hello, and thank you for joining us on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. u.s. investigators say a couple suspected of going on a shooting spree in southern california had a large stockpile of weapons and explosives. it's been alleged the pair may have had contacts with islamic extremists, but authorities have not confirmed this. nhk world's yoshitaka haroshi reports. >> reporter: police say syed rizwan farook and his wife tashfeen malik opened fire in san bernardino on wednesday morning. 14 died and 21 others were injured in the attack. most of the victims were farook's colleagues from a local

county office. they were having a holiday party at a social services center. witnesses say farook had been at the party but stumped off in anger. he returned with his wife and began shooting. >> it is possible this was terrorist related, but we don't know. it's also possible that this was workplace related. >> reporter: police released photos of weapons the couple had. the guns and rifles were purchased legally. but they also had explosives. >> we did locate the one pipe bomb. three pipe bombs combined into one that had a remote control car-type remote control device that appears to not have worked in this case. >> reporter: police found 12 more pipe bombs and thousands of rounds of ammunition from places including their house. >> if you look at the amount of obvious preplanning that went in, the amount of armament and

ammuniti ammunition, there was obviously a mission here. >> reporter: local media report the u.s.-born farook had made contact inside and outside the country with a number of islamic extremists over the past few years. a state department official said his wife was a pakistani national and had entered the u.s. on a fiancee visa. >> certainly now we'll look very closely at where these two individuals may or may not have traveled to, and we'll engage with those governments of those countries to where they traveled. ♪ >> reporter: the shooting shocked and devastated local residents. about 1,000 people gathered on thursday for a memorial service to remember the victims. >> just completely shocked. it was a terrible thing. just kind of feel like if it can happen here, it can happen just about anywhere. >> reporter: researchers say there have been more than 350

shootings in the u.s. this year in which four or more people were killed or wounded. and president obama again called for tougher measures on gun control. yoshioka hirauchi, nhk world. german forces are joining the air campaign against the islamic state group. lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to support u.s.-led operations in syria and iraq. the lower house approved a government plan by a vote of 445-145. the defense ministry says it's sending six tornado reconnaissance jets, refueling aircraft and a frigate. officials say some of the reconnaissance and refueling aircraft will go to turkey next week. they say the frigate will sail for waters off syria in the next few days. they are sending up to 1,200 military personnel. that's the biggest overseas deployment for germany since world war ii. germany's public broadcaster conducted an opinion poll to

gauge the extent of public support. 58% of respondents were in favor. 37% were opposed. foreign ministers from russia and turkey have met for the first time since the downing of a russian war plane by the turkish military last month. but russia's sergei lavrov and his turkish counterpart mevlut cavusoglu failed to narrow their differences. the ministers met on the sidelines of an international conference in serbia. russia slapped sanctions on turkey after the incident. many western leaders have urged both countries to de-escalate tensions. lavrov said there is no apology from the turkish minister and he reiterated russia's position that the plane should not have been shot down. cavusoglu hopes russia will avoid making unfounded claims. turkey maintains the jet violated its air space and was warned multiple times to leave. he stressed the importance of

keeping communication lines open. japanese archaeologists are doing what they can to preserve syria's ancient ruins and other cultural properties. they have organized an international conference following the destruction of a unesco world heritage site by the islamic state militant group. more than 100 experts from 13 nations gathered in lebanon's capital, beirut. they heard the latest information about threatened properties. researchers from syria say they cannot conduct field work because of the civil war. >> translator: it's really nice. and it is the first time to have this kind of meeting since the civil war started. i want to get advice from foreign archaeologists. >> kiyohide saito is one of the organizers. he spent 20 years excavating the ancient city of palmyra. the city's temples, amphitheaters and other ruins date back about 2,000 years to the roman era and are a world

heritage site. saito was friends with a prominent archaeologist who was killed by islamic state militants in august. >> translator: khaled was a pioneer in palmyra research. he gave us a chance to join research in the 1990s. i wanted to dedicate this conference to him as a sort of memorial for him. >> saito plans to show three-dimensional images of the temple in its previous state at the conference which runs through sunday. people in the u.s. are seeing more work opportunities. data for november show employers created more jobs than analysts had expected. officials at the labor department say nonfarm employers

