welcome to nhk world "newsline." egyptian president hosni mubarak has told the nation in a televised speech that he will not run for the next presidential election scheduled for september. mubarak spoke on state-run tv on tuesday night.

>> hundreds of thousands of egyptians took to the streets earlier in the day to call for the president's resignation in defiance of a curfew. more than 100,000 people gathered at a square in central cairo, and over 50,000 held a rally in the second largest city, alexandria. the demonstrators include many women and children, indicating the anti-government movement is gaining the support of the general population. protesters remained in the square in cairo, but no major clashes with the security forces have been reported. meanwhile, u.s. president barack obama called for an immediate peaceful transition of power in egypt. in a speech on tuesday, obama said he had spoken earlier with president mubarak by telephone and conveyed his opinions. >> he recognizes that the status quo is not sustainable and that

a change must take place. and what i indicated tonight to president mubarak is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful. it must be peaceful. and it must begin now. furthermore, the process must include a broad spectrum of egyptian voices and opposition parties. it should lead to elections that are free and fair, and it should result in a government that's not only grounded in democratic principles but is also responsive to the aspirations of the egyptian people. the united nations human rights chief says up to 300 people may have been killed in egypt's unrest. she appealed for calm during tuesday's protests in the country. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights navi pillay read a statement prepared by spokesmen in geneva on tuesday.

the casualties have been mounting on a daily basis with unconfirmed reports suggesting that 300 people may have been killed and 1,000 injured so far. pillay urged them to avoid unnecessary use of force and work to protect. she stressed protestors should refrain from committing acts of violence. in jordan king abdullah has replaced the prime minister. the country's leaders are apparently concerned that the demonstrations in tunisia and egypt could spread to jordan. several thousand jordanians have been holding rallies on a daily basis inspired by the mass demonstrations in tunisia and egypt. people are protesting inflation and high unemployment. on tuesday, the cabinet of prime minister samir rifai stepped down. the government worked out measures to raise wages for public servants two weeks ago. he failed to satisfy the protesters and more people joined the demonstrations.

king abdullah appointed marouf bakhit as the next prime minister and asked him to form a new cabinet. bakhit is a former conservative premier with a military background. opposition parties dismissed the appointment saying bakhit is unlikely to reform the country. and in business news, u.s. manufacturing grew in january at the fastest clip since may 2004 indicating the sector will continue to feel the recovery this year. the institute for supply management's manufacturing index released tuesday jumped to 60.8 in january from 58.5 a month earlier. the latest figure beat analysis expectations. readings above 50 indicate an expansion. the chairman of the survey took note of the continuing strong

performance as january marks the sixth consecutive month over month growth in the sector. a design flaw is forcing japanese pc makers to halt shipments of latest models. the u.s. semiconductor giant says it stopped shipping the chip sets monday after finding a design problem less an month after their debut. the parts which formed the heart of computers along with micro processors could degrade and affect hard disk performance over time. toshiba says on tuesday it stopped shipping the latest of pcs featuring the problematic chips. the firm will provide appropriate customer support for machines sold since late january. also postpone the launch of four models beyond the initial target of late february. intel says it aims to start shipping new chips to correct the problem later this month and get back to business as usual by april. concerns are mounting.

the glitch will impact sales of new spring season lineups for computer makers. panasonic has decided to sell its auto battery business to a chinese battery maker. panasonic supplies nickel high-drive batteries made in a plant west of tokyo for hybrid cars of japanese automakers. the unit will be sold to a leading chinese battery maker in hunan province for $6 million. they have a large share in the global market for nickel high-drive batteries. it is to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of panasonic. the government asked the company to sell the battery business due to monopoly concerns in the chinese market over the integration of the battery units of panasonic and sanyo. workers will be temporarily transferred to the chinese company. concerns are going among japanese automakers about selling japanese battery

technologys to china. an increasing number of people in japan are finding themselves in a financial crunch due to the click slump. a cooperative is helping members take a close look at their personal finances. >> reporter: a consumers cooperative in eastern japan has been offering loans to those shouldering multiple debts. in april last year, they also began offering noncollateral loan for those having a hard time with daily expenses. this woman is in her 70s and lives on her own. her only source of income is her modest pension. she used up all her savings, supporting her ill son for many years. now she lives on an extremely tight budget. >> translator: you said you like reading. how do you get your books?

