i'm catherine kobayashi. we begin with the latest developments in global finance. central bank govern ors from nations are meeting in washington. amid concerns that the european sovereign debt crisis could trigger global financial turmoil, all eyes are on what measures the g-20 chiefs will announce. topping the ajend a how to respond to european credit worries triggers by the crisis in greece. they worry it might offset european banks holding sovereign bonds and deliver a serious blow to the global economy. concerns rocked the financial markets on wall street. the dow-jones industrial average plunged more than 500 points thursday. the average closed at 10,733, down 391 points, almost 3.5% from wednesday. the large decline came after the u.s. federal reserve released a krim economic outlook due to concerns over european fiscal woes. stock prices plunged on european markets. european nations are expected to clarify their stance on helping greece rehabilitate its economy. g-20 will report on the recent agreement to provide additional financial aid to greece. however,

i'm catherine kobayashi. thousands of people have been stranded by tropical storm talas which battered the western portion of japan over the weekend. 48 people have died and 55 others are missing. destruction is worse than the typhoon in 2004 which left 98 people dead or missing. the storm dumped record amounts of rain over much of western japan. wakayama prefecture suffered the worst damage. at least 35 people died there. as of tuesday evening, at least 2400 people were stranded in wakayama, nara prefectures. thousands of households are still without power. the storm destroyed nearly 100 houses in all. more than 17,000 homes in at least 19 prefectures were flooded. mudslides caused a lot of the death and destruction following the storm. the dirt and debris blocked roads and isolated villages leaving them without water and medicine. the storm stranded people in totsukawa. a phone was made available on sunday so residents could contact friends and family. >> translator: i want to call my daughter to tell her i

i'm catherine kobayashi. researchers say a meltdown of number two reactor at the fukushima daiichi plant could have been avoided if cooling water had been injected four hours earlier. fuel melt downs occurred at the plant's one, two, and three reactors. it is thought much of the environmental contamination was a result of an explosion at the number two reactor. they created a computer simulation of the number two reactor to see if the meltdown could have been prevented. the plant operator began to manually pump cooling water around 8:00 p.m. on march 14th. the following day, the reactor overheated and a hydrogen explosion occurred. the first examination looked at what happened if the water injection started two hours earlier. it shows the temperature of nuclear fields dropping a short while but then rising again. once it exceeds 1200 degrees celsius, a meltdown occurs. in this case. in a second simulation, water injection began four hours earlier. at first, temperature rises, but then begins to fall before it

i'm catherine kobayashi. the u.n. security council has begun consultation on the bid for membership. the council had the first talks monday. mahmoud abbas submitted the application last friday. 15 members, including five permanent ones did not appear to have had detailed discussions during the one hour meeting. security council president sala.m. said they will meet again wednesday. the security council is required to vote on whether or not to issue resolution recommending full membership for the palestinians. for it to go to general assembly, nine of 15 council members need to vote in favor. none of the five permanent members can exercise their veto. sources say china and russia are likely to vote for the palestinian bid as are india and brazil, but the united states has already threatened to veto the move. it insists peace can only be achieved through direct talks with israel. he told reporters he understands the procedures and that they take time but it should not take weeks. >>> on a related matter, the japanese go

i'm catherine kobayashi. libya's new interim rulers have extended the deadline for ousted leader gadhafi's forces to surrender until september 10th. the national transitional council had warned supporters to leave by september 3rd. but has now extended the deadli deadline on sirte by one week. thousands of rebel troops are besieging sirte and advancing to two other loyalist towns. this includes a town southeast of tripoli and the desert town on saba. colonel gadhafi urged his supporters to fight on. >> gadhafi reportedly fled the city when the rebels gained control last month. the european union has decided to lift its sanctions on some of libya's assets to let the interim government rehabilitate the country. kathryn ashton said in a statement on thursday that the union's asset freeze on 28 libyan entities will end immediately. the sanctions lifted include a freeze on banks, energy firms, and six libyan ports. the freeze on assets of individuals including deposed leader muammar al gadhafi and his family as we

i'm catherine kobayashi. a moment of silence was observed across japan on sunday to mark the half year anniversary of the march 11th disaster. at 2:46. p.m., the exact time the earthquake struck, people bowed in remembrance of the victims. >> in miyagi prefecture, the 71-year-old mother of a town employee who died that day offered bundles of origami paper cranes in honor of her son. >> translator: i had prayed for quick recovery of my son's body. now i just want to convey my gratitude to him. i want to pull myself up little by little which i think my son would have hoped for. >> a city in iwate prefecture suffered more than 1500 deaths. people who lost family members attended a meeting at the buddhist temple. >> translator: wounds in my heart have not healed for the past six months. but i am trying to resolve my feelings at every opportunity to make a new start. >> a survey has found that over 70% of the municipalities hit hardest by the earthquake and tsunami feel reconstruction work is making little or no p

