of the border continue to speak out on these issues, we will reign in the spying on both sides. steve anderson executive director at open media. thank you so much. hello there and welcome to nhk. it's thursday, october 24th. i'm catherine kobayashi, in tokyo. the company in charge of the damaged fushima power plant is facing another water problem. workers are rushing to transfer tainted rain water to underground storage pools as another powerful typhoon bears down on the japanese archipelago. typhoon francisco is expected to hit the main island on the

weekend. officials have received permission from the nuclear regulation authority to use several underground pools. they have a storage capacity of about 9,000 tons. managers stop using several of the pools in april after leaks were discovered. they now say they have no other option but to use three of the other pools. the company has been storing tainted rain water in hundreds of above ground tanks at the plant. and in the basement in a turbine building. but they are now almost all full. nuclear regulators in japan are criticizing a recent report by the operator of the crippled fukushima daiichi plant. managers of tepco submitted the document outlining the safety measures in place at their nuclear facilities. members of the nuclear regulation authority met in tokyo to discuss the report. it details how tepco is dealing with radioactive water leaks and

other problems at fukushima daiichi. one called the report unconvincing and expressed doubts whether the utility would be able to tackle other challenges that may arise in the future. another member said tepco should consider reassigning more workers to fukushima daiichi given how it characterized operations at another nuclear facility. tepco managers said in the report that they can safely manage two reactors at the plant on the sea of japan coast and applied for permission to restart the units. the chairman of the nuclear regulation authority acknowledged the need to properly question tepco. tanaka says he plans to hold a meeting with the utilities president soon. the 3 month old future king of england made his first public appearance since he was introduced to the world. the occasion was the christening of prince george. the royal baby was baptized by

the archbishop of canterbury, queen elizabeth and prince charles were among those who witnessed the event at the chapel royal in saint james. the prince's parents shunned convention by holding the ceremony outside buckingham palace. chapel royal is where the body of the late princess diana, and prince william's mother who dialed in a car crash in 1997, was kept until the day of her funeral. close friends of the prince and his wife attended as godparents, another example of how the couple has scrapped centuries of old customs while respecting royal traditions. the editors of a newspaper in china are fighting back against media control by publishing a provocative front-page headline. they're calling on authorities to release one of their reporters who was arrested for exposing illegal activities at a state-owned company.

the "new express" newspaper is based in the southern province of guangdong. editors ran an article on wednesday under a large headline that reads "please release him." police detained reporter chen yongzhou last week for suspicion of damaging the reputation of a large company. chen wrote a series of articles on illegal accounting and other dubious practices at a construction equipment firm. the "new express" editors say they take responsibility for their reporting. they're asking police to show evidence of any wrongdoing. representatives of the newspaper's parent company say media reporting is a social responsibility and must be protected by law. people have posted messages of support online. police arrested another "new express" reporter earlier this month. the journalist wrote an online

piece that said senior government officials had engaged in serious misconduct. the leaders of china and india have patched up some differences over their shared border region in the himalayas. they have agreed to cooperate on defense. indian prime minister manmohan singh and china's premier li keqiang signed the accord in beijing. >> we move forward with negotiations toward a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement to the india-china boundary question. >> translator: the china-india relationship is one of the most important and potentially fruitful relationships in the 21st century. >> in other talks, li and singh said they would promote chinese investments in india and they also agreed to reduce india's trade deficit with china. as part of the plan china says it will build an industrial park in india. the border dispute has strained

ties for more than half a century. earlier this year the militaries of the two asian giants had a three-week standoff around the frontier. philippine leaders have concluded china had nothing to do with a recent discovery on an uninhabited territory that both countries claim. they had speculated that concrete blocks found on a shoal in the south china sea were part of a plan by authorities in beijing to strengthen their control of the area. the crew aboard a philippine naval aircraft took photos of several dozen blocks that were found last month on scarborough shoal. the rocky reef is about 200 kilometers west of the philippine island of luzon. china controls it. the philippines claims it. leaders in manila ordered coast guard officials to investigate the matter. the officials say they discovered algae on some of the 50 blocks they checked. the philippine government concluded u.s. forces probably placed the blocks there more than 30 years ago. military personnel used the area as a firing range in the 1970s

and '80s. the scrapped ships they used as targets were tied to the blocks. president benigno aquino says the blocks are not new and that there's no reason for his citizens to worry about them. chinese government officials are rolling out emergency measures to deal with air pollution. they're also asking the public to do what they can to make breathing a little easier. people downwind of the problem are keeping a close eye on the situation including those in neighboring japan. nhk world's tomoko kamata reports. >> reporter: a thick blanket of smog cloaked the city of harbin for three straight days this week. bility in some areas was less than ten meters. local media reported that the level of pollution was too high for measuring equipment to read. the air quality in beijing is not much better. the chief concern is tiny air

