>> it's wednesday evening here in japan, i'm james tengan later to be joined by our gene our johnathan oh. they agreed to maritime activities after trilateral talks. two women who us caped

soviet asacks in world war ii meet for the first time 70 years later. officials in beijing acknowledged authorities detained two janese citizens for alleged involvement in espionage. chinese foreign ministry spokesperson revealed the news, but he did not disclose any further details including the identities of the two of what they had done. sources told nhk that one of the men was taken into custody in may. he was detained near a military facility in the eastern province of zhejiang and believe he was involved in espionage and criminal activities. another man allegedly detained near china's border with north korea and believe he was also involved in spying. sources said a third may have been detained around the same time. japan's top government spokesperson commented on the two being detained.

>> translator: i won't comment on individual cas on behalf of the government, but we are working hard to secure the safety of japanese citizens overseas. >> chinese officials are strengthening effort to crack down on espionage. last november, they implemented a new anti-spying law. the law specifies what constitutes spying activities. chinese authorities revealed earlier this month they have been holding a u.s. businesswoman for half a year for similar reasons. the foreign ministers of japan, u.s., and india held a meeting on the sidelis of the u.n. general assembly, the first time they sat down for trilateral talks and agreed to coordinate talks for chinese increasing maritime activities. the foreign minister expressed strong concern about the moves and aimed at changing the status

quo in the south china sea and noted that regional tensions have heightened due to china's work on land reclamation projects and the construction of the military facility. the three ministers agreed that disputes should be settled peacefully, and according to international law. they confirm that they would coordinate their policies in response to china's actions. other items on the agenda included disaster response. they agreed to arrange a meeting of experts to set up joint rescue and relief efforts and hope to hold more talks on assisting infrastructure developments in south and southeast asia. . top officials from the united stes, korea, and japan found issues on common concern and to work together to dissuade north korea from launching a long range ballistic missile. the three met on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly.

>> north korea presents an ongoing security challenge to everybody. we will talk about that here this morning. >> pyongyang suggested they could launch a rocket carrying a satellite in october to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the workers ruling party. they agreed such a launch would breach u.n. security resolutions that add the north from adding nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. he said after the meeting he and counterparts discussed stepping up sanctions if north korea goes ahead with a missile launch. >> translator: we agreed to ask north korea to exercise discipline on such actions and observe resolutions decided in the u.n. security council. >> he explained to counterparts japan's new national security laws enacted by the diet and

described the laws significant in the light of the security situation. a list of the economicist competitive countries and regions, and gene has the details and wrap up of today's headlines, gene? >> thank you, james. analysts at the world econoc forum measured 140 economies based on corporate performance and standards of education and medicine. the top three countries were the same as last year. switzerland placed first followed by singapore and the u.s., japan in sixth. its position is unchanged. japanese firms' capacity for technology innovation was highly evaluated, and small and mid-sized infrastructure rated well, but government debt, high taxes, and unflexible labor market downgraded japan's score. south korea was 26th, and china scored 28th. india climbed to 535, and

vietnam rose 12 to 56. the volkswagen scandal spread to taxes. certain models benefitted in the u.s. as eco-friendly cars. buyers of some models including the 2009 jetta received a discount of $1300 per vehicle under a u.s. government incentive program, and nearly 40,000 units were sold. the total tax breaks add up to $50 million. some u.s. and european media say volkswagen used illegal software and false data to secure government concessions. the scandal prompts japanese officials to take actio the transport ministry instructed domestic auto makers to check if they are equipped to deceptive software similar to that used by volkswagen. mazda says they use no illegal

software and everything confirms to the regulations of various countries. diesel cars account for half of all mazda vehicles sold in japan april to august. tokyo stocks rebounded strongly following tuesday's l sell off, and nikkei ended the last day in september in the green. we go to the tok stock exchange for details. >> reporr: we felt that a window dssing referring to companies buying at the end of the quarr to improve their balance sheets, both in tokyo bounced back from eight month lows with the nikkei rising at 2.7%, closing at 17388, recooping half of the losses. the toup2%, but let's

look at more bright spots. auto makers faired well due to the announcement of policies to shore up slumping car sales, including tax cuts of cars, and they pushed up auto makers, and nissan and mazda both up more than 5%. m mazda reassured investors, and the fast retailing group supported the benchmarks as well. companies vulnerable to slow downs china like tohozinc is a loss. they are bearish on outlook of jap peas equities over concerns growing in emerging economies. all in all, the market calmed down, but not for long given all the uncertainty out there. aika nanao, nhk. >> thank you. moving oto other regions.

