hello, welcome to "newsline." our top story this hour, police in southern california are in a -- hunting for suspects after mass shooting. they say gunmen opened fire at a center for people with developmental disabilities. 14 people are dead. and 17 others are injured. this was the scene earlier in san bernardino. about 100 kilometers east of los angeles. police say there are as many as three suspects. cnn reports one of them has been shot dead. police haven't revealed any details about the identities of the suspects or their motives. they say the men were carrying rifles. president obama reacted to the shooting restating his call for

stronger gun control laws. >> there are some steps we could take not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently. common sense gun safety laws. stronger background checks. >> obama has made a similar call following other recent high-profile shootings but there hasn't been much legs lative action. law makers in britain have approved a government motion that would expand military action into syria to fight the islamic state group. the ayes to the right, 397. the nos to the left, 223. so the ayes have it. the ayes have it. unlock. >> unlock. >> parliament debate for around ten hours before voting on the motion. the main opposition leader jeremy corbin argued the plan is not well thought out.

prime minister david cameron said the move is crucial. >> we should answer the call from our allies. the action we propose is legal. it is necessary. and it is the right thing to do to keep our country safe. >> britain is part of the u.s.-led coalition fighting the phil militants. but british forces have limited their targets to those in iraq after parliament rejected a proposal to expand into syria in 2013. at that time, the government was aiming for president bashar al assad and not the islamic state. >> do your bomb. >> many british people are wary of getting involved in a fliktd in the middle east after their country's previous war in iraq. but one recent poll shows 48% of respondents approve of air strikes in syria while 31% don't. russian officials say they have proof that turkey has been trading oil with the islamic state militant group. tension between the two countries has been rising after

turkey shot down a russian warplane last week near its border with syria. defense ministry officials showed satellite imagery of tanker trucks and petroleum facilities. they said the oil is carried across the border unchecked. the russian officials also claim turkey is allowing fighters and weapons to be transported into tiria and accused the turkey president and his family of being involved in the oil trade. the president denied the accusations adding no one has the right to slander turkey in such a way. earlier, russia's foreign minister indicated he is willing to meet his turkish counterpart for the first time since the incident. he suggested thursday in serbia during a gathering of the organization for security and cooperation in europe. the bleeder of the taliban has reportedly been shot and seriously wound. s' believed to be in hospital.

but details of his condition are unconfirmed. an afghan government source says unanimous sour was at a meeting of senior leaders on tuesday night. an argument is believed to have triggered the shooting where five other senior members were reportedly killed. the taliban is grappling with internal divisions after it was revealed in july its former leader had been dead for two years. direct peace talks with the afghan government have been put on hold as a result. leaders in moscow have revealed their expanding their military presence on two of four russian controlled islands claimed by japan. they say they are constructing almost 400 facilities. on tuesday, the defense minister briefed senior military officials on construction underway on what he called the crew island. the japanese government says those islands and two others are an inherent part of its

territory that were illegally occupied after world war ii. it refers to them as the northern territories. russian officials rarely refer to the islands by name, but analysts say he may have done so in an attempt to weaken as japan's dmnd demand for their return. workers are pushing through winter to get the work done as soon as possible. policy makers at the u.s. federal reserve have kept their key interest rate low for years and they are considering changing course. now we go to the business desk. investors are wonder being the rate hike. any hints on when that might be? >> some people are wondering if the announcement might come as early as this month. fed officials will meet to discuss policy in just a few weeks and the chair janet yellen indicated it will be an important meeting regarding the rate rise. she was giving a speech in washington. she expressed confidence in the u.s. economy and she said the job markets that continued to improve since she and her

colleagues met in october. >> when the committee begins to normalize the stance of policy, doing so will be a testament also to how far our economy has come in recovering from the effects of the financial crisis and the great recession. and in that sense, it is a day that i expect we are all looking forward to. >> she said that the policy makers will assess all of the available data and their implications for the economic outlook before the next policy meeting starting on december 15th. separately, the fed released its latest beige book report. it says economic activity increased at a modest pace in most regions of the country. it says consumer spending increased in nearly all districts with low gasoline prices helping boost car sales. the housing market improved at a moderate pace. looking at the labor market, the report says employers in several

districts reported difficulty finding skilled craftsmen and general laborers in the construction industry. now let's check on market reaction. tokyo share prices opened in the negative following overnight declines on wall street. the benchmark nikkei still in negative territory down lyion's comments were in line with what investors expected. shares of japanese oil developmenters are lower, too. let's move on to currencies. overnight the dollar hit a two week high against the yen. on yellen's positive comments about the u.s. economy. but the pair is now trading in a tight range. many trade remembers waiting for the key u.s. jobs data due out on friday. the euro is moving without clear direction ahead of the european central bank's policy meeting later today. many analysts expect policy makers will decide on more

easing measures. looking at other markets. we are seeing a negative start to a lot of markets in sydney share prices are down by half a% percent n. seoul the kospi is down by 1.2%. we'll see where trading take us throughout the day. executives at toshiba will go without their bonuses this fiscal year. officials at the japanese electronics giant have reportedly decided to forego the payments to show responsibility for the firm's accounting scandal. the measure affects easyt president and 32 executives. toshiba officials decide on bonus payments in july. they deferred the decision this year to give them time to gauge how the scandal is affecting their business. it has since come to light that former top executives were involved. the firm posted its first mid-term operating loss in six years for the april to september period. aviation has become a high flying industry around the

