hello, i'm james tengan. welcome to this hour of "newsline." the chinese president in the u.s. for talks, discussing matters of cooperation and issues of concern. the chinese president and his wife were greeted upon their arrival by u.s. vice president joe biden. xi then joined obama for an

informal, private dinner. they walked from the white house to the guest house where the dinner was held. in the summit, xi will underscore areas where they can work together such as economic cooperation and measures to tackle global warming. xi is expected to propose a new frame work for high level dialogue to ease u. concerns about cyber security. experts suspect china's involvement in cyber attacks on u.s. companies. xis likely to reiterate the stance that his country's activities in the south china sea are a matter of national sovereignty. demonstrations of both welcome and protests were staged in washington as president xi arrived. many chinese students and others greeted xi near the white house by waving flags and singing the national anthem. other groups protested against the visit by holding up banners calling fothe protection of human rights. a human rights group supporting ethnic minoritying in china

plans to hold demonstrations near the white house on friday. a prominent lawyer in china reportedly detained by the police. there's an article saying he's being held, and the detention could be an issue in xi and obama's talks. the editors of the website say police took him away from the home in central china and have not had word from him since. the human rights lawyer was jailed for subversion in 2010 and released into home detention in august of last year. he claimed in a recent interview with the associated press he was torturedhile in detention. in the interviews, he says each time he emerges from prison alive, it is defeat for his opponents. last year, the government expressed concern over his treatment and said the case was brought up with beijing. about 130 world leaders

gather to attend the u.n. summit on sustainable development. their goal? to enact a plan for the next 15 years. the summit begins friday. leaders hope to adopt new targets called sustainable development goals, a follow-up on efforts the international community has made since the start of the 21st century. in 2000, they launched development goals that aimed to reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty in half by 2015. the u.n. says its efforts helped more than 1 billion people out of poverty and given millions of children access to primary education, but they say challenges remain. the 17 new goals include ending poverty in all its forms, achieving gender equality, and reducing inequality within and among countries. the summit will continue for three days. officials in new york have prepared for one of their

toughest security challenges as the city hosts the largest gathering of world leaders. nhk world reports. >> reporter: u.n. officials call this time the craziest period of the year, gearing up for the gathering of heads of state and government leaders from over 190 countries. the president of the united states, china, russia, and south korea, and the japanese prime minister are among them. on top of that, pope francis is visiting the u.n. too. that's why there's such a heavy security presence everywhere you go around the u.n. compound. there's fences, barricades, and more and more armed security personnel are being deployed. journalists are coming from around the world. >> people will talk about the sustnable development, so

we're looking forward to hear the suggestions, the recommendation for our country's leader. >> reporter: this year, there's more leaders arriving. putin is here, the iranian president is here after the agreement, so it's a lot of things happening in the world, and we're in the middle of a migration crisis in europe. >> reporter: traffic is almost always congested in the city, but it gets even worse during this period. >> we lost, like, a lot of business because every block has the traffic so they close the roads. that's why. >> it's not fun, but it's part of being in new york, you know? >> reporter: for so many, it brings great business. most hotels are fully booked. after their meetings, people and officials go out to shop and dine. new york city thrives on the diplomatic event.

nhk world, new rk. thanks very much. authorities in europe are grappling with a scandal that began in the united states and is reverberating worldwide. auto giant, volkswagen, admitted to using software t rig u.s. emissions tests. gene has the details on that story and a wrapup of today's business headlines, gene? >> thanks, james. executives at volkswagen admitted 11 million of its vehicles around the world are instalald with illegal software. now germany's transport minister says voke way again did the same ing in europe. german authorities plan to broaden the probe to cover cars manufactured by other auto makers as well. alexander says the company informed the german government about the rigged testing in europe and plans to conduct an investigation to determine the number of affected vehicles in europe. germany's auto build magazine has come up with another disclosure.

it cites road tests by a nonprofit organization for the bmw x3 diesel model, showing it emits levels more than 11 times above europe's emissions limits. bmw said it does not manipulate or rig any emissions tests, and observes legal requirements in each country. japan's transport minister says all auto makers will be checked for compliance with emission rules after the volkswagen scandal came to light. >> translator: we plan to get all over auto makers including importers to report any similar problems. >> he says the ministry confirmed volkswagen sells no diesel models in japan. a few hundred were sold through individual deals. checking the markets, japanese share prices higher on hopes for measures to stimulate

the economy. for the details, we go to our business reporter at the tokyo stock exchange. >> reporter: many investors bought back shares on the view the central bank might further ease monetary policy. that speculation arose after the prime minister abe held a first meeting in four months. the nikkei average gained 300 points on nearly 1.8% to finish at 17,880. the topix added 1.9%. they talked about the domestic and global situation, but he gave no hints about further monetary easing, so it was not enough to pair the big loss yesterday in the two-day trading week. the benchmark fell 1% on the week. now, checking on some individual shares,s volkswagen scandal in the u.s. is now widening to europe, but japanese car makers showed resill yeps.

