landslide victory. prime minister noda has been re-elected leader of the ruling democratic party of japan. welcome to nhk world "newsline." members of japan's governing democratic party have decided to stick with their man. they've chosen prime minister yoshihiko noda to lead them into the next election. delegates voted him in at a leadership convention in tokyo.

nhk world's mayuko ambe reports. >> reporter: delegates have given prime minister noda another mandate. the voting results show he won with an overwhelming majority over three other contenders. they campaigned against the prime minister for nearly two weeks. they attacked noda's policies including measures to help low-income households following the tax hike, steps toward joining the free trade agreement in the pacific region, and his new energy policy. most of all, they criticized the way noda managed the party. they blamed him for the departure of a number of party members. but in the end, the challengers failed to gain enough support. other possible contenders may have proven more popular, but they decided not to run. they may have considered it unwise to become the head of a party that may well lose in the next general election. mayuko ambe, nhl world, tokyo.

the noda administration faces complex challenges. they include territorial disputes with china and south korea, japan's new energy policy, and an extensive reform of the social security system. prime minister noda says he's ready to meet those challenges head on. >> translator: there are times when i have to make a decision despite divisions within my party or among public opinion. throughout the past year, i have been reminded how painful and difficult such decisions can be. i realize that this country continues to face difficult problems at home and abroad. i have to address each one of them in a decisive manner and am fully aware of my responsibility. >> yoshihiko noda may be keeping his job as leader of the democratic party, but his days as prime minister could be numbered.

for more on this story shery ahn spoke with cnn political commentator masao nakajima. >> what's next for the prime minister? >> noda will likely be forced to call a general election between november and january. you know, the opposition helped noda pass his package of tax and social security reforms. in exchange, he promised to dissolve the lower house soon, but he doesn't want to. his approval rating has fallen to about 30%, and his democratic party has lost support too. many voters opposed his plan to double the consumption tax. others didn't agree with his decision to restart two nuclear reactors this summer. but no election means no opposition support. and noda needs that again to pass budget-related bills in order to keep government services funded. >> so if he does call a general election, then what kind of challenges would he face?

>> well, noda's dpj is trailing in the polls behind the main opposition in the former ruling ldp and the new party, japan restoration party, which is led by the mayor of osaka. toru hashimoto is attracting attention with his populist and nationalist proposals such as cutting the number of diet members in half and promoting free trade. the democrats took office three years ago, ending more than half a century of almost unbroken rule by the ldp. they promised change, but they couldn't deliver. you know, voters are now considering giving another chance to the former ruling ldp or taking a chance on the yet-untested new party, japan restoration party. politics in japan could be in for a change now. >> so what sort of changes should we then expect? >> well, it is looking like the

ldp or the japan restoration party could win the most seats in the election in the lower house. japan's next prime minister would be from one of those parties. both parties support noda's consumption tax hike, but both are critical of how the prime minister has handled territorial disputes with china and south korea. they are pushing for japan to take a stronger stance. however, no party is expected to win majority alone. in other words, the party with the most seats will have to form a coalition with the second or third winning party. you know, that would have a big impact on japan's domestic and foreign policy.

u.s. marines took to the skies over japan in an aircraft that's been a lightning rod for anger. they're testing the mv-22 osprey. american military leaders plan to station the tilt-rotor transporter in okinawa, but the aircraft has a spotty safety record, so the only place some japanese wanted to fly is back to the u.s. the first osprey slowly lifted off from the u.s. marine's air station in western japan. the aircraft's rotors pointed upward like those on a helicopter. a number of protesters gathered outside the base. they don't want ospreys flying in the skies above them. they say the aircraft is too dangerous. >> translator: the plane shouldn't be allowed to leave the ground. >> pilots flew the aircraft over water. then they tilted the rotors in a horizontal direction so it could fly like a conventional plane. the maneuver is considered the most hazardous aspect of operating this aircraft.

