two sides agreed to hold follow-up talks on november 7th and 8th in geneva. the eu's top foreign policy official praised the latest round of talks. they're the first since iran's moderate president rouhani took office. >> the most detailed we have ever had by, i would say, a long way. >> reporter: in negotiations, iran's foreign minister outlined the new proposal. he appears to have suggested that his country is ready to rein in the nuclear program in return for the right to enrich uranium and easing of economic sanctions. details of the talks have not been made public but both sides issued their first-ever joint statement in what's been taken as a sign of readiness to work on the proposal. the iranian side sounded equally committed.

>> translator: i believe that iran and western countries will be able to achieve a shared objective through future negotiations. i am optimistic. >> reporter: at the center of the world power's concern is iran's uranium enrichment program. iran now has enough enriched uranium to power nuclear reactors or to produce the core of a nuclear bomb. the country has long insisted it doesn't want nuclear weapons but it has resisted international attempts to verify the claim. after the talks ended, a u.s. administration official described the discussions as serious, substantive and more technically detailed than ever before. at the same time, she said, differences remain and that there is still a lot of work to be done. takashi ishinose, nhk world, geneva.

emergency teams sifting through debris on an island in south tokyo. they're looking for missing residents on izu oshima. typhoon wipha killed at least 17 people as it churned up the pacific coast. about 40 others are still missing. more than 1,000 people have joined the search including firefighters, police, and self-defense force personnel. they found homes, roads, and fields covered in debris. some have not been able it drive vehicles through the mud so they've had to work with their hands. more than 800 millimeters of rain hit the island in 24 hours. that's more than double the monthly average and the worst downpours since people started keeping records 75 years ago. the rain sent part of a mountain sliding down toward one community. more than 30 homes collapsed or were swept away. >> translator: huge amounts of

driftwad dammed up a swamp and stopped the outflow, diverting mudslides towards residential districts. >> the storm moved northeast toward russia and has been do downgraded to a low-pressure system. the typhoon is assumed to be harming the fukushima daiichi. the operators suspect that the typhoon rains caused the water to flow into the ditch. workers have been conducting daily inspections in the ditch, checking to see if contaminated water is leaking from storage tanks. officials with tokyo electric power company say on wednesday they detected 1,400 becquerels per liter of radioactive material. that's more than 70 times higher than readings taken the day before and the highest since

they started monitoring the ditch in august when contaminated water leaked from a tank. tepco officials say they'll clean up the ditch. officials plan to assess the effects of the incident on the surrounding sea water. japanese government has loaned billions of dollars in compensation money to tepco. officials estimate it will take decades to recover it. the government has issued about $50 billion worth of bonds to the company. managers are using the money to compensate people affected by the nuclear accident. residents who had to evacuate their homes and farmers and fishermen who have lost their livelihoods. government officials intend to recover the funds through annual payments. other power companies will contribute money to help the company out. they've posted net losses since the accident. government auditors say if the losses continue, the company probably won't be able to pay off its debt until 2044.

auditors also expect tepco will need additional government assistance. they say bills for decontamination work and real estate compensation are likely to increase. former prime minister koizumi has called to an end to japan's reliance on nuclear power. he stirred up the debate over how to satisfy the country's energy needs. koizumi has retired from politics but has been critical about nuclear power. some members of japan's ruling party are troubled by their former leader's remarks. koizumi isn't backing down. >> translator: if the government and the ruling liberal democratic party decide that japan should end nuclear power generation and use renewable increase sources instead, most of the japanese people would endorse the policy. >> some say koizumi's position is incompatible with the company's policy of restarting nuclear plants.

others worry his criticisms could convey the impression that party members are divided. many opposition members welcome what he has to say. but some doubt his sincerity. he promoted nuclear power when he was in office. japanese government officials say a ban on seafood from parts of japan is unfair. the south korean counterparts are worried about leaks of water from the plant so last month they stopped imports of marine products of fukushima and neighboring prefectures. delegates made the argument at a world trade organization meeting in geneva. they said there's no scientific basis for the embargo. they said maritime products undergo radiation checks to meet government standards before being shipped overseas. >> i believe many countries now understand japan's view. >> south korean officials say they need to ensure the safety of food products. that he demanded that the

