this is "newsline," i'm michio kijima in coke yoe, we're starting off with a developing story out of libya tonight. media in the country are reporting that moammar gadhafi is dead. the national transitional council will only say the mtc's fighters have captured the former libyan leader. none of this has independently confirmed. "reuters" news agency says gadhafi died of wounds suffered during the gun battle. fighters had him cornered on thursday near his hometown of sirte. they've been hunting gadhafi for two months. video footage from libya shows fighters celebrating in sirte they've been trying to get control of the city for weeks. the righters news agency says gadhafi was found hiding in a hole in the ground.

"reuters" says gadhafi was wounded in both legs. local media say his body has been sent to misrata. ntc leaders are expected to give a news conference shortly. gadhafi is in his 60s, he ruled libya for 42 years and has been on the run for a couple of months. ntc forces took control of libyan capital on august 23rd. gadhafi and his troops kept fighting back. prime minister of poland, donald tusk, currently the eu's leader said the news of gadhafi's death is not confirmed. japan's nuclear safety watchdog has proposed people living within 30 kilometers of a nuclear power plant take steps to be fully prepared in the event of a nuclear accident. currently such precautions are advised for people living within a 10-kilometer radius. a working group at the nuclear safety commission drew up the draft plan in response to the march accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant.

the plant calls for designating areas within the radius of approximately 30 kilometers of the nuclear plants as urgent protective action planning zones or upz. municipalities within the zones will be required to develop evacuation plans in line with emergency response requirements proposed by the iaea. the new zones will be more extensive than current emergency planning zones or epz, which lie within eight to ten kilometers of nuclear plants. in the initial response to the march accident, the government ordered the residents within 30 kilometers of the fukushi daiichi nuclear power plant to evacuate or to stay indoors. the working group also called for designating areas within five kilometers of a plant as precautionary action zones or paz. residents of these zones would need to evacuate immediately in the event of an accident. over 130 local governments will be affected, if the plan is implemented. that's about three times the

current number. the images showing the aftermath of japan's march 11th tsunami gripped millions of people around the world. many still remember the tangled mess of debris, concrete, metal and wood all mixed together. in the middle of it all, sat giant ships. getting them back in the water s been a big job for crews in the northeast. e tnami thrust the bow of a 2,300-ton "asia symphony" through a sea wall. the ship had been blocking a road near kmichi port. on thursday, workers maneuvered the barge with a crane up to a freighter, then atached 32 cables to the ship. it took about an hour to lift the "asia symphony back into the sea. >> translator: i hope removing the ship will spe up reconstruction work in kamaishi.

more than 25,000 small fishing boats nationwide were destroyed or swept away during the march tsunami. a leading japanese boat maker is now busy filling orders to replace the lost boats. yamaha motor is operating out of a makeshift factory in miyagi prefecture that until recently was an indoor tennis facility. 20 workers are customizing fishing boats to meet customer needs. the company plans to deliver 2,800 boats from now through next march. that's 11 times the number of boats it sold last year. to speed up production, the company will almost double the number of workers at the factory in november. >> translator: i was so pleased to see how happy the fishermen looked when they got their new boats. it's my job to provide them with placements as quickly as possible. >> yamaha says the number of orders started to rise sharply

after the government introduced subsidies to fishing cooperatives, ordering boats for their members. this week's "nuclear watch" is looking at the huge job of decontaminating areas around the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. towns and cities are making progress. schos mamisoma are now cleanep andopened, seven monthsfter the march 11th saster. thcity is som 2 komer fr fukusmaiichi. the japane geren p nasond four oer municipaliesn kushima prefecre under aevuaon adviso imiapri itoldesidents to be prepad to leave their hesr stay indoors in the event of another emergenc authorities lift advisoryt the end of september. they said things had improved at the nuclear plant and they also noted that the new municipalities had drawn up decontamination plans. so what's life like now?

