's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. militants with islamic state have released an online video threatening to kill two japanese hostages unless ransom is paid. officials in china have released data showing economic growth in 2014 eased to its lowest pace in 24 years. and people from around the world are heading to japan in

record numbers, creating new opportunities for businesses in japan. militants with islamic state are demanding ransom for two japanese men. they have released an yoin line video saying they will kill the hostages unless they receive $200 million in the next 72 hours. it's believed the two men in orange jumpsutds are kenji goto and hard euna yukawa. haruna is a freelance journalist. he said on twitter that he was in syria. yukawa is said to run a private military company and travel frequently to the middle east including syria. >> to the prime minister of japan, although you are more than 8,500 kilometers away from islamic state, you will take part in this crusade. we have proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and

children, to destroy muslims so the life of this japanese citizen will cost you $100 million. and an attempt to stop the expansion of the islamic state you also donated another $100 million to train the mujahadin against the mujahadin and so the life of this japanese citizen will cost you another $100 million. >> the man also addressed the japanese public. he said people have 72 hours to save the two men by putting pressure on the government to pay the ransom. he said otherwise his knife will become their nightmare. the authenticity of the video has not been confirmed. japan's prime minister says the hostage threat is unforgivable. shinzo abe spoke to reporters in jerusalem while on his middle east tour. he demanded the release of the two japanese captives. >> translator: islamic state said in the video that they will kill japanese citizens.

using people's lives as shields for a threat is an act of terror. i'm furious about this. the two japanese citizens should not be harmed. they should be released immediately. this is what we insist upon. i have ordered the japanese government to put the highest priority on protecting human lives. we will cooperate with the international community to contribute to regional peace and security. this policy is unwavering, and we will not change it. >> abe defended his pledge to provide humanitarian aid to countries in the middle east. he also said japan will continue to support nonmilitary sectors. last october, kenji goto

reported for "newsline" about people who fled from syria to turkey. >> reporter: the city is just a stone's throw away from the turkish border town. as many as 180,000 people from syria have poured since the islamic state started attacking their hometown. >> goto put that report together in tokyo. he told colleagues he'd soon be going overseas ss on his next assignment but refused to say where. goto said he would return to japan on october 29th. but they lost contact with him a

couple of days before his scheduled departure. the abduction of the other hostage, haruna yukawa first came to light last august. the video was posted on youtube appearing to show him being detained by militants with islamic state. yukawa is thought to run a private military company and travel frequently to syria and other middle eastern countries. a man who appeared to be him posted pictures on facebook of his activities in iraq and syria. he made his last update in july. sources with anti-government forces in syria say that's when yukawa asked them to take him to a battlefield. they say he got separated from their men during a fight about 35 kilometers from the city of aleppo. the sources say negotiations to free him were held but not during the last month, because of intense fighting. nhk world's editor in chief joins me now in the studio. miki you and i both know kenji

goto in person. >> yes, and i've known kenji for almost two decades. we both have been covering conflicts and wars disasters around the world. people close to kenji haven't known his whereabouts since last october. and this disturbing image i see of him if this is genuine, this is the first proof in months that he is still alive. so it breaks my heart to see him in this horrific situation. but it offers some hope too. >> goto has contributed a number of reports to nhk world in the past. >> mm-hmm. he's even come to this studio to talk about, you know, what he has covered. his last report as we just saw, was aired in late october. he was in a turkish syrian border town overlooking the city of ain al ara or known as kobani. he was cuffing the situation of kurdish refugees fleeing from

the violence of islamic state militants. they were arriving in waves. they didn't have much to eat or wear or anywhere to stay. so many of them were taking shelter in unfinished or abandoned buildings. and we see him doing the stand-up he was showing tents appeared to be of islamic state aroaring into the city from the turkish side. i last saw him the day before this report was aired, one day before he left from turkey. he told me he was going to turkey but he hadn't disclosed that information to many people. he told me he was planning to go into syria from there, and so he left and according to people close to him, he was planning to return back to japan on the 29th of august -- october, but he went missing about four days before the planned return. >> now, he's quite an experienced, seasoned journalist covering many war zones and conflict zones throughout the world. >> yes he's been covering countless conflicts. but he's not a typical gung ho

