dreamliner's grounded. u.s. aviation authorities order airlines to stop flying the boeing 787. the federal aviation administration has instructed airlines to suspend flights of all 787 boeing dreamliners. investigators are looking into a series of battery and other

technical problems. they want to confirm the airplane is safe. an overheated battery may have caused the dreamliner to make an emergency landing. a flight took off on wednesday from an airport in western japan. crews were forced to evacuate the plane. they checked a battery in an area beneath the cockpit. >> translator: there was a strong burning smell in the electronic equipment locker. melted material from the battery oozed out and stuck to the floor. >> the inspectors found no visible damage to e lek tlectris around the battery. they are still investigating. airline executives around the world have been attracted to the

dreamliner. it uses 20% less fuel than other planes. it has a lighter body and advanced computer electronics. former aviation expert says it's unlike other planes. >> translator: you could call the aircraft a monster. the plane is computerized and uses a lot of electricity. >> commercial jets use engine power to maintain cabin pressure and hydrolic pumps for steering. engineers at boeing decided to use electronics for manyhe 787. the engine's power can be used more efficiently for flying. the wiring system is required to cope with the larger voltage. engineers had to increase the battery capacity. . >> translator: using more power

complicates the system. >> the dreamliner has been plagued with problems ever since it was introduced in 2011. last week alone crews experienced malfunctions. a japan airline 787 was on the tarmac in boston when a battery pack caught fire. the next day another dreamliner suffered a fuel leak. the national transportation safety board is investigating both incidents. investigators from that agency and boeing are heading to japan to try to figure out what's causing the problems. islamists militants have attached a gas complex in algeria. they have killed one person and taken dozens hostage. firms say workers at the in amenas gas field were traveling by bus to an airport. the officials say the militants

approached in three vehicles then attacked. they say security guards traveled with the workers returned fire. an islamist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. the militants claim they are holding 41 people from japan, the united states, france and other countries. french forces have moved into neighboring malia. they are retailuatiliating for t of those operations. the news agency dna says the militants have threatened to blow up the site if authorities try to intervene. the press service says the hostage takers have begun to release algerian workers in groups. security forces have surrounded facility. the state television was told the government would not negotiate with terrorists and was ready to authorize an attack. u.s. president barack obama

has urged congress to pass gun control laws the move follows last month fatal shooting of 26 people in connecticut. >> this time must be different. this time we must do something to protect our communities and our kids. >> obama wants is federal government to provide background information on potential gun buyers. the proposals would provide financial assistance to help schools beef up security. these measures are within the frame work of existing legislate. obama said new laws are also needed to effectively address gun crime. he proposed a ban on military style assault weapons. he also called on congress to legislate for mandatory background checks on all gun buyers. analysts say such legislation is likely to be difficult. opponents claim gun ownership is a right guaranteed in the u.s.

constitution. americans are building more homes and bankers couldn't be happier. what's the connection here? >> when people buy homes they take out mortgage loans. the ones who profit from the loans are the banks. why are they happy? u.s. leading firms saw profits soar in 2012. jpmorgan chase reported its net profit reached $5.7 billion. that's up 53% compared to a year ago. wells fargo booked 5.1 billion dollar. a 24% rise. the firm say the positive results are due to more lending

as the housing market is recovering. the latest assessment of the economy is largely unchanged. the central bank released its economic report on wednesday. the report is based on surveys in 12 federal reserve districts. manufacturing activities are mixed while employment conditions are relatively unchanged from the previous report in november. holiday sales were modestly higher than in 2011 although the figures were below expectations. the overall sassessment is generally positive. it says firms doing business in europe are those in the defense sector might delay hiring workers and that consumers may

reduce spending. it's time to get a check on the markets now. let's take a look at the currency market. the dollar is trading above the mid 88 yen level. tokyo traders are seeing a halt in the yen's gain. this follows recent cautious remarks from cabinet ministers about a weak yen. the euro is higher against the yen. tokyo share prices are higher today. the nikkei average is at 106,872 106,872. market participants say the yen's pull back prompted investors to buy up export related issues. taking a look at other markets. south korea's kospi trading

higher up 1,979. in australia the benchmark is trading higher by three-fourths of a percent. the euro zone credit crisis is taking a heavy toll for passenger cars. car sales plunged to a 17 year low. new car saechles stood at 12 million units. it's the lowest since germany saw a decline of 3%. all u.s. european and japanese makers suffered declines. germany's volkswagen lost 1.6%.

south korean makers were strong. kia motors saw a jump of 14%. that's the latest in business for this hour. here is a check on other markets.

japanese prime minister says he opposes any use. he's visiting vietnam on his first tour aboard. abe prime minister discussed territory disputes. they have disputes with china. the peace and stability in the south china sea is of global concern. he added the rule of law is essential. he understands and supports japan's stance. the leaders also discuss north korea. abe says the rocket launch last month violated resolutions. he said the international community should take firm action.

abe pledged about $500 million worth of yen loans to vietnam. after the meeting, the two leaders held a joint news conference. they will work together on various challenges facing southeast asia. >> translator: we have agreed that the two courts will jointly tackle issues that concern east asia. we will also cooperate in the fields of peace and stability. >> prime minister said they agree that all conflicts and issues should be resolved through peaceful negotiations based on international law. hundreds of protesters have clashed with police. more than 600 people were staging a sit in at the plant on tuesday when police moved in. the protesters say the police hit them with batons. at least ten people were hurt.

