. >>> japan is shifting its approach to defense. it plans to upgrade the mobility of the self-defense forces to enable them to respond to moves by north korea and china. the cabinet endorsed the guidelines on friday. they are the first in six years. the guidelines call north korea an unstable factor in the region's security. china, they say, is a growing concern for the international community as that country becomes more active in waters near japan. e plan calls for boosting the surveillance capabilities of the sdf and enabling troops to be more mobile. the changes reflect a shift from a deterrent stance to one that allows japan to readily counter emergencies. the number of ground sdf personnel will be cut by 1,000 along with a substantial reduction in the number of tanks. the maritime and air self-defense forces will be reinforced and more submarines will be used. security will be increased in the waters of southwestern japan by deploying ground sdf troops on the nansei islands. the guidelines don't mention relaxing the ban on wea

this summer was japan's hottest in a century.eople in tokyo sweated their way through 71 days with temperatures above 30 degrees. more than 500 deaths are being blamed on the weather. europe was also feeling the heat this summer. wildfires raged in russia, temperatures stayed above 30 degrees for 25 days in a row. that's a 130-year record. global climate change is being blamed for these abnormal conditions. efforts are underway to come up with a solution. delegates from around the world are meeting in mexico at a u.n. conference called cop16 but discussions are deadlocked. the kanji for heat could also be used to describe some hot spots in asia. on november 23rd, north korea fired artillery shells on a south korean island in the yellow sea. the attack killed four people, including two civilians. on september 7th a chinese trawler collided with two japanese patrol ships in the east china sea. it happened near japan's senkaku islands, territory china claims as its own. a visit by russia's president, to territory japan claims as its

ambassador to japan, john roos, has explained the wikileaks scandal to japan's foreign minister, seiji maehara on thursday. details of the meeting are not known. however, roos is believed to have explained how the u.s. government is coping with the leak of sensitive diplomatic documents. the u.s. ambassador is also believed to have sought japan's understanding about the contents of the documents to offset any possible damage to bilateral relations. no documents from the u.s. embassy in tokyo have been released so far. a special team set up by embassy -- by the embassy is on the alert for the release of any diplomatic cables. the team is also checking whether the documents posted online include classified information about japan-u.s. relations. the head of the u.n. nuclear watchdog has expressed concern over north korea's nuclear facilities and urged the country to accept inspectors as soon as possible. the director general of the international atomic energy agency, yukiya amano, made the statement at its meeting of board of governors in vienna on thursday. >> it was with great concern

8% in japan. japan's largest tire maker, bridgestone, will also raise the prices of its tires for trucks and buses by an average of 7% starting in march. other companies are expected to follow suit. there are concerns higher prices of petrochemical products may pressure profits for japanese makers. >>> japanese electronics maker toshiba and u.s. computer giant apple will jointly build a plant in japan to produce small liquid crystal display panels for smartphones. sources say the companies will construct the new factory on toshiba's property in central japan. apple will invest about $1 billion in a subsidiary of toshi toshiba, around $360 million. the plant will make small lcd touch panels for smartphones. all the panels will be supplied by apple. the factory will -- all the panels, rather, will be supplied to apple. the factory will start operating as early as spring 2012. toshiba's small lcd panel unit posted a third straight year of operating loss last fiscal year due to intense competition wit

coming in off the sea of japan again.er round of rain showers first affecting southern japan as we head into the weekend. here's a look at highs. 12 in tokyo and 7 in seoul. 18 degrees for shanghai and then 21 degrees in taipei. now getting a look at north america, lots of clouds continue to stream into the intermountain west. it does remain quite messy. there's going to be a chance of snow as well as coastal areas still picking up on that rain. and then out toward the east it's dry for the moment but we've got that clipper system here that's really tracking across eastern canada today. or rather tonight. bringing that snowy weather again to the great lakes area as well as both ontario and into quebec. luckily, east areas are looking clear and also a little bit of a warm-up going on here. 10 for your high in atlanta, 5 in d.c. and 3 degrees in new york. even 2 in chicago. so it's cold but not those subfreezing temperatures that we've been seeing these past few days. as for europe, it does remain rather messy still for you

