♪ hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's thursday february 26th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. members of the islamic state militant group have been recruiting people from around the world to join their battle. now authorities from the united states have charged three men with conspiring to support the group. investigators believe two of them were planning to travel to syria to fight. one of the men is 19 and is from kazakhstan. the others age 24 and 30 are from uzbekistan. all of them live in brooklyn new york. federal authorities said two of the men intended to go to syria to take part in jihad or holy

war. officers arrested the 19-year-old at john f. kennedy international airport. he was preparing to board a flight for turkey. investigators believe the oldest member of the group provided the others with money for plane tickets. authorities say two of the men posted messages on the minority supporting the militants and contacted a person with links to the group. fbi officials and the new york police believe the two men were planning terrorist attacks against the united states. officials say they also discussed other plans such as assassinating police officers or president barack obama if they couldn't join islamic state militants. >> their social media propaganda skills inspired as these injuries were inspired to travel to syria to fight. >> >> bratton said investigators are look into other people with possible links to islamic state militants. russia's president is heating up a dispute with his

ukrainian counterpart over natural gas. vladimir putin is criticizing petro poroshenko for cutting off the line that supplies ukraine's eastern regions. and he warned he'll suspend gas to the country in return if it fails to pay for deliveries in advance. >> translator: the latest payment made by the ukrainian side would only be good for another three o'four days. if there won't be a further payment, then according to the contract, gazprom will stop the gas shipment. of course it may disrupt transit of gas to europe as well. >> putin likened the stoppage to genocide. he said about 4 million people in eastern ukraine will be left without gas in the winter. the region is under control by russian separatists. putin said the ukrainian government must bear the responsibility if it considers the region to be its territory.

officials from the european union are eager to take a leading role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. they propose that world leaders cut co2 emissions by 60% from 2010 levels by 2050. and they want every country to play a role. the existing kyoto protocol requires only developed countries to reduce emissions. global leaders hope to reach an agreement at a u.n. meeting later this year on a new framework beyond 2020. members of the european commission had proposed a long-term goal be included in the new framework. they've also called for reviewing efforts and targets every five years. they say the new pact should be legally binding just like the kyoto protocol. and they proposed the new pact take effect when it's ratified by countries producing more than 80% of the world's total emissions. it has called on china and the u.s., the top two emitters to play a leading role for a new agreement. last october the eu set a

domestic target of cutting 40% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. u.s. federal reserve chair janet yellen has a goal. she wants prices and wages to rise steadily. and she says she won't tighten monetary policy until she sees those two things happening. ai uchida joins us now from the business desk for more on that. yellen has wrapped up her second day of testimony before congress. what's the takeaway? >> catherine, basically she's saying don't expect us to follow a specific schedule. she's saying they're going to be looking at data they're going to be digesting it, and when they feel the time is right then they'll raise interest rates. now, rates are currently near zero. and she hinted that all this probably won't happen before june. yellen points out that inflation is still below the fed's target of 2%. reasons for that include falling oil prices and the stronger dollar pushing down prices of imported goods. >> we do think that these

factors are transitory, and if we gain confidence that that's the case on the basis of incoming data and continue to see the labor market improve we would consider still raising rates. >> yellen told the house financial services committee that the fed expects inflation to fall further in the near term. she said policy makers will keep a close eye on price trends. some analysts say it may be difficult for the central bank to raise the rate if inflation stays significant below the 2% target. global investors are displaying optimism but with a bit of caution on the repeated message from yellen that a rate hike is not likely in the immediate future. that positive mood has carried over here to tokyo. investors are upbeat. they're also anticipating stronger corporate earnings. now, the nikkei is trading higher by more than half a percent. 18,690 this morning.

