faa officials approved the plan. faa heads say the tests will show whether improvements work as designed. the boeing ceo says they've passed a milestone toward getting the fleet flying again. >>> the head of the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission has offered to help with the clean-up at fukushima daiichi. 4 out of 6 reactors were damaged during the earthquake and tsunami two years ago. three of them melted down. nrc chair allison mcfarlane says they'll have to clear a lot of hurdles before they can clean up the plant. she visited the site in december and expressed her respect for the 2000 workers who are removing debris and spent fuel. >> that was all very impressive. at the same time, there's clearly a huge amount of work that needs to be done there. they've got to you reactors that are damaged. >> mcfarlane has offered to work with her counterparts at japan's nuclear authority. >>> tokyo electric officials have been cleared of accusations they lied about conditions at the fukushima daiichi plant. that's the conclus

officials issued an alert for tornadoes in part of the region last night. the storm also brought rough seas. one surfer is reportedly missing off the coast. back to the satellite picture you can see the clouds moving away from japan. take a look at this, 283 millimeters has fallen in the past 24 hours. 200 millimeters fell in just the span of three hours. about 140 kilometers gusts have been reported in okinawa as well. 87 kilometers per hour gusts. thinks will be fine and clear with plenty of sunshine across much of japan. that includes tokyo with really warm temperatures to be waiting for the daytime highs. contour region will see about summer like temperatures on our high today. that excludes northern japan where the winter pressure pattern is left behind where rain and snow showers will be in store with gusts pretty strong picking up the waves as much as five meters high. it's going to be a short break for us. wednesday, tomorrow will be a holiday for japan but we see a couple of systems moving in. that will be a stormy holiday for us. talking about spr

officially it was the government work report. but this was also wen jiabao's swan song, the last time he would greet the national people's congress. >> translator: we see it as necessary and appropriate to set this year's target for economic growth at about 7.5%. the goal we will have to work hard to attain. >> reporter: wen addressed public frustration with china's widening wealth gap and corruption. >> translator: we are keenly aware that we still face many difficulties and problems in our economic and social development. in particular, unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development remains a prominent problem. >> reporter: observers say wen jiabao's biggest move was shifting the government's main priority away from economic growth and refocusing it on improving people's lives. wen said people face serious pollution in air, water and soil. and he said leaders should adopt effective measures to prevent and control environmental degradation. mpc members considered other business on day one of their congress. they went ov

officials say damage to housing, businesses, factories could top $1.5 trillion. another $210 billion would have to be spent to the repair roads and railways. >> translator: we have taken the worst case scenario to improve our crisis management. the figures are severe, but we want the public to understand in a calm manner what would happen if a mega quake occurred. >> officials plan to compile new strategies within a year to minimize possible damages. >>> forecasters at japan's meteorological agency plan to post new information online later this month in the event of a major earthquake. the service will give data about the effects of long period ground motion on tall buildings. major tremors can rock high rises far from the epicenter for several minutes. the forecasters will release information about the effects of ground motion on buildings of 14 stories or more as soon as an earthquake occurs. the intensity of the motion will be ranked on a scale of 1 to 4 at levels one and two shaking will be felt but it's unlikely to cause structural damage. at three, walls wo

ambassador urged officials to think hard about what path they should take. it took the security council just over three weeks to pass this resolution. we've beenollowing the story. how did the security council act so unanimously in. >> the key here was the u.s. and china worked together. in the past china has opposed tough sanctions against its long time ally. this time china helped the u.s. draft the resolution. china doesn't want its neighbor north korea to be armed with nuclear weapons. at the same time chinese leaders are concerned sanctions that are too severe could further deteriorate the north korean economy. that cld result in a flood of refugees crossing their border. the wording of the resolution underlines that the sanctions apply only to actions related to north korea's nuclear and missile program so that focus may have made the chinese comfortable enough to authorize the resolution. >> we've seen the security council agree to repeated penalties in the past. how will these be any different? >> it's not clear whether this will do anything to chang

