nuclear checkup. u.n. inspectors return to iran to diffuse tensions over the atomic program. experts headed to iran, set to investigate a military facility. they suspect scientists have carried out experiments related to the development of nuclear

weapons. a five member team led by the deputy director general left vienna for tehran. the international nuclear watchdog dispatched the team to the iranian capitol last month they didn't fully cooperate and investigators couldn't verify their suspicions. this time the team is expected to stay in iran two days. they will try to get back in the military facility. they were refused access last month. >> this of course is a very complex issue that may take awhile. but we hope it will be constructive. >> the iaea demands that iran clearly explain the nuclear program by the time of the agency's next board meeting in march. our reporter in vienna says the focus is on whether the iaea inspectors will be able to gain cooperation of the iranian government.

iranian leaders ordered a halt to oil shipments to britain and france. they made the move in response to the european union sanctions. iran's oil ministry announced in a statement shipments in two countries will be sent to other nations instead. eu is scheduled to begin an oil embargo in july. eu officials drew up sanctions after iranian leaders refused to halt the nuclear program. in the first half of 2011, britain imported less than 1% of its oil from iran. france imported 4%. but other eu countries, including greece and italy are dependent on the crude. they want to show they're capable of halting shipments before european countries can secure other suppliers. two iranian navy ships docked out of port in syria. israeli officials criticized deployment as a prove indication.

iranian media says the destroyer and supply ship went through the suez canal into the iranian sea. syria and iran are allies. it neighbors israel. syrian naval personnel will use ships for training under an agreement signed last year between the two nations. a naval commander expressed readiness to put on a show of force in the mediterranean while conveying a message of peace and friendship to countries in the region. vessels passed through the suez canal last year for the first time since the islamic revolution in 1979. that, too, provoked a sharp reaction from israel. south korean and american military personnel taking part in a joint military drill in the yellow sea.

the north's military warned that the anti-submarine drill was a provocation. the military gave a warning that it would start merciless strikes if just one shell from the drill violates north korean waters. it added they should remember the shelling of yang pong island in 2010. they urged the residents to evacuate before the drill starts on monday morning. the north has refused to recognize a sea border drawn by u.n. troops after the korean war. observers say the new leadership under kim jong-un intends to tighten its grip on the country and keep south korea and the united states in check. the country plans a series of events for april 15th, including the mass games. the north's new leadership invited japanese researchers, former lawmakers and members of

private organizations. also invited dignitaries from countries it maintains friendly ties with, including china and russia. sources say some of the north's top officials voiced reservations about inviting japanese guests. the leadership saw it as a chance to improve bilateral relations. a chinese vessel has demanded that a japanese coast guard ship halt its survey activities in the east china sea. the japanese government launches a protest with china saying it's within japan's exclusive economic zone. it occurred on sunday some 170 kilometers north northwest of kume island. a chinese oceanic administration ship contacted a japanese coast guard survey vessel by radio and told the crew to stop their activities saying they're in chinese waters. the japanese survey vessel

replied it was carrying out a legitimate survey of japan's exclusive economic zone. the crew continued their mission behind.chinese ship followed sunday's warning is the third of its kind from china following incidents in may and september 2010. let's go to ai uchida. >> good morning. you may remember japan logged its first deficit in more than 30 years last year. as for the first month of 2012, japan logged a record trade deficit. the deficit is blamed on the strong yen and global economic slow down stemming from the debt crisis in europe. another factor is a plunge in exports following the earthquake and nuclear accident last march. the finance ministry said in a preliminary report monday morning that japan's trade deficit was $18.4 billion last

month. exports were down for a fourth consecutive month, 9.3% decline from a year earlier, and is mainly due to drop in shipments of semi conductors. imports up 9.8%, thanks to rise in imported liquefied natural gas and crude oil, following shut down of a nuclear plant caused by the fukushima disaster. let's see how this is effecting markets. overseas, dow-jones rose for the second trading day in a row, closing near a four year high, although market players were a bit cautious ahead of a key meeting of eurozone finance ministers later today. let's see how stocks are opening this monday morning. for that, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, the u.s. on holiday today. looks like all the focus could be on the eurozone and greek debt deal. >> yeah, exactly, ai. very good morning to you. the u.s. is closed for president's day later today, and a lot of focus on the greek

deal, and also on 17 finance ministers gathering later today in brussels. markets are expecting them to sign off on that new funding package for greece. we will keep focus on that. let's look at the opening levels this monday morning. 9,549. so we are well above the key level. that's the highest since august last year. it did close above 9500 last friday as well, so we're seeing the momentum carrying through here. another factor that could help us carry higher is that weaker yen against the dollar, and especially against the euro. let's look at the currency levels as well this monday morning. you can see there if you look at euro yen, 105.27-29, and the euro gaining on hopes that break through deal for a second bailout package for greece will go through. look at the dollar yen as well.

