welcome to nhk world "newsline," here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. international rescue workers are rushed into the philippines after a deadly typhoon are having trouble reaching some survivors. senators in thailand have rejected a bill that could have paved the way for former prime minister to return home.

and not many elderly japanese women commit crimes, but their number is increasing, and some say it reveals a hidden aspect of an aging society. survivors of a typhoon that struck the philippines are facing a struggle to find food, water, and shelter, and another storm is hitting them, as well. typhoon haiyan slammed into the city of tacloban and nearby towns on the central island of lata. government officials confirmed the storm killed more than 1700 people. 90% of the people were on lata and the neighboring island of somar, but they feel the number of fatalities will rise to 10,000. the storm washed out roads and destroyed communication networks. the army and police are still battling to get to some hard-hit

areas. they are also tight bing security by setting up checkpoints amidst looting on the devastated islands. layta was one of the islands hit hardest by the storm and some of the people there who survived the ordeal are desperate to leave. nhk world reports. >> reporter: cars from the powerful storm remain on the island, bodies litter the landscape, some of the dead remain buried beneath the debris. people have lost their homes and belongings, food and drinking water are scarce. more and more people say their only option is to leave. the airport in tacloban is only open to military aircraft and chartered planes. we saw hundreds of people struggling to enter. with nothing left here for them, these people here are scrambling not for food, but for a ride in the c-130 plane that will take

them out of here. security guards try to stop the crush of the people at the gate. >> translator: we need to go elsewhere to live, because we have no more food. >> translator: we lost our home. life is very difficult here. kids are getting sick from the smell of dead bodies. we have nothing to eat anymore. >> translator: anywhere, but not here. we want to get out. >> reporter: residents fear for their safety. they say armed looters are taking what little food remains. philippine troops are putting priority on air lifting sick people and families with small children off the island. every flight that leaves is packed. from the air, the devastation in tacloban becomes clear. the people have managed to

clear, consider themselves lucky. charmaine degracios, nhk world, tacloban. senior members of japan's main ruling liberal democratic party are showing some flexibility on a controversial bill. they say they are willing to debate amendments to a law that would increase protection for state secrets. some opposition lawmakers warn the bill could infringe on the public's right to know. ldp lawmakers want the diet to pass the bill before the current session ends on december 6th. >> translator: few opposition parties are totally against the bill, so it is good to hold talks with parties that are eager to have serious discussion. >> ldp secretary general ish baa

says if the bill is passed, lawmakers should create a panel to monitor the government's conduct. he also said discussions should cover how to require lawmakers on that panel to keep secrets. the bill would allow heads of government offices to designate information related to national security as classified. only ministers, vice ministers, parliamentary secretaries and other approved public servants would be able to handle the information. anyone who leaks it would face up to ten years in prison. storms in recent weeks have battered fukushima daiichi. officials from the japanese government and tokyo electric power company have been discussing ways to weather proof the plant. they are hoping to contain leaks of radioactive water. senior vice industry minister kazio akaba discussed the problem with tepco officials. they decided to attach rain pipes to the tanks that stored

contaminated water. they hope to finish the job by the end of march. they also agree to double the height of all the barriers around the tanks to 60 centimeters. they hope to finish that up before the end of this year. many japanese soccer players have joined teams elsewhere in asia, and some would like to stay on after their days on the pitch are over and pass on what they know to local players. a new training program will help retired players achieve their dream. officials from the japan football association kicked off the eight-day program in singapore on monday. six japanese players signed up. they play for teams in singapore and thailand. the first day of the course focused on training young players between the ages of 9 and 12. the instructor encouraged would-be coaches to stress the importance of acquiring skills and offer plenty of praise.

