it's 7:00 p.m. on a friday here in japan, i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to "newsline." here are some of the stories we're following this hour. a tougher response. the u.s. congress wants new economic sanctions on north korea following claims of a hydrogen bomb test. share prices in tokyo have fallen for the fifth straight day. that's their worst new year

opening since trading restarted in the tokyo stock market after world war ii. and the attack on charlie hebdo a year ago shattered france's security. an expert warns cracking down on muslims won't fix the problems. a growing number of countries are considering ways to increase pressure on north korea after its claim of testing a hydrogen bomb. among them are members of the u.s. congress. they're expected to vote in the coming days on imposing heavier sanctions on pyongyang. house majority leader kevin mccarthy and ed royce called the obama's administration's response weak and inadequate. they say the house will consider stronger legislation against threats to the u.s. the legislation would prohibit north korea from accessing hard currency. it would also allow authorities to seize the u.s. assets of people involved in nuclear proliferation activities. democrat house minority

leader nancy pelosi has expressed sport fexpress ed support for the legislation, she says it has the strong backing of both parties. seoul responded to north korea's claims by increasing troops and weapons near the border and it's broadcasting nonstop anti-pyongyang messages to the other side. defense ministry officials say they're using loud speakers to air criticisms of the north korean leadership. they'relso playi south korean news, music and appeals for human rights. authorities have sealed off observation decks and other areas near the border to protect the safety of tourists. it's far from the first time the south has broadcast propaganda messages across the dmz. over a decade ago, they were a common occurrence. nhk world has this report. >> reporter: i'm close to an observety that tourists

regularly visit. today, though, access beyond this point is restricted because of safety concerns over the resumption of broadcasts. in seoul, news of the resumption of propaganda broadcast is being greeted with mixed opinions. >> translator: if we show a weak attitude towards north korea, they will think they can do anything by ak toughly supporting the government's move. >> translator: i'm afraid the broadcast will cause problems if it lasts long. it will raise tensions and citizens will become anxious. >> reporter: they used to regularly blast anti-north korea messages across the demilitarized zones. last august, the administration of park geun-hye resumed propaganda broadcasts for the first time in 11 years. the move was in retaliation to land mine blasts that seriously injured two south korean soldiers.

the north has strongly protested the decision. it threatened military action against the south. and after an exchange of artillery fire across the border, seoul agreed to turn off the loud speakers in an attempt to ease animosity. the agreement was dependent on the north's behavior. park's administration said this week's nuclear test is a reason to once again broadcast across the dnz. this expert on north korean nuclear issues thinks the north may retaliate by, again, firing artillery shells at the propaganda speakers. >> it seems this south korean government is braving the risk of this escalation in the belief that we should not let north korea's bad behavior go unpunished. >> reporter: he then gave the reasoning behind the south's decision to issue a firm response.

>> nuclear capabilities in the hands of north korea is destabilizing the military powers on the peninsula and also it instigates the government to believe it can commit a conventional provocation with impunity. >> reporter: in the speech, north korean leader kim jong-un mentioned improving interkorean relations. the events of the past few days, though, are driving the countries further apart. >> that was nhk world. japan's defense minister joined those around the world questioning north korea's claims. gen nakantani says a hydrogen bomb is more powerful than an atomic bomb and would generate more seismic waves when detonated. >> translator: the scale of the tremor was little different from the country's three past nuclear tests, so it's hard to conclude that the explosion was a normal

hydrogen bomb test. >> but nakantani says pyongyang's nuclear technology is believed to have reached a fairly advanced level. he says north korea could have intentionally downsized the blast. nakantani hasn't ruled out the possibility that pyongyang may launch ballistic missiles or engage in other provocative acts in reaction to the international criticism. officials at a u.s. think tank are refuting the claim but they say a satellite photo indicates there had been some sort of activity at north korea's nuclear testing site. officials at the institute for science and international security shared this image, they say it was taken on wednesday over the northeastern part of the country about 40 minutes after the test. vehicles carrying what appears to be instrumentation equipment can be seen near the west entrance to some underground tunnels. the security officials say the roads leading to the entrance are relatively free of snow, indicating they've been heavily used. and the road leading to the