-- they demanded that the japanese provide them with more detailed information. the south koreans say they want to help monitor radioactivity off fukushima daiichi. the foreign minister discussed the plan in seoul with the head of the international atomic energy agency. inspectors from the iaea and japan's nuclear regulation authority plan to work together to check whether the waters off the plant are safe. the south koreans want to take part. south korea's defense minister is denying reports that its government is adopting a u.s. missile defense system or buying american-made anti-ballistic missiles. he says the system is too expensive for seoul's defense needs. u.s. and south korean officials agreed earlier this month to carry out preemptive strikes against any sign of nuclear or missile attacks by north korea. the americans had suggested that

seoul adopt their defense system. kim said members of his government never considered buying the system which can intercept missiles at high altitudes, and he denied any intention of buying sm-3 interceptors. international golfers are looking around them and seeing more and more of their competitors come from south korea. 8,000 professionals from the country are now trying to move up the ranks. many have gone to a school to learn the abcs of the game. >> reporter: often times people practice their swing. this is not an ordinary golf range. the golf high school is located in the southwest. it is the only public high school where students spend 70% of each day improving their golf

skills. so far, 35 graduates have gone on to become professional golfers. many compete internationally. the school has a variety of features found on actual golf courses which allow student to develop their skills. at the moment, 125 students are aiming for a pro career. kim is a second-year student. she was selected for south korea's national golf team. the golf teachers are professional coaches. in every class, they put their students through five hours of rigorous training. >> translator: you need to improve your strength. >> translator: i want to be in the olympics and win a gold medal. my dream is to play in japan and

the u.s. and become a hall of famer. ♪ >> reporter: the students start each day with an early morning run. all of them live away there home and share a dorm -- away from home and share a dorm. well-balanced meals are essential to ensure the young golfers are in top condition. but golf isn't all they study. as public high school students, they must follow the regular curriculum. as well, english and japanese is emphasized to prepare students for overseas tournaments. as for golf, the learn more than just how to improve their swing. today students learn about golf clubs. they studied the composition of the clubs so they can choose ones best suited for them. in another class, the teacher

demonstrates the importance of how a hole cup is angled. this will help the students putt more effectively. the students are not just polishing their golf skills. they're studying the whole structure of the sport. >> translator: the great strength of our school is that it provides the right environment for learning about golf. many of our graduates have gone on to play golf at the international level, and that inspires our students to be even better than our alumni. >> reporter: south koreans are proud of their rising status in the world of professional golf. they can be thankful that the teachers at this school are helping young golfers make the grade. nhk world. people tested by politics and history, innovators whose technology is 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." international experts examining syria's arsenal of chemical weapons say they're making progress. they say they've already inspected more than half of the sites disclosed by the government. experts with the organization for the provision of chemical weapons arrived in damascus. their mission is to dismantle syria's chemical weapons program. syria's government has declared 20 sites to the u.n. inspectors say they've checked more than half of them. they've destroyed equipment from producing chemical agents, rockets, and item at six site. team members plan to complete their work by next june. but some weapons facilities are in areas where government and opposition forces are fighting. the head of the organization says a temporary cease-fire is needed to ensure their safety. a passenger plane has

crashed into the river in laos. 49 people were on board. a spokesperson for the airline says there were no survivors. officials with laos airlines says the plane was on a domestic flight from the capital vientiane to the southern city of pakse. the pilot was preparing to land in heavy rain and strong winds. the plane crashed special the river. rescue crews rushed to the site of the accident, but they did not find anyone alive. cars get safer and safer all the time, but drivers, passengers, and pedestrians can still find themselves in dangerous situations. more than 4,000 people in japan died last year in automobile accidents. now a mother is doing what she can to keep children safe. >> reporter: a place that's safe for children.

this playground has a special message -- the sign over the entrance says, "a playground for everyone." wakaba was a local boy who died in a car accident when he was just 6 years old. in august, 2002, a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and rear-ended a row of stopped cars. it set off a massive fire which killed five people including wakaba, his uncle and his grandmother. wakaba's mother has kept his memory alive for over ten years. before meals, she puts rice in a bowl and places it in front of his photograph. >> translator: of course a mother wants to feed her child, right? i want to carry on doing things

for him, giving him the things that any child would normally get. >> reporter: sakaguchi has preserved the backpack that wakaba was carrying at the time of the accident. >> translator: everything else was completely burned. this backpack was probably thrown out of the car by the force of the collision. it is the only thing that was recovered. >> reporter: she used the compensation she received after the accident to buy land near her home and build the playground. she wanted to make a place where children could be safe from cars. >> translator: the civil trial determined a monetary value for wakaba's life. i wanted to use that money to make up for losing his precious life.

