glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline". it is tuesday december 22nd. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. rescuers in southern china are wading through a sea of mud searching for survivors. they're looking for people missing after a wave of dirt and construction debris engulfed an industrial park. the landslide could be the latest man made disaster in china raising concerns about the country's rapid growth. the landslide struck sunday burying 33 buildings. authorities say some 900 residents have been evacuated. 85 people remain unaccounted for.

no deaths have been reported. >> translator: many people live here. i believe lots of them are still buried under the mud. >> shenzhen is home to one of china's largest industrial complexes. authorities believe the growing amount of dirt and construction debris became unstable, triggering the disaster. a satellite photo from 2002 shows a deep quarry that used to be the site of a mountain, but the scene has totally transformed in this image from last year. the picture show s that deep quarry now filled. locals say the pile of waste grew to 100 meters in height in two years. it became unstable. other residents told nhk they had lodged a complaint with government officials about the dangers posed by the mound, but nothing was done. the state-run xinhua news agency says methods for managing waste from construction sites are subject to inspection and

approval. authorities are now trying to determine whether proper procedures were followed for the waste being dumped at the site. >> reporter: many police officers have been deployed to retrieve vehicles and people from accessing the site. dozens of large trucks are lining the road. they are believed to be on standby to carry away a large amount of dirt which covers an area of 380,000 square meters. a crowd of onlookers is gathering in a spot overlooking the site. they are closely watching the rescue efforts.

more than ten excavators are carefully digging. more than 300 people are taking shelter at this gymnasium. they are distributing instant noodles and blankets. the floor is complete. the evacuees have to wrap themselves in blankets to ward off the cold. many of them, mainly elderly people and children, are complaining of exhaustion. some evacuees say they have no idea what to do because the mud has buried their homes and workplaces. others are requesting more disaster relief from the government. hiroki yajima, nhk world, shenzhen. in other news we are following this hour, power company officials will take another step toward

scrapping a nuclear facility in western japan. they'll submit plans on tuesday to cleanse the aging number one reactor at the plant. the reactor went into operation in 1975. plant operator kyushu electric decided in april to decommission the facility. the move came following a regulation limiting the life span of reactors to 40 years in principle. officials will submit the plan to the nuclear regulation authority. they say it will take 28 years to complete the decommissioning. the plant operators in japan have already decided to scrap five reactors over 40 years old. kyushu electric will be the first to submit such a plan. a vehicle packed with explosives blew up near an american military base in afghanistan killing six u.s. soldiers. the taliban has claimed responsibility, saying it carried out a suicide attack. the blast occurred on monday near bagram air base. afghanistan's defense ministry said six others were wounded,

including u.s. soldiers and afghan police officers. local authorities said the bombing hit a joint patrol by both countries' forces. most of the u.s. led international combat troops withdrew from afghanistan last year. the progress of training the military and police has been slow. taliban militants have been increasingly active. workers launched an attack on an airport in kandahar. leaders in china are viewing the way to shift the course of their economic growth. walk us through this story. leaders in china held an annual meeting to hammer out new economic policies. they decided to carry on with their structural reforms such as restructuring the country's money-losing businesses.

top officials including xi jinping wrapped up the meeting on sunday. during the four-day meeting, the authorities agreed to improve quality and efficiency in order to maintain growth. the reforms include accelerating the restructuring of firms that have been facing overcapacity, including those in the steel and coal industries. officials hope to keep down the cost of electricity and social insurance premiums so companies can control their running expenses. they also want to reduce huge property inventories across the country by helping migrant workers from rural areas settle in cities. officials have called for aggressive public spending and tax cuts to prevent such reforms from leading to a rapid slowdown in the economy. leaders discussed setting the gdp target for next year lower than the current figure of around 7%. the southern chinese

province of is sometimes called the factory of the world. its low-cost labor force has been the driver of economic rise. factory owners and workers are facing new uncertainties. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: these workers are employed at the factory. they are all demanding higher wages. more than 2,000 people took part. business at the factory is suffering in the wake of china's economic slowdown. it's facing heavy competition

from factories in southeast asia where labor is cheaper. workers in the province -- many company managers are looking to become more competitive by including efficiency at their plant. an exhibition of industrial robots this month drew crowd of business people. they featured all kinds of robots, including ones that can work and carry equipment. participants say the machines have great potential. >> translator: robots will help raise efficiency of the entire manufacturing industry. >> reporter: leaders in beijing are encouraging the development of industrial robots. researchers can corroborate.

the machine was developed with financial aid from the government. it's cutting edge technology that have earned -- or as manufacturers focus on improving efficiency, some people are raising concerns. this man has been working at the factory for 26 years. he and his coworkers haven't been paid since may because of a downturn in business. he's concerned about losing his job if things don't come round and if managers decide to put robots on the production line. >> translator: i got married here. and my child was born here. i want to keep working at the factory and continue living here.

