♪ death of a revolutionary. venezuelan president hugo chavez dies after a long battle with cancer. hugo chavez dreamed as a young soldier of revolution. he rose up to become president

of venezuela a an inspiration for socialists across latin america. he fought for two years against cancer but ultimately lost his battle. chavez was first elected president in 1998. he redistributed oil profits and won the support of poor voters. he tapped into nationalism and became a thorn in the side to successive u.s. presidents. two years ago doctors detected cancer in his pelvis. chavez went through several rounds of surgery in cuba. the treatments weakened the once fiery leader. still, voters re-elected him to his fourth term this past october. his inauguration was scheduled to take place in january. but he was not able to leave hospital in havana. hugo chavez was 58.

u.s. officials are trying to use their leverage to punish their counterparts in north korea. thamerans introduced a draft resolution at the united nations security council. they're targeting banking transactions and what they call illicit activities by diplomats. they say the sanctions will be among the toughest ever. north korean scientists carried out their third underground nuclear test last month. members of the council met on tuesday to discuss how to respond. u.s. delegates drafted the resolution. they managed to get the support of north korea's long-time ally china. >> the international community is united and very firm in its opposition to north korea's illicit nuclear and missile programs. >> rice said the resolution would place new restrictions on diplomatic travel, banking transactions, and shipments of cargo. members are expected to adopt it later this week at the earliest.

executives at a major japanese electronic company are in financial trouble. they've been looking for help overseas, and they may have found a willing partner in south korea. ai?iness desk.s us now from the >> yes, catherine. you're talking about sharp. they are expected to post billions of dollars in losses this business year. so they are desperate. while the struggling japanese electronics maker is set to receive funding from its biggest rival. south korean samsung electronics has agreed to a capital tie-up. executives at sharp will meet on wednesday to make a final decision. sources say the deal would secure about $107 million from the south korean firm. samsung would then have about a 3% stake in sharp. sources also say the two companies are discussing a long-term arrangement to supply sharp's lcd panels to samsung. sharp is mired in huge losses. the deal would improve its financial situation and boost

the use of factory lines. for samsung the agreement would ensure a stable supply of lcd panels. sharp's executives have been sounding out several overseas partners for capital alliances. low-cost liquid crystal panels are vital to the success of an electronics company. a tie-up between sharp and samsung could affect the business strategies of competitors in china and taiwan. samsung currently holds the largest share in the global lcd tv market. the maker got there by building its own factories, taking advantage of tax breaks and a weak national currency. samsung officials lowered the cost of their tvs by mass-producing lcd panels in house. this helped them step up their global market share. but new rivals in china and taiwan offering cheaper products led to a plunge in tv prices. to stay ahead samsung i looking for a source of low-cost lcd panels. the firm's wide sales network

united with sharp's technical expertise could trigger similar tie-ups among competitors. and on wall street u.s. stock prices powered ahead to reach a historical high. the dow jones industrial average exceeded its previous record, set about five years and five months ago. on tuesday the dow jones ended at 14,253. that's up 125 points, or 0.89%. buy orders prevailed as soon as the market opened, as investors became more hopeful about a u.s. economic recovery. at one point during the day the key index climbed nearly 160 points. the new york share prices have been on an upward trend since last november, even overcoming sharp falls stemming from political uncertainties in italy, which had elections last month. market sentiment was supported also by comments from federal reserve chairman ben bernanke, who defended the ongoing monetary easing policy. this helped to push stock prices

higher. >> there's a lot of money still slashing around the system that has been created but quantitative easing. emerge k markets are starting to flag a little bit. so we're seeing money return back domestically. i would say the government's focus has to be on manufacturing and on housing. so we -- i think those are two particular areas of the stock market that will start to pick up focus should the economy continue to recover. >> now let's see how markets are doing here in japan. the u.s. stock rally is boosting tokyo shares. the nikkei is currently trading at 11,828. that's a gain of 1 1/4% from tuesday's close. market players are optimistic about a recovery in the global economy following tuesday's strong performance in the u.s. and europe. let's take a look at the currency markets now. the dollar is trading in a tight range against the yen. that pair is at 93.06-07. market sources say participants are waiting for the release of

u.s. jobs data to confirm the country's economic conditions. the figure is due out later this week. the euro, that's also little changed against the yen. the euro against the yen is now changing hands at 121.55-60. and in other markets in the asia pacific, south korea's kospi is trading higher by almost 2/3 of a percent. 2,028. let's see what's going on in australia. the benchmark index is up by 1%. 5,128. japanese prime minister shinzo abe plans to announce his decision late next week to join the talks for a free trade deal under the transpacific partnership. >> translator: i will pursue what's best for japan. following talks last month with u.s. president barack obama. i will make the final decision. after taking into account our discussions with the u.s. and

those within my liberal democratic party. >> abe said progress is under way in preliminary talks. that's on issues related to the automotive and insurance sectors, two areas of concern for the u.s. on autos the plan is for the u.s. to gradually remove tariffs on imported japanese cars. another option being considered is for japan to accept more american vehicles through simpler customs procedures. on other sectors, including agricultu agriculture, abe plans to forgo releasing specific figures on the expected tpp impact. that's because no decision has been made on which items to exempt from tariff cuts. i'll have more business headlines for you next hour. here's a check on regional markets. ♪ ♪

