♪ people in rome gather to wish for japan's recovery from the disaster one year ago. we have a number of stories as japan approaches the anniversary of the march 11th disaster. first, workers are carrying out a full scale cleanup around the plant at the center of the nuclear crisis. they're trying to rid the area around fukushima daiichi of radiation. places with relatively low radiation will be redesignated

as preparation zones so residents can return home as soon as possible. government officials set the evacuation zone at 20 kilometers. residents left the area last march. the town of naraha is the first within the municipality to get a cleanup. workers are focusing on roads and public facilities vital for daily life. they're using power washers to decontaminate what they can. they say it can reduce radioactivity by about 80%. workers checked radiation levels on a closed section of the joban expressway ahead of decontamination operations>> translator: we should face the fact that the procedure will be slow, but we have to speed things up so troubled residents can return as soon as possible. >> but many residents fear their homecoming may still be a long

way off. the decontamination of many private homes is not expected to begin before summer. it has been almost a year since the nuclear accident at fukushima daiichi. only two of japan's 54 nuclear reactors are currently running, but even these are to be shut down by late april. an nhk survey has found nearly 80% of the municipalities that housed or are near nuclear power plants are wary about resuming. the survey covered 20 prefectures with 122 cities, towns and villages outside fukushima prefecture. each municipality is within 30 kilometers of a nuclear power plant. 14% said they would now or eventually give the go ahead for resuming reactor operations. but 75% said they would not allow resumption for the time being, or could not yet decide.

and 4% said they would never allow resumption. the municipalities expressed concerns about effectiveness of safety measures at the reactors and complain the central government is not doing what it should. we also asked about what's important when deciding whether to restart the reactors. 63% replied satisfactory investigation into the accident at the fukushima daiichi plant. 59% cited understanding by local residents. and 58% said new safety regulations. only 17% cited stress testing, which the government views as a prerequisite for deciding whether to resume reactor operations. industry minister yukio edano said they will decide whether to resume after they asays safety from the experts.

in a live interview, he did and oh talked about the reactors that were should down. he said priority should be given to safety rather than need for power generation. >> translator: a thorough scientific examination of nuclear faeflts by experts is a precondition. they have the objective interviews of experts. decision to restart nuclear reactors will be made only after we obtain the support of local residents. >> he also commented on tokyo electric power company facing financial difficulties after the nuclear accident at the fukushima daiichi plant. he said if tepco receives financial assistance, it cannot tell the government to stay out of its business. he reiterated his view if the company accepts public funds, the government should hold a majority of voting rights at

shareholders meetings. the energy chief of the european union spoke to nhk ahead of the anniversary of the fukushima accident. he said new safety standards for nuclear power plants in the eu region should be drafted in october or november. eu energy commissioner referred to on-going safety tests that cover emergency situations, including natural disasters and airplane crashes at all 143 nuclear plants in the eu region. he said test results should be released in june. he added eu members have different nuclear policies, such as germany decide to go abandon nuclear power all together, while others continue to build new plants. however, he stressed they all agree on the need to create european standards to strengthen nuclear safety. >> one common highest standards

for safety and security, and i think with new level there is ambition to realize highest standards. a common european approach. >> he plans to visit japan in june to discuss nuclear safety and energy policies. music students from a city in italy that's seen its share of earthquakes have reached out to people in japan. more than 200 people attended the event in rome. among them, the italian president napolitano, and former prime minister. the students sang mozart's "gloria." >> translator: the disasters

united the people of japan and italy and strengthened our friendship. >> japanese traditional dancer from iwate prefecture hit hard by the disaster also performed in the event. the ambassador thanked his hosts. he said japanese people were encouraged by messages and financial generosity of the italian people. this will be another pivotal day for europe's credit crisis. we have that and other business stories. good morning. we have been talking about greece for several months now. what's happening now? >> katherine, greek lawmakers have wrestled with debt many years. after all we have seen, they're still not quite there. greece set to have private talks with investors friday. holders of greek government bonds, including financial institutions, were given until

thursday night to decide whether they would agree to reduction of over 50% of the amount they will get back. debt restructuring is part of conditions for greece to receive 130 billion euros, or over $170 billion. that's in addition to support from organizations, including the european union. greece aims to secure agreement from at least 75% of bondholders. failure to meet the target could have impact on the overall framework of the additional bailout. the total amount of greek government bonds in question is over 200 billion euros. even if 75% of the investors agree, greece may force remaining bond holders to accept the reductions. observers are concerned such an action could cause confusion among investors and cast a shadow on the outlook for the

european debt crisis. staying with europe, the central bank is keeping the interest rate at 1% to continue to support the eurozone economy. >> available indicators confirm signs of stabilization in the euro economy. however, the economic outlook is still subject to downside risks. >> central bank is keeping is keeping it unchangesd a third month. they have provided one trillion euro in loans to banks in the region in december and february to help ease concerns about the debt crisis. now let's check the markets, the dow-jones industrial average rose a second day on expectation of a greek debt deal. to see how the stocks are reacting, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock

