following prayer on friday. on wednesday and thursday, violent clashes occurred in central cairo between anti-government protesters and supporters of president hosni mubarak. egypt's health ministry said at least six people have been killed and more than 800 wounded.

vice president omar suleiman held an interview on thursday. he said time is needed to revise the constitution and ensure a fair and democratic presidential election. the vice president asked for public understanding to allow president mubarak to remain in office until his term expires in september. he called on the largest opposition group the muslim brotherhood to start a dialogue with the government. however opposition groups continue to demand the immediate resignation of president mubarak. speaking to a u.s. television network, president mubarak reiterated he has no intention of leaving office claiming egypt would sink into chaos if he did. mubarak gave a 30-minute interview to an abc reporter at the presidential palace in cairo on thursday. he said he's been in public service for 62 years and he wants to go. but he stressed he will not respond to calls for his resignation. on u.s. president barack obama's

call for an early transition of power in egypt, mubarak said obama does not understand egyptian culture. mubarak denied government involvement in the violent clashes between demonstrators and his supporters. the u.s. government condemned the violence in egypt. president obama called for greater p for people's rights in egypt. >> we pray that the violence in egypt will end and that the rights and aspirations of the egyptian people will be realized. >> the white house says it's important that meaningful steps toward a transition of power begin in egypt. it is calling for negotiations between the government and a broad group of opposition members for free and fair elections. leaders of six european countries have jointly urged the egyptian government to protect its citizens from violence and quickly begin a transition of power.

russian president medvedev called on mubarak to end the turmoil. sources say more than 30,000 russians are staying in resorts in the east of the country. the leaders of france, britain, germany, italy, and spain on thursday expressed their concern over the crisis in egypt. the statement condemns all those who use or encourage violence. it says immediate transition of power is the only way to end the unrest. the secretary-general of the arab league, amr moussa, expressed concern about the egyptian unrest in an exclusive interview with nhk world. >> translator: the arab league is deeply concerned about the current situation in egypt. we see a lot of tension and instability. in addition to the confrontations between pro and anti-mubarak demonstrators that have caused deaths and many

injuries. egypt is the leading country in the region, and it is now in turmoil. >> amr moussa served as egyptian foreign minister before becoming head of the arab league in 2001. he hinted that he may run in the presidential election in september. mubarak announced on tuesday that he will not be a candidate. >> translator: as an egyptian, i am ready to do whatever is necessary or take on any responsibility, provided the egyptian people ask me. british telecommunications company vodaphone is being instructed by egyptian authorities to send text messages urging its subscribers not to attend anti-government rallies. on thursday vodaphone announced it was instructed to send text messages to subscribers along with two other mobile network operators.

some messages were requests from the egyptian military asking the general public not to take part in demonstrations. other messages had no attribution. vodaphone said egyptian authorities can instruct the carriers to send text messages to the public under the emergency powers provision of the telecoms act. however the company said that all messages should be transparent and clearly state it was from a government agency. in the yemeni capital sanaa, critics and supporters of president ali abdullah saleh staged opposing demonstrations on thursday. spurred by the anti-protests in egypt and tunisia, opponents rallied at sanaa's university, calling for saleh's immediate resignation to end more than 20 years of dictatorial rule. the demonstration came a day after the president announced

that he would not seek re-election in 2013. supporters held their own march about two kilometers away, demanding strong leadership and stability. no clashes have been reported so far. affiliates of the international terrorist network al qaeda are reportedly stepping up their campaigns in yemen. the united states and saudi arabia are issuing increasing alerts against terrorist activity amid the deepening chaos in yemen. in biz news, the european central bank kept its key interest rate at the lowest level in 23 months. they made the decision in frankfurt on thursday. the rate of 1% is intended to shore up the economies of euro zone members like portugal and spain that have huge debts. the countries are facing uncertainty as spikes of government bonds decline. by keeping the key interest rate low, they hope to support fund raising for firms and financial institutions in countries with

large budget deficits. but looking at the commodities markets, crude oil and grain prices continue to rise. the central bank is now under pressure to address fears of inflation. world food prices are soaring to new highs. concerns are rising the poor could be severely hit, leading to more instability in developing nations. on thursday, the united nations food and agricultural organization said the global food price index hit a new record high of just over 230 in january. that against a reference value of 100 set for a three-year period through 2004. it's also up more than 3% from december. excluding meat, most items such as grains and sugar became more expensive. the organization blames poor harvests due to abnormal weather, including heavy rain in australia. it also cited more demand for food in emerging countries or economies such as china and india. experts are worried continued price increases as forecast by the u.n. body could cause