pollutants known as pm 2.5. they're just 1/30th the width of a human hair, which means they can penetrate deep into the lungs. >> translator: we don't go out when the air looks highly polluted. i only take my son out to the park on clear days. >> reporter: beijing officials on tuesday announced new countermeasures. from now on, air pollution warnings will include a forecast for how long the smog will linger. if the forecast predicts extreme conditions for three days or longer, officials will order a 50% reduction in vehicle traffic. they will also shut down public schools and some factories. >> translator: we ask citizens not only to protect themselves, but to cooperate in protecting

the environment by reducing pollutants. >> reporter: the weather is getting colder. coal emissions from heating systems are adding to pollution from cars and factories. officials say farmers burning fields after the autumn harvest is making a bad situation worse. winds will eventually clear the smog. but that just leaves people in neighboring japan breathing the same air. face masks are in high demand. a local manufacturer reports sales are up 1,000 times from previous years. company officials say the fine mesh in the filter blocks the tiny particles. they say they are boosting output to supply customers in both japan and china. officials at japan's environment ministry are monitoring air pollution with this kind of machine.

they have set up about 800 monitoring posts across the country, and they say the level of pm2.5 is below the government-set safety level since june. officials upload the collected data every hour on the environment ministry's website. people can check pollution levels in their areas and find out the precautions they can take to protect their health. researchers at the world health organization say breathing air pollutants increases the risk of lung cancer. working with the latest data, they estimate that in 2010, more than 230,000 people worldwide died from air pollution. in tokyo, the government's top spokesperson said officials are taking the problem seriously. >> translator: the government will cooperate with local municipalities to closely watch and take countermeasures. >> reporter: the government says

it is also offering to cooperate with chinese officials with an offer to share its anti-pollution expertise. tomoko kamata, nhk world. japanese firms are taking part in a trade show in china, it is the first time they participated in one since japan nationalized the senkaku islands two years ago. officials from 25 companies and 11 local governments are attending the event. visitors were seen viewing japanese technologies that specifically target severe air pollution that is a growing problem in chinese cities. they include an appliance that breaks down harmful airborne substances by using light with a specific wave length. another product is a construction material used to cover rooftops with trees and plants. >> translator: i'm interested in

japanese technologies. technologies go beyond borders and frictions stemming from politics. >> translator: the authorities were friendly and smooth throughout the preparatory stages. there appears to be a change in atmosphere in the business front. >> japanese business and top provincial officials met for what he called friendly talks. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu had heard talks about the nuclear program. u.s. secretary of state john kerry has tried to offer him some reassurances.

netanyahu said it would be a historic mistake to mike too many concessions to the iranians. >> the best way to get it peacefully is to maintain the pressure on iran. that's what got them into these renewed negotiations in the first place. >> the iranians have said they'll only use their nuclear program for peaceful purposes. kerry said they will need to follow-up on their claims. >> no deal is better than a bad deal. but if this can be solved satisfactory, diplomatically, it is clearly better for everyone. iranian president took office in august. he has been offering to improve relations with the west and resolve the standoff over the nuclear program. weapons inspectors in syria

said they have eliminated more than half of the country's chemical weapons program. a spokesperson for the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons spoke to nhk on wednesday. he said the team has destroyed chemical facilities and equipment in 18 out of 23 facilities declared by syria's government. the organization says it is negotiating with anti-government forces for access to the remaining five sites. militants control some of the local territory. the team expects to complete its inspections by the end of october. its mission is to eliminate syria's total chemical weapons stockpile by mid-2014. opposition forces say the government of president bashar al assad must be held accountable for using the weapons against its own people. software engineers at u.s. internet giant google have created a map-based website that shows cyber attacks as they happen in realtime around the world. on monday the digital attack map began offering live displays of what are called distributed

denial of service attacks. the map is compiled with data from an internet security firm. ddos attacks can crash government and corporate websites by flooding them with massive amounts of data. the website map has lines connecting the victim website with the attack's country of origin. the lines appear in various widths depending on the amount data being transmitted. if the source cannot be pinpointed, the line stretches vertically. a circle indicates the attackers are domestic. the website shows the u.s. and china have launched cyber attacks on each other despite each side claiming to be the victim. the two countries are also the target of hackers from unknown locations. the weaker yen is encouraging more tourists to visit japan.

they have rapid reaction teams launching operations later this month and the ministers agreed to increase support for member countries who fall victim to cyberattacks. >> nato can and nato should play a useful role to facilitate the development of strong national cyberdefense capabilities. >> however, member nations are divided over nato's involvement as cybermonitoring could reveal national defense secrets. organization hopes to draw up concrete measures by next year's summit in britain. investigators know what ignited a fire in eastern australia. military personnel sparked the flames during a training exercise. firefighters are struggling to control dozens of fire across the state of new south wales.

