. hello there. welcome to "newsline." in's friday, october 31. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. a group of kur desh iraqi peshmerga fighters have entered a syrian border town to try to help push back islamic state militants. officials made the decision to dispatch 150 security troops to the town of kobani. many kurds are living there. a ten-member contingent arrived on thursday at a turkish border

town. they're equipped with artillery and machine guns and plan to support syrian kurdish fighters. a group says more than 800 people have been killed. islamic state militants have been trying to take control of the town. they've been intensifying their offensive despite repeated air attacks by a u.s.-led coalition. the israelis have been criticized for closing a holy site. tension between palestinians and jews has been mounting after a rumor spread that right-wing members of israel's parliament are planning to divide the holy site. palestinians repeatedly clash with israeli security forces and a far-right jewish activist was wounded by gunfire on wednesday.

the gunmen closed the site, citing security reasons. benjamin netanyahu daept spokesperson says they are calling for the status quo. >> we are concerned about the circumstances surrounding the temple mount. >> diplomats exchanged heated words on wednesday over the status of israeli-occupied east jerusalem. the mm meeting came after an unannounced visit by the city's

israeli mayor. another sore point was benjamin netanyahu's decision to speed up planning for 1,000 more homes. >> every day that they continue, the integrity of our state is being undermined by these illegal actions, seriously diminishing the two-state solution. >> israel is our home and jerusalem is the eternal capital of our solve rn state. >> members of the security council express concern that it could lead to fresh hostilities. they urge the two sides to exercise the utmost restraint.

japan's prime minister shinzo abe says north korea has pledged to investigate the abduction of japanese nationals. however, pyongyang has so far failed to provide detailed information on the missing. top diplomat for asian affairs is leading the allegation. they held talks in pyongyang with the special investigation committee. it's tasked with investigating the fate of japanese missing in north korea including abductees. >> translator: the north korean committee members promised to carry out a thorough investigation. they agree to look at the issue from new angles without regard to the outcome of previous probes. the committee said the scope of the probe will include a north

korean agency that carries out special missions. >> in 2002, five abductees were returned to japan. however, the fates of 12 japanese citizens whom the government recognizes as abductees are still unknown. pyongyang has so far insisted that its investigations indicate that eight abductees are dead and the four others are not in north korea. a japanese government official says a north korean committee offered no specific information about the abductees. the official adds it will take more time to look into the fate of the abductees. the official also notes that the committee failed to clarify when it will notify japan of the results of of its investigations. the japanese government plans to provide details of the talks to families of the abductees on friday now the families listened

and are still doubtful of the japanese delegation's visit. >> translator: the prime minister said that north korean officials would conduct thorough investigations without sticking to the results of past probes. but i don't know how we should interpret the meaning of his comment. the best result for us is that north korea will admit its mistakes in the previous report. it said that japanese abductees had died. >> he said he was hoping to listen to some detailed results on friday during an explanation by the chief cabinet secretary. he also wanted to ask government officials to decide quickly what their next steps will be. people on the big island of hawaii are watching lava from an erupting volcano inch toward their homes. authorities are urging residents

to evacuate as the molten rock closes in on one community. fresh lava flows at the kilauea vehicle began in jean. the molten rock has traveled 35 kilometers east and is now approaching the 800 residents of pahoa village. it is advancing at an average speed of 10 meters per hour. earth barriers are being erected around utility poles to prevent power outages. evacuation centers are being set up and authorities are contacting residents whose homes may be at risk. >> it's like a slow torture. >> we're moving out. we're actually spending the next couple days probably to move completely out. >> lava has also engulfed a graveyard for japanese americans at the foot of kilauea. this cemetery was built in pahoa more than a century ago.

>> parts still remain and we'll still go there. it may not be very easy. the cemetery was one of the remaining institutions, you know, in the japanese community here. so, you know, it hurts pt we should maintain it. >> he says the community lost a precious site at a time when the japanese-american population there is shrinking. a pioneer in research on ebola says the outbreak in west africa is a humanitarian catastrophe. he co--discovered the virus in 1976 and is urging people around the world to fight it together. >> i never expected that ebola would take on such a dramatic dimension. as i mentioned, all previous outbreaks were very limited.