political unrest across more developing countries. federal reserve chairman bene bernanke dismissed criticism that u.s. policy is a factor. >> i think it's entirely unfair to attribute excess demand pressures in emerging markets to u.s. monetary policy. >> on thursday, bernanke dispelled the idea that the fed's decision to supply more liquidity caused excess capital to flow into the commodities markets. he said emerging countries can use their own monetary policy or value their currencies to address inflation. he cited persistently high u.s. unemployment. he added u.s. consumer prices excluding food and energy are still at low levels. two of japan's leading steel makers say they aim to join forces next year. >> translator: there are big

changes in procuring materials, so the environment for the steel industry is changing drastically. >> translator: we must complete globally, because the steel industry will grow strong. >> nip pon steel and the country's third largest aim to combine their businesses by october 1st, 2012. they're making the move to become more competitive globally as strong demand is expected from china and other emerging companies. chinese and south korean steel makers are making huge investments to meet the surging demand from emerging economies. when the integration is complete, the new combined company will have a major influence in the japanese steel industry. this week we saw positive trends in economic data as well as gains in world stock markets. ahead of a u.s. jobs figure and

the ongoing geopolitical tension in the middle east, just how stable is the global economy? our reporter spoke with a professor and a former vice finance minister about his outlook. >> recent economic data have been pointing to the possibility that the global economy may be finding stable ground. this week we kicked off with positive industrial production figures from japan which was followed by positive ism manufacturing data from the united states. do you think we are indeed headed toward a stable global economic recovery? >> well, recovery is going on, but the question is whether this recovery is sustainable or not. i think the monetary policy and the fiscal policy on most of the developed countries contributed to this recovery. but given the status of the

fiscal deficit in every part of the developed area, i don't think they can sustain this fiscal stimulus for long. so they have to suspend that some time this year or next year. so this policy-sustained recovery, i don't think, will really last that long. i think most of the developed countries have structural problems. europe, united states, as well as japan. so that it is very difficult to have sustainable stable recovery. >> on the monetary side, do you think the federal reserve will continue this current round of quantitative easing past the expiration date in june? >> well, it's very difficult to predict. federal reserve right to hold qe

in june. whether or not that is possible depends robust the u.s. recovery is. if they are concerned about inflation, they cannot continue quantitative easing. if they are more inclined to sustain recovery, they have to continue. that would not be a simple choice. >> he also warns of the recent advance in commodity prices fueled further by the recent political unrest in egypt. >> i think this time may split toward the less-developed countries. if that happens, that would have negative impact on oil prices. aside from oil prices, most of the commodity prices has been rising. i think this is a trend. enormous amount of demand from china and india would come

during the next five, ten years. that will push out the commodity prices. this is a serious problem because that would increase the prices of inputs and will generate inflation everywhere. >> over in europe, should southern debt concerns become magnified again, what can we expect in the currency markets? >> in europe and the euro seems to be recovering at this moment. euro has strengthened visa vie the u.s. dollar during the last couple of weeks. the fact still remains that the euro has a structural problem. it might pop-up any time. those weak sort of peripheral countries like greece, hungary, latvia or even spain and portugal are now riding a huge fiscal deficit. they've got to tighten their fiscal positions.

even germany is talking about tightening their fiscal policy. that will probably imply general slowdown of the european economy for some time to come. tokyo stocks rebounded sharply friday morning. the nikkei is currently trading 10,559. investors are buying a wide is business tie-up plan between two major steel makers. nippon steel. the deal has fueled optimism that other firms will follow suit to boost their global standing. on to currency on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar moving within a narrow range. the euro at $1.33. the euro is sharply lower against the yen following the central bank decision to keep

its key rate unchanged. but moves in the greenback are limited ahead of the u.s. jobs data due out later in the day. the japan sumo association has assembled a team to investigate serious allegations of bout fixing. 14 wrestlers and stable masters who were implicated in e-mail messages will be questioned. the team will finish its report by saturday after questioning has been completed. sunday, investigators will meet with sumo association board members to discuss their findings. so far three suspects, a stablemaster and two wrestlers reportedly admitted to their involvement. the investigation team has also issued questionnaires to all association members to shed more light on the recent allegations. people in southwestern japan are closely monitoring an active volcano that continues to send columns of smoke into the air. mt. shinmoe began erupting last week.

on thursday, it exploded in the morning and again around noon, spewing columns of smoke to a height of 2,500 meters. the meteorological agency made another aerial observation to check for any changes in the size and temperature of the lava dome. weather officials say volcanic gas continues to build up and the lava had reached a diameter of about 600 meters on wednesday. officials say people should not enter a zone within a four kilometer radius of the crater. they also warn of the danger of flying volcanic rocks and ash, as well as powerful shock waves. a deadly cold wave in japan this winter has claimed the lives of more than 100 people. the death toll is nearly 2.5 times higher than last winter. since december, snow-related accidents have been responsible for 101 deaths in 13 prefectures. most of the fatalities along the sea of japan coast in areas that received heavy snowfall.

