>>> this is "newsline" for march 31st, 11:aa.m. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we're now listening in on the news conference of japan's chief cabinet secretary yukio edano. he'll be giving ugs the latest developments at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. >> translator: reportedly iaea suggested the japanese government issue an evacuation order. what do you say? >> translator: yes, the iaea has been conducting a soil survey, and one of the sample readings have exceeded iaea recommended leve levels, and it's been advised to the japanese government that we should take careful decisions based on these sampling results, and they will -- we have been continuing the atmospheric radiation surveys near the site and the iaea sampling results will also be taken into consideration for further detailed monitoring on the part of the japanese government. and as to the radiation levels in soil, this has exceeded the recommended limits. if the health hazard can develop to humans who stay near the site for prolonged periods of time, but there is no immediate health hazard

and welcome to "newsline" business. to expedite insurance payments to survivors of the recent disaster in northeastern japan, casualty insurers will use photographs taken from above to confirm total losses of properties. for earthquake insurance policies the amount of payout is normally determined through on-site inspection. but the march 11th earthquake and tsunami have devastated such a wide area that the usual process would result in substantial delays in disbursing insurance benefits. the general insurance association of japan says aerial and satellite photos will be used instead to determine areas that suffered total losses. the industry group says it has already confirmed the total loss status on a few coastal communities in the northeast. it says more will likely be designated as such. >>> japan's energy policy is now at a turning point following the accident at fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. due to recent events the industry ministry has postponed the compilation of an energy white paper. the white paper

>>> welcome to "newsline i'm michio kijima in tokyo with the news at this hour. the unrest in libya is expected to get even worse in the coming hours. forces fighting to oust colonel moammar gadhafi have called for nationwide rallies on friday. the rally organizers are urging people to gather after muslim prayers. similar protests last friday were met by militia men who opened fire on the protesters killing and wounding a still unknown number of people. gadhafi loyalists remain on the offensive against northeastern strongholds on friday. the fighting was intense around strategic oil facilities. they attacked opposition held town of ajdabiya, about 150 kilometers from benghazi. speaking to western media, gadhafi's son described the areas as the nation's life line and vowed they would never be given up. gadhafi's opponents have also taken to the airwaves to get their message out. a radio station in the stronghold northeastern libya is calling on citizens to rise up. nhk world has that story. >> reporter: a local radio station in al bayda, the voice of free libya. i

this is "newsline" for 11:00 a.m. japan time. >>> video footage from the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant shows what appears to be steam or smoke rising from four reactor buildings. this footage was shot from an nhk helicopter at around 7:00 a.m. on thursday from a distance of over 30 kilometers from the plant. what appears to be steam was rising from the number one reactor building for the first time. 'steam was also seen riding from the buildings of the number 2, number 3, and number 4 reactors. the nuclear and industrial safety agency says that steam was rising from the four reactors as of 10:00 a.m. and that all of it was colorless. at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant, work to cool down the storage pool after reactor building has been resumed. on wednesday, black smoke was seen rising from the number 3 reactor building. for safety reasons, work was suspended on restoring the cooling systems of reactor buildings one through four. the nuclear and industrial safety agency says at five 5:35 a.m. on thurs

that is all for this edition of nhk newsline. we will be back with more updates. and six, workers plan to restore cables to have power at the plant. it is planned to be used as a power source to generate electricity from outside sources. crews are rushing at the number two reactser. why does the company give higher precedence to the buildings? the nuclear and industry safety agency officials say it is because the building is undamaged. it is difficult to put water into it from outside. he says it is necessary to restore the cooling system by repairing the power system. about 20 people are working on the number two reactor. electricity from outside power sources reaches the reserve transformer on the ground. a power cable will be laid over 1.5 kilometers to reach a transformer near the reactor building. workers plan to lay the cable through the buildings through the number one and three buildings to connect it to the number two reactor. this way they plan to send electric power to all six reactors. restoration work at the damaged plant faces a number of problems. t

live -- a live stream of our broadcast on the website, and we will continue to -- >>> welcome to "newsline." in this hour we are expecting to hear prime minister naoto kan with a special message to the japanese people. you are now looking at the live footage from prime minister naoto kan's office in tokyo. in this hour we are expecting to hear prime minister naoto kan with a special message to the japanese people. for more information and updates you can please refer to live stream of our broadcast on the nhk world website at the url shown on the screen. in this hour expecting to hear prime minister naoto kan with a special message to the japanese people. you are looking at the live footage from the prime minister's office in tokyo. first we have chief cabinet secretary -- chief cabinet secretary yukio edano entering the room. we are expecting to see prime minister naoto kan with a special message to the japanese people. here we have prime minister naoto kan. this is live footage from tokyo, prime minister kan's office. >> translator: i would like to speak to the japanese citizens. the sit

