powering down. japan's nuclear watchdog says stress tests are not enough to declare reactors are safe. the last nuclear reactor in western japan has gone offline. the plant's operator shut it down for regular inspection.

residents are worrying about a power crunch fuel. fuel imports into japan are surging. only 2 of the 54 reactors are still running. kansai electric power company said it completed the shutdown early tuesday for the number three reactor at the takahama nuclear plant in fukui prefecture. the last two will be shut down by late april. japan's nuclear safety coission will review the results of stress tests on two reactors at the nearby ohi plant during the day. the commission chairman says the results will not be enough to declare the reactors safe. >> translator: i think second stage tests with more detailed criteria are needed to accurately assess the risk of reactors. >> he said the initial tests only check equipment for maintaining safety at times of natural disasters. the nuclear industrial and

safety agents endorsed the first stage findings at the ohi pnt early last week. the government introduced the tests to ease public concern before restarting the reactors. the commission's opinion is expected to prove a setback for plant operators. international inspectiors are being frustrated in their efforts to examine nuclear sites in iran. the international atomic energy agency sent five inspectors to tehran. it's their second visit to the city this year. iranian media reported that the team met with iran's iaea envoy soltanieh. the inspectors were expected to request access to a military facility. they suspect scientists carried out nuclear experiments there. but iranian foreign minister salehi said the inspectors would not be allowed to enter the site. the aiaea delegation will leave the country later in the day. iran's nuclear program will

likely be high on the agenda during talks next month between the leaders of thenited states and israel. u.s. presint barack obama is expected to ge israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to refrain from using military force against iran. national security adviser tom donilon extended the invitation to netanyahu during a recent visit to israel. the meeting at the white house is scheduled for march 5th. israel accuses iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons and views the country as a threat to its existence. the israeli government has suggested that it may take military action unless iran stopits nuclear tivities. iran announced last week that it will increase its enrichment of uranium which could be used to develop nuclear weapons. that's raised concerns that israel may launch a preemptive strike against iran's nuclear

facilities. finance ministers from the 17 nations that use the euro are discussing whether greece should be granted an additional bailout. ai uchida from our business desk has been following that story. ai they are still in the talks. >> they are certainly up late the meeting in brussels. the finceinisrs are expected to finalize the second bailout for greece. discussions are focusing on how to ensure the debt-strapped country successfully executes austerity measures. >> i am optimistic but in any case we need a clear political approval from the eurozone. >> translator: our additional support measures will succeed, provided greece meets its obligations as promised. >> the eurozone is offering greece the 130 billion euro package as additional aid. if approved it should prevent greece from defaulting on large quantities of government bonds when they mature next month.

but some of the supporting countries, including germany and the netherlands, remain skeptical about greece's commitment to turning around its finances. ministers are locked in debate over a mechanism for ensuring greece follows through with its promised fiscal reforms. options likely include increased monitoring of the country's fiscal health. the ministersre also said to be considering the joint management of bailout funds with the eu instead of giving them directly to the greek government. on the tokyo foreign exchange, the yen is lower against the euro and dollar this tuesday morning as optimism over a greek bailout boosts investor appetite for riskier assets. the u.s. dollar is currently at 79.71 to 74 yen whereas the euro is at 105.41 to 44 yen. maet playersreuying back the euro and dollar on

expectations that greece will be able to avoid defaulting on its debts next month. a widening interest rate gap between japan and the u.s. is also weighing down on the yen. this comes after the japanese central bank last week decided on more measures to ease credit. share prices are showing little movement in tokyo this tuesday morning. the nikkei index is currently up one-fifth of a rcent. some investors are selling to lock in profits while others are buying as the yen remains stable for now. many investors have taken to the sidelines awaiting the outcome of the eurozone finance ministers meeting. the tokyo market is lacking direction as the new york exchange was closed overnight for a national holiday. nvr and here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. china says it's ready to help europe tackle its credit

crisis but it has yet to reveal how or when. state-run xinhua news agency says the vice premier expressed support for the eurozone on sunday during his meeting with irish prime minister kenny in the capital dublin. she said china backs the euro stability, but he said his country will choose how to help. other chinese leaders have also expressed support for europe. the country's biggest trading partner. but they remain vague about the details. the japanese winter turned shoppers cold on department stores in january. the japan department stores association says sales at more than 250 department stores nationwide fell 1.1% from a year earlier to about $7 billion. that is the first drop in two months. the association attributes the slump to a fall in customers due to a very cold weather and heavy

snow. sluggish sales of spring clothing were another factor. and on the bright side though sales of items targeting foreign visitors rose for the first time since the pre-earthquake month of february last year. some of the biggest spenders were chinese tourists visiting japan over the lunar new year holidays. let's take a look at the markets once again. more business for you next hour. back to catherine. >> thanks ai.

