it's the top of the hour. i'm james tengan in tokyo. nhk "newsline" starts off with a quick look at the stories we're following this hour. a rare power outage. hundreds of thousands of people in tokyo were taken by surprise on wednesday when he lights suddenly went out. and health worries. relatives of thailand's king are in bangkok to visit the

hospitalized monarch whose condition is described as unstable. a swath of tokyo was without electricity for a short time. the utility is blaming a fire. the outage caught many people by surprise. >> reporter: the president of tokyo electric power company was busy apologizing to the industry minister on thursday after more than half a million households lost power the day before. >> translator: i'm sorry for causing so much inconvenience and worrying so many people. >> translator: i take the situation very seriously. although temporarily, the capitol's main functions were paralyzed. >> reporter: the lights went out on wednesday afternoon. the head of the sports agency was right in the middle of a meeting. the power also went out at the finance ministry. and at court during a news

conference. but in this case, justice wasn't blind for long. lights were restored when the backup generator kicked right in. nonethele nonetheless, court spectators said it was enough to cut the day short. >> translator: they decided they should close the proceedings for the day. >> reporter: it also delayed a show at this theater for about an hour. >> translator: i didn't realize it was a power outage. >> reporter: with traffic lights out, roads were backed up and there were reports of motor vehicle accidents. >> translator: everything was dark and suddenly, bang. they collided over there. >> reporter: even after the lights went back on, train services were still disrupted. >> translator: i don't know what to do. i'm so surprised. it's as if time has stopped and i have to pick up my daughter at day care. >> reporter: and so what

happened? tokyo electric power company says all this was caused by a fire. it says a transmission line that connects to tokyo burst into flames. but it doesn't know why. tepco workers are trying to cool down temperatures at the site so they can investigate. so far the company says there's no evidence of an outsider tampering with the line. yuri ito, nhk world, tokyo. tokyo governor yuriko koike has been in office a little more than two months. so far she's had to deal with a number of high-profile issues while also trying to repair her office's reputation. nhk world looks at how the public is reacting to their new governor. >> reporter: tokyo governor yuriko koike came into office on a pledge to do things differently. her two predecessors had left

scandals. so her first move as governor, showing she's serious. she took a pay cut. she cut her salary in half. that leaves her with $140,000 a year. a salary less than assembly members. >> translator: i am relieved that all proposals have been passed. >> reporter: governing tests came right away. of the tsukiji fish market move to a new location. the replacement site in the toyosu area has environmental issues. mainly contaminated soil under the new site. it was formerly a gas plant. the issues were highlighted by a governmental internal probe. koike vowed to get to the bottom before she took office. by saying she will punish those who are responsible for the messup. second on koike's list, the issue of ballooning costs for

the 2020 tokyo olympics and paralympics. costs have quadrupled from the initial proposal. so in order to try to stem out the outflow of cash, koike's looking at using existing venues for spots instead of new ones. she plans to move rowing events to miyagi. she met with a local governor on wednesday to gain support. >> translator: i'm confident that it will be much cheaper than the planned new facility in tokyo. >> reporter: koike still has to get permission from the ioc for changes. but she says she will visit the site in miyagi. >> translator: miyagi is still just an option, but i got an idea of how keen the prefecture is to host the game. >> reporter: so far people like how she's handling things.

84% either strongly approve or approve of the handling of the fish market issue. 60% say they agree with the handling of the olympic budget. governor koike is riding high in the polls. but she's only been in office a couple months. and tokyo residents will be watching to see how she handles her growing to do list. nhk world, tokyo. concern is growing in thailand over the health of the king following reports that his heir apparent has returned from overseas. the 88-year-old king has been hospitalized for most of the past several years. on sunday the palace announced that his condition was unstable. the crown prince reportedly returned to thailand. other members have visited the king at the hospital.

thailand's interim prime minister canceled an official engagement outside and returned to the capital. several gathered o outside to py for their monarch. >> translator: i'm very anxious, but i still have hope. >> the king has been a stabililizing force during peris of political turmoil. key index dropped more than 6% on wednesday due to worries over the king's health. japanese leaders want to draw a line under wartime history by signing a peace treaty with russia. shinzo abe is set to meet vladimir putin next month. he says he feels they'll see a way forward. abe told lawmakers about talksk he held with putin last month. he said they spoke about prospects for a peace treaty in considerable detail.

