>>> welcome to "newsline." myanmar's president says there is no turning back on the road to reform. hee the comment thursday in a closely watched speech before parliament. myanmar is currently many the grips of a landmark by-election. democracy icon xi is expected to win the parliamentary seat in next month's vote. we have more details from bangkok. >> the president's speech comes as myanmar approaches the one-year anniversary of its new civilian led government. it took over from the long run of the military junta on march 30th last year. he emphasized the reform is a critical part of the country's dedmok ritization. delegates arrived ahead of the president's speech. >> the president stressed that he would continue working with prodemocracy leader as well as ethnic minority groups. she is currently campaigning for election to parliament in by-elections scheduled for next month. >> he touched on the reported divisions rumor to exist inside the government between supporters and opponents of reform. he said members of the government might be taking different routes, but they are all mo

welcome back to "newsline." i'm yuko fukushima. a is us state department spokesperson says the five countries that negotiated with north korea over nuclear development are united in their opposition to pyongyang's planned rocket launch. north korea says it will be carrying a satellite. the u.s. and its allies believe it's a cover to test a missile. >> we were heartened that every single one of the six-party talks participants made clear that they think this would be an extremely bad idea and a violation of the u.n. security council resolutions, so we are hoping and expecting that the dprk will take that to heart. >> nuland also spoke about the agreement between the u.s. and north korea last month. it would accept inspectors at its nuclear facilities, including a uranium enrichment plant. nuland said u.s. support of the pact depends on the details of the north's invitation and what the inspectors would be able to see. >>> north korea has unveiled a detailed schedule of its plan to launch the rocket. the japanese foreign ministry sai

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> for the first time in a year, residents of three out of 11 municipalities near the crippled tuck sheem daiichi nuclear power plant will soon be allowed to visit their homes freely. the easing of the restrictions will begin next month. the prospect emidtermed friday night as a task force led by yoshihiko noda decided to review the no entry areas of three municipalities. the no entry zone will be split into two evacuation zones as a result of the review. there are about 300 residents whose homes are in the no entry zone. they will be able to visit the area without permission from the central or local governments. work including radiation decontamination will begin ahead of their return. >> translator: we must return home as my child will start going to school next year. i hope the decontamination will make progress. >> this is temporary housing for people from tamura city. it will be reclassified as an area where residents can prepare to eventually return

"newsline." it is tuesday, march 13th. 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the bodies of 45 women and children were found in homes in syria monday. the city was a rebel strong hold, but government forces bombarded it nearly a month and regained control march 1st. human rights activists say government troops kept firing at civilians after seizing the city. they say the death toll is rising. rebels shot these images showing bodies of 45 women and children in a room. the opposition forces appealed to the u.n. security council to respond urgently. they say civilians continue to be killed in homs. syria's state-run television showed images of several bodies with hands tied behind their back. it blames terrorist gangs for the killings. the u.s. secretary of state and russia's foreign minister called for an immediate end to the violence in syria. hillary clinton and lavrov met monday in new york. the talks came after former u.n. chief and special envoy to syria failed to persuade president assad to halt the crackdown. they want a u.n. president to pressure assad. >

>>> hello and welcome to "newsline." 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. u.s. president and david cameron say they will increase pressure on iran to abandon its nuclear develop program. the two leaders met at the white house. >> again, because we have employed so many of the options that are available to us to persuade iran to take a different course, that the window for solving this issue diplomatically is shrinking. >> cameron also warned that iran has to meet its international obligations. if not, he said, britain will continue to increase political and economic pressure along with the u.s. the two leaders also insisted that security in afghanistan has been improving, despite the killing of 16 civilians in a shooting by a u.s. soldier. >>> iran's president, ahmadinejad has been questioned by lawmakers on his mismanagement of the country's economy. nhk world reports from tehran. >> reporter: the first since the country overthrew the pro-u.s. government in 1979. ahmadinejad was accused on wind of mismanaging the economy, which is struggling with inflation. law

