wednesday night. welcome to news line. here are some of the stories we're following this hour. a shift in power. myanmar's new president has been sworn in. the first civilian leader in more than 50 years. fighting nuclear threats, dozens of world leaders head to washington for a nuclear

security summit. discussions will include terrorism and north korea. regulators give the go ahead. japan's nuclear watchdog will allow tepco to freeze the soil around the nuclear plant to keep out ground water. and an investigation into how other countries are using international conferences to fraudulently enter japan. people in myanmar are celebrating a step in the nation's steps toward democracy. he's the first leader without a military background in 54 years. the new head of state took the oath of office in a joint session of myanmar's freshly elected parliament with his two vice presidents. in his inauguration speech he pledged to protect freedom, fairness and international independence. he belongs to the country's largest political party, the national league for democracy.

the nld is fronted by a leader who will take the post of foreign minister as well as three other portfolios. outgoing leader handed over the presidency as part of the ceremony. japan's prime minister is on his way to washington. he'll meet with leaders to discuss north korea's nuclear program. south korea's president will be among them. the delegates will discuss ways to prevent terrorist attacks. they'll also talk about the response to the islamic militant group in the wake of the bombing in brussels. authorities suspect terrorists may target one of the country's nuclear power plants. japan will make a strong commitment to creating a safer world. >> japan will call on other

countries to work closely together to fight against terrorist attacks like those in brussels. >> also a three way meeting on the sidelines with the president and president obama. he's expected to confirm that he'll work closely with them against north korea. in light of pyongyang's nuclear launches and tests. dutch investigators say the fbi warned them about the two brothers in the brussels attacks. days before the pair blew themselves up, they say they passed that information on to their belgian counter parts. the investigators say they were informed of their criminal back ground and his brother's

suspected involvement in terrorism. the fbi warning came six days bafr the attacks. dutch police say they shared it with belgian police the next day. belgium denies having received such information. ba investigators lost track of him after he was sent back to the netherlands. the blunder has triggered criticism about intelligence sharing between belgium and the netherlands. meanwhile belgian officials lowered the number of dead in the bombings to 32 from 35 not i colluding the attackers. they say they had counted some names twice. hundreds of children have been killed in yemen during the ongoing conflict between government forces and muslim insurgents. a un. >> reporter:s over # hundred minors under 18 have dayed and another 1,300 have been wounded since aud arabia and other

countries have begun air strikes last year. unicef also found that more than # hundred children have been recruited has fighters. the report details a chronic shortage of medical supplies and personnel at health facilities in yemen. that's led unicef to estimate that nearly 10,000 children under the age of 5 have died from preventable diseases over the past year. the agency's regional director for the middle east and north africa says yemen risks becoming a failed state. he warns the consequences for children and their families will be far reaching. an electronics firm from japan and taiwan have completed negotiations on a takeover deals. the details and a wrapup of other business head liens. executives at japanese electronics maker sharp and

another industry have reached a buyout. they've approved the deal for the japanese company to take control of the struggling firm. >> we will make sharp a global leader once again and restore its honor as a world class building. >> it will acquire a 66% stake in sharp as previously planned but the taiwanese company will pay the offer down. the executives held back after sharp disclosed potential financial risk of about $2.6 billion. they say they need time to study sharp's accounting. sharps had forecasted a gain for the year, but now predicts a loss. they plan to sign the final deal on saturday. another struggle electronics

firm toshiba will sell to a chinese maker. it's part of the efforts to streamline its operations following an accounting scandal. toshiba will sell parts of his corporation to media group. the deal gives the group the right to use the toshiba brand for 40 years. checking the markets, tokyo shares ended lower after comments from u.s. federal reserve chair. she call for caution in hiking the country's interest rate. for the details we go to the tokyo stock exchange. >> well, following the remarks many traders sold the dollar against major currencies. shares in tokyo fell.

the nikkei closed at 6,878 making for a second day of losses. as for thehe stronger yen weigh on shares of exporters. the output numbers also dragged down sentiments. the figures point to weak factory activity from here and abroad. toyota and fujitsu were among the major losers. ajinomoto took a blow as well. shares dipped more than 6% after the manufacturer cut its profit forecast for this fiscal year largely due to restructuring costs. the sharp was up 3.8%. many have a positive outlook for the deal. and hitachi transport system jumped 5.75%.

