nhk world, bangkok. >>> and that's going to wrap up our bulletin for today. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. >>> japanese politicians gave voters plenty to think about as they get closer to next month's general election. leaders of the main political parties debated the future of nuclear power in the country's energy mix. prime minister yoshihiko noda presented the position of the ruling democratic party. he pledged to aim for a shutdown of all nuclear plants by the end of the 2030s. >> translator: i believe that after last year's nuclear accident the public is determined to get rid of nuclear power and to shut down the plants. we need to promote realistic policies that respond to these expectations. >> one of noda's main opponents, liberal democratic party leader shinzo abe said nuclear power should not be a matter of black or white. >> translator: after experiencing such a severe nuclear accident, we've all decided that japan should depend on nuclear power as little as possible. but the ldp's position is not to simply say let's go nuclear-free. that's bec

effort in the vietnam war and also many american soldiers went on r & r to bangkok and spent a lot of time there. so in terms of direct support and peripheral support, thailand was a close ally of the u.s. and an important part of the war effort. >> host: did that country have soldiers in vietnam? >> guest: absolutely. that what concentrate on in the book. thailand sent some 37,000 soldiers, half soldiers, others combat support. they also spent some smaller naval units and air units. still there, was definitely combat units working with the united states, work with the south vietnamese and filipinos and south korean. >> host: what about casualties? >> guest: the talks tike 500 plus casualties -- i should say 500 thais died in south vietnam fighting what we call the viet cong. it's an important detail to focus on because those who don't know the history of thai involvement tend to dismiss them as the insulting term they use is america's mercenaries, because we paid for the -- a lot of the military hardware and transportation and logistics and extra pay the thai troops received. they al

i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. >>> emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence. the push for peace. the shadow of conflict. get news and insight on south and southeast asia every weekday "live from bangkok" only on nhk world "newsline." >>> thousands of israeli reserve troops are being mobilized. the call-up comes as israel continues to launch aerial and artillery attacks on the gaza strip in response to missile strikes by the islamist group hamas. israeli aircraft attacked targets in gaza for the third straight day on friday, killing two people. the islamist group hamas and other palestinian militants are returning rocket fire. the israeli government began calling up 16,000 reserve troops after a rocket struck near the largest commercial city of tel aviv on thursday. th tanks have been deployed near the border with gaza. the attack on the city was the first since the gulf war about 20 years ago. air raid sirens sent residents running for shelter. in gaza, hisham qandil met ahamas leader on fr

i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. >>> emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence. the push for peace. the shadow of conflict. get news and insight on south and southeast asia every weekday "live from bangkok" only on nhk world "newsline." >>> thousands of israeli reserve troops are being mobilized. the call-up comes as israel continues to launch aerial and artillery attacks on the gaza strip in response to missile strikes by the islamist group hamas. israeli aircraft attacked targets in gaza for the third straight day on friday, killing two people. the islamist group hamas and other palestinian militants are returning rocket fire. the israeli government began calling up 16,000 reserve troops after a rocket struck near the largest commercial city of tel aviv on thursday. tanks have also been deployed near the border with gaza. the attack on the densely populated city was the first since the gulf war about 20 years ago. air raid sirens sent residents running for shelter. in gaza, egypt's prime min

and southeast asia every weekday live from bangkok only on nhk world "newsline." >>> wine lovers have started popping the corks on this year's beaujolais. sales of the 2012 vintage begin on thursday. thanks to geography, people in japan are the first to sample the french wine each year. wine experts say this year's grape harvest suffered from poor weather. producers in france's beaujolais region wonder tuesday they wld be able to meet demand. vineyards faced heavy rain, cool temperatures, and summertime hailstorms. the harvest of grapes used in buy voe beaujolais was one of the worst on record. producers wanted to make sure they could quench japanese consumers' thirst. they shipped 8 million bottles to japan, the same number as last year. to do this, they reduced the amount available for sale in france. >> translator: it's difficult to

