Continue until the lastminute. Fumio kishida says it is not a challenge that can be solved through one meeting, but he says the government will try to make progress step by step. Japan maintains the islands are an inherent part of its territory. It says they were illegally occupied after world war ii. Moscow says the islands became part of russian territory as a result of the war. The dispute is the reason why the two cocountries havent sigd a peace treaty. Prime minister shinzo abe and russian presesident vladimir pun will told talks in western japan and tokyo on thursday and friday. Theyll discuss the territorial issue and an Economic Cooperation plan proposed by japan. On another matter, kishida says japan is postponing a threeway summit with china and south korea until next year. The decision comes after south korea decided to impeach its president over an influencepeddling scandal. Translator we have decided to rescheduled the summit for a more appropriate time next year. Kishida added that dialogue between the three countries is extremely important. So he hopes the talks can take place as soon as possible. U. S. President elect donald trump has taken aim at a controversial new stealth fighter. The u. S. Developed the next generation f35 jet with eight other countries, including japan, but trump says the cost is out of control. The f35 is the most expensive Weapons Program in u. S. History. It has suffered delays and cost overruns due to technical problems. Trump pledged to save billions of dollars on military purchases after he takes office in late january. He hasnt said how he would review the f35 program, but his decision could affect other countries planning to acquire the jet including japan. Japanese defense minister tomomi inada says she isnt concerned for now. Translator we dont know how donald trump will act after he becomes president. At this point, we are not changing japans policy. Trump took aim at another project rising in costs last week. He said he may cancel an order to build new president ial planes citing soaring costs. Japans lead egg brewer has announced a major buyout of european beer brands. Gene otani has the details on that and the other business headlines. Japans Largest Beer Company says they will acquire businesses in five central and Eastern European countries. It sealed a deal with the worlds biggest maker anheuserbusch inbev. The purchase is for 3 p 7. 8 billion. The target businesses are in the czech republic, slovakia, hungary, romania. They incluz pilsner. Anheuserbusch inbev acquired the businesses when they took over s. A. B. Miller. Asahi spent about 2. 5 billion to acquire four other european beer firms that were under control of s. A. B. Miller in the same month. The japanese brewer is set to produce its flagship drink super dry in europe from 2018. The people at apple are reportedly looking at signing on with a 100 billion tech fund thats shaping up to be one of the biggest in the world. Executives with the u. S. Giant are said to be in talks with the creator Japanese TelecomFirm Softbank group. The wall street journal reported that apple could contribute up to 1 billion. The investment would focus on Artificial Intelligence and the internet of things. Thats the technology that links every day objects through the internet. Softbank said in october it was setting up the fund with the partnership of saudi arabia. The chairman and ceo of softbank visited u. S. President elect donald trump last week. He promised to invest 50 billion in the u. S. The money will come from the tech fund. He had ties to late apple founder steve jobs. Softbank was the First Telecom firm in japan to carry apples iphones. China has released Economic Data for retail sales and industrial output in november. The National Bureau of statistics says retail sales were up 11 from a year earlie. Analysts attribute the result to strong sales of electrical Home Appliances and cosmetics. Both are popular in Online Discount sales. There was also a rush on small cars. Many people are buying them before tax breaks expire at the end of the year. The bureau said industrial output rose by slightly more than 6 year on year. Thats up by 0. 1 of a percentage point from october. Translator chinas economy has been maintaining stable growth under the governments policy of moderately expanding demand. Yet one expert on chinas economy said the outlook for domestic demand is uncertain as Many Companies are investing less in equipment. Turning to the markets, shares in tokyo finished higher, extending the nikkeis winning streak to six days. Phoeoebe amoroso has more from e tokyo stock exchange. The nikkei 225 added half a percent. The index reached a oneyear high, but the gains were capped by profit taking on the recent rally. The broader topix climbed nearly 0. 