. caught in the cross hairs. fighting between israel and hamas leaves more than 100 people dead. residents wonder where the next strike will land. the leader of hamas has dared israeli commanders to launch a ground invasion of gaza. forces from the islamic movement and israel have been firing at each other for days.

israeli forces have targeted hamas commanders. their missiles hit several buildings including one that houses foreign media. half of the dead are civilians. fighters very hamas are firing fewer rockets now than they did earlier in the offensive. they've killed three israelis. diplomats have asked their counterparts to act as mediators. >> translator: gaza's demand is not to halt war. it's demand is for legitimate rights. >> pan gi moon has arrived to talk about the talks. pan will visit jerusalem this week to try to end the fighting. leaders of asean member countries and china have failed

to agree to start formal discussions on maritime rules to address territorial disputes in the south china sea. the leaders of the ten member association of southeast asian nations discuss the issue at the asean summit. some member countries including the philippines and vietnam complete dispute china's claim. a legally binding code of conduct to solve the territorial issues. wen stopped short of agreeing to begin formal discussions on the rules at the meeting. only that the expects further talks. shinee wen's remarks were seen as a swipe at the united states and japan. both countries are calling for a swift formulation of maritime rules. observers say china's reluctant

to enter formal discussions as it believes rules would be detrimental for maritime interests. u.s. president barack obama will hold talks with japan's prime minister yoshihiko noda and chinese premier wen. aimed at addressing strained relations over claims to the senekaku islands. the president is expected to stress any differences should be peacefully resolved according to international law. now, japan's prime minister has praised myanmar's rapid reforms. and he's offered the country a development loan worth $600 million. yoshihiko noda met thein sein on the sidelines of the summit. myanmar has made steady progress on political reform. he promises to support the economic development.

japan's public and private sectors will back reform efforts. it will be the first yen loan in almost 26 years. myanmar's leaders will use it to refurbish a thermal power plant in yangon. japan's government will extend the loans in february next year at the earliest. myanmar's to foreign investors. letting out a small sigh of relief. trade agreement. joins us from the business desk. what's the story here? >> as you know, political tensions have tied up in parts of east asia. and that has affected business activity and trade but now japan, china, and south korea will have free lateral trade talks on tuesday as they put aside recent diplomatic

tensions. will meet on the sidelines of the east asia summit in cambodia. the delegates are the trade minister, china's commerce minister, and south korea's chief trade negotiator. administrators have agreed in may during talks in beijing to begin negotiations by year end. but it took them awhile to deliver on their promise due to territorial disputes. japanese leaders are aiming to build on the fda to improve its ties with china and south korea. also on tuesday in cambodia, the t ten-member association and regional partners including china and south korea will likely agree to start discussions discussing regional economic partnership. now let's chick on the markets for this tuesday morning. first the u.s. markets posted gains for monday on politicians' remarks indicating they're ready to compromise to avoid the

fiscal cliff. the dow jones industrial average gained by 1.6% to close at 12,795. all 30 components ended in the positive. the nasdaq also surged nodding a 2.2% rise. now for hus talks in japan. we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. quite a solid move across the board in the u.s. >> definitely seeing a follow through yuko. let's go straight to the opening levels so you can see what i'm talking about for the nikkei and the topix for this -- for today november 20th. 9,171. closing at a high.

it's been up almost 6%. we'll see how the trade today. 2 billion shares were traded today. that compares to 1.3 billion last wednesday before the markets moved substantially higher. a lot of focus of course on the weeker yen. because of the premise that the possible new government led by ldp leader abe will be more aggressive in its stand against deflation as well as further monetary easing measures. and that's really brought in an influx of foreign buyers as well going for large cap stocks. some of the blue chip exporters that we've seen gain. but also looking at some of the undervalued banking and financial shares as well which have gained as the stock markets gain as well. as their portfolios gain in value. let's have a look at some of the currencies as well. dollar/yen. currently 81.33-38.