. >>> that's all for this edition of "newsline." if you'd like to make a donation and help all those people affected by the great east japan earthquake, please make a donation to the address on your screen. we'll come back at the top of the next hour with more updates. worldline. >>> the nuclear and safety agency here in japan said on a news conference on saturday morning said they detected nuclear levels considerably higher than yesterday. >> translator: according to typical sea water analysis, iodine levels at the facility of the south discharge outlet of the fukushima daiichi power plant which was 126 times the controlled limit yesterday, later rose to 140 times, and today was at 1,250.8 times the control limit. this figure means that if you drink 500 milliliters of such water, you would get a dose of one millisievert which is an average dose limit for adults. >> the situation at the fukushima daiichi plant remains serious. tokyo electric power company has had to change its strategy to restore cooling systems at the plant due to

. >>> you are watching nhk "newsline." let me first remind you that the audio of this broadcast can be heard on the bilingual or sub channel of the domestic board gtv channel. an nhk helicopter has taken footage showing what appears to be white smoke billowing from the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. we are looking at the footage taken earlier. about 20 minutes ago at the fukushima daiichi power plant where what appears to be white smoke blowing from the fukushima daiichi power plant. what has been happening since then is the plant reported another fire and flames were seen coming from some of the reactors then and now from 10:00 a.m. an nhk helicopter is flying 30 kilometer away from the plant had been taken footages of this nhk fukushima daiichi i plant where you see white smoke billowing from there. we do not know if it is caused by the flame, or if it is hydrogen explosion. we will be updating with you as we have more details on that. you are now looking at footage taken about 20 minutes ago at the fukushima dai

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." international pressure is mounting against libyan leader moammar gadhafi. u.s. president barack obama has called on gadhafi to step down, but he remains hesitant over creating a no-fly zone over the country. >> i want to make sure that those full range of options are available to me. the region will be watching carefully to make sure we're on the right side of history. >> in a news conference on thursday, obama said gadhafi has lost legitimacy to lead and he must leave. he said his departure would be good for libya and the people and he said the u.s. has sent military aircraft to air lift egyptians who have fled from libya to neighboring tunisia. earlier in the week, the u.s. senate unanimously passed a resolution calling on the united nations to impose a no-fly zone. the secretary of defense robert gates said taking control of the skies or other direct military action would have 0 its con consequences for u.s. interests, not just in libya but throughout the middle east. >>> meanwhile

> >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." >>> as the turmoil in libya continues to worsen, crude oil futures rose close to $107 per barrel in new york on monday. this is the highest level in about two years and five months. buy orders increased due to intensified fighting between gadhafi supporters and opposition forces in libya. investors were also concerned that the unrest may spread to other oil-producing countries in the middle east. as a result the benchmark wti crude futures briefly hit $106.95 per barrel in after-hours trading. meanwhile, gold futures also climbed to $1,445.70 an ounce at one point in new york, the highest on record. the lack of clarity on the middle east unrest drove investors to buy gol a safe asset. market sources say rising crude prices are pushing up gasoline prices in the united states. they say concerns are spreading that the trend may adversely affect u.s. consumer sentiment and dampen economic recovery. >>> japan's current account surplus marked its first drop in nearly two months due to a jump in imports and soaring prices of crude oil and iron ore. the fina

"newsline." prime minister naoto kan has admitted to receiving donations from a nonjapanese in violations of political funds control law. earlier he had to step down as foreign minister as -- after a similar situation but naoto kan has no intention of resigning. friday morning edition reported the prime minister's fund manager body received donation from a korean resident of japa . naoto kan claims to have not known the acquaintance. and that he was introduced as a person working in the real estate business and he had dined with the person several times. >> i thought the donor was a japanese national, since japanese name was used. if the donor is confirmed to be a foreign national, i'll return the amount in full. >> before the committee meeting, naoto kan told minister he was aunaware the donor was a foreign national oh national an said he will not resign over the instance. >> if the donor is confirmed to be a foreign national and what the prime minister said is true it will be enough to return t

