hello and welcome to nhk "newsline". south korean prosecutors have arrested a businesswoman at the center of a political scandal involving president park geun-hye. local media say park will release a statement friday morning. choi soon-sil is charged and has been a confidant of park's more than 40 years. she's suspected of having conspired with aide ahn jong-beom to pressure companies to donate funds to two nonprofit foundations. the presidential office played a role in setting them up. she's also suspected of trying to defraud the organizations out of $600,000.

on thursday afternoon, a court in seoul summoned her and began examining whether to issue an arrest warrant for her. it was requested by prosecutors the previous day. the court issued the order at around 11:00 p.m. on thursday. it acknowledged a need to arrest her as the facts of the crime became clear. prosecutors plan to seek an arrest warrant for ahn as early as friday morning. ahn is already in custody. under south korea's constitution, an incumbent president is immune to criminal prosecution except for charges of rebellion or treason, but calls are growing for authorities to interrogate park. the paris agreement on climate change will take effect at 12:00 a.m. on friday in new york. the accord is the new international agreement to reduce emissions and greenhouse

gasses. each country must submit usage charges. delegates from around the world will gather in morocco for the climate conference on monday. the aim is to reduce global emissions as quickly as possible and bring them to near zero in the latter half of this century. the government plans to quickly ratify the agreement once the diet has approved it. it opens to negotiate and have a central role in making rules. myanmar's state counselor aung san suu kyi has visited a university in western japan where she once studied as a researcher. she received an honorary doctorate from the president of kyoto university. she noted her long years of house arrest failed to discourage her from pursuing myanmar's democratization. >> once we stop working for democracy, democracy will fade away.

it's like an unused muscle. we have to keep it exercised all the time. >> she said to achieve what seems to be impossible, having hope is not enough. it's important to believe in something. her visit to kyoto university was her first in three years. the kenyan government says it's pulling out a thousand troops from the united nations peacekeeping mission in south sudan. the move came after u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon fired the kenyan commander of operations there for failing to protect civilians. the kenyan government issued a statement strongly opposing the decision. it said ban is trying to place the blame on one individual while the mission in south sudan suffers from fundamental, structural, and systemic dysfunctionality. the statement said kenya will pull out troops immediately and will no longer engage in peace negotiations.

a spokesperson for ban said on tuesday an independent panel had criticized the u.n. mission. it said the mission's response was inadequate when forces opened fire on u.n. and private compounds housing refugees in the capital, juba. the panel found that at least 73 people were killed during three days of attacks. the spokesperson says ban will review the operation to properly protect people. south sudan gained independence from sudan five years ago. fighting flared up again in july between government and rebel forces. u.n. officials say the capital is now relatively stable. about 13,000 peacekeepers, including japanese ground self-defense force personnel, are taking part in the u.n. peacekeeping mission. officials and experts the the united nations and more than 60 countries are meeting to set targets for the existence of

natural disasters in asia. the northeastern japanese city was severely damaged by the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. the aim of the three-day conference in new delhi are to establish concrete goals on the frame work for disaster risk redr reducti reduction. an official from japan's governing liberal democratic party said people in the region can learn a lot from each other. >> translator: i plead for your cooperation in sharing each other's wisdom so we can save as many lives as possible through disaster risk reduction. >> indian prime minister narendra modi said disaster risk management should be dealt with seriously. he called for regional solidarity. >> we stand shoulder to shoulder with all the nations of the region. regional and international cooperation has an important role in providing a boost to our

efforts. >> the framework sets targets to be achieved by 2030. they include reducing the number of victims, lessening risk, and increasing the ability of societies and economies to recover quickly. those attending the conference will share ideas on how those goals can be achieved. people visiting one of the towns worst hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami can now get a high-tech glimpse of the immediate aftermath. they can don virtual reality goggles for a panoramic look at the devastation. the curators of a memorial museum in ishinomaki city say they want to keep the memory of the disaster alive. they have installed virtual reality headsets that let visitors place themselves right in the scene. one image shows the ruins of an elementary school and another shows locals painting a sign urging people not to give up.

>> translator: i could see the whole town 360 degrees. it really made it feel real. >> translator: a flat picture won't simulate the feeling of being there. but people using this virtual reality headset can feel like they are right there. >> more than 3,000 people from ishinomaki died in the disaster and more than 400 others are still missing. the u.s. presidential race has become much closer following the fbi's recent reopening of its investigation into democratic candidate hillary clinton's use of a private e-mail server. the election is now less than a week away. trump's campaign gained momentum following the agency's announcement. >> i have great respect for the fbi for righting this wrong. the american people fully understand her corruption and we

hope all justice will finally be served. >> according to realclearpolitics which averages local opinion polls, clinton still has a lead over donald trump as of wednesday of 47% to 45%. u.s. president barack obama criticized donald trump in -- the fbi in an interview on wednesday.the fbi in an interview on wednesday. >> we don't operate on innuendo, we don't operate on incomplete information, we don't operate on leak. >> the conclusion of the fbi was that she had made some mistakes but that there was nothing prosecutable. another main focus is on weather the democratic party is regain control of control of both houses of congress.

