hello, and welcome to "newsline." we hope your year got off to a good start. it's 7:00 p.m. on a monday. japan prime minister shinzo abe has unveiled his policy vision for 2016. in a news conference, he vowed

to tackle the country's key challenges this year. >> reporter: in his eight-minute speech, abe used the word challenge no fewer than 17 times. >> translator: we only have challenge, challenge and challenge. it's the year of challenge. 300 years ago, there was one who ruled the country and he was known to be a challenger. he did various reforms, including fiscal reconstruction. >> reporter: abe went on to list some of his biggest challenges boosting the economy and dealing

with japan's graying society. japan's population has been declining for nine straight years. in 2015, it fell by 294,000, the largest drop in post-war history. revenues from taxes and health insurance payments are flat, even as social security costs mushroom. >> translator: we have three targets -- raising japan's gdp to a post-war high of 600 trillion yen, increasing the birthrate and making sure no one needs to quit work to nurse elderly relatives. my challenge is to create a society in which all play an active role. >> reporter: abe also looked ahead to japan's hosting of the g7 summit this year. he said he wants to take the initiative in creating world peace and stability. >> translator: at the summit, i want to discuss various issues, such as the world economy,

poverty and the fight against terrorism. i also would like to exchange ideas on stability in the asia-pacific region. >> reporter: abe said he wants to seek a breakthrough with russian president vladimir putin in a long-standing territorial dispute and finally sign a bilateral peace treaty. he also said that he's planning another summit with china and south korea. leaders from the three nations met last november. another challenge, he said, is getting young people interested in politics. over 2 million teenagers will be able to vote for the first time in the upcoming upper house election. >> translator: i want to work hard to show young people that medical expenses and pension premium payments will greatly affect them. and both diplomatic and domestic issues are relevant to them. >> reporter: abe's three-year-old administration

will face popular judgment in the upper house poll. until then, the electorate will be watching his performance closely. nhk world. saudi arabia has severed diplomatic ties with iran the day after protesters attacked this embassy in tehran. tensions had been escalated over the sunni kingdom's execution of a prominent shiite cleric. >> we're determined not to allow iran to undermine our security. we are determined not to let iran mobilize or create or establish terrorist cells in our country or in the countries of our allies. >> the minister said sunday the iranian diplomats have 48 hours to leave the country. protesters stormed the embassy

on saturday and set it on fire. they were upset with the execution of sheikh nimr al nimr. iran's deputy foreign minister said saudi arabia cannot cover up the mistake of the execution. there are concerns that the standoff may become a stumbling block for syrian peace talks scheduled to start later this month. >> the majority of iran are shia, and many in tehran, many reject the decision. >> translator: saudi arabia is scared of iran's power and that's why people are looking

for a pretax for damaging ties. >> translator: we don't want to fight, but if saudi arabia wants to cut ties, let them do it, but we don't want a war to start. >> both countries are involved in various conflicts in the region on opposing sides. in iran is supposed to govern the president, bashar al assad, while saudi arabia backings anti-government forces. in yemen, iran is helping shia rebels by providing them with weapons, and saudi arabia and other sunni-led arab nations are playing a role in conducting air raids against them and it's believed saudi arabia is trying to present iran from expanding

its influence there. the two countries have also been at odds over the handling of a stampede there, and hundreds of iranians were trampled to death on the outskirts of a holy site. it might affect the fight against islamic state militants, the common enemy of the two countries. the uk foreign office is examining a video showing men

they call spies. what they claim is the killing of people who spied for britain. the footage shows five men in jumpsuits kneeling in the desert with masked militants standing over them. a masked man waving a gun says that the video is a message for british prime minister david cameron. an islamic extremist group in somalia have used a clip of donald trump in a recruitment video for banning all muslims in the united states. the al qaeda-affiliated al shabaab posted the video on friday. the video repeatedly highlights discrimination and persecution faced by african-americans and muslims in the united states. trump is shown at a campaign rally last month, proposing to bar all muslims from the country. the video includes a clip of an al qaeda group leader killed by

