welcome to nhk world "newsline." japanese government decided to suspend research whaling in the antarctic this winter. citing obstruction by the anti-whaling group sea shepherd. fisheries minister announced the decision on friday. he said sea shepherd's activities are making it difficult to ensure the safety of personnel on research whaling ships. once again, the japanese government decided to suspend

research bhaeling in the antarctic this winter citing obstruction of anti-whaling group. fisheries minister kano announced the decision on friday. kano said the activities are making it difficult to ensure the safety of personnel on research whaling ships. china estimates last year's inflows of speculative money exceeded $35 billion. that's $10 billion more than the annual average over the last 10 years. in a report issued on thursday, china's state administration of foreign exchange says inflows of short-term money also known as hot money reached $35.5 billion. the figure exceeds $25 billion which is the 10-year average by the state administration. hot money going into china has exceeded the level of the previous year for the first time since 2007. the year before the onset of the global financial crisis. the increase is due to the

continued boom in china. another factor is the inflow of surplus funds of global markets following the extra money boosting measures by the u.s. central bank last november. the chinese office says illegal hot money inflows behind the country's economy overheating and seen in higher real estate and goods prices. the office says there are cases where money that's more than the actual value of chinese exports was sent from abroad. also some illegal money comes in as fake investments. the eu given the ahead to a free trade agreement with south korea. on thursday, the european parliament approved the deal with majority support. the court will take effect in july this year. the eu and south korea had signed the agreement back in october 2010. the trade deal calls for the gradual elimination of five years of almost all tariffs on industrial and farm products between the eu and south korea.

the current tariffs up to 14% on electrical appliances reduced to zero. products include autos and televisions. the approval will make south korean products more competitive. this is raising concerns among japanese companies that they may fall behind south korean firms in the european market. singapore's prime minister has expressed support for japan to become a member of the a u.s.-backed pacific free trade agreement known as the transpacific partnership. singapore's taking part in the negotiations for a multi-lateral free trade framework in the region. he met the chairman of japan business federation in singapore on thursday. he is now on his three-nation southeast asian tour with indonesia and thailand. he noted that singapore is exercising leadership as a

negotiating member in an effort to make tpp rules and asked li about his country's strategy for trade liberalization in the region. li says he hopes japan will join the negotiations as a member and welcomed prime minister naoto kan's efforts to reform the agriculture and said he hopes he wins political support and move toward japanese participation in the negotiations. he wants japan to join the tpp but japanese farmers are strongly opposed to the idea. toyota motor will start making cars in russia's far east. it will be the first time for a base in the region. observers say toyota will supply parts to a joint venture set up and russian car maker solars. the venture will begin assembling sports utility vehicles at solar's plant as early as 2012.

annual output is expected to be around 30,000 vehicles. auto sales in russia plunged following the global financial crisis but demand recovered to about 2 million vehicles last year and is expected to grow further. sources say through local production, toyota aims to offer lower end prices avoiding tariffs. tariffs are as high as 35%. now let's check on the markets. lack of incentives kept tokyo stocks trading in a narrow range on friday morning. the make kay average ended the morning session at 10,839, up 2 points. many investors stayed on the sidelines keeping an eye on the spread of anti-government protests in the middle east. in currencies, the dollar is meanwhile lower on friday morning in tokyo. following the release of a weaker than expected u.s. employment data overnight. greenback currently at 83.34-39.

u.s. unemployment figures were higher than market expectations renewing concerns over the recovery of the job market. civil unrest continues to grow in the middle east. in northeastern libya on thursday, at least ten people were reportedly killed in clashes between anti-government demonstrators and security forces. the violence marked the fifth year of civil unrest in libyan's second largest city. they used social networking sites to plan major protests. libyan authorities routinely ban foreign coverage of any public protests, however, according to anti-government websites, demonstrations were taking place in northeastern cities. state-run television broadcast images of the capital tripoli where a gathering was held in support of libyan leader gaddafi

