"newsline" correspondents are reporting from the party's national congress.on't miss our special coverage, "china: the next generation" 8:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." >>> members of the palestinian islamist group hamas are vowing revenge for an attack that left their military chief dead. israeli pilots killed ahmed jabahri in a series of strikes on targets in gaza. israeli military official blame jabbarri for leading attacks against their country for years. officials say they have launched a major operation against terrorist strongholds. air bombardments continue in gaza. a military spokesperson says ground troops are prepared to enter the district if needed. israeli forces carried out three weeks of air and ground assaults on gaza in 2008. about 1,300 people died. hamas has released a statement saying the latest attack has opened the gates of hell. many fear the group will now launch lar-sca retaliation, further fueling the conflict. >>> egypt has recalled its ambassador to israel to protest the killing of the hamas military leader. egypt is one of

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." president barack obama says he's more determined and more inspired than ever to do his job. he won re-election after a tough campaign that lasted months and cost billions of dollars. republican challenger mitt romney just couldn't summon enough support to defeat the incumbent. our partners at abc news project obama won in 25 states and washington, d.c. that includes the swing states of virginia, wisconsin and colorado. his victory in the battleground of ohio pushed him past 270, the number of electoral votes needed to win. the latest projections say he secured 303 electoral votes. mitt romney took 206. florida is the only state yet to report. officials there are still counting ballots. reuters says the popular vote was 50% to 49% in obama's favor. obama gave his victory speech in the early hours of wednesday in chicago, illinois. he laid out a vision for his second term. >> the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an american family and we rise ou

>>> welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, november 8th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> people in china are waiting for their major party to begin a transition. they won't be waiting in line to cast ballots as americans did this week. instead, select members of the communist party are passing control to a new generation of leaders. the process is both highly crotted and highly secretive. about 2,200 party representatives are gathering inside the great hall of the people in pay generally speaking to start their congress. president hu jintao, the party's general secretary, will deliver the opening speech. he'll look back over the past five years during which time chain in grew to become the world's second-largest economy. he'll look ahead to the coming years and talk about the challenges chinese face. the communist party congress runs for seven days, then hu and other top officials will hand power to another group of new leaders. we'll get back to the story a little later. >>> cradle of culture. economic powerhouse. many enjoy the frui

"newsline" correspondents are reporting from the party's national congress. don't miss our special coverage, china, the next generation, 8 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." >> france has become the first european nation to recognize syria's newly formed opposition coalition. he says the country will consider arming the opposition in the group forms a transitional government. >> translator: what took place in doha is very important. a coalition was formed. i announce here that france recognizes the syrian national coalition as the sole representative of the syrian people. >> french leaders have been reluctant to provide weapons. they said rebel groups were fragmented. representatives of more than 50 opposition groups formed their coalition in qatar on sunday. six member nations of the council including qatar and saudi arabia already backed the group. the fighting in syria is forcing more and more people to flee. the united nations high commissioner for refugees says more than 400,000 have crossed borders since the uprising began last year. unhcr staff say pe

welcome to nhk world "newsline." the nation of 1.3 billion have gathered to take part in a process that is both highly controlled and highly secretive. representatives of the ruling communist party have opened their congress. over the next week, they'll debate, discuss and make deals, and when it's all over, the next generation of leaders will take power. the 18th congress of the chinese communist party opened thursday at the great hall of the people in beijing. the meeting happens every five years. delegates will approve new policies and appoint new party leaders for the five years to come. nhk world's james tengan is our guide to the congress. he joins us from beijing. james? >> reporter: yes, gene, it's a brisk 7 degrees celsius here in beijing, and the city is now abuzz that the congress is under way. signs and banners bearing slogans are everywhere. some read "cheers to the great chinese communist party," for without the communist party, there would be no new china. this is a major political event, and authoriti

welcome to nhk world "newsline." the elite who govern a nation of 1.3 billion have gathered to take part in a process that is both highly controlled and highly secretive. representatives of the ruling communist party have hoped their congress. over the next week, they will debate, discuss, and make deals. when it's all over, the next generation of leaders will take power. the 18th congress of the chinese communist party opened thursday at the great hall of the people of beijing. the meeting happens every five years. delegates will approve new policies and appoint new party leaders for the five years to come. nhk world's james tengan is our guide to the congress. he joins us from beijing. james? >> reporter: yes, gene, it's a brisk 7 degrees celsius here in beijing, and the city is now abuzz that the congress is under way. signs and banners bearing slogans are everywhere. some read "cheers to the great chinese communist party," for without the communist party, there would be no new china. this is a major political eve

