narrator: kobayashi is ever vigilant. worried that the rains might bring too much water to his fields, he visits them at night and adjusts the water level. farmers in japan, especially here in the northeast, have developed labor-intensive means to protect their rice crop from the ravages of nature. during the growing season, a farmer can never be too careful. kobayashi works hard, so his fields are in better shape than those of his neighbors. this farmer is not harvesting at all. giving up on this year's harvest, he is mowing down his useless crop. ( speaking japanese ) translator: there are no kernels no sense in borrowing a combine, there's nothing to harvest. better to cut it all down. narrator: tohoku is called japan's rice bowl stly dueo thlume orice produced her t also because of the research efforts in new varieties and production techniques. even so, some years, the efforts are not enough. the few kernels of rice will be burnt along with the empty hulls. in bad years, many farmers have to buy rice to feed their ow

i'm catherine kobayashi in to o tokyo. thanks for joining us. x0 >> hello, and a very warm welcome to another edition of global 3000. are you sitting comfortably? i only ask, because if are, you might want to be rethinking that cosy armchair position, because we're off to one of our most energetic starts yet. morning drill practice -- early learning, taiwanese style. ancient answers to a modern problem -- using inka knowledge to fight drought in the andes. and exporting democracy -- ghana's role in training u.n. troops for deployment around the

i'm catherine kobayashi in to o tokyo. thanks for staying with us. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] anchor: hello and welcome to "in good shape," your weekly dose of health and fitness, coming to you from berlin. let's just jump right into today's show. here's what we've got for you. foot pain -- how heel spurs can be treated. pool fun -- what makes aquadancing so effective. gastric stress -- what causes acid reflux and what kinds of therapies help. today's top topic. do you know the feeling of being stuffed after a real good meal? sometimes you feel bloated and maybe suffer from abdominal pain. or you may eveex

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. >> hello, and welcome to "in good shape," your health magazine on dw. great to have you with us. we just got a letter from sonja saenger from brazil, asking for our advice. she is 74 years old and a smoker. unfortunately sonja was recently diagnosed with cancer and she wants to quit smoking. but she's finding it very hard. our guest in the studio today is dr. thomas hering, an expert on smoking cessation. dr. hering, just briefly, is it possible to quit even if you're 74 years old and have smoked all your life? >> absolutely. it is possible at any age.

i'm catherine kobayashi. the white house has announced president obama will make an historic trip to cuba and meet president raul castro, the first time for a sitting president to visit cuba in years. >> an important opportunity this trip. historic in nature, but we also see it as a means to pushing forward the normalization process. >> on social media, obama said he'll make the trip to advance efforts to improve the lives of the cuban people. in addition to his meeting with castro, obama is expected to meet members of civil society and stress the need to improve human rights. united states and cuba restored diplomatic ties in 2015. it had been 54 years. washington has been gradually lifting sanctions on the island and they've been slowly making economic reforms. obama has also signed legislation imposing new sanctions against north corey. it aims to punish pyongyang after its recent nuclear test and what is widely believed to be a long-range ballistic missile. the sanctions will freeze the assets of any pers

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> north korea's announcement it plans to launch a satellite as early as next week has japan taking action. on one front, it's stepping up diplomatic efforts with the north. on the other, it's preparing for the worst. it's widely believed the launch is actually a test of a long-range ballistic missile. japanese foreign minister fumio kishida met with u.s. ambassador to japan, caroline kennedy, on wednesday. >> translator: we agreed that we will work closely to urge pyongyang to exercise restraint in corporation with south korea and other related nations. >> vice foreign minister held separate talks with the ambassadors of china and russia. they agreed their countries will coordinate a response at the u.n. security council. and state minister for foreign affairs is scheduled to meet ambassador from nine nonpermanent members of the u.n. security council on thursday. he hopes to seek their cooperation on the matter. defense ministry officials believe if a missile is launched, its path w

