Business outside japan. They say lower fuel prices helped air and land transportation companies. Retailers showed a recovery they suffered last year after a heightened consumption tax. Now their pretax profits are up 37 . Precision equipment manufacturers saw earnings surge by nearly 40 . Electronics firms saw an increase of about 20 . Machine manufacturers did not do so well. Their profits fell 6 , because of a slump in sales of Construction Machinery in china. Experts are divided over the outlook for japans economy. Translator Capital Investment will rise, as Business Sentiment is improving. Japans gdp will recover in the quarter from july to september. Translator the chinese economy could deteriorate. Japanese consumers could continue cutting down on their spending. If scenarios like these become reality, japan could go into recession. Ministers from 12 nations are holding a final day of talks for the Transpacific Partnership free trade pact. Their meeting in hawaii trying to reach a broad agreement. Sources say the countries remain at odds over the period of patent protection for biological medicines. A Plenary Session on thursday began three hours later than scheduled due to differences over the drug patent issue. The meeting went into recess 40 minutes later. Japans minister in charge of tpp talks said working level discussions would continue. Translator all the participating countries hope to make this the last ministerial meeting. Ministers began talking again friday morning. Japan coast guard personnel have been dealing with a fire on a ferry. They helped rescue nearly 100 people, including all the passengers. Now they are searching for a missing sailor. The sunflower was carrying 71 passengers and 23 crew members. She got into difficulty friday evening, 55 kilometers off the japanese port. The ferrys operators say the fire broke out in a truck. They say theyre trying to put it out. Translator crew members reported they were trying to extinguish the fire with sprinklers. We ordered them to report the fire to the coast guard. As of 6 00 p. M. , they had not been able to put out the fire, so we directed the captain to issue an Evacuation Order to everyone onboard. Coast guard personnel worked with other ferry crews to get people off. They say no passengers were hurt. Some passengers described the fire. Translator black smoke started rising behind me while i was eating. I didnt smell burning until i went outside. Translator as soon as i got in the rescue boat, i saw the outside wall of the ferry peeling off, and i felt it was really serious. The ferrys operators have accounted for all the crew members except one. They say he went missing when he went to fight the fire. Coast guard personnel are searching the area. Officials at the World Health Organization are welcoming a potential weapon in the fight against ebola. They say a vaccine developed by the canadian government was effective during the outbreak in guinea. Over 7,600 people who had likely been in close contact with ebola patients took part in a trial. Some received the vaccine immediately. All were free of symptoms ten days later. Other people got the vaccine after waiting three weeks. 16 got sick. Its proven effective. This is going to be a gamechanger. It will change the management of the current Ebola Outbreak and future outbreaks. W. H. O. Officials plan to conduct more trials. They want to test the vaccine on other groups, including children. The organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics may have to fight to continue to use their logo. A Graphic Designer in belgium is demanding they drop it. He claims it looks too much like his work. Dibi says he created his logo two years ago for a belgian theater. Dibis lawyer says he has written to the International Olympic committee and the tokyo organizing committee. He says he will file a copyright suit in belgium unless they respond or stop using the logo within eight days. He says they are also ready to file suit in other countries. Japanese designer sono created the logo that sparked the dispute. He released a statement and says he has no knowledge of dibis design. Tokyo olympic and paralympic minister endo says he understands trademarks around the world had been checked. He sees no problem with the selection of sonos design. Members of the International Olympic committee have picked beijing for the 2022 winter games. That makes it the first city to host both the summer and Winter Olympics. Beijing previously hosted the summer games in 2008. Beijing. [ cheers and applause ] beijing was competing against a city in kazakhstan. The Chinese Capital won by a close vote, 4440. Officials in beijing plan to make use of several existing facilities. They say that will help keep costs down. Its a factor that impressed the ioc members. The ioc also recognized the value of Financial Support from the government of china, the worlds second largest economy. In the final presentation, chinese officials underscored the nations ability and promised a successful event. Translator we pledge our full guarantees for the games in the financial, legal, security, organizational and operational areas. Sport is a noble cause that has the power to change lives and transform the world. But ioc officials also point out the challenges beijing faces, including potentially unsuitable weather conditions and air pollution. Chinese officials are expressing confidence about hosting the Winter Olympics on the back of the successful summer games in 2008. Nhk worlds Terui Takafumi reports from beijing. Reporter its like the whole country is beaming with pride. Tv gave extensive coverage to the ioc meeting in malaysia. When the announcement was made, chinese presenters shouted, we won. Thousands of people gathered at beijings National Stadium called the birds nest. It was the main venue for the 2008 summer games and will be used again in 2022. Many shouted with joy. Others hugged each other and danced. Translator were filled with pride. I dont know how to express my feelings. But our country will definitely make the winter Olympic Games a big success. Translator im so happy. We will welcome people from around the world to beijing. Reporter president xi jinping send