a very warm welcome to nhk "newsline" broadcasting to viewers around the globe. it is 10:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. our top story this hour south korean media have reported that the half-brother of north korean leader was assassinated in malaysia. local police have only announced that a 46-year-old north korean man has died. they're trying to find out if it is kim jong-un's brother. we have this update.

now reports say north korean agents may have been responsible. the south korean government is trying to verify the reports through diplomatic channels.

the japanese government has also been gathering information. government officials say kim jong-nam was not directly involved in north korean politics. they say that if the reports of his death are true, they'll try the assess if there is a connection with the domestic situation in the north. kim jong-nam was the oldest son of former north korean leader kim jong-il. he was in his mid-40s. he lived outside north korea, reportedly staying in beijing, macau and singapore. he was once believed to be a possible successor to kim jong-il. japanese immigration officials took him into custody at narita airport in 2001. they said he tried to enter japan with his family using forged passports. they said he told authorities he wanted to visit tokyo disneyland. he apparently did not attend his father's funeral in 2011. observers say he didn't want to interfere with the process of establishing a new regime. kim had not recently talked to

foreign reporters, but there had been sightings of him in southeast asia. the chinese government says 192 people across the country were infected with bird flu in january, and 79 of them died because of the disease. china's public health authorities say the deadly h7n9 strain of the virus continues to spread, especially on poultry farms. the government began taking preventive measures in december, including closing some live poultry markets. the world health organization is warning people not to visit poultry farms or live bird markets where bird flu cases have been reported. a japanese researcher says the virus has not mutated since the first case of bird-to-human case was first reported in china in 2013. over worry from human-to-human infection he says there have not been any reports.

in thailand, asia's largest multinational military exercise, cobra gold, kicked off on tuesday. the trump administration has sent its highest ranking military figure to the drill since a coup took place in the country in 2014. initiated as a bilateral drill between the u.s. and thailand more than 30 years ago, cobra gold has developed into one of the world's largest multinational military exercises involving 8,300 personnel from 29 countries. admiral harry harris, the head of the u.s. pacific command, emphasized washington's view of the importance of its oldest ally in asia. >> the u.s. alliance with thailand is a deep and enduring commitment. we look forward to thailand's re-emergence as a flourishing democracy because we need thailand as a strong and stable ally. we need thailand to get back to being the regional and global leader that it always has been. we need thailand's leadership in asia. >> after the coup, the former

obama administration froze millions of dollars in security-related aid to thailand and scaled down its participation in cobra gold. washington's level of involvement in this year's exercise is no different than that of the past two years, but harris has sent a clear signal that u.s. commitment to the region will not change under the new leadership. >> the cobra gold exercise series is an integral part of the u.s. pledge to strengthen our bonds with the kingdom of thailand and other participating nations in the indo-asia pacific. >> the presence of admiral harris not only increase the morale of all u.s. personnel but also stress the importance of the cobra gold exercise and the strong defense relationship between the u.s. and all countries in the region. >> analyst say washington had been pushing the military government closer to another regional power, china. they say a thaw between the u.s.

and thailand could be possible, but there has been no change in the u.s. stance that it regards restoration of democracy in thailand as a prerequisite for restoring ties with its longstanding ally. let's turn to business now. >> the executives are scrambling to try to figure out how to deal with that loss and to do that they're going to be doing a lot of explaining. they are meeting representatives from about 80 financial institutions on tuesday including main creditor banks. they will explain plans to overhaul some parts of their business and ask for help. company president has said toshiba is expected to post a loss of about $6.2 billion in

the u.s. nuclear power business in the your through march. he was said toshiba's debt exceeded its assets as of december. they are considering selling more than half of its mainstay flash memory business up from the original plan ofless than 20%. they will stop taking new orders for construction of nuclear related plants abroad. toshiba officials will spend about a month to investigate reports that accounting on their u.s. nuclear business was handled inappropriately. it was internal reports that brought the problem to their attention. the chair of the u.s. federal reserve says she intends to consider raising the key interest rate during upcoming meetings. janet yellen was testifying. market players say the fed will

likely make its next move in first half of this year. >> waiting too long to remove accommodation would be unwise. >> she said in upcoming meetings fed policy makers will consider whether a rate hike is appropriate after they evaluate employment and inflation. the next policy meeting will be in march. she said the policy makers will discuss in the coming months how the central bank will reduce the size of its bond portfolio. u.s. president donald trump has been advocating tax cuts and steps up infrastructure investment. yellen expressed her hope those policies will put u.s. fiscal accounts on what she called a sustainable trajectory. she also said immigration has been an important source of growth in the labor force. reducing the number of immigrants coming in would dampen the pace of economic

