state of civil roar. western diplomats say the fight for syria may be entering a new phase. and foreign powers are taking sides. government and opposition forces in syria are showing a new sense of resolve. both sides are drawing on heavier weapons as they fire at ch other.

united nations leaders s the fightingas developed into a civil war. the opposition free syrian army has staged attacks on government troops. they feel those loyal to assad carried out massacres. state television reported that government troops had what it called claimed the northern town and restored calm. it says the soldier seized large quantities of weapons. the town has been under siege for several days. many civilians have been killed. government forces have launched air attacks in central and eastern syria. they're adding fire power to

attacks by tanks and ground troops. activists say at least 100 civilians were killed or the last two days. french leaders are echoing that the situation is now a civil war. they'll urge the u.n. security council to tighten sanctions. >> translator: this time we need sanctions which will touch not only bashar al assad and his entourage, but also army officials and all of assad's support. >> he said he'll propose his plan to end u.s. and european diplomats. he said he would call the security council to invoke chapter seven of the charter. also includes the sanctions that use the force to deal with acts.

would enforce to end the violence. russia and iran have long standing friendly relations with syria. leaders in those countries have rejected any foreign interjection. leaders met with other senior officials in tehran. said senior leaders do not support any administration in syria. but he said they cannot back foreign intervention to bring stability to the country. russian officials have proposed an international meeting to discuss the crisis. salehi said he accepted an invitation to attend. >> translator: the iran government has announced many times the issue of syria needs to be dealt with isyria by syan not through the interference of others. >> salehi criticized. now to other stories we're

following. investigators in japan are trying to figure out if chinese officials broke international rules. u.n. sanctions are designed to keep north korea from building up its military. they've got documents proving a ship transported special vehicles. they say the vehicles could be used as launch pads for ballistic missiles. the customs officials say they found export documents of the ship in october at osaka poert. the firm has been designated as an entity violating u.s. sanctions. they say the paper work shows they transported four special vehicles from shanghai. japanese officials say it's likely these vehicles that match

those displayed at missile launch pads during a military parade in april in north korea. they also say exporting this hardware violates the security council resolutions. japanese officials are reporting their findings to the u.n. a chinese spokesperson is denying the accusations. >> translator: china firmly opposes proliferation of wex weapon of mass destruction and their transport equipment. we implement unsc resolutions. >> he added firms in china do not export goods that are banned by security council resolutions or chinese law. nhk world senior reporter gives us more insight into the special vehicles that have been transported to north korea. >> well the international committee has raised conces

over the transport launcher which for the first time appeared in public at a parade in pyongyang on april 15. this launcher reportedly carries a long range missile. so if the vehicles were exported from north korea, this could be in violation of the resolution. please look at the pictures. the first one was taken at a parade in pyongyang in april. the second is of special vehicles being manufactured by china. the shape of the front window resembles that of the vehicle in the parade in april. you can see the same model of 16 wheel vehicles made in china appear in the parade. the analysts have been saying that these vehicles displayed in the parade were provided by china. transporting materials related

to weapon of mass destruction to north korea is a clear breach of u.n. security council resolutions. ballistic missiles are in this country making it possible that china violated the resolutions. this remains unclear why china provided north korea with the vehicles. but shipping materials over requires the go ahead from beijing. therefore, it is likely that china -- china's leadership approved export of vehicles. but please look at the photo again. as the vehics appear to be for civilian purposes china claims it did not violate the resolutions as it exported the vehicles to the north for the civilian purposes. the next question is how the international committee will react to china's suspected brief

of the u.n. resolution. well investors who hold assets in europe may be getting even more nervous. ai joins us now. tell us why tt is. >> that's because analysts at credit ratings agencies are saying some of these assets aren't even of investment grade. the latest victim is spain. the nation has been downgraded by credit agency moody's bringing it down to a level just above speculative status. the agency said that it has lowered spain's sovereign debt to baa3. that's down three notches from a3. it could further downgrade spain bt in the next three months. the agency cited an outlook that the government could balloon. the government could borrow

more. after the government decided to get financial help from the eu the price on the spanish ten year bonds set a record low since the country joined the euro. moody's also downgraded bonds from cyprus. the rating is now ba3. that is down two notches from ba1. cyprus has strong economic ties with greece. moody's says that commercial banks in cyprus are suffering huge losses from the hold they held. and loans they extended to greek firms. now, as for stocks the dow jones industrial average ended lower on weak data and those ongoing concerns about the eurozone. for more on how stocks are going here we will go to ramin. any headliners to take into

