tokyo stocks fell to a three-week low. the bench mark nikkei average was down 1.05% ending at 19,206. many investors sold shares to profit from recent gains. today's the last day of fiscal 2014, and japan the nikkei average gained about 30% during the year. stocks soared after the bank of japan surprised markets at the end of october with easing measures. moving on to chinese markets, the shanghai composite had a volatile session, declining more than 1% early in the day investors were cheered by the central bank's announcement that it will ease lending for real estate. but profit taking then kicked in. in the philippines, the pse index set a record high and ended the day up 0.52% at 7,940. analysts say foreign investors bought shares an expectations of steady economic growth in the country. other markets in the region sydney rebounded from yesterday's loss to climb 0.78%. seoul's kospi finished the day 0.54% higher. and indonesia ended like this extending its winning streak in three days up 1.5%. >>> people at some of the

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.tani military personnel celebrated national day marching through the streets of the capital. they held their first parade in seven years. experts say it's meant to show their resolve to fight terrorism. the parade took place on monday during pakistan day. it was suspended for seven years due to security concerns. the show of force included a first look at a domestically developed drone. military officials announced earlier in the month that the unmanned craft successfully test-fired rockets. members of special anti-terror units marched in front of foreign diplomats. pakistan authorities announced that their armed forces have killed more than 2,000 islamic militants in massive operations since last june. these follow an attack on an airport in the largest city of karachi. the extremists have retaliated. they've killed numerous civilians in attacks at tourist destinations and schools. >>> people in japan will observe a solemn homecoming for nationals killed last week in tunisia. the bodi

sayaka people here in tokyo are popping up their umbrellas. are we going to need them again tomorrow? >> well miki the peak of heavy rain will be tonight. but as we go into tuesday, things will sunny and we won't need umbrellas anymore. but that's the case for tokyo. northern japan will face a very stormy day on tuesday. we're talking about flooding rains across the tohoku region and very strong winds, as much as 130 kilometers per hour likely, because these two lows will merge into one big system and eastern hokkaido, you'll see blowing snow condition even blizzard conditions could happen. addition of 50 centimeters of snow could fall. and this area has much more than average snowfall so far this winter. so additional snow will definitely rate the concern of -- concern about avalanches and also structural damage. this winter still exists in the north but spring has already come across western japan. you can see these flowers are already in full bloom. now temperatures in tokyo reached 13 degrees on tuesday but we still have cold weather alert

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

then he was elected governor of tokyo in february 2014. masuzoe has been using his power to strengthen relationships. he met in seoul with the south korean president. and he flew to beijing for talks with chinese vice premier yung. >> with your visits, what did you achieve? very recently foreign ministers of three countries -- japan, china, and south korea -- met together and declared that the director have a summit meeting of these three countries as soon as possible. that is -- i'm very proud of saying that who opened the door i opened the doors. you know the last year no one could shake hands as political leader of japan or president park -- i understand there are very difficult issues like the history or so called comfort women, et cetera. so i understand for both national governments, it's very very difficult. but i am the head of the city. it's not a national issue. we have very challenging issue that is all big cities are facing with the transportation the water, et cetera. so that city diplomacy paved the way for the national diplo

maebashi 22 degrees, tokyo 19 degrees. good news is we're not going to be seeing any more rain for the daytime but another round of rainy day continuing into our thursday. a quick look here at the u.s. areas of snowfall into the u.s. and that's likely to pull into maine. about 20 centimeters. and some thunderstorms could happen across southern areas of texas. the temperatures will be dramatically dropping in and around chicago. so do watch out for that. i'll leave you now for an extended forecast. ♪ ♪ >>> and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us. x come to "euromaxx highlights." let's have a look at the headlines. rock on. the german band scorpions celebrates 50 years on stage. cover up. the ballo del doge is one of venice's most exclusive masquerade balls. and, the art of hundertwasser continues to impress. we have lots of viewers around the world, and many of them are interested in the german language. not even long words can turn people off.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.unisian authorities have detained nine men on suspicion of involvement in the deadly museum attack in the capital tunis. gunmen opened fire on foreign tourists at the national bardo museum on wednesday. then they barged into the building and took hostages. the siege ended when security forces stormed the facility and shot dead two of the assailants. people gathered at the museum on thursday to lay flowers and light candles. government officials earlier said 23 people were killed. but they later revised the number to 21 to exclude the gunman. authorities said 47 people were wounded. european union leaders observed a minute of silence at the beginning of their meeting in brussels. >> we need to be absolutely clear about what we face. this is the latest example of extremist terror. and we have to fight it with everything we have. >> a statement purportedly issued by the islamic state group appeared online thursday claiming responsibility for the attack. it described the gunmen as the grou