yuko? >> and some buzz in the u.s. i'm hearing has something to do with japanese computer games. what's the story here? >> exactly. we're talking about nintendo, of course. they just launched their latest game console in the u.s. on sunday. in fact, trying to get a march on the competition there for a highly competitive game console unit sector of the market. doesn't actually go on sale until the december and january. the new wii-u as it's called. shares up yesterday. we'll keep track of how that trades today. and really a lot of competition for the games console sector. we're going to keep track of that. domestically the bank of japan wraps up the policy meeting today. today governor shinekawa. also the east asia summit will be a focus of japan, china, and

south korea. as well as u.s. president obama tending. focus on any trade pact agreements and trade issues in general. nikkei and the topix continuing to trade in the positive. back to you. >> ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. well, its intel outside to the chip maker taking a move from the market. intel officials announced that paul will retire next may at a general shareholders meeting. the company says it has started selecting its replacement. he became intel's fifth ceo in 2005. he expanded the firm's semiconductor business by building closer ties with rival apple. he also took the post of google's outside director. but intel's growth slowed as it fell behind in the smart phone and tablet sectors. the firm suffered further when its man partner microsoft

decided to source chips from other makers. intel saw the market this month beaten out by rival qualcomm. that is all for me for now. i'll leave you with the market f figures in asia. chinese communist party leaders are highlighting their efforts to stamp out corruption. they say over the past five years they've punished about

670,000 officials for abuse of power. the state-run xinhua news agency sads there were corruption cases over the past five years. officials took bribes totaling more than $3.5 billion. the communist party's new leader xi jinping warned about the risks of corruption. if the problem grows worse, it will lead to the ruin of the party and the country, he said. he urged senior officials to follow anti-corruption regulations. he asked them to prevent associates from abusing their influence. hong kong medias say anger over police corruption triggered a riot in mainland china. people clashed with prison on saturday. media outlets say the trouble began with a traffic accident. they say an unlicensed driver drove a car into several vehicles. no one died, but five people were reported injured.

the associated press quoted one resident who said people game upset when police and paramedics took nearly an hour to arrive. drivers involved in the accident and bystanders fought with police. they overturned three police vehicles. authorities brought the situation under control by the end of the day. south korea's largest opposition party and politician are still working to pick a candidate for the country's presidential election next month. representatives of moon jae-in and ahn choe. the negotiations had been suspended since last week. details of the talks were not available, but at a press conference, both men showed strong motivation to be the candidate. >> translator: i was chose nn a preliminary election for my

party. it would be impossible for me to make concessions. >> translator: the two camps should achieve unity that would be welcomed by supporters of both candidates. >> with just a month before the election, the focus is on whether the two sides can agree to a unified candidacy to beat the ruling party's pa ku-ne. japanese robots that look after the elderly. it sounds like science fiction, but it's increasingly science fact. and with good reason. japanese society is aging faster than any in the world. over 3 million people suffer from senile dementia. researchers are building new and humane intelligent machines.

>> reporter: a new game is being played at this old people's home south of tokyo. the residents move their bodies on cue from a robot. the exercise works the brain and fights aging. people from the nursing industry interested in the robot came along to watch. >> translator: coming here today and seeing people talking and dancing with them made me realize that robots have become something very common place to old people too. >> reporter: many of the nursing care robots are japanese inventions. they're catching the eyes of facilities overseas. in some countries they are recognized as medical equipment. ironically, care giving robots have been slow to catch on.

people expect the functions of carrying to be given only by humans. but the situation may be changing. i'm visiting an exhibition for nursing care robots. similar events have been happening across japan. they're trusting people who work in the social welfare. these people may have noticed the increase in media report of how a robot can help elderly dementia sufferers and nursing home staff. about 20 people with senile dementia live at this home. this robot in the form of a baby seal is fitted with sensors. when stroked or talked to, it responds by blinking and purring.

93-year-old wakabashi came to the home about a year ago. she has dementia and was already very forgetful. she kept to herself. at night she couldn't sleep. she sometimes took out her anger on the staff. >> translator: she became obsessed with going back home. she'd get argumentative saying i have to go and cook the dinner. >> reporter: but a curious thing happened. after caregivers brought in the robot, she began to change. she used to look after her grandchild while the parents her daughter and her husband went to work. the robot reawakened such feelings in her. she begun treating the seal like her grandchild.

little by little her emotional ups and downs have eased. she gets angry much less often. her nighttime wanderings all but ceased after sher leapt sw the robot in her arms. this has brought huge relief to the overnight staff. with the robot, she is also recovering her physical strength. before, she needed assistance to walk even a short way. now she can walk around the facility on her own. the robot helps the home in other ways. >> translator: conversation between people dementia is usually difficult. but the robot breaks the ice and makes our residents laugh. we find it very useful.

