Hospitalized monarch whose condition is described as unstable. A swath of tokyo was without electricity for a short time. The utility is blaming a fire. The outage caught many people by surprise. Reporter the president of Tokyo Electric Power company was busy apologizing to the industry minister on thursday after more than half a million households lost power the day before. Translator im sorry for causing so much inconvenience and worrying so many people. Translator i take the situation very seriously. Although temporarily, the capitols main functions were paralyzed. Reporter the lights went out on wednesday afternoon. The head of the Sports Agency was right in the middle of a meeting. The power also went out at the finance ministry. And at court during a news conference. But in this case, justice wasnt blind for long. Lights were restored when the backup generator kicked right in. Nonethele nonetheless, court spectators said it was enough to cut the day short. Translator they decided they should close the proceedings for the day. Reporter it also delayed a show at this theater for about an hour. Translator i didnt realize it was a power outage. Reporter with traffic lights out, roads were backed up and there were reports of Motor Vehicle accidents. Translator everything was dark and suddenly, bang. They collided over there. Reporter even after the lights went back on, Train Services were still disrupted. Translator i dont know what to do. Im so surprised. Its as if time has stopped and i have to pick up my daughter at day care. Reporter and so what happened . Tokyo electric Power Company says all this was caused by a fire. It says a transmission line that connects to tokyo burst into flames. But it doesnt know why. Tepco workers are trying to cool down temperatures at the site so they can investigate. So far the company says theres no evidence of an outsider tampering with the line. Yuri ito, nhk world, tokyo. Tokyo governor yuriko koike has been in office a little more than two months. So far shes had to deal with a number of highprofile issues while also trying to repair her offices reputation. Nhk world looks at how the public is reacting to their new governor. Reporter Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike came into office on a pledge to do things differently. Her two predecessors had left scandals. So her first move as governor, showing shes serious. She took a pay cut. She cut her salary in half. That leaves her with 140,000 a year. A salary less than assembly members. Translator i am relieved that all proposals have been passed. Reporter governing tests came right away. Of the tsukiji fish market move to a new location. The replacement site in the toyosu area has environmental issues. Mainly contaminated soil under the new site. It was formerly a gas plant. The issues were highlighted by a governmental internal probe. Koike vowed to get to the bottom before she took office. By saying she will punish those who are responsible for the messup. Second on koikes list, the issue of ballooning costs for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and paralympics. Costs have quadrupled from the initial proposal. So in order to try to stem out the outflow of cash, koikes looking at using existing venues for spots instead of new ones. She plans to move rowing events to miyagi. She met with a local governor on wednesday to gain support. Translator im confident that it will be much cheaper than the planned new facility in tokyo. Reporter koike still has to get permission from the ioc for changes. But she says she will visit the site in miyagi. Translator miyagi is still just an option, but i got an idea of how keen the prefecture is to host the game. Reporter so far people like how shes handling things. 84 either strongly approve or approve of the handling of the fish market issue. 60 say they agree with the handling of the olympic budget. Governor koike is riding high in the polls. But shes only been in office a couple months. And tokyo residents will be watching to see how she handles her growing to do list. Nhk world, tokyo. Concern is growing in thailand over the health of the king following reports that his heir apparent has returned from overseas. The 88yearold king has been hospitalized for most of the past several years. On sunday the palace announced that his condition was unstable. The crown prince reportedly returned to thailand. Other members have visited the king at the hospital. Thailands interim Prime Minister canceled an official engagement outside and returned to the capital. Several gathered o outside to py for their monarch. Translator im very anxious, but i still have hope. The king has been a stabililizing force during peris of political turmoil. Key index dropped more than 6 on wednesday due to worries over the kings health. Japanese leaders want to draw a line under wartime history by signing a peace treaty with russia. Shinzo abe is set to meet Vladimir Putin next month. He says he feels theyll see a way forward. Abe told lawmakers about talksk he held with putin last month. He said they spoke about prospects for a peace treaty in considerable detail. T translator i said we shou push negotiations forward to settle the issue during our time in office. Japan is pushing for closer economic ties through an eightpoint cooperation plan. Economy minister said he wants to make that plan bear its first fruit by the time abe and putin meet next month. One issue two leaders need to resolve on the way to any treaty is sovereignty over the islands. The japanese government maintain its an inherent part of the territory. It said they were illegal le occupied after world war ii. The New York Times has published the stories of two women who say donald trump inappropriately touched them years ago. One of the women is now 74. She recalled being groped by trump when they sat next to each other on a flight more than 30 years ag they had not met fore. She