welcome to "newsline." it is thursday, january 7th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. north korea's claim of a hydrogen bomb test continues to echo around the world. the u.n. security council said it will take action. in the past it said it would take significant measures for any future test. >> the members of the security council will begin to work immediately on such measures in a new security council resolution. >> he said the test was a clear violation of security council resolution and a threat to nuclear nonproliferation. north korea's long-time ally china joined the rest of the

members in their response. a successful hydrogen bomb test would increase the nuclear threat from north korea. the weapon is far more powerful than an atomic bomb but experts and countries around the world question the country's claim. south korea's national intelligence service is one group doubting its credibility. officials of the agency gave a briefing at an emergency meeting wednesday. according to lawmakers who attended, the test had a strength of six kilotons. they explained that a miniature hydrogen bomb detonation would have a strength of 50 to 60 kilotons. the intelligence officials said the strength of the tremor caused by the explosion was similar to those recorded previously in weaker bombs. pyongyang did not give notice to others. and admitted south korea and

others were unable to detect signs that it was coming. they suspect kim jung un ordered preparations to be kept secret to surprise the world japanese is considering stepping up sanctions on north korea. prime minister abe prompted leaders to come up with a strong response. >> translator: north korea's test is totally unacceptable. >> officials say the sanctions could restrict travel between the two nations and banning north korean vessels from entering japanese ports even for humanitarian purposes. those sanctions were lifted in 2015 after north korea began an investigation into the fate of japanese citizens. they were taken by north korean agents in the 70s and 80s.

china's state-run xinhua news agency reports the country has carried out test flights at a kroelsh airfield in the south china sea. the runway was built on a chinese-made island in the disputed spratly islands chain. xinhua reports that two civilian aircraft left an airport on the southern island of hainan. one photo features dozens of people holding a large banner in front of the two planes. xinhua says the test flights proves the new airfield can handle large civilian aircraft. it vietnam and the philippines and other parties have claims to the spratly islands. the united states has been expressing concern about china's activities there. last saturday vietnam protested a different chinese test flight to fiery cross reef.

china admitted to the test but argued the artificial island falls within china's sovereignty. iran's foreign minister is stressing that his country will take a restrain response to saudi arabia's recent break in diplomatic relations. protesters in iran attack the saudi embassy after the saudi government executed a shiite cleric. the two foreign ministers met in iran. he accused saudi arabia of trying to inflame tensions in the region. but he stressed his government will continue to be patient. the iraqi minister said good relations between iran and saudi arabia benefit the entire region. he's also indicated that his country is ready to play the role of mediator. both ministers agree that muslim nations should unite against a

common threat from islamic state militants. >> geopolitical concerns. we are joined from the business desk. get us up to speed. >> worried about tensions in the middle east and north korea and worried about a slow down in china and tumbling oil prices. lot on their mines. here in tokyo down every day this year. today no exception as nikkei did open lower. it is currently lower by half a percent. 18,101. investors are jittery over the global economic outlook stemming from china and geopolitical tension. crude oil prices hit multi year lows. let's move to currencies. the green back last steam after

the policy meeting showed interest rate hike was a close call. the yen is firming up amid recent global account route and hit a nine month high against the euro currently at 127.87-93. and looking at markets across the asia pacific region we are seeing negative picture so far with australian shares down. in seoul down. >> the world bank cut global growth forecast siting concerns that major emerging economies are becoming a drag. the bank's global economic prospects report expects the world economy to expand 2.9% in 2016. that's down 0.4% from its previous forecast last june. the report says the u.s. will see 2.7% growth more than last year helping to drive the global economy.

the bank revised downward china's growth to 6.7%. it the report forecast negative growth in russia and brazil. both countries are facing declines in oil prices and the value of their currencies. brazil's growth will be minus 2.5% in 2016 and economic activity in russia will contract by 0.7%. as for japan, the bank cut its projected growth rate by 0.4 percentage point to 1.3%. it cites weak recovery despite improvements in performance. the report warns that the u.s. monetary policy change in december increased uncertainty over the economic outlook globally. the u.s. raised key rate for the first time in 9 1/2 years and possibly flight from developing countries could put downward pressure. the world bank expressed hope

that the trans pacific partnership free trade deal will help boost growth. it says the deal would increase trade volume by 11% among member countries and boost their growth rate by 1.1% on average. minutes from the u.s. central bank's latest policy meeting show that some members were cautious about raising the key interest rate. the federal reserve meeting was held december 15th and 16th and policy makers voted unanimously to raise the key interest rate for the first time in more than the minutes show that some members said their decision was a close call, particularly given the uncertainty about inflation dynamics. almost all participants agreed the labor market improved. they were also confident that inflation would return to 2% over the medium term. these factors satisfied the policy makers criteria to begin raising rates. but for some members, the risks remained considerable. among those risks was the possibility of a rapid fall in crude oil prices or that the dollar's appreciation could weigh down inflation. the policy makers finally agreed

