welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. many people across japan are being told to stay indoors because of air pollution that's blown over from china. opposition leaders in ukraine have chosen a new government as the political divide deepens inside and outside the country. some south koreans are getting lost by new changes to

street names and addresses. people in some parts of japan have put on face masks to protect themselves from the blanket of white fog. the air contains hazardous particles called pm 2.5. scientists say it came across the sea from china. ten local governments have issued advisory. tomoko co-matta has details. >> reporter: residents in the city of nag gat that on the japan sea coast could hardly see buildings three kilometers away. the level of the pollutants exceeded the country's environmental standards for the first time tran tran the smog is so heavy that i put the mask on. >> translator: i'm worried about my health. it's unusual to breathe such bad air in the city.

>> reporter: children couldn't go out to the playground. government standards set the particle limit at an average of 70 micro grams per day. in many parts of japan, the level exceeded that. officials in ten prefectures issued advisories for their residents to not go outside unless necessary and to refrain from vigorous outdoor exercise. japan's national institute for environmental studies says seasonal winds from china carried pm 2.5. it accumulated in japan over several days because of the calm weather. he also says sulfur oxide gas from chinese power plants and factories also added to the poor air quality the gas reacted with sunlight creating even more pm 2.5. air pollution is a serious

problem in china. the average count of the particle in beijing for the past several days was almost 18 times higher than the world health organization guidelines. hundreds of people living in beijing took to the streets urging authorities to take measures to fix the problem. >> translator: where is the blue sky? it's been a long time since i have seen it. >> reporter: environmental officials say the pollutant levels are likely to rise in the coming months. experts say more cooperation and data sharing and countermeasures between japan, china and south korea is necessary to help tackle the problem. tomo cocoa matta, nhk world. japanese nuclear regulators are screening safety plans for a reactor in a potentially dangerous area.

operators want to put the plant back online despite the possibility of a mega quake. members of the nuclear regulation authority spoke with representatives of chub bu electric power company. they wanted to know about safety measures staff have put in place for the hamaoka plant in central japan. staff asked the regulators earlier this month to check the safety measures for the plant's number four reactor. they have to satisfied tougher government guidelines before they can restart any reactor. company representatives say they're building a 22 meter break water in case of a tsunami. regulators asked how they would study the effects of the earthquake when data on the local area are limited and they asked hoye badly a tsunami could damage the reactors. plant regulators shut down reactors two months after the fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. government officials asked them to take the facilities off-line

because they were concerned about the possibility of a mega quake. japanese power companies have applied for safety screenings for 17 reactors at ten plants. that's one-third of the reactors across the nation. all of japan's nuclear plants are off-line. japanese police have taken in the highest number of juveniles in 25 years for school bullying. officials say more than 700 were either arrested or taken into custody. the national police agency says officers took action against 724 juveniles last year, up by 42% from the previous year. about three-quarters of these were junior high school students, followed by senior high and elementary school students, listed by charge, inflicting physical injury came at the top and assault second. authorities believe the number of cases increased because more people are reporting them. the diet passed a law last june promoting anti-bullying

measures. people living in ukraine are watching a political crisis unfold in their country. opposition leaders have appointed a cabinet for a new government after the over throw of president viktor yanukovych. but they're dealing with growing demands for separation and mounting pressures outside their borders. nhk world's chi ishikawa has more. >> reporter: thousands of people were gathered in kiev's independence square to hear the announcement of the western leaning cabinet. the new prime minister arsenly yatsenyuk has previously served as a foreign minister and a speaker in parliament. after several months of protest the people of kiev are watching the situation carefully. >> translator: we have just started. we need to renew the local

government. >> reporter: the new government, however, will face the hugely complicated task of restoring stability to the country. allegiances divided between russia and the west have been on full display. fist fights have broken out between pro and anti russia protesters. the region is home to russia's black sea naval fleet. more than 60% of the population are russian speakers and have strong ties to moscow. amid the tensions russia president vladimir putin put the military on alert and ordered massive exercises involving most of the military units in western russia. the move prompted a sharp rebuke from the united states. secretary of state john kerry

