hello, welcome to "newsline." i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo with the latest news at this hour. first the nobel prize where the announcement came in just a few moments ago. three scientists who specialize in neuroscience have won the biggest award in their field. the nobel prize in physiology or medicine. they're being recognized for their research that helps people better understand how the brain works.

>> 2014 nobel prize in physiology or medicine, with one half to john o'keefe, and the other half jointly to moussa for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain. >> members of the nobel committee made the announcement in stockholm, sweden. uk-based john o'keefe and norway based husband and wife mary and bart mosser share the honor. nobel officials say their discovery has helped to solve a problem that has occupied scientists for centuries. the three are first to be awarded prizes this year. the announcement of the nobel prize got under way on monday, and as we're reporting let me just repeat the names again. uk based john o'keefe and norway based husband and wife mary

mosser and bart mosser share the honor, congratulations. in other news a powerful storm that brought heavy rain and strong winds to large areas of japan has moved out to sea. typhoon phanfone caused injuries to about 60 people and left at least six people missing. the typhoon blew through okinawa on sunday. police say several u.s. airmen were taking photos at the seashore when three were washed out to sea. one drowned, and the other two are missing. phanfone then moved northeast. one part of shizuoka prefecture on honshu reported nearly 400 millimeters of rain in 24 hours. that's nearly twice the average for the whole month of october. >> translator: many homes in this district have been flooded. >> in the city of yokohama near tokyo three people were trapped when a buddhist temple collapsed. two of them escaped.

but police say one person may still be inside. search crews looking for victims of the eruption on mount ontake had to suspend their work. officials with the meteorological agency warned of mudslides and rising water in nearby rivers. formula one driver jules bianchi is in critical condition. the french racer was in an accident on sunday at the japanese grand prix. the circuit was wet with rain, as the typhoon approached central japan. bianchi was driving for uk-based marusha and lost control. he ran into the back of a recovery tractor at turn seven, a left curve on the suzuka circuit. the tractor was there retrieving another car that had spun and hit the tire barrier one lap earlier. bianchi was taken to a nearby hospital. he remains unconscious. the formula one website says he

has a severe head injury and has undergone surgery. the japanese grand prix began on friday. the crash and heavy rain on sunday shortened the final race in the three-day event. reuters say the accident is the most serious in formula one racing since 2009. brazilian felipe massa suffered a head injury at a race in hungary. pro-democracy protesters in hong kong have cleared the way for civil servants to start their work week. but the demonstrators are not going home yet. nhk world's estella mak has more from hong kong. >> reporter: officials have been demanding the demonstrators to disburse so the city can function normally. the sit-ins around government headquarters have prevented some 3,000 people from going to work last friday. but monday all that changed.

government workers have just been able to resume work after demonstrators cleared a path for them to enter the building. hundreds of protesters still occupy the main street, and those trying to go about their daily lives are frustrated. >> translator: i want the roads to get back to normal soon so the buses can get through. >> translator: going to work is what we do every day. why must the protesters keep us from doing that. >> reporter: students came back to their secondary schools accompanied by parents. their classes have been suspended for three days. >> translator: we're behind in our classes. we have to catch up quickly. >> reporter: the education bureau is telling students to allow more time, as transportation is not fully running yet. the protesters, mainly students, say they'll stay put until their demands are met.

they say they want a fully democratic election in the vote for the city's next chief executive. >> communication is the main problem. it's the main solution. but it's not happening quite well. but i think it's still -- well, as long as we're still here, the government still need to talk to us. >> reporter: student leaders met with government officials on sunday night to try to set up formal talks. representatives on both sides say they're working to find compromise. estella mak, nhk world, hong kong. australian officials have started a deep-sea search for the malaysia airlines passenger jet that went missing in march. flight mh-370 was heading to beijing from kuala lumpur when it vanished. the plane had 239 people on board. the officials say they believe the plane crashed into the indian ocean, about 1800

kilometers off perth western australia. a private sector firm specializing in deep sea surveys is taking part in the search. three vessels will be looking for the missile aircraft. the search area is 60,000 square kilometers. it includes an undersea trench about 6,000 meters deep. now for the latest in business news here's ron madison from the biz desk. ron? >> all right. thank you very much, miki. east asia certainly been a bright spot on the world economic map for a couple of years now. countries in the region have been enjoying strong growth, but now people at the world bank say growth this year will slow somewhat. analysts at the bank predict east asian economies will expand by 6.9%. that would be an annual drop of 0.3 percentage points. they expect falling prices of resources to weigh down on exports from indonesia, and they say political turmoil has hurt investment in thailand. they also say the slowdown in china will have effects across the region.

