welcome back to "newsline" i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. here are the head lines. north korea's leader kim jong-un paid respects to his late grandfather and founder of the country marking his 102nd birthday. western leaders slap russia with more sanctions as the unrest in eastern ukraine grows. and people around communities across japan are struggling with shrinking

populations so they're turning to the internet to raise funds. north koreans are celebrating the birthday of the country's founder kim il-sung. people in the country consider april 15th the most important day of the year. they're holding many special events over the next several days. north korea's state-run media says leader kim jong-un visited the palace in pyongyang. the body of his grandfather lies in state there. senior military officers accompanied kim. he laid flowers in front of statues of his grandfather and his late father, former leader kim jong-il. the public recognizes the eldest kim as the founder of north korea. people offered flowers and bowed in front of the statues. the government has put up sign boards to justify north korea's hereditary leadership.

some people in south korea are marking the birthday of kim il-sung rather differently. members of a conservative group burned portraits of north korean leaders in seoul. one member of the group says south koreans condemned north korea for firing ballistic missiles and threatening to carry out a fourth nuclear test. top envoys from china and the u.s. are trying to figure out a plan for dealing with north korea. they met to discuss how to respond to recent provocations by leaders in pyongyang. wu dawei and glynn davis held three hours of talks in new york. the talks have been stalled since 2008. authorities in north korea last month fired a series of rockets and missiles, including two ballistic missiles that flew toward the sea of japan. members of the u.n. security council condemned the launches. officials in the north responded by saying they may conduct new

forms of nuclear tests. the envoys are believed to have confirm that chinese and u.s. officials will urge the north to exercise restraint. they're scheduled to meet two more times this week. japanese government sources have revealed that the prime minister met with a former chinese president's son. the talks between shinzo abe and hu deping took place last week. hu is believed to be close to chinese president xi jinping whose late father hu yaobang worked to develop ties between china and japan in the 1980s. hu visited japan for about a week. he left on sunday. the sources said hu met abe last tuesday. it's thought the two men exchanged views on improving ties between their countries. a meeting between hu and yoshihide suga had already been made public. >> translator: i told him that

japan/china ties are one of the most important bilateral relationships. >> translator: the two countries need to return to the principles of strategically and mutually beneficial relations. despite specific disagreements. strategically and mutually beneficial relations. despite specific disagreements. strategically and mutually beneficial relations. despite specific disagreements. >> suga said hu told him that he will convey the japanese government's view to chinese officials but suga declined to comment on whether abe had met with hu. he said chinese officials wanted hu's meetings in japan to take place in a calm environment. u.s. and european leaders have hit russia with more sanctions overs worsening situation in ukraine.

they say president vladimir putin is behind the separatist unrest, something he denies. armed pro-russian activists are occupying government buildings in the east, and they've ignored an order from authorities to put down their weapons. more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: the crowd cheered as the building burned. pro-russian activists in eastern ukraine claimed another prize. a police station. they're occupying other government buildings, as they've done for more than a week now. we came here to express our support for a referendum says this man. they say they want greater regional autonomy, and they've ignored a deadline to disarm set by the interim government. leaders in kiev had promised to launch a military operation, but held off. they've accused russia of fuelling the unrest as they say it did in crimea before annexing the ukrainian republic. president vladimir putin denied that in a phone call with u.s. president barack obama.

he blamed the turmoil on ukrainian leaders who he says aren't considering the interests of ethnic russians. >> i don't think denials of russian involvement have a shred of credibility. >> reporter: european foreign ministers met to impose further sanctions on russian officials, such as travel bans and asset freezes. they're also promising up to $1.4 billion in aid to help ukraine deal with its massive debt. >> we strongly support the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine. we call upon russia to do so, as well, and to pull back its troops from the ukrainian border. >> reporter: the u.s. is threatening to expand its sanctions. >> there have already been costs imposed on russia. there will be further costs. >> reporter: and it's signed a deal guaranteeing $1 billion worth of loans. many ukrainians want their nation to stay united. demonstrators raglied in kiev to urge their government to resolve the situation.

