hello there, welcome to "newsline." secretary of state john kerry said last week that the u.s. government is ready to talk with north korea if the conditiontry moves to drop its nuclear program. north korea has responded by rejecting kerry's call for dialog.

the statement also says north korea is being forced to conduct military drill to cope with the u.s. threat. this suggests the north will accept up its provocations while the u.s. and south korea hold military exercises through the end of april. the u.s. repeelted its stance. >> what the secretary said, what the president has now said, that the burden remains on pyongyang which needs to take meaningful steps to show they'll honor their commitments so they know what they need to do to start doing that.

>> he said north korea must dough cluk leerize before talks can begin. the north may be trying to find a way to end its provocative rhetoric. he said the language is aimed at underscoring kim jong un's leadership at home. pyongyang has unilaterally declared a state of war. the u.s. military ostigs stressed the need for caution as the north is unpredictable. he said kim jong un's words and actions should be carefully watch. officials are combing through evidence to try to find out who's behind the attack at the boston marathon. two bombs went off killing three people and injuring 176.

the bombs went off on monday afternoon. the first knocked back runners who are 30 meters from the finish. the second hit people a short distance away. emergency medical crews rushed to the scene. the dead included an 8 year old boy. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. authorities say they're carrying out a criminal probe. they say it's a potentially terrorist investigation. u.s. president says the bombings were an act of terrorism. >> they were the beginning of our investigation. it will take time to follow every lead and to determine what happened. but we will find out. we will find whoever harmed our citizens, and we will bring them to justice. >> obama says the government is on high alert for a new terror attack. he has called on supreme court

authorities to take necessary measures. a japanese marathoner captured some. scenes in the chaos and confusion in boston from a different angle. he was running in the race with a small camera attached to his cap. he was approaching the finish line when the first bomb went off. then 12 seconds later,. he calls the bombings streamly regrettable. he said he'd previously heard boston is one of the safest cities in the united states. italian police have seized billions of dollars in assets from an uh oo its of the japanese brokerage holdings. they said the group hipped an italian badges conceal millions of losses. investigators found earlier this year that managers at the bank were involved in a cover up.

prosecutors are looking into whether former executives are criminally responsible the bank traded derivative financial products with know knew da international and lost hundreds of ms. of dollars. they were ordered to seize money from them. the prosecutor said they're investigating two former executives. they suspect the pair made false reports and obstructed investigations. executives say none of their assets have been seized. and they've denied any wrongdoing. a magnitude 7.8 earthquake has struck iran near the border of pakistan. military spokes persons say at least 34 people were killed. and media in iran report that one woman was killed there. the earthquake struck in the middle of the afternoon. it hit hardest in a mountainous

region straddling the border between iraq and pakistan. communications were cut off. authorities are still trying to assess the damage. pakistani media showed an individual joe of offices shaking at a tv station in ca rachy, about 600 kilometers from the epicenter. people felt the tremor as far away as new delhi. that's about 1,500 kilometers from the epicenter. it sent people running into the streets. a magnitude 6.3 tremor hit southern iran a week ago killing at least 37 people. iranians have seen even worst quakes in the past. in 2003, a hag any tud 6.6 quake struck the southeastern city. more than 40,000 people died. and in 1990, a magnitude 7.7 tremor hit northwestern iran, leaving about 35,000 dead. chinese officials say wild

birds could be spreading the bird flu strain. they have found a pigeon infected with the flu. they say the yen affected wild pinlion was caught in the city. they say the genetic sequence of the virus is similar to those in pigeons sold at a shanghai market. they say woild birds might be spreading the virus to poultry. they'll continue to investigate possible roots of the infection. chinese authorities reported 14 new cases on tuesday bringing the total to 78. 16 people have died. cases of infection have been reported in shanghai and beijing. and tother provinces. authorities have been culling birds after the virus was found in live poultry sold in markets in areas where infections were

reported. the world health organization say it is will send a team of experts to china to assist with the bird flu outbreak. who spokes persons said they were responding to beijing's request. the team will include u.s. and australian researchers as well as who experts. they're expected to travel to china later this beak. the team will be joined by chinese experts. they'll conduct analysis for about one week. they'll also study way does prevent further spread of the virus. who officials say there's still no evidence of human to human of spread. the source of the infections has not been found.

crews at the fukushima daiichi plant in japan have started work on a project toston contaminated water from escaping into the environment. workers for tokyo electric power company discovered three of seven underground storage pools are leaking. tepco officials believe pools one and two may be leak being the most. so they're placing priority on training them. on tuesday workers started transferring with 20 tons per hour from pool two to an above ground tank more than 400 meters away. officials say the process will be long. they plan to step up monitoring to make sure no water escapes during transfer.

