-- 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. weather officials warn that more heavy rain could fall on wide areas of the kii peninsula. the region has been hit by record downpours since last week. the meteorological agency says unstable atmospheric conditions caused by hot humid air from the south could bring heavy intermittent downpours on peninsula and surrounding areas.

the agency says 30 to 40 millimeters of hourly rainfall is expected from late thursday night through dawn on friday. the agency says the accumulated rainfall until friday noon is expected to reach 120 millimeters in wakayama. officials are advising residents to be on alert for possible landslides. the land ministry has started continuous monitoring of a river in western japan that has been dammed up by last mud slides from the tropical storm talas. in nara and wakayama prefectures areas are blocked by landslides. a buoy was dropped from a helicopter into a section of a blocked off river in nara on thursday. it sends data to a monitoring facility via satellite to keep track of water levels around the clock. the river in gojo city is one of four sections dammed up by

landslides that are at risk of bursting and causing massive floods. the new policy chief of japan's govern democratic party has called for a review of japan's ban on weapons exports. the party's policy research committee chairperson seiji maehara said this at a lecture on the japan/u.s. alliance in washington on wednesday. he said japan's defense industry could fall behind the current wave of technological innovation because it cannot take part in joint weapons development projects with other countries. maehara also stressed the need to relax criteria for weapons use by japanese self-defense force personnel and u.n. is peacekeeping operations abroad. >> it is necessary to enable sdf to defend other countries operating with the sdf. it's imminent.

>> he said enabling the sdf to protect other units will help make up for the limitations of the u.s. troops and balance the bilateral alliance. following the defense ministry's remarks there was stressed a more cautious stance toward easing weapons use. >> translator: essentially the japanese government holds a coordinated view on criteria for weapons use by self-defense forces on tko operations so i have yet to relax conditions at this stage. >> houch itwever ichikawa told - missions abroad can use arms to defend for the military troops and civilians under attack.

japan's new prime minister yoshihiko noda has visited the crippled fukushima daiichi power plant for the first time since taking office. noda arrived on thursday morning at a nearby sports facility that serves as the government's local disaster headquarters. noda met self-defense forces personnel working there. he told them he is proud of their efforts to cool the reactors and decontaminate the areas and it's appreciated by the public. noda also visited the fukushima die eeee nuclear power plant and inspected the damage to buildings at the power plant. officials briefed him on the crippled reactors and efforts to bring the crisis under control. tokyo electric power company says it'll begin stress tests on two reactors at its nuclear plant. the reactors are currently out of service due to regular checkups. tepco says it'll conduct the first stage of the safety assessments on the number one

and seven reactors of the plant starting on friday. in july the government introduced an additional safety assessment as a response to the fukushima daiichi crisis. the stress test uses computer simulations to assess how well nuclear power plants can withstand earthquakes, tsunami, and the loss of exterm power. the first stage is required for restarting reactors that were halted for regular safety checks. but the governor of nigata prefecture, which hosts the plant, has expressed caution. the governor has said conducting stress tests will not lead to the resumption of such reactors and has said his prefecture will not make a decision on the matter until the results of the investigation into the fukushima accident are published. a tepco official said the company wants to confirm the safety of the plants through the stress tests and explain the results to local communities.

this sunday marks the six-month anniversary of devastating earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis. all this week we are bringing you feature reports and analysis of the current situation. tonight "nuclear watch" looks at how the japanese government and tokyo electric power company have been dealing with the accident, which is ranked at the highest level of severity. first, we'll review what happened at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. >> reporter: on march 11th, a magnitude 9 earthquake struck a wide area a of eastern japan. shortly after, a huge tsunami hit the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. external power was completely lost, and the underground emergency generators were knocked out as well. >> translator: no radioactive leaks from nuclear power plants have been reported so far.

>> reporter: however, hydrogen explosions and fires occurred in three of the reactor buildings. the explosions and venting operations released radioactive substances into the environment. to cool down the reactors, the self-defense forces and fire departments began dumping water into the containment vessels. but the coolant water accumulated inside the reactor buildings. more than 10,000 tons of radioactive water was discharged into the sea. tepco and the government were severely criticized, both at home and abroad. >> it's very regrettable, and i'm sorry that radioactive water has to be discharged into the sea intentionally. >> reporter: more than two months after the accident, the government revealed that the fuel rods in three reactors had

melted down and collected at the bottom of the reactors. >> translator: we should have taken the possibility of a meltdown more seriously. >> reporter: around this time tepco began using a water circulation cooling system. in july the utility and the government announced that the three reactors were being stably cooled down. tepco aims to achieve a cold shutdown of the reactors by january so their temperatures will continuously remain below 100 degrees celsius. >> nhk world commentator is with us in the studio and will guide you with a simultaneous interpretation. >> translator: it's been six months since the accident and tepco says the reactors are being cooled in a stable manner. what is the current situation at fukushima daiichi? >> there is no end in sight yet and tepco has added more

