hello and welcome to "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. a chinese foreign ministry official says it may now be difficult to hold summit talks with japan in vietnam. the meeting was scheduled for friday evening. china's state run news agency quotes assistant foreign minister hu zhengyue as saying japan made untrue statements about talks between the two countries' foreign ministers. they met in the vietnamese

capital hanoi earlier on friday. hu said the japanese move ruined the atmosphere for the leaders from the two sides to meet. he added that the japanese side should take full responsibility for any consequences that arise. the two countries had earlier agreed that prime minister naoto kan would hold talks on the sidelines of the os onmeetings with the chinese foreign minister. during friday's talk he says japan made incorrect statements about china's position. the islands are effectively under japanese control. hu also expressed displeasure about the issue of the islands being taken up at japan u.s. foreign minister talks in hawaii earlier this week. the summit talks would have been the first official bilateral summit since last month's maritime collisions near the senkaku islands in the east china sea that resulted in strained relations. besides the issue of the

islands, the japanese and chinese foreign ministers discussed china's rare earth exports and the stalled plan for joint gas field or gas field development in the east china sea. maehara told jiechi japan wants china to resume negligenotiatio a treaty to build gas fields. young said china will try to create the necessary environment so the gas field talks can be held. he repeat there had is no problem with china drilling in its own territorial waters. maehara also expressed japan's concern over china's restriction of rare earth metal exports. he said the issue affects not only the japanese and global economies, but china's as well. jieng responded that china has no intention of using it as a bargaining tool. he says the project is aimed at protecting the environment and managing resources.

he said china is willing to hold more talks. the opening ceremony for a shopping mall was held in china on friday one month behind schedule. the mall began operations in late september but the opening event was postponed due to worsen is japan-china relations. the mall president and city officials attended the ribbon cutting ceremony. the mall with a 75,000 scare meter commercial area is the japanese retailing group's second-largest shopping center in china following one in beijing. the mall has a large supermarket, about 130 shops selling clothing and other goods and a cinema complex.

a japanese destroyer equipped with an air defense system has successfully intercepted a missile in a test of hawaii. that means japan's anti-missile shield is almost fully operational. the kiroshima was the laj to stage an interceptor trial. guided by radar, the sm-3 shut down the warhead at an altitude of more than 100 kilometers. the japanese defense ministry says the sea-based missile shield of the four dedestroys wi will become operational as early as november. the japan's prime minister says it will maintain its support of u.s. bases at the growing level in view of china's

presence in surrounding waters of japan. japan and the united states are negotiating a new accord on sharing costs of maintain u.s. military facilities on japanese soil. japan had been seeking a reduction of its share citing the country's tight fiscal situation. the defense minister spoke on the matter on friday. >> translator: japan should make a political decision taking into account the current international environment in the east china sea. it would not be right to make a drastic cut in the japanese share of the expenses at this time. >> japan covers such expenses as the salaries of japanese employees at u.s. bases as well as utility fees. a two-day conference on carbon trading in asia has ended in singapore. the forum focused on how to promote investment and environmental products and boost

carbon trading. the meeting carb be forum asia was attended by 1,100 people including officials from more than 40 countries and international organizations. investment in emissions trading has dropped to about one-third due to the stalled negotiations over a new anti-global warming framework to succeed the kyoto protocol. many participants asked japan about its efforts to provide financial aid to projects in other countries that use japanese environmental technologies. the projects cover such areas as solar generation and energy saving. china is steadily increasing its presence, both economically and militarily in the region. chinese naval troops are in

thailand taking part in the country's two joint military exercises. the first time china's navy is participating and what is china's objective? nhk world reports. >> reporter: this is the naval military base in eastern thailand. the troops are a chinese navy, taking part in their first-ever joint training drills in thailand. >> translator: the joint drills will help chinese and thai naval forces deepen advertise and boost their capabilities. >> reporter: the chinese contingent taking part in the drills includes forces that specialize in operations. china is repeatedly increasing its military strength in light of what is economic growth.

