welcome to "newsline." members of the japanese government are investigating whether china is tapping into a rich resource it might not fully own. new video suggests chinese engineers are mining a gas field in the east china sea. both countries had agreed to talk about the field's development before moving forward. nhk camera operators captured images last thursday showing flames shooting out of a

drilling rig in a gas field. the video also shows people work on the rig. the gas field lies near the median line separating japan and china's exclusive economic zones. the countries agreed in 2008 to begin discussion on jointly develop the area. but negotiations stalled in 2010 after a chinese fishing boat rammed into japanese coast guard patrol vessels off disputed islands. we asked the japanese veteran oil and gas engineer to give us his take on the nhk video. >> translator: the flames and smoke indicate they may be burning natural gas. that means china could be continuing development on its own. >> chief cabinet secretary says any unilateral development is unacceptable. he says if chinese engineers are moving ahead, the japanese government will have no choice but to launch a protest.

>> translator: japan and china have been trying to promote cooperation in order to make the east china sea an area of peace and friendship. it's regrettable if there's a need to file a protest. >> some japanese analysts say china may try to secure resources and expand area under its control by building a structure in the east china sea. they say the japanese government should quickly hold talks with china to find out its intentions. a team from the international atomic energy agency has inspected the inspectors. they assessed evaluators by japan's safety regulators at halted nuclear reactors. they say the evaluations are in line with international standards. the head of the team handed a report to nisa director general. the power companies have been

conducting so-called stress tests on their reactors. regulators have been making onsite visits to those reactors. they then reported on their evaluations. >> we had found that nisa's approach is generally consistent with the iaea safety standards and international practice. >> the report suggested 11 points of improvement. it points to a need for further explanations for the -- team members also voted the nuclear power plant in central plant. regulators have determined that the stress tests there were carried out properly. but they still have to hand in their final report that would allow the reactors to be restarted. many local residents don't want the reactors turned back on. come back home. that's the message from the mayor of a town near the fukushima nuclear power plant who wants all evac es to start returning home in april. the village is located about 20

kilometers southwest of the plant. it was evacuated last year following the march 11th earthquake and nuclear disaster. all 3,000 residents were forced to leave. the evacuation advisory was lifted in september but only about 200 people have returned. >> translator: i am making this declaration to ask and encourage residents to return home. i am determined to overcome hardships. let's create a safe village together. >> he announced on tuesday he will open the village hall in march and elementary and junior high schools will open in april. this town will be the first to have residents return home. but many are worried. they say decon tom nation work is behind schedule. >> my child wants to go home. but i'm worried about radioactivity. i have mixed feelings.

>> another concern is jobs. there were 95 businesses in the village, but only 35 have re-opened since the quake. >> translator: the declaration is only the beginning. i'm not expecting results soon. i hope villagers come home after all radioactive substances have been removed. maybe in two or three years. asia is learning a by lesson from europe's credit woes. a multinational body to supervisor conditions in asia began full fledged operations on tuesday. it is expected to function as an asian version of the international monetary fund in case of a monetary crisis. >> reporter: the ceremony held in singapore today marks the inauguration of the macroeconomic and research

offices. the body is formed by 13 countries such as the members of the association of southeast asian nations as well as japan, chi nab and south korea. in the wake of the asian monetary crisis in 1997, the 13 countries established a multilateral currency swap arrangement in order to make funds available to debt strapped nations during periods of financial turmoil. amro analyzes economic data and decide whether or not to implement currency swaps. it also has the right to advice members about accepting imf improvement plan if it says any problems in the financial or monetary policies. however, the u.s. usa was uneasy with the idea of asia having its own monetary supervising body and tried to discourage the establishment. meanwhile, japan and china

battled for its leadership. amro finally began operations in 2011 more than a decade after the plan was created. the former executive of china's central bank now the director of amro expressed a strong sense of caution about europe's present financial situation. >> the urgency to reach our consensus cannot be overemphasized in order to strengthen the regional financial safety net. i sincerely hope that amro will have safeguard the asian plus three countries from these global uncertainties and make contribution to the stability, growth and prosperity of this region. >> reporter: he pointed to the need for making the fund more accessible as well as strengthening the system to prevent a financial crisis in

asia. amro serves to act as a regional safety net that remains vigilant under developments in europe and the world. china has been plagued by a series of fatal accidents involving school buses. many of the incidents are being blamed on poor safety practices especially in rural areas. this issue may ignite fierce criticism of the government. on december 12th, an elementary school bus filled with students crashed into a ditch in a remote county in eastern china. 15 children were killed. it was later revealed that neither the bus driver nor the operator were licensed to run school buses. this accident was one of many

involving school buses around the country recently. the incidents have received extensive media coverage because they involve unlistensed school buses carrying unsafe numbers of students. after the accident, the authorities said the bus had the seating capacity of 52, and that 29 children were on board at the time of the accident. but after the m report that the bus was operating overcapacity, officials retracted their statements. they seem to grow concerned about the news reports. large number of plain clothed police officers were dispatched to the victims' funerals. when we tried to cover one funeral, we were forcibly turned away by black clad men believed to be police.

