opening doors. the u.s. secretary of state visits myanmar to see how far it's come. she has questions about the questions of democracy. welcome to newsline. i'm katherine kolb ash i in tokyo. she's making the first visit there by a u.s. secretary of state in more than half a century. it marks a significant shift in u.s. policy. clinton will meet during the day with the president. she's expected to talk about how to promote democracy in clinton will push him to free

all political prisoners. she spoke about her hopes for the trip while in a stop in south korea. >> i am obviously looking to determine for myself that on behalf of our government what is the intention of the current government with respect to continuing reforms, both political and economic. >> the government of myanmar has been taking encouraging steps toward democracy. leaders released about 200 political prisoners in october. it's believed hundreds more remain in detention. >> clinton will meet with the pro-democracy leader. she hopes clinton's presence will spark reform. she appeared in a webcast of the think tank, the council on foreign relations.

>> i hope that secretary clinton's visit will open the way towards a better relationship. they will be able come to some kind of understanding that will encourage the reforms to go further. >> she also talked about the u.s. lifting its sanctions. she said government leaders first need to release those political prisoners and ethnic minority groups. her party will reregister and participate in the election expected to be held early next year. she confirms that she will run in that election. the government dissolved her party last year. now to other stories we're covering on newsline. the british government ordered iran to close its embassy in london and to withdraw all of its diplomats. britain closed embassy in tehran after demonstrators attacked it on tuesday. foreign secretary william

hague delivered a strong statement before the house of commons. >> if any country makes it impossible for us to operate on their soil, they cannot expect to have a functioning embassy here. >> hague ordered that all iranian diplomats leave britain within 48 hours. britain has begun to withdraw its corps for safety reasons. france and germany have recalled their ambassadors to iran for consultations. the french government summoned -- france called on the country to provide proper protection for foreign diplomatic facilities. the foreign ministers will meet on tuesday to discuss. democrats and others are weighing in. european union foreign ministers will meet to discuss their views on iran. leaders from china and russia and the united states have already expressed theirs.

>> united states condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms. it is an affront,not only to the british people but also to the international community. >> translator: the attack is not in line with the rules of international law and relations. the incident has to be dealt with properly. >> russian foreign ministry officials say it's against principles of international law. japanese foreign minister joined in with his own criticisms. he said japan is considering new sanctions. >> translator: the government will consult with other countries to consider new measures against iran.

>> gemba reminded iran's duty to protect diplomatic facilities. he said to take steps to prevent incidents from happening again. the speaker of the rye iran parliament criticized them for condemning the attack. members of the iranian parliament were told that police did all they could to stop the protesters. he said the security council's actions could lead to global instability. we'll keep tracking the developments in iran. meanwhile, central banks around the world are doing what they can to allay fears in the euro zone. let's go to our business team where we have the latest developments. the debt crisis may have started in europe, but the problem isn't only there, is it? >> it's a potential problem that could affect the whole world. that's exactly why six central banks from europe, north america and japan agreed to provide an

ample supply of liquidity, including u.s. dollars and euros for the money market. the coordinated action aims to help commercial banks raise dollar and euro funds smoothly. >> translator: cooperating with other central banks will help ease tensions in the money markets. the move will help sustain the country's economic activities for both companies and consumers. they will be able to borrow money more easily. >> the bank of japan, the u.s. federal reserve, the european central bank, the bank of england, the bank of canada and the swiss national bank announced on wednesday plans to take extra measures to stabilize the financial markets. the central banks will borrow dollars from the u.s. fed to allow financial institutions to secure dollar funds at low interest rates. they can also secure other

currencies, including euros, british pounds and the japanese yen as necessary. credit uncertainty stemming from euro zone nations with massive budget deficits pushed up the yields on bonds. the upward trend is affecting the funding situation at financial institutions that hold european sovereign debt. meanwhile the u.s. federal reserve is ready to take action if the krur peen debt problems get worse. the fed made a statement that they have a range of tools available and is prepared to use the tools as needed to support financial stability. the fed went on to say that u.s. commercial banks currently do not face difficulty obtaining liquidity in short term funding markets. on the measures announced by the central banks, jim leonard, an analyst gave nhk this comment. >> in the short term, it sort of makes sense. still we need to think about the long-term. what is europe's long-term plan

