the headlines for this hour. japan's prime minister has addressed the nation on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. shinzo abe stressed that efforts are under way to rebuild affected areas. japanese scientists are warning of more seismic activity in the same region that was hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

and managers at japanese firms are investing in robot technology that could help at the fukushima plant and assist with reconstruction in the region. prime minister shinzo abe has reiterated his commitment to rebuilding northeastern japan. people in the area are still trying to recover from the powerful earthquake and tsunami, and the nuclear accident. abe spoke on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the disaster. >> translator: tomorrow will mark the fourth anniversary of the great east japan earthquake. i would like to once again offer heartfelt condolences to those who perished. >> the prime minister said efforts to reconstruct the affected area will continue for years to come. >> translator: next year in march, the five-year intensive

reconstruction plan or reconstruction period will end and a framework plan for the next five years will be compiled by this summer. i have instructed my cabinet members to work on this as if they were all reconstruction ministers. the government will continue to support people in the affected areas so that they can get back on their own feet and live their lives with hope for the future. fukushima will be a new center for recovery and cities and towns will be rebuilt. we will make fukushima a hub where the most advanced research research technology and industry in robotics and renewable energy will be created.

as we move in to the fifth year since the nuclear power plant accident, it will continue to help people so that they will be able to support themselves and for this in addition to compensation for rebuilding businesses, it will extend support to cover areas so that people will be able to restore their livelihoods. a policy package for the rebirth of fukushima will be determined by may at the earliest. and by summer we'll have a vision for the future of fukushima compiled. >> the accident at fukushima daiichi is posing another challenge. prime minister abe says the government will lead efforts to secure ways to store nuclear waste long-term. >> translator: we the generation that produced the radioactive waste, must try to ensure that we will not pass it

on to the next generation. we must re-examine our practices and base our scientific evidence the government will take the lead and give instructions so as to realize final disposal. >> more than 18,000 people died or went missing in the disaster. over 3,000 have died because of indirect effects such as illness or stress while livings evacuees. nearly 230,000 people still live in temporary housing. now we have in our studio our senior political commentator masayo nakajima. so what did you see were the main points of abe's news conference? >> well the point is that prime minister abe revealed that his government will make another new five-year intensive reconstruction period plan. the government had earlier designated that the initial five years from the disaster in 2011

as an intensive reconstruction period. that period comes to end next year. so local governments and residents have been worried about what's going to happen after that period. so the government was expected to re-examine how it should proceed with reconstruction beyond the five-year period. prime minister abe made it clear in his news conference that his government will make another five-year reconstruction plan starting in fiscal year 2016. i believe that the prime minister did not want to give any more anxiety to local governments and residents. >> and as to the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant, we heard its determination to manage contaminated soil and waste, what do you have to say about that? >> well, the government plans -- government plans ss start shipments -- the government is going to start shipments of nuclear waste to intermediate

storage facilities in fukushima prefecture. but the pending issue of how to set up final and permanent disposal sites for waste remains to be solved local governments, and residents have shown their american about this. prime minister abe said in his conference that it is his government's responsibility to take a lead in finding the place for the permanent disposal site for contaminated waste. he said that the government will propose possible places for sites with scientific evidence. >> he also addressed the criticism about radioactive leak into the sea, which was not disclosed for months. >> right. local residents and the fishing industry criticized the operator of the fukushima daiichi power plant, that is tokyo electric power company. abe criticized the tepco, you know, the tepco seems that it tried to conceal the fact. he said that the government will

take the lead in decommissioning of the nuclear power plant, and management of contaminated water. he said he demanded that tepco to take additional measures to control the flow of the contaminated water. >> thank you our senior political comment tater masayo nakajima. now japanese scientists are warning people in the country's northeast to be alert for another possible big earthquake. they say tectonic plates in and around japan are continuously moving, but the pattern of the movement is completely different since the march 2011 earthquake. researchers say two plates slipped by more than 20 meters when the quake occurred. they say this could lead to a buildup of geological stress which means there could be more tremors. they say since the quake one of

