grim prospects. the european debt crisis is dampening confidence among japanese manufacturers. welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. people who make things from cars to electronics say they are feeling pessimistic about their prospects. the bank of japan suggests the tankan survey suggests that it confidence among large manufacturers turn ed negative for first time in six months. the index represents the percentage of companies saying business conditions are good minus those saying they are

unfavorable. the headline index came out at minus four points. down six from the previous survey in september. exporters worried the strong yen is squeezing their earnings and business leaders worry the debt crisis will threaten their profits. they are concerned about recent flooding in thailand that hurt production in exports. those in the electric machinery industry were the most pessimistic at minus 21 points, a huge slide from the previous survey. more optimistic in the large nonmanufacturing sector, confidence there up to plus four points. executives felt buoyed but a pick up in restaurant services and accommodation service, and japan's gradual recovery from the march disaster. the outlook for business conditions worsened to minus 5 indicating that firms are cautious. the semiconductor sector is one of the most affected by weak industrial command. demand.

the world's semiconductor market is expected to have grown by only 1.3% this year. the situation is even worse in japan. the sluggishness in semiconductor industry is now spreading. this electronics equipment maker, jel corporation produces robots that manufacture semi conductors. sales for the next six months are lilkly to be 40% lower than the initial estimate. the company says the drop is due to the effect of the global economic slowdown caused by the european debt problems. >> translator: i don't see orders turning up. i'm afraid this trend will continue. >> also, customers are demanding lower prices with the continued strong yen. the company is sticking to the domestic production for the sake of keeping quality. it is also boosting cooperation with parts makers. the firm is trying to cut costs by changing designs. this will reduce a number of parts and at the same time the firm built an extension to the plant to be ready to deal with

diversifying customer needs. >> translator: no one thing will bring costs down dramatically. so we can do only what is reasonable. there are still areas for improvement. the former head of olympus is lashing out at the man who now runs the optical equipment maker. he says current president, shuichi takayama is not only jeopardizing the reputation of the company, but that of japan's business community. woodford was responding to comments that takayama made earlier in the day. the president says he won't ask everybody on the olympus board of directors to resign. >> translator: we already dismissed the executives who were clearly implicated in the scandal. >> woodford responded a few hours later with repeated criticism. >> mr. takayama, he was on the board which approved the

purchase of the mickey mouse companies for $800 million. he was on the board which approved the $700 million in fees to unknown parties for no work and pay it through the cayman islands. he is responsible. >> olympus fired woodford in october for questioning accounting practices. investigators started poring over the optical equipmentmaker's books almost immediately. executives admit olympus hid almost $1 billion in investment losses it racked up in the 1990s, and they papered over those losses for more than a decade. kaori nagao joins us now. kaori, woodford came out swinging at current president takayama. what points did he make? >> woodford is angry with takayama because earlier this month takayama said the entire board of directors will be should be renewed as part of the

process to fix the company. woodford said olympus needs a clean slate, otherwise the company would lose the crucial financial support. >> this story, if it's not ended in the right way, if takayama can dictate the next management of this company can survive, then, and it won't be me saying this, this will be shareholders overseas, large institutional shareholders, reputable firms, not hedge funds, long-term investors, long-term investors, it will scare them away for good. >> woodford is the whistle blower on olympus. now, he seems to be fashioning himself as a savior. where does his fight go from here? >> despite his harsh word for takayama, woodford says he is willing to talk and meet with this current olympus president. he wants to help shape the new board of directors. right now, takayama is refusing to meet woodford and woodford says, if they can't talk it out,

he will launch a proxy fight. that means he will go straight to investors and shareholders to gain their support and pit them against the board. >> nhk world's kaori nagao reporting tonight. coming up on "newsline," facing the risk. people in fukushima find out how much radiation they might have faced. we will tell you what the figures mean and what they don't. foreign direct investment in china fell for the first time in 28 months in november. investment from overseas stood at $8.757 billion. down 9.8% from a year ago. the figure is the first year-on-year drop since july of 2009. direct investment from the united states in the january-to-november period fell more than 23% from the same period last year. >> translator: the main factor for the decline is weak u.s.

