thank you for joining us for nhk "newsline." i'm ross mihara in tokyo. how to respond to north korea's nuclear test. they boast that their warheads can be mounted onto ballistic missiles and mass produced. diplomatic sources say the

security council is expected to hold a security meeting. >> obviously japan and south korea particularly are deeply concerned because of the neighborhood, but i think it's fair to say that china, russia, the united states share concerns. >> very much concerned. we will send this message very strongly. >> u.s. president barack obama spoke over the phone separately with the leaders of japan and south korea. he stressed commitment to his allies and promised to continue talks to ensure provocations are met with serious consequences. in a statement south korean president park geun-hye called it proof of pyongyang's recklessness and said it would only lead it to further isolation. north korea's state run television announced the news with a statement it said was from the scientists involved.

>> translator: we, the scientists and technicians at the laboratory, conducted a nuclear test at the northern testing site to determine the force of a newly developed warhead. it was carried out successfully. >> seismologists around the world first detected the test friday morning when they observed a tremor. the u.s. geological survey described it as an explosion. the north has conducted nuclear tests in the same location every few years since 2006. this was only eight months after the last. officials in seoul say it appears to be the largest to date with a force of about 10 kilotons. officials in tokyo are trying to find out what impact the test had on japan's air. air self-defense force jets were sent to help analyze the air around the country. t-4 air training craft took off

from tokyo. researchers will analyze the samples to see if they contain any radioactive substances. the mission will continue for the next few days. china has been facing increasing pressure to help thwart pyongyang's efforts. we have been following beijing's response to the moves. how are chinese authorities reacting to pyongyang's latest actions? >> foreign minister officials here say china is resolutely opposed to north korea's latest nuclear test. and they say they'll launch a protest with the embassy. but they haven't mentioned any further moves to rein in pyongyang. >> translator: to stop taking any actions that will make the situation worse.

>> many in beijing are also upset with the timing of the missile test earlier this week. the north fired three ballistic missiles monday, the same day china was wrapping up the g20 summit. the president told the officials he opposes their plans to deploy is missile defense system. but pyongyang's latest action gives seoul more reasons to ignore beijing's position. following the launches, the u.n. security council quickly condemned the north. it was a stark contrast from a month ago when china posed a similar statement. this indicates that beijing has started to harden its stance toward pyongyang. >> daisuke, what options do chinese officials have to persuade the north to abandon

their nuclear program? >> it is limited. the purpose of his visit is unknown. but there is expectation that he may have discussed the latest nuclear test with chinese officials. experts here say pyongyang thinks beijing's hands are tied. worried that the largest from north korea might destabilize china. and that pyongyang is taking advantage of the situation. u.s. president barack obama said he has urged to work with the united states to change pyongyang's behavior. if china does not want a missile defense system to be deployed in south korea. china will remain firm on its aim of denuclearizing the

peninsula. be with their options running out, the abilities to deal with north korea seems increasingly limited. >> as we have said, north korea announced that the country succeeded in a test. what is it trying to show? >> north korea wants to say this test is different than past tests. it wants to announce the nuclear development is entering a new stage and that it's more powerful than ever before. >> translator: the nuclear test finally examined and confirmed the structure and specific features of movement of nuclear warhead that has been standardized to be able t to be mounteted on strategic ballisti rockets of the or tillry units of the korean peoples army as well as its performance and

power. >> north korea's statement follows kim jong-un's order in mid-march. he reportedly told officials to prepare for a nuclear test. he made it clear he wanted them to focus on nuclear warheadss ad fire ballistic missiles. north korean scientists carried out this test quickly within a matter of months. the country also recently launched three ballistic missiles. these appear to be highly. this is the biggest nuclear test by pyongyang. so considering all that, i have to say thehe speed of north korea's nuclear development is faster than many people expected. >> well, why did north korea choose september 9th for this test? >> well, there are both domestic and diplomatic reasons. september 9th marks the national foundation day. so it seems kim jong-un wants to boost national unity.

recently high-level north korean diplomats have defected to the south. so they mayay be trying to send signal agagainst that. he a also c could be tryingg to further cement his power base. >> translator: the standardizization of the nuclear warhead will enable the dprk to produce at will as many as it wants, a variety of smaller, lighter, and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power with a firm hold on the technology for producing and using various materials. >> north korea said that it has improved its production and is trying too show it's able to fight a nucleaear state e like united states. leaders of the g20 and asean summit condemned the recent missile launches. and next week the u.n. general assembly will open in new york

and president obama will take up the nuclear issue there. so before that, pyongyang may want to show it will not back down from its position no matter what the global community says. kim could be improving nuclear technologies so that he will be in a better negotiating position if disarmament talks go ahead. people in japan are concerned and angry about the test. especially those in the two cities that experienced nuclear attacks. hiroshima was the first to be bombed by y the u.s. in 1945. >> translator: i feel very nervous. i can't understand what made them do it. >> the representative of an a-bomb survivors association. he met with u.s. president barack obama in may. he is very angry at the news. >> translator: we have to make