warned moscow against any military intervention in ukraine. >> this is not a zero-sum game. it is not a west versus east. it should not be. it is not a russia or the united states or other choices. this is about people of ukraine and ukrainians making their choice about their future. >> reporter: nato defense ministers say they support ukraine's territory and sovereignty. ukrainian lawmakers will vote on approving the new cabinet later on thursday. but the new leaders will have to face severe domestic divisions. the country's ousted president is now on an international wanted list. the whole world is paying close attention to events in the former soviet republic. chi aki ishikawa, nhk world. the head of nato is warning about another hot spot,

afghanistan. the country's president hamid karzai has not agreed to let u.s. troops stay in his country beyond the end of the year. anders fogh rasmussen say they may have to wait to get approval from karzai's successor. >> it may well be that president karzai won't sign, but i hope, i expect a new president to sign because a lot is at stake. >> rasmussen said if the two sides can't reach an agreement, all nato troops will withdraw. karzai is reported to have said he cannot sign a deal until peace negotiations with the taliban have begun. afghans will go to the polls in april to elect a new president. u.s. president barack obama has ordered commanders at the pentagon to draw up plans for a full withdrawal. u.s. leaders failed to sign a similar deal in iraq, and three years ago all of their troops pulled out. the security situation there has only gotten worse. two british converts to

islam have been sentenced to prison for hacking a british soldier to death in broad daylight in london. the two men of african descent attacked the 25-year-old soldier as he was walking back to his barracks in southeast london in may of last year. a london court on wednesday sentenced one of the men, age 29, to life in prison. his 22-year-old accomplice will serve a minimum of 45 years. the judge said the men had become radicalized. he said they decided to murder a soldier in a way to generate maximum media coverage as a way to advance their extremist cause. in a video broadcast repeatedly around the world, one of the men shouts that the soldier was murdered because muslims are being killed by british soldiers every day. japan is not bundling on protecting their farm products during free trade talks in singapore, but they're giving something else, more time. ramine mellegard from the

business team has more. >> gene, a lot of the countries at the negotiating table, they're really looking for a target date on this issue, and prime minister shinzo abe will not set a deadline for concluding a free trade deal under the transpacific partnership. he says placing a time limit on negotiations could hurt japan's bargaining position. >> translator: it's in our interest to wrap up the deal soon, but setting a deadline in advance could tie the hands of our negotiators to the benefit of other countries. >> abe made the comments at a meeting of the lower house budget committee. trade ministers from countries involved in the tpp negotiations met for four days in singapore. they failed to reach an agreement and they haven't set a date for the next round of talks. abe said negotiations are entering their final stage and that japan will intensify efforts to arrange new working

level discussions so members can try to conclude a deal. foreign business groups say japan should cut corporate taxes. that's if the country wants to attract more investments from abroad. the japanese government launched a panel earlier this month to study the possibility of cutting the corporate tax rate. the panel invited officials from the american chamber of commerce and the european business council to its first meeting. by 2020 japan is aiming to boost investments from abroad to more than $340 billion as part of its economic growth plan. that's double the figure in 2012. >> translator: we would like to receive your views on how to make japan attractive for more foreign investors including improving the rules. >> at the meeting participants said that japan's corporate tax rate is too high. it's currently about 35%. they also said they want to see clearer rules on laying off employees and a more flexible

system for part-timers. central bankers in brazil have raised the country's benchmark interest rate gn, but they're slowing the pace of monetary tightening. members of the bank's monetary policy committee decided to raise the key laneding rate by .25% to 10.75%. it's the eighth straight time they agreed to raise the rate. at the previous six meetings they raced it by 1.5 percentage point. high inflation rates have sent the cost of food and land soaring. in january it raised at 5.6%. policymakers decided on the lower interest rate hike. rising interest rates and lower corporate earnings have slowed brazil's economy. some analysts say the policymakers are trying to get a handled on both inflation and

