Of President Park for 40 years. She headed for seoul on monday. Choi didnt distinctly respond to questions by reporters as she entered the building. Choi later apologized to the public asking for forgiveness saying she committed a crime that could warrant the death penalty. Prosecutors are trying to find out what kind of material choi receive and whether she exerted influence over state matters based on what she received. Park is suspected of violating laws. She has been admitted showing drafts of her speeches to choi who holds no public post and handing over internal government documents. Opposition parties have proposed the launch of a neutral cabinet, which members of the governing party have expressed readiness to accept. President park is facing her most critical challenge since taking office, nhk worlds kim chonju reports. A political scandal involving south korean President Park geunhye has entered its most critical stage. This afternoon, choi soonsil, confidante of park appeared at the prosecutors office. Choi said im so sorry i have committed a deadly sin, plea forgive me. The key points of the prosecutors investigation are whether choi received documents and from whom and if she was improperly involved in state matters, despite her lack of a government position. Since park took office, she has been criticized for a lack of communication and an autocratic way of running the country. Citizens are frustrated and feel betrayed that park not only violated the law, but there is doubt about her Financial Support to groups choi is linked to. In south korea, it is said that personal trust and human networking comes first and that such relations become stronger once people take power. The relationship between park and choi goes back 40 years, so there is no doubt that personal trust has led to an illegal act. Parks support rate has dropped to a record low. Whether she can recover public trust largely depends on how the investigation goes. And how she reveals the cabinet. Kim chanju, nhk world, seoul. Vietnamese Health Authorities have reported the countrys first case of micr microenselfly. On sunday the ministry of health said that a girl with an abnormally small head was born in a central province. The girl now four months old. Her mother was diagnosed with the mosquitoborne virus in the third month of pregnancy. In september thai Health Authorities reported to cases of microcephaly likely caused by the zika virus, experts say zika infection during pregnancy can cause brain defects in newborns. The countrys government is planning to take additional measures to prevent the spread of the disease, such as mukt control. To Business News, tourism in japan has surged to a new record, gene otani joins us from the business desk. The number of foreign visitors to japan is at a record high for the month. Officials at the transport and Tourism Ministry says the visitors have surpassed 20 million for the first time it already exceeds the previous record for 19. 7 million for all of 2015. Travelers to japan have increased since the government eased visa requirements. Visitors from china, south korea and taiwan are leading the trend. The government plans to improve airport and seaport infrastructure and highlight regional attractions and hopes to double the number of annual tourists from abroad by 2020 when tokyo hosts the olympic games. A study shows if the target is achieved many future tourists could have a hard time finding a place to sleep. An estimate by the Development Bank of japan says tokyo may lack Accommodation Capacity for 18. 8 million visitors in 2020. Accounting nor nearly a quarter of total demand. The estimate does not include the possible use of rentals. The government needs to deal with the shortfall by encouraging home rentals and directing visitors to rural area. Accommodating more tourists is a focus for japans secondlargest city osaka. City officials are allowing the use of private homes and apartments as lodging for visitors, theyre taking advantage of a Central Government regulatory exemption for certain areas of the country. The city began accepting applications for, from Prospective Service providers on monday, rooms for lodging have to be 25 square meters at least and equipped with a kitchen and readytouse bedding. The city has several sites popular with overseas visitors, including osaka castle. The new service is expected to increase tourism further. Japanese shipping firms are integrating their container operations, they say the move is in response to slowing demand and lower 48 charges worldwide. The firms plan to invest about 3 billion in the joint venture next july. They aim to start regular container shipping in april 2018. They project about 200 billion in sales for the venture. Making it the industrys six. Largest player. President s of the three firms say the combined fleet will be an advantage. Translator japans shipping industry is facing extremely tough conditions. I think its very important that we create one Strong Company to lead. The Global Shipping industry is in crisis and in need of restructuring. Overcapacity and the slowing Global Economy have sent shipping fares tumbling. Checking the markets, tokyos benchmark nikkei average ended slightly low. Uncertainty about the u. S. President ial election weighed on sentiment. We saw u. S. Politics overshadowing sentiment. Fresh investigations into Hillary Clintons email issues have fuelled investors worries about the election. A stronger yen also weighed on the benchmark. Lets see how it played out in closing levels this monday october 31st. The nikkei 225 fell. 1 , closing 17,425. But the broader topix ended slightly higher. Looking at individual stocks, the news of the tieup of three shipping companies brought a positive response from investors. Nippon yusen and mitsui osk lines saw key gains and kawasaki kisen ended up, too. The flip side, oilrelated shares ended lower. Crude futures fell further after nonopec members made no specific commitment to limit output at a meeting on saturday. We have meetings by the Federal Reserve and the bank of england. In the immediate focus here if tokyo, is the bank of japans policy decision on tuesday. Im phoebe amaroso, reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. In south korea, the kospi index slipping more than. 5 , finishing at 2,008. Sinking to the lowest in more than a month. Shares in sydney advancing. 