calculating the contamination -- researchers in japan start mapping out radiation levels around fukushima daiichi. and why childn iukushi efectu an' gwi a fa as ks in e rt oth untry. th is "nsline. i'm kooti tokyo environmental minists are trngo fure out h mh radiation is lingering in the towns and villages paamed nuclear taedurvey on mon.

the information they collect will enable government authorities to drop decontamination plans for their 20-kilometer zone. about 20 millisieverts per year will be included in the survey. some 30 people gathered on monday at a monitoring point in iitate village located in a designated evacuation zone. tokyo electric power company employees are working alongside government officials. they recorded radiation levels at 100-meter intervals, using helicopters that fly 50 meters above the ground and cars equipped with measuring devices. >> translator: nearly 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate. with that in mind, we'd like to do all we can to press ahead with the decontamination plan, to evacuees can return home sooner. >> environment ministry researchers will provide an interim report on their results

in december. workers are expected to use the radiation surveys to plan their full-scale clean-up efforts, which are set to begin in january. a doctor says the physical development of children in fukushima prefecture may be affected by lack of outdoor activity due to the nuclear plant accident. he tracked the weight of 245 children aged four to six in two kindergartens about 60rom the e resultn ara weight gain of 0.81 kilograms over the yearhrough june. the figure for children ithe same age group in the preous ye 3.1 kilograms. children i kindergarts usedone d half hoursf outdoor activity per day. but have been allowed to play only indoors after the accident. >> translator: the smaller weight gain could be related to reduced appetites due to lack of

exercise, as well as changes in secretion of growth hormones due to stress. the children may not be getting enough row teen to develop their muscles. >> kikuchi says the decrease may be temporary, but more checks are needed to prevent children's stunted growth. the earthquake and tsunami devastated towns all ang the ea coast eig months ago. now residents are seeing signs of a revival. loca fishermen brought in 20 tons of mackerel, salmon and other fish to a market in the town of about 30 fishermen and mart officials observed a moment of disaster. then they took part in the official auction since the tsunami. thhaul was about half the normalize for this te of year, still eugho bring life ba to the market >>ralar:ve shmefes wnon't catch enough fresh fish. i hope the situation will improve little by little from

now on. >> translator: i have mixed emotions. i hope that more fisheries' workers would come back to the market. >> a railway company celebrated the resumption of freight train service in the nearby city of ofunato. company officials say the train makes up to 13 round trip as day between a limestone mine and a cement plant. the factory was hit by the tsunami and resumed operations last week. >> translator: we've been grinding our teeth for the entire eight months. i feel as if we finally found a raof hope.

aid from overseas began streaming into japan soon after the march 11th earthquake and tsunami, volunteers from around the world are still helping nearly eight months later. one of them survived her own catastrophe. nhk world's kobashi has the story. >> this a temporary shelter in iwate city, fukushima prefecture. a woman helps here at the shelter to help the residents who went through 9 dasr in march. she's 46. originally from ry uiesen o fukushima, she started helping evacuees right after the disaster. >> translator: rwanda is well known for its tasty coffee and

tea. sipping it takes your heart to rwanda. it's a moment you no longer feel homesick. >> mary louise was a school teacher in 1993. she visited fukushima to study at a vocational school. she returned to rwanda after ten months. but soon after, the country descended into genocide. mary louise narrowly escaped death and ended up in a refugee camp. people in fukushima found out about her plight and helped her move to japan. mary louise and her family settled down in fukushima. they have been living there for 17 years now.

>> translator: i would probably not be alive today if i had not had the chance to stay in japan. before the civil war in rwanda. japanese people have brought hope and dreams back to me. they saved my life. >> reporter: she wanted to do something in return. on september 11th, just six months after the march disaster, she was back in rwanda. she organized an event in support of the quake and tsunami victims in japan. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: after returning to fukushima, mary louise visited a couple living about 20

kilometers from the disaster-hit nuclear power plant. keiko suzuki and his wife had assisted marie louise in kuima for many years. marie louise shows them a dvd and a collection of messages from the rwandan people. >> translator: their messages have encouraged me. i'm now determined to fight on. >> translator: even in a difficult situation, i will always be there for them. i will there as a family member. i hope they will understand that.

>> reporter: her experience has taught marie louise a lot. she's now determined to support disaster survivors in japan, the country that offered her sanctuary in her time of need. she has found a new mission. >> u kobayashi joins us now. it's an incredible story. how does marie louise feel about survivors in fukushima? >> her brother went missing in the genocide. she says she understands japanese people's feelings. it was so moving to see evacuees respond to marie louise. she said rwandans cannot afford to give japanese financial support. but she wants them to know rwandans share their pains. >> i see. so how do people from other countries feel about what happened here?

