hello there, welcome to nhk "newsline." it is thursday october 13th, 9:00 a.m. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. a ceremony has been held on the indonesian island of bali to remember the victims of the 2002 bali bombings. 14 years ago, militants detonated bombs in a busy district the e resort island. 202 people were killed. many of them foreign tourists. about 200 people attended the service on wednesday. they observed a moment of silence at the site of the bombings. the current governor of bali state was the lead police investigator into the attacks. he expressed determination to

protect peace. among the mourners were the parents of a japanese couple who died. they expressed sorrow over recent terror attacks plaguing the world. >> translator: i feel sorry for the bereaved families. when i think of what they'll have to go through. >> in january, supporters of the islamic state militant group detonated bombs and opened fire in the capital, jakarta, killing four people. hong kong's legislature opened a new session on wednesday. three lawmakers were suspended after protesting against china at the oath taking. before they can take their seats new lawmakers must swear allegiance to the hong kong special administrative region of the people's republic of china and its basic law, hong kong's constitution. the oath refers multiple times to hong kong as a special administrative region of china. but two members of a

pro-independence group rewrote their oaths and pledged to protect the interests of hong kong as a nation. they were prominent figures in the pro-democracy protests in 2014. >> i will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the hong kong nation and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the values of hong kong. >> the clerk of the legislative council instructed them to take the oath again. the two then displayed a blue flag with the slogan "hong kong is not china." another legislator added a line in his oath about fighting for genuine universal suffrage. the clerk did not accept their oaths and the three were locked out of the session. pro-democracy groups challenged the suspension of the three lawmakers. they say the clerk had exceeded his authority. pro-beijing legislators hold a majority of seats in the council following an election last month.

legislators critical of mainland china include conventional pro-democracy members as well as advocates for hong kong's independence. beijing has brushed off a protest by seoul over the sinking of a coast guard vessel by a chinese fishing boat. the incident comes as south korea is trying to crack down on what it says is illegal fishing off its west coast. china's foreign ministry says the korean vessel that was rammed last week had no right to patrolling the waters in question. it said a bilateral fishing agreement applies there. >> translator: the allegation by south korea cannot be justified. we launched sole representations through diplomatic channels. >> they said the coast guard had detected illegal fishing in its territorial waters. seoul said its ship was hit by a fishing boat after chasing it out of those waters.

the sinking is string of incidents off the west coast of the korean peninsula. earlier this week seoul said it plans to use greater force including weaponry to combat illegal fishing. beijing says that will only worsen the situation. an association representing survivors of the atomic bombings has regnse renewed its pledge t toward a world without nuclear weapons. a ceremony to mark the 6 0th anniversary of its finding. about 16 o people from atomic bomb survivor groups nationwide attended the event on wednesday in tokyo. the participants observed a moment of silence for atomic bomb victims. >> translator: the mission we survivors have received from history is to establish a

fortress of peace so that humanity will never repeat the mistake. >> fujimori urged people to add their signatures to an international petition calling for a treaty banning nuclear weapons. it was established in 1956. anti-nuclear sentiment was fierce in japan after the u.s. tested a hydrogen bomb in the south pacific two years earlier. crew members aboard a japanese fishing boat were exposed to radiation and one died soon after. the group has been sending delegates to international conferences to promote its cause. in 1982, the chairperson of the organization made a historic speech at the united nations. >> no more war. >> the average age of a-bomb survivors is over 80. a major issue is ensuring future generations carry on its campaign. the association is urging

children of survivors to take over the movement. two governors in japan are discussing the idea of moving a venue for the 2020 tokyo olympics and paralympics. ballooning costs have the tokyo governor seeking cheaper venn view a venue alternatives. one possibility is to move rowing rowing events from tokyo to the northeast. plans of rowing and canoeing events at an existing facility. he indicated the prefecture is ready to pay its share of the cost. >> translator: i'm confident that it will be much cheaper than the planned new facility in tokyo. >> murai said the facility could be used for high school athletic competitions. he also said olympians could stay at temporary housing units built for evacuees after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. repair work is under way at one of the houses prior to the visit

