it is wednesday, march 14th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the united states, japan, and the european union say they will file complaints against china with the world trade organization. they claim that china is unfairly restricting exports of rare earth metals. the three parties announced the coordinated action on tuesday. the u.s. has been asking china to revise its export

restrictions while investigations continue. but little has changed. china produces more than 90% of the world's rare earths. the materials are used in a variety of high-tech products. the u.s. is preparing to resume its own production. the three parties plan to negotiate with china in accordance with the wto procedures. if they cannot solve the issue through the talks, they will request dispute settlement consultation. u.s. president barack obama indicated he would take a firm stance toward china. assistants -- stance towards china. >> we prefer dialogue, and that is especially true when it comes to key trading partners like china, but when it is necessary, i will take action if our workers and our businesses are being subjected to unfair practices. >> chinese foreign ministry spokesperson lee wei min defended his government's position. he said china's policy to

control rare earth metals is aimed at protecting the country's natural resources and environment. >> translator: it's true that china is taking measures to restrict exports of rare earth metals, but they're consistent with the wto rules. the accusation that china has an effective monopoly on the rare earth market is totally groundless. the governor of the bank of japan, masaaki shirakawa, wants to defeat deflation. he says that's one of the main ways to light a fire under this country's cooling economy. the bank of japan decided to boost the size and availability of low-interest loans to financial institutions. the decision came at a regular two-day meeting of the boj policy board that ended on tuesday. the amount of loans available through the central bank's

growth supporting fund will increase by 2 trillion yen or more than $24 billion. that brings the total amount of the fund to $67 billion. the boj also decided to extend the deadline for applications for new loans by two years to the end of march 2014. but the central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at around 0 to 0.1%. the bank said it wants to see the effects of the drastic expansion of the asset purchase program it decided to set in motion at its policy meeting last month. boj governor shirakawa says monetary easing as well as funding for growth sectors and smaller firms to boost japan's economy growth will be essential for beating deflation. >> translator: the goal of overcoming deflation will be achieved by strengthening growth potential and support from the financial side. >> shirakawa also pointed out risks surrounding the japanese

economy. >> translator: regarding risks to the economic outlook, the european debt problem continues to be a huge risk, and we are still concerned about rising crude oil prices. prime minister yoshihiko noda has told his cabinet to promote the recycling of debris created by last year's disaster. he said the rubble should be used to build a tsunami-resistant coastline. >> translator: i hope the debris will be used to create forests along coastlines or hills to protect people from possible tsunamis in the future. >> noda spoke on tuesday to a team of ministers tasked with solving the debris problem. noda told the ministers to ask the cement and paper makers to help with incineration and said the government is preparing to ask local authorities to accept

debris from disaster-hit areas. after the meeting, a spokesman said some cement and papermakers have already been cooperating but he will ask many other firms to follow suit. environmental minister goshi hosono said creating anti-tsunami forests would help people remember the disaster. he said his ministry will decide as soon as possible what kind of materials are suitable for landfills. japan held an event in brussels to restore confidence in the safety of japanese food after last year's nuclear accident in fukushima. the japanese embassy in belgium organized the event, attended by several hundred people tuesday. the participants observed a minute of silence for victims of the march 11th disaster. japanese ambassador expressed

gratitude for europe's support. he called on the european union to ease the food import curbs it introduced after the nuclear accident. he said japan conducts strict safety checks. sushi and other japanese foods as well as sake from fukushima prefecture were served. >> translator: i hope everything will go back to normal soon and we are very good. >> i think that japan has still a way to go, but i'm very confident that japanese people have the power and strength to go on this very good road. in other news, a reactor at a south korean nuclear power plant had no electricity more than ten minutes last month. it is not clear why. the government has sent investigators to the plant to determine the cause of the outage. the nuclear safety and security commission said on tuesday that the accident took place at the number one reactor at the kori

plant. they said electricity was lost 12 minutes on february 9th when the plant was undergoing a regular inspection. an emergency diesel generator also failed. the commission said the reactor was halted, but a storage pool for spent fuel and facilities to cool the reactors were operating. the plant's operator did not file a report about the outage until monday, more than one month after the incident. chinese leaders are getting to grips with new economic realities. the premier says the country must show it can protect the environment at the same time as growing its economy. he is acknowledging chinese businesses are doing environmental damage. our reporter has more from beijing. >> reporter: chinese government say there were more than 500 environmental accidents in the country last year. some of the main causes were oil spills and explosions at