north korea aware that it's pushing f forward accordingng ts own logic. >> people in the other city nagasaki are also frustrated. >> translator: it just makes me furious. we need more diplomatic action. >> the leader of nagasaki survivors says he's very disappointed. >> translator: based on our own experiences, we've been campaigning for the past 70 years so it's never repeated. a discussion on tax reform is under way in japan. gene otani has the details along with other business headlines. >> an advisory panel to the japanese prime minister that's studying revisions to the taxation system met on friday. prime minister shinzo abe told the meeting that the income tax system needs to be revised to match the changes in society.

>> translator: everyone should be able to make the most of their abilities. >> one revision that's being considered is the spousal deduction for income tax. under the current taxatation system, if one of a married couple's annuaual income is 1.0 million yen or less, the partner is eligible for a tax deduction. because of this many women working part-time tend to limit the number of hours they work to keep their earnings below 1.03 million yen. however, critics say it favors families with a single breadwinner and double income families have become a majority. the panel plans to look into a new system that includes a system regardless of earnings

for either partner. the plan also will look at subsidiaries set up in tax havens which multi-national firms use to evade taxes. time for a check on the markets. stocks in tokyo were flat after europe's central bank decided not to expand its easing program. >> tokyo markets lack clear direction despite a weakening of the yen. the decision was widely expected but investors were still disappointed it didn't signal more easing down the line. the nikkei ended almost flat at 16,965. and the broader topix fell 1.6%. daily losses and gains canceled each other out during the week and the nikkei 225 ended pretty much at the same level it was last friday. shares of game makers nin ten

d -- nintendo and dena have fallen. oil and gas developers like inpex and japan ex saw a gain. north korea's nuclear test didn't help sentiment though it appears to be muted. giang nguyen reporting from the stock exchange. news of the north korea test did dampen sentiment in seoul. the kospi fell to finish at 2,037. over in hong kong, the hang seng ended up by almost 0.8% to 24,099 hong kong dollars. many investors were cheered when chinese officials said they would allow mainland insurers to insure through an exchange

trading link. the shanghai composite was down more than 0.5% after a weak consumer price data in august. and sydney also declining by almost 0.9%. many investors sold banking shares after the ecb decision. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're following. a new japanese-made passenger plane has undergone test flights after the pilot was forced to abort a trip to the united states twice last month because of a glitch. the mitsubishi regional jet conducted a takeoff and landing test at an airport in central japan. officials at mitsubishi aircraft say they were checking the mrj's performance after replacing the monitoring sensor for the air conditioning system. the mrj will depart for the u.s. later this month after further checkups. the jet is the first passenger made aircraft i in half a centu there. the operator of au mobile

services has announced a new discount plan. the firm has set the monthly charge for a new 20 gigabyte plan for about $60. that compares with the current rate of about $165. softbank announced a similar discount this week. major carriers are cutting prices in the face of the growing popularity of low cost smartphone services. leaders of the group of 20 economies have agreed to aim for sustainable global growth but concerns over china persist. and investors are closely examining a batch of economic indicators released this week. the consumer price index for august was up 1.3% year on year. trade figures were also released on thursday. officials said imports rose for the first time in 22 months. up 1.5% from a year ago. exports fell by a smaller margin

than what analysts had expected and were down 2.8% from a year ago. experts are studying these figures to gauge the strength of china's economy. ai uchida has been speaking to the executive director of securities in hong kong. he gave his take on the numbers starting with the price index. >> i think both numbers are pretty good. while the cpi number is a little lower than expected. but i'll take it because i'm not so concerned because a lot of people would say, you know, the actual inflation in china is higher than that. i'm more concerned or focused on the ppi numbers. it has to be improved both in july, in august what that translate is the supply side in china is working and the

increase activities. in the next few months if it turns back to a positive, that means manufacturing are making money now. >> okay. now let's talk about trade data many investors seem to be surprised by what we saw. especially the strong numbers on imports. is this a trend? is trade poised for a recovery or are we seeing this? >> make it a positive trade that it's improving. while first of all, you know, last month both numbers came in better than expected. and we know china traded can frustrate a great deal in the past. with new gadgets coming out in september, the numbers will improve to the end of the year and hopefully that's a good sign that the economy is recovering from this point. >> okay. now, the head of the international monetary fund

christine lagarde, keeping in mind the domestic consumption is weak. do you expect leaders to roll out any new measures? >> i do not expect the leaders to roll out any big stimulus package at this point. and as a matter of fact, china has been pretty quiet on the policies. and what they are doing is to try to do the supply side management first. and we can tell, you know, this is working a little bit because the ppi is improving. and going forward, i think they might do something on the consumer side. we wish they would roll out some subsidy, help the consumers a little bit. but at this point they do not have to do a lot of things. >> and you can catch our report again online together with a full transcript. look for nhk world and business wrap. and that's a look at business

news. oo i'm going to leave you with the markets. japan's paralympians have been taking to the pool and the judo net on day two of the rio games. paralympic judo is contested by the visually impaired. tirosei says this will be his last games.

