Heres a report from seoul. Reporter the bill was passed by an overwhelming handful this afternoon. Only a handful vote against it. Two open candidates for the position, both were chosen by the opposition party. Will have to choose which one will be the special prosecutor. The added title of special gives more investigative powers. The position is independent. Will have the authority to look into suspected illegal acts by senior Government Officials, including those who may be in positions to influence legal props. A special prosecutor will have 120 days to conduct the investigation with a special team. Meanwhile, seoul prosecutors have been reportedly trying to question President Park ahead of this weekend. South korea is reporting that parks lawyer has said that she will cooperate with prosecutors next week. So as far as getting the president to sit down for questioning before this weekend, it doesnt look like thats going to happen. Public frustration continues to grow, according to polls. Parks Approval Rating has hovered at 5 for the past two weeks. Plus nearly threequarters of South Koreans are in favor of impeaching park. Translator she admitted she was in the wrong, but now she seems to be trying to buy time to get out of being questioned. Translator i hope theyll do a thorough investigation and reveal the truth that we all want to hear. Reporter High School Students wrote the nationwide College Entrance exam on thursday. Some say theyre planning on protesting this evening in seoul. Another mass protest is also scheduled this saturday as pressure on park continues. Thanks. Japans Prime Minister shinzo abe left on a three nation tour and his itinerary includes a meeting with president elect donald trump. He will go to the United States, peru, and argentina. Translator i want to build a trusting relationship with the president elect trump. And i want to Work Together for world peace and prosperity. Abe and trump will meet for the first time in new york. Abe is likely to explain japans diplomatic and Security Policies centered on the japan u. S. Alliance. Abe will then attend the asiapacific Economic Cooperation forum in lima, peru. While there he will also attend the meeting of the leaders of the 12 countries participating. In the Transpacific Partnership free trade deal. Abe plans to urge tackling Downside Risks in the global. Economy by using all possible measures in monetary measures in fiscal policies as well as structural reform. He also plans to stress the importance of maintaining free trade amid the growing mood favoring protectionism. Abe will call for speeding up the domestic process in each country to put the tpp deal into effect soon despite trumps promise to withdraw the u. S. From the pact. Abes also scheduled to meet russian president Vladimir Putin in lima. Ahead of putins visit to japan scheduled for december, abe wants to discuss efforts to speed up talks on a peace treaty between the countries and an Economic Cooperation plan. Issues in the peace treaty negotiations include a territorial issue over four russianheld islands. President elect donald trump is still working on filling key posts for his administration. Several people have reportedly been short listed for the roles, including a noted businessperson with ties to japan. Among names floated for the position of secretary of state are former new york city mayor Rudy Giuliani and former u. N. Ambassador john bolton. Wilbur ross has emerged as a candidate for commerce secretary. Ross is known for restructuring failed companies and for his connections with japan. Hes currently serving as chairman of the board of new yorks japan society, which promotes exchanges between the two countries. Ross made remarks to nhk that were in favor of the Transpacific Partnership free trade deal. Secretary of defense is another role yet to be filled. Potential candidates are said to include alabama senator Jeff Sessions and arkansas senator tom cotton. Both are known for having hardline stances. Japans central bank is worried about rising yields on the longterm bonds. Details on that and other stories. The bank of japan has taken steps to curb longterm Interest Rates on bonds. The tenyear yield finished at 0. 