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tv   Newsline  PBS  February 11, 2016 12:00am-12:31am PST

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glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's thursday, february 11th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the world nuclear authority has weighed into the zika virus to discuss using radiation to combat the mosquito-borne disease. the international atomic energy on wednesday opened to reporters outside of austria, researching ways to use nuclear techniques to sterilize male mosquitos. the method involves exposing larvae to make them im potent, and they're released to the wild
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which don't produce offspring. the procedures has proven effective in controlling fruit fly populations. >> absolutely clean, safe, bio secure and environmentally friendly. >> one drawback is that the number of sterile mosquitos must be reat least ten times of wild ones launching the program in nations hit by zika virus outbreaks. authorities in taiwan believe shoddy construction caused a condominium to collapse when an earthquake hit last week. they learned the building had less than half the reenforcing steel in the structure. the authorities have confirmed 53 deaths so far in the jolt that hit the southern city on saturday. 51 people died when the 16 story
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apartment building toppled. about 90 people are believed to be trapped in the rubble. rescuers are using heavy construction equipment in a race against the clock to find more survivors. taiwannys construction firm and two architects on suspicion of professional negligence and other charges. local media report that the men are denying the charges. japan has tightened its sanctions on north korea, in response to a nuclear test last month and what pyongyang calls a satellite rocket. fired the rocket sunday despite warnings from a number of countries. officials in pyongyang, believed to be a cover for a missile test. >> translator: we have decided on firm sanctions. we'll work closely winter national community to resolve
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north korea's abductions nuclear program and missile development. >> north korean nationals and ships from the country, also batting ships from other countries if they've docked in the north and the government will keep an eye on non-japanese residents who work on missiles or nuclear technology. if they visit north korea, they won't be allowed back into japan. there will also be tighter control and more organizations than individual also have their assets frozen. prime minister abe to barack obama and south korean president. south korean leaders taking a stand. they've shut down all activities at the kesson industrial park in north korea. >> translator: in order to stop more money from kason and
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protect our firms from being polices, our government has decided to suspend all operations. >> the ministries accused him of funneling money from the fund. they im ploy more than 50,000 workers from the south. they'll limit the number of citizen who could enter the zone. north korea state run tv has aired footage of a hero's welcome to scientists involved in the rocket launch. central television showed buses carrying the researchers in uniforms arriving in the capitol. they're being welcomed by citizens who lined the streets. the state run korean central agency reported on the arrival, calling the scientists conqu conquerers of the universe who
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have successfully launched a satellite. state run media have refrained from covering the shut down of the complex. german media say tuesday's train accident in a southern state of baf aria was caused by human error. two trains collided head on. police say ten people were killed, and 81 injured. an auth automatic train stopping system at the site failed to work, so it showed no irregularities last week. >> we're analyzing the black boxes that were recovered from the train to determine what happened technically, and the cause of the accident. >> local media have quoted investigators as saying the person in charge of monitoring
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train operations at a signal station switched off the automatic stopping system and let through a train that was running behind schedule. authorities have not commented on the reports. in thailand, police have seized the master mind of what it alleged to be one of the biggest fake passport rings. arrest making headlines in the country. let's go to bangkok for more on that. >> one iranian and five pakistanians were arrested on tuesday. this is not a new problem as the bla black-market as seen as a boon to the country. >> france, italy and switzerlands, these are the from middle east, this is one of the
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biggest false passports in thailand. iranian, also known as the doctor, was one of the six arrested. authorities say the ring's fake passport are the best in the under market. in south province, east of bangkok turned up 173 travel documents. the documents were created on a high end printer. to the naked eye, they're very difficult to spot as fakes. even for immigration officers. the going price for one is about $2,000. >> the doctor is a shadowy figure who produces triple a quality. he's wanted in many countries.
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>> factories of official documents are easy to obtain in bangkok. he showed us counterfeit driver's licenses and student i.d. >> translator: border security make it easier for terrorists to operate. forced passports made in thailand were used by the terrorists involved in the 2008 assault on india's financial capitol and bombay in 2004. they say the customers were from foreign countries, such as iran, afghanistan and syria. crime is also included.
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human traffickers. >> translator: the point is, who are you making fake passport for. is that person a threat to national security. if so, how do we stop them. >> thailand's black-market has allowed professional criminals from both inside and outside southeast asia that to move more frequently. now, stricter regulations are urgently needed, including deals from the islamic state militant group, have to region in their site. nhk world, bangkok. there were two accidents involving air force planes in southeast asia on wednesday. in indonesia, a plane crashed into the house in java killing four people. the light aircraft was on a routine maintenance plate when it crashed at the air place east of province.
