a stern response. >> clearly there will be other further and serious consequences. >> the fallout after students storm the british embassy

in tehran. the british government is promising to take action following an attack on its embassy in the iranian capital. students broke into the compound smashing windows rgs burning flags and turning a diplomat i can dispute into an international concern. they are angry about britain's economic sanctions over iran's nuclear program. we have a report from tehran. >> reporter: about 1,000 protestors gathered at the british embassy on tuesday afternoon. later, the rally turned violent with dozens of students breaking into the embassy chanting "death to britain." they threw documents outside and they burned the british flag. riot police clashed with these students. iran's state tv reports that young iranians also stormed

another compound inter and where they recently held six embassy staff members captive. these people were soon released and handed over to the authorities. iran has been confrontational toward britain since the new sanctions were imposed. on sunday the iranian parliament approved a bill that limits bilateral economic exchanges. it also called for the government to expel the british ambassador. >> the british government calls the attack outrageous and says there will be serious consequences. >> we hold the iranian government responsible for failing to take adequate measures to protect our embassy as it is required to do. >> the british foreign secretary william haig criticized them for

not enforcing the law. haig says he launched a complaint with the iranian board minister in the strongest terms. >> clearly there will be other further and serious consequences. >> the president of the united nations security council is speaking out about the attack on britain's embassy in tehran. here is some of what he had to say. >> members of the security council condemn attacks against united kingdom's embassy to iran. >> the u.n. security council president called on iran to fully respect its international obligations when it comes to protecting diplomatic property and personnel. foreign embassies in iran have been targets of violent protests

before tuesday's attacks. a group of students stormed the u.s. embassy, took about 50 officials hostage shortly after the islamic revolution in 1979. the students demanded the handover of the shah of iran. the two countries cut ties. britain had to shut the embassy after shots were fired in 2003. two years later, students threw stones to protest the international atomic agency adoption of a resolution urging iran to halt its uranium enrichment. britain took the initiative to have the resolution adopted. in 2006, a rally was held in front of denmark's embassy after a danish newspaper published caricatures of muhammad.

more than 20 people were injured in that incident. american airlines is heading for an overhaul. what's their plan moving forward? >> katherine, they filed for bankruptcy protection to keep creditors at bay. american airlines executives need time to turn the business around. american airlines and its parent firm amr said on tuesday that they had filed for chapter 11 protection at a new york court. total liabilities stand at $29.6 billion. amr said the carrier will continue regular operations while undergoing the restructuring process. the texas-based airline decided on rehabilitation through bankruptcy after talks with labor unions collapsed. american airlines was the only major u.s. carrier that had not filed for chapter 11 restructuring.

the airline's business has deteriorated due to a decline in passengers since the september 11th attacks. other factors include soaring fuel costs and intensified competition with discount carriers. u.s. consumer confidence bounced back as americans are optimistic about economic recovery. a u.s. research firm, the conference board, said its consumer confidence index rose to 56. that's up over 15 points from october, the biggest monthly gain since april, 2003. retail sales for the holiday posted record high. online sales also grew significantly. the focus is whether consumer sentiment will stay positive throughout the holidays, despite a high jobless rate and european debt crisis. let's check the markets. wall street continued to make gains a second day on further hopes of progress on eurozone

debt issues and increased u.s. consumer confidence. to see how things are kicking off in japan, we are going to cross to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. a very good morning to you, ramin. seeing further upward momentum from the dow. what can you tell us? >> very good morning to you. we saw the dow and s&p 500 trading higher. then some tech stocks pulled the nasdaq lower. we will look at those sectors as well. let's have a look at where the nikkei and topix open up this wednesday morning. but also following on from the opening levels, we also had industrial production numbers, preliminary production for october, before the markets open at plus 2.4% month on month. first time in two months we have seen a gain in industrial production. both indexes as you see are trading lower. following losses from last week, we had the nikkei trending

higher in the last couple sessions, and that was driven more by export related stocks because of the slightly weaker yen that we have seen compared to levels we had last week, so exporters are trying to make gains selling into the u.s. and european markets through the major markets in the world. also anticipation of a good outcome from european finance minister meeting boosted sent meant. but tuesday, the international monetary fund said it has not actually offered support for debt strapped italy and spain and reiterated that stance today. now, let's see how all of that is playing into currency markets, and this wednesday morning just having a look at some of the crosses there. dollar yen, 78.04-06. euro yen, 103.92-93. the yen actually gaining a touch there against the dollar.

