hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm ross mihara in tokyo. leaders of industrialized and emerging economies are sharing views on the challenges they face at the g-20 summit. they're discussing economy growth despite uncertainty in the middle east. they will sit together this weekend. staff at the international monetary fund put together a report for them. the u.s. economic recovery and falling oil prices are positive. still, they're concerned about tensions in the middle east and

deflations in the euro zone. monetary easing in the united states could harm emerging economies. the leaders are expected to raise overall output by 2% over five years. the japanese prime minister is expected to explain how he'll help achieve the goal. he'll likely say how he's easing regulations on electric power, agricultural and employment and medical services. he may outline how he's helping women play a bigger role in society and outline his plans for shrinking his country's fiscal deficit. prime minister abe took the opportunity to talk one on one with his indian counterpart modi, they agreed to work closely in more areas. he wants them to swiftly put their plans to meet into action. he and modi agreed to arrange talks between the vice ministers

for defense and foreign affairs. they agreed to step up talks on india's possible purchase of japanese amphibious rescue aircraft. abe said he wants to make relations broader and deeper for stability and development in india and pacific. he said he also values three-way cooperation including the united states or australia. modi agreed, he and abe promised to work together to try to reform the united nations security council next year and push ahead with talks with a deal for nuclear power technology. doctors who save lives ebola patients in the united states are sharing the lessons they learned. they say keeping infected people hydrated with a drip can improve chances of survival. the doctors work at institutes including emory university hospital and reported their findings in the new england journal of medicine. two patients had been flown back

in august from liberia. the doctors say they found both people had a shortage of water, poe tas yum and calcium in the blood. they gave them each five liters of fluids every day and saw them start to recover in two weeks. the doctors say their experience is limited. they say the techniques they used won't necessarily work with all ebola patients. still they suggest aggressive hydration using a drip can help some survive. people across the united states have been spending more at retailers. they bought more goods online last month and spent more on automobiles. officials at the commerce department say retail sales rose 0.3%, to $444 billion. the figure had been down in september for the first time in eight months. consumers spent more on automobiles and auto parts. they spent less on gasoline because of lower oil prices. cheaper gas means people will

likely keep spending more on other things. here are the latest market figures. japanese lawmakers had been speculating about a snap election, and now prime minister abe showed his intention toward that prospect. he told senior ruling coalition officials he will dissolve the lower house next week. abe has said he will decide by the end of the year whether to raise the consumption tax from 8% to 10% next october as scheduled by law. he said he would analyze

economic indexes, including gdp figures for the july to september period. the pace of economic recovery is slowing down. personal spending is not increasing as expected, partly due to the consumption tax hike from 5% to 8% in april. supports are not -- exports are not growing significantly despite the weak yen trend. prime minister abe reportedly decided to postpone the next consumption tax hike by one and a half years. members of the diet would need to revise laws to put off the tax hike. abe reportedly said he wants to seek a public mandate for the decision because it directly affects people's lives. the prime minister is scheduled to return to japan on monday after attending the g 20 meeting in australia. he's likely to announce the lower house dissolution as early as tuesday. he would order government officials to draw up a packet for economic measures. it would be to boost consumption in rural areas and reduce the burden of high fuel costs due to a weak yen.

the general election could be held in mid december. the family of a man who committed suicide after the fukushima nuclear accident is taking action. they say the plant's operator is responsible for the death, and they are suing for compensation. fumio okubo was from the village of iitate. it is 30 kilometers from the nuclear plant. one month after the meltdown, the japanese government ordered residents to leave. at 102, okubo was the oldest person in iitate. he said he couldn't leave the place he had spent a century. the day after the evacuation plan was announced, he killed himself. okubo's daughter-in-law is helping prepare a lawsuit against tepco. she wants to prove he would not have killed himself if the nuclear accident had never happened. she says okubo should have been able to live out his life in the village he loved. the family will file their suit with the tokyo district court.

they're seeking more than $250,000 in damages. the court ruled the nuclear accident was to blame for another person's suicide. thousands are suing the government and tepco for damages. thousands of evacuees from the village of iitate want more compensation from tepco. nearly 3,000 people who account for half of the village's population filed for state arbitration. they say their prolonged evacuation is breaking apart families and threatening a local history that goes back generations. the evacuees want a lump sum of around $170,000 per person. they also want monthly compensation per person increased to around $3,000. that is over three times the current amount. they are also seeking a formal apology from tepco. >> translator: we must raise our voices against tepco and let them know the villagers are

angry. >> reporter: tepco released a statement saying it has yet to get the details of the filing but is planning to give a sincere response. in line with settlement procedures. fukushima governor called for the plants to be closed down permanently. he met with the president of the tokyo electric power company three days after taking office. >> i'm at the fukushima power plant, and the new governor is visiting here to inspect the process for decommissioning of reactors. >> i took an intensive tour of the facility which was damaged during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. he observed ongoing work to dismantle a reactor building cover. a project began last month to clear debris and eventually remove the nuclear fuel inside. the governor also inspected equipment used to decontaminate radioactive water.