all in all, there were some bright spotsts here i in tokyo, a higher yen clouded overall move. other markets in the asia pacific region, they call for caution on raising rates gave a boost to investor sentiment. in china the composite jumped recovering to the 2,000 mark. a government backed fund is supporting the market. taiwan's 1.4% snapping its six-day losing streak. the taiwan stock exchange extended trading before the company's major announcement. 0.4% to reach its highest level in nearly four months. hong kong climbed more than 2%. gains were capped by the energy sector which sank on lower oil prices. here's a look at some of the other business stories we're

following. officials at the asian development bank predict economic growth in the region will slow to 5.7% this year. that's down 2 percentage points from last year. the outlook applies to 45 developing countries and territories in asia. officials say china slowdown is one of the main factors in the forecast. they predistrict growth for china this year of 6.5% down .4% points from last year. the figure for february was down. 6.2% from the previous month and this was due partly to a temporary suspension of domestic car production by toyota after a factory explosion. another factor was a drop in parts for smartphones as they took time off for the new year holidays. executives at a leader salt marketer in japan have announced a big price hikes on two of

their core products. it's the first rise in nearly a quarter century. prices of table salt will jump about 35% from pribl. the salt industry. the record number of foreign tourists has created a problem. a serious labor shortage in hotels, shopsps a and restauran. so the service sector is innovating. >> reporter: this is the longest established japanese inn at a spa resort southwest of tokyo. the hotel manager has taken a close look to determine if they are really necessary. >> could you put your shoes here in the shoe lockers please?

asking customers to stou away their own shoes means lot less travel for their stuff. >> go up to the third floor and your room is at the far end. >> the inn has also stopped escorting guests to rooms. >> looks nice. >> laying out the futon in every room used to take two hours. now guests make out their own beds. a one-night stay costs about $80. it's about half the rate. >> i think that's okay. we've got many things to do, but it's not a big deal. it's good if it's less expensive. >> the inn also reviewed how duties were assigned to each

worker. this is the receptionist. after peak check-in time is over, she heads to the dining room where she sets dinner tables. >> please enjoy your meal. since i work att the front deski recognize guests in the restaurant. so it's easier to provide services that way. >> the benefits to the hotel are clclear. a smaller number of staff can do much more work and the employees get more. >> employees can work efficiently and comfortably and guests will like this place. it creates a circle. >> the restaurant industry is also struggling to find staff, so it's increasingly using

automation. this is a nationwide restaurant chain. it has created a system to cook noodles. a worker puts ingredients in the pot and sets it on the cooker. it's 26 seconds on the first hub, then it will move it to the sesecond. noodles are added and the pot is heated for another 26 seconds. the next dish is prepared in the meantime. the pot moves to the third heater for another 26 seconds. and then it's finished. the innovation has cut cooking time from 8 minutes to 2. staff training time has been cut down from six months to a single week.

>> translator: our customers no longer have to wait 20 or 30 minutes at peak times and they're happy about this. >> the private sector is worth 70% of gdp improving is becoming increasingly important. the declining population and shrinking work force. nhk world. >> and that wraps up this segment on business. i'm going to leave you with the markets. the operator of the nuclear power plant has gotten the go

ahead to tackle one of its most pressing issues. regulators havee allowed thehe power compantoto proceed wh a frozen ground walall to prevent ice water from getting to the site. >> translator: it will be impoportant to carefulllly moni thee freezingrocess andnd continuously gather data. >> officials with the nuclear regulation authority gay their approval on wednesday. tepco finished construction of the underground s system las month after two years of work. the company is expected to start freezing the wall as e early as thursday. after about 45 days the accumulation of ground water in and around the reactor buildings is expected to drop from 400 tons to about 50 tons. implementation of the system was delayed because regulators feareded it coululd cause the gd water level to drop too much. that would allow radio active water inside the buildings to leak out and spread the contamination so they decided to

freeze the soil downstream first to keep the water from flowing out. finding places to store a spent nuclear fuel has been a challenge for japan's government. officials have had a hard time finding communities willing to host storage facilities. now they're introducing what they say is a safer storage method that increases financial incentives. the dry storage system keeps spent fuel cool in metal containers. government officials say it's safer than the conventional method of storing the waste in pools of water. about 15,000 tons of spent fuel is stored at nuclear plants in japan. just under 3% using the dry cast system. government officials say spent fuel in dry cask storage weathered the disaster better than fuel stored in pools. the government and utilities have been promoting the dry cask system, but many remain

reluctant to accept new facilities. so in april the government will raise the subsidy for storing a ton of fuel in dry casks to about $5,300. it currently pays municipalities about $3,500 per ton. illegal immigrants are finding their way into japan by posing as international conference participants. an investigation has found that people are forging visa applications by falsely claiming to be delegates. nhk world's reporter explains. >> reporter: in october 2015, an international environmental conference was held in the city. about 20 people claiming ties to the government filed applications to attend. the university professor was the chair of the conference. he said the documents look

officialal. >> translator: the l letters looked very similar, which led me to believe they might all have been written by the same person. >> reporter: comparing the documents so the handwriting is almost the same. he discovered the applications did not follow the embassy's formal format meaning there was a strong chance they were forged. they rejected the applications based on suspipicion they were written by people trying to enter japan illegally. >> translator: at first, the conference's staff was overly trusting. accepting all applications without question. >> nhk looked into about 220 international conferences that were held in japan last year.