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. >>> and running in bangkok gets brighter. >> by wearing l.e.d. suits. i like it. >> see the cool moves all lit i like it. [z >>> welcome back to the show. don't forget to check in at rightthisminute.com. great videos all day long. >>> while most of us are hitting the stores to buy our loved ones some christmas gifts, there are those that decide to just take them. we found video on dfwdallas. this is security footage from a macy's in garland, texas. you see three men walk into this macy's really quickly and looks like they have an idea of what they need and just seconds later you see the same three men running out with something large in their hands. those three men in 13 seconds took 80 watches worth $19,000. they didn't even bother with smash and grab. they just grabbed the cases. they cut the security rope and they ran out. >> they must have had this planned to a tee to pull that off in 13 seconds. >> these people are awful. >> they're grinches. >> i have another video of a very similar thing. the second video we found on wstd.com. this one happened i

bangkok 33. 15 for our high in tokyo. 9 degrees in seoul and beijing.ome parts of northern china found a low temperature of mine annua us in 18. ulan bator down to minus 14 reported this morning. the high reaching up to minus 11 degrees. moving over to the american continent here. still snowy in the upper great lakes regions. really fine and calm, quiet across much of the continent here. ross southeast, things could be severe on the rain side. heavy rain could be targeting the area and due to the astronomical high tide, and toward the pacific northwest, things are very windy. then this precipitation could be heavy coming down from british columbia, down in towards seattle, vancouver. temperature-wise, we're looking at single digits there. welli peg, minus 8. across new york, lower than average at 9 degrees. los angeles, keeping its warmth at 22. let's move over to e european continent. you can see this cloud formation in northern africa. this has been bringing severe weather across the region. take a look at a video coming up from morocco. a strong low

we have more from our bureau in bangkok on the details. >> reporter: thousands of workers took to the streets of jakarta on thursday to demonstrate. they oppose low wages and a plan for them to cover welfare cost. [ chanting ] >> protesters gathered near the presidential palace and marched to the parliament building calling for an increase in the minimum wage. the indonesian economy grew by 6.5% last year, but with that growth comes a higher cost of living. demonstrators carried signs lambasting a 2011 law that will require salary reductions to cover social security and health benefits. the law is expected to go into effect in 2014, but workers say those costs should remain the government's responsibility. similar prothave been recently held in other cities around the country as workers urge the government to protect them. >>> phuket is an idyllic location in southern thailand has plans to lure a segment of the muslims who make up nearly 25% of the world's population. we have more. >> reporter: eight million travellers a year head to phu t phuket. ♪ >> reporter: one of phuket's annual

. >> that's going to wrap up our bulletin from bangkok. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. >>> a court in south korea is dealing with a delicate legal matter that involves two of its closest neighbors. it has opened a hearing to determine whether to extradite a chinese national to japan for starting a fire at the yasukuni shrine in tokyo. the site honors japan's war dead, including war criminals. tokyo police suspect 38-year-old liu qiang set fire to a gate at the shrine last december. he already served a ten-month prison term for throwing four firebombs at the japanese embassy in seoul in january. authorities in japan demanded his extradition after he finished serving time, but officials in china want liu sent home for humanitarian reasons. they say he suffers from mental illness. the chinese government helped assemble liu's defense team. liu told the seoul high court thursday he started the shrine fire because he was trying to correct the japanese government's historical views. he asked the court to send him back to china saying he would

dhra dhirakaosal in bangkok has more details. >>> at least 11 people are confirmed dead after the quake struck central myanmar on sunday. people have been forced to seek shelter as rescue workers struggle to reach those in need. residents of mandalay are living in makeshift shelters and tents. many people said they were too afraid to go back home. >> we're still afraid of earthquakes and can't even eat. we're staying in the field to be ready if another earthquake strikes. >> the magnitude 6.2 tremor was centered around 110 kilometers north of mandalay. hundreds of homes and buildings rr damaged or destroyed. the u.s. geological society reported a 5.8 magnitude aftershock later sunday. reuters says at least 11 people died, but that figure is likely to rise. several workers remain unaccounted for following the collapse of an unfinished bridge over the river. >>> the shooting of a teenage girl in pakistan for defending women's rights to education has shocked the world. the pakistani government is now under pressure to tackle issues including islamic extremism and poverty that prevent girls

