a warning from afar. foreign ministers from nations are warning north korea stop its provocations. they're wararngng thehe north kn leadership not to conduct a test. a spokesperson from south korea says they could launch a missile during the day. foreign ministers without nuclear weapons are urging the north koreans not to go ahead.

the ministers come from different countries. >> translator: we need to send a strong message to north korea it won't benefit from provocations. >> the ministers made the appeal in a joint statement. they criticized north korea for undermining regional security in february by carrying out another underground nuclear test. they urged officials in pyongyang to take international warnings seriously, obey international security sanctions and refrain from other actions. residents of seoul are going about their business in the face of threats from the north.

>> south korean naval commanders aren't taking any chances. they've deployed a second military vessel. east of the peninsula. it's equipped with an advanced tracking system. they sent another radar equipped vessel to the west. they say they're ready for whatever might come. last week north korean forces moved a midrange ballistic missile to the coast. the defense personnel are making preparations of their own. the maritime defense force have dispatched two destroyers to the sea in japan and have radar that can track missiles and carry sm3 interceptor missiles. they ordered any debris that might be deployed and deployed two missile launchers at the

defense ministry in tokyo. other units deployed the same defenses at other bases. meanwhile, inside north korea, they're acting as if it's business as usual. organizers will go on with an annual marathon despite the tensions. the state run news agency reported sports tournaments will be held to mark the birth of the nation's late founder, kim il sung and residents are expected to run through the streets saturday. some say an international sports event seems inconsistent with recent warnings and officials have warned diplomats to leave the country for their own safety. a powerful earthquake has killed more than 30 people in southern iran. the u.s. geological survey says a magnitude 6 quake hit and at least 37 people died and 850 were injured.

their towns and villages are about 20 kilometers from the epicenter. iran's only nuclear power plant is located in the province under the supervision of the international atomic agency. the epicenter is more than 100 kilometers away. he said the plant is designed to withstand strong earthquakes. investors have been enjoy ing a buoyant time on the market. the latest numbers and more. what a time for investors. >> it certainly is. the index has been hitting record highs and stocks have been making hefty gains. investors were hitting strong earnings reports and dow jones industry average closed at 14,673, up 59 points, and the nasdaq at 3,237, up 15 points. for more on how stocks are

trading here, let's go to the stock exchange. how are tokyo stocks reacting this wednesday morning? >> valentine's day good morning to you. come to the opening in a second. investors came to see if the rise in stock prices translate into solid corporate earnings especially given that forecast by many u.s. companies three months ago or the previous quarter were rather muted. let's have a look at the opening levels. for april 10th and both indexes in the positive still well above the 13,000 level for the nikkei. stocks have improved dramat dramatically and we have to see if earnings reflect that positive sentiment. the focus has been on the move set in motion by the boj last week with aggressive easing measures having weakened the yen further and pushed the nikkei

above the 13,000 level. the upward direction or momentum is pretty defined in that sense. however, investors found the chance every now and then, as we noted yesterday, just to take a little bit of profits on some of the gains after the recent surges higher. we also saw the dollar retreat after getting close to that 100 yen yesterday. >> we have seen the dollar come off a touch. where are some of the currencies trading this wednesday morning? >> crucial importance where the dollar yen is trading. we did see a trade as high as 99.66 sud in tokyo and it has backed off as they trade around the lower levels. 99.08-10. traders are likely to wait for further cues to breaking above that 100 level a level we haven't touched since april

14th, 2009, almost four years ago. the euro backed off a touch, talking about the euro. after having broken above 130, the highest in three years and three months, 129.58-63. moving on, attention may turn to minutes of the federal reserve meeting march 19th to 20th due out today, wednesday and members want to know if fed chief ben bernanke discussed any changes to its current bond buying program and give an indication where they think the u.s. economy is headed. that could be of great importance for markets as well. back to you. >> thanks for the report. at the tokyo stock exchange. well, soaring prices of a weaker yen are boosting luxury item

items with the yen. consumers across different age groups are buying especially jewelry and expensive watches. >> the president of j. front retailing says not just the wealthy in 50s and 60s but younger people in 20s to 40s are also buying high prizced items. >> translator: our customer base is widening to people who had not shopped in our stores before. the recent surge in stock prices may have stimulated the appetite to buy expensive items. >> he also cited a change in fashion trends. he said colorful merchandise is becoming more popular unlike during a recession. meanwhile, the president of a department store said brand name products from europe are selling well despite their higher prices caused by the weaker yen. he indicated the job market needs to improve for personal spe spending to rise across the

board. high income earners are buying more but general consumer sentiment hasn't record. officials at u.s. giant microsoft are urging windows xp users to up grade and say they will stop support for the 12-year-old operating system in one year and will shut down all extended support for windows xp on april 9th, 2014. they say virus action and unauthorized access could increase on those running the system. >> translator: we'll be stepping up efforts to inform private users because most of them don't know about the change. want them to upgrade their software or replace their computer computers. >> market reachers found as of last november, about a third of japan's pc were running windows xpc and and more than a third by businesses.

