in the dark. a panel reveals japanese government leaders were unaware of a system to predict the radiation of -- the spread of radiation after the disaster last march. an independent panel says then-prime minister naoto kan did not know about a tool that may have helped in the aftermath of the march 11 disaster. speedi is a computer system that can predict the spread of radioactive materials. panel members say kan and those around him did not even know it existed. the six-member panel of experts is expected to issue its report on the disaster during the day.

the report says kan and four other politicians blame science ministry officials for not informing them about speedi. the government developed the system with a budget of 12 million yen or roughly 150 million u.s. dollar. former cabinet secretary yukio edano said he found out about the system in a media report several days after the disaster. at the time the plant's number two reactor was spewing radioactive materials. edano said bureaucrats told him later that they decided not to inform him about speedi because its calculations were not credible. they cited lack of precise data on radiation. the panel charges in the report that speedi was used as a tool to assure local residents about d to obtain their consent to build the plant. the report also says the system should have been used more effectively to reduce residents' exposure to radiation as much as possible.

the panel's report confirms they were preparing for the worst in the wake of the accident. it said cabinet members considered evacuating tokyo. nhk obtained the details of the report in advance. the panel interviewed 300 people including japanese and u.s. government officials. the document says the director of fukushima daiichi informed the government three days after the accident that cooling system failures could cause a meltdown of nuclear fuel rods. the information was reportedly sent to cabinet members and atomic energy experts. then-economy minister yukio edano was also chief cabinet secretary. he says in the report that authorities were on stand-by to act if the fuel rods continued to be exposed to the air. that would have released a large amount of radioactive material and prevented workers from entering reactor buildings. edano also says he feared problems could occur at another

plant in fukushima and that tokyo might have to be evacuated. he says the cabinet was told of this scenario but na the government chose not to make it public. the independent report stresses the need for discussions on how the government disclosing information during emergencies. russia's state television says security services have foiled a plot to assassinate prime minister vladimir putin. channel one says two men have confessed. they were arrested last month in ukraine. the report says the suspects were acting on instructions from a chechen separatist warlord. the seized a computer containing details of the president's motorcade. the opponents say the report is a stunt to raise support for putin in the presidential election. russians vote on sunday. putin's spokesperson dmitri peskov denied any link between the plot and the election

campaign. putin is criticizing u.s. foreign policy in his last week of campaigning before the election. putin made remarks that were published in a russian newspaper and he said russia cannot accept u.s. plans for a ballistic missile defense system in europe. he said it would only protect the western part of the continent. the article says military intervention in countries such as libya would just make authoritarian regimes want nuclear weapons even more. it cites north korea and iran as examp examples. the longtime ruler of yemen has stepped down. ali abdullah saleh resigned after 33 years in power and months of protests. saleh passed the national flag to the new president abd rabbu mansour hadi. he expressed support for the new government but did not apologize for his authoritarian rule or

his crackdown on protesters. more than 1,000 people were killed during an uprising that lasted nearly a year. thousands of protesters were back on the streets at the time of the ceremony. they called for the prosecution of all saleh relatives who still hold positions of power. >> translator: we demand that the new president works to achieve the rest of the goals of the revolution. he should restructure the army and security forces. >> hadi was elected last week with the support of those ruling and opposition parties. for the first time south korea has publicly urged china to treat north korean defections as a humanitarian issue not a political one. the move followed reports that chinese police repatriated several north koreans. they were part of a group of about 30 who fled to northeastern chinaarlier this month. south korea's deputy of foreign

affairs and trade minister kim bong hyun made the request at a meeting of the human rights council. >> the issue of the asylum seekers and refugees from the dprk are not a matter of political consideration but a matter of humanitarian and human rights consideration. >> a chinese representative said that the issue is an internal affair. the chinese government treats north korean defectors as illegal immigrants. a representative for north korea claimed the south is trying to use the issue for propaganda. south korea's government will see how much international support it can gather before deciding its next move. in south korea, families of north korean defectors and human rights groups staged rallies over the issue. they called on china not to return the defectors to the north because they could face execution. a leading credit rating agency downgraded greek debt.

