glad to have you with us on this edition of nhk "newsline." it is 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the constitutional court upheld park's impeachment friday. she left the blue house sunday returning to her private home in seoul. she released a statement denying any wrong doing. choo mi-ae said park cared only for herself and her supporters, not the people.

choo said change of government is the only hope for the nation. park jie-won of the people's party said the people are disappointed that she did not accept the ruling or express remorse. on monday lawmakers close to park visited her home, but she did not appear in public. local media report that a cabinet meeting will be held for scheduling an election with a date likely abe announced this week. media also say prosecutors are likely to question the former president for the first time this week to determine whether she accepted bribes from a conglomerate. nine embassy staff and their families are stranding there because of a travel ban. the two countries have been locked in a diplomatic row over the killing of the north diplomatic killing.

prime minister has said his country will keep the lines of communication open to find a solution. kim jong-nam was attacked last month with a toxic nerve agent. he died on the way to a hospital. malaysia has not directly blamed north korea but is investigating links to the country. malaysian officials have demanded four suspects to be handed over. they want to question three others. he's denied any wrong in the killing. japan and saudi arabia are building closer ties. japan has agreed to help support the gulf state as it tries to

diversify its economy. king salmon is the first saudi monarch to visit japan in 46 years. he met prime minister shinzo abe in tokyo on monday. >> translator: we'd like to promote and strengthen relations with saudi arabia which is a key for stability in the middle east. >> translator: japan is a core partner in the fight against terrorism. we must deepen the concept of promoting serious dialogue between different religions and cultures with the international community. we need to strengthen the spirit of tolerance and coexistence. >> they agreed japanese investment and technical assistance could help reduce saudi arabia's depending on oil exports. abe asked saudi aramco be listed

on the tokyo stock exchange. it would be one of the largest public offerings ever. they signed a cooperation deal, japan/saudi vision 2030. good morning. toshiba will postpone its earnings report once again. get us up to speed. >> they are expecting huge losses due to its subsidiary in the u.s. executives were planning to release their april to december earnings last month but they postponed that because they said they needed time to look into reports of inappropriate accounting pressure by management. the self-imposed new deadline was march 14th and they've announced another delay.

toshiba president plans to hold a news conference on tuesday to explain its latest decision. attention is focused on what he will say about a review of the company's nuclear business. executives have been studying various options and one is for westinghouse to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy and for toshiba to pull out from the u.s. nuclear business. executives have blamed enhanced nuclear safety standards after the fukushima disaster. nhk has learned of another reason. fixed price accounts for nuclear plans in the u.s. are reportedly behind the huge losses. toshiba expects to post about 6 billion dollar in losses over the construction of four nuclear plans in the u.s. states of georgia and south carolina. u.s. unit westinghouse took the orders in 2008. the contract for the power plants in georgia were set at a fixed price from the start.

the contract was changed to a fixed price one in 2015. sources familiar with the deal say westinghouse officials at the time were aware of possible cost overruns but they oust sourced construction in 2016 apparently thinking they could keep a lid on costs by improving construction efficiency. following this development toshiba shares are trading lower. the price, as you can see by this chart has stayed low ever since the shares plunged back in december when the huge losses from westinghouse came to light. let's see how overall tokyo

markets are starting. tell us about how everything is opening. >> good morning. big focus on toshiba as you've just touched on the share price. i'll continue to monitor that. it's an event heavy week. we have the central bank meetings. the federal reserve in the u.s. and the bank of japan. many market players may just be a little bit on the sidelines. we're seeing that reflected in the opening levels for the nikkie and the topix. a bit of a mixed opening there. the broader topix slightly in the negative. no major moves as of yet. just a reminder that the nikkei ended up 0.5% on monday. volume was low ahead of the important events this week. toshiba sought a fresh extension. the company delayed it a month ago. the tokyo stock exchange has made it pretty clear a failure

to submit earnings would be a big factor in delisting toshiba from the tse first section. big focus there for toshiba. let's look at how markets on wall street did overnight. major indices ended mix. investors remain a touch cautious as the fed meeting kicks off later on tuesday. on wednesday the netherlands will have a general election and ultra right wing party there is riding high in the polls. that could have an effect according to analysts on the french and german elections coming up in some japanese investors are already quite risk averse. data from the ministry of finance show the japanese banks and insurers sold more than 1 trillion yen of foreign bonds in february. that's quite a big the figure. >> it is. you mentioned fed a bit earlier. looks like the dollar has dropped a touch ahead of that in

other central bank meeting. tell us how other central currencies are trading. >> bouncing just a touch. many seem to be taking a wait and see attitude. dollar yen, 114.90 to 91. the central banks in the u.s. and japan are taking opposing paths or opposite paths with regard to rates. the fed is looking to raise rates. bank of japan continues to keep policy low. focus really is on how it may affect currencies. quick look at asia pacific markets before i go and seoul's kospi is trading higher. jittery moves expected ahead of the fed meeting. >> thanks for that knock offs are glrowing

