Two meters inside the store. Officials say theres not enough food and supplies at some shelters as thousands of people fled their homes. Local volunteers here provided evacuees with handmade rice balls. Translator im so glad, because we didnt have breakfast today. The Recovery Efforts could take a while. Workers here started pumping water back to the river. And some residents are now clearing debris from their homes. Translator im just shocked, really shocked. Translator i dont even know where to start. Land Ministry Officials say the pumping work could take time. They say the water is spreading to lower ground, and it could flood more areas. Torrential rainfall also caused damage in neighboring tochigi prefecture. A landslide in kanuma city crushed several homes. One man was rescued, but his wife died. Another man also died after he fell into a storm drain. With the flooding at historic levels, many people in joso city are seeking safety. Nhk worlds kazuwaki hirama reports. Reporter here in joso city, many roads are still flooded, so we cannot go further from here. And looking down here, you can see the waters have inundated all the roads and fields and even the Railroad Tracks over there. The waters seem to be still gushing in, and some residents are being rescued even now. [ sirens ] rescuers are transporting stranded residents to safety. But deep water is slowing their progress. Reporter this mother and son said they looked on in alarm as the water approached their house during the night. It started seeping in on friday morning. Reporter another family was being rescued. Toshio sakasai fled with his mother and daughter early friday morning, but their car was soon engulfed. They waited for hours in a nearby shop until rescuers arrived. Translator it was terrible. The water came up to my waist. Reporter sakasai headed for an Evacuation Center about ten kilometers from his house. More than 100 people were already taking shelter there. Sakasai and his family had brought something important from their flooded home their cat. Translator i want to go home. Im very worried about how things will turn out. Reporter the extent of the flooding is not yet known, and its unclear when the lives of the people here will return to normal. Kazuwaki hirama, nhk world, joso, ibaraki. Heres a look at how the heavy rain began to pound the area wednesday night. Reporter the record rainfall raised the kinugawa river to Dangerous Levels late in the day. By thursday morning, the roads were completely flooded. People were still seen wading through the water. Shortly after noon, waters breached the levee. This footage was taken just moments later. Water gushed into residential areas. Homes were submerged and warped by the force of the water. Stranded people waved to rescue teams on helicopters. The helicopters were used to airlift people from their rooftops and balconies. One man clung to an electricity pole as the water covered his legs. He was rescued about two hours later. Translator i was in a state of panic. I just thought i need to cling on to the pole. It was cold, very cold, while i waited. I was so relieved to be rescued. Reporter people were airlifted to a nearby park and later moved to an emergency shelter. Some very narrowly escaped the disaster. A family of four was plucked from their house. Just ten minutes later, waters washed the building away. Translator the water current was very powerful, like a tidal wave or tsunami. I was really scared. Reporter on friday morning, weather officials lifted a heavy rain emergency warning. Intense downpours also pummeled areas further north. Another levee broke in miyagi prefecture friday morning. One person died in the prefecture. The shibui river breached a levee over a stretch of about 20 meters in osaki city. Some 400 houses were inundated. Authorities received requests for help. Rescue crews worked on the ground and in the air to bring people to safety. City Officials Say more than 100 residents have been evacuated. Search teams are patrolling the flooded area to check if anybody is still there. Translator i was just overwhelmed by the massive amount of water. Translator the water was up to my chest. We ran away for our lives. More than 700 people took shelter at 19 Evacuation Centers in the city at one point. Over 100 of them are expected to spend the night there. Floods are also causing problems in fukushima. Bags of material contaminated in the Nuclear Accident in 2011 got washed into rivers. Workers recovered some, and are searching for the rest. The bags contained grass and other Radioactive Material collected during decontamination. They each hold one cubic meter. Theyve been stacked on farmland in the village ready for transfer to storage sites. Staff at the Environment Ministry got a report that 82 bags had been washed into two rivers. They say workers had recovered 37 as of friday evening. They say the workers will keep searching, and check whether other bags also got washed away. People living in miyagi and other parts of the northeast have