hello and welcome back to "newsline" i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the head lines. powerful aftershocks continue to jolt northern chile. and coastal residents are moving to higher ground. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says israeli and palestinian peace talks are at a critical moment and urges leaders of both sides to compromise. and some residents in china are demanding a more

environmentally friendly way to dispose of growing piles of garbage. aftershocks are rattling residents of northern chile. they're still trying to recover from a magnitude 8.2 earthquake on tuesday. now, more tremors, and the fear of tsunami, have forced some people to head for higher ground. nhk world's noboru knackshima reports. >> reporter: outside in the middle of the night, warning of another big temblor. people rushed outside and climbed to safety on higher ground. residents remain anxious, wondering when the aftershocks will stop. this is part of iquique. we can see many boats are turned over by the tsunami. and divers are trying to retrieve the people's belongings. tsunami waves reaching two meter in height engulfed the port.

about 75 fishing boats were damaged. the quake and tsunami claimed six lives and caused damage to more than 2,000 homes. however, the number of victims was much lower than the last big earthquake. >> tsunami. tsunami! >> reporter: in 2010, a massive 8.8 magnitude quake struck southern chile, and triggered tsunami waves that claimed over 500 lives. the chilean government was criticized for failing to provide evacuation advisories for residents. eight months after the quake, the chilean president sebastien pinheiro visited japan to study the latest methods for improving safety. >> we can take advantage of the knowledge, the experience, and the technology of the japanese people.

>> reporter: japanese authorities have started sending emergency alerts via mobile phone networks. >> translator: it says to evacuate to a safe place. >> reporter: signs have been posted in the areas that are deemed safe. chilean government officials say this new measures have helped save lives. >> translator: the chilean government has carried out every countermeasure to earthquakes and tsunami altogether. >> reporter: people here are gradually learning how to protect themselves from the force of nature. nhk world, iquique, chile. now people there in iquique are scrambling to get their lives back to normal following the quake, but it hasn't been easy. supply lines and distribution networks have been disrupted.

up in officials have deployed tanks to distribute free water. taps are dry in many parts of the city, and people are also without electricity. >> translator: we're a family of ten. we don't have water. we don't have light. we don't have anything. >> shoppers lined up in front of a supermarket that managed to reopen. many other stores remain closed. soldiers and police are on gord and are limiting the number of people allowed to enter. drivers are also being forced to wait at gas stations. recovery efforts continue across the nation. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says the latest round of middle east peace negotiations have reached a critical moment. both the israelis and palestinians have made moves that have shaken the foundation of the discussions. now, kerry is urging them to keep the talks from collapsing.

nhk world's craig dale has details. >> reporter: u.s. secretary of state john kerry knows there isn't a short cut to peace in the middle east. but he's encouraging israeli and palestinian leaders to stop prolonging the journey. >> the parties themselves have to make fundamental decisions and compromises. the leaders have to lead. and they have to be able to see a moment when it's there. >> reporter: this latest push for a deal started last july, when both sides agreed to restart negotiations. the israelis promised to free more than 100 long-serving palestinian prisoners in four groups. they followed through with three releases, but the date for the fourth came and went last weekend. palestinian president mahmoud abbas responded by signing more than a dozen international conventions as a further step towards statehood. >> and their response to the fact that israel failed to fulfill the agreement that was

concluded with it about releasing prisoners. >> reporter: the israelis countered by formally canceling the prisoner release. foreign minister lieberman says signing the conventions was a mistake. kerry has been making trips and phone calls to try to keep things from breaking down entirely. but palestinians have said they want the israelis to take action on the prisoners and other issues before agreeing to extend discussions beyond the end of april. kerry says the peace process is at a critical moment. >> it would be a tragedy for both of them, we would say, for them to lose the opportunity to get to those real issues that are the differences of a final status agreement. >> reporter: kerry notes both sides are continuing their discussions. but he says there's still a gap. one that has to be closed fairly soon. craig dale, nhk world. u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel has voiced concern over territorial disputes in the

south china sea. >> the rights of all nations must be respected. it's important that all claimants avoid the use or threat of force, or intimidation, or coercion. >> hagel spoke after a meeting with defense ministers from the association of southeast asian nations in hawaii. analysts say his remarks were seen as indirect criticism of china's increased maritime activities in the south china sea. hagel dismissed the view that inviting asean defense ministers to hawaii was aimed at containing china. it's the first time that the united states has hosted such a meeting. hagel will soon visit japan and china. japan is opening its doors a bit wider for migrant workers. ron madison has the latest from the business desk. >> yeah, that's right. the japanese government will take temporary measures to secure more foreign workers for construction. the industry is facing a labor shortage ahead of the 2020 tokyo olympic games.

