north korean diplomacy. a step forward as pyongyang signals it will accept international nuclear monitors. but a senior envoy says relationss with south korea are at a standstill. welcome to nhk world "newsline." north korea's chief nuclear envoy says his country will soon accept inspectors from the international atomic energy agency. the move comes under a recent agreement with the united states. late last month pyongyang told washington it would suspend

uranium enrichment activities in exchange for u.s. food aid. >> translator: we'll allow iaea inspectors into our country in the near future. we're taking concrete measures to fulfill our agreement with the u.s. >> ri spoke after attending an international conference in new york. he said the event made it possible for north korean and u.s. representatives to hold detailed discussions on bilateral issues. ri said the end of hostile relations between the two countries will serve as the basis for resolving their outstanding problems. south korea's chief nuclear envoy lim sung-nam also attended the conference but he didn't meet with his counterpart from the north. he said north korea has not abided by agreements reached at summits in 2000 and 2007. a scuffle broke out between a north korean delegation and south korean lawmakers on monday at the u.n. human rights council in geneva.

the council was hearing a report on north korea's human rights record. as the north koreans were leaving the meeting in protest, one of them reportedly kicked a south korean lawmaker in the knee and twisted his arm. the south koreans responded to the act. the session was delayed because of the incident. a small economy that was dependent on nomads a decade ago is enjoying rapid economic development. mongolia is in transition. the program is visiting japan to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic ties. nhk world's tomoko kamata met with him to discuss what's driving his nation's economy and mongolia's cozy ties with north korea.

>> reporter: this is what many people imagine when they think of mongolia, nomads corralling sheep. wide open spaces. people living the traditional lifestyles. but this still is mongolia. high-rises, designer stores, young people in fashionable clothing armed with smartphones. this country of contrasts, it's thriving. researchers at the international monetary fund say mongolia's economy grew 70.7% in 2011 compared to 2010. natural resources are the main driver. surveyors have found a wealth of coal, copper, uranium, and rare earth metals under the prairies. most of it untouched. the tavan tolgol mine in

southern mongolia is attracting international attention. the government says the mine has the potential to produce the world's largest supply of a type of coal used to make steel. companies around the world are scrambling to get steak. the government is holding an international bid for the rights. >> reporter: the tavan tolgol mine plays an important role for mongolia. the coal is produces is boosting our economy at an incredible speed. it also enables our country to develop in a sustainable way. major companies from russia, china, the united states, japan, and south korea are raising their hands to participate in a joint development project. the mongolian government is negotiating with each country,

but the process to determine the winning bid isn't easy. we would like to announce the result as soon as possible in 2012. >> reporter: mongolia's growing economy is helping to raise its region's profile. that's put the spotlight on its close ties with north korea. we asked prime minister batbold about the role his country could play in helping japan, the u.s., and south korea monitor the north's nuclear development program. >> translator: we don't want to isolate or exclude north korea from international society. our policy is to encourage north korea to participate in the international community. we will take a more active role according to that policy. >> reporter: the prime minister says regional security remains a top priority.

>> translator: mongolia would like to do its best to help maintain peace and security in asia. mongolia is now a democracy. we have succeeded in the development of a market economy and are enjoying the results. we also have banned nuclear weapons from our defense policy. mongolia and north korea have a close relationship. our experience can be a model. >> prime minister sukhbata

sukhbataasukhbataar sukhbataar batbold met monday with japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda. the leaders agreed to start negotiations on an economic partnership deal that would make it easier for companies in japan to invest in mongolia. eurozone countries have finalized an additional bailout package for greece. the greek solution comes after most private sector investors accepted write-offs on their holdings of greek government bonds. >> as agreed, new official financing of 130 billion euros will be committed by the euro area, by the imf for the period of 2012-2013. >> the finance ministers of the 17 eurozone nations reached the decision on monday as the debt-strapped nation has met necessary conditions. the greek government says it has secured 96% of its debt reduction target amount. you're o'group president

jean-claude juncker also urged greece to successfully implement promised austerity measures. he said greece should not waste the second chance it's been given. the eurozone ministers have also agreed to ease spain's fiscal reform climate given the region's difficult economic climate. spain is now obliged to reduce its budget deficit to within 5.3% of gdp this year. it has until next year to meet the original goal of 3% or less. german car manufacturers have reported record profits for 2011. a weak euro boosted sales in china and other emerging markets. volkswagen said that sales in 2011 for its ten brands rose to nearly 160 billion euros, or $210 billion. net profit also hit a record of nearly $21 billion. the company sold 8.3 million vehicles, overtaking japan's toyota with 7.9 million. u.s. giant gm held on to the top spot with 9 million units. daimler reported record sales of