>> translator: i've been going to the library the past year or so. >> reporter: after spending several hundred dollars on funeral and other ceremonial obligations she found herself unable to pay her rent. >> translator: if i had money put aside, i wouldn't have even flinched at paying for a memorial service. nothing is harder than having zero savings at my age. i thought maybe the only option was to die. >> reporter: this lending service came as a response to requests for small emergency relief loans for people like her. one applicant, a man in his 50s, requested funds for his daughter's job-hunting activity s in the city because job options are limited. another applicant, a man in his 70s, is in need of money to cover his winter heating costs. yet another applicant, a woman in her 30s is having difficulty playing for her child's school

trip. >> translator: many applicants urgently need $1,000 or $2,000 loans to support their families. we have a lot of people who want to help them out. >> reporter: our system was set up to secure the necessary funds. first, all applicants pay a minimum $25 membership fee. the co-op requested all local governments supply collateral funds to regional banks. the regional banks loan the money to the co-op so lending can begin. >> translator: would you be able to set aside, say, $60 a month for ceremonial expenses? would that help? >> reporter: the co-op conducts at least two face-to-face interviews before approving loans. the interviews are designed to examine applicants' household expense necessary detail.

this woman who hadn't been able to pay her rent is capable of managing her finances. they decided to give her a $1,200 noncollateral loan. >> translator: this is a loan w 8.9% annual interest, repayment in 12 installments. >> translator: it may be too late to rethink my finances, but i want to give it a try anyway. i want to live my life with this plan in mind. >> reporter: since the noncollateral loan services were made available last april, over 400 people have borrowed, a combined total of more than $3 million. so far there hasn't been a single default on repayments. >> translator: people need to be aware of their expenses and know how to save. we help them create feasible budgets. we want members to fully

understand their financial situations so they can rebuild their lives. our goal is not just to lend them money, but to support borrowers in becoming financially. >> let's take a look at the latest market figures. as iraq rebuilds from the war, one elementary school

teacher had the opportunity to visit japan when nhk world held their 75th anniversary of international radio broadcast. during his time here, he was able to meet students at an elementary school and talk about his country. later, he was able to return to iraq with encouraging messages from children in japan. nhk world reports. >> reporter: he studied by showing the children pictures of iraq. the children were fascinated by what an iraq school looks like. the desks are old. power sometimes goes out due to outages. >> translator: because of the

war, the government didn't place a high priority on education. >> reporter: sareem has been teaching in a school damaged by the war. it's also short on text books. he wanted to share with his students what he discovered about japanese education. he was most impressed that students clean school every day. it's a japanese practice. >> translator: japanese schools don't just teach children to read and write. they also teach them how to clean up. it teaches the children self-sufficiency. >> reporter: he also looked at all the pictures of the school. it was devastated in world war ii and rebuilt from the ground up. the image of the children outdoors reminded him of students in iraq.

>> translator: it's just like the way iraq is now. he wanted to help the children from two countries communicate. he brought letters from his students to japanese children. >> translator: my country suffered from the war. i want to be a doctor when i grow up. >> translator: i want to be a pilot to fly to you. >> reporter: he took part when the children sung "never give up your dream." ♪ >> translator: i think the

people here can understand the pain that iraqis feel because the japanese also went through war. when i return to iraq, i'll share with my colleagues what i learned about japanese educat n education. >> reporter: sareem is back in his own classroom. he taught about japan using pictures he took during his stay. >> translator: look how clean this school is. the students clean it themselves. japan was devastated by world war ii. i want you to rebuild your country the way japan did. >> reporter: he showed letters sent by the japanese students.

>> translator: dear friends in iraq, please visit our third grade class. >> translator: please make iraq a peaceful place without wars. >> reporter: he hopes to expend for children overseas parts of his students. >> translator: i hope to stay in touch with the japanese school. i want to let them know what we do at our school and what's going on in iraq. >> saleem plans to exhibit the letters from japan in a place where as many children as possible can read them.

a column vaino in southwestern japan continues to erupt. mt. shinmoe exploded about 11:19 p.m. local time tuesday night and 5:25 a.m. wednesday morning. so far there have been six explosions. this footage shows what appears to be scorching lava scattered around the crater lighting up the night sky. weather officials have observed intense air vibration, but local authorities say there are no immediate reports of damage. mt. shinmoe exploded back to life back wednesday. early on tuesday, an eruption came shortly before 8:00 a.m. massive air vibrations of 458 pascals were detected at an

observation point about three kilometers from the crater. city officials and police told nhk the blast blew out at least 180 window panes. a 92-year-old woman in a hospital in the city was injured when falling glass cut her forehead. officials are urging people in the district four kilometers south of the crater to evacuate their homes. more than 100 houses, including vacation homes and resort inns are located in the area a customer says she was terrified. >> translator: there was a huge bang. i had no idea what happened. i felt the air shaking. the window of my room shattered, and i could have been hurt if i was there. it was terrifying. >> an elementary school about ten kilometers away from the crater, windows rattled. teachers and students looked at the volcano anxiously as it

spewed smoke. the local observatory says that large rocks and hot gas could affect an area within a four kilometer radius of the crater and is warning people to stay away. kyoto university says it obtained patented rights of ips cells from a u.s. drug company. the licenses agreement clears the way for production in a promising field of biotechnology. the stem cells have potential to develop onto body tissue or any body tissue or organ. the deal was announced on tuesday by university president and a professor, a pioneer of ips celltechnologies. the university is filing six patent applications in the united states, including production methods of ips cells. one of the methods overlapped with patents filed by a u.s. firm. the u.s. firm will hand over its ips cell patents to the university.

