welcome to "newsline." a group of japanese scientists have succeeded in improving the conditions of monkeys with parkinsons disease by using human embryonic stem cells. the researchers say it is the first successful study of its kind. the group is led by an associate professor of the frontier for medical sciences. embryonic stem cells have the potential to develop into almost all kind of tissue and organs. the group created nerve cells that created dope mean. they transferred the cells into the brains of monkeys that were unable to walk. four months later the animals became walking again. trembling and other symptoms of parkinsons were also eased. >> translator: we confirmed the effectiveness of human embryonic stem cells in primates. it is a major step forward toward the clinical application of human embryonic stem cells. >> the group hopes to carry out trials on humans in four to six years after proving the safety of the treatment methods. >>> north korea's nuclear envoy has arrived in china for talks wit

of "newsline." thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

>>> welcome to "newsline." the operator of a disabled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant says attempts to cool the facility number three reactor through water injection continue as we speak. but that temp in the facility remains high. but the firm says the reactor is in a state of cold shutdown. the tokyo lek tri power company, tepco, says a thermometer at the bottom to have he actor read about 73 celsius on monday morning. the temperature has risen more than 20 degrees in the past four days. spokes people say two other they recall meters have stayed at 44 degrees. tepco has been injecting more than ten tons of water for hour into the reactor. the firm says the temperature rise indicates that the flow of water may have changed direction after plumbing work was carried out disrupting the cooling system. but the utility says radioactivity has not been detected in gases around the reactor. tepco says it will increase the amount of water being inject into the reactor to see if it cools. the japanese government w

>>> welcome to "newsline." people in the central syrian city are trying to stay out of harm's way. the country's security forces have been bombarding the residential areas. the number of dead is on the rise. the anti-government free syrian army is trying to fight back. members of a human rights group say the syrian military has been pounding parts of the city with rockets and mortar shells. they say one neighborhood in particular is being targeted. they also say soldiers are entering homes to detain or kill residents. the group say as more than 50 people including children have been killed since monday. soldiers who have defect from the syrian army are mounting abcounteroffensive. but they're having a hard time protecting citizens because they don't have weapons. anti-government demonstrators erupted last march. reports suggest more than 300 people died over the weekend. syrian forces have been increasing pressure on the opponents of the president on saturday. the escalating violence is being met with protests from western governments. the united states closed its embassy and order

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for japan post march 11th. we have two seeihave two segmen. "nuclear watch" on the crisis and the "road ahead" on the efforts to rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> let's go to patchari raksawangong in bangkok to see what is making headlines in the region. >> more than three days after an earthquake hit the philippines, thousands are looking for food and emergency supplies. the 6.7 magnitude struck near negros island on monday. 26 people were killed and 70 others are missing. thousands have been displaced and forced to live in tents with limited provisions. >> translator: we don't have food. we don't have food and water. >> with supply routes cut by damaged infrastructure, quake-hit residents are looking for food and water. soldiers and rescue workers continue to search for survivors, but hopes are fading. >>> turning now to singapore where working level talks on japan's possible bid to join the trans pacific partnership, that is the tpp, to place on thursday. the tpp is

>>> welcome to "newsline." japanese electronics giant panasonic says it's expecting the biggest net loss in its history totaling $10 billion for this fiscal year. that would also be a record annual loss for a japanese electronics manufacturer. panasonic reported on friday they posted a net loss of about $4.4 billion in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending in march. sales came to around $78 billion. that's a drop of about 10% from a year earlier when calculated in yen. panasonic's expected loss for the entire fiscal year is 86% more than the projection the company made in october. the deep red ink is attributed in part to a slowdown in overseas economies due to credit worries in europe. the company also sites flooding in tie land and poor sales in its core television and cell phone businesses. panasonic president says he feels heavy responsibility for his company posting such a huge loss. >> translator: our biggest task is to make panasonic profitable again in the coming years. to this end, all the st

