welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. japan self-defense forces and the u.s. military will begin their annual joint exercises on friday. the drills are being held amid growing tensions between north and south korea following artillery exchanges in november. 60 vessels including the u.s. nuclear aircraft carrier "george washington," 400 airplanes and 45,000 personnel will begin in

the tenth annual exercise. eight days of mock drills will take place over a wide area, including waters off japan's main island in the sea of japan and near the southern islands of kyushu in okinawa. one of the main drills will focus on responding to ballistic missile attacks. mock attacks from the two countries ekewind with aegis radar will practice acquiring and tracking missiles. drills will also include defending japan's remote southern islands. jet fighters will patrol the southern air space. and destroyers will patrol the waters to prevent enemy forces from landing on the islands. as military tensions on the korean peninsula and other east asian regions continue to increase, japan and the united states aim to boost their capabilities to jointly respond to any emergency. the two nations also hope that their coordinated efforts will act as a deterrent against possible future conflicts. a chinese government official says the country will keep a close eye on an upcoming meeting between japan, the

united states, and south korea, where north korean issues will be discussed. foreign ministers of the three countries will meet in washington on monday to discuss north korea's artillery attacks on south korea as well as recently confirmed uranium enrichment facilities. chinese foreign ministry spokesperson jiang yu said in a statement on thursday that the situation on the korean peninsula is sensitive and complicated. the spokesperson said china hopes the three-party meeting will help ease tensions on the korean peninsula as well as promote disxlalogue and non-conflict. she said china will keep a close eye on the outcome of the meeting. the spokesman called for all parties to participate in an emergency meeting of the chief delegates to the six-party talks on north korea's nuclear programs, which china recently proposed. however, the united states, japan, and south korea remain cautious toward china's six-party proposal. a u.s. diplomatic document posted on wikileaks' website repeats that a senior north korean official repeatedly

criticized china and russia. the criticism emerged after the two nations agreed to a u.n. resolution thain creased sanctions against the north following its nuclear test in may 2009. the document says that then north korean vice foreign minister kim yong il visited mongolia in august 2009. at a meeting with a senior mongolian foreign ministry official he repeatedly criticized russia and china. the document says the north korean official also commented on the six-party talks on the north's nuclear programs. kim reportedly said china and russia sided with japan, the united states, and south korea to create a five against one situation. he said he thought the real aim of the meeting was to topple the north korean government and thus resulted in its refusal to return to the talks. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has been contacting foreign leaders and expressing regret over the wikileaks document release scandal.

u.s. assistant secretary of state philip crowley told reporters on thursday that clinton has been in contact with pakistani president asif ali zardry and argentinean president christina fernandez dekirschner to express regret over the issue. she has so far called ministers and leaders of ten countries including china's foreign minister yen jae ch sxichlt afghan president hamid karzai. clinton is said to be planning more phone calls on the issues. >> some government officials that have talked to us freely in the past may be more reluctant. we understand that for a period of time this is going to make our day-to-day conduct of diplomacy much more difficult. >> crowley criticized wikileaks' founder julian assange. he said assange is not a journalist nor a whistleblower but "a political actor with a political agenda." the u.s. ambassador to japan, john roos, has explained the wikileaks scandal to japan's foreign minister, seiji maehara on thursday. details of the meeting are not known. however, roos is believed to have explained how the u.s. government is coping with the leak of sensitive diplomatic

documents. the u.s. ambassador is also believed to have sought japan's understanding about the contents of the documents to offset any possible damage to bilateral relations. no documents from the u.s. embassy in tokyo have been released so far. a special team set up by embassy -- by the embassy is on the alert for the release of any diplomatic cables. the team is also checking whether the documents posted online include classified information about japan-u.s. relations. the head of the u.n. nuclear watchdog has expressed concern over north korea's nuclear facilities and urged the country to accept inspectors as soon as possible. the director general of the international atomic energy agency, yukiya amano, made the statement at its meeting of board of governors in vienna on thursday. >> it was with great concern that i learned of recent reports about a new uranium enrichment facility as well as the

construction of a light water reactor in the dprk. >> amano urged north korea to accept the agency's inspectors, who have been forced to leave the country in april 2009. regarding iran's nuclear program, amano welcomed the resumption of a six-country meeting, which includes iran and the united states. the meeting was suspended in october of last year, but it will resume on monday next week. amano called on iran for more cooperation in conducting on-site inspections at nuclear facilities and submitted related documents. later at the iaea meeting japan, the united states, and south korea criticized north korea, saying the country is promoting its nuclear program in violation of u.n. security council resolution. but china called for restraint. in biz news the european central bank has kept its interest -- key interest rate, that is, unchanged and a record low for a 19th straight month.

