it's the top of the hour. welcome to "newsline." here are some of the stories we're following this hour. the u.s. employment report that was delayed by the government shutdown is out. and it shows the economy added more jobs in september, though fewer than expected. firefighters in eastern australia are preparing for hotter and drier weather. as they struggle to contain wildfires that are burning near sydney. and engineers at japan's

crippled nuclear plant are working on a plan to freeze radioactive water as part of efforts to prevent contaminants from seeping into the sea. investors around the world are going through the latest jobs report out of the u.s. and they're seeing a bit of a mixed picture. the unemployment picture in september slightly improved from august. but the economy added fewer jobs than expected. u.s. labor department officials say the jobless rate stood at 7.2%. that's down 0.1 point from the previous month. it's the lowest level since november 2008. employers added 148,000 nonfarm jobs in september. that's less than the 180,000 analysts had expected. the labor department was supposed to publish the jobs report on october this, but the government shutdown delayed the release. firefighters in eastern

australia are trying to make every minute count. they're working to contain out-of-control wildfires. the flames have chewed through vast tracts of land and burned down more than 200 homes. one person has died. our sydney correspondent reports. >> reporter: some 60 wildfires are burning in australia's eastern state of new south wales. the premier declared a state of emergency after the flames tore through residential areas. some people have been told to evacuate their homes and head to shelters. firefighters have been trying to keep the fires from merging. as you can see behind me, the burn has been conducted in order to stop fire from expanding. firefighters raced to make the most of the cooler weather on tuesday. they burned vegetation and

smaller bushes to eliminate fuel for the fire. the cleared areas were to contain the flames. firefighters at this regional headquarters in lithgow are monitoring the situation in blue mountains national park where the wildfires are the worst. they're trying to maximize their resources. more than 2,000 firefighters have been called in from around australia to battle the flames. but they still don't have enough teams to cover all fronts. >> the biggest challenge is purely the large sizes of the fire. it's over 40,000 hectares. so it's a massive fire. there's a lot of fire edge. and that is the most challenging at this point in time, trying to get to all that. >> reporter: some of the fires started spontaneously.

residents say in other places strong winds brought down power lines, igniting the dry brush. defense ministry officials are looking into whether explosives at a military training site sparked the fire at a national park. authorities have arrested two boys they suspect deliberately started fires in other areas. millions of people are seeing the result. smoke is clouding the skies. a haze enveloped sydney on sunday. a smoke smell lingers in the air. >> it's pretty hazy as you can see today. >> reporter: wildfires are common during the summer months, but authorities say it's extraordinary for them to be this intense and large scale. so early in the season. forecasters blame an unusually dry winter, and they say the

past 12 months have been the warmest on record. the conditions for wildfires were perfect. and the firefighters are bracing for those conditions to worsen. forecasters are calling for hotter and drier weather on wednesday. takeo nakajima, nhk world, lithgow, new south wales. japanese leaders have backed the united nations movement against the use of nuclear arms for the first time they've signed a statement saying the weapons should never be used again under any circumstances. nhk world's jackie issue i cow a has the details. >> reporter: a committee of the u.n. general assembly deals with disarmament in a statement. new zealand's representative proposed a document. more than 120 countries have given it their support. >> the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons

are a fundamental and global concern. >> reporter: the document says nuclear weapons have immense and controllable disruptive capabilities and indiscriminate in nature. it says the use and testing of such weapons have shown the consequences are unacceptable. it also says that it is in the interest of the very survival of humanity that nuclear weapons are never used again under any circumstances. delegates around the world have adopted similar statements since may of last year. one was released in april at a conference on the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. but up until now, japanese officials have refused to participate. many japanese, including survivors of the atomic bombings, criticized the government.

