hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, june 21st, 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. a russian passenger plane carrying 48 people crashed while attempting to land. there are reports of casualties. russian media say the the plane left moscow and crash landed shortly after midnight monday. the government says the aircraft fell apart and burst into flames. reuters and ap say at least 40 people were killed in the crash. once again, this news just coming in to us this hour. a russian passenger plane carrying 48 people has crashed

in the northwestern republic. russian media say the plane left moscow and crash-landed shortly after midnight on monday. the government says the aircraft fell apart and burst into flames. reuters and ap say at least 4 people wer kild in the h. the mis oe n t the event ofn iaof thethe fukushima cintth agree ty ll

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haave been d our best to solve them. t resumption of the water treatment system is urgent as cd water at the fukushima plant will reach capacity within a few ys meanwhile, tepcoo reinforce fuel pool at the number four reactor. the walls supporting t pl re heavily damaged from the hydrogen blast on march 15th.l fuel rods. the weak structure makes it earthquakes. on monday tepco completed one stage of the reforcement, which began late last month. pla we installed under the pool on the second

floor of the reactor budi. eailr is eight meters tall o wp t ghs 40 tons. pillars in concrete by the end of next month. wl en install the same circulatory cooling system used fooo a the number two reactor. at the number four reactor tepco found that the explosion damaged the water pipes. thntralar of the cooling system. the temperature of thpo remains high at around 86 degrees celsius. the japanese government is conducting an experiment b ne fukushima daiichi.vacuation an agricultural reahenr planted the rice on monday in a villagabt kilometers northwest of the troubled plant. the government has asked the redes vacuate the area and halt agricultural activities. an average of 10,000 becquerels of cesium p kilogram of soil had been found in tests up t 1

centimeters below ground. after the most contaminated topsoil was removed, t figure fell to an average of 2600 becquerels per kilogram. the government willarsthe rice in october and test it for radioactive contamination. "newsline's"ew sme "nuclear watch" kicks on this thursday. isegntffshe latest information and insight into japan's ongoing csievy thursday night at 8:00 and 11:00 andrida mornings at 8:00 japan time. mother three months have passed since the msi earthquake and tsunami struck jan'nohete rio for many the grief and hardship continue. next we meet a woman still aring through the debris for her husband with whom she had been married for 50 s. >> reporter: this 68-year-old

woman lives here. the tsunami carried away her home. her huan afisherman, is still missing. she alwaysaresisicre found in the debris. afr e earthquake, he sent her to check on their anhirewhhad been evacuated earlier, but he stayed me >> translator:e lde to bring them jackets. that was our last conversation. >> reporter:hr months later, she still visits the site where her home used to stand looking for clues to where his body li.

>> translator: i've been coming here thinking he might be under the rubble, but i haven't been ab tfi h. >>epte s n lesit her daughter's family in an evacuation center. she filed a missing pern po a vit mgu. she also vits a newly launched online search site, but soar too avail. erdash c'tel thinking about the happy life she and her husband enjoyed for the past 50 years.

>> translator: was he kind? not so much. but he was well-organized, and i didn't have mu tub tin ca ohi a hotel offered a plan for a couple to celebrate their 50th anniversary there. he was sayge ou hd o celebration there this year or next. looking back, he sounded eager to do it as ely assle, but i told him we didn't need to do it this year. he's gone before we had a chance to celebrate ouroln ddg nirsy. >> reporter: there is at least one thing she wants to do for her husband. >> translator: even if i find his remains, i'm se i won't recognize his face and features now.

but if i find his body, i want to cremate h a p his ashes in the family grave. so far i've not been able to do it. >> just one of the many people missing their loved ones. now in other news the defense and foreiinte o japan and the united states will call on china to take responsibility for regional stability and observe international rules in dli thlol allenges. nhk has obtained a joint draft statement by the four ministers to be announced on esday. it was drafted at a so-called two plus two meeting in washington, the first in four years. the statement says japan, china and the united states should build trilateral trust, and promote a pceful sution to the territorial issue of taiwan. says china's military capability could destabilize regional

serity, and sayshe two countries will try to discourage china from pursuing territorial claims. one of the china's most advanced ships is visiting singapore after patrolling the waters. vietnam and other countries are concerned that the country intends to increase its presence in the area. the ship arrived at a port in singapore on sunday. the 3,000-ton vessel can carry helicopters and belongs to china's meyaritime safety administration. it left southern china on wednesday. it says the visit is to boost ties with singapore and promote maritime safety, but other countries are leary about china's motives. it passed near the group of island, and vietnam and the philippines are among some of the countries engaged in territorial dispute with china over these islands. let's look at the latest in business news with ai.

