hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. american health authorities have moved in a special team to monitor workers at a u.s. hospital who were exposed to the ebola virus. the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant says heavy rain could be the cause of high levels of radioactive cesium detected at the facility. and health experts say

japan's elderly population is at a growing risk of undernutrition so they're trying to encourage a change in diet. tuesday marks six months since members of an islamist group kidnapped 200 nigerian schoolgirls. friends and relatives held a rally to urge the government to do more to free them. members of boko haram seized the girls from their school. the protesters gathered in the capital -- about 06 people wearing red t-shirts with the message bring back our girls marched near president goodluck jonathan's home. >> it has taken too long. it's 183 days today. >> mr. president, will take the necessary action to see our daughters are back now in our life. >> jonathan has said that he and

members of his administration are doing all they can. officials at the world health organization say the ebola outbreak is the most severe acute health emergency in modern times. they say the virus is killing 70% of people infected and say doctors in west african nations could see 10,000 new cases a week in the coming two months. >> it is 8,914 cases are the number today. we will go over 9,000 cases this week. this trend, as you can see, the number of reported deaths are 4,447 as of this morning. >> alyward is calling for the strengthening of medical systems worldwide to protect medical workers from the virus. his remarks came after reports that hospital staff in the u.s. and spain became infected while treating patients with ebola. alyward says that health authorities in each country must find out how the infections occurred and he says medical

institutions will have difficulty ensuring thorough preventive measures if they don't have enough personnel. u.s. health officials say it's unclear how a u.s. health care worker contracted the virus at a hospital in texas. they say other staff were at risk and they are monitoring staff who cared for a liberia man who died of the disease. the director of centers for disease control and prevention announced the measure on tuesday at a news conference. >> there were at least 76 people who might have come into contact with him or his blood and who are being monitored now. >> frieden also says the cdc will be ready to respond to any new cases in the u.s. should they emerge. >> starting today is establishing a cdc ebola response team. we will put a team on the ground within hours with some of the world's leading experts.

>> and u.s. president barack obama says american hospitals are stepping up their readiness. >> we are going to make sure that all the lessons learned from dallas are then applied to hospitals and health centers around the country. as i've said before, we have the public health infrastructure and systems and support that make an epidemic here highly unlikely. >> the president also says the world as a whole isn't doing enough to contain the threat of ebola and he's urging other leaders do to more to stop the outbreak. british government officials have started checking passengers for ebola at london's heathrow airport. travellers arriving from liberia, guinea and sierra leone are asked to fill out questionnaires about their health. nurses are checking the body temperatures of passengers and asking for their contact information while in britain. no direct flights connect heathrow and the three countries.

but officials say nearly 90% of air travellers from west african nations use connecting flights that arrive at heathrow. they will expand their screening programs to cover other airports and train stations in britain. here in japan, medical workers are stepping up their preparations to prevent secondary infections. 47 hospitals have been designated to treat patients if an ebola case is confirmed. one of the designated hospitals in tokyo held a training session for medical staff. nurses wore protective gear when collecting blood samples and changing sheets. >> translator: it is very tough for nurses in protective suits to change a patient's clothing, sheets and deal with vomiting. >> hospital officials decided to use disposable sheets. the nurses will work in pairs

and a third nurse will monitor the procedures to prevent mistakes caused by fatigue. the hospital staff plans to draw up new manuals by next week. security forces in iraq say that militants are staging attacks in and around baghdad they say more than 50 people have been killed since the weekend. iraqi police say a car bomb exploded at a check point near baghdad. they say at least 21 people were killed including a vice interior minister. he was reportedly heading to a shia mosque. a day earlier three bombs exploded in a predominantly shia district of the iraqi capital. local police say at least 30 people were killed. no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. but security forces have been battling islamic state militants in the area. militants have also been staging attacks in the western province of anbar. they stormed a training servant

for iraqi forces and drove troops out from the facility. islamic state fighters are threatening to take full control of the province. the u.s. secretary of state and russia's foreign minister have exchanged views on the situation in ukraine. john kerry and sergey lavrov agreed on the importance of a cease-fire in the eastern region but they differed on how to reach a lasting resolution. kerry and lavrov met for more than three hours in paris. they discussed a cease fire that struck last month. kerry later said that russian leaders need to make sure that all points of the cease fire agreement are achieved. he demanded that russia withdraw all troops and weapons and free detainees. lavrov says responsibility lies with the separatists. he said they must reach a resolution through talks and implementing the cease fire agreement.

investors don't like what they're hearing. what is going on in the markets? >> when investors are feeling worried they tend to pull their money out of stocks. and that's what we have seen them do for a week. yesterday the nikkei fell to a two-month low. the benchmark index is still trading below that 15,000 level this morning. analysts say there are too many uncertainties including concerns about slowing growth in many parts of the world and that is holding down stock price everywhere including in tokyo. investors in japan like elsewhere are moving their money into government bonds. the yield on the ten-year jgb are falling. against the yen the u.s. currency is trading at 107. and against the euro at 1.26.

