it's 7:00 p.m. on a monday. i'm james tengan in tokyo. we start off with a quick look at some of the stories we are following. diplomatic tour. japan's prime minister is traveling on a seven-day trip abroad and meeting with a number of world leaders. and apec takes a stand. leaders from the pacific rim vow to fight all forms of

protectionism. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is nearing the end of a whirlwind seven-day diplomatic tour. over the last week he sat down with a number of world leaders to talk policy, including u.s. president-elect donald trump. >> reporter: shinzo abe arrived in new york and headed to trump tower for his first meeting with donald trump. it's extremely rare for a japanese prime minister to meet with an american president-elect. abe's visit was apparently in line with growing concerns in japan over trump's campaign remarks. trump floated the idea of allowing japan to get nuclear weapons and he also said japan should pay more for hosting u.s. troops. plus trump said he wants to dump the transpacific partnership free trade deal. abe wants to keep it on the rails.

japanese officials say their talk was successful, a first step towards building a personal relationship. >> translator: the alliance between our countries does not function without trust. i am assured that the president-elect, mr. trump, is a trustworthy leader. >> reporter: then abe headed to lima, peru. he met with russian president vladimir putin on the sidelines of the asian-pacific economic cooperation summit. they discussed economic cooperation as well as a peace treaty. even though it's been more than 70 years, japan and russia still haven't put an official end to world war ii because of issues over four russian-controlled

islands. tokyo maintains they're an inherent part of japan. putin is to visit japan next month. the two leaders are expected to try to tackle the issues. officials say there are differences of opinion between the two countries. putin repeated his country's stance that the islands are under legal sovereignty as a result of the war and negotiations are ongoing. >> translator: russia and japan are absolutely natural partners for each other in the region and naturally complement each other. or we could complement each other if our relations were based on a peace treaty, which unfortunately is still missing. both russia and japan want such a treaty to be signed. >> reporteter: abe has said settling the issue is not an easy goal. >> translator: the path toward achieving the goal of concluding

the peace treaty is now in sight. but we have to climb this mountain one step at a time. >> reporter: prime minister abe will wrap up his tour in argentina where he will be the first japanese leader in over five decades to visit the country. he is expected to give a trip overview before heading back to tokyo. nhk world. south korea's largest opposition party says they will begin looking at the process for impeaching president park geun-hye. the party leader made the comment after the indictment of park's long-time friend and two former aides on sunday. their charges include extortion, abuse of power and leaking state secrets. prprosecutors say park conspire would the three suspects to extort millions of dollars from the businesses. >> translator: we will begin examining when and how to

impeach. we will also establish an impeachment organization. >> the president's office says the claims against park are based on speculation. prosecutors have been trying to question park, but her lawyer says she will not sit down for questioning. public criticism has continued to grow with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets for weekly protests. the country's dailies are also calling on her to resign. the conservative newspaper said in an editorial on monday that impeachment procedures should start right away. the left wing party called the president the main culprit and demanded she resign immediately. now to business headlines tokyo shares kicked off on a high note with nikkei closing above the 8,000 mark. >> the nikkei rose for the fourth straight day closing above 18,000 for the first time

since early january. our business reporter has more from the tokyo stock exchange. >> investors continued to bet on a strengthening u.s. economy and a federal reserve rate hike next month and that weakened the yen and raised bond yields which, in turn, boosted stocks. ended the day nearly 0.8% higher and that is the highest level in 10 1/2 months. the broader topix advanced for the eighth straight day. the dollar hit a key level against the yen. climbed above 111 yen for the first time since may. gained more than 9% since donald trump's election. export related companies and gained m more than 3%3%. amonong the top winners over financials since u.s. treasury and japanese government bond yields could mean more profits for banks.

