hello and welcome to "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. the new cabinet of prime minister naoto kan was officially launched on friday. there are six new cabinet ministers, 11 lawmakers have kept their posts. former finance minister kaoru yosano who served in several ministerial posts in past ldp governments left a small opposition party to join the cabinet.

newly appointed chief cabinet secretary yukio edano announced the new ministers. he is a 46-year-old lawyer in the former hatoyama government. he led efforts to eliminate wasteful government spending. yosano now serves as economic and fiscal policy minister. he oversees the prime minister's priority policy of reforming the social security and tax system. yosano advocates increasing the consumption tax and fiscal reconstruction. with regard to other key posts, foreign minister seiji maehara, finance minister yoshihiko noda, defense minister toshimi kitazawa and national policy minister koichiro gemba kept their jobs. the opposition controlled upper house censured both former chief cabinet secretary sengoku and transport minister sumio mabuchi. in late inform for their handling of the collision between a chinese trawler and japanese patrol boats. they have both lost their posts. prime minister kan held a new conference explaining the goals of his new cabinet and how he

intends to lead the government. >> translator: the japanese economy has been stagnant for 20 years. our financial situation is worsening, and we are facing several issues including social security, the question of decentralization and diplomacy. i carried out the cabinet reshuffle to overcome this crisis with the intention of putting together the best possible team ahead of the next parliamentary session. over the coming days, we will continue the process of consolidating the leadership of the democratic party. >> the president of the main opposition liberal democratic

party sadakazu tanigaki made the following comments about the new cabinet. >> translator: the reshuffle shows the dpj's poor management of human resources. the japanese people are facing extremely hard times and politicians have many issues to address. as to whether the new cabinet has what it takes to address the situation, my answer is definitely not. >> translator: it's just a minor change. i need to see a bit more. >> translator: economic and fiscal policy minister yosano is good. he's knowledgeable and experienced. >> translator: as long as the prime minister and the dpj don't

change, everything stays the same. i don't expect so much. >> people taking job training classes have high hopes for the new government. >> translator: my highest expectation is for them to stimulate the economy. >> translator: i hope the government will maintain these kinds of job training that directly improve our working skills. >> one woman raising her children had this to say. >> translator: many mothers want to work, but they can't find a way. we need quick measures, like building more daycare centers for children. >> the leader of a group of

relatives of japanese nationals abducted to north korea voiced their concerns. >> translator: politicians aren't discussing political issues, but rather their own political situations. i feel that it will take a long time to see anything done to solve the abductions issue. >> and here is our political commentator masayo nakajima. what does kan want to do most with his new cabinet? >> well, the prime minister insisted on the importance of tax reform, including a possible consumption tax hike. >> translator: we are now at the stage of asking how we can improve our social security system. securing a source of revenue is one of the main concerns. we need to discuss if the present financial resources are

enough to maintain the system. >> he also stressed the necessity of joining negotiations to enter the free trade agreement or tpp. >> translator: i think we also need to consider the possibility of joining economic partnerships including the tpp. we are trying to figure out what agriculture reforms would be needed and ways to support farmers. >> kan believes the opposition parties cannot refuse to talk about the issues of national importance. he hopes this will convince opposition parties to cooperate in passing the budget, but the opposition parties maintain that kan hasn't even convinced members of his own party on these controversial issues and say they are not ready to have

talks with kan just yet. >> kan may not win cooperation from the opposition on the budget? >> well, they are also demanding changes from the main part of the government budget plan, including eliminating child benefits program. but i don't think kan will be able to meet demands so easily because many of them were part of the ruling dpj's campaign promises to the public when he took power last year. >> now what does the future hold for the prime minister? >> well, by getting rid of the ministers, who have been censured by the opposition controlled upper house, kan has succeeded in removing reasons for a possible opposition boycott of budget deliberations that start later this month. he may regain some public support by having removed the unpopular positions, but it will still be hard for kan to win support from the opposition to pass the budget in this divided diet.

kan still has to face the risk of failing to pass the budget by april and losing power, or being forced to call a general election. >> thanks very much masayo. nhk world's political commentator masayo nakajima. the u.s. defense secretary has urged north korea to take steps to abandon old military provocation including its nuclear development program. robert gates made the comment on friday in seoul. in a meeting with south korean defense minister, gates reiterated there will be no resumption of the six party talks in the north korean nuclear issue unless the country takes concrete action. however, the defense secretary said there is a possibility for a path toward diplomatic dialogue with the north. >> with regard to next steps on

north korea, diplomatic engagement is possible, starting with direct engagement between the dprk and the south. >> gates expressed concern over a growing tensions on the korean peninsula following the sinking of a south korean naval vessel last march and the artillery attack on the south korean island in november. he said the two countries should strengthen their alliance further to stem fresh provocations by the north. meanwhile, president lee myung-bak told gates this year is crucial for resolving issues between the two koreas. lee said his country will work with the u.s. to do all it can. in brazil, the death toll from floods and mud slides triggered by torrential rains has topped 500 in the region near rio de janeiro. this is the country's worst natural disaster. record rains fell on tuesday and wednesday in mountainous region of teresopolis, about

