a rift is emerging at the apec summit. the u.s. and china are at odds over the transpacific partnership free trade agreement. welcome to "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the asia-pacific economic cooperation forum summit opened at day two in honolulu, hawaii, on sunday. leaders of the 21 apec economies

exchanged views on economic collaboration as well as growth and employment in the asia-pacific region. >> we'll be discussing how we can work together to spur on quicker economic growth, and more sturdy and sustainable economic growth. >> on the sidelines of the apec summit, leaders of nine pacific rim nations participating in the u.s.-led tpp free trade negotiations held talks. they include australia and singapore. the nine countries said in a joint statement released on saturday that they broadly agreed on the elimination of tariffs and ways to increase investment. amid a prolonged economic downturn at home, he wants to create jobs by boosting exports through the tpp. prime minister yoshihiko noda gave japan's perspective on the tpp in a separate meeting

with president obama. noda and obama talked on the sidelines of the summit. >> i'm confident that working together, we can continue to build on that relationship in the areas of commerce, in the areas of security, and not only asia-pacific region but around the world. >> translator: i am encouraged by the increased u.s. presence in the asia-pacific region. i hope that japan and the united states can cooperate in working on economic rules and security. >> noda told obama of his intention to begin consultations with member countries of the tpp and said he wants to promote a higher level of economic cooperation. obama welcomed noda's decision and called for japan/u.s. cooperation through future talks on the new free trade framework. noda also touched upon the ongoing review of restrictions on imports of beef.

currently only meat from cows up to 20 months old can be imported to japan to prevent meat containing mad cow disease or bse from entering the japanese market. noda told obama the government is considering raising the limit to up to 30 months old. obama said he was looking forward to seeing progress on the issue. noda also said his cabinet is working toward implementing the bilateral agreement on the planned relocation of the u.s. marine corps futenma air station in okinawa. he explained japan's plan to submit a report to the prefectural government of okinawa by the end of this year on the final stage of procedures for assessing the environmental impact at the relocation site. noda asked for all-out cooperation from the united states to lighten the burden its military bases place on okinawa. nhk world's tsuyoshi masuda has more on the japan/u.s. talks. >> reporter: prime minister yoshihiko noda showed the

constellations for its largest ally by telling u.s. president barack obama that japan is reviewing its restrictions on u.s. beef imports with an eye toward easing them. japan's participation in the tpp talks and its easing of import restrictions on u.s. beef will be measured political gains for obama in his bid for re-election as he hopes to increase employment by doubling exports. noda, on the other hand, is trying to stabilize his political position by improving bilateral ties with the united states. the ties have been adversely affected by the dispute over the relocation of the u.s. marine corps futenma air station. but noda's stance has invited criticism from opposition parties who say he is attaching greater importance to u.s. demands than to concerns about

possible effects of the tpp on japan. countries negotiating the tpp are expected to make tough demands on japan, adding items exempted from the free trade arrangement. as a late participant in the negotiations, to what extent can japan win concessions from other countries to protect its own interests? the noda administration will be expected to negotiate strategically and with patience. tsuyoshi masuda, nhk world, honolulu. chinese president hu jintao, who is also attending the apec forum, has emphasized that his country will play a larger role in creating a free trade framework in the region, including the transpacific partnership. hu made the remark in a keynote speech to a gathering of corporate leaders from the

region on saturday. >> translator: the asia-pacific countries must deepen the integration of the regional economy while maintaining a multinational trading system. china is opposed to any form of protectionism. >> hu added his country will promote a free trade bloc in the asia-pacific region based on existing regional free trade agreements as well as the tpp in an attempt to achieve such economic integration. china's cautious about the tpp framework as it suspects that the u.s.-led initiative could erode china's influence in the asia-pacific region, but it maintains that cooperation among the asia-pacific nations is essential for economic growth. during the apec meeting in hawaii, iran's nuclear development was also in the spotlight. the united states has asked russia and china to join in a

coordinated response to get iran to abide by its international obligations. a senior white house official said on saturday that u.s. president obama met separately with chinese president hu jintao and russian president dmitry medvedev. in these meetings, obama asked the leaders for help in getting iran to meet its international nuclear obligations, but there was no agreement in how to reach that goal, including imposing new u.n. security council sanctions on iran. the u.s. wants the two countries to cooperate through diplomatic channels to get iran to comply with international rules. in october, the iaea compiled a report which says iran is continuing its uranium enrichment program. joining me now is ai uchida from the business team. ai, just a few minutes ago japan released its latest gdp. >> we saw in positive territory for the first time in four quarters. japan's economy has grown for the first time in one year.

the cabinet office said on monday that the nation's gross domestic product expanded 1.5% for the july to september period, compared with the previous quarter. the rise markets the first growth in four quarters. the figure translates to annualized growth of 6.0%. gdp's large rebound is mainly due to recovery from the march disaster. over in italy, a new prime minister has been appointed one day after silvio berlusconi's resignation. mario monti will soon choose a new cabinet. the 68-year-old monti is an economist and served as a european union commissioner for ten years. he told reporters on sunday that he will work with a great sense of responsibility and service toward the nation. president giorgio napolitano commented on the nomination saying monti is competent and well respected internationally.