domestically, figures for auto exports for october are going to be out later today, so a lot of focus on the auto sector. and construction machinery shipment orders will be out later today, so we'll focus on one of the major construction machinery manufacturers. also gearing up for the tokyo motor show. a lot of focus on the auto sector as the big three japanese auto firms trying to get production and sales levels back to levels before the march 11th disaster. but the nikkei and topix are trading lower in the first few minutes. >> thanks. that was ramin mellegard watching action at the tokyo stock exchange. and that's a look at business news for now. i'll be back a little later in the show with a story about how three wheel motorcycle is changing the way people get around in india. for now, back to katherine. >> thanks very much. japanese representatives are pushing agenda at the u.n.

climate change conference, fighting against extension of the protocol. they want a new treat oh to control global emissions. our reporter tells us why japan is opposed to keeping kyoto alive. >> reporter: it is simple, the japanese say the kyoto protocol is not a fair system, covers only 26% of the total emissions in the world. the u.s. and china, the biggest carbon emitters have no obligation to reduce under the treaty. japanese leaders argue that in order to stop global climate change, it is crucial for all major emitters to get on board. the fear is that if the conference decides to extend the kyoto protocol, places like japan and the european union would shoulder the burden. another issue affecting the japanese position is the march 11th nuclear accident.

the government doesn't want to commit to a specific action. nuclear power was expected to play significant part in reducing japan's carbon emissions. now the government is reconsidering the targets it set. and can't make any promises right now. today's announcement by the japanese cabinet doesn't take anyone by surprise. the government has said repeatedly in the past couple years it is against extension of the kyoto protocol. japan is facing pressure from a number of nations. the countries want to continue the kyoto beyond 2012. some showing concern about the japanese stance. >> you know, at least that would be a blow to the spirit to the global spirit if japan really take position to move out and

not support this. >> translator: it's a very bad decision, a decision that will hurt other countries. it is sad a kyoto protocol member will pull out while we are trying to get everyone to joip the treaty. >> most countries believe the success of climate change talks depends whether the nations can commit to their targets under the kyoto protocol. it is not only japan but other industrialized nations that are against the idea. they will face difficult discussions in the coming days as they try to work out their differences. museums and exhibits teach us much about our past through artifacts and historical documents. we can also learn about history through the stories of those that lived to tell them. today in the second of a two-part series on nuclear

weapons, one man tells his story of survival. he got his inspiration from an angel. >> reporter: this cathedral is a place of prayer, a place of solace. catholic missionaries came to japan in the 16th century. made this the seat of japanese catholicism. this cathedral became its spiritual center. builders finished work on the cathedral in 1914. the atomic bomb fell on nagasaki more than 30 years later. more than 70,000 people lost their lives. the cathedral stood 500 meters from the epicenter. it was destroyed. this man's house stood next to the church. it, too, was destroyed. his brother and three sisters

were killed. he is 80 years old. he attended mass at the cathedral since he was young. >> translator: i think it is porp to pray for people who lost their lives to the atomic bomb. i do it every day. >> reporter: he can pray, but he wouldn't talk about his experiences, even with his own family. >> reporter: these ars facts tell the story of what happened. they opened a permanent intercept exhibit to commemorate the atomic bombs. many visitors stopped in front of the burned statue of an angel from the cathedral. the cathedral and city of nagasaki donated the statue.

donors hoped it would serve as a symbol of the nuclear tragedy for europeans, many of whom are devout christians. he felt inspired after seeing the angel. finally he decided to share his story. he recounted his experiences to local high school students in geneva. >> translator: as i walked on the bank near the center of the explosion, i saw many people that had turned black, piled up in the water. each person's voice is small, but if we speak together, our collective voice is loud. so we should gather our voices together to realize world peace. >> thank you.

[ applause ] >> it is very courageous for him to come here, talk about his story because i guess not everybody would do it. >> translator: i think students are interested in what i told them. if more people paid attention, i believe we could find world peace. >> we spoke earlier with the reporter. she spoke of some of the successes and challenges are spreading the anti-nuclear message. >> i saw the expressions on the students' faces as they listened to him. he expresses many of the hopes of those that survived the atomic bombs to rid the world of nuclear weapons. still, there may be a ways to go. creators of u.n. exhibit felt a photograph of an atomic bomb survivor badly burned would shock viewers too much. they asked that it be replaced by a photograph in which the burns were not as bad. so you see, there's still a gap in thinking between survivors

and those who have not seen what they've seen. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. nuclear watch brings insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis, and the road ahead examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." eu finance ministers are trying to scrounge up more money to keep the eurozone afloat. what are officials doing to deal with the credit crisis? >> they are meeting to find ways to work on the european bailout fund. high on the agenda how to use measures compiled at the last