for solving its problems. >> the finance ministers have expressed strong concerns that commercial banks are selling bonds of euro zone nations with budget difficulties. they say the move could worsen the credit problem. finance ministers of the european union met on wednesday in brussels to discuss raising the capital to asset ratio of banks. leaders agreed in october to introduce tougher capital conditions for banks. the minister said their worry that banks are trying to restore finances by unloading government bonds and the move has led to a plunge in bond prices. at news conference, the poland -- recapitalization is aimed to help banks to withstand changes in the value of the sovereign bonds they're holding. now let's take a look at how the markets are reacting to the central banks new measure. tokyo share prices soaring this thursday morning following the

overnight rally in new york. the nikkei index stands at 8,622, up 2.2%, a gain of 188 points. the topix up at 742. sources say that investors are placing buy orders on a wide range of shares. market concerns have eased after major central banks agreed to take a coordinated action in providing an ample supply liquidity to the money market. let look at the currencies. the dollar is losing ground against the yen. the green back is at 77.50252 and that's against the yen. and the euro against the dollar is at 1.3458 to 3461. analysts say that selling pressure on the dollar is growing as investors expect the measures will make it easier for banks to raise dollar funds.

let's look at the latest long-term interest rate. the yield on the benchmark, japanese government bond at 1.080 percent%. in a few minutes, we'll go on a preview tour of the tokyo motor show that opens this weekend. for now, back to kathy. >> thanks very much. north korea says it is making rapid progress on work to enrich uranium and build a light water nuclear power plant. western analysts say the reactor could be up and running within the next year. north korean state run media on wednesday quoted a spokesman as again saying the production of low and rich uranium is for peaceful power generation. in an apparent warning to the u.s., japan and south korea, the spokesman said nia tempt to block the nuclear activity would provoke a response. the statement did not specify what measures the country would take. on november 10th, north korean media reported that they were

close to -- u.s. researchers later analyzed satellite images of the nuclear complex. they say that construction work on the reactor building may be completed within the next 12 months. south korea has confirmed that humanitarian aid is sent to north korea has been properly distributed. north korea allowed south korean government observers to witness a distribution for the first time since the president took office in 2008. south korea says officials from the ministry of unification undertook a five-day tour through tuesday to observe the distribution of wheat donated by a private south korean group. the officials witnessed the supplies being handed out at a kindergarten, a daycare center and another site in western north korea. >> translator: the wheat was brought to citizens and the recipients were aware it came

from south korea. >> the south korean government cut off all assistance to north korea except for humanitarian aid after the north attacked the island last november. the operator of the nuclear plant has released new data revealing that the accident there is more serious than first suspected. tokyo electric power company says nuclear fuel from reactor 1 is melting into the bottom of its containment vessel. during a government sponsored meeting on wednesday, the utility and several research institutes released their analyses of melted fuel rods at three of the plant's units. the worst estimate suggests that 100% of the fuel from unit number 1 melted through the bottom of the reactor and much of it fell into the containment vessel. the high temperatures of the fuel have eroded the concrete. in the worst case, the molten fuel may have melted 65 sent meet meters deep into the

concrete, leaving 37 centimeters between it and a protected steel plate. >> translator: we can't come to a conclusion from one investigation. we must analyze it from various angles. this analysis is just a first step. >> the utility has a government plan to analyze the data further to decide how to remove the molten fuel and move toward decommissioning. the governor says he will ask the government and the power company to decommission all nuclear reactors in the pre fek tur. >> translator: the prefecture plan will call for the scrapping of all reactors. it prioritizes the safety of younger people for the revival of the fukushima. >> governor santo also said it will do its best to create jobs

for people currently employed at nuclear plants. he's the first governor to demand a full decommissioning. fukushima has ten reactors. four of those were crippled in the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. tep coe decided to decommission the four damaged reactors already. the utility says it will consult with local authorities about ha to do with the remaining six. officials in fukushima will finalize a draft reconstruction plan on thursday. they plan to make a final decision by the end of the year. newine is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. nuclear watch brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis and the road ahead examines japan's

efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on newsline. one of the world's biggest auto shows is in tokyo this weekend. our business team was able to get a sneak peek ahead of the official opening. so you got to ride some of the cars at the tokyo motor show. >> i sure did. it was a lot of fun. i must tell you, i wasn't the only one having a good time. car buffs around the world get really excited about this motor show as global manufacturers come here to unveil their latest models. what can we expect on the roads? what changes are on the hordes on? let me take you around. 2011 has been a tough year for japanese automakers. despite the headwinds, all of them are here at the tokyo motor show with their latest innovations. let go and take a look. mobility can change the world.

