glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's tuesday january 13th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. china's state-run agency xinhua says police in the country's northwest have prevented a bombing. the report says officers in the xinjiang uighur autonomous region saw people trying to detonate explosives and they shot the would-be bombers dead. the report says residents in a commercial district of cashcar spotted a person with an explosive device. the person wielded an ax and tried to detonate the device before being shot by police.

they shot five others who were attempting to set off the explosives they were wearing. xinhua says a vehicle with explosives inside was also found at the site. police have responded to a spate of attacks in recent months. many residents in the region are reportedly unhappy with the government's ethnic and religious policies. authorities in indonesia may be a step closer to understanding why an airasia passenger jet crashed into the java seat last month. navy divers have retrieved the plane's flight recorder. search and rescue authorities say they found the flight recorder under one of plane's wings. the jet took off from the indonesian city of surabaya with 162 people on board. it was heading to singapore but disappeared from radar screens shortly after the pilot asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude. divers found the wreckage off kalimantan island. they've retrieved 48 bodies. indonesian transporter

authorities will analyze data from the flight recorder to pinpoint the cause of the crash. divers are still trying to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder. government officials from japan and china have resumed talks on creating a maritime communication mechanism. the discussions had been suspended for more than two years after japan had nationalized the senkaku islands in the east china sea. china and taiwan claimed them. the officials met in tokyo on monday. the mechanism they discussed is meant to avoid accidental clashes at sea or in the air. the meeting came two months after japan's prime minister shinzo abe and chinese president xi jinping agreed to restart the talks. last year, a chinese fighter jet flew abnormally close to a japanese self defense force aircraft on patrol. japanese authorities say the incident could have triggered an accidental clash. japan and china have already agreed to establish a hotline and hold regular consultations

between defense officials. details of monday's talks have yet to be disclosed, but discussions are believed to have focused on where to set up the hotline and when to start the communication mechanism. france's top defense official has unveiled unprecedented security measures. he's ordered soldiers to stand guard across the country. it comes after last week's deadly attacks in and around paris. >> translator: we've decided to mobilize 10,000 personnel to protect sensitive places across the country. >> personnel are expected to be deployed tuesday at major train stations and tourist destinations. and the country's interior minister says 4,700 police officers will be assigned to protect jewish schools and mosques. the attacks on the satirical

weekly "charlie hebdo" and a kosher market and police left 17 people dead. three suspects were also killed. authorities are now looking for accomplices. hackers claiming to support the islamic state militant group have staged a cyberattack against the united states. they disabled the twitter and youtube accounts of the u.s. military command. the hackers posted an image of a person dressed as a militant fighter. and they put up a text message threatening u.s. troops. they also struck the central command's youtube account. they posted video clips promoting islamic state. u.s. officials confirm they're having problems with the sites but say no classified material has been breached. a white house spokesperson says authorities are looking into the attack. >> it's a pretty significant difference between what is a -- a large data breach and the hacking of a twitter account.

so we're still examining and investigating the extent of this incident. >> experts say it's relatively easy to break into the accounts but they say the militants can use the attack as propaganda victory. japanese leaders have a clearer picture of how the economy is doing. they've released the latest current account balance, and it's in the positive. ai uchida joins us now from the business desk. ai tell us more in detail what's going on here. >> catherine, as you know the current account at broadest measure of japan's trade and investment with the rest of the world, and the numbers were actually better than many analysts had predicted. finance ministry officials say the balance in november stayed in the black for the fifth straight month. they say the surplus for the month stood at about $3.7 billion and that was despite a trade deficit of about $5.4 billion. exports rose 10.8% in yen ermz terms from a year ago.

