welcome to "newsline," i'm mitch niche in tokyo with the news at this hour. three women have been jointly awarded this year's nobel peace prize for peace. thehe nobel peace prize committee has decided that the nobel peace prize for 2011 is twob divided between three equal parts between ellen johnson-s johnson-sirleaf. for their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights, to full participation in pause-building work. the norwegian nobel committee announced the winners on friday.

liberian president, ellen johnson-sirleaf is african's first democratically-elected president. she has contributed to securing peace in liberia. promoting economic and social development and strengthening the position of women. the liberian activist, leyman gbowee worked hard to bring the long war in liberia to an end to insure women's rights to participate in elections and yemenese activist karman played a leading part for the struggle of women in human rights campaign. the three winners will share about $1.5 million in prize money. the final nobel prize winner for this year will be announced monday in the field of economic sciences. credit ratings agency, moody's has downgraded banks in britain and portugal. it comes amid rising concerns that the prolonged debt problems in europe could hurt the health of the financial institutions in the region. moody's said on friday it cut its senior debt and deposit ratings for the royal bank of

scotland and nationwide building society by two notches. lloyd's tsb has been downgraded by one notch. while the ratings of nine other institutions have been cut by one, to five notches. in a statement, moody's cited a potential decrease in official support for ailing banks, saying the british government now more likely to let smaller institutions to go bankrupt. but it added the latest downgrades do not mean that the banking system has become less stable. on the same day moody's downgraded nine portuguese financial institutions by one to two notches. the employment situation in the united states is showing some signs of life. the country added more jobs in the month of september than the market had predicted. the u.s. labor department says 103,000 jobs were added in the nonfarm sector. the sector is considered particularly sensitive to economic trends. the market predicted the u.s.

economy would only add 60,000 jobs. by sector, construction added 26,000 jobs in september, while telecommunication services saw 30,000 more jobs. mainly becse of a strike at a major communication firm. by contrast, 13,000 manufacturing jobs and 34,000 government jobs were lost. meanwhile, the jobless rate may remain at 9.1% for the third straight month. president barack obama announced a major jobs bill in early september. however, a delay in congressional action is hampering fully-fledged improvement in the jobs market. the u.s. and it's allies invaded afghanistan ten years ago, a month after 9/11. the goal was to go after al qaeda and take down the taliban regime, but the taliban is still a force in afghanistan and its power seems to be growing. nhk world's hideki yui visited

the eastern part of the country to find out why. >> reporter: this is the main road leading to the eastern region from the capital, kabul. we found wreckage of a u.s. military fuel truck, apparently attacked by the taliban. this huge hole was created when the roadside bomb exploded. >> translator: a u.s. military vehicle was blown up here. the u.s. forces came quickly to collect the wreckage. >> reporter: our nhk crew contacted taliban members based in the eastern province of kunar. they said their unit had 30 troops fighting u.s. troops. to avoid detection, taliban members move around in small groups in the mountainous region. they say they have the support of local residents. >> translator: the united states continues to kill civilians.

that's the reason why more people are joining us in the fight. >> reporter: residents of a nearby village have gathered to discuss the worsening security situation in the area. we spoke with some of them to find out what they thought of the situation. >> translator: u.s. forces continue to destroy our homes and schools. >> translator: the fighting is going on. but the government is failing to protect us. >> reporter: many villagers criticize the united states and the administration of afghan president karzai. >> translator: there are no jobs here. the taliban provides allowances, so some people join the group in order to feed their families. >> reporter: one of the participants has been supporting president karzai's efforts to rebuild afghanistan.

but last year, one of his sons was killed in the u.s. military raid. his 11-year-old grandson lost a leg in the attack. his sons to join the taliban. this man says he fierce his hopes for afghan reconstruction have been betrayed. >> translator: it's been a decade since the u.s. troops came. but life is getting worse. i have lost a son. and the suffering continues. >> reporter: ten years after the start of u.s. military operations, the backlash against the united states and disappointment at the afghan government are growing. even among people who had welcomed the collapse of the taliban. this resentment has helped the insurgency to regain momentum. hideki yui, nhk world, kunar.

