it's wednesday, june 1st, 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant says it has detected high levels of the radioactive substance that tends to accumulate in human bones. tokyo electric power company made the announcement after analyzing soil samples taken on may 9th at the relocations about 500 meters from the number one and number two reactors. the utility detected up to 480 becquerels of radioactive

strontium per kilogram of soil. it was higher than what was detected in the soil during the cold war era. this is the second time since april this has been found inside the plant compound. the substance was also detected in soil and plants more than 30 kilometers from the fukushima nuclear power station in march. tokyo electric power says it believes it was released from the damaged plant and it will continue to monitor radiation levels. a team from the international atomic energy agency will submit a summary of its report to the japanese government on wednesday after concluding its investigation into the nuclear disaster in fukushima. the 18 member team inspected the damaged fukushima daiichi nuclear plant and other nuclear facilities beginning may 24th. the draft of the i ya summary

report says japan took the best possible measures but it under estimated the potential danger of tsunami. the draft says japan did its best under the circumstances with all safety systems lost and insufficient man power and lighting. the draft does indicate japan had not considered the full impact of the tsunami and failed to respond effectively to waves that were higher than had been expected. the report also states the fact that four reactors were exposed to the risk of meltdowns and that is a major issue in the accident. it calls on japan to revise its current method of dealing with the severe nuclear accident. previously the procedures were based on the assumption that lighting and electricity would be available in such an accident. the team criticizes japan for failing to ensure the independence of the nuclear and industrial safety agency. three years ago the iaea advised that the agency should be

separated from the economy trade and industry ministry. the team will submit a full report to an iaea ministerial meeting that will open on june 20th in vienna. the operator of fukushima power plant in western japan says it will postpone the start of a new reactor there while giving no restart timetable. the electric power company said on tuesday that additional safety measures are needed to start the operation of the number three reactor being constructed at the shimane plant. the company's initial plan was to put nuclear fuel rods in the reactor and start a test operation in june. the goal was to make it commercially operational in march next year. but following the accident at the fukushima plant, the utility now needs to build sea walls that can with stand 15 meter high tsunami waves. they must also find other ways to prevent the reactor buildings from being inundated by tsunami.

the utility also said last november they discovered a problem with a device that moves the control rods. it said the defect has yet to be solved because the factory that makes the devices was damaged by the march 11 disaster. the power company said until the problems are solved it would be difficult to gain local support to start operation of the new reactor. >> the accident at fukushima has an enormous impact so we must take appropriate measures. >> it gave no timetable for the start of the operation citing the many problems they are now facing. a japanese nonprofit group says that over 1100 children lost their narnparents in the march disaster. the organization offers scholarships to children who have lost one or both parents. as of monday they received applications on behalf of 1,101

children who have lost their parents in the disaster. that is nearly twice the number of payments made for children following the 1995 great earthquake in western japan. the organization says 75 applicants have lost both parents. 632 lost their fathers. 394 lost their mothers. the organization has raised over $20 million since the disaster. two opposition parties are expected to jointly submit a no confidence motion against prime minister naoto kan as early as wednesday. the motion is likely to be put to a vote in the lower house on thursday. liberal democratic party president sadakazu tanigaki and new coma suzuki intend to meet. it was said japan will never rebuild itself if kan remains in

office. tanigaki said it is the opposition's responsibility to challenge prime minister kan who lost the confidence of the public. some members of the ruling democratic party have also criticized kan's handling of the march 11th disaster. legislators close to former party leader ichiro ozawa have not ruled out the possibility of joining the opposition parties in supporting a no confidence motion against kan. groups of legislators close to kan say they will oppose the no confidence motion emphasizing the need to hurry the restructuring process or rather the reconstruction process. many who support kan are insisting that the prime minister should dissolve the lower house if the motion passes the chamber. if at least 81 democrats cast yes votes the motion will clear the lower house. the united nations has imposed sanctions on north korea which has been continuing its nuclear development program. but it says that the sanctions have many loop holes. the japanese government invited u.n. ambassadors to a meeting to

