the cultural capitol of europe. welcome to to nhk world "newsline." foreign ministers from japan, the united states and south korea have agreed to ask china to use its influence to ease tensions with north korea. >> china, as a vital partner in maintaining regional stability, a country with unique and strong ties with north korea, and chair

of the six-party talks, has a special role to play. >> u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton, japan's foreign minister and south korean foreign affairs and trade minister hwan met for 2 1/2 hours in washington on monday. the three countries adopted a joint statement denouncing the north's shelling of a south korean island. the three nations say they would build strong, productive and stable relations with china to achieve the shared goal of realizing a peaceful northeast asia. it's believed that the three

nations discussed china's proposal for an emergency meeting of the chiefs of the six-party talks on the nuclear issue. the ministers expect china to urge the north to take specific steps to abide by its obligations before talks by the parties resume. u.s. secretary of state clinton said top united states military officer mike mullen will visit sew to enhance coordination with its asian allies. iran and six major countries resumed talks over tehran's nuclear development program for the first time in more than a year. officials from iran, the united states, britain, france, germany russia and china start the meeting in geneva on monday. they include top negotiator jaleli and katherine ashton. the countries want iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activity immediately. iran argues it will not comply and said its nuclear program is

only for peaceful purposes. the nation announced it has succeeded in creating yellow cake without relying on imports. during the two-day talks, the countries are expected to enhance surveillance methods. a major breakthrough is unlikely as iran maintains it will not give into demands to halt its enrichment activity. france has agreed to deepen its cooperation with india to build nuclear power plants in the south asian country. india prime minister singh and nicolas sarkozy held talks on monday. the two agreed that a french company will build two nuclear plants in western india.

the shortage of electricity has been a serious problem in india and its economic growth. it's raising demands for power. the government there is planning to have about 20 new nuclear power plants built by 2020. india is not a signatory of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. there have been restrictions on nuclear cooperation with the country. in 2008, the nuclear supplier group agreed to grant india access to nuclear fuel and technology for civilian use after strong support from the united states. since then, european, american and japanese companies have been competing to enter the market. a media poll shows that the number of afghans who say they view the united states favorably has sunk to a record low amid the prolongeded american-led military operations there.

the latest afghan survey was conducted by abc news, the bbc and other media organizations from october to november. about 1,700 adults respondeded. only 43% of them said they have a positive opinion of the united states. that's about half the number of five years ago. abc news said afghan sentiment toward the u.s. improved briefly last year when u.s. president barack obama took office. it says public opinion fell again amid u.s. military operations which had been continuing for more than nine years. the poll shows some positive effects from the military buildup ordered by obama. in helmand, a recent focus of the multinational forces, 67% of respondents said the security situation is good. that's more than a four fold increase from a year ago. japan's space agency reached data from the country's first probe to venus. the probe fired its engine in reverse thrust to enter the planet's orbit.

the aerospace exploration agency started on monday. it says it received data from the probe 1 1/2 hours later. they had only one chance to reverse thrust into orbit. if the timing was off, it would have passed over venus. they were analyzing the data to confirm if the launch was successful. it will use five cameras to collect data on the planet's atmosphere. scientists expect that it will help further advance japan's space explorations. the project comes after a success earlier this year when the hayabusa probe brought back samples of particles from an astroid. the japan business federation announced a plan for a futuristic city to boost the

country's industrial competitiveness. the so-called sunrise report is made up of three projects qualify all led by the private sector. the first calls for a futuristic city model that will use the latest environmental, medical and transportation technology. the plan will be tested on a city with 200 to 300,000 people. local governments will also be consulted on the project's feasibility. it's to secure rare earth resources to collect and recycle them. the third project will focus on developing a work force that can compete in an international environment. they plan to ask the government to ease regulations to make all three projects.

japan is said to make a deal with a chinese state-run agricultural form in a bid to boost foreign exports, two of the grapdly growing economy. the japanese minister is scheduled to leave on wednesday. he'll be meeting with the chinese minister. as china's latest state-run food company, they conduct business with 80 countries and areas and engage in a variety of activities, including food trade and processing, farm management, along with fishing. if an agreement is reached, it will provide japan with an important foot hold in china for its agricultural exports. china has restricted produce imports from japan. it's looking to open the gate a little wider amid demand from china's increasingly affluent producers. china's agriculture minister seeks to strengthen the sector