the analysts say the east asian economy will expand next year again by 6.9%. they point to solid personal consumption in other parts of asia such as malaysia and the philippines. and they say the recovery in the u.s. and other developed nations could give a boost to exports. they do worry about the ripple effects of a possible rate hike in the u.s. and geopolitical tensions in polices such as ukraine. well, investors in the asian pacific region feeling a bit relieved as the latest data points to the relative strength of the u.s. labor market. tokyo and hong kong posting solid gains of more than 1% today. many market players were pretty inactive, though, because of public holidays with markets in mainland china, singapore and mumbai all closed for holidays today. here in tokyo the nikkei average climbing more than 1%, it infshed 15,890, rising for a second straight trading day. a broad range of shares were higher today with export-linked issues showi particularly strong gains.

the hang seng index seeing gains up more than 1%, finishing at 23,315. investor worries about the prolonged occupy central activities appear to be easing somewhat as student leaders and government officials, as we heard, are working to try to find a compromise. well, australian shares down today, on lingering concerns about resource demand in china, which is australia's largest trading partner. trading volume was also pretty thin due to the labor day holiday in some of the country's states. car dealers in japan say sales of new foreign vehicles are rebounding faster from the april tax hike than those of their japanese rivals. sales in september rose for the first time in six months, and in fact set a record. officials at a industry association say dealers sold about 32,800 new foreign vehicles last month. and that's up 3.4% year-on-year. foreign carmakers took a bit of a beating after the consumption tax rose in april. year-on-year sales that month fell 20%.

but automakers reversed that trend by releasing new models over the last several months. sales of foreign vehicles in september made up more than 10% of all new car sales in japan for the first time in nine months. and that's their best performance ever for the month of september. a robot that can pay ping pong is one of the star attractions at a high tech trade show being held near tokyo. about 550 companies and organizations from japan and overseas are showcasing their latest i.t. and electronics products at the c-tech japan fair. it opens on tuesday at a site east of tokyo. the ping pong playing robot uses artificial intelligence to analyze its opponents moves, as well as the trajectory and velocity of the ball. a company specializing in health care is introducing a wearable gadget that measures the level of body fat, as well. now another firm is displaying a robot that can recognize people's voices, and converse with them. officials at the company say it can help senior citizens who live alone.

a major chinese tech firm is expecting to get lots of attention with its large exhibit. some japanese manufacturers like sony aren't even taking part in the trade show. the state of the yen and more affordable flights have brought a record number of visitors to japan. last year, for the first time, the number of tourists from abroad tipped over 10 million. government leaders want to double that figure by the time the olympics come to tokyo in 2020. managers at i.t. firms are getting a head start now. nhk world explains. >> reporter: a native of tokyo shows foreign tourists hidden corners of the city. >> it's not so popular. but often come here. >> reporter: this family from canada loves motorcycles. so he took them to a part of

town with a lot of bike shops. it's something they wouldn't find in guide books. he also took them to lunch at a ramen shop favored by locals. the visitors say they were able to get a deeper experience of tokyo with oda than if they had just gone to tourist spots on their own. >> very good. >> we always say take us to some place you would go. not some place that i would go. >> reporter: the family found oda through a website run by an i.t. venture. japanese locals post information about themselves, and the parts of town they know well. tourists choose the guide that matches their interests. the service started two years ago, and users from over 20 countries have gone off the beaten trek in tokyo, osaka and

