live from our studios here in tokyo this is nhk newsline. there's been a development into the investigation of the killing of the half brother of north korea's leader. one of the suspects is to be deported. there's a lack of evidence linking him to the incident.

malaysia's attorney general said the north korean will be released friday and he will be deported because he has been staying in malaysia illegally. he was not captured at security cameras at the airport. police were not able to establish any link to the two women charged with murder over the case. police believe they smeared a toxic nerve agent on kim's face. they say the four other suspects are from north korea and have returned home. they have demanded they hand them over. north korea denied involvement in the death and haven't accepted the body as kim's. malaysia is reviewing it's diplomatic relationship with north korea. >> translator: starting from monday all north korean nationals that want to travel to malaysia will need a visa.

>> the deputy prime minister says the move is to protect the safety of his people. people in malaysia have mixed feelings about the tightening of rules. >> safer and it's going to effect something in the future. >> you shouldn't stop public interest in a growing nation. we have always been open. our tourist policy and everything so we shouldn't make an exception because of this case. >> malaysia established formal tie with north korea in 1973 and eased the visa requirements in 2009. china's foreign ministers believed to have questioned a north korea official over kim's fatal attack but details of the conversation are not yet known. he met with north korea's vice foreign minister in beijing on

wednesday he also addressed the nuclear and missile development and urged self-restraint. he called the country's friendship invaluable and said he will be sure to informed beijing on the korean peninsula situation. analysts say they also explained it's decision to suspend imports for the rest of the year. that's in line with a un security council resolution also concerned nations refrain from the peninsula. it comes as they conduct annual drills nearby. north korea vowed to respond to its toughest counter actions. north korea's army released a comment through state run media. he is going to boil administer his preemptive strike

capabilities. he adds it is not bluffing. the two month long joint military exercises started in south korea on wednesday. they include scenarios targeting their leadership as well as nuclear and missile facilities. during last year's exercises the north launched missiles of various ranges including one launched by a sub marine. south korea's military reacted sharply. >> translator: if north korea takes provocative actions despite our warnings we'll punish the country to defend the lives of the south korea people. >> the exercises are routine defensive drills aimed at improving the readiness of its forces. now turning to business news, tokyo stocks shot up following the rally in u.s. markets. wall street's major indexes hit record highs after president donald trump addressed congress. >> tokyo's nikkei average

extended it's rally after the record finish on wall street. investors were encouraged by trump's $1 trillion investment plan our business reporter has more from the tokyo stock exchange. >> expectations from a u.s. rate hike strengthen after comments from federal reserve policy makers. in fact tokyo shares touch the highest level in more than a year. let's see where they close this thursday 2nd. the nikkei 225 added 19%. the broader topix gained .75%. the dollar touched a two week high with more fed officials hawkish on a rate hike this month. talk lead to buying up insurance and banking shares.

they all showed robust gains he was serious about buying the business. it could help with the nuclear power business in the u.s. risk appetite is back as they set the scene for a possible rate hike next month. reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. >> many of the markets ended higher. investors seem to be more confident about trump's economic stim you louse plans. indonesia rose and sidney was up 1.3%. malaysia shares advance and 17-15 for the closing number to hit a ten month high. that's after the central bank is saying it expects growth momentum to continue but the shanghai composite declined by .5%.

3230 today. some took profits on gains made on expectations a head of the national people's congress. customers with dozens of japanese banks will soon find it much easier to make money transfers in coming months. they'll get accesess to a servi that lets them send it quickly and cheaply they'll enable customers to transfer funds almost immediately at less than 10% of the current cost it's based on the block chain technology used in bitcoin transactions. they'll roll out the initiative later in the year. it wilill allow customers to ma transfers to systems u.s. officials are threatening to take a more aggressive approach

to international trade. they may ignore trade rules that aren't in their favor. officials with the trade representative office issued the warning in an annual trade policy report to congress. they blame them for distorting the economy. the trump administration won't tolerate unfair trade practices that harm u.n. interests and will aggressively defend u.s. sovereignty over matters of trade policy. if the administration ignores rulings there will be serious consequences it could trigger retaliation by other countries and threaten the trade system. the first round of economic talks with u.s. vice president mike pence in mid april. prime minister shinzo abe and donald trump agreed to launch a

dialogue to deepen economic relations the talks focus on three areas. and bilateral rules on trade and investment but it's unclear how in depth the talks will be as the u.s. administration is still in the process of fulfilling government posts they have drawn up a list of topics and presented them to the u.s. side as early as this week. japan's biggest department store got a sales boost last friday. that's the start of a nationwide campaign that encourages workers to knockoff early next month. department store chains all felt the effects.