the kospi is trading in positive territory, up about .1%. in shanghai, the key index is down .1%. and the hang seng is trading higher, up more than .5%. german government officials are worried about the ukraine and the middle east and now less bullish about their economy. they've lowered economic growth forecasts for this year and next. the officials reduced their projection for gdp growth for 2014 from 1.8% to 1.2%. that they slashed their estimate for 2015 from 2% to 1.3%. the officials say a drop in exports is a reason for the lower growth estimates. they say the domestic economy is strong enough to sustain growth but they point out that business people are less confident. political leaders in berlin are

reluctant to use fiscal spending to prime the economic pump. they say sound public finances are crucial to long-term growth but the lower projections of growth will likely fuel domestic and international calls for the government to boost spending. managers at small and mid-sized japanese companies are having a tough time coping with higher raw material costs. government officials want people in the financial services industry to help people deal with the situation. the weaker yen have pushed up the cost of small materials. smaller firms are finding it hard to raise the price for their services to reflect the additional expense. officials at the financial services agency have asked groups to lend a helping hand. the agency wants financial institutions to give smaller businesses advice on financing. it also wants lenders to be

flexible when it comes to setting terms for loans. business leaders from japan and australia have set their sights on promising new markets. they hope to increase cooperation in economies in asia. about 300 business leaders from the two countries took part in the annual meeting of the australia-japan joint business conference. people at the conference say firms from the two countries should jointly set up businesses in asia in areas such as agriculture and infrastructure. the head of the japanese delegation says it's time to turn talk into action. >> translator: our job is to make a reality of what we discussed at this conference. >> the business leaders issued a joint statement calling for quick parliamentary approval of the economic partnership agreement the two countries signed in july. officials at major u.s.

banks say active trait trading on financial markets is boosting their earnings. they report positive results for the july to september quarter. j.p. morgan chase the largest u.s. bank posed a net profit of $5.6 billion. the bank booked a loss for the same period last year. officials at citigroup reported a 6.6% profit and wells fargo a 2.7% increase. factors such as uncertainty about when the fed will lift its near-zero interest rate policy made the bond and foreign currency markets more active. that pushed up revenues the banks received from commission. another reason was scotland's independence referendum. japanese textile makers are promoting their innovative fabrics in milan. they are phasing a rise in cheap clothing imports and they are trying to boost their sales in europe with a "made in japan" level.

>> the world's top fashion show, milan fashion week was held in september. streets filled with shops selling luxury brands give the city of milan an air of glamour. the textile fair was held just before the fashion show. only the world's top italian and european textile makers exhibit at the show. this year, however, after decades of negotiations, 29 japanese firms finally secured a place at the show to exhibit their products. japanese makers strengths lie in their cutting edge technologies. a special technique is used to weave this veil-like fabric. different materials are used to create the right and wrong sides of the fabric.

>> this material is 100% cashmere. >> japan is always such an inspiration. also because they are very refind. >> reporter: this textile manufacturer based in hamamatsu city received over 100 inquiries from the trade show. the company has just eight employees. they have a high thread density. the firm's fabrics use 20% more thread than conventional fabrics. this creates a textile that is as strong as card board.

many buyers in milan expressed interest in using this material to make coats and jackets. this fabric was created by the president of the company -- who has been in the business for 46 years. -- creates unique fabrics by fine tuning the shuttle loom with his practiced hand. fabric is created by moving threads up and down to interlace them with the cross-wise thread. -- modified the company's shuttle loom to raise the warp thread higher to increase their an until the weaving process. it brings the cross-wise threads clother together in the fabric. this requires more thread and thus creates a denser textile.

-- continues to make refinements to develop new textiles and plans to exhibit his fabrics at -- again next year. it's important to keep going to italy every year in person. it's necessary to get feed back from designers. >> reporter: japanese textile firms hope their first exhibit at the textile show in milan will expand their textile sales in europe. but companies must continue to improve their technologies and develop new fabrics. >> that's all for now in business news. i'll leave you a check on markets.

scientists at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant say they recorded the highest levels of radioactive cesium ever. measured on the coastal side of the plant. officials at plant operator tokyo electric power company say heavy rainfall from a typhoon may be the cause. they say water taken from a well contained 190,000 becquerels of cesium 137 and 61,000 becquerels of cesium 134 per liter. and they say that's more than three times the level of the sample taken from the same well four days earlier. the well for observing groundwater is located on the coastal side of the number 2 reactor building. highly contaminated water that flowed into an underground tunnel in the 2011 accident seeped into soil in the area.

tepco officials say the heavy rainfall from the typhoon last week likely caused radioactive substances in the soil to flow into the groundwater. they're planning to increase the frequency of water sample tests to monitor the effects of the heavy rainfall. they say it will be difficult to take drastic steps because they don't know how far contaminated water seeped into the ground after the accident. health authorities in the japan say the country's elderly are not taking enough protein and urge them to take more to avoid malfunction. food companies are promoting a better diet in an effort to win part of the growing senior market. >> reporter: ako nakagawa is 83. after a physical exam two years ago her doctor told her she was on the point of becoming undernourished if she didn't change her diet.