china has restricted produce imports from japan. it's looking to open the gate a little wider amid demand from china's increasingly affluent producers. china's agriculture minister seeks to strengthen the sector by boosting the income of farmers as part of the government's growth strategy. they aim to reach an agreement with china by january. >>> continental airlines and one of its mechanics have been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for causing the crash of an air france concord jet a decade ago. the plane caught fire and crashed just after taking off from paris in july 2000. all 109 passengers and crew members were killed, along with four people on the ground. a french court said on monday that continental and its employee were to blame for a small metal stip dropping from its aircraft onto the runway rupturing the aircraft and triggering the crash. they were fined $270,000 u.s. the mechanic was given a 15-month suspended prison sentence. he was also ordered to pay $1.43 million in compensation in a civil case filed by air

japan's environment ministry says it will check what killed the birds as soon as possible. >>> japan's draft budget for the next fiscal year beginning in april will be the largest ever. that's because of the costs of financing expanding social welfare and economic growth measures. the japanese government approved the draft budget amounting to $1.1 trillion at a cabinet meeting on friday. the total is $1.3 billion more than in this year's initial budget. the government is expecting tax revenues of only $490 billion for the year and plans to issue $530 billion in bonds to cover the shortfall. this amount of bonds is slightly smaller than this year, but it is still more than tax revenues for the second year running. the government was unable to slash the bond issuance because it needs more money to finance rising child allowances for families and filling the hole it expects because of planned corporate tax cuts. the government will submit the draft budget to the next diet session in january. >>> general electric of the u.s. is planning to produce utility meters in japan for the next gener

japan and the u.s. agreed to move the futenma air station to okinawa, which has angered local people. he's trying to show that he is involved in advancing the plan forward but he has failed to get okinawa's governor on his side. some people close to him told me that many of the things he has been doing are just off the top of his head. so nothing significant was expected to happen. >> looking ahead, what will kan face in 2011? >> well, public opinion for any government ebbs and flows, but kan is experiencing an awfully bad support rate of 25%. it could mean that the people in japan no longer want him to lead this country. the past three prime ministers all resigned once their public approval fell below 25%. kan is approaching that danger zone. even members of the democratic party have begun to worry about losing the next election with kan as leader. in a couple months, the prime minister has to find, has to convince at least one of the opposition parties to help him pass the state budget for fiscal 2011

the foreign ministers of japan, the u.s. and south korea are scheduled to meet in washington on monday to address tensions on the korean peninsula. maehara said he wants to discuss with his u.s. and south korean counterparts which conditions must be met before the three countries accept china's proposal for talks. >>> large scale joint japanese-u.s. military drills have begun in various locations across japan. the eight-day exercise kicked off on wednesday involving 60 ships and 400 airplanes. 45,000 personnel from japan's self-defense forces and the u.s. military are participating. >> continuing to build the u.s. navy's relationship with the japanese self-defense forces is an important step forward as we work together for the defense of japan. >> the maneuvers include training on shooting down incoming ballistic missiles. they are simulating defensive drills in kyushu and okinawa. south korean senior military officials are expected to participate as observers forhe first time. the military exercises between japan and the u.

it was brought to japan about 900 years ago. the red markings were added centuries later by japanese zen monks. >> translator: the yellow page is the original chinese print. the monks cut and pasted it on to a larger sheet of paper so it could adde notes in a japanese translation. many antique books contain evidence of how our predecessors studied these materials. books like these must be considered japanese cultural assets. the current chinese boom is a source of real concern for scholars like me. >> reporter: chinese law prohibits the export of materials published before the 1912 revolution. the pendulum appears to be swinging back to china. nhk world, tokyo. >>> in belarus, the president won his fourth term in an election on sunday. thousands of opposition supporters looked -- took to the streets to protest what they claim was vote rigging. ten candidates ran in the presidential election in the former soviet republic including lukashenko and former diplomat andrei sannikov. western countries called lukashenko the last dictato