>>> hello, welcome to "newsline." it is monday, march 19th. 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. united nations and arab league special envoy kofi annan made a ceasefire and other proposals during a recent visit to the country. the former u.n. secretary general made the proposals when he met the syrian president on march 10th and 11th in attempt to end the country's violent crackdown on anti-government protesters. u.n. sources say he called for two hour ceasefire daily to make humanitarian assistance possible and for syria to accept a u.n. team to monitor the ceasefire. he also reportedly proposed a ban on use of heavy firearms. syria has so far agreed to accept u.n. experts. >>> syria's u.n. ambassador stressed his country's cooperation. >> mr. kofi annan assured the members of the security council that the syrian government that they are engaged with him. >> whether they will allow the ideas to be implemented remains to be seen. western nations are pushing for a new resolution to support annan's efforts. they are expected to step up negotiations russia

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> people in countries across the globe were touched by what happened in japan one year ago. they've sent in messages of encouragement on the anniversary of the march 11th disaster. those in the areas hardest hit are battling their next challenge, a loss of people. municipal leaders are asking the government for help. more than 300 communities in 27 municipalities in the quake-hit region are planning to relocate houses and buildings to higher ground or to inland areas. residents in most communities have yet to agree on plans. many have already moved away and the value of their flooded land has not been determined. populations have plunged since the disaster in 35 municipalities along the coast in iwate, miyagi, and fukushima prefectures. the sole exceptions are sendai city and rifu town in miyagi. municipal officials are concerned that further declines in population may not only hamper reconstruction efforts but even threaten the existence of towns and vil

this is "newsline." israel's leader says his people can't live in what he calls the shadow of aniluation. the president wants to stop iran from kwopg its nuclear program. but he says he cannot give talk more time before taking action. he spoke in washington at a proisrael conference. his country has threatened to launch a preemptive stroik on iran's nuclear facilities. >> we've waited for diplomacy to work. we've waited for sanctions to work. none of us can afford to wait much longer. >> he referred to concerns an attack on iran would result in a more unstable situation in the mideast and higher oil prices. he said it's time to start talking about the danger of not stopping the country's nuclear program. >> for the sake of our prosperity, for the sake of our security, for the sake of our children, iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. >> he explained his country's position to barack obama. the u.s. president is trying to convince the israeli prime minister to take his finger off the trigge

find out on "newsline" starting monday march 5th, then sunday join us at 2:00 p.m. japan time for lessons of march 1 19, one year on. >> we have weather up next. >> welcome back. we had a very wet weather today throughout the day here in tokyo. japan is going to be dominated with high pressure system on saturday so things are going to be clearer and much drier for actually just one day. it's going to be a short time and then towards the next few days we're going to be inviting this first spring storm it's going to be a very stormy event for the next few days in into early next week. patches of pink, you can see the locally heavy rain is going to be targeting much of the country especially the pacific side even some isolated thunderstorms are going to be popping up here. and also the temperatures are going to be rising in wards early next week that and the heavy rain combined could bring us some critical risk of avalanche in the mountains. winds are also going to be very strong, too. concerning temperaturewise, for example, in tokyo sunday we're going to be looking a

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. two earthquakes have shaken up people in japan. the latest with residents in the metropolitan tokyo area. analysts say the epicenter was off chiba prefecture. they haven't issued a tsunami advisory or warning. the quake hit at 9:05 p.m. local time. it registered magnitude 6.1 at a depth of ten kilometers. people in chiba and neighboring prefek churz felt the tremor of 5 plus on the japanese scale of 7. no problems have so for been reported with the train lines or the airports in the tokyo area. tokyo electric power company says the earthquake did not damage fukushima daiichi and fukushima daini. earlier on wednesday, a smaller earthquake shook people in northeastern japan. it caused no damage. >>> china's government says it wants to slow down the economy and focus on stability. national peoples congress closed its annual session in beijing on wednesday. the country's parliament approved the budget and policy plans for the coming year. they included half point reduction in the annual g

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. north korean leaders say they are trying to be transparent about their plans of sending a satellite into space. they are vowing to invite foreign journalists and experts to watch next month's launch. but some diplomats aren't convinced maintaining this is all a cover for a missile test. nhk world's hiroshi takana in beijing starts off our coverage. >> reporter: foreign journalists and experts can expect a view like this. the state-run korean central news agency reports they'll watch the launch from the command center in pyongyang. they quote the space agency official as saying their guests will see with their own eyes the rocket and satellite on the launch pad. north korean officials do not usually grant foreigners such access. they say they are trying to be more transparent. they insist the launch is for peaceful, scientific purposes. the officials at the space agency say the satellite is equipped with cameras that will take pictures of weather patterns and the natural resources. the

