kawakatsu. welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm jean otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. security officials across china have tightened security ahead of a key communist party meeting in beijing. thousands of people in the philippines are evacuating coastal areas ahead of a large and powerful typhoon. south korean chefs are adjusting their seasonings to export their special sauce to

diners in around the world. security officials across china are on high alert ahead of a key communist party meeting in beijing after a series of explosions in chung see province. starting thursday they're ordering bus drivers to check identification of passengers when they sell tickets for beijing. the officers will also have to examine carry-on pag gaj more carefully. >> translator: starting today you're required to show your i.d. to go to beijing. >> ruling communist party is holding a meeting in the city on saturday to discuss economic policies and other issues. people from all over china are expected to come to the capital during the meeting to complain to the central government about corrupt local government officials. the security clamp-down comes after explosions on wednesday near a communist party building in taiyuan shanxi province.

the explosives were packed with nails and ball bear rings. reports say this indicates the explosions were a premeditated crime by someone with a grudge against the party and the government. thousands of people are evacuating coastal areas of the philippines ahead of what is being called one of the most dangerous typhoons of 2013. our meteorologist robert speta is here with the latest on that. the storm is truly very dangerous and life-threatening, if anybody doesn't take the proper precautions ahead of the system. you can see in the satellite imagery racing off towards the west, a very well-defined eye, winds gusting up and over 300 kilometers per hour. ahead of it people are taking the proper precautions. showing one of the evacuation centers there. this is one of the churches being used, about 170 families inside. this is a group of islands. it's not like here you can jump on the interstate and start hefding north or south.

no, you head to higher elevations, get inside a secure building. that's what people are doing. i'm show you video out of the same area where people are taking the boats out of the waters here, starting to make preparations ahead of the storm. loading various supplies on their vehicles and all the evacuation centers as well. that was a church i showed you earlier, a gymnasium, one of the sturdy buildings being tested tonight as the winds gust up and over 300 kilometers per hour. expecting to make landfall right around the early morning hours here. throughout the evening hours on thursday, conditions. >> reporter: going downhill. we're seeing widespread rain showers pushing onshore. this is why there's a high risk of flooding. waves up about ten meters high. along the northern periphery of this center of circulation, that's where the area is for highest risk of storm surge. we have ten meter high waves and on top of that the rising tide, why a lot of people in low-lying areas are being evacuated.

this is going to be causing very serious flooding, not to mention adds it pulls off the west it won't be weakening. high waves and storm surge are likely across much of this area throughout the next 24 hours. japan's lower house has approved a bill that clears the way for win of prime minister shinzo abe's most desired achievements. the bill will ultimately give the cabinet office more control over the country's foreign and defense policies. nhk world's tomorrow cocoa co-explains. >> reporter: modeled after the u.s. national security council or nsc. he first submitted a bill to

this effect in 2007. >> translator: strengthening the command role of the cabinet is crucial in mapping out the country's foreign and defense policies. >> reporter: the bill passed by the loir house on thursday states the prime minister, foreign and defense ministers and the chief cabinet secretary would be the four core members of a new body. these individuals would discuss and decide the country's mid and long-term foreign international security policy. abe says issues on the table will include the realignment of u.s. forces in japan, relations with china, north korea's nuclear programs and territorial disputes. the government panel that discussed the bill added that the new body is to take a leading role in dealing with terrorist attacks and natural disasters. the headquarters of japan's

version of the nhc would be located in the cabinet office. abe wants to start with about 60 members from all ministries, mainly from the foreign and the defense ministries and the national police agency. the members would analyze information gathered from various ministry branches. a top government official says the body's aim would be to overcome the sectionalism that currently exists among agencies. this former diplomat who served at the japanese embassies in china and iraq. he explains why government reform is necessary. >> the problem is there are two major ministries in the government which have been briefing the prime minister and chief cabinet independently and separately without adequate coordination beforehand.

therefore, the prime minister has been puzzled what to do. >> reporter: the japanese version of the nsc would be handling highly classified documents. so the government hopes to pass another bill that would better protect classified national security information. the lower house began deliberations on this second bill on thursday. the bill gives the government auth authority to designate certain things as state secrets. anyone found leaking such information would face up to ten years in prison. a former assistant deputy chief cabinet secretary says he's worried that the bill could obscure how top ministers make important decisions. >> translator: government officials are human n, so they

can make mistakes. no one is infallible. what is important is to check why the mistakes were made and find out why. one has to learn from past mistakes in order to create a wise government. i think a democracy should pursue a wise government. >> reporter: the bill to create the japanese version of the nec was sent to the upper house on thursday. it is expected to become law during the current session. but how to secure adequate transparency for the new institute is still being debated. >> reporter: tomoko cam matta, nhk world. an activist who has targeted japanese whaling ships has told a court that disrupting whalers is legitimate. paul watson is the founder and former head of the sea shepherd anti-whaling group. he made his remarks at a court