their target market, however, is not japan but overseas. solar thermal plants are made from thousands of mirrors that reflect light into a huge storage unit. the heat activates a steam turbine that generates electricity. the energy source is naturally limitless. it's sunshine. but up to now generating power this way has been more expensive than conventional power stations. solar thermal generation accounts for less than 1% of the world's electricity production but because the environmental impact is minimal, the figure is expected to rise to 11% by 2050. european companies have taken the lead in this field. a major project is now under way to deliver electricity to europe from thermal plants in the middle east and north africa. it's estimated that by 2050, 15% of europe's electricity requirements will be sourced this way. japan is not a major player in this industry though it was the first country to construct a solar generation plant almost 30 years ago. the problem is that japan doesn't get enough sunshine to generate viable levels of ele

-japan currency dispute.pears in their webcast. >> from the mao to the deng to the jiang to the hu, you think you can keep on telling us what to do ♪ >> reporter: when wikileaks began releasing u.s. diplomatic documents, next media dramatized the news in this fashion. its founder snatches secrets from the u.s. embassies. at the united nations uncle sam tries to gather dna samples from the world's diplomats. more than 250 young creators produced the animation in their taipei studio. animators have stockpiles of digital faces to match the newsmakers. they can also imfate their voices. and actors in motion sensor suits mimic their body movements. the team tries to create imaginary scenes with a touch of reality within three hours after getting the news. from taipei jimmy lai now joins us. mr. lai publishes the newspaper "apple daily" and other magazines in hong kong and taiwan and launched next media animations. mr. lai, thank you for being with us today. >> thank you. on tv all you have is the last slice of the

the bank of japan's tankan survey is due out in a week. nine research firms have forecast that business sentiment at large makers in japan will worsen from the previous survey by five points, bringing the figure to plus three points on average. while the positive number indicates optimists still outnumber pessimists it marks an end to six consecutive quarters of improvement. as for the outlook, eight out of the nine research firms expect business confidence to decline further as the government has cut back on its subsidies for energy-efficient home appliances starting this month. >>> let's take a look at the latest market figures. ♪ ♪ >>> china's gross domestic product has quintupled over the past decade and is expected to surpass that of japan for this year. cheap labor has previously been a driving force behind china's rapid growth, but the labor situation is now changing dramatically. nhk world's makoto oda has the story. >> reporter: dongguan, a coastal province of guangdong is host to a large number of foreign-owned manufacturing plan

the president pledged to increase support for japan's ant ant anti-piracy. >>> with japan's aging population, robots are helping and also in countries in germany and sweden as well. we explore the potential for the new relationship between sxhnz machines. >> reporter: as the saying goes, from birth to death, humans need to be touched. robots capable of touching our hearts are becoming available. can robots serve as a human'sa best friend, replacing a living family pet? what is it that defines human communication? we're joined by the therapeutic robot and the man who invented it of the national assist of industrial science. please tell it us about paro. what can he or she do? and how do you come up with this wonderful specimen? >> he has many sensors. he's covered with them. if i stroke paro, he knows how and where i touched parro's body. also we've got sensors. he spends to my touch. inside, he has many temperature sensors in his body. they try to control the body heat to be very warm for the people, to be comfortable. >> how does paro eat? >> paro has a rechargeable battery inside. we charg

this year the fair organizer chose japan as a main exhibitor.t thinks japanese innovation could stimulate new ideas. >> we've always been inspired by the achievements made by japan over the past few decades. and japan is one of the greatest source in the world for design, technology, research and development. >> reporter: meetings to match up potential business partners were also provided between japan and hong kong firms. this japanese company is trying to sell ecofriendly sun shades made of small pieces of cloth or plastic. hong kong companies hope to gain from japanese know-how while those of japan seek markets abroad. they hope this can create a win-win relationship. >> hong kong is a hub for all of the product to distribute to other countries. so that's why we choose to come here. >> translator: there are some new products we haven't seen. maybe we can find a market for them. in hong kong. >> reporter: the close tie with mainland china is another advantage for hong kong. the trade organizer set up a tour for about 100 buyers and investors f

