welcome to newsline, it's thursday october 2nd, i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. protesters in hong kong are showing no sign of backing down. they're demanding major roads to demand freer elections. if the chief executive does not resign by thursday, they will grow in size. families and elderly people observing holidays joined in outside the hong kong government building. they're rallying against china's

decision to limit voter's choices in a 2017 leadership election. strau >> translator: we must stand up and teach younger generations what democracy means and what real freedom means. >> hong kong's chief executive spoke at a ceremony to mark china's national day. >> i know there are different ideas, but a direct election is definitely better than an indirect one. >> they have not responded to protester's requests to meet with them. they're demanding he step down. >> we hope that he'll resign by tonight or by thursday. otherwise, we'll escalate our protest movement and occupy or surround different government

buildings. >> protesters say they won't leave the streets until the demands are met. they say they're mobilizing more demonstrators over the internet. the protests have left people divided. nhk world reports. >> the protesters in hong kong are the largest in is years. beijing has placed one country two systems. protesters are weary of that promise. this university student joined the front line of the protests. the 19-year-old is worried that beijing might make moves to increase its influence over hong

kong. the importance of democracy from an early age. today she believed the people of hong kong must win the right to choose their own leaders. >> translator: china always pokes its nose into hong kong matters. it's like a stranger meddling in another person's family. >> many young people here -- with hong kong's autonomyautono are feeling a sense of crisis like never before. >> as a hong konger. as a human being, who's born and raised here, i have to stand up and fight. >> but there's also an increasing number of people taking positions close to those

of the chinese government. these protesters came out to criticize the students. many immigrants from mainland, china have moved to hong kong. they now make up 10% of the population. >> students should stop the boycott and go back to school. >> hong kong's business sector has benefited from the market economy on democracy. business leaders have taken a stance toward the protests. this businessman doesn't support the protests. >> i'm worried about the effects on the stock market. >> hong kong's financial district, protesters have pledged to occupy. he's worried about the impact

that could have on his work. the firm has stocked three days worth of food and water. >> many hong kong residents don't want protesters to occupy the financial district. it will affect their livelihood and economic growth. >> the people of hong kong are facing a fundamental question. nhk world, hong kong. >> leaders from the united states and china have exchanged opinions about the protests in hong kong, and they couldn't be more different. u.s. secretary of state john kerry met chinese foreign minister in washington. >> we have high hopes that the hong kong authorities will exercise restraint and respect

for the protesters right to express their views briefly. >> kerry called on the chinese government to honor the autonomy of hong kong. an open society is essential for the territory's stability and prosperity. he criticized kerry's remarks, no country would allow acts that ignore the law and violate public order. >> hong kong affairs for china's internal affairs. all countries should respect china's sovereignty. this is also a basic principle of international governance. >> u.s. officials say president barack obama will take up the issue of hong kong's autonomy when he meets china's president next month. top officials from japan and south korea have met for

strategic talks. they hope it will pave the way for the summit between the two governments to improve strained ties. it was the first vice minister level talks since last year. >> the two countries shared common strategic interests. we should contribute to the peace, and prosperity of the region. >> south korea's foreign minister say the two countries need to promote a relationship based on a correct perception of history. the minister's agreed they should work closely with the united states to deal with north korea's nuclear and missile programs. he also briefed them about the talks on the japanese nationals abducted by the north. he expressed his government's readiness to help resolve the issue. rescue workers in central

japan are back on mt. ontake. they're looking for remaining victims of saturday's volcano eruption. authorities have confirmed it was the deadliest in decades. officials with the tokyo fire department released this video of the recovery operation, it shows the difficult conditions south defense force personnel, police officers and firefighters are facing on the peak. they've been bringing down the bodies of the 47 victims who died on the mountain. volcanos erupted periodically in japan. there are rarely fatalities. in 1991, an eruption in nagasaki prefecture left 43 dead or missing. islamic state militants have expanded their grip on northern syria, despite air raids by the u.s. and its allies. the group has seized a series of kurdish villages along the border with turkey.

