Farmers are hoping new cuttingedge technology will help transform their ageold industry. Hong kongs chief executive says he has no intention of resigning. He has refused the call by prodemocracy protesters who are demanding freer elections. But Leung Chunying is offering to hold talks between his government and student leaders to try to defuse the demonstrations. Nhk worlds estella mak is in hong kong. Estella, whats the latest there . Reporter im on the pedestrian overpass right in front of the Central Government offices. Thousands of protesters remain here after spending the night. They have threatened to expand their protests, but chief executive leung held a News Conference just minutes before a deadline they set. Translator i wont resign. I must carry Electoral Reform forward. Reporter he stressed that the government and police have been responding patiently. Leung said three senior government officials including the chief secretary carrie lam will meet student leaders soon as demanded by the protesters. Lam is hong kongs second highest official. The representative of the Student Group issued a statement saying its leaders will meet the officials but it warned the protesters will completely besiege government buildings unless their demands are met. I talked to some protesters all right, well so thats exactly what i wanted to ask you. What are protesters on the streets saying about the governments response . I talked to some protesters earlier. Most of them have been here for five days. Some are sleeping on the streets looking really tired. They say the talks are likely to take place within two days. Theyre not too optimistic that any major change will happen, but at least its a small step forward. The talks are sure to be the center of attention. There is still a Strong Police presence near the chief executives office. It is not yet known when and how the talks will take place. Estella mak in hong kong. Turkish leaders have made a decision that will shift the dynamic in the war against Islamic State. Lawmakers voted to give the government power to take military action against the militants in syria and iraq. Turkeys allies are welcoming the move. Nhk worlds craig dale is joining us with details. Reporter the United States and other nations have wanted turkey to use the might of its large military to go after Islamic State but lawmakers in an kara held off for a number of reasons. Now theyre ready to join the fight. A majority of parliament has given the government power to order incursions into syria and iraq against Islamic State. Foreign troops will now be allowed to launch operations from turkey. Keep in mind turkey is a member of the Nato Alliance and the u. S. Has an air base in the south. Turkish leaders made this decision because Islamic State is literally at their doorstep. The militants have been swallowing up territory just across the border with syria. Theyve been fighting for control of a town called ayn al arab, also known as kobani. Theyve essentially got the town surrounded. U. S. Led air strikes against their positions dont seem to have stopped their advance. Kurdish militiamen have been struggling to defend the town. Some say if Islamic State captures it there will be a massacre. A constant stream of syrians, mostly ethnic kurds, has been flowing into turkey, fleeing the fighting. Turkish authorities have been accepting these refugees, more than 150,000 in the past couple of weeks. Thats on top of the more than 1 million syrians who have gone to turkey to escape the civil war in their countries since it began in 2011. Turkish leaders weighed a number of different and complicated factors before they decided to join this conflict. One is their violent history with the countrys kurdish minority. They were locked in a threedecadelong conflict with the kurds, and peace talks are still continuing. Even now turkish authorities have been stopping kurdish civilians from going into syria to fight Islamic State. They dont want the kurdish separatist movement to gain strength on the back of this conflict. Kurds in iraq, for example, have taken more territory as they pushed the militants outof areas the iraqi couldnt defend. A second factor here was hostages. Islamic state captured dozens of turkish citizens in iraq, some of them diplomatic staff, soldiers, and children. But the militants released the hostages last month. Some analysts say turkeys participation in the fight against Islamic State could be significant, especially if its wideranging. If turkey decided to crack down on the Islamic States support, recruitment, fundraising and oil networks that run through turkey that would have a major impact on Islamic States ability to take and hold territory in syria and iraq. Reporter turkeys defense minister calls Islamic State a threat to National Security but he says dont expect immediate steps. U. S. Officials have welcomed turkeys decision to join this conflict. They say theyre now talking with the turks to decide what role the country will play. Catherine. Thanks very much, craig. Nhk worlds craig dale. Government officials in central japan say more people are still stranded on mt. Ontake. They say saturdays eruption is already the countrys deadliest volcano disaster in decades. At least 47 pierce were killed. Officials with nagano prefecture say 16 people are still unaccounted for. Police officers said they had not been able to contact five people who had registered their trek in advance. And they said some climbers report their climbing mates have not yet returned. Police officers as well as selfdefense force personnel and firefighters have been scheduled to resume their search friday morning near the summit. They were forced to cancel their operation for the day because of bad weather. The