welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we are following this hour. the nobel peace prize has been awarded to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, the group that is working to dismantle syria's chemical arms stockpiles. japanese leaders have agreed to sign a u.n. statement calling for a ban on the use of nuclear weapons after refusing to endorse it in the past.

a renowned conductor has traveled from far away to teach students in northeastern japan about the healing power of music. the global watchdog dedicated to the elimination of chemical weapons is the winner of this year's nobel peace prize. the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons is based in the hague. opcw experts are currently in syria dismantling the country's stockpiles of these arms. >> the nobel peace prize for 2013 is to be awarded to the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, opcw, for its extensive work for eliminating chemical weapons. >> the chairman of the norwegian nobel committee says the opcw has sought ways to destroy chemical weapons since it was set up in 1997.

he notes that the recent use of these arms in syria underscores the importance of the opcw's work. the organization's mission is to implement the chemical weapons convention. 189 states have signed the convention. it bans the development and possession of chemical weapons and sets out rules for getting rid of them. opcw weapons inspect chemical arms stockpiles and related equipment and facilities for their eventual destruction. they had carried out more than 5,100 inspections in 86 countries as of the end of july. the inspections in syria are based on a declaration made by the government of president bashar al assad. about 1,000 tons of chemical agents are believed to be stored at more than 20 locations in the country. experts from the opcw and the u.n. started their work following a resolution by the u.n. security council. they face the challenge of doing their job as syria's civil war continues. opcw director ahmed will motivate the organization to work even harder.

>> the peace prize brings untiring effort, stronger commitment and greater dedication. people around the world have been reacting to this announcement. we spoke to a japanese specialist in chemical weapons who was involved in the establishment of the opcw. he's a former commander in japan's self-defense forces. >> it is very good news not only for the opcw but also for all the parties of chemical weapons convention. in addition, as you noted, opcw has a very tough mission in syria in order to eliminate all of the syrian chemical weapons and its capability within a year, under dangerous conditions of civil war. when i was a member of japanese delegation for chemical weapons

convention, before the establishment of opcw, nobody and no country expects such a very big price because its main mission and objective was the elimination of large stockpiles of chemical weapons in the united states and russia at that moment. during the cold war era. anyway, i would like to express the highest appreciation for the opcw and its staff and wish its further success in syria. >> and that was a former commander in japan's self-defense forces who was involved in the establishment of the opcw. japan's foreign minister

says his country will sign a u.n. statement calling for a ban on the use of nuclear weapons. japanese officials refused to sign a similar document earlier this year. new zealand, switzerland and 14 other countries are leading u.n. efforts to release the joint statement later this month. >> translator: i'm announcing that japan is going to endorse the statement as the world's only victim of atomic bombings, our country understands the misery that nuclear weapons bring about. >> foreign minister said japan has a moral responsibility to work continuously to rid the world of nuclear weapons. in april japan refused to sign a document containing similar language at a conference on the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. the april statement said nuclear arms should not be used under any circumstances. japanese officials said they refused to sign it since the country relies on the u.s. nuclear umbrella.

kishida was asked about the change in the government's stance. he said that he personally asked new zealand's foreign minister to adjust the wording in the latest statement. he said changing the document allowed japan to support it after a strict review. japanese leaders refused to sign the statement three times in the past. that prompted international ngos to stage protest rallies in geneva. the nagasaki mayor is praising the government's decision to get on board. >> translator: the government's change of stance marks a step forward for the abolition of nuclear weapons. >> the mayor says he hopes the government will assume a leadership role in eliminating nuclear arms in northeast asia. one of the biggest annual gatherings of asia-pacific leaders has only just ended. but china's diplomatic offensive continues. ro

roselyn has the story. they discussed cooperation between two of asia's most important manufacturing economies. china is asia's biggest economy, and thailand is known as the manufacturing hub of southeast asia. they've shared interests and issues such as investment, infrastructure, technology and energy. lee expressed china's interest in helping thailand build a high-speed railway system. china has been on a diplomatic offensive in recent weeks. last week president xi jinping visited malaysia. other countries are making diplomatic pushes of their own. u.s. secretary of state john kerry held talks in malaysia on friday with the prime minister. kerry is representing barack

obama after the president canceled his trip to asia because of the u.s. government shutdown. indian prime minister held talks in indonesia on friday. asean's fast emerging markets with a total of 600 million potential consumers makes it an attractive target for countries who want to bolster their own economics. you think of bali and you probably have an image of sun, sand and beautiful beaches. what the travel brochures don't show is the island's increasing struggle with vast amounts of garbage. volunteers believe they've found a solution worth banking on. >> reporter: a traditional dance. the beach and ocean. bali is one of the favorite

