welcome to nhk world "newsline," i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. families separated by the korean war will briefly meet for the first time since 2010. the reunions are taking place at a mountain resort later this month. prime minister shinzo abe in a panel of experts in japan say lawmakers need to allow the country's constitution to give more room for national defense. and we report from the

opening day of the sapporo snow festival. the sculptures are lit up at night, filling the air with dream-like visions. the governments of north and south korea have agreed to hold reunions of families separated by the korean war. they'll take place beginning february 20th. red cross officials from the two countries met to discuss the issue at the border village of pan mum jong on wednesday. 100 people will take part in the six day reunions at the mt. kumgang resort in the north. it will be the first time since 2010 that families divided by the war have been able to meet. the korean war lasted from 1950 to 1953. both countries agreed to hold family reunions last september. but the north called them off at the last minute. south korean president park geun-hye last month urged the north to allow the families to get back to the. analysts say north korea may set conditions for the reunions. leaders in pyongyang remain strongly opposed to an upcoming

military exercise between south korea and the united states. a senior u.s. official is urging leaders in china not to establish air defense identification zones over sensitive areas, including the south china sea. authorities in beijing raised tensions last november by announcing a zone over the east china sea. assistant secretary of state for east asian and pacific affairs daniel russell spoke to reporters in washington. he said the u.s. does not recognize china's air defense zone, and warned leaders not to set up more. >> we urge china not to attempt to implement the adiz and certainly not to replicate it in other -- in other sensitive areas, including and particularly in south china sea. >> russell said the u.s. military has shown that china's air defense zone won't affect

its operations. a former senior u.s. defense official has also expressed strong concern over the country's rapid military buildup. michelle fourteenny served as undersecretary of defense during the first term of president barack obama. she commented on china's test flight last month of a missile that travels more than five times the speed of sound. >> do think that, again, one of our overarching concerns is lack of transparency on chinese technological development, and therefore, lack of explanation as to the intent and purpose of the systems. >> flournny said the defense department's upcoming quadrennial defense review is likely to confirm the continuation of rebalancing u.s. forces to the asia pacific region. she said officials are expected to allocate 60% of naval forces to the area and maintain the number of marines throughout asia despite a planned reduction of military personnel.

prime minister shinzo abe wants japanese self-defense forces to have greater leeway in responding to security threats. he says the government should achieve that goal by changing its interpretation of the constitution. so he assembled a panel of experts to study the issue. and they agreed that lawmakers should take action. nhk world's miss hoe nishikawa has the story. >> reporter: members of the panel met on tuesday. sources say they backed the government's view that the constitution should allow the right to collective self-defense. that would give the sdf the right to defend an ally under attack. some panel members said the current legal framework does not allow the sdf to use force in anything shorpt of a direct military strike. abe said the current law allows the forces to act only in cases of systematic and premeditated

attacks on japan. but he noted there might be cases that do not involve the use of force. >> translator: many believe the sdf must respond to situations where there is a gray area. as when contingencies occur on remote islands, and if police and the coast guard cannot immediately respond. >> reporter: abe's views have been causing concern abroad. neighboring countries such as china and south korea are worried that japan is taking a shift to the right. but an expert on security policy says the panel's decision is a necessary step in light of increasing tensions in the region. >> without security and stability in the region heavily depends on the global environment. so it's -- it's not appropriate to name a specific region. but still, as we can see, the

tensions are very high in the east china sea and south china sea. >> reporter: the panel members will issue a final report to abe as early as april. it will likely list the conditions that the sdf would be able to exercise collective self-defense. cottonny says the panel members need to hold more discussions about how the government would authorize such actions. >> the key issue is, of course, the civilian control, or in other words how the diet should be involved. when the government exercises collective self-defense. >> reporter: debate among lawmakers and the public is likely to grow heated before the panel members submit their final report. miss ueckco nishikawa, nhk world, tokyo. prime minister abe wants people here in japan to spend

more. but in order to do that they need to get aid more. negotiations for wages are under way throughout the country, and ron madison is here with details on that. >> for a long time economists have insisted that rising wages has been one of the key elements missing each time japan enters a recovery phase. so they're hoping to change all that this time. annual wage negotiations, in full swing now. labor and business leaders met on wednesday. >> translator: this year's labor negotiations will affect the course of japanese society and its economy. >> japanese trade union confederation or rengo called for an across-the-board increase in basic pay as well as periodic raises. kozu said he will seek higher compensation for workers, including temporary staff. the leader of japan business federation or keidanran expressed willingness to raise wages to help improve the economy.

