emergency guidelines to people living further away from power plants. we begin this hour with our series on china's national people's congress. china's national people's congress gets under way on thursday. the annual event sets the country's direction for the coming year. president xi jinping is trying to cement his grip on power. but in his third year in office he faces major challenges dominated by the slowing economy. xi calls this the new normal and says china must focus less on speedy growth and more on improving quality of life. "newsline" continues with its three-day series titled "xi's new normal" which explores the future course of the world's second largest economy. the spokesperson for the china's national people's congress made an announcement one day before the session. fu ying says this year's defense budget will rise by around 10% from last year. nhk world reports. >> reporter: as to whether this year's defense spending will top that of last year fu said specific figures will be released on thursday. >> translator: this year's increase in the defense budget will be around 10%. >> reporter: except for 2010 china's defense budget has posted a double digit increase every year since 1989. xi jinping and his deputies have been working to enhance china's naval and air capabilities in a bid to secure the country's maritime interests, and key sea lanes. a u.s. national security agency reports that china has started building a large number of missile capable destroyers and other equipment with an eye to deploying them in the pacific, and indian oceans. it also says china's accelerating the construction of military installations in the south china sea. fu defended the substantial increase, saying the research and the design of military equipment has been mostly done with the help of other countries, and that china sometimes has to start from scratch. >> translator: china's national security policy is defensive in nature. we will continue on a path of peaceful development. >> but china does not intend to disclose a breakdown of its defense expenditures. analysts believe the cost of research and development, as well as those of space exploration, are not included in the officially announced figures. china's lack of transparency is fuelling concerns among the international community. 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 these. what can i say about living in a city like this? there's nothing i can do about it. >> reporter: it was a manager at an investment firm who provided the photographs used in the posters. before leaving for work every morning, he uses his smartphone to take a picture a building 150 meters from his apartment. each picture is exactly the same size and is taken from exactly the same angle. he put these photos on the internet with today's p.m. 2.5 level. his postings have sparked a big response. he now has 120,000 followers who read his tweets every day. more than 30 million people have accessed his account so far. zo started doing this in january 2013, when beijing had two weeks of smog. he had difficulty breathing, and found it hard to go out. he thought he had to let people know how bad the situation was. that's why he started taking the pictures from his window every morning. >> translator: beijing's air pollution is really getting worse. we should step up pressure to raise awareness of the need for improvement. greater investment and efforts are needed to improve the situation. >> reporter: an expert says that the administration of xi jinping has to give top priority to environmental concerns. >> translator: ordinary people's lives have improved. but environmental pollution is tough to deal with and everyone is frustrated. even people who aren't vocal about politics aren't happy with how environmental pollution is being handled. >> reporter: chinese people are hoping the government will announce environmental measures. >> so kunihiro just how serious is beijing's air pollution? >> the sky is clear here in beijing today, because strong winds have blown the smog away. china took extraordinary measures to keep the air smog-free during the asia-pacific economic cooperation forum last november. even after the event, the skies in beijing were clear. as long as the wind was strong enough to clear the air of smog. but, unfortunately, that's just a temporary fix. the causes of the city's pollution remain. last year average levels of the mint airborne polluteant pm-2.5 far exceeded china's environmental safety standards. >> so what is the government doing to tackle the problem? >> president xi jinping's administration often uses the term the new normal. that means china is no longer simply prioritizing economic growth above all else. the government is trying to spread this philosophy across the country. but that policy shift could backfire when it comes to old school companies, particularly state-run firms. they're worried that tougher environmental regulations will put a dent in their profits. but if nothing is done public discontent will grow and that might stir up criticism of the government. so the xi administration will likely use the national people's congress as a bully pulpit to change the national mind-set. i also expect a pledge of eco-friendly measures. >> kunihiro, thanks. on thursday the national people's congress will finally open. we will have an analysis of china's slowing economy and the government's work report. the number of japanese politicians facing questions over political donations has grown. now the prime minister and the leader of the largest opposition party are caught up in the issue. as nhk world reports, they're now trying to clarify what's legal, and what's not. >> reporter: one of abe's officers accepted more than $18,000 in donations from five firms that had been awarded state subsidies. the political funds control law bans companies from making donations for one year after they learn they've been awarded the subsidies. it also forbids politicians from accepting donations, but that applies only if they know of such funding. there's another escape clause. subsidies for nonprofit projects are considered legitimate exceptions. abe says he was totally unaware of the company's situation. >> translator: i didn't know about the subsidies, and that's all i can say. >> reporter: some of his cabinet ministers are in the same boat including finance minister taro aso, and top government spokesperson yoshihide suga. the allegations spread to the largest opposition party. the leader of the democratic party katzo okada is accused of receiving more than $7,000 from two companies. his staff gave the same explanation