tank zou what is one of the participants of the program. the former l-leaguer now plays in thailand. he says the training coach is ideal for future coaches like him. >> translator: i'm grateful that japan football association is providing this opportunity, and i'm glad i can attend. >> experts predict the number of japanese playing for asian soccer teams will continue to grow. japan's finance minister had some words for the u.s. treasury secretary when they met. ron madison from the business team has more on this. ron? >> the stalemate last month in the u.s. congress is still pretty fresh on the minds on not just americans, but also officials around the world, so the two did have discussions on that. taro aso has urged secretary jack lew that he was relieved that the u.s. avoided default in october, but he did point out that the nation could face the same situation again next year

if the conflict continues in congress. aso said he hopes the u.s. will consider the impact the default could have on the world economy and deal with the problem. lew is discussing how to boost regional growth and complete the transpacific partnership agreement talks early next year. he spoke during his visit to tokyo. >> first of all, let me ask you about your assessment of the u.s. economy. how resilient is the economy? >> i think the u.s. economy has shown its resilience over the last few years, and particularly in recent economic data. i think we're seeing a lot of signs in a lot of parts of the economy of strength, and, you know, we're going into the end of the year, beginning of next year, with great optimism that we see signs of increased growth on the horizon. the most recent data was quite

encouraging and consistent with that. we've come through a long, difficult period, but i think the policy actions taken and the resilience of the american economy and american people are showing through. >> reporter: secretary lew stressed that the u.s. debt ceiling issues is unlikely to recur. >> coming out of this last couple of months, it is, i think, very likely we will not see that kind of a tactic again. it's important to remember that there was never an economic crisis. it was a political crisis. i think that it was one that showed that there is no victory that comes from putting the stability of the american economy in jeopardy. i take heart from the things that i'm told privately and from the public statements, particularly from republican leaders, who make it clear that they've learned the lesson and they don't want this to happen again. >> reporter: and turning to

jap japan, lew called on government officials to strike a right balance between improving fiscal health and boosting demand for growth. as prime minister abe moves to implement a consumption tax hike next year. >> i think it's important as we go forward, as japan goes forward, to keep focusing on increasing consumer demand. there has to be a balance between the fiscal policies and the demand policies, and i know that the government is looking at things that they can do to offset some of the impact of those taxes, and the goal has to be to create more consumer demand and to get the growth engine moving again. >> reporter: on the issue of the transpacific partnership trade agreement, lew shrugged off concerns that the negotiations may have slowed due to the absence of president obama from the last t.p.p. summit, but he showed confidence that the member nations will be able to conclude the talks within this year and hammer out a

full-fledged agreement. >> negotiations need to have time frames in order to drive the process forward. it's important to complete this negotiation, but, you know, we'll only complete a negotiation if it can be a high quality agreement, so it's never been the case that there was a desire to have an agreement that didn't meet the high standards that we began with. i'm optimistic we can reach that goal, and i do think deadlines are helpful, especially when you know that in any negotiation it's the last few weeks that are the hardest, so getting to the last few weeks has a lot to do with when you join those issues and resolve them. >> reporter: secretary lew continues his travel to singapore, malaysia, and vietnam. he's aiming to reaffirm u.s. relationships with asian countries and reestablish the trust that was undermined by the u.s. debt crisis. nhk world, tokyo. all right, let's get a check of the markets now.

investors in europe continuing to digest news on corporate earnings. london down by .3 of a percent, similar losses for frankfurt's market, paris losing about .4 of a percent right now. german shipmaker was the biggest single decliner in frankfurt after releasing a weak outlook. tokyo's nikkei surged, closing at a three-week high. china shanghai deposit advanced .8 of a percent. lowest close in five weeks, indonesia central bank lifted its key rate, bank indonesia is trying to gain strength on the news. moving on to currencies, the dollar is keeping its upward momentum against the yen. dollar/yen right now>> get all

