welcome to nhk world "newsline." turkey's military launched artillery attacks on syria for a second straight day. it's retaliation for the neighboring country's deadly shelling of a turkish border town. the attacks began on wednesday after a syrian mortar slammed into the turkish border town of akacakale killing five civilians. syria said it's investigating the source of the attack and called for restraint. the turkish government says it's

initiating procedures to authorize the country's military to cross the border. the government says the move is to counter a threat against its national security. turkey has demanded that syria establish a buffer zone on the border to shelter syrians fleeing the country. syria has accused turkey of helping opposition forces in the country to smuggle in weapons and terrorists. an estimated 60 million americans sat down in front of their tvs to watch an election ritual. u.s. president barack obama and his republican challenger, mitt romney, debated the economy, health care, and the role of government. their debate took place in colorado, one of the battleground states that could decide the election next month. nhk world's mami mochizuki reports from denver. >> reporter: this could turn out to be the most scrutinized event in the election. the first televised debate ahead of the november vote. for both candidates, risks are high. >> president obama and governor

romney. [ applause ] >> reporter: americans got their first chance to size up the candidates side by side. they've watched the incumbent for four years. barack obama came into office promising to lead a turnaround. but economy growth has been sluggish. still, he leads in a number of polls, but only just. >> the only way to meet governor romney's pledge of not reducing the deficit, or not adding to the deficit, is by burdening middle-class families. now, that's not my analysis. >> reporter: mitt romney has tried to make the case that his business experience prepares him to lead a recovery. but his support slipped after he was caught on video making dismissive remarks about almost half the american electorate. he said his job is not to worry about the 47% of them who pay no

income taxes and are dependent on government. so romney went on the offensive. >> the president has a view very similar to the view he had when he ran four years ago, that a bigger government, spending more, taxing more, regulating more, if you will, trickle-down government, would work. that's not the right answer for america. >> reporter: veteran journalist jim lehrer moderated the debate. he focused most of his questions on the economy. obama criticized what he called romney's $5 trillion tax cut. >> how we pay for that, reduce the deficit, and make the investments that we need to make without dumping those costs on to middle-class americans i think, is one of the central questions of this campaign. >> reporter: romney said he had no intention of introducing such big cuts. he shot back with repeated references to the unemployment rate, 8.1%.

it could be the most frequently recited number in the campaign. >> going forward with the status quo is not going to cut it for the american people who are struggling today. >> reporter: obama and romney are fighting over voters in a handful of states. those americans could swing the election either way. the candidates have one month and two more debates to win them over. mami mochizuki, nhk world, denver, colorado. >> in a cnn poll held soon after the debate, 67% of respondents said romney won the showdown while 25% said obama did. u.s. marines in okinawa are have made their first training flights of an aircraft that's been plagued by controversy. the first ospreys arrived in japan's southernmost prefecture on monday. an osprey took off this morning from the marine corps futenma air station. it headed for an airfield on an island in the east china sea. the plane returned to futenma

after two hours. a second osprey took off later. the crew practiced takeoffs and landings on the islands, then returned to base. the planes are among nine that arrived in futenma from another u.s. base in western japan. technicians are performing maintenance checks on three more at the base in iwakuni. marine commanders hope to start a full-flenled operation of the 12 ospreys within the month. officials in tokyo and in washington see the plane as a necessary component, but many who live around the base don't see it that way. crowds gather day after day in front of futenma to protest against the osprey. homes surround the base, and residents worry the planes could crash. >> translator: we've been protesting so long. how could the u.s. deploy ospreys in okinawa? >> the osprey has been dogged by

accidents since the early stages of its development more than 20 years ago. one crashed in morocco in april. two marines were killed. another went down in florida in june. five crew members were hurt. u.s. air force investigators insist the accidents were caused by human error and not a flaw in design. the japanese government supported their conclusions, but that wasn't enough for residents. the arrival of the aircraft on monday drew another crowd of protesters. >> translator: i've been saying, it is out of the question to bring ospreys to such a populated area. as the governor of okinawa, i cannot allow the deployment. >> flight crews are scheduled to run the planes through low-altitude drills over the next few weeks. as they do, japan's defense minister is hoping to bring residents on side. >> translator: the government will discuss how to reduce the burden of the u.s. military

