welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. olympus has met a key deadline. it submitted its april to september earnings report fulfilling its obligation to the tokyo stock exchange. the optical equipmentmaker could be delisted, meaning its shares would not be traded. olympus has been in turmoil ever since executives admitted it hid more than a billion dollars in investment losses. the company says it suffered a net loss of $400 million in

april to september quarter. compare that to the net profit forecast of about $26 million issued back in august. a year ago its half year net profit was $49 million. olympus also revised its financial statements for the past five years. net assets are now pegged at around $590 million, down from about $1.9 billion as of june this year. the sharp decline came after olympus reported losses that have been kept off the books for years. a strict violation of its asset value is another factor. now olympus met its deadline to submit its earnings report, will the company be able to avoid being delisted? >> yes, for the time being. but now we are awaiting the final decision by a tokyo stock exchange. according to tse rules, any company that fortifies its

earnings can be delisted. an investigative panel said the cover-up continued for more than a decade. and it implicated top executives. those factors could damage the markets confidence in olympus t the tse is expected to make its decision in a month or two. >> any developments on how olympus plans to overcome this turmoil by renewing its management? >> current president takayama said last week the company will force about 70 executives in charge since 1990s to take responsibility for the account fraud. he says managers will be replaced as soon as the company maps out the concrete restructuring plan. and takayama has also said he will propose a plan to reshuffle the board at the next shareholders meeting, which could happen in february at the earliest. but he faces a big challenge

from former ceo michael woodford. woodford is trying to convince shareholders and employees he should get his old job back, that he's the right person to lead the company. he says takayama and other executives should step aside. >> they described as yes men, they shouldn't decide the future. not those people after what's happened. what would be very sad, i think, and send a terrible message to the world if there was a dichotomy between japanese institutional shareholders and everyone else. and i don't think that would be healthy or positive. so i hope, i desperately hope there can be an accommodation, a pragmatic view. but i have to prepare otherwise for -- to give the shareholders a choice. >> woodford says he wants to

avoid a confrontation and that he will meet takayama anytime to negotiate a way forward. and some big foreign shareholders openly back his return as ceo. but it remains to be seen how much support he can get from japanese shareholders and employees. woodford is expected to hold a news conference on thursday. >> all right, thanks, kaori. kyushu electric power company has submitted the results of the safety tests on its nuclear reactors. the company's hoping to restart three idle reactors at its last operational reactor is about to go offline. kyushu electric tested two reactors at sendai nuclear power plant in kagoshima prefecture and one at genkai in saga prefecture. the results show the reactors can withstand a tsunami of 13 to 15 meters high. nuclear power generation accounts for about 40% of the company's output.

when the genkai plant's number four reactor shut down for a checkup on december 25th, all the companies reactors will be offline. the utility plans to ask customers to cut their power consumption by at least 5%. the utility needs the approval of the central and local governments. but genkai mayor hideo kishimoto says resuming operations will not be easy. he is demanding more transparency from the government. south korean fishermen have protested against china. the rally arose after a chinese boat captain stabbed a south korean coast guard officer. the officer was part of a clampdown on chinese illegal fishing in the south exclusive economic zone. about 400 members from fishery cooperatives across the country rallied in the capital. >> translator: the chinese government must control illegal fishing so that marine resources are not depleted in the future.

>> participants read statements demanding an immediate halt to illegal fishing and also demanded that china pay damages to south korean fishermen. they later took the statement to the chinese embassy to hand to the ambassador. but no embassy official would meet with the group. one participant had this to say. >> translator: chinese vessels are coming close to our coasts. the country's indiscriminate fishing is threatening to use up fish populations. >> the fishermen also urged the south korean government to step up efforts to prevent illegal fishing by chinese boats. and now an attacker that shot a metal ball at the south korean embassy at beijing as china tries to diffuse tensions between the two countries. embassy spokespeople say staff found cracks in a first floor window on tuesday and they also discovered a metal ball near the

window. it's believed the ball was shot from an air gun, although not confirmed. an embassy official told nhk no one was injured and no one heard the glass break. the official said nothing like this has happened before. chinese foreign ministry spokesperson stressed on wednesday that necessary measures have been taken. he says that more police officers have been deployed to tighten security. >> translator: with both countries efforts, we believe diplomatic relations between china and south korea will not be affected. >> china is apparently trying to ease tensions between the two countries. a new monument near japan's embassy in seoul honors the so-called comfort women of world war ii. the south korean civic group unveiled the statue for the women forced into prostitution by japanese soldiers. the group was staging its rally at the japanese embassy.

