hello. welcome back to "newsline." i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo. first the headlines for this hour. hong kong's leader says he won't quit, but he has offered to arrange talks between his government and the student leaders carrying out pro-democracy protest. lawmakers in turkey give their government the power to launch military operations against islamic state in syria and iraq.

and police in tokyo say the number of deaths and accidents linked to the use of dangerous drugs is on the rise. so they're cracking down. hundreds of students are continuing their sit-ins near government buildings in hong kong, casting doubt on whether the standoff will be resolved quickly. now, government leaders say they're ready to talk. nhk world's estelle to max reports. >> reporter: government operations here have come to a halt. all government workers except for emergency response personnel are staying away from work. bus service has been partially suspended and some elementary and junior high schools are closed. the number of protesters in the central district has sharply declined. but a few hundred students remain sitting in front of chief executive leung chun-ying's office. lee ung refused to resign on thursday but he expressed willingness to send his second

in command chief secretary carrie lam and two other senior officials to talk with student leaders. the students say they are willing to negotiate but they also say they will block access to government buildings unless their demands are met. >> that was estella mak in hong kong. japan's prime minister shinzo abe has commented on the newspaper's retraction of articles on the issue of those referred to as comfort women. he said the publication of stories containing factual errors has badly hurt the image of japan. abe made the remark at a lower house committee session in the diet. the articles were published in the 1980s and '90s, they were based on the accounts of a man who said he had forcibly taken korean women to work at comfort stations for japanese troops during world war ii.

they retracted the articles in august, and said it believed the man fabricated his testimony. >> translator: it is a fact that many people were hurt, saddened, and angered by the erroneous reports. it is also a fact that japan faces baseless defamation that our country systematically turned women into sex slaves. the erroneous reports created this situation. >> abe said he will strengthen the government's strategic communication to the world so that correct perceptions of history based on facts will be formed. turkish leaders have made a decision that will shift the dynamics in the war against islamic state. lawmakers voted to give the

government power to take military action against the militants in syria and iraq. nhk world's craig dale has more. >> reporter: well the u.s. and other nations have wanted turkey to use the might of its large and advanced military to go after islamic state, but lawmakers in ankara held off for a number of reasons. now they're ready to join the fight. a majority of parliament has given the government the power to order incursions into syria and iraq against islamic state, and foreign troops will now be allowed to launch operations from turkey. keep in mind here, turkey is a member of the nato alliance and the u.s. has an air base in the south. turkish leaders made this decision because islamic state is literally at their doorstep. the militants have been swallowing up territory just across the border in syria. they've been fighting for control of a town called ayn-al-arab. they've got the town surrounded. u.s.-led air strikes against their positions don't seem to have stopped their advance. kurdish militiamen have been struggling to defend the town. some say if islamic state

captures it will there be a massacre. a constant stream of syrians, mostly ethnic kurds, has been flowing into turkey fleeing the fighting and telling horrific stories. turkish authorities have been accepting these refugees, more than 150,000 the past couple of weeks. that's on top of the more than 1 million syrians who have gone to turkey to escape the civil war in their country, which began in 2011. turkish leaders weighed a number of different and complicated factors before they decided to join this conflict. one is their violent history with the country's kurdish minority. they were locked in a three decade long conflict with the kurds and peace talks are still continuing. even now turkish authorities have been stopping kurdish civilians from going in to syria to fight islamic state. they don't want the kurdish separatist movement to gain strength on the back of this conflict. kurds in iraq, for example, have taken more territory as they push the militants out of areas the iraqi army could not defend. now a second factor here was hostages. islamic state captured dozens of tufrkish citizens in iraq.

some of thept diplomatic staff, soldiers and children but the militants released the hostages last month. some analysts say turkey's participation in the fight against islamic state could be significant, especially if it's wide ranging. >> if turkey decided to crack down on the islamic state's support, treatment, fund-raising and oil networks that run through turkey that would have a major impact on the islamic state's ability to take and hold territory in syria and iraq. >> turkey's defense minister has called islamic state a threat to national security but he says don't expect immediate steps. u.s. officials are welcoming turkey's participation in this conflict. they say both sides are going to be holding talks to decide what role the country will be playing. nhk world's craig dale. the u.s.-led coalition is gaining more support from countries around the world. australian and dutch leaders say they're sending forces to iraq. and they're committing more aircraft to join the air campaign against islamic state

