bomb attack started pouring in. the burns suggested that the bomb was filled with a napalm -- like substance. >> we have had a massive influx of what looks like serious burns , like it must be some kind of chemical weapon, i am not sure. >> out of all the war zones i have been to, this has been the worst. >> one of the most horrible images was this young boy, 13, shaking uncontrollably. described as hard working with a smiling face, he has 40% earns on his body.

>>[speaking foreign language] >> the school now lies empty, ghostly remembrances of what has happened here, strewn across the playground. the world's tention will once again moveon from syria, but for those whose lives have been torn apart by war, the suffering continues. >> a journalist who has been visiting syria for some time, she joins me now. thank you for being with us. some people say that there has been rather too much concentration on chemical weapons and what they can do, yet this report really ss very powerfully why getting rid of chemical weapons is so important. yes, but the thing is that

the chemical weapons have only contributed to a very small percentage of the more than 100,000 deaths that have been recorded in the two and a half years syrian conict. most people are killed by conventional weapons. very few people are talking about what is happening on that front. apart from the weapons, there is simply the humanitarian consciousness. your report mentioned those displaced inside syria, but there are the 2 million who have crossed borders. their crop is the worst in decades. things, likell wheat, like securing enough , which are water very large concerns for syrian's across the country. the chemical weapons are merely one element of a very vast, wide-ranging conflict. >> we have these foreign ministers from the region meeting in geneva about the humanitarian crisis.

it is difficult to describe, but how bad is this refugee crisis? >> i have seen people living in caves. there are 5 million syrians who have attempted to find shelter elsewhere. you will find three or four families in a room. in terms of electricity, in terms of water supply, others are in the field, there are quite dire circumstances for many people. >> he talks about some of the islamist fighters setting up check points and so on. do you think that there is danger that we look at all of these people and say well, they are all jihad these and you cannot negotiate with them.

islamist is not an islamist is not an islamist. they come in various exchanges. many who want an islamic state want different versions of an islamic state. there are very different places. i think that we should not lump them all together. we should consider them as individuals in terms of what they want, they do not all speak with one voice. >> we have to leave it there, thank you so much for being with us. morguelast body in the is being identified, attention is shifting to how last weeks shopping mall attack was being impaneled. members of the committee had met security chiefs briefly today to begin their probe into whether there is a thing that could have been done ahead of the attack. 's of thecent terrifying speed at which things to place, we have this report.

>> amid the rubble and wreckage, still more questions than answers as to just who the attackers were and how they carry out the deadly raid. local media talks about intelligence reports from more , provokingar ago this government response. >> we have indicated here, and we stand by that, intelligence information was made ad it was nothing to be shared publicly. therefore, we treat our intelligence as confidential and it is not something that we are willing to defend in public. >> in parliament they still plan to press security chiefs as to whether there were intelligence laps. the head of the committee described it as the anatomy of the entire operation. how effectively did the forces respond to the attack? were there confusing signals?

for now, in the streets surrounding the destroyed center, store holders are trying to pick up the pieces of their livelihood. >> our business has been at a standstill for the past week. we rely on tourists in this market. we are hopeful that soon they will start coming one by one. >> the shopping mall itself is still cordoned off. the repercussions around the events here continue. we heard the interior minister there saying that intelligence is government business, so it begs the question, how rigorous are they going to be?

>> we expect the entire process to be quite rigorous. if that informatiois made public once they compile it, so many of them do take place, but rarely does the public get to know the outcome. especially given the sensitive nature of the information. >> these rumors that there was an intelligence warning as far , is thatne year ago being fueled by the media? or is there substance to it? >> over the past two years there have been warnings coming out of some -- and there have there have been some buildings that have been singled out right

in the middle of the central business district, but regarding information to the police about ,t happening around this time that came from a report apparently released by notlligence, but that has been independently verified. >> thank you very much. bring you a round up of some other stories. authorities in nigeria say that there was no security defection where they were shot dead as they slept on sunday. the students were killed in their dormitory by suspected gunman in northern nigeria. at least 41 people have been killed and 130 injured in a wave of car bombings around the iraqi

capital of baghdad. outdoor markets and car parks were suspected in the rush-hour. the most deadly attack kills seven people. tensions in indonesia between two countries, mr. abbott wants ties, buthen economic his policies of sending asylum- seekers back. missingn 70 people are after a boat sank in a typhoon in the south china seas. --te media says they aren't they are involved in a rescue operation, where tens of been evacuated in vietnam from high- risk areas. comewith us here, still to

