hello. "newsline" comes to you live from our studios here in tokyo. i'm james tengan. here are some of the stories we're following this hour. counting down. new satellite images show activity around a north korean launch pad that could be preparation for a rocket launch. facing a setback. u.n. officials have suspended negotiations to end syria's

civil war as opposing sides blame each other for the impasse. and early signs of spring. we'll show you cherry trees south of tokyo in bloom earlier than usual. as the days count down to north korea's planned launch of what it calls a satellite carrying rocket, experts are pointing to more signs of preparations. they say new satellite images and a state media report indicate the country is getting ready. the photos titled countdown to launch on were released on a johns hopkins university website. the researchers say the photos were taken monday. they say nine vehicles are now visible where there was only one last week. they say that level of activity is similar to that seen before a launch in 2012. another sign comes from north korea's state newspaper. it has reported the country's leader attended the first meeting ever between the ruling

parties central and military committees. it took place on tuesday, the same day the north announced its rocket intentions. analysts suspect that kim jung unmay have given launch instructions at the meeting. north korea notified organizations that it will launch a satellite between february 8th and 25th. much of the international community thinks that the country instead plans to test a ballistic missile. nhk has learned that north korea could be planning to use a mobile launcher on the country's east coast. they have detected that the launcher has been moved. they are usually kept in buildings and under ground. in march 2014, the country fired two ballistic missiles from mobile launchers. they travel about 650 kilometers and landed in the sea of japan. meanwhile japan is taking action to protect itself.

on one front, it's stepping up diplomatic efforts and on the other it's preparing for the worst. japanese foreign minister fumio kishida met with u.s. ambassador caroline kennedy on wednesday. >> translator: we agreed that we will work closely to urge pyongyang to exercise restraint in cooperation with south korea and other related nations. >> the vice foreign minister held separate talks with the ambassadors of china and russia. they agree their countries will coordinate a response at the u.n. security council. state minister for foreign affairs is meeting ambassadors with nine nonpermanent members of the u.n. security council. defense ministry officials believe if a missile is launched, the path would be similar to the north's launch in 2012. in preparation, the ministry is deploying two destroyers with advanced radar systems and intercepters to the east china

sea. it's also sending additional air defense missiles to the area near the planned flight path. and it has already set up intercepters around tokyo. the government will brief officials across japan on a communications plan in the event a missile is launched. brazilian president has declared war on the zika virus. she's seen her country bear the brunt on the outbreak since last may. on national tv, she said brazil won't be beaten by the mosquitos that spread the virus. >> translator: the government is placing all financial, technological and human resources necessary in this fight in defense of life. we have even partnered with many international laboratories so that we can develop a vaccine as

fast as possible. >> she reiterated at least 200,000 soldiers will join the fight. they will go to homes across the country to raise awareness and destroy mosquito breeding browns. she -- breeding grounds. brazil has 4,000 qirmeds or suspect cases that scientists think may have been caused by zika. the symptoms include abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains. the world health organization is urging people to protect themselves from mosquito bites. >> what we do know is that almost 100% of the cases are caused by transmission by mosquitos. for w.h.o. their most important thing to do is to control people's exposure to mosquitos.

>> w.h.o. officials say people should use mosquito repellent and cover up with more clothesings. they should keep doors closed and sleep under mosquito nets. the virus has reached 32 countries and territories mostly in latin america and also on islands around the world. nhk has learned that emperor akihito and empress michiko are set to visit the three northeastern prefectures hard hit by the 2011 disasters. the imperial couple will attend a government-hosted memorial service in tokyo on march 11th to mark the fifth anniversary of the tsunami, earthquake, and nuclear disaster. officials say they will embark on a three-day trip to miyagi and fukushima prefectures on march 16th. the couple will first stop in fukushima where they are expected to meet with tsunami and nuclear evacuees working to rebuild the region.

they will move on to miyagi and on march 17th, they're expected to visit a rebuilt seafood processing plant in onagawa. plans are also being made for the couple to visit a community near onagawa station. it will be the couple's first visit to onagawa since the disaster. the emperor and empress are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of a national athletic meet in iwaki prefecture later this year. they will be meeting with survivors of the disaster there as well. executives at one of japan's best known brands appear to be closer to decisions with regard to their firm. gene otani has more details on that. >> thanks, james.

executives at struggling japanese brand sharp appeared closer to the plan from taiwan's hon hai industry. the executives were also weighing a rival offer from the government-backed innovation network corporation of japan, incj. until last week they were leaning toward the incj bid, which amounts to roughly $2.5 billion. government officials were hopeful they could keep sharp's advance lcd tv technology in the country but the people at-on -- hon hai have responded at the last moment by raising their offer from $5 billion to nearly $6 billion. hon hai's ceo and chairman met sharp executives late last month to out line his proposal. he promised to protect jobs. more members at sharp have agreed to give hon hai preferred negotiating rights. the news prompted many investors to snap up shares in the company. sharp's stock price rose by more than 16% on the day. analysts say investors are hoping the firm will finally find a way to rebuild itself. they will make a final decision