>> translator: i realized again the difficulties of the tough battle ahead of us. >> reporter: the governor urged tepco's president to decommission all ten reactors in the prefecture, including those at another plant around 10 kilometers away. he stressed the need to prevent errors in managing radioactive wastewater at the site. he said tepco would seriously consider the request. u.s. president barack obama met with the leader of myanmar's largest opposition party, aung san suu kyi on friday. obama held talks with the pro-democracy leader in yangon. patchari raksawong in bang congress has more. >> president obama is now visiting myanmar. he met with his counterpart the previous day. he called on the president to press ahead with reforms, including the revision of the constitution drafted while the

country was under military rule. now with a general election scheduled for 2015, myanmar is at a crucial point on its road to democratization. obama met with aung san suu kyi in yangon. he arrived there on friday from the capital where he attended the east asia summit. >> thank you again for welcoming us here today. we continue to look to you for inspiration, as well as resolve. i know you will be an advocate on behalf of the people, a future of democracy, and you'll be a strong partner with the united states. >> i have absolute confidence that the united states will continue to support us with regard to the democratic transformation and that when it becomes a fully functioning democracy in accordance with the will of the people, we will be able to say that among those friends who enabled us to get

there, the united states was among the first. >> reporter: myanmar made the transition from military to civilian rule three years ago the country launched a program of drastic reform and democratization but they are now facing global criticism. the buddhist country has been accused of percent cuting the muslim minority. members of the group are not granted citizenship. there has been criticism of the lack of progress in the constitutional reforms called for. current rules effectively bar her from becoming president because her late husband was a british citizen, as are her sons. on october 31st, just before obama's visit to myanmar, she hastily arranged the first ever round table talks to discuss constitutional reforms. each participant was only given up to ten minutes to speak.

aung sang sue key opposed the opportunity for the attend ees to make their voices heard. she criticized the government, saying reforms have been stalled the past two years. obama urged her to press forward with revisions and to the constitution. he called for increased humanitarian assistance and for to be granted citizenship. >> we recognize that this process is still incomplete. >> reporter: u.s. diplomatic approaches to myanmar initially claimed as a victory by the u.s criticized as premature. obama first visited the country and moves to ease economic sanctions beginning in 2012, the year of the then-secretary of state, hillary clinton, visited the country. it is thought next year's general election will represent a historic turning point as the

country works to promote democratization. can it push forward with reforms that will satisfy the opposition parties and the global community? obama will also be eager to find out the answer. asian economies are hungry for energy. the region consumes an ever-large portion of the world's oil and gas. shell gas innovations is among the energy market and producers are planning another break through for liquefied natural gas, or lng. >> reporter: executives and experts from the energy sector attended a recent lng conference in singapore. a project with potential to revolutionize the sector was a hot topic. >> this is going to open up the possibility of producing a lot of gas around the world.

>> reporter: energy giant shell is working on a massive offshore project. the largest floating structure on earth, an lng plant 488 meters long and 74 meters wide. it will have the same capabilities as the land-based facilities, able to liquefy gas and stall it. tankers would ship the gas to customers. >> it is technological and engineering wise a revolution. >> reporter: survivors identified 180 gas fields in waters around the asia pacific. the floating plant can be moved and secured near any building site reducing the need for pipelines and lowering costs. they plan to use it for an under water gas field 200 kilometers

west of australia. once complete, it will have a projected annual output of 3.6 million tons of lng. >> now, the world gas resources are plentiful, but many are offshore. increasingly the industry needs to go further offshore in order to supply the hungry markets. >> reporter: a japanese company is working on a similar floating terminal, but one that is smaller and more flexible to deploy. it plans to tap a seabed gas field east of indonesia to supply lng to japan and other asian countries. >> translator: our product has great merits in terms of securing profitability. success of floating lng all depends on how far we can minimize development costs and present competitive prices.

