%% welcome to "newsline." it's wednesday march 27th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. chinese and vietnam leaders are playing a blame game. chinese have accused the vietnamese of fabricating a blame game. quoting one official as saying they are lying. a chinese ship shot at a vietnamese fishing boat last week near the parasail islands and the chinese name is the crew of a chinese patrol vessel reportedly told the vietnamese to leave but reports listen and sd therew fired d not

two warning shells into the air and said the shells never hit the boat. the state run news agency reported that the crews of four ships held a ceremony off the spratly islands. xinhua said crew members stood in line. they standing the national anthem and pledged to defend the south china sea and the country's sovereignty. share in the enthusiasm and they welcomed a top diplomat. china's maritime activities are not only a japanese concern. he said those anxieties are shared across the region. he underscored the importance of relations between japan and china. he said he hoped talks might lead to more understanding.

the foreign minister said indians have various issues with china and they, too, are trying to settl their disagreements. japan's defense minister has concerns about china buying jets and submarines from russia. the first meeting tuesday was with the russian ambassador to japan. referring to china's recent contract for the purchase of new russian fighter jets and sub marines. he told the russian ambassador china has nearly quadrupled its defense budget over the past ten years. he said, this is raising concern among neighboring countries. heaid russia has frequently cooperated with china on defense and the contract conforms with international rules. saying japan hopes to push ahead with defense cooperation with russia. replying japan and russia should have more political exchanges at the ministerial level.

china's new president must narrow the income gap between the city dwellers and those living in the countryside. achieving that goal won't be easy. >> reporter: the province of hubei, this area is a 40-minute drive from a major city. this used to be farmland. a state-run company. the cost about $5.2 billion. among its facilities is this industrial park. software companies occupy most of it. more than 150,000 people are expected to work here. about 13,000 farmers gave up their right to the land.

authorities housed them in new apartments. they were promised jobs in the new facilities. this man is one of them. he used to grow rice, but he barely produced enough to feed his family. >> translator: our house used to stand there between the crane and the building. we lived there for decades. >> reporter: now he gets paid for maintaining housing complexes. he earns three times his farmer's income. he, his wife and child live in an apartment 150 square meters. >> translator: not only can we afford daily necessities but

also a big tv and a car. we were also able to renovate our home. >> reporter: but not all farmers received such good benefits. this is four hours by car from beijing. the land is not the very fertile. farmers can't grow enough crops. xi jinping came by last summer december, not long after he became the new communist party leader. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: state run tv showed him talking to farmers. he asked if they had everything they needed. he was showing his eagerness to

narrow the income gap. xi visited t local family. their house has o rooms. the family uses the stove for cooking. >> translator: i was glad he braved the cold weather to visit us. >> reporter: the local government will give them financial aid. all across china modernization has depressed farming communities. china's new leadership promises to reduce the income gap beten ci dwellers and farmers. but the goal seems a long way off. "nhk world," beijing. populous, prosperous, pushing ahead, china's rise, wealth, power, and problems. an income gap divides its people. pollution threatens their health. disputed seas strains relations

with its neighbors. find out the challenges china faces. on "newsline." > th chinese president is at an international summit in africa. he's hoping to get more heads of state in his corner on sensitive issues. ai joins us now from the business desk to tell us more about that. good morning. >> good morning. president xi is putting his best foot forward and so are those at the emerging summit trying to deepen their ties with each other. the leader of china and brazil and south africa have gathered for a summit known as brics. it is now under way in durbin, south africa. the brics leaders attended a

ceremony in the two day event. it is on how much they can cooperate. chine chesec xiinping met with jacob zuma and asked for african support and territorial issues and zuma said china was its largest trading partner and asked xi for more investment in its countries. we saw improved economic data. the dow jones climb ed three fourths of a percent to close at 14,559, renewing its record closing high. let's go to the tyo stock exchange. are we seeing positive momentum continuing in tokyo? >> very good morning. it does look that way. a bit of a mixed picture.

