pressurinpyongyang. north korean leaders push ahead with their plan to launch a rocket as scheduled. a rocket stands on a launch pad in north korea at this hour ready to go. space agency officials say they'll send a satellite into orbit sometime between thursday and monday. government officials in the u.s. and elsewhere are urging them to cancel the launch. north korean officials invited about 60 international journalists to check out the launch pad. the site is in pyongyang in the northwestern part of the country. althree stages of the 30-meter

long rocket are in position. it's marked with the national flag and the name milky way 3 in korean. officials showed journalists what they say is a satellite they plan to launch. the device is covered with solar panels and is equipped with cameras and antennas. the official responsible said everything is ready and it could be fueled up and launched at any time. he said leaders in pyongyang have an even bigger goal in mind they want to put larger satellites into orbit in the future including a geostationary communications satellite. >> translator: we have already set out a concrete program. it could pass over japan. it could also fly over other countries. now the question is, when that will be. the north koreans are weighing several factors. one of which is the weather. rachel ferguson joins us now

with the forecast on conditions around the site. so, rachel, what are you seeing? >> yes, indeed. north korean officials are looking at a five-day window for the launch. now the first three days, thursday, friday and saturday are going to be clear. clear skies. just a few clouds on friday. sunday, we do run into some showers but they are going to be fairly light. and then on monday, conditions will clear up. but it will be quite windy. generally, all in all it doesn't look like the weather will prove problematic for this event. >> thanks very much there. south korean intelligence officials say recent satellite images show the north koreans are also preparing for a nuclear test. u.s. state department officials have called on leaders in pyongyang to abort that, too. >> we are continuing to urge all of the countries that may have influence on the dprk, most notably china, to continue to use that influence to make clear that they also disapprove of this and think it would be a bad idea and would just further

isolate the dprk. >> nuland said china is one of the countries that would benefit from a nuclear-free korean peninsula. japan's foreign minister hopes he and his counterparts in the group of eight nations can come up with a coordinated response to what's happening in north korea. koichiro gemba will visit washington to visit members for four days to attend a summit of g8 foreign ministers wednesday and thursday. he planned to ask them to issue an emergency statement condemning north korea for violating u.n. security council resolutions. he's expected to call for a tough stance including the adoption of new resolutions. north korean leaders say they'll launch the rocket on a southern trajectory. they are doing what they can to protect people. fall deg brie is expected to land about 130 kilometers off the northeast coast of luzon island in the philippines.

the interior ministry ordered local governments to coordinate with the military and police. local media covering this story from all angles to inform viewers, listeners and readers about what might happen. >> the rocket is expected to pass over the eastern coast of taiwan. so officials there are making preparations of their own. the defense ministry has ordered troops to take measures to protect citizens and to watch for debris. in some other news now, tuesday is the deadline for a u.n.-brokered cease-fire in syria. the administration of president barbar al assad promised to pull troops out of populated areas and stop using heavy artilly. but it shows no sign of keeping

that pledge. forces are still attacking the northern city and other opposition strongholds. activists say at least 130 people have been killed in the last two days. the government made a new demand on sunday. it now wants written guarantees that the insurgents will end their violence before the troops withdraw. the conflict is spilling over syria's border. syrian forces fired into a refugee camp in turkey on monday reportedly wounding at least four people. thousands of syrians have fled to turkey to avoid the attacks. a local cameraman in lebanon was killed by syrian forces while filming the border area. france's presidential campaign has officially started. candidates are expected to focus on their ideas for responding to europe's debt crisis. right now the incumbent president is just behind his leftist rival in the polls.

ten candidates are running in the first round of voting which will be held on april the 22nd. president nicolas sarkozy is stressing his record on tackling fiscal reform. he's also emphasizing his role in drafting eu-wide measures to deal with the debt crisis. alland of the socialist party is promising to create more jobs. he's also calling for negotiations toward a new eu treaty to ensure fiscal discipline. he says the current treat sde not adequately address employment and economic growth. polls show alland is the current favorite among voters, but sarkozy is closing in. neither of the front-runners is expected to win the majority in the first round of voting. in that case, there will be a run-off on may the 6th. toyota motors has started making cars in cairo, the first time it's done that in the middle east.

the japanese automaker put on a show in rolling out the sport utility vehicle. toyota will make 3,000 fortuna suvs a year in a joint genture with an egyptian state-run company and u.s. automaker chrysler. drivers can take these suv sbos the desert. toyota managers plan to target ap affluent customers. >> egypt's market has the highest potential in north africa. hopefully this model with boost toyota's growth. >> managers believe egypt can become a production hub for them. egyptian leaders hope to sign a free trade agreement soon with europe and other nations in the middle east. the people at sharp electronics are expected to post record losses for the year. earnings in their television business tumbled more than

expected. accountants at the japanese electronicsmaker had projected losses of around $3.5 billion. they revised those numbers to more than $4.5 billion. managers are trying to turn things around. they reorganized the subsidiary that makes liquid crystal panels. they agreed to sell more than half the subsidiary shares to a chinese firm. managers also plan to sell a stake to japanese parts suppliers. they say the alliances will help them bring in more revenues. japan airlines will resume hiring of graduates for the first time in three years. the carrier has been under financial reconstruction since it went bankrupt two years ago. jal will hire about 30 men and women fresh from college for administration positions starting next april. they include sales personnel and people who deal with passengers at airports. the airliner will also add about 200 flight attendants.

