you're watching ne"newsline live in our studios in tokyo. dropping a bombshell, a key minister in the cabinet has quit. signs of activity. satellite pictures show north korea to be planning a

long-range ballistic missile launch. and thinning the herd. the selection process for the democrat being and republican candidates for u.s. president kicks off next week. we have developing news out of tokyo. a key minister in prime minister shinzo abe's cabinet says he will step down. economic revitalization minister, amari is stepping down. he says he wants to avoid the issue involving diet proceedings. >> translator: in consideration of my responsibility as a law maker to supervise my secretaries, my obligation to the cabinet minister and my self-respect as a politician, i decided today to resign from the cabinet. >> the allegations surfaced last week in a magazine. the article said a construction firm gave cash to amari's office in exchange for helping it

negotiate compensation from a government-backed agency. the weekly said amari received money worth $8500 at both his constituent offices. he admitted to receiving the money and said it was registered as political funds, but he said his staff spent separate funds from the company for private purposes, and he's responsible as a supervisor. amari has led negotiations for the trans-pacific partnership deal which reached a broad agreement last year. he was expected to attend the signing ceremony in new zealand. he's been in office since december 2012. prime minister abe has decided to appoint a successor. he is a former environment minister. some japanese seem perplexed by am am am ama

amari's resignation. >> translator: he was working to hard on the tpp, so it's a pity. but after the problems he's caused, i don't think he had any choice but to resign. >> translator: it will be important to stop important bills from getting through the diet. >> abe made the comment in upper house plenary session. >> translator: each politician, whether in the cabinet shall the ruling camp or opposition must be aware of his or her responsibility as a politician. they must remain accountable, to keep the trust of the people. minister amari should fully investigate the facts and give a full explanation. >> amari's first crack at explaining what happened did not sit well with authorities. >> translator: minister amari

says he remembers meeting with people from the construction company but his memory is vague about whether he received cash. for the general public, this defies common sense. >> he says the minister has the responsibility to dig out the truth about the serious allegations. we have more insight. how is amari's resignation being received among political circles? >> well, it came as a big surprise. prime minister abe said in the diet wednesday that he hoped amari would stay in the cabinet and complete his mission as minister. sources close to the cabinet said before amari would not resign until he signed the trans-pacific trade deal in new zealand next month. >> why did amari announce this now? >> he wanted to avoid inflicting more damage on the administration. he's in charge of japan's

negotiations, as you know. and the prime minister wants the diet to approve the tpp agreement. the cabinet also has to pass bills for the next fiscal year. he doesn't want to hinder the progress before the next upper house election coming up in july. >> needless to say, it is big blow to the abe administration. >> amari has been a key minister and a close friend with abe. abe will be criticized for having appointed him in the first place. that will mean getting approval for the tpp deal and the budget deal. all these things could affect the result of the upper house election, i think. >> thanks for your insight. in other news, satellite

imagery suggests north korea may be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile. increased activity has been detected at a site in the country's northwest, and it's renewing concerns in the region. south korea's defense ministry spokesperson says its military and u.s. forces are on high alert. >> translator: north korea carried out a surprise nuclear test earlier this month. they may carry out more provocations without notice. >> north korean scientists launched a knowledge-range ballistic missile in 2012, but they claimed it was to put a satellite into space. the launch pad was covered in eight days prior in a bid to evade satellite surveillance. and now it's covered again. last year north korea built what it calls a sat lied controlled

facili facility and it upgraded the launch pad to accommodate larger missiles. ministers gathered for a national security council meeting, where they decided to step up surveillance japan's maritime self-defense force sent an aegis destroyer. policymakers at japan's central bank are meeting to carve out a path through tough economic terrain. gene otani joins us for that plus all the other business headlines. >> three years ago, bank of japan officials promised to pull the country out of a downward spiral and put it on track to 2% inflation. we're not there yet, and now they have more hurdles to talk about at their two-day meeting

in too. chp o and jittery stock markets. they will downgrade the outlook from 1.2% to around 1%. but they expect the bank to maintain its outlook for the upcoming year. that's 1.8%. they'll be discussing whether they need to do it again. kuroda recently said there's been no decline in japan's basic price trend. japanese stocks moved without a clear direction on thursday and ended the day lower. many investors were looking fard to the results of the boj meeting. others were concerned about the u.s. fed's announcement that it's closely watching the turmoil in financial markets and leaving its rate unchanged. for more we go to mayu yoshida.