at stake are 34 of the 100 senate seats and all 435 seat in the house of representatives. republicans currently control both chambers. but the democrats could secure a majority in the senate if they win more than five additional seats. democrats are also expected to make gains in the house of representatives. some republicans are distancing themselves in presidential candidate donald trump out of concern that his controversial remarks could hurt their campaigns. >> it's decision time for america. two divided presidential candidates have been fighting a bitter battle for the white house. >> she should not be allowed to run. >> he is denagrating, he is talking down a democracy. >> affecting relations around the world, including here in asia. >> u.s. election 2016 on nhk "newsline."

the leaders of japan and russia are scheduled to hold a summit in december. in the meantime top government officials from both countries are busy laying the ground work. they have been meeting in moscow. what's been on the agenda? >> a lot of long list of things that they have to talk about. japan's trade and industry minister and russia's economic development minister are in charge of coming up with an economic cooperation plan. they have agreed so far on about 30 priority projects selected from a hundred. they have signed a joint statement and agreed to speed up discussions. they also agreed to pick up model cities in russia and correspondent in urban development. japan will teach russian manufacturers ways of improving productivi productivity.

officials also discussed energy. they agreed on joint petroleum and familiar gas development, wind power in russia and cooperation in technology to recondition the nuclear reactors at the japan's ambassador to iraq attended the opening ceremony. about 400 companies from 12 countries are participated in this year's trade fair. the trade fair is taking place as iraqi government forces and militia conduct a massive offensive to retake the northern city of mosul from the islamic state group.

>> translator: the biggest concern for japanese firms doing business in iraq is security. >> he expressed hope the situation will stabilize across iraq to allow business activities everywhere in the country. checking on markets, uncertainty over the u.s. presidential race continues to weigh on global markets. sentiments on wall street, the markets closed lower on election jitters. >> so, john, what are we seeing at the open? >> yes, financial markets across the globe remain risk averse since last week, that's of

course following the news that the fbi was investigating hillary clinton's e-mail. also the ism nonmanufacturing index for october came in below expectations and that also ened sentiment. the topix is down 1.81%. markets in japan are trading today avenue a holiday on thursday, that's after the nikkei on wednesday saw a nearly 1.8% drop, the sharpest one-day fall in three months, following those u.s. election jitters. and a declichb in -- crude future fell to a fifth straight day, the lower legal since late september. capability to go through with its plan to limit output.

we have seen the yen continue to gain ground against the dollar, where are some of the currency leg levels familiar. . >> the green backs recover some ground against the euro, the dollar was supported by the outcome of the policy meetings that suggested a rate increase when they meet in december. sterlg shot up to a four-week high against the dloothat, the in britain, that's normally followed by the eu country's exit from the bloc and the bank of england decided to keep its key interest rate inchanged. again a quick look at indexes across the asia pacific region. seoul's kospi is down about a

quarter of a percent and sidney's index is down about .6%. we'll be closely watching the nonfarm payroll data that's due out later today. a positive number could cement the possibility of a rate hike by the federal reserve in these, but we may not see a change in this risk averse sentiment until we see the outcome of the u.s. elections next week. i'll have another report for you in a few hours, but it's back to you. >> it's all about the u.s. job numbers and the elections. now japan is known as the land of cute mascots. many businesses depend on them to endear themselveses to customers. we'll take a look at a company that creates costume designs with just the right amount of a cuteness factor. >> reporter: this business provides rental wi-fi routers to

customers arriving at tokyo's airport. they have introduced two time traveling ninja characters, and these foreign visitors find t m themmthem irresistibl irresistible. . >> translator: people can tell right away that these images are japanese. >> but these characters didn't really travel through a rift in town. they were created by a company that provides designs to businesses that want to transform their brand and reach a wider audience. it matches images uploaded by clients. each design costs about $3,000. half of that goes to the artist and the rest goes to the company. >> translator: many firms are

having difficulty reaching new markets and customers. characters like these can really help and expand the customer base. >> reporter: some of the characters this company has created are already making a big splash. this aquarium opened 40 years ago. recently the number of visitors has started to decline. so the management enlisted some outside support, a mascot. the character is decked out in a blue and yellow costume, it's modeled after the sea slugs commonly found in the area. >> it even as the an antenna. >> but it wasn't just the slug

that inspired it. it has both male and female traits. that led to 10,000 posts on social media in a day. so the company decided to expand the social network to include a sister and a childhood friend. as the number of characters expanded, so did the number of visitors. >> people got caught up that a character can be both male and female. we feel that the sea slug was the right choice. >> the smaller designs make it easier for other companies to get into the character game. the cuteness factor is likely to continue for a long time to come. >> that's it for business news, i'll leave you with a check on the markets.