6 . Lets now look at some individual stocks. Companies relying on domestic demands such as pharmaceuticals, telecocoms, and utilities were e strongest performers. These include sumitom Sumitomo Dainippon pharma, tepco, and ntt. There was a selloff in the financial sector. Traders sold shares of banks and brokerages to book profits after recent rallies. Sumitomo mitsui, Mitsubishi Ufj ended lower. The Federal Reserve kicks off its twoday policy meeting. We may see a relatively calm day on wednesday. Im phoebe amoroso. Investors across the Asia Pacific Region traded cautiously ahead of the meeting. Seoul closed the day down 0. 3 . In china, the shanghai composite ended flat at 3155. Investors remained wary of a crackdown on speculative stock trading by insurance firms. Over in sydney, the s p asx 200 index was down for the first time in six days, falling 0. 3 . Some traders booked profits from recent gains in energy and resource shares. Japanese scientists are teaming up with local firms to design a nextgeneration Cancer Treatment machine. The collaboration is betweenen Research Institute and others. Thee project i is called quantu scalp scalpepel. Transnslator if we put quanm scalpel technolology t to pract use, then we could achieve a zero cancer death society, not only in japan, but in the whole world. The new device will use something called heavy particle beam radiation to treat cancer, removing the need for susurgery. The technology is said to be much more accurate than conventional radiotherapy. The aim is to have the device ready in ten years. Japan has long prided its on its culture of hard work, but recent cases of death by overwork is in the spotlight like never before. And government and businesses are rethinking decades old labor practices. Nhk worlds john ladue went to see some trail blazing firms leading the way and cutting down their work hours. Reporter the city lies about an hour and a half by train from tokyo. This man used to commute to his tokyo Office Every Day but not anymore. Since july, his company implemented a system they call work from anywhere, any time. He works for a Consumer Goods Company and plans distribution strategies for asia. Hes now using Video Conferencing to coordinate with clients, and hes able to spend the three hours he was commuting on his work. Translator with this extra time that i have, im able to complete unfinished work. I can better focus and concentrate on my work now. Reporter 16 of companies in japan dont require their employees to come to office. Whats unique about his firm is that it doesnt limit the number of days out of office nor set a core working time. So he can be there for his three kids when they get back from school, even when his wife is working at her office. Translator having my husband at home is very helpful. He now spends more time with the kids, and hes much more engaged with the family. Reporter the company he works for notes that 70 of the employees reported increased productivity. Overtime decreased 10 . We wanted to provide the choices and flexibility with employees. We know and we believe that people know how to get them engaged. Reporter an increasing number of japanese workers are looking for a career where they can still have a life. Some firms have found success in securing enough highskilled talent by offering an environment with a healthy worklife balance. This System DevelopmentCompany Began the smart work challenge 20 system three years ago. They rewarded bonuses to employees who kept their overtime to 20 hours. According to a Recruitment Company survey, i. T. Firms in japan reported overtime of up to 63 hours a month. Employees at this firm are required to work from 9 00 a. M. To 5 30. Those who kept their overtime under one hour a day are offered a bonus of about 500 a month. But the company couldnt achieve the target their first year. Officials sent letters to clients asking for their understanding that the company would proactively decrease overtime and mandate employees use all their paid holidays. They also reviewed one by one the work flow of the departments that failed to meet the goals. Last year they were finally able to average 18 hours of overtime for their 7300 employees. The success also benefefitted recrcruitment. Translator because weve become known as an i. T. Company aiming for a healthy worklife balance, were receiving more and more applplicationsns. Reporter but many in japan still suffer from an unchanged, cutthroat workload. Over 200 people from thehe publ and private sectors gathered at a labor reform event too discus how to overhaul the culture. The event organizers created a petition urging the government to create new laws banning unlimited working hours. In one month, more than 40,000 people have signed the petition. This woman is an expert on lay bhor refo boarar reform and sayss the key change liess in utilizing tendencies to echo one anothers moves. Translator Japanese Business leaders closely