economic growth. and investment from european firms is also on the downturn, due to uncertainty over the regional economic outlook amid the credit crisis. >> the announcement follows a release of other data showing china's exports slowed for three straight months. our reporter in beijing says these trends could raise further concerns about the chinese economy. japan's industry ministry and tokyo electric power company have come up with a new timetable for decommissioning the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. under the plan, the work will take up to 40 years to complete. workers will focus during the first phase on removing used fuel rods from the reactor's spent fuel pools. the work will start with the number four reactor within the next two years. the removed spent fuel will be temporarily store ed within the plant's compound. workers will repair the vessels during the second phase and fill the vessels with water to block the intense radiation from the melted fuel.

they will use an underwater camera to locate a melted fuel and determine the condition. workers will start retrieving the melted fuel from the number 1 through 3 reactors in the third phase. this work should be completed within 25 years. finally, the reactors in their buildings will be dismantled. the work will be performed under difficult conditions, including high levels of radiation. it will also require the use of remote controlled robots. people who used to live around fukushima daiichi power plant worry about how much radiation touched them and how much touched their families. local government officials have released their estimates. they calculated exposure levels over four months starting march 12 the day after the nuclear accident. they looked at a patterns of behavior where people lived and when they evacuated. exposure in nearly half scenario

fell below one millisievert, the government's recommended limit. researchers calculated higher rates for residents of iitate village, up to 19 millisieverts, the benchmark for mandatory evacuation. in this week's "nuclear watch," we find out more about the risks and what the government is doing to respond to them. junya yabucchi is here to cover this for us. junya, how should people read these figures? >> most are just patterns. people should not read these levels as meaning someone who lived in a certain area faced this much radiation. they are a guide to ease worries. nuclear experts say even exposure levels of 20 millisieverts are unlikely to cause health problems. >> how are people reacting? >> well, residents are obviously concerned. take, for example, a woman named ritsuko kanno.

she and her three children lived in iitate at the time of the accident. they moved into a town home about a month later. the japanese government asks residents to leave. kanno and her family left her hometown for fukushima city in mid-may. she is worried, like so many others. >> translator: i'm shocked. they must have known about the risks. evacuation steps should have been taken much earlier. >> she and others believe the government should have done more to protect them. government officials should review whether they took the right steps. >> what can kanno and other residents do now? >> the estimates provide them with some guidelines. again, they are just estimates. they help to answer questions. people in fukushima and elsewhere have been asking all along.

how much exposure did they face? the local government has been conducting health checks on 2 million residents. they are not done by any means. the government officials need to estimate the radiation level each resident exposed to. as soon as possible. >> thanks, junya yabucchi reporting for us tonight. "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 you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." the u.s. declared that its war in iraq is over. president barack obama made the

announcement wednesday saying the nine-year u.s. deployment has come to an end. in the iraqi capital of baghdad, defense secretary leon panetta attended a solemn ceremony. >> thank you for your loyalty to the future of iraq. your dream of an independent and sovereign iraq is now a reality. >> at base in southern iraq u.s. troops handed over security duties to iraqi troops on thursday. the war started in march 2003. nearly nine years of chaotic conditions saw 1.5 million soldiers deployed and 4,500 of them killed. as of now, just over 5,000 remain but almost all are expected to leave by the end of this week. iraqi citizens suffered through the war and terrorist attacks have mixed feelings about the president's declaration. >> translator: i am very happy. almost everybody opposed the

occupation by u.s. troops. the u.s. maintained our security until now. i am worried whether iraqi troops can do the job. >> as the u.s. pulls out, public safety is not improving in iraq. terrorist attacks continue and security checkpoints are everywhere. at least 120,000 iraqi civilians are estimated to have died since the start of the war. the fighting has seriously damaged infrastructure and rebuilding is slow. despite the end of the u.s. presence, the people of iraq face difficult times. before his trip to iraq, u.s. defense secretary visited another war zone -- afghanistan. and any withdraw of u.s. troops from that country is a much more distant prospect. pachari raksawong in our bangkok studio has more. >> afghanistan's president, hamid karzai, met with the u.s. defense secretary in kabul to