kennedy and to this day his death remains one of the most contentious accounts of official government narrative two thousand and three gallup poll found that seventy five percent of americans think that lee harvey oswald did not act alone and in fact j.f.k. his nephew robert f. kennedy jr has just come out and said that he's convinced that we're not being told the truth asserting that the warren commission was a shoddy piece of craftsmanship after decades of speculation it's a topic that director oliver stone boldly took on in his debut exposé entitled j.f.k. which some call the most comprehensive account of the events surrounding his death take a look. at that question you can. get your take on. these bomb boy. i mean like clinton i mean like my if you dig does that help you see my problem a little better. and. i saw flashlight bush. and bin shots right. well good day good stuff you know they called it up we should. be ok did you just talk to us on the record we will protect you. what got the chance to speak to oliver stone himself about the film. we're explain why it's so hard to di

pope benedict xvi has officially retired. he said farewell and valued advice and having spent time with them. he also pledged to unconditionally obey his successor. the pope then left the vatican in a helicopter. if flew over st. peter's square where many catholics assembled. >> translator: i feel as though i lost a parent. i also feel a sense of -- >> a short time later, he arrived at the papal retreat in suburban rome. followers cheered when he appeared on the balcony to speak to them. >> translator: i tnkou all for your love and friendship. let us continue our journey with god with churches around the world. >> he will now be known as emeritus. cardinals will meet early this month to decide a date for the conclave to elect his successor. he's the first pope to retire since 1415. >>> officials have argued for decades over controlf four islands in the waters between them. abe pointed to a statement agreed upon in 2001 as a starting point for discussions. abe is making rane ining arrang meet with russian president. he could v

authorities from officials from defense officials which is causing more reasons for condemnation and concern among the human rights activists as i've said most of the information comes from lawyers thanks to them we know that some of the inmates on hunger strike have already been losing consciousness and coughing blood and there are certain fears that in two days on the forty fifth day of the hunger strike they might start having problems with eyesight and even more serious health problems because their condition is deteriorating the. the only comment we received from the u.s. officials from the guantanamo officials in particular was that the number of inmates going on hunger strike has doubled over the last ten days and now amounts to twenty four people but that's been aired the rest of the information has been concealed and this is certainly causing concerns especially given the fact that the u.s. has been a strong advocate of human rights worldwide but when it comes to a legit violations of human rights on its own territory both some people the officials are keeping one everyone i

officials launched it on thursday. they say anyone anywhere can use it. the website provides an online clearing house for mountains of data about the earthquake and tsunami. until now, the records were scattered. academics, government officials as well as members of the media and nonprofits each looked after a portion, but that created challenges. people had a hard time tracking down information and there was a risk that materials would be lost. the website makes it much easier to search for images. just punch in key words like tsunami and the name of a town and click on a thumbnail you're interested in. a map pops up with links to photos and video, along with details about exactly when and where they were filmed. people can also access recordings of witnesses' accounts and learn how the region is recovering. the website managers say they'll keep adding data as it becomes available. >> translator: we want people around the world to really understand just how extensive the damage was. we think the database will help people in other countries make their own

. >> chinese officials see things differently. foreign ministry spokesperson hua chunying expressed concern about the tpp expanding without her country's participation. she stressed the process of integrating economies in the asia pacific region must be carried out step by step. chinese leaders have so far been unwilling to participate in the tpp. they're working on another trade deal. they want to expand the free trade zone that covers southeast asian nations, japan, south korea and other countries. and here in japan, lawmakers and business leaders are scrutinizing prime minister's abe's decisions. hiromasa nikura welcomed the move to join the tpp talks. he noted the timing of the decision, which followed the recent japan/u.s. summit. he says it shows abe's strong leadership and negotiating capability. 80 opponents of the tpp held a rally in front of the diet building. they included members of a multi-party group of lawmakers. >> translator: the government must not sell our country to the united states without a full explanation

