. glad you can join us for nhk "newsline." i'm ross mihara in tokyo. the japanese health ministry is promising help for girls for cervical cancer vaccines. about 200 young women have complained of side effects. they will launch screenings and give medical assistance in any case where they can't rule out a link. girls in japan began receiving cervical cancer vaccinations six years ago. the health ministry and governments offered subsidies in april 2013. an estimated 3.4 million school girls had the shots. then one girl after another complained of pain. that prompted the health

ministry to stop recommending the vaccinations too months after it started subsidies. officials did a follow-up study on 2,600 girls. they told nhk about 200 still suffer pain. they say some can no longer walk, and have stopped going to school. ministry officials haven't helped those girls because they haven't established the cause of the symptoms. they say they'll start screening cases soon. the organizers of the 2020 tokyo olympics and paralympics have added up the cost of scrapping their emblems. they told nhk they're out of pocket by nearly half a million dollars. the organizing committee pulled the emblems in the midst of a controversy over alleged plagiarism. members say they spent $400,000 to check if similar trademarks existed and register their own. they say they spent $75,000 on other items, including office services, and website creation.

committee members plan to choose new emblems. they expect to spend at least another $420,000 to check and register trademarks. the leaders of japan's opposition parties are moving to form a common front to block the passage of controversial legislation. they say the ruling coalition is trying to railroad a set of national security bills through the diet, and they say they hope to prevent it. they criticized the ruling coalition's attempt to put the issue to vote in a upper house this month. a thorough debate they say has not yet been held. some propose the opposition party submit a no confidence motion before the cabinet. they'll meet again next week to further discuss their tactics. the president of the largest opposition democratic party says all possible measures should be used.

>> translator: the opposition party can strengthen power by joining forces. >> the secretary-general of the governing liberal democratic party earlier told reporters that the opposition's move will complicate matters. >> translator: before i thought we should talk with the opposition about any possible revisions. but the current situation makes it quite difficult. >> he said the government and coalition of the ldpn komeito will have the upper house pass the bills. japan's foreign minister has rejected recent remarks by a senior russian official. they concern four islands controlled by russia, but claimed by japan.

russian deputy foreign minister igor morgulov recently told the russian interfax news agency that his country has not been in negotiations with japan on the issue of the islands. he said the matter was settled 70 years ago. he insisted that the islands became russian territory as a result of world war ii. morgulov made the comments following a visit by russian prime minister dimitri medvedev to one of the islands last month. on friday, foreign minister fumio kishida told reporters were told that morgulov's remarks were counterproductive and not true. >> translator: the remarks also go against an agreement between prime minister shinzo abe and president vladimir putin. we cannot accept the remarks. >> the japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of japan's territory. it says the islands were illegally occupied after world war ii. u.s. employment figures for the month of august have come

in. key figures show a mixed picture. officials at the labor department say employers in the nonfarm sector added 173,000 jobs. analysts had expected a solid figure in the 220,000 range. employment in the manufacturing and mining sectors declined. but the unemployment rate improved to 5.1%. that's down 0.2 percentage points from july. it's the lowest level in nearly 7 attending a meeting in the turkish capital ankara. they face two pressing issues, the slowdown in china and an expected hike in u.s. interest rates. some investors are expecting the u.s. federal reserve will decide to raise key rates as early as this month. they're concerned that a tightening by the fed will lead to an exodus of cash from emerging economies.

a long-running court battle over a mistaken stock order that cost hundreds of millions of dollars has ended. japan's supreme court has ordered the tokyo stock exchange to pay nearly $90 million for the trading error. in 2005, a broker at mizuho securities mistakenly placed a sell order for 610,000 shares of stock for just one yen instead of one share for 610,000 yen. mizuho securities suffered losses of more than $300 million during a short period of time. the tokyo district court and high court both ruled tse should have stopped trading the shares ven minutes after receiving the order. but the judges ruled that mizuho was not entirely blameless. they ordered the exchange to pay about $90 million in damages. both parties have appealed the ruling. the man in charge of one of indonesia's biggest

infrastructure projects has explained the shocked decision to scrap the idea. he's told japan's ambassador that bids from tokyo and beijing to build a high-speed rail line were too expensive. darmin nasution is the minister overseeing plans to build the network. he spoke to ambassador yasuaki tanazaki about the surprise change of course. he said a high-speed train link would require too much state funding. he said indonesia will build a cheaper, slower line instead. >> we want to convey the military to tokyo. and also we pay with respect to this issue. >> tanizaki says japan is keen to learn more about the new plans. representatives from japan and china were locked in a two-way battle for the contract. the winners would have been

responsible for building a 140-kilometer line between the capital jakarta and bandoong. the death of a syrian boy has brought an outcry. the international media are carrying images of the 3-year-old boy's body which washed up on a turkish beach. his case has come to symbolize the plight of families making the perilous journey to europe. his brother and mother were among a dozen refugees who drowned when two boats capsized off southeast turkey on wednesday. the boats were carrying 23 people who left syria to escape a civil war. they were on their way to greece. the family had fled fighting in northern syria. the boy's father said he just wants to sit next to the graves of his wife and children and rest.