to raise gradually. the fed had said that most policy makers were willing to raise their rate four times by the end of 2016, but now it's uncertain, market players are wondering if that will happen. this week "newsline" is airing a five-part series on the economic outlook on markets. today, we focus on europe. i asked about the major key issues facing their economy this year. >> hello, professor, thank you. >> associate professor at the university of tokyo. he's also served at the international monetary fund. he focused on the impact of the 2008 financial crisis. >> what is the key for the european economy this year? >> one of main things is how to implement fiscal rules and that's what i want to see what's

going on in this year, 2016. it's an institution called european study commission. when some country issue 95%, then the order is to quickly deduce. the investors would have to forgive the debt. if this clearly written in the european treaty then investors would be clear about when they their investment loses value. they have to put more risk premium. given the market strength, the governments have to have somehow more incentive to reduce the fiscal deficit.

the question now is how to institutionalize the mechanisms that people actually use. >> last year boats filled with refugees began arriving from the middle east and africa. he says their presence will shift the balance of power in europe. >> the migrant issue reminds the european people that greece is important to the european union because greece is kind of the front line of the migration. greece is strengthening the control of the european union. this is good for greece because this can be a part of the negotiation. they have to be a little bit more forgiving to the greeks. >> how is what's happening in europe relevant to the rest of the world? >> i do think, europe, it's transactions and goods and

services, people's and financial transactions, are so frequent and so daily life. then it have to be the case, the countries start to be united more and that can kind of european experiment, that's kind of european, people are now struggling, but at the same time i do see the kind of future that asia will become like that, so we should be watching very carefully how the europeans deal with this time. >> and we will focus on the association of southeast asian nations in our next installment. if you missed our previous episodes, check out our website. that is the latest in business news this hour. here is a latest check on markets.

japan's nuclear regulation authority is ordering tokyo electric power company to lay cables in one of the nuclear plants properly to comply with safety regulations. last year, at least 1,700 safety cables were found to have been jointly laid with other cables under the floor of the

other areas. new government regulations introduced after the nuclear disaster requires safety cables to be installed separately for fire management. the reactors have been offline since the 2011 disaster. the authority ordered to check whether proper installation procedures have been followed. the utility has until the end of march to report on its findings. it has been almost a month since a historic agreement to limit the rise in global temperatures. it was the latest step in a process that started over 20 years ago. the road to the agreement was long but it is one of japanese woman's -- but one japanese woman has travelled since the

beginning. nhk world has her story. members of energy gathered in the room next to the conference hall to watch the delegates reach a historic deal. among those watching was this lady. she spent decades campaigning. >> translator: finally we have made it. now the world can fully implement measures to tackle climate change. >> reporter: says the 1992 summit brought the issue to her attention. scientis scientists warned that greenhouse gas emissions were contributing. her hometown took center stage at climate change talks. >> reporter: asaoka joined the

conference as an observer. she welcomed other campaigners to the city and helped raise national interests in the talks. when she returned from paris last month, she went to see the hall where they adopted the kyoto protocol. she says she remembers the event clearly. >> translator: it's been a long road since the kyoto protocol, but we've reached a new level with the paris agreement. >> reporter: critics have said the kyoto protocol was ineffective. but asaoka says without it, they wouldn't have reached the agreement in paris. >> translator: our predecessors worked so hard on the kyoto protocol and the u.n. climate change convention. that's the road we're still traveling down. those agreements are the foundations for this more comprehensive framework. >> reporter: asaoka says the important thing now is how to implement the paris agreement into our daily life. after delegates adopted the kyoto protocol in the late '90s,

asaoka campaigned successfully for labels on electric devices to indicate their energy efficiency. she also helped create the system to make renewable energy more affordable. >> translator: i really believe we have to act now so that future generations will appreciate that we did our very best. >> reporter: asaoka says people have to play a part if they want the paris agreement to bring real change. she says she'll keep fighting to make sure everyone knows what's at stake. takafumi terui, nhk world, kyoto. ♪ in our series "women of vision," we've been putting a spotlight on women in japan who

are influencing society. today we go to the front lines of artificial intelligence, a technology that is becoming more prevalent. noriko arai is leading a large-scale project involving robotic brains. she's developing the technology to develop a better future. nhk world's keiko yamamoto has this story. >> reporter: noriko arai leads a project to create next generation artificial intelligence, or a.i. more than 100 researchers are involved. >> translator: we want to develop artificial intelligence programs that are unlike any other in the world. >> reporter: arai is trying to enhance the brain in this computer so it can pass the entrance exam for japan's most competitive universities. it needs multiple a.i. programs just to read the questions. robotic brains absorb a huge amount of data, but they have trouble correctly understanding