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> technicians at fukushima daiichi have measured radiation levels inside one of the plant's reactors for the first time since last march's accident. the readings from reactor two are considered extremely high and they confirm the presence of melted fuel as well. and they also reinforce how difficult it will be to shut down the facility. tokyo electric power company technicians placed a dosimeter inside the reactor's containment vessel, and they say radiation levels increased as they lowered the instrument. this suggests fuel melted down and collected at the bottom of the vessel. it registered a maximum of 72.9 millisieverts per hour. to put that in perspective, if a human were exposed to that level of radiation, they would die within about seven minutes. the technicians also learned the water used to cool reactor two is only 22 centimeters deep. they expect the suppression chamber at the bottom of the vessel may have been destroyed. we spoke to the expert

find out on "newsline" starting monday, march 5th. on sunday, join us for "lessons of march 11th, one year on." >>> winter has been harsh in japan this year with record snowstorms in many areas. some 20 million live in japan's snow county, but there's never enough people to clear it all. volunteers have been coming from all over the country to learn the basics so they can help out. >> reporter: traditional snow shoes are the best way to get about. learning how to walk in them is the first lesson. 20 keen snow shovellers signed up for this workshop held last month by a non-profit group. following the disaster last year, there's been a big jump in the number of people volunteering. >> translator: i'm fascinated by snow shoveling, and i really want to help people. >> translator: my first volunteer experience was after last year's disaster, so i decided to come here as well. >> reporter: the youngest participant is a 16-year-old. it took him two days and several train rides to get here from his home in osaka. >> translator: i really love

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> nuclear industry officials from around the world have gathered in seoul to discuss atomic energy safety. global leaders are also scheduled to meet next week at the nuclear security summit in south korea. nhk world's kim dae-young has more. >> reporter: some 203 representatives took part in the nuclear industry summit on friday. they exchanged views on how to make nuclear energy safer based on lessons from last year's accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant in japan. one participant said public trust in nuclear energy can be restored if they share lessons learned from the accident and learn from them. another said sharing information on nuclear technology is difficult. because it often contains confidential data. but he argued that cooperation between private companies as well as governments needs to be sanctioned. the participants issued a joint statement that said the nuclear industry will get more actively involved in global information

find out on "newsline," starting monday, march 5th. then sunday, join us at 2:00 p.m.an time for lessons of march 11th, one year on. >>> china's defense spending continues to rise. the country's defense budget for 2012 has increased by 11.2% to about 670 billion yuan or nearly $110 billion. national peoples congress spokesperson li zhaoxing revealed this on sunday. li said the annual budget covers the cost of research, development and procurement of all weapons, including new types of equipment, but he did not give any further details, including the proportion of the national budget that is spent on defense. >> he also said it was a lower percentage than the united states, britain and other major powers. china's defense spending has logged double-digit growth every year since 1989, with the exception of 2010. the expansion of the defense budget is expected to fuel global concerns about china's rapid military buildup. nhk world's kengo okamoto reports from beijing with more details on china's defense strategy. >> reporter: china is keeping a careful watch on the united

>>> hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." it's friday, march 23rd, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> prime minister another another is expected to outline a new vision for defending nuclear power plants. sources close to the japanese government say he will lay out his plan at the upcoming nuclear security summit in seoul. noda is expected to stress the importance of preparing for any contingency based on lessons from the fukushima accident. sources close to the prime minister say he will underscore the necessity for an immediate response where the cause is a natural disaster or terrorism. they say the prime minister will emphasize the need for trained emergency response teams and proper equipment. noda's expected to promise to increase the number of security guards at nuclear facilities, and strengthen inspections. the sources say noda will introduce new steps to protect not only reactors but also outdoor facilities, such as the seawater pumps used to cool them. >>> japan and the united states have agreed to share information and coordinate closely in dea

find out on "newsline" starting march 5th, then sunday join us at 2:00 p.m. for "lessons of march 11th, one year on." >>> let's check in with ai uchida. >> they are looking for direction from wall street, stocks ended higher due to encouraging economic date a let's go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, some key data out here in japan as well before the markets open. how are stocks doing? >> definitely, ai. very good morning. cpi numbers, consumer price index fell 0.1%, fourth straight month of declines for cpi, and also unemployment data which rose to 4.6%. let's look at how the markets are reacting to some of the data and look at the nikkei and topix. pretty positive, both indexes trading higher. don't forget nikkei fell back slightly yesterday at the close. modest losses compared to the overall upward trend we have seen for the nikkei this year, and volume of shares traded has been high, showing the upward momentum, seeing a lot of buying from domestic and foreign buyers. the weaker yen has played into the gains for the nikkei. also on t

