at 8 p.m. thanks for watching. hole low, welcome to "newslin "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. u.s. president barack obama has nominated a champion of american workers to the most powerful job in the world economy. janet yellen has spent years at the federal reserve promoting policies to reduce unemployment. if confirmed, she would be the first woman to head the central

bank. obama made the announcement at the white house alongside current chairman ben bernanke and yellen. >> i want to announce my choice for next chair of the federal reserve. one of the nation's foremost economists and policymakers, current vice chairman, janet yellen. >> if confirmed by the senate, i pledge to do my utmost to keep that trust and meet the great responsibilities that congress has entrusted to the federal reserve, to promote maximum employment, stable prices and a strong and stable financial system. >> yellen has been the fed's second in command since 2010. she head the council of economic advisers under former president bill clinton. she helped establish the fed's current program of monetary easing. if confirmed by the senate, she would take over after bernanke steps down in january.

the leaders of southeast asian countries are preparing for a summit in brunei. it opens on thursday. they'll be joined by top officials from china, japan russia and the united states. on the agenda will be territorial disputes between china and other countries in the south china sea. the territorial issue proved to be a major sticking point in a meeting between leaders of assign members and china also in brunei on wednesday. the came at a time when choir that's maritime presence is growing in the region. diplomatic sources say philippines president aquino called for an early drafting of legally binding rules to seek a solution to the disputes. he said steps should be taken gradually. japan and the united states are among those calling for an early creation of a legally binding code of conduct. the u.s. secretary of state

says his country remains committed to asia, despite the absence of president obama at key regional meetings. obama pulled out of a trip to southeast asia to deal with the shutdown in washington. john kerry made the pledge during a meeting with asean leaders. kerry is filling in for obama who is dealing with a congressional standoff over a budget bill that has partially shut down the u.s. government. at the onset of the talks, kerry sought to reassure asean leaders that the standoff is a moment in politics and will pass. he said the u.s. partnership with asean remains a top priority for the obama administration. the remarks come amid increased skepticism over washington's commitment to asia. some say obama's absence may result in greater chinese influence in the region. higher court officials in china have accepted an appeal by once-powerful politician bo xilai against his conviction and life sentence. a lower court found bo guilty

last month of accepting bribes and abuses of power. the former communist party chief of the mega city chongqing denied all charges. officials at the higher people's court in shandong province have said they accept the appeal. bo is expected to again deny the charges. the higher court ruling will be final. however, analysts say the higher court is unlikely to overturn the first ruling as communist party officials are believed to have a hand in sentencing. the date of one of the most eagerly awaited trials in the middle east has been announced. egypt's judiciary says ousted president mohamed morsi will appear in court on november 4th. he's been charged with ordering the killing of anti-government protesters. morsi became the first democratically elected president of egypt in june last year but was ousted by the military 13 months later. he remains in custody. prosecutors say morsi ordered members of the muslim

brotherhood to forcibly remove dem straight demonstrators from a sit-in around the presidential palace last summer. they say at least five people were killed. news of the trial comes as violent clashes continues between morsi supporters and the security forces of the military-backed interim government. more than 50 people died on sunday alone. morsi supporters say they'll continue rallying to reinstate him. the opening of his trial threatens to trigger yet more turmoil. the head of the global chemical weapons watchdog says he's sending more inspectors to syria. they'll oversee the destruction of the country's arsenal of chemical weapons. about 30 experts from the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons and the united nations are already on the ground. dozens more are on their way. the experts plan to inspect all of the country's chemical weapons facilities by the end of the month. they've begun supervising syrian government personnel and

disabling production facilities and dismantling rockets. leaders in damascus have agreed to destroy their entire stockpile by the middle of next year. analysts estimate the regime of president bashar al assad has about 1,000 tons of toxic agents. a japanese specialist familiar with the process of destroying chemical weapons is casting doubt on the timeline in syria. he says it may be difficult for the international experts to meet their deadline. nhk world's tomoyo yoshinaga explains. >> reporter: this plant in the southwest is designed to destroy chemical weapons. it opened nine years ago to handle a batch of old arms manufactured for the japanese imperial army. they were found on a seabed in a nearby port. japanese farm kobe steel designed this high-tech equipment.

it's called da vinci. it stands for detonati of ammunition in a vacuum in its chamber. the munitions charging the chemical agents go inside the chamber. explosives wrapped around the munitions detonate and incinerates them. temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees celsius detoxify the chemicals. there are only five of these systems in operation around the world. one in japan and four others overseas in belgium, the u.s. and china. this man is former head of japan's ground self-defense force chemicals corps. he says even with the state-of-the-art system, it would be difficult to destroy

syria's arsenal by the middle of next year. >> translator: the system in fukuoka can incinerate two to three times a day. so even if you destroy two munitions at a time, you can only dispose of six at the most. to wipe out the entire stockpile by mid 2014 is in my opinion a bit farfetched. >> reporter: the team we see here presents another major obstacle. as many as 100 inspectors and supportive staff will be working in dangerous and volatile conditions. snipers opened fire on a united nations inspection team that visited damascus in august. the convoy had just three hours to get evidence and get out. our expert says no one has managed to destroy chemical