and to stem the tide of public unrest, the government released 110 members of an anti-government organization from prison and raised the wages of public servants. however, protesters continue to demand the removal of gaddafi who ruled libya for more than 40 years. in yemen, dpon stray or thes also clashed with security forces, leaving one person dead. reuters and other news agencies say the violence started when security forces tried to disperse 3,000 demonstrators in the southern city of adden on thursday. reports say one person was killed mane injured. in the capital, government supporters attacked thousands of protesters and at least 40 people reportedly injured. the president who has been in power more than 30 years already declared that he'll not run in the 2013 presidential election. however, protesters continue to demand that he resign immediately. in bahrain, the mail tear is

taking control of the capitol manama. tanks were deployed after a predawn police assault on anti-government demonstrators. security forces stormed a camp of protesters at pearl square in the capital. they fired teargas and beat demonstrators who were demanding political reform. the health ministry says three people were killed and over 230 injured in the crackdown. about 1,000 people gathered around a hospital where the injured were taken for treatment. >> translator: we fell asleep because it was 3:00 a.m. then the military started to attack. soldiers beat us severely. >> people in front of the hospital chanted slogans urging the ouster of the king. the protesters are mostly shias, demanding political reform in bahrain, where a sunni minority rules over a shia majority. they're now calling for major rallies following friday prayers.

at un headquarters in new york, ban ki-moon says he's deeply troubled by reports of violence in bahrain. >> here as elsewhere, violence should not be used against the peaceful demonstrators and against the journalists. it must stop. >> u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has also expressed deep concern over the situation. >> the united states strongly opposes the use of violence and strongly supports reform. that moves toward democratic institution building and economic openness. >> bahrain is home to the u.s. 5th fleet. the u.s. naval presence there is aimed at ensuring the free flow of oil through the gulf and monitoring the movements of iran. earlier my colleague spoke with an expert on the middle east from the institute of energy economics japan. >> egypt was in turmoil a few weeks ago, and now countries like bahrain and iran are

experiencing the nightmare, as well. why are we seeing this happening to these countries? >> let me begin with iran. over there, if you look back in 2009, they disputed presidential elections. and in those days, they lost in the election. ever since then, the two gentlemen have been trying to look for an opportunity to exert sort of a pressure on the government. now, they found this perfect opportunity to show solidarity be the people of tunisia and egypt by staging a rally, but of course, this was never authorized by the authorities of iran. but anyway, the rallies took place and the people took to the streets and we saw a lot of anti-government and anti-regime slogans chanted. people also called for greater political freedom.

and also, that was obvious that the courts would not allow that to spread through the country, so they intervened. now, i think these things are getting nasty over there. >> things sound pretty serious in iran, but how about bahrain? >> again, bahrain had this social problems that have evolved over the past decades. there's a sectarian difference amongst the majority shiites and minority sunnis. the sort of economic disparity where you see a lot of shiites in the lower classes while the sunni leadership are quite rich. the failure to reform the government and, say, give more political freedom for the ordinary people failed apparently. and again, i think this added to the frustration of the people over there. >> the situation is too fluid so you can't really tell what's going to happen.

if the situation continues in bahrain, how likely is it the situation, the turmil, will spread to its neighboring country, saudi arabia, the world's largest oil producer? >> well, this was always the case. there's been this concern amongst the west and also amongst the saudi ruling family that if something happens amongst the shiite majority of bahrain, that could easily spread to the eastern province of saudi arabia, which is -- which happens to be the major oil fields of the country. that could have an impact over the supply of oil to international markets. in the past, this was the concern that was sort of a valid one, but in reality, this never happened. but still, when there is sort of

a concern amongst the mindset of the people, especially in the market, that there will be a destruction of production, or the transfer of oil, then the market would easily jump on to these kinds of incidents and then take advantage of it. we could see some sort of an hike, extra hike of oil prices if to it's going to happen. and if it's going to be happening in saudi arabia, as well. but so far we haven't seen anything like that. >> all right. thank you so much for your perspective. >> great to be here.anization o military analysts says north korea appears to have completed a launch tower at its second long-range missile site. global security.org posted satellite images of the site on wednesday it says taken last month in the northwestern province. the image analyst tim brown told nhk that the tower is about 50