residents say authorities sold their farms to the factory owner without their consent. the farmers have pitched tents and plan to continue their protest. thursday marks the 18th anniversary of the deadly earthquake that hit kobe and the surrounding areas. they are remembering the victims of the disaster. one monument in park consists of bamboo stands arranged to form the numbers 1 and 17. the month and day when the earthquake struck. crowds gathered in the early morning to light candles . they used a flame kept alight

for more than a decade. crowds fell silent at 5:46 a.m., the exact time of the earthquake. experts are certain a massive earthquake will hit the pacific coast of japan. the tsunami that follows could take as many a 320,000 lives. to make sure they get through the disaster students in one coastal town are learning from previous ones. >> reporter: a display shows the horrors of the earthquake. students are here to view the

exhibit. she's keen to know about the disaster that happened before she was born like her classmates . >> translator: this is amazing. they heard from a veteran firefighter. in just an instant scores of people were trapped under collapsed buildings. we didn't have enough fire engines to cope. about 95% of the rescued people were pulled out from the rubble by their neighbors. >> translator: i was able to learn how people suffered and how they helped each other. >> reporter: natsumi lives in wakayama prefecture. after classes, natsumi and other students learn about past quakes.

>> let's compare the great quake and great east japan quake. >> reporter: they learned that tremors of the great quake lasted a short time but during northeastern japan's quake in 2011, some places shook for over four minutes. the residents will experience a lot of shaking followed by a massive tsunami. it won't be the first time a quake has struck the area. this temple holds records of an earthquake and tsunami that struck more than 300 years ago. the inscription says, waves as tall as mountains swept through.

one hour after the tremor. 162 people died. >> there were mountain slides, the ground cracked and people became frantic. >> the students are making their own hazard map. it contains areas most likely to flood. they plan to give copies to residents. >> translator: where do we flee to? >> to higher ground. >> what if there's a landslide? >> we want to use what we learned in preparing for a quake and we want to get that information to other people, too. >> studying previous disasters, a new generation learns to cope with the next one, a lesson that will save lives. nhk world, wakayama.

many people in japan celebrate the new year by attending a classical concert. some of the world's greatest orchestras flew in to perform. a team of japanese designers think they found a new way to mass >> reporter: he's the concert masters. he'splayed with them for more than four decades and is described as a living legend. he brought an elite group of the orchestra's musicians to japan for a new year's concert. everything about him is traditional. his music, his violin, his style

except for his bow. >> i didn't expect the sound. nothing different from the wooden bow. music is another thing. there's no reason not to play. trrp bow is like trrp. >> reporter: the bow is like an extension of the string player's arm. a group of engineers have spent years creating an unorthodoxed bow. he's using a carbon fiber bow made by yamaha.

the company began producing them ten years ago. traditional players were skeptical about the modern bows but the designers saw potential. they're challenged to create an affordable, high quality bow that looks, feels and sounds like a wooden one. designers onlyize every of the best bow. they experimented with carbon sheets, altered the rolling techniques and after trial and e error turned their data into a product. >> translator: there's a lot of things we can do because it's carbon. it's a versatile material. we can be precise and control many variables. once we established the basic techniques question mass produce a high quality bow. that's the difference between

wood and carbon. >> reporter: the result, five different bows for different types of players. the developers asked him to test the latest creations before the new year's concert. he prefers a stiffer, heavier bow. he will keep using his carbon bow from earlier series but he applauded the effort to innovate. >> i'm sure there's someone who will prefer this type.

you have to build different types. >> translator: i want to give musicians as many options as possible. for this type of player that would be a great fit and another type that bow would be best. i know we can make them all. i still have a lot of things i want to try. >> reporter: other companies have started fine tuning their own carbon bows. what started out as an alternative to endangered wood is becoming the material of choice for many world class musicians. people new mexico northern japan are trudging through heavy snow as they get around. we have what to expect in world weather. >> heavy snow showers are affecting northern japan and it's 30 to 40 centimeters likely

for tomorrow morning. not just northern japan but others are experiencing snow showers. snow will continue into tomorrow. on the other hand the pacific should stay largely dry. in tokyo there's a lot of leftover snow on roads. please watch out when driving our walking. dry across much of china. it's still blanketing in parts of china. that should burn off as we head into the afternoon hours. strong winds are blowing that are picking up waves maybe up to four meters high. temperatures are as follows. eight degrees in tokyo but will go down to zero degrees on friday morning. please do bundle up. go down to

shanghai on thursday. the northeast is experiencing wet conditions even new york city saw sleet on wednesday afternoon. the system will continue to move towards the east quite slowly. conditions will stay almost the same into your thursday. you can see this showing up. the parts of the appalachians you could see heavy snow showers. behind it strong northwesterly winds are blowing in resulting in high waves as well as heavy snow showers on the eastern side of the lake. up to 30 centimeters through your friday. 24 degrees in los angeles.

a very chilly minus 22 degrees in winnipeg and minus three for chicago. finally, severe weather is continuing in the east and half of mediterranean. lots of severe thunderstorms and a risk of hail. we have reports of 70 millimeters of rain. severe thunderstorms are erupting in western section of turkey. to the north of this low pressure system precipitation is snow back to the north is dry thanks to a high pressure system. the reason for the nasty weather is that cold air from the north has warmer air in africa.

we'll see the same set up into the next several days. unstable weather in this purple area and lower than average in this blue zone will continue. here is the expected high on thursday. right at the freezing point in paris on your thursday. double digits in athens as well as madrid. here is the extended forecast.

that concludes this edition

of "newsline." thanks very much for joining us.