>> t translator: i said we shou push negotiations forward to settle the issue during our time in office. >> japan is pushing for closer economic ties through an eight-point cooperation plan. economy minister said he wants to make that plan bear its first fruit by the time abe and putin meet next month. one issue two leaders need to resolve on the way to any treaty is sovereignty over the islands. the japanese government maintain it's an inherent part of the territory. it said they were illegal le occupied after world war ii. "the new york times" has published the stories of two women who say donald trump inappropriately touched them years ago. one of the women is now 74. she recalled being groped by trump when they sat next to each other on a flight more than 30

years ag they had not met fore. she sdis hands were erywhere a he was le an octopus. she descbed it as s an assault. thee othther w woman said she w kissed on the mouth when she introduced herself to trump in trump tower in 2005. trump's campaign says the entire article is fiction. they say they're considering suing the news organization. trump said in sunday's presidential debate that his crude words against women had never turned into action. he attacked former president bill clinton saying mine were words and his were action. democratic presidential nominee hillary clinton sharply reacted to t theatest t andal. >> he's n just insulted women. he's an equ oppornity insulter. he's insulted everybody. >> but hillary clinton is also cing trouble. document disclosure site wikileaks has been making public

thousands of e-mails exchanged between her aides. some indicate she received information from the justice department during a look into her private e-mail. the trump said it was showing of corruption. he also -- >> the new e-mails also show members of the clinton team viciously attacking catholics and evangelicals dpp you see that? >> the clinton team has stopped short of confirming authenticity of the e-mails. but they are accusing moscow of hacking to assist trump. also the fbi is investigating the matter. the man in charge of japan's uniqlo has looked at his

ambitious goals. gene otani has more on that. >> operator of the uniqlo stores said sales will hit $50 billion by 2020. but on thursday admitted the target is out of reach. he has revised its goal to nearly $30 billion. the announcement came as fast retailing released an earnings report for the year through august. the company notched a sales increase of about 6% from the previousus year. but net profit down 56%. executives blame the strengthening yen as well as poor sales of winter cloththing over the colder months. >> translator: we'd need $50 billion in sales to become the world's number one. we have to make changes throughout the company too achieve this. >> he hopes to boost the

company's fortunes by online sales. sony has become the latest contender in the market for virtual realality headsets. they released the playstation vr on thursday. ga fans got their hands on the new product. >> translator: we believe this is a household innovation whose introduction matches the importance of the tv set. >> the headsets plug into playstation 4 consoles. the maker also released titles of software. some allow users to experience the sensation of flight and walking under the sea. >> translator: i can't wait to fly. >> translator: i'm really excited about experiencing

images never seen before. >> u.s. and thai aiwanese maker zonemy hopes to grab part of the market comprising 40 million consoles. two of japan's major wholesalers had plans to merge in april next year. but executives are now saying they'll delay the deal. executives say the decision is due to opposition from idemitsu's family. they nowow believe the m mergerl take more time. >> translator: not setting a time frame for the merger iss a message from the management to the founding family. it's important to have the family fully understand the merger through discussions. >> translator: we have postponed the merger, but we'll continue to work hard toward that goal.

>> it's unclear whether the merger will be able to go ahead. the idemitsu family is reluctant even to hold talks with the management. chinese government officials have released trade figures for september. data suggests the world's second largest economy is still struggling with weak demand both at home and abroad. chinese customs officials say exports fell 10% from a year earlier. that's the sixth consecutive month of decline. imports also shrank 1.9%. many analysts expectsed the imports would continue to rise but instead fell back. checking the stocks. the market fell. for the details giang nguyen

reports. >> let's see the closing levels for this thursday, october 13th. the nikkei closed down 0.4% finishing at 16,774. the index fell for the second day in a row. the broader topix ended almost flat. the volatility also bore out on currency markets. went up to 104 yen level in the morning. but traders bought back the safe haven yen after they saw china's weak data. oil stocks, idemitsu and showa shell ended lower on the delay of their merger. toyota and suzuki were also in focus as they're discussing a partnership. investors are now looking out for other economic figures from china such as prices. those are out on friday.

i'm giang nguyen reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. hong kong's hang seng index slipping closing at its lowest level in almost more than a month. in australia took a toll on the index. the shanghai composite ended slightly higher. 3,061 the closing number. seoul's kospi index dropping almost by 1%. 2,015 for the closing number. that's after holding key rates steady as analysts expected. some members of the world's largest petroleum cartel opec and non-members have agreed to enter full talks later this month. their aim is to cap the price of crude oil. representatives of qatar and

other exporting countries and non-member major oil exporters including russia gathered in istanbul on wednesday. they agreed to hold two days of talks in vienna. starting on october 28th to discuss the output cap. opec reached an agreement late last month on supply. russia mong thehe participants eager to reach a cap. an invitation is to be extended to the united ststates. the country is the world'd's largest oil producer as shale oil production has continued to expand. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're lookingg at. gasoline pririces in japan have risen for the firirst time in fr weeks. the increase follows an opec agreement to cut production. officials at the oil information center say the average retail price of a liter of gas on tuesday was 122.8 yen or about

