landslide victory. prime minister noda has been re-elected leader of the ruling democratic party of japan. welcome to nhk world "newsline." members of japan's governing democratic party have decided to stick with their man. they've chosen prime minister yoshihiko noda to lead them into the next election. delegates voted him in at a leadership convention in tokyo. nhk world's mayuko ambe reports. >> reporter: delegates here have given prime minister noda

another mandate. the voting results show that he won with an overwhelming majority over three other contenders. they campaigned against the prime minister for nearly two weeks. they attacked noda's policies including measures to help low-income households following the tax hike, steps toward joining the free trade agreement in the pacific region, and his new energy policy. most of all, they criticized the way noda managed the party. they blamed him for the departure of a number of party members. but in the end, the challengers failed to gain enough support. other possible contenders may have proven more popular, but they decided not to run. they may have considered it unwise to become the head of a party that may well lose in the next general election. mayuko ambe, nhl world, tokyo. the noda administration faces complex challenges. they include territorial disputes with china and south korea, japan's new energy

policy, and an extensive reform of the social security system. prime minister noda says he's ready to meet those challenges head on. >> translator: there are times when i have to make a decision despite divisions within my party or among public opinion. throughout the past year, i have been reminded how painful and difficult such decisions can be. i realize that this country continues to face difficult problems at home and abroad. i have to address each one of them in a decisive manner and am fully aware of my responsibility. >> yoshihiko noda may be keeping his job as leader of the democratic party, but his days as prime minister could be numbered. for more on this story shery ahn

spoke earlier with nhk world's political commentator masayo nakajima. >> what's next for the prime minister? >> noda will likely be forced to call a general election between november and january. you know, the opposition helped noda pass his package of tax and social security reforms. in exchange, he promised to dissolve the lower house soon, but he doesn't want to. his approval rating has fallen to about 30%, and his democratic party has lost support too. many voters opposed his plan to double the consumption tax. others didn't agree with his decision to restart two nuclear reactors this summer. but no election means no opposition support. and noda needs that again to pass budget-related bills in order to keep government services funded. >> so if he does call a general election, then what kind of challenges would he face? >> well, noda's dpj is trailing in the polls behind the main opposition in the former ruling ldp and the new party, japan restoration party, which is led

by the mayor of osaka. toru hashimoto is attracting attention with his populist and nationalist proposals such as cutting the number of diet members in half and promoting free trade. the democrats took office three years ago, ending more than half a century of almost unbroken rule by the ldp. they promised change, but they couldn't deliver. you know, voters are now considering giving another chance to the former ruling ldp or taking a chance on the yet-untested new party, japan restoration party. politics in japan could be in for a change now. >> so what sort of changes should we then expect? >> well, it is looking like the ldp or the japan restoration party could win the most seats in the election in the lower house. japan's next prime minister

would be from one of those parties. both parties support noda's consumption tax hike, but both are critical of how the prime minister has handled territorial disputes with china and south korea. they are pushing for japan to take a stronger stance. however, no party is expected to win majority alone. in other words, the party with the most seats will have to form a coalition with the second or third winning party. you know, that would have a big impact on japan's domestic and foreign policy. u.s. marines took to the skies over japan in an aircraft that's been a lightning rod for anger. they're testing the mv-22 osprey. american military leaders plan to station the tilt-rotor transporter in okinawa, but the

aircraft has a spotty safety record, so the only place some japanese want it to fly is back to the u.s. the first osprey slowly lifted off from the u.s. marine's iwakuni air station in western japan. the aircraft's rotors pointed upward like those on a helicopter. a number of protesters gathered outside the base. they don't want ospreys flying in the skies above them. they say the aircraft is too dangerous. >> translator: the plane shouldn't be allowed to leave the ground. >> pilots flew the aircraft over water. then they tilted the rotors in a horizontal direction so it could fly like a conventional plane. the maneuver is considered the most hazardous aspect of operating this aircraft. >> translator: i'm frightened by the thought that the aircraft may crash around here. >> translator: i'm fine with test flights as long as they're safe. >> after the test flights, u.s.