watch and mimic one another. The government should t take th lead and create a a law that p aa limit on overtime. Reporter japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe is considering submitting a new bill by next march which would place legal limits on overtime hours. But if japan is to be truly successful, Business Leaders will need to make a collective decision to move forward together. John ladue, nhk world, tokyo. And you can catch our report again online together with a full transcript. Look for nhk world and business wrap. Thats a look at business news. Ill leave you with the markets. Antonio guterres has been sworn in as the next u. N. Secretary general. Our humanitarian efforts would be insignificant without the active involvement of Member States and the contributions of civil society. His fiveyear term will begin on january 1st. Guterres previously served as the u. N. High commissioner for refugees. His swearing in came as the General Assembly pays tribute to the outgoing secretarygeneral ban kimoon, whos stepping down after ten years in office. South korean media are reporting that ban is eyeing the presidency in his home country. Guterres will be t taking on a full plate when he assumes his duties. Observers say h hell he a hard time with s some issues because the next u. S. President appears to be taking a hard line stance on immigration and global warming. I believe it is with truth that i need to engage with all governments in the world and of course also w with the next government of the united states, showing a clear will to cooperatate in relation to the enormous challenges that well be facing together. Numerous armed conflicts, terrorism, shortages of food and water are among the other challenges facing the international community. Hong kongs prodemocracy camp has made some large gains on the committee responsible for choosing the territorys leader. Local media say the camp increased its seats to 325 on the 1200pererson committee in e sunday vote. Reports say the results show discontent with the chief f executive who is faithful to beijing. He announced last week he would not stand for a second five year term. Hong kongs popular financial chief submitted his resignation on monday. He is widely expected to run for the territorys top job. Whether i would run or not run is a serious and solemn matter. I shall think through this in the coming days and make an announcement once ready. The Election Committee thats composed mainly of beijing elites will be responsible for choosing the territorys new leader in late march. The pro democracy camps gains are expected to increase its influence in the selection process. You may not realize it, but you could be carrying around some modern art. All you have to do to see it is look at your phone. Or check out the museum of modern arts emoji exhibition in new york. The museum added the original set of emoji to its collection. They made their debut in 1999 for ntt dokomo. The simple images gained popularity as a way to express emotions on the limited screen space of mobile devices. Its fun because you have a lot of feelings you can relay to your friends. A curator at the museum says emoji designs have changed the way people around the world communicate. Every continent in the world is using these. Theyre being used by every language. We love the beginning of this as a small local story with japan that then goes global and does something completely different. The exhibition started saturday and runs until late winter. Youre watching nhk newsline live from tokyo. Earlier we had a story about the territories. Nhk worlds yana kim has visited the islands and has filed this report on how a steady flow of russian and Foreign Investments are changing them. Reporter shikotan is one of the least developed of the four islands, but putins investment in the island has been impacting the lives of nearly 3,000 russian residents. Health care got a boost last year. Translator the island now has a good hospital. We used to have to travel off the island to see a doctor or dentist. Reporter state of the art equipment is increasing productivity at the islands key Fish Processing plant. And in october, the first supermarket opened. Translator its very nice that a variety of items are available here, including fresh foods, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, and meat. Reporter many new homes have been built, too, with the help of north korean construction workers. Over the last nine years, moscow has invested nearly 300 million to develop the countrys far east region. This is in the central part of the kunashiri island. The russian government is developing the area rapidly. Thats a kindergarten under construction. And beyond that housing are being built. The residents of the island of kunashiri say theyve been reaping the benefits. Translator the road has been paved with