live from tokyo, this is "newsline," i'm james tengan. greek finance minister says the country has dropped its plan to hold a referendum on the european union's bailout package. in a statement on friday, vinezelos said he told the european commission economy and monetary affairs chief, of the decision in telephone calls. the announcement came ahead of a scheduled vote in confidence of

the parliament of the cabinet george paben dray ewe later on friday. he said he told the european officials that the aim of the confidence vote is to form a government of unity. he said the government wants to obtain the largest consensus as possible. attention is focused on italy. another eu member under pressure to stabilize its finances. the presidents of the european commission and the european union say italy is asking the international monetary fund to help monitor its economic and fiscal reforms, the european commission president, barroso says the executive commission will look at the situation. the country is under fierce pressure from financial markets to reform its finances. next we go to pachari raksawong in bangkok to find out what's going on in the region. thailand is struggling to maintain as flood water continues to spread in bangkok.

the main crisis center is under threat for a second time. and the city subway system also now looks to be at risk. the devastating floods are creeping ever closer to central bangkok. on friday, water came close to the new location of the government's flood relief operations center. it's also a temporary home to about 600 evacuees. the center was moved there from submerged don muang airport just a week ago. workers are hurrying to raise the road before access to the center gets cut off. waters have also been seen around entrances to subway stations in northern bangkok. the authorities say they might have to consider suspending subway services if the situation worsens. there is chance that could happen sooner than people expect. >> translator: i didn't see flood waters in this area this

morning. i didn't expect the water would rise this fast. >> life in the capital is becoming increasingly difficult. this buddhist temple is located on the west bank of the chao phraya river. 13 monks are trapped here with no running water. using higher areas of the temple complex, they carry on with their rituals as best they can. the rising flood waters have killed at least 442 people nationwide since july. and still there is no indication when the crisis will end. the thai government is facing mounting criticism for its handling of the crisis. and communities are at odds over how to move the stagnating flood waters out to sea. name world shikashi has more. >> reporter: months of flooding have caused serious damage to parks in central thailand.

the waters are moving south toward central bangkok inundating more and more areas along the way. local authorities have been trying to stop the water from reaching the center of the capital. they have ordered canal flood gates in the northern part of the city to be closed. but this has trapped huge amounts of water upstream. houses and other buildings in the effected areas remain flooded. >> translator: the water is already been here for 15 days. it's starting to go foul. >> reporter: on october. 31st, about 200 angry people from flooded areas demanded that the government open the flood gates. a scuffle ensued. some residents destroyed part of the flood defenses.

thai prime minister yingluck shinawatra issued instructions to open the gates to release more water. but people downstream are now complaining. >> translator: the water is now knee deep. if it keeps increasing at this rate, the crops in my fields will rot. >> reporter: one of the newly affected areas is an industrial park. about 80 firms operate there including foreign companies. city authorities have asked them to make sure toxic materials don't leak out of their facilities. >> translator: we are really worried. we don't know how we'll be able to keep our company running. >> reporter: bangkok governor says he opposed opening the flood gates.

he says he wanted to protect the city's center and industrial park. critics have condemned such discrepancies between the prime minister and governor. they say poor crisis management has exacerbated the damage. >> so i have to register my protest. but i have to -- since it's the government's order, i have to obey. >> reporter: measures to cur b the flood has produced conflicts between neighborhoods, city officials, and the government. the response seems to be making this cries cries is even harder for ordinary people to endure. nhk world, bangkok. to afghanistan now where ever since the soviet invasion of 1979, there has been war and civil strife. many afghans have left the country to escape the endless conflicts.

more than 1 million of them are believed to have taken refuge in iran. some afghans born in exile never lived in their own country. we spoke with some of them about their dreams of going home. >> reporter: the city of mashhad in iran is home to many refugees from afghanistan. this woman was born in exile. she said refugees like her face discrimination. >> they're not allowed to work in iran. when you want to go to a different city, we have limitation. we cannot study whatever we want. i'd like to be a doctor but i cannot be a doctor here. >> reporter: she hopes one day she will return to afghanistan and participate in the

reconstruction of our her country. economic self-dependence is the first step towards achieving that goal. that's why olami enrolled in a language and computer skills training program offered by a japanese professor. eight months into the program, olami also volunteers with the group. ♪ >> reporter: the japanese ngo has started this seminar to entitled "the role of education in afghanistan" to address the problems and issues facing afghan refugees in iran today. more than 250 afghan refugees are participating in the seminar. all of them share the same dream. that one day they would be able to return home. olami says meeting fellow

refugees is a source of both courage and resolve. >> you can see that nowhere in afghanistan is safe. maybe one day blasts in kabul, another day somewhere else. we believe we should rebuild our country. not foreigners. we should go and build our country. it is not their job. it is our job because it is our home. this is our homeland. >> reporter: despite the uncertainty that prevails in their home country, many refugees are determined to work together until the day they can set foot on afghan world. nhk world, mashhad. and that will wrap up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. in other news, lawmakers and farmers have come together to adopt a resolution to oppose japan rushing into talks on the

trans-pacific partnership free trade agreement. >> reporter: the tpp would affect all aspects of people's lives. but that information hasn't been disclosed. and that's prevented the issue from being debated nationally. we feel strong resentment. >> on friday, about 50 diet members from the ruling democratic party held a rally with some 1,000 farmers and others in tokyo. they called on the government to not make hasty decisions. then they adopted a resolution saying japan should not rush into talks on to joining the tpp. prime minister yoshihiko noda said the government will soon decide whether to join talks on the trans-pacific partnership. japan is expected to announce its decision at the asia pacific economic cooperation forum later this month.