the latest wave of new technology expected to make an impact on future businesses is

virtual realty. companies are now rapidly adopting the new technology to gain a virtual edge in business. here's our report. >> reporter: high-tech chinese firms have come to the city to show off their latest products for virtual realty or vr. the technology is gaining popularity around the country, and the vr industry is rushing to take advantage. it's not just games that are entertainment where these technologies are being used. they have also seen rapid expansion in various fields of business. this real estate company in beijing uses vr to accept sell new condominiums, the technology lets their customer experience what it's like to be inside the home without actually visit them. it's especially useful since the building they're touring is far from the city in the southern islands. this is designed for elderly tennants. when customers put on the headset, they can move throughout the virtual realty rooms.

they can see things like furnishings. company officials say that using a virtual motor room can be about 70% cheaper than building a real one. >> i felt like i was in a 3-d movie. the image area was very clear and i could see even small details. i'm pleased with the equipment, as well as the overall interior. >> the it firm that developed the vr rooms says it can create one in just six days. so far is company has constructed 150 models in the virtual world. >> translator: i think vr will become an indispensable utility for all industry. just like electricity. it offers a sense of experience, increases efficiency and cuts costs. >> reporter: the related computer technology that's also

getting bigger in china is called augustmecall ed august augmented realty. it's what's used in the game pokemon go where virtual world is overlaid on the real world. but it's not just for games. this company uses ar in manufacturing. the firm has developed a special headset. for car repair facilities. when mechanics look at the pod, they can see each part and its maintenance. it's hand free guidance that reduces the chance of making a mistake which boosts efficiency. company officials are now developing software that can be used in all kinds of industries, such as power. they also plan to mass produce their ar product. >> translator: china is quick when it comes to applying new

technologies to business. it's the country's greatest advantage. it's huge market also creates massive amounts of capital, giving a boost to research and development. >> reporter: the government is playing a part in this, encouraging domestic firms to use the new tech in their business. they're hoping that virtual world technology will help spawn movement in the real world economy. >> time now for the world weather update. we're in for sunny skies in tokyo for this friday. >> actually tokyo is looking rather decent. it's going to remain on the cloudy or partly cloudy side. the islands here across central japan really stopping any of that precipitation out here from getting over there towards the east. but if you are are across parts

of hokkaido, plenty of rain and snow to go around. in fact over the past 24 hours, there's one area out here in hokkaido that received 9 millimeters of snowfall. a daily record for that area, and also some areas 23 centimeters of total snow depth. another low will develop over the weekend and bring some additional precipitation. a little bit of warmup saturday and sunday out ahead of that low in tokyo, 21 for your high. but it will cool off once it does push by. 15 expected there by monday. hokkaido as well, you can expect that snowfall on saturday and sunday. even over towards monday only a high of 7 and it does cool off by sunday. across the mountains there in central japan, i know this is very autumn like, but a little taste of winter a little bit early here. actually i'll show you some video coming out of nagano prefecture, one of the more

popular ski resorts out there has just recently opened here. they just started making some artificial snow opening in late october, two runs open, 15 yards wide, 400 meters long. you can see a little jump course there as well. you can get out there if you do want to scratch that itch to head out to some of the ski slopes. not until december will all ten of their slopes open up, that's just the artificial stuff and with the temperatures up in the mountains, they're definitely working hard to keep those slopes running. meanwhile back towards the west, high pressure continues tos ts dominate, keeping things on the cold side there in northeastern china. unfortunately, that high does create an inversion. and when we talk about that, we're talking about the problem with pollution and reduced air quality. if you know, typically in the atmosphere, we have cold air aloft, that's why on top of the mountains there's snow, but when you get this high, often it sinks down to the lower elevation, that's when we get that inversion setting up

trapping pollutions down on the ground, that's why over the next several days we do have haze in the forecast there in beijing and in surrounding areas. something to watch out for, typical for this time of year. seoul 16, tokyo, 18. sunny skies expected in your forecast. moon while sown toward the south in the tropics, we have been watching a couple of tropical depressions out here, one moving to the southeast, but it really looks like scrambled eggs. and it's going to stay that way. yesterday we had the forecast going west, but this recent cold front is going to eject it off to the north away from the philippines and all you're going to see is maybe some monsoonal flow coming, some scattered rain showers in your forecast. we do have a little blast of cooler weather score the scandinavian peninsula. something to watch out heading through the weekend as

temperatures drop behind that front. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook. that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thank you for watching.

rita aspinwall: on this edition of native report, we'll attend the world indoor lacrosse championship. ernie stevens: we'll meet alf jacques, a world-renowned traditional lacrosse stick maker. you can do a lot of things with it rita aspinwall: and we'll interview onondaga faith keeper, oren lyons. this is the oldest standing democratic government in the world. rita aspinwall: we also talk about leadership in indian country and here from our elders on this edition of native report. narrator: production of native report is made possible by grants from the shakopee mdewakanton sioux community, the blandin foundation, and the duluth superior area community foundation. [music playing]