hello there and welcome to "newsline," it's tuesday september 29th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. u.s. president barack obama has marked a milestone in relations with a call to action. he's urged leaders at the 70th u.n. general assembly to do more to tackle violence and suffering. obama used the occasion to outline a broad vision for confronting global challenges. he said the u.n. has done well to prevent a third world war, but he called on his counterparts to ensure the international community doesn't go backwards. >> we see some major powers assert themselves in ways that contravene international law. we see an erosion of the democratic principles and human rights that are fundamental to this institution's mission.

i stand before you today believing in my core that we, the nations of the world, cannot return to the old ways of conflict and coercion. >> obama said the u.s. has successfully negotiated a nuclear deal with iran and re-established ties with cuba. but he said leaders must resolve the drawn-out conflict in syria and the resulting refugee crisis. >> there are no easy answers to syria, and there are no simple answers to the changes taking place in much of the middle east and north africa. but so many families need help right now. they don't have time. our concern for them is driven not just by conscience but should also be driven by self-interest. for helping people who have been pushed to the margins of our

world is not mere charity. it is a matter of collective security. >> obama said nations must look forward in order to build a world that benefits all people. russian president vladimir putin has made his first speech in ten years at the u.n. general assembly. he criticized the united states policies in the middle east and ukraine. putin said in order to solve the prolong conflict in syria, it's vital for the international community to cooperate with the assad regime. >> translator: we think it's an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face. we should finally acknowledge that no one but president assad's armed forces and kurd militia are truly fighting the islamic state in syria. >> putin says the fight against

terrorism needs a broad international coalition and cooperation with muslim countries needed. he spoke about the crisis in ukraine. >> translator: they continued their policy of expanding nato. what for? if they were to block the existence of the soviet union, it had collapsed. nevertheless, nato is continuing to expanding as well as their military infrastructure and they offered post soviet countries a false choice, either to be with the west or with the east. sooner or later this logic was bound to spark off a grave geopolitical crisis. the chinese president also addressed the gathering. xi jinping said his country is determined to play a bigger role in the international community. xi was making his first appearance at the general assembly since taking office. he said all nations must work together to shape the future. >> translator: we should abandon cold war mentality in all its

manifestation and foster a new vision of common comprehensive cooperative and sustainable security. >> xi said china will play a crucial role in the growth of developing countries, particularly those in africa. >> translator: we firmly support greater representation and voice of developing countries, especially african countries in the international government system. >> the chinese leader pledged $100 million in military aid to the african union and said china will give $1 billion over the next 10 years to support the u.n. peacekeeping and development efforts. taliban fighters are taking russia controls the island,

japan claims them. putin wants to develop economic ties. the two leaders met in new york, their first meeting since last november. >> reporter: russia and japan intensified contacts including a recent meeting of a bilateral governmental economy on trade and economy. to our regret, the volume of economic transactions between the two countries has declined slightly. i believe we have great potential for economic cooperation. >> he said he was happy to see putin adding this was their 11th summit meeting. >>. >> translator: recently i was re-elected as liberal democratic party president. this allows me to dedicate myself to peace treaty talks with vladimir. i will work on developing ties with russia. >> before his departure for new

york, abe says the territorial issue with russia cannot be resolved if the leaders of the two countries did not communicate. abe and putin are believed to have discussed a wide range of topics to pave the way for putin to visit japan. taliban fighters are taking a hold in a strategic city in afghanistan. it is the first major city to fall since 2001. officials say the attack was launched before dawn on monday. they say four citizens, two police officers, and 25 taliban members were killed. local television stations report the attackers took over the provincial government headquarters, a bank, and the city prison. military leaders say the group has also taken control of the city center. a provincial government official told nhk hundreds of taliban fighters are moving through the streets and setting fire to government buildings. the taliban has launched

offenses against the city of in the past but failed to capture it. the latest development is a blow to the president of afghan who has been trying to restore security since taking office last year. people at volkswagen may have decided as long as a decade ago to use software design to rig u.s. emissions test. we are joined from the business desk. good morning. media in germany are suggesting that this has been going on for quite a while now. >> exactly. it looks like it led to cutting corners, as well. german wire service dpa on monday quoted sources close to several automakers that says the division decided from 2005 to 2006 to install that software. dpa says volkswagen's engine development division was responsible for rigging the emissions tests.

