"newsline." prime minister naoto kan has admitted to receiving donations from a nonjapanese in violations of political funds control law. earlier he had to step down as foreign minister as -- after a similar situation but naoto kan

has no intention of resigning. friday morning edition reported the prime minister's fund manager body received donation from a korean resident of japa . naoto kan claims to have not known the acquaintance. and that he was introduced as a person working in the real estate business and he had dined with the person several times. >> i thought the donor was a japanese national, since japanese name was used. if the donor is confirmed to be a foreign national, i'll return the amount in full. >> before the committee meeting, naoto kan told minister he was aunaware the donor was a foreign national oh national an said he will not resign over the instance. >> if the donor is confirmed to be a foreign national and what the prime minister said is true it will be enough to return the money.

former foreign minister me hair ra made a decision not to restein but i heard the foreign minister is not planning to follow suit. forces loyal to libyan leader moammar gadhafi are aerial bombing to cut water and electricity in cities where anti-government forces have taken control. the government has superior equipment such as combat planes. forces loyal to gadhafi continue fierce bombing in the central city of ras lanuf pushing anti-government forces to the east. a counteroffensive has been mounted in zawiya outside tripoli with attacks daily from the air and ground. one of their spokesperson told nhk on thursday that gadhafi loyalists are targeting water, and electricity facilities and roads.

nhk's correspondent in the middle east says government forces are trying to retake the city by cutting supply routes. targeting essential utilities will affect the lives of ordinary people. international criticism and pressure against gadhafi to step down are likely to intensify. nato agreed any action to establish a no-fly zone over libyan airspace must be mandated by a u.n. security council resolution and approved by libya's neighbors. nato defense ministers held a meeting in brussels on thursday to discuss the tense situation in the battle torn country. they discussed setting up a no-fly zone to protect anti-government forces from aerial bombing by pro-gadhafi loyalists. the ministers agreed the necessity of intervention must be clear. after the meeting, nato

secretary general rasmussen said concrete plans are needed to impose a no-fly zone. >> regarding a possible no-fly zone in case nato were to receive a clear united nations mandate, further planning will be required. >> meanwhile, russia remains cautious about a no-fly zone foreign minister lavrof has called for full consideration based on objective information. he said it's important to obtain information on what is actually happening in libya and urged gadhafi loyalists and anti-government forces to negotiate a cease-fire. large scale demonstrations have been called for on friday in saudi arabia but the government says it won't hesitate to suppress protesters with force. the country has seen calls on-line for nationwide protests on march 11th, following friday prayers demanding reform to the

monarch controlled government tochlt ease discontent they unveiled an emergency package worth $36 billion to boost unemployment and support low income. and released a prisoner belonging to the shia minority. a skreez of small scale demonstrations broke out on thursday. security forces forcibly removed several hundred shia protesters leave manage injured. security authorities say they will use force against any demonstration, insisting protests are an act of disloyalty to islam. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton will visit egypt and tunisia next week. she will be the first u.s. cabinet official to travel to the area since a wave of uprisings swept through the region. clinton was speaking to a congressional panel on thursday. >> we have an enormous stake in ensuring that egypt and tunisia provide models for the kind of democracy that we want to see.

>> in egypt, clinton will announce a $150 million aid package that will also help to finance an election. she will speak directly to the egyptian people. clinton will hold talks with members of libya's opposition, either in ton neez wra or egypt. -- either in tunisia or egypt. new york stocks plunged nearly 230 points on thursday falling below the 12,000 mark for the first time in over a month. spain's credit downgrade and concerns about the middle east and north africa weighed on stocks. investors sold a wide range of shares after a major government rating agency downgraded spain's sovereign debt. that fueled concerns credit worries might spread to other european countries with huge debts. market sentiment took a blow from news saudi arabia security forces clashed with anti-government demonstrators which further fueled concerns over oil supplies. the dow jones industrial average finished at 11,984, down under 2% or 228 points.

participants said that selling mounted after new jobless claims in the u.s. were more than many analysts had expected. this dampened the country's employment outlook. agriculture officials from the asia pacific countries have agreed on the need to stock up on food and to increase investment to fight rising food prices. the agreement was reached at an emergency seminar held by the united nations food and agriculture organization in bangkok on thursday. the food price index hit a record high for three straight months. surging food prices are expected to have a serious impact on the asian region, which has a large number of people living in poverty. the participants agreed each country needs to address agricultural infrastructure and irrigation. the president of the u.n. body told reporters that the officials agreed they need to

stock up on food under an international frame work. translator: the issue in the near term is how to build a safety net for people who are most vulnerable to soaring food prices. in japan, shipments of beer and related beverages increased for the second consecutive month. brewery's say the shipments total 377 mill litters. shipments of low-priced beer flavored drinks jumped 19% due to new product releases by breweries. this category of beer accounted for 39% of shipments for beer related beverages. looking in terms of total shipment e the proportion of regular beer fell to 44%. their shipments in the month dropped by 2.5%. the low malt felt by 16%.