>>> glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's tuesday, november 13th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. japan's prime minister is getting caught up in his own words. yoshihiko noda suggested a few months ago he would call an election. members of the opposition are putting more and more pressure on him to follow through. but he faces divisions within his democratic party. noda said during the summer that he would call an election in his words some time soon. he says he stands by his promise. >> translator: i am responsible for my own words, and i take their weight very seriously. >> noda told his party's secretary general on sunday that he's thinking of dissolving the lower house by the end of the year. noda set three conditions for calling the elections including passing a debt financing bill. lawmakers expect to enact the legislation soon. kosishi says dissolving the diet would create a political vacuum. >>> we may soon see more american oil tycoons. yu yu yu yu yuko fukushima joins us now. >> we're hearing that the united states will become the world'

that concludes this edition of "newsline." i am catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." thanks very much for joining us.

welcome to nhk world "newsline." japan's prime minister is fighting headwinds. an nhk survey shows public support for the governing democratic party is at its lowest point since the party took power in 2009. nhk conducted a phone survey between friday and sunday. 1,039 people aged 20 or over responded. people are losing faith in the prime minister's democratic party. support for the dpj was down 1.1 percentage point to 12.7%. that's the lowest since the party gained a majority in the lower house. the opposition liberal democratic party, or ldp, fared better. 25% of people supported the party, almost double the figure for the dpj. 45.8% of people say they don't support any party at all. respondents also gave noda's cabinet a support rate of 23%, the lowest since he formed his cabinet in september last year. that's down three percentage points from last month's survey. the cabinet's disapproval rate is also at its highest ever at 59%. nhk also asked respondents if they want japan restoration party leader toru hashimoto to ally with the former tokyo governor ishiha

welcome to nhk world "newsline." president barack obama says he's more determined and more inspired than ever to do his job. he won re-election after a tough campaign that lasted months and cost billions of dollars. republican challenger mitt romney just couldn't summon the support to defeat the incumbent. our partners at abc news project alabama won in 25 states and washington, d.c. that includes the swing states of virginia, wisconsin and colorado. his victory in the battleground of ohio pushed him past 270, the number of electoral votes needed to win the election. the latest projections say he secured 303 electoral votes. mitt romney took 206. florida is the only state yet to report. officials there are still counting ballots. reuters says the popular vote was 50% to 49% in obama's favor. obama gave his victory speech in the early hours of wednesday in chicago, illinois. he laid out a vision for his second term. >> the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an american family an

"newsline." inspectors with japan's nuclear regulation authority are preparing to check if another power plant in this earthquake-prone country is sitting on unstable ground. they'll be examining the shug rah facility in fukui prefecture to determine if active faults run underneath it. this is the second plant of six undergoing inspections. he'll visit with four other experts. inspectors carried out a separate survey in april. they found an extra fish sure underneath the compound. they believe another one below reactor two could be an active fault. following that, japan atomic power company started investigating six fish sures. it was supposed to finalize the results of the survey this month. spokespersons say the process will be delayed. government regulations state if inspectors determine a fissure beneath a key nuclear facility is an active fault, the plant could be shut down for good. >>> international energy agency leaders have lowered their growth forecast for nuclear power generation. some