presence in okinawa, and we will continue to speak with local authorities. >> earlier, keikichi hanada spoke to nhk world's who covered this story. >> we saw tens of thousands of people turn up at the rally last month. what drives these people? >> quite simply, they fear for their safety. their houses and their children's schools are stone's throws away from the fences around the air base. many of them saw what could happen eight years ago. a u.s. helicopter crashed on the grounds of a nearby university, so they're fighting against aircraft that they see as unreliable. >> so, why did u.s. and japanese officials go ahead? >> well, they went ahead for logistic and strategic reasons. the marines have been using helicopters that are obsolete, so they need to find a replacement. on the strategic level, u.s.

military commanders are implementing a new defense strategy with more emphasis on the asia pacific region. some security analysts say they're doing so to counter china's military buildup. and that's where the osprey's advanced capabilities come in. it flies faster and five times further than the helicopters in use, and it can carry twice the load. so u.s. military leaders see the osprey as an essential tool to carry out their strategy. and japanese officials are well aware of this too. and that's why they approved the deployment. >> and how are both of those groups reacting to the local opposition? >> well, u.s. and japanese officials worked out a set of rules regarding osprey flights. for example, they said the aircraft would avoid flying over residential areas and stay above 150 meters as much as practicable. but residents say this wording

gives the planes too much leeway. for example, these pictures show osprey test flightings above residential areas in yamaguchi prefecture before coming to okinawa. residents of okinawa frequently report similar problems with other aircrafts. so there is a lack of trust. residents are focused on the osprey, but generally speaking, they have grown tired over the decades of having this military presence at the end of their streets. three quarters of the u.s. military facilities in japan are in okinawa, and if officials in washington and tokyo don't establish some kind of trust, local opposition could drive a wedge between them and could ultimately affect regional security. a senior u.s. defense official says the pentagon's first f-35 fighter jets will be deployed in asia and the pacific. >> and we will deploy the f-35 joint strike fighter to the region.

>> the f-35 is now in its final stages of development. the plane has advanced stealth functions that make radar detection difficult. japan's air self-defense force will adopt the aircraft as its next mainstay fighter jet. carter says some u.s. naval vessels, including an aircraft carrier, will be moved from the middle east to the asia pacific region as military operations in afghanistan wind down. the u.s. navy has deployed two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the western pacific. they're navigating within reach of the senkaku islands. japanese and chinese patrol boats have been squaring off near the territory in the east china sea. the "uss george washington" based in yoke sucha near tokyo and the "uss john c. stennis" based on the u.s. west coast are operating together. several vessels equipped with the aegis air definite system are run alongside them. a navy spokesperson says the fleet provides a combat-ready

force that protects and defends the collective maritime interests of the united states and its allies and partners. chinese naval commanders put their first aircraft carrier into service last week, but it has no operational aircraft and will be used for training. an international group of hackers has leaked some 120,000 bits of information it claims was stolen from the world's top universities. five japanese universities were among the hackers' targets along with harvard and cambridge. the hacker collector known as ghost shell claims it broke into systems at 100 universities and posted personal information on a website. the data stolen from the university of tokyo may contain the e-mail addresses of its staff members as well as the phone numbers and addresses of its laboratories. the university shut down its computer networks to verify the hacked evidence. the school admits it has found indications of outside intrusion

into its system and says that some e-mail addresses were leaked. [ sirens ] >> a police officer in philadelphia rushes to the scene of a crime. he doesn't start the investigation by asking questions or inspecting the site. instead, he gets hold of video from a security camera, then as quickly as possible he uploads it to youtube. social media services such as youtube and twitter are changing the way police investigate crimes. nhk world's mayumi maruyama explains. >> reporter: this footage comes from a security camera. two children walk by. a man sneaks up. he tries to snatch one of them. but she fights him off and he runs away.

soon after the police are called in, they upload the video footage to youtube. they hope viewers will supply information. >> this is just another tool that we can use that helps. we will get phone calls or tips about who the bad guys are. so it helps. >> reporter: minutes after posting the video, the police hear from a person claiming to have seen a man who looks like the suspect. six hours after the video was posted, a man turns himself in and is arrested. >> for them to make an arrest that quickly was phenomenal. >> reporter: american police departments have been using social media for about two years. economic difficulties have forced cities to cut their budgets, so police had to find new ways to investigate crime.

