all right. for more details of that blueprint for economic reform in china, we turn to ai uchida at the business desk. >> thanks a lot, yuko. observers of xi jinping's leadership a looking for signs of progress. leaders released a statement after the third plenary session. they emphasized economic reform and laid out a vision for the government market relationship. they said the market should play a decisive role in allocating resources. but the leaders push for a continued focus on public ownership in a state-driven economy. they also targeted improving the lot of farmers hard hit in the wake of economic development. they called for boosting their property rights and giving them the same access to public services as urban residents. i spoke with the former beijing representative for the bank of japan to get his take on the proposed reforms. he's now research director at the canon institute for global studies.

>> it is expected that there will be very few new menus, because important structure reform menus were postponed in the former administration. so the menus are very, very known. and the other thing is, originally, it is expected that the communique should be very ambiguous because of the very strong -- from the vested interest group. >> right. and how ambiguous was it? >> so, originally, i also expected the am bbiguouambiguou actually more ambiguous than expected. >> and why would it not be good to have a comprehensive communique? >> too comprehensive communique was not good. but this communique is not too

comprehensive. so i think this is good point. because reform needs priority and it shows two priorities. one is reform of the state-owned enterprises. and the other one is reform of the local government and administration system. >> right. i want to talk about the state-owned enterprises. you know, with so much vested interest, how can the leaders go ahead with changes? >> yeah, it is very, very difficult. no one can expect it, but if they should do that, if they don't reform the state of enterpri enterprises, they will face a very weak economic fundamentals in ten years. and in 2020s, the chinese economic rapid growth age will end and they will face a very stable economic growth age. and if at the time the

state-owned enterprise lose their vigorous competitiveness, china will face a trade deficit and fiscal deficit. that will be disaster for them. so they should push the reform of the state enterprise -- state of the enterprises now. >> and so you're saying they only have about a decade to do that? >> only ten years. managers of japanese companies have been encouraged by signs they're seeing in the economy. they've spent more on equipment over the past few months, but machinery orders dipped in september. officials at the cabinet office say domestic firms placed orders with machinery makers worth about $8 billion. thfigure is down 2.1% from the previous month. monthly orders in august were the strongest since the height of the global financial crisis in 2008.

the figures excluded orders for ships and those from power companies due to their volatility. now, orders from the manufacturing sector increased 4.1%. the nonmanufacturing sector saw a 7% decline. people in that sector have seen sluggish demand from financial and insurance firms. wholesale prices for october posted the largest year-on-year increase in five years. that's from a weaker yen and stronger demand for homebuilding. officials at the bank of japan said the corporate goods price index picked up 2.5% from a year earlier. that marks the seventh straight month of increase and the biggest rise since october 2008. the cost of lumber and wood products surged more than 13%. prices of pet tole yum and coal products gained about 13%, and

water, gas and electricity rates went up nearly 12%. the boj officials say the prices of auto-related products are also start to go rise because of growing demand. eu leaders have pledged 45 billion euros -- that's about $60 billion -- to tackle unemployment among young people. eu leaders met in paris to discuss the problem. they announced measures, including more job training. they also want to assist groups that help young people find work. eu nations can access the $60 billion fund if they submit specific national plans to counter youth unemployment by year end. european council president herman fandrupi stressed the importance of stabilizing the region's social and political situations. he said the eu is trying to spur economic growth and put an end to youth unemployment. young people in the region are still having trouble finding jobs after the credit crunch. more than half of those under 25

in greece and spain are out of work. shopkeepers in traditional markets in south korea have seen big retail stores pop up all around them. some have been unable to keep up with the competition. now many are turning to technology used by the rivals in an effort to survive. nhk world's anna jong explains. >> reporter: shingi market began in the 1970s. they sell fresh food and daily necessities. south korea has 1,500 of these traditional markets. now technology is helping with tradition. since may, kim jo nin has become one of the shopkeepers to use a gadget in his 30-year-old grain store. a telecommunications company

installed a device for free. it handles everything from credit cards to reward cards and the gathering and analyzing of purchase data. many shops used to be cash only. young shoppers at the market said they prefer to pay by card. customers migrated to large chain stores. some shops in the market were first to close. owners hope this technology will bring them back. young customers are already appearing at kim's store. they can use credit cards and collect points. sales have jumped more than 20%.

kwong nin cho runs a rice cake store. he's started using another gadget. when he makes deliveries, he attaches a device to his phone. he can process credit cards anywhere. >> translator: sales at the stores have risen by 10% to 50% since we began providing help. there's been a real rise in customers, particularly housewives in their 30s and 40s. if this project is successful, we want to help other traditional markets. >> reporter: another telecom firm is helping the markets to promote themselves. the work attracts retirees. pak koho is one of them. the firm told him how to use social sites and blogs. now pak has become a volunteer.