>> translator: they were such good boys. every morning they wanted to play with me. but now they're gone. >> the boys' aunt lives in canada, and has made a plea of support for syrian refugees. >> they were going for a better life. this shouldn't happen. it shouldn't happen to them. >> she said she cannot imagine what her brother is going through, and doesn't want to lose any more relatives. so far this year, an estimated 360,000 refugees and migrants have reached europe or attempted the journey. many are fleeing violence in the middle east or africa. numbers surged over the summer. more and more refugees are fleeing syria because their nation is convulsed by a three-way civil war. the combatants are the syrian

army anti-government rebels and the islamic state group. america's arming and training the rebels to fight the islamic state militants but the strategy has run into trouble. nhk world's hiroshima shimazaki has details. >> reporter: this image posted on the internet stunned u.s. government officials. u.s. trained members of a team expecting to fight islamic state groups had apparently been captured by other islamic militants. >> translator: we have stopped the u.s. interference. >> reporter: the u.s. drafted a plan in september 2014 to train and arm more than 5,000 moderate syrian rebels each year to fight the islamic state group. the budget was $500 million.

>> we came together today to pass an important component on our strategy for dealing with this terrible terrorist organization known as isil. >> reporter: but less than one year later, some shocking figures came to light. >> we are currently training about 60 fighters. this number is much smaller than we had hoped for at this point. >> reporter: what went wrong? we recently spoke to one of the leaders of the anti-government forces whose members had participated in the program. he said some senior levels share a similar extreme ideology with the islamic state group. that means candidates for training must undergo vigorous screening.

very few pass, which severely limits the number of trainees. >> translator: training candidates must never have belonged to a radical organization such as the islamic state group. some of them have failed the psychological tests. >> reporter: to make matters worse, the u.s. and the rebel leaders don't agree on how graduates of the program should use their newfound skills and weapons. the rebels are demanding that they be allowed to take on the main enemy -- the assad regime. but the u.s. wants to avoid more conflict with assad. it insists that the islamic state group be the sole target.

this glaring difference of opinion is causing trainees to drop out of the program. >> translator: the u.s. side has made us pledge that we will not fight assad. but we cannot abandon our desire to topple the assad regime. >> reporter: the u.s. military's goal of destroying the islamic state group may become the latest casualty of syria's ongoing civil war. hiroshima shimazaki, nhk world. friday marks exactly one

year since thailand's interim governme government's coup. this was the spot where crowds of anti-government demonstrators used to gather. until the coup took place in may last year. but calm has now returned. when he took office a year ago he outlined a policy intended to reconcile the nation's political factions. thailand's sharp political divide has polarized the country for more than a decade. in november 2013, protests heated up against the government led by then prime minister yingluck shinawatra. the military staged a coup saying it was necessary to calm the political chaos. calm seems to have been restored superficially at least, but the basic conflict remains unresolved.

political parties supporting yingluck and her brother thaksin shinawatra have won every election since 2001. one of their campaign pledges was to raise the income of farming villagers mainly in the populist northeast. opponents of yingluck's policy said she effectively bought votes which substantially depleted theation's coffers. the anti-thaksin camp is backed by the middle class elite as well as establishment figures. frustration among yingluck supporters is still simmering below the surface. the government is making widespread efforts to engage them in dialogue to achieve national reconciliation, but will this be enough to iron out long established and deep-rooted differences. nhk world's soichoiro tanizawa reports. >> reporter: a man shares a joke with villagers in the northeast province in thailand.

but the man is not an entertainer. he's a soldier wearing civilian clothes. the soldier is part of the so-called reconciliation project promoted by the military since the coup. most people here are red shirts, supporters of the ousted prime minister thaksin shinawatra and his sister yingluck. the military asks everyone to attend. >> translator: the military had to take over the government last may to get the situation back to normal. in about the middle of 2016, you'll be able to take part in a democratic system and to vote in the election. >> reporter: the military goes to great lengths to show it is listening. the program begins with a survey of whether people support its reforms. the military says it will use the results. in groups, they are encouraged

to discuss their concerns and present them. >> translator: we want money for newborns. we want land ownership certificates, and we want the politicians who represent us to be directly elected by the people. that's all. >> translator: these requests indicate there are changes you need in your daily lives. i will present them unedited to the relevant officials. >> reporter: the military center for reconciliation and reform says it conducted 4,000 such events since the coup. >> translator: what we are doing is creating an environment conducive to talks and enabling the current government to work more effectively. reconciliation will take time. reforming the country will require cooperation from all ties from every sector.