i'll leave you with the market figures. workers at fukushima daiichi have found another leak in a pool storing contaminated water. it's the third pool with the same problem. they found a leak last week in one of the seven large pools they built. they began transferring water from another pool next to it and they found that, too, was leaking. >> translator: we have to finds another location on site to

store the contaminated water. >> in addition to the seven pools, the site has hundreds of tanks. the tanks and pools store about 300,000 tons of contaminated water. but water is seeping in, adding 400 tons of water every day and new challenges for the workers. more from nhk world's reporter. >> reporter: this plant has sprung leaks. lots of them. water is seeping in from underground from walls damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. once inside it's contaminated. so white is performing a seemingly endless task, removing water to storage tanks and underground pools. >> translator: there have been leaks since the state of cold shut down was achieved. but the recent case is probably the largest ever. >> reporter: the pools sit about 800 meters from the shore. but there's no fear that the

water leaked directly into the ocean. tepco investigators suspect the problem lies with the design and construction of storage facilities. each pool is six meters deep. three days of water proceeds cover the sides and bottom. crews poked a hole in the seats so they could insert a sensor to monitor any leakage. the holes themselves became the problem. the water pressure pulled the seats down and widened the holes, allowing the water to leak out. trade and industry minister motegi asks them to fix the problem. >> translator: i would like you to make sure that contaminated water won't leak into the sea. >> reporter: the assurances from tepco have not calmed residents.

>> translator: the leaks should never have happened in the first place. regardless of whether or not the water has reached the ocean. tepco should deal with the matter more seriously. >> reporter: crews face another problem too. they're running out of space. they've been filling up the pools and hundreds of tanks, but the tanks are nearly full. and the integrity of the pools is in question. so the people who run the plant are searching for somewhere else to put water that just keeps on coming. nhk world. an armed group has ambushed a convoy of u.n. peacekeepers in

south sudan. 12 people died. the you need nations says the attack occurred in the eastern state of jongli. the victims are five indiana soldiers and seven civilian staff members. nine others were injured. >> the secretary general is appalled by an attack on a convoy this morning. he calls on the government of south sudan to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice. >> south sudan gained independence from sudan in 2011 after more than two decades of civil war. fighting has continued between government forces and armed groups. observers believe the groups are backed by the sudanese government. a government group killed 85 south sudanese nomads. indiana may be big but it isn't a big soccer country.

it's ranked only 143rd, by fifa. but with the professional soccer league kicking off there seven years ago the sport has been growing in popularity. one japanese player is playing his part. "nhk world" has more. >> reporter: one japanese player active in the indian professional soccer league. soaka, 33, is a striker. although cricket has been the most popular sport in india, there have been some changes in the last few years. the popularity of soccer has been driving, mainly among young people. after live broadcast of soccer games became more common, more people are getting into the sport.

this is a professional football league. and more than 2,000 spectators are here. i league, the country's professional soccer league was founded seven years ago. there are total of 40 teams in its two divisions, holding games right across the country. s soaka first came to india in 2009. and it's a sport season here this year. after playing in the j league in japan, he played for teams in singapore and thailand, but he didn't have much success. he thought about retiring but finally came to india to try his luck. he did well in both offense and je defense. and to years ago was awarded the mvp of the year. >> translator: i came to india

as an overseas recruit. so i really want to get results. >> reporter: his team, most of the players are young, without a lot of experience. so he's expected not just to play well but also be a senior crew and help them out. >> translator: scoring goals helps the team. in bad situations and good situations. very hard working. >> reporter: despite high expectations he has not played as well as he would have liked this season but has still scored 9 goals. and he's had some pain in his left leg, but he's been playing any way. such is his importance to the team. this is an important match. if the team loses, it will be out of the title race.

soaka is playing through the pain. early on in the game, he's aggressive and making every effort to help the team. but 26 minutes into the first half, he tears a muscle in his right thigh and is substituted. he has been favoring his right leg to cover the injury on the left. >> translator: the team has high expectations of me, and i know i'm the main force going forward. so i have to be in the game. >> reporter: the team lost 1-0, but he says he still intend does give his best and keep playing as long as possible. nhk world, india.