>> reporter: 2014 will offer a big chance for japan to end deflation, and also accelerate its economic recovery. >> yonekura said he will continue his efforts so higher corporate earnings will lead to a virtuous cycle of more investment, job growth and wage hikes. executives of large firms will be issues responses around mid-march. japanese automakers are showing higher earnings and that's because a weaker yen is giving a boost to their global khk. mitsubishi motors says its sales rose 18% to about $15 billion in the april to december period last year compared to the previous year. mitsubishi executives say operating profits stood at around $950 million, and the profit more than doubled, setting a record, in fact, for the nine-month span. the yen's decline helped sharply improve the company's overseas business. brisk domestic sales of many vehicles also pushed up

earnings. but the officials revised downward their projected annual sales largely due to political turmoil in thailand that is a key market for mitsubishi. another automaker, mazda, expects to post a record profit for this full business year ending in march. the executives say group sales for the april to december period rose 26% to around $19 billion compared to a year ago. its operating profit hit the highest for the period, topping $1.2 billion. the executives say the annual operating profit is likely to raise from an earlier estimate. that's due to brisk new car sales in japan, as well as europe, and an improvement in export profits. if the projection is realized, mazda would post its highest operating profit for the first time in six years. let's get a check of the markets now. recent weak sentiment in europe is recovering somewhat now. london is now higher after opening lower by about a quarter

percent. we're seeing declines for frankfurt down about 0.2% and paris' cac 40 is up about 0.1%. still many investors reluctant to take new positions ahead of the european central bank's policy meeting. that's on thursday, as well as important economic data out of the u.s. earlier many asian bourses rebounded from tuesday's sell-off. tok tokyo's nikkei got a boost from upbeat earnings results released by high profile companies. singapore's straits times index extended its losses, posting a fresh low since november 2012. and in hong kong the hang seng index dropped 0.6% to a near seven-month low. shares of macao casino operators took a beating after data show gambling revenue in the city grew at a much lower pace than expected in january. moving on to currencies now, dollar/yen is currently at 101.22 roughly. analysts say traders are focusing on upcoming economic data out of the u.s. this does include a private sector jobs report on wednesday.

meanwhile euro/yen is being quoted at around 136.74. the euro fell after december retail sales for the eurozone came in much weaker than what many economists had estimated. morgan stanley has agreed to pay $1.25 billion to settle a case with u.s. regulators. the major u.s. investment bank is among 17 firms taken to court by the federal housing finance agency. and this is for selling complex financial products to state-sponsored home loan lenders without fully explaining about the high risk. the transactions on mortgage-backed securities between the firm, and freddie mac and fannie mae took place between 2005 and 2007 and this was at the height of the u.s. housing bubble. seven financial institutions, including jpmorgan chase, and germany's deutsche bank, have already agreed to pay fines. the huge fines are weighing down now on their earnings.

european firms are eyeing japan's clean energy market. they're showcasing their latest technologies in tokyo, with the increased interest in green energy after the accident at fukushima at the fukushima nuclear power plant. the delegation of the european union to japan organized the event. 38 firms took part. a french company displayed a product used to float solar panels on water. executives from japanese manufacturers and trading houses were among the visitors. the exhibitor of floating solar panels sees japan as the most attractive market in the world. >> european company have a little bit of advance, but that could be easily shared with japanese partner to make a very strong market from japan. but also, to push other asian country, as an example, to invest in this kind of technology. >> the japan external trade organization says more foreign firms are entering the country's renewable energy market.

japan has been diversifying its energy sources following the nuclear disaster in 2011. all right. that is going to do it for biz tonight. let's get you a check of the markets. every morning, investors turn our attention to asia. the tokyo market leads the way and markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy.

