slovakia's parliaments voted down a plan to expand the euro zone bailout funds chlt it could have a severe impact on global economy as well as the euro zone >> what does this mean? >> it puts a new spin on things.

the slovak government is going against efforts by other euro zone nations to contain the debt crisis. the parliament voted down a plan to expand the fund and the plan was rejected on tuesday night after more than eight hours of deliberations. it calls for the expansion of a fund that extends emergency loans to countries. some abstained from the vote as they are largely in support of greece. they put the plan to another vote this week. boosting the size and powers of the european financial facility needs to be approved by all 17 countries that use the euro. slovakia is the only member that voted it down.

>> translator: we are now facing our biggest crisis since world war ii. >> slovakia has a population of fi 5.4 million with one of the smallest econ mees, but it's drawing worldwide attention. >> political parties opposed ton plan not only for slovakia, but all of europe. >> the main issue is whether to increase the funds's lending capacity to 440 billion from the current 250 billion. the other 16 euros that approved the rescue measure. slovakia adopted the kurpsy in

2009. before this, the country achieved economic growth of 10% in 2007 thanks to the automobile and electric appliance industries. the economy slowed with europe's debt problem triggered by the greek crisis. the country is being asked to guarantee 7.7 billion euros. this is almost 60% of the state budget. anger is mounding about supporting greece when which is a wealthier country. >> i want the government to help us. >> translator: it's not acceptable to use our tax money to help greece. >> opposition within the governing coalition is strong. the second largest party objected to increasing the fund.

>> we meet about that and if they are changing. >> a three-hour meeting to place on monday failed to narrow their differences. >> translator: rejecting the plan will have a significant impact on slovakia's economy. >> he tried to approve the plan by friday. >> slovakian law allows for another round of voting on a rejected bill. the party is expected to play a crucial role of the outcome of the second vote. it was the ruling party until july of last year.

they support the expansion of the fund and said it will not vote for the rescue plan unless the cabinet resign or parliament is dissolved. the governing coalition is likely to hold talks to persuade the party to support the plan. meanwhile the european union said on $8 billion euro loan will be likely to prevent the debt-stricken country from defaulting. the eu said an agreement has been reached with greece on future fiscal reform plans after inspectors from the eu, the international monetary fund and the european central bank declar declared greece is making important progress. the loan will be released upon the approval of euro countries and the executive board. the loan is the sixth payment from the rescue package agreed in may of last year. the lenders checked the fiscal

reforms every three months. the latest aid will prevent the default, but the country is behind on the reform target. the european central bank warns the euro's own debt crisis has reached systematic proportions urging them to tackle the problem. the president spoke to a committee of the european parliament in blessles on tuesday and said the high interconnectedness in the system has led to a respectidly rising risk of significant contagion. >> the crisis reached systemic dimension. it is a matter urgency that all authorities act in unison with total commitment to

safeguarding final stability. >> his warning comes amid concerns that europe's credit has begun to affect banks in the region. the banks decided to bail out what has been affected by declines of greek government bonds. it is time to get a check on the markets and they took a step back to watch developments in the vote in slovakia as well as caution ahead of earnings. for more we cross over to the tokyo stock exchange. good morning to you. how are stocks kicking off this wednesday morning. >> yes, markets are trading a little bit lower, but before the markets open, we have the machinery orders for august which was up 11%. that's the first gain in two months for machinery orders. we will have more on that later on.

the dow was down and the nasdaq up 17 points. a bit of a mixed picture and part of that down to investors and a little bit of a breather after the gains we saw on monday with the dow over 330 points and a bit of caution on the slovakian parliaments as you were take being and the vote going to help the euro zone bailout fund. caution there. the nikkei on the topics for the few few minutes of trading in the . the nikkei did manage to close higher for three days in a row. will see if we can reverse that today. the auto sector provided much of the boost there on expectations of stronger sales to china which helped push up sentiment. the financial sector which has seen selling recently in the u.s. and they saw a rebound on a turn around of the banking recapitalization hopes, but also

stepping in yesterday boosting the stake in domestic banks in china. that helped sectors. a lot of focus on banking and jpmorgan chase in the u.s. will come out with earnings tomorrow. losses on trading revenue as well as tighter regulations in investment banking and slower growth globally hurt thoughts and have been the cause for a lot of job cuts in the industry. domestically fast retailing will be coming out with earnings for the fiscal year until august after the bell today and yesterday gave a little bit of a peek. fifth avenue will be the biggest one in the world. hiring just over 1,000 people. a lost focus for the retail sector as well. the nikkei on the topics for the first few minutes in the negative. back to you. >> a lot to watch for. thank you very much. that was the tokyo stock exchange.