in currencies the dollar's locked in a tight range against the dollar and it's now trading right around the 119-yen level. and across asia trading is somewhat choppy. forklifts are hunting for bargains. still lingering concerns about the global economy are weighing down on market sentiment. australian stock prices down just about half a percent. south korea snapped its bullish trend. it's now down just about a quarter percent. executives at japan's mizuho bank are in talks to buy a british financial group's loan business in north america. sources say the negotiations between mizuho and the royal bank of scotland rbs, are in the final stages. the acquisition is believed to be worth several billion dollars. rbs has operations around the world. it's streamlining its business to recover from a slump triggered by the 2008 global financial crisis. mizuho and other japanese major banks are also expanding their overseas services.

that's because low interest rates in japan are making it difficult to boost their profits from domestic lending alone. well this is the time the year when workers and managers in japan sit down for annual wage talks. members of the labor union at major bank tokyo mitsubishi ufj plan to ask for a base pay hike of 2%. that means the employees of japan's three leading banks are expected to ask for a second straight annual hike in base pay. workers at tokyo mitts beechi ufj last year won an increase of 0.5%. union leaders say rising prices and the bank's solid business performance, especially overseas mean employees deserve another raise. but bank workers also want a 1% increase in the annual bonus payment. union leaders at major banks sumitomo mittsie and miz co. will also demand a base pay hike of 1.5% and they want an increase of 3% in their bonus

payments. that's the latest in business for this hour. here's another check on markets. ♪ ♪ japan's government has made some progress in dealing with the growing amount of radioactive soil in fukushima. the governor and the mayors of two towns say they will approve shipments of contaminated soil to intermediate storage facilities to be built in the prefecture.

>> translator: i decided to allow radioactive soil and other waste to be brought into the towns. the goal is to clean up the environment and recover from the disaster as soon as possible. >> the mayors of futaba and okuma towns expressed their concerns. they plan to build the facilities in the towns to store soil and other waste from decontamination work following the 2011 nuclear accident. the towns also hope the crippled fukushima daiichi plant. government officials say shipment of the waste are scheduled to begin by march 11th, the fourth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami. but the date is not firm. the mayors demanded shipments should start later than march 11th. a former u.s. marine has been convicted in the deaths of two men. eddie ray youthrouth has been

sentenced to life in prison for shooting the "american sniper" author and his friend. routh, who was charged with killing ex-u.s. navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle and his friend chad littlefield in texas in 2013. jurors rejected defense arguments routh was insane at the time. >> having received and accepted the jury's verdict in this matter by statute i'll now impose sentence in this matter. confinement for life. >> kyle served four tours of duty in iraq. he was a highly decorated sniper, believed to have killed 160 people. his autobiography was turned into a blockbuster film. "american sniper" has set box office records in the united states since its january release. after leaving the navy kyle helped counsel former service members with mental health problems including routh. one out of every five american veterans of the iraq war is said

to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. bird flu and ein effect shous diseases continue to be a threat to livestock across asia. in an effort to fight the problem a research institute in thailand is turning to technology. nhk world reports. >> reporter: in the thai city of chen mai poultry farming is a key industry. people have long lived close to chickens. in 2004, the city suffered an outbreak of bird flu. more than 60 million chickens were culled. 12 people died from the virus. a delay in crucial detection of the source of the outbreak allowed it to spread across the country. now farmers and researchers are

joining a new project in chiang mai. the goal is to prevent another outbreak, and smartphones are their main tool. farmers use a specially developed app to collect data. the categories range from normal or bitten to dead. then the farmer submits the information, which goes straight to a university data center. veterinarians work around the clock to check the data. when they detect signs of trouble, they inform farmers within three hours to tell them what to do. the farmers are told to isolate livestock if needed and to dispose of dead animals.

a professor at chang mai university's veterinary college played a central role in developing the app. >> translator: smartphones are the best way to quickly confirm the spread of bird flu. farmers can take photos of their livestock and send them immediately. >> reporter: his team hopes to boost the science of the project to increase its effectiveness. 300 people have already been taught how to use the app. >> translator: the farmers promptly send reports on bird flu. many others can protect their livestock. it's a great system. >> reporter: this man has high hopes for the new app. he keeps 60 chickens at home.

