welcome to nhk, it's thursday, september 12th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. it's been 12 years since the 9/11 terror attacks in the united states. people have gathered to remember the victims and reflect on the day. on the day in 2011, terrorists

hijacked four planes. they flew two of them into the twin towers of the world tried center in new yorkity. another plane crashed into the defense department in washington. a fourth plane went down in a field in pennsylvania. in total, almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. people observed the minute of silence at 8:46 local time, the exact moment when the first plane hit one of the towers. victims then read out the names of lost loved ones. the victims' names are inscribed around the monument. u.s. president obama and vice president joe biden marked a moment of silence at the white house, obama then attended a ceremony at the pentagon. and president obama has addressed the country about his plans for syria.

he laid out the rationale for a strike against the regime of president bashar al assad and he asked congress to delay a vote on whether to approve military action. >> i determined that it is in the national security interest of the united states to respond to the assad regime's use of chemical weapons to a targeted military strike. the purpose of this strike would be to deter assad from using chemical weapons, to degrade his regime's ability to use them. >> obama ordered military commanders to maintain their current posture to maintain the pressure on assad. in the meantime, he said he and his aides are exploring alternatives. >> i have therefore asked the members of congress to postpone a vote on military force while we pursue this diplomatic path.

senators are set for the first vote on syria on wednesday but before the as, obama urged lawmakers to give him more room to pursue a diplomatic option. the vote could be delayed for a week or longer. representatives of the u.s., britain and france were preparing a resolution at the united nations. they want the security council to back possible force in syria. members of the russian delegation of propoelgsing a milding statement and want to avoid military action. they requested an emergency council meeting on tuesday that abruptly cancelled it. french president has been standing by u.s. president barack obama and said his country will seek a dip maltic solution. he released a statement after discusstion syria with his foreign defensive ministry. he said france will explore every possible step at the u.n. security council to press syria to abandon its chemical weapons

in a verifiable manner. but he also said his country will remain prepared for a possible military action to punish the syrian government for its use of chemical weapons. and i'd like to apologize. i reported earlier that the 9/11 terror attacks in the united states happened on 9/11, 2011. that's correct. it's 9/11, 2001. apologize for the confusion. the people at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant have a another problem on their hands. officials with tokyo electric power company say the levels of radioactivity in a monitoring well near a storage tank have risen. more than 300 tons of highly radioactive water lead to laked

month out of i storage tank. managers have asigned mormon tors to check far radioactive materials in groundwater near the tank and say the level rose on tuesday to 64,000 becquerels per leader, more than twice the reading of the previous day. the well is not located near where groundwater is flowing and the managers say most of the tainted soil around the tank has been removed. so they don't know how the water is getting contaminated. workers plan to pump up clean 'groundwater and reroute it into the ocean before it passes through reactor buildings. but their latest finding may change that plan. plans to rebuild break waters in three prefectures of north iran japan hardest hit in the 2011 disaster are behind schedule. officials in local municipalities say more than 60% of the projects have still not

gotten under way. the central and local governments plan to rebuild break water stretching hundreds of kilometers along japan's pacific coast. they will mostly be in mia give and fukushima prefectures. work o'on more than 60% of the projects has not started. most of the planned break waters will be higher than the previous ones but officials are having troubles getting the approval of local residents and say the new break waters are ugly and would hurt jobs along the coast. the crisis has made headlines around the world. now a fraench weekly newspaper has carried a caricature mocking the crisis and japan's winning bid for the 2020 olympic games. a cartoon shows two stick thin

sumo wrestlers foughting a bout. one wrestler has three arms and the other has three legs. two people in protective gear referee outside the ring. a comment says -- sumo was picked as an olympic sport, thanks to fhima. the editors of the paper said the cartoon expresses surprise that tokyo is hosting the games even though the plant not under control. but they said the caricature is not intended to hurt japanese feelings. it's not the first time fukushima has been the butt of french humor. the public broad casting had a broadcast showing a goalkeeper with japan's soccer team with four arms. they blame the fukushima accident pore the deformities. the embassy launched a protest and managers of the tv station apologized. japanese government officials are warning of possible cyberattacks from china. they say a hacker group has

posted threats on its website calling for attacks next week on 270 japanese sites. government officials say the sites targeted include the prime minister office and foreign ministry as well as local governments and media organizations. chinese hackers have launch add tax the past few accepts and coincide with the anniversary of an incident in 19 31 that led to japan's real of manchuria. china claims the islands and the hackers hit the websites of at least 19 japanese organizations, including the supreme court. security investigators are analyzing the group's website to see if they can find outing in about the hackers or their methods. japanese media have taken part in a drill with japan's maritime self-defense force over