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> nuclear industry officials from around the world have gathered in seoul to discuss atomic energy safety. global leaders are also scheduled to meet next week at the nuclear security summit in south korea. nhk world's kim dae-young has more. >> reporter: some 203 representatives took part in the nuclear industry summit on friday. they exchanged views on how to make nuclear energy safer based on lessons from last year's accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant in japan. one participant said public trust in nuclear energy can be restored if they share lessons learned from the accident and learn from them. another said sharing information on nuclear technology is difficult. because it often contains confidential data. but he argued that cooperation between private companies as well as the government needs to be joint. he joined the statement that said the nuclear industry will get more actively involved in global information sharing and discussi

find out on "newsline" starting monday march 5th, then sunday join us at 2:00 p.m. japan time for lessons of march 1 19, one year on. >> we have weather up next. >> welcome back. we had a very wet weather today throughout the day here in tokyo. japan is going to be dominated with high pressure system on saturday so things are going to be clearer and much drier for actually just one day. it's going to be a short time and then towards the next few days we're going to be inviting this first spring storm it's going to be a very stormy event for the next few days in into early next week. patches of pink, you can see the locally heavy rain is going to be targeting much of the country especially the pacific side even some isolated thunderstorms are going to be popping up here. and also the temperatures are going to be rising in wards early next week that and the heavy rain combined could bring us some critical risk of avalanche in the mountains. winds are also going to be very strong, too. concerning temperaturewise, for example, in tokyo sunday we're going to be looking a

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> prime minister yoshihiko noda told his cabinet to recycle the debris from last year's disaster. he said the rubble should be used to build a tsunami-resistant coastline. >> translator: i hope the debris will be used to we create forests along coastlines or hills to protect people from possible tsunami in the future. >> noda spoke on tuesday to a new team of ministers. tasked with solving the debris problem. noda told the ministers to ask cement and papermakers to help with incineration. instead the government is preparing to ask local authorities to accept debris from disaster hit areas. after the meeting, industry minister edano said some cement and paper makers have already been cooperating but he will ask many other firms to follow suit. environment minister said creating anti-tsunami forest will help people remember the disaster and said the ministry will decide as soon as possible what kinds of materials are suitable for landfills. >>> nhk survey s

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> soldiers loyal to syrian president bashar al assad are making advances in their campaign against antigovernment groups. they've been using relentless force in their fight to control free syrian army strongholds. the conflict has been going on for more than a year now. 8,000 people have died. syrian troops used tanks on monday and tuesday to attack opposition in deir al zor. the city is near the country's eastern border. a human rights activist says the assault killed many civilians and that members of the free syrian army fled the city. president assad is targeting deir al zor because it's believed the opposition uses the city as a gateway to smuggle in large quantities of weapons from neighboring iraq. it is the third rebel stronghold to fall. government forces have already taken the central city of homs and northern city of idlib. the united nations is trying to find a way to end the hostilities. assad's government has accepted a u.n. fact-finding tea

. >>> you're watching "newsline." i'm yuko aotani. world leaders trying to find common ground on an issue that spreads well beyond borders. they started day two of the nuclear security summit in seoul. representatives of 53 countries calling for international cooperation to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands. u.s. president barack obama and japanese prime minister noda are among those taking part in the discussions. lee myung-bak opened the meeting saying terrorism has no borders. he has damage from nuclear terrorism will not be limited to one country. the leaders are believed to be looking at the mechanisms for reinforcing how they manage nuclear materials. they want to ensure those substances don't get into the hands of terrorists. they'll also discuss how to prevent attacks on nuclear plants and how best to manage them in light of the fukushima disaster. they'll release a communique later in the day and president lee is expected to speak about what they've accomplished. >>> the summit delegates also address

