hello, there. welcome to "newsline." it's wednesday, february 10th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. investigators still struggling global rounds. benchmark went below another key level. we go straight to the business desk. you have all the details. how is the nikkei looking now. >> it's below 16,000. it's the first time below that level since october 31, 2014. now, investors still feeling anxiety over market moves, the decline in oil prices, putting a lot of pressure on traders to sell risker assets.

the tokyo shares did open higher, but dipped below. currently at 15,911. that's a loss of more than 1%. the index is falling again after losing more than 5% on tuesday. let's check on the currencies. the dollar yen trading the lowest level since november 2014. the mid 114 level. 114.49. the ip vest tors buying the japanese currency as a safer asset. the strength on the dollar, the common currency, 1.1291 to 1294. that's after gaining 1% overnight. our markets across the asia pacific region. australia, shares are lower by 1.2%. seoul and many other markets in

the region are still closed for the lunar new year holiday. i will have more business news later, for now, it's going to be back to catherine. >> thanks very much. washington's top intelligence officials raising concerns over the north korea program. it could begin extracting clapper, the director of national intelligence revealed his threat assessment at a senate committee. he said intelligence officials judged that north korea has expanded the nuclear complex and he said the react tore has been operating long enough to allow for the recovery of pla tone yum from the spent full. he said in september, the complex had resumed normal operations. a six party agreement in 2007 so you the country disable the

reactor in exchange for aide. experts from japan and south korea analyzing debris from a north korean rocket launch. they say the first stage of the rocket had a new feature that enabled it to self-desstruct. they believe the move was to prevent foreign analysis. they fired the rocket sunday, despite warnings from a number of countries. officials say it is widely believed to be a missile test. they recovered fragments from the sea, japanese officials said debris appearing to be the first stage, fell into the sea near south korea. the debris from the second stage fell away further south, as the rocket passed over oprefecture. the same body the same trajectory in 2012. they don't believe the explosion

was triggered by a technical glinch. japan's lower house has unanimously condemning the launch. the lawmakers say it's a serious threat against regional and global security. they urge them to withhold the ballistic technology. calls on the government to speed up discussions with other countries on possible sanctions. the hope is that the u.n. security council will adopt a resolution that includes new sanctions as soon as possible. members also say the security council resolution should refer to human rights violations by pyongya pyongyang, including the induction of chinese nationals. >> translator: adopted just now, my government will urge them to fully comply with the security resolutions and to seek a comprehensive solution to pending issues, such as

abduction, its nuclear program and miss siile development. >> they're also discussing the details of the its own possible sanctions against north korea. the upper house you one later in the day. >> a chinese man first zika case. he returned from venezuela, one of the south american countries where the virus has spread. the agency says the man received treatment in venezuela last month when he developed a fever, headache and dizziness. he returned to the province hong kong, he was diagnosed with the virus earlier this month and reportedly recovering. also quoted health officials saying a low possibility the virus will spread in

>> falling commodities in global markets having an impact on the japanese economy. trades for goods fell in january for the tenth straight month. officials at the bank of japan say the corporate goods price index was down 3.1% from the same time last year. the fall is due to a price of scrap and waste, which plunged almost 30%. another factor is cheaper petroleum and coal products, down more than 20%. nonferrous metals dropped by 14%. yields of japanese government bonds have fallen into negative territory. ahead of the negative interest rate policy coming into effect, that is making some fund managers worried they are urging officials at the bank of japan to waive below zero rates to temporarily park their money. the instruments are called money reserve funds, the managers made

the request tt boj . the total balance of mrs exceeds $90 billion. short-term government bonds, so the return is small, but the loss of principle has never been a concern until now. with the yield the government bond below zero percent, they're worried they may no longer be able to guarantee customer's principal. they want the central bank to waive a negative rate when they transfer money to the kurcht account thes keep at the b.o.j. it remains to be seen if central bank officials will make an exception for them. one of several financial products could be affected by the new rate policy. officials at japan's industry ministry new set of regulations making coal fired power plants more efficient. the aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, coal fire power generation is low cost, compared

to natural gas, but it produces high levels of emissions. now, the proposals include requiring new plants to achieve power generation efficiency of 42% or more. currently, only a third of existing plants have achieved the goal. the new regulation would force the new plants to adopt the latest and expensive technologies to lower greenhouse gas emissions. the plan would also effect existing plants. it would obligate them to make efforts to raise their efficiency. ministry officials will get feedback from a wide range of fields and hope to adopt the new regulations in april when electricity retailing is fully deregulated. japanese people have felt years in the mind set caused by falling prices and wages. but one c.e.o. believes that may be changing as they're willing to spend for quality goods. gene has this report.