asphalt and the shops have been improved. Reporter russia isnt the only investor. The rich Marine Resources around the four islands are tempting the chinese. And people in kunashiri are welcoming them. Translator Chinese Business people are frequently traveling to the island. They shook hands with me and discussed their plans. I have no reason to object to ththeir plans. Reporter here in the northeastern part of china,a, a shop sign reads kununashiri island. It sells dried sea cucumbers, a traditional delicacy in china. They sell for about 1,200 per kilogram. This Chinese Businessman is in the game. He says the four Northern Islands are famous in china for sea cucumber. Translator russia hopes to turn the islands into thehe pea of the orient. The region is so abundant in Marine Resources that many more Chinese Companies will consider investing money if the investment system is made simpler. Repeporter as the economiesf its a asian neighborsrs grow, e on the four islands are seeing changes they havent seen for decades. Yana kim, nhk world. Were having a drizzly tuesday night here in tokyo with a current temperature reading of 12 degrees celsius or 53 degrees fahrenheit. For an update on world weather, heres sayaka mori, starting off with india. Yes, it was a very severe cyclonic storm. It was as strong as a category 1 hurricane. It caused a lot of damage in the country. Lets go to some video from chennai. The strongest storm of the year in the bay of bengal hit the highly populated citymondnday. Thousandnds of people were evacuated, but at least ten people were killed, according to local media. Gusts over 140 kilometerss per hour were reported, and 230 millimeters of rain were observed. Thats over the month worth of rain. As opposed to the beaeautiful nameme, it caused a lot of dama in the country. Vardah has been downgraded to a depression, but its still bringingbring ibrin bringing a lot of heavy rainfall. Now, lets go to japan. We have a winter storm moving through the country this morning. It caused as much as 20 centimeters of snowfall in parts of hokkaido and very strong winds buffeted the area as well. The system is moving away, but more snow is expected for parts of ohhokkaido. The system is now heading towards the greater tokyo area. The sysystem is causing a lot o heavy rainfall. Thunderstorms across western japan at thi momoment. Ra is expected to be quite heavy across the tokyo area as we go into tomorrow morning. Thunderstorms expected along the coast. Winds are going to be quite strong as well. Temperatures are as follows for the next three days. Tokyo will see a high of 12 degrees. It will continue into thursday morning. Wednesday is going to be sunny but cooling down to 10. Its going to be quite chilly. Now lets go down to the southern hemisphere. Its very hot in sydney. It was quite hot in sydney olympic park. It was 39 degrees on tuesday. Hot weather will likely continue in sydney on your wednesday. 38 degrees is expected. Very, very, very high up there. Then as we go into thursday. Temperatures go down 15 degrees. Mild weather will come back. In melbourne and adelaide, 20 degrees. Calm weather continues into friday. Lets go to north america. Freezingng temperatures are fou across the north. Very cold arctic air is gripping parts s of canada and mu of f t northern united states. Thats why we are seeing a lot of white precipitation instead of rain in the Northern Area of united states. Temperatures are expected to go down into even the south as we go into the next several days. Atlanta, the morning low is going to be 9 on tuesday. Down to only minus 3 degrees. Chicago, the morning low is going to be minus 16 degrees on thursday. This is 10 degrees colder compared to the average for this time of year. Ottawa, the low is minus 22 on friday. With strong winds, you could feel much colder than this number. Bundle up. All right, heres the extended forecast. Its only middecember, but geisha and their apprentices in kyoto have already started extending their formal new years greetings. In kyoto, tradition dictates that december 13th is the day to begin preparations for the new yearar. The women known as geiko and their apprentices made early new years calls to thank people for their support over the past year. Some visited their dance teachers and exchanged greetings. In return, teachers gave out han fans. Translator my teacher asked me as an older student to strive to be better to set an example for younger meiko. I will do my best next year as well. So if you visit kyoto on december 13th,do qn genie you are watching france 24. Im genie godula. These are the headlines. As the rebels in aleppo step on reportsk of defeat, new citing atrocities against civilians there. Theyn regime troops say have almost entirely recapture the city from the opposition. Donald trump names his secretary of state. It will be the exxon mobil