welcome to nhk world "newsline," i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. the skies over the east china sea are getting crowded. japan is scrambling jets more often, against chinese aircraft. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon says iran is no longer welcome at the table for peace talks on syria. and budding entrepreneurs are breathing new life in to technologies japanese companies

patented but never developed. japanese fighter pilots are taking to the skies more often to respond to chinese aircraft. every three months the defense ministry releases data showing how many times jets scrambled to meet possible intrusions by aircraft. the ministry says it scrambled jets against chinese aircraft 138 times in the three months between october and december. that compares to 91 times in the same period of 2012. the record high was 146 in the first three months of 2013. japan has been scrambling planes more often against chinese aircraft since the government nationalized the senkaku islands in the east china sea in september 2012. japan says the islands are an inherent part of its territory in terms of history and international law. but china, and taiwan, claim them. china declared an air defense identification zone over the

east china sea in november. the zone includes the senkaku islands. defense officials in southern japan are moving forward with a plan to relocate a u.s. marine base in okinawa. they're asking companies to submit bids to do work, despite the re-election of a mayor opposed to the project. japanese and u.s. leaders have agreed to move the futenma air station from the city of ginowan to a coastal district of nago. last month the governor nakaima approved a government request to start pushing infill into the ocean to build runways for the new base. officials with the okinawa defense bureau say they're accepting bids for three projects. these include designing embankments, and a survey of miern, coral and dugong sea mammals. the officials plan to sign contracts by the end of march with the companies that submit successful bids. they say they'll later seek bids for a coastal drilling survey.

>> translator: while continuing to seek the return of land used for the u.s. futenma air station, we will also steadily promote the relocation plan. >> but the newly re-elected mayor of nago is strongly opposed to the plan. >> translator: leaders in this country are ignoring the citizens in nago, who voted against the plan in sunday's mayoral elections. >> mayor inamine hinted he will refuse to cooperate with the reclamation project. a death row inmate who was once a high-ranking member of a japanese cult has apologized for his role in an abduction two decades ago. thomas is anakagawa spoke during the trial of another member of

all shin roque yo. nag gao wow has been sentenced to death. one is the 1991 sarin gas attack on the tokyo sub way system. the same year he and other members abducted the chief clerk at a tokyo office. he had been trying to help his sister leave the cult. he died after nag gao wow injected him with a drug. the defendant has been charged in three cases including the abduction. he has said he helped carry out the crime but wasn't involved in planning it. nag gao wow testified, he said karia shouted help three times as cult members forced him into a car. once in the car he promised not to resist but nakagawa injected him. he testified from behind a screen so people in the courtroom could not see him. officers also placed a transparent bulletproof panel between the gallery and the witness stand and more than 20 guards were in the courtroom.

testimony by death row inmates is very unusual in japan. prosecutors had demanded that nakagawa testify in prison instead of in court sighting security concerns. two other former senior members who are on death row are expected to testify next month. the main players in the syrian conflict are getting ready to sit down to gather for the first time to find a way to end the crisis. the negotiators from iran will not be taking part. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon had offered them an invitation, but now says they are not welcome. the u.n.-sponsored peace conference begins on wednesday in switzerland. delegates from about 40 nations are expected to attend, along with members of the syrian government, and opposition forces. ban announced on sunday that he had invited negotiators from iran, but reversed his decision

a day later. a spokesperson cited tehran's unwillingness to support a plan for a transitional government. leaders in iran say they back the administration of president bashar al assad. >> the secretary-general is deeply disappointed by iranian public statements today that are not at all consistent with that stated commitment. he continues to urge iran to join the global consensus behind the geneva communique. >> members of the main opposition group the syrian national coalition welcomed the decision to exclude iran. they said they agreed to take part in the negotiations on the condition that setting up a transitional ruling body would be at the top of the agenda. the syrian war has continued for nearly three years, killing 120,000 people, and forcing 2.3 million to flee the country. world powers have been working for months to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table. we asked professor from tokyo university of foreign studies

what we should expect and what needs to happen for this conference to be considered a success. >> it is significant that members of the syrian regime, anti-government groups, and world powers, including the u.s. and russia, are finally sitting down to negotiate. without this step, we cannot go forward. however i am not optimistic. first the anti-regime representative national coalition, which is based in turkey, is far from united. they decided in a vote to attend the meeting, but many members abstained. if they had voted no, those for and against the participating negotiation would have been almost equal. the opposition inside syria is also deeply divided. in fact, it's in a state of chaos. the most radical jihadist group and other islamic militias along