ai, greece again in the spotlight. >> that's true, katherine. there's been some progress, but a lot rests in greece's shoulders. they will extend a plan to greece but thef to have new austerity measures first. the finance ministers ended a two-day meeting on monday. in addition to the immediate loan, the ministers agreed that banks and other private creditors would add to the new rescue package on a voluntary basis. however, the funds are extended if greek lawmakers approve new measures by the end of the month. this includes reducing the number of government officials and privatizing government-owned company. the commissioner ollie wren urged greece to do all it can to enact the measures. >> the greatest deal of responsibility lies on the shoulders of the new greek

government but also all greek political leaders. >> last week the greek prime minister reshuffled his cabinet in an effort to shore up support for the austerity plan which was widely opposed by the public and opposition parties. the japanese government has upgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in four months. the government says in its economic report for june that production and exports are improving due to the ongoing recovery in parts supply chains. it notes that personal spending is leveling off. as a result the report says the economy is showing what it calls upward movements, though it still faces difficulties due to the devastating march disaster. this compares with the may report that pointed to signs of weakness. on employment the latest report says the job growth market --

the job market, rather, remains severe and revised its assessment down. after a meeting of cabinet ministers in charge of economic affairs, economic and fiscal policy minister spoke to reporters. >> translator: as production activities recover, we expect the economy to improve. we have to be careful aboutdown side risks from a slowdown in the economy as well as shortages and the effects of the recent nuclear plant accident. now let's get a check on the markets. you dow ended higher for a third consecutive day helped by gains in some blue chip stocks. to see how stock are performing in japan, let's go to the tokyo stock exchange. good morning.

how are stocks trading this tuesday? >> very good morning, ai. in the first few minutes they're in the positive, so we're getting off on a good start here. the nikkei managed to outperform most asian indices yesterday on the back of utility costs that a resumption of power generation may help to cover electricity shortages. we're going to keep tracks of the electric companies which was actually up around 4% yesterday, tepco. that sector of the market will be a focus. tepco will continue to be in focus also as it tries to come to an agreemts with key lenders to maintain ongoing loan agreements as it tries to balance day-to-day operating costs with also the huge losses that it's incurring due to the crisis at the fukushima nuclear plant. now, market sentiment here in japan, apart from the fallout

from the march 11th disaster as well as domestic politics surrounding prime minister kan is dependent upon developments in the u.s. economy. due to that there's a lot of focus on the federal reserve meeting on wednesday, but more importantly on the words fromert the press conference following that meeting. recent data points to slightly weaker than analysts expected, and that's raised a few questions about the recovery in the world's biggest economy. turning to the currency markets, the strong yen is an issue, although slightly weaker at current levels, especially against the euro, around the 115 yen levels. still around the lower 80 yen to the dollar. that could hamper exporters, and we'll keep track of that. but some of these key sectors that i mentioned, the utility sector as well as key exporters keep track of all of that and

have a wrap for you later today. back to you. >> sounds good. thanks a lot. that was our market reporter from the tokyo stock exchange. nissan motor and mitsubishi motors say they will jointly develop mini-vehicles for the japanese market. the joint venture nnkv formed by the two carmakers began operations on monday. it plans to develop a minivan in two years. nissan and mitsubishi will share costs. they hope to capitalize on strong domestic demand for reasonably priced mini vehicles. >> translator: there is growing demand for small cars in asia and asean economies. in the future we plan to develop many vehicles for overseas markets. >> now a recap of the latest market figures.

