welcome to "newsline." it's friday, august 30th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. western leaders have been trying to convince l lmakers a aut syria. they believe syrian forces killed hundreds of civilians in the suburbs of damascus with

chemical weapons. british prime minister david cameron went to parliament hoping to get approval from military action, but failed to convince enough lawmakers. members of the coalition government proposed a motion that would have authorized british forces to join a strike. the majority of lawmakers rejected the motion. >> it is clear to me that the british parliament rejecting the views of the british people does not want to see british military action. i get that and the government will act accordingly. >> they appeared to all but rule out british involvement. barack obama hopes members of congress will be more receptive to his plans. they are consulting with lawmakers on whether to attack syria and hope to prove to forces to use chemical weapons. a spokesperson said secretary of state john kerry and other

senior officials are explaining the results of the government's analysis. >> the president contemplates what response is appropriate to the situation we have seen, they believe it's important to consult with congress. >> he said analysts are on track to produce their report before the end of the week. he said any action would be discreet and limited and in no way comparable to the iraq war. syrian opposition leaders say western forces need to act quick low to prevent any more chemical attacks by forces loyal to the syrian president. the more time it takes to make a decision, the more civilian lives will be lost. number two is those who are responsible for committing the crimes must be brought to justice. >> military action should be limited to depriving the assad regime.

opposition forces should overthrow the government without western innoef vengz. the government is not about to fall. hooey is offering more defiance. state-run tv quoted him as saying syria will defend itself against any aggression. he said an assault will only strengthen national unity. the prime minister called a meeting of cabinet minsters to prepare for any eventuality. they need it prevent the enemies from disrupting services especially electricity, drinking water, communications, food, and oil. many residents are trying to flow into lebanon. those who have chosen to stay are stocking up on food and water. the possibility of an attack from abroad has not stopped the fighting in syria. opposition activists say at lot of 43 people are were killed in the latest battles.

workers at the fukushima nuclear plant have been struggling to control the flow of radioactive water. that i plan to take aggressive issue ins to address the growing problem. workers last month found the water was flowing with ground water into the sea. they discovered that more than 300 tons of contaminated water leaked from know wo of the storage tanks. 13469 water may have escaped into the sea. a panel of experts at the industry plans to va have a number of counter measures by the earliest date next month. they will include preventing tainted water and blocking ground water from international areas near reactor believes. ground water is mixing in the basement of the reactor buildings. the plant's operator, tokyo

electric power company plans to restart a system to remove substances from toxic water. it will carry out a trial run of the system as early as mid-september. the system previously experienced problems. the expert panel will consider expanding the use of such treatment equipment to reduce the amount of contaminated water. more than 300,000 tons of tainted water is stored in tanks at the site. many people in fukushima can't go back to their homes. community leaders say they have had it with nuclear plants. they are joini ining hands to dd the scrapping of all and not just those that melted down. that i have six reactors and four were damaged in the tsunami of march 2011 and melted down. they are due to be scrapped. the fukushima plant has four reactors and none was seriously

damaged. mayors and chiefs from the towns that host the plants say they want utility workers to scrap all ten reactors and say there is no alternative because residents have been forced to live as evacuees since the melt down. they want to get assembly to force the demand. they will take that to representatives. >> translator: we will strive not only to get the reactors scrapped, but also to help end the crisis at the fukushima plant. >> fukushima preif et ceteraure governor have repeatedly called for all ten reactors to be scrapped. the chief of the headquarters said he wants to discuss the issue with towns people, but he said company officials can't reach a decision right now because they need to consider local views and the nation's

energy policy. time now for the latest in business news. the headline figure from last month's crisis show that japan may be headed towards inflation. we have more details. >> the prime minister of japan himself may be feeling like hoe has done his part to push japan further out of deflation. officials released new figures showing consumers paid more in july for the second month running. internal affairs officials announced the consumer price index was up over last year by 0.7%. that's the biggest rise in almost years. it doesn't include fresh food prices. energy importers had to offset a weaker yen and consumers felt the effects. drivers saw gasoline go up 10% and people paid about 10% more for electricity bills. let's get a check on the markets

now. u.s. stock prices ended higher. the dow jones average closed at 14,840, up 1/10 of 1%. let's see how the stock markets are reacting. ramin is at the tokyo stock exchange. positive data out of the united states shifted sentiment somewhat. tell us more. >> very good morning to you. weekly jobless claims showed improvement while also the second reading of the usgdp showed a faster rate of growth for the u.s. economy than many expected. here in japan, we also had a series of data before the markets open. unemployment at throw.8%. production rising thro3.2%. the first gain in two months. a couple of data there that is crucial also for markets here. let's get a check on the opening

