welcome tonhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. leaders of developed and emerging economies have begun their second day of meetings at the g-20 summit in seoul. it's the fifth time the group has met since the global financial crisis hit. to get the latest we go live to our business reporter yonggi

kang at the g-20 media center. >> reporter: the g-20 leaders are busy getting down to business. security is tight around the city and the movement is restricted around the summit venue. on thursday, about 3,000 students and ngo members held a demonstration but there have been no disruptions today. this morning the heads of state kicked off their first general meeting with discussions on a global economic framework. five plenary sessions are scheduled today with topics including financial regulatory reform and economic development. the g-20 members are expected to release their communique at around 3:30 p.m. but from my experience, covering previous g-20 meetings, we could see delay in the announcement of the final statement. now, one of the major focuses of this g-20 is how to fix global economic imbalances, and more specifically, whether member countries can come together to contain current account surpluses. many g-20 members are still suffering from the aftereffects of the global financial crisis and are opting to export their

way out of it. but this is set to be a major cause of the imbalances we are now seeing, which leads to the second major focal point, which is competitive currency devaluation. countries would like to see their own currencies lower so their exports are more affordable when sold abroad. the leaders appear to have generally agreed on the importance of maintaining the current account balance of member countries at certain levels. however, they are likely to fall short of agreeing on numerical targets for each country. gene? >> you earlier also said that the g-20 members are having a difficulty, a difficult time reaching agreement on containing current account surpluses. >> that's right, gene. the obvious reason is that it's a meeting of 20 economies which are represented by both industrialized and emerging countries. each country has brought its own national interests to the table, and it requires a lot of work to

come up with anything that is even halfway acceptable. now, take the example of the split we're seeing between the united states and china. u.s. president barack obama wants to set numerical targets with its economy still looking fragile, obama views china's huge export surplus backed by cheap currency as unfair competition for u.s. industries. chinese president hu jintao, on the other hand, argues that although china has a trade surplus, it suffers a trade deficit with southeast asian countries. and china also points out that the surplus is not necessarily backed by the cheap yuan. so even between these two major economies there is a huge gap, and when you consider that there are 20 countries at this meeting, that gap is expanded even more and consensus even more difficult to reach. we will get a clearer picture of the results of the discussions when we get the communique in the afternoon. that's all for me at the g-20 media center.

back to you in the studio, gene. >> thanks very much, yonggi kang reporting live from seoul. eight months after the iraqi parliamentary election, political groups have agreed on a framework for a new coalition government. nuri al maliki will remain as prime minister. however, some legislators walked out of the national assembly session to protest the decision. maliki has 30 days to submit a cabinet list to parliament. however, he faces tough challenges from other political groups over allocations of the posts. no individual group won majority in the march election, which led to an eight-month-long stalemate in coalition government negotiations. under the agreement announced on thursday, president talibani, who is a kurd, and prime minister maliki, who is a shia, will rematain their posts. former prime minister alawi will head a council on national strategic policy that will be created to prevent the prime minister from using excessive power. after the deal was struck the parliament opened thursday night and officially named talibani

president. it also called on maliki to form the new government. cholera has claimed the lives of more than 700 people in haiti. health care workers are struggling to contain the spread of the disease which started in the northern part of the country and reached the capital port-au-prince this week. patients have packed hospitals in northern haiti. this hospital now only treats cholera patients, many of them children. >> japan's self-defense forces engaged in the reconstruction of haiti are taking preventive measures from cholera sprending among themselves in port-au-prince.

>> on wednesday, the troops began cleaning and sanitizing all vehicles used in their mission. the team members also disinfect their boots before entering the encampment. 350 members of the sdf have been deployed since february, assisting the u.n. operation. the leaders of the 21 asian and pacific economies are expected to agree to aim for economic integration by the year 2020. japan's prime minister, naoto kan, is to chair the two-day summit of the asia pacific economic cooperation forum, which will open in yokohama on saturday. the leaders are expected to issue a declaration at the end of the summit to be called the yokohama vision. nhk has obtained a draft copy of the declaration. it expresses the leaders' resolve to further promote regional economic integration toward the target year of 2020. the draft also says apec will take concrete steps toward a

comprehensive free trade agreement by developing and building current regional undertakings, such as the transpacific partnership, asean plus 3, asean plus 6. the asean plus 3 group includes japan, china, south korea, and the ten-member association of southeast asian nations. the asean plus 6 group adds india and new zealand to the countries. the partnership originated in a free trade agreement among brunei, chile, new zealand and singapore. negotiations are under way to expand it with another five apec members, including the united states and australia. the japanese government will hold talks with countries involved in a transpacific free trade pact. a senior official of japan's ruling democratic party says rice may be excluded from the negotiations. the party's policy chief, who is also national policy minister, made the announcement during a symposium in tokyo on thursday.

