it's 11:00 a.m. here in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. welcome to this edition of "newsline." ministerial-level talks of the tenth conference of parties to the u.n. convention on biological diversity has started. cop10 has been held for nine days in nagoya, central japan. developing countries and developed nations remain at odds over setting a global target for preserving biodiversity and

crafting new international rules on sharing the commercial benefits derived from genetic resources. ministerial-level officials from more than 110 countries will try to break the deadlock. informal discussions will be held alongside the working-level talks. japanese environment minister ryu matsumoto, who chairs cop10, told nhk about his determination to achieve a breakthrough. participants at the u.n. conference on biological diversity got a touch of hollywood on tuesday. actor harrison ford attended a reception at the conference, aiming to get political leaders to make the commitment to preserving biodiversity around the world.

>> we are the problem. we are the solution. >> ford has been working for more than 15 years with conservation international, an environmental ngo, to promote global biodiversity. as the group's vice chair ford has been widely recognized for his environmental work including launching a campaign to save rainforests. before the reception he spoke with nhk. >> nice to meet you. >> my pleasure to meet you. >> how are you? >> i'm great. i've always loved nature, from my early childhood, although i grew up in a city. i had the opportunity to -- as a boy scout, i was a nature counselor, and i was always interested in nature. the work that's being done here is critical to the protection of nature.

we're at a very dangerous point in losing many of the wonderful resources of nature, and the services that nature provides to human beings. the people that are most affected by the loss of biodiversity, the threat to the natural world, are those people that live in the rural poor developing countries. those are the people that live directly amongst the natural world, where their food and their sustenance comes directly from nature and they're the ones who are suffering among, they're in the most precarious positions, but we're feeling

even in urban environments we're beginning to feel the effects of the loss of biodiversity. >> do you think it's effective that a person like you, a big star, keeps calling about environment issues? >> well, you know, i think it can be useful. not because i'm a big star, but because i'm involved just like anyone else i have no more value than any other person but if we all work together we can have an effect. it takes all of us working together to get things done. and in other news, a volcano has erupted on the indonesian island of java, killing 15 people and forcing many to flee their homes. mount merapi in central java erupted several times on tuesday evening. volcanic rock, or volcanic smoke was seen rising to a height of

about 1,500 meters. a military official in charge of a search unit told local media that 14 bodies were found in a village on the south side of the volcano that was hit by a pyroclastic flow of hot gas and rock. a three-month-old baby died in a hospital from breathing difficulties. 37 people were brought to the hospital with burns and other injuries. the 2,978-meter mountain is one of indonesia's most active volcanoes. increased activity forced the indonesian government to raise its alert to the highest level on monday. local authorities have issued an evacuation advisory for about 20,000 people. >> translator: i couldn't see the eruption because it was covered by thick clouds. a siren went off, and observation posts kept sending signals. we evacuated most residents near the slopes. >> reporter: mount merapi last

erupted in 2006, killing two people. an eruption in 1994 claimed more than 16 lives. and a massive eruption in 1930 left more than 1,000 people dead. a tsunami caused by a powerful earthquake has hit indonesian islands off sumatra, killing 112 people and leaving 502 missing. the damage is expected to widen as the situation in some areas is not clear yet. the magnitude 7.7 quake occurred on monday night, with its epicenter off sumatra. a three-meter wave reached the mentawai islands. about 2,000 families have been made homeless. communication networks are down. local authorities say they're trying to gather information on 13 villages in the islands. the state government is arranging a rescue operation and the transportation of aid supplies. and now let's take a look at the latest in business news. here's ines matsuyama. >> thank you very much,

catherine. hello. on the tokyo foreign exchange the dollar is rising on wednesday morning as investors are buying back the greenback to lock in profits. the dollar is currently trading at 81.61-62 while the euro's trading at 112-90-95. sources say investors are selling the yen as caution remains for a possible currency market intervention by japan's monetary authorities. now to stocks. share prices rebounded on the tokyo stock exchange on wednesday morning following the dollar's overnight gains against the yen. the nikkei 225 ended the morning session at 9,441, up 0. 7%. expo export-related issues led the advance, including autos and precision machinery. and here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark fen-year japanese government bond. in other asian markets, hong kong's hang seng opened a quarter percent lower, is currently up 0.2%. the shanghai key index for major

blue chips is up 0.3%, and in shenzhen the sse composite is up 0.6%. made in china may no longer be the story for many clothing firms. japanese retailers are expanding their supplier bases beyond china following a series of delays in the delivery of garments. supermarket chain aeon buys some 80% of the apparel it carries at its stores from china. the company says it recently had trouble importing product as planned. aeon president okada expressed concern that china may be intentionally restricting exports to japan, as in the case of rare earth minerals. he said he plans to diversify the firm's suppliers to southeast asian countries. that's to reduce dependence on china within two years to roughly half the total clothing it purchases. the operator fuji brand clothing also plans to boost procurement of supplies from southeast asia. the firm says there have been

delays in production in china due worker and wage disputes. the fast retailing retailer says it is also stepping up efforts to find suppliers outside of china. japan armz undergoing corporate rehabilitation has seen its six-month operating profits improve from the same period last year due mainly to the strong japanese currency against the dollar. j.a.l. announced on tuesday that its operating profit from the april to september period was some $1.3 billion. in the same six month last year the airline recorded about $1.2 billion in losses. the sharp turnaround is mainly drew to a drastic drop in fuel costs thanks to the stronger yen and to cost-cutting measures including those for personal expenditures and rent for real estate. the airline will ask for more of its employees to apply for voluntary retirement. jal wants to cut its workforce by 270.