some analysts say the country is fighting for its survival. >> if the central government loses control, and especially if no presidential elections are held, as they are scheduled to be held in may, then we are talking about a situation of a state, we're talking about a failed state in the heart of europe. >> reporter: senior officials from ukraine, the u.s., the eu and russia are scheduled to meet on thursday to try to come up with a diplomatic solution. ukrainian leaders have already promised to give the east more autonomy, and they've said they're not against holding referendums. how they'll hold the country together with talk or force remains an unanswered question. craig dale, nhk world. u.s. military commanders are blaming the russians for what they called provocative action. a spokesperson for the pentagon said a russian fighter jet made repeated close-range passes near a u.s. ship. the "uss donald cook" was

patrolling on saturday in international waters in the black sea. spokesperson colonel steve warren said the aircraft appeared to be unarmed but he said it approached the destroyer 12 times in an hour and a half. he said the ship's crew made multiple attempts to contact the pilot without any response. he said these continued acts of provocations and unprofessionalism do nothing to de-escalate the situation in ukraine. "the washington post" and "the guardian" newspapers are among the winners of this year's pulitzer prize. they were singled out for their coverage of secret surveillance programs by the u.s. national security agency. the pulitzer committee announced the winners in more than 20 journalism and arts categories in new york. they awarded the public service prize to "the washington post" and the u.s. operation of britain's "guardian" newspaper. the papers reported on nsa programs to collect personal information. the coverage was based on

documents leaked by former agency contractor edward snowden. the stories raised questions about whether reporting based on classified documents should qualify for the prize. >> should note that they're cited for revealing widespread secret surveillance by the national security agency. and helping to stir public discussion of the balance between security and privacy. >> snowden issued a statement expressing gratitude to the news organizations. he says the stories will contribute to a better future, and a more accountable democracy. firefighters are struggling to put out flames burning through a port city in chile. the fire in valparaiso has killed at least 12 people and more than 10,000 residents have had to leave their homes. the fire began on saturday. strong winds helped spread the flames to hillside homes. more than 2,000 of them were destroyed.

the president has declared a state of emergency. valparaiso is registered as a unesco world heritage site. buildings in the city date from the late 19th century. authorities say the fire has not damaged the historic quarter or port facilities. time to get you caught up now with the latest in business. bank of japan govern haruhiko kuroda seems to be determined to achieve the bank's 2% inflation target. he has stressed the boj will take additional easing measures if necessary to attain that goal. kuroda made the remarks to reporters after conferring with prime minister abe on tuesday. it was their first meeting in four months. >> translator: we will not hesitate to make policy adjustments if domestic and overseas economic conditions make it difficult for us to

attain the inflation target. >> reporters asked kuroda whether abe had asked for further stimulus measures to supply more money into the economy. he replied that the prime minister had made no specific requests. let's get a check of the markets now. asian equities finished mixed. upbeat u.s. retail sales data released on monday provided some support to regional sentiment but many investors were keen to find more clues on the u.s. economy. also waiting to see the results of chinese gdp figures. those are due out on wednesday. here in tokyo the nikkei average gained 0.6%, finished off the day 13,996. some market players were out there looking for bargains after the index had fallen for two consecutive sessions. trading volume pretty thin, though, today. china's shanghai composite with declines down 1.4%, 2,101. banking shares took a hit after data showed that the chinese money supply in march grew at

its slowest pace in more than a decade. a senior japanese trade official is on his way to washington now. he's taking part in a working-level meeting to forge ahead with the transpacific partnership free trade agreement. the deputy chief negotiator for the tpp left tokyo to meet acting u.s. trade representative wendy cutler. >> translator: there are many issues we have to discuss. and i don't think we can easily wrap up our talks. we want to narrow our gaps, and hope the u.s. will take a more flexible stance. >> negotiators from japan and the u.s. met last week, but failed to find common ground over the issue of tariff reductions on five agricultural products. these do include beef and pork. the two sides are also at odds over nontariff barriers on automobiles. japanese trade minister akira amari expressed hope for progress in the upcoming negotiations.