during the 2004 outbreak he had to cull all 50 of his chickens. he took part in a seminar on the app last december, and since then has been sending data every day. >> translator: it was painful to cull all the chickens. i don't want to repeat that ever again. >> translator: i want to make this project a success. if it works well, it will benefit farmers. >> reporter: with bird flu still a major threat, the world is watching to see if the chiang project can prevent another deadly outbreak. nhk world, chiang mai. 70 years since the end of world war ii, people around the

world are still trying to comprehend the holocaust. a ceremony in poland recently commemorated the liberation of one of the most infamous sites from that period the auschwitz concentration camp. and one japanese student says some of the lessons are still relevant today. nhk world's yukako sakai reports. >> reporter: a symposium brought the facts of the holocaust to tokyo. it took place on the anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz, the nazi-built camp where more than a million jews were killed. a famous documentary by claude lansmann put the audience face-to-face with the horrors of the death camp. the title is "shoah," the hebrew word for the mass murder of european jews.

that documentary presents of testimony of jewish survivors of the camp, former collaborators of nazi regime, and witnesses who failed to speak against the genocide. the main message at the tokyo symposium was, ordinary people also played a part in the holocaust through their action and inaction. >> translator: reflecting on why the holocaust happened should lead us to realize that the roots of discrimination lie inside all of us. >> reporter: several university students participated in the program. among them junpei sakaguchi. his interest in the subject arose from a book he read written by an auschwitz survivor. he was moved to visit the camp itself, built by nazi germany in

southern poland. >> translator: this is the entrance. the gate is dramatic. >> reporter: he thought long and hard about what led so many people to persecute the jews, and about parallels he perceived in his own country, hate speech and discrimination against other nationalities. >> translator: when you look at ads on the trains or visit bookstores, you see many books that convey anti-korean or anti-chinese attitudes. i'm afraid exposure to these ideas could cause them to become part of our mentality. >> reporter: sekiguchi admits that he himself started harboring bitterness after hearing about anti-japanese demonstrations abroad but he realized those sorts of feelings could easily descend into a vicious cycle.

one scene from the documentary "shoah" still haunts him. it was an interview way farmer who knew what was happening in the camp. passed it by and watched as jews were led away. the director asked, weren't you afraid for them? that scene let sekiguchi to realize indifference enabled and even encouraged prosecution. >> translator: once you realize indifference is becoming the norm you have an opportunity to change society for the better. you can find ways to get people to take an interest little by little. >> reporter: 70 years after the holocaust, intolerance,

discrimination, and persecution continue to pollute many places in the world. the lessons of the past are not out of date. yukako sakai, nhk world. children in japan are get getting some hard lessons in a fun way. they're learning life-saving skills about how to react to earthquakes and avalanches. and their teacher is part natural disaster expert, part superhero. >> translator: i'm a scientist. in fact, i have a ph.d. you don't believe me? >> reporter: this character will make you a believer. he goes by the name of dr. not a ranger, which means dr. avalanche ranger. he's a superhero who teaches

kids about natural disasters. his powers include simulating an avalanche using a plastic bag. scary enough to remember, but the doctor hopes children will recognize the dangers while having fun. not a ranger's alter ego is yasuaki noaguchi a specialist in snow disasters who's been with japan's national research institute for more than three decades. about 20 years ago he started holding workshops on natural disasters. he donned the costume to attract kids' attention. since then he's presided over more than 2,000 sessions around the country. >> translator: if a funny-looking man says something, you want to challenge him, right?