79.65-70, close to the 80 level. dollar climbed more than 2.5% against the yen since last week's surprise easing move by bank of japan, a move welcome by the japanese exporters, and based on currency levels we saw now, could see further gains for key japanese exporters today as well. ai? >> and ramin, economic growth still remains the main issue for many economists we have spoken to recently. >> exactly. despite the slightly weaker yen and other factors, economic growth really a major factor, and that's also for the eurozone countries, especially with greece with the possible bailout package going through. but a lot of economists arguing with the strict measures with the austerity package, it could be very difficult for greece and weaker eurozone economies to grow under those strict measures. >> and also here as well, right? domestic growth in japan also a major concern. >> definitely some of that also

going into the trade balance numbers you mentioned, but also the bank of japan governor highlighted that specific point also in his speech on friday, saying despite a goal of 1% inflation and some of the extra easing measures the bank of japan took last week, which has actually helped to weaken the yen, still he does say that has to be in tandem with growth for the domestic economy in japan. so we'll keep track of that. so for the long term, still some concerns. for the short term, the weaker yen should help keep the momentum going so far for the nikkei and topix. back to you. >> all right. indeed we are seeing gains in both those tokyo indexes. ramin, thanks for that update. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. labor unions held massive protests throughout spain on sunday. the demonstrations are in response to government reforms intended to help the country rebuild its finances. spain is burdened with huge

debt. major labor unions organized marches in 57 cities, including the capitol city, madrid and barcelona. they introduced measures february 10th to reduce labor costs and increase the global competitiveness of spanish businesses. one of the measures makes it less costly for companies to fire their employees. unions oppose the measure, saying they make it too easy to staff workers. they will call a general strike unless the government reconsiders the reforms. japan and china agreed to boost a multi national financing framework in asia to prevent european debt problems from spreading to the region. japan's finance minister met with the chinese vice premier in beijing sunday. the three ministers agreed to make use of a currency swap

program between the two countries, south korea, and ten members of the association of southeast asian nations. japan and china call for introduction of preventive loans before any members of the initiative fall into a financial crisis. japan hopes to persuade other members to agree on the preventive loan program at a meeting scheduled for may. the ministers also confirm they'll cooperate over a request by the international monetary fund to provide more money to deal with the european debt problems. the ministers said their countries are ready to support the imf, but the european union should make further efforts to stabilize its economy. >> translator: ensuring a stable monetary supply is essential for asian countries to achieve economic growth and prevent the european crisis from spreading to asia. the chinese vice premier and i

agreed on the need for asian countries to help each other. and now, let's look at what's on the global business calendar this week. first up on monday, eurozone finance ministers are getting together in brussels again. they'll consider the austerity package greece prepared to receive eu and imf bailout funds. on wednesday, existing u.s. home sales for january will be out. sales in december rose for a third consecutive month, and new u.s. home sales numbers will be out on friday. these housing data will give us a better idea how the struggling u.s. housing market is doing. finally on saturday, a two day g20 finance ministers' meeting in mexico city. they are set to discuss among other things how the imf can boost lending capacity. let's look at market figures

again. that's the latest in business. more than 6,000 residents from fukushima prefecture had to evacuate. he expressed resolve to overcome the hardship.

the premier spoke to 400 people. >> translator: it is painful to see no lights on in our village homes at night. he explained up until the disaster, residents had worked hard to preserve the environment. he said people value friendships over economic efficiency. >> translator: after the disaster, all of us in the international community are facing the task of considering what message we should hand onto the next generation. >> the mayor promised the audience he remains hopeful. >> people should definitely work with one another as opposed to the part. >> japanese scientists and local government officials have found that a tsunami more than 21 meters high hit the coast near fukushima daiichi. the group was led by university of tokyo professor.

carried out a survey earlier this month of about 40 kilometers of coastline in no entry zones in fukushima prefecture. this is the first study of tsunami in the area since last year's earthquake. no one was allowed to enter zones due to radiation from the plant. among 28 spots studied, the wave reached its highest point 21 meters. tsunami more than 10 meters high hit other places around the nuclear plant. a previous survey of areas outside the no entry zones found waves were less than 10 meters high in many spots. >> translator: it is necessary to study why and how the tsunami got so high in some areas as this will help in drawing up preventive measures. many job seekers and

employers in fukushima prefecture find themselves in a strange predicament. as disruption from the nuclear disaster continues, some people want work, but can't find jobs. on the other hand, some business people want workers, but can't find employees. in "the road ahead" this week, we report on businesses that are finding ways to solve the problem. >> reporter: before the disaster struck, this clothing manufacturer in me nami, soma city, employed about 70 workers. afterwards, more than 20 employees quit and left the prefecture. the company looked for replacements, but after six months it found only one. part of the problem is that a section of the city is still in evacuation zone. many residents, potential employees live too far away for work. plant owner says the labor shortage is hurting the company.

he says that the factory can only make a limited number of garments each day, so he hasn't been able to fill his orders. >> translator: with so few employees, our situation is getting critical. >> reporter: to solve the problem, he decided to open a factory in an area where there are lots of potential employees. he chose iwaki, a city in the same prefecture. many evacuees lived there and were looking for work. last december, he put out job vacancy notices, and in just ten days, over 30 people applied. he was able to hire 25. some had lost their homes and workplaces to the tsunami. they were keen on returning to work. >> translator: it is fantastic a new company has come here.

