tracing the source. inspectors in china focus on a market in shanghai as they fight against a bird flu outbreak that's infecting and killing more people. chinese authorities are racing to get ahead of a new strain of bird flu. they detected it in pigeons. since last month in shanghai.

medical officials say the two latest victims are a poultry transporter and a woman with no fixed occupation. one of 31 people who recently had contact with the woman is feverish and under treatment in an isolated hospital unit. agriculture ministry officials say inspectors detected h7n9 in pigeon samples collected at a wholesale market in shanghai. it is highly likely to have the same origin as some of the patients. they've closed the live poultry section at the market and they are investigating where the pigeons came from and where they ended up. chinese health officials still don't know the source of the bird flu infection. they have no evidence of human to human transmission. scientists around the world are better trying to understand this new strain as they race to

develop a vaccine. researchers in japan say the virus is different from other bird flu strains. experts at the national institute of infectious diseases analyze gene sequences obtained from patients in china. they say h7n9 effects cells in the nose, throat and upper part of the respiratory tract, areas where it can easily multiply. they note other strains grow inside the lungs. the experts warn the genetic characteristics suggest existing influenza vaccines would not provide effective protection. the spread of bird flu in china has prompted health authorities to take precautions. people in vietnam know the deadly and damaging impact of the virus. so government officials there are taking no chances.

it was chiefs in japan are trying to figure out what authorities will do next. intelligence reports the north korean military have moved a medium range ballistic missile to launch site. they are considering calling on the north to refrain from any further provocations. they will meet next wednesday and thursday in london. they are expected to confirm their governments will implement a corporation that include stronger sanctions against the country. they may release a chairperson statement warning north korea it will further isolate itself by making any new provocations. the statement would also call on authorities to take concrete steps to resolve the situation. north korean leaders have threatened a nuclear strike on american targets and said they

are in state of war with south korea. cabinet ministers in japan meet on friday to improve new measures. they are expected to add two years to a ban on north korea ships entering japanese ports. the government plans to freeze the assets of north korean banks in a coordinated effort with the u.s. investors have praised the latest move by the bank of japan. the boj is pumping more money into the system to tackle deflati deflation. we're waiting to see how that will affect the economy. what do you see? >> investors and economist have different things in mind. we are seeing the stock market shoot up. we're waiting to see what happens in the mid to long term. japan central bank has decided on new monetary easing measures. now the issue is whether they

can get the policy to work its way down. >> translator: measures that the central bank have a different level of monetary easing in quality and quantity. >> the central bank will double the monetary base or the money supplies to the markets to about $2.8 trillion in two years. to achieve that goal the boj will expand the buying of long term japanese government bonds by more than $510 million. some market players are worried this could trigger a rise in long term interest rates. that's because some investors think the boj is shouldering the government's debts. >> translator: we will buy government bonds for monetary

easing not to offset the budget deficit. >> bank of japan officials say they will exchange views closely with financial organizations to execute smooth purchases of government bonds. market players have reacted with enthusiasm to the boj easing measures. a leading expert has sounded a note of caution. the boj has taken a big step towards implementi ining econom. he said uncertainty and risks lie ahead. he explained changes in prices result from economic trends but economists are trying to change prices first. >> translator: there are hurdles. will the prize of goods rise? will there be pay rises? it's not known whether the economy will recover in the

future? >> he also referred to the central bank suspension on bond purchasing. he said a future drop could cause concern in japanese markets. investors on u.s. markets too were cheered by measures taken by the boj. the dow jones closed at 14,606 up. let's go to ramin at the tokyo stock exchange. the boj took out all the stops yesterday. we saw a positive reaction in the markets. are we seeing that momentum continue this friday morning? >> what a reaction indeed and debut for bank of japan chief. he announced pressures that not only met market players expectations but in some cases exceeded them. let's have a look at the opening levels for today. we can really see a strong positive reaction.

13,1 13,171. topix up 4%. that's the first time we're above 13,000 since august 29, 2008. the boj has not done enough in its main mission. that was then. let me just remind viewers about the shift in the markets yesterday that before the boj announcement went through we saw a 559 point swing from the low of yesterday to the end of the high of yesterday's session on thursday. now let's have a shift to currencies as well. dollar/yen 96.48 to 50. thursday traders really originally betting the yen had weakened enough leading up to

that meeting but the actions of the bank of japan proved them different. let's have a look at the euro as well. >> positive factors all around. we do have one more item to get through today. tell us about that. >> exactly. let's not forget the u.s. jobs numbers due out later on friday. given what we've seen with the private numbers, the focus is even more on the u.s. jobs numbers later today, friday. here in japan the focus is on earnings reports and how the weaker yen is expected to play into the exporters numbers. it's almost ten yen weaker than on january 1st as you can see

there on the charts. we're going to be really tracking that and how that plays into stocks. i'll be back later for more details about how shares and various sectors traded today. >> thanks a lot. we're seeing japanese government bond yields at record lows. take a look.

