They wanted all cars with takata airbags off the road. The companys global quality chief testified at a house hearing. He said theres 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 nationwide recall. I was deeply disappointed by takatas response and takatas failure to take responsibility. Some u. S. Lawmakers criticized takata asking how many fatal accidents would persuade the firm to act . A Senior Executive of honda said the company will expand the recall nationwide to conduct investigations. Our customers have concerns and we want to address them. Japans Auto Industry has begun to help settle the problem. Toyota, honda and other firms are trying to set up a thirdparty entity to investigate the cause of the defect. North korean authorities have been under pressure from japanese officials to investigate decadesold abductions. Now pyongyang has questioned a group of japanese about their alleged involvement. The group in 1970 hijacked a Japan Airlines passenger jet and defected to north korea. Three people are wanted internationally on suspicion they abducted three japanese in europe in the 1980s. Members of the group told nhk north korean officials asked them last month to meet with the special investigation committee. They say they told north korean officials they werent involved in the abductions. The leader of the group says they will cooperate with the investigation. Pyongyangs committee promised japanese delegates in october they would reinvestigate other abduction case. Tokyo recognizes 17 nationals as being taken by north korean agents in the 1970s and 80s. Analysts says pyongyangs latest move is aimed at convincing japan they are carrying out a full scale investigation. A senior official from japans Foreign Ministry is looking for help from mongolia over the issue. They will raise the matter during a visit to the capital. He will travel next week to discuss security cooperation. Hes scheduled to attend a meeting of top foreign and defense officials from both countries. They are expected to discuss the situation in asia and chinas recent activities. As well stepping up exchanges between the selfdefense forces and mongolias military. Hell brief the officials about a recent meeting with north koreas special investigations committee. He says he hopes to gain the cooperation of mongolia which has friendly ties with the north. Officials with japans space agency say the launch of a new asteroid probe was a success. The hayabusa 2 entered orbit to begin a sixyear mission. One scientists hope will help them solve some of the mysteries of the universe. All systems are ready. The h2a rocket carrying the probe took off wednesday from the tanegashima in southwestern japan. Officials say hayabusa 2 reached its initial orbit in just under 2 hours. The probe is headed for an asteroid that may contain water and organic substances. Hayabusa 2 is fitted with a device called an impacter. Its capable of shooting a metal bullet at the asteroids 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. Materials could provide clues about how the solar system came into exesistens and the origins of life. Translator although the launch of hayabusa2 was postponed for three days, we are very glad and relieved that our probe has begun its long journey as scheduled. The spacecraft is the successor to hayabusa. The first probe returned to earth in 2010 after collecting samples from the itokawa asteroid. That mission took seven years. The cofounders of the hong congress prodemocracy movement called on students to retreat from protest sites out of concern of more violence. Now three of them ateltedded to surrender to police. Two cofounders are associate professors at universities. The third is a clergyman. They tried to turn themselves in to police because of their role in organizing the illegal gatherings. Police are considering what action to take. Translator the situation has become very dangerous. I hope the protesters will end the occupation as soon as possible. Lets save our energy and continue on the path of democracy. Its a long and exhausting road, but we need to walk together. Students and citizens began their sitins more than two months ago. They are protesting a decision by beijing to screen candidates for hong kongs chief executive election in 2017. The cofounders told protesters to leave the streets following clashes on sunday with police. Many people were injured or arrested. Student representatives say theyll have to reconsider their strategy as the sitins have proven ineffective in pressuring the hong kong government. Some of the demonstrators say the sit ins must continue. A senior u. S. Official has weighed in and warned china not to forcibly supress demonstrators in hong kong. The u. S. Secretary of state Daniel Russell spoke to the Senate Foreign relations committee. Its far from over and a mistake to under estimate the resolve and determination of the hong kong people. The chinese know that the world is watching. And this matters. It has a reputational cost to them. Russell argued people in hong kong should embrace a more open election system. He says it will help legitimize the appointment. Officials in beijing says there has been foreign interference in the process. Some chinese says the u. S. Government is providing Financial Assistance to the protesters. Russell later told reporters its clear hong kong residents voluntarily launched the campaign. He criticized the Chinese Government for holding what he calls a nasty view that the protesters were instigated from outside. Investors are pouring in to the u. S. Dollar. They feel it will pay off well. You have the details. Whats going on . I do. Investors feel it is a good time to buy the dollar. Especially true if they have a lot of yen. Interest rates on u. S. Treasury notes and the ones on government bonds are headed in opposite directions. American yields are rising where as jgbs are falling. They are selling the yen and buying the dollar and taking it to levels they havent seen in seven years, four months. The dollar is nearing the key level of 120 yen. Now at 119. 8386. Analysts say there are other reasons behind the surge, too. U. S. Services sector data beat the market consensus. Overnight the Dow Jones Industrial average posted yet another record high. The stronger dollar seems to be supporting the japanese stock market. Share prices are continuing higher today. The index now the nikkei Index Trading higher by. 7 . 