mazda recooped yesterday with bargain hunters raising prices for a gain of 3.2%, and analysts say toyota's scale and diversity of products puts it in a position to up alternatives to diesel. the tstock is up 1.3%. on the flip side, a sharp was the lost leader today, down 5.8%. they expect a loss of $250 miion for the period of april-september. that sent its stock price to the lowest level in 40 years. for the week, we're ending on a low with a less than optimistic outlook for the japanese economy, and the pressure is on for the boj to respond and we'll be watching for that. reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. >> all right, giang, thanks. other markets, a mixed picture overall in the asia pacific region. in china, the shanghai composite

retreated from the gains for a one-week low, closing at 3092, down 1.6%. taandged higher after t days of losses closing at 8132, and share prices rose after central bank cut its key interest rate for the first time in more than six years. index was down more than 4% on the week. hong kong rebounded 0.4% led by casino operators. indonesia shares fell by .8%, and sydney slid nearly .6% reversing earlier gains. there's a key piece of data released on how much consumers pay for their goods. the leading gauge of inflation was down for the first time in more than two years. firms say it fell .01% from the year before. the year on year figure was on

the rise for 25 consecutive months until june. the july number was unchanged. index does not factor in fresh food because prices are volatile. government officials blame the decline mainly on lower gasoline and gas costs amid falling crude oil prices, and oil fell 18% from a year earlier, and gas charges are down 9.5%, but higher food prices mean that for most consumers, the index feels a bit distant from reality. prices of volatile fresh food rose more than 7.5%. the revitalization minister said it's clear the falling consumer index is due to plummeting energy costs. >> translator: prices are on an upward trend excludeing volatile energy costs and judged that the price rises are accelerating. >> they are keen to see inflation. the bank of japan has been carrying out monetary easing to

achieve a 2% inflation target. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're pohl following. ministers from the 12 member nations of the transpacific partnership meet next week in the united states. prime minister abe urged trade officials to do their utmost to get results beneficial to the japan's national interest and says a tpp deal would be a core part of the growth strategy under his economic policy known as abenomics. sales at restaurants and fast food chains in japan rose in august for the second month in a row. officials at the japan food service association say total sales gained 3% from a year earlier and say hot weather early last month pushed up demand and ses at mcdonald's japan bounce back after a food safety scandal. japanese government officials say the country's economy is on a moderate recovery while slowness can be

seen in some areas. they kept their assessment unchanged in many categories, but they say exports have been weak as shipments to europe and other asian countries declined. they see no progress in recovery of consumer sentimt. and that's all for business news. i'll leave you with the markets. a government panel looking into why the projected construction costs of a new stadium for the 2020 tokyo olympics doubled in three years releasedts findings. it suggests a failure in the

decisionaking process, and a lack of transparency. it also lays blame on some of the country's top sports officials. nhk world reports. >> reporter: sports minister was blocked friday when he met reporters. he told them he accepted responsibility and that he'd return six months of salary. translator: i told the prime minister that i want to resign to take responsibility for the issue, but abe told me to remain in the position and to do all i can until he reshuffles the cabinet members soon. >> reporter: he's not the only official to find himself in hot wate leading to the cancellation of the original design. on thursday, the president of the japan's sports council, which is the main body behind the project, announced that he'd

step down. the initial estimatedcost for the new stadium was costs nearly $1 billion in 2012, but three and a ha years later, it had ballooned to more than $2 billion. >> translator: i have decided to review the current plans for the new national stadium from scratch. >> reporter: the government launched a third party panel to look into what went wrong in its report on thursday. the chairperson pointed out the head of the sportsouncil was first to blame. he said the minister and senior miniry officials were also responsible. the report said the projects were technically demanding. >> translator: the problem was that those involved in the project failed to establish a body toandle such a major

undertaking. >> reporter: the report said the main reason why the project became bogged down was that the staff had no substantial authority in decision making. instead, it said decisions were de by officials in other group, and that the whole organization was rigid and inflexible. it pointed out that neither the jsc or ministry had personnel with enough experience to handle such a large project. work began here to prepare the site for the construction of the national stadium. a ceiling of $1.3 billion has been set for the costs. officials say the new building will be finished in april 2020, well ahead of the opening of the olympic games. people are now waiting for a new design to be chosen that has gone through a process that's

transparent. nhk world, tokyo. authorities in the u.s. city of seattle are trying to figure out why a bus and an amphibious tour vehicle collided. two smallerehicles were also involved, four killed, and 50 others taken to nearby hospitals. rescue crews say 15 people are seriously injured. the bus was carrying employees and foreign students from north seattle college. a representative with the college says the four dead are from abroad. a hospital official told nhk that four japanese men are receiving medical treatment. a japanese student who spoke to us by phone says the group was heading to an orientation event.