call for tougher monitoring of the u.n. sanctions against north korea. nhk world has the details. >> reporter: ambassadors and other diplomats from more than 50 countries attended a meeting. most of them are from developing nations. japan's u.n. ambassador expressed the japanese government's intention to support those developing countries. >> translator: in fact, many deloping countries are not fully implementing the u.n. sanctions. i think developed countries should help them with technical assistance. >> reporter: it all began last month when the united nations came up with their report. many examples of loop holes in the sanctions were listed. the report refers to the

suspicion that components for missiles are smuggled between north korea and iran through a neighboring third country using their state owned airlines. it also mentions the airport by north korea to buy through a neighboring third country luxury goods cars and yachts which are banned under the sanctions. the phrase "a neighboring third country" is repeatedly used in the report. it was initially written as china. it is said that the phrase was changed after china expressed its displeasure. at aeeting on tuesday, the japanese government appealed for tightening the monetary regime without naming any country and announced measures to help other

governments strengthen customs controls and improve their roles. it is not clear how effective these measures will be. >> it is not very easy obviously foa number of very obvious reasons. the fact is that these are small countries. >> reporter: japan wishes to put teeth into the sanctions of north korea by helping other governments strengthen their monetary regimes. japanese officials are concerned that if the sanctions become only nominal, they could lead to further nuclear development by north korea. nhk world, new york. >> all right. we're joined now in the studio for the latest in business news. i see that u.s. and european markets closed higher overnight. >> that's right. u.s. markets did extend their gains but the upbeat sentiment was weighed down somewhat by weak housing and consumption

data. to find out how things are starting off here in japan this wednesday morning we cross over to the tokyo stock exchange. economic data is the focus this week for stocks. how are they reacting so far? >> very good morning you to. the reaction so far has been negative with the nikkei and the topix trading lower and it follows overnight wall street gains actually but that was due to receding concerns about europe's debt problems. but the release of the s&p case shiller holm index showed signs of a weaker housing sector than many analysts expected, falling 3.6% in march and that's the lowest or weakest level in eight years so that seems to be the overriding sentiment that we're seeing so far in the markets and the follow through in tokyo markets as well. consumer sentiment data out of the u.s. also proved to be a little bit of a disappointment, weighing down on overall sentiment as well. now, here in japan, the weaker

yen has provided a little bit of a short term support. if we have a look at those levels and we did see that as a major reason actually yesterday for the nikkei gaining around 2%. the yen has fallen against the euro after some positives were taken out of the upcoming plans to help out with greece's debt restructuring plan. we've had eu ministers, imf and european central bank all trying to hammer out a plan due out in late june. we'll be keeping track of at. the euro/yen currently around the 117 levels compared to upper 114 just on monday so you can see there the yen weakening against the euro. this may help some japanese exporters with exposure to europe so we'll be keeping track of the auto sector as well as the electronics sector and some of the office equipment makers. still, the announcement by moody's investor services that has put japan's debt rating on review for a downgrade has also

not helped overall sentiment for japan. it also comes during a week where prime minister naoto kan faces a no confidence motion in parliament and opposition parties are really trying to fix any further progress to help japan's public finances. we'll keep track of that as well. now, china pmi manufacturing data will also be due out today. we'll see how that affects japan's construction machinery shares as well as heavy industries and commodity related shares. but the nikkei and the topix down for now. back to you in the studio. >> thanks for that update. that was our market reporter from the tokyo stock exchange. india's economy continues to log strong growth expanding 8 1/2% in fiscal 2010 that ended in march. the indian government said on tuesday that the country's gross domestic product grew 7.8% in the january to march quarter.