>> translator: i'm frightened by the thought the aircraft may crash around here. >> translator: i won't oppose the test flights as long as safety is confirmed. >> u.s. personnel are expected to fly the ospreys to okinawa. the aircraft will be stationed at the u.s. marine corps futenma air station. locals aren't happy. >> translator: i'm angry with the central government's policy based on the premise that the aircraft will be deployed at futenma. i'll do my best to block the deployment. >> japanese defense minister satoshi morimoto has been trying to strike a balance between listening to citizens and working with the american military. >> translator: i believe u.s. forces will pay utmost attention to local communities to ensure the safety of flights. >> morimoto plans to meet next week with the okinawa governor

and ginowan mayor. the defense miner is's spokesperson says they haven't received any prorts of malfunctions with any of the seven ospreys u.s. forces tested friday. marines will be flying the aircraft again in the coming days in and around the base. they hope to take some of the ospreys to the futenma air station before the end of the month. the international atomic energy agency is calling for stronger safety measures at nuclear power plants around the world. the u.n. watchdog made the call in a resolution passed unanimously at its annual conference in vienna. the resolution urges member countries to accept iaea inspection teams and establish an independent nuclear regulatory authority with qualified personnel. since last year's conference, only six nations including france, china, and japan have accepted iaea inspections. for the first time, israel says it will allow the u.n. agency to inspect its nuclear research center. israel is not a signatory to the

nuclear nonproliferation treaty. but another israel nuclear facility will now be open to iaea inspections. israel is suspected of developing nuclear weapons there. international criticism of israel could increase as the country refeudses to fully dils close information on its nuclear program while condemning iran's nuclear ambitions. angry protesters have filled the streets of pakistan. they've been demonstrating against a u.s.-made film that offended muslims. patchari raksawong in bangkok has this update on the situation. pakistanis took to the streets after friday prayers as demonstrations against the controversial film spread. the protests have received support from the government. now the prime minister called on people to show their anger peacefully, but there have been some reports of violence. nhk world's hideki yui reports

from islamabad. >> reporter: pakistan declared friday a national holiday called a day of love for the prophet. in the capital of islamabad, the prime minister called for international laws that would make such religious insults illegal. >> translator: an attack on the holy prophet is an attack on the full 1.5 billion muslims. therefore, this is something that is unacceptable. >> reporter: the film has aggravated anti-u.s. sentiment in pakistan. demonstrations against the film have been occurring daily. at least four people have been killed and many more injured in clashes with police. on friday, protesters in the northwestern city of peshawar became violent and set fire to movie theaters.

the u.s. state department says it will air a video on pakistani television. it features words from president barack obama and secretary of state hillary clinton intended to calm the situation. washington needs the cooperation of pakistan in its fight against terrorism. it's keen to avoid any further escalation in anti-american sentiment. prime minister ashraf called for the demonstration to be peaceful and within the law. >> pakistan -- >> translator: we are an islamic country with nuclear weapons. so we have to protest responsibly. >> reporter: mobile phone

networks in major cities have been shut down to try and keep the situation under control. terrorists have carried out attacks inside pakistan frequently in recent years. the government wants to avoid public anger from boiling over and making the security situation horse. hideki yui, nhk world, islamabad. a demonstration of a different kind has been taking place in myanmar after ordinary people took to the streets of yangon on friday in the largest public demonstration since the government of reformist president thein sein took power last year. marchers called on the government to stop the military's armed conflict with ethnic minority forces in the northern province of kachin. bystanders joined pro-democracy activists as the procession passed through the center of yangon. the number of demonstrators

