engaging tehran. international investigators start the mission into the nuclear program and the u.s. and european union strengthen sanctions. nuclear in spec torsion are working to unravel a mystery. they want to delve into accusations iranian scientists are building nuclear weapons. iranian authorities counter they're just trying to make

electricity. we have a report from tehran. >> reporter: the team led by iaea deputy director arrived inter and sunday. the iaea said in a report released last november that iran may have carried out tests of a highly capable explosive device used to ignite nuclear bombs. the itinerary of the delegation remains undisclosed. but iran has suggested it may allow the inspectors to visit a nuclear facility near the central city where uranium enrichment began this month. iranian foreign minister said sunday iran has nothing to hide and all questions will be answered during the visit. he even offered to restart stalled negotiations the west

over its nuclear development. observers say iran's conciliatory stance is to ease tension as the countries ratchet up pressure by tightening economic sanctions against the country. myanmar's opposition leader received an enthusiastic welcome as she begins to campaign for the upcoming bi-elections. the pro-democracy leader was trying to get support for her party, the national league for democracy or the nld. >> translator: in the elections, every single voter has their vote, and every vote is equally valued. their support, nld will work for

support and development of the country. >> bi elections are scheduled for april 1st, and will be for 48 seats in upper and lower houses of parliament and local assemblies. nld is fielding candidates for nearly all the seats up for grabs, with her running for a lower house seat in a constituency in yang gong. >> she's the one that fulfills our hopes. i am thrilled to see her. >> she's assured a victory in her constituency, so she's expected to tour outside of there to win support for the other candidates from her party. japanese consumers may be paying twice as much in sales tax in a few years. the government is trying to balance the country's budget deficit. ai has that story. >> that's right. in addition, social security.

even if the government succeeds in doubling the consumption tax rate to 10% by october, 2015, japan will likely fail to balance its budget. the finance ministry predicts the government will need to cover 45% of its revenue by issuing bonds in fiscal 2015. the figure will constitute an improvement of four percentage points from a record level reached in the draft budget for the next fiscal year, starting in april. total tax revenue will increase over 20% in fiscal 2015, if the sales tax hike goes ahead as planned. an aging population continues to raise social security costs. figures show a consumption tax hike is not a complete solution for restoring fiscal health. the european union will have the first summit of the year monday afternoon in brussels. leaders attending the meeting are expected to agree on a new

treaty, aimed at imposing tighter fiscal discipline on member states. if agreed upon, the treaty would oblige members to limit the fiscal deficit to a certain level and stipulate this condition in their constitution or national law. it would include penalties for violators. leaders plan to agree to bring forward the establishment of the european stability mechanism, a revamped bailout fund for deeply indebted nations to july this year. tattered public finances in greece which trigger the on-going european debt crisis will also be high on the agenda. negotiations between the greek government and private investors over debt waivers have been stalled. if no deal is reached, greece could default as a large amount of debt is due for redemption in march. germany and other countries criticize greece for making little progress towards rebuilding its finances. u.s. stocks ended last week

mix wd the dow lower friday, following the release of fourth quarter gdp which came in a touch lower than the market anticipated. let's see how stocks here are opening this morning. we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. how are stocks trading. >> very good morning to you, ai. let's look at the levels this monday morning for nikkei and topix. trading lower on monday, down 25 points for the nikkei, down 1.7 for topix. nikkei ended slightly lower friday, but let's not forget it is still up 4.5% so far this january, and we have a couple trading days left. earnings is going to be a major focus in japan this week, sony, panasonic, sharp, hi tach ee, honda, to name a few blue chip japanese stocks to look for earnings. we had earnings from nintendo and nec last week, both posting losses and both ending the week

sharply lower. so it is going to be a big focus earnings for japan. let's not forget in the u.s., earnings are going on and key data due out for the housing, manufacturing, and then that all important unemployment and jobs numbers friday. that's going to be a big focus. also, we may see the filing of an ipo, initial public offering for facebook this week, so we'll look for that as well. in europe, fitch rating agency downgraded the credit rating of spain, belgium and italy. that caused a little jit erin the currency markets. let's look at those. the euro fella touch after the news, but it has rebounded, currently 101.33-35 euro yen, and dollar yen holding at 76.73-76. ai? >> ramin, we have china's markets back after last week's lunar new year holidays. what should we be looking for this week. >> quite a lot of focus there. most of last week, a lot of

indexes were closed, but this week we have the purchasing manager's index, manufacturing index, both by a private sector group, also looked at by hsbc, and a government report as well. that's going to be a key feature due out wednesday. >> so quite a full agenda with domestic earnings here and key data from the u.s. and china. >> definitely. and let's not forget as you mentioned, eu leaders meet in brussels later today. a lot of focus on debt and greece. for now, back to you. >> thanks for that update. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. now let's check what's on the global business calendar for this week. first on monday, european leaders meet in brussels to discuss the region's debt crisis. the focus is on private sector debt wriesoff plan for greece. tuesday, unemployment numbers for 17 nation eurozone will be released. on the same day, japan's

internal affairs ministry will announce japan's jobless rate for december. and december industrial producks index for japan is due out, again on tuesday. finally on friday, the u.s. labor department will release the u.s. jobs report for january. financial markets are closely watching to see if the jobless rate continued to fall in the month. let's look at other markets that are open this hour.

