samsung strikes back. the south korean electronics maker adds the iphone 5 to its patent battle with apple. samsung electronics is upping the ante in its on going legal war with apple. the south korean and u.s. technology giants have been fighting each other in the courts over technology for smartphones and other mobile devices. now the people at samsung say they've added apple's iphone 5 to a patent infringement lawsuit. samsung alleges apple's latest smartphone violates eight of its

patents. the claim targets technologies for displaying data and storing photos. lawyers for samsung say they will exclude patents on the high-speed wireless communications protocol known as lte. samsung has an edge in this technology. samsung has received a green light from a u.s. district court in california in another case. the company can resume sales of its tablet device, the galaxy tab ten.1 in the u.s. market. the court decided in june to temporarily ban sales. it lifted the injunction after a separate lawsuit in august found this particular tablet did not infringe on apple patents. president mahmoud ahmadinejad has blamed when he calls the enemies of iran for the fall of its currency. u.s. and european leaders imposed sanctions? july to encourage iranian leaders to abandon their nuclear ambitions. now the rial has fallen to record lows against the dollar. >> translator: sanctions are used as a psychological war

waged by the enemies. we will not bow to western pressure. >> ahmadinejad said he's confident iran will get past the crisis. he said the country has enough hard currency. he defended himself against accusations from the speaker of the iranian parliament, larijani. ahmadinejad said the responsibility does not lie with the government. he called on his conservative rival to stand together against the u.s. and europe. conservative politicians are fighting for power. iranians will go to the polls next june to elect successor to ahmadinejad. iranians are finding imports more and more expensive. and the rial's fall has hurt businesses abroad. many iranian businesses trade through the united arab emirates. 400,000 iranians live in its largest city, dubai. they ship daily commodities home across the persian gulf. many are going to banks to exchange rials for dollars but some money exchanges in dubai

stopped accepting the currency. one trader said he'll have to stop exporting to iran. a spokesperson for the iranian chamber of commerce says businesses in dubai are getting one-third of previous prices. >> they are not getting any money out of iran for the goods they are sending. they stopped sending goods. therefore, they have to reduce their businesses. >> he said the rial's continued fault seems inevitable. a senkaku islands dispute. one of the newspaper's columnists suggested that china, rather than japan, has best claim over the islands in the east china sea. the rebuttal was issued by kawamura, deputy chief of mission at the consulate general in new york. he submitted a comment to the online edition of "the new york times" on tuesday.

he says the senkaku islands are an inherent part of japan's territory in light of historic facts and based upon international law. he says japan clearly demonstrated the intention in 1895 to own the islands which were uninhabited and showed no trace of having been under china's control. he says the argument that the islands are war between skra ja and china from the 20th century has critical faults and is without matter. the comment was in response to an opinion by a columnist nicholas kristof posted on september the 19th. kristof cites an article by a taiwanese collar, claiming old documents suggest japan in effect stole the islands from china in 1895. kristof says he's sympathetic to china's claim of sovereignty over the islands. last week "the new york times" carried a full-beipage ad by a chinese government affiliated newspaper claiming the islands belonged to china. the japanese consulate launched

a verbal protest calling the session one sided and misleading. the head of the international monetary fund is expressing her concerns about the tensions. christine lagarde says the trouble between japan and china could have wider effects. lagarde made the comments ahead of the annual meetings of the imf and world bank. financial leaders from around the world will meet next week in tokyo. she said china and japan are global economic forces that should not be dragged down by in their disagreement. she hopes they will try to resolve their differences. lagarde touched on risks facing the global economy. she cited the european debt problems and drastic spending cuts said to take effect in the u.s. early next year. democratic and republican lawmakers could avoid that scenario if they reach an agreement in time. lagarde said the slowdown in china and other emerging economies will be high on the agenda at the meetings in tokyo.

coming up -- the land of hope. a japanese director tells a fictional story about the threat of nuclear power. before that, car dealers in the u.s. just keep rolling. they're seeing more and more hybrids and compact cars leaving showrooms as gas prices rise. new car sales rose for a 16th straight month. research firm autodata says sales rose nearly 13% from a year ago to about 1.2 million units. some japanese automakers enjoyed big jumps. toyota's sales soared 41%. honda's rose more than 30%. nissan's sales fell by 1% after huge increase a year ago. u.s. automakers saw more modest sales. chrysler rose more than 11%. general motors marked an increase of 1.5%, and ford sales dropped slightly.

many young business leaders find themselveses challenged to understand the complexity of working with partners abroad. a university in tokyo and the japan business federation stepped in to help. lecturers at the university will offer a joint course in international business. they want to help japanese firms survive competition in global environment. professionals with experience working overseas will teach business skills once a week through january. the instructors come from 12 companies in various industries including finance, chemical, and automotive. one worked for a leading chemical firm. he gave advice based on over 20 years of experience working in the u.s. he told students to stand firm and believe in themselves instead of relying on foreign koun counterparts to lead the way. >> translator: i want to be someone who has both a global and local perspective. i want to be confident in knowing what i'm capable of.

