work to reenforce allies. china has warned the united states to act cautiously in regard to the south china sea. the administration of president donald trump vowed to protect u.s. interests in the area's international waters. >> translator: the united states is not a party to the south china sea dispute and should respect the facts. we urge them to tread carefully to avoid harming the peace and stability of the sea. >> they were responding to comments by spokesperson sean spicer who referred to china's artificial islands in the waters at a press briefing. >> it's a question of if those islands are, in fact, in international waters and not part of china proper, then yeah, we're going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country. >> hua said china is dedicated to protecting freedom of navigation based on international law but she insisted china will protect its sovereignty and maritime rights in the waters. israel has approved a plan to build 2,500 new settlement homes in the occupied west bank. the move follows the inauguration of u.s. president donald trump who is seen as having a pro-israel stance on settlement construction. prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his defense minister reached the decision on tuesday. settlement building in occupied territories goes against international law. the international community has condemned it saying it will hinder peace negotiations with the palestinians. earlier this month leaders from 70 countries met in paris and issued a warning. it said a two-state solution is being jeopardized by settlement expansion. palestinians want the west bank and the gaza strip for an independent state. following the announcement netanyahu issued a statement through his twitter account. it reads, we are building and we'll continue to build. >> let's turn to business headlines. toyota motor executives say they're going to step up their investment in the united states. tell us all about the plan. >> we're learning the details. toyota does have a plan to invest $10 billion in the u.s. over the next five years. now we're learning that 600 million of that is going to the state of indiana to upgrade a factory there. executives say 400 jobs will be added at that plant. toyota officials say this is part of the automakers localization strategy to build vehicles where they're sold. more than 400,000 vehicles rolled off the plant's line last year. the biggest number in its 20-year history. before his inauguration trump criticized toyota's plan to build a new factory in mexico. car makers executives have expressed they are contributing to the u.s. economy through investment and employment. indiana is where u.s. vice president mike pence used to be governor. toyota president met pence earlier this month. japanese automakers are concerned about pressure from the u.s. trump criticized japan on monday for engaging in trade practices he claims are unfair to u.s. automakers. now let's turn to markets. trump took action on some controversial oil pipelines that he said would create a lot of jobs. the gains on wall street reversed some of the recent decline fs in the dollar. the nikkei is up 1.4%. 19,0 19,053. inverss a investors are buying shares across the board. the dollar halted its recent decline and has gone up a touch against the yen. right now it's at 113.66. we will track that for you throughout the day. parliaments approval was needed br starti before starting britain's exit negotiation. moving onto markets open this hour in the asia pacific. we're seeing gains elsewhere. seoul's kospi up about a .1 of percent. clie that mark china markets will open in less than half an hour. chile is inviting others to explore a transpacific partnership without the united states. the foreign ministry told nhk the country is reaching out to non-tpp members, main lly china south y south korea and colombia. the meeting will be a good opportunity for the countries to discuss the future of regional and global trades. chile of one of four countries that created the pacific four agreement. that became the foundation for the tpp. officials at japan's finance ministry have just released the latest trade data. and they say that the trade balance in 2016 returned to the black for the first time in six years. the value of imported crude oil and liquefied gas prices fell. last year's trade surplus was more than $35 billion. 2015 showed a deficit of more than $24 billion. the officials say exports last year fell 7.4% in yen terms down for first time in four years. imports shrank nearly 16%. the officials say the trade balance for the month of december stayed in the black for the fourth consecutive time with a surplus of about $5.6 billion. well, japan welcomed more than 24 million travelers last year. and while the country may be famous for its temples-filled kyoto or megapolis tokyo, many are flocking to the country for a different experience. we take you to the southern part of japan. >> reporter: about 1,000 people from abroad visited this orchard in fukuoka prefecture. that's persimmon picking season. a group of tourists from thailand tried their hand at harvesting the bright orange fruit surrounded by beautiful autumn colors. >> it's very nice here. >> reporter: and they took lots of pictures. in thailand, japanese fruit fetches high prices at department stores. so it's a special treat to eat persimmons right off the tree. >> so nice. >> reporter: word of mouth advertising has attracted a steady stream of foreign tour groups. >> translator: i was surprised at first. i didn't know why people wanted to visit a place like this. maybe they like the scenery. but i think the biggest attraction is that they can pick the fruit themselves and enjoy the delicious taste. >> reporter: this is just one of many places in the prefecture where tourists can experience something a little different. they can also tour factories or ride a boat down a river. about 95% of foreign visitors to kyushu, which includes fukuoka, are from korea, china, thailand and other parts of asia. a large majority of them have been to japan at least twice and over 20% have visited five times or more. analysts say tourism