front of the headquarters of the newspaper, "nanfang zhoumo," they say freedom of speech has been buried and laid down mums to back up their accusation. the flower is traditionally handed out at funerals in china. >> translator: it's a violation of our rights. i can't stand it. we're at the boiling point. >> reporter: things have been heating up for several days. staff at the nanfang zhoumo planned to run a new year's message calling for freedom of speech. but the journalists say local authorities ordered major edits. once chinese citizens found out, they wrote message after message to show their opposition to the censorship and support for the journalists. most of their posts have been deleted. china's constitution grant freedom of speech and a press, but communist officials sometimes order the media to stay away from stories that put the party or the government in an unfavorable light. staff at a newspaper took the rare step of running an editorial, calling journalists and protesters to calm down. some chinese aren't listening. they feel the censors went too far. about a dozen people gathered in beijing to show solidarity with the reporters. back in guangzhou city, police arrived to keep the demonstrators away from the newspaper's office. they removed the flowers and got into a quarrel with some of the protesters. >> translator: if we do not stand for this newspaper now, we won't get support next time. >> reporter: a new group of leaders took control of china's communist party last fall. these demonstrators and members of the media are finding out some of the old ways are still in practice. nhk world, beijing. wildfires have broking o brn 130 places in australia. the southern island of tasmania has been hardest hit. flames burned down 250 buildings and policere still trying to locate dozens of missing people. >> reporter: the fires have covered tasmania in shrouds of smoke. the temperature in the state capital hit a record, 131 degrees celsius. a heat wave, dry air and strong winds made for a disastrous combination. >> we didn't know it was going to be so sudden. it was horrendous. it was just unbelievable. just all totally devastated now. >> reporter: the fires have destroyed hundreds of buildings, a police station, a school, homes. police say thousands of people have been stranded. prime minister julia gillard saw the devastation firsthand when she visited a township. she met with the people in charge of fighting the fire. she said the government would be there to help those who need it. came to tasmania to say that the nation is standing with them at this very, very difficult time. we'll be standing with them in every way. >> reporter: australia is vulnerable to wildfires, especially at this time of year. fires in 2009 killed 173 people and hurt more than 400 others. gillard called on all australians to be careful. the temperature in sydney is estimated to rise on tuesday to 43 degrees. >> we know that new south wales is about to move into an extreme heat period, indeed in parts of new south wales fire risk levels could be moved to catastrophic. >> reporter: authorities issued their own warnings. they say there's a possibility of spreading wildfires in the days to come. nato members are rolling out more military hardware to deal with any possible fallout from the conflict in syria. turkey is boostininin defenses. the trucks carrying the equipment left monday from a base in the southern part of the netherlands. the u.s., germany, and netherlands agreed in december to send a total of six air defense batteries to turkey to protect their nato ally. dutch chief of defense general tom mittendorf says the threat of syrian missiles landing across the border is increasing. the convoy of batteries is scheduled to arrive in turkey in less than three weeks. the location is about 100 kilometers from the border with syria. this is the first time since the iraq war that nato has deployed its patriot missiles in turkey. a group including the executive chairman of internet search giant google has begun a four-day visit to north korea. the visit is for humanitarian purposes. analysts say the group will likely discuss developing the i.t. industry in the country. eric schmidt is traveling with bill richardson. he's been to the north several times. >> this is a private humanitarian visit. we're here as individual american citizens looking at the humanitarian situation. we're going to ask about the american detainee who is here. we're interested in economic and political situation. >> the group is expected to meet north korean political, economic and military leaders. the trip comes weeks after the country launched a long range rocket. the u.s. government considers the launch a test of ballistic missile technology. u.s. officials says the timing of the visit is not helpful. the group plans to convey concerns about the missiles and nuclear programs. tokyo has bid to host the 2017 olympics. the city says that with the legacy of the summer games it hosted in 1964, it's eager to hold a new type of future oriented olympics. bid committee managing director turned in a file at ioc headquarters in switzerland. the document sets out detailed plans in 14 categories, including vision for the games, venues, financing and safety. tokyo plans features, compact organization with about 85% of venues within an 8 kilometer radius. the city says it would use its national stadium as the main venue. the city says it will spend roughly $1.4 billion on refurbishing the stadium and increasing seating capacity to 80,000. istanbul, turkey, and madrid, spain, are also submitting bids to host the games. the ioc plans to pick the host city at its annual meeting in buenos aires, argentina, in september. japanese government leaders are back in high gear after a long year and new year holiday break. prime minister shinzo abe and his cabinet ministers are getting ready to hammer out measures for revitalizing the nation's sluggish economy. abe put up a sign at a new office for a task force that's in charge of directing economic policies. all his cabinet ministers are set to hold a task force's first meeting on tuesday. high on the agenda are emergency measures to be included in an extra budget for the fiscal year that ends in march. >> translator: we are resolved to do our best so japanese people can look back on this day as the starting point of japan's recovery. we are united in our determination to take aggressive steps beginning from this day. >> and we can tell you a little bit about that supplementary budget. the government is including emergency economic measures worth more than $110 billion. these measures are designed mainly to encourage companies to step up investment. the government plans to earmark well over $20 billion for public works projects and is considering extra grants to local communities to help finance their public projects. in addition, the government plans to create a fund together with private companies. this fund will help companies make their buildings more earthquake-resistant and energy efficient. the government is thinking of providing subsidies to manufacturers to build energy efficient plants and factories. the government will help fund these measures with bond offerings totaling around $45 billion. the cabinet is expected to approve the supplementary budget in mid-january. the year 2013 has kicked off with a bit of optimism for japanese business leaders. the yen is weaker and the stock market stronger. many of them are hoping for a brighter year in the economy. prime minister abe joined about 1,700 company executives to toast the new year in tokyo on monday. three major japanese business associations have been holding the new years party every year. >> translator: i'm hoping that the business environment will provide a tail wind for us. and i'd like to see the economy pick up this year. >> translator: the japanese economy has hit rock bottom. neighboring asian economies are expanding significantly. japan must seize this opportunity to revitalize itself. it's our last chance. business leaders have seen the nikkei go over the 10,000 level while the japanese currency touched the 88 yen level against the dollar for the fist time in 2 1/2 years. >> translator: stock markets around the world have probably bottomed out. i'm hopeful that the nikkei could reach 13,000. >> translator: the dollar needs to trade steadily around 90 yen and rise to 100 yen. if this doesn't happen, the japanese auto industry won't be able to make cars in the country. >> while the challenging economic environment remains, abe vowed that his once again newly installed administration will do all in its power to pull the nation out of deflation. corporate officials want the government to swiftly put the necessary measures into motion. >> translator: wist and swift and infecti ieffective measures needed. the government must keep an eye on the fiscal situation and achieve economic growth at the same time. >> translator: it's important to enable people to have hope for their future. the prime minister should take the leadership to implement the measures he has promised. malaysia was one of the fist countries to enjoy rapid economic growth. today the boom continues in part thanks to large numbers of foreign laborers. but the conditions these migrant workers face can be harsh and poor treatment is becoming a serious problem. nhk world has more. >> reporter: many married women in malaysia work and rely on hired help to do housework. it is not unusual for families to employ servants, even if the family is not especially rich. an estimated 300,000 foreign maids work in the country. >> she's very helpful. we don't have a maid at home. >> reporter: but the abuse of servant is widespread. in december, officials revealed that in a single suburb, 105 maids had been confined and forced to work without wages. many of them were young indonesian women, a fact that sent shockwaves through both countries. here is a shelter for indonesian workers. more than 60 people, mostly maids, are living under the protection of indonesian government. >> reporter: tina is our 27-year-old maid from central java. she came to malaysia five years ago. countless scars on her body are reminders of the violence she suffered while working for a family in the suburb of kuala lumpur. >> translator: the entire family abused me for no reason. they cut me with knives, scissors and spoons. >> reporter: she was denied proper treatment for her injuries. a knife wound grew worse until she had to have a finger amputated. fearing her life was in danger she fled to a nearby house in october 2011. how can such abuse continue? brokers in both countries introduce maids to employers. they take large commissions from maids' wages. but once a maid starts work, brokers do not supervise labor conditions. it is a practice that is drawing criticism. the issue was an item on the agenda of a meeting in december between malaysian prime minister. >> translator: we need to solve the problems of commissions taken by brokers. >> reporter: they may impose limits on broker's fees. but labor lawyers say that holding brokers accountable will not be enough to solve the problem. >> the worker is not protected by her own country as well. that is also a problem. i think there must be a stricter check on agencies and also employers. there must be random check and spot checks on how maids are -- domestic workers are treated generally. >> reporter: official steps by the government will take time. meanwhile, tina is doing what she can. she's serving as a witness in a trial to prosecute the employer who abused her. she believes that if the offender is punished severely, it will prevent other cases of abuse in the future. >> translator: i want to take back my human rights that were stripped from me while i was working. i hope to go back home after the trial. >> translator: both indonesia and malaysia are searching for a solution to the problem of maid abuse. until they find one, the issue will cast a shadow over malaysia's economic success. nhk world. we're starting off the new year by getting to know people in japan that are considered frontrunners in their fields. this woman has a job that's well suited to this earthquake-prone nation. she's a seismologist. she's dedicated herself to demystifying her profession so people can better understand plate tectonics and be better prepared for when the earth moves and things shake. nhk world reno nakano reports. >> reporter: the quake expert takes what she finds in the lab and shares