internet. netanyahu netanyah it is friday, february 3rd, 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. kim jong-un's been in charge of north korea more than a month now, and the big question is howl's deal with his southern neighbor. he reached out in a sense. his regime sent an open letter to south korea, urging the country to respond to nine

questions. north korea's state run media is reporting on the national defense commission's letter. it calls on the south to offer apology for not sending an official mission to the north to express condolences over the death of jim jong un's father. it presses the south to can sell upcoming exercises with the united states. it is scheduled to start the end of the month. the north promises to stop criticizing for the sinking of a south korean war ship and shelling of the island in 2010. the south korean government has gun showing a more flexible attitude to inter korean dialogue. it is no longer making apology from the north for recent controversial incidents, a precondition for dialogue. the letter is apparently aimed at increasing pressure on the administration of the south korean president before general

elections in april. south korea's unification ministry says the government won't respond every time the north tries to push through demands at a critical phase of inter core ian ties. kim jong-un is showing interest in high tech gooj et cetera. north korea's leader order ready an ipad 2 when the computer became a hit last spring. he spent several teenage years in switzerland, is said to be an advocate of the computer to modernize the country's industries. ipad 2 is gaining popularity among sons and daughters of senior government officials. in the future, the tablet computer could be linged to the internet by large capacity phone networks set up by an egyptian telecommunications company. the number of users would likely be limited in north korea as the government might be afraid of the loss of social control.

germany's angela merkel is in china, trying to reassure the trading partner of the eu's help. ai from the business team joins us. what took place in discussions? >> merkel's meet white gold the chinese premier, he says he may offer more assistance to europe to help debt problems. wen jiabao met angela merkel. at a joint news conference, he said finding a solution to the crisis is important. wen added china is considering contribute to go the rescue funds, including the european stability mechanism. however, he stopped short of making any explicit financial commitments. over in the u.s., the federal reserve chairman ben bernanke said cutting the country's huge budget deficit is

top priority. the fiscal deficit there is e expected to exceed $1 trillion for the fourth year in a pro. >> the prospect has possibility of a sudden fiscal crisis. >> speaking before the house of representatives budget committee, bernanke indicated it take time for job and housing markets to improve significantly, and the u.s. economy could worsen from spillover effects. he stressed the fed will try to improve the job situation and stabilize prices. he said these would be done by extending the ultra low interest rates to late 2014, and by setting inflation target of 2%. let's check the markets. the dow-jones industrial average ended a touch lower ahead of key jobs data.

to see how stocks are opening here, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, looking at the opening levels, looks like markets may tread a careful line ahead of the u.s. payroll data. >> we could see that. and hopefully won't get any more glitches at the tse when trading was halted at 241 shares due to some malfunction in one of the servers. let's look at the opening levels this friday morning. a bit of a mixed picture. topix up slightly, nikkei down 15 points. nikkei closed in the positive, despite the half day trading suspension on key issues, stocks like sony in trouble. they came out with earnings yesterday after the close saying that net loss, reporting net loss of $2 billion and also saying that it expects a net loss for the rest of the fiscal

year close to $3 billion. other major companies like hi tach ee have a net loss, profits fell 45%. and keeping to its outlook for the fiscal year on hopes of increase in sales in its automotive systems, and a shift away from consumer electronic goods to infrastructure, it, and electrical power. let's look at some of the fx levels, currency levels this morning. you can see the euro lost a little ground against the dollar and yen compared to late hours yesterday. you can see there 100.03-06. >> ramin, given the surge in commodities, some commodities late last year, japan's trading houses look to have come through in pretty good shape. >> indeed. we saw arise in commodity prices and the likes of mitsubishi corporation, mitt sue ian

company, all posting record profits and that's due to the rise in commodity prices. we did see a jump in copper, gold, silver, and resources there. we did see a significant jump in profits for japanese trading houses. we will monitor how they trade today as well. >> strong gains there. but speaking of earnings, more to come from energy and industrials. >> definitely a bit of a focus today, ai. we hear from mitsui, mitsubishi, and inpex, and gs yuasa. more on the green side, they make batteries for electrical cars. we will keep track of that. a lot of earnings to go through today. but nikkei and topix slightly in the negative this friday. back to you. >> all right, thanks for that. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. as ramin said in his report,

sony is facing a huge loss. the newly appoint ceo announced his resolution. e ceo announced his resolutiod ceo announced his resolution. >> translator: i feel a sense of crisis. we are faced with a tough situation. if we don't act quickly, we will be beaten by the competition. >> he will take the helm of the electronics maker april 1st when the current president howard stringer steps down. he vows to turn around their loss making television business by cutting costs through more outsourcing. the tv operations are set to make a loss for the eight this straight year, offered to raise profitability boosting digital cameras and game consoles. let's look at the latest market

figures. >> that's the latest in business this hour. europeans are bracing for more snow and freezing conditions. the eastern region gripped by a strong cold snap since last week, leaving at least 120 people dead. in ukraine and poland, the cold wave was responsible for 30 deaths thursday. the two nations have seen more than 90 people die from temperatures of minus 30 degrees celsius. record snowfall and low temperatures have been observed in italy and greece.