the news agency reported that volkswagen had to clear the strict u.s. emission standards while keeping car prices low to expand sales in the u.s. market. dpa says vw turned to the illegal software because putting in the software emission equipment was too costly. the software was installed in 11 million volkswagen vehicles worldwide. german prosecutors are investigating the role of vw's former ceo. martin winterkorn resigned last week after volkswagen admitted to deceiving regulators. he said he knew nothing about software in the vehicles that turned on pollution controls during testing. >> japan noose -- >> kobe steel blame as sharp drop in machinery sales in china.

officials expect the next net profit for the group to be about $208 million, down nearly 60% from its previous forecast. sales slipped more than 2.5% to about $16 billion. sales are plunging for machinery such as oil pressure shovels as construct is slowing in china. officials say prices have gone down for steel products amid oversupply. they warn price competition might heat up further. >> concerns about the chinese economy are also weighing on global investors sentiment as we've been seeing. let's check on how the markets here in japan are reacting. give us the picture how markets are opening up this morning. >> good morning. we are seeing a sell-off across the u.s., europe and here in japan, as well. people are getting more and more worried about china and its economic slowdown following disappointing industrial profit data on monday. let's see how low tokyo's

opening levels are this tuesday morning. the nikkei is opening down nearly 2.25%. topix is down 2.4%. japan's industrial production is due out tomorrow morning. australian markets are opening very low, down 2.3%. seoul is closed due to the mid autumn holidays. keep an eye on opening levels in singapore and indonesia after markets fell to multiyear lows yesterday. the central bank in india will announce its rate decision later today. focus is on asia. when people worry about its biggest economy china, they pull their money out of commodity markets. and from stocks with the most exposure to china. yesterday one stock rattled investors. that is glencore. shares plunged 29%.

following declines in many raw materials including copper, coal and oil. the plunge in glencore shares reflect how volatile the markets are right now. following that volatility in europe and new york, u.s. stocks closed deep in the red at one-morlows. nasdaq tumbled 3%. that's after democratic law makers criticized the markets. >> we see investors turning a little bit risk averse after all that. your currency expert, as well. how is that affecting some of the pairs? >> i'm a currency expert, as well. the yen is rising. >> the dollar yen is around 119.60, low compared to mid 120

levels we saw yesterday. during trading hours, we may see the dollar fall as japanese exporters could sell the dollar for month-end settlements. yen is higher against the euro, as well. taiwan will be closed due to an approaching typhoon. back to you. >> we are keeping track of that typhoon. thank you for that live from the tokyo stock exchange. south koreians like their beer. many are no longer content with plain old lager. they crave flavor, character and unique brews produced by dedicated artisans. in short, they are hooked on craft beer. changing tastes and a market trend that is lifting spirits. >> reporter: these are good times for the discerning drinker.

restaurants are serving craft beer in south korea, after just a handful two years ago. this bar offers more than 40 kinds from fruity and sweet to nutty and bitter. after returning home, they wanted more choice. >> translator: with craft beer, it's easy to find one you love. we now have more variety to choose from. >> reporter: the craft beer explosion couldn't have happened without a change to the law. until last year, only big breweries were commissioned to sell beef off the production site. that restriction allowed just two makers to dominate the market. the government has now reduced the annual to 75 liters making it possible to produce in small

factories and distribute across the country. this one company is taking advantage of the rule change. it built a new brewery in may to expand production. the new equipment can pump out eight times more beer, sales tripled and it is ready to hire more workers. >> translator: orders are surging across the neighing, especially in seoul and surrounding areas. more and more people are developing an affinity for unique beers. >> reporter: the market is filling with opportunities. with other small breweries planning to increase output, competition is heating up. the fierce competition is pushing some brewer es to devel new concept. this plant has deep roots in korean culture.

ginseng is a traditional medicine. farmers have been growing it for 1,300 years. this factory is making craft beer that including extract from locally produced ginseng. before setting up his own brewery, the company president used to work for one of the beer giants. his goal was to make a unique korean beer. after almost ten years in development, it's finally within reach. moon is gearing up to start selling ginseng beer next year, but even before tapping the local market, his company is getting orders from china and other overseas distributors. >> translator: if we make good product using ingredients grown in the area, we can contribute

to the local economy. >> reporter: the large breweries have started buying out craft beer makers, another sign of the market's potential. the big question now is whether the small makers can keep paste with the thirst for unique beer. nhk world, seoul. >> cheers to that. it's too early for a beer though. that's all for business news for this hour. i'll leave you with another check on the markets.

