hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, october 11th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. nato ministers are sticking to a scheduled withdrawal from afghanistan by the end of 2014. the organization is under

pressure to pull out early after a string of insider attacks against its troops. defense ministers from nato's 28 member nations met in brus els on wednesday. about 100,000 nato-led soldiers are stationed in afghanistan, mostly from the u.s. some nations want to speed up the pull out of the soldiers. but they confirm no changes to the withdrawal plan. ministers insist military police control an area covering three-quarters of the country's population. they also agree to draw up plans to train to handle the aftermath of the combat troop withdrawal. nato secretary general insisted the schedule is based on objective assessments of the situation in afghanistan. >> it's not because partners rush for the exit. it's not because of lack of cohesion within our coalition. on the contrary.

>> but relations between nato-led forces and afghanistan have been strained by insider attacks. afghan military and police, or people wearing afghan uniforms, have killed more than 50 foreign soldiers this year. people in north korea are marking the 67th anniversary of the founding of the ruling workers party. it's the first time the new leader, kim jong un, has overseen the celebrations. north koreans lined up on the hill in pyongyang to offer flowers in front of statues of the late heads of state kim il-song. kim visited the palace where his father and grandfather lie in state. an editorial called to unite under the new leader to show authority and power. it said the party is capable of

accomplishing anything. experts believe north korea's new regime hopes to tighten its control of the country, while strengthening the role of the party. european leaders have put their heads together over an over again to try to fix the problems they share. still economists at international monetary fund say they need to do more to ease concerns about their debt. the imf released its semiannual report on the stability of the global financial system. it said the risks to stability are on the rise. nhk world's ron madison is covering the imf world bank meetings here in tokyo. >> european leaders find themselves in a sense of debt deja vu. they've wrestled together and separately to solve budget problems. once again, they find themselves listening to some advice. >> the choice today is between making the necessary, but tough, policy and political decisions or delaying them once more in the false hope that time is on our side.

it is not. >> he and his colleagues handed in the imf's checkup on the world's financial health. they pointed to no one's surprise, to the malaise in europe. although significant new efforts by european policy makers have allayed investors' biggest fears, they wrote, the euro area crisis remains the principle source of concern. he said member nations need to do their part toward stability. he said weak banks need to restructure their finances. policy makers need to build stronger fire walls and need to establish a banking union with a single supervisor. >> there is already an agreement at the political level to have a banking union in place. the first step towards that is the creation of a single supervisory mechanism for the euro area banks. this is something that should happen without delay. >> reporter: he said what has happened in europe should serve as an example for financial

leaders in the united states and here in japan. he said waiting until strains become clear leads to financial turmoil and harsher outcomes. ron madison, nhk world, tokyo. people around the world are feeling the effects of the global economic slowdown, but the poor and the young feel it more. ron madison joins us again. he spoke with managing director of the world bank about what can be done to lessen the burden millions share. >> reporter: some region developing the fastest are seeing some of the worst cases of poverty, significant portions of the populations living in poverty. that figure is expected to decline in 2013 from 2010. but still fully 24.5% according to world bank figures are going to be living on about $2 a day. what more now needs to be done to address poverty? >> i think in the next ten years they acquire a lot of risks. first we may be difficult to expect the same strong growth in the next decade. second one, the quality of

growth needs to be improved. how we will make each face growth will pull poverty out from the poverty level more and that will nip the design of the growth, which is much different. >> world bank has raised concerns about the rising cost of food around the world. how much of an impact will this be having on the global economy? >> this is the continuous concern for us because food prices hit the poor directly and immediately. that is why we have already in the past three years put the food price as the highest priority to address. the policy for many countries in order for them to protect the poor is to build the social safety net. that is the first immediate response that needs to actually become the highest priority. the medium and long term is more how to invest more on increasing productivity and that has become

a very tough issue because a lot of developing countries has not become organized. it will change the land for agriculture so irrigation, producttivity in seed and productivities is also needed. >> another thing we are seeing is high unemployment among the younger generation around the world. how concerned are you about this trend? >> we are very concerned. in fact the report this year is actually about job. in the next decade we need to create 600 million new jobs especially for a country with a younger demographic composition. like us here, subsahara africa, that problem is becoming even more. youth unemployment is the reason for the arab spring revolutions that happened. it is just another message that it is not only the level of growth which is important, but how growth that can create a decent job because job create the quality of life and respectable for society.

