here in japan it's 7:00 p.m. on a monday, i'm james tengan in tokyo. thank you for joining us here on "newsline." prominent chinese human rights lawyer has gone on child for allegedly provoking social unrest. u.s. officials call for his release. the japan's sport council revealed two proposed plans for

the main stadium for the 2020 olympic and paralympic games in tokyo. it aims to pick a winner later this month. and last dance. french ballet star guillem is ending the final world tour of her czech cade's long tour in tokyo. pu denies charges of insighting social unrest. a ruling is yet to be announced. as one of the 1989 tiananmen square leaders, authorities detained him in may last year. the charges relate to comments he posted online that were critical of the government's policies on tibetan and uighur minorities. his lawyer says he admits to posting his views but denies trying to provoke trouble. outside the courthouse police pushed away dozens of supporters

as well as foreign journalists. police also tried to prevent foreign diplomats from making statements. >> we urge chinese authorities to release mr. pu. >> the u.s. diplomat said human rights activist like pu should not be subjected to what he calls continued repression. japan's sport council disclosed two technical proposals for the main stadium of the 2020 olympic and paralympic games in tokyo. the council posted the proposals on its website on monday. they include plan outlines, images of stadium exteriors and estimates of costs and construction periods. one of the proposals is for a stadium with abundant greenery on the terrace surrounding the arena and a roof partly made of wood. construction is estimated at 149 billion yen or roughly $1.23

billion. the other plan features a stadium that looks like a white chinese porcelain bowl with large wooden willers. the cost estimate is almost the same as that of the first plan. the two groups behind the proposals say they can complete the projects by november 30th, 2019. council members are to screen the plans and choose one this month. prime minister shinzo abe said in july the government would review plans for the stadium from scratch. the original design by zaha hadid would have cost more than twice the initial budget. more than 4.5 years after the disaster that struck northeastern japan residents in the town of minami-sanriku have a public hospital again. 74 patients and staff members died. medical staff wrapped up their work at a facility in a neighboring city they used after the disaster.

>> translator: it was very long. four years and nine months. we feel we owe it to the victims to have a truly great hospital. >> 22 patients were transferred in ambulances and self-defense forces vehicles to the new facility. the three-story building was completed on top of a hill last month. it's a general hospital that also offers nursing care services. >> translator: i'm also going to move to higher ground. so i'm very glad to have this kind of hospital close to us. >> officials say it's the first public hospital in the three hardest hit prefectures to re-open after being destroyed in the disaster. japan's hayabusa 2 probe entered a new orbit and is heading toward its asteroid target. the hayabusa 2 is on a mission to find clues to the origin of life.

officials of japan aerospace exploration agency or jack xa released this photo. they flew within 3100 kilometers of earth, its closest point. they used the gravity to change course of the asteroid in a maneuver known as a swing-by. officials say the hayabusa 2 is on target for the asteroid ryugu located between earth and mars. the probe is scheduled to land in june or july 2018. researchers believe the asteroid contains water and organic matter. key elements in the origin of life. the explorer will try to collect rock samples and return to earth in 2020. workers have begun reinforcing hiroshima's atomic dome against earthquakes. it's a unesco world heritage site.

the bombing almost completed gutted the budding. hiroshima city fears a quake could damage the remains. city officials want to reinforce three walls by adding structural steel from the inside. they say this should boost quake reviftance with minimal change to the exterior. >> translator: i believe it is vital to preserve the atomic bomb dome in its current form. >> the dome will be partly covered by scaffolding and plastic covers from next month. the reinforcement work is due to finish by march. results from france's regional runoff election show the far right national front failed to win a single region. the anti-immigration party had been riding high in the first round. boosted by fears about security and immigration in the wake of the paris terror attacks. none of the parties garnered more than 50% of the vote in

that round, leading to the runoff. french president francois hollande withdrew his socialist from some regions. he urged supporters to vote for the conservative republican party, to try to stop the national front from gaining power. with most of the votes counted, the national front lost ground. former president nicolas sarkozy led his republican party andts allies to power in eight regions. hollande's governing left coalition won in five. voters showed is up at the polls in stronger numbers on send. the turnout was 7 percentage points higher than the first round. although the national front lost its chance to govern a region, its leader celebrated the party's strong showing. >> translator: by tripling the number of our elected regional counselors, the national front will be the major opposition force in most of theegional councils in france from now own. >> she thanked supporters,

saying patriots voted for her party, adding the election was a fight between two camps, the national front and all other parties. prime minister manuel valls of the socialist party says he takes the far right outcome in the first round seriously. he promised to tighten security and do more to improve employment conditions. a closely watched survey of business sentiment here in japan shows it's holding steady but still cautious about the future. gene otani joins us for more on that and a roundup of other business headlines. >> thanks, james. bank of japan officials have released result of their quarterly tankan survey. it asks over 10,000 of the nation's largest companies how they feel about business prospects and the numbers of confidence have been holding but global factors are weighing on sentiment. many managers were cautious about the economic outlook as

