♪ glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's tuesday february 24th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. french authorities are testing a new way to stop the stream of young people from joining militant groups abroad. they've seized the passports of those suspected of planning to travel to syria to join the fight. it's the first phase of the new anti-terrorism law. interior minister bernard kaz noour said authorities have taken six passports from people in their 20s. he said they're preparing travel bans for 40 others. and he said if french citizens leave to commit atrocities in syria or iraq they would pose an

even greater risk when they return. france's parliament passed the new counterterrorism laws in november. they allow authorities to prevent nationals from traveling if their suspected purpose is to engage in terrorist activities. government officials estimate about 1,400 french nationals have joined the islamic state group or are planning to do so. authorities have been on high alert since terror attacks in and around paris last month left 17 people dead. they've also raided organizations believed to be recruiting for terrorist groups. eurozone finance ministers are waiting. they've offered to extend financial help to the greeks. but the greeks say they need more time to think about it. ai uchida joins us now from our business desk with all the details. so get us up to speed. what's going on here? >> here's the thing, catherine. that offer came with a condition. the eurozone finance ministers wanted the greeks to come up with a list of measures for reforms, a tangible agreement

that would tie them to these promises. now, the deadline for that was monday. government officials in athens are saying they need more time. they've asked for another day. eurozone finance ministers say they're prepared to continue the bailout package by four months but in exchange they want to see how their greek counterparts plan to rebuild the economy and generate growth. people in the office of greek prime minister alexis tsipras didn't say why they couldn't meet the deadline but sources say other finance ministers of other eurozone countries have accepted the delay. they say the reform plans include measures to fight tax evasion, corruption, and smuggling of fuel and tobacco. the sources say the plans also include relief measures for low-income earners like free electricity, medical services, and meals. tsipras came to power last month with a promise to review austerity measures imposed in return for the debt bailout. investors, they are taking a breather. they are waiting to hear what

fed chair janet yellen -- to see whether yellen will give any hints about the timing of a rate hike at her testimony later today. the nikkei is locked in a narrow range. the benchmark index currently in the negative by just a touch. now, with currencies the dollar is slightly lower against the yen, and it's trading at the upper 118 level. the euro continues on a weaker tone against the dollar. the single currency is trading in the lower 1.113 range. in asia australian shares are trading -- let's see what's happening. we are seeing flat moves in australia, up just a touch. south korean stocks extending gains for a fifth straight session. china will open on wednesday after the lunar new year holidays. the people at japanese firm hitachi are laying the tracks for a push into overseas markets. they're set to buy the rail car and signaling units of italian industrial group fin mechanica.

sources say executives at the firms have reached a basic agreement. they say the deal will likely exceed $2 billion. hitachi executives expect the takeover will more than double revenue from their rail business to about $3.4 billion a year. they're expected to wrap up the deal soon. the executives are banking on rail technology to accelerate their expansion plans. they've already clinched a deal to build train cars for a high-speed rail network in britain. executives at japanese chemical maker asahi kasei are to expand their storage battery business. they say they'll buy a u.s. firm that makes a key component for these types of batteries. asahi kasei executives say they plan to acquire all the shares of polycore international through asahi ka sechlt i's u.s. subsidiary. the cost is expected to be about $2.2 billion. polypour makes separators for batteries. the u.s. firm's products have

been widely used in auto batteries including for electric and hybrid cars. asahi kasei holds the biggest share of the global market for separators but its products are mainly for personal computers and smartphones. asahi kasei executives say they hope the buyout will help expand their operations overseas. polypour's operations worldwide include the u.s. europe and thailand. asahi kasei manufactures mainly in japan and china. more headlines for you in business next hour. here's a check on markets. ♪ ♪