i'm catherine kobayashi? tokyo. torn apart by the ongoing war in syria have been promised $11 billion in humanitarian aide. international donor conference in london this week. 16 organizations were represented at the meeting. the u.n. secretary general appealed for a quick concerted response >> the focus on the people in syria has also been lost on the petty procedure methods. >> nobel peace prize winner malala yousfazai introduced a girl who recently settled in london. >>> she introduced a 17-year-old girl who recently settled in london. >> i hope after this incident, more refugees will be able to have a normal life, especially the children. >> the u.s. pledged about $900 million, and japan committed $350 million. other countries such as brit tal france and australia also promised to contribute. >> today has been and is a day of hope. a day about saving lives. a day about building futures. >> the aid will be delivered by 2020. jordan, lebanon, turkey and other places accepting syrian refugees. >> the location of th

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the chinese government announced on monday that prime minister wang ye will meet john kerry in washington. high up on the agenda, north korea and the south china sea. the u.s. and china have agreed on the need for new u.n. sanctions for north korea. pyongyang recently conducted a nuclear test and also launched a rocket which is widely believed to have been a long-range ballistic missile test. the u.s. is calling for a tough response. but china has cautioned that harsh penalties may destabilize the region. they will continue talks on the possible u.n. sanctions. it's anticipated wang will urge the u.s. to start discussions with north korea. he proposed last week that denuclearization talks should be paired with the consideration of a peace treaty which pyongyang wants. but the u.s. is refusing to sit down with north korea until it takes specific steps towards denuclearization. also on the agenda for kerry and wang, the south china sea. last week kerry criticized china for deploying a m

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. markets are tumbling as investors dump stocks due to the u.s. dollar. let's go to ai uchida from the business desk. >> when the yen initially, it declined then the nikkei gained. the investors are feeling anxious over a weakening global economy, the oil oversupply, the inability of central banks to stimulate their economies. those fears are pushing investors toward the safety of things like the yen. and tokyo stock prices in turn are falling sharply. let's take a look at where they are now. the nikkei average dropping 4.4%, 16,250 at the moment. tokyo stocks fall, the climgs that we saw in the u.s. and europe, banking and energy shares are among the major losers on the japanese boards as well as on global markets overnight. traders are flocking to the safe haven yen, and this is driving the japanese currency to its highest level against the dollar since november 2014. the dollar/yen pair is currently at 115.33 to 37. the euro, that gained about half a percent against the dollar. the common currency is now fetching $1.12. investors also putting t

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> the world health organization said the outbreak of the zika virus is an extraordinary event. the agency placed the virus in the same category of concern as ebola. w.h.o. director margaret chan told reporters on monday that coordinated international action was needed. she said the goal is to improve detection, speed up work on a vaccine, and develop better diagnostics for the disease. she also advised pregnant women to avoid traveling to affected areas. the first cases of the mosquito-borne virus were confirmed in brazil last may. the w.h.o. has noted a suspicious link between the zika's arrival in the country and a surge in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads. >> the experts agree that a cause al relationship between the zika infection during pregnancy and microcephaly are connected, though not scientifically proven. >> infections have now been reported in 25 countries and territories, mainly as crocrossl and south america. other nations have confirmed infections among travelers who returned from affected countries. the disease has

kobayashi is in charge of food services. he's concerned he can't uphold the traditional standards and provide all guests with the best hospitality possible. the number of guests has doubled. but the number of hotel staff remains the same. on this day, a group of japanese guests was left waiting for their main dish. >> translator: i'm very sorry. here's your dish. >> translator: this hotel lacks discipline. the management is not good enough. >> translator: we need good reviews from our japanese customers. we have to offer great service even if we get tied up caring for our chinese guests. or else japanese guests will not stay with us. >> reporter: kobayashi says it's going to require a new mindset. he's come up with an idea for an event to mark the chinese lunar new year. it will feature rice cakes made to attract both japanese and chinese guests. >> translator: our wish is to serve both chinese and japanese guests to ensure they enjoy their stay. we must work together as much as we can to achieve this. >> reporter: though bu

i'm catherine kobayashi. tepco, what happened inside the nuclear plant five years ago. the company failed to report that three reactors suffered meltdowns, even though evidence suggests they could have known. the meltdowns occurred following the earthquake and the inquiry found the in-house manual gave the