>> translator: the underlying idea is to prioritize bilateral economic partnerships while showing a willingness to discuss the tpp. i still think it is the best decision. rice could be excluded from the tpp talks even if japan goes ahead with the multi-lateral economic partnership. >> he said the united states and australia, which have both declared their intention to join the tpp, have excluded some items from their bilateral economic partnership pact. also at the symposium, shiguru ishaba, policy chief of the main opposition party, the liberal democrats, cautioned against unfounded optimism over diplomatic negotiations. he said u.s. farmers can produce rice at one-tenth the cost of domestic rice. on thursday, bipartisan legislators from the southwestern prefecture miyazaki voiced their opposition to japan

joining the tpp talks. they said the move is a major blow to their prefecture, which is reeling from a recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease. foreign leaders are due to start arriving in japan friday evening for the apec summit. among the attendees will be the presidents of the united states, china, and russia. prime minister kan is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with other leaders on the sidelines of summit. on saturday morning kan will meet u.s. president barack obama. officials say he hopes to reaffirm the japan/u.s. alliance against the backdrop of china's increasing influence in east asia. in a scheduled meeting with russian president dmitry medvedev, kan intends to express regret over the four russian-held islands claimed by japan. level also convey his position the islands are japanese territory. it remains to be seen if hu jintao will hold any meetings with kan. bilateral ties that have been

strained since the collision of a trawler with japanese patrol boats in september. we have been looking at japan/u.s. relations here on "newsline." you're series wraps up today with a story about nuclear cooperation between the two allies. u.s. president barack obama is calling for tightened global nuclear security. japan has the only country where nuclear bombs have been dropped, strongly supports his initiative. president obama hosted a nuclear security summit last april in washington. obama has said his long-term goal is to create a world without nuclear weapons but he recognizes nuclear terrorism as an imminent threat to international security. >> the urgency of the threat and the catastrophic consequences of even a single act of nuclear terrorism demand an effort that is at once bold and pragmatic. our work today not only advances the security of the united states, it advances the security of all mankind. >> leaders from 47 countries

welcomed and joined obama's call to secure all vulnerable nuclear material within four years. japan's prime minister at the time, yukio hatoyama, gave an example how his country could contribute. >> translator: the scientific investigation of nuclear substances is very important. japan and the united states will jointly develop these technologies over the next three years. >> nhk world has visited a research center in japan to see how nuclear detection technology works to help maintain security. >> reporter: researchers here at the japan atomic energy agency are developing technologies to detect and analyze nuclear materials. i've been permitted to enter this laboratory as long as i don't bring in any dust or dirt. in the future, any nuclear

materials that are seized or exploded will be brought here for examination. recently, high-profile cases have shown the need for this type of lab. in 2007, police in slovakia arrested three people for allegedly possessing highly enriched uranium. investigators thought the uranium came from somewhere in the former soviet union and believed it could have been sold to terrorist groups. >> translator: japan promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy and developing technologies to analyze nuclear materials at the same time. its technology is one of the highest in the world. >> reporter: that technology could be used to identify nuclear materials, including enriched uranium and plutonium. these materials can have different compositions depending on how and where they are processed.

this is one of the devices used to analyze uranium particles. it gives details on the structure and purity. here is what the particles look like under a high-powered microscope. their shape is one of the things that can be used to identify them. much like fingerprints help identify humans. when analyzed, the materials could be checked against a database to find out where they came from. the process is called nuclear forensics. it is expected to act as a deterrent. because it encourages countries with nuclear materials to use proper safeguards so terrorist groups can't gain access. the japan atomic energy agency held its first international workshop on nuclear forensics last month. experts from the u.s. and europe participated.