♪ japanese government officials are planning a rare meeting with their chinese counterparts. they say their foreign and defense ministries could hold bilateral security talks as early as next month. it would be the first such meeting in four years. officials from the two nations held their last security talks early in 2011. they agreed in november they should resume. the talks are expected to focus on japan's plans tone act legislation to reinterpret its constitution. the july cabinet decision would

allow the country to exercise its right to collective self-defense. chinese government officials have expressed concern over the decision. japanese officials are expected to explain their stance on contributing to international peace and stability. they're also likely to ask china to make its defense spending more transparntent and explain the reasons behind its military expansion. the talks are also expected to focus on fostering mutual trust on maritime security. japanese officials are expected to launch a protest against chinese government boats entering territorial waters in the east china sea around the senkaku islands. japan controls the islands. the japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of the country's territory. china and taiwan claim them. an organization trying to outlaw nuclear weapons testing has chosen japan and kazakhstan to lead the next round of efforts to bring that into force. members of the comprehensive

nuclear test ban treaty organization made the decision in vienna. the u.n. general assembly adopted the treaty in 1996, but it has not been ratified by eight countries including the united states and china. members of the treaty organization will meet in new york in september to discuss ways to bring it into force. japan's ambassador commented on this year being the 70th anniversary since the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki. japan is the only country to have suffered atomic bomb attacks. he said his country has an obligation to help realize a world without nuclear weapons. a senior iranian official a senior u.s. government official has been spelling out what he sees as key international security threats and he says the u.s. and japan should work together on tackling them. assistant secretary of state frank rose is in japan to discuss security issues. the governments of the u.s. and japan are revealing their defense cooperation guidelines.

>> while long-standing threats to japan such as north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs remain a concern, emerging threats in areas such as cybersecurity, space security, and the freedom of navigation present new challenges. >> rose warned china and russia are developing missiles that can destroy satellites. he said china tested such a missile in 2007 and it left thousands of pieces of debris in space. he said there's a growing risk of a satellite colliding with space debris. millions of chinese are on the move celebrating the lunar new year. their tourism dollars are being welcomed in countries like japan and south korea, but many of them are finding the opposite in hong kong.

nhk world's takomu yoshioka explains. >> reporter: demonstrators in full voice again in hong kong this month. this time in a town near the chinese border. the angry crowd occupied a shopping mall surrounding shoppers visiting from the mainland. police were called in to restore order and arrested some of the demonstrators. >> translator: mainland people are pouring into hong kong. our culture and values are being hurt. >> reporter: in 2003 officials lifted the ban on the individual travel from the mainland. since then, more and more visitors have arrived in the

territory every year. arrivals last year reached 47 million. that's more than six times hong kong's population. many of them come to shop. they stock up on everyday items, food, cosmetics and baby formula. >> translator: when i am out of baby formula, i come to hong kong. >> reporter: retailers are profiting, but many local residents are growing increasingly resentful.

on the mainland. as soon as the traders come back from hong kong, they start selling goods purchased in the territory.

just the right products. >> translator: fish should be well received. >> reporter: wealthier vietnamese have a taste for japanese cuisine. but when shimazu's group dined at some of vietnam's 300 japanese restaurants, they found dishes that used frozen fish. shimazu concluded there's plenty of scope for the fresh fish market to grow. his team planned a tasting event at an upscale ho chi minh city

hotel. they started preparing in tokyo in mid january. shimazu decided the alf onsinno would be popular with vietnamese diners for its white flesh and low fat. he applied traditional preservation techniques as on this flounder. he starts by draining the blood, which if left as it is can lead to spoiling and a strong fishy smell. next the nerves are quickly removed. this prevents the flesh from stiffening. the fish is ready to be shipped. >> translator: we put our utmost into preparing the fish. now we just have to serve it.

