here in japan it's 7:00 p.m. on a wednesday. i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to "newsline." we start off with a quick look at the hour's top stories. super tuesday winners. democrat hillary clinton and republican donald trump won victories in several states bringing both of them a step closer to the final race to the white house. vote postponed. the u.n. security council works

on the final details of new sanctions against north korea. paying penalties. japanese equipmentmaker olympus has reached a settlement to pay more than $600 million for offering kickbacks to doctors. the selection process for the next american president continues. intertuesday is the day when most states are up for grabs in primaries and caucuses. nhk world's sarah cook has all the super tuesday details from washington. >> reporter: clinton used super tuesday to come closer to establishing herself as the democratic candidate. >> america never stopped being great. instead of building walls we're going to break down barriers and build -- [ cheers and applause ] build ladders of opportunity and empowerment. >> reporter: clinton struggled

unexpectedly early in the race against her rival senator bernie sanders. but the clinton camp came up with a strategy to beat sanders in some predominantly black southern states. she won six of them by large margins tuesday. in the past clinton was a lawyer who took many cases relating to racial issues. her husband, former president bill clinton, is also known for his close ties with african-american communities. sanders won four states, including his home state of vermont, to hang on in the race. he pledges to resolve income disparity and is the gaining the support of young white voters. he calls for providing free education at public universities and significantly raising minimum wages. on the republican side, donald trump has cemented his position as the front-runner. it seems increasingly likely that he will be the one who gets the party nomination.

and he took aim at clinton. >> we have great, great power. the problem is we have politicians that truly, truly, truly don't know what they're doing. if she hasn't straightened it out by now, she's not going to straighten it out in the next four years. it's just going to become worse and worse. >> reporter: trump sealed victories in states like virginia and georgia, considered crucial in the general election. trump initially garnered support mainly from poor white people unhappy with the growing wealth gap. but his support base has spread gradually. one factor behind his popularity is americans' frustration with politicians and no mainstream republican candidate has emerged as a real rival. ted cruz has won his home state of texas and neighboring oklahoma, as well as alaska. marco rubio managed to win the midwestern state of minnesota, giving him a small foothold to stay in the race.

mainstream candidates as well as many in the republican party are doing all they can to stop trump, but so far their efforts have been in vain. hillary clinton and donald trump have prevailed as big winners on super tuesday but their victories were not decisive enough to force other candidates out of the race. the fight to win party nominations will continue. sara cook, nhk world, washington. >> sara, thanks. "newsline" will keep you posted. the u.n. security council has delayed a vote on proposed sanctions against north korea. the u.s. and its allies are pushing to expand embargoes to punish pyongyang over a recent nuclear test and rocket launch, but russia has asked for more time. the u.s. says russia requested the delay to review the draft so voting was put off until wednesday morning. the u.s. submitted a draft resolution last week of what it describes as the toughest sanctions yet. it's widely believed that what pyongyang calls a satellite

launch was really a test of ballistic missile technology. the fresh sanctions would include a ban on the export of aviation fuel to north korea. nhk has learned that the provision has been revised, reflecting last-minute haggling. the draft now says the ban will not apply to fuel for civilian passenger aircraft outside north korea for flights to and from the country. the draft also dropped one person from the list of individuals subject to sanctions. it's an official in charge of mineral resources trade between north korea and russia. since the beginning of the year, north korea has been taking steps that have alarmed its neighbors, sending the region a reminder the country could pose a real threat to them. we look back at what's happened since then. >> reporter: people in pyongyang celebrated two different occasions in january. the birthday of their leader kim jong-un, and what the country

claims was a successful hydrogen bomb test. >> reporter: one month later, pyongyang launched a rocket, which is widely believed to have been a long-range ballistic missile. >> reporter: neighboring countries were upset over the actions which they see as major provocations. as part of its retaliation, south korea halted operations at a joint industrial complex near the border. japan's prime minister also imposed stronger unilateral sanctions. and members of the u.n. security council had already started to discuss countermeasures.

right after the nuclear test. >> the members of the security council underscore that this launch is in serious violation of the security council resolution. >> reporter: it took more than a month for the u.s. to conclude closed-door negotiations with china, a major supporter to north korea and a veto power on the council. the unid statesabled a drt u.n. surity cocil resoluti that ifdopted wld breanew ground and represent the strongest set of sanctions imposed by the security council in more than two decades. >> reporter: the proposed measures are aimed at stopping the north's nuclear and missile development. >> earlier miki yamamoto talked with brian myers, a specialist in north korean studies, and offered his insights into pyongya pyongyang's possible reaction.

