freak stale zooishgs freak e . greek stalemate. he has given up hope of forming a coalition government.

the new dpems partnership with the party introduced austerity measures. the coalition lost the parliamentary authority on sunday in a general election. they held talks with leaders of the other parties. the heads of all of them refused to join a coalition. sumara says he has abandoned the talks before the end of three days he had to form a government. the chance to build a ruling coalition will now pass to the leader of the radical left coalition, but he says he'll only work with left wing rties. that makes a parliamentary majority unlike. then the party will be handed a chance to build the coalition. if none of the parties can form a governing aalliance, a new election will be called that could reignite concerns over greece's ability to implement reforms. european union officials are

urging greek politicians to form a government as soon as possible. they want to ease mounting concerns about the implementation of austerity asures. >> greece must rain a member of the euro, for instance but everybody has to carry responsibilities here. we can do lots to assist greece and we are doing so. our member states our taxpayers in other european member states of the euro area are providing the solidarity. >> eu leaders say they'll continue it to offer emergency financing, but they say the greeks must follow-through on their commit to push through reforms. german chancellor angela merkel and french protection elect francois hollande inauguration.

merkel has ruled out any changes to the treaty. the german leader said she still hopes to establish trust with hollande so they can work together. the leaders have different views of europe's growth strategy. hollande wants to use spending and merkel wants structural reforms and deregulation of labor markets. ai joins us now. what's the reaction? >> the investors have waited for a long time for the eu to agree on a fiscal treaty. they'll eye the french/german plital relations carefully. u.s. digestethe resulf europe, the dow ended lower while nasdaq managed a game. for more in tokyo we have ramean

melagard from the tokyo stocks exchange. what can you tell us at the open? >> thank you very much ai. french and german stocks ended high after opening lower. concerns after the french elections eased a little bit, but also hopes the spanish government will come up with measures to use public funds to help shore up its banking sector. in t u.s. the nasdaq didlose a touch higher. we saw gains for apple's shares while the dow was way down a little bit about shares in hewlett-packard and ibm weighing on that index. let's have a look at how things are kicking off here in tokyo. switching there to the nikkei and the topix boast indices are trading a touch higher this tuesday morning. the nikkei had the worst points last day this year yesterday, but it was mostly really catching up after the holidays that we had last week. so we're seeing a little bit of a rebou here. maybe a bing opptunity for some of those heavily sold off

issues yesterday. athat that includes blue chip exports hit hard yesterday. we saw a reversal today from the yen's gains yesterday. let's have a look at the foreign currency levels. we can see exactly the picture there, especially with the the euro. if you look at the bottom of the screen there 104.30 to 35. this was trading around 103 yesterday. so you see there the yen weakening a touch against the euro. as i said there, some conrns there easing a little bit after the french elections. so that's really the main picture as far as the stocks and currencies. ai. >> ramin some could you earnings reports due in japan as well sinlt that right? >> exactly. big focus on toshiba. they're due out with earnings later today for the year through march. of course it's one of the biggest players in the flash memory chip sector and provides

components f smartphone including the iphone. they're a leader in electrical power and industrial systems as well. it's a big focus for the markets. elsewhere we hear from one of the trading houses one of the big five here in japan. strengths in chemicals, commodities and textiles and also it's a leader in china and u.s. markets as well. so across different sectors there with toshiba covering a lot of different secretary orstors of the market. tomorrow, of course, ai we have the big one of the week. that's toyota, and that will give a good indatio ao its sales compared to this time last year. toyota came out and said domestic sales have increased and also sales in the u.s. have increased. we have to see also how this yen has played in the bottom line of a lot of these companies. so that's it for now. back to you, ai. >> all right, ramin. sounds good. both the nikkei and the topix

over three-fourths of a percent. tokyo electric power company will choose a new president. the orator of the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant will promote an executive in charge of compensation for nuclear accident victims. tepco plans to select the next president in an extra board meeting on tuesday. the 59-year-old will officially replace the current chief in june after the company gains approval from shareholders. he's been supporting the victims of the nuclear disaster. his promotion is seen as a bid to reyooufjuvenate management. tepco faces mounting challenges that include the decommissioning of damaged plantds while providing a stable power supply. this is in addition to the huge compensation payouts.

