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. the office of ukrainian president viktor yanukovych says he's made a deal with the opposition to end the crisis after deadly clashes between police and anti-government demonstrators. u.n. officials are set to put a draft resolution before the security council that would improve humanitarian aid access in syria.

and, financial policymakers from the g-20 nations are gathering in sydney to discuss the effect of a dwindling u.n. monetary stimulus program on emerging markets. the ukrainian government has announced it has reached an agreement with the opposition to settle the crisis in the country. but it remains uncertain whether it will end the violent clashes between demonstrators and the police. no major clashes have been reported in central kiev friday morning. but the standoff between the two sides remains as the protesters barricades remaining -- remain up. a statement on president viktor yanukovych's official website said he and opposition leaders have reached an agreement. the deal came after lengthy talks with representatives from several eu countries and russia. no details have been released. polish media reports that the eu delegates proposed holding the next presidential election ahead of schedule, and establishing a transitional government.

more than 70 people have died in clashes since tuesday. protesters are angry the president backed away from a trade agreement with the eu in favor of closer ties with russia. the government said on wednesday that they agreed to halt violence, but fierce fighting continued between some groups, and police. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon and other world leaders are stepping up pressure on the ukrainian government, and the opposition to bring an end to the violence. >> i'm appalled by the use of firearms by both the police and protesters. i urge all parties to immediately resume a genuine dialogue. >> u.s. vice president joe biden spoke to president yanukovych by telephone on thursday. biden urged him to call off his security forces immediately. biden told yanukovych the u.s. is prepared to impose sanctions

on ukrainian officials. the european union already decided on thursday to freeze assets held in eu countries by ukrainian officials deemed responsible for cracking down on demonstrators. officials in the u.n. security council are putting the final touches on a draft resolution that would boost humanitarian aid access in syria. 3 million people in the country lack sufficient aid while the fighting between government and opposition forces continues. last week western and arab nations submitted a draft resolution to the security council. a copy obtained by nhk calls for both sides to immediately cease all attacks against civilians. it also demands that they allow safe and unhindered humanitarian relief activities. the initial document included sanctions against those who violate the resolution. but the latest draft only threatens to take further steps in the event of noncompliance.

analysts say the reason for the change is russia's opposition to resolutions that threaten sanctions against syria. the u.s. and european countries want to put the latest draft to a vote this week. currencies in emerging markets are plunging as the u.s. starts slowing down their easy money policies. countries are getting together to assess the effect it may have upon them. the biz team is here with more on this story. >> gene, i should say there's a bit of a cause and effect here playing into global economies and that's really causing the volatility. finance ministers in central bank governors of the world's 20 major economies are getting ready to talk about currency. they're meeting in sydney to discuss the impact of tapering by the u.s. federal reserve on the flow of money emerging countries. the scaleback hit south africa, turkey, brazil, india, and indonesia, hard. their currencies plunged. investors are pulling their money out of the fragile five

markets. nhk world explains. >> reporter: finance leaders in turkey have been struggling to stem the fall in the lira. central bank officials tried to prop up the currency last month by sharply raising key interest rates. but they failed to calm the public. people began lining up at exchange bureaus to convert their money to stable currencies such as the dollar and euro. many recall the economic crisis in 2001, when high inflation was set off. shop owners at the marketplace popular with tourists welcome payment in foreign currencies. >> people, they think dollar or euro or other moneys, and then they turn it to dollar or euro or other money. >> reporter: middle income earners have been driving

economic growth in turkey. but now they, too, are struggling. 29-year-old charles lost his job at the shipping company two months ago. the economic slowdown forced the farm to restructure. the currency depression is once again spiraling inflation, and causing power bills to soar. heating costs are a heavy burden. >> you have to maintain a lifestyle by your honoring this money. but if you don't maintain your lifestyle, i'm not backing up anything, i just can't do anything in this situation. >> he used to go out often with his friends and fiancee. but now he rarely socializes. he's worried that he doesn't have enough money to get by. >> it's not so easy to start life without, you know, the money. >> reporter: the tapering by the fed is also causing uncertainty

