hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, january 8th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. a group of armed men has stormed a newspaper office in paris, killing at least 12 people. they're still on the lse. president francois hollande has raised the terror alert in the french capital to the highest level. the masked men were carrying automatic rifles. they stormed the office of the "charlie hebdo" weekly newspaper and shot people who were at an editorial meeting. many victims were journalists, including the paper's editor and cartoonists. the attackers exchanged gunfire with police on the way out, killing one policeman, then fled. the site is located near the city's bastille monument. bernard cazeneuve that the

authorities are looking for three men. the car they used to escape was found abandoned in a northern part of the city. the "charlie hebdo" newspaper is known for its satirical content. on wednesday they published a cartoon that lampooned islamic jihadists. the afp quoted the attackers yelled out "the prophet has been avenged." security officials strengthened security at religious buildings saying they're on the lookout for anything suspicious in other public places. >> translator: satirical cartoons are not a good idea but in our country from what i've seen no other religions have been targeted except for islam. >> thousands of people have gathered for a vigil near the city square. many held up posters with the phrase meaning i am charlie in solidarity with the journal. the french president spoke to the nation on wednesday night.

>> translator: today the french republic as a whole was target. the republic means freedom of expression. it means culture, creation pluralism and democracy and that's what the terrorists have threatened. >> hollande called for solidarity among french people. the attack was one of the deadliest in post-war france. leaders from european countries and elsewhere have condemned the attack and expressed their support for france. >> we must never allow the values that we hold dear of democracy, freedom of speech, to be damaged by these terrorists. we must stand against what they have done. >> translator: we stand by those freedom of press, freedom of democracy and again our thoughts are with the french people, and we will do everything we can to help france in such a difficult situation. >> it was a horrendous, unjustifiable and cold-blooded crime. it was also a direct assault on a cornerstone of democracy, on the media and freedom of expression.

>> we stay vigilant in trying to protect them and to hunt down and bring the perpetrators of this specific act to justice and to roll up the networks that helped to advance these kinds of plots. >> japan's prime minister sent a message to hollande condemning the assault. shinzo abe says such a cowardly attack cannot be tolerated. he expressed shock and anger over the large number of casualties. he said the hearts of the japanese are with the people of france. "charlie hebdo" has gained popularity for its comedic coverage of major news topics. in november 2011, editors compiled a feature report on the arab spring democratic uprising in the middle east. they included a cartoon of muhammad, the islamic prophet, with the caption "if you don't laugh at this, you'll be whipped." they soon found themselves the target of threats and protests. many muslims called it an insult to their faith. attackers fire bombed the office of the newspaper and caused major damage. the french government joined the u.s.-led coalition in september,

carrying out air strikes against islamic state militants in iraq. since then, officials have been on alert over concerns that muslim fundamentalists might stage terror attacks in france. interior ministry officials say more than 1,100 french nationals have entered iraq or syria to join islamic state or are trying to enter. they say there's a chance some of those people will return home and stage terrorist attacks. so they revised the country's counterterrorism laws in november. authorities can now confiscate passports from people who may likely become involved in terrorism abroad. the legislation also allows officials to block access to websites that promote terrorism and extremist ideas. last year, a french national stormed the jewish museum of belgium in brussels, killing four people. police say the man had previously worked with islamic state militants in syria. two years ago, another man claiming to be a member of al qaeda fired a gun at students and their guardians at a jewish school in southern france. police killed the suspect after a standoff that lasted more than a day. the 24-year-old man of algerian

descent earlier claimed he had killed seven people, including french soldiers. police cadets are among dozens of people who have died in a car bomb attack in yemen. authorities say the blast outside a police academy killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 50. no one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack in the capital of sanaa. shia muslim rebels called houthis took control of the city in september of last year. they joined yemen's new cabinet two months later after u.n. officials brokered a truce between the rebels and the government. attackers have subsequently targeted security organizations in a series of bombings across the country. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula who are sunni muslims are thought to have been behind the attacks. suicide bomber last month killed three security guards and other people near the iranian ambassador's residence in the capital.

