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. in sochi, behind the competition for a gold medal, world leaders are playing the game of diplomacy. u.s. president barack obama calls for more religious freedom in china, urging leaders to respect universal rights for christians and ethnic minorities. and some chinese people are

getting a lesson in manners to help prepare them for holidays abroad. the winter olympics officially kick off on friday. many world leaders will spend time away from watching their athletes to improve diplomatic relations with other countries. experts say the sideline meetings have long been an important part of the games. nhk world reports on what russia hopes to achieve in sochi. >> reporter: 100,000 security personnel have been deployed in preparation for the opening ceremonies. tight measures are in place. every visitor entering the site is required to have a photo taken and to give their passport information. many world leaders are now in sochi. russian president vladimir putin arranged talks with representatives from several countries.

japanese prime minister shinzo abe has high hopes to push forward northern territories issue. the country claimed the islands, which are controlled by russia. abe flies to sochi on friday, the day designated by the government as northern territories day. he will meet with president putin on saturday. a political expert specializing in olympic diplomacy says the meeting will be important for both leaders. >> i think prime minister abe decide to attend the sochi opening ceremony to say thank you to the russians for supporting tokyo's bid for the olympics. abe also wants to show tokyo's good ties with moscow. one reason may be --

>> reporter: the first olympic games in athens almost 120 years ago started as a festival to help build peace through sports. it's gradually changing to global competition for countries to compete for honor and have played a major role in world events. the 1936 berlin games was used as a propaganda tool by hitler as a way to glorify snazzy germany. the 1964 tokyo olympics were the first time the event was held in asia and showed japan had recovered after world war ii. at the 1980 moscow olympics, u.s.-led western nations boycotted the games for political reasons. many opposed the country's communism values. >> i think russia see the sochi

games as a chance to make up for embarrassment for the moscow olympics in 1980. >> reporter: the seoul games in 1988 opened the way for south korea to normalize relations with the communist countries. they had not recognized the south as a country at the time of the olympics. this time, experts say putin is using these olympics as an opportunity to showcase to other world leaders russia is safe. >> at sochi russia want to show off its international goodwill by gathering athletes, sports officials and the media people, as well as world leaders. >> reporter: putin will put his focus on security, assuring the people visiting sochi will be protected from any potential terrorist threats.

sochi will also be an important chance to prove they can deliver on their promise that the games will be open to everyone. kurando tago, nhk world. u.s. president barack obama says promoting religious rights is a key objective of american foreign policy, and he's calling for greater religious freedom in china. obama made his remarks at the national prayer breakfast in washington on thursday. the yearly meeting brings together a diverse audience, including legislatolegislators, government officials and clergy from a range of faiths and ideologies. the president said freedom of religion is under threat around the world and some governments engage in discrimination and violence against the faithful. he then spoke about the situation in china. >> i stress that realizing china's potential rests on upholding universal rights, including for christians, and tibetan buddhists, and uighur muslims.

>> obama said the u.s. will continue to stand for the rights of all people to practice their faiths in peace and freedom. two senior u.s. diplomats have been left red-faced by what appears to be a recording of them cursing the european union. a u.s. state department official suggested that russia may have bugged the call to embarrass them. the four-minute recording appears to have the top u.s. diplomat in europe, victoria nuland, discussing the future of ukraine with the country's u.s. ambassador jeffrey paillette. they appear to discuss the possibility of helping to form a new government. nuland then makes a disparaging remark about the european union. >> i think to help glue this thing and have the u.n. help glue it and, you know, [ muted ] eip >> state department spokesperson jen psaki acknowledged the conversation is authentic. >> she has been in contact with

her eu counterparts and of course has apologized. >> psaki says she doesn't know who uploaded the recording but she says she knows russian government officials were the first to tweet about it. the u.s. state of virginia is likely to require public school textbooks to note that the sea of japan is also known as the east sea. members of the virginia house of delegates have passed a bill to that effect. it was submitted to the assembly at the request of a group of korean-americans. the delegates voted 81-15 in favor of the bill. it's expected to pass the state senate and be signed by the governor. the bill would require new taxbooks adopted from july to note that the body of water between japan and the korean peninsula is also known as the east sea. japan's ambassador to the united states cup churro sass say has been urging government lawmakers to oppose the bill. they note that the u.s.

