Women smearing a substance on his face. Investigators say he was killed by a nerve agent. The south korean government has set a date for its president ial election. Voters will head to the polls on may 9th to choose a successor for ousted President Park geunhye. The latest opinion polls express the largest Opposition Democratic Party is enjoying strong public support. Former party head moon jaein is the front runner with a 32 support rate. His fellow democrat an heejung is sitting in second with 17 . In the conservative camp, acting president and current Prime Minister hwang kyoahn is pullining in third place at 9 . Earlier on wednesday, he announced he will not run in the election. That could land a big blow to conservatives, leaving them scrambling to find a viable contender for the race. Meanwhile, prosecutors say they have summoned the former president for questioning next week. Park is suspected of various offenses, these include colluding with longtime friend choi soonsil to extort money from the countrys largest conglomerate samsung group. The summons follows fridays ruling by the Constitutional Court to uphold an impeachment. Her lawyers say shell cooperate with prosecutors and submit any necessary materials in order to help reveal the truth. While president , park had immunity from criminal charges. Now that shes out of office, that is no longer the case. Park has repeatedly denied any involvement in the scandal. Voters are heading to the polls across the netherlands in a parliamentary election thats seen as a test of populist sentiment in europe. Voting began on wednesday morning and will decide members of the 150seat lower house parliament. A major issue in the election is whether to continue accepting more refugees and migrants from the middle east and africa. Another con ttentious point. Some fear the rise of the nationalist party could jeopardize the countrys longheld ideal of tolerance. Theyre hoping that Prime Minister mark rutte will block that view. Preliminary results are expected by early thursday. People in france and germany will be watching closely. Theyll hold elections later this year, and their far right parties are faring well. Frances embattled centerright president ial candidate Francois Fillon has been put under formal investigation on suspicion he embezzled state funds. Investigators told nhk theyre looking into allegations fillon used government money to pay his family for jobs they didnt do. They were said to have received nearly 900,000. Judicial authorities will decide whether or not to indict fillon depending on the outcome of the probe. Fillon has denied any wrongdoing and has expressed his intention to stay in the aprilmay president ial race. But opinion polls show fillon trailing behind the farright National Front president Marine Le Pen and independent centrist emanuel macron. The latest development is seen as adding to fillons uphill battle. Japans ruling and Opposition Party members are set to agree on a historic legal measure to allow the emperor to abdicate. It could extend the option to future emperors as well. Nhk worlds Tomoko Kamata has the details. Translator opposition members like the social democrats previously had different opinions from the governing coalition, but they now say theyre ready to agree on creating a special legal provision for the sake of unity. Reporter lawmakers have been discussing what can be done to address a video message Emperor Akihito gave last august. Reporter japanese law has no provision for the emperor to give up the throne. And the emperors not supposed to be seen as interfering with politics. But Prime Minister shinzo abe took the hint. He asked diet members for a formal debate, indicating he wanted all parties to come to agreement. Translator this is a fundamental matter for japan, as well as an extraordinarily weighty issue across our long history and into the future. It must not be m made into a political issue. I believe politicians must demonstrate sound judgment. Reporter but the ruling and oppoposition parties started ou divided. The liberal Democratic Party and its Coalition Partner komeito said they wanted to draw up a onetime provision applying only to Emperor Akihito. Most of the opposition including the Democratic Party didnt like that. They said a permanent arrangement should be e made th would apply to future emperors as well. On monday, after weeks of discussion, the two blocs seemed to find common ground. No big amendment to the law that sets out the rules for the imperial family, but a special provision that could be interpreted to allow abdications for others in the future. The speakers of both chambers of the diet are hoping to present the plan to the Prime Minister as early as friday. That would mean the government will introduce a bill in the coming months. Tomoko kamata, nhk world, tokyo. Delegates from across china have wrapped up the annual National Peoples congress. Theyre calling for unity under president xi jinping as they attempt to tackle social and economic challenges. Reporter thousands of representatives gathered on the final day of the event to approve a range of plans. They agreed to lower the 2017 gross targets slightly from last years figure to around 6. 