hello there. glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's tuesday, september 6th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the number of victims of tropical storm talas in japan is increasing. as of tuesday morning, 33 people have died and 54 others are missing. mainly in the western part of the country. wakayama prefecture suffered the worst losses as a downpour claimed the lives of 21 people with a further 32 still missing.

in nachi-katsura had a man found dead in a submerged car and another in a house. 19 are missing. in nara prefecture, many are missing. a woman was killed in a mudslide in the city of gojo. the storm destroyed at least 80 houses and flooded more than 16,000 across seven prefectures. talas was downgraded to a low pressure system on monday and is now moving northward over the sea of japan. the weather authority warns that the low pressure system together with the tropical storm in the pacific ocean could bring torrential rain to northern japan including hokkaido. earlier we spoke by phone with brad towle. a canadian working in wakayama. he was stranded in a hotel in a mountainous area of the city for three days over the weekend.

>> the major roads had lots of landslides. so they were blocked by the debris. so the main roads were off limits. so we took some of the forestry roads. and the forestry roads, they had lots of rocks and rubble coming off the mountain. and some, half of the road was washed away in some places. so it was a little nerve-racking trying to get through the forestry roads to get out. incredible amount of rain. just kept raining and raining and raining. i think -- it wasn't the rains that were bad for this typhoon. service just very slow moving. and dumped so much rain for such a long period of time that all of the mountains and earth was just saturated to a level that it couldn't take it. and started landslides. nobody seen that much in modern history. it's beyond anybody's expectations. quite a big mess. in other news, nato

secretary rasmussen says the operation in libya will end soon. >> when we assess that the threat is over for good, we will conclude operation unified protecter. i cannot give a precise date, but i believe it will come soon. >> rasmussen said in the campaign to protect civilians is almost successful. even though supporters of gadhafi continue to resist in some parts of libya. the nato operation was launched at a security council resolution in march. he emphasized that the nato-led coalition does not aim to detain or kill gadhafi. the organization will decide when the mission is concluded after considering all the factors in libya. he said it needs to see if gadhafi loyalists stop their attacks and whether the traditional council can maintain

security. china has confirmed that state-owned firms offered to sell arms to the libyan government in the final weeks of colonel muammar gadhafi's rule but no sales took place. reported on sunday that three chinese couples tried to sell $200 million worth of weapons that gadhafi government officials. they say the information was uncovered in documents found in the capital tripoli. the memo says rocket launchers and portable surface to air missiles were included in the sales offer. it also said the companies apparently suggested that delivery be made through third countries in africa. there was a sales meeting in beijing in mid-july when the gadhafi government was on the verge of collapse. the meeting was held after the u.n. adopted a resolution in february. the resolution including an arms embargo on libya. chinese foreign ministry

spokesperson has admitted that chinese companies contacted officials. but the chinese government was unaware of the offer and that a deal was not concluded. >> translator: the chinese companies did not sign arms trade contracts. nor did they export military items to libya. now to our special series "japan: six months on." we'll bring you feature rorpts and analysis this week leading up to the six-month anniversary of this country's devastating earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis. the quake hit march 11th. moments later the tsunami barrelled inland. the monster waves swamped towns and cities. nearly 16,000 people died and about 4,300 are still missing. "japan: six months on" will bring you stories from the

prefectures. we start thing off in miyako city where we see how japan is rebuilding part of its vital economy, the fisheries industry. for more let's go to our studio in sendai, a city in miyagi prefecture that was effected by the disaster. >> reporter: the march disaster destroyed more than 260 ports in the prefectures. repairing the damage could cost about $1 billion. the three prefectures account for most of the fisheries. the fishery industry has been the engine of the northeast economy. yoshihiko tells us how some locals are trying to restart the engine with help from people in tokyo. >> reporter: it's a sign autumn's on the way in this tokyo neighborhood.

tens of thousands of people gathered to taste a seasonal treat. grilled the sari. the maker of sari festival has offered free fish for the last 16 years. this sari was hauled from shore. getting them to tokyo took a lot of work and determination. the city of miyako's economy is heavily dependent on the fishing industry. but the earthquake and tsunami destroyed many of the facilities. needed to sustain its fishery. every year, miyako provided sari for the festival free of charge. in may the organizers visited the devastated city to offer a token of their appreciations. they gave donations to the mayor

and told him not to worry about supplying sari for this year's festival. but the mayor promised he'd deliver. >> translator: everyone supported us. i want to show our determination to rebuild by providing them with sari. it's part of our recovery process. >> reporter: six months on, the damage caused by the tsunami is still evident. the city estimates repairing the port and related facilities will cost about $400 million. fishermen are hauling in this year's long-awaited sari catch. over the next few months, they'll have tons of the fish. pulling to the port of miyako

with 18 tons of sa ari. people welcomed the catch. >> translator: right after the tsunami, i couldn't imagine this day would ever come. we've worked hard hoping that we could get even one fish. >> reporter: the younger generation is doing its part to help with the reconstruction effort. students from the miyako fishery high school made canned sari to sell at the festival in tokyo. >> translator: miyako is slowly recovering and people are in better spirits. i want to help my hometown as much as i can. >> reporter: the students brought sari to the festival.