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> this is "newsline." i'm catherine kobe yash pep we are picking up on the story from the last hour. the stories from tokyo stock exchange. the people who run the tse halted 241 issues. we're talking about sony, hitachi and komatsu. we have been looking into this story. tell us what's happening over at the tse. >> >> catherine, the tokyo stock exchange have told us there's been a glitch in the system since the 9:00 a.m. open. one of the majors not trading like sony and sony has earnings today. now, we are getting updated on this every minute. we have romin. what can you tell us? >> thank you very much, ai. quite a lot of developments. some glitches occurred in the data distribution system. it stopped trading on 241 issues. the tse says that a malfunction occurred in the system server. it is now checking the cause and it's trying to restore it. the tse says some problems occurred in a part of the system called arrowhead. this made it impossible to provide information to investors around 241 issues including

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> members of the u.n. security council are at odds over a response of syria's crackdown. the u.s. leading efforts for a resolution calling on president bashar al assad to resign, but russia stands in the way. the council met on tuesday to decide whether to support the arab league's position on syria. the league wants assad to immediately halt violence and transfer presidential power to a deputy. it also proposes holding elections for a new government. qatar's prime minister hamad bin jassim al thani asked a security council to back the plan. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton asked to security council to support the plan. britain and france have also endorsed it. syrian ambassador to the u.n., bashar jaafari, said the country can solve its own problems. russia's envoy vitaly churkin said the u.n. should promote dialogue between the assad administration and opposition forces. >> the security council cannot prescribe recipes for the outcome of domestic political process. this is really not the business

here's your extended forecast. >>> and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. ????ovív"dd

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post-march 11th. we have two perspectives on the fallout from the tsunami and earthqua. "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead." don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> workers at fukushima daiichi are trying to cool the plant's number two reactor. they are injecting water into the facility but the temperature remains high. spokes persons maintain it is in a state of cold shutdown. tokyo electric power company issues say a thermometer at the bottom of the reactor monday read above 73 degrees celsius. the temperature has risen more than 20 degrees in the past four days. spokespersons say two other thermometers stayed at 44 degrees. tepco has been injecting more than ten tons of water per hour into the reactor. spokespersons say the temperature rise indicates the flow of water may have changed direction after plumbing work was carried out, disrupting a cooling system. but they maintain radioactive xennan hasn't been detected in gases around the reactor, and that nuclear criticali

welcome to thursday news -- welcome to "newsline." a new report is highly critical of how japan's leaders acted in the hours and days of the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. it calls their response off the cuff. and too late. the six experts on the panel base their findings on interviews with 300 people including top ranking japanese and american officials. they spent months studying the response to the fukushima accident which happened after last year's march 11th earthquake and tsunami. they tried interviewing authorities at tokyo electric power company, the operator of the plant, but tepco turned down their request. >> translator: is direct causes of the nuclear accident where the unpreparedness of tokyo electric power for a serious accident ant the government's lack of responsibility. >> it rendered the crisis management manual useless. the report says the problem was compounded by lack of basic legal knowledge. it urges immediate debate on improving the situation. the report condemns nuclear and industrial s

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fall out from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead." don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> leaders from japan and the united states are trying to strike a balance between regional security and sensitivity to local concerns. they've agreed to change the terms of a bilateral agreement. the 2006 deal is essentially a blueprint outlining the future deployment of u.s. troops in okinawa. right now three quarters of american forces in japan are based in the southern island prefecture. the plan calls for thousands of u.s. marines to be shipped out to guam but after once the air station is moved from a densely populated area on okinawa's main island. many locals are opposed to the plan because they want the base moved out of okinawa entirely. that's prompted the u.s. and japan to change their agreement. the marines will be transferred first as details of the relocation are worke

here's your extended forecast. >>> that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

here is the extended forecast. >>> that's all for this edition of "newsline." that's all for now from tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. stay with us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." >> next we continue our series of special reports from vietnam. >> reporter: this week we're reporting on the challenges and opportunities facing central vietnam. we'll have a report on the burgeoning tourism market in just a moment. but first, some other news from the region. the trial has begun in manila of the former president of the philippines. she appeared in court on thursday and pleaded not guilty to charges of electoral fraud. she was indicted in november on suspicion of ordering the manipulation of vote counts during a senate election in 2007. the case is viewed as a key test for the government of the president who has made eliminating corruption a priorit

