-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com it's 10:00 p.m. in tokyo. welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima with the news at this hour. japan's self-defense forces are struggling to rescue people stranded by tropical storm talas. the slow-moving system battered the western part of the country over the weekend. 47 people died, and 56 others are missing. the scale of destruction is worse than the powerful typhoon in 2004, which killed nearly 100 people. the storm dumped record amounts of rain over much of western japan.

wakayama prefecture suffered the worst damage. at least 34 people died there. as of tuesday evening, at least 2,400 people were stranded in wakayama, nada, and mie prefectures. thousands of households in that area are still without power. the storm destroyed nearly 100 houses in all. more than 17,000 homes in at least 19 prefectures were flooded. evacuation advisories remain in effect for about 17,000 households across japan. mud slides caused a lot of death and destruction following the storm. the dirt and debris blocked roads and isolated some villages, leaving them without water and medicine. the storm stranded people in the individual in the prefecture. authorities made an emergency satellite phone available on monday so residents could contact friends and family.

>> translator: i want to call my daughter to tell her i'm okay. >> the damage is extensive. mud slides swept away many houses. police cleared the rubble as they searched for the missing. the surface of this dam is covered with wood, dirt, and debris. the storm also destroyed this hydro- hydr hydro-electric plant. in all over 20 communities are stranded. japan's self defense force is supplies relief supplies. a 2k3wi78 in one of the individuals is being used as the temporary shelter. it was also flooded. >> translator: the roads have been blocked. there's no electricity, tap water, or even any food.

>> translator: this is the worst flooding i have seen in 20 years. japan's new prime minister noda is going to western japan on friday to survey the damage. he'll also be checking in on the disaster areas in northeastern japan this week. noda will travel to fukushima prefecture on thursday to get an up close look at the reconstruction effort following the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. the prime minister also plans to visit iwate and me a guy prefectures on saturday. an nhk survey shows more than half of the people who fled fukushima prefecture after the march 11th disaster think it will be hard for them to return home. nhk surveyed 187 people living in shelters or temporary housing both inside and outside the prefecture. compared to their feelings right after the disaster, 43% said they believe more strongly that they won't be able to go home, while 26% say they feel a stronger desire to go back.

and 11% said that they are resolved not to go back to their homes. asked why they feel they won't be able to return, many cited what they saw on their temporary visits back home. roundout houses, deserted towns, and high radioactivity levels. asked what they want from the government, 43% said thorough decontamination of the soil, and 19% said they want the government to purchase their property. many respondents apparently want the government to restore their land to its predisaster state or otherwise support them so they can move elsewhere. japan's nuclear crisis minister says technology must be developed quickly to deal with the radioactive waste and contaminated soil from the fukushima nuclear accident. goshi hosono told reporters on tuesday that it will be important to reduce the volume of nuclear waste before putting it into storage. he also said that the waste,

such as eradiated soil from schoolyards will need to be temporarily stored before it can be decontaminated. >> translator: it's not realistic to storing the irradiated soil in residential areas for long periods. a storage facility will have to be built in the medium term. snoom they're looking for new ways to preserve their worth. nhk world has more. >> problems plaguing the global market have affected the movement of money in china. this is gold, which is said to be a relatively save haven. this gold shop in beijing is crowded with customers every day. >> translator: gold is still just about affordable. >> translator: stock prices are going down.

i think gold is the safest option. >> reporter: the price of gold is surging. the government is worried that the prices of other commodities could also go up. government bonds are also viewed as another safe haven. on august 10th, the chinese government issued about $4.7 billion worth of bonds. three- or five-year bonds sold out immediately. the biggest headache for the chinese government at the moment is the declining value of its massive holdings of dollar-dominated assets. china is the biggest foreign owner of u.s. treasury bonds. the weak dollar is rapidly eroding the value of these assets, and china is frustrated with the u.s. government for failing to come up with effective measures to tackle its huge national debt and other economic problems. the issue was a key topic when u.s. vice president joe biden visited china for talks with chinese leaders last month.

china's vice president jinpin urged the u.s. to take measures to stabilize the financial markets. she said the world's two biggest economies have a responsibility to restore confidence in the markets. >> earlier gene otani spoke with yoshitaka hirauchi in beijing. >> yoshitaka, how do sow people in china see the prospects for their economy? >> yes. a lot of chinese people are worried because of the economic problems in the united states and europe are starting to have an impact here. i often hear people in beijing asking each other, what's going to happen. to find out about the impact on the chinese economy, i spoke with a chinese expert on international economic affairs. >> china's exchange rate faces very strong pressure of appreciating, and then our

exporting firms faces bigger pressure for exporting because of the appreciating exchange rate. export -- china's exporters are more than one-third of china's total gdp. and if exporting growth is weak, chinese economy will be seriously affected. >> the chinese government has helped the economy grow by keeping the currency weak to boost exports. at the same time, china has increased the strength of its economic growth. by china's exports to europe and the united states are starting to slow down. so its imports of raw materials will probably also decrease. >> china overcame the global financial crisis three years ago more quickly than other countries and became a driving force behind the global economy. can we expect china to do the same again? >> and that will be very difficult for china.

