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. fighting between government forces and separatists in eastern ukraine has pushed a new cease-fire deal to the brink of collapse. journalists talk about why they put themselves in harm's way to report on conflicts around the world.

and disaster preparedness. some people living in northern japan are taking steps to protect themselves if a nearby volcano erupts at night during the winter. delegates to the u.n. security council are calling on the warring sides in eastern ukraine to respect a cease-fire agreement. the prospects for peace or continued conflict in the region appeared to hinge on the fate of one town. government military forces are trying to hold onto debaltseve in the face of sustained assault by pro-russian separatists. more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: as a gas pipeline explosion colored the skies near the town of debaltseve, pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine appeared closer to claiming an important prize. despite a cease-fire very haven't stopped shooting at ukrainian military positions. lay down your arms says this

separatist leader. surrender and you will live. debaltseve is considered a strategic location linking donetsk and luhansk. ukrainian military commanders have been sending in reinforcements and fighting back. but it's unclear how many soldiers are defending the town. or the ruined communities surrounding it. destroyed tanks and other vehicles littered the landscape. few residents remain. only peace, sobbed this woman. i don't want anything else. ukrainian military spokesperson andre louisenco admits his troops have lost ground in debaltseve. some have died. some have been captured. the terrorists are not maintaining the cease-fire, he said. the agreement cobbled together last week by the leaders of russia ukraine, france and germany seems close to collapse. there's been no complete cease-fire and no pullck of heavy weapons from the front line. ambassadors to the u.n. security council are pushing for both

sides to stop violating the truce. but even as they unanimously approved a resolution put forward by russia some blame the russians for the current state of affairs. >> the russian federation needs to withdraw all its armed forces from the territory of ukraine. >> stop pretending you're not doing what you are doing, and start calling on and insisting upon the separatists observing the cease-fire around debaltseve. >> reporter: russia's ambassador deflected the criticism and called for dialogue with people in eastern ukraine who want autonomy. russian president vladimir putin went further saying ukrainian authorities should not prevent their troops from laying down their weapons. he said he hoped separatist leaders would grant the soldiers safe passage out of debaltseve. this war has generated an almost impenetrable fog. the different players have radically different perspectives. the russians deny involvement even though they face crushing western sanctions.

the rebels say they're not breaking the cease-fire by trying to capture debaltseve. arguing they encircled the town before the agreement took effect. and the ukrainians say they can't pull back until the separatists stop firing. european security monitors say rebel forces are blocking them from getting into debaltseve so they don't have a clear picture of what's going on there. in the mean time the pressure on president putin is growing. u.s. vice president joe biden noted that if the cease-fire violation continues, the costs to russia will rise. craig dale, nhk world. the governments of the u.s. and five european powers have issued a statement condemning the killings of 21 egyptian christians in libya. and they say it underscores the need for libya's warring factions to resolve their conflict. the u.s. britain, france germany, spain and italy expressed concern that the instability is strengthening the

islamic state group and other terrorist organizations. the statement urged all parties to take part in u.n.-led talks for unity government. secular forces and islamic militants have been fighting in libya since the ouster of longtime leader moammar gadhafi more than three years ago. thousands of libyans have been fleeing the conflict. many of them are risking their lives trying to controls the mediterranean sea. officials with the international organization for migration say rescuers have saved nearly 4,000 people in the past five days. many of them were crammed onto rubber dinghies. the officials say more than 300 refugees died last week while trying to make the voyage to safety. they're calling on world leaders to help. a u.s. state department spokesperson said the u.s. and turkey are teaming up to train and arm moderate syrian opposition forces. jen psaki says it's part of preparations for ground combat against islamic state militants.

psaki told reporters that turkey has agreed to provide the training site. the u.s. will send personnel. the forces will join a ground combat mission. the u.s. military is planning to launch the operation in syria by the end of the year. the u.s. has sent more than 2600 soldiers to iraq to train troops but thought to be preparing a large scale offensive to retake areas controlled by islamic state militants. american politicians, police and religious leaders have gathered in washington to discuss ways to stop violent extremism. vice president joe biden opened the summit with a call to engage people who might be susceptible. the white house is hosting the three-day conference. biden highlighted efforts in boston los angeles, and minneapolis. all three cities have launched programs to prevent extremism. >> we all understand that in dealing with violent extremism that we need answers that go beyond a military answ.

