The attackers exchanged gunfire with police on the way out, killing one policeman, then fled. The site is located near the citys bastille monument. Bernard cazeneuve that the authorities are looking for three men. The car they used to escape was found abandoned in a northern part of the city. The Charlie Hebdo newspaper is known for its satirical content. On wednesday they published a cartoon that lampooned islamic jihadists. The afp quoted the attackers yelled out the prophet has been avenged. Security officials strengthened security at religious buildings saying theyre on the lookout for anything suspicious in other public places. Translator satirical cartoons are not a good idea but in our country from what ive seen no other religions have been targeted except for islam. Thousands of people have gathered for a vigil near the city square. Many held up posters with the phrase meaning i am charlie in solidarity with the journal. The french president spoke to the nation on wednesday night. Translator today the French Republic as a whole was target. The republic means freedom of expression. It means culture, creation pluralism and democracy and thats what the terrorists have threatened. Hollande called for solidarity among french people. The attack was one of the deadliest in postwar france. Leaders from European Countries and elsewhere have condemned the attack and expressed their support for france. We must never allow the values that we hold dear of democracy, freedom of speech, to be damaged by these terrorists. We must stand against what they have done. Translator we stand by those freedom of press, freedom of democracy and again our thoughts are with the french people, and we will do everything we can to help france in such a difficult situation. It was a horrendous, unjustifiable and coldblooded crime. It was also a direct assault on a cornerstone of democracy, on the media and freedom of expression. We stay vigilant in trying to protect them and to hunt down and bring the perpetrators of this specific act to justice and to roll up the networks that helped to advance these kinds of plots. Japans Prime Minister sent a message to hollande condemning the assault. Shinzo abe says such a cowardly attack cannot be tolerated. He expressed shock and anger over the large number of casualties. He said the hearts of the japanese are with the people of france. Charlie hebdo has gained popularity for its comedic coverage of major news topics. In november 2011, editors compiled a feature report on the arab spring democratic uprising in the middle east. Muhammad, the islamic prophet, with the caption if you dont laugh at this, youll be whipped. They soon found themselves the target of threats and protests. Many muslims called it an insult to their faith. Attackers fire bombed the office of the newspaper and caused major damage. The french government joined the u. S. Led coalition in september, carrying out air strikes against Islamic State militants in iraq. Since then, officials have been on alert over concerns that muslim fundamentalists might stage terror attacks in france. Interior Ministry Officials say more than 1,100 French Nationals have entered iraq or syria to join Islamic State or are trying to enter. They say theres a chance some of those people will return home and stage terrorist attacks. So they revised the countrys counterterrorism laws in november. Authorities can now confiscate passports from people who may likely become involved in terrorism abroad. The legislation also allows officials to block access to websites that promote terrorism and extremist ideas. Last year, a French National stormed the Jewish Museum of belgium in brussels, killing four people. Police say the man had previously worked with Islamic State militants in syria. Two years ago, another man claiming to be a member of al qaeda fired a gun at students and their guardians at a Jewish School in southern france. Police killed the suspect after a standoff that lasted more than a day. The 24yearold man of algerian descent earlier claimed he had killed seven people, including french soldiers. Police cadets are among dozens of people who have died in a car bomb attack in yemen. Authorities say the blast outside a Police Academy killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 50. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack in the capital of sanaa. Shia muslim rebels called houthis took control of the city in september of last year. They joined yemens new cabinet two months later after u. N. Officials brokered a truce between the rebels and the government. Attackers have subsequently targeted security organizations in a series of bombings across the country. Al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who are sunni muslims are thought to have been behind the attacks. Suicide bomber last month killed three security guards and other people near the iranian ambassadors residence in the capital. Iran is a major shia country, escalating sectarian conflicts. May destabilize the new cabinet. The Hong Kong Government is looking to reform how the people will choose their chief executive in 2017. Theyll change the election system based on a decision made by the chinese government. Prodemocracy lawmakers say the proposed amendments dont