♪ gloria >> helps for reconstruction. ♪ people in rome gather to wish for japan's recovery from the disaster one year ago. we have a number of stories as japan approaches the anniversary of the march 11 disaster. first, workers are carrying out a full scale cleanup around the plant at the center of the nuclear crisis. they're trying to rid the area around fukushima daiichi of radiation. places with relatively low radiation will be redesignated

as preparation zones so residents can return home as soon as possible. government officials sent the evacuation zone around fukushima daiichi at 20 kilometers. residents left the area last march. the town of naraha is the first among 11 municipalities within the zone to get a cleanup. workers are focusing on roads and public facilities that are vital for daily life. they're using power washers to decontaminate what they can. they say this can reduce radioactivity by about 80%. in the town of tom yoke ka, workers checked radiation levels along the joban expressway ahead of decontamination operations. >> we should face the fact that the procedure will be slow, but

we have to speed things up so troubled residents can return home as soon as possible. >> but many residents fear the homecoming is a long way off. decontaminating homes may take until the summer to start. it's been almost a year since the nuclear accident at fukushima daiichi. only two of japan's 54 nuclear reactors are currently running, but even these are to be shut down by late april. an nhk survey has found that nearly 80% of the municipalities that host or are near nuclear power plants are wary about resuming activities at those nuclear reactors that are offline for inspections. the study covered 20 prefectures along with 2 cities, towns and villages outside fukushima prefecture. each is within 30 kilometers of a nuclear power plant. 14% said they would now or eventually give the go ahead for resuming reactor operations. but 75% said they would not

allow a resumption for the time being or could not yet decide. and 4% said they would never allow a resumption. the municipalities expressed concerns about the effectiveness of safety measures at the reactors and complained the central government is not doing what it should. we also asked about what's important when deciding whether to retart the reactors. 63% replied a satisfactory investigation into the accident at the fukushima daiichi plant. 59% cited understanding by local residents, and 58% said new safety regulations. only 17% cited stress te isting which the government views as a prerequisite for deciding whether to resume reactor operations. industry minister edano says the government will decide whether nuclear reactors should resume operation after local municipalities accept safety assessments by experts.

in a live interview with nhk on thursday, edano addressed the issue of the country's nuclear reactors which have been shut down for regular inspections. he said priority should be given to safety rather than to the need for power generation. >> translator: a thorough scientific examination of nuclear facilities by experts is a precondition for resuming power generation. public safety must be confirmed through the objective viewpoints of experts. a decision to restart nuclear reactors will be made only after we obtain the support of local residents. >> edano also commented on tokyo electric power company, which is facing financial difficulties after the nuclear accident at its fukushima daiichi plant. he said if tepco receives financial assistance, it cannot tell the government to stay out of its business. edano reiterated his view that

if the company accepts public funds, the government should hold a majority of voting rights at shareholders meetings. the man in charge of energy policy for the european union says eu officials are drafting new safety standards for nuclear plants. guenther oettinger spoke to nhk ahead of the anniversary of the accident at fukushima. oettinger said eu officials are conducting safety tests that cover emergencies including natural disasters and airplane crashes. they' they're testing all nuclear plants in the region. he said the test results should be completed this june. he said eu members have different nuclear policy. german leaders, for example, decided to abandon nuclear power, other nations continue to build new plants. still oettinger said all members agree on the need to creature peen standards for nuclear

safety. >> the highest standards for safety and security. and i think with a new level of sensibility and of ambition to realize high standards as this new european approach. >> he plans to visit jan numbpa june to discuss policies. music students from a city in italy that has seen its share of earthquakes have reached out to people in japan. l'aquila was devastated by an earthquake three years ago. japan helped to reconstruct a music hall. more than 200 people attended the event in rome. among them italian president giorgio napolitano and former prime minister. the students sang mozart's "gloria."

>> translator: the disasters united the people of japan and italy and strengthened our friendship. >> japanese traditional dancers from iwate prefecture hit hard by the disaster also performed in the event. the ambassador said the japanese people were encouraged by the messages and the financial jen ross toty of the italian people. an earthquake that jolted a nation, the tsunami that swallowed a coastline. a nuclear plant that spiraled out of control. japan marks the first anniversary of the march 11th disaster. what lessons have been learned? find out in our special program, "lessons of march 11th one year on," sunday on nhk world. in a country he loves a

noted american professor has changed his nationality. japanese literature scholar donald keene made the decision shortly after the march disaster. now he's officially a japanese citizen. applause welcomed keene hayes visited his ward office in tokyo on thursday. the 89-year-old professor emeritus of columbia university has dedicated his life to japan. he has spent more than half a century studying japanese culture and literature. the quake and tsunami came as an enormous shock to the seasoned scholar. he made the decision then to spend the rest of his life in japan and sought japanese citizenship. >> translator: if i can do something good, it should be for my fellow japanese, not for myself. this will be another pivotal

