as possible to send out their willingness to talk with u.s. leaders. earlier this month, vice president of japanese government ldp koumura visited teheran. he is also former foreign minister. he has known rouhani for more than ten years. in their meeting, koumura said he delivered a message from the u.s. government on iran's nuclear program. he also said he received a message from the iranians, though he didn't disclose the details. >> translator: it is desirable that iran and america have a dialogue, and i said that japan is ready to help both sides build confidence in the other.

>> reporter: on tuesday, rouhani not only made his debut speech but met french president francois hollande for the first time in new york. an iranian expert says this is part of rouhani's efforts to rebuild confidence with western countries. >> we are trying to rebuild our face and figures in international community, and we are trying to rebuild again this balance of power. these are our goals to go in -- to sit in front of united states and start strategizing a negotiation with them. >> reporter: iran's leadership is apparently aiming to open a new page with the world. the international community is watching whether and how the

u.s. leadership will utilize this opportunity. hirohito nezu, nhk world. many at the general assembly had been waiting for a gesture that might single a thaw in relations. they wanted to see rouhani and obama shake hands, but the two never met. nhk world's miki ebara has more from new york. >> reporter: foreign affair experts speculated that obama and rouhani might have an encounter while they were at the u.n., but that didn't happen. there was a luncheon hosted by the u.n. secretary-general which would have been that chance, but while obama attended, rouhani skipped it. u.s. officials apparently told white house reporters even a shake hand with obama would have been too complicated for rouhani. in addresses to the assembly, both presidents made signs that

a new era might be on the way. president obama said in his speech today he's directing john kerry to pursue a diplomatic path negotiating with iran. eu's foreign policy chief and catherine ashton and iran's foreign minister zariff on monday agreed zariff and his counterparts from the five permanent security council members plus that of germany will meet on thursday. that includes kerry. it would be one of the highest level face-to-face contactses between iran and the u.s. in more than three decades. and rouhani said iran is prepared to engage in time-bound and result-oriented talks. but of course, things are not so simple. iran has many hardliners beginning with supreme leader ayatollah himeni. although there are some indications that they may be softening. if they see rouhani making too many compromises, it is unclear whether they can be held off.

still, there is no atmosphere here at the u.n. with obama's willingness to open the door and rouhani's overtures. the mood lifted from heavy mood of atrocities committed in syria to hope for change even in distance. >> that report from nhk world's miki ebara. talk of iran did not replace the syrian agenda entirely. french president francois hollande said the world should be ready to carry out punitive measures if the syrian government fails to destroy its chemical weapons. he said that could include military action. >> translator: if the syrian government fails to keep its promise, it should face coercive measures under chapter 7 of the u.n. charter. >> hollande said punitive measures should be included in a u.n. security council resolution. he said it was the threat of military action that forced president bashar al assad to

disclose the scrapping of chemical weapons. hollande called for an international meeting to discuss a cease-fire and setting up a new administration in syria. he said the meeting should be attended by representatives from both the syrian government and anti-government forces. president obama has told the president of the palestinian authority that a middle east peace process remains high on his agenda. he met with mahmoud abbas on the sidelines of the general assembly. obama and abbas met for the first time since u.s. brokered peace talks resumed in july. obama said no one is under any illusion that a process will be easy, but he said u.s. officials are committed to bringing about just and lasting peace. >> as already entailed significant political risk by president abbas as well as prime minister netanyahu, but i think the reason they've been willing to take this risk is they

realize this is the best way, the only way, for us to achieve what should be our goal. two states living side by side in peace and security. >> abbas said peace is important, not just for the palestinians and israelis, but for the entire world. but the talks may already be in trouble. israelis have been expanding their settlements in the occupied territories in violation of international law. and last weekend, gunmen suspected to be palestinians killed two israeli soldiers. the president of brazil used her address to the general assembly to criticize the u.s. surveillance activities. dilma rousseff said they were monitoring her e-mails and telephone calls. rousseff said the activities were a breach of international law and an affront to principles that should govern relations

between friendly nations. she called for an international framework to protect privacy and guarantee freedom of expression on the internet. she said explanations from u.s. government officials have been insufficient. she had planned to visit washington next month but she's postponed her trip indefinitely. a prominent activist is urging the president obama to discuss the human rights situation in china. chen says authorities are cracking down even harder on fellow activists. chen escaped house arrest last year. then authorities allowed him to move to new york. he says the human rights situation in china is getting worse. >> translator: more than 140 activists have been arrested by the chinese government for speaking out. i would like to see mr. obama take up this issue with the chinese president. mr. xi jinping.

