welcome to "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. the people's bank of china has ordered the country's banks to raise their reserves at the banks by 0.5%. the usual move left the reserves

for second time in two weeks. the order is in effect november 29th, reflects china's strong determination deal with inflation. keeping large reserves at the central bank reduces the amount of currency in circulation that theoretically restrains credit and consumer price increases. in october, china's key consumer price index rose 4.4% from a year earlier, far surpassing the government's target of 3%. concern is also mounting that inflationary pressure will increase because of a large influx of money from overseas, particularly the united states as it eases its monetary policy. an explosion ripped through a coal mine in new zealand on friday. 27 workers are missing. the blast happened near the town of atarau on the country's south island. several workers came out of the mine after the explosion. the mining company says it believes 27 others are trapped underground. rescue teams have been sent to the site. >> there has been a gas

explosion. they are trying to make the mine so they they can get in there and start looking for the miners that are there. we haven't given up hope at all. we haven't given up hope but it's a serious situation. >> the mine's main tunnel is more than two kilometers into a mountain range and around 150 meters deep. this accident comes about a month after 33 miners were rescued from a copper and gold mine in chile. a u.s. think tank has released new satellite images that it says back claims that north korea is building an experimental light water reactor. the images were taken on november 4th over the north korean nuclear complex in nyongbyong. the institute for science and international security released the images on thursday. in june, 2008, north korea demolished the cooling tower at the site as part of the process of disabling a nuclear reactor. the photos show at least two cranes at the demolition site,

indicating a new structure is under construction. the cranes were not seen in satellite images taken of the site in late september. during a recent visit to the site, a former chief of the los ael alamos national laboratory, dr. seigfried hecker, was told that they are building an experimental react. 3 the institute says hecker confirmed that the construction seen in the satellite imagery was indeed a new experimental light water reactor. the latest satellite images raise concern that north korea has begun building a reactor in defiance of its agreement to hold its nuclear development. the u.n. general assembly has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding that north korea return the people it has abducted to their home countries. the human rights committee passed the resolution by a wide margin on thursday. it was approved by 103 countries, a record number.

18 countries, including china, russia and egypt opposed the measure. 60 countries, including india, abstained. the resolution expresses serious concern about north korea's refusal to answer questions from the international community about the abductions issue. north korea's deputy ambassador to the u.n., pak tok hun, expressed concern that japan pressed developing countries to support the resolution. >> it is clear. the resolution we cannot accept. >> translator: i hope north korea will seriously acknowledge the international community's strong message and work to resolve the abduction issue. a 23-year-old japanese woman has won the piano section of this year's geneva international music competition. mami hagiwara is the first japanese to win the annual

competition. it's been held in the swiss city since 1939. in geneva, she played a piano concerto by maurice ravel in the final round on thursday. she was up against two other pianists. this shows hagiwara playing in hiroshima. she is from hiroshima and is now based in paris. she began playing the piano at the age of 5. at 13, she became the youngest winner of an international competition in italy. she received the masters degree in july from the conservatoire de paris, finishing top of her class. >> translator: i was so surprised and couldn't believe i won the competition. i didn't even notice when my name was called. the japanese government is planning to designate japan's highest mountain and the country's most famous icon as a national historical site. the cultural affairs agency

panel has recommended that mt. fuji be officially recognized as being of great importance to japanese culture. the 3,776 meter high mt. fuji is located in central japan. it's an active volcano, but still it's worshipped as the sacred mountain that continues to attract thousands of pilgrims each year. in the ancient poetry book "manyoshu," mt. fuji is defined as a pacifying deity. mt. fuji is already legally protected as a place of special scenic beauty. the new recommendation will give it additional recognition for its place in japan's history of mountain worship. >> it's so good. >> translator: i think all of the people should protect beautiful mt. fuji. next tuesday is labor day in japan, but not everybody will be celebrating. family members of individuals who died from work-related

