Areas and authorized 50 Million Euros to respond to the disaster. The magnitude6. 2 quake caused extensive damage to the town of amatrice and surrounding areas. The town is a popular Tourist Destination in the summer, and Police Believe foreign travelers may be among the victim. Rescue teams are racing against time to find people under the rubblele. There have been over 900 aftershocks, including one with a magnitude above 5. The earthquakes have continued very frequently. Its a really dangerous situation. Police and firefighters are using drones to search for survivors, but experts believe itll take more time to grasp the full extent of the destruction. Turkey has sent more Ground Troops across its border into northern syria. Its part of an apparent move to stop kurdish fighters from expanding their territory. Turkrkish troops began a milita offensive on wednesday that pushed Islamic State militants out of the syrian town of jarablus. The operation was cacaied out together with Syrian Opposition forces. But turkish Officials Say the military offensive is aimed at both Islamic State militants and kurdish fighters. They cononsider the kurdish fors to be part of a terrorist organization. Kurdish forces recaptured the northern syrian town of manbij from thehe islamic statate earl this month. By expanding its military operations, turkey is signaling it intends to keep kurdish fighters from seizing more territitory in northern syriria. Turkish h officials sesent in m tanknks on thursrsday as reinforcements. The u. S. Has previously backed kurdish fighters, but u. S. Vice President Joe Biden said that washington intends to cooperate with turkey. Biden was speaking in ankara where he held talks with the turkish president. Erdogan. Officials at japans Public Pension Fund are reporting investment losses of more than 50 billion for the april to june period. They say the blame lies with plunging Global Stock Markets triggered by britains vote to leave the eu. Officials at the Government Pension Investment Fund report 52 billion in losses wiwith an earnings ratioio of minus 3. 88 . More than 22 billion were in japanese stocks. 24 billion in foreign stocks and 15 billion in foreign bonds. The funds japanese bonds portfolio posted a profit of 9 billion. The fund was also in the red in fiscal 2015. It reported losses of about 53 billion. That was mainly due to a global stock market plunge due to an economic slowdown in china. Translator the losses resulted from shortterm valuation and will not affect pension payouts. The funds policy of longterm holding of good assets will steadily increase its assets. Its looking increasingly unlikely that the Transpacific Partnership deal will get approved by the u. S. Congress while president obama is still in office. U. S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has said the senate will not vote on the approval of agreement before the end of the year. Mcconnell met with an Agricultural Organization in the state of kentucky. U. S. Media reported that the republican senator told the participants that the current tpp agreement has serious flaws. Earlier this month, house of representative Speaker Paul Ryan also expressed dououbts about bringing the free trade deal up for a vote. Mcconnell reportedly suggested that congress may approve the deal if the next Administration Revises it. But both republican president ial candidate donald trump and his democratic rival Hillary Clinton oppose the tpp deal. Its unclear if the next u. S. Administration will proceed to approve the trade agreement. Now, turning to the markets, tokyo ended lower for the second straight session. Our Business Recorder giang nguyen has the details from the stock exchange. Investors lacked trading cues throughout the week. They had some reason to sell today. Japans core Consumer Prices for july fell for the fifth straight month, down half a percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, investors refrained from taking any risks ahead of a key speech by u. S. Fed chief janet yellen. Lets look at the closing lelevs this friday, august 26th. The nikkei lost 1. 18 ending at 16, 360. The broader topix fell 1. 25 . Shares fell across most sectors, but consumer cyclicals saw the biggest declines. Department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi was down 2. 7 . Some companies rose on share buybacks, however. Kao corporation climbed 2. 1 after the company said it would buy back up to 10 million shares. Investors are now keen to pick up any clues from Janet Yellens speech in jackson hole, wyoming. About the timing of the next fed rate hike. Im giang nguyen reporting from the stock exchange. All right. Lets see how the markets are doing. Here are the latest figures. A newly elected governor in southwestern japan has taken an unusual step. Hes asking a Power Company to Halt Operations at a Nuclear Plant in his prefecture to reevaluate its safety. The plants two reactors went online last year. They were the first to do so under stricter regulations established after the 2011 fukushima a disaster. The kagoshima governor met with kyushu electric Power Company y president on friday. Translator residents have been uneasy since earthquakes damaged neighboring kumamoto. So i want to ask you to suspend the plants operations and reevaluate its safety. Kumamoto prefecture was hit by a series of earthquakes in april that killed more than 80 people and destroyed scores of buildings. He asked the local Power Company to help draw up evacuation plans in the event of an emergency. Uriu vowed his company would address the matter. The the two reactors at the plant are currently scheduled to go offline for inspections starting