hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, january 15th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. officials at mcdonald's japan are taking steps they hope will clean up the outlets and reputation. they plan to check how sanitation is managed at all of their restaurants worldwide. this follows a series of scandals involving foreign objects found in mcdonald's food. officials with mcdonald's japan say an outside food safety company will check the more than 3,000 outlets. the sanitary workers will inspect how clean cooking utensils and equipment are kept.

they'll also inspect the ability of workers to detect outside objects in food products. earlier this month, a customer found a piece of vinyl in a chicken nugget at a restaurant in northern japan. mcdonald's officials say the possibility that the object came from its plant or outlets is slim, but there have been other cases of foreign objects being mixed into food during preparation. last month, a piece of plastic was discovered in a dessert at another outlet. the object was part of a machine at the restaurant. workers also misplaced a foreign object that a customer found in the food. the fast-food giant plans to review its response to customers as well. hong kong's chief executive is standing firm on political reform. he says the city must follow the chinese government's policy on elections. leaders in beijing have allowed a free vote in 2017 but they insist on screening candidates. he delivered his first annual

policy address since last year's pro-democracy protest. he told the legislative council that the city's leader must be appointed by the chinese government regardless of how he or she is elected. >> translator: hong kong's autonomy under one country two systems is a high degree of autonomy but not an absolute autonomy. >> protesters held massive sit-ins on major roads for more than two months. they called for free candidatecy in the chief executive election. he took a hard line against the demonstrators in his speech. >> translator: as we pursue democracy we should act in accordance with the law or hong kong will degenerate into

anarchy. >> members of the council walked out of chamber, holding up umbrellas, a symbol of last year's protests. hundreds of thousands of people have gone to the local newsstand to purchase a single of defiance. publishers of the satirical weekly "charlie hebdo" have printed the first edition since the attack on their office that left 12 people dead. they've been met with applause and criticism. nhk world's kazuhiro takahashi has the latest. >> reporter: people lined up on newsstands in central paris to buy the latest edition of "charlie hebdo." >> translator: i wanted five copies, but they only allowed me to buy one. >> translator: the paper has become a symbol for freedom of expression. people should be allowed to poke gentle fun. >> reporter: in a show of their defying spirit, surviving "charlie hebdo" staff featured a caricature of the prophet muhammad on the front page. renald luzier drew the cartoon. >> translator: this is not the

cover that terrorists wanted, but rather something that "charlie hebdo" wanted to depict. i hope the spirit of charlie will live on. >> reporter: the paper has again provoked criticism. >> translator: the paper is selling out to commercialism and insulting the islamic world. >> reporter: muslims believe depicting images of the prophet is sacrilegious. islamic authorities in egypt denounced the publication. they called it an unjustified provocation against the feelings of muslims. >> translator: i have told worshippers to remain calm, remain silent, to maintain integrity, and respect freedom of expression. >> reporter: france's top muslim cleric says they're determined to put an end to a chain reaction of violence and controversy by being calm.

many muslims in the country are also worried about a possible backlash from the terror attacks. >> translator: i'm afraid that we muslims are all regarded as terrorists. >> reporter: their fear is already a reality. there have been about 50 acts of vandalism against mosques for the past week. france is at an important juncture. the question is whether people can unite against terrorism or become polarized and plagued by mistrust. nhk world. a senior member of yemen's branch of al qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attack. the attack was revenge for the publication insulting muhammed. he praised the attackers and

calling them heroes. the brothers were shot dead by police. he said that they chose the target, laid out the plan and financed the operation. the leader also warned of future tragedies. should people continue to commit acts of blasphemy against the prophet. one of the two brothers who storm "charlie hebdo" spoke to a french tv station over the telephone last week after the attack. french authorities confirmed that he had visited yemen. francois hollande spoke aboard the charles de gaulle aircraft carrier. >> translator: we need sufficient numbers of soldiers under these unusual circumstances. >> he says he will review the government's on gog efforts to reduce the military force by 10% within six years.

the downsizing began last year. the government is seeking to cut total troop strength by 34,000 to help rebuild state finances. hollande also announced the charles de gaulle will head to the middle east later this week. it will join a u.s.-led operation fighting terrorism in iraq. he said they will help stop acts of terror. the president said is the actions will help stop attacks, and will strengthen actions against islamic extremists inside and out of the country. france is at the highest state of alert following the attack. some 10,000 troops have been deployed across the country to guard major train terminals and tourist spots. there's been an angry reaction around the world to the latest edition of "charlie hebdo." the iranian-born foreign ministry spokesperson says it's provocative and cannot be tolerated. she calls it a misrepresentation

of freedom of expression. at the same time she criticized last week's attack in france, saying it went against the teachings of islam. indonesia's largest islamic group has also expressed disappointment. while condemning the shooting, the senior member yousef says is the editors of "charlie hebdo" have not learned from the attack. he says that freedom of expression should not be used to insult what many people regard as holy. he warned of more violence if the media and the public allowed such blasphemy to continue. indonesia is the largest islamic state in the world with more than 200 million muslims. the islamic militant group released a new video allegedly showing a boy executing two men with a gun. showing what's believed to be a militant fighter and a boy standing behind two kneeling men accused of being russian spies.

