hello there. glad you could join us on this edition of "newsline." it's tuesday, october 5th, 8:00 al in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. naoto kan and wen jiabao have agreed to mend bilateral ties that deteriorated after a collision between a trawler and vessels in the east china sea.

kan told reporters that he had a half hour talk with wen oton sidelines of the asem summit in brussels on sunday. >> kan said he stated that the senkaku islands are a part of jan annd that no territorial issue is present. wen reportedly reiterated his position. the current situation is not favorable and that japan and china should work toward establishing a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship. he also said they agreed to hold high level talks between their governments and resume private sector exchanges that were canceled or postponed after the maritime incident.

now, prime minister kan has emphasized the importance of international rules on trade and natural resources. he was speaking on the opening day of the asia-europe meeting in brussels. he said that to deepen relations between asia and europe and to ensure growth, it's important for the participants to abide by common international rules including those governing trade and raw materials. he also said it's essential for countries and regions to build trust and lay the foundation for peace and stability. kan's remarks are apparently directed at china. the country effectively banned exports of rare earth minerals to japan after the maritime collision incident. japan's prime minister held bilateral talks with his counterparts from three countries on the sidelines of the meeting naoto kan explained japan's position in its dispute with china over the collision incident. kan met separately with the leaders of australia, south korea and vietnam on monday,

ahead of his speech at asem. he told them that japan/china relations are important not only for the asia-pacific region but also for the world. he explained that japan dealt with the incident properly based on japanese law. his counterparts reportedly expressed understanding. during their meeting, kan and south korean president lee myung-bak agreed to continue working together in dealing with north korea's nuclear program and other issues. the north recently selected kim jong- jong-un, the third son of leader kim jong-il as the next leader. the u.s. ambassador to the philippines says his country is willing to help formulate a code of conduct between china and asean countries concerning a territorial dispute in the south china sea. china, the philippines, and three other countries and taiwan claimed sovereignty over the sprattley islands. asean members are working on a

code of conduct to prevent clashes and pave the way for a peaceful resolution to the dispute. harry thomas held a news conference in manilla on monday. he urged the members to start talks on the code. he said the united states seeks to assure stability and freedom of navigation in the region. >> when asean develops the goals and objectives, if they ask for our assistance on specific items, we'll be happy to assist if asked. >> china has taken a tough stance against japan over the maritime collision off the senkaku island last month. it's also intensifying its military activities in the south china sea. the u.s. diplomat's remarks are seen as an apparent attempt to contain china's moves in the region. in brazil's presidential

election, ruling party candidate dilma rousseff placed a strong first but failed to win a majority. she now faces a runoff election scheduled for october 31st. with 99% of ballots counted, rousseff of the workers party claimed 46.8% of the vote. opposition candidate and former sao paulo governor jose serra trails by more than 14 points. the runoff will be held between the top two candidates. >> rousseff is aiming to become first woman to lead brazil. she was a front-runner throughout the campaign hanthan in support of the hugely popular president lula.

>> translator: i will honor the policies put forward by president lula. until last march dilma was as the cabinet chief. she's known as brazil's iron lady. she spent three years in prison for taking part in anti-government activities during the country's military rule. she conducted her election campaign hand in hand with president lula who enjoys immense popularity for leading brazil to rapid economic growth. >> rousseff will grow brazil's economy as she has helped run my

administration. >> rousseff main opposition candidate was jose serra, the former governor of the state of sao paulo. he tried but failed to win the votes of brazil's lower income population, which is one of rousseff's main support bases. the main factor that worked in rousseff's favor was brazil's booming economy. it's expected to grow again by about 7% in 2010. rousseff's support has increased in the industrial sector in addition to voters in the middle and lower income brackets who are feeling their lives improved. jose serruns a factory on the outskirts of sao paulo. his firm manufactures parts for

offshore oil fields and mines. the lula administration has focused on developing natural resources as a driving force for the brazilian economy and is trying to expand such projects even further. at this company, sales have more than doubled during the eight years of lula's presidency. >> i want to put my future in the hands of dilma rousseff who will continue lula's policies. >> brazil is raising its profile in the international community. like japan, the country's aiming to become a permanent member of the u.n. security council. the people of brazil are pinning their hopes on rousseff to keep the economy growing. reporting for nhk world, sao paulo.