sdis hands were erywhere a he was le an octopus. She descbed it as s an assault. Thee othther w woman said she w kissed on the mouth when she introduced herself to trump in trump tower in 2005. Trumps Campaign Says the entire article is fiction. They say theyre considering suing the news organization. Trump said in sundays president ial debate that his crude words against women had never turned into action. He attacked former president bill clinton saying mine were words and his were action. Democratic president ial nominee Hillary Clinton sharply reacted to t theatest t andal. Hes n just insulted women. Hes an equ oppornity insulter. Hes insulted everybody. But Hillary Clinton is also cing trouble. Document disclosure site wikileaks has been making public thousands of emails exchanged between her aides. Some indicate she received information from the Justice Department during a look into her private email. The trump said it was showing of corruption. He also the new emails also show members of the clinton team viciously attacking catholics and evangelicals dpp you see that . The clinton team has stopped short of confirming authenticity of the emails. But they are accusing moscow of hacking to assist trump. Also the fbi is investigating the matter. The man in charge of japans uniqlo has looked at his ambitious goals. Gene otani has more on that. Operator of the Uniqlo Stores said sales will hit 50 billion by 2020. But on thursday admitted the target is out of reach. He has revised its goal to nearly 30 billion. The announcement came as fast retailing released an Earnings Report for the year through august. The company notched a sales increase of about 6 from the previousus year. But net profit down 56 . Executives blame the strengthening yen as well as poor sales of winter cloththing over the colder months. Translator wed need 50 billion in sales to become the worlds number one. We have to make changes throughout the company too achieve this. He hopes to boost the companys fortunes by online sales. Sony has become the latest contender in the market for virtual realality headsets. They released the playstation vr on thursday. Ga fans got their hands on the new product. Translator we believe this is a household innovation whose introduction matches the importance of the tv set. The headsets plug into playstation 4 consoles. The maker also released titles of software. Some allow users to experience the sensation of flight and walking under the sea. Translator i cant wait to fly. Translator im really excited about experiencing images never seen before. U. S. And thai aiwanese maker zonemy hopes to grab part of the market comprising 40 million consoles. Two of japans major wholesalers had plans to merge in april next year. But executives are now saying theyll delay the deal. Executives say the decision is due to opposition from idemitsus family. They nowow believe the m mergerl take more time. Translator not setting a time frame for the merger iss a message from the management to the founding family. Its important to have the family fully understand the merger through discussions. Translator we have postponed the merger, but well continue to work hard toward that goal. Its unclear whether the merger will be able to go ahead. The idemitsu family is reluctant even to hold talks with the management. Chinese government officials have released trade figures for september. Data suggests the worlds second largest economy is still struggling with weak demand both at home and abroad. Chinese Customs Officials say exports fell 10 from a year earlier. Thats the sixth consecutive month of decline. Imports also shrank 1. 9 . Many analysts expectsed the imports would continue to rise but instead fell back. Checking the stocks. The market fell. For the details giang nguyen reports. Lets see the closing levels for this thursday, october 13th. The nikkei closed down 0. 4 finishing at 16,774. The index fell for the second day in a row. The broader topix ended almost flat. The volatility also bore out on currency markets. Went up to 104 yen level in the morning. But traders bought back the safe haven yen after they saw chinas weak data. Oil stocks, idemitsu and showa shell ended lower on the delay of their merger. Toyota and suzuki were also in focus as theyre discussing a partnership. Investors are now looking out for other economic figures from china such as prices. Those are out on friday. Im giang nguyen reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. Hong kongs hang seng index slipping closing at its lowest level in almost more than a month. In australia took a toll on the index. The shanghai composite ended slightly higher. 3,061 the closing number. Seouls kospi index dropping almost by 1 . 2,015 for the closing number. Thats after holding key rates steady as analysts expected. Some members of the Worlds Largest petroleum cartel opec and nonmembers have agreed to enter full talks later this month. Their aim is to cap the price of crude oil. Representatives of qatar and other exporting countries and nonmember major Oil Exporters including russia gathered in istanbul on wednesday. They agreed to hold two days of talks in vienna. Starting on october 28th to discuss the output cap. Opec reached an agreement late last month on supply. Russia mong thehe participants eager to reach a cap. An invitation is to be extended to the united ststates. The country is the worldds Largest Oil Producer as Shale Oil Production has continued to expand. Heres a look at some of the other business stories were lookingg at. Gasoline pririces in japan have risen for the firirst time in fr weeks. The increase follows an opec agreement to cut production. Officials at the Oil Information center say the average retail price of a liter of gas on tuesday was 122. 8 yen or about 1. 18. Thats up by 0. 1 of a yen from the previous week. A bank of japan survey shows fewer people than before expect prices to be higher in a years time. 65. 