live from our studios here in tokyo, i'm james tengan. we start with a quick look at some of the stories we're following. a war over words. japan's defense minister says the government shouldn't describe the situation? south sudan in any terms that might cause problems under the constitution.

finding a way, japan will begin accepting young syrian refugees under scholarship. one year to go. south korea is gearing up for the first winter games to be held in asia in two decades. japan's defense minister has faced a grilling in the diet over her description of what's happening in south sudan, where south defense personnel are on a peace-keeping mission. an opposition law maker wanted to know if she avoided words that could cause problems tons constitution. she said the government shouldn't use terms for the world renouncing article of the constusion a. day later, she was on the defensive. >> do you avoid using the term fighting because it's problematic under articlet? do you confirm there are fighting takes place? >> there are clashes of

civilians in japan. in july, that were clashes in the exam. they do not combat in legal terms. >> japan has strict criteria for the sdf taking part in the peace-keeping operations. the restrictions limit areas to where cease fires have been agreed. they demanded inada's resignation. in july the opposition forces clashed fiercely. nearly 300 troops and civilians died. the framework would see cabinet ministers from both sides to discuss macro and economic trade policies. shinzo abe will confirm with donald trump and work together for a stronger alliance.

he's eager to show it remains strong. trump earlier said he'd be opened to exploring a trade deal with japan. he pulled out of the transpacific partnership deal to pursue bilateral negotiations with countries. he has been critical of japan's auto market, calling it unfair, and has suggested tokyo is trying to weaken the yen. president trump will host prime minister abe at his resort and whether the president might violate the constitution. the mar-a-lago resort costs $200,000 to join. president trump will host prime minister abe and his wife there for golf. they said a problem of ethics would arise if the money came from japan. they pointed out the constitution bans the president from receiving a president from the foreign leader. trump will pay for mr. and mrs. abe as a personal gift.

trump has reached out to his prime minister counterpart. he hopes the countries can develop a mutually beneficial relationship. white house press secretary sean spicer said trump wrote that he hopes to work with xi. during his campaign trump criticized china over trade issues. he's indicated he may reconsider the u.s.'s position on the one china issue. the people decommissioning the fukushima daiichi plant are having issues.

workers need to clear debris in the containment vessel so they can measure radiation and temperatures. they plan to take measurements by sending in a robot like scorpion. a crew sent in a different device last week. an on board camera showed deposits that experts believed contained molten fuel. a team led by japanese scientists has witnessed a new creation of a new planetary system. it's the first time humans have observed the formation that leads to planet and stars. they hope that it will lead to a better understanding of the creation of our own solar system. they used the world's largest telescope high up in the chilean desert. they're generated from the gas and dust that make up new planets. the scientists located star forms. what will become the star is

located in the central blue area. it's just like the sun in our solar system. the red area shows gas and dust spreading out like a disc. >> translator: we expect that many planets will be born from this region in the future. >> she worked on the project and said she intends to observe more regions like this. she intends to find out if solar systems similar to ours exist elsewhere in space. japanese business leaders will be paying close attention to the negotiations between trump and shinzo abe. donald trump continues to criticize firms that made pieces overseas. nissssan has no plans to stop producing in mexico. nissan is building the plant

with germany's daimler. trump will r review the north american freree trade agreement. >> translator: nissan is a japapanese company, but even so we've been creating many jobs in the u.s. and we have a strong presence there. we'll take a close look at what the two leaders have to say. >> donald trump is taking aim at china over what he calls a huge trade imbalance. u.s. authorities are escalating the matter with a ruling that targets cheap chinese imports of fertilizer ingredients. the authorities say subsidies from beijing allow chinese firms to sell ammonium sulfate for less than its fair value. they say that's hurting u.s. competitors. the decision clears the way for the trump to have an anti-dumping duty of 500% and an

additional import tax of about 200%. this follows another u.s. trade ruling from earlier in the week. in that case authorities made a decision that allows for punitive duties on chinese road paving products. analysts warn these cases could set off a trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies. the world's largest chip maker has joined the line of firms responding to president trump's call to create more u.s. jobs. intel says it's going to spend more than $7 billion on a factory in arizona and add 3,000 positions. ceo brian kruzanich met with trump at the white house to discuss the investment. he said over the long term the factory will create more than 10,000 jobs. he said the decision was inspired by trump's economic policies. >> it's really in support of

regulatory policies that we see the administration pushing forward that really make it advantageous to do this in the u.s. >> intel started construction a while back. intel is one of more than 100 tech firms that have filed a legal brief opposing trump's temporary travel ban. u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson has met with his canadian counterpart for the first time since taking office.. the two arere believed t to hav discussed the north american free trade agreement or nafta. tillerson met canadian foreign minister chrystia freland. she said if the u.s. opposes this her country will respond.