the plates has moved eastward 95 centimeters near miyagi prefecture. another moved 48 centimeters. they believe the plates are moving to release the stress. the head researcher at the geospatial information authority used the gps device installed on the sea bed to analyze movements of part of a continental plate. he found the mantle underneath the earth's crust can be an accurate movement of an earthquake. >> translator: during the quake the mantle moved west dragging the seabed with it. i think plates near the surface are also being pulled toward the west. >> suito thinks geological stress is building up around the boundary of the plate of tohoku region in northeastern japan. he warns that major earthquakes and ensuing tsunami waves could occur stretching from the northern to the eastern coast.

>> translator: the probability of further quakes is said to be decreasing. but i don't think that's right. >> suito says four years after the disaster people still need to be on alert. and many survivors of the march 11 earthquake are struggling to move on. more than 220,000 of them are still living in temporary housing. officials at the reconstruction agency say the number has dropped by 35,000 since last march. but they say many evacuees all over the country are still living in temporary homes or with relatives. officials have prepared more than 53,000 housing units for displaced people and 99% of them are still in use. now, let's see what's happening in the world of business. here's ron madison from the biz desk. ron? >> well miki german leader angela merkel spent her last day in japan learning about truck manufacturing.

she visited an auto factory run by a japanese-german joint venture before she headed back home. the mitsubishi truck and bus factory is in kawasaki city near toque yo. german auto giant daimler has a 90% stake in the plant. it turns out engines developed from german technology. merkel learned how factory workers install engines and tires. company officials showed her a truck that's powered by electricity, and other vehicles sporting advanced technologies. one of the trucks is designed for female drivers. after the tour merkel said germany and japan have had many things in common but they do share some differences, as well. she said it's important to strengthen ties between the two countries. all right. to the markets now. european stocks opened lower this tuesday amid renewed worries about greece's debt situation and weak economic readings from china. here's how main benchmarks in europe are looking at this hour. all of them are still trending downward. we've got declines for both

london and frankfurt of about half a percent, as well paris is losing just about half a percent at this hour. investors are adjusting their positions before wednesday. that's when greece will start technical talks with its creditors to agree on its economic reforms. meanwhile in asia poor readings from china's factory sector weighed on the mark e9s. china's shanghai composite closed down just about half a percent, 3,286. banking shares in particular were sold off. here in tokyo the nikkei dropped to a two-week low. it closed down nearly 0.7%. 18,665. the index erased gains as investors booked some profits. here's where other asian markets closed their sessions as well. hong kong down just about 1%. in fact it hit a two-month low. jakarta rebounded from a two-week low on bargain hunting closing up 0.3%. seoul finished the day lower, though, 0.4%. well seeing some pretty big

moves in currency markets. the euro extended its losses to a fresh 12-year low against the dollar. right now it's at roughly 1.0746. analysts say dealers are buying the dollars on the back of globally divergent monetary policies. in contrast central banks in the eurozone and japan are pledging monetary easing. so the dollar has been rising against the yen, as well. they're now at roughly 121.88. during tokyo trading hours the greenback actually broke above 122 yen for the first time in just about eight years. well chief negotiators in the trans-pacific partnership free trade talks are getting back down to business. they're trying to bridge gaps on protection of intellectual property and other issues. negotiators from the 12 participating countries are meeting for seven days in hawaii. japan's chief delegate koji tsuruoka spoke to reporters before the meeting. >> translator: the japanese

delegates will do everything they can to get a deal done. and to make sure it's in the best interests of japan. >> tsuruoka said negotiators are paying close attention to a debate in the u.s. congress. lawmakers there divided over a bill that would give the president power to fast-track trade deals. but the debate is now likely to be delayed. well factory managers in china continued t face deflation. the producer price index plunged nearly 5% last month. the figure has declined for three straight years. the data from the national bureau of statistics showed the index was minus 4.8% in february from a year ago. that's down half a percentage point from the previous month. it's the biggest drop since october 2009. the decline came as weak real estate investment in the country dampened prices of construction materials. low crude oil prices also pulled down the cost of plastic products, and synthetic fibers.

