welcome to nhk world "newsline," i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. pounding the pavement, pressing the flesh, and getting the message out. politicians in japan are off and running. officials at the world health organization admit they got the number of ebola deaths in west africa wrong. they say it's lower than they first thought. and delegates from around the world are meeting at a u.n. conference in peru to try to

hammer out a framework to stop global warming. voters in japan have a lot to consider in the coming days, as they hear from politicians, in the lead-up to a general election. the official campaign is now under way in a poll prime minister shinzo abe is framing as a referendum on his economic policy. he's put his comfortable majority on the line to seek a fresh mandate. >> translator: through this election, voters will evaluate the economic policy we have been carrying out. the policies of abenomics. it aims to enable companies to enhance competitiveness, increase productivity, and improve profitability. that, in turn, increases employment, and raises wages. it then expands consumption and leads to economic recovery. by repeating this, we can overcome deflation, achieve economic growth, and make your lives better.

we finally grabbed a chance to get out of the deflation that has burdened us for 15 years. there's no way we can let go of this chance. i promise you that we will win this election, promote reconstruction from the 2011 disaster and regain a strong economy. we will make this region and all of japan a shining place at the center of the world again. >> translator: it's about hiding the failure of abenomics. mr. abe repeatedly says the economy is getting better. but that's true only for a tiny handful of people. the starting point for getting the economy into a virtuous cycle must be achieving income stability and healthy consumption. the idea of having only some companies benefit and having a tiny share of the profits trickle down to the firms below

them is not good. this election is an opportunity to change the way things are going. the way things have been going up until now. abe's liberal democratic party has been unable to break away from the restraints of vested interests. the party was also not able to implement reforms that truly focus on the people, such as reforming regulations and giving more power to regions. we will remove regulations imposed by bureaucrats and bring in new blood. the only one who can smash this stubborn rock is not prime minister abe, it's us, who are not supported by any industry group or labor union. >> translator: we will raise the consumption tax rate to 10% without another delay.

to surely rebuild and expand social welfare and to put japan's finances on a healthy footing. at the same time, we'll introduce tax breaks for low-income people. it's only our coalition government that can promote this path. it's an election to choose the government, and we very much want you to let our current coalition win. >> translator: let us draft a new constitution with our own hands. we do approve of abenomics to a certain extent, but the benefits have not reached rural areas. the prospect for success of the so-called third arrow of the growth strategy is not clear. aggressive economic measures are necessary to accomplish it.

>> translator: for the past two years the abe government has been steamrolling its own way against the people's will in every area. a good opportunity has come to stop the move and to change the political scene. let's create new politics together. >> translator: prices are rising, and incomes continue to drop. this is the reality of abenomics. we have to make a change from politics that focus on big companies, to politics that protect all your livelihoods. >> translator: abenomics is not working. at all. we will correct the fallacies and contradictions of capitalism and rectify the issues of inequality. we will make the most of our

pacifist constitution to build peace. please give your support to the social democratic party. >> translator: new renaissance party stands for telling you what's right and what's wrong. in that spirit, and in order to make abenomics work, we propose householdnomics which will actually make it successful. we will create an abundant society without nuclear power plants. >> parties, political groups, and independents are going after the 475 seats in the lower house of the diet. 295 of them are single seat districts. 180 are for proportional representation. 959 candidates are running in the single seat districts. here's a look at their affiliations. liberal democratic party. democratic party. japan innovation party. komeito.

the party for future generations. japanese communist party. people's life party. social democratic party. smaller groups. independents. some of those candidates will be running for proportional representation seats, too. in all, 11 political parties and groups are vying for those seats. liberal democratic party. democratic party. japan innovation party. komeito. the party for future generations. japanese communist party. people's life party. social democratic party. new renaissance party. the ppiness realization party.