our bureau in bangkok has the details. >> reporter: thousands of workers took to the streets of jakarta on thursday to demonstrate they oppose low wages and a plan to cover welfare costs. protesters gathered near the presidential palace and marched to the parliament building calling for an increase in the minimum wage. the indonesian economy grew by 6.5% last year, but with that growth comes a higher cost of living. demonstrators carried signs on the 2011 law requiring salary reductions to cover social security and health benefits. the law is expected to go into effect in 2014. but workers say those costs should remain the government's responsibility. similar protests have been recently held in other cities around the country as workers urge the government to protect them. one of the world's most famous traveled denations. now the idyllic island on southern thailand has plans to lure a growing segment of the mark. thpredinantly buddhist country makes up nearly 25% of the world's population. here's the report. >> seeking sand and thailand's famous hospitality. they include rising numbers

patchari raksawong in bangkok is following the story. the criticism comes from an expert panel appointed by the united nations itself. sri lanka's government had fought for independence for two decades and the u.n. was guilty of a grave failure because it failed to protect civilians. at least 70,000 people are believed to have died in the course of the civil war that ended in 2009. one year earlier, government forces launched a fierce campaign to retake areas still held by tamil insurgents. many civilians were killed, but the u.n. withdrew its foreign staff from the combat zone. the report released on wednesday says the u.n. withdrawal came after a warning from the sri lankan government that it would not guarantee their safety. the report cite cit sizes the u.n. council for not investigating the civilian casualties in sri lanka has part of its official agenda. secretary-general ban ki-moon has said the u.n. will learn from the report's findings to better serve civilians caught in conflict. >>> here in thailand, u.s. defense secretary leo

white house correspondent dan lothian is in bangkok this morning.hat is the president hoping to accomplish? >> reporter: he wants to high light things, not just this country but other countries in the region. u.s. dealing with north korea, syria, iran. so this is part of the overall effort by the obama administration to continue pushing this refocus or this pivot is the word they like to use to asia. we saw last year, at the end of last year when the president did an asia trip and australia announced that u.s. troops, marines, would be going to that region. that was part of the defense component of this. they also see great benefits both domestically in the u.s. but also in this region. the president has talked about how trade in this region could lead to jobs at home. so these are some of the issues that the president will be addressing, but perhaps first and foremost we'll be talking about the push for democracy across the region and how thailand can play a role in that, victor. >> so myanmar is next. is that a bit controversial? >> reporter: well

down in the tropics, of course, a different story, 33 in both manila as well as bangkok. all right. heading into north america, we're watching a snowstorm developing across the west. the heaviest of the snow is going to be felt along the u.s./canada border. we could see upwards of 40 centimeters in some places, in fact. there that's going to be accompanied by very strong, cold winds, so we also have the windchill factor to take into consideration as well as blowing snow, drifting snow, blizzard conditions here, as well icy roads. you could start to see some of that snow heading up to the upper midwest by sunday. now, temperature-wise, minus 5 in winnipeg. remember, that is going to feel a lot colder. 8 degrees in vancouver as well as seattle. but then down towards the south, a hot day in houston at 28. and we have 24 in miami as well as mexico city. all right. on into europe we go. there is a large system here dominating the northwest. you'll see it very clearly in the cloud. it's just hovering to the south of iceland, sending in these fronts across the british isles as well as skan

