Arms marks the countrys biggest Public Offering in almost three decades. And Japans Supreme Court is in the final stage of deliberation over two controversial Legal Provisions. They concern married couples rights to keep separate surnames and womens rights remarry straight after divorcing. The leaders of china and taiwan are preparing for a historic meeting. President xi jinping and ma are heading to singapore for a one on one. If realized, it will be the first meeting of the two leaders from the sides in more than six decades. A spokesperson for taiwans president ial office said the leaders will discuss crossstrait relations. The official added ma will hold a News Conference thursday ahead of saturdays meeting. Chinas state run Xinhua News Agency also announced the meeting saying the two leaders will discuss Peaceful Developments. China has considered taiwan part of chinese territory since they split in 1949. Both sides have refused to recognize each others sovereignty since then. But taiwans relations with china have been warming since 2008, when ma came into power, primarily on the economic front. He realized the first ministerial meeting with beijing in february of last year. Ma leaves in office if about six months. Voters will go to the polls in january to choose his successor. Observers believe ma wants to use the talks with xi to show how his government has strengthened ties with the mainland. Nhk world is in taipei. He has more on what ma hopes to achieve in the talks. Referee the meeting comes up to the taiwans president ial election in january. Mas Ruling Nationalist Party has been in power for seven years. But there are tisigns of troubl ahead. Reports says that the candidates of the Progressive Party have a major lead in the polls. Democrats are opposed to closer ties with the mainland. Last year, students protesting mas policies occupied the parliament building. The announcement of the meeting with xi has a divided response. Translator i have questions and concerns about the meeting. They should explain to us the details about what theyre going to discuss. Translator i think it will be a good thing if the talks are beneficial for taiwans future and help our industries and economic development. Reporter ma has been trying to boost support for his partys president ial candidate by stressing his economic achievents in office. Analysts say his meeting with xi is meant to emphasize the success of his probeijing policy, but it is not yet clear whether the talks will help his partys chances in the elections. Nhk world, taipei. Thank you very much. For china this meeting is all about providing support for taiwans nationalists. Reporter chinese staterun Xinhua News Agency is quoting the head of Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office on the matter. He says that the two leaders will exchange views on promoting the Peaceful Development of the crosstaiwan straits arrangements. He stressed that arrangements were made in line with the one china principle, a reference to the view that thailand and the mainland are part of a single chinese nation. Chang says the chinese president xi jinping and ma will meet in the capacity as leaders of two sides. But he said they will refer to one another as mr. Observers say china made considers at mas request that the meeting be held on equal footing. How have the people in china reacted to this news . Reporter some welcome the meeting, saying it will help advance crossstrait ties. Others say its nothing but an internal affair. Translator the meeting is going to improve the relationship and stability of china and taiwan. Translator china and taiwan is one whole family. Its a normal thing that brothers meet. Reporter it appears china wants to give moral support to taiwans Ruling Nationalist Party, ahead of januarys president ial electio the party places importance on ties with china. Polls show the largest opposition, democratic Progressive Party as the frontrunner. So far, xis administration doesnt have effective channel of dialog with the party. And the party has not acknowledged the onechina principle. Observers believe this summit is paving the way for china to widen lines of communication with taiwan, even after nationalists are defeated in the election. Newsline will keep you updated on this story. The biggest news in tokyo markets today is the share debut of japan post, and its related final business. Gino has more on that and a wrap of other business headlines. Thanks, james. Japan post holdings and its two financial units have made their debut on the tokyo stock exchange. Investors bought up shares. It was the initial biggest Public Offering in japan in almost three decades. The president of Japan Post Holdings and other executives marked the listing on wednesday morning. The ipo of all three firms have been set at the top end of the proposed price range due to high investor interest. The market capitalization of the firms totaled 15 billion yen. The group has entered a new era by going public. He said the firm intends to raise value by expanding globally. The ipo lifted japanese stocks this wednesday. For more, we go to our Business Reporter at the tokyo stock exchange. We saw robust trading in three japan post firms and together they made for the worlds biggest ipo this year, following that of alibaba last year saying this was a big news for investors. Lets look at the closing levels here in tokyo the nikkei rose 1. 3 to close at 18,926. The index briefly closed above 19,000 for the first time in two sessions. Markets reopened with strong gas after a Public Holiday yesterday. Lets look at the closing prices of the three firms. Japan post holdings gained more than 25 from the ipo price of 1,400 yen. Its financial unit, Japan Post Bank rose more than 15 . And insurance unit, japan post insurance surged nearly 56 from the ipo price. An analyst i spoke to said there was strong buying coming in from Retail Investors because japan post is well known among japanese and due to its high dividend yield. Another stock in focus was takata. Unlike japan post firms, takata plunged more than13 as honda said it wont use takata air bags in its new models, and honda is takata s biggest customer. The biggest news was tipo of japan post which wrapped up with great success. Analysts says this could revitalize stock markets because the gains could encourage smaller investors to put more money into stocks rather than their savings accounts. Thanks. Most other markets in the asiapacific region also ended higher. In china the shanghai composite surg surged 4. 