world. in the first installment of our two-part series, we look at japanese companies trying to break into this accelerating market. honda is best known for its and its motorcycle s. but now it has taken wing. nhk world reports. >> reporter: las vegas hosted in november a trade fair of around 1,000 aviation companies. honda's booth showed an aircraft engine which the company made. the engine caught the eyes of many people in the industry. honda has just launched this small business aircraft. what surprised aviators about the honda jet was that the company had developed its body and engine. but building engines requires special skills. they are usually manufactured by separate companies.

>> it will be a great engine -- it's more thrust than what we need right now. we have a new model that we're going to have it is larger and this engine might be a perfect fit for that. >> reporter: it had been a long time dream of honda's founder to enter the aeronautics industry. about 30 years ago, the company created a project team to develop a jet engine. this engineer has been involved in the project almost since the start. he says the engine development was top secret, carried out in a completely sealed room. he couldn't even talk about his work at home. >> translator: i'm sure our executives thought we couldn't make an aircraft without mounting our own engine. our team felt we had to develop engine technology no matter what. so we worked really hard.

>> reporter: 30 years have passed since the start of the project. now the company's trying to sell the engine as a stand alone product to rival aircraft manufacturers. the project team is working hard to improve the performance of the engine. today, the project team discussed how to improve the air intake of an engine fan. engine thrust and efficiency depend heavily on the # fan's blades. engineers finally worked out how to make the blades as thin as possible without compromising strength. >> translator: the wing surface looks good. >> reporter: he says this fan will boost efficiency by .5%. >> translator: it turned out better than we expected. >> reporter: to sell its engine the company has built a factory in the united states. >> nice to meet you.

>> reporter: tying up with american engine manufacturer, general electric. he visited the factory and reported the good news about the improved engine. >> reporter: honda is planning to make the engine in this factory and sell it perhaps as early as next spring. >> translator: we're hoping to expand aero engine development into a major honda project. it's important to improve engine design. but personally, i want to start working on the next engine. >> reporter: the u.s. aircraft engine market has not had a newcomer for 23 years. can honda create a splash? the coming year will be crucial. nhk world.

and that is the latest in business news. i'll leave you now with a check on markets. japanese scientists say a space exploration probe is approaching earth to reposition

its course towards an asteroid. they hope it will client clues there towards the origin of life. it is headed to the asteroid located between earth and mars. scientists believe the asteroid contains water and organic substances and is sending the spacecraft to collect samples. researchers at the japan aerospace agent will use earth's gravity to alter the course. >> it's called a swing by. swing by adjusts the probe's speed without fuel. the lighter fuel load means probes can carry more observation equipment. >> the spacecraft will be about 3,000 kilometers from earth at 10:08 coordinated universal time. officials say it can be observed at that point using large telescopes. a private sector study says

in the near future machines or artificial intelligence systems could be performing nearly half the jobs that japanese orkers have today and it suggests that some jobs might disappear all together. robots are already on the job in some places. in this factory, humanoids work among employees. they can peel off thin sheets this. task was once considered too difficult for robots. the how manyoids are equipped with advanced cameras. they can move around the factory on their own. on the website of a regional bank, artificial intelligence systems handle customers. this research institute tgt with rorchers from oxford university use computer analysis of the knowledge and skills and skills needed for each profession and they found in ten to 20 years nonhumans could probably handle 200 to 235 of the 601 types of jobs they studied. they include supermarket employees, office workers, taxi drivers, hotel room cleaners and security guards.

these jobs employ about 25 million people or '0449% of japan's current work force. jabs that require communication with people, such as doctors, teachers, hair dressers, and tour guides are projected to be nonreplaceable. >> translator: robots and artificial intelligence will replace jobs that don't need high levels of creativity or communication for collaboration with people. humans will do the work that robots can't. >> he says the study suggests the potential for using technology to make up for a shrinking work force. billionaire founder of facebook has pledged to donate nearly all of his earnings from the site to charity. mark zuckerberg says he will give up 99% of his shares, worth more than $45 billion. zuckerberg and his wife made the promise in an open letter to their newborn daughter max.

it was posted on zuckerberg's facebook page. the couple say they want to make the world a better place for all children, and to advance human potential. they have created a foundation to support the health and education of young people. the stock will be donated in phases. >> billionaire mag nats bill gates and warren buffett are also well-known for their contributions to charity. people in northeast japan and the gaza strip may appear to have little in common but they have both endured deconstruction of their communities and have a desire to rebuild. a group of children from gaza recently visited a japanese city to share their experiences and gather strength. nhk world reports.