you're watching newsline. i'm yuko aotan. officials have done something they hadn't done since the accident last march nap measured radiation inside the number two reactor. they found the levels were extremely height. technicians with tokyo electric power company placed a dosimeter inside's reactor's containment vesle. radiation levels increased as a lowered the instrument. this suggests nuclear fuel melted down and collected theatbottom of the vessel. it also measured 72.9 seiferts per hour. a person exposed to those levels would die within about seven minutes. the technicians also learned that the water used to cool the reactor is only 60 centimeters deep. they thought the level was about three meters. tepco officials suspect the suppression chamber theatbottom of the vessel may have been destroyed. r two nuclear expert says thuny reactor may slow down the work theatfukushima daiichi plant. tepco's next jop is to find out whether water leakage is occurring. the utility will have to develop radiation resistant cameras and ne

>>> hello there, welcome to "newsline." it's 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. delegates at the nuclear security summit will issue a joint communique tuesday afternoon to call on each country to commit to the safe management of nuclear substances and urge for cooperation to retrieve those that are unaccounted. leaders of 53 nations and representatives from international organizations are gathered in seoul for a second day. they will address the threat of nuclear terrorism such as preventing groups from getting their hands on nuclear materials. each country will report on how it controls such substances. the participants will talk about safety at nuclear power plants, in light of the accident last year at the fukushima daiichi plant in japan. they will call for reducing the production of highly enriched uranium which could be used to build nuclear weapons. >>> on the sidelines of the summit, obama and medvedev agreed on monday to ask north korea to cancel a planned rocket launch. obama told reporters that the north's plan is a violation of a u.n. security council

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> world leaders are gathering in seoul to talk about the threat of nuclear terrorism. representatives of 53 countries and international organizations are taking part in the two-day nuclear security summit. their primary concern is north korea's plan to launch a rocket in april. ahead of the summit, u.s. president barack obama met with chinese president hu jintao in seoul. he asked that china use its influence over north korea to stop it from launching the rocket. >> the situation in north korea and the situation in iran, we both have an interest in making sure that international norms surrounding nonproliferation and preventing destabilizing nuclear weapons is very important. >> in response to obama's request, hu is agreed to have expressed concern over the launch. he likely explained that chinese foreign minister has summoned the north korean ambassador in beijing to ask the nation to scrap the plan. >>> also on the sidelines of the two-day nuclear secur

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. members of japan's forces are trying to come up with a strategy to deal with an upcoming rocket launch by north korea. sdf chief of staff general shigeru iwasaki is considering deploying troops to combat falling debris. north korean officials announced last week they will launch a rocket carrying a satellite between april 12th and 16th. the rocket is expected to fly over japan's southern island chain of sakishima, southwest of okinawa's main island. they will are looking to intersect debris if fragments are on track to fall onto japanese territory. general iwasaki says north korea will fire the rocket from a site facing the yellow sea. and he notes the launch area is farther from japan than the one used in 2009. he says that makes it more difficult to respond. >> translator: if we have to shoot down or destroy a ballistic missile, we would do so with an aegis defense system vessel or with an antiaircraft artillery unit. we are including these options as we study how to respond. >> sel

you're watching "newsline." i'm yuko aotani. >>> people in japan pay one of the lowestest consumption tax rates in the industrialized world. the government says that has to change. prime minister noda and his cabinet approved a bill that would double the tax to 10% by 2015. and noda says he is trying to dig his country out of debt and save its social security programs. and it's putting his job on the line to do that. cabinet members approved the bill friday. it passed the legislation would increase the consumption tax in two stages. it would rise to 8% in april 2014 from the current 5% and then on to 10% in october 2015. the increase would be used mainly to fund social security measures. the bill also calls for cash handouts and tax waivers as a way to ease the burden on low-income earners. prime minister noda is expected to hold a press conference later friday to explain his decision. it's a controversial one. and not everyone in his ruling democratic party supports it. and the leader of the dpj's junior coalit

>>> welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. >>> people in japan pay one of the lowest rates of consumption tax in the industrialized world, just 5%. government leaders need money to pay for a social security programs, and they say they'll have to double the tax rate. prime minister yoshihiko noda and his cabinet approved a bill today that would make that happen. in doing so, noda put his job on the line. >> translator: i think the people understand the necessity in the consumption tax increase. we can work together to change the policy, if we look at the big picture, not just the politics of this. >> the legislation would increase the consumption tax in two stages. it would rise to 8% in april 2014, then to 10% in october 2015. the bill would ease the burden on low income earners by giving them tax waivers and cash handouts. those in the main opposition party, the liberal democrats, could not wait to step in with their complaints. they're demanding a general election before the diet votes on the bill

. >>> 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. . .

