hello there, welcome to "newsline." it is thursday february 5. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. african commanders are intensifying their push against boko haram. a military official says government troops staged a cross-bore den ground offensive for the first time. on tuesday, commanders in chad sent ground troops. a military official says the offensive inflicted major damage on boko haram fighters. but a day later, the militants

fought back. they crossed the border into cameroon and killed about 70 people in a rampage. troops from five countries including nigeria, chad and cameroon are taking part. people in jordan have reacted with anger and sorrow over the killing of a pilot by islamic state militants. some have gone into mourning while others are calling for revenge. about 200 people offered prayers at a ceremony in the capital. they read out versus from the koran. they confirmed the death of the lieutenant after islamic state posted video online showing him being burned alive. >> what happened to the hostages

and the jordan january pilot totally unacceptable. >> the pilot's father said that the militants are criminals who must be eliminated. >> translator: moaz was not only by son, he was a son of all jordanians. we're all grieving from the bottom of our hearts. i want the government to come down heavy on the militants and defeat them. >> king abdullah cut short his trip to the u.s. and flew home. crowds of people gathered near the airport to greet him. they expressed support for the government's determination to fight the militants. >> we want country, we want family. the world should be united against terrorism. >> translator: this is our war against islamic state militants. >> jordanian authorities

executed two al qaeda prisoners after the video was released but one resident said that is not enough. mourners in tokyo have come together to remember the pilot. japanese and jordanians stood side by side and offered their condolences. >> i'm here at the jordanian embassy. people are gathering to pray for the martyred pilot. people in jordan held a similar memorial just days ago. they gathered outside japan's embassy to pay their respectsto kenji goto. people in japan wanted to show their solidarity. >> translator: i took part in this because i wanted to send my condolences from japan. >> translator: the jordanians

held a memorial service for japan. that motivated us to pray for them. >> jordan's ambassador to japan expressed his gratitude. >> we value our friendship we value your support and we consider you close friends and allies during this difficult time. so thank you. >> police tightened security around the building after the execution of rishawi. islamic state militants had demanded her release. but those who gathered here came only in peace. nhk world tokyo. japanese government officials are considering increasing humanitarian aid to the middle east above what the prime minister recently pledged. shinzo abe promised $200 million of financial assistance last month for refugees displaced by

islamic state. >> translator: japan is resolved to fulfill its responsibility in the fight against terrorism, while working with the international community. >> the officials say they'll work outweighs to provide food and medical assistance for refugees in displaced iraq and syria. militants believed to be with islamic state are calling for more attacks on people in france. they posted a video online saying french muslims have a duty to act now. the video shows seven masked people armed with automatic rifles. a man in the center calls for militants in france to carry out more attacks in the country. the man praises the attacks last month against "charlie hebdo" and a jewish super market. he encouraged supporters to target police and citizens. the message is in french and lasts about ten minutes.

aviation authorities in taipei are combing through twisted metal and debris trying to determine the cause of a deadly plane crash. they say they've been able to recover the flight data recorders. they'll now examine what's left of the fuselage. the passenger jet crashed on wednesday shortly after takeoff. video from a dashboard camera shows the plane losing balance and clipping an overpass. before slamming belly up into a river. the taiwanese trans asia airways plane was bound to kinman island with 58 people on board. officials say it was a twin engine turboprop atr-72. they say 31 people died in the crash and 15 have been rescued, but 12 others are still unaccounted for. firefighters and military troops on wednesday night were able to lift the fuselage from the river. media reports say pilots made an

emergency call to ground controllers, reporting a malfunction with the engines before losing contact. taiwan's aviation authority say skies over the area were overcast, but conditions were fair enough for the plane to fly. a south korean government official says north korean leader kim jong-un has removed two of their aids from their post. he dismissed a director at the national defense commission for not obeying instructions. he was in charge for the construction of a ski resort planned directly by kim. he said another director was also purged after expressing views different from kim's. the leader's sister may have gotten married and may be

pregnant. regarding kim's aunt the official denied some media reports of her death. he said he confirmed she's undergoing treatment for an illness. the official says although kim's regime appears stable it has many unstable elements. well, every year right around this time people in japan who work at unions and business federations are busy negotiating salaries. we are joined now from the business desk. how are the talks going? >> this is peak season for the goeb negotiators. talks have to be finalized. the negotiations will go into full swing mid-month. a top official is calling for companies to be a bit more generous this year. the vice chairman said that the path to japan's economic recovery is becoming clearer. he says it's extremely important for firms to share profits with their employees in order to

