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. a group of chinese is suing two japanese companies accusing them of forced wartime labor, despite courts in japan ruling similar cases have already been settled. interim government leaders in ukraine are facing a deepening political divide as some in the country call for separation. and we'll show you what life

is like for many living in the syrian city of aleppo. as people deal with sniper attacks and barrel bombs from the air. a group of chinese citizens is suing two japanese companies which they say used them as forced labor during world war ii. if the case is accepted it will be the first time for chinese courts to rule on such an issue. the plaintiffs comprise 37 former labors and family members. they launched the complaint with the court in beijing. a lawyer for the plaintiffs said former workers were brought to japan, and forced to engage in harsh labor for the firm's mitsubishi materials and nipong coke and engineering. the lawyers said the plaintiffs demand the companies apologize to each plaintiff and pay individual compensation of about $167,000. >> translator: we talked with the japanese firms but couldn't

reach an agreement on their responsibilities. so we filed our complaint with the court in beijing. >> courts in japan have turned down similar claims filed by former workers. they have ruled that china renounced such demands with the normalization of bilateral diplomatic ties in 1972. officials from both mitsubishi materials and nippon coke and engineering have declined to comment. they say they don't have enough information. japan's chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga says he will not comment on the latest lawsuit but he reiterated government's stance regarding wartime compensation. >> translator: i believe personal claims relating to that period have already been dealt with in the joint statement issued by japan and china in 1972. >> similar lawsuits have been filed with other courts. but none of the complaints have been accepted. it's not yet known whether the

present lawsuit will proceed. courts in china are said to be influenced by the ruling communist party. the chinese government is planning to designate a national day of remembering for those killed in nanjing by the japanese military in 1937, the so-called nanjing incident. china is apparently trying to put pressure on the japanese government by focusing on historical issues. china's state-run news agency xinhua reported that december 13th has been proposed as the commemoration day. it says the standing committee of the national people's congress is also considering another national day. they want to set september 3rd as a day to mark the victory in the war against japan in 1945. chinese officials invited foreign journalists this month on a tour of nanjing, including a visit to the memorial museum. the japanese government says it cannot be denied that the killing of noncombatants

occurred following the entrance of the japanese army into nanjing. however, it says there are numerous theories as to the actual number of victims, and says it's difficult to determine what the correct number is. >> we wonder why they set a national day 69 years after world war ii. i would prefer not to comment, because it is basically a domestic issue in china. >> chinese officials have harshly criticized japanese prime minister shinzo abe's visit to yasukuni shrine in december. the shrine honors japan's war dead. those remembered include leaders convicted of war crimes after world war ii. chinese officials have asked if president xi jinping could visit a memorial in berlin dedicated to victims of the holocaust. the german leaders have refused the request. experts believe xi was trying to get the attention of world leaders on jan be's wartime past during a trip to germany next

month. the memorial to the murdered jews of europe honors the up to 6 million jewish victims of nazi atrocities. chinese officials have made a point of contrasting the germans atonement for their wartime history with that of the japanese. but, germany rejected china's memorial request, apparently to avoid political exploitation of the issue. the chinese say the abe administration denies any history of aggression and they say the japanese are trying to overturn the international order established after the war. chinese authorities say they formally arrested a prominent uighur scholar last week and are questioning him on suspicion of promoting separatism. ilham toti had already been detained at his home last month. the beijing based academic is reportedly being held at a police station in the northwest

region of the country. sources close to toti say his wife received a notice from the police on tuesday. officials say they are questioning tohti for allegedly advocating uighur independence and causing grave harm to china's national security. tohti criticized the government for blaming a deadly car crash near tiananmen square on a uighur separatist group. he said their conclusion that the crash was an organized terrorist attack lacked sufficient evidence. tohti has also spoken out against the chinese government's ethnic policy. but he has -- but has consistently opposed the uighurs' moves to seek independence. he has called for reconciliation and mutual understanding between the uighurs and the country's majority han people. supporters say the scholar's arrest amounts to a suppression of criticism against the government.

