communist party. here's more from beijing. >> reporter: they published their second edition of the year on thursday. it's the first time it hit newsstands since the censorship allegations surfaced. >> translator: i came to buy the newspaper to know what's happening here and to know the truth. >> translator: media restrictions are getting tighter. the government's propaganda division should be disbanded. >> reporter: editors did not run a story detailing their complaint that communist party officials forced them to change a new year editorial calling for freedom and democracy and they did not mention the anti-censorship demonstrations that have been happening this week. instead, editors wrote that even though the party has the right to control the media, it should change with the times. no major rallies happened on thursday outside the head office of "nanfang zhoumo." hundreds of protesters gather for three straight days but authorities deployed dozens of police officers to detain demonstrators and harass journalists covering protests. the united states criticized the chinese government over the alleged censorship. foreign minister spokesperson essentially told the country to mind its own business. >> translator: let me point out views and criticisms from overseas. other countries should not interfere with china's internal affairs. >> reporter: another newspaper is getting creative in its efforts to show support for the southern-based "nanfang zhoumo." the beijing news ran text of a speech. it linked it to a brave heart that can soothe souls in the depth of winter. chinese maritime authorities have decided to conduct regular patrols around a group of disputed islands. china and taiwan claim them. china's state media reported on a government meeting to discuss maritime policy. state oceanic administration chief said china faces a complicated situation. he said his office will assume greater responsibility for maintaining the country's maritime interests. the participants decided to conduct regular patrols around the islands they call daiyou. china has been sending patrol boats and aircraft around the islands since japan nationalized them last september. the officials also agree to continue patrols in the south china sea where china is engaged in similar island disputes with the philippines, vietnam and other countries. japanese officials say more than ten chinese planes, including military aircraft, approached japan's air defense identification zone over the east china sea on thursday. aircraft flying inside the zone are required to notify japanese authorities of their flight plans. some of the planes entered the zone, prompting the scrambling of air force defense force fighter jets. the which i needs planes left the zone without entering airspace. eric schmidt has called on north korea to allow its citizens to use the internet and connect with the outside world. schmidt spoke to reporters in beijing on thursday after a four-day visit to pyongyang with bill richardson. he said their visit was private. but he pointed out that the internet access in the north is limited to government, military and university officials. >> the government has to do something. they have to make it possible for people to use the internet, which the government of north korea has not yet done. it's their choice now and time in my view it's time for them to start or they will remain behind. >> schmidt warned that in an increasingly connected world, north korea's decision to isolate itself would make it hard to compete economically. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is planng to get better acquainted with other leaders in his region. he's traveling to vietnam, thailand and indonesia next week. it will be his first trip abroad since taking office last month. chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga says the four-day tour to the members of the association of southeast asian nations will start next wednesday. >> translator: the strategic environment has been changing drastically in the asia pacific region. it is crucial that japan strengthen its cooperative ties with asean members to secure peace and prosperity in this area. >> suga denied suggestions from the media that china's expansion in the south china sea is the main reason for the visit. he and prime minister abe want to firm up economic partnerships with these fast-growing asian countries, which are leading global economic growth. senior officials of the ruling liberal democratic party and it's coalition party have agreed on abe's economic stimulus plan. the agreement came on thursday at a meeting attended by abe who is also the ldp leader and new komeito leader, natsayama guchi. abe calls the stimulus the first in a series of measures to avoid the economy's freefall and promote private sector investment. one of the three pillars of the package is projects for post- disaster rebuilding and disaster containment. these will include road repairs and making school buildings quake-resistant. the second is the creation of wealth through growth. it calls for overseas expansion for businesses. the third is a secure livelihood and community revitalization through a sound health care system and other measures. >> translator: i want to see the ruling coalition pulling together. we should end deflation and the strong yen as well as increase jobs and boost national income. i hope to have the fiscal 2012 extra budget drafted to fund these measures as soon as possible. >> the cabinet is set to approve the economic stimulus on friday. japan's economy continue to china's global trade grew at a slower pace in 2012 than the previous year, missing the government target by a wide margin. trade with japan showed the first drop in three years due to strained bilateral relations. chinese customs authorities say the country's overall trade in 2012 reached an all-time high of $3.86 trillion. that amounts to $2 trillion in exports and $1.8 trillion in imports. but it fell short of the chinese government's goal of 10%. this is because export growth slowed down from 20% in 2011 to under 8% last year due to the ongoing european debt crisis. china's economic slowdown dampened imports as well. the country's trade with japan fell 4% from the previous year. the drop was the first since 2009 when the collapse of lehman brothers triggered a global recession. now a chinese government official told reporters that trade is expected to show signs of recovery and the pace of trade growth will be higher than in 2012. the official also indicated that the tension over the senkaku islands will continue to impact bilateral trade this year. policy makers at the european central bank have decided to keep their key interest rate unchanged. that means it will stay at a record low. the ecb is trying to support europe's ailing economy. the central bank's govern council met thursday in frankfurt. policy makers decided the rate should be maintained at 0.75% for a sixth month in a row. the financial markets have been relatively stable these days. the yield on spain's ten-year government bond has fallen below 5% but the eurozone jobless