added 211,000 jobs last month. analysts expected the figure to come in at about 200,000. hiring was revised up in october and september. the unemployment rate remained at 5% for the second straight month as more americans entered the workforce to look for jobs. federal reserve chair janet yellen made an appearance before congress. she said economic conditions appear to be improving enough for policymakers to raise the interest rate when they meet in two weeks. she said unemployment has dropped to 5%, and economic growth is going well. yellen also expressed confidence that inflation would return to the fed's 2% target. the fed has kept its key interest rate at near zero for about seven years. investors around the world are keenly awaiting their decision. in japan, toshiba executives are trying to contain the fallout from an accounting scandal. they have already said they'll sacrifice their bonuses and now they are reportedly aiming to

stem lawsuits from their struggling personal computer unit. sources say the executives are in talks to set up a the joint pc venture with rival fujitsu. toshiba has a plant in hangzhou, china. fujitsu has two factories in japan and focuses on domestic sales. sources say the firms could slash costs by procuring pc components together. they also hope to boost earnings by using each other's sales networks. the combined market share of the new outfit in japan would top 30% taking it past lenovo nec holdings into first place. competition for sales is getting fiercer as smartphones and tablet computers cut into demand. toshiba's president masashi muromachi said the firm will decide by year end how they will rebuild their pc production system. toshiba is also considering other partners with several domestic and foreign firms in mind.

toshiba executives are also overhauling the firm's semiconductor business. they say they will offer staff the option of early retirement and also relocate some workers. the measure will affect about 1,200 employees in japan. honda motor is planning to become a major player in the global market for electric vehicles. officials at the japanese automaker have unveiled plans to launch ev sales starting around 2020. honda executives say they aim to lengthen the travel distance of their electric vehicles by increasing their battery capacity. current models can go only limited distances on a single charge. the officials have been poring their ecocar efforts on fuel cell vehicles that run on hydrogen, but now they decided to add electric vehicles to their lineup. automakers around the world are competing to come up with cars that are ecofriendly. they predict stricter environmental standards in europe and china will help fuel an expanding market.

japanese and u.s. leaders are trying to make life easier for people in part of southern japan. they want to reduce the burden imposed by american military facilities in okinawa, so they're speeding up the return of some of the land. chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga and u.s. ambassador caroline kennedy agreed to speed up the return of land from several facilities. >> translator: we'll give people in okinawa a clear sense that we are implementing our agreement. it's my strong hope that the japan/u.s. alliance will become even stronger. >> the united states government this entire plan at the earliest possible date, and we look

forward to working with the government of japan to make that happen. >> the u.s. will return part of the makiminato service area. in fiscal 2017. that's eight years ahead of the original schedule. japanese authorities will then be able to widen a road. the u.s. will return part of the marine corps futenma air station the same year. the two governments will also try to enable construction to start that year on an overpass in camp zukeran. they want to link a main road with residential land the u.s. returned in march. authorities in the indian capital new delhi have come up with a new way to curb chronic air pollution. they plan to restrict the number of private vehicles on the road. the world health organization said last year that new delhi had the highest concentration of a pollutant called pm-2.5 of any city in the world. now authorities say they'll only allow private vehicles to use the roads on alternate days

depending on their registration numbers. vehicles with even numbers can go out one day. those with odd numbers the next. officials say they'll impose the restriction on january 1st. they say it's just for the winter when pollution is especially bad. new delhi authorities say they'll also ask a state-run electric utility to shut down a thermal power station. some analysts doubt the authorities will actually impose the traffic restriction. they say commuters would suffer because the city does not have sufficient public transport. the scandal that's engulfed the world football governing body is spreading. u.s. investigators have indicted 16 more officials at fifa as they continue their probe into allegations of corruption and bribery. nhk world's chiaki ishikawa has more. >> reporter: the u.s. attorney general has named 16 new defendants. loretta lynch says they are charged with racketeering and