the tokyo market leads the way.kets 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." >>> it's a season of transition for japanese students. the school year changes between march and april. but many of them are facing more changes than usual. as their schools close for good. nhk world's emmy yonezu reports. >> reporter: students at seika elementary in nara gather to sing their school song one last time. seika has a history of more than 140 years. but authorities have decided to shut it down because there aren't enough children in the area. next month the pupils will have to travel four kilometers to get to class. >> translator: i have many memories. i don't want to leave this school. >> translator: i want to say thank you to our school. >> reporter: it's the same

embassy in tokyo. they say he's also a possible suspect in death threats against ambassador caroline kennedy. police say mitsuyoshi kamiya lives in the southern island prefecture of okinawa. they say he made three calls from a pay phone earlier this month to the u.s. embassy in tokyo. he reportedly threatened to bomb the embassy as well as camp schwab, an american military base in okinawa. japanese police say embassy staff have received about 30 threatening calls since last month. the caller threatened to kill ambassador kennedy, and the u.s. consul general in okinawa. police say kamiya is frustrated with the planned relocation of a u.s. air base in okinawa. the futenma air station is set to move to a less populated area within the prefecture. they have charged kamiya with obstructing the u.s. embassy's operation. >>> the japan coast guard has a new addition to its fleet. the high performance vessel is designed for disaster relief and anti-terrorism patrols. the ship was christened "sado" and launched

we have some fixtures coming out of the tokyo area. cherry blossoms are starting to bloom in tokyo today. this is three days earlier than normal. but two days later compared to last year. jna declares the start of the cherry blossom season for tokyo when five buds blossom on a tree in yasukuni shrine. the peak will be next tuesday in tokyo and we associate cherry blossom with spring so definitely we are very waiting for this warm season. now, take a look at this cherry blossom forecast for japan, as well as south korea. cherry trees, cherry blossoms will start to bloom earlier than normal in many parts of south korea, and the blossoms will move up to the north as we go into may across japan. now for a bigger picture a couple of highs are creating dry conditions for the northern half of china and the korean peninsula. but thunderstorm advisories are posted for the south of china. and across the indochina peninsula, heavy rain fell in the bangkok area over the past 24 hours. more to come in to tuesday in the central and northern areas of

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 islands are an inherent part of japan's territory. it says there is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them. >>> delegat

tokyo will see rain for saturday and sunday. seoul will have a nice little dry spell but then cool down quickly on sunday with a high of 4. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook. >>> that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us. until next time, good-bye. l wells in the town of to create -- tikrit. they've been held since june. china looks for ways to kickstart its economy. the u.s. ambassador to south korea hurt in a knife attack in seoul. also coming up, could

japan strategist out of tokyo. to check on how the japanese market react to the current numbers when we return at the top of the hour. you are watching "first up." ♪ angie: abenomics under pressure. japan's economic growth disappoints. trading up. china's exports show surprising strength. the surplus hit a record last month. uber and out. the taxi at hits yet another regulatory hurdle. good morning. i'm angie lau. welcome to "first up live --"first up" live from our asian headquarters. let's get straight to market here in the asian pacific. you are seeing australia right now. losses,200 is extending 0.77% down. u.s.ussie dollar at 77 cents. could janet yellen be doing it sooner than markets had anticipated? japan just opening. let's take a look right now. the nikkei has been pointing lower this morning. moment,5% down this after gdp annualized quarter growth came in at 1.5%. that is below estimates of 2.2%. quarter on quarter, that figure came in at 0.4%. we've got dollar-yen at 120. latest on gdp figures, let's he

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." >>> american leaders are stepping up their protection to fight off cyber attacks. they've seen more and more critical data and infrastructure come under threat and they're now calling on private companies to work together to stop hackers. more from nhk world's alex whartman. >> there's only one way to defend america from these cyber threats. and that is through government and industry working to the, sharing appropriate information. yes, we can. >> reporter: president obama called on private company leaders to pro-actively report to the government on damages inflicted by cyber attacks. most businesses have held back reporting because of the privacy concerns of their clie