more business for you next hour. i will leave you with a recap of the market figures. syrians went to the polls on monday. they held parliamentary elections for the first time under the new constitution but the te took place as the government cracked down on citizens. the election was the first under the three-month-old constitution. the new rules allow opposition parties to compete with the

governing ba'ath party. more than 7,000 candidates vied for assembly seats. about half are members of the ba'ath party or people with links to the party. the results are expected in several days. members. opposition told nhk that many voters responded to their call to boycott the vote. critics say the multi-party elections are an effort to convince t world that the assad government is pursuing democratic reforms, but activists say 25 people were killed in the latest round of violence. a u.n. spokesperson said only a comprehensive and inclusive political dialogue can lead to a genuine democratic future in syria. he said the elections are not taking place within such a framework. putin has begun his third term as russia's president. he's returning to the post after four years as prime minister. putin took the oath of office in a ceremony at the kremlin

following his election victory in march. >> translator: i pledge to guarantee the people's rights in executing the duties as president. >> putin said he would protect russia's national interests and security and the well-being of its citizens. the 59-year-old putin served as president for two four-year terms from 2000 to 28. he then became prime minister under his successor, medvedev. the constitution bans a president from serving three terms in a row. but he may now be in office until 2018 as a constitutional amendment has extended the president's term to six years. putin has nominated his predecessor, medvedev as prime minister. russia's parliament is expected to approve the nomination on

tuesday. analysts say putin faces an unprecedented levelf cticism that corruption has become rampant during his 12 years as president and prime minister. the air forces of south korea and the united states have begun their largest ever joint drill. security analysts say they're trying to put pressure on north korea. the annual drill called max thunder began on monday west of the korean peninsula and will run through may 18th. south korea and the united states hold drills twice a year to prepare for possible air batts with north kea o attacks on military bases. a south korea defense ministry spokesperson says the exercise involves more than 60 aircraft including fighter jets. surveillance planes are also involved. south korea says it deployed cruise missiles that can strike any part of the north after north korea's failed attempt to launch a long-range missile last

month. the north claims it was a rocket carrying a satellite. north korea's second highest ranking official is scheduled to visit its close ally indonesia next week. nare they're likely it to seek backing for their country as the north is further isolated internationally after the launch of what it called a rocket. the indonesian president's office said the president of the supreme people's assembly will make an official visit from sunday to wednesday. it will be kim's first visit to the country in seven years. he plans to meet the indonesian president on tuesday. the u.n. security council adopted a presidential statement condemning the launch for using ballistic missile technology. north korea and indonesia have enjoyed a strong relationship as part of the nonaligned movement. sri lanka's government is trying to nurture a new generation of skilled workers. they're needed to rebuild the

country's economy. sri lanka's 20-year-long ethnic conflict ended three years ago. now the government plans to win lucrative outscores and financial services contracts and for that it needs lots of accountants. nhk world reports. >> reporter: students at this junior high school in colombo are learning how to manage a shop. >> translator: how would you use 100,000 rupes in capital? a shelf to display products costs 20,000 rupes and you need money to buy goods. how much would your profits be? let's calculate. >> reporter: accounting is the part of the curriculum at all junior high scols in sri lanka. it's part of a national effort to nurture skills that will benefit the economy. >> translator: we can learn practical matters.

it's a very good subject. >> reporter: sri lanka is more stable since the civil war enlded three years ago. its economy grew over 8% in each of the last two years. more foreign businesses are setting up shop to offer services like aounting for coorate clients overseas. this india-based firm has 400 employees in sri lanka. many of them are certified accountants. >> the main plant is based in the uk. currently working on the accounting side so we're mainly the operational aspects of it. >> reporter: the boom is encouraging many younger sur erer

sri lanka lankans to look at careers in accounting. they offer courses to nurture their skills. sarah enrolled two years ago. in this class groups of students discuss management strategies for opening a business school in asia. watching at the back are human resources officers from foreign companies. they are hoping to find competent, new employees. >> people we can use right now or tag people to use in the future. >> reporter: sarah was more active in the discussions. she won high marks from the observers.

>> this is one of the best places to be. it's a beautiful place. there's a lot of opportunities. i would like to get the experience at some place like big companies where they handle like international traders as well. >> reporter: sri lanka is producing a new generation of skillful accountants. they carry the hopes of the nation on their shoulders as sri lanka looks to build a brighter future. nhk world, columbo. 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, sbur xhints. we'll show you their struggles and successes on the road ahead every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline."

japan's reconstruction efforts following last year's disaster are march 11th will be highlighted in the country's pavilion at expo2012 in south korea. the japan pavilion was opened to the media ahead of the start of the expo in south korea on saturday. its main exhibition room features an animated film of the disaster telling the story of a sixth grader who lost his family. the animation also shows how people in a coastal village work to rebuild their community after the tsunami. >> translator: i hope people across the world will see how japan is recovering from the massive devastation. >> a total of 10 a55 countries and 10 international organizations take part in the expo. about 10 million visitors are expected during its three-month-long run.

in the off-season japanese born baseball star yu darvish moved to the texas rangers. baseball fans in japan and u.s. have followed their games. because his father is from iran he has a small but keen following there. nhk world has more. >> reporter: in late march the west asia baseball club was held in pakistan. there were four teams in the competition, pakistan sri lanka, afghanistan, and iran. iran has long been at odds with the u.s. and there is little interest in baseball the american national sport. >> translator: i don't know much about baseball. you use a stick, right? >> translator: i've only seen baseball in the movies. >> reporter: iran's national

baseball team was formed in 1999. currently there are 24 players on the squad. none play professionally. the team gets little backing from the government and relies on their nations for its equipment. conditions are far from ideal, but they're happy that yu darvish is pitching in the major leagues. this 23-year-old is the captain of the iranian national team. he's a huge fan of darvish. he has a white collar job. he trains when he can. he's almost the same age as darvish and first heard about him through the internet. he was introduced to baseball when he was 10 by relatives who are baseball enthusiasts, but he has to lea his pitching skills from books and online.