we see the recommendation will be first on a policy level the microstability is needed. that is the necessary condition not sufficient. second one on the labor policy, they required to have a policy that will create more equality of job. and the third one is more affirmative policy that needs to be created in order to address a very specific local need. i think that will be an area which is going to be an option for the policymaker. >> thank you. >> thank you. all right, top imf and world bank representatives spent their day on wednesday talking about risks of a different kind. they traveled to a disaster mitigation conference in northeastern japan, the region that bore the brunt of last year's earthquake and tsunami. officials say it's in everyone's interest to better manage the threats posed by nature and say

the people in japan have a lot of lessons to share. nhk world reports. >> reporter: world bank president and christine lagarde took a break from the meeting room they often frequent and went on a field trip. they visited the coastal areas around sendai. last year's tsunami washed ashore here, and it almost washed away this elementary school. the principal explained to lagarde and kim how children, teachers, and local residents survived the disaster by following the evacuation plan they had prepared. >> translator: i ordered children in the classrooms and schoolyard to evacuate to the rooftop. >> reporter: he said before last year's disaster, administrators and community members had

decided to evacuate to the roof in the event of an energy because the building is the highest in the surrounding area. the conversation about disaster preparedness continued at the sendai dialogue. world bank and japanese officials released a joint statement after the meeting. it urges governments and related organizations to incorporate disaster risk management in old development policies. >> we need to foster a culture of prevention. it's so much more cost effective to invest in the prevention of damage from disasters than it is to invest in -- to wait and have to pay the cost of reconstruction. >> reporter: kim points to japan as a model for mitigating the damage caused by disasters. and japanese officials say they are ready to share what they

know. >> translator: in order to build a disaster resistance society, we want to provide what japan has developed on disaster prevention, such as know how, technologies, and human resources. through that, we want to contribute to international society. >> reporter: world bank representatives say more money is spent on disaster response and recovery than preparation and prevention. they note the impact of disasters, especially on the poor, is growing. they argue investing in risk management could help reverse this trend, saving lives and money. terui, nhk world, sendai. and we'll take you to the imf world bank gathering here in tokyo a little later in the day. we'll have live updates from the tokyo international forum at 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. japan time. that's midnight and 7:00 a.m. in new york. 5:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. in

london. let's take a look at the market figures. japanese businesses have been feeling the impact of a heated political dispute with china. chinese have boycotted their products because japan nationalized a group of islands in the east china sea, but that boycott doesn't appear to be having an impact on at least one popular product. one of asia's biggest flower expeditions is underway near tokyo. many chinese businesses are

participanting, despite the dispute over the senkaku islands, which japan controls and china's claim. >> translator: i admire the technology. >> translator: business relations have not been affected much. >> the flower show has attracted producers and traders from 25 countries. organizers say 45 chinese companies are participating in the fair, as initially planned. japanese companies have been trying to expand their sales in china. on the road ahead this week, we're looking at the roads people have traveled since the start of japan's nuclear crisis. the fukushima daiichi forced thousands to flee the towns and cities around the plant. some foreign residents ended up leaving japan, but many have returned to the places they once called home. nhk world tracks one woman's

journey. >> bear, brown bear. >> brown bear. >> reporter: jones is from texas. ♪ >> reporter: she's teaching english in elementary and junior high schools. she was first drawn to japan by its natural beauty and culture. on march 11th last year, she was in the teachers' room at her high school when she found the most intense earthquake she'd ever experienced. she left the school and went home. sara speaks some japanese, but she couldn't make out the insistent announcement on the tv. she looked up the word and it

meant evacuation. she's close to the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant, and the residents were being ordered to flee. she took shelter at the elementary school more than 60 kilometers from town. >> i evacuated with people. i was the only foreigner here, and no one spoke english, so it's a little lonely, i think. >> reporter: in her notebook, sarah recorded information from the disaster from the news as well as observations of life at the shelter. she met some of her students and said she was surprised by how they behaved. >> most students were helping watch the little ones or help the old persons.

everyone was having a very rough time themselves, but i was impressed they also cared about the person next to them. >> reporter: she moved from shelter to shelter, but a week after the disaster, having no job to go to, she had to return to america. ten months later, sarah learned the elementary schools were hiring english teachers. she explains to her family that radiation was not that much of a risk. eventually, they let her return. >> after living here, i really came to love fukushima and the people that are here. when i found that they had an opening, i was very excited that i might get to come back. >> reporter: the evacuation order is still enforced. six months since returning, she

delivers food and other goods to evacuees. >> i think as a foreigner, it's a very good chance to show the people here that the world cares about japan. >> reporter: during her time here, she wants to make things a bit easier for those who can't go home. eventually, she will head back to the u.s., but ask her when that will be and she says she doesn't know. kenichi mori, nhk world. students in tokyo have held a memorial for japanese freelance reporter mika yamamoto. she was killed in august while covering the conflict in syria. yamamoto taught journalism there for the past four years. the students showed a film featuring interviews with her family members. her father says she continued to report from war zones despite many difficulties.