rate reached 11.8% in november. that's the worst level since the single currency was introduced. the job market and overall economic situation remain grim mainly in countries receiving bailouts. here are the latest market figures. u.s. president barack obama will hold talks at the white house on friday with his afghan counterpart hamid karzai. patchari raksawong joins us with more details. >> reporter: the two leaders have to answer the key question of how many u.s. soldiers will remain in afghanistan after combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014. afghan citizens have reacted angrily to a suggestion that washington might bring all its forces home. some say that would mean a return to civil war. a white house official said on tuesday that the u.s. would consider a complete pullout from afghanistan. the official said the so-called zero option is one of the scenarios being considered. the announcement prompted dismay back in afghanistan. >> translator: if all u.s. troops leave afghanistan after 2014, it will be civil war again. we experienced civil war in the past and it will happen again if all the troops go home. >> it's a kind of political game, probably they may like to show the worst picture. probably they may pass a happy message to the insurgents, taliban and extremism groups in the region. >> reuters says the white house will try to keep between 3,000 and 9,000 troops in afghanistan beyond 2014, compared to the 68,000 there now. the administration insists they must have immunity from local laws. obama is scheduled to meet with karzai on friday. they have many delicate issues to address and finding an agreement that's acceptable to both sides is expected to be difficult. a terrible traffic and soaring land prices are some of the unwelcome features of asia's booming cities. those problems are especially acute in vietnam. construction companies from developed markets are competing to offer solutions. they include a railway company that wants to use lessons learned in japan to help vietnam build cities of the future. akiko has more from hanoi. >> reporter: vietnam is booming. people pour into the cities look for work and fortune. but not everyone is moving forward. the hanoi traffic gets worse every year. and dangerous, too, with more and more accidents. but infrastructure isn't the only problem. land prices have spiked. one potential solution is inspired by lessons from japan. this man works for a tokyo corporation, a japanese company head quartered in tokyo. next to vietnam's largest city, ho chi minh. he's trying to sell a business model that helped japan during its own period of economic growth. >> translator: industry in the area is already booming. we hope to contribute to developing not only industry but housing and services, too. >> reporter: private japanese railway companies create an important role helping other areas along cities like tokyo. without master plan, cities have concentric circles of mix residential and commercial areas. the farther the suburb, the more inconvenient it is to get to the city center. downtown traffic congestion only gets worse. but japan's private railway companies use a different model. first, they build railways into the suburbs and then large residential areas. they provide quality housing at reasonable prices. people living along the railway could easily reach the city. they also include supermarkets and amusement parks. as consumer incomes grew, the companies made money. tokyo hopes to adopt this model for vietnam by building integrated transport, housing and commercial developments. this is one of the people in charge. his team conducts detailed research into the weakness of previous construction methods in vietnam. >> translator: this window looks like it's closed but it's not. rain could leak in through here. >> reporter: using his research, he proposes different types of housing suitable for the area. >> translator: i think it's important to think hard and work together with people on the ground to develop the area. >> reporter: the vietnamese side has entrusted him with the project and they have high expectations. >> translator: we are very glad to establish a partnership with a company that has so many years of experience developing urban areas and transportation networks. >> reporter: the railway center from japan isn't the only idea on the table. companies from south korea, singapore and other countries have their own proposal and competition is fierce. vietnam's new cities are eager to find out how successful the japanese method will be. nhk world, hanoi. that wraps up our bulletin for today. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. thousands of people waiting to go home. tons of debris waiting for disposal. vast tracts of land awaiting to be restored. overcoming the challenges of japan's 2011 disaster won't be easy but step-by-step people are moving forward. find out how on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time right here on "newsline." japanese power companies are starting to install emergency ventilation systems in their nuclear reactors. there was a massive release of radioactive substances. one of the new systems will be reacted next week at the plant in nigata. in an emergency contaminate steam from the container vessel will be filtered through water before it enters the atmosphere. the process can reduce levels of radioactive iodine by up to 1,000. tokyo electric and other utilities plan to install the filtering systems at all their reactors. the people who oversee nuclear safety in japan are still finding their feet. they got to work at the nuclear regulation authority in september after the government merged two other agencies. >> reporter: he is doing a job that has not been done before. he's the new chair of a new agency. he says he's committed to making decisions based on the evidence, something he says that was hard to do before the accident at fukushima daiichi. >> translator: we are not hesitating to make decisions based on objective scientific fact. honestly speaking, i understand there used to be other issues taken into account. >> reporter: those who work for tanaka say they are trying to avoid those kinds of pressures. inspectors for the nuclear regulation authority looked into a trench at the ohi plant on the sea of japan. they wanted to determine whether a fault running underneath the compound is active. the people who run the utility are questioning their work even before the release of the findings. >> translator: the inspection is still ongoing. we plan to explain how we view the situation when we can. but at this point our position has not changed that the fault is not active. >> reporter: but the investigators are standing firm. tanaka says people don't understand all the mysteries of nature. he says he learned that lesson two years ago. >> translator: we lack the minds to humbly face the cause of various accidents. i have been weary of the culture not doubting the safety myth. the accident at fukushima provided a good opportunity to change that. >> reporter: japanese prime minister shinzo abe suggested his