>> hello, there. welcome to newsline. it's wednesday, december 2nd. i'm katherine in tokyo. a blast in turkey's largest. the blast that kept occurred. and shows a large light. and triggered panic. police closed roads nearby and helicopters began patrolling.

turkish authorities. they are taking further steps to help turkey defend its borders from the threat of the islamic state group. the discussion was part of a two-day meeting in brussels that started tuesday. the ministers agreed that nato a allies face a threat to the group that controls parts of syria and iraq. it has also claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in paris and the shooting of a russian airliner in egypt. all nato allies will contribute to the u.s.-led coalition fighting against the group. the dhowny more planes and more governments hold the direct dialogue to prevent escalation.

on the situation in afghanistan, he said the alliance will keep about 12,000 nato gricountries the case. and negotiators from around the world the climate change conference in paris have gone off to a rocky start and whether it should be legally binding. delegates at the top 21 conference are hoping to come up with a plan to replace the protocol after 20/20. they began working level talks on tuesday. representatives from the south pacific island nation of tubalu calmed for a provision to make it legally enforceable. the country faces the threat of coastal erosion due to rising sea levels as the delegates from the united states argued in favor of a non-binding

agreement. they're believed to be seeking a compromise between a protocol that would require congressional approval and one that would need only presidential authorization. president barack obama said he's confident the delegates will be able to resolve their differences. >> getting 200 on any convinced that we gelt big things done here. >> delegates at the working level say they need are to cooperate anti-terrorism measures on reform of the u.s. security council. sh shinso abe was at the presidency citing the importance of measures to deal with violent extremism. >> japan will contribute to

eradicating terrorism or preventing it before it happens. >> luxembourg's batel said cross border cooperation and intention sharing is more important than ever. they also agreed on the need for u.n. security council reform. abe called for the expansion of the council members to better reflect smaller countries. the leaders agree to work towards the conclusion of an economic partnership agreement between japan and the eu. a faulty component and human error have been deemed the causes of last year's air asia crash that killed all 162 people on board. and indonesian investigators made the determination into the jabba sea crash. it went down near kelimanta island to singapore. indonesia's national transportation safety committee

said the soldering that controls the rudder's movement was cracked. repeated warning signals prompted the pilots to reset the system which then cancelled the auto pilot. the plane started to roll and the pilots were unable to regain control. the committee has instructed air asia to put its pilots through training to deal with crisis situations. japan's oil distributors are facing challenges. not only are prices falling but demand is too. the business desk, joining us. what's the latest trend in the industry? >> instead of competing with one another, many are joining forces. last months, the second biggest refiner signed a merger agreement with another company. this week, we're expecting the biggest oil wholesaler in japan. jx holdings to start something similar. they're talking to the third biggest wholesaler general siqu. they will hold board meetings as

early as thursday to decide to begin negotiations. jx first made the perform as a way of streamlining the refining and retail businesses. observers believed general officials have decided the deal could generate big benefits. the companies could merge in the first half of 2017. they will need to figure out which refinery should cut or stop production. jx operates gasoline stations under its nl brand and includes exxon and moe bibil. the jointly established company handles management strategies. now the japanese automaker is considering raising its stake and to stave off the influence of its partners with a biggest shareholder, the french government. france's voting rights in

renault are set to next spring. they create more jobs for french workers. that could affect nissan. renault holds 30% of the japanese voting rights. it's considering raising its stake in renault to more than 45%. japanese corporate law allows them to do it if they hold a quarter stake or more in the french auto maker. japanese officials say they have more tax revenues than expected. they say the revenue will exceed a projection they made in january this year by more than 1.5 trillion yen. that's more than $12 billion. total revenue will be at the highest level in more than two decades. the amount for fiscal 2015 which ends march is now estimated to come in at more than $455 billion. they attribute the increase to a rise in corporate tax revenues on the back of corporate

earnings. they say another factor is higher income tax revenues due to increases in wages and stock dividends. the officials plan to put the extra money to work to use it in a draft supplementary budget to be worked on. it includes about $2.4 billion for low income pensioners with each getting about $240. another $2.4 billion will fund measures to strengthen the agricultural sector. this comes after a broad agreement reaches for the transpacific partnership trade pack. let's check in on market share prices in tokyo after the index hit the 20,000 mark for the first time in three months. they current trade at 19,951, a loss of about a third of a percent. analysts say many investors are selling their shares to book profits, but the downward momentum is limited ahead of