>> translator: we've said that the japan/u.s. summit meeting to be held in tokyo on april 24th isn't a deadline for concluding the negotiations. nevertheless, we're hoping that the two sides will be able to reach some form of agreement. >> amari also plans to hold talks with u.s. trade representative michael froman. again later on this week. now separately u.s. officials have begun making arrangements for tpp talks among chief negotiators of the participating nations. that will be in vietnam in mid-may. and japanese prime minister shinzo abe wants to cut corporate taxes as part of his attempt to stimulate the economy. but his ruling liberal democratic party is urging the government to exercise caution. ldp tax panel chief met the government tax commission chairman. the commission began discussions on a tax cut plan last month and aims to reach a conclusion by june. noda warned that a rate reduction would inevitably lead

to a drop in state revenue. he said the taxes should be lowered only when the government has another source of income to make up for the shortfall. noda said the government should consider imposing a tax on companies that are now exempt or eligible for lower rates. japan's corporate taxes stand around 35%. they're much higher than those in other asian countries. people who run communities across japan are having some trouble making ends meet. an aging population and lower birth rates have eroded the tax base. so municipal officials are turning to the internet to raise money through crowd funding. nhk world explains. >> reporter: a train ride from central tokyo brings you to the city of kamakura. about 20 million people visit the city each year. it's one of the most popular tourist destinations in eastern japan. city workers are busy putting up signs to make it easier for tourists to get around.

the signs were not paid for by tax revenue. but by individuals and groups whose names are engraved on the sign. kamakura officials turned to crowd funding for the first time. in only three weeks they successfully raised $10,000 from 100 people. the city has long been financially stable. but as its population grays its finances have deteriorated and officials expect the situation will only worsen. >> translator: we would like to use this method again to raise funds to improve our tourist facility. >> reporter: kamakura isn't the only government in japan trying to tap into the potential of crowd funding. other areas are using the tool to pay for projects they just can't afford.

the city of nagoya in central japan raised about $50,000 last year to grow eucalyptus trees to feed koalas in the local zoo. the city of takeo in western japan collected $1100 from 24 contributors. people want to create a source and make it into a local specialty. it's not only municipalities that are searching for new ways to raise funds. the prefecture in western japan has one of the highest ratios of senior residents in the country. officials there are backing projects to rejuvenate the area by encouraging people to use crowd funding. one of them is a plan to make use of food that grows in abundance in the region, popo.

it has a rich flavor, a cross between mango, banana and pineapple. but there's a problem. the food ripens quickly and its harvest time is limited, so getting it to market is difficult. the project members think they can overcome that by turning the fruit into ice cream. >> we don't have any specialty in this region so we definitely want to make this happen. >> the members appealed online and raised $3,000. this allowed them to produce an ice cream sample, and the 60 donors will be the first to taste it. prefecture officials say crowd funding is not only a source of funding, but provides a place where people from rural areas can promote their projects to a larger audience.

>> translator: crowd funding allows participants to raise funds on their own for their projects. nice projects have the potential to revitalize the community without relying on subsidies. >> reporter: tanaka says other government officials from around the country are also expressing an interest in crowd funding. they're increasingly looking at it as another way to secure resources without putting a burden on taxpayers. chei tanaka, nhk world. okay that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's see what's happening in the markets.

nhk conducted a survey to find out what people in japan think of the proposed transpacific partnership free trade deal. the poll also asked them about restarting some nuclear reactors in the country. more than 1,000 people took part over the phone last weekend. 31% said they support japan's participation in the tpp. 14% said they don't approve. 45% were undecided. nhk asked people's opinions on nuclear plants. all of the country's 48

commercial reactors are offline. authorities will allow facilities that meet new safety standards to resume operations. 20% of respondents said they support restarting them. 45% were opposed. the people who oversee the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant are under pressure after a series of troubles. in the latest, workers pumped radioactive water into the wrong building. water injected to cool the melted nuclear fuel becomes highly contaminated. crews then send it to storage buildings before it's processed. tokyo electric power company officials have blamed four pumps for misdirecting about 200 tons of water. they said on monday the pumps should have been out of use. tepco representatives say workers will be interviewed if necessary. they have disclosed little about the latest problem, including

why an investigation was only started a day after the incident. a similar case happened in february, when more than 100 tons of contaminated water leaked from a tank after a valve was left open. officials spoke with about 100 employees, but have yet to find out exactly what happened. local authorities have criticized the utility for a series of problems, and a failure to pinpoint the causes. >> four crippled reactors. a constant buildup of contaminated water. radioactive leaks threatening the environment. the people in charge of fukushima daiichi are struggling to control the plant. how will they stop the leaks? and decommission the facilities? get the latest on the aftermath of the nuclear accident with in-depth reports, and special features. "nuclear watch" only on "newsline."

