glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's tuesday, september 15th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >> european union ministers failed to reach an agreement on how to handle incoming refugees. they wrapped up their emergency meeting held in brussels. they reached an agreement which only says each country will make utmost efforts to accept refugees. in may, the eu decided to accept 40,000 refugees, but ministers have found common ground to take

16,000. they called for each member to take in their fair share of people. germany and france strongly support the plan. the czech republic and slovakia oppose it. after the meeting, they called on nations to work together. eu members will soon disclose the number of refugees they take in. the ministers will meet again on october 8th. people gathered outside the european commission building demanding more assistance for refugees. some wrote messages calling for increased aid on a wall. a painting of a drowned syrian boy was put on display. images of his body washed up on the shores of turkey sent shock waves around the world.

>> please save those refugees. do something. find a solution. >> a demonstrator wore a mask reassembling the hungarian prime minister and used barbed wire to show how some are being blocked. public opinion in europe is split between people for and against accepting refugees. greek rescue crews have discovered yet another tragedy involving migrants and refugees. a wooden boat capsized in the southern aegean sea. 34 people died, nearly half of them infants and children. about 100 people were able to swim to a nearby island or were picked out of the water by the coast guard. they were heading from turkey to greece when their boat sank off the island on sunday. their nationalities have not

been disclosed. a larger ship carrying about 2,000 people arrived in greece on the same day. a north korean official says the country may launch a long-range ballistic missile next month to mark the 70th anniversary of the nation's ruling party. the state-run news agency quoted the director of the national aerospace development administration. the director said the agency is in the final phase of development for a new weather satellite. rockets used to launch satellites can also be used as long-range ballistic missiles. the director also hinted at the possibility of launching an upgraded longer range llistic missile. north korea has vowed to continue developing long-range ballistic missiles and has conducted several test launches. the last was in december of 2012. state-run media reported in may that a new facility for the control of satellites was being built. members of the international

automatic energy agency have become discussions on the nuclear deal with iran and the state of nuclear power in japan. they opened the annual conference on monday in vienna. the director general amano said the nuclear deal made between iran and six world powers contributes to the iaea's verification procedures. u.s. energy secretary ernest moniz praised the agreement. he said it makes it clear that iran would not possess nuclear weapons under any circumstances. the head of iran's atomic energy agency also commented. >> we, likewise, expect the iaea and the e3eu3 to reciprocate through impartial and objective conclusion of the ongoing process, and removal of the unjust sanctions respectively. >> the iaea has also submitted its final report on the 2011

fukushima daiichi nuclear accident to the conference. agency official 0s hope sharing the lessons of fukushima will improve the safety of nuclear plants. the chairman of the atomic commission spoke about his country's restart of a nuclear reactor in southwestern japan. it was put online in august under new regulations made after the fukushima accident. all nuclear plants in japan had been offline for nearly two years. japanese prime minister shinzo abe remains determined to enact security regulations during the current diet center. law makers are vowing to put up a fight. they're promising to do everything they can to keep the bills from becoming law. abe took part in intensive deliberations on the legislation at a special upper house

committee. the bills would expand the role of the self-defense forces and allow japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. a lawmaker from the ruling liberal democratic party asked why it was necessary to change the interpretation of the constitution to allow that right at this time. >> translator: when it comes to national security, the government should be prepared for every possibility. the legislation is essential to protecting people's lives and peace within the limits set by article 9 of the constitution. it needs to be enacted immediately. >> a lawmaker from the opposition democratic party pressed the prime minister about recent poll numbers. >> translator: 80% are opposed to the bills being enacted during the current session. i believe the will of the people is extremely important and is fundamental to making political decisions. >> translator: the best thing would be to win the people's understanding and support for the bills.

poll numbers are as mr. kitizawa mentioned, but even so, i want lawmakers who were elected by the people to make their own judgment after the bills are thoroughly debated. >> officials from the ldp and its coalition partner komeito hope the legislation will be passed this week during a plenary session of the upper house. in order to do that, they want committee members to hold a final question and answer session on wednesday and vote by thursday. opposition lawmakers may use tactics such as submitting a non-confidence motion against the cabinet or a motion to censure the prime minister. they hope to delay voting on the secuty bills. [ chanting ] people opposed to the bills gathered in front of the diet building. they held pen lights and called for the bills to be scrapped. the organizer of the rally says around 45,000 people took part.