earlier hideshi ha got insight on brazilian politics. >> what do you make of the election result? >> it's clear that the brazilian public wants continuity of government because they are very happy with the economic condition of the country and president lula's social policies. given that dilma rousseff is close to lula, it looks very likely that she will be elected. the fact that she's a woman has not been an issue in the election, but it could present challenges for her if she becomes president. one reason she got less than 50% of the vote is that she was implicated in corruption scandals. another factory that she lost

support from after making comments about abortion. >> nonetheless, do you think that rousseff will win the runoff election? >> i think it's very likely mainly because she's so close to president lula, whose popularity is almost 90% of the brazilian electorate. a public opinion poll during the election campaign showed that nearly half the electorate was planning to vote for someone who would carry on lula's policies. for the brazilian people, lula is a symbol of their country's development. the poor, the new middle class. >> now, looking at the economy, there must be a raft of challenges. which issue do you think candidates should focus on first? >> i think they are likely to

focus on either presidents or the government. it is predicted that whoever is elected, the new administration will follow basically the same economic policy as that of lula administration. some critics, however, that there will be a change of emphasis with respect to the government role in the economic policy known as pac or the accelerated growth program. this program centers on large scale infrastructure building projects and exploring and developing natural resources like oil and gas field. the economic role of the government is likely to be greater if rousseff wins and less pronounced if serra takes the presidency. if rousseff is elected in the second round of voting, it is thought that she will continue to foster a strong role for

government. one of the challenges the new administration will face is to ensure success ful world cup soccer tournament in the country in 2014 and a standard olympic game in 2016. laying the groundwork for future growth. >> thank you very much for your insight today. attention is now focused on how much support the two leading candidates will be able to garner from supporters of the third place contender who won 19% of the vote. british physiologist robert edwards has won the 2010 nobel prize in medicine for the development of in vitro fertilization.

>> the nobel assembly has today decided to award the nobel prize in physiology or medicine 2010 to robert edwards for the development of in vitro fertilization. >> the nobel committee in stockholm, sweden, praised 85-year-old edwards for advancing treatment for infertility, which afflicts more than 10% of all couples worldwide. in 1978, the university of cambridge researcher took an egg from a woman and fertilized it with her husband's sperm outside the body. the egg was successfully implanted into the wife's womb, and she gave birth to the world's first test tube baby. at the time, in vitro fertilization drew harsh criticism from religious and other groups due to its ethical implications. but the technology spread around the world, and more than 4 million people have now been born through means of the procedure. iraq has raised its estimate

of its crude oil reserves by 24%, saying they are now the world's third largest. iraqi oil minister hussain al shahristani announced on monday that a review survey of 66 oil fields in the country shows that its reserves total 143.1 billion barrels, up from the previous estimate of 115 billion. this puts iraq ahead of iran in terms of oil reserves, trailing only saudi arabia and venezuela. the minister said the estimate was raised because of progress in the survey since last year and foreign companies' development of oil fields in iraq. last year two international auctions were held for development rights to oil fields in the country. in january, the japan petroleum exploration company signed a contract to develop an oil field in southern iraq. one japanese expert says iraq raised the estimate with an eye toward increasing the country's opec production quota.

another japanese expert says iraq may be aiming to encourage foreign firms to operate in the country. welcome in to the sports report. a u.s. major league baseball ichiro suzuki of the seattle mariners have the most hits for an entire season. he went 2 for 5 in the season ending game. against the athletics on sunday, he had a double in the fifth and a hit to center in the eighth with 214 total hits for the season, ichiro earned a seventh season hit title. this puts him in a three-way tie with pete rose an ty cobb. the final round of the japan women's open, one of the country's major golf tournaments, took place on sunday. ai miyazato was aiming for a come from behind victory.

she moved up from tenth to fourth place over the first three rounds. but the title went to another miyazato who usually only plays on the u.s. tour. she made her lpga debut last year. things were looking good for her last year, but she fell from first to sixth place on the final day. this time around she improved her score by two strokes on the front nine. here's a second shot on the par 4 15th. if she sinks the putt, it's a birdie. just taking care of business for three birdies in a row. miyazato held on as leader over four days for her first victory as a pro. that earned her the congratulations of the number one player in the world.