a congratulatory message. He says hes hoping everyone in china will support the preparatory work for the Olympic Games. The countrys organizing Committee Says their plan will reuse existing facilities so that should keep costs down. But government officials and Business People are also hoping that the games will lift the countrys slowing economy. Development projects are already under way at one site. There is serious construction going on for highspeed trains to link the city with beijing. Hotels and apartment buildings are springing up as well. Locals say that over the last few years, buildings have replaced farms. But there are still challenges. Ioc members have pointed beijings lack of snow. Officials say they will use machines to produce it. They are building pipelines to supply water from reservoirs. Air pollution is also an issue. Government leaders are saying they will improve things in that area, too. Chinas National Pride will be in the spotlight again. Im sure the country will be using its massive financial and Human Resources to make the 2022 winter games a success. And people in the city have expressed disappointment. A crowd of people have gathered in the square in the city center to watch the ioc decision. Translator i am really disappointed. Translator i hope at least for my country will participate and win gold medals in 2022. Despite losing, some said they still hope to see their city host the olympics in the future. The Afghan Taliban has chosen a new leader to replace mullah omar. Patchari raksawong at our bureau in bangkok has the details. The violent Islamist Group announced a new leader just a day after confirming mullah omars death. The taliban postponed its participation in talks with the Afghan Government scheduled for friday. Some questioned whether the new leader can keep the militants united. Fumio sugaya reports. Reporter a taliban Statement Released on friday named the new leader. The same status held by omar. He is believed to be the de facto commander, while omars whereabouts were unknown. The facetoface talks, the first officially confirmed between the taliban and Afghan Government took place in early july. They were hosted by pakistan and with the u. S. And china attending. The talibans rendition of the most Senior Leadership comes after afghanistans own provincial success last year. Theyve taken more significant steps toward peace helped by the international community. But the death of the talibans figurehead seems to be unsettliunsettl unsettling some of its members. Omar was a founder of the movement, and its longterm leader. Are the groups Violent Campaign has not stopped despite a tentative dialogue. Largescale attacks continued before and after the talks. Observers say theyre determining whether to pursue peace. The group has also been shaken by the departure by some members of the socalled state extremist group. As a new leader attempts to preserve the talibans unity, there are questions over the Peace Process before it has even totally begun. Nhk world, islamabad. President aquino of the philippines on friday endorsed his interior secretary as his preferred candidate to succeed him in next years president ial election. Translator lets go with the one who will continue on a straight path. And i believe this person is none other than manuel. He will tackle poverty and corruption. The 58yearold is a grandson of the philippines first postwar president who founded aquinos liberal party. Translator with this endorsement, you are also endorsing the dreams and the power of each of the 100 million filipinos, to my boss, the filipino people, and will never deviate from the straight path. The Vice President has also expressed interest in running in the election scheduled for may. Roxas is currently lagging in the polls behind ben dai and another likely candidate senator grace po. Staying in the philippines, urbanization is causing major changes to developing countries in asia and the philippines is no exception. Young people want to move to the cities and have little interest in rural jobs like farming. The trend is threatening to ruin some of the countrys landscape. Reporter in Northern Luzon island is a World Heritage site, nicknamed the stairway to heaven. The paddy fields are 2,000 years old, built and preserved by locals. Far from the main tourist area, what you see behind me is decreasing. About one in four paddies is untended these days. Translator only old people like me are still here taking care of the paddies. Young people dont stay. The works too hard. Reporter the people are receiving help from a japanese expert. He lectures monthly at the university in the province. The work is very important. Reporter 26 people from municipal officials to housewives attend the class. He is teaching visitors how to farm rice paddies. Translator people here feel a sense of crisis. They take pride in their rice pariss, which reflect their culture. Theyre determined to hand pariss down to future generations. Reporter this am man attended the class before tending to the rice fields. For farmers, this is potentially a new source of income. Another student comes from a minority. Her plan for the traditional sweet wine made from rice grown on the terraces. Calling it World Heritage wine, she hopes it will make rice more exciting, and encourage young people to return. When nakamura visits, she shows him. It features rice stalks. The winemaking process is in full swing, and she hopes to sell the final product at local hotels and restaurants by years end. Translator it tastes good. It is very important for us. I really want to preserve our rice terraces for our future children. Reporter these rice terraces support the human existence for centuries. Now, local and International Cooperation is returning the favor, with steps, to rice sun stainability. Nhk world, the philippines. That wraps up our bulletin. Im Patchari Raksawong in bangkok. Emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. Emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. The threat of violence, the push for peace, the shadow of conflict. Get news and insight on south and Southeast Asia every week day, live from bangkok, only on nhk