consideration? >> definitely. very good morning to you, ai. we've had the volatility in the markets largely to events in the eurozone. and the upk078ing elections in greece this weekend will be a focus this weekend for sure. we've got the bank of japan meeting kicking off today. prime minister noda will be battling to push through his increase in the consumption tax. and that's also going tbe a cus for the markets. let's see how everything is kicking off today for the nikkei and the topix. a little bit of a negative start here for this thursday morning. and we might see the nikkei trading in a bit of a range opening currently now at 8,538. topix 723. already on wednesday we did see below average volume. investors still waiting to see what transpires in europe and of course domestically here. and also some economic data out of the u.s. now, spain, of course is a big

focus as well. and apart from the elections in greece it doesn't help market sentiment. we saw that filtered through to the euro as well as it weakened such on the news. let's have a look at the foreign currency levels as well this thursday morning in tokyo. dollar/yen. gaining a touch. 30-37. and euro/yen 99.75-80. falling toh. >> going back to the bank of japan meeting starting today, what are markets expecting this time around? >> yeah. markets really expecting monetary policy to remain on hold. as the bank of japan waits to see how events unfold in the eurozone. imf officials this morning have made it clear they are for any further aggressive measures by the bank of japan to ease

monetary policy. they've also mentioned about favorable position if there should baositn in foreign currency markets. that should really effect the markets today. but maybe see a bit of a range trade. also separately on a brighter note if anybody with kids the tokyo toy show is going to be kicking off. toyota is coming out with a car model which actually goes up to 40 kilometers per hour. however, you need a parent in the back seat controlling the brakes and the steering. that could be interesting. >> sure does sound interesting. thanks for the heads u ran mellegar from the tokyo stock exchange. now, the president of the european commission has called for bold measures to boost banking and fiscal integration within the eurozone. made an address to the european

parliament in france. he said the eurozone has reached a decisive moment that will determine its fate. >> our economic relations members and not euro members alike. our futures are linked. >> he said member countries must acknowledge the structural flaws that prohibit integration and come up with a framework for the future. >> we advocate further integration. it is now evident that this is independenceable for the responsibility of our common currency. >> he also said leadership proposed measures about a banking union that will centralize control of major banks within the eurozone. that's on the agenda for a summit that starts june 28th. he said they'll also discuss common bonds or jointly issued eurozone debts. i do have more stories for you next hour. i'm going to leave you with a

check on markets around asia. the u.s. marines hope a new impact report will lessen opposition to the deployment of a controversial aircraft in okinawa. the marines plan in the southern -- of the u.s. marine corps aren't happy with the idea.

the report delivered to the okinawa government concludes that the takeoff landing and aircraft shows no environmental impact. that it's quieter than the ch-40 helicopter except when landing. will use simulators in training to reduce the number of test flights. it also says the number of accidents up no nine years was lower than the number of other helicoers use. the government of okinawa is expected to seek further explanations after examining the report. 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 struggles and their successes on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline."

a japanese photo journalist is using his pictures to tell a ory about the dangers of radiation. has spent decades documenting how testing effects people in the islands in the pacific. now the 72-year-old is using what he learned to help residents of fukushima prefecture who are dealing with the aftermath of the nuclear accident. >> reporter: began photographing victims of nuclear experiments in the islands nearly four decades ago. he and his wife lived there for several years to better understand the situation. >> translator: i want to do more than just take photos. i want to act as a messenger. build a bridge between the marshall islands and japan.

>> reporter: the u.s. government took control of the marshall islands after world war ii. it carried out 67 nuclear tests there between 1946 and 1958. it did make a powerful hydrogen bomb. the radioactive material reached islands hundreds of kilometers away. among them rongelap island. it took american authorities a few days to evacuate the island. three years later, they declared it safe. and islanders returned. shimada visits the area 20 years after the experiment. people had developed various diseases. among them disorders, leukemia, and cancer.

the number of children born with abnormalties had flkzed. islanders said american doctors check them regularly. but didn't provide treatment. translato actually islanders were not allowed to know the big picture of nuclear testing and its resulting health effects. they couldn't understand why these abnormalties were occurring. >> reporter: it forced islanders to leave again in 1985. 31 years after the experiment. they move to a deserted island where they faced ortages. they had to rely on canned food supplies from the u.s.