17,846. Investors are buying export related shares including cars and Electronics Makers on the back of a weakening yen. Looking at other markets in the asiapacific region, the kospi is trading higher by almost twothirds percent and australia is up threequarter percent. Positive pictures so far. U. S. Federal reserve board Officials SayAmerican Business leaders and economists are up beat on the economy. They report that people saw growth in october and november and gave a slightly higher assessment than their previous report. The views are compiled in the boards beige book. Is report is based on comments from Senior Business people and Economic Experts in each of the Central Banks 12 districts. Hogs say consumer spenting continued higher. Some credited lower gasoline prices. Fed Officials Say retailers in many districts were optimistic about the upcoming holiday season. The respondents say employment gains were widespread and some companies had difficulty finding workers for i. T. Jobs. Manufacturing was generally strong, led by the automotive and aerospace industries. Fed policy makers will hold a meeting this month to discuss the outlook and what conditions would be needed for an Interest Rate hike. Japanese authorities are considering penalizing a Hong Kongbased hedge fund for alleged stock price manipulation. The fund had been buying share os of a japanese major component maker listed on the first section of the tokyo stock exchange. Sources say they sold 15 million shares. They included stocks the fund purchased just before the close of a trading session on the Tokyo Exchange over a year ago. Areon allegedly raised the share price by 1,000 yen, about 8 through the transaction. The prophet was 10 billion yen or 83 million. Based on an agreement securities firms bought the shares at the Closing Price that day. Japans securities and Exchange Surveillance commission will further investigate the case together with hong kong authorities. The head of the Japan Business federation has sent a positive signal to japans Largest Labor union which plans to demand another wage hike next year. The chairman was speaking to reporters on wednesday. Officials at the union group say they will seek a basic pay raise of at least 2 in next years negotiations. They made the same demand last spring. Basically its up to the companies to make the decisions. But its vital for the economy to pull japan out of deflation and create a favorable economic cycle. So companieses with stronger herbings should use the profit for raising wages and hiring for workers. He said the federation may include a plan to accept Union Demands in the basic policy for next years wage negotiations. The Employers Federation chief said a wage hike would depend on the type of industries or scope of businesses. But companies with enough capacity to give pay raises should do so. I will have more of the headlines for you next hour in business. I will leave you now with a check on markets. The Myanmar NationalSymphony Orchestra gave a concert to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties with japan. The orchestra had fewer opportunitieses to play when myanmar was under military rule. Thats changing. Reporter members of the myanmar Symphony Orchestra practiced in bare feet and were in traditional clothes. They used to be dubbed the phantom orchestra because they rarely performed in public. These days, they frequently perform the National Anthems of Important International visitors. Moh moh san is a violinist and one of many players lacking formal training in classical music. She originally played a traditional harp. She was assigned the violin because it also has strings. Her husband studied the violin at university. His help was important. Translator even in just a short time, its been satisfying to see her progress. Translator it was tough, but i never considered quitting. The more i was able to play, the more interesting it became. Reporter japanese conductor Yunosuke Yamamoto received an invitation from the myanmar government to help fine tune the orchestra. Reporter the concert marking 50 years of ties between myanmar and japan would be a chance to demonstrate the improvements. Orchestra members practice intensely. Moh moh stays late. Shes still not 100 comfortable with her violin. Do you make bigger vibration . No . I cannot. You cannot . Try it just once. Yes, yes. Thats good. Its difficult. It works. Reporter on concert day, she and her fellow musicians don black suits and dresses. Translator i didnt expect it to be this good. It was fabulous. Translator more than if the performance was good or not, i believe the audience was able to enjoy it. Translator im so happy my hard work has paid off. Reporter the songs the orchestra performed proudly in public is music to ears of those who are optimistic of myanmars future. Nhk world. Palestinians are looking for ways to become more economically independent. They are turning to plentiful resource in the region. Some are making headway by turningle olives into oil exports. Heres more. Reporter battir lies southwest of jerusalem. Residents have cultivated this for 2,000 years. Recently unesco registered the area as a World Heritage site. Its olive harvesting season. Olives have taken root deeply in palestine lives and culture. Almost every arab village has an olive oil presser. Farmers bring their harvest to the facility and make olive oil for the coming year. Sparkling Golden Olive Oil flows from the spout. So this is the olive oil right out of the factory. No olive oil can be fresher than this. When i taste it, its got some sense of bitterness which makes this olive oil special. Residents use plastic containers more than bottles. Translator i use a lot of olive oil. Thats why i use large containers. Reporter for the most part, the oil is sold to friends and relatives. Not much used to go to the foreign market. Industries in palestine have been vulnerable due to the israeli occupation. Nasir wants to build a bigger Olive Oil Industry to help make palestines economy sustainable. He exports and sell fair trade olive oil. He hopes to give farmers an incentive by paying a price for their olives that reflects the costs of producing them. Everybody wanted to be a part of whats going on, even though they were suspicious whats going on, why would somebody pay above market price. We have had for the most part traditional organic practices in our farms. Those traditions helped us in the systemization. Reporter fair trade has been operating for ten years. 