south entrance also reveals signs of frequent vehicle use over the past few weeks. japanese lawmakers are ratcheting up pressure on the country diet members. both chambers have adopted a res lesion condemning pyongyang. they say japan is the only country to have suffered atomic bombings cannot condone these reckless acts. the resolution calls on the abe administration to lead debates at the u.n. security council as a nonpermanent member and to consider tightening sanctions against pyongyang. china's economic and stock market worries are far from over and that's spilling over into others. gene otani is here with the latest. >> thanks, james. share prices in tokyo fell for the fifth day in a row. that's the worst new year's

start since the market re-opened after world war ii. our business reporter, mayu yoshida has been tracking the numbers for us from the tokyo stock exchange. >> the market was flooded with sell orders from the begning of the week on concerns over the chinese economy and falling oil prices as tensions rose in the middle east and then came the north korean nuclear test. so it was a really crazy, crazy week. today on friday, we saw a lot of volatility across the region. tokyo's definitely no exception. the nikkei gave up all gains and eventually closed down 0.4%. the topix closed down 0.75%. that extended the losing streak to five straight days since the first trading day of the year, the worst weekly start since the stock exchange opened after the war. it was not a happy new year. as i said, there was china, the middle east and north korea all weighing on stocks. nikkei lost 7% in one week. that's more than 1,300 points.

volatility in china drove down the markets this week. one told me that scraping the circuit breaker system will help stabilize the market but says it will take time to remove the panic, especially among retail investors. the shanghai composite ended up 2%. that's after falling as much as 2% and rising as much as 3%. the people's bank of china raised guidance rate for the yuan for the first time in nine days. the fall is easing after continuing to hit five-year lows throughout the wk. the dollar lost over 2% this week, slipping to the lower 117 level on thursday. all in all, china sent big waves into the financial markets but now we're seeing stabily across the region. i'm mayu yoshida, reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. >> mayu, thanks. checking other markets in the asia-pacific region. sydney's s&p asx 200 continued to drop for a sixth day.

it posted its sharpest weekly fall since 2011. market watchers say investors are cautious due to lower oil prices and uncertainty in china. hong kong's hang seng index rose just over 0.5%, down more than 6% from last thursday, the worst weekly loss in more than four years. seoul's kospi rose 0.7%. shares in singapore rebounded after hitting a new four-year low on thursday. mumbai snapped a four-day losing streak. china's handling of its currency since the beginning of the year raised eyebrows among global investors. analysts believe the authorities have heavily intervened in the market, buying the yuan to profit up. we earlier spoke with ku lang, senior fellow at the fujitsu institu institute. >> actually, china's government still thinks they can control

the foreign exchange rate and the government also want to depreciate the currency foreign exchange rate in order to encourage export to support economic development. so from last year, chinese government depreciated the currency and also they want to strengthen the competitiveness of the chinese manufacturing export industries. i think the depreciation of the currency can encourage export industry. but a sharp trend of the depreciation that will encourage that flight to, you know, united states, we find that a lot of investors shifted their effort

from chuina's mainland to unite states. so the foreign reserve in china declined from last year. so i think it will mean currency crisis in the near future if the government continues with the policy. >> the circuit breaker mechanism was introduced in the chinese stock market. it's supposed to restore calm. many around the world have similar ones in place. do you think the chinese authorities go the it wrong this time, made it more difficult to do things on the chinese stock markets and maybe they realize the stock market may be more difficult to control than initially expected. >> well, actually, the circuit breaker is not a problem. the problem is that regulators can stop trade and the regulators can close the market but they cannot stabilize the market.

