two vehicles forcibly stopped ambassador uichiro niwa's car in beijing on monday evening. a man got out of one of the vehicles. he ripped the japanese flag from the front of the ambassador's car and fled. the embassy provided photos of the vehicles and the man to beijing police. the images were taken by an official who was in the ambassad ambassador's car. the police have a keen interest in the matter and have launched an investigation. the agency request the police swiftly arrest the suspect. niwa said the incident was deplorable. >>> some neighbors will sit down at a table together for the first time in four years. officials from japan and north korea will meet on wednesday in the first direct talks since 2008. the japanese say they want the abduction of their citizens on the agenda. north korea's envoy has arrived for the talks in beijing. he refused to comment on the kidnapping of japanese nationals in the 1970s and '80s by north korean agents. >> reporter: if we anticipate the talks before they begin, the speculation could trigger misunderstanding. i think it would be

. >>> the embassy says ambassador yuchiro niwa was not hurt. the embassy said niwa was in a car traveling on the highway in the chinese capital. it said a man got out of one of the vehicles and stole a japanese flag attached to the ambassador's car. the embassy is investigating the attack. the japanese embassy was -- has lodged a strong protest with the chinese foreign ministry. officials with the chinese foreign ministry say they sincerely regret that the incident occurred. >>> south korea's ambassador to japan and the governor of nagasaki say they'll work toward more neighborly relations. those ties have cooled in a dispute over the islands in the sea of japan. the japanese call them takeshima. ambassador shin guk-su met with governor nakamura. shin had been scheduled to attend a japanese/south korea forum this week. organizers suspend the event after lee myung-bak visited the islands earlier this month. nakamura called the tensions regrettable. he noted the close ties between nagasaki and soulths korea and said he hopes to rebuild them throu

on monday two vehicles followed, then stopped the car carrying bams d ambassador niwa. a man gt out and ripped off the japanese flag and fled. japan and china are caught up in a territorial dispute over the senkaku islands in the east china sea. >>> the leaders of countries outside of the global power bloc are flexing their muscles at a summit of the nonaligned movement. we report from tehran. >> reporter: the meeting held every three years is attended this time by the leaders of more than 100 states around the world. most of them developing nations. the opening address was made by iran's supreme leader ayatollah khameni. he said it was time to break away from the influence of western powers and create a new world order. >> translator: iran regards any use of nuclear weapons as a serious crime, and does not possess them. it will never abandon the right to nuclear development for peaceful purposes. nations with nuclear weapons such as the u.s. and israel are a real threat to the world. >> reporter: also among the attendees was egyptian president morsi. he became the firs

on monday, two vehicles followed then stopped the car carrying ambassador niwa. man got out of one of them. then he ripped off the japanese flag on the car and fled. japanese officials say anti-sentiment may have cause he the accident. there is a dispute over the senkaku islands if the east chinese sea. both countries claim sovereignty in the sea of japan. a japanese proposal was rejected to approach the court together. a south korean document handed to the diplomat asserts there is no territory dispute to settle. south korean president recently visited the islands causing japanese leaders to call for interinterpassional mediation. south korean is offering substantive counter proposal to resolve the issue. they will use historic evidence that the islets belong to japan. icj judges will not accept a trial unless south korea also agrees. but japanese leaders hope to win international support by showing that south korea's claims are groundless. >>> chinese premier and german chance lower merkel met in beijing to discuss the future economic relationship between china

ambassador niwa was not hurt in the incident. the japanese embassy has launched a strong protest with the chinese foreign ministry. the japanese embassy says it took note of the license plate numbers of the two cars and a photo of the man who stole the national flag. they say they passed on this information to chinese authorities. chinese officials say they sincerely regret the incident and say they will take measures to ensure the safety of japanese nationals in the country. >>> japan's prime minister yoshihiko noda will send a letter to chinese president hu jintao to call for calm high-level talks on bilateral and regional issues. government officials say noda will express concerns over reactions of the chinese people to the territorial dispute over the senkaku islands. noda will stress the importance of strategic mutually beneficial relations between japan and china. the two nations commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties in september. noda will call for bilateral issues as well as north korea and other regional ma