cabinet ministers approved a set of policies friday. one measure allows foreign workers to extend their stay for up to two years. that would be under a government-sponsored technical internship program. other steps include granting re-entry permits to them for up to three years. government officials say these changes will secure about 70,000 workers. >> translator: it's vital to quickly respond to construction needs. the government will do its utmost to make the games a success, by securing workers both inside and outside the country. >> but another minister stressed the need for proper immigration control. justice minister tanagaki said without it security and foreigners' human rights could be compromised. japan's largest labor organization expressed concern about possible downward pressure on wages for japanese workers. let's get a check of the markets

now. investors staying on the sidelines this friday. ahead of a key jobs report from the u.s. later on in the day. here's how major bourses are finishing out the day. many markets, as you can see here, showing only a modest change in what was pretty subdued trading. tokyo's nikkei retreated from a three-week high that it hit on thursday. the nikkei edged down to 15,063. this was due in part to profit taking. but the index managed to advance for a second week in a row. first time that's happened this year, in fact. hong kong's hang seng index fell a quarter percent to 22,510. investors were cautious ahead of a week-long -- long weekend, i should say, in mainland markets. also profit taking was evident there following a more than 3% rise in the index over the previous five sessions. and jakarta, the main index there closing out the day lower by 0.7%. 4,857. the index did face a bit of selling pressure after it closed at a 10-month high on thursday. market players thought that

indonesian shares are becoming a bit overvalued, as the index has risen 14% since the start of the year. china announced this week economic policies to spur growth. the government has acted for the first time this year, and the move follows a series of data that point to weak economic activity. leaders have come up with three core measures. more investment for one into railroads. more support for redeveloping rundown urban areas. and also tax breaks for smaller enterprises. for more on china's economic policies aye uchida spoke with steven xung in hong kong from shk private. >> the fiscal investment policies are being launched right now for two reasons. number one, the chinese economy is slowing down. when you look at different pieces of data across the board. and number two, the national people's congress meeting last month has finalized a lot of measures that should be taking place in 2014. what we do not expect is that

the chinese leaders will not be blowing down on the reform. they're still very committed and what we see is that they're trying to offer and ensure a more -- generally more stable chinese economic foundation so that they can carry out different reform measures in coming months and quarters. >> so you're expecting the government to take more action? >> that's right. that's what we expect to see in the coming months. the policy environment in china has been very active since president xi jinping and premier lee ka chung a year and a half ago and we do not see that slowing down because we're still in the very initial stage of the economic reform. what you should see is that there will be more fiscal investment players to be launched in the coming weeks. we see that for two things. number one, it's going to be a short-term stimulus measure for economic growth. and number two, these are just parts of a long-term urbanization plans that china will go through over the next course -- over the next decade. so these are things i should see. when projects really kick in in the next two quarters it's going

to be positive for the chinese economic growth environment. >> and tell us about some of the risks. what would some of the risks be that a company, these measures? >> well, first markets are being confused that they may be doing something that they did in 2008. we do not expect that, so we believe that fears on that have been overdone. first of all, the chinese leaders have learned a really tough lesson for what they did in 2008. we do not see them repeating that right now. and they're really committed in channeling the credit into the right areas in the economy. and limiting excess capacity through industry consolidation. so what we're seeing is that they're not going to launch something in 2008. the external economy is pretty stable right now, comparing to 2008. there's no urgency for them to launch a quick, unplanned measure right now, compared to 2008, and you should not see a repeat of the 2008 and people should not be concerned on that. >> all right. well it seems that japanese consumers are becoming more

conscious about fuel prices. toyota motor's aqua hybrid compact was the best-selling car in japan for a second straight year in fiscal 2013. officials at japan's auto dealers association say the aqua topped the annual list but sales totalling nearly 260,000 units. another toyota hybrid the prius, came in second, selling about 252,000 units. honda motors inbox, mini vehicle and its compact fit took third and fourth place. the top ten best-selling cars were all fuel efficient models. three of them were hybrids and seven were mini vehicles. auto industry analysts predict that those cars are likely to remain popular as gasoline prices are rising partly in due -- partly due, rather, to the consumption tax hike. japanese consumers have been paying more for goods and services since that consumption tax rise when into effect on tuesday. now motorists will also be feeling the pinch. executives at a major insurance group say that they're raising premiums.

