glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it is 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the yen hit a new high against the dollar in sydney. it followed the previous high marked on friday in new york. now on sydney's foreign exchange market, the dollar briefly changed hands at 75.32 yen after trading for the yen accelerated.

it is now trading at 75.74-75. the european union asked a group of 20 developed and emerging economies to unite to contain the euro zone debt crisis. eu president and the european commission president sent letters to leaders of the g-20 countries. the letters say the eu will progressively implement measures to increase the capacity of the european financial stability facility, the bailout fund, to 1 trillion euro to assist financially troubled members. the measures were agreed upon at the eu summit last week. letters mention the stepping up of the functions of the international monetary fund and also referred to the introduction of a financial transaction tax to strengthen monitoring of speculative financial trading. an nhk correspondent says the eu wants to show case its measures at a g-20 summit scheduled to be

held in early november to prevent the euro zone debt crisis from spreading. flood water threatening to reach the capital of bangkok after hitting an airport in the northern suburbs. water from the swollen river flooded urban areas along its banks sunday night, due to monthly high tides. business and residential districts haven't been i am mersed so far. a massive amount of flood waters several kilometers south of the airport toward central bangkok. authorities plan to speed up work to deter the flood water into canals in the eastern and western parts of the city. however, concern is growing over worsening hygiene situation in flooded areas. >> translator: i'm very worried because the water is quite polluted. things are tough right now, but if i get sick, my situation will

be really bad. >> the thai government says it is on the alert to prevent possible outbreaks of infectious diarrhea, deng u fever and other diseases. greater flood damage led to a more intense impact on the supply chains of parts and materials for companies around the globe. floods have already caused major harm to seven industrial parks, and on the outskirts of bangkok. thailand is the world's second largest production base for hard disk drives. the u.s. research firm projects shipments of hard disk drives october to december will drop up to 30% from the same period last year. u.s. automaker ford says it suspended production at a thai plant as floods disrupted the local supply chain. toyota motor of japan says it cancelled weekend operations on saturday at four of its plants

in the united states due to dwindling amount of parts from thailand. the company also plans to call off overtime shifts this week at all of its 13 plants in north america. major swiss food manufacturer and shoe maker also stopped production lines in thailand. eight south korean plants have also been flooded. unusual heavy snowfall has struck the u.s. east coast leaving at least three people dead and 2 million households without power. more than 78 centimeters since saturday morning. the u.s. national oceanic and atmospheric administration says a cold air mass over the east coast is responsible for the unseasonable snow. it stopped in most areas after the cold air moved north to the u.s., canada border. most parts of the east coast are gradually regaining electricity,

but those states say it will take several more days to fully recover power. more than 400 flights were cancelled. train services linking maiming or cities on the east coast were also suspended. time for the road ahead. seven months after the earthquake and tsunami, getting medical treatment can be a problem. in one area, a hospital had no doctors, but finally one has arrived, and he has an unusual background. negotiation we hear about the challenges he faces trying to get the hospital back on its feet. >> reporter: on the first of october, this 37-year-old doctor was named director of the hospital, a post that had gone vacant nearly six months.

>> translator: i'm just a simple doctor. please, give me some tough guidance to help me fit into this hospital. thank you. let's work hard together. >> reporter: this is the city's hospital. it is the only hospital in the district which has a population of 10,000. after the earthquake, the hospital's ground floor was almost completely submerged. there was no running water, and the electricity was off, shutting down medical equipment and the computers used to maintain clinical records. more than 250 patients came to the hospital each day. ten days after the earthquake, the hospital's director and one of its doctors left, citing

health problems. after that, the hospital has been kept going with the help of doctors from all over the country. he was one of them. every week he drove the 200 kilometers from his workplace to help out. >> translator: this hospital had all the necessary equipment, staff and patients, only the doctors were missing. i had no idea what was going on. i sense the unusual nature of this facility. >> reporter: he was once a professional boxer. during his time in the ring, he studied medicine and passed the national exam. he says that when he's in doubt, he always chooses the harder way. he accepted the post because he wanted to save the hospital, which is in a critical state.