5 . Premier li rejected any suggestion the target is pessimistic. Translator we will keep our growth steady at a medium to high speed. That in itself will help the world to maintain stability. Reporter li also wanted u u. President Donald Trumpp notot t provoke a trade e war. Flrn. Translator analysts say if a trade war breaks out between china and the u. S. , American Companies will be the ones that suffer first. Reporter stability is a tough priority for beijing because of the upcoming communist party convention. Five of the top seven leaders are due to retire. Until that happens, beijing cant afford painful structure reforms. Thats why we have delegates calling for unity under president xi jinping. They praised xi as the core leader. Theres also beenn much speculation about who will be picked for the next generation of leaders. Onee meeting ient to was run b y the Party Secretary for guangzhou province, widely tipped to join the bureau. Another rising star is chen miner. Hes his protege. The chairman of the congress ecechoed that sentiment. Translator we need to unite very closely withh president xi jinping as the core leader of the party in ideology and popoliticall moves as wewell as our actions. We absolutely need to uphold the authority of the leadership. Reporter this years National Peoples congress felt a bit like a warmup for the convention. We can expect the leadership to be c committed ass everr to maintaining economic and social order. Nhk world, beijing. Okay. Lets see whats happening on the business and financial fronts. Officials at toshiba are appealing for financial support. Gene otani has the details on that and other headlines. Executives at toshiba have asked banks to keep supporting them. They met with representatives from some 80 f financial constitutions. Three main lenders agreed to further help the company. Sources say toshiba executives apologized for delaying once more the release of their earnings report. They reportedly said they missed tuesdays deadline because they need more time to finish an internal probe into accounting at their u. S. Nuclear power unit westinghouse. The officials added the firm plans to w plans to withdraw from its Nuclear Business in the u. S. The sources say toshiba asked the banks to continue their lending. Toshiba has asked the Tokyo Stock Exchange to keep its shares listed. The tse designated the stock as securities on alert in the wake of the 2015 accounting scandal. On wednesday, the bourse stepped up its scrutiny. Its now classified the shares as securities under supervision. Toshiba has submitted a report describing measures it says will prevent further financial wrongdoing. Tse officials are considering whether to delist the firm. A battle that plays out every year in spring sees Japanese Business and labor leaders locking horns over wages and working conditions in an unprecedented move four years ago, even the government got involved with the Abe Administration urging pay hikes. The government has kept up those calls, believing higher pay will bring a positive economic cycle. Many businesses did indeed raise wages for two years in a row, but last year growth slowed. This years negotiations reached a peak on wednesday as more than 100 major japanese firms responded to labor union requests. Nhk worlds Daisuke Azuma reports. Reporter this is headquarters of a major union group with about 2 million members. Officials here are gathering proposals from management. Many of the companies are submitting figures that are lower than last year. The question many are asking is how much automakers willl raise their wages this year. Japans key sector has been in recovery mode. The largest maker, toyota motor, will offer a smaller increase than last year. Nissan has also proposed a smaller base pay hike. The labor group says on average, companies are offffering an increase of 9 a month. Thats down about 30 from last year and the lowest in four years. Translator we are disappointed the result was lower than last year. Reporter managers say one factor they considered this year is uncertainty about overseas developmpment. Theyre concerned u. S. Presisidt Donald Trumps americafirst policies could trigger friction and affect the value of the yen. Translator our earnings we far below our expectations, and were unsure about the future, so it was difficult to raise our base salary by the same level as last year. Reporter executives also say stable prices at home reduced the pressure to raise wages. With the exception of fresh food, japanese Consumer Prices have remained steady for the past two yeyears. Some e economists say the pay he offered this year is a cause for concern. Translator i think the level of wage hike this year did not satisfy workers,s, especially since Consumer Prices may rise in thehe future. Consumers are likely to keep tightening their pursestrings. Reporter unionss have expressed disappointment in response from management. The administrations efforts to promote wage hikes are now losing steam. Some say government should look elsewhere to find an engine for growth. Daisuke azuma, nhk world, tokyo. Checking the markets, tokyo stocks edged slower for the second day in a row in light trading. For the details, we go to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Many investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the u. S. Federal rereserve policicy deci. Meanwhile, volatility in the oil market weighed on sentiment. First, lets go to the closing levels for this wednesday, march 15th. The nikkei finished 0. 