welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. torrential rain continues to fall in many parts of china, causing deadly floods and landslides. china's xinhua news agency says a landslide occurred in the mountains of southern yunnan province on wednesday, leaving one person dead and 90 missing. the landslide covered a village in an iron mining site in the southwest province of sichuan

near guanghan city. middle sections of a bridge collapsed and two train carriages fell into the river. according to xinhua, all the train passengers and crew were able to escape and avoid injury. weather officials have forecast more heavy rains on friday and saturday in sichuan province. on august 8th, massive landslides hit zhouqu county in gansu province killing more than 1,300 people. >> japan is going to send its self-defense force crews and helicopters to pakistan to provide relief in the wake of the disaster caused by flooding. millions of pakistanis are in desperate need of food, shelter and other aid. the defense ministry sent an advance team to pakistan on thursday to prepare for the deployment of an sdf helicopter unit. the dispatch came on the same day the government decided to send six helicopters and a support staff of more than 200. they'll be helping to transport survivors and relief supplies. the ministry hopes to send the full self-defense force unit as early as next week. heavy rain caused flooding in

pakistan late last month, and the country is struggling to recover. japan's foreign ministry says the disaster has left more than 1,500 people dead and about 4 million without shelter. china's foreign ministry says its top envoy to the six-party talks on pyongyang's nuclear disarmament visited north korea for three days until wednesday. the ministry said on thursday that during the visit, wu dawei met his north korean counterpart kim kye gwan and foreign minister pak ui chun, and discussions focused on how to maintain peace and stability on the korean peninsula and resumption of the six-party talks. with wu's visit, china is believed to have attempted to ease tensions between the two koreas after the u.n. security council ended its discussions on the north's alleged sinking of a south korean warship. the move is seen as china's effort toward resumption of the six-party nuclear talks. however, japan, south korea and the united states are still accusing north korea of

provocative behavior. north korea is also demanding the lifting of international sanctions as a precondition for its return to the talks. north korea announced an investigation is currently under way into a south korean fishing boat that was seized in the sea of japan. the state-run korean central news agency said on thursday that a south korean squid fishing boat was captured on august 8th by a north korean naval patrol vessel. the news agency said the boat with a crew of four koreans and three chinese had intruded into north korea's territorial waters. the boat is believed to have been towed to the port of songjin. however, no other details were made available such as how the crew members were captured, their present location or health condition. south korea has called on the north to quickly release the boat and its crew and explain in detail about the incident. a witness has come forward who saw a north korean air force

plane crash in northeastern china. the small plane entered chinese air space on tuesday and crashed in lianong province, about 150 kilometers from the north korean border. the pilot reportedly died. the witness told nhk what she saw. photographs of the crash site showed no sign the plane caught fire after it hit the ground. there's speculation it may have been running out of fuel. chinese diplomatic officials say a north korean government car went to the crash site on wednesday. investigators in china are in contact with the northcalliens. they're trying to figure out the cause of the accident and why the plane entered chinese air space.

the last american combat troops have left iraq seven years after the u.s.-led invasion. there are growing concerns that withdrawal will worsen security conditions in the country. a u.s. military spokesperson in iraq says the main combat troops moved from iraq to neighboring kuwait on thursday. the pullout happened about two weeks ahead of schedule. the u.s. plans to withdraw several thousand more troops before its august 31st deadline to end the iraqi war. >> as far as getting back to kuwait, one, you know no one else is going to get hurt, and, two, i'm going home. >> 12 months straight being in that vehicle, finally getting out and realizing that this will be the last time i wear that kit in a while is a nice feeling. >> even though five months have passed since parliamentary elections in march, iraq has failed to set up a new administration. extremists have taken advantage of the political confusion to continue their attacks.

the first british coalition government since the second world war came in to office 100 days ago. they have had a good start with a healthy level of public support, but one of the coalition partners, the liberal democratic party is experiencing a loss of supporters. nhk world reports on the latest development. >> reporter: following the election in may this year, the largest and third largest parties, the conservatives and liberal democrat, formed a

coalition government. immediately after its inauguration, prime minister david cameron's government pledged to reduce government spending by roughly $9.7 billion. measures announced included a freeze on civil servant salaries and tax increases. >> we believe this is the right thing to do. i think that's what politics is about, doing the right thing in the national interest even if it's unpopular. >> reporter: these measures won support from much of the british public whose apprehension about the national debt, one of the worst among developed nations, has been heightened by the greek debt crisis. world opinion polls show the approval rating of the conservatives to be stable since the start of the coalition government, the popularity of their coalition partner has fallen by around 5 percentage points. linda jack, a supporter of the liberal democratic party, says the presence of the party suddenly began to diminish immediately after the coalition was established.