they have been rallying there every wednesday since 1992. demanding an apology and compensation for the forced prostitution. the 1.2 meter high statue of a girl seated on the chair expresses the girlhood of the enslaved women. japan asked the south korean government not to allow the statue saying it would hurt bilateral relations. it was allowed due to a recent court ruling on the country's constitution. the court in august ruled the government is obliged to negotiate with japan for compensation for the women. political analysts say the matter could cause new diplomatic friction ahead of south korean president lee myung-bak's visit to japan on saturday. next we go to patchari raksawong in bangkok to find out what's going on in the region. >> pakistani prime minister is seeking assurances from the united states as his government reassesses bilateral relations. ties between the two countries

have deteriorated following a deadly air strike against pakistani forces last month. gilani made a statement on tuesday setting up conditions necessary to maintain cooperation. >> under no circumstances would we accept flagrant transdirection of our territorial frontiers. this remains our base line and there can be no compromise on sovereignty. >> pakistan's summoned its ambassadors to 15 countries including the united states, china and india to attend a rare two-day meeting to discuss policy towards the united states. gilani urged the u.s. to offer assurances that pakistan would never again come under cross border attack from international forces stationed in afghanistan. last month's air strike on pakistani border positions killed 24 soldiers.

gilani told the meeting that the raid constituted a huge setback in bilateral cooperation with the united states. staying in pakistan, the conservative muslim country has been criticized for gender inequality. in 2010, at least 8,000 incidents were reported of violence against women. but in a landmark move, the country has passed a set of laws that could help protect millions of women from abuse. pakistan's parliament unanimously passed the bills on monday. they increase punishments in cases when women accused of misdeeds are attacked with acid, often by members of their own family. they also target practices such as forced marriages, unions with child brides, and preventing women from inheriting property. human rights activists praised the new laws.

>> this time it was to my pleasant surprise that even the religious parties were together against these practices. >> the world economic forum ranks pakistan as the world's third worst country for gender disparities in health, education, politics and economic opportunity. and that will conclude our bulletin for today. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. >> patchari, thanks. many developed nations have started to look into alternative forms of energy. but sweden has already made the switch. of all the energy consumed there, about half is from renewable sources. so what is the key to sweden's successful shift? next on 101, we talk to a man who played a key role in cracking the nation's energy policy.

>> joining me now is tomas who left his job as director general of the swedish energy agency to take on the position as executive chairman in september. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> what was your impression after meeting with the government officials and people handling those energy issues? >> there is a strong interest and commitment to develop things in japan as well. japan has very good natural resources for renewables as well, and the main obstacle is that the excess to the market is not there, the monopolies controlling the grid and the existing power plants are not very effective in letting new competitors on to the market. >> talking of the changes, your company, sweden, carried out a shift in its energy solutions. let's take some time to see what happened there. the 1979 accident at the u.s.

three mile island nuclear plant had a big impact on sweden's energy policy. in a national referendum, swedes voted to gradually phase out nuclear power plants. this was opposed by the major power companies and the nation's nuclear dependence increased at one point n 1996, sweden ended the utilities monopoly on supplying electricity. now consumers have a number of companies to choose from. according to the way they want their electricity to be generated. for example, they can choose a company that uses both hydroelectric and nuclear power or one that uses hydroelectric and wind power and so on. the more consumer chooses power generated by a specific source such as wind power, the more revenue goes to making its production more efficient and more accessible. so in sweden, ending the

monopoly of a major power company seems to have been the biggest theme there. who took the initiative in bringing about such a big change? >> i think the most important actors were some clever economists and some civil servants who saw the potential economic benefits of opening up the electricity market to competition. individuals, consumers can choose what electricity they buy themselves. but, of course, they can also choose to favor companies who they know are buying renewables and keeping their production processes having a good environmental performance. so there are direct and indirect ways you can influence how the resource use is functioning. >> existing power companies and industrial users, didn't they want the status quo, there weren't any protests against opening up the market. >> the electricity used in the industry saw the benefits of

competition, making possible lower electricity prices. so they were all in favor. among the power producers, there was initially great resistance. they enjoyed their privileges controlling the electricity grid and the production facilities, so they did not want change. they initially resisted it. but then arguments were brought forward that only those who were inefficient would actually lose from competition. power companies who knew that they had efficient power plants and would be able to compete had nothing to fear t the was appar that no power company wanted to appear as one who knew that they were inefficient. so then they were suddenly all in favor. >> but then there seemed to be another trend in the world where emerging economies like india and china building more nuclear power plants to procure the energy that they need, how do

you view this? >> well, the nuclear construction in the world is not very large. and what really makes china impressive is the fact that they build approximately one and a half wind power plants per hour, day and night, throughout the year. and over the last two years, the prices of solar pvs have dropped dramatically. and the cost of wind power has also dropped significantly. and today, compared to two years ago, i think there are many more people who expect renewables to be the immediate solution and not the solution in 20, 30, 40 years time. >> well, thank you very much, tomas, executive chairman of the japan renewable energy foundation. >> thank you. u.s. lawmakers are weighing some hard checks on iran. they want the country to halt its nuclear weapons program. so they're considering stricter limits on financial institutions doing business through iran's central bank. the americans believe new

measures would hurt an economy that depends heavily on revenue from its oil exports. iran defied a series of u.n. security council resolutions on its nuclear development program. the sanctions would bar foreign financial institutions that do business with the central bank from opening or maintaining corresponding operations in the u.s. legislators could approve the bills later this week. a bipartisan majority in both chambers supports the idea. the measures would have a severe impact on countries that import oil from iran. its central bank processes these deals. the u.s. journal that compiles the statistics from about crude oil says iran confirmed reserves of 177 -- 137 billion barrels as of december last year. the amount is the fourth highest in the world behind saudi arabia, venezuela and canada. iran's daily output of about 3.7 million barrels is fifth most

after russia, saudi arabia, the united states and china. nhk interviewed a senior researcher at the institute of energy economy of japan to gain insight into new sanctions the u.s. is expected to impose. >> iran's nuclear activities hasn't slowed down. they have continued. they have continued to make progress in its nuclear activities, not very fast, but slowly, but steadily. so -- and i think the united states has started to think that they really have to do something, have to take very strong measure to actually have some impact on that process. it is possible that iran will react very strongly and it is possible that iran will maybe talk about the strength of homes, that they will not let any ships cross the strait of homs and things like that.

