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. japan's new asteroid explorer hayabusa2 has lifted off and has entered orbit to begin its six-year mission. japanese auto parts maker takata says it's ready to comply with a u.s. order to recall defective air bags nationwide. and a provocative ad

campaign in new york sparked by the islamic state insurgency is raising new fears and opening old wounds. officials with japan's space agency have confirmed their new asteroid probe has entered into orbit. the hayabusa2 has begun a six-year mission that scientists hope will help solve some of the mysteries of the universe. >> translator: their words encouraged me a lot. i was moved, and i felt happy. >> we apologize for that technical error there. the h2a rocket took off from the tanegashima space center in southwestern japan at 1:22 p.m.

local time. officials say hayabusa2 reached its initial orbit in just under two hours. the probe is headed for an asteroid that may contain water and organic substances. the hayabusa2 is fitted with a device called an impacter. it's capable of shooting metal bullet at the asteroid's surface at a speed of two kilometers per second. the impact will create an artificial crater to allow the probe to collect rock and sand. these materials could provide clues about how the solar system came into existence and the origins of life. executives at a japanese maker of air bags say they'll comply with a u.s. demand for a nationwide recall. safety regulators in washington say a defect in takata's air bags has caused injuries and killed people.

takata's executives say they'll take other steps to address growing concerns about their products worldwide. nhk world has more. >> reporter: officials with the national highway traffic safety administration last week ordered takata to expand their recall. officials also ordered five carmakers, including mazda and honda, to recall models fitted with takata air bags. the automakers have already called in about 8 million cars, mainly in the southern u.s. u.s. authorities say the problem is with the air bag's inflater. they say the device can explode, spraying metal fragments inside cars. authorities believe inflaters have caused several deaths, and serious injuries around the world. at a congressional hearing last

month, senators criticized takata for being slow to take action. a senior takata executive acknowledged the company's response came late, and apologized for the problems. >> we are deeply sorry about each of the reported instances in which a takata air bag has not performed as designed, and the driver or passenger had suffered personal injuries or deaths. >> reporter: takata on wednesday announced a number of steps to address the issue. they have recruited three former u.s. transport agent secretaries for a new quality assurance panel. the independent panel will be headed by samuel skinner, who also sat as white house chief of staff. norman mineta and rodney slater will serve as special counsel.

upon members will audit and report on takata's manufacturing processes. takata executives are dealing with recalls in other countries, too. drivers in japan have returned more than 2.5 million cars. >> translator: people hold japanese automakers in high regard, and trust their products. but i'm concerned that this could affect their reputation. >> reporter: takata's chairman issued a statement saying the company will increase production in asia, europe and mexico. factories in those places will make more air bag replacement kits needed as part of the recalls. the company also said it's working with outside scientists. they will evaluate takata's product and look into ruptures tied to the inflater.

takata says it is cooperating fully with government requests for information. it says it has collected more than 20 terabytes of data and produced more than 360,000 pages of documents in response to requests from u.s. safety regulators. nhk world. and we apologize for the technical error earlier on. drivers are now happy with lower gas prices, and ron madison has more on this story. ron? >> yeah, i guess you could say pretty much everyone is happy when gas prices are lower. here in japan, though, it's been quite awhile since prices have gone up. motorists here benefiting from a virtual free-fall in crude oil prices. they've been paying less at the pump every week for five months now. officials at the oil information center say on monday the average price per liter of regular gas was about 157 yen. that's about $1.32.

that's down one cent from the previous week. crude oil producers are facing weaker demand from european markets, and competition from people who develop shell oil in the u.s. even so, delegates from the organization of the petroleum exporting countries recently decided not to cut back their output to drive prices back up. officials at the oil information centers say that decision will likely be reflected at the gas stand again next week. but they say the downward trend could eventually level out as the weaker yen pushes up import costs. well car dealers in the u.s. have been doing a booming business. sales of new vehicles hit a 13-year high for the month of november. the analysts at research firm autodata say carmakers in november sold more than 1.3 million new vehicles. that's up 4.6% from the same month last year. it is the ninth straight month of rising new car sales. the analysts credit the economic recovery in the u.s. they also say lower gasoline prices pushed up sales of suv

models. chrysler saw the biggest jump by far, coming in higher, more than 20% there. general motors sold 6.5% more vehicles than before. ford, though, not faring quite as well. its sales fell nearly 2%. japanese carmaker toyota was also up around 3%. honda feigned 4.6%. nissan did see a decline, though of more than 3%. well, executives of some japanese companies can't export their products to china and other lucrative markets. the reason for this, people in those markets have already registered trademarks for japanese place names, brands and products. those operators hope to force the japanese firms to buy the marks, again, in their country or to simply block their competition. now, officials worldwide are gathering in tokyo to tackle these so-called bad-faith trademark filings. patent officials from japan, china, south korea, united states, and the eu, are taking