>> chen criticized authorities for years for carrying out forced abortions. then police put him under surveillance. chen said authorities continued to harass his family. he said someone had thrown stones and dead animals into the garden of the family home. some fishermen working off the coast of northeastern japan are back on the water. they've been fishing well offshore checking their catches for safety, then putting them on the market. but fishing was suspended after radioactive water was found to be leaking from the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant into the ocean. 21 trollers left the port in a city of soma all in the morning. >> translator: we have to show tepco, the japanese government and people everywhere that we

are really determined to resume full-scale fishing operations. >> members of the cooperative say tests of fish and ocean water did not show any problems, so they decided to return to whork. crews have to fish at least 50 kilometers from fukushima daiichi and more than 150 meters deep. and they can only catch 16 kinds of seafood including squid. those species have significantly lower levels of radiation than government standards. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has reassured world leaders the leaks of contamin e contaminated water from fukushima daiichi are under control, but marine scientists from japan and abroad say there are much more they must do to get things better. nhk has more on the nuclear

watch. >> reporter: last week's ming, the society of japan, experts offer a range of views on the impact the fukushima accident will have on the ocean. but they're uncertain about how exactly the impact of radiation on the ocean. >> translator: tepco's collected data, but it's difficult to understand. it's hard to find out what data tepco actually has and what we have found isn't helping us much with our research. >> reporter: this professor has been studying the impact of what's happening at the plant. he thinks those in charge need to take a different approach. >> translator: it's crucial that people with expertise in different fields come together. people who understand the impacts on the land and the ocean. we should work to create a forum where we can exchange information. >> reporter: u.s. experts on the

effects of radiation on the ocean are also weighing in. ken has been studying the situation since shortly after the accident. he used the japanese government data to determine a year ago that tainted water was leaking into the open ocean. he says tepco's lack of transparency, combined with government's hands-off attitude, has fostered international distrust leading to overreaction. >> yeah, i think there's a lot of overreaction by other countries, and the u.s., as you said, the fisheries in korea, we measure the water, we look at the fish. the ministry of fisheries and forestries measures tens of thousands of fish samples so we know where the fish are highest and that's near fukushima and near the bottom of the ocean. and so if we avoid those fish and those fisheries are closed, then no one is eating those fish

in japan, no one is eating them in america or in korea. that should be okay. >> reporter: he says japanese officials must seek solutions to the fukushima crisis in partnership with foreign experts. >> there was a recent editorial in "nature" magazine and the call was for abe, prime minister, to come up with an international cleanup and research effort. japan is doing more than any other country. they should continue in the universities, scientists and tepco. by having other groups confirm that, at least we could maybe slowly rebuild some confidence. >> reporter: japanese government leaders have decided to step in to oversee the problems at the plant. experts in japan and abroad say authorities need to be more inclusive by sharing what they find out about the leaks. they say even then japanese

leaders will have a long way to go before they regain trust. nhk world. chinese government officials are set to launch pilot free trade zones in shanghai. they hope the initiative will encourage investment and help maintain economic growth. the trial zones will be in four areas of shanghai where tax incentives are already in place. the officials plan to ease regulations on a financial sector as well as on foreign inve investle by the end of this month. internet access in china is limited and social networks like facebook are banned. but the officials may lift restrictions of online activity. government officials are concerned about the economy. china is faced with slowing growth in trade volume and foreign investment. japanese government officials want to spend more

than $50 billion in a new economic stimulus package. they want to soften the impact of the plan, the consumption tax hike. the officials created an outline for the package to be finalized at the end of this month. it includes $3 billion worth of tax cuts for corporate investment. companies that boost productivity by installing new machinery would get tax deductions. their plan also includes measures to help low-income residents. they propose a one-time cash benefit of about $100 to $150 per person for total payout of about $3 billion. they call for $4 billion incentive to help home buyers that would provide up to $3,000 in subsidies to people below a certain income level. the plan also includes spending for repairing old tunnels and bridges. the officials also want to help

small and medium-size manufacturers invest in their plants. and the officials say better infrastructure is needed in tokyo ahead of the 2020 olympics. the officials hope, extra corporate tax that was imposed after the 2011 disasters to help rebuild affected areas but they have yet to secure support from some members of the ruling parties. the officials are also trying to win approval for future reductions to corporate tax across the board. you can find satellite positioning systems in planes, cars and even phones. they have become an essential tool in many people's lives. but they can be off the mark. there's a new system being developed in japan to create a higher standard for accuracy. nhk world reports.

>> reporter: fall brings the rice harvest to hokkaido. work is going smoothly, but there's to driver in sight. a satellite controls the harvester to centimeter accuracy. about 36,000 kilometers above earth, the michibiki satellite orbits as a part of japan's first homegrown satellite positioning system. most countries rely on the global positioning system or gps. but some factors cause gps data to lose its accuracy. on its journey to ground receivers. two of these are the shift of the satellites. out of their orbits. and delay in the signal caused by the ionosphere. they can be o by as much as ten meters.

