i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. investors here are worried. let's get straight to ai ushida. >> the nikkei is down 600 points right now. getting closer to dipping below 17,000. oil prices are down. wall street is down and shanghai yesterday closed below 3,000 for the first time since last august. let's take a look at current levels, the benchmark nikkei

average erased all the gains it made on wednesday. the index is lower by 3.5%. 17,087. investors sold shares across all sectors on a stronger yen. overnight, benchmark brent crude oil fell to below $30 a barrel for the first time since april 2004 on the back of a global supply glut and weak demand from a slowing demand in china. let's take a look at currencies, the dollar-yen pair trading well below the 118 level again. currently at the mid 117 levels. and the greenback let go some of its gains overnight due to risk aversion. the dollar euro, that pair is 1.08. the federal reserve official commented that kbloebl risks could set the course for a gradual rate hike this year. let's look at markets across the

asia pacific region and see what is happening. we are seeing losses. so far this morning, australia shares down 1.5%. over in seoul, the cost -- k -- kospi is down 4.5%. there's a sharp decline in machinery orders. that means managers are spending a lot less on equipment and facilities. the officials at the cabinet office say the orders were worth more than $6.6 billion in november. that's down 14.4% in yen terms from the month before and it's the first decline in three months. the numbers do not include the ship building and power sectors which tend to see large fluctuations. manufacturers decrease their spending by 10.2%. the number for non-manufacturers was down 18%.

despite the drastic decline for november, officials are saying the orders are showing signs of picking up. a major japanese trading house has become the latest victim of falling natural resource prices. sumitomo is seeing a loss in prices for nickel. a projected loss has prompted the company to describe its earnings forecast for the business year through march as undetermined. demand for nickel is shrinking due to mainly china's slowing economy. they expect nickel prices to fall less than half of what they initially thought and likely only to return to 80% of the earlier projections. the officials say they may have to post further losses this

business year because prices of crude oil and iron ore are also falling. the u.s. federal reserve has released its beige book. activity is expanding but some industries are struggling due to china's slowdown and falling crude oil prices. the report is based on interviews between issues at the 12 federal reserve banks and key market players. the interviews took place from december to early january. consumers spent more during the holiday season and auto sales continued to be strong in most districts but unseasonably cold -- warm weather hindered clothing sales. labor markets improved and worker shortages in some districts. the fed mentioned growing wage pressure in some industries, including construction and manufacturing.

a strong dollar and falling prices of crude oil are hurting exporters and energy-related industries. the fed's policy makers last month ended their near zero interest rate policy hiking their key rate for the first time in 9 1/2 years. they are expected to raise the rate four times this year. analysts are watching how economic performance abroad and energy prices will affect the feds' decisions. the nikkei is down 3.6% this morning. i'll leave you now with a check on markets. ♪ ♪ nhk world has exclusive details about the suspected suicide bomber in tuesday's

deadly attack in turkey. the blast rocked a popular tourist area in is stand ball, killing 10 german and wounding 15 others. [ sirens ] authorities identified the suicide bomber as nabil syrian and member of the militant group. they say he entered the country on january 5th as a refugee. he originally joined the opposition free syrian army after the conflict in syria. he said fadli was from northern

syria and belonged to an ethnic turkish minority. he doesn't know how fadli came to enter the country and carry out the attack. the turkish prime minister said he entered the country on january 5th as a refugee. he disclosed that there had been multiple people supporting him who had played important roles in planning the attack. turkish authorities have detained four people as part of their investigation into the bombing. the suspects are thought to have links to the islamic state group. belgian investigators have identified three safe houses used by the suspects in the paris attacks in november. belgian prosecutors released a statement confirming that two apartments and a house were used by the suspects in brussels and the vicinity. all three places were rend under false names with one-year contracts last fall. the apartment in brussels appears to have been used to make bombs. police detected traces of explosives along with suicide

belts. traces of dna and fingerprints belonging to one of the suicide bombers and also the suspect salah adeslam remains at large. fingerprints were also made at the other apartment. a car used in the attacks had been driven near the safe houses. they say the suspects had been prepared for the november 13 attacks in paris for at least two twos. the attacks left 130 people dead. a suicide bomber in afghanistan has targeted a pakistani consulate in the eastern city of jalalabad.