a nation of 1.3 billion. a wealth of views, perspectives, and problems. chinese leaders examine the issues at their annual national people's congress. president xi jinping faces a long list of challenges. find out how he plans to tackle them. don't miss our special coverage, china, road to reform, at these times right here on "newsline." a bitcoin exchange in tokyo has stopped operations. ramin mellegard is here with more on that. >> gene we're talking about a virtual currency but with very real issues arising for everyone involved. officials at a major bitcoin exchange in tokyo have suddenly announced that they've stopped all deals. they say they've taken this step as a security measure. the exchange mtgox suspended bitcoin transfers on february 7th due to what it described as a systems glitch.

at the time mtgox said it was trying to repair its system. but on tuesday the site went down. mtgox was considered the world's biggest bitcoin exchange, and boasted more than 1.1 million accounts, both inside and outside japan. but users are now unable to contact the exchange, either by phone or e-mail. early on wednesday, mtgox released the message saying they'll closely monitor the situation, and react accordingly. bitcoin exchange leaders stressed that the problem of mtgox's shutdown lies with the firm, not with the virtual currency itself. they said bitcoin exchanges are working together for the digital currency's future, and the security of customer assets. some overseas bitcoin exchanges were forced to suspend operations after their systems were hacked. and that's raised questions about the stability of this digital currency trading system. in japan, bank deposits are protected under law in case a financial institution collapses. refunds of up to about $100,000

in principle and interest are guaranteed. if a bankruptcy would deal a blow to the local economy, a system is in place to protect full deposits using public funds. and financial product dealers are supervised by the financial services agency. if any illegal act is confirmed, an administrative penalty is imposed on the dealer. but an expert warns that such protection is not extended to bitcoin users. >> translator: it's fun for participants to create something like a currency without help from governments. but they have to be aware that governments will not protect them. >> and lawmakers and financial authorities in the u.s. are now calling for regulation of bitcoin trading. after mtgox halted all transactions.

new york's state superintendent of financial services is urging restrictions on bitcoin to ensure that the industry will develop in a reliable way. new york state became the first to announce a plan last month to restrict virtual currency transactions. lawmakers in washington are also voicing concerns. chairman of the senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee, tom carper, released a statement saying that the news on mtgox is a reminder of the damage potentially ill-equipped fninancial actors can wreak on unsuspecting consumers. he added u.s. policymakers and regulators can and should learn from this incident to protect consumers. now let's get a check on the markets. european stocks are showing a weak performance for a second day in a row. london's ftse is currently trading down by almost 0.3%. frankfurt's dax index down by

0.2%. and paris' cac 40, down by 0.3%. investors avoiding active trading on a lack of fresh cues. earlier, asian markets finished mixed. tokyo's nikkei average ran into profit taking from the previous day's rally. meanwhile, china's shanghai composite snapped four straight sessions of declines. investors hunted for bargains stocks. shanghai up just over a third of a percent. moving on to currencies dollar/yen at 102.35-40. little changed from the levels shown in tokyo trading hours. analysts say market players are not chasing the dollar as they're becoming a little bit wary of the u.s. economy. traders are waiting for new home sales data for january due out later in the day. euro/yen, 140.64-66. japanese automakers are boosting their production in the domestic market ahead of the consumption tax hike in april.

car output rose for a fifth straight month in january. eight major carmakers announced they made more than 810,000 units in total last month. that's up 14% from a year earlier. they've been posting double digit increases in production since november. strong demand for new models was another supporting factor. honda's output surged 65%. nissan's grew 13%. and toyota's was up 5%. meanwhile, auto firms said they're making efforts to compensate for lost production following a record snowfall in february that halted factory operations. that's all for business news for this hour. i'll leave you with a check on regional markets.

