behind the curtain. north korean leaders say they will invite foreign experts watch them launch a rocket. leaders in north korea say they are trying something they are not accused of. they are trying to be transparent. they will invite journalists to see the launch of the rocket. space agency official said the guests will be able to watch from the controlling command center. the officials said they will see with their own eyes the rocket and satellite on the launch pad in the northwest province.

taking the unusual step of allowing observers into the command center during lift off was designed to show transparen transparency. the officials said the satellite weighs 100 kilograms and equipped with cameras to explore natural resources. itis expected to orbit earth for two years at an altitude of 500 kilometers. they have invited u.s. space administration to show them the launch is for peaceful purposes. political analysts say they are trying to divert attention away from what could be a test of a long range ballistic missile. u.s. officials say the launch breaks the terms of the deal they made with their north korean counter parts so they are suspending food aid. secretary of defense, peter lavoi told the house foreign

affairs committee the launch reflects a disregard for international rules. >> we have no confidence that the monitoring mechanisms to ensure the food assistance goes to the starving people and not the regime elite. the monitoring mechanisms, we have no confidence they would abide by the understandings. >> u.s. officials repeatedly urged the north koreans to halt their plan. they say the ban included the launch of a satellite. japan is hoping china will purr suede north korea to cancel the rocket launch. a top official will travel to china, which is believed to exert the greatest influence over the north. the the director general of the asian and oceana bureau will meet with china on the north's nuclear program. china has still not clarified

whether they believe the satellite launch violates a resolution banning the use of long range ballistic technology. the foreign minister urged his officials to make more efforts to close any perception gap with china. the syrian government of president bashar is continue in the crackdown on civilians despite agreeing to a u.n. peace plan. state television aired footage showing the president talking to government troops in the city of homs. the city was retaken by government forces earlier this month. also on tuesday, government troops fired artillery shells at another district. there are reports of casualties near lebanon to which many have fled. more than 80 people were killed

across the country on tuesday and wednesday. a local activist told nhk president assad is demonstrating he is not losing his grip on power and he has no intention of halting the crackdown. the special envoy announced on tuesday they agreed to a six-point peace plan. the plan includes a daily two-hour cease-fire and a ban on the use of heavy weapons. global investors are dumping stocks left and right. those who trade on tokyo markets are just beginning their day. let's find out if the trend is continuing. >> just to refresh your memory, it fell on profit taking t. dow jones fell as well because of slower economic growth globally. let's see how it's trading in tokyo.

we go to the tokyo stock exchange for that. good morning. what can you tell us at the opening this thursday? >> good morning to you. the trend does continue as kathryn was mentioning and as you touched on there, the dow was trading lower. durable goods rose but at a slower pace than expected. that coupled with concerns about slowing growth in china, led to a decline in industrial and energy related stocks. we'll keep track of those. let's look at the opening levels this thursday morning. you can see what i'm talking about there. they are trading marginally lower. continuing the declines we saw. investors are focusing on japan in the fiscal year that ends this week. a little bit of bookkeeping or window dressing, moves by japanese companies come into stock plays as well. many companies repatrioting

funds as well. it may affect currency markets. gold and oil prices declined there. as i mentioned, energy related stocks are trading lower n. japan, the added concern for energy companies to come up with sources other than iranian oil. it stipulates the japanese oil firms have to rejuice their imports from that country. it comes at a time when japan is close to shutting down most of its nuclear plants. a little bit of an energy squeeze there going on. we'll watch that sector carefully. >> another sector to watch carefully, the currency is a big focus here in tokyo. how and where do we stand on fx levels? >> currency is always playing into stock sentiment. let's look at the currency for the dollar/yen and euro/yen.

82 to 83. the yen is holding stronger there. the euro/yen 34 to 39. also, a little bit of a reflex reaction to weaker u.s. economic data. markets still, however, believe that the yen may continue to weaken. we may be seeing a short term yen buying. also, still to come, economic data out of the u.s. we are going to have gdp and consumer sentiment and consumer spending. the consumer is a sign of progress in the u.s. economy. we'll keep track of all that. back to you. >> thanks for that. that was from the tokyo stock exchange. euro zone nations are planning to expand their rescue funds amid concerns about the