u.s. forces, he warns that the u.s. and european countries will turn against muslims. the group has been insighting hostility against the u.s. and the west to recruit new members. al shabaab has carried out a number of attacks in somalia and neighboring kenya. a man disappeared last wednesday and his wife said he called her saying he needed to assist in an investigation, but he didn't say where he was. his colleagues did not return from trips last year, and a hong kong official said they suspect

the 5 missing people have been detained by missing authorities. beijing has not commented on the disappearances. the lead up to the philippines presidential election has taken an odd turn, and one is taking the panel to court after being disqualified. one was disqualified from running and the election administrative committee disqualified her last month and said she failed to meet the minimum residency requirements for becoming a president. she took legal action demanding that her disqualification be rescinded. authorities in eastern india

are trying to get a sense of the impact of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake. they say 6 people are dead and 50 others are injured. the u.s. geological survey says the quake struck around 4:30 a.m. the morning on monday, west of the city of imphal. a photo posted on twitter of what was a six-story building shows the degree of the destruction. several buildings collapsed and others developed cracks and the casualties were caused by falling debris. tokyo stocks kicked off the first trading day of the year with quite a negative tone.

our reporter has the details on how tokyo shares faired. >> has not been a happy new year for investors, and china's tmi was pretty disappointing and that put a damper on stock markets. japan's nikkei started 2016 with the biggest one-day drop in more than three months. it closed down 3% at 18,450 and that's the lowest finish since october 22nd, and despite that many are confident the nikkei won't suffer throughout the year. looking at current see markets at the impact of china's pmi

could be seen there as well, and the stronger yen is bad news for japanese exporters because it erodes their overseas profits. china and the middle east are expected to weigh in on investor sentiment for a while. there were big losses elsewhere in the region. authorits applied their new circuit breaker rule for the first time after the index dropped more than 7%.

here in tokyo, the nikkei average dropped more than 3%, to finish at 18,000. its lowest close in more than two months. and sidney's s&p 600 intkaebgs loss nearly half a percent, and losses there were mitigated as higher oil prices propped up the energy sector. japan's government wants to spepbtd more in order to continue to boost the economy and is seeking quick improval of a budget. 0the extra budget was submitted at an extra session of the diet, about $28 billion. one-third is earmarked for the prime minister's paul tea to promote active engagement by all citizens, and the extra budget

allocates about $250 for the farming industry. the sectors are facing tougher competition. when the tpp partnership takes effect broad agreement for the broad trade deal was reached last october. government officials say they won't issue new bonds to finance the plan. they say they'll use higher-than-expected tax revenues instead. here's a look at other business stories we're following. 3 out of 5 said sales improved in more than six months, and some stores made up with that with purchases from foreign visitors which continues to be strong. high-end watches and artworks also sold well. japan will fully deregulate its electric power market in april and companies entering the utility business are taking orders in advance.

major power utilities have enjoyed regional monopolies for decades. but legislative changes will allow other companies to enter the market and provide electricity. south korean exports fell for a second straight month. they were down 13.8% from a year ago. imports slumped by 19.2%. this week "newsline" will air a five-part series on the biggest markets and we will ask experts on how each market is likely to fare in the year ahead. robert feldman is chief

economists and spent decades analyzing the japanese economy. >> what kind of year are you expecting it to be? >> 2016 we expect moderate both. we have it a little higher and that will include demand brought forward before the consumption tax in 2017, so not a huge year for growth. we have some recovery of consumption coming along and a little bit of acceleration, and none of them is wildly positive but all contributing some. >> what would you say is the number one risk to the economy? >> i think the number one risk to the japanese economy is complacency. when things get better people slow down and say, well, maybe i don't have to do as much reform as i thought i did because things are okay and maybe we can go slower and that's the thing that pushes you back into a crisis, so for to me the risk of

the japanese economy is people fail to do the investments they need and make the changes in industrial structure they need and make the changes in regulation they need and changes in corporate behavior they need in order to raise productivity growth. >> policymakers spent three years pumping money into the markets, and feldman believes their monitoring program will continue but in a different form. >> the problem they run into, you run out of bonds to buy and they are getting close to that, so there has to be some kind of a regime change. you target real yields, so we think somewhere during the year they are going to shift to a different kind of regime where they can hold the real yields down by buying any bonds that anybody wants to sell up to a certain yield level and keep the

