nuclear security. world leaders promise they'll better manage materials and get their hands on substances that have gone astray. ey are still working on the word, but lears from around e gbe prose ty'll put tighter controls on nuclear materials. they are expected to release a communique at the end of the nuclear security summit in

seoul. they'll commit to the safe management of substances and more cooperation in retrieving those that are unaccounted for. leaders of 53 nations and representatives from international organizations are gathered in the south korean capital for a second day. they are addressing the threat of terrorism, such as preventing groups from getting their hands on nuclear materials. each country will report on how it controls such substances. the participants are also discussing safety at nuclear plants in light of the accident last year at fukushima daiichi. they are expected to call for reducing the production of highly enriched uranium which could be used to build nuclear weapons. delegates are trying to figure out what to do about north korea. leaders there say they'll fire a long-range rocket next month to put a satellite into space. but some at the sumt see the lach a a cov f deloping

nuclear missiles. u.s. president barack obama and russian president dmitry medvedev are urging the north koreans to cancel it. obama told reporters that the plan is a violation of a u.n. security council resolution. the leaders also discussed u.s. goals to deploy a missile defense system in europe. medvedev said they are still divided on the matter but have time to reach an agreement. obama has said u.s. officials are ready to negotiate a reduction strategic nlear apons as well as ort-nge tactical missiles. north korea has condemned obama's visit to the demilitarized zone which divides the korean peninsula. north korea's liaison office with the south posted a statement on its website. it referred to the u.s. president by name without his title. obama visited the dmz on sunday as north koreans marked 100 days since the death of their former

leader kim jong-il. the office said that obama is full of hatred toward the north. it added that his action was discourteous and offensive to the people who were holding a memorial ceremony. the statement warned he should be careful of the consequences of what it called his insincere act. americans are finding more work as seen in the declining unemployment rate. but federal chairman ben bernanke is not satisfied. let's get ai uchida to tell us more. >> good morning, catherine. exactly. bernanke says more needs to be done to create jobs. he says that that will require keeping credit easing measures in place. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke spoke to a group of economists. bernanke welcomed the recent decline in the u.s. jobless rate but he said employment at -- unemployment at 8.3% remains far from a normal level. >> we kant yet be sure the recent pace of improvement in

the labor market will be sustained. conditions remain far from normal as shown, for example, by the high level of long-term unemployment and the fact that jobs and work remain well below precrisis peaks. >> the fed chief said having many people out of work for extended periods could lead to structural problems for the whole economy. he said they will have more difficulty finding jobs the longer they are unemployed. now following his speech, the dow jones industrial average ended higher regaining almost all of the losses made last week. so let's see how stocks here in tokyo are kicking off. we're going to go to ra mean mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. so wall street finishing on a high note after the fed chief's commts. what more can you tell us? >> very good morning, ai. judging by whatever way you take bernanke's words there it did lift the markets and continued the upward momentum we saw for u.s. markets, in fact pretty much erasing most of the losses we saw last week for the dow

just in one day. you can see that reversal was quite strong. let's have a look theatnikkei and topix here this tuesday morning in tokyo. you can see pretty much also following the trend there. up 143. i can tell you if we actually break above 10,172 that's going to be the higst trading level since ly. so that's a level we should be looking out for on the nikkei. the nikkei did manage to close yesterday in the positive as well. we saw major gains in a lot of exporters and also in china-related stocks because we also saw the hang seng and the shanghai composite yesterday halting some of the losses that we saw from last week. so we'll keep track of stocks in those sectors today. but again, today the focus might actually be on communications sector. we had oracle japan yesterday coming out and saying that net profits rose 7%. helped a lot by its busins software sales. and also operating profit for its licensing products jumped

50%. so another focus there. and also ntt docomo looking to heat up the mobile phone sector as well as it's going into joint venture with some commercial broadcasters and its going to be coming out in a new venture which could be broadcasting tv programs straight to mobile phones. so that's another area to look forward to. let's have a look at currency levels as well thi tuesday morning. again, currencies have a maj say in where stocks go. currently we did see the dollar slipping a little bit on the word from bernanke. currently the dollar/yen, 82.97-98. euro/yen gaining as well. euro/yen fast approaching the 111 yen level we saw touching there last wednesday. let's not forget april of last year euro/yen trading around 123. then just in january, a couple of months ago it fell to 97. so a lot of volatility there for the euros we.

