glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline". i'm raja pradhan in tokyoo. concerns about the ebola virus is growing around the world. leaders in neighboring latin america nations and european union are beefing up their preventative measures against the epidemic. two nurses became infected with ebola after caring for a liberian man at a hospital in dallas, texas. the man later died of the disease. u.s. president barack obama calls the outbreak a top national security priority. i held a meeting to discuss the u.s. response to the widening

crisis. panama's government asked airline companies to inform officials about passengers on in-bounding flights. chilean and guatemalan officials introduced health screenings. people entering are required to declare if they are infected with the virus. european leaders agreed on the need to restrict ebola infected patients from leaving west africa. people with poor health will be stopped and given checkups at airports in ebola plagued guinea and sierra leone and liberia. it will tighten monitoring systems at airports. french authorities announced on thursday that body temperature checks will begin in paris for passengers flying from guinea and send people into isolation in a medical facility if he or she has a fever above 38 degrees

celsius. european and asian leaders gathered in milan to discuss their shared challenges. they are use two day meeting to improve economic cooperation between both regions. representatives of 53 countries and organizations sat down on thursday and met face to face meeting. >> asia and europe need each other economically and politically and also our security is interlinked. >> japanese prime minister shinzo abe stressed his economic strategy is producing results. he kript ttd highest rise in worker's pay in the past 15 years. abe expressed hope his policies will lead to economic growth not just in japan but other parts of asia and in europe. the prime minister also promised $40 million worth of support in order to prevent and contain the

ebola outbreak and offered from provide japanese developed drugs that are effective on the disease possibly. on the second day leaders will discuss the situation in south china sea and east china sea where china has been stepping up maritime activities. delegates will focus on measures to deal with the islamic state militant group and the crisis in ukraine. on the sidelines of the meeting, ukrainian president petro poroshenko will meet with russian president vladimir putin. they're watching to see if the two leaders can achieve a breakthrough. hong kong chief executive is expressing hope that talks between government officials and student protesters could start as early as next week. the government cancelled a meeting last week saying a constructive dialogue was impossible. the protesters are calling for fully democratic elections for the next chief executive.

>> through third-party we will start discussions as soon as we can and hopefully the following week. >> the comment came in the week of scuffles between protesters and police. students and others have been staging sit ins on the main roads of central hong kong. they are calling for the retraction of beijing's decision to vet candidate for the 2017 election. he says a retraction will not happen. >> the central authorities said clearly they will not retract the decision of the special election. >> hong kong police announced the suspensions of seven officers alleged to have used excessive force when detaining protesters on wednesday. police said they opened a full

investigation into the case. so, investors have a lot to worry about. they don't know about the effect the ebola outbreak or the protests in hong kong. >> i'll tell you what that's not all. economists have been warning us that growth slowing across the world and greece is back on their radar too after the country said it wants to pull out from the international bailout program. investors are selling stocks and moving their money into products they see as safer such as gold. wall street ended the day mixed. the dow extended its losses to a sixth straight day. the nasdaq technology index managed to gain on the day but it's down more than 8% in just a month. let's get an update on how investors here in japan are reacting. good morning. what are you seeing? >> reporter: good morning. basically the volatility in the global markets that we've seen wednesday and thursday look to

have stabilized somewhat and analysts said we may see that. let's have a look at the opening levels here. we're seeing a little bit of a positive start here for the nikkei and topix considering the losses we've seen in the last two days. we'll see if that continues. nevertheless this week japanese shares have taken quite a beating and on thursday actually the nikkei fell to its lowest level in over four months. analysts also mentioned that the spread of ebola is rippling through financial markets, really forcing investors to take steps to minimize their risk exposure to volatile financial instruments such as stocks, commodities and the u.s. dollar. however on the positive side u.s. corporate earnings and economic data so far have been largely supportive and also apple managed to turn investors heads on thursday with the release of its latest ipad and focusing on shares of component makers here in japan and related

industries and sectors. also in related news, specifically chip makers rome one of japan's biggest chip makers for smartphones and cars revised up its net profit estimate for the fiscal year by 55%, so i'll be tracking that share as well. the company seen the dollar/yen rate. so given the levels now that has boosted or likely to boost its bottom line and of course a lot of exporters as well when you look at the dollar/yen rates. >> we've seen big swings in the dollar a few weeks ago it touched 110 yen. a year ago it was about 98. where is it trading now >> quite a big swing especially from 110 to the levels we saw just a couple of days ago. right now 106.37-40. that was trading at the upper 105 yen levels just a couple of days ago as well. so we've seen that come back a

touch. supportive economic data in the u.s. helped the dollar rise against a basket of currency, industrial production rose more than forecast and boo weekley claims for unemployment insurance fell sharply. analysts say the data suggests concerns about slowing growth was overdone and focus on geopolitical events like the ebola outbreak and other factors. the nikkei looks set to end the week in the negative. i'll come back with another report in a few hours. back to you. >> sounds good. as he mentioned the people at apple have unveiled their latest line of ipads. they hope the roll out of the thinner and more powerful device will help reverse slipping sales. one of the devices they showed off on thursday is the ipad air 2. it's 18% thinner than its predecessor and comes with a