in seattle. the plaintiffs include japan's institution of is aation research. it conducts whaling for scientific purposes. the plaintiffs demanded sea shepherd stop sabotaging whaling ships in the antarctic ocean. a court banned the group. watson said he stepped down as sea shepherd's leader after tin junction was issued. he said he was no longer in a position to arc street the group's activities, but he defended its members' actions. >> if you destroy property used in an illegal activity, that is meant to take life. that is an act of non-violence. >> german police arrested watson in july last year for obstructing a ship from costa rica. he skilled bail and his whereabouts were unknown until he arrived in the u.s. last month. a senior u.s. official has

thrown out an incentive in talks over iran's nuclear program. the unnamed official in the obama administration said the u.s. will ease economic sanctions if the iranians put a freeze on the program. iranian negotiators are meeting in geneva with their counterparts from the u.s. and five other global powers. president hasan rouhani has been trying to improve his country's standing, and the iranians presented a new proposal in talks last month to try to move the negotiations forward. they're believed to have offered to down size their uranium enrichment program. the other negotiators fear iranian scientists may be processing uranium for use in weapons. the white house says if they stop expanding the program, u.s. officials will be offering targeted relief on sanctions, the sanction on the banking and oil sectors have crippled the economy. senior diplomats from united states, japan and south korea

have sat down together in washington. they exchanged views on restarting the six-party talks on north korea's nuclear program and reaffirmed their position that the north's leaders must first make progress toward denuclearization. the participants included glyn davies, the u.s. special representative for north korea policy. joining him there were junichi ihara, chief of the japanese foreign ministry's asian affairs bureau and cho tae-yong of south korea. he's a special representative for peace and security on the korean peninsula. negotiators last met nearly five years ago. north korean officials want to restart the talks but without preconditions. they disagree. they say leaders in pyongyang must first take concrete steps towards ending the nuclear program. china chairs the talks. the country's leaders initially backed the north's position, but

officials now say there could be certain conditions. china's top negotiator visited washington last month to present a proposal on the talks. sources say he ander envoys have yet to see eye to eye on the talks. wu and davies are scheduled to meet late they are month in beijing. there's more economic data out indicating improvement. ron madison has the numbers. >> further signs that the nation's economy is on a firm recovery path. in fact, a key index climbed to levels before the global financial crisis more than five years ago. the cabinet office says the coincident index rose to 108.2, the highest level since july 2008. officials attribute the gain in part to increasing auto production and sales driven by the release of new hybrid models. they also cite a rise in smart phone exports to china and other

countries. the leading index also climbed by 2.7 points at 109.5 there. the index forecast the economy a few months down the road. improvement is traced to better consumer sentiment. housing starts also grew. officials say the economy is expected to remain on a recovery path. they noted employment, invenn toy. >> reporter: and other indicators have improved across the board. thai want signed an economic partnership agreement with singapore. the two signs signed a pact in singapore after about three years of negotiations. the deal will gradually scrap trade tariffs on all items except rice and certain other products. it would also free up trade and services and investments. taiwan's authorities hope to use the latest accord to exchange economic exchange with southeast asian countries. the authorities also hope the deal will be a stepping stone for entering the transpacific

partnership. let's check on the markets starting with currencies. investors are staying on the sidelines today ahead of the european central bank's policy announce: the euro is currently changing hands at 1.3510. analysts say many participants are expecting the central bank will keep its key rate unchanged this time. they're looking to see whether the ecb will give any hints about a near term rate cut. dollar ysh yen at 9868. london is down by .2%, seeing slight gains at this hour for frankfurt's market, while paris's cac 40 is declining by about .2%. among the major movers, german lender commerce bank surged 10% after announcing a net profit rise for the third quarter. most asian markets closed lower with the nikkea falling .75%.

indonesia ended .8%. that's as private consumption in the country grew faster than expected in the third quarter. in malaysia the main benchmark rose to 1,806 before the country decided to keep its key rate unchanged as many analysts had been expecting. honda motor invited the media to its new plant near tokyo. the company built the factory as other japanese automakers are shifting production overseas. the new plant began production in july. honda executives say the plant is the most efficient among their factories. it has compact welding machines and also uses a technology that enables a shorter painting process. >> translator: japanese automakers should continue to improve technologies at domestic

plants. this one will help japan to continue serve as a leading production platform in the world. >> the automakers plans to roll out about 250,000 vehicles a year at the new factory, mainly the compact model fit. bridgestone will recall more than a million tires after receiving more than 14 reports of the air leaking out. the company recalled the plant reported that some 1.2 million tires are being recalled. they're from 40 different kinds for both trucks and buses. they were made at the country's toe chie hi plant between january 2012 and august of this year. they say weak bonding of rubber players could create gas between the layers and cause air to leak. that's going to wrap it up for biz tonight. i'll leave you with a check of the markets.