monti's nomination is supported by main opposition parties. ruling parties say they will back his appointment on the condition that monti will assemble a cabinet of tech yo crates. both the european union and european commission welcomed the appointment. they said it sends an encouraging signal on italy's determination to overcome the current crisis. they also said that they will continue to monitor, based on the country's law for finance. let's see how the stocks are kicking off this monday morning in japan. ramin mellegard is at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, good morning. a lot of foe cohas been on eurozone debt but there's some domestic news that may take center stage. >> ai, good morning to you this monday morning. we had the preliminary gdp numbers out for japan, heavily scrutinized. also the three mega banks here

in japan, the major japanese banks come out with their earnings after the bell and that will wrap it up for the earnings season of japan. let's have a look at the opening levels here for the nikkei and the topix, nikkei up over 100 points already, 8,637, topix up nine points. the nikkei did end higher on friday, and also in the u.s., the dow jones average surged on expectations that the new government's increase in italy are tackling problems to improve their fiscal health. markets will be scrutinizing the gdp data we just had to see how japan has been dealing with the effects from the march 11th disaster eight months ago, the strong yen and the flooding in thailand recently which may have hampered some of the production levels for japanese companies with factories there which they had to shut down. covering the apec meeting in hawaii, a lot of market players will be focusing on criteria or

wording for the agreement, which japan is lining itself up for and we're going to see how that affects markets as well. now currency, let's have a look at currency levels as well this monday morning, and the yen gaining a touch against the dollar, 77.17-19, compared to mid 77 levels and 106.23-29 euro/yen, compares to actually upper 104 yen at one point on friday. so still a little bit softer against the euro. looking ahead, ai, for this week, last week on the data front it was a little bit weak in the u.s. but this week we have retail sales and industrial production, as well as consumer price index and producer price index, which are the inflation numbers, which a lot of economists are looking at as well. the nikkei and the topix starting out pretty strongly here this monday morning. back to you. >> thanks a lot, ramin, that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. before i go, let's take a look at some of those numbers once again.

that's all for now in business. now back to catherine. japan's olympus has been accused of using dubious merger and acquisition deals to hide huge investment losses. a former executive with the company has told nhk that he raised doubts about the company's books at a board meeting but was ignored. atsushi yusa served as an executive at olympus for 16 years until he retired three years ago. he says he had doubts when the company invested 73.4 billion yen to buy out three domestic firms that were worth far less. >> translator: back in 2008

buyout proposals were abruptly made at the board meeting. i feel responsible. it's sad that a technologically successful company has hurt its reputation that way. >> for many years olympus concealed its massive investment losses incurred in the collapse of the country's bubble economy. yusa and some other directors questioned the valuation of the three firms but management dismissed the idea. japan's securities and exchange surveillance commission is considering filing criminal charges against a former president of the company and other executives for deceiving investors. many survivors of the march 11th disaster are still suffering hardships even if they didn't lose family members or their homes. on this week's "the road ahead," we catch up with volunteers working with these survivors.

nhk world's jun yotsomoto has their story. >> reporter: volunteers deliver foods to this tsunami survivor. yachi uchikoshi founded the group. the group focuses on meeting survivors face to face to find out what they need now. these volunteers work with uchikoshi. their group is called project next. some of them lost parents. some lost houses. some lost jobs. they are victims too. 44-year-old's uchikoshi's volunteer work goes along with

his day job, a dentist. >> translator: what i thought was a serious problem was that there was a huge gap between those who receive support and those who do not. we would like to set up a safety net for people who have slipped through the cracks. >> reporter: project next volunteers order supplies through a wish list on this online shopping site. they push emergencies to the top of the rankings. people who want to donate click on the items they want. amazon then ships the supplies to project next. volunteers take a picture when supplies are delivered to a survivor. the picture is uploaded. then the donor knows that his or her donation has reached the survivor. satoru sakai is one of those who

received help. he used to run a ramen shop in ofunato city, but the tsunami washed that away. he lost his income. his savings are running out. >> translator: we are forced to lead a miserable life now. >> reporter: donors from all over japan send help, not only food but all these things too. sakai says the goodwill gave him energy to reopen his shop. mitsuhito nagata lives far from the disaster area. he responded to the wish and clicked on the cd player for when the shop reopens.

