welcome to nhk "newsline." it's wednesday, september 30th. imcatherine kobayashi in tokyo. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has delivered a speech at the u.n. general assembly. he addressed the pressing refugee crisis. abe also stressed that with newly enacted security legislation, japan is ready to make a greater contribution to u.n. peace keeping operations. >> translator: united nations that this year commemorates the 70th anniversary of its funding is an assemblage of people who do not easily despair even in

the face of desperate circumstances. is that not precisely how the u.n. has withstood adversity and arrived at the present day? japan will further enhance its assistance for refugees and internally displaced persons from syria and iraq. converted to a monetary figure, this year's assistance comes to approximately $810 million u.s. in total. triple the amount we provided last year. japan has strictly maintained itself as a peace-loving nation for the 70 years since the end of world war, and we have accumulated a record of successful efforts fostering peace and prosperity in the world. in cambodia and elsewhere, japan put forth its best efforts its diplomatic endeavors, its dispatching of peace-keeping operations and later assistance over the long-term. at this very moment in south sudan, members of an engineering unit of the japan self-defense forces are making efforts around the clock. japan has also, for its part,

very recently prepared a legal domestic framework enabling it to contribute to peacekeeping operations in a broader manner going forward. the japanese are a people who view and will continue to view the two letters u.n. as having a certain glimmer holding aloft the flag of proactive contributors to peace based on the principle of international cooperation. japan is determined to undertake security council reform in order to transform the u.n. into a body appropriate for the 21st century and then as a permanent member of the security council carry out its responsibilities in making still greater contributions towards world peace and prosperity. >> "newsline's" editor in chief, miki ebara, is covering the u.n. general assembly in new york. you've been covering him for a

abe has been quite consistent. u.n. ars ago after becoming he wanted the country to become a proactive contributor to speech. he also said he wanted japan to be more actively engaged in u.n. peace keeping. but back then there were many legal constraints. for instance, sdf personnel could only use weapons for self-protection. but right before this trip, he managed to have national security legislation enacted. it expands the role of the self-defense forces abroad. it also enables the sdf to adopt rules of engagement for use of weapons and to play additional roles such as protecting civilians. so today abe told the world japan is ready to participate in u.n. work and peacekeeping. he also repeated his hope for japan's permanent membership in the security council, a goal the country has pursued for a long time. other points abe made include japan's plan to financially

assist refugees from syria and and countries that host them. abe didn't forget to stress his efforts to empower women, spread respect for the rule of law, and eliminate nuclear weapons. he also touched on north korea's nuclear and missile programs and abductions of japanese citizens. but he chose not to mention other regional security issues such as tensions in the east and south china seas. >> thank you very much, miki. president abe held a news conference. he emphasized the influx of refugees into europe was largest issue and expresses solidarity. >> translator: japan is determined to make a major

contribution by actively taking fundamental solutions for the refugee issue. we will provide economic assistance as well as cooperation in the areas of education, health and medicine. >> he was asked whether or not japan will accept more refugees. >> translator: before accepting refugees we have to do more things like empowering women and the elderly. and increasing the birth rate. we have to implement more policies to that end. regarding the refugee issue japan has to fulfill its responsibilities. we have to get rid of the root causes of refugees. japan would like to make a contribution to eliminating such root causes. >> prime minister abe said he will reshuffle the cabinet and appoint officials of the main ruling democratic party on

october 7. he said he will maintain the major framework of his administration while giving opportunities to as many people as possible. nhk's senior political common tater joins us now. abe has completed his trip. what do you think he was trying to achieve? >> abe spoke about his diplomatic successes. he took part in several u.n. meetings and held individual talks with world leaders. this was the first time he has been face-to-face with so many of his counter parts since japan's new security legislation was enacted. it is a turning point in the country's post war security policies. he explained during his visit that the new legislation will allow japan to play a bigger role in world peace and security. >> and in the meetings between abe and other leaders what happened there?

>> abe believes it is important to improve the security environment through diplomacy especially with neighboring countries. he met with russian president vladimir putin. abe expressed his desire to resolve a unglastanding territoryial dispute between the countries. abe could not specify if the visit to japan will happen this year. he is carefully after seeing russia's ties with the west worsen over the ukrainian crisis. abe briefly talked with south korean president on the sidelines of the u.n. meeting. they spoke about holding the summit with the chinese premiere possibly next month. ties between japan and south korea have in been strained over differing views.