pak is in charge of promoting socho market in seoul. he lives close by so often goes to search for hidden name brand stores and good places for fresh food. he takes photos of this rustic shop and offers them to social networking sites. public relations volunteers like pak are active in 23 traditional markets nationwide. >> translator: i'm very happy because there has been a clear increase in sales. >> translator: many people use smartphones now. i think people running stores in traditional markets want to increase their sales by utilizing those devices. we've had good reactions to what we're doing. >> reporter: the government has

announced a plan for next year that will use technology to make traditional markets more competitive. this work between the public and private sectors may revive markets in south korea that existed before the rise of king stores, the internet and smartphones. anna jung, nhk world, seoul. and that's the latest in business. back to yuko for other news. >> all right. thank you very much. the israeli prime minister has made an about-face on something that's been a threat to the middle east peace process. benjamin netanyahu canceled a plan to build thousands of new homes in occupied territories. housing ministry officials wanted to put up about 20,000 homes for jewish settlers in the west bank. the settlement is considered a violation of international law and the latest announcement prompted palestinian leaders to warn they would walk out of

peace negotiations. >> we were surprised by these announcements. >> then netanyahu's aides issued a statement. it said he ordered the housing minister to reconsider saying it would create unnecessary friction with the international community. vietnamese leaders have grown uneasy with china's influence in their country and throughout the region. they've turned to another major power in an effort to shore up their economy and their military. vietnamese president welcomed russian president vladimir putin to hanoi. they made dozens of deals from defense exploration, to oil reserves. >> translator: vietnam is most dynamic developing country in asia pacific. it's a longstanding reliable partner with russia. >> translator: russia is our most important partner. we have to continue to move forward and develop a strong relationship in different

fields. >> the vietnamese and chinese have made competing claims to islands in the south china sea. vietnamese leaders have bolstered their defenses by buying six submarines from russia. the russians will increase their exports of military supplies and they'll provide training to vietnamese forces. the russians had already agreed to help build vietnam's first nuclear plant. they confirmed they would speed up construction and they said negotiators would keep working toward a free trade deal. caroline kennedy has been sworn in as the united states ambassador to japan. she is the daughter of late u.s. president john f. kennedy. secretary of state john kerry administered the oath of office at the state department in washington. >> i'm caroline kennedy. >> the new ambassador posted a video message online for the japanese people. >> as ambassador, i look forward to fostering the deep friendship, strategic alliance

and economic partnership between our countries. together our two countries have done much good for the world. and we can do so much more. >> kennedy grew up in a family dedicated to public service. she says she saw how people can solve challenges through commitment, communication and cooperation. she speaks for a visit to hiroshima when she was 20. she says it left her with a profound desire to work for a better, more peaceful world. she also talks about her honeymoon in kyoto and nara. kennedy is expected to arrive in japan on friday. a new york-based artist known for his bright colorful style has come to japan on a mission. peter marco says art can brighten the lives of children recovers from 2011 disaster. nhk world's jun yoshomoto has

more. ♪ extra time and your kiss >> reporter: pop artist peter marko is on a roll. bright colors, bright creatures mark his designs. he's visiting ishinomaki, one of the cities hit hardest by the earthquake and tsunami. marko has come here to spend time with children. >> beautiful. >> reporter: this is the artist's second trip to the area. his first was about a year after the disaster. >> what is this, a residential house? >> reporter: marko knew it would take a long time for people in the area to recover. he went through a similar experience on september 11th, 2001.

marko says the attack left many new yorkers feeling angry or depressed. he decided to use his art to lift people's spirits. >> i wanted them to be happy. i wanted them to feel hope and these other things. be strong and be happy that you're still able to remember the good times and continue your life. >> reporter: marco created hundreds of paintings around the city, from restaurants to public buildings. the works lend a splash of color wherever they appear. >> you know, with all these corruptors, it is very interesting. >> it showed that there's goodness in the world still. >> reporter: marco also likes to spend time with children. he holds drawing workshops and entertains children at parties. he says kids give him inspiration. marco visited an after-school facility.

he says art can help kids here bounce back from the disaster and have fun along the way. >> he has a very, very long tail. >> translator: i was amazed to find eyes in the rice bowl. you usually don't draw eyes on such things. >> translator: i think it's great. he made us smile. >> it was great. it was terrific. because it's great therapy for, you know, when you're young, you don't really have a full grasp of the language, whether it's the japanese language or the english language, but you can express yourself with pictures. so if they can, you know, draw and do things, it's going to help them with the healing process to understand their feelings and help them deal with them. >> reporter: marco says he hopes