other areas. >> translator: what's the best way to find the most interesting things and best food in the city? the answer is simple, ask locals. >> reporter: another high-tech solution is helping foreign tourists get around japan's asian capital kyoto. an i.t. company started this tablet rental service in may. the device comes with apps full of information about restaurants and public transportation. if tourists get lost, they can use the video call function to get help. >> hello. >> hello. >> can you locate where the bus stop is? >> okay. >> reporter: an english speaking operator is standing by at the call center. she uses gps information and video from the tablet to figure

out where the users are, and help them find their way. >> you're supposed to see the bus stop on your left. >> left. oh, we have to go that way. >> reporter: the service gives travelers a sense of security when in a foreign country. >> it sure beats being lost and asking strangers, especially here in japan where some people don't know how to speak english. it's very helpful for us foreigners, travelers. >> yes. >> reporter: the service is run by a venture started by students in kyoto. now, they want to expand the system nationwide. >> translator: there are many great places to visit outside the major cities. but the language barrier makes it difficult to receive foreign visitors. our service can solve that. >> reporter: more and more

foreign visitors to japan are seeking individual experiences. as the 2020 tokyo olympics draws closer, businesses will have to come up with new ways to meet their needs. chie tanaka, nhk world. okay. that is going to do it for biz this hour. here's a check of the markets. brazil's incumbent president

dilma rousseff placed first in sunday's election but she didn't get enough votes to avoid a runoff. that poll will be held later this month. with more than 99% of the vote counted, rousseff's workers party led with 42%. pro-business senator aecio neves of the brazilian social democracy party took 34%. the economy has been the main issue in the election. rousseff kept her lead during the campaign. she stressed her party's record of reducing poverty and creating jobs during the 12 years in power. but support for neves rose as he blamed government interventionist policies for the long economic slump. a former environment minister marina silva of the brazilian socialist party took 21% of the vote. she also criticized the government's economic policies. attention is now focused on silva's supporters, and who they will align with.

u.s. vice president joe biden says he didn't mean to criticize middle east allies over their roles in the fight against islamic state militants. biden made the remarks in a speech at an american university on thursday. he said turkish president recep tayyip erdogan admitted that his country let too many people through its border with syria. many foreign fighters have reportedly crossed over to join the militants. erdogan demanded an apology. biden also said u.s. allies, such as the united arab emirates and saudi arabia were providing massive funding and weapons to anyone who would fight against the government of syrian president bashar al assad. uae foreign ministry officials call the remark far from the truth. biden apologized to erdogan on saturday, for suggesting that the country was making islamic

state's work easier. he also called the uae crown prince on sunday to say he was not implying that the emirates were helping the militants. turkish leaders have shown a willingness to cooperate with u.s.-led military actions against the extremists. more and more japanese executives are reaching out to consumers that typically get overlooked. they're targeting the billions of people who earn less than $8 a day, putting them at the bottom of the economic pyramid, or bop. the executives are seeking profits, and also trying to share the wealth in the process. nhk world's takeo baba has more. >> reporter: this online retailer is one of japan's top sellers of secondhand goods. it handles a wide range of products from books to

electronic appliances. in january, it entered the so-called bop business, leasing japanese tractors to developing countries. cambodia is one market it is targeting. as agriculture there is still largely unmechanized, and new equipment is expensive. the company teaches local farmers how to operate and repair the tractors. the growing season brings new rental orders almost every day. >> translator: we're trying to build a successful business while helping local farmers to optimize their harvests. >> reporter: another company has high hopes for the bop business.

the company manufactures kerosene stoves for export. it began targeting developing countries three years ago. often the portable stoves used in developing countries produce smoke and noxious fumes, in some cases they pose a health risk. the company believes its highly efficient portable stoves could attract interest in countries like kenya. >> the kenyan one, you have to take it outside. it's so smoky. >> reporter: to ensure that sales remain strong, the firm is constantly improving its stove. for example, in some countries, people like to put the stove on a countertop, rather than the

floor. so the company decided to cut ten centimeters off its height. these improvements could also help them cut prices. they're now targeting annual sales of $10 million in three years' time. >> translator: whilst we have overcome various obstacles, we should do good business with our stoves in a few years. >> reporter: a specialist with the japan external trade organization, or jeto says when doing overseas business the companies that do best aim for a win-win situation with the local people. >> translator: if businesses like this take off, they will help improve people's lives. companies need to see that