taking bribes related to marketing for matches and tournaments. >> and the message from this announcement should be clear to every culpable individual who remains in the shadows hoping to evade this ongoing investigation, you will not wait us out, and you will not escape our focus. >> reporter: among those charged are two fifa vice presidents, alfredo hawit of honduras and juan angel napout of paraguay. the two were arrested by police in zurich at the request of u.s. authorities just hours before the indictment. another official caught up in the scandal is the former president of honduras, rafael callejas. u.s. authorities are now attempting to extradite the officials. the u.s. justice department says eight of those indicted have admitted to the charges against

them and have agreed to forfeit assets worth more than $40 million. u.s. investigators suspect that sports marketing executives and other defendants paid or offered bribes for media and marketing rights over a 20-year period. the amount of money added up to more than $150 million. fifa's president sepp blatter announced he would step down once a new president was elected. but blatter and vice president michel platini soon found themselves under increasing heat. both have been handed a 90-day provisional ban from football by fifa's ethics committee. swiss prosecutors have been investigating a payment of 2 million swiss francs that blatter made to platini in 2011. fifa's top executives have been meeting this week to discuss reforms. the indicted two vice presidents did not attend.

an executive member from japan says all those attending were shocked with the indictment of the two vice presidents. >> translator: all we can do is carry out reforms and maintain transparency. we must also decide on various rules to prevent further corruption. >> reporter: the officials have approved a package of planned reforms. they include a pledge that fifa's president and leading officials would be restricted to three terms of four years each. the investigation into fifa has uncovered widespread corruption, but it's not over yet. swiss and u.s. authorities are still focusing on the bidding process for the world cup hosting rights for 2018 in russia and 2022 in qatar. seven people have stepped forward as candidates to become the new president of the world body. whoever is elected will face the difficult task of introducing reforms aimed at establishing a fair and transparent

organization. fifa will hold its presidential election in february. chiaki ishikawa, nhk world. malaysia's parliament has passed a bill that effectively grants the prime minister broad security authority. this followed heated debate between the ruling and opposition parties that lasted late into the night. patchari raksawong at our bureau in bangkok has the details. >> the national security council bill would allow security forces to arrest suspects without a warrant once a state of emergency is declared. human rights groups and opposition parties are opposed to the move. they say the bill puts excessive concentration of powers into the hands of the prime minister. the bill would give the national security council led by the prime minister the power to declare an area a security threat. security forces would then be allowed to impose curfews and

would have wide powers of arrest, search and seizure without a warrant. the prime minister says the bill is aimed at countering the threat of terrorism. he says it would strengthen the council to a level comparable to similar agencies in the u.s. and britain. about 150 people have been arrested in malaysia, a muslim majority country, since 2013 in connection with the islamic state militant group. the opposition and human rights groups say it could lead to unjustifiable arrests and the forcible removal of demonstrators. the prime minister was under investigation for having allegedly received some $700 million from a government fund. in august, a massive demonstration took place demanding his resignation. earlier this year, images of people crammed onto fishing boats were seen by television viewers around the world. the migrants came from myanmar and bangladesh. representatives from southeast asian nations sat down in bangkok to discuss ways to deal

with the boat people. since may, thousands of people have drifted close to a number of asean countries facing the indian ocean. they are rohingya muslims fleeing alleged oppression in buddhist-dominated myanmar and bangladeshis trying to escape poverty. officials from more than 20 countries including southeast asian nations and representatives internatial ornizaons tend the conference on friday. the foreign minister of the host country, thailand, called for action to prevent another wave of boat people from taking to the water. >> it is clear that we need an explicit and efficient mechanism to manage and control the negative impacts of irregular migration. >> governments in the region have to stop human traffickers from profiting from the boat people situation. the navies of several countries in the region have also come under criticism for allegedly pushing away the boat peoples' vessels to keep them out of their country's territorial waters.