in china, an economic slowdown and surging labor costs are taking a toll on corporate earnings. among the hardest hit are manufacturers who have long been driving the economy. >> reporter: this is known as a war factory. production plants have been closing down one after another. this factory used to make parts for major japanese watch

companies, but it had to let some 1,000 workers go. >> translator: i was suddenly told in the middle of the afternoon that i don't have to come any more. i have no idea what to do. >> reporter: the minimum wage for workers has grown three-fold over the past ten years and that has been spawning businesses to retreat from the area. some manufacturers are trying to slash labor costs by automating production. this plant of chinese auto parts maker produce volvos, which are expensive. government subsidies will help pay off the hefty investment in over eight years. the company plans to install more robots and eventually cut

the number of its 400 workers by 75%. >> the robots helped improve our production efficiency. we have also been able to boost our competitiveness. >> reporter: but for small makers, it's not easy to come up with such investment money. this man has been running this factory for 18 years. he tends to develop a lean work force turning out high value products. this is a young engineer in charge of designing speakers.

the company has been giving one-on-one guidance to sophisticated skill and know-how. >> i enjoy working here because i enjoy learning many things. i'm fully committed to learning the technology he has taught me. >> reporter: the company sells its main product line to high-end speakers. >> translator: there is no chance of survival for small businesses like us if we just do what everybody else is doing. we are trying to develop more advanced technology and better products. >> reporter: the chinese government is putting more emphasis on the quality of the

infrastructure instead of on the speed of economic growth. private companies are exploring a variety of ways for survival. india successfully launched its first base observation satellite on monday. the prime minister is pushing to expand the nation's influence in the global space industry. >> three, two, one, zero. the satellite called astrosat will help analyze space mystery. such as black holes. india is now the fourth nation to successfully launch a mission following the united states, russia and japan. in 2013, india launched a march

mars probe that entered the red planet's orbit last year. it is launching in the space industry worth $300 billion a year. they took four u.s. satellites into space. people in northern taiwan are waking up dealing with the aftereffects of a typhoon. powerful gusts damaged thousands of homes. many spent the night in shelters. >> i can tell you that the peak of the stormy violent gusts is over, but the stormy weather is actually going to be continuing across parts of okinawa and northern taiwan. the gusts reached 292 kilometers per hour. that is the fourth strongest

gusts ever recorded across the whole country. they had 700 millimeters of rainfall in just three days already. the rain is going to be continuing. i do want to show you a picture coming out from this location. incredible image here. ishigaki was one of the islands first hit. the good thing is that the structures are built for typhoons so there is little damage. here it made landfall in northern taiwan during the evening hours. look at that. at the peak of the storm, over a million people lost power. you can see people sliding along the concrete. very dangerous to be outdoors in those kind of conditions. i'm afraid to tell you, the rain is going to be accumulating even more. the gusts are already down to 180 kilometers per hour. it's just in the middle of the ocean here between taiwan and

south eastern coast of china. it's going to be pulling into the south eastern coast. then downgrading into a tropical depression rapidly. however, we are still likely to see gusts up to 108 kilometers per hour. more gusty conditions prevailing in northern taiwan. the concern will be shifting down towards the eastern coast of china up to about 150 millimeters will be likely into the next few days. the flooding concerns will be remaining. also there is an indeteirect effect. this stationary boundary formed over southern kushu. there will be mudslides with this heavy precipitation. to the north we have a high pressure system predominant making things dry and calm for the korean peninsula, northern china and much of japan. the upper cone of level there is

existent in hokkaido. we may see snow tonight. tokyo at 26 with partly sunny skies. reaching 28. here across mexico, we have a hurricane. the tropical storm marty upgraded and it is now really moving slowly so it's going to be more about rainfall that will be the huge concern. the gusts not so much. about 160 kilometers per hour. that could cause life-threatening rip currents. storm surges. really not a good idea to be venturing out in these waters. near acapulco which is a popular resort area. you might see about 150 to 300 millimeters of rainfall. isolated areas about 500 millimeters. a couple of low pressure systems along the gulf coast and tropical depression which is likely to become a tropical storm in the next 24 hours. it will be a messy event.

once again in the gulf states and eastern coast of the u.s. i'll leave you now with the extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us.

x0 >> "euromaxx highlights." and here is your host, louise elton. >> welcome to the show today, a special edition of "euromaxx," which focuses on the 5 top destinations in europe. i'm not going to reveal where they are, but this quick look forward might just give 3 of the cities away. >> italian maurizio savini makes his art out of chewing gum, how to become a haute couture designer, and turning two townhouses into one larger one. so you might have figured out a few of europe's top destinations, but which order do they come in? that is the question. we start the show off with a look at the place that falls into 5th place.