follow me on twitter. see you back here at 8:00. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." it's wednesday october 23. i'm catherine in tokyo. delegates from western countries have blamed the chinese for arresting activists, blocking internet sites and restricting the freedoms of ethnic minorities. they made the appeal at the

united rights council. council members review the records of all 192 u.n. members once every four years. this year china was among those under scrutiny. the delegate from poland called for the investigation on the chinese crack down on journalist and activists. he says authorities should not restricting freedom of expression immediately. the french turned suggestion to at the bat and region. he asked chinese leader to allow monitors to visit those areas. china's delegates said leaders in beijing have made improvements over the last four years. they have taken measures to protect rights of freedom of expression and religion. he says the splits of the country or disturbing the tranquility of society will not

be permitted. council members will write up recommendations and present them to the chinese government by next march. the family of well known chinese activist has applied for visas to reunite with him in the united states. he forced abortions by chinese authorities, escaped house arrest and # sought asylum at the embassy last year. he's calling for international efforts to improve china's human rights efforts. it's unlikely the chinese government will allow limb to return any time soon. his mother and other members of his family visited the u.s. embassy and applied for visas. his mother is 78 years old and suffers from health probms. >> translator: i'm afraid that my son will not come home any time soon.

my health is getting worse and i'm aging. i will not have many opportunities to meet him. >> translator: my brother will not be able to come back to china soon. we've not seen him for a year and a half. our mother is missing him. >> his older brother said he was almost struck by a vehicle riding a motor bike near his home earlier this month. his family members say they're subjected to harassment by authorities as they prepare to leave for the u.s. severe smog has smothered china's north eastern city harbin. air traffic has been interrupted and schools have suspended classes. the schools remained closed for a second straight day. poor visibility at the international airport caused cancellations of flights. particles called pm 2.5 are far

above national standards. they are considered harmful to health. air pollution in the northeast is severe enough to break measuring equipment. the rise in pollution may have been caused by the city's coal burning heating system recently started. they say farmers burning corn sta stalks after the season are causing problems. firefighters in eastern australia are trying to make every minute count working to contain wildfires. flames have burned through vast tracks of land and destroyed more than 200 homes. one has died. nhk world reports from sidney. >> reporter: some 60 wildfires are burning in australia's state

of new whales. 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, hazard reduction burn has been conducted in order to stop fire from expanding. firefighters raced to makes the most of the cooler weather on tuesday. they burned vegetation and smaller bushes to eliminate fuel for the fire. the cleared areas will act as barriers to contain the flames. firefighters at this regional headquarters in lis co 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. they don't have enough teams to cover all fronts. >> the biggest challenge is purely the large size of this fire. it's over40,000 hectors and 300 kilometers around. there's a lot of fire edge. that's the most challenging at this point in time trying to get to all that. >> some of the fires started spontaneously. residents say in other places strong winds brought down power lines igniting the dry bush. officials are look into whether explosives at the military training site sparked the fire at the national park. authorities have arrested two boys they suspect started fires in other areas. millions of people are seeing the result.

smoke is clouding the skies. a haze enveloped sidney on monday. a burning smell lingers in the air. >> coming in on the train you could definitely smell it. it's pretty hazy as you can see today. >> 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 are more perfect. the firefighters are bracing for those conditions to worsen. forecasters are calling for hotter and drier weather on wednesday. nhk world lis co, new south whales. this is one of the world's top importers of gold and

purchased 864 tons of the precious metal last year. indians keep a total of 25,000 tons in their homes because there are few banks and rural areas. gold is part of daily life in the country but that's changing as the global economy fluctuates. we report now from new delhi. >> early october marked the start of the season long a waited by many indians. it began with the festival during which people express gratitude. other festivals are held through december. during this season, many people buy gold necessities believed to bring good luck. this year, few customers are coming to this jewelry store. the amount of gold circulating

