red letter day. kim jung-unmarks it with a missile crisis on his hand. he's spent the past year suring up his support. iley are wondering what he will do xtxt

they have been set to launch d medium rang missile on thursday. >> translator: it will end with just a threat. i'm not very worried. >> translator: north koreans are just like us. i feel sorry for them. their leader should look at the reality. >> they could fire a missile east toward the sea of ja fan. commanders have deployed destroyers. >> translator: we've asked the u.s., china and russia to use all possible channels to urge north korea to stop its provocations. >> u.s. defense secretary chuck

hagel says the actions of the north korean leadership are unpredictable. he says u.s. forces are ready for whatever happens. >> our country is fully repaired to deal with any contingency, any action that north korea may ta take. >> the north koreans will only make themselves more isolated if they go ahead with the launch. authorities should not have warned foreign diplomats to leave the country. they urged the staff of embassies and international groups to prepare to evacuate. they could not ensure the diplomat safety after wednesday.

tensions the on the korean peninsula do not justify the request. people around the world are wondering if the north koreans will follow through. >> they need to balance the need to the allies. at the same time avoid falling into a track where you're buying into the north korean rhetoric and building it up. the threat is more words than action. it appears to be a lot of hot air, rhetoric. at the same time you can't ignore it.

this is difficult to know. in my mind it has a lot more to do with domestic developments inside north korea than anything we have done. some people want to see this as north korean action. we've been doing those for 50 or 60 years. really it will only explanation i can come up with is there's some domestic internal issues in north kor north korea that are causing them to need a greater external threat. with had to put this in a broader context.

in some ways that's the most important form of communication that we can have. thus far despite this over the top rhetoric they remain deterred in terms of action. we have to believe that the military will remain in effect as it has for the last 60 years. we like to see the rhetoric toned down as well. china will play an important role in that. the united states is first and foremost going to continue to work closely with its allies in seoul and tokyo to make sure we have a unified voice there. i don't think there's any clear open channels to north korea for a new negotiating track or some type of silver bullet that will change us because this really has much more to do with the leadership transition in north korea than anything in terms of our relationship with them directly. authorities in south korea

say they have proof of who carried out cyber attacks. it points to north korean spy agency. the attacked on march 20th wiped the hard drives of nearly 50,000 computers at three tv stations and three major banks. the websites of one of the tv stations were shot down. the officials say hackers in north korea have accessed some of the firms servers nearly 1600 times since last june and uplated malicious codes. almost half of 76 malicious codes confirmed in the march attacked were the same used in past hacking attacks by the north. five more people have been found infected with the virus. nine people have died.

authorities say two women in shanghai and a man are among the latest victims of the viral infection. two more men are in critical condition. they are all over 60. the sale of live poultry has been banned. officials have barred residents from raising chickens and other poultry. the authorities are studying the droppings of migratory birds across the country. they have not detected virus in wild birds. they have received samples of the virus from the chinese government. researchers will start by cultivating the virus strain. they will select the most suitable samples in preparation

for mass production of a vaccine. they will examine the effectiveness of tamiflu on the bird flu strain. investors have watched markets climb higher and higher. the dow jones closed up 128 points hitting a record high for a second high. the nasdaq ended up 59 points. for more on how stocks are trading let's go to ramin. earnings are a big focus but the minutes of the federal reserve seem to have grabbed the investors attention. >> very good morning. that's been a focus, earnings. let's go to the opening levels first for april 11th here in

tokyo. both indexes in the positive. 13,4 13,465. let's see if we can approach that. pretty positive start. the hopes are that earnings will show an improvement in the u.s. for companies and also corporate outlook and guidance will determine whether we will break higher or whether stocks might falter a touch. the minutes show some officials were open to the idea of scaling back the bond buying program if the jobs picture warranted it this year. that will be interesting to see the jobs picture in the u.s. measures taken so far will have

ample staying power. the focus is when yen may break above the 100 yen level. >> where do we stand now? must be very close. >> very close indeed. the closest was around 99.85. it's bounced back just a touch. 99.67 to 72 as you can see. we saw a slight correction pushing it below 99 yen at one point. traders bought the dollar after the release of the fed minutes. we may see a boost in china related affairs. it show strong demand from the

world's second largest economy. quite a bit for investors to focus on but a positive start today. back to you. >> thanks very much. the head of the international monetary fund is urging japanese officials to take steps in the median turn to restore the fiscal health of economy. she warns against relying on monetary policy alone. the top priority for japan is to overcome deflation. she said to achieve 2% inflation is a constructive step. they warned about the high public debt. >> japan must also move ahead in other areas including in fiscal policy which looks increasingly unsustainable with the public debt now approaching 245% of

gdp. >> she said reform of the nation's finance s needed to heighten the effect of the monetary easing. she reiterated that japan needs to come up with clear and reliable financial reforms in the median term. u.s. president barack obama has unveiled his budget proposal for fiscal '14. the president's $3.8 trillion budget plan provides for social spending cuts the republicans have been demanding. it also includes higher taxes on the wealthy which republicans have staunchly opposed. it forecasts $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade. obama is seeking gop cooperation to reduce the federal deficit. >> our deficits are falling at the fastest pace in years.