the carrier will also start midcareer recruitment of flight attendants for the first time in four years. jal also hopes to resume screening of engineers, including ground crew next year. social networking giant facebook is making a bid to enhance its services and boost its user base. the company has announced it will buy instagram, a possible mobile photo sharing service for $1 billion. facebook made the announcement on monday. the deal is the company's largest ever acquisition. ceo mark zuckerberg said it's an important milestone because it's the first time facebook has acquired a company with so many users. san francisco-based instagram was founded in 2010. it has 30 million users who share photographs using smartphones and other mobile devices. instagram also offers editing features, including filters that can make images look like vintage photos.

and another billion-dollar deal is in the works. aol says it will sell over 800 of its patents to microsoft. the internet firm made the announcement on monday. it will also grant microsoft the right to use over 300 other patents. the deal covers patents on technologies for online advertisement displays as well as other know-how such as laying text data on top of a map image. aol became independent from media giant time warner in 2009. but has been struggling financially due to a drop in users and advertising income. a small company in japan is trying to crack a big market. india has a population of 1.2 billion. firms around the world compete for those consumers. but the people who run a company in osaka believe they have an advantage over their large competitors. nhk world explains.

>> reporter: hakiro is 70 years old. he runs a small trading firm in osaka. in january, he sent an employee to india. >> translator: you've got to succeed no matter what. until you do, don't even think about coming back. >> reporter: he had a staff of 90. last year, he paid bonuses three times. that's because his firm is doing brisk business in china. his company exports various parts made by small firms in the osaka area. for a small firm like his, people are a precious asset. two of the three new hires this year are from china.

he considers skills and experience especially important. nationality doesn't matter. at the moment, india is in his crosshairs. he wants to set up a toehold in the sprawling market as soon as possible. he ran into unexpected trouble when he tried to translate his hope into action. none of his workers wanted to go to a country they knew so little about. he had to look outside his company for motivated workers. >> translator: we're a nonmanufacturing company. we don't invest in big facilities. we invest in people instead. that's our secret to success.

>> reporter: in response to his ad, he received 20 applications from across the country. he was especially impressed with businessmen who were around 60 years old. he decided to bet on the experience and can-do spirit of the older generation. he hired 59-year-old hiroki. he spent 27 years working for a major trading house and was also based in india 12 years ago. this time around, though, he is starting from scratch in india. he's looking for an office space and a place to live. he's also busy visiting local companies to hunt for business opportunities. >> okay. thank you very much.

okay. >> reporter: in just a week, he started talks on a deal worth more than $120,000. >> translator: this is great news. i just got here, too. i'll focus on this lead while i set up an office. then i'll work hard to find more deals. >> reporter: for small business, age often proves to be an asset. experienced elderly workers may play a key role in revitalizing those firms in japan. yoichiro tateiwa, nhk world. china's animation industry is growing at breakneck speed. that's due in part to government's packing. however, chinese are more enthralled with foreign anime

produced in countries such as japan and the u.s. but now some chinese anime creators have entered the competition and the foreign companies are taking notice. nhk world's nakatani reports from shanghai. >> reporter: the anime opened nationwide in january as one of the new year holiday movies. the production first appeared in 2005 as a television series. four years later, the first movie version was released. every year since, a new movie is showing in theaters. this year's film broke all box office records for anime films in china. sales amounted to about $27 million. >> translator: i watch it on tv. i love it! >> reporter: the story is about a sheep and his friends.

in every story, they try to escape from a wolf. tiny children love the simple plot and funny stories. >> translator: we're hoping to get more exposure for our anime production overseas. >> reporter: despite the growing popularity, it's the anime from japan and the u.s. that seem to dominate. in response, the government decided to make animation the leading industry by investing in chinese productions. in 2006, the government also limited foreign programs to 30% of the content aired in china. it also barred overseas production from primetime hours. more than 50 production centers across the country sprouted up. but only a few of the shows ever

make it to the screening. last year, only 20% of the shows produced in china were televised. children don't care for many of the anime made in china. the kids think there is much focus on discipline and morales and not enough on fun. the main factor behind the unusual success of it are the plots. he had a big hand in creating the mega hit. he lives in southeastern china's guangzhou city. he grew up watching comics that came from neighboring hong kong. he says he wasn't a good student, and even skipped classes to play computer games. he believes the important thing when producing animations is to look at the world through children's eyes.