by boosting the income of farmers as part of the government's growth strategy. they aim to reach an agreement with china by january. continental airlines and one of its mechanics have been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for causing the crash of an air france concord jet a decade ago. the plane caught fire and crashed just after taking off from paris in july 2000. all 109 passengers and crew members were killed, along with four people on the ground. a french court said on monday that continental and its employee were to blame for a small metal stip dropping from its aircraft onto the runway rupturing the aircraft and triggering the crash. they were fined $270,000 u.s. the mechanic was given a 15-month suspended prison sentence. he was also ordered to pay $1.43 million in compensation in a civil case filed by air france. the airline issued a

statement saying it disagreed with the ruling. it says french authorities are shifting the attention and responsibility away from air france onto continental. continental says it will appeal the rule. with japan's sluggish economy showing no sign of picking up, the country's university graduates are finding it harder to find a job. the numbers show that 2010 has been particularly hard on students in this country. as of october, only 57.6 of them had had received a solid offer of employment. that's 4.9% year on year decline and a record low. on top of that, they're facing tough competition from international students who are increasingly attracting the attention of japanese companies. now there's even a new event in tokyo for foreign students to sell themselves to representatives of domestic businesses. we sent our reporter to see what it's all about.

>> reporter: in traditional job fairs in japan, companies normally make a pitch to students. but here, the roles have been switched. a tokyo-based company organized this event to help international students land a job with a japanese business. 44 students who are scheduled to graduate in a couple of years are participating. they are mainly from china and south korea. this is their chance to meet representatives from 16 of japan's leading trading houses and manufacturers. japanese companies have been looking at foreign students recently. they want employees who will help globalize their operations. >> translator: they delivered

their presentations with great enthusiasm. i feel this it kind of eagerness is lacking in japanese students these days. the participants are willing to go anywhere in the world where they can make a contribution. that is the kind of passion we need. >> reporter: one of the candidates at this job fair speaks all languages. japanese, mandarin, korean and english. all of the students here are determined to work for a company in japan. they were given time to explain to possible employers how far they intend to use the skills they learned in university. >> translator: i want to contribute to japan/china relations through business activities in the future. i hope to introduce more excellent japanese products and

services to china and deliver happiness and satisfaction to the chinese people. >> reporter: following the presentation, the students could freely interact with the corporate recruiters. the social hour is a rare chance to make a decisive impression. it also helps company recruiters locate and hire talent. >> my strong points? one is my language ability. i can speak chinese, english, malay and japanese. the second is i like the challenge. >> i've been in japan for nine years. so i know japanese culture well. i have been educated to be a global person, i believe to be. i think that would be my strong point. >> reporter: recently, 30,000 businesses in japan were surveyed about who they would hire during the next fiscal year.

they show the number of companies planning to import at least one nonjapanese graduate doubled from last year to 21.7%. there's more international students choosing to study at japanese schools. the tight job market for new graduates is expected to get even more crowded. changing times. all right. here's the latest market figures.

many residents of indian cities need to take a break from the pace and hustle and bustle economy. many choose to take holiday at places that allow them to experience the simplicity of rural live and revitalized family relationships. we have the story. >> reporter: india's economy is soaring. of the country's rapidly 2 billion people, closer to 200 million are middle class. their life has become very busy. so lots of people flee to the country side for a break. these inns have started sprouting up in the suburbs of new delhi. worn down by their jobs, these people can relax at an inn.

this man likes to take weekend vacations ata places like this. during the week, he manages an i.t. company. his firm develops mobile phone software. business is expanding so quickly that he is on the go all day. after work, he has to contend with the rush hour. his son has just started working at an accounting firm. he also returns home late. the family spends what little time they have together talking about work. >> how was work? >> you're not to let your esteem going down. >> reporter: when the father starts telling the son what to do, he tends to fall silent.

on days off, the family drives to a popular country side inn. there they milk a cow. he was born and raised in a small town. when he was a boy, he used to milk the cow and drink fresh milk. >> this is a coy going to the basics. >> he shows his son around the building. it's renovated like an old farm house. he tells his son what it was like growing up in the place like this.

>> did you have electricity? electricity connections were there. like used to come, like, say two hours if a day, three hours in a day. >> kerosene lamp? >> kerosene lamp. used to burn it and study in the kerosene lamps initially. >> huh? >> reporter: he only knows about affluent living so he explains how his generation worked hard to get where they are now. >> just to tell them these things. you must not forget. this is how the progress in life takes place. nothing comes overnight. >> it makes me think that i've had life really easy because of him. i learned that probably i'd work harder in what i receive from now on. >> reporter: the country style weekend gives father and son a chance to step away from their busy lives and talk with each other.

