police arrested two u.s. servicemen on charges of sexually assaulting a japanese woman. people who live near the u.s. bases are angry about a number of things, most recently the deployment of the controversial aircraft. police say the men attacked and injured the woman on a street on the main island. they say the assault took place before dawn on tuesday. investigators say the woman told them she had never seen the men before. they arrested skyler walker and chris toerve browning. they say walker admitted to the accusation and browning denied he was involved. they are based at the u.s. naval air station ft. worth in texas. they say they were sent to the air base to transport supplies. investigatorsay the men were drinking before the attack. >> >> translator: this tramples on women's human rates and we

will not tolerate this crime. >> since 1973 they are dealt with cases in which u.s. servicemen were arrested on charges of assaulting women. the rape in 1995 of a 12-year-old girl sparked mass protests. the government says they will launch protests with the u.s. and the japanese governments. governor plans to visit the foreign and defense ministries and the u.s. embassy in tokyo. he says this is a serious and unforgivable matter and will urge u.s. officials to lead a thorough strengthening of discipline. they say japanese leaders will make their own interventions with u.s. officials. >> translator: this never should have happened. strengthening discipline and trying to prevent a recurrence are not enough. we need to think about more fundamental measures.

>> gemba said it were to ensure the matter will not affect the realignment plan for u.s. forces that includes reducing the number of marines in okinawa. john roose says he takes the matter very seriously and promised to cooperate with authorities. former boss any an leader says he should be rewarded for all the good things he has done. he opened his defense inhe genocide trial at the u.n. war crimes tribunal in the hague and told the court he was a mild and tolerant man. he denied his involvement in the mass killing of boss nan muslims and kroebs. he insisted he did everything in his power to reduce the war. his trial began three years ago. he faces ten charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

officials at the trinal say the trl mayast ateast two more years. he plans to ask more than 550 witnesses to appear in court. families struggling to get food on the table may get some reli relief. what's the story here. >> u.s. farmers have seen the worst drought in decades and it is one of a number of reasons dragging up food prices and we're hearing that delegates from member countries of the u.n. food and agriculture organization agree the to tackle soaring grain prices in an attempt to avoid a food crisis. representatives from 130 nations including ministers from 22 countries gathered for the fao conference in rome. the delegates agreed to work together and boost production of grain surging prices and agreed to discuss ways to raise transparency and agricultural markets to limit volatility in

food prices. some people voiced concerns about the effectiveness of the meeting. no ministers attended from the u.s. even though the nation is one of the biggest farm producers. chinese ministers were also absent from the meeting although the country has become a bigger food importer in recent years. the meeting came amid the recent severe drought in the united states causing a surge in food prices. let's check on the markets for this wednesday morning. u.s. stock prices ended higher supported by recent favorable economic data and strong earnings from companies. the dow jones average ended .95% higher. to see how all of that is affecting stock prices near japan we go to ramin at the tokyo stock exchange. we have been focusing on data and earnings so far this week. tell us how japanese stocks are reacting to all of this. >> yes, indeed, relating to earnings actually we had blue chips in the u.s. such as

goldman sachs and johnson & johnson coming out with strong earnings and u.s. data so far this week has shown to be favorable as well, and we did see an uptick in the industrial production data onuesdayn the u.s. also. that might give a bit of a boost for japanese exporters as well. let's have a look at the opening levels for today for the nikkei and the topix and both indexes trading higher, 3/4 for the nikkei and the topix at 738, both indexes trading fairly positively in the first few minutes. let's not forget the nikkei was up almost 1.5% yesterday and also boosted by economic data. we had retail sales and earnings from citigroup which held just a couple of days ago. e u.s.ankitigupas h the headlines but for another reason as ceo vikram pandit announced he will be stepping down. there is a little bit of a flurry in the financial markets, not a major impact, but it does

come in the middle of earnings reports for banks and brokerages, so we'll see what kind of effect it has. another area that we really should be focusing on is the high tech sector in japan following earnings reports from intel and ibm both of which reported a bit of a slip for the third quarter citing lower sales in pc and hardware sales overall. we'll watch out for the latest shares here in japan such as fujitsu and toshiba just to name a couple there. let's not forget soft bank has been hogging the headlines for the last week, of course, as it moves to acquire u.s. carrier sprint nextel saying that it is not going to actually issue anymore shares to finance that. investors and share prices in soft bank really took good cheer out of that. we did see it raising 9.5% yestery. however, it did decline around 20% in the two previous days. a bit of volatility will track

soft bank today as well. yuko. >> there is a lot of focus on spain and the possible request for a bailout. >> a lot of focus on the euro and spain of course and the bet is that spain may actually ask for a bailout which will mean the european central bank can step in and buy spanish bonds which will push bond yields down and help spain to finance some of its funding. let's have quick look at th cuency levs now as well and you can see the dollar/en78.82 to 86 and the euro/yen 103 to 35. should be good for exporters as well. another focus is the presidential debate going on now and the focus on the u.s. economy. yuko, back to you. >> thanks, ramin. japanese business leader and the french foreign minister agreed

that a free trade deal between japan and the european union would spur economic growth. japan's business federation chairman met france's foreign minister in paris on tuesday. he asked him for france's cooperation. they need consent to start talks to conclude an economic partnership agreement with japan. he says that france is a country that built the foundation for a european integration. he thinks that the free trade deal will be beneficial for both sides. on the other hand the french minister urged japan to remove non-tariff barriers in various fields such as pharmaceuticals and added that japan must also open its market wider to get the talks under way. he cited the railroad industry as an example. that is all for me for now. i will leave you with the market figures here in asia.