we saw the dow ending higher. let's have a look at the dow's opening levels for today, wednesday, march 27th. that's what we're seeing there. a bit of a mixed picture. nikkei in the negative. only marginally. not a massive move. we'll see how that develops. with the rebound in the do backed uy theise in the schiller price home index and other data. we're seeing a little bit of continuation in the nikkei. investors also aware of what just happened in cyprus and that may have critical repercussions in the global markets. still a little bit of hesitancy. that's what we're seeing at the open, a bit of mixed picture. we already had the new bank of japan chief talking up his stance on meeting the 2% inflation goal here in japan. the euroas not really budged that much telling us markets are

not convinced the form of the cyprus bailout may actually help future crisis especially given the social upheavals we have been seeing of late. ai. >> yes. also given the size of other bigger eurozone economies. where is the euro trading this wednesday morning in tokyo. >> that's a big focus. let's look at some of the 121.66-68.airs right now. it has come back a touch, the euro but not to previous levels this time last week. still hesitation among investors to pile back into the euro. the dollar. a look at the dollar/yen, 4.55-59. it was supported by the home prices data as well as gerbil goods orders which shot up in

february. aside from theecovery eurozone banking issues in japan, investors are a lot more focused what the bank of japan chief has to say about possible new measure s measures to defeat inflation. part of the domestic we had to deal with. a little built of mixed opening for the nikkei and the topics. thanks for that update from the tokyo stock exchange. precisio says they still hope to carry out their investments in ailing sharp, this after sharp was unable to receive funding from hon hai by the tuesday deadline. the two companies originally agreed in march last year, hon ha will invest in sharp through a stock purchase. they said executives on both

companies met on sunday and agreed to continue their tie-up talks. hon hai expects to acquire a sition in two months. it stalled when sharp price plunged and hoped to share its technology for liquid crystals to hon ha. i'll leave you with a check on the markets. opposition forces in syria have a diplomatic boost. their delegates have taken the country's seat at a summit of

the arab league. qatar and sheikh tully invited opposition to take the place of the syrian government. the head of the syrian national coalition was leading the group. members of the temporary government plan to administer areas held by opposition forces. the man elected prime minister was also in the delegation. hatib thanked members of the league for their support. he said the true representatives of the syrian people have finally taken their seat. the arab league suspended syria's membership two years ago, to protest against president s assan's crackdown o protesters and 15id its an error to give a seat held by a sovereign state to what they call an unreal group.

the latest north korea exercise on the east coast was on a grand scale. the north state media said its leader supervised the drill. the spokesperson told reporters and the north's army and navy to part without the air force and the north appears to be mbining with more military exercises and south korea is on alert for additional provocat n provocations. we referred to the sinking of a south korea patrolship three years ago in the yellow sea and said the south's military is prepared to respond with 10,000 times more force to any further action by the north. military commanders in north korea say they have placed their artillery units on the highest level of alert and they say they include the u.s. mainland.

>> the statement said the units are assigned to target bases on the u.s. mainland, hawaii and guam as well as all enemy targets in south korea and its vicinity. experts monitoring north korean media reports say combat duty, posture number one, may mean the highest level of military deployment. they say the term doesn't exist in their monitoring records. a coordated suicidettac on a security compound in afghanistan has left at least five police officers dead. the assault came as u.s. secretary state john kerry was making a surprise visit to the country. at least eight bombers and gunmen launched the pre-dawn take on the police compound in the eastern city of jalla la bad on tuesday. an negative in a bomb laden car detonated his vehicle in front of the headquarters to start the attack. other attackers then stormed the

compound. >> translator: i was driving my car and suddenly i heard an explosion. i got a wound in my hand. a few minutes after the explosion, i saw some negatives getting out of a car and they attacked police and soldiers. then the gunfire started. >> all the attackers were killed, and at least ten people, including civilians, were wounded in the incident. the ap news agency quotes a provincial police chief as saying some of the attackers were wearing uniforms resembling those worn by the u.s.-led nato coalition. the taliban has claimed responsibility forhe attack. the attack came on the second day of secretary kerry's visit to kabul. violence has been on the increase in afghanistan ahead of a u.s. plan to withdraw its combat troops by 2014. concerns remain over whether afghan forces will be able to handle security responsibilities alone after the international forces pull out. japan's annual disaster

