hello there. glad you could join us on this edition of "newsline." it's wednesday, august 25th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. here are your updates. chinese state media says a plane with 96 people on board failed a landing and burst into flames in china killing at least 43 people. the remaining 53 have been hospitalized. xinhua news agency says the accident involving a henan

airlines plane occurred in yichun city around 9:30 p.m. local time on tuesday. the airline says the flight left the capital of harbin from yichun carrying 91 passengers and 5 crew. local tv footage shows parts of a broken fuselage and firefighters trying to extinguish the fire. the head of the u.s. pacific command says the u.s. military is bracing for more possible acts of provocation by north korea as the country seems to be preparing for a successor to its leader kim jong-il. in an interview with nhk in tokyo on tuesday, admiral robert willard suggested that the sinking of a south korean warship in the yellow sea in march this year is linked to the succession process for north's ailing leader. he noted that north korea created prov o kative acts in a

similar way when kim jong-il took over power from his father kim il sung. >> now, the leader in north korea's in ill health and he's named his youngest son to be his successor. we believe that cheonan may have been an incident associated with that succession. >> he revealed that u.s. forces are on alert in the run-up to next month's meeting of top delegates of the north's ruling korean workers party. the meeting is widely seen as a move toward naming kim jong-il's third son as his successor. a memorial service was held at a tokyo temple for koreans who died during or shortly after world war ii while serving the former japanese military. the service was held at yutenji temple on tuesday for people from the korean peninsula who

died in japan, southeast asia and china as servicemen and civilian employees of the japanese military. the temple keeps the remains of 702 koreans that have not been returned to their homeland in the 65 years since the war. the remains include those who died on a japanese transport ship that sank off maizuru, kyoto prefecture, shortly after the war. on the tokyo stock exchange, the nikkei index closed below 9000 for the first time in 16 months due to the yen's strength. the key average ended at 8995, down 121 points from monday. the index last finished below

the 9000 level on may 1st last year. the broader topix index of all first section issues slid seven points to close at 817, renewing its year-to-date low. investors dumped a wide range of issues, mainly export-related shares. investors are worried that the yen's strength may erode the revenues of japan's export-dependent companies. >> noda said the prime minister will meet the bank of japan governor when necessary, but declined to say whether the government will intervene in the market to stop the yen's rise. on the new york foreign

exchange, the dollar sank to the mid-83 yen range on tuesday. this marks the lowest level in 15 years. yen buying increased from the morning on concerns about the u.s. economic outlook. the surge gathered momentum following the release of u.s. housing data, which was worse than expected. the dollar briefly fell to 83.58 yen, marking its lowest level since june 1995. market sources say yen buying is accelerating due to the widespread view that neither the japanese government nor the bank of japan has taken concrete measures to halt the yen's rise. they say the yen is strengthening against not only the dollar and euro, but also against most other currencies. the chilean government plans to ask for help from the u.s. space agency to provide

psychological care for trapped miners until their rescue which could be four months away. on monday, nutritional supplements, water and medicine were sent down to the shelter through a ten centimeter diameter tube in which a communication line was set up. doctors also sent down questionnaires to check the miners' health conditions. the government plans to ask for support from nasa. the space agency has expertise in psychological care for people confined for long periods of time in small spaces such as the international space station. the 33 miners were trapped underground when a tunnel collapsed in a mine near copiapo, northern chile, on august 5th. they were confirmed to be alive in a 700-meter-deep shelter on sunday, 17 days after the collapse. a rescue team plans to drill a hole large enough to lift the miners to the surface. in japanese government plans to introduce plain

language to a national certification examination to help foreigners who aim to become nurses in japan overcome the language barrier. over the last two years, 455 people have come to japan from indonesia and the philippines in the hopes of becoming full-fledged nurses under economic partnership agreements, but only three of them have passed the national certification examination due to the difficulty of the japanese language. with the advice of experts, the health ministry has decided to replace many of the difficult technical terms on the exam with words that are easier to understand. the ministry also decided to provide pronunciation guides for difficult kanji or chinese characters and to include the english words for japanese names of diseases. those who wish to continue to work as nurses in japan have to pass the examination within three years. the health ministry hopes the new examination will help reduce

the difficult challenges facing the nurses. toyota motor has developed a special device that makes its noiseless hybrid vehicles a bit noisier. the aim is to alert pedestrians to the presence of the cars as they approach. because hybrid vehicles make virtually no noise when they are running at low speed, japan's transport ministry has been concerned that they pose a danger to pedestrians who cannot hear them, so it asked automakers to come up with systems to address that issue. the device announced by toyota on tuesday consists of a speaker that can be installed behind the front left turn signal on its prius hybrid. it emits a sound when the vehicle is moving at 25 kilometers per hour or slower. like with a regular car, the volume changes according to the speed. the sound is almost undetectable from inside the vehicle and can be switched off when necessary,

