aleppo in syria. people there are desperate for help. a human rights group says renewed violence has left more than 200 dead. a u.s./russia brokered cease-fire collapsed last week when an aid convoy was bombed and the fighting resumed between government and opposition forces. houses in the city have been destroyed and many residents are believed to be trapped under debris. one resident spoke to nhk by

phone and described the situation. fighting has spread to the outskirts of the capital, damascus, and to the central city of homs. delegates at a meeting of theup's nuclear watchdog are discussing how to deal with north korea. they're taking part in the international atomic energy egg's 60th general conference. director general yukia amano expressed concern over pyongyang's fifth nuclear test, carried out earlier this month. >> it is a growing threat to peace and security in northeast asia and beyond. >> a delegate from the european union urged the country to renounce its nuclear and missile

development. participants are expected to adopt a resolution criticizing north korea before the five-day meeting closes on friday. japanese police are investigating the death of an elderly man who may have been intentionally poisoned while in hospital. they found a harmful chemical in his intravenous medication. nhk world's masaaki ohtake has more. >> reporter: nobuo yamaki died on september 20th, his 88th birthday. his dead came less than a week after he was admitted to oguchi hospital in yokohama. police say contaminated iv fluid administered to the bed-ridden man the night before may have been responsible. >> translator: we would like to express our deep sorrow at the depth of mr. yamaki and convey our condolences to his family. we want to know as soon as possible what exactly happened.

>> reporter: investigators found surfactants, which are used in detergents and medicines, in the liquid of the iv drip and in yamaki's body. experts warn this substance can be a serious health hazard. >> translator: membranes of human cells contain fat. so when surfactants are taken in, they can create holes in the membranes. that could prevent the body from functioning normally. >> reporter: police suspect the iv drip yamaki received might have been tampered with while he was in the nurses' station. intravenous drips, each marked with the patient's name, are usually delivered to the nurses' station the same day they are used. the police have learned yamaki's iv was delivered from the hospital's in-house pharmacy to the nurses' station on september 17th, two days before it was used.

investigators say that because of a holiday weekend, yamaki's iv and those of other patients to be used over the following three days were delivered earlier. yamaki died early tuesday morning after a new iv was given to him the night before. in principle, only hospital staff members are allowed to enter the nurses' station. but it's never locked, and it's sometimes left vacant. police are questioning the hospital staff, citing the possibility that yamaki's iv was tampered with at the nurses' station. yokohama officials say they have heard of some problems at the hospital. a man whose family member works at oguchi hospital said in an e-mail he heard a nurse's apron was ripped, and a patient's chart went missing. in an e-mail he sent in august, he wrote that a nurse's drink had been tampered with and her lips were swollen. >> reporter: i want yokohama

city officials to go back and review the cases i brought to their attention. i wonder if they're taking the matter seriously. >> reporter: the man says local government officials replied that they may take action based on the information they got from him, but nothing has happened so far. nobuo yamaki was staying on the fourth floor of the hospital, where three other elderly patients had passed away within just three days, between september 18th and 20th. two of them were men in the same room as yamaki. police believe one died from poisoning. masaaki ohtake, nhk world, tokyo. let's see what's making business headlines. global investors are brace for the first u.s. presidential debate between hillary clinton and donald trump. ai uchida joins us from our business desk. so the debate is in about an hour. tell us what investors will be listening for. >> they want to hear about the details of the policies from each candidate because those are

the things that are going to be affecting the economies and markets, not only of the u.s., but also around the world. and actually investors have other concerns as well. in the banking sector the plight of deutsche bank sent stock prices tumbling. the dow jones industrial average ending at 18,094. that's down .9%. the tech-heavy nasdaq closing at 5257. that's also a loss of .9%. let's see what is happening here in tokyo this tuesday morning. for, ramin mellegard is at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. how are markets opening here? >> very good morning to you. you mentioned concerns for deutsche bank. of course shares falling over 8 pr8% after reports it may not receive state funding to help settle some legal claims against the u.s. justice department. so we'll be keeping track of that. also the energy sector and a lot of focus on opec and whether the