that's the latest for this hour. back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. the operator of fukushima daiichi has found water to be leaking at 14 locations at its crippled plant. it said the leaks apparently occurred after frozen water ruptured the pipes and that the leaked water did not contain any radioactive materials. tepco said about 40 liters of water leaked from a cooling system from a spent fuel pool at the number four reactor on sunday morning but the leak stopped when workers closed the valve. the utilities say the leak forced the system to stop for one hour and 40 minutes but the pool's temperature did not rise. the temperature near the plant fell to minus 8 degrees celsius on sunday morning. ruptured pipes caused three leaks of water on the previous day. tepco official admitted that the utility failed to take sufficient steps to prevent pipes freezing in the cold winter. he said it will take quick action to protect the pipes.

japanese's health ministry will install cesium detectors for local governments and municipalities. they will also strengthen food safety regulations nationwide in april. under the new safety standards, general food products will only be allowed to contain 100 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, an 80% reduction from the current level. baby food and milk 50 becquerels, drinking water just 10 becquerels. some devices in local government offices are unable to measure low levels of cesium or too slow in taking measurements. the health ministry decided more sensitive equipment which can detect levels as low as 25 becquerels of cesium is needed. people that live on japan's northeast coast rely on trains to get from city to city.

the tsunami last march knocked many of them off the tracks. miraculously, this train was spared. all 60 passengers survived. now ten months after the disaster, trains on that line are running again. >> reporter: this is the same train that survived the tsunami unscathed. one of the passengers on that day was this woman, a vocational school student. ten months later, she has come to ride on that same train again. >> translator: i don't know what to say. i can't believe this is the same train i was riding on that day. >> reporter: the train was about one kilometer from the coast when it was hit by the massive jolt of the quake and made an emergency stop.

there were about 60 passengers on board. the train crew guided them to the exits and they gathered outside. one passenger that was familiar with local terrain suggested it would be safer to stay on the train. this is where the train came to a stop. the track runs through some hills and it is slightly higher here than surrounding area. it was that man that suggested they get back on the train. >> translator: i knew when the tsunami reached the hills, it would go to the left and right, so the train would be safe where it had stopped. >> reporter: back on board, the passengers anxiously waited and wondered if they had made the right decision. she started to write a farewell message on the cell phone. >> translator: i wasn't sure we would be safe, so i wrote a message to my family telling

them thank you for everything. >> reporter: the tsunami arrived about 30 minutes after they got back on the train. this photo was taken by one of the passengers. the water surged close to the tracks, but stopped just short of the train. >> translator: i am so glad we didn't leave the train. if we had, no one would have survived. >> reporter: the surrounding area was left flooded, and the train was stranded. the passengers all gathered in one car to try to keep warm. they plugged gaps in the doors with advertising posters to keep out the freezing air and shared what food they had. as night fell, people began feeling more and more worried. then something happened that changed the whole atmosphere. there was a young school boy who had been traveling alone. his mother arrived at the train out of the dark, soaking wet.

she had come looking for him. >> translator: everyone on the train started clapping. it was the moment we first started to feel hope that we would survive. >> reporter: they spent the whole night in the train. by the next morning, the water had receded and they were all able to leave the train safely. ten months have now passed. service has resumed on this line on january the 16th. six days later, she traveled on it again. >> translator: i will never forget the kindness of all of the people on the train that day. i feel a deep gratitude to them, knowing that this train is up and running again will inspire me to keep on trying in my own

life. "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. "the road ahead" examines the efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear nuclear and "the road ahead" on "newsline." china's state run media say more than 20 chinese workers have gone missing after an attempt by a group of militants in sudan saturday. they were working on a construction project. they reported the armed group captured nine sudanese soldiers standing guard for the chinese workers at a road construction

site in south kordofan. they are neighbors with oil rich south sudan which seceded last year. the militants belong to the liberation movement that backs the south sudanese government. china built close relations with sudan through joint development of oil fields and other projects. on the same day as the attack, senior chinese official met with sudanese president. bashir assured that sudan will protect chinese investments in his country. the african union opened its new headquarters in the ethiopian capitol. the project cost $200 million. the chinese government funded the construction. the organization held a ceremony saturday to mark the opening of the 20 story headquarters. senior chinese official attended

the ceremony, called the building a precious gift from his country and symbol of deepening ties. he told john ping wants to help africa's development. he offered they will provide nearly $100 million to the organization in the next three years. china has been extending massive economic aid and making investments in africa. analysts say china is trying to gain greater access to the continent's natural resources, and to boost its international influence. china paid a high price for rapid economic growth. that cost can be seen in polluted rivers and smoggy air. people accepted environmental damage as the tradeoff for progress, at least they used to. a reporter detected a change in the air. >> reporter: this was how