they sold out within an hour and a half. >> translator: i once again realized how much people care about us. and are trying to support us. so we have to hang in there. >> reporter: the grilled sari fish was just as popular as the canned offering. >> translator: i love sari. >> translator: i eat sari every year. but this year i'll eat extra to help the city rebuild. >> reporter: two communities connected by one simple fish. this annual festival in tokyo gave people in the city of miyako hope as they try to recover and rebuild following the march 11th disaster. nhk world. >> reporter: the start of the

season helped. but the fishery supply chain isn't fully restored yet. seafood processing factories used to line miyako's port. preventing this seafood company from bringing first catch in for processing. >> translator: the slow progress and the repair work is frustrating. our core business involves freezing the fish we buy. but we're irritated because we're unable to do the job even if we have fish. >> reporter: building up the ground that had -- but many of miyagi prefectures are hampering the recovery work.

the limits in place -- have time to map out a plan for the areas destroyed. but people in fisheries industry are calling for the restrictions to be lifted. people there are facing difficulties in rebuilding their factories. local government hinder efforts to swiftly rebuild infrastructure for the supply chain. but they also believe the limits are necessary to create safer and disaster-resistant communities. it's obvious that the public in the prefectures will have to work closely together and find common ground to put the recovery process on a steady front and push the reconstruction forward. >> that was our studio in sendai. our series "japan: six months on" will continue on tuesday. we'll show how good will is helping people in ishinomaki get

back on their feet. a volunteer group is rebuilding some of the homes the tsunami destroyed. we tag along to find out how much of an impact their efforts are having. now, japan's prime minister yoshihiko noda's cabinet got down to business on monday three days after its inauguration. in the morning noda met bureaucrats from agencies at his office there to brief him on issues including the plans for the prime minister's meeting with u.s. president barack obama later this month. in the afternoon, noda and his ministers attended a cabinet meeting about the appointment of parliamentary secretaries and the advisors to the prime minister. chief cabinet secretary fujimura. >> translator: i hope to act as

noda's right-hand man. i want to carry forward this country's politics and support the prime minister. >> noda plans to visit fukushima and other prefectures hit by the march 11th earthquake and tsunami where he'll pledge to make every effort to put them back on their feet. the government aims to enter a supplement budget to the diet as early as mid-october to finance reconstruction and take measures against the yen's appreciation. japan's new defense minister ishikawa says he'll do all he can to get the support of the people of okinawa on the relocation of a u.s. military base in the prefecture. a self-defense forces honor guard saluted ishikawa when he arrived at the defense ministry in tokyo on monday. it's his first visit since assuming the post on friday.

>> translator: i will work for an early reorganization of u.s. forces in japan to strengthen the japan/u.s. alliance. i will do my best to get the support of people in okinawa for the relocation of the u.s. marine corps air station. and to reduce the burden on the communities hosting u.s. facilities. >> a japan/u.s. joint statement was signed in may last year. it calls for the relocation of the air station to the henoko district in okinawa. meanwhile, said he would like to meet with okinawians candidly. he said he also told fujimura that he wants to work closely with other cabinet members to produce results.

changing gears now, there was a seminar in seoul to re-evaluate a japanese forest ranger for his contribution to reforestation and cultural preservation on the korean peninsula during japan's colonial rule. monday's seminar was sponsored by the seoul international friendship society. it was to mark the 120th anniversary of the birth of tak takui asakawa. and he opposed the discrimination against the korean people. a south korean forestry institute official said that asahikawa went for a campaign in the country that continued into the 1970s.

