the leaders of japan and china try to chart a way forward on north korea. japan's prime minister noda and premier gin biotrying to figure out what to do about the evolving situation in north korea. they agreed to work together to maintain the stability of the korean peninsula. the leaders held talks in beijing.

they agreed their governments will keep in close contact following the death of north kreen leader kim jong-il. noda said they concluded that a nuclear free korean peninsula and peace are common interests for countries in the region. >> translator: it is very good timing for us to exchange opinions with china, the host of the six-party talks, and the country which has the most influence on north korea. >> translator: your visit is significant because in a few days it will be 2012 which marks the 40th anniversary of normalized ties. >> the prime minister said he and wen agreed japan china and north koreas will start negotiations early next year and asked went for help in breaking the deadlock over north korea's abductions of japanese nationals. noda is scheduled to meet

chinese president during the day. they, too, are expected to discuss north korea and boosting bilateral ties. north korea's state-run newspaper reported that kim jung ill issued orders shortly before his death. the paper says his son jong-un had them carried out the following day. his first task as new leader. on wednesday carrying an article reporting that shortly after 9:00 p.m. on december 16th, the late kim issued a written order for the government to provide cod and herring to pyongyang residents. authorities announced kim died on morning of december 17th. observers in south korea suspect kim may have died earlier than was formally announced saying the article is an effort to reply to such speculation and emphasize that the late kim worked hard for the people right up until his death. sources say the article aims to reinforce jong-un's legitimacy as a successor by creating an impression he has been governing

the country based on his father's instructions. north korea has renewed its criticism of the south's restriction on south korean mourners attending kim's funeral. the south korean government has decided not to send an official delegation to the funeral. it said it will only permit a limited number of the civilian mourners, including the widow of the late president, kim dae-jung. the south korean president held the first inter-korean summit with kim jong-il in 2000. north korea's committee for the peaceful reunification of the fatherland said on sunday that the south lacks basic respect towards kim jong-il and hinted there will be catastrophic consequences for cross-border relations. in other news here on

"newsline," we go to ai. >> the japanese government is on board, encouraging firms to invest in overseas natural energy and offering loans specifically for such projects. the government has allocated 10 trillion yen, nearly $130 billion from its foreign reserves for the loans. the government backed japan bank of international cooperation is offering low interest loans to firms aiming to buy energy resources abroad. authorities say $830 million of the funds have been used so far, and some of the borrowers acquired the rights to develop liquefied natural gas in australia and new guinea. it will help japan secure more than 4 million tons of the gas, or 6% of annual imports. domestic demand for liquefied natural gas is growing because many of japan's nuclear power plants went off line after the fukushima daiichi accident. japanese retailers plan to

hire talented people from other asian countries to expand their businesses in the region. the move reflects a shrinking domestic market. a subsidiary of fast retailing, the operator of the casual clothing chain set up scholarship funds for chinese university students. fast retailing wants 80% of new recruits to be nonjapanese to open more stores outside the country. they hope the scholarships will encourage the brightest graduates to work for the company. meanwhile, super market operator eon signed a contract with universities in vietnam in september. the retailer will provide scholarships and accept interns. they hope to make arrangements with other universities to recruit their students. now let's check the markets. the dow-jones average rallied on friday, making it a four day gaining streak on the back of a tax cut extension and favorable

housing date a for more on trading, ramin mellegard is at the tokyo stock exchange. a few more trading days left for 2011. how are things kicking off in tokyo this monday morning? >> just a few days left, ai. this morning actually pretty positive start. let's have a look at the opening levels for the nikkei and topix. up over 100 points for the nikkei this monday morning. topix up 6 points. let's not forget a recap, nikkei closed friday for public holiday. thursday it closed a touch lower, and it is down nearly 20% so far on the year. we hit the year's high last february at 10,857. still hasn't bounced back from premarch 11 disaster levels and the low came in november when it sank to 8,160. we're a bit above that now, but still a ways to go. now, the european and u.s.

markets ended on a rally friday. the dow up nearly three and a half points. helped by that extension of the tax cuts in the u.s. and congress, and also some favorable data, durable goods orders and new home sales rising in the u.s. in europe, intense focus remains on sovereign debt, crisis issues there, and although bond yields in spain and italy have come off a little from record highs, they're still hanging over the market, this whole issue of possible further credit downgrades from aaa rated eurozone countries, including france, so a lot of focus is on that this week, and on how it effects currency, specifically the euro. look at currency levels this monday morning. pretty much unchanged. 78.09-11, and euro yen, 101.89-94. so currency markets so far

having a little bit of unchanged levels from what we saw thursday. ai? >> ramin, looks like a light week for the data front. what's expected? >> definitely. fewer trading days this week. nevertheless, the home price index in the u.s. might be some market direction, and also in japan wednesday, cpi and industrial production numbers, but the trading range may be narrow and volume may also be a little less than average. for now, the nikkei up over 100 points this monday morning. back to you, ai. >> good stuff, ramin. thanks for that. ramin mellegard from tokyo stock exchange. let's look at other market figures.

