hello, there, and a very warm welcome to nhk "newsline" it is 10:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. our top story this hour, the american president is expected to propose a massive 10% increase in defense spending. it's anticipated to be laid out in his first budget plan for fiscal 2018. >> this is a landmark event, a message to the world in these dangerous times of american strength, security, and resolve. we must ensure that our courageous servicemen and women have the tools they need to

deter war, and when called upon to fight in our name only do one thing -- win. >> donald trump referenced his budget proposal on monday at a meeting of state governors. officials say the defense budget will increase by $54 billion. to offset the hike, the trump administration will likely propose spending reductions across various departments and agencies. the u.s. defense budget for the current fiscal year stands at about $550 billion. that includes extra spending for overseas antiterrorism operations. trump will submit the plan to congress next month. japan is considering a range of possibilities for joint economic activities on four russian-held islands claimed by japan. they include tourism and medical services. japan's deputy foreign minister and his russian counterpart will meet in tokyo next month for the first talks for starting the activities envisioned by the country's leaders in december.

japanese officials plan to study the viability of aquaculture and seafood processing projects requested by the people living near the area. officials will consider other possibilities such as tourist cruises and online medical care services. japan claims the four islands that are controlled by russia. the japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of japan's territory. it says the islands were illegally occupied after world war ii. it was bound and labeled glocom. that's a front for north korea's

spy agency. the website displayed military equipment for sale and the company claims to have an office. a deadly nerve agent was found on the face of the half brother of north korea's leader. the north secret police and foreign ministry are responsible for his death. lawmakers were briefed on the final findings and one revealed the details of that meeting. >> the agency believes it was an agent of terrorism carried out by the state under the command of king jong-un. >> the killing was carried out by four people from the ministry of state security.

in south korea, the constitutional court has heard closing arguments at the trial to determine the political fate of the suspended president. park geun-hye didn't appear at the session but submitted a statement denying any wrongdoing. it includes a demand her impeachment be dropped and says park has never been involved in corruption or graft in her more than 20 years in politics. the lawmakers who want her impeachment upheld say she abused her power and incapacitated law and justice. they and others in the national assembly voted to impeach park in december over the influence peddling scandal that consumed the country. the court has been reviewing the decision. >> reporter: protests like this

have become common in seoul. >> we want to live in a just society. to achieve that i think park has to resign soon possible. >> reporter: the crowds are smaller than before but the demands are just as strong. the defacto leader was arrested on suspicion of bribing park and a close friend. >> he deserves arrest and the president deserves impeachment. >> reporter: younger generations of south koreans overwhelming support change. they have a hard tend landing jobs and say the park administration has done nothing for them. demonstrations like those now

compete with rallies like these. these people waving the national flag of south korea are demanding the impeachment motion to be dismissed. ardent supporters of the president are mostly from the country's older generations. they once enjoyed rapid economic growth under the military growth under park's father. the gatherings have rapidly grown since mid-january. attracting as many people as their opponents do now. >> translator: president park has done nothing wrong. >> there's been no guilty verdict. this is like a witch hunt.

>> reporter: there's another major issue that's dividing the sides. people are alarmed by the moves including the launch of a ballistic missile. park supporters insist only her hard line stance can protect them from its threats. they have suggested there needs to be dialogue. the division in south korean society deepens. young and old, left and right. the constitutional court is deliberating whether to confirm parliaments this season to impeach apartment and permanently remove her from office. some experts say the country's divisions could affect the rulings. the court's judgment is expected early next month.

nhk world, seoul. in thailand, mourning is still happening. the interim prime minister led the ceremony near bangkok's grand palace. work on the facility began afterwards. giant pillars were erected. they will form the corners of the structure, which will be 50 meters high and decorated with lavish carvings. surrounding buildings will be able to hold several thousand mourners at the time. construction is expected to cost around $14 million. the crematorium will be used only once and then demolished. the country is observing a full year of mourning for the revered king. then his funeral will be held. shifting gears for business news. japanese officials have released key data on the country's output. what are you seeing? >> we're seeing something that we haven't seen in a while.