his pictures will continue to make the children smile, even after he goes home. he says he'll visit again to make more pictures and share more laughs. nhk world, ishinomaki. thousands of residents are still waiting to go home. vast tracts of land are still waiting to be restored. and more than half of fishing ports on the pacific coast must be rebuilt. people in northeastern japan still face challenges following the 2011 disaster. but step by step, they're moving forward. see their stories every wednesday on "the road ahead" right here on "newsline." all right. time now to check the latest situation in the philippines. mai soji from the weather desk

joins us now. >> we are tracking this weather depression over water. the water surface is about 28 or 29 degrees, enough to intensify this system into a tropical storm. it could become the 31st tropical storm of the season heading toward vietnam, possibly making landfall into the next 72 hours. it will be providing associated southwesterly winds, and that will be dropping some drenching amounts of rainfall in parts of the philippines. that includes the central regions, including the devastated worst-hit areas as well. we'll keep a close eye on this. now, here in japan, this is a very typical wintry pressure pattern that we see during midwinter, but snow is piling up in northern japan. sukayu has seen more than 70 centimeters, and is likely to continue for a little bit longer. but tomorrow, high pressure system will be dominating the country and rising the temperatures due to the associated southerly winds rising the temperatures.

a gradual warming trend in much of japan into tomorrow. instead, we have widespread snow showers across northeastern china and showers will be spreading here in northeastern korea. now let's take a look at europe. we're seeing unseasonably warm temperatures in parts of the iberian peninsula. take a look at what's happening with spain due to that. that and dryness combined, they're struggling with one of the worst wildfires of the year. the cause is still unknown, but 500 hectares of land have burned and dozens of people were evacuated. firefighters are still trying to get the blaze under control. light rain is expected by wednesday, but it doesn't look like it will be enough to improve this situation. you don't see a lot of precipitation or rain clouds developing over the iberian peninsula, and we have still the warmth carried from africa pumped up, and also dryness here. that's going to be continuing for a little while longer, but in forward the latter half of the week, the iberian peninsula will look at very wintery weather to come. here the thunderstorms are

widely spread, and we have about 400 or even more millimeters that piled up, accumulated in the northern tip of africa, southern italy and the balkans will also be under this. isolated tornadoes cat not even be ruled out. we have a cold front that is sweeping across paris, france, germany, and anywhere below that we may see some thunderstorms. paris for now on wednesday 11 degrees with partly sunny skies. berlin at 10 degrees. take a look at lisbon at 22 degrees, plenty of sunshine. that's well above the average range. now to the americas. wintry, cold chill spill is dominating much of this continent. this is due to this high pressure system blanketing the region, and it's providing the area with really wintry cold. in fact, record low temperatures are hitting some of the areas in the northeast. for example, in new york, minus 1 degrees is for your low on thursday, and talking about central park. we may see some record

challenging temperatures of about 3 degrees. that's since 1977. so that could be record challenge again on wednesday in new york. but on the other side, los angeles at 32 degrees. midsummer-like temperatures. sometimes even those kind of temperatures aren't seen in los angeles in the summer. it's also very dry so a danger of fire across the region. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

and that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. thank you very much for joining us.

tavis: good evening from los angeles. tonight come a conversation with grammy-winning singer steve gyro -- steve tyrell. the songs of sicon. he will perform two of the most endearing. glad you have joined us, conversation from steve tyrell coming up right now.

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: grammy winner steve tyrell is introduction to popular moves -- popular music started at age 19. burts already working with bacharach. he went on to work with bonnie raitt before striking out as a performer in his own right. his latest cd is called "it's

magic, the songs of semicon. kohn."ammy a little sneak review you did to this before the record even drive. >> last year. it was this semi-con -- it was the sammy kohn centennial. he was a great writer. nominatedll, he was 27 times for the academy awards, which is unbelievable. people wouldthat ask him what comes first, the music or the lyrics? he would say the phone call. [laughter] that is where he got his inspiration. five golden globes, just an amazing lyricist. year.xtending that this i am about to start my ninth year at the café carlyle. last year, i did sammy's theme

all year. willl call my word -- i call my show "wordsmith." tavis: run some names. >> hal david, nobody talks about how david game one of the points -- about how david. david.l one of the points i want to bring out is that most of the time the writers are overlooked or they get confused as to who did what. i am going to do a couple of songs from my friend carol king. people will say she wrote the best female songs of all- time. ♪ you make me feel ♪ you make me feel like a natural woman ♪ ♪ will you still love me

tomorrow? ♪ her husband wrote those lyrics. she wrote the music but he wrote the lyrics. dorothy fields was fantastic. she wrote "the way you look tonight." she wrote like 400 songs or something. so i will get into all of that this year. and then there were some people who wrote both, like cole porter. wasn't born ine a poor family in the lower east side or in brooklyn. was from indiana. >> you messed up my joke. [laughter] i was going to say that he is from peru, indiana. tavis: i know the cole porter story. michael jackson, of course