here in japan it's 7:00 p.m. on a friday, i'm james tengan, welcome to nhk "newsline," we start with a quick look at some stories we're following. new clues -- malaysian police say kim jong nam, the half-brother of north korea's leader was killed with a highly toxic chemical weapon known as vx nerve agent.

a u.s. think tank says china has nearly finished constructing buildings on artificial islands in the south china sea that are intended to house missile systems. and premium premiere, japan's government and business community launch a campaign to get workers out of the office and in the mood to spend. malaysia's police chief has made a major announcement in the investigation into the killing of kim jong nam. he says a toxic nerve agent was used to kill the half-brother of the north korean leader. >> we confirm it, it is the vx nerve agent. which is a chemical weapon. >> he said on friday that swabs taken from kim's eyes and face tested positive for the substance. vx is banned under international treaty. the police chief said investigators are trying to determine how the substance entered the country. kim jong nam died last week after being assaulted in the

kuala lumpur airport. police have three people in custody. two of them are women believed to have assaulted kim. the chief said one of them suffered effects from the toxin. >> one did, yeah, one did. i don't want to explain much. she vomited. >> the third suspect is a north korean man. police have reportedly raided a condominium near his home in kuala lumpur. local media say investigators have seized chemicals from the condo along with other evidence. police say they've demanded north korea hand over four other men who they say left malaysia right after the killing. they also want to question more north koreans who are still in malaysia. they include an embassy official, and an employee of the state-owned airline. an expert on chemical weapons says the vx nerve agent used to kill kim jong nam was probably brought to malaysia from north

korea. mass aki iwaki is a chemical weapons specialist. he said the nerve gas was like will chosen because of its high toxicity and ability to penetrate the skin. >> translator: vx would be a likely choice due to its accessibility. and it allows you to attack a target selectively. if you can get vx into someone's eyes, the effect is very rapid. it also increases the likelihood that the target will be killed. >> iwaki says nations that have ratified the chemical weapons convention are strictly prohibited from manufacturing vx. north korea is one of the countries that hasn't signed the treaty. he added that manufacturing vx is quite complicated, requiring

specialized knowledge and equipment. he said that makes it likely that the chemical was brought from north korea. >> the north korean military can manufacture vx, so the chemical was likely bout over from the north there would also be many ways to bring it into malaysia. the diplomatic ties between the two countries mean it could easily be delivered in a diplomatic package on a flight into the country. >> malaysian police have sought cooperation from the north korean embassy, with the investigation. they want to question an embassy second secretary and a north korean airline employee. prime minister shinzo abe says his wife has resigned as honorary principal of han elementary school in western

japan scheduled to open in april. the operator of the school brought state-owned land from osaka for a fraction of its value, prompting questions from lawmakers. >> my wife has decided it would be detrimental to both the students of the school and their parents if she remained as honorary principal so she has informed them of her resignation. >> the prime minister said he objected them using his name in fund raising activities. he denied that either he, his wife or his office has any involvement in the acquisition of the land. the school operator bought the land last year. it paid just 14% of the appraised value t. government maintains it reflected the cost of disposing garbage from the site. >> prime minister abe says he considers the sail to be legal and he will monitor an

inspection by the board of audits. prosecutors in japan have indicted a suspect in a mass killing of people with disabilities at a care facility in eastern japan in july. satoshi uematsu is charged with the murder of 19 mentally disabled people and the attempted murder of 24 others. the attack took place at a place where he used to work he told investigators he believe disabled people cause only unhappiness. five months before the attack, he tried to give a letter to the speaker of japan's lower house. in it, he described the plan to kill disabled people. psychiatric evaluations have found satoshi uematsu to be suffering from narcissistic personality disorder. but he is considered to be fit to stand trial as people with personality disorders are considered accountable for their actions. a u.s. think tank says china has nearly finished constructing buildings on artificial islands

