. it's 7:00 on a monday here in japan. i'm james tengan. welcome to "newsline." here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. military movement. the united states and south korea have started their annual, joint military exercise, as concerns rise over further actions by the north. and to preserve or demolish? a community is torn over a

reminder of the tsunami's toll. the united states and south korea have started their annual military drills. this year's come in the wake of north korea's fourth rocket launch. the show of military might has pyongyang threatening preemptive action. nhk has more. >> reporter: the united states and south korea started their annual joint military exercise, with a total of over 300,000 south korean and u.s. troops taking part. it's the largest yet. reaction from north korea came before the drill even started. ♪ >> translator: our forces are closely monitoring u.s. moves for the possibility of nuclear attacks. if the slightest move is detected, our hearts will be burning to reduce american territory to ashes. >> reporter: north korea's opposition to these drills is nothing new. for the past two years, pyongyang test fired missiles in

response. so far this year, a threat to carry out a preemptive military strike. a joint drill is usually conducted at this time of year in the south's territory. it is expected to simulate a scenario closer to an actual battle. it includes mock beach landings by marines who then practice advancing inland. according to south korean media, special forces will also take part in drills aimed at taking out north korea's nuclear capabilities. the drills are scheduled to continue until the end of april. the u.s. military is also sending an aircraft carrier, the uss john c. stennett along with f-22 stealth fighter jets. meanwhile, reaction to north korea's threats >> translator: north korea should immediately stop its rash behavior that leads to

self-destruction. if north korea ignores our warning and makes provocations, our military will mercilessly and firmly respond to them. >> reporter: in to kyo, the chif cabinet secretary issued a plea. >> translator: we are urging north korea to fully follow the security council resolutions and to not take any more provocative actions. >> reporter: the u.n. security council decided last week to impose its toughest sanctions ever to the north. in response to the north's action, the international community is waiting to see just what pyongyang will do next. nhk world. leaders at china's people's congress launched a target of 6.5% to 7% target growth for

2016 alone. they've also lowered the goal for annual growth through 2020 of an average of 6.5% or more. the shanghai rose only .8%. the lower growth target weighed on sentiment. for insight on china's new economic policy, we have a commentator in beijing. he was stationed there until two years ago and covered the chinese economy. >> translator: chinese leaders want to double the size of the economy over the ten year period to 2020. that means for the next five years, they need to hit that 6.5% level. but at the same time, they are shifting their focus away from rapid growth to structural reform. china's economy has been growing for decades. that's created dramatic wealth

inequality and caused severe damage to the environment. the government believes it needs to slow down and start overhauling some state-owned enterprises. >> translator: we have taken into consideration the need to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and the need to advance structural reform. >> akihiro, investor george soros said in january that a hard landing is unavoidable for the chinese economy. what's beijing's take on that? >> he said that a hard landing would absolutely not happen. he said if china can keep its economy expanding at least 6.5% per year, then they can create enough new jobs, and he says

china's import volume and overseas investment are both on the rise. but china needs a new model. cheap labor costs have been a crucial ingredient in china's economic success. but years of rapid growth have driven up labor costs. and along with the higher incomes and slowing growth, some observers argue china could fall into the trap of remaining a middle-income country. premier li addressed that issue. >> translator: in the next five years, we have to avoid falling into the middle-income country trap and the imbalances and risks are increasing rapidly. we nd to deawith the challenges appropriately as we steer this gigantic economy through uncharted waters. >> so what policy has beijing come up with to ensure this

doesn't become reality? >> first off, the government is getting behind industries that make high-end, value-added products. it's also been tightening intellectual property laws to help companies that develop cutting-edge technology. second, it wants to target heavy industries that suffer from excess production capacity. it says it will overhaul so-called zombie companies which lose money but stay afloat with help from local authorities and banks. the government wants to consolidate these companies by liquidating some and emergenmer others. but there's a down side. they will potentially put a lot of people out of work. so the focus is on how beijing will pursue structural reform while limiting any damage they cause.

let's check out other markets in the asia-pacific. indonesia fell. it snapped its eight-day winning streak on profit taking. hong kong's hang seng was volatile. following the start of the people's congress meeting. the index ended the day flat, 20,159. sydney's gained, extending its winning street to a sixth day. tokyo share prices pulled back from last week's 5% rally, giang nguyen has more from the tokyo stock exchange. >> many asian markets were

higher following a solid u.s. jobs report on friday. many were stronger than expected. so it eased fears that the u.s. could be slipping into a recession. but some of the underlying data fell slightly. let's take a look at how it affected the nikkei, it was down .6% at 16,911. the topix lost almost 1%. profit taking after the gains last week. yen, usually a safe-haven bet is still holding firm. with toyota and honda trading lower. sharp traded higher, up 7%. they are waiting for the deal with hon hai to be completed any

day now. now market players are awaiting a host of economic data from china, out later this week. and let's not forget ecb policymakers meet on thursday, so a busy week ahead. i'm giang nguyen, reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. the bank of japan's governor says financial markets will calm down under their negative interest policy. kuroda has indicated confidence in the policy introduced last month. >> translator: excessive risk aversion by investors around the world exceeds the effects of our monetary policy. they're obscuring the impact, but the fundamentals of japan's economy and corporations are strong. and i believe the effect of the policy is solid. >> kuroda said the policy should be strong enough to leave share prices higher and make the yen weaker. bond yields have declined since the policy was introduced.