nhk world's kojima shows us. >> reporter: students are back at this elementary school, one of five schools that have reopened in minamisoma. the school authorities removed topsoil from the playground and cleaned buildings before classes resumed. radiation levels are now below the government safety li but still, people are being cautious. this is the elementary school's playground. it's break time and it's a sunny day, but everyone is inside. that's because school has suspended outdoor activities to limit children's exposure to radiation. the school's surroundings and private houses in the city haven't been decontaminated. many families are reluctant to go home. because they don't want to be exposed to radiation. that's why only 180 children

returned to this elementary school. that's a third of what the population was before the march 11th disaster. >> translator: i think it's wrong to bring children back to their school. i don't think it's safe. the levels of radiation are not low. >> translator: the radiation hasn't come down at all. that's why my grandchildren are still far away. we have been talking about being patient. but i don't want to see them get sick. >> reporter: decontaminating minamisoma is a big job. komatsu has a group representing the community in which this elemenry school is cated. they've been cleaning up the routes children take to school.

>> translator: more than 300 meters here, decontaminated. >> reporter: komatsu and his group took measurements at 129 locations. in some places, the radiation level was too high for his instruments. >> translator: 9.99 is the maximum measurable level, which means radiation levels here are ten microsieverts or higher. >> reporter: komatsu believes that mud pooled in the city's drainage system is possibly elevating readings. heayity go tuedownis ruest to clean it up. komatsu says officials told him there's no place to store the mud. >> translator: the decontamination process will move forward if space is found to store the mud. but in reality, it's basically stalled, because no decision has been made on a storage location.

>> all right, so susumu kojima is back from minamisoma. you visited one school in minamisoma. what is the situation like for all schools in minamisoma? >> about 60% of the children in the city's five schools haven't returned. they are living outside of minamisoma, or outside of fukushima prefecture, entirely. japan's relocation ministry has set a goal of limiting radiation exposure for children to a maximum of one millisievert per year. the school that has resumed classes are asking their students to wear face masks on the way to class. and also, their outdoor activities are restricted to two hours a day. still, many parents don't want to bring their children back to minamisoma, because only school compounds have been decontaminated. >> how hard do you think will it be to clean up minamisoma? >> authorities started decontamination work in august

for public facilities such as schools. they didn't get help from the central government. city officials don't think they'll be able to start cleaning up private residences until next year. the biggest problem is, there's no place to keep soil and other substances that have been removed in the decontamination process. the central government will draw up a road map by the end of this month, to set up temporary storage facilities. >> translator: until we decide on the locations for the temporary mid-term and final disposal facilities for contaminated soil, the decontamination work will not progress. >> what's the latest with the fukushima daiichi? i mean when will the people who live near the nuclear plant be able to get their lives back? >> well, the japanese government has announced the damaged reactors will be cooled to below 100 degrees celsius and stabilized within this year.

that's called cold shutdown. temperatures inside the reactors one, two, and three are already lower than 100 degrees. tokyo electric power company, the operator of the plant, says the amount of radiation being emitted has dropped to about one eight-millionth of the level it was in mid march. so the japanese government says it will start discussions on redefining which areas should be subject to evacuation orders, once cold shutdown is achieved. but people won't be able to return home unless the process of decontamination and radioactive waste disposal is accelerated. >> nhk world's sue sue kojima, we appreciate it.

don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." the flood threat against bangkok continues to worsen by the day. water has already breached defenses in some parts of the city and residents are mg thr valuables to higher ground. nhk world's satomi aso reports. >> reporter: it's a crisis in slow motion. as waters inch higher, the thai capital is again under threat. this is the main canal on the northern edge of bangkok. it leads to the center of the city and is already at capacity.

seven districts so far have been warned to prepare for flooding. those areas are home to critical industrial parks. thailand's main international airport is also nearby. the thai government has admitted there's a risk that the controlled release of water through bangkok's canals could flood some areas. i'm here inside a major industrial park in bangkok, which also houses japanese automaker honda. the flood is already here. workers at the industrial park are racing alongside 200 soldiers to build a two-meter floodwall to prevent the canals that run through the park from overflowing. towards the south of the at-risk zone, more areas are already under water.