on saturday. the tokyo governor says she wants the 2020 games to be an opportunity to show how much progress the made. >> translator: the reuse of the temporary hassing will be a strong message. i will take it into consideration when i visit miyagi. a tokyo metropolitan government panel has proposed changing three olympic venues to cut costs, but the international rowing federation is opposed to moving the location for the sport and the olympic organizing committee says it would be a burden on the athletes. she will meet with the president of the international olympic committee, tomas bach, in japan next week. she plans to convey her decision on the proposal then. there was a large power outage in tokyo on wednesday afternoon. tokyo electric power company says more than half a million households were affected. >> translator: a fire in an

underground power grid caused electrical failure. a total of 580,000 were affected. we apologize for causing tremendous trouble and inconvenience for our customers as well as everyone in the affected areas. >> the fire broke out near tokyo. the utility says it damaged underground cables. it's investigating how the fire started. the company finished rerouting the power supply in about an hour. no injuries have been reported so far. government offices in central tokyo were affected. the tokyo high court and district court were without power for about 30 minutes. officials had to reschedule some of the trials. the he the head of the japan sports agency was in a meeting with hanada who won a bronze medal in canoe in rio de janeiro. they looked surprised when the lights went out but continued

talking. traffic lights were out at about 200 locations and police were deployed to control traffic. train service was also disrupted and some people were trapped in elevators. all right. let's take a look at the latest in business news now. investors around the world are looking for clues about when the u.s. central bank will go ahead with its next rate hike. federal reserve officials have released the minutes of last month's policy meeting. ai uchida joins us now from our business desk with all the details. ai, what do the minutes say? >> catherine, they actually indicate a split among policymakers over the question of when the fed should raise its key interest rate. the minutes are from a meeting in september when they decided to hold rates steady. even so, several members believe the rate hike would be warranted relatively soon. that's in their words. if labor market conditions continue to improve. the policymakers determined that the u.s. economy was growing at a faster pace in the third quarter than in the first half of the year. they came to that conclusion

after sifting through data. the numbers indicated that labor market conditions had strengthened in recent months. most of the policymakers favored waiting for further evidence of continued progress toward the inflation target before deciding on a rate rise, but some participants believe that making the move relatively soon would be appropriate if the economy continued to improve. the minutes show that the decision for a rate hike was a close call. the fed's next policy meetings are in november and in december. many investors thought that those minutes did little to clarify the timing of the next rate hike and wall street ended largely flat on wednesday. the dow jones industrial average ending up just slightly. slightly higher whereas the tech-heavy nasdaq ended down slightly lower. let's see what's happening here in tokyo. this morning, we're going to go to ramin mellegard for that at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning, ramin, tell us what you're seeing over there.

>> good morning, ai. the main focus was the fed minutes but giving really few hints as to the next rate hike, but, of course, we did see a slight pop higher in the dollar which, of course, bodes well for exporters here. let's have a look at how the nikkei and topix are kicking off. thursday october 13th. and the nikkei up 0.55% and the broader topix up 0.51%. now, just a reminder, the nikkei actually fell more than 1% on wednesday and raising all the gains that we saw in the previous day. weak u.s. earnings results weighing on sentiment. corporate tie-ups in japan are continuing to make headlines. many were surprised to hear t t toyota and suzuki announced they're considering collaborating in a wide range of areas such as environment and safety technologies. these include eco-friendly and self-driving vehicles. now, many japanese businesses are are really trying to

streamline some key sectors. we've already heard from the likes of yamaha and honda, for instance, streamlining their scooter business, and if you like beer, one of japan's biggest brewers is also taking a stake in u.s. craft beer maker, brooklyn brewery. that's going to be interesting. now, later today, continuing on that earnings streak, uni qlo is going to take center stage. its operator will release earnings reports after the market's close. these days retailers including department stores have had a bit of a rough time as consumption is stagnant across many sectors, ai, so a lot of market players are going to be paying close attention to earnings results which are coming thick and fast now. ai? >> ramin, you mentioned the stronger dollar. tell us how some of the currency pairs are reacting today, especially following those fed minutes. >> exactly. as i mentioned there, we did see

