welcome to nlk "newsline." leaders will hold a summit next month to discuss fiscal policy amid critical concerns in the region. european counsel said on wednesday the 17-nation summit is scheduled march 11th in brussels. it will be the first meeting since last may when eu leaders

did he spieded to support greece. the european union established a system last year to provide financial support for member nations. government bonds issued by indebted countries continue to decline this value. there is growing concern the facility will not be able to provide loans. anti-government protesters have rallied in front of egypt's parliament building as government officials warn of military intervention to end weeks of demonstrations. on wednesday, protesters occupying tahrir square in central cairo marched on parliament and set up barricades. meanwhile in new valley, southern egypt, two days of clashes between demonstrators and security forces have left five dead and about 100 wounded. the largest opposition force, the muslim brotherhood, told a news conference on wednesday that it will continue protesting until president hosni mubarak quits. the group also claimed troops had detained more than 70

demonstrators and tortured them. but vice president omar suleiman told local media that the government will not tolerate protests any longer, and the foreign minister said that the military would step in to protect national security if demonstrators tried to take power. french president nicolas sarkozy urged his ministers to vacation in france rather than abroad. it was discovered prime minister enjoyed a free excursion sponsored by the egyptian government. the prime minister acknowledged he spent the new year holidays in egypt with his faply. the reports that the egypt-on government offered them a free trip and a cruise on the nile. it was also revealed earlier that foreign minister had been in tunisia. opposition forces criticized the revelations saying they prove

the french government enjoys cozy relations with arab dictators. a series of powerful bomb explosions in the northern iraqi city of kirkuk has killed at least six people. three of the dead are police officers. another 75 people were injured. the three bombs on wednesday exploded in quick succession. they were placed in vehicles parked near the headquarters of the security forces. video footage shows the third explosion occurred just as a police van was nearing the building where the two other bombs had just exploded. the blasts follow a wave of car bomb explosions last month around the capital baghdad that killed 53 people. a new coalition government comprising major ethnic and religious groups was formed in iraq in december, but the posts of defense minister and interior minister in charge of security remain unfilled because of internal disagreements.

a human rights group says an average of two children a day died in fighting in afghanistan last year. the kabul-based afghanistan rights monitor says 739 children under the age of 18 were killed in conflict-related incidents in 2010. the human rights group attributes 64% of the children's deaths to insurgents and 17% to international forces. the group says many of the child fatalities occurred not only in the southern provinces of kandahar and helmand, which are taliban strongholds, but also in the eastern and northern provinces. the group is urging insurgents and international forces to ensure the safety of children and other civilians during combat. russia's president says he'd like to develop several

russian-held islands that are also claimed by japan. dmitry medvedev describes the islands as an inseparable part of russia. medvedev made the comments on wednesday at a meeting with regional development minister victor barsagian and the defense minister anatoly serdyukov. the two ministers briefed the president on their visits to the islands last week. medvedev ordered the swift modernization of the island's military and promised further development of their economies with the help of neighboring countries. medvedev visited one of the four disputed islands kunashiri last november. japanese prime minister naoto kan described the visit as an unforgivable outrage, which sparked criticism from russia. foreign munster seiji maehara is scheduled to arrive in russia on thursday where he plans to again make clear that the four islands are an integral part of japan. but maehara also wants to stress the importance of bilateral relations. he'll discuss broadening cooperation in economic and other areas, including the development of natural resources in russia.

bout-fixing allegations continue to rock the world of japan's traditional sport. sumo stables have avoided parties in the wake of the scandals. stable masters from about 50 stables met in tokyo wednesday to discuss their course of action now that next month's tournament in osaka has been called off. they decided to withhold parties. they agreed wrestlers should remain in their own stables for training. wrestlers will be encouraged to contribute to society by visiting welfare facilities and doing volunteer work. the special panel investigating the scandal says none of the 33 wrestlers questioned so far was involved in bout fixing other than the 14 linked to suspicious e-mails. it hopes to finish questioning the higher ranking wrestlers on saturday. mt. shinmoe continues to spew smoke and volcanic ash. now another problem looms. weather officials warn that rain forecast from thursday could cause mudslides. two weeks have passed since the mountain straddling kagoshima

and miyazaki awoke from its slumber. the volcano spewed columns of smoke several hundred meters into the air on wednesday. up to 5 millimeters of rain per hour is forecast for thursday afternoon around the volcano. the meteorological agency says some areas may receive 30 millimeters of rain by friday morning. it advises residents to be on the alert for mudslides caused by the thick layers of ash. the agency also warns people to stay away from areas within four kilometers of the crater and to watch out for falls of large volcanic rocks. taiwan's defense ministry says prosecutors arrested a senior military officer on suspicion of spying for china. major general lo hsien-che is the former head of the communications electronic action and information division at army defense headquarters. the defense ministry believes the 51-year-old lo began working as a spy in 2004 while he was stationed in thailand as a