go far enough. Officials announced on wednesday at the Legislative Council theyll resume public hearings. They say theyll be held over the next two months. The hearings were blocked last year by prodemocracy protests that lasted for more than two months. Hong kong government leaders say they want to hammer out a reform bill after hearing opinions from the public. Theyll then try to enact it into law. But analysts say its uncertain if the reforms would pass. They say 43 of the 70 seats on council are held by prochina supporters. Thats just short of the twothirds needed to approve bills. Prodemocracy lawmakers walked out of the Legislative Council raising yellow umbrellas after hearing the governments proposal. Japanese government officials are talking to economists studying data and making predictions. Theyre wondering what kind of year 2015 will be. Ai uchida joins us from the business desk. What can you tell us . As you know the fiscal year here begins in april, before it starts officials need a budget to make a budget they need a growth forecast. And they now have one. Sources say the economy should grow around 1. 5 in real terms and thats factoring in the effects of inflation. The nominal figure which leaves price rises as it would work out to 2. 7 . The government is preparing its Economic Outlook that will form the basis of the 2015 budget. The fiscal year begins april 1st. The sources say they expect japans economy to show a moderate recovery because the weaker yen is helping out manufacturers and some other businesses. Other positive factors include the fall in crude oil prices. Business people can also expect some relief from an economic stimulus package worth about 29 billion. The government decided on the measures last month. The government officials plan to approve a bill for the fiscal 2015 budget next week. Now the number of bankruptcies in japan is on the downward trend. Still, the weaker yen is not all good news. A survey shows that more than double the number of Japanese Companies that did fail last year blamed a weaker yen compared with the previous period. Analysts at private Credit Research firm data bank surveyed managers at the failed companies of debts of at least 10 million yen or 83,000 in 2014. The poll takers asked them on the reasons and background for their predicaments. They found that 345 of the companies were affected by the yens decline. The number in 2013 was 130. 96 of the firms were in transportation and communications. 80 were whole salers. The analysts say many of the failed companies were unable to pass on higher costs of imported materials and energy to their customers. The researchers say the cheaper yen is boosting profits of major corporations operating overseas, but its squeezing earnings of many smaller companies. They say they will keep a close watch on Falling Crude oil prices, which tend to help the transportation industry. Japanese governments decision to postpone a hike in the consumption tax is prompting officials to review social welfare spending, but one area expected to avoid a funding squeeze is child care. Officials are putting a priority on the program viewing it as key to raising the birthrate. The officials are reviewing new social welfare programs as they prepare the draft budget plan for fiscal 2015. The officials had originally planned to allocate about 15 billion to improve the programs but tax hike delay means available revenue cut to 11 billion. Still, Officials Say theyll go ahead with the new program as originally planned. Observers say that amid japans falling birthrate, parents need better support for raising their children. The program gets under way from next fiscal year beginning april. About 4 billion will be allocated so that Day Care Centers can increase the number of children they accept. A portion of the money will go toward improving conditions of teachers. Other areas to be funded as planned. Intractable diseases that qualify for subsidized medical care. It will also provide Financial Support for the deficitridden National Health insurance system. But the government will postpone its plan of providing benefits to lowincome pensioners. Officials are planning to set total social welfare spending at about 260 billion. Now lets take a look at markets. Investors on wall street took comfort from a strong private sector jobs report. U. S. Stock prices rebounded after five Straight Days of losses. Market players here in tokyo, they are also in a positive mood. The nikkei average opened 1 higher, regaining the 17,000 threshold. Currently up 1. 1 building on those initial gains. Now, analysts say hopes for further stimulus by the European Central bank are supporting market sentiment, too. But currency traders are pulling down the euro on speculation the ecb may soon take action to avert deflation. Data released wednesday shows inflation for the eurozone turned negative last month. Against the dollar the single currency dipped to a 9year low overnight. It is still at the 1. 18 level in tokyo trading. And the dollar that is pulling back from tuesdays lows when it was at the lower 1. 