japan's major trading partner, china, slows down. central bank officials said the index for large manufacturers held steady at plus 12, unchanged from the previous quarter. the index represents the difference in the number of firms saying business is good versus those saying it's bad. a positive number indicates more companies are optimistic. but sentiment worsened in the production and electric machinery industries. that reflects the slowdown in china and other emerging economie the outlook improved among chemical and metal products makers with the drop in fuel and raw material coughs. the index for major nonmanufacturers stood at plus 25, also unchanged from the previous survey. active spending provided a boost but this was offset by sluggish domestic consumption. manufacturers are expecting a five-point drop in business confidence in the next quarter and nonmanufacturers, a seven-point drop. major manufacturers are increasing investment, spending on machines and other capital

goods this fiscal year through march. it is expected to rise 15.5% from last year. slower growth than the previous survey's estimates, down 2.7 points. investment plans overall remain strong. major nonmanufacturers will raise capital spending by 8.5%, a rise of 1.3 points. checking the markets, tokyo share prices tumbled on a slump in oil prices. the nikkei average closed below 19,000 for the first time in more than a month. for the details, we go to our business reporter, mayu yoshida. mayu? >> oil is still trading near a seven-year low. saw sell-off in u.s. and european equities and there's nervousness ahead of the widely expected rate hike in the u.s. this week. there's plenty of reasons for investors not to take risks right now. the nikkei briefly tumbled more than 3%. the benchmark eventually ended down 1.8% at 18,883, the lowest

close since november 2nd. the broader topix was down 1.4%. and with the risk of sentiment we're seeing money flow out of risky assets like stocks into safer assets luke the yen. the stronger yen continued to weigh on japanese exporters. mazza fell 3.7%. yasukuni dropped 2.9% and sony down 0.8%. the stronger the yen becomes, the less money tse companies are able to make overseas. companies sensitive to commodity prices like oil exporters and trading houses were sharply lower today as well. inpex down 2.9%, mitsubishi fell to 2.2%. we saw a broad sell-off and risky assets today. it looks like this trend may continue to have a hold on the markets. i'm mayu yoshida, reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. >> mayu, thanks. moving on to other markets in the asia-pacific region.

the shanghai composite gained 2.5%, closing at 3,520. it snapped two days of losses to hit a one-week high. sentiment improved after key economic data on saturday came in better than expected. the s&p asx 200 dropped 2%. many investors are holding back while they wait for the outcome of the u.s. federal reserve meeting. seoul's kospi lost 1.1%, hitting a three-month low. and hang seng continued to decline for the fourth straight -- for the eighth straight day rather. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're following. officials in china say industrial output in november gained 6.2% from last year, a 0.6-point rise from the previous month. government stimulus helped, especially in auto production. but the pace of growth remains weaker than last year.

the president of of the world bank has suggested emerging economies prepare for a u.s. interest rate hike. he said those countries should carry out structural economic reform, including debt reduction to make them more recillian. he also urged policymakers at the u.s. federal reserve to raise rate s at a slower pace than they have in the past. a private research firm says the average price of a condominium in greater tokyo last month was about $520,000. that's up 21% from a year ago. the highest in over 24 years. an increase in construction costs, the number of upscale condos priced at $1.6 million or more contributed to the rise. let's take a quick look at our global economic calendar for the week. on wednesday, the u.s. federal reserve will wrap up a two-day policy meeting. the officials will decide whether to hike interest rate which is have been at near zero

since december 2008. on the same day, figures to u.s. housing starts for november will be released. housing starts in october fell to a seven-month low. on thursday, japan's finance ministry will release trade data for november. the country's trade balance was back in the black for the first time in seven months. on friday, we'll find out the results of the boj policy meeting. finally, officials at china's national bureau of statistics will release new home prices. in october, more major chinese cities saw a decline, then a rise for the first time in four months. every monday we invite a specialist to discuss events for the week. in this edition of "expert view" we speak with a senior market economist at the bank of tokyo mitsubishi ufj. >> i think this week the federal

reserve will move to a rate hike. the u.s. economy is growing. so at least domestic is very good,articularly automotive is very strong. i think they'll increase rates by 25 basis points this time. increase is a small one. current state of u.s. economy is strong, i think. but unfortunately, we had seen some weak numbers. consequently, u.s. economy is relatively growing well butt is not so strong to not see a rate hike. i think a rate hike in 2016 may be at two times or three times.

>> suzuki says the rate height could be good news in exporters but may hurt the asian economy in the long run. >> the growth of the u.s. economy is definitely favorable element to japanese economy. additionally, if the federal reserve moves to a rate hike, this is a factor, that means yen depreciation. yen depreciation will contribute to japanese exports and corporate profits. the biggest concern of a global econo economy, chinese -- if rate hike wise would provoke appreciation of the dollar, some chinese people will try to move their money from china to global u.s. markets. if this movement is a strong one, there will be a possibility

of international turbulence in the global markets. if it happens, it will be an issue in the global economy, particularly asia economies, depending among chinese growth would suffer from financial turbulence, the appreciation. >> that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets.

french ballet star guillem has a long and enduring connection to japan. she's about to perform for the final time and has chosen to do so in tokyo. nhk world met her for an exclusive interview. ♪ >> reporter: guillem's final world tour, life in progress, began in march. she's ending the tour and her career with sold-out shows in japan. the place where she first danced overseas 35 years ago. >> it's nice to be here again performing in japan. the audience here is always fantast fantastic, very warm and also i've known them for a long time. it's -- i came here the first time i was 15. so it's a long story. it's a long love story between the audience and me.

