Countries around the world to help raise billions of dollars in aid for those suffering because of the syrian civil war. Two people are in critical condition, after a Japan Maritime selfdefense force vessel collided with a sports fishing boat. The collision off the coast of western japan threw four people from the fishing boat into the ocean. Officials from the Japanese Coast Guard are launching an investigation into the incident. Nhk world has more. Reporter the accident took place wednesday morning off atatajima island. The fishing boat capsized and its captain and three customers were thrown overboard. Selfdefense forces personnel rescued all four. Two of them were safe. But the captain and one of the customers were taken to a hospital. The cause of the accident is still unclear. The selfdefense force ship involved in the incident is an 8,900 ton transport vessel called the osumi. At the time of the accident, it was heading to port for scheduled maintenance. Defense minister Itsunori Onodera expressed his condolences and said officials from the coast guard will conduct an independent investigation. Translator it is truly regrettable that people were injured in the incident. We look forward to the results of the coast guards investigation to learn more details. Reporter the Japan Maritime selfdefense force has been involved in similar incidents in the past. In 1988, a submarine collided with a sports fishing boat off the coast of central japan, killing 30 people. A court found that the submarines captain was responsible for the accident. In 2008, a japanese destroyer collided with a fishing boat off the coast of shib u prefecture near tokyo. Two people on the fishing boat died. A court exonerated the crew of the destroyer. Japans defense minister says his department will fully cooperate with any investigation. According to officials with japans coast guard, the conditions were fine at the time of the accident, with gentle waves and good visibility. They will now look into exactly how the two vessels collided. Tack hammi terui, nhk world, tokyo. Japanese leaders have approved a tenyear Business Plan for the operator of the damaged Nuclear Plant in fukushima. Executives at Tokyo Electric Power company are facing a costly decommissioning process at the facility. And theyre counting on restarting reactors elsewhere to boost revenue. Industry minister officially told tepco president hirose the Business Plans approval. The government has controlled the Company Since 2012. Tepco officials want to restart reactors at their Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant at early as july. They also plan to rebuild aging thermal power plants and find cheaper imported fuel for thermal power generation. Theyre forecasting an annual profit of more than 950 million. It would allow them to gradually lower electricity rates. Tepco is looking at creating a new division to deal with the growing problem of contaminated water at Fukushima Daiichi and to dismantle reactors. It has set aside 19 billion for the work. Translator tepco should show the people, and to show them that the companys changing and it will keep on changing. You should do this through your efforts and action. The government has increased the limit of its interestfree loans to tepco to 86 billion. The utility is using the money for decontamination efforts, and to compensate evacuees. Company officials plan to streamline management, and close local offices to cut costs by 46 billion. They want to make tepco competitive. The head of the United Nations is trying to raise billions of dollars to help those suffering because of the syrian civil war. Secretarygeneral ban kimoon is hosting a humanitarian Donor Conference in kuwait. Representatives from 60 countries are attending the meeting. Ban mentioned a report on famine in syria in his opening remarks. He says the whole world needs to tacking the crisis not just in the middle east. Ban wants to raise 6. 5 billion in aid this year. Thats the largest annual amount the u. N. Has tried to collect for a single humanitarian crisis. Kuwait has promised 500 million. The United States has pledged 380 million. U. N. Officials will follow up this conference by hosting International Peace talks next week in switzerland. Theyre trying to bring delegates from the Syrian Government and Opposition Forces to the negotiating table. Lawyers and human rights advocates have asked the International Criminal court to investigate alleged abuses by British Forces during the iraq war. Theyre demanding prosecution of britains former defense secretary, and other senior military officials. Representatives said they have testimony from victims and witnesses in over 400 cases between 2003 and 2008. They said the alleged torture of iraqi detainees was systematic and violated international law. They also said the british governments probe of the matter was insufficient with only one soldier convicted. British government officials deny that systematic abuse occurred. They say any allegations of substance have been or are being investigated and do not require the International Courts involvement. A top Japanese Business group is asking companies to boost wages. Ron madison has been following that story. Ron . Yeah, theyre