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> the death toll from syria's crackdown on protesters is feared to rise as many people are buried under rubble following a fierce military attack on the opposition strong hold of homs. human rights activists a300 civilians were killed friday and saturday in the deadliest attacks since protests began last march against president bashar al assad. searches are continuing for people buried under collapsed buildings. dozens of people are also believed to have died on saturday in attacks by security forces in several districts outside the capital damascus. on saturday, china and russia vetoed a u.n. security council resolution calling on assad to stop the violen

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> it is a level we haven't seen since the turmoil recently. overnight, the dow-jones hit 13,000 for the first time since may, 2008. shares rose across the board tuesday after the eurozone finance ministers approved a bailout for greece saving them from imminent default. the dow lost earlier gains before closing on worries over rising oil prices. the index ended at 12,965, up 15 points from friday's close. and now to see how stocks are trading in tokyo, let's go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. the dow broke 13,000 at one point. what's the early impact on japanese stocks? >> very good morning to you, ai. as you mention, the crucial 13,000 level on the dow,

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on jan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline. >>> thousands of runners are resting up for japan's largest marathon. they're loading up on carbohydrates and checking their gear for the tokyo marathon. some of them will leave a key piece of equipment behind. >> reporter: yoshino may look like any other runner until you look at his feet. burning hot or freezing cold aspht, bumpy or smooth pavement, for barefoot runner yoshino, no problem. >> if you run like the way you run with your shoes, it hurts. but because you feel the ground, you kind of have to adjust to the ground. with the shoes, you're going against the ground. >> i see. so you're slamming against it as opposed to landing softly. >> yeah. >> repor

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> leaders from japan and the united states are trying to strike a balance between regional security and sensitivity to local concerns. they've agreed to change the terms of a bilateral agreement. the 2006 deal is essentially a blueprint outlining the future deployment of u.s. troops in okinawa. right now 3/4 of american forces stationed in japan are based in the southern island prefecture. the current plan calls for thousands of u.s. marines to be shipped out to guam, but only once the futenma air station is moved from a densely populated area on okinawa's main island to a less populated location. many locals are opposed to the plan because they want the f

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." >> we have weather up next. >> hi there and welcome back. let's take a look at your weather conditions starting off with japan and starting off here in hokkaido. a very clear day throughout the day on tuesday. but this low pressure system overnortheastern china will then be moving over japan sea and then moving towards your area on wednesday bringing some blizzard conditions. as it does so, that's going to be dropping your temperatures down on tuesday forecasted high is 3. and then to thursday minus 4 is going to be your high. now we've got a very long stretching front that is from southeast china all the way to the pacific side of japan that's going to be bringing

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline". >>> come back home is the message of a mayor of the town near the fukushima nuclear power plant who wants all evacuees to start returning home in april. kawauchi village is located about 20 kilometers southwest of the plant. it was evacuated last year following the march 11th earthquake and nuclear disaster. all 3,000 residents were forced to leave. the evacuation advisory was lifted in september but only about 200 people have returned. >> translator: i am making this declaration to ask and encourage residents to return home. i am determined to overcome hardships. let's create a safe village together. >> the mayor announced on tuesday that the village hall will be operational in march he says elementary and junior high schools will reopen in april. the nuclear accident forced a complete evacuation of nine municipalities in

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> investors in asia have traded tentatively over the last few days. let's see where tokyo stocks are at this morning. ai uchida joins me for that. >> about the only boost we saw was right after the euro zone finalized the bailout package for greece, but that was temporary. on wednesday morning trading here in tokyo, stocks are little changed in mixed trading. the nikkei opened in the negative but is now up just about 3 points at 9465. pretty flat moves on the topix as well currently trading higher by 0.1%. many investors are locking in their gains for now. they're holding back from placing more buy orders to monitor if greece will follow through with promi

