welcome to nhk world "newsline." protests against the united states have spread across the muslim world since the release of a film accused of insulting the prophet muhammad. people in several countries took to the streets again after friday prayers. indonesia has the world's largest muslim population. a about 250 people gathered in front of the u.s. embassy in jakarta. authorities deployed 300 police officers to guard the compound. the rally ended after two hours without any major incident. anti-american rallies were also held in pakistan. demonstrations took place in the

capital islamabad and the cities of karachi and peshawar. public anger against the united states is already strong in pakistan where u.s. air strikes targeting suspected militants regularly cause civilian casualties. in egypt, several hundred demonstrators clashed with security forces near the u.s. embassy in cairo. police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. >> authorities remain on alert ahead of possible demonstrations after the friday prayers. japan's prime minister wants to change how his citizens power their homes and businesses. yoshihiko noda unveiled his long-awaited energy policy. it calls for the country to phase out nuclear power in the coming decades.

the plan reflects the feelings of many japanese following last year's accident at the fukushima plant. but big business says the policy is problematic. nhk world's chia yamagishi has the details. >> reporter: government ministers have spent months talking to each other, to experts, and to the public to figure out the role nuclear power should play in japan. in the end, prime minister yoshihiko noda's administration has decided to work towards a nuclear-free society. >> translator: step by step we've come to face difficult challenges. but we can no longer afford to postpone a solution. >> reporter: the new energy policy calls for japan to be nuclear free as soon as possible. but it suggests 2030 as a target. it has three basic principles.

first, limit the operation of nuclear reactors to 40 years. second, stop building nuclear plants. and third, only restart reactors regulatory authorities confirm are safe. japanese leaders target the energy policy soon after last year's meltdowns and explosions at fukushima daiich nuclear power was once the policy's cornerstone, but the accident highlighted its dangers. and it sparked a shift in japan. many citizens worried about the risks caused by radiation. the majority of people who attended public hearings called for the government to abandon atomic energy. the noda administration says it will increase efforts to promote wind energy and conservation.

but some question whether a cheap supply of alternative power could be secured in the short term. business leaders say the policy will hinder economic growth. they argue no nuclear power means people will pay more for energy. >> translator: it will inevitably cause a surge in electricity prices and supply will become unstable. i seriously want the government to stop implementing policies that are anti-business. >> reporter: an expert who works on the committee that made recommendations to the government says japanese leaders should listen to industry but they also must move forward. >> translator: they should

discuss how they can compromise. it is impossible to go on as we did before march 11th, so we need more discussion and communication with industry. >> reporter: going nuclear free won't free japan from the legacy of nuclear power. it still has more than 50 years of radioactive waste to deal with. no final decision has been made on the disposal method or site. the prime minister admits there are still unknown factors that could affect the implementation of the plan. >> translator: making a definitive decision about the future is rather irresponsible. japan needs a strategy that combines a firm direction and flexibility. >> reporter: noda's policy reflects public calls for a

future without nuclear power. however, the road that would take japan there is still under construction. chie yamagishi, nhk world, tokyo. voters in japan are looking around for options in a general election they know is coming. they're dissatisfied with establishment parties, but the two biggest are trying to hold their interest. the ruling democrats and main opposition liberal democrats are busy selecting their leaders. four candidates entered the race to lead the dpj, including prime minister yoshihiko noda. he is up against two former agriculture ministers and a former internal affairs minister. but noda has a clear lead. members vote next friday. campaigning is now under way for the leadership of the main opposition liberal democratic party. the five candidates include secretary-general nobuteru ishihara, former defense

minister shigeru ishiba, and former prime minister shinzo abe. ldp members vote later in the month. >> translator: we have to rebuild the economy, finances, and local authorities and social security. i have a clear vision of how to expand both domestic and foreign demand to revitalize the japanese economy. >> translator: we must control the rising yen and deal with deflation by tapping into the growth in the rest of asia. the currencies of developing nations will rise against the yen if they continue to grow their economies. >> polls suggest the liberal democrats have more support than the ruling dpj, but a new group under osaka mayor toru hashimoto is gaining public support. some voters are considering nippon ishin no kai as a third option. political analysts have been

looking at different scenarios and combing through polling data. shery ahn spoke earlier with nhk world's senior political commentator masayo nakajima, who has been keeping an eye on developments for us. >> how is yoshihiko noda expected to fare? >> well, the prime minister is expected to fend off his competition and stay in power. you know, the other contenders do not have high profile. but his days as a prime minister could be numbered. many voters didn't support his plan to double the consumption tax. others didn't agree with his decision to restart two nuclear reactors this summer. his approval rating has fallen to about 30%. it helped noda pass his package of financial and tax reforms. in exchange, he promised to call a general election, but he doesn't want to. he'll be forced to dissolve the lower house between october and

