e headlines at this hour. you thousands of tunisians take to the streets to announce an attack on a museum. three japanese are among the 19 dead. white house officials say they will re-evaluate their approach to middle east peace talks following the israeli prime minister's abandon. of a palestinian state policy.

[ applause ] and delegates to a u.n. conference in japan emerged from marathon talks with a new set of global targets for minimizing the toll of natural disasters. u.s. defense department officials say the islamic extremist organization al shabaab has been dealt a blow. they say a senior member of the terror network is dead. he's believed to have masterminded the 2013 kenyan mall massacre. a statement by the pentagon says he was killed last week in a drill strike in somalia. they say he was connected to the deadly westgate mall attack nearly two years ago in nairobi. 67 people were killed. al shabaab is based in somalia and is said to have links to somalia. members of the group last month posted a video on line calling for attacks against large shopping malls in the united states britain, and canada.

security forces in tunisia are hunting for at least two gunmen following a deadly attack targeting tourists in the capital. armed militants started shooting outside the capital in tunis and went inside to continue the massacre. at least 19 people are dead. among them three japanese. nhk has developments. >> reporter: this attack has prompted outrage and promises of retaliation from tongue leaders who say -- tunisian leaders who say they're in a war on terror. the museum was targeted wednesday as dozens of foreign tourist were visiting ancient artifacts. the militants started shooting tourists as they got you off buses outside the museum which is close to the tunisian parliament and ran inside to continue the rampage. people were seen scrambling to safety after security forces arrived. the militants had taken hostages, and witnesses say they were shooting anything that moved. the victims were from a number of countries, japan, as you

mentioned, but italy, spain australia, poland, and france. more tourists in the capital because cruise ships were in port. some also visit from nearby resorts. [ siren ] more than 40 people were wounded. media said two tunisian attackers died in a fire-fight with security forces. the other gunman fled. a japanese woman who survived told nrk what she recalls -- nhk what she recalls. >> translator closing people started running when they heard gunshots. i fell and was shot. bullets hit my ear, arm, and neck. >> reporter: tunisian leaders are vowing to etemperature night what they -- exterminate what they call savage minority groups. the militants has grown since the dictator was overthrown and built a democracy. >> trans lartreporter: the prime minister will not affect it to allow the transition or country's morale.

heap said the attackers deliberately targeted the tourism industry an important part of the economy. other leaders expressed condolences and resolve including japan's prime minister. >> transloiter: terrorist attacks are unbelievable and we will work with the international community to strengthen our effort to fight against terrorism. >> reporter: tunisians trying to show they too, are united in the fight. thousands held a vigil denounces mediterranean and radical islam. the attack is the deadliest on civilians in more than a decade. the north african nation has been cited as a model of the arab spring uprisings, and its transition to democracy has been praised. tourists have been coming back but this attack exposes the risk that still exists. authorities estimate 3,000 people from tunisian have joined the islamic state group in syria and iraq the largest number globally. there are worries about what will happen once fighters return home as there are in other

nations. the militants have inspired plots or attacks in places subpoena as france belgium, canada and australia. no one's claimed responsible for the massacre but at least one extremism expert told the associated press that twitter accounts linked to the group have praised the attack and call on tunisians to "follow their brothers." >> that was nhk world's craig dale. a representative for the white house says the u.s. may reconsider its approach to middle east peace talks. this follows israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu whose dmaents he now oppose -- comments that he now opposes a palestinian state. press secretary josh ernest criticized netanyahu's likud party. he says the rhetoric marginalizing one segment of the population is of great concern. in the final days before the israeli election netanyahu said he was against a two-state solution.

ernest says this remark suggests a change in netanyahu's position. he says washington will now reevaluate its plans for peace. relations between obama and netanyahu had already been chilly for a while. they both disagree on what to do about iran's nuclear development. experts say netanyahu's re-election will continue to strength strain ties between israel and the u.s. leaders in the u.s. and germany say they will keep pressing russia to honor the cease-fire deal in ukraine. they affirmed they won't ease their sanctions until the russians fulfill all their commitments. president barack obama and chancellor angela merkel spoke on the phone. a white house spokesperson says they agreed a truce deal must be implemented promptly for a lasting peace. u.s. vice president joe biden got on the phone to ukrainian

president poroshenko. he said he's pleased lawmakers agreed to give eastern regions more autonomy in line with the cease-fire agreement. biden said the u.s. is ready to impose tougher sanctions on russia if leaders there keep fueling instability. pro-russian separatists are still fighting the army in parts of eastern ukraine. three government soldiers have been killed this week. tens of thousands of people in moscow marked the first anniversary of the annexation of crimea from uyan. -- ukraine. russian president vladimir putin said his country will overcome all difficulties brought from outside. putin said that in addition to being russian territory, crimea is a region of strategic importance. he brushed aside as meaningless western economic sanctions imposed on russia over the kremlin's handling of the separatist movement in eastern ukraine.

