welcome to nhk world "newsline." the u.n. conference on climate change has started on anderson cancun, mexico. participants will discuss a framework for 20 ten and beyond. we have more from the site. >> reporter: delegates from 119 countries and territories are

taking part in the two-week conference. under the kyoto protocol, only industrialized countries are required to curb their greenhouse gas emissions. those countries, including japan, are calling on china and other emerging economies to share the burden of cutting emissions. emerging economies claim industrializeded countries should share the costs because their actions are to blame for global warming. some say the kyoto protocol should be extended so the industrialized countries will be required to cut emissions. at the beginning of the meeting, the head of the u.n. climate change secretaryiate called on participating nations to compromise. >> when the stakes are high and

the issues are challenging, compromise is an act of wisdom thatta can unite different positions in creative ways. the task is not easy, but it is achievable. i know that. >> reporter: attention will focus on whether the conference can overcome the gap in the rich and poor nations and develop a new international rule to curb global warming. a day in the mountains of central japan turned to tragedy. two men are dead after they were hit by an avalanche on tuesday morning. police say the men were part of a group of six skiers and snow boarders when the avalanche struck at 2,400 meters. three of the survivors have been hospitalized with broken legs. the remaining man is unharmed and managed to ski down the mountain by himself.

the weather was clear at the time with temperatures rising from the morning. u.s. and british ambassadors to the united nations condemned north korea's attack on a south korean island last week and its uranium enrichment activities. the u.n. security council held a meeting on monday following the disclosure of the north's new uranium enrichment facility. susan rice told reporters that the new facility is a clear violation of u.n. resolutions. she also mentioned north korea's shelling of the island that killed 4 people and wounded 18. >> the united states strongly condemns this outrageous action by north korea. we continue to call on north korea to cease its irresponsible actions against its neighbors, to fully abide by the terms of the armistice and to adhere to its international obligations. >> she added that the u.s. will

continue to work with the international community to maintain peace and security in the region. british ambassador to the u.n., mark lyle grant, also condemned pyongyang's attack and its uranium enrichment activities. the south korean military is soon expected to resume a routine drill on yeonpyeong island. the drill was suspended after the island came under artillery attack from the north last week. it is near the maritime border between the two koreas. the u.s. and south korean joint naval exercise enters its third day on tuesday. it's being held in the yellow sea off the west coast of the korean peninsula. the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the "uss george washington" and the aegis-equipped destroyers are rehearsing intercepting enemy vessels and aircraft intruding into south korean air space or territorial waters. meanwhile, on monday, the south korean military ordered the residents on yeonpyeong island to evacuate so that the drill can resume. north korea has been protesting the drill.

it bombarded the island last tuesday. restarting the drill is likely to the two countries. also on monday, south korean president lee myung-bak announced his determination to resolutely deal with further north korean provocations, but the south has no real power to contain the north's military threat. south korea will send foreign minister to an international conference in kazakhstan on wednesday. he will try to rally support from countries such as the u.s. and russia. north korea's supreme court peoples assembly chairman is expected to be in china on tuesday. he will engage in candid discussions with chinese leaders. japanese space officials say they have found hundreds more particles in a capsule from the unmanned asteroid probe hayabusa. the japan aerospace exploration agency said on monday that it found particles measuring up to

about 0.1 millimeter, larger than those found earlier in the container. the agency will analyze them to confirm whether they are minerals from the asteroid itokawa. about 1,500 particles, measuring less than 0.01 millimeters were found in the capsule. the agency determined most of them were from the astroid. they will continue gathering particles from other compartments of the capsule. a senior official says they expect to find larger ones for further examination. hayabusa returned to earth in june after a seven-year round-trip to itokawa, located 300 million kilometers away. an international meeting on cutting edge-technology for the prevention of nuclear energy has begun. participants from 16 asian nations are taking part in the program that started on monday north of tokyo. all the attending countries are

preparing to build nuclear power plants. an international atomic energy agency official lectureded on ways to prevent nuclear power plants from falling into the wrong hands. they'll learn about the latest anti-terrorism measures. >> translator: it's important for japan to promote nuclear power you for peaceful purposes. we would like to help foster human resources in the field of nuclear security. >> the japan atomic energy agency will shortly set up a body to help asian agencies deal with the threat of nuclear terrorism. organic farming is making headway in france, spurred on by the nation's growing interest in

environmental pvz a nonprofit organization is helping people start up new organic farms. the organization raises money to buy land and then leases it to the novice farmers. we have the story. >> reporter: this store specializes in organic products. recently, many in france have criticized farming with chemical fertilizers. at the same time, the sale of organic produce has nearly doubled in the past four years. >> translator: organic food is good for you and good for the environment. it just feels like clean food. >> now, many people are trying their hand at organic farming. that includes this man, who started raising 80 goats on his