mitsubishi ufcp sumitomo and mizuho were up more than 2%. they'll be looking at who trump chooses to fill key positions in his administration. giang nguyen reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. looking at other markets, it was a mixed picture today. many investors want more clarity u.s. president-elect seng index was little changed. in china, the shanghai comosite ended 3218 the closing number there. the highest closing since early january. many investors bought stocks in the hope that a weaker will boost the chinese economy. south korea kospi ending lower, but ongoing political scandal involving the president weighed heavy on market sentiment there

leaders at the asia-pacific economic cooperation summit have called for open markets in the face of what they see as rising trade protectionism. japan's prime minister stressed the importance of the transpacific partnership free trade deal at the two-day meeting in lima, peru. the leaders promised to fight against all forms of protectionism. in a joint declalaration they urged to explain the benefits of trade investment and open markets. they reiterated their commitment to creating a free trade area of asia pacific. on the global economy the leaders said all policy tools monetary, political and structural are needed to strengthen demand and address supply constraints. they touched on the issue of climate change calling it one of the major challenges for food production and food security. they pledged to cooperate more on policies to cope with these

challenges. u.s. president barack obama also gave a pitch for the tpp and said he hopes president-elect donald trump will change his opposition to it. obama was speaking to reporters after the apec summit. he described the tpp as a high-level free trade pact that includes protections for intellectual property. but he talked down another planned trade agreement, the regional comprehensive economic partnership, or rcep. >> hearing calls for a less-ambitious trade agreement in the region with lower standards, lower protections for workers, lower protections for the environment. that kind of agreement would obviously exclude u.s. workers and businesses and access to those markets -- >> the rcep includes china and japan but not the united states. a senior chinese official said beijing is not trying to gain the upper hand in creating a free trade zone. some have suggested china may be

exploiting unexpected delay and ratification of the tpp to advance its own trade plans. foreign ministry official tan jian spoke to news media following the apec summit. he stressed china is not a member of the tpp and is always open to creating a free trade zone. >> translalator: we take an equ stand on the tpp and other t tre pacts. it is not an issue of one trade zone being more important than another zone. >> tan said two of the tpp member nations, peru and chile, had expressed interest in joining the rcep. china officials are expected to keep a close eye on the incoming trump administration as they formulate trade strategy. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're following. japan's trade balance in october was in the black for the second consecutive month.

officials at the finance ministry say the surplus was $4.5 billion. the value of exports shrank but an even bigger decline in imports kept the index in positive territory. imports fell 16.5% from yen terms from the year earlier. exports were down 10.3% in yen terms from a year earlier. supermarket sales across japan rose in october for the first time in three months. the japan chain stores association put the total value of sales at more than 9,400 stores at about $9.8 billion. that's up 0.6% in yen terms from the same month last year. officials said food sales accounted for two-thirds of the total shot up on higher prices for scarce vegetables due to poor summer weather. they said sales of kitctchenwar and home interior items were brisk.

let's now take a look at our global economic calendar for the week. on tuesday japan's department store sales for october come out. sales have been sluggish recently after foreign visitors reduced spending. the next day officials from the federal reserve release the minutes of their policy meeting in november. on thursday, officials at the ifo institute in germany post their business climate index for november. on friday, japanese officials announce the consumer price index for october, the same day the uk revises gdp data. the preliminary data showed growth of 0.5% in the third quarter. every week we ask specialists to share their perspectives on the coming week. in today's edition of expert view we hear from the chief economist at credit suisse securities japan. he's expecting a another weak result for japan's inflation rate. >> we expect, again, m minus 0.

for the core cpi, the headline. so n no change from the lalast month's number and i think the trend hasn't changed for inflation rate in japan. actually, weakness of consumption has basically two backgrounds. one is the somewhat cyclical which relates to the increase in consumption tax rate in april '14 from 5% to 8%. second one is the structure which is aging population. aging population is actually weighing on consumption, because if you get old, they spend less. bank of japan policymakers this month pushed back the forecast for reaching their inflation target of 2%. the new date is around fiscal 2018. shirakawa says that's too optimistic. >> so efficient target has not changed but they change the behavior in a sense that they can wait the inflation target to

be achieved. any time within several years or couple of years. we still think that structural downward pressure on prices, which h mainly -- remaining modt wage growth, aging population,n willll continue to affect our c forerecast. and we do o not thinink cpi inflation rate touching even -- touching 2% by '19, we expect inflation rates in '18-'19 will remain around plus 1%. >> you can catch our report again online 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.