government recognizes it as such. members of the u.n. security council are calling on syria to speed up the removal of chemical weapons agents from the country for safety disposal. syria missed wednesday's deadline to ship out all of its stockpile. the council members were briefed by the person who heads the mission charged with destroying the weapons. president bashar al assad's government cites security concerns as the reason for the holdup, but she says the delays can be made up for. >> all equipments and requirements are in country, there's an expectation of swift movement, safe and secure, naturally, noting the security conditions in country. >> most of about 1300 tons of chemical agents held by the syrian government will be removed and destroyed offshore on a specially equipped u.s. ship. only 5% of the materials have been taken out of the country. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations samantha power, accused syria of buying time.

>> it is time for the assad government to stop its foot dragging, establish a transportation plan, and stick to it. >> the security council says it will study fresh sanctions if the syrian government fails to destroy all the chemical weapons and materials by the end of june deadline. peace talks have been -- have opened between representatives of an extremist group in pakistan and the country's government. the talks were held in islamabad on thursday. a taliban nominated team is hoping to arrange a meeting with prime minister nawaz sharif and the army chief. the government negotiators are seeking to end acts of terrorism and have direct meetings with the taliban leadership. both sides agree to bring home each other's requests for consideration. the extremist group has been attacking security personnel who protest the government's support for u.s.-led anti-terror operations. more than 100 people have been killed over the past month. sharif has been seeking peace

through dialogue. analysts are watching closely to see if the talks will lead to direct negotiations between the government and the pakistani taliban. there's more evidence japan's economy is making a comeback and ron madison is here with more on that. >> this is pretty good news for the government. it can be a bit more comfortable now that the economy will be able to shoulder any added pressure from a higher consumption tax. gene, the latest japanese government indicate to indicates that the country's economy is, indeed, on track for a steady recovery. a key economic index went up in december for a fourth straight month. officials at the cabinet office say the december coincident index rose to 111.7. the index is based on various indicators like those for introduction and employment. officials say demand picked up during the month ahead of the consumption tax hike in april. they note the job availability reached the highest level in more than six years. they also attribute the gain to brisk shipments of car parts and higher production of industrial robots for china.

the leading index which forecast the state of the economy a few months down the road also rose for four months in a row. this index stood at its highest point in nearly seven years. cabinet office officials say the economy is likely to continue to improve at least for some time to come. and prime minister shinzo abe wants to make sure the economy will remain in good shape, even after the tax increase. he has instructed his cabinet ministers to promptly implement a $54 billion supplementary budget. abe stressed at a cabinet meeting that the ministers should ensure that the measures in the extra budget will prove effective in the first half of fiscal 2014. japan's parliament passed a budget on thursday. it included cash handouts for low-income earners, and families with small children. as well as public works projects, worth over $10 billion. after the cabinet meeting, economic revitalization minister amari says the measures are important for two reasons, to swiftly reverse a possible economic slowdown, following the

tax hike, and to get the country firmly back on a path to growth. well, annual wage negotiations are now in full swing at japanese filmmakers and ship builders. labor leaders are demanding pay hikes so they can spend more, and help pull the country out of a drawn out period of deflation. union officials and managers at nippon steel and sumitomo metal kicked off negotiations on friday. labor representatives are demanding an average wage increase of about $7 a month over the next two years. >> translator: our request is based on the need to reward the workers' hard work and maintain their morale. as well as to help create a virtuous cycle of the industry's growth. >> in response, he said they will improve how to improve longer-term competitiveness. they also said they will build the company's financial health, and try to keep its workers happy.