3 . It closed at a two and a half month high. Investors cheered xi jinpings comment for economic growth. Speculation about a launch of a stock trading link with shenzhen boosted the market. Taiwan closed at the highest in more than three months. Indonesian shares rose 1. 75 . Singapore strait times index was up returning to the key 3,000 level. The kospi stretched a gain to hit a 3 1 2 month high. Takata says he promises to stop a recurrence of defects and recalls. This after a fine of 2. 5 million on the firm. Translator we are making utmost efforts to further imove the safety of our products and regain the confidence of our customers. He said the biggest duty now is to advance repairs and other measures to ensure the safety of consumers. Takda said the firm is supposed to make an initial plan of 70 million. About 19 millionehicles in the u. S. And more than 9 million in japan are being recalled over takata air bags. U. S. Authorities say they planned to issue a timely recall. A takata financial officialays the firm is yet to assess the effect of the recalls on its accounts. The official says the company is trying to pinpoint the exact cause of the defect. Officials at honda motors say the auto maker will not use air bags with takata inflaters. Honda says it studied takatas test data on the inflaters. It found evidence that takata misrepresented it and improperly reported some data the automaker is sourcing more components from other manufacturers. About a quarter of new honda vehicles sold worldwide last year were fitted with takata inflaters. Heres look at some other business stories were following. A japanese Government Survey shows Consumer Sentiment improved in october for the first time in two months. The Consumer Confidence index was up 0. 9 to 41. 5. Officials attribute the rise to an improving Employment Situation and lower gasoline prices. Executives at suzuki motors say the japanese carmaker had a profit of over 383 830 millio. A record for the first half of a Business Year and up more than 11 from a year earlier in yen terms. The Officials Say sales in india rose sharply and a weaker yen pushed up earnings. Officials at the Environment Ministry are stepping up efforts to protect japanese farmers from a growing threat. Deer, wild boars and other animals have been causing serious damage to crops so officials are hoping to tackle the problem by enlisting private companies. Reporter farmers sfer losses of more than 160 million each year from wild animals gorging on their fruits and vegetables. But japans population of hunters is aging. Their number is just one fifth of what it was 40 years o. Translator my crops were destroyed, so i have to give up farming. Reporter these men work for a large Security Company. Normally they provide Protection Services to individuals and businesses. But in april, Company Managers signed up with a city just outside tokyo to remove wild boars that have been plaguing the area. With this experience, they want to enroll in a new Environment Ministry program that offers certification to companies that can provide culling services. All these employees have prepared for the work by obtaining hunting licenses. Translator dont step there, youll break your leg. Reporter one advantage the Security Company brings to the project is its advanced surveillance technology. Workers have outfitted traps with a remote sensor system. It can tell when an animal is caught and sends an alert to the firms computer network. Staff monitor the traps around the clock from a remote location. In the five months since it launched the project, the company has already caught 17 wild boars. Translator we think its quite hard to make money right now, but if we get certified and extend our business nationwide, we can break even and then start seeing some revenue. Reporter another entrepreneur has found other business opportuties in helping farmers get rid of nuisance animals. Kasani runs a cleaning firm. Earlier this year he hired 21 people with hunting experience. He then received certification from the prefectural government to start a business to remove problematic animals. Now the hunters have been able to turn their pastime into making a little extra money. On this day, a local farm union asks kando to put down deer that have been eating up grass in a pasture. Translator well, lets see how the deer react. Reporter one of the animals immediately appeared right in front of him. But it managed to escape. Then a message comes through his headset. Translator they got one. Reporter another hunter had succeeded in putting down a deer. Kandos work doesnt stop when the work is over. His Company Sells the meat off the animals. His goal is to get enough hunting work to supply a stable supply of meat. Translator im looking forward to developing the business in both ways. Reporter the officials at the Environment Ministry hope that if the program picks up momentum, more jobs will be created and then a new generation of hunters will rise up to protect japans farmland. Thats it for business news. Im going to leave you with the markets. Japans Supreme Court has heard two separate lawsuits questioning the constitutionality of two civil code articles related to marriage and womens rights. Reporter one article states that married couples in japan should use a single surname. The other says women cannot remarry within 180 days of getting a divorce. Plaintiffs say the two provisions run counter to japans constitution which guarantees gender equality. The current one surname policy has far reaching consequences for some. This couple chose not to register their marriage because both parents expected them not to change their surnames. The upshot of this, the pair is not recognized as a legally married couple. Their two daughters have to use their mothers surname unless they take the issue to court. The couple will not qualify for the usual inheritance tax break when one of them dies. If one o them needs surgery, hospitals normally ask a partner to sign their consent. But since this couple is not legally married, that consent may not be enough. Translator we may not be recognized as a family. Thats what im afraid of. Reporter japans government conducted a survey three years ago on this issue. The