welcome back to this edition of "newsline." it's thursday, december 24th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. a court in central japan is expected to announce a decision on a matter that has divided nuclear plant operators. it's on whether two facilities should be restarted. reactors are among those taken offline across the country following the 2011 fukushima nuclear disaster. kansai electric power company was looking to restart two reactors at the takahama plant early next year. but residents were granted a court injunction to keep them offline. then plant operators filed an objection. the utility argued it has taken

thorough anti-quake measures and is confident the equipment is safe. residents said the utility is underestimating the amount of earthquake that could hit the plant. japan's nuclear regulators decided in february that takaham satisfied stricter requirements they introduced after the nuclear accident. the court will announce the decision in a separate case in which they are seeking an injunction to block the restart of reactors at the ohi plant. russia's president is confirming interests in developing friendly relations with japan. wednesday was a national holiday in japan to mark the emperor turning 82. it said developing bilateral ties will contribute to insuring

peace, security and stability in the region. the message comes after prime minister shinzo abe arranged a visit. japanese officials hoped the visit would take place before the end of this year. south korea declared itself free of middle east respiratory syndrome. it followed guidelines set by the world health organization that state 28 days or two incubation periods must go by without a new case. the last infected patient died on november 25. 186 people contracted the virus. 38 died. the first reported case was a man who returned from the middle east in may. the prime minister said in july that government officials and medical experts said the public could feel safe.

up to 6,700 people were subject to quarantine at one point with 2,900 schools closed. the outbreak hit the country's tourism industry. in june visitors dropped. this cost businesses about $640 million. rescue workers in china continue to comb the wreckage of buildings devastated by a massive landslide. authorities say more than 70 people could still be trapped in the 19-year-old man was pulled from the rubble. he was trapped in a dormitory. one of 33 buildings engulfed. he said there had been another survivor but chinese media say that person later died. authorities have confirmed four people died in the disaster but the search for survivors has now

passed the critical 72 hour mark when the survival rate drops. chinese government officials are investigating how the pile of soil collapsed at the site and authorities have detained a man who could have the answers, believed to be the senior official of the company that handles excavated soil. we are joined from the business desk. tell us what is inflating the cost. >> senior citizens make up a good chunk of the population here. their numbers are only getting bigger so more and more money has to be set aside to care for them. officials finished compiling a draft budget it's the largest ever and cabinet ministers are set to approve it later today. the budget totals more than 96.7 trillion yen. that is about $800 billion.

that is up about $3 billion from the current fiscal year which ends in march. about a third of the budget is earmarked for social security spending up from thep current fiscal year due to japan's amging population. tax revenues are down while debt service costs are up as government debt has risen. officials in tokyo expect to collect about $476 billion in tax revenue, the highest total since 1991 due to robust company earnings. as a result the government plans to reduce the amoupt of bonds to $285 billion but government unds baaccount for 35% of revenue. china's central bank says it will extend trading hours of the trading currency next month to

help internationalize. the people's bank of china announced on wednesday that trading hours will be extended by seven hours to 11:30 at night starting january 4. the bank says currencies daily reference rate will be set at the level it traded at 4:30 p.m. the previous day. the international monetary fund decided to add the currency last month. the imf said the short trading hours are a hindrance to internationalizing the currency. market players are calling for further deregulation as most major currencies are traded around the clock. let's check in on markets. share prices here in tokyo swung higher at the open following a rally on wall street. trading higher. 18,968 at the moment. a reprieve in the recent decline

in oil prices provided a boost to energy-related shares of both crude and brent edged higher after data showed unexpected drop in u.s. inventory. moving on to currencies, the dollar is trading in a narrow range against the yen currently at 120.83-88. trading on thin volume as much of the western world is in holiday world. the euro is edging higher trading against the dollar at 1.09 after slumping to 1.08 overnight. let's look at other markets across the asia pacific. we are seeing a mostly positive picture. australia's jumping more than 1.1% on track for a seventh ta of gains. sydney trading half a day today. some companies in china are seeing a silver lining in the

country's population woes. officials have ended the decades old one child policy to boost a low birth rate and businesses are hoping to cash in on the change in policy. nhk world has more. >> crowded although sales show in bay ying. since october's announcement that one child policy is ending consumers are changing how they buy. larger vehicles are increasingly popular. >> translator: when you go out with a bigger group you can use the back seats, as well. >> reporter: enough space for an extra child seat and any other item that might be needed with a second baby. >> translator: we are now allowed to have two children so i want to have a second. this car is more practical. >> translator: young couples who plan a second child prefer this