1 said prices would rise in the next 12 months. Thats down 7. 3 points from the previous Quarterly Survey and the fifth straight decline. The result suggests the persisting inflationary mindset despite the monetary easing program. There is a changing trend in lifestyles in japan. People are choosing to live in smaller condominiums than ever before. Younger people especially are appreciating both the flexibility and simplicity in their new taste for space. Reporter nishimura lives in tokyo. After the birth of their first child, they bought a condominium. They have one room and 48 square meters. The selling point was its location. Its a fiveminute walk to the company where nishimura works. Translator being close to the office was the top priority. I dont finish work at a set time, but i want to take my child to day care and bring him home as often as possible. Thats why we focused on proximity. Reporter thoughts about real estate are changing. In the past condos of around 80 square meters was standard for families. Now more buyers are choosing compact units for their shortterm needsds. Translator consumers no longer look at real estate for something theyll use for a lifetime. If it no longer suits their style, theyre willing to rent it out or sell it. Reporter business is expanding with products for the trend. They include items that are to provide stability in small spaces. For example, a hut that goes inside the room. It can easily be removed if the owner sells the unit. And furniture designed for comfort in tight quarters. The focus is on pieces that serve multiple roles in small spaces. For example, a sofa that quickly becoming a bed. So thehe living room can be a bedroom too. And a kurt desk. Placing on top to make a dining table. It can be used for work or for mea meals. They visit families loving in small condominiums to learn more about their needs. Translator anything inconvenient about living here . Translator theres no bedside table. If we can do solutions that work in small space with multifunction, we know we are good. Reporter like their counterparts in other parts of the world, families are finding that small living suits them. This change in lifestyle is opening up new opportunities for businesses. Nhk world, tokyo. 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. Im going to leave you with the markets. Youre watching nhk newsline coming to you live from tokyo. Parts of the Balkan Peninsula are covered in heavy snow as sayaka mori tells us in this hours World Weather report. Yes. Some ski resorts in europe have alreadady openened due to the rt cold snap. And the first snowfall of the season fell in parts of croatia. It was accompanied by strong winds. Im going to take y you t to nortrthern croatatia. Mountains i in northern croatia were b bnketed i in heavy snowfafall. A stotorm caused up to 3 30 centimeterers of snow earliliers week withh strong winds,s, a blizzard took place making the roads impassable. Weatheher improved on wednesday but a rainstorm is expected in the Balkan Peninsula during the weekend. It is potent and a low pressure system over the peninsula caused significant flooding in romania. Also it caused some damage across ukraine. One person was killed due to a falling tree. The system is now located over the balkan actually, the black sea region. That is causising this syste will cause some heavy r rainfal for the valalleys and also snowfall up in the mountains. We have reports of gusts of about 140 Kilometers Per Hour in the south of france. Now, temperatures are going to be in the Single Digits in warsaw. Now, lets go to asia. Theres a tropical depression which is expected to move into cambodia as well as vietnam. Theres another tropical depression just to the east of the philippines. This is expected to intensify ininto a tropical stormm withine next 2 24 hours. It is expected to move into the north of the philippppines as a stronger storm. Well keep you posted. The first in a series of october storms is expected to move into the Pacific Northwest and actually some areas over the Pacific Northwest already seeing some heavy rainfall and strong winds. We have high Wind Warnings in place for parts of oregon as well as washington and heavy rain warning is in place in metro vancouver. Thisis is a potent systemem. Were expecting another system to come by thursday night and theress one more to come on yor saturday. So we will see rainfall persisting the next five days or so. Vancouver will see rainy and wet conditions into the weekend. That should continue into next week. Its wet and windy across the northwest but cooler areas in the great lakes region. We have freeze warnings or frost advisories posted in the area. And across the atlantic, theres an extremely dangerous hurricane approaching bermuda. This is nicole. Packing winds of 260 Kilometers Per Hour. This is a category 4 hurricane. It is a powerful system. It is expected to pass over or get close to the Bermuda Islands on thursday. If it hits the area as a category 4system, it isis going to be the first event in history. Were expecting heavy rainfall with powerful winds andnd storm surge up to 2. 5 meters. Thats high enough to cause some severe coaststal flooding. All right. Thats it for me now. Heres the extended forecast. Kumamoto city castle has been opened for the First Time Since it was rattled by the earthquake. They invited media in to see the damage caused. Workerss beganan repairing the walls and turrets in july. Now theyre assessing what needs to be done inside. City Officials Say the m most dazzling room survived largely unscathed. D. Its gold leaf paintings were unharmed. But part of the floor sank about four centimeters. Other rooms werent so fortunate. The quakes distorted paintings, cracked the walls of a tea ceremony room, and warped some paper screens. Most of the damage occurred when sections of the exterior wall chanced. Newsroom tokyo comes tona7 gen