results showed Public Opinion running neck and neck for and against allowing the use of different surnames. An nhk survey shows the same results. Supporters of amending the article say it will be more convenient for their work if people can retain their maiden names. They also say separate names are needed to preserve family names amid the declining birth rate. But opponents say the use of separate names will destroy family ties as they say people may lose the sense of unity among family members. In japan, the proposal for changing the law has been talked about for more than two decades. But nothing has changed. The United Nations has recommend japan revise its law as it sees it as discriminatory legislation. The other civil code provision to go before the court bans women from remarrying within 1 0 0 days of a divorce to avert disputes over the paternity of children. The civil code stipulates that children born to women within 300 days of a divorce will be recogniz as offspring of their previous husbands. It further stipulates children born at least 200 days after their mothers remarriage will be acknowledged as offspring of their mothers current husbands. The provision was drawn up under the notion that if their mothers remarry soon after a divorce, childrens fathers cannot be identified. A plaintiff who couldnt get married right after her divorce sent a letter to nhk. She questions why in an age of dna paternity testing, such Legal Provisions are necessary. She says all she wanted was to turn her happiness, which she worked hard to achieve, into a marriage. The two provisions in question date back to the 19th century. Some say theyre outdated, do not reflect either advancements in technology or social changes. The Supreme Court behind me is expected to hand down rulings as early as the end of this year. Nhk world, tokyo. Fair weather prevails for us in tokyo with highs around 20 degrees celsius or 68 degrees fahrenheit. People in yemen are having deal with the aftermath of a cyclone that dumped years worth of rain in a matter of hours. Reporter the weather has much improved because the cyclone quickly weakened after making landfall because it gets y air over the arid area. It was the second strongest cyclone for the arabian ocean and the first cyclone to hit yemen in history. So several damage were reported across many areas. We have some video coming out of the country. These are some of the first images out of yemen where the strongest cyclone in the count in recorded hisry made landfall on tuesday. Damaging winds swept the coastline, but the biggest threat was the rainfall. Over a years worth of precipitation fell in a 24hour period. Dozens of families fled to Higher Ground due to fear of flooding and rock slides. No injuries have been reported yet on mainland yemen, but the island of sikotra took the brunt of the storm killing three people. The weather has improved. But a new system is approaching from the arabian sea and is heading towards the arabian peninsula. Dont let your guard down. Dry weather across the capital city of yemen. 24 degrees for the high. Somalia, high of 32 with sunny conditions across the eastern portions. Lets go to asia. Weather has been quiet across the Northern Areas, such as china Korean Peninsula and much of japan. The isobars are closely packed, so winds are strong across hokkaido and southeastern russia. This low pressure system has a history of dumping tremendous amounts of snowfall. This system is still packing cold air. So that will provide widespread snowfall across southeastern russia as well as strong winds. Temperatures will be quite chilly across the north. Look at ulen an ba tax r. Vladivostok,nly 2 debrises for the high on friday. Beijing, Single Digits force you on friday. Across the americas, significant flooding caused lots of damage across the southeastern corner of the United States earlier this week. Now, this was the situation in atlanta, georgia on monday. Significant flood happened and that caused traffic chaos. Good news, the slowmoving low pressure system is starting to depart the southeastern United States, so weather is improving in places like atlanta and the carolinas. Dry weather is expected to return in charlotte as well as columbia on wednesday and thursday. But you see a return of rainfall once again on friday. Columbia is still dealing with the aftermath of the epic flooding. So, rain is definitely not good news. In atlanta, continued rainfall for the next three days. Across the opposite side of the United States, winter has already come across the Northern Areas and the central areas of the rockies, too. Beneficial rain fell across the Western Areas including the bay area on monday. Thats a record, actually. Snow fell significantly across the northern the rockies in many areas. Now, snow will likely be quite heavy up towards 50 centimeters could fall in the four Corners Region causing low visibility and dangerous road conditions. Temperatures will be quite chilly across the west but quite warm across the central areas of the United States. Heres your extended forecast. One more item before we leave you. Fans of an iconic tokyo hotel are getting a chance to buy a piece of history. Hundreds of items are going on auction as bulldozers prepare to tear the Main Building down. Furniture from the rooms, restaurants and luxury suite are among more than 300 lots being offered online. The hotel is also selling jewelry made from chandelier parts. And cushions made of the buildings wallpaper. The hotel opened in 1962. It hosted many well known figures including britains pri Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana and president obama. The owners want to rebuild in time for the olympic and paraolympic games in 2020. They plan to donate the proceeds of the auction to charity. Some will help fund Music Education for people affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. News room tokyo comes to you live at the top of the hour. In the meantime, stay with us on nhk world. genie hello, everyone. This is france 24. Time for 60 minutes no around the world. Im genie godula. More trouble for the vaticans as two new books throw oil on the fire of a growing financial scandal. We will get the latest from rome in just a moment. The Prime Minister of romania resigns after massive protests rock the streets in anger at a response to a nightclub fire that left more than 30 dead