we're hearing from officials at the economy ministry and they say industrial output in january was down for the first time in six months. that means managers have been seeing less activity on their factory floors. officials say the number last month was down 0.8% from december. they maintain their economic assessment saying industrial production is still showing signs of improvement. they are predicting growth of 3.5% in february and then a contraction of 5% in march. officials at the tokyo stock exchange are trying to decide whether to delist struggling electronics giant toshiba. they will look at the company's internal reports detailing huge losses at its u.s. nuclear power business. the stock may be delisted if company officials fail to submit an earningseport by the march 27th deadline or if in house

controls are found to be insufficient. he said he will take into consideration the company's response to the internal reports this making a decision. a delisting would have a big impact on workers, clients and shareholders. toshiba was added to the list of securities on alert following accounting irregularitieirregul. let's turn to markets. share prices open higher. that followed a winning streak we saw in new york. many investors were cheered as trump suggested a massive increase in defense and structure spending. right now the nikkei is trading higher. all sectors opened higher. the dollar rose to the upper 112

yen after a senior fed official said the u.s. central bank might need to raise interest rates in the near future. on monday the greenback went b below the 112 yen. concerns have eased after the latest polls on the french presidential election show the possibility of far right candidate le pen's victory seem reduced pm. we're seeing gains elsewhere. seoul's kospi is up. austral is up by a third of a percent. china markets will open in under half an hour. the moment the u.s. says it will put a 20% tariff on cars, he will get up from the table.

mexico depends on the u.s. for 80% of its exports . the country is ready to negotiate but is strongly opposed to raising tariffs. president trump has said he will renegotiate nafta claiming the agreement favors mexico. the north american free trade agreement eliminates tariffs between the u.s., mexico and canada. they expect official negotiations to begin in june. smartcompany companies are showcasing their latest products at the industry's biggest trade show. sony unveiled new products including a phone with enhanced video and a bluetooth ear bud. a new smartphone from china has

a camera that takes high quality selfies. smartphone markets are become increasingly saturated especially in developed countries. japanese athletes struggle to find companies. they are supporting the competitors while giving a boost to business. >> reporter: a running track geared towards athletes with disabilities. this facility opened in tokyo in december. there are six running lanes. the track surface is the same one used in olympics. some top runners are training here. this is not just an ordinary running field. a company that makes prosthetic

legs uses the facility. their company is right here next to the track. ceo ken endo is an engineer. he studies how each athlete runs and he says this is the ideal place to develop new blades. >> translator: engineers usually work in labs. there wasn't place for us and the athletes to interact. we can develop new blades together. >> reporter: athletes appreciate having the blade makers close at hand ready to find tune their equipment. >> translator: i'm grateful to have a place like this to train. i can ask for maintenance right away. >> reporter: tokyo gas teamed up with the construction company to build this track. it's minutes away from the main venues for the tokyo games. company officials say helping

aspiring paralympians is a good business. >> translator: they will see we're a company actively involved this supporting athletes will disabilities. we believe more customers will choose us by taking part. >> reporter: here is another corporate assist. this time for wheelchair basketball teams. they are train ing in the compay gym. it belongs to an electronic maker. the company has been doing some renovations. the entrance is now barrier free. more adjustments were made inside. the cushions on the walls prevent players from getting injured in the heat of play.

the partnership offers mutual benefits. check out the barrier free elevator. it's got a voice recognition system. say the floor you want to go and it will take you there without pressing a button. they are hoping to install the elevators at venues for the tokyo games. it looks like a win-win partnership. nhk world, tokyo. >> that's the latest in business

for this hour. i'll leave you with a check on markets. onto other stories now. it's expected to be a platform for a lot of political messages but major mix up at this year's oscars took center stage instead. the announcement for the most coveted award trumped any other remarks. >> reporter: leave it to

hollywood to have a surprise of an embarrassing ending to the oscars. moments after the announcement for best picture, mass confusion. >> for best picture -- >> come on. "la la land." >> reporter: it took some time to get the real winner announced with the producer of a wrongly awarded picture taking on that role. >> this is not a joke. "moonlight" has won best picture. "moonlight" best picture. >> reporter: but the mistake did not eclipse "moonlight's" moment in the sun. >> very clearly, even in my dreams, this could not be true, but the hell with dreams! i'm done with it, because this is true. oh, my goodness. >> reporter: viewers may have been bracing for impassioned speeches about the u.s. president from winners, but that spot went to the host. >> i want to say thank you to president trump. i mean, remember last year when it seemed like the oscars were racist? that's gone, thanks to him. >> reporter: kimmel also mocked

trump's twitter habit. >> you know, we're more than two hours into the show and donald trump hasn't tweeted at us once. and i'm starting to get worried about him. >> reporter: political statements from the actors were more low key. many wore blue ribbons in support of a campaign by the american civil liberties union. the aclu has taken issue with trump's immigration order. this mexican actor used his stage time to talk about inclusiveness. >> as a mexican, as a latin american, as a migrant worker, as a human being, i'm against any form of wall that wants to separate us. >> reporter: and the iranian filmmaker who won best foreign film was a no-show. he boycotted the ceremony over trump's policies. >> "i'm sorry i'm not with you tonight. my absence is out of respect for the people of my country and