i'm catherine kobayashi. japan's minister in charge of the nuclear disaster says reactors at the troubled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant will achieve cold shutdown within the year. the initial target was early next year. goshi hosono spoke at the international atomic energy agency's annual ministerial meeting in vienna on monday. >> the situation at the plant is moving steadily toward restoration. we will move up the existing target period and endeavor to achieve this cold shutdown by the end of this year. >> hosono said that decontaminated water has been successfully used to cool the troubled nuclear reactors. he also said spent nuclear fuel pools have been cooled in a stable manner. >>> toekz says the temperature in the number three reactor is below 100 degree celsius for the first time since the accident. this is the second reactor in which the temperature was reduced to less than 100 degrees, following the number one reactor. tepco says the lower temperature does not automatically mean the reactor achiev

i'm catherine kobayashi. japan's minister in charge of the nuclear disaster says reactors at the troubled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant will achieve cold shutdown within the year. the initial target was early next year. goshi hosono spoke at the international atomic energy agency's annual ministerial meeting in vienna on monday. >> the situation at the plant is moving steadily toward restoration. we will move up the existing target period and endeavor to achieve this cold shutdown by the end of this year. >> hosono said that decontaminated water has been successfully used to cool the troubled nuclear reactors. he also said spent nuclear fuel pools have been cooled in a stable manner. >>> toekz says the temperature in the number three reactor is below 100 degree celsius for the first time since the accident. this is the second reactor in which the temperature was reduced to less than 100 degrees, following the number one reactor. tepco says the lower temperature does not automatically mean the reactor achiev

i'm catherine kobayashi. thousands of people heee stranded by tropical storm talas which battered western japan erhe ekd. 48 people have died and 55 others are missing. the scale of destruction is worse than the powerful typhoon in 2004 which left 98 people dead or missing. the storm dumped record amounts of rain over much of western japan. kamarecte ffedhe worst damage. at least 35 people died there. as of tuesday evening, at least 2,400 people were raedn wakayama, nara, and mie prefectures. roads have been covered by landslides and thousands of hoehdsreti who we the storm destroyed nearly 100 houses in all. reha7000om in at least 19 prefectures were flooded. mulides caused a lot of the death and destruction following the storm. the dirt and debris blocked ros d oledom villages, leaving them without water and medicine. the storm stranded people in the village of totsukawa in in a rah prefecture. authorities made an emergency satellite phone available on nd sredes ul contact friends and family. >> translator:

i'm catherine kobayashi. incoming japanese leader noda will launch his new cabinet as early as friday. he was elected as japan's 95th prime minister earlier this week. on wednesday, noda appointed the main upper house leaders of the governing democratic party. the appointments were approved by lawmakers at a meeting later in the day. noda hopes to meet the leaders of the main opposition parties on thursday. he is expected to ask for their cooperation in implementing his policies in the opposition controlled upper house. meanwhile, two dpj factions led by former prime minister yama and former secretary general oza wau met on wednesday. some of the group said that party unity will depend on whether noda acts in line with their wishes. the policies will be monitored before deciding whether to cooperate with him. >>> a senior north korean official has demanded reparations from japan ahead of the inauguration of the country's new government. vice director of the north korean foreign ministry met with reporters on

i'm catherine kobayashi. nine people, including three children drifting in a small wooden boat were rescued off the coast of japan on tuesday morning. the japan coast guard plans to interview the group claiming to be north korean defectors. the japan coast guard picked them up after fisher mann spotted the vessel in waters near the port of wajima on the north central coast. they said they left from a port in north korea last thursday and intended to drift to south korea. their long journey would have been across the sea of japan, known for its rough waters but all appeared to be in good health. the coast guard said they still want to go to south korea. the japanese government is now considering whether or not to send them. in 2007, a small boat carrying four north korean defectors was spotted in waters off aomori prefecture, south japan. they were moved to south korea at their request. >>> china officially recognized libya's new leaders. both sides agreed to uphold all promises signed during libya's previous

