welcome to nhk world "newsline". people in central russia are talking about the close encounter they had with something that likely came from space. authorities say a meteorite came crashing down to earth shattering windows about 500 people were hurt. officials with the emergency situation's ministry say witnesses saw a burning object streaking through the sky on friday morning in the chelyabinsk region.

that's 1500 kilometers east of moscow. they say the object emitted strong light and people heard a series of explosions. the officials say the impact damaged more than 300 buildings. glass fragments from shattered windows injured many people. teams are searching a radius of several hundred kilometers to find possible debris from the meteor. >> translator: the small asteroid entered the earth's atmosphere and starting burning. it looked like a bright fireball in the sky. the meteor fell faster than the speed of sound and we believe the shock wave is what shattered the windows. with this kind of size it's very difficult to detect until it actually hits the earth. it's fair to say this event was completely unforeseen. >> researchers say the united states believes north korea could be preparing a new missile launch in the wake of tuesday's nuclear test.

their analysis is based on recent satellite photos of a launch site in the northeast of the country. researchers at johns hopkins university looked at images of the launch site. they compared photos taken in january with shots from three months earlier. the photos show a crane pointing in a different direction. part of the launch pad has also been cleared of snow. the researchers say this activity could point to another missile test. the researchers also report that a new launch pad is being upgraded. they say it's benefitted with three large fuel tanks and a flame trench cover to protect large rockets from exhaust gases. it appears similar to one used in iran indicating possible assistance from tehran. researchers estimate construction could be completed in 2016. they say it would enable north korea to launch rockets three to four times larger than previous versions. north korean officials used

the site to launch long range ballistic missiles in 2006 and 2009. tens of thousands of north koreans have gathered together for a show of solidarity. scientists carried out an underground nuclear test earlier this week at the site in northeast. people marked the achievement at a rally in the capital. military officers and civilians gathered in a square in pyongyang. they listened to speeches from dig ani they listened to speeches from dig antarie dignitaries. north korean leader kim jong-un did not attend. the party secretary said that the test was a self-defense measure against u.s. hostility. he said if u.s. officials continue to increase pressure north koreans will respond with high level counter measures. another official threat is capable of attacking military

basis on the u.s. mainland. kim jung one is celebrating his father's birthday. he's ordered the promotion of 48 commanders. kim jong-il would have turned 71 on saturday. kim jong-un promoted officers to the ranks of lieutenant and major general to mark the anniversary. kim said the promotions reflected the spirit of his father. he called the officers loyal warriors and he said they would help north korea achieve what he called final victory. south korean defense ministry officials say they remain on alert for the possibility of another nuclear test by north korea. spokesperson said the north has been preparing for a nuclear test at a tunnel in addition to the western one that was used on tuesday. kim said the entrance of the western tunnel appears to be

intact after the underground explosion. he explained no radioactive materials have been detected because the tunnel had containment walls. south korea's outgoing president has provided insight into talks he's had with chinese leaders about security on the korean peninsula should reunification ever happen. ba he spoke to editors at the newspaper. he said that chinese officials have for the past several years suggested south korea should not consider they are completely on north korea's side. analysts say the remarks of chinese leaders are distancing themselves from authorities in pyongyang. he said the two koreas could be reunited because of what he called a contingency in north korea. he said south korea and chinese officials have discussed the possibility of u.s. forces staying south of the demille --

demilitarized zone. republicans are blocking a nomination of a man who used to sit across from them. president obama nominated chuck hagel as secretary of defense. democrats filed a motion to limit debate and force an early vote to approve hagel. most republicans voted against the motion and it fell two votes short of the 60 needed to move on. >> has this ever happened in history to a nominee for the defense department? no. >> many republicans are questioning statements hagel has made in the past about u.s. sanctions on iran. some say they will take part in a confirmation vote if they get sufficient time for debate. members of congress are taking a week long break. senators will pick up their

discussions later this month. the top 20 economies are gathering in a place where marx and lenin would never dream of to discuss how economies deal with their economies. ron madison joins us. >> finance minute serious and central bank governors of the group of 20 countries will soon begin their meeting in moscow. shinzo abe's policies to improve japan's economy have drawn quite a lot of attention from the international community but officials from some member countries are raising voices of concern that those policies might fuel a global currency war. we have more from moscow. >> reporter: the g-20 meeting is the first major international economic conference to take place since prime minister abe took office. abe's economic strategy called for grievance tear easing and

more government spending. in the past three months, abe's policies have resulted in an almost 30% rise of japanese share prices. and the yen has fallen about 15% against the dollar, boosting japan's exports. the major economic powers have closely watched these developments. some g-20 leaders such as germany's finance minister are worried that japan may be using its monetary and fiscal policies to devalue utes currency and boost exports. group of several countries issued an emergency statement earlier this week. they affirm government policies should not target interest rates. >> translator: it's important to make it clear to the world so