>> translator: i want to be like darvish and throw a fast ball like him. my goal is to keep improving so i can pitch in the major leagues, too. >> reporter: in the recent west asia baseball cup, he was iran's startsing pitcher. this is only his third appearance in an international tournament in the last 18 years. the iranian team never won an international game. they hope to change that against the afghanistan. in the first inning he connects for a hit. later he comes home to score the first run. however, the catcher gets injured and has to leave his position. he's the only player who can

take his place. reluctantly he puts on the catcher's mitt. he refocuses and carries on leading his players. the iranians' batting and base running are too strong for the afghans. they rack up 14 runs. iran has finally won its first international game. >> translator: i'm so happy that we got our first win. i'm going to continue practicing because i want to win more games. >> reporter: he and his teammates are one step closer to their dream of joining yu darvish on the world stage. nhk world, tehran. >> some nice smiles there.

we're finally getting some nice weather, perfect for outdoor activities here in tokyo. >> good morning, katherine. we're experiencing nice and sunny mornings here in tokyo. the expected high is 25 degrees, so a couple of degrees higher than average. the rest of japan is also experiencing dry conditions, but this low is moving into northern japan this afternoon, so that will create some showers here. meanwhile meanwhile, light showers are affecting across the southern half of the peninsula but that should dissipate tomorrow. more rains are affecting china and southeastern ruia. there's a new low pressure system, a front line across southern china producing heavy rain up to 100 millimeters is expected in the next 24 hours in some areas. for southeast asia scattered thundershowers are developing

here and like yesterday northern thailand is laos will see the heaviest rain. the ground is already very well saturated, so any additional rain is not good news here. as for the highs, 33 degrees in bangkok, 31 degrees in hong kong with plenty of sunshine here. 28 in shanghai and reaching 30 degrees in beijing and 22 degrees in seoul. a little bit cooler than yesterday. moving over to the americas it's mostly dry across the west but very unstable in the east. a low pressure system and the front is producing widespread thundershowers from the great lakes region all the way down to southern texas and arkansas too. some wintry precipitation in and around colorado but snow shut dissipate into tuesday. the heaviestain can be found from the lower mississippi valley into new mexico. the threat of severe thunderstorms, large haim damaging winds and even

tornadoes will remain overnight monday. on tuesday heavy rain will shift to southern texas as well as the northern part of mexico. up towards the north, things get drier in the ohio valley but instead parts of new england and the northeastern states will see wet weather on your tuesday. behind it there's a new low pressure system moving into the great lakes region so some light showers expected in chicago on your tuesday with the high of 22 degrees, 19 degrees in toronto, down towards the south in los angeles 10 degrees warmer than it was on monday with a high of 28 degrees. now, moving over to europe a high pressure system is brig dry conditions across most of continentalal europe aleurope but these low pressure systems move into the western continent and the lower portion of the scandinavian peninsula bringing wet andindy weather on tuesday. some areas like southern norway

anded sweden see late season mountain snow. out towards the east a separate system is producing severe weather in parts of eastern europe and that will move into western russia over the next 24 hours. another warm day for you in moscow with a high of 22 degrees despite rain, 23 in kiev with thundershowers. reaching the 30-degree mark in athens, but towards the west still on the cool side in london with a high of 14 degrees. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast.

our lead stories this hour. the leader of greece's new democracy party says he has given up hope of forming a coalition government. the new democrats partnership with the pasant party introduced austerity measures. the coalition lost it's parliamentary majority on sunday. antony samara held meetings with the leaders. sumara says he has abandoned the talks before the end of the three days he had to form a government. the chance to believe a ruling

coalition will pass to the leader of the radical left coalition. alexei says he'll wk with left wingarties andakes a parliamentary majority unlikely. if they fail they'll be handed a chance to build a coalition. if none can form a governing alliance a new election will be called to ignite concerns over greece's ability it to reimplement reforms. european officials are urging greek politicians to form a government as soon as possible. they want to ease mounting concerns about the implementation of austerity measures. >> greece must remain a member of the euro for instance but everybody has to carry the responsibilities here. we can do lots to assist greece and we are doing so. our member states our taxpayers in other european member states of the euro area are providing

the solidarity. >> eu leaders will continue to offer emergency financing, but they say the greeks must follow-through on their commitments to push through reform. that's all for this edition of "newsline".." do stay with us.