welcome to "newsline." it's 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. typhoon roke has torn through japan's main island honshu. the storm killed at least six people. seven others are missing. it also caused widespread damage. roke made landfall earlier wednesday in shizuoka prefecture. it then churned northeast through honshu, bringing heavy

rain and strong winds. officials say landslides hit many areas. the water level of rivers in central japan has been rising significantly. authorities have ordered or advised about 150,000 people to evacuate their homes. this man shows just how strong the winds were when they blew through toyohashi city in i'vi prefecture. typhoon roke has slowed transportation across much of japan. airlines canceled more than 600 domestic flights at tokyo's haneda airport and the central chubu airport. many international flights have also been affected. the storm plowed through tokyo

earlier on wednesday evening. as much as 30 millimeters of rain fell in one hour. strong gusts of wind made getting around the capital tough. rail officials suspended many trains for several hours. tens of thousands of people were stranded. the wind knocked a 12-meter tree down near nhk's studio in the shibuya district. the trunk crashed onto the back of a taxi. typhoon roke also left many people in the dark. it knocked out power to about 170,000 households across japan. joining us now is saki ochi from the weather desk with the very latest on roke.

so saki, how much longer should storm going to be with us? >> right. well, it is racing northward right now, and it has been a potent storm system, really not losing a lot of its intensity, even after making landfall. so we've been hearing of these heavy rains and strong gusts. now they're starting to impact more northern areas of japan. gusts of up and over 160 kilometers already recorded here, as well as rainfall amounts well into the 200 to 300 millimeters. so it's been potent, and there's still more to come. there's still a lot of rain hanging on mainly across the northern portions in hokkaido as well but there's still just a lot of instability in the air. showers are going to be prevalent across the country today. so you do want to watch out for those additional showers. ground's already quite saturated. so flooding, landslides are going to remain a threat throughout today. now, typhoon roke is just about to pass right through the eastern end of hokkaido. through the course of today. then ending up over toward open waters as we head through the day by thursday, should be looking a lot calmer.

>> thanks very much, saki. typhoon roke caused problems across much of tokyo's transportation system. thousands of commuters who wanted to get around or get out of the city could only do one thing -- wait. the busy shibuya station came to a standstill. stranded passengers jammed the corridors. rail officials strung up ropes in front of ticket gates. some people made phone calls. others asked station workers for information. >> translator: almost all train services in tokyo have been suspended. i don't know what to do. >> translator: i left work earlier, but it was no use. >> some stranded commuters decided the wait just wasn't worth it. >> translator: i think it'll take me about an hour to get home on foot.

>> people formed long lines for taxis at the main train station in tokyo's business district, shimbashi. >> a taxi comes every 20 to 30 minutes. they're rarely here. workers at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant have taken precautions against the typhoon. strong winds and rain forced the suspension of work to cover one of the reactor buildings. wokkers also halted the effort to install steel plates in the water intake area of the troubled plant. the workers secured with ropes the piping and pumps used for injecting water into the reactors. tokyo electric power company says rainwater has flowed into the basement of a reactor turbine building. the firm also found leaks in a central control room. but it says no serious damage has been discovered. more heavy rain is expected in the area through noon thursday. but tepco says radioactive waste water is unlikely to overthrow

from the reactor turbine buildings. world leaders have begun addressing the united nations general assembly in new york. among the issues up for discussion are nuclear safety and peace in the middle east. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon opened the session wednesday by referring to the nuclear accident at the fukushima daiichi plant. >> nuclear accidents do not respect national borders. we need global action. we need strong international safety standards to prevent future disasters. >> u.s. president barack obama expressed his objections to palestinian's statehood bid for full u.n. membership. he said the country's independence will only be achieved through dialogue with israel and that there can be no

shortcut. the debates at the assembly will continue until next tuesday. top nuclear envoys from north and south korea have met for the first time in two months to discuss resuming the stalled six-party talks on the north's nuclear program. south korean delegate wi san nak and north korea's vice foreign minister ri yong ho met for three hours in beijing on wednesday. ri said the north must halt its uranium enrichment program and accept inspections by the international atomic energy agency as conditions for restarting the six-party stalks. ro said the program is for peaceful power generation and called for an unconditional resumption of talks. >> translator: today's dialogue was constructive and beneficial. based on the results, i will continue to make efforts to restart six-party talks without conditions as quickly as