they estimate they'll be able to move more than 23,000 tons of contaminated water by early june. but the underground pools will continue to leak during the operation. crews will pump any contaminated water they collect back no the fool minimize damage to the environment. tepco officials say the volume of contaminated water is increasing by about 400 tons per day. they'll no longer use the underground storage pools and plan to install more above ground tanks. they're working on a way to deacon tam nate the water. currently only two of japan's reactors are on line and generating power. a group of citizens has been waging a battle to shut those down. a japanese court ruled there wasn't enough evidence showing the nuclear plant poses a risk. nhk reports. >> reporter: the plaintiffs in this case had hoped for a legal victory.

now they're coming to terms with their loss. >> translator: the court decision is really regrettable. >> reporter: the case centers on the plant in fukui prefecture. the operator restarted two reactors there last august. engineers said computer simulations showed the units would be able to sustain a major earthquake. but some residents weren't convinced. more than 260 of them filed an injunction to force the utility to stop the reactors. they argued faults near the units could be ak testify. and that a quake could trigger a major accident. the judges at the osaka district court disagreed.

they ruled there's no evidence proving the faults are active. and they say the plant's operator has put sufficient safety measures in place. this is the first court decision on the safety of a nuclear plant following the accident at fukushima daiichi. plaintiffs across the country have filed more than ten similar cases. nhk world, osaka. executives of japanese tell come giant soft bank say think will go ahead and complete the buyout of the third largest u.s. tell come operator, sprint nextel on july 1st. soft bank officials made the remark after major u.s. satellite tv company dish network mounted a counter bid on monday. dish is offering $25 billion in cash and stock for sprint. dish officials say that's 13%

more than soft bank's proposal. soft bank officials say, though, that their proposal would offer more benefits to sprint's shareholders. they argue that they're already at a strategy where they can get necessary approval for its proposal. back in october, soft bank offered a plan to buy sprint for over $20 billion. they're hoping to ebs pan the business by breaking into the u.s. market. but dish's proposal may raise the possibility of a bidding war. japan's honda motor has completed construction of an eco friendly assembly plant. they plan to make it a hub for developing new technology to increase overseas production. construction of the 950,000 square meter plant started in 2007. the new factory will mainly produce compact cars for the domestic market this summer. solar panels are installed on

the roof of the factory. they're expected to generate up to 2.6 megawatts of electricity. that's the highest level of output among auto plants in japan. many japanese auto makers have been shifting production overseas to try to capture a bigger market share in emerging countries. >> translator: this facility will play the role of the mother plant. we will develop new production and other technologies here. and use them in overseas factories. many of the world's top businesses have their eyes set on brazil. the country will host the world cup in 2014 and the olympics two years later. another competition is under way, too, among managers looking for cheap labor. nhk world has more. >> reporter: brazil's major cities are experiencing a

construction boom. wages are rising, and businesses are having trouble finding enough workers. this is posing a challenge for japanese firms as they try to gain a foothold in brazil. they are now turning their eyes to smaller cities instead of metropolitan areas. this northeastern port town is home to an industrial complex. many foreign companies are planning to set up shop here. as brazil enjoys robust economic growth, local areas have become as attractive to businesses as big cities. the northeastern region is often dubbed as brazil's china. that's because of its rapid development and relatively low wages. to help find opportunities there, the japan external trade organization organized an inspection tour in march.

>> translator: i signed up to see the place with may own eyes. >> reporter: the group's main focus was the huge industrial park under construction by the state government. about one hundred businesses are already doing business here. state officials hope to bring in about 1,000 companies eventually. >> translator: i'm surprised at japan's economic power. >> reporter: but even in an area leak this, companies are already competing to secure a sufficient labor force. this firm from norway is providing free training for over 200 local people. it's planning to open a factory in six months. the company even pays for transportation and food. managers are doing all they can to get the trainees to join the firm. >> translator: the company is

giving us a chance to get trained, since i have this opportunity, i'd like to work here. >> translator: we can offer high wages as well as a variety of perks. we want to create the kind of business environment that will make people want to work here. >> reporter: despite the competition, many of the visitors from japan became interested in coming to brazil. >> translator: the more i learn, the harder it seems to do business here. but i think brazil has huge potential as a market. >> reporter: the competition for labor is starting to spread into more and more rural areas in brazil, but that's unlikely to discourage japanese companies from investing in this rapidly expanding economy. nhk world. all right. now let's take a look at the market figures.

when people read these day, they often turn to electron eck devices. one man in the state of wisconsin is encouraging readers to pick up paper books again. anyone can borrow a book for free provided that they leave one in return. the idea has taken off. nhk has his story.