discuss military cooperation. amid the deteriorating security situation in the region. during karzai's meeting with leon panetta on wednesday, the two men took pains to praise the success of joint military operations. >> the cooperation of the united states and nato forces with the afghans has brought afghanistan stability overall. >> we have not won, we have not completed this mission. but i do believe we are in the process of making significant progress here. >> the two countries recently agreed that the u.s. would continue to provide military support to afghanistan until 2024, ten years beyond the planned withdrawal of international forces. but the taliban is expected to fight any extended presence of

u.s. troops. it wants the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces from afghanistan. the u.s. blames taliban militants sheltering in pakistan for carrying out insurgent attacks. panetta earlier visited u.s. troops in afghanistan where he repeated demands that pakistan pursue insurgents based on its soil. panetta said america's relationship with pakistan is difficult, but also necessary and important. meantime, pakistan has said it was not responsible for the assassination in september of a former afghan president rabbani. instead, it placed the blame on afghan refugees. the comments will likely prompt a sharp reaction with the afghan government. it had claimed the killing was planned in pakistan. and carried out by a pakistani national. pakistan's foreign minister,

heena rabbani kahn told her government on tuesday that her government could not be held responsible if afghan refugees crossed the border into their own country and attacked the former afghan president. the former leader of afghanistan was killed in a suicide attack at his home blamed by the afghan government on militants who had crossed the border from neighboring pakistan. he was at that time serving as the government's negotiator with the taliban. the presidents of both countries pledged to cooperate to clarify the case when they met last month. but the latest comments may stoke tensions in a bilateral relationship that is already in a fragile state. in india, more than 120 people have died after consuming illegally-produced alcohol. many more remain in hospital. severely ill patients arrived

one after another at this hospital in west bengal on thursday. construction workers and other people who consumed the alcohol had complained of strong headaches and stomach pains since tuesday. for some, the symptoms proved deadly. >> translator: lots of people have been drinking local liquor. it was happening a lot in recent days. i was sleeping when all of a sudden i heard the news that one of my relatives had died. >> police have arrested seven people in connection with making and distributing the liquor. it's believed to have contained methanol, an ingredient meant for industrial use. fatal liquor poisoning is a recurrent problem in india, where strong income disparity leads to the purchase of cheap and often illegal alcohol.

and that will wrap up our bulletin, i'm pachari raksawong in bangkok. >> thanks, pachari. japan is to join a u.n. peacekeeping operation in south sudan. en an engineering unit of the ground self-defense force will land in the newly founded african nation early in the new year. they will help build ports and other infrastructure. troops received a briefing on thursday. nhk world daisuke miyashita kick off the story. >> here sdf members are rounding up troops in the u.n. peace keeping operations there. >> 300 members of the unit attended the briefing in a base north of tokyo. the first party of 200 members is to leave for the country in mid-january. sanitary conditions in south sudan are said to be extremely poor with almost no water or sewage systems. instructors ordered the personnel to take

extra care against infectious diseases and advised not to drink untreated water or eat raw vegetables and to receive shots for malaria caused by mosquito bites. >> translator: every member of a peace-keeping unit is expected to play an important role. i want to make sure no one gets sick and has to be taken off duty. here are some other stories from this hour. we're starting off with the fine art of forecasting volcanic eruptions. japan ghees size mol gists have triggered artificial earthquakes to study the condition of magma at an active volcano. weather researchers detonated dynamite thursday morning. collisions with the substance alter the direction and speed of seismic waves. such measurements will determine how high the hot fluid has heaved underground.

the annual number of eruptions at this volcano has exceeded 900, breaking the previous record of 896 set last year. japan plans to rebuild and strengthen the world's largest breakwater in an effort to avert further tsunami damage. the huge breakwater off iwate prefecture in northern japan collapsed last march. the infrastructure ministry plans to erect a wall five meters high on the shore side of the new breakwater. the new barrier play not withstand the highest waves but will delay their arrival on shore. the project is expected to be completed within five years. japanese prime minister has instructed his cabinet members and business leaders to join forces in selling japanese infrastructure to india. especially the shin cannkansen t train system. competition for such products is severe. he said japan should make every effort to combine its excellent