sources say sompo japan and nippenkoa will raise premiums by 2%. both companies are sub siddiers of nksj holdings. it will affect more than 10 million contracts. car insurance is not subject to the consumption tax. but the tax rise from 5% to 8% is expected to drive up costs of repairs. automobile coverage accounts for nearly half of the earnings of non-life insurance firms. japan's biggest convenience store chain is planning to expand the lineup of its high priced private label items. the new strategy of 7-eleven japan could affect pricing strategies among the nation's retailers. 7-eleven officials unveiled their pricing strategy following the consumption tax hike this week. they plan to significantly increase the number of ready-to-heat meals, and other products in the 7 gold line. the officials want to emphasize the quality of their products to consumers, and pull the chain out of the price cutting race.

they say the new strategy will help boost its private brand sales by 50% over two years. now another major retailer has chosen a different path. the firm said earlier that it would lower or maintain the current prices for about 80% of its 6,000 private label items. executives at microsoft are giving away their new operating system. windows will be free for companies making phones and tablets with screen sizes smaller than 9 inches. >> when we have this new windows for the internet of things available, windows will be available for zero dollars. >> the people at microsoft will also provide windows for wearable devices, home electronics, and cars, all free of charge. they're hoping to compete with their rifles at google, who've gained market share by offering their android system for free. microsoft holds a big edge in operating systems for personal

computers but they have less than a 3% share of the os market for smartphones and tablet computers. all right. that is going to do it for biz this hour. here's the markets. enjoy the benefits of rapid economic growth. but not one of its by-products. increasing amounts of waste. some concerned residents are protesting the way the government is dealing with all the trash. nhk world's kyoko fujita reports.

>> reporter: garbage, stretching as far as the eye can see. this massive landfill site lies near the coast about 20 kilometers from the center of dalian in northeastern china. for years, this is where the city's dump trucks have disposed of trash and household waste. in china 70% of the garbage is dumped into landfill sites. but there are serious concerns about groundwater pollution and whether china is reaching the limit. >> translator: we cannot see a lot of birds now because of the mountain of garbage. fewer birds are foraging on the mountain. >> reporter: the government has started changing how it disposes of garbage. authorities have decided to

introduce more plants around the country. but the manner in which they have proceeded has upset some people. the government has implemented its policy with a heavy hand, not properly notifying residents of its intent. but these days, chinese are more conscious of pollution, and protest movements are springing up across the country. one group in beijing opposes the construction of incineration plants. beijing's municipal government plans to build incinerators close to the city of tanjian and the provence of hubei. these people live a couple kilometers from the site. they didn't know about the city's plan until they saw it online. they're angry about the health implications and being kept in the dark. >> translator: we found out the situation by chance.

the government never told us the truth. >> reporter: they needed to voice their dissent more effectively. so they decided to start a protest movement with the help of an environmental ngo. with the organization's assistance, 80 residents from the area around the site met to decide on how to proceed. to support their objection, the ngo staffer advised them to gather enough information about the incinerator and its possible risks. without details like that, the government might never be persuaded to change. the residents decided to choose representatives from various

neighborhoods to coordinate their information gathering. the environmentalist says that people's growing mistrust of the government caused by a lack of information increases agitation. >> translator: first, you have to establish all the facts on the ground. that's the key to solving this problem. >> reporter: and until alternatives are developed, the people can really trust the garbage will just keep on piling up. >> and we spoke with kyoko fujita to find out how serious the problem is and how the government is handling it. >> behind all the problems is arising awareness among residents of their rights, and strong anxiety about health damage. also the spread of the internet has enabled people to connect