eventually swelled to about 1,000. the rally was held without a permit from the authorities, but they did nothing to stop it from happening in myanmar's biggest city. it passed off peacefully, and there have been no reported arrests. the government seems to be underlining myanmar's progress towards democracy by showing a generous attitude toward the demonstration. auto workers in india have been protesting the firing of 500 people at a troubled plant of maruti suzuki. they lost their jobs after violence at a plant in july resulted in the death of one indian employee, and caused severe damage. union members gathered on friday to protest the firing of the workers after violence at maruti suzuki's plant in northern india. the company is a subsidiary of japan's suzuki motor. operations at the factory resumed last month, but 500 people lost their jobs in connection with the violence. several thousand people took

part in friday's protests. they demanded the workers be reinstated by maruti suzuki. they also called for the release of union leaders arrested by the police. thailand's annual rainy season is reaching its peak with heavy downpours spreading across the country. people and businesses are praying the country will avoid a repeat of last year's devastating floods. nhk world has been to examine some of the new flood defenses and filed this report. >> reporter: the ancient city of ayuthaya is famous for its world heritage temples. last year the city was inundated by thailand's worst floods in half a century. as the rains approach again, citizens are on high alert. situated on the banks of the river, this historic temple is at risk of severe flooding.

the authorities have already decided to add the height of this flood wall by 50 centimeters in a bid to help the temple better cope with future inundations. almost a year ago, the temple was submerged under two meters of water. so workers are rushing to reinforce embankments just in case. >> translator: i feel the volume of water is smaller than last year, but i'm still on alert before big water mass arrives next month. we can never be sure. >> reporter: when last year's floodwaters arrived, a protective dike is still under construction. even so, the authorities insist they can protect these historical sites. >> translator: i believe about

80% of the work has been completed. construction of an earth wall to prevent future floods is also under way. we believe we'll be better able to cope with any new floods. >> reporter: some parts of thailand are already under water again. the government has repeatedly tried to reassure people that its water management plans are solid. but a recent opinion poll found that only about 5% of respondents have confidence in the government's flood prevention efforts. it is home to major industries cities that were severely affected last year. companies are doing what they can to prepare. officials expect the mass of water from upstream to arrive in the province soon. but new flood walls around industrial states haven't been completely finished.

they are only 30% of their intended height. companies are anxious, but the authorities are optimistic. >> translator: we're constructing a temporary wall to protect our property, because we couldn't begin work on a permanent structure in time. but, we're confident we'll be able to cope with any floods. >> reporter: the rainy season isn't expected to end for another month or longer. with the government, flood prevention measures still under construction, thai people, and businesses, are faced with a period of deep uncertainty. nhk world. >> and that will wrap up our bulletin for today. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. chinese customs authorities are apparently tightening their checks on imports from japan.

many japanese firms doing business in the country are reporting strictertoms clearance for their products. the companies say chinese customs now require blanket inspections on certain items in shanghai. that's instead of just some of the selected imports from japan. they say the customs inspection ratio has been increased in beijing and tianjin as well. the japan exterm world trade organizations's office in china says chinese authority have not offered any explanation for the change in clearance procedures. japanese trade minister says government officials are looking into the reports. >> translator: at the moment, we're gatherings information to confirm whether china is actually tightening inspections customs. we'll take appropriate measures if necessary. >> honda motors president

takanobu ito says he wasn't surprised at the reports. >> translator: concerning tighter customs clearance, i heard that similar things have happened in china before. assuming possible risks, we have already started considering measures to minimize the impact. >> ito also said his company has reopened factories in china that had been shut down due to anti-japan demonstrations. he did add the plants are operating below capacity as parts makers and dealerships have suffered damage during the protests. the united nations has marked an international day of peace on september 21st for the past ten years. every year the u.n. calls on people around the world to lay down their arms and stop fighting for one day. it's not known how many people actually do lay down their weapons, but what is known is that ordinary people celebrate in their own ways. one such event that is taking place is a student film festival in yokohama near tokyo.