organizers estimate they received 430 dubious applications to attend at least 35 conferences. in some cases, the applications were approved. this man in his 40s entered japan by applying for a visa claiming that he planned to attend an international conference in the tokyo area. at first he insisted he was a pathologist. however -- >> you graduated from high school? >> no, not -- none. >> no? okay. >> yeah. >> before coming to japan, yeah, like used cars and the spare parts, yeah,h, buy and sell. i just came here for just to save my life. >> after his visa expired he stayed illegally.

many false applications come from the west african nation. nigeria and ghana. about two thirds of 170 forgeries throughout the year came from both countries. the professors who chaired the conference said -- >> translator: it's not possible that so many people would come from nigeria. >> one of the ways people get the applications approved is by misusingng invitational letters anand it fears they could becoma free pass for illegal immigrants. expert have an organization that help people to enter foreign countries illegally. >> it's easier to get a visa to attend an international

conference than it is to get a tourist visa. >> the former head of the immigration burureau says t tha afteter the system is examined therere is an i increased c cha terroriststs enterining the coc. >> traranslator: all we know is how people are entering the country. it's possible this method is being used by terrorists and crimiminals. > now the method of enterini the country illegally has been exposed. it's raising concerns over the visa approval process and whether it's good enough to prevent further false approvals. nhk world. >> newsline comes to you life from tokyo where it's overcast but considerably warmer. 68 degrees fahrenheit. jonathan o. joins us starting with the blizzards in the western part of the u.s.

what's it like now? >> i think there is going to be more in terms of heavyvy snowf, even blizzard conditions as we go throughout the day on wednesday and the reason is because we have a southern low pressure system that does not want to exit the air where for the northern rockies. right there is that low pressure system that's trying to move toward the east, but what's complicating the picture is not only does it have a lot of moisture with it, a high pressure area back toward the west is causing the wind to really pick up. so not only are we seeing some heavy snowfall in the higher elevations, we're seeing a lot of strong winds. that's leading to whiteout conditions. some places up to 30 to 40 centimeters of snowfall possible in some of the isolated locations as you go throughout the day wednesday. so definitely wanted to be prepared for the system as it moves through. heavy snow is really focused around wyoming but the surrounding state, basically montana, up into utah and colorado you're also dealing

with the possibility of snowfall. and denver may be looking at winter precipitation too. that's not the only impact that the system will have. as it continues to push toward the east we're looking at the possibility of severe thunderstotorms through thehe central and southern plains. so i it's going to be a busy da onon wednesday. just be prepared for those of you located toward chicago all the way into places like houston for some strong thunderstorms and some heavier rainfall. it really is going to be doing that will impact the eastern seaboard as we go forward in time. so looking at the forecast here. snow in denver. thunderstorms in oklahoma city to houston. the eastern seaboard for the moment will stay dry on wednesday. we go into thursday and that's when we're going to see the rain really picking up. look at this. ottawa over into washington, d.c., toronto, all looking at wet weather for thursday and the rain is expected to linger as we go into the weekend andnd in fa, snow is possible up into canada

by the weekend. so it's going to be an interesting weather scenario moving forward in time as the system pushes toward the east. speaking of an interesting weather situation, the system mainly has moved to the north and eaeast, but another system moving on shore so this low pressure system is going to create some instabability. we're looking at the possibility of some storms as we go throughout the day on wednesday. so have the umbrellas handy and then the system will move to the east, the one from the north continues to push toward the east. so warsaw and also into berlin, you're looking at some wet weather. down toward the south and west lisbon you're lookingng at precipitation coming up on wednesday. wrapping up with a look at east asia. a warm day in japan, but the clouds really helped damper the real rise in temperatures. we may see some more sunshine coming up on thursday as this high continues to move through and so we're lookiking at warm temperatures once again.

rain is developing back toward the eastern side of chinina. dealing with the wrapup of that rain and may be dealing with more of that as we go into thursday but also move to the north and east. more clouds possible as we head later on into the weekend, but some warm temperatures here. look at this, 24 in beijing and as we look into the weekend here, looking good. those of you looking forward to seeing the cherry blossom viewing, not a bad forecast as we go throughout the rest of this week. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

people in japan are admiring cherry blossoms this time of year and celebrating the arrival of spring. for some lucky visitors the season has allowed them a peek into part after tocoyou that's normally offlimits. imperial household agency officials opened the gate to a tree lined avenue at the imperial palace earlier than scheduled on wednesday. the blossoms have been slow to open due to low temperatures, but as the weather warms up, about half the buds are now in bloom. >> it's so beautifully japanese. >> translator: it was amazing. i hope to come see it again. >> more than 220,000 people have come to view the palace cherry blossoms over the past five and a half days. people can enjoy access to the tree lined section until thursday.

>> so if you're already in tokyo you've got one more day to visit the exclusive section at the imperial palace. reports from yen mar andpd

france 24 watching live around the world. these are the headlines -- a turnaround for the french president. he says he is dropping plans to add a clause of the constitution that would restrict convict or ed terrorirists of their natitionality. the e u.n. calls on the woworl's richest nanations to step up to the plate and except their share ofof the 5 million syrian refugs forced out of their country by the war.