iran is a major shia country, escalating sectarian conflicts. may destabilize the new cabinet. the hong kong government is looking to reform how the people will choose their chief executive in 2017. they'll change the election system based on a decision made by the chinese government. pro-democracy lawmakers say the proposed amendments don't go far enough. officials announced on wednesday at the legislative council they'll resume public hearings. they say they'll be held over the next two months. the hearings were blocked last year by pro-democracy protests that lasted for more than two months. hong kong government leaders say they want to hammer out a reform bill after hearing opinions from the public. they'll then try to enact it into law. but analysts say it's uncertain if the reforms would pass. they say 43 of the 70 seats on council are held by pro-china supporters. that's just short of the two-thirds needed to approve bills. pro-democracy lawmakers walked

out of the legislative council raising yellow umbrellas after hearing the government's proposal. japanese government officials are talking to economists studying data and making predictions. they're wondering what kind of year 2015 will be. ai uchida joins us from the business desk. what can you tell us? >> as you know the fiscal year here begins in april, before it starts officials need a budget to make a budget they need a growth forecast. and they now have one. sources say the economy should grow around 1.5% in real terms and that's factoring in the effects of inflation. the nominal figure which leaves price rises as it would work out to 2.7%. the government is preparing its economic outlook that will form the basis of the 2015 budget. the fiscal year begins april 1st. the sources say they expect japan's economy to show a moderate recovery because the weaker yen is helping out manufacturers and some other

businesses. other positive factors include the fall in crude oil prices. business people can also expect some relief from an economic stimulus package worth about $29 billion. the government decided on the measures last month. the government officials plan to approve a bill for the fiscal 2015 budget next week. now the number of bankruptcies in japan is on the downward trend. still, the weaker yen is not all good news. a survey shows that more than double the number of japanese companies that did fail last year blamed a weaker yen compared with the previous period. analysts at private credit research firm data bank surveyed managers at the failed companies of debts of at least 10 million yen or $83,000 in 2014. the poll takers asked them on the reasons and background for their predicaments. they found that 345 of the companies were affected by the yen's decline. the number in 2013 was 130.

96 of the firms were in transportation and communications. 80 were whole salers. the analysts say many of the failed companies were unable to pass on higher costs of imported materials and energy to their customers. the researchers say the cheaper yen is boosting profits of major corporations operating overseas, but it's squeezing earnings of many smaller companies. they say they will keep a close watch on falling crude oil prices, which tend to help the transportation industry. japanese government's decision to postpone a hike in the consumption tax is prompting officials to review social welfare spending, but one area expected to avoid a funding squeeze is child care. officials are putting a priority on the program viewing it as key to raising the birthrate. the officials are reviewing new social welfare programs as they prepare the draft budget plan for fiscal 2015.

the officials had originally planned to allocate about $15 billion to improve the programs but tax hike delay means available revenue cut to $11 billion. still, officials say they'll go ahead with the new program as originally planned. observers say that amid japan's falling birthrate, parents need better support for raising their children. the program gets under way from next fiscal year beginning april. about $4 billion will be allocated so that day care centers can increase the number of children they accept. a portion of the money will go toward improving conditions of teachers. other areas to be funded as planned. intractable diseases that qualify for subsidized medical care. it will also provide financial support for the deficit-ridden national health insurance system. but the government will postpone its plan of providing benefits

to low-income pensioners. officials are planning to set total social welfare spending at about $260 billion. now let's take a look at markets. investors on wall street took comfort from a strong private sector jobs report. u.s. stock prices rebounded after five straight days of losses. market players here in tokyo, they are also in a positive mood. the nikkei average opened 1% higher, regaining the 17,000 threshold. currently up 1.1% building on those initial gains. now, analysts say hopes for further stimulus by the european central bank are supporting market sentiment, too. but currency traders are pulling down the euro on speculation the ecb may soon take action to avert deflation. data released wednesday shows inflation for the eurozone turned negative last month. against the dollar the single currency dipped to a 9-year low

overnight. it is still at the 1.18 level in tokyo trading. and the dollar that is pulling back from tuesday's lows when it was at the lower 1.18 yen range. traders are buying the dollar following that strong u.s. jobs data. the dollar against the yen currently in the mid to -- the lower to mid 119 yen range. looking at some other markets in the asia pacific region, south korea's kospi trading higher. in australia, the benchmark index is trading higher as well. up more than a third percent. so pretty positive picture in the asia pacific so far this morning. we'll track all these markets for you throughout the day and be back next hour with an update. here's a look at some other figures.