now these wage negotiations at japan's major corporations will peak in mid-march. let's get a check of the markets now. the euro fell after germany's top court questioned the legality of the european central bank bond buying program. euro dollar right now is at right around 1.3571. germany's constitutional court decided to refer the ecb's unprecedented bond buying program to the european court of justice, saying it may exceed the bank's monetary policy mandate. meanwhile, dollar/yen is at right around 102.08. trading at a relatively tight range ahead of the key u.s. jobs report due out in just a few hours. turning to stocks now, european equities are looking like this. all of them are up now, although they have pared some of their earlier gains. london up by just a touch. frankfurt gaining 0.2%. paris' cac 40 is pretty much flat. investors are somewhat hopeful that the closely watched u.s. employment data may show signs of improvement in the country's

economy. the labor market indicator turned out to be positive the previous day. also asian equities posted gains across the board. tokyo's nikkei staged a strong rebound. hong kong's hang seng rose to a one-week high. china's shanghai resumed trading on an upbeat note following the lunar new year's holiday. that is going to do it for biz tonight. i'll leave you with the markets.

questions are being asked about the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and doctors. this comes after employees at the japanese subsidiary of a swiss based drugmaker got involved in the clinical studies for its new drug. nhk world has more. >> reporter: doctors at the university of tokyo hospital and 21 medical institutions have been studying the side effects of a new leukemia drug known as tasigna, a drug marketed by novartis pharma. the study was meant to be led and conducted by doctors. however, more than half of the data was collected by salespeople of novartis pharma before being taken to the university hospital, the body overseeing the study. now there is suspicion that the pharmaceutical company was also involved in the analysis.

in april last year a doctor at one of the hospitals said he was asked by the project manager at the university of tokyo hospital to present a brief on the study at an academic meeting. the doctor said novartis pharma employee gave him the analysis of the study and explained how he should interpret the results, apparently with approval of the project manager. the project manager sent him an e-mail in september saying they may adopt some of the data offered by the drugmaker. the e-mail also said it was important to secure proof that doctors in the hospital had conducted their own analysis as the current social environment does not allow a drugmaker to analyze clinical data. early in july, the drugmaker had announced that its employees would not take part in clinical

studies, after the company same under criticism for data manipulation in a study of blood pressure drugs. but the new findings showed the employees were still involved in clinical studies. a former employee of the company says people in the pharmaceutical industry consider involvement in medical studies important to securing sales. he says the company expected sales of its mainstay leukemia drug glivec to slow as its patent is expiring in september. he says he thinks that triggered the continuing involvement in the studies. >> translator: when a patent expires, generic drugs soon appear. patients most often choose the cheaper drugs, and the companies face making less profit. so it is very common in the industry to market new, high-end

drugs. >> reporter: an expert says this questionable relationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies has kept a shadow over the credibility of clinical research in japan in general. >> translator: we cannot deny that the pharmaceutical companies aim to use the results of research for think marketing. therefore, it is important to ensure the studies are fair. if the companies obtain the data first, they may twist the results. >> reporter: both novartis pharma and the university of tokyo hospital have declined comment. they say investigations into the matter are ongoing. health ministry officials have opened an inquiry into the issue. nhk world.

government leaders in china are trying to get some to mind their manners. more and more people there are traveling abroad. and taking some bad etiquette with them. authorities are now concerned what that might do for the country's image. so, they're taking action. nhk world's kunihiro ma'am moto reports from beijing. >> reporter: this is the international airport in the capital beijing. families are waiting to fly out to holiday destinations abroad. >> translator: the weather is nice in thailand. i'm also interested in thai culture. >> i went to the u.s. last year. i'm going to japan this year. i want to spend my next holiday abroad again. >> reporter: china said the number of trips to foreign countries and chinese territories has doubled in

recent years. this year the number is expected to surpass 100 million. what's driving the surge is the increased income of many chinese. the u.s. world tourism organization says the total amount of money paid out by chinese on foreign vacations makes them the world's biggest holiday spenders. tourist businesses around the world are trying hard to attract the chinese. but, as more of them visit foreign destinations, they leave behind a negative impression of chinese. the country's media are drawing attention to this, by reporting about outrageous acts by chinese tourists. for example, those who stampeded into a department store, or exchanged blows on a plane. or trampled on a field of flowers.

>> translator: chinese tourists tend to stick with their own customs, even abroad. so, they often don't get accepted by people there. this is a headache for travel agencies like ours. >> reporter: recently, authorities issued instructions on how chinese tourists should behave on vacations abroad. it's an attempt to protect the country's image. chinese are told not to spit in public, and not to bump into a line of people. an expert at a think tank affiliated with china's government blames the bad manners on lack of experience abroad. she thinks as chinese do more travel outside the country, they'll learn how to behave properly, and chinese are already learning a lot.