possible. >> translator: holding this kind of dialogue will create an atmosphere that could lead to restarting the talks. in that sense i think it was useful. i'll continue my efforts. >> the two envoys are expected to separately meet. china's special envoy, wu dawei, who chairs the six-party talks-o to explain the results of wednesday's meeting. japan has announced an additional aid package worth $10 million for flood-stricken pakistan. the announcement comes after the united nations on sunday called for $350 million from the international community. japan's ambassador to pakistan, hiroshi oe, informed the head of pakistan's national disaster management authority, za farr qadir, about the assistance on wednesday. earlier this month the japanese government provided $450,000 workout of supplies in emergency aid. pakistan has been hit by heavy monsoon rains this year that

have killed 360 people and displaced more than 8 million people. the worsening hygiene situation and the possible spread of infectious diseases is raising concern among health workers. the u.s. federal reserve plans to sell $400 billion in short-term securities to buy longer-term ones as part of efforts to stimulate the faltering economy. the decision on the purchase, dubbed "operation twist," was made at the two-day federal open market committee that ended on wednesday. a fed statement released after the meeting said that the economic growth remains slow and that there are significant down side risks to the outlook, including strains in global financial markets. committee decided to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities. the committee said it will buy $400 billion of treasury

securities in the 6 to 30-year maturity range and sell an equal amount for treasuries with a maturity of 3 years or less. the fed says the aim is to put downward pressure on long-term interest rates. the committee added that it will reinvest profits from matured real estate-backed securities in the market to continue its supply of funds. for a closer look at those moves by the federal reserve, we spoke to michelle mayer, senior u.s. economist at bank of america/merrill lynch global research. >> an active operation twist through the middle of next year is significant. the timing i think is particularly important because it shows that the fed believes the economy will continue to warrant accommodation through the middle of next year. so they're preparing for a pretty weak trajectory of growth. i also think that types of purchases that they decide to do is significant. it's a much longer duration than we would have thought. so they're really trying to

flatten out the curve. even with today's fed action i still think the economy warrants additional support from the fiscal front. however, i think it's very unlikely we'll see significant action given the debate that's happening in washington about what appropriate policy would be. in terms of the economic recovery, i'm still quite worried about the pace of recovery. i think there's downside versus growth. our current view is that there's a 40% chance the economy will fall back into recession over the next 12 months. i still think that's probably a reasonable assumption, despite today's action from the fed. new york stocks plunged on wednesday after the federal reserve said there's significant down side risk to the economy. the dow jones industrial average ended the day at 11,124. that's down 283 points, or almost 2.5%. sell orders were placed on a wide range of issues, mainly

bank shares. this happened after the fed released a statement expressing concern about a significant economic down side risk following a federal open market committee meeting. market sources say investors were expecting the plan but they doubted that it would have much of an impact. the international monetary fund says europe's sovereign debt crisis has cost financial institutions there about 200 billion euros. the estimate was made in the imf's annual report wednesday ahead of the opening of its joint annual meeting with the world bank in washington. the report says the deepening fiscal crisis in greece and other european countries and the falling values of government bonds are to blame for the growing losses. it warrants that financial institutions in some countries are struggling to raise funds from the market. the imf says it's vital that europe's financial institutions boost equity ratios and improve their balance sheets.

it also warns that risks in emerging markets have increased. it says that a sudden stop in capital flows could combine with a rise in funding costs and a fall in global growth to strain capitalization in emerging market banks. japan's trade balance in august fell into the red for the first time in three months. the finance ministry on wednesday reported the trade deficit stood at 775 billion yen, or $10.2 billion, marking a record high for the month of august. exports rose 2.8% from a year ago in yen terms. that's about $70.4 billion. this marks the first increase since february, which was followed by the march earthquake and tsunami. the improvement is due to recovery of supply chains, especially in the auto industry, which pushed up exports. imports were also up 19.2% from a year ago to about $80.6 billion.

the increase is largely due to record imports of natural gas used for thermal power generation. this is to compensate for an electricity shortage, resulting from halting operations at nuclear power plants. the head of a japanese trading firm group has called on companies to improve their competitive standing despite a record-high yen to spur the country's economy. chairman of the japan foreign trade council, shoe utsuda, said the current levels against the dollar are hitting japanese businesses hard. but he said the country's economy is not week due to corporate efforts to counter the stronger yen. >> translator: it's not good for the yen to go out further, but a strong currency is not necessarily bad. it's vital for japan to be able to withstand the strong yen.

"newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." next we go to our bureau in bangkok. the latest on what's making headlines in the region. former afghan president rabbani was killed in a sue site attack in the capital kabul on tuesday. rabbani had been leading efforts to negotiate with the taliban under the government of president hamid karzai. it's believed his death will worsen the already fragile security situation in afghanistan. nhk world's hideki ui has more.

>> reporter: the ministry of the interior says a man visited rabbani at his home in central kabul tuesday. the man said he wanted to talk to the former president about peace negotiations with the taliban. during the meeting, the man exploded a bomb he was hiding, killing rabbani instantly. >> translator: the attacker had explosives in his turban. he put his head on rabbani's chest and detonated the explosives. >> reporter: rabbani served as president from 1992 to 1996 when taliban islamic extremists took control of kabul. more recently, rabbani headed the high peace council set up by president karzai to negotiate with the taliban. karzai was in the united states to attend a meeting of the united nations general assembly. he cut short his trip and headed

home after issuing a statement denouncing terrorism. >> a terrible loss. but as you rightly say, this will not deter us from continuing the fight that we have, and we will definitely succeed. >> reporter: karzai has been urging the taliban to join the government, believing the issues afghanistan faces cannot be resolved by military operations alone. the death of rabbani is certain to affect reconciliation efforts and could deal a severe blow to the government of afghanistan. hideki yui, nhk world, islamabad. and in thailand about 95% of the population is buddhist. but down in the south near the border with malaysia, nearly 80% of the people are muslim. around the world, religious extremists have gained influence in recent years, and thailand is no exception.

the south is regularly hit by bombings and deadly violence. an nhk crew visited the region of this forgotten war. in the second of our two-day special we look at efforts to stem the cycle of violence. >> reporter: the economy of southern thailand has largely been left behind as other places like bangkok steam ahead. monthly income per household is about $500. one-third the amount in the capital. the thai government is working to shore up the region's economy and improve social welfare. but the worsening security situation means many areas deep in the mountains have no choice but to rely on the military,

even for public services. >> translator: such assistance does help us a lot. >> translator: i hope that peace will be restored soon. >> reporter: some residents are taking action by themselves. to try to bring an end to the violence. saying they can no longer depend only on the government. this is a buddhist who lost her father seven years ago and grandfather four years ago. >> translator: when my father was killed, i was in such deep despair that i couldn't even cry. but i told myself that i had to move on. >> reporter: duangsuda now works for a local ngo that brings together muslims and buddhists.

she's a deejay at a radio station run by the ngo. she shares her experiences with listeners to offer encouragement to people who have suffered like her. a muslim woman is invited to be interviewed. the aim is to call for mutual understanding between muslims and buddhists. >> translator: even in violent areas, exchanges between muslims and buddhists are still taking place. >> translator: since childhood, i've regarded a buddhist as very close friends. >> translator: by sharing my experience of having lost loved ones, i hope to give people hope. whether they are buddhists or muslims, suffering like i did.

>> translator: eradicating violence not only requires action from the government. we too must stand up. >> reporter: people from all sorts of religions have coexisted in southeast asia for centuries. but once trust between them is lost, it cannot easily be rectified. a long-term effort is needed. not only by the government, but also by the general public to restore a sense of peace. khemmapat rog juanive kuhn in southern thailand. >> and that's going to wrap up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. now let's take a look at the latest in sumo with ross mihara.

