glad to have you with us on this edition of nhk "newsline." it's wednesday, october 12th, 9:00 a.m. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. former chinese soldiers have staged a protest in beijing. many are unhappy with their military pensions and job opportunities. eyewitnesses say about 1,000 protesters gathered in front of the defense ministry building. veterans of the 1979 war against vietnam were among the demonstrators. they say they cannot find jobs and their lives are hard. former soldiers have held protests before, but demonstrations on this scale in the capital are rare. police stood by as the rally continued late into the night.

♪ ♪ >> president xi jinping is overhauling china's military to upgrade its sea and air capabilities. the plan includes a cut of about 300,000 personnel. officials in south korea say they plan to use greater force, including weaponry, to crack down on chinese boats fishing illegally in the country's waters. a coast guard vessel sank off the korean coast last week after one of a dozen chinese fishing boats rammed it, the latest in repeated clashes between the two sides as chinese fishermen continue to operate illegally in the area. >> translator: we will ease regulations on the coast guard's use of weapons in case of danger. >> the foreign ministry in seoul summoned chinese ambassador on tuesday and demanded that beijing deal with the matter and

punish the fishermen. officials in beijing say they're looking into the situation. >> translator: we call on south korea to deal with the matter in a calm, reasonable way, taking a broad view of bilateral relations. >> bilateral relations have soured in recent weeks. over seoul's plan to employ an american missile defense system to counter north korea's missal program. they think it could be used to monitor the chinese military.

>> mody's remarks were triggered by last month's attacks in kashmir. 19 soldiers were killed. it's believed the gunmen were members of a pakistani military group. following the attack, the indian army conducted what it called surgical strikes on suspected militants in the pakistani controlled part of kashmir. the incidents have heightened tensions between the two countries. soldiers and civilians in north korea are rebuilding northeastern areas ravaged by floods in late august and early september. united nations officials say more than 130 people died and about 70,000 lost their homes. nearly 400 are missing. an nhk crew captured images of the recovery work on tuesday. this video was taken from the chinese side of the border. residents and troops began working early in the morning. they carried out materials by

hand and made bricks by the riverside in near freezing temperatures. north korea's state run media has been reporting on the recovery efforts. [ speaking foreign language ]. >> state media has showed women holding microphones, singing to cheer on the workers. but north korea remains belligerent on the international front. japan, the united states, and others are on the alert for nuclear and ballistic missile tests by the north. it's believed a new test would be in protest of u.s./south korea joint military drills now under way. now take a look at the latest business news. japanese government officials have just released some figures that give some insight into the level of activity at companies. ai uchida joins us now. good morning. tell us about the numbers.

>> good morning. i have machinery orders for you and this sheds light on capital spending by private companies. the latest data show a somewhat cautious attitude toward investment. machinery orders in august fell for the first time in three months. officials at the cabinet office say the orders in august were worth about $8.4 billion. that is down 2.2% in yen terms from july. the figures exclude the ship building and power sectors, which tend to see large fluctuations. now let's check on markets. wall street slumped on weak earnings result and key indices showed their lowest decline since early september. the dow jones, 18,128. the nasdaq, down 1%. now let's see how we are kicking

off this wednesday. we're going to go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock x exchan exchange. what's going on in tokyo this morning? >> thank you very much. yes, earnings season kicking off in earnest in the u.s. investors looking for a ripple effect for japanese component makers. and there's a big supply stream as well. so any downturn in the u.s. will likely have a negative effect here. we shall keep an eye on that, of course. but let's have a look at the opening levels for wednesday, october 12th. and as we saw declines on wall street, we are seeing declines here for the nikkei, and the broader topix as well this wednesday morning. just a reminder, the nikkei climbed to a five-week high on tuesday, helped by a weaker yen, and that pop higher in crude oil prices. however, as we've noted, earnings taking center stage

now. shares of aluminum giant alcoa fell 11% after the company reported earnings which missed estimates. now a compounding effect also is the rising dollar and that's really on the back of increased expectations of a rate hike in december. but that's also rising dollar makes u.s. exporters a little bit more expensive and also a commodities price in u.s. dollars will be a little bit more expensive for any holders of other currency. so that's also compounding issues here as well. >> ramin, speaking of the dollar, we don't have a lot of data to go on this week, but tell us about where some of the key pairs are trading this morning. >> exactly. we have the ism manufacturing and services and jobs data last week. not that much to go on this week. but right now, dollar/yen, 103.41. up 0.8% against a basket of six

major currencies on tuesday. highest level in over seven months. a lot of u.s. tech stocks get a large amount of revenues from overseas. and the stronger dollar may affect their bottom line. many are looking closely at how apple and the smartphone sector will perform in the light of samsung electronics' problems surrounding its phone batteries that catch fire, which affected its flagship smartphone model. and apple's earnings will be out october 25th. and that's going to include september sales as well. so very closely watched sector there. also, honda, toyota and nissan reporting robust sales in china. i'll track those shares as well. quick look at asian markets as well. which are hope right now before i go. seoul's kospi is lower, as is sydney. we'll have another update for you in a couple of hours. back to you, ai. >> all right, ramin, thanks for the update.

