hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, october 12th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. china is showing more displeasure about the nobel peace prize going to pro-democracy activist liu xiaobo. norway says beijing is calling off a bilateral fisheries meeting scheduled for this week. the cancellation comes amid growing tension between the two countries after the oslo-based committee made the announcement. norwegian fisheries and coastal affairs minister lisbeth berg-hansen was supposed to meet with china's vice fish minister

niu dun on wednesday. the norwegian government says china did not give any reason for counseling the meeting. the chinese government has criticized the committee's decision. it said liu is a convict under the country's law. he is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence. the authorities have set up checkpoints around the prison in leelian liaoning province, where liu is being kept. they're also denying media access to the facility. surveillance have also stepped up in beijing and here in the apartment where his wife lives. everyone except residents is being denied access. on a sunday, she was allowed to meet her husband. but supporters say police are posted just outside her apartment, effectively keemg her under arrest. outside the dalai lama commented on the nobel peace prize during his way to the united states. the tibetan spiritual leader also won the nobel peace prize a

de decade ago. >> definitely. this nobel peace prize i think choose the right person, right moment. china must sort of show world open, transparent. then trust come. >> the dalai lama said that he supports liu's cause and that hundreds of thousands are campaigning for democracy in china. he also stated that liu's award will be a turning point for the country. two americans and one britain share this year's nobel prize in economics for their theories on how economic policies can affect unemployment. the royal swedish academy of sciences announced the winners on monday. they're professor peter diamond of the massachusetts institute of technology. dale mortensen of northwestern university in evanston, illinois, and christopher

pissarides of the london school of economics. their research shows why many people remain unemployed at times, despite large numbers of job openings. it also explains that jobless rates do not necessarily decline based on economic policy and regulation. the three economists claim that improving public services can actually raise jobless rates. the royal swedish academy of sciences says their theories are applicable to monetary policies and public economics. >> it's an important full message from sweden, so to took me as surprise. i thought i was hallucinating for the moment. >> professor mortensen was giving a lecture in denmark, where his father was born, when he heard the news. >> at the moment very overwhelming and i imagine it will get worse before it gets better, but happy, too. a u.s. biotechnology firm says it has started the world's first test using embryonic stem

cells on a human patient. geron corporation said on monday it's treating a patient with spinal paralysis. researchers are enjecting embryonic nerve cells into the person's spinal cord. embryonic stem cells come from human embryos. they have the potentialor cultivated into any tissue or organ. there's high expectation they can be used in regenerative medicine. the company says the purpose is to establish that stem cells can be used safely on humans. through the research it hopes to provide a cure for people with spinal cord damage in the future. stem cell use is controversial in the u.s. christian right groups say it's unethical to use ferpt litilizes because it destroys human life. in august a u.s. federal court issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the argument that it's illegal for the government to support such experiments. geron says it does not receive any government support.

the issue is likely to become more controversial around the world as it deals with people's ethics and religious beliefs. the south korean president said north korea should address the nuclear issue regardless of a power succession. president lee myung bak met foreign correspondent in seoul on sunday. he referred to recent moves in the north to from kim jong-il to kim jong-un as his successor. he said three generations of inherited power has become clear in the country. lee added that pyongyang should respond positively to the nuclear issue to make progress on dialogue between the south and the north. ♪

in pyongyang, kim jong-un attended a military parade with his father on sunday to mark the 65th anniversary of the ruling workers party. it apparently shows people at home and abroad that he is the successor. the footage shows that china seems to be giving support to the succession of the younger kim. a chinese communist party politburo standing committee member stood next to the leaders but the gesture has drawn some criticism in china. this online message says china should not be used again by north korea. any key word search for kim jong-un on china's search engine baidu is being denied. the chinese authorities seem to be restricting internet access because of the sensitive nature of the subject.

the territorial issue in the south china sea was not on the agenda at an asean meeting seemingly to avoid confrontation with china. defense ministers met in hanoi monday. they'll meet on tuesday with their counterparts from eight other countries including china, japan and the united states. the ministers agreed to set up meetings of senior officials to strengthen cooperation in five areas such as maritime security and anti-terrorism measures. the agreements are expected to be in incorporated in a joint declaration to be adopted on tuesday. some asean countries have had disputes with china over the sovereignty of the spratly islands in the south china sea. it seems the asean ministers want to skip the territorial issue to avoid a rough start. tuesday's meeting would be the first regular session with china to discuss regional security. now on the sidelines of the gathering of defense ministers from asean and pacific rim

countries, japanese defense minister, toe she me kitazawa met with his two counterparts, china and the united states. japan has proposed a defense hotline with china to prevent troubles near the country's maritime borders. that follows a collision in the east china sea that strained bilateral ties. kitazawa say its says it's unproductive to discuss the trawler and the senkaku islands because japan already explained its stance on the matter. china and taiwan claim sovereignty over the islands. he said defense officials should pursue a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship. liang said he's satisfied the two countries handled the collision by keeping the future of their relations in mind. he added that he wants to promote defense exchanges. but he wouldn't confirm whether a visit to a chinese port by a