federal officials release their beige book. it's based on surveys conducted in 12 federal reserve districts in january and early february. the report says consumer spending grew in most districts thanks to strong auto sales. it states the residential market strengthened across much of the country as home prices have grown. it says employment generally expanded but several districts reported restrained hiring. the fed report is somewhat cautious about the outlook. it says uncertainties over spending cuts and other issues are having a negative impact on consumption and corporate activities. let's get a check to see how markets are doing. tokyo share prices are trading higher today. the nikkei average has the 12,000 mark. market sources say tokyo in vesters are hopeful about an economic recovery in the u.s.in economic recovery in the u.s.rs economic recovery in the u.s.or economic recovery in the u.s. the dollar is trading higher against the japanese currency. market sources say following the beige book report investors are more c

>> her official, yeah. per official personnel file she could review at any time. >> we are talking about the other ones. >> but with you are talking about the other medical files. >> if we can retain them, she is more than able to come in, we are glad to sit down and review every document at her request and i believe this is what she was saying is that they have tried to communicate with it. when you say to meet with her. could she have copies of them. >> go ahead. in addition to advising her verbally when you are reviewing her personnel file did you give her correspondence in writing? >> no. >> okay. >> any other questions? >> that's just based on the official personnel file. not based on other documents i object that are in question? yeah. >> i'm sorry. i didn't understand. was that in response to something i said? >> no. i wanted to clarify based on her personnel records. the records gave to miss carter. >> the issue we were discussing the medical file, the file she wasn't given. the file that were withh

government officials plan to start test drilling there in april. but for now, it's the revelations about methane hydrate that are fueling excitement in japan. experts caution that scientists still need to create technology to stably expect the gas and reduce cost. >> translator: i hope japan can start production within about ten years. many countries are watching how japan extracts gas from its new resource and whether the method works. if japan cooperates with other countries as a leader, it can contribute to the world. >> reporter: japan is considered a resource poor nation, but it's rich in technological know-how. the government and industry hope they can tap that resource and secure a safe and stable source of energy that will last for generations. kaho izumitani, nhk world, tokyo. >>> a top official in china is calling for the e ratification of corruption. his comment reflects the stance of the leader of the communist party, and it may be welcomed by citizens who are fed up with the status quo. >> translator: we shouldn't indulge in extravagan

officials urging motorists just to stay off of the roads. many students had the day off as well, especially northern portions of i will and indiana, were schools were close and the storm now focusing its attentions on the mid-atlantic. now, you could see 25 centimeters of snow in d.c. when all is said and done with this storm. getting it in new york city as well. thursday, not quite as heavy, maybe about eight centimeters is possible. so, do stay warm and safe on those roads as well. temperatures then, two degrees for you for your high in d.c., 6 in new york city, 1 in chicago. cooler air even impacting places in the deep south. 17 in hourns. you are seeing about 10 degrees higher than that just a couple of days ago. all right. let's head into eastern asia. thing russ looking really nice right across the region. mostly clear and dry. a couple of things to talk b one is going to be the yellow sand which comes across from the gobi desert and just pushes into north eastern china in towards the korean peninsula and arriving in japan on saturday

contextd it is in the when the public officials, the elected officials, the appointed officials, have declined, have declined to defend a statute. a statute that, by the way, excuse me, in this case a constitutional amendment, was brought forward by the initiative process. essentialsaid it is to the integrity, integrity of the initiative process in that state, which is a precious right of every citizen, the initiative process in that state, to ensure that when public officials -- and after all, the initiative process is designed to control those very public officials, to take issues out of their hands. could public officials effectively veto an initiative by refusing to appeal it, then the initiative process would be invalidated. >> that's -- historically, i think, 40 states, many states have what was called a public action. a public action is an action by any citizen primarily to vindicate the interest in seeing that the law is enforced. now, that's the kind of action i think that this court has interpreted the constitution of the united states, case in controversy, to say that it do