♪ efforts to decommission crippled reactors continue at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. ahead of the second anniversary of the accident nhk world reporters have become the first media staff to enter areas previously off limits. >> reporter: we are near the number 1 reactor. this was the site of the meltdown and the hydrogen explosions. debris and shattered glass lie as they fell.

hoses used to fight the fires also remain. steel panels on the ground prevent workers from radiation exposure. 9 the decommissioning of all the damaged reactors is scheduled to take 40 years. the high radiation keeps delaying the work. our camera room entered the control room for the system to purify contaminated water. employees are now allowed to work without masks here. they have to monitor levels of radioactive water around the clock. as the heat tons build up in the basement of the damaged nuclear reactors. the contaminated water increased by 400 tons a day as groundwater is seeping into the buildings.

these tanks are designed to store the water. each is 11 meters high and can hold 1,000 tons. but it takes only 2 1/2 days to fill one tank. experts say space will run out in 2 1/2 years. we then visited the number four reactor. work is under way to prepare for the removal of over 1,500 spent fuel rods from a damaged storage pool. tepco engineers plan to start the removal of the rods in mid november. as the first major step of the decommissioning process. a tepco executive says they face many challenges.

>> translator: we will have to resolve a number of technological issues before we can start removing a large numb of spent fuel rods and extracting the melted fuel. we need to develop remote kr0e8d robots that can work where humans can't because of extremely high levels of radiation. >> reporter: the japanese government has targeted the decommissioning process to end within 40 years. but the high levels of radiation and the damage still left by the tsunami and hydrogen explosions are making it unclear what lies ahead. >> nhk world's yoichiro taitewa. people in northeastern japan are reminded daily of what they lost on march 1th, 2011. the earthquake and tsunami took away loved ones, homes, entire communities.

survivors are moving ahead, but they still face obstacles at the damaged nuclear plant and all along the pacific coast. "newsline" will bring you their stories. don't miss "path to recovery: two years on." members of the international olympic committee inspected several venues in tokyo on tuesday. it was their second day evaluating the city's plans to host the 2020 summer games. it included metropolitan gymnasium where the table tennis competition would be held. the site hosted the gymnastics events in the 1964 tokyo olympics. it's also where the table tennis world championships and other international events were held. some of the ioc officials enjoyed rallies with japanese players. including ai sukuhara. she won a silver medal in the london olympics. sukuhara said she was nervous. she said she tried her best to convey tokyo's enthusiasm to host the games.

>> translator: i think i was able to show the interesting, fun parts of table tennis. ioc officials were all smiling. they seemed to have a good time. it was a big success. >> the ioc inspection will continue until thursday. the latest ioc survey shows that 70% of tokyoites support the bid to host the 2020 games. that's up 23 percentage points from may of last year. the president of the japanese olympic committee unveiled the survey results. >> translator: we shouldn't be content with getting a 70% support rate. we'll continue making efforts to gain more support for hosting the games in 2020. >> the support made for tokyo's 2016 olympic games bid was as obseers y this was probably

a major reason the bid failed at that time. the u.s. military will begin flight drills of the osprey transport aircraft over japan's main islands on wednesday. it will be the first drill over the region since the aircraft's deployment in okinawa. japan's defense ministry say three osprey will take part in the three-day low altitude flight training. the ospreys will fly over the so-called orange route. it's one of six flight routes in the main islands. during the drill the aircraft will fly from u.s. marine corps iwakuni air station in yamaguchi prefecture over shikoku island and wakayama prefecture. u.s. military representatives say it will also conduct nighttime drills through 10:00 p.m. they say the aircraft will fly at a minimum altitude of 150 meters during the day and 300 meters at night. defense officials from japan and britain say they plan to

develop suits that protect against chemical weapons. this will be japan's first development of defense equipment with a country other than the united states. the country's leaders agreed last year to develop defense equipment at an early date. japan relaxed its long-standing ban on arms exports in 2011. this paved the way for japanese companies to develop equipment with foreign partners under certain conditions. sources say british officials initially proposed developing artillery parts. but japanese officials reportedly believed it would be easier t w public support for protective suits. japan plans to host a conference with african nations in may to discuss developments of natural resoces like rare earths. the move is part of japan's bid to secure a stable supply of natural resources. economy, trade, and industry ministry toshimitsu motegi says

ministers responsible for development of natural resources in 15 african nations will gather in tokyo. these countries include south africa and mozambique, that are rich in natural resources. the participants will consider issues such as how can japanese firms help increase infrastructure investments in africa. they also plan to discuss measures to train experts in the field. government officials note this is the first time for japan to host a ministerial-level conference with african nations to discuss natural resources development as a major topic. the outcome of the conference will be reported to the tokyo international conference on african development to be held in june. bangkok is hosting the meeting of an international convention that aims to protect endangered species. ivory is high on the agenda of

the meeting. although international trade of the material is banned, the host country, thailand, allows it domestically. this has made it a major hub of the global ivory market. nhk world's busavu sevasonbu reports. >> reporter: this is just a small portion of the ivory that thai authorities confiscate at bangkok's main international airport every year. more than ten tons have been seized in the past five years. all of it comes from african elements. >> translator: if a crate comes from african countries, we pay close attention. but we have to oversee 500 incoming flights a day. we admit we can't search all of them. >> reporter: according to wildlife ngos, 2012 was a deadly year for african elephants.

