authenticity. for me at least, i don't know whether you also had the impression, there was something very touching about his first speech, first of all addressed to the romans, because he is bishop of rome, talking to the people in his own diocese, the diocese of rome. the key things being we will join together on the path of love.

historic choice. roman catholics meet their new pope. a humble man from argentina woke up as the next pope.

the cardinals have elected jorge bergolia as pope. the pope appeared before thousands of people waiting for a glimpse of him in st. peter's square. the choice surprised many of them. he's the first pontiff from the americas. the first outside europe in 1300 years. he's 76 years old. 115 cardinals from around the world went into seclusion to make their choice. they decided on their next level in the fifth round of voting.

pope francis has been working with the poor for years. he posing abortion and homosexuality. he's credited with modernizing the church in argentina. he came second at the conclave that elected his predecessor. he inherits a wealth of challenge, competition from priests and a sexual abuse crisis that's undermined the authority of the church. members of the china's national people congress are putting the finishing touches on a project that's been in the works for months. they are voting to confirm their new leader. leader of the country, the military and the communist party. north korea officials are responding to remarks by south kor

korea's new leader with new threats. authorities say they have no choice but to retaliate. park's comments echoes the confrontational policy of her predecessor. the disagreement is no longer valid and the north is not restrained by past nonaggression pacts. it refrained from criticizing park by name. the south korean president spoke last week at a military ceremony. she said any country is poubds to base self-destruction if it concentrates solely on strengthening its military power such as weapons. the capture of a warship sparked a cold war incident. now people will get a chance to

relive what they view as great victory. they're about to put the ship on display the the north state run television has broadcast footage showing the korean war museum undergoing major renovation the the pueblo will be put in a specially built dock for viewing. officials say the museum will reopen in july. by exhibiting the vessel north korean authorities want to encourage anti-u.s. sentiment in order to boost unity. investors in new york stocks are on a >> small gains but gains nonetheless. the dow jones rose for a nineth

day in a row as retails showed signs of improvement. the u.s. benchmark edged up 0.04% to close at 14,455 on wednesday. to see how stocks arer performig this thursday let's go to ramin. >> some of the data out of u.s. has pointed to a path of recovery. it should help boost blue chip companies here in japan. let's have a look at the opening levels for the nikkei and the topix for march 14th. 12,326 for the nikkei. let's not forget that the nikkei

for for a second day in a row on wednesday but not enough to cause investors to question the recent rally which has seen the nikkei rise in the previous eight trading days. the 1.1% gain in retail sales if february which was the highest gain in five months may boost consumer electronic firms such as sony and we also have to watch developments in china as well and also concerns surrounding china's tax policy. also hong kong's hangsang has

shed around 534 points just in the last three trading sessions. that's also a big focus there. >> following u.s. retail sales, where is the dollar yen trading now? >> big focus. let's have a look at some of the pairs there. the dollar is being bought on the positive u.s. retail sales data that we just went over. euro remains under pressure. data on euro zone industrial output was weaker than many analysts expected. the lower house of japan's parliament will vote on the candidates for bank of japan governors. all nominees are expecting to take office. the big office will be on what the incoming bank of japan

governor will take as its first step in monetary easing policy measures at the next doj meeting in april. that's going to be a big focus. >> thanks a lot for that update. democrats and republicans have released their job budgets for next fiscal year but the plans show little change. these are tax hikes for the rich. democrats want a review of tax deductions for the wealthy. they aim to reduce revenue by billions of dollars and cut spending by the same amount. barack obama aims to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over four years. republicans want a cut of $4.6 trillion. they plan to achieve that goal by slashing social security programs and abolishing the

health care reform promoted by the president. they're opposing further tax hikes on the rich. the country is running on a provisional budget and there's no sign the two parties can narrow their differences any time soon. president obama said the country's finances will be on sustainable footing for the next ten years. >> we are only do revenue if we gut medicare or gut social security or gut medicaid. if that's the position we're probably not going to get a deal. >> that's the latest this hour. we'll have a check on market

figures. dcefense and security firms are competing to win the order. foreign businessmen have starts to invest in iraq encouraged by reconstruction projects. two japanese automaker are displaying patrol

police. sou south korea has the largest at the show. >> it's very important for us because the demand is growing after it's finished. >> a growing number of south korean firms are operating in iraq. an ancient jewish king is making a comeback. the bible mentions him in connection with jesus christ. now he's the focus of large scale exhibition which is upping the friction between israelis and palestinians.

>> reporter: the grand bathtub made by hallowing out a rock. these are some of the finds in the show about the king. it took officials at the museum about four years to prepare the first ever exhibition of this scale on the king. it runs for an exceptionally long eight month until october. >> it's very nice. very impressive. you get some information about the history of israel. >> reporter: the culture assets have stirred a controversy. at issue is the place where the

artifacts were found. this is a fortress bit by king harold 2,000 years ago. this issue is this is in occupied territory of west bank. israeli scholars dug up the relics. however, the convention prohibits the unilateral excavation of culture sites in occupied ics the exhibition has made israelis angry. >> they think they can do what they want. >> reporter: they have no ill intentions and the artifacts will be put back where they were found. >> our exhibition is not

political. the museum i vested huge efforts and expertise on preserving and restoring and reconstructing archaeological finding. >> reporter: pal tin yaestinian increasingly uneasy. east jerusalem has been under israeli occupation for decades. they are now excavating ruins from king david some 3,000 years ago. some jewish people say the remains support their claim over this part of jerusalem. they have designated the area around the ruins as national park. they plan to expand it.

city officials have ordered 88 households in the area to leave. he's one resident that has been told he must go. buildings have been illegally constructed. the order is place for decades. >> translator: they want to kick us out. >> reporter: authorities have demolished the home of his next door neighbor. the family was not given chance to remove their furniture. some

>> it's not just a scientific tool but a political tool. that's enough for us to legitimate our belongings. >> reporter: any archaeologist would be excited to dig in this part of the world. it's connecting with historical perceptions and this come my colla complicates the presence.

people who work in the energy industry are searching for ways to slash our use of fossil fuels. some of them are excited about so called green plastics. most plastics are made from petroleum. some have come up with ways to make them from plants. >> reporter: the thai government has been organizing this international export since 2006. it's to promote the plastics industry. this plastic items are made from substances found in plants. they are attracting interest throughout asia. >> here in bangkok it's all about brim plastic. a lot of foreigners come to thailand also to attend conference.