that there will be no misunderstanding, we can't have an unnecessary miscommunication affecting the global economy. >> reporter: at the g-20 meeting, it was explained that japan has no intention of manipulating interest rates. he wants to get the message across that policymakers are only trying to pull the country out of depression. amid the fwlobl economy developments in japan are the focus. many economic and business experts will be closely following the talks. and the g-20 is planning to release a joint statement after the would day meeting ends on saturday. all right let's turn our attention now to the markets. we'll start in europe where stacks are trading in a pretty tight range. many investors apparently waiting to see developments at the group of 20 meeting. right now we got london lower by

.10%. paris cac 40 is down by the .10%. asian shares ended pretty mixed. europe's poor growth data dented sentiment. nikkei declined 1.2%. australia losing just a fraction after reaching the highest level in 4 1/2 years just on thursday. south korea's kospi holding ground. the benchmark index added almost a .10% at the close. moving on to currencies now the yen is keeping it's upward momentum against other major skrins ahead of the g-20. dollar/yen is 92.62. why are youo yen is squatted at 123. >> tepco will cover a short fall stemming from the halted

operations at the nuclear power plant in fukushima. 50 companies are taking part in the bidding process. the firms that win will begin supplying a total of 1.6 million kilowatts of power between 2019 and 2021. this amount will be equal to the power generation from two nuclear power plants. tepco made it a condition that the bidding price would be below about 10 cents per one kilowatt per hour. coal fire thermal powered plants will be favored candidates due to their lower cost. however environment minister has expressed some concerns. he says that building new thermal power plants or expanding existing ones will just push up greenhouse gas emissions. the japanese government plans to give financial aid to businesses that are developing shell gas and other low cost energy resource. industry minister says the government is considering

offering debt guarantees for such companies. >> translator: rising fuel costs account for half of japan's growing trade deficit. it's an urgent task for our country's economy to cut them down. >> he says natural gas is p produced in various countries. the cost of natural gas imports can also be reduced. all right that is going wrap it up for the week in biz. here's the markets now.

the repercussions from the hostage crisis in algeria last month continue to be felt around the world. and nowhere is that more true than in japan. of the 39 foreigners who died ten were japanese nationals. their deaths have caused much sorrow and anger in japan and also serving as an inspiration to some people. we have more. >> reporter: he is a retired employee at jgc corporation in yokohame. he visited the company to pay respects to a colleague who died in the algerian crisis. tadanori was a top adviser of the jgc corporation.

the two men attended the same college. they worked on many of the same projects. their desks faced each other. he remembers how devoted he was to get his work done often working on his days off. >> translator: he always worked hard on a new project. his clients thought highly of his work. i think that was not just because of his ability but also for his sincere approach and strong desire to be successful. >> reporter: he became involved in the algerian project three years after joining jgc. he went on to lead many other projects around the world. he became a top adviser for the firm last june. he was deeply moved by his friend's death. he has decided to return to jgc

because he says he still had many things to accomplish. >> translator: i hope to work as long as possible by carrying out his wishes. >> reporter: many people have been moved by the deaths of the japanese in algeria. thousands have visited jgc headquarters to pay their respects. they said prayers and left flowers. some have sent letters. they didn't consider the decreased as just engineers. they believed they were helping to develop the algerian economy and, therefore, helping the algerian people. jgc corporation had kept a presence in the country for more than 40 years even during the civil war in the 1990s. the story has inspired other japanese to make a change.

shingo works as a systems engineer. he recently visited the japan international cooperation agency. the 38-year-old has been looking for a chance to take part in development work overseas. >> translator: the victims worked hard and risked their lives. i do not understand why they were killed. i may not be able to do much, but i would like to contribute to international society as much as possible. >> reporter: many others in japan don't want the workers to have died for nothing. they want to honor them with their words and their actions. the attack in algeria has forced the japanese government to rethink just how safe it is

for firms operating overseas. the abe administration has set up a team to study revising the self-defense forces law. that could include dispatching sdf personnel abroad to help transport by land japanese nationals strand in conflict areas. officials held the first meeting on friday to set up the japanese version of the national security council. palestinians have struggled for years, many are unemployed and have fallen into poverty. prime minister shinzo abe says japan will commit $40 million to help. abe made the commitment to palestinian prime minister salaam fayad when they met in tokyo. abe said he hopes for a swift resumption of peace negotiations between palestinian and israeli leaders. he said that officials in his administration are ready to contribute to the peace process.