day for europe's credit crisis. yonggi kang has more on that and other stories. good morning. you've been keeping an eye on greece for several months now. what'sappening today? >> good morning, catherine. well, greek lawmakers, as you know, have wrestled with their debt for many years, and even after all we've seen, they're quite not there yet. greece is set to announce the outcome of debt reduction talks with private sector investors on friday. holders of greek government bonds, including financial institutions, were given until thursday night to decide whether they would agree to a reduction of over 50% on the amount they will get back. that restructuring is part of the conditions for greece to receive 130 billion euros or over $170 billion. that's in addition to support from organizations including the european union. greece aims to secure agreement from at least 75% of the bond

holders. failure to meet this target could have an impact on the overall framewor of the additional bailout. the total amount of greek government bonds in question is over 200 billion euros. even if 75% of the investors agree, greece has indicated that it may force the remaining bond holders to accept the reductions. observers are concerned that such an action could cause confusion among investors and cast a shadow on the outlook for the european debt crisis. now staying with europe, the european central bank has decided to keep its key interest rate at a record low 1% to continue to support the eurozone economy. >> available indicators confirm signs of stabilization in the euro area economy. however, the economic outlook is still subject to downside risks. >> the central bank is keeping the rate unchanged for a third

straight month. this was decided at a board meeting in frankfurt on thursday. the european central bank has provided over 1 trillion euros in loans to banks across the region in december and february to help ease concerns about the debt crisis. now over to markets. tokyo stock prices are extending their gains on friday morning on optimism over an extra greek bailout. at one point the nikkei index regained the 9900 level for the first time in seven months. the nikkei average is currently at 9865 points. that is up almost 1% or 65 -- excuse me, 75 -- 95 points. investors are buying a wide range of shares on the expectations greece and most private sector bond holders have agreed to debt reductions. now over the currencies and

tokyo trading the euro regained some ground against the dollar and the yen on encouraging signs in greece. the greenback is changing hands at 81.60 to 64 against the yen while the single currency is moving at 108.23 to 29 against the japanese currency. hopes for a greek deal have lifted invest are sentiment. this is causing a shift away from the yen, which has up to now been seen as a safe haven asset. here is a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-yearapanese government bond. in corporate news, sharp is to build largescale solar power plants in japan. the company aims to earn stable revenue as legislation to promote renewable power generation is set to go into effect later this year. the japanese consumer electronics firm plans to build three large solar farms known as

mega solar plants. one in central tochigi prefecture north of tokyo. sharp will release a 6.8 hectare lot. the firm also is in talks with two municipalities, hokkaido in northern japan, to lease the two areas. the move comes as the so-called feed and terrify program is scheduled to go into effect in july. under the scheme power generating companies such as tepco must buy electricity from renewable sources. and here is a look at other market figures.

and that is all for now in business. back to catherine. >> thanks very much, yongy. u.n. leader have asked kofi annan to use his influence in syria. the former secretary-general is headed to damascus this weekend as a special envoy of the u.n. and the arab league. he'll do what he can to urge president bashar al assad and other forces to negotiate a political solution. annan met on thursday with arab league chief nabil el araby in cairo. annan said hostilities must stop immediately and he called on the syrian government to allow u.n. humanitarian aid activities in the country. some arab nations still support military intervention. annan says that would only make the situation worse.

>> i hope that no one is thinking very seriously of using force in this situation. >> annan will be the first u.n. special envoy to visit syria since anti-government protests began a year ago. thousands of people have joined the opposition over the last year. now a senior government official has resigned eed and defected. deputy oil minister abdo hussameddin announced his resignation on youtube. he's the highest ranking official to leave the assad administration since the uprising began. hussameddin said he served 33 years in various government positions. he said he doesn't want to end his life servicing the crimes of the region. he urged his colleague to abandon what he called a ship.

analysts say he may have been reaching out to members of the president's allawi muslim sect. many hold key government posts. next we go to patchari raksawong in bangkok. >> in myanmar it has emerged that a convoy transporting aung san suu kyi came under attack. the nobel laureate was unharmed but two of her bodyguards were injured. nhk world's jun kobayashi reports. >> reporter: the national league for democracy told nhk that the convoy of party leader aung san suu kyi was hit by a ball fired. the shot was potentially lethal. the incident happened about 7:00 on tuesday evening on the motorway some 140 kilometers north of yang bon.

