hello, and welcome to "newsline." it's wednesday november 26th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. police in hong kong are taking down more barricades from protest sites. they were met with resistance from some of the protesters. they've arrested dozens of them while clearing the streets. a court ordered some of the sites to be cleared. they said taxi drivers claimed block aids were hurting their business. most of the barricades were removed in about five hours. the protesters stayed away from the site at first. but some returned and that's

when the scuffles broke out. police have arrested 86 protesters. they say nine officers were injured during the operation. authorities say they removed more barricades nearby on wednesday. the student-led demonstrations began in november. authorities in the u.s. state of missouri are stepping up security after a day of violence in the streets of ferguson. they're dealing with riots triggered by a grand jury's decision to clear a white police officer who fatally shot a black teenager. in the protest against the verdict, it's also spread to washington, new york and other american cities. the grand jury decided on monday not to indict the officer of the death of 18-year-old michael brown in august. many people in ferguson have criticized the decision, calling it an act of racism. and some of them have turned violent. shops were looted and set on fire during the unrest. authorities used tear gas and

arrested at least 61 people. smoke was still rising on tuesday morning from burnt-out stores. and a large police presence remains in the area. >> we are bringing more resources to ferguson and other parts of the region, to prevent a repetition of the lawlessness experienced overnight. the national guard presence will be ramped up significantly. in ferguson. >> the u.n. high commissioner issued a statement about the events in ferguson. he said he's deeply concerned about the disproportionate number of young african-americans who die in encounters with police officers. he's also urging u.s. officials to conduct thorough investigations, examinations of race related discrimination. analysts were surprised last week when they saw japan's second quarter gdp figures. they were down, and now they're

wondering what's next for the economy. what can you tell us? >> officials at the organization for economic cooperation and development have just released their outlook for japan's economy. they expected a growth this year and next, but not as much as they previously estimated. oecd officials say that prices are outpacing wage increases. they estimate gross domestic product this year will rise 0.4%. they also revised down next year's growth outlook from 1.2% to 0.8%. the officials say the economy will continue to recover only moderately, despite the government's decision to postpone a rise in the consume the tax until 2017.

but the u.s. economy, that is recovering steadily. commerce department officials have revised upward gdp figures for the july-to-september period. the economy now posted solid growth for two straight quarters. the officials say the economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.9% from the previous quarter. that's up 0.4 percentage points from the initial data released in october. consumer spending accounts for around 70% of gdp in the u.s. it rose 2.2%. that's up from the preliminary estimate of 1.8%. corporate investment rose 7.1%. housing investment was up 2.7%. both figures are up compared to the initial data. but a slowdown in other major economies caused the growth figure for exports to be revised down to 4.9%. market players see the healthier job market boosting sales during the christmas shopping season. many think the economy will keep expanding.

senior officials from saudi arabia and three other major oil producers have been talking about how to deal with falling crude prices. they held discussions ahead of a meeting on thursday of the organization of the petroleum exporting countries. but they couldn't agree on cutting output. officials from saudi arabia, venezuela, russia and mexico held a ministerial level meeting in vienna. saudi arabia and venezuela are members of opec. russia and mexico are not. venezuelan officials apparently said oil producers should reduce output to stop the decline in prices. but the four countries could only agree to closely monitor the crude market. analysts say the talks again showed that saudi arabia is reluctant to lower production. benchmark wti futures have fallen more than 30% in the last six months on the new york market. that comes as the u.s. produces more and more shale oil.

some analysts now think it's unlikely the opec meeting won't result in a decision to cut output. concerns about oversupply pushed the wti index down to below $74 a barrel on tuesday. that is down about $2 from monday's closing. let's check on how other markets are trading. share prices in tokyo opened lower. analysts say the oecd's outlook for the japanese economy is weighing on investor sentiment. the nikkei still down by a quarter percent from tuesday's close. some investors are selling major exporter shares as the yen is slightly stronger this morning. let's take a look at currencies. the u.s. gdp figures were higher than consensus, but traders are still trading the dollar against the yen. the euro is stronger against both the dollar and the yen. robust business sentiment in germany is prompting traders to buy the euro. taking a look at other markets

in the asia pacific, south korea's kospi, down by almost a quarter percent this morning. let's see what's happening in australia. the benchmark index trading up up 0.99%. i'll be back next hour with more of your headlines in business. here's a check on some other markets.

nhk conducted a survey to find out what people in japan think about an upcoming general election. results suggests the percentage of voters who are very interested has dropped 17 points since the 2012 vote. more than 1,300 people responded to the weekend phone survey. 47% said they support the cabinet of prime minister shinzo abe. that figure is up three points from two weeks ago. the disapproval rate was 37%, down one point. less than a quarter of respondents said they're very interested in the leks. half said they were somewhat interested. one in five said they're not very interested.