5,317 aussie dollars for the close there. Oil prices dropped, but other commodities went higher in supporting resourcerelated stocks. Uncertainty on the u. S. President ial election weighed across. Hong kong down trading lower. Heres a look at some of the other Business News were following. Mitsubishi ufj trust is strengthening its Asset Management business. Mitsubishi says it plans to buy all shinkin trust shares by september. Its part of the Shinkin Central Bank group. The group is streamlining operations. The Tokyo Fire Department is hosting seminars and other events for foreign nationals to prepare them for earthquake and emergencies in japan. A Safety Learning Center officers visitors a simulated experience of a quake as strong as the one that hit northeastern japan in march 2011. They learned first aid. One in four people visiting the center last year were nonjapanese, Foreign Tourists are arriving in the country in record numbers. Lets take a look at the Global Economic calendar for the week. On tuesday, Chinese Government officials will update key factory data that is the purchasing Managers Index for october. The same day the bank of japan announces a policy decision and will release a Quarterly Outlook on the economy. The Federal Reserves turn to set policy. Few Analysts Expect any changes in the key Interest Rate ahead of the u. S. President ial election. On thursday the bank of england reviews its monetary policy. Some are speculating further rate cut by the central bank. The week ends with judgment jobs data for october. In september nonfarm sectors added 156,000 jobs. Every week we ask specialists to share their perspective on the coming week. In todays edition of expert view, we hear from taso taai a former boj board member. He says its unlikely that the u. S. Central bank will make a move. I dont expect any action at this time. I think the banks position has changed. Because the bank dropped a longheld view to try to achieve the tafrgt of 2 inflation rate in two years, now the bank is in the position to try to achieve the target in the earliest possible time. Without any timeframe. So theres no reason for the bank to act to make any move. Taya thinks there will be no change in policy but is expecting some adjustments in the Quarterly Outlook report. I think the banks view on the economy and the inflation rate is going to become more realistic. And the bank is going to admit that the rate for inflation is not going to move towards figure close to 2 within fiscal year 2017. Taya believes the boj will hold off on rate cuts for the time being, unless theres a strong surge in the yen. Its not easy to imagine that the bank of japan is going to move in the near future. Because the banks view on the economy is that it is, it continues expanding at a reasonable pace. But theres an exception. That is the case that the yen strengthens and goes beyond say 95 yen to the dollar. Then the bank may have to review shortterm Interest Rates below say minus 0. 1 . You can catch the report online together with a full transcript. Look for nhk world and business wrap. Im going to leave you with the markets. Nigerias islamic Insurgent Group boko haram has been responsible for kidnapping thousands of girls and women in recent years, very few have been able to escape. But for those who have, returning home isnt easy. Reporter earlier this month there was good news for nigerians. We managed to get out 21. The boko haram militants released 21 of the more than 200 girls they abducted two and a half years ago. This is the first time any of theseirls have bee reased nce then in august, bokharam released a video showing 50 girls believed to have been kidnapped from the same school the aim woeter goverent attas by showing that e girl are still alive we visited the parents of the girls shown in the video. This girl was 16 when she was abducted. She was hoping to go to college and become a teacher. When i heard her voice i was shocked. Really i wept. Im very sad because shes not in a good mood and she lost weight. Boko haram targets girls because it rejects secular education. The girls they kidnap are often forced to marry the groups members or carry out suicide bombings. The yakubu family are happy to know from the video that their daughter is still alive but she was not among the 21 girls that are freed. Along with 200 other abductees, she remains missing. She was so precious to me that she means the whole world to me. I dont want her to die in the hands of the terrorists. I want her to come back to me. The school girls ms abductionade heaines aund theworld. But thousan of oer girls a womenave als been ized. And even i they do escape, life is still harsh for them. Thisyearold girl was rescdn may by governmen troops she was kidnappedwoears ago inoko ham raid on her home. Herrother wer klednd h rents wherboutsre unknown. She was mared off to one of the militants and had a child with him. Translator i gave birth to a girl. How old is she now . She died when she was two weeks old. To make things worse, she is now accused of working for the militants. Translator pple think im a spy foroko hara even thgh im a victim like them. All i want now is to be reunited with my parents. Reporter but shes afraid if she goes back hehell be eated t same way by the villagers, the problems so serious that unicef has beg caaign t cnter the discrimination and prejudice faced by the abduction victims. Reporter with boko haram now spreading its violence beyond nigeria, there seems to be no end in sight to the suffering. Nhk world, abuja. Anime characters mingling with ghosts and monsters on the streets means its halloween in japan. More and more people here are celebrating the event each year. Some experts predict the amount of money spent collected to halloween will top 1. 