> kim demanded that japan pay reparations for its colorafor i colonization and its stance

against north korea. >> announcer: the march 11 disaster. the september 11 attacks. two anniversaries, one source for in-depth coverage. join nhk world for "japan six months on" and "9/11: defining a decade" beginning on september 5. then on september 11, we'll mark the anniversaries. 2:30 p.m. japan time for the 3/11 disaster, 9:40 p.m. for the 9/11 attacks. local governments in northeastern japan are still struggling to remove debris from the earthquake and tsunami nearly six months later. ishinomaki has the most debris left behind. the ministry had wanted cities and villages to remove all of the deblris in resessential ares to temporary storage by now.

it says that the clearance is nearly clear in iwate, miyagi, and fukushima prefectures except in the no entry zone near the crippled fukushima daiichi plant. the plan is to clear the areas completely by the end of next march. but 12 local governments accounting for about 1/3 of the totals say less than half the debris has been cleared. they say problems with demolishing damaged homes and other structures are holding things up. the local governments say they need building owners' approval for demolition, and that they do not have enough personnel to do the work. many homeowners have asked for demolition to be postponed until they pick up belongings. >> some owners want all the debris cleared, and others do not. we are grateful if they occur our feelings. >> translator: we have to

carefully dismantle the debris. the survivors have a lot of feelings attached to them. >> specialist companies must also be hired to remove asbestos from damaged buildings. the ministry says it will provide assistance to these local governments after grasping the full picture. tepco has announced a never before attempted plan to extract melted nuclear fuel rods from reactors at the stricken fukushima daiichi power plant. tepco presented the nine-stage plan on wednesday to a panel of the atomic energy commission which is discussing how to decommission the plant's reactors. the first three stages of the plan are devoted to removing radioactive materials from the reactor's buildings to repair containment vessels and stop water leaks. they will then put water if the vessels and take pictures to determine the amount of nuclear fuel that has leaked from the reactors. in the final stage, the plan to

fill the vessels with water and use robots to extract the rods. the operation has never been performed at a nuclear plant. in the three mile island accident although fuel rods similarly melted, they were not extracted. tepco faces the tough challenges of coping with very high radiation and developing robots that can carry out the extraction. six months after the march 11 tsunami tore up japan's northeast, most of the roughly 800 shelters in iwate and fukushima prefectures are now closed, as work on temporary homes makes progress. but in miyagi prefecture, many refugees still live in temporary shelters. a shelter at a high school gymnasium in iwate prefecture shut its doors on wednesday. at one point, 1,300 people were staying there. now all of 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 shut on wednesday. about 2,500 people lived in this building 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. authorities say they won't finish building 22,000 temporary housing units until mid september. about 3,700 people are still staying in nearly 140 shelters. 1,800 of those evacuees live in the city.

about 80% of the city's planned temporary houses have been built so far, but only about 3/4 of them are occupied. one problem is that some houses are located in inconvenient areas. evacuees are avoiding them because they'd have a hard time commuting to work and school. >> translator: we want to live near our grandchildren's school. >> officials say that many people still have no jobs and are worried about paying for living expenses once they move out of the shelters. the self defense forces ended most of their work in northeastern japan on wednesday. thousands of personnel had been there since the march 11 quake and tsunami. the sdf deployed 107,000 personnel to iwate, miyagi, fukushima, and four other prefectures after the march disaster. they have been engaged in search and rescue operations and helped prepare meals for survivors at evacuation shelters.

the sdf has also played a major part in attempts to cool the crippled reactors at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant by spraying water from the air and ground. the size of the deployment had been gradually scaled back in line with the needs of local residents and evacuees. about 200 sdf personnel will remain in fukushima prefecture to help decontaminate radioactive materials from residents who temporarily returned to their homes near the nuclear plant last week. it's been 66 years since the pacific war came to an end. despite the passage of time, one man continues his search for a batch of photographs taken by a late friend that remains buried somewhere on an island in the south pacific. his search for these precious memories has opened his eyes to the fact that war may be over, but the scars of war still

remain. nhk world has this story. >> reporter: this speech was given to soldiers in tokyo. in the audience, a photographer who was a baby during the war, who has made it his quest to find his friend's photos. after seeing action in the south pacific, this ship was attacked and sunk in 1945. photographs of the ship are extremely rare. although it is the u.s. commander's time to visit in the south pacific to search for the photographs. >> it was a truly impressive ship.

