it's the top of the hour. i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to nhk "newsline." a malaysian newspaper says the country's immigration authorities have detained 37 north korean national forth staying there illegally. the two countries are locked in a diplomatic standoff over the killing of kim jong-nam, half brother of north korea's leader. the "news straits times" quoted sources saying tuesday investigators searched a construction site on the eastern island of borneo.

it says all 37 are construction workers. they're accused of visabusing tr visiting passes and working without proper papers. tuesday pyongyang banned malaysians from entering the country. malaysia responded in kind. they've also booted out each other's diplomatic representatives. however, malaysia's prime minister says he has no plan to sever diplomatic ties with north korea. he says a communication channel is necessary to determine what the north is demanding. >> we are of very few countries who have been very fair to north korea, really quite friendly to them. so we didn't pick a quarrel with north korea. it was never our intention. >> kim jong-nam was attacked at kuala lumpur international airport last month and died. malaysia is demanding pyongyang hand over four north korean suspects. it also wants to question three north korean nationals, including an embassy staff member. pyongyang hasn't been cooperative, calling the investigation unfair.

a man claiming to be kim's son has spoken out online in a video posted online. if true, he's the first family member to do so. he hasn't revealed his location, and it's unclear when it was filmed. parts of it have been blacked out. >> my name is kim han sol. from north korea. part of the kim family. here's my passport. my father has been killed two days ago. i'm currently with my mother and my sister. we hope this gets better soon. >> south korean intelligence officials say it's highly likely the man is kim jong-nam's son. the group that posted the video says it supports defectors and reveals kim jong-nam's family has been moved to a safe place after seeking refuge.

the next step in the influence-peddling scandal that's upended south korean politics is near. the constitutional court says it will rule on park geun-hye's impeachment case on friday morning. she's been suspended since december. the court has been examining whether to uphold or reject her impeachment. if six of the eight judges decide to uphold it, park will be dismissed. if three or more of the judges reject it, park will resume her duties as president. the focus would then turn to whether park remains as president until her term ends in february. she had said before her suspension she would step down well before her term ends. the court is ruling earlier than initially thought because the term of one of its judges will expire next monday. it doesn't want to prolong political confusion in the country. joining us in the studio is nhk world's senior correspondent

kengo okamoto. he's been covering issues on the korean pens minutes la for years. first of all, how do you see the ruling playing out? >> james, the question so is difficult to answer. on one hand it might seem natural the court would uphold impeachment. as you know the hundreds of thousands of people were enraged and demanded to see her step down. but her supporters are gaining momentum again. and ironically, she has kim jong-un to thank for that. the threats from north korea, not just the missile launches but also the recent killing of kim's half brother, kim jong-nam, have concerned south koreans even more than before. and that's helped park regain some support. especially from older conservatives. they see park as the most competent person to handle this

unstable situation. we have to remember the judges will be looking at the case from a legal point of view. so their conclusion may be surprising to either side. >> i see. and remind us, what exactly are they considering as they reach their conclusion? >> well, the judges have been reviewing evidence from the 17 hearings they've held since december. and they've listened to lawmakers and park's defendants on the various issues surrounding her fate. the judges are considering five aspects. lawmakers say the first four violate the constitution. these three that are highlighted stem from the influence-peddling scandal that came to light last year. for the first one, acting against a rule of law and democracy, lawmakers accuse park of ordering her staff to hand confidential documents to a close friend, choi soon-sil.

park let her influence government policies and staffing decision. but park's side denies that. and the fourth is in regards to the sinking of the "sewol" ferry three years ago. nearly 300 people, including high school students, died. lawmakers accuse park of failing to protect them. but park's lawyers deny the allegations. they say there's plenty of evidence to show she tried to save lives. and the last charge is criminal. lawmakers and, more importantly, prosecutors, claim park colluded with choi to solicit and receive bribes from samsung group. but park's lawyers don't agree. they say that contributions went to foundations and even if they aree linked to choi, that doesnt mean she or park received any benefit.