usually have relatively mild winters. in southwestern serbia, massive snowfall blocked a mountain road and left 11,000 stranded. the severe cold snap is forecast to continue this week, and weather officials in europe urge caution. people in parts of japan have been snowed under this winter. this is what life is like for folks living on the sea of japan coast. they're walking through whiteouts. all of the snow is making driving difficult. the snow piled up more than three meters, double or triple the average. >> we seldom have such heavy snows as this. it has been 40 years since i came here, and i have never been through anything like this. >> avalanche killed three people wednesday. they were at a hot spring resort. the police and fire department say strong winds collapsed surface snow on a 20 meter high

slope. the next day, all you could see of the hot spring bath were bits of plastic roofing, indicating the huge power of the avalanche. and while parts of europe and japan are dealing with a winter wallop, things are unusually mild on the east coast of the united states. you can see and feel the difference in washington, d.c. because a jet stream is flowing farther north than usual. trees are blooming on the potomac several weeks earlier than usual. >> it's amazing. i had a wool coat and a scarf and a sweater. >> washington saw daytime high of 21 degrees celsius tuesday, 14 degrees above normal. scientists in japan figured out a possible new treatment for degenerative diseases such as

alzheimer's and parkinson's. it involves controlling certain immune cells. these cells are usually life savers for humans, but they can be harmful when they enter the central nervous system. immune cells kill path generals that get into the body. research has shown some can worsen development of degenerative diseases when they enter the nervous system. scientists figured how immune cells moved from the blood to brain and spinal cord. associate profess ma sobbingy murakami did the tes >> translator: we found the mechanism how immune cells enter the central nervous system. using that mechanism, we can

control the movement of immune cells by opening and closing the holes artificially. >> professor murakami added it could lead to new cancer treatments in addition to helping slow onset of degenerative diseases. japan will begin test drilling for methane hydrate off the pacific coast. it will be the first attempt app is widely seen as the future of energy. it is formed deep underground when methane gas is trapped in water crystals. the material can be extracted and burned like natural gas. japan oil gas and metals national corporation says drilling will begin mid february, about 70 kilometers off the peninsula in central japan. the organization will try to extract it by next january to

see whether stable, long term drilling is possible. >> translator: extracting it effectively is a big challenge. if we can start commercial production, methane hydrate will be one of the few domestically produced energy resources. >> it is believed the test site could supply the equivalent of 14 years of natural gas consumption. for ten months, tokyo electric power company could only guess what was happening in the reactors that suffered melt downs at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. last month, it got its first clear view. they sent a fiberoptic camera into one of the reactors. on today's nuclear watch, we look at what they found and failed to find.

yoshiyuki yamasaki has this story. >> it was the first chance too see the vessels. tepco needs this information in order to maintain a stable state of cold shut down. and ways to remove the fuel. until now, the company only had estimates based on computer simulations. it was carried out at the number two reactor. endoscope was put in a hole about seven meters from the bottom of the reactor's containment vessel. the camera was designed for industrial use and can with strand highly radioactive environments. these are images taken by the endosco endoscope. conditions in the vessel made it

difficult to take clear pictures. white spots are potentially caused by high radiation. poor lighting also reduced visibility. what the video revealed is a harsh environment that no human can be allowed to enter. but tepco did manage to capture several useful images. this one shows pipes that are partially rusted. give a take on more useful pictures. >> translator: the coating inside the containment vessel might be peeling off in places. images tell us the interior of the vessel suffered no major

damage. >> tepco failed to locate the surface of the coolant water. that was the main purpose of the survey. the camera took this virtual image inside the vessel. the grating is four meters from the bottom of the vessel. tepco expected it to be covered by water. tepco collected other evidence in the survey to show that the fuel is being kept relatively cool. it measured the temperature inside the containment vessel for the first time during the survey. it was 44.7 degrees celsius, low enough to indicate that fuel is in cool and stable condition. tepco needed to study the situation in the reactors to prepare for decommissioning

