scientists find intriguing hints of the building block of the universe. scientists at a european research institute say they have made a big step toward the discovery of a subatomic particle that may be a basic component of the universe. 200 international research groups are looking for the particle using a collider at the organization for nuclear research near geneva.

the 27 kilometer circular tunnel allows physicists to observe particles generated after colliding protons to each other at nearly the speed of light. they announced results tuesday, saying they had made a great achievement. >> the first important result is we have been able to restrict the region which is important achievement by the end of 2012, sooner, if we are lucky we should be able to say the final word. >> in standard modern physics theory, higgs is hypothesized as the agent that gave mass to matter. physicists around the world have been looking for the last missing particle in the standard theory. the announcement raised expectation for discovery that would unravel a mystery of

modern physics. japanese firm olympus could be de-listed from tokyo stock exchange during the day. ai uchida has more. >> indeed, a tense day for the company and the investors. scandal hit japanese optical equipment maker olympus. they will release the first half earnings report after a one month delay. tokyo stock exchange continues investigating whether its loss coverup will call for de-listing. the company has been in turmoil after they revealed they hid investment losses over the years. they will release april to september after they revise statements for the past five years. two auditors approved that the report is correct. sources say the capital will decrease drastically, after including maximum loss of 135

billion yen in the books. for now, the firm's debts won't significantly exceed assets. olympus is expected to set for overhaul, including change in top management and rebuilding of its business with a possible tieup with other firms. the u.s. central bank says it will maintain its monetary policy. that includes keeping a key interest rate near zero through mid 2013. the federal reserve announced its decision after a policy meeting tuesday. in a report, the fed says the economy has been growing moderately. also noted increase in household spending. these observations mark a slight upward revision from a previous statement released last month. the latest report also notes positive signs in the overall labor market, but it adds that the unemployment rate remains high and will take time to improve. the report says there are significant down side risks to

the economic outlook due to strains in global financial markets, triggered by europe's credit problems. given these conditions, the fed will continue with its program to sell off short term government bonds with ones that take longer to mature, also known as operation twist. and this is in a bid to lower long term interest rates. u.s. consumers are spending less than predicted. retail sales grew at the slowest pace in five months. sales on electronics and apparel are up, but they pulled back on building materials and groceries. the commerce department says retail sales edged up by two-tenths percent from october to $399 billion. analysts had expected that increase to be triple that figure. sales of electric appliances rose 2.1%. other increases include automobiles, auto parts, and clothing at .5%. department stores and volume

retailers had a slight increase of .3%. sales fell at 0.3% for building materials and groceries dropped 0.2%. the dow-jones ended lower a second day in a row after negative reactions to the fed policy meeting as well as renewed concerns over eurozone debt issues. now to see how stocks are kicking off in japan, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. eurozone worries send the euro lower. how are markets reacting this witness? >> very good morning to you. let's look at the opening levels this morning for the nikkei and topix. investors are divided for growth in the u.s., and any clear cut answer to eurozone's debt issues. we had the federal reserve open market committee come out and say the u.s. economy had significant down side risk as you touched on there as well, despite a string of recent

upbeat data which showed improvements in jobs, housing, manufacturing sector. that held back out some bulls out there. also before the fed meeting doubts over full resolution to eurozone debt crisis pushed market sentiment lower in europe. main sticking point seems to be whether stronger eu countries like germany will be able to step up and add further funds to this planned bailout fund for europe, so that sent the euro to 11 month low against the dollar, also trading lower against the yen. just having a look at the currency levels now, you can see there that actually at one point the euro-yen was 101.37, now it is 101.53. 101, compared to 102 the other day, and a couple days ago it was trading 104. the yen is gaining against the euro quite a bit.

dollar/yen, upper 77 yen levels. >> ramin, as you know, today is the deadline for olympus to submit revised earnings reports if it doesn't want to be de-listed. what kind of action have we been seeing in the stock? >> a lot of volatility in the stock, ai, up 8% monday, another 5% yesterday. the market is betting olympus will stay listed. it is down to the tokyo stock exchange. at the end of the day, it's going to decide what to do as this coverup over bookkeeping scandals has caused a little bit of anxiety among investors, but also another listing coming from seven bank holdings that operates 7-eleven stores, quite a bit of activity for the tokyo stock exchange to deal with. the nikkei and topics are

trading a touch lower this wednesday morning. back to you. >> ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. south korea started trading this wednesday.' started trading this wednesda started trading this wednesda started trading this wednesdak started trading this wednesdao started trading this wednesda started trading this wednesdap started trading this wednesdai started trading this wednesday. that's all for this hour in business. it is back to katherine. >> thanks very much, ai a man armed with a rifle and grenade attacked shoppers in the belgium city of liage. four people died including the suspect and 120 were wounded. eyewitnesses say the suspect opened fire and threw grenades