japan's top court has upheld the death sentence of a man who murdered a woman and her baby daughter when he was a juvenile. the ruling brings to an end a 12-year legal process. he was 18 when he committed the murders in 1999 in yamaguchi prefecture in western japan. the supreme court turned down the appeal by the man and he is now 30 years old. the judge said that the act was cruel and inhumane. and he said there's no reason to spare his life, even though he was a minor when he committed the crimes. the case became a turning point for the japanese legal system. at the time, defendants aged 18 or under were treated as minors. the law was revised two years later. offenders aged 16 or older are now prosecuted as adults for major crimes. 40 years after the first

human set foot on the moon the earth's only satellite is attracting a new generation of explorers. private companies and organizations are vying to develop the moon's rare metals and other resources. rapidly industrializing nations, such a china and india are also getting on board. but all this raises a fundamental question. who owns the moon? >> reporter: the world's largest search engine, google, recently announced an unprecedented race. it's being organized by the internet giant and a private foundation. >> until recently, space was off limits to the public. the google lunar x prize is challenging free enterprise to reach much further. to the moon. >> the race is called "the lunar x prize." teams ar competing to be the first to pro the moon and provide observational data and images within three years.

the winners stand to receive a total of $30 million. 26 teams have joined the race. they represent companies and universities from around the world. the teams are developing their own technologies and methods to reach their goal. >> once you prove that you can do that affordably, and repeatedly, i can assure you your telephones are going to ring. >> mankind's first race to the moon was driven in part by cold war politics. today's lunar explorers are driven by the quest for natural resources. recent studies have found the moon is much richer in resources than previously thought. one of the most sought after of these resources is a rare metal titanium. this map shows rich titanium deposits are widely distributed on the moon.

moon rocks have also been found to contain molulesf water which is essential for sustaining life. the presence of water on the moon makes it more feasible for people to remain for long periods of time. >> right now is a more attractive time than ever before to go back to the moon. different people are going to have different good ideas on how to best use the resources. >> astrobotic technology is one of the companies participating. they are trying to mine platinum, a particularly pricey rare metal. its forts are mainly focused on the development of a special shuttle designed for digging into the moon's surface. >> in our case, it would be people prospecting for the best places to mine the water or mine the metals that we ship back to earth. we would love to be the leading edge of the moon rush.

>> some countries have named the utilization of the moon's resources part of their public policy. five years ago china launched its first lunar exploration satellite. the mission was heralded as the first step towards utilizing the moon's resources. the country is aiming to land an unmanned probe on the moon in 2013. india has also launched a spacecraft to study the distribution of lunar resources fueling the competition among nations. this aggressive pursuit of resources is raising alarm in the united states. a republican presidential candidate has said the u.s. should put more effort into lunar exploration. >> we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be american. >> nasa also issued a report last year in an effort to check

moves by other countries. the report is titled "how to protect and preserve the historic and scientific value of u.s. government lunar artifacts." it maintains that sites explored during america's apollo progm must be declared off limits and no-fly zones. the u.s. is claiming exclusive access to areas of the moon since it's the only country to have explored it. and now we're coming into an age of exploitation. not just exploration. these are questions that were unthinkable 40 years ago. but because of the changing environment and the use of space and much more use of space by other groups that we're beginning to think about it. >> who owns the moon? the question is still up in the air even as the competition between governments and businesses for its riches intensifies.

kensuke obara, nhk world, new york. >> and who will make the next giant leap for mankind? let's go to bangkok now to find out what's making headlines in the region. thailand's economy shrank a massive in the october cemb quarter of last year. the figures reflect severe damage caused by record floods that displaced workers and forced factories to close. nhk world has this report from bangkok. >> reporter: the thai government said on monday the country's gross domestic product dropped 9% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. it blamed -- and areas near bangkok.

seven industrial zones that house many international companies were damaged. that caused thailand's industrial output to drop 21.8% from the previous quarter. four months since the flooding crisis began to affect this area. for example, less than 40% of japanese companies in thailand have resumed operation. thailand's labor ministry says 45,000 people lost their jobs because of the floods. even so, the government is projecting the economy will grow between 5.5% and 6.5% this year. some businesses are withdrawing or downsizing their operations in thailand since the floods. it remains to be seen whether the government will be the able

succeed in countering damage already inflicted on the country's country's. nhk world, bangkok. next, we move on to india where competitive kite flying marks the arrival of spring in one western city. it might sound like harmless fun but it's becoming increasingly controversial and damaging to the environment. nhk world niha gupta has this report. >> reporter: schools of kites fly in the sky. this is a festival to celebrate the arrival of spring. kite flying is a long-loved tradition but also a competitive game. they try to cut the kite strings of their opponents. the pink kite battles against the blue one, but the string is