we keep track of that. ai? >> ramin, what about the housing, you know data in the u.s.? because recently we've seen some weakness creeping back in. there's also a key figure due out later today. >> yeah definitely. we did see the housing data from last week for instance, coming out a little weaker than economists had expected and that followed, again, this week. but today, we're going to have the case-shiller home price index. although it looks back three months, it's a widely followed housing price index. so we're going to get a better indication of t housing markets an of course, the housing markets, the jobs and inflation are three key areas where economists look for any further progress for the u.s. economy. so we'll keep track of all of that. major gains here for the nikkei this tuesday morning up over 100 points. back to you. >> ramin, thanks for that update. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock germany says it may be willing to stump up more cash

for the eurozone bailout. germany's softer stance mea they may be able to reach a deal on boosting rescue loans. german chancellor angela merkel on monday signaled for the first time a willingness to boost europe's bailout fund. merkel suggested raising the total lending capacity by 200 billion euros to 700 billion euros. eurozone nations set up the european financial stability facility as a temporary measure two years ago. they planned to set up a permanent rescue fund in july called the european stability mechanism. merkel said it might be possible to run the two funds in parallel for a couple of years. germany, the biggest donor, has long opposed expanding the bailout fund. many germans are unhappy about shouldering most of the costs of rescuing weaker european partners. here's another look at market figures.

>> that's the latest in business. back to catherine. >> thanks ai. the operator of the fukushima daiichi power plant is finding decommissioning damage reactors could be much harder than expected. spokespersons for tokyo electric power company say the water used to cool o of thems much allor than they thought. tepco workers inserted an industrial endoscope into the number two reactor. they performed a similar operation in january. this time they found the water

was 60 centimeters deep. workers have been injecting nearly nine tons of water per hour into the reactor. melted fuel fell to the bottom of the containment vessel and they need to cool it. the depth indicates that water continues to leak into the reactor building through suppression chambers under the vessel. the spokespersons say the water is still cooling the fuel. the water temperature remains at around 48 degrees celsius. the workers may need to do more work than they had planned. they may have to repair the vessel so it can be filled with water to block radiation. tepco says about 80 liters of contaminated water has leaked into the sea near fukushima daiichi. the water contains radioactive strontium. tepco employees found a break in a pipe on monday rnin it took the workers 20 minutes to stop the leak. the firm estimates that 120 tons of water escaped.

it says 80 liters reached the ocean via a sewer system. tepco says it's building a safety barrier for the sewer, but it is still under construction and was unable to stop the spill. a similar incident occurred at the plant last december. japan's nuclear network is running on empty. only one of the country's 54 reactors is operating right now. engineers ve tak another retor offline for regular maintenance. before reactors can go back online, they must pass new tests put in place following last year's accident at fukushima daiichi. tokyo electric power company engineers suspended reactor six at the kashiwazaki-kariwa plant early monday. all 17 of tepco's reactors are now offline. that includes the six units at fukushima daiichi, four of which are damaged. the plants provided electricity to tokyo and the surrounding area. none of the reactors suspended since the fukushima accident

last mar has restarted. the last active unit in japan is on the northern island of hokkaido. it's expected to go offline in early may. earlier, nhk world miho talked about the importance of nuclear power in japan and the government's plan to deal with the idled reactors. >> before last year's accident at fukushima daiichi, 37 of 54 reactors were operating. they supplied abt 30% of the demand. ter the kusha accident, actorsenoffle for gular maintenance and stayed offline. companies compensated by shifting to thermal energy, but there were concerns about a shortfall so the government asked businesses and households to conserve energy. >> translator: i didn't use air conditioning last summer, so i'm not worried about this year. >> conservation proved effective, but manufacturers had

to make a lot of adjustments to their schedule to save power. >> translator: blackouts are crucial issues for our business. we cannot let them happen. >> they now need to import more fossil fuels to run thermal plants. they are planning to raise electricity rates. the government has estimated japan could face an energy shortage of around 9% this summer if it gets hot and if all reactors remain offline. the fukushima accident prompted the government to order extra safety tests for reactors that go offline for maintenance. these soalled stress tes are suppos to gauge how reactors could withstand external events, such as earthquakes and tsunami. they have submitted the results to japan's nuclear safety authorities and an expert panel. if those results are proved, then it's up to the government.

