welcome to nhk world "newsline," i'm jegene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. ukrainian lawmakers have started dismantling the old political power structure and building a new one. japanese officials are preparing to lift an evacuation order for a district near the fukushima daiichi power plant, three years after the nuclear accident. and, people with firsthand knowledge of state surveillance

programs are warning about the harm they can do to a free society. lawmakers in ukraine are moving quickly to remake the government. opponents of ousted president viktor yanukovych now dominate parliament and they're trying to dismantle the remaining traces of his administration. lawmakers voted to turn over the president's authority for the time being to speaker oleksandr turchinov. they've voted to remove the prime minister from his government and decided to hold a presidential election in may. people are paying tribute to the victims of fighting last week between security forces, and opposition protesters. 77 people were killed in the most violent spell since protesters hit the streets in november. they're angry at yanukovych turned his back on a trade agreement with the european union in favor of closer ties with russia. yanukovych appeared on saturday

in his support base in eastern ukraine. he told a local television station that he has no intention of resigning or leaving the country. russian president vladimir putin and german chancellor angela merkel discussed the situation over the phone. they agreed that ukraine must remain intact. european union foreign policy chief catherine ashton will visit kiev later on monday. she's scheduled to meet with officials there to discuss support for a lasting solution to the crisis, and measures to stabilize the economy. u.s. secretary of state john kerry and russian foreign minister sergey lavrov discuss their positions during another phone call. but they found themselves divided. kerry said the u.s. is ready to work with eu states and other countries to help ukraine turn the page. he said u.s. officials expect all states to respect ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic freedom of choice. lavrov criticized members of the

ukrainian opposition. he said they failed to abide by a deal they signed on friday. he said they've seized power, and have refused to disarm. u.s. and south korean forces have launched their annual military exercises. while doing so, their leaders are keeping a close eye on north korea. about 200,000 personnel from the south korean military are joining 13,000 americans stationed in the country and deployed from other regions. they will practice responses to scenarios such as localized military provocations or signs of a missile or nuclear attack by north korea. troops will simulate military operations on computer and conduct field exercises, including amphibious landing by marines. north korean officials have criticized the exercises, and u.s. and south korean leaders are on the alert for anything unusual. a south korean defense ministry spokesperson said the drill will go ahead as planned with no changes in schedule or scale.

the official added they have not seen any unusual activity by the north korean military. their exercises come as officials from both koreas are organizing reunions of families separated by the korean war. people who haven't seen each other in decades have been meeting at a resort in the north. organizers hadn't held such reunions for three years. observers are focusing on whether the start of the drill will affect north korea's cooperative attitude. there may be some relief for those caught in the nuclear disaster in fukushima. residents of a district in the prefecture near the crippled power plant may soon be able to return home. the government has decided to lift an evacuation order for the

district almost three years after the nuclear accident. senior vice minister -- or senior vice industry minister kazuyoshi akaba told residents the government will lift the order for part of miyakoji district in tamura city on april 1. this would be the first lifting of an evacuation order for the contaminated areas. all areas within 20 kilometers of the fukushima daiichi plant have been subject to the order. decontamination efforts have progressed in the district. residents there have been able to visit and stay at their homes. >> translator: we made the decision considering the fact many people want us to lift the order so they can start their lives over as soon as possible. >> some residents are urging the environment minister to continue decontamination where they say radiation levels are still high in some places. ministry officials say they will respond on a case by case basis.

japan's government plans to instruct the operator of the stricken fukushima daiichi nuclear plant to revive its measures and to prevent spills and leaks of contaminated water. in the latest incident at the plant around 100 tons of highly radioactive water spilled from a storage tank last week. tokyo electric power company officials have been interviewing plant workers to find out why the water spilled. the officials believe someone opened valves that should have been closed. >> translator: tepco needs to review its preventive measures by taking in to consideration the tough working environment of the plant. the company also needs to rebuild its organizational structure to prevent similar cases. >> tokyo electric power company officials have been interviewing plant workers to find out why the water spilled. suga also said the government will try to ensure that tepco

