top guns. japan weighs its options on some expensive fighter planes. welcome to "newsline". i'm catherine kobayashi. japanese military and political leaders are looking at pricey jets in one of the biggest contracts this year. they will select the next mainstay fighter next week. they plan to buy 40 to $50 aircraft for an estimated several billion. it will replace the f-4 jet from

more than 40 years ago. the japanese government is considering three options. boeing developed the fa-18. the u.s. navy used the current model since 2002. lockheed martin and partners in eight other countries built the f-35. it has stealth capabilities allowing it to evade radar. a consortium of companies from britain, germany, italy and spain have the eurofighter typhoon. they used it this year in military operations in libya. a team from the japanese defense ministry is considering the price. maems want to find out what what extent japanese companies can participate in production and maintenance of the aircraft. the japanese government is expected to announce its decision friday. a former pakistani chief says north korea tried to bribe him in the 1990s. he claims a korean military official offered a half million

dollars to collaborate on missile development. he was head of pakistan's intelligence agency in the 1990s. in charge of procuring weapons for the military. he told a pakistan tv channel a north korean officer visited his office and dropped a bag with $500,000 in cash. >> translator: the north korean government ordered the officer to establish relations with pakistan by giving the cash to a key figure within its government. >> he returned the money after talking to pakistani prime minister benazir bhutto visited the country in 1993. pakistan is thought to have provided nuclear technology to north korea in return for missile expertise. the united states has withdrawn its forces from an airbase in southwestern pakistan, as demanded by the pakistani government.

on november 26th, helicopters belonging to the international forces based in afghanistan crossed the border and launched an attack in northwestern pakistan, killing 24 pakistani soldiers. pakistan's government responded by closing supply routes for the forces and demanding that the u.s. vacate the shamsi air base in balochistan province by sunday. the pakistani security authorities say an american flag was lowered and a u.s. cargo plane took off with personnel and equipment on board returning control of the base to pakistan. the pakistani government offered the base to the u.s. for anti-terror operations after the world trade center attacks of 2001. the united states used the base to launch unmanned aircraft.

japan's coast guard is on high alert against increased activity by chinese maritime survey vessels in japan's exclusive economic zone in the east china sea. the two countries are supposed to give prior notice before carrying out surveys in each other's zones. but the chinese side has been ignoring the agreement and continuing its activities. the coast guard used to spot the ships only a few times a year, but recently they're being seen every month. seven cases have been reported since july. the coast guard says it receives notification from china, but many of the vessels are in areas other than those specified. it says the chinese ships insist they're conducting legitimate research, when they reply to warnings from surveillance vessels or planes, but some ships do not respond to the calls. the coast guard adds that more chinese fisheries surveillance vessels are being spotted near the senkaku islands in okinawa prefecture, following the collision incidents in september last year. >> translator: china wants to investigate the seabed and natural resources in the east china sea, partly for military purposes.

by entering the zone many times, they are aiming to protect their interests in the east china sea. >> the boats have appeared 14 times so far, and one of them intruded into japanese maritime territory in august for the first time. european leaders agreed on stricter figures. >> europe was the first to react to the fact and ended higher. the dow-jones closed the week on a high note, too, boosted by moves by eu leaders pushing with fiscal reforms. the nikkei kicked off a new week, so let's see how things are kicking off. for that, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, good morning. we're seeing positive buys from europe. how are markets reacting to that, and what's in store for

japan this week. >> very good morning to you. lots of stories this week. let's have a look at the opening levels this monday morning for the nikkei and topix. markets are reacting positively. nikkei up over 100 points. eu leaders are likely waiting to see how markets globally react. as you mention, positive reaction on the dow and european markets also higher, now the nikkei is 100 points higher as well. we have already seen some moves away from the relative safety of u.s. treasury bonds, and also west texas intermediate crude oil prices, benchmark wti up 1.5%. still, the focus this week may shift to key events in the u.s. and japan. in the u.s., we have the federal reserve having its policy meeting on tuesday, and really having a look at some of the recent economic data out of the u.s. it has shown an improvement across a lot of sectors, jobs, housing, and manufacturing, to name a few. so the focus is really on the language or words that the

federal reserve uses at the end of its policy meeting. in japan, we have an important quarterly economic data. quarterly japan business survey for large and small manufacturers, and nine months after the march 11th disaster, a lot of focus will be on how japan's economy has been going through this period, where there's regional economies like fukushima that have been devastated both from the farming and fishing products, and also across a lot of different regions in the auto industry. we will see a lot of information from that thursday. that's going to be a crucial bit of data for japan. ai? >> all eyes on that. ramin, we'll hear more about the exchange rate. what kind of action are we seeing in the exchange rate this monday? >> the yen has been an asset of choice for a lot of investors so far this year, ai, and we're seeing the yen, especially