president barack obama is scheduled to address the conference on wednesday. a u.n. mediator says the syrian government is offering a glimmer of hope in the four-year-long civil war. he says damascus is willing to attempt a cease-fire with anti-government forces in the northern city of aleppo. >> the government of syria has indicated to me its willingness to halt all aerial bombing, all aerial bombing, all types of aerial bombing, and artillery shelling for a period of six weeks. all over the city aleppo. >> he said he would visit the country to announce the date of the suspension. he said based on past experiences he knows this will be a difficult mission to achieve. but he expressed hope that if the local cease-fire holds, it could be replicated elsewhere.

japan's prime minister says the government will work with other countries in asia to strengthen maritime security. shinzo abe said japan will also step up the country's maritime patrol capabilities. the prime minister was answering a question during a plenary session in the upper house of the diet. >> translator: the government will strengthen its cooperation with coast guards in other asian countries through personnel exchanges and joint exercises. >> abe said he plans to use the self-defense forces program for human resources development to achieve these goals, and he said the government will expand the program to stabilize international security. some japanese manufacturers like toyota have accomplished record sales and now people who

work for them want to feel it in their wallets and purses. ron madison has the latest on wage negotiations in japan. ron? >> yeah that's right. wage negotiations can be pretty tough. but workers might have things going for them this year. as you say, bottom lines are looking a lot better. also the government and business lobbies are pushing for higher wages so that that can contribute to an overall economic boost. annual wage negotiations really in full swing here in japan. labor unions of major automakers and electronics firms have presented their demands to management. union representatives from toyota motor are asking for an average increase of around $50 in monthly base pay. that's up sharply from the rise of around $23 they secured in last year's negotiations. the union leaders also demanded an annual bonus equal to 6.8 months wages. the same level as last year. union leaders of other major automakers and electronics firms such as toshiba are also requesting a wage hike of around $50 a month.

>> translator: i hope our employer passes on its profits to us. >> translator: i want the management to accept our demand of a $50 wage hike to make our lives easier. >> managers of these companies appear to be taking a positive stance to wage hike demands. that's due partly to better earnings. but they're cautious about giving away too much. they say labor costs may rise in the future and the outlook is uncertain, as domestic markets are shrinking. well officials at japan's central bank are sticking with their assessment of the country's economy. they say it's continuing to recover moderately and they do see some bright spots. bank of japan policymakers wrapped up two days of meetings by saying both exports and production are picking up. they say steady improvement in employment and people's incomes is keeping private consumption resilient. they also indicated the impact of the consumption tax hike last april has eased. the officials decided to

continue pumping money into the economy to achieve their 2% inflation target. all right. turning to the markets now. some investors are getting optimistic that greece will reach an agreement with its international lenders over its bailout plan. here's how major benchmarks in europe are looking right now. we're seeing gains across the board. although london has pared gains right now. it's up just a touch. frankfurt is still higher by half a percent. paris, as well up by nearly one percent. here in asia japan's nikkei closed at a fresh 7.5 year high at 18,199 after the boj met expectations by deciding to maintain monetary easing. australian shares mean time also jumped to a seven-year high closing at 5,915. markets rallied thanks to a 47% rise in toll holdings. that's after the logistics company accepted a $5 billion takeover from japan post. in other markets around asia many investors were off work already for the chinese new year holidays.

hong kong was shut for the afternoon session. but it did manage to hit a three-week high in the morning when it closed up 0.2%. jakarta also rose to record highs up nearly 1%. taking a look at currencies now the euro is moving in a narrow range against the dollar. euro/dollar at roughly 1.1383. meanwhile dollar/yen is at 119.27. market players are waiting for the latest data on u.s. inflation, as well as industrial output for january. well executives over at sony have announced another streamlining move. they plan to spin off their audio and visual equipment business. possibly in october. president hirai presented the company's three-year plan. the move follows sony's spinoff last year of its tv business. the latest strategy aims to help the firm achieve more stable profits by increasing the independence of its electronics business units. sony will also consider splitting off other operations such as digital cameras and image processing sensors. the company expects to log a net