the countries in the china se in august the united states sent a nuclear power aircraft carrier to vietnam's coastal water. vietnamese military personnel were indwighted on-board suggesting that u.s. intends to remain engaged in issues concerning the south china sea. thailand has long been conducting annual joint exercises with the u.s. military. this is the first time china has sent such a large naval contingent into territory of the u.s. ally. >> translator: in china's eyes, the u.s. is once again intensifying its presence in southeast asia so it may be

inevitable that china would want to counterbalance the u.s. by carrying out joint drills in the area, especially with thailand. countries involved in territorial disputes in the south china sea will be wary. >> reporter: china and the u.s. are both keenly aware of each other's efforts to increase their presence in the south china sea. which of the two powers will gain a greater influence remains to be seen. nhk world, bangkok. the euro zone jobless rate remains at record high levels. the european commission, the eu's executive body, announced on friday that unemployment in the 16-nation zone using the euro stood at 10.1% since

november, the worst figure since the common kurnly was introduced in 1999. the jobless rate in the zone has stayed above 10% since may this year with no signs of improving. two of japan's major electronics make bounced back to profitability during the first six months of their fiscal year ended in september. on friday sony reported a net profit of about $706 million, compared with a loss of $790 million a year earlier. sony's turn-around came despite the yen's strength which hurt its overseas sales and profits. sales increased 4% when calculated in yen due mostly to robust demand for liquid crystal televisions, personal computers and game products. the electronics giant expects to stay in the black for the whole business year, though it said the yen strength will continue to weigh on its earnings in the second half. sony estimates net profit at about $870 million, swinging back from a loss of $510 million

in the previous year. business was also good for panasonic during the first half. it posted a net profit of $930 million. this is a sharp contrast with the same period last year when it reported a $580 million loss. panasonic's sales surged 30% from a year earlier. the company said sales of air conditioners for especially brisk because of the heat wave this summer. it also cited strong demand for televisions in emerging economies like china. for the entire business year, panasonic expects a net profit of $1 billion, the first black ink in three years. though the yen's strength is likely to cut into its performance overseas, the company said its acquisition of rival sanyo electric in march will help boost earnings. honda reported the net profits soared in the first six months of the current fiscal year. the leading carmaker announced

on friday net totalled about $5.1 billion, more than six times the profit a year earlier. the company said sales of cars with high-profit margins were brisk during the period in both japan and overseas markets. it said sales in the home market were supported by government subsidies for ecofriendly cars. overseas sales were especially strong in asia and north america. for the whole business year endinging next march, honda expects net profit of about $6.2 billion, up 86% from the previous year. the company noted that the strong yen will cut into both sales an profit in the second half. the government terminated its ecocar subsidy car program in september and honda said this will also hurt its performance the rest of the fiscal year. japan's unemployment rate was 5% in september marking a third straight month of improvement. that's 0.1 percentage points better than august and seasonally adjusted terms.

the internal afairs ministry said on friday the job else figure totalled 3.4 million, that's down 230,000 from a year earlier. on the other hand, the number of people with jobs stood at just over 63 million. that's up 140,000 from the same month last year. it is the first increase in two months. separately, a report from the labor ministry shows job availability in september improved for a fifth straight month. the ministry says 55 positions were available for every 100 job seekers. despite a minor improvement in the jobless rate overall, the figure became worse among young people. the unemployment rate for people between 15 and 24 was 8.8% in september. that's 0.5 percentage points worse than the previous month, but some enterprising job seekers are trying to increase their odds of getting hired. nhk world has more.

