japan's trade strategy at a crossroads. farmers are concerned about a trans-pacific partnership. they fear it could flood this country with cheap products and put them out of business. good evening. you're watching "newsline." my name is michio kijima in tokyo. the trans-pacific partnership or tpp could unite countries. there are the politicians, talk

of even taking part in talks on the tpp is creating debate within the ruling drthic party. the democrat's tpp party met for the first time. japan's business community is calling for an early decision to join the talks. the number of democrats remain opposed to taking part in the tpp discussions with other nations. among them are lawmakers with ties to the agricultural lobby. >> translator: we should gather information and consider this carefully. it's not something we can set a deadline on. >> translator: once we decide to join the tpp and unite our economies, we've got to move on. we can't say we are worried about agriculture or other fields of interest. >> the dpj leadership wants to reach a partywide decision by early november. that would be ahead of a meeting of the asia-pacific economic cooperation forum in hawaii.

bangkok is bracing itself with the threat of possible severe flooding in the city over the weekend. the authorities are racing against the clock to boost defenses and prevent the thai capital from being submerged. but citizens are prepared for the worst. our reporter has more. >> reporter: the thai capital is being squeezed by a double threat. floodwaters are closing in from the north, while the javia river is already swollen by a spring tide that arrived on thursday. along this river in bangkok as you can see, the water has already broken the bank. some residence have seen their homes flooded. >> translator: i've never seen the river rise so high. i'm astonished.

>> reporter: bangkok is criss-crossed by waterways, as suggested by its nickname, the venice of the east. but these channels also make it easier for floodwaters to penetrate the city. around three kilometers from the city's northern limits, local residents raced to fill sand bags to reinforce flood barriers and prevent water from entering the capital. in the central business district, transit officials have sealed off some entrances to the subway network. to the east, workers have strengthened the 23.5 kilometer-long earthen dike which surrounds the international airport. they also raised its height from

three to three and a half meters. but in some areas, the flood has already arrived. homes near the airport are under wat water. >> translator: if the floods get worse than this i don't know what i'm going to do. i guess i'll have to evacuate. >> reporter: the bank of thailand has estimated the cost to the economy from the ongoing crisis at no less than $3.3 billion. residents of bangkok are waiting nervously to see what will happen to their city this weekend, amid thailand's worst floods in 50 years. nhk world, bangkok. japan's foreign minister says asia's oceans must remain

free. koichiro gemba wants to discuss maritime conflicts at next month's east asia summit. the chinese military's growing reach and influence is a concern for a number of nations. nhk world's takuma yoshioka reports. >> reporter: koichiro gemba met indonesian foreign minister, marty natalegawa on friday in jakarta. it was the last leg of his trip to three southeast asian countries. gemba said they wants an upcoming summit in bali to address freedom of navigation. and anti-piracy measures in the region's waters. marty said the indonesian government understands japan's position, and wants to continue consultations. gemba argued it's not just regional but a global one. >> translator: the ocean is public property. and a matter of interest to the

association of southeast asian nations and the international community. we should draw up the rules for the region through open talks. >> reporter: gemba says it's necessary to keep the asia-pacific region stable. japan and other nations are concerned about china's maritime activities. gemba says the japanese government will increase cooperation with countries in the region on maritime security and other issues. the east asia summit and asean-related summit meetings are scheduled for november. tack m&a yoshioka, yach world, jakarta. the european debt crisis will dominate the meeting of a

gathering of 20 finance ministers and central bankers that will start on friday in paris. the u.s. will be discussing plans to reinforce european financial stabilization facility or essf. designed to provide assistance to any euro member facing financial trouble and they plan to reconsider recapitalization of banks in the region, including the use of public funds to insure their stability. japan is sending a finance minister, jun azumi and central bank governor, shirakawa. >> translator: japan also has a bitter experience of failing to dispose of nonperforming loans in time. i want to talk about the need for establishing a major framework to shore up financial institutions. that will include the european financial stabilization facility. the meeting will last for two days. the outcome of the discussions will be announced in a communique'. experts from the international atomic energy agency have advised the japanese

government on how to effectively remove radioactive material created by the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. on friday, the team of radiation experts submitted a 12-point report to japan's environment minister, hoseno. the iaea teams recommends decontaminating areas where high levels of radiation have been detected. since their arrival a week ago, the 12 experts have inspected e decontamination efforts carried out by the central and local governments. >> translator: as a whole, japan's decontkon tacontaminati are progressing in the right direction. >> he added the ongoing clean-up operations will incorporate recommendations from the iaea report. many parents in japan have been urging schools to teach their children basic facts on radiation following the nuclear

accident at the fukushima daiichi. the education ministry is now responding with a series of booklets for students. the ministry released a 20-page booklet on friday. they come in three versions targeting students in elementary, junior high and high school. the books focus mainly on radiation. its health effects and ways to protect oneself from radiation exposure. the fukushima accident is referred to in the preface, but the text does not mention the cause or other details of the accident. the elementary school edition explains the unit sievert, says the average radiation exposure from japan's natural environment is 1.5 millisieverts a year. the junior high version explains the difference between internal and external exposure and uses charts to show how radiation affects human health. the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant has prompted a global shift. some countries are trying to reduce their dependence on