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." in bang he dash, yumus has been ordered to step down as head of grameen bank. the central bank of bangladesh issued the order on wednesday. they say he has been there longer than allowed in the retirement law. grameen bank said he was elected legally and he would remain in office. he was awarded the nobel peace prize for establishing the microlending loans to the poor. they would use the funds as a mean to escape poverty. he has been critical of corrupt officials. he tried to form a political party in the runup to 2008. this put him at odds with politicians in existing parties. reports had surfaced last year about irregularities in the bank's operations. grameen bank denied the allegations but the government has been putting pressure on yumus to resign. >>> they have identified a person in connection with the on-line posting of exam questions while the tests were underway. the police say the 19-year-old man is an examee for kyoto university. police had been trying to find out who sent

. >> welcome to "newsline business." japan has asked trade partners not to impose any unfair import bans on farm produce due to radiation concerns. japanese delegates made the call ant informal meeting of the trade negotiation committee of the world trade organization on tuesday. the delegation told wto members that the japanese government is taking necessary measures, such as shipment bans on agricultural and dairy products with radioactive levels above recommended limits. the officials stress countries should not place unfair import restriction on japanese goods without any scientific basis and vowed to provide necessary information on products under question. an increasing number of countries including the united states and singapore have suspended imports of some japanese products. it comes after radiation in several farm products from prefectures near the damaged nuclear power plant were above levels recommended by japanese authorities. they will certify safety of food exports to the european union in response to th

and the fuel storage pool -- >> you are watching "newsline" for 11:00 a.m. japan time. japan has announced new orders on food produced in fukushima prefecture where the troubled nuclear power plant is located. naoto kan said not to consume some vegetables in fukushima. radiation were detected high in some samples. the government is instructing the public not to consume spinach, cabbage, broccoli and some other vegetables produced in fukushima for the time being. readings were given for leaf vegetables produced in the prefecture. the health ministry says radioactive siusium was detected. i ordered a halt to shipments of radish produced in fukushima as well as raw milk and parsley in the neighboring prefecture ibaraki. this follows measures suspending shipment of vegetables . here to tell us more about the latest instructions on vegetables and the possible affects on the human body is hideki. >> the prime minister announced he's suspending the shipment and intake of vegetables s suspected to be contaminated with radiation. what is your reaction? >> vegetables are not cont

. >>> you are watching nhk world and this is "newsline" for eleven a.m. japan time. friday marks two weeks since the mass i have earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern japan causing heavy damage to the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. workers at the plant have to deal with high radiation levels as efforts to restart cooling systems in the athe reactor buildings. on thursday, three workers were take on the the hospital after being exposed to a high level of radiation. two of the men could be suffering from so-called beta burns. they are similar to regular burns but it could be several weeks before their severity and complications are known. the workers were standing on a flooded basement floor when they tried to reconnect power lines in the turbine building next to the number three reactor building. the radiation level on the surface of the water was 400 millisieverts. the maximum level of radiation exposure allowed for nuclear plant workers in japan is 100 millisieverts, but a health and labor ministry has recently raised the limit to 250 millisieverts for eme

. ♪ >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline."s worries grow over unrest in the middle east, crude oil futures have hit again $100 a barrel in new york. buy orders increased on tuesday as market players became more concerned about future oil supplies on news that iran security forces clamped down on anti-government protesters. iran is the second largest oil producer among opec oil member countries. this e benchmark wti crude futures topped $100 a barrel in after-hours trading for the first time since last wednesday. the index is now at that price. on the new york stock exchange, share prices plunged on tuesday amid growing worries that higher oil prices may slow down the world economic recovery. the dow jones industrial average closed at 12058, down 168 points from the previous day. u.s. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke has indicated america's economy is growing at a faster pace than last year but he cautions over soaring oil prices over continuing soaring prices in the arab world. >> sustained rises in the price 0 of oil and

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." >>> a senior united nations official says more than 1,000 people may have been killed in the qulain capital of tripoli since anti-government protests erupted about two weeks ago. u.n. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs valerie amos made the assessment at a news conference monday, citing several sources. >> we are seeing reports of over 1,000 people who are said to have died as a result of security problems in tripoli. >> amos added that the fragile security situation in libya makes it difficult to know precisely what is happening there. she also said more than 60,000 people are believed to have fled from libya to egypt and another 40,000 to tunisia. she stressed the urgent need for food and drinking water for refugees as well as clean and safe shelters. meanwhile, supporters of embattled leader moammar gadhafi are fighting back in cities under control of anti-government forces near the capital tripoli. protesters have taken control of major cities in the northeastern part of the country. they're preparing for a post gadhafi interim gov