officials from the united states and north korea have met with their first nuclear talks since the death of their leader kim jong il in december. the two sides continue discussions on friday. the meeting took place in beijing on thursday. they spoke to reporters after the meeting. >> they haven't quite concluded and we intend to pick up where we have left off this evening tomorrow. >> he added the delegates would have dinner together on thursday. what do the u.s. and north korea hope to achieve in their talks. >> reporter: the u.s. is sticking to its stance that is the six-party talks can resume.

but going into thursday's talks it seemed more likely u.s. envoy davys would focus on bilateral ties rather than have both parties just repeat their nuclear positions as in the past. >> i also plan to raise nonproliferation, human rights and humanitarian affairs and my hope is that we can find a way to move forward with the north. >> reporter: north korea tends to benefit from its nuclear position. its uranium enrichment program is hoping it brings in as much food assistance as possible. this is particularly pressing now. the north desperately wants to make a large scale gift of food to its people on april 15th. the 100th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder. such a gesture would also help

stabilize the new kim jong un regime and booth national prestige. north korea will be particularly keen to u.s. talks to finish well. although the two parties have now decided to continue talks on friday, the u.s. side the not in a big hurry to see immediate results in north korea. the u.s. has much more urgent issues at hand such as syria and iran. but on the issue of the six-party talks coming on still needs to convince washington it's willing to denuclearize. friday's talks are most likely to turn this question. a series of bombings and gun attacks have killed at least 39 people and wounded more than 230 others in and around the iraqi capital of baghdad. a car bomb exploded in central baghdad near a police check

point on thursday morning followed by a second car bombing a few hundred meters away. another check point was attacked by a group of armed men. iraqi authorities say the terrorist attacks occurred at 16 locations. the casualties include many civilians. police believe the incidents to be coordinated and have potential baghdad and other areas under heavy security. the latest attacks have raised doubts about iraq's ability to host a summit meeting of arab nations next month. it will be the first such summit in iraq in 22 years. in russia tens of thousands of people have gathered to show their support for putin's bid as re-election as president. the rally comes ahead of the march 4th presidential race. an estimated 100,000 people attended the rally. the gathering followed a march

by 30,000 people. >> translator: the battle to defend russia goes on and we are sure to win. >> meanwhile supporters of opposition parties have been statementing protests over alleged fraud. opinion polls shows putin far ahead of other candidates in the race. the focus is if he can win the majority without a runoff vote. xi said policy of noninterference was behind his rejection of the security council resolution. xi says, china upholds the idea of the country's deal with domestic affairs by themselves.

later in talks with tushish prime minister, xi raised the issue of the separatist movement in china. he urged turkey not to support the separatists adding that china's core interests are at stake. tur -- the research results sparked alarm last year because they seemed at odds with albert einstein's theory of relativity which states that nothing can travel faster than light. european organization for nuclear research on thursday announced the results could have been affected by two factors. a lose optical fiber connection between the gps unit and a clock in a malfunctioning clock.

last september the international team announced they had detected parols traveling from a laboratory in switzer&to new in italy. many physicists suspected the results were flawed. in a related issue an official of the european organization for nuclear research says the team may have measured the speed of it at a faster rate than they were actually moving. he said the results have attracted such global attention that the team may start a new round of measurements earlier than planned to confirm the controversial results. another experiment will be conducted in may. almost a year after the accident the situation at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant is still serious. this week journalists were allowed inside the plant since the facility has been in a state

of cold shutdown. our reporter was there and for today's nuclear watch he's here to tell us his observations. we're going to speak in japanese, but we'll provide you with simultaneous interpretation. >> translator: what was the purpose of the tour inside fukushima daiichi this time? >> translator: the second time since november last year that the reporters were allowed into the accident site. but it's the first time since the government of japan declared a state of cold shutdown. the tour was conducted at the same time as the stamp choir inspection of the power facilities by the government. >> translator: let's see the footage showing us inside the plant. >> reporter: journalists were given a one hour bus tour of the plant including the disaster task force facility. the bus drove on a road parallel to the coastline. on the right are the turbine buildings for reactors one to four. the radiation level near the

number two building was high. then it rose near the number three building. here reporters were allowed to get off the bus. i'm. >> translator: i'm standing and a hill about 300 meters north of the reactor building. workers in the plant are exposed to higher levels of radiation. >> reporter: some workers were clearing debris on the roof of the number four reactor building that was damaged. the work is to prepare for the remove of spent fuel from the storage pool which will start next year. about 3,000 people work in the plant every day. some have had to stop working because they have exceeded the

radiation safety limit. >> translator: the footage shows that the situation in the plant remains serious. the radiation level is still high in many places. and work to remove debris continues. what else did you see? >> translator: i felt rather apprehensive seeing the hastily built facilities. the water pumps for cooling the reactors were placed on higher ground to protect against tsunamis. but they were placed on the back of a truck parked outside. since the state of cold shutdown was announced two months ago, there have been 43 water leak e leakages including from these pumps. one of the reasons for the leakages is freezing. tepco has been covering the pumps with sheets and wrapping insulation around the plumbing.