>> some massive indian ocean tsunami several years ago are returning the favor after japan helped them rebuild. actually i was in cairo on a business trip at the time of the march disaster. many people there gave me words of couragement. some donated money, even though they have problems of their own. i took it as an expression of gratitude for japan's long-running assistance. not just from the government, but also from the ngos. as the japanese, it made me so proud. >> r. yes, it did. thank you very much, that was nhk world's yu kobayashi. "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 bangkok to find out what's going on in the region. >> reporter: the death toll from thailand's flood crisis has topped 500 in bangkok there's no let-up in the situation. waters continue ih cse to the center of the capital, mang daily life increasingly hard. floodwaters advanced about five kilometers from central bangkok on monday. many roadsav been submerged and traffic is bked up acrs the city. >> translator: an intersection over there is flooded. i want to direct traffic, but there are too many cars. and nobody is listening to what i say. >> the latest map from the

bangkok metropolitan administration shows 12 districts colored in red that have been advised to evacuate. more areas are being placed on alert by the day. many residents of the capital have seen their routines disrupted. some bus services are suspended. military trucks have been brought in to hel p tfloods. at least 506 people have lost their lives across the country since the flooding started in july. as to the crisis drags on, the impact on thailand's precious animal heritage is also mounting. the well-being of the icon nhwothat >> reporter: these elephts are taking shelter onigh grnd severa kileters from the submged cy cente of

ayutthaya. there are 81 elephants have evacuated here because of the flood in ayutthaya. ayutthaya is home to a world heritage site. elephants are one of the big tourist attractions. but for the last two months, many of the animals have been stranded at shelters. they're surrounded by water, up two meters deep transport in the area has been disrupted. caretakers give each elephant 250 kilograms of sugar cane, banas anfruit every day. but it has fallen to just 150 gr ny othe giantnimals are eit. >> translator: look where the hip bone is, you can tell it's nothing but skin and bone. the chest, shoulders and forehead are also skinny.

>> reporter: health problems are mounting. this 25-year-old female has injured her right eye, it's infected with bacteria. her handlers clean and disinfect the wound. but the vet is worried that withouroper treatment, the eye could go permanently blind. translator: i feelorry them. t thers thing i can doo help reporter: elephan are more than tourist attractions in thailand. for centuries, they've been revered as animals unlike any other. that makes their current suffering even harder to watch. nhk world, ayutthaya. and that wraps up our buet, i'm.

the drawn-out floods in thailand are seriously affecting production by japanese car-makers. toyota motors says it will reduce domestic output by 30% in november, due to parts shortages. sources say toyota plans to produce 230,000 vehicles in japan this month, that's down 100,000 units from its earlier target. the company will reportedly halt production of a wide variety of minivans and reduced output of some luxyedsyhalf. the automaker had bee ramping up production in september to make up for losses caused by the march disaster. but the floods have forced toyota to idle assembly lines for a month. and manufacturing has been curtailed in southeast asia, japan, north america and africa. japan's key economic index fell for the second consecutive month in september.

the cabinet oice say the coincident index, which points to t present state of the economy slipped 1.4 points from the previous month to .9, that's against aase of100 for 2005. the decline is attributed to a slowdown in the production of cars,elevions and psonal computer the drop came in the midst of a global economic downturn igreby t eopn crisis. television sales declined also in reaction to brisk last-minute demand this summer before the country switched to digital broadcasting. looking ahead, the cabinet office said the risk of slowdown is increasing due to the yen's strengths and the flooding in thailand. major japanese electronics major, fujitsu said it will start selling high-speed supercomputers for commercial use. >> translator: we can say our new model is the world's fastest supercomputer.n

supercompulled eledite-backed r achieved the world's fastest computing speed. fujitsu says it's based on the same technology. it has a data processing speed that's 1.8 times faster than that of kay. its priceag starts at $640,000. fujitsu says it has already received inquiries from several rimp in research institutes. and here's other news from arnold the world. in south korea, a 25-year-old man has become the first visually impaired news anchor for the country's public broadcaster, kbs. lee chang-hoon made his debut monday on a news program. he presents the news by using a device that changes korean letters into braille. lee told reporters that he wants to help more people with disabilities find work in

broadcasting and eliminate prejudice. the nigerian red cross says at least 100 people have been killed in sars of attacks in northern nigeria. armed men attacked a police station and a church among others in the state of yobey over the weekend. the "associated press" reports to a local islamist group is claiming responsibility. the u.s. embassy said three hotels in the capital are possible terrorist targets and warns people not to go near. a delegation from fukushima prefecture has ended a six-day visit to belarus and ukraine. the two countries were heavily contaminated in the 1986 chernobyl accident. they used to live in a town about four kilometers from chernobyl. the head of the group said they learned a lot that should be useful to people in fukushima.

