north korea shores up the rule of kim jong-un during a week full of consequence. the leadership of north korea is putting the final touches on a display in a week filled with them. members of the governing workers party will meet wednesday for their national convention. they are expected to appoint kim

jo-un aener crety, the party's top post. members will gather for their first conference since september 2010. kim jong-un made his public debut then as the heir apparent to his late father kim jong-il. kim is expected to is aassume the country's top post on friday. the supreme people's assembly will install him as chairman of the national defense commission. kim became the supreme commander of the armed forces late last year. with these successions, he will complete the transfer of power from his father who died last december. kim will hold the most senior positions in the ruling party, state and military. leaders in pyongyang say they'll launch a rocket some time between thursday and monday. they say it will carry a satellite. many other world leaders say the north koreans are testing ballistic missile technology. all of these events take place around what would have been the 100th birthday of the country's

founder, kim il-sung. north koreans are expected to hold a mass rally onunda to celebrate the ntenal. north korean space officials say there is no turning back now. they're on track to go ahead with the much-anticipated launch as early as thursday. >> translator: the satellite is now being loaded onto the landing vehicle. we made the satellite open to the media thanks to our supreme leader kim jong-un. >> he says there is a key difference regarding this launch. ballistic missiles use solid fuel, but he says space officials are using liquid fuel. he also says the top of the rocket is smaller than one that would carry a warhead. he added north korean authorities will open a launch control center in pyongyang to foreign journalists on wednesday. the north invited journalists to the launch site on sunday to

view what it claims is a satellite. north korean officials say the craft weighs 100 kilograms and will be carried atop the rocket. >> it's an ear obsvati 3 telle. >> it's covered with solar panels and equipped with antennas and cameras. earlier my colleague gene otani spoke with the executive director of the japan space forum. he's an expert on satellite development in japan. >> translator: how do you evaluate the footage of what north korea calls a satellite? >> translator: well, i believe that it has the minimum requirement of a satelte, the solar panel and also antenna to communicate with the ground. so the minimum requirement seems to be fulfilled.

however, compared with daiichi, the earth observation satellite daiichi that jaxa has been operating is low and in terms of functionality, it is not enough. so therefore, this is really a primitive level satellite. u said primitive, but north korea maintains this satellite will be used for weather forecasts, resource explorations and investigation of natural disasters. but is this feasible to meet the objective? well in order to meet such objective, the satellite itself has to have high functionality. for example, in order to see and catch images of the surface of the earth, you need to maintain the correct position or altitude

of the satellite. however, when i take a look at this video, this sensor to see their own position is not enough. it seems that there are magnetic sensors at the top and there is no indication of any other necessary sensors and also the gas jet thrusters which sort of adjust its position in orbit is not equipped at the corner of the satellite. unless otherwise, you cannot control. so therefore -- so i don't think -- well compared with daiichi, i don't think it can fulfill the objectives of being a satellite. i think it is too crude to be a satellite. so you say it is crude in terms of functions. then what can the satellite do? could this actually be not a

sateite,ot actual satellite but just a -- well, they are saying this is to observe the earth. however, they are loading something like a digital camera. if that is so and if one shot of a photograph they may say that they succeeded. however, this will be far from consecutive images that daiichi has been sending so it will not be a contribution that could be comparable to daiichi. it could only say th it took one otogph so it would not be something that could be used as a data for weather forecast observation. >> susumu yoshitomi there. they have called for north korea to cancel its planned rocket launch. they also agreed in the north

goes ahead with the launch they'll seek appropriate action at the u.n. security council. japanese foreign minister koichiro gemba and u.s. secretary of state hilry clinton held a joint news conference on tuesday in washington, d.c. >> we are consulting closely in capitals and at the united nations in new york. and we will be pursuing appropriate action. >> translator: we and other concerned nations should cooperate until the last moment to urge pyongyang to drop its launch plan. >> gemba said he believes japan and the u.s. need to issue a very strong message at the g8 foreign minterial mting tha opens on wednesday. he stressed that if north korea carries out the launch japan and the u.s. may seek a new security council resolution to condemn the country. the prime ministers of japan and britain say they want the u.n. security council to take strong