>> to the latest business trends. >> up to the minute market reports. >> and analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news and insight every day. here on "newsline." the u.s. navy is investigating allegations of cheating on exams at a training facility for nuclear powered submarine operators. the chief of naval operations revealed at a news conference that officers at the facility in south carolina may have cheated on a regular written exam designed to maintain their proficiency. u.s. media reports say around 30 people have been involved. >> to say that i'm disappointed would be an understatement. whenever i hear about integrity issues, it's disresultive to our unit's success. >> u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel gave a direct order to the navy to look into the scandal, which is the second to hit the

country's military this year. last month the u.s. air force found that more than 90 officers had cheated on a proficiency exam for the operation of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. nearly three years have passed since a massive quake and tsunami devastated japan's northeastern region. but the harmful effects are still spreading within coastal forests. experts recently discovered the main cause for the death in the plants there. nhk world's kaye yam massieu has more. >> reporter: our prefecture, northern japan, has been maintained by the government for 150 years. to protect inland areas from strong wind, sand, and possible tsunami.

during the 2011 tsunami, tourists stopped a floating boat just before it smashed into a residential area. but the forests may no longer be able to protect residents. a researcher now finds many dead pine trees which didn't -- the forest. >> translator: the bark comes off easily when the tree is dead. you can't bring it back to life. >> reporter: this aerial photograph was taken one month after the tsunami. the forest is healthy and green. only a part of it had been knocked down by the waves. however, a photograph taken in the following year showed large

gray area of rotted trees. the forest rot has now grown ten times bigger. 134 hectares across the prefecture. >> translator: the forest can't block tsunami anymore. inland residents and farms are at risk of serious damage. >> reporter: two discovered mechanics of the plant death. on the day, sea water was covering the entire area then gradually receded. but it revealed some sea water continued to cover low-lying land. ocean salt blocked the absorption of water by tree roots, weakening the body.

kimura says the sick trees couldn't survive the hot, dry summer. >> translator: the trees were weakened by tsunami. and lost their leaves. that reduces their ability to photo synthesize enough energy to sustain themselves.synthesizo sustain themselves. >> reporter: the local government is planning to restore the forest as soon as possible to prepare for another disaster. but young pine trees need at least 20 years to grow enough to offer protection from tsunami. effects of the 2011 disaster are still spreading in the environment, nearly three years later. nhk world. a popular japanese composer

of classical music has revealed that he has paid someone else to write his pieces. he has been called a modern-day beethoven because he is hearing impaired. a lawyer representing him explained the existence of a ghost writer who wrote some of the works for more than a decade. he is a 50-year-old native of hiroshima prefecture and is described as a self-taught composer. he has published several popular works of music while fighting to save his hearing. he says that what he did is an act of betrayal. he apologized to his fans and those who were offended by the news. he won the hiroshima citizens award in 2008. >> translator: the city will have to consider taking back the award if the reasons he was given the honor prove to be false. >> his symphony number gave hope

to many people and became a major hit following the march 2011 disaster more than 180,000 cds of the composition were sold. an annual snow festival has opened on february 5th in sapporo on japan's northern island of hokkaido. massive know and ice sculptures are illuminated at night creating a very unique atmosphere. nhk world is taking in the sights and sounds for us. >> reporter: i'm here in sapporo city. it is turned in to night. earlier on it was snowing. but right now the temperature has dropped to minus 6 degrees. now as you can see there are a lot of people crowding the venue. there are huge snow sculptures on display at this year's snow festival. the festival features ice sculptures, as well. this big piece here is carved

from 250 blocks of ice. we can see the sapporo city tower behind a veil of ice. lights are reflected through the ice, giving the sculptures an air of mystical glow. now, depending on the music, the illumination changes colors. now, you might see behind the scenes, they work so hard to make this sculpture, a lot of effort is required to give the sculptures lighting effect. snow falls over them every day, blanketing the surfaces. it prevents light from shining through the ice, which degrades the illumination effect. but snow in hokkaido is so light it can be blown away easily. staff members brush it off before the illumination starts. now, lighting techniques are used in many different ways here at this festival. organizers are using a popular lighting technique called protection mapping. the images include horses running freely across a hokkaido