loss of around $1.4 billion for the business year through march. but executives hope the spinoffs will give them more flexibility in considering tie-ups with other countries -- companies, i should say. well more foreign tourists are visiting japan to take advantage of the weaker yen. the number of overseas visitors in january set a record for the month. officials at the japan national tourism organization say more than 1.2 million people came to japan in january. that's up almost 30% from the year before. south koreans led the way. japan played host to nearly 360,000 people from that country. it's up 40% from january 2014. the number of tourists from mainland china rose 45%. the figure for visitors from thailand was up nearly 65%. now one big reason for the rise is that authorities last month eased visa requirements for chinese citizens. another is that since october more items have become tax free for foreign visitors. and more tourists from southeast asia and australia are staying

at japanese ski resorts. tourism officials say they expect a sharp rise in visitors during the lunar new year holiday this month. all right. that is going to wrap it up for biz tonight. let's get a check of the markets. journalists who risk their lives to cover conflicts have gathered in tokyo to share their

experiences. and they remembered some of their colleagues including the freelance journalist kenji goto. nhk world's keiko yamamoto has more. >> reporter: kenji goto covered numerous wars over his career. he described how vulnerable ordinary people in war. especially children. and the high price they often pay. goto eventually traveled to syria, and was captured by islamic state militants. last month, they claimed they had killed him. another freelance journalist yamamoto died in a shoot-out three years ago. she had also gone to syria to cover the civil war. her reporting shed light on the lives of people living in conflict zones.

participants in the symposium who knew yamamoto and goto spoke about journalist contributions during war. >> translator: there are so many things that wouldn't be reported if journalists stayed put. >> translator: i think the more people who report on the same conflict the clearer the picture becomes. you begin to get a more three dimensional idea of what's taking place. >> reporter: sato had worked with yamamoto covering conflicts. he shared the words that she lived by. >> translator: she always said it's impossible to silence the voices of every journalist. no matter how powerful the force. there will always be someone who stands up.

>> reporter: yamamoto believed strongly that journalists are more than mere witnesses. a memo she left behind illustrates her convictions. by being on the front lines, foreign journalists can help deter worst case scenarios. >> translator: through our reporting, things will inevitably begin to change. that belief is what keeps me going. i believe change will happen. that's why i keep going. >> reporter: concerns about safety are now putting limits on some members of the media. this month, the japanese government confiscated the passport of a freelance cameraman. he had planned to travel to syria. >> translator: ensuring the safety of japanese nationals who travel or live abroad is an extremely important responsibility for the government.

>> reporter: the photographer said the government was infringing on freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the constitution. >> translator: losing my passport means i can no longer work as a freelance photographer. as a journalist, it deprives me of my life's purpose. >> translator: his case could set a bad precedent. he said he worries other journalists will be forced to hand in their passports, too. in spite of the risks, journalists are driven to keep going to the front lines of conflict, and telling the world what they see. keiko yamamoto, nhk world.

people who live near an active volcano in japan's northern most prefecture of hokkaido are taking on a challenge. they're participating in emergency drills at night, and in the snow. and the skills they're learning could save their lives if disaster strikes. >> reporter: misso sato and his wife take part in this drill. they are told to leave their home for a designated emergency shelter. >> translator: i'm afraid of walking, because the ground is slippery. >> reporter: the couple is familiar with this road. but it takes a lot longer than normal to reach the shelter at night, and in the snow. >> translator: it's more difficult to walk than during

the day. >> reporter: authorities raised the alert level for mount toque chi by one notch in december. they say volcanic activity has been gradually increasing. the town lies west of the peak. they fear if the volcano erupts in winter snow could melt and quickly flow down while mixing with mud. during an eruption in 1926 massive mud floes destroyed housesnd other buildings at the foot of the mountain. 144 people were killed. if something like that ever happened again officials estimate mud floes could reach plains in 20 minutes. 320 people are taking part in the first night time drill in two decades. they moved the shelter within 20 minutes of the initial announcement. but some of them are concerned that they may not be able to evacuate if an eruption happened in the dark.

