welcome to "newsline." i'm michio kijima in tokyo. iran says it has developed nuclear fuel rods. iranian president ahmadinejad in tehran on wednesday says it has also developed a new centrifuge which speeds up the enrichment plo cess. some western states say the enrichment program could be used

for military purposes. they have been calling on iran to halt the program or face economic sanctions. the most recent development is expected to draw a strong reaction from the west and israel. the man many say will be the next leader of china received a familiar welcome at the white house. xi jinping is expected to take over this fall as head of the ruling communist party. already the chinese vice president is getting a rough ride. u.s. president barack obama lectured him on beijing's record on trade and human rights. nhk world reports from washington. >> thank you. >> reporter: president obama has certainly heard xi jinping's name. his opinions remain somewhat of a mystery. so the two took time in the oval office to get to know each other a little better. obama got right to it, pressing

xi on some of the same issues he has stressed with other chinese leaders. >> we want to work with china to make sure that everybody is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economics system, and that includes ensuring that there is a balanced trade flow. >> reporter: u.s. leaders failed to raise human rights when they meet with their chinese counterparts. obama, too, had some advice. >> expanding power and prosperity also comes with increased responsibilities. >> reporter: xi said china and the u.s. should build a partnership based on mutual respect and interests. still, he suggested the two need to acknowledge their differences. the obama administration is extending an unprecedented level of hospitality to xi. vice president joe biden is

accompanying him to most of his destinations. that's not going over well with republicans. they've argued for some time that obama is too soft on china. nhk world, washington. >> xi met with his counterpart, u.s. vice president joe biden, at a luncheon held by secretary of state hillary clinton in xi's honor in washington on tuesday. the two vice presidents got into a debate over the human rights situation in china. biden criticized china's human rights policies while xi defended his government. >> we see our advocacy for human rights as a fundamental aspect of our foreign policy and we believe a key to the prosperity and stability of all societies. >> biden said he believes the situation in china is worsening. in response, xi stressed china has made tremendous progress

over the past 30 years. >> translator: we will, in light of china's national conditions, continue to take concrete measures and craft effective policies to promote social fairness, justice, and harmony and push forward china's cause of human rights. >> xi said that when it comes to human rights, there is never a best scenario, only a better one with room for improvement. he added china has a huge population and the different regions of the country are in different stages of development. he also said that china's prepared to enter into constructive dialogue on human rights on an equal footing with the united states and the rest of the international community. meanwhile, the chinese vice president's visit was met with protests outside the white house. more than 100 demonstrators, including people from china's xinjiang uygur and tibetan

regions, were there to protest actions by the chinese government. during his meeting with xi jinping, president barack obama expressed frustration over the human rights situation in china. the protesters condemned the chinese government and urged an immediate halt to chinese oppression. they shouted the chinese government should be ashamed of itself. >> our hope is that when president obama and vice president joe biden meet with chinese vice president xi jinping would raise, in addition to other security and trade issues, would raise human rights issues, specifically in the case of uighur muslims and tibetan buddhists. >> incidents of self mutilation and clashes with police have caused several deaths in the ethnic tibetan regions of china. the head of japan's nuclear safety commission says he acknowledges the government's guidelines for nuclear safety are insufficient and need to be reviewed.

he made the remark on wednesday at the diet panel investigating the fukushima nuclear accident. >> we have to admit the guidelines do not lay out effective measures against a tsunami. we also apologize for inappropriate wording, saying that it is not necessary to prepare for long-term power loss. >> he also spoke about the handling of data from a computer forecasting system called speedy. the system is designed to predict the spread of radioactive substances. he said it is a misunderstanding to say this a faster evacuation would have been possible if the data had been released more quickly. but he did admit the data should have been disclosed earlier. the former director of the israeli intelligence agency has warned of chaos in the middle east. he is concerned what could happen if the government of

president bashar al assad fell in neighboring syria. >> i think it is very, very dangerous to have a situation which there is chaos in syria. there may be a leadership vacuum. who will be the leader of syria? >> he also expressed concern that the ongoing unrest in syria could lead to weapons falling to the hands of hezbollah, a xia muslim group based in lebanon that is hostile to israel. he said israel cannot overlook situation that threaten the military balance in the middle east. an explosion hit a major oil pipeline in homs. the cause of the blast is unknown. the video footage reportedly shot near the explosion site shows black smoke rising from a pipeline and blanketing the city. government forces had been intensifying their offensive in

homs in opposition stronghold for more than ten days. there has been a series of blasts at pipelines since the military crackdown began. local human rights activists say the government tanks surrounding homs are gradually advancing toward the city center. more than 6,000 have reportedly died in president bashar al assad's crackdown since protests began last march. next, we go to bangkok to find out what's going on in the region. >> investigators are hunting for clues following tuesday's explosions in bangkok that wounded five people including an assailant. the united states and israel have suggested the blasts could be linked to early ins accideci that took place in india and georgia. nhk world has more. >> reporter: 24 hours after three explosions rocked central bangkok, two of the three suspects have been arrested. police say both men hold iranian passports. they have been charged with

causing an illegal explosion in the public area and attempting to kill police officers. the blast happened one day after a car bomb went off in india and another device was discovered in georgia. israeli diplomats were apparently the target in both cases. israel accused iran and lebanese ally hezbollah of being responsible. the united states has implied that iran may also be connected to the incident in bangkok. >> these events do come on the heels of other disrupted attacks targeted at israel and western interests. including iranian sponsored attack and hezbollah attack in bangkok, thailand. >> reporter: the iran denied involvement, calling it an israeli plot to damage iran's relationship with thailand.