>> the country inn has a vegetable and herb garden. the chefs cook delicious traditional indian meals for the guests. one night at the inn costs about $48 a person. not a bad deal. russian president medvedev expressed his willingness to improve relations with poland. he met with his polish counterpart on monday. at a news conference, medvedev said russia is committed to discovering the truth about the massacres which took place during world war ii. in 1940 soviet secret police executed polish citizens. the parliament recognized in november, the massacres was ordered by josef stalin.

the two countries ordered to improve relations. >> the two countries' history was greatly damaged by such an incident. not only the poles but russians also must know the truth. >> translator: i am confident a new chapter has opened between the two countries. >> russia has been considering a nato o the building of a missile defense shield for europe. participation would depend heavily on the resolution of polish animosity toward russia. health officials in haiti say the number of deaths from the country's cholera outbreak surpassed 2,000. they announced on monday that the epidemic spread killing 2,071 people and infecting more than 92,000. in the capital of port-au-prince, 185 people died from the disease.

the world health organization warns that the number of infected people could reach 650,000 over the next six months. the united nations appealed to the international community for more contributions to provide safe drinking water, disinfectants and temporary toilets. in northern pakistan, a suicide blast targeted a meeting on opposing islamic extremism on monday. at least 40 people were killed. two bombers broke into a government building in the region near the afghan border and blew themselves up. inside, tribes men were holding talks on how to counter islamic extremists. a local hospital said more than 40 people were killed and 70 injured. two local journalists covering the meeting were among the victims. the pakistani government has been carrying out offensives in the country's northwest. islamic militants have retaliated and killed scores of

civilians. an attack last month killed more than 50 people. hello. welcome back to your world weather update. let's get a look at what's going on across the globe. we are seeing nice, dry skies across china. high pressure stretched out across the country. however, in the northeast corner, looking at more snow that's set to develop today and to headed into the korean peninsula. you can see moisture developing later on tuesday. as for japan, it does remain quite unsettled, especially for the western side of the country. more showers and locally heavy downpours will be possible today. moisture in the north is looking at more snow flurries rather than rainfall. hokkaido on will be looking at a lie dusting of snow.

we could see showers form as moisture comes in off the pacific. as for highs today, looking at 5 in beijing. getting cooler across japan. tokyo's highs remain 14. likely feeling a lot cooler this afternoon. 9 degrees in shanghai. looking at 19 for taipei. over towards north america, looking at a new disturbance off the pacific. pacific northwest, british columbia looking at rain that will move in toward the coastline. a disturbance working its way across the rockies. especially for central sections, looking at snow possible tonight. out east, still looking quite stormy here in eastern can ta. the new england states, well-developed systems bringing in snow. ample amounts of snow possible. locally heavy snow amounts will be likely in the overnight hours. do stay on the watch for that. it does stay cold out east also. 3 in atlanta.

the same for d.c. snow flurries are possible in new york with a high remaining at 2. over towards europe, meanwhile. let's start off with an update on the conditions across the balkans. a lot of rain in the region. we are hearing flooding and landslide reports. a look at the situation in albania in on monday. northern albania has been looking at some of the worst flooding in decades. about 12,000 people have been forced to evacuate. you can see the entire town almost wholly submerged. very serious situation. state of emergency has been delayed in parts of the country. it hasn't been just albania, but many countries across the balkans reporting widespread flooding as well as landslides. it's been a pretty wet past couple of days. here's the set-up for the next few days. does remain largely dry across

the peninsula. more moisture heading in later this week. we'll need to keep a close eye on this area. today today, a lot more rain heading into spain and portugal, especially for southern spain. heavier rain possible on tuesday. it does stay cool across a lot of europe as well. minus 3 in moscow. minus 1 in vienna. here is your three-day outlook.

once again, the headlines this hour. foreign ministers from japan, the united states and south korea agreed to ask china to use its influence to ease tensions with north korea. >> china, as a vital partner in maintaining regional stability, a country with unique and strong ties with north korea, and chair of the six-party talks, has a special role to play --

u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton and japan's foreign minister and south korean foreign afirs and trade minister hwan met for around 2 1/2 hours in washington on monday. the three countries adopted a joint statement denouncing the north's shelling of the south korean island. the three nations say they would build strong, productive and stable relations with china to achieve the shared goal of realizing a peaceful northeast asia. it's believed that the three nations discusseded china's proposal for an emergency meeting of the chiefs of the six-party talks on north korea's nuclear issue. the ministers expect china to urge the north to take specific steps to abide by its obligations before talks by the parties resume. u.s. secretary of state clinton said top united states military officer admiral mike mullen will visit seoul and takeio to enhance coordination with asian allies. that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. we'll be back in half an hour

with the latest news and weather.