a bold attack. >> a stern response. >> clearly there will be other, further, and serious consequences. >> the fallout after students storm the british embassy in tehran. welcome to "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the british government is promising to take action following an attack on its embassy in the iranian capital. students broke into the

compound, smashing windows, burning flags and bringing it to international concern. the protesters are angry about britain's new economic sanctions over iran's nuclear program. the report from tehran. >> reporter: about 1,000 protesters gathered at the afternoon. later the rally turned violent. doe dozens of students broke into the embassy chanting death to britain. they burned the british flag. police clashed with these students. iran's state run tv reports that young iranians also stormed another british embassy in tehran. where they held six members captive. these people were soon released

and handed over to authorities. iran has been confrontational towards britain since the new sanctions were imposed. on sunday, the iranian parliament approved a bill that limits bilateral economic exchanges. it also called for the government to expel the british ambassador. nhk world, tehran. >> riot police reportedly removed the protesters from the embassy about four hours after the intrusion. the foreign ministry says the country regrets the attacks. but that's not good enough nor the british government. they're calling it indefensible and there will be serious consequences. >> to protect our embassy as it is required to do. >> british foreign secretary william hague criticized iran on tuesday for breaching international law. the convention required the protection of diplomats and

embassies. hague says he has launched a complaint with iranian foreign minister in the strongest terms. >> clearly there will be other, further, and serious consequences. >> the president of the united nations security council is also speaking out about the attack on britain's embassy in tehran. here's some of what he had to say. >> the members of the security council condemn in the strongest terms attacks against the embassy in tehran, iran, which resulted in intrusions of premises causing serious damage. >> the u.n. security council president called on iran to fully respect its international obligations when it comes to protecting diplomatic property. foreign embassies in iran had been targets before tuesday's attacks. a group of students stormed

the -- took hostage after the islamic revolution in 1979. the students demanded the handover of the shah of iran who had gone into exile in the united states. the hostage crisis lasted for 14 months and the two countries cut their diplomat ties. britain had to close its embassy after shots were fired at its compound in 2003. two years later, students threw stones at the embassy to go against the adoption of revolution urging iran to halt its uranium enrichment. in 2006, a rally was held in front of denmark's embassy after a danish newspaper published caricatures of muhammad. more than 20 people were injured in that incident. in other news, eurozone

finance ministers have bought themselves some breathing room. tell us about the latest move to deal with the european debt crisis. >> well, 17 years on to get more support for debt-strapped nations. they've agreed to strengthen the european bailout fund. at the meeting in brussels on tuesday, they agreed to be issued by cash-strapped nations. 20 to 30% of the principle will be covered if investors suffer losses. the other option involves setting up a special framework within the fund. part of the bailout fund will go into effect in december. but the funds chief executive regling avoided making any specific comments to boost the fund's capacity to 1 trillion euros. he cited changing market conditions. to go ahead with the loan of 80

billion euros to greece. that's after the new administration promised to implement austerity measures. the international monetary fund has denied speculation that it may offer support to debt-strapped italy and spain. the imf stressed that they have not held talks of any form of financial aid. the imf issued a similar state monday saying it has no plans to help italy. and looking at markets profit, tokyo stocks lower monday morning. the nikkei is currently at 8,405. that's down about .9 of 1% or 72 points. after the key index surged more than 300 points over the past two days. others are holding back from active trading.

they remained concerned about europe's credit problems after tuesday's auction of italian bonds pushed yields higher. and on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar trading stands mainly unchanged. 78.04-05 yen and the euro 104.07-12. the meeting of finance ministers was within expectations. therefore, it did not impact the current si market. and here is a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten year japanese government bond. and that's a look at business news for now. i'll be back a little later in the show with a story about how a three-wheeled motorcycle is anging the way people get around in india. but for now, back to catherine. >> thank you very much. japanese representatives are

pushing their agenda at the u.n. climate change conference in south africa. they're fighting against the protocol. they want a new treaty to control global carbon emissions. covering the conference in durbin. we're told why japan is opposed to keeping kyoto alive. >> reporter: it's simple. the japanese representatives say the kyoto protocol is not a fair system. it covers only 26% of the total emissions in the world. the u.s. and china, the biggest carbon emitters have no regulations to reduce under the treaty. japanese readers are arguing that in order to stop global climate change, it's crucial for all major emitters to get on board. their fear is that if the countries decide to expand the protocol with -- another issue that's effecting the japanese