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the pilot, technician and two people in the house were killed. >> translator: i felt shaking and people started to run. i saw a woman laying near a well. i didn't know whether she was dead or alive. >> the beech craft plane went down in a rice field, a farmer who witnessed the crash tried to rescue those inside, but the fuselage was engulfed by flames. it place a key role in transportation compensating for the country's infrastructure it, joint mill tree. sometimes it complicates air traffic control. >> campaigning is underway in the philippines. three candidates enjoying widespread support, but the front runner has had her
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eligibility called into question by the elector ral commission and a powerful mayor has entered the fray. nhk interior reports from manila. >> national election, right to show their support for their favorite candidates. the three gbegan on tuesday. grace as a front-runner. >> translator: i will doe vote myself to the presidency. >> she image, but she faced an unexpected turn of events. at the end of last year, the electoral commission, she filed a lawsuit, demanding the move be rescinded. poe has spent long periods in the united states, and they say
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she fails to meet the minimum requirements of ten years in the country. the commission's ruling has been suspended until a court hands down a final decision. >> translator: i'm in a tough spot. but i'll stand up and fight again and again. >> outspoken mayor, southern island, his decision to run has changed the complexion of the race. >> i'm running to make a stand against the bureaucrats. >> some called him the philippines version of donald trump, u.s. presidential hopeful. grabbed attention by briefly grabbing a lead in the polls. >> if you don't trust me, you don't have to vote for me, but i'll change this country. >> who other candidates have solid support basis.
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one is former interior sector monroe rojas, the other is vice-president, from an opposition party. shows the for for each candidate could be changing. four major contenders are now neck and neck. who will take the helm of the philippines and secure the situation in the south china sea. manila, nhk world. that wraps up our bulletin. i'm i'm in bangkok. officials at tokyo elect power company are trying to deal with a problem. the clean up work at the nuclear
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plant causes daily waste accumulation. so the company will test a new way to tackle the issue. plant operator tepco, the plan is to burn waste, suits discarded by 7,000 workers at the ends of each shift, as well as metal sheets and lumbar. vast amount hasaccumulated, and could reduce waste by about 90%. officials say they'll monitor radioactivity in the exhaust fumes, if they pass environmental regulations. the ash from the incinerator will be more radioactive. they plan to store it in drums inside a radioactive proof building. annual week long holiday in japan. they've already visited the big cities, so now they're looking
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further afield. >> these tourists are climbing the 785 stone steps to the shrine in western japan. they're on vacation for the lunar new year. >> translator: i wish for the safety and happiness of my family. >> they'll learn how to make nu noodle and make it on the spot. >> it's delicious and i'm so happy i can hand make noodles, it feels much more traditional at the countryside. >> the countryside is attractive to our generation. chinese and taiwan tourists, but not all are ready for the inf x
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influx. >> the lunar new cocoa insides with the snow festival, but at the city's main airport, passport control is packed with travelers. the lines snake into other hallways, and in some cases, it takes almost two hours to pass immigration. there is another problem. all of the hotels are already full. but that's prompting visitors to venture into areas that have seen few foreign travelers before. and our drive from soporo, around 30% of the hotel's reservations are for non-japanese guests. about 400,000 japanese visas were issued last year at this time. tourists, japan may have to get
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used to more visitors. nhk world. the annual chocolate rush is underway in japan. people are flocking to confectionary stores ahead of valentine's day. chocolate makers never satisfied of course. they wants more customers and have come up with mouth watering ways to get them. >> chocolate makers starting to get creative around valentine's day. some of their offerings stand out. like this neck tie, a novel way to get sweet with an office worker. while others need explaining. d. so no sugar, and fewer calories. let's not forget flavor. this source sells a range of single products that focus on
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the essential ingredients, the bean. it imports raw cacao beans from nine different countries, the taste and flavor different from where the beans were grilled. all production is done in store, from roasting to mixing. it takes three days to make one bar of chocolate. >> translator: we want to convey taste and a roma according to the bean's origins. i hope our customers enjoy the differences. >> almost all the cacao beans used to make chocolate we eat here in japan are made outside the country. one process is underway to try something new. a confectionary maker used this media event to show cacao beans produced in japan. the maker said they've come up with a product that is fruity
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and mild. the company has teamed up with a farmer in the islands. about 1,000 kill meters south of tokyo. they have a subtropical climate year round. that's warmer than most of japan. but still, not ideal for growing cacao trees. to get the optimum temperatures and soil conditions, the farmer had to create a tropical environment. after five years of trial and error, he succeeded in cultivating 500 cacao trees. the made in japan chocolates will arrive on store shelves in two years. >> translator: japan has the agriculture technology and skills to create something really delicate. i want to bring these together, and country ate a chocolate that can win recognition around the world. >> japanese ate less chocolate
