welcome to "newsline." it's wednesday, september 7th, 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. thousands of people heee stranded by tropical storm talas which battered western japan erhe ekd.

48 people have died and 55 others are missing. the scale of destruction is worse than the powerful typhoon in 2004 which left 98 people dead or missing. the storm dumped record amounts of rain over much of western japan. kamarecte ffedhe worst damage. at least 35 people died there. as of tuesday evening, at least 2,400 people were raedn wakayama, nara, and mie prefectures. roads have been covered by landslides and thousands of hoehdsreti who we the storm destroyed nearly 100 houses in all. reha7000om in at least 19 prefectures were flooded. mulides caused a lot of the death and destruction following the storm. the dirt and debris blocked ros d oledom villages, leaving them without water and medicine. the storm stranded people in the village of totsukawa in in a rah

prefecture. authorities made an emergency satellite phone available on nd sredes ul contact friends and family. >> translator: i want to call my daughter to tell her i'm okay. t daginotka is extensive. mudslides swept away many houses. police cleared the rubble as they searched for the missing. the surface of this dam is covered with wood, dirt, and debris. the storm also destroyed this hydroelectric plant. in all, about 20 communities in wayarecte e stnd. japan's self-defense force is providing relief supplies. a gym in one of the prefecture's villages is being used as a temporary shelter. it was also flooded. >> translator: the roads have be bck.

there's no electricity, tap water, or even any food. >> translator: this is the worst flooding i have seen in 24 ar overnight in the markets, a weaker swiss franc greeted instsysurprise. ai uchida has the latest. >> u.s. markets came back from a long weekend to be greet b a surprise move by the swiss national bank but there were also jitters in the banking sector. i hand it over to rin mellegard for details. u.s. stocks and global boerses are continuingo s a downtrend. how are tokyo stocks kicking off? >> reporter: they are coming back from public holidaynd ckgff with downward spiral on renewed concerns about eurozone debt and the surprise news by the swiss national bank. the markets hereoulee a bit of a surprise here we're seeing a major rebound for the nikkei and the topix. let's not forget that yesterday

th nke flo a two and a half year closing low and decent volume and what we're seeing is a rebound from those lows so a bit of a movingwaro t trend that we've seen in the u.s. markets overnight, and actually snapping three days of losses for the nikkei andpi the u.s. and more importantly what's going on in the eurozone will be key focus for investors here in japan on a couple of on. rsy there is a possible lawsuit from a u.s. housing agency which has named several banks including nur holdings u.s. unit in relation to mortgage-backed security sales leading up to the lehman crisis. now we've been following knnomu holdings 10%. second how all o ts i affecting the currency markets. if you look at the currency levels, how all of this volatility is affecting the yen, you can see treha t y is actually just weakened a touch there, after the swiss

national bank move actually the eo toum around 10% against the swiss franc and also we did see the dollar gaining against the yen a touch. not thatucf a move but nevertheless that may play into a rebound, if you will, for exporters today. the swi centralba's me yesterday was a bit of a surprise and market players here will definitely try to see how all of that will play through t onlyod in japan but u.s. european markets kick off today and also may pose some questions for the bank of japan as it wraps up its two-day meeting today and governor shirkawa will hold aews conference but for now the nikkei up over 150 points. back to you. >> thanks a lot, ramin, that was our reporter ramin melgard from the tokyo stox exchange. toshiba will acquire an

additional 20% stake in its subsidiary u.s. nuclear power plantmaker westinghouse electric. the purchase of nearly $1.7 billion worth of shares from u.s. engineering and construction firm shaw group will raise toshiba stock group to 87%, if completed. but toshiba says it's considering selling part of its stake to firms who could help expand its business overseas in emerging economies where demand for nuclear power is still strong. toshiba says several companies have expressed interest in acquiring shares of westinghouse. japanese business leaders agreed with china's vice premier to boost cooperation between the two firms in two countries. on tuesday a delegation met chinese vice premier li qing. in the meeting japan and china

agreed to boost bilateral cooperation for technological advances in environmental and energy saving technologietechno. japan asked the chinese government to drop its export restrictions on rare earth metals. however, li said the measure is intended to protect the environment and is in step with measures taken by many other nations. he asked japanese companies to come to china to develop products using rare earth metals. and now let's get your recap of the latest market figures.

that's all for this hour in business. now it's back to catherine >> thanks very much, ai. levels of dioxin exceeding the safety standards have been found in rivers and groundwaters in three prefectures hit by the march 11th disaster. the ministry found dioxin levels at six locations as well as in groundwaters in fukushima. the discovery does not pose any immediate risks to human health but it will continue to monitor the toxic chemical. an nhk survey shows that more than half of the people who fled fukushima prefecture after

the march 11th disaster think it will be hard for them to return home. nhk surveyed 187 people living in shelters or temporary housing, both inside and outside the prefecture. compared to their feelings right after the disaster, 43% said they believe more strongly that they won't be able to go home, while 26% say they feel a stronger desire to go back. and 11% said that they are resolved not to go back to their homes. asked why they feel they won't be able to return, many cited what they saw on their temporary visits back home. houses, deserted towns and high radioactivity levels. asked what they want from the government, 43% said thorough decontamination of the soil and 19% said they want the government to purchase their property. many respondents apparently want the government to restore their land to its predisaster state or otherwise support them so they can move elsewhere.

