>>> hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm ross mihara in tokyo. members of japan's ruling parties have spent the last eight months trying to agree on a new national security policy. now they have signed off on a plan's outline to make it easier to deploy the self-defense forces abroad. they say it will allow japan to make greater contributions to international peace. leaders of the liberal democratic party and junior coalition party komeito have agreed on three principles for draing up legislation. it must be justified under international law and must have public support and civilian over sight and the safety of personnel must be guaranteed. leaders of both parties want the sdf to provide logistical support for foreign troops if it agreed to peace and stability. they agreed to lift limits on geographical limits. under the current system the government must get approval from the diet each time they are sent abroad. there have been fierce debates among lawmakers. they hope a new package of legislation will remove that hurdle. >>> more than 100 prote

nhk world's matsaki suda reports from kabul on the emerging threat in the country. >> reporter: nhk hasbtained a copy of what is believed to be a public relations booklet for the militants. it is said to have been distributed in regions bordering afghanistan and pakistan since late last year. this footage was posted online earlier this year. it shows afghan and pakistani militants pledging allegiance to the group. the group responded by releasing an audio message. it declared the creation of a province that includes afghanistan and pakistan. we interviewed members of a taliban insurgent group aiming to join islamic state militants in the eastern afghan province of kandahar. the taliban regime collapsed after the terrorist attacks on the u.s. in 2001. some members are dissatisfied with the poor prospects for regaining power. >> translator: the taliban only gave us one weapon. the islamic state militants should give us more. >> translator: the head of the militants is more influential. the militants can control afghanistan. >> reporter: in the northern province of kunduz in february we ap

and from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for joining us. óxñ arts and they became one of the most successful music acts of all time. before she found success in the entertainment industry she was an abused mother of two working long hours struggling for pay for security for herself and her children and clinging to the dream that there would be better days ahead. many years later while the judds were at the top of the game life threw her another curveball a diagnosis of hepatitis c. she was forced to retire from music but never gave up. i'm ernie manouse our interview with actress and motivational speaker naomi judd.

nhk world has the story. >> reporter: the exhibition has opened at the tuol sleng museum. the building was originally a high school. it was turned into a prison by pol pot regime. of all who enter here, only a handful emerged. over 15,000 people were tortured and executed. >> translator: the exhibition is a message reminding all human beings to study and understand the tragedy that took place in the compound of this museum. we must join together and think and prevent its reoccurrence in cambodia, or any other country. >> reporter: the khmer rouge seized power 40 years ago. when pol pot's forces toppled the pro-u.s. government. the new regime imposed savage social reforms. the khmer rouge saw all of the citizens and intellectuals as enemies. such people were put into forced labor or slaughtered. the museum began accepting assistance six years ago from two similar facilities in japan including the okinawa prefecture peace memorial museum. okinawa has its share of tragic hit. in the closing days of world war ii, american and japanese troops fought vicious grand battles on the

thanks for watching nhk world. host: a call for international help from human as fears of a civil war growth. and delaying the international museum of tunis of last week's deadly terrorist attack that left 20 one people dead. in the greek prime minister is in berlin. alexis tsipras trying to reach a deal with lenders. those are the top stories is our. thanks for joining us. first, growing concerns of an outbreak of civil war in human, forcing out the government. they are now advancing toward the southern port

thanks for watching nhk world. ֖ llegiance to islamic state.rrests have been made in the killing of boris nemtsov, shot dead outside the kremlin 10 days ago. the first flight around the world, a historic launch to prove it is possible to fly without fossil fuel. you are watching "france 24." thanks for joining us this hour. i am genie godula. troops from niger

shinichi korinaka nhk world, okinawa. >>> it's time now for a check of the weather.trong storm is headed towards northeastern australia. mai shoji joins us with the details. >> we're still seeing that spiral of clouds over the waters pulling into the northeastern coast of queensland in australia. we're now looking at some stormy conditions to start for you, starting tonight and into friday. about 200 kilometers per hour gusts could be felt over there and suss tanging winds of 150 because it's likely to intensify even further into a category 4 status. that's the second highest level of the tropical storm systems in the southern hemisphere. the rainfall amounts will also be topping as much as 300 millimeters in some isolated areas just north of cooktown and this is an area where the remote communities could receive this flooding rain and also the very stormy conditions throughout your weekend. so we'll keep a very close eye on this for you. now, to the north of this we have rainfall pounding central china. this is due to the heat coming in from the southerly area. yang

