hello and welcome back to "newsline." i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. first the headlines for this hour. chinese officials have welcomed u.s. president barack obama to beijing where he will sit down for summit talks with president xi jinping. 11 women in india have died after undergoing sterilization surgery as part of a government program to limit the growth of the population. north korean leader kim

jong-un has made new appearances on state-run television. one of the videos shows him walking without a cane. the leaders of the worlds two biggest economies are talking face-to-face. u.s. president barack obama and chinese president xi jinping are scheduled to meet in beijing in less than an hour. they're expected to discuss a wide range of issues including the ebola outbreak and north korea's nuclear program. ♪ obama is making his first visit to china in five years. on wednesday chinese officials hosted a welcoming ceremony for him. obama and xi will have lunch and hold talks for about nine hours. the two leaders will also likely discuss the pro-democracy protests in hong kong and tensions in the east and south china seas. obama arrived in beijing on monday for a meeting of the asia pesk economic cooperation forum. and on tuesday he called for improved relations between the u.s. and china. he says he wants to help

bilateral ties reach a new level. the xinhua news agency quoted xi as saying that close communication can prevent errors in strategic decision making. the apec summit in beijing has ended after two days of talks. leaders agreed to make efforts to make a framework for a new free trade zone which will cover the entire asia pacific region. the leaders of the 21 member apec forum have issued a joint declaration. it commits the apec nations and regions to study the feasibility of the new regional economic integration. it would be called the free trade area of the asia-pacific. >> translator: the apec leaders have agreed to promote a road map to create the free trade area in the asia-pacific. this is a historic step forward. >> the statement says the

results of their research will be compiled by the end of 2016 with a goal of setting up the new framework at the earliest possible date. prime minister shinzo abe says japan will lead in efforts to integrate the regional economy. >> translator: the tpp negotiations are at the final stage. we were able to share a firm will that we will conclude the talks at an early date with our political leadership. and now we are beginning to see the end. beyond the tpp, we are looking at an economic integration to create a greater market in the entire asia-pacific region. at the apec meeting, we were able to draw a road map for setting up the framework.

>> abe said japan worked with australia, the u.s. and other countries to set up the apec forum 25 years ago, and he said japan is now looking ahead to the next 25 years. he said leaders in tokyo are determined to lead efforts to create the asia-pacific free trade area. abe said he discussed the situation in ukraine and other global issues with russian president vladimir putin. abe said he wants putin to visit japan next year. he said he will enhance cooperation toward the conclusion of a peace treaty based on personal trust. the prime minister said he had a conversation with south korean president park geun-hye when they sat side by side at a banquet. ties between the two countries have been tense because of a territorial dispute and historical issues. abe said he and park agreed to promote talks between senior government officials. japan's governing and opposition parties are preparing for a possible general election. they are waiting to see if prime

minister abe chooses to dissolve the lower house and seek a fresh mandate. abe is due to decide in the coming weeks whether to raise the consumption tax from 8% to 10% beginning in october of 2015. he hasn't publicly mentioned the possibility of calling a snap vote. but political observers say abe may postpone the tax hike and call a lower house election. his liberal democratic party has already selected its candidates for most of the 295 single seat constituencies. >> translator: the winds of dissolution will undoubtedly begin to blow. we will have proper and thorough arrangements in place if the lower house election is called. >> the leader of the junior coalition partner has instructed party officials to be ready for an election in the coming months. >> translator: various pieces of

unreliable information are emerging about the lower house dissolving. i have no choice but to start make preparations. >> opposition parties are also preparing to go to the polls. >> translator: prime minister abe you're free to dissolve the lower house if you really can. we will take the challenge if that happens. >> officials with the largest opposition democratic party have chosen people to run in nearly half of the single seat districts. they plan to consult other opposition groups to avoid fielding candidates of the same constituencies as they say that would likely benefit the ruling coalition. investors seem excited about the possibility of a general election. stocks are rallying for a second straight day. and ai uchida joins us from the business desk. what's going on? >> investors think if there is a snap election there could be a delay in a sales tax hike. so speculation about abe

dissolving parliament is encouraging investors to buy stocks. and the key index is trading at the highest level in more than seven years. for all the details on individual shares let's go to ramin mellegard. he joins us now and has a full wrap up for us. hi, what can you tell us? >> the investors are getting a boost in sentiment following news of a possible snap election and we're seeing the yen's weakness continuing. the nikkei is at 17,273 up 0.8%. and the topix at 1,385. stocks extending gains for a second day after u.s. markets hit record closing highs yet again. but the nikkei is driven higher. more on political developments as investors chew over the possibility of a general election in japan and rumors that next year's second increase in the consumption tax may be delayed. we're seeing a lot of gains in

retail stocks. all gaining today. also we were following one standout stock, fujifilm holdings. it jumped over 5% at one stage today. i saw a media report that says that its drug to be formally approved for treating patients with the ebola virus after it receives clinical test results as early as the end of thor yao. the dollar/yen pair a big focus right now at 115. 43-46. it broke above 116. but bakd off a little bit. a quick look at asian indexes. profit taking in the shanghai composite after the surge on the news of linking its shares on hong kong's hang seng next

