welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. japanese prosecutors will soon be examining the case of a coast guard officer who posted a controversial video on the internet. the leaked video shows collisions between a chinese trawler and japanese patrol boats. tokyo police say they will submit a report as early as next week. prosecutors will then decide whether to file charges. the 43-year-old officer admitted

last month he posted the footage on youtube. since then investigators have been questioning him on a voluntary basis. the officer said he obtained the video from a computer on a patrol boat and posted it on the file sharing website from an internet cafe. he said he wanted everyone in japan to see the tape. investigators say he hasn't explained why he used youtube or the meaning of the online alias he used as sengoku38. the officer has also yet to explain the inconsistencies in his actions. he tried to hide evidence by deleting the video data on his personal computer. he also claimed to have destroyed and thrown away a usb memory device. but at the same time he confessed to his boss that he leaked the footage. police suspect the officer violated a national public service law that prohibits public servants from divulging any secrets they learn at work. south koreans are preparing for an incident that they pray will never happen. the country has held its first

ever nationwide evacuation drill in the wake of last month's artillery attack by north korea. wednesday's drill was based on a scenario of an air raid by north korea on the south. a nationwide alarm was sounded at 2:00 p.m. as south korean fighter jets circled overhead. all vehicles other than those on highways stopped. all trains slowed down. and people on the streets including foreign tourists evacuated to the nearest underground air raid shelters under police guidance. workers and students rushed to the basements of their offices and schools and put on gas masks in anticipation of a chemical or biological weapons attack. the drill lasted about 20 minutes. >> translator: since there's a possibility that north korea may attack us again, we have to brace ourselves for this kind of a drill. >> south korea usually conducts air raid evacuation drills three times a year. but wednesday's drill is the fifth this year and the first ever on this scale. the sinking in march of a south

korean naval vessel, allegedly by the north, prompted an extra drill earlier this year. a senior u.s. delegation has arrived in beijing for discussions on north korea. the visit comes at a time of heightened tensions on the korean peninsula since last month's deadly exchange of artillery fire. the delegation is being led by deputy secretary of state james steinberg. they arrived in the chinese capital on wednesday. during their three-day stay the group will meet state councillor in charge of foreign affairs dai bingguo. the u.s. delegation is expected to ask china to put more pressure on north korea to dissuade it from taking any more provocative actions. china is expected to call on the u.s. to agree to an emergency meeting of the six-party talks on the north's nuclear program. dai has said that north korea responded positively to the proposed meeting when he met north korean leader kim jong il last week in pyongyang. the u.n. security council

has decided to partially lift sanctions on iraq in a move that would allow the country to develop a civilian nuclear program. the sanctions have been in place for nearly two decades. the council met to discuss iraq on wednesday. with u.s. vice president joe biden serving as the chair, the united states this month holds the council's rotating presidency. sanctions were imposed on iraq one year after it invaded kuwait in 1990 under the then president saddam hussein. the council adopted resolutions to lift restrictions on the country's civilian nuclear program. it also decided to return the control of profits from iraq's oil exports from the government, allowing the money to be used for humanitarian assistance. iraqi oil earnings have long been under international control. the united states now wants to accelerate reconstruction by helping the country stand on its own. germany will suspend

military conscription, or the draft, as part of a plan to reform its armed forces. the decision was made at a cabinet meeting on wednesday amid government efforts to ease fiscal shortages. under the plan the draft for men age 18 or older will be suspe suspended from next july. the number of soldiers will also be slashed from the current 250,000 to 185,000. the government says the military draft can be revived if necessary. a rising number of young jrmds are refusing to serve in the military. the percentage of recruits has dropped to 16% of the overall draft age population. everyone remembers that back in april an offshore oil rig managed by bp exploded killing 11 workers. the resulting oil spill continued for three months. a u.s. government civil suit now aims to target eight other firms.