the islands. a fleet of planes carried out the exercise over the east china sea. the squadron consisted of p 3 c control from fleet air wing 5 and the planes controlled the wooirn space over the east china sea about 1 r50 kilometers west of the main island of okinawa prefectu prefecture. >> we recognize chinese naval activity has picked up and we'll keep alert that any signs our national security is under threat. >> in the drill, the air crews tried to identify the names and nationalities of vessels approaching the area and the patrols have also been trying to identify any suspicious vessels and submarines in the east china sea inkplcluding the areas arou the islands.

north korea has stopped cruises to an area and the cancellation deals a blow for the quest for hard foreign currency. on a singapore registered ship equipped with a hotel and casino began in may. it sailed from the economic zone. it had been at a port since february. sources familiar with the china and north korea relations say a fall in the number of chinese tourists led to the cancellation. they imposed restrictions on sight seeing tours to the neither in april because of rising problems in the north of

korea. sources exclusively told nhk that the ship returned to singapore in early september. the north state-run media has not reported the cancellation, apparently, to avoid damaging efforts by leader kim jong un and they recall on south korea to resume the tours. analystses say this will make up for the drop in chinese visitors. pakistan will release the highest-ranking impritzed taliban member. the government of neighboring afghanistan is welcoming the decision. afghan officials have high hopes that the release will set in motion long-awaited peace talks with the taliban.

nhk has this report from islamabad. >> reporter: the former second in command for the taliban and one of the founders of the group. pakistan supported the taliban when they overtook control of afghanistan in 1996. it is widely believed that pakistan has strong links with the group. last month, president hamid karzai urged the prime minister sharif to face the peace talks between his country and the taliban. since last year, pakistan has released more than 30 taliban members. with you none of them have been high-profile members like this. the taliban criticizes him as a puppet of the u.s. and its official stance is not to negotiate with the officials.

the pakistani 'pledged to continue its efforts to get the taliban to sit at a table for peace. >> we can control him totally i not too much influence but since we have had some people have had good relationship with them, we pursue them in their own interest and if they agree with it, then they act upon it. >> reporter: the u.s. thinks the taliban talks will resume in qatar in june for others, his brother and it's a nickname believed to be given to him by omar, the taliban supreme leader. international combat forces are set to end this invasion of afghanistan by the end of 2014.

and the group is under pressure to have tighter security. attention is focused on whether the brothers release and further moments could become the heart of the effort to jump-start the peace process. from islamabad, nhk world. people in afghanistan are increasingly worried about the prospect of a taliban comeback after most international forces leave next you're and, perhaps, a return to civil war. the militant group is regaining strength in areas where foreign troops are leaving. nhk has this report. >> reporter: taliban influence in north afghanistan is on the rise again. we had a rare opportunity to film a taliban unit in the province. members are split into subgroups, tasked with carry out

strikes against both international and afghan forces. on this day, they're planning another attack. >> translator: foreign forces have been defeated and they're trying to flee afghanistan. our victory is near. >> reporter: german troops are responsible for security around here. but they are getting ready to go home. by the end of 2014, only a few will stay behind to carry on training they were ta afghan colleague. >> translator: we will be responsible for local security until the date of withdrawal.

>> reporter: many afghans feel like international forces are abandoning them. 23-year-old man was an interpreter for the german military. but the people he once worked for are being sent home and last december he lost his job. >> the taliban, if they're not removed, not vanished and they have to work on security parts of the area. this is the warning letter. >> reporter: he received a letter in april. it contained a threat from the taliban. >> we know you are a spy for the german military. if you don't share what you saw and heard, we'll kill you. >> reporter: last month, two of his former colleagues, an interpreter and the guard, were killed. >> we're getting warningsfrom

every part and they know us. that's why we're really concerned about our life. >> reporter: the taliban's wrooimpb send extends into the capital. in june it launched an attack into the office of the president. the united states wanted to weaken the taliban before most of its troops leave at the end of next year. but instead, the militant group remains a powerful and deadly enemy. more than 2200 u.s. troops have died in afghanistan over the past 12 years. >> heroes we honor today will not have died in vain. >> reporter: amid poor security economic progress has ground to a halt.