time now for a check of the weather. people in new zealand are dealing with heavy rain and flooding. our meteorologist jonathan oh, has the details and more. >> hello, keiko, yes, we are definitely tracking what used to be ita, departing from australia, and now moving toward new zealand, and this is of some concern because, yes, flooding, and the torrential downpours, along with some strong winds, are expected with this particular system. it is expected to also intensify as it moves toward the south and east. it's going to bring a lot of rainfall. not just for tuesday, but in to wednesday, thursday, and in to friday. so it is going to be a persistent system. and so because of that, we're going to look at anywhere from 120 to 180 millimeters of rainfall over both islands, north and south island of new zealand. causing not only flooding but also landslides are possible. take a look at this three-day forecast. we're talking about rain, we're talking about strong winds, as

the system tries to move over the area. and it looks like it's going to rain all the way through the rest of the week, and so we'll definitely have to look out for this particular system. this is not the only system that we are tracking when it comes to rainfall. look at this. this is tropical depression peipah still over the philippines, still dumping even more rain and there's no forcing mechanism to move the system out of the area so because of that it looks like the philippines will continue to see more rainfall going through the next few days. otherwise, we are seeing also low pressure over china, and that's going to eventually move toward the eastern coast of the country. and high pressure controlling the weather in korea, and also in to japan. but because of that, any pollution that hasn't taken place in beijing, which it is, has already affected the korean peninsula, and by wednesday will be affecting the western portions of japan. so we see the precipitation moving towards shanghai and also moving toward the eastern seaboard of china. going through the next day. highs in the teens over in

shanghai, 21 in taipei and tokyo topping off at 23 degrees. we switch gears, taking a look at the americas. look at the very pleasant weather for the western portions of the united states. but, the system back toward the east, this is a trough and a front that has consistently brought strong thunderstorms for the eastern half of the country. it is sliding toward the east. but, still seeing the red shading of the carolinas, into florida, for tuesday. we're looking at mainly for strong winds but possibly some large hail, and also maybe an isolated tornado because of the system being set up, and behind it, we do have that ridge, but fire weather danger for texas, new mexico, and in to oklahoma. this system that's going to push off to the east, still responsible for bringing some snow in to parts of canada and the canadian maritime. and so it's going to be quite cold behind this front. look at the chicago topping off at 3. 19 in d.c. 14 in atlanta.

but back toward the west, los angeles topping off at 28 degrees. we wrap up in europe. we still have this very strong ridge of high pressure bringing very pleasant weather for the western portions of the couldn't thent. but back toward the east, low pressure is going to bring more precipitation for parts of poland and in to eastern portions of germany and all the way down into the peninsula, as well. temperatures topping off at 11 degrees in kiev. 9 in warsaw. madrid topping after at 25 degrees under partly to mostly cloudy skies. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended forecast.

one more story before we go. fishermen near tokyo have been filling their nets with a seasonal delicacy. they've been catching young sardines known as white bait. these fishermen cast their nets about 500 meters off the coast. they caught more than 100 kilograms of the tiny fish. the season for white bait began about a month ago but initial catches were below average. >> translator: the temperature of the water started rising this month. so now, we're starting to catch them. >> fishery officials say this month's catch is about double that of a year ago. that wraps up this edition of

"newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us. a7gucc

>> hello everyone, thank you for watching "france vingt-quatre." here's a look at today's headlines. u.s. president barack obama and russian leader vladimir boudin have had what the white house calls a frank conversation on -- nut amir putin -- vladimir puti have had with the white house calls a frank conversation on the ukraine. hasbuilding in donetsk been taken over. one year ago today, there were twin bomb explosions at the boston marathon that killed three people and injured 250. oscar pistorius