1 lower, closing at 19,577. The broader topix fell 0. 2 . Wti crude oil futures tumbled overnight on reports of an output jump in saudi arabia. Prices have since recovered following news that u. S. Stockpiles were less than expected. But that didnt stop energyrelated shares from falling. Oil developer Japan Petroleum exploration and refiner, jx holdings, both dropped. Shares of tososhiba nose dived t again, finishing down more than 12 and making the days w wor performer. The Tokyo Stock Exchange put the shares under supervision. Now, looking ahead, investors will be closely watching important events this week besides the fed decision. On ththursday, the bank of japa and bank of england both announce their policy decisions. Im john ladue reporting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Other benchmarks in the region traded in a narrow range ahead of a possible u. S. Rate hike. Hong kong inched lower. Singapore was down 0. 2 . In china, the shanghai composite ended slightly higher. Many investors found few surprises in remarks by the premier at the National Peoples congress. Over in sydney, a rebound in oil supported the resource heavy index. The s p asx 200 index added 0. 25 to 5,774 as the ending number with Mining Companies climbing higher on the back of iron ore prices. The nominee for u. S. Trade representative has indicated hell push japan to further open its agricultural market. Robert lithe hiezer was speaking to a Senate Confirmation hearing. I would list, of course, japan as being a primary target for a place where increased access for agriculture is important. The Trump Administration as been accusing japan of unfair trade practices. The two countries plan to hold a first round of economic dialogue in midapril, and u. S. Officiais could raise the issue of japans agricultural tariffs. Japans chief cabinet secretary yeo she hee ga xsuga said last month the u. S. Didnt demand a review of farm tariffs. Translator we hope to have constructive discussions during the japan u. S. Economic dialogue and build a win win relationship between our two countries. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is planning to review regulations for vehicle emissisions. The move is apparently aimed at protecting the u. S. Auto industry. Current rules oblige automakers to improve the fuel efficiency of new models beginning in 2022 in order to combat global warming. By 2025, the average fuel economy is required to be a abo 23 come terse pkilometers per l. Former president barack obama established the rules in january before leaving office. President trump is expected to review the regulations after meeting with Auto Executives on wednesday. An official says the industry is deeply concerned about the rules and President Trump prioritizes creating jobs in the field. Analysts say that any relaxing of regulations will likely face opposition from environmental groups. President trumps pledge to put America First has japanese automakers on edge. After years of investing in local production and sales facilities, they face fresh pressure to show their commitment to the u. S. Economy. Nhk worlds rosa sabrino has more. Reporter im here in the midwest, an area that has a lot of trump supporters. At this local auto show, toyota is a appealing to customers wit itss m made in america campaign. Toyota motor showcased a new sedan made at one of its american factories. In the past, toyotas pitch focused on the performance and fuel efficiency of its vehicles. But not this time. Which vehicle is the most American Made . The toyota camry, that is right toyota camry is the most American Made vehicle. Reporter for japanese automakers, highlighting made in america is taking on a new urgency. Did you know camry is built in america . No, not until today. Thats important. Thats my country, where im from, so i buy from that country. Make America Great again. Reporter toyota started building cars in the u. S. In the 1980s. The companys largest american plplant in georgetown, kentucky employs 7,700 people. The automaker has been nurturing its local work force, training young hires in car making and factory maintenance skills. The toyota has been ann outstandingg Corporate Citizen for our community. Thats a matter of pride for us. Reporter toyota wants to spread this message far and wide. The u. S. Is the automakers largest market. Consumers are paying more and more attention to where things are built and where things are coming