work. >> translator: i believe the saying a picture is worth a thousand words. this survey was the first step for tepco to ascertain what's going on inside reactors rather than relying on assumption. >> getting a clear look inside the history is essential for tepco to develop a safe and efficient plan for decommissioning. it will attempt another inspection after developing a new type of camera that can go further inside and get a clearer view. "newsline," 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. "the road ahead" examines the efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline". palestinians in the gaza strip have harassed a convoy carrying the secretary general. ban ki-moon. growing discontent over the ability to facilitate peace in the region. the incident occurred thursday when they tried to enter the local u.n. office. palestinians pummelled the convoy and yelled go back. earlier in the day, palestinians threw shoes and other articles at the same u.n. convoy when it crossed into gaza from israel. the u.n. provides humanitarian assistance and programs for palestine. those efforts are usually welcomed by local residents. >> well, it is not surprising

when you come to gaza that people who live here who orchestrated and who have been so long deprived of elementary rights, that they come and demonstrate. >> the syrian president abbas kept a lock on power despite a year of protests. he tells nhk his grip may be slipping. his group is in contact with government insiders that turned against us. the syrian national council spoke from london. insists the ruling administration is losing support, but he added the government is still being propped up by people who have benefitted from 40 years of assad family rule. >> we can talk with some officials inside the regime to sort out the after.

>> he criticized russia for standing in the way of a security council resolution on syria. he is urging other countries to push russia into agreeing to put the peace plan to a vote. concerns are rising over unrest in egypt after scores of people died in clashes between supporters of rival soccer teams. after the match ended on wednesday night in the northern city of port said, home team supporters ran onto the pitch and began chasing and attacking players and fans of the visiting team. police officers appeared to be overwhelmed and did not intervene. local media say many people were injured in a stampede as panicked crowds rushed to leave the stadium. egypt's health ministry says more than 70 people died and hundreds were injured. some of the attackers were reportedly armed with knives and sticks. people criticized the police for failing to prevent the riot that turned into the worst case of soccer violence in egypt's history.

some blame the military and interior ministry for a lack of security by allowing weapons into the stadium. mohamed husseain tantawi has promised a thorough investigation into the tragedy. people in tokyo are dealing with sub zero temperatures. many others are seeing extreme temperatures. we have the world forecast. hello. time for the weather update. let's begin with east asia. the coldest air of the season is blanketing much of the northern sections. yesterday in seoul, the high was only minus 9 degrees, which is more than 10 degrees lower than average, and in tokyo, the morning low dipped sub zero. as we have been reporting, heavy snow has been pounding the western side of japan.

the peak is over. western portions will see on and off snow showers. additional 50 centimeters expected in the next 24 hours. on-going snow could raise risk of avalanche and create further traffic disturbances. as we pull back, a high pressure system is in control, bringing dry conditions to much of china and the korean peninsula. light showers in southeastern corner of china are gradually easing, that will redevelop starting saturday. today's highs look like this. expecting 15 degrees in tie pay, light showers, 5 in shanghai, to the north, lots of cold temperatures. minus 3 in seoul, 7 in koch -- tokyo. moving on to the americas, a

winter storm is producing blizzard conditions to much of the central rockies. the heaviest snow can be found in eastern colorado. the system will move slowly towards the east, and produce snow in the central plains on friday. across the south, thundershowers developing, oklahoma and texas continue to see threat of severe weather into friday. but behind it, a high pressure system is bringing settled conditions to much of the western u.s. expecting 23 in los angeles and 25 in houston. in d.c., much cooler on thursday, but still warmer than average with 11 degrees, and 17 degrees in atlanta. finally let's go to europe. shivering cold conditions continue. a high pressure system is pulling arctic air to the south, bringing extremely cold temperatures to many countries. and the cold air is colliding with warmer air from africa,

producing unstable conditions through the mediterranean countries. wintry precipitation and strong winds continue here throughout friday. meanwhile, a new system moves into the western british isles, bringing snow showers to the western section of the island within the next 24 hours. so friday, cold conditions start to cover much of the iberian peninsula. 2 degrees expected in lisbon. the cold weather will continue into the weekend. the exception is going to be turkey. highs will return to more seasonal levels. expecting 12 degrees in athens friday. here is the extended forecast.

our lead story, kim jong-un has been in charge of north korea more than a month and the big question is howl deal with his southern neighbor. the new leader reached out in a sense. his regime sent an open letter

to south korea, urging the country to respond to nine questions. north korean media is reporting on the letter. the document calls on the south to offer an apology for not sending an official mission to the north to express condolences over the death of kim jong-un's father, kim john-il. the letter presses the south to can sell upcoming joint military exercises with the united states. the drill scheduled to start the end of this month. as we mentioned, the letter contains questions for the south. the north asks it to promise to stop criticizing it for the sinking of a south korean war ship and shelling of young popping island in 2010. the south car kor ian government has shown more flexible attitude to the dialogue. the letter is apparently aimed at increasing pressure on the administration of south korean

president before the general elections in april. south korea's unification ministry says the government won't respond every time the north tries to push through demands at a critical phase of inter tori and ties. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." of "newsline." thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com