i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. people in japan will be hearing a lot from their politicians in the coming days. official campaigning for a general election is now under way. candidates are filling out the necessary papers to get things started. parties and independents are going after the 475 seats in the lower house. 295 of them are single seat districts. 180 are for proportional representation. prime minister shinzo abe and i had governing coalition are putting their comfortable majority on the line. he's framing the vote as a referendum on his economic policy. he argues the ruling parties have scored some success in their bid to end years of deflation and stimulate growth. some members of the opposition maintain the benefits have not reached all corners of the country. they are also focusing on issues such as nuclear power and to allow japan to defend closely related countries that come under attack. the official campaign runs for 12 days. then voters cast ballots on sunday december 14th. "newsline" will bring y

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.xx >> the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, so what do the people in many of the cities and towns of europe do? >> ♪ wassail, wassail ♪ all over the town >> they go out into the cold and have a big street party every day for four weeks, also known as the christmas markets. it is a time when the town center, market square, or the narrow cobblestone streets come alive in the dark of winter with festively decorated wooden stalls, offering hot wine, regional food, christmas decorations, sweet confections, baked goods, local crafts, and all other manner of gifts to purchase for the holidays. it is a time of community, conviviality, and color. >> ♪ the good dog of langport ♪ he burned his long tail ♪ and this is the night ♪ we gogi

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. authorities from around asia have sent ships, planes and helicopters to scour the waters off indonesia's coast, looking for a missing passenger jet. they've been searching for signs of the airasia plane that disappeared from radar screens early sunday. now they say they'll expand their search. indonesia transportation officials say flight qz8501 left surabaya airport early sunday en route to singapore. air traffic controllers lost contact with the airbus a-320 about 40 minutes after its departure. no distress signal was detected. the plane was carrying 162 people, most of those on board are indonesians. indonesian authorities say the aircraft likely crashed into the sea. that belief is based on the plane's last known position on radar. 22 vessels and 13 aircraft from indonesia, singapore, malaysia, and australia joined the search on monday. president joe cowidodo said indonesia will mobilize every means to find the plane. he said the search will expand with the help of more countries.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thank you for joining us. xxxx >> war, hunger, persecution, natural catastrophes. just some of the terrors which have forced over 50 million people to flee their homes worldwide. if displaced people were to have their own country, it would be the 24th most populous on the planet. welcome to "global 3000," and to our refugee special. the united nations are calling it the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era. after three years of civil war, over half of syria's population is dependent upon foreign aid for survival. already, over 3 million syrians have fled the violence with many more expected to follow. around half have sought refuge in turkey, with some 600,000 or so making for jordan.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. officials at the u.n. say conflicts and disasters are leaving people worldwide in need of humanitarian aid. officials say people's needs are outpacing the u.n.'s capps toy respond. the u.n. has told donors next career, it needs more than $16 billion in funds ch officials plan to use the money to help about 58 million people across the globe. they've identified 22 countries in need of aid including iraq, syria and ukraine. >> responding must be a shared responsibility and there must be a determined collective effort through 2015 to close the growing gap between needs and resources. >> another u.n. agency has already warned of funding challenges. last week, officials with the world food program said they'll have to temporarily suspend food aid for about 1.7 million refugees in syria. >>> medical workers in four west african nations are receiving more japanese aid. they're getting thousands of sets of protective gear and will use the suits in their fight against the ebola outbreak. we ha

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> executives of a japanese auto parts maker takata have taken issueith demands for a recall. their defective airbags have been linked to injuries and deaths. one of the affected car companies, honda, has decided to act on its own. a series of accidents prompted the recall of about 8 million cars in the southern u.s. takata executives said warm and humid conditions could cause the airbags to explode and spray

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> japan's lawmakers have decided to give shinzo abe another term as prime minister. abe and his governing coalition had a victory in a general election earlier this month. he has a clearer mandate to pursue his economic and political reforms. [ speaking foreign language ] [ applause ] >> the cabinet resigned wednesday morning and the diet convened in the afternoon to formally name a prime minister. the re w

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us. >> hello and welcome to global 3000. human dignity as the basis for freedom, justice and peace in the world -- that's what the universal declaration of human rights laid out more than half a century ago. december 10 is human rights day. we scrutinized how serious some governments are about protecting their citizens. here's what's coming up. victims of police violence speak out in india. when the anger becomes greater than the fear, mexicans protest against corruption. we visit the school for orangutans on sumatra.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us.xxx >> hello and welcome to global 3000, your weekly check on the global issues that matter wherever you live. the discrimination of women is still one of them. a uganda manager called for a famous singer to be locked up after her former boyfriend posted nude images of her online. more on this in a moment. here is what is coming up. fiji needs financial support to avoid exploiting its forests. the new law in uganda that puts women on the defensive. and the reasons argentinian farmers are switching from steak

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> executives of a japanese auto parts maker takata have taken issue with demands for a recall. their defective airbags have been linked to injuries and deaths. one of the affected car companies, honda, has decided to act on its own. a series of accidents prompted the recall of about 8 million cars in the southern u.s. takata executives said warm and humid conditions could cause the airbags to explode and spray metal fragments.he u.snational highway traffic safety administration or nhtsa, said they wanted all cars with takata airbags off the road. the company's global quality chief testified at a house hearing. he said there's no evidence of air bag malfunctions in other areas of the country. >> based on the data we are collecting from the region and also other regions, the data still support that we should remain focused on the region with high temperature and high humidity. >> but he said his company is prepared to take other measures to cooperate with automakers if they expand recalls. u.s. safety regulators insist the company should implement a nat

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.n japan will be hearing a lot from their politicians in the coming days. official campaigning for a general election is now under way. candidates are filling out the necessary papers to get things started. parties and independents are going after the 475 seats in the lower house. 295 of them are single seat districts. 180 are for proportional representation. prime minister shinzo abe and i

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.uthorities from around asia have sent ships, planes and helicopters to scour the waters off indonesia's coast, looking for a missing passenger jet. they've been searching for signs of the airasia plane that disappeared from radar screens early sunday. now they say they'll expand their search. indonesia transportation officials say flight qz8501 left surabaya airport early sunday en route to singapore. air traffic controllers lost contact with the airbus a-320 about 40 minutes after its departur

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. officials at the u.n.onflicts and disasters are leaving people worldwide in need of humanitarian aid. officials say people's needs are outpacing the u.n.'s capps toy respond. the u.n. has told donors next career, it needs more than $16 billion in funds ch officials plan to use the money to help about 58 million people across the globe.