>> reporter: the men in black forced us away from the scene. they also followed our car. we were able to elude the authorities and meet one of the bereaved families. the victim's mother said she has not even been able to eat since the accident. >> translator: i'm heartbroken. she was my child. i want to be able to see her again. >> reporter: it's believed the

police are trying to prevent the victims' families from talking to the media about the truth of the accident and to stop them from complaining about the government. why do school bus accidents occur so frequently in china? one reason is a nationwide measure of elementary schools. students from the schools that were closed have been integrated into new schools. the result is that many students must now commute long distances. this has increased the demand for school buses. but local governments in rural areas have limited budgets and manpower so they are unable to provide the extra transportation. this has given rise to illegal operators who often run buses beyond their capacity. after the accident, local authorities stopped operating school buses altogether.

now it is crowded with parents taking their children top and back from school. >> translator: bringing my child to school is a bother, but there are no buses, so we don't have a choice. >> reporter: accidents involving school buses have caused great suffering especially among children. the chinese government is under mounting pressure to end the tragedies. the head of -- says he will ask western countries to lift economic sanctions against myanmar. the secretary general of the association of southeast asian nations spoke on tuesday. he was upbeat about myanmar's transition last year from military rule to a civilian

administration. he also praised the release of political prisoners. >> translator: it looks like it's moving in the right direction. if miern mar moves in one direction that is positive and constructive, asean would be behind it so we could encourage more than rolling back. >> he said it's important that myanmar's parliamentary by-elections in april be fair. kyi is expected to run. he said the end of western sanctions would further help the country's reforms. >> one element that would accelerate this and help improve the life of the people would be the lifting of the sanction. >> he said he will visit myanmar in february and convey asean's intent to push the country towards further demockerization.

next we go to bangkok to find out what's going on in the region. >> myanmar opened a new session of parliament on tuesday. amid its ongoing reform efforts. the main topic of discussion was the annual budget. lawmakers have decided to aggressively pursue foreign investment to rebuild the country's economic. one of the poorest in southeast asia. >> reporter: about 600 lawmakers from the upper and lower houses of parliament attended the session. the government forecast for annual income was $52 billion. it said it would allocate funds to upgrading myanmar's infrastructure. and invite foreign companies to help. the nation needs to build irrigation systems, power stations, and communication lines as a foundation for

economic growth. myanmar will hold a by-election in april. democracy leader kyi is standing in the poll. during tuesday's session, a lawmaker from one of the country's ethnic groups withined the prospect of kyi entering parliament. >> translator: her presence will be welcome and force changes here, too. >> reporter: about a quarter of the seats in parliament are affiliated with the military. those lawmakers were more cautious on the topic of kyi. but they were welcoming of the reforms. >> translator: her arrival is immaterial because we like her are taking the stance of democratization. >> reporter: rebuilding myanmar's economy urgently

requires the lifting of economic sanctions. to that end, many lawmakers seem to believe dmok ritization is necessary. the reform process seems increasingly irreversible. >> rebuilding myanmar's economy was also on the agenda during the president's three-day visit to singapore which wrapped up on tuesday. the two sides signed an agreement that will see singapore share economic know how with myanmar. he met with his singaporean counterpart as well as prime minister on monday. they inked a deal that calls on singapore to share best practices in economic planning and labor development. the city state will also offer technical and vocational training for workers in myanmar. following the meeting he visited a public housing compound to study singapore's urban development policies. that's it for our bulletin.

people in myanmar have seen profound changes over the last year. the country has been taking steps toward democracy since a new president took office last march. the government released more than 600 prisoners earlier in january. they included political prisoners, government leaders have agreed to a cease fire with the rebels to end more than 60 years of conflict. prodemocracy leader kyi has registered as a candidate in parol elementary by-elections set for april. these moves have encouraged western countries to consider lifting their economic sanctions. all of these developments have changed the way people especially young people live their daily lives. >> reporter: change is in the air in myanmar. a new mood can be seen at the

shopping mall. the young are shopping for clothes in a way they have never shopped before. >> translator: myanmar's fashion is evolving. >> translator: everyone wants to look cool. i'm doing my best to look sharp. >> reporter: many people in myanmar still dress the traditional way. that means wrap around garments down to the ankle for both men and women. but western style clothes are now a common sight in urban areas. young people especially like fashion and magazines are helping to drive the current.