levels. for the last trading day of august. both indeces there if the first few minutes in at this time positive. just to remind you, nikkei ended in the positive, but not enough to pull it into the positive for the week. after big declines, up to that point, however with the dollar having gained following the data, we should see the ek waer yen playing into the exporters which really so far this week have been sold off due to the stronger yen. we might see a bit of a reversal today. oil prices having retreated somewhat after spiking higher earlier in the week with concerns about the flow of oil, surrounding tensions in syria, energy-related shares will remain a focus. >> so how will uncertainty in syria affect key currency pairs? >> are that is playing into the markets all week. let's have a lock at the levels right now.

98.43-46. the dollar resumed the trend with the strong data, but the jobs numbers for august of next week will be crucial for the there. we will have to see. euro yen all eyes are going to be on the keenly awaited eurozone unemployment as well as data due out later today. right now at 130.26-32. that is the euro yen. a positive start so far. we will see if it remains for the rest of the day. back to you. >> thanks for the update. market players in emerging countries are seeing a downward trend against the dollar on speculation that the u.s. will roll back its monetary easing. japanese leaders decided to push for stability and i that are extending a currency swap program with indonesia. japanese and leaders have a place that is set to expire at the end of the month. they agreed to allow a change in unsettled periods of up to $12

billion worth. they will discuss raising the limit in the new deal and they will talk about making the process quicker. japan has similar agreements with 13 asian countries and leaders plan to wrap up pacts with others including thailand and malaysia. more headlines in business next hour. i will leave you with a check on markets. japanese scientists may have discovered the secret of youth. they found manipulating certain

genes can alter lifespan. at the national institute of genetics made the discovery using yeast. they focused on a structure in cells called ribo so many that exists in all living cells. the team found when the ribo so many has genes that function in an unstable manner. they manipulated them to work in a stable fashion as the yeast ages. it lived three days, a day longer than usual. >> translator: the discovery could eventually enable people to extend their lives. i hope this can help develop medicine in ways for people to be healthy and live longer. >> he said the team solved one of the mechanisms of aging and hopes >> a sur ark wear of issues

regarding the senkaku japan controls the islands and china and taiwan claim them. they examined public awareness. of 3,000 people, 1,800 onred. more than 90% said they know about the issues. 75% said they know chinese government ships have repeatedly entered japanese waters nea the islands. 75% said japan has been watg protest with china. 66% said the islands block to oak that with prefecture. 48% said they know japan controls the islands and no territorial sovereignty exists. 74% said they are interested. 25% said they are not. secretary officials will step up efforts to heighten public awareness of the issues. japan's rail way engineers have a long track record in developing high speed trains.

the bullet trains first began crisscrossing the country nearly e fastest train in service reaches speeds of more than 300 kilometersn hour. engineers are conducting test runs of a new train. the l-0 can travel at 500 kilometers an hour. we have a report. >> they use a technology developed in japan to race over long distances at super fast speeds. it's called computer lef station. they opened a track for test runs in central japan. it is 43 kilometers long.

>> once the train is up and running, it will take people to tokyo in just 40 minutes. hour less than a bullet train trip. >> i was impressed by the speed and the quietness surprised me. >> the train will make it easier to get around. i'm excited. >> it will change japan's economy and -- >> in 2003, a prototype reached 581 kilometers per hour, a

record that still stands. special magnets pull the key to the train's speed. the l 0 has magnets along the outside that make it possible for the train to levitate and raise along the track without losing altitude or speed. it is necessary to eliminate the resistance. the train is equipped with a cooling system. it reduces the temperature to minus 26 degrees celsius and results in 0 resistance. s ran' way technologies are among the fastest in the world. railroad executives and officials hope to take japan's expertise abroad by taking this magnet train to north america and other countries.

developers face several hurdles to make it a success. engineers in countries such as germany and france are working on high speed trains of their own. the creators will keep raising the curb. >> japan's largest annual puppet fest this that begano prefecture earlier this month. performed a shadow puppet play. not long ago this style of story telling that dates back 1,000 years was on the brink of

extinction. a japanese woman is involved in preserving the heritage. >> artists from cambodia bring to life the prince and his request to rescue his wife from the demon king. the style of puppetry means big leather. the body movements of the put ets themselves are an important part of the theater. the puppets are all hand made from a single piece of cow hide. it was recognized as a cultural heritage in 2005. >> it was beautiful. >> translator: it was fun to see this unusual shadow theater.

