this edition of "newsline." it's thursday 22nd, 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. yoshihiko noda and president barack obama have agreed to further develop the two countries' alliance. in their first meeting in new york, they agreed to continue efforts to proceed with the plan to relocate a u.s. air base in okinawa. nhk world has more on that. >> reporter: noda had his first face-to-face talks with obama on wednesday on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly meeting. the talks lasted for about half an hour. >> translator: i would like to thank on behalf of the japanese people the great assistance extended by the u.s. military to help japan recover from the march 11th disaster. >> i want to welcome prime minister noda and his delegation to new york city and to the united states.

for what i'm sure will be an excellent working relationship with the prime minister, as well as his team. >> reporter: during the talks, obama reiterated that japan is one of the closest allies of the united states, and that the alliance should be updated for the 21st century. noda told his counterpart that u.s. assistance after the march 11th disaster reconfirmed his belief that the bilateral alliance is the cornerstone of japanese diplomacy. the two leaders also discussed the issue of relocating a u.s. marine corps air station in okinawa from a densely populated area to a less populated coastal area. noda pledged that japan will continue to do all it can to in

support of okinawan residents for the relocation plan with the existing code between the two countries. obama said he hopes complete progress will be made on the issue they also shared the view that japan and the united states should make efforts while keeping their economies going in order to stabilize the global economy. >> the meeting was a good opportunity to build a personal relationship with president obama. >> reporter: the meeting was seen as a chance to improve relations with the united states which became strained after talks on the relocation issue stalled. noda is now under pressure to resolve the issue. nhk world, new york.

world leaders have begun addressing the united nations general assembly in new york. among the issues up for discussion are nuclear safety and peace in the middle east. u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon opened the session on wednesday by referring to the nuclear accident at the fukushima daiichi plant. >> nuclear accidents do not respect national borders. we need strong international safety standards to prevent the future disasters. >> u.s. president barack obama expressed his objection for palestinian's bid for full u.n. membership. he said the country's independence will only be achieved through dialogue with israel, and that there can be no shortcut. the debates at the assembly will continue until next tuesday. north and south korean officials have met but failed to narrow differences on ways to

resume the six-party talks on the north's nuclear programs. north and south korean delegates to the six-party talks ended their first meeting in two months in beijing on wednesday. at the meeting, south korea insisted that the north first halt its uranium enrichment program and take other steps toward denuclearization before having the six-party talks resume. north korea wanted the talks to resume immediately without any preconditions. afterwards, a south korean official told reporters that the meeting was significant in that they were able to resolve some of the doubts and misunderstands between the two sides. the official also said that his government hopes to hold talks with the united states ahead of a planned u.s.-north korea dialogue next month. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami.

"nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't watch "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." typhoon roke has torn through japan's main island honshu. it also caused widespread damage. it made landfall and turned northeast through honshu, bringing heavy rain and strong linds. officials say landslides hit many areas. the water level of rivers in central japan has been rising significantly. authorities have ordered or advised about 150,000 people to evacuate their homes.

this man shows just how strong the winds were when they blew through toyohashi city in aichi prefecture. typhoon roke has slowed transportation across much of japan. airlines canceled more than 600 domestic flights at tokyo's haneda airport and the central chubu airport. many international flights have also been affected. the storm plowed through tokyo earlier on wednesday evening. as much as 30 millimeters of rain fell in one hour. strong gusts of wind made getting around the capital tough. rail officials suspended many trains for several hours. tens of thousands of people were stranded. >> this is incredible.