yields down instead of saying, 80 trillion, 80 trillion, like they have in the past few years. >> in the past two years we have seen the yen fall against the dollar and he says the japanese currency will come back. >> we are expecting the yen to strengthen a bit by the end of 2016. the real effective exchange rate at the end is already extremely weak. second, some of the private pension funds in japan are beginning to repatriate. if markets are wrong on both sides, as we think they are, then the current exchange rate for the yen is probably a little too weak and so it should strengthen. >> are you optimistic for japan in 2016? >> yes, we are, because we see

enough going on in the reform and deflation and we think the economy will do okay, and we need more progress on inflation and capital investment by businesses so inflation can help them invest more, so they can raise productivity growth. >> for tuesday's installment of our world economic outlook 2016 series, we will take a look at china. that's it for business move. i will leave you with the markets.

much of japan has been recording higher than average temperatures for this time of year. and we have this hour's weather update. good morning, jonathan. >> if you are looking for colder weather we are getting plenty of chilly weather further up in the northern portions of japan when it comes to the snow and the chilly conditions, but at least for us here in tokyo, it's going to be relatively warm as we go through the next few days. now, we were seeing temperatures

moving close to 15 degrees, and the average high in tokyo from january 1st to the 4th was around 14.7 degrees, and that's a record level when it comes to how warm it has been. plenty of sunshine and dry conditions are accompanying this particular weather pattern. as we move forward, areas to the north, as i mentioned, will still be dealing with colder weather and some areas may not even get above freezing for daytime highs. what is happen something a low pressure system is driving in the northwesterly wind pattern and that's bringing down temperatures, and so we are going to see a slight cooldown in tokyo as we go into wednesday and thursday, but still a little warmer for what we're supposed to see this time of year. back towards the west, high pressure is also filtering in some of the air, and that's creating a windy pattern down towards beijing. we are looking at some wetter weather, and as we go throughout the day on tuesday expect the showers to move to the east and these will get closer to western

japan on tuesday and wednesday and maybe bringing cloud cover as we go throughout the day. here's a look at the forecast for tuesday. tokyo, another warm day, 15 and partly cloudy skies and the colder weather affecting the beijing area, single digit highs coming up on tuesday and showers down towards taipei and hong kong, and here's a look at the forecast for the next few days. cold weather for you continues. high of negative 13 on thursday, so going to be chilly. look at this highs not getting above that freezing mark, and touching the freezing mark on wednesday but snow in the forecast. and notice a slight cooldown. a couple degrees cooler as you go to wednesday and thursday. taipei looking at wet weather through thursday. as we look at the forecast for europe, two different weather patterns taking place on the western side of the continent, a lot of rain associated with this so expect a wet and windy forecast as we go throughout the

day on monday and back towards the south and east, turkey, a low pressure pattern that will continue this snow event that has been continually move into turkey, and what is accompanying this is the arctic cold air shooting towards the north down towards the country and so there's the potential of seeing more snow, and this is a problem in terms of traffic and flying into the area as the system continues to move through the area and it's going to create a very white atmosphere when it comes to the snow. chilly temperatures coming up with some snow, and that's all the way to berlin, and much warmer and wetter down towards the south as we go through monday. wrapping up with a look at north america, we are watching closely what is happening along the mississippi river, and there are serious flooding problems due to heavy rainfall a couple weeks ago and that continues to drive down that moisture and so that's going to be something we have to

watch closely, relatively dry, but that water is going to take time before it starts to recede. there will be wet and snowy conditions to the north as we go through the day monday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

we're coming to you live from tokyo. people who are forced to flee their homes near the plant started the new year off at a special event that included prayers for good health and recovery from the disaster. the annual event took place in a shrine, and the young actors took place on a ladder. >> i hope everybody will be able to return. euflt residents were forced to leave the district but they have been allowed to go back to stay temporarily.

our thoughts are with those stillññóóóó

genie: you are watching "france 24." i'm genie godula in paris. these are the headlines. saudi arabia cuts diplomatic ties with iran after its embassy in tyrone is firebombed by -- in tehran is firebombed by an angry mob protesting the killing of a shiite cleric. saudi arabia says it is also