there is an air of celebration in the kingdom of happiness. marked the first royal wedding in 23 years. in the kingdom of happiness. bhutan has marked its first royal wedding in 23 years. >> i'm very happy. the whole nation is happy. welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima. it is a rare moment for the spotlight of the tiny country. let's go to the bangkok bureau where pachari raksawong has more details on that story and more. >> that's right.

bhutan is celebrating the wedding of its young monarch, a symbolic fresh start for the newly-democratic nation. the 31-year-old king married a 21-year-old commoner. the celebrations were held in the country's ancient capital in the presence of the royal family and prominent buddhist figures. the ceremony was broadcast live on national television and will be followed by several days of festivities. >> translator: we think of our king as a god. we see it as a very good development. he's been good for his people in the past and it bodes well for our future, too. >> everything is changing. our king is going to start a new life getting married.

i think it is good. >> reporter: the country adopted enjoyed absolute rule until 2008, when the country adopted a monarchy and the election of a parliament. the nation with a population of just 700,000 is also known for coining the term, gross national happiness. a concept that emphasizes people's level of contentment over mere economic growth. that policy faces difficulties linked to widespread unemployment among younger citizens. for now the royal wedding has taken the people -- given the people one more reason to be happy and hopeful for the future. southeast asia remains under threat of even more flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains. the united nations says around 4 million people have been affected so far.

across the indochina peninsula. this map published by a united nations agency shows in red the areas affected by floods since mid august. they cover parts of thailand and cambodia and vietnam and laos. thailand is worse off with 280 killed and 2.3 million affected. residents of bangkok are on alert for possible flooding in the city. in neighboring cambodia, more than 200 people have been killed by 200 people have been killed by floods and landslides where the rivers overflowed. the disaster has been called the worst in cambodia in over a decade with 1 million people affected and half the district in the capital already flooded. in the mekong delta in southern vietnam, floods are worsening with at least 34 deaths. many of them children. damage to local crops and

infrastructure is estimated at about $45 million u.s. dollars. in laos, at least 30 people have died, and 400,000 have been affected. the rains are expected to continue for several more weeks. raising expectations that the crisis may still worsen. in sri lanka enjoyed two decades of civil war, as well as the 2004 tsunami, that killed more than 30,000 people on the island. two years after the conflict ended, some areas are on the way to a full recovery, thanks to tourism and marine sports. nhk wold's namini veejay dasa has more. the beach is known to sufferers around the world. last month, an international surfing competition was held here. nearly 100 surfers from 19

countries took part. >> there are so many things to see. wildlife. good surf. yeah, it's very good, there could be a lot of potential here. >> reporter: this man is a hotel operator in araganbi. he opened the hotel 12 years ago. but his business suffered as tourists stayed away because of the civil war. sri lanka saw intensifying ethnic conflicts in the 1980s. fighting continued for more than 20 years between the government dominated by the ethnic majority and tamil militants based in another part of the country. the country was also struck by a massive tsunami after the 2004 earthquake. this picture was taken right after the tsunami.

the hotel was destroyed. in sri lanka alone more than 30,000 people were killed. this concrete pillar is all that's left in the hotel. >> my building already gone. everything. i can't forget it. i see it, in my eyes. >> reporter: encouraged by friends, he rebuilt the hotel but guests were slow to return. the change came at the end of the civil war in 2009. >> sri lanka. >> reporter: the sri lankan government is trying to attract international tourists by

highlighting the country's beauty and its heritage sites. in december, 2010, a sea plane service started in aragambi. getting here from the nation's capital colombo, used to take at least eight hours by car. but now it is only a one-hour flight. security has up proved in the two years since the end of the conflict and the number of tourists is on the rise. about 650,000 people visited sri lanka in 2010. 1.5 times more than in the previous year. visitors have started coming back to the hotel as well. on this day, this family was staying there.

>> if families will come to this part of the area, i hope on future my tourism will be up. >> reporter: the war is over. stability has been restored. sri lankans are optimistic tourism can be key in the country 'reconstruction. nhk world, aragambi. >> i looks like an amazing place. that's going to wrap up our bulletin. i'm pachari raksawong in bangkok. >> thanks, pachari. japan is planning to offer yen loans to malaysia to help with its infrastructure projects. the japanese foreign minister, koichiro gemba, revealed the plan in malaysia. gemba met malaysian foreign minister in kuala lumpur on thursday on the second leg of his tour of three southeast asian countries. gemba said yen loans will be provided on a case-by-case basis to help finance projects.

such as those for sewage treatment and water in which japanese companies are participating. anefa said he will welcome japanese firms, japan does not offer loans to countries have already reached a certain level of development and gemba's proposal represents an exception. >> translator: mr. nipon says malaysia welcomes japanese firms sent to its infrastructure projects. i think our relationship is gaining momentum. nhk's world tataku yoshioka has filed this report from malaysia. >> reporter: foreign minister gemba says he wants to reinforce cooperation with southeastern asian countries. he's also said he is eager to engage with fast-growing economies in this region. he has designated the malaysian market as japan's top destination for infrastructure exports.