the one near the city began last week during weapons' exercises at an army training range. the officials with the defense cooperating with the investigation. strong winds have been fanning first across the region and daytime temperatures on wednesday rose above 30 degrees celsius. the authorities believe those conditions may help the fires spread further. so they're asking some residents to le to leave their homes. a variety of beers in belgium. they produce more than a thousand brandses and for centuries monks have been brewing to cover their costs. one at one monastery feared their beer may be under threat. we have this story. >> reporter: this is a small town in southern belgium that's

famous for its beer. this beer has a full body and rich aroma that has won fans around the world. >> translator: we're very proud of the beer. we have chocolate and we have beer. >> reporter: rochefort's long brewing tradition has been made possible by if abundant natural spring water and this gives the beer its smooth taste but beer lovers are starting to worry that this flavor may be about to change. rochefort beers made at the abby of notre dame. on the hill behind the abby is listone quarry. recently, the quarry drew u plans to dig deeper to extract more limestone.

this came as ahocko thabby d the beer fa. ebby began bwing itseer over 400 years ago and its secret recipe has been kept down among the monks over the years. the monks now use modern equipment but they're meticulous about using traditional brewing methods and ingredients to ensure the flavor is unchanged. the brewer produces only about 3,500 of beer each year less than 1% of belgium's total beer output but much of it is shipped around the world. the water for the beer is drawn directly from the spring. the quarry wants to start mining limestone from a level close to the water source. the monks are against this

because the limestone works as a filter to purify the water. they say the flavor of the beer would be at risk. >> translator: the taste of our beer is based on the delicate balance between the yeast and the water. ? the quality of the water changes even a little, the flavor of the beer will be lost. >> the abbey has launched a campaign with environmental groups. they have set up a website where people can sign a petition. so far, they have collected almost 10,000 signatures from people in about 30 countries. the mining company has told the abbey it is looking for groundwater of the same quality. >> translator: we are more than confident regarding the quality we'll obtain and the quantity

we'll obtain so the gain is to have a country with activity in this area. >> reporter: the local people are split on the plan. >> the water is very, very important, very important, so, if the water is -- it will never be the same. >> it's important to preserve the water, but always also t presve employees and employees, the people we will have emplod ten years. >> reporter: earlier this month, the local government gave the quarry permission to dig the well, to test the quality of the groundwater. however, the abbey remains firmly opposed. a may jar standojor standoff ap brewing. nhk world, rochefort, belgium.

it's time to get a check on your market figures. let's get a check on your weather with our meteorologist. good morning. you've been keeping an eye on a powerful typhoon in the south. that's affecting people. what's the latest? >> that's right. strong typhoon francisco is affecting the southwestern islands of japan from the capital city of okinawa we have this footage. this is footage at of 6:00 a.m.

all ferry services to and from the areaave been cancelled. residents are evacuated to brace for the continuous heavy rain from the francisco. stormy condition also linger into saturday. we're expecting waves of about 10 meters with gusts nearly 180 kilometers per hour across the south western islands of japan. the system is now moving at a slow pace. that means it's in the process of changing its direction. francisco will likely pass south of japan into the weekend and it could get close to the canto region on saturday. the islands are already seeing torrents of heavy rain. 250 millimeters of rain has been observed and still up to 200 millimeters and up to 300 millimeters for s shchhikuku.

and a violent typhoon packing wind gusts of over 300 kilometers and tornado like conditions are happening near the center of the storm and it could get close to the islands into tomorrow as a very strong typhoon. so lots of stormy conditions here. and as you noticed, as you can see, two systems could get very close to each other where we have a couple of systems within 1,000 kilometers per hour. those systems could take odd movement. so lots of things are happening in and around japan and we have another system over in northeastern china that's bringing a mixture of rain and snow and that is improving the bad air quality. temperatures are as follows. still on the chilly side across the north. only 16 degrees for you in beijing. going down to 18 degrees in to goy with on and off showers throughout the day. across the americas, a shot of cold air brings a mix of rain and snow for the great lakes

region. up to 15 centimeters of snow is likely in some places and we have frost warnings and frost advisories and freeze warnings are in place in many areas in the eastern us. looking dry for the western two-thirds of the u.s. and canada. and getting dryer across southwestern parts of mexico. we have a tropical rain continually moving away from the continent and that's good news but still, 15 millimeters of rain is likely and that could raise the potential for floods even further across southern mexico. temperatures at 31 degrees for you in acapulco and thunder showers and wintry like and 4 degrees in winnipeg and 7 in chicago and a low of minus 1. across the west, looking mild at 23 degrees in los angeles with

partly sunny skies and 11 degrees in vancouver and seattle. here's your extended forecast.

and before we leave you this hour, the owners of an orchard in northern japan have brought in an apple harvest with an artistic twist. about 1200 specialty apples feature 22 different images of well-known people and artwork. the grower affixed stickers to the surface of the fruit while they were still green and the apples ripen red in the sunlight and then the stickers were removed and the illustrations came alive. apple lovers can choose from images of famous woodblock prints. the japanese prime minister or the mona lisa. >> translator: the daytime and nighttime temperature difference is quite extreme so this year the fruit has great color and taste. i hope many people enjoy these artistic apples. >> apples with artwork are popular gifts in japan.

some will be presented to french president. seems there are fans of the french president. that wraps up this edition of nhk. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com nonpartisan policy form for tackling global issues through

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