in china,he shanghai composite closed up half a percent to 3052. investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of upcoming manufacturing data and a week long holiday. for the july-september quarter, the index tumbled 28.6%, the worst since 2008. hong kong boued back from yesterday's two-year low, rising 1.4% led by auto makers. in other markets, indonesia ended up up by a percent after the government announced on tuesday additional stimulus measures. sydney gained 2.1% for the arter and posted the biggest lo in four years. japan has become an ageing society, and more than any other country in the world. the number of people 60 and older account for more than 30% of the country's population. elsewhere in asia, the

percentage stands at almost 18 %. in singapore, 50% in thailand and china, but it is expected to rise in the next few decades. in the first of a three-part series on business opportunities with senior citizens in japan, we look at companies that have traditiolly targeted younger people, but that are now refocusing on the elderly. nhk world reports. >> reporter: an increasing number of older japanese people are making trips overseas, many are going not just to sight see, but to study. 65-year-old mia is a volunteer teacher. she uses her english language skills to teach japanese to foreigners living in japan. she started brushing up on her

english by studying abroad and took the first step when she was 59 years old. since then, she has travelled to new zealand, the u.s., and other countries every year. she decided to invest her time and money in studying english after she had finished raising her three children. >> translator: you only live once. if you don't dare to do something, you get nothing. it now or never. >> reporter: more and more seniors feel the same way. they are packing their bags and heading overseas to study. many travel agencies like this one have spoed an opportunity. at this travel agency, the number of seniors applying to study overseas has increased by about 20% since last yore. the agency offers one to four week study trips for people over 50. the company arranges home stays

for their clients with people of the same age. for many, it's their first time to experience living overseas. staff provides detailed information counselling before they depart. >> translator: if you have any questions duringhe home stay, please do not hesitate to contact the home staff at any time. there are many people who wanted to study abroad when they were younger, but had no chance until now. i expect many more active seniors will travel abroad. >> reporter: this amusement arcade is usually popular wit young people, but it has a new target audience, older people. >> translator: let me explain how to play the game. >> reporter: the operator has been organizing a free trial tour for seniors.

>> translator: better to target this area. >> reporter: at this claw machine, staff shows how to catch the prize. >> translator: i never played this game before, but it's worth trying. it's fun. >> reporter: seniors come during the daytime when the arcade is not busy. the company says they are more likely to spend money than youngsters. to attract more of them, staff hands out additional tokens for the games. to ensure safety, some of the staff members have received training as care givers. they are able to assist people with physical disabilities. >> translator: seniors are a promising customer base for us too. we plan to make further efforts to attract as many seniors as

possible. >> reporter: japan's population may be ageing, but its seniors are not simply fading into the sunset. they are leading active lives and are providing a welcomed boost to the economy. nhk world. in the second part of the series on the business opportunities with senior citizens in japan, we'll look at a company that's tapping into the experience of the elderly to make a better product. here's a look at the other business stories we are following. executives at major textile firm toray industry says they will buy delta tech that has advanced technology, high for nufacturing in europe. toray hopes to use the company's technology in connection to expand its auto business. japan's housing starts for august grew for six straigt

months. the figure is up 9% from a year earlier. land ministry officials say demand is recovering from the tax hike in april last year, and housing starts spiked ahead of the tax increase before filing. japan's industrial output fell 0.5% in august, marking the second straight month of declean. output of metal machine tools fell due to a slow down in the chinese economy. ministry officials revised the assessment downward saying production has weakened. that's all for business news. i'll leave you with the markets.

people in yemen find themselves caught up in fighting between the saudi led coalition and rebels. an air strike hit a wedding party killing 13 1 people including children. the u.n. secretary general is calling for an investigation. a news agency run by antigovernment groups says the attack happened monday in a village near the red sea port of maca.

s sur jemts seized the capital last year. they have been carrying out air strikes to dislodge rebels, and a spoke person said it had not carried out operations near the air strike for several days. u.n. officials have expressed alarm about the growing number of civilian deaths in the country. they say the conflict has claimed more than 2,000 lives since march and warn many more could be killed as coalition forces try to take back the capital. ♪ at the end of world war ii, soviet troops invaded china, a region effectively under soviet's control there and killed more than a thousand japanese civilians, an one survivor decided to return years later to face the past.