23-hectare farm last year. he doesn't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides on his pasture. and the goat feed is organic. he makes cheese, yogurt and other dairy products from goats' milk. he expects to get an organic certificate for his produce soon. his previous job had nothing to do with agriculture. but he left it because he wanted to try organic farming. >> translator: i think the only way to protect the environment is to farm organically. >> reporter: but he couldn't afford the land he needed. a plot of land costs about $120,0 $120,000. >> translator: i didn't have the

money to buy land, so i really didn't know what to do. >> reporter: but then he found a nonprofit organization who helps people who want to get into organic farming. it receives investment money from local people and buys land from farmers who left the industry. it leases the land to people who want to start organic farms. this enabled him to rent the pasture for about $2,000 a year. in the last three years, the organization has raised about $20 million and is dealing with 60 plots of farm land. here an investor pays a visit. she lives nearby this farm.

when she learned about his plan, she invested $32,000 to the organization so he could rent the land. she wanted to spread environmentally friendly farming in her community so she invested the money even show she will receive no interest. he plans to increase output by believe a cheese-making plant. she hopes that soon the farm will start turning a profit. >> translator: i think organic farms are extremely important. but it's difficult to start one, so people in the community need to support them. >> reporter: in france, farmers and local communities are joining forces to support eco-friendly agriculture.

josho watanabe. >> shares in the nonprofit organization cost 100 euros each, about $132. shareholders get a tax break if they invest for five years. people put in $3,600 each. more than 5,000 people have invested so far. in biz, japan's jobless rate in october worsened for the first time in four months. on tuesday, the internal affairs ministry said the unemployment rate rose a tenth of a percentage point to 5.1% in seasonally adjusted terms. the number of people without jobs stood at 3.3 mills, down 100,000 from a year earlier. 63 million people were employed. that's up 150,000 on the year. the labor ministry said job

improvability improved four times. the economy ministry said the industrial production index fell to 91.1 against the base of 100 set in 2005. that's down 1.8% from the previous month. the government cites the end of subsidies for the fall. major manufacturers forecast their output will grow by 1.4 nears in november and 1.5% in december. the ministry says home electric appliance makers expect production to rise before the government ends its so-called ecopoint incentive program on wednesday. the internal affairs ministry also said household spending for october fell 0.4% compared to

the same month last year. that figure is calculated in what economists refer to in yen and real terms. it was the first drop in five months. that fall means households spent $3,400 last month. the decline comes after auto subsidies plunged. spending on fresh produce also cut from a year earlier. the ministry said income at salary-earning households of one person averaged nearly $6,000. the ministry said consumer spending will likely recover gradually due to government support for families of children. it says it will keep a close watch over the future as the so-called redeemable points for energy efficient home appliances will be sharply reduced starting in december.

the european commission says the region's economic growth may slow slightly next year due to the impact of sovereign debt problems in ireland and portugal. the commission's report released on monday said gross domestic product across 17 euro zone countries, including estonia, would likely grow 1.7% this year. in 2011, gdp expansion is expected to slow to 7.5%. it's forecast to pick up again in 2012. the german economy is expected to lead the region with growth on strong exports and domestic demand. france projects 1.6%. the eu remains concerned on financial markets. it has already bailed out ireland due to its massive fiscal deficits. eu economic monetary affairs commissioner ren urged each member country to keep a tight grip on their public finances.

>> in our view, the only way out of this is to restore confidence by intensified fiscal in the countries. >> mazda will only a factory in mexico, a bid to boost sales in fast-growing latin american markets. sources say mazda will team up with sumihotto. they originally planned to assemble 100,000 cars a year. the company chose the site to take advantage of a trade pack between japan and mexico. the company has close ties with other latin american economies. mazda's expansion into south american markets highlights a new strategy. this comes after ford motor cut its stay.

itochu has begun to buy genetically altered soy beans. the first batch of the soy beans arrived on mondays. the manufacturing company commissioneded farmers in argentina it to grow the soy beans. the companies aim to import several thousand tons a year to produce traditional soy foods such as miso and fermented soy beans. more than 90% of u.s. soy bean farm land is producing genetically modified beans. the president of the company said japan needs to diversify suppliers of unmodified soy beans for consumers concerned about food safety. in japan, there are more than 23,000 people with dementia

that have been reported missing. more than 900 have died or are still unaccounted for. to respond to the problem, one prefecture has become the first in japan to devise a special plan. >> reporter: in a drill last month, participants learn how to search for missing dementia patients. volunteer workers and firefighters take part, along with other concerned citizens. participants receive information about the wandering woman. a volunteer plays the role of the missing person.