marked exactly 4 1 2 years on friday since the earthquake and tsunami. Heres more. Reporter a man has been ringing this bell almost every day to commemorate those who died in the disaster. And to hope for a full recovery. Translator many people are still living in temporary housing. Im always hoping they can return to their normal lives where they dont have to worry about their safety. Reporter police say the 2011 disaster left over 18,000 people dead or missing. Government Authorities Say more than 3,000 others died in shelters or from disasterrelated causes. Officials from the Reconstruction Agency say as of august 15th, over 140,000 people are still in temporary housing in miyagi, iwate, and fukushima prefectures. The torrential rain has put a bigger burden on those in disaster areas. In the fukushima prefecture, authorities issued an Evacuation Order for more than 7,000 people. Translator its a traumatic experience for me. Its really scary. Reporter those in temporary houses are fleeing again. In iwate prefecture, 17 people were evacuated to a school. Translator im scared, because the river is so close. Reporter in otsuchi town, floods swept into houses in the early morning. Residents said the water was up to 30 centimeters deep. Theyre busy pumping it out. Translator we dont have anywhere to go. Were going to keep hanging on here until we can get back on our feet. Reporter the 2011 earthquake has left a trail of destruction that includes thousands becoming homeless, giving these evacuees adequate housing has been a major task for japan. These floods have only added to the challenges. Hiroshi nakajima, nhk world. Japans governing parties are hoping to put security bills to a vote in the upper house by the end of next week. Deliberations in the upper house are heating up, and members have decided to hold a public hearing. Representatives of the Democratic Party and five other opposition parties say theyre considering a noconfidence or censure motion against Prime Minister shipzo abes cabinet in order to block the vote. Leaders of an Upper House Special Committee on the bills have unanimously agreed to hold a public hearing on wednesday near tokyo. Lawmakers from the governing Coalition Say they accepted the Democratic Partys request because they want to pave the way for putting the bills to a vote. The controversial security legislation would expand the role of japans selfdefense forces abroad and enable japan to exercise the right to collective selfdefense. Intensive deliberations continued on friday at the Upper House Special Committee with Prime Minister abe in attendance. Translator you should pledge before us that you wont try to force through the legislation. Translator we want to have the legislation enacted at all costs so that the peoples lives and happiness can be fully protected. There were comprehensive discussions in the lower house and now in the upper house. I wanted the decision to be made when the time is right. Abe has reiterated his resolve to pass the bills during the current diet session that ends on september 27th. Japans diet has passed an amended version of a labor reform bill with the aim of stabilizing the employment of temporary workers. Government Officials Say the legislation will open doors for people who want to become fullfledged employees. But labor unions have criticized the move, saying that will keep many people stuck in temporary status throughout their working lives. The legislation scraps a threeyear limit on employing a worker on a temporary basis. It instead imposes that limit only on the time a worker can be kept in a single department. When the period is up, staffing agencies must Ask Companies to hire the worker as fullfledged employees or the agency must find a new job for the worker. The bill will take effect on september 30th. The families of japanese abducted to north korea have a new way to call for the return of their loved ones. Theyre sharing their anguish and hopes in a government video. Relatives of abductees attended a screening at the cabinet office. The video lasts 30 minutes. It includes messages from 17 people. The japanese government has confirmed their loved ones got abducted to north korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Relatives of others are getting old and are finding it harder to take part in rallies. The government made the video so they can keep making themselves heard. Translator i want people to understand that the messages are a heartfelt cry from the families. Translator this is an extremely good way to get lots of people to appreciate how much we are struggling. Officials produced the video in japanese and put it on a government website. They plan to make versions in other languages, including english and korean. Business leaders from across the globe have spent three days debating the Biggest Challenges for the international economy. Many are worried about growth indicators that painted an uncertain future for china. But delegates from developing nations are unfazed. They apparently