a slight pop higher. let's have a look at the exact levels. we can see what i'm talking about. 104 now. 104.36-37. and that's as some traders now really speculating that the fed minutes reinforced expectations that the central bank would raise rates in december. now, let's get a quick look at the indexes that are open now across the asia-pacific. i'm talking about seoul's kospi which is just in the negative and australia's s&p asx 200 down 0.42%. we'll see how the other markets fare in a couple of hours. back to you. >> sounds good, ramin, thanks a lot for that update. well, some members of the world's largest petroleum cartel, opec, and nonmember producers have agreed to enter full-fledged talks later this month. their aim is to cap production to boost the price of crude oil. representatives of qatar, other members of the organization of petroleum exporting countries and nonmember major oil exporters including russia

gathered in istanbul on wednesday. they agreed to hold two days of talks in vienna starting on october 28th to discuss the details of an output cap. opec reached an agreement late last month to limit supplies. representatives called on nonmembers to join the agreement. russia is among the participants eager to reduce output. president vladimir putin expressed on monday his readiness to control production. an invitation is to be extended to the united states. the country is the world's largest oil producer as shale oil production has continued to expand. u.s. i.t. giant, google, is eyeing the japanese market for expanding business. it hosted a briefing at its tokyo offices this week on the latest in the company's artificial intelligence efforts. about 200 representatives from japanese firms were invited to the briefing. the speaker is the co-founder of

the firm's deep learning project, google brain. google opened sources ai software as part of its bid of international standardization of the technology. he was trying to sell audience members on the benefits. >> you can use it for education, you can use it in industry, you can use it for your own startup company. almost whatever you want to do. >> he was followed by an employee from a japanese firm whose company has started using a.i. software to analyze drone images. >> translator: we want google to continue this service as it's much cheaper and faster than building technology by ourself. ♪ >> and a smartphone app that grades daily exercise routines was also introduced. well, think of japan and the image that comes to mind for many people is small living spaces. today there is a new trend toward tiny housing in crowded

cities and it's taking off as younger people rethink what buying a home means. nhk world explains. >> reporter: he lives in central tokyo. he and h after the birth of their child, he and his wife bought a condominium. it has one room. the selling point was its location. from home, it's just a five-minute walk to the company where he works. >> translator: being close to the office was a top priority. i don't finish work at a set time, but i want to take my child to daycare and bring him home as often as possible. that's why we focused on proximity. >> reporter: among japanese, real estate is changing. in the past, condos of around 80 square meters were standard for families. now more buyers are choosing

compact units due to their short-term needs. >> translator: consumers no longer look at real estate as something they'll use for a lifetime. if a unit no longer suits their lifestyle, they're willing to rent it out or sell it. >> reporter: responding with product to the trend. they include items that allow for flexibility in small for example -- it can easily be removed if the owner leases or sells the unit. and furniture designed for comfort even on tight quarters. limited spaces. for example, a sofa that quickly becomes a bed. so the living room can be a bedroom, too.

and a desk, place them both on top to make a dining table. depending on the situation, it can be used for work or for meals. the manufacturers sent product developers into the field. they visit families living in small condominiums to learn more about their needs. >> translator: anything inconvenient about living here? >> translator: there's no bedside table. >> if we can do solutions that work in small space with multifunction, we know we are good. >> reporter: like the counterparts in other parts of the world, younger japanese are finding that small living suits them. this change in lifestyle is opening up new opportunities for businesses. yumiko sei, nhk world, tokyo. >> and that is the latest in business news for this hour. here's a check on markets.

nhk "newsline" is bringing you special coverage from japan's southwestern region of kyushu this week. we're taking a close look at its history, culture and some businesses trying to grow the economy. this hour, we take you to a group of islands, the environment ministry is working to be designated a unesco world heritage site. it recently unveiled a plan to realize this goal. the amami islands boast a wide variety of animals and plants. they make their home in a mangrove forest on the biggest island. the ecosystem has marine life

that doesn't exist anywhere else. nhk world has the story of one man who's dedicated his life to preserving the trees that have nurtured this ecosystem. >> reporter: he manages mangrove park but also works as a tour guide. >> translator: the trees get nutrients through their open roots. >> reporter: he was born and raised right near the forest. when he was a child. >> translator: i used to pass through here on my way home. sometimes i walk through mud. sometimes friends and i chase each other around. this place was our playground. i didn't even know the word, mangrove. >> reporter: he didn't realize how beautiful a natural la