back to katherine. >> the worst flood in a half century were spreading in thailand. it continues for a few weeks. it has been hit hard by the flooding. more than 260 people in thailand have lost their lives since july in the heavy monsoon rains, floods and mudslides. almost 4/5 of the country and 2.3 million people have been affected. >> translator: it is terrible this year. i am 62 and this is the first time i saw something like this. water came every year, but this is worse than ever. >> the department predicts heavy rain throughout end of the month, posing severe flooding in bangkok. the flooding hurt the operations of japanese companies about 100 kilometers north of the capital. nearly 200 japanese companies have been forced to halt operations in the industrial zones there.

honda motor had to suspend work and at the assembly plant. toyota and japanese automakers have been forced to stop production after splice of components from makers were disrupted. japanese automakers say that thailand is an important production site for exporting cars to other asian nations. there is growing concern that the impact of the floods will be more serious. in neighboring cambodia, at least 207 people have been killed in flooding along the river since early september. >> translator: my children are sick. they have rashes on their hands and feet. i'm begging the government and international groups for help. >> the cambodian authorities say nearly 230,000 families have been affected. with many being forced to flee to higher ground.

>> myanmar's government said they will grant amnesty to more than 6300 prisoners. the president released a statement that said the government will release the prisoners starting wednesday. myanmar pardoned more than 14,000 prisoners in may, shortly after the current government took office in the first general election in 20 years. the prisoners were political detainees. the latest covers those who were unwell or have shown good behavior. more than 2,000 activists, lawyer, journalists and others are believed to be in prison for their involvement in pro democracy movements in 1988 and anti-government rallies in 2007. western nations have imposed economic sanctions on myanmar to press the country to release the political prisoners.

russian prime minister vladimir putin indicated his country and china will be able to settle a dispute over russia's natural gas prices. putin met in beijing on tuesday and told reporters after the meeting the two sides are nearing the final stage of work on gas supplies. the chinese side is believed to have repeated the demand for price cuts. china argued that expensive russian gas could fuel inflation. putin is in china for a two-day visit. this is his first overseas trip since he announced he will run for president next march. putin is trying to boost ties with china to prepare for his return as russian leader. politics is a tough business in japan. our latest poll is proof of that. prime minister noda only took office a month ago, but his approval rate suggest already

slipping. nhk conducted a phone survey and the results suggest more than half of voters approve the his cabinet. that's a drop of seven percentage points from last month. the disapproval stands at 27% and increase of 9 percentage points. we also asked people about the government's proposed $120 billion tax hike to cover the cost of rebuilding north eastern japan over 10 years. 44% said they approve. 49% say they don't. our survey look at the debate between the democratic party and opposition over how long the maturity should be. 48% said it should be 10 to 60 years. 28% said it should be 10 years. 7% said the maturity should be 60 years.

earlier, we asked our senior political commentator about his take on the polls. >> so he only became prime minister a month ago and his rating has slipped. why is that? >> when noda took office the japanese people considered him modest, steady and trustworthy. he would be better than his predecessor. he said things on the company topped off of his head. he had to take back later. on the other hand, he tried not to be a showman. however, after one month in office, voters have realized that noda has done almost nothing except for push for tax increase to cover the cost of tax reconstruction. many japanese are beginning to have doubts about his leadership now.