imported events this week including the european central bank policy meeting and the key u.s. jobs data. let's look at currencies now. overnight, the dollar fell a touch after ism manufacturing data for november went below 50 for the first time in three years but analysts say many traders stay on the sidelines. u.s. federal reserve chair janet yellin is due to speak today. people in the market will speak for hinlts they get about a key rate hike. and cost be shared down for more than a third of a percent. people in the northern island of hokido want a bigger slice and pinning hopes on a new

and truists for the past in the fiscal year that ended in march, an increase from the year before. a portuguese traveler and.

>> we have a good idea of the distance. >> about $140. he said he will put the money to sightseeing instead. but he has to take two trains to get from tokyo to his destination. that trip would take about six hours. travelers like him would be able to cut their travel time to just four hours next march. when the new train line opens. the shorter travel time is expected to be a boom for tourism. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: tourists are likely to stay longer and they're able to spend money and

extend their trips, go elsewhere. >> near one of the new stations, officials created a mark to show where to find free wi-fi. >> it's also came to attract more travelers. a local government agency organized a tour for foreigners in japan. the organizer wanted to find out activities are most interesting to people from abroad.

the assets have a strong appeal. >> i think it's really amazing. >> they get ready to welcome as many foreign tourists as possible. they will be waiting to meet them in the train. >> that's the latest in business news for now. i'll leave you with a check on markets.

japanese researchers left to the antarctic, the first time the fleet have caught whales in the antarctic ocean in the last year when the international court of justice ordered japan to halt its wailing activities. two vessels left the port

tuesday. in march 2014, the international court of justice ruled that japan's whaling program in the antarctic ocean did not qualify as scientific. the court said japan should refrain from granting any further permits for it. the japanese government announced a revised program last month. the new plan is much smaller and calls for capturing whales and reducing catches to 333. about one-third the previous number. the the pop population is largen to commercialize whaling in the future. the japanese fishery minister said japan will continue to make efforts to obtain the understanding of the international community. they're based on international law and indispensable to control whale resources. >> australia and new zealand have issued statements criticizing japan and the

anti-whaling group sea shepherd warned to its fleet. the operator of the crippled nuclear plant in fukushima has agreed to pay compensation to the farmer who killed himself after the 2011 disaster. tokyo electric will pay several hundred thousand dollars. he killed himself on his farm near the plant three months after the accident. he left a note and a wall blaming the plant. he complained he wasn't able to ship his milk because of the accident. his wife and two sons sued them for compensation. the utility was planning to fight the case in court. but the two sides have reached an agreement. it said tepco would not have to apologize in the settlement papers. his wife issued a statement saying she's not satisfied with the terms, but she decided to go along with them because life has been so hard after losing her

husband. she wants her children to have a peaceful life as soon as possible. they will pray for comno's soul but said legal issues prevent them from making further comment. the fight to save an endangered species in east asia is getting a boost. fish owls are some of the biggest in the world with a wingspan of almost two meters. our next story has the details on what work is being done and who is trying to save them. >> a fish owl is more than just that. it is a clue discovered in the ishikadi region of hokkaido. it's in the forest, the first evidence in 70 years that the owls live in that area. it's the only place in japan

where the birds reside. they inhabit forests on the river and feed on fish. 30 years ago, the number had fallen to around 70. farmland cultivation cut into their habitat and dam construction affected the fish supply. the national and local governments have been trying to bring the big birds back. they've placed restrictions on forest clearing and set up nesting boxes. simio is a member of the committee responsible for the habitat and ways to protect the owls, been involved since the investigation started in 1985. members put a leg ring on each chick found in the region of eastern hokkaido. two years later, a couple of owls found in the kushi region from nemero and one had a red

ring. >> translator: i observed the bird for a wile. that's when i saw the ring on the left leg. i knew it was the one we tagged. that really excited me. i felt happy all day long. >> it was the first time the migration of a blackishin fish owl had been confirmed by a leg ring. the owls don't make that easy. they are only active after dark making visual confirmation a challenge. these days, dna analysis helps with identification. takanaka studied migration by examining feathers. he compares dna he finds in them without taken from blood samples to collect when the rings were put in place.

the dynamics research center stores dna samples from 500 of the owls. takinawa broadened the feather found in ishikadi. researchers extracted dna from a fragment. by comparing it with the registry, they have a 90% chance of identifying one of the birds. they screen the database and found a close relation. the feather came from a grandchild of a bird that was fitted with a leg ring 30 years ago in nemuro and later found migrating to kushiro. it was more than 320 kilometers to the west of nemuro. indicating that the habitat expanded over three generations.