18 yen range. Traders are buying the dollar following that strong u. S. Jobs data. The dollar against the yen currently in the mid to the lower to mid 119 yen range. Looking at some other markets in the asia pacific region, south koreas kospi trading higher. In australia, the benchmark index is trading higher as well. Up more than a third percent. So pretty positive picture in the asia pacific so far this morning. Well track all these markets for you throughout the day and be back next hour with an update. Heres a look at some other figures. A Top Executive of mcdonalds Holdings Japan has said hes very sorry for a series of problems involving foreign objects found in its food. Translator we deeply apologize for causing so much trouble and concern to many of our customers. We are very sorry. A customer discovered a piece of vinyl in a Chicken Nugget last week at a restaurant in the northern prefecture of aomori. All japanese chains were ordered to stop selling nuggets that were produced on the same day in thailand. A piece of plastic was also discovered in a dessert at an outlet in the northeastern prefecture of fukushima last month. The object was part of a machine at the restaurant. Senior Vice President takehiko aoiki revealed on wednesday that a customer at the fukushima restaurant was injured by the piece of plastic. Aoski also says a customer in osaka complained that what appeared to be the tip of a human tooth was found in a patch of fried potatoes. He says its unclear how that happened. The Chicken Nugget that contained vinyl was produced in bangkok. Officials at the facility say they have sent gloves and aprons used at the factory to japan to determine whether any of the material matches the vinyl found in the nugget. Translator our products meet the standard of our companys Quality Control system. Every employee here understands the production process well, so we have 100 confidence in our products. Products from the factory are also exported to countries in europe and southeast asia. Indonesian searchers say theyve found the tail of an airasia passenger jet that disappeared with 162 people on board. They say the section could house the crucial black box flight recorders. Translator i can confirm that weve found the tail. Thats been our main target today. The head of the search and rescue agency says searchers located the wreckage off the coast of kalimantan. Divers were able to identify it from letters written on the side. International teams from the u. S. , australia and japan have been taking part in the operation. Searchers have only recovered 40 bodies so far. Theyve made it a priority to retrieve the tail and the black boxes inside. They hope these voice and flight data recorders will reveal the cause of the crash. Aviation Authorities Say the plane was flying through Stormy Weather when it disappeared on december 28th. It was heading from surabaya in indonesia to singapore. South korean prosecutors have charged a former korean air Vice President with violating a safety law. Cho dana delayed a flight over the way a snack was served. Translator we charged the former Vice President of korean air for violating the aviation safety law by changing flight plans. Assault on a plane, coercion, and interference in the execution of duty. Cho became outraged when a cabin attendant offered her nuts in a bag instead of serving them on a plate as laid out in the airlines manual. She demanded the plane return to the gate, even though it was taxiing for takeoff. She also ordered the flight officer in charge of Cabin Service to get off the plane. Prosecutors also charged her with interference in a government investigation by ordering korean air officials to give false testimony and fabricate documents to cover up the incident. In addition, prosecutors indicted a managing director of korean air for trying to force flight attendants to give false testimonies to defend cho. People in cambodia commemorated the 36d anniversary of of the overthrow of a brutal regime the khmer rouge. More than 1. 5 Million People died from forced labor, starvation torture or execution. The rein of the khmer rouge started to unraifl in late 1978 when a group of former khmer rouge including the current Prime Minister launched a revolt. They were backed by thousands of vietnamese troops. On january 7, 1979 the forces took control of the capital phnom penh. The Ruling Cambodian Peoples Party held a ceremony to commend the end of the civil war, highlighting the success in putting the economy on the road to growth backed by international assistance. Translator the january 7th victory saved millions of cambodians from being killed by the brutal khmer rouge regime. Translator im so happy to celebrate this day because it saved my life. As soon as it seized power, the khmer rouge started to reorganize the country, based on radical social engineering policies. It hoped to create a utopian society. Millions of people were forced the leave the cities for farming villages. At least one fifth of the population died. A special court was jointly set up by the United Nations and the cambodian government nine years ago. Its still trying former leaders. As the trials drag on and the defendants age there are doubts whether they will all be brought to justice. The people who run Japanese Electronics maker hi that chi are pushing into a new market. Theyve started shipping train cars made for high Speed Railways in the uk and also looking to drive more of