the boy shoots and the pair collapses to the ground. the video has been edited and it is not known whether the men were actually killed. islamic state had been giving children full military training. analysts say that the video apparently aims to show that youngsters are willingly taking part in fighting. it's time now for the latest in business news. business people in japan and australia are looking forward to selling more of their goods in each other's country. we're joined now from the business desk. bring us up to speed on this topic. >> official have been working on a free trade deal since 2007. they signed an economic partnership agreement last year and it has now come into effect. australia is japan's 14th epa partner and the biggest in value terms. age lifts expect the deal to boost trade even more. the free trade pact will remove

tariffs on 95% of total trade of value between japan and australia within the next ten years. officials signed the pact last july. australia will remove a 5% tariff on some japanese cars. japan will lower tariffs in stages on chilled australian beef from 38.5% to 23.5%. farmers are now worried about more agricultural imports from australia. japan has sealed trade pacts with 22.6% of all countries and regions which is behind china and south korea. the japanese government is planning to accelerate negotiations on other such deals, including the trans pacific partnership.

managers at companies across japan are buying more machinery, but not as much as market players had expected. officials at the cabinet office have released data showing domestic companies in november placed machinery orders worth about $6.7 billion. that's up from october and the first rise in two months, but much lower than market expectations of 5%. officials at the cabinet office say the recovery may be stalling. officials are worried about the effects of falling oil prices. they say growth was steady from mid november through late december but several district officials expressed concern about the effect of lower oil prices on local economies. the report says consumer most regions. auto sales showed moderate to strong growth and travel and

tourism picked up. the report says manufacturing activity increased in most districts but retailers in new york say sales were sluggish and less than they had expected during the year-end holiday season. let's check on markets now. tokyo stock prices opened higher. investors are hunting for bargain shares after the nikkea fell more than 2% earlier this week. now, export-related issues like car makers they are higher on a relatively weaker yen, so let's see where currencies are trading. the dollar bouncing back this morning. earlier it had hit a one-month low at nearly 116 yen. it is now in the mid 117 yen levels. now, analysts say traders have somewhat regained their risk appetite as crude oil prices were slightly higher over in new york. the euro remains low against major currencies. traders are speculating the

european bank may take further easing measures such as bond buying. the yield on the benchmark went down to 0.245%. it has posted a record low in a three days in a row. other markets, mix picture. south korea trading slightly higher but in australia, it's lower than more than half a percent. we'll see where it takes us throughout the day. i'll be back in the next hour with more updates. here's a look at some other markets.

more and more taiwanese are making their way to japan to shop for clothes and cosmetics. they've been taking advantage of

a weaker yen, but some business owners back home are seeing less money in their cash registers. nhk world's noriyuki explains. >> reporter: for travel agencies in taiwan japan has become a major destination. one company in taipei says its income from package tours to japan grew 15% last year compared to 2013. and there is massive interest in tours over the upcoming chinese new year holiday. the tour of japan attract people of all ages. many of them are repeat visitors. >> translator: for example, the first time they go to tokyo. then the next time they say they want to visit hokkaido. if they like it they want to try other places like kushu. there are many people like that. >> reporter: the travel agency

has adopted a different approach for promoting tours to japan. it searches for frequent visitors to the country as japan experts and asks them to advise others on how to get the most from their visits. this woman has visited japan more than 60 times. she shares information on picking up bargains. >> translator: i bought all of these in japan. >> reporter: she says some of them were just a third of the price that they sell for in taiwan. she writes a blog sharing ways to find bargains, listing the products and the best places to buy them. >> translator: shopping in japan is getting more attractive. i hope people will find my shopping experience useful. >> translator: we want more people to become japan experts and we want to find as many of

them as possible. >> reporter: but not everyone in taiwan is happy about the weaker yen. this tea shop in taipei is very popular with japanese tourists who come to sample the locally grown tea. before 80% of the customers were from japan. the shop owner says there are far fewer japanese visitors now and they are spending less too. >> translator: i'm trying to minimize the impact of the weaker yen. if that doesn't work there is nothing i can do. >> reporter: the continuing drop in the yen is having a major impact on tourism and business in taiwan. nhk world.