>> reporter: there's a three meter-high fence around the playground so children won't run into the road chasing a ball. >> translator: the high fence keeps our ball from getting out. it feels safe in here. >> reporter: the letters in the message over the entrance are copied from a workbook wakaba was using to practice his writing. it's another way for his parents to keep his memory alive. sakaguchi joined a group made up of families of loved ones who died in traffic accidents. twice a year they hold a campaign at the local driver's license testing center in nagoya. they hand out pamphlets and set up panels showing photos of people who have died in car accident.

>> translator: these are all very sad, terrible accidents. they make me sad. >> translator: having gone through this terrible experience, i feel that it's very important to convey my feelings to people who have not experienced this type of tragedy. >> reporter: for sakaguchi and other in the group, the goal is ton reduce car accidents but to eliminate them altogether. she intends to carry on campaigning so that drivers understand the human cost of automobile accidents. time now to check on the weather. we're observing another storm, this time near the island of

guam. here's the latest. >> the typhoon season is quite long this year, one storm after another. another development is over the pacific ocean near the mariana islands. it is already packing gusts of 144 kilometers per hour, and the status is severe tropical storm. its name is francisco, moving very slowly in a southwesterly direction at the moment. it looks like it may veer toward japan over the course of the next few days. it looks like it will become a typhoon status and further strengthen as it does so. we have a couple of high pressure systems and the jet stream that could lead with the similar path that wipha did that devastated japan and brought havoc to this country. wipha is moving toward alaska. the next aim is those areas with pacific alucian islands. we have a warning already. the storm will be 11 meters across the coastal regions on friday, and the gusts more than 100 kilometers per hour.

really stormy condition to impact alaska friday and into saturday. the system left behind a wintry pressure pattern in hokkaido leaving unseasonable snow of about 30 centimeters in some areas of hokkaido. not only is it the most snow, but it also brought this to an unusual place. this is a video from wakayama. a whale shark was found washed up on the beach in the prefecture on wednesday. the animal measured about four meters in length and is estimated to weigh around 500 kilograms. whale sharks are a rare sight in this area. and it is thought that typhoon wipha may have brought it to shore. it was moved into deeper waters so a boat could tow it to sea where it was released. a lot of things happened across japan. looking at very sunny skies across tokyo metropolitan region. the area where that video came out from, you may see showers in

the next 24 hours. talking about the showers, we still have a low-pressure system lingering over the central region of indochina peninsula. this is the typhoon that made landfall in central vietnam this week. it's still there. the additional amounts of rainfall could certainly up the risk of flooding across these areas. now to the americas. a very well-developed low-pressure system is on its way to southeastern canada. it is sagging. this cold front, all the way into mexico. flooding rain will be continuously pounding southern texas. the rivers across these areas are already exceeding major flooding levels. any additional amounts could tricker further flooding. this cold front sagging from canada and to the upper midwest is carrying a wave of cold air and bringing white snowflakes across much of the mountainous regions, especially in wyoming and in colorado. snow could pile up as much as 20 centimeters. winnipeg at nine degrees for the

high. denver at 12 degrees. looking quite wintry up here. chicago, your lows are down to freezing. you may need to use heaters which is bad news during this oil price rise. toward the south, this is looking very summer-like where it usually should be looking like this. this is the autumn foliage coming from massachusetts and from new hampshire. beautiful picture. the good news, you're likely to be able to see the foliage until early november across the southern areas. i'll leave you now for the extended forecast.

that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." thank you very much for joining thank you very much for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation with singer-songwriter robbie robertson. a founding member of the band and solo artist, inducted into the rock 'n roll hall of fame and canadian songwriters hall of fame. he just published a new book for young readers titled "legends, icons, and rebels. these occur that change the world." and for those that wished the band had never disbanded, there is a new compilation out with legendary concerts in 1971.

joined usd you have for a conversation coming up right now. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. as a musician, robbie

robertson has been hailed by rolling stone magazine as one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. he ended up in the rock 'n roll hall of fame and the canadian songwriters hall of fame. safe to say he knows a little bit about great music and has cowritten a book. cd set thatt, a two was recorded in new york in 1971. ♪

tavis: i always get a kick asking whether or not you remember this. >> if you remember it, you weren't there. tavis: do you remember those nights? >> i very well remember them. it was a very special time. musician new orleans did charge for this show. they sat with us and our old buddy. it was a great time and very memorable. hear this stuff all these years later, how does this

sound to you? for this collection, the record company came to me a few months ago and said, we found the tapes. and in the course of this, we found lost footage and photographs. we found so much stuff. amazed, am always because i hold on to everything, i am constantly amazed. i never understood how historic stuff like this gets lost. like thisomething gets lost for 50 years? >> they have to store it somewhere and there is so much of it.