temporary water circulation cooling systems to decontaminate radioactive water and inject 380 tons of water per day into three reactors. but the temperature at the bottom of number 2 reactor was more than 110 degrees celsius this morning, which means it's boiling. so radioactive substances are still believed to be leaking even now, although, the total amount of the leaks has significantly been reduced since right after the accident. >> why can't the temperature of the reactor or the nuclear fuel be brought down? >> because tepco has to minimize water injection to prevent radioactive water from overflowing. besides they are injecting water without knowing exactly where melted fuel lies inside the reactors. they cannot directly confirm its

location due to strong radiation. sol tepco and nisa, nuclear and industrial safety agency used a simulation program developed in the united states to analyze the situation and have learned that meltdown occur and reactors were crippled within four days after the accident. >> translator: but the two sip lagss they had done in the past didn't tell us where exactly melted fuel lies inside the reactors. >> translator: that seems to suggest that a more detailed simulation is needed. >> that's right. that's why another simulation was done just recently using a computer program developed in japan, based on detailed information about the structure of the reactor and the shape of fuel rods researchers verified how fuel rods changed in the number one reactor. this simulation was run by a

team headed at the institute of applied energy. they ran a more detailed simulation than tepco and nisa calculating how four-meter-long rods have changed every 0.1 second since right after the cooling system failed. according to that simulation, shortly after 5:00 p.m. on march 11th, the core of the fuel rods began to melt and began to pile up at the bottom of the reactor. and a large amount of radioactive substance is contained inside the rods were released. 2 1/2 hours later melted fuel made a five-centimeter hole at the bottom of the pressure vessel and began to leak out to the con taintment vessel,

causing the situation called melt-through. fuel was completely melted within four hours after melting began. it's assumed 15% of it still remains inside of the reactor, but 85% has already leaked out to the containment vessel. it's the first time that we've got such a detailed data about how much fuel has melted and where it lies now. >> translator: analysis was significant in that it helps us better understand the status of the reactor. would you expect this to play a major role in trying to resolve the situation? >> translator: if they know where exactly melted fuel is and they can inject water more precisely and efficiently. tepco and nisa should not -- they should use not only their own simulation results, but also the results by other research institutions like this to analyze the situation from various angles and develop more effective strategies. >> gaining accurate information about the reactor is also

crucial for decommissioning work. in the three mile island accident in 1979 as well, radioactive substances were released from the melted fuel. at three mile island, only one reactor was crippled, but it took five years to grasp the situation inside the reactor and another five years to take out melted fuel. and fukushima, three reactors failed, so it will take more time. the government and tepco should utilize as much data as possible, including this one, to bring the situation under control. >> translator: thank you very much. >> that was nhk world's commentator. the accident at the fukushima daiichi has prompted the japanese government to start reducing this country's dependence on nuclear energy. but it's not going to be easy.

we'll look at the challenges on friday in our weekly segment, "the road ahead -- wind, solar, and other forms of green energy developed in japan." we'll examine efforts to turn renewable resources into a reliable power supply. 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 program continues all week. then sunday, september 11th, we'll mark the anniversaries, 2:30 p.m. japan time for the disaster, 9:40 p.m. for thing 9/11 attacks. the women's soccer team has secured a spot on the 2012 olympic games. they have won the chance to

compete next summer in london. the team faced north korea for its fourth of five qualifying matches. japan was put on the board in the second half. it rick shaded into the goal, but north korea's kim jong lah nailed it to tie up the match. australia won by 1-0. japan's women's team faces china on sunday, but after playing four games, it has at least carried the second highest position in this tournament with a total of t10 points. the london games will be their fourth olympic appearance. time to check on some of the stories we gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin tonight with this item sent by cctv china. the chinese government has

outlined a detailed plan to sharply reduce energy consumption by 2015. the blueprint that was released on the government's website on wednesday. to meet the goal, the government will rein in excessive growth of high energy consuming and polluting industries and approve problems in high energy and polluting sectors and those with overcapacity. indian prime minister has stressed the need to promote cooperation among bangladesh, india and nepal. . he made the meeting in a meeting with the president on thursday. the president welcomed the indian leader saying that his visit to bangladesh will boost bilateral relations.

thai authorities seized a major haul of drugs in a northern province on wednesday. the drugs are worth about $100 million and were being smuggled into thailand. police chased a pickup truck for two hours when it refused to stop at a check point. the suspected smugglers fled after abandoning the vehicle. police have recovered about 2.4 million tablets of meth amphetamine, 95 kilograms of ice crystal methamphetamine, and 3.4 kilograms of heroin. south korea's real estate market has been sluggish with slowing sales of condominium, but there's a bright spot. demand is growing for reasonably priced homes in the suburbs. tonight we'll focus on the growing market of single-family houses. nhk world's christine sang has more. >> reporter: a young city with a fast-growing population. the key attraction is its proximity to the nation's capital. only a 40-minute drive away from seoul.