action if north korea goes ahead with the launch. japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda and british prime minister david cameron met in tokyo. noda urged north korea to exercise self-constraint. he said the launch would be a clear breach of u.n. security council resolutions. cameron said britain shares japan's stance on the matter and as a permanent member of the security council, his country will give a strong response if north korea launches the rocket. the european union has repeated its call for north korea to cancel the launch. >> this launch would be contrary to north korea's international obligations. in particular under u.n. security council resolution 1874. it would also undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts to creat an envinmen conducive f the resution of six-party talks on the nuclear issue. >> the eu foreign policy spokesperson also referred to a south korean intelligence report that the north is preparing for

its third nuclear test. he said if the analysis is true the test too, would be a breach of international obligations. the eu previously issued a joint statement with south korea in march. they urged the north to drop its rocket launch plan and abandon its nuclear weapons development in line with u.n. security council resolutions. the philippine navy is preparing by sending ships to waters off the coast of luzon island. north korea has announced that the second stage of the rock set expected to fall into the pacific ocean about 130 kilometers northeast of the island. the philippine government has declared the area off limits. philippine navy commander alexander palmer spoke about the preparations in place. >> we are now in coordination with the coast guard for asar as we can, propositi somof the ships in ce there would be

some need for assistance. >> palmer said navy ships will make sure that fishing boats and other vessels do not stray into the area. the crew of a japanese warship has spotted russian planes over the sea of japan. an aegis destroyer is patrolling the waters ahead of the launch. spokespersons for the defense ministry said two russian leutian planes were detected flyi off the coast of western japan. japanese fighter jets chased the planes. the russians then changed course to head out of the area. the russian planes are believed to be gathering military intelligence on the aegis air defense system and the movements of japan's self-defense forces. they have made several similar flights since late march. people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster. but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, businesses, entire communities.

we'll show you their strgles andheir scees on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." china's ruling communist party has suspended the ousted party chief of chongqing city from his remaining high-ranking positions. the state-run media also reports that bo xilai's wife is a suspect in the murder of a british businessman. the xinhua news agency reported early wednesday that bo had been suspended from the posts of the party's political bureau on suspicion of inlvement in serious discipline violations. the agency said the central commission for discipline inspection has begun an inquiry into bo's case. bo was a notable member of the so-called princeling faction of children of senior leaders. he had been viewed as a contender for the party's top ranks. but he was dismissed from the post of chongqing party chief last month after his former

close aide temporarily fled to the u.s. consulate in february. observers say the decision to banish bo from the politburo effectivelynds hiscaer. his ll is likely to influence the communist party's leadership reshuffle later this year. in a related development, xinhua says bo's wife gu kailai is being investigated for the murder of a british citizen neil heywood. the briton was found dead in a chongqing hotel last november. the news agency said gu has been turned over to the judicial authorities. it quoted police as saying the murder was motivated by a rift over economic interests. u.n. arab league envoyofi annan has urged the syrian government and opposition to end the year-long conflict by thursday. annan made the appeal when he visited syrian refugees at a camp in turkey. >> i believe it's a bit too

early to say that the plan has failed. if the will is there, we can still get to cessation of hostilities by the 12th. >> in moscow the syrian foreign minister said government forces are steadily proeding with the withdrawal step by step. but reports say they are continuing their attacks on the rebel strongholds of homs and hamas. a syrian human rights organization said 62 people across the country were killed on tuesday. >> the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. sus rirks has ued t syri govnment to take a peaceful solution. >> violence must stop now. people who buy plants