u.s. attorney general eric holder announced the lawsuit on wednesday at a news conference in washington. he said the defendants also include a swiss drilling firm, transocean, and a u.s. subsidiary of japan's mitsui oil exploration, which has a 10% stake in the oil field. >> while today's civil action marks a crucial first step forward, it is not, it is not a final step. both criminal and civil investigations are continuing, and our work to ensure that the american taxpayers are not forced to bear the cost of restoring the gulf area and its economy goes on. bp is already offering $20 billion in compensation from damage resulting from the accident. but the latest lawsuit will likely increase the costs to all nine firms. meanwhile, boex has said it refused to pay any damages, saying bp was fully responsible for operation of the oil rig. the u.s. department of energy has warned that america

must stop relying on china for its rare earth supplies and try to diversify its sources of the metals. in a report released on wednesday the department says more effort should be made to boost domestic production of neodymium and four of the most vital metals, which are used in high-tech products. neodymium is among the 17 rare earth metals and is a key component of automobile motors for electric vehicles. the department says the country should also try to develop substitutes and make more use of rare earth recycling systems with japan and european nations. the move comes as the japanese government plans to cut rare earth exports and raise tariffs. assistant secretary of the department david sandalow on wednesday told reporters that the government is obliged to act. >> we're going to need to take action in order to address the situation. there are opportunities for changing the story. >> japan and the united states have already agreed to cooperate to ensure stable supply of the

metals. a major japanese trading house, sumitomo corporation, plans to invest in a rare earth mine in california. the two governments plan to hold a first round of working-level talks on the issue early next year. japan's new graduates continue to face a difficult job market. the uncertain economic outlook is leading businesses to cut hiring. a central bank survey shows hiring of high school and college graduates for the current fiscal year ending in march fell more than 22% from last year. that's the second largest fall on record. the bank of japan's tankan survey released wednesday said this is confidence among large manufacturers fell for the first time in 21 months. the survey shows hiring of new graduates is expected to fall another 2% in the next fiscal year. if that happens, it will be the third straight year it will decline. the central bank says it will take a while before the job market starts improving. the u.s. automaker has started delivering its electric

vehicle the volt. a dealership in new jersey handed the car owner to its first owner on wednesday. the volt is a plug-in electric vehicle with an on-board gasoline generator to extend the driving range. it can travel 56 kilometers on a fully charged battery, then the generator kicks in to create electricity, enough juice to keep the car going up to 500 kilometers. >> the summertime. i've been interested in the car, though, for years. i just happen to be an early adapter on this, and i was just lucky enough to be selected to get the first one. >> general motors expects to produce 30,000 units of the volt in 2011 and 45,000 in 2012. japanese automaker nissan began selling its electric model, called the leaf, in the united states last week. the industry is closely watching whether the new products by these two major companies will

help develop the ev market in the u.s., where large models have long been popular. u.s. consumer prices rose in november for the fifth month in a row, led by gasoline and food prices. on wednesday the u.s. labor department said the consumer price index in november rose by .1% from the previous month. gasoline prices gained 0.7%, and food and clothing by 0.2%. the core price index excluding volatile food and enji cost was up 0.1%, a sign of stable consumer prices. but the inflation rate for a year earlier stayed at 1.1%, below the federal reserve's he desired level of 2%. that's leading to concerns about deflation in the u.s. let's take a look at the latest market figures.

♪ some of the news we've gathered from broadcasting stations across asia. we begin with an item sent by cctv china. china has inched closer to completing a highway connecting a remote area in the tibet autonomous region with the rest of the country. on wednesday the most crucial portion of the 117-kilometer-long highway was finished, when explosives blasted out the end of a 3,300-meter tunnel in motuo county. the section passes through rugged terrain that features glaciers and wetlands.

the massive project began in april last year, and it's expected to be completed in 2012 at a cost of about $140 million. and millions of shia muslims all over iran have been holding mourning ceremonies to mark the martyrdom of imam hossain, the grandson of the prophet muhammad. the imam and 72 of his companions and family members were martyred in karbala, iraq about 1,300 years ago. the mourning is held for many days ahead of ashura, the most important event for the shiahs, on thursday. as part of the ceremony the shia muslims gather in mosques to recite poems and litanies in praise of the imam. they also give charity to the socially disadvantaged people. two months ago 33 miners in

chile were greeted with cheers after they were rescued. but days before that their fellow workers were greeted with layoff notices. now that the mine's closed, its former employees are scrambling to feed their families. nhk world's atsatoshi nishikawa has more. >> reporter: 47-year-old arnold alvarez woshlgd at the mirked a nearly ten years before the accident. now that it is closed, he's out of work. >> translator: i don't have a job, but i still need to send my children to school. i don't know what to do. >> reporter: today a ceremony in nearby copiapo city to give thanks for the miners' rescue. amid the festivity, many laid-off workers like alves have