central beijing looked january 10th. this blanket of smog cuts visibility to less than 200 meters. they were supposed to close the expressway and can sell flights. >> translator: the air is filthy. i coughed a lot this morning. it is like we returned to the time when coal was burned in furnaces. >> translator: it is a luxury in beijing to breathe this air. this foul needs to be cleaned up. >> reporter: sometimes the pollution is off the charts. the u.s. embassy monits the quality of the city's air around the clock. the results are published on the internet and closely followed by many chinese. a reading the morning of january 10 was beyond index, meaning the figure exceeded the scale used to measure health risks.

for hours after that, the level hovered between hazardous and unhealthy. it was not until 1:00 p.m. that the pollution level dropped to moderate. this is a company employee. she started becoming concerned about the environment while studying at the university. right after graduation, she began volunteer work that is focused on pollution issues. following the lead of the u.s. embassy, a group bought two machines to monitor levels of air contamination. measurements are taken in different parts of the city and results are released on the internet. the group believes that by keeping people better informed, the government will come under more pressure to act. >> translator: the government is not doing enough to improve air quality. the relevant government sections

should start by doing whatever they're supposed to be doing. >> reporter: beijing say they are listening to these concerns. the city's environmental protection division began holding weekly meetings last november, open to the public. >> translator: i thought pollution levels exceeded the safety standard only occasionally. but the government's data shows it happens on many days. >> translator: i think beijing's air pollution is very bad. we need to become more conscious of environmental protection to get back our blue sky. >> translator: our communication with the public was insufficient, but now it is different. we want people to join initiatives to protect the environment. >> reporter: they are ready to take action, followed by a

better informed public. let's go to the world weather picture. hello. time for your weather update. let's start with japan. the western side of the country has been dealing with lots of winter precipitation. we have a lot of warnings and watches in effect for heavy snow. still an additional 20 to 70 centimeters of snow are possible in the next 24 hours. there are reports of people falling and getting injured shoveling snow off their roofs. as more frigid air comes tomorrow, heavier snow is anticipated from tuesday into friday, so that could worsen the situation, and strong winds have been blowing and that's

resulting in high waves on the coast and raising the risk of avalanches. a high pressure system brings dry weather across most of mongolia, china, and the korean peninsula, southeastern corner of china, a chance for light showers. for indochina peninsula, scattered rain and thunderstorms. heaviest rain can be found in southern thailand, and across the philippines, looks like the southern half of the country will get dryer, but we'll see rain into tuesday. today's highs look like this. we are expecting 30 degrees in manilla, and 16 degrees in hong kong. seoul, getting up to minus 2, and 6 degrees in tokyo. heading to the americas. a couple of storms have been bringing some light snow in eastern great lakes region as well as eastern canada and parts of the northeastern states, but that will dissipate in the next 24 hours. and back behind it, a separate

system brings in snow and freezing rain, and that will be moving towards the great lakes. and across the west, a series of pacific storms have been bringing heavy coastal rain, mountain snow, and gusty winds. in southern alberta, gusts could hit 120 kilometers per hour, the cascades seeing 30 centimeters in the next 24 hours. as the system pushes onto the east, it will weaken. however, more powerful storm expected to impact the same area starting monday evening. it is a completely different story for the southern half of the u.s. a high pressure system brings dry conditions. and lots of warm air is coming in from the south, pushing up temperatures. highs expected to be 17 degrees in denver, and the same for oklahoma city, which is 10 degrees higher than average. finally let's go over to europe. a frontal line has been bringing in snow to the western half of

the british isles, even wales could be seeing some measurable snow on monday. and across the south, an active low pressure system is sagging southward. cicely and southern italy will see heavier rain and thunderstorms on monday. but it is a different story for much of the scandinavian peninsula in central and eastern europe, lots of sunshine for you. but many areas on alert for very low temperatures. we're expecting only one degree in paris, 4 degrees for monday's high, 1 degree in vienna. all right. i will leave you with the extended forecast.

our lead story this hour, myanmar's opposition leader received an enthusiastic welcome as she begins campaigning for the upcoming bi-elections. the pro-democracy leader visited the southern city of dell way sunday to garner support for her party, national league for democracy or the nld.

>> translator: in the elections every single voter has their vote, and every vote is equally valued. their support, nld will work for development of the country. >> the bi-elections are scheduled for april 1st and will be fought over 48 states and upper and lower houses of parliament and local assemblies. nld is fielding candidates for all the seats up for grabs, and she's running for a lower house seat in a constituency. >> translator: she's the one that fulfills our hopes. i'm thrilled to see her. >> she's assured a victory in her constituency, so she's expected to tour outside the area to win support for the other candidates from her party. that wraps up this edition

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