the wind knocked a 12-meter tree down near nhk's studio in the shibuya district. the trunk crashed onto the back of a taxi. typhoon roke also left many people in the dark. it knocked out power to about 170,000 households across japan. joining us now is saki ochi from the weather desk with the very latest on roke. so saki, how much longer is this storm going to be with us? >> right. well, it is racing northward right now, and it has been a potent storm system, really not losing a lot of its intensity, even after making landfall. so we've been hearing of these heavy rains and strong gusts. now they're starting to impact more northern areas of japan. gusts of up and over 160 kilometers already recorded here, as well as rainfall amounts well into the 200 to 300 millimeters. so it's been potent, and there's still more to come. there's still a lot of rain hanging on mainly across the northern portions in hokkaido as well but there's still just a

lot of instability in the air. showers are going to be prevalent across the country today. so you do want to watch out for those additional showers. ground's already quite saturated. so flooding, landslides are going to remain a threat throughout today. now, typhoon roke is just about to pass right through the eastern end of hokkaido. through the course of today. then ending up over toward open waters as we head through the day by thursday, should be looking a lot calmer. >> thanks very much, saki. typhoon roke caused problems across much of tokyo's transportation system. thousands of commuters who wanted to get around or get out of the city could only do one thing -- wait. the busy shibuya station came to a standstill. stranded passengers jammed the corridors. rail officials strung up ropes in front of ticket gates. some people made phone calls. others asked station workers for

information. >> translator: almost all train services in tokyo have been suspended. i don't know what to do. >> translator: i left work earlier, but it was no use. >> some stranded commuters decided the wait just wasn't worth it. >> translator: i think it'll take me about an hour to get home on foot. >> people formed long lines for taxis at the main train station in tokyo's business district, shimbashi. >> a taxi comes every 20 to 30 minutes. they're rarely here. workers at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant have taken precautions against the typhoon. strong winds and rain forced the suspension of work to cover one of the reactor buildings. workers also halted the effort to install steel plates in the water intake area of the troubled plant.

the workers secured with ropes the piping and pumps used for injecting water into the reactors. tokyo electric power company says rainwater has flowed into the basement of a reactor turbine building. the firm also found leaks in a central control room. but it says no serious damage has been discovered. more heavy rain is expected in the area through noon thursday. but tepco says radioactive waste water is unlikely to overthrow from the reactor turbine buildings. japan has announced an additional aid package worth $10 million for flood-stricken pakistan. the announcement comes after the united nations on sunday called for $350 million from the international community. japan's ambassador to pakistan, hiroshi oe, informed the head of pakistan's international disaster management facility

zaffar kadir about the assistance on wednesday. earlier this month the japanese government provided $450,000 workout of supplies in emergency aid. pakistan has been hit by heavy monsoon rains this year that have killed 360 people and displaced more than 8 million people. the worsening hygiene situation and the possible spread of infectious diseases is raising concern among health workers. the u.s. central bank has taken on another round of easing measures. for details of the plan and market reaction, ai joins us. what can you tell us? >> thanks a lot, catherine. very good morning. let's get you the details first. the u.s. federal reserve plans to sell $400 billion in short-term securities to buy longer-term ones as part of the efforts to stimulate the faltering economy. the decision on the purchase, dubbed "operation twist," was made at the two-day federal open market committee that ended on wednesday. a fed statement released after the meeting said that the economic growth remains slow and that there are significant down

side risks to the outloo including strains in global financial markets. the committee decided to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities. $400 billion of treasury securities in the 6 to 30-year maturity range and sell an equal amount of treasuries with the maturity of three years or less. the fed says the aim is to put downward pressure on long-term interest rates. the committee added that it will reinvest profits from matured real estate-backed securities in the market to continue its supply of funds. for a closer look at those moves by the federal reserve, we spoke to michelle mayer, senior u.s. economist at bank of america/merrill lynch global research. >> an active operation twist through the middle of next year is significant. the timing i think is particularly important because it shows that the fed believes the economy will continue to

warrant accommodation through the middle of next year. so they're preparing for a pretty weak trajectory of growth. i also think that types of purchases that they decide to do is significant. it's a much longer duration than we would have thought. so they're really trying to flatten out the curve. even with today's fed action i still think the economy warrants additional support from the fiscal front. however, i think it's very unlikely we'll see significant action given the debate that's happening in washington about what appropriate policy would be. in terms of the economic recovery, i'm still quite worried about the pace of recovery. i think there's downside versus growth. our current view is that there's a 40% chance the economy will fall back into recession over the next 12 months. i still think that's probably a reasonable assumption, despite today's action from the fed. new york stocks plunged on wednesday after the federal reserve said there's significant