monday. australia is also lagging. >> thanks for that update. japan government officials have been moving to reduce the effect of the corporate tax rate however there are concerns about drop in revenue. so the officials are looking at ways to make up for it. the finance minister and the head of the biggest business organization have met to discuss a possible solution. finance minister taro aso and the chairman of the business federation, keidanren, yoichi miyazawa, agreed that the government should expand the coverage of the size-based corporate tax. right now that tax is levied on major corporations even if they're in the red. the government is considering taxing smaller firms too from next april. aso and miyazawa also agreed on the need to lighten the tax burden on companies that give raises to their workers. a government survey shows that many fish and food

processing businesses in disaster-hit northeastern japan are still struggling. only one in five companies say their sales have recovered to same level as before the march 2011 earthquake and tsunami. the tohoku bureau surveyed 7,000 small and mid-sized companies. about 60% of the companies in all business sectors reported declining sales. 40% said sales have recovered or exceeded pre-disaster levels. by industry only 19.4% of the fish and food processing companies have said their sales recovered. as for the main reasons for the companies seeing a slow recovery they cited a loss of customers and a negative public perception about their product safety. japanese consumers spent less on tvs, computers and other digital products in october.

analysts say consumer appetite is low amid rising food prices caused by the weaker yen. the analysts at private research firm bcn say the number of tv sets sold in japan last month fell 1.8% from a year earlier. that's the second straight month of year-on-year declines. sales volume also fell, the total value of tvs sold posted a year-on-year drop for the first time since april. sales people had trouble selling other gadgets too. the number of personal computers fell more than 11%. digital cameras were down by 9%. demand for digital devices plunged in april when the government hiked the consumption tax. japanese companies are putting their latest products and technologies on display in nigeria, the lagos trade fair is one of the largest of its kind in africa.

a record 30 japanese firms are taking part this year. they joined a total of 900 companies from around the world. one major japanese electronics firm is attracting visitors attention with its fingerprint and facial recognition system. nigeria has overtaken south africa as being the continent's biggest economy. however, nigeria faces a variety of risks for investors. but the islamic extremist group boko haram is active there and the ebola virus has spread in nearby countries. >> translator: nigeria is a high risk but high return market. companies that have advanced into the market despite those risks will get decent results. >> he says many japanese companies see nigeria as a food hold to advance into other markets in africa. japanese workers are famous for putting in long hours at the office. many spend a lot of time behind the desk where they gain weight and get stiff joints.

managers at some firms are trying to turn things around. >> reporter: this is a major software development company in yokohama. about 700 engineers use computers for long hours. because of the s emd sedentary nature of their work, many are suffering from obesity and stiff shoulders. so when the company moved in august it designed the new office to promote physical activity during work hours. the floor in the hall way has a series of lines corresponding to one's body height. for example a 175 centimeter tall person is encouraged to walk with an 80 centimeter stride. that's because lengthy strides can burn more calories. this chair has a small seat with a unique arm rest that moves in a wide range. this helps the body release

tension by twisting the waist. these are balance balls that help employees straighten their backs for good posture. moreover the office layout encourages workers to walk long distances. the office space of two floors is as large as 40 tennis courts. however, there's only one stairway they can use. a meeting room, and storage for stationery are located upstairs. engineers desks are downstairs. for meetings, engineers have to walk down the long hallway and climb up the stairs in the middle of the office to finally reach the meeting room. they walk about 150 meters each

way. japanese engineers usually walk an average of 2200 steps a day in the office. but on this day this engineer doubled that with more than 5,000 steps. >> translator: when i counted my steps with a pedometer was surprised that i walked more than i expected. >> reporter: the company believes that exercise can contribute to the health of employees and also improve business performance. >> translator: healthy employees are more productive and this helps our company save on medical costs. >> reporter: this company is even promoting healthy eating among its employees. >> translator: hi, this week's vegetables are here. >> reporter: this software firm uses a new service that delivers produce to the office.

the refrirget is filled with fresh vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, small ears of corn and blueberries. the company pays for the service and its employees can eat them for free during breaks. >> translator: i live and work away from my family. so this really helps me stay healthy. >> translator: we value the health of our employees. and a good working environment. because in this way, they will continue to work well and contribute to the growth of our company. >> reporter: recruiting skilled workers is becoming more difficult especially for companies that force their employees to work long hours. so one way to earn the public's trust and attract top talent is

to offer various benefits that promote a healthy work life. and that's all for now in business news. i'll leave you with a check on markets. 11 women in india have died after undergoing sterilization surgery. the government has been promoting a sterilization program as a way of controlling population growth. the woman who died are among 60

who had surgery on saturday at a hospital. they complained of nausea and stomach pain. india health ministry officials say as of march 4 million people have undergone sterile dags. 98% were women. each patient receives about $22 in cash. officials have not determined how the women died but experts say there are cases where surgical equipment is not properly sterilized. prime minister noed noarendra modi has encouraged officials to undergo an investigation. north korea's state-run television has aired new video of leader kim jong-un. in some of the videos he is walking without a cane. central television broadcast a program on tuesday that shows kim visiting various places in the country in september and october. he uses a cane as he inspects newly built housing and