>> i'm pleased the dna testing produced results. the finding is significant in studying the widening of the bird's habitat to the west. >> the population is believed to have doubled in the 30 years protection efforts have been going on. geographic expansion will redice t the risk due to inbreeding. one feather proved to be profound from blackiston fish owls and humans who ensure to seek their survival. it's time now to check the weather with meteorologist. studen students aren't able to go to school. >> one of the big issues we are

seeing out across much of this area is the fact that we are looking at the very gusty winds. so students may not be able to go to school because we definitely don't want them walking outside but you have slick conditions on a lot of the roadways. just due to the heavy snowfall and the high winds which is continuing to come down out here due to this storm system. you can see that low pressure center off here towards the west starting to track here farther towards the east across much of the region and let's look at video we have coming out of the capital here. the snow is continuing to accumulate. it's definitely dangerous driving conditions but look at night. notice the snowfall in one of the suburb areas outside of the capital city. this is what we're talking about here. i know a lot of people who watch from the tropics. you may think, oh, driving, it can't be that bad. the whiteout condition. the blowing snow. that makes for slick roads, reduced visibility and as i

mentioned, you step outside of your car and dropped with temperatures well below the freezing point. the storm system is continuing to linger, actually. we're expecting widespread snowfall across much of the region. temperatures linger around the freezing point and looking at the very windy conditions here on your wen with that snowfall. it should taper off by thursday afternoon into friday. some cloudy skies, but it is going to be a rough go for a lot of people across much of this region. and that same cold front that actually is drifting farther here across the british aisles into the scandinavian peninsula across the western sea boards of ireland a 90-mile-per-hour wind gust with the gradient induced winds that makes its way towards norway in the scandinavian peninsula and 70-mile-per-hour winds are possible and that whole area of low pressure drifting off towards the east. some warm weather working its way in. in lisbon, look at that.

a high of 19 there op yon your wednesday and farther towards the east, look north. you have one there for your high and same over towards moscow as well. now let's move over here toward eastern asia where we are continuing to watch a storm system move in out of eastern china pushing off towards the east. this is a big snow maker, actually, for areas in north eastern china and even heavy rainfall towards the south, just towards the west of shanghai but it's changing up the temperatures across much of japan. tokyo, you look at temperatures in the mid teens on your wen and warming up to the high teens and thursday out ahead of it and the pain reas main reason, southerly winds pumping away from the tropics. as you look back to the west, you have the cold air that's going to swoop in from the

north. widespread sea effect. snowfall. all the way from hokkaido throughout the day on wednesday and many areas see as much as 15 to 20 sent mecentimeters and so the higher elevations. naha, you see some showers and a high of 21 for you and towards nakinawa. it's going to be more autumn-like by thursday, but back to reality by friday. just 2 there for your high, definitely feeling like winter into the weekend. i leave it now with your extended outlook.

one more story to share with

you before we go. hokkaido has been seeing wintry temperatures. perfect weather for some of the dips in a hot string. about 19 monkeys enjoyed a spa day at a botanical garden. staff filled it with hot water from a nearby spring and the primates climbed in for a long soak. visitors lined up to take photos of the bathers. >> i wish i could join them. >> garden staff say they plan to keep the pool full of hot water until may. they look so relaxed there. this concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

host: tired, hungry, and traumatized. every day, more and more syrian refugees cross into neighboring turkey. some still harbor dreams of reaching europe, but increasing numbers are deciding to stay put. journey's end, or endless limbo? we'll be finding out, here on "global 3000." here a quick look at the other stories we have coming up. poisoned earth -- soy plantations in argentina are damaging the health of the locals. vegan cuisine -- cooking without animal products in our global snack from germany. and paradise islands -- off the coast of africa, the seychelles face challenges to