saiki is believed to have outlined why japan is reluctant to attend. chinese foreign ministry spokesperson hong lei said the main purpose of china's proposal is to ease tensions on the korean peninsula. >> translator: china provides a place for dialogue. we believe other member nations will seriously consider the proposal and respond positively. >> in the meantime, a close aide to north korean leader kim jong il arrived in beijing on tuesday. choe tae bok is chair of his country's supreme people's assembly. he's expected to discuss the current situation on the korean peninsula with chinese leaders during his five-day visit. >>> more details are emerging from the huge amount of classified u.s. diplomatic documents released by the whistle bloeg website wikileaks. the site quotes a senior south korean official as predicting that north korea's regime will collapse two or three years after the death of its ailing leader, kim jong il. the cable dated in february was released on monday. it says that then south korean second vice foreign minister chon yung woo

-japan alliance to be strengthened. reordering its defense, japan is moving out of the cold war era and recognizing the new challenges emerging in the region. the prime minister said it's not a threat to any of the country's neighbors. but the new strategy will be watched closely in asia by japan eswar time aggression has been neither forgotten nor forgiven. >> let's get some response, because china has been speaking about japan's latest comments. we can go to our beijing bureau because michael bioterroristo is there for us. >> china's response has been swift. a foreign ministry spokesman posted a note on the foreign minister's website saying this change in attitude of japan and that military was irresponsible. as she said because japan had no right to speak for the international community about china's developments over recent years. it went on to say that china doesn't pose a threat to any other nation and in fact,, she said over the last few years china's opened up to the outside world and economic reform meant that

. >>> the governing democratic party of japan is pursuing former party leader ichiro ozawa over his alleged political funds scandal. at a meeting on monday, it agreed to ask the lower house political ethics council on voting to summon ozawa to testify. prime minister naoto kan told the meeting when he met with ozawa last week he failed to persuade him to attend the ethics council meeting. kan is the head of the party. the party secretary-general katsuya okada proposed if ozawa continues to refuse to attend the meeting, the council should hold a vote before the next diet session opens in january. however, some of the executives said that the opposition liberal democratic and new komeito parties are opposed to a vote. they said it would look ridiculous if the governing party conducted a vote on its own. other participants said that the party should consider asking ozawa to testify before the diet as a sworn witness which the opposition parties are also demanding. but eventually the executives meeting approved okada's proposal. after the meeting, kan told reporters that dpj members must follow

this included japan's yamaguchi bank. icbc's bank was suspended for three months for facilitating a local realtor to allow the flow of $26 million in foreign funds in january last year by overlooking insufficient documents. two officials in charge of the operation at the time were fined. the other banks in question be have been partially suspended or fined. the chinese government has been vil gant for the influx of speculative hot money in an effort to prevent it from accelerate inflationary pressures in the country. >>> the bank of tokyo mitsubishi ufc is going to increase funding by up to $11 billion in a bid to facilitate the country's rapidly increasing infrastructure. the boost in capital will allow the bank to raise the amount of loans available per client by 30%. the indian government plans to carry out large scale projects to build new roads, ports and power plants at a cost of $1 trillion. major u.s. and european banks have already launched large lending services in india. the japanese bank says it will try to ca

the widening interest rate gap between japan and the u.s. is encouraging traders to buy back the greenback. >>> spanish police have arrested seven men in connection with providing forged passports to terrorists who staged attacks on hotels in mumbai two years ago. the police announce on wednesday that they had arrested six pakistanis and one nigerian in barcelona, the suspects are thought to have helped the islamic militants who attacked two luxury hotels in mumbai in november of 2008. a total of 166 people were killed in the attacks. nine of the ten militants, shot dead during the siege. the remaining attacker has been sentenced to death. the police say the seven suspects sent passports stolen from tourists in the barcelona area to bangkok where they were forged before being handed to the militants. authorities in india and spain are also investigating groups suspected of having supported the attackers from abroad. >>> japan's agriculture ministry steps up measures against a possible outbreak of bird flu after the deadly h5 strain was found