japan's agriculture, forestry and fishery ministry has found ways to reduce radiation in rice fields near the damaged fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. one meth hod has been to scrape off the contaminated topsoil from dry paddies. another involves moving the soil while it's stirred in paddies with water. radioactive cesium per kilogram of soil was reduced from more than 10,000 becquerels down to around 2,000 or 3,000. these figures fall within the government's guideline of under 5,000 becquerels for rice planting. these methods will be used in only selected fields in the prefecture. the ministry will request funding from an extra budget planned for the current fiscal year.

>> the march 11th disaster. the september 11th attacks. two anniversaries, one source for in-depth coverage. jane nhk world. our programming continues all week, then on sunday, september 11th we'll mark the anniversaries, 2:30 p.m. japan time for the 13/11 disaster, 9:40 p.m. for the 9/11 attacks. >> that's right, all this week "newsline" brings you 9/11, defining a decade, on september 11th, 2001, the twin towers of new york's world trade center collapsed after terrorists flew two hijacked airplanes into them. in the third part of our series, we meet an american artist born in japan. she made a sculpture out of the steel from the towers' wreckage and as our correspondent mikie bana reports, the steel holds special meeting for the sculptor.

>> reporter: miya ando, a new york based artist works with steel. she has created a sculpture made from steel columns salvaged from ground zero. the force of the collapse left the steel pieces, many longer than ten meters, twisted and broken. over 100,000 tons of steel were retrieved from the site. after a decade, pieces were distributed, free of charge, to many locations in the u.s. and around the world, to build memorials. a london group commissioned miya to create the sculpture. at first she felt the work would be daunting. the daughter of an american father and a japanese mother, she was inspired by the fact that a lot of the steel in the twin towers came from japan.

a u.s. government report says almost half the steel was produced by major japanese producers at the time. >> some of it is from japan, it's even more meaningful to myself, as a japanese and american heritage. >> reporter: this steel from ground zero was coated by rust. but after sanding and polishing it, miya made the material reflect like a mirror. miya had seen to it that no one could miss the gleaming surface. >> good morning. >> hi. >> reporter: what does steel from ground zero mean to whose who lost their loved ones? on this day mia met lee ielpi, a

griever. he lost his son, jonathan, a firefighter. three months after the attacks, jonathan's body was found amid the steel rubble. >> just piles of steel and in between is where all of the people, the remains are, so they'll come and they'll hold it. we can make tomorrow better. and pieces like your piece and the memorials all around the world, they will do better, your piece. >> reporter: miya spent almost half the year polishing this place to give it a mirror like finish. >> inside of that exists something that is incredibly refined, as a metaphor, for transformation of the tragedy, perhaps we can find something peaceful.

>> reporter: the steel plate, wrecked by the attacks ten years ago, will reflect the light from the sky. miya hopes that people will recognize her work as an expression of hope for peace, the world over. mikia bara, nhk world, new york. >> miya's sculpture was set up in london on monday. the uk lost over 60 people in the attack. next in our series 9/11, defining a decade a report from new york on how family members have been dealing with grief over the loss of their loved ones. prime minister yoshihiko noda made his first official phone call to leaders of china, south korea and russia on tuesday. during a conversation with wen jiabao the two agreed their

relationship is one of the most bilateral ties. they decided to cooperate on post-disaster reconstruction and culturally exchange. with south korean president lee myung bak they'll agree to a partnership on free trade and investment and the two agreed their nations should work closely with the united states on north korea's nuclear program and its abductions of japanese nationals. while speaking with russian president dmitry medvedev, noda said japan and russia should resolve territorial issues involving the russian held islands north of japan. the two countries need to conclude a peace treaty. the two leaders agreed to take every opportunity to continue discussions. south korea is to ask china and other nations to exercise restraint in investing in north korea's mt. kumgang tourism project. the joint project between the two koreas was suspended after a south korean tourist was shot dead by a north korean soldier

three years ago. north korea is determined to continue the project to earn foreign currency. it has been calling on chinese and other foreign investors to help fund the project after losing south korea as a partner. last month north korea held a trial run of a ferry service for chinese tourists who want to visit mt. kumgang. the north gave south korea's hyunadi group the rights to develop the tourist area and the involvement of other parties would constitute a violation of international law. libya's interim rulers have taken control of a town that was a stronghold for loyalists of ousted leader moammar al gadhafi. a senior official of the national transitional council says leaders in bani walid agreed to a surrender on tuesday. the peaceful handover happened