a top executive of mcdonald's holdings japan has said he's very sorry for a series of problems involving foreign objects found in its food. >> translator: we deeply apologize for causing so much trouble and concern to many of our customers. we are very sorry. >> a customer discovered a piece of vinyl in a chicken nugget last week at a restaurant in the northern prefecture of aomori. all japanese chains were ordered to stop selling nuggets that were produced on the same day in thailand.

a piece of plastic was also discovered in a dessert at an outlet in the northeastern prefecture of fukushima last month. the object was part of a machine at the restaurant. senior vice president takehiko aoiki revealed on wednesday that a customer at the fukushima restaurant was injured by the piece of plastic. aoski also says a customer in osaka complained that what appeared to be the tip of a human tooth was found in a patch of fried potatoes. he says it's unclear how that happened. the chicken nugget that contained vinyl was produced in bangkok. officials at the facility say they have sent gloves and aprons used at the factory to japan to determine whether any of the material matches the vinyl found in the nugget. >> translator: our products meet the standard of our company's quality control system. every employee here understands

the production process well, so we have 100% confidence in our products. >> products from the factory are also exported to countries in europe and southeast asia. indonesian searchers say they've found the tail of an airasia passenger jet that disappeared with 162 people on board. they say the section could house the crucial black box flight recorders. >> translator: i can confirm that we've found the tail. that's been our main target today. >> the head of the search and rescue agency says searchers located the wreckage off the coast of kalimantan. divers were able to identify it from letters written on the side. international teams from the u.s., australia and japan have been taking part in the operation. searchers have only recovered 40 bodies so far. they've made it a priority to retrieve the tail and the black boxes inside. they hope these voice and flight

data recorders will reveal the cause of the crash. aviation authorities say the plane was flying through stormy weather when it disappeared on december 28th. it was heading from surabaya in indonesia to singapore. south korean prosecutors have charged a former korean air vice president with violating a safety law. cho dana delayed a flight over the way a snack was served. >> translator: we charged the former vice president of korean air for violating the aviation safety law by changing flight plans. assault on a plane, coercion, and interference in the execution of duty. >> cho became outraged when a cabin attendant offered her nuts in a bag instead of serving them on a plate as laid out in the

airline's manual. she demanded the plane return to the gate, even though it was taxiing for takeoff. she also ordered the flight officer in charge of cabin service to get off the plane. prosecutors also charged her with interference in a government investigation by ordering korean air officials to give false testimony and fabricate documents to cover up the incident. in addition, prosecutors indicted a managing director of korean air for trying to force flight attendants to give false testimonies to defend cho. people in cambodia commemorated the 36'd anniversary of of the overthrow of a brutal regime the khmer rouge. more than 1.5 million people died from forced labor, starvation torture or execution. the rein of the khmer rouge started to unraifl in late 1978 when a group of former khmer

rouge including the current prime minister launched a revolt. they were backed by thousands of vietnamese troops. on january 7, 1979 the forces took control of the capital phnom penh. the ruling cambodian people's party held a ceremony to commend the end of the civil war, highlighting the success in putting the economy on the road to growth backed by international assistance. >> translator: the january 7th victory saved millions of cambodians from being killed by the brutal khmer rouge regime. >> translator: i'm so happy to celebrate this day because it saved my life. >> as soon as it seized power, the khmer rouge started to reorganize the country, based on radical social engineering policies. it hoped to create a utopian society. millions of people were forced

the leave the cities for farming villages. at least one fifth of the population died. a special court was jointly set up by the united nations and the cambodian government nine years ago. it's still trying former leaders. as the trials drag on and the defendants age there are doubts whether they will all be brought to justice. the people who run japanese electronics maker hi that chi are pushing into a new market. they've started shipping train cars made for high speed railways in the uk and also looking to drive more of their products abroad. nhk world's mitsuko in it ka that reports. >> reporter: they celebrated on wednesday a first for the company. these rail cars will leave their factory in yamaguchi prefecture and arrive in the uk in march.