let us start with japan. we heard anger from beijing because of the new strategic policy adopted by the japanese, but they can't be surprised in china, can they? >> not really. ever since the boat collision and southeast of japan, china knows this incident will have an impact on bilateral relations and also probably the alliance's or regional perception of china in the medium-term future. i have to say, the china threat perceived by japan is not -- in quite a few other neighboring countries like vietnam and india, there are tensions about territorial disputes and a maritime disputes as well. there is a lot of work the chinese need to do to reduce the that kind of perception of threat. >> i posed the rhetorical question at the beginning of "gmt," which is, are we looking at the beginning of a new arms race in east asia? do you think we might be? >> it looks that way because simply because in many countries in the region and probably the united states, too, have perceived china's a rise, china's military mobili

now time for weekly japan. for the first time in 21 months, business confidence among major manufacturers here in japan has worsened. this is according to the bank of japan's quarterly survey of 11,000 firms released on wednesday. the index for large manufacturers stood at plus five, down 3 points from the previous quarter. indexes for auto and electronics dropped by more than ten points as government subsidies come to an end. looking ahead, large manufacturers expect the index to drop seven points to minus two next quarter, due mainly to the strong yen. >>> japan could become a more attractive destination for foreign nationals seeking medical care. the government will issue six-month visas for overseas patients doubled the current length of stay. the new medical visa will be introduced in january. current immigration rule allow patients to stay only for three months, leading to complaints that this is not long enough for advanced treatments. the government hopes the new visa will help increase the number of pe

he said he wanted everyone in japan to see the tape. investigators say he hasn't explained why he used youtube or the meaning of the online alias he used as sengoku38. the officer has also yet to explain the inconsistencies in his actions. he tried to hide evidence by deleting the video data on his personal computer. he also claimed to have destroyed and thrown away a usb memory device. but at the same time he confessed to his boss that he leaked the footage. police suspect the officer violated a national public service law that prohibits public servants from divulging any secrets they learn at work. >>> south koreans are preparing for an incident that they pray will never happen. the country has held its first ever nationwide evacuation drill in the wake of last month's artillery attack by north korea. wednesday's drill was based on a scenario of an air raid by north korea on the south. a nationwide alarm was sounded at 2:00 p.m. as south korean fighter jets circled overhead. all vehicles other than those on highways stopped. all train

japan? >> good morning. well the 5% tax cuts, investors i spoke to say that 5% was mostly in the cards already so they weren't surprised by the announcement itself but they do say they will be watching how it all plays out. now this morning in tokyo we are seeing a stronger yen and analysts say some technical indicators show signs after potential overheat in the markets so both those factors could weigh down markets. as you can see, both nikkei and topics open in negative territory with nikkei at 10,271. topix is also trading lower. these declines come after a directionless trading day on wall street with the dow closing higher but nasdaq ending lower. dow jones industrial closing at 11,428. while the nasdaq closed at 2,624. stocks in new york opened higher as investors were relieved to see that chinese authorities had not hiked key interest rates but shares fell as traders moved to lock in profits. analysts point out u.s. stocks are still on solid trading ground but, in the positive sentiment could also be

