the world. no this is nhk "newsline." japan's defense ministry officials are releasing portions of documents on peacekeeping missions in south sudan. they initially said they had didn't destroyed. last year, nhk asked to see the

documents for the self-defense unit. now they reveal that the documents have surfaced in a department they hadn't checked before. local government and opposition forces clashed fiercely in july, killing nearly 300 troops and civilians. opposition lawmakers had grilled the abe administration over whether any fighting had taken place. that would have violated japan's self-imposed restrictions which limit sdf operations to where a cease-fire is imposed. leaders in tokyo have repeatedly rejected such concerns. >> translator: i've been briefed by the u.n. that security is relatively stable. it's the west and north of south sudan where security is deteriorating. >> but the newly disclosed documents describe shooting around the camp and attacks on u.n. facilities. japan's top spokesperson says the ministry did not

deliberately withhold information. >> translator: there was never any intention to conceal the documents but by failing to locate them, it seems that the officials didn't deal with the situation properly. from now on information will be handled properly. members of a golf course are being accused of barring women and they're urged to change the rules. the country club opened in 1929. its board members discussed whether to change the rule on tuesday but did not roacheach a conclusion. some said it is outdated. others said they should hear from all the board members. they did not volunteer to host the competition. he says it was asked to do so. >> translator: it's an extremely troubling situation for us. we are suddenly involved in a

political controversy. >> the head of japan's sports agency added pressure on the club, citing gender equality set out by the olympic charter. >> translator: i believe the olympic event should be held at the club. where men and well are equal under its rules. >> the club plans to ten discussions -- continue discussions on the matter. work begins on a delayed controversial plan. offshore work is being done to place 200 concrete blocks to create a barrier to prevent construction debris from damaging the environment. >> translator: the government is proceeding with the plan while giving the utmost consideration to the natural environment based

on relevant laws. >> japan's government plans to build a new facility to replace the u.s. futenma air station which is located in a densely-populated area. the government wants to complete the construction work in five years, but protests by local residents continue. and the governor yoe flonaga isg to do everything he can to block the measure, including withdrawal of a reclamation permit. japan signed a treaty with russia 162 years ago. russia controls the four islands. japan claims them. about 800 people in hokkaido joined the rally calling for the return of the islands.

this 80-year-old is a former islander and commented on the outcome of a december japan/russia summit. >> translator: there was no concrete progress on the territorial issue. we just feel empty. >> another participant staid he hopes former islanders will soon be able to travel more freely to their hometowns. another rally was held in tokyo. prime minister shinzo abe was in attendance. >> translator: it's not easy to conclude a peace treaty with russia, but i will firmly retain islanders' longings for their hom hometowns. >> in 1956, japan and the soviet union signed a joint stipulation. the ussr would hand over two of

the islands. prime minister abe has slammed a recent job lobbying scandal at the education ministry. he spoke about the issue at the lower house budget committee. >> translator: this case is seen by the public as systematic lobbying. it shakes the people's confidence in the ministry. it should never have happened. >> the skanl dal came to light last month. the government's reemployment oversight committee ruled the practice violated the national civil service law. abe says it will be a full-scale investigation and efforts to regain r regain public trust. in an earthquake-prone country like japan emergency drills are a common sight. on tuesday, there were drills

across tokyo. one drill focussed on how to effectively communicate with the millions who could be stranded in the city's center. >> their isis is a drill, this drill. a strong earthquake has occurred in the tokyo area. >> their isis is a safe area. >> reporter: a multi-lingual bull horn wakens the residences. there is a large contingent from abroad. the point of all this? earthquake p preparedndness. in 2011, the earthquake that devastated japan's northeast caused tokyo to shut down. as the busiest crossing in the world, this was the scene. with no public transport, 5 million people were stranded

across the city. six years later, thehere are pls in place in case of a recurrence. the next time tokyo gets a big jolt the crossing screens will display helpful info. this display is just one of many drills taking place on tuesday. tokyo is an international destination, which means there's an added communication concern. >> translator: a lot of foreigners come to shibuya every day, so when we think about disaster preparedness we also have to take them into account. we don't want to create a situation where they are left behind. >> reporter: at a company's headquarters, it's a drill. the point is to take shelter here until it's safe to go out. the focus is on better communication. >> anyone who doesn't speak