in october. Governors in japan have no Legal Authority to shut down a Nuclear Plant. Japan has 42 reactors at 16 power plants, and many plant operators have applied for screenings under the new requirements. So far, the Nuclear Regulation authority has approved the restart of seven reactors at three plants. Two of the reactors that have won approval are at the sendai plant. Four others are at the takahama plant. In fukui prefecture. One is at the ikata plant. One of the reactors at the sendai plant went back online in august, the other in october last year. Two of the takahama reactors were restarted earlier this year, but a local District Court ordered an injunction, ordering them to shut down. Residents sought the injunction over lingering safety concerns. The reactor at the ikata plant was restarted in august. The ikata and the two at the sendai plant are the only reactors operating in japan. Ahead of the event, a japanese aide official addressed a symposium explaining the potential of Geothermal Power generation. The official from the Japan International coopereration agey pointed out that some areas in africa have geological formations that make it easy to acquire hightemperature steam from under the ground. The official said japan has many volcanos and can utilize its Geothermal PowerGeneration Technology developed over many years. Meanwhile, japanese and u. S. Government officials have exchanged a memorandum to jointly develop the alternative Energy Source in east africa. Police in japan suspect a 16yearold male found dead earlier this week was the victim of group violence. His naked body was partially buried in a river bed near tokyo. Tsubasa inoues body was discovered on tuesday. The cause of death was drowning. He lived about ten kilometers from the site where he was found. Some of his friends say he had quit school and was working at a convenience store. Translator he was such a nice, outgoing boy. Two minors reported to police that they had heard their friends attacked him until he stopped moving. Police say a text message admitting to the attack was sent by an acquaintance of the victim. They also discovered a video that appears to show him being assaulted and forced to swim in the river. Police have arrested five males between the ages of 14 and 17. Some of them told investigators they held the victim under the water. One said he killed inoue because he had lied and ignored phone calls and text messages. A similar incident occurred last year when a 13yeaearold boy w murdered near tokyo. That victim was forced to swim in a river in the middle of winter and was repeatedly slashed with a box cutter. The incident prompted discussisions on how adults can identify and helelp young peopl who might become victims of violence. Japans all Nippon Airways says it will cancel more than 300 domestic flights of its boeing 787 dreamliner fleet over the coming weeks. They cite a problem with the planes engine p parts. Ana says tururbine blades theh 787s engines manufactured by ukbased rolls royce could corrode and break after a certain number of hours of use. They said the problem occurred three times between february and august, eachch time forcing g at down of f the engines. The incidents have forced an Emergency Landing at a nearby airport. The Company Plans to replace the turbine blades of all 50 dreamliner jets it owns. It says the procedure is likely to force cancellations of about ten flights every day through the end of next month or later. In the global fight against hiv a. I. D. S. , perhaps the most highprofile epidemic is in south africa. There are millions of People Living with hiv and a generation of children who lost their parents to the disease. Now, an ngo is trying a unique approach in raising awareness for the caretakers of these orphans. Nhk world has more. Reporter a sporting event with a difference. All the participants are grandmothers. Held in a township outside durbin, the name comes from the word for grandma in the local language. This is the sixth time what they call the grannys olympics have been held. 600 of them are participating. The grandmothers are divided into teams that compete against each other in various events, but with all the singing and dancing, it actually feels more like a party. Dance, be happy. You know, just play like children. Were very happy, very excited. Reporter the event is organized by a local ngo that supports grandmothers who are bringing up their grandchildren. This situation is not unusual in south africa, where many of the women have lost sons or daughters to a. I. D. S. You get most households being headed up by grandmothers you see here. Its also an effort to celebrate their grandmothers. Reporter this 68yearold is one of the participants. Her five children all died of a. I. D. S. , leaving their Young Children behind. Now she has 15 grandchildren and great grandchildren living with her. There are now about 2. 