. >>> business sentiment for japan's major manufacturers worsened for the first time in 21 months. a strong yen and the end of government subsidies on ecofriendly cars are the main factors. the bank of japan released its quarterly tankan survaef short-term business confidence on wednesday, covering over 11,000 firms. the closely watched index for large makers stood at plus five points during the past three months. that's a three-point decline from the previous survey. besides ending the ecocar subsidies, the government has also cut financial assistance for buyers of energy-efficient home appliances. this had led electronics makers to reduce their output. as a result indices for both electronics and autos were down by over ten points. looking ahead, large manufacturers are expecting a seven-point drop to minus 2 for the next quarter, which underscores their cautious outlook. >>> the u.s. federal reserve has decided to keep its easy monetary policy. the decision was made at a federal open market committee meeting in washington on tuesday. this came as new data shows that unemployment

negishi is expected to return to japan on wednesday local time. he is expected to give a helping hand to japanese businesses. sony appointed him its special adviser. negishi will help develop products as as solar cells and electronics and other organic products. he'll help the japanese draw up long-range plans. sony said he's the first noble laureate to be appointed an adviser. they hope his appointment will lead to the development of ro h revolutionary products. >>> russia's foreign minister told his north korean counterpart monday that his country is deeply concerned about the north's uranium enrichment program. he stressed the importance of resuming the six-party talks. they met in moscow on monday. he expressed serious concerns about the uranium enrichment facility. he urged pyongyang to abide by a commitment to abandon its nuclear program. bak gave an interview to a russian news agency prior to his visit. he said seoul is to blame for the north's artillery shelling of a south korean island. he also said the united states is obstructing the si

federal reserve, the european central bank, and the bank of japan.he banks took the joint dollar supplying measure in may. the move came after the greek fiscal crisis triggered a credit crunch, making it difficult for european banks to obtain funds. the extension comes as ballooning debts in ireland and other european countries fuel credit concerns in the region and beyond. >>> japan's trade surplus in november fell 55.4% year on year. it's the first drop in three months. the finance ministry has announced in a preliminary report the trade surplus for november was $1.9 billion. that's down 55.4% from a year earlier in yen terms. exports rose 9.1%, to about $64.7 billion. imports grew 14.2% to nearly $62.8 billion. >>> toyota motor has set its global sales target for next year at 7.7 million units, up 3% from this year. the japanese automaker says it expects second consecutive yearly growth as it looks forward to increased overseas sales mainly in north america and asia. toyota predicts its sales in the united states will go up 9% from this year's est

-japan allies to be strengthened. in reordering their defense, they are moving back to the cold war era and recognizing the new challenges of emerging. the prime minister said that they're not a threat to any other countries that are their neighbors. the new strategy will be watched closely by the region. japan's wartime aggression is neither forgotten nor forgiven. >> the chinese prime minister is on a three day visit to pakistan where he is due to assign billions of dollars worth of trade deals and to reassure his post that beijing still sees pakistan as an important partner. historically, the chinese relationship with pakistan was founded on military links. this is a development that will cause some size of a weary resignation, for others it can be a matter of life and death. the president of zimbabwe's says of the power-sharing government said that this should not continue. he said that there should be elections next year. he is also threatened to seize western-owned businesses as retaliations for sanctions. >> de

japan shows its concern about tensions in the region with the military buildup. welcome to "the bbc world news," broadcast to our viewers on bbc world nations. the founder of wikileaks says that many more leaks are to come but that the u.s. is trying to extradite him. mothers forced to abandon their babies. it is the reflection of the new tensions and one of the world's >> zimbabwe's president has declared that a power-sharing government should not carry on. he says there should be elections early next year. he has threatened to seize foreign-owned businesses as retaliation for western sanctions. >> robert mugabe has been forced to share power, he's still got the red carpet treatment when he arrived with his wife. this is the party's annual conference which is certainly the last before elections. the 86-year-old sounded the death knell for the unity deal, the deal that brought former foes together for the sake of peace. >> we agreed to work together in the global political agreement as a compromise. we also said that this would not be the permanent agreement for

behind me is japan's ministry ofagriculture... and right next door, japan's trade ministry. despite the geographical proximity, in terms of mind set the two ministries couldn't be further apart. the farm bureaucracy says that undera free trade regime the japanese farmers would go extinct. the trade ministry bureaucrats says the entire economy is being held hostage to the interests of a farming sector that accounts for a mere one percent of national gdp. >>reporter: there is a heightened sense of urgency now... with seoul moving aggressively to sign regional free trade deals, japanese companies fear being left at a severe price disadvantage to their korean rivals. >>kingston: most experts realize that that what japan needs is to consolidate their farmers. too many lilliputian plots that are not efficient, not competitive, so if you want to improve efficiency and revitalize the japanese agricultural sector, you need to promote consolidation, large-scale farms, which would bring down price of production, and make j agric products cheaper at home, but also perhaps competitive in