that helped the government achieve the fastest growth over the past three years in fiscal 2010. but the pace of expansion in the manufacturing sector slowed sharply to 5.5% in the fourth quarter from over 12% between april and june last year. manufacturing includes the auto industry which is the driving force of india's economy. india has been struggling with soaring prices of gasoline and many other products forcing the central bank to raise key interest rates nine times since march last year. euro zone nations continue to face a difficult job situation with april's unemployment hovering just below 10%. the statistical office of the european union said the jobless rate in the 17 nations that used the euro currency stood at 9.9% in april. that's the same level as the previous month. although the rate remains high, it marks a slight improvement from the post financial crisis range of 10%, a record level

since the introduction of the euro. among the member nations the netherland had the lowest rate of 4.2% while germany logged 6.1% and france 9.4%. meanwhile the situation is harsher in countries with huge debt. ireland's jobless rate was nearly 15% while spain had the group's highest rate of over 20%. both figures were unchanged from the previous month. in spain where unemployment exceeds 40% among those below 25 years of age, young protesters have been rallying. a world trade fair opened in taiwan featuring cutting edge computer technology. the event, the biggest of its kind in asia, had a record number of participants. about 1800 computer makers from 28 countries and territories took part. attention is on multifunctional tablet computers. they've seen a rapidly growing

market worldwide since apple's successful launch of its ipad last year. a major taiwanese maker unveiled a tablet computer with a smart phone mount which will go on sale later this year. another participant from taiwan introduced a model that allows users to remove the panel display of a notebook computer so it can be used as a tablet as well. the organizer says the market for tablet computers is expected to grow at a fast pace over the next several years. and now a recap of the latest market figures.

all right. that's going to do it in business news for this hour. >> thanks very much. libyan leader moammar gadhafi is refusing to leave his country despite his readiness to except a cease-fire. south african president zuma met gadhafi in the libyan capital on monday to push for an african union mediation plan to end the conflict in libya. after the talks, zuma told reporters that gadhafi confirmed he will respect the mediation plan which calls for an immediate cease-fire and political reforms. but in a statement issued after he returned home on tuesday, zuma said gadhafi had emphasized that he has no intention of leaving his country. libyan insurgents are demanding gadhafi's resignation as a condition for them to accept a cease-fire. gadhafi has also come under increased pressure from the united states and european countries to resign while many

senior officers have deserted the military. the serbian government has sent former bosnian-serb commander radko mladic to the u.n. tribunal in the hague. on tuesday he was flown from belgrade to the hague for detention. he was indicted for the indiscriminate shelling of sarajevo during the 43-month siege and the massacre of 8,000 muslims during the war in bosnia. he had been at large for 15 years until serbian police arrested him in a farm house in northern serbia on thursday. the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia in 1996 for crimes against humanity. he is expected to be brought before a u.n. judge in a day or two for a preliminary hearing. the handover is one of the conditions set by the european union for serbia to join the bloc.

the earthquake and tsunami of march 11th dealt a terrible blow to many of japan's museums and art galleries. thousands of valuable natural specimens and cultural artifacts have been damaged and face permanent ruin. but as we see in this next report museums from all over the country are helping restore damaged specimens. >> reporter: after the tsunami this city in iwate prefecture lay in ruins. the oldest public museum in the region was badly damaged. it had a collection of over 150,000 pieces. they included folk art and specimens of regional plants and animals. sea water, mud, and debris

inundated this room. samples of local plants and animals collected over many years were contaminated. >> translator: we really want to restore them because they tell us so much about our town. we also value them because they were the work of our forebearers. tlnch . >> reporter: this museum survived because it is further inland. the staff are helping to restore about 15,000 plant samples sent by the museum. the museum's curator is a plant specialist and volunteered for the work because she felt the damaged museum was not yet ready to do the work. some samples were collected over 100 years ago. there are important records of the kinds of vegetation that once grew in the region.