a chinese fisherman died after being hit by a rubber bullet during a crackdown by the south korean coast guard on illegal fishing. the incident took place on tuesday in south korea's exclusive economic zone. clashes between the coast guard and chinese fishermen often occur during the peak fishing season. the south korean coast guard says the chinese fisherman was a crew member on one of the two boats it seized. the chinese fishermen started brandishing knives and coast guard officers fired warning shots and the man was hit by a

rubber bullet. he was airlifted to a hospital and declared dead. south korea's foreign ministry conveyed the regret over the incident to the chinese embassy in seoul. last december a south korean officer was stabbed to death by a chinese fisherman during ra. > member of japan's self-defense forces are tracking chinese naval ships. they say they approached japanese territorial waters west of okinawa. the disputed senkaku islands are located in the area and territory japan controls but china claims. pilots with the maritime self-defense force air patrol spotted it tuesday. they found the ships 49 kilometers off the island near taiwan. japanese defenseinistry officials say they moved north outside the territorial waters. they say they were headed to another zone off the senkaku islands and then the flow till la headed west away from the

islands. the defense ministry officials point out it is the same one that passed through the okinawa islands earlier this month. officials believe it was returning to china. international law allows ships to pass through another nation's contig us on zone. the officials say it is the first time this year the japanese navy has been spotted near jan's ny and they ran a statement from the chinese national defense ministry saying its ships were on training and sailing exercises which are legal and appropriate. the the statement also says japan's recent dispatch of military aircraft to the area violates china's sovereignty and urged japan to stop any actions that complicate the current situation. earlier nhk world's gene otani spoke to a security analyst at ihs and also a former navy captain of japan's maritime self-defense force.

especi h he. >> what is your opinion on the latest action? >> they conducted antisubmarine warfare training and of course to return to base were unusual because they could choose the reverse course but they didn't. it mea they do something by using this course. >> according to what you think, you don't think this action is normal. what do you think are the intentions of china, then? >> yes. we have to consider two intentions. one is the central government, central china, decided or planned this course. it means they want to see or understand the japanese reaction not only from government or from also from the society.

one more thing is they of course want to show their presence in this area. navy vessel is quite different. navy vessel can represent it for meaning quite different. one is the independent operation by lower level command and they want to appear to central the patriot action, patriot feeling, so it is much more dangerous. >> they may be acting independently from what the central government is telling them. do you think there are any possibilities that the dispute between japan and china will actually escalate? >> i don't believe the battle will occur in this area in the near future because china at last didn't enter the most

problematic area and the japanese reaction is very calm, so it will not not big problem in the future. i thk the jap and china, especially have to make effort to make more channel discussion. >> the security analyst at ihs janes speaking to gene otani. in other news the commander of the u.s. pacific fleet says that chinese naval vessels have the right to cruise in international waters and the admiral says other nations have expectations. >> we deal with maritime capability and it is not surprising to me china is an emerging nation to add maritime capability. we hope what they do with their capability is transparent.

>> haney also commented on the senkaku island dispute saying the u.s. takes no position and the u.s. government wants a peaceful resolution to the issue. police investigators in japan turned to their computers to chase down a suspect in a case involving violent online threats. they believe someone is hijacking other people's pcs to carry out the cyber crimes. finding that person has proved difficult and also led to the arrest of innocent men. zr a message posted in june on the bulletin board of the website threatened a massacre at an elementary school. similar threats were made against japan airlines and tokyo based entertainment agency, a

kindergarten in western japan. officials believe the same person targeted to threaten a conventional hall and one instance around the imperial palace. investigators may have gotten a break in the case last week. a tv station in tokyo received e-mails from someone claiming responsibility for posting the messages. the center claimed to be able to control other people's computers using a homemade virus. he or she claimed the responsibility for more than 10 threats posted online. police officials suspect the e-mail is authentic. they say it contains information only the culprit would know. he or she wanted to disgrace the police or the prosecutors. they say it wille difficult to identify the person who sent the

e-mail. >> translator: they abused the anonymity of the internet to access bulletin boards or issue instructions for a virus. if he or she used the same methods to carry out the crime, it will be impossible to find them. >> reporter: the e-mails raise new concerns. police suspected a 19-year-old college student of making the threats against the elementary school. the student denied the allegations but confessed after being held in police custody. he was then arrested for forcible obstruction of business. police officials say they may reopen the investigation. >> translator: if the police push someone who claims to be innocent into confessing a crime he never committed, it may lead to false charges being made. these kinds of cases should be

