welcome to nhk world news news. i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at stories we're following this hour. expanding recal ining recal a grand jury's decision to clear a white police officer in a black man's death sparks off a new wave of protests in the

united states. and a survey by a global watchdog suggest china's public sector has become more corrupt. safety concerns about takata air bags are prompting a series of recalls in japan. toyota motor added 185,000 more cars to its recall list. this brings the total number of vehicles auto makers are calling back in the country to 2.8 million. it involves 19 types of cars in 2002 and 2003. the firm says it will replace the air bags free of charge. officials say no one was injured, but they do not know why the air bag malfunctioned. toyota added cars equipped with

the same type of airing bags as a precaution. toyota executives say parts are in short supply due to massive recalls. they say replacements are unavailable and engineers will temporarily disable the air bags. toy at that and other auto makers may have to deal if regulators in the u.s. expand measures to this has resulted in recall of 8 million in the u.s. the recall has been expanded nationwide. takata executives said that warm, humid conditions could cause the air bags to explode and discharge metal fragments. officials at u.s. highway traffic administration say they want all cars with at that a cat

at that a -- with takata air bags off the road. they argue there's been no other malfunctions in other areas of the country. >> based on data we are collecting from the region and other regions, the data still support that we should remain focused on region with high temperature and high humidity. >> he says the company is prepared to take additional measures to cooperate with auto makers if they expand the recall. u.s. regulators insist the company should implement a nationwide recall. >> i was deeply disappointed by takata's response and failure to take responsibility. >> some u.s. lawmakers criticized takata asking how many fatalities it would take it to act. >> our customers have concerns,

and we want to address them. >> honda, toyota and other auto makers are working to set up a third party entity to investigate the cause of the detect. executives say the number of recalls will double with additional 8 million cars if the measures are expanded to a nationwide level. people have been protesting in the united states after a white police officer was cleared in the death of a black suspect. members a grand jury in new york decided not to indict the officer. the decision comes a week after a similar case in missouri erupted violent demonstrations. police officers confronted eric garner in july for selling illegal cigarettes. one of the officers grabbed garner in a choke hold and pulled him to the ground. he later died. the grand jury said it would not seek indictment. >> police are not above the law.

>> thousands of people took to the streets in new york and other cities around the country. people gathered in time square in manhattan demanding justice. demonstrations spread as far as los angeles and seattle. >> that is the concern on the part of too many minority communities that law enforcement is not working with them and dealing with them in a fair way. >> president obama promised equality under the law for all americans. the u.s. attorney general has announced a federal investigation into garner's death. >> mr. garner's death is one of several recent incidents a cross our great country that a tested the sense of trust that must exist between law enforcement and communities. >> holder said the probe by the

justice department will be thorough and fair. lawmakers in the united states are speaking out against chinese territorial actions and regional waters. they adopted a resolution calling for a peaceful end to tensions in the east and south china seas. members of the house of representatives voted unanimously and condemned china's use of force to hinder travel of ships and aircraft. their resolution highlights friction last year in the east china sea. a chinese navy vessel locked weapons radar on ships from japan. leaders in beijing later declared on air defense identification zone consulting other countries. this focuses on incidents in the south china sea. a state owned company anchored an oil rig this may and deployed 80 vessels. members expressed concern earlier about what they call

china's attempt to change status quo by force. they adopted a resolution in july. leaders in china appear to be losing their battle against corruption. they claim they're cracking down on crooked bureaucrats, but a global watchdog suggest is their public sector has become even less transparent. researchers at transparency international ranked 175 countries ranked on ethics. denmark earned first place for the third year in a row. next new zealand and finland. china plunged from 80th to 100th. many say officials of state owned firms have fled abroad and that staffs donts share information. a spokesperson said the criticisms are unfair. >> translator: the survey does not reflect the actual situation.

china's anticorruption campaign is succeeding. citizens recognize it as fair and objective. >> she said the watchdog should be more impartial because it has an impact on the international community. rob madison from the biz team is here. we start with the markets. ron? >> that's right gene. the latest job markets from the u.s. is offering more proof the economy there is gaining momentum. it lifted the dollar to a fresh seven year high against the yen. we are seeing the green back just below that. 119.94. a report shows private firms in the u.s. added 200,000 new jobs in november that prompted people to buy the dollar. your owe is lowest in two years and four months. the currency is trading 1.2316. nikkei average closed today 17,