president obama launched his tower of southeast asia, arrived in bangkok sunday afternoon local time. the president is holding a news conference with the prime minister now. the two leaders are fielding questions from journalists. he is scheduled to sight see, a private meeting with the prime minister and official dinner. the president will visit cambodia also. the visit to my an mar is the first by a sitting president. >>> escalating conflict between israel and gaza strip. militants fired another rocket at tel aviv today but was intercepted. here's more. [sirens] >> reporter: the violence in the middle east continues to escalate. militants in gaza have unleashed hundreds of rockets against israel, including new weapons aimed at tel aviv. in response, the israeli military has deployed a rocket defense system. >> slight probability it will hit inside tel aviv. the iron dome brings down this possibility to a very small probability. >> reporter: a convoy of israeli troops and tanks can be seen driving towards the border saturday. video reportedly shows the navy hitting close to the home

dhra dhirakaosal has more details -- cholaphansa narula has more details from bangkok. >> cheaper costs are one of the big attractions, but companies are under pressure to curb risky practices after the deadly fire that erupted on saturday. the blaze killed at least 112 people and injured over 150. it was the worst garment factory fire in bangladeshi history. police say nary narrow exits in the nine-story building trapped workers inside. the world's largest retailer walmart revealed on monday that one of its suppliers had subcontracted work to the company without permission. walmart said it terminated its relationship with the supplier. other brands such as nike and the gap have denied having any connection with the factory. another fire broke out in a garment factory outoutside dhaka. no casualties were reported. the labor rights forum says the tragedy should be a call to action for global manufacturers that proffer from low wages in bangladesh. workers have taken to the streets to demand better conditions. bangladesh has about 4,500 factories, making it the second biggest exporter of

cholaphansa narula in bangkok is following this story. >> the afghan intelligence agency is one of the locations near tuesday's attacks in kabul. the incidents underline the security challenges afghanistan faces as nato-led combat troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014. >> translator: it was around 6:30 in the morning. a rocket landed here and hit a car, wounding two people. >> app quotes afghan police as saying at least four rockets were fired into northeastern kabul on tuesday morning. some of them landed near a compound used by the afghan intelligence service and also near a private tv station. officials say one person was killed and three others injured. afp says the taliban has claimed responsibility. tuesday was the anniversary of the taliban's withdrawal from kabul 11 years ago following the u.s.-led invasion of afghanistan. >>> an envoy from afghanistan has visited pakistan to try and make progress towards peace talks with the taliban. the envoy was expected to ask pakistan to use its influence to encourage the taliban to start a dialogue. progress seemed increasingly ur

effort and also many soldiers went to bangkok and in terms of support thailand was the close ally. >>host: did they have soldiers? >> absolutely. they spent 37 -- cent to 37,000 soldiers to fight in vietnam also they sent smaller naval units but definitely fighting and working with the united states and south vietnamese. >>host: what about casualties? >> 500 + that died in south vietnam while fighting the the it can't -- vietcong. it is important because of those who don't know 10 to dismiss them as the insulting term is america and mercenaries because we paid for the military part where but for four years thailand would carry out the war and what they saw as their war in south vietnam's. casualty's is what we should keep in mind. >>host: professor ruth when did relations tel? they participated in the iraq war and world war ii. >> you can daypack to the famous example of the abraham lincoln war elephant troubles with the war but in the 20th century with the close u.s. ally -- ally disrupted partly but as soon as the cold war gels thailand comes as the strong u.s. ally and definitel

>> they were on their last buddy-buddy trip, president obama and secretary clinton and in bangkok together and visiting the reclining buddha. they were making jokes about the 2016. and joe biden's head was exploding back here. and suddenly she's on a plane zipping out of phnom penh to say we're on our way and directly involve ourselves in this. she has not played this shuttle diplomacy role in the middle east quite the way that some of her predecessors had, right? obviously kissinger and jim baker and condi rice to various stents have been these -- back and forth missions. this is her first one in her own twilight days as secretary of state. she's getting ready to step down come inauguration in january. >> and what do you think the relationship between obama and morsi tells us about the future for the region? >> well, they see this as a possible key to beginning to unlock some of this. if morsi through his relationship to hamas is able to begin to bring them to the table in effect, that offers a lot of potential. but -- the obama administration is very cognizant of the fact that it wouldn'