in about a month. the founder of sharp launched the business in 1912. he started out by making belt buckles from a factory in kyo. >> reporter: a few years later he revolutionized the mechanical pencil known in japan as the sharp pencil, a product that gave the company its name. he and his staff suffered great losses in a great earthquake in 1923 and relocated and started afresh. this time they focused on electrical goods. they were the first in japan to produce crystal radios and in 1933, they started producing tvs. they also invented the pocket

calculator. 1988 was a turning point. sharp engineers created the first lcd panel. executives saw the technology as the future of the company. in 2004, sharp started shipping lcd panels from its factory and in 2009 it opened the world's biggest lcd plan in osaka prefecture. the company pumped about $8.5 billion into the plant. the investment weighed heavily on its business. fierce competition with south korean rivals started to take a toll. then the global financial crisis hit. for the fiscal year ending in march 2013, executives reported a net loss of about $4.6 billion. it was the biggest in the firm's history.

>> translator: we will do everything we can to reinvent sharp based on our policies of honesty and ingenuity. we'll develop everything we have. >> reporter: at that point sharp shifted its focus to small lcd panels for smart phones but demand started to slow. for the year ending 2015, sharp posted another net loss. the innovation network corporation of japan offered to invest in sharp's display business. the government-backed firm entered talks with the industry ministry which agreed to oversee the bid. but taiwanese company also came forward with a rescue plan and at the end of the last month the ceo met with sharp's board and

upped his firm's offer. they have pledged to spend more than twice as much as the government-backed fund. the people at another top electronics japanese company are trying to build their way out of a hole. toshiba executives are seeing their way clear of an aounting scanl. now they are fecasting record loss for the year ending in march. they are likely to occur a net loss $6 billion, considerably worse than their initial predict of $4.6 billion. sales were down 6% from the same period in 2014. during that period, the firm made an operating loss of about $2 billion. the exec sieves say -- executives say shipments have been lack luster and earnings from their semiconductor business have faltered.

restructuring costs have ballooned. toshiba says managers across the firm will pay a price in the form of salary reductions. dp but the news wasn't so good for the nikkei overall. >> reporter: stocks hit a one-week low because of the strongest yen and earnings do you understand grade by big names like panasonic and hitachi. let's take a look at the closing levels here in tokyo on thursday. the nikkei briefly dipped below 17,000 but managed to recoup some of the early losses but it still closed down .085%. now, looking at currencies, the dollar sank to the upper 117 level compared to the 121 yen

range we saw earlier this week. a top official at the u.s. federal reserve tempered expectations about a future rate hike and disappointing data in the service sector also weighed on the dollar. sharp's stock rows almost 16%. investors were more than relieved that sharp's finally chosen its saviour. a couple of sharp's rivals were the loser, hitachi and panaso c panasonic. analysts pointed out that markets are overreacting with their down grade. long term investors are staying on the sideline. it will be too long before

short-term investors step in and by stock. exporters could be facing with a struggle with the yen. thanks for that. other markets in the asia-pacific region enjoyed a better day than the nikkei. seoul kospi reended. a rally in oil prices. the investor sentiment improved after more money was pumped into the market. hong kong 19,1838 for the close. snapped a three-day losing streak. a weaker u.s. dollar eased fears that money would flow out of the market. representatives from 12

pacific rim nations have signed off on one of the world's biggest free trade pacts. they are gathered in new zealand to formally approved the trade partnership. ministers from japan, the u.s., and other member countries attended a ceremony in auckland. they put their signatures to a deal that would create an economic zone comprising 800 million people and accounting for nearly 40% of global gdp. afterwards they got together for a joint news conference. >> this is the product of a diverse set of countries, large and small, developed and developing, asian and western hemispheric countries and reflects our collective view of the appropriate standards for this region. >> legislatures in each of the 12 nations will have to approve the terms before the tpp can take effect. south korea and indonesia have also expressed interest in joining the deal. chief negotiators from member countries will reportedly et toiscuss h to brinthose tions in.

here's a look at some of the other business stories we're following. a seen you don't remember government officials says china will set a target growth rate this year of 6.5 and 7%. his remark comes ahead of a meeting of the national people's congress in march. that's when officials will agree on a target. honda motor says it will recall about 2.2 million vehicles with potentially faulty airbags made by japanese firm takata. it applies to 11 types of cars sold in the u.s., including 2016 models. in december, a man driving a ford pick up died that contained

the same type of inflater. that's it. i'll leave you with the business markets. ♪ ♪ united nations officials have put peace talks aimed at ending syria's civil war on hold. the negotiations were rocky from the start and the u.n. special envoy paused them wednesday night. he said they will resume in three weeks. >> there is more work to be done, not only by us, we have done our part, but the stakeholders who have been telling us the countries go and start this initiative.