2,000 farmers work and their olives are proudly exported to more than 18 countries. This farmer says his life is more stable now that he can sell all his crop at once for more than the market price. This enabled him to send his six children to university. Translator i am really lucky that my product is exported. I feel that now we have a meaningful existence in the world. Reporter he believes the presence of his companys olive oil in foreign supermarkets can help palestine achieve recognition as a state. People are starting to see as a victim or terrorist, always in the political context. Here we are reintroducing a palestinian that is an artisan producer and trade partner. We take pride in that as well and were bringing the world a new face of palestine that they dont know. Reporter palestinians have maintained their land and traditions, despite a long occupation. Now theyre pinning their hopes for a Brighter Future on trading olive oil. Akira sehiki, nhk world, the west bank. There is a typhoon headed. Robert speta tells us whats happening. Lets start with the storm system. This has now been upgraded to a violent typhoon. The highest on the intensity scale for the meteorological agency. It puts it in perspective how large the storm system is. Over the past 24 hours it has rapidly intensified. Take a look at the visible satellite imagery. You see toward the north the storm system is gaining strength. The key thing if you look is the well defined eye is very clear. Around that and extending to the north and south we are seeing destructive winds. As we continue to look a hehead the key thing i want you to know is as this approaches the philippines the air could waiver to the north or south. Areas north of the center of circulation we could see winds over 200 Kilometers Per Hour. It will be a slow moving storm. We have a threat of flash flooding and landslides out here. To make matters worse, this is the same area hit a year ago. It caused over 7,000 deaths with typhoon hayan. South of that we had typhoon bofa in 2012 that caused over 1100 deaths. Im not saying this storm will cause the same destruction but the risk is there. If you have ahead of this, now is the time to make preparations. And possibly evacuations or listen to the official warnings put out by this as it tracks off to the west. Expected to make landle fall by saturday afternoon into the evening hours. Lets look at what else is going on out here. One of the main reasons this is on the westward track is we are seeing High Pressure move in from the north. The leading edge has been bringing gusty winds. Not associated with the typhoon, but in okinawa with, wind reports gusting up to 120 Kilometers Per Hour here this morning. The leading edge of the cold surge. The same low pressure thats associated with this will spin up, bring moisture across western portions of japan. Showers there and tokyo through the afternoon hours, you will be wanting an umbrella with you. Not just that, a heavy jacket because temperatures will be on the chilly side. Behind this, cold air continuing to set in. Lets move over to the americas. I want to talk about california. Not an abundance of rain in the tropics. Enough we are seeing problems. In california, 50 to 100 millimeters of precipitation. Several sink holes reported in san francisco. The problem is you are under drought. You need the rain. But think of it like this. If you are thirsty and you want a cup of water and somebody throws a bucket of water at you it doesnt quench your thirst. Thats what we are seeing in california. Too much rain in too short of a period of time resultses in flooding. On the other side of the coast, looking at rainshowers and even snow and mixed precipitation for parts of new england through quebec. That will continue to move east. Behind hinhind it sh another l. Wrapping things up in europe, the storm system to the south. Still the threat of severe weather. As far as temperatures, they are staying warm here, but absolutely chilly if you are into the low countries and eastern portions of europe. Thats a look at the world weather. Ill leave you with the extended forecast. One more story to share before we go, people at a zoo in western japan have made a special announcement on their website. One of the zoos giant pandas has given birth again, this time to female twins. The proud mother of the newborns is the 14yearold who was born in japan. Zoo Officials Say the birth went off without a hitch. The first born cub weighs 181 grams and measured 22 centimeters. The second cub was born a few hours later. She weighs 186 grams and measures 21 sent meters. The panda keeper at the zoo says shes overjoyed. Translator im so delighted. I just hope they grow up healthy and strong. The panda is in her early 40s in human years. Shes the fourth time shes given birth, making her the mother of seven. And her partner is a 22 from china. That puts him in his late 60s in human terms but that hasnt slowed him down one bit. Hes already fathered 13 cubs thats all for this edition of newsline. Thanks for joining us. Garrison keillor maxine kumin lives on a farm in New Hampshire where she breeds arabian and quarter horses, writing poetry, four novels, more than 20 childrens books. She says, i dont want to write poems that arent necessary. I want to write poems that matter. This is a little one called after love. Afterward, the compromise. Bodies resume their boundaries. These legs, for instance, mine. Your arms take you back in. Spoons of our fingers, lips admit their ownership. The bedding yawns, a door blows aimlessly ajar and overhead, a plane singsongs coming down. Nothing is changed, except there was a moment when the wolf, the mongering wolf who stands outside the self lay lightly down, and slept. applause thank you. Todays asian voices comes from nagoya in central japan. We will look at globalization. Earlier this month, unesco held a world conference here. The theme was education for Sustainable Development or esd. The aim of esd is to nurture people who can tackle global challenges, such as the environment and