here in japan it's 7:00 p.m. on a friday. i'm james tengan. welcome to "newsline." we start with the hour's top stories. no end in sight as global market turmoil continues. tokyo's nikkei index falls below yet another key level. world powers agree to deliver more aid to syrians caught up in fighting before a halt to violence within the

week. and landmark discovery. a u.s. research team says it has succeeded in detecting gravitational waves first predicted by einstein 100 years ago. asian markets had another bad day. we go to gene otani for more. >> thanks, james. tokyo stocks slumped further. the nikkei dipped below the key 15,000 mark for the first time since october 2014. machltu yoshiro reports from the board. >> on top of worries over global growth and central bank's abilities to spur growth, fears are rising that the surging yen could squeeze earnings at japanese companies. tokyo slipped for three sessions in a row. friday the nikkei broke below

15,000 for the first time in a year and four months. the shares briefly showed losses on hopes for a yen intervention. the nikkei eventually closed with hefty losses of 4.8% and the broader topix dropped 5.4% at the close. the nikkei posted the worst week since october 2008. it dropped more than 11% from last year. earlier this week we saw the yen hit a 15-month high against the dollar so major global players were hit very hard. exporters like to it that, hitachi, and sony posted sharp losses because the surging yen could force them to downgrade their earnings in the midterm. index heavyweight soft banks slipped 9.5% despite reporting pretty good earnings. analyst is say there are worries about softbank's telecom business in the u.s. in 97% of stocks listed on tokyo's main boards shows los s

losses. but share prices apparently dropped to an oversold level on friday so let's see how the markets turn out monday when china comes back from the holidays. mayu yoshida reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. other markets, hong kong's hang seng extended thursday's losses. the index down by 1.2% finishing at 18,319. that's the lowest close since june 2012. banking shares led the decline there. seoul's kospi index dropping 1.4%. 1835 for the finish. the lowest close there in nearly six months. but auto shares like hyundai motor and kia rose. investors felt the stronger yen could make their products more competitive. most other markets in the region ended lower. indonesia's index down by 1.3%. sydney's s&p down by almost

1.2%. bank of japan governor kuroda spoke in front of the lower house committee on the yen's rapid rise and tumbling share prices. he says the negative interest rate policy isn't behind the recent market turbulence. >> translator: if you look from a fundamental perspective, the recent market turmoil is an outcome of excessive risk aversion. >> kuroda says the effects of the policy will spread steadily in the real economy and in prices. he added he'll take additional monetary easing measures if necessary. kuroda has met with prime minister abe for the first time in four and a half months. the boj said he explained his negative interest rate policy but kuroda declined to comment on what they discussed over the yen's sharp rise and on exchange rate levels. my colleague ai uchida spoke with a senior market economist at the bank of tokyo on the latest developments asking him about the current

dollar/yen trend. >> the coming rate hike expectations but it will disappear. that's the reason why we have have seep this year a sharp decline of the dollar, appreciation of the yen. so our calculations are just at the 107 or 108 would be appropriate to see a difference. but which barely brought out rapid movement. we think if we see 107 or 108, we also have a chance to see a smaller appreciation dollar against the yen. >> still it is a downward trend for the dollar. what does that mean for japanese companies and abenomics as a whole? >> not only the movement of the dollar/yen but also equity

markets movement will have influence to outcome the fiscal year 2015. the end of the march is the japanese fiscal year. we'll see probably a not so good result out of business corporations. so in order to achieve the 2% inflation growth, we need to increase our wages. but if we have a poor number of the company results, it will be difficult to foresee wage increases. and so the direction of abenomics will be considered not so happy. >> here's a look at some of the other business stories we're following. lower yields on japanese government bonds have harmed the performance of japan post holdings financial firms. company officials reported the group's net profit was about

$3.4 billion. that's 5.3% down from a year ago in yen terms. annual wage negotiations are moving into full swing. union officials from nippon steel and sumito won an increase in fiscal 2016 and for 2017. that's in line with the industry-wide demands. that's all for business. i'll leave you with the markets.

world powers have agreed to start delivering humanitarian aid to besieged areas in syria this week. that will be followed by a cessation of hostilities. >> translator: for the first time in our work the document we have adopted today stipulates the need to cooperate and coordinate not only on political and humanitarian issues but also on military dimensions. >> lavrov and his american counterpart john kerry told a news conference the cessation of hostilities will involve all parties to the conflict, except the islamic state militants and nusra fronts. >> the real test is clearly whether or not all the parties honor those commitments and implement them in reality. >> the syrian government backed

by russian air strikes had recently stepped up a push to retake the rebel-held city of aleppo. kerry said all sides agree peace talks should resume as soon as possible. the u.n.-led negotiations were put on hold last week after the continued fighting in syria. but kerry stressed a lasting peace can only be achieved through a political transition in the country. defense ministers from more than 30 countries have also met to discuss the situation in syria. they have agreed to support an accelerated campaign against islamic state militants there and in iraq. the ministers from the u.s.-led coalition met for the first time on thursday in brussels. >> to accomplish our objective in iraq and syria, we have two big arrows pointing in the direction of mosul and raqqah. where we intend to collapse isil's control over these two cities. >> carter said the ministers agreed to increase air strikes and provide more training for

