. power play. government leaders in japan wrestle with whether to restart a nuclear plant and how to drive the country. people across japan are feeling the heat. they're worried about a power crunch as they head into summer. all nuclear plants in the country are offline.

government leaders say they hope to restart one in western japan as early as next week. but first they need to win the approval of the municipalities around it. yoshihiko noda met with his cabinet ministers in charge of nuclear issues. fujimura, edino, and hosano. near the ohi plant support the restart though with reservations. leaders of ohi town where the plant is located are still undecided. >> translator: in the end, i'll take personal responsibility in making a decision if the most municipalities agree to it. >> the government leaders say they'll send a senior official to the area to reassure residents. and they'll station a senior

representative there in the long run. they've also proposed a teleconference link amongst the plant, the operators, and the prime minister's office. cabinet ministers will await approval from local leaders. if they get it they'll meet again next week to make their final decision. 13 men have been found apparently executed with their heads tied behind their backs in syria. the bodies were found tuesday night. online video footage believed to have been posted by a local activist shows multiple corpses shot at point blank range. u.n. observers have confirmed the killings. killed more than 100 people including children and women in the central town of hula. the u.n. and arab league kofi annan urged assane -- assad to

end the violence. assad says terrorist attacks must be stopped first. south korean police have arrested two men for possible involvement in the recent jamming of global positioning systems. the jamming effected air and sea traffic around much of the country for more than two weeks. police say the two south korean businessmen first came to their attention last july. they were in the northeastern city of dangdong and were identified by spies. the suspects had made contact with people in the south korean military industry. they say they tried to collect data on jamming devices. they've been charged with violating the country's national security law. earlier this month, hundreds of commercial jets and ships in south korea experienced a gps disruption for more than two weeks. the south korean government says the north was responsible, but

north korea denies any involvement. investors are not getting any relief over their eurozone debt concerns. ai a pretty grim picture overnight for stocks. >> absolutely catherine. investors' concerns deepening and not lessening. u.s. markets were on the further fallout for the euro. the dow jones ended down 1.28%. 12,419. in fact all three major indices on wall street fell over 1%. so for how stocks are trading this morning here in japan, let's go to ramin mellegard. ramin, the yen's recent surge has not been good for japanese exporters. how are we starting off today? >> good morning to you, ai. a negate startre. let'go straito the opening levels for the nikkei and the

topix. quite a drastic fall with the nikkei down 1.91%. the topics now at 712. came at plus 0.2%. but really the main picture that is effecting markets now is eurozone matters. not only greece but more importantly now how spain is playg into the markets which may have far bigger implications than greece even. we already had heard its debt rating was downgraded earlier in the week which just making it harder for spain to borrow funds to cover its costs. that's pushed the euro to two-year lows against the dollar. investors investors switching to safer ones. now, just having a look at where we stand this thursday morning,

78.90-96 yen. reaching 78.87 at one point. euro you can see there. now trading at 97.58-65. another interesting story there as the euro continues to fall against the yen. now, the question on most investors' minds -- with such high exposure to european markets with not only the likes of the auto sector as well as consumer electronics. we've seen the euro weaken from back in march to 97 which we just saw. and this time last year it was trading around 117 and hit a high of over 120. so you can see how much the euro has depreciated over this time eroding a lot of corporate earnings for japanese companies along the way.

looking forward to economic data in the u.s. later today. we'll have revised gdp numbers as wl as private sector jobs numbers. it's a good snapshot of the jobs picture before we get the really big one on friday which is of course u.s. non-foreign payrolls and unemployment. right now markets really affected by what's happening. back to you. >> thanks a lot. the nikkei is at 8,463 now. as ramin mentioned, spain now taking center stage as far as concerns go. the european union has given spain anotheyear to meet an eu target for budget deficits. it cites the worsening economic and fiscal conditions. the european commission monetary affairs chief said wednesday that the eu will extend the

deadline for spain. that mean this country needs to cut its deficit to less than 3% by 2014. spain had a budget deficit of 8.9% last year. >> need to consider the extension or construction of the deadline from 2013 to 2014 on the condition that spain will present a convincing budget plan for 2013 and 14. >> ren said the reason for the extension are an economic slowdown and the capital injection into the ailing banking sector. now, this is the second time since march that the eu has relaxed the fiscal target for spain. but rentressed at spain is a special case. the president of the european council says it's time for japan and the eu to begin

negotiating a free trade deal. herman rompuy said he plans to visit japan in the next ten months to begin talks on a partnership agreement. former japanese prime minister met with rompuy on wednesday. hatoyama is in the belle gin capital leading. hatoyama quoted rompuy as saying he wants to discuss the launch of the talks with prime minister yoshihiko noda in july. japan and the eu are in the final stages of preparatory talks to begin epa negotiations after more than a year of discussions. some eu members remain cautious. they want japan to do more. the nikkei and the topix shary down this morning ts morning. i'll leave you with a look at the markets.