news and insight every day here on "newsline." britain's foreign secretary says he's optimistic about reaching a deal on iran's nuclear program. negotiators from iran and six world powers have been trying to find common ground. william hague says only minor differences separate the two sides. hague delivered an update in the house of commons. he briefed members on talks in geneva that ended over the weekend. >> an agreement has to be clear and detailed, cover all aspects of iran's program and give assurance to the whole world that the threat of nuclear proliferation in iran is fully addressed. such a deal is on the table, and there's no doubt in my mind that it can be reached. >> negotiators discussed an interim deal to limit the iranians' program of uranium enrichment, but they failed to reach a deal. u.s. secretary treasury jack lew

has also spoke about the prospects of reaching an agreement with iran. >> i think that the challenge of getting a high quality agreement there is a high one, and we're going to push very hard to get a successful conclusion, because it would be a good thing for the world if there can be an agreement that gives time for final negotiation to be completed. >> lew said he's looking forward to the outcome of the next round of talks scheduled for wednesday next week. the iranians have also been talking with the head of the international atomic energy agency. they've agreed on a framework for allowing inspectors to visit nuclear facilities. iaehe met with the head of iran's atomic energy organization. they agreed to allow inspectors into a heavy watt reactor being built in a uranium mind in the

south. western experts fear the reactor could produce weapons-grade plutonium. under the agreement, the inspectors would need permission from iranian officials first. they failed to agree on inspections of a military facility near tehran. it's suspected the site has been used to develop nuclear weapons. >> as i mentioned, access is not included in today's agreement, but that will be addressed in the subsequent steps under this framework for corporation. >> the negotiators will meet next month in vaeth that. the former minister of thailand has spent years in exile. thai senators have rejected a bill that could have paved the way for thaksin to come home.

thaksin led the country from 2005 to 2006. he fled to escape a jail term. senators have been weighing a bill to grant him amnesty. they debated for more than 12 hours, then they voted against it unanimously. thaksin's sister is the current prime minister. members of a ruling party pushed the bill through the lower house at the beginning of the month. thousands of protesters have staged daily rallies since. analysts say the rejection of the bill could hurt her leadership. the aging of japan's population is affecting almost every aspect of society. last year, almost 300 women aged 65 or older went to prison,

mostly for minor offenses like shoplifting. although these women make up a tiny proportion of the population, they have changed the reality of life behind bars. in our second installment of the issue of elderly women in prison, we'll look at what has been done outside of prison to support them. nhk world has more. >> reporter: she left prison in the summer after more than a year of incarceration. she's readjusting to society, little by little. she was convicted of theft after being arrested twice for shoplifting in her 60s. she had worked almost all her life to raise a family, and had never committed a crime before. she's at a loss to explain what prompted her to steal. she was arrested for taking some

sandals and nail scissors. >> translator: i was receiving enough money for living expen expenses. it wasn't about that. i think it was more like an emotional problem, though that might just sound like an excuse. >> reporter: around that time, she suffered a stroke and experienced the death of her two brothers, all within three years. she was living alone with no one to talk to. >> translator: a lot of things happened. just talking with someone would have helped, but i had no opportunity to. i just shut myself up. i spent my days just watching tv and going to the hospital. >> reporter: an expert says she's found psychological

problems among elderly women arrested for shoplifting. >> translator: quite a few women feel something is missing in their lives, even though they have plenty of money. such feelings drive them to theft. it's important to provide them with psychological care. >> reporter: a rehabilitation facility for former inmates in tokyo started offering counseling for such women last year. the woman is now getting the right help and support. a clinical psychologist is helping her examine the motives for her actions and encouraging her to think positively. >> translator: a dream or image

of how you want to be when you are 70 years old? >> reporter: the woman eats meals with other former inmates. the president of the facility encourages them to communicate with each other. he believes these women must connect with others and achieve a sense of emotional stability if they are going to settle back into society. >> translator: today, family bonds and social connections are becoming weaker. elderly people have a growing sense of isolation, but there are almost no systems in place to support them. they have nowhere to turn. that's why we're trying to provide them with psychological care.