japan -- iraq is not japan., in fact, what you see that made japan successful or germany but particularly japan -- japan was a great image because it was nonwestern, iraq can be like japan, it was nonwestern. everything that made the occupation a success in japan is absent in iraq. the occupation will not be legitimate. there will be no existing government to take over. we're going to go in and decapitate the government. who's going to take over? what's going to -- who's going to take over? there was no real tradition of civil society to keep going. there were all sorts of things. in japan, everything carried on including the emperor. it was a formal surrender. the entire world saw that occupation, including japanese, as legitimate. it was formal. it was all missing in iraq with its sectarian schisms. its lack of a real democratic tradition comparable to what germany and japan had. it's lack of an ongoing administration. it was all missing in iraq. and that was clear before. but people use history as they wish t

about their relations with japan japan japan japan these may be worried about this but as far as his concern. is extremely popular in russia and he sees no sign of a dwindling in those relations of course he also talked about another major event in the political arena. year almost as a matter of fact of course was the plane crash that took the lives of the polish president and his wife and many other polish officials. did talk about his feelings when he first heard about the news saying that he was shocked that this was a great. that the bitter irony of the place where the plane went down of course. understand that russia is doing. russia. that investigation. of the foreign policy issues which the russian president. talked about. and all the hot potato issues of russian life tell us more about that . of course in fact i would say most of the interview concerned russia's internal issues domestic for example he talked a lot about. is one of the keys. and he spoke about the need to reform slightly one of russia's leading party the united russia party. should be responsible about the pow

and menacing forced reaching off the coast of japan. the u.s. been wargmaing with japan for 50 years, but never on this scale. a confident china has started to flex its muscles. here are the disputed japanese islands the chinese claim are theirs. a coastguard ship from japan and controller from china collided in september, damaging relations. china claims this whole stretch of the south china sea, despite protests from the neighbors. and tension with korea has created even more problems with america. but conflict is a very long way off. >> there is competition between china and the u.s., but there is no danger of a military clash between the two countries. think of the u.s. and the soviet union during the cold war. no matter what happened, the dutch troops never shot at each other. >> these are reserves of oil and gas. >> no national interests here. vital national interests. -- we have national interest here. certainly others have national interest. freedom of movement, freedom of trade. the ability to grow and prosper. >> shouting about your mi

he served and lived in japan. he's also a combat veteran of vietnam where he earned the bronze star and the purple heart. he's a grad watt of the u.s. naval academy and i would note in concluding that the service to this country is a family affair for the gregsons as their son is serving as a marine corps officer. secretary, i'm very proud to have you here. please take a look. >> thank you. pardon me while i re-arrange a prop here so that i get my notes at the right height between the regular lenses and the bifocals and you'll be there some day. thank you, will, for the introduction and for the progressive policy institute for having this forum. thanks to the university of california washington center for providing the wonderful and warm venue. i join you this morning on behalf of undersecretary of defense for policy, michelle florio. michelle was looking forward to being here, but she was called over to the white house for various meetings on short notice. there's a lot of these short-notice meetings going on lat

so i traveled to china, travel to japan, travel throughout southern europe. these are places where people are so quick to tell you we are not like you americans. we don't put our old people and old people so. we value our old people. grandmothers are always around. so, what are the places in the world that have the fewest children? they are the places that are self identified as being the most profamily. why is this? it's because they put the most burdens on the women in those cultures. and as soon as the women haven't out where they can pursue their own aspirations or education, they take the time to do that. they went to that window. there's an interesting section in the book that was fascinating for me to report, which is how the eugenics laws of japan that were enacted so that japanese women would not have the soldiers of gis limited the japanese baby-boom to four years because as soon as they were given access to birth control, they took it because the demand to be a japanese woman is so severe. that is one reason why japanese birth rates are so low. bec