>> did the resignation in charge of nuclear power affect his popularity? >> i think it did. the economy traded the industry controls japan in nuclear policies. that cabinet began even more important after nuclear accidents at fukushima on march 11th. the minster made a series of inappropriate remarks in september. he called the area around the fukushima plant a town of death. he also joked after visits from the area that the dirt he got on his face could have been radioactive or something. his resignation took something out of the resignation. >> how did the dpj leader. is that affecting his leadership? >> i think so. he controls the biggest faction.

they do not want to make a name for him. he is not speaking out about the trial for falsification. the parties for him to testify under oath. that was counter to what they want. 59% of people surveyed saying they need to explain the case before the diet. some of the respondents may be disappointed about his lack of leadership. >> what is he doing to keep his rating from eroding further? >> the prime minister is trying to show his leadership in other areas. abruptly instructed senior government officials to make a decision as soon as possible of whether to join free trade talks

on the transpacific partnership. the former administration wanted japan to get involved in the tpp. but it was strong opposition from japan's powerful lobby that elected themselves. they eased concerns among farmers and it could hurt them. >> what kind of future is he looking at? >> it won't be easy. the tpp is one issue. the divided diet is another. that was in the upper house. the government cannot pass bills without help from the positions. opposition parties are playing hardball because of the stance regarding the scandal. not only this, but his desire to

keep his party united. he worked in an opposition party. sooner or later, the prime minister will have to realize that he won't be able to survive. >> if he tries to be everybody's friend. >> the commentator is reporting for us tonight. thank you. while many foreign nationals left japan after the march 11th disaster, some stayed behind in devastated towns. the support they receiveed from

local residents helped them through the hardest times. we have the story. >> the tsunami destroyed many of the factories in the city of miyagi prefecture. after the disaster, most apprentices who came to learn sewing went back to their home country. some like this stayed in the city. the tsunami engulfed the factory she worked in. water reached the ceiling. mao and her fellow workers made it out safely. they had to stay at a shelter because their dorm was destroyed. they don't understand much japanese and they don't know the area well. the locals gave them food and

clothing. >> translator: everyone was kind to us at the shelter. we are so grateful. >> for mao and the others, life is starting to get back to normal. ed the sewing factory started operating again in may. the factory produces 70% of what they use here. mao and the other chinese apprentices help the factory recover. aside from getting the factory running again, the apprentices are excited about taking part in the town festival. the t-shirts are gifts from the local people. they were given when the chinese were taking shelter at the community center.

this is their first time they have taken part in the festival. >> i don't think i did well, but i wanted to try the japanese dance. >> it was more fun this year with the chinese people joining us. >> mao and her friends saying in a chee appreciation of the local people.

>> translator: i am so grateful to those who helped us through the most difficult time. i will certainly do whatever i can to help the city get back on its feet. the locals gave mao a lot of support even though they too were suffering. she looked forward to returning the kindness in the days ahead. nhk world. >> now for a look at the global weather forecast. . hello and time for the weather update. let's start off with east asia again across southeast asia. we have a newly developed system just east of the philippines. it's about to make landfall in the central part in the next 24 hours.

heavy rain and strong winds are impacting across the country and things will get stormier. they have a bigelow pressure system and this one continues to dump heavy rain and create thunderstorms. in this area, they have been contending with the flooding situatio. any additional rain is coming. things are looking very wet and the rain is moving into the east coast in the next 24 hours. it's a different story for the korean peninsula and much of japan's high pressure system is bringing a nice cell. the exception is under rain and thunderstorms. as for temperatures, we expect 23 degrees in tokyo and 21 in seoul. it will be cool at only 11

degrees and you may see snow. we are monitoring the hurricane jo va set to make landfall in the next several hours. they are impacting much of the west coast. we also have another system that is trailing jo va. this is irving that is going to approach the same area. this area will be contending with a very wet condition through the next several days. as for the rest of north america, a very bigelow pressure system continues to dump heavy rain across the southeastern part of the u.s. the rain will spread into the north eastern state in the next 24 hours. while rain is developing across the mississippi valley on wednesday and to the west, whether it's british columbia and parts of washington are staying wet and you may see heavy snow in the upper mountains. as for temperatures, we expect 32 in houston and heating up to

36 in los angeles. it's going to be cool in vancouver with 15 degrees and 14 in seattle. finally we will go over to europe. we can see a long rain stretching for the british isles into western russia. we are seeing heavy rain and scattered thunderstorms. the heaviest rain can be found across the baltic sea and it's windy across the northern parts of germany. as for the british isles, things will be dryer as we head to wednesday. the thunderstorms are erupting across turkey and the stormy conditions will linger for the . to the south, things are dry and mild. temperures are looking like this. we are expecting 27 degrees in rome and 30 in madrid. it's cool in stockholm. we are expecting only 9 degrees

and 14 degrees in berlin. here's the extended forecast. that wraps upthis edition in tokyo. do stay with us.