it's 11:00 p.m. in tokyo, welcome to "newsline," i'm michio kijima. workers at japan's tsuruga nuclear plant spent the evening dealing with an emergency. tonight a fire broke out in the facility's reactor one compound. workers managed to put out the flames. the tsuruga nuclear plant is loaded on japan's sea coast. the equipment is installed at a facility that processes radioactive waste. authorities say no radiation

leaked out, and that the fire did not affect the surrounding area. the tsuruga nuclear plant has two reactors, both are offline for maintenance three fires have broken out at this facility between march 2010 and october of this year. japan's atomic parts submitted a report saying it would take new safety measures to avoid fires in the future. people in japan have been exceptionally mindful of the safety of their country's nuclear plants ever since the march 11th earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdownsed a fukushima daiichi. we have some updates to tell you about regarding that story. beginning with the plans to control the damaged plant. japan's nuclear watchdog has approved measures to be implemented by the tokyo electric power company over the next three years to insure stability at the fukushima plant. the nuclear safety commission on monday approved the firm's mid-term safety procedures, including ways to prevent hydrogen explosions at the plant. the utility plans to implement

the steps to complete the second phase of the timetail to put the plant under control. the environmental ministry says it will delay until march the start of full decontamination work no-entry zones and the government-designated evacuation zones in the fukushima prefecture. the ministry said it would start the work in january, but it revealed on sunday thatted decontamination of farmland and houses will begin in late march. the ministry said it will start by dekcontaminating infrastructures in late january. japan's largest business group says its members have donated cash and relief supplies worth nearly $1.3 billion for those affected by the march 11th disaster. the japan business federation says the donation is likely the largest ever offered by the group for disaster relief. the aid included $920 million in cash for victims, volunteer gups and others and $185 million

worth of food and clothing. japan is now closer than ever to launching a transport business in space. with successful rocket liftoffs reaching 95%. >> an h2-a rocket lifted off from the tanegashima space center without a hitch on monday. and is now orbiting several hundred kilometers above earth. the radar-equipped satellite can detect objects as small as one meter on the ground. it's also able to function at night and through clouds. another reconnaissance satellite will be sent up, making it possible to take pictures of every location on earth at least once a day. after today's liftoff, the h-2a has had 19 successful launches a pd one failure in its ten-year history. a 95% rate is considered an acceptable standard for commercial space programs.

derp te >> translator: we thought it would be a distant goal, we were happy we were able to meet our objective. now we have reached a world-class level. >> the several hurdles need to be cleared before japan's space program is a viable business. cost is the primary obstacle. it costs 10 billion yen to launch the missile and 20% to 30% more than other comparable rockets. and the smaller payload is a major barrier. the h-2a is designed to carry satellites that weigh around four tons. the global norm has shifted to five tons or more. japan's first commercial mission will be a south korean satellite next year. investigators in japan are trying to figure out how optical equipment maker, olympus was able to coveren more than $1 billion investment losses for more than a decade. we spoke to a former company executive to get his take on the story. >> reporter: this man served as a board member at olympus

between 1995 and 2006. he says he knew nothing about the cover-up. >> translator: i am ashamed to say that most directors, including myself, were unable to see through the cover-up. >> reporter: an independent panel set up to investigate the scandal has pointed out that some top olympus officials were secretly concealing the losses and strongly criticized senior management, saying its core was rotten. miata says he was unable to detect the wrongdoing because he, like other directors, was too preoccupied to keep an eye on the company's finances. >> translator: all the directors tended to focus on their own areas of business. they had this idea that as long as they were doing a good job managing their divisions, they were fulfilling their duties and

responsibilities. i admit that our sense of corporate governance was low. >> reporter: with the cover-up now revealed, olympus has lost public confidence. olympus now faces the possibility of delisting from the tokyo stock exchange. . >> translator: this is all such a shame. >> reporter: miata worked for olympus for more than 40 years. he says he regrets that the company he loves finds itself in this kwag mire. terp we all believed that the company would prosper as long as it kept producing fine products with its technology. it's too bad that the so-called money game led to the losses and the cover-up. >> reporter: last month he launched a website, he's hoping that it will give olympus

employees an opportunity to think about rebuilding the company. on the website, some of them said, they want to regain public trust. they say this is a time to change the firm drastically. >> translator: the employees must take the initiative for a miraculous revival of the company. i want them to take action in their own way. rather than pretending that they don't see the problems. >> olympus is putting first-half earnings together to meet a deadline this wednesday to avoid a delisting. now, its fate is in the hands of tokyo stock exchange authorities. yoshihiko noda is japan's sixth prime minister in five years. so needless to say dealing with voter discontent is part of the job description, still, he's only been in office for a few months. but according to a new nhk poll, his support rate is slipping. more people disapprove of his