no official meeting could be arranged between the two leaders in new york. there was no meeting between japan and china at the summit level, either. >> it seemed the japanese government wanted abe to get together on the sidelines. that didn't happen. what is next for abe? >> there are many more important international meetings for japan this year. abe is expected to take part in some of them such as the g 20, the summit of the asian-pacific economic cooperation forum. domestically as abe made clear for the first time in the news conference he plans to reshuffle his cabinet on october 7. he seems to be trying to refresh the image of his administration. public support for his cabinet dipped. abe will also focus on the economy. he needs to regain public support ahead of next year's

upper house election. he has been saying he wants to include constitutional religion in his platform and he will need more support to see that goal realized. >> thank you for your insight. nhk senior political ca commentator. ind es revealed the planning adopt china's high speed railway system. the project pitted tokyo and beijing against each other in a fierce competition to win the contract. informed japan's top government spokesperson of the decision. he is visiting as a special envoy for the president. japan and china have been eyeing the railway contract and the plans link jakart and city of bandung. earlier this month leaders in

jakarta said they would cancel the project and both plans would put a strain on state coffers. they will not offer guarantees for loans. president decided on shchina's proposal as japan's would require government guarantees. >> translator: we regret that came to convey our message. >> officials in beijing welcomed the decision. >> translator: we have expertise in construction and management of high speed trains as well as superior know how in international cooperation, findings and conditions, transfer of technology and schedule management. >> japan is eyeing a number of high speed railway projects including one linking malaysia

and singapore. the decision could force the government to reconsider the strategy. japan's olympic minister wants games to be held in fukushima prefecture. the prefecture was the region hardest hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. and said the governor asked if the prefecture could host some of the qualifiers for new proposed sports including baseball and softball. >> i think disaster hit regions can hit a number of qualifiers. if qualifiers can be held in other regional areas, as well, the 2020 olympics and paralympics will be an eernt vent for all of japan.

japanese businesses have been busy working on mergers and acquisitions. today we look at a company planning to diversify by expanding into the auto industry. tell us about this company and what is its strategy? >> very interesting strategy of mixing two industries and this one, of course, involves two tech savvy companies. plans to buy an italian chemical firm with focus on carbon fiber business for the car industry. sources familiar with the matter say the chemical maker will buy 55% of shares in delta tech for about $42 million. delta tech has advanced tech technology for fiber for auto parts. torray hopes to use the technology and ties with auto makers to expand the auto

business. currently the materials used only for hoods of high end models and some other parts due to high costs. steel makers are accelerating efforts to develop lighter and strong materials intensifying competition over auto parts materials. japan's mizuho financial group is moving to strengthen the asset management stake. sources say mizuho plans to invest $200 million. san francisco based firm specializes in managing financial products for individual customers. these include investments, stocks offering from china, india and fast growing asian

economies. japanese consumers are paying more attention to asset management in the hope of getting returns amid near zero interest rates and strains on the state pension system. japan post bank have agreed to establish a new firm that would focus on asset management for individuals. before the markets opened japan showed industrial production for august declined 0.5% from the previous month. this figure shows a decline for a second straight month and to see how all of this is going to effect stocks and after the market figures came out let's go to -- good morning. so how are investors reacting? >> good morning. the latest industrial production numbers were lower than meeting estimates. looks like the markets are shrugging it off because stocks are bouncing back from

eight-month lows. let's check the numbers for this wednesday morning. the last trading day. the nikkei up 17,255 and the topx up nearly 2%, as well. the nikkei is picking up since mid january on tuesday but for the month we are seeing big falls. wall street was pretty choppy with u.s. stocks heading to post the worst quarter since 2011. on tuesday the nasdaq closed down and dow managed to pop into the positive. the feds did not raise rates and we are seeing commodity route. given these factors and analysts said this is a confusion selloff over timing of rate hikes and the health of the global economy

thus stocks are on the down trend. >> that sentiment seems to be fuelling risk avert sentiment. are market players still flocking to afr assets? >> if you take a peek at security markets i guess you can say so. markets are seeking safer assets with the yen holding on to gains. the dollar is still below 120 yen. and quickly on other markets that are open in the asia pacific south korea is back from the holiday opening lower down over 1%. australia is bouncing up nearly 1%. let's see how the commodity route will play into australia and emerging markets this week. i'll be back with an update in a few hours. >> big focus on commodities. reporting live for us from the

tokyo stock exchange. japan is becoming an aging society more so than any country in the world. the number of people age 60 and older account for more than 30% of the population. elsewhere in asia the percentage stands at almost 18% in singapore and thailand and china. the percentage of senior citizens in these countries is expected to rise in the next few decades. in the first of it a three-part series on the business of aging in japan we look at companies that traditionally targeted younger people but are now refocusing on the elderly. nhk world reports. >> reporter: an increasing number of older japanese people are making trips overseas. many are going not just to sight see but to study. 65-year-old is a volunteer teacher. she uses her english language skills to teach japanese to

foreigners living in japan. she started brushing up on her english by studying abroad. she took the first trip when she was 59 years old. sin then she travelled to other countries every yeerb. she decided to invest time and money in studying english after she had finished raising her three children. >> translator: you only live once. if you don't dare to do something you get nothing. it's now or never. >> reporter: more and more seniors feel the same way. they are packing their bags and heading overseas to study and many travel aemgencies like thi one have spotted an opportunity. at this travel agency the number of seniors applying to study overseas increased about 20%.