in the south china sea that are intended to house missile systems. the center for strategic and international studies made the conclusion after analyzing satellite imimages. an image taken on february 7th shows several buildings on the tip off one of the artificial ee lapds. each structure is about 20 meters long. the think tank says the structures are big enough to contain china's new hq-9 surface-to-air missiles. the service says construction of similar structures are said to be close to completion on the other two islands. "reuters" reports there are about 20 buildings in total. the three artificial islands have large runways where aircraft can take off and land. allowing china to deploy missiles. the researchers say the roof on each concrete building may be retractable, allowing the missiles to be concealed. japan's top government spokesperson says the country is closely following the

developments in the south china sea. >> translator: japan has consistently supported the rule of maritime law in the region. all t the parties involved shou work toward a peaceful settlement of the issue, based on international law. >> the chinese foreign ministry said on wednesday that international law gives china certain rights as a sovereign state. they include the right to construct what he called normal facilities on its territory, and to deploy appropriate facilities as needed for its national defense. south korea's foreign minister is urging a municipal government to relocate a controversial statue that caused a diplomatic row with japan. the statue of a girl symbolizes people referred to as war-time comfort women. it was placed in front of the japanese consulate in busan by a civic government. the south korean foreign ministry said it sent a document

to busan officials last week. >> translator: we have said several times that the statue near the japanesee consulate is not desirable from the viewpoint of diplomatic protocol. we conveyed it to the local government concerned. >> the minister also called for discussions on relocating the statue. this is the first time the south korean government has taken specific action to try to resolve the controversy. the officials in busan said the issue of the statue cannot be resolved nearly through their efforts. they said it has turned into a diplomatic dispute, and there is strong local opposition to the propososed relocation. japan's chief cabinet secretary is calling for a 2015 agreemen to be the countries to be followed. the agreement says south korea will work to resolve the issue of a similar statue in front of japan's e embassy in seoul. >> translator: we'll continue to seize every opportunity to call on south korea to fulfill its obligations in line with our

bilateral agreement. >> in response to the statue in busan, japan recalled its ambassador to seoul as well as its consul general in the port city. let's now take a look at business news, leaders in japan are trying to get consumers to spend more money. they've come up with an initiative called premium friday. it started today. let's find out more from gene otani. >> work less, spend more, that seems to be the message the japanese government wants firms to let employees leave work early on the last friday of the month. or premium friday. the hope is that those employees will use their free time to spend money. nhk world's miwako oshiba found out how people are taking to the idea. >> it's 3:00 in the afternoon. and these economy ministry officials are leaving the office. they usually work until late at night. but the government wants them and all japanese workers to

enjoy the afternoon. hanging out with friends while the sun is still up. heading out of town for the weekend. or spending a few hours at luxurious bar. >> translator: i would love to go out drinking, or traveling somewhere would be nice, too. >> the government calls it premium friday. and has earmarked almost $2 million for the campaign. but they're not just doing it to be nice. officials believe getting people to spend more is the key to revitalizing the sluggish economy. so they're trying to make small changes to a culture where working long hours is deeply rooted. and where many use more of their time making money than spending it. retailers i in restaurants have been quick to respond. some offering more eaearly-bibi specials. travel agencies are also creating trips that leave in the

afternoon. and a supermarket chain is offering hands-on courses like yoga classes. but not every office worker is excited. >> translator: i'm not hearing anything about premium friday it doesn't feel like it's actually going on. >> i agree in the end someone will suffer because the total amount of work isn't going to decrease. >> and while some big businesses are taking part, others say serving customers remains their top priority. now one leading construction company is trying to change the employees' work style using premium friday as a springboard. daiwa house industry will let its 19,000 workers leave at noon. one friday every other month. it's three hours earlier than the government scheme. even its model homes and construction sites will be

closed. >> translator: if people don't work and play hard, or if this efficient way of working doesn't spread throughouout japan, i'm worried we're going to be less competitive in the global market. >> daiwa's managers have been tackling work/life balance for years. they hope they can attract the best workers at a time when they're in short supply. so wilill the campaign make a difference? one economist says we need to wait and see. >> if managers really start to think about work efficiency and change their work environment, or if people start talking about how they enjoyed the premium friday afternoons, then the idea will take root in japan and have a positive effect on the economy. >> on top of sparking the