and the government needs to do more effort to stabilize the market. to do so, first of all, they need to reform the stock exchange mark tote strengthen the transparency and the government. they also need to privatize the enterprises, the state-owned enterprises and also the government needs to stop the intervent the market. i think it's still -- there's still a long way for china's government to realize to construct a real market around the stock exchange market. >> officials at china's central bank say foreign currency reserves dropped by a record amount last month. some analysts point out that foreign investors and enterprises are moving their funds out of the country. the people's bank of china announced that foreign reserves

stood at $3.3 trillion in december. that's down nearly $108 billion from november. the record drop exceeded 100 billion for the first time since officials began releasing the data in 1999. investors on the foreign exchange have been selling the yuan against the dollar and other foreign currencies on the back of china's economic slowdown. the records of a meeting on monetary policy at japan's central bank show polymakers hotly debated the introduction of supplementary easing measures last month. three members voted again the move. bank of japan officials have, for the first time, released a summary of the opinions expressed at the monetary policy meeting. the proposed measures included buying exchange traded funds, supporters said that would help smooth implementation of the bank's easing policy but not everyone agreed. one policymaker said the move would alert investors to the limits of easing and make

communication with the market more difficult. the supplementary measures were eventually adopted by a majority vote of 6-3. japanese government officials have decided not to seek approval of a nuclear power pact with india at the current diet session. prime minister shinzo abe visited india last month and came back with a principle agreement. the parliament needs to approve the deal first in order to move ahead. in a senior foreign ministry official says the content of the pact needs to be clear enough to get through unexpected rigorous debate at the diet. arguments may include india's nuclear tests inhe past and its current state of not being a signatory to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. other government officials suggest they don't want to move ahead too quickly with the deal before an upper house election this summer. here's a look at some of the

other business stories we're following. a key barometer of japan's economic health declined in november. officials at the cabinet office say the coincident index of economic conditions was 111.6, down 1.7 points from october. the officials say mild weather slowed sales of winter clothing. shipments of cars and mobile phones also fell. foreign investors sold more shares than they bought in japan's major exchanges last year. that's the first time since the 2008 global financial crash. tokyo stock exchange officials say the investors sold about $2 billion above what they kboboug in shares. many began hedging risks last summer over concerns of the chinese economy. japan's finance minister may impose additional sanctions.

t tokyo partially lifted financial sanctions on pyongyang in 2014. that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets. people if france have marked the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack on the satirical magazine charlie hebdo. memorial services were held in paris. but public kerns over terrorism

remain high after police managed to ward off another terror attack. nhk world has the details. >> reporter: a man tried to force his way into a police station in northern paris. they say he was carrying a knife, wearing a fake suicide belt and chanting god is great. they have begun investigating the incident. the attack came one year after 17 people died when islamic extremists targeted the office of charlie hebdo at a supermarket in paris. people gathered on thursday to mourn the victims. they laid flowers and lit candles.

french president francois hollande visited the headquarters in paris and paid respects as well. >> translator: reactions of the terrorists are coordinated from abroad. they're trained, notably by islamic state, and it's this organization that sponsors terror-related crimes, not only in france. that's why i say we are at war. >> reporter: in november, the french capital was the site of another coordinated terrorist attack that left 130 people dead. the government declared a nationwide state of emergency immediately afterward. it has since been extended until the end of february. >> translator: this crisis is spreading throughout the country. >> translator: i'm so scared. i'm afraid that more bad things will happen.

>> reporter: an expert on french politics has expressed concern that the attacks have only added to the anti-muslim sentiment in france. >> translator: more people now think that islamism and the issue of migrants should be dealt with strictly. the entire country is drifting to the right. it seems that france is moving to boost security measures and toughen controls against migrants. >> reporter: professor yamati says there's a need to express solutions from the view point of social issues facing the muslim community. >> translator: no matter how hard they crack down on terrorists, potential terrorists

could still be born. unless the climate is transformed. a greater focus should be placed on the situation surrounding migrants and their frustrations. >> reporter: france now finds itself at a crucial juncture, making anti-terrorism measures tougher to cope with islamic state militants while dealing with the issues facing migrants. nhk world. >> thank you. a high-speed ferry traveling between the korean peninsula and japan crashed into what appears to have been a whale on friday morning. it was carrying 184 passengers, eight people were injured. officials at jr kyushu jet ferry say the ship left busan before 10:00 a.m. local time for