officials aren't buying that theory. they think far more likely this was an attack carried out by the syrians. they are not clear on whether this was chemical weapons. but u.s. officials and the syrian opposition themselves say they simply are not in a position to carry out what the syrian government says they did. listen. >> the rebels don't have access to chemical weapons. they don't have access to the means of watching these chemical weapons. simply put, if chemical weapons were used and that's a big if, we are still trying to investigate that if these chemical weapons were used, the syrian government that had access to these chemical weapons and would have used them against civilian population. >> bottom line here, shep, u.s. officials believe that an attack did take place today. it was probably a scud missile, and it was almost certainly launched by syrian forces. but they do not yet have definitive evidence of a chemical element to that attack. >> shepard: all right. even if no chemical attack, there are great fear

j oil mills officials have announced similar increases. retailers are expected to raise prices of those items sometime in april or later. prime minister has been calling on corporate japan to wage raises and help the country pull itself out of deflation. executives have responded to hihis call. they have agreed to increase monthly basal ri at their group company. salaries at supermarket chain ito-yokado will go up 1.5% or about $56 per month. employees with children will receive additional increase. the company will also raise pay at major convenient store chain. managers are hoping that these raises will also help improve consumer sentiment. some young people are making their own opportunities far fm home. more and more students from abroad are studying in japan. 130,000 at the latest count. many come from other asian countries and some stay o set up businesses of their own. >> reporter: every weekend aspiring business people attend this seminar in tokyo. >> translator: japan is amazing country. i want to open a business here. >> translat

some federal reserve officials have expressed concern. that month of asset purchases could disrupt markets and bring about higher prices. in a news conference about the second day of the policy board meeting ben bernanke said those risks can be contained. >> the committee considered risks to financial stability. it will lead some to take on excessive risk in a reach for yie yield. in the committee's view the costs remain manageable. we will take them into account add we determine the size, pace of our asset purchases. >> following those comments u.s. stocks gained ground on wednesday. the dow jones road more than a third of a percent. to see how stocks in tokyo arerare h performing this thursday. markets here will closed. are we seeing positive momentum in tokyo too. markets really took some comfort there from the fed chief bernanke's words. that boosts share prices in the u.s. let's have a look at the opening levels for the nikkei and the topix for this thursday, march 21st. we did have some trade data here. the figures for february and

our reporter is live to let us know why officials are even on board. >> reporter: officials say the bestay to bring the super bowl back is to approach the owners. take a look. this is the brand-new 49er stadium. officials say it will be state- of-the- art. the big bush is for leaders, the mayors held a brief plaintiff presence as they officially announced they will be pushing for the super bowl to come -- held a brief meeting as they officially announced they will be pushing for the super bowl to come back to san francisco. mayor lee said he is excited the stadium and possibly the super bowl will be here. >> this is how we think we will win this bid. it isn't any particular city. it's us working together, not only on transportation issues not only on welcoming up this stadium site but all of the hospitality that will be part of the bid. >> reporter: and there are about a thousand workers working on this project. as of now, the work is about -- the work here at the stadium, i should say, is about 35% complete with the lower bowl of the stadium expected to be complete by the summer. they s

officials say that's a felony. they say they also found expired medications, including one that went bad in 1993. >> there was multiple violations of not following basic infection control and sterilization procedures. i made her pull out the auto play that had the actual instruments in it and she pulled them out and they were rusty. and i was horrified just something i have never seen before. very, very unusual situation. >> shepard: officials call it a perfect storm because dr. harrington is a medicaid provider. he had lots of patients with hepatitis and h.i.v. "the fox report's" correspondent jonathan hunt is live in our new york city newsroom. >> this must be terrifying for all his patients. >> absolutely horrifying, shep. it all began when one of dr. harrington's patients happened to get sick, happened to go see a health professional. happened to get tested and happened to be diagnosed with hepatitis c. now, then these -- that sparked this investigation of dr. harrington's dental surgery, which you see right th