nhk world's mitsiko mishikawa has the story. >> reporter: sdf commanders held a ceremony to mark they of the new ship called the qismo." it arrived at the pier in yokohama. the "ismo" is about 250 meters long and has a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons. its deck is as long as an aircraft carrier's and can accommodate five helicopters landing and taking off at the same time. it cost about $1 billion to build. the ship is comparable in size to the aircraft carriers of the u.s. and other countries. >> translator: the "izumo" will allow us to deal with multiple concerns. and that will allow us to be able to make a greater contribution to both international peacekeeping and disaster relief operations. >> reporter: japan's defense policy prohibits the sdf from operating so-called aggressive warships. officials stress that the "izumo" is different from similar vessels in the navies of other countries. they say, for example, it will not be used to launch fighter jets. the sdf already has two destroyers in the same class as the "izumo." commanders have been conducting drills on those ships w

nhk world, tokyo. >>> two japanese ministers are denying receiving improper funding. they're the latest to be questioned on money in the diet. three of prime minister shinso abe's ministers have quit over scandals since october. justice minister yoko camp cow way and yoshio mochizuki were asked about political donations they had. the law bans donations within a year. he said he didn't know the company was going to receive public funds. >> translator: the decision to grant the subsidies was made by an association promoting energy saving. so it is not the subsidies the government decides to grant as stipulated in the political funds control act. >> kamikawa said he think ss she also made contributions to the organization she represents. >> i have confirmed that the government did not directly decide to grant the subsidies. i understand there is no possibility that the donation was in violation of the political funds control act. >> the agriculture minister resigned last month after he came under fire over contributions from a wood processing firm that had received state

nhk world, beijing. >> let us now take you to beijing live. our reporter kunihiro yamamoto is covering the event there. kunihiro? >> hi, gene. another focus of attention, this is national people's congress is on measures to be announced to address the problem of serious air and water pollution. fine particulate matter or p.m. 2.5 is causing serious air pollution in china and public concern is mounting. a base around the theme of environmental protection opened in a business district in central beijing three years ago. the cafe has devices such as face masks to prevent people from p.m. 2.5. it's reporting brisk sales of its $3 masks. in the cafe the power of photographs has garnered a great deal of public of attention. the photos taken every day for the last two years show the skies over the main area of beijing. it's plain to see that the city has had more gray days than sunny ones. >> translator: the sky is always gray. sometimes blue, but very rarely, i think. there aren't enough days with good weather. >> translator: my heart aches to see t

nhk world's jun yotsumoto reports. >> reporter: a road sign mangled by the power of the sea.oster for a festival that never took place. a clock froze nen time marking the moment the earthquake struck. all of these items come from evacuated towns around fukushima daiichi. for nearly a year mitsuro takahashi and his small team have been trying to preserve reminders of japan's 2011 disaster. they've collected more than 100 items from the evacuation zone. >> translator: it reads the name of the village the tsunami destroyed. >> reporter: this decanter is the first object takahashi brought back. finding it helped him understand his team's mission. >> translator: the idea came to me that this could be the only physical evidence that shows people did indeed live here. >> reporter: we followed takahashi and his team when they visited the restricted area in december. they went to a community hall that was used as an evacuation shelter shortly after the disaster. >> translator: you really see the whole picture here how quickly people had to leave without having time to clean up. >> rep

thanks for watching nhk world. place. the extreme right party failed to top the polls. that is hard-line republican senator ted cruz. he says he is running for president. and the founder of singapore has died. lee kuan yew transformed the country into a

hiro morita nhk world. >>> it is time now for a check of the weather.efighters in southern chile are trying to contain wildfires. the region has been extremely dry, which isn't helping their efforts. mai shoji joins us with more in world weather. >> numerous wildfires have still not been contained yet across southern chile. you do see a little bit of rain clouds developing overhead but for the time being take a look at with what the conditions are. dry conditions have sparked forest fires in southern chile which have cast a blanket of smoke across the city of petero muerto this week. wildfires have been burning for several weeks. classes at some schools have been suspended in order to keep children out of the polluted air. public buses were also halted due to low visibility and some drivers were forced to stop on the side of the road at times. several highways were also closed. well obviously, with these kind of low visibility it is very dangerous to be driving or even just to step outside. as i mentioned, we have been seeing dry conditions for the past