members there meeting can decide on any cap on production. we'll check the energy sector. let's have a look at the opening levels for the nikkei and the topix for tuesday, september 27th. both indexes trading lower, down over 1% for each. the nikkei has been held back so far this week by that stronger yen. it's hampered exporters, of course. but also added further frustration for the bank of japan policymakers as they try to battle deflation and boost growth. ai? >> ramin, another factor that could affect the dollar, of course, is the course of the u.s. elections, as well as the much-awaited debates. get us an update on currency pairs. >> highly anticipate dad bate coming up right now. and of course the debate between donald trump and clinton has focused many on policies that they both may have for the u.s. economy. and of course global trade with the rest of the world. that's a big factor playing into

it. currency markets are usually very early to signal overall market sentiment as we know. of course with the bond market as well. and of course in times of the uncertainty, many flock to what they consider safer assets, such as the yen. and another aspect the boj has to deal with is government bond yields. monday we had long-term bond yields falling deeper into the negative. now let's go to oil. we saw brent up nearly 3%. we'll see how thor in yes sector stocks perform and any related volatility that may come in related sectors. and of course commodity-linked indexes as well. let's look at some of the asia-pacific indecks that are open along with tokyo. seoul's kospi is down .5%. sydney s&p asx200 down 0.56%. china markets open in an hour and a half so we'll see how

energy prices play out through those indexes as well. for now back to you. >> thanks a lot, we'll touch base in a few hours' time. a japanese utility and a u.s. conglomerate are joining hands to tap the potential of the internet of things or iot. tokyo electric power company, tepco, and general electric, want to use iot to make thermal power generators more efficient. the two companies will collect data at a tepco thermal plant near tokyo for about a year from october. they'll use sensors installed in turbines and other equipment to do that. tepco and ge will analyze information such as the number of turbine rotations and the amount of gas turned. 10 poe officials plan to use iot to find more efficient ways of burning gas. they want to cut the cost of power generation and reduce electricity rates. the officials say they may use the system at other power plants if it proves effective. the first passenger jet developed in japan in about 50 years has taken a key step in

its testing. the plane successfully departed for the united states after previous attempts were aborted due to technical glitches. the mitsubishi regional jet, moj, took off monday from aichi prefecture in central japan. the plane is designed for short and medium-range flights. it was originally scheduled to head to the u.s. for test last month but problems with the air conditioning system twice forced pilots to turn around and fly back. onlookers for this attempt were happy to see the jet take off. >> translator: i'm glad mrj finally succeeded in flying to the u.s. i hope the plane will start commercial flights as soon as possible. >> the mrj will make several refueling stops before its scheduled landing in washington state later this week. japanese officials are planning to boost butter

imports amid falling milk production. the move is meant to help prevent a possible shortage near the end of this year. agriculture ministry officials worry that typhoons that slammed the country last month could affect milk production. they were planning to import 13,000 tons of but they are year, but now they say they're going to increase that by 4,000 tons to meet a surge in demand that often comes during the holiday season. japan has had butter shortages before. the number of dairy farmers is falling and many producers sell milk for drinking and to make cream instead of making butter. what do you get when you a bulb of garlic in a hot, humid place and come back a month later? according to a busy farmer in japan, the answer is a promising new industry. >> reporter: word is spreading about a new superfood. farmers, restaurant owners, and garlic lovers. the event has attracted a large crowd eager to learn more.

and the experts have much to explain. black garlic is created by fermenting raw garlic bulbs. the soft, inc.y gloefs are rich in polyphenols and other healthy compounds. they also have a sweet flavor and without the strong garlic odor. >> translator: japan produces more types of black garlic than us in china, and the quality's good. >> translator: black garlic is really a special kind of food. after you put it in your mouth, the savory flavor starts to spread. >> reporter: this man is a garlic farmer. growers in awe mori prefecture in northern japan have been through tough times. a rise in cheap imports from china in the '90s put many out of business.ough times.

