♪ ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello there. welcome to "newsline.” it's tuesday, march 10th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. people in japan are being warned to stay alert for another earthquake. scientists at the geospatial information authority believe two tectonic plates off northeastern japan have slipped more than 20 meters. the area was the epicenter of the 2011 earthquake. researchers looking at activity deep under the sea found the plates did not move as much as projected. they say this could lead to a build-up in geological stress. they say one of the plates has moved eastward a distance of 95 centimeters near miyagi prefecture's oshika peninsula.

another plate pushed the city of kitaibaraki 48 centimeters. they believe one of the reasons plates are moving is to free geological stress. hit hitashi sato is a head researcher at the research division. he used a gps-equipped device installed on the sea bed to examine western movements of the continental plates. he found the mantle underneath the earth's crust can be a strong influence on crustal movements after an earthquake. >> translator: during the quake the mantle moved west, dragging the seabed with it. i think plates near the surface are also being pulled toward the west. >> sato thinks geological stress is building up around the boundary of the plate at the tohoku region in eastern japan. he warns major earthquakes and ensuing tsunami waves could occur in a coastal area stretching from northern to eastern japan along the pacific.

>> translator: the probability of further quakes is said to be decreasing, but i don't think that's right. >> sato says four years after the disaster people still need to be on alert. a u.n. human rights investigator says more pressure must be put on north korea regarding its abductions of foreign nationals. he says it is necessary to clarify who is responsible for decades of kidnappings. the u.n. special rapporteur released a report saying those abducted were not only japanese and south korean but from other countries as well. the report says the international court in the hague could prosecute perpetrators in the north. he urges the u.n. general assembly and the security counsel toll take up the issue again. he points out that the international community needs to step up its strategy to deal with the north in order to bring about a dramatic change in the country. he says the ultimate goal is achieving closure and

accountability for the abductions. last year the u.n. human rights council and the u.n. general assembly adopted resolutions against north korea for crimes against humanity in line with international laws. representatives from the north have criticized some members of the u.n. panel for fabricating lies and having biased views of the north. the leaders of japan and germany have agreed to work together to bring peace to ukraine and deal with other global challenges. german chancellor angela merkel is visiting japan for the first time in seven years. prime minister shinzo abe said his nation and germany share basic values such as liberty, democracy, human rights and rule of law. >> translator: as responsible partners japan and germany have been playing an important role in addressing not only asian and european issues but also various challenges facing the international community today. we confirmed that the two countries will work together to

tackle various issues and contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world. >> merkel commented on the strong bond between the two countries. >> translator: japan is an important partner in asia for germany. people from the two nations maintain close exchanges. >> both leaders agreed to cooperate for a resolution to the crisis in ukraine. they say diplomats from both sides will meet regularly. they've also affirmed their work with india and brazil to promote reform of the united nations security counsel sxl say they'll try to seek a broad agreement between japan and the eu by the end of the year on an economic partnership agreement. abe and merkel also discussed china's increased maritime activities, the islamic state militants, the fight against %,5q i=i%m5e jt(s limate change. now, merkel received a high-tech welcome in tokyo. >> good morning, madame chancellor.

my name is asimo. nice to meet you. >> she met a robot at a science museum. she seemed interested in cutting-edge technology such as a new solar cell project. >> this is already used? >> yes. >> a researcher explained to her that the material is light and flexible and already used at train stations. she also took part in a symposium and spoke about post-war germany. >> translator: it is germany's great fortune to be accepted back into the international community despite the holocaust. >> merkel emphasized the importance of facing history squarely. >> translator: reconciliation was made possible by the

tolerance of our neighbors as well as our willingness to face up to history. >> merkel also visited the imperial palace. the emperor expressed condolences for former german president richard von weisiger who died in january. merkel said she hopes for an end to fighting as this year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii. she added she's concerned about the serious situation in ukraine. the emperor replied he hopes the situation will be resolved soon. voters in japan appear to be feeling less satisfied with the country's leaders. the latest nhk poll suggests less than half the voters surnt support shinzo abe's cabinet. it's the second lowest approval rating since he took office in 2012. nhk conducted polls from friday to sunday. more than 1,000 people took part. 46% said they support abe's

cabinet. that's down 8 percentage points from a survey conducted the previous month. the percentage of respondents who disapprove went up by eight percentage points to 37%. pollsters asked participants if they support the abe administration's economic policies. a majority, 51%, said they do while 44% said they don't. our survey touched on recent allegations involving political funds. lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties faced questions over inappropriate donations from businesses. 58% of respondents said stricter regulations on political funds are necessary. 11% said they're not. 24% said neither. our poll also suggests japanese voters aren't so excited about an event that could have a direct impact on their lives. nationwide elections to choose local leaders. 65% said they're interested. that's nearly ten percentage points less than in a survey conducted two months before elections held four years ago.