the purpose of the exercise is to see if volunteers can find the woman. nearly 30% of omuta's population is over the age of 65 you. the city began a local search network to handle the growing number of missing dementia patients, the first of its kind in japan. but despite the network, one person died this year after wandering off alone. in june, a 73-year-old woman, a regular visitor to a care facility, disappeared. the city's s.o.s. network received a call to search for the woman. after the family reported her missing consist police sent an

e-mail to 2,600 registered citizens. at the same time, police also notified the fire department, local taxi companies and the post office. the program aims to get as many as possible involved in the search. unfortunately in this case, the police didn't send the e-mail until the morning after the woman went missing. a leaflet with the woman's photo was later handed out but no promising leads turned up. a month later, the woman's body was found seven kilometers from the care facility. to help rapid response, it is crucial that people who are not part of the network notice old people who seem lost. the training aims to make residents more aware about

missing dementia patients. the woman's behavior convinces people she is really lost and disoriented. members of the training staff follow at a distance and inform people that this is a training exercise. staff members explain that they hope people realize the wandering elderly are lost during brief conversations with them. specialists say it's important not to separate people with dementia from society but to create a society that ensures a safe and secure community. >> translator: in order to achieve a better network with smaller gaps, we must help more people understand dementia and feel comfortable about talking to the elderly on the street.

>> omuta city said it's producing new teaching materials about dementia for students of primary and middle schools. here are the latest market figures.

>> hi, there. welcome to your "world weather update." still look at winter storms to affect hokkaido. staying dry across the norththe precipitation moving on. that will be producing lots of rain and thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes as well. down towards the south it will stay dry with lots of sunshine. across the korean peninsula, we'll see rain move out of the area shortly. for northeastern china, it will likely see cold rain and perhaps sleet moving into the region. as you can see elsewhere across the country, it does stay dry. down towards the southwest, we look for showers to occur once again. flooding rains possible in vietnam and southern thailand. look for flash floods to occur. it has been raining pretty heavily in the past few days. these are the areas that will be quite vulnerable to flooding and

landslides. taking a look at your temperatures, we've got 15 degrees in tokyo with sunny spells, 12 in seoul and quite mild in shanghai. 18 degrees on tuesday. taking you over to the americas then, the east will be in for some really heavy showers along the mississippi valley. we can expect lots of thunderstorms as well as damaging wind gusts and possibly tornadoes as well. the further south we go, the more severe it's going to get. that rain is going to be sweeping into the east coast during your tuesday. behinds this it bigelow pressure there is a lot of cold air tucked in behind. that will produce significant snow for the upper midwest and central canada during the overnight hours. for the specific northwest, wet and windy once again. the rockies looking generally calm but that will translate to snow over the higher ground. 9 in vancouver. 8 in seattle. not too bad. staying bitterly cold in

winnipeg, minus 8. taking over to europe, cold weather and lots of snow. snot just over the british isles but most of continental europe. we have pictures to show you. the widespread snow affecting many areas and starting off in austria. dangerous driving conditions. poland dealing with lots of snow as well. this proved deadly in poland. two people have reportedly died and 10,000 homes were without power on monday. across the british isles, lots of snow here as well making a -- causing traffic disruptions and lots of flight cancellations, flight delays reported as well. hundreds of schools are closed as a result too. in terms of your forecast, lots of wintry prescription to talk about once again the east and central portions.

parts of germany and france too. and then over towards the uk dealing with more heavy snow. up to 20 centimeters is possible in the upper elevations. then down towards the south, this will mainly be rain and thundershowers. it will feel pretty cold towards spain and portugal. temperatures remain rather low here. 8 degrees in madrid. look at temperatures elsewhere, experiencing subzero figures for your daytime high. here's your extended forecast. is

is. once again, the headlines this hour. a day in the mountains of central japan has turned to tragedy. two men are dead after they were hit by an avalanche on tuesday morning. police say the men were part of a group of six skiers and snow boarders when the avalanche struck at 2,400 meters. three of the survivors have been hospitalized with broken legs. the remaining man is unharmed and managed to ski down the mountain by himself. the weather was clear at the time with temperatures rising from the morning. that concludes this edition

of "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. we'll be back in half an hour with the latest news and weather.