political standoff over the u.s. budget. >> if they do not make payments on some of the bonds that they owe, then it becomes an even bigger issue because for a long time, treasury bills, u.s. treasury bills have been considered totally safe. >> blanchard said the u.s. recovery could turn into a recession and he said other countries would get caught up. the economists also looked at japan in their report. they forecast growth this year of 2%. they say next year that will drop to 1.2%. they pointed toward a hike next april in the consumption tax. >> it is clear that much of the adjustment will have to take the form of increasing the consumption tax. this is probably the first stage of probably further increases later. >> the japanese government will raise the tax in april to 8%. the plan is to raise it to 10%

in 2015. the head of the global chemical weapons watchdog says he's sending more inspectors to syria. they'll oversee the destruction of the country's arsenal of chemical weapons. about 30 experts from the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons and the united nations already on the ground. dozens more are on their way. the experts plan to inspect all of the country's chemical weaponses facilities by the end of the month. they've begun supervising syrian government personnel and disabling production facilities and dismantling rockets. leaders in damascus have agreed to destroy their entire stockpile by the middle of next year. analysts estimate the ray jeechl of bashar al assad has 1,000 tons of chemical arms. a pakistani teenager has taken a long journey from school girl to activist. taliban gunmen shot her.

she's written about the shooting and what's happened in a memoir. gunmen shot malala in the head as she was returning home on a school bus. doctors air lifted her to britain for treatment. she survived the ordeal and goes to school in the city of birmingham. a spokesman for the pakistan taliban issued a new warning. he said they shot malala not because she was attending school but because she criticized islam. >> translator: we once attempted to kill her. if we find her, we will kill her with pride. >> in the book, "i am malala," she writes about regaining consciousness in a british hospital. she thought, thank god i'm not dead. she writes about seeing her parents a few weeks later. she says it was the first time she was able to cry since she was shot. some have suggested malala could win the nobel peace prize.

committee members will name the winner later this week. the head of south korea's intelligence service says a nuclear reactor in north korea is operational again. north korean thor korean author it off five years ago under terms of an international agreement. intelligence chief jun told members of the national assembly that the reactor in yeongbeong has been emitting unusual levels of radioactive zeeon. u.s. government officials have confirmed that the facility is generating steam. authorities in pyongyang disabled the reactor in 2008 under an agreement reached in the six-party talks on north korea's nuclear program. he reportedly said north korean authorities have also been testing an engine for long-range missiles. now, people in south korea have been working to address a challenge a number of other nations face. their total fertility rate is one of the lowest in the world.

municipal and business leaders have come up with a plan to encourage more families to have kids and it involves people with plenty of childrearing experience, grandparents. nhk world's anna jong explains. >> reporter: about 150 makers of baby care products from home and abroad took part in a baby expo in brazil. a growing number of south korean families are leaving their kids in the care of grandparents. government survey found that half of korean parents don't trust daycare centers to look after their children. some facilities do provide high-quality services, but waiting lists are long and fees are too high for many families. products to help grandparents take care of young children were popular with expo visitors. this milk bottle uses colors to show the correct temperature is passing with the need to check by touch.

when the milk cools, the bar turns from pink to blue. this baby carrier is reinforced in the back to minimize the burden on grandma or grandpa. >> translator: i'm taking care of my grandchild while my daughter works. this carrier doesn't put much stress on my lower back. i don't feel so tired, even when holding the baby for a long time. >> reporter: she lives in seoul. she's taking care of two grand children while her daughter and son-in-law work. in 2011 the local government began financially helping grandmothers who look after two or more grandchildren. it was the first municipality in south korea to introduce this system. the district pays up to $223 per month for child care. she is receiving the assistance.

>> translator: it's a good incentive, and i can spend it for the grandchildren, too. >> reporter: her daughter comes home at 5:00 p.m. she said without her mom's help, she couldn't have considered a second child. the total fertility rate in seoul is significantly lower than other cities, but in this district, authorities say the figure inched up a year after the grandma assistance was introduced. >> translator: she's been a great help. she's my mother, so i can ask almost anything to accommodate my needs without feeling any constraint. i hope the financial burden of childrearing will be reduced gradually. >> reporter: many grandparents are gathering in this lecture room and what they're studying is --

42 grandparents are learning how to take care of babies. childrearing has changed dramatically from the time when they raised their own children. the district posted south korea's lowest fertility rate for two years in a row. it launched this program for grandparents in september. >> translator: i hope similar programs will become available in other areas as well. >> reporter: the municipal government provides financial support to those who complete the program. >> translator: by giving grandparents financial support, their work is recognized and rewarded. we plan to create new legislation next year, once we have studied the results of this year's trial. >> reporter: south korea's central government is now also discussing support systems for