such as when driving through residential areas late at night. toyota says it will start selling the new devices from august 30th. including installation charges, they will cost about $230 each. summers in japan usually begin to cool down by mid-august, but not this year. a record number of people, more than 40,000, have gone to hospitals where they have received treatment for heatstroke. the fire and disaster management agency released a preliminary report on tuesday on the number of cases from may 31st to august 22nd. it says more than 41,000 people have gone to the hospital, the highest number since record-taking began in 2008. tokyo had the largest figure. the report says 145 patients died soon after arriving in the hospital. heatstroke cases tend to decrease after mid-august, but their numbers in western japan this year are higher than in

july because of the prolonged heat spell. the agency says the high temperatures are expected to continue. this august marked the 65th anniversary of the end of world war ii. ceremonies were held across japan. but one event in particular stood out from the rest. it was a concert led by a renowned jazz player who lived through the war. his goal is to change the way people remember that time by getting them to play a powerful swing classic. >> 81-year-old is one of japan's top jazz musician. he's performed hundreds of time. but his latest show was especially significant for him. here he's rehearsing with a brass band mainly of teenagers for a jazz concert aimed at

spreading the message of peace across japan. >> i hope the jazz song "sing sing sing" will be played in august every year. >> reporter: nearly 60 years have passed since kitamura debuted as a jazz performer. his inspiration came at the end of world war ii. on august 15th, 1945, japan surrendered to the allies after years of fierce battle. kitamura was 16 years old. >> the war was over, but i had no idea what would happen. all the people, young and old, were in despair. >> reporter: amid the post war chaos, kitamura often heard jazz music on the radio. it changed his life.

>> at the time, jazz cheered me up very much. i was really impressed by the power of music. i can recall how i felt back then. >> reporter: people across japan remember the war dead and pray for peace every year on august 15th. kitamura wants them to look forward on that day, not back. he uses jazz to convey his message. two years ago that message got through to the people of minami soma city. they invited kitamura to come and play on august 15th. he chose a standard jazz number "sing sing sing" for the concert. he led a band of skilled musicians and ordinary citizens

patiently giving instructions to people who had never before played jazz music. >> you lose the rhythm if you overstretch yourself to try to swing. it will be okay if you just play according to the melody. >> why not play the benny goodman part? >> reporter: kitamura picked a young girl to play the coveted benny goodman solo. he put more emphasis on having the band enjoy playing music together than on making sure the performance was perfect. after one of the rehearsals, hee japan. >> during the war, military police cracked down on jazz, saying it was the music of the enemy. it was a harsh time. >> reporter: kitamura and the band held their final practice the day before august 15th.

then it was time for the big show. ♪ ♪ >> yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. ♪ ♪

>> thank you. yeah. ♪ [ applause ] >> on the day the war ended, japan became peaceful. let's celebrate this anniversary with jazz. i guess that's his message. >> it's great to get so many people together. anyone who can play a musical instrument can join it. i was moved. i'm going to commit myself to continuing this event. >> reporter: kitamura has started a nationwide effort to

distribute specially arranged scores of "sing sing sing" for beginners. he's hoping more cities and towns in japan will stage a similar concert on august 15th next year. microorganisms play a crucial role in making some medicines and cosmetics. now developing nations want a larger share of the profits. >> reporter: video taken by japanese researchers looking for new kinds of microorganisms. nomadic mongolians raise a variety of livestock including yaks and goats. the research team checks local foods for new microorganisms not found in japan. altogether, they have collected about 230 different kinds,

including lactic acid bacteria. the beveragemaker planned the expedition with the help of an independent scientific research organization. the company sells more than 900 million bottles a year of a drink that contains lactic bacteria. the company wanted to search for new microorganisms outside japan because of intense competition. a microorganism discovery could lead to a new hit product. researchers are looking into effects and flavors that can be produced by making microorganisms from mongolia. >> one kind of lactic acid bacteria we found in mongolia is fundamentally different from other kinds. we can use it in a variety of ways. using this bacteria specie, we

hope to make a product that is good for the body. a drink that people haven't experienced yet. >> reporter: but as the market has grown, so has friction between developing and developed countries. many developing nations have a wealth of biological resources including undiscovered microorganisms. researchers from companies based in developed countries find some of these new microorganisms there. their companies use them in making products and profits. the companies give back a percentage of the profits, but the developing countries say the amount is not enough. the tension between developed and developing countries hampers the beveragemaker's operations in mongolia. the company is looking for other countries that will allow the team to take microorganisms to japan. the number of countries is