the depreciation of the u.s. dollar means china's foreign exchange reserves have lost some of their value. and on top of that, china has serious economic problems at home. realistic prices in the cost of living are soaring because of stimulus measures taken by the government. the cost of living is a particularly big problem. the government is worried it might lead to social instability. >> so how's the chinese government responding? >> china has raised its key interest rate five times since last autumn to try to control inflation. but if it keeps raising the interest rate, money could flood in from the united states because the u.s. has a near zero interest rate. and that could push up prices in china even more. so i think in the next few

months -- our monetary policy, our fiscal policy will be a more healthy way, not just to emphasize the policy, but it may be more kind of a balance between growth and inflation control. >> so it seems the global economic problems are starting to make it very hard for the chinese to run their economy. >> that was nhk world's in beijing. a bad day on the tokyo stock exchange. share prices tumbled below the 8600 level for the first time in more years. the marktd was generated as worries about a new credit crisis spread across europe. the nikkei average closed at 8590. that's down 193 points from monday. a new low for the year. sale orders hit many export-related issues. sources say the market is increasingly concerned about the lack of progress in fiscal

reforms in greece and italy. there are uncertainties about the future of the euro-zone economy. next we have news of u.s. republican hopefuls who are seeking their partieparties's n name. the five contenders including former massachusetts governor mitt romney and house of representatives member michele bachmann attended a debate in south carolina on monday. jobs were the biggest issue with the unemployment rate hovering at about 9%. romney said the obama administration has moved away from the intent of the constitution and is meddling in people's lives and economic activities. bachmann called for a long-term job creation measures instead of the current temporary ones. she also proposed cutting the corporate tax rate to 20% or lower.

the rate in the u.s. is among the highest in the world. meanwhile the latest u.s. public opinion poll shows that president obama's approval rating has sunk to new low. the poll conducted by abc news and "the washington post" shows that obama's approval rate is 43%. his disapproval rating hit a new high, 53%. by the way, obama's approval rating when he took office about 2 1/2 years ago stood at 68%. the proportion of the respondents who said they approve of obama's handling of the economy was 36%. a new low for the president. a record-high 62% say they disapprove of his economic measures. the results are attributed to uncertainty about u.s. economic recovery as unemployment in august remained at 9.1%. "the washington post" says approval ratings of former presidents ronald reagan and bill clinton at about the same time in their first term following serious midterm setbacks were above 50%.s

following serious midterm setbacks were above 50%. the u.n. food agency's warning of mass starvation in somalia unless measures are taken immediately. the u.n. food and agriculture organization says as many as 750,000 people could starve to death by the end of the year without emergency aid. tl fao says famine has now spread to the bay region. that brings to six the number of areas in southern somalia that are suffering from mass famine caused by drough the bay region is the largest growing area in the east african state producing some 80% of its total harvest. the fao says about 60% of children aged up to 5 are malnourished in the region. it warns that the situation could worsen. it expects somalia's cereal output to be the worst in 17 years and is urging the global community to send more emergency aid.

the european union's counterterrorism chief says the uprisings in the arab countries may provide an opportunity for terrorist groups. at a news conference on monday, gilles de kerchove said the surface-to-air missiles and other weapons looted may have been taken out of the country and said islamic extremists have fled from prisons during the turmoil. >> you cannot have a security vacuum. we need to conduct where i see an urgent need for the u.n. to help like we did for the eastern part of europe at the fall. >> however, he said, it is unlikely that al qaeda will be able to mount large systematic attacks like those of september 11th, 2001, but he said the most active international terrorist group is now yemen-based al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. he warned that this group is trying to cooperate with islamic extremists in nigeria and

somalia. tonight newsline brings you part two in the series "9/11 defining a decade." we talked about the al qaeda attacks against u.s. targets ten years ago. observers say that following osama bin laden's death, al qaeda will weaken. but a man who says he worked for osama bin laden has a different view. he told nhk that al qaeda is reorganizing and may launch more severe attacks than those on september 11th, 2001. >> reporter: this footage is believed to have been taken in afghanistan the year before the september 11th attacks. it shows osama bin laden speaking to al qaeda members. osama bin laden was killed by the u.s. military in may. >> the death of bin laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al qaeda.

>> reporter: i man al zawahri will be the organization's number two man, he took control of al qaeda after bin laden's death. expert in the west say the terrorist group will weaken. they say al zawahiri's grip on al qaeda is not as strong as bin laden's. but the man who claims to have worked with al qaeda doesn't see it that way. the man spoke to us in yemen. who is he? he says he worked as bin laden's bodyguard until the year before the 9/11 attacks. >> translator: al qaeda has been reko reorganizing since bin laden's death and will likely regain momentum. >> reporter: he said the name of a key person in the organization. he's a former officer in egypt's

military. the man is believed to be a part of al qaeda's leadership. saif al adel is on the list, of the most wanted terrorists. he is said to have trained the extremists from around the world in afghanistan. and they are now believed back in their native countries leading al qaeda's local branches. >> translator: safe -- saif al adel gave recruits military training. he's like a mentor for regional al qaeda leaders in countries like yemen, morocco and somalia. >> reporter: he said that al qaeda may commit even more acts of terrorism if its local organizations gets stronger and the leaders of the operations have military capabilities.