he also met another individual the same day and they agreed to hold talks and all three countries are members of nafta. now for a look at the markets. demand for haven assets weighed on tokyo stocks. trump's policies sent investors at the treasury markets and the yen held on to recent gains. our business reporter has more from the tokyo stock exchange. many investors stood on the sideline after the summit of prime minister abe and president trump. they played it safe. let's take a look at the closing levels of thursday, february 9th. nikkei 225 closed at 18,907. topix fell 0.7%. export heavy companies were lower on a stronger yen with car

makers leading the losses. toyota, honda, and mazda were all down. also among the losers, hitachi sank 8%. that's after mitsubishi demapped hitachi pay $6.8 billion for costs related to a joint venture in south africa. checking on currencies, the safe haven yen hovered at the 112 yen level. investors picked up treasuries keeping downward pressure on the dollar. currencies could see some volatility if trump accuses japan of being a cururrency manipulator at the upcomiming summit or if he stresses his preference for a week dollar. outside of japan it was a different picture. major benchmarks in the asia pacific region closed higher. singapore advanced 0.4%. it pushed up the index to a 15

month high. shanghai composite, 3,183 to finish at the highest in two months. sydney's s&p asx 200 index advanced .23%. property shares were in demand after new home sales in december edged up. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're looking at. mcdonald's holding japan in 2016. the sales jumped. it also recorded a net profit, the first in three years. it brought in about $2 billion in sales, up 20% in yen terms. it says net profit came to more than $47 million. that's a big turn around from the previous year when the firm reported a loss of more than $310 million. officials attribute the increase in sales to new product and

storen novations. they say closing on profitable outlets also helped. the value of loans hit a record high. financial authorities say banks provided roughly $110 billion in new mortgages. that's up 15% from 2015. the increase is partly because the bank of japan's negative interest rate policy demanded cash. they're borrowing more to invest in condominiums and office buildings. bank of gentleman parnn officias say they're watchching out for signs of overheating in the market. and you can catch our report again online together with a full transcript look for nhk world and business wrap. that's a look at businesses. i'm going to leave you with the markets.

japan is making moves to show it is willing to tackle the syrian refugee crisis. they're accepting young syrians under a privately funded college plan. we report the first group is set to arrive this spring. >> reporter: of the more than 200 applicants screened in turkey, six have been chosen to study japanese. tuition will be provided but the students are expected to work part time to cover their living expenses. >> hello, this is vera.

>> reporter: japan associaiatio for refugees is cooperating with japanese language schools for the program. >> translator: we wanted to take the initiative as a private organization to accept syrians as foreign students because by doing this we thought we could make the japanese society take on a more active role in the world. >> reporter: six students may seem like a drop in the bucket, but it is a significant move for japan. in 2016 the number of asylulum seekers reached an all-time high.. onlyly 27 weree accepted. three of them were from syria. th number of refugees fleeing the conflict in syria has reached 4.9 million. japan has been criticized for its reluctance to accept them. meanwhile, western countries such as the u.s. and germany have taken in syrian refefugeesy the tens of thousands but last year japan placed a humanitarian aid package worth $2.8 billion

for refugees and migrants over three years. it pledged to initiate a government funded program to accept 150 students over the course of five years. the study programs are an alternative way to accept syrians. right now the screening system does not recognize someone based as a refugee based on the fact that they fled conflict. they say this is a good start. >> i am encouraging the government to do more in asylums and resettlement. i appreciate this has to be done in a gradual manager. >> reporter: jar says this initiative could become a new way to bridge the new countries. these students say they'll work to bring syria and japan together. nhk world, tokyo. ♪ ♪

and the countdown is on in south korea. there's just a year to go before the pyeongchang olympics begin. preparations are in full swing. earlier we talked with reporter jackie ishikawa who's at the slated olympic venue. >> jackie, how are things shaping up? >> reporter: it's full speed ahead at south korea's venues. unlike other years, construction is almost finished. the olympic park is in the country's east coast. it's about 200 kilometers east of seoul. the olympic cities are split into two areas. one is the gangneung area where i'm standing. then less than 30 meters away is pyeongchang area where sledding

events will be held. here we have some newly built buildings. behind me is the hockey stadium. this is for speed skating events. it's one of the powerhouses of the sport in the country. this one for figure skating. as part of a test to ensure the venues are ready, you can see athletes flying in for international events. in order dick combine. the sport that puts ski jumping and cross-country together held a competition last weekend. the sports world cup was the first international competition in the country and in this test to see how it's going. so far so good. the cross-country course was made from reshaping the golf course. there are lots of ups and downs, a real challenge for athletes and make sure the snow is up to international standards, they even invited a snow expert from

norway to improve conditions. >> translator: athletes told me the venue was well prepared and the quality of snow is good. >> reporter: although the sport is still relatively unknown in south korea, about 2,000 people, mostly locals, came out to enjoy the race. >> translator: it's a lot of fun to actually come and watch the sport on site. >> translator: i was worried that the facilities would not be completed, but they're done and there's no problem at all. >> reporter: but there were some questions about safety. the ski jumping venue is on this hill. here at the top where jumpers start off, the wind can be very strong. the international ski federation says it could be dangerous.