-- adate has been sent date has been set for two recent popes to join a list. we will come to that later. in the u.s. the government is facing a shutdown for the first time in nearly two decades. last-minute negotiations are expected to take place later between democrats and republicans as they failed to reach a deal. more than seven hundred thousand government employees could be sent home without pay. >> time is running out on whether the u.s. government will stay open for business. if the politicians in washington cannot come up with a deal by midnight monday, many government services would be forced to shut up shop. more than 700,000 government workers will be told to stay at home and will not get aid.

tax offices would close. national parks and monuments would also shut. could mean no wages or work former rio. is employedar-old at the department of defense and she is worried how she will make ends meet. >> i do live paycheck to paycheck. would have to find a way to manage to pay my bills. >> politicians have a matter of hours left to strike a deal. democrats,icans and that comes with conditions, with republicans saying they will only sign up to an agreement if the flagship health care reform delayed.ident obama is something democrats will not agree to. thgovernment shutdown moves ever closer.

washington, many places will be affected, including the blue ridge parkway in north carolina. the attraction should not take the hit, according to tourist. >> the calculator pushers? they can do with a vacation. >> if they did shut down the toernment, they should go washington and clean house, you could save a lot of money right there. >> politicians will be trying to come up with a plan by monday that both the house and the senate can agree on. ofthere is no sign compromise, america could find itself in its first government shutdown in 17 years. chief is this correspondent at the bbc is in .ur nepalese bureau what is the economic impact

first? what is it likely to be if there is a shutdown? >> it looks quite likely and we should probably remember that the impact will be fairly large. it is one third of the public sector workforce, two point one million workers will not be coming in, the shutdown could probably last more than a few days. the economic impact on the u.s. economy could be as much as taking off when three percent of growth, as a cost of -- as economists estimate. anything beyond that we could be looking at knocking off more. the overall growth estimate for the quarter is only 2.5%. that gives you an idea of how much the u.s. economic and -- engine could be damaged to the public sector not being able to work. that also means lots of other people's jobs would be affected as well.

which is why i think the economic impact of a shutdown will be pretty significant. >> there are these suggestions the u.s. could actually default on its that. it seems incredible that we are talking in these terms. some people say it is just scaremongering. >> and you would hope that they would be right. the idea of the world's biggest economy and the country with the biggest growth default thing on its debt seems preposterous, but this is the consequence of an impasse in congress. a house and a senate controlled by different parties have no control over spending priorities. the united states already hit its debt ceiling in may, the total amount of money

that the u.s. government is allowed to borrow, just shy of $17 trillion. treasury has been putting together money to continue to pay interest on onir debt, but that went up october 17, so unless congress comes to some kind of agreement, the treasury will not be able to pay to borrow money on the interest that is owed in that is when the debt ceiling really hit . you could find the u.s. making an interest payment on this debt , the kind of payout that would ensue from a technical default would be very significant and historic. let me just say that until the obama administration the debt regularly, itise was raised 78 times since 1960. e fact that it has become political brinksmanship is rather damaging. >> as we said earlier, markets are already getting -- being

affected? >> is the last thing that markets need, to have this kind of uncertainty hanging or it. he talked about the lasting economic impact on the u.s. economy? 2.5% growth in the fourth , a slowdown is a , which ist prospect what is causing rates to rise in terms of borrowing costs for u.s. issuers of debt. i would simply say that the world economy, the last thing they need is more uncertainty from the united states. >> thank you very much. more inrin will have terms of investing for everyday americans.

italy, the retrial of amanda knox over the murder of a british student has been open. she and her boyfriend at the were accused of the murder, but the highest court overturned the vote rather quickly and she has chosen not to appear at the court in florence. >> this central figure choosing to stay away, the court could she hasel a hearing, chosen to stay home. she did not want to spend more time, as an innocent woman, she , taking her chances again with italian justice.

we expect him to begin to appear in october. meredith kercher, that family remains coinced that they are indeed guilty. the appeal centered largely on aftersue of dna evidence testimony came from experts who trashed the performance of italian forensic police. they called the collecting of samples very poor.