aung san suu kyi was on her way back from campaigning in the capital naypyidaw. the window of a vehicle two cars behind aung san suu kyi was broke. two of her bodyguards were wounded. it has registered as a political party. it is challenging all the districts available in the election. in total 48 seats are up for grabs in the upper and lower houses of parliament and local assemblies. aung san suu kyi has generally been welcomed across the country by enthusiastic crowds. but there have also been incident of hostility such as the sabotage of campaign posters. western nations have called the upcoming vote a potential turning point, but it remains to

be seen whether myanmar will meet the expectations of the international community. jun kobayashi, nhk world, yangbon. nine pacific rim countries that make up the trans-pacific partnership are currenting holding trade negotiations in australia. the talks began on march 1st and include the united states, australia, new zealand and six other countries. some nations see the tpp as a way to counter the economic influence o china and, as nhk world reports from vietnam, there is a growing sense of urgency. >> vietnam is one of the countries taking part in the tpp negotiations. it also shares a border with china. china and asia launched a free

trade agreement two years ago. within a year china had become vietnam's largest trading partner. vietnam's primary exports to china are commodities such as grains, meat and seafood. >> translator: our ek port to china are growing. that's because vietnamese products are cheaper. >> reporter: but vietnam now imports more from china than it exports. assembled or processed goods such as electronics and still made in china are filling the deficit. >> translator: there's a constant stream of household electrical appliances made in china. >> reporter: vietnam fears its

economy risks becoming reliant on china. its urgently looking for new trading partners. >> translator: we have the advantage in the fields of food and agricultural products. vietnam is in the process of joining the world economy. we're targeting the markets of other tpp countries. >> reporter: as the tpp discussions continue, each country at the negotiating table has its own agenda. for vietnam, that agenda is to protect it rapid economic growth but without being so dependent on china. reporting for nhk world, han ohio. thailand is currently suffering from a severe shortage of rain just months after the country experienced record flooding. 21 provinces mostly in northern thailand are officially in a

state of drought. the situation started in early february and has affected many areas of the province. one district is especially badly affected. the river is normally seven meters deep but the water level has dropped to just one meter. the river is a major source of irrigation for agriculture. more than ten irrigation pumping stations along the river are out of action. the situation may deteriorate further unless the only dam in the district can be fixed. >> translator: the dam was badly damaged in a severe flash flood last year. if it can't be fixed by the end of march, we'll see lower levels of water. people who need water for their crops and daily lives will be affected. >> summer in thailand usually lasts until early may. people here look set to face

several more months without adequate supplies of water. thursday marked ternational women's day designed to highlight the rights of women around the world, but in afghanistan many observers fear the situation for females in the country is getting worse and not better. a proposed code of conduct drawn up by a council of clerics would allow husbands to beat their wives under certain circumstances. now it encourages segregation of the sexes, and women would not be allowed to travel without a male guardian. president hamid karzai has supported the code of conduct. he denied it would endanger afghan women.

>> on the streets, afghan women expressed alarm at the proposal. >> translator: we as women have economic problems and need to help our families. so this announcement by the cler ib ices council will create problems. >> the president's public backing led activists to fear that afghan laws protecting women may be scrapped. and that's going to wrap up our bulletin. i'm patch chary raksawong in bangkok. the mediterranean has been hit by some powerful storms. for more on that let's go to sayaka mori who has the world weather forecast. >> southern italy has been dealing with ongoing heavy rain because of a series of low pressure systems. let's go to some video coming

out of sicily. wednesday night brought a violent storm to the southern italian island of sicily in catania people tried to drive through flooded streets. you can see the broken road here. the heavy rain caused some structural damage. trains and flights were also stopped during the storm, which also delivered large hail. at this moment, sicily is experiencing a bit of a break in the rain, however, a system will be moving in to that area, so thunderstorms will erupt again from today and that will continue in to next week. so the risk of flash floods will become high again. meanwhile, clear contions for the rest of continental europe, but it's not good news for the iberian peninsula because it's been dealing with the most severe drought condition in decades here. up towards the north, wet and windy in southern norway a risk of avalanches is extremely high.

temperature wise not too bad. stokehome 6 degrees, 10 in berlin, out towards the east chill on the chilly side but temperatures moderate into next week. now into east asia, thundershowers developing over much of the east indochina peninsula. cambodiaill see heavy rain. the risk of flash flood is very high here. meanwhile, showers in the south coast will linger into next week. as for japan widespread showers to the southern half of the country but by saturday morning -- by saturday afternoon most of the precipitation should be gone. we may see some snow on saturday morning, 9 degrees in seoul, 8 degrees in shanghai and some light rain in taipei with 23 degrees. a long frontal line is still with you producing heavy rain and strong winds from eastern canada into the southern plains because of humid air from the

gulf of mexico lots of things are going on in areas like eastern texas, louisiana as well as mississippi. we're talking about severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds and even tornadoes, but as the rain comes in, temperatures will drop significantly. so the exceptional warmth will finally come to an end on your friday. we will show you the figures in just a moment. but behind that very dry, but as you can see a system is moving into british columbia and the pacific and northwest. stormy conditions are on the cards for friday. vancouver 8 degrees, 11 in seattle, minus 6 in winnipeg and out to the east cooling down to 9 in new york and 14 in d.c. but miami is still on the warmer side getting up to 28 degrees on your friday. here is your extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.