he made it to the final of the 60 kilogram category with some support from his nearest and dearest. but he lost by ippon. judo's equivalent of a knockout. he had to settle for silver. >> another veteran judoka fought and the 41-year-old bagged the bronze. his fifth medal since debuting at the 1996 games. >> swimmer sugaya raced in the 100 meter backstroke. it's his second paralympics. he finished in bronze position.

south korea's inguk took the gold. the city of rio de janeiro is accommodating many athletes and spectators for the paralympic games including a team involved in the works for preparing for the 2020 olympics in tokyo. >> reporter: this group is in rio de janeiro to learn how the city created an environment for visitors. they're hoping to take ideas home to tokyo as they prepare for the 2020 games. this is the main stadium. the japanese team members are checking how the stadium is equipped with facilities.

they found accessibility at new faculties like this was good. >> translator: if i went down there onto the beach, i'm not sure i'd be able to make it back here. >> reporter: in downtown areas or on the popular beaches, there were bumps or gutters that would make things less accessible for people with disabilities. even though there was lacking, they were impressed with something else. the local people's willingness to help. one woman started pushing the wheelchair on a large slope without even being asked. >> through my shirt. i am brazilian. >> reporter: he felt that's what mattered most. >> translator: as far as facilities are concerned, tokyo might be better, but in brazil i

feel that people don't have a mental barrier against disabilities. that's something we need to learn from them. >> reporter: the countdown to tokyo is on and the team will be getting to work. they're hoping to make sure everyone is able to get around the city no matter who they are. nhk world, rio de janeiro. time now for the world weather with our meteorologist sayaka mori. flood plagued northern japan is once again being hit by torrential rainfall. sayaka, what's the latest? > a successssion of low pres systems has been dropping heavy rainfall in northern japan. now, in just 24 hours miyako had 113 millimeters in just hours. right now the low pressure system which was once malou is

dropping rain. hokkaido has had tremendous amounts of rain already. from mid-august to early september, 900 m millimeters fe in nukakabira. atat's w w we're seeing significant flooding and landslides occurring in the area. now, over the next 24 hours an additionalal 1120 millimeters cd fall. into saturday more heavy rain and stormy conditions will likely continue. as for the rest of japan it's going to be generally dry. to see skies with quite hot conditions for the high. but as we go into sunday, it's goining to be wet and a little cooler. 29 degrees for the high. now let's go to india. it is the monsoon season. it started in june and will likely continue throughout the month. we're looking at some flooding

situation in the northeast. i'm going to take you to s show you the flooding situation. heavy rains impacted parts of northern and northeastern india this week forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes. the state of respoponse force personnel were deployed to help evacuate people. schools in the town were closed and nearly 200 people were killed during this monsoon season. and more rain will likely continue for the next couple of weeks. now, this is the rainfall amount we've got over the past eight days or so. eaeastern areas of indiaia had t 300 millimeters of rainfall. the grground is saturated.d. and over the next three days or so, as you can see moree rain i expected. this is definitely not good newsws. watchess for heavy rain will be in place the next few days. meanwhile across north america, severe weather is occurring in the mid-portions of the united states. torrential rain falling in

kansas as well as missouri. more rain iss on the way throughout youfrfriday. meanwhile across the east, temperatures are quite high and humidity is quite high too. temperatures arere going to be in washington, d.c. on friday. and it's going to stay quite hot into your saturday. washington, d.c., you could have 36 on saturday. newark will see a high of 33 on friday and 32 on saturday. starting sunday it's going to be dropping significantly. in the e 20s for you in many places. and finally over towards europe, a system still affecting the balkan peninsula and southern italy. across the north lots of clouds are blanketing the british isles and also iceland. as for the rest, staying quite nice and staying quite warm. and temperatures are still on the -- in the upper 20s. berlin will see a high of 27 degrees. in warsaw, 28 degrees on your last day of the business week.

all right. here's the extended forecast.

that's all this hour on nhk "newsline." i'm ross mihara in tokyo. thanks for staying with us. 8úxú

molly: welcome to the "france 24 " newsroom. i am molly hall. french police arrest four in connection with a car filled with guest thihings left near notre dame cathedral. one woman is shot, and an officer was stabbed in the process. . nuclear test in north korea pyongyang says it has detonated an atomic warhead. kerry and sergei