these plant samples come from a nearby pine forest. before the disaster, it stretched for two kilometers along the sandy beach. many prized it as one of japan's most beautiful locations. now the entire forest and all its vegetation are gone. suzuki hopes to recreate it and thinks the samples from the museum will help. >> translator: the tsunami left no trace of the pine forest. i'm really glad that we have these samples from the museum because they give us a clear picture of what grew in the forest before the disaster. >> reporter: the specimens were in very poor condition. damp and untouched for a month

the plants are covered in mold. if nothing is done, they will rot. but restoring them all is too much for one museum. so suzuki e-mailed museums and researchers across japan asking for help. 26 museums came forward. already suzuki's museum has shipped out 6,000 samples. the restoration work has begun. a museum from far away kitakyushu southern japan is one of those helping out. its staf and volunteers work around the clock to save the specimens. they soak the samples in fresh water to remove the ocean salt. they also wash off the dirt and sand. then they set each sample in its correct form and dry it.

all specimens are very fragile and must be handled with care. >> translator: these samples were preserved for almost a hundred years. thinking of how the staff up north must be concerned motivates me to send the specimens back in the best condition possible. >> according to the curator this may be the first time so many museums across the country have joined together to restore specimens. now we'll take a look at the latest in weather. hi there. time now for your weather update. clouds starting to spread from the west really coming into japan today. looks like the northern end will stay dry and settled but central and southern portions will be covered by rain by the end of the day. just behind this lingering showers across the korean

peninsula and northeastern china as well. less intense but still remaining pretty widespread starting to impact places like seoul. now the rest of china looking settled. high pressure system firmly in control. weather is quite dry and hot out here. down toward the south we've got a tropical depression that is going to be impacting taiwan with heavy rain. some heavy showers also will be just brushing against the southeastern coast of china as well. now for indochina peninsula we'll be contending with widespread rain again all the way from cambodia through thailand looking especially heavy for places like myanmar and bang la boesladesh today. 31 degrees in hong kong today. 32 in beijing with sunny spells. tokyo is going to be slightly cool today. 18 degrees. now we head into north america. we have a very large low pressure system impacting

central canada just now throughout the night experiencing very high winds across the region and quite a bit of rain as well falling across a wide area. the great lakes, too, will experience unsettled weather and along this frontal system as it interacts with that warm and humid air from the gulf of mexico. could see a couple severe thunderstorms break out as well. all that is going to be heading toward the northeast on wednesday with the heat wave going on up in the northeast could certainly trigger severe storms wednesday afternoon/evening time. now out toward the west scattered showers once again along the western edge of the u.s. here. it's going to continue for the next couple days developing as it goes. now 32 degrees in denver. hot today. 27 in chicago. stays hot out toward the east. 35 degrees in d.c. 31 in new york city. now we head into europe looking at lots of thunderstorms developing across europe today and that's because of the long

frontal system stretching from scandinavia right down to the mediterranean so we're looking at widespread rain to occur across scandinavia and also for central and southern portions of europe. particularly heavy and thundery for southern germany through the alpine region and as we pick up that energy and heat from the mediterranean as well it's going to help produce those active thunder clouds over italy and across much of the balkans. dry weather returning to france. it stays dry and good spells of sunshine across the southeast corner of the uk but a little windy over toward the north here, 20 degrees in london today with sunny spells. paris is going to be 21 degrees. vienna coming in at 23 looking much cooler in berlin at 18 degrees but over toward the east stays very hot, 27 in moscow. 30 in kiev. all right. here is your extended forecast now.

our lead story this hour the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant says it has detected high levels of a radioactive substance that tends to accumulate in human bones. tokyo electric power comny made the announcement after analyzing soil samples taken on may 9th at three locations about 500 meters from the number one and number two reactors.

the utility detected up to 480 becquerels of radioactive strontium 90 per kilogram of soil about 100 times higher than the mimum reeding at fukushima prefecture following nuclear tests carried out by foreign countries during the cold war era. this is the second time since april radioactive strontium has been found inside the plant compound. the sbunt was also detected in soil and plants more than 30 kilometers from the fukushima nuclear power station in march. tokyo electric power says it believes that radioactive strontium was released from the damaged plant and it will continue to monitor radiation levels. that wps up this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us. we'll be back with more of your updates at the top of the next hour.