around the world. we look at how authorities are fighting back. >> reporter: saudi arabia, one of the world's largest exporters of crude oil. large malls are filled with luxury brands. in local shopping areas imitation goods are easy to find. many made in china. the world customs organization says more knock offs are confiscated than in any other country. in 2015 alone, saudi custom officials seized 140 counterfeit items. fake products flow from saudi arabia and china and other countries. it's the united arab emirates that hold the key. connecting the middle east to asia, europe and africa. many fake products are shipped through the uae. that's because many of its airports and ports are

registered as free zones and the use simplified customs procedures. take this port. it deals with 15 million containers a year. fake products pass through customs inside containers. customs authorities use state of the art equipment to identify counterfeits but they say finding copy s tricky because the packaging can be very close to the original. >> it's difficult but we try. >> reporter: this law firm specializes in intellectual property. staff members conduct investigations and share what they find with law enforcement. one such investigation led to the discovery of scores of big

toner cartridges. a member of the law firm company when they confiscated the goods. >> it's without anything. this is toner. we open. this is chinese product. when you remove the sticker then they replace this sticker with the brand and they repackage. >> reporter: the cartridges were made in china but none of them are branded. counterfeiters apply stickers with a japanese or u.s. company logo once products are in the uae. the law firm says the efforts are having a crippling effect on makers of knock offs. they will keep up their offensive in a bid to completely stop the influx of fake products. brands must also act aggressi aggressively so fakes never reach the market. she says action on the parts of brands is the most important

weapon against copy cats. >> when they see this brand is not active, they will tell all other counterfeiters they are not bringing action. you can deal with it. brand always has to make a noise in the market. have an impact on the enforcement authorities. >> reporter: the dubai office has joined hands with nearly two dozen japanese firms to tackle the issue. they are in close contact with uae law enforcement authorities. through information sharing and stricter controls they hope to stop the swelling tide of fake goods. >> more on business next hour. here's another check on markets.

onto other stories. japan's finance ministry says it will buy back property at the center of a controversial land deal. the property was to be used by school operator morito to open an elementary school in western japan. opposition lawmakers raised questions about the firm's

purchase of the state-owned land at a very low price. only weeks before the school was to open, the institution's head decided to withdraw its plan. >> translator: it was an agonizing decision. i felt like crying. >> the issue has been a hot topic in diet deliberations. finance ministry officials say they'll deal with the matter swiftly. >> translator: we have already notified morito that the government will exercise its right to seek the return of the land. >> moritomo bought the land last year for less than 20% of the appraised value. it's also been accused of receiving a state subsidy based on false documents. opposition lawmakers grilled prime minister abe because his wife was an honorary principal of the planned school. abe said neither he nor his wife had anything to do with the land deal. members of the osaka prefectural assembly are seeking to summon the institution's head as an unsworn witness. >> translator: we have confirmed

kago ike's will to appear before the assembly. he said he will talk to us and tell us how he feels about the matter. >> but hours later he told the assembly he couldn't attend. japan's prime minister says his government spent half a year to end a peace keeping mission in south sudan. last friday abe announced japan will not send another south defense force to replace the current one. >> translator: the national security council has been discussing the matter since last september. we decided to end the mission of the engineering unit around the end of may when it completes its main work. >> they will sepds sond some pel to the u.n. headquarters. they will continue to provide humanitarian assistance adding his government is making final

arrangements to provide support worth $6 million. japan started sending peace keepers in 2012 to help restore the nearly established nation that's grappled with violence. personnel have constructed roads, bridges and other infrastructure. the scope of the mission did not include combat or other security enforcement work. that's because of strict limitations in japan's war renouncing constitution. the government has given the current unit an expanded role allowing it to come to the defense of u.n. staff in the event they come under attack. some opposition lawmakers suspect a worsening security situation is behind the decision to end the main mission. they say the decision was made too late. last july government and opposition forces engaged in large scale fighting in ju despite a peace accord.

more than 270 people including civilians died in about a week. the situation in juba has stabilize but clashes continue in northeastern and southern regions. the united nations says over 1.5 million people have fled south sudan in the past three years. it also says roughly 5 million people or nearly half the country's population face food shortages. unicef has revealed a grim trend in its annual report on syria. it says children there suffered the most war-related casualties since the agency started keeping records. the u.n. children's agency says at least 652 were killed in 2016. it says the if igis up by 20% from the previous year. the report says more than 255 children lost their lives while at or near school. the number of children recruited to fight doubled over the previous year. the report says some of the 850 were used as executioners, suicide bombers or prison guards. unicef spokesperson hold nhk the actual number of child casualties is higher as the latest report is only based on

verified information. unicef is calling for an immediate political solution. toshiba corporation is police in northern haiti are hunting for the driver of a bus after a deadly hit-and-run. they say 38 people are dead and 13 others injured. the long distance bus initially hit two pedestrians northwest of the capital sunday as the driver tried to flee, he plowed through a festival crowd. he stopped after trashing through a parade of musicians. authorities say children are among the dead. drivers in haiti often flee the scene of an accident for fear of reprisal. the disputed south china sea keeps making headlines because of tensions. china claims virtually all of it, including a shoal that's long been visited by filipino fishermen.