>> translator: japan has experienced two lost decades of growth. we think if students can create a new path to the future, the country will be able to grow again. a japanese film director returned from the prestigious toronto international film festival with an award in hand. he directed "the land of hope." it was inspired by the nuclear disaster in fukushima. he tells the story of an accident that devastates residents of a fictional town and picked their struggle to survive. nhk world has more. >> reporter: the movie is directed by award winning

director, sono. sono views public interest and nuclear safety has been fading since the accident. with his new film, he wants to remind people. the film shows how the threat of radiation exposure affected local residents. this pregnant woman is too afraid to take off protective clothing. >> translator: i've made my film extremely dramatic. i extracted the essence of the whole thing and tried to express it clearly, briefly, and emphatically. >> reporter: sono visited fukushima again and again to hear from survivors.

this area was once a no-go zone, and it's still pretty deserted. as he travels through disaster areas, he came across a woman. she gave sono the plot for his film. this is toyoko susuki, a 17-year resident of fukushima. her house is 20 kilometers from the nuclear plant. in april last year, the government designated areas between 20 kilometers a no-go zone. the line was suddenly drawn through her land. her son and grandchildren evacuated their home. the family split up.

>> translator: i was shocked to hear about the no-go zone. i hadn't expected that. the air was no different on either side. why was the line drawn like that? >> reporter: this scene is based on suzuki's story. sono wanted to show the anger of people like suzuki. after completing his work, sono went back to minamisoma to visit suzuki. he wanted suzuki to be the first

to see his movie. >> translator: the actors speak for us disaster survivors. i'm still frustrated. tears well up in disappointment. >> translator: i'm relieved to hear her say this. everyone should take nuclear safety as a matter of personal concern. the film may go too far, but i'll be satisfied if my exaggeration awakens insensitive folks to recognize it's a matter

of concern for them, too. >> that was nhk world. the film opens in japan later this month, and it will be shown in theaters around the world. people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster. but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, businesses, entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time, here on "newsline." a vehicle named curiosity has been satisfying our curiosity ever since it landed on mars. nasa's rover transmitted pictures, even sound, since it landed two months ago. and the people at the space agency are aiming even higher. they want to send a manned mission to the red planet by 2030. nhk world has more on that.

>> reporter: the team designing the next generation of vehicles to drive on mars is using a not so secret technology. plastic blocks. researchers work with the blocks to develop the rovers that will follow nasa's curiosity to the martian surface. models like the help designers brainstorm concepts and identify potential problems. >> the idea is to get this gear running more smoothly here. >> reporter: novel tools like plastic blocks allow engineers to make adjustments as often as needed during the design process. this encourages creative, out of the box thinking. even the designers of the curiosity rover use blocks to help them with design challenges. >> that's pretty smooth. >> yeah, i think they got it.

through weeks of tinkering. >> i think with the legos, the fact that you can change it so quickly allows you to develop your designs faster. it gives you very rapid turnaround. you find out very quickly this was a bad idea or this was a great idea. >> reporter: brainstorming with blocks can be done in space. japanese astronaut satoshi furukawa use them to study zero gravity. >> translator: blocks give scientists a way to familiarize themselves with the design. this way they're not only thinking inside their heads but also using their hands. when i was in the space station, i also used blocks to build models of it. so i could test the way things work outside earth's gravity. >> reporter: nasa is also working to ensure that the next generation of engineers will have the skills to build future

rovers. to help develop young talent, nasa teams with industry to support an annual robotics competition geared for students from preschool through college. the students work with the same advanced computer programs as those used by nasa and high-tech giants like boeing. nasa scientists offer help along the way. showing the students how to use the sophisticated software to develop their own robots. >> i wouldn't have thought i could be one of those people making the rover to go to mars, but now i think i can. >> reporter: it could be decades until nasa sends astronauts to mars. by combining the use of low tech and high tech tools, nasa hopes to develop the people and technology that can turn its mars vision into reality. david hirsch, nhk world, new york.

scientists say one of the world's most popular natural attractions is this appearing fast. australia's great barrier reef has lost more than half its coral in the last three decades. a report by the australian institute of marine science says the number of reefs has dropped from 100 to 47. since 1985. the scientists identified two main causes of coral decline. the crown of thorn star fish is growing rapidly in number. the fish feed on the coral. and ocean warming is bleaching the coral. the scientists say this prevents the reef from recovering after cyclone damage. they worn coral cover could halve again by the end of the next decade if current trends continue. >> we believe that if we can take action on one of the things we can directly control, the crown of thorn starfish, it may leave the reef in a position where it can better withstand some of these climatic impacts.