head of the International Monetary fund, christine lagarde, says the Global Economy is weaker than what many people thought. Ai uchida joins us now frour business desk. Ai, what can you tell us . Analysts at imf regularly put out a report known as the World Economic outlook. In it they include a growth forecast. But theyve already downgraded their 2014 forecast numerous times. And will guard is still saying what finance minister and central bankers are doing is not enough. And shes calling for more Structural Reforms and spending on infrastructure to drive growth. The recovery is much more modest in japan and weakest in the euro area. She complete the speech in the runup to next weeks imf and world bank meetings. She said the u. S. And british economies are strong but she said japan has been struggling since government officials raised the consumption tax from 5 to 8 . And she said the recovery in the euro zone is particularly weak. The imf chief also had something to say about whats going on at the u. S. Central bank. Federal reserve policy makers have been reducing the amount of money they pump into the markets through their bondbuying program. Lagarde urged them to be mindful of the impact on emerging economies. Officials at japans Economy Ministry say automakers have been producing fewer cars since the sales tax went up. And they expect that will weigh on demand for steel. The officials predict the amount of steel used for october to december will be about 28 million tons, down 0. 6 from the same period last year. The officials said demand for steel used in houses is also down, and they said japanese automakers are looking to produce more cars and factories overseas. Well, investors are concerned Economic Growth appears to be slowing in many countries, and they are selling stocks. Actually, the nikkei has been moving in and out of negative territory this morning, but it is currently trading higher by a tenth of a percent. The index has fallen in the three previous sessions. Investors in hong kong, theyre back after a twoday holiday. And they are again selling stocks. The key index had declined for four straight sessions since the protests started. The hong kong hang seng looks to end down for the week. Mainland china and south korean markets are closed today for a public holiday. Now, the key event for investors across the world later today is the release of the monthly u. S. Job numbers. And currency traders are this morning keeping the dollar in a narrow range against the yen and the euro. The u. S. Currency is now trading at the upper 108yen level. The euro has pulled back slightly from twoyear lows. Hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to come to japan just for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, but people at firms across the country are keen to attract more visitors now. Executives at Telecom Giant ntt have decided to lend a helping hand. The executives will team up with their counterparts at Japanese Travel Agency jtb. They plan to launch a service that offers information about sightseeing spots, tips on how to get around, even restaurant coupons. Tourists will be able to access the service by using a Smartphone Application that works on wifi networks. And theyll be able to download information in japanese, english, chinese, and korean. Executives with ntt and jtb will Start Testing the service from october in fukuoka city in southern japan. They plan to promote it to tourists through travel agencies abroad. He. Translator wed like foreign visitors to japan to feel welcome here. By offering them helpful information and communication services. Its our duty tone sure they enjoy their stay. The executives will keep track of how people use the service and share the information with city officials across japan. Developers at japanese machinery maker mitts bishi heavy industries have come up with the worlds fastest Transit System cars. They have tires on their wheels. Company executives hope to sell them across southeast asia. The new Transit System has been introduced in many urban areas because it can help ease traffic congestion. Officials at mitsubishi heavy say the train cars can run at 120 Kilometers Per Hour. They say the high speed is achieved due to the lighter body and a design that reduces air drag. The trains can be driven by remote control. The executives expect the Transit System can be used not only in urban areas but also for lines connecting city and rural areas. Mitsubishi heavy plans to manufacture the train cars in its plant in hiroshima western japan. Electronics developers in south korea are giving people the ability to run their homes remotely. Theyre connecting more appliances with the internet. Nhk worlds kim chen ju explains. Reporter refrigerators and washing machines line the Home Appliances sales floor. They seem ordinary but not quite. What if im out Grocery Shopping and wondering what to get . I can simply text my refrigerator and the refrigerator will send me the picture inside and whats in there. The service is called home chat, developed by the consumer appliance maker lg electronics. A camera inside the fridge takes a photograph of what was inside the last time the fridge door was opened and saves it. If you register your fridge as a friend on the app called line, you can control the appliance remotely. And not just the fridge but the washing machine too. Just text start washing cycle from wherever you are and the machine starts up. Production of appliances and other gadgets that can be monitored and remotely controlled via the internet has risen sharply. The korean government estimates this market will grow by 30 a year over the next eight years. The technology is also proving useful in reducing the volume of household