japanese, there are interpreters, and these devices to listen in. >> to register your family members or friends on twitter or social network. >> reporter: there's also an app that can help with interpreting. >> is it safer than outside? >> reporter: and there's a special phone service for letting relatives know people are safe. what do people think about the drill? >> i think it's very, very useful for a foreigner, because it's difficult to communicate in japan. not everyone speaks english in the streets. >> reporter: this man is from l.a. and has lived through an earthquake before. >> i've seen a lot. i've worked at the medical center, for the government. i've done a lot of things in the past, and this is very, very well organized. in fact, it was so well

organized i couldn't leave, i had to follow it. >> reporter: not everyone is as impressed with the communication level. >> it's just enough for, for, for giving the information that you need. >> reporter: what could be improved? >> the japanese people learn english? >> reporter: the hope is that with these scenarios, tokyo can be ready to provide emergency help and shelter when the big one hits. casum ego toe, nhk world, tokyo. turning to the business headlines, some japanese officials have reacted to criticism from u.s. president trump. gene otani has the details on that and other headlines. >> the transport minister says that trump's comments that

japan's policies are unfair are unfounded. >> translator: the auto industry has become more internationalized. and there has been a move to harmonize auto safety and environmental statandards aroun the world. therefore, japan's regulations cannot be c considered trade barriers. >> he said he would react properly if japan's trade practices became a problem. industry minister seko says he hopes too accompany prime minister abe to washington to explain japan's contributions to the u.s. he wants to emphasize that japanese auto makers have created 1.5 million jobs in the u.s. honda motor and hitachi will

ininvest about $4545 million in new company. it willl debut in july and operate in the u.s. and china. >> translator: we h hope to combine the s strength of hitac and our company to improve the technology and make electric vehihicles more popular. >> honda aims to bring its ratio of eco-friendly cars to two-thirds of worldwide sales by 2030. turning to the markets, tokyo share prices and a lower sum of investors sold stocks on a stronger yen. our business reporter reports from the tokyo stock exchange. >> the nikkei average was dragged down by the stronger yen. the yen rose against both the dollar and euro as concerns over worldwide political risks put the investors in a risk-often

mood. the nikkei 225 lost .35% to close at 18,910. rhett's ta let's take a look at currency levels. the greenback was hit by speculation that the federal reserve may wait longer than expected to raise rates. turning to individual stocks, shares of toyota fell by 2.2%. it reported a lower profit. but it was a good day for chemicalomompany asahi kasei, they are projecting a record profit. ve market playeyers are keeping an eye on political issues in the u.s. and europe and the meeting

of president trump and shinzo abe later this week. i'm reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. moving on to other markets in the asia-pacific region. the shanghai slid by .12%. the groftovernment's recent mov weighed on sentiment. 5621 the closing number in australia. the reserve bank of australia kept its key interest rate unchanged. hong kong meanwhile, ending a touch lower. singapore outperformed the region. a key index reflecting the state of japan's economy rose in december. for the fourth straight month. the cabinet office says the coincident index stood at 115.2

from november. the index is based on a range of data such as corporate output, employment and consusumer spending.. it is mainly due to strong production of smartphone parts and improved job numbers. a major japanese paper manufacturer is considering a key acquisition. they are looking to buy the paper divisision of nishimbo holdings. among their products is toilet tissue. japan's paper market has been shrinking amid falling demand for newspapers and other printed matter. a boom in foreign visitors means hotels are buying more of it and many businesses and households are stocking up on toilet paper for emergencies. daio paper is the current leader in the

and so the most important thing is for us to hire the right people who are innovative and have a very strong background and can help us figure out the really difficult problem. >> as far as automobile designers are concerned, the sky's the limit when it comes to breaking barriers in technology. and it's perhaps the best place where one can get a g good ideaf a source of cars and for those who drive them. rosa sabrino, nhk las vegas.