>> translator: when i can't decide whether to go left or right, i choose the way that looks harder. something had to be done since there were no full time doctors, i thought i might as well do the work. >> reporter: he started seeing patients. about 70 patients come to the hospital each day. he asks them about their families and their diet, trying to determine what condition they're in. >> translator: i'm happy i can see the same doctor. >> translator: it is reassuring to have a doctor like him. >> it's my mission. i want to be the rear guard, provide support from behind the lines. >> reporter: the director starts down a new path with his staff

members, all of whom have overcome difficult times. as the hospital chief, he's determined to support the rebuilding. >> the doctor says he plans to increase the number of house calls and to make the hospital as accessible as possible for locals. french researchers say 20 times more radioactive cesium leaked from the crippled fukushima daiichi power plant into the ocean than the plant operator estimated. the french government's nuclear research institute released its contamination report saturday. it calculates that 27.1 thousand tera becquerels have leaked into the ocean as of mid july. most was released by april from plant facilities, including the number two reactor. the french institute says the amount is about 20 times the estimate made by tokyo electric

power company. the report says the water contamination caused by the nuclear accident was significant. although radioactive substances are disbursed by ocean currents, the institute calls for on-going testing of marine products as leakage from the nuclear facility continues to pollute the nearby ocean. "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 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." the world population will soon reach 7 billion.

the u.n. says the population more than doubled in the past half century from 3 billion in 1959. it adds the size of humanity is expected to continue rapid growth and reach 10 billion by the end of this century. united nations says inhabitants of asia, the most of any continent, projected to reach 5.2 billion by the mid 21st century. the african population due to extend to 3.6 billion, triple the current number by 2100. but the size of industrialized nations such as those of japan and europe is forecasted to fall because of low birth rates. the average birth rate in those nations stands at 1.7, short of the 2.1 level required to maintain a steady population. the united nations warns the growing number of people is likely to worsen problems facing the international community. they include poverty in developing countries, water shortages, and heavy

urbanization where humanity concentrates in major cities. u.n. secretary general says while celebrating births of the new babies, he will call on the international community to address these issues. libya's leaders honored the fighters that toppled the government of moammar gadhafi. the council commended leaders of militia groups that fought the gadhafi forces. a senior official urged young members of the militia groups to join the nation's new military forces. many fighters want to return to civilian life now that the country has been liberated. libya needs to convert former fighters to the national military and police units as soon as possible as nato is expected to end its come pat

operations in the country on monday. china has already increased its global presence with military and economic muscle. now the emerging giant is turning its attention towards influencing the world with their pop culture. at the party's meeting earlier this mopt, china's communist party pledged to strengthen the promotion of its culture to gain global influence. our reporter has the story. >> reporter: the chinese are in charge of this costume play or cross play as it is known. the hobby is a popular past time. thousands of people visited the comic and animation expo.

china us cultivating the industry and offers subsidies up to $300 for every minute productions are aired. the policy encouraged increase in the number of anime studios. now about 10,000, nearly hundred fold jump compared to ten years ago. but the quality has not progressed enough to win public favor. >> translator: chinese products are for children. so they don't satisfy us grownups. >> reporter: this movie released in july was five years in the

making and cost more than $8 million. but the first ten days box office earnings only covered 5% of the total cost. experts blame it on poor marketing and lack of creativity. a government official expressed his concerns over the current situation during the expo. >> translator: animation from japan and the u.s. continue to enter the market. the industry is still immature. >> reporter: a new generation is making progress. about 30 students are studying cartooning and illustration at the fine arts academy in beijing. he is a senior student and loves japanese manga in an medication.

he dreams of being a cartoonist. he was to work on hans christian anderson. wants to introduce chinese traditional novels in his work, too. he visited a job fair ahead of graduation this year. it attracted thousands of people. he pitched himself to a comic studio. his work seems to go over well. >> you brought your piece? >> yes. >> what are you good at, illustration? >> yes. >> your work has something in common with ours. why don't you visit us for an

interview. >> translator: i am very pleased that they seem to like my work, and that makes me feel confident. my plan is to keep on working and someday i dream that my comics and animation will enchant people around the globe. >> reporter: experts point out domestic products should focus on traditional chinese culture, rather than imitating foreign pieces. >> translator: young people have been raised with japanese and u.s. animations as well as our traditional education. i believe they will produce original masterpieces.