at least seven people were killed in a blast and a gun bat that will followed it. >> translator: i was sitting here and saw two people arrive on a motor bike. one of them got off and opened fire on the police. they were dressed in police uniforms and carrying ammunition. we were lucky to escape. >> after the bombing, gunmen barricaded themselves inside a nearby house and exchanged fire with security forces. last week, another set of gunmen tried to storm the indian consulate in the northern city of mazar-i-sharif. they were locked in a standoff with afghan special forces that lasted 24 hours. no one claimed responsibility, but experts suspect the taliban. representatives from afghanistan, pakistan, china and the united states met on monday to discuss a road map to peace in afghanistan. afghan government officials held direct talks with the taliban for the first time since last july. the process stalled later the same month after reports taliban leader muhammad omar was dead. the current taliban leadership is reportedly split on whether to take part in peace talks. in pakistan a bomb blast near a polio vaccination center has killed at least 15 people.

polio workers have frequently been targets in pakistan. some islamic radicals claim the vaccination program is a secret western plot to spy on and sterilize muslims. police in quetta say the blast killed two civilians, 12 police and one paramilitary officer. at least 23 people were wounded. the targets appear to be the policemen guarding the polio vaccine workers. the bomb was the latest in a string of attacks against health workers. pakistan and neighboring afghanistan are the only two countries where polio is still endemic. in 2014 the known number of polio cases in pakistan soared to 306, the highest in 14 years, as violence disrupted the campaign to eradicate the disease. authorities in china say they have detained a swedish man who was advocating human rights in the country. the unusual detention of a foreign activist comes as the

chinese government continues to crackdown on human rights lawyers and ngos a foreign minister spokesperson made the disclosure on wednesday after reporters questioned him on the whereabouts of the swede. he went missing in china. >> translator: a swedish citizen, peter dolan, has been put under coercive measures in accordance with the law in beijing. on suspicion of engaging in acts that harm china's national security. >> dolan is a member of a chinese urgent action working group which supports chinese citizens tackling human rights issues. the swedish embassy in beijing say it's investigating reports that a swedish national has been detained. also with the crackdown, chinese authorities have formally arrested a prominent human rights lawyer on charges of subverting state power. the u.s. state department said

wang is one of many activists under unjust detention. it's been demanding her release. china's state-run "xinhua" news agency reported in july last year that the firm wang belongs to was raided for allegedly inciting subversion. more than 200 people, including human rights lawyers and law firm employees have been detained or temporarily taken away for interrogation since then. tensions along the border between south and north korea could be ratcheted up even higher, in the wake of pyongyang's announcement last week it had performed its fourth nuclear test. south korea says a suspected drone from the north briefly violated its airspace on wednesday. the south korean military fired about 20 shots from a machine gun and broadcast warnings before the drone returned to the north korean side. it had managed to fly dozens of meters into the country. relations were already strained after south korea restarted loud speaker broadcasts along the

border. they're critical of north korean leader kim jong-un's regime. soldiers there have also been on high alert. seoul says it also suspects north korea of releasing balloons that dropped anti-south propaganda leaflets within its borders. in 2014, south korean officials discovered three downed drones in the country. they crashed on an island and mountains and elsewhere. the south korean defense ministry and the u.s. military concluded the north sent them to spy on the south. pyongyang denied that. well, north korea is also a topic of conversation between japan and russia. both countries are seeking to ramp up pressure on the north. japanese foreign minister fumio kishida has called on russia to closely cooperate with the u.n. security council to adopt a new resolution incorporating effective sanctions against pyongyang. kishida made the comments during phone talks wednesday evening with russian foreign minister

