hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline". i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we start in japan where people are remembering the victims of a massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country's northeast. it has been 11 years, but families affected by the disaster and the nuclear accident it triggered are still in mourning. people across japan observed a moment of silence friday at 2:46

p.m., the exact time the magnitude 9 earthquake struck. 15,900 people were killed. more than 2,500 people are still missing, and over the years officials have attributed another 3,786 deaths to illnesses linked to the disaster. ♪ >> the town partially hosted the fukushima daiichi plant which was crippled by a meltdown. many residents forced to leave are still not allowed to go home. miyagi was the prefecture hardest hit by the tsunami. nearly 1,000 people died or haven't been found. their loved ones release

balloons shaped like doves, carrying messages to those who were lost. even people too young to have experienced the tragedy can feel its weight. >> translator: i feel sad because i can't meet people who maybe i could have met if the disaster hadn't happened. >> translator: i want to treasure each and every day of my life, and i want my child to do the same. >> the prime minister spoke at a memorial service about the need to look forward. >> translator: it is our duty to remember the precious lessons we have learned from the earthquake and the great losses we incurred. we must make use of what we learned in order to prevent future disasters and minimize the damage they cause.

>> kishida said his government will continue working to rebuild and help evacuees return home. ♪ a senior u.s. defense department official says russian forces are now within about 15 kilometers of the center of the ukrainian capital, kyiv. the official says one line of troops advancing from the northwest has travelled about five kilometers in the past 24 hours. another convoy moving on the capital from the east is about 40 kilometers away, but progress has been slow because of fierce ukrainian resistance. this hospital in the southeastern city of mariupol was destroyed in an airstrike. the russian defense ministry on thursday said its forces had taken control of several suburban districts but denied attacking the hospital. u.n. officials say at least 549 civilians including 41 children have been killed since the start of the invasion.

this woman told nhk h parents are still in mariupol. she says they told her they've ru out of fd as stores rain closed and they're getting drinking water from rain and snow. a spokespern for the international committee of the red cross says it is imperative the evacuation of civilians from the city begin as soon as possible. mariupol is desperate for people i mean that is what our ople keep telling us, like it is desperate absolutely everywhere. >> on thursday french president emmanuel macron and german chancellor olaf scholz had a three-way conference with putin to call for an immediate cease-fire, but putin remains firm on his stance. >> the conditions put on the table are not acceptable by anybody to be honest. >> macron said he does not think a solution can be expected in a few hours or even in a few days.

the u.n. high commissioner for refugees says as of wednesday more than 2.3 million people had fled ukraine. about 60% of them or about 1.4 million people have gone to poland and over 210,000 to hungary. about 90,000 people have escaped to russia. russia's energy minister says belarus has restored electricity to the chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern ukraine. the facility has been under russian control since late last month. can ukraian foreign minister tweeted on wednesday the plant lost power after the grid used to transmit electricity to the site was damaged. belarus president alexander lukashenko said he took steps to restore the electricity in response to a request from russia. the director-general of the international atomic agency said in a statement thursday ukraine informed the agency it had lost

all communication with the plant. the agency is still trying to confirm whether power had been restored. the chinese premiere wants to play a positive role in restoring piece to ukraine while continuing to impose sanctions on russia. >> translator: china calls for maximum restraint to prevent a large-scale humanitarian crisis. china has put forward and iniative t deal with the humanitarian problem in ukraine and has started and continued to provide humanitarian assistance to ukraine. >> li spoke to reporters on friday after the close of the annual session of the national people's congress. he said the territorial sb integrity of all nations must be respected. but china's number two leader reiterated the opposition to sanctions against moscow.

he insisted they were in no one's interest and warned of the threat they pose to the world economic recovery. now, the russian president has hinted any assets left behind in his country by western businesses could be seized. many companies based in the united states and other nations are suspending or wrapping up their operations in russia in response to the invasion of ukraine. putin commented thursday on the need to deal with such firms. >> translator: with regard to those who are going to halt operations in russia, we need to act decisively. >> he struck the need to put alternative management teams in place and said their operations should be handed over to those who want to run them. putin said he would seek legal solutions. u.s. investment bank goldman sachs says it will shut down its operations in russia. it says it is winding down its business there in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements. the walt disney company has announced it will pause all

business in russia. operations include content and product licensing as well as disney cruise line activities. it added its workers in the country will remain employed. japan-based fast retailing, the operator of a global clothing chain, is set to close its 50 russian outlets. ♪ japan's prime minister kishida has congratulated south korea's newly elected president over the phone. they agreed to work. >> translator: i told him that sound japan/south korea relations are essential to preserving the rules-based international order and to ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in our region and around the world.