el mundo que tolera que desde afuera de su territorio le lluevan misiles a sus ciudadanos dijo en bangkokue se podrÍan movilizar a gaza, el embajador de israel en estados unidos, agradeciÓ el apoyo del presidente >> compartimos sus preocupaciones y para evitar que el conflicto aumente, hamas tiene que parar de atacarnos a nosotros, tenemos a 5 millones y medio de israelÍs. >> pero israel no quiere apegarse a plazos. >> minutos antes que nos sentimos las sirenas volvieron a sonar en tel aviv. en israel el primer ministro declarÓ que estaban preparados para expandir la operaciÓn militar en gaza. si continÚan. operando una vez que el reporte. en palestinos. lo que hamas utilizaba. en contacto para terroristas en gaza. con 2 civiles y hacen lo posible para la zona de combate incluyendo. hamas. ahÍ estÁ con todo. jamas utiliza a su poblaciÓn. >> el presidente egipcio tambiÉn buenos kahn una soluciÓn en el pasado egipcio, ha jugado un pasado mo mediador entre israel y hamas dice el embajador warren dicen la posibilidad de este fuego. hamas tiene que dar marcha atrÁs y tiene que acceder no solam

toyota president made the announcement in bangkok during the 50th anniversary ceremonies for the firm's thai unit. >> in the near future we plan to build as many as one million vehicles a year. >> the goal is to churn out one and a half times more product than the current 6,000 units per year. toyota is the best selling auto maker in thailand. three plants roll out vehicles for domestic consumption to over 100 countries including the rest of southeast asia. >>> the indian government has approved a project to export rare earth metals to japan. japanese trading house and an indian firm have teamed up. sources say it was green lit on thursday. toyota executives are said to begin test operations next month at 80ss extraction facility in southern india. exports will begin next year. that's all for business news this hour. i'll leave you with a recap of the region's markets. >>> it's two against one in south korea's upcoming election. now they're putting their plans into place. representatives hopeful met with supporters of independent candidate. they began crafting a common platform. they wi

minus 16 biting the cold out there but staying in the 30s here in the tropics and bangkok 32. moving over to the american continent let's talk about the pacific continent moving in. all these storms will be lining up for the weekend. northern california and southern oregon you can see this very pink patch moving along the region. 150 additional millimeters of rainfall will be possible. that's enough capable of producing flash floods and further land slides. also heavy snow will be piling up in the cascades and the canadian rockies. snowfall amounts could be about 50 centimeters. also gusty conditions. gusts of about 100 kilometers per hour. it's going to bring you blizzard conditions, very low visibility across your area. new york dipping down into the single digits. winnipeg at minus 3. moving over to the european continent. really rough weather impacts the western portions. let's take a look at a video from france. frigid air has been blanketing central and western parts of europe creating this heavy snowfall. about 40 centimeters have piled up causing hazardous traveling co

bangkok at 34 degrees. here in the americas things r calm and dry. even toward central canada things are clearing out. also here in the pacific northwest a system will be moving in and that could add 30 centimeters. things will be tapering off a houston e, louisiana, 30s here. don't digits finally moving there. he this system is going to be better. we're looking at very wet conditions into the next 24/48 too. the gusts are going to be very strong as well. here is the extended forecast. >>> our lead stories this hour. israeli government has been pounded targets inside gaza. the flair up and fighting is raising concerns of a wider conduct similar to what happened in 2008. >>> riz ray lee forces have attack. hostilities started with an air triek. the military chief. at least 15 have dies in all, including children. ga rests are staying ng. >> reporter: in fact, it was a bad night for young and old people especially for children. >> hamas is ratcheting up its attacks. fighters law firmed more than 250 rockets in israel high pressure they allowed us in a