landscape in different seasons, and pictures representing the birth of life. the result is a very impressive display showcasing the variety of scenes from the region. now i'm going to ask a few visitors what they thought of the festival. hello, ladies. >> hi. >> where are you from? >> sydney, australia. >> and is this your first time here? >> no, it's our second time. >> how do you like it? >> yeah, i really love it. it's amazing. >> what do you think about the illumination effect? >> we came in this afternoon, we couldn't really see much. it's so much better in the night time. >> thank you, ladies. have a great time. as you can see the sapporo snow festival attracts a lot of people. more than 2 million people are expected to come this week. the event runs through february 11th, with illuminations continuing every night. akane nakajima, nhk world, sapporo. there's another snowstorm rolling across the u.s. just when the icy roads started to melt. our meteorologist robert speta

has more on that. >> gene, first start off by talking about this system, which has already resulted in several deaths out here into the central plains, including kansas, over to missouri, as well. we first got a video coming out of kansas, where that snow continued to come down, and just absolutely treacherous driving conditions out there. you can see the snow plow trying to drive through the snow drifts, very dangerous. that's what caused those two deaths. local meteorologists in kansas city say that, you know, snow is not uncommon here, but about 3% of all winter storms add up to 15 centimeters or more. this latest one did result in 15 centimeters. so some pretty unusually heavy snow. now this whole system is continuing to pull east though out towards mid-atlantic states. much of the eastern seaboards will be impacted by it. the heaviest snow and freezing rain is going to be in the cold sector. that's the northern half of this low pressure. down here, this is mostly rain. and even some mixed

precipitation mixed in there. but these areas in the black. that's where you're going to be seeing 10 to 20 centimeters of snowfall. isolated regions could see up to 30 centimeters. the lake-effect snow is going to be kicking up as that low does continue to push off there towards the east. cold air will be descending in behind it. much drier conditions at the very least. but the temperatures are just going to be one of those frigid days here on wednesday. where you just want to stay inside. denver with a high of minus 14. chicago at minus 4. toronto getting up to minus 5. and even winnipeg, you're absolutely frigid up there at minus 20. ahead of the front, though, we are still seeing the single digit temperatures, and even into atlanta, up to 14 there on your wednesday. now, take a look over towards japan. the sea effect snow is still the main topic out here. definitely good news if you're off towards hokkaido and getting ready for that sapporo ice festival. you still could see an additional 40 centimeters in the next 24 hours. by thursday evening, this should be tapering off as those

northwesterly winds start to change. and that's a direct result of the next system that's coming in from the west out of china right now. this low is starting to develop. it's bringing some rain showers across southeastern china over towards taiwan. that southerly moisture coming in. off towards the north you're also looking at 5 to 10 centimeters in northeastern china. but what's going to be happening with this, it's developing and it's going to trek east along the pacific coast of japan, and by this weekend we could be looking at another wintry mix or even some snowfall across the pacific coast, including tokyo, as well. keep an eye on that. temperatures at least on your thursday, tokyo up to 7. seoul just 4 and ulan bator, minus 15 here on your thursday. now over towards europe, well, the big topic is this low pressure system right here. this is just one storm after another. this is just bringing gusty winds on the western seaboards. trains, airports, have also seen cancellations and delays out

here. it's just numerous reports of flooding overall, and still looking at about 30 to 40 millimeters of rainfall on top of this. not to mention these gusty winds. look at all these lines really close together. that is indicating those winds which could be up to 100 kilometers per hour. so you have that. also the risk of storm surge in coastal areas accompanied by 5 to 7 meter high waves. so definitely this is a story to watch in western europe. eastern europe, staying much calmer. but frigid out here. moscow minus 2 for your high on wednesday. here's the extended forecast.

the public has gotten its first look at the medals that will be awarded to athletes at the winter olympics. they feature a traditional russian mosaic pattern and a landscape of the sochi region. olympic authorities commissioned a jewelry manufacturer to make the medals. each one is 10 centimeters in diameter and 1 centimeter thick. they're made from metals produced in russia. the designers used a transparent synthetic risen to portray ice. the jeweler produced a record 1300 medals for this year's games. that's the most ever for a winter olympics and paralympics and reflects an increase in the number of events. that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk

world, thanks for joining us.

>> welcome back to the newsroom here on "france 24." here are the top stories. they u.n. releases a scathing report on child abuse in the catholic church, demanding the vatican removes all clergy who are known or suspected child abusers. the ukrainian president is kia afterwn in battling -- kia after battling two months of protests. the winter olympics kick off in sochi on friday, the most