waste. Kim young hi lives in an apartment in seoul. She has been trying to reduce her food waste. Waste disposal has become a problem. Food waste is dumped as landfill, and the sewage was dumped in the ocean. The government is trying to reduce the volume of waste and has banned dumping in the ocean. It now charges consumers a disposal fee based on weight. For residents that used to be a flat rate. Starting in august each household must now use an i. D. Card to register the weight of their garbage. Kims garbage weighs two kilos. The garbage container is equipped with a communications modem. This allows the local government to charge for volumes and charge each household the correct disposal fee. To reduce the weight of her garbage kim tries to find foods that produce less waste. She drains as much water as she can from the kelp and dried fish she uses to make her soup base. Translator this system makes me want to reduce garbage because you are charged by weight. Reporter kims building could slash demand for garbage its residents produce by 20 with the new disposal system. Technologies that make our lives easier are also making us aware of our habits. Kim chan ju, nhk world, seoul. Thats all now for Business News. Ill leave you with a check on markets. Every morning investors turn our attention to asia. The tokyo market leads the way and markets around the world follow. From the decision that could change the course of an economy. To the companies at the forefront of change. Uptotheminute market reports. And analysis by specialists from around the world. Get all the latest Business News and insight every day. Here on newsline. Silk worms in japanese labs are spinning a new kind of fabric p theyve been genetically engineered to produce silk that glows and researchers hope the worms will help revitalize the industry that played a big role in the modernization of japan. Reporter the splendid colors of a magnificent kimono. What makes this piece so special is that the threads of silk are luminescent. Theyre the ruflt a Research Project that could revolutionize japans silk industry. The project is led by the National Institute of agrobiological studies. Researchers manipulated the genes of silkworms by introducing genes from other life forms into their eggs. They succeeded in producing a silkworm with new characteristics. Translator we inserted the genes that provided the phosphorescence in jellyfish and coral. Thats why the yarn glows. Reporter heres one of the silkworms born from this manipulation. When light of a specific wavelength is projected onto it, the worms body emits an orange color. The glow comes from the silk thread inside the worms body. Its luminescent, like some types of jellyfish and coral. Fabric made from this thread could produce all kinds of products with high added value, ranging from global garments to original lampshades. In the 1930s there were more than 2 million silk farms across the country, but the growing availability of artificial fibers and increased International Competition led to the decline of japanese silk. Only 500 silk farms remain active in japan. Their owners are pinning high hopes on the potential of this technology. Translator its very attractive for us but it also means higher costs and its not like we would be free to grow the silkworms anywhere. The process involves gene manipulation, so it requires the authorization of the agricultural ministry. Production would be limited to specific farms. Reporter one necessary precaution is to make absolutely sure that genetically modified organisms dont breed with natural species. Researchers at the institute are working hard to turn this futuristic project into reality. Once the process is determined to be safe, they hope to make their modified variety of silkworms available to farms and put their idea into practical use within a few years. The potential of genetic manipulation is not limited to silk that glows. One example is this garment that incorporates the characteristics of spider thread. Translator introducing the genes of spider thread makes the fabric 20 stronger and 30 more stretchy. Theres a whole range of possibilities. For example, inserting the genes of the kind of thread that produced underwater by Aquatic Insects could make a garment more water resistant. Our aim is to produce a type of material that can only be made with Japanese Technology and we hope a revival of the silk industry. Reporter the question now is whether these 21st century worms will be enough to give hope to japans ailing silk industry. At the asian games in incheon, south korea, defending champion japan has won the gold in the mens rugby sevens. The sport will be included in the olympics from 2016 for the first time. It was japans third consecutive victory against hong kong in the games, affirming its status as the regions powerhouse. It was the second successive time that the two rivals met in the games final. Hong kong took advantage in the opening minutes. But japans Michael Leetch scored an equalizer. Japan beat hong kong 2412 in a free flowing match. In womens rugby sevens china took gold, beating japan 1412. Japanese women also defended their title in softball. 9 team shut out taiwan and marked its fourth consecutive gold performances. Ace pitcher ueno allowed only two hits in six innings. The teams batters helped her with a ninehit attack. Japan beat taiwan with the final score of 60. Softball and baseball were not included at the 2012 London Olympic games, but players have their hopes set on returning to the field at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Medal winners from japan, taiwan, and china held up a banner for the sports to be reinstated as olympic events. Its time now for a check of the weather. People in ja