local forces. defense chiefs from saudi arabia and other nations have offered to send troops into syria, but carter said the coalition has no plans to put boots on the ground. north korea says it will put an end to a joint industrial complex with south korea, one of the few signs of cooperation between the neighbors. the south had declared it was suspending operations following the north's rocket launch on sunday. pyongyang expelled south korea nationals from the complex and seoul confirms their workers crossed the border by thursday night. >> translator: i couldn't bring my products with me. what will i do for a living from now on? i'm trouble the by this. >> officials from the north announced they would designate the kesong complex as a military zone and freeze the south's assets there. south korea has since cut off the power and water supply to the area.

north korea continues to trumpet the launch. the country's state media aired a video of the rocket and reiterated claims it was carrying a satellite. much of the international community believes the launch was actually a test of a long-range ballistic missile. south korean military officials say they found parts of the rocket's engine roughly 100 kilometers off their coastline. those parts are now being analyzed by military experts. south korean firms that had business operations in the kesong complex are demanding government compensation for its closure. a group of more than 100 small and medium-sized firms held an emergency meeting on friday. representatives for the group said their personal livelihoods and the future of their companies depend on the interkorean complex. they criticized south korean president park geun-hye's government for its unilateral decision to halt all operations.

>> translator: my company's damage is huge. because we invested to increase our production line last year. >> a resolution adopted at the meeting urges the government to fully compensate the firms for their losses and reopen the complex. later in the day unification minister held a news conference to announce an expansion of loans and tax breaks for the firms. >> translator: the north should refrain from damaging our citizens' precious assets. >> hong said the north would be held responsible if any south korean assets in kesong are damaged. the foreign ministers from china and south korea discussed possible sanctions against pyongyang. the ministers met in munich on thursday and discussed the recent rocket launch and

january's nuclear test. south korean officials say their foreign minister stressed the need for song u.n sanctns resolution. and urged china to play a responsible role as a permanent member of the security council. yung pointed out suspending the joint factory work would hurt his country's own interests as well. a state-run chinese news agency reports the minister agrees on the need for resolution but sanctions should not be its goal. he called for nuclear issues to be resolved through dialog. wangs brought upchina's disapproval of a potential anti-missile system that the u.s. and south korea have agreed to consider since the north's rocket launch. millions of chinese migrant workers uproot their lives to find jobs in the country's massive economy.

and many bring their children with them. adding up over 40 million kids. it's difficult for some of them to attend regular schools and as nhk world explains that is leading some to destructive behavior. as we can see in this rather disturbing footage. >> reporter: this video from the web shows young men ganging up on a boy. three of the attackers are children of migrant workers. officials say more than half the crimes committed by minors today involve these kids. migrant worker communities can be found in cities across china. many migrant children cannot attend regular schools due to registration and other problems. so some go to places the authorities don't recognize. the classrooms are frequently scenes of fighting and bullying.

>> translator: many kids spend the first half of the school year here and the latter half in another school. frequent relocations make the children extremely unstable and emotionally upset. >> reporter: one child has been barred from other schools for being a troublemaker. >> translator: i beat up anyone who makes fun of me. >> reporter: the boy lives with his brother and cousin. wang lost his wife five years ago in an accident. the family moved to this city afterward. when the boys are not at school,

they are left by themselves. wang works as a part-time porter at the local market earning less than $400 a month. >> translator: my job barely supports our family. i have no time to spend with my sons. >> reporter: today the city has been celebrating a festival. and the boys haven't returned home. the father searches around town but comes up empty-handed.

>> translator: above all i'm worried about my sons' future. they don't listen to what adults tell them. they have no discipline. i'm responsible for all this as their father. >> reporter: experts say there are reasons to be concerned. >> translator: these children often end up becoming destructive to others. rather than contributing to society. >> reporter: migrant workers play a key role in chinese industry. yet in many cases their children exist on the fringes of society. unless people bring these kids into the fold, china will pay a heavy price.

populous. prosperous. pushing ahead. china's rise brought it wealth. power. and problems. an income gap divides its people. pollution threatens their health. differences over territory strain relations with its neighbors. find out the challenges china faces on "newsline." scientists are claiming a landmark discovery. an international team led by u.s. scientists says they have succeeded in detecting gravitational waves for the first time. the ripples in space and time were first predicted by albert einstein about 100 years ago. >> ladies and gentlemen -- we have detected gravitational waves. we did it. >> reporter: scientists from a scientific collaboration

announced they can now hear space. first they showed reporters what the waves are thought to look like. then they played what they might sound like. the gravitational waves are ripples in space caused by a cataclysmic event in the universe. einstein predicted their existence a century ago in his theory of general relativity. scientists started finding indirect evidence of their existence in the 1970s. the team says the waves they found were produced when two black holes merged into one. they estimate the black holes were about 29 and 36 times the mass of the sun and the event took place 1.3 billion years ago. the team started their work in