executives reported higher sales for february 24th compared to february 2016. an increase of over 5%. sales were up 0.7%. average sales were up 17%. executives say customers crowded their food floors and restaurants. campaign is called premium friday. workers and employees can head off at around 3:00 p.m. on the designated days japan's work force is going through changing times. a tight labor market coupled with new expectations means business versus to adapt and make new strategies for recruiting them. she went to he see the latest.

i started thinking about job hunting but i haven't found my target yet. >> translator: the fact that job hunting season has started hasn't hit me yet. >> reporter: japan is trying to deal with a labor shortage which means companies are going out to attract new employees. there's different ideas. >> translator: if i can satisfy my personal life my motivation for working will also increase.

>> translator: i hope to keep working for a long time. without any stress. even after i give birth. >> reporter: the culture is not for long hard work hours. overwork is such a social issue in japan it has its own term karoshi. in a culture where jobs tend to be for life. today's younger people want something different. so here at the fair companies are trying to prove they have what everyone is looking for. >> reporter: it used to order employees to move to locations across japan. now they're asking to stay in one location to help put down roots.

this firm wants to show new employees won't be overworked but there are concerns. they feed a lack of competition for jobs and it's asking companies to c change that. >> translator: companies have to change working conditions by educating employees and encocouraging them so both side will see some benefit. >> reporter: they say thosese types of changes are necessary. >> translator: there's an increase in companies being forced to change their strategies. they have to satisfy their employees to satisfy their customers. >> reporter: a lot of promises are being made for the next generation of workers in japan but in a society not known for

flexibility the question is will it actually turn into change? nhk world, tokyo. > you can catch her report again online together with a full transcript. look for nhk world and business wrap. that's a look at business news. i'm going to leave you with the markets. ♪ >> shinzo abe is being grilled and it involves plans for a

curriculum in support of abe. now they're ask why they approached a memberr of his pary to seek a discount. >> both have said politicians were not involved but new facts have emerged now. shouldn't you carry out a investigation into whether other lawmakers were approached by the scho school. >> translator: if a politician from my party is involved i'll have the person fulfill his responsibility to explain clearly. >> the veteran lawmaker admitted on wednesday that he met the school operator and his wife in 201. she tried to hand him an envelope that appeared to have money inside but he refused it. >> translator: i said don't you dare. you should be ashamed. shoving money in a politicians face isn't something a proper educator would do. i told him to go home.

>> he denies lobbying either the finance or land ministries on behalf of the school. last year the operator bought state owned land at 14% of the appraised value to build the school. his wife was the honorary principle but stepped down after the land deal. the price was lowered due to clean up costs for contamination and underground waste. well that waste could delay the opening of the school. officials are looking into all that was uncovered during construction. >> translator: we can't guarentee the children's health with waste buried underground. given the current situation it would be hard to create an environment where the students can go to school.

>> the prefecture will find alternative schools for the students in case of a delay. they made a discovery that could help people suffering from eczema. the team including a researcher from japan as well a as europopd thee u.s. has been trying to cue the skin disease and they developed a drug they say targets and reduces the si symptoms. they have tested it on about 200 patients and those g given a hi dosage reported a significant reduction in itching with no major side effects. current treatments suppress the symptoms rather than clearar th up. >> many patients are strugglini with loss of sleep and other symptoms because of the itching. i hope this drug will enable them to sleep better and improve their quality of life. >> researchers hope to have the drug on the market in about two