causes are urging the government to enact a new law to restrict long working hours in this country. nhk world's atsuko iwasaki has the story. >> reporter: about 20 members of a group representing the families of those who have died from overwork met with the government official on friday. they handed them a letter which called on the government to enact a law that would help prevent deaths and illness related to working conditions. they are also appealing for an easing of regulation tan dardz for such illnesses. they want the names of companies whose employees have died of overwork to be put on the public record. the ministry said it would take the appeal seriously. overwork has been a serious social problem for decades. experts say japan's government

has found less than underdeveloped countries to address that issue. they point out that the deteriorating working conditions are now driving up the numbers of sufferers. the labor ministry says 527 people were entitled to compensation during the last fiscal year. they have been recognized as having suffered physical and mental illnesses, including stroke and depression but lawyers representing the bereaved families argue that the actual number of sufferers is much higher. >> translator: the number of people officially recognized as having died from overwork is just the tip of the iceberg. we believe that the actual figure for work-related deaths and suicides is closer to 10,000. >> reporter: after meeting with

government officials, they handed out leaflets in front of the ministry building calling for a tolerant free society. >> translator: there is an overwhelming difference in power between employees and employers complain at all. this factor is directly linked to the issue of karoshi. we want the government to enact a law that establishes decent working conditions by mobilizing the entire nation and the workers themselves. >> reporter: in the middle of the country's burgeoning economy, experts predict working conditions will worsen even more. the families who lost their loved ones now intend to start a petition to pressure the government into taking action. atsuko iwasaki, nhk world, tokyo.

most japanese consider themselves middle class. that's a tribute to the country's economic development and the relatively equal distribution of wealth, but japan's prolonged recession and unstable job market have put many families in dire economic straits. this stress is starting to take its toll on the country's children. here's how japan compares with some other eocd countries on child poverty. it shows a percentage of children who live below the poverty line. japan scored 13%, putting it in the bottom quarter of the developed world. one of the problems for children from poor families is that they don't perform well academically. these government figures compare family incomes to children's performance in standardized academic tests that shows the

poorer the parents are the lower the child's scores. in response to this alarming situation, many municipalities throughout japan are working to provide academic support for children with low income backgrounds. >> reporter: this is one of the five learning centers that started in october inside of a prefecture near tokyo. it offers free tuition for children from families on welfare. this two-hour class is for junior high school students. it takes place three times a week. the students are given private tutoring by volunteers. >> reporter: this 14-year-old girl who we'll call saori hasn't attended school since the sixth grade. her learning is still stuck at elementary level.

she lives with her mother who is in her 40s. her mother doesn't have a job due to sickness and receives welfare payments. saori's school materials are stacked in a corner of her room. she doesn't have a desk or a bookshelf. her parents have been divorced for some time. due to economic and emotional distress, her mother has cut her wrists on many occasions. saori stopped going to school because she couldn't leave her mother home alone. if it continues, she may not be able to enter senior high. this has her mother worried. >> translator: i think this is my fault. it may already be too late. but i think going to a learning center is better than nothing.

>> reporter: it's not that saori doesn't like to learn. in her spare time she studies her favorite subject, english. >> translator: if i want to go to senior high school, i need to study and get smarter. i work hard. >> reporter: saori believes that by going back to school and getting a job, she can help her mother. saitama prefecture set up its learning centers because many children from welfare families were not entering senior high school. more than 90% of children in saitama move on to the last three years of high school, but for children with parents on welfare, the number falls below 6%. this kind of gap has become common throughout japan.

this program doesn't just wait around for children to come to the learning center. staff members visit families of welfare to explain the free resources available. >> translator: we need to provide proper education for children to stop poverty carrying over to the next generation. >> earlier i spoke with ia abe from the national institute of population and social security research. she specializes in the study of poverty in japan. miss abe, thank you very much for joining us today. now we reported on a 14-year-old in saitapa. is that one of the worst examples in japan? >> well, yes, she suffer from many disadvantages, but in a way, she is lucky because she's receiving financial and tutorial assistance from the government. only a fraction of poor children in japan receive such kind of assistance today in japan.