gathered here. they press mining minister lawrence golborne for support. the accident turned the 33 trapped miners into heroes. alvires is frustrated by how differently the government treats the rest of the workers. before the rescue the government had stated it would support all the miners. but the government has only given financial support to the rescued men. the other 320 miners haven't received a peso. >> translator: the government was quick to support those 33 workers and treat them like stars. the ones who are really in trouble are the rest of us. >> reporter: right after the accident alvires and his former workmates camped out at the mine for days, volunteering to help

with rescue preparations. >> translator: we knew that our friends were still alive. >> reporter: but only five days before rescue operations began the company notified them that they would be laid off and the mine closed. the men weren't allowed to be on hand when the trapped workers finally surfaced. soon afterward the company shut down operations. none of the laid-off workers has received severance pay. now alvires works as a day laborer at construction sites to make ends meet. he has no stable income, and he's behind on school payments for his three daughters. he also has a lung disease from working in the mines. regular appointments for treatment are impossible.

>> translator: many workers can't provide their families with enough food. the government doesn't care about us as much as they care about the 33 rescued workers. it angers me and makes me feel powerless. >> reporter: away from the limelight, these former miners live a harsh life. a atsutoshi nishikawa, nhk world. >> the chilean government is helping the unemployed mine workers find new jobs, but many say that having worked in mines for so many years they won't be able to do any other kind of work. and back here in asia you might be surprised to learn that investors are turning hong kong into one of the world's largest wine hubs. in fact, the city's even outdistanced london and new york. a lot of the action is happening at auctions. mainland buyers are making record bids for the best bottles.

nhk world's rob mcbride explains. >> at 160,000 -- >> reporter: just a few years ago it would have been a sight almost as rare as some of the fine wines on offer here. >> 165,000. >> reporter: going for auction, 600 separate consignments of wine. total value, almost 8 million u.s. dollars. including some of the most prestigious french vintages. one of the highlights, a consignment of 144 bottles of rare champagne coming with two first-class air tickets to visit the vineyard and see the champagne making in person. >> there we go. 1 million. thank you. >> reporter: the winning bid, 1 million hong kong dollars. that's 130,000 u.s. dollars. old world wineries finding new ways of cashing in on asia's growing love of wine. in the thick of the bidding hong kong buyer kelly chang, part wine lover, part investor, she

represents a growing force at these auctions. >> i like to drink, and i like to invest. with all the auction houses coming to hong kong, it has definitely become a wine hub. and we attract lots of international sales in hong kong. >> reporter: this year alone the value of auctions has reached more than 120 million u.s. dollars. the stimulus was the 2008 abolition of the wine tax. but the growth now seems to be sustained by hong kong's appreciation of fine wines. >> what i always say, it's the shop window for finding the rare wine of the world. it's really the preeminent market. now it's taken over from the united states, which had taken over from london, and it's really the center of the action for finding rare wine. >> reporter: on hong kong's waterfront, the city's second annual wine and dine festival provided evidence of china's thirst for wine. >> now you see empty wine glass. drink all. finished. >> reporter: with visitor numbers going up from 70,000

last year to 110,000 this year, part of that increase was thanks to greater interest from mainland china. as a quickly maturing market, hong kong offers a taste of what is to come as mainland china now finds a liking for the grape. >> so 450,000 cases a year six years ago and 4.5 million cases a year or 6.5 million cases a year last year and the year before, explosive growth. >> some buyers see vintage wine as better than stocks. others want to show they have not just wealth but taste to. >> we have a really diverse base of clients throughout the region. so of course the backbone is our loyal hong kong clients. we have a lot of interest from mainland china. we have mature markets in both taiwan and singapore and lots of buyers in japan and really throughout the rest of the region. >> reporter: the value of hong kong's wine imports topped more than 500 million u.s. dollars in