many feared it was a day that would never come. aung sang suu kyi is traveling outside myanmar. and was banned from leaving the country. we're joined from our bangkok bureau with details. >> it's yet another milestone in myanmar's ongoing process. the country's opposition leader

suu kyi has begun her first trip a abroad in 24 years. aung sang suu kyi flew in. the pro-democracy leader was greeted by many people from myanmar who were gathering at the airport. >> she last returned to myanmar in 1988 and became a leader of the democracy movement but long periods of house arrest followed. she refused traveling abroad fearing she would not be allowed back in myanmar. she was awarded the nobel peace prize in 1991. but she was unable to accept in person. at the invitation of david cameron in june she will visit britain where she previously studied at oxford university.

her itinerary also includes a stop at oslo. suu kyi will give a speech on women's participation in society at the economic forum held in the thai capital on thursday and friday. she's also expected to brief representatives of her country on the status of the democratizization. first up on her tour was a suburb of bangkok. she saw the difficult lives of myanmar immigrants in neighboring thailand. >> reporter: a big crowd of myanmar workers are awaiting the arrival of aung sang suu kyi.

>> reporter: this is the enthusiasm shown to myanmar's democratic icon. thousands of myanmar workers in the province gathered to cheer aung san s kyi. a seafood processing center and hundreds of thousands of people from myanmar work in the seafood industry for low wages. the workers were the audience for her first speech abroad in 24 years after a forced silence in myanmar. she called on the myanmar immigrants to return home and participate in building a democracy. >> translator: she is the only hope we have. whatever hope we have left is now with mother suu kyi.

>> reporter: 29-year-old sorlai is one of the current people to flee myanmar. he was forced to carry weapons for the military. he fled ten years ago and had to leave his son behind. now he works at a salt refinery earning about $13 a day. the long rule of the regime made him reluctant to return to myanmar. but the visit by aung san suu kyi has changed his stance. >> translator: because the situation in myanmar is better i should prepare to go back home for good. >> reporter: aung san suu kyi's visit has given the immigrants more hope. but how far the democratize democratizization process will

go is uncertain. nhk world, central thailand. >> suu kyi is also planning to visit a refugee camp located on the border this weekend. myanmar had a productive labor force. as the last frontier of asia. with an eye to tap into t potential, japan is helping the country set up its first ever stock exchange. >> reporter: tokyo stock exchange has signed an agreement with myanmar central bank. moves are on the way to set up the first stock market in the country. the aim is to deepen bilateral ties and promote investment in funds.

>> the idea of working together for a long time. i think we believe that here is very true for us. >> reporter: a japanese business partner who helped to ring the bell. he is the president of a college in myanmar. it was created by japan's group together with the local. the plan is to expand to set up the new exchange. he has lived in myanmar for 14 years. he stayed behind even when many left the country due to u.s. and european sanctions. he has created a wide network with key figures.

he wears ethnic clothing to work to fit in with the local society. while working on the projt, h runs into strong competition from south korea. in the end, the deep trust he had earned over the years made all the difference. >> translator: japanese people take time and nurture relationships. it's not all about money. i think that our culture struck a cord with the people in myanmar. >> reporter: a major japanese bank is alsoaking myanmar ahead of its competitors from other companies. has joined hands with myanmar's leading bank. aiming to test the partners'

network to japanese funds when the local market opens its door. in myanmar most payments are made with cash since automatic machines are not so common there yet. >> translator: this is myanmar's leading bank. its methods are the most advanced for this country. >> reporter: plans to recommend to the local partner that it will rely on machines and other systems to help boost operation and improve. japanese funds are to play to boost the local economy.

and gain. the tryout has just begun. nhk world. >> and that wraps up our bulletin. people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster. but it won't be easy. they have to rebud homes, businesses entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." an elderly woman who has survived a pair of tsunami have been telling other people how they can save their lives too. to get her message across the woman relies on an old fashioned technique. she works from a picture story painted illustrations that say company her narration.