so did park violate the constitution or criminal law? we don't know that officially yet. what we will know is if the constitutional court thinks the allegations are grave enough to oust her from office. and the ruling is final and irreversible. and if it's upheld, it's still possible criminal charges could follow. >> kengo, thanks. you're watching nhk "newsline" live from tokyo. the u.s. state of hawaii will ask a federal court to halt the signed travel ban by president trump. hawaii will be the first state to challenge the revised ban. the new executive order places a 90-day ban on people from six muslim majority countries if they do not possess a valid visa. this time the order excludes iraq. it also reinstates a 120-day ban on admission of refugees from any country.

hawaii had filed for an injunction against the earlier order. it will amend that suit and seek to stop the revised ban. it said it's asking the court to debate the matter by next wednesday, one day before the new order comes into effect. trump's first ban led to chaos at airports and sparked protests across the nation. it was suspended by a federal court in washington state. the u.s. central intelligence agency has been working on new ways to hack smartphones and other personal devices, that's according to new documents released by wikileaks. the organization has put out thousands of pages of what it says is a secret cia program and it says there's still more to come. the documents say under the initiative the cia has developed techniques targeting iphones, android devices, and windows computer systems using viruses and other methods. for smartphones it says the cia has been developing ways to obtain voice and text messages

and location data from the devices. as well as remotely operated cameras. smart tvs were also targeted. the cia was said to be looking at ways to use the appliances to record conversations in a room even when it appears they're turned off. wikileaks says the documents were circulating among hackers and contractors who have worked for t the american vernment.. and t that it obtained the data from one of them. the authenticity of the documents has yet to be verified. japan's economy grew at a faster pace in the final quarter of last year than the early numbers suggested. gene otani brings us more on that and other headlines. >> officials at japan's cabinet office say annualized gdp expanded 1.2% for the october to december period. that's .2 points higher than in the preliminary data. the officials say corporate investment was much stronger than expecteded. it went up from 0.9% to 2%.

private consumption has been revised up from a slight contraction too a slight expansion. however, some investment areas came in weaker than initial estimates. housing investment was revised slightly downward and public investment, which was already down in the preliminary release, fell deeper into the negative to minus 2.5%. china has released its trade data for february. asia's biggest economy is reporting its first d deficit i three years. weaker exports and strong imports caused an unexpected dip. customs authorities say the deficit for february ran to more than $9 billion. exports were down 1.3% from the same month last year. sales to japan and europe of clothes, shoes and furniture were sluggish. but imports surged 38%. the biggest jump since early 2012. major factors included bigger orders for foreign coal, crude oil, and iron ore. tokyo stocks closed lower

with the nikkei falling for a fourth day. investors stayed cautious ahead of monetary policy meetings at the european central bank, the u.s. federal reserve, and the bank of japan. our business reporter phoebe amoroso has more from the tokyo stock exchange. >> many traders believe it's too risky to make any major moves ahead of the u.s. fed decision next week as they believe there's likely to be a rate hike. a stronger yen weighed on sentiment. the nikkei 225 lost almost .5%, finishing at 19,254. the broader topix shed .3%. looking at individual stocks, shares in the metal sector fell. copper prices hit a one-month low earlier in the week due t t an unexpected jump in stockpiles. matsui mining and smelting lost 2.5%. sumitomo metal mining also ended lower. nintendo clocked its fourth day of gains, seeing strong demand for its latest console switch.

the dollar slipped against the yen during tokyo hours. traders bought the japanese currency as a safe haven asset ahead of the fed policy meeting. so investors didn't have much appetite for risk. they're keeping an eye out for the friday u.s. jobs data which could impact the pace of rate hikes by the fed. i'm phoebe amoroso reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. in china the country's latest trade data had little impact on stocks. the shanghai composite ended down a fraction, 3240 the closing number there. hong kong reacted positively to china's surge in imports. the hang seng index ended up by .4%, 23,782. the benchmark extended its gains to a third day with all sectors ending in the positive. singapore up .5%, the benchmark ending the highest in one and a half years. indonesia meanwhile edged down.