>> reporter: vast mountain ranges and steps stretch across china's inner mongolia. the region was once called manchuila. she survived an attack against civilians there on august 14th, 195 -- 1945. in the 1930s and '40s, the japanese government pursued a project to develop the region. almost 300,000 people relocated from japan. she was 8 when soviet troops invaded just before the end of the war, about 1300 people escaped forming a line that stretched for several kilometers. >> translator: i saw someone walking up there far beyond the mountains. i wondered how many mountns i

had to climb to reach that point. >> reporter: soviet troops then attacked the group. most of the civilians were unarmed. more than a thousand of them died. >> translator: i saw a man and a woman on tanks firing machine guns. my sister survived. she was shielded by the bodies of fallen children, but my cousin was killed. >> reporter: chinese people came to the aide of takata and her family. her father later joined them, and they returned to japan after a year. takata eventually got married and had children, but she could not bring herself to tell them about what had happened years

earlier. this year, she decided to go to inner mongolia, and she knew whom she wanted to see. another japanese survivor who remained in china. wu lt five of her family members in the onslaught. chinese residents saw the 7-year-old wandering on her own and took her in. wu and takata came to know one another through a group of survivors and victims' families that takata joined 15 years ago. takatat wanted to visit the site of the attacks with wu. each have their own set of recollections from long ago. their first destination was a eld several kilometers from the site. takata had hidden there for ten days.

wu remembers eating corn from the field to stave off starvation. >> i wouldn't eat corn. >> translator: neither would i. >> reporter: the taste, however, brings back bitter memories. >> translator: this is the place, isn't it? you were saved here? right? i'm sure about that. >> reporter: chinese people had come to help wu after she crossed the bridge by herself. >> translator: when i suggested taking another picture, wu's body seemed to be shaking, but i told her, i was glad we could visit the place together. >> reporter: back in japan, takata received a letter from wu. >> translator: we must not forget the past. the same goes for history.

now that i've visited the site with her, we'll be able to continue sharing o memories. >> reporter: 70 years after their escape from peril, they have found in each other someone who truly understands. nhk world. >> thanks for that poignant story. you're looking at -- you're watching newsline from our studios here in tokyo. partly cloudy skies is the forecast for us here in tokyo with a current temperature reading of 22 degrees celsius or 71 degrees fahrenheit. a hint of autumn is in the air, and johnathan oh has this update starting with the north american east coast. >> well, more rain as we move forward in time because we have a persistent wet setup that just

does not want to let go. i mean, we have seen the satellite image for the past couple of days, and it has been a cloudy and wet scenario. you can see a clear line of clouds that's associated with the cold front, behind it, much cooler temperatures, b down towards the south, there was a stubborn low pressure system constantly driving moisture from the south causing flooding problems. this is video from the carolinas including carscharst, south carolina, you see the effects of the heavy rainfall slamming this particular area. the roads are getting flooded. some of them had to be closed. it flooded some buildings in the state, and so it has been a problem. we go further up to north carolina where we see the rising tide, and because of that, with the onshore winds, that resulted in coastal flooding. that damaged beach homes and eroded beaches. and the thing is, that that's not the end of the stor we're going to see even more

rainfall as we move forward in time because as this cold front continues to push towards the south and east, the low that's bringing in the moisture from the south, we have another player here now, waukeen, a tropical system, bringing in more of the southerly flow, that interaction leading to the possibility of seeing even more of the wet weather scenarios. now, i want to point out that it's getting a lot of resistance. while it tries to move, it's getting a lot of pushback from the west, and so because of that, it is having a little bit of a struggle trying to keep itself together. we are expecting it to become a hurricane in the near ture, but it is still going to struggle just a bit trying to keep its act together, and then if it does make it through, which we are thinking it is at this point, it moves towards the north and sets sights on north eastern coast of the united states meaning a lot of rainfall. in the meantime, that cold front is bringing a lot of rainfall in

and of itself, but there may be more rainfall in the first part of next week. rather than seeing the nice, bright sunny skies in this scenario, there's wet conditions through the next few days from boston to washington, d.c., and that extends to the south in miami. drier as we go out towds the west. now, as eyou look at the forecat in east asia, we are keeping an eye on the remnants of a storm that's taking the moisture along with the stationary front located near the western portion of japan and move towards the east. we had a high pressure system over japan bringing us drier condition, but that's going to change thursday and friday, and the moisture is picked up, drives up over the korean peninsula thursday, and later on in the day into friday, we see the wet weather over japan, and so you will need to have your umbrella, thursday, friday, and saturday, in sapporo, and other areas will dry out for the weekend. over europe, high pressure still

sitting right over the northern portions of the continent, keeping it dry, but still a bit cooler as we see the northerly and westerly winds in place. the wet weather continues in the south as instability remains, and expect to see wet weather from rome to madrid with temperatures in the 20s, down to the teens for highs on wednesday further up north. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

and with that, we wrap up this hour's "newsline," i'm james tengan. good-bye from tokyo. p1uvvóxóxóxx

genie: welcome back to the "france 24" newsroom. time for 60 minutes live around the world. i'm genie godula in paris. the parliament in russia grants president vladimir putin the right to deploy russian military in syria. the kremlin says those planned strikes will only concern the air force. the u.s. hits the afghan city of kunduz with two more airstrikes after the caliban sees -- after the