summit. the meeting is currently under way in brussels. the ministers are working up plans for beefing up the fund called the european financial stability facility. they seek to increase it to 1 billion euros. discussions include guaranteeing government bonds issued by debt strapped countries, that is to make them more attractive to investors. another option involves setting up a special framework within the fund to get aid from countries outside the eu. some senior officials say the international monetary fund should be tapped for help. in part three of our special series, an indian's india, we hear from a man spearheading a make or of three wheel vehicles. motor tricycles cater to transportation issues in india. now the market for these affordable cars are gaining

popularity. >> this is a three wheel motorcycle. they are very popular on indian roads. they are used for multi purpose taxi for carrying people around the city. this man is the chairman of the group that is the leading manufacturer of the three wheelers and motorcycles. the automaker focuses on middle to low income consumers said to be potential force in the nation's economy. >> so the rich use four wheelers, may have them in the home for children, but the middle class use two wheelers. the real amount, 30 to 40% live on hesse than a dollar a day. how can they use a motorcycle? they use a bullet cart, maybe

they use a public bus or low class railway. we want all of them in the next 5, 10, 20 years, to $5,000 per annum to use motorcycles. so many other things. it will be a really consumer society. with rising income level to rural areas, more and more demand comes from rural areas, one, but the downward pressure in demand is because of the tight monetary policy. interest rates are rising. buying cash, fine, but there are a lot of people buying credit. >> they are supporting its new, focusing on needs for basic

transport from there rather than for cash as a luxury item. >> the idea is for us to produce products which the customer wants. top quality cutting edge technology. we are going into the rural market and very importantly we are diversifying geographically. we are doing well in exports, and in spite of the world being in difficulty, japan continues to be, and the new problems in the u.s. and the eurozone, part of that because our exports are in asia, in africa, latin america. columbia. a country like america, the number one motorcycle brand. india was our markets, now the world is our market. >> that was the chairman of the group in part three of our interview series. in the next edition, we hear

from the ceo of a consultant services. and we will have more business news in the next hour. for now, back to katherine. >> thanks very much. you may have experienced it coming to work. tokyo has been having mild weather recently. global weather forecast now. >> welcome to your weather update. let's look at what's happening across east asia. cold air is flowing into china, the korean peninsula and japan bringing widespread showers. we are expecting rain across southern china and mix of rain across the korean peninsula. for japan, hokkaido , we will see snow even in low lying areas today, and rain will also spread by tonight. in the south, wet across the

philippines. may see scattered thunderstorms and rain developing as we head into thursday. for the indochina peninsula, it stays largely dry. parts of vietnam will see on-going rain throughout the day. as for temperatures, we are expecting 17es in shanghai, 26 in tie pay, and single digits in seoul and beijing. tokyo warm with 17 degrees, but temperatures cool down starting thursday. heading to the americas, a developing low pressure system is impacting the northeastern corner of the u.s. and eastern canada with heavy cold precipitation as well as strong winds across eastern great lakes and quebec. we are anticipating more than 30 secentimeters of snow and rain. things get dryer in the east by wednesday evening. meanwhile, a new round of pacific storm is moving through

the pacific northwest and the bc area, reaching the northern plains in the next 24 hours. that will bring heavy snow here on wednesday. otherwise, it is largely dry under a high pressure system across the u.s. we are expecting minus 1 in winnipeg, 5 in chicago, same for toronto. looking at 12 degrees in new york and same in washington, d.c. warming up to 24 degrees in los angeles. finally, let's go to europe. it is wet and windy across northern europe. timly windy near the center of low pressure. norway will continue to see gusty conditions into thursday. in terms of precipitation, heavy rainfall warnings in effect across the northern british isles, and significant amounts of snow expected across the northern part of the scandinavian peninsula on wednesday. meanwhile, some parts of france and germany will see some

showers, but that should taper off by wednesday evening and down to the south, thunderstorms are gradually dissipating over the central mediterranean. temperatures look like this. expecting 12 degrees in london, 10 degrees in paris, cooling to 13 degrees in lisbon, and 12 in madrid. expecting zero in moscow, 5 in kiev. that's it for me now. here is the extended forecast.

recapping our top story. iran facing international condemnation after attack on the

british embassy ip tehran. students smashed windows, ransacked offices and burned flags. they're angry about britain's economic sanctions over iran's nuclear program. the country's foreign minister says it regrets the attacks, but that's not good enough for the british government. it is calling the attack outrageous and indefensible and it says there will be serious consequences. >> we hold the iranian government responsible for failure to take add quit measures to protect our embassy as it is required to do. >> the british foreign secretary william haig criticized them for breaching international law. vienna convention requires protection of diplomats and embassies. he lodged a complaint in the strongest terms. >> clearly there will be other further and serious consequences. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in

tokyo. stay with us. we'll be back with more updates at the top of the next hour.