hello, you're watching "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. 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

elinating 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 experts inspect chemical arms stockpiand related equipment and facilities for their eventual destruction. they'd 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 general ahmet uzumcu said the peace prize win will motivate the organization to work even harder. >> the condition that the peace prize brings will spur us to untiring effort, even 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. masaaki iwaki is a former commander in japan's self-defense forces. >> it is very good news, not only for opcw, but also for all

the state parties of chemical weapons convention. in addition, as you noticed, opcw is currently tasked with a very tough mission in syria in order to eliminate all of syrian chemical weapons and its capability within a year under dangerous conditions of civil war. when i was a member of the japanese delegation for chemical weapons convention, before the establishment of opcw, nobody -- and no country expects such a very big prize, because its main mission and objective was the elimination of large stockpile of chemical weapons in the united states and russia, at that moment, so-called historical during the cold war era. anyway, i'd like to express highest appreciation for the opcw and its staff. and wish it further success in syria.

republicans the in the u.s. how the represents 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. it 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.

the finance chiefs of industrialized and emerging stations are urging u.s. politicians to quickly resolve their differences. the g-20 finance ministers and central bank governors wrapped up two days of talks. their final statement says the world economy is facing down side risks. it highlights signs of improvement in major industrialized economies and slower growth in many emerging nations. the statement also focuses on the u.s. budget crisis. it says leaders need to take urgent action to address short-term fiscal uncertainties. it's rare for u.s. domestic issues to come under scrutiny at a g-20 meeting. analysts say the statement sends a strong warning that a u.s. default could seriously affect the world economy. the statement also says volatility in capital flows remains an important challenge. investors have been pulling their money out of emerging economies. they speculate that policymakers at the u.s. federal reserve are

getting ready to scale back their stimulus measures. japanese and canadian leaders are joining hands to help keep japan supplied with energy. they've ahold their countries will work together more closely to exploit canada's reserves of natural gas and shale formations. japan's minister of economy, trade and industry sat down with canada's natural resources minister joe oliver. they agreed to have gas development projects in western canada start shipping to japan. the minister promised financial help to build facilities to liquefy the natural gas and ports to ship it. >> i have high hopes for the continuing supply from canada, one of japan's closest and long-term allies. arranging imports from canada

will enhance the bilateral relationship between japan and canada. >> japanese firms have rights to 8.6 million tons of western canada's liquefied natural gas a year. that's equivalent to one-tenth of japan's annual imports. japan currently gets most of its supply from the middle east. people in china are buying more and more new cars and japanese automakers are celebrating a surge in demand there after disappointing sales last year. officials with china association of automobile manufacturers say sales of new cars last month came in over 1.9 million units. that's an increase of more than 1

19%. south korean government officials are grappling with a growing challenge. they try to help incomers who say they've escaped from the north. but more and more of those people are not genuine defectors but north korean spies. justice ministry officials told lawmakers about their efforts to capture north korean agents. they say the number of arrests they've made has grown sharply in the past few years. the officials say they've detained 49 north korean spies in the past decade and they say 21 had pretended to be defectors. they say the spies are members of north korea's state security and intelligence agencies. and say those agents entered the south to get classified information and take defectors back to the north. more than 25,000 north korean defectors live in the south. government officials in seoul are trying to help them adapt to life there.

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>> that wraps up this edition of ewsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us.