>>> welcome to "newsline." north korea's leaders have made a new move in the ongoing tug of war over their country's nuclear development program. nhk has learned they've told the united states they're willing to stop enriching uranium and let inspectors from the atomic energy agency verify the claim. in exchange they want u.s. food aid including grains. representatives from north korea made the proposal last week to their u.s. counterparts during direct bilateral talks in china. the nuclear discussions in beijing for the first to happen since kim jong il died in december. diplomatic sources tell nhk north korea is prepared to allow inspectors into its nuclear facilities and to suspend uranium supervision. in exclang the north is demanding food assistance include rice and grains. it wants a total amount of food be increased. the u.s. proposed last december an aid package amounting to 240,000 tons. the shipment would be made up of nutritional biscuits and vitamin pills but not grains. north korea seems to be in t

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> another search operation has gotten under way in the tsunami devastated city of ishinomaki in northern japan. it's the first time such an intensive search has been carried out on the fuj ga wa river. the search was organized after the parents of four missing children made the request. heavy machinery moved in to action and removed the debris. the river had been dammed and drained of water. of the 108 students in the school, 70 died in the disaster. four of them are still listed as missing, along with more than 40 other civilians. >> we hope to find even a small clue of the missing people to return to their long waiting families. >> the search will continue for about

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis, and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> the head of the u.s. fifth fleet says iran is still building a naval force near the straight of hormuz. vice admiral mark fox spoke in bahrain. he said iran deployed more submarines and high speedboats, capable of carrying out suicide bombings. >> some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large war head that could be used as a suicide explosive device. >> but he said the u.s. navy is ready to confront any hostile action. iran has been threatening to close the straight of hormuz since december. it is in retaliation to economic sanctions imposed by the west over the country's nuclear program. the strait leads to the persian gulf. it is one of the worl

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" focuses on rebuilding. don't miss them on "newsline." >>> the operators of the fukushima daiichi plant are trying to get a handle on what's going on in reactor number two. officials with the power company say a thermometer hit more than 80 degrees celsius. a reading above that could mean conditions for a cold shut down have been compromised. two other thermometers suggest temperatures remain low. the thermometer in question is at the bottom of the reactor. it prompted tepco to inject more water into the reactor. the readings dropped temporarily, then started to rise again. they peaked at 82 degrees sunday afternoon. this is the first time a reading has exceeded 80 degrees since the government and tepco declared in december that the reactors had achieved cold shut down. tepco officials

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." >>> last year's march 11th earthquake stranded millions of people in tokyo. trains stopped running, cars clogged roads, commuters either walked home or found somewhere to sleep. city officials want to do better the next time disaster strikes, so they organized a special drill friday. 10,000 people took part. the drill played out at department stores, rail way stations and public facilities. the tokyo metropolitan government advises people to stay indoors following major earthquakes so during the exercise department store clerks led shoppers to safer areas inside the building. the city sent out messages via digital broadcast and twitter about available shelters and m

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." >>> north korea and the united states are due to hold direct talks in beijing thursday over north korea's nuclear development. the meetings will be the first since the death of kim jong il in december. north korea's nuclear envoy kim kye gwan arrived in beijing on tuesday. he did not speak with reporters. u.s. special envoy for north korean policy, glyn davies, arrived on wednesday. >> in the leadership in pyongyang, we will be interested to see whether they're interested in moving forward with us, what precisely his policies are, in what direction he wants to take his country. all of these are a bit unknowns at this stage. >> nhk world joins us with his vie