severed and it falls towards the ground. one family has prepared 400 kites for the festival. relatives gather for the event every year. >> this is the importance of the -- we get together and fly kites and loud music and we all party together. this would obviously get the family together. >> reporter: special strings are used in competitive kite fighting. this white powder is finally crushed glass. it is dissolved into liquid and applied to the strings. when it dries, they become sharp enough to cut opponent's

strings. strings produced through this procedure are called manga. there's a higher demand for stronger and sharper manga for this kite fighting competitors. this is a glass coated thread in my hand. this could easily cut thread. but this can cause serious damage to wildlife. every year, more than a thousand birds are injured or die, a few days just before and after the festival. to reduce bird casualties an ngo and a group of veterinarians are working to protect them. but this year, the local government helped the group to set up temporary first aid

centers at 13 locations around the city. the vets take turns treating troubled birds. this center received a phone call from a concerned citizen. an indian vulture was perched on a tree unable to fly because of an injury to its wings. the species is on the brink of extinction. the rescue workers carefully brought the bird back to the center. it survived after undergoing an operation. indians value the traditional kite-flying festival. however, they are facing the need to ensure tha the kite strings do not hurt birds.

>> and that wraps up our bulletin. all right. well, it's still perhaps a bit too cold in many parts of japan to fly kites but we're starting to see signs of spring near tokyo. it's getting a little warmer day by day, and the light is lingering a bit longer in the evening. sai joins us with the world weather forecast. is it going to continue to be warmer? >> yes it was very mild yesterday an thing aetting even warmer today. we've got nice southerly winds coming in. but it's a different story for northern japan. a very strong low pressure system is moving through the area bringing blizzard conditions. gusts could exceed 70 kilometers. and western hokkaido could see 40 centimeters of fresh snowfall. as the system moves away things will get drier here tonight. meanwhile, showers are moving

into the southern tip of the korean peninsula and western japan. southeastern china will see showers develop over the course of today. down towards the south, we've got a tropical depression over the south china sea so scattered showers will continue in southern vietnam. as for the philippines, scattered thunderstorms will continue across the whole of the nation but heavy rain in luzon is starting to diminish here. now temperaturewise, we're expecting 30 degrees in manila and 33 in bangkok with a chance of thundershowers. and up towards the north, getting up to 7 degrees in seoul d 11 in tokyo. moving on to the european countries, a chain of low pressure systems has been bringing wet and windy weather to northern europe. gusts exceeded 90 kilometers per hour. as those systems push on to the southeast, areas like finland, the baltic states and northern

germany will start to see a wintry mix. down towards the south, unstable conditions will continue in the mediterranean. southern italy will see heavy showers on tuesday. and temperaturewise, many areas are getting back to normal but this is causing another serious problem. this is from the danube river in serbia. the thick ice which had closed the europe's busiest waterway during a period of cold weather, it's starting to melt because of temperatures rising. hundreds of parked boats crashed into each other and several barges were swept away. let me show you the expected highs on tuesda in belgrade getting up to 3 degrees, which is much much warmer than what we've seen over the past several weeks. and temperatures will rise as we head into the weekend. we are expecting 10 degrees on friday here. for the rest of europe 9

degrees in paris. 5 degrees in berlin. and looking at a seasonal average in kiev with minus 1 and again, temperatures will develop even more as we head into the weekend. all right. here's your extended forecast.

our lead stories this hour -- the last nuclear reactor in western japan has gone offline. the plant's operator shut it down for regular inspection. residents are worrying about a power crunch. fuel imports into japan are soaring. only 2 of the country's 54

nuclear reactors are still running. kansai electric power company said it completed the shutdown early tuesday for the number three reactor at the takahama nuclear plant in fukui prefecture. the last two operational reactors will be shut down by late april. japan's nuclear safety commission will review the results of stress tests on two reactors at the nearby ohi plant during the day. the commission chairman says the results will not be enough to deare the reactors safe. >> translator: i think second stage tests with more detailed criteria are needed to accurately assess the risk of reactors. >> madarame said the initial tests only check equipment for maintaining safety at times of natural disasters. the nuclear industrial and safety agency endorsed the first stage findings at the ohi plant early last week. the government introduced the tests to ease public concern before restarting the reactors.

the commission's opinion is expectedo pre a setback for plt opators. japanese and egyptian archaeologists are putting together an ancient puzzle. they are reconstructing a wooden boat found near the great pyramid of the pharaoh kufu. the vessel called the sun boat. researchers believe it was built more than 4,500 years ago to ferry kufu in the afterlife. the boat was placed in an underground stone chamber by the pyramid near cairo after he died. membersf the team began collecting fragments of the boat. then they put the pieces in boxes for storage. >> translator: we brought out the wooden pieces for the first time in 4,550 years. >> the project is expected to shed light on how ancient egyptians viewed life and death and why pyramids were built.

the team members plan to collect about 600 pieces of the sun boat. they hope to reconstruct it by 15. and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.