implements steps to prevent problems, including those resulting from human error. japan's government says sea shepherd has disrupted operations of two of the country's research whaling vessels in the antarctic ocean. the attempt to obstruct the fleet would be the group's third this year. fisheries agency officials say activists from the anti-whaling group launched 13 of what appeared to be signal rockets at the whalers. they say the group also threw ropes at the ships 26 times. none of the japanese crew members were hurt. but the officials say a rope got tangles in the screw of one of the vessels. the crew tried to stop the activity with water cannons but the obstruction reportedly continued on and off for more than six hours. government spokesperson yoshihide suga expressed his concerns. >> translator: sea shepherd's operations are extremely dangerous sabotage, and cannot

be tolerated. >> suga said the government launched a request to stop sea shepherd's activities with the netherlands, where the group's boats are registered. the activists say they were ambushed by japan's whaling fleet. ministers of asia pacific free trade talks are meeting to narrow their differences and yuko fukushima from our business team has the latest. how close are the negotiations to a deal right now? >> well, gene, that's a hard question to answer. but what i can say is it's not an easy task. the member countries were supposed to have come to an agreement at the end of last year, but, as we know, they still haven't. so ministers from 12 countries are holding intensive talks in singapore to work out a transpacific partnership free trade deal. japan's top negotiator has urged other participating nations to ease regulations in a broad range of areas. rather than focusing on scrapping tariffs on farm products. on the third day of the tpp meeting the ministers discussed

divisive issues such as abolishing tariffs and protecting intellectual property rights. some of them called for abolishing tariffs on all items. japanese minister in charge of tpp affairs akira amari said the participants should consider ways to ease restrictions on the financial and public work sectors. he added this will promote free trade and investment. amari and u.s. trade representative michael froman have agreed to hold a one-on-one meeting on monday. they're trying to narrow gaps over tariffs on farm products. home prices continue to rise in many major cities in china. the uptrend has touched off speculation that frustration may grow among people who can't afford new homes. china's national bureau of statistics released the results of its monthly survey of new housing prices for 70 major cities. they showed that prices went up in 62 of these cities in january, from the previous month.

guangzhou posted the sharpest rise of 0.7%. beijing and shanghai somehow 0.5%. observers say the government may come up with steps to bring these prices under control. time to check on the markets now. the better than expected economic data out of germany is pushing the euro higher against the dollar. the single currency shot up after a german business confidence survey showed its best reading since july 2011. the euro/dollar is at 1.3759-3760. meanwhile the dollar/yen is now being quoted at 102.38-39. little changed from the levels in late asian trading. taking a look at major indices in europe, germany's upbeat data gave a temporary boost to european equities. but investors seemed to remain cautious and concerns that chinese financial firms would tighten lending due to a continued hike in home prices.

looking at the figures, the frankfurt dax is down about 0.2% trading at 9,600. in paris the index there is trading 4,300. and the london's ftse is trading about 0.4% down at 6,800. and many asian markets ended lower. the shanghai composite fell to a two-week low trading in tokyo was choppy throughout the day. nikkei edged down as investors took profits following friday's rally. labor unions in japan are now seeking wage hikes in their annual negotiations. prime minister shinzo abe also wants companies to raise pay and help beat deflation. union officials at a major bang sumitomo miss u have joined the campaign to press for a salary increase. the labor leaders are demanding a base pay raise for the first time in 17 years. they want a half a percent hike and plan to submit their demand to management by the end of march.

the focus is whether bank executives will agree to raise the monthly pay, not just giving bigger twice a year bonuses. labor unions at two other major banks, tokyo mitsubishi ufj and mizuho are considering making similar demands. senior bank managers have been cautious about pay raises until now, because many financial institutions receive government bailouts when they fell on hard times back in the 1990s. many people in japan are worried about the possible impact of a sales tax hike in april. the chairman of the association of car dealers is one of them. he sees sales falling about 10% this year from 2013. >> translator: we expect auto sales as a whole to show a sharp drop this year. >> he said a drop seems inevitable despite various measures the government has taken. they include a cut in the automobile acquisition tax. he called on auto dealers to

find out what consumers want, and try to increase sales. he noted that sales of various types of cars have been improving, not only fuel efficient models, but others like sport cars among them. that's all for now in business. i'll leave you with the latest market figures. a major german paper reported on sunday that the u.s. national security agency has stepped up its surveillance on

senior german officials. this comes after the u.s. president ordered it to stop monitoring heads of states of close allies. the report has not been independently confirmed. but many germans remain wary of u.s. surveillance. they know firsthand how state spying can damage lives. nhk world reports from berlin. >> nsa go away. nsa go away! >> reporter: these dissidents are united by their concerns over u.s. surveillance activities. they believe that if the u.s. spied on their leader angela merkel, then ordinary german citizens must also be on the watch. >> translator: i'm here because i believe the u.s. surveillance is unjustified. it's a violation of our rights. >> reporter: a member of the pan-europe party demands transparency from government and protection of citizens' privacy.

