♪ hello there. welcome to "newsline." we have breaking news out of japan. officials from japan's defense ministry say they have found debris from a maritime self-defense force helicopter in southwestern japan. the msdf helicopter disappeared in a mountainous area during training on thursday. the helicopter was carrying three crew members. that's three crew members. when it went missing. it took off from a base in kagoshima prefecture in the morning. the last contact with the helicopter was at around 11:00 a.m. defense ministry officials say the craft was returning to its base. the officials say all of the

three crew members are unconscious. we'll have more on this story as details come in to us. in other news members of the united nations security council are trying to choke off terrorist financing. they're targeting sources of funding for the group islamic state. and they've unanimously adopted a resolution calling for global cooperation. russia drafted the first outline. the resolution was jointly proposed by more than 30 nations, including japan. it threatened sanctions on anyone buying oil from territory under islamic state control. it bans all trade in antiquities from syria and iraq and calls on countries to stop kidnap ransom payments. >> translator: the resolution marks an important step toward cutting the flow of funds to terrorists. >> the loss of people like muaf kenji, haruna, and kayla deepens our resolve to eradicate the

violent group that cuts their lives short. >> western nations and russia have been sharply divided over the syrian crisis. but they have cooperated over responses to islamic state militants. the islamic state militant group says its recent demand for ransom for the release of two japanese hostages was aimed at humiliating japan. the group makes the claim in the latest issue of its online magazine "dabiq." the article criticizes japan for pledging $200 million in aid to the region. it says the money would be used against them. the japanese government offered the sum as humanitarian assistance to countries in the region. the article calls the japanese government arrogant and says the militants intended to humiliate it even though they knew the country would never meet their demand. it also says the jordanian government complicated the negotiations with the japanese by attempting to include a captive jordanian pilot in the prisoner exchange deal. islamic extremists linked to al qaeda have seized a military

base in southern yemen. u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon warns the country is disintegrating into civil war. sunni militants connected to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula attacked the government base in the city of baihan. local reports say they captured the stronghold and are flying their black flag. the clashes killed seven people from both sides. the al qaeda-linked group is intensifying its attacks since rival shia muslim insurgents called houthis seized control of the capital of sanaa last week. the u.s. and britain closed their embassies. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula claims involvement in last month's attack on the french weekly "charlie hebdo." the u.s. military is conducting drone strikes against them. members at the united nations security council are alarmed as the country slips further into chaos. >> yemen is collapsing before our eyes.

we cannot stand by and watch. we must do everything possible to help yemen step back from the brink and get the political process back on track. >> observers fear the islamic extremists may capitalize on the political vacuum in yemen to gain more ground. leaders of the european union say they'll continue to press russia to help implement a cease-fire between the ukrainian government and pro-russian separatists. the eu leaders met in brussels following a cease-fire deal hammered out by the leaders of ukraine, russia, germany, and france. german chancellor angela merkel and french president francois hollande briefed the participants on the accord. the group then discussed what it will take to make the truce work. >> our debate focused on how to support the implementation of

the agreement. if this does not happen we will not hesitate to take the necessary steps. we stand united and will stay the course. >> tusk indicated additional eu sanctions against russia will be imposed next monday as scheduled. the deputy foreign ministers of japan and russia have met for the first time in about a year. they discussed ukraine and the dispute over four russian-held islands known as the northern territories. shinsuke sugiyama and igor morgulov held talks in moscow. their meeting had been postponed since august last year due to the situation in ukraine. japan imposes sanctions against russia along with the other g-7 members. sugiyama explained japan's position. he also noted prime minister shinzo abe attaches special importance to ties between japan and russia. the diplomats went on to discuss the dispute over the northern territories. the japanese government maintains the islands are an