journalist. kenji's focus was always on the humanitarian side of the story. he was always trying to listen to stories of children women, ordinary people how they feel about their lives and feelings and how they were suffering from conflicts, professionally so i think he was very careful, usually always working with local people who knew what was the danger what to avoid, et cetera. but kenji had also told me even for him syria was a different case. syria was full of danger. because there are many many players, for instance the assad regime, that's very skeptical of international journalists in the first place anyway. then there are different opposition groups fighting against the government, and new actors such as islamic state have emerged. so it is such a complicated picture. and he knew the danger. >> now goto is seen with a man i.s. claims to be another hostage, yukawa. >> yes yukawa was initially with an armed opposition group in syria.

kenji had told me that in his previous visit he saw yukawa with the group in syria, and he said yukawa didn't seem to be in immediate danger. at that time and seemed to have even be friended with the armed group. but this group has informed nhk that yukawa got lost north of aleppo and apparently was detained by islamic state. we don't know how kenji fell in the hands of the islamic state. i just really for safety of both men. >> miki thanks as always. miki ebara, editor in chief of nhk world. china's economy is slowing and ron madison is here from the biz team with more on this story. ron? >> that's right, gene. certainly a big story in biz today. officials in beijing have released the country's gdp growth in 2014. it slowed to its lowest level in 24 years. officials at the national bureau of statistics say the economy expanded by 7.4% last year.

that's down 0.3 percentage points from 2013. nhk world's senior commentator joins us in the studio now. he spent two years in beijing covering china's economy. you've been following this now. china's economy grew at a slower pace than it did in 2013. what were some of the reasons behind this? >> well the biggest factor is a downturn in housing investments. for many years, china's red-hot property market was a major driver of economic growth. now it's losing team. supply is up, so prices for housing in most major cities has been falling. building fewer condominiums and as a result demand for construction material such as cement and steel is flagging. that's hitting the corporate sectors. another factor is consumption. people simply aren't spending

the way they used to. look at the auto industry. sales of new cars last year were up 6.8% which sounds okay until you compare it to 2013 which sales rose by nearly 14%. that's more than double. >> what about the chinese government. how are they reacting to the data? >> officials told the news conference today the results are more within the expectations. last march, officials set their economic growth target for 2014 at around 7. 5%. the finance minister says if growth turns out to be weaker say 7.2% or 7.3% it would still be within the target range. the final result was 7.4% but officials have their work cut out to get there.

>> translator: last year we faced many challenges and difficulties. the latest figure of 7.4% shows we have been able to overcome those difficulties. >> the gdp in the july to september quarter rose by just 7.3% the lowest rate since the global financial crisis in 2008. in november policymakers at china's central bank took action to help companies get easier access to firms. they lowered their key interest rates for the first time in more than two years. they also encouraged financial institutions to ease housing loan requirements. and their efforts seemed to fay off. in the fourth quarter the officials managed to keep gdp at 7.3%. finally touching the target. >> all right. i guess the next big question what sort of targets are

officials setting for 2015? and how are they expected to reach them? >> last month chinese leaders laid out a new economic blueprint. they decided on a course to what they call a new normal pace of growth, and they said they prioritize quality and efficiency over quantity and speed. to understand what they mean by new normal you have to look back a few years. in 2008 leaders responded to the global financial crisis by pumping huge sums of money into the market. they kept the economy going forward but they also created the conditions that led to a surplus of corporate output and widespread environmental damage. the leaders now want to rein in these excesses. they're widely expected to set their sites a little lower when they announce this year's growth targets. government officials had this to say.