citizens are hurrying to prepare for the worst. the authorities have advised people living in northern districts to move cars and valuables to higher ground. such as this elevated expressway. ever since july, thais have watched as vast areas of their country become submerged. three months later, the capital is facing the full force of the crisis. sat ohmi aso, nhk world, bangkok. and sony has announced the launch of its new single-lens digital camera will be delayed. this is because of suspended production in thailand due to floods in the country. the company id on thursday thathe pnned november 11th launch date of four models for the year-end shopping season will be postponed indefinitely. sony said its camera factory in ayutthaya has been inundated

after it stopped operations on october 11th. it is unclear when it will resta restart. the company is considering producing cameras at another factory in thailand, but says it will take time to secure labor, equipment and components. the floods are also approacng the lakribang industrial estate, with about 30 kilometers from the center of bangkok. about 50 japanese companies are operate in this complex. including honda motorcycle factory. most of them have halted operations. a senior u.s. official has expressed hope that japan will join the negotiations on the trans-pacific partnership or tpp. japan is now debating whether to take part. u. aistant secrery of coerce spokeo nhk in tokyo thursday, he's on an asi tour to five nations. ma refred to japan's contributiono last year as-pif enoc opatn etgs th i wn cntes aeeto

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a huge number of protesters filled the streets in greece on the second day of a general strike as parliament prepares for a final vote on new austerity measures. [ chanting ] the 48-hour strike continued on thursday, involving transport and other public-secto workers torotest the introduction o further austety measures. demonsators carryinganrs and placasilled the main streets of the capital city of athens from early in the morning. >> translator: i can't pay the bills any more. this country has zero future. >> translator: the government doesn't care about us. i won't stop until they drop the new bills.

>> the police are taking no chances following wednesday's violent clashes and have set up barriers around the parliament building. the bill being debated includes further cuts to pensions and a suspension of 30,000 public-sector workers on reduced salaries. its passage is necessary to secure a second bailout package from the european union and the imf. a team from a japanese university has won the biannual solar-powered auto race across australia. it's second consecutive championship. the green flag went down on sunday for the 3,000-kilometer north to south race from darwin to adelaide, with 37 teams from 20 countries participating. this year's race was briefly interrupted by wildfires. a team from tokai university got the checkered flag on thursday with a team from netherlands coming in second. the tokai team became the third in the event's history to win

two straight victories. the race is held every two mont. every two years, i should say. more than 80% of the teams were using u.s.-made solar panels. the tokai challenger was the only one equipped with japanese panels. the team reduced size of its vehicle by placing the solar cells as closely together as possible and using lightweight materials, enabling it to maintain an average speed of 90 kilometers per hour. tokai university professor hideki kimora said the two straight victories proved to the world the success of japanese technology. time to check on stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin tonight with this item sent by ctn cambodia. the cambodian government is limiting the number of tourist at angkor watt. the world-famous structure has been designated a u.n. world heritage site. the authority for protection and

management of the site said on monday, that the maximum of 300 tourists at a time will be allowed to visit one of the temples in the angkor thits bldg a aircasat the dilapidated hill top temple. tourists often climb the temple to get fresh air and photograph the sunset and sunrise. the hydro electric plant at china's three gorges dam will start operating at peak output in about two weeks after the reservoir reaches full capacity of 175 meters. the high water level will allow experts to validate the dam's design and test its hydro headline electric turbo generators. the $22.5 billion project is a multifunctional water storage system consisting of the dam, a five-tier ship lock and a 26 rbo gerars. scores of chinese couples tied the knot in a mass thai

wedding ceremony on wednesday in the eastern coastal town. the tourism authorities of thailand and china co-sponsored the event, the largest of its kind. 69 couples dressed in traditional thai wedding costume paraded atop elephants to the sound of thai drums. the mayor of the town said he hoped the event would help boost thailand's tourism industry. a dinner party for the newlyweds l fergun une for thuray with weather. >> hello, yes time for another world weather update. things are starting to get a little bit w across parts of the koan peninsula, as well as japan. we've got showers startingo move in n and in fact you could see abo 120 mlite of rainn parts of kyushu in the next 24 urs. and the showe wl be accompanied by some strong winds, maybe some strong thunderstorms well.