the mitchibiki system sends collection data and reduces the error to centimeters. mitchibiki's system achieved positioning at the level of accuracy. the key was producing the most accurate correction data as possible. this is the heart of the system. at japan aerospace exploration agency. correction data is being collected and sent to the michibiki satellite. unique algorithm is used to calculate factors that influence the gps accuracy. data is then produced to decrease the positioning errors. improved accuracy creates new opportunities. one example is using robots for agricultural work. a group led by hokkaido

university professor noguchi aims to become the world's first team to completely automate farming. gps systems for warming are already used in places such as north america and europe. unlike this harvester with the michibiki system, a driver has to be in the vehicle with the current system for safety and to turn the machine. the accuracy of the michibiki system allows the vehicle to make turns by itself. the harvester mows precisely along the edge. >> translator: with japan's highly advanced farming technology using the mikibichi system, it would be impossible for one person to control multiple machines. i envision building an efficient robot operated farming system.

that's my blueprint for the future of farming. >> reporter: beyond farming, research is under way to figure out exactly which fields this technology could transform. nhk world. it's getting cooler. day by day here in tokyo. americans and others who live in the northern rockies are already seeing snow and earlier than usual. meteorologist sayaka mori explains in world weather. >> hello there. i want to start off by showing you this pretty picture. this is the rockies. you can see lots of snow piling up on the mountains and actually the coldest air of the so far spilling in from the north lowering temperatures and causing this white stuff. you're expecting about 40 centimeters of snow to fall in the northern rockies into thursday. the cold air is expected to invade toward the southwest as we go into wednesday.

los angeles, long beach, not too bad. dropping sharply as we go into wednesday. look at this. only 20 degrees in long beach on wednesday. that's about 15 degrees difference since tuesday. looking more like mid december, actually. in las vegas, 24 on thursday. last time we saw this number was in may. in such conditions, you can easily catch a cold, so please keep yourself warm. now, across the other side of the continent, we are seeing lots of heavy rain for the southeastern corner of the u.s. even tornadoes cannot be ruled out into tuesday night. the florida peninsula will remain on the wet side as we go into the -- as we go into friday at least. temperatures are looking like this. pleasant weather across the east. 23 in new york city. 21 in toronto. 27 in denver. but very chilly for this time of year in the northwest. vancouver, seattle, the high could be 16 degrees on your wednesday. now, across asia, we are looking

at a severe tropical storm. you can see vivid clouds and also a clear eye in the center. this indicates this is a very strong system. it's now affecting the ogisawa islands with windy conditions and will likely approach as we go into tonight as is severe tropical storm. the system will likely pass east of japan as we go into friday. now, winds are not going to be too much of a problem across mainland japan, but waves could be as high as 5 meters in some places. very dangerous situation. and more dangerous situation for the southern parts, southern islands of the country. waves are very high as well as strong winds, as well as heavy rainfall into your thursday. now, take a look at a bigger picture. a big high-pressure system is exerting its dominance over the northern half of china. the korean peninsula as well as mongolia. clear conditions, but rain is continuing across the south and

more heavy rain for the western part of philippines as well as the eastern part of vietnam due to the enhanced southwest monsoon. now, finally taking a look at a picture across europe. clear conditions across the west. warm as well, but spilling clouds as you can see. lots of rain and thundershowers and risk of hail. temperatures are going to be quite low. we're expecting the highs only 5 degrees in moscow on thursday as well as friday. running about 10 degrees cooler than seasonal in kiev. if you're living in the east, you would be jealous of nice weather across the west. higher than average and nice, clear conditions. this was the picture in the alpine region looking like beautiful weather. beautiful clear crystal skies and also nice, beautiful autumn foliage. here's the extended forecast.

and that concludes this edition of "newsline." on behalf of our team, thank you for staying with us.

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with j.j. abrams. he is one of the most are living writers today whose work can be

seen in tv series such as "revolution" and "person of interest." he is about to take over "star wars." next month he will publish his first interactive novel. you joined us. a conversation with j.j. abrams coming up right now. ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

♪ tavis: jj abrams is the force behind such hit tv series as "person of interest." the upcoming "almost human" and returning "revolution." he will reboot "westworld." george lucas chose him to launch the new series of "star wars." i am tired of reading these. long guaranteed an audience. let's take a look at "revolution can't go

revolution." >> we searched. she would have never left atlanta. she would have waited for me to her, waited until the skin melted off her bones. i know in your modesty you will not accept this, but my friends and i think you are the most powerful man in television. deflect that.l >> it is obviously not true, but it's a lucky thing to get involved at all. i feel blessed to be able to entertain people in any capacity. tavis: how do you manage -- you asked how i was doing. i said, i am doing great.

i know how you are doing. i expected you to be broken down when you come in here. it is one thing to have all these opportunities, but you have only 24 hours in a day. >> i will tell you, it's working with great people. i work with amazing people. sherpas for each other. we are polling each other up the hill. >> creatively, how do you juggle that many balls at one time? it is not like these are inconsequential. these are franchises you are juggling. for those watching thinking they cannot squeeze any more creativity out of themselves or they cannot do anything more, how do you manage all that? >> part of it is working with people who actually inspire you.