officials in beijing claim their crew did nothing wrong. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." vooet nooez immediate vietnamese media reported that a chinese vessel fired on a boat from their country. the incident happened last wednesday around the paracel islands. vietnam state-run newspaper says the chinese chased the fishing boat near the paracel islands. it reported the ship fired five shots at the bought, causing its cabin to catch fire. none of the nine people on board was hurt. the vietnamese foreign spokesperson calls what happened a grave incident that violated his country's sovereignty and endangered the lives of the fishermen. he urged authorities in beijing to investigate and compensate the boat crews. but vietnamese media revealed the incident only six days after it passed suggesting downplay of the situation. historically anti-china sentiment has been strong within vietnam. the government there has in the past tacitly allowed public protest against china. but in december 2012, authorities in hanoi broke up a street demonstration apparently over concerns about anta

a local elected official, always a local elected official. what i learned from that is partnership is what it's all about. if you want to confront the most vexing problems, you have to bring people across an ideological spectrum, you have to include the business community, you have to include our nonprofit, our faith leaders. that's how you get things done, when you bring people together. and i look around this room and i see that you have already figured that out. i hope some of you had the opportunity to meet lee hirsch because i've done a lot of work with him in the context of our bullying. one of my favorite memories in my experience with lee is that we watched this film together with about a thousand people in sioux falls, south dakota, it was remarkable to watch the reactions of the kids in sioux falls, parents, educators, and we did that same q and a when we were done. i appreciate the wonderful words of your superintendent, that was exactly the dynamic in sioux falls and that's the remarkable thing, superintendent, is that this issue

greeting, now, as the official leader of the catholic faith. after waiting for hours, hundreds of thousands welcomed pope francis to st. peter's square. >> there's so many people here. it's very exciting. >> it's amazing. it's the universal church. it's the best representation of the universal church around the world. >> reporter: after greeting the faithful for more than 30 minutes, francis was ushered inside st. peter's basilica. and the ceremony began. ♪

officials in seoul say this was the latest breech by hackers. someone compromised their website at the same time. text appeared saying hit man 007 kingdom of moracco. the simultaneous nature of the attacks say they involved more sophisticated techniques than those employed in the past. >>> india has approved a new law mandating the death penalty for certain sex crimes. it was in effect due to an executive order by the president. the law cleared the upper house of parliament on thursday, two days after it passed the lower chamber. the gang raim rape of a woman in december prompted the changes. she died later of her injuries. she was 23 years old. indians have been demanding more protection for women after a number of other sex crimes. they say police are not doing enough to catch those responsible. >>> japanese government officials have instructed the operator of the fukushima plant to install more backup power. employees struggled for more than a day. >> reporter: we told them to supply multiple power sources and implement other efforts as quick

turn a blind eye to the growing mass hunger strike among one tunnel bay prisoners i make claims officials are doing everything they can to hush the protests. international news and analysis as well as reports of from around the world of this is r t you're live with me tom with say. at least a fifty six people have been killed and over two hundred wounded in a series of bombs across the baghdad the attack struck mostly shy neighborhoods of the city officials say there have been at least ten separate incidents including suicide car and roadside explosions in busy areas all within one hour on one of the deadliest attacks struck and near the heavily fortified green zone the seat of many government buildings and embassies no one has officially claimed responsibility but the sunni militants have been stepping up their attacks in the country aiming to destabilize the government their souls come as iraq marks ten years as a coalition led by the u.s. and britain invaded the country with a freedom and democracy mission which is loosely catherine of has more. at this hour american and coalition forc

in the two countries this is the official logo of baraki and b.b. twenty thirteen as part of this big publicity stunt a bizarre video recently surfaced on the internet check out. thoroughly welcome president obama to express our appreciation for what is done for the fon between the united states and israel are unbreakable and the commitment of the united states to the security of israel is not going to. believe it or not because this isn't a parody it was actually uploaded by the israeli embassy in washington you know their marketing campaign is so good that it almost makes me forget about all that warmongering about iran and the apartheid being practiced against palestinians almost but not quite so well the corporate media continues to fixate on obama's holy land voyage i'll break in the set. a little more of the ever seen anything like that. i'm really excited right now to introduce one of the few politicians that i actually admire and talking about congressman dennis to finish one of the most honest credible politicians who ever served a man who