elsewhere, is looking fairly dry. especially across much of china here. we'll see a few snowshowersp tords mongolia, just dashing through. and alss tenlovp tordyaar a iotas 'lbe sinom ofhaalng anos t carcrs t iochina peninsula. which is certainly good news. but we do see continuing showers towards the south here. temperaturewise, it's going to be still fairly warm down in the tropics of course, 32 in manila and 33 in bangkok. 28 in taipei, as well as hong kong and the low 20s in chongqing, shanghai, as well as tokyo. 22 tomorrow and 17 forecast for beijing and 4 for the high in ulan bator. into northa, aga in aoongerle for mh of th wte twthdsf enten havingaithhe a se sherand there jt gng b phi tou t pafirtes mi io wteana re

t was e ea,thgh i whe ee tairly sl-minerwe-deled w,hi iriin t vy av rn awell aho rong nd d 's jtoing to be moving towards eastern canada. so we'll start to see things clearing up here as we head on into the weekend. it is still going to be a bit windy. and actually, widespread frost is forecast, too, particularly around the central plains. so your thursday will be waking up to that frost on the ground. and some much cooler temperatures for many of you. 15 degrees in atlanta is the forecast high. n in chicago and 24 in ma city, houston. you should see a lot of the temperatures rebounding a we head into the weekend. and it gets a little bit warmer. all right as for europe, well, we have a weakening low up towards the north. it is still going to remain wet and windy, especially up towards northern portions of norway. and of course this is going to be snow for you, actually. but still quite gusty winds here, you can see it in the precipitation in poland, as well as the baltic states.

another new system coming in across the british isles, wret, cold and windy, once again i'm afraid as we head into the weekend, it will be affecting very many of you. continental europe across the west, high pressure is in place, not too much to worry about here. but we do have a storm system just sitting over the alpine region and moving in towards the northwestern balkans. in the lower-lying areas, it's going to be some heavy rain and thunderstorms for you, too. and the upper elevations, you could see about ten centimeters of snow specifically in the eastern alpines if we take a look at temperatures, things are really starting to look pretty chilly. you're just in the double digits in berlin, develops vienna and paris. just 11 degrees for the high. 14 meanwhile in london. seven in moscow as well as in stockholm. and we have eight and nine in warsaw and kiev respectively. and towards the south, we're in the 20s, so fairly warm here. even madrid, cooling down no just at e 20 mark. i'll leave y now with your extended forecast.

back to our top story now. that breaking news out of libya.

media in the country are reporting that moammar gadhafi is dead. this has not been independently confirmed. the afp news agency has distributed a photo it says is of the libyan leader. as you can see, in this photo, it resembles gadhafi. the person's face and clothes appear to be bloody. a national transitional council official will only say a that the ntc's fighters have captured the libyan leader. "reuters" news agency said gadhafi died of wounds suffered during a gun battle. ntc fighters reportedly had him cornered on thursday near his home town of sirte. thee been hunting him for two months. video footage from libya shows ntc fighters celebrating in sirte. they've been trying to gain control of the city for weeks. "reuters" news agency says gadhafi's loyalist engaged in a gun battle with ntc fighters. it reports that gadhafi was found hiding in a hole in the ground. "reuters" also says gadhafi was wounded in both legs.

local media are reporting his body has been sent to misrata. ntc leaders are expected to give a news conference shortly. gadhafi is in his 60s, he ruled libya for 42 years. and he's been on the run for a couple of months. ntc forces took control of the libyan capital on august 23rd. prime minister poland, donald tusk, who is currently eu president, says the news about the libyan leader's death has not been confirmed. he adds, he will comment once gadhafi's status is clear. and 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.