ukrainians are watching their country fall into a deeper political crisis. divisions are widening as interim leaders are trying to form a pro-western transitional government and pro-russia supporters are intensifying their calls for separation. protests have escalated in eastern and southern parts of the country after interim leaders banned the use of russian as an official language. demonstrations are officially fierce in the city of sevastopol. the city hosts a russian navy base. many people there are calling for independence and demanding to join russia. acting president oleksandr turchinov called an emergency

meeting of security officials. he said the separatist movements are increasing and musting dealt with immediately. british foreign secretary william hague met with his u.s. counterpart john kerry in washington. he said the two nations strongly support ukraine's unity and territorial integrity. u.s. government officials have ordered three venezuelan diplomats to leave the country. the move is in response to leaders in caracas expelling three americans last week. u.s. state department spokesperson jen psaki announced the decision. >> we have indicated and have indicated for months our openness to develop a more constructive relationship with venezuela, but, again, recent actions, including expelling three of our diplomats, continue to make that difficult. >> venezuelan president nicolas maduro removed the diplomats. he said they were supporting opposition plots to overthrow him. maduro's opponents have been organizing nationwide street

protests. he took office last year succeeding hugo chavez, a prominent critic of u.s. policy. u.s. president barack obama is warning that the u.s. may withdraw all its troops from afghanistan by the end of the year if the two countries fail to sign a security deal. the president has ordered the pentagon to draw up plans for a full withdrawal. obama spoke with afghan president hamid karzai on phone tuesday and informed him of the possible pullout. the u.s. had planned to leave some noncombatant troops in afghanistan beyond 2014. but karzai has so far refused to sign a deal designed to provide a legal basis for the deployment. afghan officials say karzai told obama he cannot sign the agreement until peace negotiations begin with the taliban. the u.s. pulled all its troops out of iraq three years ago after failing to sign a similar security deal. security conditions in the country have deteriorated

drastically since then. many people fear the same thing could happen in afghanistan. people living in syria's most populous city have seen their streets collapse into battlegrounds. government troops control most -- much of western aleppo, and rebels control the east. civilians are caught in the middle, living with the daily threat of bullets and bombs. journalist kenji goto is there and has this report for us. >> reporter: this is aleppo. the largest city in syria. where more than 2 million people live. severe fighting has turned this ancient city into rubble and debris. a burrow bomb has just been dropped in the middle of a rebel-controlled area. i can see a huge crater in the road. the bomb has ripped apart surrounding residential buildings.

children are terrified. many are crying. people who live here tell me the government forces started dropping them about three months ago. they are made by packing barrels with explosives and materials like nails that are used as shrapnel. i was told they are dropped from assad's forces helicopters. one was still hovering above the city. the bomb are not controlled by any guiding devices. they fall wherever the wind takes them. the injured are rushed to a nearby hospital. i spoke with medical personnel. they tell me the bombs killed

eight people and wounded more than 400. this doctor says nearly every day he deals with the aftermath of these attacks. >> a lot of killed men, injured men, every day. >> reporter: every day? >> every day. we have every day. >> reporter: syrian troops have been holding control of a western part of the city. they are attacking the rebel-held east, both from the air, and on the ground. armed rebels have been fighting back and forth with assad's forces for months. people in the rebel held area try to avoid being hit by snipers. they cut holes inside building walls and walk through them.

apartments are heavily damaged by explosions. the electricity has been cut for more than a month, and people only have rainwater to drink. many say they have no choice but to live here. >> translator: we don't have electricity or water. the government's cut it. but this is our homeland and we don't want to leave. >> reporter: children go to school, even as the fighting continues. war has cast a dark shadow on many like 13-year-old malak. their drawings paint a picture of the world around them. people being attacked, bleeding, and killed. but malak tells me there are things she enjoys every day to cope with difficulties. at night words on paper help her to escape the violence.

her poetry and art are about her beautiful dreams. >> reporter: she says she wants to become a professional artist one day. >> translator: i would like to paint what's happened up to now and what's happening now. >> reporter: the people of aleppo are dealing with barrel bombs being dropped from the air above them. on the ground, sniper attacks and near constant fighting. life isn't easy. many here are just doing what they can to survive. kenji goto for nhk world, aleppo, syria. armed militants attacked a boarding school on tuesday in

the northeastern part of nigeria, killing at least 29 students. police suspect an islamist extremist group is behind the violence. authorities say militants stormed a school early in the morning when many students were still in bed. local media reports the attackers indiscriminately started shooting, and set fire to their dormitories. many of the victims are said to have died in the fire. >> it was unfortunate, for the four hour period, or killings. there is no security to contain the situation. >> nigerian security authorities suspect the islamic extremist group boko haram. the group has a history of raiding schools. government leaders have declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states, including yoube in may of last year.