property and equipment at japanese companies are feeling good about their investments. in fact they are spending more. ai uchida joins me with the latest machinery orders. good morning. >> good morning, catherine. we are seeing a rebound in confidence especially among japanese manufacturers. japan's core private sector machinery orders rose in february. that is for the second consecutive mont the cabinet office said on wednesday that machinery ordermakers received orders worth about $9.8 billion from domestic firms. that's an increase of 4.8% in yen terms from january. now the figure does exclude machinery orders for ships and power plants. still, orders from the manufacturing sector rose 16%. nonmanufacturing orders also grew by 2.3%. you might think that this would impact tokyo stocks positively. but let'not rget.s. markets ended lower again after continued concerns about global

growth sparked further selling. the dow jones industrial average lost over 200 points falling to a two-month low while the tech-heavy nasdaq fell below the key 3,000 level for the first time in nearly one month. it is time to go to ramin mellegard who is at the tokyo stock exchange. so ramin, japanese machinery orders are positive but we've seen a run of bad news as well in early april. so how is the nikkei reacting this wednesday morning? yeah aiight have bn posive news there for machinery orders but really some negative sentiment coming in from all different angles. we had the u.s. jobs numbers last friday which came in below expectations. and then signals of slower growth from china, from the trade data. and also renewed concerns about eurozone debt issues especially after the bond auction in spain last week. and higher bond yields than we're seeing in spain and italy. let's have a look at the opening levels and we can see exactly what's happening. the nikkei down over 100 points. in fact i can tellou that it

did dip belo 9,400, rig at the open. backed off a little bit. but we're down 1.3% for both the topix and the nikkei. now the nikkei is down around 6% almost now so far in april. concerns about european debt global growth were clearly touched on by the bank of japan yesterday when it wrapped up its two-day meeting. and also that has really been affecting the yen. so let's go straight to the currency levels as well. and you can s there, showing the yen againsthe dolr and th eo as well the yen now touching one month low against the dollar at 80.71-74 and euro/yen continues. the euro continues to weaken. 105 now, 52-57. again, there's continued concerns about bond yields spiking higher in spain and

italy. so the stronger yen really affecting further selling on the stock exchange as well. ai >> okay, ramin, economic data aside, you know we alsoave key earnings in the united states to guide investors. what about anything there? any positives? >> yeah, definitely. we have had earnings from alco athe aluminum giant. and that surprised a lot of analysts and economists to the up side there. and it prompted after-hour buying, not only for alcoa shares but also for related shares such as boeing and other stocks there which feed off the aluminum indury. so again, invests in a bit of a tight spot here ai. we're getting economic data and policy statements from central banks, the bank of japan, the federal reserve, in the u.s. and amidst all of that we're also getting corporate earnings which might be a little bit of

positive positive. investors there in a bit of a bind. so but for now if the nikkei closes the way it is right now, that will be a seventh day in a row that it's been down and then the last ten sessions the nikkei has been down nine times over 800 points. backoyou. >> ramin,hank a lot f tt update. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. separately, the tokyo stock exchange and daiwa securities group will join hands with myanmar's central bank to set up a bours ne the emerging market. an agreement has been reached to create the exchange by 2015 possible in myanmar's largest city. an announcement is due soon. tse and the daiwa securities group will provide a computer systemor the new bourse. the executives are planning to visit myanmar to sign a memorandum of understanding in late may. myanmar has been rapidly transforming its economy since

the country underwent a transition from military to civilian government one year ago. with a population of 60 million people many japanese and other foreign businesses are eyeing the country's potentially lucrative market. and here's a quick look at the markets. >> more business news for you next hour. back to catherin thanks very ch . > british prime minister david cameron is expected to visit

myanmar this week. let's go to patchari raksawong in bangkok with that story and more about the changes taking place in mayanyanmarmyanmar. >> reporter: the british prime minister's visit is the latest sign that myanmar's fortunes may be about to change. aung san suu kyi won an historic victory in by-elections in myanmar. attention is now shifting to the possible easing of western sanctions. nhk world june kobayash h more. >> reporter: british prime minister david cameron is expected to arrive in myanmar on april 13th. it will be the first time a western leader has visited myanmar since the -- government took place in 2011. aung san suu kyi and her party, the national league for democracy, won 43 of 45 seats in a parliamentary by-election. the nld's landslide victory