in a busy central square near a courthouse. the attack occurred tuesday around 1:00 p.m. district prosecutors say a 65-year-old woman, two teenagers and the suspect were killed. the 33-year-old man acted alone. he was convicted three years ago of possessing weapons and growing marijuana and was supposed to turn himself in on tuesday. >> translator: there were three big bangs. then firing, shooting in the crowd. and everyone running everywhere. i escaped and hid. >> police are searching the man's home and questioning eyewitnesses to determine his motive. coming up on "newsline," stitching together a sense of

community. how knitting has become much more than a hobby for women on the coast following the march 11 disaster. roonchts active water from the fukushima daiichi plant earned the operator a reprimand. it was the second seepage in less than ten days. tepco says 30 liters of water leaked from the device, but it remained in the facility. the outvalve was stopped after valves were tightened. the agency warned tepco geps using the equipment. the agency asked the company to investigate the cause. earlier, water containing strontium liked into the ocean. the

the fukushima government released some results of radiation health checks in the prefecture. the information shows that exposure levels of most residents near the damaged nuclear plant are low with little health impact expected. the prefecture has been checking the health of its nearly 2 million residents. on tuesday it released the estimated external exposure levels of around 1,700 people from 3 municipalities designated as evacuation zones after the nuclear accident. fukushima says 97% of people are thought to be exposed to less than 5 millisieverts of radiation. of that number 63% have received less than 1 millisievert. the country's permissible limit is 1 millisievert per year. nine people are thought to have been supposed to 10 millisieverts or more. five are plant workers. the highest level recorded, 37 millisieverts measured for one plant worker. >> translator: the results show the exposure levels of most people were very low. this is a reassuring message. there is no immediate health concern.

thousands on japan's northeast coast are spending the year in temporary housing. they survived the march 11 disaster. they're trying to make the year ahead brighter. women will spend the winter earning an income while they reconnect with their community. here is the story. >> reporter: these women are getting ready for winter. they are taking part in a knitting cafe open every wednesday in this temporary housing unit. knitting is something they used to do for their children and grandchildren. now they're remembering how to do it again. >> it's been a long time since i last knitted. the knitting cafe is so much

fun. >> they are new neighbors and have quickly become new friends. the knitting cafe provides these women with a place together and motivates them. >> all the gloves and socks i knitted were washed away by the tsunami. i also come here because it is so boring staying home alone. >> reporter: she started the knitting cafe in october. she picked up her needles after the tsunami destroyed her house. knitting put her in good spirits. she thought it would do the same for other women. she wanted to give her fellow temporary housing residents an opportunity to earn an income. >> translator: knitting makes me

feel my life is getting gradually back to normal. i want to work with my neighbors in the knitting cafe. >> once the house is rebuilt, my wife says my father and i should move in and she will stay here to continue the knitting cafe with others. >> there are other knitting groups, women trying to make a difference, and a little money. they have a knitting project with donated from supplies from abroad. they have received enough supplies so the knitting cafes can work the winter season and next. >> translator: i knew the women's knitting tech meek would create good, quality products. >> reporter: then they collect the finished items and ship them

to different stores around japan where they sell for 10 to $40. some of them ended in tokyo's main shopping district. >> i bought a knit cap. it has an intricate pattern. the creator obviously put her heart into making it. >> reporter: for the women that knit these items, selling something they created is priceless. >> translator: when i delivered the money to one of the women at the knitting cafe, she started to cry. the amount of money was so small, but it helped her take a step forward. >> reporter: you could say they are moving forward one stitch at a time, making hats, scarves and

socks to keep winter's cold at bay, bringing the community closer together during these trying times. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis, and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." the results of a sale are about to be made public. they will announce friday who will build the new fighter jet. the deal is worth several billion dollars. japan is replacing the roster of

f-4s. the aircraft in service more than 40 years. the plan is to buy 40 to 50 new jets. >> translator: the selection process is reaching the final stage. and i want to make a decision as soon as possible. >> the candidates include the state of the art f-35. this jet has stealth capabilities that allow it to evade radar. but developers are still working on the f-35, so it hasn't been tested in battle. another option, the euro fighter just used in the conflict in libya, equipped with high performance radar and mobility. japan never purchased a european made war plane. the government is also looking at the fa-18, the u.s. navy main fighter jet, it performs well against other planes and ground targets. its price is the lowest of the three candidates but its stealth capabilities are believed to be less sophisticated. each of the three models has