the move is aimed at easing credit concerns over the region's debt problem. the central bank decided on thursday to maintain the rate at 1%. it made the decision for the 16-nation you're o'zoen at a board meeting at its headquarters in frankfurt, germany. the bank also opted to continue offering unlimited three-month funds to financial institutions. the move comes after the eu decide last month to bail out ireland, which has excess debts. the eu and imf will inject a combined 85 billion euros, or about 110 billion u.s. dollars. but that wasn't enough to stamp mounting concerns that credit woes may spread to other eurozone economies with huge fiscal deficits. >> down side risks will lead to tensions in some segments of financial markets and their potential spillover to the euro area economy. we will continue to monitor all developments over the period ahead very closely.

overseas during the year-end -- the number of japanese travelers heading overseas during the year-end and new year holiday is likely to increase for the first time in four years. japan's leading travel agency, jtb, estimates 582,000 people will travel abroad between the december 23rd and january 3rd. that's up 3.4% from a year earlier. jtb says the increase is due to a stronger yen, which has helped bring down the cost of traveling overseas. it also says people have had greater access to flights since tokyo's haneda airport began regular international service in october. the company says it expects 68,000 people will travel to europe. that's up 6.3% from a year earlier. it estimates that 45,000 people will spend their holidays in hawaii. a rise of 4.7%. the firm expects 36,000 people to visit the u.s. mainland, up almost 6%. among asian destinations, the number of travelers to south korea is expected to be 108,000,

up almost 7%. hong kong, taiwan, and thailand are also likely to see increases. but the number of travelers to china is expected to shrink by 1/3 to 59,000 people. this is due to soured bilateral relations following a collision between japanese and chinese ships in the east china sea in september. here's a look at the latest market figures. ♪ ♪ ♪

a microorganism that thrives on the toxic element arsenic has been discovered in california by a research team at the u.s. space agency, nasa. the discovery suggests that life could exist outside the earth's atmosphere. >> well, we could have the productive clash that leads to big discoveries about big questions. >> the joint team comprised of members from nasa and arizona state university along with various other institutions announced the finding on thursday at a news conference in washington. researchers said they discovered a microbe called gfaj-1 in the hypersaline mono lake in california. they found that it thrives on arsenic instead of phosphorus. phosphorus is one of the six

basic building blocks of all known forms of life on earth, along with oxygen and carbon. these elements had been considered indispensable for producing substances such as dna and proteins. nasa says the discovery suggests that some microbes can live without all six of the building blocks and that there could be life in space. the agency says it hopes to use the outcome to expand the scope of the search for life beyond earth. the world meteorological organization says 2010 may be one of the three hottest years on record. that comes as u.n. experts urge the international community to come up with a new framework to curb global warming. those details were revealed by wmo secretary-general mike -- michel ger awed in cancun on thursday. the mexican city is currently hosting the conference on climate change, or cop 16. sherrod said the average

temperature came to 14.55 degrees celsius. that's .13% higher than the 1998 record. in july a heat wave in russia pushed the mercury more than seven degrees above normal. canada's winter temperatures were four degrees higher on average compared to recent years. the agency also said the past decade was the hottest on record with global warming especially strong in africa, asia, and the arctic. >> it was only the third lowest extent of the arctica, but still we're extremely concerned by the melting of the arctic ice in summer, which is certainly an indicator of the global warming. the international governing body of football, fifa, has announced that russia will host the world cup in 2018 and qatar in 2022. fifa's 22-member executive committee voted to decide the selections on thursday in