meters tall and the facility is larger and more advanced than the first launch site in the northeast. he added that there is no indication of an imminent launch. on wednesday, u.s. assistant secretary of state phillip crowley expressed concern of the development of the north's ballistic missiles. >> north korea has obligations. it has to follow through on commitments that's made. we expect them to follow through on their commitments. >> the survey in south korea found about from the north live on a monthly household income of less than $1,000. the police agency survey conducted last year looked at 12,000 detector households that settled in the south. the survey showed that 50% live on less than $900 a month and 20% on less than $450. of the 9,200 households

reporting an income source, about 20% have a member with regular employment. more than half reported only part-time or temporary jobs. while a quarter reported a complete lack of employment. ask what makes their life in the south difficult? nearly 40% cited economic difficulties and over 10% mentioned difficulty finding employment. the number of north korean defectors living in the south surpassed 20% in december. the government plans to expand job training programs for the defectors and encourage businesses to hire women from the north. a russian foreign ministry spokesman said it would be meaningless to continue talks on a territorial dispute with japan if japanese leaders purr sigh what he called radical ideas. alex xander lukavhevitz made the comment on thursday saying japan

and russia far apart on the territorial issue with four russian-held islands off northern japan and evident last week in moscow. he accused japan's prime minister and other top officials of sticking to what he called radical ideas. >> translator: it's completely meaningless to continue negotiations under the circumstances. >> he said russia intends to continue talks aimed at signing a peace treaty between the two countries and insisted that russia and japan should focus on strengthening economic ties and technological developments. lavr 0 v said there will be no progress until japan septembers the outcome of world war ii. dismissing the statement on thursday, adano said japan accepted the outcome of the war but doesn't contradict the country's stance of sovereignty over the islands.

>> japan's ground self-defense forces and u.s. marines trained together at an american facility that prepares troops to operate in afghanistan. the u.s. military says the training was held last thursday and friday at a special u.s. facility in california as part of a month-long joint drill. the facility was built last year to train troops for afghan operations. it has a replica of an afghan village with high walls and narrow streets. the participants learn how to patrol and talk to people in afghanistan and to deal with other situations they may encounter overseas. launched last wednesday, the drill also aims to enhance it ability against seaborne attacks. the u.s. and japan hope to strengthen cooperation among personnel.rough a range of exer. however, some say the u.s. military also hopes to improve the overseas operational

capabilities of japanese personnel for other missions. a report released last week says the u.s. will work with japan's self-defense forces to boost their ability to function overseas. nuclear weapons experts wrapped up a meeting wednesday in switzerland. they got together in an effort to kick start the united nations long-stalled conference on armame including the united states and britain, attended the three-day session in geneva at the request of japan. the geneva-based disarmament conference has been stalled for 15 years because of differences between nuclear and nonnuclear powers also among nuclear powers themselves. in particular negotiations on a fis sill material cutoff treaty ban further production of fuel for atomic weapons have made no progress. the japanese ambassador said his government is making every effort to get a ban in place. >> translator: we're determined to do our best to resume the

official negotiations at the disarmament conference. >> japanese government sources say the experts at the meeting in geneva discussed the range of nuclear materials the treaty would ban. they also touched on the rate of uranium enrichment and amount of plutonium in nuclear materials. but some important problems such as pakistan's partial attendance of the meeting remain tasks to be resolved in further negotiations. here's the weather forecast with sachi ochi. hi, welcome back to your world weather update. we are taking a look at australia deal with all the storm systems. still with us again today. we have got the remnants of carlos up in the north and then outtowards the west, too, in the indian ocean there's tropical cyclone diane and diane remaining at category 2 strength

but forecasts calling for the system to strengthen within 24 hours. it's expected to become a category 3 cyclone so this is a strong system that we are talking about here. winds will likely get even stronger over the next few days so we do want to watch out for that. it does remain well offshore and it looks like it's going to remain that way at least for anotday. so it won't have a direct impact on the coastline here. those gale-force winds will stay offshore but either way we'll see stronger surf conditions here for the next few days. you do want to watch out if you're going to be in the warning areas. in the north, we have carlos, the remnants of that cyclone. it's still with us and continues to remain a fairly potent storm system, bringing those rains in. while winds are not too strong right now, it could get stronger as the system is expected to head back into the gulf on saturday and that will give it a lot more energy and start becoming possibly a tropical cyclone yet again.