100 kilometers northeast of rio. search and rescue operations are continuing. president dilma rousseff who assumed office earlier this year visited the disaster zone on thursday. she said the government will make every effort to help the victims and rebuild destroyed communities. rousseff also said the government will improve its disaster response measures including developing more effective ways to evacuate residents from high-risk areas. monday marks the commemoration of the earthquake that devastated the kobe region in 1985, claiming the lives over 6,400 people. on friday, a quake simulation was held in tokyo. the exercise was held at a government disaster prevention facility. 250 participants including officials from the central government, the metropolitan authority and surrounding prefectures. the simulation involved the aftermath of a magnitude 7.3 quake under tokyo bay.

participants discussed their response to specific situations including damage assessments and rescue operations. in the event of a major earthquake in the tokyo area the government would dispatch a massive relief force involving nearly 120,000 self-defense force members, police officers and firefighters. a wave of debt concern in the eu is lingering following last year's credit crisis in greece. the fear that more euro zone economies will crumble has cost the euro to plummet in value. how will this ongoing anxiety continue into 2011?

in the last piece in our four-part global economy series, we focus on the eu. even though greece and ireland were bailed out, credit anxieties remain for portugal and spain. what can we expect from the eu economies this year and what impact will this have on asia? let's start out by taking a brief look at recent developments in the euro zone. >> reporter: estonia adopted the euro on january 1st, making it the 17th state to introduce the single currency. not all estonians were happy about the move. a key cause of concern is that the euro zone is still reeling from a series of debt crises last year. in may, a credit crunch led to turmoil in greece. and in november, ireland faced a financial crisis stemming from bank debts. both countries had to be bailed

out by the eu and the international monetary fund. concerns continue that portugal and spain might be hit next. with trust in the single currency undermined, the euro plunged against the dollar. the bailouts spurred a rebound in the second half of the year. but the latest concerns have seen the euro fall again. >> translator: the end of the euro would mean the end of europe. >> reporter: euro zone members responded by stressing their readiness to protect the single currency. a three year bailout fund set up for greece has now been made termt. and starting next month, the eu will conduct a second round of stress tests on banks in the region. the tests aimed to stop a chain reaction of crises through stricter inspections. >> and our business reporter ai uichida joins us now. so what is your take on the current conditions of the countries troubled by high

fiscal deficits? >> i think there are still dark shadows looming over the eu. this chart displays the ratio of each country's deficit to its gross domestic product. greece and ireland aren't the only countries in trouble. spain's deficit is now more than 9% of its gdp and this far exceeds the target figure set by the european union at less than 3%. government bonds for spain and portugal are due to reach maturity this spring. the question is whether these countries can finance their debts on their own. i spoke with an economic professor of kayo. university and asked about the likelihood of these countries asking for help from the eu imf rescue fund. this is her answer. >> to portugal to ask is very high. the probability is about 70% because of the relatively poor fiscal performance.

a number of european countries are asking portugal to accept the risk of funds before it becomes too late. >> so 70% from portugal. what about spain? >> spain is making a great effort to restore market confidence by showing greater commitments to meeting the fiscal target. but the market is worried about spanish sheer size of government financing need. the economy in the euro area and if spain uses this rescue fund, the market is worried about it because spain may use up most of 750 billion rescue fund created last may. so little money will be left for the remaining euro area countries. >> what can the rest of the eu do? >> at this moment, european commission is thinking about expanding the size of the fund, but france and germany oppose this idea. they think before the size of

the rescue fund is expanded, the weak countries should make greater efforts to showing their fiscal disciplines and continue to do fiscal reforms. >> now, moving on to the impact on asia. how should asia handle the eu credit anxieties? >> well, the european union is a very important trade partner for china, south korea and japan. so whether the eu economy is healthy or not is crucial for the asian economy as well. now, this chart shows japan and china's export destinations by size. in 2009, europe was china's biggest export partner surpassing the united states. the eu is also japan's third biggest export destination after china and the u.s. japan and china aren't simply watching what's happening in the eu. they are offering to help.

on january 5th, china's vice premier met with the spanish prime minister. lee said that china was willing to buy a large amount of spanish government bonds. china has also said that it intends to help greece and portugal. japan has pledged its help as well, offering to buy more than 20% of a bond issued by the eu. the eu will issue the bond at the end of the month in a bid to help ireland. >> translator: it would be appropriate for a large economy like japan to help boost market confidence in the euro zone's strength bond offerings. >> i asked professor shirai about her thoughts on this. there's been a lot of focus recently on japan and china's intention, and in china's case, the actual purchases of european bonds.

>> last week china purchased the portugal bond and it showed intention to increase the investment in spanish bond. this means that china is making greater effort to help restore the market confidence in the euro area compared to japan. i think it is important for the japanese government to use some of the falling reserve to assist and buy the bonds like china. japan and china and europe, this is important. for example, eu gdp accounts for 30% of global gdp and eu's amount of import is actually much bigger than the united states, and the biggest in the world which is very important market for asia, to make sure that europe will get out of this debt crisis and start to promote economic growth.