in africa's largest economy. labor disputes are raising concern across south africa. workers say they need higher wages to cope with inflation. operations at many mines have been halted. thousands of workers at the site in the west of pretoria walked off the job four months ago. there's no sign of an end to the strike. situations such as this are driving foreign investors away. in johannesburg they said they're worried by the falling value. >> i think we're looking long-term and long-term this is the right place to be. so yes the short-term doesn't look like very promising. >> reporter: leaders in emerging countries are struggling to pull their economies out of the downpardon spiral. >> japan's finance minister taro aso said the emerging economies

need to press ahead with economic reforms and correct the problems. he spoke at a news conference before he left for sydney to attend the g-20 meeting. >> translator: many emerging economies have high inflation, and huge current account deficits. it's important for those nations to try to resolve these problems on their own. >> aso also said the fed's tapering is a sign of improvement in the u.s. economy but he noted that fed officials should be careful in winding down the massive bond buying program to prevent excessive movements in financial markets. and let's check on the markets. investors around the world are pouring money back in to equities. here's how bench mark indexes are doing at this hour. we're looking at london, paris and frankfurt, and london and

paris trading higher, frankfurt's dax just barely in the negative there. global stock rallies are boosting risk appetite in the markets. in fact the cac 40 reached a five-year high in early trading. today's advanced is led by energy shares. benchmark had risen in 11 out of the previous 13 sessions. most asian bourses ended higher as you can see there. tokyo's nikkei jumped to a three-week high. sydney rose to a level not seen in four months, helped by positive corporate earnings. shanghai continued to face selling on lingering worries over the chinese economy. let's switch to currencies now. dollar/yen is currently changing hands at 102.40-42. little changed from levels in tokyo trading hours. market players are closely watching for the g-20 meeting and u.s. economic data, including existing home sales. that's going to come out later in the day. meanwhile, euro/yen is now being quoted at 140.38-43. some policymakers at the

bank of japan say they're feeling cautious about the pace of price increases. their views have emerged in minutes from the central bank's monetary policy meeting last month. policymakers maintain their forecast that the inflation rate will reach 1.9% in fiscal 2015. but one warned about the impact of the reversal in the yen's depreegs. the policy member said this could cause price increases to slow by more than expected. a few members also expressed a more cautious view about the economy. one said the rate of wage increases might turn out to be lower than the inflation rate. the members agreed the economy will continue its moderate recovery as it shrugs off deflation. japanese government is gearing up to lift restrictions on the country's electricity retailing business. it plans to introduce a liberalization bill to the current session of the diet. a panel of the ruling liberal democratic party approved the

draft legislation on friday. it would allow private households, not just companies, to freely choose power suppliers beginning in 2016. this change in the electricity business act would mark the end of the regional monopoly by major utilities, that's been in place for more than 60 years. government officials want to continue the current rate system for the time being. but they're taking steps to prevent excessive competition from hurting a stable supply of power. retailers would be required to maintain an adequate supply capacity to meet demand. that's all for business news now, i'll leave you with a look at the region's markets.

japan's consumer affairs watchdog has issued a warning about a growing threat. overheating smartphones. the national consumer affairs center says it received some 520 complaints in fiscal 2012. that's over five times more than the year before. officials at the center say the section connecting the handset and power cord can become charred while the phone is charging. some users suffered burns on their cheeks while making calls. officials found surface temperatures on some models rose to as high as nearly 60 degrees celsius after video phone or game functions were used for about ten minutes. they're advising consumers to

make sure the charger terminal is free of foreign substances and liquids. the officials are warning users against keeping the handset close to their skin for long periods of time. they're asking carriers to provide products that are less likely to overheat. indonesian police have arrested the captain of a boat who took seven japanese divers on excursion that went wrong. the divers left his boat after bali a week ago, then disappeared. rescuers found five of them three days later. but one diver died, and one is still missing. the five visiting divers and two instructors went into the waters off lembongan island. they never returned to the boat. the captain said they had gone down for their third dive of the day. then the weather turned stormy. he said he couldn't find them at the spot where they'd agreed to meet. police have charged him with professional negligence. police spoke with the five divers who were rescued. they said they came up to the