she also says that many of the coalition government's measures to tackle the fiscal deficit go against the party's principles, such as the creation of a fair society and the proficient of sound welfare services. >> what i worry about is whether we're actually seeing the liberal democrat philosophy reflected in this so-called partnership. >> reporter: amidst growing criticism from supporters, nick clegg maintains the importance of remaining in the coalition for a full five years. a crucial test will be if he can successfully introduce electoral reform, a key liberal democrat policy. if he cannot, supporters will further question if venturing into the coalition has benefited them in any way. >> even though we are different parties with different ideas and different policies, we've managed to create a set of agreements on what we want to do. i hope people will accept that

we're doing this not because we want to but because we have to. >> reporter: by agreeing to enter into coalition with the conservatives, the liberal democrats help to end 65 years of two-party rule in the uk. now the party's challenge is to make compromises as part of that coalition plus maintaining its own identity and introducing the policies its supporters expe s . andy foord, nhk, london. japan and china have agreed to hold a symposium at the nation's largest trade fair in gaungjo and eradication of pirated products. representatives announced the plan on thursday. they said they reached an agreement with china's commerce ministry to hold a symposium during the spring and autumn

fair in gaungjo. this will be the first symposium on piracy to held joint by by the two countries. the violation of copyrights is rampant in china. copies of dvds can be found even at trade fairs. the delegation says that the symposium aims to provide an opportunity for companies to exchange views with chinese event organizers. japanese companies hope it will prevent pirated goods from being circulated around its neighbor country. preparations had be made to hold the symposium early next year. a japanese court has ordered major electronics firm sony to pay a former employee some $60,000 for technology he helped invent while working for the company. hidehiro kume claimed that he had not been fully compensated for his invention and demanded about $1.2 million from sony. he said that his data scanning technology improved sony's

popular game consoles and reaped a profit of $8.2 million for the electronics giant. on thursday, the intellectual property high court recognized that kume had contributed to the invention and helped generate a profit for sony. the high court ruling reversed the decision of a lower court. kume says he's grateful that the court recognized his contribution. japanese retailer parco recently returned to the singapore market by setting up a giant shopping mall. besides bringing japanese flair, the firm is also investing in singapore's young designers. we have more. >> reporter: parco is a legendary company that created new fashions in the 1970s and '80s in japan. the giant has gone back to singapore with more in the commercial area. it's one of parco's biggest malls outside japan. it's a symbol of its confidence in the region.

visitors and shoppers were impressed with the new addition to singapore's shopping paradise. singapore's gross domestic product is about $40,000. that's among the highest in asian cities. the high income enable many young singaporeans to pursue their zeal for fashion. and it's a market segment that parco is targeting. >> past experience tells us that we have another chance to expand in a new form. the fast growing asian market is our new outlet in singapore. >> reporter: working with local trade associations, the singapore government's policy of attracting foreign firms also played a key role in this endeavor. >> so our government can commit

resources to help associations to, in a way, help enlarge the market for our local designers. i think that's where. >> reporter: another target is the local talent in singapore. a highly successful incubator program has been brought from japan. >> reporter: 25-year-old jennifer li is one person who has benefited. jennifer had no formal training or degree in fashion. all she had was a passion. she has now made her dream come true by opening a fashion store. >> so having a store and having this wonderful opportunity is really a dream come true for me. it's something that i never expected to achieve so fast.

but i'm very lucky. >> reporter: in japan parco's success is believed to be due to its care in founding and educating its own designers and shoppers. ♪ in singapore, parco arranged a fashion show for young designers right in the heart of the mall. parco believes young designers like jennifer could strike it out on their own with this kind of opportunity. with this show, jennifer made her debut in boosting her own bra brand. >> i hope that everybody will like my brand and get to know my brand, and also that i really hope to establish amuse as an

international brand. >> if we are successful in creating professional designers, that will also enhance our company's power. i know it's a tough task, but it's a challenge we are ekts si excited to take on. >> reporter: parco made its inroad into singapore with a strategy, low prices and a world class branding power. it sets its sights. nhk world, singapore. n's department stores experienced declining sales for the 29th consecutive month in july, but the pace of the fall was much slower. the japan department stores association says sales at 263 stores nationwide totaled 600 billion yen last month or about

$7 billion. that was 1.4% less than the same month last year. the heat wave that has gripped the nation since late july boosted sales of food and summer clothes. the gains were somewhat offset by sluggish sales of luxury goods such as jewelry. the association says although the sweltering weather helped boost julys a numbers, sales of autumn clothes could be down in the heat wave continues. a japanese automotive service company has successfully converted an old gasoline engine vehicle into one powered by an electric plug-in motor. the kyoto-based company unveiled its prototype model on thursday using a 1983 exact car. four auto mechanics were able to change the engine in only two days. the company also said that a single eight-hour charge if a household electrical outlet allows their vehicle to travel 40 kilometers at a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour. the conversion costs $16,000 for

the electric motor and batteries. it wants to cut the costs in half by working with electric motor and battery manufacturers. japan's small and medium-sized businesses are feeling the squeeze as the domestic market continues to shrink. now they're increasingly looking abroad to survive, but they're not doing it alone. today we take a closer look at how a government agency is boosting their bid for businesses overseas. >> reporter: the japan external trade organization, jetro, receives government subsidies to research and promote international trade for japanese businesses. five years ago it began a project to help small and medium-sized firms begin exporting their products abroad. at the core of this project are 15 experts with extensive experience in export-related operations at leading trading houses and manufacturers.

