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tv   Newsline  PBS  January 17, 2017 7:00pm-7:31pm PST

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we do not seek to adopt a model already enjoyed by other countries. i want to be clear. what i am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market.
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>> may outlined her government strategy, setting out 12 negotiating objectives in her much anticipated brexit speech. she said she will pursue a bold and anticipated free trade agreement with the eu and she emphasized wanting to regain control of migration. >> the message before and during the referendum campaign was clear, brexit must mean control of the number of people who come to brittain from europe and that is what we will deliver. >> she had suggested she might seek to maintain access to the single market while restricting immigrants but e.u. leaders have said britain won't be allowed to cherry pick parts of the e.u. it wants to keep. may plans to start a two-year negotiation by the end of march. it puts the country on course to leave the e.u. in 2019. political and business leaders have gathered in davos,
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switzerland, for the annual world economic forum. xi jinping spoke out about protectionism. >> translator: china is clearly opposed to protectionism. no winner will emerge in a trade war. >> xi said globalization should not be blamed for every problem such as international financial crises. china is becoming impatient with trump. he suggested high tariffs on chinese imports. the president-elect accuses the country of manipulating its currency to put u.s. companies at a disadvantage. xi rejected that criticism. he said beijing has no intention of giving chinese products a competitive edge by keeping the yuan weak. putin has argued that
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allegations will negatively effect bilateral ties. he said there are efforts to undermine trump's legitamacy and they will try to tie him down. >> i don't know mr. trump. i have never met him, and i don't know what he will do in the international arena. that's why i have no reason to assail him, criticize him for something or defend him. >> he denied the allegation that moscow carried out cyber attacks during the u.s. presidential election. he rejected claims that russian intelligence officials have compromising information about trump. in the united states an opinion poll shows trump is the most unpopular new president the country has had in 40 years. abc news and the washington post released the poll. 40% view him favorably and 54%
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don't. pollsters say his approval rating is the lowest among presidents who have taken office since 1977. the results show 61% have just some or no confidence in trump to make the right decisions for the country. just over half think he's not qualified to serve as president. trump wrote on twitter that the same people who did the poll also conducted what he called the phony and wrong election polls. he claimed this one is rigged just like before. now for the latest in business news. >> officials at toshiba say they are thinking about spinning off their semiconductor business. they say they have yet to make a
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final decision. they will make an announcement once that happens. they announced in december it may post several billion dollars in losses from its nuclear power business in the united states. that speech by the british prime minister is expected to prompt japanese companies to review their business strategies for europe. may mentioned leaving the single passport system and taking a hard brexit. japan's foreign ministry said over a thousands japanese countries had their regional headquarters in britain as of 2015. only germany has more. many japanese firms regard britain as a business hub for the region. many international drug makers have their businesses there. the body needs to approve products before they can be sold in eu countries but experts say ema may relocate elsewhere in the eu if the uk leaves.
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the head of a japanese association of drug makers has expressed concern over how japan's medical industry could be affected. >> translator: having separate approval systems will have a significant impact on the markets. >> japanese automakers operate in britain. a banking corporation and daiwa securities group holds single passports but those could be invalid after brexit. executives at general motors say they will make an investment of $1 billion in the u.s. they say the additional investment will create 1,500 new jobs in development of vehicles and advanced technology. they will transfer the production of components for pickup trucks from mexico. the announcements came after president-elect trump criticized the auto giant for making
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vehicles in mexico and then exporting them to the u.s. trump turned to twitter after gm's disclosure. he tweeted he's creating american jobs even before taking office. he said the people are seeing big stuff with the jobs and auto plants he's bringing back home. let's turn to markets now. wall street ended lower on uncertainties of trump's offipo when he takes office friday. tokyo share prices opened lower. the index briefly traded in positive territory but export related stocks are weighing on the market. shares of financials are also down. let's check on currencies. the dollar has weakened further against the yen. that's after trump's harsh comment. the u.s. currency dipped to a seven-week low earlier this
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morning against the yen. right now it's still trading roughly in that zone. the british pound has rallied more than 3% since monday. that's after clarity from the british prime minister in her brexit speech. she called for a clean exit from the single market but said the deal will be put to a parliamentary vote. sterling is fetching $1.23. let's move onto markets open in the asia pacific. we're seeing losses elsewhere. australian shares is down two-thirds percent. in seoul we're seeing the kospi down half a percent. china markets will open in less than half an hour. we often talk about a feel for music. a new device could make that reality for people with hearing impairmen impairments. good to have you in the studio. tell us more about it. >> this is it. it's hearing device but it's quite unique starting with the
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way you wear it, like a hair pin. it's what's on the inside and the way it works that's interesting. let me explain. >> reporter: the device has an embedded microphone. it picks up sounds from the environment and converts the sounds into 250 categories of vibrations and light. the person wearing it can feel the sounds through the skin, even people with no hearing at all. this woman has been deaf since birth. [ doorbell rings ] when the doorbell sounds the device vibrates, letting her know she has a visitor. [ bell ringing ] >> this time she responds to a ringtone on her mobile phone.