create an economic circle. they say major japanese companies raised monthly wages by an average of 2.28% last year. that figure includes increases in base pay and those based on seniority. >> translator: i hope that the rate of the increase will exceed last year's since negotiations this year will likely center on raising base pay. >> the japanese trade union confederation is seeking an across the board wage hike of 2% or more. >> translator: there is nothing strange about labor's demand. but an across the board increase of 2% will be quite difficult. >> he said other options including bonuses and better support for working -- for

workers raising children should be discussed in the upcoming negotiations. japanese auto makers mazda have reported -- have posted record profits for the april to december period thanks to brisk sales overseas helped along by the weaker yen. mazda announced an operating profit of $1.3 billion, the largest figure the company has reported for the period. it marks a year on year increase of 22% in yen terms. the company registered sales of $18.7 billion for the nine-month period. that's up 13% from the same period last year. fewgy said operating profits surged 33%. sales also rose by about 20% to a record high of $17.6 billion. both companies reported a decline in domestic sales after

the consumption tax hike last april. but their profits got a boost from strong demand in new york america and a favorable exchange rate. jx holdings has lowered its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending early march. they are likely to post the first operating loss since it was created five years ago. the recent plunge in crude oil prices is behind the revised numbers. they posted an operating loss of about $1.7 billion in the nine months through december. they said the main cause was a write down of more than $2.4 billion in its oil inventory in response to falling prices. the company expects this will result in an operating loss of about $2.3 billion this fiscal year. officials had initially estimated an operating profit of

about $900 million. >> translator: to be honest we didn't expect oil prices to fall so far, so fast. >> in japan, three other major oil whole salers have also lowered their earnings forecast for this fiscal year. officials at china's central bank are taking steps to try to reverse the worsening economic slowdown. they announced they would cut the minimum level of reserves in an effort to stimulate lending. officials at the people's bank of chie that said the reserve requirement ratio would be reduced to 19.5%. the cut takes effect today. it's the first such move since may 2012. the central bank reduced key interest rates in november. a sluggish housing market and reduced investment in real estate have added to china's

economic woes. crude oil prices appear to be a major factor swaying stock market sentiment. it suched to below $50 again after a brief rebound in the last few days. that weighed on u.s. share prices. here in tokyo it is now down even more a loss of 1% since yesterday. analysts say some investors are locking in profits after a 2% jump yesterday. now turning to currencies traders are pulling down the euro as they are again becoming concern about greece. the european central bank announced it will not accept greek government bond as collateral. the decision could shake greek commercial banks. right now the euro dollar trading at the 113 range. meanwhile, the dollar back against the yen.

currency traders are taking cover and buying what they see as the relative safety of the yen. let's take a look at what's happening on other asian markets at this hour. south korea trading lower by 7/10 of a percent. i'll keep track of trading for you all throughout the day. i'll be back next hour with more headlines. here's a check on other markets.

sri lanka celebrated on wednesday the anniversary of its independence. the new president called for national reconciliation as the country rebuilds after more than 25 years of civil war. he beat his opponent in last month's election. about six years ago, government forces defeated rebels based in the north and east of the country. the speesh on the 67th anniversary of independence is a departure from his predecessor. >> translator: the guns of the terrorists were silenced by the guns of our soldiers. war ended physically, but the biggest challenge today is to unite the hearts of the people of the north and south through a national reconciliation process. >> he is a former aide to the

previous president. in november of last year he defected from the former president's party just before the election. he criticized him as auto cat ik and won the election. he disagreed with the west in the final stages of the civil war. he vowed in the speech to follow the u.n. charter and abide by the organization's values. analysts say this seems to indicate his eagerness. >> british lawmakers have voted in favor of a baby making procedure that's driving an ethical debate. they approved a process that combines dna from three people to prevent inherited diseases in children. critics say it will open the way to so-called designer babies. members voted in favor of the method. they say it will allow parents

to replace defective dna with a healthy sample, ensures they don't pass on up curable diseases to children. in one approach scientists take an egg from the mother and remove the nuke just. they insert it into a healthy egg provided by a donor. finally, they use sperm from the father to fertilize the egg. this couple is thrilled by the decision. their daughter jessica has a disease caused by defective dna. she struggles to swallow and can't hold her head up. >> it's a massive opportunity for us to have a child that would be free from the disease, not just for us but if for many families as well. >> they say the procedure could be in use before the end of the year and it could be used to artificially conceive 150 babies annually. many people say the procedure

crosses an ethical line. >> the answer has to be that we stop here. the answer has to be that we say, this is a red line in our country as in every other country in the world, that we will not cross. >> members of the house of lords are due to consider the issue next. if they vote in favor, they'll make britain the first place in the world to allow the procedure. parents in south korea are taking a second look at the people who look after their children. they're outraged after a series of alleged assaults by staff at day cares and it's sparking a nationwide debate about the quality of child care facilities and government oversight. >> a teacher at a nursery school struck a 4-year-old child for not eating. it was recorded on a surveillance camera.