>> it appears as though credit anxiety won't end anytime soon. the eu is the world's largest economic zone. its health will continue to be monitored closely throughout 2011. >> thanks very much. that was our business reporter ai uichida. now, sumo, there was no surprises as to who the man at the top was after five days, yokozuna hakuho. the men who kept pace with the yokozuna were a couple of surprising veterans, wakanosato and tochinonada. this single rikishi has been able to put up a fight against the mighty yokozuna. aran who is 0-5 against hakuho is looking for the biggest victory of his career. hakuho has spent no more than

five seconds to beat his host during the first five days. here, he makes a mistake by trying to slap down aran. the thing is aran doesn't have the follow-through and hands the yokozuna another victory. 34-year-old wakanosato is competing in his 72nd top division tournament, he's undefeated after the first five days, which is something he has never done before. the match is usually won by a rikishi who can get an inside grip. but that wasn't the case here. he rallies to knock wakanosato off. tochinonada is 36 years old. like wakanosato, this veteran has gotten off to his best start of 5-0 in the top division competition. his go-to weapon is a left side inside grip and that's what he utilizes to bury koryu.

he extends his personal best record. here is the picture at the top. finally, let's go over all the results from the top division on day six.

hakuho has now won 19 straight matches. you have to give a lot of credit to him for staying with hakuho after six days. the question is, how much longer? come back on saturday to find out whether there is any shakeup in the standings. hello.o talk about the world's weather. we will head into eastern asia. i want to start with japan. we're about to see a big snowstorm grip the country over the weekend. we have a low pressure system here to the north, plenty of moisture here and also very strong wind to contend with, very cold wind, and that is going to produce a lot of snow.

right along the western edge and up toward the north and even some further locations -- locations further south will be picking up reasonable amounts of snow. so we're talking 40 to 50 centimeters in the parts you can see here in the blue. 20 to 30 centimeters for more southerly locations and more further inland in towards the east. also we need to bear in mind that those winds will be strong, possibly damaging and bringing those waves up at the coast as well. so high waves as well as the blizzards to deal with. that will be impacting transport and there's also going to be a risk of avalanches so a pretty serious situation as we head to saturday and sunday. across much of china, you can see us quite dry here. it is going to be dry, but we are going to be seeing the very strong winds coming through eastern parts of china down in towards the northern philippines here bringing temperatures down and kicking up the strong wind. already the philippines is dealing with strong wind coming from the northeast and that's

what's bringing all of that rain and the moisture and it's been causing flooding over the last several weeks and that situation also will be continuing into the next few days. let's take a look at our temperatures now. things will really be cooling down, for example in seoul, minus 8 here. that's a drop of eight degrees between your friday and your saturday. shanghai coming down by five degrees as we head into saturday. taipei, 15, not too bad here. a bit of a wet day. tokyo, just about average at 8 degrees, minus 2 in beijing and bone chilling cold in ulan bator, minus 16 for your high. all right. heading now into north america things will be fairly warm in the southwest here and we'll see the warmth staying with you, the sunshine into the next few weeks and spreading in toward the east as well, so that's good news here, but there is, of course, some other activity to deal with. this is going to be found up to the north and the west. lots of heavy rain once again to the coast of bc to oregon and washington state as well.

and as that pushes into interior areas, along the border here of canada and the u.s., it is going to be a lot of snow. right through the northern plains and coming into the great lakes region, too. so really helping to build up a lot of lake-effect snow into the weekend. down in the southeast we stay mostly dry, but it is going to be very cold so that warmth not reaching you just yet. five degrees in atlanta for the high and hard freeze warnings are in place here. as for europe, it is going to be a very warm weekend and dry for many of you, too. quite pleasant. there is going to be a bit of moisture and we find it across the british isles on saturday into central locations. at the moment this high pressure is building and pushing that moisture up into the north and the east. as i said, great conditions for many of you, but there will just be a lot of moderate rain and then some snow for parts of, say, southern scandinavia as well as northern poland. taking a look at temperatures it looks more like spring time, i think you will agree.

11 in london, 12 in paris, 11 in vienna, here 17 in rome, and 17 in athens, also with sunshine, and 15 degrees in lisbon. still staying cool to the north, 0 in stockholm and minus 6 for you in moscow. here's your extended forecast. izumo shrine is undergoing a

first face-lift in nearly 60 years. it is one of japan's oldest and a famous pilgrimage site for singles hoping to meet a life-long partner. on thursday, four specialists began work on the 600 square meter roof of the hall, a designated national treasure. they attached thin sheets made from japanese cypress trees using bamboo pegs. the sheets were soaked in water to soften them. some are 1.2 meters long, four times the length of the material used at other shrines. >> translator: it is the first time i do this job, so there is quite a bit of trial and error but i'm really enjoying it. >> work on the roof itself will take one year. the full renovation of the izumo shrine began three years ago and is expected to end in 2013. that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo. we'll be back in 30 minutes. thanks for joining us on nhk world.