ai uchida from the biz desk with more of these details. why the ratings cut? >> it's highly doubtful of the credit swap which is part of the greek bailout. u.s. credit ratings agency standard & poor's downgraded the rating of greek debt to selective default on monday. this is the first time that a major ratings firm has made such a decision on greece. the greek government is now asking private sector investors to take a voluntary writedown on their greek debt holdings of about 50%. s&p says it cut the country's rating because the procedure could be forced. however, the downgrade will not likely have any great impact on the greek bailout because its framework has already been decided. euro group president jean-claude juncker said in a statement monday night that the downgrade of that debt rating was within the scope of assumption. he said he was prepared for the downgrade when a plan to ask

private investors for a writedown was formed. german chancellor angela merkel has rejected a call by g-20 finance ministers to expand the european bailout fund. merkel told germany's parliament on monday that her government sees no need to debate increasing the capacity of the european stability mechanism. she cited unimprovement in the finances of italy and spain. the group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs on sunday called on the european union to strengthen its system to support severely debt stricken counties in the eurozone. expanding the mechanism's capacity is high on the agenda for the eu summit starting on thursday, but without the backing of the fund's largest contributor, germany, eu leaders are likely to struggle to agree on an increase. and on the tokyo foreign exchange, the yen is regaining ground against the dollar and the euro. the dollar is currently at 80.32

to 34 yen. euroo/yen at the bottom of the screen is 1007.67 to 69. investors are buying back to yen to lock in gains. this follows a recent surge in the dollar and the euro against the japanese currency. s&p's downgrade of greek government bonds is having only a limited impact on the market as it was within expectations. and on the tokyo stock exchange prices are dropping this tuesday morning. investors are selling export-related issues to lock in profits as they follow the yen takes a break. the nikkei index at 9550. that is a loss of 0.9%. the broader topix down 1% at 827. sources say the bankruptcy yesterday of japan's bigger chipmaker elpida memory is pulling down prices of semiconductor related issues. elpida is untraded with sell orders this morning.

the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond is down one basis point. chipmaker elpida memory filed for bankruptcy on monday. the focus is whether they will seek restructuring support from a domestic company or fall under the wing of an overseas partner elpida wracked up 5.6 billion in libts making its bankruptcy the biggest on record among japanese manufacturers according to a private research firm. >> translator: the price of dram chips has plunged to one third of what it was a year ago. the yen's unprecedented strength and last year's floods in thailand also affected the company. the environment surrounding us has deteriorated rapidly. >> japan's only dram chipmaker and the world's third largest,

elpida received public funds after the financial health worsened following the lehman shock four years ago. the company has been seeking a possible tie-up with u.s. and taiwanese chipmakers buthe falling yen has added to its financial woes. the japanese government has also been reluctant to extend its support beyond march without fundamental restructuring of the firm's operations. following the bankruptcy filing, stock exchanges in japan and taiwan have decided to delist elpida's shares. let's look at other asian markets that are open th hour.

all right. that is the latest in business. back to catherine now. let's go bangkok to find out what's making headlines in the region. >> afghanistan days of chaos and outrage following the burning of the koran by u.s. soldiers escalated on monday when a car bomb exploded near an american military base. the taliban has claimed responsibility for the deadly blast. nhk world reports from kabul. >> reporter: the explosion occurred in jalalabad in kandahar early monday morning. a car bomb went off near the gate of a u.s. military base. local government officials say at least nine people were killed including afghan soldiers.