growth. the dollar surged and wall street rallied after yellen left the door open for potential rate hike in march. this is all giving a boast to tokyo stocks. the nikkei average is jumping from the open. it's higher by 1.2%. right below that 19,500 mark. most sectors are higher. financials are leading the gains on expectations for higher interest rates in the u.s. however, toshiba shares are tumbling. let me get you the stock price. it's down by more than 12%. 12.8% to be exact. many are worried about the company's future after the huge loss in its u.s. nuclear business. we'll keep track of toshiba shares for you throughout the day. let's take a look at currencies. the dollar is higher against the yen to the highest level in more than two weeks. many are buying the dollar on yellen's hawkish comments. the dollar popped higher against

other currencies too including the euro. it hit the highest level in more than a month. the single currency is gaining ground against the yen. let's move on the markets open this hour. we're seeing gains elsewhere too. modest gains in south korea. seoul's kospi is up a little more than .1 of a percent. china markets will open in under half an hour. more seniors are taking up part-time work here in japan and that's welcome news for employers struggling with labor shortages. as managers in our next story found, they can do more than just fill a vacancy. >> this shopping center has been recruiting more staff. and the bosses want the new hires to feel at home.

>> how are you finding the job? >> translator: it's three months since i started and i'm gradually getting used to it. >> reporter: this woman works part time in the mall's video store. she's 72 years old. the senior manager has come to ask for advice. the shop is targeting older customers. the manager thinks staff in the same age bracket could help identify their needs. >> translator: do you see any problems that need to be resolved or have any ideas for making things better? >> translator: some senior customers tell me the rental fee system is difficult to understand. >> reporter: she's referring to the store's price chart. fees vary according to how old the title is. she says the chart needs to be

simplified for elderly customers. >> translator: that's something we never would have thought of. i appreciate your suggestion. >> reporter: the shopping mall started recruiting seniors out of desperation. managers had had almost no response to their job ads for two years. four months ago they started a recruitment drive, pitching their ads to those aged 70 or over. the mall now has 23 senior staff members on the payroll. >> translator: we first thought older people would be slow in doing things. that's not the case. so we want to hire more seniors. >> reporter: across japan labor shortages are forcing companies to rethink their hiring policies. one survey found that the number of job postings encouraging older workers to apply had

doubled in the past two years. but managers at this shopping center say the benefits go beyond manpower. elderly workers are bringing new ideas. >> translator: how about we put the same sticker for new items on the price chart? >> reporter: which is why the video store is trying out a new system to display prices. customers will be able to match stickers on the chart with those on the dvds. >> translator: we want to introduce more improvements like this and also explore how to improve the working environment for elderly workers. >> reporter: hiring seniors alone won't fix japan's labor shortage, but there does seem to be a silver lining to its graying workforce. all right. that's the latest in business for this hour. i'll leave you with the latest in markets.

his lawyers says his client denies murdering her. >> i insist that we're going to defend him. obviously, we deny the charge. >> court officials say he was

not asked about the murder. he was a junior at japan's university and studying in the french city. she went missing in december. her body was not been found. an iranian diplomat visiting tokyo sat down with nhk to talk about her government's approach to deal with the trump administration. she was here for a conference on women's right. she also offered up tehran's views on washington. nhk world has that story. >> reporter: trump's ban has targeted this woman's country. he's pushed for a ban on muslim countries and vowed to scrap his predecessor's nuclear deal. >> translator: we consider many of these threats stemming from

the recent electoral atmosphere in the u.s. the iranian government considers the nuclear deal a multiparty deal and a resolution of the security council. therefore, the decision of only one country and one party will not have any effect on the execution of this commitment and the international agreement. >> reporter: late last month, iran test fired a ballistic missile, and it warned it will not allow foreigners to interfere in its security. the move was criticized by the u.s. ambassador to the united nations at the security council meeting. and trump responded by announcing fresh sanctions, adding certain individuals and 12 companies to the list. mowlaverdi warned iran will react accordingly. >> translator: our defense

missile projects have always been in place and has no relation with the nuclear deal. i cannot know what's going to happen since we are not in such a situation. however, iran could resume its programs under a new policy. >> reporter: mowlaverdi also spoke about another pressing matter, improving gender equality in her country. the world economic forum releases an annual global gender gap report. in 2016, iran ranked 139 among

144 countries. and japan wasn't much further ahead. mowlaverdi offered solutions for ways to create more opportunities for women in iran. >> translator: the increasing ratio of educated girls has increased the demand for more jobs. we have proposed starting companies with just one person. working from home, based on i.t. and telecommunication technologies and developing exclusive job-finding agencies to serve women. >> reporter: mowlaverdi stressed iran and japan have a lot to cooperate on the matter, and that could improve the situation of women in both of the countries. ayumi yanagasawa, nhk world.