it with the public. but the march 11th disaster caused her to rethink her approach to education. >> i've been in charge of communication for three years before the march 11th. and i was pretty sure that i'm doing better communication than ever to explain what the mechanics of the earthquake is. but i haven't said, your life is precious and our information, like tsunami warning, can be very uncertain. >> reporter: oki's interest of bringing seismology to the public began long before the 2011 disaster. the devastating images of the 1995 great earthquake changed the high schoolers life. >> when i saw the tv, like, you know, a girl same age as me, she kept on screaming. she's calling, mom, mom, in front of all the debris. that thing happens at the same time in the same country. that hit me and i decided to be a seismologist on that night. >> reporter: fast forward 16 years. the 2011 great east japan earthquake served as a turning point in oki's career. the magnitude 9 quake and tsunami were far beyond the imagination of many seismologists. they would duck and cover, evacuate and move to higher ground. but that wasn't enough. as an outreach communicator, oki felt personally responsible for the 20,000 lives that were lost. >> especially after march 11th. i wanted to talk to the general public a lot more and a lot more focus on seismology. earthquake prediction is omplicy is very short and we can't make experiments. so those three, that's the cause of the limitations. so get prepared. that's all we can do. >> reporter: in the meantime, seismologists and government agencies are doing what they can by drawing up a new hazard scenario. they've increased the severity of a possible earthquake of 8.6 to a 9. they estimate more than 300,000 deaths in this case. 13 times the previous worst case projection. we can present all the scenarios in the world but in reality what do we actually need to do to save our lives? >> the scenario is just a scenario. this may be higher or lower. so you have to think what you are going to do, what you have to do when the thing happens. it really depends on where you live. there may be higher risk of landslide than tsunami. >> reporter: more seismology research won't bring back those who died on march 11th, 2011 but until the day she and her colleagues are able to prevent or predict earthquakes, oki vows to place priority on educating the public about the importance of being prepared. >> nothing is more precious than human life. you promise every day to those 20,000 victims that i'm going to not waste your lives. the number of victims should be zero. yeah, yeah. because, you know, it's not a matter of number. if we have a 9 earthquake and one person died i still feel i'm responsible for it. >> for her next story in our front-runner series, she will meet an expert who has devoted herself to helping people caught in war zones. rachel ferguson will get you caught up on your weather. she has the latest on the heat wave in australia and the rest. there is going to be a little bit of good news for tasmania. the cold front moves across. that's going to help to ease off some of that heat. down to about 16 degrees on wednesday. it doesn't last in thursday and back up to the upper 20s and then off into the mid 20s beyond that. but that's really not the extent of the heat we've been seeing. there has been some awful fires down here. it has been certainly for the brunt so far. but take a look at what is happening in sydney. catastrophic fire danger is forecast by the australian bureau of meteorology. that means when that dry brush, if that dry brush catches fire out in rural areas, it could really cause damage to property and also extensive loss of life. so it's going to be an on going story. tuesday is looking hot. we'll keep you update the with the story. into eastern asia, it is going to be very cold here. another cold shock coming from the korean pieninsula and japan. showers moving across southern japanese islands will be heavy at times. heavy rain also down here across the philippines. they've been hit hard the last 24 hours. by midweek, another round of heavy rain making its way through as another low develops and heads to the west. temperaturewise, 11 degrees in tokyo. that's not too bad for this time of year. 1 degree in seoul. minus one in beijing with a very frosty minus 21 for the high. 6 degrees in shanghai. bangkok, 30 degrees and perfect beach weather here. let's go the americas. we're seeing a snowstorm move through the northwest. it will be rain showers at the coast. not too bad this first round. by tuesday, expecting more moisture. that is going to be stronger. watch out for the snow piling up in the upper elevations through to the middle of the week. we're also watching the gulf for some development. it looks like we're going to have severe thunderstorms for southeastern texas and also potential for really heavy rain right along coast in towards central portions of the gulf states. now 50 millimeters likely. you could even see 100 to 118 in some places. and that spells danger for flash flooding. temperatures fairly seasonal here across the continent. heading on into europe where things are still very warm here across the west. the warmth is coming up from northern africa. however, out to east is a different story. cold air spilling right down to the south. even as far as the mediterranean. that means this low sitting over turkey and the black sea region, it will be bringing some snow and heavy snow at that. down for the south, thunderstorms are likely, too. so very, very unsettled towards the east. generally across the rest of the continent, it's going to be clear. high pressure is nice and dry. we're seeing the return of showers across the northern british aisles and in towards scandinavia. temperaturewise, as you'd expect with that warmth. ten degrees in london. six in paris. not too bad for this time of year. 13 for you in rome. cooling down to freezing point in vienna for the high and out towards the east, minus seven in moscow and minus six in kiev. that's all for me. here's your extended forecast. we'll be back in 30 minutes with more news. i'm gene otani in tokyo. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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