find out on "newsline" starting monday, march 5th. then sunday join us at 2:00 p.m. japan time for lessons of march 11th one year on. >>> traders on asian stock markets are upbeat about recent economic data. our reporter from business with a check on the market. >> stocks are trading well this year, kathryn. traders in japan having a great month even. as for wednesday morning, tokyo stocks are extending their gains. they're trading at levels last seen in august last year. the nikkei is currently as 9,000837, a gain of 1.2%. the broader topics higher by 1% at 846. investors are taking their cue from an upbeat outlook for a u.s. economic recovery. south korea also had a positive open this wednesday morning. kospi currently up 1.2% at 2,00028. tokyo and south korean key indexes are following the overovernight surgeon the new york stock exchange. the dow jones on tuesday closed above the 13,000 mark for the first time since may 2008. investors placed buy orders on the back of positive consumer confidence data. the doij industrial average finished at 13,0005. that's a gai

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two seeimen segments. "nuclear watch" which has the impact on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead." don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead." >>> the head of the u.s. fleet says iran is still building up its naval force near the strait of hormuz. the vice admiral spoke to reporters in bahrain on sunday. he said the high-speed boats are capable of carrying out suicide bombings. >> some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. >> he said the u.s. navy is ready to confront any hostile action. iran has been threateningo close the straitf hor s due imposed b the area is home to ma an raitr liteinlv aom oa the ren thronc l pe ghis jnt mia s oekthemoh ro. >>ohes . m rolo h 75n9 s. nye e,yotrt tty. weedto ow tseountns are ma aye sumo starts early in t morning its ly7:. they have their loin cloth and ready to work out. six belong to thstable. they all live, eat and sleep under the same roof. aingt

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for japan past march 11th. "nuclear watch" brings you information on the nuke crisis and the efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch." >>> come back home. that is the message from the mayor of a town near the fukushima daiichi power plant who wants all evacuees to return home in april. the kawauchi is located 20 miles southwest of the plant. it was evacuated last year after the disaster. all 3,000 residents were forced to leave. the evacuation advisory was lifted in september, but only about 200 people have returned. >> translator: i am making this declaration to ask and encourage residents to return home. i'm determined to overcome hardships. let's create a safe village together. >> the mayor announced the village hall will be operational in march. elementary and high school students will be able to go back to school in april. the nuclear accident forced the evacuation of nine areas. many are worried. they say decontamination work is behind schedule. >> translator: my child wants to go home,

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two seeingment segments. "nuclear watch" which has the impact on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead." don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead." >>> the head of the u.s. fleet says iran is still building up its naval force near the strait of hormuz. the vice admiral spoke to reporters in bahrain on sunday. he said the high-speed boats are capable of carrying out suicide bombings. >> some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. >> he said the u.s. navy is ready to confront any hostile action. iran has been threatening to close the strait of hormuz since december. it is due to the economic sanctions imposed by the west over the nuclear program. the strait leads to the persian gulf. it is one of the most important delivery routes for oil. >>> the wife of an israeli agent and others were injured in a suspected terrorist attack. the woman was in a vehicle and the two others were in a car near

>>> welcome to "newsline." a large scale evacuation drill has been held near a nuclear plant in western japan. a record 10,000 people took part. the drill was based op the assumption that an earthquake had damaged the nuclear plant. residents were evacuated by helicopter from a junior high school about 20 miles from the plant. they were take on the a defense force anchored away. officials monitored data. the japanese government was criticized for failing the use the system's data to evacuate people living near the fukushima plant. elementary school children gathered in the schoolyards soon after the earthquake. they evacuated to a gymnasium to avoid radioactive materials. >> in last year's accident at the fukushima daiichi plant, people had to evacuate from a wider area than had been expected. the government has now expanded the area from a ten kilometer radius to 30 kilometers. municipalities are being asked to draw up a nuclear disaster management plans by october. some of them are concerned about the request

