Central japan is a step closer. The ukrainian and russian president versus agreed to a deal to end the fighting in eastern ukraine. Vladimir putin says the cease fire will begin sunday. Putin and his ukrainian counter part spent 16 hours together. They talked through the night with mediation from the leaders of germany and france. Poroshenko says hell sign the deal. The rebels also agreed to sign. The separatists have been battling Government Forces since april of last year. More than 5300 people have been killed. A shell killed a number of people at a hospital inspect city of donetsk. The woman in the nut rage case has been sentenced to a year in prison the the case sparked interest around the world, but they only had the chance to film the bus believed to be carrying the women cho hyunah. Show cho had faced criminal charges violating Airline Safety laws. She felt the attendant was violating the airlines protocol on serving nuts. Chos lawyers down play the charges. They said the plane had not reached the runway and was violating no safety laws. The judge who handed down the sentence said taxiing was part of a flight. He said chos behavior was dangerous and thoughtless. People in seoul had strong. S about the sentence. She should have gotten three to five years. We now live in a society controlled by the rich. Their crimes should be punished in the most severe way. I think the judges were too soft on her. Chos lawyer said she hasnt decided whether to appeal the decision. The operator of a Nuclear Plant in central japan is another step closer to restarting two reactors. Theyve been given a green light by the countrys nuclear regulator. Officials with the Nuclear Regulation authority unanimously decided Safety Measures at takahamas number three and four meet the requirements. They are aiming to bring the reactors back online in november. They need to have it authorized and win the approval of local governments. Operators are looking for consent from takahama town which hosts the plant. But some local governments demand approval from all municipalityies within the plants 30kilometer zone. Theyre obliged to draw you have Disaster Preparedness plans. President obama has asked u. S. Lawmakers to give him the pawer to do something hes already doing, wage war on Islamic State. The u. S. Lead campaign against the militant group has been going on since last august but obama wants to make it official and set a timeline. Hes also asking for the ability to send in american Ground Troops when necessary. Reporter president obama is turning to congress to help him with what he calls a difficult mission. It will remain difficult for some time. Its going to take time to dislodge these terrorists especially from urban areas. Reporter and so obama wants approval from congressional lawmakers to keep fighting against the group. For months the us has been leading coalitions carrying out air strikes from both syria and iraq. They have been working with the iraqi army as advisors and trainers. Obama wants to carry this out over the next three years, so past his term in office. He asks for the power to go against Islamic State anywhere. And it would override an authorization passed in 2002 that allowed george bush to fight in iraq. The resolution weve submitted today does not call for the deployment of u. S. Ground combat forces to iraq or syria. It is not the authorization of another ground war. Reporter but the proposal does give obama the ability to react to socalled contingencies. In some cases reacting promptly to contingencies may require ordering military action that does involve combat boots on the ground. Reporter that could include sending in special Operations Forces to go off Islamic State leadership or rescue hostages from the group thats also known as isil and isis. Our coordination is on the offensive. Isil is on the defensive and isil is going to lose. Reporter he believes the resolution will grow Even Stronger in the hands of congress. The president s point is he wanted to dismantle and destroy isis. I havent seen the strategy yet that i think will accomplish that. Reporter john mccain welcomed the move in principle. But he says obama oes plan is a recipe for failure. He says the president hasnt articulated the objective for military force. Mccain and some other republicans have been critical of obama for not having an affective policy to remove assad from shower and end the civil war in that country. Reporter theyre divided over obamas plan. Key Party Members support it but some call for stricter limits on the use of Ground Troops. Theyll hold hearings debate and reshape it. They muslims in the United States are urging police to investigate a deadly shooting as a hate crossclaim. Crime. A gunman in North Carolina has been charged with killing three University Students all of whom were muslim. These newlyweds and his younger sister were shot in the head. They died at the couples home in chapel hill. Craig steven hicks turned himself into police. He was the couples neighbor. They say a dispute over parking was the problem. The gunman had posted critical comments about islam and other religions on social media sites. A Civil Rights Group representing muslims said antimuslim sentiment in the u. S. Is on the rise and called on investigate to determine whether hate played a role in the shooting. Japanese leaders want to keep their citizens away from areas controlled by Islamic State militants. On saturday officials confiscated the passport of a photographer who was planning to go to syria. Now the man is speaking out against the decision. Translator losing my passport means losing my job as a freelance photographer. And that deprives me of my way of life. He says