economy, the government hopes the campaign will also help solve the problem of work/life balance. the campaign will continue next month. and economists will be crunching the numbers to see if it actually pays off. nhk world. toshiba is going ahead with a plan to give up control of its prized chip business. the embattled electronics maker will spin off the unit and sell a majority stake in it. toshiba is trying to raise funds after losing billions of dollars in its u.s. nuclear power business, the company's flash memory division brings in most of its profits. toshiba originally planned to sell less than 20% of the business. but the board of directors you now says that's not enough. anand it agreed to push back titiming for new investments beyond the initial target. toshiba will seek the approval of shareholders at a extraordinary general meeting on march 30th. the firm is planning to quickly sell some assets, but there's a

chance it won't be able to do that in time to cover its liabilities. which will become clear at the end of the fiscal year on march 31st.. in t that case, the tokyo stock exchange will downgrade toshiba from its first section to the second. leaders in some asian countries are looking beyond the decision by the u.s. to pull out of the trans-pacific partnership, free trade deal. they're turning their focus to another free trade framework, the regional comprehensive economic partnership. chief negotiators are in tokyo to lay the groundwork for official talks in kobe, western japan next week. >> translator: the push toward protectionism is growing throughout the world. so given the expectations for continuing economic growth in east asia, it's very important that member countries agree on trade and investment rules that are open and fair. >> the rcep free trade deal

would take in 16 nations including japan, china and asean members. the chief negotiators say given the likely fate of the tpp, their deal has taken on extra significance. the 16 countries began talks f r years ago but they've struggled to find common grounded on goods that should be covered by goods. white house chief strategist, steve bannon has used a speech to a conservative conference to praise the president. bannon hailed donald trump's decision to pull the u.s. out of the tpp. >> i t think one of the most pivotal moments in modern american history was his immediate withdrawal from tpp. >> bannon says the decision will reposition the u.s. as a fair trading nation and bring back jobs. he says it's a big step toward trump's goal to make america great again. bannon says the trump administration has also made progress on security policy and

immigration control. turning to the markets, tokyo shares edged lower on profit-taking as investors keep a close eye on trump's economic and currency policies. our business reporter has more from the tokyo stock exchange. >> investors are biding their time amid the lack of clarity coming from the trump white house. they see a march rate hike in the u.s. as less likely now. safe hach assets like the yen strength strengthened. the nikkei 225 lost about .45%, finishing at 19,283. the nikkei has finished lower for the past three days, but it did manage to eke out a gain for the week of .25%. the broader topix fell 0.4%. the machinery and metal sectors were the worst performers. construction machinery maker komatsu fell 5.4%. mitsubishi materials is down 4.5%. toshiba has been swinging

between up and down. on friday it ended up adding 4%. that's after the company said it will split off its flash memory chip business. and sell its majority stake. switching to currency markets, the dollar was hovering at the upper 112-yen level during tokyo trading after touching a two-week low overnight. investors are been waiting to hear more on trump's tax reform and spending plans, it may get a bit more clarity when he speaks to a joint session of congress on tuesday. many other benchmarks in the asia-pacific region slipped as investors traded cautiously. seoul's kospi dropped for the first time in five days. down 0.6%. singapore retreated a.65%, after hitting an 18-month high on

thursday. australia's index down to 5739. iron ore futures in china tumbled 5%. but the shanghai composite ended up by a fraction, 3253 the closing number, reversing earlier losses, sentiment improved after a government official s said beijing will accelerate reform of state-owned companies. the u.s. treasury chief is adding to speculation that the white house may drop a cocontroversial pledgdge by the president. steven mnuchin said he's in no hurry to label china a currency manipulator, despite a promise by donald trump that he would do so his first day in office. mnuchin says he won't make a judgment until the treasury conducts a regular review. the obama administration went through the same process and ultimately refrained from designating china a currency manipulator. some media are reporting that mnuchin's remarks mean the likelihood that the treasury will issue such a declaration

has decreased. but that hasn't stopped trump from once again complaining about beijing. this time in an interview with "reuters." >> well they, i think they're grand champions. at manipulation of currency. so i haven't held back. they -- we'll see what happens. >> since taking office, trump has repeatedly accused china of undervaluing its currency to boost exports. you can catch our report again online together with a full transcript. just look for nhk world and business wrap and that's a look at business news, i'm going to leave you with the markets.