fingerprint reader. consumers in japan can place advance orders on sunday. prices start around $400. >> we can deliver something that no one else can do. a simple intuitive and, yes, a magical experience for our customers. >> apple launched the ipad four years ago. the company remains the leader in the tablet market, but its share has slipped to 27% as competitors have grabbed a bigger piece of the market. consumers are turning to smartphones with larger screens. a u.s. research firm says tablet shipments between april and june rose 11% year-on-year. we have a new series on the japanese economy. we speak to influential figures in the business sector. the first installment features the head of the japanese federation. he has been leading the country's largest business

organization since june. nhk world senior commentator asked for his views on a number of economic issues. >> translator: before taking the helm, he was ceo for several years at a fiber maker. he makes suggestions to japan's government as a member of the council on economic and fiscal policy. prime minister shinzo abe is examining whether to raise the consumption tax again from 8% to 10%. but this could derail economic growth. should the tax be raised? >> translator: raising the consumption tax must to be done to ensure fiscal stability and

discipline. a sustainable social security system, and a stronger foundation for economic growth. it's also an international promise so if japan fails to honor this pledge, its national prestige will suffer. that would deliver a huge blow to the country's interests. i want to see a bold political decision on this matter. having said that i think it's necessary to ensure that another consumption tax increase doesn't halt economic recovery. i expect the economy will gradually rebound towards december, but the government needs to prepare extra measures and effectively implement them to support the recovery.

>> translator: it's been said economics cause prices to rise but not wages. what's needed for companies to be able to raise wages? >> translator: higher wages help to boost consumption and production creating a favorable cycle. to realize this, i hope there will be an environment for companies to raise wages next year. but this will only be possible if companies can earn enough profits. governments need to implement bold deregulation and reform corporate and other tax structures. companies will be able to raise wages if the government actively supports them with these

measures. >> japan's effective corporate tax rate is far higher than those of singapore, china and south korea. japan's government plans to cut the rate down the 20s in several years time but he would like to see it go down sooner. >> translator: we want the government to cut corporate taxes by around two percentage points starting next year and lower it further down to the 20s within no more than three years. and eventually lower it to 25% several years after that. this would bring it in line with tlefls of oth levels with other oecd countries. with lower corporate taxes the

vitality and competitiveness of businesses would be considerably strengthened. >> translator: so what's the role of the companies? the japanese economy was in a deflationary period for nearly many companies were reluctant to expand their operations. in order to steadily foster the japanese economy, firms should take appropriate risks and actively invest in equipment, research and development to create new growth opportunities. such an aggressive approach is necessary. >> translator: three japanese won this year's nobel prize in

physics. businesses investing enough in research and development? >> translator: i think that the most important area when i became chairman i said in my inaugural speech that japan should remain a technology oriented nation. with its technological skills japan has developed new technology, new products, and services and achieved high economic growth. i think it's vital for japan to remember its past successes as a technology oriented nation and once again show its resolve to be a global leader in developing technologies. i believe that will be a key catalyst behind japan's economic recovery, the three japanese born scientists who won this year's nobel prize in physics indeed offer encouragement. they are feat is a result of at

the nay show us research something that other researchers in other parts of the world have given up on. if more japanese people take similar approaches the country would have a chance to be a leader on the global stage. >> he visited china last month and met the country's vice premier who is in charge of economic issues. he indicated his expectation that higher level economic dialogue between ministers of japan and china would resume soon. >> translator: i think his call for resumption of high level economic dialogue is a very important message that china is sending to japan with a clear intent to improve bilateral relations. i take it as a significant message that shows china's willingness to improve ties by

strengthening business relations. economic relations between japan and china have deteriorated. china's tratd with its global partners is expanding but not with japan. bilateral trade both exports and imports are declining. we're very concerned about the plunge in trade and chinese leaders share these worries. the current strain of political and diplomatic relations between japan and china is having a negative effect. we visited beijing with tame of improving bilateral ties through greater economic exchanges i think we were able to produce substantial results. >> that's all for now in business news. i'll leave you now with a check on markets.

the tourism minister of greece has expressed her confidence that the country's tourism industry has bounced back since the economic crisis five years ago. kefalogianni told us why. >> this year, 2014 is a new record year, so by the end of the year, we expect to welcome almost 20 million visitors in greece.