holiday destinations. but away from the beaches, the picture isn't so pretty. many streets are littered with trash. bali's population is growing due to the booming tourist trade. more people means more trash. the amount of garbage generated in bali has jumped seven-fold over the past eight years. but the garbage disposal capacity is inadequate. they used to serve food like this. but now they use paper and

plastic bags that don't degrade. trash is everywhere. in the biggest city, a new project aims to clean it up. the volunteer project is called trash ban. the bags are weighed. and they receive money in turn. >> translator: i made 85 cents today. i come here once every two weeks. i can make money selling what i would have just thrown into the river before. >> reporter: after trash bank

bags are sent on to recycling agents. it uses the profits to buy more trash. recycling agents also benefit from higher volumes, which generate bigger profits. how much money residents receives depends on the type of waste debris. plastic bottles get about 71 cents per kilogram. they can choose to trade the money in savings account instead of receiving cash. just like a regular bank, they can withdraw money from their accounts and take out loans. but customers trade for their

trash. >> translator: people used to throw away usable waste without thinking about it. now they voluntarily pick up the bottles for recycling. the awareness is definitely improving. >> reporter: 36 new trash bag projects started this year alone. the enterprise shows how it's improving. people are encouraged to keep their areas clean. and by protecting nature, they make an investment for future generations. nhk world, bali. that wraps up our bulletin in bangkok.

republicans in the u.s. house of representatives have unveiled a plan that could end a standoff over the national debt. they met at the white house with president barack obama. they proposed legislation that would allow for a short-term increase in the debt ceiling, but the two sides are still far apart. the proposal does not include any measures to resolve the partial shutdown of government services that started last week. >> we had a very useful meeting. it was clarifying, i think, for both sides as to where we are. >> the government needs approval from congress to borrow more money. otherwise, by next week it might not be able to pay its bills. white house officials released a statement after the meeting and said they did not reach an agreement. president obama is demanding that the two sides agree to raise the debt ceiling and to end the shutdown. finance ministers and central

bank governors are assessing the state of the global economy. they're meeting in washington and wringing their hands over the possible impact of the debt debate. the financial leaders urged u.s. lawmakers to end the government shutdown and reach a deal on the debt limit to avoid a default. they're concerned the nervousness about the u.s. will spill over beyond its borders and affect global markets. japanese finance minister taro aso shared the same concerns with the u.s. treasury secretary jack lew. >> translator: i conveyed my hopes for a swift resolution to the issue. >> g-20 officials are drafting a joint statement to be released on friday at the end of their meetings. they're expected to encourage u.s. lawmakers to work toward a quick resolution. finance chiefs of five emerging economies have agreed to call on the united states to act quickly to avoid a debt default.

>> we are not very happy with the manner in which suddenly the emerging markets are all described as being in difficulties. we would certainly ask that these matters be resolved constructively and quickly. >> some of the so-called brics countries have already been hit pretty hard by the withdrawal of investment funds due to an unexpected tapering of the u.s. money-easing measures. here are the latest market figures.

japanese fishermen in fukushima prefecture are marking a first. they're hauling in white bait, something they haven't done since the nuclear accident in march 2011. they say their catch is safe. dozens of boats came back to a port in the city of somea. the fishermen were wuss i unloading but seemed happy. they decided to resume catching whitebait after tests showed that hardly any radioactive substances have been defected in the fish. >> translator: we are so glad that we can fish for whitebait again. >> the fishermen tested their catch twice before and after boiling and processing. they confirmed the radiation readings were far below the

safety standard. they plan to sell the whitebait at local markets and in a tokyo market. the 2011 disaster wasn't just hard on fishermen in japan. young people in the north east struggled in the aftermath. they lost homes and places to play. some had to go to new schools. it's been an adjustment. a famous conductor from venezuela is one of the latest foreign visitors to offer support. he led a workshop on the healing power of music. here is his story. >> reporter: the venezuelan conductor is a young maestro renowned on the world scene. at 32, he's already conducted famous orchestras like the berlin harmonic and in milan.

he performed last month in japan. but he made japan the end of his trip for a special stop. he visited an area of miyagi prefecture devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. >> no words. it's very sad. but i think the important thing is the hope. the hope of the people to keep working and living. >> reporter: he led a workshop at the local music festival. he conducted about 120 junior high and high school kids from the region. >> translator: music has power. music can fill young people with hope. >> reporter: he grew up in venezuela, where there is a large gap between rich and poor.

many young people who can't escape poverty turn to crime. but venezuelans have the option of a free music education. leaders hope young people can find a way out of poverty through music. it was through this system that he was discovered. and he quickly became a global star. >> translator: in life, you go throughtimes. and sometimes you get lost. but there is always the light of hope. finding music can lead you to something special in that moment. it should provide the light of hope to the youth in the disaster area.

