nhk world, taipei. >>> city officials in tokyo and surrounding areas are rushing to put on tire chains and preparing snow-thawing agents. rachel ferguson has the details. >> oh, yes, we're expecting a dose of winter here in tokyo but also much of japan as the new system comes across from eastern china. this is it here. it will be moving from north to south across much of the country, dropping about 15 to 20 centimeters in some places, more in the mountains, but even 10 centimeters is possible in the capital. it doesn't sound like a lot, but we're not really equipped for this kind of significant snow. when it happens, the road surfaces get very sliply and it could even be hard for cars to get up very slight gradients. it does cause quite a troublesome picture to appear in the capital city, so we'll be seeing that. thursday we'll look a lot clearer, but you will be seeing a big drop in the temperatures. also into thursday and friday, i should mention yet another system coming across, brewing over the sea of japan. it will be heading up to northern japan, hokkaido a. let's take a look at

nhk world has more from taipei. >> reporter: the industry is one of the main engines for the taiwanese economy. companies focus on speed. this manufacturer is trying to develop a digital camera, originally created in japan. now, taiwanese firms have gained the know-how to make those products on consignment. the facility allows mass production. they also need to be flexible to meet the market needs of their clients. >> translator: the top priority is speed. speed can help develop technology, and it can also help us take the lead in the market. >> translator: to speed up work, this company delegates more authority to project managers. >> translator: we are already negotiating inspection methods with a japanese firm. the decision will be made soon. >> reporter: the maker plans to regain full-fledged production in the first half of this year. >> translator: we'll shorten the time to get the parts we need by making them inside our group. this should enable us to manufacture products two to four months faster than japanese makers. >> reporter: authorities at such firms are pressing a priorit

temperatures, 21 in taipei. 6 in shanghai. started to warm up a little bit in eastern china. tokyo, 9 degrees and seoul, fighting to get above the freezing mark there. okay. on to the americas we go. a low pressure system moving down along the pacific coast, and it's going to be bringing some snow to you in the four corners, travel inland, and see 30 centimeters on the upper elevation. another snowstorm over the great lakes region and pushing on there ontario into quebec. this one also very, very strong winds. you could see significant snow. but it will be starting to settle down. i might add it heads further to the northeast. you will be seeing snow in new england and quebec as well. it is going to be quieting down a little bit in intensity there. you will notice some temperatures feeling very intense indeed. especially in the northern plains and the upper midwest. chicago, minus 6 is the high. and minus 23 in winnipeg. up to 8 degrees today, we expect to see that fall once again as the system comes in. on we go into europe, and it's quite a quiet day for you in the british

it's always very hot in taipei. but i came here. i feel it's very surprising that i really -- i like it here. >> reporter: sounds good. enjoy your time here. >> yes. enjoy. >> reporter: there's another place to go to that's part of this resort that a lot of people go to. it is called the ice church. across the courtyard and the end of the street you find a church made completely out of ice. builders say the theme of the ice is eternal love. and analogy to the water cycle. they say that the theme resonates with many couples. organizers say about 40 wedding ceremonies are held there every season. the ice village will be open until the end of march, but like many of the things we introduced you in this one-week hokkaido season, it depends on the weather. so if it warms up a bit early, it won't last too long. if you are into a unique and cold winter vacation, hokkaido may be the place for you as long as you're quick. rina nakano, nhk world. >> that concludes our hokkaido series with rina nakano. if you missed any of the coverage, you ca

down towards taipei, hong kong, rain mixed in as well. nice monsoon is just dominating the tropics, keeping things absolutely quiet down here. now as you look on to the americas, the big topic today, really, is the setting up of this nor'easter that's going to be pushing in through the weekend. we do have a storm system lingering off the pacific northwest. this is bringing rain and snow, but it's farther back towards the east where all the action is. we have one system down here along the gulf coast. that's bringing some wet weather with it. also some severe isolated storms even popping up near the coastlines. also, this system pushing across the great lakes. that's creating lake-effect snow in this area, then this high pressure off here towards the north. what's going to be happening, is going into friday, all of these systems are going to clash together and just create a bomb of a storm. on friday and going into friday evening, this is going to rapidly deepen, blow all these winds onshore, accompanied by some very heavy snowfall. about

the giant snake-shaped lantern as the center piece for the festival in taipei.f people releasing small lanterns in, hoping they will bring it it in the coming year. that's a wrap on this fox trip around the world in 80 seconds. >> a frightening end to what was supposed to be a fun flight. how a plane ended like this, that's upside down in case you can't see it clearly. >> two women staring down the barrel after gun. well, what would you do? . [ dad ] find ? a. alright, another one just like that. right in the old bucket. good toss! see that's much better! that was good. you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one... [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. pa down something he will be grateful for. good arm. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ back to you. watch this -- alakazam! ♪ male announcer ] staples has always made getting office supplies easy. ♪ another laptop? don't ask. disappear! abracadabra! alakazam! [ male announcer ] and now we're making it easier to g

parfait we all know about the tax that's gone up significantly to the taipei and, she pays it, i pay on her behalf, she pays it. right now 20 million coming up to 25% of the burden goes up to subsidizing health care. 10% going to 15% of the tax burden goes to finance medicaid. the point is that when you add all this money and it is a flood of money. why does it matter? the reason it matters is our health care system is so inefficient that the average person not only could afford their health care bill would save an enormous amount of we transferred this back to the expanded customer. we are not going to do it, but enormously changes your perspective on what is happening. now a lot of you may be thinking that well, what about those that can't afford it? what about those that don't have a job? we spent around $850 million on subsidizing medicare and medicaid. it's what we spent last year and we will spend this year. you could give 100 million americans, $8,500 in year with that money. the family of four that is $30,000, give it to them every year of their life. so in fact you could tak

canada- united states interparliamentary group and our friends from the brazilian embassy and the taipei economic and cultural economic office. if you are could stand. thank you for being here. [applause] you honor us by being here. i became chair of the national governors association in july. i began my year-long initiative, called a better bottom line. employing people with disability. this initiative focuses on the roles of both state government and businesses can play in advancing employment opportunities for people with disabilities to be gainfully employed in the labor market. as governors, we know how cynical jobs and employment are to our constituents in the economies of our states. when a significant segment of our population is kept from participating in the workforce, talent is being wasted and our economic competitiveness suffers. implement outcomes for individuals with disabilities have not improved since 1990. during the recent recession, employment realities for people with disabilities got even worse. workers with disabilities left the workforce at five times the average