japan is the only country where atomic bombs have been used. so critics said japan's leaders had a responsibility to sign the statement. but government officials took issue with the way the document was worded. they say the rejecting nuclear arms under any circumstances is incompatible with the country relying on the u.s. nuclear umbrella. japanese officials lobbied their new zealand counterparts to revise part of the document. the new statement says awareness of the consequences must be under all approaches toward disarmament. that strikes a balance between countries that want a treaty banning the use of atomic weapons and those favoring a more gradual approach. >> translator: the overall context of the statement now conforms to the country's

security policy and its disarmament efforts. therefore, japan decided to participate. >> reporter: residents of hiroshima welcome the government's decision. u.s. military commanders dropped an atomic bomb on the city in 1945. the mayor said japanese leaders should now take the lead in pushing for disarmament. >> translator: i hope our government leaders will deliver atomic bomb survivor's call for elimination of nuclear weapons to the world. >> reporter: japanese officials plan to host an international conference on disarmament and nonproliferation in hiroshima next april. nhk world. the operator of the fukushima daiichi plant is struggling to prevent radioactive water from leaking into the ocean. officials from tokyo electric power company are trialing a

possible solution. the technique involves freezing radioactive water. an nhk crew was allowed into the site. the facility simulates an underground tunnel. the water inside is assumed to be radioactive. some of it has been frozen. groundwater has within flowing into the buildings and becomes tainted with radioactivity. water used to cool melted fuel also becomes contaminated. some of it has been flowing into underground tunnels connected to the turbine buildings. highly radioactive water accumulates in these tunnels. tepco officials say this is the main source of radioactive water leaking into the sea. this is tepco's plan. pipes are inserted into the tunnels along with a clay-based packer. a liquid coolant then goes into the pipes to freeze the packer and surrounding contaminated

water. the ice serves as a wall to stop the water. workers will then pump out any contaminated water left in the tunnels. tepco workers began the experiment in august. they say they created a two-meter-square ice wall in about six weeks. >> translator: the ice wall is preventing water from flowing in here. so the test shows it's possible to block the flow. >> but real tunnels have pipes and other obstacles, so workers conducted a test with such obstacles. they say they could create an ice wall by installing extra coolant pipes. but tepco officials face a difficult challenge. the radiation in actual tunnels prevents workers from entering. they have to refer to engineering plans for plants to install cooling pipes from above ground. >> translator: we have to fully understand the structure inside the tunnels by referring to the engineering drawings. >> tepco officials plan to begin

the work to freeze contaminated water early next year. a few months later, they hope to start removing around 10,000 tons of radioactive water that has accumulated in the tunnels. tepco managers say they've detected radioactive cesium a kilometer off the coast. it's the second time they've found the substance that far out at sea. but they say the levels are very low and won't affect the environment. workers have been analyzing seawater at five locations off the fukushima daiichi. they took a sample on friday and found it contained 1.6 becquerels per liter. tepco officials say that's well below the safety standard for drinking water said by the world held organization which is 10 becquerels per liter. they found cesium at the location two weeks ago. the officials say they can't explain why the substance is present there, but almost nonexistent elsewhere outside the plant's harbor. they're planning to install

devices that can check radiation levels offshore at all times. as tepco managers struggle to decommission the fukushima plant, they're trying to prepare another facility to resume operations. they're working to restart two reactors on the sea of japan coast. they allowed the media to see a new safety feature. the filtered vent system would be used in the event of a severe accident. tepco workers have started installing the devices in a reactor building at the kashiwazaki-kariwa. filtered vents are designed to release pressure in containment vessels if an accident occurs. they use a combined water and chemical filtration system to reduce the amount of radioactive materials released to almost zero. the governor is worried the system cannot contain all dangerous substances. >> translator: even if we use this system, we still cannot

filter out some of the rare gases, such as crypton. so we need to come up with evacuation plans. >> utilities cannot restart reactors until they install filtered vent systems. the devices are required under new tougher safety standards. last month, tepco executives applied to nuclear regulators for the safety screening needed to restart two reactors at kashiwazaki-kariwa. they plan to complete refur issuements on one of them by the end of march. all 50 commercial reactors in japan are offline. power companies hav applied for inspections to restart units at seven plants. home prices in china remain on an uptrend in september. they rose in more than 90% of major cities surveyed despite the government's efforts to control them.