he wasnt planning to travel to areas under militant control. He suggested he may take legal action to get his passport back. A scholar cautions against taking any steps that might limit constitutional rights. Translator im worried the case may set a precedent for restricting travel overseas. An expert diplomacy defends the decision. He says officials should discuss how to strike a balance between ensuring the safety of the people while guaranteeing their fundamental rights. He delivered a policy speech on thursday. Translator economic revitalization revitalization, Social Security reform, educational reform, promoting the role of women in society and more effective diplomat tick security policies. These are all difficult challenges. Theyre the most drastic reform since the war. But we must promote these reforms without flinching envisioning what japan should be in the future. He referred to the ongoing reform of agriculture cooperatives to strengthen the farm sector and the free trade talks. On economic policy, the Prime Minister said he intends to achieve fiscal reconstruction and Social Security reform at the same time. He noted that this year marks the 7th anniversary of the wars end. He said he will convey to the world japans determination to contribute more to world peace and security. Hell better prepare his country for emergencies. The plan legislation would allow japan to exercise its right to collective selfdefense. Translator japan has been a peace loving nation and that will not change in the future. We will further solidify that status while International Situations change rapidly and drastically. We will resolutely protect peoples lives and livelihoods. For that purpose, we will proceed with security legislation that allows this country to deal with any kind of situation. The Prime Minister denounced the brutal and despicable acts of Islamic State militants. They claim to have killed two japanese hostages. Translator japan will never bow to terrorism. We will do whatever it takes to secure the safety of japanese citizens whether theyre at home or abroad. And we will provide food medical supplies and other humanitarian aid. Japan will resolutely fulfill its responsibility in the world as the International Community fights terrorism. Major japanese auto makers are working to make Hydrogen Engines go mainstream. The people at japans car makers putting their Heads Together and working together on it rather than working against each other. Executives at Toyota Nissan and honda have decided to team up to promote echo friendly fuel cell vehicles. Theyll also chip in some of the money to run hydro fuelling stations. Those at honda and nissan say theyre working on their own models but theyre worried that there arent enough fuelling stations to make the cars viable. They say theyre Still Deciding just how to split up the bill but theyll work out the fine print by the middle of the year. Investors cheered the deal our major benchmarks in europe are all in positive territory. Frankfurt pulling ahead at this hour. Its up by 1. 6 . In asia tokyo stocks closed at a 7year high. Thats the highest finish weve seen since july twerch2007. The shanghai composite gained half a , 3,173. The move by the peoples bank of china to improve shortterm lickoufve shortterm liquidity. Greece and International Creditors over the bailout program. Seoul closed down twotenths of a percent. Euro dollar is trading at 1. 1335. Market players bought the euro after heading news about the deal between russia ukraine, france on the ukraine crisis. The dollar yen is at 119. 82. Now the green back at 118 during the day after reports of dissent in the ranks at the japan bank. Well trade officials in the United States are accusing china of unfair business practices. They say the government hampers competition by offering too many subsidies to exporters. And theyve taken their case now to the world trade organization. He said the Chinese Government offered 1 billion dollar worth of subsidies to exporters from 2010 to 2012. He said the money went to companies that shipped clothing food medicines and other products. In our view this program violates the commitment china made when they joined the wto not to expert suxbsidies. Theyre hoping to resolve the dispute. If that fails theyll set up a panel to resolve the issue. They failed a similar case against china in 2012. They say beijing unfairly exported cars and car parts. Skymark airlines have flown into even more turbulence. The exec sieveutives say they bled about 14 Million Dollar since april last year. Its their worst ever loss for the ninemonth period. A rise in Aircraft Leasing fees due to the weaker yen. Theyre trying to draw up a rehabilitation plan. They plan to seek help from an Investment Fund and other parties. The bank of japan is waging a long and Difficult Campaign to end inflation. The Officials Say in january companies paid slightly more to buy goods from each other than they did a year earlier. But they say after they removed the impact of the consumption tax hike from the calculations, they say its a pretty different picture. Its actually been falling for three months. They attribute the downward trend to cheaper gasoline and petroleum products. Also point to the decline in prices of chemical products. Thousands of Technology Lovers in japan are getting a look at the latest and greatest cameras. Those who like to take photos of themselves delegates from 131 firms and groups are taking part. People from Casio Computer showing off a new digital camera that makes taking a selfie easier than ever. Users can check how they look on liquid crystal screen before they take the shots. A drone films 4 k ultrahigh definition finishes