recently nhk got a rare glimpse of what's happening in the waters. nhk world's kathleen ocampo reports. >> narrator: an nhk crew on board a fishing vessel heads from the philippines into disputed waters. their destination, scarborough shoal. after 19 hours of enduring strong waves and winds we finally arrived. mind me you can see the chinese coast guard. the philippines claims the shoal, but it's been under chinese control since 2012. beijing used its vessels to evict the philippine coast guard. any fishing boat that approached it was chased away.

a four-year blockade ended last fall, when countries agreed to mend ties. the captain of the boat remembers the blockade all too well. >> translator: a chinese patrol vessel pointed a water cannon at us. they ordereds to leave saying this area belongs to china. >> reporter: for philippine fishermen the tensions hurt their livelihoods. being allowed to fish again was a godsend. the fishermen were in high spirits as they took in their catch. but a few minutes later, things got tense. a small chinese patrol vessel was headed straight at them. thankfully for the crew, it didn't disrupt the fishing that day. but it stayed nearby, like a reminder of what it could do if it wanted.

>> translator: we can keep fishing for now, but we could be chased away any time. this is our fishing ground, but we're so worried. >> reporter: philippine fishermen will continue to fish around scarborough shoal but they feel intimidated by the continued presence of chinese vessels and they know their fortunes could change again in an instant. kathleen ocampo, nhk world, scarborough shoal. while u.s. technology giant ibm will launch a weather forecasting service in japan, it will use artificial intelligence technology in an effort to make forecasts more accurate. the company says it has obtained permission from japan's meteorological agency, ibm says

it is targeting sinesses in japan. the company will use its own watson a.i. system to analyze massive amounts of meteorological data and create forecasts. the company plans to analyze how expected weather changes will impact clients and propose measures to deal with it. >> translator: we hope retailers will use the service for their sales planning, as weather impacts merchandise sales. >> ibm also says the method can reduce errors and improve accuracy, even in long-term weather forecasting. robert speta has the >> yes, we have been seeing here is this storm system just starting to move along south eastern seaboard today. really as we go ahead through the next 24 hours this will continue to intensify and very

dangerous situation. you can see on our satellite picture right here it's hard to see where the center is. that's because we have several low pressure areas that are coming together along with the very potent and strong upper level jet. this will move over the gulf stream. that will help fuel up the storm system. it's going to deepen rapidly, consolidate and be a very intense storm system as we head into monday night and throughout the day on tuesday. very tight pressure gradient expected along the coastline as well. that's really playing into a big role with this as well. let's look at the timing here. tuesday morning moving towards the east of washington, d.c. definitely around your morning commute. it will be just passing by. eventually into boston heading through tuesday afternoon and tuesday afternoon. it should be moving off rather swiftly. that's the good news with the storm. it has a move on.

by the time we head into wednesday, we're going to be looking at vastly improving conditions. meanwhile, in total, we could see about 60 centimeters of snow. the wind is the big issue with this storm system. it will be reducing visibility. dangerous travel conditions. power outages possible as well as this does continue to move off and widespread school closures already in place. looks like a lot of districts planning well ahead of the storm system impacts so people are at home and safe. look at the bigger picture. we're still looking at windy conditions over toward chicago and upstate new york. some fairly breezy conditions moving through this area. separate from our storm system. i'll show you this video out of webster, new york. look at that. this is some lake spray coming off the ocean here on sunday. it covered a home in ice. it's because the winds coupled

with the above freezing temperatures of the lake and below freezing surface of the ground right there. when it blew up, it just coated. absolutely beautiful but i feel bad for the people whose house that is. let oos look at the forecast over towards japan. we're looking at scattered showers along the pacific coastline today. this whole low is continuing to track off towards the northeast. we're going to be continuing to see rough weather throughout the day. as we head into tuesday night and wednesday morning, we have the secondary low off towards the north. that will spin around and pull in some energy. through the overnight hours, expect some scattered showers around the tokyo area. maybe even a rain/snow mix. tokyo, a high of 12. some showers in the morning. seoul a dry back.

i'll leave you now with your extended outlook. that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline."

of nhk "newsline." thanks for joining us.

anchor: hello and welcome to"fokus on europe." one of the stories we arebringing you today takes a close look at the wave of politicalprotest sweeping across romania. the eastern european country'sgovernment has tried to reverse the fight against corruption.in response, tens of thousands of romanians have braved thefreezing cold and taken to te streets. >>it is about the principle.we do not want to be ruled by thieves anymore, says thiswoman. anchor: more on this is comingup later in the program. they lost everything.despite proudly serving and representing their country,several turkish nato officers