>> social media works. it's another tool in our arsenal and in law enforcement to solve crime. >> reporter: in may, seattle police investigated the shooting of five people in a cafe. the suspect got away. only nine minutes after the shooting, police made their first report on twitter. then a police officer at the scene started posting more details like the suspect's hair color, what he wore, and what kind of a car he used to get away. >> there is a lot of community concern. we wanted to make sure that people knew what the police department was doing to keep them safe. >> reporter: the los angeles county sheriff's department teaches staff the best way to use social media to solve crime. >> you can go back to those

creative writing classes with the understanding that you have potential civil and criminal consequences for what you write. >> reporter: they warned writers not to use racially charged language and must never post rumors. the instructor teaches the good relations with the citizens. >> you have to speak to them when there is not an emergency in order to buildi a following o when the crisis happens, that you're there and you're able to help them, and they know where to find you. >> reporter: through social media, police gain the potential help of thousands of citizens, and as relgtss between the police and public improve, criminals have less room to maneuver. mayumi maruyama, nhk world, los angeles. japan's nuclear regulation authority is considering investigating potentially active faults near nuclear plant under construction in northern japan. chairman tanaka said any doubts about false nuclear plans must

be cleared up. he said the authority may order the electric power development company to reinvestigate potentially active faults if necessary. he said regulators could decide instead to conduct an on-site investigation at the ohma plant. the remarks came two days after construction resumed at the plant. the work was suspended in the wake of last year's nuclear disaster in fukushima. managers at electric power development company say there are no active faults under the compound. but some experts have pointed out that a major active fault off the coast could trigger movement at a fault beneath the plant. the nuclear authority is already planning on-site investigation at six nuclear facilities including the ohi plant. a plant on the sea of japan coast was the first to resume operation after all react stores in the country were taken offline one by one. japanese researchers say they're closer to understanding what magnified the tsunami that struck northeastern japan last year. they believe the key was an active undersea fault.

the earth quake last march triggered tsunami that inundated large sections of the pacific coastline in the tohoku and continue tu regions. these graphics simulate how high the waves would have been based on the theory that tectonic movement caused the waves. but under this theory, waves in northern tohoku would have been much lower than 20 meters. waves of that height washed ashore last month. professor emeritus takashi ngata wanted to find out why the theory fails to explain why the tsunami were magnified. he discovered a previously undetected active undersea fault. the conventional theory was that a tectonic plate on the landward side moved drastically, triggering a five-meter tsunami. that kata simulated what would have happened if the active fault shifted along with the plate. he says researchers should pay

attention to similar undersea faults such as the nankai trough. experts predict a megaquake will occur there. these red lines are believed to be such faults running from the tokai region to off kyushu. >> i think we can more realistically prepare for disasters if we use simulations that active faults can cause tsunami. >> he says researchers need to examine the undersea faults as soon as possible. even though south korea's economy is growing fast, six out of ten graduates couldn't find work last year. many are taking matters into their own hands. nhk has the story. >> reporter: south korea's

job-recruiting season started last month. universities organized job fairs like this, hoping their students find a job. but many graduates are still frustrated. >> translator: i've given up getting work by the end of the school year, so i've been attending job fairs, hoping to land something for the following year. >> reporter: many students prefer to work for big businesses or the government because the pay and benefits are better. but the competition is fierce, so there are not enough jobs to go around. as an alternative measure, local governments and public institutions are encouraging young people to launch their own businesses. this center helps ambitious, intelligent young people realize their ideas and dreams. the seoul government opened it in 2009. it offers business lessons,

professional advice, and mentoring. financial support is also available. so far, the center has this employed about 4,000 people, and over 600 new businesses have been started. >> translator: we'll provide even more support by educating young, ambitious people at places like this and nurturing global competitiveness. >> reporter: this is one of the self-employed people the center helps. and its backing has paid off. chen's three friends launched this shop last week. the center provides $600 of funding a month. chen majored in journalism and graduated from university last february. his job search got him nowhere. later, he decided to start a business of his own.