in indian marks has plummeted as prices increased by 20% in the past six months. the governments economic policy is behind the diminished supply. india suffers chronic current account deficits with other countries. the cause is merely import of crude oil. gold also accounts for around 10% of imports. earlier this year, investment flowed into the country thanks to the united states quantitative monetary easing. those funds offset the deficit. united states hinted in may that it might scale back easing policy. investors quickly pulled funds out of india. the india 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 jewelry industry which accounts for about 10 million jobs. >> it is abnormal year. for point of view we are trying to protect industry. >> reporter: drillers have come up with various tactics to survive. this shop is buying used gold items to make up for short fall in the supply. business hopes to tap into the masses of gold gathering dust in people's home and turn it to new ornaments they can sell. >> this is a part of our culture and tradition. we have to continue to be in this business. we have to learn how to stay and

work in low economy. >> reporter: other jewelers have thought up designs such as this necklace that looks like any other. the gold parts are hollow as to use as little of the material as possible. there are also items made of gold plated brass for people on a budget that want to get into the festival spirit. this gold plated necklace sells for less than $25. similar items made from solid gold would cost at least $3,000. affordable alternating is a hit with customers. >> 20 times more than last year. >> reporter: the bride in this

wedding in new delhi earlier this month was beautifully dressed as were the women gathered to celebrate. many of them were wearing gold plated necessities. >> india's economy growth is slowing down. the government's effort to revive momentum has had an unexpected income on the lives of the people. nhk world new delhi. investors around the world are going through the latest jobs report out of the and seeing a mixed picture. unemployment slightly improved from august but the economy added fewer jobs than expected. labor department officials say the jobless rate stood at 7.2%

down from the previous month, lowest since november 2008. united states employers added 148,000 non farm jobs in september from the previous month, less than 180,000 anal t analysts had expected for the month. employment in the construction sector rose by 20,000. transportation and warehousing added 23,000. but employment in the food services sector declined slightly by 7,000. economists have been keeping a close eye on data. the federal reserve is expected to take the numbers into account in deciding when to scale back on stimulus measures. engineers in japan's nuclear plant are testing a technique that could slow the leak of radioactive water into the environment. they've come up you with a way to freeze contaminated water on site to stop it from seeping into underground tunnels and

then into the sea. plant operator power company allowed the nhk crew to visit the test site near tokyo. the company simulating an underground tunnel. the water inside is assumed to be radio active. some has been frozen. engineers have watched the water build up everyday at the plant. ground water flows to turbine buildings and becomes radioactive. water used to cool melted fuel k becomes contaminated. water fuel from both makes its way to underground tunnels. the tunnel water is main source of radioactive materials getting in the sea. here's a look at what engineers did. they inserted pipes into the mock tunnel with a clay based packer. they injected a liquid coolant

to freeze the packer and surrounding water. the idea is the ice would serve as a wall to stop more water from getting into the tunnels. crews would pump out the contaminated water that remains. the engineers began the experiment in august and say they created a two meter square ice wall in six weeks. >> translator: the ice wall prevents water from flowing in here. the test shows it's possible to block the flow. >> but the real tunnels at fukushi fukushima daiichi have other obstacles. the engineers say they were able to create an ice wall by installing extra pipes. they face a challenge. radiation levels are so high in real pipe, engineers couldn't enter them. they'll have to install from

above ground. >> translator: we have to fully understand the structure inside the tunnel ns by referring to engineer drawings. >> a few months later they hope to remove the 10,000 tons of radioactive water that's accumulated in the tunnels. officials on isu oshima south of tokyo plan to evacuate elderly and disabled. officials plan to charter a ship for the evacuation on wednesday. last week the island was pounded by rain from typhoon wipha. homes were destroyed. 29 are confirmed dead and 16 others are missing. the meteorological agency issued a heavy rain water. officials asked 550 aged and disabled people on tuesday if they wanted to temporarily stay at facilities off the island.