>> well, the fed's concerns about growth weighed on investor sentiment. but they're confident the boj will take some action on friday. so these worries have made buying a bit choppy. we saw the nikkei move higher then dip below the 17,000 level. it closed just a touch above that line. the broader topix lost .6%. stocks have especially lost momentum in the afternoon as more market players started taking wait and see stance ahead of the boj's announcement. now since the fed announced its rate hike in mid-december, the nikkei has dropped. if the boj decides not to ease this time, there's a risk that japanese markets will go into a tailspin. on the other hand, another money manager said that the boj should not play one of its last cards

for easing and use it for another time. so different market players are having different opinions on what the boj should do. on the way, currency dealers have worried that it could slip to the 110 territory if the boj maintains its monetary stance at this time. let's take a look at the biggest winner and loser. on the upside, advante w up. but srtphones supplr alps elecic plufrpgsed 17% because it unexpectedly downgraded its outlook for fiscal 2015. now the decision to keep rates on hold, the financial markets move rather choppy, and now it's time for the boj to make its move. that's making market players stay on the sidelines. trading on other mention marks was mixed following the feds' statemt.

in china, stocks continued their slide. the shanghai composite dropped almost 3% to close at a 14-month low. growing concerns over money flowing out of the market dampened sentiment. the fourth quarter gdp figures showed the philippines economy grew, beating expectations. the hang seng extended its gains to finish up 0.75%. sydney rebounded, 0.6%. a bounce in oil prices provided a bit of relief to the resource-heavy index. european union regulators have fined two major japanese companies about $150 million. mitsubishi electric and hitachi had taken part in a cartel and coordinated prices of auto parts. the european commission says the collusion took place between the two firms plus denso. the company's officials decided

among themselves on prices of car engine parts from 2004 to 2010, breaching the eu's anti-trust rules. denso was not fined, because it reported the cartel. the commission criticized the collusion saying it affected component costs for many car manufacturers in europe and ultimately hurt consumers. it will crackdown on efforts that infringe on free trade even if the coe clause takes place outside europe. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're following. south korean firm samsung blames a disappointing performance by his smartphone sales in 2015. the company made about $160 billion. down nearly 3% from 2014. but operating profits were up 5.5%. boosting the overall performance. samsung prey dibts weakening demand for tech products will make the year ahead a tough one. a south korean shipping firm

says it will open a sea-lane connecting shanghai and iwate prefecture. the prefecture was hit hard by the earthquake and tsunami five years ago. they are planning to work closely with a chinese solar panel operator that set up operations in northern japan and also expects to handle shipments for local exporters of processed seafood. chile has become the number one exporter of wine to japan, ending a run by france that lasted for more than three decades. a bottle of wine from the south american nation sells for an average of about $5. japanese consumers feel that's good value for t quality that's on offer. that's it for business news. i'll leave you with markets.

the u.s. presidential election isn't until november, but a key part of the seltion process is ramping up. on monday, individual states will begin selecting their democratic and republican candidates for president, starting with iowa. nhk world's alisha roehoads tak a look at the leading candidates. >> reporter: hillary clinton served as first lady and secretary of state for over 20 years. she's center stage in the run for the white house. >> i bieve that i have the experience and understanding to

be able to chart a course that will not only keep us safe at home but keep our world more secure and more prosperous and peaceful. >> reporter: her experience is both a blessing and a curse. as many voters are now seeking a candidate who will bring change rather than a continuation of the current political system. senator bernie sanders is proving a worthy opponent. he's out to confront income inequality and wall street. he attracts young voters and is gaining support in key states. these two are expected to race in a deadlock in the early states for the democratic nomination. >> ladies and gentlemen, welcome these republican candidates for president of the united states. >> reporter: on the republican side, the field remains crowded with 12 candidates. business and real estate mogul

donald trump remains on top, despite controversial comments on a range of issues. his bold style is popular among republicans who are tired of washington politics. conservative hard-ler, senator ted cruz is challenging trump's lead in iowa, the nation's first battleground state. >> the election to the president of the united states to lead the mightiest country on the face of the earth begins, and much of it is decided in pizza ranches and junior high gymnasiums and church fellowship halls in iowa. >> reporter: appealing as mainstream conservative, senator marco rubio and former florida govern jeb bush are struggling for the support of moderate republican voters. both hope to change the tide of the race which thus far has been dominated by anti-establishment moves. last weekend, reports sir fased that former new york city mayor is considering a potential

third-party run for the white house, as the founder of a global information firm, his net worth is even higher than donald trumps. who will occupy the white house next year? the next ten months will be a grueling decision process for americans. for now, all eyes are on iowa where the nation's first caucus will take place on february 1st. alicia rhoads, nhk world, washington. people in norway are protesting their government's move to deport more than 5,000 asylum seekers who entered the country from russia. hundreds of people marched through the capital oslo. they're calling on authorities to protect the rights of asylum seekers who are mainly from the middle east. demonstrations have been held across the country. the government has already forced more than 200 people, including syrians to return to russia. it claims they had proper russian visas and their safety is guaranteed there. nordic countries had received

large numbers of migrants on humanitarian grounds. calls to change that policy have been growing over recent months over security concerns and the financial burden. the u.n. is believed to have invited representatives of syrian government and anti-government forces. russia supported the idea of inviting the kurdish group, but turkey and saudi arabia were opposed. the exclusion was revealed when france's minister said the envoy hadn't been sent an invitation. the friction between the countries involved is key to starting the peace talks. they say resolving infighting among anti-government forces is another faor. the negoationsre due to start friday in geneva. w in the battl o machinesersushumans chalk