hiroshi hiyakaw a is one of them. for more than 40 years he worked for a major trading company. since april last year, he's been in charge of environment related firms. >> small and medium-sized firms are suffering because major manufacturers moved production overseas. now many small firms are being forced to expand abroad as well. >> reporter: hiyakawa examined about 50 companies per year to discover which among them uses superior technology to produce original products. this small mold manufacturer in tokyo has only 12 employees. its orders for molds have been falling for more than a decade now. to boost demand, the company

developed a machine that makes small plastic parts used mainly in mobile phones and cameras. the machine went on sale five years ago. a conventional machine leaves 95% plastic waste, but since the firm's machine is 120th the size of a regular one and meant for small parts production, it leaves no waste. that makes it more environmentally friendly. but the company has sold only 130 units so far. >> there should be a market for a small machine that produces no waste, but it's taking too long for it to gain market traction. >> reporter: hiyakawa checks not only the firm's technology but also its personnel and finances. jetro decides which firms to support based on research like this.

>> helping companies export their products isn't enough. our ultimate goal is to help them until they develop their business and can ship products on their own. >> reporter: currently, hiyakawa is helping 11 companies export their products. one of them is a maker of poultry farming equipment near tokyo. the company is trying to export a device that produces fertilizer by helping chicken droppings ferment. the domestic market for such a device is saturated. using jetro's network that connects 72 offices worldwide, hiyakawa studied poultry industry condition in various conditions. based on his research, hiyakawa encouraged the company to take

part in an international stock farm fair held in india in february. accompanied by hiyakawa, the company representatives negotiated with many buyers at the fair. as a result, talks are now under way with companies in three southeast asian countries. >> they say they can't sign the contract as is. >> reporter: hiyakawa helped draw up the contract and is advising the firm on how to negotiate favorable terms. >> we owe what we are to mr. hiyakawa. he's supporting and guiding us with his extensive experience and knowledge. >> reporter: with the help of jetro, about 100 small and medium-sized businesses have begun exporting their products. and as they look to boost profit, it's only a matter of time before efforts to help them access overseas markets play a

crucial role in japan's economic growth. let's take a look at the latest market figures. here's the weather forecast with saatchi oechy.

hi there. welcome to your world weather outlook. here is a look at satellite shots for east asia. we're still seeing a lot of clouds here stretched out across china. and there's plenty of moisture associated with these clouds. of course rain has been falling pretty steadily here for the past few days. and for the next few days we're still expecting that rain to continue getting a little bit heavier in areas like the northeast as well as for across portion of the sichuan province. 72-hour forecast showing accumulations hitting as much as 180 millimeters, that is or more, so that definitely ups the risk of flooding as well as landslide. wide area expecting rain to continue. to do stay on the watch for that. elsewhere today we'll see showers continue to impact the philippines as well as the indochina peninsula. for the philippines a tropical low so that could induce heavier downpours perhaps gusty weather as well.

japan for the most part will stay in the try. tokyo with a high of 32 today. a little bit cooler than the extreme heat we've been seeing earlier this week, but southern portions of japan will definitely see more of that very warm conditions, extreme heat continue. also looking pretty hot across shanghai. 36 for you. and then 38 in chongqing. strong heat for you as well. now for the americas, looking at a long frontal line, two, rather, over the united states. and this one in the south has been pretty persistent. it hasn't moved a whole lot this whole week. it's going to continue to produce showers. here taps outlook for the next couple of days. still seeing showers continuing to impact the deep south. especially on the gulf coast states. so looking pretty wet into the weekend even. now for the midwest, rain will quickly move through for you. head up towards the east coast. so luckily it won't last for too long. as for highs today, strong heat moving in through the mid to

lower mississippi valley as well as the southern plain. houston expecting 38 for your highs. tulsa, very warm conditions, heat advisories have been issued for this region. do stay on the watch for that. take care if you are going to be out and about. finally getting a look at europe. and there is a new frontal line coming in towards the british isles that will sweep through, bringing showers along with it. quickly moving in towards the scandinavian peninsula. southern portions of norway, part of sweden as well as denmark will feet that moisture. otherwise looking pretty nice for continental europe. a couple showers pop up here across the mediterranean, but that's about it. the rain out east, baltic states as well as in towards western russia, that starts pulling away. looking drier on friday. as for temperatures, 17 degrees in moscow. take a look at that. big dip the past few days. it's likely going to stay cool into the next week or so.

nice relief from all the strong heat we've been seeing here. on the other hand, though, areas like vienna coming in at 25, 30 degrees even for paris. central western portions of europe will see warm-up happening for the next couple of days. that's a look at your weather for now. here is your three-day outlook.

that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo.

thanks for joining us on nhk world.