the media showed the images to a shocked nation. people in expressing outrage and concern. >> translator: it's very upsetting. parents can only do so much. i think these kinds of incidents still happen because the laws are insufficient. >> translator: i hope our society will change so that our children will not be abused at institutions or other places. i also hope that children will be respected as unique individuals. >> after the incident was broadcast, similar assaults in other nursery schools around the country came to light. measures are being taken to respond to growing public concern. this week a debate was held on strategies to stop violence at nursery schools. one of the speakers was a woman

who has been working as a nursery schoolteacher for 15 years. >> reporter: we nursery school teachers work long hours under harsh condition. one teacher must care for so many children. >> in 2012 the government passed an act granting all children up to the age of 2 free nursery schooling. the cut off age was extended to five. the number of parents leaving their children at nursery schools rose sharply. at the same time a lot of new child care centers, many of them private, have been set up. to cut costs, many of them hire staff with little teaching experience. >> reporter: 95% of the nursery schools are privately run. and if we don't change the situation, the mistreatment will repeat itself. private nursery schools have little motivation to compete for

securing well experienced teachers. >> this nursery school in seoul takes a different approach to nursery schooling. it's managed by a cooperative unit set up by parents. parents and teachers meet twice a month to discuss the institution's management. many of the teachers are experienced in nursery schooling and from time to time they attend training sessions. every parent must also teach a class once a year and be involved in management decisions. >> translator: it's not easy to be involved in school affairs because i have a job. but i can see how my child interacts with other children. i also like this school because i can fully discuss things with teachers and other parents. >> more than 120 schools like

this were to require parents to pay more have been set up across the nation. now that they're aware of the system's shortcomings, parents are looking for ways to make sure their children are in good hands. nhk world, seoul. people on japan's northern most island are enjoying a natural spectacle that appears only on the coldest days of the year. they're braving the winter weather to view a column of light in the mountains of hokkaido. sun pillars are created when ice crystals floating in the air reflect sunlight. they usually appear on clear days when the temperature falls below minus 10 degrees celsius. >> translator: it's so beautiful, amazing. >> on wednesday morning, the mercury fell to a seasonal low of minus 25. well people in central japan

are also seeing a wintery picture. we are joined with more. >> people here are going to be looking out their windows throughout the day today because the form of the precipitation will turn from rain back to snow and back to rain and peaking with the heavy snow across the area such as this region throughout the day. the heaviest peak of snow will be in the evening hours. people are already dealing with heavy snow. we have some pictures coming out from here. a low pressure will travel throughout thursday. strong winds will also be provided. snow is already piling up as you see on this video. around 50 flights have been canceled already. there may be more travel disturbances throughout the day peaking in the commuting hours on the way back home. so we highly advise you to try to leave your offices earlier than normal today, especially in

central areas of japan. we have this low pressure system which is pretty strong. and the cold air is dominating much of japan. that combined is bringing that precipitation turn white. how much are we going to get, that snowfall? up to about 10 centimeters. last friday we had about 3 centimeters. up to 10 centimeters will probably see more transportation disturbances across the day. tomorrow morning, we're likely to see icy road conditions. so that's going to be another issue too. parts of the town will see 20 centimeters up in the northern locations. throughout the day today as well as friday, some of these areas are likely to see some snow falling. by saturday, take a look at that. nice and partly sunny skies will be out for you. out here across western areas of

the u.s. we are now talking about the pineapple express which is the surge of that moisture coming all the way from hawaii. not really welcome because the range of that could be about 100 to about 250 millimeters of rainfall. especially in northwestern california. that's just north of san francisco. that combined with high tide that you're experiencing right now could certainly cause concerns for coastal flooding. on the flip side of the continent and also into eastern canada, blizzard could be seen. new england, possibly up to 13 centimeters of snowfall. light snow will be scattering across new york city on your thursday. friday, this temperature will be down as much as minus 14 degrees for the friday morning low. los angeles looking nice at 23 degrees. out here across europe now, the balkins are seeing very unstable

conditions due to this low pressure system which has been an ongoing event. unfortunately this is accompanied with snow, up to about 70 seent meters across these areas. so low visibility. down towards the south, even tornados cannot be ruled out. these are your temperatures. you can see minus five in moscow. rome again another round of rainfall at 12 degrees. i'll leave you now for extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." thanks for staying with us.

today asian voices comes to you from lahore pakistan. an activist trying to protect the rights of many. >> hina jilani is fighting to improve human rights in pakistan for more than 30 years. it was here in pakistan that malala yousafzai who shared last year's nobel peace prize