newsline correspondents are reporting from the party's national congress. don't miss our special coverage. "china, the next generation." 8:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." >>> the report card on japan's three largest banks ended mixed for the first six months of the year. we have the latest on that. >> james, many japanese companies have released their earnings. they are lowering their earnings from this year. this time it's coming from the megabanks. it's not looking too good. japan's three megabanks reported their earnings, two of the three declined a net profit for the six months through september. that was largely due to weak lending as the domestic economy remained sluggish. the largest japanese banking group by market value mitsubishi u.s.a. financial group posted a net income of about $3.6 billion in the april to september period. that's nearly 60% down in yen terms from a year earlier. one of the reasons for the decline was the losses from sale of stock holdings. mizuho financial group reported a 28% decline in net income. it was at $2.3 billi

welcome to nhk "newsline." welcome to nhk newsline. voters in japan have a date to mark on the calendar. prime minister yoshihiko noda dissolved the lower house of the diet and set a general election for sunday, december 16th. his democratic party has been in power since 2009. he's framing the vote as a choice between the politics of the past and the future. >> the speaker of the lower house formally announced the dissolution of the chamber. the campaign officially starts december 4th. voters go to the polls 12 days later. prime minister noda says he wants to restore public trust in politics. >> translator: i dissolved the lower house of the diet because i wanted to keep my promise. i'm seeking a new mandate following the passage of the bills on social security and tax system reforms upon which i staked my political life. the major issue in the upcoming general election is how to steer this country in 2013 and beyond. can we move forward or do we turn back the clock and return to the old politics before the change of government? do we

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

welcome to nhk world "newsline." top leaders and officials from across china spent the day mapping out where their country will go over the next five years. the communist party's congress is now well under way. the political transition is both highry controlled and highly secretive. delegates discuss, debate, and make deals. and in the end, they unveil the next generation of leaders who would take power. the 18th congress of the chinese communist party opened thursday. it happens every five years. between now and next week, representatives will be approving new policies and appointing new party leaders. delegates from each of china's provinces held regional discussions friday. they talked about ways to fix the problems they face. nhk world's james tengan is in beijing covering the congress.

>>> glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's friday, november 9th. president assad says he will live and die in syria. he dismissed rumors he will leave his country and warned against any military intervention. he says he is staying where he is and a foreign intervention would lead to a catastrophe. >> it will have a domino affect. >> government and opposition forces have not let up in their fact. the rebels fired at the presidential palace in damascus on wednesday where assad is believed to be staying. >>> japanese lead esers are concerned about the number of ships from china's waters to the east sea. chinese ships started to appear in japanese waters on a regular basis in september just after japan nationalized three of the century senkaku islands. >>> chinese leaders are taking part in a process that's highly control and highly secretive. the meeting happens every five years. delegates will approve new policies and appoint leaders for the five years to come. >> reporter: the congress opened thursday morning in beijing's great hall of the people. i

welcome to nhk "newsline." prime minister yoshihiko noda could be closer to dissolving the lower house and calling a general election. his democratic party reached a preliminary deal with the major opposition parties to pass a bill to fund the budget. the enactment of the bill is one of the conditions that noda says must be fulfilled. noda said during the summer that he would call an election sometime soon. he says he stands by his promise. >> translator: i feel very responsible for my own words. that means i will dissolve the lower house soon. >> noda told secretary-general shintaro ishihara that he's thinking of dissolving the lower house by the end of the year. the dpj's policy chief met his counterparts from the opposition liberal democratic party and new komeito on tuesday. they agreed on a revision to the deficit bond bill. it's now expected to be enacted soon, allowing the government to fund this year's budget. but some democrats are opposed to an early general election. they say dissolving the lower hou

>>> welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, november 6th. finance leaders from around the world have wrapped up another meeting with another pledge about the economy. representatives of the group of 20 industrial and merging nations say they will do everything necessary to achieve global growth. they put out a joint statement following two days of meetings in mexico city. they say global growth remains modest and downside risks are still elevated. they are warning against possible delays in tackling europe's debt problems. deep spending cuts will kick in at the end of some tax breaks. the finance chief caution extreme belt tightening could trigger a slow down. the officials call for gross strategies along with fiscal reform. they urge nations in good fiscal standing to step up public spending to stimulate growth. it's significant that member nations were able to agree on necessary steps. regarding the fiscal cliff threatening the u.s. he said american official leaders have promised to minimize the global consequences of official tightening.