they are screening films depicting their own personal visions of peace. nhk world's tom oko kamata reports. >> reporter: the first prize winner will be invited to screen 60 minutes' film next year. about 40 student groups from five countries posted five-minute clips of the documentaries, animation, and dramas. one university student won first prize last year. he first visited cambodia three years ago as a volunteer. he dug wells alongside local people. he was struck by their efforts to rebuild the country after years of a civil war that killed millions.

shigita made a film entitled "cross road" about a team engaged in removing land mines from a village. the team included former members of pol pot's army and government forces. he depicted the way they worked together in spite of their past differences. >> translator: the villagers were once enemies.

but since the world ended they've been working on the same mining team with good team spirit. i was really surprised. >> translator: since winning the competition, shigeta has visited cambodia six times. he's added scenes from the daily lives of the team. he says he wanted to show that they now appreciate peace even while living side to side with the grim reminders of former conflict. >> translator: i was struck by the strength of people who can laugh at their tragedy and at the same time the cruelty of life. i wanted to depict human strength through the power of film. >> reporter: shigeta screened his 54-minutes version for the first time at the film festival.

>> translator: the images that he shot of his cambodian friends left a strong impression on me. >> translator: i'm very happy to have so many people come see my film. it's an hon or the to participate in the international peace day film festival like this, and i want to continue to be a part of it. >> reporter: these young people hope that the images they project on the silver screen will help bring peace to people around the world. tomoko kamata, nhk world, yokohama. for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji. mai? >> the tropical depression has quickly formed and developed into a severe tropical storm. this is moving at a slow pace at a southwesterly direction.

and looks like it's going to be moving towards the north, maybe aiming for the northeastern partinpar parts of luzon in the next few days to come. right now it is packing winds of 126 kilometers per hour, so especially in the west eastern seaboards of mindanao, those waves are going to be much higher and picking up to about 2 to 4 meters high during your weekend. so do watch if you are in the coastal areas. now, this rain is actually just dumping across much of the philippines due to the positioning of this jelawat. strong influence of moisture targets much of the eastern seaboards. we already have reports of about 50 to 100 millimeters on the western seaboards around mindanao, and the ground is really loose, the land is very well saturated, so mud slides and also flooding, especially in the coastal areas, are going to be a very high risk in the next

few days. we'll keep a close eye on this system. the unfortunate fact is it looks like due to the warm seawater it's going to be intensifying into a typhoon, possibly by sunday into a typhoon status. we'll keep a close eye on this. we have a stationary boundary that stretches across the southwestern islands of japan and into southeastern china. and this is a heavy rainmaker, and it actually brings stormy conditions, as well so, this will be impacting muff of the islands here. then they'll be moving towards western japan on your saturday, and then in towards eastern japan on your sunday. so stormy weekend ahead of us into the next 24, 48. 100 millimeters of rainfall could be found here in and around the southern province and south of the river. temperatures are shaping up like this. we're looking at 37 in manila and bangkok, but tokyo finally down to upper 20s. 27 degrees. still, this is actually a little

warmer than the norm. finally a relief from that heat for our weekend. moving over to the americas now, nothing really much to say here across much of the west and the central areas here in the united states. but we do have smoke plumes from that wildfire, numerous wildfires still breaking out and not contained completely yet. the smoke will be just trapped due to this really strong high-pressure system. it's not really departing anywhere, so stagnant air across much of these situations. things are going to get really cool due to this cold front sweeping here across the great lakes region, and that may turn to sleet, so it could be the first snow or sleet possibly seen on this -- the first snow for the season. but warm and dry across much of these regions. and temperatures are not bad at all if you're in washington, d.c., at 27. still really summer-like here, but, yes, winnipeg at 9 degrees, and, yes, tomorrow's going to be the first day of your autumn in this continent. moving over to the european continent, things are going to

be with showers, but sunny spells for the british isles to enjoy that weather until another atlantic storm moves into your region. dropping down to 15 in london, and stockholm only looking at 12. but keeping its heat here in madrid at 31 degrees. here's your extended forecast. ♪

we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.