we can do more to bring them down in a balanced and responsible way. >> the expect the deficit would fall to $744 billion. that would be below the $1 trillion level for the second consecutive year. let's take a look at a recap of the latest market figures. the operators of the

fukushima plant tell how they plan to prevent anymore leaks. workers will construct new storage tanks quickly. tepco engineers have been struggling to deal with under ground water flowing with the damaged reactor buildings. workers have been pumping the water into tanks. they have about 1,000 but nearly all are full. they also built several large under ground storage pools but workers have found leaks in three of them. >> translator: we still need to keep the con

in pools. for that purpose we will construct new tanks. >> tepco will store water in ta tanks used for other purposes. they have criticized the handling of the issue. >> translator: i regret the slow response to the problem. >> tepco executives say there's no risk that contaminated water will leak directly into the ocean. the volume keeps increasing. workers are pumping about 400 tons out of the reactors each day. executives at tepco must also comply with new safety standards. nuclear regulators announced the measures they will apply to all of japan's electric power companies. they cover disaster preparedness and they set stricter requirements for restarting idled reactors. nuclear regulation authority commissioners drew up the new standards in response to the fukushima nuclear accident. the commissioners approved a draft version of the standards. they'll take effect by mid-july.

the rules require operators to prepare for significant nuclear accidents and major earthquakes and tsunami. operators of older reactors must install power cables that are resistant to fire and back-up pipes for cooling reactors in an emergency. power company executives must build facilities to house emergency response centers. those structures must store enough equipment and food to last for at least a week. operators of plants with boiling water reactors will have to install filter vents. the devices help limit emissions of radioactive materials. power companies will also have to build breakwaters and waterproof their plants. these measures are intended to protect the facilities against the largest possible tsunami. scientists in japan have tested the internal radiation levels of people living in fukushima. the results say the possibility of any effects is low.

the fukushima accident released radioactive cesium. soil in the prefecture was contaminated. this professor at tokyo university leads a research group. his team examined 20,000 patients in fukushima from october 2011 to november 2012. 99% tested negative for cesium. those who tested positive registered well below the government's safety standard of one millisievert per year. they tested all the primary and secondary students in one town in fukushima. the 1500 children were all cesium free. >> this is probably due to very strict food restriction, and that has to be continued. so we have to -- the government and farmers have to continue whatever they have been doing to reduce the cesium level in marketed food. >> he says his group will keep screening people for at least

the next few years. he says he wants to minimize any future risk of internal radiation in fukushima. one ind neez man lived to tell his story and he's telling it more than 60 years later. we have his story. >> reporter: now 90 years old, he is receiving an honorary doctorate. it's honoring him for the help he gave despite his injuries. >> translator: i'm really happy to receive the degree.

i'd like to express my deepest appreciation to the university. >> he was studying at what would later become hiroshima university. when the bomb exploded he was on campus from ground zero. the force sent him flying and covered him in rubble. >> translator: other people died. we didn't know at the time whether it was an atomic bomb or a regular bomb. >> reporter: to survive he and other international students had to camp out at the university. they made the best out of what was left. some japanese students joined them. she was among them. she was looking for her father when she came across the students and sought shelter with

them, but every morning she set out to look for her father. in the evening she came back exhausted. she gave her his food and encouraged her in japanese. she still keeps a picture of him. >> translator: he couldn't have been at all happy when he was in japan because of the bomb. he never complained. i'm really grateful that he tried to protect us japanese students. >> reporter: we showed a picture of her. he remembered her and the days they spent together. >> translator: she's probably

around my age. as we're both well i wish i could meet her and talk about those times. >> reporter: he's writing a book about his experiences. he wants to pass them onto people in his home country. >> translator: i've survived the atomic bomb. all i've become, i'd be happy to work toward fostering friendship between japanese and indonesians. he hopes to visit to see his old champs one more time. he wants to make their ordeal have significance. that's why he's writing the book so people with no experience of nuclear war understand why it should be feared.

researchers have traces of fish on earthen wear dating back about 14,000 years. the findings are the earliest confirming the prehistoric practice of cooking food in pots. a team released the findings in the online edition of the british science journal "nature." the team says they examed carbide on the surface. they date back between 15,000 and 12,000 years. researchers detected lipids from fish products and a scorched residue on cooking pots. they date back 14,000 years and

the shell mound 12,000 years. a team says the residue from the ruins could be of spawning salmon since the site is located inland. people in eastern areas of the united states are dealing with disruption in air and ground transportation. we hear why in world weather. >> that's right. hundreds of flights have been delayed or cancelled at o'hare international airport. this is due to heavy snow caused by this low pressure system. this system has a history of producing 72 centimeters in wyoming. it looks like 60 centimeters is possible in minnesota. we could be seeing white out conditions. driving is going to be extremely dangerous. if you travel bring surviving kit and food in case of emergency. we could be seeing freezing rain for areas shaded in purple which

is troublesome for driving. air is coming in so due to the temperature contrast we're going to be seeing severe weather in the red area. we're talking about risks of severe thunderstorms, large hail, damageniing winds and tornado. all this weather will shift toward the east. a new system is drifting into the rockies once again bringing moderate snow and heavy snow in this area that will continue into your thursday. temperatures are looking like this going up to 7 degrees in denver but going down to 13 degrees in new york city on thursday. the heat is still exist in washington, d.c. i know the cherry blossoms are in full bloom there. now across east asia heavy rain

is persisting across the south. up to 100 millimeters is likely which is enough for river flooding as well as land slides. a cool air market blanketing temperatures and creating changeable weather in japan. there's a risk of thunderstorms, gusty winds and hail in places today. temperatures are as follows, baking hot toward the south. 37 degrees in bangkok. toward the north 17 in beijing and much cooler than seasonal. tokyo 15 degrees. we are in the middle of spring. the most colorful season of the year. i want to show you this video. a field of tulips is in full bloom.

some 50,000 bulbs are on a 2 kilometer field last december. they bloomed earlier than usual. people will be able to view them for another week if the weather remains cooperative. it seems the dog is enjoying the beautiful scene. we're going be seeing the taste of spring. 12 degrees in berlin and 15 on thursday. here is the extended forecast.

>> that is all for this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.