december, i think. he needs the opposition's support to pass budget-related bills and keep government services funded. you know, the democrats took power or office three years ago, ending more than half a century of almost unbroken rule by the ldp. they promised change. but some say they haven't delivered. >> and you mention the ldp. what about them? who could end up leading the main opposition party? >> a couple of party leaders seem to be out in front. you know, secretary-general nobuteru ishihara, as you mentioned, and former defense minister shigeru ishiba, both candidates support the consumption tax hike, and both are critical of how prime minister noda has handled territorial disputes with china and south korea. they are pushing for japan to take a stronger stance. the polls suggest that the ldp is in a good position to defeat

the dpj. so the candidate who becomes the next party leader might find himself as prime minister within months. >> what about this new party, nippon ishin no kai? >> mm-hmm. voters who are tired of the establishment parties are now looking at this so-called third poll. nippon ishin no kai" means restore japan. hashimoto wants to review japan's pacifist constitution, promote free trade, and cut the number of diet members in half, along with cutting the salaries of those who remain. his populist and nationalist views have won him support. but some find him -- some see him as a charismatic politician, who is more about style than substance. you know, he is aiming to win more than a third of the seat in the lower house. make no mistake, hashimoto will be a key player in the coming

elections. >> nhk world's senior political commentator masayo nakajima. japan's coast guard says six chinese ships entered japanese waters friday morning near disputed islands in the east china sea. the ships left the area around the senkaku islands in the afternoon. the coast guard says two vessels belonging to china's state oceanic administration entered the area at around 6:20 a.m. they were followed by four more ships soon after. coast guard officials warned them to leave the area. all the ships had left the waters by 1:30 p.m. officers say the crew of the intruding ships told them that the islands had traditionally been chinese territory. this is the first time since july that chinese government vessels have entered japan's waters. the japanese government bought the senkakus on tuesday from their private owner. prime minister yoshihiko noda is ging an all-out effort to keep up surveillance of china's activities around the senkaku islands.

noda issued the appeal at a meeting of cabinet ministers on friday. the meeting was called soon after the six vessels entered japan's waters. noda stressed the need for appropriate government offices to work closely together to deal with the situation. after the meeting, the chief cabinet secretary osamu fujimura expressed regret over the incident. >> translator: it's regrettable that these issues concerning the disputed islands have occurred. >> fujimura reiterated the goveiohe hiorantoinistry > several janeomet a

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approved the deal. still, japanese leaders have promised to expand their role in cuty across the region. and they say they'll do the woinside by side. mari sam nld, sydney. the austraanar enurinthr panese counterparts to join talks on the transpacific partnership. australians are already taking part in the negotiations. t prime minister yoshihiko noda remains undecidedn whethejan ou jn e talks. ldiapese optical equipment maker olympus is in final talks with sono fm broad alliance. olympus has been looking for a business partneroovercome financial difficulties. the company has run into financial trouble aftert s untoav hidden huge losses in the past. the yen's strength also sok s capital base.

olympus is hoping to leave its ouedasehd as quickly as possible, while sy wants to make medical field new business pilar. e oirlao establish a joint company for developing the next generation medical eqpmt. the new firm would be taking advantage of the world's p-veendo scope technology of olympus and sony'sdvced imaging know-how. olympus plans to receive about $6 mli i investment from sony. th cpaes aim to reach an agreement by the end of this month. > ppl he died at a building site in central china after a constructionleto th were standing on collapsed. the elevator pngbo 10 meters from the 30th floor to the ground, killing all 19 people on bod. st of the victims were construction workers. chinese leaders say the capacity

was limited to 12 people. the rapid economic growth has spurred a boom in the construction of high-rise buildings that's also led to an increase in work-related accidents. the civil war in syria is starting to affect people in the golan heights. israel has occupied the region since 1967. ri residents of the golan heights were united in their support for the government of president bashar al assad, but divisions have begun to emerge. nhk world explains. >> reporter: arabs livinging in golan heights are fighting to keep their identity. many hoped that the government would win back control of golan

heights from israel. >> hassan fakh eddin is a firm supporter and blames other countries for the fighting in sya. >> translator: what's happening in syria is the result of maneuvering bite united states, britain and gulf nations. syria was a united nation before they planned the split. >> reporter: a massive rally was held to express solidarity with the assad government. haddin was one of the organizers. he repeated his call for strong support for the government. >> translator: so many people are gathered here today. alof you areallying bend a assad.