31% said they have no interest in the elections. the apparent lack of interest on the part of voters contrasts with past elections. nhk world's mayiko ambe looks at why people are feeling indifferent. >> nhk surveys for past lower and upper house elections suggested that more than 70% of voters were interested in those polls. sometimes the figure reached nearly 90%. >> one major reason behind the indifference this time could be that the tokyo gubernatorial election would not be held. in the past, the race in japan's largest city increased interest in the elections as a whole. even people outside of the capital would follow high-profile candidates or the fierce battles between the ruling and opposition parties. also this time, those parties are at this point supporting the same candidates in many of the gubernatorial elections. so voters aren't expecting to hear vigorous debates.

prime minister abe wants candidates with the ruling liberal democratic party or those backed by it to make a strong showing. he's trying to build a long-lasting administration, so he needs to strengthen his foothold nationwide. that would help him heading into the ldp leadership race this fall. abe won a landslide victory in the general election in december, but faces challenges at the local level. during the past year ldp-backed candidates have lost gubernatorial elections one after another. the prime minister wants to move past those defeats and wipe the slate clean. abe has been stressing his plans to prioritize regional revitalization and he's working on ways to tackle population decline and boost local economies. for their part, opposition leaders are working hard to gain support. the local elections present an opportunity for them to take momentum away from abe and his ruling coalition so they can go

on the offensive. >> it is time now for the latest in business. lovers of technology across the world are buzzing. they've got a long-awaited look at one of the most hyped products in years. ai uchida joins us now with all the details. we all know what you're going to talk about. what is it? and how big is this hype? >> well, catherine, some people get excited about pretty much anything the team over at apple does but this time you know they are wound up about a product that analysts believe could be a real game changer, and that is the apple watch of course. for those who are impatient to try it out, the good news is they only have a few weeks to wait. [ cheers and applause ] >> good morning. >> chief executive tim cook took to a stage in san francisco to show off apple's first foray into wearable technology. he said it will go on sale in some countries from april 24th. cook said the watch can make phone calls and send e-mails

when it's paired with an iphone. health-conscious types can use apps to keep track of their heartrate and the amount of calories they burn during workouts. and people in the u.s. will be able to use the watch to make payments at stores. >> we continue to innovate. we continue to push forward. all of our energy is on making the best products in the world that empower people, that enrich their lives. >> executives at rival firms such as south korea's samsung and japan's sony have launched their own smartwatches but they're struggling to make a big impact. last year people bought only about 7 million smartwatches worldwide. policy makers at the european central bank say they have embarked on a quantitative easing program. that means they will buy government bonds and other assets and inject funds into the markets. ecb leaders hope the program will prevent the eurozone from falling into deflation.

ecb officials will make asset purchases worth 60 billion euros or $65 billion per month. they say the program is to continue through september next year. the announcement prompted investors to buy sovereign bonds of germany, france, and some other countries that push down yields on those ten-year bonds. ecb officials hope that the program will help push down interest rates and make it easier for businesses to take out loans. ecb plans to mainly buy bonds of big european economies such as germany and france. it will not buy bonds of greece due to concerns about the country's fiscal health. some analysts are skeptical whether funds supplied through the program will reach companies in southern europe that are short of cash. let's see how markets are faring after these headlines on wall street. investors reacted positively to the news about apple watch. the company's shares rose 0.4% and this gave a positive momentum to the overall market. the dow jones industrial average

closed higher by more than .7%. the tech-heavy nasdaq gaining .3%. let's see how markets here are opening in japan. ramin mellegard joins us from the tokyo stock exchange. good morning, ramin. what are you seeing so far? >> a lot of focus on apple's wearable technology. and of course european central bank's quantitative easing moves which kicked off on monday. so let's have a look at the reaction here for the nikkei and the topix. for march 10th. and we're seeing both trading in the positive. actually, i can tell you the nikkei did pop above 18,900. the high was 924. it backed off a little bit. we'll see if we can get back above that. yesterday the nikkei closed down nearly 1%. the biggest loss in more than a month. investors becoming a little worried about japan's growth after the latest revised gdp figures for the last quarter of 2014 weren't as good as expected. now, however, the nikkei is taking its view from currency