every morning investors turn their attention to asia. the tokyo market leads the way and markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy. >> to the latest business trends. >> up-to-the-minute market reports. >> analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news in "insight" every day here on "newsline." a russian rocket has blasted off into space carrying a three-person crew and the

olympic torch. the soyuz rocket took off from a launch facility in kazakhstan. it's decorated with images from the winter olympics. the games begin in february in sochi. the capsule separated from the three-stage rocket and entered orbit about nine minutes after liftoff. two russian astronauts are scheduled to take the olympic torch for a space walk on saturday. two previous torches ls traveled into space. this will be the first time that one will be outside the smas craft. one of the astronauts is from sapp pan. this is koichi wakata's fourth space mission. he will work at the space station for six months and serve as its commander during the final two months of his stay. researchers have been studying a meteor that exploded over central russia earlier this year. they estimate it broke apart from an astroid about 1.2 million years ago. the meteor fell from the skies

in february over chelyabinsk province. scientist haves been conducting field work there, examining damage from the impact and analyzing fragments. they calculate the meteor measured about 20 meters wide when it entered the earth's atmosphere. they say it traveled at speeds up to 19 kilometers per second, 56 times the speed of sound. the researchers say the object split into multiple fragments before hitting the ground and scattered over a wide area. they say heat from the blast caused burns on people's skin and retinas. this is the first time researchers have been able to analyze a meteor's trajectory and impact in such detail. they're finding ways to predict future strikes and minimize the damage. diners sitting down to a korean meal usually find a dish of fermented cabbage and other

vegetables. another fermented is to tickle the pallets of diners wofrld wide. nhk world's anna jhung tells us what's on the mean you. >> reporter: i'm in a town in the southern part of korea famous for a traditional fermented hot paste called coy chew san. it was first made here in this town in the 18th century. this is what it looks like oovps. it's made of powdered red pepper, fermented soybeans, gluten ous rice, salt and soy sauce. it's made into a paste and furments in these crocks for over a year. they have different kinds inside, so let's go have a look. the makers sometimes add ingredients like plumb over here

and bali to the paste to vary the flavor. this woman has been making couch san for over 40 years. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: i asked her what's so special about koich san made here. she says they use all the fresh local foods and they have the best climate for fermentation which deepens the flavor. the unique flavor is now gaining fans beyond korea. this is korea's most famous dish. the giant bowl was a big hit at this rice festival and nothing

no meal is complete without a healthy helping of choi song. it doesn't just at this time late the taste buds, it improves digestion and appetite. >> they were all pretty good. i never had any before. they taste pretty good. >> reporter: that's one reason it's catching on among foodies around the world. this is an institute for companies that make coy san. the traditional paste can be too spicy and salty for non-koreans. so the institute is trying to make coy san less salty. researchers want to isolate and identify microbes in the paste so they can mass produce it.

>> the paste was introduced at international food fairs to find out if people from other countries go for it. this isn't a cooking class. it's the company's laboratory. chefs add ingredients like parmesan cheese and wine to make it less spicy. they're using it with different types of cuisine and testing the results. >> translator: we must develop many different products that use coy san paste so we can make it attractive to foreign pallets and increase international

appeal. >> reporter: coy san experts have risen threefold in the past two years, but the makers won't be satisfied until the paste is as popular as kim chi internationally. anna jong, nhk world. rob speta is back with the rest of the weather. >> we are still watching this very violent and severe typhoon pulling off towards the west approaching the philippines. you can see on the satellite imagery across eastern asia and the western pacific dominating the picture. we also have other weather going on here in eastern asia and the world. i want to talk about that. right now a low developed low pressure area across portions of hokkaido and off towards the north we've seen winds up to 120 kilometers per hour reported today and about ten homes have been damaged. pretty severe weather in the northern portions. the good news is this is drifting off to the east with

high pressure typical for a fall system. that will work into the weekend and bring cooler and clearer skies. take a look at ulan bator, minus 40 for the high, snowshowers for you. beijing at 13, seoul at 14. even tokyo getting into the teens on friday with single digits possibly going through the overnight hours and into the week. let's talk about what's going on in the americas. we have one storm system pulling towards the northeast. this has been bringing rough weather towards the west. heavy snowfall earlier this week across western great lakes. now it's working its way towards the east. the big topic, high pressure much like we're seeing in japan. hard freeze watches in effect all the way down towards oklahoma, portions of texas as well. clear skies in place. that's really going to be the topic here, not so much the case if we look farther towards the northwest across british columbia, the pacific northwest. rain showers in higher elevations, about 25 centimeters

of snowfall with this and rain showers in the lower elevations. seattle and vancouver at eight and 12. in winnipeg, just one for your high. chicago at nine, toronto at eight. ahead of that, warmer temperatures along the eastern seaboard, but it's not lasting long because this air mass is moving and it's moving towards the east and that's going to start to cool you down off towards the east as well. here in europe, the big topic now is a very large low pressure area which is impacting much of the british isles with gusty winds up to 100 kilometers in some areas, already seeing wind reports of 70 to 80 kilometers in the low countries. not to mention the rain showers. if you plan on flying in or out of london or paris, check in. temperatures will be cooling off. london an 11 for your high.

that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for joining us. until next time, good-bye.

>> optimism surrounds new talk to run a rant. a deep -- around iran. greek riot police stormed the headquarters of former state broadcaster ert, saying dozens of protesters who moved in five months ago when the station was abruptly shut down over money. and the most eagerly awaited chair listing of the year. twitter puts shares on sale -- share listing of the year. twitter put shares on sale. new nuclear talks on iran are being held in