>> that's the latest from business. back to catherine. the power plant in genkai is shut for regular inspection. of japan's 54 reactors, 48 or 90% have been taken offline. the only operating reactor came to a halt monday for a four month inspection. the utility says all six history in southwestern japan are now out of operation. in an effort to avoid power outages, they call on businesses and homes to cut power consumption from more than 5% from the previous year. people in japan are paying greater attention to saving

electricity. a new survey shows there's an increased awareness among people since the march 11th earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. the cabinet office conducted an annual survey between october and november. about 6200 people responded. what was the primary focus in their daily lives since the disaster. 59% said saving electricity. 49% or 45% rather said preparing for disasters, while 40% said family ties. another 38% said they are trying not to be affected by unfounded rumors. asked what ajend at government should put priority on, social security, 67%. reconstruction from the disaster came in fourth with 51%, and bringing the nuclear accident under control was ranked 47th%.

nuclear experts plot out the next steps in the cleanup of the fukushima plant. the operator says all damaged reactors are in a state of cold shut down. spokes persons for tokyo electric power company say temperatures at the bottom of the reactors are hovering between 30 to 60 degrees celsius. dropped well below the 100 degree threshold required for cold shut down. and they say radioactive substances emitted from the plant have been significantly reduced. still, nuclear experts say they don't fully understand what's going on inside, and they say the people at tepco don't know either. on nuclear watch, nhk's commentator looks at some of the challenges for tepco and the japanese government. our conversation was in japanese, with simultaneous interpretation. >> translator: it does seem as if the plant is no longer in the

dangerous state it was in immediately after the accident. it appears as if things have calmed down a great deal, but there's still much instability. the power plant is not yet completely safe, and i question whether it can be said that the accident has been contained. the most important thing to find out right now is the temperature of the molten fuel and cooling water. at reactor number one, however, they believe most of the molten fuel has fallen to the bottom of the containment vessel where there is no thermometer. the amount of water hasn't been measured accurately with a water gauge and has only been guessed. some of the molten fuel could be exposed from the water. as for reactor number two in november, they suspected that the plant had gone critical again, with continuous nuclear fission. little is known about the state of the molten fuel, so it is hard to say it is safe.

when criticality was suspected, a gas detector added to the inside of the containment vessel was used to verify criticality had not occurred. if the fuel rods are to melt again, then radioactive substances and radioactive gas would be released, so the containment vessel's gas detector is effective identifying whether an anomaly has occurred. reactors number one and two have gas detectors installed, but at reactor number three, the radiation level is too high and no detector has been added. the reactor building must be decontaminated so a gas detector can be installed as soon as possible. as for the all important cooling system, there have been several incidents of contaminated water leaking this month, with some of it reaching the ocean. the system is temporary as it uses nonrobust hoses. it is emperfective they switch

to a proper stainless steel cooling system to speed up the process of making the nuclear power plant safe. working on three nuclear reactors and the containment vessels to remove the melted down fuel and finally decommission the reactors is a huge challenge which has never been experienced before. the first major challenge is to fill water to shield the powerful radiation, they need to fill the reactor and containment vessel with water, but the containment vessel has holes that need to be plugged. the area has high radiation levels, making it impossible for people to work, whether a radiation resistant robot can be developed is key. even more challenging task is removal of the fuel. a remote controlled robotic arm will be needed. the 1979 three mile island nuclear reactor accident in the u.s. offers some hints. this image shows a portion of

the molten fuel that was removed from three mile island, provided to japan from the u.s. for research purposes. at that time, a drill was used to gouge and remove the fuel. in order to understand what types of removal devices to develop, this fuel should be examined closely to identify how hard it is, for example. however, a lot of the technology will be developed for the first time in the world. there is a limit to what japan can do alone. japan should call on the world for cooperation and engage the iaea in an international effort to advance this work. "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 crisis. "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss them on "newsline." an astronaut's mission may come to an end the moment he or she steps back on earth, but their work is far from over. after long periods of living in zero gravity, they need to undergo rehabilitation to become accustomed to life back on earth. we have been following some japanese astronauts that last month returned home after spending five and a half months on the international space station. >> living in zero gravity for long periods effects all parts of an astronaut's body. bone mass, skeleton, and especially the muscles. that's why in attempt to prevent decline in muscle strength, the

international space station is equipped with an assortment of exercise machines. during his so jorn in space, he and his colleagues maintained a two hour exercise regime. as a result, his muscle strength saw little change over the course of the mission. yet when he returned to earth, he couldn't stand on his own feet, even hold his neck upright. >> at a news conference four hours after he landed, he was seen having trouble walking naturally. he later said he was unable to maintain a proper posture. his wife says she was surprised when she saw him the day after his return. >> translator: he looked limp,