type of car. since the announcement of the new policy customers are increasingly interested in them. >> reporter: the chinese communist party urged to push up the birth rate but some experts say this will not be easy. they cite high education cost and other problems. still businesses betting that china will produce more children. advertisements like this one have sprung up in beijing. most sales have been for two bedroom apartments. one each for parents and child. but demand is growing for an extra bedroom for the second baby. a real estate agency in beijing is trying to capitalize on the change in government policy. >> translator: i have a three

bedroom apartment in a new building. are you interested? >> reporter: this is one of the apartments currently on sale. at 140 square meters it boasts two bathrooms and there are three bedrooms. >> translator: it used to take us three to four months to sell big apartments like this but they now get snapped up within a month or a week. >> reporter: other businesses are following suit. some have figured out that mothers with two children will need more help. this software applicationp lends a hand when kids get sick. 1,000 doctors are available at a few swipes of a smart phone.

the service has 3 million users ranking it among top ten apps. this company is trying to grow on the back of the changing government policy. >> translator: experts predict 100 million babies will be born in the next five years. that will bring huge growth in our app. >> reporter: the firm plans to develop a new version of the app along with services such as doctors to deal with specialized medical situations. it remains to be seen how the end of china's one child policy will effect the world's most pop nations. nhk world. more headlines for you in business next year. i will leave you now with a check on markets.

israeli police have shot dead two palestine yn men who went on a deadly stabbing spree in jerusalem. they say the attack happened outside the main entrance to the old city. the two victims died in the incident. reports say one was accidently shot by police. more than 130 palestinians have

been killed while launching attacks. all were shot dead at the scene. security is tightening for influx of christian pilgrims expected in the old city at christmas. the french government is looking to make the emergency antiterror laws created permanent. the proposed constitutional changes come after 130 people died in paris. since then police have conducted close to 3,000 raids without warrants. the government says an amendment is necessary to protect such emergency measures from legal challenges. prime minister says the threat of terrorism has never been so high. >> translator: today the proposed constitution, we'll need a lot of manpower to fight against extremists. the parliament is to debate the proposed amendments in february. australian authorities have

made more arrests in connection with a terror plot. they say the suspects were involved in a plan to attack a naval base and other targets. earlier this month they charged five others including a teenager over the same plot. investigating officers say they are trying to determine whether the suspects were motivated by extremist views. australia's attorney general separately revealed authorities detained a french man two days after the paris terror attacks. the man was reportedly carrying cans of mace. authorities deported him back to france. the minister for immigration said the incident served as a assured of dangers of that we are putting everything possible to our front line officers to provide them with support to stare down this threat. >> australian customs officials

have tightened screening ytat the airports. japan's agricultural products have a reputation for high quality and high price but the domestic population is shrinking and international competition is increasing. food industry is looking for other places to do business. that search has led to one firm to cambodia. nhk world reports. >> reporter: cambodia's biggest market. including food grown by a japanese company. everything comes wrapped. customers approve. >> translator: i've heard these vegetables are fresh and healthy. >> translator: they're delicious. i love them.

>> translator: japanese products have a good reputation for quality in cambodia. i believe sales will increase. >> reporter: the company behind the products is bringing japanese know-how to cambodia. he started his business three years ago. cambodia imports more than half its vegetables. people have become more attentive to food safety. >> translator: many people want the kind of safety and quality that japanese produce is known for. >> reporter: ako had to adopt japanese techniques to the cambodia climate. >> translator: the weather and land are different. not everything that fits japan is appropriate here.

>> reporter: workers gathered data of soil and other factors. it took a year to grow vegetables suitable for sale. farmers also needed the guidance on chemicals. ako often visits them to provide pointers. >> translator: at this time of year, plants will develop problems if too much water accumulates. >> reporter: nowadays, about 40 farmers contracted to buy his farm -- his company also brought innovation to shipping and delivery. it set up a depot for washing and wrapping. ice pack containers keep the produce cool. they are delivered the same day.

that freshness has convinced shoppers to pay double the usual prices. ako is already thinking about the next step. a new bridge is part of a highway connecting thailand, cambodia, and vietnam. cambodia is at the center of the southeast asian nations and has a population of 600 million. ako plans to export vegetables from cambodia to neighboring countries. >> translator: asean is expected to expand as a market. i see cambodia as its gateway and last frontier. >> reporter: and eventually some of what's grown there may even be put on sale in japan. akiko goto, nhk world, cambodia.