>> kishida said ties should be enhanced and expressed home yoon will play a leading role in the effort. yoon responded he also places importance on bilateral ties and will work to improve them. they confirmed their countries will work closely together in dealing with the north's nuclear and missile development as well as abductions of foreign nationals. they agreed torrange a face-to-face meeting as so as possible. north korean media say leader kim jong-un has inspected a satellite launch site in the country's northwest. concerned nations are increasing vigilance. the north used the satellite launching site to test fire long-range ballistic missiles. the leading worker's party newspaper called for expanding the site. the purpose is to enable the launching of rockets capable of

carrying heavy payloads including military reconnaissance satellites. he ordered the improvement of an assembly line. the company launched an approved model of a ballistic missile on the site. he unveiled a plan to put more reconnaissance satellites into orbit. kim said it is to gain real-time information on u.s. imperialists and its vassal forces in japan and the pacific. the ministry released the results of an analysis of ballistic missiles the north test fired on february 27th and march 5th. it was done in coordination with

the united states. the results show the two missiles were of the icbm class and were identical to ones first identified in a military parade held in pyongyang in october 2020. the ministry says the north may have carried out the lunches to test icbm system functions before it conducts a full-fledged firing test. the japanese prime minister condemned the launches. >> translator: recent actions by north korea threaten the peace and security of the international community and the region and cannot be tolerated. japan strongly condemns the actions as they violate u.n. security council resolutions against the north. >> kishida also said japan will study possible sanctions against the north along with the u.s. and south korea. ♪ switching gears to the

action at the beijing games. japan's muraoka won the women's giant slalom sitting event to clench her fourth gold medal in her paralympics career, making her the all-time gold medal leader among japan's winter para-athletes. muraoka who won the event four years ago came in second in first run but came in from behind to grab the gold in the next round. she is aiming for earth fifher d medal on saturday. abe yurika, the 26 year old, said the support of the public encouraged her to do her best. ukraine's an stash ya' laletina finished fifth. during the game her father was captured by the military. she is sure her family is proud of her. a quick look at the medal tally.

host nation china leads the gold medal count with 14. ukraine is second with nine followed by canada with seven. ♪ ♪ ♪

next in weather, residents of tokyo and many other areas across japan are ending the workweek in spring-like temperatures. our meteorologist jonathan oh has the outlook into the weekend in our world weather report. >> hello. we are seeing a beautiful day across japan, and it looks like as we go into the weekend different parts of japan will be seeing temperatures that are way above average for this time of year. that's because high pressure is controlling the weather pattern. looking at the satellite perspective, well, we have clouds rolling through along the pacific side back toward the west, but that's just about it. we do have that warmth that's impacting the snow melt up toward the north, so the northern areas of the country need to be on the look out for that along with a cold front that will be sweeping on through. look at this. sapporo looking at a high of 6 all through the weekend and to

the first part of next week. tokyo looking at a high of 21 on saturday, 20 on saturday. average high around 14, so it will be seven degrees warmer than what we see for this time of year but it will be nice outdoors. just remember that this time of year we do have a high pollen count taking place, so if your eyes will be on bit itchy be on the look out for that because it will be an issue. rain developing to the west starting on sunday, fukuoka in the east and going into monday. we are talking about cherry blossoms. it looks like the forecast from portions in this area. not far away before blossoms are popping up. the warmth is affecting areas to the west. 25 with partly cloudy skies going into the north. looking at rain from beijing, so be on the look out for that.

we are keeping an eye on a low pressure system, looking at the possibility of strong thunderstorms possible going through the day with the low nearby. it will bring a cold air back to the west along the mountains of the eastern side of the u.s. and eventually stormy conditions into the northeast. be on the look out for that. hope you have a good day wherever you are. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ and that concludes this edition of nhk "newsline." i i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline biz" with ramin mellegard, so stay right there.

♪ this is "newsline biz." i'm ramin mellegard. russian president vladimir putin is stepping up pressure on foreign firms exiting his country over the invasion of ukraine. he suggested that the government could seize control of their assets. >> translator: we need to act decisively against companies that are stopping their operations in russia. >> putin made the remark in an online meeting with cabinet ministers. he said it is necessary to introduce external management

and transfer the enterprises to those who want to work. the prime minister said the government has aimed a draft law aimed at preventing the closure of operations. he said protecting jobs is the key test. western countries have been punishing russia with economic sanctions. putin said the moves amount to a declaration of war. sanctions against russia are expected to have a major impact on the country's economy. a global banking associate has now put a number to the damage. the institute of international finance says it expects russia's economy to contract some 15 percent in 2022. that's a drastic change from the previous estimate of a 3 percent ex pang. the value of the russian ruble has plunged. major credit rating firms have downgraded the country's government bonds to a speculative level. the invasion of ukraine is having economic impacts far beyond russia. the international monetary fund said next month it would lower

its forecast for global growth. in january the imf had projected an economic expansion this year of 4.4%. the japanese government is set to ban exports to russia of an additional 57 items to tighten sanctions on the country. now, the ban will be widened from the current list, covering only items that can be diverted for military use. first measure was made in response to russia's annexation of crimea in southern ukraine. the government has added 31 goods to its latest list. they include semiconductors, communication equipment, sensors, radars and encryption devices. it also added 26 technologies such as software. the new restrictions will take effect next friday and will exempt exports for humanitarian purposes. the government has also decided to impose additional sanctions on russia's ally belarus.

