hello there. welcome to "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. this just coming in to us. japanese police officers are seeking arrest warrants for three teenagers suspectedqú,et murdering a 13-year-old boy. they say the suspects were acquainted with the victim. ryota uemura was found dead one week ago on a river bank in kawasaki city near tokyo. he had been stabbed in the neck. officers found a box cutter blade and a stick near uemura's body. the victim had bruises on his face and arms. investigators have been reviewing surveillance camera footage taken around the time

uemura was stabbed. they say it shows him walking toward the river with several young men. uemura was frequently seen with a group of boys. people who knew him say he was punched in the face by members of the group. police have discovered mobile phone messages uemura sent before he was murdered. he had been asking his friends for help. more details on that story as they come in. now in other news a prominent american newspaper has unmasked the islamic state member dubbed jihadi john. the black-clad man with the british accent has appeared in the group's videos. he wields a knife in videos that purportedly show militants murdering inging hostages. the "washington post" says he is mohammed emwazi. the report describes him as a briton in his mid 20s from a well-to-do family. it says he was born in kuwait and raised in london where he graduated from university. bbc news says emwazi was known to british security services. media reports say that in may 2009 he flew to tanzania with

his friends and was detained by police on upon -- upon arrival. he was released but later questioned by british intelligence agents. they accused him of trying to reach somalia where the militant group al shabab operates. the reports also say emwazi met a member of a london-based human rights group to discuss that experience experience. >> while i think there are? striking similarities between the young man that i remember and the person we see on the video, i can't be 100% certain. >> reports say british counterterrorism officials detained emwazi again in 2010 when he returned to london to finalize marriage plans in kuwait. they say he was prevented from going to the country and they quote an e-mail from emwazy saying he felt like a prisoner in london. the article's also raised suspicion that he may have traveled to syria in 2013. u.s. white house spokesperson josh earnest said the government continues to investigate the

suspect responsible for the murders of their citizens. >> the united states government continues to aggressively investigate the individuals who are responsible for the murders of american citizens. >> emwazi is thought to have been pictured in the videos showing the murders of u.s., british, and japanese nationals. ukraine's military and separatist fighters are making moves, indicating a cease-fire agreement may be taking hold. military officials say they have begun withdrawing heavy weapons from the east of the country and pro-russian separatist groups claim their withdrawal is already 90% complete. a ukrainian military spokesperson released a statement saying fighting in the eastern region has calmed down. the statement added that the pullback from the frontline in the donetsk region is being observed by monitors from the organization for security and cooperation in europe. but it says sporadic fighting continues. and the military reserves the right to alter the withdrawal

schedule if government forces are attacked. nhk's correspondent says ukraine's military are cautiously proceeding with the withdrawal. officials are increasingly concerned that pro-russian separatists may mount attacks to capture the industrial city of mariupol. a senior member of pro-russian separatist groups in donetsk said most of their weaponry had been removed from the battlefront, but he said they would return to the frontlines unless they could confirm ukraine's military is also withdrawing. police in cairo are investigating a string of bombings. they say the blasts killed one person and wounded nine. they suspect the attackers are islamist extremists. security officials say bombs went off almost simultaneously in five places. they report explosions outside mobile phone shops, a police station and a restaurant. the blasts outside the restaurant killed a staff member. police found two unexploded

devices nearby. they say extremist groups are trying to cause chaos to hinder a parliamentary election next month. the vote will complete the transfer of power from the military to the government of president abdel fattah al sisi. jtsds jtsds. french authorities are investigating several mysterious drone flights. they say there have been sightings of the unmanned aircraft over key landmarks in paris. they're looking into the reports of five overnight flights on tuesday and wednesday. the drones were seen over the eiffel tower the u.s. embassy and several main roads. there was a similar string of sightings in october involving flights over nuclear power plants and military installations. french law bans the operation of private sector drones over power stations and other sensitive areas. no one has claimed responsibility for the flights. the country has been on high security alert since last month's terrorist attacks that left 20 people dead.