the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant reminded people about the risks of radiation. shimada decided it was time to convey the lessons learned in the marshall islands. he started to travel around japan to show his photographs. he said u.s. government policies have devastated life in the pacific island chain. he urged people not to repeat the same mistakes in fukushima. >> translator: i think the most important thing is to listen to victims in various situations. and stay by their side. >> reporter: the message hit home for people from fukushima prefecture. >> translator: i feel people from fukushima and the marshall islands have something in common. we are powerless and at the

mercy of irrational national policy. >> translator: the effects of radioactive contamination should be researched and disclosed. the history of suffering among the marshall islanders provides lessons for us all. >> reporter: shimada hopes to promote exchanges between residents of the marshall islands and fukushima. he's devoted much of his life to help people aecte by radiation. but his work is not yet finished. nhk world. >> shimada has decided to launch a project with japanese scientists to measure the levels of radiation in the northern part of rongelap. american authorities have been decontaminateing there. former residents plan to return home this year. but not everyone is going.

some islanders remain concerned about the lo-term effects of radiation. a group of students at a junior high school in northeastern japan were a bit more excited than normal on wednesday when they took to the basketball court. it wasn't an upcoming game that had them enthused. it was more like the return of a long lost friend. a basketball that floated across the pacific ocean. the ball was swept away by last year's march 11th tsunami. after months of being pounded by storms and scorched by the sun, it washed up on a beach in the state of alaska in march. two pilots from the u.s. cargo carrier fedex delivered the ball to the students. >> the basketball was found on an alaskan island by a high

school student. the name of the school was written on it. everyone at the school survived the tsunami, but the building was destroyed. the students are now using an abandoned building at another junior high school. >> they considered putting the return ball on display at the school. there's a storm developing in the pacific. rachel ferguson gives us the details and more in her world weather forecast. >> all right. yes, we have a storm in the pacific as you mentioned. it's a tropical storm and it is strengthening. since yesterday we've seen those wipds increase intensify. it's now moving west at 20 kilometers an hour and gusts up above 120 kilometers an hour. it looks like it's going to be curving in towards the philippines. perhaps making landfall in

luzon. it will be becoming a typhoon, strengthening to a typhoon by saturday morning local time. now, landfall is possible here in eastern luzon but it's ssible it will gourther to tords the east and head towards taiwan. now, a tropical system like this is always a concern, but particularly for taiwan it has been receiving just astronomical amounts of rain over the last several days. extreme heavy rain over -- totaling over a meter and a half have fallen in parts of the island. now, there's a severe flooding situation right now. but as you can see, that front has been supplying all of the heavy rain. "tokyo fashion express" not moved very far. we're continuing to see the heavy rain coming down. and down in towards the southern coast of china. you could see up to 250 millimeters of additional rainfall on your thursday.

now, up towards the north there's also some heavy rainfall. the system is going to be lingering for the next day or so in and around northern china. so ongoing rain with some short bursts of heavy rain as well in that and thunderstorms. most of japan seeing clear skies today. we'll see rain moving in to the south once again from friday. here are your temperatures. looking quite dry in much of central china. then towards the east. 30 degrees in shanghai. 29 in chongqing. and clear skies and sunshine in tokyo at 24. 24 also is the expected high in ulon. into america. we're going to be talking about what's going on in the plains. some storms along the new mexico border into texas. we've also got some severe storms targeti down into the dakotas right now.

that's going to move further towards the east. staying very dry to the southwest around four corners. severe fire danger from new mexico up through into wyoming. it looks like there's rainfall in here but it really is not a significant amount of moisture coming in. so staying very dry. and with drought conditions in the southwest. in the east the rain is starting to move out finally after a soggy week. the showers will remain along the gulf coast there towards the east and through florida. the heat is building in the south. 41 in phoenix. and down in towards the south of texas. so those heat indyicesindices. as we head into europe another storm moving into the british isles bringing heavy rain and strong storms here and across parts of france and the low countries over the next several days. not a great start to the weekend. another storm system moving across poland into western

russia down to the south staying moly clear and dry. with still a lot of heat building to the southeast in and around the black sea region. our lead story this hour. syrian government forces have retaken one of the strongholds of the opposition north of the country.

un's monitors now say it resembles a civil war. the free syrian army has resumed attacks on government troops following a series of massacres blamed on the regime of president bashar al assad. the state television said government troops had cleansed the town from terrorists and restored calm. it claims weapons had been seized. the town has been under siege for several days. resulting in many civilian casualties. >> meanwhile, air raids have continued in central and eastern syria with tanks firing on the ground. a human rights group in syria says more than 100 civilians were killed between tuesday and wednesday alone.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.