chemical plants. one big problem is pollution by factories. here is a look at some of its effects. >> arrest warrants have been issued for ten people in a factory that electiontively released cadmium into the river. >> reporter: chinese officials came across a piece of pollution in january. industrial wastewater, containing toxic metal cadmium was flowing in the river. this factory was releasing the contaminated water. public prosecutors think the plant operator chose not to treat the water because it was too expensive. people living in the area criticized the local government for not preventing the pollution. the mayor made a public apology. that's unusual for a chinese official. pollution by chinese factories is also effecting workers, more

and more are getting ocpational diseases. >> translator: this is the right way to put it on. >> reporter: ngo staff visited this plant to show workers how to protect their health. >> translator: we want everyone here to be aware of occupational diseases. >> reporter: they're handing out leaflets and warning workers about the dangers of chemicals. he worked at the plant until he got an occupational disease. his hands got numb after he started his job four years ago. soon he couldn't even hold chop sticks. his doctor said his muscles had

wasted away because of a chemical he handled every day. the plant stopped using the chemical as soon as yen's disease came to life. but yen suspects the plant operator tried to cover up the problem. yen is having physiotherapy. supporting himself with part-time jobs. >> translator: i want a stable job. the people won't hire me when they learn about my hands. i can't afford proper treatment. >> reporter: yen wants compensation. he filed more than 20 lawsuits against the authorities. he says officials overlooked the poor working conditions at the plant. but court officials have repeatedly turned him away. they say he has no grounds for the lawsuits or that the court is not in a position to pass

judgment. >> translator: workers are often powerless. the government should do more to protect our health and our lives. >> reporter: critics say a lot of companies in china try to gloss over the harm they do to the environment and their workers. the premier called for action in his powerful speech at the national people's congress. >> translator: we must show the world with our actions that china will not seek economic growth at the expense of its natural environment and public health. >> reporter: chinese people are increasingly well informed, thanks to the internet. unless the government works harder to solve environmental problems, public anger could

become a threat to stability. >> kengo akimoto. and lists say assad's administration is trying to fend off pressure by showing they're making democratic changes. he announced the election will be held may 7th. the vote the first under a new constitution approved in a referendum last month. the constitution allows a multi party system instead of the single party rule by the bath party. u.s. state department spokesperson victoria nuland said this. >> parliament in the midst of the violence in the country, it is ridiculous. >> government forces attacked opposition strongholds.

human rights activists say more than 150 people have been killed in syria in the past two days. united nations officials say more than 8,000 people have been killed since anti-government protests began last march. next we go to bangkok. angers flared on the shooting rampage of a u.s. soldier. the attack killed local people, including women and children. there are fears the theory may spread and the taliban may escalate armed violence through attacks.

>> reporter: protests were in an eastern province. about 300 people, including students, participated. the reason for the demonstration was monday's rampage by the u.s. soldier that killed 16 people, including 12 women and children. afghanistan's opposition taliban released a statement saying a military which conduct such master of innocent -- in retaliation, we will decap at a time american soldiers. they declared renewed retaliation against the u.s. speaking about the soldier detained over the incident, the defense secretary leon panetta monday emphasized severe

punishment. he said the death penalty could be sought by the u.s. military justice system. last month in afghanistan, u.s. soldiers burned the islamic holy book which infuriated locals. protests have taken place in many parts of the country since then. the united states is trying to diffuse tensions by responding to what afghans see as continuing series of outrages. now it is still more than two weeks before myanmar's bi-elections. already the country's best known figure changed the look of the streets. until two years ago, images of the no bell laurie at aung san suu kyi were banned. now her face smiles out from t-shirts, posters, pins, and

almost every sort of paraphernalia. many t-shirt shops on this street have seen profits soar since they began offering aung san suu kyi merchandise. a shop opener says sales increased up to 400% over the past four months. >> translator: now there is more freedom, and business is very good. so he think these are signs of improvement in our country. >> the shop sells about 500 t-shirts a day, and its workers are putting in 12 hour shifts to keep up with demand. aung san suu kyi's party, the national league for democracy is fielding candidates for the bi elections on april 1st. she, herself, is running for a seat and has been crossing the country campaigning for her party. after decades of military dictator ship, the new government is ushering in a

series of dramatic reforms. it will be a test of their commitment to democracy and real popularity of aung san suu kyi's party. turning to thailand. years of economic growth have made many thai's richer, but not everyone in the kingdom is enjoying the boom. for many, the poverty trap is deepening. now a private foundation in the countryside is giving underprivileged children an opportunity they might otherwise never have. here are the details. ♪ >> reporter: enjoying themselves like children should. the youngsters sing and dance and everyone enjoys watching. this is at a shelter, 160

kilometers west of bangkok. these young children may look happy now, but before they moved in here, they either had a troubled past or lived an unfortunate life. it is operated to give young children a new start an opportunity to go to school. making things like these key rings teaches them skills. their handiwork also goes on sale earning money to supplement donations that fund the center. this eight new year's day came here some months ago. >> i am painting my mom's face. >> she and her brother have found a new family at the shelter. but even so, they still miss home. their mother got pregnant at a very young age.