nhk world reports. >> reporter: organizers of the u.n. world conference on disaster risk reduction had initially planned to hold a closing ceremony on wednesday morning. they had to delay because of passionling over an agreement. >> translator: we are late by nearly 12 hours but want to compile our final framework before the day is out. >> reporter: shortly before midnight representatives from more than 180 participating countries finally adopted the senddai framework for reduction. [ applause ] >> reporter: they agreed on send global targets to be achieved by 2030. one of their top priorities is to substantially reduce disaster-related deaths and minimize the number of people affected. they pledged to reduce economic losses caused by disasters. they vowed to substantially decrease disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of bake services including health and education facilities. they also say the public and private sectors should work together to minimize disaster risks. and in a first, the document highlights the impor

mark ho nhk world, singapore. >>> it is time now for a check of the weather.e in northern india are dealing with heavy rain and snow. the downpours have flooded homes and farmland. mai shoji joins us with the latest. >> reporter: residents in northern areas of india are dealing with severe floods. we have some pictures coming up to show you the situation. this is what if looks like. heavy rainfall in northern and central india the past several days has caused problems in the region and disrupted everyday life. the showers inundated wheat feemds leaving many crops ready for harvest devastated. three people including two children were killed in punjab after the heavy rainfall caused a roof to collapse. and in the mountains in the north the same snow brought snowfall to the tourist zone of -- tourist town of shimla on monday. as beautiful as it looks, local residents are facing trouble here as heavy rain and snow have forced roads to close, cutting off parts of pradesh. much of the states in northern india including the eastern areas-r still seeing some showers a

thanks for watching nhk world. w?q?q?q?q?q? ' een found damaged but usable.t could hold vital clues as to why the german wings plane went down. both washington and paris seem to be ruling out a terrorist attack. 150 people were on board that flight, and many other families are now on their way to the crash site. three days of national mourning getting underway in spain and vigils are being held outside of the german school of the 16 exchange students and the teachers who lost their lives. genie: the search mission

according to an nhk survey, more than 90% say the incident is not over.re also asking the government to do more to support them. ayumi chikaraishi, nhk world, tokyo. >>> workers across japan are keen to share in the rewards of a bumper year for some of the top automakers. they're hoping to see more money in their pay package when the new financial year gets under way. ai uchida joins us now with all the latest. you've been following the wage negotiations. get us up to speed. >> exactly. and we have learned that union leaders at toyota have won a monthly base pay raise of $33, and that is a record for the firm. now, people representing staff at nissan are hoping to do even better. they're allowed to sit down with executives for the final round of annual wage talks, and they're aiming for a base pay hike that may far exceed the amount the sides agreed on last year. sources say nissan executives are considering a base pay raise of more than $40 a month on average. that would be a big jump from last year when they agreed to bump up base pay by a little less t

chie tanaka, nhk world. >>> all right. that is going to wrap it up for biz this hour. let's get a recap of the markets now. >>> every morning investors turn their attention to asia. the tokyo market leads the way. and markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy. >> to the companies at the forefront of change. >> up to the minute market reports. >> and analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news and insight every day. here on "newsline." >>> japan coast guard officials say chinese government ships have again entered japanese waters off the senkaku islands. the officials say three chinese patrol vessels were there for two hours on monday. they then moved into the contiguous zone just outside japanese waters. coast guard personnel warned the vessels to stay away from japan's territory. this is the seventh day this year that chinese ships have entered an area around the senkaku islands. japan controls the islands, china and taiwan claim them. the japanese government maintains the i