planners are under pressure to come up with new ways to entertain them. >> translator: tourists coming for the second or third time are choosing more unusual destinations. >> reporter: managers at this brewery are trying to attract more south koreans who visit fukuoka in large numbers. they taught their guides to speak korean. and they set up an area where guests can sample barley, the main ingredient of beer. it's all part of making the tour more enjoyable. afterwards visitors get to taste fresh brewed beer. they can drink up to three glasses for free. staff members also provide information on other nearby attractions, including maps and timetables written in korean. >> translator: we learned new things like the best way to pour beer. >> reporter: these efforts have paid off. 70,000 tourists from south korea now visit the brewery each year. and the company has doubled beer shipments to the country. programs like these show that visitors to japan are interested in more than temples and scenic vistas. sometimes the most memorable experiences can be found off the beaten path. >> that's the latest in business. i'll leave you with a check on markets. officials in beijing are struggling to keep the currency under control. it has many investors rushing to move their money offshore and authorities scrambling to stop them. >> reporter: one of the gate ways for the massive out flow of funds is hong kong. they are worried about their money losing their value have confidences in the hong kong dollar. that's because it's pegged to the u.s. currency. a main land conglomerate bought this chunk of land. others have been spending billions to buy buildings like this one. analysts say mainland investors are involved in to level transactions in the city. regular people are following suit as the loss of confidence in the yuan spreads. she said she's worried about the future of china's committee. she bought an insurance policy. >> i'm worried the yuan will fall. >> reporter: since it started weakening in 2015, people on the mainland have been scrambling to buy insurance policies in hong kong. he sells this product to his clients. >> translator: foreign currency invest investments are controlled. individuals have few options of financial products in hong kong. >> reporter: last year, to crack down on the practice, the chinese government began enforcing a $5,000 limit on the debit card payments for hong kong insurance products. but there are no restrictions on the number of payments. people exploited the loophole and made the payments repeatedly. so the government hit back with a ban on the practice. but cheng isn't discouraged. he managed to find another way to get around the restrictions. he tells his clients that instead of using debit cards, they can pay in cash. >> translator: i'll have a look at the product and go to hong kong to make a purchase. >> reporter: as the government enacts new regulations and people find ways to get around them, the currency is under pressure and so is the economy. takuma yoshioka, nhk world, hong kong. russia, turkey and iran say they've agreed to ensure that a cease-fire is observed in syria's civil war. the bloody conflict is in its sixth year. they issued a conference wrapping up two days of peace talks in the capital astana. >> to establish a trilateral mechanism to ensure full compliance with a cease-fire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the cease-fire. >> the statement said a u.n. security council resolution should be used for negotiating a political settlement. russia and iran support the government that president bashar al assad while turkey backs the opposition forces. russia and turkey led the talks. the representatives of the syrian government and opposition forces were not present when the statement was released. the negotiations were aimed at consolidating the cease-fire that came into force in december. the syrian observatory for human rights says more than 300 civilians have been killed since the truce took effect. opposition forces accused the government of violating the deal. the government says its forces are targeting terrorist groups not included in the cease-fire agreement. the u.n. plans to broker separate peace talks on february 8th. britain's supreme court has ruled that they must get parliamentary approval before it starts the process of leaving the european union. >> when the uk withdraws from the eu treaties, a source of uk law will be cut off. further, certain rights enjoyed by uk citizens will be changed. therefore, the government cannot trigger article 50 without parliament authorizing that course. >> triggering article 50 of the lisbon treaty, that's the eu's lisbon treaty would begin the process of exit negotiations with eu officials. prime minister theresa may has said she wants that to happen by the end of march. it could now be delayed because parliamentary deliberations could take time. some politicians are opposed to may's announcement earlier this month that britain would completely withdraw from the eu. they called on the government to maintain access to the single market. a spokesperson for the prime minister said tuesday's ruling does not change the government's plan suggesting it would soon submit a bill to parliament. health officials in japan confirmed an outbreak of dead flu. dead chickens were reported at a poultry farm and a genetic test detected the h5 strain of the virus. about 135 chickens died at the farm. seven dead chickens tested positive for avian influenza. operators were directed not to transport chickens or eggs. they started a call of about 168,000 chickens at the affected farm and neighboring one. last month, officials slaughtered about 120,000 chickens at a farm in a nearby town after bird flu was found there. dementia is a problem of particular concern to countries like japan with large populations of older people. a theater company in okayama is facing the challenges head-on. it is finding that reality can be a dramatic experience. >> reporter: a room in dire need of a good cleaning. a man swinging around a toy sword. these moments from a play show the muddle of a life with dementia. in the play, the man