another 12 were injured. the taliban issued a statement claiming responsibility. it said the attack was retaliation for the burning of the koran, and it planned to continue its violent response. protests have been ongoing throughout afghanistan since the incident. as of sunday, at least 30 people have died with 200 more injured. president hamid karzai urged afghans on sunday not to heed the taliban's call for attacks against the u.s. military. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: last week u.s. president barack obama apologized to the afghan people for the burning of islam's holy

book. but his apology drew criticism from his republican rivals in this election year. senior afghan officials including the minister of defense were scheduled to visit washington this week to discuss the timing of the withdrawal of u.s. troops, but the visit was canceled. the officials said they will stay in afghanistan to deal with the crisis. president karzai has expressed understanding for the emotions of the afghan people over the burning of the korans. public outrage remains high. reporting for nhk world, kabul. next to malaysia where a new refining plant for rare earth metals has become the target of environmental protests, raising

questions about its viability. the rare elements are critical to production of many modern technologies. manufacturers have been looking for new supplies in a market currently dominated by china. nhk world reports. >> reporter: thousands of malaysians protested on sunday. they called on australian mining firm to suspend construction of a refining plant for rare earth metals. local residents fear that radioactive waste from the facility could harm the environment. >> translator: we are worried that negative effects may emerge after 10 or 20 years. we're concerned about the next generation. >> reporter: the factory behind me is the rare earth refinery plant. the construction is more than 90% complete.

the malaysian government has already decided to grant an operating license to the australian company, but protesters have filed a complaint. they are asking the court to prevent the refinery from starting operations. rare earth metals are essential for manufacturing mobile phones and motors for electric vehicles. more than 90% of global supplies come from china, but china has restricted exports forcing firms in japan and other countries to look elsewhere for reliable sources. the malaysian facility was considered one of those potential new sources of rare earth metals, but if recent protests continue, it could make this new supply route difficult to operate. reporting for nhk world, malaysia. and that wraps up our bulletin for day.

business is drying up for home builders in the city of asahikawa in northern japan, so one contractor is branching out to mongolia. many people there complain their houses don't keep out the winter cold. the japanese builder plans to draw on his firm's technology and experience in building winter-proof homes. >> reporter: about 1.1 million people live in ulan bator, mongolia's capital. the economy is growing rapidly. and the number of residents has increased by 50% in the past decade. as the city population expands, the demand for housing increases. but most homes do not keep their occupants warm during the frigid winter. >> there are gaps around the windows. the walls are thin. and the floor is cold.

>> reporter: typical mongolian homes don't have enough insulation. drafts come in from around the windows and they're freezing. almost minus 4 degrees cells suss. but a japanese company is putting up homes that keep out the cold. the builder targets the growing number of wealthy mongolians. he builds houses that cost more than $1 million. but they have good insulation, and they are air tight. this is the company president. he started looking to mongolia when sales fell in the city. his company is the first from japan to sell houses to mongolians. >> translator: through technology developed in our cold climate, i'm confident we can offer mongolians more comfortable living.

>> reporter: the new houses aren't finished yet, but more than 60 visitors have already viewed them. here she meets the president of a trading company and his wife. >> translator: the insulating materials used in mongolian buildings are ten centimeters thick. ours are 15. >> translator: the windows have three layers. >> is the glass heat insulated? >> yes, of course. >> reporter: at the moment only the floor heater is on. but it gives off more than enough heat. >> translator: we are looking for something a bit more comfortable than our present home, and we like this one. >> reporter: he's building nine houses, but already he's signed provisional contracts for three. he feels he'sting a good

response from prospective buyers. the company also plans to build houses for middle class and even low income people. the firm will target people who gave up their nomadic life. now they live in portable units on the outskirts of the city. the government plans to provide 100,000 homes for them. his company has to cut costs, but he is confident he can still use high technology to build warm homes. >> translator: as the city's population declines, we don't expect as much demand for houses. but the potential in mongolia is great. the country may become the center of our business, and hopefully what we do here will help create more business.