now, it's been producing a lot of rain. that's looking to continue again throughout today. friday will be another wet day for this corner of australia. watch out as you could see 100 millimeters to 200 millimeters more rainfall. there's already been flooding reported. risks are to see a lot more of that flooding continue. it's going to be wet across western australia, as well. looking at a lot of moisture coming in off of diane. in east asia, we're going to see a little bit of snow for western china today here and then southern areas, too, will see rain spreading in, again from the south china sea. japan this morning looking at pretty heavy showers for central and northern sections of the country. but that's going to be heading out at a pretty good pace. should be looking drier into the evening. as for highs, 14 in tokyo today. 6 in seoul. 18 degrees in taipei. now for north america, it is pretty messy again out towards

the west. systems continuing to trek on in and talking about a lot of snow in to friday night. widespread area of intermountain west, rockies and western canada picking up the snow. the sierras in particular seeing the heavier snows. 15 centimeters or more possible here and the snow area for eastern and central sections of canada, too, and some of this parts of ontario expect 15 centimeters of or more of this heavy stuff, as well. great lakes area, though, you won't be looking at too much snow in the forecast because we are looking at warm temperatures again on friday. 13 degrees for your high in chicago, 16 in new york and even getting up to 22 degrees in d.c. so rather pleasant for those of you on the northeast. all right. so that's a look at your weather for now and here's your three-day outlook.

our lead stories this hour, the japanese government has decided to suspend research whaling in the antarctic this winter citing obstruction by the anti-whaling group sea shepherd. fisheries minister kano anoubsed the decision on friday saying sea shepherd's activities are making it difficult to ensure the safety of personnel on research whaling ships. once again, the japanese government has decided to suspend research whaling in the antarctic this winter citing obstruction of the anti-whaling group sea shepherd. fisheries minister kano announced the decision on friday saying sea shepherd's activities are making it difficult to ensure the safety of personnel on research whaling ships. china estimates last year's inflows of speculative money exceeded $35 billion. that's $10 billion more than its

annual average over the last 10 years. in a report issued on thursday, china's state administration of foreign exchange says inflows of short-term money also known as hot money reached $35.5 billion. the figure tweeds $25 billion which is the 10-year average given by the state administration. hot money going into china exceeded the level of the previous year for the first time since 2007, the year before the onset of the global financial crisis. the increase is due to the continued boom in china. another factor is the inflow of surplus funds from global markets following the extra money boosting measures by the u.s. central bank last november. the chinese office says illegal hot money inflows behind the country's economy overheating which are seen in higher real estate and goods prices. the office says there are cases where money that's more than the actual value of chinese exports was sent from abroad.

also some illegal money comes in as fake investments. the eu given the go ahead of a free trade agreement with south korea. on thursday, the european parliament approved the deal with majority support. the accord will take effect in july this year. the eu and south korea had signed the agreement back in october 2010. the trade deal calls for the gradual elimination within five years of almost all tariffs on industrial and farm products between the eu and south korea. the current tariffs of up to 14% on korean electric am appliances will be rhee deuced to zero of autos and flat-screen televisions. the approval will make the products more competitive. this is raising concerns among japanese companies that they may fall behind south korean firms in the european market. singapore's prime minister has expressed support for japan to become a member of a u.s.-backed pacific free trade agreement known as the

transpacific partnership. singapore is making part in the negotiations for a free trade framework in the region. the chairman of japan business federation in singapore on thursday. he's now on his three-nation cease asian tour which includes indonesia and thailand. he noted that singapore is exercising leadership as a negotiating member and an effort to make tpp rules and asked li about his country's strategy for trade and liberalization in the region. li said he hopes japan will join the negotiation as a member and welcomed the prime minister's efforts to reform the agriculture and said he hopes kan wins political support and move toward japanese participation in the negotiation. they want japan to join the tpp but japanese farmers remain strongly opposed to the idea. we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes.

i'm gene otani in tokyo.