>> translator: the number of people who have gathered here demonstrates how each one of us has a strong feeling about the bills. i want lawmakers to respect that feeling. we want the bills to be scrapped. >> it violates japan's constitution. we never admit it and so many people against these bills so never neglect the people's opinion. >> some of the protesters say they will take to the street every day until their voices are heard. rescue crews in eastern japan are searching for 15 people who went missing in a massive flood last week. the disaster also killed two people in joso city, about 50 kilometers northeast of tokyo. a levee on the kinugawa river broke on thursday. more than 6,000 homes were inundated. about 2,000 rescue workers from police, self-defense forces and fire departments are looking for

the missing on foot or in boats. they also visited homes and offices to check whether any more people are missing. [ speaking foreign language ] >> recovery efforts are under way. a water purification plant in the city resumed operation on sunday. workers replaced the motor of a submerged pump. officials can now supply water to more than 4,000 households, and residents can clean their houses. >> translator: it's great. i can finally start clearing the mud out of my house. >> another water plant remains out of operation. about 8,000 households are still without water. city authorities say they don't know when the plant will be restarted.

>>. >> it's been 50 years since japan and south korea normalized diplomatic ties. to commemorate this a south korean pianist and japanese guitarist performed together in seoul. >> reporter: in august, the japanese guitarist visited the pianist. they've been friends for about 20 years after meeting at a music festival. iy invited raji to perform with her. her father served in japan as a diplomat so thee lived there for seven years in her childhood. later, she studied in the u.s. where she met the world renowned conductor ozawa. this led to her professional debut in japan in 1983. since then, she has played a many concerts around the world.

but in 2009, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and decided to take a break from performing. she received many letters from friends in japan while she was fighting the disease. >> translator: the letters really spurred me on. my power is limited, but i hope i can do something to promote friendship between the two countries. >> reporter: it took a few years for lee to finally beat the cancer. in 2013, she asked moraji if she wanted to put on a joint concert in seoul. that time, a tumor was found on her tongue. she says lee's words of encouragement gave her strength during that difficult peer.

>> translator: she told me i should just focus for a while on getting better and throw myself into performing when the time comes. her advice was very reassuring. >> reporter: the two performers are making final preparations for their concert. >> translator: please feel free to play however you like. it should sound like you're talking about your life experiences. ♪ >> translator: we won't be able to restore the friendship between the two countries on our own, but we would like to show what good friends we are and create a warm atmosphere for the

audience. >> reporter: the day of the concert has finally arrived. ♪ >> translator: we've been able to hold this wonderful concert, so it must be possible for our countries to be on friendly terms.

>> reporter: the two musicians have overcome national differences to connect with music, and they hope music can help build friendships between their countries. nhk world, seoul. people in securities firms are busy preparing for one of the biggest stock listings in japan's history. the tokyo stock exchange has given approval for japan post holdings and its two financial units to go public in november. good morning. give us the details. >> it is a highly anticipated, obviously, and big focus more than 60 security firms will be selling shares of those three firms and they plan to hold briefings for individual investors at 12 locations starting this friday. an unusual move for securities firms prior to an ipo. about 90% of the shares traded domestically will be sold to private investors so these are

the people who will hold the key, basically to whether the listings of those firms goes smoothly. now the combined market value of the three firms is estimated around $100 billion. it's the largest ipo since ntt went public 28 years ago. now time to check on the markets. investors cautious ahead of central banks decisions this week. that's with the bank of japan's meeting later today. for more we go to the tokyo stock exchange. what can you tell us? >> good morning. the bank of japan is facing pressure to take additional easing measures because first of all, domestic inflation numbers are still weak and second there's worries over china. first let's see how tokyo markets are kicking off this tuesday morning. it's september 15th already. nikkei is opening up 1%, 18,144 and the topix is opening up

0.7%. global markets are on a cautious note as there is uncertainty about this week's federal reserve meeting. u.s. stocks closed down 0.3% lower as investors adjusted their positions ahead of a possible rate hike announcement. many market players say it's not just the fed but the boj. one analyst told me the boj won't announce new measures because it's only a few days ahead of the fed announcement. he said the easing in october is more likely. still market players will be looking forward to what the boj governor might talk about inflation figures at the news conference after the markets close. speculation over easing in japan is putting pressure on the yen. the dollar/yen is moving narrowly as we head into the fed meeting. it's around 120.37. euro is opening, asian trading hours lower 1.1306.

we probably will see this wait-and-see mood in financial markets ahead of central bank decisions, at least until the boj unveils its results later today. >> looks like investors may just stay on the sidelines. what other factors should we be watching out for maya? the nikkei lost almost 300 points yesterday. >> exactly. we should see how chinese markets open in an hour. they were rangebound until the shanghai posted the biggest drop in three weeks. here is how asian markets are opening tuesday morning. south korea's kospi slightly down. it's a mixed morning in asia with all eyes on the boj today. back to you.