>> reporter: small is beautiful when it comes to reading in america these days. miniature bookshelves like these are popping up on roadsides or in coffee shops across the united states. called little free libraries. they're changing the reading habits of local communities. the idea couldn't be simpler. you grab as many books as you like. and you don't have to bring them back. but you do have to row place them. the rule is, take a book, leave a book. that means the narrow shelves are always full and the stock is always changing. it was todd bowl who came up with the idea for the little free library. >> the first library i built in 2009. and this one has number one. >> reporter: he started the project as a tribute to his mother june. she was a schoolteacher and

always encouraged people to read more. after she died, he wanted to cope alive her passion for reading and sharing books. so four years ago, he put up this smallpox in his front yard. word of his little free library is spreading around his community. and many people have reached out to bol as they set up little libraries in their own neighborhoods. he eventually set up an npo, starting a movement that caught media attention. bol collects $35 from people who want to make libraries, send them a nameplate and log their details into his database so the location will be registered on his website. in some cases, he even provides them with books if they don't have enough to get started. in just four year, little free libraries have popped up in more

than 5,000 locations. not just in the u.s., but in p 36 countries around the world. publishers have also gun providing books for free. they understand that if people have access to bock, they will grow to love reading. >> we're growing now at about 500 to 700 a month. we've been contacted by many people, man owe literacy groups all around the world. >> reporter: from a small flame, this movement has now caught on, and it is spreading leak wildfire even across national borders. the major appeal of it is that it brings people together. crystal pepperdine set up a little free library inside a little cafe in michigan. it's a place where people can meet and chat with other book lovers. >> a lot of us have met here because of the little free library. >> reporter: educators are also

interested. a school in minnesota contacted bol to discuss ways to get students more interested in reading. he helped the community around the school to set up one of the little libraries. it's become a hit with many local children. >> i get more concentrated in the book, because hike they're just like so interesting to knee that i get stuck. it's just like, i guess you can say it's fun reading the book. >> the little free library will have the availability of many genres of books that schools cannot always purchase. it definitely improves their comprehension. >> reporter: accessibility encourages many people to read. but the little free libraries take this concept one step further, bringing the community together. nhk world, los angeles. an innovative idea.

time now to get a check on the weather. people in hong kong are looking out and seeing gray skies. >> good morning, catherine, yes, the visibility is very low in china in some parts, i should say. let me show you a video coming out from hong kong today. hong kong's iconic harbor is shrouded in fog. and the skyscrapers are barely visible. the air plaugs index hit the highest level this year. it was caused by pollutants. people with respiratory problems are advised to day inside. the air quality is looking on the improvement, which is good news if you can take a look at these satellite pictures. you'll see a lot of rain clouds, which means that the rain will be highering the visibility to about 10 kilometers which is well enough for you to be driving, but the rain could get

heavy across southeastern areas of china due to the southerly humid flow flowing into this stationary bound richlt and we've been seeing rain already along the past 2 had hours. this could well enough cause some flooding problems. further flooding is also highly concerned across the southern thailand areas. that's going to move into the central regions of thailand. and that could be spread widely and heavy rein could trigger flooding, landslides as well as mud slides. but towards the north, china's looking pretty dry. the temperatures will be low lowering toward the end of the week. we'll be seeing yellow sand coming in again. perhaps to southern korea. it won't reach japan, but we have two systems affecting japan right now. another system's impacting the northern areas of japan, and

that includes snow. we have 10 centimeters reported in the past 24 hours in hokkai o hokkaido. 're seeing, we're going to see those snow melt encouraged. and the avalanche risk is going to be high in the higher elevations. shanghai at 24. but that's going to be down to the average range on your thursday. beijing's going to be down to the single digits at 9 degrees on friday. we're looking at minus 1 degree on your wednesday high. moving to north america we have winter storms slamming the north. wyoming you had 70 scentimeters. we're talking about 60 centimeters additional snowfall in the higher elevations and 40 even in the valley side. that's going to cause some major

travel disturbances yet again and down underneath that, freezing rein is also going to be very dangerous for your driving conditions. and towards the south, due to the two air masses colliding, this collision is going to be creating some severe weather. we're talking about really large hail, 4 centimeters in die am ter, about a walnut size. tornados cannot be ruled out. that's moving towards the east. but do watch out if you're in those vicinities. you can see that pink popping up. denver, minus one. look at that. here's your extended forecast.

and that is all for this edition of news heine. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.