here in japan it's 7:00 p.m. on a thursday i'm james ttengan. a key topic for tyo is a a

it's 8:00 p.m. in japan and welcome to "newsroom tokyo." special live coverage from yamaguchi prefecture. i'm sho beppu. a top level meeting between the leaders of japan and russia is taking place at the building behind me. the area is under tight security. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has invited russian

president vladimir putin to his family's hometown. a gesture of warm hospitality. but it is also seen as a reflection of the importance abe is putting on this meeting. at the top of the agenda is the territorial dispute over the northern territories. illegally occupied for more than 70 years by russia. although russia has another understanding of this issue. there's a great deal of attention on whether the leaders can find any solutions or at least a clue. putin arrived directly to yamaguchi this afternoon. and the two leaders immediately started talks. >> translator: i want to negotiate only behalf of our country. keeping in mind the japanese people who used to live on the islands. >> reporter: abe wants to push forward with negotiations on a long-standing territorial dispute over four russian-controlled islands.

but putin is expected to prioritize cooperation in areas like the economy to build up mutual trust. the two leaders have started the summit by greeting each other. >> translator: welcome to japan, president putin. this is your first visit to japan as president of russia in 11 years. i'm glad to have you here in nagato, my hometown. >> translator: thanks to prime minister's efforts, i see the relationship has been moving forward. i and my colleagues have hoped that the meetings today and tomorrow will further contribute to our relationship. >> reporter: japan refers to the disputed islands as the northern territories. it maintains the islands are an inherent part of its territory and were illegally occupied after world war ii. the dispute is the main reason why the two countries haven't

signed a peace treaty. abe has met with putin over a dozen times. his goal is to reach a deal that has eluded their predecessors for more than 70 years. abe's proposed taking a new approach on peace treaty negotiations. he pitched an eight-point economic plan back in may. >> translator: i have gained a sense that i will be able to break the impasse on peace treaty negotiations. >> reporter: recently russia has been struggling with low oil prices. and sanctions over its actions in ukraine. so it is keen on cooperation in its far east. putin says russia and japan should sign a peace treaty. but earlier this month he also said this. >> translator: we believe we have no territorial issues at all. it's only japan that believes it

has a territorial problem with russia. >> reporter: moscow maintains the islands became part of russian territory as a result of the war. >> the meeting is going on in a building behind me as we speak. we understand that the russian foreign minister has spoken to the press saying they will talk after a group meeting. now let's go to our correspondent in east hokkaido northern japan which is near the northern territories. so jun, how are the people feeling about the summit? >> well, many we spoke to are planning for the progress on the territory issue no matter how small. before leaving for the talks, abe said he will take the former residents' feels to heart so many of them have high expectations. >> former residents of the island are getting older and i

think that adds urgency to solving the matter. >> that's right. more than 70 have occupied the islands after world war ii. the average age of those driven out has topped 80. that's why many see this summit as their chance to get the island back while they are still alive. they include 82-year-old kawata and members made up of the group of former residents. kawata points out they are getting older and passing away one after the other. on territory issue would give them hope. he wants to talk even if just by a step or two. peopling living here are aware that finding solutions isn't an

easy task. but that does not stop them from hoping that the leaders will make progress. locals are watching for a breakthrough as well as joint economic activities on them in tokyo. >> jun, thank you very much. as we just heard from jun, even the former residents know an immediate breakthrough won't be easy. they are nevertheless desperate to see a solution. and that makes perfect sense. who in the world would be happy to suddenly be chased from their homeland and wait for more than seven decades for a solution? the two did have opportunities in the past to resolve this issue. expectations grew high. for example, after the krastansk

agreement. momentum never led to a breakthrough. experts say that actually the current stable political situation in the two countries gave a good opportunity to find a solution. well, both abe and putin are known as strong leaders and real strength is the courage to make painful compromises for long standing benefits. it's almost now two hours since the talks started. and it is expected that prime minister abe will speak to the press once the meetings are over. and that's it from me in yamaguchi. now we go to our studio in tokyo for the news. >> thanks, sho. renewed fighting in aleppo has prevented people from leaving the northern syrian city. it comes despite an agreement between rebel forces and russia to evacuate local residents and

anti-government fighters. people stranded in aleppo are using social media to post what many call their last messages. government forces have taken control of the city by tuesday with the help of russian air strikes. people are supposed to start leaving aleppo early on wednesday. but the two sides disagreed on some conditions and evacuations didn't go ahead as scheduled. the government and the rebels blame each other for attacking first. one person stranded in the embattled city tells nhk that everyone wants to leave. if their safe evacuation can be guaranteed. people in aleppo are using social mededia to shahare their lllls for help. >> this may be my last video. save aleppo. save humanity. >> many people are killed. many peoe now are being killed and just kept in the street and no one can help them. no way. no hospital.