>> reporter: building homes in a foreign land. in today's economy, some japanese businessmen must go to great lengths if they are to keep their business alive. >> builders from china and korea have been operating in mongolia for some time now. he hopes to get the edge on his competitors by offering inspection and maintenance services to homeowners after they bought their houses. all right. speaking of the winter cold, tokyo might be getting some snow. rachel ferguson joins us now with the world weather forecast. >> hi there. yes, indeed, there is going to be the appearance of some snow across much of japan. from west to central location we have some precipitation moving in, and some very frigid air hanging around as well. that means snow even here in tokyo we can see some from the midnight hours in through wednesday morning. now in behind that we are going to see showers disappearing for

the southeastern edge of china, but as you can see, they reapair pretty quickly coming in there. very short break then more wet weather for the southeast. as we head inland towards the mountainous regions in the southwest, of course, that precipitation will be snow. as for the philippines scattered thunderstorms and heavier rain for you in mindanao. in hong kong, a little chilly. you can see those greens spilling down towards southern china. we have 8 degrees in seoul but warmer air will help those temperatures to build getting 10 degrees for the high in seoul on wednesday which is 6 above average. 7 in tokyo, we also have 7 forecast for shanghai today. all right. on into north america. now we are going to be seeing a big storm affecting many of you today. this is the low that's just going to be spreading right across in towards central plains. i'm going to show you that setup in just a second. out towards the east we're

looking fine. the low is weakening off and moving away from new england and southeastern canada. showers are settling down for you also in the florida peninsula, but it's really this system that's going to be taking shape right across the plains and down towards the gulf coast. this is what we're looking at here. looks like a bit of a mess. so lots of wet weather stretching right out towards the mid-atlantic by tuesday. this is our severe area of thunderstorms. could contain hail, maybe even an isolated tornado or two. then this band of freezing rain towards the upper midwest and coming into the northern plains here and plenty of snow right along that top band as well. out towards the west, it's going to be a little bit lighter, but we have a new storm coming in that will bring heavier snow just there for the western mountains. looks like a bit of a rough day for many of you. but towards the south, temperatures will be building even though we have those storms and the rain coming in. lots of warmth is flowing into that low pressure. so oklahoma city, you're

actually staying dry. 20 degrees. it will be warm and very windy as well. 23 for you in houston. managing to stay dry in los angeles today as the storm starts to move further towards the east. then 7 degrees for you in seattle. you'll be having the rain. a bit warmer, winnipeg at minus 3. we head on into europe. many of you experiencing fine and clear conditions across the west. that's actually going to include the british isles as well. it may be quite blustery as we see the winds left over from this high pressure system that is taking aim at the scandinavian peninsula. as it gets warmer the england snow will be turning to rain for parts of sweden and also norpway. rain as it hits the connent, but it will switch over to snow because the temperatures are still about the freezing mark or below. in fact, down in the southeast for areas like tokyo, the temperatures are going to continue to sink over the next couple of days.

and for ankara 5 degrees, that will be turning to snow. and 0 for the high by friday. subzero temperatures for highs in moscow as well as kiev. 13 in london as well as in paris. spring-like temperatures in the upper teens across siberia and not too badly in rome either at 12 degrees. that cold air will hit athens. 6 for the high. here is your extended forecast.

our lead story this hour, an independent panel says then-prime minister naoto kan did not know of a tool called speedi that might have helped in the aftermath of the march 11th disaster. the six-member panel of experts is expected to issue its report on the disaster during the day. the report says kan and four other politicians blame science ministry officials for not informing them about speedi. the government developed the system with about 12 billion yen or 150 million u.s. dollars.

former cabinet secretary yukio edano said he found out about the system in a media report several days after the disaster. at the time, the plant's number two reactor was spewing radioactive materials. edano said bureaucrats told him later that they decided not to inform him about sedi because its calculations were not credible. they cited a lack of precise data on radiation. the panel charges in its report that speedi was used as a tool to assure local residents about the safety of nuclear power and to obtain their consent to build the plant. the report also says the system should have been used more effectively to reduce residents' exposure to radiation as much as possible. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.