business opportunities at the base of the economic pyramid can be profitable, and benefit both sides. >> reporter: japanese companies moving into bop business are finding a positive effect on their bottom lines. takeo baba, nhk world, nagoya. it's time now to check on the world weather with our meteorologist sayaka mori. people in eastern japan are dealing with the aftermath of typhoon phanfone. sayaka, how bad was the rain and wind? >> well, miki, actually phanfone is one of the strongest typhoons to hit eastern japan. moved through the kanto region, now these are the wind and rainfall reports so far over the past 24 hours. 426 millimeters of rain has fallen in shizuoka prefecture and nearly 400 millimeters of rain for miya prefecture as well

and gusts as strong as 160 kilometers per hour in chiba prefecture and very bad situation over the past several hours. however the system has moved away from mainland japan. but it is still encompassing eastern parts of japan, so conditions will continue for the next several hours. on top of that waves are going to be quite high, probably up to nine meters as we go into tomorrow. so we highly advise you not to venture out to the sea because it's going to be quite dangerous out there. however, precipitationwise, as i mentioned, things are improving. now, across the southern areas, we are still watching another system to form, this is already a typhoon, and still producing some stormy conditions for the southern parts of the mariana islands like say pan and guam with windy and wet conditions. then it could intensify to a very strong typhoon by thursday and then may get close to the okinawa islands by saturday. and then probably hit western or central japan as we go in to early next week.

and phanfone, this is the 19th tropical storm over the western pacific. and we actually have the 19th tropical storm for the eastern pacific. this is simon. simon is now a hurricane. the outer rain band is affecting western parts of mexico. roads have turned like rivers in parts of western mexico and more rain to come, because of the storm will likely make its way towards the north and east, probably move over northern parts of baja california peninsula and into the desert southwest. nearly 140 millimeters of rain could fall for northern parts of mexico and then the desert southwest will start to feel -- see quite a lot of heavy rain on your tuesday. and this area was actually hit by record rainfall a couple of weeks ago. so no more rain is welcomed. for the north things are more like winter. this low pressure system is driving cold air from the north creating a swath of snowfall for central parts of canada,

especially northern manitoba. you saw about 30 centimeters of snowfall over the past 24 hours, and more could fall over the next 24 hours. nearly 25 centimeters could fall into the next several hours. to the south due to the cold air and warm air from the gulf of mexico, there is a swath of severe thunderstorms over the mid-mississippi river valley. large hail and damaging winds are likely to occur in to your monday. all right, temperatures are going to be quite nice over the eastern seaboard. 22 degrees in new york city. 23 degrees in the u.s. capital. but to the north, quite chilly there, only 15 for the high in chicago, with rain on the menu, and only 8 for the high in winnipeg. despite sunshine. different story offer the west. temperatures about five degrees higher than normal as we go into the next couple of days in places like denver and boise. all right. here's the extended forecast around the globe.

and we have another breaking news to tell you about. a tokyo police say they're questioning a number of japanese people on suspicion of planning to join the islamic state militants in area. the citizens are suspected of violating the penal code that bans individuals from preparing or plotting to fight against a

foreign country. authorities say one of the men is in his 20s. and attends the national university. they say he told investigators that he wanted to join islamic state. and they say this is the first time that japanese citizens have allegedly been found to be trying to join the militants. as we were reporting, multiple japanese people are being questioned of suspicion of preparing to join the islamic state militants in syria. we don't have information on the names or of the motives of these people right at the moment. the citizens are suspected of violating the penal code that bans individuals from preparing or plotting to fight against a foreign country. we'll have more information hopefully on this breaking story when we come back at the top of the hour. i'm miki yamamoto. thanks for joining us at nhk

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>> brazil posts president dilma rousseff is facing a. -- a runoff. to killingdmit almost 40 students in southern mexico. the bodies may have been found in a mass grave uncovered over the weekend. backfrican union groups somali militants to push out al qaeda in an area.