>> reporter: 70 people attended the tasting including local buyers and owners of japanese restaurants. shimazu wanted to show off the ultimate in fresh fish cuisine. to kick things off the organizers unveiled a luscious cut of premium tuna. and next the alfonsino. it's the fish he hopes they'll like the best. shimazu waits to see their reaction. >> translator: it's sweet and delicious and fresh. >> translator: thank you. >> reporter: at the event shim shimazu found that some vietnamese want to learn japanese fish handling

techniques. >> translator: in vietnam we use ice to keep fish fresh. but we still can't preserve it as well as the japanese. >> translator: we will take our know-how and techniques abroad. it's a big challenge, but we have to go ahead with it. >> reporter: drawing on their traditional skills and preparation methods, the fish wholesalers of tsukiji are now looking to develop markets in other parts of asia. turning our attention to north america now, where people in much of eastern canada northeastern areas of the u.s. are dealing with extremely cold weather and snow. meteorologist robert speta tells us why in world weather. >> yes, i am sure if you are out here across the great lakes region extending up through ontario and quebec it definitely is very chilly.

and if you are planning on traveling to this area of the world anytime soon make sure you pack some extra layers of clothing. for example, let's take a look at the overnight lows. this is not included with the wind chill, which could range around minus 30 to minus 40 for some of you. chicago getting downto minus 13. toronto at minus 19 here on your tuesday night. and with this has been causing at the very least definitely chilly temperatures but it is freezing up any water that is outside. that is including most of the great lakes. let's go to some video we have coming out of lake erie because, well at this time at least 98% of the lake is frozen. you can see here a coast guard cutter trying to keep some of it open allow some traffic to get through there. but definitely having a hard time at it. in texas the cold left many travelers even stranded way farther down there toward the south, and more than 1,000 flights were canceled in philadelphia as well. a building which has now been nicknamed the ice palace was

starting to thaw on sunday and this planned ice palace by any means. this is no ice festival. that was actually building that was on fire last week, and when the firefighters went to put it out that was the end scenario because all the water just froze right there on the building. so a lot of scenes really being had out here. and it is still chilly. by the way, last time lake erie completely froze over was in 1996. so this is not a common thing off there. all that cold air off toward the north, that's what's going on. i did mention in that video in texas you are having some flight delays. that's a separate system. it's down here toward the south we have this low actually pushing through. and that's going to bring in that mixed precipitation. it's not just the snowfall but it's the freezing rain and rain/snow mix that is coming with this. and that's going to make for some very slick conditions out there on the roads but also at the airport as this does continue to push off. all the way from louisiana,

jackson, mississippi, here you are going to be seeing some freezing rain even into alabama and also eventually into atlanta. you're going to be looking at the risk of some freezing rain. it's not going to be all that heavy but enough to cause at least some sort of issues. now as we move over toward europe i do want to mention in western europe very blustery out here. winds in the english channel have been reported upwards of about 70 kilometers per hour. you still could see gusts into parts of ireland. around 130 kilometers per hour. very windy. there's the threat of? damage out here. but also the threat of tornadoes. i don't expect anything too big, but a small tornado nonetheless could still cause some problems if you are impacted by it. then the attached cold front which was ahead of this actually pushing across the alps. that's going to bring some snowfall there and back toward east into turkey looking at that snow kicking up. rth just north of there, by the way. kiev at 5 but moscow some sunny skies, staying on the chilly side with a high of 4. now as you move toward eastern

asia, big issue out here the last several days has been the haze. across much of korea over through western japan now it's actually being reported the yellow sand out here is going to linger the rest of tuesday but by wednesday into thursday we're going to be seeing a change because we have a new low developing into southeastern china and that's going to move northeast. stir up the atmosphere also bring some rainfall with it. but at least for now 6 for the high in seoul. tokyo actually some cloudy skies there. 13 on your tuesday. here's the extended outlook. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for staying with us.

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' ' come to "euromaxx highlights," for a roundup of our favorite reports from the week. let's have a look at our top three. fashion front -- how to enter the elite world of haute couture. dutch designs -- artist theo jansen and his mythical beach animals.

and nostalgic notion -- how a swiss village revives the 19th-century vacation. well, haute couture creations are high-end, handmade pieces designed by major fashion houses, but the labels still need to get a formal invite from a select group of designers before they can even call their wares haute couture and show them at paris fashion week.