those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the u.s." >> reporter: last year's award ceremony saw only white actors nominated in the top categories, prompting criticism. this year saw the first muslim win for best supporting actor. >> peace and blessings. >> reporter: and viola davis left the audience in tears for her acceptance speech for best supporting actress, making the biggest win of this year diversity. kozue hamamoto, nhk world. the prime minister of japan japan's tourism industry has been enjoying record numbers of visitors over the last few years, but not every part of the country is reaping the rewards.

some prefectures are struggling to attract attention. nhk world's mia honda looks at how one is trying to put itself on the tourist map. >> reporter: australian miko rarely goes anywhere without her camera. her job is to promote fukui prefecture to foreign tourists. that includes writing stories, taking pictures, and posting them online. she was hoping to go to kyoto, but she was placed in fukui, a prefecture she knew nothing about. >> i was very nervous, because i didn't know where fukui was, so i looked it up. and then after seeing all the many places, i was very excited to come. >> reporter: it's not just her. fukui doesn't get much attention from international visitors. in fact, only one prefecture in japan hosts fewer foreign tourists.

to tackle the problem, klassman's boss asked her to post articles filled with observations on life in fukui from a foreigner's perspective. >> translator: we want to share aspects of life here with people in other countries, the sort of things that local people take for granted. >> reporter: he's one thing she noticed -- snow shovels at intersections. pedestrians use them to shovel snow while they wait for the traffic light to change. >> hey, guys, it's nicole from "experience fukui." today i've come here. >> reporter: she also posted videos of her experiences. klassman says she has now got so much more to say about her new home. >> i think fukui is filled with really warm people and obviously, like, beautiful scenery and stuff like that. so, i definitely feel that once more people know about it, they'll definitely want to come and visit.

>> reporter: the prefecture's officials are hoping that klassman's enthusiasm will rub off and fukui will finally get its slice of the tourism pie. mia honda, nhk world, fukui. tourists and residents alike are continuing to bundle up. it's a chilly morning out there. robert speta has the latest in world weather. >> yes, across much of japan for that matter pretty mild conce conditions are taking place. maybe a few cloudy conditions right near coastal areas. overall, this high will be keeping things on the mild side even back towards the korean peninsula as well. temperatures getting into around the low teens for the highs on tuesday. a gradual warm up into wednesday and thursday. that's because we have an area of low pressure coming into the

west. with that we're looking at widespread precipitation as well. about five to ten centimeters of snow expected. then moving toward the east, widespread rainfall across much of japan. tokyo with a high of 11. partly cloudy skies still getting up to 11 as well. shanghai and taipei pushing to the teens. let eets take our attention to the tropics into the caribbean here and haiti. do look at the satellite picture. it's absolutely out here right now. the next several days we have gorgeous conditions. that's good news because there's a festival going on now. i'll show you some video.

they're having a great time. just a few months ago this city was nearly levelled by hurricane matthew. remember that storm system moved through back in october. 39 hotels were destroyed in that city. all of them were rebuilt. fully booked during the carnival but have come a long way since the storm killed about 900 people this past autumn out there. definitely some good news to see people out and about, at least celebrating at the carnival there and having a good time following the hardships they have been through. let's take a look at the forecast across europe and talking about rough travel plans. the western half of europe is really seeing these blustery conditions. this area of low pressure you can see it on our satellite picture just dominating the picture here. you see the low. cold front extending down

towards the south. very tight pressure gradient. that means gusty winds. we have wind gusts reported about 100 to 115 kilometers toward france and germany and portugal as well. not a day to be heading out to the beach at all. never mind the fact it's very chilly. along the frontal line we'll be looking at strong thunderstorms flaring up and heavy snowfall across the alps. that's what's going on in the west with those thunderstorms into paris. maybe scattered showers. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook.

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

michelle: hello and welcome to "focus on europe." i'm michelle henery. one of our stories today reports on a spy network active right here in germany. it is said that the turkish secret service is behind it. the network of informants is so widespread, it has drawn comparisons to the stasi that operated in communist east germany. but not everyone is convinced the network even exists. there is no outside interference, out of the question, says this man. more on this is coming up later, in the program. modern germany is widely seen as a model of democracy. but for some, it's still menacing. after experiencing the horrors