like a puppet. i thought he needed someone to keep pulling up his body from behind. >> when astronauts first arrive back on earth, their movements appear a little awkward and uncoordinated. that's because an organ deep in the inner ear, the vestibule, temporarily stops functioning properly. in normal times, it helps identify gravity and maintain ee kwil librium. but after months of weightlessness, the organ fails in its role, and suddenly keeping balance becomes a lot more difficult. so nasa has come up with a 45 day rehabilitation program to help astronauts readjust. the first step restoring gravity is getting them to do simple walking exercises. after months of floating in zero gravity, astronauts have to

relearn how to walk. a part of their exercises has them taking exaggerated steps to work their muscles. this also allows them to feel gravity under their feet again. another exercise has them throwing and catching different size balls. although it looks like child's play, it is a complicated task for someone that's lost their sense of balance. through these exercises, the brain and body slowly remember how to respond to gravity. he gradually regains his balance. ten days after his return, he is able to drive a car again. the dizziness he felt when he moved his head right and left is also gone. >> translator: at first i

couldn't even move my neck as i wanted, but now i can. it is all back to normal. it feels good being under a blue sky. i remember looking down at the blue sky from space. >> his rehabilitation will continue until early next year. his stay in space may have ended in mid november, but he still has a long way to go until he can say he has finally returned to earth. >> experts say as humans grow older, they experience a weakened sense of balance similar to astronauts after they return from case. he says as a medical doctor, he wants to apply his own experience in space to advance the study of aging and help make the lives of the elderly more comfortable. i felt it was possibly the coldest walk to work this year on this monday morning. let's go to saki ochi for the

big weather picture. >> and let's get a look at weather conditions across the globe. we start off in japan where it turned out to be quite a chilly weekend. very cold weather, some of the coldest of the season being felt across the country. and it looks like we'll continue to see that trend for the rest of monday, as well. still looking at very low temperatures across the country. and then plenty of snowfall, too, along this western side. just a lot of cold precipitation coming in off the sea of japan. we'll be talking about even more snow again over the course of today so you want to watch out. areas could be looking at easily up and over 50 centimeters of snowfall in to tuesday morning. that will definitely reduce visibility, really slippery roads, too, will be a concern as the monday morning commute picks up, you want to watch out and possibly hearing of transportation delays, as well. as we pull back, though, we see nice dry skies for the korean peninsula and much of china. indochina peninsula, as well.

maybe vietnam picking up on a few showers. wetter for the philippines for the central and southern end with chances of heavier, locally heavier downpours and areas recovering from the flooding of the tropical storm last week. so you want to watch out for the additional amounts of rain. as for temperatures on monday, looking at 30 degrees expected in manila. 9 in shanghai. tokyo, too, up to 8 degrees. that's seasonal and looking at quite a bit of sunshine here. over towards the americas and for the u.s., rain will be moving up through the mississippi valley tonight. and that will be really spreading over lower and central sections of the valley here. possibly introducing some thunderstorm activity, as well. to the north of that, a couple of snow showers moving through this eastern end of canada and then more looking to spread in

the next 24 hours, as well. for the pacific northwest, coastal areas continue to see showers and strong winds while upper elevations will be looking at a little bit more snowfall. 7 for your high in vancouver. 9 in seattle on monday. 8 in oklahoma city and then over towards the northeast, too, 8 in d.c. and 7 degrees expected in new york. lastly, a look at europe here. windy weather has been impacting much of the northern tier of europe. hearing of very strong gusts being recorded. looks like the pattern stays with us again today although lots of pretipation moving through and quite a bit of rainfall rather than snow. slightly milder temperatures bringing in a lot more wet precipitation. norway bearing the brunt of this rainfall, especially the southern looking at chances of some heavier, more focused amounts and then for the british isles, rain limited to scotland, as well as ireland, southern end

look fairly dry. london, double digits, 12 for a high expected on monday. paris comes in at 9. 11 even in berlin. slightly warmer than seasonal averages here. vienna, too, up to 7 degrees. all right. so that's a look at your weather conditions for now. here is your three day outlook.

worshippers prayed for peace at a christmas mass in bethlehem on the west bank. ♪ >> the service was held at the church of the nativity, believed to mark the site where jesus christ was brn. mahmoud abbas attended the event. earlier this year, palestine was given full unesco membership.

it is the first organization to establish them as a state. they want the church to be a union he is coworld heritage site. they continue to have israelis in the occupied territories. israel and palestine are at odds and middle east peace talks are stalled. many pray the peace process will achieve results in the new year. >> i hope not just here peace comes for everyone. pope benedict xvi called for stability in iraq and afghanistan in his traditional christmas address. the pope delivered his christmas message at st. peter's square in vatican city. thousands of catholics gathered

there. the pope dedicated part of the message to eastern africa. people there are suffering from food shortages and a fragile security situation. he also prayed for flood victims in thailand and other places. >> translator: may the lord come to the aid of our world, torn by so many conflicts, which even today stain the earth with blood. may the prince of peace grant pace and stability to that land where he chose to come into the world and encourage resumption of dialogue. may he bring an end to violence in syria where so much blood has already been shed. >> the pope also called for greater political dialogue in myanmar. after the message, he recited a holiday greeting in 65 languages.

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