a multimillion dollar scandal involving a machine maker turned the spotlight on corporate governance in japan. the former british president of olympus corporation told nhk about his brief tenure as president and his failed attempt to get answers about hundreds of millions of missing dollars. michael woodford had an ill just yus 30-year career at olympus before he made it to the top becoming president this year. however, almost immediately he began inquiring about four questionable corporate acquisitions by olympus in 2008. woodford approached a british auditing firm to investigate the deals. the firm's preliminary rofrt described the $2 billion price tag for one of the acquisitions, a british medical equipment maker as unusually high. it also questioned the roughly $687 million commission to the brokers who arranged the deal.

they said olympus may have committed irregularities. >> it's the largest payment ever in the history of capitalism and m&a activity. for what and for whom? for what was the money paid and to whom was it paid? which is outrageous to anybody who's looking at it. any informed observer. >> reporter: six months after being promoted, woodford was abruptly fired right after he outlined the deal's questionable nature to olympus officials. the firm says it fired him because of his authoritarian way of management. woodford also launched investigations into olympus' purchases of three other firms for about $940 million. the acquisitions went ahead despite olympus posting $710 million in losses for the 2009 business year. >> that is why the concerns arise. why were we paying such huge amounts of money for companies with tiny turnovers.

it's not anything to do with olympus' business. i mean the strategic fit is bizarre. >> reporter: olympus maintains that all of the acquisitions were carried out in a correct manner. japan's government is seek ing to confirm that sustained nuclear fission has not resumed at the fukushima daiichi power plant. earlier this week, radioactivity xenon was directed at the plant's number two reactor, indicating that nuclear fission had occurred recently. the minister in charge of the nuclear crisis, goshi hosono, said on friday, that the presence of xenon was not linked to new developments. he said it was the result of detailed radiation monitoring by tokyo electric power company. hosono says he shares the utility's view that xenon was produced by a phenomenon known as spontaneous fission and not criticality. >> translator: ensuring that the

situation does not escalate is one of the conditions to bring the reactors to a state of cold shutdown. of course, that includes the absence of recriticality. the company that operates the fukushima daiichi power plant forecasts more financial troubles. tokyo electric power company is set to post a heavy loss for the business year that runs through march 2012. in figures released on friday, tepco estimated its net loss for fiscal 2011 will total $600 billion yen, about $7.7 billion. the utility blames the cost of ongoing efforts to stabilize the damaged nuclear plant. fuel costs from the use of thermal power plants to shore up electric output add to the losses. tepco analysts project energy-saving efforts by households and businesses will translate into a 1% decline in annual energy sales. the utility plans to book an

extraordinary loss of about $13 billion to compensate those affected by the nuclear disastedisaste disaster. a government-backed fund is expected to contribute funds to assist tepco in making the payments. in a move to increase trade, russia has restored the railway that crosses its border with north korea. the train connects the russian town of khasan and rajin. the track is part of russia's strategic plan in the far east. the country is trying to access fast-growing economies in the asia pacific to sell its energy resources. the area along the railway is out of bounds to foreigners. but to promote the project, russia invited the international media to a ceremony in north

korea. nhk world's elena solokaya was among the invited and brings us a rare glimpse into north korea. >> reporter: the lights of russia near the north korean border. khasan in honor of the newly-restored khasan railway. after clearing customs, our train sets out for north korea. about ten minutes out of khasan station, the hainan river comes into view. it flows along the border between russia and north korea. the mountains upstream are in china. we crossed the river into north korea.

20 minutes after leaving khasan, we arrive at a north korean station, the first stop in north korea. the wide train tracks are russian. the narrow ones, north korean. recent alterations allow russian trains to travel directly into north korea. broken-down tracks and tunnels were also upgraded to permit heavy cargo. lots of koreans gather here today to celebrate the completing of the reconstruction of the railway section between russia and north korea. about 500 people took part, including locals and border security officers. also present are the senior vice president of russian railways. and north korean minister.