officials at japan post are looking at charging online retailers more for parcel deliveries. they say they're considering the move because of a boom in internet sales and higher personnel costs due to a shrinking labor pool. japan post currently provides discount deliveries to online retailers since it received a large volume of business from them. postal officials say a hike in the rates won't affect individual clients for the time being. the recent increase in demand has hit other delivery companies. japan's leading parcel firm, yeah ma yamoto, plans to raise prices for the first time in years. japan's current account stayed in the black though the surplus narrowed for the first time in eight months. higher crude oil prices pushed up the trade def sister, shrinking the overall figure. the finance ministry officials say the surplus came

in at about $575 million. it narrowed nearly 90% from a year ago. the trade deficit was over $7.5 billion. earnings from overseas investment added to the trade figure. the primary income accounts stayed in the black with a surplus of more than $11 billion. nhk has learned that operators of the tokyo stock exchange have decided to sign a memorandum aimed at boosting ties with saudi arabia's stock market. the world's largest oil company, saudi aramco, is planning to go public next year. tse want the firm to list its shares on their exchange. saudi aramco capapitalization estimated around $2 trillion. the oil firm is looking to offer its stock abroad instead to the exchange in the saudi capital riyadh. japan exchange group officials will sign a document during a

planned visit by saudi arabia's king salman to japan next year. the tse is an affiliate of the group. the memorandum calls for the japanese side to provide technical advice on how companies list their shares on more than one market. women in japan who want to work and raise children off then find that places for day care are limited and few companies provide it. our next story looks at a single mother who started a vegetable farm. many of her employees are women and their work schedule is child-friendly. >> reporter: this greenhouse belongs to an agricultural firm in oita prefecture in southwestern japan. it specializes in hydroponically grown leaf lettuce. lettuce grown conventionally in soil is harvested twice a year. at this farm, computers monitor temperature and nutrient levels so the lettuce can be harvested every month.

the firm began operating last july and now has 14 workers from their 20s to their 60s. six of them are raising children. the president, ami hirayama, is a single parent. she started the company after her child was born. hirayama used to work for a company that sells cosmetics but she thought it would be difficult to continue while raising her child and decided to quit. at around that time, she learned about hydroponic farming. she saw a chance and convinced four other women to invest in her company. above all, she wanted to create a workplace where women could thrive. > translator: w we wanted to bring a breath of fresh air to agriculture, and what better way to do that than by starting a company of just women. >> the company named its lettuce "vegetable mother" to highlight that it's grown by women.

hydroponic farming eliminates the need for weeding and the containers are raised, reducing the physical burden. the key tasks are transplanting seedlings and packing. most of the staff are papart-timers, and they choose from shift patterns, ranging from three to eight hours. the company tries to accommodate employees' wishes regarding work hours. when this woman's child developed a fever, everyone stepped in to cover for her. >> translator: when one ofof us needs to skip work, everyone comes together to help. it's very helpful for us. >> translator: we all know how tough it is for a mother to work while raising children. but we support each other to pull through. i think it's because this is an all-female workplace that it's possible. >> this approach to business

appears to be bearing fruit. the company expects first-year sales of around $440,000, allowing it to break even. a fresh take on farming that's expanding opportunities for women and helping them thrive. >> you can catch our report 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.

parents across japan have been finding the results of applications that could greatly affect their lives -- whether or not their kids can get into day care. tens of thousands of them will be disappointed. nhk world reports on japan's chronic day care shortage. >> reporter: these parents have been brought together by a shared struggle. they all want to keep working but japan's shortage of day care spots is making that very difficult. >> translator: i applied to about 20 day cares. i really want the authorities to solve this problem.

>> translator: i never expected that after trying so hard, my kids wouldn't get in. i honestly doubt what the government says about wanting more women in the workforce. >> translator: it's really hard to find day care near tokyo. i want my company to transfer me to an office abroad when i finish maternity leave. then i can work overseas and still care for my children. >> reporter: it may sound extreme, but women have few options if they want to have kids and not give up their careers. the government estimates there could be more than 800,000 children whose parents would like to find them a day care. demand is rising even as the birth rate shrinks. that's because more women want to keep working after having kids and they're being encouraged to by the central government. it says it will create 500,000 day care spots by april next year, but people are skeptical and say it's still not enough. comments like this from an anonymous blog post shocked people last year. and put the harsh reality of mothers in the public eye.