nhk spoke to an employee at a hotel about her experience. >> the earthquake occurred. it last for about five minutes. we haven't faced any damage at the moment. the hotel is quite okay but except for other part of the island in town we haven't been to the town whether we have any damage. but otherwise, it was okay. but it just that the earthquake was quite a big one. we went out on our open space just to prevent in case of the building collapse and stuff like that. >> the center had warned that hazardous tsunami waves could hit coastal areas, including the coast of papua, new guinea and the solomon islands. >>> now people in singapore gathered to bid farewell to their founding father lee kwan yew. over three decades he led the country to an economic powerhouse. nhk world's mark ho reports from singapore. >> reporter: lee died last week at the age of 91. his coffin was carried from the parliament building to the national university of singapore. people braved heavy rain to watch the funeral procession along a 15 kilometer route. >> he did sacrifice a lot for us his whol

nhk world reports. >> reporter: andreas lubitz was the german co-pilot of the flight. and according to officials at germanwings, and its parent company, lufthansa, he appeared flight worthy. and they say lubitz had passed cognitive and technical tests, as well as a mental health screening. >> translator: there were no concerns about his ability as a co-pilot and no signs indicating abnormal behavior. >> reporter: prosecutors have listened to the cockpit audio and this is how they believe the crash played out. the pilot left the cockpit, and lubitz took the controls. he then started the plane's deadly descent into the alps. >> the co-pilot pressed the button on the flight monitoring system to descend. that can only have been intentional. >> reporter: lubitz ignored air traffic controllers, and banging on the door. he also ignored an alarm that went off when the plane got close to the mountains. the prosecutors say lubitz must have been conscious, as he can be heard breathing. and the final moments passengers can be heard screaming. officials say lubitz started flight tr

nhk world's yuji osawa has more. >> one, two, three!rter: a teenage baseball team has arrived from vancouver. all of its members are japanese canadians. [ cheers ] >> go! >> reporter: the squad was created last year to mark the centenary of a team that played a very special role for the japanese community in canada. the vancouver asahi was formed in 1914 by second-generation immigrants. at the time foreign workers faced different types of discrimination. wages were low and employment prospects limited. 94-year-old koichi kamishi is the only surviving member of the baseball team. >> translator: the team traveled to many places for friendly games as we wanted people to understand japanese immigrants. we wanted to become friends with white canadians. >> reporter: the squad's success became a source of pride for the community and it was famous for its spirit of fair play. from 1937 the vancouver asahi won the pacific northwest championship five consecutive times. an achievement that contributed to their induction in the canadian baseball ha

jun yotsumoto, nhk world, tokyo. >> a u.s.epartment official has urged japan to stick with the original plan for the relocation of the base. >> construction of the replacement facility is a result of many years of sustained work between the u.s. and japan. it's also a critical step toward realizing the shared vision of u.s. forces to okinawa. >> the u.s. spokesperson believes construction on the facility will proceed as planned. >>> a chinese skipper has been convicted of poaching coral in japanese territorial waters. xu yijong was arrested last october for taking coral off the ogasawara islands 1,000 kilometers south of tokyo. a district court sentenced him to 18 months in prison suspended for five years. he was also fined more than $30,000. the presidetion judge said he threw the coral into the sea to cover up his act. but he added that other poachers have also caused damage. coast guard officials have spotted more than 200 chinese boats in japan's waters and exclusive economic zone near the waters since last october. they'v

keiko aso, nhk world, ishinomaki. >> and that's all for now in business. i'll leave you with a check on markets. ♪ >>> china's top judge says cases involving terror attacks and secessionist activities increased by nearly 15% last year. the supreme people's court chief justice delivered the annual working report for 2014 at the national people's congress. he said courts in china dealt with 558 cases involving terror and secessionist activity last year and 712 people were convicted in those cases. he vowed to deal severely with those crimes. >> translator: we will severely punish violent terror crimes and attempts of secessionism and will resolutely safeguard national security, ethnic unity, and social stability. >> among the cases was a deadly attack near tiananmen square in beijing involving a vehicle. a court in shenzhen autonomous region handed down the death penalty to three suspects who are said to be uighurs. xiao said the court gave the suspects harsh punishments. >>> gunmen carried out a deadly ambush in northern afghanistan. they killed seven polic