>> reporter: this girl took part in the workshop. she plays trumpet in her high school orchestra. she took up the instrument about five years ago. but her family was hit hard by the tsunami. her home was washed away. she couldn't play music for a long time. she wanted to learn from dudamel how to make her music more expressive. >> translator: since the disaster, i have really wanted people to listen to music. now i want it even more. >> reporter: dudamel asks students to put emotion into their music. they tried hard to communicate their feelings to the audience.

>> translator: he gave us a lot of advice. in the future, i want to use what i've learned today. >> it was wonderful. they were great. so wonderful. and you see their hope and their love of life in their eyes. that is the most important thing. >> reporter: dudamel talks about the power of music. the students who met him are starting to find out what this power can mean for their communities. nhk world, miyagi prefecture. thousands of residents are still waiting to go home. vast tracts of land are still waiting to be restored. and more than half of fishing ports on the coast must be

rebuilt. people in northeastern japan still face challenges following the 2011 disaster, but step by step they're moving forward. see their stories, every wednesday on the road ahead right here on "newsline." we have three tropical storms looming in different parts of the world. and our meteorologist, robert speta, has been closely monitoring the situation. robert? >> there really is a powder keg of tropical activity out here. not only in the western pacific, but also over towards the indian ocean. i first want to talk about the storm out here, this one is currently making landfall actually there across luzon, packing winds gusting up to about 200 kilometers per hour. you've already been seeing gusty winds in the area. heavy rainfall farther inland. as that tracks inland, right now, we are seeing the max of

the winds near the coast. the good news is that this is very sparsely populated, right along the eastern seaboard of luzon, where most of the population there is just north of the metro manila area, the capital of the philippines and also in manila itself. the many threat is this heavy rainfall. but don't be surprised if you see the sustained tropical storm strength waves and possibly typhoon strength winds as this does track off there just north of your location, if you're watching from manila, and then moving out there toward the south china sea. but like i said, flooding and landslides a major risk. actually, the philippine meteorological agency has posted warnings across much of luzon, a warning on that, 200 millimeters likely with this storm system. extending out into the end of the week and early next week, eastern sea boards of vietnam, keep an eye on this. it could continue to intensify as it tracks off to the west.

the other of our storm systems, and also actually more intense is cyclone phailin. one thing i want to show you is on the satellite picture, look how massive this cloud shield is. about half the size of india. this is the strongest cyclone in about 14 years here in the bay of bengal. the last storm to hit this area this strorm caused upwards of 10,000 deaths out here. not saying that is going to happen. a lot has changed in the past 14 years. but it just shows how serious this storm system is. winds gusting at 235 kilometers per hour. expecting to make landfall in the state of orissa here by saturday evening, pushing onshore, still as a very severe cyclonic storm system. this is where tens of thousands of people have evacuated here ahead of the storm, heading to shelters, told by the indian meteorological department, get out of harm's way with this one.

definitely people are taking it seriously. and farther inland there could be a major crop loss with this as well as heavy rainfall will cause some serious flooding. we definitely want to continue to watch on this one. and not to mention we have our third system out here. this is tropical storm whichpa. this will track off to the north into tokyo, at least along the pacific coast of japan by tuesday, into wednesday of next week. could be impacted by a typhoon tracking off to the north and training toward the northeast. definitely a lot going on out here in the tropics. already thunderstorms not tropical related in the northern portions of japan as well. temperatures 30 on saturday. by the end of the weekend in tokyo, it will feel more like in the high 20s. here's the extended forecast.

scientists in south africa say they've made a discovery that should shed light on how the solar system was formed. they found the first definitive evidence of a comet striking earth. the team says they found a stone in southwestern egypt from a comet that dates back about 28 million years. the experts say the stone's chemical makeup closely resembles of that of comet dust by nasa's unmanned space probe. they say it's the first time material from a comet is found on earth. >> exceedingly rare events. that is why we are so excited to hold a piece of a comet in our hands, because comets normally never enter our neighborhood. >> professor block said the fragment could help explain one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. and that's "newsline" for dh hour. i'm gene otani.

thanks very much for joining us. until next time, good-bye.

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the children born in this van in seoul, south korea, are so-called 1.5 generation defectors from north korea.