imports were up 2.2%. returns on overseas investments made up for the trade shortfall. the primary income account shows how much japan earns from its foreign vichlts. the surplus in the account is about $10.8 billion. crude oil futures in new york have briefly hit their lowest level in nearly six years, and that's after analysts at a major u.s. investment bank warned of a further price fall. sell orders surged on monday. the west texas intermediate futures fell below $46 a barrel at one point, a price not seen since april 2009. the onslaught came after goldman sachs slashed forecasts for the wti this year to $47.15 a barrel. that's about $26 lower than its previous forecast. crude oil prices have been sharply falling on concerns of oversupply. saudi arabia, one of the world's

largest crude producers, has shown no sign of cutting production and prices have dropped 10% just this year. market sources say production in the u.s. has risen to a 30-year high leading investors to predict further price declines and they say it's hard to foresee how low prices can fall as oil output is rising in russia and iraq too. the fall in crude prices is pushing down share prices in tokyo. oil-related stocks are especially lower. the benchmark nikkei index fell below 17,000 for the first time in three sessions. it's now trading 2% low yerer from friday's close. monday babes holiday. currency, traders are buying the yen which they see rafltzly safer asset. they are afraid falling oil prices may slow down global economic growth. investors are worried u.s. energy companies' earnings could suffer too and that could dampen the economies of oil-producing

countries. looking at other markets. south korea's kospi trading lower by half a percent. let's see what's happening in australia p.benchmark index trading lower as well. down 3/4 percent this morning. pretty negative start to your tuesday morning. japanese cabinet ministers have recognized a record draft budget of over 96 trillion yen for fiscal 2015. the figure of $814 billion is up almost $4 billion from the current fiscal year. the draft budget expands social security, spending to nearly $270 billion to meet the demands of japan's aging population. but it keeps public spending at the same level as the previous fiscal year at just around $50 billion. defense spending is hiked to a record $42 billion. the government predicts $460 billion of tax income a

seven-year high, and that's thanks mainly to better performing corporations. it also plans to issue $310 billion in new bonds. that's about $40 billion down from fiscal 2014. now, the government is trying to halve the primary balance deficit from fiscal 2010. and the draft budget would achieve that target next year. with a deficit of $113 billion. still, 38% of revenue resources would come from bonds. on wednesday cabinet ministers are set to officially approve the draft budget of 96.34 trillion yen, which would come into effect in april. now let's see what is coming up this week in the world of business. on tuesday the world bank will release its global economic prospects for 2015. last june the bank downgraded its forecast for global growth to 2.8%. on wednesday european union

officials will disclose industrial output for november in the euro zone. in october the number edged up by 0.1%. the same day we'll see the release of u.s. retail sales in december. they grew 0.7% in the previous month. on thursday japanese government officials will announce november's machinery orders. they fell by 6.4% in october. much worse than what the market had expected. and finally, on friday u.s. consumer price index for december will be coming out. analysts are watching the figure as it may give a hint on when the federal reserve might raise its key interest rate. i'll have more business stories for you next hour. i'll leave you with a check on markets. ♪

♪ winter sports fans are looking to chinas a new frontier. with more can and more chinese enjog skiing and snowboarding executives from domestic and foreign firms see lots of promising opportunities. nhk world's eiji hamanishi has more. >> reporter: the national ski resort on the outskirts of beijing. at the weekend thousands of people come here for the winter sports. in china skiing is a relatively new pastime, so many people take

lessons before venturing out on the slopes. >> translator: lots of people go skiing these days. it's become popular. so i came out here to try it. >> translator: i like to go skiing almost every weekend. >> reporter: there are now 13 ski resorts in the beijing area. china's rapid economic growth has led to a boom in leisure sports like skiing. 15 years ago there were only skiers and snowboarders in the country. that number has now jumped to some 10 million, says the chinese national ski association. >> as a sport we have a lot of people in northern china, and such kind of service industry also spill over to manufacturing industry like material industry, for example.