part. they want to stop people from registering distinctive signs or brand names that belong to other companies. officials at japan's patent office say they'll call on their counterparts to set up a screening system so weed out these bad faith applicants. japanese luxury tile makers are all too familiar with the problem. they tried to register their brand name imabari towel only to find chinese firms had beaten them to it. they reported the matter to a chinese authority who ruled in their favor. but the authority has yet to say if imabari city itself can use the name in china. officials at budget airline jetstar japan see a big opportunity overseas. they'll launch their first international flights next year between osaka and hong kong. an official said starting in february the carrier will operate three round-trip flights a week out of can sigh international airport. executives recently raised nearly $60 million in capital in

a bid to rebuild jetstar japan's finances. they've been running the firm in the red ever since they launched three years ago. >> translator: we're hoping international flights will turn the business around. that will increase efficiency, so we'll get more value from our planes and equipment. >> jetstar and other companies already operate international flights to and from japan. time to get a check of the markets now. investors are holding off from any big moves while they wait for the european central bank policymakers to meet on thursday. major benchmarks in the region are looking pretty mixed. in fact, almost all of them are down. frankfurt is flat on the upside while london and paris are both down about 0.2%. now energy shares in london are lower, after a sharp rally the previous session. asian markets also seeing a mixed performance today. the weaker yen helped tokyo's nikkei to extend its gains for a

fourth session and close at its highest point in more than seven years. shanghai's benchmark index briefly touched a new three-year high after china released positive data for service sector activity. moving on to currencies now the dollar is gaining ground as the outlook for the u.s. economy improves. against the yen it's still at its highest level in more than seven years. right now at 119.41. now the euro has slipped to its lowest level against the dollar in more than two years now at 1.2334. investors are speculating that the european central bank may be prepared to unleash more monetary easing. the euro is also edging lower against the yen. now at 147.29. traders are waiting to see private sector jobs data out of the u.s. later on in the day. they'll also be taking a close look at official jobs numbers that get released on friday. and that is going to do it for biz tonight. let's get a recap of the markets.

as the u.s. leads the coalition forces in the fight against islamic state militants,

authorities in new york are stepping up vigilance. many people in the city lived through the september 11th terror attacks. now some are concerned about a possible recurrence and that it may create tension between different communities. nhk world reports. >> reporter: news about the islamic state militant group is constantly being carried in the u.s. and it's been casting a shadow on some new yorkers who remember their horrific experiences of the september 11th terrorist attacks, 13 years ago. >> i think, i'm not talking about days or weeks, but months away, something very significant could happen. regarding isis. >> i am aware, i'm, you know, i keep my eyes open, i avoid dangerous -- but you know, it's everything. anything is bound to happen. >> reporter: authorities are stepping up vigilance against terrorism. >> this is something we have to

encourage a deeper connection between all our people and our police force in particular to get these leads out so we can do something about it. >> reporter: some privately funded advertisements on public buses and subway stations are calling on people to beware of jihadists. they appear to be intended to incite hostility against muslim people. and many here are critical of that. >> i'm not sure -- i'm not sure what it's about. i just -- >> i think it probably goes toward promoting hatred. >> reporter: the ads were paid for by a group headed by political activist pamela gellar. she's known for her strong criticism of islam. >> particularly now, when the threat is bigger and the denial is bigger, and we're doing this so that we might implement effective counterterrorism measures. >> reporter: staff members of

the new york city public transportation authority face a dilemma. they need to abide by the constitution that upholds freedom of speech by law. and they also need revenue from advertisements. they refused some ads of gellar's groups, but the group has sued the authority, saying their rights have been violated. >> we are not in a position to be able to decline to post this ad or that ad because we may disagree with the content of the ad, or we may feel that the ad could be controversial. >> reporter: the hostile mood worries the muslim community. more than 700,000 of them call new york city home. imam abdel khamenei has been teaching religious tolerance to those who come to his mosque. >> with our differences we're

supposed to accept each other. i may have my opinion but i do have to respect you, and you have also to respect me. >> reporter: many here say they're still haunted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. they worry that the threat of 9 islamic state can cause segregation and increase the risk of violence. widad franco, nhk world, new york. ukraine's parliament has voted too approve a new cabinet to lead the country out of its economic hardship. president petro poroshenko has picked a team that includes three foreigners, and observers say that's a sign he'll pursue a pro-western policy. ukraine's parliament approved all the lineup proposed by poroshenko and the ruling coalition. prime minister arseniy yatsenyuk

will retain his post. georgia's alexander tash villi was named health minister and the new finance minister is a u.s. national with state department experience. ukraine's conflict with russia has hit its economy hard. the international monetary fund has offered an aid package but ukraine's leaders have to carry out economic reforms to secure it. the president of kenya is calling on everyone in his country to help fight terrorism, even as some citizens raise more questions about his ability to do that. islamist fighters with the al shabab group killed at least 36 workers at a quarry in the northeast. the massacre happened on the outskirts of mandera, a town near somalia where the militants are based. the gunmen reportedly singled out non-muslims before they shot

them. alhabab claimed responsibility and said the attack was in response to military operations by kenyan troops in somalia. president kenyatta has shaken up his top security team in the wake of the murders. and he's refusing to back down in the face of the insurgency. >> we will not flinch or relent in the war against terrorism in our country, and our region. we shall continue to inflict painful casualties on these territories until we secure our country and region. >> some kenyans, though, aren't convinced. they have doubts about the government's operation to stop extremists. hundreds of civilians and security officers have died in terrorist attacks since the early 2,000s. al shabab militants killed more than 60 people last year at a shopping mall in the capital nairobi. and 28 people died this month in a bus attack in northeastern kenya. lawmakers in france have added their voices to a wave of