2009, a figure that's surely set to rise this year. >> i think it's good for the future. >> reporter: and this city will drink to that. rob mcbride, nhk world, hong kong. all right. well, let's head straight into europe and take a look at the current situation in central areas of the continent. here's the scene coming out of poland, first of all. you can see in the northwest of the country, roads became quite blocked due to numerous accidents and trucks getting stuck in the snow. drivers really had to spend the night in their cars, and workers having a hard time clearing all that snow. and a similar situation really in austria as well, dealing with icy weather conditions. not just slippery roads, but blowing snow has been affecting visibility as well. so the workers have been getting busy trying to clear all that

snow from roads as well as sidewalks. now, here's a setup for your thursday, the jet stream as you can see really meandering towards the south, and that's going to allow for that cold air to enter into the continent. much of central and eastern europe under wintry spells just now, but even up towards the northwest will feel the effect of the frigid air as well as lots of snow coming your way on your thursday, affecting the uk, as well as france, the low countries and germany as well. over towards the south, dealing with stormy weather once again, for the eastern mediterranean, places like greece and turkey looking at widespread snow as well as heavy rain, so we are concerned about things like flooding as well as severe thunderstorms and also damaging winds, especially down towards the south of the country. taking a look at your temperatures then, lots of sub-zero figures once again. minus 4 in berlin, minus 4 in vienna as well. not too bad toward the west for london and paris but temperatures will fall away over the next day or so. and let's take a look at asia

then, significant snow again to affect the northwestern corner of japan, that's going to be turning heavier towards nighttime. but the pacific side of the country stays dry and rather cool, though, and for the korean peninsula as well, you can see snow flurries developing over the sea impacting the western side of the peninsula, and rather chilly. meanwhile, much of china stays dry but the cold air really sagging toward the south, too. some showers down towards the south and dealing with some blustery conditions here. we've got 12 degrees in hong kong today, so certainly much cooler than of late. 4 degrees in shanghai, minus 4 in seoul, so very frigid conditions once again, and tokyo coming down to 9 degrees, it's going to be quite chilly for you as well. all right, that's all for me just now. here is your extended forecast. ♪

♪ once again, the headlines this hour, japanese prosecutors will soon be examining the case of a coast guard officer who posted a controversial video on the internet. leaked video shows collisions between a chinese trawler and

japanese patrol boats. tokyo police say they will submit a report as early as next week. prosecutors will then decide whether to file charges. the 43-year-old officer admitted last month he posted the footage on youtube. since then investigators have been questioning him on a voluntary basis. the officer said he obtained the video from a computer on a patrol boat and posted it on the file-sharing website from an internet cafe. he said he wanted everyone in japan to see the tape. investigators say he hasn't explained why he used youtube or the meaning of the online alias he used, sengoku38. the officer has also yet to explain the inconsistencies in his actions. he tried to hide evidence by deleting the video data on his personal computer. he also claimed to have destroyed and thrown away a usb memory device but at the same time he confessed to his boss he leaked the footage. police suspect he violated a national law that prohibits

public servants from divulging any secrets they learn at work. and everyone remembers back in april an offshore oil rig managed by bp exploded, killing 11 workers. the resulting oil spill continued for three months. a u.s. government civil suit now aims to target eight other firms. u.s. attorney general eric holder announced the lawsuit on wednesday at a news conference in washington. he said the defendants also include a swiss drilling firm, transocean, and moex, a u.s. subsidiary of japan's mitsui oil exploration, which has a 10% stake in the oil field. >> well, today's civil action marks a crucial step forward. it is not, it is not a final step. both are criminal and civil investigations are continuing. and our work to ensure the american taxpayers are not forced to bear the cost of destroying the gulf area. and its economy goes on. >> bp is already offering $20 billion in compensation for

damage resulting from the accident. but the latest lawsuit will likely increase the costs to all nine firms. meanwhile, moex has said it will r50u6z to pay any damages, saying bp was fully responsible for the operation of the oil rig. and before we wrap up, a world-renowned conductor makes a comeback at karn nii hall. seiji ozawa has been away from the stage for almost a year. the 75-year-old maestro is recovering from cancer of the esophagus and also suffers from chronic back pain. ♪ ozawa conducted brahms' first system on tuesday in new york with the sato kinen orchestra. he founded the orchestra in 1984 to honor his teacher hideo

saito. ozawa had to sit down several times during the performance but he still completed the nearly 50-minute-long piece. ♪ ♪ [ applause ] >> i was afraid at first, but he just pulled himself together. >> he was incredible. it was like the old ozawa is back. all the moves. all the dynamic hand movements. >> ozawa has two more scheduled performances at carnegie hall. on saturday he will conduct britten's 80-minute-long "war requiem." and 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.