nhk world's mayiko ambe looks at why people are feeling indifferent. >> nhk surveys for past lower and house elections suggested that more than 70% of voters were interested in those polls. sometimes the figure reached nearly 90%. >> one major reason behind the indifference this time could be that the tokyo gubernatorial election would not be held. in the past, the race in japan's largest city increased interest in the elections as a whole. even people outside of the capital would follow high-profile candidates or the fierce battles between the ruling and opposition parties. also this time, those parties are at this point supporting the same candidates in many of the gubernatorial elections. so voters aren't expecting to hear vigorous debates. prime minister abe wants candidates with the ruling liberal democratic party or those backed by it to make a strong showing. he's trying to build a long-lasting administration, so he needs to strengthen his foothold nationwide. that would help him heading into the ldp leadership race this fall. abe won a landslide victory in the general election

thanks for watching nhk world. islamic state organization claims responsibility for a tunis museum attack. 21 victims were shot dead. the extremist group says it is just the beginning. despite his pre-election statement, benjamin netanyahu says his policy on a palestinian state hasn't changed. the white house says it is un convinced. those are the top stories this hour. thanks for joining us.

nhk world's kentaro shinagawa reports from tehran. >> reporter: iranians mark their new year in march. it's traditionally a time when people flock to bazaar for year-end shopping, but shopkeepers say this year has been quieter than usual. >> translator: people aren't going on big shopping sprees this year. they're just picking up two or three items. >> reporter: shop owners are saying people are tightening their purse strings because prices are soaring. iranians traditionally offer fresh fruit to visitors over the new year, but this year, that's a luxury not everyone can afford. prices have been rocketing since western governments tightened their sanctions three years ago. exports of crude oil, iran's lifeblood, plummeted by two thirds. foreign investments dried up and traders began avoiding iran's currency that sent import prices soaring and inflation reached 45% in 2013. the recent nuclear talks have helped a little. some of the sanctions have been lifted and inflation is down to 15%. but for many people the effects are still crippling. workers with an ngo in tehran say they depend

nhk world. >>> it is time now to get a check of the weather. people across much of the u.s., even those in the south, are getting hit with severe weather conditions. here's the details. >> with the calendar marking march, people are expecting things to warm up and expecting flowers to bloom. but no we're actually seeing winter weather gripping parts of the united states. in fact, a lot of the locations are still seeing some snowfall. you can see the stationary boundary and the gradients really close to each other. severe weather is happening even in texas and mississippi and louisiana down towards western virginia. actually along that front going to be seeing winter precipitation down towards texas. even central areas could see freezing rain and mixed precipitation. west virginia about 30 centimeters of snowfall. and even big cities such as new york and washington d.c. possibly up to about 20 centimeters. that's definitely going to be hindering the traffic and commuters in the morning hours. the rain on thursday will then change its form to sno

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. >>> leaders in south korea are condemning an attack on the u.s. ambassador. they're vowing to punish the person responsible and they're propsing to step up their protection for all foreign diplomats. police say a man wielding a fruit knife slashed mark lippert in the face and arm on thursday at a lecture hall in seoul. the ambassador was set to give a speech on the unification of the korean peninsula. doctors say lippert suffered nonlife threatening injuries including a 3-centimeter-deep gash on his cheek. they say he received 80 stitches. witnesses say the attacker was at sitting at a table near the ambassador. he reportedly shouted at lippert. they say people attending the event took the man down but police officers didn't immediately respond to the incident. authorities say he had received a suspended prison term in 2010 for throwing pieces of concrete at the japanese ambassador. they say he was angry about japan's claims over islands between the two nation

marion madsen, nhk world, washington, d.c. >>> all right. that is going to wrap it up for biz this hour. let's get you a check of the markets. >>> iraqi military forces appear to be getting closer to taking back a key northern city from the islamic state group. government soldiers and militias have seized more than half of tikrit, the hometown of late president saddam hussein. thousands of troops are involved in the operation, they're now in to their second day of a street offensive against the militants. local authorities say government forces have seized 60% of tikrit despite counterattacks, and are advancing toward the city center. prime minister abadi instructed them to ensure the safety of residents. defense minister obeydi also suggested troops should avoid harming the hundreds of civilians still trapped in the heart of tikrit. he noted it will take several more days to gain full control of the city. islamic state militants captured tikrit last june. the operation to take back the city involves iraqi soldiers and shia muslim militia me