the u.s. and allied forces have carried out more air bombardments in northern syria, an anti-government organization that opposes the islamic state says the raised killed 8 militants on the outskirts of a town near the boarder with turkey. islamic state militants seized control of most of the kurdish villages in the area. the group made advances with fierce fighting with local kurdish troops. the kurdish government after artillery landed in its territory. they have called for parliamentary approval of military action in syria and iraq, as well as the stationing of foreign troops on its territory. a series of bomb attacks in baghdad has left dozens of casualties. iraqi authorities suspect the attacks were carried out by islamic state militants or sunni muslim insurgents linked to the group. iraqi security authorities say

two car bombs exploded in the capitol's northwestern district. at least 20 people were killed and 35 injured. another car bombing in the eastern district killed seven people. both areas are predominantly shiite muslim. mortars hit residential and area parts of the city. u.s. and allied forces have been conducting air strikes since last month. the group controls northern and western parts of the country. iraq's military and shiite volunteers are fighting the militants on the ground. u.s. military officials have told nhk about a plan to replace an aircraft carrier they're using to fight islamic state in iraq and syria. >> the u.s. aircraft carrier is

now warming to the persian gulf in order to participate in the air strike. >> navy officials say the ship will replace the nuclear powered career, george h.w. bush, which is now deployed in the persian gulf near iraq and syria. they are using it to launch jets that are carrying out air strikes against islamic state targets. rear admiral grady is commanding the carrier strike group. he expressed confidence in the new mission. >> military officials appear to

be showing their determination to continue air strikes against the extremists without break. and they're sending a signal to their coalition partners in the fight against the militants in order to boost the sense of solidarity. nhk world. the foreign ministers of russia and north korea have agreed to strengthen ties between their countries. russian leaders are seeking deeper involvement in east asia as their relations between u.s. countries have soured over the ukraine. sergei lavrov met for two and a half hours in moscow. the russian foreign minister told reporters that his country will push forward with the plan to supply electricity to south korea via the north.

he's scheduled to visit russia's far east during liz ten-day stay. business managers in japan are wondering where the yen is headed, they saw it hit the lowest level against the dollar in years. this must affect people in different ways? >> exactly. for exporters a weaker yen means they can price their goods overseas more competitively. for importers it could mean higher material costs. that's why managers are wondering where exchange rates are headed. people saw the dollar perch 1.10 yen yesterday. that's the weakest it's been in more than six years. let's crossover to the tokyo stock exchange now. where ramin mel lagard has the

latest. >> you touched on those key levels there. having a look at it right now, 108.93 to 95 as tokyo markets open here, and that's largely on the disappointing u.s. ism manufacturing data, which fell to 56.6 in september, to 59 in august, there was also a drop in construction spending, all this, of course, comes ahead of the u.s. jobs data friday, which is the next big focus for a lot of investors. the down beat segment pushed down the u.s. stocks, we saw the dow jones industrial average down 1.4%. 16,804. following that negative performance on wall street, let's have a look at how tokyo's shaping up this morning, and a negative start here continuing from wall street. the nikkei is below 15,000 for the first time since september

17th. it started off october on a negative note, following the highs set in september. analysts we spoke to regarding this dip, point exactly to the fact that many shares hit year's highs in september, and with some of the geo political events unfolding, such as the ones in hong kong and the middle east, investors have decided to book some profits. still, that being said, the weaker overall tone of the yen has helped a lot of the japanese automakers. figures came out from the u.s. for auto sales and they showed that a few of the japanese automakers posted a climb in sales. nissan outperforming and out tracking their shares as well. the focus later today is going to be on the european central bank. the eurozone was disappointing, coming in at a 14-month low. at 50.3. now, german manufacturing

activity also contracted for the first time in 15 months, so a lot of focus on eurozone growth. analysts expect the ecb may take some action and adopt further monetary easing. to stimulate growth across the economic block. that's going to be a big focus later today. i'll have an update on all the sectors today, the nikkei has been down over # 00 points, so far this morning, we'll see how that progresses, a pretty negative start today, i'll have another update in a few hours. >> we'll talk to you then. >> japanese officials say the weather may be to blame for a possible slow down in growth during the last quarter, analysts and the cabinet office estimate the weather conditions may have pushed down the gdp growth rate by a range of 0.2 to 0.6 from july to september from the previous quarter. >> they reported their estimates at a meeting on the council of

economic and fiscal policy, the analysts point to abnormal weather during the period. the period saw wildly fluctuating temperatures and heavy rain. sales were down for beverages and ice cream as well as air conditioners and some other home appliances. the analysts believe the weather was behind a decline in private spending in a range of 1.8 billion to $6.4 billion. still, they say they believe the economy remains on a moderate recovery path as the employment situation is improving. the unusual weather also seems to have affected sales at department stores. managers at three of four major chains say sales were down in september, compared to the same month last year. they reported a fall of 1% and daimaru .5%.