it's a different story for consumers, cpi in china rose 1.4% from a year earlier. that's up 0.6 of a percentage point from the previous month. it is far short, though of the government's target of around 3% for the year. well many people in northeastern japan have struggled to keep their firms viable since the march 2011 disaster. some have survived thanks to help from a government-backed body that's been buying up their debt. officials set up the organization in 2012 to help small and mid sized businesses. they bought about $660 million in credits owed by the firms. they've also helped reschedule loans and cut interest. they've received more than 2,000 inquiries from competents. so far they've decided to help in more than 550 cases. the officials say nearly half of the recipients are in miyagi prefecture. managers at many firms have been forced to rethink their approach to business in the wake of the disaster. now some are focusing on robot

technology that could help meet the challenges at fukushima daiichi. >> reporter: a new industry is in the making in fukushima. it's a robot business. this remote controlled robot can work in disaster areas where we, humans, can't. norika and other entrepreneurs started a company that develops robots. they're finishing a prototype. >> translator: i think what we've done is pretty impressive. i didn't think we'd come this far. >> reporter: but why robots? the reason is the fukushima nuclear power plant accident. it forced many residents to flee the area. baba and his team wanted to build their own robots to help dismantle the reactors. so people can return home.

>> translator: what's important is that we people in the region do this locally. >> reporter: some firms are using this opportunity to get out of the subcontracting business and become independent. before the quake, this factory used to make tanks for nuclear plants for major firms. but the tsunami destroyed all the machines in the plant. orders stopped coming in. the firm was swept to the brink of bankruptcy. >> translator: we lost our clients. so we had nothing to make or sell. i wondered whether i should continue to run the business. >> reporter: his company had been a subcontractor for 70 years. but he decided to produce robots on his own, and help rebuild his hometown.

>> translator: everybody said from the very beginning, a little company like ours can't make things like robots. we studied a lot. we stuck to our decision. and things eventually started getting easier. >> reporter: his firm is now trying to develop a firefighting robot. he says it can go in to a burning forest. he wants to improve his robots so it can handle some of the decommissioning work at the nuclear plant. >> translator: we want robotmakers like us in fukushima to create more jobs. and sell their robots across japan. and even abroad. that's our eventual goal. >> reporter: fukushima's robot industry isn't just about reconstruction from the

disaster. it may grow into a business that can compete with global players. okay. that is going to wrap it up for biz this hour. let's get you a check of the markets now. members of a united nations panel want the international community to do more to ensure gender equality. that's the main topic at the annual meeting of the u.n. commission on the status of women. >> women should be at the center and front in all spectrums of our life and development and peace agenda.

>> the u.n. plans to set a new target for sustainable development. the idea is to achieve that over the next 15 years. the u.n. says eliminating discrimination and violence against women will play a crucial role. secretary-general ban ki-moon said climate change the economic crisis and its placement caused by conflict hit women harder. japanese lawyer yoko hayashi became head of the u.n. committee on the elimination of discrimination against women. hayashi said women in some countries are playing a more active role in society but she knows there are nations where religious extremists persecute them. the japanese foreign minister has drawn a distinction between japan and germany after world war ii. fumio kishida says the two countries should not be directly compared in terms of how they try to reconcile with their neighbors. kishida was referring to

comments made by german chancellor angela merkel. she met with japanese prime minister shinzo abe on monday in tokyo. merkel said she was not in a position to advise japan on post-war reconciliation. then she explained germany's efforts to openly face the history of the holocaust. kishida said he understands that merkel also cited gestures by france toward germany after the war. he said she stressed the importance of neighboring countries reaching out. >> translator: japan and germany differ in terms of what happened during the war, under what circumstances they engaged in post-war settlements, and which countries they have as neighbors. it's inappropriate to simply compare the two nations. >> kishida said members of abe's cabinet share their predecessor's view that japan caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly in asia. people in tokyo are marking