>> how much of a blow will the trade sanctions be to kim jong's regime? >> well, i think it's certainly a symbolic blow to the kim jong-un regime. the north korean people closely follow their country's relationship with china. this is bound to add to their perception of kim jong-un as somebody who has alienated the country's last remaining friend. in economic terms, this won't be much of a blow at all. the sanctions restrict coal and iron ore imports only in cases where the proceeds appear likely to fund nuclear armament, which is of course impossible to prove. the sanctions do notng eithe stop china's transfers of fuel to north korea or to restrict its enormous imports of north korean textiles. these last-minute changes demanded by russia, as you just reported, even exempt civil aviation fuel. china may even increase imports in order to offset the sanctions. while kim jong-un is probably not happy with the draft resolution, it doesn't pose a serious threat to his regime.

>> now, the u.s. and south korea's joint military drill will take place soon. less than a month after the rocket launch. to this pyongyang has taken a threatening tone in response. how high do you think tensions are actually running? could any kind of military clash happen? >> i think there is great tension at the moment. but not because north korea feels genuinely threatened by these military exercises, which have been taking place annually since long before kim jong-un was even born. the problem is that this new set of sanctions against north korea would mean a great loss of face for the kim jong-un regime. we know from experience that it tends to try to restore face with its people by showing additional defiance of the outside world. now, the south koreans are well aware of the north's track record in this respect. so i'm sure they're preparing right now for a broad range of possible provocations, including violations of the maritime border in the yellow sea.

stocks in asia rallied after strong gains on wall street. gene otani has the details on that and other business headlines. share prices in tokyo surged wednesday with the nick 68 average up over 700 points at one stage. higher oil prices and a weaker yen lifted sentiment. >> it looks like the nikkei is off to a strong start in march with investors buying across every sector. take a look at the closing levels this wednesday, march the 2nd. the nikkei surged 4.1 percent to close at 16,746, its highest finish in more than three weeks. the broader topix rose 3.7% to hit 1349. the weaker yen is one factor behind the rally. the dollar rose to two-week highs against the japanese

curren currency. strong manufacturing and construction data in the u.s. pushed the greenback up to around the 114 yen level. export-related stocks saw gains. electric rose more than 12%. sony and panasonic surged sharply. oil and gas explorers are higher on the move in crude prices. u.s. crude futures went above $34 a barrel. and toyota was higher by 3.5%. honda added over 6%. honda sales rose more than 12% from a year ago. so a weaker yen and higher oil prices really boosted investor confidence on wednesday. >> thanks for that, yiang. the upward momentum in the u.s. spilled over to other market in the asia-pacific region. many benchmarks climbed to multi-month highs.

hong kong's hang seng advanced 3% leading it to the highest level in two months. indonesia reached a seven-month high. and in china the shanghai composite ended up 2849 for the close, despite rating agency moody's lowering the country's credit outlook to negative. profit shares rose on signs of recovery in the real estate market. sydney s&p gaining by 2%, 5021, a one-month high. australia's fourth quarter gdp grew 6% from the previous period, beating expectations. the egyptian president has pledged to improve investment conditions. abdel fatah el sisi is on a visit to tokyo. he asked japanese companies to invest more in his country. sisi spoke at a seminar held by japanese and egyptian chambers of commerce and industry. he indicated egypt is developing legal systems to improve its financial environment. he said his country aims to

achieve sustainable development by 2030 and is strengthening cooperation with international partners, especially japan. a corporate auditor says the country has potential. >> translator: i think egypt's investment environment remains harsh for now. but i have expectations for the country. it has a large population and the foundations are there for a manufacturing industry. >> egypt's economy has been sluggish since the arab spring pro-democracy movement five years ago. the country remains mired in instability, poor public security, and high unemployment. japanese endoscope maker limb pulse says their u.s. subsidiary has reached a settlement with the department of justice over illegal payments to doctors and hospitals. olympus corporation of the americas is based in pennsylvania. it will pay more than $600 million in penalties.

