hello there. welcome to "newsline". it's tuesday, april 9. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. >> former prime minister margaret thatcher made history as the iron lady. she led her country through strikes, terrorist attacks and a war. she died monday morning after suffering a stroke. nhk world has more from london. >> reporter: thatcher became britain's first female prime minister in 1979. she led the country for 11 years. she cut taxes and privatized state run corporations.

she relaxed financial regulations and fought labor unions. current british prime minister david cameron praised her achievements. >> real thing about margaret thatcher is that she didn't just lead our country, she saved our country. and i believe she'll go down as the greatest british peacetime prime minister. >> reporter: thatcher was in power when argentina invaded the falkland islands in 1982. she responded by sending a military task force. they retook the islands after 74 days of fighting. she worked with u.s. president ronald reagan to help end the cold war. >> she never changed her mind. and that was really important. that you stick to a policy, rightly or wrongly.

>> when she forced through and got the changes done. and her legacy lives on today. >> reporter: her policies were divisive. all agreed she changed the political landscape of britain. of margaret thatcher will be remembered as one of the 20th century's iconic politicians. nhk world. london. politicians who knew her well are reacting to the news of her death. former prime minister worked with her to promote free market policies. he says she was an outstanding politician. he says she shall be remembered for her work with ronald reagan. mikhail gorbachev also had praise. he first met thatcher in 1985. he said their relationship helped improve ties between their nations.

officials at the u.s. state department say north korea is hurting its own interests. authorities have pulled workers out of an industrial park located or operated jointly with south korea. north korean officials announced on monday that 53,000 workers will lead the complex. >> closing it would be regrettable given that more than 50,000 korean people are employed there and would not help them achieve their state of desire to improve their committee and better the lives of their people. >> white house press secretary jay carney says officials welcome efforts to persuade leaders to stop their threats.

>> we will work with them to get them to abide by obligations. >> a trip that been cancelled to washington. general james thurman was scheduled to testify before congressional committees. he will remain in seoul. new north korean premier has issued a fresh threat against the u.s. and its allies. >> if our supreme commander gives his final order to attack we will throw any invaders into the fire. >> he was speaking at an event. current leader kim jong un did not attend. he praised kim for launching a rocket last december. the international community says the rocket was a long-range missile. the premier says kim has carried on his father's legacy to raise

north korea's status. . prime minister benjamin netanyahu says they can only rely on themselves. israelis stopped on monday to pay their respects to victims of the holocaust. he addressed them at a ceremony a day earlier. >> translator: what has changed since the holocaust is our determination and ability to defend ourselves. we won't leave our fate in the hands of others even our closest friends. >> he's said israel is prepared to act unilaterally to strike

iran. they failed to bridge their differences over the iranian nuclear program. on a official in shanghai says another person infected with the bird flu has died. 24 people in china are known to have contracted the virus. officials are working to find out how it spreads. they have found no evidence that the virus can be transmitted from person to person. chinese officials say all of the infections to date are in people living in shanghai and three neighboring provinces.

health workers conducted a survey of 621 people who came into contact with those infected. none of them have contracted the virus. chinese authorities have contacted a team of experts. they will try to pinpoint how it's transmitted. authorities will keep w.h.o. officials informed. nay will provide information to the public. in 2003 the chinese government was criticized at home and abroad for attempting to cover up an out break of sars. experts from the international atomic energy will be visiting fukushima. they will inspect the plant from wednesday to friday next week. they will discuss with tepco and meet with the officials from the national energy agency. they're expected to suggest ways of dealing with contaminated water and they're checking

workers for exposure to contamination. they last visited the plant in may of 2011 to examine the extent of the disaster. they say it will take about 40 years to complete the decommissioning process. they have found no major changes in radiation levels around water storage tanks and no new leaks of contaminated water. it follows the discovery that tainted water had been seeped out. tepco has been monitoring levels near the tanks. one of them leaked 120 tons of water last week. tepco president met trade and industry minister to discuss the problem. >> translator: make sure no contaminated water enters the