a new documentary about japanese nationals is introducing young taiwan to a long forgotten part of their island story. nhk world reports. >> reporter: the film tells the story of japanese people who were born and raised in taiwan but had to move to japan after the end of world war ii. many still feel a strong affection for their birthplace. in eastern taiwan during the 1910s and '20s, many japanese people were encouraged to settle here by the government. 72 years old.

he was born and lived here until he was 3. he returned to japan with his family in 1946. and grew up with no memories of taiwan. shoshortly before his 17th birthday she started to look more deeply into his birth place. his interest was piqued by a writing by his grandfather. >> translator: over there. it was somewhere over there. the house where i was born was over there. where the house stands now. >> reporter: he managed to track down his family register at the local office of county government. this deepened his sense of affinity for his birthplace. >> translator: that was proof that i was definitely born here. seeing it so clearly, it moved me deeply.

>> reporter: this is another of the taiwan-born japanese featured in the documentary. she's visited her birthplace more than 30 times and has developed strong ties to local community. she was born in taipei in 1930 and was 17 when she returned to japan with her family. >> translator: i grew up in taiwan in the most formative period of my life. in japan i feel like a stranger. i'm more at home in taiwan. >> reporter: this is the high school that she went to. recently she was invited to address an inter-cultural exchange program as a guest speaker. she talked about living in taipei during the war. she said it was impossible to lead a normal life as the bombing was getting heavier by the day and students had to wear air raid glasses.

>> translator: you can't imagine how difficult life was for us students towards the end of the war. if i could, i would travel back in time 70 years so i could study in peace. >> translator: when you saw documents from your time living in taiwan, what was your reaction? >> translator: memories started coming back to me from that time, and i couldn't stop crying. >> translator: to see an older japanese lady who loves taiwan so much, it was very moving. >> reporter: even 70 years later, the sense of connections that taiwan-born japanese feel for their birthplace hasn't faded. their strong affinity for their birthplace is now forging new connections to a younger generation.

noriyuki tajima, taipei. it is time for a check of the weather. it is warm in tokyo. people who plan to celebrate christmas won't need heavy winter coats. meteorologist robert speta joins us with a holiday forecast. >> let's get right into this. if you are across japan right now it does look like above average temperatures. not seeing too much snow out there. as we go into saturday and sunday things will be changing up here. we have this big blast of cold air from the northwest. definitely seeing a lot of white stuff especially higher elevations and extending over towards parts of hokkaido. the coldest air of the season. temperatures continuing to drop out there for you. we can take a look across most of japan at your extended outlook.

temperatures continuing to spike up if you are heading out for a date on the afternoon on christmas eve evening. 14 for the high. friday a high of 16. those temperatures start to cool off. great news for resorts that are looking forward towards the snow. you can see nagano and sapporo. gusty winds expected. let's take a look at the bigger picture. good news for beijing. haze is starting to improve up here. unfortunately, westerly winds is carrying it a little farther towards the east. that means we could see deteriorating air quality. still have showers out here extending to the east and the tropics looking absolutely beautiful as we extend through the next 48 to 72 hours. temperatures pushing into the 30s. partly cloudy skies. nothing really as far as organized systems in the forecast out here for you. then we take a look over towards

europe. really across the north it is absolutely some horrid travel weather across parts of the british isles. london about a 40 minute delay. main reason is very strong cross winds continuing to kick up. you have the heavy rainfall. some areas see upwards of 100 to 120 kilometers per hour winds. maybe widespread snowfall out there in mountains. down towards the south a night and day difference. the biggest issue as far as traveling is going to be the fog. that can have just as big an impact. reduce visibility means planes can't land or take off. we have been seeing that in parts of fraance towards italy, as well. as far as temperatures on the undg ground it is actually rather warm. let's take a look at the other

side of the world. celebrating christmas in the summer. a lot of people on the beaches across parts of australia. i do want to take note in this just off the top end we could have a cyclone in the next 24 to 48 hours. they bring heavy rainfall off to the north in areas like darwin. for now 29 for your high. we are expecting rain showers. alice springs 36. i know down south temperatures well above average in southern australia. but a big change in the forecast by saturday and sunday. we have a cold front coming through should drop temperatures about 10 degrees before they start to come back up into early next week. i will lev you now with your extended outlook.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. >> welcome.

here we are again "in good shape" as always. can you imagine getting your teeth pulled out by a dentist without anesthetics, or a surgeon cutting into your skin when you are fully awake? not long ago this was the shocking reality in history of medicine. now it days anesthesia makes surgery tolerable. even though anesthesia is a general routine procedure today, patients are still frightened of it. our main topic, anesthesia and how to survive it. here is what else we have on the show. seeing clear,