5 million a. I. D. S. Orphans in south africa, but public support is very limited. And grandmothers like her often find it hard to make ends meet. Translator i work all day long. When i go to bed, my body is hurting, and im exhausted. Reporter at the olympics, she can take her mind off the hardships of her life, singing and dancing with new friends. Translator im very happy to be here. I want to come back next year, definitely. Reporter despite the festive atmosphere, the olympics place another more serious role to raise the issue of a. I. D. S. Orphans and its impact in south africa. Taro mitamura, nhk world. Indonesias fight against poverty is one of its major social challenges. A Nonprofit Organization is trying to help Homeless Children and those living in squalid conditions to find a way to a better life using an unlikely resource. Nhk worlds yusuke ota has the details. Reporter thanks to the economic growth, you can see a lot of cars in jakarta. But on the other hand, you can still see a lot of Street Children. About 34,000 children are said to be on the street in indonesia. These young people were once among them, but now theyve seized on opportunity for a Better Future from trash. The Nonprofit Organization helps them make new products from the things people throw away. The ngo set up a workshop four years ago. Interested childldren can recei an 18month Training Course on how to fashion material goods from glass bottles and other materials. They hope the training will provide them with the skills to stand on their own. Their products are on display at the hotel lobby and other places. These are egg holders made from wine bottles. The necks of the bottles have been turned into wine glasses. This vase was made from a fishing lamp. I think its really good that we do recycling because of the global problems. Its particularly nice that children are doing it. Its very nicely done. Reporter the prices of the things these children make have more than tripled over the last three years. The npo pays them between 12 and 24 a month. Translator its the happiest thing that many people buy our products. Ill try to improve my skills and make even better things. Reporter he joined the workshop in may. He likes to draw and says workshop activities are good for design. Hes thinking about becoming a photographer. Translator i want to s save enough money to buy a camera. Ill keep learning and trying to realize my dream. Translator they have great potential. I want them to learn at this workshop and change their lives. Reporter this luxurious Jakarta Hotel uses their products. The management appreciates the skills of the members and hired one of them. Translator making bread is similar to what we do at the workshop. The experience of making products from glass and plastic now helping me in my job. Reporter the learning of skills gives Street Children a different future. The product theyre making will help them realize their hopes and dreams. Yusuke ota, nhk world, jakarta. The japanese art of bonsai aims to replicate nature in a plant pot. Demand is shrinking here but grows overseas, so producers are creating new types of bonsai for foreign enthusiasts. Nariko has the story. Reporter this exhibit is called an air bonsai. The tree is levitated using magnets. The floating pot represents the importance of ecology. And this is a dry bonsai using a dead tree. Thats a brand new idea that relieves the owner of the need to water the plant. A japanenese man demonstrates bonsai making inin belgium. He represented his country at this event in january. With his hands, the tree drastically changes shape. He turns it into an artistic bonsnsai. Beautiful. [ applause ] reporter his creations have won him many fans abroad. He has received invitations to perform in france, g germany, t u. S. , and seven other r countri. He was born into a family of bonsai farmers. He said he started going abroad because he had so few opportunities to use his skills at home. The familys customers grow older. Domestic sales have fallen by more than 30 from their peak. Translator many customers haveve passed awaway, and some too oltoto connue. E. It n now aompleteldifferert world to wt t it w in n th past. I thk everybody in the indudust has a sense of isis, so wt shoulde do . Thanswer forost ofy generaon is overseas. Fear thatell be nished iforeign dand collaps. Reporter he accepts foreign students. He wants to promote bonsai across the world and turn this traditional japanese practice into a global one. This man from spain came to japan fourur years ago becauses admired the skills. Translator theres a thick branch here. You want to bend it, dont you . Did you try to bring it here . Translator through to here . Translator so think about what youre doing. Do you need this if you make this a main one . Translator yes, i want to improve my skills. Reporter he returned home in june after four years after training. He will open a bonsai farm in madrid. Translator i hope for his success in spain, europe, and beyond. I also hope recognition of bonsai will increase overseas, and that will help us rediscover its appeal in japan some day. Reporter bonsai artistry is crossing borders to find new places to grow. The new trees planted by artists like urushibata are now attracting new fans across the world. Nagiko hasumi, nhk world. Youre watching nhk newsline from tokyo. Sayaka mori standing next to a typhoon now joins us from the weather desk. Typhoon lionrock could become a major threat for central and eastern japan early next week. How bad does it look for us here in tokyo, sayaka . It looks like its going to be dangerously stormy as we go into late monday or into tuesday. If lionrock hits the konto region, it could be the strongest typhoon observed in the kanto region. The sea surface temperatures are about 30 degrees, which is quite warm, enough to intensify the system. The system will likely move into the northeast, but temperatures are over 27 degrees. So still warm. That means the system will not likely weaken significantly. Right now lionrock is a very strong typhoon, packing wind gusts of over 215 kilometers per hour. The system has changed direction towards the east. The system will likely make a change of direction towards the north as we go into monday, which is quite bad too. Then the system will likely hit japan into the tohoku region. If it hits the pacific side, it is going to be a firsttime event. Weve never expe