>> translator: i still have the heart of a young boy. the first thing is, i need to have fun. and if i do, then other kids will, too. >> reporter: a shanghai-based production company markets the anime. that's another reason why it has become such a favorite. it was this company that first spotted the show on a local broadcast. it liked the program so much it decided to invest a lot of money into producing a movie version. it also caught the attention of walt disney pictures in the united states. the company distributed the show in more than 50 countries. >> translator: the success has given china's animation industry confidence. >> reporter: in the military, huan and his team are going all out to produce their next hit.

china hopes to energize the animation industry so that it will boost the nation's -- but t succeed, the government will have to support artists like huan who may not conform to their conservative standards. ryuku otani, nhk world, shanghai. people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster. but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, businesses, entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." japanese government leaders say a nuclear power plant in western japan appears to meet new safety standards. the plant's operator submitted

plans earlier this week for restarting two reactors at the plant. they are currently offline for safety checks. the cabinet of prime minister yoshihiko noda will make a final decision later this week. >> translator: we have decided that the number three and four reactors at the ohi plant basically conform to the government's new safety standards, but we will keep talking because this is a very important issue. >> the plan submitted to the government involves installing vents in the ohi reactors. they would filter the radioactive materials if steam is released to reduce the pressure in the containment vessels. the operator would install the vents in 2015. japan's government has revised new earthquake standards for the ceilings of public

buildings following the march 11th disaster. the prime minister says at least five people were killed and 70 injured when ceilings collapsed in last year's quake. a concert hall and an airport terminal were among the worst affected. the ministry launched a panel of experts after the disaster to compile new quake resistant standards. the panel has found that the ceilings of about 2,000 facilities collapsed. in many cases, the shock waves broke metal joints and other hardware supporting the ceilings. in this experiment conducted by the panel, the ceiling shakes violently soon after tremors start. the shaking loosens bolts that begin to fall out in a chain reaction. the ceiling collapses in just 15 seconds. the panel proposes increasing the number of bolts that hold up ceilings and using stronger metal joints. the panel also suggests doubling ceiling resistance to strong horizontal, a term used in the industry building codes.

they plan to set the new standards by this summer. and here's rachel ferguson with the world weather forecast. >> today we're seeing nice sunny conditions across much of japan. but it will change into wednesday. some clouds coming over and with some heavy rain and some strong gusts. and that will be affecting much of the country as we head on into the middle of the week. those areas that have a lot of snow piled up could see flooding. and potentially avalanches as we see the snow melt. and those warm winds come up from the south. now this low pressure is also gog to be moving across the korean peninsula. so some heavy rain here. but it should be cleared up by thursday. heavy rain will also be returned to southern parts of china. meanwhile, a low pressure system over bangladesh starting to weaken off now although there will be some showers left over and any additional rain really could add to the potential for landslides and flooding. as we head into north america, we have a slow moving system here out towards the northwest. this will continue to bring rain at the coast but we'll also see

a return to winter storm conditions for the sierras. you can see about 20 centimeters of fresh snow and gusts up to 100 kilometers an hour. certainly enough to reduce visibility and make travel a little bit dangerous. toward the south we run into severe thunderstorms. parts of new mexico and towards western texas. and then down in towards louisiana and the gulf coast is where we'll see the strongest of the storms potentially with some large hail. up towards the northeast, it's just like winter again. purple is where you're seeing a mix of sleet and snow turning over to snow in the eastern great lakes and into quebec. temperatures then, 23 degrees in denver. 18 in seattle. we're seeing thafall of this wa as the jet stream moves quite north. but then it dips back down. cooler air filtering into winnipeg. 2 for the high. chicago also much cooler than monday. just 9 degrees for the high. and these cooler temperatures will be with you through the end of the week. as we head on into europe, dominating western and central

locations will be this very large low pressure system sending fronts in across the iberian peninsula as well as in towards southern parts of scandinavia. still being affected by that in the british isles as well. and even up towards the north, southern scandinavia and parts of scotland seeing snow as opposed to the rain and windy conditions that the rest of western and central europe will be faced with. very cloudy here as well. needless to say. we will see a new low pressure system developing across the alpine region. it's going to get strong and things will be very unsettled. it will then head in toward the balkan peninsula from wednesday and into thursday. meanwhile, things looking fairly settled. across from down here in the southeast over turkey where heavy rain will reach its peak. after that it will quiet down a little bit. you'll see showers in towards the rest of the week. five degrees in moscow. warming up, though in other parts of eastern europe. 13 in warsaw. 16 in berlin and 15 in vienna.

14 in paris. and just a little cooler but up around seasonal temperatures in madrid as well as in lisbon in the upper teens. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast.

our top story once again -- north korean authorities are just days away from a controversial countdown. they've moved a rocket into place. they say they're going to use it to send a satellite into space some time between thursday and monday. north korean officials invited about 60 international journalists to check out the launch pad. the site is in pyongyang in the northwestern part of the country. all three stages of the 30-meter high rocket are in position. it's marked with the national flag and the name milky way 3 in korean. officials showed journalists what they say is the satellite they plan to launch. the device is covered with solar panels and is equipped with cameras and antennas. the official responsible for the launch facility says crews could load the satellite, fuel up the rocket and launch it at any time. and that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm yukio aotani in tokyo.

thanks for watching.