atomic energy. japan is one of them. germany is another. however, it is a different story in the united states, one of the world's largest producers of nuclear energy. the u.s. is not changing its power source, it's just changing its approach. nhk world's weeda franco explains. >> reporter: the research is being carried out in the state of oregon. a venture company that resulted from a university research project is developing small nuclear power plants. this one of the test plants. it's only seven meters high. the actual plant would be three times the size and generate 45,000 kilowatts of energy. that's about one-tenth of what a conventional plant produces. the company predicts that a smaller plant would lower costs. also, they could replace aging power plants that use coal and other fossil fuels.

the company stresses that a smaller plant can be built more easily underground for safety. >> we've got to recognize that nuclear power, if it's safe, can make a significant contribution to the climate change question. >> reporter: this development comes from policies of the obama administration to promote nuclear power plants. even after the nuclear disaster at fukushima, the u.s. government kept providing funding for research and development of nuclear projects. but before the plant can go through, approval from the government is necessary. so the company's ceo went to congress to argue the benefits of the project. >> this program proposed -- >> the program serves the national interest, by bringing to market a nuclear option, a

noncarbon source of base-load energy and strengthens the domestic manufacturing base creating jobs and exports. >> reporter: but some congress members are skeptical. >> the fukushima crisis also demonstrated the potential danger, the proposed small modular reactor designs do not appear to make any improvements in this method of spent fuel storage. >> reporter: there's also a growing anti-nuclear sentiment among the u.s. public. >> it is not possible to make an inherently safe nuclear reactor. the technology is inherently dangerous. most of the public doesn't want to live next door to a nuclear power plant. >> reporter: the company wants to continue discussions and convince more americans that their plant is worth while. they hope to start building the first plant as soon as possible. after that, they hope to sell

plants to developing countries. but issues related to building nuclear power plants often fuel vigorous debates. reaching compromise will not be easy. the company will need to make a strong case to win the trust of the public. widad franco, nhk world. the younger generation is also playing its part to spar people affected by the march 11th disaster. nhk world's hiroki kawana has the report. >> reporter: the tokyo korean school located in central tokyo has about 500 middle and high school students. 18-year-old kim is a member of the school's choir, he came to japan last year. the massive earthquake and tsunami occurred just as he was getting used to his new life in

japan. kim began volunteering activities in ishinomaki city, iwate prefecture. >> translator: i was shocked to see the devastation, it was much worse than i had expected. people need much more care and support for the long-term. >> reporter: on his return, he encouraged his school to get involved in helping the devastated northeast. the tokyo korean school decided to invite students from sendai to its cultural festival. kim and his friends write a message on the huge korean fan saying that they wanted their performance to bring happiness to survivors of the disaster. in late september, kim and three other members went to sendai.

>> translator: i'm a little bit nervous. my japanese isn't so good, so i don't know if i can communicate my feelings. >> reporter: the choir teamed up with a choir from a junior high school. >> translator: i am honored to have this great chance to sing with you all. kim gave the choir the fan they have made. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the two choirs selected a song by japanese folk singer. the song is famous in japan as a message of encouragement for loved ones.

♪ >> translator: i was so moved, the students from the korean school showed that they cared about us. and they encouraged us. >> translator: i hope we'll be friends from now on. >> translator: i was able to sing with them, with all my heart. i would like to keep contributing, like visiting places devastated by the disaster. >> reporter: the students from both choirs said they shared an

enjoyable experience and are determined to stay friends. hiroki kawada, nhk world, tokyo. time to check on stories from broadcasters we've gathered around asia. thailand's commerce ministry says the ongoing flooding in the country could destroy more than six million tons of rice or about one-fourth of the total estimated production this year. the worst flooding in 50 years has inundated rice farms in 26 of the 77 provinces in the country. harvesting was due to start this month. meanwhile, the prime minister has warned businesses not to take advantage of the disaster and push up prices of the staple food.

the cambodian government has decided to cancel the annual water festival due to ongoing floods. the prime minister announced the decision after a cabinet meeting on thursday. he added that funds used to build traditional race boats for the festival would instead be reallocated to help flood victims. devastated floods have so far claimed about 250 lives and swept away nearly 600 homes. flash floods have also damaged roads, schools and buddhist pagodas. the water festival was set to take place between november 9 and 11. a military jet crashed at an air show. in northern shaanxi province. the aircraft was a two-seater fighting bomber. the leopard was launched in 1988. a large crowd had gathered to watch the air show in the prevention capital of shaanxi, there are no reports of

casualties among spectators, but only one pilot was seen ejecting safely. now let's take a look at some unique autumn foliage. about 30,000 kokia bushes were planted in a sea side park. the branches of this bush have been used to make brooms. >> translator: kokia is beautiful. >> this color scene can be viewed until the end of next week. here are the latest market figures.