support for the palestinian cause. they voted to urge the french government to officially recognize palestine as a state. the lower house resolution is nonbinding. it says the leaders should recognize palestine as part of a push for a definitive resolution of the conflict with israel. the british and spanish parliaments have recently passed similar resolutions. sweden officially recognized palestinian statehood in october. a senior palestinian official welcomed the result of the french vote. the official said it's likely to push the government to recognize palestinian statehood, and to promote peace with israel. last week israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said it's a big mistake for european countries to recognize palestine. he said it encourages palestinians to harden their positions, and make them less likely to compromise. peace talks have been frozen since april. more than 2,000 palestinians have died since then in fighting in gaza.

emperor akihito and empress michiko visited hiroshima to meet people whose homes were destroyed or damaged by landslides in august. 74 people in the city's yagi district died in the disaster. the couple bowed their heads in prayer. the emperor and empress offered words of encouragement to residents who lost loved ones or who were injured. >> translator: their words encouraged me a lot. i was moved, and i felt happy. now, i can get on with my life. >> the emperor and empress

thanked firefighters and others who helped in rescue and reconstruction efforts. the couple on thursday will pay their respects at hiroshima's atomic bombing memorial and meet elderly survivors. about 300 passengers aboard a train in northern japan had a long delay in their journey. they were stranded after a blackout in the middle of a heavy snowstorm. power was los on a rapid service train wednesday morning on a line that links the cities of yamagata and sendai. the blackout occurred after a tree fell on an overhead cable. heavy snow has been falling in the area since tuesday. the passengers were trapped in the train for about eight hours. east japan railway company officials say their staff used snow plows to bring heating pads and food to the passengers. the train resumed operation after workers removed trees blocking the path. >> translator: it was very cold. >> translator: i was forced to sit for several hours.

i had no idea how to spend the time. >> officials say the company is determined to analyze the cause, and to implement necessary measures to prevent it from happening again. an intensifying typhoon is drifting towards the philippines. our meteorologist sayaka mori joins us for the latest. >> yes, gene, typhoon will likely affect the southern half of the philippines over the weekend. you're already seeing some stormy conditions. this one will head toward palau and the center will likely hit the east coast on your saturday. wind gusts could be up to 220 kilometers per hour under such conditions structural damage could happen, and if you remember last year, typhoon haiyan hit this area. so i know many people are still living in temporary shelters.

very stormy conditions are likely to happen over mindanao over the weekend. now across australia, it's mostly dry over the western areas. but not so over the southeast. lots of clouds are developing across this location. and, in fact, sydney saw thunderstorms and gray clouds. cumulus clouds up there, and significant flooding. and also power outages were reported in many parts of new south wales. now, unfortunately, more heavy rain is likely as we go into the next couple of days. most of them are daytime thundershowers so sydney, 29 degrees for the high on your thursday with daytime thundershowers. staying that way for the next couple of days. now, talking about heavy rainfall. significant rain fell in southern parts of california, actually los angeles. you saw record rainfall for this time of year on your tuesday. flooding is occurring. the heaviest rain is now shifting towards the north over san francisco area, probably up to 130 millimeters of rain is likely in to next 24 hours that's more than the

monthly rain fall for december. that is going to be accompanied by very strong gusts. and the mountainous areas will see winter storm conditions, heavy snow, and also blowing snow is likely to continue at least into your thursday. now across japan, let's talk about snowfall. strong clouds and a strong winds and also heavy snow is affecting the northwestern side of japan, and also gifu prefecture. we have some video. take a look. the heaviest snow fall of the season has created a wintry scene. the area is registered as a unesco world heritage site. 32 cent meters have piled up since last night. local people are busy clearing snow off roofs and roads. cold weather and snow will likely continue into the weekend in the northwestern part of japan. now let's take a look at these numbers. about 60 centimeters of snow have fallen in the north of hokkaido. over 65 cent meters in the tohoku region.

in the next 24 hours more heavy rain or snow is anticipated. up to 70 centimeters for the western parts of tohoku as well as hokkaido up to 50 centimeters for the eastern parts of tohoku. so significant weather events once again. wind gusts are going to be up to 110 kilometers per hour. strong enough to topple trees. waves are going to be up to seven meters. lots of event across many parts of japan. mostly dry over the pacific side, including kagoshima today where the launch was -- took place. however, because of the system coming in from china, lots of rain is likely for the pacific side of japan, including tokyo. our high is going to be only 11 degrees. that is your figure in seoul throughout the day. here's your extended forast around the globe.

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

>> our stories. coming together to crush the islamic state organization. the meeting gets underway in brussels. on the agenda, how to hit the militants' finance and stops foreign fighters from joining them. costsunders of hong kong occupied movement -- hong kong's occupy movement surrendered to police. up for a bitter election cycle. snap elections will be held on march 17.