in today's talks, gemba emphasized the need for cooperation between japan's public and private sectors in order to promote such exports. the question now is how will japan fare as it competes against rivals such as china and south korea? japan's economic diplomacy is in the balance. yoshioka for nhk world. tokyo's setagaya ward has confirmed that unusually high levels of radioactivity detected from a local sidewalk came from bottles stored in an uninhabited residence nearby. it said the radiation there is not likely to have originated from the nuclear accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. a week ago, setagaya officials detected a high radiation of 2.707 microsieverts per hour at

a sidewalk near a residential fence. fresh radiation checks recorded a reading of 3.35 microsieverts an hour. the ward gained the permission from the adjacent residents to measure radiation levels inside in a storage space beneath the floor, they found a wooden box containing old bottles measuring up to eight centimeters high and with a diameter of up to six centimeters. the radiation level of the bottles reportedly exceeded 30 microsieverts per hour. higher than could be measured with the available equipment. the ward said it asked the science ministry to investigate. and will take steps to eliminate ration while consulting with the national government. in the 1970s, a young girl lipped in the capital of

afghanistan. she grew up as an urban kid, wearing western fashions. she also admired traditional textiles and crafts that had been passed down through many generations. but decades of armed conflict have taken away the country she loved. >> recently we marked the ten-year anniversary of the war on terror in afghanistan. the ongoing conflict not only endangers human lives, it's bringing some traditions close to extinction. but an afghan designer based in new york is doing her part to keep her culture alive and to help rebuild her home country. >> reporter: zolahi commutes between new york and her home town, kabul, designing clothes for her fashion company. >> this is a traditional fabric

that i changed color and pattern. and the buttons are all coins. >> she named her brand, zarif design. that in farsi means fine or precious. she uses silk fabrics hand-made by afghan women. these traditional crafts are all but died out in afghanistan. but shazad's creations are breathing new life into them. >> the concept behind what i do is to take this material and i have been reviving the traditional textile by changing colors. >> reporter: shazad was born and raised in kabul. she said that the city in 1970s was freer and people had a much greater choice in what to wear. the soviets invaded afghanistan when shazad was ten. she and her family left the

country. they took refuge in europe and new york, where shazad studied design. in 2002, the year after the taliban regime was toppled, shazad set foot on afghan soil for the first time in 24 years. but things were nothing like what she remembered. >> it was unbelievable to see those buildings, the streets, everything was on a state of you know, destruction. but then to see the people, their eyes, those kids, they're eager to learn. and i was moved. i was touched. you know. i feel like i saw, i saw the strength of the people despite suffering. >> as she walked through the rubble of her home town, she noticed fabrics with vivid colors and traditional textiles delicately made. she thought that using these traditional materials could help

the country return to what it used to be. in 2004, shazad founded her company. she aimed to revive afghanistan's traditional techniques, almost lost in the conflict. at her shop, women once suppressed by the taliban, are responsible for the main work. from weaving to dyeing fabrics to sewing. they know how to do each task. but they also continue training to master higher skills. >> they think it's very important to have the support for both men and women to provide the work which means economic means. and the what i like about my team in kabul, they work together, men and women, you know, usually men and woman doesn't work together. >> ever since she launched her

brand seven years ago, shazad has traveled around the world. especially to paris, milan and other european cities to promote her products. and to help rebuild her ruined country. >> now slowly i see local people taking back the traditional material and redoing a jacket for themself. for me, that was my purpose, to revive the traditional skills, the traditional crafts. by bringing something new. afghanistan has a culture that is beyond just war. if you're able to bring fashion, that means there is a culture there that is much more rooted. sherzad also founded a nonprofit organization called school of hope. it provides rural afghan

children with an education. china's exports and imports slowed down last month, apparently affected by worries over the european debt situation. europe is china's largest trade partner. the chinese government announced the trade data on thursday. >> translator: china's traed deficits are getting worse, due to higher domestic costs. >> if says that exports in september stood at about $170 billion, it rose just over 17% from a year earlier. but the pace of growth fell more than seven percentage points from august. imports stood in about $155 billion, making increase of almost 21%, compared to a year earlier. this compares to a growth rate of just over 30% in august. as a result, the country's trade surplus was about $14.5 billion,

and declined for a second month in a row. the united states may become more critical about china, claiming china undervalues its currency to promote exports. an australian court has imposed a temporary sales ban on the latest tablet computer made by samsung electronics. apple has sued the south korean maker in a patent infringement lawsuit. the court has upheld apple's claim that the latest model of samsung's tablet violates its patent on touch panel technology used in apple's ipad. thursday's injunction prevents samsung from selling the mod until australia until a court hands down the final ruling. this is expected in several months. so samsung's newest tablet will likely not be on store shelves in time for christmas. in a statement, samsung expressed its disappointment with the ruling. but said it will continue to fight in court. last month, apple won in sales