so the american embassy in bangkok is excited right now.hey're also disappointed and having a hard time disguising it. they're disappointed because president obama will be visiting there but not staying very long. three countries in less than three days. but because they can't schedule a bunch of official stops for the president to see all of thailand's most famous sites, the u.s. embassy in thailand came up with another idea. we call it president obama faux obama. they have done ten of these photos in all. flat president obama posed at famous thai landmarks. even though we officially thought they toted cardboard obama around the country to do this, the state department says these are theme park replicas of major landmarks across thailand. so it's faux obama visiting faux thailand. the american embassy takes a heartwarmingly aggressive approach to courting good will from the locals. in addition to the cardboard president at the famous sites of thailand feature, they have lots of pictures of dogs, which they use to explain dog-related idioms

so the american embassy in bangkok is excited right now.ted and having a hard time disguising it. they're disappointed because president obama will be visiting there but not staying very long. three countries in less than three days. but because they can't schedule a bunch of official stops for the president to see all of thailand's most famous sites, the u.s. embassy in thailand came up with another idea. we call it president obama faux obama. they have done ten of these photos in all. flat president obama posed at famous thai landmarks. even though we officially thought they toted cardboard obama around the country to do this, the state department says these are theme park replicas of major landmarks across thailand. so it's faux obama visiting faux thailand. the american embassy takes a heartwarmingly aggressive approach to courting good will from the locals. in addition to the cardboard president at the famous sites of thailand feature, they have lots of pictures of dogs, which they use to explain dog-related idioms. so this one is acco

. >> reporter: her mother lives about 450 kill meometers away f bangkok. life has not always been easy. after divorcing her british husband when their child was only two and a half years old she single handedly raised jele. she would do anything for her only child from working at a chew factory to being a maid at a hotel. >> translator: it was a hard time. i had to work alone. i often couldn't afford my child's education and asked for help from my sisters. i have just taught jele to be a good person. i let him decide to be a woman because it's his life. >> reporter: on the big night she is glued to tv watching the pageants final contest. >> goes to number 7 from thailand. >> reporter: when the moment came, jele took third place after her fellow fiphilippine know and brazilian contenders. >> translator: i'm happy she won third place. i just hope she do what she likes in the future. i want to tell her i got third place and to be proud of your child. i really want to see my mom now. >> reporter: although born as a boy and now living as a woman the love betwee

on a 3-day asia tour streak bangkok president obama blamed mill faints for starting round of fighting. >> there's no country that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside the borders. so, we are fully supportive of israel's right to defend itself from missiles landing on people's homes. >> reporter: president obama cautioning against a ground invasion in gaza saying the casualties would deepen. despite that, all along the border, there are play tunes of railsy troops -- play tunes of israeli troops -- play tunes of ies he -- platoons of race yell troops waiting for the order. >> this is the reality we faced now and before the operation will not be the reality afterwards. >> reporter: president obama says he is been in touch with the leaders of israel egypt and turkey, it appears cairo is taking the lead role and trying to negotiate a peace deal between hamas and israel. along the israeli gaza border, david lee miller fox news. >>> some lawmakers today are demanding to know who created the talking points used by the obama administration after the deadly attack

. >> reporter: jele's mother lives about 450 kilometers away from bangkok. she is the owner of a small restaurant. however, life has not always been easy. after divorcing her british husband when their child was only two and a half years old, she single handedly raised jele. she would do anything for her only child from working at a shoe factory to being a maid at a hotel. >> translator: it was a hard time. i had to work alone. i often couldn't afford my child's education and asked for help from my sisters. i have just taught jele to be a good person. i let him decide to be a woman because it's his life. >> reporter: on the big night, she is glued to tv watching the pageant's final contest. >> goes to number seven from thailand. >> reporter: when the moment came, jele took third place after her fellow filipino and brazilian contenders. >> translator: i'm very glad to see she won third place. i just hope she will do what she likes in the future. >> translator: if she has been watching me tonight on tv, i want to tell her i got third place and to be proud of y