she contracted hiv from their stepfather, a drug addict. they relied on the children to find food. they had no chance to go to school. the situation got the sympathy of neighbors who reached out to the new life project for help. the kids were undernourished. they looked hopeless. it took a few months before i persuaded the parents to let us take on the kids. >> the number of people living in the slums soared 70% in the last 15 years. many slum residents became parents at a young age. it is full of kids, raised in unsanitary conditions surrounded

by drugs and crime. those that end up at new life are among the lucky ones. surrounded by nature, they have a chance at a fresh start. by picking fruits and vegetables and watering plants, they learn to take care of nature and themselves. they are happy in the new environment. as their mother's condition worsens, they may never see her again. >> i feel happy because i can go to school. i like my friends, but i worry about my sick mother. >> the founder of the center insists that more needs to be done to help thailand's underprivileged children. >> as we are just a small organization, we can only work with what's already happened. i believe the government should pay more attention to this

issue. >> privately operated centers like this give a few youngsters a sense of hope. but as the government focuses on economic growth, it needs to step up efforts to make sure all thai children can share a better future. that's going to wrap up our bulletin for today. now let's take a look at the market figures.

the sun is out earlier and earlier these days. it seems warmer in tokyo. rachel ferguson joins us with the world weather forecast. rachel, i am looking forward to finally getting rid of my down coat. i have been wearing it all winter. has spring finally arrived? >> good morning, catherine. i wouldn't be too hasty putting away your coat. it feels warmer because the wind died down, but in tokyo, it is a few degrees below average for march. we'll continue to see slightly chillier weather throughout the week. today is very settled.

northern locations clearing out after the storm moves away that we had yesterday. however, there is a low coming over from northeastern china and that's going to bring yet again more thundery conditions, maybe even snow on the sea of japan side of the country. much of northern japan seeing that precipitation. so don't quite put away the jacket quite yet. as we head back into the continent, lots of showers blossoming across central parts of china. mostly going to be light to moderate precipitation. it could get heavier into thursday. west over the mountains, it will be light snow showers. scattered thunderstorms in indochina, and also another wet day in taiwan and into the northern philippines. temperatures improving a little to the south of china. hong kong coming in at 18 wednesday. tokyo meanwhile, 10 degrees forecast for the high.

9 in seoul. and finally we are getting above zero here, 2 degrees the forecast high for wednesday. and into north america, a very split picture here. you see all the clouds in the northwest. we have a snowstorm here, winter storm. it is going to be bringing significant amounts of snow, particularly to the upper elevations of northern california. very windy here, too. but anywhere west of that front line is going to be experiencing may-like warmth. very, very warm temperatures. departures of 17 degrees in some places. i'll show you some of the figures, in fact. let's go to the temperature chart. you can see the oranges moving into central canada. 7 degrees in winnipeg. 26 in chicago. 25 forecast in d.c. and to give you an idea of what the averages usually are in some of the places, rapid city, south dakota, up to 22 degrees thursday. usually see 8 for the high in

march. mid march. detroit, michigan, 22 degrees. also usually about 7 and in philadelphia, getting up to the low 20s. usually see around 10 or 11 degrees for the high in march. do enjoy it, it will be lasting the best part of the week. in europe, clear and calm conditions in west and central locations. in scandinavia, it will continue to be fairly gusty. you'll see precipitation, most snow, continuing for western norway. out towards the east, widespread snow for western russia. then down into the southeast, turkey is getting hammered by an active low pressure at the moment. black sea region going to be seeing rain, coastal rain that is, and inland snow, which will be moderate to heavy in some places. temperatures will continue to dive down in the southeast. ankara, down to 4 wednesday. just around freezing point, 1 or 2 degrees friday. out to the west, spring like

temperatures. 17 in paris, above average in madrid. i'll leave you now with the extended forecast.

japanese engineers have tested prototypes of robots designed to explore the moon's surface. seven robots went on a test run on tuesday on a sand dune in central japan. the beaches and the sand and the rocks closely resemble the surface of the moon. a water scouting robot developed by the tokyo institute of technology navigated a steep slope smoothly. another robot developed by a major construction company was designed to build a radiation shield around a lunar base, but it became clogged with sand and failed to function properly. a government panel has proposed building a lunar base after 2020, but the costly plan has yet to win approval.

that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com