>> translator: the chinese economy has entered what we call the new normal. we have to adjust to this era, merely keeping up the pace of economic growth is not enough. what's most important now is improving the quality and effectiveness of economic development. >> last year leaders were initially concerned setting a 7% target but a couple factors convinced them to aim higher. they were already worried about the impact of the ukraine crisis on the global economy. and it seems they wanted to avoid destabilizing markets even more by dropping their target too low. this year too, they'll be factoring in global trends. whatever target they set they will be under a lot of pressure to tackle competing challenges maintaining solid growth while addressing environmental damage. >> all right, akihiro, thank you very much for that. and in corporate news today, a japanese trading firm is

launching a major push into one of the word's biggest markets. executives at itochu corporation have announced that they will sink billions of dollars into china's largest state-owned conglomerate citic. itochu has teamed up with charoen pokphand to do the deal. they'll each contribute half of the investment by october. that will buy them about 20% of citic shares. the deal is the biggest foreign investment in a chinese state owned enterprise. the people at itochu want to expand into food and real estate. the focus on citic is largely on financial services analysts say aiming to expand its business overseas. they say the partnership will create one of the biggest global networks in asia. the weakening of the yen against other currencies has been pretty good news for japanese tourism. they've been welcoming a record number of travelers from overseas. and many of the visitors have been arriving from china. chie yamagishi reports.

>> reporter: this duty free shop in ginza expanded and reopened a little over a year ago. it targets travelers from abroad. staff can provide services in 15 languages. foreign travelers come to the store. more than half of them are chinese. many buy brand name goods like cameras and watches. but they also come for things like rice cook ersers. customers from more than 70 countries have visited the store. and they've been spending more and more money because of the weaker yen. >> translator: i bought many things. such as beauty products and electric appliances. >> translator: made in japan products are good quality. it's inexpensive to buy them here.

>> reporter: the shop's sales last year tripled compared to the year before. >> translator: we want foreign customers to recognize japanese services and products. and we'd like to boost sales. >> reporter: more than 13 million foreigners visited japan last year. that's double the figure from a decade ago. 2.4 million of the travelers came from china. a third of the list after taiwan and south korea. and a rise of 80% from the year before. >> translator: this year we expect to attract more than 15 million travelers from overseas thanks to the weaker yen, expansion of tax exemptions and more relaxed visa regulations for chinese visitors. >> reporter: on monday the new rules came into effect. it allows chinese tourists with

lower rates to get multiple entry visas. travel agents rushed to the japanese consulate in shanghai. japanese officials are eager to attract travelers from china. they've been holding a series of promotional events. >> translator: next month i'm going to western japan for the lunar new year. i want to see the historical cities there. >> reporter: this official from kush ma prefecture is making a pitch to the region. he talks about how accessible it is and the beautiful scenery and hot springs. >> translator: this is a good opportunity. we want to boost our operations and attract more and more tourists. >> reporter: this company

publishes magazines that introduce tourist spots in japan. the experts say chinese travelers are becoming interested in out-of-the way destinations. >> translator: i think we'll see more visitors start to choose new style tours like going to kyushu for a weekend to eat ramen. or going to niigata for skiing. >> reporter: japanese officials have set a target of attracting 20 million foreign visitors a year by the time of the tokyo olympics in 2020. the tourism industry is scrambling to seize the opportunity. chee yam nishi, nhk world. >> so what about markets today? investors pretty relieved that china's gdp was not as bad as many had feared. expectations are growing for more stimulus measures in europe. european benchmarks looking like this. we're seeing them all in positive territory.

paris leading the pack higher up 1%. many investors are speculating that the european central bank will announce a bond buying program at its policy meeting on thursday. many markets in asia also closed higher. investors bought back chinese shares after the gdp figure there for 2014 did beat estimates. the zhangshanghai composite up 1.8% after that huge plunge it took on monday of more than 7%. here in tokyo the nikkei closed up 2% hitting a two-week high. we've seen the dollar bounce back against the yen. the pair currently at 118.46. the euro slightly higher against the dollar at roughly 1.1589. to the bond market now where the ten-year jgb briefly hit a fresh low for the yield following the low of 0.2% for the first time. investors are also keeping an eye on the bank of japan policy meeting which is due to end on wednesday. all right that is going to wrap it up for biz tonight. let's get a check of the markets.