$140 billion and record net profits of $7.9 billion. bmw also broke its own record with sales of $90 billion and net profits of $6.4 billion. the world trade organization has ruled that american aircraft maker boeing has received illegal subsidies from the u.s. government. the trade body upheld a european union claim against boeing. eu officials filed a lawsuit eight years ago. they argued boeing violated trade rules when it received government aid for research and development. and they claimed boeing enjoyed preferential tax treatment for building factories. the eu officials say washington has hindered competition. and they say the practice should be stopped immediately. boeing and its european-based arrival airbus have been fighting for years. the wto ruled in favor of boeing last year. the chicago-based company claimed the eu had granted illegal aid to airbus.

a japanese bank is buying a california-based bank for $1.5 billion. unionbancal corporation a u.s. subsidy of the bank of tokyo mitsubishi ufj has agreed to acquire the california-based bank pacific capital bancorp. pacific capital has 47 branches in california. its focus is on providing loans to small-size companies and individuals. japanese bank hopes to -- the japanese bank hopes to strengthen its u.s. business as the economy shows signs of recovery. health ministry officials in japan are taking another look at how they inspect what people are eating. they're reviewing guidelines for food inspections. the government plans to introduce tough new limits next

month on radioactive cesium. the revised standards will limit the amount of cesium in rice, vegetables, and other foodstuffs to 100 becquerels per kilogram. that's one fifth the current limit. local governments are in charge of handling spot inspections. health ministry officials plan to have them toughen the screening process for items that were found to contain at least 100 becquerels of cesium over the past year. municipalities that detect at least 50 becquerels in any of these items will be required to continue screening at least three samples a week. the government temporarily banned shipments of rice and vegetables over the last year in si fukushima. testing will be mandatory in these areas regardless of levels of cesium found in foodstuffs. crews still have to remove piles of debris in communities all along the northeast coast. an nhk survey suggests a majority of people in japan would approve of debris being sent to incinerators in their neighborhoods.

environment ministry officials estimate the debris produced by the earthquake and tsunami amounted to more than 22 million tons in the hardest-hit prefectures, iwate, miyagi, and fukushima. one year later workers have buried or burned only 6% of the total. government officials plan to dispose the debris from iwate and miyagi at facilities outside the region. nhk conducted a public opinion poll over the weekend. 57% of respondents said they would approve of their municipalities accepting the debris for disposal. 7% said they would not. 32% were undecided. nhk also asked about restarting nuclear plants which are now offline for inspections. only 2 out of 54 reactors are still running. 17% of the respondents supported the restart. more than double that rate. 39% disapproved. 41% were undecided. nhk has been asking survivors for their opinions, too. we've conducted regular surveys with them. one indicator we're tracking is

motivation levels. here's the trend we've seen for the past six months. 27% of survivors report higher motivation levels. 30% say their sense of purpose is fading. the data suggest the gap is widening between those who are getting back on their feet and those who are falling into despair. >> reporter: one person who answered the survey is yuriko yamamoto. she said her motivation levels have risen in the past six months. she lost her mother in the tsunami. her younger brother and his wife also died. the loss of three close family members was a devastating blow. six months later yamamoto rated her motivation at 60, with 100 being the predisaster level. but in the recent survey she reported a score of 150, even higher than before the quake.

>> translator: when i finally accepted that my loved ones were gone, i realized that i have to live my life for all of them. i have to keep fighting. >> reporter: how did she pick up her spirits? one important step was her decision to open a small shop just like the one she had before the tsunami. she sells groceries and everyday items. little by little, business has improved. >> translator: if i hadn't reopened the shop, i think i would definitely still be depressed. i keep moving forward every day. >> reporter: but many survivors are worried about the future. they use words like "powerless" and "hopeless."