>> translator: i didn't know what to make of it. i thought i'd been eating well. >> reporter: she ate three times a day but breakfast and lunch were little more than toast and coffee, while dinner consists mainly of rice and vegetables. since her husband died eight years ago, she has lived alone. she says that as she's only cooking for herself, she doesn't bother to prepare meat or fish. a blood test revealed a reduced level of albumin, a type of protein. nakagawa was on the borderline of undernutrition. young bodies efficiently build muscles and blood vessels when given protein. but this ability declines with age. elderly people need more protein than younger people to maintain their strength.

undernutrition leads to a greater risk of injury and disease. a study by the health and labor ministry found roughly 20% of elderly people who think they're healthy are actually undernourished. >> translator: when protein levels are reduced, muscles get weaker and people tend to dehydrate more. dehydration increases the risk of bone fractures in a fall and becoming bedridden. >> reporter: the city in kitagushu in southern japan has a significant aging population. in july this year the local government began to address the issue of undernutrition. people trained to give dietary advice pay visits to elderly people in their homes. first they take measurements of height and weight to find whether that person is tending toward malnutrition. toward mall nutrition. next, they interview them about their daily diet.

elderly people often find it hard to prepare dishes using many different ingredients. the advisors provide hints on easy ways to increase their protein intake. [ speaking foreign language ]. >> translator: people are even more likely to become undernourished if they are always at home alone and not in contact with anybody. >> reporter: companies have also been developing products to boost nourishment. one major foodmaker is marketing a supplement drink that provides substantial levels of protein in just a single cup. another company is offering easy-to-take amino acids to help the body to produce its own protein. the supplement helps to build muscle more efficiently, even in older people.

and in fukuoka, southern japan, a group of dietitians is offering consultations in a pilot shop. it stocks 300 different products, samples are available for customers to try. a dietician is always on site to give individual advice. >> translator: there are many different options here so we want to make it easier for customers to choose what they need. >> reporter: with the ranks of the elderly growing in japan, health experts are keen to spread the idea that good nourishment is the best preventive medicine. >> people heading to work in tokyo have bundled up this morning. most areas in eastern japan are seeing the temperature drop significantly. mai shoji has the details for here and elsewhere in our world weather report.

>> it's is calm after the storm. a high pressure system is dominating much of japan and the eastern half of the country is seeing very chilly temperatures. in fact temperatures are below freezing mark in much of hokkaido, minus 4.5 degrees in the higher elevations in hokkaido are seeing wintery precipitation already. down in tokyo at 16 degrees and and the high is only going to be up to about 19 degrees today. that's about 8 degrees lower than what we saw yesterday. we're going to see on and off showers due to the low pressure system sitting south of kanto region. out in mongolia just 5 for the high and staying quite hot in the tropics and messy again in and around manila with the low pressure system but much of the continent looking at a high pressure system. however, the southwestern areas of china is seeing snow. it's going to be heavy amounts. so we have snow warning in place. 3 centimeters of snow will be falling across north korea.

out here in the caribbean, things are brewing up. in fact, this is a category 3 hurricane, which could even intensify even further into a category 4 hurricane, which is going to be the second strongest of the hurricane status. it's out in this very open water in the atlantic but it's looks like it may even hit bermuda again. hurricane fay hit bermuda last weekend. it's going to be a very short break from that devastating image we saw previously from last week. we'll keep a very close eye on it. and another system we are keeping a very close monitor is this system called anna. this is a tropical storm for now. but it could become a hurricane and it could even reach the big island of hawaii out of these very open water and hit the small island here. so we'll keep a very close eye on this system as we progress through the next few days. the pacific northwest is seeing an incoming system with gusts up to 100 kilometers per hour and

snowfall is happening across the higher elevations. quite calm in the midsection, but to the east with this high pressure system sitting here and quite stubborn, this is really slowly moving. it's going to be making its way towards d.c. and new york in the next 24/48. and this is likely to provide more hail in large size and also some strong gusts as well as even some tornadic activity. we have one death from this system from a tornado and another from very gusty conditions. so a lot of power lines could get lost throughout the day. out toward the southern hemisphere where people are supposed to be enjoying the springtime a lot of people are seeing some late-season snow in the blue mountains in and around sydney. this is due to the jet stream meandering all the way up to the north, pulling in the cold air and dominating much of this location. and we're like -- we saw the results from the storms of max

winds 161 kilometers per hour recorded in wattamolla. in fact this area actually saw sustained winds of above 100 kilometers per hour throughout tuesday evening. hence the sydney airport was closed for a little while on tuesday night and over 30,000 homes were without power. for foreseeable future we are likely to see late-season snow. a short break on thursday but another round of heavy rain could hit sydney. where the severe flooding still continues. something to watch out for. i'll leave you now for your extended forecasts around the globe.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. and from all of us at nhk world, thanks for joining us.

good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation with author and krit irk, john lah. one of the play wrights that explores how his relationship formed his work. the author of "a streetcar named desire" to nak a play. writer and producer justin simien. sun dance and the san francisco film festival t. movie has the provocative title, "dear white people." glad you could join us for those conversations coming upright now.