china's national bureau of statistics announced that the prices of new home went up month on month in 65 of the 70 cities in the survey. prices rose 1.6% in shanghai, 1.4% in guangzhou, and 1.2% in beijing. thehine government raid real estate taxes this year in an effort to hold down prices. officials fear that discontent will grow among those who can't afford to buy homes. the government plans to consider additional measures to make homes more affordable. a group of five japanese companies has decided to come together and acquire a stake in a major ship builder in brazil. they're trying to gain a foot hold in the development of offshore oil fields in the south american country. mitsubishi heavy industries ship building and three other japanese companies will acquire a 30% stake for around $300 million.

>> translator: we'd like to overtake chinese and south korean ship builders by investing in a major brazilian firm. >> they're participating in oil products ledy the brazilian government. japanese companies will provide technical support needed to develop underwater oil fields. demand for these ships is expected to grow in the future. representatives from some of japan's top creative firms are showing off the cool side of their culture to foreigners. they're showcasing the latest an eme films, pop songs and other international trends at a trade fair in tokyo. the trade ministry organized the event for about 150 companies and organizations. the fair is designed to give foreign buyers a taste of the latest pop culture trends, and make it easier for them to invest. >> we have interest in films, with the directors.

animation "wind rises." we will be the distributors in brazil. >> the show is part of the cool japan project which is designed to promote culture abroad. the government hopes its entertainment, fashion and tourism industries will help to spur economic growth. okay, now, for the latest market figures.

india is one of the top importers of gold and purchased 864 tons of the precious metal last year. indians keep a total of arod 25,000 tons in their home partly because there are few banks in rural areas. gold is part of daily life in the country, but that is changing as the global economy fluctuates. here is the report from new delhi. >> reporter: october marke the start of a season that was long-awaited by many indians. it began with theestival ring which people express gratitude to hindu deits. other festivals will be held through december. during the season, many people buy necessities which are said

to bring good luck. but this year few customers are coming to this jewelry store. the amount of gold circulating in indian markets has plummeted, as prices have increased by 20% in the past six months. the government's economic policy is behind the diminished supply. india suffers chronic account deficits with other countries. the cause is mainly import of crude oil. gold also accounts for around 10% of imports. investment flowed into the country earlier this year, thanks to the united states' quantitative monetary easing. those funds have offset the deficit. the u.s. hinted that it might scale back its easy money

policy. investors quickly pulled their funds out of india. the indian government imposed a high tariff on gold imports to prevent the deficit from ballooning. by august, almost no gold was coming in. this dealt a heavy blow to the industry which accounts for about 10 million jobs. >> it is abnormal year. so as a point of view, we are trying to protect the industry. >> reporter: people have come up with various tactics to survive. >> hello. >> reporter: this shop is buying used gold items to make up for the shortfall in the supply. the business hopes to tap into the masses of gold gathering dust in people's homes, and turn it into new ornaments they can

sell. >> this is a part of our culture and tradition. we have to continue to be in this business. and we have to learn how to stay and work in the low economy. >> reporter: there are designs such as this necklace which looks like any other. but the gold parts are hollow, so as to use as little of the material as possible. there are also items made of gold plated brass for people on a budget who want to get into the festive spirit. this gold plated necklace sells for less than $25. similar items made from solid gold would cost at least $3,000. the affordable alternative is a hit with customers. >> gold can be very expensive.