887, highest since july 2007. investo investors bought up stocks as the yen weakened. shanghai gained 4% passing the 2800 mark and closed at the highest level in three years in seven months. investors bought financial stocks on speculation more money will start to run into the chinese markets. london just barely seeing gains now. paris and frankfurther seeing moderate gains. market players waiting for results of the european central bank today. people say china's best selling smart phone maker have sights set on another market. they'll expand the high end products to capture bigger sales here in japan. executives showed off the new model they're planning to release next week. more of half of the parts come

are from japanese manufactures. they'll sell the hand set for $415. executives have been rapidly expanding their sales in china and other emerging markets. last year they sold 52 million phones worldwide. they control the third biggest slice of the global market behind samsung and apple. they're examining claims the firms are selling a product in japan less than it cost to make it. japanese rivals say this so called dumping practice is making it impossible for them to compete. people at the japanese firm mittsui chemicals say they're selling tdi at low prices. they're used in car seat cushions. officials at the trade and finance ministry have been looking into the matter and say chinese firms are selling tdi for a quarter of the cost they

sell in china. as a result 2010-2012 jap 23450ez fineez firms saw a drop in sales. officials in gentleman pang have made a rare discovery deep within the ocean. they found metals off the surface. gas and metals corporation made the find. they say the site is on the seabed 150 kilometers northwest okinawa's main island. it gets heated by magma and jets back out deposits copper, led, zink, gold, silver. the biggest are 100 meters wide and 30 meters high. the discovery is the second of its kind in waters off japan.

officials are working on technology they need to dig up the deep sea deposits. they're conducting studies to determine whether it's feasible. that's going to do it for biz tonight. let's get a recap of the markets. people in south korea have been struggling with a problem. 6 million worker, nearly a third

of total can't get full time employment. instead they're stuck in contract jobs with little security, low wages and tough working conditions. as nhk world reports, some are fighting back. >> the movie has been showing in south korean creators since last month. contract workers at a large supermarket chain are laid off and demand to be hired back. it's a top box earner. the story is based on a labor dispute that took place in 2007. the protagonist leader union led for 510 days. >> translator: contract workers themselves must speak out about the contract worker problem. we need to let people know about the issue and fight for our

rights. >> reporter: contract workers still have the work conditions depicted in the movie but are demanding improvement. this scene is not from a movie. the protestors in seoul's main business district work for sub contractors at a major cable television company. the dispute began when the contractors laid off 109 of them this past summer. >> translator: we're not asking for anything special. we just want to carry on doing the same job at the same work place. >> reporter: two protestors climbed onto this electronic billboard november 12th and are still there. the two are calling for laid off workers to be rehired. >> translator: our coworkers who have lost their jobs are

struggling. they can't pay their power bills. their gas has been shut off, and they can't afford medical treatment for sick children. we can't sit back and let them suffer like this. >> reporter: at the end of last month the cable company offered to negotiate with the sub contractor and laid off staff. the talks have been underway since monday. contract employees are paid about half of what permanent staff receive. the law stipulates that contract staff must be offered full time work after two years of employment. in most cases they're fired before their two years are up leaving them in a shaky situation. labor experts say it's important to close the gap between regular and irregular workers. >> translator: a healthy labor

market allows fluidity between full time and temporary employment. in reality we have a fixed two tiered employment structure in which contract workers are not taken on full time. >> reporter: the government is expected to announce guidelines this month aimed at stabilizing the employment situation of contract workers. it's unclear how effective those guidelines will be. nhk world, seoul. policy makers in china have declared war on air pollution. one environmentalist believes they'll struggle, so he's rallying ordinary citizens to join the fight. more from nhk world senior

commentat commentator. >> the air is filled with billions of tiny particles that can be harmful to health. >> it just makes me sick. >> last month regional leaders gathered in beijing for their annual summit of the forum. suddenly blue skies appeared above the capital. the government wanted to insure a smoke free meeting so they restricted traffic and closed factories. when the summit ended, the haze returned. environmentalist has a non governmental organization and spent many years tackling pollution issues. >> we see how bad the situation is. >> this is a particularly bad day, smokey day. the days like this is a clear

reminder that discharge is way too big. >> he collects local data on pollution across the country and uses that information to keep track of 170,000 factories. ordinary chinese can access the database on the internet. if you click the site of a factory, you can see foe tphoto. it shows what kind it emits and how much. that's not all. it shows brand name goods bought. it calls on consumers not to buy their goods. that puts pressure on makers to change sourcing decisions. the website also calls on banks not to lend money to companies that pollute. those efforts are having results.