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the vibration pattern for the phone is different from the doorbell. the vibrations also signal the loudness of the sound and distance to the sound source. an approaching car, for example. by varying the vibration strengths, it can even convey the rhythm in music. >> i've got it in my hair. i can feel it reacting to my voice. it's buzzing according to how i talk, but i can't decipher the difference. how do other people figure out what it's telling them? >> each sound has a different vibration. the user has to experience and learn them one by one. as we just saw in the video the ring tone for mobile phone and doorbell trigger a different vibration in the device. little by little you learn the difference and eventually you
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can recognize the sound insignificainstan instantly. >> you said this is yunique. how is it different from other things on the market? how was it developed? >> it was developed by honda who is a designer. he came up with the idea after becoming friends with a man with hearing disability. he heard about a wristwatch type product that displays the source of the sound like a doorbell, for example. there are other devices that notify users through light or vibration. what's unique about this product is it converts sounds into different kinds of vibrations. furthermore, the device is clipped to your hair. it almost becomes like a part of your body. it all means sound in japanese. >> all right.
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where can people pick one of these up? >> we still don't know exactly when it will go on sale. honda says the tokyo olympics is an important milestone. he wants to let people with hearing impairments experience the sound of cheering crowds watching the games. also in a few years there will be a different kinds not only for hair but also something you can put on like a necklace or earrings. i believe it's something special. it's an invention that will totally change the life of people with hearing disabilities. >> all right. thank you very much. sounds all very promising. a lot to watch out for. >> thank you. >> that's the latest in business for this hour. i'm going to leave you now with a check on markets.
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they started sharing expertise after the 2011 nuclear accident. an official sat down with nhk world to share his thoughts on how the process is going. >> i've seen some significant delivery in the two and a half years i've been working with tepco. >> reporter: he managed the radioactive waste and develop nuclear field using power
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plants. in 1957, a fire broke out in a reactor resulting in leaks of radioactive materials. >> we should support tepco when they had so many problems to deal with and there were some experiences within the uk that would be able to help. >> reporter: tepco sign an agreement in 2014 to share knowledge on protecting against radiation managing sites and monitoring the environment. they have spent the past two and a half years exchanging information. >> one organization is more advanced than the other and we can share those approaches to help each organization to accelerate its decommissioning program. >> reporter: contaminate water has been delaying the commissioning efforts of
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fukushima but next month tepco plans to inspect. >> what we both have very difficult changes. we have very difficult places that we need to get into and those places we cannot go as a human being we have to send machines into those locations. we're watching very carefully how this is developing and we will be hopefully in the future be able to utilize some of the robotic developments taken place here to help us accelerate some of the work we're doing. >> reporter: some of the buildings at the site of the disaster still contain spent nuclear fuel. cowden says it's difficult to manage this type of contamination. >> especially in the case of fukushima. it's very similar in this respect because the waste that we're both trying to deal with is not in standard locations, not in normal conditions.
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we have to find effective ways to manage things that are in some cases unknown. we have to take it step by step and to understand the stages that we need to go through. >> reporter: he also says tepco should strengthen engagement with the local community in the process. >> trust is very important especially in our industry. building trust takes a long time. it's very easy and quick to lose that trust. we work carefully with our own communities and work hard to try to build trust. >> reporter: tepco is dealing with an unprecedented challenge in the commissioning of fukushima. it's estimated to take about 40 years but the wrong road will be traveled and other nuclear power companies from overseas.
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nhk world, tokyo. russia's foreign minister indicated talks with japan over development projects on four contested islands are one step closer to beginning. they are known as the northern territorys. it includes starting consultations on the projects and making it easier for japanese residents to visit. russia controls the island. the government maintains they are an inherent part of their territory. relations between the countries are improving. he argued that barack obama's out going u.s. administration pressured japan to prevent that from happening. he called it shameful. a senior official from japan's imperial household agency says it may be difficult to have a new leader on the
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throne in 2019. some japanese leaders have suggested that possibility. the government is studying a plan for crown prince to be enthroned on that day. vice grand steward declined to excellent on those reports. noted that generally the emperor have to include celebrations. he said it might be difficult to schedule other vents for that day. the government set up a panel last september to discuss the possibility of abdication. he indicated his desire to do so in a televised message last summer.