>> reporter: this man attends a vocational school in tokyo. he studied mechanical engineering at university and graduated in 2008. he looked for a job in his senior year but could only find part-time work, so he decided to attend a vocational school to eggs pa expand his skill set. >> reporter: >> translator: in this tight job market, i've learned that it is hard to find a job without any practical skills. by attending a vocational school where i could take technical courses, i feel i'd be able to land a job. >> reporter: with more graduates competing for fewer jobs, and fewer companies hiring workers for life, more people are acquiring skills on their own initiative. more college graduates are choosing to enroll in vocational schools. the number of those registered here at this school alone has

gone up by 30% since april. >> translator: people used to come to our school in hope of a career change. but now college graduates come straight after graduation because they cannot find jobs. that's a new trend and we flere the recent sluggish economy and job market. >> reporter: kenji has been studying electrical engineering for 1 1/2 years. he's acquired a license in electrical construction. this spring he started job hunting again and received an offer. after finishing school next march, he'll start working at a building maintenance company. he thinks that the technical knowledge and qualifications he's acquired have been extremely useful. the people who hired him agree. >> translator: people we take on right after college are more

generalists than specialists. because we're in the construction business, people with this kind of training have an advantage. >> reporter: but taking a year or two off after university to expand one's skill set can backfire. japanese companies generally prefer to hire staff straight out of college. the longer a person is unemployed after graduating, the harder it can be to find a good job. this senior economist at mitsubishi research institute says this situation must change. >> translator: the japanese government should work with businesses to improve the system and provide job opportunities for everyone. our aging society is facing a drastic reduction in the workforce. if these people can't find jobs and aren't getting trained, this could reduce japan's growth in the medium to long term.

she also cautions that the economy is not likely to improve significantly any time soon, and that means that enrollment in japan's vocational schools is likely to remain brisk. deflation and the strong yen are hitting many japanese companies hard. some are forced to slash their budgets for research and development. but one company has come up with a way to get innovative ideas cheaply. >> reporter: a new kind of colander for squeezing out water. a couple who run a noodle restaurant invented it. the company that makes the device sells 7,000 a month. this tokyo factory is where the colanders are made. the company's main business is making gears for office data

equipment. but most of the company's clients moved their manufacturing facilities to china in southeast asia where labor is cheaper. the company's sales are now a quarter of what they used to be. the firm wanted to tap into a new market while keeping research and development costs low, so they asked local residents to suggest what to make. >> translator: many companies folded, or went out of business, because the parent company was no longer around. if we wanted to stick it out in japan, we realized the only thing we could do was manufacture things for which we could obtain the intellectual property rights. >> reporter: the company solicits ideas on its home page. the firm hands out prize money for the best ideas, and if a product makes it to the store, the inventor receives a share of the profits. these days, products thought up by citizen inventor make up half

of the company's sales. >> translator: when i meet inventors, i learn so much about demand and the market that i never knew existed. for me, it's been tremendously beneficial. >> reporter: this opportunity makes citizen inventors even more motivated. there is an inventor's workshop once a month in this city. here retired engineers and homemakers bring in their inventions and brainstorm ways to improve them. some of the inventions brought here are already on their way to mass production. like this one. a metal piece is attached to a tire. when the tire rotates at high

speeds, centrifugal force prevents the device from making any sound. but when the tire begins to retate more slowly, will is no more centrifugal force so the device starts to make a clanging noise. the inventor designed the apparatus for hybrid ant electric cars. it has been pointed out that hybrid and electric cars run so quietly that pedestrians may not hear them coming. . a high school student designed the apparatus. it is his first invention. >> translator: i have a pretty good time making stuff, so i think i want to keep at it. >> translator: it's very easy to attach and inexpensive. i hope it will sell. >> reporter: japan hasn't seen

the end of the recession, but maybe ideas like these will help revive the stalled economy. >> large corporations are also turning to amateur inventors. some companies even give out prize money for new product ideas. here is some of the news received from broadcasting stations across asia. we begin with this item sent by trt turkey. the 13th international istanbul auto show opened on thursday. porsche, ferrari, bmw, honda and hyundai are among 200 firms to explain their latest models in turkey. family cars designed to protect the environment and sports cars are attracting the attention of visitors. this auto show is organized