that's the team of this year's show. the focus is not only on cars but also the lifestyles of people who drive them. this concept car for example is a perfect fit for narrow city streets. each wheel is controlled by a separate motor. this allows the tires to move at a wider angle. that means the car can make a u-turn on any road wider than four meters. this little guy unfolds into a vehicle. i am going to take a quick spin. it's the result of collaboration between an electronic optical equipment maker and a robot manufacturer. when it folds up, it takes up only a fraction of a regular

parking space. i'm going to call the car that i want to ride with this smartphone. are you sure you want to call the car? yes. i'm going to press drive. toyota is working on what is called an automatic vehicle operation system. the automaker envisions a future when cars may be able to think for themselves. they'll skirt obstacles. even parallel park on their own. as for something consumers can actually purchase in the next few years, this model powered by hydrogen fuel cells is making its world debut. slated for launch in 2015, the fcvr will be the ultimate green

vehicle. it will emit nothing but water as waste and travel up to 700 kilometers on a single charge. >> rather than focusing solely on technology to benefit the environment, our goal is to create a car that makes our customers feel that it's fun to drive. >> creating ecofriendly vehicles has become the norm, not an exception. with that comes the opportunity to rethink the society in which a car runs. it looks like as our cars have been, the landscape of the towns and cities we live in may change. >> the tokyo motor show will be open to the public from december 3rd through the 11th at tokyo big site. now let's get a recap of the latest market figures.

that's the latest in business. now back to you, katherine. >> thanks very much. it's a chilly thursday morning in tokyo and some of us are pulling on warmer clothes. people in east asia might be doing the same thingment for that story and more, let's go to the global weather forecast. >> hello. time now for your weather update. let's begin withast asia. frigid air continues to sweep into china, as well as japan bringing the coldest day of the season. as for precipitation, some showers are still lingering

across southern china, but to the east by this evening. for the korean peninsula, snowball continuing across the central sections. as for japan, a strong northwesterly flow will continue to create snow across the western half of the area. for the rest of japan, it will stay wet into friday. down towards the south, largely across the philippines, you may see scattered thunderstorms and the china peninsula, it will stay largely dry but vietnam is dealing with on going rain but other parts will get drier. temperaturewise, 7 degrees in tokyo, about ten degrees lower than yesterday and 11 in shanghai and 14 degrees in chong jing. in the americas, widespread snow and strong winds are affecting the northern rockies as well as the northern plains. the wet and snowy conditions will move southward. all over the next 24 hours more

than ten centimeters of snow are possible across wyoming, colorado, as well as utah. we're expecting upwards of 30 centimeters across parts of wyomin inue tod.tszo and ill also beecd on aut across theasrnnd o awayohe

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in that election. the gornnt dissolved her party last year. the british government has orre iran to close its embassy in london and to widr a o its diplomats. britainse t embassy in tehran after it was attacked on tuesday. >orgn secretary william hague delivered a strongly worded statement befor house of commons. >> if any country makes it impossible for us to operate on their soil, they cannot expect to functioningemss hague ordered that all remaining diplomats leave hos. britain has begun to withdraw the diplomatic corps frora r safety reasons. france and germany have recalledhe ambassadors for consultations. the french geren summoned the iran ansar prest the attack. they called on the countryo ovide proper protector foreign diplomatic facilities.

thl etnhudato discuss their policies toward an diplomats and politicians from all corners are weighing . european union fort ministers will meet within the day to discuss their views on an leaders from china and russia and thenid at he already expss theirs. >> united states condemns this attack ihe strongest possible terms. it is an aro nnlo the british people but aoo the international community. >> translator: the attack is not in line with the rules of international law and relations. the incident has to be dealt with properly. >> russian foreign ministry officials stoe against principles of international law. that wraps up this edition newslinement i'm catherine

newslinement i'm catherine koyai tyo -- ptnsy ta -- www.vitac.com