zurich, switzerland. russia won over bids from england, spoain, portugal, and belgium, netherlands. qatar was selected from among bids by japan, south korea, australia, and the u.s. both russia and qatar will be hosting the event for the first time. the leader of the russian delegation said his country will not let soccer fans down and called on all people to create history together. the leader of the qatar delegation thanked fifa for giving his country a chance and said that he is proud of the middle east. qatar developed invitation activities using funds backed by natural gas resources in the country. at the presentation it stressed the significance of holding the world cup in the middle east for the first time. japan had hoped to be the sole host of the 2022 world cup after co-hosting the event with south korea in 2002. the "sea shepherd" is getting ready for another standoff with japanese whalers. two of the -- two of the observation group's boats have

left for the antarctic ocean. the vessels pulled out of port in tasmania on thursday. they'll soon be joined by a thursday ship, a new one, called gojira, or godzilla. captain paul watson told reporters japanese whaling fleets have been getting weaker year after year while the sea shepherd has been gaining strength. >> raft year we were able to save more whales than they killed. our objective this year is 100%. we're going to try to get on them right away and shut them down immediately. i'm really quite confident we can do this. >> the head of australia's grown party attended the media briefing. bob brown said he'd ask his country's government to send navy ships to the antarctic to monitor whalers. sea shepherd said gojira is due to leave port in a few days. the boat is said to be faster than japan's whaling fleet. it's a replacement of the annie gill, which was destroyed in a

collision with a whaling ship in january. japan's financial minister said his country is prepared to respond firmly to any activities by the sea shepherd. >> translator: it's really shameful and unforgivable that sea shepherd boats will be carrying out their obstruction tactics again, given all the trouble they've caused in the past. japan has been conducting scientific research whaling in accordance with an international treaty. we will not tolerate any acts of violence toward our whaling operations. >> the fisheries agency is planning to place armed coast guard officers on whaling ships for the first time in three years in light of the recent escalation of sea shepherd tactics. japan's government has decided to raise the monthly child allowance paid to some parents from next april. on thursday national policy minister koich roou gemba met to

hammer out payments for fiscal 2011. the current allowance of 13,000 yen or about $154 per child is paid monthly to households with children up to the third year of japan high school. the ministers agreed to increase the allowance by 7,000 yen, or about $83 per child, but only for children below three years of age. however, they have yet to discuss how to fund the increase and reached no conclusion on whether to set an income cap for allowance recipients. gemba told reporters that the government must work to secure funding saying failure to do so would make it hard to raise the allowance. the government hopes to halt its slide in popularity by successfully pushing through the increase. india has made remarkable economic progress in recent years along with the newfound wealth in the capital of new delhi the number of cars has

doubled in the last decade. but much to the distress of many residents all the honking horns can be deafening. nhk world's neha gupta has the story. >> reporter: aggressive passing sudden lane changes. and car horns always honking. this noise measuring equipment shows the decibel level is above 100. this noise is very stressful. and i have to shout to make myself heard. [ honking ] >> translator: so loud. my blood pressure goes up. i get agitated. >> reporter: many indians are devout hindus and take good care of animals. you often come across scenes like this.

a car, an elephant, and another car honks loudly. >> because of too much honking it has got black marks here. >> reporter: this driving school holds a lecture every year for taxi and bus drivers, teaching them how to reduce noise. but old habits die hard. [ honking ] >> do not honk! do not honk! >> reporter: fed up with the honking, some citizens are taking matters into their own hands.

this person fled a noisy part of new delhi ten years ago to escape the din. now she lives in this elite neighborhood. but the number of cars in the area started rising. soon she could hear the horns again. >> translator: all the noise was really starting to get on my nerves. i even wanted to move out of this house. >> reporter: they live in a gated community. about a year ago gita decided to do something about the noise. first she called on her neighbors. then she placed a sign at the compound gate, asking people to stop honking.

she also handed out stickers to drivers. she says that after three months it became a lot less noisy. >> translator: in south delhi we have started to get results, and now we wanted to shift the campaign to west delhi, where there is too much noise pollution. >> reporter: but in downtown new delhi there is non-stop traffic. the honking never stops. it seems that people who want quiet surroundings will have to struggle for a long time. neha gupta, nhk world, new delhi.