inherent part of japan's territory. it says they were illegally occupied after world war ii. both sides had already agreed president putin will visit japan at an appropriate time this year. but they failed to determine the date of his trip as well as japanese foreign minister fumio kishida's visit to russia. well apart from the crisis in ukraine european leaders have been tackling another sticky issue, the greek debt crisis. let's hear more from our business reporter ai uchida. you've been folth greek crisis quite closely. what's going on? >> well the greeks are asking for new arrangements to be made to rescue its state finances. but as you know eu countries, they want athens to stick with its austerity measures, and they're saying that's a condition for giving it additional financial support. greek prime minister alexis tsipras made his first appearance at eu summit as a representative of the country's new austerity government. tsipras explained a set of bailout proposals based on

reconsidering the current austerity measures. the prime minister considered offering a review. he he said greece needs fiscal breathing space. german chancellor angela merkel said the current bailout program must continue even after its term expires at the end of this month. germany has been a major european contributor to greece's rescue loans. negotiations among greece and other eurozone finance ministers are scheduled to go into full swing for monday. now let's check on markets. tokyo stock prices opened lower. many investors are selling their shares to take profits from yesterday's strong gains. the nikkei index still in negative territory down 0.17%. export-related issues are being sold on a relatively stronger yen. so on to currencies. the dollar is trading lower against the yen. traders are selling the dollar after weak u.s. retail sales in january. they became a bit skeptical about an early hike in key interest rates.

now, the euro that is actually stronger against the dollar. investors are buying the single currency on the cease-fire deal in ukraine. they are hoping for some agreement on the debt problems in greece, too. looking at other markets in this part of the world, south korea's kospi trading higher this morning, up .4%, 1950. over in australia the benchmark is jumping, up 1.8% this morning. we'll see where trading takes us throughout the day. now, on to some earnings corporate earnings that is. sales and profits are down at one of japan's beverage makers. officials at kirin holdings report disappointing sales of its premium beer brands for the business year through december. the officials say the firm's annual operating profit fell 19.8% in yen terms to about $960 million. sales were down 2.6% to about $18 billion. the officials blamed sluggish

sales of beer kirin's main product. they say a big reason was a delay in rolling out its higher-priced premium brands. but it wasn't alln's beer industry. kirin's rival, asahi group holdings, had a lot more success with its premium beers. asahi credited the brand's sales for record high operating profit of about $1 billion. sales came in at about $15 billion, which is another record high. and 2014 was a profitable year for e-commerce joint rakuten too. the company posted year on-year increases in both profits and sales. rakuten executives say group operating income rose nearly 18% to about $890 million. they say group sales also grew by more than 15% to $5 billion. the executives say strong performance of their mainstay online shopping operations helped to boost the figures. financial services such as credit cards, they were also

solid. the executives say they also managed to cut deficits in their overseas e-book business through cost-cutting. more for you in business next hour. i'll leave you with a check on markets. ♪ ♪ ♪

the operator of a nuclear power plant in central japan is a step closer to restarting two reactors government regulators have approved the plan. the facility is the second to meet the new regulations introduced after the 2011 fukushima accident. but not everyone agrees with the decision. nhk world's kanago tago has more. >> officials with the nuclear regulation authority were unanimous in giving approval for the restart. they say the number 3 and number 4 reactors of the takahama nuclear plant meet the new requirements for withstanding potential earthquakes and tsunami. >> translator: we've confirmed the plant's operator will guarantee the level of safety that the authority is demanding. >> reporter: the operator, kansai electric power company, is hoping to bring the reactors

back online in november, but it still needs to win the approval of local governments. and some people are raising concerns about safety. dozens of people are rallying in front of the building where the office is located. they're upset about the authority's decision. operators are looking for consent only from fukui prefecture in takahama town which hosts the plant. but authorities with other local governments want their voices heard as well. they want kansai electric to get approval from all municipalities within the plant's 30-kilometer zone. officials in those areas are obliged to draw up disaster readiness plans. and some residents are voicing anxiety.