>> reporter: some young cartoon artists mix with modern culture. china may produce a new walt disney someday. princesses, ghosts, and possibly comic characters will make appearances all over the world today as people in many countries partake in halloween festivities. we go to some halloween events in tokyo with a special japanese twist. >> look familiar? costume kids participating in a parade at the end of october. a local property developer

started organizing the halloween parade a decade ago. it is only in the last few years people started commonly using the term halloween. >> translator: it is only recently i started to see halloween goods at stores. >> the north american custom of kids going door to door hasn't quite made its way to japan. the kids here don't even have to trick or treat. all they have to do is dress up and show up. >> she's never done halloween in the u.s. we want her to experience as much as she could while she's here in japan. are you having fun with halloween, marissa? do you like wearing your costume? what's your costume? >> baby jaguar. >> the japanese started to adon't many aspects of north american style halloween. from kids to adults, everyone dresses up in costume and

celebrates with friends.style h. from kids to adults, everyone dresses up in costume and celebrates with friends. >> i looked up halloween before. every time i forget. >> is it about having fun? >> yeah, i guess we're just enjoying ourselves. >> translator: i have seen it on tv, so i kind of have an idea. >> so is it about partying? >> translator: yeah, i think people like dressing up and partying. >> reporter: western cake shops use it as a hall mark holiday, selling special edition desserts with halloween themes. >> we made a ghost theme strawberry short cake, using a technique that rounds off the edges. that gives it a ghostly appearance. also, since we're a french pastry shop, we made a

decorative ee claire. we made it with strawberries and custard to suit the season. >> translator: it's not just western stores using halloween to market new items. this traditional sweet shop creates halloween desserts that are uniquely japanese. >> translator: over the years, halloween has become synonymous with awesome. i wanted to show that traditional japanese sweets can incorporate western elements. >> not many people here seem to know the true meaning or origin of halloween. north americans adopted this tradition more than a century ago. now the japanese are starting to make halloween their own.

rina nakano, nhk world. a french film has won the top prize at the 24th tokyo international film festival. the festival opened on october 22nd and features about 130 films in total with 15 in the main competition. "untouchable" was announced as the winner of the grand prix prize on sunday. the film is about the friendship between a rich aristocrat who is paralyzed from the neck down in an accident and a young black man just released from prison. in the story, the ex-con is chosen as his caregiver. a japanese film, "the woodsman and the rain" won the second place special jury prize. an aging woodsman and a young director who came to the village to shoot a zombie film slowly develop a friendship. the director expressed his

gratitude after receiving the prize. >> translator: this film was made with many people's help. i really appreciate it. let's take a look at the global weather forecast with saki ochi. >> and welcome back to your weather update. let's get a look at conditions across east arab a things are looking dryer for japan today. just a little rain in the north here, but that's well on the way out as well. we should be seeing warmer sunshine spreading across japan today. korean peninsula in eastern china looking fairly dry and settled. there's a little rain that starts to show up in inland areas of china as we head into the evening hours. for southeast asia, a couple of tropical showers and thunderstorms for parts of the philippines, taiwan, and for inched oh china peninsula,

vietnam looks wet, and southern thailand seeing still more active thundershowers as well as locally heavy rainfall. as for highs monday, does warm up in bangkok. 34 degrees, water levels remaining very high here. 27 degrees for hong kong. a little congresser and tokyo up to 23 degrees. warmer than yesterday. it is expected to be quite a warm week across a lot of japan throughout the next couple of days. as we head into north america, the northeastern u.s. and eastern canada digging out from the early season snowfall over the weekend. you can see that well developed low is heading out to sea now, just in the new england states and canadian maritime feeling it until monday. a little rain developing in the great lakes region, and a frontal system bringing thunder

and showers to the florida peninsula, looking to head northward in the coming days, into the carolinas first as you head into monday. out west, fairly dry picture, but there's a little rain across the pacific northwest. that's looking to head down in to the inland areas of the u.s. in the coming days. the rockies may start to see more significant snowfall in the days to come. as we look at temperatures for monday, looking quite mild in denver, up to 18 degrees. morning lows will feel quite chilly. oklahoma city gets up to 22, and 17 degrees in atlanta for the northeast. here, temperatures remain cold. 11 in new york, up to 12 in d.c., despite the return of some sunshine. then the morning hours are going to be well in the single digits. still quite a bit of snow left on the ground. you want to watch for the icy roads. as we head into europe, a lot of activities are going to be out to the west. we have this active low, frontal

system bringing in showers from the british isles, iberian peninsula and scandinavian peninsula, more rain coming in, starting with norway. baltic states, fin land, showers tonight, but that's heading in towards western russia. as for the temperatures on monday, 10 in stockholm, 16 in berlin. turkey dealing with the recovery efforts. 8 degrees is the high. but the morning hours are well below freezing mark. still chilly with a chance of some sleet on monday. all right. that's a look at your weather conditions for now. here is the three day outlook.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we'll be back at the top of the next hour. see you then.