00 on thursday. Uncertainty in the United States pushed the bond yield to its highest level in nearly nine months the previous day. Investors believe the policies of president elect donald trump will generate inflation and higher growth. Doj official os say theyre going to purchase twoyear and fiveyear on negative interest rate. The policy was floated at the banks september policy meeting. Boj governor told an Opera House Committee that higher Interest Rates in the u. S. Would affect japan. Interest rates are rising in the u. S. , but its imperative that japan not tolerate the same thing. He said he would control japanese Interest Rates for the price movements. The boj move boosted yen but tokyo stocks were flat. More from the stock exchange. The trumpinduced rally since last week is petering out and ahead of shinzo abes meeting with president elect donald trump in new york this thursday, shares were flat. Lets see the closing levels for this thursday, november 17th. The nikkei ended unchanged and the broader topix gained just a touch. Weve seen yields follow the yields of u. S. Treasuries higher because investors expect trumps Infrastructure Spending plan. Following the boj bond buying announcement they had been tracking losses of u. S. Banks overnight. Mitsubishi Sumitomo Mitsui fell from about the same margin. Sony Financial Holdings were down more than 4 and t d holdings lost more than 3 . Looking for specifics nots just on trumps domestic spending plan but americas role in asia. Well see if his meeting with abe will bring additional. Other markets also ended little changed as investors waited on janet yellen to testify before congress. Shares in the philippines outperformed the rest of the region and 1. 2 . 7,050 the closing number. Strong Third Quarter gdp figures. The fastest pace in three years. In china, the shanghai composite inched upward. Some investors went bargain hunting after two days of losses. As more countries around the world plan for highspeed rail networks, the competition tahelp build them grows. Japanese rail officials are touting the advantages of their bullet train technology. Theyve got their eyes on asia or india and singapore and indonesia are all embracing super fast rail and also looking to the u. S. Where plans are in place to lay more than 13,000 kilometers of highsed trk. Japan is pud of its inkans bulletrain system which has had no fatalities since launching 50 years ago. They face a tight fight from their rivals in europe. Reporter celebrating the launch of a highspeed rail in kyoto. They are here at big rail firms which have teamed up to form the high speed rail association. Their aim to make the technology the global standard for highspeed trains. Japans transport minister made the opening speech. Translator i hope we can have a deep discussion about how highspeed rail can transform society. And send our message from this beautiful city of kyoto. Reporter japanese Officials Say the key to the safety is the technology that automatically prevents collisions between trains. Theyre also proud of their Early Detection system. They say it makes trains disaster proof. There were no derailments in the massive earthquake of march 2011. And the Officials Say the train just didnt transform japans economy, it changed the way people live, too. India is already on board. The Prime Minister recently agreed to use Japanese Technology for a highspeed service that will launch. The line we run is about 500 kilometers away and its just the first such network that india has got planned. Now that japanese firms have a foot in the door, theyre hoping for an even bigger slice of the action. The u. S. Another important target. Central Japan Railway has set up a subsidiary in the state of texas in an effort to land a project that would link dallas and houston. Asia has other big projects, too. One of those will link malaysian capital of kuala lumpur and singapore. Japan faces tough competition, especially from china. Last year, the asian neighbors battled out. Japan lost that fight in a decision that some experts say came down to cost. The focus of the forum in can kyoto is the asian economy. Government officials and transport experts agreed highspeed rail can support growth. In the case of malaysia, i will make the highspeed rail as one of the game changer in the development of malaysia, growth of malaysia and to urban Development Transportation to become one of the top 20 livable cities. Hello, thank you for having time. Pleasure to meet you. Reporter senior engine Government Official held economic benefits. Not just a train in japan. It is a way of life. And it has transformed Japanese Society in the fundamental way to providing people with what i call three ps. Predictability and the third is position. Reporter the race to win highspeed rail contracts is getting more intense, but japanese Officials Say if they can give people a closeup look, it will give them an edge. Nhk world, kyoto. Japans Labor Ministry is encouraging more people to work free lance to help deal with the labor squeeze. Met to discuss the benefits of these jobs. Ministry Officials Say they offer flexibility for people who take care of children or the elderly. They said that would encourage more women to enter the workforce. The officials said employers benefit, as well. They can hire confident wompete whenever they need them. Social Security System designed for corporate employees and also raised the concern that some firms might exploit free lns workers. The panel plans to research the situation of existing free lns workers and come up with a report within the year. The store in osaka is holding a very special event. A sale ofoabout 1,000 items all made of gold. A gold frying pan. The price tag about 400,000. The pan is used to make small pieces of cake. Before the store opened journalists got to watch the cook using the pure gold pan to make it. Translator this gold plate has good thermal conductivity. Even at low heat we can cook it perfectly. Also on odisplay is a replica of a helmet and the worlds Third Largest lump of gold. 120 kilograms and can be yours for 5. 