construction site. but on thursday last week the station aired newer video of kim attending a meeting of korean people's army. he walks without a cane. north korea's state-run media had not reported on kim's activities for more than a month. officials said they believed kim had ankle surgery. american health authorities say a doctor who contracted ebola has been released from a new york city hospital. they say he's been declared free of the virus. craig spencer left the facility on tuesday after about three weeks of treatment. spencer was diagnosed with the disease on october 23rd after returning from guinea in west africa. he had been treating ebola patients there. he expressed his gratitude to everyone who was involved in his treatment and is calling for continued international support to fight the outbreak. >> it's important to remember

that my infection represents but a fraction of the more than 13,000 reported cases to date in west africa, the center of the outbreak where families are being torn apart and communities are destroyed. >> health officials haven't released the details of the doctor's treatment. they only said he received a blood plasma transfusion from a patient who had recovered from the disease. they are stressing the importance of early detection of ebola as well as isolation and proper management of patients. a total of nine people including spencer have been treated for the disease in the united states. a liberian man who visited the united states died of the virus but it's the other eight have recovered. japanese weather experts are keeping an eye on the hole in the ozone layer over antarctica. they say it's still the largest it's been for the past ten years even though harmful gases in the atmosphere are falling.

ozone in the stat sphere protects people from skin cancer. japan meteorological agency officials say the hole shown in gray started expanding in early september. cfls and other manmade gases deplete the ozone. this enlarges the area of the hole between august and december every year. jma officials say the hole was the largest again last mont at 23.4 million square meters. it's the largest its been getting for the past ten years. >> the hole will shrink gradually. but will remain until the second half of the 21st century. >> international regulations are causing the levels of manmade gases in the atmosphere to fall. japanese tennis star kei nishikori has suffered defeat at the atp world tour finals in london.

he was outmatched on the court by swiss player roger federer. in straight sets. federer, the number two ranked player in the world, grabbed the lead early. he pressured nishikori to make several errors. nishikori couldn't find his power and dropped several of his serves. federer, the six time former champ cruised to victory with scores of 6-3 and 6-2. nishikori said after that, federer was definitely the stronger player on the court and he says he'll now prepare for his next opponent. he faces a canadian on thursday. in another group b match, hometown favorite andy murray claimed his first victory in the round-robin tournament. torrential downpours have created problems in italy. mai shoji has more on that and more.

torrents of rainfall has resulted in a deluge of heavy rainfall which has created severe flooding in northwestern italy. including where we have some images coming out from. days of heavy rainfall have left parts of northern italy under water this week leaving at least two people dead and many homes damaged. an elderly couple was swept away by a mudslide while traveling in their car during a deluge. flood waters forced people to wade through knee-deep waters. many residents and shop owners tried desperately to stop the water by using buckets to bail out what was entering their buildings. over 200 millimeters were reported in just eight hours in one location. emergency workers continued to be delayed in bringing in assistance due to many roads being washed out or even blocked. and unfortunately similar conditions will be prevailing due to the upper cold air and the surface temperature clashing making for heavy rainfall in similar locations and that will

move into venice and rome. so much of the western coast of italy. and again, southeastern corner of france, where flooding is ongoing as well, could see the situation worsen. now across the west we have the incoming system from the atlantic which will create gusty conditions and heavy patches of rain in parts of the british isles and iberian peninsula. rain is also moving into paris. 14 degrees in paris. not so bad in temperature. the high pressure system dominates the east again and warm temperatures here. warsaw at 12 degrees. berlin and vienna at 14. now across the u.s., nothing warm here. it's really cold. in fact extremely cold for this time of the year and creating snowfall across the upper midwest and great lakes region and this system will also provide about centimeters of snowfall across ontario. down to the south on top of the 40 centimeters already we will

add 20 centimeters on top of that. this is due to that jet stream meandering all the way down to the south. an open door for the arctic blast to cover much of the states. and it's more the temperature difference that we're really concerned of. about 15 degrees celsius drop will happen in just a few hours. in fact take a look at the charts here, dallas, st. louis, kansas city, denver. this is the temperature on monday. some in the 20s and then down to single digits or even negative 9 from 18 degrees in denver. that's just in one day. and some of it happened in a few days, about a 25-degrees drop. and these cold, cold temperatures will persist into the latter half of the week or throughout your weekend. be aware of the chilly biting conditions. across japan the system that created heavy rainfall across tokyo kanto, tokai regions is pulling away.

but this system which is already providing about 3 centimeters of snow in north korea, that is likely to pull into northern japan. especially the western seaboards will be feeling very gusty conditions. 126 kilometers per hour with a possibility of tornados but the pacific side is pleasant at 18 degrees. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

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

good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with nate parker and the director of columbia university's lab on intergroup relations about the role the media plays in perpetuating conscious and unconscious bias in this country. particularly when it comes to young black men. bias that too often results in deadly violence that negates the humanity inherent in all of us. we're glad you've joined us. that conversation coming up right now. ♪