one up f themaches. artifial intelgence researers say they've made a major break through. a computer program was able to top a professional human player ofhe boardame goh for the first time. >> reporter: the r actn of the goh chpion, after losin five saight ges to a maine. never fore has the comter manad to best a top human player of the ancient game. the details of the defeat were released on wednesday. the program is called alpha go and was developed by google researchers. computersave taught the best human players, seen as a measure of human interlength, including chess and back gammon. but with go, humans have managed to maintain the upper hand, until now, that is. go is playe wit round, black and white stones on a square

grid. the point of the game, occupy as much territory as possible. with 361 intersepctions on the bod, go i extreme compcated when compareto essr the japanese game shogi. the program relies on what is called a deep learning approach. the software learns from the game and comes up with new collections of strategy. >> translator: in go, the computer needs to recognize situations and understand the meaning of patterns, which is difficult even for humans. that's why go is a good example for developing a.i. >>eporter:heext challge for alpha go? goingo tak on onef the wod's t playe i mah. for e researchs, ough, they are lking even further down the road. >> we areery excit about it, but it is just one rung on the

ladder towards solving artificial intelligence. >> reporter: google researchers y they hope to entually use artifial intelgence for real-world applications, including disasteredictio d mical sciees. nhk worl >> excitg news,ut b timidati. yuji,hanks for tt repor th current reading is 52 degrees fahrenheit. sayaka mori starts with the tornado in florida. >> cars were overturned and houses damaged. let's go to media from the south of the state. a possible tornado ripped through southeastern florida wednesday. strong winds flipped vehicles over, including a 18-wheel

tractor-trailer. an injury was reported in the storm. one of broward college buildings were damaged in addition to a nearby apartment complex. about a week ago, the florida peninsula was battered by deadly tornados. typically about three tornados occur within the entire month of january. so we've had more than that. now the risk of severe weather including tordos wil ctinue to thursd, and tne a lookg at me rain to fall ross this area. so flooding is going to be a concern as well. as we go into friday, things will be clearing up. now across the opposite side of the continent, there is a strong low affecting the western areas, like, such as canada, as well as the u.s. you're looking at heavy rain to fall from the north of california up into southern oregon. so flooding is going to be a concern. and mountains will see heavy snowfall and inland areas will see freezing rain. and by the end of this week, another potent storm system will move into this area.

and temperatures are expected to be quite warmer than normal in seattle as well as vancouver. denver at 14 degrees. slightly warmer than normal in washington, d.c as well as new york city on your thursday. now in the northern hemisphere, record-breaking rainfall felin melbr melbourne. we have video. a severe storm called heavy rainfall in portions of the area wednesday. buildings were damaged and cars submerged. 18 people had to be rescued from their homes. the cleanup continued into thursday, with residents attempting to salvage what they could from the storm. now the pk is over, but a tropical low pressure will continue to cover the southern areas, such as new south wales, tasmania and victoria. so more rain is in the forecast along with thunderstorms. thunderstorms expected on friday, and temperatures are going to be about 30 degrees.

melbourne, it's going to be a chilly day, 20 degrees for the high, but as you go into sunday, the temperatures are expected to go up. and finally, over asia, near record rain is falling across the south. hunan province had 237 millimeters of rain. and the system will likely move into central portions of japan, including tokyo. and the system will likely drag very cold air from the north. so, as we go into friday, tokyo may see slaet or snow. going down to single digits as we go into friday. and across the continent, zero degrees in beijing, minus 21 degrees in ulan bator.

now here's your extended forecast around the globe. recapping our top story, a key minister in shinzo abe's

cabinet says he's stepping down. economic revitalization minister amari made the announcement in a news confence to explain allegations of mishandling funds. he doesn't want it to affect diet proceedings. >> translator: in csiderati of my responsibility as a law maker to supervise my secretaries, my obligation to the cabinet minister and my self-respect as a politician, i decided today to resign from the cabinet. >> the allegations surfaced last week in a magazine. the article said a construction firm gave cash to amari's office in exchange for helping it negotiate compensation from a vernment-backed agency. the weekly said amari received personally money worth $8500. amari admitted to receiving the money and said it was regtered as political funds. but he said his staff spent

sprats funds from the company as private of rae sources. amari has led japan's negotiations for the trans-pacific free trade deal. he's been in office since december 2012. >> translator: mr. amari has worked very hard for the past three years on the tpp negotiations. and in pushing ahead with abenomics. so this is a great pity. but i'm going to respect mr. amari's decision. >> prime minister abe has decided to appoint know bu toe each har ra as his successor. he has served as transport

minister and environment minister. newsroom tokyo will have more on this story at the top of the hour. in the meantime, stay with us here on nhk. thanks for watching this hour's "newsline."

>> welcome to the france 24 newsroom, and molly hall. moving on from past differences and starting fresh, that is fasano honey's message -- that is fasano honey -- hassan rouhani's message to france. laurent gbagbo stands trial at the international terminal court . the internation