glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's thursday november 27th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. doctors in the u.s. think they may have come up with a vaccine against ebola. the national institutes of health says the vaccine has succeeded in generating antibodies in healthy people. the new england journal of medicine published the results of a trial of the vaccine. the experimental drug was developed by the nih and british pharmaceutical company. doctors have been testing the vaccine on healthy people since september. they want to see how safety is and whether it's effective. the report says anti bodies were

found in the blood of all 20 people between the ages of 18 and 50 who were given doses of the vaccine. nih officials say most of the participants had an increase in their immune system t-cell count. these cells help to prevent the ebola virus from multiplying inside the human body. no incidents of serious side effects were found. >> this first phase of the vaccine trial was successful. now, the next thing is to move to the next phase, which is a much larger trial. >> he says his team is planning a clinical trial of the vaccine in west africa on several thousand people. he says the tests will begin as early as january in liberia and sierra leone where ebola is rampant. there is still no effective drugs or vaccines against the virus. japanese researchers have hopeful news for patients with muscular dystrophy. they've developed a way to

repair a type of stem cell in people with the muscle-wasting disease. the team was led by an assistant professor at kyoto university. the researchers worked with induced pluripotent stem or ips cells. they have the potential to develop into any organ or body tissue. the researchers use cells from a person with muscular dystrophy which is caused by genetic abnormality. they used the latest genome editing technology to repair the abnormality in the cells and they grew them into normal muscle cells. using genome editing technology with ips cells may lead to new treatments for people with genetic diseases. japanese craftsmen have refined the art of making traditional washi paper over hundreds of years. now they're about to get recognition. officials at unesco have decided to add washito its list of intangible cultural assets.

[ applause ] >> a unesco committee announced the decision in paris. committee members say the skills used in making japanese-style paper have been handed down over generations. they say the know-how needs to be preserved. washi is handmade from mulberry fibers. three types have been registered. one from shym annie prefecture and hosokawashi. >> the japanese government will continue to lend its full support to the communication communities and the efforts to safeguard the craftsmanship of washi.

>> dozens of crafts people and residents were waiting for the news. [ applause ] people shared their joy and expressed pride for their local heritage. >> translator: i'm very glad to be a witness to see this moment. i feel grateful for our ancestors. police in hong kong have a clash with demonstrators in the streets who refuse to back down. they've cleared more barricades from one of the main protest sites and they've made more arrests. scuffles broke out as they removed roadblocks in the district following a court order. authorities have arrested more than 140 activists including student leaders over the past two days.

others were forcibly removed from the site. several protesters came back on late wednesday to the area and they attempted to occupy another street. thousands of officers have been deployed to try to control the situation. demonstrators are expected to continue their campaign at the two remaining sites where the court order does not apply. they've been occupying for nearly two months. they're protesting against the decision by officials in beijing to screen candidates for hong kong's chief executive election in 2017. the protesters have seen their numbers dwindle. now some of them are wondering what's next? nhk world reports from hong kong. tens of thousands of people swarmed the streets overnight. some were student, but many weren't. all of them were angry about what they saw.

for days and weeks and finally months. ordinary people began to tire of the constant disruptions to their lives. many turned their backs on the protest movement. >> translator: i have to admit that our protest can no longer put as much pressure on the government as it did before. students went from door to door to try to wean back support. they were surprised by the frosty reception they got. >> protesters have seen polls turn against them, too. in october, people in favor of the occupation outnumbered those against. now it's the other way around. >> many people in hong kong

support our pro-democracy objective, but even though we had this massive protest, we've still failed to win any compromises from the government. so people are wondering what's the point? >> alex has vowed to press on with his sit-in until authorities dragged him away, but he's made other comments that suggest he's wavering. i'm holding talks with other student protesters. if they agree to keep going then we'll keep going. if not, then we'll have to debate our next move. >> the student leaders flooded into the streets on a wave of public support, but now the tide has retreated. they are wondering if their occupation has hit a dead end. nhk world, hong kong. >> additional national guard troops have been moved into the u.s. state of missouri. they're helping contain unrest