trading ship from japan's maritime self-defense force would go ahead as scheduled this month. kitazawa also met u.s. defense secretarary robert gates in han. he thanked gates for pointing out that the japan/u.s. security treaty covers the senkaku islands in the east china sea. last month gates said the u.s. will fulfill its responsibility as japan's ally following the collision incident. on other matters kitazawa said the japanese government is reviewing the ban on part of

weapons exports. kitazawa also said the government has tried to make progress in the relocation plan for the u.s. marine corps futenma air station based on a bilateral agreement. and defense chiefs of the united states and china also had a meeting on monday. robert gates has suggested to liang guanglie about setting up a dialogue framework so future confrontation would not lead to bilateral military ek changes. it was the first of such a meeting between the two countries in about a year. china froze military exchanges with the u.s. earlier this year to protest the u.s. decision to sell arms to taiwan. the two countries agreed last month to restore them. the two agreed in the meeting that gates will visit china early next year. biological diversity is in the spotlight as a u.n.

conference that started in japan on monday. representatives from more than 190 countries will spend three weeks discussing ways to preserve species and ecosystems. nhk world's yasushi kudo is there. >> reporter: japan's ministry of agriculture forestry and fisheries opened the conference with a call for international interference. >> translator: biological diversity is around the world as the climate changes. we have a responsibility to pass on environmentally compatible lifestyles and rich biological diversity to the next generation. >> reporter: the representatives have started discussing what should be done if genetically modified organisms from one country damage another country's ecosystem. the convention on biological diversity was launched in 1992.

it's appeal for international efforts to protect the global environment along with the u.n. framework convention on climate change. the countries at the conference will set new goals for saving fauna and flora for 2020 and 2050. they will also discuss adopting the protocol on the use of biological resources that could yield new medicines. developing countries that have such resources are increasingly reluctant to let industrialized countries keep taking them without giving them a bigger share of the profits. but industrialized countries argue that paying excessive amounts of money for the resources would hinder the creation of new drugs. industrialized and developing economies clearly need to find common ground on the use of biological resources but it remains to be seen whether they can close the huge gap between their positions. nagoya.

next we look at endangered species, the situation they're facing and how to protect them.. 17,000 animals throughout the world are in danger of extinction. rapid development overhunting and global warming are said to be causing animal species to die out much more quickly than the dinosaurs. as we're about to see the extinction of just one species takes a terrible toll on the environment. >> hokkaido eye lan demonstrates how much the environment and people affect one another. wolves used to live in hokkaido, before they were hunted to extinction 100 years ago. with no wolves to keep the deer population in check, and other environmental changes, the number of deer increased exponentially. the result? the forests have become more damaged every year. deer are eating the buds and bark off the trees, leading to the destruction of some forests.

when the forests die, there are no trees to absorb the rain water. this increases the risk of landslides. tier also cause serious problems for farmers in hokkaido by eating their crops. >> we just saw how the extinction of only one species can greatly affect many human lives. we now take you from hoe chi do he to japan's main island, honshu. next we see how scientists are trying to save a protected species from dying out. >> rock tarmigan live at high elevations in places like the japanesal. s. 25 years ago 3,000 lived there, but recently it's more like 1,700, as deer compete with them for food and habitat. global warming forces the deer to graze further up the mountains where the ptarmigan

live. to replenish tarmingan population, scientists have started to artificially breed tarmigan, but the birds are not from japan. they are impted from norway. the japanese ptarmigan is a protected species. capturing them is heavily regulated so scientists import ptarmigan from norway to study their breeding habits to help with the fall of the number of japanese birds. this july the zoo received 100 ptarmigan eggs from a research institute in norway. the zoo is rushing to hatch and raise them. three weeks later -- 27 chicks hatch.

it's essential that the birds have the right diet. they are fed fresh vegetable leaves mixed with rabbit food because their digestive systems are similar to rabbits. while some babies eat all their food, others cannot digest it efficiently. within four days of hatching, eight chicks are dead. >> translator: when they are very young, they subsist on the egg yolk left inside their stomach. the yolk gives them energy, they can survive for a few days, but when they were switched to the artificial diet, things didn't go so well for them. >> one month after the chicks hatch, there's a new problem. ptarmigan are very territorial.

when left alone, the chicks attack each other. the conflicts could be fatal. so team members immediately separate the chicks into different cages. there are endless challenges like how to make room for them and raise them until they get bigger. but if researchers can't breed the norwegian ptarmigan now, they won't be able to stop the depletion of the japanese ptarmigan. >> translator: if the wild japanese ptarmigan dies out we'll have to raise some artificially and release them back into the wild. the knowledge from this project is turning out to be very helpful. >> earlier hideshi hara spoke with ken ishida, associate professor of agricultural and life sciences at the university of tokyo.