>> it looks like a regular campsite. but this tent is actually pitched on the grounds of a unique company in central japan. the firm encourages its staff to spend time here for rnd, and also, recreation. the goods they produce aren't cheap. this tent cost a whopping $2,400. but it comes with a lifetime warranty. and customers feel the quality justifies the cost. >> meet c.e.o. who runs snow peek. >> where dot customers see the

value in your value. >> we really don't think our products are all that expensive. basically, we make things that we would like to use ourselves. we want things that will last for years. that are easy to use. and that work well in the field. so we think the prices reflect the value of our products. >> snow peak produces many of its products here. the region is famous for producing finally crafted cooking knives, cups and other metal products. skilled workers have been turning out goods here for generations. their expertise isn't cheap, but he feels that is what sets his products apart. >> translator: in a way, they are a local brand selling the name to the world. the area, the manufacturing hub of the region.

snow peak serves as a platform to bring together manufacturing techniques to create products for our outdoor lifestyle culture. the location is critical. if we weren't here, we wouldn't be able to do our business. >> in the '90s, many japanese firms sought out labor costs overseas, but he stuck to his philosophy. when i asked him if he would consider producing a cheaper line of goods, he doesn't hesitate with his answer. >> translator: that would undermine everything we stand for. if we made a second brand and sold cheap products without lifetime warranties, we would be the same as other every company. >> instead of looking abroad for answers, he turned his focus to his customers in japan. these days, he runs more than 5 camping events a year. it allow him to market his products and also get feedback from core fans.

>> my customers told me our prices are beyond their means. they also said we didn't have enough distribution channels, so hard to find our products. these were some of the comments while chatting around the bonfire. >> there is a lot of outdoor manufacturers outside of japan. how do you intend to compete with them? >> i've never worried about what other cops in thmpanies are doi. we love the outdoor life. we often say that we aspire to be a consumer to consumer company. our business approach is simply to continue providing users with the kind of value they won't get any where else. >> he used the word platform when defining his company. he told me snow peak is that place where customers, product makers and sanjo and himself have a meeting ground. that's not too far from the

outdoors. gene, nhk world. >> that's the latest in business for this hour. the nikkei trading below 16,000, the first time since october 2014. i'll leave you now with the check on markets. authorities in the german state of baf area trying to figure out what caused two trains to collide. 80 others injured and one person missing. the local trains crashed into

each other on a single track railway on tuesday morning. some of the carriages derailed. 17 people are in serious condition. the german transport minister says authorities don't know how the accident happened. >> translator: the trains crashed into each other without the brakes being applied. we are trying to find out whether that was due to a technical failure, or human error. >> police are analyzing the train's black boxes to try to determine why the trains collided on high speed on a curve. they were fitted with an automatic breaking system to. it didn't function. judicial authorities have detained three people in connection with the collapse of the condominium building on saturday's earthquake. they used substandard building materials. the developer and an architect.

the quake has killed at least 41 people. 39 of them died in the 16 story building in taiwan. local officials say about 100 people may be trapped inside. relatives of the missing have gathered near the building and are anxiously waiting for news. >> translator: time is running out. i hope they will rescue as many people as possible. >> rescue workers found a survivor under the rubble on tuesday evening. four days after the quake. philippine presidential candidates have kicked off their campaigns ahead of the may election. one of them will replace who will step down. platforms, voters know what they want. >> translator: i want someone who is active. who can solve our problems. and help the poor. >> translator: i don't want someone who is corrupt.

i want someone clean to lead the philippines. i don't want someone who makes empty promises, but someone who actually keeps them. >> former interior secretary, manual rojas, the currents president comes from an opposition party. independent candidate has led in recent polls, but senator poll is already known. her adoptive parents are celebrities. they disqualified her late last year, saying she failed to meet minimum residency requirements. she was allowed to campaign after the supreme court temporarily prevented the commission from implementing its decision. there is still a possibility she could be disqualified from the race. nothing is more symbolic of

traditional japan than 2k3w67ge. quite a few quit among the training. those that do make it through, celebrate with a debut. soon to become a full-fledged geisha. she will make her debut in march. >> translator: in general, i don't like to quit once i've set my mind on something. i'm prepared to push myself to the limits. >> china street needs her, the city maintains an e techlt o era atmosphere. it had about 30 geisha. now the number is fewer than half that. she inspires geisha, they're in short supply.