in that case, it is very possible that the price of crude oil will go up as the markets responds to such kind of statements. just seconds after japan's massive earthquake in march, people started sharing critical information on mobile phones and social networking sites with telephone lines down are, more modern devices stepped in. among the lessons of the catastrophe, technology can be a lifeline. it underscored how vital their system could be. nhk world explains. >> reporter: every year tokyo hosts an exhibition to showcase the latest advances and applications of the project. launched in japan in 1984, it stands for the real time operating system. it is a system that can track and connect different devices

including mobile phones, digital cameras, cars or even satellites. >> tron is being used in many devices. the technology is invisible. in construction terms it is like the internal framework of a building. >> reporter: tron was developed for many purposes. the earthquake in japan and the flood in thailand has put a spotlight on the key issue, saving lives. this year's event showcases many examples of how this technology can be used to overcome natural disasters. whether it is an earthquake, a tsunami or a landslide, the first priority after disaster is to locate and rescue survivors. and this device could significantly increase chances of survival.

each tag has its own i.d. and can transmit and receive location data. let's see if it works. i'm going to hide a tag in this pi pile. we will see if they can find it. as soon as they arrive, the team sets up fiber wireless on the outside. the tron system is ready to search for a signal. the margin of error, the tron system has a wider range of

application applications. this space station includes satellite communications equipment and a solar power generator. it will be a lifeline in emergencies. first, it will register any card with the tron system. you can swipe your card over the machine. your family can access your information in the same type of machine, find where you're taking shelter and whether you're injured. >> translator: since it uses satellites rather than ground-based infrastructure, it will be helpful if there is a disaster. >> translator: it seems like it will become useful if everyone has an ic card registered with the scheme. i guess that's the next challenge.

>> translator: i want to make them more useful so they can solve problems, not just in everyday life, but at times of disaster. they could speed up reconstruction, for example. >> reporter: japan is testing away to use the tron system. the question n is whether it can be used in other countries. daisuke azuma, nhk world, tokyo. maya shoji is up next with weather. >> hi. welcome back. let's talk about weather now. starting off with asia, we have a tropical depression, you can barely see it, but it is going to become a tropical storm and it is heading towards palau island by thursday afternoon. it will be moving across the island and toward southern philippines. it is directly not affecting southern philippines as of

today. however we will definitely continue to monitor this system as it looks like it is going to be keeping it in its intensity as it approaches the islands. let's talk about japan, where this low pressure system is moving across the hokkaido area. northern japan will be seeing sea effect snow, in the sea of japan side and looks like it may continue in towards the end of the week. lots of snow will pile up in hokkaido, as well as waves could be picking up to about three to four meters high. we're talking about snowfall approaching about -- an additional 30 centimeters in some parts of hokkaido. the rest of japan looking very clear and dry. we may even see some sunny spells in tokyo. as for temperature, tokyo, we're looking at 16 degrees, but we have a cold wave pulling in from northeastern china. beijing, already seeing zero degrees. seoul at zero as well. and tokyo, this temperature is going to be dropping down in

towards the end of the week. we may even see single digit for the high for saturday. now let's head over to north america and talk about the winter storm. you can see the clouds moving towards the great lakes. this is going to be bringing very cold air behind the system, so as for thursday, we're going to be looking at nebraska, south dakota, going to be dealing with freezing rain to come for you. this system has a front that will be swiping across the southern plains. and that's going to be where we're going to be seeing severe outlook. thunderstorms, hail, damaging winds, these are all going to be of concern for our wednesday. we have seattle at five degrees temperaturewise, just around this area still stagnation is going to be a problem. but new incoming system which is going to be bringing upper elevation snow as well as lower elevation rain showers, that could be a minor relief for the earth's stagnation problem out there. denver, 6 degrees.

houston at 24. heading over to europe, we're talking about very windy conditions for a few weeks already. looks like that's going to be prevailing. these are the great gale reports we have for our wednesday. 100 kph and upper 60s, mid-70s have been reported. in england, we're going to be seeing very strong winds, destructive damaging winds could be possible there. still snow, wintry precipitation could be even approaching 5 centimeters high in some areas in england. still france and iberian peninsula, high waves could be an issue. this is another separate low pressure system that will be active around the balkans. and we may see some isolated thunderstorms there. temperaturewise, lisbon at 17 degrees. london at 8. stockholm at 4 degrees. moscow at 5. here is the extended forecast.

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.