economic growth. let's get a check on the markets. european equities are drifting lower. investors are feeling uneasy about political uncertainty in ukraine. that's keeping investors away from morris ski assets such as stocks. let's have a look at the european boards there. london's ftse, fran further's dax and paris's cac 40 all trading in the negative as you can see there. earlier, however, many markets in asia closed higher. hong kong's hang seng index climbed to a one-month high. heavyweight energy firms rose sharply. meanwhile tokyo's nikkei fell for a second straight session. currencies now, the dollar dropped below that 102 yen level. as you can see trading at 101.80-84. market players are shifting their money into the japanese currency which sauchb bought in times of heightened risk. meanwhile traders are waiting to hear what the u.s. federal reserve chair janet yellen will

say at her testimony to the senate committee later in the day. looking at the euro bottom of the screen, 139.03-06. yen is also being bought against the single currency. australia's qantas airways says it's going to cut 5,000 jobs or 15% of its payroll as it struggles with higher costs. the australian flag carrier posted a loss of about $210 million u.s. dollars for the six months through december 2013. executives at the airline site higher fuel costs caused by the weak australian currency. qantas announced streamlining worth $1.8 billion over the next three years. the airliner will slash 5,000 jobs. it's also going to exit from underperforming roults and more than 50 aircraft will be deferred or sold. qantas is urging the australian government to change the law that restricts foreign

investments in the carrier to 49%. it wants to raise funds more freely. qantas is also urging the government to guarantee its debts. those measures could boost its global standing. that's all for business news for this hour. i'll leave you with a look at the region's markets. a group of south koreans who they say were forced to work at a wartime factory in japan have filed a lawsuit.

they are demanding compensation from their former employer. four plaintiffs filed a suit on thursday at the district court in the southern city of gaun ju. they're asking for about $560,000 from mitsubishi heavy industries. the former workers say they were forced to engage in harsh labor when their nation was under japanese colonial rule. the lawsuit is the seventh filed since may 2012 when south korea's supreme court recognized the rights of individuals to seek compensation. in jewel life of last year, plaintiff's claims were upheld by local courts in two of the cases. the two accused japanese firms appealed and are waiting a decision by the supreme court. analysts say the claims are very likely to be upheld. the seoul ghost has yet to state its positions on the rulings. it hasn't publicly come out that japan's agreement does not allow

such compensation. a similar lawsuit against japanese companies was filed on wednesday in china. some south koreans are having trouble finding where they're going. they're adapting to a new system of naming streets and numbering buildings and they're having a tough time getting from here to there. nhk world's anna jung has the story. >> reporter: this street has a new name, business street. and this one is called crystal street. these are just some of the new street names that have been introduced in south korea. for about a century addresses throughout the country used to comprise the name of the neighborhood along with the house numbers that were assigned in seemingly random order. but under this new system houses are numbered systemality cli along streets just like in the united states and in europe.

the aim in having house numbers that run in numerical order is to improve efficiency and also make it easier for emergency vehicles and delivery services to reach their destination faster. the change of this magnitude has such an impact of everyone's daily lives the government provided for a transition period of almost 2 1/2 years. but now that is over, and many people still remain confused. >> translator: it may take some time before we get used to the new system, i'm sure things will become much better. >> translator: i still don't know my new address. i can't remember it, so i just use my old address. >> reporter: this fried chicken restaurant in seoul offers a home delivery service. getting the new address right

each time takes them a lot of time and effort. >> translator: as customers don't know their exact address, we have to check the map to confirm the locations. >> reporter: and the driver has to stop and check the new addresses while he's on the road. the changes have had an impact on the image of some neighborhoods. this area is well known as a desirable upscale residential district. daechi do is one of the most prestigious areas in it. under the new system the name has been dropped. >> translator: when i'm asked where i live, i like to be able to say daechi don.