from. Its very important to, you know, reiterate the fact to customers that 70 of the toyotas that we sell here in the u. S. In general are made here. Reporter japanese automakers have been here before. In the 1980s, they were a key target of u. S. japan trade frictions. Once again, theyre feeling the heat. Rosa sobrino, nhk world, milwaukee. And you can catch our report again online together with a full transcript. Just look for nhk world and business wrap. Thats a look at business news. Im going to leave you with the markets. Frictions. Im going to leave you with the nhk newsline comes to you live from tokyo. Just days away from the traditional start of spring, life came to a halt for the u. S. Northeast as a deadly snowstorm bore down. Jonathan oh tells us more. As we go throughout the day on wednesday, i think we are going to see conditions improving, but we will still see snow as a big part of the forecast as we go throughout the day on wednesday. This lowpressure area continues to move across the state of maine as it moves into canada. And it is wrapping around with that snow. And so those of you located near the great lakes, especially those located in upstate new york into pennsylvania and ohio, youre going to see that lake effect return. And youll be dealing with that piling onto the snowfall that youve already seen so far at this point. Look at some of this video thats coming out of the region. It will give you an idea of how seririous the weather situation was on tuesday. Now in the city of new york, the snow amounts were just a little bit less. It was more of a sleet mixture before the snow came in. But nevertheless, still l a bitf a winter storm in this particular location. Also to boston, we see some serious snowfall that took place. The sad news though is that at least two people have died while removing snow in wisconsin. Now, also on top of that in terms of the weather situation, the coastal areas of new york were hit by storm surge that triggered some flooding because of the strong winds. Schools were closesed all over e place, all along the Northeastern Region theyve been dealing withth school closures. And on top of that they also dealt with a lot of flight issues, traffic issues, and also mass transit, trains, the northeast corridor also dealing with that particular issue. So as we go throughout the day on wednesday, that low will continue to move up and well see that wraparound snow as part of the forecast. So winter wetter not quite done there. Toronto, new york, even washington, d. C. Looking at temperatures not even getting above freezing as we go through the day. Look at atlanta, youre down to 6 for the high on wednesday so its going to be quite chilly. Chicago, you dealt with some snow on tuesday, now dealing with chilly, frigid temperatures. The flip side, 24 for the high in denver. A lot warmer. A little wet into seattle with a high of 12. Meanwhile over into japan, we have been dealing with a low pressure area over the sea of japan. Thats really kicking up the winds in some of these locations. Look at some of these reports. Anywhere from 91 Kilometers Per Hour over back toward the west to the central portion of japan, seeing gusts up to 100 Kilometers Per Hour being reported on wednesday morning. We will see a lot of taping g of this pattern as we go throughout the day on thursday. We will see some rain over into the Western Areas j japan. But then as we gintoto friday,y we have a low thats off hokkaido. Thats going to bring in some of that seaeffect snow once again and some of the colder conditions into sapporo going into friday. Look at tokyo. Were back to whats normal for this time of year. By the time we go into sunday, above average with sunny conditions on sunday. Baback toward the west into chi, High Pressure controls the weather. We are seeing some instability with clouds developing south of shining high. Well see cloudy conditions on thursday. Taipei 21. 17 in beijing under partly cloudy conditions. Wrapping things up with a look at europe, we had some strong winds reported into the scandinavia peninsula, also into places like switzerland. We still have strong Wind Warnings in place. Western areas of the continent dealing with some dry and warm conditions. Wet further toward the east into moscow, warsaw and kiev as we go into wednesday. Hope you havave a good day wherever you are. Heres your extended outlook. For your thoughts and comments, visit our website and click on contact us. Be sure to watch newsroom tokyo at the top of the hour. Im james tengan. Bye for now. vp host this is france 24. Time now for 60 minutes live around the world. These are the headlines. A new twist in the ongoing feud between the netherlands and turkey. Several twitter accounts have now been hacked by a group that says it backs the turkish egovernment. That comes as a rather is voting today and its general election hitting the centerright Prime Minister against an antimuslim firebrand. That election could gauge the strength of the very ties holdine
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