military attache. media reports say lo is suspected of having provided sensitive military information to china. the information likely included details of a sophisticated communications system for sharing intelligence between the army, navy and air force. information about an optical fiber network that the taiwanese army is building may also have been included. it's the first arrest of a high-ranking officer on suspicion of spying for china in 61 years. the taiwanese defense ministry has begun tightening its intelligence security in light of the case. myanmar's president-elect thein sein has submitted his new cabinet nominees, mostly military officials, to parliament for approval. thein sein presented his 30 cabinet nominees wednesday. ten of the nominees are incumbent cabinet ministers while about five are sitting vice ministers. many of the rest are former military officials who retired to run in the recent general election. several ministers are from the private sector but two are

believed to be corporate managers close to the military government. the new cabinet will be launched as early as this week, after being approved by parliament, and officially appointed by the president. the process will mark the completion of what the administration calls the creation of a civilian government. japan's big automakers did better in china than at home during the nine-month ending last december. one exception, toyota motor. honda motor sold 486,000 vehicles in china in the april to december period, 20,000 more than in japan. mazda motor sales in china hit 186,000 units, overtaking domestic sales by 30,000. mitsubishi motor sold 127,000 vehicles, they are 6,000 more than at home. nissan motor chai that sales reached the 755,000 mark during the period. that was over 310,000 units more

than in japan. car giant toyota sold over 1 million vehicles at home but only 677,000 in china. china's market is predicted to continue growing, making it the engine of recovery for japanese automakers. japan's motors rose last month due to an increase in orders of nonmanufacturing increases. major machinery makers received orders of nearly $9 billion from domestic orders in december. while orders from manufacturers were sluggish, those from finance, insurance and communications rebounded from large declines in november. looking at 2010 as a whole, orders grew 4.6% year on year to $1.8 billion as japanese industries are seeing strong exports to emerging economies.

last year's growth was the first in four years. the cabinet office says that while orders from manufacturers dipped temporarily, resilience among makers of auto and machinery suggest recovery is under way. the london stock exchange and the operator of the toronto stock exchange said on wednesday that they will merge their operations to create the world's largest exchange. the merger of the stock exchange and canada's tmx group will make the world's biggest exchange by number of listed companies. the total market capitalization of the listed 6,700 firms will be about $6 trillion. the amount will be second only to the figure of the nyse euronext, the operator of the new york stock exchange. the exchanges say they will complete business integration late this year. nyse euronext issued a statement on wednesday saying it has entered into merger talks with

germany's deutsche bors, the operate operator of the frankfurt stock exchange. u.s. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke has stressed the need for additional monetary easing as a full recovery in the job market will take years. bernanke told the house budget committee on wednesday that a recent drop in the jobless rate to 9% is encouraging. >> notable declines in the unemployment rate in december and january, together with improvement in indicators of job openings and firms' hiring plans do provide some grounds for optimism on the employment front. >> but he was cautious about the employment outlook, saying that hiring will not fully recover for several years. republican lawmakers criticized the fed's additional credit easing, saying it's causing some commodity prices to soar. but bernanke said overall inflation is quite low and defended the fed's policy as a way to prop up the economy and stabilize prices. meanwhile, bernanke agreed with republicans on the urgency of curbing the ballooning fiscal deficit, which he said isn't suitable.

a bean sprout grower has launched efforts to make due of economic toughs with what is immediately at hand. >> reporter: the japanese style hot pot dish nabe is popular winter fare. the mushroom is a favorite nabe ingredient and prized among all mushroomed for its flavor. this breen sprout grower began shooping the mushroom in 2009. bean sprouts have been long popular as an inexpressive vegetable. this producer expanded sales by 20% over the past three years. how, the price of the bean sprout seed has tripled over the past six years.

this is making it more difficult for the company to turn a profit. >> translator: sales are strong because our prices are low. however, we don't think consumers and distributors would accept a sudden price hike. >> reporter: looking for ways to economize, the company turned ways to produce the hulls or husk. the biproduct is about 20 tons of hulls. normally the farmers buy the hulls cheaply for use as cattle feed, but about two years ago the company began testing the highly nutritious hulse as a premium for the spores of the

premium mushrooms. initially, it was difficult to maintain consistency in the mushroom's growth. >> these must rooms have been growing the same number of days, but size varies greatly. >> reporter: the speed of growth differs from the amount of hulls used, how densely they are packed and other factors. during testing, the company adjusted the amount of hulls by 10 grams each planting. after two years of struggle, it successfully commercialized its mushrooms. >> translator: it's been a long road. we've been through numerous setbacks before getting to where we are now. >> reporter: last september, the firm opened a new facility, solely dedicated to mushroom

production. their mushrooms earned a reputation for meatiness and rich favor. the firm plans to triple its current output to 600 kilograms a day in two years' time. making use of a by product served the company well. >> we are still getting inconsistency in about 10% output. but i'm thrilled and so is the rest of our team. we'll do the best we can to make this our success. >> here are the latest market figures.

people living with chronic fatigue syndrome feel drained of strength all the time. tests are recommended if patients feel extreme fatigue that has interfered with their daily living for more than six months. around the world it's thought 17 million patients suffer from the disorder, but so far the cause and the cure remain elusive and experts say most people don't understand just how debilitating the condition is. one woman with chronic fatigue syndrome is trying to change that. >> reporter: 52-year-old mieko shinohara has no energy.