ban on the samsung's tablet in the same patent dispute in germany. time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters in asia. we begin with this item sent by mcot, thailand. the king of thailand has expressed concern for his people's suffering from the devastating floods. prime minister yingluck shinawatra called on the king in bangkok on wednesday to brief him on the situation. the monarch has many years of experience in water management and offers suggestions to the prime minister on water control. more than 280 people have died in the floods that have inundated central parts of thailand for two months and the flooding has caused economic losses worth billions of dollars. meanwhile, china has donated flood relief supplies to thailand, worth about $1.6 million. a chartered cargo plane carrying 45 tons of aid landed at

bangkok's main airport on wednesday. the provisions include speedboats and rubber dinghies, as well as water-purifying equipment. china's ambassador to thailand said his country would also provide $1 million in cash to help the victims. bangladesh's buddhists celebrated a major festival on tuesday. it marks the end of a three-month period of spiritual training involving meditation, fasting and prayers. >> i'm praying, i'm blessing for all the human beings in the world. peace and happiness. >> thousands of devotee from the southeastern district of chittagong gathered a in a temple to greet the monks, they treated the monks to a feast. they said about 50 monks participated in the three-month spiritual training.

here are the latest market figures. now here's more news from around the world. the european commission, the eu's executive body announced on wednesday that serbia has satisfied the economic and political conditions for recognition as a candidate for membership. hunting down fugitives wanted for crimes committed during the wars with bosnia in 1990s had been one of the eu's main demands. in may of this year, serbia captured former bosnian serb

military commander and handed him over to the military tribunal in the hague. canada begegypt began regis candidates. the newly-elected legislators will write a new constitution for the country. the islamist muslim brotherhood, which was outlawed under the mubarak government has been allow dodd join the election. the british prime minister, david cameron, aims to change his country's rules on royal succession to give girls the same right to the throne as boys. he told the house council that the matter will be discussed at meeting later this month if australia. the changes require the approval of 15 other nations. rachel ferguson is up next with weather.

hi there, yes, time again to look at the weather. let's go into eastern asia to see what's going to be happening as we go into the end of the work week. it's going to be continue to be very wet. down towards the south here. the philippines seeing the tropical depression, that was a tropical storm, banyan, if you remember, now the remnants are continuing to move away from luzon. but we're still going do see some heavy rain here across particularly the northern and central parts of the philippines. now over the weekend, it looks like the system is actually going to redevelop into a tropical storm again. so we haven't quite seen the last of it. continuing downpours across indochina as well. most of china looking quite dry here. we've got this front line moving across from eastern china up into japan and the korean peninsula. this is going to get a little bit heavy. some areas of western japan, could see maybe as much as 100, 150 millimeters of rain, it will be quite gusty as well.

the potential for hail, here, too and then quite stormy and it will be quite wet all the way up towards the north as we head into friday, saturday. and actually even sunday is going to see some heavier rain across hokkaido as this system from northeastern china makes its way across the sea. in terms of temperatures, eight degrees in ulan bator, so very, very cold. the lows are down around freezing once again. 18 degrees in beijing. 17 in seoul, tokyo, 25 on friday and we're seeing just in at 30 in taipei. i should say we're going to be seeing some wet weather continuing across taipei for the next few days as well. all right. as we head into north america, very big and strong high pressure system is over the west. and that is going to keep things very calm and still. but also very, very hot. especially for california. i'll show you the temperatures in just a second. let's see what's happening to the east as we go. we've got this massive low pressure system and fronts and that is going to be pushing some very wet weather across new england.

you could even see some flash flooding occurring here. to give you a better idea of exactly what's going on, this is the way the jet stream is moving at the moment. this is going to be wet here across much of the east of t. starting to clear up for the gulf states, as well as florida. and we have this high pressure and just heat moving all the way along the pacific coast. that is going to translate to 37 degrees for you in los angeles on your thursday. these temperatures are going to start to come down a little bit as we head into the weekend. meanwhile, the pacific northwest, very dramatically different here. 14 degrees in seattle as well as in vancouver. and just ten up towards the north in winnipeg. as we head now into europe, things are looking fairly calm and settled here. there is a very big storm looming, you can see how threatening it looks leer. lots of winds and wet weather to come. but for the time being, we're getting a bit of a break across the british isles and the scandinavian peninsula as well as much of western and central

europe. it will be stormy in the southeast. italy seeing some nasty storms moving in and it's going to be chilly out towards the east. have a look at these temperatures, we're really into the single digits for the highs now. just six in moscow, nine in stockholm, nine in warsaw and seven in kiev. over towards the west, looking better for you, 17 in paris, as well as in london. 28 in madrid, still 33 in lis n lisbon, finally the temperatures start to come down. i think we'll be seeing the mid 20s by sunday. here, now, is your 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.