2002 using two detectors in the united states. at each facility, scientists fire lasers through four kilometer long l-shaped tunnels and monitor the distance between mirrors at the ends. when the gravitational wave passes by, the distance between the mirrors will change. looking at what's being accomplished, scientists thought back to the man behind the theory. >> einstein would be beaming, wouldn't he. this is viously very, ve special ment. >> rorter: sentists ound thglobe arhailing e discovery,aying it will open a new era of astronomy. >> translator: we can't see a black hole. we can't observe how they merge together with an ordinary telescope. now we have an ear to listen to the universe. >> reporter: nobel prize winner in physics has been preparing to

launch a large telescope designed to detect gravitational waves next month. he says he looks forward to joining in the global observation network. >> translator: this is the first step. the new era has begun for us to take part in the new field of gravitational wave astronomy. >> reporter: scientists say they still have to analyze and verify their data. but they're excited over obtaining a new groundbreaking tool to get one step closer to solving the mystery of the big bang. tomoko kamata, nhk world. >> to think einstein didn't have today's tools available to him. thanks to are that report. students in lithuania are learning about a japanese diplomat who saved thousands of jews in world war ii. they've been attending workshops on the life of sugihara. ♪

one group of students showed a video they made explaining how sugihara issued transit visas to help people get out of lithuania. he was working at a japanese consulate at the time and acting on his own initiative. sugihara is believed to have saved about 6,000 lives. >> translator: i think he was very kind. to make such a decision in those circumstances. it's really amazing. >> translator: i think it's great that students in lithuania are going to workshops where they study this kind of history. at the same time, they're learning about how to lead their own lives. >> reporter: 12 schools started running the workshops last september as part of their history curriculum. it's overcast and about 11 degrees celsius or 52 degrees fahrenheit in tokyo.

sayaka mori joins to us update the weather forecast starting with stormy conditions in europe. >> central and western europe are in the path of a series of low pressure systems. heavy snow fell in inland areas and heavy rain and strong winds affected the west. take a look at this video. on wednesday, spain suffered from strong winds and high waves. high waves caused damage to streets, shops and restaurants closer to the beaches. from wednesday evening to thursday, southern poland had heavy snow. some areas had 30 centimeters. about 25,000 households were left without electricity. now the next atlantic system is moving into the western areas so lots of heavy rain and strong winds are expected. the worst-hit area will be spain where about 80 millimeters of rain will fall in 12 hours and gusts up to 100 kilometers per hour. you may not be able to stand without a support under this condition.

weather db found in italy and widespread snow is expected for parts of the scandinavian peninsula as well as the baltic states. temperatures will remain near or below freezing into early next week in the south of the scandinavian peninsula. then in the south warmer wetter in athens at 17 for the high with partly sunny skies with a chance of rainfall. there are two tropical cyclones in australia. two of them are category 2, two of them are expected to move down. this is tatiana, it should intensify to a category 3 cyclone. but it's going to miss new caladonia. the other one is winston. it will affect parts of fiji with heavy rain at times for the next couple of days but it's expected to affect these islands indirectly for the next several days. let's talk about the lake-effect snow across the great lakes region in the north of the continent. heavy snow is falling across the great lakes region.

some areas may see an additional 40 centimeters of snowfall. waters on lakes are not frozen because temperatures during the first half of winter actually warmer than normal. so more heavy snow is expected for the next several days. and then very cool, wet weather is expected to affect the eastern areas of the united states into the weekend. instead of rainy weather, low-lying areas such as the carolinas may see some snowy weather. temperatures expected to be dangerously cold into the weekend across these areas. toronto, minus 23 degrees during the weekend for your lows. quebec minus 26 degrees on sunday. and new york city negative 17 degrees. so please do bundle up and please stay safe. a different story across the opposite side of the united states. temperatures were over 30 degrees in the south of california. record daily temperatures were set on thursday. so definitely extremely high across the west.

temperatures remain on the high side into next week across los angeles. finally across asia, it's warm in many areas of japan. but it's not good news for areas where snow is on the ground. we have avalanche advisories finally posted across the western side of the country. and then warmer than average conditions will likely prevail into the weekend, even hitting 23 degrees in tokyo on sunday. that's more like may. here's the extended forecast.

that wraps it up for us here

molly: welcome to the "france 24 ." it is 1:00 p.m. in the french capital. here are top stories -- diplomats aim for a truce in syria but fall short of a complete cease-fire. they do agree to provide rapid humanitarian aid to besieged towns. bernie sanders and hillary clinton square off in a fresh debate. they are setting their sights on minority voters ahead of