welcome to "newsline." it's friday, november 28th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the organization of petroleum exporting countries has decided to maintain its crude oil output ceiling. the 12 member nation of opec made the decision on thursday. they agreed to keep their daily oil output target at 30 million barrels. some appealed if for a reduction to curb a further drop in price is. the appeals were overridden. crude prices have um tumabled more than 30% in the past six months partly due to u.s. shale

output. at the gathering, saudi arabia argued that opec does not need to slash production target as current price fluctuations are only short-term ones. other delegations claimed crude prices will rebound as the recovery drives up demand for crude. in after hours trading in new york, futures prices fell below $70 a barrel for the first time in four and a half years after the opec decision. out of speculation that oil supply will be excessive. now, analysts are wondering where prices are headed. for more, let's go to ai. >> we spoke to a japanese analyst and he said the excess supply of oil could keep prices low for about six months, but after that, he said prices may start picking up.

>> if it remains, it will have a negative impact on shale, so we have to bear in mind prices could rise gradually in the second half of next year. >> he said until now, opec countries have effectively controlled prices, but he said that's set to change as u.s. oil production is a bigger influence on market prices. many in japan are poring over new economic data. they're wondering what the latest indicators show and they're seeing a mixed picture. internal ministry fishes say prices rose by 2.9% compared with a same month last year. they've been going up for 17 months. officials don't factor in the cost of fresh food, because it moves around a lot and skews the result. but the officials say household spending fell. they say consumers have spent

less than they did last year. for sempb months in a row. the officials say households of two or more people spend an average of about $2400. that's a year on year decline of 4% in real terms. economy ministry officials say industrial production in october was up 0.2% from the previous month. that follows a revised 2.9% increase in september. the officials expect output to rise by 2.3% in november, then 0.4% in december. people looking for work also had a slightly better month. internal ministry officials say the jobless rate fell to 3.5%, down 0.1 percentage point from september. the number of people with jobs was up by 240,000 from a year earlier to almost 64 million. the number without fell by 300,000 to 3.3 million. labor ministry officials say the ratio of job offers to seekers

was up slightly to 1.10 and this means there were 110 positions available for every 100 people looking for work. now, most of these figures came in bert and markets are reacting positi positively, but they may be more excited by the decline in crude oil prices following the opec meeting. many are buying shares of airlines and shipping x inping . the nikkei trading higher by more than 0.9% this morning. traders are buying the dollar on hopes that the lower oil prices may give a further boost to the u.s. economy. the dollar yen now at 118.27. let's look at what's happening on other markets . kospi trading lower by just about a quarter percent. in australia, the benchmark trading lower, down by 1.39%.

a bit of a mixed picture this morning. world trade organization members have unanimously adopted their first global trade deal in 20 years. they have been at a stalemate in the long deadlock go around of free trade talks. they'll now introduce unified standards for customs procedures and increased transparency. the agreement on streamlining custom's checks came on thursday after the u.s. and india reached a compromise by accepting parts of new delhi's demands. they a posed the accord by some member nations in 2013. the action was in protest of how to proceed with other negotiations. one expert says the deal will benefit japanese companies who can increase exports to emerging economies. still, the agreement is just a fraction of the original round of talks. the member naxs have delayed the

deadline on how to organize talks on agriculture and other industries from late this year to july of next year. i'll have more headlines for you in business next hour. for now, i'll leave you with a check on markets. north korea's state run media has for the first time used a specific title when refer ing to leader kim jong-un's sister. this sukts she's become a more important presence in the country's leadership.

the leader visited a cartoon studio in pyongyang accompanied by his younger sister. they identified her as a vice department director of the north korean worker's party. he first appeared on state run tv in december 2011 after the death of her father. but there is no mention of her official title at that time. in march this year, the state media introduced her as a senior official of the central committee. since then, her activities have often been reported in the news. a suicide bomber has attacked a british embassy vehicle in eastern kabul. afghan officials say five are dead and at least 30 are wounded. they say taliban fighters have been escalating their attacks and they say they've seen a sharp rise in civilian casualties. they say they were targeting

foreigners in a text message sent to nhk. >> someone was hit in the eye and another's ear was missing. >> at least 45 people were killed on sunday in a separate incident. a suicide bomber attacked a volleyball game. the president has vowed to build a safe society since taking office in late september. u.s.-led international forces are scheduled to withdraw most of their troops by the end of the year. authorities in u.s. midwestern state of ohio have released surveillance video of a police officer fatally shoot iing a 12-year-old black boy holding a pellet let gone. public protests have been b preding across the country following a recent missouri court decision not to indict a policeman who shot a black teenager in august. the boy was confronted by two