position is the country's march 11th nuclear accident. the government doesn't want to commit to a target right now. nuclear power's expecting to play a significant part in reducing japan's carbon emissions. but now the government is reconsidering the targets it set. and can't make any promises right now. today's announcement by the japanese cabinet doesn't take anyone by surprise. the government has said repeatedly over the past couple of years it is against an extension of the kyoto protocol. but pushing with nations at the conference in durbin. they want to continue beyond 2012. some delegates from developing nations are showing concern about the japanese stance. >> we know japan is doing a lot. but that would be -- if japan,

you know, really take an option to move out. >> translator: it's a very bad decision. a decision that would hurt other countries. it's sad a member will be pulling out while we're getting everyone to join the treaty. >> reporter: most developing countries believe the success of these climate change talks depends on whether the countries can commit under the protocol. it is not only japan but also other industrialized nations that are against the idea. they will face difficult discussions in coming days as they try to order out the differences. as china continues efforts, a lot of firms are going under because banks are refusing to

lend money. these are showing fears of fresh credit problems. mata has the report. >> reporter: this is a city of wenzhou. more and more farms here are going bankrupt. the president of this shoe factory left in september. the company had gone out of business. exports dropped because of the credit crisis in europe. and then the company struggled to get loans from chinese banks. this company produces spinning machines for making clothings. it's had to cut production by a third because of declining sales. so it's now in financial difficulty. the president of the company says banks are reluctant to make

loans. >> translator: until the first half of last year, banks were coming to me with loan offers. but now banks have become very cautious. it's become very difficult for me because i can't get loans. >> reporter: small and medium sized companies have turned because of the security of banks. the number of companies that have taken out loans from money lenders have climbed sharply since last year. since the government stepped up money. this is how the money falls. the money lenders provide funds to small and medium sized firms get some of the money from local people. some money lenders collect funds by promising an interest rate of over 20%. they then lend the money to firms at about 100%.

the high interest rates have lured many people into making loans to money lenders. last year this man went to a money lender. 47,000 u.s. dollars. he says he was attracted by the annual interest rate. >> translator: most of my friends have also placed money with them. some have lent as much as $130,000. it became popular because it seemed like an easy investment. >> reporter: but more and more small and medium sized firms now find they can't pay back the money they've borrowed. so people who lend money to the money lenders are worried that they won't get their money back. >> translator: lots of firms face a deadline to repay their deadlines by the end of the year. and the situation is going to become more pressing. it's very worrisome. >> translator: money lenders

like these have spread throughout china and involve lots of people. local governments are determined to prevent social instability and are keeping careful track of the situation. if a problem breaks out in one place, it could spill out and hit all parts of the country. >> reporter: the chinese government has a dilemma. it can't use credit because of inflation. but it needs to encourage to lend money. and this will only get more difficult to solve as the china economy slows down. nhk world, shanghai. china is stepping up preparations to make the country's first aircraft carrier operational. announced the vessel started its second round of sea trials following its august launch. china bought the aircraft carrier from ukraine 13 years and and has been repairing it.

the carrier has been in repair since the end of its first trials. reports suggest that problems were found after those tests. the international community is wary of chinese efforts to improve the naval capabilities. to bolster the power and secure sea lanes. a spokesman says his country's committed to the path of peaceful development and that its security policy is defensive. welcome back to business news. u.s. consumer confidence bounced back in november as americans were optimistic about economic recovery. a u.s. research firm the conference board said the confidence index rose to 56. that's up over 15 points from october. the biggest monthly gain since april 2003. retail sales during the holiday

shopping season that began last weekend posted a record high. online sales also grew significantly. the focus is now on whether consumer sentiment will stay positive throughout the holidays despite a high jobless rate and the european debt crisis. in part three of our series an indian's india, we hear from a man spearheading a maker of three-wheeled vehicles. motor tricycles cater to needs in india. now the market for these affordable cars are gaining popularity. >> reporter: they are very popular on indian roads. they are used for commercial taxi and carrying people around the city.