>> greece fell into a debt crisis in 2009 after its lax fiscal management was revealed and the crisis triggered demonstrations across the country. its tourism industry which accounts for nearly 1/5 of its gdp was also severely damaged. >> we managed to really reverse the negative image of greece, which had made a lot of our visitors reluctant to come to greece. this was our message to the world that greece is always a very friendly and very safe place to visit. >> europeans remain the main customers for the greek tourism industry. she expressed hope to receive more visitors from asia, such as japanese and chinese. >> australian military officials want to strengthen their naval power as security changes with china's increasing maritime

activity. they are showing strong interests in japan's technology. japanese defense minister and his australian counterpart met on thursday in tokyo. they agreed on possible cooperation in the field. >> translator: i wish to boost the strategic partnership between australia and japan. >> we are great commercial friends, japan and australia. i think we can be even better military friends. >> johnston asked for assistance with his country's plan to procure new submarines. ito says japanese officials will study what cooperation is possible. japan has strict arms exports rules. it is known as guidelines for the three prils of transfer of defense equipment and technology. the two ministers also agreed on mutual assistance in the maintenance of next generation f-35 fighters. both nations have agreed to purchase the jets from the u.s. he also explained to johnston about the interim report on the

revision of japan/u.s. defense cooperation guidelines. johnston said his country will support the change. >> afghan security authorities say they arrested two senior members of a network responsible for a number of sophisticated and deadly attacks. officials say the men are leaders in the hakani network. one of the men was captured along with another man on tuesday. they are responsible for a car bomb attack in july in the southeastern province of paktika which killed more than 40 people. the network has staged high-profile attacks against the government and nato troops. hakani is accused of having

played a key role and raising funds from overseas. there's hope these two arrests will have direct consequences on the network and center of command. ine other news soldiers and police in napal search for dozens of people who have gone missing along trekking routes. nine people including foreign visitors have been killed in a mountainous region amongst harsh weather conditions. a large amount of snow fell on tuesday. it was accompanied by avalanches and blizzards. footage from the army shows helicopters bringing back injured trekkers to the airport. poor communications are hampering rescue efforts. the associated press says about 70 people are missing and afp says nearly 170 foreign tourists were registered to hike in the area.

>> sure i was going to die at the way to the pass because i lost my group, i lost all the people that i've been with and i couldn't see anything. >> the deaths come during the peak trekking season in nepal. the nation is home to 14 of the highest peaks, including mt. everest. >> now an update on the world weather. residents of bermuda are preparing for the strongest storm one, two, three inning so far this season. let's get more.n good morning. >> good morning. well you know we have been tracking this system for quite some time. it intensified even further. you can kind of see the eyewall here. very strong status. it's a category 4, the second strongest of any kind of hurricane status moving all the way into bermuda as you can see on its course through the small island and people are bracing for this. i can show you some pictures of this image, just one week after hurricane fay struck the small island of bermuda another hurricane is now bearing down on the residents there.

hurricane gonzalo has become the strongest storm in the atlantic this season and residents are making proper preparations prior to its arrival. many are boarding up windows and getting last minute provisions. at least 1500 homes are still without power following fay last week. the storm could also once again knock out power to residents as it sweeps by, not only knocking out power but also this sustained winds of 230 kilometers and gusts higher than that could damage a lot of the structures. it's on its course towards bermuda so be aair if you're in and around these vicinities. it could make its way to the canadian maritime by saturday or sunday maintaining some intensity as a hurricane status or decreasing a little bit but either way it is already pulling a lot of that moisture surging from it and the moisture is creating a lot of that rainfall,

in heavy amounts. precipitation about 100 millimeters could be maintaining across in and around maine and into the canadian maritimes. quite a strong low pressure system so gusts and tornadoes could be associated with this. it's paulg lot of the cold air. you could see snowy precipitation up and around ontario and continue throughout the weekend. clearing up fine in the mid-section and much of this continent but yet again another system is slamming into the western areas of the pacific northwest, especially the coastal locations. we're seeing about 100 millimeters of additional rainfall and a sustained winds of about 50 kilometers per hour gusting up to 90 kilometers per hour. so this stormy condition will be prevailing and remaining in the pacific northwest. as you can see nice clear skies across denver, oklahoma city, down to 24 to 30s. yesterday very comfortable and chicago at 18. now across japan we're seeing

heavy downpours across hokkaido. 100 millimeters in one hour. this will continue with threats of 70 millimeters of rainfall just in one hour and additional of about 100 millimeters anywhere as this cold front sweeps across the area. as you can see back behind it high pressure system is predominant and much of japan and korean peninsula and eastern and northern china. this is also responsible for making it for the bad pollution up and around beijing and down towards the south, drought conditions still prevail due to the nonmeasurable accumulation of rainfall for the past 30 days. shanghai cloudy skies at 24 degrees, seoul reaching up to 20 today and pretty comfortable here in tokyo at 23 degrees with partly sunny skies. i'll leave you now with the extended forecast.

that's all for now on this edition of "newsline". i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. we'll be back with the latest at the top of the hour so do stay with us on nhk world.

and a marketing guru warning to japan, act now or you're history. >> hello. you're watching "asia biz forecast." i'm yuko fukushima. japanese officials say the economy may have passed an important turning point and the direction is down. that's not good news for prime minister shinzo abe. he has said repeatedly his administration's big mission is