she says the snowden revelations brought back something she thought she had left behind. she was born and raised in communist east germany. she joined a pro-democracy group in university and came under the close watch of east germany's notorious secret service. she says her mail was often opened. >> translator: i used to tear open my letters very messyly. but you can see these have been cut very accurately. i would never have opened them this way. >> reporter: she obtained copies of stasi internal documents through a right to know request following the reunification of east and west germany. her personal information was all there. and once condemned her as a member of an anti-establishment group. >> translator: i will never forget what it was like to be under surveillance. you never feel safe. you always feel watched. you feel like you can trust no

one regardless of who the person is. >> reporter: she is warning of the risk to a free society when the state collects personal data. she says what the u.s. is doing in the name of fighting terrorists is turning in to a fight against citizens. >> translator: the aim of the stasi was to gather as much information as possible about people in order to control them. we can say the same for what's happening today. >> reporter: she started an online petition to call on the european parliament to investigate how far the u.s. spying extends, and to strengthen the protection of personal data. more than 59,000 people have signed up so far. >> translator: east germany was a totalitarian state. it may be no surprise they monitored people.

but in free, democratic countries, the surveillance of citizens should not be the norm. it is not acceptable. >> reporter: she says she and her fellow germans have an obligation to tell people around the world that they can fight back. just as they once fought to bring down the berlin wall. anke schroeder, nhk world, berlin. u.s. president barack obama announced last month a series of reforms for surveillance on u.s. and foreign nationals, but critics say they do not go far enough. used denim tends to be faded and perhaps even a little damaged. the clothes give the impression that they've been worn again and again. that lived-in look can also be achieved artificially by processing new material by machine. now, though, craftsmen in one of japan's denim producing areas have launched a unique project

to create real used jeans with a more human touch. >> reporter: this temple was built more than 600 years ago. its chief priest is wearing not traditional robes, but denims. and the chef at this sushi restaurant, famous for using locally caught fresh fish is also wearing jeans. the priest and the chef are part of the onomichi denim project now under way in this western city. the organizers are asking people of all ages and from all walks of life to wear their denims for a year. participants include carpenters, doctors and ship builders. the goal of the project is to make bona fide used denims. its leader. his family runs a generations old sewing business in onomichi.

they once owned several plants, but cheap imports have forced them to scale down their operations over the past decade. >> translator: i grew up here, and i'm a part of japan's manufacturing industry. i don't want to abandon it. >> reporter: danjo wanted to create special denim clothes that would help revitalize the local textile sector. this thought prompted him to get creative with people in and around onomichi. he asked for help from a renowned local denim designer. they decided to create a special kind of vintage denim through techniques used up to the 1960s. the thread was dyed at this 120-year-old firm. only the outer part of the thread was dyed so the core

remained white. the technique creates beautiful shades of color and patterns when the fabric is rubbed. >> translator: the different movements each person makes while wearing the jeans create unique patterns. after being worn many times, the denims don't just become old or used, they become like vintage jeans. >> reporter: the onomichi denim project aims to tell each person's story through denim. the denim takes on something akin to a real feeling. danjo visits a participant at a fishery cooperative in the city. >> translator: it looks like the knees have faded well. maybe too much. but isn't it better for pants to be faded more evenly? >> translator: no, no. your way is best. >> reporter: fishermen participated in the project. he has worn the jeans almost

every day for the past year. they have faded greatly, and turned yellow due to exposure to sea water and the wind. >> translator: i grew to like the jeans after wearing them for the first six months. then i was eager to see what they would be like after the full year. >> translator: if all the workers in onomichi wear jeans as their work pants we can build a new denim town. i'll be overjoyed if that helps revive onomichi in a way we haven't seen in a long time. >> reporter: the people of onomichi have collaborated to create a new style of denim, and the jeans will go on sale next month. but that isn't the end of the story. a second denim project is under consideration, and could lead to another round of unique creativity for this celebrated textile heartland. the weather is getting