exchange. ramin, what can you tell us this morning? >> very good morning to you. if the greek bond swap deal is pushed through, we could see further upside momentum hear, which we're already seeing in the european indexes and u.s. indexes as you mentioned, the dow on thursday. let's have a look this friday morning how the nikkei and topix are kicking off in tokyo. i can tell you pretty positive start there. up over 100 points. in fact, we actually did break above 9900 at one point this morning. that's the first time since august of last year. the nikkei ended above 9700 yesterday for the first time in four days, snapping three days of declines. markets side stepping japan's biggest every monthly current account deficit yesterday, focusing instead on steady weakening of the yen which we have seen recently. showing foreign investors,

foreign buyers have been net buyers a tenth week in a row. domestic firms that trade on the nikkei jazz daq, has been popular there. it hit closing level which it hasn't touched since the premarch 11th disaster last year. a lot of market indexes trading higher. also, domestic issues, tokyo electric power may be in focus. the government saying if tepco receives any further capital injections, the government will essentially be running that firm and control its management. tepco expected to report a net loss for fiscal year ending in march of around $9 billion. >> so pretty strong gains in japanese shares. let's talk about currencies. yen continues on a weaker trend. ramin, how is the trading this friday morning? >> yes. let's look at the currency levels. the yen against the dollar and

euro continuing in a weakening trend. if you look at the bottom of the screen, 108.18-20 euro yen. a few days ago it was trading at 105. the yen is weakening against the euro on optimism of the greek bond swap going through. dollar yen at the mid 81 yen level. touched on 80 yesterday. again, yen weakened against the dollar as well. however, with the upcoming jobs data coming up later today, markets may trade in a little range, both currencies and stocks, and give us a good indication how the markets will open next monday. back to you. >> ramin, thanks for that report. that was ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. here is a look at other market figures.

>> that is going to do it for now in business. we're bringing stories leading to the first anniversary of japan's disaster in our series, lessons of march 11th one year on. the earthquake triggered a tsunami and crisis. more than 15,000 died and 3300 others are missing. our coverage comes from the hardest-hit prefectures in the northeast. iwate, miyagi, and fukushima. today we have a story on the city of koriyama.

radioactive material was leaked into the air, sea and soil. people evacuated nearby areas, but contamination is still an issue farther away from the nuclear plant. parents are limiting time children play outside, so that's prompted officials to get creative. here is a report. >> reporter: i'm standing outside a new indoor playground called pep kids koriyama. kids can exercise and have fun without worrying about radiation. koriyama is about 60 kilometers from fukushima daiichi, and workers are working to decontaminate the city, but levels remain relatively high in some areas. so instead of going outside, the center building was a vacant

supermarket before the market opened at the end of last year. 19,000 square meter space is home to more than 20 kinds of play equipment. children can jump, roll and run. it's just what parents have been looking for and what doctors say kids need. now watanabe and her 2-year-old son moved to her parents' house soon after the meltdown at fukushima daiichi. they returned home to koriyama last summer, but she couldn't find any of his friends in the parks they used to visit. that's when he started keeping her son inside most of the day -- something other parents in the city were doing. >> i spent most of the time, and reading books, but he sometimes

rushed out of the house, because he wanted to be outside. >> reporter: city workers have finished cleaning up a clark near their house, but she's still not convinced it's safe. when they do go outside, it's for no more than an hour. kids from a nursery used to come here and play with my son. since the accident, i haven't seen them or anybody else here. >> reporter: koriyama's doctor researched the impact the nuclear accident has had on children. the pediatrician found some kids have smaller than average weight gains. others complained of headaches

or shoulder stiffness caused by a lack of exercise. the doctor pressed the government to open the indoor playground. >> translator: the great majority of children in the city are losing physical strength, because they are not getting the exercise they need. we have to do everything we can before it's too late for children who are still growing and developing. >> reporter: now she's thankful the city took the doctor's advice. she and her son go to pep kids almost every day. she says kenshi eats and sleeps well after a good dose of jumping, running and laughing. >> translator: i made my decision to stay in fukushima, but i've been worried that my son could not exercise enough. this facility has alleviated my concerns. now i feel more confident about hanging on here and enjoying life. >> reporter: more than 70,000 people have visited in 2 1/2

months. it seems to be feeding a demand here. perhaps the biggest draw is this huge sandbox. kids love to play with the sand, but they've had to stop because of the concerns about soil contamination. pep kids koriyama is one of several parks in the city. the fukushima government is planning to build more so kids can play in a radiation-free environment, and parents can feel reassured. miho nagaya, nhk world, japan. the u.s. envoy for human rights issues said practical details have been resolved concerning implementation of food aid program for north korea. the north agreed to suspend its nuclear development in exchange for the aid. the second day of food aid talks