the media used to be heavily censored that included fashion and sports publication. but in june last year, the government lifted many of the restrictions. this is one publisher enjoying the new freedoms. they're managing coverage to foreign fashion levels. the editor in chief says this is more than a business opportunity. democratic reforms are changing society. >> translator: the change taking place now is a very good one. young people are motivated to speak and act freely of their own will. >> reporter: this is what happened when magazines were censored. a photo was modified to hide

model's bare back. another example at work. a mini skirt extended to cover the legs. magazine producers now feel they have freedom of expression. and so do local designers. the publisher says saturation is climbing. >> translator: we can now carry pictures of clothes we think are pretty without changing anything. >> reporter: these fashion title for men was launched last november. the latest edition features hip-hop designs. >> translator: myanmar's youths

believe in a bright future. i'll try to create lots of appealing articles that will hopefully help the people catch one the rest of the world. >> translator: magazines are getting freer and freer. >> reporter: democratic reforms are progressing with surprising speed in myanmar. young people are keen to express their new freedoms in whatever way they can. >> only a small part of the population can enjoy these new fashions mainly family members of military and businessmen who trade with foreign companies. many in myanmar are asking how to spread these benefits to the majority of the population who are still poor. battered by a strong yen and floods in thailand, japan's honda motor has reported a sharp

third quarter earnings decline. the company expects sales and profit to tumble for the whole fiscal year. honda announced on tuesday that its operating profit between october and december plunged 56% from a year earlier in yen terms to $580 million. sales total about $25 billion down 8%. for the whole fiscal year honda said profit would drop by about 65% to $2.6 billion. it predicts a 10% decline in global unit sales. honda's factories in thailand have been closed since last october forcing temporary production suspensions in other part os it have world due to disruptive part supplies. the auto maker says it plans to re-open its factories in thailand by the end of march. "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 you 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." rachel ferguson is up next with weather. >> we're going to start off with another snow update for japan. there has been a lot of snow coming down already this season. in fact, record breaking totals we've seen. let's take a look at some of those right now. some parts have seen almost four meters of snow and it's not even february just yet. even down towards the south we've seen about 2.5 meters in places like daisen this is going to be added to in the next couple of days by even up to almost a meter in some places. we've got a very potent low pressure system coming across from the korean peninsula.

this is going to be invigorated over the sea of japan and then spread throughout much of the country. coming along to the pacific edge as well. tokyo is going to be spared that snowfall. it will be very wide sprechld we're not just talk about additional snow, but very strong winds. that means the snow will be drifted, buffetted about, potential for avalanches and very dangerous driving as well. in terms of accumulation anywhere in the red about up to 60 additional centimeters snowfall. we're going to have to add to that again. this is going to be another two days at least of heavy snowfall this is the the potent low that's moving across right no much of the rest of the region is looking dry and settled. you will maybe have some problems with fog across eastern china. and towards the south scattered thunderstorms will be

intensifying for central parts of the philippines as that monsoonal flow gets stronger into wednesday. temperatures minus 7 in seoul. very icy blast coming. that's helping the snow to fall on the sea of japan side. minus 3 in beijing. ahead of that system coming in is going to be fairly warm up into double figures in tokyo at 12 degrees forecast for the high. as we head on into north america fairly settled here as we move into the middle of the week. there will be another system coming into the pacific bringing another round of snow. rain at the coast is not going to be particularly strong. we'll see just the northern tier getting the winter weather. snow north of the great lakes coming into northern parts of new england into eastern canada as well. we have a warm front. it is going to be bringing temperatures way up above average. to give you ab idea new york city on your tuesday 12 degrees. 17 in d.c. these figures are going to be going up into your wednesday. meanwhile places like chicago, the midwest, down through into

the southern plains there's quite a weak cold front coming through that's going to be bringing temperatures down. chicago going from 12 on tuesday down to about 6 on your wednesday. that's still way above average for this time of year. usually about minus 2 for your high. into europe we go. things clearing up for the united kingdom and ireland. a little bit more settled there. we will see some more snow for the -- a little unsettled for the mediterranean. thunderstorms here. to the southeast once again that very stubborn lingering low will be bringing snow to northern parts of turkey and to the south more thunderstorms. the main dominating force is going to be strong high pressure. take a look at these temperatures. minus 18 in moscow. minus 18 in kiev. that cool into central locations. minus 7 in berlin. 0 in paris in. the next three days not improving very much. you need to bundle up and take care in that very frigid cold. here's your extended forecast.

that's our broadcast for

this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. thank you for watching. bye-bye.

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