3 billion this year, a 10 increase from last year. Nhk worlds mikako thakata reports how businesses are trying to scare commerce. Across japan people have been heading out to halloween parties and events. It was a common sight to see revelers on the street dressed up in scary and silly costumes. Theres Even Services for those who want their halloween cosplay to have a professional touch. Makeup school launched three years ago a topnotch look for about 50. This bartender says hes been coming here every october 31st for three years straight. Before heading out to work. Translator i like it when people are surprised and theyre having fun. Can you get a totally different look with a professional. I now feel like someone from outer space. Reporter the manager at this school say they already have reservation for next year. Translator wed like to continue polishing our makeup skills and responding more to our customers growing needs. Reporter as you can see, ive become a totally different person. Reporter halloweens popularity has been growing steadily in recent years and retailers are cashing in. Experts say the halloween market has more than doubled over the past five years. This video is a promoting a character in japanese, it was produced by agricultural cooperative. Sales of the fruit has been increasing so the farmers are pushing personal party menus. Even traditional japanese foods get a halloween makeover. This isnt a jackolantern, but sushi made with salmon and seaweed. One sushi shop chain says they started making the item last year. The manager said sales have gone up almost five times for 2016. In one traditional japanese confectionary has been made pumpkinshaped sweets to boost their sales among young trickortreaters. Halloween has become a national event. Not only for big cities in japan, but also rural areas. The town of manami has a population of around 7,000, people there had a halloween event at the local shopping street to attract customers. Translator im glad the street, which is usually deserted, had a festive atmosphere. With many people wearing costumes. Reporter as halloween in japan continues to grow, businesses will keep rolling out tricks and treats, hoping to get a piece of what is quickly becoming a national event. Rikako takada, nhk world, tokyo. Another great occasion for c cosplay. Currently in tokyo, its partly fair with a temperature reading of around 61 degrees. Our meteorologist jonathan oh is tracking the details for us. We are continuing to monitor cold air that has slipped through the northern portions of japan. That really triggered the instability over akita in the city of akita. Let me give you the details here. This is reported around 12 30 in the afternoon in japan standard time. A possible tornado with cars damaged and in fact a roof of the car dealer also in the area was also ripped off in the process. Thankfully no injuries were reported. But this was located about three kilometers northwest of akita station. We do have some video. Lets take a look at that video. I want you to focus toward the center of your screen. Theres the lil cloud thats going toward the ground. This was captured by a viewer and posted on twitter. Its a pretty impressive view. Something that lasted for a short period of time. The Japan Meteorological Agency is still monitoring to get an idea of whether it was an actual tornado or not. Look at this. Cars were damaged in the area. One of them was overturned. We see different pieces scattered all over the place. Again, wow, look at that damage. Its amazing no one got hurt from that. But let me give you take a look at this particular graph. Let me give you an idea of how often tornados and events like this take place in japan. Usually the peak season is between august and october. We are on the very last day of october. So were seeing this. This was stats from 91 to 2015. So it gives you an idea that the fall season with the moving of the air masses, especially the cold air from the north and the warm air coming from the south the instability really leads to these types of events. Heres that cold front that is moving through the tohoku region to the south. That cold air is causing some wintrytype conditions over into sapporo and hokkaido and will continue to move southward. E battle of the air masses continues to take place and we will see that impact in the forecast as we go forward in time. Temperatures are going to be quite cool over the area. Singledigit highs as we go through the week in sapporo with rain on thursday which is a national holiday. Niigata in the midteens. Even tokyo, bundle up, we are expecting temperatures to be in the midteens as we go through the next few days. As we look at the forecast for europe, we have a tale of two different weather situations. Back toward the west we have mild and sunny conditions. Over to the east, cold air is slipping through the area. Thats creating snowy conditions over into western portions of russia and up toward the scandinavian peninsula, were dealing with snow and windy conditions as well. That will continue as we go forward in time. Now were seeing a high of only 6 degrees in stockholm coming up on monday. Snow with highs below freezing in moscow. Let me point that out, thats cold. 3 for the high in kiev. Down toward the south, we will see rain in athens as a low pressure system continues to linger into the area. Iberian peninsula, highs in the low 20s as we go through monday. Wrapping things up with a look at north america, a similar situation. Dry conditions for situation, dry conditions for the eastern half of the United States and wet conditions, especially toward the north and west, as a low pressure system moves through the area. So guess what seattle, youve had the wettest october so far. So its going to be even wetter as we go through monday with a high of 13. 11 in vancouver. 12 in winnipeg. Very warm toward the south. High near 30 in atlanta with sunny skies on monday. Hope you have a good day wherever you are. Heres your extended outlook. For feature stories and special reports, visit ourqea hello and welcome to live from paris. Lets take a look at what is making news this hour. The news is coming in, the political deadlock with the lebanese government having just elected former Army Commander michel aoun, ending a 29month president ial vacuum. Political upheaval continues in the u. S. With the democratic leader in the center and the senate claiming the fbi ha