government may consider reintroducing more nuclear power and even allowing for the construction of new facilities. >> translator: the government will go over what we have learned about the nuclear accident and check the progress of the nuclear safety technology. i'd like to carefully consider whether new plants can be built. it will take a certain amount of time. >> reporter: tanaka says he and his staff need to work without interference. >> translator: the idea to give certain independence to our organization came from the current leading party, even before taking power. so i believe the government will honor our independence. >> reporter: the investigators that looked at the ohi plant had hoped to release their findings this month, but they need more time. some consider their conclusions will be a success for the nuclear regulation authority. people want to know whether the regulators are doing their jobs or acting as a rubber stamp from the government. reporting for nhk world, tokyo. joe biden says the white house is determined to act quickly and decisively to stop gun violence. biden heads a task force set up by president obama. by barack obama after last month's mass shooting at a connecticut elementary school. >> and as the president said, if our actions result in only saving one life, they're worth taking. but i'm convinced we can -- we can affect the well-being of millions of americans and take thousands of people out of harm's way if we act responsibly. biden met with victims of gun violence and gun control advocates at the white house on wednesday. he emphasized that he would work with both sides of the debate to build a consensus on precisely which firearms restrictions are necessary. he said gun violence is a problem that requires immediate action. with americans starkly divided on the issue, biden is also scheduled to meet with pro-gun groups, including the national rifle association on thursday. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is planning to get better acquainted with other leaders in his region. the national research council and institute of medicine released a joint report called shorter lives, poorer health. it compares a situation that the u.s. to that of 17 developed countries including japan, australia and nations in western europe. the findings show women in japan lived the longest at almost 86 years. japanese men ranked third living 79 years and american men are at the bottom of the list. they have a life expectancy of less than 76 years. u.s. citizens finished last when it comes to child mortality and the death rate by the age 50. the report attributes the poor american showing to poverty and obesity. it's authors are urging the government to follow the lead of other nations by introducing preventative measures against becoming overweight. they also cite the high proportion of americans who don't have health insurance and the growing number of gun-related crimes as factors. the report calls for urgent action against gun violence including a weapons ban in schools. a cyclone is nearing the west coast of australia. robert is here with more. robert? >> yes, gene. we've been watching the storm. it is tropical cyclone norele. this one is really bringing the risk of heavy rainfall towards the area, especially rain near the west coast. you need to be preparing for the storm system now. already holding winds around 140, combusting up to 195 kilometers per hour. the threat is once these rain bands start to move on shore, this is all desert area across this region. once it hits the ground, it's going to run immediately into the rivers across this region and that's going to be bringing that risk of significant flash flooding. we're going to want to watch that over the next several days as it does continue to push down toward the south. unfortunately, we've also been talking about severe drought in australia. take a look at the 72-hour forecast. it still remains rather dry. you see some pop-up showers into queensland but this is not going to help out the heat situation and definitely not helping the fire danger across much of the country there. farther off towards the north into the philippines, also watching a weak tropical area, a tropical depression, not so significant as far as the strong storms and the winds with this system, it's just the persistent rain. remember about a month ago a typhoon came through so people are still recovering from that storm. this is all part of a series of systems and that's going to bring more heavy rainfall. some light snow into the korean peninsula going into your friday as a system pushes overhead. high pressure is going to move in overhead actually on friday and even going into the weekend. what that's going to be causing is some cooler temperatures. tokyo with a high of 8 on friday. freezing temperatures going through your overnight hours. seoul getting up to 1 and beijing at 5 degrees. let's look over toward the americas where we are continuing to watch this low pressure area. that's pulling moisture out of the gulf of mexico and what's happening here already, you've been seeing some tornado watches in effect. it does look like further tornados could be occurring as this continues to push off toward the east. even some flash flooding. farther off towards the north, though, this system in the long term, this is the leading edge of a big change in the weather that's coming up here. already creating some heavy snowfall, about 60 centimeters into the mountains, even gusty winds. blizzard-like conditions will be occurring here. also the windchill well below freezing, about 30 below at times. but what this is also going to be doing is dropping down the temperatures across much of the northwest and even going into the central plains by early next week. actually in denver, you're seeing a high of 12 on your thursday. by saturday, the high here in colorado is going to be right around minus 7. that is just an example of this cold air mass that's going to be pushing in. you're going to be turning up your heaters here by the early part of next week if you live on the eastern seaboard. for now you are enjoying the warm weather, though. now here in the british isles, we're seeing a weak front move overhead today. this will taper off throughout much of your day going into friday morning. it does look like conditions will be rather decent. take a look at this, that's our next atlantic storm system. that's going to push off toward the east bringing another round of wet and rough weather for you. even off towards eastern europe, on the other hand, we're seeing some snow showers. that's going to diminish and temperatures remaining on the cold side. warsaw with a high of 2. that will be below freezing for your highs on saturday and sunday, but average there. london and paris, a high of 5 and 6 to start off your week. here's your extended forecast. we'll be back in 30 minutes with more news. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for joining us. have a great day wherever you are. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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