cabinet than approve of it. nhk carried out the poll over the weekend. 37% of respondents said they support the cabinet. that's a drop of eight points from the previous month. the disapproval rating rose by 12 points to 42%. among those who disapprove, 39% said they have no confidence in the cabinet's policies. another 34% said it lacks the ability to implement them. nearly 50% said defense minister ichikawa and consumer affairs minister, kenji yam ohka should resign. 44% said they approve the noda's plan to submit a bill on a proposed sales tax increase by march. but 48% said they do not approve. south korea says a chinese fishermen operating illegally in the yellow sea has stabbed as one of the country's coast guard officers. maritime authorities have been cracking down on illegal fishing in their waters since last

month. the incident reportedly took place on monday during an inspection of a chinese fishing boat in south korea's exclusive economic zone. the officer was rushed to hospital, but bled to death. another officer was reportedly injured. many chinese fishing boats operate illegally in the yellow sea at this time of year. south korea says 1,700 chinese boats have permission to operate in its exclusive economic zone this year. but an additional 2,000 boats are believed to be fishing illegally. last december, a chinese fishing boat and a south korean patrol vessel collided, leaving one chinese fisherman dead. south korea's foreign ministry has summoned china's ambassador to complain about the incident. south korea's first vice foreign minister, park se kwan met the ambassador and urged country to take action against illegal fishing in south korea's waters.

zhan said they would like to step up cooperation in dealing with illegal fishing. chinese spokesperson said the country will closely cooperate with south korea in dealing with the situation. but lui added china has been doing what it's supposed to do. >> translator: china has been repeatedly educating its fishermen and strengthening its control over fishing boats. the authorities have also been cracking down on illegal fishing. next, we turn to bhutan. the tiny himalayan country is known for promoting happiness over economic growth. bhutan's policy of gross national happiness was created as an alternative to the western model of industrialization. but the country has been not been able to escape the pressures of materialism entirely, as nhk world's yoda reports. >> reporter: bhutan is filled

with an air of celebration when the country's king married in october. watching over the couple was the previous king and father of the current monarch. he introduced their gross national happiness index around ten years ago. since then, bhutan has followed policies that emphasized the level of happiness of its people rather than pure economic growth. the country has worked to protect traditional culture, such as ethnic costumes, as well as family and community ties. it also placed restrictions on excessive development. children are taught at school that happiness comes not only from making money, but also from helping each other.

>> i think a an element is making others happy by giving our happiness to others. >> but while support for the king remains strong, crowds are gathering over the nation's pursuit of happiness. is all started when the country lifted a ban on television and the internet in 1999. easy access to information from abroad has led more people to desire material wealth. bhutan's capital has seen a surge in the number of young people arriving from farming villages in search of a better life. the city's population has swollen by 20,000 over the last five years. that's caused a serious job shortage, pushing the unemployment rate in urban areas up to 7.5%.

24-year-old man comes from a village in the east of the country. he moved to the capital, wanting to become a school teacher. but he has only been able to find temporary jobs. >> to get a job it is so difficult because there's a lot of competition with other nations and the youth and it is so difficult to get a job. >> bhutan's government is promoting tourists as a way to create jobs while preserving traditional culture. it's busy attracting foreign capital to build hotels. the government also built a vocational school to train workers for the tourism sector. tuition is free. students learn everything from restaurant table manners to how to mix cocktails.

>> i can open up my own bottle to through my experience i can give a good service for my guests. >> reporter: but there are also concerns that more tourism will cause overdevelopment. bhutan faces a dilemma. how to find the right balance between economic growth and preserving traditional culture in its quest to make its people happy. takiyaki yoda, nhk world, bhutan. hiro morita is up next with sports. welcome into the sports report. fans of japanese baseball have mixed feelings about a decision by pitcher udarvish, the player played a major role in japan's victory in the world baseball

classic two years ago. now he wants to make a move to major league baseball. via the posting system. the 25-year-old right-hander told fans about his decision by putting it up on his blog. darvish started his professional career in 2005 and within flee years he was the pacific league's mvp and the winner of an award of the best of all starting pitchers, with an e.r.a. of two for five consecutive seasons, he's one of the most gifted players to ever take the mound in japan. >> translator: he's considered the best pitcher in japan. i'd like him to try to be the best in the world. >> major league teams have until

wednesday afternoon in the u.s. do make an offer. under the posting system, if the fighter accept the high bid, they get the exclusive right to negotiate with darvish for 30 days. next, figure skating, mao asada left competition in canada early to return to japan. her mother had become seriously ill and passed away on friday. asada had qualified for a final for the first time in three seasons as one of the top six women from the grand prix series. in the women's singles, suzuki ran second in the short program in third in the free program. that gave her second place overall. her best finish in the grand prix final in three appearances. carolina kostner of literally won the gold. in the men's singles, some jumping mistakes pulled sakashi down to fifth place. but he came in second in the free program and finished number two overall. the winner was patrick chan of