a chinese fishing boat found in japanese territorial waters has been escorted to the port of nagasaki and its skipper taken into custody. a japanese patrol vessel spotted two boats off the goto islands in southwestern japan on sunday morning. the coast guard ordered the boats to stop, but the call was ignored. the patrol vessel chased and stopped one of the boats by slamming into it. coast guard officials arrested the captain for violating the fisheries law. the fishing boat, which has a crew of ten, was ushered to nagasaki port on monday. the coast guard says it will question the captain and crew to learn why the boat entered japanese waters. japanese chief cabinet secretary, fujimura has stressed the government's struggles to do the utmost to bring hope all the japanese nationals abducted by north korea. one of the abductees, is

reported to be a pyongyang residents in 2005. the north says she died in 19 94. >> translator: the government is aware of the report. we are gathering and analyzing information on japanese abducted by north korea on the assumption that they are all alive. >> in its latest issue, the weekly paper claims that yokota's name may be on a list of residents compiled in 2005 by north korean intelligence agency. the report says a woman identified on the 1 same day as she lived with her husband and daughter. however, the magazine says the woman's blood type and date of marriage differ from those of yokota. yokota was abducted from japan in 1977 when she was 13 years old. the japanese government has identified 17 japanese citizens that it says were abducted by

north korea. most of them in the late 1970s. five of them returned to japan in october 2002. mai shoji is up next with weather. >>ind welco. meo t aur atr. ti off with ia hh es moolia, rnchina, ni weee se shors in th stn of sthkoa, t prettyuchy. he ijan, carg r o y. shows ll be spreading in la inut w a gng to b seeingheowreure sy devopg int tric dreioin the nt 248. and that w be linng nd theimar a come. and we will be seeing very heavy rain in parts of vietnam.

especially in the da nang area. we may see accumulations of up to 200 millimeters or more in the eastern coast. and for the next 72 hours, we will be seeing lots of rain in hong kong, and that strong winds will be picking up high waves along the southern coast of china as well. we will be seeing lots of rain here in taiwan to come, too. not much precipitation to be accumulating in bangkok area where the flood situation is not alleviated yet.week, thursday i should say, into tokyo we'll see the temperatures drop into the mid teens. now here in north america, we've got this frontal boundary that

the gulf of mexico moisture will be surging in towards. and we will see some showers as well as thunderstorms and especially in missouri and iowa, we will see rainfall accumulation from 50 millimeters up to about 80 millimeters in some areas. heavy rain to accumulate there. texas panhandle and oklahoma, we will see snow, a mix ofain and snow to be seen there. severe thunderstorms across this area, are likely to produce large hail, damaging winds as well as tornadoes. so wean't rule those out. here in the four corners we'll see accumulation of sno for you,t for the four corners. d w rkt4deee8 heinov teupe wl brisslki vy c foyond iri pinla a th ssoi inngrso ptul i

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a recap of the main news, environment ministry researchers are trying to figure out how much radiation is lingering in the towns and villages around japan's damaged nuclear plant. they started a detailed survey on monday. the information they collect will enable governmental authorities to draw up decontamination plans for the contaminated 20-kilometer zone surrounding fukushima daiichi. evacuation zones with radiation levels of about 20 millisieverts per year will also be included in the survey. some 30 people gathered on monday at a monitoring point in

iitate village, that's located in a designated evacuation zone. tokyo electric power company employees are working alongside government officials. they recorded radiation levels at 100-meter intervals using unmanned helicopters that fly 50 meters above the ground and cars equipped with measuring devices. >> translator: nearly 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate. with that in mind, we'd like to do all we can to press ahead with decontamination plan. so evacuees can return home sooner. >> environment ministry researchers will provide an interim report on the results in december. workers expected to use the radiation surveys to plan their full-scale clean-up efforts, which are set to begin in january. a doctor says the physical development of children in fukushima prefecture may be affected by a lack of outdoor activity due to the nuclear plant accident.

shint roh kick uchi tracked the rate of 245 children aged four to six in two kird gartens in riyama city, aut kilome plt. the results swe an average weight gain of 0. 81 kilograms for the year throu june. the figure for children in the mege gup ith pvious year was3. loams. chdren in one of the kiergarten u get one and a half hours of outdoor activity per day. but have been allowed to play only indoors after the accident. >> translator: the smaller weight gain could be related to reduced appetites due to lack of exercise, as well as changes in secretion of growth hormones due to stress. the children may not be getting enough protein to develop their muscles. >> kick uchi said the decrease may be temporary, but that more checks are needed to prevent children's stunted growth. and that's all for now on

this edition of "newsline." thank you very much for watching.