and 5% said they were not at all interested in the election. pollsters asked about abe's decision to call a snap election. 5% strongly agree with the move, 28% said they don't agree at all. respondents were asked to choose which policy issue they would prioritize when voting. the most given responses were economic measures and the social security reform, followed by fiscal restructuring. respondents were also asked about abe's economic policy. 7% called them very good, while 13% said they're bad. the election is scheduled for november 14th. officials with unesco are expected to add the techniques for making japanese style paper called washi to the list of intangible cultural heritage. they're expected to release their results as early as wednesday. unesco committee members will meet in paris to decide which cultural properties should be added to the list. they'll examine 46 items nominated by countries from

around the globe. japanese officials have proposed three types of washi making as a set. they're all handmade from mulberry fibers. unesco committees that screened the nominations recommended last month that the traditional paper-making should be added. 22 items from japan have been registered as intangible cultural heritage. traditional japanese cuisine was added to the list last year. people in japan continue to enjoy the traditional art of rakugo story telling. the rapid fire humorous word play of the solo performers doesn't translate easily into other languages. one comedian has made it his mission to break down that barrier. here's the story.

>> reporter: it is very unusual for non-japanese to penetrate the world of rakogu. one canadian came to japan under his stage name. in canada, he worked as a playwright and came to japan 15 years ago to study. >> everything i had ever studied up until then was included in this art form. i thought this is what i've come to japan for. >> reporter: at the performing art, the storyteller takes on all roles of the story, using words rather than props, to stimulate the people's imaginations. for audiences abroad, they've had to translate the stories from the original japanese. today he's rehearsing a story written by his teacher.

it's a story about a father trying to help his son with his homework. >> reporter: performing outside of japan, he used to say flamingos instead of cranes, more familiar to western audiences. >> people laughed at the idea of flamingos being with turtles. but it lost its sense of

japanese-ness. the whole story sort of lost something with the audience. i did not get the reaction i thought i really should be getting with the story. >> reporter: he said the important thing is to get audiences to use their imagination. >> you can use the exact same words, but it's the rakugo spirit, that the characters are here, and you can see them in front of your eyes, you can't fail. >> reporter: the first stop on his world tour was britain. he tries out his revised version of the story of the homework. >> if you count the heads, there are 16 heads altogether. if you count their feet, there are 44 feet all together. how many cranes are gathering around that pond. oh. go on.

look further. give me more information. the number of footprints in the sand. neighbor eyewitness reports, something like that. >> it was absolutely fantastic. >> it was clever. >> my dream is the word rakugo will become an english word. people in london or new york or toronto will say, let's go see rakugo tonight. i think that would be amazing. >> reporter: after europe, sunshine has plans to take his tour to australia, north america, and even africa. introducing the art of rakugo to people around the world. nhk world, tokyo.

japanese authorities say the crackdown on suspected coral poachers is working. they say the number of chinese boats near japanese islands has dropped significantly. the crews began gathering in mid-september, 1,000 kilometers south of tokyo. japanese authorities say they spotted more than 200 boats in the area earlier this month. last week coast guard officials stepped up their night patrols. they say crews were sneaking into japanese waters after dark. officials have arrested nine chinese captains, and they say the number of suspicious boats in the area dropped on monday to eight. leaders in beijing have denounced a decision handed down by a philippine court. they're upset that nine chinese fishermen have been fined for catching sea turtles near a dispute shore on the south china sea. chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said his country has indisputable sovereignty in

spratly and the surrounding waters. >> translator: the chinese fishermen were put on trial. this violates china's sovereignty. we are firmly opposed to this. we urge again that the philippines side release the fishermen. >> the philippines court on monday ordered the crew members to pay fines of up to $1,000 each for catching hundreds of sea turtles. they're an endangered species under law. if they do not pay they must serve one-year jail sentences. this is a disputed territory within the country's 200-mile exclusive economic zone. it's part of the spratly islands. the spratlys are partly or

wholly claimed by china, the philippines, taiwan, malaysia, vietnam and brunei. china claims almost all of the south china sea. thailand is a popular destination for foreign holiday makers. people seeking a place to spend their retirement. more and more japanese pensioners have moved to the country in the past three years. many of them were shocked last month by the news that one member of the community was murdered. and now some of them are being warned to take extra caution. >> reporter: in october, thai police arrested a couple from the northern province. they're suspected of killing a 79-year-old japanese resident. their house is in a poor farming village, but they enjoy the lifestyle more lavish than other residents.

their names are written on the wall of a nearby temple. they were known for making generous donations whenever they returned to the village. >> translator: she dated many japanese men and brought lots of money with her when returning to the village. people in ordinary jobs cannot make that much. >> reporter: she owned another house on the outskirts of bangkok and about ten condominiums. she rented out these properties. police believe japanese men provided the money to buy these properties. the woman had dated at least four japanese men. after moving to bangkok, she worked at karaoke bars and massage parlors. that is where she is said to have met men from japan.

