welcome to newsline. it's wednesday january 14th i'm katherine co katherine koe bicatherine kobayashi in tokyo. u.s. president barack obama has announced new security measures following the recent hacking of sony pictures and the u.s. central command. the incidents are reminders of serious threats facing the country country. >> we saw the hack of a military twitter account and youtube channel. the investigation is ongoing, and it's a reminder that cyber threats are urgent and growing

danger. >> new measures would encourage cyber companies to share threats with the government. late last year hackers attacked sony pictures entertainment after producing a film about a plot to assassinate north korea's leader. members of the group claiming to support the islamic state on monday monday. officials from japan the u.s. and south korea are working out a schedule for high level talks on north korea, they're hoping to meet later this month in tokyo. all these countries are likely to send senior diplomats, they're expected to confirm they're committed to working together to address north korea's nuclear program. six party talks on the issue have been stalled for more than

six years. the participants are also likely to discuss north korea's human rights record recently the focus of a u.n. security council discussion. and they're expected to talk about financial sanctions the u.s. imposed on north korea after the cyber attack on sony pictures. japan's delegates plan to ask for help with japanese nationals abducted to north korea. a report is expected to be released by early autumn. they've yet to deliver. police officers dignitaries and bereaved family members gathered in paris for a memorial service. they honored the three police officers killed in last week's terror attacks. francois hollande called for solidarity in the wake of the terrorism attack.

the french people stood unin front of world leaders. france may be attacked again. it will never give up. >> the ceremony took place at the police headquarters families of the victims watched as the coffins draped in french flags were carried into the courtyard. two officers were among 12 people killed last wednesday when governments stormed the offices of the satirical weekly, charlie hebdo. the next day the same gunman killed four of his hostages at a

kosher supermarket. 17 people died in the three incidents. mourners also gathered in jerusalem for the four french jews killed at the kosher supermarket. ♪ . >> about 2,000 people attended the state funeral on tuesday. the bodies of the victims were brought to israel for burial at the request of their families. the mourners included jews who had immigrated from france to israel. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu delivered a speech. >> translator: i believe world leaders must at least now begin to understand, because what happened in france last week the islamic extremists are a real threat to the world. >> relatives of the victims and others also spoke briefly at the

service. >> i'm still in shock. i was worried someone i know might be the victim of the attack attack. >> it's not known why the kosher market was targeted. israelis continue to worry about other possible incidents triggered by anti-semitism in europe. editors at charlie hebdo are making a move in defiance. they're depicting the prophet mohammed. he spoke ahead of the release of the weekly's first edition of the paris shooting. >> i'm glad to be publishing the latest issue. we will keep issuing the paper, we will not stop. the cover features a caricature of a tearful prophet mohammed saying, i am charlie. opinions are divided over the

drawing, many muslims believe images of the prophet are blasphemous. wednesday's paper has been translated and will be sold in 25 countries. authorities in indonesia say they've been given another clue to help them determine the cause of the air airial crash. navy divers have recovered the second black box from the bottom of the java sea. authorities say the voice recorder should have captured the conversations in the cockpit before the crash. and the flight recorder should have information on the plane's speed and path. they'll analyze the data from both to try to figure out what went wrong. the plane set off from indonesia bound for singapore late last month. it disappeared from radar screens off the coast of borneo. 162 people were on board. the defense officials from japan and china have resumed

talks on creating a maritime communication mechanism. the discussions had been suspended for more than two years, now both sides are looking to find common ground to help avoid accidents from occurring. nhk world's juno somoto explains. >> reporter: the mechanism is meant to deploy accidental clashes at sea or in the air. the meeting came two months after japanese prime minister shinjo abe agreed to restart the talks. the talks broke off as a result of the deterioration of the relations after japan nationalized the islands in the china sea in 2012. china and taiwan claimed them. in 2013 one of china's navy gates directed fire at a japanese maritime self-defense force destroyer.

the threat was not only in the sea, but also in the air. in the following year the chinese fire jet flew abnormally close to a self-defense force in may. and then a month later, a similar incident occurred. this man is a research fellow with a tokyo foundation and former navy captain with defense forces. the mechanism is indispensable to avoid contingency. >> there is a huge perception gap between japan and china, especial especially -- it means japan doesn't trust the chinese navy. also, the chinese navy doesn't trust -- they recognize the other side will take the aggressive action for is the

very dangers, something happened which cannot be understood. the navy will take some option against the others option. if they can communicate. they can understand each other. they can try to understand the intention. it is very important for avoiding the miss calculation. >> japan's defense minister welcomed the resumption of the talks. >> it is gratifying talks have resumed. i believe they will start a mechanism that could start a system that will help avoid an accident many when the dangers are getting higher. >> japan and china had already agreed to establish a hotline and hold regular consultations between defense officials before the talks were broken up.