consumers remain budget conscious. here's the latest market figures. . officials in china are midway through the country's annual national people's congress, and we have been bringing you daily updates on the many different challenges

the country faces. lisa comb ya has the latest on the congress from beijing. >> reporter: chinese legislator will express strong concern on thursday about the recent calls for pro democracy demonstrations. during the congress's sixth day, wu vowed to uphold the communist party political held system. >> the importance of sticking to the right policies is to maintain the country's basic system. political unrest would cost china what it has earned from its development, and it could put the country at risk of plunging in to internal disorder. >> reporter: but wu pledged will of the people will be adequately reflected in the laws the country makes. china has seen repeated on-line calls for protests for political reform, inspired by anti-government demonstrations in the middle east and north africa. observers say, wu's remarks are

apparently aimed at tightening the communist party's grip on the country. at the same time he seems to be showing that china's leaders are doing what they can to deal with public discontent. >> so, people have been turning to the internet to call for protests, and they say they want better life. how real is their discontent? >> well, public discontent in china is indeed deepening and the situation is now quite volatile. people are unhappy that the wealth gap is growing wider, as the country's economy continues to grow rapidly. china's communist party is increasingly worried if the situation, if left as it is, could shake the foundation of the country's governing system. in fact, the chinese government is spending as much as 6% of its annual budget on maintaining

public security. that's more than the countries defense spending, which is second only to the united states. in other words, their current governing system has been kept afloat thanks to an all-out effort to contain public discontent. >> yeah. for now, though. what happens in the future? we have seen the uprising in the middle east and north africa that a government that stays in power, that uses -- to your expression, could be toppled very easily. and is that what the chinese government is really worried about? >> yes. in a way, they know that even in the -- even if the government could control discontent through suppression, that doesn't mean the dissatisfaction will go away. like magma confined underground.

the dissatisfaction could one day explode. jin boo made it clear the government is on high alert to prevent such a scenario. translator: we have not yet fundamentally solved a number of issues the masses feel strongly about. we must work tirelessly, painstakingly and quickly to solve these problems to the satisfaction of the people. >> reporter: china's particularly concerned about its seemingly out of control inflation, soaring food prices are having a major impact on the livelihoods of low-income families. >> everything is so expensive, but our salaries remain the same. >> if the dissatisfaction in the

public spreads further, while the inflation continues, that could trigger large-scale anti-government protests, just like the one that erupted in 1989 in tiananmen square square. that's why the chinese government is on high alert. so, it seems only natural that the figure -- they are figuring out ways to deal with the public discontent has been chosen as the central issue at this year's national people's congress. >> the government has unveiled policies aimed at the income redistrib bugs, for example sfwro deucing a fund for low-income families or expanding pensions for people in rural area. and strengthen health care system in farming villages. >> are those kind of decisions enough to pacify the people of china? >> no, not really.

voices calling for democracy are growing louder by the day, but there's no indication in the report made public at the congress that the government is, at all, considering political reform. notice that the premier, when he used the word vigorously, when he spoke of economic restructuring, but then used prudently to describe china's political restructuring. at last year's national people's congress, wen said the country's economic reform and the modernization could not be achieved without political restructuring. but following his speech, he came under pressure from conservatives in the communist party and toned things down significantly this year.

also, the chinese media in advance were told not to mention political reform in their reports. this shows the parties are worried that if the media bring up political reform they could give momentum to the anti-government dissentiment, leading eventually to public opposition to china's one-party rule. >> thank you so much for your analysis. >> my pleasure. >> appreciate it. the beads may not appear valuable, but in their own way they are priceless. the beads lift the spirits of children receiving difficult, sometimes painful treatment for serious illnesses. >> reporter: these children are receiving treatment for leukemia. the colorful beads are badges of honor.

children are given one each time they receive treatment. the white bead means this girl has undergone another session of chemotherapy. when children lose their hair to chemo, they get a smile bead. all together, there are 38 types of beads. they help the children see how far they've come in their fight against their illness. this girl has had more than 200 treatments in four months. >> translator: it's amazing how proud she is of taking her medicine. >> reporter: the program was started by an american woman who lost her son to leukemia. kimberly forsythe has lived in japan for more than 20 years. she gave birth to her son,

tyler, eight years ago. before he could reach the age of 2, he succumbed to leukemia. while tyler had been in hospital, kimberly saw children going through so much discomfort and pain. so she started a foundation five years ago to help lift their spirits. then she learned about the bead program which got its start in america. >> how to change the child's feeling, we have to do in order to make them want to fight. >> reporter: this hospital adopted the program, as have others mainly in the u.s., japan and new zealand. trained staff work at the hospital full time. when they visit the children, they hand out the beads.