i mean, certainly one of the most powerful ships in the world in its time. i wish him great luck and great success. >> reporter: the photographs he is looking for were taking by this man, who died 40 years ago. he was a photographer for the japanese navy and took many photos of the ship. this is the island where he was stationed in the final stages of the war. concerned about accessibility of his photos, he buried the negatives at the war's end. he returned several times after the war, but failed to find his buried treasure. he decided to take on his friend's mission. in july, he takes a boat to an island in search of the photos. he is accompanied by former soldiers and family members of deceased soldiers.

it's a thick jungle. amidst the foliage, the remains of japanese tanks and other rea remnants of the war can still be seen. the island is known as the isle of waves. in the battle for control over of the solomon islands, 60,000 japanese soldiers lost their lives. nearly half of them died of starvation. the group gathered to look for memories of japanese soldiers who lost their lives. this man is 85 years old. he was in the same unit as the photographer. he visits the site where he once buried the body of a fellow soldier.

>> reporter: he calls out to his friend, knowing that he will not get an answer. >> translator: i buried him facing where we used to grow food because there was no food and he was starving. at least in his grave, i wanted him to be able to eat the potatoes that seemed almost ready to harvest. >> reporter: he and the others approach a large tree. before his friend passed away, he gave him a map of the area where he had buried the negatives. he starts digging. local residents soon join in to help. they dig for a while, but despite their efforts, they did not find any photos. during their visit, the group stops at the church in the village. there they find a grave with the

name of three japanese soldiers and a wounded warrior. >> translator: it amazes me how the japanese military had fought in such a far away place. i can really feel how harsh the war was. >> reporter: they also visit a graveyard on the island of japanese forces. >> translator: the graveyard for the allied troops is neatly maintained and is a park. in contrast, the war memorial for the japanese soldiers is abandoned and covered with graffiti and moss. >> reporter: although he didn't find the photographs of the battleship this time, but that hasn't dampened his determination to have the photos in his hands. meanwhile, his visit helped him understand what japanese soldiers faced as they were forced to fight and die a lonely death far from home.

nhk world. three major japanese electronic makers are setting up a joint company to strengthen their production of smaller-sized lcd panels. their liquid crystal display panels are used in smartphones and tablet computers. hitachi, toshiba, and sobey made the announcement on wednesday. they said all of the shares of the subsidiaries that market smaller lcd panels will be transferred to the new company. >> translator: the lcd business will grow in the future. >> a government-backed organization will invest about $2.6 billion giving it 70% of the new company shares. hitachi, sony, and toshiba will each hold a 10% stake.

the new company, japan display, will be established next spring. it's expected to hold more than 20% of the mid and small-sized lcd market will make it the global mare in the industry. japan display will use funds to build new production lines for high quality panels. it also plans to compete with rivals in south korea and taiwan. monetary authorities in japan reportedly sold $4.51 trillion yen in august to stop the currency's historic surge against the dollar. it's believed all of the money flooded the market on august 4. if that's the case it stands as the highest one-day yen injection ever. 4.51 trillion yen is more than double the previous record set on september 15 last year. the august intervention was the first in four months, aimed at

stemming the sharp appreciation of the yen. it caused the dollar to gain ground, jumping by more than three yen. but the japanese currency rebounded, and has been hovering around historic highs against the american greenback. the yen's rise comes amid persistent concerns about the debt problems of the united states and some european nations, and a gloomy outlook for the global economy. now a look at the market figures. at the end of the muslim

holy month of ramadan people celebrated the downfall of moammar gadhafi. thousands gathered in green square in the capital of tripoli on tuesday. gadhafi often gave speeches in the square, and it was a symbol of his regime. people said they were celebrating freedom from autoaccuratic rule and commemorating the victory. people also gathered in benghazi at a 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 transitional military leader told rueters on tuesday that about 50,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict six months ago.