surface 30 minutes before the time they had agreed to meet the captain. and they said, the weather was not too bad. divers in the area are still searching for the missing women. emotional reunions for some of the hundreds of thousands of families separated ed buy the korean war are taking place. many people in the north and south are on a list hoping to see loved ones. the visits taking place at a resort in the north are the first in over three years. >> reporter: 82 elderly south koreans crossed the border on thursday to meet relatives they haven't seen since the war. many were accompanied by younger family members. the reunited relatives cried with joy. south korean officials say nearly 130,000 people have registered for reunions over the years. they're only allowed to participate once.

half of them died without achieving their dream. very few people have been reunited with loved ones. 90-year-old kim lives in a suburb of south korea's capital seoul. he was reunited with his 72-year-old brother for the first time since the war. >> reporter: kim and his wife have dreamt of this day for years. kim says he tried to imagine his brother's life in north korea. he bought medicines along with winter clothes and shoes to prepare for the meetings. >> translator: i'm already 90 years old. so i won't have many more

chances like this. the first thing i want to do is apologize to my brother for leaving him behind to endure such hardship. >> the family reunion program began in 2000. leaders from the two countries agreed to allow them as a humanitarian initiative. but visits have been canceled several times due to conditions placed by government officials in pyongyang. they called off a scheduled gathering last year, but they gave consent for this week's events to go forward. nhk world has more from seoul. >> reporter: during the more than three years since the last reunion, north korea launched missiles and conducted nuclear tests which increased tensions with south korea. south korean president park geun-hye has continued to ask

the north to resume the reunions, since she took office in february last year. but north korea stood firm. earlier this month the north threatened to cancel the reunions again if south korea went ahead with its annual joint military exercises with the united states. they're scheduled to start next week. but last week, north korea made an about-turn and said it would accept south koreans' requests. north korea's state-run media said the north had generously accepted the request, despite unfavorable conditions. in the first few days, the north

has heard only criticism of the military exercises. experts say the north wants to extract favors from the south. >> translator: north korea is apparently trying to play up the event to display its eagerness to improve interkorean relations. there's also an economic factor. the north is probably trying to get south korea to provide food and fertilizer, and resume tourism at mount kungong. that would help solve its economic problems. >> reporter: south korea and the u.s. are on the alert in the lead-up to the military drills. officials say the possibility remains that north korea will respond with acts of provocation. observers are now focused on whether north korea's reaction

to the military exercises will change its seemingly more conciliatory approach to the south. nhk world, seoul. economists say construction workers in china aren't working on as many projects as they used to. and competition among builders has grown increasingly fierce. some companies are promoting innovative structures to gain an edge over their rivals. nhk world's kunihiro yam moat toe reports from beijing. >> reporter: two years drive out of central beijing, stand this unusual-looking gathering of western-style houses. the inteerp yores and exteriors

are build almost entirely of wood. from floor boards to walls, even the ceilings are paneled. these are very different from concrete mansions. the developer plans to build 300 houses here by the end of the year. buyers are showing interest. about 40 homes have already been sold. sansumi and his family are happy with the wooden house they bought four years ago. >> reporter: wooden houses really show off the beauty of nature, and wood is more comfortable than stone or concrete. we feel cool in summer, and warm in winter. >> reporter: most structures in beijing are made of stone, brick or concrete.

wooden houses are something of a novelty. one reason is that china's timber industry has suffered from deforestation. this beijing-based construction company is promoting its wooden structures. the firm set up a dedicated department four years ago to sell wooden buildings. most of the materials, as well as the key technology, comes from canada. the company imported 180,000 cubic meters of timber in 2013. the figure has risen 30% per year since 2010. the construction method involves laminating components for strength. pillars are glued and clamped together. the firm trained for four months with the canadian timber association.