and kuroda indicated further monetary easing is possible and he was asked about whether negative rates to harm commercial banks' profitability. he claimed the banks would become healthier once deflation is defeated. here's a look at some of the other stories we're looking at. a key index reflecting the state of japan's economy rose in january for the first time in three months of. the cabinet office says coincident index was up. conditions improved on exports of smartphone components to china. japanese firms are teaming up to create technology that recycles carbon fiber. the material can be ten times stronger than steel at a quarter of its weight. the companies are working on ways to extract fiber from composite material in car parts.

the effort comes amid growing demand for lighter and more energy-efficient vehicles. and that's a look at business news. i'll leave you with the markets. members of the united nations security council have visited mali to back reconciliation efforts. they inspected peacekeeping operations in the west african nation, the most dangerous mission post in the world.

during their two-day trip, the delegates met with representatives of armed groups. they discussed ways to stabilize the country. a u.n.-backed peace deal was reached by the government and the ethnic groups of separatists, but militants who oppose the agreement continue to carry out terrorist attacks. they have repeatedly targeted peacekeepers since 2013. about 60 people have been killed. the security council members inspected a peacekeeping base that has come under repeated attack. >> translator: working for peace under such harsh conditions is very difficult. but at the same time, our work is extremely important for the people of mali. >> the u.n. is about to extend its peacekeeping mandates there. hong kong's chief executive says he overlooked a key controversy during a meeting with a highly-ranked chinese communist party official.

mainland's china's detention of a group of book sellers is a subject of headlines worldwide. but hong kong's representative told a press conference he didn't bring up the issue when he met with the national people's chairman last weekend. he is third in rank in the communist party leadership and among 3,000 delegates who have gathered in beijing for the annual congress. five people linked to a hong kong bookstore went missing from last october. the shop was selling titles critical of the communist party. the book sellers were later found to have been detained by authorities in mainland china. two have returned to hong kong, but details surrounding the cases have not been revealed. although hong kong residents are allowed a high level of autonomy under the one country/two systems principle, the chief executive is appointed by the chinese government. the book sellers' detention is raising concerns among people of hong kong that freedom of speech

as well as the region's judicial power are under threat. commuters in tokyo are welcoming a new train equipped with more room. and a cutting-edge control system. it's the first time in 13 years the city's main line is getting new cars. it's to help accommodate the large influx of visitors for the tokyo olympics in 2020. railway fans crowded the station when the train began operating. the train is equipped with more priority seats for elderly passengers and larger spaces for baby strollers and luggage, and it's controlled by a new system that applies brakes on each car with different forces, depending on the total weight of passengers. it works with another system that automatically stops the train, adjusting the position of its doors to the gates on platforms. >> translator: this train is quiet. and it has space for

wheelchairs. i like it. >> officials first unveiled the train in november, but there was a glitch in the system. the train did not stop at a designated spot and its doors did not open. the officials fixed the software and conducted test runs. they plan to replace all 51 trains in time for the summer games. people in japan are preparing to mark five years sense the earthquake and tsunami. officials with the environment ministry say they've been working to remove contamination

in eight prefecture and nearly finished the job in two-thirds of the municipalities. the bulk of the decontamination work is in three prefecturing. it has been delayed as they search for places to store the nuclear waste. they say they hope to finish work everywhere outside fukushima by next march. the events of the march 11, 2011 disaster are indellably etched on the minds of people who survived them. this week we'll be bringing you stories of the region and its people in our series, "journey from disaster." now in the second story of

this series, we look at residents of one community faced with a difficult decision, whether to demolish a symbol of 3/11 or keep it as a reminder for future generations. >> reporter: these are the remains of an elementary school in ishinomaki city. the children now go to a temporary facility at a different location. when the tsunami hit, there were 108 pupils enrolled at the school. 74 of them died. a survey found that 45% favor keeping the school as a memorial, while 54% want it demolished. last month the city finally held its first public hearing. >> translator: i want the building to be preserved as an enduring reminder that life could have been saved. >> reporter: her younger sister died in the tsunami. she has been campaigning to preserve the building. but others feel differently. this man lost his daughter who

was in the same grade as her sister. >> translator: i think the horror of the tsunami can be passed on in other ways. the way to save lives is through education, not preservation. >> reporter: he drives down to the school every day to pray. even so, he has his own reasons for wanting the building demolished. >> translator: some visitors even take photos of themselves in front of the building. i think that's not right. my heart aches when i see that. >> reporter: this man's daughter mina also died. but his son miraculously survived. he showed a video of his son asking for more time for discussion. >> translator: many people have yet to make up their minds. when i ask myself how i feel about it, i'm still very uncertain.