5 million. And you can catch our report, again, online together with a full transcript. Look for nhk world and business wrap. Im going to leave you with the markets. The words of a young boy from fukushima have focused the attention on the problem of bullying. The family and the boy moved away from the region, but the way he was treated in his new home led him to the brink of killing himself. Translator i thought of suicide many times, but i decided to keep living, even if its tough. I thought about how the disaster killed so many other people. Reporter these are the words of a boy from fukushima. He doesnt want his name used. He survived the 2011 Nuclear Accident that happened not far from his home. His family then moved when he entered second grade and thats when the bullying started. Classmates teased the boy by adding the word germ to his name. It is a reference to the area that covered the nuclear plant. They treated me like a germ. I knew it was of the radiation in fukushima and it made me very sad. I thought about how people from my region are becoming the target of bullying. Reporter he was forced to pay thousands of dollars to his classmates. They told his family he was receiving compensation of the accident. They used the money to play at an arcade multiple times. The boy stole the money from his parents. When they told me to bring the compensation money, i was annoyed and mortified. But i was scared that if i refused, id be bullied more. So i had no choice. Reporter the boy refused to go to school after that. Two years ago, his parents talked to School Officials about the thirdparty panel created a report on it and it was not until this month that officials recognized it as bullying. The report said the school and the Education Board did nothing and the inaction went against their educational role. It said doing so was tantamount. Translator Harsh Criticism against the school and the board. This is very serious. I wonder why they didnt deal with the situation. Reporter the boys father says hes not at all satisfy would the response by the school and the board. On the internet, some argued that the opinions of adults may have led to bullying like this. The students use the term compensation money. Ey must hav learned it from the adults around them. They accused me of bringing in radiation, too. Reporter an expert on supporting child victims of disaster points out that bullies tend to be ignorant of activity. She said its important for schools and parents to have the correct information and to convey that to children. The boy is now in seventh grade at an alternative school. He says by releasing his written words, he hopes to encourage others like him and help himself move forward. Nhk world, tokyo. The fight to recapture iraqs second largest city has hit the onemonth mark. The number of civilian casualties is mounting. On october 17th, iraqi and Kurdish Forces backed by the u. S. Led coalition started their offensive. The Islamic State group has controlled mosul for over two years and the city is its largest stronghold in iraq. Earlier this month, some iraqi troops were able to enter the city. Now, the Iraqi Government says it forces control onethird of the eastern side. But troops have been advancing slowly and cautiously as they search for Islamic State fighters and bombs. The militant Group Continues to fight back using residents as human shields and carrying out suicide attacks. An official at an Iraqi MilitaryField Hospital told nhk that since the battle moved to highly populated areas, more civilians have been killed or injured than soldiers. Islamic state militants are expected to step up their offense oive giving rise to concerns that civilian death toll will only continue to increase. U. N. Officials have begun providing aid to residents in a district in mosul retaken by iraqi troops. The u. N. Childrens fund said its emergency funds are enough for 30,000 people and include food, Water Purification tablets and diapers. The u. N. World food program also delivered supplies of rice and flow flour for 25,000. There are stocks of food for 2. 