the kyoto university intern granted the rights to profit from its technology. professor says the deal will allow him to get the benefits of ips technology to patients as soon as possible. >> translator: we can focus on research on ips cells to put the technology into practice both in japan and abroad as soon as possible. the head of myanmar's military government is not included in a list of candidates for the post of president. the list was finalized on tuesday in the country's parliament. the parliament was established after a general election in november gave pro military parties an overwhelming victory. the list consists of two members from each of the two chambers and a member from the military. prime minister thein sein is

included in the list, but than shwe was unexpected for many amid speculation he would become president. in the national elections in november, the first in 20 years the military and its allies won more than 80% of the seats in both houses of parliament. the military government may have decided to bypass shwe to prevent criticism transferred to civilian rule is a sham. some observers say shwe may keep his position as top military leader or assume key post such as advisor to the ruling party. here is the weather forecast. welcome back to your world weather update. getting a look at australia first of all. we've been keeping a close eye on this major system. this will be our very large and very powerful cyclone. severe tropical cyclone yasi.

category 5 strength. that's the highest on the scale. very strong system. wind gusts reaching almost 300 kilometers per hour. a powerful storm system. the core of the system will likely make its way toward the queensland coast line by midnight tonight wednesday night, but starting in the late morning hours, then on into the afternoon, winds are just going to get stronger and stronger for areas here. you do want to take precautions if you are in the area. the system will maintain a lot of that strength as it works its way over land. that's how strong it is. it won't lose steam until it makes its way to inland areas of queensland. now a strong storm system that will pack plenty of rainfall. heavy rains are going to be impacting areas all the way in throughout northern queensland. some of the heavy stuff could be impacting areas around cairns. accumulations in the next 72 hours is going to exceed 200 millimeters in some coastal

areas, and over a really wide area we are going to see accumulations in the triple digits, 100 millimeters or up and over 150 millimeters is going to be possible. very dangerous conditions for the next few days. you do really want to take precautions in you are in the area. keep updated with local reports as well as watches. now getting a look at asia, fairly calm conditions overall even across japan looking at nice sunshine working its way in. similar conditions across china as well as the korean peninsula. for the philippines it's been wet here. the southern end has been seeing torrential rainfall. that will continue today although not quite the locally heavy downpours we've been seeing. as for highs, 11 in shanghai, 5 in seoul, 6 degrees in beijing. relatively mild on wednesday. as for the united states, it's been really messy across a wide area of the eastern half of the

country has been dealing with all of that wintry precipitation. that's looking set to continue again today for you. the eastern areas of well developed storm system here right in the midwest that's going to be heading northeastward. but still bringing in all of the rain and ice and snow. here's the outlook all the way into wednesday night. still wide area picking up on some very heavy snows here across the upper midwest and into the new england states. heavy snow amounts. whiteouts could be seen up over 30 centimeters. but some of this will include areas that could pick up to 45 to 50 centimeters. a lot of travel disruptions and delays are anticipated. do take precautions if you are going to be traveling here. as for high, minus 4 in chicago, minus 12 in denver, minus 5 in toronto. chilly weather continues again today. that's a look at your weather for now. here is your three-day outlook.

once again the headlines this hour. egyptian president hosni mubarak

told the nation in a televised speech he will not run for the next presidential election scheduled for september. mubarak spoke on state-run tv on tuesday night. >> hundreds of thousands of egyptians took to the streets earlier in date to call for the president's regulars neighs in defiance of the curfew. more than 100,000 people gathered at a square in central cairo, and over 50,000 held a rally in the second largest city, alexandria. the demonstrators include many women and children, indicating the anti-government movement is gaining the support of the general population. protesters remained in the square in cairo, but no major clashes with the security forces have been reported.

u.s. president barack obama called for an immediate peaceful transition of power in egypt. in a speech on tuesday, obama said he had spoken earlier with president mubarak by telephone and conveyed his opinions. >> he recognizeshat the at o nottainable and that a p atht pres us egypti vcean ve to thaspira the egyptianeoe.