a series of bombings across baghdad the attacks are struggling to neighborhoods of the city and officials are saying there have been at least ten assaults including suicide car and drove side explosions in busy areas all within one hour on one of the deadliest attacks struck near the heavily fortified green zone the seat of a many government buildings and embassy no one has officially claimed responsibility but sunni militants have been stepping up their attacks in the country aiming to destabilize the government their souls come as iraq a mug's tenia as us is a coalition led by the u.s. and britain invaded the country with their freedom and democracy mission which is losing cavanagh has. at this hour american and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm iraq to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger. this was the freedom they brought shock and bombs over baghdad what the pentagon billed as a quick war to liberate iraq turned into a prolonged nightmare. ten years of bloodshed war occupation and deadly sectarian strife drained by afghanis

officials say they found traces of a virus in some of the c carcasses. they say they will keep monitoring it. they work with the officials in neighboring regions so find out how the animals ended up in the river. >>> a forr village leader without the con sent of residents. 30 people were hurt. some villagers fought back and set fire to vehicles. the villagers have staged a series of protests since december. they claim the village chief leased land to a businessman without asking them. authorities tried to quiet them by firing the chief. the residents want to contract to be nullified. chinese in a number of towns and cities have staged protests over what the illegal misappropriation of their land. >>> 115 cardinals will begin their conclave to elect the new pope on tuesday in the vatican. they will only speak to the publ oncthe decision is made. they will cast ballots to choose the successor. the cardinals will cut off all communication with the outside. they will cast ballots until one man receives a two-thirds majority. the people's officials will relea

tepco officials wanted to start the trial in september. they postponed it because a storage vessel was unsafe. they got the go ahead last week. radioactive water is accumulating at a rate of 400 tons a day. tepco sources say it is vital for protecting the environment from pollution. >>> the nuclear accident forced many people to leave their homes. some of those people died while they were living in temporary shelters. government officials in charge of reconstruction say fatigue and stress damaged their health. the officials say 35 displaced residents of fukushima prefecture have died. they say all of them had to leave homes in the no-entry zones around the nuclear plant, and most were aged in their 60s to 80s. fatigue from poor living conditions caused 25 deaths. caution from moving caused 13. some evacuees had to move to new housing 16 times. officials say they plan to send psychotherapists to temporary housing to give evacuees mental support. >>> thousands of people waiting to go home, tons of debris waiting for disposal. vast tracks of

the officials made statements welcoming all. they said that they were happy to see them safe and sound. what we understood from some of our sources is that at the beginning jordan was a bit hesitant and reluctant to let them lead cirio -- area through jordan. they do cooperate with the armed rebels when it comes to issues like transporting refugees into jordan. when it comes to striking deals and official agreement about the handover of hostages, jordan is not at that stage yet. they reject the request. it later because jordan actually participates with many of its forces and many peacekeeping missions, they allow them to come in. we understood that they were transported by the armed rebels who also gave an account that the u.n. convoy did not arrive earlier on saturday to pick them up. they did ask the u.n. to send a representative but the u.n. did not do so. there are many accounts of what actually happened inside syria today. what we do know is they have arrived. they are safe. they were not harmed. they were detained for thr