militants. >> i have to warn that this deployment to iraq could be quite lengthy. certainly, months, rather than weeks. it is a combat deployment. but it is an essentially humanitarian mission to protect the people of iraq, and ultimately the people of australia from the murderous rage of the isil death cult. >> australian military leaders have already deployed fa-18 attack planes in the middle east. the fighter jets are expected to be used to strike targets in iraq. and they're also sending about 200 troops to advise and assist iraqi security forces. members of the dutch parliament have voted in favor of sending planes to iraq. prime minister said the netherlands will begin military operations as early as next week. analysts say the u.s.-led operation is gaining wider

support in europe. france and british forces have already started bombing in iraq. denmark and belgium have also decided to send combat aircraft. and french officials have announced a plan to send a frigate to the persian gulf. the united states has decided to partially lift its arms embargo against vietnam to help the country improve its maritime security capabilities. state department spokesperson jen psaki said that secretary of state john kerry informed vietnamese deputy prime minister pham binh minh of the decision at a meeting in washington. the u.s. imposed the embargo in 1984 in response to alleged human rights violations. >> the secretary noted that achieving further progress on human rights is integral to our bilateral relationship and is necessary for further deepening of bilateral ties including security cooperation.

>> the state department said it would approve sales of specific weapons on a case by case weapons. it says surveillance planes could be included on the list. vietnam is involved in a dispute with china over the sovereignty of islands in the south china sea. the u.s. decision is seen as an attempt to strengthen defense cooperation with vietnam, as china increases its maritime activities in the region. now, for the latest in business news, here's ron madison from the biz desk. ron? >> all right, thank you very much, miki. the minister in charge of the trans-pacific partnership free trade talks says negotiators have to compromise if they want to strike a deal by this year. ministers from japan, the u.s.able ten other participating countries will meet in sydney later on this month. akira amari said negotiators remain divided over issues such as tariffs on farm products, in five key cat zboers, as well as the protection of intellectual property. he said he expects the talks to

be tough. >> translator: it will be impossible to strike a deal if negotiators keep pursuing such lofty targets such as the abolition of tariffs. >> amari said there's about a 50/50 chance negotiators will achieve a broad agreement by year's end. u.s. trade representative michael froman urged japan to make concessions. he said the tpp is a key part of the structural reforms included in japanese prime minister shinzo abe's third arrow of his growth strategy. >> we're looking forward to the bold vision that prime minister abe has laid out being transmitted into similarly bold positions at the negotiating table, as well. >> froman stressed the importance of japan's role in negotiations and he said the success of the talks depends on what japan does next. amari and froman met in washington last week, but they failed to narrow differences on tariffs for agricultural products, and also auto parts. well the protests in hong

kong have really been weighing on market sentiment. investors saw the hang seng index fall to the lowest point in more than four months, but many did start to buy back shares following recent sell-offs. the major benchmark had dropped more than 3% earlier in the week. you can see, though, it did close up today nearly 0.6%. 23,064 as investors came back from a two-day holiday. the people's bank of china eased its mortgage restrictions on tuesday. and this pushed up shares of chinese property developers. other markets in the region looking like this. limited day of trading today with several markets closed for public holidays. investors are eagerly waiting for a key jobs report in the u.s. that's due out later on in the day. mainland china and seoul, as you can see there, were shut today. tokyo's nikkei average rising 0.3%, it hit 15,708. reversing earlier losses. a weaker yen supported the market, leaving the advance today, fast retailing after it

released strong sales figures at its eunuch chloe stores. taiwan surging 1.5%, 9,106. that is a two-week closing high there. investors speculated it was supported by bonds backed by taiwanese authorities. shares of apple products went higher on strong demand for new iphones in china. the head of the international monetary fund says the global economy is weaker than many people thought. christine lagarde delivered a speech in the run-up to next week's imf and world bank meetings. >> the recovery is much more modest in japan, and it's the weakest in the euro area. she said japan has been struggling since government officials raised the consumption tax from 5% to 8%. lagarde has called for both japan and europe to implement more structural reforms and spending on infrastructure to try to drive growth. but she said the united states and british economies are strong. the imf chief also had something to say about what's going on at

the u.s. central bank. federal reserve policymakers have been reducing the amount of money that they pump in to markets through their bond buying program. lagarde urged them to be mindful of the impact of that on emerging economies. people at small businesses in japan are struggling to cope with one effect of the weakening yen, they're having a hard time convincing business partners to pay more to cover the rising costs of their materials. executives at several firms have asked their partners to accept new terms, but they say those companies have refused. officials at the economy ministry are trying to help out. they sent letters to economic organizations, and business groups, asking for their understanding about the higher prices. the officials will work with the fair trade commission to check if negotiated prices are fair. and they'll ask state-backed financial institutions to help small businesses, and ensure that they have sufficient cash floe. they say the firms will be allowed more time to pay back their debts. officials at japan's economy ministry say automakers have been producing fewer cars since the sales tax went up.