i'm meeky yamamoto in tokyo. >>> saudi arabia and other gulf nations have begun air strikes in yemen. >>> authorities are looking into the link between an extremist group and the gunmen who carried out the fatal museum attack. and french investigators are analyzing audio from a german airliners cockpit voice recorder to try to figure out why it crashed. >>> saudi military officials are making moves to protect their border in what they call yemen's legitimate government. they launched military operations in the capital sanaa with a newly formed coalition of gulf-region allies. the say the air strikes are to counter rebel forces that drove out their president. saudi airplanes have targeted houthi strongholds. they dropped bombs on the airport in sanaa and air base. the air raid was at the request of yemen's president. president hadi fled last month. the militants have been advancing toward aden. and they called on nations for support. five gulf nations including saudi arabia and the united arab emirates membered to protect their people. >>> u.s. forces are now backing up iraqi troops in

i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo. 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

the tokyo market leads the way. 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." >>> u.n. officials say thousands of people in iraq have left their homes with few belongings to flee the violence. and they warn the number could rise. iraqi forces are locked in what's expects to be a long and bloody battle to drive the islamic state group out of the city of tikrit. soldiers backed by tanks and fighter jets maintained their siege. they've been able to retake key supply routes. reports say the extremists are using people trying to escape as human shields. the militants assaulted a military convoy by attacking it with a suicide bomber. they've also set oil fields on fire around the city to try to reduce visibility and prevent air attacks. islamic state fighte

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> japan's foreign minister fumio kishida has confirmed japanese people are among the victims in a deadly shooting at a museum in tunisia. he says one national has been killed and three others are wounded. gunmen fired at tourists and took several people hostage in the capital tunis. the country's prime minister habib essid says at least 19 are dead and about 40 others wounded. the attack happened in front of the national bardo museum. gunmen then entered the building and held people inside captive. tunisian officials say security forces stormed the museum and killed the two shooters. they say the victims include 17 foreign tourists including four italians and one french. and they say two tunesians were also killed. japan's foreign minister fumio kishida updated reporters in tokyo. >> translator: i feel strong anger about the shooting. we confirmed that one japanese national is dead and three others are wounded. and we also have information that there are other japanese involved in t

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline," i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. beijing is making final preparations with china's biggest annual event, the national people's congress set to kick off in two days. >>> japan's prime minister and the leader of the main opposition party face tough questions after reports show they received controversial donations. >>> and we begin this hour with our special series on china's national people's congress. the people of china are facing many changes, including slowing economic growth. president xi jinping is asking them not to worry too much about these developments describing them as the new normal. xi is also proposing new policies to tackle various issues. on thursday china's national people's congress will open to discuss the direction of the country's policies in the upcoming year. "newsline" will bring you details of the event in our three-day series. china's top political advisory body has started its annual meeting ahead of the national people's congr

she met with japanese prime minister shinzo abe on monday in tokyo. merkel said she was not in a position to advise japan on post-war reconciliation. then she explained germany's efforts to openly face the history of the holocaust. kishida said he understands that merkel also cited gestures by france toward germany after the war. he said she stressed the importance of neighboring countries reaching out. >> translator: japan and germany differ in terms of what happened during the war, under what circumstances they engaged in post-war settlements, and which countries they have as neighbors. it's inappropriate to simply compare the two nations. >> kishida said members of abe's cabinet share their predecessor's view that japan caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly in asia. >>> people in tokyo are marking the 70th anniversary of a massive u.s. air raid during world war ii. about 100,000 people died in the attack. prince and princess akishino attended a ceremony at a memorial in eastern tokyo. it holds the rema

>>> welcome back to "newsline," i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo. first the headlines for this hour. three nuclear reactors in central japan are facing the ax more than 40 years after going into operation. >>> leaders of island nations in the south pacific ask the global community to help them prepare for disasters, after a cyclone devastates vanuatu. >>> and a japanese astronaut is training for his first space mission at age 45 is encouraging others to take on new challenges. >>> the operators of two japanese nuclear plants say they will scrap three aging reactors. it's the first time any reactors, apart from those at fukushima daiichi, have been targeted for dismantzleing since the nuclear disaster four years ago. members of kansai electric power company's board met to discuss the me hama plant in central japan. they agreed to decommission reactors number one and number two. president makoto yagi then reported the decision to fukui governor nishikawa. >> translator: the company must ensure residents can lead safe and sound lives. >> if the board of japan atomic power company decide

i'm cathine kobayashi in tokyo.staying with us. >> hello, and thanks for joining us on the "euromaxx highlights" show. we put together our favourite reports from the week for you. let's have a look at the headlines. je suis charlie -- the annual angouleme comic festival pays a special tribute. record breaker -- meet a daredevil german athlete and his unicycle. and calendar cat -- how designer , karl lagerfeld and his pet help out a german carmaker. while hundreds of thousands flocked to angouleme in france recently for one of the world's leading comics festivals. it began over 4 decades ago and awards some of the most prestigious prizes in cartooning. this year's festival was dedicated to the cartoonists of