with free syrian army groups are all fighting each other for control of areas in the north. the parties on the ground don't recognize the framework of this conference. so, it's unlikely they will follow any agreements that come out of the negotiations. iran's absence will have a negative impact on the negotiations. all neighboring countries are playing some role in the syrian conflict. iran and hezbollah in lebanon are supporting the assad regime. saudi arabia and the other nations have been backing opposition fighters. all of them should see that the table to talk, along with iraq and georgia. without their cooperation, no agreement will work. all nations involved need to stop the flow of money, arms, and militants in to syria from neighboring countries. especially through turkey and iraq.

delegates should work together to stop the humanitarian crisis, even if it's on a small scale. for example, they could agree on a limited cease-fire in an area where the situation is particularly difficult. this kind of gesture by the regime and opposition groups could be a first step, and it would allow aid to be delivered. perhaps we could consider the conference a success if this kind of agreement is made, and effective if the deal is observed by warring parties on the ground. we are watching syria crumble and become a failed state. this chaos is taking place in the heart of the middle east. we've already seen violence spill over into lebanon and iraq. nations outside of the region should do something to stop the bloodshed. we must be courageous enough to

change our policies. for example, recognizing that members of the assad regime may have to play a role in the new syria. nations outside of the region must continue to offer assistance to the syrian people while pushing hard for national reconciliation. >> as the number of billionaires increased, so does the number of those who live in poverty. ron madison is here with the recent survey results. ron? >> yes. and pretty staggering statistics showing how large proportion of the wealth is concentrated into a very, very small percentage of the population, gene. an international nongovernmental organization now reporting that that wealth gap is widening rapidly in the world. it's calling for the introduction of progressive taxation for rich people to reverse the trend. oxfam points out in a report that half the entire wealth in the world is owned by just about 1% of its population. the report says the percentage of the incomes of the wealthiest

people against those of the entire population has grown in 24 countries, that include china, the united states, and japan. the report also touched on the results of an opinion poll, in six countries, among them spain, india, and the united states. it notes that 60% to 80% of respondents said laws are tilted in favor of the rich. the report warns that groups of extreme rich people could strengthen their political influences, and this could lead to inequality in education, and medical services for the poor. and global unemployment is on the rise, despite an ongoing recovery in major economies. a u.n. agency says the number of jobless people topped 200 million last year. preliminary figures released by the international labor organization indicate unemployment grew from nearly 5 million to 201.8 million worldwide. the jobless rate was 6%. joblessness in industrialized nations was flat. nearly half of the increase came

from asian countries like china and india. the rise was especially significant among women. young people were also pretty hard-hit. those aged 15 to 24 accounted for nearly a third of the global total. the jobless rate for that age group exceeded 13%. all right. onto the markets now. investors in europe are trying to take trading cues from corporate earnings. europe's major benchmarks are trading like this at this hour. all of them in positive territory. we're seeing gains of a fifth of a percent for london's ftse 100. frankfurt's dax is up 0.4%. paris cac 40 gaining 0.4%. earnings results released tuesday were a bit mixed. consumer goods maker unilever jumped on strong revenue from emerging markets. meanwhile sab miller suffered a loss as growth in north america and europe remained slow. asian equities advanced on easing concerns about a cash squeeze in the chinese money market. the shanghai composite rebounded from two consecutive days of

declines. tokyo's nikkei climbed a percent. and in bangkok the s.e.t. index finished up a quarter percent, 1,293. investors bought back shares due to expectations that thailand's central bank will cut its key rate at a policy meeting on wednesday. economists say the prolonged political turmoil is hurting the country's economy. currencies now, the euro fell against the dollar after germany's closely watched survey unexpectedly fell in january. it shows that analysts and investors in the country are not as optimistic as they were in last month about the country's economic outlook. euro dollar currently trading at right around 141 -- 1.3532. dollar/yen is at about 104.71. keeping up its strength at this hour. japanese ministers are pressing ahead with a new strategy to drive the country's economic growth. prime minister shinzo abe and his task force for economic