>> the reef extends more than 2,000 kilometers off the coast of northeastern australia. officials and locals in india pulled together to pull one endangered species from the mud. they spent ten hours digging an indian rhinoceros from a swamp in the northeastern state. about 2,300 rhinos live in the national park, two-thirds of the world's population of the endangered animal. one of the rhinos strayed from the park after it was hit by flooding. it got stuck in mud under a bridge. locals used earth movers to free the animal. they returned it to the forest. poachers have decimated the world rhino population. the animals' horns are used in traditional chinese medicine. a television station says five rhinos were found dead with their horns missing after the latest floods. now that we are into october it's time for cooler weather, colorful leaves and what's called artistic autumn in japan.

this year, a performing artist is out to create a fusion of art forms for people on the other side of the globe. it's noh theater and more. nhk world james tengan took in the rehearsal. >> the movements of classical noh have been refined over hundreds of years. as have the sounds of western classical music. and when a performer of noh meets opera, an artistic synthesis can be revealed. tatsumi, born into a family of noh performers. he made his debut at the age of

4 and is one of the most celebrated successors. he takes his role seriously as a custodian of a history spanning six centuries. tatsumi has traveled the world bringing the spectacle of noh to have the chance to experience it. mr. tatsumi, who is it about noh you want foreign audiences to appreciate the most? >> translator: in many types of theater, performances are broadly stated. but in noh, acting is paired to the bone. performers cry quietly, like this. to express deep sadness. in other traditions, the actors may thrash about on the floor to express their anguish. noh performers accomplish this by weeping as silently as possible.

noh allows the audience members to complement what happens on stage with their own imagination. i want the audience to enjoy that freedom. >> reporter: the economy of expression turns noh into hyperexpression, but tatsumi realized audiences outside japan may have some difficulty relating to a form of theater so unlike their own. so he came up with the idea of combining noh with something they do know. orchestral music with opera lighting and production techniques. earlier this year, he gave a work he created a chance on stage in japan. the noh motions and lines maintain their form, but the music was blended with that of another tradition. two worlds came together to make one.

tatsumi is bringing this new world noh to the other side of the world for the first time. and for the upcoming performances in berlin, he's preparing a new piece with even more operatic elements. >> translator: of course, i want the audience to enjoy noh as it appreciates opera, but that's just one way of seeing noh. i hope to merge traditional japanese culture and other cultures. not by forcing them together, but by drawing on their strengths. i look toward a kind of spiritual collaboration as the ultimate form of cultural exchange. >> reporter: some may see the work as operatic noh. to others it may look like noh-inspired opera. that goes with the art. in both traditions, the final

part of the creative process is the imagination of the audience. wherever it may be. james tengan, nhk world, tokyo. >> all right. time now to check the weather. people in tokyo may need to prepare for an approaching storm. here's sayaka mori with the latest. >> we've been monitoring a couple of tropical storms in the western pacific. see the swirling clouds going up toward the north. this is ae veer tropical storm maliksi, packing winds of 90 kilometers per hour with gusts of 126. stormy conditions are occurring in the ogasawara islands. with gusts of 100 kilometers per hour and 150 millimeters of rain in the past 24 hours. as the system approaches, conditions will get even worse. gusts could hit 120 kilometers per hour and waves could hit 8

meters. it looks like it's going to move up toward the north and pass east of the islands and mainland japan over the next couple of days. stormy conditions will not pound much of japan but could generate high seas and showers as well as stormy conditions in the eastern half of the country toward thursday. down toward the south, we see this thing showing up, this is tropical storm gaemi. gaeim has been moving at a slow pace and is going to continue to do so over the next couple days. it will get ample moisture from the water. it could intensify even more. we're anticipating it to become a severe tropical storm by friday morning local time and it will likely make landfall in central vietnam as a strong, severe tropical storm over the weekend. we'll keep you posted on its progress. headed over to the americas, then. conditions are improving in the eastern u.s., but the ohio valley and eastern seaboard will continue to deal with the risk

of severe weather into tonight. torrential rain will linger in the western half of cuba. up toward the north, dry across the western half of the u.s. under the influence of this big high pressure system but it's a different story up toward the north. we have a very strong low pressure system affecting canada bringing heavy snow showers in the canadian and northern rockies. we're anticipating a snow of up to 30 centimeters in the next 24 hours or so. this system will sag toward the south. as it does, temperatures will be cooling down and also heavy snow showers are on the cards in the canadian prairies. the northern plains, as well as parts of minnesota from late wednesday. that could be the first snowfall of the season. temperatures are looking like this. 7 degrees expected in helena thursday. 13 in winnipeg. should be cooling down into the sing single digits into your thursday. heading into the atlantic, we've been talking about tropical storm nadine.

it's a tropical storm packing sustained winds of 85 kilometers per hour. it will likely move up toward the north, likely move through the azores islands by wednesday night local time then as it moves over the cooler water, it should weaken to a remnant low. all right. finally, let's go over to europe then. stormy in the northwest. stormy conditions will also expand into the southern scandinavian peninsula and northern germany. today the heaviest rain is going to be found in southern norway as well as belgium. meanwhile, another storm is affecting eastern europe, bringing severe weather. that means heavy rain, strong winds, thunderstorms as well as a risk of hail. on the other hand, staying dry and warm for the iberian peninsula. 25 degrees expected in both madrid and lisbon. all right. here's our extended forecast.

and that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. we'll be back with more news at the top of the hour, so do join us then. thank you very much for

watching.