and it is this combination of, you know, lack of health services, lack of trust, very slow response. >> piot says the scale of the outbreak has made isolating and monitoring patients difficult. he says the virus has not changed since its discovery, so it cannot spread throughout the air. he's urging people throughout the world to work on vaccines and treatments. a japanese nurse who returned from sierra leone is calling for more assistance from the international community. she says there's a shortage necessary to care for the patients. she was sent to the area for a month by the group doctors without borders. she assisted medical staff helping ebola patients. she had an interview with nhk on

thursday in tokyo. >> translator: patients were brought to the hospital gate, but we had to say sorry, please try another hospital, even without opening the ambulance door. the hospital was already too full, and there were not enough medical workers. so we had to refuse some of the patients. >> she said local staff members have been working under grueling conditions for months. she said they must wear hazmat suits for long periods of time. and many suffered from dehydration. >> translator: medical workers also suffered from chronic fatigue. and even if they wanted to hire more staff, it was very difficult to find call wiqualif people. that was one of the biggest challenges. >> show said the international community must help by sending officials who can train local

staff. the world health organization says they have only about 20% of the hospital beds they need to care for ebola patients. a nhk survey shows that most hospitals in japan that are designated to treat ebola are not fully prepared. 32 out of 39 hospitals said they are not yet prepared to treat ebola patients. as for the reason, three fourths cited insufficient training. and over a heard it cited a lack of supplies, such as protective suits. an expert on the prevention of effect shus d ineffect shus diseases says that the institutions need more

infectious disease specialists and protective gear. japanese researchers plan to sell cardiac tissue made from stem cells as a tool for testing new medicines. the group came together from kyoto university. three groups. they aim to save money and find out whether drugs have adverse effects. the combined technology with mass production technology from the companies. >> translator: development of a single drug now costs nearly $500 million. the new cells will help cut that cost by tens of millions. >> he said the cells will bring substantial benefits to society.

japanese leaders are doing a bit of a juggling act. they want to see prices of every day goods rise, but they don't want that to discourage consumers from spending. auchi yew ch ayew chi. >> the people at the bank of japan have set a target for inflation at 2%. everyone's seeing how it's playing out for households. and this morning's data is a mixed bag. consumer prices rose in september, but families spent less. internal ministry affair, internal ministry officials announced prices rose 3% compared to last year. the index doesn't factor in the cost of fresh food. policy makers at the b. oshlts

jshlts say the inkraes in the consumption tax is partly responsible for the latest figures. without the tax rise, cpi is believed to have gone up about 1%. household spending marked the sixth straight month of decline. households of two or more people spent an average of about $2500. that's a fall of 5.6% in yen terms from the same month last year. officials are painting a mixed picture for jobs, too. they say the unemployment rate worsened, but they say the labor market is still strong. officials say the jobless rate rose by 0.1%. the number of people with jobs increased to more than 64 million. the figure has been climbing for 21 months. the number of people without jobs fell by 250,000 to about 2.3 million. it's been falling for 52 months.

labor ministry officials say the ratio of job offers to seekers was slightly down at 1.09. that means there were 109 positions available for every 100 job seekers. it's the first time in three kpreers, four months it has declined from the previous month. analysts aren't surprised by the numbers. they were exactly what they were expecting. but household spending was worse than they thought. so let's see how investors are taking in all the news. ramin mellegard joins us, what are you seeing over there. >> on top of the data that you just mentioned, investors will also be watching very closely for the bank of japan policy meeting later today as well as more earnings reports. and with the u.s. federal reserve data out of the way there's still a lot for investors to take in. let's have a look at the nikkei

and topix. the nikkei is up 1.3%, getting very close to that 15,900 level. we'll see how that progresses. now the know kay actually rose on thursday, also as investors became more optimistic about the u.s. market. we saw exports rise on a stronger dollar. stocks rallied after the about thor -- better than expected data. the tech-heavy nasdaq up nearly .4%. toshiba, fujitsu and nec managed to report a profit. we'll keep track of earnings reports and those shares today.

now later of course today after the markets close, sony is going to be coming out with its earnings reports. investors will really want to hear about how they're going about their restructuring plans and what it plans to do with its key businesses of mobile phones, tvs as well as its video game consoles. >> you mentioned u.s. gdp was better than expected. how did the dollar react? >> quite a bit of a reaction there. when j when gdp numbers came out, it did touch the fall a little. they started buying back the dollar on hopes of higher interest rates. and that follows the feds' decision to end its bond-buying program. and the u.s. tens to show signs of growth. as for the euro, it may provide

further clues as to the state of the economy there. we'll tcontinue to follow those who release their earnings. but really, the bank of japan meetings taking center take. back to you, ai. >> i'll be back next hour more on your business headlines. here's another check of your markets. aid workers in jordan are trying to shed light on a growing problem. they say more than 3 million people have fled the violence in syria in hopes of a better life,