so the government just expect the service industry could be the next engine to drive economic development. so i think it's very hopeful for china. >> reporter: companies in europe and other parts of asia see this trend as a measure of business opportunity. the lake sulfur ski resort is in xirin province. this new resort which is due to open this weekend will be one of the largest in china. it was built by a chinese developer but it's being managed by a major japanese hotel chain. >> translator: this is our first operation in china. so i want to make it a successful business model. >> reporter: general manager yasayuki tanabe shares his chinese partners' view that in order to be successful they will have to provide a high quality

of service. from the reception desk to the dinner table hotel employees are being slowly trained in the japanese style of hospitality. safety on the ski slopes is another crucial element. japanese experts are trapg local ski instructors in technical skills as well as emergency procedures for responding in the event of serious injuries. it's a level of service that has rarely been found at china's ski resorts up till now. a directive from the chinese development company was among the first to test the slope. >> translator: by offering the best facilities based on our experience as a developer, combined with a level of service that is the same as in japan, we

are aiming to create the best ski resort in china. rpt are/ . >> reporter: with a growing number of chinese able to afford leisure activities investors inside and outside the country are moving quickly to take advantage of this fast growing sector. eiji hamanishi, nhk world. officials at a national park in thailand are warning vifrths to be on guard after a wild elephant went on a rampage. they say it's not the first such incident. this amateur video shows a male elephant climbing onto the hood of a car in kaoyei national park northeast of bangkok. later shattered windows at a nearby grocery store. local media say four cars have been damaged in similar incidents this month. it's not clear whether the same animal is to blame. experts say an elephant forced out of its herd can experience stress and loneliness that can trigger rampages. anglers in western japan

consider black sea bream a prized catch. but the fish are known for being wary. they usually make themselves scarce when people are around. one man has found a way to gain their trust. nhk world's daisuke takahashi has more. >> reporter: sea bream are a popular delicacy of eihimi prefecture. normally the fish are very wary of people. but these have even been trained to swim through hoops. narauki aoki is a diver. every day he has a different interest. he's retired. so he goes diving a lot now. as much as 100 days a year. the sound of a hammer is enough to attract the finish to this

spot where a camera has been set up. ten years ago aoki noticed that sea bream reacted when he broke shells with a hammer. after returning to the same place over and over again, he eventually managed to get the fish to eat out of his hand. then six years ago he started to train them to swim through hoops using food as a reward. >> translator: it's taro ichiro goda isn't here. i recognize them by their faces. >> reporter: taro first approached aoki seven years ago. ichiro seems to like showing off his moves. and this is big old gonta. he's recognizable by the scar on

his head. gonta was the first of the black sea bream to react to aoki's hammer ten years ago. >> translator: they're really lively today coming back again and again to eat my glove. it's like i'm playing with children. >> reporter: tetsuya imino is is a marine biologist. he's never heard of a black sea bream exhibiting this kind of behavior. >> translator: that's amazing. they swam right through. >> reporter: he noticed something interesting in the movements. >> translator: their dorsal fins are completely folded back and they're moving their pectoral fins in reverse. they're totally relaxed. i think this shows they recognize aoki as a friend.

but when umino approaches them their behavior changes, and their dorsal fins stand firmly erect. they are wary of everyone apart from aoki. >> translator: i think that the fish identify aoki by the color and the shape of his wet sxoout motion he makes when hitting the hammer. black sea bream have an incredible ability to recognize, or should i say perceive. i think this finding may help us in terms of protecting marine and fish resources. >> reporter: there is much about the biology of black sea bream that is little known. aoki's work may help to shed some light on this species. daisuke takahashi, mhk world, matsuyama. >> quite an interesting story there. we turn now to soccer. and day four of the afc asian

cup in australia. defending champion japan faced palestine in the opening match of group d. this was one of the most important games for japan coach aguirre since he took over the team last august. in the eighth minute endo put his team in front. the 34-year-old gave japan the boost it needed in this first match. in the 25th minute -- off target but he redirected the ball with a header. japan added another goal and finished the first half on a 3-0 lead. japan remained focused from the top of the second half. in the 49th minute yoshida

widened japan's leader from a header. japan won the game 4-0. >> translator: we all know the first match is really important. so we tried to dominate the game from the beginning. our next game against iraq will be difficult, will make it a good match and hope we can win. >> the palestinian team joining the asia cup for the first time. thousands of people in the gaza strip gathered at an event hall to watch a broadcast of the historic match. palestine is the only team in the competition not representing a nation. people in the occupied territories celebrated the team's debut in the wake of last year's conflict with israel. some fans were disappointed when their opponent, japan, scored goal after goal.