people who watch japan are looking at a mixed bag of economic data. ai uchida joins us now from the business desk with the headline figure. a lot of numbers out this morning. what jumped out at you? >> factory activity that was a lot better than people were expecting. that was a positive surprise. but looking at the bigger picture, people may be zeroing in on price trends. leaders here have been trying to get prices to rise, not fall as they've been doing for so many years. well officials at the internal affairs ministry say prices for daily goods and services rose in january for the 20th month in a row but the pace is slowing down. the officials say the consumer price index was up 2.2% from a year earlier. the index rose 2.5% in december. they don't factor in fresh food, and that's because those prices tend to be volatile and distort the results. gasoline and heating oil prices declined by a wider margin than before limiting the rise in consumer prices overall. the officials estimate without

the consumption tax hike in april consumer prices would have increased by about 0.2%. now, officials also announced the jobless rate. that figure was up a bit in january from a year earlier to 3.6%. however, the year on-year figures show an improvement. the number of people with jobs rose by 470,000 from the same month in 2014. and that totaled about 63 million. the number of jobless was down by about 70,000 to about 2.3 million. labor ministry officials say the ratio of job offers to people looking for work was unchanged from december at 1.14, and that means that there were 114 positions available for every 100 people seeking employment. and another key piece of data released is that industrial output. economy ministry officials say the economy rose in january for a second straight month as plant

managers are seeing more activity on their factory floors. the officials say production was up 4% from december. that beat analysts' forecasts. the ministry officials say output is showing signs of growing at a moderate pace. the output increased in all but two out of 15 sectors. they do expect overall production to rise again in february but decline in march. investors in tokyo are cheered by all that economic data as well as a weaker yen. the benchmark nikkei opened higher and is now trading higher by just above a tenth of a percent. 18,812 at the moment. some investors, though, are selling to lock in profits after recent rallies. now, over in currencies the dollar rose overnight against the yen and the euro, and that was on u.s. data showing higher core inflation. the dollar now trading well above the 119-yen level. and against the euro the dollar is near the highest in over a decade. currently at the 1.12 level.

now let's take a look at other stock markets outside of japan. seoul's kospi index closely tied to u.s. shares. that is trading lower this morning after the dow jones declined. the kospi down a third of a percent. australian share prices are trading just a touch higher right now up about a tenth of a percent. so we're seeing pretty modest moves so far this friday morning in the asia pacific. that's the latest in business for this hour. i will leave you with a check on some other markets. ♪ ♪ ♪

the japanese government has committed $32 million to assist u.n. reconstruction efforts in the gaza strip. the territory was devastated by the conflict last summer between israel and the palestinian islamist group hamas. the heads of japan's representative office in ramallah at the u.n. relief and works agency for palestinian refugees attended a signing ceremony. the ambassador for palestinian affairs jun yamatsuda said japan will steadily fulfill its promises. >> translator: we believe supporting palestinians will help stabilize the entire middle east. we will continue to contribute as much as we can.

>> the u.n. agency will use part of japan's donation to rebuild and repair homes. it will also secure personnel and provide training at medical clinics. in japan men have a reputation for spending too much time at the office and not enough at home compared to men in other countries. as a result surveys say they don't contribute as much to housework or child rearing. the country's dealing with a low birth rate. so some company managers are helping to change the corporate attitude toward a work-life balance. but as nhk world's atsuko atsuko uwasaki reports, hurdles remain. >> reporter: assistant engineer. last month his wife gave birth to their second child. from october he took six months

childcare leave. >> translator: when our first child was born i left all the childcare to my wife and i felt bad about having to work late. when we had our second child my boss encouraged me to take some time off. so we decide wed would each take half of our childcare leave. >> he and his wife work at the same i.t. company. she works as a group leader in systems development. she's been unsure about having a second child whether she could carry on working with two children. >> translator: i feel much more at ease now we are sharing the childcare. so i can really focus on my work too. >> reporter: at their company, it is known in some situations to work late into the night and during weekends. until ten years ago more than 80% of the women working there

left either when they got married or had children. >> translator: we were feeling a strong sense of crisis that we were losing our most valuable resource, our employees. >> reporter: the company made it easier for employees to take holidays and child care leave and to work shorter hours even for the men. leisure images on its website promote the idea that holidays can improve efficiency. but at the beginning some managers were concerned about getting things done if working hours were made too flexible. the company runs training programs and has an evaluation system for managers to make sure they're getting the most out of their workers and that it is a more flexible approach. however, this flexibility is still rare. japan's trade union