that desire to challenge is the first step to developing an interest. >> reporter: every superhero needs a place to recharge. he maintains a secret laboratory in the institute. it's where he prepares his presentations. the plastic bottles simulate liquefaction, and a demonstration of shaking shows the power of earthquakes. he's on a continual quest to find examples that children can comprehend. the good doctor paid a visit to an elementary school in a suburb of tokyo. >> translator: not a ranger, come in. [ applause ] >> reporter: he brought with him an experiment showing how quakes affect buildings of different heights. although his main field is avalanches, he expanded his

scope after the great east japan earthquake. liquefaction can be a treacherous consequence of land under stress. he demonstrated what could happened with a bottle containing water and sand. when he shook it sand soaked with water moved to the bottom like liquid. the vibration caused balls with lower specific gravity than the sand to pop up. >> translator: we need to spark children's curiosity so they realize they have to help themselves. they also might help people around them during disasters. knowing the laws of nature will help them to be better prepared. >> reporter: nature is the power he channels in his travels. someday the kids who pay attention may become heroes

themselves. it is time now for a check of the weather. people in northeastern areas of the u.s. are experiencing record-breaking cold weather. meteorologist robert speta gives us the details in world weather. >> yes. i know i sound like a broken record. day m and day out we've been talking about this big dip in the jet stream. the temperatures have been dipping down here. it is the middle of february and of course you expect to see the cold but some of these temperatures out here they're basically around the average, what you would expect in anchorage, alaska specifically in new york city. you've been at that average for the past month now. and as far as commuters, especially in the northeastern states you may be used to driving in the snowfall but when you've been getting storm after storm and it's been so cold even people here are starting to succumb to it. let's go to some video we have coming out of maine where one of the worst traffic accidents in actually about a decade and a half hit here. according to local media at least 75 vehicles were involved

in this major pileup on a highway here in maine on wednesday. the crash injured at least 17 people, including at least two people in serious condition. interstate 95 was shut down for about five hours, a major thruway there. and emergency teams continue to work there to help free people tangled up in that mess. and you could just see those images. just some incredible stuff. it shows how dangerous it is to drive out here on the roadways. even farther there toward the north where you may be used to it. to the south you're not so used to it but it is still a very dangerous go. some roads in alabama completely impassable at this time. a state of emergency has been put in place for alabama and also toward georgia. you're still going to be seeing more snowfall on top of what you have seen out here including some freezing rain and severe weather as well because we have all that cold air coming in with this. warm air coming out of the gulf of mexico. that clash of the air masses. tornado mass has been put in place for parts of florida and

southern georgia. this is just a mixed bag of severe weather coming with us. let's see your temperatures. houston with a high of 14. staying relatively warm. but all you have to do is go farther to the north. oklahoma city with a high of 7. chicago at minus 10. these are your highs because your lows are much colder than that. and the wind chill combined with some of this, especially into the planes could be somewhere around minus 30 to minus 40 celsius. you want to bundle up around here. let's see what's going on in europe. this storm system has been lingering. it's a cutoff low. it's cut off from the jet stream. so it's been lingering for some period of time. we've been seeing some heavy rainfall and gusty winds. actually into croatia you can see winds upwards of 90 to 95 kilometers per hour come out of this. gradually working its way east. still showers. risk of some flooding. back toward the west a severe storm blowing over iceland as well. winds gusting there as high as 130 kilometers per hour. good news i think those winds

are going to stay north of europe over here toward the southeast. but what you are still going to be seeing is some gusty winds, foul weather across the british isles and eventually that will dip there into low countries. london, paris high of 11 and some rain showers there in your forecast on your thursday. wrapping things up once again here into china we have this low moving out but that is making its way into japan now. widespread showers across most of japan. do want to mention the separate low which is intensifying over northern portion much sea of japan and hokkaido you could see some blizzard conditions come out of this but for the most part if you are out here at least do have an umbrella with you on your thursday. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook. ♪

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

today's asian voices comes to you from pakistan's capitol islamabad. we look at the comic series that has enjoyed decades of popularity. what makes it so popular? should girls be allowed education? no. >> should boys be allowed education? >> yes. >> "gogi" is a popular cartoon in pakistan. using humor it raises questions