as abe's. they were unaware of the subsidies in one case and they say the other donation was a legal exception. political funding expert says the law's vagueness promotes confusion. >> translator: most japanese companies receive subsidies in one form or another the political funds law is not clear enough to allow parties in individual situations. this seems to be the source of the confusion. >> reporter: senior officials of both parties sat down to try to end the feud. ldp representatives say they need to clarify what's legal, and what's not. democrats say they will further scrutinize the possible illegal cases, and they will work with the ldp to prevent a recurrence. the amount of donations is not as significant as another price they're now paying. the time they spent in the diet discussing the issue, and the loss of public confidence. nhk world. authorities in japan want to expand emergency protocol to people living even further away from nuclear plants. they're concerned the guidelines they have in place don't go far enough. municipalities are required to prepare evacuation plans for people living up to 30 kilometers from a plant. but officials of the nuclear regulation authority have approved draft guidelines that would affect residents outside that zone. they say those people should stay indoors if there's any chance of a large-scale fallout. experts found radioactive materials traveled further than 30 kilometers from the fukushima plant after the accident four years ago. authorities would decide which areas are at risk by checking radioactivity levels at the site of the accident and monitoring weather patterns. they would also measure the amount of contaminants in the air over the surrounding region. and they would lift the emergency order only after their readings show it's safe. regulators will finalize the guidelines after taking public comments for 30 days. students in fukushima are trying to see past the challenges of the present, and envision a promising future. some had their studies interrupted nearly four years ago when an earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear accident. the prefecture ran five high schools near the fukushima daiichi plant but the massive radioactive fallout forced all of them to close. classes have continued on a temporary basis elsewhere. this has forced some of the students to live apart from their families. now these evacuee students have graduated. nk shows us what life's been like for them. >> reporter: this is the temporary home of the senior high school. it's a regional building sits five kilometers from fukushima daiichi. but students and teachers have been coming to this university facility 40 kilometers away. 49 children attend classes here. a quarter of the old student body. 17 of them are seniors. including tatsie endo. he's lived nearby for the past few years. >> translator: my first expectation was that our lives would go back to normal soon. but it was dashed. i was disappointed. >> reporter: endo calls this apartment home. fukushima prefecture offers the accommodations to students who live away from their families. it's hard at first. >> translator: i wanted to go back to my hometown when i moved in. but i decided to change my perspective and focus on learning verse things from this place. >> reporter: most of the students need time to adjust. but they soon get used to taking care of themselves. and they meet friends. nakamura has been teaching this group since freshman year. >> translator: the students don't talk openly about their hardships, or about the nuclear accident. but they must have various things to consider after the disaster displaced them from their hometowns. they must have gradually gotten over their concerns. >> reporter: now, the 17 seniors are preparing for what's next. they graduated on march 1st. >> translator: keeping the memories of these past three years in our hearts we'll look ahead, and move on. feeling proud as the graduates of futaba shoyo. we could not return to our original school building. but we believe it will be filled with the smiles of future students. >> reporter: these students believe the changes they face will only better prepare them for adulthood. >> translator: i want to be a teacher. if possible i want to return to my hometown to make children smile. >> translator: we the graduates, will face various problems. but each of us will be able to overcome them, given what we have been through. >> reporter: endo says he wants to follow in his father's foot steps, and become an auto engineer. >> translator: it's like my school days ended in an instant. i'm very happy to have many memories at this school. >> reporter: endo and many of his friends share a similar vision. they say they hope the skills they acquire down the road will help them rebuild fukushima prefecture one day. nhk world, iwaki. next wednesday marks the fourth anniversary of the march 11th disaster. "newsline" will have coverage including live reports from disaster-hit areas. a japanese food chain with restaurants also expanding in asia say it will boost wages. ron madison has the latest on this story. ron? >> yeah that's right, gene. executives at the skylark family restaurant chain say they fully accept union demands for a wage hike. the agreement grants workers a monthly raise nearly double the amount that they won last year. annual wage negotiations are now in full swing in japan. skylark's labor union was demanding an average raise of about $88 per month for regular employees. now the wage hike includes a base pay increase, as well as a raise based on seniority and length of service. sources say skylark officials told union leaders they would grant the request amount. it is 1.8 times higher than the raise agreed to last year. the chain is apparently keen to attract more workers through better wages amid the serious labor shortage within japan's food service industry. many japanese employers will announce their responses to union demands on march 18th. japanese customs officials reported a record number of cases in which fake brand goods and other counterfeit products were confiscated last year. they blamed the rise on growing online sales. finance ministry officials say there were more than 32,000 cases of confiscated goods nationwide. that's up 14% from a year earlier. and it is the highest since recordkeeping on this began in 1987. the officials say more than 90% of the cases involved items sent from china. the estimated value of the genuine goods is $150 million. most of the fakes were hand bags purses and smartphone cases, bearing brand logos. there were also imitation uniforms of