police have been conducting sweep operations against boko haram since them. but has not been able to stop the bloodshed. last week at least 100 people died when suspected boko haram militants attacked a village in the northeastern state of borno. many prefectures across japan have issued alerts for tiny airborne particles known as pm 2.5. our meteorologist robert speta has more on this. robert? >> yes, gene. what we are seeing out here today is all those aerosols coming in from the west and many people, especially people who suffer from hayfever or respiratory issues in general are definitely suffering today. you are going to be seeing a rather decent sunset and sunrise and the reason is because those aerosols and those tiny particles reflecting off the sunlight in the atmosphere. all that is being transported towards the west by several low pressure areas, actually. this one right here moving across western portions of japan bringing some rainfall right now. but it's behind it, these

northwesterly winds which have been swooping in and that has been picking up the air out towards the west and pushing it east. anywhere in the red that's definitely where you're going to be affected. so it's not just japan which some locations, some of the first time you have been issued these warnings but also over towards parts of korea and much of northeastern china, under these haze advisories as well. but let's talk about that precipitation further, because what we are seeing out here is about 120, 150 millimeters of rainfall in parts of kyushu through the next 24 hours. one of these southern coast lows. i know that name rings a bell because those storm systems that hit in early february and brought a tremendous amount of snowfall were southern coast lows. this one, that is not going to be happening. it is way too warm for any snow to really accumulate pulling from the south. actually a warming trent is expected across much of tokyo and most of japan. problem is you may be seeing avalanches because of rapid snow melt as it does continue to push off. another low developing right on

its heels, bringing showers by friday and saturday yet again in eastern parts of china. the western europe, you're also looking at some wet weather. a little break here in the british isles following a storm system that now swooped off towards the north. but another low is coming in from the west. that's going to pack another, well, sustained winds around 50. gusts up to about 72 kilometers per hour. heavy rainfall on top of already saturated grounds and snowfall there in northern portions of the british isles as this one comes through. much of spain also over towards san francisco, you're looking at some showers with this. central europe, clear skies, isolated thunderstorms popping up in parts of turkey. good news over the next 24 hours, this is going to be tapering off. some improving conditions. actually a warming trend for most of you, and temperatures well above average. look at the sunny skies out here. and it does look like temperatures for most of you, in prague up to 11 there. about five degrees above average. vienna up to 12. even in to berlin getting well into the double digits. that's what's going on here in europe. let's see what's going on in the

americas. cold in the north, definitely. not above average. well below average here for you. i'll get to that in a second. do want to talk about california. you have been suffering from drought as of late. and there is some good news. look at the 72-hour rainfall forecast. even as far south as los angeles some heavy precipitation in your forecast. about 15 to 30 millimeters. widespread isolated areas, as much as 50, and even into the sierra nevadas, snowfall. skiers are definitely going to be happy. make sure you have your umbrella through the rest of the week into the weekend. in the east, though, thunderstorms across the southeast. a few of these could become strong. but it's in the north where snowfall is pushing through the great lakes accompanied by 80 kilometer per hour winds. any time we talk about snow, 80 kilometer per hour winds, cold temperatures we mention windchil it is going to be absolutely freezing out here. that is what it feels like. here's your high temperatures for wednesday. and i'll leave you with your extended forecast.

an iranian schoolteacher has come up with an interesting way to teach young children to say the daily prayers. he's getting some help from a robot. the 27-year-old who teaches islam made the humanoid robot for modifying a kit produced by a south korean company. the android performs movements made during prayer of shia muslims while a chant from the koran is played. the teacher showed it to students at an elementary school outside of tehran. they were all excited to see the device. >> translator: i usually pray quickly. i like the robot. i want to pray slowly. >> iranians have shown interest in artificial intelligence. several events showcasing robots have been held across the country. that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. ñwgg99ç

>> welcome. live from paris with me, claire murphy. an hour of rolling news and interviews here on "france 24." thesnipers responsible for -- was on simple for the killing of protesters have been disbanded by authorities. angered by allegations pro-and antigovernment protesters in turkey have taken to the streets following the latest corruption claims. this time they go all the way up to prime minister erdogan. national peace conference. the venezuelan government gets set to hold major talks with