down side risk to the economy. the dow jones industrial average ended the day at 11,124. that's down 283 points, or as who were of almost 2.5%. sell orders were placed on a wide range of issue, but bank shares plummeted. this happened after the fed released a statement expressing concern about a significant economic down side risk following a federal open market committee meeting. market sources say investors were expecting the plan but they still doubt how effective it will be on the economy. and now let's get a check on japanese shares. and to see how things are kicking off at the tokyo stock exchange, we cross over to ramin mellegard. good morning to you. markets not too impressed by the central bank's move. how are things looking at the open? >> very good morning to you. not impressed at all.

the nikkei and the topix following that. having a look at the opening levels this thursday morning, the nikkei down by over 100 points and the topix down by almost 9 points. and that's reflecting the overall global sentiment by the move by the fed yesterday. after we used the words significant downside risk referring to the u.s. economy. the fed were expecting markets to extend the purchase of u.s. treasuries known as the operation twist after a similar move back in the '60s. but markets were also hoping for something a little extra, a twist and a turn, if you will, as the markets were saying that the fed's move was maybe not enough really to boost the economy after some of the steps that it's just taken. and the financial sector really reflected that. it was the heaviest hit sector in the u.s. we're going to be watching out for stocks here as well. that's followed the fomc meeting and followed downgrades of three

major u.s. banks, bank of america, wells fargo and citigroup. bank of america was down by 7.5%. you can see the market reflecting on those moves there. now moving on to currency markets, the yen remains strong against the basket of currencies, and especially against the dipped under 104, currently trading just around 104 yen levels. and it was trading below that during new york stock trading and earlier in tokyo as well. as i said, they're now around 104. sticking to the mid 76 yen range against the dollar. and that's after the dollar actually bounced a touch following the fomc meeting as there was no real move to increase money supply, which usually means the currency should weaken. now perhaps there might be some focus on what, if anything, the bank of japan now may do to counter that strong yen. t's not forget it's already intervened twice this year. now markets are going to be closed here on friday. so i'll be back on monday with

all the latest stock updates. for now, the nikkei down over 100 points. back to you. >> all right, ramin, see you again on monday that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. the nikkei down 1.2% for now. that is all in business news. back to catherine. >> thank you very much, ai. the so-called arab spring in yemen will likely stretch into fall, perhaps longer. anti-government demonstrators and security forces have been fighting for months now. presidents want saleh to resign, but he is refusing to give in as he recovers in neighboring saudi arabia from an assassination attempt. we wanted to take you inside this troubled country. an nhk crew travelled to yemen during the summer to hear from both sides in this violent conflict. reporter keenan mussa filed this story. >> reporter: tensions remain high in yemen's capital sanaa, where reactions between

government forces and opposition forces continue intermittently. the district where the government buildings have been destroyed in fierce battles. some of the buildings are abandoned and government functions have been partly paralyzed. as military clashes continue, anti-government demonstrations are being held throughout the country. with people demanding immediate resignation of president saleh. this is t square in capital sanaa. reaching up five kilometers away. in the heart of yemeni capital, tens of thousands of citizens have set up camp there to protest against the government. pictures of peopleho died in

military are posted. more than 500 people have been killed in such track-downs by the government. mohamud ibrahim is a 25-year-old university student. he is member of the group, an anti-government demonstration. in may, mohammed lost his younger brother jalal in a crackdown by the government forces when they were taking part in demonstration. >> translator: it's very painful. we pledged to start a revolution together. >> reporter: anti-government demonstration began about eight months ago in egypt. yemen's protests have lasted a long time, and their future is unclear.

