along the sidewalk. and the local power company says there have been no reports of electrical outages. a sinkhole measuring 30 meters long and 27 meters wide with a depth of 15 meters appeared on november 8th. the sunken road had been reopened after one week of work to fill the void. subway construction work has been blamed for the cave-in. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has denounced russia's deployment of missile systems on islands claimed by japan. he pledged to push forward with efforts to resolve the territorial issue when he meets next month with russian president vladimir putin. abe commented on a report that appeared in russian media on tuesday. it said that advanced surface to ship missile systems had been installed on two of four russian held islands. the government maintains the islands were illegally occupied after world war ii. the dispute has prevented tokyo and moscow from signing a peace treaty. a step that was never taken after the end of the war. >> translator: the four islands are an inherent part of japan's territory. through a diplomatic channel, the japanese government has lodged protests with russia. their military expansion with the missile deployment on the islands is incompatible with our stance and is deplorable. >> the missile system presents a diplomatic headache weeks before putin is due to visit japan. abe acknowledged that the decades-long issue is a thorny one but he said that through the meeting with putin he aims to create a win/win situation, including in economic terms. hundreds of muslims protested friday outside myanmar embassies in three capitals in southeast asia. they are angered over the alleged persecution of rohingya muslims in the buddhist-dominated country. patchari raksawong in bangkok has details on that and other stories. >> myanmar's military has been carrying out massive counter insurgency operations in the western state of rakhine since hundreds of militants attacked border posts killing nine soldiers last month. nhk world's fransiska renata reports from jakarta. >> reporter: several muslim organizations in indonesia conduct demonstrations in front of the myanmar embassy in jakarta. they demand myanmar government stop killing the rohingya people. about 600 people attended the rally which was held in the capital of the country with the world's largest muslim population. they chanted slogans such as "stop the massacres" and brandished banners reading "banish myanmar from asean." >> translator: i feel pain because i'm a muslim too. the indonesian government must take strong action to stop the myanmar government's violence. >> reporter: in the malaysian capital, kuala lumpur, 400 rohingyas staged a protest. more than 50,000 rohingyas have fled myanmar for the muslim-dominated country. angry muslims also took to the streets in thailand's capital bangkok. the myanmar government says 69 insurgents and 17 military and security personnel have been killed in the ongoing violence. rohingya activists say they were innocent villagers. the government emphatically denies that. >> i want to say to aung san suu kyi to please stop killing. >> they just want to help. what can i do? i want to help these people. >> reporter: rakhine has been a flash point since clashes in 2012 pitted the country's majority buddhists against minority rohingya muslims. the myanmar government has categorically denied reports of human rights abuses, including alleged rapes and massacres by government troops. it's impossible to verify what is happening there because of access restrictions on journalists and aid workers. myanmar has come under mounting pressure to resolve its ethnic problems as anger is growing among muslims across southeast asia. fransiska renata, nhk world, jakarta. the malaysian foreign ministry said in a statement on friday malaysia calls on the government of myanmar to take all the necessary actions to address the alleged ethnic cleansing in rakhine. the ministry said it will summon the myanmar ambassador to convey its concern over the issue. in the philippines, protesters have demonstrated against the burial of the body of former president ferdinand marcos in the national heroes' cemetery. thousands of people took to the streets in the capital manila. they're angry about the glorification of one of the most infamous dictators in modern asian history. the interment of marcos, which took place last friday, has drawn fire from many people who remember with pride the people power movement of the 1980s. the burial with military honors had the support of the current president, rodrigo duterte. marcos ruled the philippines with an iron hand for two decades until the mid-1980s. thousands of suspected communist rebels and political foes were allegedly killed under his regime. those close to him amassed huge fortunes. marcos was ousted in the people power revolt in 1986. he fled to hawaii and died there three years later. in early november, the philippines supreme court ruled that marcos' body could be interred at the heroes' cemetery. victims of human rights abuses during the marcos era had called on duterte to reconsider granting him that honor. a festival in thailand's northern city sees people rid themselves of worry by lighting paper lanterns and releasing them into the sky. this year's event was especially poignant coming soon after the death of thailand's beloved king. nhk world reports. >> three, two, one! release your lanterns. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: a sea of lanterns float up into the night sky. the annual festival takes place on the full moon of the 12th month in the lunar calendar. according to thai folklore, the lanterns take with them people's pain and sorrow. the tradition of making lanterns in thailand has lasted more than 700 years. this year's festival was especially emotional for many. people have been mourning the death of king bhumibol adulyadej in october. the festival came close to being cancelled but ultimately went ahead in a restrained fashion. >> translator: this year i'm making lanterns for the late king. i want it to be released in the sky so it can guide his soul to peace. >> reporter: about 4,000 people gathered. prayers were made for the late king's soul to rest in peace. >> release your lanterns. ♪ >> translator: i was thinking about the late king when i released our lantern. i prayed for the happiness of every thai person even during this time of sorrow. >> translator: the light symbolizes hope for life. it lights up the place around us and shows us the right path, even in difficult times. >> reporter: thais continue to feel sorrow for the death of their king. as the gentle light floats away, it's a chance to reflect on this important moment for