she needs help to do even the most basic physical activities. getting out of bed without help is out of the question, so is going out on her own. shinohara needs a caregiver eight hours a day. she can't even feed herself. >> translator: even if i try to get up, i just can't do it. no matter how hard i try, i can never get up. i feel like i'm stuck in bed, like, well, i guess like a lump of lead. >> reporter: shinohara felt the first symptoms 20 years ago. she had been studying in the u.s. one day, she was overcome with intense fatigue. exhaustion prevented her from going out and her body ached all

over. she had to spend more time in bed. blood and urine tests offered no clues. doctors told her it was just exhaustion. after visiting many hospitals, she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, but there is no cure, and her symptoms worsened. she has spent the last five years in bed. >> translator: i look healthy, not skinny, so even if i explain what is wrong with me, people don't understand how serious my condition is. they see a person who looks healthy. >> reporter: shinohara formed a patient's advocacy group that

promotes the screening of a documentary about the syndrome. "i remember me" is an american documentary film about patients with the disorder. shinohara translated the script for a screening in december. >> it's a horrible name, because it basically means, what does it mean? >> steven had become ill sometime in tenth grade. it was now the end of his senior year of high school. >> reporter: the film portrays the prejudices and hardships of those confined to a wheelchair or bed. after the screening, shinohara spoke on behalf of the patients. >> translator: it's difficult for people to understand how serious this illness is. i hope that this film gets that message across. >> reporter: experts also call for research. yoshihisa yamano studies viruses. he's a professor at the st. marianna school of medicine. he points out u.s. researchers

found a virus specific to chronic fatigue syndrome patients. while the results of this discovery are being debated, yamano thinks japan should play a bigger role. >> translator: we should do our own research to see if the u.s. results are effective. >> reporter: shinohara and many patients hope that people come to understand chronic fatigue syndrome. she would also like japan to expand research without delay. >> last december, shinohara and some doctors visited the health and welfare ministry. they asked for the government to be more active in finding the cause of the disorder. >> here is the weather forecast with sumi zushi. >> hello there. welcome back to your world weather update. lots of cold weather continues

to dominate northeastern china. across the korean peninsula, northeast of china. light snow flurries in and around beijing but further south for the southern sections of china lots of rain. this rain band is then going to be heading into the east china sea and then into japan later today, so although it does look dry right now along the pacific side of the country, we will start to see that very cold rain and snow spreading over the region from tonight into your friday. here is the outlook into your friday morning, you can see many areas picking up snow, up to 40 centimeters is possible up in hokkaido, down towards the west looking at 20 centimeters and even in central portions including kanto we're looking to receive up to 10 centimeters so looking at substantial amounts of snow to really affect a wide area and that's going to last throughout your friday. we've got 9 degrees in tokyo today and cold in seoul and beijing, temperatures struggling to rise and 5 degrees in

shanghai so rather chilly here as well. now we take a look at the americas as well, the cold arctic air starts to shift towards the east but still dominating much of the u.s. and certainly going to see more snow down in the deep south here. we're looking about 10 to 20 centimeters of snow tonight and into your thursday morning so substantial amounts of snow accompanied by strong winds as well, so looking quite cold and chilly, and wintry all together. over towards the northeast, some more lake-effect snow for you but otherwise looking generally dry with good spells of sunshine for british columbia, up in canada, a different story, looking quite wet for you, lots of rain as well as inland snow. vancouver looking cloudy today. five degrees for your daytime high. 9 in seattle. 1 in denver, still cold for this time of year but doing much better than earlier in the week. 25 degrees in los angeles, so

here we're starting to feel the effect of that mild air coming in from the pacific. but temperatures still struggling to rise up in the northeastern corner here. now, finally over to europe then, wet and windy weather dominating the northern tier of the continent, lots of snow forecast to move into scandinavia, accompanied by strong winds as well, and looking at more rain to affect the british isles, that's going to be heading into the southeastern corner, next so london will be in for that heavy rain and strong winds, too, and then right now it's looking quite dry across central and southeastern europe, high pressure system in control, but the rain band will be heading into central europe next affecting the low countries, germany as well as france. still quite cold up in the northeastern corner here, certainly looking at snow to affect moscow today, and temperatures really plummeting away, minus 12 degrees in moscow, minus 3 in kiev, but stays mild out towards the west, 16 degrees in rome, looking quite cloudy here, 13 in paris

and then 18 degrees in madrid. that's all from me just now. here is your extended forecast.

. >> zuro zone leaders will hold a summit next month. the european council said on wednesday the 17-nation summit is scheduled plauch 11th in brussels. the first meeting since last may when they decided to support debt-ridden greece. the european union established a system last year to provide financial support for member

nations. government bonds issued by indebted countries such as port xwal and spain continue to decline this value. there is growing concern they will not be able to provide sufficient loans. hot springs are popular this time of year. people aren't the only ones to enjoy a good soak from time to time. that is a horse you're looking at through all this steam. this hot springs bath in northern japanese city specializes treating race horses suffering injuries. the water is believed to improve the animal's circulation and help the animal relax. the facility is open during winter.

>> we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com