newsline. Three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power company, or tepco, will face mandatory indictment over the handling of the 2011 Nuclear Accident at fukushima daiichi. Nobody so far has been held criminally responsible for japans worst Nuclear Accident. The prosecution inquest panel of randomly selected citizens voted for the indictment on friday. It disagreed for a second time with prosecutors who had dismissed the complaint filed against the officials. The prosecutors earlier said the tepco executives could not have predicted a quake and tsunami with the same magnitude as that of the march 11th disaster. Fridays decision means the mandatory indictment of former tepco chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and the former Vice President s sakae muto and Ichiro Takekuro for professional negligence resulting in death and injury. Courtappointed lawyers will act as prosecutors in the trial. In its decision, the panel said tepco should have taken measures to protect the plant from tsunami and floodtriggered accidents after projecting a 15. 7meter tsunami hitting the plant. The panel said tepco could have foreseen in a worst Case Scenario flooding would result in a massive release of radioactive substances and widespread damage. The panel also said if the utility had taken appropriate precautions, a serious accident like the one four years ago could have been avoided. The leader of the local residents ruiko muto says she believes the court will determine who was responsible for the disaster and exercise fair judgment. Translator 110,000 people are still unable to return to their homes. Based on the evidence, its clear that tepcos former executives are responsible for the accident. The lawyer of the residents said if the former officials had escaped indictment, the real cause of the accident would have been covered up forever. He said he hoped the trial will find out more about what caused the Nuclear Accident. Tepcos president hito declined to comment on the decision or the criminal complaint that led to it. But he renewed his policy to the people of fukushima and many others for causing trouble and concern. Whistleblowing organization wikileaks has published a report saying a target is in japan. Members of the group say thats proof that the u. S. Has been spying on the japanese government and leading companies for years. Wikileaks posted on friday a list titled top japanese nsa targets. It also published compiled reports and commentary in a document titled top japanese nsa intercepts. The list contains phone numbers of 35 japanese officials including one minister, bank of japan officials, and offices of the finance ministry and the trade ministry. It also includes information on the Natural Resources division of Major TradingCompanies Mitsubishi and others. Parts of the phone numbers were crossed out on the website. Wikileaks also published nsa reports based on intercepts, covering topics such as japans position on trade negotiations and climate change. Wikileaks editor in chief said the u. S. Passed the information on to the u. K. And other countries. Assange also said the lesson for japan is this, do not expect a global superpower to act with honor or respect. Wikileaks says spying on the targets dates back at least to the First Administration of Prime Minister shinzo abe which started in september 2006. A growing number of businesses in japan are taking note that cats are increasingly the pet of choice in the country. There are now 10 million of them in japanese homes, and its not hard to figure out why. Cats are low maintenance. Unlike dogs, they dont need to be walked every day, and theyre easily cared for by People Living alone and the elderly. Reporter in june, about 3,000 people attended a funeral. The deceased was a beloved cat. She was put in charge of an unmanned station on a local railway line eight years ago. Visitors flocked from across japan to see the adorable cat in the station masters costume. She was responsible for a 360,000 ride in passenger numbers. She was 16 when she died. About 80 in human years. Cats are living longer in japan. Most are kept at home, so they dont get the Infectious Diseases that killed off their ancestors. This has not gone unnoticed by japans largest pet food maker. It has focused on making products for felines. These food pellets are for cats over 20 years old. The pellets are 30 smaller than normal. The older the cats get, the weaker their jaws become. Similar products have been sold to the u. S. Since last year. There are plans to sell them in china as well. Translator as cats live longer, more cat food is consumed. And the food becomes more expensive. So i believe the Business Opportunities are growing. Reporter the growing market is not just for food. How about a place where your pet cat is cared for like a member of the family. This hotel for cats opened in tokyo this month. Pet owners seem undeterred by the price tag of 40 a night. Popularity is growing by word of mouth. There are no cages here. Each cat has a room of its own, equipped with a bed, a toilet, and a special carpet thats easy on their claws. A camera connected to the internet allows owners to peek at what their pets are up to anytime they want. Translator we aimed to make a place where owners could keep their cats without any concerns. Weve been getting reservations, and inquiries from around japan. Reporter as japan increasingly takes cats to its collective hearts, businesses are helping them live longer, happier lives. And heres the threeday outlook on the weather around the globe. And that wraps up this edition of newsline. Im Roger Pradhan in tokyo. Well be back at the top of the hour, so do stay with us on nhk world. X0 michaela hello and a very warm welcome to global 3000. Cannabis an innocuous looking green plant at the heart of a multibillion dollar global industry. But should we ban it or tax it . This week we look at two very different approaches to the consumption of the controversial crop. Thats just one of the topics coming up on the show. Cannabis in colorado how legalizing the drug has helped to keep the municipal coffers full. Inside an armenian prison for despondent inmates, reform cant come a moment too soon. And