>> they product. for thailand it can be more expense for this production. >> reporter: thailand will develop biplastics industry. it already has many companies that make ordinary plastics. farmers in thailand grow large amounts of sugar cane. thai government officials have looked at these factors and developed a road map for industry. >> every year we have 28 million allow them. it can be used as bio plastic. thailand has great potential to

be the center bioplastic company in this region. >> reporter: the strategy has attracted interest of major companies. one of them is nature works. a leading u.s. manufacturer. executives are studying plants to build their factory in thailand. >> we sell more in asia than we do in europe. when we were thinking of building another plant and we decided to build this plant not in united states, for us asia was a very likely place. two years, three years from now thailand will be one of the global hubs. >> reporter: products made from bioplastics are making their ways into the hands of environment talanironment tallal environment tala conscious

customers. officials with the company have big plans. >> we launched last year and started our first deliveries in august. we are now delivering throughout thailand to nearly 50 hotels. we're looking at a more mass market product. we have big plans to expand and the demand has been there. >> reporter: the market still faces obstacles. products are more expensive than ones made from normal plastic. the market is still small. as demand grows, thailand believes the trend for green products will give bioplastics a sunny future. nhk world, bangkok.

they're shopping for an occasion celebrated on march 14th. it's a spin off of valentine's day. it's one of the highlights of the year for japanese women. we have the story. >> reporter: you don't usual lip see men in tokyo using their lunch breaks to go shopping. at this time of year it's a common site. they seem to be struggling but they hope to find a special gift for that special someone. >> translator: what should i get her? i don't know what to choose. >> translator: what is the key to a woman's heart? >> reporter: these guys aren't shopping for a birthday or an anniversary but an occasion called white day. unlike in the west, valentine's day in japan is celebrated mostly by women who give

chocolates to men either for love curtesy or social obligation. men are expected to return the favor one month later on white day. japanese first celebrated white day in 1978. the national confectionary industry created the day to boost sales. marketers first suggested marshmallow treats hence the name white day. mens have upgraded to jewelry, flowers and even lingerie. >> translator: white day isn't just an occasion to thank someone for their value type's day gift. you appreciate them every day so maybe you have a hard time expressing it so why not convey those feelings with a gift. >> reporter: retailers say the white day campaigns are much

shorter and less extravagant than those for valentine's day. sales for both occasions are almost the same. $1.1 billion for valentine's day and $1 billion for white day. the reason, japanese culture. j not returning a gift is seen as rude. these guys are ready to go. >> translator: i'm excited. >> translator: i really hope she likes my gift. white day may have started out add a simple sales strategy but it's evolve into a day that symbolizes love and gratitude. >> the japanese celebration has spread to other parts of east asia. people in south ykorea, china ad taiwan have adopted their own

versions of white day. commuters in tokyo are leaning against the wind this morning. >> it's probably not a good idea to wear a hat or a skirt today because winds will remain quite strong during the morning hours. today northerly winds so it's going to be very chilly. as for precipitation we saw heavy rain showers along the pacific coast. most of the precip should be gone. dry conditions and less windy conditions should come back this afternoon across much of japan. similarly dry as well as china due to this big high pressure system and this is packing cold air so temperatures will be cooling down below seasonal in many locations. at 8 degrees on thursday. shanghai should be at 13 degrees this time of year but only 10 degrees today. tokyo it was 21 degrees for the

high yesterday. dropping down by about 10 degrees today. however, things will be recovering to more typical levels on friday and warming up significantly over the weekend. all right. as for north america blizzard conditions have eased across the northeast. however, heavy rain is continuing across the west as well as the northeast. we have seen drenching rain continuing across the coast. an additional 120 millimeters of rain is likely into thursday. snow will be piling up across the mountains for thursday and wet conditions continuing into the weekend. the risk of avenue flooding is higher.

again, getting dry across the eastern sea board but strong northerly winds are coming in. that's pushing down temperatures and also causing heavy snow showers for the great lakes region and the north appalachians. the rest of the u.s. looking dry up towards the northwest. 27 degrees in l.a. 30 degrees in las vegas. we should be at 20 degrees this time of year so 10 degrees colder than seasonal. it's a different story across the eastern seaboard. very chilly. only 4 in new york city and 7 degrees in washington, d.c. on thursday. all right. finally into europe it's the middle part of march but it's still like midwinter. it's still blanketing the western part of europe. lowering temperatures and causing heavy snow showers. the heaviest snow will be found in northern france. the good news is snow is starting to die down. out towards the east more of a

concern is this low pressure system has been dumping heavy rain and creating strong winds, thunderstorms and even the risk of hail. the danger of flooding is getting even higher. as for temperatures below freezing for berlin and 4 degrees in paris with freezing temperatures overnight. 11 degrees in rome where rainy weather on thursday. that's it for now and here is your extended forecast around the globe.