questions or recognizing figures and illustrations. something that comes naturally to humans. arai is trying to solve these problems. >> translator: i felt a strong desire to be the first one to find out the details of what a.i. can or cannot do. i don't want to have this technology affecting or changing my life when i don't even know what a.i. is or what it's capable of. >> reporter: arai has faced her own challenges along the way. in school, she was not good with numbers, and she never liked math. but while studying law at university, she discovered the logic of math equations, and it won her over. she went to the u.s. to continue her study and decided to become a mathematician. eventually, she got married and had a child. as a full-time mom, she was determined to keep working.

>> translator: mothers have things they want to pursue in life. not only as a mother. and they can do them. i also wanted to live my life how i wanted and felt a strong desire to become a mathematician. >> reporter: since she started her career, she struggled to balance life at work and home. she realized she had to find her own path in such a male-dominated field. >> translator: i realized there was a broader picture in the field. i found my place between the math and information technology. >> reporter: she forged ahead, and her research won recognition. she developed a content management system, now the most used system in japanese schools.

fields that have varied academic background and experience raising a child both contribute to the a.i. project. her colleagues agree. >> translator: she can lead the project with a good knowledge of society. >> translator: it's difficult to solve problems only through the lens of the robotics community. arai always gives us new viewpoints. >> reporter: arai and the other developers of this brain are discovering the limits to a.i. it has difficulty pondering ethics and language questions that require common sense or real life experience. arai says this also highlights strengths that only humans possess. >> translator: there's a difference in what a.i. and humans are good at. i think students should spend more time in school to create new things to find solutions and discover things that are irregular.

>> reporter: she predicts that in the next decade or two, a.i. will eliminate the need for 50% of all white-collar jobs. she hopes that through her project, people can prepare for a future influenced by a.i. and take advantage of the uniquely human trade of curiosity. keiko yamamoto, nhk world. >> fascinating. it's time now for a check of the weather. people are dealing with persistent rain. many are forced to evacuate their homes. >> this has been a topic for not only the past several days but the past several week s not onl in blivia. we have been seeing this frontal area just set up and enhanced by el nino. very warm sea surface temperatures off the western sea

board of south america. that just lines up the storms one after another. you take a look at the past seven days alone. some of these areas have seen 200 to 300 millimeters of total precipitation. we have video coming out of bolivia here. that is a clear indication of why traveling in some of these flooded areas is hazardous in a landslide. for about 48 hours numerous cars stuck on the road. not only in that specific location but other areas have seen evacuation also parts of argentina over the course of the past two to three weeks we have seen thousands of people evacuated out here. as far as fraest is concerned the thing is the atmosphere is really out of function right now. what we are seeing in the forecast is going to stay this way. there is a line of storms continuing to lineup even in parts of western brazil. this is the rain season for

those of you here but this is heavy precipitation. some areas 100 to 200 millimeters. and then as the three day forecast extending through saturday where you are seeing the video come out of you are looking at rain showers and towards the south more showers especially there by saturday with the next storm system blowing up. this is an ongoing story in that area of the world. another story as far as flooding is concerned. we are looking at severe flooding extending to scotland and looks like another storm syst system. this is a rain maker carrying gusty winds. parts of spain and france under high wind advisory. travel plans across this area something to keep in mind. the other side of the continent specifically across the balkan peninsula looking at strong

thunderstorms, frequent lightning and funnel clouds reported. now that is shifting towards the east across parts of turkey. most of this is rain. the big issue with that is the fact that we did see some heavy snowfall earlier this week and that could melt off that snow with the rain mixed in. could cause flooding, as well. out here in northeastern asia we have a bit of a storm pushing south of japan. the key thing is back towards the northwest we have very cold, chilly air there. that is associated with siberian high very strong at this point and as that drifts to the top will usher in chilly air. most of japan actually as we go ahead through the rest of thursday into friday and saturday the white stuff is really going to be coming down along the western seaboard. the sea of japan side but still chilly in other areas including tokyo.

seoul just at the freezing point. beijing northerly winds but air quality definitely improved. here is the extended outlook.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

>> hello, here we are, "in good shape" as always, coming to you from berlin. it's great to have you with us. obliviate! that's the magic spell from harry potter that makes people forget things. wouldn't it be great, if it was that easy to simply forget painful memories? in reality that's not the solution. especially patients who have survived traumatic experiences have to find ways of processing and coping with them. that's just one of our topics today. here's what's coming up on the show. treating trauma, therapies for coping with painful memories.