>> cambodia's theater was on the verge of disappearing. thanks to the efforts of one japanese women, the ancient art form as a chance of being passed down to future generations. this is the first foreign female member of the troop. she has been organizing workshops both in cambodia and japan for two decades. >> translator: i'm drawn to the shadow puppet theater, but i am even more captivated by the people who are doing it. >> she met the late puppet master as an interpreter for the troop 17 years ago. he was one of the few surviving artist when the art form was revived in the 1990s. he was invited boy the government to teach a younger

generation how to perform the shadow plays. traditional cambodian culture was almost lost under the repression of the regime of the late 1970s. more than 90% of the countries are said to have been killed during that time. at the age of 80, he became worried that he may not survive. he had been teaching from memory without any written scripts. he decided to let them put the narrations on paper for the first time. >> translator: after i spent more than one year with him, i think he realized how much i really loved shadow puppetry and he trusted me. >> since then she has been working to support the troop. with the help of japanese organizations, a new training facility has just been built in cambodia.

puppetry workshops are being held at schools. with more chances to see and learn, children are showing more interest. through workshops and performances like this in japan, more people are now getting a chance to experience this classical cambodian art form. >> translator: we can't speak other languages and have no way to gather people for performances. she has been helping us little by little for sometime now and so more and more people are learning about us. >> translator: the more chances they have to perform, the stronger their motivation will be and the better their performance will become. i think they node to have more chances to perform. that is the most important thing. >> she hopes people will treasure their traditions. she will continue to support the

troop and work to let more people around the world know about this rich living heritage. nhk world. >> time for a check on the weather. people in northernia pan are dealing with heavy rain. we have the details in world weather. >> heavy rain from northern japan to south korea due to a frontal system. this is where the cooler air, the relatively cool air is meeting up with hot summer heat across the south. tokyo's high getting heavy rain across the frontal system. expected amount of heavy rain looks like this. 100 millimeters or more for the southeastern corner of south korea and the sea of japan side with the heaviest rainfall over 200 millimeters of nagasaki and

ishikawa prefectures. the frontal system will intensify further as we go into the weekend thanks to a tropical storm that is expected to feed moisture through the front. currently winds are as strong as the kilometers with gusts so the minimal storm. because of the slow movement dropped tremendous rain for a timeline, we have a course of 800 millimeters of rain over three days it. very heavy rain. flights were canceled yesterday. they are planning up towards the north and approaching mainland chaina and it curved towards the northeast aiming for mainland japan. the center could reach japan between saturday night between saturday into sunday morning local time as a tropical storm. the expected rainfall is about

200 millimeters worth for the provinces. then lots of heavy rain for mainland japan. flooding and mudslides and all of them will be a very high risk for the next several days. across north america, two spots, over the great lakes and the other is over the west coast and parts of british columbia. a heat dome is blanketing the mid-section and that is resulting in high temperatures. 36 degrees for you in denver and 36 as well in oklahoma city and amazingly 40 degrees in dallas on friday. the heat is expected to affect the western portions of the u.s. as well. 32 for you in los angeles. finally in europe, a cold low and upper cold low dropped plenty of rainfall for parts of spain ha causes severe floods. look at the situation.

storms and rain have concentrated in the east and south of spain. 70 millimeters fell in valencia where water rose to people's ankles. there were gusts of 78 kilometers per hour. unfortunately the situation will remain unsettled across the area and more rain is likely. scattered thundershowers across the black sea region and wet and windy conditions will approach the northern areas of the uk starting friday afternoon. balmy conditions in terms of temperature. many locations. here's the extended forecast.

. >> western lawmakers are stressing the need to strike syria. they believe syrian forces killed hundreds of civilians with chemical weapons. the british prime minister david cameron went to parliament hoping to get approval for military action. he failed to convince enough lawmakers. members of the coalition government promoted a motion to get british forces to join a strike. they rejected the motion. >> it is clear to me that the british parliament reflecting the views of the british people does not want to see military

action. i get that and the government will act accordingly. >> they appeared to all but rule out british involvement. we will keep you up to date on developments in syria. that concludes this edition of news loin. we will be back at the top of the hour.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: as united nations' inspectors returned to the site of last week's alleged chemical weapons attack in syria, debate heated up today over possible military action. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: britain's prime minister signaled his country would wait for the u.n.'s findings before joining any attack. we explore the evidence being gathered that could lead to a strike. >> woodruff: then, the i.r.s. announced it will recognize all legally married same-sex couples, regardless of what