i'm catherine kobayashi. japanese defense officials say two russian bombers took an unusual course circling around japan. the defense ministry says two tu-95 bombers from the russian air force approached japanese air base on thursday morning. fighter planes from japan's air self-defense force scrambled to track the bombers. the aircraft later flew southward other the east china sea and south of okinawa's main island. it skirted along the archipelago northward. they headed south on the japan seaside before leaving areas near japan. the defense ministry says the bombers did not violate japan's air space but it was an unusual route for any russian military aircraft. the air force has been active around japan recently. bombers and spy planes have approached japanese air space five times since last month. >>> a russian defense ministry spokesperson revealed to the interfax news agency that its bomber planes had in fact circled japan. the spokesperson said they were tracked. he said the russian bombers were doing f

i'm catherine kobayashi. rescuers continue to search for people missing in western japan after tropical storm talas left 54 people dead and 53 unaccounted for. in nara prefecture, nine people remain missing after heavy rain triggered a mudslide over the weekend. some 200 member of the police, fire brigades, and defense forces are conducting rescue efforts in this city. searches are also underway in other affected areas. local residents were looking for their belongings in the wreckage of houses destroyed by landslides. >> translator: i hurt to fiope photographs of my husband and grandchildren. >> the land ministry has begun surveying four areas where landslides have created lakes in two prefectures. there is concern that pooled water may overflow and cause damage downstream. the ministry will inform local governments of the results to help them decide whether or not to evacuate residents. it will also work with local authorities to study ways to drain the water. the storm left a trail of destruction across we

i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> forces loyal to moammar al gadhafi have attacked an oil facility, killing 15 people, as fighting continues in libya. the national transitional council laid siege to the ousted leader's hometown of sirte and his stronghold bani walid, southeast of tripoli. the council faces the task of rebuilding the nation. gadhafi vowed to fight to the end and never hand libya to traitors in a message aired by a satellite tv station in syria on monday. in a centralcy of ras lanuf, gadhafi troops mobilized more than ten vehicles, attacked a checkpoint at an oil refinery, killing at least ten guards. the council resumed oil production saturday to secure funds for reconstructing the country. >>> here's an update on monday's explosion at a nuclear waste processing facility in france. authorities say radiation levels around the facility are normal and that the furnace did not explode. the blast happened in marcoule, southern france at a building where low-level radioactive waste was processed. one worker was killed and four others hurt in the area where the waste was processed.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more of your updates at the top of the next hour. [ music ] >> california's water is seen statewide on california public television. >> this program is made possible by the generous support of the castaic lake

i'm catherine kobayashi. defense companies are expected to have three plane models to compete for selection as the next main stay fighter jet. the defense ministry asked the companies to present specification and price of the latest jets on monday morning. three aircraft models will likely be offered. the f-35 was jointly developed by the u.s. company lockheed martin and eight other countries. it has stealth capabilities enabling it to evade radar detection. the f-18 jet which has been in use by the u.s. navy since 2002 was developed by u.s. manufacturer boeing. and the eurofighter model was develop theed by four european countries. this fighter jet was employed by alternate during military operations in libya this year. in making their choice, the ministry plans to assess how japanese companies can be involved in the jet's production and maintenance as well as developing capabilities and establishing prices. the ministry plans to decide by the end of november. the new jets will replace the f-4 fighter jet. o

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.

i'm catherine kobayashi. a my mistake earlier this month on a flight could have led to a serious accident. the government transport safety board says the flight wag tilted so far it was almost flying upside down when it made a nose dive. the dive took place on september 6th as the ana boeing 737 was heading toward tokyo's care port from okinawa. there were 112 passengers on board. no passengers were hurt and crew members incurred light injuries. these computer graphics were created by the transport safety board based on its analysis of the flight recorders. the nose dive occurred about an hour and aalf after take off over the ocean. the plane tilted heavily and plunged steeply dropping 1900 meters in about 30 second. the board says the plane tilted slightly right then dived sharply to the left. the nose of the airplane dropped by as much as 35 degrees and the plane tilted left ward by as much as 131.7 degrees. this was virtually flying upside down. the cause of the drop was one of the copilots hitting the wro

i'm catherine kobayashi. typhoon roke has torn through japan's main island honshu. the storm killed at least six people. seven others are missing. it also caused widespread damage. roke made landfall earlier wednesday in shizuoka prefecture. it then churned northeast through honshu, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. officials say landslides hit many areas. the water level of rivers in central japan has been rising significantly. authorities have ordered or advised about 150,000 people to evacuate their homes. this man shows just how strong the winds were when they blew through toyohashi city in i'vi prefecture. typhoon roke has slowed transportation across much of japan. airlines canceled more than 600 domestic flights at tokyo's haneda airport and the central chubu airport. many international flights have also been affected. the storm plowed through tokyo earlier on wednesday evening. as much as 30 millimeters of rain fell in one hour. strong gusts of wind made getting around the capital tough. rail officials suspended many trains for several hours. tens of tho