it was also stormy in the sumo ring on day 11 of the september tournament. so let's look at the matches involving the leaders. kotoshogiku is having his finest two weeks as he aims for ozeki promotion. but tochiozan is a worthy opponent. kotoshogiku with just a 6-5 edge in this rivalry. he comes out sharper, doesn't give kotoshogiku a chance to go belly to belly because he knows it would favor the sekiwaki. instead he launches an oshiwashi pushout. outstanding for kotoshogiku a critical second defeat. he has to win three of his final four bouts to earn promotion. even more impressive than his nine straight wins, gagamadu has greatly improved his lower body stability. now he's facing an ozeki for the first time. baruto has an 8-2 current record but is in the role of spoiler.

the ozeki moves back the heaviest of the heavy, but gagamaru isn't rolling over. the 19 199 kyl gram rallies. he scores the biggest win of his career. hakuho has a perfect 18-0 record against kakuryu. but kakuryu has always given him a tough fight. these two mongolians are only five months apart in age. and kakuryu comes up with a huge hit at the initial charge that rocks the yokozuna back. he goes to finish the job but he's too upright, which gives hakuho an opening for his escape act. he gets a hold of hakuho's upper body and delivers a beltless arm throw. he stays undefeated but just barely. so here are the standings after 11 days of action.

yokozuna hakuho gets a scare but still all alone in first place. gagamaru finds himself in sole possession of second place. kotoshogiku and rank and file kitataiki still mathematically in it. then hakuho will meet dangerous kisenosato. join us again on "newsline" for the highlights. and welcome back to your weather update. now, for east asia of course there's still quite a bit of activity holding on to japan with showers and that heavy rain impacting the hokkaido area in the north. it is going to remain unsettled throughout the day, but we should be seeing some sunny spells as well. now, next door in the korean peninsula and throughout much of china too looking at pretty

settled and calm conditions again. that looks like it's going to hang on throughout the day. just anyone land areas here still some lingering showers you that do want to watch out for. down for the southeast asia for the philippines as well as the indo-china peninsula got a couple lows in place. that's really enhancing that southwest monsoon. it's going to be another unsettled day for you. 33 your high in manila today. 27 expected in taipei. 24 degrees for seoul. and tokyo heats up to 30 degrees. over toward the americas and looking at a system moving eastward of the great lakes region, not moving a whole lot right now but it is gradually bringing in that rain more toward the eastern sections of canada as well as the united states. looks like it's going to be looking -- we're going to have much more widespread showers in the area. although that activity is starting to die down. so it shouldn't be anything too heavy. southeastern corner of the united states remains unsettled with the chances of thundershowers. also rain starts to develop in the central plains, or the lower

plains as well. that's looking ahead in toward the midwest. now, up toward the pacific northwest, still some lingering showers in place. here's a look at highs. 22 degrees in seattle and 26 for denver. chicago slightly cooler coming in at just 16 degrees on thursday. and finally, a look at europe here. we've got this well developed low up north of the british isles. that's been bringing gusty conditions to the northern end of the uk. and now it's going to be bringing windy weather in toward southern norway as well. for the scandinavian peninsula rain moves northward and into areas of finland as well as sweden and norway but still some lingering showers will continue to impact the rest of the norway as well. continental europe stays largely dry. again, the showers in the balkan peninsula will be heading out today instead moving in toward turkey. so here thundershowers are going to be a high possibility. thursday's highs looking like this. a lot of teens up toward the north here, while we're looking at mid to lower 20s for the central tier and then in the

south still pretty warm. 27 in athens. and rome gets up to 28. all right, now. up next is your three-day outlook. ♪ ♪ ♪

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. hello. i'm to moeko kimura with nhk world tv. this week we'll feature a behind-the-scenes look at a record-breaking construction proje project. the tokyo sky tree, nearing completion as the tallest freestanding broadcasting tower on earth, tops out at 634 meters. we'll find out how the team of technicians overcame some tough challenges to achieve this impressive feat.

next, we'll check out a science project that will shoot for the stars. tmt is a next generation supersized optical telescope. equipped with the world's largest mirror. it might be able to see the very first galaxies in the universe. we'll look at the cutting-edge japanese technologies that are making this project possible. kampai, a guide to great drinks, introduces traditional japanese drinks to foreign visitors. this week, edition 3. japanese wine is increasingly gaining a reputation for its taste and high quality. our reporter visits wineries in yamanashi prefecture and enjoys the marriage of local wine and japanese traditional