weapons in the middle of a war zone before. >> translator: i think it's almost impossible to carry out this kind of work in a combat zone. you have to be able to install facilities. private firms would surely be involved too. the military can't handle it on its own. >> reporter: the u.n. secretary-general ban ki moon concedes the mission is unprecedented. he says success will depend on whether authorities in syria offer their full cooperation. tomoyo yoshinaga, nhk world. european leaders say they need to do more to prevent catastrophes in mediterranean waters. they've promised to take action

after hundreds of illegal migrants were killed last week in a shipwreck. an estimated 500 people from africa were trying to cross the mediterranean in search of a new life in europe. the ship they were on caught fire and capsized off the italian island of lapadusa. more than 300 people were killed. italian prime minister let that announced plans to hold a state funeral for the victims but search crews are still trying to recover bodies from the wreckage. the president of the european commission said the immigration crisis belongs to europe and not just italy alone. >> the image of hundreds of coffins will never get out of my mind. it's something i think one cannot forget. >> eu leaders have been trying to agree on how to tackle illegal migration. someone to provide support to coastal nations to track migrant vessels. but they have not been able to agree on a united approach.

a pakistani teenager has made a long journey from schoolgirl to activist. education for all campaigner, malala yousafzai, almost died a year ago at the hands of the taliban. in the time since, she's recovered, continued to speak out and is now considered a favorite to win the nobel peace prize later this week. nhk world's mitsuko nishikawa reports. >> reporter: malala yousafzai is unlike any child her age. the 16-year-old education campaigner has gone from a hospital bed to speaking at the united nations in the span of a year. >> instead of sending weapons, instead of sending tanks to afghanistan and all these countries which are suffering from terrorism, send books. instead of sending tanks, send pens. instead of sending soldiers,

send teachers. >> reporter: malala first gained attention as a blogger who documented life in the taliban controlled area of swat valley in pakistan. she wrote about extremist attempts to stop girls from getting an education. that made her a target. taliban gunmen stormed her school bus a year ago and shot her in the head. the assassination attempt left her in critical condition. she was flown to a hospital in england for emergency surgery. malala made what doctors called a remarkable recovery. and ever since, she's become an even more prominent spokesperson for the right to an education. malala's bravery and the strength of her convictions have inspired people worldwide.

harvard university last month named her humanitarian of the year. >> those people consider themselves powerful just because of having guns in their hands, but i think i am powerful and will be powerful if i empower myself with education and with knowledge. >> reporter: malala's message has resonated with people in japan too. supporters staged an event last week in tokyo. they invited a university student from pakistan to speak. she talked about the latest situation in her country. attendees discussed how to make education accessible to all. >> translator: like malala, i want to change the world by always speaking my mind.

>> reporter: the pakistani government and unesco set up the malala fund to support education for underprivileged children. but the situation in pakistan remains dire. many girls still don't have access to formal education. and extremists continue to bomb schools. plus, the pakistani taliban is still threatening malala. >> translator: we once attempted to kill her. if we find her, we will kill her with pride. >> reporter: but this young activist is vowing to stay active. >> we know that the terrorists were afraid of the power of education. that's why they stopped us from going to school. when we are trying to make our future brighter, then we must do something for it. i think that i can move forward, and i can do it. >> reporter: she may have a long way to go.

but after what she's been through in her short life, anything seems possible. mitsuko nishikawa, nhk world, tokyo. nuclear regulators in japan say they're worried a decline in worker morale could be behind a series of mistakes at the damaged fukushima daiichi plant. the most recent incident caused six workers to be exposed to radiation. officials with tokyo electric power companies say an 11-person crew was replacing pipes. they mistakenly disconnected one of them. highly contaminated water spilled out and soaked through the protective gear of six workers. the officials say the exposure is much lower than the annual limit. they revealed the highly radioactive water leaked for about an hour.

officials say roughly seven tons spilled out but is being held inside a barrier. they say the water contains about 34 million becquerels of radiating material per liter. they are urging tepco managers to look at the big picture and take action. >> translator: tokyo electric power company needs to improve the working environment at the plant and encourage each worker to maintain strong morale. otherwise, they won't be able to prevent troubles caused by careless mistakes. >> tanaka says tepco staff should make sure they supervise what's going on because many workers come from subcontracting companies. transport ministry officials have reprimanded two low-cost carriers operating in japan for failing to properly maintain their plaeps. the companies have been told to report back within two weeks of preventive measures. the officials say jetstar japan

failed to fully inspect its seven airbus a-320s during regular maintenance checks between january and august. they say maintenance staff did not check part of an activator for the plane's horizontal stabilizers even though the company had been instructed to do so. the company flies domestic routes. 18 flights were subsequently canceled. the ministry issued a similar warning to air asia japan. officials say the company failed to properly conduct maintenance on the horizontal stabilizers of its three a-320s for up to seven months. time now for a check on the market figures.