after negotiations. the town is 150 kilometers southeast of the capital tripoli. the ntc said gadhafi may have been holding out there. thousands of anti-gadhafi forces have advanced near the town. there are now only a few areas still controlled by gadhafi loyalists including his hometown of sirte. meanwhile, the ntc says it has confirmed that a convoy of more than 200 pro-gadhafi vehicles crossed the border in niger monday night. it's not known if the convoy included gadhafi but reuters news agency voted a military source as saying that gadhafi might join the convoy in route. the country has offered him asylum. japanese astronaut satoshi furukawa has taken part in an experiment to test a health checkup system being developed for the international space station. furukawa, who is a medical doctor, underwent a checkup

using the system in the space station's japanese experimental module kibo. the new system collects data including brain waves, electrocard elecocard electrocardiograms and dingtgit images to create electronic health records. it was confirmed he has no health records. >> translator: it's not easy for people without basic medical knowledge to judge their health condition. >> at the moment doctors assess the health of people on the space station once a week through interviews via video phone, but if astronauts travel to the moon, mars and more distant planets in the future, they will have to check their health by themselves. in cambodia, one of only a

handful of witnesses to some of the worst atrocities committed by the khymer rouge died. the regime led by pol pot was led in the 1970s. van nat who died monday aged 66 was an artist and former political prisoner. his paintings highlighted the brutality of the khymer rouge. >> reporter: this is what remains of the prison in phenom penh. the building had once been a high school back in more peaceful times. but it was turned into a prison but it was turned into a prison in the the swiss national bank has set a ceiling on the franc. tthe ththep ththe

stor stood stood in tst. more than 10,000 were killed in the region. van nat was one who survived. he painted pictures denouncing the brutal acts he saw and experienced. they showed images of torture by electric shock and the chained corpses of inmates. van naa tess accounts of the atrocities were covered by media at home and abroad. >> translator: in the prison i was hit by a shoe so hard my eyes almost came out of my head. the only thing i want is justice. in the court for my friends who

died because of the violence. >> reporter: the former chief of the prison to 35 years in jail for involvement in torture and murder. but the defendant has appealed against his sentence. after 11 days in a coma, one of only three remaining survivors of a notorious pol pot era prison has passed away. nath didn't live to see the justice he waited for for more than 30 years. hphin chanda, nhk world, phnom penh. welcome back to your weather update. looking at the weather in east

asia first of all. looking at some rain lingering in northern japan. we've got a couple of lows from the tropical storm systems. they're still while weakening, bringing in plenty of showers today to the hokkaido northern japan area as well as the southeast corner of russia.. although it won't completely dry out until we head into thursday. nonetheless, those showers will gradually ease. so that at least is good news. meanwhile over toward china it's starting to look a lot wetter for the central tier. more showers heading eastward. inland areas will get a slight chance of moderate falls over the course of today. you do want to watch out for that. otherwise it's going to be widespread. but shouldn't be too heavy. now towards the southeast, the philippines will be looking at showers as well as the indochina peninsula. here's a look at highs for you. 31 is your high in manila. 33 expected in taipei today. 29 for shanghai. and getting up to 27 in seoul. tokyo expecting up to 31. on the warm side but not quite so humid and sticky today.

over towards the americas, on the atlantic we're looking at this batch of clouds here. this will be a hurricane system. although it is on a weakening trend. it looks like it's going to remain well offshore. we may see stronger surf on the coastline the next few days. you do want to watch out for that. of course along the eastern seaboard you've been dealing with all that rain. it is still with us again today. here's the remnant low from tropical storm lee. and near that, that's where we're going to see some of the heaviest falls tonight, as well as chance of stronger storms. watch out for strong to severe thundershowers. all that rain is going to be heading northward. so still not quite out of the woods yet for the new england states and the mid-atlantic region, too, will be looking pretty west. out west largely dry. symptom showers showing up in the four corners states. it looks like it's going to miss much of texas, unfortunately. so dry conditions persisting in the state. there has been wildfires breaking out, a very serious

situation here. houston expecting highs up to 32 degrees on wednesday. not that extreme heat that we've been seeing all summer long, but still a warm picture here. and over towards the west coast things have been heating up. 36 the high in l.a. and seattle up to 28 degrees as well. it's been a cool summer he. finally as we head into september it's getting a bit hotter. and finally a look at europe here. still pretty messy picture out west. we have several well-developed systems bringing in the wet and windy weather. it has been stormy across the british isles. spreading eastward. and even behind it it's not going to dry out too much. not really too much across the british isles either. as for those highs, looking at 18 in moscow. same in warsaw. much cooler conditions here, but

athens still up to 30 degrees. quite hot. and madrid in at 32. summer still hangs on here. all right. that's a look at your weather for now. here is your three-day outlook.

the parents of an american teacher killed in the march 11th tsunami have donated books to a school in ishinomaki where she taught english. andy and jean anderson are in japan to mark the six-month milestone of the disaster that killed their daughter, taylor. she was an english teacher from virginia. her parents visited the elementary school to present about 20 books to the new taylor anderson reading corner, named after their daughter. the collection was assembled with donations from japan and the united states. it includes taylor's favorite books in english. >> so her gift to you is not just these books. part of her gift to you is a way for you to learn what your dreams are.

>> the andersons plan to donate books to six more schools where she taught. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.