japan's national football team. demand for the shirts rose around the time of last year's world cup finals in brazil. well university graduates in japan are enjoying a little time off before entering the workforce in april. but new entrants at clothing giant fast retailing are already taking the plunge. the owner of the uniqlo chain hosted its new recruits at a welcoming ceremony in tokyo. the firm has doubled the number of new hires this year to about 900 people. more than 500 attended the ceremony including recruits from china and russia. >> translator: it's important to keep trying to succeed. even if you fail many times. keep challenging yourself, and never give up. >> he urged the new employees to join him in overcoming national and cultural boundaries to change the world for the better through clothing. the new crop of employees will be assigned to uniqlo stores this week. all right let's get a check of the markets now. investors appear to be staying pretty cautious before the release of u.s. jobs data and a meeting of the european central bank. main indexes in europe are looking like this. we're seeing a fairly mixed bag with the majors there. london is down by 0.3% as is frankfurt. paris is seeing very slight gains at this hour. earlier most major benchmarks in the asia pacific region ended the day lower. in tokyo investors continued to book profits in the wake of the nikkei's 15-year highs. the index closed down at a one-week low. in india, shares there rallied after the central bank's surprise announcement of a rate cut. the bench mark sensex briefly hit 30,000 for the first time ever. it did end up finishing the day lower, though on profit taking. moving on to currencies now, traders are holding their positions ahead of u.s. private sector jobs figures which are due out later today. we've got dollar/yen at 119.66. now the focus is also on thursday's european central bank policy meeting. so euro/dollar is now trading at roughly 1.1117. market players are pretty much waiting on details about the bank's bond buying program. all right. that is going to wrap it up for biz tonight. let's get a check of the markets. some snow sleet, and even possible freezing rain are headed into the southern plains of the united states. our meteorologist jonathan oh is here with the latest. jonathan? >> gene yeah. what a mess in that scenario, as we look at some more winter weather coming in to places like texas, and oklahoma. we are in march. this is the meteorological time base for spring. but it's feeling more like winter right now. way down into the south you can see a layer of clouds this is part of a cold front boundary. colder air coming in from the north. and that moisture mixing in will provide ample opportunity for snowfall from the ohio river valley all the way back in to places like oklahoma and areas slightly north into the rockies. i do want to point out, though that as this cold front moves toward the south, the rain will move into the dallas-ft. worth area, and further down as we go throughout the day wednesday. the cold air will come up behind it, and it will convert the rain into sleet potentially even into snow and if it gets just cold enough at the surface level with the melting taking place we may even be dealing with freezing rain. by the overnight period we're concerned about the icing issues on the bridges and overpasses. so you can see here as you go throughout the day, that snow possibility extends even into portions of new york. meanwhile down through the south, warm air is rushing in. so temperatures are going to be in the 20s for places like atlanta, 22. houston, 24. but then just on the flip side of that front into oklahoma city, a high of negative 2 degrees as we go through wednesday. speaking of different types of weather i want to take you down to south america where we have way too much rain toward the north and not enough rain down toward the south. we've been talking about flooding problems into brazil and portions of northern south america. that includes central argentina. i wanted to show you the video coming out of this particular region because people are struggling because of torrential rains causing severe floods in santa fe central argentina tuesday. the rainstorm dumped as much as 70 millimeters tuesday morning on already saturated ground. schools were closed. traffic had to be stopped because of all the water. and residents traveled in canoes as these levels continued to rise and more rain is anticipated thursday raising the risk of flooding even further. that's not the only natural disaster problem taking place in south america. we also have a volcano that's erupting into chile. i wanted to show you this picture that's coming out of the area from tuesday, where one of south america's most active volcanoes erupted in southern chile. about 3,000 meters of lawva shooting into the air and 3500 people had to be evacuated. so not just the weather, but also coming up from the ground as well. we are going to see even more in terms of rainfall as we continue on into the day wednesday. you can see all of the moisture some areas isolated spots seeing up to 100 millimeters of rainfall in a short period of time. so residents are going to have to contend with this for a bit longer. as we take a look at the forecast for east asia tokyo, and the central portion of japan saw very pleasant conditions during the afternoon hours. northern japan seeing change as we go into thursday. a low coming out of the korean peninsula will bring more sea-effect snow, especially along portions of the hokuriku mountains and that's going to be a real issue as we continue on into thursday. some snowstorm warnings are already in place. down toward the southern portions of china, we're also seeing instability. that's going to be rain from shanghai into chongqing. temperatures are going to be in the single digits in shanghai at 7 degrees with maybe some possible flurries from time to time. cooler temperatures into seoul, and beijing. a quick look at the forecast for europe shows us rain down toward italy. some areas may even see some severe thunderstorms and strong wind gusts. look out for that possibility as we go through wednesday. 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. /ñ>xxúlúl r a deadly attack on any jewish deli in paris. six people were killed in the shop in 1982. dozens of people are feared dead in a coal mining motion in a rebel held area of eastern ukraine. and two australians in new niche are set to be executed after 10 years on death road -- in indonesia are set to be executed after 10 years on death row. please currently have been ignored.