officers responding to an emergency call on saturday, november 22nd. he died in hospital the next day. >> shots fired. male down. black male. maybe 20. black revolve r, black handgun. >> the veo shows one officer shooting the boy twice. immediately after riving on the scene. local immediateuaayhe ofcer ouldave remained calm and taken time to assess the situation. police say the boy was told three times to put his hands up before an officer discharged his weapon. government officials and the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant say cleaning out the reactor buildings will be much harder than believed. they say additional decontamination work will be necessary before beginning the

decommissioning process. workers have been scrapping off flooring material in the number three reactor building to remove radioubstances. they expected the work to lower the level to one mill sooefrt per hour. the government and tepco decided to reduce more measures to reduce expo shoour. they include laying down steel sheets on floors, as well as removing more play leiers of flooring. they were planning to remove more fuel in the next fiscal year. but it's not yet known how the additional decontamination work will affect the schedule. removal of nuclear fuel from reactor storage pools is a significant part of the decommissioning process. for reactor number one, tepco ans to delay the schedule by two years to fiscal 2019.

the operator of a nuclear power plant in southwestern japan is preparing to resart its two reactors, but the sendai plant will not likely be back online before february due to a document revision. it became the first to clear new requirements after the 2011 fukushima accident. the host city's mayor, the prefecture's governor and local assemblies have all approved the restart plan. they must now obtain approval for two types of documents. one is a construction plan that explains the facity's design in detail. the othe is a set of rules for eration and emergency responses. officials of a company told regulators on thursday that they will revise these documents and submit them by the end of the year.

all are currently offline. people in indonesia are trying to make sure children know what to do the next time disaster strikes. more than 220,000 people lost their lives in the indian ocean tsunami in 2004. many of them died because they didn't know how to react. now they are getting advice from survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. >> reporter: >> reporter: she is a journalist

who's reported from around the world. . she became intrigued by the paintings on the walls of temporary housing. >> the paintings really helped me. they make me happy and give me energy and ease my mind. i'm grateful for that. >> they were member of a high school class. she asked if one of the students could draw a comet to help people to gear for stasers. his dream is to become artist and he was working on a comic about how people can protect themselves during disasters. how did you come up with a story? >> it's based on my own experience. i was at a friend's house when the earthquake hit.

>> he felt the jolt of a quake and panicked as he tried to escape. he says a passer by saved his life with a simple piece of advice. the person pointed out a powerline that had fallen near a puddle. if we had stepped in the water, we might have been electrocuted. >> this boy is telling his friend to be careful. he says the puddle could be dangerous. because of the powerline. then the other boy sees the pole on the ground and realizes the possible danger. i want it to end with the main character reaching safety. i was hurt and i don't want anyone else to go through anything similar. that's what i've drawn. he believesis vwpoi as a

survivor has helped him convey an important message and that it could help people in other countries. so, we had a comic transferred into independent. >> i'm very glad i can help through manga. i think comics have much power. >> people have managed to rebuild after the tsunami. but they face a new challenge. teaching the basics of disaster prepa preparedness to children who are too young to remember. members of a local ngo are trying to help. they are holding a special safety class for junior high school students.

>> oh -- powerline's down. watch out. have to watch out. >> the children really enjoy the lessen. >> i like this manga because it's easy to to understand. >> members of the ngo say they continue to use the comic in their classes. >> the culture is widely accepted by other countries in the world, so it would be great to take experience and use allture to help others in the

world. >> people in japan and indonesia have shared experience with disasters. now, they've found a way to pass on what they've learned to a new generation. japan will accelerate the transfer of medical gear to combat ebola in west africa. they will supply about 20,000 sets of protective clothing to the region by using air self-defense force aircraft. the aid is part of roughly half a million sets of protective gear prime minister abe promised to provide in september. japan has sent 20,000 sets to liberia and sierra leone. their force plans to slide the latest batch on transport aircraft next month to ghana, which is near those countries.

japan will ask the u.n. and other agencies to transport the aid from ghana to the other countries out of safety concerns. this will be the first time for personnel to be dispatched to west africa on a mission to support the fight against ebola. britain's prince william will visit japan and china next year. this will be his first trip to both nations. he'll be traveling without the duchess of cambridge, who is expecting their second child. kensington palace officials say he spend about three days in japan. the visit is being arranged for february 27th through march 1th. the prince will appear at events in tokyo and other cities. he'll also attend functions that support his own personal interests in combatting illegal wildlife trade.

queen elizabeth and prince philip visited in 1975 and diana in 1986 and then with the duchess of cornwall in 2008. prince william will head to china after his stay in japan. in shanghai, he'll open events in business and tourism. he'll also visit beijing. country club owners in japan are changing the way they do business. they're see ago decline in the number of golf players, so they're tayloring their courses to appeal to new clientele. >> japan's golf industry is facing a crisis. the generation that discovered the sport is ageing and the number of players is in decline. the owner's of japan's 2,000

plus courses know competition will intensify and those who fail to attract more customers will be forced to close. this country club is focusing its efforts on developing a new clientele. one strategy to achieve this is to listen to the player's needs. two years ago, the course launched a monthly women's event. many female golf ers said they wanted to play at a more leesierly pace on weekdays when the course is less crowded. all women events with were popular because players can join on their own, whatever their level and improving one's handicap. the impact has been noticeable. the proportion of female members has doubled to 20% over the last five years. >> translator: i really enjoy this opportunity of making friends while playing rounds with other women.