warmer here in japan, and our meteorologist robert speta has more. robert? >> yes, gene. we are seeing out here right now is this high pressure system that's moving in towards the east, moving right over japan and pumping in some warm air from the south, and some good news if you do want some milder temperatures out here, and at least calm weather for the most part across much of japan over towards korea and also in to northeastern china, as well, with that high pressure bubble in place. unfortunately, the problem is, there's very little winds associated with this. so any pollutants in the air, they're not being dispersed about. this is acting like a cap, that is, and in much of northeastern china over towards korea, we are seeing right now is that p.m. 2.5 forecast, the aerosols in the air, anywhere in the red really, if you have respiratory issues you're going to be wanting to stay inside here, at least limit your outdoor activities through the next several days, as this high does continue to linger in place. now you see down here towards the south is a little bit weaker. that's because we have this new

low developing. that's going to be stirring up the atmosphere and eventually pushing off towards the east bringing some rain showers along with it, even over towards the southern japanese islands and parts of kyushu by your wednesday. eventually this is going to make its way over towards tokyo by friday. until then expect temperatures to slowly warm up. down here towards the south, south of guam, there's a low pressure area, right here, just looks kind of a big mass of blue. but very well is going to be developing into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours. if you're in guam watch out for some heavy rain showers going in to the end of your work week with that. hong kong and high pie, temperatures up into the 20s here on your tuesday. like i said, much of you or most of you out here will be seeing a gradual warming spell. tokyo up to 15 here. now the good news, it is warming, unfortunately in the higher elevations, we're seeing this very large snow pack in place, and take a look at the averages. it is well above the normal average for a lot of you here. this is because of the back-to-back snowstorms we've seen over the last several

weeks. now this is quickly melting and you can see here there's a very high risk of avalanches. avalanche advisories just posted around the canto area. also looking at some heavy snowfall and higher elevations across the pacific northwest. accompanied by some rain showers in a few areas out here and gusty winds. up to about 100 kilometers per hour across the northern rockies due to these two low pressure systems interacting with a high towards the north. the good news is that you are seeing this moisture come onshore and that's bringing foul weather towards washington state. down to the south, california you will be getting into the mix as well. you are in severe drought here. any rainfall is definitely very welcome. do slow down on the roads, though, after a period of dry weather, the roads tend to get rather slick with the oil there. and once you get a little bit of rain it does make for some dangerous driving conditions. as far as the southeast over here on the other side of the u.s., some foggy conditions out here. we are expecting a low later on this week to bring some showers. for now isolated showers in and

around parts of florida. cold in the north. take a look at your three-day forecast. well below average for many of you. minus ten in chicago. now as we take a look over towards europe. one low after another into the northwest. i know it sounds like we are a broken record. this one's moving out, 80 to 90 millimeters has been reported over towards the scandinavian peninsula. that will continue to move east. we have another one in behind it packing winds over 100 kilometers per hour. 20 to 40 millimeters across the western sea boards of the british isles. really messy weather along those lines of lows here towards the northwest. but in central europe, it is pretty decent weather shaping up. a few thunderstorms down towards the southeast, but look at that, vienna, berlin, warsaw, sunny skies here on your monday. here's the extended forecast.

japan's government once again plans to indistrict the

operator of the stricken fukushima daiichi nuclear plant to review its measures to prevent spills and leaks of contaminated water. in the latest incident at the plant, around 100 tons of highly radioactive water spilled from a storage tank last week. tokyo electric power company officials have been interviewing plant workers to find out why the water spilled. the officials believe someone opened valves that should have been closed. >> translator: tepco needs to review its preventive measures by taking into consideration the tough working environment of the plant. the company also needs to rebuild its organizational structure to prevent similar cases. >> suga also said the government will try to ensure that tepco implements steps to prevent problems, including those resulting from human error. that's "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. ña7guc

hour,h you for the next rolling news and headlines. a fugitive on the run. president,'s former viktor yanukovych, now a wanted man. under pressure, and battled venezuelan president nicolas maduro had promised -- under venezuelanmbattled president nicolas maduro had promised talks, but the opposition is skeptical. the pp