>> translator: we've endured saleh's corrupt government for 33 years. we can hold out until we topple the government. we won't be discouraged after only half a year of protest. >> reporter: president saleh has been recuperating in saudi arabia, but he remains in power because his family controls government forces. saleh has refused to step down, and he announced that he would return to yemen some time soon. >> translator: military and tribal forces that betrayed the government are trying to start a civil war by taking advantage of the anti-government demonstrations started by young people. >> reporter: to strengthen pressure on the government, anti-government forces launched a unified organization, made up of different kinds of groups,

including young people as well as opposition forces. >> translator: we will not oppose president saleh returning home after he resigns from his post. but we will not allow him to return as president. anti-government forces will join hands and overthrow the government. . >> reporter: with tensions running high between the pro and anti-government forces, armed clashes could resume at any time. that would make it even harder for the community to mediate this settlement with the ongoing crisis in yemen. kinan mussa, nhk world, sanaa. time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin with this item sent by cctv china. china will launch an unmanned module next week to pave the way

for a planned space station. the country aims to build its own space station by 2020. a government official said in beijing on tuesday that heavenly palace 1 will blast off from the satellite launch ceer in guangzhou province. the 8.5 ton model will function as a platform to test long-term unmanned and shermaned operations. another unmanned module will be launched later this year to attempt to dock with the space station. rescue operations are continuing in eastern india's quake-hit areas as the death toll has climbed to 92. workers have cleared the debris from a national highway, which connects the state of sikkim with the rest of the country. northern sikkim was the epicenter of sunday's earthquake. army personnel have also been working to restore power and provide food and shelter to those stranded by the temblor.

and welcome back to your weather update. now, for east asia of course there's still quite a bit of activity holding on to japan with showers and that heavy rain impacting the hokkaido area in the north. it is going to remain unsettled throughout the day, but we should be seeing some sunny spells as well. now, next door in the korean peninsula and throughout much of china too looking at pretty settled and calm conditions again. that looks like it's going to hang on throughout the day. just in inland areas still some lingering showers that you do want to watch out for. down for the southeast asia for the philippines as well as the indo-china peninsula got a couple lows in place. that's really enhancing that southwest monsoon. it's going to be another unsettled day for you. 33 your high in manila today. 27 expected in taipei. 24 degrees for seoul. and tokyo heats up to 30 degrees. over toward the americas and looking at lots of swirls going on here. we've got a system that has been moving eastward through the great lakes region.

not moving a whole lot now, but it is gradually bringing in that rain more in towards the eastern sections of nada as well as the united states. looks like it's going to be looking -- we're going to have much more widespread showers in the area. although that activity is starting to die down. so it shouldn't be anything too heavy. southeastern corner of the united states remains unsettled with the chances of thundershowers. also rain starts to develop in the central plains, or the lower plains as well. that's looking ahead in toward the midwest. now, up toward the pacific northwest, still some lingering showers in place. here's a look at highs. 22 degrees in seattle and 26 for denver. chicago slightly cooler coming in at just 16 degrees on thursday. and finally, a look at europe here. we've got this well developed low up north of the british isles. that's been bringing gusty conditions to the northern end of the uk. and now it's going to be bringing windy weather in toward southern norway as well. for the scandinavian peninsula rain moves northward and into areas of finland as well as sweden and norway but still some

lingering showers will continue to impact the rest of the norway as well. continental europe stays largely dry. again, the showers in the balkan peninsula will be heading out today instead moving in toward turkey. so here thundershowers are going to be a high possibility. thursday's highs looking like this. a lot of teens up toward the north here, while we're looking at mid to lower 20s for the central tier and then in the south still pretty warm. 27 in athens. and rome gets up to 28. all right, now. up next is your three-day outlook. ♪

our lead story this hour, north and south korean officials have met but failed to narrow differences on ways to resume the six-party talks on the north's nuclear programs. north and south korean delegates to the six-party talks ended their first meeting in two months in beijing on wednesday. at the meeting, south korea insisted that the north first halt its uranium enrichment program and take other steps toward denuclearization before having the six-party talks resume.

north korea wanted the talks to resume immediately without any preconditions. afterwards, a south korean official told reporters that the meeting was significant in that they were able to resolve some of the doubts and misunderstandings between the two sides. the official also said that his government hopes to hold talks with the united states ahead of a planned u.s.-north korea dialogue next month. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.