>> reporter: while experts say the quest for greater efficiency may lead to more social unrest. >> translator: an increase in labor disputes and bankruptcies are the pains that come with efforts to change to a new industrial structure. the chinese government needs to provide workers with job training as a way of supporting them in finding new jobs. >> reporter: china is facing pressure to make its domestic industries more globally competitive while ensuring jobs for its people. business and government leaders must figure out the way forward. >> now a check on the markets.

tokyo share prices opened higher following a rebound on wall street. the advance still showing the industrial average trading up and down. investors are avoiding active bets ahead of the holiday season. dollar dropped to a one-week low against the yen. it is gaining ground and trading around 121.25. market watchers are waiting for key economic data this week. let's take a look at other benchmarks across the asia pacific region. sydney share prices are opening up 0.4%. in south korea, down about 0.4%.

a plan to expand the asset management business. executives will guy a 41% stake in american century investments. it will be their largest since the 2008 global financial crisis. executives say they expect to complete the purchase by june next year. the firm is based in kansas city and missouri and has about $150 billion of assets under management and invests mainly in u.s. stocks. they plan to use the deal to sell investment trusts incorporating japanese and asian stocks in the u.s. they'll sell american century's mutual funds in japan. japan's agriculture ministry is announcing the first group of domestic products certified as regional brands. they'll receive official logos.

several products including melons and kobe beef are expected to be approved. the certification shows they have met standards for quality and production. they hope to fight lower quality imitations. since june the ministry has examined about 50 regional goods for the certification. that's it for business news. we'll leave you with the markets.

a prominent female has gone missing in northern japan. she disappeared monday while climbing the mountain in hokkaido. a team of rescuers, police and climbers are searching for her. police say she was roped together with four other climbers during their ascent. during a break near the summit, she untied herself to step away. police say tracks in the snow suggest she slipped and fell from a cliff. she scaled the world's highest peak mt. everest and climbed mt. mckinley, the highest mountain in north america. she and another japanese climber were the first to ascend the southeast face of india's kamet,

becoming the first woman to win the french mountaineering award. japanese astronaut spoke to reporters for the first time since completing a mission aboard the international space station and said he is satisfied with his work. >> translator: i have been hoping to provide the same contribution level as space station veterans. i think i have managed to achieve good results. >> he made the remarks in the u.s. city of houston. he returned to earth earlier this month in a russian spacecraft. he has been a flight engineer, playing an important role in the iss. he feels japan is recognized as a team member on the space station. he also spoke about the rehabilitation program that's helping him readjust to gravity. he says he's been able to live a normal life from the first day

of his return. space scientists in japan have successfully completed an ignition test of an improved engine for their rocket the epsilon. japan's space agency jaxa conducted the test in the northeastern city of noshiro. scientists tested the rocket's second stage engine. it will be responsible for lifting cargo such as satellites into space after the first stage engine is separated. the improved engine is bigger and it's expected it will be able to carry a 30% greater payload. the first epsilon rocket was launched two years ago. jaxa officials say they want to win orders to launch satellites. they expect that starting in 2020, there will be a demand to put about five small satellites into orbit per year. they also want to contribute to the country's space exploration program.

jaxa plans to use the epsilon rocket to launch a lunar explorer in 2019. scientists say the ability to launch a greater payload would allow them to add more equipment to the probe. the island to the north of japan is under russian control. many buildings dating from that time remain. the two former working to repair them. >> reporter: one was built in 1937 as a museum. today, russian officials operating the museum. an event to introduce people to japanese culture was held there recently. this used to be a paper mill.

in the early 20th century, half of the paper in japan was produced here. the southern half of the island became part of japan. the army invaded the territory in 1945. forcing the residents to fly. although many of the japanese buildings have been destroyed, a few hundred still remain but they are aging fast. the government is taking steps to preserve them. it wants to promote them as a tourist attraction. >> translator: these japanese buildings have become a cultural asset of sakhalin. we must preserve them.