find out the problems china faces on "newsline." >>> south korean leaders are looking to their counterparts in china to put pressure on north korea. a top envoy from the south is visiting beijing amid signs beonyang may soon attempt another missile long. lim sung-nam is the chief negotiate over pyongyang's nuclear problem. he'll meet with officials including the chair of the six-party talks on the north korean program. he'll likely ask china to persuade the north to skrapt launch. u.s. analysts said recent satellite photos said pyongyang may fire another missile. north korean military leaders launched what they called a satellite from the same pace in april. western intelligence analysts said the device, which crashed, was a long-range missile. >>> people at a japanese electronics company are interested in strength ning their renewable energy depart uchida from the businessk joins us now. >> i want to tell you specifically about rechargeable batteries or storage batteries. they're use envelope households during pow area outages, they're useful to drivers who use them in place of gasoline. t

>>> glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's tuesday, november 6th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. financial leaders of nations gathered in mexico. say they'll do everything necessary to achieve global growth. the finance ministers and central bank governors issued a joint statement on monday at the end of their two-day meeting. they said global growth remains modest and downside risks are still elevated. they warned against possible delays in tackling europe's debt problems. they also warned of the u.s. fiscal cliff. fiscal austerity is expected to increase. the finance chiefs cautioned extreme belt tightening could trigger a further slowdown. they point to the failure so far for debt covering bonds. they have decided to present reliable reconstruction plans for 2016 and beyond. called for growth strategies along with fiscal reform. they urge nations in fiscal good standing to step up to stimulate growth. now, it's not only the financial leaders who are worried about the slowdown. yuko fukushima joins us from the desk. how are investors feeling th

here's the extended forecast. >> and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

. >>> glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." asia pacific leaders set their sights on an ambition goal, creating a trading block with an output of $20 trillion. a total population of about 3.4 billion people. the leaders of 16 countries have agreed to start negotiations in the new year. the heads of the association of southeast asian nations met in cambodia's capital. the leaders of six regional partners including japan, china, and india joined them at the summit. they issued a joint kmun ka that said they hope to reach agreement by the end of 2015. leader from japan, china, and south korea agreed to start talking on a free trade agreement of their own. they said they would put aside the territorial disputes between japan and the two other nations. japanese officials want to ease restrictions to give them more access to their neighbor's economies. chinese and south korean officials have already begun talks on a free trade deal between their countries. now negotiators involved in discussions for another free trade zone in the asi

find out the challenges china faces on "newsline." >> territorial disputes cent centering on the south china sea have caused continuing political repercussions. now i's affecting something else. travele travelers' pass portillos. patchari raksawong has the details. >>> the philippine government says it will not stamp visas in new chinese passports that depict disputed islands. nhk world reports from manila. >> reporter: around 20 activists gathered near the chinese embassy in manila on thursday to denounce china's latest move in the ongoing row. this is a new passport design the chinese government has been issuing since may. the philippine government filed a protest with china over a map printed inside which includes islands claimed by both countries. on wednesday, the philippine department of foreign affairs announced it will no longer issue visa stamps in the passports. >> we are saying that's fine, you can come into the philippines, but we will not stamp the passport which has this imprint. we will instead stamp a separate application, visa application. >> reporter: the redesign is

here's your extended forecast. >>> and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more of your updates at the top of the hour.

welcome to nhk world "newsline." voters in japan have a date to mark on the calendar. prime minister yoshihiko noda dissolved the lower house of the diet and set a general election for sunday, december 16th. his democratic party has been in power since 2009. he's framing the vote as a choice between the politics of the past and the future. >> the speaker of the lower house formally announced the dissolution of the chamber. the campaign officially starts december 4th. voters go to the polls 12 days later. prime minister noda says he wants to restore public trust in politics. >> translator: i dissolved the lower house of the diet because i wanted to keep my promise. i'm seeking a new mandate following the passage of the bills on social security and tax system reforms upon which i staked my political life. the major issue in the upcoming general election is how to steer this country in 2013 and beyond. can we move forward, or do we turn back the clock and return to the old politics before the change of government? do we go forward, or do we step back? that's the issue the