♪ >> reporter: it's the bolero, a slow rhythm building to a passionate pace. >> translator: i was moved to tears during the bolero. >> translator: i think she looks like an artwork herself. it's a real shame she's retiring. >> reporter: fans wish guillem would dance for anher 10, even 20 years. >> unfortunately, that's life. you need to stop at one point, and you need to know when to stop. and i wanted me to decide. i didn't want my physique or an injury or someone else to tell me, you know, you have to stop. i wanted me to decide. so 50 is a good age to stop. >> reporter: when she was 19,

guillem became the youngest ever principle dancer at the ballet and has been called the greatest dancer of the century. she's come back to japan nearly 50 times in the last 35 years. >> i think that the way people live together here is respectful. and i like that. and also i liked all the -- i find it very refined. almost philosophical. i like the simplicity of it and the philosophy of it. and i like art, like poetry and many, many things. >> reporter: four years ago after japan's massive earthquake and tsunami in the tohoku region, she visited the affected areas. >> it was important for me to do it. i was far away when it happened,

and i felt powerless. but i was happy to come and to tell people that if my -- me being here could help, good. ♪ >> reporter: guillem will perform in several other japanese cities this month but there are only so many shows left. >> on stage i don't feel different. a show is a show. i always try my best and i put everything i have at that moment. i'm out here because i'm doing a show that i like very much, but i am also sad that i know that it's going to end. so it's a mixed feeling. i try not to think about it. i prefer to make, you know, a nice last show and leave happy. sad, but happy. >> reporter: guillem will dance the bolero at the new year's eve countdown in tokyo.

when the bell tolls for midnight, it will be the start of a new year and the end of a great career. yuji otawa, nhk world. >> ending one's career and 2015 in style. thank you. cloudy, partly fair skies is the forecast for us here in tokyo. it's ten days before christmas eve, yet people in the philippines are having to deal with the unseasonable typhoon melor. >> melor is making landfall on the philippines. this system is packing winds of 180 kilometers per hour with gusts of over 250 kilometers per hour. now, this is equivalent to a category 3 hurricane. it's moving towards the west at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour. it could get close to manila

where many people are living as we go into wednesday and to do low pressure and strong winds. storm surges will be very high, maybe up to 4 meters. that means the water levels could rise significantly. coastal flooding is highly likely and there are thousands of islands located in the midportions of the philippines. that means this area is prone to coastal flooding as well as storm surges. an additional 800 millimeters of rain could fall across much areas. that is enough to cause significant flooding in inland areas as well. it's going to be a very strong system. now, it is expected to slow down as it moves over land. stormy conditions will likely prolong for at least four days or so. tuesday will be a stormy day once genl in manila. that will continue into thursday, other areas like tacloban and other areas will linger into thursday. other areas have been hit by

storms in 2011, 2012 and last year. december is a dangerous season for the philippines in terms of the typhoon. let's go to the north of the americas. we are looking at very bad weather across much areas, including heavy snowfall in many areas, meanwhile, wide weather affected the southern plains over the weekend. we have video coming out of lynndale, texas. severe weather slammed the northern texas this weekend and that included at least one tornado touching down in the area. residents in the town of lynndale, 140 kilometers southeast of dallas, witnessed a twister saturday afternoon. it damaged dozens of homes, collapsing roofs and tearing down walls. thankfully no one suffered any major injuries. two more tornadoes were also reported in the state during the weekend. now, the system has pulling away from the southern plains but the system is now located over the eastern areas of the united states. there's no threat of tornadoes

anymore but rain is likely as well as freezing rainfall for parts of the new england states as well as the south of ontario as well as quebec. watch out when you drive. across the west, heavy snow is expected, especially for the northern areas of the rockies. now, temperatures will be very warm for this time of year across the east. take a look, washington, d.c. at 21 degrees for the high on monday. 22 degrees on sunday, because of the warm temperatures, cherry blossoms, which is known for april flowers are in bloom now. amazing. across the southern hemisphere, it's been very warm across the south of australia and temperatures are going to be scorching. 38 degrees for the high on friday with abundance of sunshine expected. that's it for now. here's your extended forecast.

it's still mid-december but in the ancient city of kyoto, females are paying their ritual new year visits. in kyoto's geon district, december 13th is the day regarded to start preparations for the new year. the entertainers known as geiko make early new year calls on that day. they gave seasonal greetings and words of gratitude to their dance teachers. in return, the teachers gave them words of encouragement and folding fans. >> translator: this year is my first year as a maiko. i want to do more to improve next year.

a reminder that 2015 is drawing to a close. at the top of the hour is "newsroomó

>>