u.s. authorities have been investigating the firm since november 2011, suspecting it violated the so-called anti-kickback statute. olympus officials say the penalties have already been accounted for and the settlement will not affect earnings at the major japanese precision equipmentmaker. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're following today. new auto sales in the united stayed robust through february. carmakers sold more than 1.34 million vehicles last month. that's up nearly 7% from a year earlier. analysts say the rise is due to the continuing moderate recovery of the u.s. economy and a further fall of gasoline prices. bill gates is top of the list for the third year running. he has an estimated net worth of $75 billion. the magazine says it hasn't been the best year for the

billionaires. their average net worth fell for the first time in six years because of unstable stock markets and a drop in the price of crude oil. japanese gourmet beef known as wagyu will be exported to the unit united arab emirates certified as halal food for the first time. exporters from hokkaido, japan, helped organizers at an event in dubai served wagyu samples prepared according to islamic law. japanese beef farmers have been looking at uae as a big potential market. tourism officials in japan are on a mission. they want to get visitors from overseas to journey beyond the typical tourist routes to less-known parts of the country. railways and airlines are vital partners. and as the next report shows, they're using discounts and other tools to get visitors off the beaten track. >> reporter: the japan route pass has been available to foreign visitors for three decades. these days sales are so brisk that users sometimes have to wait up to three hours to pick one up.

the pass allows holders to ride any jr line in the country, including bullet trains, for up to three weeks. the seven-day pass costs about $250. >> translator: it's a very nice ticket. i hope it's as easy and good to use as it is to look at. >> reporter: jr sold more than 1.4 million of these passes in fiscal 2014. nearly 60% more than the year before. about one in every ten foreign visitors used one. the city of onomichi in hiroshima prefecture in western japan is about 80 minutes from hiroshima station by local train. but the number of overseas tourists rose 40% in 2014 to about 130,000. that's roughly the same as the city's population. many of those tourists are headed to islands in the seto inland sea. they can rent bicycles near

train stations and pedal their way around. these travellers used the jr pass to get here. >> cheaper. we can go to everywhere. >> translator: the pass helps us contribute to the revitalization of areas across the country. i think we can increase the number of people who use it by making those places more attractive. >> reporter: airlines are also getting into the act. competition with train operators is intensifying as new lines open. airlines are struggling to increase the number of passengers on domestic routes. all nippon airways began selling discount tickets geared exclusively to foreign travellers three years ago. one-way flights anywhere within japan cost less than $100. that's up to 83% less than the

regular fare. sales have doubled every year. a.n.a. officials are also trying to find out where people from overseas like to go. they've increased the number of nonjapanese staff at the head office to gain insight. >> translator: i think that foreign visitors might be interested in seeing different things than our regular customers. our mission is to identify what those things are. >> reporter: the company is collecting data on visitor behavior from branch offices across japan and trying new ways to advertise far-flung attractions. it launched a foreign language website last november that descbes unusl destinions thughout t countryhat overse tourists tend to visit. among them is a rugged shoreline in akita prefecture known for a godzilla-shaped rock. >> designated as one of japan's natural monuments -- >> reporter: the airline also is creating videos introducing each

of japan's 47 prefectures. they can be viewed in flight and on television in 80 countries. >> translator: we want people around the world to learn about the charms of japan. >> reporter: even with hefty discounts and improved information, visitors might still find some areas a bit tough to get to. but they can be assured of a warm welcome once they arrive. >> that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets.

u.s. government officials have released a document they say is the handwritten will of osama bin laden. it shows the al qaeda leader wanted most of his fortune, nearly $30 million, to be used for jihad. the mastermind of the september 11th attacks was killed in a u.s. military raid in pakistan in 2011. officials in washington have declassified some of the documents seized during that operation. they say the will, written in arabic, appears to be from the late '90s. in an english translation issued by the u.s. government, bin laden says his assets are in sudan. he says they should be used to fight a holy war against the west. the precise whereabouts of the fortune remain unknown. after decades of isolation,