they called for the creation of an international database of so-called nuclear fingerprints. with that in mind, japan is asking the u.s. to share information with it as a first step. >> translator: with this technology, japan could have a deterrent effect in the asian region. and that's what the u.s. expects from our country. >> reporter: information on nuclear materials is top secret, as it could be used for military purposes. to build an effective framework against nuclear terrorism and proliferation, information-sharing will be the key. junko noda, nhk world, japan. >> nuclear security could be a topic of discussion when u.s. president barack obama meets one on one with japanese prime minister naoto kan on saturday during the apec summit.

with china expanding its influence in asia, the leaders will also talk about rebuilding japan/u.s. bilateral relations. ties have been strained over the relocation of u.s. military base in okinawa. suspected muslim militants attacked a police facility in central karachi, pakistan, thursday night. leaving at least 15 people dead and more than 100 injured. local police say the attackers first opened fire at a police checkpoint and then rammed a vehicle carrying explosives into the main building, causing an explosion. the blast destroyed the police facility and damaged surrounding buildings. muslim militants have repeatedly launched attacks in retaliation

for pakistan's military operations against them in the country's northeastern region boredingering with afghanistan. the european aviation safety agency says oil leaks may have caused an engine to fail on a qantas a-380 passenger jet last thursday. one of the jet's rolls-royce engines failed soon after takeoff from singapore en route to sidney. the engine blew up with parts falling off over indonesia. the aircraft returned to singapore where it made an emergency landing. the european aviation safety agency has ordered qantas, singapore airlines, and lufthansa to inspect the engines of their a-380s. it has ordered them to stop using the jets if any problems are found. japanese prime minister naoto kan met the turkish prime minister in seoul thursday. kan offered japan's help to expand turkey's infrastructure. as the turkish economy continues to grow, its

government is pursuing the construction of nuclear power plants and other structures. these include building a third bridge across the bosphoruk which connects europe and asia. the prime minister expressed turkey's desire to use japanese technology. kan's government has come up with a new growth plan for japan. it includes involvement in infrastructure projects across emerging countries. private research firms say the japanese economy expanded for a fourth straight quarter. growth forecasts in annual terms range from 1.7% to 3.6% from july through september. financial institutions and think tanks released their forecasts for the nation's gross domestic product for the last quarter. that comes ahead of the government's preliminary figures due out on monday. the research institutes say the growth is due to surge in demand for autos prior to the end of government subsidies for eco-friendly vehicles.

spending on cigarettes also surged before a tobacco tax hike. the research firms say these factors outweighed sluggish exports that were caused by slow-down in asian demand and a stronger yen. looking ahead, however, the research institutes expect the gdp to shrink in the three months through december. they say a drop in auto sales will drag down consumer spending. exports are also expected to grow at a more modest pace. two japanese firms say they have received an order from a russian government-backed company for gas turbine power generation systems to be used in the far east. kawasaki industries and trading house sojitz corporation announced the project thursday, worth about $240 million. they struck a deal with the far eastern center for strategic research on fuel and energy complex development. the project involves the construction of 35 systems to provide electricity and heat using the latest technology and gas turbines. the systems will be installed

between the end of 2011 and 2014 in the russian far east where gas pipelines are now under construction. an official from the russian company visited kawasaki industries plant on thursday. he said he has looked for gas turbines around the world but found japanese turbines the most reliable. the deal comes at a time when japan/russia political relations have been strained since president dmitry medvedev visited one of the four russian-held islands on none 1st which are claimed by japan. japan's three major consumer lenders reported dismal results for the six months through september. they were hit by tougher rules that include refunding excess interest charged to borrowers. promise, icomm and iful had operating revenue fall between 9% and 33% from the same period last year. promise reported net losses of $40 million mainly due to the introduction of an early retirement system.

akom posted losses of more than $530 million as it set aside sizable reserves for future repayments of overcharged interest. akom's president told reporters the real consequences of tougher regulations were yet to come. the firms will not announce full year forecasts. they cite uncertainties about the impact from the regulations and interest claims. under the revised regulations, lenders must also limit loans to no more than one-third of the borrower's annual income. the tougher rules led to the failure of tagafuchi, which had been the leading consumer lender. let's take a look at the latest market figures.