strong and weak points, but the f-35 is said to have the greatest potential to counter other aircraft. still, many are concerned about the fact that the jet's development hasn't been completed. the japanese government is scheduled to convene a security panel meeting friday to decide on the new fighter jet. prime minister yoshihiko noda will be there. the new u.s. envoy on north korea is trying to kick start six party talks. dave east arrived in beijing following his tour of south korea and japan. it is his first visit to china. he started his new job in october. he will meet foreign minister and the chinese special envoy. >> i look forward very much to those meetings to discussing all of the issues that relate to

north korea and to expanding as much as possible the common ground between the united states and china. >> the multi national negotiations have been stalled three years. davies is expected to call on china to use its influence on the north. in thai land, rice farmers have been effected. it may affect markets when global food supplies are tight. >> reporter: thailand is the world's largest exporter but now accepting aid. $58,000 of rice was donated to

thailand last week by japan. the aid is based on last october's agreement amongst asean countries to provide rice to each other in this sort of emergency. >> translator: huge amounts of flood waterway more than normal inundated our land this year. we must make efforts to grow rice in other ways less vulnerable to natural disasters. >> reporter: the worst flood esktsd 1.4 million farmers and agriculture damage about $3.2 billion. rice farmers that provide the staple food were severely effected. this 49-year-old is a farmer.

two months ago in a matter of hours, his land was submerged by the floods. it has been underwater ever since. his house was also destroyed. his family and relatives now live together in a makeshift shelter by the paddie fields. most of his farm equipment was also ruined. he repairs his tools, even though there's little prospect of him working again any time so soon. >> translator: all of my farmland was inundated. i have no idea what i should do now after this disaster. >> reporter: after this crisis began, damage to thailand's growing regions is still severe. the impact on consumers at home and abroad looks likely to continue for some time to come.

>> just a difficult situation there. much of asia seeing wet conditions. let's get that story and more. >> hello, time for the weather update. let's look across southeast asia, we have a couple of tropical depressions. this one just formed and the islands are feeling the impact of strong winds and heavy rain and gusty winds. it could become a tropical storm in the next 24 hours. the conditions will likely continue for the time being. across the west, this one is gradually subsiding, but will continue to produce wet and windy conditions to the southern half of vietnam. winds may die down tomorrow, but wet conditions will likely continue the next couple days here.

to the north, a stationary front produces rain across thailand and southern islands of japan and in the north, a developing low pressure system is bringing a mix of rain and snow in the northeastern corner of china as well as the north korean peninsula and that should ease in hokkaido in the next 24 hours. 12 degrees in tokyo, seven in seoul. 2 degrees in beijing with a low of minus 6 and up to 30 in bangkok. heading to the americas, the four corners region still dealing with heavy snow, but we are anticipating another 20 centimeters of snow. things get calmer wednesday, and stormy weather will target midwestern states and southern plains wednesday. texas will experience the brunt of it. severe thunderstorms, hail, and damaging winds are likely, are

possible here wednesday, and the rest of the area will see a mix of rain and snow and freezing rain. across the west, offshore low pressure system is approaching the west coast, and that will bring cold precipitation across the british columbia area, vancouver will see snow wednesday. we are expecting 3 degrees here and 6 in seattle. across the eastern u.s., we're going to see a significant warmup. 11 in chicago, and 18 in oklahoma city, and getting up to 25 in houston. finally, to europe. the northwestern portions of europe are still dealing with inclement weather. a series of low pressure systems will continue to bring fierce winds and heavy precipitation. particularly, here near the center of low pressure in northern ireland, winds could exceed 150 kilometers per hour, and winds are creating on the

area here. rain and snow could become heavy at times in northern europe, and scattered heavy showers will continue across most of western continental europe. temperature wise, we are not doing too badly across many areas. expecting 6 degrees in london, 5 in vienna, up to 7 in kiev. i will leave you now with the extended forecast.

our lead story this hour, scientists at a european research institute say they made a big step toward the discovery of a subatomic particle that may be a basic component of the universe. two international research groups are looking for the higgs bows enparticle. the 27 kilometer circular tunnel

allows physicists to observe particles generated after colliding protons together, against each other at nearly the speed of light. the groups announced results of their experiments tuesday, saying they had made a great achievement. >> the first important result is that we have been able to restrict the most likely mass region, which is clearly an important achievement. by the end of 2012, sooner if we are lucky, we should be able to say the final word. >> in standard modern physics theory, higgs is hypothesized as the agent that gave mass to matter. they have been looking for the last missing particle in that theory. it raised expectations for a discovery that would unravel a mystery of modern physics. that's all for this edition

of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com