last september water leaked into the ocean from a water treatment facility. sandbags were piled around this facility giving the impression that it was a band-aid measure. maintaining and managing these facilities is the great challenge to keeping the reactors cooled and preventing leakages of contaminated water. >> translator: i saw many workers in the plant. what are their working conditions? >> translator: i saw that it was a very tough work site where workers are being exposed to radiation which is invisible. i entered the site wearing protective gear and a full face mask. although it was winter it was hard to breathe and after more than an hour dressed like that, i was sweating. four workers have died of heart attacks and acute leukemia. tepco says there is no correlation between the deaths and radiation exposure. but experts say that the work

involves radiation which is invisible and radioactive substances making stress and anxiety levels very high. the work to decommission the reactor is to continue for at least 40 years. finding enough workers and managing their health including their psychological care is indeed a challenge. >> that was this week's nuclear watch. "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." >> next we continue our series of special reports from vietnam.

>> reporter: this week we're reporting on the challenges and opportunities facing central vietnam. we'll have a report on the burgeoning tourism market in just a moment. but first, some other news from the region. the trial has begun in manila of the former president of the philippines. she appeared in court on thursday and pleaded not guilty to charges of electoral fraud. she was indicted in november on suspicion of ordering the manipulation of vote counts during a senate election in 2007. the case is viewed as a key test for the government of the president who has made eliminating corruption a priority. and next we continue our special report on central vietnam boosting tourist arrives is a key goal with the central region to catch up with economic

development in the rest of vietnam. now it's world heritage sites and ocean view haves the potential to attract visitors from all over the world. here in hanoi, the tourist infrastructure is better established. but as i found out, even here the tourism experience isn't always entirely smooth. hanoi is an historic city with plenty of things to see and do. more than six million foreigners visited vietnam last year. a threefold increase from 15 years ago. sophisticated caves, restaurants and souvenir shops offer visitors plenty to do. whenever one goes abroad enjoying the local cuisine is a

definite highlight. buying souvenirs and handy crafts is also very popular among tourists here in hanoi. in fact, there are plenty of good shops to choose from. how much is it in the local currency? in the local currency? vietnamese? >> 3, -- 3,612,000. >> reporter: but even in the capital, finding people with the right skills to work in the tourism sector is a major challenge. central vietnam has a lofty goal of becoming a world famous luxury holiday destination just like bali or phuket. so the challenge for tourism officials there is even bigger

when it comes to finding staff with the right skills to work in hospitality. but we found one innovative solution. >> reporter: this was the capital of vietnam's last dynasty. the city is home to the splendid citadel, a unesco world heritage site. this helped to draw two million visitors last year. >> it's fantastic. >> reporter: central vietnam is home to four of the country's six world heritage sites. this year is designated the international year of tourism. >> translator: there's a lot of traditional culture, historical sites, traditional festivals and a variety of food.

they all attract tourists from around the world. >> reporter: the archaeological sites are the main attractive. but a dramatic change is currently taking place. just 25 minutes drive from the airport, a five-star hotel opened last year. it features 25 land and water villas nestled around the shore of a lagoon. the hotel is designed to attract couples not only elderly visitors. but a hurdle remains. vietnam's economic boom grew out of -- the concept of the customer service is still not here. vietnamese economy was closed off to the rest of the world

during the vietnam war. >> it takes a long time to teach english. >> reporter: the shortage of skilled workers is getting more serious as the tourism industry grows. that's why this restaurant is attracting attention. the restaurant is run by an ngo. it provides on the job training for local youth. it teaches cooking, baking bread and manners needed to serve customers. >> they're very professional. they always come back and see how you are and anything else. >> reporter: another distinguishing feature is that all the young people working here are from poor families. revenues from the restaurant are used in part for scholarships.

this 22-year-old studied at a local culinary school on one of those scholarships. she lives on the outskirts of the town with her family. they're thankful for the training program which has made their dreams come true. >> translator: i'm so grateful the scholarship has given my daughter a promising future. we didn't have money to send her to school. >> translator: i'm determined to work hard to please my customers. my goal is to be a successful chef. >> reporter: tourism is now a highly coveted industry for vietnamese workers. this restaurant goes beyond fostering talent. it also offers underprivileged by motivated young people the chance to start a career and realize a dream.