still see beijing as their best hope for prosperity. Takafumi terui has the details from the World Economic forum in the chinese city of dalian. Reporter participants from 90 countries have just spent three days debating a whole host of issues, but leaders from some developing nations seem to have just one letter on their minds. They are keen to apply for a bigger share of the fruits of chinese growth. The Prime Ministers of georgia and mongolia both called for closer ties with china and the rest of central asia. Now i want to launch negotiations about free trade with china. I would have a meeting with the chinese Prime Minister tomorrow. We have substantive talk about the transmissionines between mongolia and china. Reporter businesses in the region are excited about chinas new silk road project. They hope to benefit from new land and sea lanes that will link the economies of asia and europe. The georgia Prime Minister says his country is ideally located to take advantage of the flow of commerce. The mongolian Prime Minister wants to expand the route so the new Economic Zone includes his country. Other leaders have High Expectations for the chinaled Asian Infrastructure investment bank. The aiib is expected to launch at the end of the year, with more members than the Asian Development bank led by japan and the u. S. Theyve got a big plan to expand the capacity, to increase spending on the infrastructure, and the world bank, and, of course, it is not in a position to meet all the requirements. The Chinese Initiative in the form of the aiib will provide a very reporter Business Leaders are also eager to expand their dealings with china. But many are conscious about beijings oftenchanging regulations and lack of transparency. Chinese premier li keqiang tried to play down their worries. Translator there has been no change in chinas overall policy on Foreign Investment. In specific areas, new measures have been introduced to open up more areas to Foreign Companies and to attract more Foreign Investment to our country. Li is well aware that stable growth will hinge on cooperation with parties overseas. Hes proposing to beef up Global Production capacity and says that china is ready to buy advanced technology from developed nations and turn it into highquality goods to sell to developing countries. Translator we will extend loans to both Domestic Companies and foreign firms that join hands with them. If both sides realize their full potential, they will be able to make a brilliant contribution to the development of the global economy. Reporter leaders in beijing say its a winwin situation for both sides. Participants here have welcomed that statement. But some say china needs to show more transparency and accountability on its policies. People are still hoping china will remain a driver of growth and never turn into a source of risk. Takafumi terui, nhk world, dalian. People have gathered in new york to mark the 14th anniversary of the 9 11 terrorist attacks. They honored the memory of the nearly 3,000 victims. O say can you see they attended a remembrance ceremony in the place where the World Trade Center twin towers once stood. Both buildings collapsed after airliners taken over by terrorists flew into them. Another hijacked plan smashed into the pentagon near washington, and a fourth crashed in a field in pennsylvania. People observed a moment of silence at 8 46 a. M. , the moment the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Members of bereaved families then read out the name of each victim. U. S. Defense secretary ash carter took part in the ceremony at the pentagon. Terrorists who hope to intimidate us will find no satisfaction and no success in threatening the United States. The threat from terrorism may evolve, but our determination to hold these killers accountable remains constant. The United States is still conducting military operations it began as a result of the 9 11 attacks. U. S. Forces have also been fighting against Islamic State militants in iraq and syria since last year. U. S. President barack obama is helping deal with the wave of refugees into europe. He told his administration to accept at least 10,000 from syria over one year starting next month. White House Press Secretary josh earnest said washington wants other countries to be more welcoming as well. The United States will continue to use our influence to encourage other countries, both in the region and around the world, even people who are not traditional even countries who are not traditional donors to those kinds of efforts to ramp up their participation. U. S. Officials say they will conduct careful background checks. They are concerned that terrorists could use the program to try to enter the country. The u. S. Takes in around 70,000 refugees per year, but only about 1,500 of them have been in syria. Hundreds of thousands of migrants from conflict zones in the middle east and africa are on the move. Many are seeking a safe haven in europe. A republicanbacked effort to block the International