and they expect that will weigh on demand for steel. the officials predict that the amount of steel used for october to december will be right around 28 million tons. that's down 0.6% from the same eerd last year. the officials said demand for steel used in houses is also down. and they said japanese automakers are looking to produce more cars in factories overseas. well, electronics developers in south korea are giving people the ability to run their homes remotely. they're connecting more appliances than ever now with the internet. nhk world's kim chan ju exchains. >> reporter: refrigerators and washing machines line the home appliances sales floor. ordinary, but not quite. so what if i'm out grocery shopping and wondering what to get. i can simply text my refrigerator, and the refrigerator will send me the picture inside, and what's in there.

the service is called home chat, developed by the consumer appliancemaker lg electronics. a camera inside the fridge takes a photograph of what was inside the last time the fridge doors opened and saves it. if you register your fridge as a friend on the app, you can control the appliance remotely. and not just a fridge but the washing machine, too. just tech start washing cycle from wherever you are, and the machine starts up. production of appliances and other devices that can be monitored and remotely controlled via the internet has risen sharply. the korean government estimates this market will grow by 30% a year over the next eight years. the technology is also proving useful in reducing the volume of

household waste. kim young hi lives in an apartment in seoul. she has been trying to reduce her food waste. waste disposal has become a problem. food waste is dumped at landfills, and the sewage was dumped in the ocean. the government is trying to reduce the volume of waste, and has banned dumping in the ocean. it now charges consumers a disposal fee based on weight. at kim's residence that fee used to be a flat rate. starting in august, each household must now use an i.d. card to register the weight of their garbage. kim's garbage weighs 2 kilos. the garbage container is equipped with a communications modem. this allows the local government to track garbage volumes and

charge each household the correct monthly disposal fee. to reduce the weight of her garbage, kim tries to buy foods that produce less waste. she drains as much water as she can from the kelp and dried fish she uses to make her soup base. >> translator: this system makes me want to reduce garbage. because you are charged by weight. >> reporter: kim's building could slash demand of garbage its residents produce by 20% with the new disposal system. technologies that make our lives easier are also making us aware of our habits. kim chan-ju, nhk world, seoul. >> okay that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's see what's going on in the markets.

government officials in central japan say more people are still stranded on mount ontake. they say saturday's eruption is already the country's deadliest volcano disaster in decades. at least 47 people were killed. officials with nagano prefecture say 16 people are still unaccounted for. police officers said they have not been able to contact five people who had registered their trek in advance.

and they said some climbers report their climbing mates have not yet returned. police officers, as well as self-defense force personnel and firefighters have been scheduled to resume their search friday morning near the summit. they were forced to cancel their operation for the day because of bad weather. authorities in japan are changing the way they deal law-evading drugs. they're toughening punishment on users and dealers. and they labeled the herb as dangerous, after a rise in deaths and traffic accidents linked to the use of the drugs. nhk world's kurando tago reports. >> reporter: many are curious about what makes dangerous drugs so dangerous. this man, who wanted to remain anonymous in this interview, found out for himself. >> translator: i just took a little bit of the drugs, but i foamed at the mouth.

i felt my heartbeat quicken, and i thought i was going to die. >> reporter: the use of dangerous drugs is emerging as a social problem in japan. in september tokyo police arrested a taxi driver who got behind the wheel while high. it was a first time they arrested someone driving commercial vehicle and using dangerous drugs. it sparked an emergency meeting of the metropolitan police department. five industry groups took part. >> translator: we want to ask you to take measures to urge drivers not to use drugs to prevent accidents. >> reporter: japan's national police agency says the use of these drugs has risen sharply. they say there were eight deaths in 2012, and nine 2013. but in the first half of this year, the figure jumped to 24.