security in bangkok has been tightened since last month when a man was arrested for possession of explosives. the man was suspected of having links to hezbollah. but a thai government spokesperson told nhk world that the latest event was unrelated. the bomb blasts in thailand happened as confrontation between iran and israel intensifies over iran's nuclear development. all eyes are now focused on investigations being conducted by thai authorities in their bid to find out more about those believed to be responsible. nhk world, bangkok. turning to myanmar, a european commissioner has wrapped up a three-day visit saying the eu may lift sanctions if myanmar holds a free election

and takes further steps towards democracy. european commissioner for development peyble held talks with myanmar's president. and pro democracy leader aung san suu kyi. he later told reporters in bangkok on tuesday that he was optimistic about myanmar's progress. >> it is a process but the ongoing process gives a lot of optimism. >> meanwhile, campaigning for landmark elections has begun in earnest. aung san suu kyi is contesting a seat in the low-income area on the outskirts of yangon. nhk world followed the nobel laureate to appeal for their support. >> reporter: opposition leader aung san suu kyi has begun campaigning in yangon. she visited the constituency on saturday. her first official campaign appearance in the district she

hopes to represent. >> translator: the most important thing is to create new jobs for people who are unemployed. if you believe in us, i promise to implement this without fail. >> translator: aung san suu kyi will definitely win. >> translator: we believe that she will improve our living standards. >> reporter: komu district, south of yangon, is home to about 80,000 borders. farming is the area's biggest industry and most residents are from low-income households. komu is home to many people from the ethnic minority. aung san suu kyi chose to run for the komu constituency instead of somewhere closer to her home in yangon.

one reason is to emphasize her policies related to poverty reduction and ethnic minorities. the five members of this household are ethnics living in komu. after declaring her candidacy, aung san suu kyi transferred her resident certificate to their home. >> translator: we are very fortunate to be able to welcome such a famous leader. everyone in our district is rooting for her. >> reporter: two other candidates are contesting the komu seat. some are ruling from the solidarity and the ruling party. with the hefty backing of the

party, some are trying to garner support by emphasizing its achievements, improving local infrastructure. >> translator: the usdp has been trying to provide infrastructure in this district, creating roads as well as improving agricultural irrigation. we'll see whether our efforts are recognized by local people in the results of the election. >> reporter: even though aung san suu kyi is at a disadvantage when it comes to campaign financing, she's expected to win by a landslide. >> translator: everyone knows that myanmar can only move forward by voting for aung san suu kyi. she will definitely win. >> reporter: the elections will be a benchmark in determining

members progress towards democracy. attention is focused on whether the elections will be free and fair. and just how many votes aung san suu kyi is able to win. jun kobayashi, nhk world, yangon. thailand is taking steps to rebuild its reputation as a manufacturing hub in the wake of recent floods. a deaf straited industrial park has begun construction of a huge wall designed to protect against future flooding. the complex near bangkok was among several industrial zones hit by last year's record floods. weeks after, most water receded. many factories are still struggling to restart operations. on wednesday, a ceremony was held to make the laying of the first piece of the flood wall.

>> this flood protection wall will help them to protect the flood area in the next season. >> translator: there is only so much one industrial complex can do to fight massive amounts of water. so i'm pinning my hopes on the government's flood control efforts too. >> when finished, the 3.5 meter wall will stretch 20 kilometers around the massive complex at a cost of about $19 million. and that's it for our bulletin today. an increasing number of developed countries are struggling with a similar dilemma, aging populations and swelling pension payments. the japanese government is acknowledging the inevitable. lawmakers are considering new legislation that will oblige

companies to hold on to any employee who wants to keep working until the age of 65. nhk world has been following this story for us. why is this necessary? >> japan's population is among the most rapidly aging in the world. and what's more, the country has the highest debt among the industrial eaized nations, that more than twice the sis of tze gdp. pension payments will increase debt even further. there is a catch. right now most japanese retire at age 60. but they can wait several years before they receive their pension. now the government has decided to raise the pension gradually from 60 up to 65. >> how are companies reacting? >> well, nhk took a survey earlier this month of 100 asian companies, many of them oppose

the plan. 35% said they are against the publication to employ people for a further five years. only 9% of companies approve. those opposed say if the extension becomes compulsory, they'll have no choice but to review their pay scales and limit the number of college graduates they hire. >> you're not the only one working on this story. we visited one company that adopt a practice on its own volition. let's look at what he found. >> reporter: this textile maker manufacturers parts for schools and other uniforms and employed about several hundred people. a few years ago, the company extended the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65. the reason was it wanted to hold on to its highest skilled workers. but raising the retirement age didn't come cheap.