>> reporter: the bride in this wedding in new delhi earlier this month was beautifully dressed, as the women gathered to celebrate. many of them were wearing gold plated accessories. >> reporter: india's economic growth is slowing down. the government's effort to provide momentum has had an unexpected impact on the lives of the people. nhk world, new delhi. let's hope they never have to resort to costume jewelry. weather-wise, tokyo won't be seeing much sunshine. the current temperature reading is around 18 degrees celsius, or 64 degrees fahrenheit. for more on world weather, robert speta will walk us through the latest developments.

robert? >> let's start off with typhoon francisco here. currently towards the southeast of okinawa in the southern japanese islands, still fairly strong system despite the weakening we've seen over the past several days. about the equivalent of a category 2 hurricane if this was out into the eastern pacific, or there into the atlantic. winds right now sustained at 162, gusting up to 216 kilometers per hour. well over the open ocean at this time. but already been sending out this cascading effect of large waves away from that center of circulation. i want to show you video coming out where the storm system is headed now, large waves already here on tuesday. now going into wednesday. expected to continue to build. by wednesday night into thursday, ten meter high winds very well will be hitting the same area. winds around 100, gusting up to 140 kilometers per hour. very serious storm system heading toward that island. now, the good news is that this is going to be weakening still,

but you're going to be taking the bankrupt of runt of it ther just saw that video. winds sustained around 65 kilometers per hour. very well possible here tropical storm strength winds coming out of this wake in the center of circulation. as it does turn off here towards the northeast, what we're expecting is it to continue to weaken out. but a lot of that precipitation is going to get mixed up with a stationary boundary setting up over japan. what it means is widespread rainfall across much of mainland japan. not directly associated with the center of circulation, but all the moisture getting pushed off to the north. some areas could see 100 to 200 millimeters of rain. risk of flooding, even landslides out here. by wednesday continue it to shift off to the northeast going into friday, bringing that heavy rainfall in towards the tokyo area. now, likely, though, it will be staying offshore as far as that center of circulation. but by the time it gets up here, that's really not going to be

much of a factor anymore. meanwhile, francisco continuing to turn to the northeast. we have another typhoon setting up here. the good news with this one, it doesn't look like it's going to be impacting any major land areas, but it will have somewhat of a side effect impacting francisco here, and likely pulling it farther toward the east. when two storms get really close together, very well it could have an impact on that. something to continue to watch throughout the coming days out here in the western pacific. meanwhile, though, i want to touch in on what's going on down here in southeastern australia. the fires continuing to burn towards the west of sydney out here. unfortunately, we do have conditions in place with this cold front coming through that will make this extreme fire weather that much worse out here, with the fires still burning. this cold front pushing through, will bring some rain showers and thunderstorms, but unfortunately, gusty winds. you could see winds in sydney going out through thursday up to 55 kill meters per hour.

still going to be very dry air. still talking about the tropics. major hurricane lingering off of mexico right now. winds sustained at 185 kilometers per hour. the biggest threat with this, it's still lingering here. that will bring up to 300 millimeters of rainfall through the coming days. serious risk of flooding out there. farther to the north, though, high pressure is dominating much of the central u.s. with this is bringing is the risk of frost. that's a look at your world weather. here's your extended forecast.

before we go, here's a

colorful story from japan's ancient capital of kyoto. thousands of people dressed up in traditional costumes for a festival to celebrate different eras in japan's history. about 2,000 people paraded from the kyoto imperial palace to the shrine several kilometers away. some participants performed a reenactment involving a 16th century warlord and his vasels. others dressed as court ladies, mesmerized the crowd with their intricate ceremonial kimonos. the festival dates back more than 100 years. it's one of the city's three major festivals. >> translator: the ladies' kimonos were so beautiful. >> translator: it was fun. my children were so excited. the costumes were really wonderful.

>> more than 50,000 spectators lined up for the procession. if you're into regalia, that is definitely your festival. i'm james tengan in tokyo. thanks for watching.

hey there, sexy lips. on rice. now is this art in a bento box or is it a strange joke? let's do something special today. there's a letter from a viewer that's been on my mind forever. in it, the person wrote, i made bentos for myself every day. it doesn't cost much or take much time plus it's fun and full of surprises. i can see that. but what i want to know is, are