i'm catherine kobayashi. yoshihiko noda and president barack obama have agreed to further develop the two countries' alliance. in their first meeting in new york, they agreed to continue efforts to proceed with the plan to relocate a u.s. air base in okinawa. nhk world has more on that. >> reporter: noda had his first face-to-face talks with obama on wednesday on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly meeting. the talks lasted for about half an hour. >> translator: i would like to thank on behalf of the japanese people the great assistance extended by the u.s. military to help japan recover from the march 11th disaster. >> i want to welcome prime minister noda and his delegation to new york city and to the united states. for what i'm sure will be an excellent working relationship with the prime minister, as well as his team. >> reporter: during the talks, obama reiterated that japan is one of the closest allies of the united states, and that the alliance should be updated for the 21st century. noda told h

i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> japan's prime minister, yoshihiko noda, and u.s. president barack obama will hold their first talks next wednesday in new york. noda will be in new york from tuesday to attend the u.n. general assembly session and the summit meeting on nuclear security and safety of atomic power generation. the two leaders will confirm the importance of the japan-u.s. alliance. they're also expected to discuss ways to deepen relations in various fields. as to the relocation of the u.s. marines' futenma air station in okinawa, they're expected to confirm that an existing agreement between the two nations on the issue should be achieved. the agreement reached in may last year stipulates that the functions of the futenma base should be transferred to a new air field to be constructed on the coast of nago city, also in okinawa. >>> a survey has found that japan's march 11th tsunami triggered at least 130 fires, destroying over 5 million square meters of the northeastern three prefectures. that's the worst case on record in japan. fires were sparked when

i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> a signal system has emerged as a possible cause of the subway accident in shanghai. the operator of the subway says it uses a signal system produced by the company blamed for a fatal railway crash in july. the accident happened on tuesday afternoon on the number ten line. between stations. the rear end collision injured more than 270 people. the accident may have been caused by a flawed signal system. an automatic braking system failed to work. a system failure on the same line caused the train to go in the opposite direction in late july, days after the rail accident that killed 40 people. the president of the subway operator spoke to reporters on tuesday evening. >> translator: the signal maker said the problem would not happen again after repairs were carried out. >> shanghai residents criticized the frequent accidents. >> translator: frequent accidents are evidence that they are not meeting responsibility for safety. >>> north korean leader kim junk i'll son seems to be consolidating his father's position one year after being appointed to a post. he was

i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> a signal system has emerged as a possible cause of the subway accident in shanghai. the operator of the subway says it uses a signal system produced by the company blamed for a fatal railway crash in july. the accident happened on tuesday afternoon on the number ten line between yuyuan and laoximin stations. the rear end collision injured more than 270 people. the accident may have been caused by a flawed signal system. an automatic braking device had failed to work. a system failure on the same line caused a train to go in the opposite direction in late july. this was only days after the high speed railway accident that killed 40 people in zhejiang province. the president of the subway operator, yu guangyao, spoke to reporters op. tuesday. >> translator: the signals were not supposed to have broken again after the accident. >> shanghai residents criticized the frequent accidents. >> translator: the frequent accidents are showing they are not having safe preparations. >>> north korean leader kim jong-il's youngest son seems to be coordinating positions as h

i'm catherine kobayashi. roke is heading towards the main island. people in western japan are on high alert. heavy rain is falling in the region and there are glowing fears of widespread flooding and landslides.in southern japan, r have been warned to evacuate because of possible landslides. some residents had to be rescued by boat before their houses were inundated by the rising floods. >> i feel so relieved. the rain is easing off now. i hope it stops soon. >> one reason why typhoon roke is causing such concern is because western japan is still recovering from a previous storm that hit the region earlier this mop month. let's go to the weather desk with the latest on this storm system. saki, where is the storm headed and what can we expect today? >> well, you can see very active clouds covering much of japan and this is what is bringing all the rain. here is the forecast path for this typhoon. it is getting very close to central sections of japan, likely making land fall here within the next couple of hours. by midday. you can see by the evening h

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. >> california's gold is produced in association with kcet los angeles and is seen statewide on california public television. this series is endorsed by--