lingering doubts. international inspectors visited iran. it is not clear if they could access the country's nuclear facilities. a team from the international atomic energy agency completed a three day inspection tour of iran. the three day inspection ended tuesday and inspectors were due to leave iran later in the day. they agreed to continue consultations. iaea hasn't commented on the visit. the team went to iran after the

agency raised a suspicion in the november report that iran carried out explosion tests and simulations to develop nuclear weapons. western nations are stepping up sanctions against iran over its nuclear program. iran is believed to be fending off international pressure by accepting the iaea team. the iranian media report that the team didn't visit any nuclear facilities. u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon urged the security council to press syria to stop the violence against antigovernment protesters. he made the appeal on tuesday during a visit to neighboring jordan amid reports that over 300 protesters have been killed in the past five days alone. he denounced the crackdown as a serious human rights violation and said it's crucial for the security council to act on the situation. >> i sincerely hope the security

council members will be united at this time, speak and act in coherent manner, reflecting the international community and reflecting the urgent and aspirations of the syrian people who have been yearning for freedom and dignity. >> on tuesday, the council began discussing a draft resolution that calls for syria to stop the crackdown and president bashar al-assad to step down. the united states and european nations aim to adopt the resolution at an early date, but some countries including russia prefer to promote dialogue between the syrian government and opposition groups. fiscal deficits are on the

minds of americans and others as well. ai, tell us about the situation in the u.s. >> the deficit continues to be extremely high. new u.s. budget report predicts the country will run a deficit over $1 trillion for the fourth year in a row. a report released by the congressional budget office said the deficit will likely amount to $1.79 trillion for the current fiscal year that runs through september. >> the pace of the recovery has been slow since the recession ended two-and-a-half years ago, and we project that it will continue to be slow for the next two years. >> the report also predicts that the unemployment rate will average 8.8% in 2012 and will worsen to 9.1% in 2013. this situation points to the tough task ahead to shore up the nation's finances while stimulating job growth. u.s. barack obama is set to

deliver his budget message later this month. he is likely to talk about the emphasis in bringing down the budget deficit. they are divided how to address the issue as the nation prepares for the presidential election in november. the eu will discuss if samsung breached anti-trust rules over the technology patents. the eu notified samsung and other countries that it launched a formal investigation. the eu said it expects the south korean firm is not giving access to the patents it holds for technology. this is essential for mobile phones. samsung and apple are involved in litigation around the world. they are both seeking

injunctions to block sales claiming infringements of technology patents. share prices are changing this morning. the nikkei index stands up by one point at 8,803. the broader topix is trading a bit higher with a gain of half a percent this session. sources say investors are less optimistic about the u.s. economy. that is after the economic data on consumer data and home prices were released. yen buying is a safe haven currency. the yen is trading at 76.18. the euro is 99.57 to 63. ongoing talk was greece and private creditors are not making much progress and that is

rekindling concerns over the debt crisis. this caused the slide of the euro and bringing the dollar down against the yen. a look at the latest long-term interest rates. the yield on the bench mark ten-year bond is down by one point. japanese's three leading shipping companies are likely to post losses for the first time in 25 years. for the business year ending in march, nippon yusen expects a loss of $340 million. they posted a profit of $1 billion the previous year. kawasaki is posting a loss of $307 million. housing starts from here in japan improved slightly in 2011, but remained below 1 million

units for the third year in a row. the land and infrastructure ministry said on tuesday that housing starts totalled 834,000 units last year, up 2.6% from the previous year. new condos posted 29% of growth on expectations on recovery and demand in the greater tokyo area. but the construction of apartments and other buildings has been sluggish since the collapse of lehman brothers in 2008 which triggered the global financial crisis. the need for energy efficient homes is likely to push up home demand, but recovery is unlikely because projects are susceptible to employment and wage trends. a recap now of the latest market figures.