saying that bigger paychecks will really have a knockon effect on the economy and keep things on a firm path to recovery. Japans largest Business Organization calling for wage hikes in the upcoming labor negotiations. Its the first time in six years that theyll make a strong appeal for higher wages. The Japan Business federation or keidanran, announced its basic policy for the annual negotiations. A top keidanran official in charge of Labor Relations cites a favorable corporate Business Climate boosted by Prime Minister shinzo abes economic policies. Translator now we encourage firms with a Strong Performance to not only focus on raising capital investments, but also to increase jobs and wages. Mihara says higher wages will help create a favorable cycle in which better corporate earnings lead to more jobs and income. Hes also calling on employers to consider various options to raise wages, his approval for a basic salary increase. Now japans Largest LaborUnion Federation is demanding a raise in basic pay for the first time in five years. The higher compensation is a key point in the upcoming negotiation. Managers at major japanese banks are considering raising base pay for their employees. Executives at tokyo Mitsubishi Ufj and mizuho may move toward raising basic wages for the first time in 19 years following strong earnings. The recent surge in share prices is pushing up their bottom lines. Another major maung, sim tombo miss u is also expected to consider a wage hike in some form such as a basic salary raise or a higher bonus. An increasing number of managers and other industries ranging from electronics, autos, retail and restaurant chain are also reported to be considering higher wages for their workers. Moving on to the markets now, european equities are building on gains as investors think that the Global Economy is looking good this year. This came after the world bank raised its Global Growth forecast for the first time in three years, as well as positive data on u. S. Consumer spending. London is gaining 0. 3 while frankfurt is up by about a percent. Paris cac 40 up by half a percent. Earlier most asian shares rose. Tokyos nikkei jumped 2. 5 , recovering most of the losses shown on the previous day. The sensex index closed higher on easing concerns about the countrys inflation. Bangkoks s. E. Tencht declined 1. 5 finishing 1,277. Investors remain a bit nervous about the escalating antigovernment protests there. On wednesday thailands Stock Exchange moved some personnel from its main building. That was amid threats that protesters could take over the building. On the currencies now, increased Risk Appetite in the markets is encouraging many investors to sell the safe haven yen. Dollar yen right now is right around 104. 30. Dollar is staying pretty firm today. Meanwhile euro yen has been quoted at close to 142. 11. Honda motor is set to boost production in indonesia. The japanese automaker has completed the construction of a second plant in the country, and its local Production Capacity will more than double. A ceremony was held wednesday to mark the plants opening. The new factory was built in a industry complex near jakarta at a cost of more than 250 million. Workers will assemble multipurpose vehicles newly designed for the indonesian market. Honda executives say the factory is the first step to achieve annual sales of 300,000 in 2016 in the country. Other japanese automakers are also seeing a Bright Outlook in indonesia. Thanks to a growing number of middle income earners. They completed their second plant last year in the country. Nissan plans to raise its local output capacity to 250,000 units a year in 2016. And toyota motor will begin talks in the United States to settle a class action lawsuit. Thats over alleged problems of sudden unintended acceleration in its cars. U. S. Government investigators found no defect in the vehicles. But the plaintiffs claim inadequate Safety Systems caused accidents resulting in injuries, and deaths. Toyota lost a court case in oklahoma. Court officials in california recommended last month that toyota and the plaintiffs try to reach a settlement. On tuesday, representatives from both sides attended a hearing at a Federal District court in california. They expressed their intention to settle the case out of court. Toyotas legal team said it had already begun negotiations on onethird of the 400 pending lawsuits. Lawyers for both sides agreed to first discuss among themselves the conditions for a settlement. They plan to return to court for further negotiations in april. That is going to do it for biz tonight. Lets see how things are looking on the markets. Farmers in fukushima, japan, have had to get creative as they deal with the aftermath of the 2011 Nuclear Accident. They constantly test the produce they sell. But some consumers still worry about radiation contamination. So one village has found a way to grow vegetables in a closed environment. Nhk worlds naomi umuara shows us. Reporter this family own a mushroom farm in the village seven kilometers from Fukushima Daiichi. The Nuclear Accident forced them to change how they work. Now they test the mushrooms several times for radiation. And they say the level of cesium is below