kabul used to be a thriving city thanks to huge amounts of aid pumped in by the city. but that's no longer the case. as you can see here, this building is in kabul is under construction, but work has been suspended halfway. the city is dotted with unfinished construction projects. people and money are draining out of afghanistan amid fears of a return to civil war. >> translator: everybody worries their investments may go down the drain because of the return of the taliban. >> reporter: 12 years have passed since reconstruction began in afghanistan. following the military campaign to oust the taliban after the september 11th terror attacks. but the country remains unstable placing a constant threat of

violence making its citizens feel important and increasingly nervous. nhk world, kabul. a new robotic machine is helping overworked hospital staff someday on top of their jobs. it automatically records details of the drugs used in surgery. nhk world has this report. >> reporter: this is lifting an empty vile of an injectable drug. the machine can process one vile every 30 seconds. it will record the type of drug. the machine is a brainchild of a joint venture by the maker of the equipment and researchers at the national college of technology.

doctors at this hospital in this town performed roughly 500 surgeries per year. and an operation can require up to tens of vials of drugs and the exact quantities of medications used must be recorded. this is for safety, and also, for the hospital can make up accurate bills. keeping such records is a big job. however, during an operation, every second is critical. nurses are occupied assisting surgeons and they don't have time to write down details about surgeries. after surgery, staff spends one or two hours loading the drugs used.

it's a lot of extra work. >> translator: some of the time that should be spent on patients has to be spent on drug management so it can be a large burden. >> reporter: last year, this hospital acquired a free dispersion of the monitor. all the nurse has to do now is put the used vials in a drawer and wait as the drugs are recorded, thanks to the device. over time, this has fallen more than half. the machines -- they want to sell it elsewhere but it has one problem. its size. >> translator: it's a bit large. it would be easier to use if it were more compact. >> reporter: the makers went back to the lab with help from

the technical college team. eight months later, they came up with this. it's about 15% of the size of the previous model. by reducing the number of cameras inside and upgrading the software, the inventories changed the machine to desk-top size. >> we're very happy our image processing technology will be used in hospitals. we hope this technology from japan will be used around the world. >> reporter: two hospitals have now installed the machine. the inventers hope this means more to come. nhk world. back to you. let's now take a brief look at the markets.

it's time now for a check on our weather with our meteorologist. good morning. people in to goy are getting to work or school under sunny skies. what's up ahead? good morning, catherine. it's going to be a return of summer across tokyo and the rest of the southern half of japan. the high could rise to over 30 degrees in tokyo for the first time since last thursday. very hot conditions and hatoyama will get higher compared to what we have been experiencing over the past several days. but wet weather is in the cards

for you for northern japan. thunderstorms are likely. more heavy rain is coming down from southwestern china and 90 millimeters of rain has been observed in shanghai to give you an idea, that's about 60% of the annual -- excuse me, monthly rainfall for september across the region. heavy rain is in the cards for you for the korean peninsula, starting tonight. and down toward the south, the showers are active across the indo china peninsula, especially in niern vietnam as well as parts of thailand. about 30 people have been killed so far due to flattened landslides in vietnam. and across the pacific, we have a newly-developed tropical depression and this one could become a tropical storm within the next 24 hours. right now, let's bring in rainfall for the mariana islands. tokyo, 32 with sunny skies and 26 with cloudy skies during the most part of the day and 27 for

you in beijing with thunder showers. right over the atlantic we have the first hurricane of the atlantic hurricane season. this is humberto. eight tropical storms so far but none have reached a hurricane status. the good news is it won't cause anywhere threat to any land masses for the next several days. across, continent and near the continent, we have a tropical storm that's gabrielle. it caused stormy conditions for the bermuda island and pulling away and will likely hit knnovaa on friday night and probably hit new finland over the weekend. across the continent, hot across the south but cooler in the north. we usually see severe conditions in this situation we have severe weather warnings in place from michigan to maine as well as

southern parts of quebec and new brunswick. even tornados not be ruled out. large hail and damaging winds are also possible. across the west, flooding rain continue across the four corners region and that raises the potential for flattening land swlooirnds further but the rain won't fall in much-needed areas like california. several wildfires are still growing across the state. temperatures are really, really high across seattle. 30 with plenty of sunshine. 27 degrees in los angeles. meanwhile, heat is easing across the northeast into the 20s in chicago and 29 degrees in new york city. that's five degrees cooler than what we saw on wednesday. further down toward the south, still hot in houston at 34 degrees and 31 for you in miami on your thursday. and here's your extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

>> i see some repeaters in the audience. this is the fourth event of five that we are hosting to celebrate the centennial of woodrow wilson's inauguration as president in 1913. we had a dinner last night at wilson house, which included an interview with the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee, ed royce.