pacific. don't let it go any farther. >> he says the utility will finish transferring the remaining contaminated water to other tanks in three days. exporters in japan may see more business coming their way and sooner from expected. what do expecters see up ahead? >> one of the measures to prop up the economy and it seems they are working hard to make that happen. officials are looking forward this week to the endorsement of their u.s. counterpart. this clear a major hurdle for japan's participation in the transpacific partnership in july. five members are yet to sign off

on japan's bid. they are the u.s., canada, mexico, australia and new zealand. pina expressed hi support for japan. preliminary talks are showing progress. the two sides have reportedly reaffirmed their position on key issues. the u.s. will be able to maintain tariffs on car imports for the time being. japan will allow fair competition in the insurance sector. the two parties reconfirmed japanese products will receive consideration regarding tariffs. those talks will be based on an assumption of mutual respect.

u.s. markets ended higher on hopes of income earnings report will boost sentiment in the biggest economy. the dow jones industrial average closed. for more on how is to bes here are trading, let's go to ramin who is at the tokyo stock exchange. hello. assignments inv it seems investors are shifting focus. >> investigators have been cheering by the measures taken by the bank of japan. now the focus is on how that will benefit cooperations. let's have a look at opening levels for april 9th, tuesday here in japan. both indexes trading in the positive in the first new minutes of trading here. just to recap for our viewers.

on monday let's not forget the bank of japan decided to buy $12 billion worth of japanese government bonds and that's the largest amount it's ever done at once. that was a big move in the markets yesterday. despite the move, despite the fact the bank of japan has just only started implementing the measures to boost japan's economy the nikkei has been powering ahead already. we've seen a weakening trend. that's really enough time for a lot of moves to have trickled down into the earnings reports for a lot of exporters and banks and other key sectors. we'll be looking out for that especially considering the fact that the japan's economy has been constrained by slow growth and a strong yen just last year. we're seeing a big reversal there. starting this week in the u.s. and in the following weeks in japan for blue chip exporters and companies investors really

want to see what the guidance is and the forecast and some of the key results there for this fiscal year in japan. >> we're seeing the yen weak and getting closer and closer to that 100 yen level. >> that's a crucial level. >> let's have a look at the dollar yen. 99.30 to 35. let's not forget that went from 92.70 just before the boj announcement last thursday to the current levels getting closer and closer to 100 level. these are numbers we haven't seen since may 2009. let's have a look at the euro yen as well. again levels not seen since january 2010. investors really keep selling the yen as they are betting it will continue to weaken. we'll see if the dollar yen can approach or break above that hundred yen level.

we've really seen some key levels broken quite regularly just recently. we're seeing the nikkei continue to power ahead. back to you. >> thanks for that report. the difference in views between germany and russia over the bank bail out in cyprus has become clear. russian president and german counselor met reporters after holding talks in hanover. pew tin sa putin said this is a special case and should never be repeated.

the people who brew and bottle traditional drink in japan are looking for new customers. sake has been losing its appeal especially among younger japanese. companies are trying to generate a thirst abroad. the drop in the value of the yen is helping their cause. >> reporter: more than 1,000 drinkers gathered last month to take part in this fair. this year the official booth showcasing japanese products was bigger than ever. a number of sake brewers were there to promote their product. sake exports have more than

doubled over the past ten years. that growth slow in recent years as the yen climbs to historic highs. now the yen is depreciating, sake brewers are hoping the demand will pick up again. at the trade fair visitors had a chance to sample the distinctive rich flavor of sake and took it with some food. >> very, very tasty. very different >> translator: thanks to the yen, we've been getting more orders from abroad in recent years. our customers are keener to promote sake. >> reporter: the lower yen could

billi be a lower opportunity to make it. he's working with four other local makers to boost exports of their products. the trade fair give them a chance to sample many different foods and drinks from around the world. >> translator: i'm checking which foods go best with each type. outside of japan it's not as well known as sake. he and his partners set up separate tastings during their visit to london. they invite leading wine distributers. they give detailed presentations of how it's made and the

variations and flavor according to the ingredient. >> i guess this kind of event is the beginning of opening up the market to the people and allow more and more people to be taught and explain what shochu is. >> translator: i was surprised how keen the businesses were to find out more about shochu. >> reporter: britain is one of the biggest exporters. if they can catch them in london producers hope it will lead to export growth around the world. nhk world, london. >> that's all for me. i'll leave you with the recap of the markets.