>> reporter: there are only seven such facilities for female ex-convicts around the country, and just a few provide psychological care. experts say support systems like this should be expanded to keep these women from becoming repeat offenders and to steer others away from committing their first crime. micitaka yamaka, nhk world, tokyo. after the devastating typhoon, the pill teens now faces more rains. rachel ferguson has been keeping a close eye on the situation for us. rachel, how serious is the latest situation? >> in some respects it could have been worse. we thought this one could be a tropical storm, as it is, it is moving across as a tropical depression. that said, we're still getting some gusty winds with this one, high waves in the eastern coast

up to about three meters today and also widespread rain, up to about 50 millimeters in some places, up to about 100 millimeters, so any additional rainfall is going to be extremely unwelcome, it could really exacerbate the flooding situation, lead to more mudsl e mudslides and landslides and get in the way of the rescue and clean-up effort and helping aide workers get into the worst-hit areas. this is an unfortunate system to have to deal with. after it leaves the philippines, it is expected to strengthen as it heads in towards southern portions of vietnam. it will be expected to make a landfall later on in the week. we'll bring you more on that a little bit later. let's head up to the big picture. immateri i want to show you what's happening in eastern china, haiyan, which caused all the devastation, if you remember, came into northeastern vietnam, and now sort of curled around into southeastern china as a

remnant low. it's no longer a tropical storm, but still bringing significant rainfall down. you'll be feeling that certainly in hong kong before this system eases off into wednesday. up we go to japan, and you can see some strong winds coming in across from the northwest, and this is producing some snow. we have sea-effect snow about this time of year when the winds come in, bringing up the moisture, picking up the moisture from the sea of japan and dumping it along the western seaboard. we have pretty significant snow depths today in hie chi doe, 48 se centimeters. with this wet, heavy snow, maybe power outages where the cables are going to be weighed down, potentially some damage coming from broken tree limbs that are breaking under the weight of the heavy snow, as well. that is going to start to ease

off by wednesday, though, as this starts to pull away. temperaturewise, fairly cool up towards the north, minus 4 for ulan bator, that's the high on wednesday. 13 in tokyo, 11 in seoul, meanwhi meanwhile, with bright sunshine and 12 in taipei. to the americas, heavy rain down here in southern portions of mexico and the western seaboard down towards northern california, but generally a very dry picture. strong high pressure is in charge of the center of, certainly, the u.s. and up into canada. still seeing a little bit of snow here for portions of the northeast and some chilly rain showers down into the midatlantic, as well, but that's going to be moving out as we head into wednesday. what will remain is the cold. let's take a look at some of the temperatures here, minus 1 for your high in winnipeg on tuesday, 0 in chicago, 5 in

d.c., and you have the snow showers in here, too. quick look into europe. we've got that wind and the rain, snow in the upper elevations in the west. quite a windy system coming in along this front. you're going to see the showers into scandinavia and france, very stubborn and well developed low here in the mid mediterranean is keeping things very stormy. here you are with your temperatures and i'll leave you also with your extended forecast.

every year around this time, brokers gather in osaka for an annual event, an auction of filets of dried cod. it's a traditional new year delicacy in western japan. dealers sold about 3 tons of the fish at this year's auction. most of the filets are made from

cod caught off the northern island of hokkaido. >> translator: this year's filets are great, as they are every year. i'm sure people will enjoy them. >> chefs at exclusive restaurants will create dishes using the fish and shoppers will be able to buy it at department stores and other places in western japan starting next month. that's "newsline" for this hour, i'm geno ta knee in tokyo.

food,king for medicine, clean water, millions of people are looking to survive in the philippines after the devastating typhoon. 10,000 people appeared dead in the city alone. the international community is rushing to get emergency aid to the philippines. the u.s. just launched an appeal , 300 $1 million more is needed in donations. hitting back, the iranian foreign minister, saying they were not to blame for their talks in geneva.