hello, and welcome to nhk "newsline." we start this hour with the coronavirus, which is stoking diplomatic tensions. seoul has criticized japan's decision to ask travelers from south korea to quarantine themselves starting next monday. the foreign minister summoned japan's ambassador to her office on friday.. >> translator: japan's measure is both unfriendly and unscientific. we call on the japanese government to objectively look

at the facts and to immediately cancel this policy. >> she also said seoul would take corresponding measures. the ambassador said he would urgently report the demand to tokyo. japan's new quarantine rules will also apply to china, including hong kong and macau. the measures will last until month end. the number of coronavirus cases in japan has now topped 1,000. about 700 are from the "diamond princess" cruise liner. 12 people have died, half of them from the ship. for more insight about how japan as decision is playing out in south korea and china earlier we spoke to kim chan ju in seoul

and our report ner in beijing. >> reporter: japan is not the first country to place travel restrictions on people traveling from south korea. more than 100 countries and territories have introduced measures. but south korea's foreign ministry is questioning why japan is only doing so now. one of president moon jae-in's secretary of stat secretaries took a swipe at japan. i've also been monitoring online reaction. some south koreans are criticizing japan's decision. others say south korea shouldn't worry about what's happening outside the couountry and inste focus on domestic efforts, like containing the outbreak and finding a way to address the shortage of face masks. meanwhile, health authorities now say the number of confirmed cases in south korea is over

6,000. local media are reporting the crisis peaked last weekend, but expert the say now is not the time to relax. for its part, the government is advising the public to remain on alert and take preventive measures at all times. the >> so far there's been no official response, but it's unlikely to provoke much of a reaction. that's because authorities in china have already taken similar measures on passengers arriving from japan. it news conference on thursday, a foreign ministry spokesperson suggested both china and japan are making promote decisioappros based on science. she also said both sides are in close communication, but it could cause disruptions for chinese exchange students who are getting set to tastart scho in japan in april. on sococial media, some are now

wondering what kind of impact the new restrictions will have on their study visas. chi chinese tourism to japan has already declined dramatic laall. but further drops are expected. businesses on both sides are also scaling back trips. so the economic impact will likely be there for some time. >> the outbreak is causing events across japan to be called off. the government has officially decided to cancel the national memorial ceremony for the vick continues for the march 11 earthquake and tsunami in 2011. the ceremony for the ninth anniversary of the disaster had been scheduled for wednesday of next week. more than 20,000 people were killed or remain listed as missing. the government says this is a crucial time for containing the outbreak. the tokyo metropolitan government has also canceled a ceremony scheduled for tuesday of next week to commemorate the

100,000 vick continues tims of raids in tokyo. it's the first time the event has been called off. it's been an annual event since 1991. about 1600 people had been scheduled to participate in the ceremony. the government had originally wanted to hold the event on a smaller scale. with concerns mounting over this summer's olympic games in tokyo, greece is considering canceling some ceremonies related to the torch relay. greek officials say 22 people tested positive for the coronavirus on thursday. that brings the total in the country to 31. officials have banned major sports and other events for two days from thursday. ancient ruins in three regions have been closed, as have all schools. the torch-light beiing ceremony to take place next week in its

ancient home in greece. but organizers may be asked to down size the ceremony. some events may be canceled. going ahead without spectators is also an option. separately, the tokyo organizing committee will likely cancel its plan to send students to greece for this month's torch hand over in athens. 140 students were planning to present a dance at the event which hands the torch from athens to tokyo. one other regional at this in canceled students. dozens of people on board the "grand princess" will be screened for the virus after some passengers previously on the ship tested positive. one of them later died. about 242400 passengers and 110

crew members are on board. media outlets say dozens are showing flu-like symptoms. california's governor said people will not be allowed to disembark until test results come back. thee ship was on its way to san francicisco from h hawaii. this couple from calififornia i on boardrd. they're celebrarating their wedding anniversary and sayay they'ree feeling fine. >> we've been very proactive with washing our h hands. many timeses a day.. the crew cleans everyrything.g. handles, chairs, eveverything. all day long. in the operator of the "grand princess" is the same one as the ship that was quarantined off yokohama, japan. six people who were on board the "diamond princess" have died. on the u.s. east coast, new york city is asking residents returning from five countries to isolate themselves at home for

two weeks. mayor bill de blasio announced the measure on thursday. over 20 cases have been reported in new york state, including a number connected to a manhattan lawyer. the five countries are china, south korea, italy, iran, and japan. people who arrive from these countries are urged to stay home for 14 days and monitor their health. the japanese consulate in the city says it will confirm whether any japananese national areubjeject to the request. u.s. authorities say there are about 100ases confirmed in the country. a dozen of them have died. officials in china said on thursday that the virus had killed more than 3,000 people on the mainland. over 80,000 have been infected. nhk calculates that outside mainland china and japan, more than 16,000 people have been infected in dozens of countries and territories.

