a test of leadership. iranians decide in parliamentary elections whether they trust president mahmoud ahamdinejad. they will cast votes friday. the focus is on how many seats conservative hard liners critical of president ahmadinejad will win.

>> reporter: about 3400 candidates are vying for 290 seats in parliament. the contest is heating up among conservatives. a group supporting the president -- after many counted were said disqualified by the guardian council. the council is a constitutional watchdog under the interest of hamani. conservative with the president are taking the offensive by attacking the measure of reducing subsidy are.

they are losing momentum due to oppressive from authority. he could take a tougher stance against western issues if hard liners hold power after the election. two afghans killed two u.s. soldiers in afghanistan. the burning of copies of the koran last month stoked anti-american sentiment. they say afghans working with americans opened fire at a basin the southern province of kandahar. they say forces shot and killed the gunman. one believed to be a soldier. the other a civilian teaching afghan personnel how to read and

write. multi national forces have been on alert for two weeks. afghans have been outraged since u.s. personnel burned copies of the muslim holy book at a base near kabul. an afghan soldier shot and killed two soldiers last thursday in an eastern province. two days later, a man believed to be afghan interior ministry official killed two u.s. officers in the ministry building in kabul. syrian rebel forces pulled out of homs after weeks of army siege. the free syrian army is composed of deserters of government forces. they made the announcement thursday citing shortage of weapons and increasing casualties. they have been under attacks by government forces nearly four weeks. a senior member of the group told nhk the retreat is

temporary. he said they will be back again to continue fighting and topple the government of president assad. government troops are conducting house by house search for dissidents possibly hiding in the city. soon after government withdrawal, the government granted permission for the international committee of the red cross to enter the city. they will deliver medical supplies and food to civilians friday. united nations human rights council. they want a crackdown on president. they had a debate in geneva. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights urged them to accept international inspectors and humanitarian aid. they left the session before the

vote. they said it was designed to help the country using humanitarian assistance as an excuse. the resolution called for immediate halt to the crackdown. it said the syrian government is torturing and killing children. western and arab delegates voted in favor of the resolution. russian and chinese members opposed it. they fear any such resolution could lead to western military action against syria. the united states and two koreas are stepping up diplomatic activity following the recent agreement on north korea's moratorium. they will inspect inspectors from the international atomic energy agency. in return, the u.s. will provide 240 tons of nutritional aid to

the north. south korean diplomatic sources say the foreign minister will have talks with u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton on friday, next week. they are expected to discuss their country's response, following the agreement. the u.s. and north differed on several points of the agreement when they announced the details. the north did not say it will allow the plutonium facilities to be inspected by the iaea. the u.s. state department spokesperson victoria new land said there's no difference in the two countries. >> they know the dprk agreed the iaea would be allowed in to look at the reactor and faefltd. that's something we are expecting also to be on the list when the iaea goes to north korea. >> nuland said a senior official will attend an international conference in new york next

week. analysts say attention is focused on whether the u.s. and north will hold talks during the official's visit. on this week's "nuclear watch," a bird's eye view of a badly damaged facility. nhk took the air, hours after the japanese government scaled back the no fly zone over fukushima daiichi. a year ago, explosions devastated the nuclear plant, turning it into a twisted mass of metal and debris. our reporter was in the helicopter to capture the images and told us what he saw. >> translator: from a radius of

20 kilometers to 3. because it was determined that radiation dosage in the atmosphere did not pose a problem for safe flying. nhk's helicopter captured images from the skies near the power plant for the first time since the accident last march. >> translator: now on the screen we see the fukushima daiichi power plant reactors 1, 2, 3 and 4. the number 3 reactor had a hydrogen explosion and is the most severely damaged. from the mountainside, it is possible to see the ocean through the crumbling wall. the number 4 reactor also had a hydrogen explosion. the yellow round object visible in the building is the

lid of the outer containment vessel. the containment vessel is designed to prevent radioactive substances from the reactor leaking out, but is now exposed to the outside air. the yellow-green device is the crane above the spent fuel rod pool used to move fuel. at the time of the accident, the number 4 unit was going through a routine inspection and had no fuel in the reactor. the pole below the crane still holds many fuel rods. now at the west side of the plant property, there are about 1,000 tanks. the tanks contain roughly 120,000 tons of contaminated water that has been treated when molten fuel caused by the the meltdown is fueled with water. contaminated water is generated, treating this contaminated water is one of the most different efforts. the space for tanks is limited. how to add more is another issue.

i had actually covered the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant prior to the accident. back then, the large facilities were in an orderly layout, and there were trees on the property. now the buildings are devastated and crumbling away while the trees have been cut to make room for the tanks. i was speechless watching this sight from the skies. we also flew in an area in a 20-kilometer radius away from the plant. the area in a 20-kilometer radius from the plant is off-limits. there are no people in the homes. there are no cars on the road. this is a super market parking lot.