>> reporter: last month, three children from gaza visited camashi. the city was one of the places hit by the massive tsunami of 2011. over 1,000 people there died or are listed as missing. now, four years later, the local people are stepping up their efforts to review the area. one of the visitors drew inspiration from the ongoing recovery. >> translator: people here are trying to overcome difficulties. this is a good example for us. i hope gaza will be like this some day. >> reporter: gaza still lives under a constant military threat. last year more than 2,000 people died in attacks by israel's armed forces. an apartment block next to her house was destroyed. many of her neighbors have left

the area. >> translator: i was so afraid, really afraid. >> reporter: due to israel's economic blockade, little rebuilding has been done. residents aren't even free to travel in and out of the gaza strip. and some people call it an open air prison. despite the ongoing hardships, children in gaza mark the anniversary of japan's 2011 quake and tsunami every year. they fly kites to pray for the victims and for the area's in gaza, flying kites have long symbolized the hope for freedom. the children's visit to japan was made possible by the u.n. agency that supports the kite flying activities in gaza. but for the children, arriving in the devastated area stirred

up strong emotions. >> translator: i'm afraid that seeing what happened here will bring back bad memories. >> reporter: the children were shown videos of the disaster. the tsunami that hit the city was over nine meters high and swept away many of the houses. at the temporary housing site, the visitors are greeted by the residents. they are going to meet the local children, something she has been look forward to. they talk about what they felt as they witnessed their neighborhoods and homes being destroyed. >> translator: we think about japan when we fly our kites. i'm glad to meet you. >> translator: finally, it's

time for them to fly kites. she has decorated hers with the flags of palestine and japan. side by side, the children from gaza and from japan fly their kites for the first time. >> translator: i'm glad they know about the tsunami. i hope they will keep their spirits up, even if there is fighting. >> translator: we could feel a strong sense of friendship and solidarity between japan and gaza. we are both facing hardships. but i hope we can all be strong and tackle these situations. >> reporter: flying their kites, and letting their spirits rise, the children from gaza have returned home with the energy and support they found in japan's disaster area. nhk world. >> some brave kids there.

people in tokyo are popping up their umbrellas as they step out this morning. our meteorologist has the forecast for here and elsewhere. >> the greater tokyo area, it really is coming down hard at times here into the morning hours. the main reason for this is we are looking at this area of low pressure with this attached cold front continuing to push overhid. now it's continuing to move off towards the northeast. widespread showers expected much of thursday across central and eastern japan e tending towards hokkaido. we could see 100 to 120 millimeters of precipitation in the form of rain as we look ahead. one thing you want to see behind is look at these lines setting up from the west. that is our sea effect snow, already starting to play into here. as we look ahead, all that cold air is going to be spilling behind this, combined with a very tight pressure gradient. so fairly gusty wirchds as well.

upwards of 126 kilometers per hour, especially near the coastal areas, hokkaido and rough seas across much of the area. for now, widespread rainfall in tokyo into the evening hours. it is going to be tapering off. sunny skies by friday. but across much of the sea of japan coastline the sea effect snow is going to start to push in. we are looking at widespread snowfall west and towards hokkaido as well. upwards of 20 at that 25 centimeters of accumulation heading into friday and saturday. meanwhile, towards the west the high pressure is ridging in. these going to be bringing decent weather across parts of the korean peninsula. even across parts of china sunny skies will be continuing to set in. we are looking at showers continuing to linger in southwestern china over through hong kong, there in to taiwan as well. you will be seeing a passing shower or two throughout the rest of your thursday. let's look towards the americas

now, though. we are still watching this storm system now departing the picture off along the eastern seaboard. still can see more snowfall across the great lakes region. ontario, quebec, 15, 20 centimeters. for ochl some of you scattered showers in the southeast may cost cause some delays. as we go through wednesday night into thursday that's going to taper off. and high pressure is dominating. i like to see a high pressure area is big bubble, no trouble. that's across most of the u.s. and central dan as well. but on the other side of the picture look at that, our next storm system coming in. that is a big weather maker in the pacific northwest. freezing rain possible in some of these areas. 5 to 10 millimeters already reported. could see snow on top of. that dangerous traveling conditions. not to mention much of the northern half of the u.s.a. looking at temperatures at or below freezing especially during your overnight hours.

let's wrap thing up here as we look towards the middle east. i mention this because we have a fairly rough storm system underway across parts of turkey, extending towards iraq into iran. we're seeing widespread rainfall. actually into anchora. we've had reports of thunder snow out here. you are talking about the collision of air masses. but temperatures are below freezing. a rough one out there for you. all of this is going to continue to shift off towards the east. some areas could see that threat and some flash flooding. i'll leave you now with the extended outlook.

we'd like to remind you of our lead story this hour. police in southern california are hunting for suspects after a mass shooting. they say as many as three gunmen opened fire at a center for people with developmental disabilities. 14 people are dead. 17 others are injured. this was the scene earlier in san bernardino, about 100

kilometers east of los angeles. the dark colored suv is believed to have been the vehicle the suspect used to get away. police say the men were carrying rifles. they haven't revealed any other details about the identities of the suspects or their motives. president obama reacted to the shooting restating his call for stronger gun control laws. >> there are some steps we could take not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently. common sense gun safety laws. stronger background checks. >> obama has made a similar call following other recent high-profile shootings but there has not been much legislative action. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we'll be back with more of your updates at the top of the hour.

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