he says the bus was almost full. he says he was taken to a hospital and later released because his injury was not serious. him rights activist say moscow is intervening in syria civil war, using russian war planes to bolster their offensive against islamic state mill tonights. the head of human rights spoke to nhk say syria government forces used plans wednesday to target insurgents in the northern province andays the bombardment was an attempt to break a siege on an air base. government forces are also reported to have carried out air strikes with russian war planes several days ago on the self-proclaimed capital. russian soldiers are not currently engaged in combat

against the militants. they said he is sure moscow will send troops if deemed necessary. according to the observat y observatory, islamic state militants say they welcome tha as a chance for fighters to kill russian soldiers. the united states has been urging russia to stop providing military support to the syria government of assad, expected to be one of the top items obama will discuss with putin when they sit down next week for talks. >> president obama wilmake clear again that russia doubling down on their support for the assad regime is a losing bet. the likely consequence of them to do so is to expand the troubles in the country. >> he has to make constructive contributions to the u.s.-led coalition fight against the islami state militant group. they'll meet monday on the sidelineof the u.n. general

assembly at putin's request. it's been one year since they last met. earnest says obama would renew a u.s. call for russia to keep commitments made in the cease fire agreements on ukraine. he says the meeting could lay groundwork for better coordination between the u.s. and russia. more than 700 people have been killed and 800 injured in a stampede near saudi arabia's holy city of mekkah. it took place in the annual p l pilgrimage or hajj. >> reporter: saudi authorities say the stampede occurred in the western city. people were trampled as crowds gathered to perform a stone throwing ritual. >>e are investigating this incident in order to determine the real cause of such incident. >> reporter: millions of people

from around the world visit mecca for th hajj every year. a series of accidents occurred at past pilgrimages and related events. in 1990, more than 1400 people were killed in the stampede. two weeks ago in mecca, more than 100 people were killed when the large ane collapsed i bad weather on to a mosque. iranian government offial blames the latest disaster on poor crowd control. >> reporter: saudi officials must be accountable in this recor regard. >> reporter: at the tokyo mosque, people gather to share their prayers, muslims prayed for the muslims to died in hajj. they called for more prayers for victims over the disaster.

. >> translator: pilgrims head to mecca as if they with visiting allah's home, gathering in the city leaving all their fortunes and family behind. i'm so sorry to hear the news. >> reporr: he's performed twice, a said the behavior by some pilgrimcould have caused the catastrophe. >> translator: the saudi government must have taken enough safety measures after learningrom past accidents. if pilgrims do not observe the rules, accidents can happen as

there are so many people there. >> saudi arabia authorities are trying to find out more details about the cause of the stampede. officials say they'll do all they can to come up with safety measures to prevent a recurrence. nhk world. >> thanks very much. you're watching "newsline" from our studios here in tokyo where it's a wet friday with temperature reading the 19 degrees celsius or 66 degrees fahrenheit. people iokinawa and taiwan brace for the arrival of a powerful storm as we learn in this hour's update. >> yes. a system just parred up to a strong typhoon. there's a very defed eye in the center and the clouds are organized, meaning is already a powerful system. the system's slowly making its way to japan as well as taiwan. it's now expected to get very

close to the okinawa islands by sunday local tim as a powerful storm, and it could get close to north of taiwan, especially taipei area by monday, and the third target is eastern china, so taiwan, southwestern islands of japan, and china are in the ring of fire. this is number 21st storm for the western pacific. t typically, we see 18 storms so far this year, so the western pacific has been very active this year. a lot of rain is affecting mainland japan. there is a front in the system that's continually feeding ample moisture from the south. now, yesterday and the day before yesterday, regions were battered by extremely heavy rainfall, record breaking rainfall reported, 120 millimeters fell in parts, and today, heavy rain is affecting central portions of japan, and

owase saw 515 millimeters 23424 hours. rain is fallingn the area, but rain moves away by saturday so we are looking at drier conditions starting saturday in tokyo, and temperatures are warmer compared to what we saw today. 20 degrees for the high on friday, and temperatures are 25 degrees on sunday with sunny conditions in too. enjoy viewing the super moon on sunday and monday. meanwhile, naha has rainy conditions starting the weekend. in ohio, e nino is bringing wet conditions to hawaii so far this year. there's a newly formed tropical depression in the southeast of hawaii, and this system likely intensifies to a tropical storm soon and get very close to the big island by sunday or monday local time, so strong winds and heavy rain is expected for hawaii sunday as well as monday in hilo and temperatures are high with high humidity.

it could feel higher. that means number, so that means heatstroke. in europe, weather has been horrible in the eastern mediterranean. tuesday, 200 millimeters of rain fell in greece causing flash flooding, and there's another system approaching the area, so more wet weather along with the risk for thunderstorms, large hail, and even tornados in the bulcan peninsula and the states as well. heavy rain is expected in s eed. 27 degrees in kiev with rainy weather, but behind the system, in the teens for you, and chillier than average conditions continue in london and paris friday. in north america, it's fall, but it's more like mid-summer. look at the temperatures. l.a., the high will be in the mid-30s going into the weekend, so watch for heatstroke. all right. here's your extended forecast.

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." welcome to the "france 24 newsroom. i molly hall. the king of saudi arabia promises a swift investigation into the deadly hajj stampede. the government says the pilgrims may not have followed instructions. u.s. president barack obama accepts an invitation to reach vladimir putin to discuss the syrian war. world leaders are revising efforts to end the conflict. an enthusiastic new york we