the people and their country. nhk world, bangkok. and that wraps up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. a u.n. representative for human rights has stressed that he will continue to urge north korea to cooperate with its investigations. tomas ojea quintana is the u.n. special rapporteur on north korea. he visited japan and south korea to interview people linked to abductions by north korea and those who have fled the country. quintana says china holds the key to ensuring progress on the issue. >> china is a very important country in regards to the overall human rights situation in the dprk and i am committed to explore also a relation of cooperation with china. >> north korea's human rights issue along with its nuclear program has been on the agenda at the u.n. security council. but the global body has been unable to make a unified response because of strong protests from north korea's delegation. china holds much influence over the leadership in pyongyang, but is seen as being passive in the talks. support for south korea's president continues to drop as she faces the growing possibility she will be suspended from her role. some members of park geun-hye's own party are poised to vote in favor of a motion to impeach her. the push has gained momentum as park has been unable to shake allegations in an influence peddling scandal. lawmakers from park's party met on friday. executives say they should prevent impeachment. >> translator: that would lead to a national disaster. >> but party members who have distanced themselves from park say at least 40 of the party's lawmakers will support the move to impeach her. along with the opposition, that would be more than enough to pass the motion, which three opposition parties say they'll submit no later than december 9th. at the same time, prosecutors are investigating whether park urged major conglomerates to offer a bribe to a third party. they've raided sam song, lotte and sk group. all three provided funds to the foundations connected to a woman at the center of the scandal, park's longtime friend choi soon-sil. choi and two of park's former aides have been indicted on several charges, including conspiring to abuse presidential power. a chinese government backed institute has released a report on the united states military. it says washington has increased activity in the asia-pacific region since implementing its rebalancing strategy. the national institute for south china sea studies issued the report. it claims that the u.s. has been bolstering aerial reconnaissance against china. the paper says the number of unit deployments from rose from around 260 in 2009 to more than 1,200 in 2014. it also says the u.s. pacific command conducted 160 bilateral and multilateral military exercises in the region in 2014. and last year the number rose to 175. >> translator: issues in the south china sea have overheat, become more complicated and expanded, all due to continuous u.s. interventions. >> translator: president-elect donald trump may request japan and south korea cover more of the costs for u.s. troops stationed in the countries, but he will never want to weaken the alliance with them. >> this is the first report on the u.s. military presence from an institution affiliated with the chinese government. analysts says beijing wants to counter u.s. criticism of its military buildup and justify its activities in the south china sea and elsewhere. tokyo's nikkei average extended its winning streak to a seventh day. investor sentiment has been upbeat on expectations that president-elect donald trump's economic policies will boost growth. giang nguyen has more from the tokyo stock exchange. a weaker yen has fueled the nikkei's latest bull run, but we did see shares dip briefly into negative territory as some investors booked profits. the nikkei 225 added a quarter of a percent, ending at 18,381. the index at one point surpassed its highest close this year set on january 4. the broader topix also gained 0.3%. that index advanced for the 11th day. on the week, the nikkei rose 2.3%, marking three straight weeks of gains. and the dollar hit the highest level of eight months against the yen in tokyo trading. investors are confident about the outlook for the u.s. economy and a december rate hike. the weaker yen boosted exporters like carmakers, mitsubishi motors, nissan, and mazda all showed strong advances. electronics manufacturers like casio computer also gained 7%. next week opec members are meeting to discuss a deal to limit oil production, so we could see big moves in the oil price and energy sectors. giang nguyen reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. a lower house committee has innovation party voted in favor. members of the opposition democratic party and japanese communist party surrounded the committee chair's seat and protested. a key pillar of the proposed reform is a new rule for revising pension payouts. the rule is designed to rein in ballooning pension expenditures. the government says such a revision of the rule would be necessary for securing the payout level for future generations. the ruling coalition hopes to have the lower house approve the bill next tuesday. the democratic party says the revision would cut pension payouts by a large margin and affect the living standards of pensioners. they're calling for thorough debate in the diet. the fund that operates government pension contributions in japan says it closed the july-september quarter with about $21 billion in the black. it's the first surplus in three quarters. the government pension investment fund reports that the earnings ratio of the total fund in the quarter was plus 1.84%. fund officials attribute the gain to alleviation of excessive concerns immediately after britain's decision to leave the european union. they also cite the bullish trend of domestic and foreign stocks over expectations about the japanese government's economic measures. the breakdown of the fund's operation shows domestic stocks logged a gain of about $18 billion and foreign stocks about $9 billion. meanwhile, domestic bonds lost about $6 billion while foreign bonds posted a loss of about $350 million. officials say they'll continue efforts to secure stable profits. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're following. a leading gauge of inflation in japan was down in october for the eighth straight month. officials at the internal affairs ministry say the consumer price index was 0.4% lower from the same month last year. the cpi includes oil products but not fresh food. they say cheaper crude oil pushed down the prices of electricity and gasoline. a drop in prices of consumer electronics products, including washing machines and rice cookers, contributed to the decline. the japanese government has kept its overall assessment of the country's economy unchanged for nine months in a row. the monthly economic report for november says the economy is on a moderate recovery while weakness has been seen recently. but for the first time in two years and nine months, the report revised upward the assessment of the global economy. it says shale oil-related investments in the u.s. are recovering with employment and personal spending picking up. a tsunami of more than two meters might have hit a fishing port in miyagi prefecture on tuesday. that's bigger than the highest wave reported that day by weather officials. japan's meteorological agency says the biggest tsunami it observed after tuesday's magnitude 7.4 earthquake was 1.4 meters high. officials from a fisheries cooperative say that the tsunami that struck the port of ohama was taller than wharf structures and inundated nearby roads. six fishing boats capsized but no one at or near the port was injured. a photo taken by one of the co-op's workers showed moisture on a road more than two meters above sea level. a professor from tohoku university's international research institute of disaster science says he believes the photo shows traces of the tsunami. he says a simulation by his institute suggests that ten kilometers away from ohama port, the surface of the sea rose 2.5 meters. >> translator: tsunami can be bigger than meteorological forecasts. residents need to evacuate quickly and appropriately. >> imamura says he wants people to understand that tsunami are complex phenomena. students from around the world have come to japan for a lesson in disaster prevention. they gathered in a western japanese town to learn how to prepare for a tsunami. >> we announce the opening of the high school student summit of world tsunami awareness day. >> local japanese students helped kick off the two-day meeting. residents there have a particular interest in disaster preparedness. experts have predicted that in the event of a massive earthquake, their town could be slammed by a 34-meter tsunami. about 360 students joined the program from indonesia, chile, and 28 other countries that have faced tsunami disasters. >> i want to learn about what to do in case of a tsunami. i really am excited to see different countries working together and thinking of action plans to better the world and our preparations for the disaster events. >> a u.n. official who helped organize the event says memories of even catastrophic disasters fade with time. she says it's important to maintain awareness and foster young leadership. >> we count on these participating high school students to be leaders in their communities, to contribute to the activities in their community by sharing knowledge, by sharing what they have learned here, and then also by taking proactive roles in their communities. >> the students will also get to visit a tsunami evacuation tower and practice evacuating to higher ground. a japanese tv announcer has made it on the bbc's annual list of top 100 influential women, but it's not for her work as a journalist. rather for a blog detailing her battle with cancer. such personal details are not often shared publicly in japan, but as nhk world reports, her courage has inspired and touched the hearts of many. >> reporter: 34-year-old mao kobayashi writes her blog almost every day, about her life and the anxieties of her illness. she writes, my body has been weak, and i was in hospital every day. i had infusions, so i hope i can recover this weekend because i want to be with my kids tomorrow. the bbc calls it the cancer blog gripping japan. kobayashi is used to being in the spotlight, and not just for her own work. she's married to a renowned kabuki star. but two years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she withdrew from the public eye. she hid the illness for more than a year. kobayashi later admitted she was scared about being associated with the illness or showing weakness. in september she started sharing all of that online. her honesty is not just influencing those with cancer, but many others. >> translator: after reading her blog, i worried more about my daughter than myself. i will definitely go for a checkup. >> translator: i don't think i would have her strength to share my illness on a blog. >> reporter: this woman is a mother of two battling the same disease. she says kobayashi's blog is helping her feel less alone. >> translator: kobayashi's very striking words of don't hide behind cancer encouraged me to think differently. >> reporter: she also says the words encouraged her to return to work two months after her surgery. this man is the president of japan cancer society and has studied the disease for more than 40 years. >> translator: anyone could get cancer at any time, so each of us has to support cancer patients. our society needs to live together with cancer patients and take care of them. we have to create a society that can do that anytime and anywhere. >> reporter: kobayashi's blog is in line with his organization's goals, which are to heighten public awareness about the disease. yumi nakamura, nhk world, tokyo. one sure sign that fall has arrived is the appearance of stunning red and orange leaves. viewing autumn leaves has been a popular activity for centuries in japan, and this year leaf lovers have a lot to be thankful for. japanese maples at a kyoto temple have taken on a special glow. the deep red array creates a beautiful contrast with the green moss on the ground. visitors can stroll across the bridge surrounded by the brilliant hues of the season. in neighboring osaka, the landmark castle is encircled by dazzling gingko trees. there are about 1,700 of them, and their leaves have turned a vibrant yellow. a volunteer is rearranging the carpet of leaves in the shape of hearts to the delight of visitors. >> translator: it's been 50 years since we held hands. >> oh, come on! how old do you think we are? >> translator: okay then. it's been 30 years. >> osaka's glorious gingkos will keep on glowing until the end of november. here is the weekend weather forecast. that's all we have this hour on nhk "newsline." thank you for watching and have a good day. >> everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of including food, clothing, housing and medical care and the right to security in the event of unemployment sickness, article 25 of the un declaration of human rights: work, wealth, greater equality. how can we make it happen? that's the topic of today's global 3000. we're speeding towards a new era, digital, automated, interconnected. just where are we headed? we're in the midst of a new industrial revolution.