shijiseitounashi. all together, 1,191 candidates are running in this election. that's 313 fewer than the last election two years ago. the official campaign runs for 12 days. prime minister abe says he wants voters to weigh in on his abenomics plan. he argues it's helping to end years of deflation and stimulate growth. but some members of the opposition maintain the benefits have not reached all corners of the country. >> about 100 million japanese are eligible to vote on sunday, december 14th. we'll have extensive coverage leading up to election day. our senior political commentator masayo nakajima gave us his insight between now and then. >> from the start he has said he wants voters to decide whether

abenomics is right or wrong. he'd like to know if there are any other options. well, the main democratic party say there are. they argue abenomics is a failure, and they say that's why the prime minister wants to put off the next planned consumption tax hike. but the prime minister disagrees. he says abenomics has boosted share prices over earnings, wages, employment. the problem is abe says his administration will try to reduce japan's stability on nuclear energy. but abe also says he'll help utilities restart reactors that clear the requirements and safety standards of the nuclear regulation authority. opposition parties are divided on this issue. the democrats say that they want to do away with the nuclear power by the 2040s. but in the mean time, they're not against restarting reactors, as long as committees have

responsible evacuation plan. on the other hand, some opposition parties are completely opposed to the restarts. abe has decided to change the case of approach to the constitution when it comes to security. his cabinet has reinterpreted the document, so japan can exercise its right to collective self-defense. that means it would be able to defend closely related countries under attack. some official parties basically approve of the prime minister's policy. but the democratic party is against it. it could end up being what abe wants. a referendum on how it's handled the economy. the opposition parties apparently were not prepared for this election. members of the dpj say that they will work to take away the majority abe and his governing coalition hold in the lower house. but the democrats could not even

field the candidates for all of the chamber seats. only less than half. i guess we won't see the government change by the time all the votes are counted on election day. but we'll get a sense of how voters feel about the direction abe's taking the country. japan's business sector have their own concerns in regards to the upcoming lower house election. more from ron madison. ron? >> yes, as you can imagine they're watching these elections very closely. since who controls the government has a pretty big impact on business. so the chief of japan association of corporate executives says the vote is coming at a time when japan is at a crossroads. and people are wondering, now, about whether it can get back on a growth track. >> translator: because of its aging population and low birth rate japan faces tough going unless the economy continues to grow. i believe the key is which party

is better prepared to responsibly fulfill its pledges. >> now we also asked foreign investors gathered at a seminar in tokyo a question whether voters will support abenomics. >> and now it's time to have some more significant change because the problems in japan are very fundamental. and if they're not addressed the japanese economy will suffer very substantially. >> well, new survey shows that the monthly wages of japanese workers edged up by half a percent in october year on year. but the poll also suggests that price hikes are outpacing salary increases after workers' wages are adjusted for inflation. they actually fell for the 16th month in a row. labor ministry officials say the real wages of workers in october fell 2.8% on average year-on-year. the workers were paid about $2,250. the survey covered about 33,000 firms, with five or more workers. the officials say improved company earnings led to an increase in basic wages and

bonuses. but they add that the increase fell short of making up for price rises due to the consumption tax hike and the weaker yen. policymakers at the bank of japan are pouring cash into the market like never before, trying to achieve that 2% inflation target. they say the volume and circulation in japan combined with the amount of deposit that other banks park in the central bank has hit a new high. the policymakers say in november japan's monetary base expanded to more than 260 trillion yen. that's roughly $2.2 trillion u.s. dollars. it's also an increase of more than 1% in yen terms from the previous month. the monetary base has hit a new record every month since ago. the policymakers last year unleashed the world's most intense burst of monetary stimulus. and in late october, they decided to expand it by buying even more government bonds and other assets. they are inching closer to their predicted year-end balance, more than $2.3 trillion. turning to the markets now,

investors are weighing the prospects of stimulus measures before the european central bank policy meeting this week. they're expecting the bank to broaden its asset buying program to include the purchase of government bonds. taking a look at how markets are doing in the region, things are pretty mixed at this hour. london is still moving ahead more than 1%. frankfurt is now in the negative, though, down 0.2%. we're seeing that the eurozone producer price index in october fell 0.4% month on month. and that data is having a bit of an effect on some stocks. in the asia pacific region the shanghai composite index surged up more than 3%. hong kong was up more than 1%. while tokyo's nikkei closed higher, hitting another seven-year high. the market pretty much shrugged off the impact of the first downgrade of japan's sovereign debt rating in more than three years. moving on to currencies, the dollar is gaining ground against the yen. the pair is currently up 118.88. market players are selling the yen and buying the dollar in line with the rising nikkei index. meanwhile the pound sterling