>> he wrote in bold that he appreciated the cd player, which i gave or donated. so that is very unique, and i have not seen it before. i feel like i'm connected with him now. >> reporter: still, not everything is going smoothly. project next relies on the charity of donors and the group has a lot of expenses. uchikoshi's dental clinic has been in the red for eight months, ever since the disaster. >> translator: i do what i'm doing because i want to see everybody smile. i want to establish a milestone for rebuilding for the next generation. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th.

we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the nuclear tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." now we look at sumo from the kyushu tournament. ross mihara has the results of day one. >> in the final sumo tournament of 2011, hometown hero koto show gee cue is making his debut. here's his first match and more from the first day. he becomes the only japanese in the sports top two ranks. his first opponent is a young georgian tochinoshin.

after receiving a warm round of applause the fukuoka native looks quite calm, given the commotion. and once the match starts, he calmly gets a left inside grip and follows it up smoothly with a frontal pushout so it's a triumphant debut. hakuho is seeking a fifth straight win against homasho. he's his usual dominant self and picks up win number one with ease. the grand champion is once again the heavy favorite as he seeks the 21st of his spectacular career. just before the basho stable master in a rue toe suddenly died from respiratory failure, he was only 59 years old. for the men there, it was obviously a shock. i can is enis atoe is aiming for

a promotion as a final tribute to his late oyokata. he will need at least 11 wins this tournament to join that lofty rank. up against kyokutenho, i can is enis atoe is a determined young man, getting a strong left inside grip and using that to power down the 37 year old mongolian. that's a pushout so an excellent start for the 25-year-old i can is enis atoe. one more rikishi we'll be watching is gagumaru, is an 11-4 record at his highest rank ever. up against another solid who is also at a career high. a right-hand thrust and that spells doom for the rolly polly georgian. the opponent wins by rear

pushout. the crowd was sparse at the international center on opening day probably because the pro baseball nippon series is going on right now featuring the hometown soft bank hawks. hopefully fans will return when the baseball ends. >> ross mihara there with the latest in sumo. now i wasn't in tokyo on sunday but i heard the city was absolutely beautiful. let's see what's in the forecast for japan and other countries around the world with saki ochi. welcome back to your weather update. let's look at conditions in southeast asia. a low developed just off the philippines here at the bottom of our screen bringing in scattered showers across the country. it will look wet over the next few days as a slow disturbance brings in moisture so we'll keep an eye on conditions here. otherwise looking at scattered showers impacting areas like

taiwan over toward hainan island and coastal areas of vietnam as well. china looks to stay dry along the eastern side. inland areas looking at light precipitation but that should be just about it. now over towards japan largely not dry. for the most part, we do look at some cold precipitation coming into northern sections and for hokkaido, we could be talking about snow, as a lot more colder air is trying to come on in from the north. as for highs on monday, starting off with a high of 13 degrees in beijing. even cooler in seoul remaining at 11. tokyo gets up to 19 degrees. still on the mild side. 18 for shanghai. and getting up to 25 degrees in taipei. now over toward the americas and it is looking messy across much of the united states but also we're looking at a low that's moving in off the coast of baja of california and starting to bring in showers to the northwest corner of mexico. some heavier rain is going to be possible with this system. otherwise a rain band will form across the midwest and head into

the mid-atlantic region. also across canada much of the southern tier will look a lot messier as we head into wednesday. showers for the most part across much of central and eastern sections while in the pacific northwest including british columbia, we'll be starting to look at a little bit more rain along the coastline and for those upper elevations. again that wintry stuff. highs on monday will look quite chilly for the pacific northwest. seattle remains at 8. vancouver comes in at just 9. winnipeg at 2 degrees. otherwise not too bad still along this eastern seaboard. 22 in atlanta. 19 degrees in d.c. and new york looks to get up to 18 degrees. and lastly a look at europe here. lots of clouds starting to really develop here in the atlantic. we do have a low that's going to

be moving on into the peninsula so that's where it will look the wettest tonight and into monday. showers will really spread across both portugal as well as spain. otherwise, not too bad for the rest of continental europe as well as the british isles. snow developing along the coastline of northern norway and mix of rain and snow will move right through this western side of russia. temperatures look like this. definitely cold for the eastern side. lots of single digits here. 3 in kiev. remaining at 2 in warsaw and the same for moscow. out toward the west not too bad. 15 in paris. 17 degrees in madrid. all right. that's a look at weather conditions for now. i'll leave you with your three-day outlook.

our lead story this hour, the asia-pacific economic

cooperation forum summit opened day two in honolulu, hawaii, on sunday. leaders of the united states, australia, singapore and the other six pacific rim countries discussed employment in the asia-pacific region. >> we'll be discussing how we can work together to spur on quicker economic growth and more sturdy and sustainable economic growth. >> on the sidelines of the apec summit, leaders of nine pacific rim nations participating in the u.s.-led tpp free trade negotiations held talks. they include australia and singapore. the nine countries said in a joint statement released on saturday that they broadly agreed on the elimination of tariffs and ways to liberalize investments, intellectual property and other fields. u.s. president barack obama stressed his hope to reach a final agreement next year. amid a prolonged economic downturn at home, he wants to create jobs by boosting exports through the tpp. as ai uchida from our

business team mentioned earlier, japan's economy has grown for the first time in one year. the nation's gross domestic product expanded 1.5% for the july to september period, compared with the previous quarter. the rise marks the first growth in four quarters. the figure translates to annualized growth of 6%. the gdp's large rebound is mainly due to recovery from the march disaster. once again, japan's economy has grown for the first time in one year. on monday, the cabinet office announced that the nation's gdp expanded 1.5% for the july to september period, compared with the previous quarter. the rise marks the first growth in four quarters. the figure translates to annualized growth of 6%. the gdp's large rebound is mainly due to recovery from the march disaster. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.