as ramin mentioned, samsung, the south korean tech giant, is continuing to struggle with their massive recall. samsung electronics has stopped selling its galaxy note 7 smartphone, warning that the high end device may overheat. the company is investigating ongoing reports of the device catching fire and that includes the replacement phones. samsung issued its recall last month per millions of the handsets worldwide after complaints began to surface about battery fires. but then reports emerged that even the replacements were emitting smoke. airline crew evacuated passengers from a plane in the united states after smoke started coming out of a handset. samsung officials say people who have a galaxy note 7 should take advantage of the solutions available, including refunds. the smartphone went on sale in south korea and the u.s. in august. it was supposed to be rolled out in european and indian markets soon after. analysts say the recall is a major blow to samsung's efforts

to steal customers away from its main rival apple. computers and water don't mix. but researchers are working hard to develop waterproof circuit boards. nhk world explains. >> reporter: here's something you don't see every day. a circuit board being loaded into a tank of gold fish. the board has been specially coated. it operated in water for three months. this man is a professor at the national institute, working to make computers waterproof. one of his goals is to work more efficiently. he thinks it can be improved by placing them under water.

this will cut power consumption because computers need a lot of electricity to keep cold. >> translator: a circuit board has heavy heat when calculating. but when it's placed in water, the temperature falls. unless the board is cools, the whole computer could stop working. >> reporter: this is one of its first kind in japan. the operator runs computers for companies around the clock. about a quarter of the power consumed at the center is used to cool the computers. the center's annual electric bill is roughly $1 million. >> translator: if we fail to cool them properly, the computers shut down. so we give that a lot of attention. >> reporter: his team has been testing alternative water resistance methods for three

years. it short circuited as it was placed in water. the team tried covering the board with a magic box, but water leaked inside. nothing worked. then they found a factory in shiba prefecture. this company develops a resin using chemical polymers. the resin is used to protect the water resistant coating is 0.12 millimeters thick, and it draws heat to escape. but the company had never thought about using the coatings in this way. >> translator: protecting a board completely submerged in water was an interesting way to use our technology. >> reporter: waterproof computers might not only be more

easily cooled. computers submerged in seawater could be hooked up directly to offshore wind farms or wind powered generation plants. in late august, his team came to a waterfront test site to examine two computers that were placed under water a month ago. one was still working, but the other was a bit worse for wear. it appeared to have short circuited. >> translator: we think it's possible that the shellfish may have eaten through the coating. >> reporter: they sunk new boards coated with a stronger resin. >> translator: we hope to place

computers in the sea, in lakes, or any other kind of natural environment that you can think of. that's the future we want to create. >> reporter: his research team aims to develop such boards that can work under water for three years. the average life of a computer. nhk world. that's the latest in business for this hour. here's mother check on markets. ♪ ♪

the japanese government on tuesday submitted a landmark climate change bill to the diet. if approved japan would join the international framework established by the paris agreement, to limit greenhouse gases. the world's fifth largest emitter has been slow to sign on. this foot dragging has been criticized by ngos and others working to curb global warming. >> reporter: the cabinet of prime minister shinzo abe decided the bill on tuesday. >> translator: we will do the utmost so that it will be swiftly approved at the diet. >> reporter: the agreement was unanimously adopted at the u.n. climate conference in paris last december. it's the first to legally oblige all signatories to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. the goal is to keep the global average temperature within two degrees celsius of preindustrial levels.

it also aims to cut emissions to effectively zero. world leaders have long struggled to come to grips with global warming. the 1997 kyoto protocol exempted developing countries. the united states and other countries called this unfair and dropped out. the paris pact's predecessor ultimately collapsed. in the years since, the reality of climate change has hit home. heat waves are on the rise throughout the world. hurricanes and typhoons are growing more violent and destructive. experts say global warming is a factor behind political instability in certain regions. the world's largest and second largest emitters, china and the united states, announced they would ratify the paris agreement in september. the european union and the fourth largest emitter, india, soon followed.

thanks to their participation, the agreement will take effect on november 4th. and now it's japan's turn to step up. climate change experts have criticized the country for acting so slowly. kimiko hirata has been following the situation for 18 years. >> the japanese ratification process remains very slow, even after the major countries speed up. if japan doesn't join the global effort, japan will lose a lot of opportunity. and in japan, we will not be able to part of the community for the global effort. >> reporter: hirata is still hoping the government changes its attitude. >> the paris agreement is not just a single environmental issue. it's linked to the economic activities and our future

economic development. japanese technology, energy-efficient technology and others, helps that transition very much. >> reporter: japanese lawmakers will be discussing the issue at this national diet. the countries will gather early next month to hold their first meeting. experts are worried that japan is most unlikely to be a member country by then. many are disappointed at the country's attitude. that once showed leadership at the time of the kyoto protocol. takafumi terui, nhk world, tokyo. japanese food has made a mark around the world, and if one company has its way, it will become even more common.