with one another, and this helps bring together people with common interests. some of the protesters i interviewed said they had first come to know each other through social networks, and have since been waging an opposition campaign. some of them didn't even know the real names of the others. such web-based protests are expected to grow. the residents main complaint is a lack of information disclosure. that's why the government is showing a willingness to improve the transparency with inputs from residents. but central government's policy changes are often not fully implemented at the local level. in a bid to keep environmental destruction and social confusion from spreading, people are now demanding information disclosure or transparency on the part of the government. all right. people in tokyo are getting a glimpse of a place that's generally off limits to the

public. an avenue inside the imperial palace has been opened up so that visitors can enjoy the cherry trees in full bloom. thousands of people gathered outside the palace on friday morning but the gates opened, they entered, and strolled along the path lined with dozens of cherry trees. the public is granted access to the imperial palace when members of the imperial family give their annual greetings. this year the avenue is being opened during cherry blossom season to mark emperor akihito's 80th birthday last december. the imperial household agency says the emperor wants people to be able to see the palace in different seasons. >> translator: it's a good thing that beautiful places are being opened to the public. >> it will be a good memory. >> the avenue will remain open until tuesday. let's now bring in our

meteorologist sayaka mori. sayaka, happy friday. sunny day here in tokyo today. does that mean we'll be able to enjoy a strolling the park over the weekend? >> well, shery, weekend is perfect to do cherry blossom viewing. but tonight is not good because severe weather could happen. we could see some tornadoes, as well as hail and thunderstorms. now, before showing some severe weather video i want to talk about this. usually the cherry blossoms start to bloom in march 26th in tokyo. this year, one day earlier than that. and last year, it was about ten days earlier than seasonal, but back in 1984, the flowers didn't come out until april 11th. the timing is depends -- the timing depends on the strength of the winter and the warmth in spring. but this year, warm spring has arrived suddenly followed by cold winter. now across the area, colored in vivid pink cherry blossoms are already blooming. the cherry blossoms will slowly

make its way toward the north, reaching hokkaido by may 10th. look forward to the nice weather if you're in the northern areas. again severe weather is happening over the southern parts of -- southern half of japan, so not good to do some hanani. we have some video to show you of severe weather. much of the area is being hit by strong to severe thunderstorms today. this here is not snow, it's hail. hail was reported around 2:00 a.m. friday afternoon. the foul weather continues to spark across much of the area in central japan, as well as the risk of tornadoes. the bad weather is caused by quite cold air in the upper atmosphere and warm air near the ground. so the temperature difference is causing quite unstable conditions in the cantu plain. across the northern area snow is likely to fall over much of hokkaido region. as we go into the region, up to 50 centimeters of snow is likely over northwestern part of the

country. as we go into the next couple of days, sunny weather will come back in tokyo, nice conditions to do some cherry blossom viewing. kyoto rainy weather will continue across the korean peninsula. plenty of sunshine on sunday. all right, across the south we are watching a tropical depression further east of the philippines. this is a tropical depression at this moment but will likely become a tropical storm. if it does so the name would be papai. it could pass palau and head for the southern philippines in the next couple of days. the forecast could change. we'll keep you posted on the storm's progress. across the americas, severe weather is happening over the eastern parts of the u.s. we have a report of eight tornadoes in parts of texas, illinois, as well as the upper midwest. this is due to three air collision. one is from the gulf of mexico. the other is from the north, cold air, and warm and dry air across the west. this is causing quite severe

weather. this is the report on your thursday. hail the size of a baseball, and even a grapefruit was reported in some areas. and on friday, the risk will shift towards the east. there will be the potential for more tornadoes, damaging winds, ooze well as large hail. so please watch out for severe weather. wintry mix is likely for the northern areas. nor the west, looking quite settled in the mid part of the u.s. temperatures in the double digits. 12 degrees in denver and finally easing across the southern areas of the u.s. on friday. here's the extended forecast.

and that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. gg99ññww

x hello, it is 1 p.m. in paris. the headlines for you. two journalists are shot in a anise and. one is killed, the other seriously injured -- to journalist are shot in afghanistan. getting down to business, france's new government holds his new cabinet meeting. the pressure is on as the fed government rose increasingly disappointed in president hollande and his team. the hunt for the black boxes of the missing malaysia and plan intensifies, as the flight recorder will soon run out of batteries.