years. march 11 marks six years since a massive earthquake and tsunami hit western japan. we turn to the small fishing village near the northern tip of japan's mainland. they were destroyed by the tsunami and swept all the way across the pacific. thanks to the good will of many people in the u.s. they were returned home but the story didn't end there. nhk world has an update for you. >> reporter: this toy was made by students. the bookmarks too. they're getting everything ready to send to their new american

friends. this red gate is a symbol of the friendship. it started when they were returned to their home village originally builtlt to offerer protection for the village but they were washed away and spod spotted on the shores of the u.s. state of oregon two years after the tsunami. thanks to the people there they found their way home. the story was big news there and got the attention of the school kids. they drew pictures and wrote messages for the children. >> i wanted to visit the

elementary school and the kids and play with them. >> reporter: their drawings are sent along with the gate. the act of friendship and kindness came as a surprise. > translalator: i was so hap. it made me want to become their friend. >> translator: the pictures and letters are very pretty. i want to send letters back to them. >> reporter: so they decided to do just that they asked their teacher to help them translate the characters in their names into english. >> happiness. >> colorful. then they wrote their names in

japanese. together with what they mean. for many it was their first time writing words in english. >> my name is kai. kai is happiness. colorful. >> translator: i want to learn more english words because i want to be able to talk and have fun if i visit portland. >> reporter: children also put together a thank you message. >> thank you for making the p t

poster. >> see you. >> reporter: for the students these gates don't just stand for protection. they have began a gateway to new friendships and more. cherry blossoms also play a part in japanese and americans. people in washington will soon mark the arrival of spring with the national cherry blossom festival. melania trump is honorary chair. she says the trees are a reminder of ten during friendship of the american and japanese people. around 3,000 cherry trees were a gift from the mayor of tokyo in 1912. most line the potomac river. the blossoms will be at their peak around the middle of the

month and they'll also be able to experience japanese culture. jonathan brings us up to speed on world weather starting with the eastern u.s. >> it's been a rough tuesday and wednesday for the eastetern par of the united states. we're talking about over a 48 hour people they received more than 850 reports. that includes tornado reports and wind d damage reports and vy largrge hail. it's been very busy everywhere from missouri way over to the east even into portions of maryland on the east coast. let me take y you intnto missss. ththis comes out on w wednesday after deadly tornadoes hit the midwest tuesday. at least three people w were killed a and also d destroyed h

andd left thousandsithout power. hail the sizize o of baseballs reported a along with high wind and on tuesday 23 tornadoes were reported i in the region. it did bring severe weather on wednesday. like i mentioned more than 850 reports just on wednesday exceeding 460 reports. mainly west of the appalachian mountains but maryland into kentucky you got hit hard with this particular system it's now pushing off of the coast. most of the united states getting calmer. but the low pressure system ahead of this entire frontal boundary is now bringing chilly and snowy conditions into the eastern areas of canada and we are talking about the popossibility of having so much

snowfall that we may be dealing with low visibibility. so needd to be paying attention as we go throughout the day on thursday and hopefully all of this will be out of the area and things will start to calm down and then a separate system into vancouver and seattle. rain and maybe snowfall as we go throughout thehe day onn thursd. as you look at the forecast for europe it been a very windy and wet pattern, especially for the central and western areas of the continent. we do now have a frontal boundary movingg through the northern areas of europe. for the high on thursday, rain there. vienna at 13. and rain in moscow and also into

ki kiev. it's been a wet day over to japan and we're looking at the evening hours. this is the development of the low pressurure system that' goig to bring in the conflict but once it starts to move toward the north we'll see snow more toward the north but warmer conditions down to the south. tokyo looking into the mid teen which is will be a lot milder for friday, saturday and sunday. looking at the chance for snowfall. dry conditions also part of the forecast back to the west with sunny skies as we go into friday. hope you have a good day where ever you are. here's your extended outlook. a p

genie: you're watching france 24 with 60 minutes live around the world. i'm genie godula. these are the headlines. french presidential candidate unveils his policy plans. chief among them ending nepotism in french government. who ist his rival, accused of giving his wife and children fake jobs. northern ireland goes to the polls today for the second time in 10 months in hopes of trying to resolve the political crisis