confederation said more than 10% of men have experienced harassment at work for taking or just asking for work hours to be adjusted for child care. >> translator: the view that working 24/7 is essential for growth no longer holds. but it's strongly rooted in the current generation of managers. attitudes toward traditional gender roles also remain strong. as long as these mind-sets persist, it will be difficult for male workers to participate more in household work and child raising. >> reporter: an npo has been set up to help change these ingrained perceptions. called furthering japan it conducts training sessions for people in management positions. more than 2,500 people have taken part since it began last march.

the facilitators are men who are actively involved in childcare while continuing high-profile jobs. they explain that accommodating the personal lives of employees can actually improve their performance. >> translator: the work environment changes with the times. so it's important to keep feeding those new ideas to the management. >> translator: we encourage our managers to gain a greater understanding of the need to balance work and lifestyle. it is one of the keys to putting people at ease about having children. >> reporter: times have changed and companies are now starting to understand that the proper work-life balance can give them

an edge in business. it can also help rebirth japan's declining birth rate. atsuko iwasaki, nhk world, tokyo. more chinese are turning to japan to seek out better health to take advantage of state-of-the-art technology, and they're being met by well-trained medical staff. nhk world's ayumi takahira explains. >> reporter: this man and his wife have been looking forward to this trip to japan for several weeks. the 43-year-old business owner was diagnosed with liver cancer last october. he was treated at a shanghai hospital but his condition didn't improve. a friend who had received medical care in japan recommended that he get treated here too. >> translator: i searched the internet for what treatments i could get in japan. i knew i could trust japanese

health care providers. so i decided to come. >> reporter: a liaison organization for japan's medical tourism, medical excellence japan, says the highest number of calls it handles are from china. song sxm otherand many other cancer patients hope to receive radiation therapy. some treatments are either rare outside the country or japan is the only place that provides them. >> translator: not all the patients in china have access to new treatments. if our new medicines or therapies can be prescribed for their diseases i think we should provide them to patients from overseas. >> reporter: in a procedure like this patients are isolated from others. but here patients have peace of mind because they hear instructions in their own language.

even so communications between doctor and patient relies largely on the translator. akiko nuzeka says medical translators are required to know more than just health care vocabulary. >> translator: what i do differs from the work of a conference translator. it's not just about translating the words. i pay attention to how the patient feels mentally and physically. >> reporter: to respond to various demands of chinese patients this hospital here provides unique services with extra care. this room is specially designed for overseas visitors who undergo preventive medical examinations examinations. most of them are expectcompany executives from china and their demands are high.

the package costs an average of $4,000. that includes massages and meals. also a concierge will take you to a department store a two-hour drive from the hospital. about 100 chinese came here last year. 150 are expected to come this year. several times a month medical staff learn basic chinese so they can provide even better service. >> translator: maintaining quality medical care is our first priority. but we also provide extra services. >> reporter: noriko yamada works with japan's government to promote medical services to overseas patients. >> translator: with the upcoming olympics in mind, the health ministry has been working on the guidelines and curriculum for

medical translators. we try to apply business perspectives to the medical field so the patients can acquire the best treatment in and outside japan. >> reporter: japanese medical service providers are improving their system. they believe that in doing so they will win even more international acclaim. ayumi takahira, nhk world. senior u.s. officials have called for international cooperation in monitoring outer space to prevent satellites from colliding with floating debris. the officials spoke on thursday at an international symposium on sustainable space development held in tokyo. u.s. assistant secretary of state frank rose criticized china for using a ballistic miss ol' to destroy a satellite in 2007.