edged down against the u.s. dollar. right now we're seeing it at 1.5696 roughly. a survey shows that construction activity in britain expanded at its weakest pace in more than a year last month. as they take it as another sign that the uk economy is slowing. u.s. federal accident investigators reporting now that battery design flaws caused a fire aboard japan airlines boeing 787 at a u.s. airport last year. investigators at the national transportation safety board have released their final report detailing the january 2013 fire that broke out on a dreamliner at a boston airport. the report concluded that a short circuit and lithium-ion cells in a battery overheated in a situation that they call thermal run away. the report then points out that gs yuasa failed to conduct tests under the maximum load but said boeing's parts safety measures were insufficient. the report points out the fault on the part of the u.s. federal aviation administration's safety

evaluation. officials at the kyoto based gs yuasa says they will refrain from making any comment at this point. they say the final report is 100 pages long and they're carefully examining it. boeing 787 plains were grounded after a series of similar accidents but flights did resume in may last year after boeing took measures to prevent battery fires. okay. that is going to wrap it up for biz tonight. let's get a recap of the markets.

officials at the world health organization have highlighted the difficulty of counting ebola deaths. they say the outbreak in west africa has killed 1,000 fewer people than they thought. they revised down their total to about 6,000. w.h.o. staff say they wrongly included people who died in liberia of other diseases. they're now reporting 5,987 ebola deaths. and 16,899 confirmed or suspected infections. the w.h.o. announced over 1200 new fatalities last week. officials said they found unreported cases, some in liberia. they also claimed a partial victory in their efforts to isolate 70% of ebola patients. they've achieved that goal in guinea and liberia but not yet in sierra lee yoin. they said they need more time and more international help. representatives from about 190 governments have started discussions on ways to slow climate change.

they've gathered in peru for a u.n. conference known as cop-20. delegates are to discuss a new framework to limit greenhouse gas emissions. the agreement will replace the kyoto protocol that expired in 2012. it is to go into effect in 2020 and include all member countries. >> translator: we have to make history at cop-20 in lima. >> representatives are expected to discuss whether to -- whether the reduction targets should be legally binding. they will also discuss whether they should include financial assistance for developing countries. the member countries will submit their targets as early as march. they hope to finalize the pact by the end of 2015. >> translator: we think this is a significant meeting as developed and developing countries try to narrow the gap and move forward so that they all can reach an agreement next year. >> japan has been slower than

other countries to set up the reduction target. the country's energy future has been unclear since the fukushima daiichi nuclear accident in 2011. all reactors in the country are currently offline. people attending the conference have mixed reactions to emissions reduction targets that u.s. and chinese leaders announced last month. the two countries are responsible for more than 40% of the carbon dioxide that human activity puts into the atmosphere. american government officials say they aim by 2025 to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% from 2005 levels. chinese officials say they plan to reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels, and they say their carbon dioxide emissions will start to decline before 2030. >> we tell the two countries for what they are doing, and we expect that this will go

aggressively. >> but officials from island nations say that's not enough. they say global warming is causing sea levels to rise, and they say that threatens their countries. they say people's lives are in danger. dozens of senior police officers from across east asia are joining forces. they've gathered in tokyo from 14 countries and territories to figure out better ways to tackle organized crime. the head of japan's national police agency says he wants international cooperation to crack down on offenses involving drugs. >> translator: accidents and crimes committed by users of dangerous drugs occur all across japan. it's important that the countries and territories work closely together to take measures to combat them. >> npa chief tsuyoshi yoneda says there are many obstacles in international investigations including differences in legal

systems. but he says he hopes to share information and strengthen cooperation across the region. 54 people have died or been injured in traffic accidents in japan involving hallucinogenic herbs. the country's law includes them in as dangerous drugs classification. the substances have been the cause of more than 100 deaths across the nation. japan's police agency officials are asking chinese security authorities to take stronger measures. they say large volumes of the chemicals used to spray the herbs come from china. for more than three years, aid workers from the world food program have been helping refugees from the civil war in syria. but officials at the u.n. agency say they're running out of money, and that they'll be forced to suspend the program. the officials say they need $64 million to continue operations for december alone. they are urging the international community to help provide the funds.