but the anguish doesn't end at the border. they say an alarming number of girls in refugee camps are being forced no early marriage. nhk reports. >> reporter: a picture drawn by a 14 year old girl. it's a portrait of herself with a baby inside her. it expresses her anxiety about becoming pregnant. although she has little idea what that entails. in the rev joe camps, there's been a rapid surge in marriages involving girls in their early teens. >> translator: we don't understand the situation. they're just told that other girls their age are doing the same thick. they're virtually being forced in into marriage by their parents. >> reporter: you can see many kinds of shops in the street. in this shop here is for renting

wedding dresses. the owner says he sometimes rents out as many as 10 dresses a week. >> translator: i started this business because more people are getting married. some girls are being forced to marry very yuck. >> reporter: the reason why so many young girls are getting married is the financial hardships faced by the refugees. this 13 year old girl fled to swror dan with her mother and younger brother, after her father died in the syrian civil war two years ago. they took shelter in a refugee camp. in january, she was approached by a saudi arabian man who claimed to be a volunteer helping refugees. he said he would support the family if she married him. because they were struggling just to feed themselves, the

mother and daughter agreed. the girl went to live with the man in his apartment. but a few days later, he disappeared, leaving behind only enough money for a year's rent. islamic culture does not permit sexual relations outside of marriage. and most people expect brides to be virgins. having been married once, she thinks it will be very hard for her to find another husband. >> translator: my dream was to become a doctor and get married, but it's impossible now. >> translator: at the time, we were desperate. and we thought he would be a good husband. but he fooled us. every time i look at high daughter, it fills me with despair. i'd rather die than suffer this much. >> reporter: one non-profit organization working with rev joes says a growing number of

girls are worried about the possibility of getting married. >> translator: i heard that some people divorce a week or two after wedding. >> translator: i know one young girl who had a child, but she doesn't even know how to breast-feed. >> reporter: according to unicef, as many as one in three syrian refugee girls under the age of 18 are getting married. not by their own choice, but to support their families. >> children are the ones that bear the brunt of this crisis. so we would like to maintain the focus on that, on the fact that many of these children could become a lost generation. >> reporter: for many girls, marriage is their only hope for the future, but too often they're betrayed, and their lives become even worse.

nhk world, refugee camp, jordan. time now for a check of the weather. rescue workers are still looking for missing people in sri lanka after a landslide. the weather has not been cooperating. mai shoji joins us with the details. >> the weather will not be cooperating for some time. unfortunately, the rain will be continuing to hamper and hen der the recovery process across skri land ca. this is how much rainfall has fallen across the region for the past48 hours. 80 millimeters already. and the search for survivors continues. disaster management officials stated over 100 are still missing, and the hopes of finding any survivors continue to dwindle. over 150 homes were buried in the mud. heavy rainfall continues to

hamper search operations, making the already slick soil slicker for the heavy equipment. the soil is so loose. so the, on top of the saturated ground, we're likely to see 150 millimeters of additional rainfall into the next few days. it could happen in one day with about 100 to 120 millimeters of rain. it is their secondary rainy season that the residents are experiencing in and around sri lanka. and it's going to be an on and off event with the heavy showers. but meanwhile, across northwestern india, we have been following this very severe cyclonic system which has downgraded now to a cyclonic storm. but it looks like it's going to be dissipating before it makes any kind of impact. it will be yes, ma'am panting these areas with some drizzle

and windy conditions. but luckily, looks like it will be dissipating over the water, but do try not to venture out into the arabian sea. across here in the eastern continent of asia, a heavy bulk of rein is traveling across china. we've had about 70 millimeters, for example in one province. and that will be traveling toward shanghai and make its way toward the korean peninsula. beijing is looking at hazy conditions, it's in a very unhealthy level with the air pollution, but the rain should be dissipating and improving the situation. snow, very winter like out there. osaka and sapporo, these are the high areas where we're seeing the autumn foliages. and friday is halloween, and a lot of people like to wear costumes and go trick or

treating. looks like the overnight hours may see some showers. so it's good to carry a folded umbrella, and it looks like rein will be moving in across the three day weekend. so not a treat for us. central mediterranean still looking quite messy. we have three waterspouts reported in greece and italy. the severe thunderstorms could still happen due to the cut-off low sitting here for quite some team. and then mother system moving in across the british isle. the bulk of the heavy rain will be in ireland with about 40 millimeters, and a cold front will be battering southwestern portugal, but redominantly, we're speaking of nice conditions, paris is about 20 degrees. that's where i want to be. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thank you for joining us.

japanese shoppers stay home forcing another downgrade for the economy. chinese regulators crack down on price fixing. foreign executives wonder who's next? and the tax man is coming. south korean companies are under pressure to boost investment. hello. you're watching "asia biz forecast." i'm yuko fukushima. the hard knocks keep coming from japanese prime minister shinzo abe. he's trying to revive his economic program, but political events and the economy are not