on now the final part of our series on sumo's supporting cast. we talked about the men who get the rikishi's hair in shape and those who make the calls on winning and losing. on today's installment, we meet the people responsible for the very foundation of the matches. it is sumo's battleground, the elevated ring where the action takes place. a new doakio is built for the six tournaments per year. this is the mud that goes into it. as you can tell, it's pretty soft. but molding it into the shape of a ring is hard work. the men who do that are the

yogidashi. that's a big part of their job, but it's not only their responsibility. once a tournament starts, they call out the names of the rikishi ahead of each bout. when a basho is held in tokyo, all 44 yogidashi meet four days before to start building. these days he's in charge. he's got 30 years of on-the-job experience. more than 40 tons of soil goes in. that's more than ten truckloads. the material for good soil includes clay and fine sand. >> the soil should form a firm ball in your hand just like this. if it is soft, the rikishi could sprain their legs, so it must be

harder. >> the platform is 58 centimeters high. >> the soil is piled up to the upper line. we then compress it to the lower line. it has been made this way for over a hundred years with the same kind of tools. >> the odako is used in the first step of firming up the surface. four men work together to raise the heavy tool and pound it down on the soil. next, they pick up a smaller tool called tataki. they beat the soil until it hardens to the point where when the rikishi performs the stamping of the feet, no footprint is left. after that, the straw bundles are placed in a circle. it marks the line where winners and losers are made. rikishi will plant themselves

against it with all their might in a bid to resist the opponent's charge. the bales of straw are filled with gravel mixed with soil to make them hard and strong enough to endure the impact. the straw that's used comes from rice as a way of honoring the staple food in japan and praying for good harvest. the bales of straw are beaten with a beer bottle to form the curve that fits the circular shape of the dojo, then they're partly buried in the soil. the protruding part must be perfectly level with crassy to the millimeter. putting up a dojo takes three days. it then forms the basis of a bout for 15 days. after that, its work is done and

the yogidashi move on to making another one for the next tournament. >> we take great care to make a good dojo, so the rikishi can perform at their best and stay injury-free. it is also a ritual. a dojo is a place to welcome deities. we devote ourselves to building it with our hands, not machinery. >> and that's all for today's sports. time now for the market figures.

hel there. welcome to your world weather update. japan is going to be back in the sunshine today. those acting rain clouds moving away from the country. there will be one or two showers affecting the west coast of the country and also perhaps some showers later on in the evening towards the central areas. the korean peninsula stays dry and, as you can see, much of china under this dome of high pressure. it is going to be dry and settled for the most of you. down in the south a bit of a trouble spot here. the setting of high pressure to the north and low pressure to the south will continue to feed moisture in to the same area in to vietnam and also hannan.

parts of thailand picking up heavy showers as well and we've had reports of deadly flood and rainfall since the weekend and that won't be weakening any time soon in the next 24 hours. again we're looking alt a triple digit figures for your rainfall accumulation easily exceeding 100 millimeters in many areas. the situation is quite serious. take any extra precautions if you are advised. 27 degrees in hong kong. quite cloudy here. 33 in bangkok with thunderstorms. mix of sunshine and thundershowers. low of 33 for your daytime high. as for north america, we have a stubborn low pressure system that continues to cling on to the northeastern section of the u.s. again threatening the east coast with flooding. but essentially it is going to be dry for much of the east and central portions of the u.s. high pressure system really in control. it is rather cool here, though.

so widespread frost is expected overnight. anywhere from michigan and also wisconsin down towards tennessee and arkansas. quite dry and windy down towards the southeast as well. now, a powerful storm is brewing up in the southwestern corner here. we also have upper cold air. that's just going to continue to hover over the region. and interacting with that humid air from the pacific we are going to find our severe thunderstorms, large hail and perhaps tornado breakouts. if you are in the area such as utah, arizona, nevada and southern california, you should keep updated with your local weather reports. rather chillyn the southeast. 19 degrees. but it will be mild again in denver and also up near winnipeg. the weather has made its way into central portions. strong winds really affecting germany today. lots of heavy rain and thunderstorms expected to affect the alpine region and italy. that system will be heading into the balkans as well.

quite stormy up towards norway. windy conditions and that rain is likely to linger over the next few days and the british isles, too, contending with wet and windy weather but hopefully that heavy rain will start to weaken off on tuesday although the winds will stay rather on the strong side. 18 degrees in london with light rain. light rain also for paris, looking quite mild in berlin. 17 degrees for your daytime high. now here is your extended forecast.

taking a look at our top story once again. naoto kan and wen jiabao have agreed to mend bilateral ties that deteriorated after a collision between a chinese trawler and japanese patrol vessels in the east china sea. kan told reporters that he had a

half hour talk with wen on the sidelines of the asem summit in brussels on monday. >> kan said he stated that the senkaku islands are an integral part of japan and that no territorial issue is present in the east china sea. wen reiterated his position. the two leaders agree ha the current situation is not favorable and that japan and china should work toward establishing a strategic and mutu mutually beneficial relationship. he said he agreed or they agreed to hold high level talks between their governments and resume private sector exchanges that were canceled or postponed after the maritime incident.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.