the agency offers one to four week study trips for people over 50. the company arranges home stays for their clients with people of the same age. for many it's their first time to experience living overseas. so staff provide detailed information and counseling before they depart. >> translator: if you have any questions during a home stay please do not hesitate to contact the local japanese staff anytime. >> translator: there are many people who wanted to study abroad when they were younger but have no chance until now. i expect many more active seniors will travel abroad. >> reporter: this amusement arcade is usually popular with young people but it has a new target audience, older people. >> translator: let me explain how to play the game.

>> reporter: the operator has been organizing a free trial tour for seniors. >> translator: better to target this area. >> reporter: at this claw machine staff show how to catch the prize. >> translator: i never played this game before but it's worth trying. it's fun. >> reporter: seniors come during the daytime when the arcade isn't busy. the company says they are more likely to spend money than youngsters. so to attract even more of them staff hand out additional tokens for the games. to ensure safety some of the staff members received training as caregivers. they are able to assist people with physical disabilities.

>> translator: seniors are a promising customer base for us, too. we plan to make further efforts to attract as many seniors as possible. >> reporter: japan's population may be aging but its seniors aren't seeking into the sunset. they are leading active lives. nhk world. >> in the second part of our series on the business of aging in japan we look at a company tapping into the experience of older people to make a better product. and that's all for business news for this hour. let's have another check on the markets.

afghan security forces are trying to recapture kunduz. the victory gave them control affa major afghan city for the first time in 14 years. government forces know their reputation is at stake as they battle to retake it. hundreds of taliban fighters flooded into kunduz early monday seizing facilities including the government headquarters and a bank. kunduz is afghanistan's gateway to central asia. president on tuesday vowed to recapture the city. afghan forces beginning counter offensive on tuesday faced land mines laid by the taliban. the u.s. military said it carried out an air strike to eliminate a threat. the sudden fall of a major city made some more fearful for the

future. >> translator: we are concerned about the situation and if kunduz goes then there is a greater possibility that very soon other provinces will fall into the hands of the taliban. >> the afghan government has been trying to restore. it's time for a check of the weather. people in eastern china are dealing with stormy weather conditions. mai shoji joins us. >> it's now affecting eastern parts of china with very stormy conditions even though it weakened to a tropical depression. it used to be a very strong typhoon as we recall and marked a record-breaking strong gusts.

it really destroyed more than 300 homes and ten of them were completely demolished and then it pulled into northern taiwan to injure more than 300. we have pictures from southeastern china where it made another secondary landfall around the morning hours on tuesday. this is where it is coming from. it is before tracking inland while weakening. really dumped lots of heavy blinding rains and brought damaging winds. soldiers and residents were seen ahead of the storm securing coastal items and docking boats. damage has been reported including structures. downed trees and power lines. but unfortunately it's still here. even though it is a low pressure system after this it is going to become very strong. it's going to drop to about 980

by tomorrow and merge with another system from the north completely engulfing and pulling into japan. as it does so by friday about 960 about typhoon strength even though it is a low pressure system. it is a very potent system. stormy conditions prevail on thursday and friday. something to really watch out for even into the latter half of the week. it is curving into the korean peninsula and japan. this is what we are looking at. these are the areas where rain will be continuing at least into the next few days. now, to the bigger picture we see winter precipitation here in the northern areas and down towards the south the southwestern monsoonal flow being active. pulling a lot of moisture and dumping it in central thailand. bangkok thunderstorms at 34 degrees. tokyo your high is at 34.

do enjoy the weather because the storm will be on our way. here across mexico we are tracking this ex-hurricane which is downgraded to a tropical storm. we have a tropical storm warning in place for coastal locations and rip currents and surf conditions are dangerous. it is going to be rainfall that could cause flooding. the total of the system has been already bringing 500 millimeters of rainfall. any additional amounts could be very dangerous for flooding. another area where we are concerned of flooding is in the new england states. these systems are really pulling that humid air from the atlantic and gulf of mexico. so these very big cities in new england states you are likely to see these very heavy rains continuing. it is likely to be associated with a lot of thunderstorms. i will leave you now fiorina extended forecast.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us.

x0 hello and welcome to "global 3000" where, this week, we will be putting the un's millennium development goals to the test. that's right: time is up on "the world's greatest promise", so what progress has been made, and what remains left to be done? welcome to sauri in kenya part village, part laboratory for sustainable development the future's green growing moldova's economy the organic way . and saving germany's hambach forest -- meet the activists putting their bodies on the line.