biannually. it is expected to attract 650,000 visitors by the time it closes on november 7th. in hong kong, the number of people suffering from injuries caused by overuse of cell phones and mobile touch-screen devices is increasing. experts say that continuously pressing fingers for texting, surfing the web or playing video games damaging muscles and leads to repetitive stress injury and pain. they suggest a simple exercises such as finger stretching for about five minutes will help alleviate discomfort or pain. physiotherapy using a rubber band is another effective way to soothe muscle and joint pain in the fingers. an officer of the indian army on friday completed the country's first base jump, a sport in which the participant takes a parachute jump from a fixed object such as a building. this man leaped off a 137-meter

high television tower in del i had with uncertain wind speed and hazyitions. the jump took 30 seconds. after landing safely, he said that the jump was a thrill. the feat marked the 25th anniversary of the army's adventure wing. hi there. time again for another weather update. let's head to eastern asia. typhoon chaba is a severe tropical storm. it is continuing to move toward central japan, northeast, 30 kilometers an hour. wind speeds at 126 with gusts at 162 kilometers an hour. now, it could possibly maintain this strength when it makes landfall, which should be saturday night into sunday morning. that's local time over here. or it could downgrade to a strong tropical storm. but it is going to be basically about the same as it heads in towards central japan. probably making landfall in

tokai region. the area in pink that spreads across is go to be the heaviest stuff. here we can see about anywhere between 150 to 250 millimeters of rain. it is going to be, yeah, about 200 millimeters of rain for this pink area. the rain is going to be heavy, but also we're looking at very strong winds. so it is going to be a very, very messy weekend here. and we'll keep you informed with what's going on. elsewhere, it is looking quite high pressure keeping these very settled. that's what i was looking for, across much of the region, even down into indochina. if we go further, you can see there is heavy rain here and it is going to be in southeastern vietnam down into the malay peninsula as well, around 100, 200 millimeters of rain is not out of the question. it is a very bad flooding situation here. so that could add to the disasters. 19 degrees forecast for shanghai. 14 in tokyo. so a cool day here. but warming up a little bit in

beijing at 18. let's head to our other storm, we're monitoring here in the atlantic, this one is tropical storm sherry. it is heading towards bermuda at the moment. it is expected to pass just southeast of the island. so we're talking about pretty strong winds and probably causing some structural damage as well as about 70 millimeters of rain. then the storm should head out over water. it is going to be a bit of a messy weekend here. elsewhere, in north america, we're looking at pretty good conditions across the east. high pressure here, it is going to be very cold, though, particularly in the southeast, frost warnings and windy too. that means we also have red flag warnings in the mix as well. out to the west, it is going to be wet and windy, especially for you in california. and another big winter storm comes in here to the pacific northwest. this one blowing snow around. visibility could be very, very low at times. watch for that if you're going to be in the area. 9 degrees in vancouver. and 3 in winnipeg. 9 in toronto.

we're really cooling down here in the northeast as well. 15 for you in new york city and 11 in chicago. all right, let's take a quick look into what is going on in europe. it is going to be very messy. see all this cloud, underneath it, lots of rain, lots of strong wind as well. thunderstorms now moving through parts of spain and portugal. as this front line moves in towards the east, it is actually going to weaken off a little for you in france and the low countries, but the next system is in behind and this one actually is going to push straight through the mediterranean, come into you in italy. so staying quite wet and windy across much of the west into the weekend. and then out to the east, we're doing quite well, all of this rain and wind chasing away, even those storms that were just stumbling along there in turkey is starting to move out of the area. so should be a bit clearer for you into saturday and sunday. 5 degrees in moscow. 10 in stockholm. 15 for you in london. also a bit warmer in paris, 16. here is your extended forecast.

that concludes this edition

of "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in toke crow. we'll be back in half-an-hour. thanks for joining us on nhk world. jj