i think we need to take more time to talk about it. >> reporter: other affected communities have had to make similar decisions. in each case, a range of opinions had to be taken into account. in kesennuma, a large fishing boat was washed far inland. a local government wanted to preserve it, but the boat's owner wanted it taken away. the boat was finally dismantled in 2013. the town wanted to remove the remains of this building, but the prefecture wanted it to be kept another 20 years so people can discuss the matter more thoroughly. this is the former director of tohoku university's institute of disaster science. >> translator: the argument inevitably turns into a dichotomy in which one side must be chosen. i hope we can reach a consensus.

by trying to leave some places where people can come to mourn the victims. >> reporter: the city of ishinomaki is expected to make a decision by the end of this month. such communities face many difficulties on how to agree on how to overcome grief and loss. new yorkers gathered at a somber church service in manhattan to honor the victims of the 2011 disaster. more than 400 people observed a moment of silence at the annual event. a survivor from a coastal city hit by the tsunami spoke about his experience. he lost his brewery and seven employees. but since then, he's made a return to the sake business. >> translator: no matter how difficult the circumstances may be, you won't be able to see the

finish line unless you begin to take step forwards. i want to move ahead, together, towards the future. >> a tragedy, it was so extreme. and to not forget it is very important. ♪ march 11, 2011, an earthquake strikes japan, setting off a catastrophic chain reaction. towering tsunami waves devastate the northeast coast, and a nuclear plant is sent spiraling out of control. five years on, survivors are rebuilding their lives and learning lessons from the tragedy, but there's still a long way to go. "journey from disaster", stories of resilience and remembrance, right here on "newsline." be sure to watch our special

programs right here on nhk world. "newsline" comes to you live from tokyo with a temperature of 59 degrees fahrenheit. sayaka mori joins us wit this weather update. >> yes, it's a wet start to the week. haneda airport had a record rainfall. the sun will come out, but things will change within the next couple of days. a low pressure system over china spreading heavy rainfall across the yangtze river basin. this system will make its way toward japan, so things will be turning wet once again as we go into wednesday as well as thursday in the area. and temperatures will go down. tomorrow is going to be a warm day. 20 degrees for the high. that's more like mid april. but as we go into thursday, down to 10 degrees. so about 10 degrees difference in just two days. so don't put away your winter jackets yet. and in seoul, 11 degrees.

down to only 6 degrees on thursday. now el nino has be bringin wet weather to peru. some rivers have burst their banks and a dog was swept away by rushing waters last week. we have impressive video coming out of the west coast of peru. one precious dog was stranded on the rocks of the river. even though it tried to of swim through, it was swept further down by the powerful currents. rescue workers were able to finally reach the dog, in fact, they were able to take it to a local shelter. that's good news. the workers named the dog chilly after the river. and more rain is expected to battle peru because a disturbance has formed and it will pump up moisture, so various more rain is expected. so the risk of flooding will remain quite high. up towards the north, it has been a warm winter across alaska.

inact, doged race is taking place in this area, but beuse of lacof snowfl, they broughsnow frofair ban to anorage. action anchorage is experiencing the second warmest winter on record. things will stay quite warm. and the high will be about 1 degree this time of year, but 4 degrees are expected on monday, tuesday, and wednesday. let's go to north america. we are looking at very wet conditions across the west. in fact, deadly floods occurred in par of calirnia durg the weekend. several people killed. and then the system is making its way towards the central portions of the country. so we are looking at the risk for thunderstorms, gusty winds and even some isolated tornados over the southern plains. and then back behind it, due to dry and windy conditions, there's a fire threat. and then back behind it, a new system will move in to the pacific. so we are looking at the risk for thunderstorms once again on

your monday. and 90 centimeters of snow could fall in the mountainous locations. and um to -- up to 100 millimeters of rainfall could fall in california. the risk for flash flooding will remain in place. and the pacific northwest will see rainfall into tuesday at least. medford has seen the second wettest on record. and more rain is expected through monday, tuesday, and wednesday. here's your extended forecast.

at the top of the hour is "newsroom tokyo," so stay with us here on nhk world. oç%ññbq/í

genie: you are watching "france 24," live around the world. i'm genie godula. these of headlines. leaders from the e.u. and turkey are focusing on stopping the flow of syrian refugees coming into europe. drown tryinger 25 to escape the violence in the middle east. killed 21orces jihadists who attacked police at army posts near the border with libya.