apple and operator uni qlo are among the companies reviewing the control measures. >> it's the fact some of the local government officials still put gdp growth rate ahead of environmental protection. we have gaps in our environmental government which weakens enforcement. it's deep rooted and hard to overcome. we need the public to draw in a proactive way to help break the barrier. >> officials say they are taking action. in march, delegates at national people's congress, china's parliament, declared a war against pollution. >> translator: the smog effected areas are expanding. it is becoming more serious. this is nature's red light warning against inefficient and blind development. >> he believes members of the

public need to share that a sense of urgency. in june his group released the mobile app allowing people to review the pollution database on smart phones and tablets. at a glance, people can check air pollution levels in real time wherever they are. >> we're trying to use this data to empower them, enlighten, give awareness and empower them to participate in the government understand that single handedly it cannot solve this problem. it needs people to draw in. i think fundamentally we have responsibility to future generations of our own nation. >> chronic pollution is challenging china's civil society. he believes it's crucial to have all stakeholders on board.

public awareness is key to achieving that goal. nhk world, beijing. >> we'll be showing aiko's full interview on the next edition of "asian voices." emperor akihito and em press michiko made a journey and paid tributes to the victims of the bombing. they laid white cry san they mums. the couple then visited a nursing home in the city for elderly bomb survivors. the home was built seven years

ago as the first privately run building for survivors. the average age of residents is 88. the emperor and em press have visited ahead of next year's 70 anniversary of end of world war ii. they toured to mark 50 years since the war ended. united nations weather fishes say 2014 is on its way to becoming the hottest year in recent history. the world health organization is pushing for urgency for negotiations now underway in peru. a wmo report says the average global temperature for the first ten months this year was 0.57 celsius higher than the 30 year higher. this suggests 2014 will be the hottest year since observations began in 1850.

the wmo attributes this to record sea temperatures and warns that climate change has been triggering torrential rains and flooding. officials announced the new findings at the u.n. conference known as cop 20. >> all this information is crucial to the negotiators to understand that things are not waiting, nature is not waiting. >> the wmo is urging representatives from nearly 200 countries to reach a deal on tackling climate change. an intense storm is bringing record rainfall to california. numerous flooding has been reported. our meteorologist joining us for the details. sayaka? >> record rain is falling in california, downtown l aa, san diego and san francisco. as you know, the state has been deemed with the worst drought in decades. quite heavy rainfall on the parched ground led to extreme

flooding in several places. let's look at media from the state. the most intense storms brought widespread heavy rainfall to much of california. more than 250 millimeters fell tuesday into wednesday. roads were submerged causing headaches to many drivers. the peak of heavy rain in over in california however there's a chance of heavy rainfall for northern areas of california as we go to thursday. as we go to saturday, another batch of heavy rain is coming into the west coast. flooding will be a continued risk across the northern areas of california. flooding will definitely happen over the philippines over the weekend. we have a violent typhoon approaching the area pack wind gust over 300 kilometers per hour. the highest category for typhoons. it will likely keep the east coast by saturday local time. central areas include tacloban

where haiyan hit last year. the system will likely move over the land while slowing down. stormy conditions will likely prolong. we are talking extreme high storm surges, heavy rainfall, fierce winds expected over the midpart of the philippines throughout the weekend. such an intense system the this time of year is actually not so rare. over the past couple of years we have two systems to hit the philippines. in november last year, we saw typhoon haiyan hitting this area killing over 7,000 people. two years ago, typhoon bopha killed 1,100 people. this will likely take the similar path and hid the midpart of philippines over the weekend. it will likely have catastrophic damage. across japan, snowfall for north and stormy conditions for south western islands of japan.

in okinawa, gusts pummelled the area. 120 kilometers per hour gust reported. no injuries have been reported. now the system has pulling away. conditions will improve over the pacific side, however snow will redevelop over the north western corner of japan down toward the region. additional 50 centimeters likely in the next 24 hours. in fact over the past couple of days nearly 90 centimeters of snowfall. a lot of snow across the northern areas. as you can see, snow will likely continue at least into your sunday in sapporo. tokyo staying sunny. temperatures low in the single digits the first time of the season on your saturday. bundle up. here's the extended forecast.

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

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