major newspapers in spain are reporting the story about the scandal surrounding the head coach of japan's national soccer team. javier aguirre is suspected of involvement in match fixing four years ago when he led a team from one of spain's top leagues. spanish prosecutors filed the complaint with a court last month. they are demanding a formal investigation into a match in 2011 played between real zaragosa and levante. mexican born zaragosa was managing them at the time. prosecutors suspect him and 40 other people were involved in the allegation. the court will begin a formal investigation to decide whether to indict the parties in question. the prosecutors accuse the then-president of the team of handing out more than $1 million to players from both teams and others. the court will now try and substantiate claims that money was handed to levante players. aguirre denies the allegations. he says he's not done anything

wrong during his 39 years as a football player and now manager. he is now in australia where the japanese team is defending its championship title in the asian cup. designers are showing off a host of innovations that consumers can use around the clock. they are unveiling new types of wearable technology that people can rely on whether they are awake or asleep. we sent nhk world's aya hamashima for a look. >> reporter: this is the biggest expo of its kind in the world. about 100 companies have come here to tokyo to show the state of the art technology. designers have been hard at work creating devices people can attach to their bodies. others are building things to make life easier.

for those on four legs. the gadgets are not only for humans. they can also be used on animals. one company produced a special device that lets you know how your pet is feeling. the people who created this collar created a sensor that monitors an animal's heart rate, body temperature and movements. it sends data that shows how the animal is feeling to a smartphone or a computer. tech companies are hopeful that the wearable devices will be a hit in the health and nursing care market. this computer was created to track the health of elderly people. they say it can detect sounds such as laughter, talking and coughing and then send information to people far away. many firms are showing off products that are part clothing and part technology.

designers say this shirt tells people how they breathe in their sleep. check this out. the people who created this robot say users can make it move exactly as they do. they say it's all in the fabric. the material can take a range of shapes and work in a whole variety of situations, even surgery. >> translator: we are looking into its potential usage and possibly entering the health and nursing care market. >> sponsors of the expo say the market for wearable devices is likely to expand more than six times to $10.3 billion in 2018. aya hamashima, nhk world.

it's time now for a check of the weather. people in tokyo are popping out their umbrellas under gray skies. meteorologist robert speta joins us with the latest. >> yes. those of you across japan today, you are going to be scattered showers out there. especially toward norita. back toward the west we actually have had some tornado advisories in place in parts of the region. we have strong thunderstorms as well. as we go ahead through the evening hours, it's going to pass through the plain. you are going to be gusty winds. it is going to stay on the wet side as far as the rainfall. we may see some frozen precipitation, though a little bit further inland at some of the higher elevations. we're going to be mixing in with some thunderstorms. even a possibility of still a

tornado. higher elevations as i mentioned, up to 30 centimeters expected out here in honshu. western tokyo, you can see some snowfall out of this. most of is going to be reserved up into the mountains. let's pull back the picture though. take a look at the high pressure over china, things staying clear out there. farther to the south, there is our tropical storm. i know it's january. you may think this is unusual, but in the western pacific, it happens out here. the first one of the season. right now winds up to 65 gusts up to 90 miles per hour. i don't think it's going to reach typhoon status. it is going to be a rain maker out here. on saturday the pope is visitling here. this is going to be a big event and unfortunately it does look like you are going to have some rain showers in your forecast about the storm making landfall

on saturday night. into the america's, as far as the eastern sea board, it looks like temperatures returning to normal. west, noefle some areas of 7 to 13 sent meters could come down. pacific northwest, some gusty winds in vancouver and seattle, over 100 kilometers per hour very possible. some areas, 120. plus rainfall and snow in the higher elevations. vancouver and seattle both have rain in your forecast here on thursday. now let's wrap things up over toward europe. big topic. take a look at this. on the satellite imagery, this is one of those very strong low pressure systems. you can see how classic it is. it has that classic come ka curl in it. it has 150 kilometers per hour

with this cold front coming through. you had a report of a tornado there on thursday. moving toward the low country, france netherlands, germany. the possibility of some tornadoes coming out of this and thunderstorms could put down frequent lightning. this is something you want to watch out for if you are heading out toward this area. berlin, partly cloudy the showers will work its way in and that will cross the eastern locations, kiev 2, snowfall. same thing up to moscow just to the freezing point. i'll

leave you with the extended outlook outlook. ♪ ♪ we have one more story to share before we go. a group of people in central

japan has prayed for their good health while being splashed with hot water. the ritual has been held at a shinto shrine for 200 years. the annual event was held at the ano shrine in the city of east end. a priest dipped bamboo leaves into boiling water and splashing the water over attendees. it is believed to purify the soul and bring good fortune. the event dates back to the 17th century. >> translator: all of my family is in good health as we come to the event every year. >> attendants receive the bamboo used in the rite which they then place in their homes. that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for staying with us. xxxx

♪ ♪ ♪ singapore is a gathering place of people from china, malaysia india, the philippines and many other countries. today, asian voices speaks with a film director who has captured the world attention by raising questions on some of the social issues in this city state.

[ speaking foreign language ] >> a singaporean film "ilo ilo" depicts a relationship between a