region's debt crisis. a seen your eu official said the total amount of bail out money is 940 billion euros. itis about $1.3 trillion. this is possible with the operation of two systems in parallel. that's a temporary european financial stability facility. the new permanent european m mechanism that will be set up in july. the capacity of the current efsf is limited to 500 billion euros. calls to discuss the expansion of this fund have been growing due to speculation that if the fiscal conditions in spain and italy get worse, the sum will not be enough to rescue the nations. the debate continues on how much the funds should be increased. the expansion plan is to be discussed in copenhagen this friday. a swiss insurance company estimated natural disasters

created $370 billion in global economic losses. they said in a report wednesday tharks the march 11th earthquake and tsunami accounted for $210 billion, roughly 57% of the total. flooding in thailand causes losses of $30 billion while a quake on the south island of new zealand cost $15 billion. the insurance firm said global losses for 2011 exceeded those for 2008 which totalled $281 billion. a significant part of those costs came from a massive earthquake in china. the insurance bill from japan's disaster is currentliest mated at $35 billion. that's the largest for any earthquake to date. now, here in japan, tokyo electric power company is in a

money crunch and turning to the public for help. tepco will help compensate the victims of the accident at the fukushima daiichi power plant. they will file the request on thursday. tepco is planning to ask for a capital injection of $12 billion and about $10 billion to boost the reserves for compensation. the capital infusion is part of a business revitalization plan tepco is putting forward. they originally aimed to complete the plan within this month. that will likely not happen as a decision is pending on what percentage of voting rights are given to the government. tepco also opposes the government's plan to reshuffle the firm's management. tepco will be able to turn around the finances by completing the restructuring plan and getting government approval. without state support, the debts

could exceed assets in the next fiscal year starting april. here is a look at the latest market figures. that is the latest in business news. back to kathryn now. >> thanks very much. japanese scientists are cautious about possible earthquakes near the nuclear plants. many faults have become more active since last year's massive quake. there's a risk they could shift

simultaneously triggering bigger quakes. they asked the operators of six plants to re-examine the active faults near their facilities. the expert panel has been studying the possibility of faults for more than 5 kilometers. more than 5 kilometers apart becoming active at the same time. the phenomenon was considered unlikely until the march 11th disasters. three of the plants lie in fukui prefecture. simultaneous fault activity damaging the plants. the agency requested reviews of three other facilities all along the sea of japan. panel members and seismic engineer cautions prudence. >> translator: there is no absolute safety guarantee with nuclear power. the government and power

companies should explain the exact circumstances to residents. >> results of the reassessment faze could change standards at the plants. they could affect the designs of stress tests. the operator of the disabled fukushima nuclear power plant will begin monitoring radioactive contamination off the coast of the no entry zone collecting samples of marine life. tokyo electric power company made the decision in response to requests by fishing cooperatives who were calling for full fledged studies into the radioactive contamination on marine life in the area. fishing is bad within a 20 kilometers radius. they will collect fish and seashell samples from 20 locations within the zone. it will study the kind of radioactive materials it

contains and the density. similar studies have been conducted beyond the 20 kilometers radius. this is the first time a survey is being carried out within the zone. for the southeast asian nation of myanmar, april 1 brings a moment of truth. it's when parliamentary elections reveal the leadership's true colors. myanmar has been gets praise for the move toward democracy. what is the future? the question, the elections should answer is are myanmar's reforms genuine or no more than window dressing to keep things unchanged? >> reporter: for the elections, her and her party are fielding candidates for all 45 available

and lower upper house seats. the pro-democracy leaders campaign enjoyed high popularity. her speeches on a street of passionate crowds. in what some observers called a surprise move, the military backed government led by the president officially permits the nobel peace prize to return to the political front line. last december, the president allowed her opposition to legally reregister. he also announced the elections would welcome lawmakers and journalists. myanmar expert kudo visits the country last month. he was impressed with her popularity. >> the government does not have any incentives to limit the

activity of her because the target, the government wants to make this election as free and fair and they want to show they did the elections to the international community, even the majority of the 45 in contest this time. they are still -- they remain as minorities. 70% of them are noblized by the usdp, the ruling party. >> he says it motive in the reconciliation is to persuade the international community to remove the economic sanctions. >> understand the inference on the international community especially on the u.s. and other

countries. without her consent or without her cooperation, it is difficult to make the western countries to lift the sanctions. >> he says if she wins, she's likely to actively participate in discussions with the government rather than aim for confrontation. >> she decided to play the game set by the president and the previous. some people criticized that she is utilized by the present gove government. she takes this risk to achieve the long term transition. >> reporter: high on her agenda is amending the current

constitution that enables the military to maintain its influence. kudo says the world will have to wait a few years to see the transition to democracy. >> democratic kron decision may occur after the 2015, the next general elections. in the next elections, she will participate in a full-fledged manner and the usdp and then they will confront in the election. in a fast growing economy, people can find it hard to hold on to their traditions. not so in tanzania. women there and in east africa wear cloth garments called kongas. the old ways are on proud

display. we have the report. >> reporter: streets of konga the traditional clothes. not just in clothes, but scarves, wrapping and sleeves. one of the places where they buy their konga is here, downtown. one konga costs about $3. customers check the color, design and also this, a phrase written on the edge. the printed message is usually a proverb. it can be spiritual, humorous or personal. they are often given as gifts.