30,000 of the animals were killed for their tusk, which can fetch 2,000 u.s. dollar per kilogram. thailand is one of the biggest markets for ivory. this district is at its center. artisans here carve the material into various items which sell for high prices. shop owners insist that they don't use illegal ivory. >> translator: we don't do anything wrong. we don't kill any elephants in any country. but we have no chance to defend ourselves in the international arena. we are trying to cooperate, but i can't say if others comply as well. >> reporter: scientists want a conventional and international

treaty on international species and flora and fauna. bans the cross-border trade of ivory. but it doesn't apply to trade within countries. since the thai domestic market is largely unregulated, it is the perfect place to render illegal ivory smuggled in from africa. wildlife groups demand that the thai government impose an outright ban on all ivory trade. >> there are measures in place to try to control the trade in ivory, but it's clearly not working. and really the only way to prevent the extinction of the elephant is to close the market. and unfortunately, the spotlight is on thailand because they have one of the largest markets in the world. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: facing international pressure, prime minister yingluck shinawatra said at the opening ceremony of

the scientists' meeting that thailand should halt the trade. >> unfortunately, many have used thailand as a transit country for the illegal international ivory trade. we will do what amending the national registration with the goal of putting an end of ivory trade. and to be allied with international norms. >> reporter: however, the time frame of the proposed ban has not been set. as demand is still high, it is not clear if thailand will really bow out of the ivory trade. nhk world, bangkok. emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty.

emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence. the push for peace. the shadow of conflict. get news and insight on southeast asia every monday on nhk "newsline." the batman of bradford has been unmasked. a man dressed as the comic hero handed over a suspect last week to british police, then disappeared. news outlets around the world reported on this story. now the would-be soourp superhero has disclosed his identity. the man dressed up as the caped crusader, then walked into a police station in the central city of bradford. he brought in a man charged with theft and frau police revealed surveillance video showing them talking to each other. they say batman told officers that he'd caught the man for them, then disappeared into the darkness. >> my name's stan worby. 39-year-old, and i'm a delivery

driver. >> in a tv interview worby said he had been watching a soccer game in his costume. a friend asked worby to take him to the police station. he said he didn't have time to change his clothes. many people in the u.s. are having a hard time getting around. mai shoji joins us from the weather desk to tell us why. >> hi there. we've got two storms that are slamming the western coast of the north american continent as well as the east. let me start it off talking about this, heading toward the pacific northwest. the sierras, the cascades. you'll probably find about 50 centimeters of snow. the heaviest bulk of snow will be in northern california in the higher elevations. and you can see a clear spiring with this cloud formation. that means it's going to be a potent system and the winds are strong, enough to create blowing snow, very hazardous for traveling. also, this one will be affect the metropolitan areas where te population is very high. winter weather advisories, warnings. 9 area has increased.

thousands of flights are canceled. so do check your schedule if you are traveling in or out of these regions. they'll be moving very slowly toward the eastern seaboard. so the snowfall accumulation could be some staggering amounts in places where we don't really see that much. massachusetts, the appalachians, in the next 48 hours you'll probably see it on the order of 50 centimeters of snow. local areas will probably find about 75 centimeters of snowfall. down toward the south of that wind advisories are widely po posted and toward the south of that. thunderstorms could be possible. hail and gust reports. numerous have been reported in alabama, shifting toward georgia into the next 24 hours. here the temperatures are shaping up like this. double digits across much of the southern areas. but still minus 7 in winnipeg. well below your avere. you can see the two air mass

differences here. toward europe we go. central regions here also looking quite fine. the british isles will be seeing some cloud coverage and turning wet in toward the weekend. here, though, this is the mess traveling into the central regions of mediterranean. and this will be capable of unleashing hail gusts, strong ones, as well as thunderstorms. the lingering rain could create flooding across the iberian peninsula. temperatures shaping up like this here, across the central regions we're seeing much of double digits here. london even reaching 11 degrees. but do watch out for those heavy rain to come in. eastern continental asia looking fine as well in the central areas. the precipitation and the scattered thunderstorms will be popping up in southeastern portions of the philippines. we'll also see some snow and blizzard -- not a blizzard but windy conditions across the korean peninsula, northeastern

china as wells southeastern russ. and also some snow will be piling up in hokkaido. nothing on the severe side, though. temperatures on the rise. 18 degrees for our wednesday how. talk about us reaching 17 degrees, due to the warm spring air covering much of the country here in japan. let me show you a video kaumg out from takematsu. the flowers are in full bloom here. the temperatures reached -- the largest national specialty scenic beauty garden. in full bloom. insects and birds are also enjoying the beautiful color and phrase of the plum. with that note i'll leave you with your extended forecast. ♪

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