markets and of course growth prospects in the u.s. and with the dollar rising again against the yen we are seeing that positive result for the nikkei. we'll see how that develops. there's some concerns of course about the earlier than expected rate hike in the u.s. by the federal reserve, which is going to hold a policy meeting next week. that's going to be a big focus, of course. and following on from what you were covering with apple, of course i'll be covering, a lot of the component makers in japan which make a lot of the parts which go into apple products. so that's going to be a big focus as well. ai? >> ramin, we talked about the start of the quantitative easing in europe. how is the euro trading against major peers? >> let's have a look at some of the levels here. the euro actually staying at pretty weak 11-year lows against the dollar. the big talk in currency markets is whether the euro-dollar may soon hit parity. now, against the yen the dollar's at its highest level since december of last year. right now 121.50-52.

the ecb and the federal reserve are really on totally divergent paths as one is flushing the financial system with cash which is the ecb, and the fed beginning to halt its easy money policy. so many are interested to see possible further moves also by the bank of japan in coming months as it also is looking to boost growth and battle falling prices. quickly before i go there's some key inflation data due out in china later this morning. consumer price index and the producer price index. and we'll see how that affects a lot of japanese shares related to the china markets. and of course investors really do want to get more clarity on the direction of growth in the world's second biggest economy, which is china. so i'll have more on that in a couple of hours. for now that's all from me. back to you. >> sounds good ramin. we'll talk to you then. and i'll be back next hour with more of your business headlines. here's a check on other markets. ♪

authorities in taiwan say they're planning on a series of events to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii. last week china announced separate plans to mark victory in the war against japan. officials in taiwan say the military will stage a public display at a facility in the northern county of shin tsu in july. the purpose is to showcase taiwan's fighting capability. a cabinet spokesperson said the national party now in taiwan ruled mainland china during the war and fought fiercely against japan p. >> we will raise public

awareness of these facts through various events. >> relatives of victims of the war will be invited to a speech by president ma ying-jeou in taipei in september. the spokesperson said there are also plans for exhibitions of historical materials and symposiums to discuss history. south korean president park geun hye has visited the u.s. ambassador to seoul, who was wounded last week in a knife attack. the envoy is recovering in the hospital. park went to see mark lipert after returning from a tour of the middle east. she said she was praying for his quick recovery and wanted to work with him to deepen bilateral relations. the ambassador was attacked on thursday at a forum in seoul. the wound on his face required 80 stitches. police have arrested key jong. they have seized books and documents related to north korea from the suspect's home. police have some documents -- say some documents could breach national security laws.

because their content promotes north korea. investigators will analyze the suspect's phone communications as well as his twitter and facebook accounts with the help of the fbi. a russian opposition leader has expressed doubts about the investigation into the murder of politician boris nemtsov. he says theories that nemtsov was killed for religious reasons are far-fetched. ilya yashin is a co-leader of nemtsov's party. he says he believes the murderers may be punished but those that ordered the killing could remain free. he said russian president vladimir putin should be among the first to be questioned. authorities have arrested five in connection with last month's shooting. they believe former chechen policeman zaur dadayev may have fired the fatal shot. dadayev may have been motivated by his islamic beliefs, but some opposition members have cast doubt on the religious

connection. they say dadayey led crackdowns on islamic extremists as deputy commander for the chechen police. a japanese photographer is looking through his lens at the past to help preserve the future. he spent 20 years in cambodia snapping pictures of stone carvings at an ancient temple and he's hoping his images ensure the site is never forgotten. >> a massive face carved in stone dating from the days of the khmer empire in the late 12th century. there are 259 faces like this in the angkor ruins, each with a different expression. photographer baku saito is the first person to create a photographic record of all these faces. he began working on the project over 20 years ago.