the death toll exceeds 300. five european members of the u.n. security council are condemning north korea's recent missile test, saying they undermine regional security and stability. germany, britain, france and two other european countries released a joint statement after a closed-door meeting on thursday. the statement says north korea's missile launches are provocative and violate u.n. resolutions. it also your honors turges the engae engage in denuclearization talks with the united states. the u.s., china and russia did not take part in the talks. the u.s. president says he has no problem with north korea's

short-range ballistic missile tests. china and russia are calling for sanctions against pyongyang to be eased. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo is urging the taliban to abide by the peace agreement they signed with the u.s. last week. the comments come on escalating violence on both sides in recent days. in response, the u.s. said it conducted an airstrike on wednesday. >> the upsurge in violencee in parts of afghanistan over the last couple days is ununacceptable. in no uncerertain terms, violen must be reduced immediately for the peace process to move forward. >> pompeo said he believes taliban leadership is still working to deliver on its agreement. one of the sticking points on the agreement was the afghan government which was not part of the peace talks. the taliban wants the government to release 5,000 prisoners

before they meet with afghan leaders, but the government has yet to agree to the demand. pompeo says the u.s. is trying to facilitate those talks. meanwhile, pompeo criticized the international criminal courts' decision to investigate alleged war c crimes by the taliban and u.s. military in afghanistan. he described it as a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political institution masquerading as a legal body. he says it's reckless as it comes just days after the peace deal was signed. the new coronavirus outbreak is also casting a shadow over sumo. the japan sumo association announced that the upcoming spring tournament in osaka will be he

be held without a live audience, but even without a crowd there will be plenty of excitement. rising star shodai is hoping for more success this time around. nhk world's hiro morita asked him about his aspirations. >> reporter: normally a grand sue sumo tournament features a packed house cheering for their favorite wrestlers. sumo wrestlers had been looking forward to the event, but unfortunately, this will be the first sumo event held in japan without any spectators in attendance. >> i guess it's okay with them holding it without an audience. >> i will cheer in front of the television and encourage wrestlers on social media. >> reporter: i'm here to check out a sumo practice, but due to the new coronavirus outbreak, i must wear a surgical mask.

sumo stables have been keeping fans out of their practice sessions and canceling various live appearances where wrestlers sign autographs and shake hands with the public. despite the unusual circumstances surrend circumstances surrounding the spring meet, s shodai has been training. >> hello, i'm shodai, the showstopper. >> reporter: in the previous tournament, he overwhelmed many opponents with great technique and power to lead the championship race from start to finish. but, in the end, he came up short of the title by just one victory. >> translator: yes, i was upset. but the disappointment didn't linger. >> reporter: shodai was born in 1991. his sumo career started in the first great of elementary school. in college, he won a national

collegia collegiate championship as a sophomore. he entered the professional ranks as a highly-recruited prospect. in just nine tournaments, he was promoted to the well-respected division, the sport's second highest. duringng a press conference aft his promotion, he was asked which wrestler he wanted to fight most. instead of a brash answer, he simply said -- >> i'd rather not wrestle any one strong. >> reporter: after that interview he's been dubbed "the negative-minded wrestler." >> i prefer to be none as a reserved wrestler. it might help me surprise opponents in the ring. >> reporter: hoe dshodai says w he's not wrestling he eats his

favorite foods. he utilizes time when he doesn't think about sumo at all. >> translator: i'm very conscious of entering a different headspace. by totally relaxing myself outside the ring i can be completely focussed when i go into battle. >> reporter: shodai is hoping for yet another break through. but the spring tournament will be a big challenge. >> translator: it's sad that there won't be anyone in the stands to watch us fight. but, either way, all i can do is my best. >> reporter: the spring tournament kicks off this sunday in osaka, shodai, the rest of the wrestlers and all the fans watching on tv are hoping for an action-packed tournament without further incident. nhk world, osaka. it's time now for world weather with our meteorologist, sayaka mori.

hello, sayaka. yesterday you talked about snow hitting northern japan. how much know did the region get get? >> record-setting snow fell. hiro receiveved 80 centimeters. gusts reached nearly 100 kilometers per hour. you can see rotating clouds rou right here. this system explosively developed causing strong winds across northern japan, especially hokkaido. the system is pulling away but still feels some snowshowers across northern japan. that is expected to ease as we go into saturday. but rain is expected to develop across western japan, and this system will sweep toward central japan as we go into sunday.

unfortunately, tokyo will see rainy weather on sunday. lots of southerly winds will be moving in, and that will push up temperatures in central japan and western japan. but that's not good news for northern japan, because we have tons of snowfall that could lead to avalanches. watch out for falling snow offf roofs. so dangerous conditions could curb because occur. sapporo could see a high of 10 degrees on monday. and tokyo, 16 on monday and 20 as we go into wednesday. osaka and fukuoka will see rainy weather through the next couple days. meanwhile, the cherry blossom season could start the earliest. it will be on march 15th and sendai, march 27th, that's

actually 17 days earlier than usual. it's very rare to see flowers bloom in april but that could happen this year. we are expecting rainfall in the south and this will affect japan over the weekendnd. we are seeing snowfall around beijing. and that is expected to develop as we go into the weekend as well. now temperatures are going to be as follows. 12 in seoul, and it's going to be warming up to double digits in beijing. sunny weather will return on saturday. and then sunny weather in bangkok. that's it for me, have a nice weekend.