canada. japan is known as a place where people live a long time. according to the world health organization, the average life expectancy for japanese men is 8 0 years. for women, it's 86. today we'll meet someone who is well above average. not only is she nearly 90, she recently claimed two world athletic records. dragging a six-kilogram tire twice around a 30-meter track isn't the way most people spend their golden years. >> reporter: but mistu morita is far from ordinary. she holds word records notice 100 and 200-meter sprints from masters athletics. mitsu was born in 1923, a time

of great change in the world. the soviet union for example, was just getting started. mitsu, however, didn't start her athletic career as a youngster. she waited until she was 70. since then, she's attended any number of competitions. so many that she can't keep track of all of medals she's won. at the age of 8 5, she set a world record in the 100-meter sprint with a time of 19.83 seconds. >> three times a week, she works out along a river bank near her house. she belongs to a field and athletic club. most of the people around her are students from the neighborhood. none of them treats her like an elderly woman. she's someone working out. just like everybody in the club.

>> i visited mitsu's home to ask her how she does it all. i followed the voice until i found her in the kitchen. it looks like she's getting ready to eat a hearty breakfast.

>> i think i now know what is success to her. she eats fish in the night and meat every morning. so she is very balanced diet. a strong diet for that matter. and that's what her keeps going. here's another of her secrets. she snacks on small fish to keep her bones strong. pork and fish and lots of willpower have built a body that breaks world records. mitsu took part in a masters athletic event in kumamoto. she was to run in the 100-meter event. however there was a problem, there was nobody in her age group over 85. so she ran alongside participants who were 65 or 70 or so.

her time was 22.96 seconds. mitsu plans to take part in the world masters athletics championship in taiwan next november. what do you get from running? >> mitsu turns 90 in two years,

her goal is to set a world record then. i wouldn't bet against her. and that's all for today's sports. >> shomai shoji is up next with weather. let's take you through your weather update. here in japan, the sea effect snow has been affecting much of the japan side of the northern japan. especially in western hokkaido. additional 30 centimeters may be accumulating in those areas. but by tuesday, it looks like the high pressure will be dominant in much of the country and looking clear and dry for much of the country. except for tokyo and the pacific coast. southeasterly winds will be picking up the moisture we may see some precipitation starting tuesday overnight. however, looking at much of the

rest of eastern continental asia, we see that it's going to be very clear and dry. some snow precipitation, patches in northeastern china, nothing too significant. taiwan and the philippines will be looking at widespread showers to be continuing there for the next several days. we have an active low pressure system affecting the eastern coast of vietnam with strong winds and showers. but the indochina peninsula inlandwise looking very dry and will be remaining dry for the next few days. tokyo, looking at 12 degrees. 6 in the sing digit s ulan bator, minus 20 degrees and hanging on to the 5s in bangkok and manila. north america, that very nice rain, nice weather in the weekend all turning this week starting monday. we're going to be tracking this system. this winter storm. a strong upper level low, which is a low-moving system that's going to be packing up the rain in southern california, and towards arizona and new mexico,

in the higher elevations especially in and around the sierras is all going to be snow piling up. total could be about 20 to 40 centimeters in some areas and then that system will also bring freezing rain in the central plains. a freezing drizzle and freezing rain apparent here in the great lakes, and driving conditions are going to be very dangerous there. southeastern coast, just around florida, that ongoing showers finally tapering off into our monday night. now, seattle, at 4 degrees. in and around oregon and washington, where alerted against air stagnation. it's very foggy up there. los angeles at 16 degrees with heavy rain. houston 17 and new york at 7 degrees. here in europe, let's first talk about the british isles. trust it's just completely under the blue, and if we take a

closer look, close-up of this, it's going to be very wet and windy and that will be persisting for the next few days. here flood warning is forecasted in southwestern england, and just around this area, very strong winds to be felt, and in northern uk, we may see some icy conditions. that will be moving towards central europe, and it's going to have the northern peninsula seeing heavy rain as well as snow in higher elevations. france, germany, precipitation coming and here the only one with thundershowers. temperaturewise, looking at stockholm, 5, moscow 1. athens 18, lisbon, 17 degrees. here's your extended forecast.

once again, the top story at this hour -- workers at japan's tsuruga nuclear plant spent the evening dealing with an emergency. a fire broke out and a reactor compound. the workers managed to put out the flames. the tsuruga nuclear plant is located on japan's sea coast. the japan atomic power company says the fire broke out in a makeshift electric device. the equipment is installed at a facility that processes radioactive waste. no radiation leaked out and the fire did not affect the area. the tsuruga nuclear plant has two reactors, both are offline for maintenance. three other fires have broken out there between march 2010 and october of this year. japan atomic power submit add report last month saying it would take new safety measures to avoid this kind of risk in the future. that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. i'm michio kijima in tokyo.

thank you for watching. bye-bye.