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than people in many other developed countries, but that all changes on valentine's day. tempted by creativity, sweet lovers just can't get enough. nhk world. researchers in japan have made a potentially high value mineral discovery on the seafloor easternmost island. rare earth metals and used. how defined is raising hopes in the country. >> this deep sea exploration vessel is on the mission to find rare earth metals, on the japan's ocean floor, 5,500 meters bebelow the surface. deeper than ever before. brings back samples and
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scientists say there is a lot more than where they came from. >> translator: we hope to make japan a golden country. >> one of the metals vessel found is cobalt. it is in high demand, lithium batteries, smartphones and electric vehicle motors. skbr japan imports most of the cobalt it uses, but the instability makes it unreliable. especially in the democrat republic of congo. manufacturers hope price pluck wa -- fluctuations will decrease. it's likely the deeper they go, the higher the density of metals, giving japan enormous hope. >> translator: it's safe to say
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the quantity of rare earth metals will increase. japan could become a resource rich country. >> but there is a problem. it's difficult to know exactly where the resources are and in what quantity. researchers from the university of tokyo have developed new technology to carry out surveys more quickly. a vessel can automatically detect the metals, using ultrasonic waves. making the process much faster. >> translator: in the past, it was necessary to individually pick up rocks from the sea bed. but it's important to note that new equipment makes it possible to survey wider areas. >> the japanese government plans to study the cost of developing drilling technology and setting up commercial operations. but it could be a long time before they can overcome coast and environmental concerns, and to make their hopes a reality.
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nhk world. it is time for now a check of the weather with our meteorologist robert spet taca, skiers but not so much on the road. what's the latest? >> yes, anybody that enjoys some winter sports, if you're getting out here on a thursday, its agency going to be a good one. some areas saw about 80 centimeters north of tokyo. for travelers, it has been a rough go. over toward soporo, it is known for getting heavy snow fall, they have the equipment there to deal with it, but too much in a short period of time does cause some problems, and in fact, we have some video coming out of the airport here, just south of soporo where you could see that many plights were grounded. about 82 were canceled going in and out of there. about 500 people were strandsed in the overnight hours, waiting for their flights to take off.
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you could see right there, some of the deicers on the planes out there. it definitely was a rough one for a lot of people visiting the sopo are. o snow festival which is ongoing, one of the biggest of the years, as far as the forecast is concerned, it is improving out here and operations heading into thursday morning getting back to normal out here. high pressure is continuing to dominate. make for some much clearer, sunny conditions. that will be changing up, heading into the weekend. quite drastically in fact. see back there towards the west, another developing low pressure area that is pushing, that's going to bring widespread rain fall. i think one of the bigger issues, notice baable by everyo, most of japan, this surge of warm air coming in ahead of this. this is going to be near record breaking for some people. friday into saturday, these areas in the orange and red, just move over and envelop,
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feeling like april. we could be expecting rain out here as this does move through. let's take a look at the four day outlook. temperatures a little bit above average, average here about 19 for this time of year. tokyo by the way, i do want to mention, 20, near 11 degrees above your average, about 10 degrees above your average. inland, we could see mid 20s possibly at the southerly winds are strong enough. another thing i want to mention, sopo soporo snowfall there, we could see some rain by saturday. it might hinder some of the events out there. big thing i do want to mention. we saw some very heavy snow across most of japan on wednesday. as i mentioned, 70, 80 centimeters, warming trend. unstable conditions. avalanche advisories are in place. if you're heading out there, this is something to keep in
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mind, already reports of avalanches, let's take a look at the u.s., now and see what's going on over here. the big thing we're looking at, still this cooling trend across much of the east, lake effect continuing to dominate many of these areas downwind of michigan overtures huron and into erie, 40 centimeters. temperatures dropping off. combined with the wind chill, we could be seeing minus 30 to minus 40. bitterly cold. los angeles on the other hand, record breaking highs out there. 29 for your high expected. let's take a look at europe. big topic, if you're traveling, going to be a messy one. that's dominating the picture. we're going to be looking at numerous delays all the way from paris, extending towards roam, there is some showers on thursday. here is your extended outlook.
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that wraps up this edition of newsline. i'm catherine kobayashi in to o tokyo. thanks for staying with us.
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[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] anchor: hello and welcome to "in good shape," your weekly dose of health and fitness, coming to you from berlin. let's just jump right into today's show. here's what we've got for you. foot pain -- how heel spurs can be treated. pool fun -- what makes aquadancing so effective. gastric stress -- what causes acid reflux and what kinds of therapies help. today's top topic. do you know the feeling of being stuffed after a real good meal? sometimes you feel bloated and maybe suffer from abdominal pain. or you may eveex

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