childrearing grandparents. many are hoping this new approach will boost the country's fertility rate. anna jung, nhk world, seoul. a people tested by politics and history. innovators whose technology spread around the world. artists who capture the imaginations of audiences everywhere. these are the faces of south korea. nhk world updates you on what's happening across the peninsula. wednesday and thursday here on "newsline." the people that operate the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant say they've identified the likely cause of radioactive water leaks. officials from tokyo electric power company say they've found corrosion inside a storage tank. more than 300 tons of contaminated water leaked from a tank in august. tepco officials say some of it may have flowed into the sea. tepco engineers dismantled the leaky tank and found corrosion

around two bolts at the bottom of the tank. they believe water leaked out from the gaps around the bolts. there are more than 300 storage tanks of a similar type at the plant. tepco officials plan to replace them with welded tanks as soon as possible. delegates at an international conference are working on ways to protect the world from a toxic chemical. they want to regulate the use and trade of mercury and they've set themselves three days to development a treaty. the minimata convention is named after a city in southern japan. industrial mercury pollution in the city, many got sick and babies were born with birth defects. decades later it is harming people's health and spoil iing e environment. delegates from 140 countries and regions agreed on a draft treaty in january. the agreement will ban mercury production at new mines and starting in 2020, it will prohibit the manufacturing,

export and imports of products using mercury. japan's foreign and defense ministers visited okinawa to explain other efforts to ease the burden on the prefecture. they want to convince their governor to support the relocation of a u.s. air station within okinawa. but one is opposed to the idea and he says he won't change his mind. foreign minister fumio kishida and the defense minister met with him. they said officials from japan and the u.s. have agreed to reduce training flights for osprey aircraft. residents are concerned about its safety record. it's been involved in accidents in the u.s. and elsewhere. the ministers also said the u.s. will start transferring some marines from okinawa to guam in the 20 20s. they asked for the governor's approval to move the futenma air station to a coastal location.

he rejected the relocation plan for the air station. >> translator: in terms of strategy, politics, finance and operation, i honestly can't understand at all why relocating the air station within the prefecture is the sole option. >> he is demanding the air station be moved outside the prefecture. the first international survey of adult skills was conducted in more than 20 countries and swjapan came out top in reading and math. the organization for economic cooperation and development organized the computer survey to collect data for school education and job training programs. about 157,000 people aged 16 to 65 took part. they were from 24 countries and regions. some 5,000 japanese were selected at random. they submitted their responses online. participates were assessed for their skills in reading, working with numbers and problem

solving. japan placed first in literacy and numsy, surpassing the average school by about 20 points. >> translator: the results show japan have emphasized the basics in compulsory education since the prewar years. >> japan was also above average in using technology for problem solving, but finished in tenth place. japanese respondents did well overall regardless of educational background or type of job. now, we have a story that will inspire treasure hunters around the world. a young boy in western japan is getting credit for discovering an artifact that dates back more than 1,500 years. he found a blue/green object four years ago in a park near his home. the park contains a third century burial mound. he kep the fragment in a drawer, but in may he noticed it looked like an ancient mirror he learned about in history class. he took it to school. experts identified it as a

fragment of bronze mirror. part of the mirror was found in the burial mound in 1986 and designated a national cultural asset. officials sent the boy a letter of appreciation for preserving the fragment. >> translator: when i found it, i thought it was a mysterious object. i'm really happy that after it was examined, it turned out to be historic discovery. >> shogo has donated the flagle to the city. it will go on display in a museum later this mon. singapore has grown as a hub for finance to become one of the richest countries in asia. spectators there have turned out for horse races ever since it was a british colony. these days the sport is drawing fans, trainers and jockeys from across asia and beyond.

>> reporter: singaporeans love a day at the races. the country has become an established stop on the international horse racing circuit. hosting workhorse grade one races since 2001. foreigners are permitted to own racehorses in singapore, even if they don't live there. any winnings they make are tax free. people who work with horses are also drawn to singapore. he is an expert who trains horses. she teaches them racing skills

such as how to control their speed, when to accelerate, and how to find space between other horses. >> translator: horse racing in singapore has been getting better and better over the past two years. many good jockeys and trainers have moved here from other countries. >> reporter: after graduating high school in japan, she enrolled in horse racing school in australia. but at 170 centimeters tall, she was too heavy to become a jockey. she had to give up that dream but found a new one in singapore. ready to strike is one of the horses she trained. in may, ready to strike was tuning up for a major

international race. the horse is exhausted after months of hard training. >> translator: i try to find where the pain is. right now his shoulders are stiff. so i tend them like this. horses give subtle signs, so i try not to miss them. >> reporter: before the race, she briefed the jockey about the condition of the horse. >> she's very good on getting the horse through. i'm really surprised to see how the horse can improve. >> reporter: among 13 world class horses, ready to strike

has trailed. the race is tight. they entered a final stretch, but ready to strike cannot close the distance. he ends in 11th place. >> translator: he wasn't at his best today, but i think he's seen other great horses and learned from them. we'll probably do better next time. >> reporter: people from around the globe are joining singapore's horse racing. she dreams that one day a horse she trained will win a world class race. nhk world, singapore. time now to check on the weather. the calendar says it is october, but it's still very hot and

humid here in japan. here's sayaka mori with the details. >> hello there. tropical storm dennis is downgraded and is a low pressure system but producing rain showers for northern parts of the country and also bringing southerly winds creating much higher than average temperatures for much of the country especially the hokoriku region. the high rose to 34 degrees as of noon. extremely hot conditions across japan. it's not going to be as hot as today, but things will be on the hot side into tomorrow. further down toward the south, there are a couple of tropical depressions and both of them could become tropical storms within the next 24 hours. so far, we've had 24 tropical storms. the average is 26. now, across the west, then, we have a low which is actually producing persistent heavy rain for the western parts of the indochina peninsula. it would become a more stronger system,s stronger system as we go into the next couple of days.

