hello there, and welcome to nhk "newsline." it is tuesday, august 16th, i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the japanese government has been publicly protests incursions of chinese vessels into its territorial waters. now it's released a video showing such intrusions in the east china sea. the footage was taken by japan's coast guard earlier this month. it show a japanese patrol ship ordering chinese government vessels to leave japanese waters. it also shows the chinese fleet near the senkaku islands. japan controls the islands. the government maintains the islands are an inherent part of japan's territory. taiwan and china claim them.

chinese vessels entered waters earlier this month although not in the past week. japan's foreign minister launched a protest with china's ambassador last week. besides the videos, japanese officials have also made public a record of the incursions and photos of the vessels. observers say the government's aim in releasing them is to call for restraint from beijing. three students who led a pro democracy protest in 2014 in hong kong have been spared a jail term. the umbrella policy marks the most turbulent time. they led a series of rallies that sparked a more than two-month-long street protest. they demanded democratic elections. the three students were indicted without being taken into custody for participating in what the authorities called an unlawful assembly. last month a court found all three guilty. on monday their sentences were

handed down. alex chow is sentenced to three weeks in prison suspended for one year. the two seen on the left were given community service. joshua wong got 80 hours and nathan law 120 hours. >> i will continue to civil disobedience and fight for democracy and human rights. >> nathan law has filed his candidacy in a legislative election to be held next month. in light of the lesser sentence, he's expected to be allowed to run. the 2020 tokyo olympics are still four years away but officials are already concerned about heat stroke. they say severe weather may pose a risk to both athletes and spectators, and they want to put measures in place to help. environment ministry officials

plan to install warning devices on a trial basis at several spots. they'll be located along the planned marathon course around the imperial palace and other places. the instruments display the risk of heatstroke on a four-level scale from attention and warning to danger. the level is based on various data including temperature, humidity, the intensity of sunlight and its reflections. >> translator: many visitors are not used to japan's hot and humid weather. we'll provide appropriate precautions in various languages. >> the tokyo games are scheduled for late july and early august of 2020. every year during this season hundreds of people across japan are taken to hospitals on especially hot days. authorities regularly issue advisories to people to beware of heat stroke. another problem for the olympic games in rio de janiero.

several visitors to the venue were injured when an overhead tv camera came crashing down in the olympic park. the camera had been suspended by two kilometers of cables to take aerial images of the venue. it plummeted about 30 meters to to the ground. an eye witness said it looked like a flying saucer coming through the air. >> i was looking at the cameras, and the camera cable, you heard a massive snap, and it snapped and then the camera fell at an angle. >> the incident happened on monday afternoon near the venue for judo and wrestling. many visitors were walking around the area at the time. organizers say they are trying to find out what led to the problem. the only russian track and field athlete due to compete at the rio olympics has successfully appealed a ban. darya klishina is scheduled to take part in qualifications for the women's long jump on tuesday. klishina is based in the united states and proved she was not

involved in alleged state-sponsored doping program in russia, but the international association of athletics federations announced it had obtained new information and revoked her eligibility. klishina appealed to the court of arbitration for sport. on monday the court ruled in favor of the athlete. the iaaf had claimed that klishina's doping samples were subject to tampering and manipulation for a period beginning in january 2014. but the court says the long jumper has established that she was subject to fully complaint testing outside of russia during that period. checking the markets on wall street now. all three major u.s. stock indices have ended at all-time highs. rising oil prices pushed up shares in new york on monday. the dow jones industrial average gained a third of a percent to

close at 18636. energy-related shares gained as crude oil futures climbed to their highest level in about a month. the tech-heavy nasdaq rose more than half a percent. the weaker dollar is boosting a wide range of shares. the broader s&p 500 also hit a record high. this is the second time in less than a week that the big three american indices finished the same day at all-time highs. but analysts doubt whether the bullish mood will continue for much longer. some data is painting a lackluster picture of the u.s. economy. retail sales in july were much weaker than market expectations. the bank of japan introduced its negative interest rate policy six months ago. the move has encouraged home refinancing, but it's failed to gain traction for boosting consumption and investment or pulling the country out of deflation. boj officials on february 16th started applying a minus rate to

a portion of the balances held by commercial banks at the central bank. this means the financial institutions have to pay a fee on some of the funds they parkt the boj. the aim is to encourage them to increase their lending to businesses and individuals. borrowing costs in general have come down during the past six months, pushing mortgage rates to record low levels. many people have taken the cue and refinanced their home loans. companies are also taking advantage of low interest rates by issuing corporate bonds. analysts at major brokerage nomura securities say total corporate bonds issued in japan from january to july reached $59 billion. that's about $15 billion more from the same period last year. but the negative rate policy is starting to hurt the profitability of commercial banks. boj officials say they'll review the benefits and side effects of their monetary measures including the negative rate at their upcoming meeting in september. switzerland has come in at