japan's population is shrinking so artisans are turning to overseas markets. artisans are part of those efforts. they're relying on international distributors to promote their goods. nhk world reports. >> reporter: thomas operates from a base in switzerland introducing -- across europe. >> i would like to show you this to market this coming from gifu. >> reporter: as a distributor, he has been pitching writings made out of a translucent paper known as mino washi.

he started working with the local government in gifu two years ago. the prefecture prides itself on tradition, paper, pottery, and furniture in particular. in japan, though, demand has declined. artisans fear the time may come when no one will want to learn their skills. some of them in gifu thought distributors might be able to

help. the wholesalers sell the products and give them a boost through their own channels. he has a reputation for reading consumer sentiment and showing buyers products they are likely to love. things like this window decoration from a washimaker in gifu. the snow crystal design is meant to give a room a seasonal touch. marlo himself was taken by the material. he advised the maker to come up with designs that suit other seasons. >> when we go into spring, people want to forget about the winter. >> reporter: he proposed a feather and leaf motif. he also recommended deleting the word "winter" and changing the name to mino on glass. mino is the place where the goods are produced. he brought samples of items with new designs to the store. >> feathers. >> yes. >> look at this. >> oh, the feathers. these look like real feathers. that's super. i like it. i like that so much. and what i like is that we now have not only the wintertime, that we have as well autumn. >> and the feathers you

basically use the whole year long. >> welcome to the house. >> reporter: marlo also took care of procedures to acquire the ce mark, a european safety standard. he negotiated with german officials and prepared a mountain of documents. a washimaker in gifu would be hard pressed to do that on its own. >> so everything is fine. >> reporter: gifu is now looking to develop a relationship with distributors in asia and the u.s. >> translator: if we can work things out with distributors and buyers, our chances for success should increase. >> reporter: poetry and knives

may be the next products to go global. they are trying to extend their traditions around the world. maiko airaku, nhk world. >> just beautiful there. all right, what's also nice is the weather here in tokyo. meteorologist robert speta joins us. >> yes, actually. as we go through the next several days, sunny skies will prevail across much of western and central japan. this area of high pressure working its way in across from the west, and that's going to be turning off our sea effect snow machine here. it's also ushering in some dry air. just a dry air, warmer temperatures and southerly winds kicking in. really going to be spreading

that out and about. behind this high we have a low pulling through. that's contributing to those southerly winds. the big thing is that will be bringing widespread rainfall across parts of the korean peninsula and back toward the north. tokyo should stay on the dry side. you're going to be feeling the effects of these temperatures going up and down. for example, from wednesday, a high of 13. jumping up to 18 by friday before dropping back down by saturday. still same story, just a bit sooner since they are further toward the west. 7 up to about 11 dropping down on friday to about 4 with rain showers there in the forecast. now i do want to take your attention here across europe. we have several areas we're watching. big thing in the west we have this low pulling in some moisture. fairly blustery conditions across the british isles. back in east, sunnier skies but we have northerly winds coming

in and the big thing is into italy fairly heavy snow path there combined with the sunny s conditions does bring the threat of avalanche. i want to show you video of a tragic situation that took place out a ski resort. it gave way and fell right in a hole there. that's what we call a terrain trap. it's very dangerous and life threatening situation. four people were killed in this avalanche. just off towards the side of the slope. even if you see the resort in your eyesight, still that threat of avalanching is out there especially in steep slopes like that in high threat conditions. good news the rescuers there have took note they believe there's nobody else involved in that but rather unfortunate four people lost their lives. let's look at the forecast back

toward the east. coming out across the black sea that's creating some sea effect snow for northern areas of turkey. that chilly weather piling up that snowfall there. athens with a high of 13. back towards north kiev, a rain snow mix. moscow you'll see snow there. minus two for your high on wednesday. let's take a look down towards the south. big thing with this, it's not so much the winds, it will be the rain over the next several days. flooding expected out here. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast.

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

♪ "euromaxx highlights." and here's your host. >> greetings from the german capital, and welcome to our "highlights" edition. before we get started, here is just a quick look at what's coming up in the next half hour. in the snow -- photographer norbert rosing captures arctic wildlife in action. in the spotlight -- the danish city of aarhus is a european capital of culture. and only in italy -- a university teaches the art of ice cream making. and we kick off the show with a man who has dedicated his life to animals and it was early in his photographic career that norbert rosing fell in love with the arctic.