welcome to nhk world "newsline." representatives of nations putting the squeeze on the syrian government have met all over the world. their latest gathering brought them here to japan. the delegates worked on their strategy to push president bashar al assad out of office and ultimately end the bloodshed. on one hand, they're strengthening sangings. on the other, they're reaffirming their support for opposition forces. nhk world's akira saheki reports. >> reporter: delegates from more than 60 countries are attending the conference, including representatives from the gulf region and the west. they've met several times before, but this is the first time they've gathered in asia. the japanese government hosted the conference to help broaden the base of international support for sanctions against syria. >> translator: the international community has been asking the syrian government to end the violence. but the assad regime is continuing the fight, ignoring the sacrifices of its people. we need to unify our efforts and pu

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.

they want iraq war was a very stark reminder newsline is that they were isolated. as iran was being pounded in its civilian centers the western powers were giving arms and weapons to saddam hussein this has been the root of most of the ones mistrust where the rest of the world. the fluid of. it all you express ourselves through rap music when the moment of the truth we talk about things we see in real life. there's a lot of them but as comes from nationalism and i'm from the love of our mother. and we're trying to reach people and have our words heard not just in iran but by people all over the world and hopefully will have a positive effect even if it's just a small was. cut cut. cut . i always wanted to own some homers to melodies of their learned in my childhood and use them in my work ira are. her. it's call silence at the end so march to a lecture the village that was bombed by saddam hussein and was wiped completely. her time. through. its history did i think it's one of the common in our century a leader from doing this to his own people. the first there is

they want to up war was a very stark reminder newsline and such they were isolated as iran was being pounded in its simple answers the western powers were giving arms and weapons to saddam hussein this has been the root of most of the ones mistrust word rest of the world. but. you see. it all you express ourselves through rap music when the mode of the jew we talk about things we see in real life i'm living with you know i'm. done a lot of those good job but it's just. a little of them but as it comes from nationalism and i'm from the love of our mother . and we're trying to reach people and have our words heard not just in iran but by people all over the world. will have a positive effect even if it's just a small ones too. i've. i always wanted to own some homers to melodies that they're learned in my childhood and use them in my work ira are. her. it's all silence at the end in so much to a lecture the village that was bombed by saddam hussein and was wiped out completely. her mind. her. it's the street that i think it's one of the current in our century a leader of them doing jus

welcome to nhk world "newsline." top leaders and officials from across china spent the day mapping out where their country will go over the next five years. the communist party's congress is now well under way. the political transition is both highly controlled and highly secretive. delegates discuss, debate, and make deals. and in the end, they unveil the next generation of leaders who would take power. the 18th congress of the chinese communist party opened thursday. it happens every five years. between now and next week, representatives will be approving new policies and appointing new party leaders. delegates from each of china's provinces held regional discussions friday. they went over the issues they're concerned about and talked about ways to fix the problems they face. nhk world's james tengan is in beijing covering the congress. he told us more about the main players in china's transition of power. >> reporter: we've got an idea who will head up china's next generation of leaders. we've heard their names be

. >>> that concludes thisdition of "newsline." i am katherine ckobachi in toky. do stay with us. we will be back with more updates at the top of the hour.

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." protesters in egypt are digging in and vowing not to budge until the country's president bows to their demands. they brought down hosni mubarak nearly two years ago. now they're threatening to topple his successor, mohamed morsi. egyptians started rallying last week after president morsi expanded his powers. young people in opposition parties that ousted the mubarak government last year have been occupying tahrir square in central cairo. some of them helped elect morsi. security forces stormed the square wednesday and fired tear gas. protesters threw stones. one of them told nhk they will demonstrate until morsi reverses his decision or resigns. the president announced constitutional amendments last week making it impossible for judicial courts to overturn his decisions. the protests against him have spread to other cities in egypt. demonstrators reportedly clashed with supporters of morsi's party, the muslim brotherhood. many people are believed to have been injured. these are the la