so they put nets around the venue to lessen the wind. while there have been no incidents, still, some athletes have concerns. >> translator: the wind is very strong up there. it's okay when i jump, but it's still scary. >> reporter: so far the olympic committee hasas held m more t t competitions here this season. the hope is that by next year any kinks will be ironed out and the games will run smoothly. >> translator: we want the games to be the best olympics in history with the most world records. we aim to promote our economy, peace, technology and culture through the olympics. >> well, i can feel the excitement mounting. can we talk about the political

side of things. south korea has been in up heave val since the fall. the president could be removed. is that having any effect? >> reporter: the worry is the scandal will over shadow the games. there are mixed opinions in the country. . >> translator: there's a rumor that the olympics is related to the scandal. i'm worried that the preparation will not go well. >> t translator: i thihink peop have a negative view about hosting the games. not everything about the scandal is out in the open yet but they are already outraged. >> reporter: already there's some concern that some sponsors have not been signing on because of the fallout so organizers are trying to figure out ways to boost enthusiasm nationwide. > jackie, is there any thougs being given to how the venues will be used after the games?

>> reporter: pyeongchang is a big city area for south koreans so this area will consider to be used. a new expressway and high speed train routes will help that. there are lots of conveniences being built and the benefits for the athletes will be used and convenience after the games. they already thought out. there is an expectation that the olympics will benefit this local region. >> jackie ishikawa reporting. you're watching nbc newsline from tokyo. no snow accumulated in the city center. for more on that and world weather here's robert speta. >> we have been looking at the storm systems tracking over the entire country. it's not just one specific area that's seen the winter weather today. in fact, this started over here and making its way towards

northern japan. 24 hours, these are the top three snowfall reports we've seen extending back towards the west. 25 centimeters even into the kita prefecture and then also into toshigi prefecture. we had 12 centimeters. excuse me, ibarawki prefecture. heavy snowfall warnings were in place. i'll show you video. the heavy snsnow continueses toe down.. 13 reports of injuries. it almost felt like spring in some of these locations. that's the plumb blossoms starting to bloom and got a little confliction of seasons there with the snow on top of them. more snow even in the forecast for a lot of these areas, actually, especially back towards the north. the heavy stuff going to start to kick in as we go into friday.

not so much for the pacific coast, which we've been seeing today even in the tokyo areas. still going to be seeing more flurries out here but it's really back towards the west. you have the secondary low and then you have our classic winter weweather pattern. an additional meter. 80 cenentimeters out there for you. whenen this s storm is all said done because it's not quitting as we go into friday, we'll continue into saturday. some areas couould see two mete of snowfall on top of what you already have out there. so plenty of the white stuff definitely going to be on the ground. there is that threat of avalanche to keep in mind. definitely some slick roadways. back to the west, osaka, fukuoka. extending over to saturday as well changing into cloudy conditions sunday. tokyo, not seeing anymore snow once the low pushes by by friday. still a little more on thursday.

overall, single digit temperatures heading into and throughout the weekend. sapporo, you're missing out on the storm and it will change into snow by saturday a and als into sunday. want to talk about our storm here in the eastern half of the u.s. not this one. this is the one that actually brought that severe weather in the deep south. that's pulling away. right on its heels is a secondary system. that will be cruising along the mid-atlantic states. i want to key in on the tight pressure gradient northwest on the cold pressure. snowfall and also the threat of high winds. that's why blizzard warnings have been issued. this is blizzard warning criteria. it's not just the heavy snow. winds of 34 mileses per h hour 6 kilometers per hour at the same time. you're talking a about white ou conditions out here. definitely with that blowing snow that makes for dangerous travel. already 2,000 flights have already been canceled across this area. do be aware if you're heading to

the airport. the big thing i do want to note though for now, more snow on thursday but look at saturday into sunday. dramatic warmup in temperatures. actually, even in d.c. about a 15 degree jump heading into sunday. here's the extended outlook.

squlooks like the weather invp

capitalin the french you are watching live from paris on france. these are your top stories. america's top law enforcement officer is chosen. the senate confirms jeff sessions to be the next attorney general. discriminatory and unconstitutional. so says the kenyan court of government plans to close the world's largest refugee camp east of the country.