many people carried signs saying "crimea is russia." >> translator: i'm glad crimea has returned. crimea is ours. no one can take it away. >> russia's interior ministry said more than 700,000 people have turned up at rallies across the country. it says roughly 110,000 people gathered in moscow. critics say putin's government is using the media to fuel nationalism over the annexation of crimea. survivors of the atomic bombing in nagasaki japan, have sent a letter of protest to putin. they're upset over remarks that he made about possibly activating russia's nuclear arsenal during the crisis with crimea. putin made the comment in a tv documentary that aired on state-run tv. he said he was ready to put russia's nuclear weapons on stand by following the annexation of crimea. representatives of five

survivors groups in nagasaki spoke about what they wrote. they said they urged putin to admit that his readiness to use nuclear arms showed poor judgment and his remarks were a slap in the face to atomic bomb survivors. >> translator: putin's remarks run counter to the world's moves to reduce and abolish nuclear arms. >> the letter writers say russia shares responsibility with the united states to lead the effort to abolish nuclear weapons. delegates of a u.n. disaster conference in japan held a marathon negotiating session on how to reduce deaths and damage. they took 30 hours to agree on goals aimed at better protecting people and assets. nhk world reports. >> reporter: organizers of the u.n. world conference on disaster risk reduction had initially planned to hold a

closing ceremony on wednesday morning. they had to delay because of passionling over an agreement. >> translator: we are late by nearly 12 hours but want to compile our final framework before the day is out. >> reporter: shortly before midnight representatives from more than 180 participating countries finally adopted the senddai framework for reduction. [ applause ] >> reporter: they agreed on send global targets to be achieved by 2030. one of their top priorities is to substantially reduce disaster-related deaths and minimize the number of people affected. they pledged to reduce economic losses caused by disasters. they vowed to substantially

decrease disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of bake services including health and education facilities. they also say the public and private sectors should work together to minimize disaster risks. and in a first, the document highlights the importance of involving women in disaster preparation. >> participation of citizens to participate not only in execution but also in designing and planning. these are some of the key instruments. >> reporter: some delegates had pushed early on for the adoption of numerical targets. they did not appear in the final agreement. some participants expressed concern that monitoring the framework's effectiveness will be difficult. >> as we have negotiated, we've then changed the language. we've dropped the numerical targets. we have weakened implementation. >> reporter: negotiators remained divided until the last

minute. those from developing countries wanted the framework to address developed nations' role in disasters caused by global warming. representatives of industrialized nations were against the idea. today, 70% of global deaths from disasters occur in developing nations. experts say the high rate hampers economic growth and development. a powerful cyclone struck the south pacific nation of vanuatu during the conference and highlighted the risks. the new framework is intended to help governments around the world draw up new measure for disaster risk reduction. but as the destruction in vanuatu shows, more will be needed to make sure the benefits extend to developing countries. nhk world. let's see what's happening

in the world of business. ron? >> japanese steel makers continue to face weak demand. numbers fell for another month. domestic output for the month totaled just under 8.5 tons down about .2% from last february. the amount of decline was smaller than the previous month. officials say demand remain weak for common products that use steel, things like buildings and cars. they expect the situation to continue for some time. japanese electronics manufacturer sharp has been losing money as it struggles with its core tv business. executives are now considering asking about 3,000 employees at the firm's domestic plants to take voluntary retirement. they hope it will help streamline operations. for the business year ending this month, officials expect a net loss for the first time in two years. they now plan to cut around 10% of the company's domestic work force. they're also looking at cuts overseas. sharp executives have approached