palestine will look for their first win in the asia cup in their next match against jordan. it's time now for a check of the weather. many residents in saudi arabia were caught by surprise when they saw snow. meteorologist robert speta joins us with the details. >> what we've seen out here this past weekend is a very strong winter storm. it came in across much of the western portions of the middle east here. there into israel parts of syria. but then it moved all the way down into northern portions of saudi arabia. let's go to some video we have out of here. and you can see the white stuff on the ground. it was blanketed.

this is actually the third year in a row where we did see snowfall. outside of that it's actually a rather rare sight. white stuff piled up near the city of tabouq on friday. two people were reportedly killed and several injured due to road accidents out here caused by the snow. but temperatures reached subzero. you see some men out here trying to put together a snowman. they had to put their camels -- shepherds, camels inside the tent to try to keep them warm. but on the brighter side they did get out there and enjoy some of the snowfall tried to build together a snowman. you could tell they weren't really used to doing it out there on some of the mountainsides, having a hard time of it. as far as the forecast snow's over with now. it's still cold for the next several days. but we have a low back toward the northwest. that's bringing in some gusty winds, even some snowfall into turkey. that's going to pop in the warm air from the southwest. and temperatures will be on the rise. at least by the end of the week. and you'll be getting up into the high teens. we're talking about snowfall toward the north. let's go a little bit toward the south. i know it's january. you're thinking of the northern

hemisphere. tropical. it's not tropical season. but here in the indian ocean it is. and we have a very intense storm system. that's actually the intensity being put out here by where the storm is just north of there. an intense tropical cyclone. winds at 204 kilometers per hour. rain now stationary but slowly moving off here toward the east. as you go out on a monday and tuesday i think it's going to stay north of the islands here. but it is kicking up the waves. you're looking at the threat of flooding and very dangerous surf with this one as it does continue to push off there. and eventually it will weaken off into the southern indian ocean. you're going to be wanting to watch out for some foul weather. if you're planning on traveling to these islands something, high waves in eastern portions of madagascar. gusty winds toward the south. nothing tropicalpical but in the british isles it issing blowing out here. wind reports over 100 kilometers per hour. you're still going to be looking at that threat especially in southern portions of the uk over through the low countries.

damaging winds. even some hail coming out of this. and there is a threat of tornadoes. seeing video of the boats out there on the waves. it is just being knocked about. actually, two people washed out to sea there into england. temperatures still on the cold side because we have a cold front coming through. even the risk of a flurry or two in london. just a high of 8 on your tuesday. heading over through wednesday, let's move over toward japan now. high pressure's in the forecast. i know with heavy snowfall we even had a report of a tornado this past weekend in fuguekui prefecture. damaged 30 homes. later on this week. things are going to stay on the dry side. actually you may have chapped lips out there. rather die dry. snow moving in. if you're in tokyo make sure you have the broiler ready before heading out by the end of your work week and then let's wrap things up here into the americas. i know if you're on the eastern seaboards it is a rough go out there. actually in atlanta, several hours delay at the airport. still some freezing rain in the northeast making for a slow

travel day, but high pressure's coming in. this is a cold high, though. making for some sunny skies. but look at some of these temperatures. chicago, minus 9 only here for your high on tuesday. i'll leave you with your extended forecast. ♪ ♪ ♪

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

& st bits of the week for you. let's have a look at what's coming up. culture sleuths -- the online portal art detective uncovers the secrets of ancient paintings. pop in the snow -- wham!'s classic hit "last christmas" turns 30. and digital illusion -- a hungarian photo artist and her unusual selfies. art detective is a new website that seeks to unravel the mysteries of ancient paintings.

it all started off in the cellars of national museums in the u.k., home to some 30,000 unclaimed and unidentified antique paintings. let's see how the art detectives assist historians on this site to work out, for example, who painted these pieces.