the tokyo electric power company, or tepco, has started spraying decontaminated water on the grounds of the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. tepco began spraying on friday, starting with trees, which were cut down and piled on the plant's compound. the utility says dried trees represent a fire hazard. the water was taken from facilities for temporary storage of water with low levels of radioactivity that had accumulated in the basements of two reactor turbine buildings. these buildings did not incur major damage in the march disaster. the facilities contain about 17,000 tons of such water and are filled to about 90% of their capacity. tepco removed salt and radioactive substances from the water before spraying. it says levels of radioactive

substances in the water are below government standards for public beaches. the company says local communities and fishery associations have approved the operation. tepco plans to release 100 tons of decontaminated water daily on 1.2 million square meters of land in the compound. a chinese diplomat has expressed his appreciation and condolences to the family of a japanese man who died after saving chinese trainees from the march 11th tsunami. mitsuo sato an executive of a fish processing company in miyagi prefecture had evacuated 20 female chinese nationals to higher ground before the tsunami swept the town. sato was swept away later and died in a gathering in tokyo on friday, a diplomat from the chinese embassy, lu, met sato's family members and showed his heartfelt gratitude. lu remarked that sato's heroic

act was widely publicized in china and the women were deeply moved by his courageous act. >> translator: the chinese people were deeply moved by mr. sato's personal sacrifice. i am very thankful for japanese friends who lent a helping hand to save chinese trainees. students from tamura city in fukushima prefecture have travelled to their sister city in the united states to thank people for their support following the march disaster. a group of 26 junior high school students visited a high school in mansfield, ohio on thursday. the students enjoyed an american school lunch and helped the american students learn the art of origami. together they folded paper cranes. the japanese students thanked the people of mansfield for sending video messages of encouragement when many residents were forced to evacuate due to theisis. >> i feel like they, like they can overcome this. and move on.

>> translator: all the moral support from people in mansfield has helped boost our spirits. now it's our turn to help the people in kamura city. this week's installment of the road ahead focuses on doctors in japan. and efforts to diversify their skills. the march 11th disaster exposed some weaknesses. some physicians who went to northeastern japan to help survivors were not comfortable working in the field. medicines song frontiers, or doctors without borders is trying to help them. the international aid group provides emergency medical assistance to victims of natural disasters and armed conflicts and is now trying to get japanese doctors better prepared to deal with the major crisis. nhk world's miho fukanaga reports.

>> reporter: this woman has been a doctor for 30 years. she's been the president of medicine frontier japan since 2010. her main focus is on trying to broaden the skill set of her fellow physicians. more than 100 surgeons gathered in tokyo to hear her ideas. >> translator: imagine a japanese surgeon is dispatched to place where the doctor has to cover all specialties, including orthopedics and gynecology. medical schools in japan are good at developing experts, but not well-rounded doctors. i want to try to help increase the number of doctors who are eligible to work in the field. >> reporter: the doctor says japan's march 11th disaster exposed a need for more general practitioners. msf japan sent teams to miyagi and iwate prefectures a day after the earthquake and tsunami hit.

the doctors worked in evacuation centers with local medical staff. they treated survivors who developed hypothermia and respiratory tract infections. >> there aren't enough doctors in the disaster-hit areas for the many elderly who live there. doctors who went to northeastern japan shouldn't have focused on diagnosing illnesses. they should have tried to find out about their patient's health. their family situation, and their immunization records. we need doctors with broader points of view in disaster areas. >> reporter: about 40% of the participants at this seminar have volunteered in japan's northeast. many of them said they would like to work abroad in the future. physicians from nsf france and the international red cross are trying to help them prepare. they taught participants how to make triage decisions when faced with many casualties.