>> reporter: but people in this nearby pro-thaksin village say they never heard about the events, at least any in their village. >> translator: i haven't been invited to join any reconciliation program. no one has said anything. if there's still political division with thai people separated into groups, then reconciliation will be difficult. >> reporter: we visited a mushroom farming center located in the same province. the local red shirts have gradually started new efforts to maintain close ties with their political supporters. the so-called mushroom village was set up five months ago with more than 200 people taking part. its stated mission is to teach people how to cultivate mushrooms to boost their income.

the military is keeping a close watch. about ten military people have turned up to watch the founder of the mushroom village known to be a loyal red shirt. >> translator: it was thaksin shinawatra who supported the small businesses to help the people, and the scheme was expanded by yingluck when she was the prime minister. >> reporter: he said the program could expand with the moral support of the former prime minister who also happens to grow mushrooms. >> translator: people who never joined a political movement before are also joining to be trained of how to grow their incomes. in the future, we want to make mushroom villages in every province. >> reporter: after years of political confrontation, the military launched a nationwide initiative on reconciliation.

but more than a year later, a sense of mistrust still hangs in the air. nhk world, northeastern thailand. >> in thailand it's the urban middle class that has benefitted most from the country's fast-growing economy, but people in rural farming villages still feel left behind and their frustration is mounting. this gulf is one of the factors fueling the deepening political conflict. narrowing the gap and bringing about public reconciliation have been key items in the interim government's policy agenda right from the start. but exactly how should the correction be achieved? this is a question that should draw on the collective wisdom of thai society as a whole, not just those in power. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. policymakers in china are

struggling to deal with the nation's economic downturn. they're trying to increase household consumption as a new engine to drive economic growth. online retailing is a particularly fast-growing market. as chinese shoppers go overseas and make bulk purchases, it's having an impact both in and out of the country. more from nhk world's wataru michishita. >> reporter: ordinary people are becoming selling merchants throughout mainland china. this woman sells imported goods from her home. >> translator: these are all made in japan. shampoo, toothpaste, and hair dryers. >> reporter: her sister bought these items in bulk in japan and then sent them here. the women tax on commission

free, and sell the goods. the practice of buying items on the customers' behalf is called daigo power trading. daigo dealers get in touch with potential customers by a smartphone for a fee. this woman notches up $8,000 in sales in the good months. her business falls in a legal gray area, because she's not paying import tariffs and other taxes. but more and more people have been drawn into the business. >> translator: you only need a small amount of funds to start the daigo business. it gives you extra income. i want to keep doing it. it's easy money. >> reporter: the online retail market in china was worth as much as $450 billion last year.

that's up 50% from the year before. some online businesses aimed at china's consumers are from overseas. this one by a drugstore chain in western japan. one of its customers lives in shanghai. she's buying her favorite cosmetics directly from japan through the website. >> translator: i don't trust china-made items because you never know if they're genuine or fake. i don't have to worry about goods sent from japan. they're all authentic. >> reporter: the drugstore launched an online business for consumers in china last year.

on the website, the promotional copy is in japanese, as well as chinese, to highlight the japanese brand value. workers at the drugstore wrap the items in pages of japanese newspapers to emphasize the authenticity of the shipment. >> translator: when our chinese customers see the wrapping, they'll be reassured that the items were actually sent from japan. >> reporter: the final sales from its china-bound online retail mark surpassed $3 million last year. the drugstore aims to more than double that amount this year. >> translator: china's market is growing at a pace three times or even five times faster than our domestic market. it will just keep expanding. >> reporter: from everyday items to luxury goods, more and more people are eyeing business opportunities in china's growing

online retail market. wataru michishita, nhk world. populous, prosperous, pushing ahead. china's rise from its wealth, power and problems. an income gap divides its people. pollution threatens their health. differences over territory strain relations with its neighbors. find out the challenges that china faces on "newsline." here's a quick look at the weather.

a stray sheep in australia may have set the world record for the most wool shorn from a single animal. it's enough to make 30 sweaters. the sheep was found by hikers near canberra. officials of australia's royal society for the prevention of cruelty to animals rescued it on wednesday. witnesses said it was struggling to walk under the weight of its wool. the sheep was carefully shorn by master sheerer ian elkins. >> the sheep was mildly sedated, so it made it comfortable.

and then we sort of had to break it open, and shear the fleece off in a couple of layers. because the weight of the fleece was pulling against the skin. >> it's estimated the sheep was around 6 years old and had never been shorn before. the sheep yielded over 40 kilograms of wool, breaking the world record of 27 kilograms set by a sheep in new zealand in 2004. >> i just went back and looked at him. he's doing fine. in fact, i think he's a new man. not only half the size, but his personality has already changed. >> rspca officials say they plan to nominate the sheep for recognition by guinness world records. that's all we have for now on "newsline." i'm ross mihara in tokyo. thank you for watching, and have a good day. ó

hello, and welcome to a winged edition of "global 3000." the wings this question are tiny, but the passion they evoke is immense. find out what that's all about later on in the show where we have the following topics coming up -- welcome to istanbul syrian refugees seek a new life in turkey. poppy predicament. rural poverty drives myanmar's illegal opium trade. and nature trail -- a quest to find a rare and endangered bird in benin. millions of sirens have fled