>> translator: if mud floes hit our area at night, we won't be able to survive. unless authorities quickly detect them, and alert us. >> translator: the first night time drill in 20 years shows people cannot take action without practice. holding such a drill again and again is the key. >> reporter: local officials say they'll need to do more to ensure people here get the information they need to get to safety. for the time when the practices stop and the evacuation becomes real. frigid conditions descend upon the eastern side of north america. our meteorologist jonathan oh is here with a look at the chilly forecast. jonathan? >> hello, gene. yes, we've been talking about this frigid weather that has been really hitting even as far

as the deep south of the united states during the past several days. in fact, the past few weeks because of all the snow and the cold air. but we are now in that midst o seeing that cold air falling way down into the south. and because we just had a low pressure system rolling through that area it brought snowfall for many parts of the carolinas, into the appalachian mountains, including washington, d.c. i want to take you over there, because the snowfall did impact that area. some of it was considered severe. it ended up shutting down the u.s. capital tuesday. also, the government offices, and public schools were closed. most cars had to stay off the roadways. some residents had to get through the city by using skis. now, on top of that though, some of the residents took advantage of the snowfall and organized a massive snowball fight coordinated by the national association called the d.c. snowball association. dressed up as some superhero characters like batman and captain america.

now, we are going to see the snowfail pulling out just a little bit as a low pressure system departs through the area. we do have another little cold front that's going to squeeze through so the ohio river valley may see some snowfall. lingering into the mid-atlantic states as we go throughout the day. but the cold is really the bigger story. we're talking about temperatures really dropping down. down to the carolinas we're looking at temperatures close to negative 10 degrees in terms of the windchill factor as we go into wednesday night. it is going to be really cold and windy, as well. negative 2 in washington, d.c. on wednesday. negative 14 in chicago. negative 20 degrees in winnipeg. and so the cold air, the frigid air will stay around for awhile. overnight lows will be dropping into the negative teens for thursday and friday from washington, d.c. to boston all the way into winnipeg. look at this down into negative 30 degrees by thursday morning. so, definitely be prepared for this chilly chilly weather. meanwhile we're talking about some drier conditions in europe. at least for the central

portions of the continent as high pressure sits on top of that. we do have some snowy conditions toward the north and down toward the south, rain and storms near italy. and also another low pressure system located over turkey. this system isn't moving anywhere very quickly so it is going to bring a lot of cold air with it and it's also going to bring a lot of snow. you can see here as we go throughout the day wednesday it's going to be quite snowy. and temperatures down to around 9 for the high in athens with some windy conditions, and some snowfall mixed in with that. again, staying relatively dry for the central portions of europe as we go throughout the day. as we take a look at the forecast for east asia unstable area down to the southeastern portion of china will bring some clousd, maybe even some showers. a low pressure system that brought some very heavy snowfall into places like niigata prefecture where a house collapsed because of all the snowfall there. the low will be tracking further off to the north and east so we may be dealing with some cloud cover for the morning coming up on thursday but then temperatures will start to rebound. we should see a little bit of a warm-up with a high of 10 in tokyo.

so a little bit chilly but at least it's going to be a little bit warmer than what we saw on wednesday. a high of 7 in seoul and temperatures are going to drop into the upper teens with some cloud cover, even some sprinkles for hong kong and taipei as we go through thursday. hope you have a good day wherever are you. here's your extended outlook.

people in hachinohe northern japan are taking part in a traditional dance festival to pray for a good harvest.

32 groups of dancers gathered in the city center on the first day of the festival on tuesday. dancers wearing horse head hats beat the ground with sticks to wake the earth from its winter sleep. children dressed as the seven deities of good fortune performed humorous dances. the enburi festival dates back about 800 years. the dances depict the planting of rice seedlings and other farming activities. the government has designated the event as an important intangible folk cultural property. a large crowd clapped and cheered for the dances that herald the arrival of spring. >> translator: it was amazing. the performers showed a love for their hometown. >> translator: i was really impressed by the children's dancing. >> the festival will run through friday.

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

h a controversial economic reform without a parliamentary vote, sparking criticism the government is too authoritarian. hundreds of government troops pull out of the key you just keep ukrainian town -- the key ukrainian town of debaltseve. close to 40 killed in two suicide attacks in nigeria as boko haram spreads out over borders. our correspondent has more from neighboring niger, where one side of the recent attacks -- one