he said the experiment resulted in massive amounts of field deeb rie. rosen plans to strent the framework for sharing information on space debris with ten countries including japan and international agencies. director of space policy engagement jessica powers also pointed out many countries are now engaged in space development. she expressed the need for an international code of conduct to prevent nations from clashing in space. health authorities in myanmar say they have detected the highly virulent h5n1 strain of avian flu in dead chickens. they said on thursday thousands of birds including chickens and quail died at a poultry farm in the central region of sagayim on february 10th. the officials said they identified the h5n1 type of bird flu but have confirmed no human infection from the outbreak. they also said they culled more than 20,000 chickens and quail near the farm to prevent the spread of the disease. it is time now for a check

of the weather. people in northern japan are dealing with a winter storm that's swept in, bringing in severe weather. meteorologist robert speta joins us with the details. >> yes. this is another late winter storm rolling across northern japan out here, and already we have seen some winds gusting as high as about 80 to 90 kilometers per hour. reported in yamagata prifrkt. already in hokkaido one snowfall report, about 60 centimeters in the past 24 hours. let's give you some visuals on what this looks like. definitely you can see the snow coming down sprep dangerous for driving out here for some people. jha is actually advising people to be aware of some travel disruptions. there's also an elevated risk of avalanche. you can see this man trying to remove some of the snow there on his driveway. has to haul it out there. just an abundance of it. even the snow depth in some areas here in northern portions of honshu, well over 300

centimeters. kind of puts you -- perspective on how much has come down out here this winter. on top of that we still could see an additional 80 centimeters with this latest storm system. winds still gusting upwards 126 kilometers per hour. had these heavy snow warnings in place, especially across eastern portions of hokkaido but that sea effect's going to continue to wrap around, kick up those waves as much as 6 meters high. if you have flights in and out of tokyo on the other hand it is chicago to stay clear out here. we have the pacific coastline of japan staying on the clear side. main reason is because those mountains are stopping all that snowfall. but back towards the west another low is developing. this is bringing some rain showers across parts of china. some areas about 80 to 90 millimeters could be expected but eventually that will track its way toward the east. and most of japan on sunday you're going to be expecting those showers. for now, though, shanghai you are feeling the effects of rain here on friday. high of 7 there for you. tokyo with a high of 13. some sunny skies in your forecast. let's move over toward the americas now, see what's going

on. the big topic for the last several days has been in the deep south. we have been seeing messy weather across this area. state of emergency was issued in alabama even over toward georgia at one time. you still have seen numerous traffic ngs accidents reported out here. it's not all bad news. main reason is because we have traffic accidents and people because people aren't used to driving in the snow. children aren't used to the snow as well. let's go to some video out of tennessee. this is one way you can't get over the fact that it is snowing quite hard out there. in chattanooga tennessee children gathering on a hill in a downtown park there to spend the night sledding. one man even surfing down there through the snowfall. the winter storm actually brought about 20 centimeters in this specific area. not very common that far toward the south. the big topic the storm's moving off. it's this high pressure. take a look at the map. that's just dominating the weather pattern out here. you still have some snowfall

back toward the pacific northwest. but i think the bigger topic is going to be these chilly temperatures. many of you for your highs. remember, this is the high not the low. are seeing well below freezing temperatures. you want to bundle up when you go outside. but the wind chills could even be worse. but at least toward the south we are going to get? relief. take a look at the three-day outlook. in dallas minus 1 on your high for your friday. but it is going to climb back up to 12 on sunday. memphis similar conditions. even over there toward oklahoma city. so at least some relief as we go ahead into next week. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook. ♪ ♪

♪ we'd like to remind you of our lead story once again. japanese police officers are seeking arrest warrants for three teenagers suspected of murdering a 13-year-old boy.

they say the suspects were acquainted with the victim. ryota uemura was found dead one week ago on a river bank near kawasaki city near tokyo. he had been stabbed in the neck. officers found a boxcutter blade and a stick near uemura's body. the victim had bruises on his face and arms. investigators have been reviewing surveillance camera footage taken around the time uemura was stabbed. they say it shows him walking toward the river with several young men. uemura was frequently seen with a group of boys. people who knew him say he was punched in the face by members of the group. police have discovered mobile phone messages uemura sent before he was murdered. he had been asking his friendsjc?qh @&hc% for help. now, more on this story as details come in to us. "newsline" will be back at the top of the hour. thanks for joining us.

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stays the course policymakers are asking if easing has gone too far. and the jump start, this is one thing the market did not see coming. hello, you're watching ash"asia biz forecast." we're chris crossing the region looking for investors. those on fire and those