>> the syrian government and opsition groups are blaming each other for the suspension. president bashir assad said they couldn't negotiate because the opposition failed to present a unified team. opposition groups say they won't talk until the government stops air strikes. fierce fighting has continued even during the peace talks. some observers blame a major government offensive supported by russia on wednesday for the halt in talks. a plane passenger has died as a result of a midair explosion over somalia that tore a hole in the fuselage. the pilot was able to return the aircraft to the capital mogadishu for an emergency landing. authorities are investigating the cause of the blast. the dead man is believed to have fallen out of the hole. two others were hurt in the incident. the daallo flight was carrying 70 passengers. somalia's deputy ambassador to the u.n. was on board. he said he heard a loud noise and saw smoke for a few seconds.

when visibility improved -- >> we saw a hole in the plane. and the first thing you worry about is, you know, can we really make it? it was that worry and feeling was there. but it was -- it was really traumatizing. >> reporter: no one has claimed responsibility. somali aviation officials say they will seek foreign assistance in their investigation. the region has been grappling with the islamic extremist group al shabaab for years. the group has been behind a series of deadly attacks. japan is still weeks away from the end of winter but some people in parts of the country are getting a burst of spring earlier than usual.

our meteorologist sayaka mori traveled south of tokyo to see cherry blossoms and she has the forecast for when the rest of the country becomes awash in pink. >> reporter: this is the call of the cherry, it's an early bloomer, famous for vivid pink blossoms that last a long time. i'm in the town of ikaza, birthplace of the ikaza cherry. it's sunny but breezy and cold. it's the coldest time of year, but some of the flowers are already in bloom, because the temperatures during the first half of the winter were warmer than normal and they started to come out a week earlier than average. along this river, there are about 800 trees and within the next couple of weeks, we can enjoy this beautiful sight. the local river is lined with 800 of the kawaza cherry trees. they create a fantastic scene in february and march. an annual blossom viewing festival draws about 800,000 people each year. this year's festival will start next wednesday.

now, besides the kawaza cherry tree there are about 300 species of cherry blossoms. the most popular one has light pink and white petals. and yesterday the japan weather association released the cherry blossom forecast. according to it, the flowers may start to come out around march 25th in fukuoka, two days later than normal, then march 26 in tokyo and around may 2nd in the city of sapporo. these are the expected dates of flowering. so it takes about one week to reach full bloom. so the peak season will be around april and may. so if you're planning to visit japan, don't miss this opportunity. >> bound to generate lots of tourism. sayaka mori reporting from shizuoka prefecture.

if only conditions were like this in the u.s. deep south as jonathan oh tells us. >> for most of the deep south we should be seeing calmer weather but we're dealing with the remnants of this particular syst astushes tard the east. here's the line of storms pushing toward the atlantic ocean. it's a slow-ming ason. 's going to bng some rai d psibly residual thunderstorms for the carolinas and florida as we go forward into today, thursday. now, i want to show you some video coming out of the deep south because this is a very active system. starting off in alabama, look at that funnel cloud where tornadoes touched down in the state tuesday. the storm damage dozens of homes, toppled trees and knocked out power. thankfully no fatalities or major injuries were reported. the midwest and plains were under winter storm warnings monday night into tuesday as a massive snowstorm went through the area.

storm why weather affected u.s. travel. we're talking thousands of delays and hundreds of cancellations and here's more detail on some of the storms that took place on wednesday. a tornado reported in lexington county in south carolina and another one in liberty county in georgia and 13 wind damage reports in three states from north carolina, south carolina, into the deep south. we're going to see the system pushing toward the east. and i mention this is a slow mover at this point. so going forward in time. look at this. thunderstorms possible from the carolinas to florida and we are watching for flash flooding possibilities in western florida, up to 100 millimeters of rain possible. you need to look out if you are driving around as this system moves off the coast. that's not the end of the story when it comes to the weather in north america. we have another system that's pushg towardhe ea. lo of sw for the upper rockies and then we have another area of moisture from the

pacific look out that wet weather coming into the area not only for thursday but also into friday as well. umbrellas needed for vancouver and seattle. dry toward the south into los angeles and i want to point out that we are seeing a big warming trend as well. some areas seeing awfully lot for this time of year. los angeles at 30 for tuesday next week. so make sure that you find ways to stay cool because into las vegas and san diego all looking at very hot weather. look at the normals here. we're talking up to 10 degrees warmer in some places than normal. speaking of transitioning into spring and warm weather. let me show you the temperatures in tokyo. 9.5 degrees. okinawa a little over 22 degrees and we will be seeing this type of normal temperature for the central portions of japan as we go forward in time. we have a front moving through the northern portions of the country and that's going to bring the possibility of some

sea effect snow once again. dry to the west and down to the east of china we'll see moisture continuing to move into the area. cloudy skies for tie pie and -- taipei and manila will be getting rain. europe, still seeing a bit of a mess in the central portions of the continent. that's going to bring some rain as we good throughout the day. looking for wet weather into paris as we go throughout the day. here's your extended outlook. ♪ ♪

thank you for watching this edition of "newsline." at the top of the hour is newsroom

"reporters" on "france 24" and france24.com. ."nie: welcome to "france 24 these are the headlines. the u.n. is hoping to raise for this$8 billion year alone to help close caught in the conflict. the negotiations on syria have been put on pause two days after they began. the u.n. accused