sergey lavrov. he said it was a serious security threat that undermines peace and safety in the region as well as the international community. he added it's extremely important for the world to take decisive action. kishida asked russia, a permanent member of the security council, to work closely with other member nations on the new resolution. japan is a nonpermanent member of the council. lavrov said north korea's action violates security council resolutions, and russia is concerned. he said his country is ready to join talks on a new resolution. a south korean court has ordered a university professor to compensate those referred to as comfort women, saying she defamed them. park yu-ha wrote that japan's colonial rule of the korean peninsula is to blame for the issue of the comfort women. but she also wrote the belief in

south korea that the japanese military forcibly took 200,000 young women does not represent the overall picture, and she claimed the women ended up in their situation in different ways. nine former south korean comfort women sued park for more than $220,000. park claims she had no intention of defaming them. and she says people misinterpreted her book. a district court in seoul ruled the expression she used that the women forged a comrade-like relationship with japanese soldiers distorts the fact that they were victims. the court ordered park to pay about $74,000. the professor is also facing a criminal charge, but authorities have not detained her. intellectuals in south korea and abroad have described the indictment as a threat to freedom of speech.

researchers from the philippines have developed their country's first observation satellite with the help of japanese scientists. researchers, a total of nine philippine searchers have been in residence at universities in northern japan to build the eye in the sky. the satellite is about 50 centimeters in diameter and weighs some 50 kilograms. it was shown to the media on wednesday at the space center in tsukuba near tokyo. it can detect objects as small as three meters in diameter on the ground from space. the philippines will use the satellite for monitoring farmland conditions and damage caused by storms, heavy rain and other natural disasters. officials plan to develop a second mini-satellite next year. >> but having our own microsatellite, we can now have more data before and after and be able to respond better in disasters. >> translator: developing countries are very interested in space exploration these days. it's important to introduce japanese technologies into them.

>> a u.s. rocket will carry the satellite to the international space station in march. it will be released into earth's orbit as early as april. senior u.s. and philippine officials have sat down in washington to discuss cooperation on security issues. among the topics the defense and foreign secretaries discussed was freedom of navigation in the south china sea. >> there are many aspects to that security cooperation and that joint umbrella, if you like. one of those is freedom of navigation and freedom of the commons. >> carter said the u.s. has indicated its intention to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, including the south china sea. china claims almost the entire area and has constructed manmade

islands on submerged reefs. that has fueled tensions with neighbors that have competing territorial claims, including the philippines. u.s. officials have asked their counterparts in beijing to stop taking unilateral action in the area, but china's maritime activities there continue. the philippine foreign affairs secretary told reporters the two sides discussed the possibility of joint patrols near the islands, but albert del rosario said no agreement was reached. recent surveys by the health ministry show that one-third of japanese men are overweight and the numbers are increasing. for many of these men the concern is not just with their weight but with their appearance. now people in the fashion industry are starting to take

notice. nhk world has that story. >> translator: you look really nice. >> reporter: thanks. this man is trying on a sweater that's extra, extra large. he found it at the department store that's making an effort to appeal to larger men. in september, the store expanded its offerings. you won't find small or medium-sized clothes here. the sizes rage from 2 l to 5 l. but the stores buyers face a challenge. many clothes makers didn't offer extra large sizes, so the buyers asked them to expand their ranges. >> translator: there's a wide selection for me to choose from. i enjoy shopping here very much. >> reporter: so officials say sales of garments for larger men have increased 20% over the past

year. >> translator: plus sized customers used to only care about finding clothes that fit them, but now more of them want to be fashionable and find trendy items. >> reporter: this website offers every kind of garment and accessory a larger man could want. it has more than 3,000 items. sales have grown more than threefold over the past ten years. many of these items have been designed to be comfortable. standard jeans usually have five or six belt loops, but these have eight to accommodate longer belts. the company that runs the site has released its own original line of clothes. this is no ordinary shirt. it has mesh in the shoulder for better ventilation. one popular item is this t-shirt. it has a different shape than

normal tees to accommodate a chubby stomach. >> translator: i'm pretty big and that can cause problems when i introduce clothes to help solve those problems, customers like them. so i realize they felt the same way and i decided to offer similar products. >> reporter: here is a fashionable district in tokyo. a model is taking part in a photo shoot for a magazine that indicate -- cators to plus-size men. the magazine focuses on clothes, grooming and lifestyle tips. some of the fashion is quite playful. and there are accessories to help plus-sized men complete their looks. reerds have been passionate in their response.