they also showed them surgical techniques. >> translator: after march 11th, many japanese physicians must have realized that disaster medical care is not something we are specialized in. >> this is a very fresh case. >> reporter: the emphasis of the two-day seminar is practical skills. broken bones are the most common injuries in conflicts and natural disasters. so the doctors we see here are learning how to set them. the participants learned an orthopedic technique called external skeletal fixation. they had to insert pins in bone fracture parts and then connect the pins by clamps. this treatment is often used in medical camps in conflict and natural disaster zones. because patients can move their injured legs or arms soon after

their bones are set. but most of the doctors here had never tried the technique before. >> we need an x-ray. >> you don't have x-ray, you forget about it. >> translator: i've seen the method during surgeries, but i've never done it by myself. i've learned a lot. >> translator: natural disasters have increased around the world in recent years and the need for surgeons to work in disaster zones is also increasing. surgeons can treat injuries and also help with illnesses. it is very important for medical experts to always think about these needs. and try to improve their skills. >> reporter: the march 11th disaster prompted governments and medical societies in japan to review their emergency response systems.

the france medical group said they should consider broadening the skills of doctors. that would help people in this country. and around the world. miho fukanaga, nhk world, tokyo. next we go to our bureau in bank koch. patchari raksawong joins us with what's going on in the region. heavy downpours in thailand show no signs of easing. the severe floods and mudslides caused many deaths and damaged the economy. industrial parks forced to suspend operations. nhk world's reporter has the details. >> reporter: the record monsoonal rainfall since july has caused widespread damage across the country. the thai government says 200 to 250 people have been killed and some 2.3 million households inside of thailand the provinces have been affected by the

crisis. at industrial parks in the central province, high waters forced a shut down, including those including automobile parts and electrical equipment. according to a government source, the economy damage is about $1 million so far. automaker honda has had to stop production because of the shortage of parts. prime minister yingluck shinawatra visited attahaya on thursday and ordered the construction of water barrier s to protect industrial estates and the cities districts. the thai authorities warned that even the bangkok area faces a risk of flood damage in the next few days. for nhk world, bangkok. an increasing number of

asian countries have more boys than girls. the imbalance of sex ratios at birth is a growing concern in he issue, vietnam and the united nations hosted a two-day workshop to discuss prenatal sex selection. delegates from 11 countries and territories as well as related organizations discussed the challenges and possible solutions. india, china and south korea have faced this problem for several decades. other nations including vietnam armenia, and azerbaijan say the gender imbalance started recently but the pace is accelerating. increased access to technology is cited as the cause as ultrasound examinations may be possible to select the gender of children. another factor is a preference for boys, which is deeply rooted in many asian nations for cultural, social and economic reasons.

experts fear that these trends combined with a shortage of rice brides, could have far-reaching effect s on these countries. india celebrated one of the three major hindu festivals on thursday, and legend has it that the festival marks the victory of the hindu god of justice over demons. this year a new demon was added to the list. the demon of corruption. in hindu mythology, demon robano was defeated by a hindu deity, lord rama. indians celebrate his victory every year by burning effigies of ravana, his brother and his son. this year's special theme is fighting corruption. the focus is on recent protests across the country. a 50 meter effigy with a sign

saying "i'm corrupt" was placed next to the demons. then the figure was set on fire as the crowd prayed the problem of corruption will be eliminated. >> translator: we need to do a lot more than just burn an effigy. corruption has to be weeded out from india and the whole world. >> the demons were burned to ashes, and evil has been driven away for another year. and we're going to wrap up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. >> thanks, patchari. japan's mazda motors says it will end production of rotary engine cars next year. the company announced on friday that it will not make the rotary engine mounted rx 8 sports car after next june. the rotary engine has rotating

triangular-shaped rotors and is more powerful than the conventional piston-driven engines. mazda was the first car maker to succeed in marketing rotary engine cars. since it first started rolling out the vehicles in 19, it has put about two million of them on the market. they include passenger and sports cars. but production declined after the oil shocks of the 1970s, since the rotary engine is less fuel-efficient than regular engines. for the rx 8 sports car launched in 2003, mazda introduced a new, cleaner rotary engine, with improved fuel efficiency. but global sales totalled only 2,800 units last year. the automaker says, however, they will continue research and development of a new type of rotary engine. here are some images from a festival in nagasaki, southwestern japan. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ now more news in brief around the world. russian prime minister, vladimir putin, insists he is the person who can stabilize domestic politics. speaking ahead of his run for the presidency next march, putin said he will not hurry to reform russian society, but he promised to create a safer economic environment for investment and business activities. libya's national transitional council has launched an all-out attack on moammar gadhafi's birthplace of