live from tokyo, storm doris is bringing an increased risk of power cuts to the british isles as sayaka mori tells us. >> doris is the fourth-named storm of the season and impacted the area with heavy snowfall to the north. video coming out of the uk as well as belgium. storm doris battered the u uk island and the low couountries thursday. the winds swept across the areaa brussels shut down public parks because of powerful winds, doris brought winds of up to 152 kilometers per hour in wales, heavy snow forced school closures in scotland.

and thousands of homes in ireland were without power. a woman was killed by fly deeg bring in england. so many weather events took place in the uk and surrounding areas. the storm system has moved away, now located over eastern portions of europe. however as you can see, another system is moving into much of the british isles, so it's going to be wet once again. but london will be escaping from the rainy weather, we'll have 9 degrees on friday. paris at 9 with rainy weather, berlin, you could see snowfall. and moscow will see the high of 3 with snowflakes on the menu. now we saw heavy snowfall earlier this week in much of northern portions of china. beijing saw heavy snowfall, but some animals were quite happy with snow. we see video from liaoning province, fresh snow fell in northeast china, wednesday and one of its furry residents decided to have some fun. a panda in the dalian forest zoo

couldn't't contain its exciteme. the bear tumbled across the snow and even climbed a tree where it performed some acrobatic stunts. panda is six years old and was the most excited out of the three located at the zoo to see the winter weather. he's extremely cute. right now, high pressure syst iss dominating much of northern china, so it's calm, snow is nonot falling. i hope the panda is not disappointed. but snow is falling heavily across the northwestern side of japan again and snow will likely continue into saturday and possibly into sunday in northern japan. sapporo will see snow on saturday, it's going to be chilly on sunday in sapporo, minus 2 for the high. but tokyo is going to be quite warm on sunday. and it'ss going to be sunny weatheher. and then down to 9 degrees on monday. and that's going to north america. several weather events are happening across many places of the united states. heavy snowfall across the north.

blizzard warnings are in place in parts of minnesota and iowa. and across the south, it's going to be windy and warm, fire weather and thunderstorms across the east and freezing rain may fall in the south of eastern canada. temperatures are going to be on the warmer side, 28 in houston. up to 22 in st. louis. but down to 6 degrees as we go into saturday. and then beautiful weather, temperaturewise in the u.s. capital. 23 for the high. and across the southern hemisphere, solar eclipse will be visible in parts of the southern hemisphere on sunday. whether is going to be beautiful in the south of argentina on sunday so enjoy the solar eclipse. that's it from now, here's your extended forecast.

train travel is about to get a little more luxurious. railway operates in western japan have revealed the twit express mizukaze, a high-end train service that will begin in june. >> west japan rillway company held a ceremony in osaka, the

16-car train will make its way through cities in yamaguchi prefecture. >> translator: the idea is for a hotel-like train to travel through japan's scenic beauty. this train is perfect for it. >> possible stops include the kinosaki hot spring resort. this double-occupancy room costs $2400 per night and is equipped with a shower and toilet. there's even an open observation deck. in the dining car, top-class chefs will offer meals using local ingredients. the lounge car is equipped with a bar and can also be used for the japanese tea ceremony. the trainin will make its debutn june 17th.

good news for you tourists who can afford to splurge, i'm james tengan, thank you for watching this edition ofvxa

"francewelcome to the 24" newsroom. vx highly toxic nerve agent was used to kill the half-brother of north korea's leader. pyongyang believed to have a stockpile of the lethal chemical. it is called a blatant violation of the chemical treaty according to seoul.