authorities have inspected a university hospital after a hole was found in an intravenous drip bag on sunday. the hospital said the unused bag was found at a ninth floor nurse station and that the hole was likely made with a needle. holes were found in three other drip bags on the floor a month ago. no foreign substances have been detected in the bags. city officials inspected the hospital to check procedures including how the drips are stored. police say that after the incidents in october, the hospital set up security cameras at the nurse station. but they were switched off on sunday due to maintenance

checks. hospital workers had been notified of that several dayss n advance. police suspect the culprit is well informed on what happens at the hospital. in september two patients were fatally poisoned through their iv drips near tokyo. police are still investigated that case. officials of the world anti-doping agency say they will step up measures against systematic doping. they've approved institutional reform plans following allegations of such cheating by russia. delegates from various governments in the olympic world took part in the wada foundation board meeting in scotland. the board agreed to grant wada authority to impose sanctions on countries and territories for serious noncompliance, such as systematic doping. penalties include banning athletes from international competitions. wada called for banning all russian athletes from the rio de

janeiro olympics after an agency panel accused the country of systematic state-sponsored doping. but the international olympic committee rejected a proposed blanket ban and let sports federations decide who could compete in the games. wada's director general expressed commitment to refoforming the agency. . >> priorities are clearly if we can get russia, get them adhering to the rules and regulations that would be best. and if there is a process that everybody wants what we've been doing for 17 years needs to be reviewed, then let's's get that done. >> the board approved the creation of an independent body to test for doping rather than leave it to event organizers. it also agreed to expand an investigation departmement set last month. now we look at a life of a

japanese man. he left japan a few decades after japan opened its door to the outside world in the 19th century. he arrived in america's wild frontier alaska and eventually became a local hero. nhk world has more. >> reporter: a life-size bronze statue was unveiled this september at the ceremony honoring his life. people took the initiative of raising funds to erect the statue. ♪ >> reporter: wada was born in 1875 in a poor farming village. he desperately wanted to explore the world. as a 17-year-old boy, he smuggled himself in a ship and arrived in alaska.

and eveventually became a a respected figure among them. >> wada had a key importance as far as the history of this community. >> reporter: dan is a veteran dog handler or musher. he considers wada a hero of alaska. 1000 years ago, alaska was stil a frontier. dog sleds were the only transportation. upon arrival, wada learned techniques from local people. has written a book about the history of the iditarod race and highlighted wada's achievements. >> he showed his endurance and showed his tenacity and perseverance and even he was quite an enterprise.

enterpriser, as well. >> reporter: this trail is one of those wada established. it is a narrow trail for dog sleds, but it was for supplying food, medicine and mail at the time in alaska. completed in 1910, the trail connected the port city of sewardiditarod 800 kilometers. they needed the trail because of this gold. mines were being discovereded i iditar iditarod. >> literally millions of dollars worth of gold came over that trail to be shipped outside. the iditarod was the last great gold rush in alasaska. and wada was an important part of that gold rush, helping develop the iditarod trail. >> reporter: after a century, people in alaska still admire

wada's achievements. >> this is the map that he drew in new york in 1913. >> reporter: this recently discovered map is set to have been written by wada. it shows the locations of gold load in detail. >> to do what he did back thenn is really something that i can appreciate. i would have loved to have met him. >> reporter: people from wada's homemetown in japan were also invited. >> translator: i have seen how people in alaska are proud of wawada. they are trying to teach their children about them. thanks to alaskan people, wada's achievement can be remembered. it is as if wada is still on his dog sled on his next mission. >> this statue is going to be