>> and many children who, despite economic difficulties, do manage to attend schools, but they face academic challenges. what do you make of the situation? >> well, you're correct in saying that even among the children of mandatory educational age, they suffer from low academic performances, because they look basic living conditions. for example, basic parental care and guidance, nutrition, adequateousine inghousing, adeq medical care a so fort so tse tngput geer t them ia al disadvantage. >> andumis ith mng from pover in atil sufri t

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it's now very crowded at the very top. we have eight rikishi with one loss each. including the yokozuna and two . come back and see how things shape up on day seven. hi, there. miwa gardner. time to look at the world's wer. let's start off with conditions right now. friday night across parts of east asia looking to be pretty weacss southeast asia. we'll get to that in a moment. much of conditions like japan and all the way to the korean peninsula as well as central and eaercha oking okay. but it's going to be quite cold across the north. we have this area of low

pressure over mongolia, brought a great deal of snow to much of cotr that'll be pushing its way into northeastern china over the next few days, bringing with it the risk of snow as well as certainly a drop in temperatures. now i was talking about the rains across southeast asia. we'll take a look at what we can expect over the next 24 hours in indo china. ke imi, erheasfe weeks you've had intense amounts of rainfall in vietnam. more of it, unfortunately, for coastal areas. anth, ro southern portions of thailand. to the malay peninsula, looks like another wet day on hand. temperatures across the board as we head into saturday look like th. 16 in tokyo, partly cloudy for us here. 13 in seoul, a little warmer in beijing, with hi o14bu a very frigid day in ulan bator, minus 10 for the high. wa one in bangkok with 32 , an degrees. let's move on to north america. pretty quiet for much of northern mexico and the southeastern tier of t u. where we get more active is

across to the north in towards canada, and with the complex of systems out in the nthst t'ta about this here first. very strong low moving through ontario and eventually into quebec. winter weather for sure. but this one is going to be really concentrated with lots of snow involved. so we have coastal areas looking anywhere from rain -- looking at rain anywhere from northern california all the way up to say british columbia. but interior areas, looking at a great deal of the white stuff to accumulate and the temperatus are going to be very, very cold. so friday, we're looking like this across the board. let's talk about the east first. 11 in washington, 9 in new york, 6 in toronto. as we work our way further westward, seeing about 15 in denver, and 3 degrees in ncveonriy. but watch what happens saturday as that low passes. very frigid air moves through. forecast highs in vancouver, just at around freezing point. that's about 8 degrees below zero. but look at this calgary 16

degrees below zero, yourig nu162 degrees below zero, your high minus 10 degrees below zero, your high minus 16. it'll be incredibly cold. overo ro, sspiur across the board. let's see what's happening underneath this cloud. across the northern tier, looking at a little bit of cloud and rain. perhaps some sleet involved in parts of southern scandinavia and the baltic region. central europe, just very changeable right now. severe weather perhaps popping upcrs stn italy, definitely getting a good dose of moisture across southern parts of france and northeastern spain. the uk avoiding much of the messiest weather and quite sunny in fact in parts of london. 9 degrees for your high there. ng ditinern. vienna, moscow, around 6, 4 in stockholm, and another warm day in athens with a high of 22. here's your extended forecast.

and before we wrap up, we want to introduce you to the newest member of a police force in western japan, who is proving that bigger isn't necessarily better. mo he mow is a 7-year-old female chihuahua. she just passed the screening test to become a police dog. officers expect she will help with rescues in confined spaces. [ barking ] [ whistle ] starting in january, momo will be on call when needed at disasters or accidents.

>> translator: so, how do you feel about being a police dog? [ barks ] cha concludes this edition v "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo. we'll be back in 30 minutes. thanks for joining us on nhk world. jj