tokyo mitsubishi to strengthen the company's financial base. the executives say they will draw up a new midterm management plan by may. union leaders and managers at many big manufacturers in japan have just agreed on increases to basic pay rates. employees of distribution and service companies are also getting raises. analysts say attention is on whether small and medium-size firms will follow suit. many workers in the sectors belong to the labor union. a large number are part-time employees. union officials say they've been able to negotiate higher hourly pay rates for them. part-time workers at ten companies want an average hourly wage hike of 22 cents, that's five cents higher than the increase that they got last year. many managers at small and medium-size companies say they need to take a look at the situation carefully before deciding whether to raise wages. let's check the markets you

now. tokyo investors saw the nikkei hit 19,500 yesterday, the high ever level in about 15 years. today profit-taking kicked in. market players also offloaded shares and exporters as the yen gained ground. as a result, the benchmark index closed down about.-4%, 1,947. traders welcomed an announcement from the u.s. fed, policymakers there suggested they're in no rush to you introduce a rate hike. hong kong closed higher back to nearly 1.5% there. and shanghai rose for the seventh day in a row. hit a fresh seven-year high closing up over .1%. sydney made the biggest gain in five weeks jumping nearly 1.9% 5,950 after a rebound in crude oil prices pushed up shares. traders snapped up high-tech companies that provide parts to apple. up nearly opinion.9% hitting

the highest level in more than seven years. u.s. president barack obama is trying to get his party's lawmakers to support the transpacific partnership free trade deal. administration officials have urged democrats in congress to pass a law that would grant the president greater authority in trade negotiations. 12 countries from the pack rim region are taking part in the tpp talks. some democrats have raised concerns that the deal would decrease the competitiveness of u.s.-made goods and take jobs away from american workers. a delay in the passage of the bill in the u.s. congress could postpone an agreement on the tpp. trade representative michael frohman and treasury secretary jack youlew met with representatives to offer more details about the negotiations. >> i think it was a good opportunity to hear from them their questions and their concerns. but also an opportunity to get g to into some depth and walk them

through what we are trying to achieve in tpp. >> some lawmakers expressed their concerns. they said the details of the proposed deal remain unclear. indonesia's president is set to call for closer economic ties with japan when he visits tokyo next week. joko widowdo is urge be aing a bigger role in the country. he will be aincumbented on his first visit starting sunday. he said the president will discuss ways to strengthen economic cooperation when he meets prime minister shinzo abe. widodo is also scheduled to address business leaders. >> translator: president widodo is planning to invite more japanese companies to invest in indonesia. >> he said he wants to develop indonesia indonesia's potential as a

maritime nation. to achieve the goal, indonesia will have to help build new port facilities. time for our series "view from the top." we talk with top leaders about their insights and strategies. in this installment we meet ceo of osaka-based peach aviation japan's first low-cost carrier. we asked him about his airline, in particular his plan to ecopandroutes and claim a -- expand routes and claim a larger share of the asian market. >> reporter: on march 1st peach aviation celebrated its third anniversary. the airline has carried more than eight million passengers and n three years. that's faster growth than the company had expected. >> peach. >> reporter: with a friendly company name japan's first low-cost carrier attracted nationwide attention. it set up its first hub at the airport in osaka. peach started with two routes. now flies ten domestic and seven

international routes. he wants to make air travel as rein reasonably priced and convenient as train travel. >> translator: we offer low fares every day and pride ourselves on reliability. i think that's why people feel we're affordable particularly young customers. the concept of a flying train is a good way to understand what we do. >> reporter: to speed up processing and boarding peach developed a check-in machine similar to those used at train stations. the airline alsotive rent yeas itself -- differentiates itself by selling local delicacies. ideas like these have helped become the first budget carrier now japan to turn a profit after two years of operation. >> translator: i think our record for this fiscal year shows we're progressing as planned. i'm aiming to clear our

accumulated losses. a promise a made to the public. the next fiscal year will be the key. >> reporter: peach is particular about flight length. low-cost carriers reduce profits by reducing the space between seats. there's a limit to how long they can sit in the conditions. the airline looimts limits flight to four hours. last year peach set up a second hub in okinawa. inoue wants it to be a gateway to other asian cities. >> translator: as long the airport is our hub, we can't go any farther in four hours than northeast asia. making okinawa our hub pete southeast asia in reach -- puts southeast asia in reach. we could expand our reach and fly to bangkok city from