personnel are expected to fly the ospreys to okinawa. the aircraft will be stationed at the u.s. marine corps futenma air station in ginowan city. locals aren't happy. >> translator: i'm angry with the central government's policy based on the premise that the aircraft will be deployed at futenma. i'll do my best to block the deployment. >> japanese defense minister satoshi morimoto has been trying to strike a balance between listening to citizens and working with the american military. >> translator: i believe u.s. forces will pay utmost attention to local communities to ensure the safety of flights. >> morimoto plans to meet next week with the okinawa governor and the ginowan mayor to seek their support for the ospreys' deployment. the defense minister's spokesperson says they haven't received any reports of malfunctions with any of the seven ospreys u.s. forces tested friday. marines will be flying the aircraft again in the coming days in and around the base. they hope to take some of the ospreys to the futenma air

station before the end of the month. most of the port facilities along japan's northeastern coast were either damaged or destroyed by last year's earthquake and tsunami. reconstruction work has been ongoing. in the economic hub of the region, sendai port, the completion of a new breakwater is being taken as a sign that the devastation -- the devastated areas have bounced back and are ready for business. nhk world's kahuo izatami has more. >> translator: this is the new break wather in the port. foreign ships areoaded and offloaded here. it 70cotrtion top of the piers

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ed he or d keucregis sus l. s. teheilhas grat ai-s.en istan. demonstrations against the film ha beeoccurrindaily. at least four people have been friday, protesters in the d in. northwestern city of peshawar became violent and set fire to movie theate

the u.s. state department says it will air a video on pakta television. it features words from backba a sretary of state hillary clinton intended to calm the situation. washington needs the cooperation of terrorism. itn aidnyurther escalation in anti-american sentiment. prime minister ashraf called for the demonstration to be peaceful and within the law. tns try wiuclear weapons.ha tes responsibly. >> reporter: mobile phone networks in major cities have en shut down to try and keep the situation undecol. terrorists have carried out attacks inside pakistan e veme wtso oirecent years.

public anger from boiling over and making the security siatn orseworse. hideki yui, nhk world, islamaba thailand's aua rnyas i reach heavy downpours spreading across the country. peoplendusess e printhcountry will aid a repeat of last year's devastating floods. nhk world pporat chaichalear has been to examine some of the new flood defenses and filed this report. >>epte t aie cy ayuthaya is famous for its world heritage temples. last year the city was inundated by thailand's worst floods in half century. as the rains approach again,

tinsre on high alert. situated on the banks of the river, this historic temple is at risk of severe flooding. the authorities have alrea dedetoddheeit of this flood wall by 50 centimeters in a bid to help the temple better cope with future inundations. almost a year ago, the temple was submerged under two meters of water. so workers are rushing to reinforce embankments just in case. >> translator: i feel the volume wers alr anas year, but i'm still on alert before big water mass arrives next month. we can never be sure. >> reporter: when last year's floodwaters arrived, a protective dike is still under cotrti. even so, the authorities insist they can protect these historical sites.

tnsto ielve about 80% of the work has been completed. construction of an earth wall to prevent future floods is also under way. we believe we'll be better able to cope with any new floods. >> reporter: some parts of thailand are already under water again. the government has repeatedly tried to reassure people that its water management plans are solid. but a recent opinion poll found that only about 5% of respondents have confidence in the government's flood prevention efforts. it is home to major industries cities that were severely feedasye. companies are doing what they can to prepare. fialexcthe mass of water from upstream to arrive in the province soon. but new flood walls around industrial states haven't been completely finished.

they are only 30% of their innd hght. companies are anxious, but the authorities are optimistic. >> translator: we're constructing a temporary wall to protect our property, because we couldn't begin work on peanent structure in time. but we're confident we'll be able to cope with any floods. >> reporter: the rainy season isn't expected tend for otr month or longer. with the government, flood prevention measures still under construction, thai people, and businesses, are faced with a period of deep uncertainty. nhk world. >> and that will wrap up our bullin for today. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok.

the united nations has marked an international day of peace on september 21st for the past ten years. it's not known how many people actually do observe a cease-fire, but what is known is that ordinary people celebrate this event in their own ways. people are gathering for a student film festival near tokyo. nhk world's tomoka kamata take us there. >> reporter: the main event i short film competition. the first prize winner will be invited to screen 60 minutes' film next year. a japanese movie distribution company started the event last year. about 40 student groups from five countries posted five-minute clips of the documentaries, animation, and dramas. university student shimpei shigeta won first prize last year.

shigeta first visited cambodia three years ago as a volunteer. he dug wells alongside local people. he was struck by their efforts to rebuild the country after years of a civil war that killed millions. shigeta made a film entitled "cross road" about a team engaged in removing land mines from a village. the team included former members of pol pot's army and government forces. he depicted the way they worked together in spite of their past differences.