it was a different story at isetan, they reported a 2% increase in sales. analysts say the results indicate that a recovery in consults still lacks strength. in august, all four stores posted higher sales for the first time since a consumption tax hike in april. more for you next hour, here's a check on markets.

some young people who are from northeastern japan say they're dealing with a new problem. they say, they're the victims of prejudice. now an educator and doctor have teamed up to inform and fight against ignorance. >> the popular school lies about 30 kilometers north of the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. for the past 20 years, they've served as school director, teacher, director and even a counselor. many former students who have moved outside the prefecture must cope with a new sort of problem. >> i went out for drinks and the

people around me said fukushima must be dirty. >> a member of my university group avoided me after i said i was from fukushima. >> some find it hard to be with friends. others say they don't like going out. i couldn't let things continue this way. >> this 20-year-old student moved from fukushima to tokyo 2 years ago. he was deeply hurt by something a university friend said. >> well, it may have been half joking, but the remark was, that radiation is contagious, and somehow that really stuck with me. >> several young people have stopped going out, because they have started to feel isolated by these kinds of remarks and behavior. while she has no tolerance for

prejudice, she thinks part of the problem may lie in the students ability to accurately explain what radiation is. >> young people from fukushima should at least be able to educate those who don't know what they're talking about. >> she decided to arm young people with knowledge. she asked a physician for help. the doctor has been coming to tokyo ever since the disaster. he's analyzed results on more than 25,000 local people. together he was already giving lectures on radiation at local schools. he worries that as time has passed, people's awareness of the crisis is fading. young people have still not absorbed what they need to know.

>> they have only the vague impression that the exposure they faced is relatively benign. >> he decided to produce a small booklet and distribute it to local schools. >> this is so people can quickly review what they know about radiation. i hope it will serve the purpose. >> they completed the illustrative booklet at the end of august. >> it took six months of work. >> in a simple q & a format, the booklet aims to address young people's worries about radiation. >> it explains there's no risk of contagion. in answer to whether it is safe to have babies in the area, the booklet says this is not a

problem now. >> we hope to give young people who have left fukushima a little support, so they can tell people the facts about radiation. >> the doctor and teacher are now preparing an english version of the booklet, they hope to help young japanese living abroad explain the issues sur rounding their hometowns. >> it's time now for our check of the weather. the storm is already whipping up rough waves along the coastlines. >> good morning, we are still talking about a system that passed over the islands of mariana. it's pulling away from the islands. it will continue into saturday, even though it's pull ago way further.

but this system is now also very large and a strong typhoon status, is packing gusts of 200 kilometers per hour, moving in a northwesterly direction. there's not a lot of obstacles in the water, we're likely to see this intensifies in a strong typhoon status. it could even make it's way toward mainland, suddenly making a turn there, but possibly we see about 126 kilometers per hour. the lesser islands are already seeing up to three meters. this system is going to be a strong and large one, could possibly engulf much of the western side of japan by the weekend new early next week. we'll keep a very close eye on this system. as for western japan, we're

likely to see this stationery boundary hit the northern area with more moisture with it, making for heavy downpours, plus we have 100 millimeters on top of it this system with another low pressure system, another heavy bulk of rainfall will be possible that's likely to be accompanied with thunderstorms as well. we're likely to see some showers. considering mt. ontake, we could see showers, which could lead to mud flow. the flow is being indirectly enhanced due to the wind pulling in ample moisture, scattered thunderstorms will be continuing throughout the day and into the next couple days are. tokyo only 25 degrees, a little bit of showers will be pulling

in by the afternoon hours, as for the asian games, saturday will be the final day, a pleasant day for -- good news for the spectators now as well. >> across the u.s., we are still monitoring a storm system that is moving over toward the great lakes region, this has already made a tornado watch and tornado warning in effect in parts of missouri and illinois. we have a large swath that could unleash large hail, damaging wind winds toward the west, cooler air is provided. the freezing point to even minus five degrees for your morning low into your thursday. that's going to create lots of snowfall, actually a different story here in the south, 33 degrees. we don't normally see a lot of 30s, even during the mid summer in los angeles. that's going to be about 37 on your friday, so please watch out

for heat stroke. i'll leave you now for the extended forecast. that's all for this edition of newsline, i'm katherine kobayashi in tokyo, thanks for joining us.

♪ ♪ a movement against the chinese movement is growing in hong kong. in july, 510,000 people took to the streets, demanding that beijing respect hong kong's free society. hong kong returned to chinese rule in 1997, under the one country two system policy, residents received a high degree of autonomy.