amongst the familiar condominiums, there is another reason people are considering the commute. duplexes with their own backyard. this unit belongs to this family. after finding out about a duplex ops, they decided to have one oomz built together, allowing them to split construction costs. >> translator: it was practically impossible for me to buy a house on my own so i asked my friend if he was interested in buying a place together, sharing the garden. that's how we ended up with a duplex. >> reporter: the three-story house has a total floor space of nearly 160 square meters. sit's cost of about 360 million yen or $340,000 is roughly equal

to a 100-square-meter condominium this family had rented in seoul. the developer was able to keep prices down by using standardized materials and shortening the construction period to only one month. >> translator: the children love the attic, the stairs, everything. it fills my heart with joy to see them happy. >> reporter: duplexes are new to south koreans. they only began appearing on the market this year. yet demand for this type of housing is already taking off. projects to build single-family town homes, including duplex houses are in the pipeline for six satellite cities around seoul. this model unit gets the steady stream of prospective buyers. >> translator: the duplex prices are very reasonable, especially when you consider the structure and quality of those houses. i'm thinking of signing up. >> translator: most of our

visitors are couples in their 30s and 40s who are looking to buy for the first time. we get about 30 families stopping by every day and over 300 on weekends. we'll continue to focus on this segment of the market. >> reporter: the urge to flee city apartments is also generating interest in environmentally-friendly houses. this architect and philosopher's home is located in a city that's a three-hour drive away from seoul. the house he built uses natural materials such as clay and wood. he is a leading instructor of eco-friendly houses. he spent years devising the method and perfecting the technique. he has taught more than 1,000 students so far. now 300 people who have learned the skill from koo live in their own clay houses. >> most people who came to learn were generally retirees who want

to live in the countryside. but now many are young people in their 20s and 30s. >> reporter: demand for single-family homes has revived another building technique. traditional korean houses are holl hollow. this school offers a one-year intensive course for making the houses. the program stresses practical skills and graduates become qualified to build traditional houses. >> translator: i am hoping to build my own home in five years or so. >> translator: i think that demand for traditional korean homes will grow in the future, while condominium sales will slow down. taking the course could help to get a job in the future. >> reporter: high-rise apartments will continue to dominate city skylines, but standalone homes are break ing

new ground in the real estate market and opening the door to new lifestyles for south korean families. christine song, nhk world. here are the latest market figures.

hi, and welcome back. we have lots happened here, so let's get on with it. this is tropical storm -- this is kulap, which is heading toward the southwestern islands of japan. it is going to be affecting areas with high winds up to 4 meters and then toward the islands it will be affecting. ichb directly, though, it will already be affecting from late tonight honor shoe area of mainland japan. the accumulation of rainfall in tokai and kin kay region will be developing. this is where we've already hat flooding situation from the previous storm that brought torrential rain. the landslide is going to be, again, at very high risk for the next 24 hours. much of other -- elsewhere in japan looking pretty dry and very hot.

hokkaido will be looking at very unstable conditions and also here in eastern china as well as northern china. all the cooler air from the north and moisture will be pulling in, so the clash is going to be bringing those unstable weathers also in the philippines and indo-china peninsula and india. as well, the southwest monsoon is picking up. thailand still has high risk of further flooding and flash floods. here in north america, a few things are happening here. let's get on with it. with tropical storm maria, this is speeding its pace up and just going over the tropical atlantic in the next 48 hours. looks like it will become a hurricane as it approaches the leeward islands by friday night. in toward the weekend it will be approaching puerto rico and the virgin islands. we'll definitely keep a very close eye on this. as well as this tropical storm nate that just developed over the bay of campeche. this has a tropical warning

along the southwest coast of mexico. this is almost stationary. it will probably innocence fie into a hurricane by saturday night. may even make landfall with staggering amounts of accumulation of rainfall is going to be about up to 200 millimeters in some areas. this is, again, very slow-moving system or erratic movement, so the accumulation may build up even more. hurricane katia is going to be bringing millimeters of rain. large swells and rip currents are what we're talking about in bermuda as well as swells reaching up to the eastern coast of the united states as it makes its path parallel to the eastern coast of the united states. this is katia hurricane. it will maintain its strength. we'll keep an eye on this system as well. what it's doing is indirectly pulling a all this moisture in this area.

this is new england and the northeast where we already had a flooding situation and tornadoes touching down. and this -- finally the heavy rain will be moving away toward the east into your friday, but, still fire weather will continue in texas. here in europe, we've got a large low pressure system that will be bringing unstable conditions toward central, eastern, and the scandinavian peninsula, but it will be moving toward western russia by friday. south looking very clear and dry, but british isles looks like it's going to give you a break on thursday but another round in the atlantic system will give very windy and hot conditions. madrid at 31, paris at 24 degrees, and athens at 34. here's our extended forecast.

here's our 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.