the editorial team is busy preparing the next issue. the focus of today's shoot is everyday clothes. he steps in to offer a tip. >> translator: this is a bit loose. why don't you pinch it in the back to make the stomach stand out more. >> reporter: he had the model not to hide his chubbiness but to show it off. >> translator: i hope our magazine will help to lead clothes manufacturers and fashion brnds to begin to create stylish items for plus-sized men. i think it can also be seen as a great business opportunity. >> reporter: he says japanese men are finding it easier to buy comfortable and fashionable clothes. some people in the fashion industry think it might be the

next big thing. people in coastal cities of peru are dealing with severe weather. meteorologist robert speta joins us now with the details. >> yes, across much of this area, what we have been looking at is kind of an enhancement from the el nino, that's the warm waters off the pacific coastline here and even back toward the east, severe flooding reported over the past several weeks over parts of ar gen too, paraguay and southern brazil. if you look over at per rue, strong winds have come in. let's look at video. look at those swells. right there. that is absolutely dangerous if anybody is out there on the pier. waves cresting over two meters high. many of the worst-hit areas along this region are there across the fishing communities of peru. look at that boat being ripped right over there.

some other areas across that region, we have high-wind warnings in effect and that could bring large waves as well. not just rain but also the winds and the waves. as far as the forecast is concerned, the wave should taper off into the weekend. you are still looking at lying pipgs -- light precipitation on thursday, friday. where that video comes out, you will see partly cloudy skies. let's take a look over to the americas where we have this high pressure back toward the southeastern u.s. continuing to dominate but some lake-effect snow fall through the north. some areas could see 30 to 50 centimeters expected in this outlook with this low tracking off in that direction. we have the storm system developing out of the south, moisture in the gulf of mexico. big deal is that the mississippi river is still at flood stage. you get more precipitation on top of that, it could cause some

hazardous tns for people living along the area here. stake -- take a look at st. louis, cleveland, buffalo, minus one. getting up to seven by friday. kind of a roller coaster ride view. dropping down to 4 by saturday. roller coaster ride here in southeastern australia. look at the front right here. it's been bringing strong storms and gusty winds. in melbourne, a boat was knock off its moorings. stronger storms fawrth inland -- farther inland. melbourne, you had a high of 41 there on wednesday. take a look at thursday's high. the forecast, just 19. some wet and windy conditions out there for you. friday, toward saturday, it should be tapering off. sydney as well will be looking at a dropdown in your temperatures. as we wrap things up here in

northeastern asia, cooler temperatures back toward the west. russia minus 41 there reported during your morning low across this region and then just down toward the south, high pressure still dominating. that's keeping things on the cold side in fact, but you are going to be looking at some hazy conditions. we have those haze conditions in effect in beijing and shanghai as well. seoul, snow. thursday's high at zero. tokyo, partly cloudy skies. high of 11 on your thursday. here's your extended outlook. ♪ ♪

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

dr. lekutat: hello and welcome to a brand new edition of "in good shape." french lady jeanne louise calment was the oldest documented human who ever lived. she lived to be an amazing 122 years old. she died in august 1997. she was alive when the eiffel tower was being built and was a contemporary of vincent van gogh. she learned fencing when she was 85 and still rode a bicycle at age 100. when you asked what she did to get that old, she said "nothing special." she smoked until she was 119 and only stopped because she was turning blind and couldn't see the cigarettes properly. so, some people seem to live