he asked ishida what can be done. >> besides the example we saw in the video there are other efforts being taken, being made in japan to protect endangered species. >> yes. >> what is your take on this? >> yes, on the island our population control project of invasive area mammal is under way. the predator was was introduced to the island and blue and red amamijay and cute rabbit and other endemic spees and ministry of the environment studied the project in 2000. then and now the mammal dense sit very low and endangered endemic animals have recovered now. but there is other endangered

species near the water, the waters, especially the reverse coasts and oceans are the problems, and the oceans we need international corporation more, much more. >> and at the cop10 conference in nagoya the participants are going to participate about the global goal of expanding protected sanctuaries by 2020. how realistic is that goal? >> it will be tough. there are much conflict between economic benefits and endangered species. therefore the local people have to develop the land and also sometimes hunt the animals endangered for their present life. >> of course it's a daunting task, but what could we, japan and the rest of the world, do to save endangered animals? >> yes, understanding nature is essential for us. because we are, we ourselves are also part of nature, and we

depend on the nature. we have to consider the structure and the function of the ecosystems when we do anything. i think we have to recognize high priority of biodiversity conservation, even to food resources or the global warming. biodiversity is fundamental and basic of human survival we think. we may be able to mend our ways, and increase our chances for future success, i think. >> professor ishida thank you very much for your insight today. >> you're welcome. throughout the cop10 meeting which will be held in nagoya until the end of this month, nhk world will bring you a series of feature stories, interviews and live reports on the issues. in business news now, the governor of the chinese central bank has reiterated that china will not drastically raise the

value of its currency in a short period. at a seminar in washington on sunday, people's bank of china governor zhou xiaochuan rebutted international pressure to quickly revalue the yuan. it came at the meeting on the weekend. zhou said china realizes it must raise the value but rapid revaluation would not fix the global economy. he used differences between medical practices inhe east and west, as a metaphor to describe the currency debate. he said that whereas western doctor might prescribe pills to cure a problem overnight, a chinese treatment would be to mix herbs together and use them to cure the problem over one or two months. now let's take a look at the market figures.

and now for the global weather forecast with saki ochi.

>> hi there. welcome to your world weather update. now across east asia today we are seeing clouds moving in toward japan today, so looking a lot cloudier back down from all the sunshine we saw yesterday. we are going to see some pretty unchangeable weather patterns as well so patches of showers will likely show up across the country over the kours of today especially into the evening hours. tail end of this frontal boundary will produce a few showers through parts of the korean peninsula but otherwise staying dry for the northern tier of china, dry conditions and indeed quite a bit of clear skies as well. but definitely wetter for central and southern sections of the country, more wet weather persisting again today, including the southeast here in hainan island, too, which has been heavily hit, looks like a couple showers will continue over the course of today. look at highs for you on tuesday, 31 in manila with

thundershowers, also stormy in bangkok with a high of 35. 30 degrees in taipei, and getting up 25 in tokyo, too, so it is going to be rather on the warm side today. now over towards the americas and taking attention toward the south here just off the coast of honduras and kninicaragua we ha tropical storm paolo which formed, the 16th named tropical storm system. getting up there in numbers. it is going to pull away from the coastline so along the border of honduras and nicaragua tonight and slowly working toward the yucatan peninsula, possibly getting very close to the coastline here later tuesday night or into early wednesday. now forecast path right now showing it veering away from the coast but we will keep a close eye on its progress. it could very well change its course over the next couple of days. either way, heavy rain is going to be impacting parts of you here. you could see up to 150

millimeters or getting up to 250 mill meters in isolated areas. there will also be the storm surge and strong winds to contend with. up towards the americas this low pressure system in the south plains could produce an area of thunderstorms tonight, also looking stormy here in the mintic states. we do have severe thunderstorm watches in effect right now for parts of pennsylvania, in towards delaware, as well as new jersey. rainy area also right now for the northern rockies and then british columbia as well pretty wet picture for you, hefty showers are going to be impacting parts of you along the coastline. vancouver will likely continue to see cloudy and showery weather on tuesday, high remaining at 16 degrees. getting up to 12 in denver and then over towards the east, seeing that cold air slowly work its way southward. new york remains at 17 on tuesday while d.c. on the other hand rising up to 27 degrees. now here's a look at europe and it is going to be split, north and south weather wise, pretty

stormy, windy and wet weather impacting those of you along the mediterranean from eastern spain, across italy and towards the balkan peninsula. continental europe for the most part remainder w wl see clear, dry skies but up towards the north, too, wet and windy picture for those of you from the scandinavian peninsula towards western russia, showery picture for parts of forway as well as rewestern russia. 6 in moscow, remaining at 8 degrees in stockholm. all right, here is your three-way outlook.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do join us again at the top