now, across the americas, winter storm conditions could occur across the southwest. we have a low-pressure system ushering in colder air from the north. we may see some heavy snow in the sierras. up to 12 centimeters from wednesday morning. and heavier snow over the four corners region. probably 45 centimeters of snow plus gusts of over 110 kilometers per hour from wednesday night into friday. that could cause very dangerous driving conditions. very dry weather across the center of the u.s., but the remnants of a tropical storm are moving across the eastern seaboard at a slow pace while dumping heavy rain, creating thunderstorms. washington, d.c., may see some rain showers starting wednesday night. and new york city from thursday morning. temperatures are going to be quite mild in the north. 22 in chicago. in the higher teens in washington, d.c. as well as new york city on your wednesday. across the flip side of the

continent, much cooler than average. 18 degrees in los angeles. 22 in las vegas. looking like november across this location. okay. finally, in europe, first of all, i want to show you this beautiful picture. this is from the alpine region near the border of germany and austr austria. those clouds are looking like large ocean. if you're in the higher elevation, it's definitely a great view. if you're in the low-lying areas, those clouds are just creating gloomy weather. this is the low-pressure system causing the thick clouds. and this is actually centered over italy and the western balkan peninsula. continuously bringing a risk of severe rain. thunderstorms and gusty winds as well as large hail throughout the day. and up toward the north, we have a wet and windy conditions for the north and the system is actually packing cold air and as the system moving through, temperatures will be going down and precipitation will be falling across the central parts of europe. munich, only 9 degrees on

friday, though the high could reach 16 degrees on your wednesday. paris only in the lower teens on thursday and friday. so you may want to bundle up. here's your extended forecast around the globe.

our top story at this hour, once again, southeast asian leaders are discussing two crucial issues affecting their future. free trade and maritime security. china plays a key role in both the areas and invited the chinese leader to discuss them face to face. the asean leaders are meeting for two days of talks. they're kicking off their summit with business and trade negotiations. they're trying to set up a single economic market by 2015. a meeting with chinese premier league takes place later in the

day. they'll be discussing conflicting territorial claims in the south china sea. it is provoking concern. asean and chinese officials started discussions last month to create a legally binding code of conduct. the treaty is aimed at peacefully resolving disputes before they get out of hand. and that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. thank you very much for joining us.

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. >> tonight, a conversation with actress jessica lange. she has added children's book offer to her long list of accomplished -- of a couple showman predict the book is called "it's about a little bird ." she is also returning to the third season of jessica lange," this year's title, "coven." a conversation with jessica

lange coming up right now. ♪ ♪ and by contributions to your pbs station, viewers like you. thank you. tavis: jessica lange is one of the countries most celebrated actress.

she has two oscars into enemies. for three years, she has been taking on various roles and hit series "american horror story." ."is season is called "coven she is also a grandmother, and in that role, she has published her first children's book or it is called "it's about a little bird." before we talk about the children's story, first a look at a scene from this season of "american horror story: coven," which begins airing tomorrow night. >> the fountain. a kind of holy place for our border. she led an 1970s, alternative coven down here. she and her sister witches would gather there, proudly and publicly, very much in the spirit of the times. but it was damaged during katrina, and the authorities used it as an excuse to declare this sacred place a safety hazard. it has been closed o ever since. >> i don't understand why we can't get in. >> tear the wall down.

>> this is seriously the worst ever. >> each one of you has a unique gift. that is not nearly enough to be a real which. >> you're a real which? -- witch? >> that one, she is smarter than all of you put together. tavis: how are you liking this tv thing? >> it's interesting. what i like about it is that you've got this different character, different story each year. that part of it has been good. , youlows you the time know, 13 episodes, 13 hours, to develop the character, but then you don't have to come back to it ever again. that i like. tavis: what can you tell us, to the extent you can, about the character you play this season? >> well, it is no mystery. we are dealing with which is -- witches.

my character is the supreme of this coven. say ald be what i would wasted life. [laughter] power and talent and everything that were given her have been just kind of used for the most selfish, self- serving, and she is at a point in her life, confronted with her own mortality, where it's like you want to put the brakes on the freight train and turn it around, but it's too late really. atdeals with interesting -- least from my character's point of view, i think really kind of this moment in life where everything comes into question. how do you proceed from there? tavis: have you had one of those moments in your life, or is that moment yet to come