landscape was until he returned here after living in tokyo during his university days. >> translator: after i turned to amami, i went to the beach and mountains and realized that this area is blessed with valuable species of animals and plants. i realized i grew up in afternoonan amazing natural environment without even knowing it. >> reporter: he wants to protect the forest and feels it will take the support of many. so letting people know about the beauty of mangroves is an important task for him. he often takes tourists to this mangrove tunnel. it appears only at high tide. at low tide, mud flaps show up in the woods. he tries to show off all the

charms the forest has to offer. >> translator: it was my first time to see mangroves so i had a lot of fun. the guide was great. i hope the forest will be protected when more tourists come. >> reporter: moved by the passion of he and his colleagues, local people have joined the protection activities. >> translator: many people, not just myself, have realized the need to cherish the man swgrove. i want to preserve the natural environment so visitors can see and enjoy it as it is now and even in ten years' time. >> reporter: just like it was a comforting backdrop for his childhood, he hopes it will be for future generations and he'll keep working to ensure they flourish. nhk world, kagoshima.

tropical coastlines, lush farmland, modern cities. kyushu in southwestern japan has a rich history and unique traditions. once a gateway for foreign trade, kyushu prospered and developed. today it remains a key business hub, but the region boasts one of japan's largest active volcanos and is prone to natural disasters. discover the many faces of kyushu right here on nhk "newsline." well, over here in tokyo, people are feeling a cool autumn breeze this morning. our meteorologist robert speta joins us with more in world weather. >> you are ain luck. does look like the temperatures are going to stay on the cool side for the coming days. we have an area of high pressure coming in from the west. it's our siberian high, in fact. that often leads to cooler, calmer conditions for much of northeastern china, the korean peninsula and most of japan for that matter.

we do have some cloudy skies along the coastal areas. all in all, it does look like the next several days are going to stay rather chilly, especially through the overnight hours. now, that does lead to some other rather beautiful sights, if you do like this autumn weather. you might enjoy this. i'll show you video actually coming out of miyazaki. take a look at this. this is a result of these cooler temperatures we've seen earlier this week and we get this effect, this mountain or valley fog is as a result of cool temperatures settling in in the valleys. warm ground surface at the same time. it really makes for this beautiful almost a sea of clouds. that's really the translation from japanese is what it's called out here. a big popular tourist attraction. rather beautiful. especially at sunrise win when it's at its prime. something you see up there in the mountains, fall foliage should be kicking in soon as well.

pairs up with that nicely. tokyo, cloudy skies further to the coast and high of 18. on the chilly side there. seoul with a high of 21. showers down toward the south. in fact, the tropics. looking at widespread rain. actually due to several areas, we're continuing to monitor out here. we have one low toward the west of the philippines. that's what's kind of left of our tropical storm. it's weakened but still creating some precipitation around hinan. we have this tropical depression. we're expecting this to become a tropical storm in the near future and experienced rapid -- so this could develop rather fast. so if you are out here, even over toward ma nilmanila, somet you want to watch heading into friday, saturday, sunday as well. talking about tropical systems, nicole here, nicole, by the way, was battling energy from matthew. remember matthew hit down there toward haiti, the bahamas, even

the east coast of the u.s. this was lingering the whole time. just toward the east of it. now with matthew gone, it has all the energy out here in the atlantic to riitself. see it developing the clear defined eye, continuing to intensify. now a category 2. could become a category 3 and move right over the island of bermuda. something i want to watch out for. rain now, winds gusting to 213 kilometers per hour. could be a big rainmaker. even that threat of storm surge as well. back toward the west, we do have a frontal area pulling across the central u.s., going to be kicking up strong thunderstorms especially out ahead of it, would be seeing risk of hail, damaging winds with this. behind it, cooler air is spilling in. and that is fwhoigoing to be ma for some much chillier temperatures. actually, take a look at these overnight lows. winnipeg, minus 3. widespread freeze warnings for you. denver, 4 for your low. toronto, 13 for the overnight low here on thursday. 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 joining us.

♪ >> welcome to "in good shape." coming up, reliable, daily life for the recipient of an artificial heart. refreshing -- the healing properties of cosmetics made with roses. and rejuvenating -- treatments and therapies for encroaching dementia. and here is dr. carsten lekutat. >> hello, and welcome to in good shape. it recent studies suggest that people who regularly speak two or more languages have a reduced risk of developing dementia. >> und deshalb moderiere ich nicht nur die deutsche sendung