every morning investors turn their attention to asia.

the tokyo market leads the way. and markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy. >> to the companies at the forefront of change. >> up to the minute market reports. >> and analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news and insight every day. here on "newsline." snow is hitting northern spain for the first time this year. our meteorologist jonathan oh is here to tell us more. jonathan? >> hello, gene. yes, we are talking about some cold air hitting the mountains of spain and that is bringing in some of the fresh snowfall. we have cold air associated from a low pressure system located in the northern portions of the atlantic. that's bringing in the chilly chilly weather. that snowfall on the ground causing a little bit of problems when it comes to schools and things like that. but the children were out and about enjoying that time period as well. now i think the snow is going to continue. this cold front is a low mover.

it's going to move across during the day tuesday, and then into wednesday. i think it will start to move further inland. meanwhile, further toward the east we're talking about rain. and maybe a few thunderstorms to talk about, as well from a low in the western mediterranean. another low pressure system located over italy. in those areas we're going to see rain taking place throughout the day, and possibly extending in to wednesday, because these are slow moving systems. we did have a low located up toward the scandinavian peninsula. that has in terms of the actual circulation has weakened but still bringing plenty of moisture. we're looking at clouds and snowfall taking place as we go through the day. high of 2 degrees in stockholm. rain from berlin into vienna and rome and all the way into madrid, the possibility of some snow once again. and also on the flip side into the eastern side of europe warsaw kiev temperatures topping off at around freezing lows dropping below freezing with some snowfall expected on the forecast. now, when it comes to snowfall in the united states somewhat minimal. mainly located towards

unfortunately the northern rockies and scattered in the upper midwest. most of the forcing mechanisms have moved toward the east. that low pressure system causing a lot of icing issues has now moved toward the far outer coast of canada but it's bringing in plenty of cold air, new york pennsylvania, and the new england states you will still see some chilly temperatures as we go through the day. down toward the south high pressure bringing in warm flow and warm moisture into the deep south. we will see temperatures moving into the 20s for places like miami. we do have a low trying to develop way down toward mexico and texas and that's going to move over the gulf and bring some plentiful rain by the end of this week. 23 in miami. 22 in houston. 13 in oklahoma city. again some scattered showers possible into denver when it comes to snow with a high of 5 degrees. now, as we take a look at the forecast for east asia high pressure is shifting out of the northeastern corner of china over the korean peninsula and into the sea of japan. that's going to change the northern portions of japan when it comes to the possibility of

seeing some snowfall because the sea-effect snow will start to weaken just a little bit. and then we will see some of the warmer moisture coming in from the south. we also have mekkhala the tropical depression continuing to approach the western side of japan. that's going to usher in a southerly flow so we will see a chance for some rain from kyushu into the central portions of japan, as we go throughout this week. so be prepared for some rain. that rain may end up melting some of the snow located along the sea of japan side of the country, and so looking out for some avalanche concerns. here's a look at the forecast. we're also looking at temperatures dropping off, a high of only 3 degrees on wednesday, 7 in tokyo, and then snow coming back into the picture for hokkaido as we go into thursday and friday. now, some people in japan are taking a very different approach to the very cold weather. i want to show you some video where did is the start of daikon or the coldest weeks of the year.

a unique event is held on this particular day each year in opens for perfect health. the annual hot water fight festival held in the prefecture early this morning. the festival has a history of 400 years. 50 men joined in under freezing temperatures, snow flurries falling at 5:00 a.m. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

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

' arch -- suffers from social and ethnic apartheid. this following the worst terrorist attacks in decades. shinzo abe thousand not to give in to terrorism after the islamic state threatens to kill to japanese hostages unless it pays a $209 ransom with knee two hours. -- within 72 hours. and a u.n. member is objected in the central african r