yamamoto's friends, including journalists and writers, spoke about her. they hoped her messages would continue to speak to society. >> translator: as far as i can, i want to follow yamamoto's strong convictions and her self-imposed mission to work hard. >> yamamoto reported from syria, afghanistan, iraq, and kosovo. she focused her stories on women and children. mika yamamoto was 45. monks in thailand are trying to deal with an occupational hazard. the countries high percentage of

buddhists gives them donations out of respect, but those gifts are becoming a weighty burden. nhk world reports. >> reporter: thailand's monks are seeking a solution. the problem comes from the diet. they urgently mean to lose weight. a 41-year-old monk at a buddhist temple in the suburbs of bangkok. his morning routine involves making rounds of the neighborhood to ask for arms. he receives offers of food at nearly every stop. they used to be mainly simple, homemade dishes, but that's changing as thailand becomes richer. higher calorie items, such as sweets and meat prepared outside the home, are being offered.

by tradition, monks are supposed to eat everything they receive, but there's just too much. over 13 years, he gained 50 kilograms. he suffers from hypertension and diabetes. >> translator: people would be disappointed if i didn't eat. what else can i do but eat as much as i can? >> reporter: on weekends, even more dishes arrive. followers deliver an assortment of meat, fried food, and other delicacies to the temple. they believe the food will reach the an ses sors and other deceased relatives when it's eaten by monks. >> translator: i made an offering for my deceased child and parents. >> translator: i hear the delicious food people bring to the temple makes monks suffer

from hypertension or high cholesterol levels. even so, i want to make a delicious offering. >> reporter: a recent survey showed nearly half of the country's monks are overweight. a hospital for monks in bangkok launched a program in mai to fight obesity. it's designed to help overweight monks shed weight. paitat signed up for the course. monks are prohibited to exercising, even jogging is forbidden, so they are encouraged to stretch to lose weight. >> translator: monks have a duty to start to diet. many of them suffer from

diabetes, so they can't carry out their religious duties properly. >> reporter: pairat tries to avoid meat and fried foods, choosing vegetables and rice. after every meal, he goes into a private room and stretches. out collecting arms, he wears a pe come ter. his goal is to walk three kilometers, instead of one kilometer he used to cover. >> translator: i used to need a few days of rest after i made the rounds, but now i feel all right. if i'm healthy, i can go anywhere and collect offerings and chant sutras in a forceful voice. i want to continue religious activities as long as possible.

>> reporter: thailand's booutdist monks support the nation. they show faith by showering them with offerings. staying trim, while accepting generosity with a full heart. nhk world, bangkok. all right, well many people in northeastern japan may eat in today. residents there are dealing with stormy weather. sayaka mori joins us now with the world weather forecast. sayaka, what's the latest? >> yes, catherine, a strong system in front approaching the northern half of japan, starting to produce lots of thunderstorms. we have reports of 30-millimeter rain per hour, with gusts of 80 kilometers per hour. already stormy, but things will get even worse as the storm swings through the northern half of japan. we are expecting as much as 90 millimeters of rain to fall in the next 24 hours. that's quite a lot for these regions.

in addition to that, tornados and hail are possible into your tonight. as for the rest of japan, looking dry, but as you can see, the osaka and toku areas will be seeing showers today. out west, dry across the korean peninsula and china, but southwestern china will continue to deal with light showers. down towards the south, this low was once tropical storm kami, still hovering. today the heaviest rain is going to be found bangladesh, northwestern india, and myanmar. northwest, monitoring the typhoon. it will continue to move at a slow pace, that means rough sea conditions will prolong across luzon, the eastern half of taiwan, as well as okinawa islands. waves could reach 5 meters today. and it's going to continue to move at a slow pace, so again, rough seas conditions will

continue. and it could move through the okinawa islands or taiwan early next week. we'll keep you posted on the storm's progress. temperatures are looking like this. quite warm for this time of year, tokyo at 26 degrees. looking at 19 degrees in seoul, but out towards the west, 8 degrees, should be cooling down into minus 2 degrees as we head into your friday. all right, finally let's go over to the americas. lots of wintery precipitation across canada, but this low has been dumping heavy snow in southern kwoou beck and other parts of kwoou beck. as much as 20 centimeters of snowfall here, north dakota and minnesota may be seeing a mixture of rain and snow. down towards the south, a big dome of high pressure is in place in the eastern half of the

u.s. that means clear conditions and also frosty conditions across the appalachians, ohio valley, and tennessee valley tonight. out west, slow-moving upper cold low is creeping over southern california, bringing coastal rain and inland snow. temperatures are looking like this, cooler than average in los angeles with a high of 20 degrees on your thursday. meanwhile, another chilly day for you in winnipeg with a high of only 7. and out towards the east, below average along the eastern seaboard, 14 degrees in new york city. down towards the south, warming up to 31 in houston and 28 in oklahoma city. all right, that's it for me now, and here's your extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. hope you join us again.