a rise in cheap imports from china in the '90s put many out of business. >> translator: at the time the trend was to import our food. we garlic producers struggled. >> reporter: ten years ago, the first reports emerged of the health benefits of aged garlic. researchers said it boosted the immune system and suppressed cancer cells. he started production soon after. he also went on the road, promoting the health benefits of his product in north america and europe. >> perfect. >> reporter: the marketing paid off. he exported $1.6 million worth of black garlic last year, shipping to more than 20 countries. today the sticky cloves are showing up in high-end cuisine. chefs at the black garlic summit served up some mouth-watering examples. >> translator: there's huge

interest from overseas. this proves black garlic has big potential. we're taking this product to the world. >> reporter: exports have jumped three-fold in the last five years. aged garlic looks to have a promising future. >> that's the latest in business news for this hour. i'll leave you with a check on markets.

40 years ago, a japanese manufacturer developed the video cassette recorder. vcrs were widely popular for some time, but eventually decreased sales made parts costly and difficult to source. the production came to an end in july. while some are saying good-bye to vcrs, they're also reviving old memories. >> reporter: in downtown tokyo, there's a place people can go to make use of their old vhs tapes. this store offers dubbing services so customers can transfer old videos to modern media. the shop copies nearly 3,000 tapes every month. the amount has increased by about 20% since right before vcr production came to a halt. this man has brought numerous

tapes to the shop. he came from a suburb of tokyo. he discovered more than 50 tapes left by his father, who passed away in may. he and his family want to find out what his father has recorded on the tapes. and asked the shop to copy them. >> translator: i guess there's a lot of things that i haven't seen in the vhs tapes. i want to keep a record of them. >> reporter: his mother lives alone in her house in tokyo. since her husband died after more than 50 years of marriage, she mostly stays home alone these days. her late husband kioshi enjoyed taking photos and shooting individual yoles. >> translator: my husband was quiet and stubborn and didn't talk much. but after he passed away, i forgot every bad thing about him. >> reporter: junichi visited his

mother with a special mission in mind. he has brought dvds copied from the vhs tapes. they are watching this footage left by kioshi for the first time. >> translator: i remember this. >> reporter: the first scene they saw was taken when the family visited a nearby shrine nine years ago. kioshi captured details of their everyday lives. >> translator: i thank my father for recording so many things. >> translator: the images will be kept as memories for us. that's him. >> reporter: the car door window showed kioshi's reflection.

jun junichi saw his mother smile for the first time in a long while. he used to opportunity to propose an idea he had been thinking about for awhile. >> translator: mother, don't you want to live with me and my family? >> translator: what do you mean? now? >> translator: let's take this opportunity to reunite the uchibori family. >> translator: oh, well -- >> translator: i'd be happy to renovate our house as soon as possible. >> translator: then please make a room for me to spent my old age. >> translator: it was a good opportunity for me and for us to think about why my father made the tapes. and left them for us.

they are now our treasures. >> reporter: the tapes hold a lot of memories. for the uchibori family, transferring these old memories is helping reunite the family, creating new memories for their future. >> for anyone looking for a break from bangkok's hustle and bustle, the river can offer relief. its ferryboats are used to avoid gridlock and for a view that's nostalgic. >> reporter: bangkok's rapid development has made the thai capital crowded. and its streets congested. the pace is different along the 400-kilometer-long river that winds gently through the city.

it's a place to come and relax. >> translator: the breeze feels fies and refreshing. we sometimes come together here. >> translator: the express boat carries about 36,000 people up and down the river every day. passengers use it to avoid bangkok's notorious traffic. a male office worker boards the first boat of the day on his daily commute. >> translator: it's nice and cool and more reliable than the bus. >> reporter: students like the ferry as a good place to study. >> translator: i'm studying math. the ride is smooth, and i don't get tired. >> reporter: on this day, the

river appears gentle. but the captain says keeping passengers safe isn't always easy. >> translator: hang the rope in the center. tie it over again. it's hard to steer when the wind is strong and the waves get bigger. i always have to be careful to keep passengers out of danger. >> reporter: the voyage offers a glimpse at different house styles. people in these houses coexist with the river. >> translator: we enjoy watching the boats. >> reporter: as evening falls, we encounter the student again. she says dems spite bangkok's rapid development, she hopes the river landscape will survive.