fayad said he's grateful for the financial assistance and for support at the united nations. the united states carried out nearly 70 nuclear tests in the marshall islands, spanning more than a at the accommodate after world war ii. the pacific nation was under u.s. control at the time. rongelap was contaminated in 1954 by radioactive fallout. the residents were forced to evacuate to other islands. it was only in the 1990s that the u.s. admitted responsibility for the damage and began clean up work. it now says the decontamination almost is over and is urging former residents to come home. but that's not happening. nhk visited the island to find

out why. >> reporter: they are awaiting return of 400 ex-residents who are currently living elsewhere. houses are already being built. and about 70 workers are getting them ready. they undergo safety checks for internal exposure once every three months. it's been three years since u.s. officials declared it's safe for the islanders to come back. >> reporter: there's interest from abroad too. a team from a japanese peace organization came to the island in january. the members including medical

experts wanted to verify the effects of the clean up. they measured radiation levels in 18 locations around island's residential district. contaminated soil had been removed from there. all the readings confirmed that there's no danger to health. but prohibitive costs meant that the u.s. clean up work covered only the residential area of 15 hectares. the team also took measurements at nine locations that have not been cleaned up. the level at one place exceeded u.s. standards. bitter experience in the past has made the islanders distrust the u.s. claims that the island is safe. three years after the 1954 test

the u.s. said the island was safe and people could go back. but some who resetled developed thyroid cancer and leukemia. u.s. experts examined the situation. they detected high levels of radioactive cesium in those who have returned to the island. but now that the study was made public. many islanders live in the marshall capital majuro. the japanese team visited them too. this 72-year-old woman was exported due to radiation when she was a girl. she suffers from health problems

and takes eight different drugs every day. 18 years ago she underwent surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid. >> translator: i'm not convinced that island is really safe. it's not yet time to return. >> reporter: the islanders met with their japanese visitors. they asked how radiation levels are being monitored after the nuclear accident in fukushima. it was suggested that the islanders take those measurements with them when they resettle. >> translator: i'm grateful for this useful information. we should continue to tackle the problems by working together. >> reporter: amid so much

uncertainty and fear, the islanders have yet to see a clear end to their struggle to regain their long lost home nearly six decades after the u.s. nuclear tests. >> unsettled weather across japan today but sunnier skies expect this weekend. meteorologist robert speta is here with the details. robert? that's right, gene. actually up and down the coastline we've been seeing rain even snowfall further inland. there were 80 kilometer winds as this storm system blew past. on the satellite picture seeing it moving out towards the ocean and behind it fairer conditions especially along japan's east coast. on the west coast, not so much the case because as this pulls off we have that sea effect snow machine working its way in, that northwesterly winds coming in

across hokkaido. seeing about 30 to 40 centimeters of snowfall. winds are making things colder. saturday tokyo highs in the single digits. definitely going get cold even towards seoul, high pressure dominating. all that cold air from the north is setting up something and hinting at spring. this weather pattern that really is setting up. one system, high pressure and then another storm system. that's very typical for the spring season and next one will develop out of china, bringing rainfall and eventually work its way off there towards japan by early next week. to the tropics. relatively quiet. temperatures in the 30s. going into sunday and monday watch out in the southern philippines, does look like a low pressure area will work its way in and bring heavy rainfall and chance of flooding in the valleys. over towards the americas we're watching high pressure really dominating much of the central portion of the country. the jet stream continuing to dip

down. the base of the jet stream bringing rainfall around orlando, miami, both of these airports are calling for some low cloud cover accompanied by showers in the vicinity. very well could see some airport delays if you plan to fly in or out of here. the system will be doing something else. as the jet stream continues to dip down it will pick up and pull it off towards the northwest on saturday going sunday. sunday evening notifying the canadian maritimes. this looks like a similar track we saw a week ago but not because it will be remaining just offshow, lere. all that cold air coming in as well will set up lake-effect snow across the great lakes. but cold temperatures spilling in with it. winnipeg only minus 15 for your high. chicago minus 2. atlanta 17 and washington, d.c. at 13. a little bit of a warm up there but do expect a cool down once

the front passes by. now here towards europe british isles and iberian peninsula you're getting a break after a storm system pushed through here earlier this week. the break isn't going to be lasting very long because another one will start network its way in. that frontal area will pull in by monday. mediterranean seeing active weather pattern. one system over there in turkey same one that brought all these problems across the balkans and italy and this next one will not be nearly as bad but quite a if you assistance as it pushes over head italy. down by sicily and greece, athens with a high of 11. things are cold. moscow minus 4. warsaw just at 0. berlin getting up to 3. london and paris, pair of 9s to start out your weekend. that's a look at your world weather. here's your extended forecast.

with we're back in 30 minutes with more of the latest. i'm gene otani in took. from all much us here at nhk

world thanks for joining us. have a great day wherever you are.