jun kobayashi, nhk world, bangkok. >>> pakistan is showcasing state-of-the-art weapons and military equipment at a technology fair as it steps up its anti-terrorism efforts. pakistan is a major world importer of arms, and china is eager to boost sales in the country. pakistani government is hosting the fair in karachi where 130 military-related companies from 21 countries gathering to show off their wares. china is a key weapons provider for pakistan and is operating a pavilion at the fair to promote its businesses. a company official attending event says china can provide all the equipment the pakistani military needs to conduct counterterrorism operations. pakistan is collaborating with china to develop military equipment. the code developed jf-17 fighter plane is also on display at the exhibition. >> have all capabilities of a modern fighter airplanes which are available in other airplanes, as well, but very high cost. this is very economical, uses the right economic power, and also easy to maintain. >> the fair is also a forum for pakistan to promote its own weapons such as tanks, missile

get news and insight on south and southeast asia every weekday live from bangkok. only on nhk world "newsline." >>> you usually find musical performances and art displays in separate venues. but a new exhibition in tokyo combines the two. award winning composing sakamora plays a key in the show. >> reporter: take a look at the porcelain bowls floating in this pool. now listen. when the bowls collide, you hear a bell-like sound. it's never the same. the movement of the water changes the music. and this isn't your traditional record player. the needle doesn't follow the grooves on the vinyl record. instead a light beam reads the rings on a piece of wood. it computes the thickness, depth and color and translates that into musical notes. art and music search is an exhibit of artworks that cross between the audio and visual worlds. here people can see music and listen to art. this exhibit allows people to experience a blend of those sensations at once. a composer is the exhibit's executive adviser. he was inspired for the contemporary music and his love for visual arts.

he was admitted to a bangkok hospital. >> oh, bangkok. >> stephanie: one night in bangkok, nads the sizeesticles to swell to the size of the aforementioned coconuts. >> why why why? >> stephanie: i don't know. bob in philadelphia. you're on "the stephanie miller show." hi bob. >> caller: hi, stephanie. >> stephanie: hello. >> caller: i just wanted to talk to you about wing nazi programming. it's amazing to me a couple i know that you would think you know them. >> stephanie: right. >> caller: i'm trying to qualify for social security disability, and they have that, you know, it's up to that free stuff thing. >> stephanie: it's not free. you paid into it. >> caller: they don't understand, i applied in february. i was initially denied in august, which my lawyer tells me 90% of all cases are being denied. you got to wait 12 to 16 months to get an appeal. even if you do qualify, from what i understand you can't even get access to medicare for another 18 months afterwards. you know, all you get is that, again, i don't know. that thousand yard stare what did bruce springsteen call it, the glare

on a stop in thailand, the president visited bangkok's famous temple of the reclining buddha. he told monks there he needed prayers for help in his dealings with congress back home. >>> and heret home, those lawmake are negotiating with the administration over how to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" looming at the end of the year. this week, a group of christian leaders urged congress and the president not to cut anti-poverty programs as they struggle to reach a deal. in an open letter, the leaders said "we pray during this season, in which we give thanks and offer gifts, that you will advance policies that protect the poor, not ones that make them poorer." >>> meanwhile, a prominent christian advocacy group said while some progress has been made in fighting hunger and poverty worldwide, much more needs to be done. in its annual report, bread for the world called for a renewed push in meeting a series of international goals, including a pledge to cut poverty and hunger in half by the year 2015. the group said in order for those goals to be met, there will need to be continue

get news and insight on south and southeast asia every weekday live from bangkok, only on nhk world "newsline". >>> the mayor of an island in the east china sea is trying to diffuse a dispute over fishing rights. he is visiting taiwan to talk about access to waters off the senkaku islands. he administers the territory. taiwan and china claim the islands. he visited the town of seoul. they have been sister cities for 17 years. he met with the suao mayor and representatives of the fishing cooperative. >> translator: there are various disputes over the senkaku islands between japan and taiwan. i believe our two communities can resolve the issues one by one. >> he said he hopes to resolve the dispute. fishing boats from suao entered japanese waters off the islands in september. they're protesting japan's decision to national lies the islands. official from japan and taiwan began talks on fishing in the area 16 years ago. the talks have been suspended for more than three and a half years. people in northern japan are dealing with stormy weather, strong gusts are causing disruptions there.