. >> especially the japanese people. [ inaudible ]. >> reporter: how did the woman attract so many japanese men. investigators said she approached rich men, middle-aged or older, and told them how much she was struggling to make ends meet. they say this was only a ploy to make the men pity her and offer support. the investigators say she also took good care of the men to ma theeel grateful. she then reportedly asked for money, saying she needed it for her business. the case has alarmed long-term japanese residents who gathered in bangkok in november.

the group says getting together and exchanging information with people from the same country is a must for living abroad safely. >> translator: we should watch out as the number of incidents is rising. >> reporter: the local japanese association said those who rely heavily on thai people tend to have less contact with the japanese community. >> translator: the tragedies might not have happened if the victims had someone from japan to talk to. it's a great pity that we couldn't help them. people who were sent here by their companies can seek advice from their bosses and colleagues. but i believe people who come to thailand on their own have no one to count on.

>> reporter: 100,000 japanese are said to be living in thailand. thailand is an easy place for foreigners to live. but the japanese community said they need to take extra caution to avoid being targeted by criminals. nhk world, bangkok. it's time for a check of the weather. people in eastern areas of the u.s. are dealing with severe weather and having a hard time getting around. mai shoji joins us with the latest. >> traveling will be certainly hazardous if you're in these vints on the easternoastf the united states. and traveling is the busiest time of the year.

it's thanksgiving coming up soon on your thursday. as we speak, severe weather is slamming the deep south. we're talking about heavy rainfall and bursts of shower as well as thunderstorms. this system is going to become about 998, which means it's going to be a potent system traveling ong the eastern coast. it will bring wet and windy conditions. it's not a slow-moving system, but the snow will be accumulating across the inland locations. that includes buffalo, where flood warnings are taking place. now, another round of heavy snowfall and much of new york state, d.c., boston, will likely see about 35 centimeters of snowfall. this is likely to be associated with strong gusts, too. low visibility certainly making for travel hazards. new york, for example, you're likely see the snow starting at 1:00 p.m. there's 100% chance of precipitation whether rain or sno. slick roads will be very

dangerous for driving. thursday clearing up in new york, and friday is looking at clearer skies for your latter half of the week. so fortun so unfortunately, not a good traveling day out here. the cold air dominating much of these locations. and certainly we have that pineapple express, we call it, typical for this time of the year, an atmospheric river flow of humid moisture traveling all the way into the pacific northwest from hawaii where the pineapples are famous for. but despite the cute naming, we're likely to see heavy coastal rainfall. not really something to look forward to if you're out there trying to travel. now towards the south of that, santa ana winds are very strong. midsummer range temperatures out there at 29 for your high. out here across europe, we're still talking about that very severe flooding that is happening across southern

france. and we have already seen about 200 millimeters of rainfall in the past couple of days. morocco also will likely see a system pull in again. severe flooding there could cause secondary disasters from this incoming system. the western locations seeing wet weather. high pressure system will be predominant. looking at minus 4 for your high in moscow. chilly across much of hokkaido. take a look at what the animals have to deal with. really cute images, where the dogs are shivering out there. temperatures in hokkaido fell degrees below freezing. the dry, calm conditions strengthening the radiational cooling. the mercury went down to about 14.3 degrees. thursday morning lows actually are going to be expected to be even lower than that. the animals having difficulties. across hokkaido, a lot of the

residents are seeing very chilly temperatures, causing chaos out there. we're likely t see widespread rainfall down below that traveling across tohoku. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

one more story to share with you before we go. a group of hairdressers from japan have traveled to the philippines to help some children in need. they're using their combs and scissors to give them free haircuts. ten hairdressers visited the

city in central luzon island. an ngo which provides aid to the philippines arranged the trip. about 15 children were given haircuts at no charge. the hairdressers asked the kids about their favorite hairstyles. and they showed them samples from japanese fashion magazines. >> translator: thank you for the hair cut. >> translator: i hope children will enjoy looking cute. or cool. through this experience. >> some of the kids said their new hairdos make them feel happy. the ngo members hope more hairdressers will help the children. that's it for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi from tokyo. thank you for joining us.

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>> hello, welcome to "global 3000." more than a parakeet, how columbia tries to preserve the bird bee gees that can only be found here. volunteering for a better society, how young professionals in panama inspired change. training the mullally use for the future, where football makes youngsters fit for life. every time that we lose a species to extinction it marks a surrender to the damage that we found. darwinism does found into something known as an actual -- natural extinction rate, but we are losing species at a rate that is 1000 times higher than