>> reporter: around the world, aging and shrinking populations face many challenges. japan's care giving robots may help ease their way. nhk world. emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still to democracy. the threat of violence. the push for peace. the shadow of conflict. get news and insight on south and southeast asia every weekday live from bangkok. only on nhk world "newsline." you usually find musical performances and art displays in separate venues. but a new exhibition in tokyo combines the two. award winning composing sakamora plays a key in the show. >> reporter: take a look at the

porcelain bowls floating in this pool. now listen. when the bowls collide, you hear a bell-like sound. it's never the same. the movement of the water changes the music. and this isn't your traditional record player. the needle doesn't follow the grooves on the vinyl record. instead a light beam reads the rings on a piece of wood. it computes the thickness, depth and color and translates that into musical notes. art and music search is an exhibit of artworks that cross between the audio and visual worlds. here people can see music and listen to art. this exhibit allows people to

experience a blend of those sensations at once. a composer is the exhibit's executive adviser. he was inspired for the contemporary music and his love for visual arts. sakamoto says his goal is to combine the best of both worlds. >> translator: it's not just art or just music. i'm intrigued by things that can be called both art and music. >> reporter: sakamoto joined with other creators to put his own on display. this one titled collapsed features two pianos and laser beams. a computer reads the light beams and conforms them to musical data. then the pianos play it back.

so the laser projects phrases like as the exhibits of puppet shows have partitioned before and so on, so on. it correlates into music. but i have no idea what word, what letter, what dot correlates into each note on either of these two pianos. but sakamoto says that's okay. that's the point. the installation is a metaphor for the ambiguity and complexity of everyday conversations. >> translator: it's like these two pianos are talking to one another. or are they? i think you'll enjoy the process of wondering what's happening. >> reporter: organizers say the goal of art and music is to promote tokyo as an asian art hub. one of the benefits of sakamoto is he can showcase art in his

home country. he believes in japan's rich culture. >> translator: our ancestors loved nature. i think we still carry that animistic sense. japan is also known for our robotic technology. i believe the exhibit suggests a unique point of view. i hope this japanese sensibility gets through to the rest of the world. >> reporter: sakamoto hopes this show that crosses so many senses and disciplines also crosses borders. rina nakano, nhk, tokyo. >> stimulating all the senses at once there. sakamoto's art and music exhibit continues at the museum of contemporary art in tokyo until february 3rd, 2013. well, tokyo residents are seeing clear, blue, sunny skies

this morning after a cold windy day yesterday. sayaka mori joins us with the world forecast. >> well, catherine -- 17 degrees with nice clear skies and also southerly winds. on the other hand, the sea of japan side, a different story. temperatures are remaining on the cool side. because very strong cold northwesterly winds are blowing in from the continent. picking up moisture and dumping heavy know in the mountain region. not only heavy snow but thunderstorms. also a risk of hail throughout the day. waves could reach four meters along the northwestern flank of the nation. back behind it, a dry condition for much of the korean peninsula and much of china. because of less windy and cloudy

conditions. morning lows quite chilly here. down to the south, a foggy morning for the southeastern part of china. as for the philippines, rain throughout the country. particularly in the south. rain also can be found in the south and west of the indochina peninsula including southern cambodia. here are the temperatures then. minus 5 degrees in ulaanbaatar. looking chilly but seasonal here. 10 degrees in beijing with plenty of sunshine. 7 degrees in seoul. cloudy conditions in shanghai with a high of 15 degrees today. all right. moving into the americas then. the northwestern part is going to be the stormiest in throughout the thanksgiving week. we're seeing a low pressure system moving into the west coast bringing hefty showers on the coast from british columbia down towards northern california. the heaviest rain is going to be found in oregon with up to 160 millimeters likely into the next

24 hours. as you can see, the lines are very close to each other. meaning very fierce winds are blowing and as the system moves inland, snow is going to be another problem. we have blizzard warnings posted in western monday. snow of up to 50 centimeters plus. that could cause some very dangerous driving conditions and also poor visibility. so remaining quite nasty in the northwest into your wednesday at least. light showers for the great lakes region. for the rest of the continent, dry and relatively warm. and remaining quite nice conditions. nice conditions will be ongoing story throughout the week. temperatures are looking like this. 22 degrees in oklahoma city. 18 in denver. 22 in los angeles. despite the rainy weather, very seasonal in vancouver as well as seattle. all right. finally let's go over to the european continent. not much change since yesterday.

a series of low pressure system is moving across the north bringing wet windy conditions. winds of over 80 kilometers per hour have been reported in the northern british aisles. we're going to see the same scenarios throughout tuesday. and down towards the south, this low pressure system is a history of producing unusual tornado across southern portugal. it's still swirling over southern italy and as well as the balkan peninsula. also producing a risk of hail. western part of turkey is also affected by this storm today. but to the north a high pressure system is keeping things dry and settled. conditions will be an ongoing story. berlin 8 degrees here. and same for vienna. seasonably cold 1 degree in moscow. here's the extended forecast.

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