>> reporter: they've conducted research in the 117 japanese buildings and published books on them. responding to some requests, the japanese government this year promoted the history of this area's architecture. >> translator: russia has a different view point on the final days of the war. we hope that by preserving this historical heritage, russians will focus more on that history. >> reporter: one building examined by the team combined japanese and russian architectural styles. they found a style unusual at the time for japanese residents to have as a luxurious feature. >> translator: probably a high-level bureaucrat lived here. that's fascinating. >> reporter: next think went to the site of the shinto shrine.

the stone here is ensubscribcrih the name of an historical figure. >> translator: that could mean this was brought here from somewhere else? >> reporter: thanks to the input of the experts, he is slowly making head wind with his research. >> translator: the more you investigate, the more interesting facts you discover. >> reporter: 70 years after the end of the war, this heritage is a reminder that the island has a shared history. nhk world, yuzhno. extreme weather will increase in no action is take on global warming. scientists found earth's average

temperature would increase by more than 4 degrees celsius over preindustrial levels over the end of the century. researchers at the japan agency used the earth simulator super computer for the study. they modelled over 5,000 different meteorological patterns to forecast and overall weather trend. their findings show average temperatures will rise significantly from june to august, mainly in the northern hemisphere. north america, the mideast and some parts of asia will see temperature increases of 6 to 7 degrees compared to current levels. the study forecasts that parts of japan will have summer daytime highs go up around five degrees. temperatures in tokyo and osaka may reach 42 celsius or higher. they predict more extreme rainfall. parts of japan now seeing the most rain in 30 years will get the highest rainfall in a

century. this could happen two to five times more often. scientists say there will be less snowfall in japan, but heavy snows of 60 to 70 centimeters a day could happen in northern japan more than twice as often. >> translator: the earth will have finally entered an area of full-fledged warming. >> professor kimoto worked on the studies and hope the findings will be useful to combat global warming. people in northern europe are seeing delays and may see a lot of that before the holidays. they seeing strong winds. robert speta joins us with more. >> we are looking at the possibility of widespread airport delays. take a look at this report. this was out of poland here on monday. upwards of 213 kilometer-per-hour wind gusts

there. that put delays at the airports. back towards the west into germany we haven't seen reports out here. about 100 to 115 kilometers. you still have that tight pressure gradient. back-to-back storm systems continuing to move across this region. most of this is not thunderstorm-oriented. it is just that tight pressure gradient. that means long durations, sustained-high winds. south of where you are seeing these gusts, we are looking at very calm and mild conditions across the mediterranean. that ridge of high pressure extending off to western russia. that is bringing record-breaking warm temperatures over there towards part of moscow andkiev. back on monday, moscow up to 10 nearly 15 degrees above your average for this time of year

and record-breaking as far back to the 80s where the previous record was four to five degrees. you are still going to look at these above-average temperatures. we'll see a changeup and things should start to get back to normal. out into north eastern asia across northern japan, we've got snowfall. low pressure pushing through. that will continue to kick up that sea-effect snow. western japan toward the korean peninsula and north eastern china, high pressure is dominating out here. that is keeping things on the sunny side. that beijing area, you have that red alert in place because of that stagnant hair. this doesn't look like it will clear up until wednesday afternoon possibly. something to know with that is as we have this area of low pressure developing in the south eastern china bringing showers

out there. it will track off to the northeast. behind it, all that hayes is going to start to get pulled down to the southeast. it will impact the korean peninsula and western areas of japan could look at healthy levels. into south eastern asia, we have a tropical depression. to the gulf of thailand, that will bring widespread showers. bangkok, hazy conditions. as we wrap things up into north america, we have a mixed bag of weather today. one big thing i want to note, we have this right here. the key is tropical. you're going to look at record-breaking temperatures up and down the eastern seaboard.

in the west, look at that snow. interstate 90 in washington state, closed at this time due to the threat of avalanche. here is the extended outlook.

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

>> euro max highlights. host: thank you for joining for the highlights of the week. it has been eventful one -- which kicked off by with our first story: the power of music. the scorpions play an emotional show in paris. a burst of color. danish artist olafur eliasson illuminates a baroque palace. a grueling adventure. british extreme athlete sarah outen circles the northern hemisphere. euromaxx was in france for one of the first major concerts since the paris attacks. the scorpions are among the first international rock bands to play a major concert in the french capital since the terror attack that left 130 people dead. the scorpions have a special