three days after a grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer in the fatal shooting of a black teenager. the decision sparked protests in the city of ferguson where the teenager was killed and across the united states. >> we are here tonight to tell them that our black lives matter! >> a crowd of residents gathered in front of a police station in ferguson. they demanded that the rights of black people be respected. police say they've detained more than 40 people and confiscated gasoline bombs and they say the situation is calming down, but many shops and schools have been closed. in an effort to restore order, state authorities have tripled the deployment of national guard troops over the last two days to 2200. protests over the grand jury decision are spreading across the country, demonstrations were held in at least 140 places in 40 expressing their own anger and dismay over the ruling.

a daughter of the late reverend martin luther king, jr., says more must be done to protect young black people. >> this is about everybody and especially law enforcement. we've got to find a way to create a better relationship between our law enforcement officials and the community, but more importantly, you've got to stop this death culture where so many young people are losing their lives. >> popular singer katy perry said in a tweet that she's praying for an equal america. >> former nba star magic johnson wrote in a tweet that people must work together to stop the unnecessary loss of young men of color. justice was not served in ferguson. another singer pharrell williams expressed sorrow over the incident. he asked that everyone pray for peace. leaders of the european union are trying to figure out how to stimulate the flagging economy. the head of the european

commission has announced a new plan to encourage investors. tell us more about this. >> a lot of people are concerned about growth in the eurozone especially since gdp grew only 0.2% in the july to september period. now european commission chief jean claude junker says it will set up an investment fund in an attempt to draw hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy. >> we will have to have money and make it work for us. today we're setting up a new architecture that will make this possible. the key is to provide the sxaft that can unlock additional investment. >> the european investment bank will establish the fund with $26 billion by the middle of next year. the money will be guaranteed from the eu budget. officials hope the fund will stimulate investment by partially covering risks. they aim to attract about $400

billion in the first three years. the officials say they're hoping to spur investment in technology and energy-related fielding. they say if the plan succeeds it would create up to 1.3 million jobs. they say they'll submit the plan for approval by other eu leaders. >> officials at japanese autoparts company takata are facing more problems over their defective air bags. safety regulators in the u.s. want all cars with the devices off the road. officials at the national highway traffic safety administration have ordered takata and five automakers to issue a nationwide recall by tuesday. they've threatened to impose fines if the firms miss the deadline. executives at the automakers have been resisting the recall. they say there's not enough evidence to justify the move. safety regulators have already recalled about 8 million cars with takata air bags mainly in the southern part of the u.s. they say the devices can spray

metal fragments that can injure people in the car. observers say that if the automakers comply with the order the recalls could spread internationally. well, this morning the share price of takata is falling sharply at the open of the tokyo stocks exchange the air bagmaker fell by 7%. right now it is down 5.3%. the recall order applies to carmakers like honda and mazda. their share prices declined at the open, too. overall the nikkei index is trading lower by just about .3%. analysts say many investors are selling their stocks to take profits from recent gains. many are expected to avoid active trading ahead of the thanksgiving holiday in the u.s. currency traders. they're also staying on the side lines this morning. the dollar is moving with the clear direction against the yen. earlier the u.s. currency fell after weak er than expected figures for consumption and employment. the euro is higher against a

major currency and that's after the european central bank vice president suggested that the ecb might decide as early as next quarter or -- excuse me, might decide as early as the first quarter of next year whether to begin buying sovereign bonds. let's also take a look at other markets in the asia pacific region. south korea's kospi rising. and australia also in positive territory up .1%. japanese central bankers are buying more bonds. the bank of japan's total assets for the april to september period have hit an all-time high. the central bank released its financial statements for the first half of this fiscal year. it says total assets in september stood at about 277 trillion yen or nearly $2.4 trillion. that's up about 33% from a year ago in yen terms. of the total, the bank's japanese government bond holdings rose to nearly $2 trillion, up about 37% from a

year earlier. the bank's assets are likely to expand even further following additional monetary easing measures and an increase in lending. the bank's profit for the period rose to about $5 billion and that's partly because of higher interest payments from the purchased government bonds. more for you next hour in business. i'll leave you with a check on markets.