the top of the list of innovative countries compiled by an agency of the united nations. the organization says a number of new products and services created through innovation have led to the country's economic growth. every year the world intellectual property organization ranks the innovation performance of countries and territories. the rank is based on the number of patents and other indicators. switzerland topped the list for the sixth straight year. sweden came in second followed by the united kingdom. singapore was ranked sixth, the highest among asian countries. japan came in at 16th place. the organization says japan has high quality research and development but has failed to create new products and services. china has joined the world's top 25 for the first time. the organization says that, despite china's rise, there's still an innovation divide between developed and developing

countries. they say that economic growth is more likely to come not from totally new services but by combining multiple technologies to create something new. well, more people are making the switch to l.e.d.s. energy efficient lights are an obvious way to save money. so product developers never sit still. they're working on ways to shine the light into a whole new space. nhk world's >> reporter: an art gallery. you can hear music but where are the speakers? the sounds are coming from a tiny light and sound show beaming from above. ♪ >> translator: this functions as a lamp and as a speaker.

i decided to use it because it doesn't stand out and distract from the works of art. >> reporter: a major electronicsmaker is setting the mood. it started selling the dual lamp/speaker in may. a peek inside shows the speaker mounted in front of the l.e.d. that setup creates a problem. the speaker casts a shadow. designers fix that by tweaking the cover. they found just the right thickness and angle to bend the light. the final result? hardly any shadow. users can choose from 192 colors and dim to 32 levels. >> translator: when it comes to audio visual development, we're working on products that do not

draw attention and that fit in well with the surrounding space. >> reporter: conjuring sound from light is just one of the possibilities. this small venture company is working on l.e.d. lamps that communicate. this l.e.d. light is not just illuminating the room. it's doing another job that we can't see. it's transferring wireless information down to this computer and then back up to the light again. just connect a usb adapter to a computer and you've got wireless internet fast enough to watch a video. it's called visible light communication. here's the proof. block the light, and communication stops. the signal range is very tight. within 120 degrees of the ceiling light. >> it's going to move.

it stopped. >> reporter: that means less chance of data theft. >> translator: at present many use this light for security. and factories use it to prevent precision measuring instruments from malfunctioning due to radio waves. >> reporter: here's another application. in a product showroom, a customer approaches a display shelf. holds a smartphone or tablet under the lamp to learn more information about the item. setting up a smartlamp is a plug-in operation using a normal l.e.d. >> translator: by developing new services and apps with lighting and communication technologies combined, we want to sell value that has never existed. >> reporter: dual function products are just the beginning. a new technology is taking shape

prop ising to light up our lives in a very different way. john ladue. nhk world, tokyo. a growing number of people in china are finding the best place to get a laugh is at a traditional cross-talk comedy show known as shangshun. in a country where what's reported in the media and spoken publicly is largely controlled by government officials shangshun is becoming popular. nhk world has more. >> reporter: we meet masters in

this city. comedians know poking fun at women is safe. the art form has existed 150 years. it began to lose favor after authorities started to take aim at those targeting political and social issues. now it's making a comeback thanks to the internet and other sharing sites. tv stations have also jumped on board. they're airing comedy shows. the thoughts behind the shangshan boom is young woman. this woman works for a bank in chengdu. she was always trying to get along with others. she found herself losing her sense of humor. then she discovered shangshun.

she now attends shows every week. >> translator: i can relax in my daily life. but the comedy performances absorb all my worries and let me laugh from the bottom of my heart. >> reporter: some are even becoming standard comics themselves. this man quit his job three years ago in order to try his luck on stage. in shangshun, you lose the audience's attention. he meets with his friends after the show. he's eager to hear what they think about his performance and what they find interesting. >> translator: talk about what's going around town. people react to local issues.

>> reporter: but he and the other comedians are not always free to talk about what they want. the performances are scrutinized. >> reporter: he and his partner pass the test, but officials criticize other performances. >> translator: you should present the good side of university students, too. >> reporter: he says people have good reason to seek out humor amid increasing uncertainty about the country's future.

>> translator: i think people today are struggling under great pressure. >> reporter: xiang sheng grows on the experiences of everyday people. it is a desire for more laughs in contemporary chinese society. reporting for nhk world from chengdu. more and more businesses in japan are catering to muslim clients. it remains a tiny consumer market here, but there's plenty of room to grow as some beauty salons near tokyo are finding out.

>> reporter: this woman has an appointment at the beauty salon. she's a student on a scholarship from iran. staff block the windows and usher the client inside. as she's muslim, only women can be present during the beauty treatment. according to her faith, the only men allowed to see her hair are members of her family. >> translator: i didn't know there are places like this. i've lived in japan for some time. and this has always been a problem. i'm really happy now. >> reporter: the new service took shape last year. it's one of 11 beauty parlors in chiba catering to muslims. at first the idea was to target tourists from the middle east and southeast asia, but so far all customers have been muslim living in japan. previously these women had no access to hair professionals. >> translator: muslim women have to ask their friends to cut

their hair. i never thought about it before. >> reporter: privacy isn't the only consideration. the salon's offer hal al certified shampoo and places for prayer. >> can i take your coat? >> reporter: the language barrier needs bridging, too. staff training includes english lessons. this woman is from bangladesh. she's making her second visit and drove an hour to get here. >> translator: now i can get the hairstyle i want. i'm so happy to be able to use a professional service. >> reporter: those services include putting down the scissors when it's time to pray. >> translator: as a beautician, i like to make foreign customers happy. i'm glad i can be helpful. >> reporter: three hours later, the cut is finished.