19 deaths were reported in niigata and 18 on the northernmost island of hokkaido. 33 people died after falling off their roofs while removing deep snow, and 20 were buried in snow that fell down from roof tops. two-thirds of the victims were 65 or older and most of the fatal accidents occurred while they were working alone. china's biggest and most colorful holiday is now under way. people are celebrating the lunar new year that started on thursday. that means temples and other places across the country are not only packed, but in a very festive mood. ♪ this is the year of the rabbit so representations of the oriental zodiac sign are everywhere. these statues welcome visitors to a temple in central beijing. it is believed they bring good luck. inside the temple grounds, many stalls have been set up. people perform traditional dances and chinese operas.

acrobats and puppeteers put on shows. millions of chinese are expected to visit temples during the new year holiday week. in beijing, celebrations are being held at more than 30 sites, including streets near tiananmen square. a 200 meter skyscraper in northeastern china has been gutted by fire. police reports suggest it was triggered by fireworks celebrating the lunar new year. the fire occurred in the early hours of thursday in a complex that includes a five-star hotel and a condominium. the state run news agency says fire engines struggled to contain the blaze as their water cannons reached only a height of 50 meters. no casualties have been reported. a powerful cyclone has caused extensive damage in northeastern australia after making landfall around midnight

wednesday in the state of queensland. on thursday some 170,000 households were still left without electricity. local media are reporting damage to agriculture produce such as sugar cane and bananas. this has led to concerns about a shortage of sugar, as australia is the world's third largest exporter. and 95% of domestic production is in queensland. cyclone yasi is moving west-southwest while gradually losing strength. authorities say no deaths or serious injuries have been reported so far. however, many buildings and houses were destroyed and had their roofs blown off, mainly in coastal areas. some 10,000 people who had evacuated as a precaution against the cyclone will now be able to return to their homes. on a brighter note, local media announced a japanese woman has given birth to a healthy baby girl while living in an evacuation shelter. welcome back to your world

weather update. for east asia we are looking at a lot of calm skies today. really clear and dry for china, across the korean peninsula into japan. there is going to be snow impacting the northwest flank this morning but that tapers off, as well. looks like scattered showers and thunder showers impacting the southern island but it should remain away from mainland areas. for the philippines, the south has been seeing a lot of heavy rain. central and southern portion also see off and on showers throughout the day today. flooding risk, landslide risk will remain high. 28 for your high in manila. 20 in hong kong. 14 chongqing, 8 degrees in beijing, 6 in seoul. nice and warm in tokyo, as well. a quick taste of spring here. now for australia, of course, queensland has been dealing with that storm system. yasi has now weakened, it's a tropical low but gathering quite a bit of strength.

winds are still going to be gusty for parts of the northern territories today. gusts could hit about 95 kilometers per hour. watch out. that could cause some damage. and then there's the rain to contend with. in the next 72 hours, seeing the bulk of the heavy rain move into the central areas of australia and coastal areas of queensland will remain unsettled into the weekend. perhaps not as heavy as when the storm hit, but it's not going to dry out right yet. that could exacerbate the flood conditions. you want to watch out for that, as well. for north america, the united states is looking more settled in the east as the snowstorm pulls away. however, we still see quite a bit of tropical moisture in the gulf coast. showers, thunder showers for these states here. back towards texas and louisiana, you are going to see a chance of snow and it's still pretty cold here.

speaking of snow, that will be spreading across western canada. coastal areas of british columbia will see rain rather than that white stuff. you may see some heavy amounts of rain here, as well. as for highs on friday, chilly in houston. high of 2. only 4 in atlanta, as well. minus 8 in chicago, minus 6 in toronto. so very chilly weather continues with you today. finally a look at europe. windy weather as well as chilly rain will impact a lot of the british isles for scotland. upper elevations could be seeing snow, as well. and then the showers move across the scandinavian peninsula and into the northern end of germany and towards poland, baltic states, as well. drier for greece, a lot of the rain moving into turkey and that system is slowly weakening and we shouldn't be seeing as heavy downpours as we've seen the past couple of days. temperatures overall are quite

mild across europe. 2 to 4 degrees above seasonal averages. 7 in berlin and 9 degrees in vienna. looking at 11 for paris and lond. that's a look at your weather for now. re is yo three-day outlook. an cl

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