britain's economic slowdown in the third quarter as concerns about the future linger for the u.s. and europe. the british office of national statistics announced on tuesday the country's gross domestic product rose 0.8% from july through september. it's the fourth straight quarter on expansion but the pace lowered from the second quarter, which has posted an increase of 1.2%. the slowdown was due to poor corporate output, mainly in the construction industry, and sluggish growth in the retail sector. the figure for the second quarter was pushed up temporarily due to a recovery in construction-related investment, which has suffered from bd weather in winter. it says the pace of economic recovery has not slowed down. however, the future of the british economy remains uncertain. the number of unemployed is expected to increase, especially among public sector workers. this is due to the big cuts in government spending that were announced recently. as another factor to dampen economic activity, the

value-added tax will go up next year. u.s. home prices slowed in august as support for a home buyer's tax credit ran out in the housing market. the standard & poor's case shiller index showed prices rose 1.7% in 20 major u.s. cities from the year before. the reading was sharply down from the 3.2% gain in july and much weaker than the 2.1% increase that economists will expected. david blitzer, chairman of the index committee, called the report disappointing. the housing market appears to have stabilized at new lows. he sadded that this time it did not seem that any of the markets were hanging on to the temporary momentum caused by the home buyer's tax credits. japan's sluggish economy makes it tough on new graduates to land jobs. but if they've got what it takes, chinese students who graduate in japan can find themselves highly sought after, especially by smaller firms.

>> reporter: this screen manufacturer on the outskirts of to tokyo has 50 employees. with the domestic market shrinking the company hopes to expand sales overseas. so it hired chinese employee ei hing zho in april. she came to japan two years ago after graduating from a university in china. she then earned a degree here in japan in business administration. she's also proficient in english and japanese. >> translator: i want to use my skills and knowledge here. i'd like to facilitate more overseas business connections and boost international sales. >> reporter: akira ogawa, president of the company, initially planned to hire japanese graduates but couldn't find any candidates he felt could connect with the global

market. >> translator: it's very hard for medium and small businesses to attract top-level japanese graduates. talented japanese students have a tendency to set their sights only on the bigger firms. >> reporter: zhou is already playing an important role in the company. two months ago she handled an inquiry from a company in south korea. she ran the sales negotiations smoothly and is expected to finalize the contract soon. >> translator: i want to have comprehensive knowledge of our products and be able to handle even tough negotiations. >> reporter: meanwhile, some companies are hoping to entrust their business operations to their chinese employees not just with overseas clients but with domestic ones too. this electrical equipment manufacturer in osaka, western japan, started hiring new chinese graduates four years

ago. now, out of 50 employees, 1 in 6 is chinese. >> translator: in these global times nationality and gender are irrelevant. also, if they study and live in japan, chinese students become familiar with hardship, making them tenacious and motivated. >> reporter: ten chu was hired here in april and she now works in the sales department. after graduating with a degree in economics from a japanese university chu decided to stay on and apply her skills. she's virtually fluid in japanese but says she still finds the use of the honor ific form challenging. despite practicing every day she still cannot use the form naturally. >> translator: it's really difficult to use the honorific in japanese. i practice with my stuffed

animals. i pretend they're my clients. >> reporter: she visits a regional bank with her manager to sell energy-efficient lights. >> translator: this is our company's proposal on the l.e.d. lights. >> reporter: trying her best at honorific japanese, zhu explains how much money can be saved by changing to her company's l.e.d. lights. the bank manager is impressed with her zeal and says he'll consider a purchase. >> translator: i gave her 8 0 ot of 100 for being honest and direct. i look forward to when she gets the remaining 20%. >> translator: i'll keep trying my best.

>> reporter: last year about 6,300 chinese graduates were hired by japanese companies. this is triple the number of eight years ago. as japanese companies go more global, chinese graduates are becoming an increasingly important asset. next for you is a recap of the latest market figures. ♪

>> and that's all for now in biz news. people often associate africa with widespread poverty and armed conflict. but overlook its growing economy. this year alone it's expected to grow by 5%. but the development puts the same kind of strain on africa's environment as felt by industrialized nations. nhk world's yu kobayashi has more. >> reporter: lake victoria lies in eastern africa. it is the continent's largest lake, bordering on three countries -- uganda, kenya, and tanzania. a large variety of wild animals lives in the surrounding area. but the lake has become badly polluted.

the uganda portion suffers the most. the number of fish has dropped, and the fishermen earn 1/6 of what they used to. >> translator: recently, i haven't caught any fish and lost so much income i can't fish anymore. >> reporter: many brave the pollution or rapid industrialization. uganda's economy has been growing by about 7% a year. factories are springing up in the area around lake victoria. many don't have a wastewater disposal system. research shows that 10 tons of untreated waste water runs into the lake every day.