they say refugees are already struggling to survive the harsh winter, and that the consequences of stopping the program will be devastating. the wfp has been providing assistance to about 1.7 million syrian refugees in five countries, including lebanon and turkey. aid workers give out vouchers that can be exchanged for food in local shops. the leaders of russia and turkey have confirmed they'll work together to deal with islamic state militants. but the two remain at odds on the current syrian government under president bashar al assad. russian president vladimir putin met on monday with his turkish counterpart recep tayyip erdogan in ankara. they both say the islamic state cannot be allowed to expand. but, erdogan says they couldn't agree on how to solve the civil war in syria. and then he says assad needs to be ousted in order to end the conflict. putin says that syrian people have shown their support for assad in the last presidential

election. russia is a close ally of syria. putin reportedly confirmed his commitment to assad's government on how to deal with the islamic state last wednesday when he met with syrian foreign minister in russia. residents of northern japan are experiencing blowing snow and mid-winter-like cold weather. meteorologist sayaka mori joins us with the details. >> yes, gene, the first significant snowstorm of the season is affecting northern parts of japan. let's go straight to some video from yam that to and sapporo. midwinter-like cold air is blanketing much of the country, creating blowing snow. this is yam that to where over 100 kilometers fell and gusts and snow are causing difficult driving conditions. warnings are widely posted in northern japan. meanwhile residents in sapporo are dealing with unseasonably cold weather and strong winds. several traffic accidents have been reported because of the icy conditions. now let's go back and take a look at the snow fall total as

of tuesday. nearly 35 centimeters or nearly 40 centimeters of snow has fallen over the tohoku region. lots of snow is piling up there. this is called sea-effect snow when cold air moves in from the coast and gets ample moisture over the sea of japan and snow falls from over the western side of the nation. from hokkaido south you receive lots of snow fall during winter. we're expecting an additional 60 or 70 centimeters of snowfall in the tohoku region and over 50 centimeters, up to 50 centimeters in the hokuriku region in parts of western hokkaido. so more snow to come as we go into the next 24 hours. not just snow we're expecting up to 126 kilometers per hour. that could cause low visibility making for very dangerous driving conditions and could be up to eight meters of very, very significant weather events are happening over many parts of japan. now down towards the south we

have a tropical storm. this is halled hagupit. it will make it to the central part of the philippines bied weekend. now temperatures on your wednesday in manila at 33 degrees with daytime thundershowers. to the north very cold air blanketing many parts of the continent and also japan. only 1 for the high in beijing and minus 14 degrees in ulan bator, despite sunny weather. now across the americas, we have been talking about drought over southern california. but a big improvement is under way. we have a significant rain moving in to the south of california. this rain is going to be the significant rain since the end of february. probably up to 140 millimeters of rain could fall in a span of 24 hours. this area actually received nearly 30 millimeters of rainfall during the part of -- during december, so about five times rainfall could fall in just 24 hours. so significant flooding could

happen over the south of california on your tuesday. temperatures down to the teens in los angeles, staying in the single digits in vancouver, and down to the single digits over the eastern seaboard on your tuesday. and finally, over europe, messy pictures once again over the mediterranean countries. we're talking about thunderstorms, heavy rainfor the coast and heavy mountain snow. actually some areas saw freezing rainfall in the balkan peninsula and nearly 100 millimeters of rainfall. no big improvement on your wednesday. meanwhile winter storm conditions once again for the scandinavian peninsula. temperatures in stockholm at 4 degrees. and double digit figures in berlin and in to moscow. minus 4 for the high with snow on the menu for tuesday. here's the extended forecast.

that's "newsline" for this

hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

>> tonight's top stories. in hong kong. three of the movement's founders turned themselves in as a student leaders dig in with a hunger strike. france gets set to vote on whether or not to recognize a palestinian state. the nonbinding resolution is expected to easily pass in the lower house of parliament. despite the fact that many on the right are against it. a violent attack by islamist extremists in kenya leaves close to 40 quarry workers dead, attacked in their