tokyo, though a jump from 10 degrees to 18 degrees on wednesday.e bit of a fall again on the latter half of the week. beijing will be on a warming trend, but shanghai on the other hand 14 degrees down to just 7 degrees on your wednesday. now a quick look here in the americas. the new england states are going to be expecting another round of winter storms. we're actually looking at some ridge of this high pressure system pulling in that moisture. so freezing rain will be in store for you in the lower great lakes region. and then heavy snow again across much of the great lakes. out toward the four corners this is an area where we may see about 120 centimeters of snowfall, especially in the higher elevations and around colorado the gusts will be about 90 kilometers per hour. certainly going to be making it for treacherous driving conditions. down toward the south in houston we're looking at some thunderstorms. and then again in denver a little bit on the chilly side. minus 5 with snow in the forecast. and in the big states such as -- cities such as wa

tokyo stocks ended slightly higher after a choppy session.he benchmark nikkei gaining nearly 0.2% 19,746. some investors were out there booking profits today from recent gains. others, though bought shares on expectations of improved corporate earnings. well the shanghai composite snapping a ten-day winning streak, retreating from a seven-year high as well the day before. the index fell more than 0.8%. investors sold shares on profit taking. hong kong's hang seng rebounded from yesterday's loss. it rose more than half a percent finishing at 24,528. real estate and telecommunications sectors enjoyed a lift. here's how other markets in the asia pacific region finished out the day. sydney and seoul ended almost flat while indonesia declined nearly 0.8%. >>> people in many areas of japan lack the economic opportunities available in major cities. japanese government officials are looking to spur investment in those communities now. and they've launched a program of subsidies to local governments and special coupons to encourage people to spend mon

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. xnóx >> hello, and welcome to "global 3000," your weekly update on the global issues behind the headlines. here's what we have coming up for you over the next half-hour. cubans respond to changes in relations with the u.s.. a new anti-terror law in saudi arabia has human rights activists worried, and a national park in brazil wants to protect an endangered species. as europe fears the cold war revival of the ukraine, the united states is easing sanctions against cuba. president barack obama justified this spectacular shift in po

i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. leaders from japan and france are building stronger security ties. they've agreed to have their countries work more closely to develop and share defense technologies. the foreign and defense ministers from both countries gathered for what they called a two plus two security meeting. japanese foreign minister fumio kishida called japan and france special partners. he said he wants them to cooperate further for the sake of world peace. french foreign minister laurent fabius says he sees opportunities in many areas. he gave examples including counterterrorism measures and defense equipment. fabius said people in france stand in solidarity with the japanese and to want work more closely. the ministers agreed to have their countries develop defenses gear together and share technologies. they promise to limit transfers of equipment to other nations. >> translator: our agreement and specific ways to cooperate is a great result. >> translator: france and japan have established an exceptional partnership. >> the ministers said japan and france will jointly de

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >>> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is warning american leaders they are negotiating a bad deal with iran. he says it would pave the way for the country to develop a nuclear bomb. analysts say u.s./israel y relations are worsening as talks between world powers and teheran reach a crucial final stage. netanyahu told a joint congress on tuesday that iran poses a grave threat to israel and global peace and he warned any agreement with iranian officials would include major concessions. >> that deal will not prevent iran from developing nuclear weapons. it would all but guarantee that iran gets those weapons, lots of them. >> netanyahu addressed u.s. lawmakers at the invitation of republican house speaker john boehner. about 60 democrats boycotted the session. obama says netanyahu offered nothing new in his speech. >> the prime minister didn't offer any viable alternatives. >> he says sanctions and military action in iran can't bring about change. the two are not planning to hold

rupert wingfield-hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. >>kathy: the horror of the fire bombing in tokyo is so awful, even the japanese sometimes prefer not to dwell on it. the bedlam burial ground dating back four centuries and was used during several outbreaks of the plague and after the great fire in london. it was unearthed by engineers working on a railway project. >> between 1569 and 1738 20,000 londoners were buried here. >> the cemetery is unique. it was the very first extra parochial grounds. a public burial ground outside of the confines of the church. >> archaeologist j carver has been working on the cross well project for nine years. it was always assumed that digging and tunneling would reveal secrets, but not on this scale. dublin may mean chaos or confusion today. originally it was a nickname for bethlehem hospital for the mentally ill that is situated nearby. very few residents of bedlam were buried here. during the 16th and 17th centuries they were such turbulent times that disease was rife, and death commonplace. other ch