♪ this song is about a girl who died as a result of the atomic bombing of hiroshima. the day the paper cranes fly is not as popular outside of japan, but recently people in australia started singing it. credit goes to an 81-year-old man who spent much of world war ii in a japanese army prison camp. ♪ >> reporter: brisbane,

northeastern australia. recently local children sang "the day the paper cranes fly." 81-year-old neil begley is responsible for having australians sing this japanese song. begley's parents were missionaries. he was born and raised in china. during world war ii, he spent three and a half years in a japanese army prison camp. after the war, he went back to australia, angered by painful memories of the cold, the hunger, and the death of friends. 18 years ago, he published the book describing his harsh experiences. >> a daily ration of food was one cup of rice per person, per day. one small turnip. and the only green vegetables we got was chrysanthemum leaves. the anger about the japanese was

very strong. >> reporter: meanwhile, begley came across a book about a girl who died at the age of just 12 after exposure to the atomic bombing in hiroshima. sadako sasaki had leukemia as a result of the bombing. to pray for recovery, she folded thousands of paper cranes. ten years after the exposure, she died. a statue modeled on the girl stands in the children's peace monument in hiroshima. it broke begley's heart that japanese children also suffered terrible experiences during the war. last year, begley visited japan. he was a guest of the japanese ministry of foreign affairs. they invited people whom the japanese army imprisoned. during the trip, begley felt a strong desire to visit the

elementary school that the girl had attended. while the australian was there, he heard "the day the paper cranes fly," sadako's prayer in song. >> the children of the school sang a most beautiful song. and the children of japan used that song as their wish that there would be peace. >> reporter: after returning home he started telling local children about sadako. >> it was kind of sad about the girl dying, but she went to a lot of trouble making all those paper cranes. so yeah, it was a nice story. >> i thought it was amazing that she actually went to all the trouble to try and make all those paper cranes even though she had leukemia. ♪

>> reporter: begley decided he would spread the paper crane song in australia. he even translated japanese lyrics into english. >> then when they're old, and older, and in positions of power and authority, they will hopefully say, hey, we don't have to have a war, surely we can sit down and talk this through. we don't have to fight. >> reporter: the foremost victim in any war are children. begley feels that with all the political and religious conflicts around the world, his mission is to convey the mindlessness and horror of war. it is time now for a check on the weather with sayaka mori. it is a warm start to the day in

tokyo. what can we expect up ahead? >> good morning, catherine. it has been hot over most of japan this week. yesterday, many new records were set. to show you how hot that is, i want to show you this footage. people around much of japan got a late taste of summer on wednesday in min my gaut that prefecture, 35 degrees, a record high for the month of october. in western japan, the mercury in 140 locations hit 30 degrees or more. very hot yesterday. and here you can see the numbers what we saw yesterday. it was the hottest, strong winds, warm winds blew down the mountains and that heated air. and across japan, 28.8 degrees, about 6 degrees higher than seasonal. i know many of you are wondering when the heat will ease.

it looks like hotter than average temperatures will continue into saturday. so enjoy the late summer heat for the next few days. but on sunday, temperatures will go down to more average levels. further down toward the south we have a newly developed tropical storm east of the philippines. it's now a tropical storm, the name is nari, meaning lily in korean. it looks like it's going to intensify to a severe tropical storm and then move over luzon over the weekend. now, we're expecting very stormy conditions across manila on your saturday. heavy rain of over 200 millimeters likely across the west coast of the philippines for the next three daze or so. flooding, landslides, mud slooid slides are going to be a high risk for the time being. another system to watch is over the bay of bengal. this one is now a cyclonic storm. if you remember, it has been lingering as a low pressure system for days, bringing lots of rain for the west coes of the indochina peninsula. again, it's now strengthened to

a cyclonic storm and will likely move north and northwest, probably hit odisha by the weekend as a very severe cyclonic storm. so we have to monitor this system as well. temperatures are going to be in the 30s in hong kong as well as taipei. but towards the north, very chilly in ulan bator. 6 degrees for the high. in beijing, 21 degrees. cloudy but windy conditions that could ease hazy conditions there. across the americas, we have a slow-moving low pressure system across the east coast. the center is now located over the mid-atlantic coast. and as you can see, it's not going to move. that means heavy rain will continue. so flood risk will remain very high for the next few days. also strong winds will raise the potential for beach erosion across coastal areas. behind it we have a winter storm over the southwest. it's now producing some snow showers for the sierras.

and that could reach colorado and utah on wednesday and then move over towards the north as we go into the next 24 hours or so. temperatures running about 5 degrees higher than seasonal across the midsection of the u.s. 22 in chicago. across the east, 17 in washington, d.c. 16 degrees in new york city. with strong winds you could feel much cooler than these numbers on your thursday. here's the extended forecast.

and that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. . n

dvd. >> good afternoon. please find a seat. everybody. here we go. we have an overflow crowd. that is because this program will be so good. the movable feast continues. this is the third of a series of activities celebrating woodrow wilson