>> i think maybe i would say around 15,000 to 17,000, in that area. >> he said many others were killed in the western mountains and in brega. he said many protesters arrested by gadhafi's government are missing and presumed dead, suggesting the death toll could rise. next we go to our bureau in bangkok for the latest on what's going on in the region. pakistan has been hit by more deadly violence, castinga i shadow over celebrations to mark the end of the holy month of ramadan. at least 10 people were killed in the latest attack by suspected militants. a car bomb exploded on wednesday in qerta. the powerful blast came as hundreds of worshipers were finishing morning prayers to mark the islamic holiday of ede.

several children were among at least 10 people killed, and more than 20 wounded. it's a center for pro taliban militants as well as other extremists and sec tarrian groups, all part of a complex web of violence in pakistan. in neighboring afghanistan, august has been the deadliest month for u.s. troops since the war started there nearly 10 years ago. the upswing 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, we get this report. >> reporter: on august 6, 30 u.s. service members were killed when taliban insurgents shot down a helicopter transporting coalition forces. according to a report by the associated press, 66 americans

died in afghanistan during august. that's the most fatalities in any month since the u.s. began its military campaign against the taliban after the september 11 attacks in 2001. previously, the worst month was july last year, when 65 were killed. in a speech on tuesday, afghan president hamid karzai renewed the calls for peace. >> translator: we repeatedly ask the taliban and those who have guns on their shoulders to put their guns down and join the reconstruction 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.

and in other updates, australia's highest court has struck down a controversial refugee swap deal with malaysia. it's a major blow to the government's efforts to try and stem the flow of asylum seekers heading to the country. the court on wednesday ruled in favor of asylum seekers who said the swap deal was illegal because malaysia has not signed international treaties on the treatment of refugees. >> what's clear here is that the court has ruled emphatically that it is unlawful to expel these asylum seekers to malaysia. and what's also clear is that these people came here in fear for their lives, seeking safety, and were very fearful of being sent to malaysia, where they feared they would be harmed. >> today's decision by the high court is a profoundly disappointing one. disappointing to the government, disappointing to me.

this deals a significant blow to our efforts. >> they made the deal in july to accept 4,000 refugees currently in malaysia. in return, australia would send to malaysia 800 people whose asylum claims had not yet been verified. australia has been an attractive destination for asylum seekers. last year alone, more than 6,500 people illegally entered the country, many hoping to escape war and poverty. the government had intended the swap deal would send a strong message to deter people from entering australia illegally. and that will wrap up our bulletin from bangkok.

anaheim ti >> you can see the outer bounds reaching the pacific edge, bringing high waves along the coast here. its intensity hasn't changed a whole lot. maximum wind speeds of 120 kilometers an hour, and it's starting to veer towards the north, moving very slowly still. it looks like it's going to be aiming for western japan, due to make landfall by saturday morning and then move over to the sea of japan. very large storm system indeed. and already bringing some very high waves. waves could reach nine meters in western japan today, and already producing a lot of heavy rain in central portions of the country as well. over 200 millimeters reported in some of these areas. and again in the next 24 hours, we are expecting torrential downpours in parts of western and central japan. we are looking at upwards of 100

millimeters, even up to 400 millimeters that could fall in the next 24 hours. the flooding, and landslides are a big concern, especially in the midsections of the country. but also widespread thunderstorms as well. meanwhile, we are looking at that remnant low in southeastern china. this is moving towards this area. more rain to come here. up to 100 millimeters is possible, although that rain is starting to weaken gradually. in terms of temperatures, about 31 degrees in hong kong today. up to 40 degrees in chongqing. 32 degrees in shanghai. now over towards the americas, severe thunderstorms breaking out across the north, montana, north dakota, into manitoba, canada, lookinga the strong storms to break out tonight. it's also pulling in unseasonably cold air from the northwest as well, so we could potentially see first snowfall up in the mountains of montana tonight. but otherwise it does stay relatively quiet across much of the u.s.

a bit windy, though. places like wyoming, south dakota, down in the south of oklahoma, and then out towards the southwest. heating up to 39 degrees in oklahoma city today. 37 in houston. and very warm in chicago as well as 34 degrees. now let's take a look at europe. lingering showers over towards the north as the system continues to move very, very slow. nothing too severe is expected, though. we will find substantial rain falling down in the southwest. heavy, persistent rain for places like portugal, western spain, and lots of thunderstorms across the pyrenees into central and southern france. isolated thunderstorms will erupt across the alpine region. today we've got 22 degrees in kiev. 23 in moscow. 26 degrees in vienna with showers. all right. here is your extended forecast now.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thank you for joining us.