a japanese woman is working with rural farmers in myanmar to improve their techniques. she's been helping them grow better organic vegetables and she's now getting their products in the hands of shoppers in larger, urban markets and nhk world rosa linda has the story. the village of tangyi is located in central myanmar. kyoko is the local leader of a non-profit organization that supports farming villages. she's giving lessons to farmers in tangyi. on this day, she was explaining a traditional japanese method of making fertilizer. she was using indigenous bacteria. it was produced by fermenting a blend of indigenous microorganisms and rice bran. >> translator: in japan, the bacteria are in bamboo forests.

it smells good. >> she mixes chicken droppings, corn husks and other things with the indigenous bacteria. the mixture is left to ferment for about three months to make fertilizer. shibata uses organic farming techniques that make the most of everything in a natural environment. myanmar's farmers have long relied on agro chemicals and chemical fertilizers to boost the yield of their crops. but overuse of chemicals has hampered growth dealing a blow to farmers' earnings. >> translator: organic farming won't be a burden on the environment and it can be passed on to next generation farmers. from a long-term perspective organic farming does bring benefits to local villages. our measured goal is to improve

farmers' lively hood. shibata was sent to me an mar by her organization 12 years ago. her husband used to be one of her trainees. shibata remained in myanmar after her two children were born. her long years of effort are bearing fruit. >> translator: our produce is growing well since we adopted organic farming. >> translator: i hope to see more farmers making efforts for the sake of the farming industry as a whole. shibata has launched a new venture opening a fruit and vegetable shop in the largest city this spring. the aim is to sell organic vegetables grown by the farmers

she's taught. the items carry higher price tags than those on sale in urban markets, producing them is both labor and time intensive and they've been well received by the foreign customers including japanese. >> translator: the asparagus is in season. it is sweet and really tasty. these were also picked only yesterday. >> as sales rose, the farmer's earnings nearly doubled. >> translator: it's ten years since i started the endeavor. i hope that the seeds i've sowed will spread and gradually grow into wonderful flowers one day. >> shibata's efforts to help farmers show no sign of stopping. rosalynn debhavalya, nhk world. iranians are turning to

high-end tourism to help boost their lagging economy. they've been struggling to draw in foreign currency while living in sanctions under the country's nuclear program. so they've been finding alternative revenue sources to help get things back on track. nhk world explains. >> reporter: on october 23rd, the golden express luxury train pulled into the city of sanjan in western iraq. onboard were about 60 passengers from nine countries around the world. for most of them it was their first visit to iran. >> we are afraid to come alone and that's why we joined the train. we will encourage our people to come to iran. >> reporter: it took the train two weeks to cover the 7,000 kilometers between budapest and

tehran. after entering iran, the passengers were taken to visit six world heritage sites including the 14th century sultan dome and the ancient city. ♪ >> there was a strong demand for places on the train despite ticket prices of up to $15,000 per person. this man runs a travel agency in holland. his reason for joining the tour was seeing this little-known country for himself. this visit his given him a totally new impression of iran. >> it happens that it would be -- it isn't a hostile population, but it's not the

case. it's the most friendly people i know. yeah. >> reporter: this is the first time iran has allowed a luxury train to enter the country since the 1979 iranian revolution. one reason for this is the impact of economic sanctions. in place of its old revenues, iran needs to find a source for other foreign currency. so it is promoting tourism. this comes at a good time as fewer tourists are visiting neighboring countries due to security concerns. this comes as good news for the tourist industry in iran. >> translator: this is a major opportunity for us. we want to take this chance to show our culture to people from around the world.