used to be an actor in period drama. now he's a dementia patient at home. his son finds the situation hard to accept and ties his father to the bed. >> translator: who are you? >> translator: you don't recognize me? i'm your son. you don't remember me? >> reporter: the man playing the part of the father, he himself is 90. he's been a fan of theater for years but only joined an acting troupe four years ago. his working life was spent in the hotel business. okada knows the anguish of the son all too well. his own wife has dementia. the symptoms started showing about 15 years ago. for five years now, she has been unable to recognize okada as her husband. >> translator: we've lived together for 60 years. one time she said, i'm going home. i said, who do you think i am? she said, i don't know. who are you? i panicked. >> reporter: okada said he couldn't accept her condition at first. he made an entry in his diary. "she keeps me busy all day." mental exhaustion almost led him to consider extreme measures. around that time, he joined a workshop on providing care to dementia patient. he learned that a theater company would be dealing with that theme, and he wanted to get involved. the leader knows how things can be. he used to work for a nursing home. >> translator: okada told me he would be better than anyone in the part of a patient because he takes care of his wife with dementia every day. >> reporter: okada says the dramatic experience has helped him accept the reality of his wife's condition. she seems to believe that her late mother and elder brother are still alive. >> translator: how's your mother? >> translator: she's fine. >> translator: and your brother? >> translator: he's fine, too. >> reporter: okada goes along rather than trying to correct her. >> translator: i've developed an approach to dealing with dementia. you should never be angry. providing care is no fun. but i now find it less oppressive than before. >> reporter: it is a message he wants the wider public to understand. toward the end of the play, the father remembers having been an actor and starts swinging a sword. the son plays along as if they were cast together in a period drama. >> translator: providing care is tough. something like this could actually happen. >> translator: i believe the audience understood the importance of accepting the condition as well as the difficulty of dealing with old age. >> translator: how long do you plan to keep performing? >> reporter: okada is convinced acceptance is the key to living with people with dementia. he's come to terms with the role of a lifetime. nc ncht. parts of japanfrigid weathe. robert speta joins us with more. >> across central and northern japan we're still seeing the sea effect snow out there. there's a little bit of immovement in the forecast. you have the sea effect snow bands. watch how it gets smaller and smaller away from the russian coast. it's starting to taper off and weaken. over a meter of snow is on ground. so over 100 cars stranded out there. this is all time record snow depth. what we means is the locations never seen snow this deep sitting on the ground. plenty of it out there. it is going to start to melt off. that's some good news. as we look ahead, this pressure gradient that is still bringing some areas maybe an additional 20 to 30 centimeters will start to weaken. high pressure works in from the west. maybe some southerly winds and temperatures will start to rise. sapporo getting above the freezing part. niigata up to 11. if you're in those areas of western japan, the snow pack will start to mount. it does bring secondary problems including low lying river flooding. something we want to watch out for even though it's warming up. high pressure back towards the west is keeping things chilly and northern eastern china. seoul also getting up to about two here on wednesday. shanghai is around 10. the leading edge of the high kicking up some scattered showers in taipei with a high of 17. europe, high pressure dominating central and western europe. we'll be watching there storm system rolling through the med t -- med terraiterranian all wee. parts of norway looking up to 80 to 90 kilometers winds across the area along with heavy snow. something i want to keep a close eye on be p . travel in the central u.s. will be impacted today across the dakot dakotas. see the tight pressure gradient north of that is reducing visibility. you have a lot of blowing snow coming through with that. scattered showers in the forecast for now in chicago. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook. that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thanks for joining us. elaine: startling numbers about violence against women in mexico. what's being done to end the abuse? i'm elaine reyes in washington, d.c. and this is "americas now." first up... spousal abuse has left millions of mexican women single with children, and many have to move in with relatives. laws are in place to end domestic violence, but are rarely enforced. woman: i think the idea is good. it's the execution of it, whether it really happens or not, and that women can finally look at this as a place where they can come and find help. man: this is sort of off the beaten track. elaine: correspondent gerry hadden reports from the yucatan peninsula on the struggles of single motherhood and the efforts underway to empower women. and later, going to the movies is something most of us take

Related Keywords

West Bank , Shanghai , China , Paris , France General , France , Turkey , Sapporo , Hokkaido , Japan , Beijing , Syria , Russia , South China Sea , Brunei General , Brunei , Astana , Gorod Astana , Kazakhstan , Mexico , South Korea , Niigata , Chicago , Illinois , United States , Norway , Tokyo , Lisbon , Lisboa , Portugal , Iran , Washington , Fukuoka , Taipei , T Ai Pei , Taiwan , Indiana , Colombia , Kyoto , Gaza Strip , United Kingdom , Seoul , Soul T Ukpyolsi , Thailand , Israel , Hong Kong , Chile , Chinese , Mexican , South Koreans , Russian , Britain , Syrian , Japanese , Theresa May , Gerry Hadden , Benjamin Netanyahu , Sean Spicer , Asia Pacific , Nhk Newsline , Bashar Al Assad , Elaine Reyes ,