technologies, operational know-how, human resources and financial competence in marking its unparalleled infrastructure systems overseas. exporting japanese infrastructure is one of the main aims of the governing democrat being party. noda plans to promote japan's strength in the field to indian prime minister, sooemanmohan si when the two leaders meet at the end of the month mai shoji is up next with the weather. hi there, welcome back, let's take a look at your weather conditions. starting off with asia, we have been monitoring the tropical depression that just became a tropical storm. the name is washi, moving at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour. it looks like by friday it will be moving across the heart of the island. and looks like it will be making

landfall in in eastern mindinau. we'll be looking at stormy conditions, as well as high waves which could reach up to about five meters high in the eastern coast especially. we'll definitely keep a monitor of this system. and it looks like this will bring lots of rain, too, as you can see the heavy bulk of rain passing through already in the next 24 hours. let's head over to japan and talk about what's happening here. we had a system that passed through the area leaving behind sea-effect snow in the western saeshds. the sea of japan will still be seeing lots of wintry precipitation in towards the weekend. it looks like it will be continuing unfortunately and piling up an additional of 40 to 50 centimeters in some areas. that will be bringing strong winds that could pick up those high waefves as well.

meanwhile, pacific side looking very dry and calm for you. so tokyo will remain devoid from rain precipitation and we may even see some sunny spells for our friday. temperaturewise, 12 degrees in tokyo. and seoul, beijing, ulan bator, looks like it's going to be a cold day for you. but temperatures will recover and it will be an upswing remaining in the normal average temperatures recovering by sunday. staying warm in manila at 32 degrees. let's head over to europe and talk about the windy situation that's been ongoing. however, the british isles and the scandinavian people, people in those vicinities, finally the winds are going to be winding down. however, people in the west, look at the storm that's going to be coming towards your direction. it's a new atlanta system. it's a strong system.

this is the picture for thursday night. the gusts will be about to 90 to 150 kilometers per hour. that's about gale to hurricane force. so strong winds and also high waves will be picking up in northwestern corner of france. 100 centimeters of snowfall from this storm in switzerland. lots of damage, flooding situation, avalanche and falling trees to be aware of. this looks like it will be bringing the temperatures down as well. paris at 11 for thursday, but by saturday that's going to be dropping into your single digits, around 6 degrees, i believe. lisbon at 19 degrees and rome at 16. here's our extended forecast.

once again, the top stories at this hour. the bank of japan's latest tankan survey suggests confidence among large manufactures turned negative for the first time in six months. the index represents the percentage of companies saying business conditions are good, minus those saying conditions are unfavorable. the deadline index came out at minus four points. that's down six points from the previous survey. and in september. exporters worry the strong yen is squeezing their earnings. and business leaders worry the debt crisis in europe will

threaten their profits. they are also concerned about flooding in thailand that hurt production and exports. those in electric machinery industry were the most pessimistic at minus 21 points. that's a huge slide from the previous survey. there were more optimists in the large nonmanufacturing sector. confidence there was up to plus four points. executives felt buoyed by a pickup in restaurant and accommodation services and japan's gradual recovery from the march disaster. the outlook for business conditions three months ahead worsened to minus five indicate that firms are cautious. the former head of the olympus is lashing out at the man that runs the optical equipment maker. he said the current president, shuichi takayama is not only jeopardizing the reputation of the company but that of japan's business community. woodford was responding to comments that takayama made earlier in the day.

the president said he will not ask everyone on the olympus board of directors to resign. >> translator: we already dismissed the executives who were clearly implicated in this scandal. >> woodford responded a few hours later with repeated criticism. >> mr. takayama, he was on the board which approved the purchase of the mickey mouse companies for $800 million. he was on the board which approved the $700 million in fees to unknown parties and no work and pay it through the cayman islands. he is responsible. >> olympus fired woodford in october for questioning accounting practices. investigators started poring over the optical equipment makers' books almost immediately. executives admit olympus hid more than a billion in investment losses and racked up in the 1990s. they papered over the loss fosor more than a decade.

that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we will be back with more news in a half an hour. i'm michio kijima reporting from tokyo. thank you for watching. bye-bye.