times are changing, though. many young women buy the traditional clothing old fashioned. she wears western dress where she goes to work in the city. when she gets home, she changes into her airy, comfortable wrap. >> translator: i look like a country girl when i wear one in public. >> reporter: she keeps one special konga passed down from her mother. >> translator: i always wanted children but it was difficult. when i finally had a daughter, my mother gave this to me. >> her mother had been worried about her. she expressed her love with a konga. she says she will pass her mother's gift to her own

daughter some day. for now, she's exploring fun, new ways to wear the traditional costume. she brought her favorite konga to a tailor. >> translator: i want the sleeves to be puffy and i would like a ribbon at the bottom. >> reporter: she's having a modern dress made from the african clothes. she pays $9 to make the dress. teletimes what the wrap costs. she's not the only one looking for a western makeover. as the economy continues to grow, an increasing number of women in the cities can afford to spend more on fashion. she is back at the tailors. she's happy with the way the dress turned out.

also, with the other garments she orders. >> translator: this bib is for my baby. when i wear this dress, she can wear the bib. we'll match. >> reporter: konga is part of tanzania's fabric, now, a booming economy is showing the colors for a modern world. nhk world. >> some beautiful colors there. nice messages. all right. commuters are enjoying sunny skies this morning in tokyo. let's go to rachel for the world weather forecast. >> hi, kathryn. it is looking lovely today. it is going to be nice and sunny across much of the country in japan. the clouds moving away. we have high pressure dominating.

hopefully, it will help the advancement of the cherry blossom this week. the kons b tant is a different story. showers heading across china. you can see 100 millimeters of rain in the next 24 hours. to the north, this is a winter storm system. we are not quite into spring yet in some places. strong winds and snow. it's skirting the northern coast as it pushes east. down toward the south, a taste of summer. we are going to be seeing our first named storm of the season. this is a tropical depression right now. it's been inching very, very slowly toward the southern coast of vietnam. it's developed a lot over the last 24 hours and looks like it become a tropical storm in the next 24 hours. it's enhancing the rainfall across the philippines. they are seeing the winds whipping in from the northeast right into the system and that

looks like it will persist for the next couple days as well. temperature wise, 17 in chongqing. cooling here. cool air filtering from the north. beijing escaping that. the temperature is going toome down by 10 degrees into friday. already feeling the influence of the cold blast. back down below zero for the high, minus two today. tokyo at 15. 19 tomorrow which will feel pleasant. to north america, you can see the rotation there. this is a big storm impacting the west. it's going to be bringing heavy rain to the coast from bc to central parts of california. also mountain snow, maybe 45 cent meters for the cascades. it's going to be acomp anied by strong gusts. something to think about if you are going through the mountain passes. the wind is bumping the snow around and reducing visibility.

through the midwest, severe weather, thunderstorms erupting. out to the mid-atlantic. it's going to pass quickly. we have precipitation to the northeast. now, the top third of the continent is experiencing very cold air. precipitation here turning to snow maybe about 10 centimeters for the northeast parts of new england. to denver, hanging on to the heat there. 23 degrees. it's very, very dry as well. the heat spreads toward oklahoma city. washington, d.c., 17 is not bad. cooler in new york city at 14 and 11 in chicago. in the northwest, still very chilly. nine in seattle and nine in vancouver. three up in winnipeg. all right, as we head to europe, still high pressure is going to be dominating in the central and western locations. warm toward the west. out toward the east, once again, fairly wet and chilly. some of the precipitation turning to snow further in

toward western russia here. there's a change in the pattern we have been seeing. a cold front descending across europe. berlin, you have been enjoying the summer-like temperatures all week. that's going to come down today to ten degrees. vienna managing to hang on to the warmth today. you will see the cold and rain descending down across toward the central mediterranean over the next couple days. like summer in the west. enjoy it while it lasts. here is the extended forecast.

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

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