he explains importance of the railway. >> translator: this railway symbolizes the friendly relationship and economic cooperation between our two countries. we want to work together with russia to form a transportation network that serves people in both countries. we also want to foster a cooperative relationship that is mutually beneficial. >> translator: the demonstration train is a clear example of the implementation of the agreement between the leaders of our two countries to establish a new cargo route from northeast asia to russia and vice-versa. rajin port will become a new cargo center in the asia pacific region. this center will make it possible to create the longest

euro-asian transport corridor, over 10,000 kilometers long. russia says starting next summer it will use freight trains to transport coal into north korea. time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin with this item sent by ntv, nepal. nepal's main political parties have signed a landmark deal to integrate thousands of maoist combatants into the national army. under the agreement, more than 6,000 fighters will be integrated into the security forces. the remainder will receive a payoff of about up to $11,000. the maoists ended a 15-year insurgency five years ago, with the abolition of the monarchy. however, moves for peace have stalled over the future of the former rebel fighters, and a new constitution. the sri lankan army has acquired four remote-controlled machines from russia to help with the removal of land mines

in the north. there are 29 machines that work clearing mines that were planted by the former tamil tigers. at the end of the insurgency in 2009, the army identified about 2,000 square kilometers of land as being covered with mines. about 133 square kilometers of land still needs to be cleared of mines. but the area is heavily forested with booby traps. a bunker has been discovered underneath hanoi's luxury metripol hotel, four decades a after the vietnam war. the shelter's exact location remained unknown until august when workers pierced its roof. they found a tunnel with electric lighting and air ducts. the bunker was used to shelter the american folk singer, joan baez and actress jane fonda during an u.s. air raid in 1972. the hotel management plans to

build a staircase down to the bunker for visitors, who want a taste of a war time experience. now, let's take a look at the latest market figures. now let's see what rachel has for us in world weather. >> hello there, we're looking now to the weekend in terms of weather. what can we find? well in eastern asia, we are

going to be seeing some wet weather moving through eastern portions of china, coming into the korean peninsula and also western japan. now this is the low here in the east china sea. that's actually going to be delivering a fair whack in terms of the rainfall. parts of kyushu and okinawa looking for about 100, to 120 kilometers of rain and it will be accompanied by some gusty winds as well in places. this weaker low towards the north will be bringing showers into hokkaido. but it's not going to be quite as intense. now in behind that we're looking fairly dry across the north, certainly mongolia looking under a strong high pressure there. but we will see showers continuing in and around the chongqing area. let's look to the south now, we have a few things going on. a new low pressure here in the south china sea is going keep the rain coming into eastern indochina. down in towards the south as well. but much of the north and west looking quite dry now. and then as for the philippines, that heavy rain is still coming in, particularly up towards the northeast. parts of luzon saw 250

millimeters of rain in the last 24 hours. which is not good news in determines of flooding and landslides. and as you can see, into the next 24 hours it doesn't look like it's going to be alleviated. strong winds accompanying that, meaning high waves and rough seas in the forecast. temperatureswise in the tropics, 29 in manila, 33 in bangkok. 33 also in hong kong. and low 20s in chongqing, shanghai seoul and tokyo, 15 and beijing with 3 for the high in ulan bator. a winter storm moving through the western half or western third of the u.s. this is going to be delivering some snow, certainly and some cooler temperatures down even towards northern parts of the baja peninsula and into southern california. let me show you exactly what's going on here. we've got the jet stream dipping all the way down here towards the south. and then back up through the plains. this is going to be snow in parts of colorado, expect about 40 centimeters of snow in the mountains there.

and then we have some cooler rain going through much of california there. the cascades certainly picking up their fair share of this early winter snow as well. now, ahead of that system, it's going to be very dry and also a little bit warmer. a few degrees warmer, dry and very gusty, and that means we have fire danger here. and this is going to be minnesota and also eastern parts of the dakotas. out towards the east, looking fairly calm and settled. just got a system storms moving through the carolinas right now, that will be clearing out for your weekend. 8 in seattle, 7 in vancouver, 12 in denver. 17 for oklahoma city and 11 in chicago. 28 in mexico city, as well as in miami. nice and warm to the south. 17 in atlanta, and 12 in new york city. all right. let's go to europe now. we've been talking about some very heavy rain in parts of northwestern italy. milan picking up more than 230 millimeters in the last 24 hours. this is going to be ongoing. the southwest is not looking good as we head into the

weekend. the british isles clearing on up. a few showers in scandinavia, too. and let's look at what's going to be happening along northern spain, coming into southern france. then into northern italy, switzerland as well. picking up almost 200 millimeters of rain, maybe even more than that in some places over the next three days. so into sunday, so landslides and flooding, flash flooding are going to be very high concern. temperatures, meanwhile, are looking pretty moderate here. but moscow is getting down to just 1 degree for the high. so you'll need to wrap up there. here's your extended forecast.

before we leave you, our top stories once again. greek finance minister, vinezelos says the country has dropped its plan to hold a referendum on the european union's bailout package. in a statement on friday, he said he told euro group chairman

jean claude junker, european commission economy and military affairs chief, ole ran and wolf gang schebel of the announcement of the calls. the announcement came ahead of a vote in parliament on the cabinet of george papandreau later on friday. venezos said he told the european officials that the aim of the confidence vote is to form a government of unity. he said the government wants to obtain the largest consensus possible. attention is also focused on italy, another eu member under pressure to stabilize its finances. the presidents of the european commission and the european union say italy is asking the international monetary fund to help monitor its economic and fiscal reforms. the european commission president jose barroso said the economic commission will look at the situation. the country is under fierce pressure from financial markets to reform its finances. that's it for this edition

of "newsline," thanks for watching.