that is something i don't think we saw much of in japan. but some say that the fed should focus on stable prices and low inflation. with that makes sense? >> we have a dual mandate. we have always interpreted that mandates for a long time. the interpretation has been that we try to provide a stable backdrop so that the private sector can allocate resources appropriately in the economy. that is the only thing the fed can do in the long run, control the rate of inflation. you have this idea that you provide this stable backdrop to businesses and households are able to make the best decisions they can. they see the relative prices. you do not get that mixed up with changes in excess of fluctuation and other prices. what a lot of central bank did since 1977, since we have that mandate, a lot of banks look at this since the birth of the ecb and said you should just assign a single mandate to the central banks since that is the only thing they can do in the long run. you should be serious about it and put accountability on the central banks. the

they paid a visit to to the estate after a tasting in japan. only 5000 of the 120,000 bottles he produces are an elite exported to japan. his first priority is to protect his regular customers. suddenly, he has an army of asian fans following the trail --ere comic-book heroes wit with their heroes. >> a 3-year-old boy has been freed after getting stuck in a washing machine. his mother reckons he got trapped world playing hide and seek. his rescue involved several firefighters and a circular saw and a lot of care. it was a happy ending. after an hour, he emerged unscathed. you can find that story and the international news online. we are on twitter and facebook as well. thanks for watching. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe, and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherin

and menacing force, reaching up the coast of japan. the u.s. been fleeing war games with japan for 50 years, but never on this scale. for decades, the americans will be seized of east asia. but a confident china is starting to flex its muscles. the disputed japanese islands which the chinese claim is theirs. in september, a japanese coastguard ship and chinese trawler collided, damaging relations. there are claims that this whole stretch of the south china sea belongs to china, despite protests from their neighbors. the conflict is a very long way off. >> there is no danger of a clash between them. look at the situation between the u.s. and soviet union. no matter what happened, they never shot at each other. >> these waters are vital trade routes for goods being shipped across the world. there are massive reserves of oil and gas. >> we have national interest here, a vital national interests. certainly other nations that interest in freedom of movement, free trade, the ability to grow and prosper. >> diplomacy and engagement are one way of keep

the digital book market in japan is vast and thriving. but it consists almost entirely of blog-style novels and comic books written especially for cell phones. japan's 15,000 bookstores are still bracing for the mainstream shift to digital publishing. meanwhile, a new and profitable breed of bookstore is drawing the young and hip, by becoming more akin to a fashion boutique. >> ( translated ): old or new, a good book is a good book, just like vintage jeans retain their value. that's why we'll shelf a new release right next to a work by truman capote. >> reporter: classics are mixed in with new releases, carefully curated with personalized messages to guide and entertain patrons suffering information overload. >> ( translated ): it's not enough to simply line up books on the shelf, but a lot of stores do. you might as well just go to amazon. >> reporter: leveraging an intimate knowledge of its customers' tastes, this new breed of bookstore increasingly is a platform for clothing, accessories, and other merchandise, which offer higher margi

i wanted to ask you how you felt about japan's reaction tv's it to the curial islands. well what about me nothing has changed for me the japanese seem tense. take hold back the investor. is going. well i'm sincerely sorry that i was the reason for a break in his political career that was not what we aim for i'm not sure now what he will do but let me remind you that all of the south could lose the territory of the russian federation the president is allowed to visit them would be why has no president gone there before well it's a remote place that's true but it's our land nonetheless and we have to develop the carolinas to ensure that the people there live well i promise not to the locals i told them that and then sent deputy prime minister chevelle off to work there he's still working and we will send other officials to the corals of this doesn't mean we're not ready to cooperate with japan we welcome any initiatives on joint economic projects taking into account the historical events that took place there you can manage we are ready to work with them but this doesn't