okinawa. >> reporter: the expanding business has created new problems. last year the company suffered a pilot shortage for six months due to illness and other reasons resulting in 2,000 flight cancelations. >> translator: we're taking measures to prevent that from happening again. we're struggling to find pilots in japan, so we're trying to hire foreign pilots and train flight school graduates to be co-pilots at our own expense. >> reporter: the growing number of foreign and domestic local low-cost carriers has created fierce competition. inoue notes that you just 7% of passengers in japan use budget airlines. he sees plenty of room for growth. >> translator: if we're going to survive, we need to fly on schedule have a strong brand, and provide new value through innovation. we also need to create a stable low-cost framework. right now we're supported by

young people who are associated with concepts like cute and cool. one thing we can do is capitalize on that with our branding. >> reporter: his aims for expansion stretch to other asian countries. >> translator: the original goal was to set up a regional airline for all of asia. we want to expand by setting up hubs in the region. i want to create a company that's not only affordable but also fun doing thing that more up-market firms won't do. >> reporter: he says the incumbent continue to focus on providing unique services and low prices. he believes this is the key appropfor a low-cost carrier to survive amid the growing competition. >> okay. that is going to do it for biz this hour. ♪

time now to check on the world weather with our meteorologist, jonathan. people in northern india are struggling with heavy rainfall. what's the latest? >> i think that the good news on the flip side of that is that we are starting to see it dry up. but the aftermath from all of the rainfall that's been taking place across northern india has left some serious devastation behind. i wanted to show you video you because it just tells the story. it's a very sad story. the unseasonably heavy rainfall and snow have wreaked havoc in this region. some areas have had 500% more than normal rainfall, prolonged downpours have destroyed roads and electricity poles and damaged crops. i mentioned a couple of days ago that the potato crops in this region have been absolutely devastated because when you have that much water in the area

these potatoes do not produce very well. now we can see here that the rain is tapering off. yes, we'll have spotty showers the next few days, but all in all, we're going through a dry period. the recovery time period is going to be much more long than that. let's look at the forecast for east asia. we're talking about rainfall located one over china, another located over japan. a low-pressure system is now moving toward the east. i think we'll see some showers as we go throughout the rest of the day. and then as you progress into friday, we should see a little bit of improvement. this disturbance in central portions of china will still see that you moving toward shanghai as we progress toward the latter part of the week. 14 there and also in tokyo. i think we'll see clearing by the afternoon. still a lot of clouds to contend with. 19 here and beijing. toward the south, look at temperatures. we're in the 30s, some areas up to around 40 degrees. look at the temperatures, these

are dangerously hot temperatures you're going to be outside for a long period of time. stay hydrated stay indoors if possible. stay cool because these temperatures are not very healthy for people staying outdoors. as you look at the forecast, down toward australia we're keeping an eye on severe tropical storm cyclone, a category 3 storm that's getting close to the coastline of queensland. areas north of cannes dealing with heavy rainfall but strong winds already starting to pick up at this point. this loop that's taken over the past week or so now into a couple of weeks is finally making its way around. look out for this. up to a category 4 storm possible as it makes landfall. as it travels across queensland it should weaken. it will bring heavy rainfall with stronger precipitation. you see here areas seeing up to 200 millimeters of rain. it is expected to strengthen a little bit more as it passes west of queensland and heading toward the northern tip of the northern territory. now as we look at the forecast

for north america, we had a low-pressure system out of texas, another that dropped over los angeles is pushing toward the east. we'll see rainfall along the front as we go throughout thursday. areas to the north seeing cooler temperature, as well. look at this -- high of 2 in toronto. new york will see a high of 4 under sunny skies. i want to point this out. in the deep south highs in the 20s earlier this week. very warm temperatures. we've flipped the switch. down 11 in atlanta with a chance for rain through thursday. also seeing showers from denver into houston. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

very warm temperatures.

that's all for this edition of "newsline" we'll be back at the top of the hour. thanks for watching

host: authorities in tunisia hunt for a compass is in yesterday's deadly tunisian attack. waging a war against terrorism. antiterrorism measures are put in place here in france. this in the wake of the "charlie hebdo" attack. in athens defies the european commission and passes a new antipoverty law. it increases tensions in the battle over greek debt. those are the top stories is our. thank you for joining us. i am marlie hall. tunisia's president had promised to wage a merciless war against terrorism.