ambassador niwa was not hurt in the incident. the japanese embassy has launched a strong protest with the chinese foreign ministry. the japanese embassy says it took note of the license plate numbers of the two cars and a photo of the man who stole the national flag. they say they have passed on this information to chinese authorities. chinese officials say they sincerely regret the incident. they say they'll take measures to ensure the safety of japanese nationals in the country. u.s. state department spokesperson victoria nuland reacted with caution. >> that would be extremely concerning, particularly given his diplomatic status. we have regularly, including last week, i think, every single day of the week, urged the two countries to work this out peacefully. >> nuland said the u.s. doesn't take positions on territorial disputes between japan and china. >>> french president francois hollande has warned the syrian government not to use chemical weapons against insurgents. >> translator: we remain vigilant to prevent the use of c

on monday, two vehicles followed the car carrying ambassador uichiro niwa. a man got out of one of them and ripped off the japanese flag of one of them and fled. officials say anti-japanese sentiment may have led to the incident. japan and china are in a dispute over the senkaku islands in the east china sea. the japanese government has decided to limit its budget execution due to a possible lack of funding. the decision comes as lawmakers face difficulties passing a bill to issue debt covering bonds. these would be used to finance the budget for the current fiscal year. according to the decision on friday, the government will postpone about $50 billion in tax grants for municipalities. these were originally to be paid out on tuesday of next week. the government will reduce expenditure to at least half. university subsidy will be cut back to the same extent. $480 billion in debt covering bonds are needed to finance the total budget of over $1.1 trillion for the current fiscal year through march 2013. if government spending goes ahead as planned, the state co

am bass doer niwa made his first public comment since the incident. he said it is important for the safetive japanese nationals and those working for japanese firms in china. >> translator: i support what happened. because it was a passionate patriotic act aimed at protecting china's national interests. >> translator: i can't agree with such an action. the act wasn't rational. i think they should think about how they would feel if the same thing happened to a chinese ambassador. >> meanwhile japan's senior vice foreign minister headed to beijing. he will meet with officials to discuss developments between the two countries. yamaguchi is expected to share views on the anti-japan protests continuing across china. the two sides will also address the incident involving the japanese ambassador's car. yamaguchi will deliver a letter from noda to chinese president. in the letter, noda is thought to stress the importance of strategic mutually beneficial relations between the two countries. >>> some neighbors will sit down at a table together for the first tim

on monday, two cars stopped a vehicle carrying ambassador uchiro niwa. a man got out of one of the cars, grabbed a small japanese flag from the embassy vehicle and fled. the cars reported the harassed the ambassador for three kilometers by blaring horns and flashing headline lites. they kwoetd a chinese academic as saying the plate had a fake license plate but the embassy spokesman said the scholar did not have access to police information. >>> japanese diplomats spent their day looking across at some unfamiliar faces. they are holding their first talks with north korean officials in four years. they've sat down together for two days and will return friday for another. the foreign ministry officials met for two hours at the north korean embassy in beijing. the officials are believed to have discussed dates and agendas for talks between more senior diplomats. the japanese demanded on wednesday that north korea's abductions of japanese citizens should be taken up in future talks. >>> struggling japanese electronicsmaker sharp may soon know where it stands

ambassador niwa said the incident was deplorable. >>> hillary clinton will visit china next week. the territorial disputes with neighbors are likely to be on the agenda for her talks. state department spokesperson victoria nuland said they will discuss issue in the east china sea. she indicated that one of the topics will be the growing tensions between japan and china over the senkaku islands. she stressed that the islands fall under the scope of the japan/u.s. security treaty. she called on china, vietnam and the philippines it to find peaceful solutions to the territorial disputes. >> we don't want to see the disputes in the south china sea or anywhere else settled by intimidation, by force. we want to see them settled at the negotiati table. >> she said t u.s. is urging china to be more transparent about its military affairs. >>> international aid workers are wondering what to do about a growing exodus from syria. the u.n. refugee agency says more than 210,000 syrians have escaped the fighting between government and opposition forces. the office the u.n. high commissioner for

niwa a former chairman of a trading house. u.s. tenure has been marked by deteriorating relations between the two countries. it follows contentious remarks he made on the japanese minister senkaku islands. japan ties and south korea ties have worsened. it's expected that japan will promote a deputy foreign minister to replace its currents ambassador to south korea. the u.s. ambassador is also set to be replaced. japan and u.s. have resolved issues including the u.s. military's plan to deploy the controversial osprey transport aircraft based in okinawa. back to you. >> thanks for that. >> meanwhile shares of heineken are trading are higher. the deal would give heineken an 82% stake in the beer maker. >> sticking with spirits, mexican tequila brand jose kuervo could be part of the diageo portfolio. diageo is due to release quarterly results on thursday and has not commented on the report. >> diageo is one of those companies in the uk very cash rich, getting majority of sales from emerging markets. very well covered dividends. so is i