how will people know we're affluent now that that name is no longer used. >> reporter: people in the real estate industry are also negative toward the new system. they're concerned they will affect property values through the area. >> translator: it has no benefit for the real estate business at all. instead of completely changing to the new system, i'd prefer it if the old addresses were used at the same time. >> reporter: however, the government is adamant that the new system is essential for the nation's progress. >> translator: this is the system used in developed countries. we need to improve our competitiveness on the world stage as well as our distribution system, so these reforms are absolutely essential. >> reporter: despite the confusion and strong opposition

in some quarters, the government is committed to this change. even though the transitional period is now over, it understands that people will need time to become comfortable with the new system. anna jung, nhk world, seoul. we have more on the hazardous air particles, pm 2.5 that have blown over japan. our meteorologist robert speta joins us for that. >> yes, gene, these exactly what it is. these minute particles are floating around, combined with the high humidity, anybody with respiratory issues is having hard time out there. the good news is there's some improvements in the forecast. when you see this on the satellite imagery, we have a low moving across japan. this is bringing rain showers, clearing the atmosphere little bit. back towards the west, especially northeastern china, you have seen a dramatic improvement. this is back only tuesday when these aerosols were the worst out here in the northeast.

beijing, you had these hazardous levels and even over towards seoul into much of japan. by friday what we're seeing is high pressure coming from the north. that is carrying with it cooler, fresher air. that's going to push a lot of this towards the south along with northwesterly winds. southeastern china, you're still looking at the haze in the shanghai and even towards hong kong. tokyo, going through friday, it will still be in place. once that front moves by and eventually off towards the east, tokyo's conditions will be improving by saturday. looking at rain showers along that front as well. even down towards southeastern china, you can see 30 to 50 millimeters of rain. heading over towards friday, showers will start kicking in in tokyo. high of 17. very warm weather along with the high humidity. the thing is you have to take one with the other. the fresh air, once that starts coming in, you'll see about a ten-degree drop in temperature. let's see what's going on over here towards europe. we have one low pressure area

moving through. that's bringing heavy rainfall. winds up to 120 kilometers per hour in parts of the uk, extending towards france and portugal, you've been looking at the heavy showers continuing to pop up with the system moving through. this one is going to move off. a weaker system is on its heels. over towards ireland and scotland, higher elevations some snowfall. for the most part western europe, yes, it is going to be wet and much colder. cooler out here, temperatures definitely falling down. thunderstorms over towards parts of italy. but what's feeling that is this warm surge of air coming in across much of eastern europe. your temperatures will be on the rise through the coming days. vienna, warsaw getting up into the single digits in warsaw. up near double digits as sunny skies basically prevail. now over towards western portions of the u.s., this is what i really want to talk about today, a low spinning here just off the coastline.

this is pumping moisture onshore. it's already bringing heavy rainfall. let's take a look at this video coming out of california where we have been seeing not only the heavy rainfall, but some fairly gusty winds, waves near the coastlines up near about five meters high. these winds in the san francisco bay area knocked down a large tree. about 72 kilometer-per-hour winds were reported. snow in the higher elevations, 30 to 60 centimeters has been reported out here. a slick go out there on the roads. as far as the skiers are concerned, they are definitely very happy with that. there's more rain in the forecast. that is one thing you want to keep in mind here because this low is pushing onshore. another one is going to come on its heals. it's pumping that moisture onshore. you've been dealing with drought. this will relieve the drought but it's all coming in at once and there's a very high risk of flash flooding. off towards the north cold temperatures are the big deal. these are your high temperatures

on your thursday. take a look at your lows. i'll show you that and leave you with your extended forecast.

groups of runners bearing torches set off in cities in eastern russia. they were starting a relay ahead of the paralympic games in sochi. one group began at cape dej nef on russia's eastern most tip. from there it's possible to see the u.s. state of alaska. others ran in four other locations including vladivostok and colbert ris. torch bearers for the olympic games hold runs in several locations at once. participants in each city choose how to light the torches. people in magadan used fire from a facility used to melt gold in the area.

47 locations across russia will take part. the paralympic games begin next month. that's "newsline" for this hour. >> hello.otani in tokyo.ñ

you are watching live from paris. i am with you for the next hour of rolling news and interviews. here are the headlines. a unity government. the ukrainian parliament has approved the formation of a national coalition. the threat of growing separatism in crimea. deposed president viktor yanukovych has sought asylum in russia and had his request granted. in his statement thursday, he said he is still the president. possible war crimes. israel is using excessive reckless violence in the west bank