tourism in iran will not recover fully until the sanctions are lifted. handmade persian rugs are popular with tourists and they can cost thousands of dollars, but they can't use european or -- >> instead of expensive rugs, tourists buy cheaper, local cards because they can't use credit cards. i hope the government can reach an agreement so their sanctions can be lifted. >> reporter: although more tourists are visiting iran now, the government needs to find ways to encourage them to bring in more foreign currency. nhk world, iran. >> it's time now for a check of

the weather. people in northeastern areas of the u.s. are dealing with severe weather and travel delays. mai shoji tells us more in world weather. people are having differ culties traveling along the eastern seaboard due to the nor'easter traveling along the coast and making it for wet and wendy conditions and the precipitation not only is rain, but also very white. this is what people are dealing with in new york at the moment as we speak. take a look at video coming up from there. on the busiest travel days of the year and one of the busiest airports in the united states, people are contending with the risk of delayed or canceled flights due to fall weather and in laguardia on wednesday officials stated that approximately 10% of the flights at the airport were canceled. over a thousand flights were canceled across the entire country on wednesday. people are being patient, waiting for flights to catch up for those traveling via car for the roads to clear. new york state authorities have

stated they've deployed over 1800 snowplows to ensure roads to stay cleared in the eastern half of the state. it looks like the conditions will be continuing across the northern locations of the coast here in the east. looks like about 30 centimeters could be piling up in inland locations and the coastal rainfall in and around delaware, there were a couple of places that hit record rainfall amounts for the day. and across detroit and chicago, some are cans canceled because of the snow and another area where the snow is piling up is the pacific northwest and we have a system calling in, the coastal areas with very heavy rainfall of 180 millimeters in iran and western washington where there's flood warning issued in place and the upper rockies and the cascades and the canadian rockies you will possibly see gusts up to 145 kilometers per hour and that accompanied with the very white

stuff, low visibility indeed and if you have to travel, keep a travel kit in the car and avoid traveling alone. as for your thanksgiving outlook across the cities where the football game will be taking place, detroit, some snow flurries and the tailgaters will be really feeling chilly condition, but dallas and san francisco, on the other hand, looking very nice and nothing to think about out there, but new york, icy road conditions are going to be persistent so do watch for the slick roads if you are traveling in those vicinities. >> out across the bigger picture we have the santa ana winds gusting very strong winds and the mid-summer temperatures as you can see in los angeles taking place and that's creating critical fire weather conditions. here across asia, the high pressure system is predominant across much of the northern areas and hazy conditions are prevailing in and around beijing

and the 2.5 level is very unhealthy at the moment as we speak. down below where the precipitation is down here in the central locations. gang zhu provinces is where the stationary boundary is producing about 50 millimeters of rainfall and the high pressure system, though, will be moving into japan and we're likely to see clear skies here, but down below we have a tropical development and a tropical depression which is a tropical storm into the next 24 and 48 as they pull away and carrying the ample moisture and about 200 millimeters of additional rainfall will be possible in and around the philippines. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of news looirn and i'm kathy kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

female announcer: on today's show, our chefs are cooking up a storm for the holidays. everyone at your table will enjoy these vegan versions of traditional holiday dishes. terry hope romero puts together a "thanksliving" dinner on the farm for 300 people. then, back in the kitchen, she makes her delicious chipotle sweet potato bisque. our special guest restaurateur, cathi dicocco, whips up holiday fritters. and miyoko schinner is making her classic un-bird. male announcer: vegan mashup is made possible by friends of animals. information about respecting our earth and animals and getting involved is available at: northeast test consultants, consulting and testing for indoor air quality, asbestos, lead-based paint, mold, and pcb since 1986. and by maine animal coalition, advocating for animals in the state of maine.