>> translator: it's great to have so much fun with people i've met for the first time. >> reporter: this other business has decided to part with the conventional image of the country club. the facility is now open to nongolfers in the hope that watching people swing golf clubs will spike their interest. the star attraction is the club's rooftop barbecue. on weekends, it's crowded with young people and families eager to spend the day outdoors. the club provides everything they need from the barbecue set to the food and even a helpful cook. the owners set up a second barbecue area right next to the course. >> translator: i am not really a golfer, but i heard it's

possible to play here, so i want to give it a try. >>. >> translator: the restrooms make it easy to bring our children and there's also a place to relax, so it's great. >> translator: the idea is to send out a message that this club has a casual atmosphere. where everyone is welcome. i think every golf course will eventually have to adapt in its own way. >> reporter: as in many other industries, finding new ways of attracting customers has become a matter of survival. diversification is set to increase as golf courses swing into the future. time now for a check of the weather. people in brisbane, australia, are dealing with a massive clean up operation after being hit with hailstones and destructive winds. >> residents of brisbane saw one

of the most intense storm systems and are cleaning up right now. let's take a look at the picture coming out from the area. the storm is being called the strongest in a decade to slam australia's third largest city. golf ball-sized hail and wind up to 65 kilometers per hour were reported at the storm's peak. one injury was due to a falling tree. many may have thaulgt they were in a cyclone. roads were blocked by fallen trees. the army deployed 100 personnel to the city to help clean up the damage, so that's what's taking place right now. quite some hailstorm while this is due to a cold front on the tail end of that hitting in and around brisbane. the low pressure system connected to that is actually down towards new zealand now, bringing rainfall. not so intense, but it's going

to be an ongoing event with some heavy patches of rainfall. it's going to get gusty on sunday, still, the rain will be tapering off, but not completely disapated yet and then on saturday and sunday, looking at some high temperatures, sydney reachi ining 30 on your sunday. here across northern locations, we're looking at some quite intense shower maker. it's especially around oak na wa, we have about 365 millime r millimeters in waun day, of which 97 fell over the course of just one hour and that's certainly a november record. that's spreading all the way across the southern islands of japan and into western locations as well. so -- will see about 100 millimeters and another system providing precipitation, snow in the upper levels and that's

pulling in again, so much of japan will be provided with very wet weather. tokyo may see some on and off showers, but generally speaking, cloudy, down towards the south, another area where things are very wet. in the philippines, these are what we've been finding. on top of that, it's going to be accumulating. this is due to a tropical storm that just became a named system, which is pulling into vietnam. that's actually serving a lot of that moisture. it's likely to continue into the next 72 hours, so flooding will be a huge issue. minus 5 is for your high. temperatures dominating there. tokyo will see warm conditions at 17 degrees. now, across the americas, we have found numerous reports of a daily maximum amount of snowfall totals, about 26 centimeters in and around portland and albany, new york, 24 centimeters. and not just the snow, but also

rainfall. 137 millimeters. and more rain to cover those locations and that goes is same with with the lake effect in and around the great lakes. coastal flooding. we want the precipitation in the south.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

steves: the dramatic rock of cashel is one of ireland's most evocative sites.

this was the seat of ancient irish kings for seven centuries. st. patrick baptized king aengus here in about 450 a.d. in around 1100, an irish king gave cashel to the church, and it grew to become the ecclesiastical capital of all ireland. 800 years ago, this monastic community was just a chapel and a round tower standing high on this bluff. it looked out then, as it does today, over the plain of tipperary, called the golden vale because its rich soil makes it ireland's best farmland. on this historic rock, you stroll among these ruins in the footsteps of st. patrick, and wandering through my favorite celtic cross graveyard, i feel the soul of ireland.

♪ japan is back in recession. is abenomics the remedy or the problem? china opens a new door to foreign investors, plus, trading is off to a quiet start. hello, you're watching "asia biz forecast." i'm yuko fukushima. there's no other way to spin it, the numbers are not good. prime minister shinzo abe said it himself. gdp data out this week shows japan's economy has slipped into recession. the figurese