closely re-examined. >> reporter: officials with the national police agency have directed the prefecture police to investigate similar online threats in which suspects denied involvement dating back to four years ago. an internationally renowned artist is helping his hometown go green. he is from osaka in western japan. he is best known for his buildings of stark gray concrete and creative use of water and light. in recent years he has also been working on ways to bring more trees and plants into the urban environment. >> the 30 story building has stood in the heart of the city since 1976 rising 124 meters high, it is a local landmark. soon, though, it is going to stanld out for another reason. from january ivy and other greenery will slowly start to

cover the walls until it reaches the very top. >> translator: it will be great to see so much green in a major city like this. >> translator: when it is completed, it will be one of the city's landmarks. >> the project is the brain child of leading architect undo born and raised in osaka. >> translator: i think seeing greenery will make a powerful impact. >> instead of just designing new buildings he has a bigger vision for the environment. he has begun several projects to bring more greenery into osaka. this riverside area has been turned into a popular spot for cherry blossom viewing. since 2004 ando has raised some $6.4 million to make this project a reality.

he strongly believes osaka needs more flowers and green spaces. >> there is no greenery. it is dirty. there are homeless people everywhere. there are few jobs. that is the perception of osaka. i want to improve its image. >> for the past three years ando has been working on a project along the river front. when there is no rain, his office employees go out and water these plants themselves. they take the ivy in place training it to grow upward. this building overlooking the river has also begun growing a wall of vegetation as part of ando's initiative. >> translator: one thing he suddenly asked us if we would join in this project. i wanted to add lots more greenery to this building.

>> the target of the project is to have the walls entirely covered sbi greenery in ten year's time, all the way to the top. >> translator: i hope the greenery inspires people. some may think i will be 100 by the time it gets to the top, but i will still do my best. others may just visit once a year to see how far it has gone. >> and owe's project is not only adding greenery to the city. he is hoping it will encourage growth in many other ways as well. in other news japan's tell casting corporation has won an asia pacific broadcasting union award for its tv news reporting. the general assembly opened in seoul, south korea. the awards are among the most prestigious in the region. more than 500 people from 60 countries and regions are taking

place. kansai won it for the zookeeper caring for animals caring for people about a man suffering from cancer that raises abandoned pets and tries to show young people the value of life through his activities. he was an executive research engineer at nhk's science and technology research laboratory. we're following a couple orms ithe sternpacific. rachel ferguson joins us to tell us more in her world weather forecast. >> all right, yes, we have been following it for more than a week now and i am afraid it hasn't moved very much. it is showing some good signs. starting to pick up the pace and to make that curve towards the northeast we have been waiting for. it is moving towards the northwest at 15 kilometers per hour so it is still going to be impacting okinawa today and expect short time heavy rain and you can see as much as 60

millimeters in the space of one hour with totals upo 200 millimeters in the next 24 hours. also, storm surges will be a concern for coastal flooding and we'll also be seeing of course the gal force winds here. it is starting to pull away from the northeast coming close to the pacific edge of japan as it heads out so we could be seeing the outer bands of the storm reaching the main islands of japan. by the weekend by friday and into saturday and sunday we should start to see the system depart. we have one more to talk about which is severe tropical storm maria. mariis als startinto tn away to the northeast and it is going to be moving away fairly rapidly but we still have to see another 24 hours of stormy conditions across the islands. today near wednesday you could see waves up to 5 meters and gale force winds here, too. it will be pulling away though.

however, these two storms are really pulling in a lot of moisture across the main islands of japan here and we also have a couple of low pressure systems impacting the arch pell goes, so there is going to be heavy rain and thunderstorms and strong winds here and could see tornados as we head on into wednesday and into thursday we'll be seeing more snow making its way through. let's go to our hurricane rafael. it is just about to move past bermuda at the moment. it is moving 43 kilometers an hour which is good news. we don't like these storms to hang around. this is moving quickly. it is likely to pass bermuda and then to become a remnant low fairly quickly as it reaches the cooler waters and staying fairly far from eastern canada and can heading up towar the northeast. now, we are still likely to see about 100 millimeters of rain for bermuda and the sea swells could cause coastal flooding, so that storm surge is still likely to continue for the next few days as the system departs. hurricane paul, category 1

system, just about to make landfall in the baja peninsula. we have hurricane warnings posted and some tropical storm warnings posted as well further towards the south. it is likely to become a low pressure system within the next 36 hours, but it is still going to be bringing a lot of heavy rain, not just in the peninsula but also along the western coast of mainland mexico. coastal flooding will also be an issue here. all right. that big winter storm system that's been moving across the northwest is now moving to the east and intensifying, so we are going to find the snow towards the north and then it is going to turn into thunderstorms, some of them becoming quite severe in the midwest. behind that it is going to be dry and low humidity and very strong winds and that spells fire weather and there are warnings and watches posted to that effect. los angeles 35 degrees. no snow here. it stays hot in the south. even oklahoma city at 24 degrees is starting to cool down. i will leave you now with the extended forecast.

that concludes this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.