between the united states and north korea ended in beijing thursday. >> we've had very productive, positive talks. we resolved the administrative issues we were concerned with, yes. >> he indicated that north korea has agreed to a u.s. demand for a monitoring system to ensure food will reach those in need without being diverted to the military. however, king stopped short of clarifying when the program will be launched. he merely said the details are being arranged. the talks followed an agreement reached last month under which the u.s. will provide 240,000 tons of nutritional supplements to the north. in return, north korea will suspend its uranium enrichment activities and accept nuclear inspectors. u.n. leaders asked cove ee

annan to use his influence in syria. he is headed to damascus this weekend as special envoy of the u.n. and the arab league. he will do what he can to urge president bashar al-assad to negotiate a political solution. annan met with the arab league chief in cairo. he said hostilities must stop and he called on them to allow humanitarian aid in the country. some arab nations still support military intervention. he says that would only make the situation worse. >> i hope that no one is thing very seriously of using force in this situation. >> annan will be the first u.n. special envoy to visit syria since anti-government protests began a year ago.

thousands of people joined the opposition over the last year. now a senior government official has resigned and defected. deputy oil minister abdo hussameddin announced his resignation in a video posted on youtube. he said he is defecting because of violence against the syrian people. he is the highest ranking official to leave the administration since the uprising began. he said he served 33 years in various government positions and don't want to end his life servicing crimes of the regime. he urged his colleagues to abandon what he called a sinking ship. analysts say he may have been reaching out to members of the president's alawi sect. many hold key government positions. time to check the stories from around asia. we again with this.

in the thai capital, women's group staged a parade. they called for protecting the right to work and sought compensation for women that were laid off during last year's floods. one speaker also sought participation by women in the management of the national women's empowerment fund announced by the government last month. authorities in macaw launched a project to restore 60 of the country's historic sites and temples. the cultural affairs director unveiled the plan thursday. he said the government wants to educate residents about the significance of the sites. villagers asked the administration to save the natural beauty by withholding approval for new housing projects. vietnamese researchers have developed a digital satellite

system to support fishermen who must often work in bad weather and rough seas. the system makes use of a small satellite that will be launched in the middle of this year and a transreceiver on the fishing boat. it can get bulletins and send emergency signals and is far superior to the unreliable walkie-talkies in use. researchers have received a prestigious award from the european aer netanyahuic space administration. it was raining on the way to work. time for the world weather forecast.

>> rain will continue in tomorrow morning. temperatures will stay in the single digits. we've got a low pressure system to the south of japan that's continuously bringing amped moisture, and dragging cold air from the north. some of the precipitation moved to the tohoku region. as i said, by saturday afternoon things will be clearing up across much of japan and in tokyo, there will be a slight chance of snow on saturday morning. it stays dry, but the east coast may see a wintry mix. as with china, in and around the shanghai area, things will get drier. however, the south coast will continue to see rain over the next several days. inland china will continue to see snow as well. down towards southeast asia, heavy thundershowers are expanding, particularly in cambodia as well as parts of laos. in the philippines mostly dry, but mindanao will continue to see scattered showers on friday. and 17 degrees in hong kong, up towards the north, cooling down to 90 degrees in seoul.

-- 9 degrees in seoul. and again we may see some snow tomorrow morning. heading over to the americas we have a line with weather, ample moisture is coming in from the south, the conditions are particularly severe in parts of eastern texas, louisiana, as well as mississippi, louisiana may be seeing up to 60 millimeters of rain in the next 24 hours. as the system pushes onto the southeast, cooler air will flow in, so temperatures will drop significantly. we will show you the details in just a moment. meanwhile, it stays dry across the rest of the u.s. you can see rain and strong winds are moving into british columbia and the pacific northwest. gusts could hit 100 kilometers per hour in western british columbia. temperaturewise not too bad across vancouver as well as seattle. minus 6 in winnipeg, but as i said, cooling down to 9 degrees

in new york. thursday's highs is about 20 degrees, so temperatures will drop by about ten degrees on your friday, but still warm in miami, with 28 degrees. finally over to europe. clear conditions across much of continental europe, but it's not good news for the iberian peninsula. it's been dealing with serious drought conditions. up towards the north a powerful low pressure system is moving across the northern british isles. over the next 24 hours, these conditions will spread into the rest of the scandinavian region. down toward the south, severe thunderstorms are still continues in the eastern half of the mediterranean countries. temperaturewise 18 degrees in athens, and 13 degrees, warm in

rome, i should say, getting up to 10 in berlin, but out toward the east, still on the cold side. minus 7 in moscow, and minus 2 in kiev. i will leave you now with your extended forecast. that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

on march 11th, a mega earthquake and unprecedented tsunami led to a triple nuclear meltdown. no one was prepared for such