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> the world nuclear authority has weighed into the zika virus tong radiation to combat the mosquito-borne disease. the international atomic energy on wednesday opened to reporters outside of austria, researching ways to use nuclear techniques to sterilize male mosquitos. the method involves exposing larvae to make them im potent, and they're released to the wild which don't

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> north korea's announcement it plans to launch a satellite as early as next week has japan taking action. on one front, it's stepping up diplomatic efforts with the north. on the other, it's preparing for the worst. it's widely believed the launch is actually a test of a long-range ballistic missile. japanese foreign minister fumio kishida met with u.s. ambassador to japan, caroline kennedy, on wednesday. >> translator: we agreed that we will work closely to urge pyongyang to exercise restraint in corporation with south korea and other related nations.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with anchor: flexibility. it sounds like a good thing, doesn't it? if you're flexible, then you can fit in with changing demand, take on different roles, rise to different challenges. but is "flexible" becoming little more than a euphemism for "dispensable"? welcome to "global 3000," where this week, we're investigating the uncomfortable realities of the modern workplace. zero hours, zero guarantees --controversial employment contracts in the u.k. driven to distraction -- self-employed couriers get a raw deal in the u.s. and of bulls and bees -- everyday survival in ethiopia's sheka forest.

. >> that wraps up this edition of news line, i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. host: worldwide, we waste about one third of the food we produce. i am not just talking about rich nations. hello, and welcome to "global 3000." we're about to explore why it's so difficult to stop the global waste of food, and here's what we have coming up. how proper storage and transport chains help cut down on food waste in rwanda. how a new app stops sell-by-dates from turning food into garbage. and why five countries open their borders to make more space for elephants.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us. >> it is a blame game that the member states of the european union are playing when it comes to the refugee crisis. it's always the others that are to blame for everything that's going wrong. the refugee crisis is putting the european union to the test and may cause it to unravel entirely. time to look at the eu from a completely different perspective. welcome to this edition of "global 3000." here's what we have coming up for you. robots to the rescue. taking care of elderly japanese style. how going organic is opening up new markets for zanzibar's spices. and, how huge areas of rain

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. join us again at the top of the hour. >> do you care that? -- hear that? silence. lots of people have to live with noise. it's actually bad for your help -- health. children have a harder time learning and surgeons make more mistakes.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. markets are tumbling as investors dump stocks due to the u.s. dollar. let's go to ai uchida from the business desk. >> when the yen initially, it declined then the nikkei gained. the investors are feeling anxious over a weakening global economy, the oil oversupply, the inability of central banks to stimulate their economies. those fears are pushing investors toward the safety of things like the yen. and tokyo stock prices in turn

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> the world health organization said the outbreak of the zika virustraordinary event. the agency placed the virus in the same category of concern as ebola. w.h.o. director margaret chan told reporters on monday that coordinated international action was needed. she said the goal is to improve detection, speed up work on a vaccine, and develop better diagnostics for the disease. she also advised pregnant women to avoid traveling to affected areas. the first cases of the mosquito-borne virus were confirmed in brazil last may. the w.h.o. has noted a

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. chinese government announced on monday that prime minister wang ye will meet john kerry in washington. high up on the agenda, north korea and the south china sea. the u.s. and china have agreed on the need for new u.n. sanctions for north korea. pyongyang recently conducted a nuclear test and also launched a rocket which is widely believed to have been a long-range ballistic missile test. the u.s. is calling for a tough response. but china has cautioned that harsh penalties may destabilize the region. they will continueks