you can see that it's empty. to the north of the power plant is a town. the port remains untouched. fishing boats grounded on the land have been left abandoned. the baseball field is about 3 kilometers from the power plant. it's being used as a temporary storage ground for removed dirt. there's a plastic sheet on the ground so the contamination will not spread. the dirt that has been removed is being piled on top of the sheet. seen from the skies, the homes and shops are there. however, there was a small amount of snow on the ground, despite that no footsteps or tire marks, no residents, no people at work within a 20-kilometer radius. the town without life stretched across a vast expanse.

in this report, the gravity of the nuclear power plant accident and the painful struggles of the local people struck home with even greater force than before. an earthquake that jolted a nation, a tsunami that swallowed a coastline, a nuclear plant that spiraled out of control. japan marks the first the first anniversary of the march 11th disaster. what lessons have been learned? find out on "newsline" starting march 5th, then sunday join us at 2:00 p.m. for "lessons of march 11th, one year on." let's check in with ai uchida. >> they are looking for direction from wall street, stocks ended higher due to encouraging economic date a

let's go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, some key data out here in japan as well before the markets open. how are stocks doing? >> definitely, ai. very good morning. cpi numbers, consumer price index fell 0.1%, fourth straight month of declines for cpi, and also unemployment data which rose to 4.6%. let's look at how the markets are reacting to some of the data and look at the nikkei and topix. pretty positive, both indexes trading higher. don't forget nikkei fell back slightly yesterday at the close. modest losses compared to the overall upward trend we have seen for the nikkei this year, and volume of shares traded has been high, showing the upward momentum, seeing a lot of buying from domestic and foreign buyers. the weaker yen has played into

the gains for the nikkei. also on the back of the move from bank of japan last month if you remember, to ease the monitor policy, ease the asset buying program and this week we heard from the fed that it may not buy bonds and that's also helped the dollar again against the yen. economic data does show the u.s. economy improving slowly. let's have a look at the currency levels this friday morning. you can see the dollar yen does remain strong there. 81.14-16. the yen a bit weaker. euro yen, 108.06-08. again, the yen does remain in that weaker trend. >> and what about the price volatility in oil? >> definitely we've seen that the past couple weeks. wti shot up to over $110 a barrel at one point on the back of a report about a fire on a

saudi oil pipeline. however, then it reverted a little back to present, 108.96 as you can see on the screens. japan of course imports a large percentage of oil from saudi arabia, and the persian gulf, so it is very susceptible to the current concerns over oil supply disruptions. ai? >> we will keep track of energy related stocks. domestically then what else can investors be watching for today? >> retail stock investors should really hang around until the close because right after the close we're going to have fast retailing, operator of clothes stores coming out with february sales figures. that will be a crucial number there, but fast retailing of course one of the highlights in the retailing sector. a lot of investors will be looking at that as well, and of course keeping an eye on oil and also some of the energy related stocks as well. for now, back to you, ai? >> thanks for that update.

ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. the european debt crisis pushed the jobless rate to the highest since the launch of the euro in 1999. the european union statistics office said thursday that the eurozone unemployment rate rose to 10.7% in january. that's 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month. jobless rates included austerity measures. spain, the worst at 23.3%, renewing a record high in december. in greece, it worsened to almost 20% last november, the latest data for the country. the jobs situation is becoming increasingly severe, particularly for young people. unemployment for those under 25 in the eurozone in general was 21.6%, with spain the highest at

49.9%. as you know, here in japan two of the unemployment rates worsen slightly in january, up to 4.6%. up from the previous month. the internal affairs ministry released seasonally adjusted figures friday. the number of people without jobs was 2.9 million, that's down 190,000 from a year earlier. but the number of people with jobs stood at 62.1 million. that's down 480,000. meanwhile, the labor ministry said ratio of job offers to job seekers in january stood at 0.73. that's up 0.02 percentage from the previous month, marking the eighth month of consecutive increases. this means there are 73 offers for every 100 job seekers. let's see how bonds and other markets are reacting to the numbers.

>> that's the latest in business for this hour. christ church, new seal and isn't the city it was a year ago. 185 people died in an earthquake last february. many buildings in ruins. among them, a historic landmark and spiritual refuge. christchurch cathedral. they are working on a temporary cathedral.

methods are far from traditional. >> reporter: it was built in the 19th century. the quake destroyed the tower, the site is off limits for safety reasons. >> it is sad obviously it was so damaged. i don't know that they'll be able to fix it. >> spent a lot of money, but hopefully it will be done. >> reporter: the cathedral's future is uncertain. the building plans have yet to be approved. meantime, church leaders are working on a temporary place of worship. this makeshift cathedral will be built from ultra durable cardboard, cheap and quick to build. construction should be completed in three months. >> hi. >> reporter: this is the designer. a japanese architect, with plenty of experience in post disaster construction.