$1.18. that's up by 0.1 of a yen from the previous week. a bank of japan survey shows fewer people than before expect prices to be higher in a year's time. 65.1% said prices would rise in the next 12 months. that's down 7.3 points from the previous quarterly survey and the fifth straight decline. the result suggests the persisting inflationary mind-set despite the monetary easing program. there is a changing trend in lifestyles in japan. people are choosing to live in smaller condominiums than ever before. younger people especially are appreciating both the flexibility and simplicity in their new taste for space. >> reporter: nishimura lives in

tokyo. after the birth of their first child, they bought a condominium. they have one room and 48 square meters. the selling point was its location. it's a five-minute walk to the company where nishimura works. >> translator: being close to the office was the top priority. i don't finish work at a set time, but i want to take my child to day care and bring him home as often as possible. that's why we focused on proximity. >> reporter: thoughts about real estate are changing. in the past condos of around 80 square meters was standard for families. now more buyers are choosing compact units for their short-term needsds. >> translator: consumers no longer look at real estate for something they'll use for a lifetime. if it no longer suits their style, they're willing to rent

it out or sell it. >> reporter: business is expanding with products for the trend. they include items that are to provide stability in small spaces. for example, a hut that goes inside the room. it can easily be removed if the owner sells the unit. and furniture designed for comfort in tight quarters. the focus is on pieces that serve multiple roles in small spaces. for example, a sofa that quickly becoming a bed. so thehe living room can be a bedroom too. and a kurt desk. placing on top to make a dining table. it can be used for work or for mea meals.

they visit families loving in small condominiums to learn more about their needs. >> translator: anything inconvenient about living here? >> translator: there's no bedside table. >> if we can do solutions that work in small space with multifunction, we know we are good. >> reporter: like their counterparts in other parts of the world, families are finding that small living suits them. this change in lifestyle is opening up new opportunities for businesses. nhk world, tokyo. you can catch our report again online together with a full transcript. look for nhk world and business wrap. that's a look at business news. i'm going to leave you with the markets.

you're watching nhk "newsline" coming to you live from tokyo. parts of the balkan peninsula are covered in heavy snow as sayaka mori tells us in this hour's world weather report. >> yes. some ski resorts in europe have alreadady openened due to the rt cold snap. and the first snowfall of the season fell in parts of croatia. it was accompanied by strong winds. i'm going to take y you t to nortrthern croatatia. mountains i in northern croatia were b bnketed i in heavy snowfafall. a stotorm caused up to 3 30 centimeterers of snow earliliers week withh strong winds,s, a blizzard took place making the roads impassable.

weatheher improved on wednesday but a rainstorm is expected in the balkan peninsula during the weekend. it is potent and a low pressure system over the peninsula caused significant flooding in romania. also it caused some damage across ukraine. one person was killed due to a falling tree. the system is now located over the balkan -- actually, the black sea region. that is causising -- this syste will cause some heavy r rainfal for the valalleys and also snowfall up in the mountains. we have reports of gusts of about 140 kilometers per hour in the south of france. now, temperatures are going to be in the single digits in warsaw. now, let's go to asia. there's a tropical depression which is expected to move into cambodia as well as vietnam.

there's another tropical depression just to the east of the philippines. this is expected to intensify ininto a tropical stormm withine next 2 24 hours. it is expected to move into the north of the philippppines as a stronger storm. we'll keep you posted. the first in a series of october storms is expected to move into the pacific northwest and actually some areas over the pacific northwest already seeing some heavy rainfall and strong winds. we have high wind warnings in place for parts of oregon as well as washington and heavy rain warning is in place in metro vancouver. thisis is a potent systemem. we're expecting another system to come by thursday night and there'ss one more to come on yor saturday. so we will see rainfall persisting the next five days or so. vancouver will see rainy and wet

conditions into the weekend. that should continue into next week. it's wet and windy across the northwest but cooler areas in the great lakes region. we have freeze warnings or frost advisories posted in the area. and across the atlantic, there's an extremely dangerous hurricane approaching bermuda. this is nicole. packing winds of 260 kilometers per hour. this is a category 4 hurricane. it is a powerful system. it is expected to pass over or get close to the bermuda islands on thursday. if it hits the area as a category 4system, it isis going to be the first event in history. we're expecting heavy rainfall with powerful winds andnd storm surge up to 2.5 meters. that's high enough to cause some severe coaststal flooding. all right. that's it for me now. here's the extended forecast.

kumamoto city castle has been opened for the first time since it was rattled by the earthquake. they invited media in to see the damage caused. workerss beganan repairing the walls and turrets in july. now they're assessing what needs to be done inside. city officials say the m most dazzling room survived largely unscathed.d. its gold leaf paintings were unharmed. but part of the floor sank about four centimeters. other rooms weren't so fortunate. the quakes distorted paintings, cracked the walls of a tea

ceremony room, and warped some paper screens. most of the damage occurred when sections of the exterior wall chanced. "newsroom tokyo" comes toña7

genie: you're watching france 24. time for 60 minutes live around the world. i'm genie godula. these are the headlines. the nigerian government says 21 schoolgirls kidnapped by boko haram have been released. that comes after government negotiations with the group brokered by the red cross and the swiss government. the terror suspect arrested in germany last week has killed himself despite being on suicide watch.