and that's all for this hour on nhk "newsline." thank you very much for watching, and to stdo stay with for more.

the spreading effects of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy triggered another sell-off in in tokyo on friday. with the benchmark ending at its lowest close of the year. the nikkei average ended the day at 20,749, down 2.7% from thursday. the index dropped more than 700 points at one stage. shares were sold across the board throughout the session. other stock markets across the asia-pacific region are in the negative. the benchmark in sydney finished the day down 2.8%.

jakarta, hong kong and seoul also fell over 2%. this is "newsline" biz, i'm gene otani. the government's decision to quarantine visitors from china and south korea means that about half the flights from there will likely immediate to likely need to be diverted to two airports in japan. passenger planes from the two countries would only be allowed to land at narita airport near tokyo orr kansai airport near osaka. they are trying to curb the number of coronavirus infections. the government is also asking operators of maritime passenger services to suspend routes connecting japan with china our south korea. mean while, latest figures show that the number of chinese visitors plummeted last month to almost one tenth from a year earlier. immigration authorities say fewerr than 60,000 chinese entered the country. that compares with nearly

570,000 visitors logged in, in february last year. they say that japan had fewer than 1 million foreign visitors in total last month. that's down by more than half from 2.4 million a year ago. rakuten is amending a plan to offer customers free shipping. the online operator now says the policy will only apply to merchants who agree to it. company executives say they are also taking measures for vendors that may be negatively affected by the change. rakuten had announced it would make shipping free for orders starting at just under $40, but some vendors opposed this, saying their business would suffer if they h had to shoulde deliveryry costs. japan's anti-trust regulator asked the court for an emergency order to stop the plan.

rakuten says there are no legal problems with the free d delive. merchants are also askingg for the plan to be postponed in light of the coronavirus outbreak. seven and i holdings has scrapped plans to acquire a u.s. chain of gas stations. the owner of the 7-eleven chain decided to end negotiations with marathon petroleum at a board meeting on thursday. the two sides apparently could not agree on a price of $22 billion. marathon speedway has around 4,000 gas stations with convenience stores in the united states. the sources say seven and i wanted to strengthen its overseas business by expanding its u.s. network. this is amid weak growth prospects for retailing in japan. companies in china rely heavily on workers from the countryside, but this year the coronavirus has stopped many in the migrant workforce from returning to the big cities even

after the extended lunar new year holidays. nhk reports on how companies are coping with the labor shortage. >> reporter: this area on the outskirts of beijing is home to many staffining agencies. usually the streets would be swarming with job seekers. but not this year. this stataffing office has canceled all events bringing together job seekers and employers. >> translator: we'll restart the job fairs after the outbreak ends. when that will be depends on the government's handling of the issue. >> r reporter: local authoritie have restricted public gatherings, and that includes marketing activities. they are calling on job hunters to contact them via social media. people returning to the chinese capital are required to stay at home for two weeks.

but some vendors are suspending rental contracts with migrant workers due to fears of infection. >> translator: some people cannot find places to livee eve if they want to come back here from their hometown. >> reporter: with no staff to man the desks, t this online seller of speciality l liquors struggling to stay in business. >> translator: we haven't made any sales for more than one month. but we still have bills t to pa. alall we want to do first is resume normal business operations. >> reporter: some businesses are shuffling manpower to overcome the problem. this super market chain operates a home delivery service. customers order on the smartphone app. the virus outbreak has triggered a flood of orders from people staying home. the company hasas started

borrowing w workers from restaurants t that remain close. this man began working at this store last month. he's actually a sushi chef from a nearby japanese restaurant, but the eatery has scaled down its business significantly. the owner decided to send some of its idle staff to the super market. more companies plan to adopt the worker-sharing system, meaning tens of thousands will be joining him in new workplaces. >> translator: if i keep at it for another month or two, things h should be better again. >> translator: if they work at this store, they can continue to get paid while also allowing us to solve the problem of staff shortage. it's a win-win situation.

>> reporter: businesses are on the front line in the fight to contain the virus. solving the manpower shortage will be critical to their recovery effort, a and in some cases, to staying in business. nhk world, beijing. all right, let's have a look at the markets.

from the "newsline" biz team in tokyo, i'm gene otani, thanks very much for joining us.

>> hello and welcome from live from paris. i am here in the frenchh capita. effect-fire kicks into in northern syria after the presidents of russia and turkey agree to a deal. in the meantime tensions causing a migrant crisis just as ankara opens its borders. catherine talking to noris who is there on the scenee and willll tell us the latest. the tunisian capital isoc