his area of expertise is temporary housing project for earthquake survivors. he worked in kobe, haiti, turkey, and most recently northern japan. the christchurch project will make use of cardboard pipes, 1.5 centimeters thick and 17 meters long. more than 60 pipes will be assembled. when completed, it will be 24 meters high with seating for 700 people. >> translator: it is not fun watching buildings torn down. people like to see new things being built or new plants being created. making something fresh will boost people's spirits. >> reporter: the cathedral's administrators knew of his previous work. they believed his knowledge of disaster area was crucial for

this project. >> it felt like the city's heart had been broken, and so but the spirit lives on. we are building a new city and new hope and confidence for our people. it is a very important building. >> reporter: on this day, he heads to the proposed building site. it is just a few hundred meters from the cathedral. he does a final check on location. >> i think it is a great location and close to the city center. >> reporter: the visit started with one year anniversary of the earthquake. he attended a service to remember the victims. this memorial honors the 28 japanese people that died in the earthquake. it will be moved to the

temporary cathedral. >> translator: watching people offer flowers was moving. the memorial will be placed in the temporary cathedral. it reinforced my feeling that i have very important work to do here. >> reporter: the cathedral project promises spiritual refuge in a time of hardship. it will also serve as a symbol of the city's reconstruction. after a sunny day, tokyo commuters are making their way to work under gloomy skies this morning. rachel ferguson hat weather picture for here and around the world. >> good morning, catherine. there will be rain in western and central japan. a little warmer, not quite as warm as yesterday.

we'll be seeing rain as the low moves to the north and hits tohoku, it turns to snow. quickly moving out. by saturday, it should be much clearer here. still just a little chilly. beginning of next week, we'll see a big rise in temperatures and be feeling very much like spring. looking forward to that. as we head to the continent, we have quite a lot of precipitation spreading through southern and eastern china. down towards the south is going to be light to moderate. you can see some thundershowers in with that. then it turns to snow, from west of shanghai, up towards northern china. you can see quite a lot of precipitation moving through mongolia as well, that's also in the form of snow. still very chilly across much of mongolia. seeing heavy rape for myanmar and eastern india, bangladesh, continuing today as well. but light precipitation for indochina and the philippines, looking clear across much of the philippines. just a few scattered thunderstorms.

here are the temperatures. 21 in taipei and hong kong. then we cool off to the north. but not too bad. 10 in tokyo, 8 in seoul, 5 degrees for beijing. heading to north america, to the west, you can see the swirling cloud. widespread snow here at the beginning of the day friday. but that's going to start to clear up for you. there is another round coming on its heels by friday night. we are still dealing with storms to the east. you can see a long front, just starting to push over the atlantic. that's going to give you a bit of a break in the severe storms. this will be snow for new england. again, moving out fairly quickly, but it will bring 20 centimeters to novembera scotia. this is going to take its place quickly, there will be the potential for more severe thunderstorms, all of this on your friday. here we go. this is the storm forecast.

tornados, damaging winds, large hail and locally heavy rain possible across much of the eastern united states, with the hot spot here towards the center of the storm system. temperatures are going to continue to be a little above average towards the eastern koez. d.c., 14, 24 in atlanta. cooling off in oklahoma city at 14. 2 in denver and a warm 23 in l.a. with sunshine today. all right. into europe. a few showers coming in. a long front moving through the west, bringing showers to portugal and spain, it has been extremely dry the last little while. much of the west looking high and dry. we'll see the sea effects snows for norway. to the east, a big band of precipitation, a couple of different systems from finland towards the black sea. this is a mixture of rain and snow. cold air is pushing to the east,

you can see it in temperatures. minus 4 in moscow, 2 in kiev. back to 12 degrees back into double figures in athens. cooler air is pushing further to the east, up to 6 in warsaw. double figures the rest of the way. 16 in roam, 15 in vienna, 14 in paris. still very spring like across much of the continent. i'll be back a bit later on. an annual ceremony has gun

at a temple in the ancient japanese capital. it signals the arrival of spring. buddhist monks pray for national stability in a ceremony called omisotori. it dates back to the 8th cent y century. in the main ritual held on thursday evening, ten monks climb the long stone stairs to the temple's hall guided by six-meter-long torches weighing about 40 kilograms each. they scattered sparks over spectators below. people cheered as they believe exposure to the sparks keeps them healthy over the coming year. >> translator: i enjoy this event every year, and i prayed for everyone's happiness. >> i prayed for the early reconstruction of northeastern japan.

>> the ritual takes place each night for the next two weeks. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

on march 11, an earthquake led to a nuclear meltdown. no one was prepared for the disaster. based on firsthand accounts, the fukushima nuclear crisis examines the initial response of government officials, tepco empl