people have puzzled over the mystery of dreams for ages. it helps them make accurate guesses about what goes on in our mind when we sleep. the team at atr conducting the experiment. the researchers monitored the brain activity of three men as they slept. they woke up the subjects every several minutes after they fell asleep and quizzed them about their dreams. they repeated the procedure more than 200 times. the researchers classified the con tent of the dreams into about 20 categories including cars and food. after that they showed images to the subjects when they were awac a awake and examined them. >> translator: the findings

could help us figure out how we think. they may lead to the development of a technique that would allow people to operate a computer with their brain. >> researchers say they could not precisely guess shapes or colors of objects in dreamsment they say they'll continue their studies in this area. people who work in japan's fishing industry are still hurting. local authorities haven't been able to do much to improve the situation. some fishermen are turning elsewhere for help. nhk has more. >> reporter: this man takes pictures under the sea near disaster areas. he captures images of the rubble

from the great east japan earthquake. the water is still cold in february. but this doesn't hold him back. cars, homes, they all got washed into the sea by the tsunami. but amid the devastation, he finds life. in february, a collection of his photos was published as a book. ever since, he's traveled to events around japan. he shows his photographs and talks about the condition of the seafloor. >> translator: without that wreckage, the ocean looks scary at first. but in the end, the photos gave me hope. that was good. >> translator: i want to show new life emerging in the sea near the disaster area. i believe these photos will give

hope to people who may have been discouraged before. >> reporter: at the end of february, he traveled to iwate prefecture. some fishermen had invited him to take pictures. the fishery is here among japan's top producers of abalone, sea urchin and other luxury seafood. but after the disaster, a lot of debris was carried out to sea. the fisheries have plummeted to 30% of previous levels. city officials had all the concrete rubble dumped into one area. they wanted to find out if sea urchin and abalone would attach themself to the debris. but the plan was put on hold.

they hope business will resume first. so they thought he could give them a sense of what's going on under the surface. >> translator: last year we were only able to try harvesting sea urchins twice. at one point, we hardly caught any. >> reporter: he will check if the sea urchin and abalone are living around the debris. about eight meters down, he sees some wreckage. as he approaches a large chunk, he discovers that a few sea urchin are living on it. the the but he only found one abalone. however, seaweed which abalone

eat is growing amid the rubble. afterwards, he shows his pictures. >> translator: if the rebuilding gets under way, i think it will be a good fishery again. >> reporter: some are worried that the seaweed will not grow among all the different kinds of rubble. two years after the disaster, these photos are raising the hopes of japanese. they also provide important information about the state of the fisheries. nhk world. they will help refugees who

fled the country return home. the jica team traveled to a district in the north part of the state. they signed a cease-fire last year with insurgents who had been fighting for independence for more than 60 years. due to progress many of the estimated 400,000 refugees living outside the country now hope to return home. >> translator: we would like to ask the japanese team for assistance in creating long term jobs for returning refugees. >> jica team members will work closely with officials to help the refugees.

the republic citizens have long practiced tibetan buddhistism. now with communism behind them believers are trying to revive their religion. nhk has more. >> reporter: the region was once part of the empire but was integrated into the russian empire about 300 years ago. the mongolians became a minority in the republic but their culture and heritage has been passed down over time. buddhism came to this place during mongolian rule. the republic is now home to more

than 60 temples supported by a large number of devout buddhists. it's a temple that dates back about 200 years. when we visited the people were celebrating the new year. since the collapse of the soviet union the number of worshippers have been multiplying. the burning of this straw hut is part of the religious tradition that's been kept alive. the purpose is to burn away old clothes placed in the hut. many buddhists still remember

the depression in the soviet era. this priest witnessed it. there was once a time when they were visited by russia's rulers. after the revolution order the destruction. >> translator: everybody knows that temples were destroyed and ruined. now we experience the consequence of that period. >> reporter: once the soviet union collapsed they could resume propagating their region. one young priest has just returned from a temple in india. today there's an active effort to solidify the temple as a

religious center. >> translator: india is an important destination for us to learn from our great teacher >> reporter: religious activities can be seen at the grass roots level. one example is the buddhist organization. in are what is becoming a new trend is center now longer license temples. the head wants to make this a casual place where people can chant sutras and study. russian garment has shown no sign that it will release. apparently officials don't want to upset russia's relations with the chinese government.

>> translator: for us being buddhist means or spiritual leader is his holiness the dali lama. we're trying to invite him but it's not possible. >> reporter: the demise of socialism has given tibetan new life. time now to gaet a check on the weather. residents in south eastern areas of china are dealing with heavy rain and flooding. >> people in the southeast are dealing with heavy thunderstorms. it's the rainy season. an additional 100 millimeters is likely into tomorrow morning. that will raise the risk of flooding and landslides even

more. we have the good news. the stormy weather will taper off starting wednesday evening. sunday should be a good day to go out. now as for the korean peninsula as well as japan looking dry today. nothing to complain about. we're expecting highs above average temperatures. we're anticipating very heavy rain, thunderstorms, gusting winds and tornadoes. take extra precautions against strong winds. temperatures today looking quite warm. 21 degrees in tokyo. tomorrow it will go down to 10 degrees in seoul. shanghai will see a cooldown into saturday. 13 degrees is your expected high towards the south. 35 in manila on friday. now in north america severe weather is still continuing across the florida peninsula.

we're talking about severe thunderstorms, gusty winds and hail and even the risk of tornadoes. now most of the florida peninsula will get improved. however the southern tip will remain quite unsettled into your friday. now the storm is expected to move along the eastern seaboard while producing heavy rain and snow showers for the appalachians. out toward the west a new system is drifting over the north western part of u.s. as well as the western canada producing rain for the coast and heavy mountain snow. here are your highs mild across the west. 22 in los angeles and 22 in denver. the eastern seaboard will see a warm up. 16 in washington, d.c. it will go up even more as we head into

next week. that could enhance the blooming of cherry blossoms in d.c. wet, chilly. to the north very chilly as we have been reporting. i want to show video out of germany. temperatures remain in near freezing in much of germany. they have been turning around. they are waiting for better weather. this march was the coldest in 130 years. for a very long time north eastern germany has been blanketed in snow. very chilly out there. germany will see a slight improvement in temperatures as we head into the next few days. however, things will remain below average into next week.

towards the south looking quite mild and very warm. 25 degrees expected on friday. here is extended forecast.

and that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.