the global community has criticized the handling of the migrants, referring to the situation as maritime ping-pong. saturday marks the 88th birthday of the king bhumibol adulyadej of thailand. the world's longest serving monarch has reigned for nearly seven decades. people are in a celebratory mood for the revered king, but at the same time, worries persist about his health. nhk world's soichiro tanizawa reports. >> reporter: the face of the king bhumibol can be seen everywhere in the kingdom. from posters at the intersections to postcards. but this year he has only rarely left his sick bed. this is the hospital where he's receiving treatment. as his birthday approaches, many people have come here to pray for his recovery. ♪

♪ >> reporter: hundreds gathered in hospital compound on friday morning to commemorate the king's birthday. well-wishers dressed in yellow, which is considered the color of the king for thai, expressed deep concern over his condition. >> translar: we're sending him support every day. doing good deeds and praying for his health and longevity. >> translator: if i could give him the remainder of my years, i would die so that he could live. >> reporter: king bhumibol assumed the throne in 1946. he has devoted himself to interacting with ordinary people. he has also worked to advance infrastructure projects such as irrigation systems. many thais call him the father

of the land. but since 2009, a series of illnesses have kept him almost constantly in hospital he has been bedridn for almost all of 2015 and was diagnosed with a lung inflammation in september. bangkok is all lit up for his birthday, but there's no plan for the king to speak at his annual birthday ceremony. the royal household bureau's official schedule shows this is the first time this has not been planned in many years. news of his declining health has caused great worry among his subjects. among them is this man from a province 100 kilometers to the north of bangkok. the walls of his old house are covered with nearly 200 portraits of the king. he has been collecting them for more than 15 years.

>> translator: i can see the king a lot these days in my house, on television and in portraits. seeing his smile warms my heart. >> reporter: khan is a follower of the philosophy the king has long advocated. he says he grows vegetables and herbs so he can live without relying on others. the king is his spiritual pillar. >> translator: he built good things for us and for our children and grandchildren. all thai people follow in his footsteps. >> reporter: the king has served as the force of stability in the often fragile world of thai politics. his health condition has given rise to anxiety over the future

of the kingdom. for his majesty's 88th birthday, the people are offering their prayers for his improved health. soichiro tanizawa, nhk world, bangkok. >> that wraps up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence. the push for peace. the shadow of conflict. get news and insight on south and southeast asia every weekday live from bangkok only on nhk worl"newine." tensioalong the border between greece and macedonia remains high. thousands of migrants are stranded on the frontier after macedonian authorities tightened border controls. a man believed to be a moroccan died on thursday after climbing onto a train carriage and

accidentally touching an overhead cable. this follows a number of clashes in recent weeks between police and migrants. the balkan country had been a gateway for people traveling through greece to northern eu member nations. but the macedonian government began blocking passage last month to all but syrians, afghans and iraqis. the hungarian prime minister victor orban announced he will file a lawsuit with the european court of justice against an eu decision to redistribute thousands of migrants among member countries. hungary's action follows a similar move by slovakia. six men stormed into a restaurant in central cairo early friday and threw molotov cocktails. egyptian officials say the attack killed 16 people and wounded two others. the restaurant doubles as a nightclub and is in a district where many foreign residents live. officials say the attackers threw more than ten fire bombs. they say there had been a dispute between restaurant staff

and customers shortly before. one eyewitness said the men came to the restaurant by motorcycle, but the staff wouldn't let them in. the men then came back with molotov cocktails. the witness said almost everyone inside was killed. there's more to come on "newsline." first, here's a three-day outlook on the world's weather.

before we go, japan's western port city of kobe was lit up on friday night as people visited an annual event commemorating the victims of the massive earthquake 20 years ago. 300,000 l.e.d.s were turned on shortly after 6:00 p.m., drawing cheers from the crowd.

the event called kobe luminaria is being held in the city's old foreign settlement. participants observed a moment of silence for the 6,434 people who died in the great hanshin earthquake. the number of lights was increased 50% this year, and for the first time, all of them are energy efficient l.e.d. bulbs. >> translator: the colors are different this time. they are bright and beautiful. >> translator: i come every year, and i'm fascinated every time. i hope this event continues forever. >> the lights will be on through december 13th, and organizers expect a total of 3 million visitors. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. from all of us at nhk world, thanks for watching. x0

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 seychees