getting lower. >> reporter: there are other problems related to making new products with microorganisms transported from mongolia. the japanese company formerly agreed to give money goal ya a percentage of profits from products which use the microorganisms. but the exact amount is not stipulated because there are no international regulations that deal with the issue. >> there's no clear consensus about how to settle on the distribution of profits. so using microorganisms is a big risk for developers. unless something changes, i'm

afraid we might find ourselves in a position where we won't be able to develop new products. >> in october, the tenth conference of the parties to the convention on biological diversity or c.o.p.-10, will take place in nagoya, japan. the conference provides a chance for industrialized countries and developing nations to exchange opinions and possibly set new international standards. all right. let's take a look at those market figures.

hi there. welcome to your world weather update. well increase asia we've been keeping an eye on tropical storm minju. it has weakened considerably. but it still maintains its strength as a tropical storm. it continues to bring very strong to damaging winds to the area as well as torrential rains. now, flooding rains have been reported in northern vietnam as well and again in the next 24 hours we're looking at really heavy showers to continue. more than 100 millimeters is

expected in the region in the already saturated region, i should say. but also across much of indochina and into southern china as well looking at heavy rains over the next couple of days as well as unstable conditions. taking a look at the bigger picture, the philippine, too, is going to be contending with heavy bursts of rain today, especially in luzon. there's low pressure that's gathering strength. that could be heading into southern japan tomorrow bringing heavy showers. to the north, this frontal line dominates much of the region bringing some quite heavy showers to north korea and northern japan today. but that's going to be weakening, but south korea and the east coast of china looking at that rain to intensify into your thursday. just to the south of beijing here. looking at your temperatures today, 28 degrees in beijing, still hot in shanghai, 34. and also quite steamy across japan as well, 34 in tokyo. in north america, we've still got this very unsettled conditions up in central canada.

it looks like it will stay very stormy and very wet for you up in northern manitoba during the overnight hours. another wet day in british columbia as well. and down in the south looks like more rain will continue down in the florida peninsula. it has been raining here quite a bit, so flooding could be an issue. additional rain will fall in southern mexico as well. this is due to tropical storm frank. it is getting a bit more energy as it goes, but it does remain off shore and it will be moving away from mexico as well over the next few days. temperature wise, stays hot down in the south for places like houston. phoenix as well coming in at 42. and los angeles is going to be way above average. 35 degrees and very warm in seattle. 27 degrees. finally, let's take a look at europe then. to the north of scandinavia, stormy weather will persist throughout the day. it is moving very, very slowly. it will continue to bring very strong winds as well as heavy rain.

flooding is a concern here. then ahead of this system, the frontal line is going to be bringing some thundershowers to western russia, belarus and up in the mountains of the alpine region as well. british isles looking at this heavy rain to move on through from the atlantic. it looks like that heavy rain will be coming into london today. cooling down as well. 19 degrees for your daytime high, while it will stay hot down in the south of greece. 34 in madrid and kiev. here ta here's the extended forecast.

taking a look at our top stories this hour, chinese state

media says a plane with 96 people on board failed a landing and burst into flames in china killing at least 43 people. the remaining 53 have been hospitalized. xinhua news agency says the accident involving a henan airlines plane occurred at an airport in yichun city, heilongjiang province on tuesday. the plane left the provincial capital of harbin for yichun shortly before the accident carrying 91 passengers and 5 crew members. local tv footage shows parts of a broken fuselage and firefighters trying to extinguish the fire. the head of the u.s. pacific command says the u.s. military is bracing for more possible acts of provocation by north korea as the country seems to be preparing for successor to its leader kim jong-il. in an interview with nhk in tokyo on tuesday, admiral robert

willard suggested that the sinking of a south korean warship in the yellow sea in march this year is linked to the succession process for the north's ailing leader. he noted that north korea repeated provocative acts in a similar way when kim jong-il took over power from his father kim il sung. >> now, that the leader in north korea's in ill health and he's named his youngest son to be his successor. we believe that cheonan may have been an incident associated with that succession. >> he revealed that u.s. forces are on alert in the run-up to next month's meeting of top delegates of the north's ruling korean workers party. the meeting is widely seen as a move toward naming kim jong-il's third son as his successor. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." glad you could join us. i'm catherine kobayashi in

tokyo. we'll be back at the top of the next hour. hope you join us again then.