alicia gutierrez is an official tattoo artist.five years, alicia's dad expects his little girl will have the skills to complete awesome pieces of work all on her own. pretty brave to let a child tattoo you. >> i'm mara schiavocampo, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. >>> now, a quick look at some of this morning's headlines. the lead story in "the new york times" as fears recede dow industrials hit a milestone. it's good that the dow is at a high but wall streeters not popping the champagne just yet. >>> in "the washington post," hugo chavez, passionate but polarizing venezuelan president died at 58. the life and impact of the combative and controversial leader. >>> in oklahoma a little girl can hear now for the first time in her life. cameras were rolling when 5-year-old jade shoal giggled at the her mother's voice. cochlear implants are new pleasures for jade. doctors are confident she can adapt to hearing and speech as she continues to grow. good news for her. >>> a new themed

as they continue their hunger strike with the first official reaction. after more than a month of silence. the u.k. government awards world war two. veterans who took supplies to the soviet union some consider it to soften up after they were refused permission to accept russia's award what's been described as the worst journey in the. world with. money and technology innovation called the least of elements from around russia we've gone to the future or covered. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. the giant corporations rule today. well again last syria's government and rebels are both demanding an international probe into a deadly attack that both sides claim was with the use of chemical weapons they traded accus

they said it is in the context when the public officials, the elected officials, the appointed officials, have declined, have declined to defend a statute. a statute that, by the way, excuse me, in this case a constitutional amendment, was brought forward by the initiative process. the court said it is essential to the integrity, integrity of the initiative process in that state, which is a precious right of every citizen, the initiative process in that state, to ensure that when public officials -- and after all, the initiative process is designed to control those very public officials, to take issues out of their hands. and if public officials could effectively veto an initiative by refusing to appeal it, then the initiative process would be invalidated. >> that's -- historically, i think, states, many states have what was called a public action. a public action is an action by any citizen primarily to vindicate the interest in seeing that the law is enforced. now, that's the kind of action i think that this court has interpreted the constitution of the united states, case in controver

i'll get the first official u.s. reaction to guantanamo prisoners hunger strike the general in charge of overseeing the prison says the detainees are starving themselves to death now out of frustration at obama's failure to close down the prison will be coming and bringing more on that story later of course now next however let's talk about syria in this story our correspondent u.n. chief ban ki moon has pledged to send a group of independent experts to syria to investigate an alleged chemical attack both the government and the opposition of call for such an investigation after trading accusations it was beyond the assault of both blame each other it killed nevertheless up to thirty one people near the northern city of aleppo. following the developments for us. reports that chemical weapons have been used in the. area of the aleppo province this is are not clear at the moment people were rushed to hospital after the attack few had visible wounds to their bodies but some of them were clearly suffering from some breath

in the end cypriot officials made a u. turn and are now bending over backwards trying to seal that original bailout from want to put together a package pleasing enough to deploy they've agreed an imposing a twenty percent levy on deposits above one hundred thousand euros in the back of cyprus and four percent for big deposits in other banks while also passing bills to impose capital control on banks creating a solidarity fund and restructure its the backs of those produced a fresh wave of anger spilling over to the streets. all during that week of dramatic political and economic maneuvering citizens were already on an emotional roller coaster panic cypriots rushed to a.t.m. sick trying to get their money out of the bank and some left empty handed as machines run out of cash. recipient stick to the streets shocked at the larsen felt it was really a particularly journey for trying to bring. a strike of the year in by. protesters condemned the so-called troika the european central bank e.u. commission and the i.m.f. for the f

officials had been keeping interest rates high to fend off inflation.hat led to higher interest rates on loans and dampened demand for cars and other products. the central bank released a statement noting that india's growth slowed to a four-year low of 4.5% during the final quarter of last year. it said an additional rate cut was necessary to support the economy. sri lankans on monday celebrated the opening of a new airport built with funds from china. president mahinda rajapaksa and other senior government officials were among the first people to land. the mattala rajapaksa international airport is in the southeastern city and it has a 3.5 kilometer long runway and is the country's second international airport. the first is in the largest city, colombo. construction costs more than $200 million, 90% of which was covered by a loan from china. china's influence is growing in countries around the indian ocean. chinese officials want to secure stable roots for transporting crude oil as well as sea lanes from africa and the middle east. officials have step