sert. forces loyal to gadhafi continue to resist. a fierce battle with gadhafi snipers is believed to be under way in the city. however, an ntc commander told nhk that their troops are likely to gain control of the city in a couple of days. a senior south korean official said north korea may conduct a third nuclear test or fire a missile if the north fails to receive economic assistance from the united states or south korea. both the u.s. and south korea have called on the north to immediately suspend its uranium enrichment program, but it has refused. mai shoji is up next with weather. >> hi there, and welcome back. time now it talk about our weather. starting off with east asia. we have a low, a potent one that is going to be disturbing much of the philippines and may trigger flooding, landslides and mudslides from the heavy rain to come. ample moisture is going to be disturbing around this area, and

piling up there which will create heavy rain at times locally, and also going to be upping the risk of flooding, landslides, too. indochina peninsula looking messy because the southwest monsoon has been enhanced. a low pressure system around southeastern russia that is moving towards the east. now that is going to be approaching northern parts of japan, so maybe by sports day, that system is going to be approaching and bringing wet and windy situation for us on our sports day on monday. early next week. however, for our weekend, looks like it's going to be a very clear sky here in tokyo. especially 22 degrees, so for our three-day weekend coming up, it's going to be nice weather. to come for our three days, manila at 31 degrees. here in north america, we've got two systems, those are like twins, it's going to be bringing heavy rain towards mexico. but as of now, no coastal

warnings in western coast of mexico. it is going to be gearing towards the coast. and it looks like it's going to become a hurricane by local time saturday. it is now moving in a west-northwest direction at the speed of 19 kilometers per hour. this is tropical storm jova. we have irvin, which is already a hurricane. it looks like it's going to be making a similar path towards the western coast of mexico. it could merge with jova and become a stronger system as it approaches. so we'll definitely keep you updated with this. we have a low pressure system, this is what we have been seeing, has been bringing snow to the higher elevations. and it is already bringing snow to much of, it's going to be bringing snow towards saskatchewan and manitoba, central canada, in towards the weekend. and we have severe thunderstorms to come just around this area. heavy rain and some thunderstorms, actually the rain could be welcoming for texas,

kansas and oklahoma. where we have been seeing drought conditions to prevail. however, that may trigger flash flooding, so we want to be precautious for that. eastern portion looking very clear and calm and mild. washington, d.c. at 23 degrees. houston at 32. and seattle at 14, that's going to be a little chilly in the pacific northwest. here in europe, just stretching from the balkans and in towards western russia, along this front is where we may see some severe activity. we may see some very heavy rain in slovenia. this is very apparent, just around this area. severe, and other side of the jet stream, wet and windy. and the temperatures are going to be dropping since last week. it's going to be a very huge drop. vienna, 13 degrees, as well as london. but lisbon staying warmer at 29 degrees. here are your extended forecasts.

one again, the employment situation in the united states is showing some signs of life. the country add more jobs in september than the market has predicted. the u.s. labor department said 103,000 jobs were added in the nonfarm sector. the sector is considered particularly sensitive to economic trends. the market predicted the u.s. economy would only adds 60,000

jobs. by sector, construction added 26,000 jobs in september, while telecommunication services saw 34,000 more jobs. that's mainly because of a strike at a major communication firm. by contrast, 13,000 manufacturing jobs and 34,000 government jobs were lost. meanwhile, the jobless rate remained at 9.1% for the third straight month. president barack obama announced a major jobs bill in early september. however, a delay in congressional action is hampering fully-fledged improvement in the jobs market. that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you for watching, bye-bye.

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