the 70th anniversary of a massive u.s. air raid during world war ii. about 100,000 people died in the attack. prince and princess akishino attended a ceremony at a memorial in eastern tokyo. it holds the remains of victims who were never identified. prime minister shinzo abe said the lives lost in the war will never be forgotten. >> translator: based on our commitment to peace, we will humbly face up to the past learn from the lessons of the tragic war, and do whatever we can to contribute to permanent peace in the world. >> more than 260,000 buildings burned down in the attack by b-29 bombers on march 10th, 1945. a facility next to the hall

holds a list with the names of about 80,000 victims. >> translator: i lost five members of my family including my parents and siblings. i still can't manage to come to grips with their deaths. >> translator: i hope there won't be any more wars. >> the buildings of this elementary school were still standing after the attack. students had a chance to listen to a survivor. >> translator: i was shocked and sad to hear that such a tragedy happened, where we live. i want to help make sure there's peace.

it's extremely stormy across much of the nation. we are talking about heavy snowfall, and heavy rainfall and strong winds battered houses and buildings across dada causing some structure damage and also about 50 centimeters has fallen in the past 24 hours. the reason is that we have mixed winter-like cold air and a typhoon-like strong low pressure system in the north. and this one will likely sit here into the next couple of days. now take a look at the storm reports. nearly 210 millimeters of rain has fallen in dada the past 24 hours and very strong winds up to 120 kilometers per hour reported in miyagi prefecture. and again stormy conditions into wednesday as we go into thursday, as well. and 120 millimeters rain is likely for the coastal locations with gusts of nearly 150 kilometers per hour likely on top of that waves are going to be up to eight meters. they'll be combined with storm

surges, so coastal flooding is highly likely especially for the pacific coast of the tohoku and hokkaido regions. and in terms of snowfall an additional snow is likely to fall over hokkaido in the next 24 hours and extremely heavy know for this time of year for this region could see up to 40 centimeters of snow. conditions will improve in sendai and fukushima on wednesday. but things will stay chilly as well as windy. now further down towards the southern hemisphere if you remember three weeks ago, two strong systems, tropical cyclones, hit northern australia, and again, two systems are hovering near the coast of australia. one is now located to the north of western australia. this one is a tropical low at this moment. but will likely intensify a tropical cyclone, category 2 system, and then make it to the coast by your friday. and then across the flip side of the continent we have another tropical low and this one will likely intensify, category 2

system but it will whoever the area above the waters. however it is expected to dump extremely heavy rainfall for the northeast coast of queensland into the next several days. probably as much as 400 millimeters of rain could fall. so flooding is going to be a very high concern. now, across the americas we still have a slow-moving low pressure system over the southern plains and into the lower mississippi river valley. this system has dumped as much as 100 millimeters of rain in parts of texas. this has weakened slightly but still powerful enough to cause some more flooding rainfall across the lower mississippi river valley up into the ohio river valley into the next couple of days. flooding is going to be a very high concern in this area as well. but temperatures are quite warm so most precipitation should be rain. 23 degrees for the high with thunderstorms, 11 in new york. boston 7 degrees but sunny conditions so snow will continue to melt. now, before we wrap up i want to show you this video from

massachusetts. a dog has been reunited with his owner in massachusetts on sunday from an icy river. police and firefighters responded to reports of a dog stranded on ice in the charles river. cooper was on a large tree in the river which was partially frozen over ice and was unable to swim to shore on his own. cooper warmed up in a fire engine before heading home. all right that's it for now. here's your extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm miki yamamoto in tokyo.

we'll have more news for you at the top of the hour. thanks for watching nhk world. ÷

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