japanese lawmakers are struggle with a problem on how to make electoral maps fair. they will split over prime minister abe's approach. pollsters interviewed more than 1,000 people over the weekend. 66% say they approve of abe's cabinet but more people say he's following through on his

promises. the current plan is to cut the number of seats in five prefectures with a relatively small population by one each. more than 30% of respon dents approved of that plan. 17% were opposed. more than 40% said they neither approve nor disapprove. abe may be enjoying strong support, but he is under pressure to fix the system that brought him under into power. we have more on what's at stake. vote xpart has been a problem ever since japan adopted the current electoral system in 1994. lawmakers agreed there would be three single seat constituencies. the remaining seats in the sijle seat system are divided in proportion to each prefecture's population. but some deep populated areas

have managed to get more seats than the actual proportion. the supreme court demanded two years ago that the system be fixed. but the previous government failed to get to the root of the problem. take, for example, the election held last december. the value of the vote in the least populous district was two and a half times that. and people across the country filed lawsuits after the election. judges across the country ruled last month that some results were either unconstitutional or in a state of unconstitutionality. two courts said the results of the votes were invalid. now prime minister abe is trying to push through legislation to reduce the maximum disparity to just below two, a difference the

supreme court said is reasonable. opposition critics say this is still not fair. they say members of the ruling coalition are putting off needed changes. the supreme court justices will decide on the matter by the end of the year. if they declare the results are invalid, prime minister abe would have to hold another election. a senior official from the international olympic committee says there's no clear leader. executive director gilbert felle has inspected all three candidate cities. >> translator: the competition for the 2020 games is harder to call. it's like comparing the bid to 100 meter sprint without olympic champion usain bolt on the

track. >> he pointed out that beijing was the clear favorite to host the 2008 games. he said some ioc members will make up their minds after seeing presentations in july by each candidate city. members will vote for the winner in september. people in northern areas of japan are dealing with powerful gusts. >> a very strong low pressure system battered much of the country over the weekend. it's still lingering near hokkaido and northern japan, producing very strong winds yesterday. let's take a look at this video. intense gusts caused havoc in northern japan yesterday. gusts of 100 kilometers an hour flipped a truck in miyagi prefecture. luckily the driver was not injured. strong winds blew a prefab

house. the house landed on a man, the man was pulled out by neighbors but survived. so very serious conditions yesterday. but tomorrow, looking good. nice conditions and winds are dying down. so temperatures are going up. so that could raise the risk of avalanches in northern japan. rain is going to come back across the north but that is not going to be as strong as yesterday. another day of dry weather. because overnight cooling, we have frost advisories posted for a wide area that could damage crops. towards the west, looking dry for north korea, but snow on the cards for you across northeastern china and russia. that will be continuing for the next couple of days and toward the south cold air is coming in from the north. that's going to collide with warmer air. so rain is going to intensify over southern china once again.

one province may receive up to 100 millimeters of rain. flooding and landslides are going to be a big risk here. down towards the philippines we are seeing heavy rain, 88 millimeters of rain has been observed. more rain is going to be on the cards for you. baking hot day across bangkok. 38 degrees. but towards the north, cooler than average, in beijing 13 degrees. that's four degrees colder than what we saw on monday. okay. north america. we have winter storm warnings and advisories widely posted for the northern and central parts of the u.s. central parts of, excuse me, the rockies and the plains. and as you can see, the isobars are very close to each other. very fierce winds are blowing. so that's why we have blizzard warnings posted for parts of colorado as well as utah.

they may receive up to 50 centimeters of snow. we could see freezing rain as well as ice pellets on the central plains on tuesday. but until then we have a risk of severe weather, severe thunderstorms, damage being wind and tornados here towards the south, dry, warm, so very windy. so we have the risk of fire weather posted for parts of texas into arizona. and we're going to be seeing very cool temperatures across central portions of the u.s. look at this, denver, your high on monday was 19 degrees. but on tuesday, minus 6 degrees for the high and minus 1 for wednesday and oklahoma city going down to the single digits on wednesday. so a sharp temperature contrast. meanwhile we're going to see very warm temperatures on tuesday. here's the extended forecast.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.