i was in bangkok recently.bering the one-year anniversary of the devastation of bangkok when the whole city basically was under water and the economy took a terrible hit. there have been huge storms, huge sea surges, floods, not to mention, and we should remember, the u.s. went through its worst drought in modern history this year. the warmest 12 months on record in america, the warmest single month on record in july, so we're being hit on many, many sides, and i just want to emphasize that as we think about the protection which we have to do, we better turn to a low carbon energy system if we're going to have a chance against all of this, because we need to slow down the human-induced climate change as absolutely the first resort. we won't keep up with this damage otherwise. >> jeff sachs, brian, glad to have you on. up next, a new way for the chinese to relive some old history, bloody old history. back in a minute. >>> and now for our question this week from the gps challenge. which political prisoner turned

a new video now, president obama in bangkok thailand.ocy live in d.c. this morning, with details on the trip. good morning to you, peter. >> good morning, dave. and the president has been in bangkok for about four hours now and one of the first stops at the monastery where a monk gave the president and secretary of state hillary clinton a tour of the monastery and the president told the monk that the united states could use some prayers right now to avoid the fiscal cliff. listen here. >> (inaudible) >> president obama also met with the king of thailand overnight who is the longest reigning monarch in the world. been in power since 1946. believe it or not, the king of thailand born in massachusetts, as a gift, the president obama gave the king an album with pictures of the all the presidents and first ladies he's met starting with eisenhower and the last page was left blank, we're told so there's a picture of a picture with president obama from this week's trip. and once it's wrapped up in thailand, it's off to burma. no sitting u.s. pre

he's in bangkok, thailand, this morning. chuck, what's happening there? >> well, lester, while the president is at a joint press conference with the prime minister here in thailand, and among the questions that the president got was about the violence in gaza. and as you will hear in this answer to one of the questions, he fully defended israel's right to defend themselves. take a listen. >> there's no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders. so we are fully supportive of israel's right to defend itself from missiles landing on people's homes. >> the president went on to say he's been in talks constantly with prime minister netanyahu, president morsi of egypt is also the prime minister of turkey. he said the goal is nothing can be done until the missiles stop coming onto israel's soil. once that stops, then a de-escalation of this violence, he hopes, can happen. by the way, as you pointed out, lester, there is a historical nature to the president's trip here. the first american president to visit

. >> and that wraps up our bulletin from bangkok. scientists are raising the alarm over another source of global warming. that comes from perm ma frost which scientists say is melting releasing greenhouse gasses trapped under the ice. the authors say perma frost contains huge amounts of carbon from the melting of organic matter. perma frost covers almost a quarter of the northern hemisphere including large parts of siberia and canada. it could release as much as 105 giga tons of co2 before the end of the year. >> perma frost tends to be very durable but when it melts, tarrant county infrastructure gets soft. >> the scientists warn emissions from perma frost could start within the next few decades. >>> japanese officials have struggled to deal with the tainted soil from the fukushima daiichi meltdown. no one wants to touch it. now there has been a break through of sorts. the government has gotten the release to look for possible storage sites on their land. fukushima governor told leaders from several municipalities, that he wants to

our white house correspondent dan lothian is in bangkok. what are we hearing from the president? we had it live. he talked more about burma and thailand and the trade there. what are we hearing his views as it relates to what's happening in israel with gaza. >> well, you know, are you so right. the main purpose of the president's trip here is to focus on this region and what this means for future expansion, for u.s. many terms of business, for military cooperation, but while advisors had been telling us about the sentiments within the white house, about the ongoing conflict between the palestinians and israelis, and we've gotten statements from the president, this is the first time we've heard the president weigh many. when he was asked a question about the violence there at the press conference. take a listen. >> there's no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders, so we are fully supportive of israel's right to defend itself from missiles landing on people's homes and workplaces and potentially killing civilians. >> so