>> reporter: nations that rely on energy imports need diverse sources to minimize supply risk. gas producers say floating lng plant can help secure asia's energy needs for many years to come. nhk world, singapore. that wraps up our bulletin in bangkok. the number of refugees and those in need worldwide is at the highest point since world war ii. the united nations reports that more than 51 million people have been forced to flee their countries and become internally displaced or seeking asylum. the u.n. also says more than 100

million people are need of humanitarian assistance, the highest number in the 70-year history of the organization. this phenomenon has been driven by the conflicts in syria and iraq but waves of displacements also occurring in many african nations, including the central african republic, south sudan and democratic republic of congo. displaced people will face even tougher conditions as winter approaches. >> earlier the united nations high commissioner for refugees was in our studio, antonio gutterres shares what's behind the increase and challenges of the crisis. >> i think the main reason is the international community lost much of its capacity to present conflicts and timely solve them. we have a celebration of three factors. a mega crisis, the syria/iraq

crisis, more than 12 million people displaced in the conflict. then we have the multiplication of other crises. we had the south african republic, south sudan, and ukraine. we had libya that started again recently. crises erupt everywhere in an unpredictable way. then, finally, the old crises that never die. afghanistan, somalia have both been there for decades. with millions of refugees, the combination of these three factors, that is only possible because, as i said, the international community is unable to present the conflict and solve them. it's making more and more people forced to flee their homes to reach safety. there's an exponential growth

and the capacity to respond is limited because budgets are tight everywhere. we struggle to be able to protect and support these people in very, very desperate situations. obviously, we need much more help from the international community in order to be able to do our job properly, in order to be able to provide these people what they need and what they deserve, because they suffered so much. we are in a desperate situation to help the people in need, and we feel we should be doing more and we can't. there are 10 million people without nationality in the world. they have no country to call theirs. imagine you wake up tomorrow and have no driver's license, no car, you go to the school with your children and they're not accepted. you go to a hospital, and they don't treat you. you want to work but you have no legal jobs. if you die, your family doesn't even get a death certificate. there are 10 million people like that in the world. in the last three years, we have been conducting a very, very

strong campaign to make states understand that this needs to be stopped. these people need to have their rights recognized and, if possible, give them a nationality. indeed, i have to say, the two conventions are being ratified by more and more countries, and countries are changing their nationality laws. there is a momentum in the world. that's why we launched now the campaign to ask governments to do everything possible to eradicate in ten years this problem in the world. i hope in ten years time, everybody will have to country to call theirs. zpl that is antonio gutterres, u.n. high commissioner for refugees. north korea's state-run media says leader kim jong-un will send his special envoy to russia. observers say it is a sign pyongyang is seeking ties with

moscow. the korean central news agency made the announcement on their radio service friday. it said kim will send workers party secretary to russia in the near future. it did not reveal the purpose of the visit or when it will take place. observers say the north could be planning to have the envoy meet the russian president vladimir putin. this would be the second overseas trip as kim's envoy. he visited china last year for talks with president jinping. the prime minister visited moscow last month for talks with lavrov. the defense minister met president putin last saturday. observers view the meetings as a sign north korea is reaching out to russia amid the cooling of political ties with china.

local communities in japan often form volunteer figrig gad. but membership has been shrinking and current volunteers are aging. the residents of one city had decided to do something about this and are working to nurture future firefighters, jun aki motto reports. >> reporter: these elementary school children are members of the young firefighters club in western japan. the club was started as a junior organization of the local fire brigade. today the children are using extinguishers as they train to

put out a fire. sixth grader karin honda is the club leader. >> translator: i want to be the fastest to put out the fire. >> her father is a volunteer at the local brigade. he set up the youth group after growing concern about the lack of new members in his organization. and the advancing age of current members. >> translator: we hardly have any young members, in particular, ones in their 20s, so we need young people to join us. if i can get my daughter to join, we'll have at least one daughter. >> she has no interest in fighting fires. >> translator: it looked really hard, so i didn't want to join. >> reporter: the firefighters club held its ceremony in august

of this year and then its activities were underway. volunteers from the brigade train karin and her fellow youth members. throughout the training, karin realized the importance of being a leader. >> translator: since i'm the leader, i have a lot of things to do, such as making sure everyone coordinates with each other. having fun is fine, but i want everyone to work hard when it's time to work hard. >> reporter: on this day, members of the firefighters club are meeting in the brigade warehouse. they're preparing to go on a neighborhood patrol to raise awareness of fire prevention. members discuss what type of information they should pass on to students.

>> reporter: club members go around the neighborhood, taking turns calling out advice they've put together. after their patrol, karin and her fellow club members receive encouraging feedback from the head of the fire brigade. the experience of conducting fire fighting activities seems to give some of the younger members a sense of maturity. >> translator: it was fun, and i learned a lot. i want to help my neighborhood by getting rid of fires. >> translator: my biggest dream is for members of the young firefighters club to join the local fire brigade. i'll do my best to make sure that happens. >> reporter: the hope is that eventually, the members will continue their activities after they get older and start in the

brigade and remain an important part of the community for many years to come. jun okamotto, nhk world. here is the weekend weather forecast. o, nhk world. here is the weekend weather forecast.

that's all this hourmihara. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for watching. gyxqw

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