people in cuba are set to party with one of the most legendary rock bands ever. the rolling stones. the british band has announced they will give a free outdoor concert later th month ithe capital havana. the veteran rockers announced on their website that the show will be held on march 25th. the rolling stones say they performed in countless places during their more than 50-year career but that the cuba show will be a landmark event. the communist country formally normalized diplomatic relations with the u.s. last july after a break of 54 years. concerts by western bands have been rare in the country since the 1959 revolution. u.s. media say the performance will be a milestone as cuba opens up to western culture. the rolling stones show will be held only days after president barack obama becomes the first u.s. leader to visit cuba in more than eight decades. musicians here in tokyo have put on a very different kind of

concert. they performed songs with an instrument that survived the 2011 quake and tsunami. some call it the miracle piano. ♪ >> cleanup crew rescued the piano after it was sucked away from a junior high school in fukushima. a piano tuner volunteered to fix it. singer futenma was in fukushima when the disaster struck. she wrote a song to inspire people and gave a performance to raise funds for the reconstruction of northeastern japan. ♪ >> translator: it's a miracle to see the pe can know. i was moved. >> organizers say they'll have more concerts elsewhere in the capital, including one on march 11th for the fifth anniversary of the disaster.

"newsline" comes to you live from tokyo where it's fair with a current temperature reading of 9 degrees celsius or 40 degrees fahrenheit. here's jonathan oh to tell how people in central and southern peru are reeling from widespread flooding and mudslides. >> we are looking at more rafall to continue really has been a very wet weekend into the first part of this week. yosee the oud covethat's roing overot just peru but also even into brazil at this point. i want to show you the video. this is some very, very incredible video of a bus trying to cross this particular highway. this is obviously not recommended, especially with that type of situation. because cars can get washed away in those types of situations. but here's the sad news. on top of the fact that flooding has been taking place, two people have been killed, thousands are homeless because of the severe flooding.

and the two casualties specifically were from a mudslide that took place when a river burst its banks outside of lima. in one location over this time period saw close to 40 centimeters of rainfall. and we are looking at more rain to continue. now, we are expecting the rain to taper off and to relax. hopefully that means it won't be quite as serious as it has been. but once you have these major flooding events it is likely to still take some time for the rivers to recede. we are expecting the rainfall to still be around the region for central and southern peru, as this entire region continues to deal with this. rain is affecting northern portions of brazil as well. we are looking at some places where rain may be accumulating close to 200 millimeters in some spots the next few days. be prepared for more rainfall for the northern portions of soh america as we go forward through the rest of this week.

we're talking about major snowfall as we look at the forecast for north america. we have been watching a low pressure stem thatrossed over the ohio river valley, is moving into the new england states. a cold front attached to that has created a lot of instability. in fact, we had three tornado reports coming out of alabama and up toward the north we're looking at some intense snow, anywhere from 15 to 30-plus centimeters snowfall for the nortrn new england states as we go into the next day or so. so be prepared for that. back toward the west we do have a disturbance trying to gather itself. that may be bringing precipitation into chicago later on late wednesday into thursday. we have yet again another frontal system moving onshore for the pacific northwest. that's going to bring rain to vancouver and seattle. now as we look forward into the next few days, notice the temperatures for toronto and new york, they're dropping because of that cold air filtering in. we are expecting temperatures to remain quite cool. look at this, 18 was the high in washington, d.c. on tuesday. down to 9 on wednesday. staying in the single digits,

may even see flurries coming up on friday. halifax looking at chilly conditions, high of negative 4 coming up on friday. speaking of wintry weather as we take a look at the forecast, we start with japan. we still have a little bit of sea-effect snow rolling through the area. we're still seeing snowfall totals popping in. 49 centimeters over the past 24 hours into the western portions, the sea of japan side of japan. and we are expecting this really to wrap itself up. we may still see some of the impact from this but not nearly as intense as what we saw earlier this week. high pressure will be rolling in. that's going to lift temperatures. tokyo looking at a high in the teens. mid to upper teens as we go through the weekend with sunny skies, it's looking pretty good for thursday. 20s for a good portion of china as we go into the next work day. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

thanks for watching this edition of "newsline." be sure to watch "newsroom tokyo" at the top of the hour. i'm james tengan in tokyo. bye for now.ñaw=>>>>>>>q

♪ >> the are watching "france 24." godula.nie donald trump and hillary clinton wednesday on super tuesday to their take-home home seven states each as republican ted cruz takes on three and democrat bernie sanders takes home for. migrant refugees are blocked on the northern borders of greece.