>> reporter: but a rift is emerging among the residents of golan heights. a silent protest was held against president assad. the participants are hding up blank signs. the message is stop the bloodshed. as a civil war intensifies, more people are saying publicly that they can no longer support assad. they drew the arabic word freedom by arranging candles. mahmoud used to support assad, but he now thinks t s ths the gt is disgracing his homeland with blood. >> translator: we must top it will the assad regime as crimes by the regime have come to light, the anti-assad movement is becoming unstoppable in the golan heights as well. >> reporter: but expressing

opposition can create friction. assad supporters began harassing ammasha. they began correcting and storms were thrown at his house. he was hit by a car and has serious low back injuries. the driver was an assad supporter and insists it was just an accident, but ammasha thinks the it s reyalation for his opposition to assad. >> translator: we must do whatever we can to avoid killing each other. the israeli occupation alone is more than enough suffering to endure. >> reporter: the syrian conflict is gradually spilling over to the golan heights. civil war is beginning to erode the unity that developed under the israeli occupation. kohei spds tsuji, nhk world, golan heights. a large typhoon is heading towards okinawa. meteorologist robert speta has the details.

robert? well, currently there's a very violent typhoon samba is pulling off here towards the north. on the satellite imagery, you can see that very clear and defined eye in here. around that eye is the eye wall, and that's where you're packing some winds upwards of 288 kilometers per hour. it does look like all this energy is going to continue to push off here towards the north across portions of southern okinawa here. you could actually be seeing some ten-meter-high waves with it as it starts to crash onshore. also, you have the risk of storm surge here, and the right front quadrant of the storm is where you're going to be seeing some wind blowing this water onshore. and then on sunday morning you have high tide, so that combined with this high storm surge is definitely going to be creating the risk of some coastal flooding across much of this region here. and then as it continues to push off there towards the north, some widespread rain showers in western portions of mainland japan here, even toward korea, as well. but not just that, some heavy rainfall could be seen.

in the next 24 hours in okinawa, you could see as much as 180 millimeters and going into sunday nearly 300 to 500 millimeters very well could be seen across this entire area, even western portions of honchu and kyushu as well and eventually into south korea going into the early part of next week. we'll definitely be watching this very closely, not just all these factors, even tornadoes and some of the outer rain bands could be popping up here due to these strong thunderstorms that are going to be developing around this. a very intense and violent typhoon samba. now, farther down towards the south, across the tropics, monsoonal flow is also picking up in northern vietnam. there's actually a report of over 200 millimeters in the past 24 hours. this is on top of continued days of over 100 millimeters across this entire area. flooding will continue to be high at risk here, not just there, over towards the philippines, as well, as that flow continues to push into the center of this storm system. temperatures across this region, bangkok with a high of 34, accompanied by those rain showers.

hong kong at 31, and beijing getting up to 26 here on your saturday. now over towards the americas, we are watching a frontal area push across the central plains here even down towards the south, texas, louisiana, and mississippi. it does look like it could be stalling out here through your weekend and into the early part of next week, bringing some rain showers and thunderstorm activity with it, as well. flooding could be possible, and even up to 1 centimeter of rainfall could linger across this area. now, north of that, see the big blue "h," that will be creating big and bright blue skies across much of the northern plains. dakotas, you could see temperatures getting up into the high 30s as opposed to your overnight temperatures. the lows are going to be drastically different, down to single digits. so a very drastic change here as we go through your september here across much of the north. temperatures are reflecting that, winnipeg with a high of 21, now south of that front you're also seeing warm weather, houston at 32, and across much of the east coast into the high 20s here going through the start of your weekend.

and over towards europe, we're continuing to watch a very potent low-pressure area there in italy over towards the balkans. this is creating some 65 kilometer-per-hour winds, heavy rains with it, as well. does look like this will continue to pull off there towards the east. heavy rain warnings are also in place across much of this region. and then off towards the north, windy conditions across the northern british isles, over towards the scandinavian peninsula as this low-pressure area, the remnants of leslie, continues to drift off towards the northeast. as far as temperatures, though, london and paris into the low 20s. it does look like heat warnings in effect for lisbon. 33 expected for your high on saturday. here's a look at your extended forecast. ♪

we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo. ññuqñuux