bonn eato fish, chefs shave off pieces and use them to create an essential element of japan's cuisine. our next story is about taking the regional specialty across the sea. >> reporter: company officials celebrate the opening of their new factory in france. it won't be making traditional french goods, though. instead, a traditional japanese staple. locals try it in france for the first time. >> translator: it could work with french cuisine. it's inspiring. >> reporter: it's created from dried bonito. after removing the guts and bones, the fish is cut up and boiled. it's then smoked for a long

time. an essential step to ensure it's completely dry. it's been a major kagoshima product for centuries. a company from there decided to build the factory in france. part of their hope to share it with the world. >> translator: french cuisine in the best in the world. so i think having it produced in france will be the best in the world. that's why we chose france. >> reporter: but there are issues. europe has banned imports of japanese cat so ob eeshy. that's because of the way they've traditionally infused and built flavor. the burning of the fish to do that creates car sin jens, or cancer-causing substances. the japanese fisheries ministry says its research shows the amount is minuscule. it also says they're not water

soluble, so the ministry claims the health risks are small enough to overlook. despite some of the concerns, one producer says many chefs are looking forward to using the ingredient. >> translator: they told us as soon as it's available, they'll use it. the boom in popularity of japanese food is pushing the need for the stock and european chefs are frustrated because cat so bushy is an essential ingredient for japanese cooking. >> reporter: one month after the completion of the factory in france, it's producing the product that meets the european food safety regulations. by using a different machine from the traditional one, french manufacturers can avoid contaminating the product. but the modified technique doesn't produce a flavor that meets japanese tastes.

>> translator: we don't want to be considered a lower quality product that is produced outside of japan. >> reporter: so their next challenge is producing it meeting both safety and flavor standards. >> translator: wow. great. its quality is getting close to the japanese version. we can definitely make products that are similar to the ones we produce in japan. we're almost at that stage. >> reporter: officials are planning their first shipment in november, bringing them closer to their goal of spreading the essence of japanese food around the world.

let's now get a check of the weather. it's a chilly fall morning here in tokyo. but some may feel it's a nice change after several months of hot and humid weather. robert speta joins us with the latest. >> if you really like it, as we look ahead over the coming weeks, it does look like the days of 30 degrees or above that very intense summer heat across central japan that we've seen well into early october this year, that's pretty much over with here. what we're seeing right now is some persistent northwesterly winds coming down. a stationary boundary to the south and north of that it's keeping it on the cold side.

another cold front diving through hokkaido, triggering thunderstorms, maybe hail or damaging wind out of it. but behind it is more snow even in the forecast for those areas off there towards the north. so things are going to stay on the cool side. plus we have that siberian air mass drifting in. during the daytime it will be warming up. into seoul, a high of 20. tokyo up to 24. but the overnight low, because of the clear skies, the heat escapes into the atmosphere, it will be dropping down in some areas into single digits. in hokkaido, below freezing temperatures here through the overnight hours as well. now, down towards the south, we have some scattered showers across parts of hong kong over towards manila, and the main reason for this, we have dual areas in the tropics we're watching. we have what's left of a tropical storm, now a depression. but i think a lot of attention

is turning back here towards the east. this is our newest tropical depression. it could develop -- the japan meteorological agency expects it to develop into a tropical storm thursday. heading into the weekend, it may drift west. watch out for this because it could bring heavy rainfall there across the philippines. now, switching gears completely over here towards europe, let's get back to the winter weather, because we have been seeing a big dip in the jet stream. cool temperatures have been spilling in from the polar regions. even flaring up thunderstorms for the balkan peninsula, towards western turkey. but the big thing for this, if you like the snow, you might be happy. video coming out of finland here. this is a ski resort that opened up about two months earlier than average. they did a little bit of an experiment to conserve snow over the summer months and combined with fairly early snowfall, they were able to just open up this resort.

that's further to the north. into the alps in austria, a blanket of snow has impacted the area from a similar storm and that has brought a meter and a half of snowfall on the ground. numerous resorts opening up there as well. if you like the snow, you'll be happy. if you don't, well, unfortunately, cool temperatures continue to dominate much of central europe out here. looking at berlin for the high of 9, warsaw, high of 9. london, 13. definitely the chilly side. also talking about the americas, we have a cold front diving through the central u.s. that's going to trigger up some thunderstorms. moderate risk into the central plains, but behind it, take a look at your temperatures. winnipeg, 7 here on wednesday. all right, here's the extended outlook. ♪ ♪

♪ >> and that is all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us. xnóx

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