life is tough for japan's stressed out salary men. the white collar employees work long hours as they try to make their way up the corporate or bureaucratic ladder. maybe things could get a bit easier with basic ninja skills. that's the think iing of an unlikely internet phenomenon. >> the economy seems to be on the upturn, but for the white collar workers there's no letup. one salary man is drawing on his inner ninja. he's still an ordinary businessman, but with his ninja headgear on, he's become a super hero on facebook. >> translator: modern life is tough. work in sales aren't going well,

look at all those pigeons. ah, they soothe my soul. at times like this you need to draw on your ninja swing skills, all you salesmen out there, take a breather, and then get back in there! cheers. after my hard work all week, i deserve a reward for doing as well as possible. >> his facebook photographs capture the emotions of modern working men who don't have an outlet for their feelings. they have struck a chord with other salary men. his real name is taguchi. he works as an it salesman. >> it's a cold world out there. >> he has faced many obstacles. the country he worked for went under. and now he spends his life trying to fill sales quotas.

>> translator: i think everyone has problems and stress. if you don't let them out a little, they can break you down. ideal with my weakness through billion becoming this character. >> his photos are taken by a work colleague during time off. they express the worries of a salesman feels. he draws on emotions he's felt when work isn't going well. >> translator: try to look more forlorn like you're really cold. >> translator: modern society is cold and harsh. one thing that brings a moment of relief is having a can of hot coffee. that's a very important moment. >> a can of hot coffee revives the spirit when minds and bodies are exhausted.

the people who relate to his photos most are other business men of his age. this man is a manager at a job listing magazine. besides supervising five people, he has to make his own sales. he's on the go every day. >> translator: i think many salary men feel anxiety as they work. sometimes i feel like i'm the only one having a hard time. but when i see this character i know i'm not alone. it makes me feel a lot better. >> tagachui has started holding get togethers with fellow salary men he's met via the internet. today, 70 people have gathered from around the area and further afield. >> translator: i've got a hundred times more courage.

>> translator: that set me up for work tomorrow. >> i just want to improve my skills as this character. i want to help others feel better. >> sal la nene man expresses a way of life that hall bills men wish they could say out loud. on the streets of fukuoka he'll be doing his best to boost the spirits of his fellow salary men. >> salary men in tokyo are enjoying their commute to work under sunny blue skies. what's ahead in sunny warm weather. >> good morning. it's going to be a calm day here in tokyo with seasonably warm temperatures. we are in the middle of spring, a flower season. let's start off by showing you this beautiful video. this is the park in fukuoka prefecture. the rare yellowish green color of these flowers was named after turmeric spice.

while they blossomed earlier this march, these flowers appear at the normal time in early april. beautiful flowers. now today it's mostly dry across japan but there is a chance for intense rain and thundershowers in some places. currently no clouds and no winds in north korea. we could be seeing thunderstorms this afternoon. towards the north then, we are seeing snow persisting in northeastern china and rain growing across southern china. the rain is not going to be heavy but we may see heavy rain returning tomorrow. as for temperatures for east asia, a little bit cooler than what we saw on tuesday in bangkok request high of 36 degrees. towards the north a cool air blast is blanketing, lowering temperatures. 14 degrees in beijing and single digits in seoul. in north america there's a variety of weather happening.

where you see winter like conditions across the west, severe weather in the south and mid-summer-like conditions across the east. heavy snow is persisting in the northwest. we are seeing strong winds as well. 30 centimeters is likely in some places with strong winds visibility could drop down near zero. so driving is going to be very dangerous. and to the south, there is a risk of severe weather. warmer weather to the south and we're talking about the risks of severe thunderstorms, large hail and damaging tornados. and in the southern plains on tuesday. and it looks like a nasty weather will spread to the mississippi valley as well as the mid atlantic region as we head into wednesday. and the record challenging temperatures across the east. look at this, 30 degrees in washington, d.c. more than 10 degrees higher than average. towards the west is very chilly, only 1 in denver.

18 degrees colder than monday. finally, in europe then, thick clouds are blanketing central europe. underneath it, lots of things are happening. heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds, this time rain rather than snow because this one is bringing warmer air from the south. we will show the figures in a moment. it will continue until the next system comes in from the atlantic on your thursday. temperatures are as follows -- the double digits for you in the west. 10 degrees in london and 13 degrees in paris. berlin at 9 degrees, but that will go up to 13 degrees as we head into your thursday and 14 degrees on friday. eastern europe will show a warmup as well. 13 degrees in bucharest on friday. here's the extended forecast.

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

maybe you have some energy- saving appliances, like an energy star-rated washer and dryer. but what about your tv? chances are it's on more than your washer, dryer, and kitchen appliances combined. did you know that if half of us in the u.s. replaced our regular tvs with an energy star model, the change would be like shutting down a power plant? you can find the energy star on everything from standard to high def to the largest flat-screen your heart desires. ow that makes sense.