>> reporter: 87-year-old yoshi tabata presents her picture in her city. tabata lost her family to the tsunami. she was eight years old at the too time. she plays the main role in her story. she has been telling her story for over 30 years to warn people about the danger of tsunamis. >> reporter: this is the area of miyako city tabata's hometown. >> translator: this is where my house used to stand. >> reporter: 78 years after the first tsunami, tabata was

threatened by another large one. the water swept her house away. but it didn't touch he she had managed to reach safety at her younger sister's house on a hill. tabata says she was able to survive two major tsunamis thanks to the advice of her grandfather who also survived one. >> translator: he always told us if an earthquake hits we should each run away. he told us to run to higher ground otherwise a tsunami would get us. >> reporter: she stressed there's not much time. so don't feel you have to wait for your family to gather. tabata wants to use her picture story show to spread her grandfather's lesson to as many people as possible.

>> translator: she taught me how tragic tsunamis are and made me think about a tsunami hitting some time in the future. >> translator: i realize that i need to talk with my family about what to do if we confront a disaster. >> translator: if there's one thing i would like people to know, it is this. it's up to you to save your life. i really hope that i can make young people realize this fact as it's so essential. >> tabata wants people all over the world to listen to her grandfather's warning. so last year she publish her picture stor in a book withn english translation. now let's take a look at the world weather forecast with rachel ferguson. >> a bit of a cooler day, overcast in tokyo. not likely to see any of those

thunderstorms of earlier in this week. however, it will be overcast and maybe a few showers later on. 20% to 30% chance of some showers. most areas are looking settled. down to the south there will be heavier rain coming off this potent rain band which is just starting to ease out of central and southern china. it will bring down pours and thunderstorms to the japanese islands. heavy rain also targeting southwestern china. lots of moisture off the bay of bengal. you can see a hundred millimeters in the space of 24 hours. the korean peninsula also seeing a wet day today. down pours through your thursday. then to the south as i mentioned, the last day or so. the southwest monsoon is really starting to get invigorated. central and western portions of indochina will see heavy showers day. ana low pressure system that is going to help enhance the flow of moisture over the country. widespread showers here too. to the south, the temperatures are going to be in the lower

30s. however, not too bad in shanghai chongqing. it should feel more comfortable at 27 in chongqing and also taipei taipei. all right. as we head into north america, we're goi to talk about our storm beryl. tropical storm made landful earlier this week on florida. it's come back out over wart and it's now a post-tropical cyclone. the winds have picked up over the sea. and it picked up the pace. it's moving fairly quickly now. another couple hours of rain in this storm. then it should pull away sufficiently to let things calm down for the coast of north carolina. however, there is going to be more rain coming into the southeast. we've got a front sagging down

here. that's going to bring moisture in across florida, georgia once again. the worst of the storms will be stretched out just below the great lakes and down in towards texas during your overnight hours from kansas into oklahoma and texas. you're going to see fairly nasty storms. but fairly slowly. temperatures are coming down with that system as well. a few days ago you were seeing temperatures over 30 degrees. that is a really big jump. 25 drees in oklahoma city. feeling the chill down here as well. you're seeing the low 30s for atlanta. all right. let's head into europe. a storm system moving across the british isles will make things wet and windy. that should be here by friday. but it will feel cooler once the system has passed. a large low over scandinavia here. that's going to bring thunderstorms into central europe from the czech republic across germany and the alpine

region. the balkan peninsula and widespread showers through turkey. staying hot and dry. 36 degrees in lisbon. 34 in madrid. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast.

nasa says the spacecraft dragon will return to earth on thursday after successfully docking with the international space station. nasa announced on wednesday that the unmanned spacecraft will detach from the space station at around 5:30 a.m. thursday u.s. eastern daylight time. it will then begin the journey home splashing in the pacific ocean thursday afternoo dragon was launched from florida on may 22nd. it became the first to dock three days later with its food and supplies. the spacecraft's mission was completed smoothly and the agency had achieved a difficult

goal with its new private sector partner. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.