the prime minister and three cabinet ministers are now looking at the first two reactors to get a nod from nuclear authority experts. no doubt the ministers have the wer to give the green light for restartinghe uts. they have vowed first to get local approval, but most governors and mayors whose communities host nuclear plants have expressed an unwillingness to okay restarts following the fukushima daiichi meltdowns. some are also skeptical because they are -- on a pre-fukushima standard. >> translator: we cannot begin discussing whether to restart the ohi plant unless the government comes up with new safety standar based on what they lrned from the fukushima accident. >> but on the other hand manufacturers are pressuring the government to fire up the reactors. people are watching to see how prime minister noda will strike

a balance between big businesses and public opinion. >> miho fukunaga there. japanese scientists will study the impact of the earthquake. the japan agency will dispatch a deep sea drilling vessel on sunday. researchers from jamstak and kyoto university will be on board. they'll examine the seabed 220 kilometers off the peninsula in miyagi prefecture. the plate in the area moved 50 meters when the quake occurred. >> translator: we'd like to study how the plate moved so much and how the tsunami occurred. we want to learn lessons for the future. >> researchers will lower the drill 7,000 meters below the surface of the ocean and then dig 1,000 meters into the japan trench. they will collect rock samples from theseabed. they'll also gauge the temperature to calculate the energy generated from the

sliding plates. japanese engineers are looking toward the moon 40 years after the u.s. apollo space program came to an end. they want to explore its surface. robots could be the key. >> reporter: for a robot, it's a long way from the sand dunes of hamamatzu to the surface of the moon. but recent tests represent a first small step toward that goal. jaxa, the japan aerospace exploration agency has been work with universities and private sector companies to develop seven prototype lunar explorers. >> translator: all these robots have potential. i'm confident they will uncover new information for us about the moon. >> reporter: the aim of the apollo space pgram was to put

a man on the moon. this was how the last u.s. astronaut expressed their hopes for the future. >> we shall return with peace and hope for all mankind. >> reporter: 40 years later, the reasons for returning to the moon are rather different. >> the countdown has started for a space mission unlike anything ever attempted. >> the internet giant google has joined with the lunar x prize foundation in offering $20 million for the first nongovernmental team to land and operate and explore on the moon by 2015. china has embarked on its own moon mission and so has india.

they have their eyes on the mineral resources. studies indicate there are rich reserves of minelsn the moon includi innd titanium. the key to japan's lunar program lies in robotics. the plan is to build an unmanned base by 2020 at the earliest so that robots can start exploring. however, the robots will operate in an environment totally different from earth's. to simulate the moon's surface of rock and fine sands, the initial tests were done on similar terrain. the sand dunes of hamamatsu. this robot has four tracks which operate independently. even if one of them hits a rock the others allow it to get over the obstacle.

the primary aim of the exploration is water. the japanese lunar orbiter has identified a number of craters where water might be found. besides being used for drinking water can also be broken down to release oxygen. discovering water would make long-term exploration far more feasible. this robot was developed by the tokyo institute of technology. it has flexible tires that don't sink into the sand. even if it slips and tips over it can right itself. this will be an advantage in climbing steep craters. >> there are many technical hurdles to overcome. but it will be possible if japan's robot engineers can achieve their vision. >> reporter: can mankind return

to the moon? the answer may hinge on japan's technological expertise. time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia now. we begin by this from irib iran. the ipartite summit to mark the persian new year concluded on the weekend. the presidents of persian-speaking countries signed deals to improve interregional road and rail connectivity and to cooperate in managing oil, gas and water resources. the leaders also agreed to seek financial help from various international funds, including the islamic development bank and the asian development bank to execute the agreements. tajikistan hosted the third edition of noruz festivities following the previous ones hosted by tehran. bangladeshis celebrated the

country's 42nd independence and national day on monday with leaders vowing to promote democracy and prosperity. in dhaka, the president and prime minister placed floral wreaths at the national martyrs memorial in homage to those who lost their lives in the struggle for independence from pakistan. in march of 1971, a sheikh launched the war of liberation in what was then east pakistan. the war culminated in the defeat of the pakistani army in december of the same year and the creation of the state of bangladesh. the election of a pro-beijing candidate as hong kong's chief executive met with massive protests on sunday. demonstrators voiced dissatisfaction with the election system. the 1,200 strong election committee picked by beijing