>> that's the latest in business at this hour. members are investigating if china is tapping into a rich resource it may not own. new nhk video suggests that mining of gas fields in the sea. both countries agreed to talk about the field's development before moving forward. camera operators captured images last thursday of the drilling rig in the kashi gas field.

the countries agreed in 2008 to begin discussions on jointly developing the area. but negotiations stalled in 2010 after a chinese fishing boat rammed into the japan coast guard patrol vessels off the senkaku islands. we asked the oil and gas engineer to give us his take on the video. >> translator: the flames and smoke indicate they may be boring natural gas. that means china could be continuing development on its own. >> chief cabinet secretary says the unilateral development is unacceptab unacceptable. if the chinese government is moving ahead, they have no choice but to launch a protest. >> translator: japan and china

have been trying to cooperate to make the east china sea an area of peace and friendship. it is regrettable if there is a need to file a protest. >> some japan analysts say china may be trying to secure resources and expand the area under the effective control by building a structure in the east china sea. they say the japanese government should quickly hold talks with china to find out its intentions. recent photos show trucks from china carrying trucks of ricento north korea. the unusual aid delivery is the first of its kind since the death of kim john-il. kim jong-il. pictures were released by a south korean human rights group, said to be taken january 12th. they show large cargo trucks stacked with rice bags waiting at customs stations near the north korean border. the group quoted the driver of one of the trucks saying he had been told to bring the rice to

north korea from january 9th. the group said it confirmed a convoy of about ten trucks carrying rice moved through customs and into the north for ten days. the group saidhina rarely ships such large amounts of rice in january, and such aid usually comes in spring or fall. >> translator: the unusual timing may indicate that china made a political decision to send rice to maintain its clout with north korea under its new leader, kim jong-un. taiwan's president appointed a financial expert as the new premier. the taiwan economy has been slowing as credit fears in europe loom large. he announced that appointment, following his re-election and parliamentary election on january 14th. chen has

concentrated on economic stimulus measures as vice premier since 2010. >> translator: we will improve the distribution of income by changing the industrial structure. that's our important mission. >> other officials with expertise have also been appointed as finance minister and the head of an economic construction panel. the choices reflect his priority or economic stimulus policies. china has been plagued by problems with school buses, especially in rural areas. the issue may ignite criticism of the government. we have ryuta okutani reporting. >> reporter: in september, the school bus crashed in the

district of jiangsu in eastern china. 15 children were killed. it was later revealed that neither the bus drive nor the operator were licensed to run school buses. this accident was one of many involving school buses around the country recently. the stories have received media coverage because they involve unlicensed school buses carrying a number of students. after the accident in jiangsu, the authorities said the bus had a seating capacity of 62 and that 29 people were on board at the time of the accident. but after the media report that the bus was operating overcapacity, officials retracted their statements. they seem to grow concerned about the news reports. a large number of plain-clothe police officers were dispatched

to the victims funerals. when we tried to cover one funeral, we were forcibly turned away by black-clad men believed to be police. the men in black forced us away from the scene. they also followed our car. we were able to evade the authorities and meet one of the grieving families. the victim's mother says she has not been able to eat since the accident.

>> translator: i'm heart broken. she was my child. i want to be able to see her again. >> reporter: it's believed the police are trying to prevent the victims' families from talking to the media about the truth of the accident and to stop them from complaining about the government. why do school bus accidents occur so frequently in china? one reason is a nationwide measure of elementary schools. students from the schools that were closed have been integrated into new schools. the result is that many students must now commute long distances. this has increased the demand for school buses, but local governments in rural areas have limited budgets and manpower, so they are unable to provide extra transportation. this has given rise to illegal

operators who often run buses beyond their capacity. after the accident in jiangsu, local authorities stopped operating school buses all together. now the front gate is crowded with parents taking their children to and from school. >> translator: bringing my child to school is a bother, but there are no buses, so we don't have a choice. >> reporter: accidents involving school buses have caused great suffering, especially among children. the chinese government is under mounting pressure to end the tragedies. ryuta okutani, nhk world, jiangsu province, china. "newsline" is the place to turn to for japan past march

11th. "nuclear watch" brings you information on the nuke crisis and the efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch." come back home. that is the message from the mayor of a town near the fukushima daiichi power plant who wants all evacuees to return home in april. the kawauchi is located 20 miles southwest of the plant. it was evacuated last year after the disaster. all 3,000 residents were forced to leave. the evacuation advisory was lifted in september, but only about 200 people have returned. >> translator: i am making this declaration to ask and encourage residents to return home. i'm determined to overcome

hardships. let's create a safe village together. >> the mayor announced the village hall will be operational in march. elementary and high school students will be able to go back to school in april. the nuclear accident forced the evacuation of nine areas. many are worried. they say decontamination work is behind schedule. >> translator: my child wants to go home, but i'm worried about radioactive ty. i have mixed feelings. >> another concern is jobs. there were 95 businesses in the village, but only 35 have reopened since the quake. >> translator: the declaration is only the beginning. i'm not expecting results soon. i hope villagers come home soon.