government set standards. Still the mushrooms sell for nearly half of what they did before the disaster. Translator my mushrooms are safe. Its a shame theyre deemed no good the moment people find out theyre from fukushima. Reporter other farmers are dealing with the same problems. Growing crops such as mushrooms, rice, and buckwheat, is easy. Selling them is another matter. Endo believe leads the reconstr effort for the village. He decided to take action. Translator kawauchi prides itself on having clean ground water. I thought of growing safe, cesium free vegetables by creating an enclosed space that uses tasty groundwater to cultivate vegetables while taking extra care not to absorb even cesium floating around in the atmosphere. Reporter his colleagues at the Village Office like the idea. They built a cuttingedge vegetable factory last april. The hydro panic facility used water, but no soil. L. E. D. Lights speed the growth. The factory can produce up to 8,000 heads of lettuce at once time. Workers harvest every 40 days and check for radioactive substances before shipment. Translator since the vegetables are cultivated in a clean room they dont have to be washed. The customer can simply open the container and pour dressing directly onto the vegetables. Its now our bestseller. Reporter consumers are buying the vegetables in Stores AcrossFukushima Prefecture and in the tokyo area. Takeo endo hopes to lure more farmers into the business so they can cultivate strawberries, and other products. Translator i hope this will serve as a center for shipping and selling vegetables locally produced in fukushima. If this succeeds we can overcome food safety concerns, and help farmers make more money so they can continue working in this business. Reporter its one of many steps people in northeastern japan are taking to try to revitalize the Agriculture Sector in their region. Nhk world, fukushima. South korean officials who monitor tourist numbers say visitors from japan have lost their number one ranking to china. Chinese travelers overtook their Japanese Counterparts last year for the first time in more than four decades. The south Korean JusticeMinistry Says about 10. 7 million foreigners visited the country in 2013. Thats a 5. 5 increase from the previous year. More than 3. 9 million of the visitors were from china up about 44 . The number of travelers from japan declined by about 22 to just over 2. 7 million. Japan has traditionally been the main source of tourists to south korea since overtaking the United States in 1971. Ministry officials attribute the decline to a stronger south korean currency. The won rose against the yen last year by nearly 20 . They also blame sauered relations with japan and unease over north Korean Military provocations last year. Japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe is back from a tour of africa. Abe was trying to drum up business, but executives know they have to help africa develop Human Resources for its economy to grow. Nhk world has more. Translator africa has become the continent that carries the hope of the world. Thanks to the potential of its natural resources, and its dynamic economic growth. Japan and Japanese Companies have the strength to help you all. Reporter abe ended his tour with a speech at the headquarters of the african union. Abe became the first japanese Prime Minister to visit mozambique. Coal mines and offshore gas fields are powering an economy thats growing by around 7 a year. Abe led the delegation of executives from 13 leading Japanese Companies. They are hoping to get projects such as Energy Development and road construction. But mozambique doesnt have the Human Resources to keep up with the fastgrowing businesses. A 15year war devastated mozambiques education system. The war is over, but the scars remain. Less than 20 of those eligible for secondary education have enrolled. Some private schools are trying to help. This one in central mozambique is backed by a japanese ngo. More than 500 junior and Senior High School students from lowincome families study here. Tuition costs about 7 a month. Thats less than half the fee for other private schools. Some graduates have gone on to universities. And some have been hired by foreign firms. So executives say theres a big demand for educated locals. Translator mozambique is blessed with rich natural resources. But the country will only be able to make use of it if the entire nation is educated. Real growth is in the hands of its own people. Reporter this man is one of the schools graduates. He landed a job at the local office of a leading japanese trading house. He cultivates clients and coordinates business between firms, government, and local companies. He says his education opened the door he never imagined. When i was at school i became exposed to different culture, and looking at the quality of education i was getting there, i actually started aiming higher than i would previously think of. Reporter and his employer says its people like him that enable them to tap in to the local market. Translator when we employ people from mozambique, it makes it easier to work with local companies. We can enjoy smooth communication, and build trust. Reporter Business Leaders are striking