but first, he researched by spending six months working for various franchise restaurants. >> translator: i thought that even if i fail i could try something else. after all, i'm young so, time is on my side. that's why i decided to start a business. >> reporter: choi and his partners are trying to attract customers. every morning they sell their rice bowls to university students on the street. not only do they make sales, but it's also a good way to promote their bread. one rice bowl costs about a dollar. so it's a cheap and easy way to eat breakfast for students. rice balls with brown or multigrain rice are all hand made just before serving. >> translator: well, it certainly looks nutritious and good for my health.

convenience stores don't sell anything like this, and it tastes good, too. >> translator: we started out with rice balls, but my dream is to expand our menu and sell ready-made korean meals around the world. >> reporter: with jobs still hard to find, young careerians like choi must rely on themselves to make a living. in doing so, they're changing the way young people think about employment. anna jung, nhk world, seoul. actually looks pretty good. not all young entrepreneurs are as successful as choi. some are forced to close down their business because they lack experience or suffer financial troubles. the center terminates funding after one year so, if young business people are to stay afloat, they need more long-term help.

looks like the storm has headed north. f forupdate on the forecast, here's mai shoji. mai? the good news is that the storm is heading and moving away from japan. but please do not underestimate the strong winds that this will be packing. it will still be bringing the high winds up to as much as 3 to 5 meters along the pacific side of northern japan, especially. the rest of the country, though, will be looking at some sunny and calmer weather throughout the holiday weekend, which is good news, but northern japan will have an upper disturbance that will be creating some isolated thunderstorms and some brief showers across the region, especially in the afternoon and evening hours. out towards the mariana islands, we find this little area of low-pressure system. looks like this is going to be the next tropical storm of the season. so we'll keep a very close eye on this. this one's already very well organized. we have been tracking this. this is the tropical storm kame. it's steadily moving away from

the philippines, which is some very good news. some six people have died due to this storm. but scattered showers, high storm surges and isolated thunderstorms will still be widely spread across the country. into the course of the weekend, looks like this will be tracking towards the west and heading through central vietnam, possibly making landfall in the area of don nun, possibly by saturday, and already this is bringing heavy amounts of rain over water. but if this does track towards the da nung region, flooding, mud slides and landslides will be at high risk. it looks like it will be tracking towards laos and southern thailand as the week progresses into the next 72 hours. and we already have a report of 57 millimeters in bangkok. in thailand, rainfall accumulation. so we really don't want this rainfall, but it looks like it will be headed towards that direction. bangkok at 34 degrees

temperature-wise and tokyo at 28. another hot day in this -- this time of this month. and it's 17 degrees in ulaanbaatar, already chilly up there, but things are actually more colder, much colder here in the americas. this early winter storm system is moving towards the ontario region. minnesota and also manitoba, southern ontario, you may find about 20 to 30 centimeters of snowfall accumulation, so that could actually be the first significant snowfall of the season. and that could actually accompany with some gusty conditions. gusts of 60 kilometers per hour. so it could generate blizzard, poor visibility, poor roads due to the slush and wet snow. so really dangerous driving conditions throughout into the course of the week. but things are tapering off here across much of new england, which is good news. and something else to talk about is the fall foliage. this is the outlook we have made

for you. across much of this region is where we'll find these very nice autumn leaves. i'll show you some pictures coming out from minnesota. really bright yellow and vibrant red out there, too. new york, the picture here, really nice fall foliage for you to enjoy at this time of the season. chicago at 24 degrees, but if you can look here, just single digits, winnipeg 5 and fargo at 3 degrees. now, this system is going to pull that cold front and dropping this temperature down to about 14 degrees on your saturday. and that is going to be the same story here in new york on sunday. that would probably be about single digits so, do watch out for that. here's your extended forecast. ♪

we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes.

i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us.