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people across japan have marked 22 years since the earthquake. they looked back on the lives lost and the lessons they could give to future generations. >> reporter: the powerful earthquake january 17th, 1995. it killed more than 6,000 people. the families and other survivors have gathered. they offered silent prayers at 5:46 a.m., the moment when the shaking started. >> translator: the offers for my
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lost grand children have changed from soft drinks and alcohol. today i offer her a beer and a snack for watching over me all these years. >> reporter: she's one of the survivors, but he doesn't have any memories of the ordeal. >> translator: i was born on january 17th, 1995. >> reporter: his birth became a beacon of hope for more who lost everything in the disaster. he says being in public spotlight became a burden as a high school student. he said that began to change after he asked his parents about the earthquake. >> translator: the first thing my dad did was to use his body to cover my mom. it was instinctive to protect
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her and me inside. i would not have been born without the help from the people who helped my parents. i learned the importance of life through this. i'm now proud i was born on the day of the quake. >> reporter: he continues telling the story to pass on the memories and experiences of those who went through the disaster. since the quake, researchers in the city have been working to uncover its lessons. they have been trying to protect the impact of earthquakes in order to minimize damages. the researchers have been utilizing japan's kputser, one of the fastest in the world. they've used it to create a next generation hazard map. they have vast amounts of data in the city including precise design details and the year of construction. the system can project exactly
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how much of the structures would shake during an earthquake. >> translator: we're basically running a simulation on the whole city. it's a big challenge to accurately predict what damage an earthquake could cause to a community. >> reporter: officials want to use the system to create better evacuation plans for whole cities and hopefully even larger areas. nhk world, tokyo. thousands of people in the philippines have been forced to evacuate their homes. robert speta has details for there and elsewhere in a world weather report. >> what we have been seeing over the course of the past week and into midweek is these heavy
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rainfalls out here. it is part of a tropical system somewhat. it was a low pressure area but also we had the northeast monsoon coming through. that really caused a lot of instability just that interaction and it's drifted south. now we saw flooding rains. now i'll show you some video from monday actually. where we have the rising waters. three deaths were seen out here. thousands of people were forced to evacuate. for good reason. you can see some of the cars floating away. still have clean up heading into wednesday. schools were closed on tuesday. there are still some closed on wednesday. pretty significant flooding. this area is rather prone to flooding. back in 2011, we had a tropical storm move through and caused over 1,000 deaths out there. the good news, at least, as we
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go ahead, next 24, 48 hours we still have improving conditions. there is going to be some light scattered rain showers but overall definitely a lot less intense than what we have seen over the past 72 hours. maybe there in eastern areas around late day you might see up to 100 millimeters. how about japan, finally some sunny skies. we do have little low track towards the north. might bring coastal rain showers. maybe a few areas could see 10 to 20 centimeters of snowfall. the big thing is that's going to move away. really want to pay close attention to eastern china. we have a low that will be developing and pulling towards the east. it will bring widespread rainfall across most of the
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japan. not just rain but rain and snow across much of japan. you could be seeing snow there behind friday as we look ahead. it's partly cloudy skies and dry conditions. shanghai with a high of 9. scattered rainfall out there for you as well on your wednesday with our developing storm system. take a look here across the americas. we have this area of low pressure continuing to work its way through. still bring scattered showers around texas, the deep south but also back towards the north it's tracking through new england. big thing with this, it does have freezing rain. maybe some snowfall which is fairly heavy at times. temperatures are on the rise into the mid teens there around the sea. 20s for atlanta. near record breaking for some areas in is south eastern u.s. will cool down behind it. temperatures in winnipeg with a high.
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in you're traveling across italy, you might see delays. look at this potent low continuing to linger. slowly drifting towards the east, but it will be bringing fairly rough conditions. i will leave you now with your extended outlook.
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>> that's all now on this edition of nhk newsline. we'll be back in about half an hour.
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thanks for joining us on nhk world.
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reyes: a pesticide sprayed on plantations in nicaragua for decades continues to cause controversy and alleged illness. did it poison people? i'm elaine reyes in washington, dc, and this is "americas now." first up, northern nicaragua was once abundant with agricultural wealth, but locals say that changed when a pesticide was sprayed on fields and adversely affected workers' health. solis: [speaking spanish] interpreter: look at this. every banana plantatation worker has it. i have it. my partner has it. look at our skin. it is stained. this is what the poison did to us. reyes: correspondent grace gonzalez reports on the toxin nemagon and tells us about the legal steps former workers are taking to try and get compensation.

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