lahu is chairman of the bashaj group. the automaker focuses on low to middle income users. >> so the upper middle class, they may have one or two wheelers in the home for children sometimes and for some staff. but the middle class and the lower middle class use two wheelers. and the real poor, 30 to 40% of india live on less than $1 a day. how can they use a motorcycle? so they walk. they bicycle. they use a cart and maybe they use the public bus or the low class railway. we want all of them in the five, ten, 20 years from $1,000 to go up at least $5,000 so they

can all use motorcycles. and so many other things. it will be a really consumer society. what is happening is with rising increase levels in the rural areas, more and more demand is coming from rural areas. but the downward pressure in demand is because of the tight monetary policy. interest rates are rising. those who buy in cash, fine. but there are a lot of people who buy in credit. >> reporter: acted in sporting. -- focusing on needs for basic transporters from there. rather than for cash as a luxury item. >> the idea is first to produce products that the customer wants. quality, cutting edge technology. we are going into the rural markets.

and importantly we are diversifying. the new problems in the u.s. and in the eurozone. part of that. because our exports are in asia. or in africa. latin america. colombia is the judge. ten years ago india was our market. now the world is our market. >> we spoke with part three of our interview series. in our next edition, we hear from sekaran ceo of services. let's take a look at the recap of the latest market figures.

and we'll have more business news in the next hour. for now back to catherine with the main news. >> thanks very much. the man accused of carrying out the biggest mass killing in norway history is declared insane. breivik's psychiatric vaels was released tuesday. he's accused of planting a bomb in central oslo and shooting up a youth camp run by the governing labor party outside the capital. 77 people died in the attacks. the majority of them teenagers.

breivik has admitted responsibility saying he wanted to prevent muslims from overtaking europe. he also reportedly said he wanted to deal a blow to the ruling labor party which has a tolerant policy on immigration. breivik will stand trial. but the court may declare him incompetent. if that ruling is handed down, it will likely draw criticism from the victims' families. we're seeing chillier temperatures, chillier weather across asia. let's look at the global weather forecast now. hello, welcome back to your weather update. let's look at what's happening across east asia. cold air is flowing into china, the korean peninsula and japan. bringing widespread showers. rain across southern china and a

mix of rain and snow across the korean peninsula. and for japan, hokkaido and the tohoku area will see rain today. down towards the south, it's wet again across the philippines, thunderstorms possible here. and luzon will see rain developing into thursday. for the indochina peninsula, we'll stay dry. but large parts will see rain throughout the day. temperaturewise, we're expecting 6 degrees in seoul and 5 in beijing. we're expecting only 10 degrees for tomorrow mere. heading over the americas, a low pressure system. that brought early season snow to the deep south, now impacting the eastern part of u.s. and canada. cold precipitation and winds.

30 se now, the system will move north eastward. so things are getting drier across most of the eastern u.s. by wednesday evening. for the west, a low pressure system is moving across the pacific northwest as well as the bc area and that will spread heavy snow here. that will also move to the central plains in the next 24 hours. so you may see snow here on wednesday. otherwise it should stay largely dry under a high pressure system across the u.s. we're expecting 5 degrees in chicago and the same goes for toronto. looking at a seasonal 12 degrees in new york and the same for washington, d.c. but out west, warming up to 24 degrees in los angeles. finally let's go over to europe. it's wet and windy againo the north. especially windy near the center of a low pressure. so norway will continue to see windy conditions into thursday. in terms of precipitation, heavy

snow continues to impact norway for the next couple of days. and for the northern british isles, heavy rainfall warnings here. those wet conditions will likely continue into thursday. otherwise it should stay largely dry across most of continental europe. but severe thunderstorms are erupting across the southern area. that will weaken as we head into wednesday afternoon. temperatures looking like this. we are expecting 12 degrees in london and 10 degrees in paris. cooling down to 13 degrees in lisbon. 12 in madrid. the chilly vienna with only 2 degrees. and 0 degrees in moscow. here's your extended forecast.

recapping our top story now. iran is facing international condemnation after an attack on the british embassy in tehran. students stormed the compound to protest against britain's new economic sanctions over their country's nuclear program. about 1,000 people gathered outside the embassy tuesday. 50 of them entered the compound. they smashed windows, threw documents outside, and burned the british flag. riot police removed them from the embassy about four hours after the intrusion. state run media is reporting that crews burst into another embassy compound in the north end. six officials were temporarily detained. spokes people say their e their country is committed to international law. they called the attack on the embassy regrettable. but that's not good enough for the british government.

it's calling the attack outrageous and indefensible. and it says there will be serious consequences. >> we hold the iran government responsible for its failure to take adequate measures to protect our embassy as it is required to do. >> british foreign secretary william hague criticized iran on tuesday for breaching international law. the vienna convention requires the protection of diplomats and embassies. >> clearly there will be other, further, and serious consequences. >> and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.