>> pope francis announces two of declaredcessors to be , it is appeared as a move to unite catholics from around the world. for the benefit of our viewers from around the world, tell us more about these former popes. >> hope john xxiii died a long roman 23-- hope john johne -- hope --pope roman 23 died a long time ago, supposedly he had a sense of

, bringing the roman catholic church to the modern world. the decision of pope francis with the pope from poland, the great world traveler, bringing him into communism in eastern thepe, representing progressive and the conservative together is unprecedented. do you think of that is what he is doing echo >> absolutely. we are expecting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to come to rome for this ceremony.

what will be interesting of that there will be another pope present at this ceremony. retired pope benedict, who stepped down earlier this year. he is sure to be present. saints,g popes, to sainted popes in recent memory. what do these foreign popes --e to have done the echo done? >> they have to have shown lives of the road future. they are also credited with having performed miracles, various miracles to the evident

churchmen. and there is a second member -- johnd miracle for pope roman 23. it means they will be venerated. >> david, sorry, i have to interrupt you. we have more to come here on "gmt." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, and union bank. and united healthcare.

>> my customers can shop around with united health care. i get information and quality ratings from doctors and estimates on how much we will pay. it helps me in my guys make informed decisions. that is health in numbers. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.

hello and welcome back to nhk world "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following. the five permanent members of the u.n. security council agree on a dra resolution to eliminate syria's chemical weapons. officials at tokyo electric power company have taken a big step to restarting two idle reactors, the same type as those that melted down at fukushima daiichi. glue and relaxing restriction, a major hub of commerce in china hopes to boost foreign investment through free trade. a major breakthrough has been made toward eliminating syria's stockpile of chemical weapons on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly. the five permanent u.n. security council members have agreed on a draft resolution through a compromise. since the conflict began, three security council draft resolutions on syria have been voted down. nhk world's kunihiro yamamoto has the details.

>> reporter: the draft was presented to the security council in a closed-door meeting on thursday night. it could be voted on as soon as friday. >> it is something which is working very pragmatically and strongly in support of this effort of the elimination of chemical weapons in syria. >> reporter: the draft stipulates that syria must follow a weapons disposal plan approved by the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons. it also calls for an international conference to bring together the syrian government and opposition groups. the aim would be to establish an interim government that both sides agree on. the u.s. and european countries were pushing to include in the draft the threat of military action if syria fails to comply.

russia and china had opposed the idea. the draft resolution says if syria does not follow through, the council will impose measures under chapter 7 of the u.n. charter. that would allow for sanctions and military action, but the agreement does not automatically authorize such measures. this is an apparent compromise between western powers and the russia/chinaamp. >> what this resolution does do is for the first time for many months, it brings together in a strong message of unity of the security council. and for that, it was worth making some compromises. >> reporter: according to the u.n., more than 100,000 people have been killed in the syrian conflict. over 2 million others have fled. the adoption of the resolution of syria could mark the first step in resolving the situation in the country. kunihiro yamamoto, nhk world.

now, japanese prime minister shinzo abe used the u.n. general assembly to highlight his country's role as a force for peace. he says he's pleased to have had the chance to outline what he wants the japanese to do on the global stage. >> translator: i was able to convey my resolve to the world that japan will play a more active role for global peace, stability and prosperity. >> abe also commented on his meeting with iranian president hassan rowhani. >> translator: i feel that president rowhani has a positive attitude, and he is trying to cooperate with the international community. >> he says he'll work for the peaceful resolution of iran's nuclear issue based on past friendly ties with the country. prime minister abe used his time at the u.n. to call for reform of the security council.