local governments are responsible for day cares. they're struggling to catch up with demand and that's meant unusual solutions. one tokykyo ward built a day ca center i in a raceoursrse parki lot. it plans to open ten new ones in places like office towers and a park. >> translator: we don't have the luxury of choosing our location. we have to accept any available space, as long as it's safe. >> reporter: but even when there's a good location, there are other challenges. neighbors complain children are too noisy, delaying or even preventing new facilities from opening. another near tokyo used communication to tackle the problem. staff set up a cafe inside so anybody in the community can enjoy free coffee and tea and interact with the children.

it has changed some minds. this man donated vegetable plants and is growing them with the kids. >> translator: the plants are so big now. >> translator: i gave them water. >> translator: the children give me new energy. their voices cheer me up. >> reporter: still, it will take more than a few changed minds to improve the situation. the real test will be whether and how quickly governments can get new locations built and up and running. let's see what's happening in world weather with jonathan oh. he starts off with conditions in the central u.s. >> it looks like that we're going toto see a a transititiona stormy weather to winter weathtr for those located towardrd the north in canada as we go throughout t the next day. it's interesting the pattern that we have been going through. last week during tuesday and wednesday, we had a strong storm

that moved across the eastern portions of the united states. and then as the system traveled totoward thehe north and east, brought very heavy snowfall, blizzardrd-like conditions in se locations. it was quite chilly as well. once again this week, we are seeing a similar pattern monday and tuesday. we had a series of strong thunderstorms with tornados involved in n it. as we go forward in time we're going to see all that moving toward the north and east, bringing the possibility of cold weather and once again winter weather as we go throughout the day on wednesday. let me take you to the central portion of the united states. we're looking at some video coming out of missouri where at least 35 tornados were reported monday over several states during the severe weather outbreak. there were more than a dozen injuries with hundreds of homes destroyed. this video out of missouri was damage left behind by an ef-3 tornado and left a line of 60 homes damaged in its path. only minor injuries were reported in this specific storm.

but then let me show you what's happening in another location in a suburb of kansas city. we had a strong storm that moved through the area and ended up destroying the johnson county executive airport and damaged some other nearby airports. several airplanes were heavily damaged or destroyed because of this storm. so as you move forward in time we do have some calmer weather for those impacted by these storms. a cold front is now moving along the eastern seaboard. but the cold front is attached to a very powerful low pressure system in canada. it is intensifying, had a of strong winds associated with it. yes, it's also pulling in so much cold air ththat some locations s are dealing withhe potential for snsnow and winte weather, maybe e even blizzard conditions depending where you are,e, depending how strong tho winds are as w we go forward in time. those of you points from manitoba to the east, be on the lookout for that as we go forward in time.

looking for highs, anywhere from 7 in toronto with some rain, 17 in toronto with rain, 16 in new york and d.c. snow seattle to vancouver from another system coming onshore. you'll be dealing with winter weather. temperatures are going to drop off as we go forward in time. we're looking at single-digit highs for friday in new york and d.c. below freezing fofor new york a ottawa as we go into saturday. now as we take a look at what's happening over into the indian ocean, we do have a tropical depresonon that wewe'll continu to monitor. we had wt t was a lolow pressur syststem, dumping so mucuch rainfall. we warned you this was going to be an issusue and we are going see this heavy, persistent rainfall over the next couple of days. and the next 24 hours the eastern coastline may be dealing with up to 200 millimeters of rainfall in just 24 hours. so this is going to be a real problem as we go throughout the day on wednesday. now as you look at the forecast for japan, it was a relatively calm period for those here in tokyo. along the sea of japan side of the country we're dealing with more s snowfall. some p places got a decent dustg and we're dealing with up to 50

centimeters of additional snowfall possible into the hokuriku region as we go throughout the day on thursday. looking at highs around 12 in tokyo through the rest of the week, which is more normal. snow in niigata through friday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

for updates and special reports watch "newsroom tokyo" at the top of the hour. for all of us here on nhk "newsline," bye for now.]0kxopop

>> you are watching france 24. time for 60 minutes light around the world. our top stories this hour. group claimstate responsibility for a deadly attack on a military hospital near the u.s. embassy in kabul. all attackers were killed after nearly six hours of gunbattle. released thousands of new documents allegedly linked to the cia. he say the agency is spying on people via their computers, smart phones and even tvs.