he says he thinks discussions on monday were focused on when and how the communication mechanism should be set up. >> if they can -- specific frequency for communication between japan and china, show other people the intention of japan and china, nor avoiding the collision or some unexpected issues and also, they must have some lines. so they might discuss about which level, which headquarters built the lines with which headquarters -- >> japanese defense officials say they won't disturb the system as early as the summer or

by the end of the year at the latest. nhk world, tokyo. world bank officials are looking to the future they're not as confident about the global economy as they were just half a year ago, tell us what are they worried about? >> the economists are saying countries are going in different directions. on one hand the u.s. economy is strong, on the other, europe and japan are weak. plus, they say falling oil prices have polar opposite effects based on whether a country imports or exports it. economists are weighing the strengths and weaknesses and they've downgraded their global economic growth projection for 2015. officials expect the global economy will expand 3% that's 0.4 of a percentage point lower than the banks forecast released last june. the lender estimates the world economy in 2014 grew 2.6%.

officials say the u.s. economy will grow this year by 3.2% up 0.2 from a forecast they made in june. the economists expect the u.s. will play a leading role in the world economy. they calculate eurozone growth at 1.1% down 0.7 points. they revised japan's growth to 1.2%. japan's recovery has been sluggish since it hiked its consumption tax last april. china's growth at 7.1% down 0.4 points. the steeply lower crude prices will be a big help for oil importing nations, they say the effects will lift global growth about half a percentage point for the next two years. but they warn that the trend could hurt oil producing nations, they say the lower crude oil prices could destabilize their economies and financial markets. they predict russia will contract this year by 2.9%.

with the world bank expressing worries over slowing global economic growth, the falling crude oil prices continue in fact they're trading at the lowest levels in nearly six years, the benchmark west texas intermediate fell bee lower at one point. the minister supported opec's decision not to cut oil output. the crude price plunge is indeed affecting oil producing countries, the rubel fell against major currencies. it dropped tuesday. it had been holding relatively steady after plunging to 80 rubels in december. tokyo investors are in a risk off mode. the nikkei index opened lower, it is trading lower by 7/10 of a% from tuesday's close, below the 17,000 level. investors are selling shares of

major exporters as the yen is stronger against major currencies. traders are buying the yen as they consider it a relatively safer asset. the dollar yen trading well below the 118 yen level at the moment. analysts say another reason for the weaker dollar is a lower yield on u.s. treasury notes. the yield on the ten-year treasury fell to the lowest level in three months. in other markets in the asia pacific region south korea's costb is trading higher by just about 3/10%, but in australia the benchmark index is down a tenth of a%. a bit of a mixed picture this morning. officials at the tokyo metropolitan government have decided to set up a hydrogen fund worth about $340 million and will be used to promote hydrogen as a source of energy. the officials have set a goal of achieving what they call a hydrogen powered society ahead of the tokyo summer olympics in

2020. their plan includes the use of about 6,000 fuel cell vehicles and setting up 35 hydrogen service stations to fuel them. to ensure the plan is not affected by swings in the economy, the tokyo officials decided to establish the fund next fiscal year. the fund will be used to subsidize buyers of fuel cell vehicles and businesses that introduce fuel cell buses or build hydrogen stations. they're considering subsidizeing enterprises that use hydrogen energy in their urban development projects. high speed rail companies have their sights fixed on california california. the u.s. state is planning a new rail line and the companies are hoping for a piece of the action. that includes a major japanese operator which is pitching its bullet train system. >> california's government aims to start operating the line by 2029. it will link los angeles and san

francisco within three hours, each japan railway made his pitch at a meeting of the california high speed rail authority. he said japan's system has caused no injuries since it's launch 50 years ago, it's precision and efficiency will cut costs. the japanese company's forming a consortium with six other firms including kawasaki heavy industries to secure a contract for carriages. nine other groups intend to join the bidding which will likely begin this spring. they're from germany, france, china, as well as other countries. that's the latest in business, i'll leave you with a check on markets.

a series of elephant attacks has unearth eded giants at a tourist reserve. >> a massive elephant -- clams on top and smashed the car. the national park is about two hours ride from the capital of bangkok bangkok. it is home to wild animals, including elephants and tigers. the park receive edd them in 2005. this is instruction to the tourists they say, no harm no

flash, and don't turn off the engine park rangers hand out those same instructions. they need to make -- >> i learned about the elephant attacks on tv. it's quite scary. i'll stop the car and keep quiet if i see an elephant. >> i've worked at this park for ten years. this is the first time the elephants have been so aggressive. it's breeding season so the males can be irtritable. >> forecasts were crushed by elephants in this park already since the start of the year.