the japanese city of fukuoka. the injured have been taken to a hospital in busan. there have been similar collisions between high-speed boats and whales in the same waters. you're watching "newsline" coming to you live from our studios here in tokyo. we'll be starting a three-day holiday weekend in japan. for us here in tokyo, the weather outlook is mostly fair with higher than normal temperatures. jonathan oh joins us with the latest on the year's first tropical storm in the pacific. jonathan? >> it looks like this particular tropical storm is not going to be moving toward any major land masses. that's the good news on this whole situation, but it is pretty interesting to see it in january. we'll keep an eye on it, just to make sure it doesn't cause any problems. just to give you some perspective, we're in the pacific ocean, the central pacific, that's hawaii, the chain of islands right there. pali is located south and west of there. this system is not expected to

move anything. it's going to try to spin around itself. that's just about it. so hopefullyt will leave everyone else alone and stay over ocean as we g through the weekend. as we go to east asia, we are looking at a cooling trend for many portions of the continent. it's been fight cool, in fact, for the koreaneninsula and china because of this northerly flow tapping into this very cold air, way up here in mongolia and moving down toward the south. we are expecting single digit readings for highs as we go through the weekend as well. meanwhile, over japan, we have a low pressure system that's picking up moisture and that's interacting with that cold air coming in from the north. it is flipping over the sea of japan. that's leading to some of this snowier weather. if you're a big skiing fan, this is what you're going to be looking for as we go into the weekend. we're seeing colder temperatures. we're going to see a return to more of a normal weather pattern in terms of high temperatures as

we go through the weekend. for the snowy outlook, we're looking at anywhere from 20 to 30 centimeters of snowfall during the weekend. be prepared for that. here's a look at the forecast for saturday. 11 in tokyo, 1 in seoul, 3 in beijing. chilly up towards mongolia. here's a look at the forecast through the weekend and into monday. vladivostok and harbin looking at temperatures below zero. naga nagano, you're one place in japan that will see skiing take place. tokyo getting cooler once again by monday as the cooler air mass moves in. as we look at the forecast for north america, this spinning storm off the atlantic coast will be interesting to watch. may have a chance to develop into something more tropical in nature. we'll keep an eye on that. back toward the west, a little bit of a break for the pacific coast. it has been one wet week so far,

because of the el nino temperature setup, meaning warmer waters that continue to pump in some of the low pressure areas. as we go into the weekend, i think at least for friday we'll see a drier pattern. may see the rain and maybe even the snow return by saturday. now, as you look at the forecast for the eastern side of the united states and canada, looking at a mix of snow and also some possible freezing rain, yikes, that's not a good thing. thunderstorms down toward texas and the western portions of the deep south. be prepared to hear some rumbles of thunder as we go throughout the day friday. wet for the eastern coast and dry for the western coast as we go through friday. a quick look at europe. it has been a very busy, busy and windy weather watt earn for the western portions of the continent. we'll see that continue. we see the rain continue down to madrid. further toward the north, chilly, chilly air continues to control the weather into the scandinavian peninsula.

bundle up as we go throughout the day. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extend outlook.

one more item before we leave you. the japanese government has unveiled the itinerary for the emperor and empresses visit to the philippines later this month. it will be the couple's first trip to the country in 54 years. officials say emperor aquito and the empress will leave tokyo on january 26th. on the following day the couple will attend a welcoming cerem y ceremony. he will deliver a speech for hope of friendly relations between the two countries. later, the couple will visit the tomb of the unknown soldier. the emperor and empress will visit a monument as well. the monument was built by the japanese government for the victims of the war in the pacific. e couple will visit a linguistic training facility for people who want to work as nurses and caregivers here in japan. they'll also meet people of

japanese descent. if you've ever been to a public bath house in japan, you've probably noticed the colorful mural on the wall in th8úxú

molly: welcome to the "france 24 ." newsroom. i am molly hall. traces of explosives and fingerprints -- belgian authorities reached -- release the findings of a december raid on a brussels apartment. it is the latest development in an investigation to the november 13 paris attacks. a man wielding a meat cleaver and a fake suicide vest is shot dead in paris. his identity remains unclear.