tokyo's nikkei rose to a 15-year high on the ecb decision. shares in indonesia jumped 1.2% to finish at a record high. shanghai and hong kong extended losses after chinese leaders lowered the country's economic growth target. >>> a key index of the health of the japanese economy rose in january for the second straight month. officials at the cabinet office are maintaining their assessment that the economy is improving. they say the coy incident index of economic conditions in january stood at 113 up 2.4 points from december. it's the biggest rise in the year. it's based on a range of data from factory output to personal spending. the improvement is mainly due of higher production of cars for shipment to europe and china and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to south korea. the leading index which projects the health of the economy a few months down the road it fell 0.2 points. but officials say production continues to improve and they do not see the drop as a major change in the overall trend. >>> a major japanese maker of liquid crystal

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.>> french prosecutors investigating the crash of a german passenger plane say it was no accident. they say the cockpit's audio reveals the culprit was at the controls. they say it appears the co-pilot wanted to destroy the plane and took the lives of 149 people with him. >> translator: the co-pilot pressed the button on the flight monitoring system to descend. that can only have been intentional. >> the prosecutor outlined what happened based on an initial analysis of the voice recorder. the pilot left the cockpit and co-pilot andreas lubitz took the controls. lubitz then started the plane's deadly descent into the alps. he ignored air traffic controllers and the pilot banging on the door. he also ignored an alarm that went off when the plane got close to the mountains. the prosecutor said lubitz must have been conscious as he can be heard breathing. lubitz was a 28-year-old german. prosecutors say he had no apparent connection to any terrorist organization. the germanwings plane was o

tokyo 14 on your thursday.e's your extended outlook. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. >> garrison keillor: maxine kumin lives on a farm in new hampshire where she breeds arabian and quarter horses writing poetry, four novels, more than 20 children's books. she says, "i don't want to write poems that aren't necessary. i want to write poems that matter." >> this is a little one called after love. afterward, the compromise. bodies resume their boundaries. these legs, for instance, mine. your arms take you back in. spoons of our fingers, lips admit their ownership. the bedding yawns, a door blows aimlessly ajar and overhead, a plane singsongs coming down. nothing is changed, except there was a moment when the wolf, the mongering wolf who stands outside the self lay lightly down, and slept. ( applause ) thank you. >>> today's asian voices comes to you from pakistan's capitol islamabad. we look at the comic series that has enjoyed deca

tokyo 14 on your thursday.e's your extended outlook. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. steves: the dramatic rock of cashel is one of ireland's most evocative sites. this was the seat of ancient irish kings for seven centuries. st. patrick baptized king aengus here in about 450 a.d. in around 1100 an irish king gave cashel to the church, and it grew to become the ecclesiastical capital of all ireland. 800 years ago, this monastic community was just a chapel and a round tower standing high on this bluff. it looked out then as it does today over the plain of tipperary, called the golden vale because its rich soil makes it ireland's best farmland. on this historic rock, you stroll among these ruins in the footsteps of st. patrick, and wandering through my favorite celtic cross graveyard, i feel the soul of ireland. >>> today's asian voices comes to you from pakistan's capitol islamabad. we look at the comic series that has enjoyed dec

embassy in tokyo last month.re awaiting a state department news briefing potentially they could be providing more information. we'll have live coverage. you're looking at live pictures from the state department here in washington right now. all this comes just two weeks after the u.s. ambassador to south korea was injured in a knife attack raising serious questions about the type of security american ambassadors around the world are afforded. let's discuss what's going on. cnn correspondent david molko is joining us from hong kong on the latest. what do we know about precisely the nature of this threat? what's going on? >> reporter: an extraordinarily sensitive time in the region given everything that's happened here over the past few weeks. you mentioned that attack on the u.s. ambassador in south korea. the threats were phoned in last month in february to the u.s. embassy, not only against caroline kennedy, the u.s. ambassador but they were also directed against another u.s. interest the consul general in okina

ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange.nd i'll be back next hour with more headlines in business. here's a check on some other markets. ♪ >>> chinese president xi jinping has welcomed his sri lankan counterpart in beijing. he's hoping the countries can develop their military relationship. sri lankan president sirisena just took office in january. he's been pursuing a different direction from his predecessor's pro-china stance and he's apparently trying to keep a balance between china and india. chinese officials welcomed sirisena on the red carpet at the great hauflt people. the two leaders held talks for about an hour. >> translator: china has always put sri lanka in an important position in its diplomacy. with neighboring countries. under the new circumstances we are willing to make joint efforts with sri lanka to attribute a new current connotation to the traditional friendship between china and sri lanka and deepen the mutually beneficial cooperation between our two nations. >> china's state-run xinhua news agency says

the university of tokyo's professor leads the project. his team produced a non-infectious version of ebola. they then added a hydrogen peroxide solution to the genetically engineered virus to render it harmless. the researchers used the virus to produce an inactivated vaccine. they gave the vaccine to monkeys twice. the animals were then given a lethal dose of the virus. they showed no symptoms of ebola. >> translator: we found it's effective in monkeys. we would like to develop new vaccines before the next ebola epidemic. >> the biggest outbreak started about a year ago. the disease spread to liberia, sierra leone and other african countries. officials at the world health organization report ebola has killed more than 10,000 people. >>> japanese experts have come up with new measures to prepare for volcanic eruptions. they issued a report after a fatal eruption in central japan. >> reporter: people gather at the foot of mount ontake for a moment of silence. they are remembering all that was lost in september's sudden volcanic eruption. 5

japan's prime minister, abe, marked the 70th anniversary of the bombing of tokyo. he said the sacrifices meant that japan could now live in peace and prosperity. more than 100,000 people were killed when american bombers dropped bombs on tokyo. the fire storm swept through what were largely wooden buildings in those days. more people died that night than later in the atomic bomb raids. >>> tuesday marks the battle of world war i in northern france when allied troops got attention. half of the force is made up of troops from the indian army. over the course of the war, 4 million soldiers and laborers from the british colonies served the allies. we have been considering that legacy. ♪ >> reporter: a school in northwest england remember world war i. many children feel it's a story that excludes their ancestors, but it was a global war fought from all corners of the commonwealth. >> they all fought for us today. >> reporter: the first indian troops ever to fight in europe arrived in 1914. most never left home. they were now suddenly in a completely foreign land. among

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.e in japan are being warned to stay alert for another earthquake. scientists at the geospatial information authority believe two tectonic plates off northeastern japan have slipped more than 20 meters. the area was the epicenter of the 2011 earthquake. researchers looking at activity deep under the sea found the plates did not move as much as projected. they say this could lead to a build-up in geological stress. they say one of the plates has moved eastward a distance of 95 centimeters near miyagi prefecture's oshika peninsula. another plate pushed the city of kitaibaraki 48 centimeters. they believe one of the reasons plates are moving is to free geological stress. hit hitashi sato is a head researcher at the research division. he used a gps-equipped device installed on the sea bed to examine western movements of the continental plates. he found the mantle underneath the earth's crust can be a strong influence on crustal movements after an earthquake. >> translator: during the quake

more than 100,000 people were killed when american bombers dropped bombs on tokyo. it swept through the city made mostly of wooden buildings at the time. more people died that night than later in the atomic bomb raids. from tokyo, we have more. >> reporter: 1945 on the pacific island 29 bombers are taking off and heading northwest. >> b-29. noses point toward japan. >> reporter: after midnight they reached their target. thousands of feet below, this 8-year-old ran for his life as the fire storm spread. >> translator: running from the planes carrying babies on their backs. other children running beside them. i saw the babies on their backs. the mothers were going to -- soon, the parents of other children were in flames too. everyone was burning. >> reporter: in this tiny private museum one of the m-69 bombs designed specifically to set wooden buildings a light. >> translator: the city burned. by then everything had to be consumed. i looked down where i had been lying. at least ten people were lying on top of me. all of them was dead charred and blackened. i was saved

i'm katherine co buycatherine kobayashi in tokyo. a tv exit poll shows it's a close race between benjamin netanyahu's party and the zionist union. the party has 28 out of 120 seats in the parliament. the zionist union is expected to win 27 seats. netanyahu is running for his fourth term in office he has adopted a hardline stance against the palestinians. he has attacked netanyahu's policies. netanyahu claimed victory in front of a large crowd in tel aviv aviv. >> against all odds we achieved a victory many. >> the result allows us to go back to power. we will wait for the real result because this is just a projection. everything is still open. >> it's still not clear yet who the president will order to form the next government. the zionist union are seeking the support of centrist parties. negotiations to form a coalition are expected to be tough. >> three men who used a psychedelic image of buddha wearing headphones to promote their bar have been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for their advertisement. the men were arres