revitalization have decided on a draft action plan. >> translator: the character of a growth strategy is action and speed. i ask all ministers to carry out the economic revitalization plan as scheduled. i think the eyes of people around the world are focused on japan to see whether it can put its economy on a stable growth track. >> the ministers made plans for the next three years. members of the diet will get back to work on friday, and the ministers have decided to submit about 30 bills related to growth. for example they want to establish a japanese version of the national institutes of health. scientists at the u.s. agency oversee the latest medical research there. the ministers also worked on a bill that would give tax breaks to some companies to encourage more corporate investment. and over the next few months they plan to set up several deregulation zones where companies will face fewer

restrictions. and prime minister abe also needs to cut down on the government's massive fiscal deficit. it's one of the worst among industrialized countries. government officials have been trying, but now it seems that they won't be able to achieve their goal of turning the prime minister balance deficit into a surplus by fiscal 2020. officials at the cabinet office say the goal is difficult to meet, even if the consumption tax is raised to 10% next year as planned, and the economy continues to expand over the coming decade. they predict that the government will be in the red still to the tune of more than $110 billion. they do add, though, that it's possible to meet the target of cutting the primary balance deficit in half by fiscal 2015. the primary balance is a measure of a government's ability to finance policy spending without relying on debt. prime minister abe will deliver a keynote address at the meeting of the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. he'll be the first japanese leader to deliver such a speech at the annual gathering.

abe will speak on wednesday. he's expected to explain his plans to end deflation, and form a platform for sustainable growth. and he's expected to make a pitch. abe plans to meet with political and economic figures from all over the world. british prime minister david cameron and south korean president park geun-hye are among the other leaders scheduled to attend. trade negotiate ares from the 16 asia pacific countries are gathered in kuala lumpur. they're trying to come up with a regional free trade deal by the end of 2015. officials from asean countries, china, india and other nations have begun a third round of working level talks on the regional comprehensive economic partnership, or arsp. unofficial talks are also likely to be held on how to ensure fair competition, and provide technological cooperation to developing countries. japan is expected to set up a working group on intellectual

property and call on other member countries to start full-fledged talks on the issue. all right that is going to wrap it up for biz tonight. a check of the markets. an explosion has ripped apart an animal feed processing plant in the midwest of the united states. two people are dead, and four others seriously injured. the explosion happened in an industrial part of omaha at

about 10:00 a.m. on monday. it severely damaged the plant. officials said 38 people were in the plant. police and firefighters say the blast killed two people. ten others are in the hospital. four of them are in critical condition. >> it said major accident, unhurt and trapped. love you. >> police haven't found out what caused the explosion. they believe it was an accident, not an act of terror. some business students find classes long on theory but short when it comes to hands-on experience. but those at one university near tokyo are being encouraged to become budding entrepreneurs. they're designing products with so-called sleeping patents. for technologies that companies have developed but never marketed. >> reporter: the university campus shop with a rather

unusual product. a so-called flag rans card with a built-in perfume chip. the scents can be changed whenever you like. >> you just put two or three drops of aromatic oil or perfume on it. then you can put it in with your business cards, inside your card case. >> reporter: the chip was developed for use in cell phones by the major electronics maker fujitsu but it stopped production. now a group of students is taking the idea in a different direction. this is just one of about 100,000 patents that fujitsu owns. many companies develop products that are never put on sale as they are thought to be unprofitable. patents on technologies like these are known as sleeping patents. allowing smaller companies to use those sleeping patents can open the way for the products to be made and marketed.

a percentage of the profits are given back to the company that owns the patent. >> translator: i think technology is only meaningful when it's put to use. instead of hoarding these patents it's important for companies to share them with the community and make good use of them. >> reporter: it's the perfect subject for college students with imagination. in may last year, saitoma's economics department set up a new course in which teams of students develop new products using sleeping patents. this group chose an anti-theft technolo technology. the patent is for a system that sets off an alarm when vibrations of a certain frequency are detected. it responds to vibrations, such as people's footsteps. [ alarm sounds ]

in response to a spate of recent bike thefts, the students looked at ways of using the technology to make an anti-theft alarm. since it can be set to respond to any vibrations, they decided to focus on those produced when a chain lock is being cut. >> translator: if we could figure an alarm when someone attempts to cut the chain, we could completely prevent bike theft. >> reporter: when the equipment is activated, an alarm goes off. the students added an extra feature to alert a smartphone if and when the alarm is activated. >> translator: we are all very motivated knowing that this might become a national product gives us extra incentive to work harder. >> reporter: to find out more about the viability of their project, the students visited a local electronics company.