it will freeze assets of three belarusian banks. the step is in line with measures to block the banks from the international settlement network, s.w.i.f.t.. the energy ministers from a group of seven nations agreed to continue working toward the diversification of energy sources to reduce dependence on russia. the officials were holding an emergency meeting online on thursday to discuss the ukraine situation. in a joint statement released after the meeting the ministers condemn russia's military aggression against its neighbor. they stress the importance of investing in liquified natural gas. they also say lessening the european union's dependence on natural gas from russia is a matter of special urgency. >> translator: we will commit to all-out efforts to ensure stable energy supplies including accelerating investment in

developments that lead to diversified energy sources. >> the g7 ministers also coemned russian attacks on nuclear power installations voted to peaceful purposes. they call on moscow to cease all use of force in andround nuclear facilities. ♪ a government survey shows business sentiment among major japanese firms has turned negative for the first time in three-quarters. the sentiment index reading for the january to march period stood at minus 7.5. that's down from 9.6 in the previous quarter. a negative reading means the majority of respondents think business conditions have worsened. the index for food makers worsened sharply to minus 37.9. that reflects higher purchasing costs and fewer people dining out as the omicron variant of

the coronavirus spread. the index gauging the mood of firms in the chemical industry stood at minus 15.4. that index for the service industry, which includes restaurants and hotels, marked minus 12.4. now, the outlook is brighter. more major firms expect sentiment to improve in the april to june quarter. their protection suggests it will turn positive again to 4.7, but the finance ministry says the results do not reflect any impact from ukraine's situation. it conducted the survey in february before russia's invasion began. the ministry says it will closely monitor the affects the invasion and the pandemic have on businesses. okay. let's take a look at what is happening in the week ahead. we will start with the world's two largest economies. now, china will come out with a series of key economic indicators while the u.s. central bank is expected to take the first step along its

much-anticipated hiking path. china's national bureau of statistics will announce numbers on tuesday, shedding light on the country's economic conditions. manufacturer's business sentiment for february unexpectedly inched higher from the month before. the latest purchasing management index marked the fourth straight months of growth in factory activity. this came despite the lunar new year holidays and slowdown of production during the winter olympics. it was expanded for the first time in seven months and buying levels accelerated. the figure for the nonmanufacturing sector also rose from the previous month. meanwhile, china's new home prices for january rose 0.1% on a monthly basis for the first time since september. an easing of regulation on property purchases provided an incentive to home buyers, particularly those in major cities. now, turning to the u.s., commerce department officials will release february's retail sales numbers on wednesday.

the figure for january surged 3.8% from the month before, the largest rise since march 2021. purchases of motor vehicles and other goods lifted sales to a record high, but rising inflation could spoil the party, making goods too expensive for consumers and ultimately lowering gdp growth this quarter. the department's report showed underlying strengths in the economy ahead of the interest rate increases from the federal reserve starting in march. now, on the same day the u.s. federal reserve will be wrapping up its two-day meeting. this is when the central bank is expected to start a series of rate hikes. fed chair jerome powell told the u.s. house of representatives financial services committee last week that he favored a quarter point rise, but would be prepared to move aggressively -- more more aggressively if strong inflation persists longer than expected. and later in the week we will see key inflation gauges from the eurozone and japan.

let's begin with the single currency bloc. the european union's statistical office will revise february consumer prices for the euro area on thursday. euro stats early estimates projected an annual inflation rate of 5.8%, up from 5.1% in january. energy costs are expected to have risen by the highest rate on record in february, pushing up inflation across the eurozone. now, russia's invasion of ukraine has also triggered a surge in prices of crude oil futures. on friday it will be japan's turn to release february inflation data in addition to a policy decision from the bank of japan. the consumer price index excluding fresh food was up 0.2% in january from a year ago. but the internal affairs ministry says the figure was skewed by cheaper cellphone plans that carriers rolled out at the government's urging. excluding that factor, the cpi would have come in around 1.7%.

now, soaring energy costs caused by the conflict in ukraine are also expected to push consumer prices even higher in the near future. so inflation may be reaching the boj's 2% target. how the central bank officials respond to that after it wraps up its two-day meeting will be in the spotlight. all right. we apologize for a technical problem on the g7 energy story. let's get a check on the markets. ♪ ♪

that's it for "newsline biz" from tokyo. i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very much for watching.