Nuclear deal with iran in the u. S. Senate has failed. It now clears the way for president obama to move ahead with implementation of the agreement. A republicanled draft resolution fell two votes short of the 60 needed to move forward. Republican lawmakers control both houses of congress. Theyre opposed to the agreement. They claim it gives iran too many concessions. Iran and six world powers reached a final deal in july aiming at limiting tehrans Nuclear Development in exchange for easing international sanctions. Obama said the senate vote is a victory for diplomacy for American National security and for the safety and security of the world. He said the u. S. And its partners will now turn to the critical work of implementing and verifying the agreement so iran cannot pursue a nuclear weapon. Over in iraq, a militia called the Popular Mobilization forces could hold the key to defeating the Islamic State militant group. The u. S. Led coalition is continuing air strikes while on the ground, the militia, primarily made up of shia muslims, is playing a significant role. Nhk worlds Hideki Nakayama has gone to southern iraq to take a close look. Reporter this is how they are being taught to hold a gun. They are learning selfdefense skills to protect themselves during a battle. These fighters of the Popular Mobilization forces are being trained in southern iraq. The group was formed in june last year to counter the Islamic State militants after it had rapidly gained ground. Iraqs most influential shia clerk, ayatollah sistani, called for the group to be formed. He has repeatedly warned the sunnidominated Islamic State group is dangerous. The Popular Mobilization forces are set to have more than 100,000 fighters. Sistani ordered junior and Senior High School students were ordered to take part in training during their summer break. Its believed that some children participated in the fight. Training instructors are former members of the iraqi military. Some also fought against Islamic State militants. 27yearold haidar al budairy is one of them. He has fought with the militants 16 times. He shares his experience with the trainees every time he returns from a battle. Translator ive been back and forth between battlefields and my hometown. I feel proud to see young fighters being nurtured. Reporter haidar joined the fighting after his older brother wounded his leg on the battlefield. Haidar said he wanted to help shia people as a member of the militia in place of his brother who could no longer take part. Popular Mobilization Forces have become a mainstay in the fight against Islamic State militants. Their ability to organize and mobilize has been the key. But challenges remain. Can they work with the u. S. Led Coalition Forces . In basara, more than 100 people died in fighting in the past month alone. With the number of victims rising, anger is growing. Translator my nephew was killed in an air raid by the u. S. Led coalition. Reporter some are directing their anger at the United States. Many people still distrust the United States for occupying the country after the iraq war. Some insist the death of their family members in recent fighting have been caused by accidental bombings by u. S. Forces. The Iraqi Government is using the Popular Mobilization forces in the fight against the Islamic State militant group. The concerns remain about cooperation with the u. S. Led coalition. Hideki nakayama, nhk world. Theres more to come here on newsline, but first, the threeday outlook on the worlds weather. An earthquake has hit tokyo and surrounding areas. The Japan Meteorology Agency said the quake of magnitude 5. 3 occurred around 5 49 a. M. Japan time on saturday. Officials say the focus of the quake was in tokyo bay. It registered five minus on the japanese intensity scale of 0 to 7 in western tokyo. We have not received any reports of casualties so far. Officials say theres no possibility of a tsunami. An earthquake has hit tokyo and surrounding areas. The Japan Meteorological Agency said a quake with an estimated magnitude of 5. 3 occurred around 5 34 a. M. Japan time on saturday. The focus of the quake was in tokyo bay. It registered 5 minus on the japanese intensity scale of 0 to 7 western tokyo. We have not received any reports of casualties so far. Officials say theres no possibility of a tsunami. And we will bring you more updates as they become available. We will be back at the top of the hour, so please do stay with us. Im raja pradhan in tokyo. Anchor hello and welcome to global3000. Can aid workers trying to help those worse off in faraway countries actually become part of the problem . Thats just one of the questions well be exploring on todays programme. Heres what we have coming up slum tours, is it all right to make money with trips into urban ghettos . Shifting hardware, we look at how dubai has become a hub for global aid. And how taking local fisherman on board could help biodiversity in mexico. How would you like to spend your next holiday in an african township . Or take a tohr