their products abroad. Nhk worlds mitsuko in it ka that reports. Reporter they celebrated on wednesday a first for the company. These rail cars will leave their factory in yamaguchi prefecture and arrive in the uk in march. They say its one of the largest contracts ever awarded by britains railway system. It is a fantastic day for us to ship the first class 800 series train from the factory here. Reporter the company has seen a lot of business from england come their way in the last three years. They won a contract to replace 866 carriages on the uks asian highspeed railway. Officials with hitachi say their state of the art trains are faster and smarter. They say they can carry commuters at speeds of up to 201 Kilometers Per Hour. And they also say people will have more space on board. Trains will connect london and other cities as part of the Intercity Express Program initiated by the government. The car has a Diesel Engine so it can run on stretch that is do not have electricity. People in the country who ride the rails have become familiar with japanese technology. Hitachis rail cars were widely used in the london olympics in 2012 taking visitors to the main venue. People came to appreciate the trains speed and punk walt. Company executives are also eyeing markets beyond the uk. Theyre keen to challenge other leading manufacturers including canada and france. I see in the future continued growth for the Railway Business and i think hitach irs very well placed to capture this both strengthen our position in europe, but also to expand our operation to other markets. Reporter theyre putting more emphasis on selling to rail operators in europe. They also want to push their products in emerging areas like india and other Southeast Asian countries. And they call their large scale deal in the uk an important milestone in a competitive transportation industry. Mitsuko nishikawa, nhk world. Its time now for a check of the weather. People in northern japan are dealing with heavy snow and grusty weather conditions. Mai shoji joins us with more. We have a pattern thats intensified. Some people in hokkaido are dealing with this condition. Whiteout condition in the area. People are digging out of the snow. About 200 Flights Canceled yesterday caused travelers to spend the night at the airport. Over 360 households are without power across hokkaido due to heavy snow cutting the power lines. If you can pull back i can show you this potent system this is whats responsible for that. You can see its very engulfing japan. The low pressure system here creating this really windy conditions. You can see the isobars close to each other. These are the reports. 155 Kilometers Per Hour in hokkaido and the snowfall keeps on adding up. More than 3 meters are found and on top of that likely to see more wintry precipitation, especially along the sea of japan side of the country. Up to about 50 centimeters in hokkaido hokkaido. Good for the skiers and going to be a lot of risk for avalanche so snow falling off the roofs and be aware of those aspects. Out here across the bigger picture, mongolia northern china, as well as the Korean Peninsula looking at some Clear Conditions with the High Pressure system blanketing overhead but here likely about 70 millimeters of rain fall due to the ridge of the High Pressure pulling that moisture from the south. Scattered thunderstorms prevailing in the philippines and indo china peninsula. 28 degrees and sunny skies and the north, frigid temperatures at seoul. 0 degrees is for your high today. Your morning low marked minus 6 degrees already at minus 10 in yue land bah tar. This is where dangerous life threatening cold could target North Central to eastern canada. High pressure system sits over here and this is your threeday outlook. Really bitter cold will be continuing throughout your friday and into saturday even. Chicago take a look at that. Thats minus 20 degrees. This is your actual temperature. Thats not your windchill figure. Windchill factors could go down as much as 40 degrees and down into atlanta, looking at some minus double digits actually. Sub zero ranging all the way into saturday. So hard freeze warning and windchill warning in place in the deep south. Towards the southwest, though, this is an area were looking at summer temperatures or even above summer range. 30. 6 degrees marked the daily record high on tuesday and in around san diego. And thats a record since 1969. For example, los angeles, the mid20s will continue into your friday so very big different picture out there. A quick look here in europe now. Well, this potent system is going to be bringing howling winds across the British Isles and in and around norway much of the scandinavian peninsula, germany even. 162 Kilometers Per Hour winds could be identified in and around norway. Watch out for downed power lines and damaging structures. Ill leave you now for an extended forecast. And thats all for this edition of newsline. Im Catherine Kobayashi in tokyo. Thanks for staying with us. This edition of asian voices comes to you from china, one of the most Serious Problems facing the country today is environmental pollution. Thick, white, haze shrouding beijing. Increase asking emissions from vehicles and factories are making air pollution worse in china