the finished houses are 30% more expensive than similar structures in concrete. but many chinese see wood as being eco-friendly, so it's a status symbol. the buildings appeal to wealthy buyers. recently, executives of the firm began expanding their business, and the size of the buildings. again, by using canadian techniques, they designed a new four-story wooden structure. this building has no central pillars. it supports itself with cross bracing in the ceilings. in china, most people think of wooden buildings as being small. but this design is spacious. that's a strong selling point in beijing, where demand for office space is high. >> translator: as a country's economy matures, consumers become more interested in the

details of a product. and lean toward a more natural taste. wooden buildings are attractive, because they have a human fac r factor. >> reporter: the new wooden buildings tap into a consciousness of chinese people about environmental protection. whether it's a fact or something deeper, it's bringing changes to the landscape outside beijing. kuehne heir row yamamoto, nhk world, beijing. the united states has been hit by severe weather this winter. our meteorologist robert speta tells us where things are headed. robert? >> yes, gene, what we are seeing right now is this storm system that is not only just bringing, well over a dozen reports of tornadoes in southern portions of illinois, but also the heavy snowfall in the north. video out of illinois to start off with here, and this is just

showing a traffic accident. one of the highways here, 20 vehicles involved, not due to high winds or anything like that but there was something some very intense fog, reduced visibility, and well, very slick roads combining with that due to the heavy snowfall. and also a little farther toward the north out of wisconsin, you can see how slick that is and the cars sliding about 30 centimeters fell. and many of these schools across the state were closed. and it does look like that is going to continue to transfer farther off towards the east across much of ontario, the great lakes, even over towards quebec. widespread snow totals, 15 to 20 centimeters very well likely. but also we're looking at gusty winds out of this, up to 70 kilometers per hour. especially on the northern periphery. that's those winds so whiteout conditions are still a major problem. along that warm front we're continuing to look at the threat of freezing rain, so very slick conditions. all that was back towards the west here on thursday, and it caused problems in western new york and northern pennsylvania. and then towards the south, i mentioned the threat of tornadoes, or there was

tornadoes over there towards illinois. that threat is continuing to move towards the east. really, the bigger issue with this is going to be the straightline winds, though. it's still large hail up to ping pong size hail has been reported and that's still there. this is going to move off friday into saturday. if you have any travel plans along the eastern seaboards hopefully it doesn't affect it but by saturday looks like skies will be clear as far as flying. back towards the west in texas and oklahoma, that clear air is also ushering in dry, windy conditions. so, we do have these fire risk warnings in effect out here. temperature towards the south, though, rather warm and mild in southen over towards atlanta, even in washington, d.c. up to 14 degrees. north of that front, though, look at chicago, minus 1 only for your high. across eastern asia what we have been looking out here is absolutely beautiful weather really shaping up for the weekend, believe it or not. and northern portions of japan, we still do have some sea-effect snow, nothing too unusual.

30 centimeters in western parts of hokkaido. towards korea and china, high pressure is going to be smack right over top of you and that means some clearer skies. now unfortunately not everybody here sharing in that, though. parts of northeastern china around beijing, there has been haze advisories issued here because of the high caps, any pollutants in the atmosphere, very little wind to disperse it. that's going to be a problem out there for you going through the weekend. down towards the south even into the tropics, the northeast monsoon keeping things cool. a couple scattered showers across parts of luzon. for the most part, partly cloudy skies, afternoon showers towards bangkok. now let's take a look at europe where another system continuing to push through the british isles. this one is going to still bring some gusty winds out here. really, 50 -- gusts up to 120 kilometers per hour along the western portions of the british isles. could be seen over the next 24 hours. also scandinavia, you have some snowfall farther off towards the north. so really just messy here in the west. italy, scattered showers there for you. even heavy rain advisories and some snow in the higher elevations up to 20 centimeters

could assume late. but the good news at least is in the south, moderate temperatures. showers for those of you in rome. but athens getting up to 16 here on friday. here's the extended forecast.

that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. gg99ññw

>> welcome to live from paris. it is 1:00 :00 in the french capital. let's look at what is making headlines. one day after dozens were killed in bloody clashes, the president of ukraine has reached a deal with the opposition. they have given the go-ahead for an election. news of the deal came through as violence continues in independence square in kiev with gunfire exchanged between protesters and police. sinceere are big protests hugo chavez died one year ago. more people are taking to the streets.