maybe in two or three years. famous sake brewers held a sales event in los angeles. >> please drink my sake. >> the japan sake makers association and others in the industry invited about 70 restaurant owners to a tasting event on monday. nine long established sake brewers featured products from carefully selected ingredients. four brewers from tohoku region took part. >> translator: i'm from iwate. i decided to take part in the event to tell americans how resilient we are. >> the united states is currently the largest export market for japanese sake at 20%. the brewer has decided to focus

on non-japanese restaurants and supermarkets for potential new sales. deaths from snow-related accidents are increasing at a faster pace in japan as heavy snowfall hits northern parts of th country. the fire and management agency says 51 people have died in winter. excluding traffic accidents. 30 of them have died in the past 15 days. about 70% of the victims were people aged 65 or older. nearly 90% of the accidents occurred while victims were clearing snow from the roofs of their homes or other places. let's get more details from sayaka mori with the weather picture. welcome to your weather update. as we have been reporting, heavy snow has been pounding the western side of the nation. this here is quite exceptional.

we have about four meters high in sekiyama. this is about one meter higher than we see this time of year. then we have had 313 centimeters. in fact, more snow is expected. an active low pressure system will move into northern japan today and that will bring another 20 to 80 centimeters of fresh snowfall, gusty winds and thunderstorms. and tornadoes are not out of the question. waves could reach six meters along the coast. and after the system passes through, more frigid air will come in. that will bring another round of heavy snowfall. these situations could certainly raise the risk of avalanches and cause damage to crops and health

problems. now as we pull back, a high pressure system is in place bringing dry weather across most of china and the korean peninsula. showers are developing in the central section of china. temperatures today are looking like this. we are expecting 12 degrees in chonging. a low of 13 degrees. highs at 11 degrees in tokyo. temperatures will plummet this evening. moving on to the americas. a long frontal line is producing wintry precipitation along the u.s. and canada border. over the next 24 hours, ontario will get drier. down to the south, thundershowers are starting to develop over the southeastern corner of the united states. out to the west, a series of low pressure systems has been bringing stormy conditions in british columbia and the pacific

northwest. on wednesday, exceptional warmth is continuing in a wide area. we are expecting 18 degrees in d.c. and 14 degrees in new york and 9 degrees in chicago. finally, let's go over to europe. it very active across the south. in italy, snow in the northern sections and thunderstorms in the southern areas will likely continue throughout the day. it looks like a mix of rain and snow into the balkin peninsula in the next 24 hours. in turkey, things are gradually improving. that's good news. meanwhile, incredibly colder temperatures have been impacting much of the european countries. highs on wednesday, lots of blue and purple indicating sub zero temperatures. we are expecting minus 7 degrees in berlin. the usual high is 15 degrees.

in fact, those cold conditions will continue into the weekend. so if you are traveling to the area, make sure to bundle up. here is your extended forecast.

our lead story. a team from the international atomic energy agency completed a three day inspection tour of iran. iran's news agency said the inspection ended tuesday, and they were due to leave iran later in the day. they plan to continue consultations. iaea hasn't commented on the visit. the team led by the general went to iran after they raised

suspicion in a november report that iran carried explosion tests and simulations to develop nuclear weapons. they are stepping up sanctions over the nuclear program. iran believed to be fending off international pressure by accepting the iaea team. but the iranian media are reporting that the team did not visit any nuclear facilities. u.n. security counsel secretary has urged the anti-protesters. moon made the appeal on tuesday on the visit to jordan among the proper 300 protesters have been killed this week alone. he said it is crucial for the security council to act on the situation. >> translator: my sincere hope

is the council members will be really united at this time and speak and act in coherent manner reflecting the urgent mission and aspirations of the syrian people who have been yearning the freedom and dignity. >> on tuesday afternoon, the council began discussing a draft resolution that calls for syria to stop the crackdown and the president bashar al-assad to step down. some countries, including russia, prefer to promote dialogue with the syrian government and opposition groups. that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we'll be back at the top of the next hour.

want to feel cooler - or warmer - without running up your utility bill? you can reduce your bills with a flip of a switch on your ceiling fan. in summer, set your fan counter- clockwise. it stirs up the cool air that hangs near the floor in winter, just flip the switch again so your fan runs clockwise on low speed. this pushes the warm air down where you need it. and if you're buying, choose an energy-efficient fan. now that makes sense. >> "california's gold" is prod