drill this year will be based on a mega quake in the nankai trough in the west ast from western to central japan. it's been the place for large scale earthquakes throughout history. the drill is held every year in september. the government council on disaster preparedness chose the nankai trough scenario. >> the march 2011 disaster has taught us to expect the unexpected. the drill will be based on the largest possible quake and tsunami. we want the public to be aware of the risks but remain calm. experts say a huge earthquake in the trough would cut water supply to over 34 million people in 39 prefectures and also cause major food shortages. it's predicted highways, railways and airports would be useless several days. during the drill, all cabinet ministers would gather at

disaster headquarters in tokyo and set up an emergency task force in prefectures and oversee evacuation, rescue and relief efforts in arias that could be affected. every winter, some unique athletes gather on the shores. running on dry land is not enough of a challenge. we have their story. >> reporter: one of the world's largest fresh water lakes, lake bajkel. and a natural world site. lake bajel is the largest clear water lake in the world.

the perfect destination for extreme tourists. these bikers are taking part in the marathon. they started nine years ago to attract business. the race gets more popular every year. 114 riders from 18 countries compet compete. >> great landscapes and conditions, a nice day. >> reporter: they strap on their boots and head for the starting line. it's unusually warm today, minus 5 degrees celsius. the runners head out on their journey. the course is almost a straight line. it starts on the southwestern shore of the lake. the finish line is tanhoi, o the opposite shore.

the wind has blown away the snow, exposing slippery ice. japanese competitor lives in moscow. he has run the race four times in a row. his goal today is to beat his personal record, four hours, 25 minutes. organizers have set up a station along the coast, one every 5 kilometers. runners take a break and rechge with cholate and hot tea. >> you're welcome. in the second half of the race, the scenery changes. a thick blanket of snow covers the icy sheets. it is less slippery but it's bumpy. more punishment for tired legs.

am. >> he is ruggling. >> it's tough. my legs won't move. >> i don't think i can break my record. >> reporter: a little over three hours and the first runners are beginning to cross the finish line. they show a mixture of joy and relief. >> second. >> second. >> you should be happy. >> you are happy. >> reporter: here comes hig iic. he finished in 4 hours 35 minutes. 10 minutes slower than his best record.

>> translator: i want to run this race every year. it's a good opportunity to appreciate the greatness that mother nature. >> reporter: the ice is no holiday, a tough event for a tough environment. for these visitors, there is no better way to appreciate the cold beauty of siberia. "nhk world." >> it certainly isn't as cold in tokyo as areas around the lake but people here are wearing their warm jackets today. meteorologist sayaka mori will tell us when things will warm up. >> the hi could drop 10 degrees below. the reason for that weather in central japan yesterday is

providing cold and humid flow. wet weather in central japan will continue into this evening hours and after that, it could move to the region tonight. more rain in japan due to an approaching weather system that has a history of producing more than 100 millimeters of rain in southern china such as guangdong province. the pacific coast may see locally heavy rain and thunderstorms as well as wind and it will be a wet day across japan. some areas of southern china are still seeing left over showers and unfortunately more wet weather is in the cards for you and more rain tomorrow. temperature-wise, baking hot in bangkok, 39 degrees actually. spring is the hottest season for you. i know many kids are on summer vacation. keep hydrated if you play outside. much warmer than seasonal across

china. 24 degrees, 17 beijing and 14 degrees but tokyo 9 degrees and should warm up to 19 degrees as we head to thursday. look forward to that. north america, mostly quiet from the west to the east coast. some snow flurries lingering across the north u.s. and canada and other than that, it stays dry. remaining on the chilly side i cross the eastern seaboard, 9 degrees in new york and freeze warnings posted for the southeastern corners of the u.s. for the near freezing temperatures overnight. bring your pets inside if you can. finally in europe, the arctic chill is hanging on in the north and spring air from the south. these air mass are colliding into each other producing severe weather into southeastern europe.

heavy rain, thunderstorms and a risk of hail. i want to show you some video coming out of southern spain. recent rains have caused overflows in several towns. authorities evacuated more than 200 residents last weak. an emergency plan was put into evict in seville provence when streets became impassable and excess water benefits some birds and plants b the continuous rain will travel residents for the next several days and the same in your area for saturday and more than likely, a southern front and other areas and icy precipitation in the corner of the uk and parts of ireland and heavy snow showers in the northern peninsula and out lying region. temperatures are 10 degrees below seasonal in many areas.

zero degrees for burling and many areas and zero degrees for moscow. here's your extended forecast.