now here's more news from around the world. in our group kidnapped two spanish aid workers on thursday from a refugee camp in kenya. the two women worked for a medical group near the border with somalia. >> translator: we energically condemn the attack. msf is in contact with authorities and doing everything it can to insure the quick

return of our colleagues. >> kenyan police suspect an islamic group based in somalia for staging the attack. their motives are unknown. a bus plunged into a deep valley in nepal on thursday, leaving at least 41 people dead and 15 injured. the accident occurred in a very narrow portion of a mountain road. police say the bus was overloaded with 60 passengers instead of the maximum 40 and the driver may have lost control. many of the victims were returning to work after celebrating the hindu festival. firefighters held annual drills in the tokyo bay area on friday to prepare for a major earthquakes. the exercises were based on the scenario thatting a magnitude 7 tremor hit the japanese capital. emergency workers simulated extinguishing burning oil spills in tokyo bay caused by cargo ship accident.

rachel ferguson is up next with weather. >> hi there, time for the weather. we'll head into eastern asia. more heavy downpours, unfortunately across indochina as we can see, plenty of cloud here and below it is going to be a lot of wet weather. very unfortunate. there's a critical flood situation here in across thailand as well as parts of cambodia as well. so unfortunately, not any relief coming this weekend. and those terms. we also have tropical storm banyan here. it's a tropical depression at the moment, but it looks like in the next 12 do 24 hours it is going to become a tropical storm once again. this is the same system that crossed the philippines earlier this week. so it's going to get a little more energized as we head on into the weekend, bringing more downpours across not only the northern philippines and also into taiwan. taiwan is also being affected by this front which is getting ready to leave eastern china. move up towards japan.

it is going to be a very wet and stormy weekend for many of us across japan and in terms of the accumulation of the rainfall, this is what we're looking at in the next 24 hours. anywhere you're seeing in the red here down towards the south and particularly along the pacific edge, 250 millimeters in the next 24 hours. and maybe even about 150 here in eastern tokyo. these are going to be, we can add to the totals in the next 48 hours as the heavy rain makes its way up towards the north. not only that, but after the rain pulls away, there's going to be a separate system moving across into hokkaido, so sunday into monday it's going to be wet towards the north as well. though it probably won't be quite as severe. 25 degrees in tokyo with showers tomorrow. 17 in seoul, 20 in beijing. cool anywhere ulan bator, just eight for the high. shanghai looking at 23. a little bit cooler in taipei, still hot at 27 and 31 in manila as well as as in bangkok. in central america and southern

mexico were definitely worth a mention here, very heavy downpours are continuing, likely to result in some floods. perhaps landslides, mudslides as well. very high risk here as the heavy rain continues in towards the weekend. towards the north, though, it does look very dry here across much of now southeastern parts of the u.s. much of canada and the u.s. as you can see out towards the west looking very dry and settled. strong high pressure. but out towards the northeast is a completely different story. eastern canada is going to be seeing some very heavy rain. maybe even up to about 100 millimeters in the next 24 hours. strong gusts as well. maybe about 95 kilometers per hour gusts. and the heavy rain also pushing into in new england. so possibly seeing some flooding problems here, it's going to be a little bit cooler as well. 17 in toronto on friday. comes down to about 13 on saturday. already very cool in winnipeg at seven degrees for the high. 13 in seattle and vancouver, different story down here in the

southwest. los angeles, 31 degrees, it should be back down to about average on your saturday. so coming back to the mid 20s for your high. as we head into europe, we have this big massive cloud coming down across the british isles, i think the wet weather is going to start probably by your friday night you can start to see the showers coming in. the rest of western europe, central europe, northern europe, too, looking not too bad. at the moment you can see the showers coming into western norway for the time being. high pressure is in control. we will see the storms continuing to the southeast. heavy rain coming into you in greece and precipitation out to the east. probably falling for you as snow in ukraine as well as belarus, we're looking for single-digit highs, moscow, four for a high in the middle of october. 17 in london, a lot better than you had through most of the summer months, and a little cooler but still well above average in iberia. here's your extended forecast.

giant patchwork quilts carrying messages from canadian kids to young survivors of the march 11th disaster are on display at the canadian embassy in tokyo. two giant quilts combining about 850 pieces of white cloth carry

messages and drawings by canadian children aged between three and 17. some painted the national flags of both countries. others attached their photos or wrote messages in japanese, saying never give up. also on display are thank you letters from the japanese kids. the quilts were the ideas of a filmmaker and third-generation japanese-canadian. >> i think the general message from both sides, from canada and japan from the young people is that they care about each other. and they want to see everyone have you know, recover. the children are expressing care for each other. >> the quilts have also been shown at evacuation centers and temporary housing communities in disaster-hit areas in northeastern 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.