hello again, and welcome back to your world weather update. we'll first take you to eastern asia, where it does remain fairly calm and settled for the most part. we do have a big high pressure system that continues to dominate china. there is going to be an area of light snow moving into mongolia, but that should be about it. and quite a bit of yellow sand observed across the korean peninsula as well, and that heads into western japan next. but japan, though, containing some very severe conditions just now. torrential rains have been making their way across western portions of the country. set to really target the northern half and the latter half of friday. we can expect as much as 200 millimeters to affect hokkaido in the next 24 hours. the flooding is definitely going to be a concern as well as strong winds throughout the country creating high waves and stormy conditions. tornados, too, cannot be ruled out, either. despite the stormy weather, it is going to be very mild here. tokio's going to be 23 degrees

with that warm air in place from the south while cool air will be really dominating the korean pe. only two for the daytime high in seoul. now, as for the americas, some more snowfall is expected around the great lakes today, especially in ontario, canada. up to 25 centimeters is possible. but across much of the u.s. and central canada looking dry. high pressure system firmly in control. more wintry precipitation will affect the northwestern corner. rain for northern california, oregon and then that turns to snow for the northern sierra as well as the cascades and the northern rockies. that storm system is finally going to be moving into the northern plains next, bringing significant snow. on your friday minus 13 degrees in winnipeg, 4 in front and slightly cool in new york, 7 degrees on friday. now we take you to europe where our frigid temperatures and widespread snow have again been impacting much of the continent. we start off with the latest

footage coming out of london, first of all. let's take a look now. so frigid temperatures have also been impacting much of london this whole week, actually. lots of snow has fallen as well in the past couple of days as gatwick airport remained closed for a second day. meanwhile, much heavier snow has been impacting germany with lots of travel. dangerous conditions. and also delays and cancellations on road, rail, and air transportation as well. now, the officials are advising residents to stay at home and stay inside. we are expecting more snow and frigid conditions again on your friday for a wide area. eastern areas and also down toward the southwest and the north coast of spain. but also central portions of spain could see some snow flurries and across the british islands a good chance of snow affecting the northern areas weil the south could see more cold rain and sleet.

minus 2 in london with sunny spills. and minus 10 in moscow. but temperatures will begin to ease as we head into your weekend. all right. here is your extended forecast now. ♪ ♪

♪ once again, the headlines this hour, japan's self-defense forces and the u.s. military will begin their annual joint exercises on friday. the drills are being held amid growing tensions between north and south korea following artillery exchanges in november. 60 vessels including the u.s. nuclear aircraft carrier "george

washington," 400 airplanes, and 45,000 personnel will participate in the tenth annual exercises. eight days of mock drills will take place over a wide area including the waters off japan's main island in the sea of japan and near the southern islands of kyushu and okinawa. one of the main drills will focus on responding to ballistic missile attacks. in mock attacks targeting japan destroyers from the two countries ekewind with aegis raid already practice acquiring and tracking missiles. drills will also include defending japan's remote southern islands. jet fighters will patrol the southern airspace and destroyers will patrol the waters to prevent enemy forces from landing on the islands. as military tensions on the korean peninsula and other east asian regions increase japan and the united states plan to boost their capabilities to jointly respond to any emergency. the two nations also hope that their coordinated efforts will act as a deterrent against possible future conflicts. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has been busy

contacting foreign leaders and expressing regret over the wikileaks document release scandal. u.s. assistant secretary of state philip crowley told reporters on thursday that clinton has been in contact with pakistani president asif ali zardari and argentinean president christina fernandez dekirschner to express forgiveness over the issues. she has so far called leaders and ministers of ten countries including chinese foreign minister yang jae chi and afghan president hamid karzai. clinton is said to be planning more phone calls on the issue. >> some government officials that talked to us in the past may be more reluctant. we understand that for a period of time this is going to make our day-to-day conduct of diplomacy much more difficult. >> crowley criticized p wikileaks founder julian assange. he said assange is not a journalist nor a whistle blower but "a political actor with a political agenda." that's it for this edition of "newsline."

i'm gene otani in tokyo. we'll be back in half an hour with the latest news and weather.