>> translator: the plant employs many people, so the restart is a good thing in terms of the job situation, but when it comes to the safety risks, that's a different story. >> translator: it's concerning to me because i have kids. >> reporter: officials in kyoto prefecture say they've notified kansai electric of their concerns. >> translator: our community is in close proximity to the nuclear plant. we want a framework that ensures our voices will be heard. >> reporter: people around the world saw how the fukushima disaster affected the lives of nearby residents. people living near the takahama plant say kansai electric must come face to face with their concerns. garando tago, nhk world. officials and residents in fukushima are faced with the daunting task of cleaning up radioactive fallout from the 2011 nuclear accident.

nhk has learned at least 1,000 homes in three towns will be demolished, even after they were decontaminated. local officials are calling on the government to run the decontamination program more efficiently. nhk took a poll in nine municipalities that remain partly or completely evacuated. officials from three towns said about 1,080 houses are scheduled to be torn down despite being decontaminated as requested by residents. naraha town reports the largest number at around 870 homes. officials say rain leaks and animal intrusions are damaging the vacant residences. they also say many evacuees have given up on returning and found new homes instead. the government pays for both decontamination and demolition programs in evacuation areas. officials say decontamination takes about two weeks and costs about $8,300 per house on average.

>> translator: we're still accepting many requests for decontamination from local governments. we will try to complete the decontamination and demolition work in a more efficient way. >> local officials say cleaning a house, then knocking it down is a waste of time and money. they're calling on the government to run the program more efficiently and speed up decontamination work. four crippled reactors. a constant buildup of contaminated water. radioactive leaks threatening the environment. the people in charge of fukushima daiichi are struggling to control the plant. how will they stop the leaks? and decommission the facilities. get the latest on the aftermath of the nuclear accident with in depth reports and special features. nuclear watch, only on "newsline." one of the world's most iconic cathedrals has been a

work in progress for more than a he gro de familia his masterpiece but he died before it was finished. a japanese sculptor has been bringi our reporter had a chance to meet him.forest of fantastic trees soar sagradagaudi's unfinished masterpiece. construction began in 1882 and is still years away from completion. free-flowing sculptures adorn the structure from one end to the other. people have called it a bible of stone. block by block etsuo sato has spent nearly four decades carving and shaping many of those stones. now 62, he is the project's only official sculptor. sato grew up in japan and studied sculpture. at the age of 25 he left for europe.

a chance visit to the sagrada familia convinced him he had found what he was looking for. >> translator: all i saw was the mountain of stone blocks at the site. that was it. i just wanted to carve them. i was willing to devote everything i had at that time. >> reporter: sato went to the construction site almost every day and asked to be allowed to help. finally, the architect hired him as a sculptor. the going wasn't always easy. there were many local artists who were equally passionate about the project. some even offered to volunteer. >> translator: some people must have wondered why foreigners like me got paid. i had to be many times better than people who were willing to work for free.

>> reporter: when sato finished his first sculpture, the chief architect asked him to restore a part of the cathedral. the walls and sculptures of the porto of rosary were damaged in the 1930s during the spanish civil war. no one had touched them since then. the work sato did helped to seal his reputation. in 2000, he completed another important job. just before gaudi died, he was working on the nativity facade above the main entrance. over 15 years he carved 15 angels for this section. he completed it more than 100 years after gaudi first began. >> translator: i've never been satisfied with a single work i've completed. i just want to let gaudi know

that i've completed the facade and i want to know if he approves. >> reporter: sato has been working on a new job. creating doors to go beneath the nativity facade. his design features a close-up view of the natural world and incorporates motifs such as plants and insects. he plans to complete them by the end of the year. >> translator: as i designed the doors, i pictured children from around the world looking for the bugs and saying, i found one. i found one, too. so i scattered many of them here and there. >> reporter: the chief architect says the sagrada familia will be completed in 2026, a century after gaudi's death.

but sato says no one knows when the decorations including the sculptures will be finished. >> translator: gaudi died before realizing his dream. somebody has to follow that dream as keenly as he did. i think what we need to pass on is passion. if we can convey that to future generations, the people who take over our jobs will produce what gaudi imagined. even if they use different techniques. >> reporter: for now sotoo will keep chipping away as he carries on gaudi's dream. miss acko oshie, nhk world. a unique choir is entertaining passersby in tokyo's youth-on theed eded harajuku district. at the commander's command -- or rather the conductor's command,