tourists are flocking here in greater numbers. instead of waiting for elephants to pass they try to chase them away. nhk world thailand. >> japanese researchers are pinning their hopes on an unusual energy source. they've been extracting oil from algae, it could eventually be used to make fuel 1234 this shuttle bus runs on oil made from algae. >> it's just like a normal vehicle, it runs quite smoothly. >> it comes from an algae known as botrycoccus. the tiny drops are oil. it's make up is similar to that of petroleum oil accounts for 30

to 40% of this dried algae's weight. right now, some obstacles prevent the algae substance from being used as fuel. it's sensitive to temperature change and unwanted organisms, it must be cultivated in special facilities that ensure a stable environment. oil extraction also requires special treatment. >> i think we'll have to find ways to cut the cost at every step from cultivation to oil extraction. >> this start-up has been breeding improved algae for eight years, they've researched more than 7 million algae in order to select and grow

stronger specimens. the firm has bred a type of algae that would with stand bacteria and temperature changes. it can be grown easily outdoors. the firm has been collaborating with a major manufacturer of heavy machinery. now they're looking for ways to mass produce it. >> we want to keep working to overcome all the obstacles. and lower costs by increasing the scale of production ten times, and then ten times more. >> researchers working on ways to extract algae oil are making progress too. this laboratory studies the make-up of botrycoccus. the oil is found under each colony colony's thick outer later.

previously the algae had to be dried out before the oil was extracted. besides weakening the outside layer, the process required a lot of time and money. but this lab discovered if the algae was grown in diluted sea water, there was no need to dry it before extracting oil. >> this algae was grown in the culture of diluted sea water. the oil comes out without doing anything. >> these researchers think it will be easier to extract the oil of algae grown in sea water, because the colony's outer layer will be thinner. >> i think this method will dramatically reduce energy consumption and cut costs. in my opinion, we're one step closer to practical application. >> algae has the potential to become the energy source of tomorrow. scientists hope it can be used not only as fuel but also to make tires, plastic bottles and other materials.

>> it's time now for a check of the weather, people in tokyo are enjoying sunny blue skies, many including myself are hoping the mild winter continues. what can we expect in world weather? >> at least for the next 24 hours, tokyo is going to be seeing some rather decent weather, the mild winter we are seeing is going to be remaining in place. unfortunately, that's not going to be the case in the extended range, what we're seeing you can already see on the satellite imagery, coming in from the west we have more cloud cover, this is a new storm system, that's developing. this is going to bring some rough weather across portions of south korea as well. ushering in some warm air from the south, that's going to combine with some cold air, we are already seeing aloft out there, looking at unstable conditions through caboshima. you could see a threat of

tornados wednesday evening into thursday morning, this whole system is going to be working its way off toward the north east, if you're in tokyo, thursday, i would have an umbrella with you throughout the day, it is either going to be raining or possibly further inland, especially after sunset we're looking at that threat of some snowfall as this does continue to push overhead. this is something we want to watch over the next 24 hours, at least near the coast, you're going to be looking at windy weather as well. let's take a look at the three-day forecast for you. further toward the north, looking at snowfall definitely in the higher elevations on your thursday tokyo, that rain will be setting in as i mentioned, it could be mixed in with a few flurries there, and also over toward osaka. storm systems already impacting you, will be clearing up temperatures remaining right around the average point. do want to mention this as well. i know this is going to be a big topic this coming weekend. we have a tropical depression likely it will become tropical

storm makla, pull up here toward the west already warnings are in effect for windy conditions possibly showers heading into saturday and sunday across the philippines. manila for now, partly cloudy skies, high of 29 for you. let's move over toward europe. see what's going on here really the rough weather is remaining off toward the west and parts of germany, you can see 120 kilometer per hour winds, the very tight pressure gradient setting up you have the high toward the south, and these deep lows rolling across north. one is moving off, and another one coming in right behind it we're looking at wet and windy conditions, we're looking at snowfall near ireland and scotland. as much as 8 centimeters could fall out there. also in the east greece conditions are clearing up slowly for you, you saw 145 kilometer per hour winds here on your tuesday, now, the storms are drifting a little further

off there, the conditions are going to go down hill for those of you in turkey wrap things up into australia, i know a lot of you are watching the asian cup over here toward the southeast, we had a low pressure system push through during the morning hours, heavy rain showers in parts of brisbane and melbourne. this is going to move off, there's still a threat of an isolated shower or two, for some of the matches sets up here for the most part we're going to be looking at fair conditions out there on the field. i'll leave you your extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of newsline, i'm katherinecatherine kobayashi in tokyo, thanks for joining us.

>> we're all in a flutter on this week's edition of "global 3000," and that's because we are playing host to royalty. butterfly royalty, that is. what you're seeing on your screen are swarms of monarch butterflies on their way to mexico. we'll be finding out what makes this migratory journey unique shortly.

but first, welcome to the program, and here's a quick look at what we have in store. the butterfly effect -- how the well-being of millions is connected to the survival of one particular species. sherpas' struggle -- nepal's courageous mountain guides fight for safer working conditions. and dwindling catch -- the role of trout in tempting tourists to morocco's atlas mountain. back