>>ranslator: the more time goes by, the more i can feel my motivation dropping. >> translator: i can't see what's ahead, and i can't make any future plans. i don't know what's the best thing to do. i have no confidence. >> reporter: a farmer in sendai city, all of his rice paddies and fields were damaged by the tsunami. but he wants to find a way to continue farming. three months after the disaster, abe's survey results show a motivation level of 90. quite high. this time round, however, he scored 50. his enthusiasm for life is draining away. he says his spirits are falling because he can't find a way to start farming again. individual farms are not eligible for government subsidies. to qualify, he needs to team up with other land owners. he got in touch with about 80 farmers he had worked with in the past to ask about their

plans. their response was depressing. he found that one in four wanted to quit farming because of the disaster. >> translator: i was shocked. i hadn't expected so many to say they plan to quit farming their own land. >> reporter: genjiro endo was one of those who told abe he wanted to quit. endo's home was completely destroyed by the tsunami, and he lost all of his farming equipment. at the very least, it would take him two years to rehabilitate his fields. endo would be 68 by then, and there is no one to take over the family business. >> translator: it would be very difficult to start from scratch when i'm nearly 70. it's not that i want to quit, it's that i feel i have no choice. >> reporter: abe does not see a way to get the farm industry in

his area get back on its feet. he can't do it alone, and this realization has made him feel helpless and unmotivated. >> translator: i don't know what to do now or what i should do, because i can't figure that out, i'm having a very difficult time. >> one expert told us that this is a crucial time for survivors. one year after a disaster depression can set in, even for those who initially showed determination to move on with their lives. the expert says these people need more community support and government assistance. human rights activists are accusing government forces in syria of one of the worst atrocities in a year of violence. they say a militia loyal to president bashar al assad killed 45 women and children. the attack took place in the city of homs. opposition forces shot these images showing the bodies of the victims. they appealed to the u.n. security council to respond

urgently. homs has been an opposition stronghold throughout the year-long uprising. government forces bombarded it for nearly a month. they regained control this month. human rights activists say government troops kept firing at civilians. they say the death toll is rising. syria's state-run television showed images of several bodies with their hands tied behind their back. it accused terrorist gangs of carrying out the killings. u.s. and russian leaders are calling for an immediate end to the violence. secretary of state hillary clinton met privately with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov after a u.n. security council meeting in new york. the council convened after former u.n. chief and special envoy to syria kofi annan failed to persuade president assad to halt the crackdown. >> we expect all nations including russia and china to join us now in pressing the assad regime to silence its guns.

>> lavrov said stopping the violence was more important than assigning blame. >> we shall not really think of putting the government and the opposition on one level, whether it's acceptable or not. it's about saving lives. >> lavrov warned the conflict would escalate if foreign troops intervened. an escalation in tensions between israelis and palestinians has left at least 25 people dead. israel has targeted the gaza strip during four days of air strikes. the violence started on friday when israel bombed a car in gaza. the explosion killed the commander of the popular resistance committees, a palestinian militant coalition. israeli government officials say he was plotting a terrorist attack. the group responded by firing rockets into israeli territory. some of them hit civilian areas. media reports say that israel and palestinian militants have agreed to an egyptian-mediated truce but neither side has officially announced a

cease-fire. the afghan parliament is demanding that a u.s. soldier be tried under afghan law. the soldier went on a shooting rampage on sunday. he killed 16 civilians. the soldier opened fire in two villages in the southern province of kandahar. 12 of the victims were women and children. u.s. military spokespersons say the gunmancted alone and is in custody. members of parliament say afghans have run out of patience with what they call the arbitrary actions of foreign soldiers. they urge the u.s. government to punish all who are involved. the spokesperson for the nato-led international forces promised a thorough investigation. >> the important thing is that the findings will lead to an appropriate legal procedure and that justice will be done. >> u.s. forces sparked a spate of violence last month when they inadvertently burned copies of the koran.