find out on "newsline" starting monday, march 5th, then sunday, join us at 2:00 p.m. japan time for lessons of march 11th, one ye on. >>> we have weather up next. >>> hi welcome back. let's start off with talking about japan. high pressure dominated much of the country with bringing the dry and cold weather, but things are going to be looking different starting tuesday. tuesday afternoon this rain band will be moving in and en ts lopressure stem a velong one just south of japan. that's going to bring us precipitation in the pacific side and in tokyo that could actually become wintry precipitation on tuesday evening. snow will be tapering off in northern japan so that's going to clear out. clearing much of the rest of the continent as well. things are going to be looking clear from the coastal side here in china, too. but southeast china you're going to be looking at some lingering showers that could become heavier and towards the end of the week. things are not going to be clear here in the philippines either. scatred showers, chaes of thunderstorms, these a all going

looking forward to that. >>> that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac --

>>> welcome to "newsline." it's 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. nuclear inspectors are wondering what to do next. the team made little progress in determining what tehran is doing with its nuclear program. deputy director general herman nakertz let the inspectors. they returned to vienna after spending two days in iran. >> we approached in a very constructive spirit. unfortunately, we could not get agreement on either of them, so we could not get access, we could not finalize a way forward. >> he said the agency would work out the next steps at a board meeting next month. members of the team will compile a report on their visit prior to meeting. analysts say the report is expected to criticize iranian leaders for not cooperating with the inspectors. the iranians did not permit the team to enter a nuclear facility. they suspect scientists may be developing nuclear weapons. they announced they are prepared to resume negotiations on their nuclear program. israeli ministers have hinted they may launch a preemptive strike on iranian facilities. the dip

>>> welcome to "newsline." in a powerful reform mand to syria's government, the u.n. again assembly has voted overwhelmingly in support of a resolution calling on assad to immediately end all violence against civilians. the general assembly strongly condemned the widespread human rights abuses by syrian authorities. 137 countries voted in favor of the resolution. china and russia along with other ten countries voted against it. but lack veto power in the general assembly. the draft resolution backing the arab league's efforts for the crackdown was co-sponsored by the united states, the european nation and japan among others. the resolution supports the democratic transfer of power. it requires assad to step down. it asks u.n. secretary general to appoint the special envoy to negotiate with the assad administration. resolutions adopted by the body are not legally behinding. but it sent a message to the assad administration. more than 600 people are believed to be killed in the crackdown. and western leaders are weary of stepping in. we have a report from cairo. >> repo

find out on "newsline" starting monday, march 5th. then sunday joins us at 2:00 p.m. japan time for lessons of march 1 19, one year on. >> australian legislatures are preparing for a showdown. the country's current and former prime ministers will face off in a leadership contest next week to resolve a long running power struggle within the governing party. former leader kevin roth told reporters on friday that he will challenge the prime minister in a labor party vote next monday. he said the labor led government has a lot of work to do if it is to regain the confidence of the australian people that he is ready to start restoring that trust. he was forced from office in june 2010 when gillard led a party revolt. she named him as a foreign minister, but he resigned on wednesday. gillard announced the showdown to put an end to the divisive conflict. votes will be cast by all labor legislatures. polls show roth is more popular with the public. japan's auto production surged in january going up nearly 19% from a year earlier. the own kuhn tri's eight car makers say they p

find out on "newsline" starting monday, march 5th. then sunday joins us at 2:00 p.m. japan time for lessons of march 11, one year on. >> australian legislatures are preparing for a showdown. the country's current and former prime ministers will face off in a leadership contest next week to resolve a long running power struggle within the governing party. former leader kevin roth told reporters on friday that he will challenge the prime minister in a labor party vote next monday. he said the labor led government has a lot of work to do if it is to regain the confidence of the australian people that he is ready to start restoring that trust. he was forced from office in june 2010 when gillard led a party revolt. she named him as a foreign minister, but he resigned on wednesday. gillard announced the showdown to put an end to the divisive conflict. votes will be cast by all labor legislatures. polls show roth is more popular with the public. japan's auto production surged in january going up nearly 19% from a year earlier. the own country's eight car makers say they prod