against the euro having moved from 123 in april to around 100 in october. currently trading around upper 103 yen level. we'll see how that pans out and upper 77 against the dollar, but definitely the survey will be crucial for a lot of economists watching japan's economy. we will have a full report of that, of course. for now, nikkei up over 100 points this monday morning. back to you. >> thanks for that, ramin. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. now the 2011 tokyo motor show closed sunday. the ten day event drew 30% more visitors than last time, putting the brakes on a falling trend in attendance. more than 170 firms from japan and elsewhere show cased their next generation cars and advanced environmental technologies. the number of this year's visitors exceeded 840,000. that's up over 200,000 from the

previous show two years ago. attendance had been on the decline after peaking at more than 2 million in 1991. the latest figure marks a rebound from this trend. still, the tokyo motor show faces an uphill battle attracting as many people as before. domestic demand for cars is sluggish. automakers are more focused on motor shows in china and other emerging economies. a social security pact between japan and brazil is due to take effect next march. it will eliminate the need for workers to pay into pension funds of both countries at the same time. japanese employees who work in brazil for extended periods and brazilian workers here in japan are currently required to pay into both countries' pension systems. japanese workers can only receive payouts from brazil if they join the country's pension fund for 15 years or longer. the new accord which begins march 1st will allow workers to

pay solely into their home nation's fund, if their overseas stints are five years or less. after five years, they can switch to the host country's system. workers will be entitled to payouts from japan or brazil, as long as they make contributions to either system long enough. the pension agreement between the two nations is the 13th of its kind for japan. let's see how the markets are doing so far.

>> that's the latest from business. officials will delay decontamination work. they pushed it back until late march. a law which takes effect next month requires the state to decontaminate areas of high radiation. the government is now using model projects to find the most effective way to achieve this. spokespersons for the environment ministry said they hoped to start work on the restricted areas as early as january. they still expect workers to begin decontaminating infrastructure like roads and reservoirs, but work on houses and agricultural land will be delayed. it will take time for permission from evacuees to decontaminate homes and farmland and tough to decontaminate storage sites for topsoil. they hope to transfer all decontaminated soil for

temporary storage by march, 2014, except for areas with particularly high radiation levels. japan's ministry has guidelines for the removal of materials discharged from the plant. they also show how to collect and store materials. the decontamination will be different for buildings, road, soil and plants. the guidelines recommend that water volume and pressure for decontaminating buildings should be adjusted as excessive amounts may cause dispersion of radioactive materials. it says moss and dead leaves should be manually removed before high pressure sprays are used to save water. it adds the used water should not be drained but collected in buckets. guidelines propose use of

separate containers for different levels of radiation contaminated soil. they also give the safe distances of storage spaces from residential areas. ministry officials hope the guidelines can facilitate a plan to build temporary storage facilities and will give residents a clearer idea of the decontamination process. depression is effecting one out of three teachers in disaster hit miyagi prefecture. stress the likely cause. a local union is calling for more psychological care. the union conducted a survey of teachers at public elementary and junior high schools in the prefecture in september and october. 30.5% of the teachers revealed they have experienced mild to moderate depression. the percentage of teachers reporting moderate depression was twice as high in hardest-hit coastal cities. many teachers complained their work loads have increased since

the disaster. nine months after the earthquake and tsunami in japan, victims are trying to get their lives back to normal. a lot of rebuilding has to be done, and many people need to regain a sense of well-being. in this week's "the road ahead" we show how a photographer has drawn on his craft to help children keep their outlook positive. nhk world's masami ukon reports. >> reporter: children in the disaster zone show how well their project is working. they're taking pictures of life after the disaster. it's part of a project called i see. it's organized by unicef, who want to give the children a worldwide stage to express their views and feelings about the disaster.

the unicef people chose the ayukawa district in miyagi prefecture. besides being a poor district, it was one of the areas closest to the earthquake's epicenter. tsunami waves higher than ten meters battered the main street, once bustling with inns and souvenir shops. many residents lost their homes and family members. a clock that stopped when the tsunami hit, the parking lot that sunk beneath sea level during the quake. some children take pictures to show how they view living with the disaster, and its aftermath. they also picture locals keen to get on with their lives, despite the circumstances. some children express their joy that everyday life is gradually getting back to normal.

italian photographer giacomo pilozzi worked with the kids. he has been taking pictures of youngsters for more than 20 years. ♪ giacomo has also conducted workshops in countries all over the world. some work through people who go through conflicts or natural disasters. in the photos, he could sense the same message of hope expressed by people in similar projects around the world. >> oh, that's lovely. of course a calamity is a calamity. there's nothing that we can do about it but what children want as always, they want to find the energy to continue and to continue their life as a normal life, as any other children. >> reporter: the reconstruction effort has begun, and signs of progress can be seen, but some children still mace an internal struggle with their harrowing experience of the march disaster. one of these children is

9-year-old asahi ishimori. the tsunami washed away his house. now he lives with his grandparents. born into a fisherman's family, he had a dream of making a living from the sea, but ever since the disaster, he hasn't gone near the ocean. >> reporter: overcoming his aversion to the sea, asahi decided to take pictures of it. he calls this photo "the boats that worked hard." he's expressing thanks to the ships that once helped locals make a living from the sea. struggling to cope with his trauma, asahi has a message that needs getting out.

giacomo has been observing children over the years. he hopes that, by putting a camera in their hands, he can help them ease their trauma. >> behind the smiles and the play, there could be something hidden, and the camera helps them to reflect about what happened to them, and to kind of externalize as much as they can, and the fact that they have to tell the story to other children in other parts of the world, encourage them to express themselves as much as possible.