after graduating from junior high in the far west of the country, she made her way to kito, there, she studied basic skills for a year and a half. since then, she has been continuing her training. thanks to introductions by her mother. babies first glimpse, she found herself in trance. >> i was interested in it, the more i learned about geisha, the more interested i became. finally, i realized i wanted to be one myself. >> much easier said than done. becoming a geisha requires learning how to play traditional instruments, perform traditional dances. the

attention. >> you just look awkward, like a toy doll. repetition of the right way is a path to proficiency. eve eventually the movements should become distinctive. >> what i'm seeing inside my head, what i would like to show the audience. >> after the dance less on, comes a session with her shami teacher. if she skips practice, even for a day, it's apparent. >> translator: i heard a lot of mistakes. what happened? i bet you didn't practice. were you slacking off?

did you practice in the morning? >> translator: my teacher can tell immediately if i haven't practiced enough. so it's really important that i do. >> 17-year-old girls do not live by shamisin alone, she also likes to listen to western pop muse u music. >> when i'm at home, i can think and do whatever i like. >> the interlude helps her unwind in preparation for the next day's lessons. >> the geisha attractiveness is the accumulation of her he have for -- efforts. rather than rely on unique talent. i want to give all i can. i hope to continue to work hard, and remind myself not to do anything half heartily.

>> new status as a geisha. japanese actor ken watanabee has postponed his return to broadway after his diagnosis of stomach cancer. he is now recuperating at a hospital in japan. the 56-year-old had been due to reprice his leading role as the king of siam on broadway on march 1st. he was treated for leukemia. his career has flourished. songs performed by other cast members of the king and i has been nominated for a grammy award. he said in a statement that he is resting and preparing to return to the stage.

a deep sea survey in the pacific ocean has paid off for japanese researchers. rare metals near a corral reef near tokyo. cobalt in the essential industrial products. it's been found before, but at a shallower depth. researchers from marine technology went deeper. and they found rocks containing rare metals in wide areas near the island chain. they brought some some of the samples to examine. they say rocks from deeper water tend to have higher densities in rare metals. he says his team was surprised at the amount of rocks containing rare metals at a previously untapped depth. >> translator: our team hopes to help japan become a resource rich country. that's our plan for the future.

>> other rare metals including platinum and nickel have been found in seas around japan since 2009. people in tokyo seeing sunny blue skies. different in northern japan has a different story. robert speta joins us with the story. >> basically with the 24 hours, potent winter storm, moved in from the west. satellite picture, just swirling over, right here, classic sea effect snow bans which have been setting up, gusty winds, in fact, the past 24 hours, one location, 63 centimeters of snowfall on the ground. if you're winter sports lover, you're definitely very happy about this. but things are going to be changing up. you could see in the next 24 hours, what we have going on is that low is going to move away, still some snow showers that will be tapering off. high pressure coming in from the

west, including in tokyo, continuing to see dry but cooler weather. it will be warming up. as we look back to southeastern china, watch this, new low starting to develop out here. that's going to bring in precipitation here. it will force that northward. with that, it is going to be dragging in all these warmer temperatures. taipei with a high of 22. shanghai, getting up to you 18. hong kong, 19. japan, once that low starts to push through, temperatures are on the rise. soporo getting up to 17 by saturday. 20, into tokyo, 18 by sunday. but it could even push into the 20s. something to watch out for, definitely going to be warm. not as hot as our friends farther down the southern

hemisphere. it has been bringing heat across the region. perth, do stay inside, stay cool and hydrated. linger that way until it goes down to a reasonable temperature, into the mid 30s, but not until the weekend. europe, what we have going on is that severe weather, storm system continuing to roll through here. already has brought some damaging biwinds, spain, large hail, damaging wind gusts, even a threat down here towards the south, flash flooding and also toward the higher elevations. do expect snowfall. now, behind this, this is dragging in the cold air london, a high of 8. paris getting up to 9, showers in your forecast. east, vienna, heading toward the

mid part of the week. americas, fairly quick here. we have going on is the storm system. bringing some of that lake effect across the great lakes. satellite looks a little white. that's not cloud cover. that's the cold air being picked up by the infrared censor, and that's being dragged in from the north. win p w chicago, minus 8. look at these warm temperatures in the west. denver, 21, los angeles, up to 29 here on wednesday. all right, here is the extended outlook.

that wraps up this edition of newsline. i'm catherine kobayashi in to o tokyo. thanks for joining us. x0

>> hello, and a very warm welcome to another edition of global 3000. are you sitting comfortably? i only ask, because if are, you might want to be rethinking that cosy armchair position, because we're off to one of our most energetic starts yet. morning drill practice -- early learning, taiwanese style. ancient answers to a modern problem -- using inka knowledge to fight drought in the andes. and exporting democracy -- ghana's role in training u.n. troops for deployment around the