>> translator: expanding the knowledge about what behavior foreign people consider acceptable can lead to improving the qualities of the chinese. >> reporter: she also says she expects the number of people who travel from china to japan to increase despite the political tension. >> translator: chinese people think governments and people are two separate things. people are very eager for china/japan exchanges on a grassroots level. >> reporter: as the number of chinese tourists keeps surging, government authorities see it as an opportunity. their citizens traveling abroad can learn international behavior to create closer ties with others. kunihiro yamamoto, nhk world,

beijing. it's going to snow in tokyo saturday, and expect the white stuff to pile up. that's according to our meteorologist robert speta. robert, so how bad is it going to get? >> well, gene, it's going to be rather severe here across the entire pacific coast of japan, going in to your saturday. and i first want to start off by showing you this system which is already started here in to hiroshima, off there towards western portions of honshu. the snow is coming down. not uncommon to get snow in this part of japan, but quite this much is quite unusual. kids having some fun. i'm sure extending farther towards the north people are going to start to enjoy this weather. but many of you, especially commuters, it is going to be a slow go out here on saturday. rail services are likely going to be delayed. especially the bullet trains likely will be canceled. not to mention if you plan on flying in and out of japan. what's happening is what is causing this? is this low pressure down here towards the south. right now, fairly disorganized. but as we go through the next 24

hours this is going to rapidly intensif intensify, pick up moisture and move off towards the northeast. it draws in that cold air and some areas out here you're looking at about 50 centimeters of snowfall in western japan, even just outside of the area, you can see that much. and then you're talking about these winds coming onshore. up to about 120 kilometers per hour. right here the coastline. very severe storm system, indeed. you'll have that blowing snow out and about. but into the tokyo metro area, they're not going to see quite 50 centimeters. about 15 is going to be the max. and i know that doesn't sound like a lot but especially in the downtown tokyo, that's basically causes cities to almost grind to a standstill. you don't have snow plows in to some of these streets out here. so that's going to continue to pull off towards the northeast. the good news, if there is some with this, is that what we're going to be seeing by sunday is an improvement in the forecast. saturday 4 there for the high, snow showers starting in to the

early morning hours into the tokyo area. by morning don't be surprised if you see a layer of snow out on the ground. by evening it's going to slowly taper off. by sunday morning a few flurries, by the afternoon hours temperatures rebounding to double digits so much of that is going to start to melt off by monday. even farther down there towards south osaka, partly cloudy skies on sunday as well and staying over there where you just saw that video coming out of in hiroshima. some good news to be had with this. let's take a look at what's going on over towards europe where a storm system is moving across western ur7. just one after another. it's been bringing some very gusty winds out here. some areas, you're just seeing these winds gusting up to about 130 kilometers per hour, pushing onshore with all the lines very close together. in the other big threat, though, is the rain. we're seeing just this relentless rainfall in portions of the southern uk over towards france, spain, portugal and the risk of flooding and even flash flooding is definitely there. the higher elevations, you're still looking at some snowfall

out of this. eastern europe, over towards the balkans, you're also looking at low pressure area coming through bringing some showers. i think the big topic for eastern europe is not what's going on over here, it's down there towards the black sea. eastern parts of it. the olympics are being held starting off this week. and this is the warmest olympics -- winter olympics, excuse me, ever, to be held. and in to the olympic stadium you're actually expecting temperatures up to 14 by your sunday. now don't worry about the snow melting for some of these winter sports. most of them are being held in the mountains outside of the city. temperatures there, below zero. here's the extended forecast.

that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for joining us. 

hello it it's 1:00 p.m. in the french capital. raise thes ready to curtain on sochi 2014. a lavish opening ceremony is expected. there is no let up in the international criticism. conversationatic about ukraine's future is posted online forcing washington to apologize to the european union. they step on the road to lasting democracy -- tunisia celebrates its new constitution. it hopes it will bring an end to years of political crisis.