and you can catch they are report online look for business wrap. i'm going to leave you with the markets. israel's parliament has passed a controversial law that retroactively legalizes jewish settlements in the occupied west bank. critics say it will pave the way for israel to annex the west bank and undermine the middle east process. the votes in parliament was

contentious. opposition members shouted at coalition members in favor of the bill. right wing lawmakers see it as a way to avoid court rules that recognize jewish settlements in occupied territory as illegal. the legislation passed, but the bill is likely to head to israel's high court. under the law, the government can seize private palestinian property, although the owner will be compmpensated. the move is drawing protests from palestinians and the global community. hundreds of thousands of jews live in settlemented built in occupied territories of the west bank and east jerusalem. the settlements are considered illegal under international law. israel has been stepping up moves to build more settler homes after donald trump took office with his pro-israel stance. the subjects of settlements and the peace process are expected to be on the agenda when prime minister benjamin netanyahu meets donald trump next week in

washington. the race to elect hong kokong's next leader is heating up, and the chinenese governmen seems to have a clearar favorit. hong kong media say china he'e' highest rankingng leader, z zha dejiang has hired leaders to back lamb as chief exec dif.f. some of them belong to the election committee. they will vote for the next leader on march 26th.. d dejyang is quoted. and john tsang is seen as more willing to lend an ear. they indicate they may vote for him. he leads in opinion polls

although ordinary citizens are not eligible to vote. nhk "newsline" comes to you live from tokyo with lots of gusts today. for more on weather, here's robert speta. >> exactly, what we have been feeling for the last 24 hour is it's strong westerly winds driving across much of japan out of siberia. temperatures continue all the way up to 15 on monday. not highs are sill in the single digits here in the tokyo area. but it's not just the temperatures, some pretty heavy snow across the sea of japan with the coldest line, that's the imagery with the visual that you see. it kind of looks like fibers coming across the sea of japan. well, that is our classic sign of the sea-effect snow squalls, right here, you can see where it all falls. actually a pretty tight line because of the mountains out

here and some the snow totals has been heavy. and 40 centimeters, lined at 80 kilometers per hour. even heavier snow towards the west, who doesn't get it as often. i'm show you video of shiga prefecture. it's still pretty cold snow out there. definitely people continuing to bundle up. actually, one location, just north of here, did see about 40 centimeters of snow in the higher elevations. so, plenty of the white stuff to go around. back in the west, some people might be traveling, you'll probably see some of the snow out there. one thing you do want to note, though, as we go ahead in the next 24 hours, this is going to start to taper off. that pressure gradient creating that snow is going to move away. high pressur c comes in, but ony for a short period of time.

because our next storm is on its heels. the b thing i is it's coming in from the southwest. a lot of moisture with this one. that means widespread rainfall as we go ahead into thursday. including, we've actually seen that video here in shiga, up to 6, and sapporo getting up to 7, look at this, changing over to snow. this is remember two weeks ago, you had the wild spread car pileup, the car traffic jam, i should say, excuse me, because of heavy snow. similar set up there. good news in sapporo, how about that, zero degrees for the high. snow festival, perfect temperature for that. over here, this front right here, absolutely intense one, gugusty winds in northern spain and western france. i actually have video i want to show you coming out of northern spain here. look at that, some pretty rough

seas there for them. seas up to foreto five meters. we had winds reported on monday at abobout 120 kilometers. wow, that is absolutely intense and a very dangerous idea to be standing is there right next to the ococeanside. but that systetem is kind of getting a move on. it's got scattered showers the worst drifting towards the east. and another low is bringing pretty foul weather in the boston peninsula. even thunderstorms here on your tuesday. here's your extended.

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1:00 p.m. in the french capital. you are watching "france 24." nicolas sarkozy is expected to appeal a magistrate's decision that he stand trial. that is amidst claims that he illegally financed his 2012 reelection bid. . high-stakes legal battle rulepeals court is set to on president trump's travel ban,