making a statement for 100 years, 200 years. >> reporter: wada catch the hearts of many people who lived thousands of kilometers away from the homeland and ray of life an honor. nhk world, alaska. you're watching nhk newsline. intermittent rain is the forecast for us in tokyo, but the weather should clear up on tuesday with highs expected to be around 20 degree celsius. jonathan oh joins us from the weather desk with this hour's update starting with the cold air mass impacting parts of east asia. >> hello. we're talking about some really dramatic changes in terms of the weather. they'r're not tiny, they're reay big changes in terms of the temperatures dropping off. we'r're seeing lows that are dropping anywhere from 20, 30, even 40 degrees belolow freezin in some of these a areas in northern portions of china, even into mongolia, even into russia. that's impacting the weather

over into northeastern china as well in terms of snow. let me show you the video and give you an idea of what's happening g on the grod d level. as we take a look at t the snowfall here, a combination of sisiberiaen cold air and low pressure has caused heavy snow into northeastern china since friday night that lasted through saturday evening. low temperatures as far as 20 degrees below zero have been reported in these areas. and by saturday, a total of seven highways were closed in some of these areas in northeastern china. more than 14,000 workers and 1,200 excavators were deployoye to clear the ice a and snow off the roads. i mentioned how cold it isis ov into ulaanbaatar. we saw temperatures plunging for reported low of 39 degrees below zero. that's cold. and we are expecting that cold air to continue to spread its influence, not only into china but also the korean peninsula and even into japan.

for those of you saying, we're rejoicing for cold weather, that's on the way later on. if you're not a fan of cold weather, bundle up, it's about to get cold. we're watching this high pressure area located over mongolia. when we had such a dramatic area of calm, sinking cold air, it intetensifies ththe high pressu. when that happens, we see really stable weather rativivel speaking, meaning it is calm but a lot of times it means it's very cold with northerly flow coming into the picture. so here's some of the overnight lows coming up later on this week. ulan bator, negative 26 degrees tuesday morning. negative 24 wednesday morning. then we get colder for thursday and friday. almost 30 degrees below zero for morning lows thursday and friday. tokyo, you're going to get mixed in with cold rain tuesday, wednesday, thursday. some areas may even see flurries if you're in some of the higher elevations there. 4 for the overnight low by friday morning. so bundle up. highs though for tuesday in tokyo up to 18. it's going to be wet.

not t even getting out of freezg in beijing undnder sunny skiese you go into the next day. speaking of cold weather, impacting north america into the northeast. a low area intensified that is sweeping in some of that northerly flow. that's going to help keep temperatures cold. 5 to 10 degrees' d difference fm the day before we'll continue to see those cold temperatures hovering around places like the windy city, also into new york city andnd montre. you'll also be seeing that. meanwhile in the west coast, we're seeing some wet weather coming into the picture. some storms rollining in. so be on the lookout, some areas could be dealing with up to 80 millimeters of rainfall as we go throughout the next few days. wet into vancouver. denver 15. los angeles seeing wet weather and cooling weather with a high of 18. single digits for chicago,o, ne york, also into washington, d.c. so bundle up as we go through monday.. speaking of more winter weather, come on towards the mainland portions of europe.

as this low pressure system continues to roll through the area, be prepared for some strong winds. wet weather extending london down into lisbon as you go into monday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook. hundreds of japanese mascots have gathered near tokyo for an event called the world character summit. ♪ the annual event was held in the city of hanyu. organizers hope their popularity will promote local communities.

about 350 mascot characters from around the country appeared that show. fans were particularly excited about the appearance from the southwestern prefecture from central japan. all the characters were there to promote regional food specialties. >> translator: the mascots were fluffy. >> i enjoyed taking pictures with characters and had a good time meeting ones i didn't know before. >> one of the highlights of the event was a group wedding. seven couples got married surrounded by mascots. some visitors made donations to help rebuilding efforts, which was hit by powerful earthquakes in april. others bought roast horse meat, a delicacy from the region.

i'm james tengan. thanks for watching this edition of nhk "newsline."qéa

genie: you are watching "france 24." these are the headlines. nicolas sarkozy's comeback comes to an end. the former french president is eliminated in round one of the conservative party primary, ousted by his own former prime minister, francois fillon. french anti-terror police arrest seven people suspected of planning a new terror attack. the majority of the suspects were not known to intelligence services before now.