>>> hello, you're watching "newsline." i'm shery ahn. the u.s. government says it will scrap plans to give food aid to north korea if the country goes ahead with what it says is a satellite launch next month. the announcement talks about a satellite launch. however, as we know, it requires the use of missile technology to launch a satellite, and it's the use of the missile technology that is an explicit violation of u.n. security council resolution 1874. >> north korean state media say the country will launch a satellite between the 12th and 16th of april. >> translator: to mark the birth of kim i will sung, we will launch a satellite made with our power and technology. it will inspire citizens and troops striving to create a strong and prosperous nation. >> the u.n. security council adopted resolutions in 2006, demanding north korea halt its ballistic missile program. they told negotiators they froze launch missile testing. ban ki-moon urged them to comply with u.n. security council resolutions banning any launch using ballistic missile technolo

>>> hello, you're watching "newsline." i'm sherry ahn. the united nations is pushing north korea to improve its human rights record. the u.n. human rights council has adopted a resolution expressing serious concern about ongoing violations in the country. the resolution was submitted by japan and the european union. the document highlights north korea's abductions of japanese and other foreign citizens and its torture of political prisoners and defectors. it urges north korean government to improve the human rights situation in the country. the north korean delegation denounced the resolution, as lies and fabrications. the chinese and russian representatives also expressed opposition. but the council adopted the resolution by consensus. >>> japanese government officials say they expect a silent deal to supply nuclear power technology to turkey. the agreement is a chance for japan to remain a world leader in the nuclear industry. japanese and turkish government officials held nuclear cooperation talks earlier this month. japanese officials

>>th'sllor this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.nks for joining us.yywqwgwgwy

>>> hello, you're watching "newsline." i'm sher ahn. >>> japan's self-defense forces are deploying interceptor missiles in case the rocket north korea plans to launch next month looks likely to fall on the country. launchers and radar equipment for intercepter missiles have arrived at a base near the coast in hiroshima prefecture western japan. troops will load them on ships bound for okinawa. japanese forces are deploying intercepter missiles in the tokyo area. they plan to position three aegis destroyers with intercepters in sea of japan and waters around okinawa. defense minister officials asked troops to shoot down any part of the north korean rocket that looks likely to fall on japanese territory. >>> japanese prime minister yoesh heekco noda and his cabinet approved a bill that would double the consumption tax to 10% by 2015. in doing so, noda put his job on the line. >> translator: i think the people understand the necessity in the consumption tax increase. we can work together to change the policy if we look at the

. >>> 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. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

. >>> that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm kathryn kobayashi in tokyo. stay with us. /s

. >> that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." thank you for watching. bye-bye.

. >>> welcome to "newsline." it's friday, march 16th. i'm catherine kobayashi. stockbrokers are buying shares left and right. how are markets here in tokyo starting off the last trading day of the week? let's go to ai at the business desk. >> on wall street and tokyo. the dow jones industrial average rose overnight closing in at a four-year high. the nikkei has risen for three straight sessions. let's go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, good morning. blue chips and tech stocks are higher. how are stocks this friday? >> reporter: we may see a bit of a break from that right now. looking at the nikkei and topix trading lower. you mentioned key levels for the dow and nasdaq. the dow holding above 13,000. the nasdaq above 3,000. the standard & poor's 500 closing above a key level not seen in four years. 1,400. the dow there. keeping above 13,000. that is strong. let's have a look at the opening levels in tokyo this friday morning. you can see what i'm talking about there. the nikkei and the topix just lower. the nikkei closing higher just two da

unstable, wet, and cooler out >>> and that's all for this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.

. >>> and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we'll be back at the top of the next hour. see you then.

. >>> that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo.hanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> on march 11th, a mega earthquake and unprecedented tsunami led to a triple nuclear meltdown. no one was prepared for such