now here's the latest weather forecast with saki ochi. >> hi there, welcome back to your world weather update. now east asia still is looking at some fairly settled skies across china. again, dry, calm weather for you. and that in fact extends down into the indochina paren minutes la. we do have this low pressure system that is moving in towards japan this morning, trailing a couple of thundershowers along the west coastline. that's all heading towards the north and pulling away by the end of friday. following that rain is dusty weather. we're looking at blowing dust that has been impacting northern and central sections of china since yesterday. it's now spreading towards the

korean peninsula and it looks like by friday night it's going to be covering quite a bit of japan and it's going to include immoderate amounts. where that flies all that dust could affect visibility, make air quality quite poor. make things rather dusty. if you have breathing-related problems, that could cause some issues here. as for highs on friday, 20 in shanghai. 24 for taipei. so rather nice, pleasant temperatures. 24 also in hong kong. now, getting a look at australia here, looking at a series of systems that are going to sweep through central and southern sections of australia, bringing in winds and rain, heavy rain amounts possible. also, it could trigger a few storms. thunderstorms could be in the watch for you for the next couple of days. actually, the stormy weather will linger well throughout the weekend. slowly shifting from central sections and then down in more toward the southwest corner of the country. over towards the north america and the united states, we'll

stay relatively calm for the most part especially toward the east here. we have this low that's going to drop into the plain states and spread quite a bit of rain through the midsection. it will look like we might see a couple of thunderstorms in the south and then mountain areas, southern rockies still looking at the chance of snow tonight. areas like colorado, in towards utah, will need to watch for that. out west there's already a new system that's been impacting british columbia, the pacific northwest. that continues its way inland and looks like it's going to stay rather unsettled for the coast of british columbia for the next day or so. highs on friday up to 17 in d.c. 16 for new york. and then getting up to even 16 in chicago. nice and mild for you here. on the other hand, 7 only for denver, so rather chilly. getting a look at europe here. nice rotation of clouds showing up on our satellite. that will be from a well-developed system that's going to sweep eastward in more towards continental europe and

bringing some windy weather to areas like the british isles, western-central sections of europe. there's plenty of rainfall showers associated with this system as well. it's going to be rather wet and windy and messy for the northern half of europe. down towards the south it gets a little calmer for areas like the balkan peninsula, in towards italy, even for the iberian peninsula. just the southern tip, the southeast, greece in towards southern italy may see a couple of thundershowers tonight. here's a look at highs for you. friday up to 12 in london. 15 for paris. 12 also in vienna. then 8 degrees for warsaw. that's a look at weather for now. here is your three-day outlook.

once again, the headlines this hour. eight months after the iraqi

parliamentary election, political groups have agreed on a framework for a new coalition government. nuri al maliki will remain as prime minister. maliki has 30 days to submit a cabinet list to parliament. however, he faces tough challenges from other political groups over allocation of the posts. no individual group won majority in the march election, which led to an eight-month-long stalemate in coalition government negotiations. under the agreement announced on thursday, president talibani, who is a kurd, and prime minister maliki, who is a shia, will retain their posts. former prime minister alawi will head a council on national strategic policy that will be created to prevent the prime minister from using excessive power. after the deal was struck the parliament opened thursday night and officially named talibani president. it also called on maliki to form the new government. leaders of developed and emerging economies have begun their second day of meetings at the g-20 summit in seoul.

one of the major focuses is how to fix global economic imbalances and specifically whether member countries can come together to contain current account surpluses. the leaders are scheduled to release their communique in the afternoon. people gathered on thursday to sip sake in the western japanese city of osaka. domestic consumption of the drink has fallen in recent years. japanese consumers have been switching to new and cheaper alcoholic beverages. the annual sake tasting event is designed to give brewers the chance to try each other's products and help improve national brewing standards. about 150 judges scrutinized 204 brands of sake in and around osaka. the event host said most of the brands are rich in taste. good weather last year helped produce high-quality rice, which is used to make sake. one of the brewers who took part in the tasting event acknowledged that his industry is dealing with a tough market, but he said he will keep working hard to produce good sake.

that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. we'll be back in half an hour with the latest news and weather. thanks for joining us on nhk world.