>> translator: if the bicycle is carried away or if the lock is cut, this equipment can detect the vibrations. >> i think it's great they produced something so practical and useful. i enjoyed their presentation. >> reporter: the students also held an event for owners of some local manufacturers to pitch their product to them. the feedback they received was positive, and one company even offered to make a prototype. >> translator: observing the manufacturing process closer was a great experience. i hope this product will become widely used and really help improve people's lives. >> reporter: thanks to these budding young entrepreneurs, companies are being woken up to the possibilities of sleeping patents. >> there's more flooding in the

philippines and our meteorologist robert speta has been following the situation. robert? >> gene, what has been going on here is this low pressure area was upgraded to a tropical storm, now a low pressure area again, and it's still bringing this rainfall on top of what's already been occurring. over 40 deaths have been reported. numerous reports of flooding and landslides. actually forced evacuations there in northern mindanao have been seen and what we're seeing now is conditions gradually improving at the very least. but the rain is still sticking around throughout the next 72 hours out here. the tropical depression itself, now, is pulling off towards the northeast. so what we're seeing is that interaction with the drier, cooler air from the north. and still that tropical warmth and moisture down here towards the south. it's not just the southern philippines, by the way. still extending all the way down there towards much of indonesia and malaysia, as well. we have been seeing that flooding. farther towards the north, though, high pressure is

dominating much of china, and that high pressure is also interacting with that low, creating that northeast monsoon. we're just bringing those gusty winds there. all this is really tied in together. this is bringing hazy conditions. nonetheless it's still very dry out there. then we're talking about the sea effect snow there in to japan, still, an additional 30 to 50 centimeters expected out here. 50 centimeters specifically in hokkaido can be seen here over the next 24 hours. even as far west as kyushu, you can see some accumulation pile up here. even tokyo, don't be surprised if on your tuesday night you see a little flurry in the air. but it's nothing that's going to be accumulating at all. partly cloudy skies here on your wednesday there in tokyo, high of 8. seoul staying frigid, 2 for your high, while beijing gets up to 7. over towards the americas, high pressure coming in out of canada, the leading edge of that is, yet another storm system. and this one's going to be bringing some foul weather across the mid-atlantic states into new england. you have the low right here.

this cold air mass, absolutely frigid, dipping in with the jet stream. that's pulling in some moisture from the south around this low, and the interaction, some heavy snow fall is going to be resulting, especially on the northwestern periphery of that center of circulation, this is where we're going to be seeing accumulations possibly up to 20, 30 centimeters along with gusty winds so reduced visibility. thousands of flights have already been canceled ahead of the storm system. just predicting out what's going to be happening here by the airlines. so you have flight plans anywhere in these dark purple just think again here at least throughout the next several days. and then behind it, this dip in the jet stream, frigid temperatures, minus 11 in chicago on tuesday. winnipeg minus 17. the three-day outlook, though, it does not improve by any means. winnipeg, definitely chilly there for you. but new york down to minus 8. oklahoma city you see a little bump there. goes back down to minus 4. doesn't really last very long. temperatures getting well below freezing for many of you.

now here in europe, though, another system coming in off the atlantic. the british isles down through the iberian peninsula. rain fall and gusty winds coming out of this one as that low starts to come in from the west, bringing some messy weather into the pyrenees as it does move overhead. and then our low over the mediterranean. cutoff low. we've been talking about it for some time now. that's drifting east so at least some improving conditions for northern italy, because that's where you have been seeing the worst of the flooding, unfortunately it's just shifting over here towards the balkans. should improve by thursday. just starts to get out of there. that's a look at your world weather. here's the extended forecast.

that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us. until next time, good-bye. oyçyçj

>> you are watching "france 24." with the latest news and analysis from around the world. military lebanon has claimed responsibility for a bombing. at least four people have died and 35 wounded in a suicide bombing. mr. epos talks a mistake but not disasters -- syria's talks a mistake but not a disaster. ban ki-moon over the question of tehran's involvement.