but when we visited the factory, the people we spoke to denied dumping toxic chemicals into the lake. >> okay. so what goes there is just water. just pure water. it's not supposed to go straight there. it's supposed to continue with the drainage water. >> okay. >> to some extent. >> reporter: at the same time uganda's government hesitates to get tough. despite laws to protect the environment, the government sees factories as helping the economy. >> if you have very high punitive measures, we are going to have a flight of investors to our neighboring countries. >> reporter: meanwhile, concerned residents spoke up at

the meeting held by a local environment group. >> it is received by people living in the slum areas which are down in the valleys. so we are getting a lot of diseases. >> the investors, they are after the money. they do what they want. now it is we the citizen. >> reporter: others worry that standing up to the corporations would put their jobs at risk. since the companies bring work to the area. the environmental group urged the people to join forces and to put a stop to further damage. >> our environment is being degraded. then we are not serious and we are doing disservice to

ourselves, to our children, our grandchildren, and the next generation to be. >> reporter: africa faces the same challenge as developing nations, encouraging economic growth while protecting the environment. ryu kobayashi, nhk world. >> a lot to think about there. well, in other news, myanmar's state-run television has reported on the cyclone that hit the country's western coast late last week. it says 27 people are dead and more than 15 others missing. the report on tuesday said cyclone giri damaged more than 3,800 buildings. footage shows houses with roofs blown off and others damaged by falling trees. high-level military officials giving encouragement to people in devastated areas and the airlifting of relief supplies. myanmar's scheduled to hold its first general election in 20 years on november 7th.

observers say the tv coverage is apparently aimed at demonstrating that the military government can respond well to such disasters. the country was struck by a powerful cyclone in 2008 that left nearly 140,000 dead or missing. the i.n. world food program is urging the international community to help millions of people in pakistan left homeless by the july floods. they also urgently need food supplies. speaking to nhk during her tokyo visit, wfp executive director josette shirin said pakistan's flood-hit regions are dealing with serious conditions. >> we still have people that don't have homes. we have 7 million people completely homeless and displaced. >> last july record rainfall in northwestern pakistan triggered floods in the central and southern regions. authorities say the deluge has left nearly 2,000 people dead and 20 million others affected.

shirin also said mudslides are making it difficult for farmers to plant crops. she added pakistan needs another $300 million for food aid. she warned desperate xhujcommuns may turn to islamic extremists for help if the international community doesn't step up aid efforts. >> we need much more support. in fact, even though there's been tremendous generosity of the world and japan has been very generous it's going to require even more support from the world over a longer period of time . hello again. welcome to your world weather update. now, in east asia we have been maintaining an eye on this tropical cyclone here, and it's still guwith us, getting even better organized as it heads

toward the north. right now, not moving too much slowly heading in a northerly direction, but it does remain a strong typhoon with packing winds over 140 kilometers per hour, gusts getting up to almost 200. so already packing very strong winds. pretty far out at sea right now but it is going to gradually get closer to the southern islands of japan first, then forecast path is taking it towards mainland japan, possibly making landfall here or at least likely going to affect the area with stronger winds as well as rain later on this week, so definitely a path that we will keep a close eye on throughout the next few days. now, for the next 24 hours, we are already seeing the outer rain bands affecting the southern islands of japan, including okinawa. more rain could come in as that system approaches, so we'll just stay on the watch for flooding as well as mudslide risks here. across china, pretty dry conditions. little bit of rain to the southwest but that does ease off. dry also for the korean

peninsula and japan even as well. today should look a little bit drier but that's not going to last for too long. by tonight we're going to see a lot more moisture come in across the pacific side of the country. now, across the southeast of asia, the philippines, indochina peninsula still looking at ongoing downpours. now northern thailand has been dealing with some record flooding issues. looks like that's still continuing. here are some of the latest images we've got coming in. you can see roads still pretty heavily flooded, buildings, cars submerged, rescue operations going on by boat. hundreds of thousands of residents have been affected. already the death toll has reached 56, so very serious situation. relief efforts are under way but not good here but luckily a little bit drier today for northeastern sections but really, the outer edges of the indochina peninsula to the south, very wet picture indeed and that will include parts of

indonesia, including areas like java and sumatra which were hit by the tsunami as well as dealing with those volcanic eruptions. here's a look at highs for wednesday. 15 in tokyo, 12 for seoul and 13 degrees in beijing. so some pretty chilly conditions again today. now, across the united states, big picture here is going to be this storm system in the center here. in fact, in both central canada as well as central united states with winds, rain, snow for northern areas, and then frontal boundary here will produce likely some stronger thundershowers and governments over the course of tonight. as for the highs today, still looking quite pleasant for the east coast. 23 in new york and the same also for d.c., getting up to 27 in atlanta but definitely a killer picture here, winnipeg, 5 degrees only and then 13 in seattle. 12 degrees for vancouver. all right. here now is your three-day

outlook. ♪ ♪

and that concludes this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we'll be back at the top of the next hour.