>> reporter: the children of the ayukawa project took about 8,000 pictures. each one reflects the children's courage and their desire for their hometown to be revealed soon. masami ukon, nhk world, ayukawa. >> unicef officials plan to display the photos with captions written by the children when they hold exhibitions around the world. among the locations, japan and the unicef headquarters in new york. they plan to time the event to coincide with the first anniversary of the disaster, march 11th, 2012. students from japan performed in paris on sunday to raise money for orphans of the march disaster. they played traditional taiko drums in front of the eiffel tower.

the ten musicians hailed from schools in disaster hit miyagi prefecture in northern japan. they played drums that were swept away by the tsunami but later retrieved from the debris. ♪ after the performance, the students collected donations. >> translator: i'm happy if i can help, even a little, and my small contribution might make a difference to these children. it's a pleasure to imagine that it might bring a smile to their lives. >> a 15-year-old girl from the city of sendai, who lost her mother in the disaster, joined the trip. >> translator: it's important to people pay attention to the survivors and ask them to help the orphans.

>> the event's organizer, japanese scholarship group ashinaga, says nearly 2,000 children lost their parents in the disaster. it says it will use the donations to build facilities to provide psychological care for the orphans. residents of northeast japan

it was a beautiful week. let's go to saki ochi. >> welcome to your weather update. let's get a look at conditions across asia and in the southeast, we're looking at these bright, white clouds here popping up, there say little bit more activity going on. we actually have a tropical depression in the south china sea. it does remain well off and wanders and for the moment it looks like at least indo china peninsula staying largely dry. central vietnam may pick up a few light showers but nothing too major expected for the next 24 hours. the northern end of the philippines may see chances of heavier downpours throughout the day and we look at some showers also moving across taiwan as well as the southern islands of japan, but otherwise across much of china, the korean peninsula, and even the indochina peninsula stay dry as does japan, for the most part it is going to be looking at the quite a bit of sunshine over the course of today. it's just this northwestern flank here that will see moisture coming in off the sea of japan and that will be cold rainfall as well as snow,

although it does look like it's going to taper off as we head into the evening hours. as for highs on monday, expecting 14 in tokyo, so warm sunshine should make you feel pretty mild in the afternoon. as for seoul, highs in the single digits at 6, also the same in beijing. shanghai at 10 and 20 degrees expected in taipei. towards the america, things are going to get more active out towards the west. we have this low set to move on to southern california that's really going to show signs of developing in the next couple of days. we can see it spreads into the four corners region and this will include persistent snow -- rainfall i should say along the coastline, while for the upper elevations we will be talking about snow falling. we could be seeing quite a bit. winter storm watches have already been issued in areas here, in anticipation for much stormier conditions over the next couple of days so you want to watch out for that. also for british columbia, more rain coming off of the pacific

and things will be looking wetter over the next few days. out towards the east some slight snow may develop in the great lakes area across eastern canada as well and for the florida peninsula the southeast corner of the u.s., too, may see a couple of showers form. 10 is your high in atlanta, single digits for d.c., as well as new york and toronto expecting a high of 5 degrees on monday. and lastly getting a look at europe here, things are not too bad out towards the east, fairly calm skies for the moment. we've got this area of high pressure in place, but from the west, things are going to start looking a lot wetter. we've got this frontal system first looking set to move right over continental europe, bringing in rain as well as snowfall for the scandinavian peninsula. as for the central mediterranean we could be talking about thundershower activity here, and then that's really going to be followed once again by another round of wet weather, that's really going to spread across the british isles first, on throughout monday, for scotland, things are going to be getting icy again.

you want to watch out for slippery conditions. highs on monday looking fairly seasonal overall, 1 in moscow. 3 in warsaw and getting up to 5 degrees in vienna. that's a look at your weather for now, and here is your three-day outlook.

japanese military and political leaders are looking at pricey jets in one of the world's largest military contracts. they will select the next mainstay fighter this week. they plan to buy 40 to 50 aircraft for an estimated

several billion dollars. planes will replace the f-4 jet introduced more than 40 years ago. the japanese government is considering three options. u.s. manufacturer boeing has the f-18. the u.s. navy used the current model since 2002. lockheed martin and partners in eight other countries built the f 35. the plane has stealth capabilities, allowing it to evade radar. a consortium of companies from britain, germany, italy and spain have the eurofighter typhoon. they used it this year during operations in libya. a team from japan's defense ministry is considering the price. they want to find out to what ex-at the present time japanese companies can participate in production and maintenance of the aircraft. the japanese government is expected to announce its decision friday. and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. join us again at the top of the next hour. see you then.

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