>> translator: i viewed korean/japanese relations with reservations. but i'm moved to find out about asahikawa. someone like him can help ease tension. next we go to our bureau in bangkok. here's the latest on what's making headlines in the region. minister on sunday called on afghanistan's president to help freedom for 30 people including dozens of children held captive by the pakistani taliban. abducted on thursday. they were on an outing in afghanistan's border province of kunar. the pakistani taliban has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. they said it captured them because their parents and tribal

elders are helping the government and fighting against the group. pakistani officials have said the captives are under 16 years old. the taliban claim they have released the youngsters and are holding only young men. pakistani interior minister malik told reporters he had asked afghan president hamid karsai to help free the boys. the captives come from an area of pakistan opposed to al qaeda and the taliban. people there have raised militias to fight the groups, angry militants who have retaliated with violence. turning now to malaysia. the body of a journalist shot dead while covering the food crisis in somalia has been flown home amidst sorrow over his untimely death. the body of cameraman arrived in

kol a rk kolaapor. he was killed on friday while covering a malaysian aid humanitarian mission in eastern africa. prime minister joined members of the victim's family for prayers at a mosque broadcast live on national television. >> this incident will not deter us from continuing our contribution for the sake of humanity. instead it will inspire us to continue our work. but of course, we will try to take all necessary precautions. >> somalia is suffering from drought and food shortages and famine has been declared in parts of the country. agencies say they need assistance feeding at least 3.7 million people or about half the

country's population. next, a scientific break through could potentially save thousands of lives from one of the deadliest diseases in tropical areas such as southeast asia. scientists in australia have found a way to reduce the transmission of dengai fever. by mosquitos. have succeeded in containing the disease according to two papers published at the end of august. the pair injected bacteria known on walbachia into mosquitos who carry the virus. as far as they know, the bacteria makes the insects resistant to it. they also become unable to pass the virus to their offspring making them all dengai free. >> acts as a vaccine for the

mosquito. if we can stop the mosquito from getting it, we can stop it from being transmitted. >> dengai effects more than 15 million people every year and causes some 20,000 deaths across 100 countries. to further the research, they're seeking approval to release the bacteria inform infected mosquitos in countries where dengai is indemmic. and that wraps up our bulletin. i'm dara dhirakaosal in bangkok. and now let's take a look at the market figures.

hi there. welcome to your weather update. for east asia we're talking about a lot of tropical activity impacting japan. more towards the north area today. we have a tropical storm system noru that is out in the pacific right now. stel well away from any landfall. but it looks like it will head northward and veers towards hokkaido. the eastern end of hokkaido could be looking at stormy weather as this system approaches. it is on a weakening trend, however. we could still be talking about b more rain coming in. it has already that moisture impacting parts of hokkaido already. looks like today, too, it's going to be another wet day with heavier showers possible towards

the western end of hokkaido. so overall more rain and that will up the risk of flooding as well as landslides. you want to watch out for that. also looks like southeastern russia will continue to see rainfall with the remnants of our other tropical storm system here. meanwhile, china looking at still that lull in inland areas. this will continue to look pretty wet today. another rainy day with pockets of heavy rain possible here. for the philippines and then on across the indochina peninsula, plenty of activity here as well. showers will be widespread as well as the occasional thunderstorms. tuesday's highs will come up to 32 degrees in tokyo. 29 in seoul. beijing coming in also at 29 degrees. over towards north america and it remains wet still for the eastern united states as well as canada. still a lot of activity here.

long frontal boundary. and we have the remnant low from tropical storm lee. it is still bringing in plenty of rainfall. that heavy rain is going to be heading more towards the north. anywhere from georgia up to virginia will be at risk for heaviest falls over the course of today. also more towards the coastline here for parts of the coast. you want to watch out for tornadic activity. also along the eastern seaboard, cooler. 20 in new york. 22 for both d.c. as well as atlanta. and finally a look at europe here. lots of clouds coming in from the atlantic now. things looking stormy across the british isles. winds strong and there's plenty of rain with this system here. all of that rain is going to be heading eastward over the next day. spreading into the scandinavian peninsula. and ahead of that too looking at showers tonight for a lot of the

peninsula. that pushes northward. also rain into eastern europe as well. still the peninsula will be looking at plenty of sunshine through tuesday. highs up to 30 in madrid. 24 in vienna. 22 degrees for berlin. all right. that's a look at your weather conditions for now. here is your three-day outlook.

our lead story this hour, nato secretary general rasmussen says the military alliance's operation in libya will end soon. >> when we assess that the threat is over for good, we will conclude operation unified protecter. i cannot give a precise date. but i believe it will come soon. >> rasmussen said the campaign to protect civilians is almost successful even though supporters of colonel muammar gadhafi continue to resist in some parts of libya. the operation was launched after a u.n. security council resolution in march. he emphasized that the nato-led

coalition does not aim to detain or kill gadhafi. they will decide when the mission is concluded after considering all the factors in libya. he said it needs to see if gadhafi loyalists stop their attacks and whether the national transitional council that will take power can maintain security. the march 11th disaster. the september 11th attacks. two anniversaries, one source for in-depth coverage. join nhk world for "japan: six months on" and "9/11: defining a decade." our programming continues all week. then on sunday, september 11th 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. do stay with us for that. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.