authorities say it takes a long time to confirm the harmful effects of these drugs and the studies are being hampered by dealers trying to evade the law, who release the drugs one after another with partially changed chemical structures. >> translator: we don't have any information on the new types of drugs hitting the streets. people should know it is too dangerous to ingest such drugs because no one can predict the effects. >> tokyo police say they've arrested 21 people this year who have had accidents or were using the drugs while driving. they're planning to suspend licenses of those caughts with the drugs for up to six months. they're also requesting domestic internet service providers to delete websites selling the drugs. but they're facing challenges there, too. some of the websites moved to foreign servers to avoid regulations.

authorities are trying to clamp down on people who sell or use dangerous drugs. but the game of cat and mouse between them and drug dealers and users continues. kurando tago, nhk world, tokyo. now going to the asian games in inchon, south korea. japanese runners have shared silver and bronze in the men's marathon. 30 kilometers into the race, five runners have taken the lead. they included japan's mats murrah. three runners crossed the finish line within seconds of each other. kenyan born running for bahrain finished first. matsamura followed one second later. in the men's 800 meters race

held on wednesday, the top three runners were disqualified. a saudi arabian competitor crossed the line first but was disqualified for obstruction. the qatari and bahraini runners were disqualified for lane violation. runners from iraq, china, and qatar were promoted to first, second and third place respectively. it's time now for world weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh. so, jonathan, could you tell us what residents in japan can expect as typhoon phanfone approaches the country? >> miki the residents of japan need to get ready for this particular storm. this is a very potent storm, and one that will definitely have a significant impact as we go throughout the weekend and into the first part of next week. let me give you the perspective on the satellite view here. you can see here, the eye that is starting to become more well defined. that means that the storm is becoming even more intense as we spoke, a very strong typhoon, already the outer bands

affecting diato islands. the wind impact will start to pick up in okinawa as we go throughout the next 24 to 48 hours. here's a look at the latest track. it is a slow mover so it is going to bring sustained winds of 180 kilometers per hour with gusts up to 252 in the near proximity for a prolonged period. we're talking about very powerful winds and also a lot of rainfall. now talk about how much rain we can expect in some of these areas in just a few minutes. now as we monitor this particular track it is going to continue to move toward the north and west and phanfone will get some resistance and start shifting towards the north and east and this is when we're going to talk about even bigger impacts. not only is it going to bring some significant rainfall down toward these islands but as it turns it is going to set its sights right for kanto region and also tokyo. we're talking about the powerful winds as we go into monday. now this is the wind probability as we look at it now. looking forward in to the time

period all the way through monday morning. and notice, it is certain that we're dealing with winds past 90 kilometers per hour. we're not even talking about 90. we're looking at 130 kilometer per hour winds with gusts up to 230 as we go throughout the next few days. that probably from 30 to 70% includes kyushu and then tokyo, about 5% to 30% at this point in time. as we progress, this will continue to spread toward the north and east, which means that the certainty of the strong winds will continue to increase as we go through the weekend. on top of that we're talking about rainfall in excess of 200 millimeters, just in a short period of time, and so, some areas like for example the diato islands we're really concerned about the flooding and landslides that you'll be encountering as we go into the weekend, especially by sunday evening and notice already concerned about the rainfall in tokyo, as we go even into sunday. we haven't even talked about monday yet when the storm is actually expected to pass over the area. that's going to be a massive

problem for public transit as we go into monday morning. the calm before the storm happening on saturday in tokyo, 27, with partly cloudy skies. this will change as we go into late sunday and monday. also, we're seeing some drier conditions for the eastern side of china, unrelated system in the central portions of china bringing some rain to beijing and chongqing. we're talking about severe weather also into north america. look down here these clouds are really blowing up down toward eastern texas, arkansas, and louisiana. two tornado reports coming out of missouri and arkansas during thursday night into early friday morning. and so, this will continue to be a big story as we go throughout the day. a cold front driving in the colder air, clashing up against the warm air, the high pressure from the south will bring the possibility of severe thunderstorms for the eastern half of the united states, as we go through friday. behind it, much colder temperatures are expected. by the way, a quick look at tropical storm simon, expected to become minimal hurricane but

not expected to be a major player when it comes to land mass at least into the middle of next week. here's a look at the forecast for north america for friday, hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's the extended outlook. all right. that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm miki yamamoto from tokyo. we'll have more news for you at the top of the hour. thanks for watching nhk world. gc

>> here are the headlines. clashes in central hong kong. this is hong kong's leader to diffuse the crisis. turkey gives the go-ahead for the fight against terrorists in iraq. another american citizen tests positive for ebola. the freelance cameraman was diagnosed with the virus. he has been flown back to the u.s. to receive treatment.