the sferns experienced workers the top of the pay scale as opposed to new hires who start at the bottom. to help with this problem, they decided to cut the salary of the best workers by an average of 25%. retirement age created a lot of problems. how to keep the older workers motivated while paying them less. so the company introduced a results-oriented pay system for the better employees and now they build the best salary of each worker once a year. if the performance is satisfactory, the wages could increase by up to 20% a year. another concern was the impact the new system would have on the

hiring of new graduates. the company knew that if it refrained from employing younger workers, the age structure of the employees would become distorted. so it decided to keep hiring new graduates, after it raised the retirement age to 65. but that came at a price. in order to keep labor costs from ballooning, the firm had no choice but to make greater use of contract workers. >> translator: after raising the retirement age, there wasn't a big change in the number of workers. but we had to change some workers from full time to contract. we managed to sustain the labor costs without much increase. >> how have other countries dealt with this issue? >> a number of european

countries raised the retirement age over the past several years. a welfare policy for elderlies have reached their limits. many western nations forbid employers from laying off workers or cutting their wages based on age. briton, germany and france have no mandatory retirement system. in the u.s., employees can keep working if they are doing a good job regardless of how old they are. so japan's attempt for an across the board extension stands out. the traditional lifetime employment is at the heart of this. japanese believe companies should take care of what their workers for their entire careers. >> nhk world reporting for us tonight. thank you. appreciate it.

greece is struggling to avoid defaulting on its debt euro design finance ministers called off a meeting on the rey rescue plan. ministers were expected to approve a an extra bailout for greece on a meeting on wednesday but drew up plans for the face to face talks saying the nation has not yet fully met the conditions for the bailout. those requirements include submitting documents by leaders of ruling parties and outlining how it will secure resources to cover spending cuts over 300 million euros. the greek government is now thought to be discussing an option of reducing pension benefits to fill the gap. local media reported leaders of two of the three ruling coalition parties are expected to sign the documents as early as wednesday. mei shoji is up next with weather. >> hello and welcome back.

let me show you some rare sight before we talk about weather conditions coming up from china. i'll show you this picture, a tourist in china has been traveling to see ice waterfall. now, it is a very rare sight here, natural beauty, truly the. waterfall is 100 meters long and formed by the extreme cold conditions that the area has experienced in recent days. you can see huge ice pillars hanging from rock overhangs and people are taking pictures in between these frozen curtains of water. so that's just around this area in china. in the past ten days, we have been seeing lows hitting about minus ten degrees hence that rare phenomenon. elsewhere in china, we foundlingering showers here in southern china, and also here in taiwan. that condition will be prevailing for a little while longer. for the next few days, in the

philippines, thundershowers are going to be popping up. and sometimes locally heavy rain as well. winds are very strong as well, picking up high waves in the coastal areas. here in japan, tokyo, we have been seeing very warm weather today. it hit 12.7 degrees in the daytime. but tomorrow it is going to be a different story with the wintry pattern kicking in. and that's going to be very -- pulling down a lot of very cold arctic air. so the temperatures are going to be dropping significantly. tomorrow we may see highs up to about 6 degrees. here in northwestern parts of japan, snow could be piling up. especially in hokkaido, as much as 50 centimeters and winds are also strong here too. and rare risk of sea ice movement will be very violent up in the north of japan. tokyo here, as i mentioned, 6 degrees for the high on thursday.

and 1 for seoul. manila, 31 degrees. let's head over to the americas. the pacific northwest is still surging with lots of moisture here. so development of snow clouds are going to be in southern california as well as nevada, especially in the mountain regions. up to about 20 centimeters of snow could pile up. in the four corners, we have a low developing very rapidly and moving towards the gulf states. addition to that gulf state is surging moisture from the gulf of mexico, so this is where you will be seeing some severe activity that could be potential. large hail, damaging winds, even tornadic activity could be seen here and thunderstorm chances are in a lot of areas. great lakes region, you may see snow, but main precipitation in the midwest will be rain. chicago at 4 degrees temperaturewise. a pair of 16s in oklahoma city and los angeles. a pair of 11s in new york and washington, d.c. you'll be seeing some sunny spells with that. all right, here in europe, the

predominant weather is going to be wet and windy. gusts are already reaching 83 kilometers per hour in germany and mountainous regions in germany, may see snow pile up, as much as 20 centimeters. and in austria, about 40 centimeters could pile up. still in the mediterranean area, you'll see coastal heavy rain and thunderstorms in greece as well. let's look at your temperatures. moscow, minus 7. doing much better than what we have been seeing. in paris, already reaching above average at 9 degrees. i'll leave you now for your three-day outlook.

iran has begun to load fuel rods into a research reactor near tehran. the move comes in defiance to sanctions over the controversial nuclear program. iranian president ahmadinejad loaded the rods into a reactor used for medical purposes on wednesday. he said iran has also developed a new centrifuge speeds up the enrichment process. but the president stressed country's activities are only for peaceful purposes. some western states say the enrichment program could be used for military purposes. they have been calling on iran to halt the program or face more economic sanctions. the most recent development is expected to drive strong reaction from the west and israel. 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.