elects the chief executive of the semiautonomous territory. >> we did not support this kind of voting system because there are over 7 million of hong kong citizens. >> protesters shouted down with the electoral system amid chaotic scenes outside the convention center in the venue of the limited ballot. it's a sunny but cool morning in tokyo. let's go to rachel ferguson who has the weaer picre forere and elseere. >> catherine. it is a little bit sunny here in tokyo. that's fine. and in fact, the snow we were seeing yesterday towards the north of japan has cleared out. however, still quite chilly and lots of places across western and central japan will be waking up to frt. it was a little bit chilly coming in this morning. i could tell you that. however, things are clearing up to the north. it's not going to be snow today. but this little low is going to

be moving across developing over the sea of japan. and bringing thunder gusts and rain to the western coast and not throughout the nort as we head out towards the continent, still looking dry and fine for much of eastern china here. but you can see showers developing. they're going to be turning over from snow to rain as we hit the warmer temperatures here. and this rain will be intensifying over the next couple of days. things are starting to dissipate across indochina into the next 24 hours. more heavy rain will be taking aim at the central philippines. some places in the last 24 hours have had about 100 millimeters of rain. that's quite significant. if that continues in to the next 24 hours, which it is likely to dohen we will see t higher risk f landslides as well as flooding. temperatures are going to be continuing to be fairly warm across much of central and even northern china as well. beijing seeing 20 degrees. this isn't going to last, though. some cooler air is going to spill down from the north. bringing the high down to about

10 degrees on friday. in fact we'll be seeing some rain turning over to snow towards the north of china. 13 degrees in tokyo. a bit of an improvement. into wednesday, a few degrees added on to that high. as we head into north america, another western storm is going be bringing yet more wind and rain to the pacific northwest. then we have a couple of lows across the u.s./canada border here. more severe weather with that. and it's going to be turning over to freezing rain in central canada. pretty significant freezing rain before it turns turnover snow a little further north. for parts of the central plains that are missing out on that precipitation, they are getting lots of strong wind coming up. and it's going to be very warm here as well. that spells fire weather. so your tonight, your monday into tuesday will see sll potential for fires to break out. critical and extreme fire weather warnings have been posted. as we head out towards the east temperatures will be cooling down even further in toward the

northeast. 3 degrees in toronto. 9 in new york city. however, you've added about 10 degrees on to your high in chicago ahead of that system coming in. 19 forecast for your tuesday high. 27 in oklahoma city. and staying warm in denver too. a little chilly in seattle and also vancouver. both 11 degrees today. all right. as we head on into europe once again, thaerytrong jet stream is going to be moving up to the north and encompassing much of the continent here. that means the precipitation is going to be relegated toward the north parts of norway particularly the western coast getting the rain as well as the snow and some strong gusts. and then finland, another low here. that's going to plummet straight down towards the black sea just on the other side of the jet stream. it's bringing cooler air with it. so we'll see yet again some coastal rain and inland snow for parts of turkey. and temratures continuing to fall over the next couple of days. many of you across the continent experiencing summer-like weather, if not spring-like

weather. 18 degrees in london. some places in scotland seeing the low 20s over the past couple of days. 19 in vienna. 18 in berlin. you can't complain with that. 10 degrees in ankara. that's a drop of almost 10 degrees from your monday and moscow still just hovering around the freezing point. here's your extended forecast.

our lead story this hour -- delegates at the nuclear security summit will issue a joint communique tuesday afternoon. it will call on each country to commit to the safe management of nuclear substances and urge for cooperation to retrieve those that are unaccounted. leaders of 53 nations and reprentatives from international organizations are gathered in seoul for a second day. they will address the threat of nuclear terrorism, such as preventing groups from getting their hands on nuclear materials. each country will report on how it controls such substances. the participants will talk about safety and nuclear power plants in light of the accident last year at the fukushima daiichi plant in japan. they will call for reducing the

production of highly enriched uranium which could be used to build nuclear weapons. >>and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.