300 smartphones and tablets harmonize in synthesized voices. animated characters on the screen mouth the words and dance in time with the music. the mobile devices use their sensors to detect human movements and react accordingly. this enables them to follow a conductor's command to sing softly or loudly. >> translator: it's really fun. the characters reacted to my movement. ♪ >> anyone can try their hand at conducting this digital ensemble. the exhibition is organized by google and will run through sunday. it's time now for a check of the weather. people in northern areas of india are seeing snow. this is a welcome sight for farmers there. meteorologist robert speta explains in world weather. >> let's start off in northern india, specifically around the kashmir region where we go seeing some snowfall. the good news is that farmers,

as you mentioned, are going to be looking at some respite from a drought we have been seeing as of late. the northeast monsoon still dominating farther toward the south. but what i do want to take our attention to is off here. we have some video coming off in area where it really is good news. this fresh snow in india's most northern region thursday have brought some relief for the farming community. especially apple growers specifically. farmers expressed satisfaction as it would provide some water to the crop here in the state. values in the region have been experiencing one of its driest winters in the last three decades. so if you may think of snow you may think that's not a good thing for quarmers but in some cases it definitely is because you get water starting to flow out there. and as far as the forecast we actually have one storm moving away and another one is coming in from the west and that could bring some more precipitation first across northern portions of pakistan and then eventually

work its way into northern india. something we'll be watching overt next several days p still very chilly indeed. let's move toward the americas. talk about snowfall. here you don't want any more snow. specifically into the northeast. around boston we've been seeing record-breaking winter one of the heaviest total snow totals in the month of february across the northeast. one storm system now moving away. in some areas we still have blizzard watches in effect. very high winds. you see the tight pressure gradient over western new york and vermont and new hampshire. plus we have very chilly temperatures. the wind chill feels like minus 20 to minus 30 for many of you out there. and then another storm system moving across the great lakes region. this is going to bring another shot of snowfall, actually in michigan. some blizzard watches now in effect. that's going to bring its way toward new england and bring more snowfall by the weekend, even could stretch as far south as new york city. take a look at your temperatures, though.

chicago with only a high of minus 4 on your friday contributing factor to that next snowstorm. winnipeg only a minus 14. then on the west coast actually across much of british columbia we're going to be looking at heavy rainfall out there. vancouver, south to seattle should get in the mix with scattered showers. now let's wrap things up into eastern asia. i do want to mention what's going on across japan. but first, high pressure still dominating much of china, and that's been creating some very calm weather, but the hayes is mixed in with this. so definitely air quality especially south of beijing you're going to be feeling some impact with that. and then back toward the east still some stormy weather across japan. actually snowfall continuing to pile up out here. some areas well over 300 centimeters of total snow depth. the winds have been continuing to kick up in akita prefecture we even saw one shinkansen at a total stop out there because of the high winds. that's at an elevated platform typically. and then as far as the forecast

winds gusting up to 126 kilometers per hour. and yes, there is the possibility of some thunderstorms mixed in with this rough weather as well at least until it starts to cool off by saturday into sunday. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast. ♪ ♪ ♪ et cetera ♪

♪ let's go back to a breaking story out of japan. officials from japan's defense ministry say a rescue team has reached a crashed maritime self-defense force helicopter in

southwestern japan. they say all three of the crew members have been found unconscious. the helicopter disappeared in a mountainous area during training on thursday. the officials say that the oh-6 helicopter took off from the kayuna base from kag hooema prefecture in the morning. the crew last made contact at 11:00 a.m. japan time. the officials say the crew changed their initial training route due to bad weather and were returning to the base. we'll bring you details as they come in. "newsline" will be back at the top of the hour. do join us again then.

going for growth. central banks are easing their grip on money supply. profits are slipping so spending like never before. too expensive to eat. the japanese fish making a splash with overseas collectors. hello. you're watching "asia biz

forecast." i'm yuko fukushima. the list of central banks easing monetary policy is growing steadily longer. this week policymakers in australia, india and china