>> that's it in business news. back to katherine. >> thanks very much, ai. the syrian president says he will continue to take a tough stance against protestors but willing to resume reforms through dialogue with the people. he made the remarks at damascus university in the capital on monday. he accused the demonstrators of conspireing to exploit syrians in an attempt to bring down the government. the president said his administration must eradicate

such a germ before it spreads through the society. but assad said he wants to listen to the people who are suffering from hardship. he said he plans to set up and participate in an organization to listen to their views. he also hopes toreate a committee to study constitutional reform and possibly granting amnesty to political prisoners. there have been growing anti-government rallies in syria. some 1400 syrians are believed to have died as the government has used tarnnks and armed helicopters to suppress the unrest. more than 10,000 have escaped to neighboring turkey. the u.n. security council is working on a draft resolution criticizing syria in response to increasing international pressure. the united nations says the number of people forced to flee their homes to escape war or oppression has risen to its highest level in 15 years. they released the latest report on june 20th to coincide with

world refugee day. the u.n. report says 43.7 million people were displaced worldwide in 2010. that's an increase of 400,000 from a year earlier. it includes 15.4 million who fled their home countries, and it found that afghanistan accounted for the largest number of refugees. 3 million people have left the country as the taliban gains strength and security conditions deteriorate. 1.68 million people escaped from iraq, and 770,000 from somalia. the number of refugees may be higher this year if libya is taken into account. the annual report says that many of the refugees are takie shelter in some of the poorest nations where relief supplies and services are limited. the head said developing countries cannot continue to barrett burden alone. he requested for cooperation

from the international community. welcome to your weather update. we're looking at the weather across asia and in the southeast, first of all, lots of tropical activity to watch out for. we have two tropical depressions now in the pacific, and they are also already bringing plenty of showers to areas like the philippines, taiwan, as well as southern china. it is going to continue to be looking pretty wet over the next few days. china will contend with two lows here from the west, and they will both bring showers. it looks like it will sfwens fi more in parts of mongolia and northeast china today. for japan, too, that seasonal rain front is plenty active. so we see more showers again spreading across a lot of country, even into northern areas and that will include those quake-affected areas.

showers continue to be widespread with thundershowers and stormier weather possible in the south. really well saturated area and more showers coming your way, so flood risk remains very, very high. highs for tuesday, 28 degrees in tokyo, to steamier than yesterday, and it's hot for seoul. 30 degrees here, and then 34 for beijing. over towards the americas and mexico, southern mexico that is, looking at this tropical storm. it is getting very close to the southern coastline, and likely it is going to become a hurricane in the next couple of hours as it hits the warm he were waters along the coastal areas. in those areas watch out for further strengthening winds, large waves and heavy rainfall over the next couple of days. heavy showers as much as 300 millimeters is possible near the core of the system. behind it, too, plenty of heavier showers. looks like we impact muff of the

southern coast of mexico. there's a lot of moisture with this storm system. across the americas this low if going to be the focus of activity tonight. heavy rain and some severe weather is going to be possible. it could trigger some strong storms, so we want to watch out for that. keep a close eye on your local watches and warnings. stays hot down in the south, 34 is your high. chicago heats up to 32 degrees. it's getting warm in new york, too, hitting the upper 20s on tuesday. as we look at europe, lots of rain is going to be still found here in the northern end of the scandinavian peninsula as well as parts of western russia. then a new low is coming in from the atlantic, so showers will spread across the british isles and into western europe. chances are it can intensify near the pyrenees and southern france. watch out for that. it's still hop in thot at the

iberian peninsula. very warm conditions. we're looking at temperatures in the 30s over the next few days. we have 27 for vienna and 23 degrees in kiev. so that's a look at your weather conditions for now, and i will leave you with your three-day outlook. this just coming in this past hour. a russian passenger plane carrying 48 people has crashed when attempting to land in the the northwestern republic. there are reports of casualties. they say the plane left moscow

and crass landed in petrozavodsk shortly after midnight on monday. they say the aircraft fell apart and burst into flames. reuters and ap say 40 were killed in the crash. for those of you just joining us a passenger plane crashed in rush in the northwest. they say the plane left moscow and crash-landed shortly after midnight on monday. the government says the aircraft fell apart and burst into flames. according to reuters and ap at least 40 people were killed in the crash. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." do stay with us. we'll be back with more updates at the top of the next hour. see you then.