prompted western powers to -- the sanctions imposed on the military regime. the nld says cameron will hold talks with aung san suu kyi during his visit. they expect to discredit -- discuss the claim that the elections were free and fair. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton praised the outcome of the election. she said the u.s. will name an ambassador to myanmar and take steps to partially lift sanctis. prime minister cameron is also expected to meet with myanmar's president hang seng. the former general is likely to stress to cameron the fairness of the april election. western countries have stated that the free election was a condition of them considering

easing sanctions. attention will be focused on what impact the visit has on the british prime minister's titu toward eing sanctions against mmyanmar. jun kobayashi, nhk world. >> myanmar's reforms are being accompanied by several initiatives to make the country a more attractivemyanmar's largest city efforts under way to preserve some of the nation's valuable heritage. a team of ngos is at work in the former capital to restore dozens of beautiful buildings from the british colonial period. some of themate back t the 1880s. >> so we have supported 187 buildings. and these all included mosques, chinese temples, schools,

private departments and government buildings. >> the old structures are scattered across 20 townships in the city and now they are being seen as potential business opportunities. international vestors a betting theyl bn demand as mes, offices and hotels in the years to come. another initiative launched this month aims to keep the streets clean. trash cans used to be a rare sight on the streets of myanmar. many people were in the habit of littering as they walked. but in response to the environmental protection law signed by president thien sien. >> translator: garbage classification makes the city cleaner and recycling easier. >> the garbage classification system is being implemented in

big cities like angon and also many smaller towns as well. and that's going to wrap up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. it was a beautiful day in tokyo yesterday. but quite a different story today. sayaka mori joins us with the world weather forecast. >> that's right, catherine. rain should intensify as we head into this evening. strong winds are expected as well. the reason is these low pressure systems should merge into one big system and approach us. currently producing heavy rain thunderstorms as well as gusty winds in much of western japan. up to 120 millimeters of rain is possible. and the rain will spread to the rest of japan by this afternoon. again, winds are picking up. as you cansee, showers should be gone by tomorrow. so sunny weather should return. as for the korean peninsula,

getting dry but getting very wet across the southern half of china. as for the indochina peninsula, once again, heavy rain showers across much of the peninsula. as for temperatures getting up to 36 degrees in bangkok with gusty winds. many of us should be dry with a high of 34. up towards north yongchang-xi where the launch is expected. sunny weather should return tomorrow. and tokyo getting up to 18 degrees. one degree lower than yesterday. now heang over to the americas, getting wet and windy across the west coast as the low pressure system moves in. heavy snow showers is expected in the mountains. up to 60 centimeters is on the cards in the southern sierras. meanwhile, heavy thundershowers are still going on across much of the southern plains particularly wet in northern texas. the threat of severe weather should continue throughout tuesday night. the reason is we've got warm air

coming in from the south and that's going to collide with rm -- cool air from the north. so we have lots of freeze warnings and watches posted across much of the northeastern section of the u.s. highs will be going down to 10 degrees in chicago with the morning low of minus 1. and out towards the east getting up to 13 degrees in washington, d.c. and the same goes for new york. but to the south, heat is still persisting getting up to 29 degrees in miami. now heading over to europe multiple systems are producing messy weather to much of wester and northern europe producing heavy thundershowers gusty winds and even hail in some locations. heavy rain will also spread to areas like austria and the western section of the balkan peninsula in the next 24 hours. similarly wet in much of western -- i should say eastern turkey and iran. as for the highs, many areas, temperatures are moderating into more typical levels in moscow

with 6 degrees and it will be reaching 10 degrees on your friday and out towards the west right on target in london with 13 degrees. and a risk of thundershowersn paris with 14 degrees. all right. here's your extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.