they say it's one of the largest contracts ever awarded by britain's railway system. >> it is a fantastic day for us to ship the first class 800 series train from the factory here. >> reporter: the company has seen a lot of business from england come their way in the last three years. they won a contract to replace 866 carriages on the uk's asian high-speed railway. officials with hitachi say their state of the art trains are faster and smarter. they say they can carry commuters at speeds of up to 201 kilometers per hour. and they also say people will have more space on board. trains will connect london and other cities as part of the intercity express program initiated by the government. the car has a diesel engine so it can run on stretch that is do not have electricity. people in the country who ride

the rails have become familiar with japanese technology. hitachi's rail cars were widely used in the london olympics in 2012 taking visitors to the main venue. people came to appreciate the train's speed and punk walt. company executives are also eyeing markets beyond the uk. they're keen to challenge other leading manufacturers including canada and france. >> i see in the future continued growth for the railway business and i think hitach ir's very well placed to capture this both strengthen our position in europe, but also to expand our operation to other markets. >> reporter: they're putting more emphasis on selling to rail operators in europe. they also want to push their products in emerging areas like

india and other southeast asian countries. and they call their large scale deal in the uk an important milestone in a competitive transportation industry. mitsuko nishikawa, nhk world. it's time now for a check of the weather. people in northern japan are dealing with heavy snow and grusty weather conditions. mai shoji joins us with more. >> we have a pattern that's intensified. some people in hokkaido are dealing with this condition. whiteout condition in the area. people are digging out of the snow. about 200 flights canceled yesterday caused travelers to spend the night at the airport. over 360 households are without power across hokkaido due to heavy snow cutting the power lines. if you can pull back i can show

you this potent system this is what's responsible for that. you can see it's very engulfing japan. the low pressure system here creating this really windy conditions. you can see the isobars close to each other. these are the reports. 155 kilometers per hour in hokkaido and the snowfall keeps on adding up. more than 3 meters are found and on top of that likely to see more wintry precipitation, especially along the sea of japan side of the country. up to about 50 centimeters in hokkaido hokkaido. good for the skiers and going to be a lot of risk for avalanche so snow falling off the roofs and be aware of those aspects. out here across the bigger picture, mongolia northern china, as well as the korean peninsula looking at some clear conditions with the high pressure system blanketing overhead but here likely about

70 millimeters of rain fall due to the ridge of the high pressure pulling that moisture from the south. scattered thunderstorms prevailing in the philippines and indo china peninsula. 28 degrees and sunny skies and the north, frigid temperatures at seoul. 0 degrees is for your high today. your morning low marked minus 6 degrees already at minus 10 in yue land bah tar. this is where dangerous life threatening cold could target north central to eastern canada. high pressure system sits over here and this is your three-day outlook. really bitter cold will be continuing throughout your friday and into saturday even. chicago take a look at that. that's minus 20 degrees. this is your actual temperature. that's not your windchill figure. windchill factors could go down as much as 40 degrees and down into atlanta, looking at some

minus double digits actually. sub zero ranging all the way into saturday. so hard freeze warning and windchill warning in place in the deep south. towards the southwest, though, this is an area we're looking at summer temperatures or even above summer range. 30.6 degrees marked the daily record high on tuesday and in around san diego. and that's a record since 1969. for example, los angeles, the mid-20s will continue into your friday so very big different picture out there. a quick look here in europe now. well, this potent system is going to be bringing howling winds across the british isles and in and around norway much of the scandinavian peninsula, germany even. 162 kilometers per hour winds could be identified in and around norway. watch out for downed power lines and damaging structures. i'll leave you now for an extended forecast.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us.

♪ ♪ this edition of asian voices comes to you from china, one of the most serious problems facing

the country today is environmental pollution. thick, white, haze shrouding beijing. increase asking emissions from vehicles and factories are making air pollution worse in china.