>> reporter: let's hope that those young people will go on to have successful careers in vietnam's new tourism industry. tomorrow we'll focus on efforts people in central vietnam are making to heal the lingering scars of the vietnam war and we'll look at new industries emerging from that tragic past. so do join us tomorrow. with that we'll wrap up our bulletin. >> japan and new zealand have continued talks for japan to join the tpp. officials met for three hours on thursday. sources close to the talks say new zealand praised japan for consulting with nations that are negotiating details of the tpp. but new zealand has reportedly stopped short of supporting japan's formal participation. it's said the tp sprks a high

level partnership pact designed to eliminate tariffs on all items including farm produce. new zealand is the last of nine nations involved in the tpp that japan has consulted with. of the nine, new zealand, the united states and australia withheld their outright support for japan to join the tpp talks. a state-backed bank is to lend to two japanese companies from a loan facility that supports business expansion abroad. the facility was created by the government to encourage firms to take advantage of the strong yen in their overseas merger and acquisition deals. japan bank says it will loan $ 00 million to toshiba to help it buy a swiss smart power meter maker. the bank says some of the loan will be made to sony. the takeover will make sony

erickson a fully owned subsidiary of the giant. last year the government set aside about $125 of its foreign reserve to set up a loan facility through japan bank for international cooperation. rachel ferguson is up next with weather. >> a drier day for much of japan tomorrow and warmer, too. as we see temperatures rise it will be clear for central locations. we're seeing the influence of a well developed low pressure system. we'll see the snow coming down into friday morning. saturday is going to be cooler and also welt once again for this region including tokyo some rainshowers coming in. before that happens friday should be pleasant and sunny.

the korean peninsula seeing showers towards the northeast. that will probably be snow. we have some colder air coming down in the next 24 hours to 48 hours. temperatures will be coming down by about four or five degrees. as for southeastern china showers might intensify a bit. looks like a fairly wet day on friday for much of taiwan. temperatures 35 in bangkok with a bit of a foggy morning. 7 degrees in shanghai. we're looking at 13 in tokyo and clearer skies. 9 in seoul that is going to be falling in towards the weekend. into north america here, nice and clear finally for the pacific northwest after a very stormy couple of days. we now see low pressure moving across the great lakes and the ohio valley. this is going to be bringing snow toward the north. we started to see cold air once again.

along this front here we'll be seeing potentially some fire weather. some colder air, drier air as well is going to be affecting new mexico as well as western texas. there is the potential for fires to break out quite easily. i'm going to show you the temperatures. they're doing something interesting as well thursday into friday. houston is at 31 degrees. absolutely roasting on thursday. but as that colder air comes down, we are going to see temperatures drop by more than 10 degrees down to 17 in houston. and we'll also be seeing them drop in towards the east 21 on thursday in atlanta down to 13 on friday. let's take you now into europe and talk about this storm system across the northeast. this one is bringing some snow and much of it will be blowing snow toward the north of the low pressure. winds getting up to 100 kilometres per hour here. so wet, snowy i should say and very gusty.

and out towards the west not doing too badly. it will be wet and windy once again for the northern british isles and parts of western norway mostly, but also up in towards northern swedeen here. friday a storm out of the mediterranean. high pressure will be in its place and much more pleasant over the weekend. temperatures above average. 15 in london, 13 in vienna. up to 20 in lisbon. out towards the east 7 in warsaw and 3 in kiev. as we head towards sunday the temperatures will start to fall again. i leave you with your extended forecast.

once again the top story at this hour.

officials from the united states and europe and north korea have met for their first nuclear talks since the death of the north's leader kim jong il, in december. the two sides agreed to continue discussion on friday. the meeting took place in beijing on thursday between u.s. special representative on north korean policy glen davys and north korea's first vice foreign minister. the u.s. envoy spoke to reporters after meeting with kim. >> they haven't quite concluded. and we intend to pick up where we have left off this evening tomorrow. >> davys added the delegates from both sides would have dinner together on thursday. during the meeting the u.s. is believed to have urged north korea under new leader kim jong un to agree to make moves towards denuclearization. north korea is thought to have demanded food assistance in

return for making concessions on the nuclear issues. the north's leadership particularly wants to distribute food to the people on april 15th, on the 100th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder. there are hopes that any bilateral agreement that the north and u.s. reach could create momentum for resumption of the six-party talks on the north's nuclear development. the negotiations have been suspended for more than three years. 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. . .

late last year, an audience in new york waited eagerly for a japanese singer to appear on stage. >> she's here tonight making her new york debut with us, saori yuki.