>> translator: i love the nostalgic scenery you can see from the boat. >> reporter: the japria express is more than just a mode of transport, it's a journey through the many faces of a city in cop stant change. people in taiwan are bracing for a typhoon that's expected to make landfall in a couple of hours. our meteorologist robert speta has the latest. >> yes, this storm system definitely a very large one. you can see it here on the satellite picture. cloud cover stretching from the northern philippines towards the southern japanese islands. even across most of taiwan. throughout the day here on tuesday, you're at least going to be seeing tropical storm strength winds. much higher than that, especially into the eye wall of this storm.

actually in the westernmost point of japan here, around ishigaki, we've seen 132 kilometer per hour gusts. i'll show you some video coming ouch ishigaki here. this is part of the southern japanese islands. just north of where the storm is making its way this morning, we've had winds gusting here at win 24 kilometers per hour. the good news is, this island is built to withstand typhoons. but i am sure residents are hunkered down at this time. all flights and ferry services in and out of the island on tuesday morning have been canceled. even extending back towards the west in some of the outer islands of taiwan towards the southwest, we've been seeing evacuations of 3700 tourists. 90 shelters have been put up. thousands of coast guard personnel are now in place up and down the eastern seaboards to keep people from heading out towards the coastline. this is going to be kicking up some very large waves, up to eight to nine meters high. plus we're talking about the winds. right now 162 gusting to 216

kilometers per hour. look at the massive wind field as it moves over the mountains. any time we're talking about typhoons and taiwan, we're talking about the threat of flooding rain. the mountains just play all sorts of havoc with these storm systems, moving it from the north towards the south once it comes onshore. of course that moisture flow slamming into these mountains often results in rain totals much higher than what the models depict. this one actually picking up 200 to 250 millimeters. it's possible we'll see 500 to 700 millimeters in some of these areas. flooding and landslides are an issue. we're going to be looking at the threat of some flooding rains here as well. we've seen in previous storm systems, four in the past year and a half, all powerful typhoons, that they often result in severe flooding, even casualties in some areas, hopefully everybody is taking this very seriously.

if we pull back the picture, i also do want to mention to the north across japan, we have a stationary boundary bringing some thunderstorms here today. especially back towards the korean peninsula, around seoul, we're seeing some showers. tokyo will remain south of that. since the front has lifted to the north, that means humid, moist, and warm air. 30 for the high here on tuesday. any travel plans here across the americas? you might see some delays in parts of ontario. a fairly potent low pushing through. also heavy showers, maybe a few thunderstorms across parts of the great lakes, extending toward the south. even some frost advisories in place in the overnight hours. there into new england, toronto just a high of 16 there, chicago for you as well at 18. in the south it's staying on the warm side. look at los angeles, 35 here on tuesday. here is the extended outlook.

we have one more story to share with you before we go. japanese officials say a recent discovery in okinawa suggests an early link with the western world. they say coins unearthed from the ruins of a castle date back to the roman and ottoman

empires. workers with a local education board excavated the ruins of katsura castle in 2013 and found four copper coins believed to be from the roman empire in the third to fourth centuries. the other is thought to be from the ottoman empire in the late 17th century. the castle is a world heritage site and is said to have prospered in the 14th and 15th centuries by trading about it china and thailand. okinawa international university lecter urhiroki miyagi called the discovery remarkable. >> translator: the discovery could mean we traded with western countries at that time. >> education board officials and experts say the coins may be the first from the roman or ottoman empires to be found in japan.

that is all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thanks very much for joining us.

♪ >> another week has gone by, but never fear; in case you missed anything euromaxx has the highlights right here. let's take a look at what we have coming up: prime perspective. a new web-series shows germany from a bird's eye view. splendidly small. london's pocket-sized apartments are on their way to becoming a trend. rare atmosphere. mountains, sea and flamenco make magic in the spanish city of granada. drones are a marvelous tool for video production because they offer the possibilty of in