>> translator: they're carved into ordinary stone, but their expressions feel so human. no matter how many times i come here i never feel as though i'm seeing the same faces. >> in the early 1990s cambodia was starting to emerge from its long, civil war. its historic sites had been left abandoned and many were falling into ruin. saito was captivated by the carvings, concerned by their poor condition he joined a japanese government team set up to preserve the site. this marked the start of his photographic project. the faces, each about five meters high, are carved into the four sides of numerous towers in the angkor ruins. saito feels a very human quality

in these mysterious faces. >> translator: their faces are huge, but their expressions are amazingly detailed in their nuances. these faces were carved a thousand years ago and we're still looking at them today. they must be preserved properly. >> saito realized that photographing each of the faces head on would be useful for each of the researchers and it could help prevent further deterioration. but even the lowest of them are 15 meters above the ground. some are 45 meters up. so he had to reassemble his scaffolding for each of the faces. the scaffolding was precarious and would move even in the slightest breeze. it was a major challenge. >> when i was shooting i would

ask everyone to get down, but even so the deck would sometimes shake. if one of the workers ten meters below was jiggling his foot it would cause the top to sway wildly. >> thanks to his efforts to position himself directly in front of the faces, he made many new discoveries. sometimes a face might seem gentle, but at other times angry. the more he photographed them the more he saw this. he never got tired of working with the same subject. >> translator: depending on the light or the temperature of the air their expressions seemed to change. over the course of 20 years i'd been there about a hundred times, but i'm always amazed every time. >> saito's photographs of the stone faces have been compiled by unesco for use as a reference material.

the images will also be kept at a new museum opening this summer. saito hopes they will inspire the local people to protect the ruins and feel pride in their cultural legacy. >> fascinating work there. it is time now to get a check of the weather. people in northern japan are dealing with a late winter storm. meteorologist robert speta tells us how long the bad weather will last. >> at least through the next 24 hours out here. and we go to a satellite picture. you can see where the cloud cover is right now. it is moving across much of northern portions of honshu over there toward hokkaido. let's take a look at the wind reports and the rainfall reports over the past 24 hours because it really shows how intense this storm system is. some areas have been seeing wind gusts as high as 120 kilometers per hour. we've also been seeing that heavy rainfall 147 millimeters.

in the past 24 hours out here. as we continue to look ahead through wednesday we're still going to be seeing this storm system intensify. so areas especially along western portions of hokkaido over there toward northwestern honshu we could be seeing wind gusts as high as 144 kilometers per hour along with heavy snowfall around 70 centimeters in total, and especially in some of the higher elevations along the sea of japan coastline. i do want to define along the sea of japan coastline. i know a lot of people heading out to memorials on wednesday, you have the four-year anniversary of the march 11th earthquake, and it does look like you could still be seeing some passing flurries if you are out here in eastern portions of tohoku. but i think the worst of it's going to be over with as far as wednesday is concerned compared to tuesday out here because of a storm system moving a little bit farther off toward the north. mostly precipitation just being stopped by the mountains out here. but still you do want to bundle up. it's going to be cold out there. back to the west high pressure dominating much of central portions of china keeping things

on the cool side actually shanghai with a high of 7 there for you. seoul just at 1. still some passing showers if you are down there in taipei with a high of 16. now let's move toward the southern hemisphere where we still are talking about the rainfall in south america. i know the last couple weeks we've been mentioning this. it's been coinciding with flooding as well. and that is still the case. let's go to some of the latest video we have coming out of central peru, and it just shows you the images here of this flooding continuing to take place. most recently the torrential rainfall here triggered some mudslides, killing at least six people. houses were also destroyed. it created on some of the local highways. some were com completely buried in mud and bulldozers there being used to remove some of the roadways. the rocks built up on the roadways. and residents also used makeshift bridges as well. you can see the stumps piled up there using that to cross some of these rivers. it is a very ongoing but a very stressful situation for many people out here. it's continuing to be the heart

of the rainy season, and it's not until late march into april when we start to see it taper off. the easterly flow of moisture coming out of the amazon will continue to pile up. now moving to the other side of the pacific ocean let's talk about our tropical activity we have going on. first starting with cyclone pam. that's this area off here toward the north. this one right now winds about 83 kilometers per hour. it is expected to intensify. that's a category 3. could even become stronger than that. there's a possibility of a westward front with this. keep a very close eye on it if you are out here in vanuatu. this is going to bring you some damaging winds. hopefully most of it should stay offshore. then over toward northern australia another system developing here off the northern portions of queensland that is and that could be bringing? flooding rains. and then we move to the other side of the indian ocean. we have another cyclone. this has been bringing the rainfall. this looks like it's moving away from the island. also away from madagascar but unfortunately still pulling in that moisture from the west.

i'll leave you now with your extended outlook. ♪ and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us.

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ion coming to you straight from brandenburg gate. let's look at what is on the agenda.

we visit the visit he -- the city of zaragoza in northeastern spain. we get a glimpse of how work and fun merge at the berlin film festival. winter attraction week takes to the ice under a natural skating rink. the scorpions are one of germany's most successful rock bands and as of this year they