from the air. Ill leave you with a check of the markets. A group of inmates at a prison in southern taiwan took two people hostage. It ended when the inmates committed suicide and the hostages were freed. Six inmates at a prison seized guns and took the warden and another hostage on sunday. Taiwanese Authorities Say the inmates shot themselves 14 hours after it began. They were serving more than 20 years for cmes ranging from had had to burglary. They issued a written complaint during the stand off that their prison terms were too long. The incident has raised questions about how guns were secured at the prison. Judges in italy have sentenced the former captain of a cruise ship to 16 years and one month in prison. They found him guilty of multicountmulti multiple counts of manslaughter. He was captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner when it ran into rocks in italy three years ago. They accuse him of steering the ship too close to shore and then fleeing the vessel. More than 3200 passenger and crew were on board at the time of the accident. Authorities say he made no effort to rescue any of them. 32 people died. Coast guard officers repeatedly ordered him to return to the ship but he refused to do so. He denied the charges against him during the trial and said he was a scapegoat. His lawyers plan to file an appeal. And recapping one of our top stories the ukrainian and russian president versus agreed a deal to end the fights in eastern ukraine. Vladimir putin says the cease fire will begin sunday. Putin and his ukrainian counter part poroshenko spent 16 hours together. They talked through the night with mediation from the leaders of germany and france. Poroshenko says hell sign the deal. State media in russia say the rebels also agreed to sign. The separatists have been battling Government Forces since april last year. More than 5300 people have been killed. More violence was reported during the peace talks. A shell kill added a number of people at a hospital in the donetsk. Our meteorologist joins us for the latest. A low pressure system has been causing bat weather over the eastern mediterranean. Were talking about snow for turkey and heavy rain for syria and lebanon and also sand storm due to strong winds over the south. We have some video from israel and the gaza strip. Strong waves were seen alost the coastline as well while visibility was limited due to hazy conditions. Because of the storm air pollution levels in israel were the worst in five years. Hundreds of people have been taken to hospitals due to respiratory problems. Well, im afraid to say the Severe Weather maker will continue to sit over the eastern mediterranean, continue to produce bad weather over the locations. The sand storm will continue for the southern areas and egypt as well. And heavy rain for lebanon and western syria for the next couple of days. That raceises the potential for flooding. Now across other parts of europe looking dry thanks to a big High Pressure system. Enjoy the sunny weather on your thursday until the next system comes in. It looks like its turning store my stormy across the British Isles on thursday. The rain any weathery weather continues in athens with a high of only five degrees. Thats about ten degrees lower than what it should be this time of year. Snow is increasing over the northwestern frank of japan because we have a low pressure system move into the region. Even tornados and also thunderstorms. Heavy rain for the coastal locations on your friday. Please watch out for that. But across the pacific side including tokyo, it should stay dry. It was like spring in tokyo today. The high rose to 13 degrees. A little bit cooler compared to thursday but 11 degrees for the high on friday in tokyo. And across the west sunny wave in beijing with a high of nine degrees. Hazy conditions should come back on the weekend and. 33 in bangkok. This is the third storm. Thats dumped about 60 centimeters of snow over the boston area. And we have it moving across the North Eastern u. S. Once again. Its not a significant snow maker but the snow hasnt melted yet. It races the potential for avalanches and also roof collapse. Now, temperatures are going to be extremely low going into the weekend. Take a look. Boston your high is going to be minus 9 on saturday with snowflakes on the menu. New york city minus 8 degrees on the last day of the business week. It will feel like minus 25 degrees or so due to strong winds in the nighttime hours. But across the opposite side of the u. S. Its quite different. Nearly 30 degrees going into your saturday. So stay hydrated. Heres the extended forecast. People have been flocking to sapporo to see hundreds of ice and snow sculptures. Now theyre watching the artwork getting torn down. The statues attracted over 2 Million Dollar visitors from japan and abroad. Crews needed machinery to smash this statue of part of the Kasuga Taisha shrine. Thats in the ancient japanese city of nara. Translator this is any first visit. I found the sculptures impressive. It seems a waste to pull them down. The workers who made them did a great job. They have smash 200 sculptures to prevent accidents. Thats newsline for this hour. For all of us at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us. Until next time, byebye. Stern ukraine after 16 hours of talks overnight. A ceasefire due to begin this weekend. World leaders call it a glimmer of hope to stop the fighting with prorussian separatists. U. S. President Barack Obama Says he is ready to send special forces into kiloliters of the Islamic State group as he asks to kill leaders of the Islamic State. An watchdog without borders says a drastic decline with more and more journal