>> translator: i chose iwaki because a lot of evacuees are here, and it is in fukushima prefecture and i hope this move helps the prefecture recover. as a business owner, i want to do as much as i can to make that happen. they are trying to create jobs to help the disaster victims. a chain of shopping centers had been located in a town not far from the damaged nuclear power plant. after the disaster, it had to close all nine of its stores and layoff 200 workers. next month one store will reopen and employ about 30 workers. as for the other laid off employees, they collect unemployment benefits while waiting for the rest of the stores to reopen. >> translator: it is heartbreaking to think 80% of former employees are waiting for

stores to reopen. >> reporter: the company decided to create a special team of workers called the temporary housing corps. they visit people in temporary housing communities, take orders, and deliver goods. during a trial run, they got a favorable response, so the company decided to add 50 people to the corps. on this day, the company asked the former employee to join the team. he was reluctant to move out of this line of work, so he happily accepted the offer. >> translator: it would be hard for me to change jobs at my age. i am pleased i will be able to work in the same field as before. >> translator: i'd like to be able to create some sort of job for 100 or so former employees that still live in our

prefecture. as for the people who evacuated to other prefectures, i will wait until they come back and join us. i hope the number of people who support what we're doing and want to work here will grow rapidly. >> reporter: the nar disaster delta serious blow to business people in fukushima prefecture. they have shown engine utility and% convenience creating jobs for the victims. by doing so, they help their communities rebound. "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."

japanese scientists say they found a protein that helps burn fat following an intake of fatty meals. the discovery is likely to lead to the development of drugs to combat obesity. a team of researchers at kyoto university compared myself with a protein called gpr-120 with those that do not have the protein. the gpr-120 is known for its able to recognize fat. researchers confirmed that the myself without the protein were heavier than those who had it by an average of 15% and accumulated twice as much fat in their bodies. the scientists also analyzed the genetic sequence of about 20,000 people in europe.

they found that people with mutant gpr-120 genes were more likely to be obese. >> translator: the new discovery will lead to the development of drugs or foods to help prevent obesity and metabolic disorders. >> the team's findings will be published in the british science journal "nature." here is the world weather forecast. >> it has been very cold in the past several days. morning low at the freezing point in tokyo. temperatures are slowly starting to moderate into typical levels. the reason is a cold wave is departing and instead, a high pressure system is moving into japan. even in northwestern flank of the nation gets dry. however, this low pressure system is expected to impact northern japan from tonight. so blizzard conditions are expected in hokkaido and tohoku area tonight and tuesday. gusts could exceed 70 kilometers per hour and waves 6 meters.

once again, stormy conditions are in the forecast in japan. the southeastern corner of china will see rain in the next 24 hours. towards southeast asia, a tropical depression over the south china sea. bringing on and off showers in vietnam and strong winds as well. as for the philippines, it is largely wet and thundershowers develop. today's highs still looking like this. getting up to 17 degrees in taipei. seoul, 5 degrees, 9 degrees in tokyo with plenty of sunshine. moving to the americas. a new pacific storm moving to british columbia and pacific northwest, bringing coastal rain and mountains on monday. then we have an active low pressure system sitting over the

central rockies as it moves eastward. snow will change over to a wintry mix monday. and that will impact the central plains. we also have thundershowers and also mountain snow in the southeastern corner of the u.s. that will move out to sea monday. temperatures are looking like this. we're expecting 14 degrees in atlanta, 9 degrees in washington, d.c. and across the great lakes region, temperatures are on the warmer side. 7 degrees expected in chicago, and 4 degrees in toronto. out to the west, 8 degrees in seattle, with some rain. now, moving on to the european countries, we have a low pressure system and along with a front through central europe down to italy. thundershowers and gusty winds, and the balkan peninsula wind continues. snow in northern area will dissipate through monday.

we have another system moving into norway. snowy and windy weather will continue here all day monday here. similarly wet in the northern portions of the british isles. precipitation will be rain rather than snow. cold conditions have eased in many locations. we are expecting 9 degrees in london, 7 degrees in paris, 6 in berlin, and kiev, looking at seasonal average, minus 2 degrees in warsaw. the. here is the extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." that's all for now from tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. stay with us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com