don't believe anymore in united nations. don't believe anymore in the international community. >> the u.n. estimates about 50,000 people are trapped in the city. there's widespread international concern about the humanitarian situation there. a u.s. government official says north korea conducted a ground test of a submarine launched ballistic missile or slbm earlier this month. the official told nhk that the u.s. confirmed during its monitoring activities that north korea had tested the slbm at an experimental facility pl the test was aimed at developing a way to fire missiles using pressurizedd gas or air without igniting fuel inside a submarine. this is known as cold launch technology. north korea test fired slbms in april, july, and august.

the missile in august traveled about 500 kilometers. u.s. military officials have been increasing surveillance operations as they believe that north korea's development of cold launch technology would put it a step closer to deploying slbms. nhk has learned that a second u.s. military osprey has reported mechanical issues in flight. the aircraft was returned to futenma the same night as a crash landing of an osprey off japan's coast. >> reporter: nhk video footage shows personnel and vehicles surrounding the aircraft at the base. they took steps to correct the problem and the osprey landed safely at futenma. the officials say no one was injured and there was no damage to the aircraft. the u.s. military said the two incidents are unrelated. japanese lawmakers have voted in favor of legalizing

casinos. they passed a controversial bill on the matter thursday. despite resistance from the opposition and even some members of the ruling camp. >> reporter: the move ends years of political debate on the issue. the japanese government wants to approve construction on resorts that include casinos. >> translator: integrated resorts will help make japanese cities more competitive in attracting foreign visitors. >> reporter: opposition members wanted more time to debate the bill. >> translator: we cannot tolerate the steam rolling of the bill. belittling efforts. >> reporter: it will take time before a japanese casino officially opens its doors. regulatory legislation needs to

be passed first. let's go to yuko fukushima for what's happening in business. hello, yuko. so the fed raised rated and even people who don't follow closely saw that coming. why the sharp move today? >> the yen is down sharply against the dollar. it looks like they were surprised. i'll put that question to an economist in just a minute. in other news tonight, deal making in the energy sector. russian and japanese companies are lining up a raft of oil and gas projects. plus a price outlook from japan. company managers are slightly more confident we'll see some inflation next year. let's start with the u.s. rate hike. the fed has finally put the tightening program back on track. fed chair janet yellen says it

represents the economy. the policy makers made the move after they decided to raise their rate from 0.5% to 0.75%. that's a hike of a quarter of a percentage point. they say the economy has been expanding at a moderate point. >> the committee judged that a moderate increase in the federal funds rate is appropriate in light of the solid progress we have seen toward our goals of maximum employment and 2% inflation. >> yellen said the economy was highly uncertain. now predict they will be raising the rate three times in 2017. please standby

jumped 2.5 yen from yesterday. and in the stock market, managed to have another high for the year. 19,273. the index has climbed up for eight straight days now. bought exporter shares. they should do better with the weaker yen, but others decided to sell and lock in profits. and a look at other asian markets. most emerging markets dropped. value of the currency fell after the fed meeting. many traders were surprised the fed members expect to raise rates three times next year. that would mean more money falling out of developing countries to the u.s. singapore index lost 0.8%. and in shanghai, the composite there lost 0.75%. joining us in the studio now is suzuki.

great to have you with us. first of all, we've seen the dollar surge against the yen after the hike. traders were prepared for the hike. what was the surprise? >> so federal reserve develop quarterly. september forecast included two times rate hike next year. 2017. but this time today they said three times. it was a very big surprise. >> is there any other reason? >> yes. three times may only be one part of a reason. another big reason is today's economic forecast doesn't include an economic package. this package must be very aggressive. and this package will be included the forecast. probably rate hikes more than three times.

that's why market people are reacting so strong. >> but for right now, fed policy makers are saying three times next year. instead of two forecast last year. what does that mean for the economic prospect by the policy makers? >> now u.s. economy is becoming very -- latest gdp growth numbers 3.2%. so rate is only 4.6% unemployment rate. so a 4.6% means that we have to worry about the wage increase so strong wage increase. and consequently will lead to hike. but market people are reacting this possibility. >> right. so fed policy makers are seeing a stronger economy ahead compared to that prospect and the fed's rate of 0.5% to 0.75%.