clear skies turning cloudy later on in tokyo. a lot more severe weather in austria. rachel ferguson with the latest forecast. rachel? >> thank you. yes indeed, we're going to start today with a report on australia. as you just mentioned there, there is a lot of heavy rain. and the reason for it, a couple of systems, tropical lows that look ripe for development. there's just one here you can see just starting to form there in the cloud, and then anoth one just further on up the coast. we're going to go to this one now and show you what's going to be happening. right now it's moving south at six kilometers an hour. it's likely to become a tropical cyclone before making landfall in about 36 hours. so it's going to be about 10:00 p.m. local time in australia that it's expected to make landfall here. gale warnings have been posted anywhere you're seeing the orange here along the coast. and the winds are expected to get up to about 100 kilometers an hour. of course, it's not just the winds. there's going to be a lot of rain along the northern coast. anyway, you're seeing in the red

200 millimeters possible in the next 72 hours. but even in some areas you're going to be looking at close to 400 millimeters of rain in the next 24 to 48 hours anyway. so definitely some very high risk of flooding. and we'll also see those damaging winds coming in too. we'll keep you updated with the situation here. let's go to eastern asia. looking quite dry and clear across the continent right now. still seeing some scattered thunderstorms across parts of the philippines as well as indo-china here. some heavier rain also for myanmar and northern parts of thailand. as for japan, well, we've had that winter storm moving through. as we head on into wednesday, it's going to be a much calmer, more settled picture before that happens. so we'll still see probably about 30 to 40 centimeters of fresh snow into wednesday. then high pressure moves in, and it's going to help push a lot of that precipitation away. all right. let's head into north america, where we have yet another winter storm, this one affecting b.c. down in toward northern

california. you can see about 90 centimeters of snow on the cascades and very strong gusts. so that'll be blowing the snow around and make travel pretty hazardous. do take care. ni anywhere east of the rockies, though-s going to be experiencing summer-like warmth. high pressure in place. lots of sunshine. and it is going to be feeling very warm indeed. but there's still the potential for some severe thunderstorms before this system up here towards eastern canada pulls away. it'll be moving into new england and further on into quebec, turning over to snow in the upper elevations. all right. let's get to those temperatures, these unseasonable temperatures. 21 in new york city. we've got mid 20s in d.c. as well as in oklahoma city. denver 22 for you. 18 in chicago. wednesday's going to be even warmer. chicago expecting 25 degrees for the high. that's a departure of 17 degrees from your average temperature for march. so very, very warm. even getting up to 10 degrees in winnipeg. all right.

into europe. dry and clear for much of central and western europe. there will still be plenty of snow along the western coast of norway. this is the effect snows we usually see this time of year. down to the southeast starting to clear out for the balkans. however, turkey, though, you are going to be seeing continued precipitation, rain at the coast, and then ankara, your heavy rain will be turned by tuesday into heavy snow by wednesday. temperatures dipping down by friday. your high. the rest of the east going to be seeing temperatures descending. meanwhile, it's spring out toward the west. we have 15 degrees in paris and 25 in lisbon. here's your extended forecast. ♪

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♪ once again, a look at our lead stories. north korea's chief nuclear envoy says his country will soon accept inspectors from the international atomic energy agency. the move comes under a recent agreement with the united states. late last month pyongyang told washington it would suspend uranium enrichment activities in exchange for u.s. food aid. >> translator: we'll allow iaea inspectors into our country in the near future. we're taking concrete measures to fulfill our agreement with the u.s. >> ri spoke after attending an international conference in new york. he said the event made it possible for north korean and u.s. representatives to hold detailed discussions on bilateral issues. reese said the end of hostile relations between the two countries would serve as the basis for resolving their outstanding problems. south korea's chief nuclear

envoy, ling sung-nam also attended the conference, but he didn't meet with his counterpart with the north. ri said seoul has not shown the will to abide by agreements reached during two inter-korean summits held in 2000 and 2007. eurozone countries have finalized the additional bailout package for greece. the greek solution comes after most private sector investors accepted write-offs on their holdings of greek government bonds. >> as agreed, new official financing of 150 billion euros will be committed by the euro area, by the imf, for the period of 2012-2013. >> the finance ministers of the 17 eurozone nations reached the decision on monday as the debt-strapped nation has met necessary conditions. the greek government says it has secured 96% of its debt reduction target amount. euro group president jean-claude

juncker also encouraged greece to successfully implement promised austerity measures. he said greece should not waste the second chance it's been given. the eurozone ministers have also agreed to ease spain's fiscal reform target given the