deals for africas natural resources. But they know they need more than drills and pipelines. To make the investment sustainable, they all have to invest in Human Resources, too. Nhk world, mozambique. Theres flooding in the philippines. Our meteorologist robert speta has been following that story. Robert . Oh, yeah, gene. And really, over the past week we havent seen the heavy rainfall. Its all concentrated to the southern philippines. Actually off toward the north in norton luzon youre not really getting so much of the rain off here, even including into manila. But what were talking about is much of it in northern mindanao. Some places in mindanao the past week you have saw upwards of 700 to 800 millimeters of rainfall. Needless to say we have been seeing severe cases of flooding, numerous landslides. Over 20 deaths have been reported at this time, because of a tropical depression. Now its been a low pressure area, tropical depression. Dont expect this to become a named storm but i think thats really just all semantics because what were still going to be seeing and unfortunately i would like to say this is going to dissipate out but its not, its going to be bringing more rainfall across much of this region going through the weekend. Not just that. We have our low down here while we have the northeast monsoon coming in so Gale Force Winds possibly up to the equivalent of Tropical Storm strength. Sustained winds expected to bring near coastal areas along with five meter high waves and 200 to possibly 250 millimeters of rain fall out here. And remember its not just the already saturated ground were contending with but a lot of people out here still in temporary shelters typhoon haiyan came through just a few months ago and the Recovery Efforts continuing after that just devastating typhoon. Meanwhile, kind of the opposite story in china. High pressure has been dominating, bringing clear skies, dry conditions, very chilly, though. Temperatures well below zero for a lot of you here in northeastern china. Do have some fog expected in the Yangtze River basin and then over towards japan some snowfall actually just outside of tokyo and some of the suburbs were seeing here on wednesday morning. The low moving towards the east, sea effect snows continuing to linger there towards hokkaido. In to seoul, 4, tokyo 9, down towards the south, high 20s to low 30s on your thursday. Now in to the americas, what we have is several low pressure systems moving across canada. Along with that jet stream. We have one system moving in from central canada into the northern plains. Its going to bring some gusty winds. Not so much snowfall but snow that will fall, 79 in columbus, our winds are really going to be kicking up reducing visibility along with the windchill. Ontario 5 to 10 centimeters of snow as well going through the next 24 hours. More the most part, High Pressure is dominating and thats bringing dry conditions. Not only that into the southwest what we are seeing is warm conditions there into los angeles. And its not just that, one of these local things going on there is the santa ana winds. Gusts up to 100 Kilometers Per Hour from this High Pressure off to the coastline along with these dry conditions, warm temperatures, extreme fire danger is expected there from san diego off towards north into los angeles. Fire bans are in place. This is definitely a very risky scenario if you plan on lighting fires. Actually right now, fire bans are in place. You shouldnt be doing that anyways. Any fire that does start, very well could spread very quickly. Messy in the west off towards europe. The british isles, one system after another. This one as it moves east were going to be looking at some snowfall into parts of france, even snow advisories currently in place at this time. Makes for some rough travel conditions and then this low moving east as well. This is going to bring us snowfall into the northern balkans and the baltic states. Could be looking at freezing rain. Thats your world weather. Heres the extended forecast. New year visitors to a buddhist temple in japans ancient city of nara have been taking part in a tea ceremony with a difference, drinking from giant cups. The temple serves tea from the oversized drinking vessels on just a few occasions each year. The first time is on january 15th. Among mixed tea in the huge cups using a long bamboo whisk after explaining the ceremonys history. The custom is believed to have started nearly 800 years ago, with a monk at the temple offering tea to visitors to wish for their health. Tea leaves were a valuable commodity at the time. The largest cups are 40 centimeters in diameter and weigh five kilograms each. Translator the cup was very heavy. But it was a great experience. Some participants needed help holding the cup while they drank. Thats newsline for this hour. Im gene otani in tokyo. Isthank you for watching here on france 24. The foreign media, in the wake of the alleged affair of the french president , they are more interested in economic titles. Egypt, therst day in vote happens tonight when they cast their ballot. Gathering on the back of the United Nations record appeal, with the war in syria, we have the latest. First we have which like from paris