11-year-old haruka started making this necklace half a year ago. in the last three weeks, alone, she's earned more than 100 beads for her treatment sessions. >> translator: blood transfusion bead, hospitalization bead, outpatient bead, iv bead. my favorite is the yellow-green one i got for the operation. >> reporter: until the bead program, the youngsters didn't always feel comfortable talking to doctors, but not anymore. >> reporter: all these beads give haruka the incentive to keep on fighting.

>> translator: when i become an adult, i will feel nostalgic looking at the hundred beads i earned. the beads have really helped me make it through my treatments. >> translator: this program helps children realize why they're receiving treatment and gives them the strength to cope with their suffering. >> reporter: these bead collections help children in hospital see how far they've come and face their illness with a stronger will. >> kimberly and her team manage to train staff and pay for all the beads with cash donations. to expand the program, they visit corporations to ask for additional support. this year, five more hospitals plan to start the bead program in japan.

and now the weather forecast with sumi zushi. >> welcome back to your world weather update. it remains rather chilly across central and northern japan with cold air aloft. we will continue to see snow thunderstorms, quite strong, impacting the western part of the country. to the south, the west, a high pressure system expanding bringing lots of dry and mild weather into southern japan, also into the korean peninsula looking at good spells of sunshine here and dry and mild weather across northern and eastern china as well. on the other hand, we're looking at light showers to continue to sort of pop up in southern portions of china. looking at some snow up in the upper elevations here. and further toward the south, the indochina peninsula looking at much calmer conditions today. dry conditions for the most part. 33 degrees in bangkok today. 21 in hong kong.

very mild, 17 in beijing. little bit cloudy here. it's going to be sunny in seoul, 10 degrees for daytime high. tokyo coming up to 11 degrees. for north america, we have two storm systems out toward the east and out toward the west. in the middle, a high pressure system that will continue to keep things calm and settled. very mild air coming in from the pacific as well. that's going to help to boost the temperatures up here. now, let's focus on the storm out toward the east. it's moving fairly slowly once again. keeping those flood alerts very, very high. especially across the northeastern corner here. wide area looking at flood warnings and watches in effect again for some of you, it's going to be renewed flooding risk. then up toward eastern quebec, maine, looking at threat for freezing rain then to the lee of the great lakes, looking at the widespread snow. pennsylvania getting up to 20 centimeters of snow into friday afternoon. and then over toward the west as well, looking at plenty of

snowfall coming in from the northwest, british columbia, the cascades, looking at quite heavy snow throughout the night that that spreads into central portions of canada, saskatchewan, alberta, northern ontario and also the dakotas. looking at 10 to 20 centimeters to accumulate into your friday as well. now, in terms of temperatures, warming up nicely in los angeles again today, 21 degrees. 23 in houston. we have 24 degrees in mexico city. 11 in washington, d.c. now, heading into europe. winds are going to be remaining very, very strong across the northern tier of europe again. central europe, too, experiencing some of that windy weather across germany, the north of france and also denmark here. looking at some unsettled weather again for the northern end of the british isles. plenty of snow impacting scandinavia, for sweden and parts of finland.

stays quite wet, again, in the iberian peninsula. winds on the strong side. high waves to watch out for here. that rain slowly heads eastward affecting southern france and italy throughout the weekend. southeastern corner, looking much calmer today. temperatures going to be recovering quite nicely as well. 14 degrees in athens today. 14 degrees in vienna. enjoying the springlike conditions out here. all right. here is your extended forecast now.

taking a look at our lead stories, prime minister naoto kan admitted to receiving political donations from a nonjapanese, in violation of the political funds control law earlier this week. the morn minister stepped down as a similar revelation but naoto kan says he has no intention of resigning. major japanese daily's friday edition reported that prime minister's fund management body had received donations from a korean resident of japan. during an upper house committee meeting on friday, naoto kan

said his acquaintance sbroo deuced him as a person working in the real estate business and said he had dined with the person several times. translator: i thought the donor was a japanese national since a japanese name was used. if the donor is confirmed to be a foreign national, i'll return the amount in full. >> before the committee meeting naoto kan told administrator he was aware the donor was a foreign national. he said he will not resign over the incident. cabinet administrators confirm his stance. translator: if the donor is confirmed to be a foreign national and what the prime minister said is true. former minister made the decision to resign but i heard the prime minister is not planning to follow suit. forces loyal to libyan leader moammar gadhafi are aerial bombing to cut water and electricity in cities where anti-government forces have taken control.

the government has superior equipment such as combat planes. forces loyal to gadhafi continue fierce bombing in the central city of ras lanuf pushing anti-government forces to the east. a counteroffensive has been mounted in zawiya outside tripoli with attacks daily from the air and ground. anti-government forces are fighting back, but seem to be at a disadvantage without command of the air. a spokesperson for anti-government forces told nhk on thursday gadhafi loyalists are targeting water and electricity facilities and roads. nhk's correspondent in the middle east says government forces are trying to retake the city by cutting supply routes. targeting essential utilities will affect the lives of ordinary people. international criticism and

pressure against gadhafi to step down are likely to intensify. nato agreed any action to we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com