>> translator: arabs used to lead al qaeda, but now, the network has leaders around the world. the network must be planning even more serious attacks than the ones ten years ago. >> reporter: ten years since 9/11, al qaeda has lost its charismatic leader, but with new leaders it's still a potential threat worldwide. go sawatha, nhk world, sanaa. next in 9/11, defining a decade, a report about an artist making a sculpture out of steel from the twin tours' wreckage. time to check on news from brood casters around asia. we start with this from cam boa. cambodia withdrew another 5,000 troops from its border in thailand. this was the seventh such withdrawal when the international court asked the

neighbors to remove the armies from the border. the countries have been locked in a conflict over the control of an 11th century hindu temple on their border since july 2008. they faired up earlier this year rilting in casualties on both sides. the teds have eased since the new government took over in thailand. some 100 kicked off. the 60th expo being held in the capital of the province features over 2 rkds 500 exhibition booths from countries including mongolia, north korea, taiwan, and taiwan. they're offering their latest electronic, pharmaceutical, and food items for sale. the king of thailand on monday asked government officials to serve the people

and implement policies to ensure their well being. the king advised officials to implement what he calls a sufficient economy, which is based on the principles of self-reliance, moderation and honesty. the policy aims to shield the country from intirnl or financial crisis such as the one in 1997. the 83-year-old monarch has been recuperating since being admitted to a bangkok hospital. here are the latest market figures.

hi, there. i'm mai shoji. welcome back. let's take a look at your weather conditions. nora has down graded. even though it's downgraded it's going to be bringing moisture toward northern hokkaido and northern japan especially in hokkaido and up to about 18 millimeters of rainfall will be accumulated into wednesday morning. now, it is going to be affected much of southwest russia with this low pressure system. this is the remnant low of

talas. it will be bringing very strong winds as well. it's a very slow-moving system, so it will be moving northward, but bringing ample amounts of rain that will accumulate. so flood risks is going to be a high risks there as well. and central china is looking at very heavy rain to come, but i should say welcoming rain about to some parts in chongqing because droughts in some parts has been prevailing for a few weeks now, especially in chongqing. et heating up to 42 last week. as to's high was 39. finally it will drop the temperature to the 20s, mid-20s. 26 on wednesday and even chongqing with that rain coming in on thursday, it will become 25 degrees for the high. here in north america, hurricane katia, now, this is going to be affected bermuda and eastern bahamas. it will be affecting the southeastern coast of the united states as well with dangerous rip currents as well as swells.

these are going to be dangerous. so we really want to keep a very close eye on this system. i also do want to talk about texas where the drought condition prevails. we have some slides to show you. this is a roaring wildfire which has destroyed almost 500 homes in rainstorm central texas. about 500 homes were destroyed and 400 were moved to shelters. about 250 firefighters are still working around the clock. now, while drought-stricken texas still battles the wildfires, lee is only helps to bring strong winds and spreading if the fire. this is the remnant low sitting is over tennessee at the moment. eastern seaboards will be looking at severe gusts as well as hail generating from the storm and heavy rain to come for

you in west villanueva. we may see rain up to about 130 millimeters in the next 24. and also pennsylvania will be seeing buckets of rainfall due to this storm as well. so the cold front is going to be offshore in the next 24, but still affecting much of new england too. out toward the west-south end, the central part of the united states, despite the four corners where isolated thunderstorms may pop up in the daytime heating, looking pretty clear for you. and the touches are cooling down, especially new york, washington where that rain band is coming in. low 20s. denver at 26. still hot in the central area at 34 degrees. here in europe we've got a system that is coming just for the british isles. will continue for several days. those are going to be on-and-off showers, maybe heavy at times. scotland, especially, southern norway, and down along this front is where that severe weather may be seen.

isolated thunderstorms and unstable weather to continue as another round of systems will be pulling in to the similar areas. so not a lot of break for you down there. but enjoy the weather while you can in the iberian peninsula and to the south, this system will be descending to the south, so please do enjoy that temperature, madrid hot at 32. paris at 31, berlin, 19. kiev, 21 degrees. here's your extended forecast.

once again, the top story at this hour. japan's self-defense forces are struggling to rescue thousands of people stranded by tropical storm talas. the slow-moving system battered the western part of the country

over the weekend. 47 people died and 56 others are missing. this scale of destruction is worse than the powerful typhoon in 2004 which killed nearly 100 people. the large and slow-moving storm dumped record amounts of rain over much of western japan. wakayama prefecture suffered the worst dam. at least 33 people were killed in the prefecture alove. nearly 2,300 have sought shelter in a town where roads have been cut off by a swollen river. as of tuesday evening a least 4,500 people were stranded in wakayama, nada, and mie prefectures with 24,000 households still without power. the storm has completely destroyed at least 93 houses in eight prefectures, while more than 17,000 homes have been inundated in at least nine prefectures. evacuation advisories remain in effect for about 17,000 households across japan.

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.