>> translator: the villagers were once enemies. but since the world ended they've been working on the same demining team with good team spirit. i was really surprised. >> translator: since winning the competition, shigeta has visited cambodia six times. he's added scenes from the daily lives of the team. he says he wanted to show that they now appreciate peace even while living side to side with the grim reminders of former conflict. >> translator: i was struck by the strength of people who can laugh at their tragedy and at the same time the cruelty of life.

i wanted to depict human strength through the power of film. >> reporter: shigeta screened his 54-minutes version for the first time at the film festival. >> translator: the images that he shot of his cambodian friends left a strong impression on me. >> translator: i'm very happy to have so many people come see my film. it's an honor to participate in the international peace day film festival like this, and i want to continue to be a part of it. >> reporter: these young people hope that the images they project on the silver screen will help bring peace to people around the world. tomoko kamata, nhk world, yokohama.

for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji. mai? >> the tropical depression has quickly formed and developed into a severe tropical storm. this is moving at a slow pace at a southwesterly direction. and looks like it's going to be moving towards the north, maybe aiming for the northeastern parts of luzon by the next few days to come. right now it is packing winds of 126 kilometers per hour, so especially in the west eastern seaboards of mindanao, those waves are going to be much higher and picking up to about 2 to 4 meters high during your weekend. so do watch out if you are in the coastal areas. now, this rain is actually just dumping across much of the philippines due to the positioning of this jelawat. strong influence of moisture

targets much of the western seaboards. we already have reports of about 50 to 100 millimeters on the western seaboards around mindanao, and the ground is really loose, the land is very well saturated, so mud slides and also flooding, especially in the coastal areas, are going to be a very high risk in the next few days. we'll keep a very close eye on this system. the unfortunate fact is that it looks like due to the warm seawater it's going to be intensifying into a typhoon, possibly by sunday into a typhoon status. we'll keep a very close eye on this. we have a stationary boundary that stretches across the southwestern islands of japan and into southeastern china. and this is a heavy rainmaker, and it actually brings stormy conditions, as well, so this will be impacting much of the islands here. then they'll be moving towards western japan on your saturday and then in towards eastern japan on your sunday. so stormy weekend ahead of us into the next 24, 48. 100 millimeters of rainfall could be found here in and

around the southern province and south of the river. temperatures are shaping up like this. we're looking at 37 in manila and in bangkok, but tokyo finally down to upper 20s. 27 degrees. still, this is actually a little bit warmer than the norm. finally a relief from that heat for our weekend. moving over to the americas now, nothing really much to say here across much of the west and the central areas here in the united states. but we do have smoke plumes from that wildfire, numerous wildfires still breaking out and not contained completely yet. the smoke will be just trapped due to this really strong high-pressure system. it's not really departing anywhere, so stagnant air across much of these regions. things are going to get really cool due to this cold front sweeping here across the great lakes region, and that may turn to sleet, so it could be the first snow or sleet possibly seen on this -- the first snow for the season.

but warm and dry across much of these regions. and temperatures are not bad at all if you're in washington, d.c., at 27. still really summer-like here, but, yes, winnipeg at 9 degrees, and, yes, tomorrow's going to be the first day of your autumn in this continent. all right. moving over to the european continent, things are going to have a few showers, but sunny spells for the british isles to enjoy that weather until another atlantic storm moves into your region. dropping down to 15 in london, though, and stockholm only looking at 12. but keeping its heat here in madrid at 31 degrees. here's your extended forecast. ♪

if you have ever grown tired of listening to someone who just can't stop talking, this might interest you.

japanese researchers have developed a device that can disrupt a person's speech and they won a prize for it. the device is called the speechjammer. it's meant to disrupt and silence overly talkative people. it sends the speaker his or her own words after a very slight delay. the echo effect confuses the speaker and causes him or her to stutter and stop speaking. kazutaka kurihara and koje tsukada were awarded the acoustics ignoble prize at a ceremony at harvard university in the united states. kazutaka kurihara says he is honored and hopes the speechjammer will contribute to peace and quiet. this is the sixth year in a row that japanese scientists have won an ignoble prize and an award give on the unique and humorous scientific inventions. we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo. for all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us.

have a great day wherever you are.