>> thank you, maya. >> japan's population is aging fast and increasingly likely people will be able to live on public pensions after they retire. they drafted new pension systems to make up for declining public pension payouts. the draft system allows businesses and employees to share the risks involved in investing the contributions. labor ministry officials want to make it easier for smaller firms to offer pensions to their workers. the current corporate pension system requires companies to pay out fixed amount to retired workers. the new program will allow companies to adjust payment amounts based on investment returns. firms will be required to raise regular contributions agreed on in advance. management will invest contributions on workers' behalf. >> indonesia is reeling from an economic slump triggered by the slowdown in china.

the gdp became the largest thanks to global demand for raw materials. now leaders are trying to shift the structure of the economy to make it more resilient. yuko fukushima has more. >> reporter: the 50 million consumers are the life blood of the economy. the trouble is a lot of the goods they buy are imported. with export revenue falling, the country is living beyond its means. what economists call current account deficit. the value depreciated 30%. that pushed up prices and put a damper on spending. >> my income can't keep up with

rising prices. >> the economy is bad. prices are up. >> reporter: the president says fundamental reforms are needed. he says indonesia must be made more resilient to outside shocks. >> we are transforming the economic fundamentals for the sake of the economy. the development paradigm has to be changed from consumption to production. >> reporter: not just any production. right now, indonesia earns most of its export revenues selling raw minerals. the government wants its country to make more value-added goods and export those instead. the strategy to achieve that has been controversial. last year the government imposed a ban on the export of raw mineral ores. the aim is to force countries to

refine raw minerals in the country. this is nickel ore, the main resource for stainless steel. when refined it becomes a mix of nickel and iron. exporting it would bring indonesia more than four times the revenue. to do that, indonesia needs more smelters. state-owned is one of the mining companies under pressure to build them. managers say this plant will be ready to refine 20% more ore by the end of the year, but the upgrade comes at a cost. >> this is dw for our government, but to build the smelter is not easy and big money for investment costs.g fo, but to build the smelter is not easy and big money for investment costo for our

government, but to build the smelter is not easy and big money for investment costo for government, but to build the smelter is not easy and big money for investment costd for government, but to build the smelter is not easy and big money for investment costs. >> reporter: small and mid-size mine operators are being affected the most. the export ban forced 14 mining companies to stop operations. 5,000 people were laid off. some of those workers now earn a living as day laborers. >> translator: there is no stability in doing this. i don't want to continue this kind of job forever. >> reporter: indonesia production is aimed at creating a stronger economy, but many of its people face a long and painful wait before they feel the benefits. yuko fukushima, nhk world. >> that is it for business news at this hour, but i'll leave you with another check on the markets.

>> let's get a check of the weather. people in southern vietnam are getting impacted by a tropical storm passing through. >> we are watching that tropical storm which is has made landfall over central vietnam yesterday. it's over laos. take a look what happened across the city of da nang. the severe tropical storm came ashore. the high winds threw people off their bikes and caused coastal damage to buildings. mountains inland helped trigger many amounts of rainfall. all schools in the city have

been closed today. people were seen pulling boats out of the water. it's not a good idea to be out venturing out in the water and ships should be docked today. three meter high waves will be affecting parts of the south china sea. not a good idea to be venturing out in the waters. wind gusts reaching 90 kilometers per hours. it has picked up 25 kilometers per hour. so you're likely to see the stormy conditions anywhere in the path and surrounding areas because the southwestern monsoonal flow has been activated from this system. drops of water about 120 millimeters. in addition to what we have seen in the past few days. that tropical depression has been lingering over the south china sea.

there is another tropical depression that is likely to become a tropical storm tonight. it could affect the islands. we'll keep a close eye on this system. high pressure systems are dominating northern china and korea. there is a stationary boundary that will be formed over southern kushu. the rain could get heavy in western japan. as for tokyo today, it's going to be a perfect day for doing your laundry outdoor. tokyo 25, partly sunny skies. enjoy it while we can on our tuesday. across the u.s., we are looking at a sink of jet stream meandering down to the south. we are going to get beneficial rainfall across parts of california where the wildfires are still raging. too much rainfall could causeoo.

out towards the cascades, we are looking at snow in the higher elevations. a taste of winter out there. a clash of the two air masses happening here. that is likely to bring strong gusts from kansas to nebraska. gorgeous looking out in new york, chicago and d.c. here across the uk we have a tornado touchdown reported in southern parts. it's looking messy. the cold front will still be affecting northern italy. heavy rain warning has been in plates in parts of portugal. the rest of the area looking clear and fine. people living in temporary shelters across these areas will get a summer-like temperature. watch out for heat stroke. i'll leave you with the extended forecast.

>> that is all for this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.

announcer: "euromaxx highlights." and here's your host, karin helmstaedt. karin: hi there, and welcome to our "euromaxx highlights," which size up with these topics today -- poignant portraits. a british animal photographer and his revealing close-ups. high-tech fashion. a dutch fashion designer makes intelligent clothing. and castles and vineyards. the unesco world heritage site of the middle rhine valley. if you sometimes have the feeling that your pet is part human -- or, indeed, that your pet thinks it's part human itself -- you are not alone. british photographer tim flach