>> so lovely. >> mommy's hair is so beautiful. >> reporter: sharmin's husband gives us an idea of her new hairstyle. >> translator: i'm not good at drawing. i'm the only man she can show. it's up to me to praise her. >> translator: i want all my girlfriends to see my hair. i'm going to tell everyone about this beauty parlor. >> reporter: that kind of word of mouth helps a business to grow. the beauty barrier for muslim women is coming down. >> all right, that's the stories we're following this hour. two months of torrential rainfall in sudan has caused heavy flooding that's killed at least 100 people. the disaster is the latest in a series of droughts and floods across south africa. united nations officials say the floods have affected 120,000

people mainly in the eastern part of the country. many are taking shelter in makeshift tents after their homes were destroyed. roads connecting the capital khartoum with the countryside have been cut off preventing food and medical relief from getting through. officials say the situation has led to a growing number of children becoming sick. many experts believe the severe weather is connected to global warming. leaders in africa say they'll look for ways to minimize damage from natural disasters at the upcoming summit meeting with japan. a storm in the pacific is heading towards tokyo. let's bring in our meteorologist robert speta. we're seeing sunny blue skies this morning. perhaps the calm before the storm. what can we expect up ahead? >> yes, definitely this morning things are quite quiet across the tokyo area, but if we look

just a little bit further toward the south and the islands, winds are already starting to pick up here 60 to 70 kilometer winds have been reported. as you look at the satellite picture this has weakened quite considerably over the past 24 hours from a severe tropical storm now down to a tropical storm but it's still enough to really kick up conditions. actually i'll show you some video first coming out of the islands here. this is located towards the south of tokyo. you can see the rough waves. we're expecting waves about eight meters high out here as this skirts the eastern seaboards pf these islands. a few thousand people do live out here. so definitely they are bracing for this storm. but the good news is this area is hit quite often by typhoons, the infrastructure there is definitely in place to withstand these types of winds. gusts could be up to 126 kilometers per hour. but let's talk about tokyo and the greater kanto area, the

tokyo area. as we look into tuesday night and wednesday morning. winds are going to gradually pick up here and definitely peak into the early morning hours just prior to your morning co-meet. just to the east here in chiba and ibaraki prefecture. you can see gusts up to 126 kilometers per hour. that's going to stay right along the coastline where we'll also be seeing these high winds. tokyo could see some gale force winds, not to blow around light objects when you put out your trash. you might want to hold off on that. this might even cause some delays on a few of the trains. taking a look back towards the west, we also have another tropical system in southeastern china. that will bring scattered showers. even over here towards the philippines. in the downtown manila area on sunday, we actually had a tornado that was reported. by the way also severe flooding still taking place. at least six casualties have

been reported. we still have that monsoonal flow. so more rain is likely in the forecast. so shanghai high 35 back towards the north staying hot in chongqing, seoul at 34. scattered showers moving in by tuesday evening into wednesday. good news by wednesday evening things are going to clear up but rough still into the tohoku area a little bit farther towards the north. take a look at the americas, we still have some rough weather also across the gulf coastlines, specifically into louisiana. we've been seeing severe nuding. nearly 800 millimeters in louisiana since last month. absolutely incredible. a one in a thousand year event taking place out here just because of this persistent flow of moisture. thousands of people have been forced from their home. 20,000 have been rescued out there. definitely this is going to be a big economic impact on this region. just because of the widespread flooding, which has been continuing. more rain still expected a little back farther towards the

west and eastern texas mainly because of that moisture flow continuing to move in and also back towards the north looking at strong thunderstorms that have been flaring up back towards the midwest and indiana, several tornado warnings have been issued here on your monday evening and also eventually that could move its way further northeast and new england. scattered showers in new york and also into toronto. all right. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook.

we have one more story to share with you before we go. people in the city of nagasaki have sent off the spirits of their loved ones at an annual

summer festival. the ceremony is held on august 15th during the festival. so-called spirit boats were carried through the streets to the harbor. some were more than ten meters long. the boats were decorated with colorful flowers and lanterns as well as photos of the deceased and their favorite items. the mourners chanted as they marched. local police say about 950 boats took part in the ceremonies throughout nagasaki prefecture. and that is all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

>> "euromaxx highlights," and here is your host, carlos mcconnie. carlos: hello, friends. another week has gone by, and we have all the highlights coming up. here's a taste of what we will see during the next half-hour. sweet creations. a pastry chef and his award-winning desserts. alpine excursion. all aboard the glacier pullmann express. retro look. featuring nostalgic high wheelers from sweden. culture manifests itself in many different ways, one of them being through fashion and wardrobe. the largest festival for european folk culture has been taking place in belgium this year, with traditional wardrobe front and center.