>>> welcome to "newsline." speculation is growing that greece will receive a new bailout from the european union. under pressure from euro zone members, the greek government accepted on thursday a new set of austerity measures. but the prospect of additional spending cuts is drawing fierce opposition from the labor unions. we have a report from athens. >> reporter: major greek labor unions have launched a two-day strike. they are protesting the ruling coalition's acceptance of new austerity measures that include lowering the minimum wage and pension benefits. >> translator: we're not responsible for the country's debt. pensions, education, medical care, we need all of this. >> reporter: the strike has paralyzed transportation systems across the country. state run railways and sub wairs have ground to a halt. the walkout has disrupted other public services, too. schools are closed. so are hospitals and administrative offices. the eu bailout is meant to avert the risk of an immediate default. greece needs to repa

>>> welcome to "news lynn -- "newsline", record snowstorms are causing deaths and accidents in northern japan, while the korean peninsula grits its teeth through some of the lowest temperatures in half a century. meanwhile parts of the u.s. are enjoying cherry blossoms, a virtual taste of spring. along the sea of japan coast, heavy snows are hammering local communities. >> translator: we seldom have such heavy snows. it's been 40 years since i came here. and i've never been through anything like this. >> on wednesday an afterlamplg killed three guests at a resort. the police and fire department said strong winds had collapsed surface snow. the next day all you can see of the hot spripg bath were bits of plastic roofing indicating the huge power of the avalanche. >> south korea extremely cold air blowing in from the arctic has pushed temperatures way down. mercury in seoul dived to 17 sell yus below zero. a 55-year low. at the same time the u.s. capital, washington, is enjoying a strangely warm winter. that's thanks to the jet dream flowing farther north than usual. cherry trees have sta

. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. nuclear watch brings insight and information on the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" is about how we rebuild. >>> a large scale evacuation drill has been held near the nuclear plant in western japan. a record 10,000 people took part. the drill was based on the assumption an earthquake damaged the nuclear plant. residents were evacuated by helicopter from a junior high school, about 20 kilometers from the plant. they were taken to a maritime self defense destroyer anchored 25 kilometers away. they were airlifted because they would have to pass by the nuclear plant if they evacuated by land. officials monitored data from the speedy computer system that projects the spread of radioactive materials. the japanese government was criticized for failing to use the system's data to evacuate people living near the fukushima plant. elementary school children gathered in the schooly

/s>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. another japanese company is in big financial trouble and doing damage control. tokyo-based aij investment advisers lost most of the money entrusted to it by a corporate pension funds. here's how it breaks down. the aij is short the $2.5 billion it managed for its customers. the president says the firm lost about half of the money in the last three years. sources tell nhk the firm incurred losses every year since it was founded in 1989. japan financial services agency ordered aig business advisers to suspend business for one month. our sources tell securities and exchange surveillance commission aij suffered around $20 million in losses from investments in one year alone. the securities watchdog now suspects the investment reports were on to see cover up the ballooning shortfall. we learn the firm gave its client a report stating it logged an annual profit of more than 5% last year. a brokerage firm sent the document. aig president is the shareholder of that business. the firm reported

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. iran says it has developed nuclear fuel rods. iranian president ahmadinejad in tehran on wednesday says it has also developed a new centrifuge which speeds up the enrichment plo cess. some western states say the enrichment program could be used for military purposes. they have been calling on iran to halt the program or face economic sanctions. the most recent development is expected to draw a strong reaction from the west and israel. >>> the man many say will be the next leader of china received a familiar welcome at the white house. xi jinping is expected to take over this fall as head of the ruling communist party. already the chinese vice president is getting a rough ride. u.s. president barack obama lectured him on beijing's record on trade and human rights. nhk world reports from washington. >> thank you. >> reporter: president obama has certainly heard xi jinping's name. his opinions remain somewhat of a mystery. so the two took time in the oval office to get to know each other

. >>> that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi. thanks for joining us.

. >>> that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. thank you for watching. bye-bye.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

. >>> that wraps up this edition of "newsline."