please stay tuned and thank you for watching nhk world. tion from the central left. the army halts operations in tikrit, meanwhile closer to baghdad, fighting intensified around falluja. and cyclone-hit residents of vanuatu --destroyed communication lines. thank you for joining us. i am i'll all. today, israel goes to the

nhk world fukushima. >>> the head of the u.s. nuclear regulator says the fukushima nuclear accident forced them to rethink their possibilities. key lessons can be learned from the event. burns confirms a nuclear regulatory commission aims to complete safety measures at all u.s. plants by the end of 2016. he's scheduled to visit the site in early april, to observe the decommissioning process. >> i think the japanese government has been taken very seriously the challenges and critique that have come in after the fukushima daiichi accident. >> he's planning to meet his japanese counterparts to discuss the safety measures at other plants. all of the nation's nuclear reactors remain offline. japanese regulators are currently screening the safety steps for each location. they're using stricter requirements that were introduced during the accident. we'll have more stories throughout the day as our coverage continues. at 2:30 p.m. japan time we'll go live to the national memorial ceremony. at 2:46 we'll watch as people pause to mark the

keiko aso, nhk world, ishinomaki. >> that will wrap it up for business hour. let's get you a check of the markets. >>> delegates from around the world are heading to northeast japan that was hit hard by the 2011 earthquake and nominationtsunami. they are taking part of a summit in sendai. >> reporter: united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon is among the delegates who will attend the conference. he spoke about the expectations before heading to japan. >> i'm confident that the resilience of the japan people will inspire participants to agree on the outcome for disaster risk reduction. >> reporter: ban will join thousands from around the world to reduce disaster risk. the original one was adopted ten years ago at the conference in the western city of kobe. an earthquake in 1995 devastated the area and killed more than 6,000 people. in 2005 u.n. officials urged countries around the world to learn from kobe's experience. they called on conference participants to build better infrastructure and educate people on disaster mitigation. following the meeting, some

nhk has more. >> reporter: it was the worst attack we've ever had in tunisia. >> translator: i can't believe that something like this could happen in our country. >> reporter: residents gathered for a funeral. the man was shot dead on the spot by security forces. his father said he couldn't see what was happening to his son. >> translator: he didn't pray so earnestly as a child. but after the revolution here in 2011 he started praying with passion. still, i thought he was no different than before. >> reporter: tunisia's government, in 2011 experiencing an uprising. he was among the many young people who hoped their lives would improve. but political instability continued and he became disillusioned. one of his friends says islamic extremists took advantage of his disappointment. >> translator: he was a normal person, but then he started going more often to the mosque. he made some bad friends. they totally changed his mind. >> reporter: tunisian authorities say they believe members of the islamic extremist group committed the attack. this 20 year old man said he was recruited to join

nhk world has been following the recovery efforts.he was there today to see how people remembered the disaster. >> reporter: i'm standing in front of what used to be minamisanriku's disaster center. what you're seeing are the bones of what is left of it. on march 11th, 2011 town officials were here calling on residents to evacuate. they were here using loudspeakers telling everyone till the very last minute. that's when 60 meter high tsunami waves came and swamped the structure. 43 people died right here. now many people have been gathering from across the country to this place today, and other parts of minamisanriku at 2:46 p.m. they prayed and reflected on what happened. we've been seeing even up until now, past 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon, people bringing flowers to the altar that's been created in front of the structure. now, i first came to minamisanriku right after the disaster when this town was still littered with debris. now, it is a place that is trying to be reborn. here are the changes that i noticed this time around. the r

>>> welcome to nhk world militants smashed relics. the he said it's cultural cleansing and a war crime. islamic state members bull dosed stone monuments. the site was a capital of the syrian empire. treasures include a 3,000-year-old tomb believed to be that of a king. late last month, islamic state militants posted a video showing them smashing statues in mosul. they describe the relics as symbols of idol worship. iraqi government forces fighting the islamic state group are pressing an offensive. they are trying to retake tikrit. they have cut supply insurgents are holding their group. nearly 30,000 residents have fled. >>> russian president putin says he will cut his own salary. he ordered a 10% pay cut for himself and the prime minister. they will earn less starting this month. officials in the presidential office and other departments will get paid 10% less from may. local media say government leaders are thinking of making more savings by banning civil servants from using airport lounges. falling oil prices have hit russia's econ