how does it look? is it too low or too high? >> yes. this number is too low. because they are saying that the neutral rate is 3.0%. today's number is incredibly too low. >> we could see a rate hike soon. >> yes. >> i have to ask you about donald trump. his name comes up in every policy discussion. how do you think his election affected this decision? >> before his victory people believe the economy suffering from low inflation was secular stagnation. which is a long-term stagnation situation. but after his victory, people changed their minds. rapidly. so they will expect his package a very aggressive one and probably economy will be stimulated rapidly. and federal reserve have to worry about the overheat --

state of overheat for rate hikes. >> okay. so the fed seems determined to off the days of monetary easing. what impact do you think this rate hike next year will have on the asian markets including japan? >> yes. so rate hikes by federal reserve is favorable. because yen depreciation is pushing up the outcome of performances. and probably market people will expect a sharp increase of equity prices. bank of japan probably worry about their policy.

which means maintain 0.0%. but probably they were very happy to see dollar rising. >> and what about the developing countries in asia? >> sharp appreciation of dollar against their currencies. probably provoke capital outflow. and this will be a possibility of currency crisis. so capital will flow. >> emerging markets could suffer from the rate hike. >> yes. >> thank you very much. now to other news tonight. we heard earlier how japan and russia are keen to expand economic ties. but even before the summit started, some executives were busy making deals. many of the companies involved were turning up the heat on oil and gas projects. sources say russia's energy giant in talks with two japanese

trading firms. they're planning to build a plant to liquefy gas in the northeast. another firm is expected to work with japan oil gas and metals national cooperation and trading house. this plans to expand oil and gas fields. eyeing strategic relationships. and they're ready to shake hands. tomorrow's summit meeting in tokyo will focus on economic issues so we could be getting confirmation on those projects in the near future. now, the bank of japan's chance to expand has had little success. slightly more confident. prices will rise. stress on slightly. quarterly survey shows business expects prices to be high one year from now. the average forecast is 0.7%. that's a tiny improvement on the previous survey.. but it's the first time in more

than two years the figure has gone up. the stronger outlook reflects the imported food will get more expensive. rising crude oil prices also pushed up the outlook. aiming for a 2% rise. and that's the news for this thursday. the philippine president is stirring controversy again. rodrigo duterte has suggested that he personally killed criminals while he was the mayor of the city. he said he did so to set an example for his police officers. >> i used to do it personally.

just to show to the guys that if i can do it, why can't you. and i go around on motorcycle with the big gun and jusust patl the street. >> reporter: duterte was speaking to business leaders on monday. a cabinet minister said duterte often exaggerates his rhetoric to get his message across to criminals. he said he president always results to hyperbole. more than 2,000 people have been killed by police in his anti-drug campaign. he has been criticized at home and abroad for human rights abuses. human rights groups charge that duterte while the mayor of davau formed a group for security measures.

the indian government announced last month it would remove high denomination bank notes from circulation and introduce new ones. the move was intended to fight corruption and tax evasion. reports on how this is affecting people in the country. >> reporter: indians trying to get new bank notes are forming lines every day. >> translator: i've been waiting for five hours since 10:00 in the morning. >> reporter: many have been unsuccessful after the banks ran out of new notes. people left short of cash have been cutting down on purchases. this shop is located in the largest wholesale market in the capital new delhi. business looks slow. the owner says sales are down as much as 90%.%.

>> translator: we have practically no sales. i have trouble making my payments. >> reporter: in the countryside, villages where traransactions happen almost exclusively in cash have been badly affected. about half the indian population lives off the land. now it's peak season for planting wheat. but these fields are untouched. the farmer has no money for seeds. forming demand due to the lack of the buyers has pushed the potatoes down to 1/3 of what it was. this farmer can't hararvest his sugar cane. >> translator: i don't know what i can do about it. i'm feeling at a loss. >> reporter: the government has told people to exchange their old notes. but it hasn't issued enough new

ones to replace them. concerns are mounting over possible negative effects on the economy if the situation continues.

genie: you are watching france 24. time for 60 minutes live around the world. i'm genie godula. these are the headlines. the first convoy leaves aleppo taking injured civilians out of the eastern part of syria's war-torn sound. pro-syrian government fighters opened fire on the evacuees as they were getting ready to depart. is on the table at a dinner of eu leaders today. theresa may will update them on her plans to launch britain'