at least 80 people said yes including those that helped the aged or disabled. >> translator: i think i better evacuate if i'm causing trouble for everyone by staying on the island. i do want to return home as soon as possible. >> translator: i am healthy but disabled. i cannot walk at all. so i would like to stay on the island. >> they also plan to make preparations for elderly and disable had the stay on the island. they'll be given priority if evacuating to shelters becomes necessary. chefs from around the globe head to paris to test skills against some of the world's best. one from japan has become the first foreign trainee in a kitchen at the pinnacle of the

city's culinary culture. nhk world has his story. >> reporter: he landed in paris in september. he's the only chef of french restaurant in fukushima. he was about to become the first foreign trainee ever to cook in the residence of the french president at the palace. the palace is the main stage where french entertain dignitaries. pride is at stake with every meal. the food is to convey the essence of french culture. >> translator: it's like a three star restaurant where you can't make reservation. you feel the weight of culture and tradition in the condition. >> the palace's head chef was served some of the best cuisine for 40 years. it's no exaggeration to say he's

one of the hidden of french diplomacy. he visited fukushima in february this year. he decided to get behind the prefecture's recovery and agreed to train a japanese chef in paris for ten days. >> translator: i want to see the people from this region recover their confidence. that's why i agreed to accept this young chef as a trainee. >> since the earthquake, he had wanted to revive interest in the foods from his prefecture. he had already experimented with making together with farmers. now he'll introduce ingredients in the home of french cuisine.

>> translator: this is good. >> translator: fukushima became famous in unfortunate circumstances. i think it will eventually find the limelight for other reasons. it depends on our attitude and how we act from now on. >> the well known paris restaurant, he hoped the fukushima prefecture would impress. one ingredient is the fukushima game fowl, pride of the region with flesh ensures rich flavor as it's chewed on. dinners are assured the produce

has passed radioactivity tests. the fowl is ready to be served and makes a french debut. >> translator: the combination of fowl and kelp is refreshing. i really like this. >> translator: if you can consider there quality with the safety guaranteed, i'm sure people can start to eat food that's made in fukushima with pleasure once more. >> translator: everyone in fukushima will be very happy to hear people from paris, the culinary capital, tasted the dish and said it was delicious. from now on, i will work harder to draw attention to cooking ingredients from fukushima.

>> his experience at the palace may have been brief, but he hopes his contribution to his native prefecture. he picked up new skills and ideas in one of the world's top

are likely. people of japan are dealing with aftermath of wipha and heavy rain. heavy rain is not good news. we have another system to the south. this is now a violent typhoon packing wind gusts of nearly 300 miles per hour. it's expected to approach the northern parts of the islands by thursday and friday as a violent typhoon. lots of stormy conditions ahead of us across much of japan. towards the north we have upper

cool air bringing snow and cool air for north eastern china. that is improving bad air quality that people are experiencing in north eastern china. temperatures are as follows only 12 degrees in harbin and could go down to 6 degrees on your friday. seasonal temperatures in tokyo with light rain in the forecast on wednesday. across mexico, major hurricane parts of southern mexico. take a look at video from southern parts of mexico. hurricane raymond has brought heavy rain to areas hitting record flooding last month. there were no reports of significant damage. last month's rains provoked by the hurricane made a bridge collapse. this area is prone to secondary disasters. now into tuesday, stormy conditions will linger because the system is expected to sit

near the coast near the southwest coast. starting wednesday, things will be gradually improving. towards the north we have a winter storm traveling over the u.s. canada border over the great lakes region dropping rainfall and snowfall. starting late wednesday, cold air produced lake-effect snow across the side of the great lakes region up to 25 centimeters of snow likely even in low lying areas. temperatures are chilly up towards the north. three in winnipeg and single digits in chicago as well as toronto. here's the extended forecast.

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

>> i'm the executive vice president of the wilson center. i want to welcome all of you today. the wilson center was chartered by the congress as the official memorial to our 28th president. it is the nation's key nonpartisan policy form for tackling global issues through independent research, open