5 million people, but its difficult to transport them into areas held by the Islamic State group. Japans agency says that the hole in the ozone layer remains large. Despite efforts to reduce its size. It poses a danger as it allows more uv radiation to reach earth. Agency officials believe the hole appeared over antarctica around august and reached its largest size on september 28. At that time it was of 0 bigger than antarctica. Gases deplete oozone. Last years hole was the fourth biggest on record. Translator ozone depleting substances in the atmosphere have been gradually decreasing. The agency will keep monitoring the ozone hole because it could get larger again in the future. One aim is to reduce the hole to pre1980 levels, but u. N. Experts estimate it will take until the second half of this century. Could make or break their careers. People across the country pulled together to encourage them and help them concentrate. Got some rousing encouragement from friends and relatives. About 600,000 High School Seniors and graduates will face a test that will likely decide their options for colleges and professions. Translator ill try to stay calm and do my best, as usual. Police gave rise to examinies who were running late. They banned aircraft from taking off and landing during the listening portion of an english paper. Some parents appealed to a higher power. They headed to a buddhist temple in seoul to pray that their kids would do well. Youre watching nhk newsline live from tokyo. Mild weather continues for us here but on the other side of the pacific going inland, a winter storm rages. The first winter storm of the season is affecting much of the rockies, bringing powerful winds and blowing snow. The system is actually intensifying as you can see strong winds are blowing across the area. The system will likely head towards the u. S. Midwest as we go into friday and impact blizzard watches are in place for parts of the dakotas and minnesota. May happen from late thursd into friday in the area. So, stay inside. But if you have to travel, make sure that you bring a winter survival kit. That includes water, food and a shovel in case of emergency. So, its going to be quite snowy across the north and snow will likely affect ontario, as well, into friday. A different story in the south quite dry, hot and windy. So, conditions are quite ideal for wildfires to spread rapidly across the desert southwest. Across the east, thanks to a big High Pressure system, sunny weather is continuing and temperatures are quite hot f. Chicago 23 for the high and 24 in oklahoma city. But you can see a cooler boundary right here across the north and west and denver 5 degrees with snowflakes on thursday. In fact, this area had a high of nearly 25 degrees on wednesday. About 20 degrees difference in just one day. Now, temperatures expected to cool down significantly across the north and east of the United States and canada, as well. Now, omaha, youll see a high of 21 on thursday and down to 5 degrees on your friday. Chicago 23 on thursday and down to 4 degrees on sunday. Which is five degrees cooler compared to average for this time of year. And toronto will also see cooling temperatures as we go into sunday. Now, lets go to europe. A large winter storm is affecting much of the north, including the British Isles and Scandinavian Peninsula and the system will continue to sit here for a whileringing hvy rainfall andnowfall for the mountains and quite blustery conditions across a wide area. Some showers are still possible across much of italy and temperatures are as follows. Quite mild in rome, though. 18 degrees for the high with Rainy Weather on thursday. Now, dry weather will likely persistently into your friday across the ibeerian peninsula and 0 for the high in lisbon. Temperatures expected to rise slowly in moscow as well as kiev on your thursday. Quite heavy snow across hokkaido yesterday. Nearly 40 centimeters of snow, which is the heaviest in 30 years for this time of year. Now, snow is still falling across hokkaido. But its sunny thanks to a big High Pressure system. Tokyo will stay sunny into your friday and temperatures are going to be seasonable. However, on saturday, Rainy Weather will come back. But temperatures are shooting up to 22 degrees on sunday. October weather will likely happen on sunday. And across the continent, its dry, butainy weather is expected for shanghai and temperatures are going to be quite warm for this time of year. Up to 22 in shanghai on your friday. Taipei at 29 degrees and fridged, cold air from the north north. Uian bator 14. Heres the extended forecast. And with that we conclude this hours nhk newsline. Be sure to watch newsroom tokyo at the top of the hour. Thanks for watching. O qn genie youre watching france 24. Time for 60 minutes live around the world. Im genie godula. These are the headlines. Hillary clinton tells her backers to never give up. She spoke out about her devastating defeat in her first public appearance since conceding the election to donald trump. Is due to hold his first meeting with a foreign leader since winning the vote. With theit down