communications breakdown. an investigative panel translates the disconnected stream o iorti bin the fukushima crisis. a japanese government panel says a lapse in communications contributed to the explosion at th fusma daiichi nuclear plant. panel members are investigating the accident last march. they say operators halted reacr number three's emergency cooling system without informing the plant director. th speioon march 13th allowed the reactor to heat up for nearly seven hours. it led to a hydrogen explosion

the next day. neemrsayhe operators stopped the cooling system in the early hours of the day. the operators tried to use fire pumps instead. they were afraid the st's batteries might lose power. the members say the operators could not pump water into the reactor because there was no power topen the reactor's valves so they could not reduce the inside pressure and pump water in. the operators gave up on the pumps and tried to stc bk to the cooling system, but it wouldn't restart. they finally managed to pump water into the reactor seven hours latersiaratteries to open the valves. panel members say the director was only informed about the suspension more than an hour after it occurred. a u.s. nuclear expert says it's impossible to predict how long it might take to decommission the reactors. charles costo represents a team from the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission sent to jan a the art of the crisis. he told nhk that he and others

still don't fully understand what's going on inside the reto. >> you can't make a solid estimate until you know what the level of damage is inside the reactor. >> costo said his team advised the japanese government to continue injecting sea water into the reactors along with fresh water to coolown spent nuclear fuel. he said they were upset with their japanese counterparts for providing only limited information from a sma numbe of engineers soon after the accident. the japanese government declared last friday that the reactors had reached a state of cold shutdown, the second phase in the program to bring the facility under control. a south korean civic group says there's a growing sense of anxiety among people in north korea since the death of its leader kim jong-il. south korean pastor kim song un told reporters about a phone conversation with a north korean who lives near the border with

china. the pastor heads a group of supporters for north korean defectors staying in china and south korea. the pastor said the north korean told him that the north's authorities have stepped up border patrol to prevent people from defecting to china. he said china has also deployed more troops toua the border. the pastor said many recent defectors to south korea say they doubt the abilities of the new leader kim jong-un's leadership. >> translator: north koreans are feelin anxious. i think there's a possibility of a mass defect. >> the pastor also released video taken in march showing a marketplace in the north korean border city of hyesan. he explained that the chinese yuan was being used at the market indicating that north koreans have lost confidence in its own currency since its redenomination in 2009. 20,000 people have fled north

korea to live in the south since the 1990s. the number of defectors has drastically increased over the past decade. the reason they left is simple -- they opposed kim jong-il's regime. the death of the north korean leader is giving many defectors another reason to speak out and in some cases be hopeful. seuss umy kojima reports. >> reporter: the border this mo than 200 kilometers long. north koreans that defected here send a message to their countrymen. they say kim was not a hero but a traitor. more than 30 groups of defectors from north korea got together near the imjingak border near the demilitarized zone that

splits the korean peninsula. they flighted balloons. the papers criticize the transfer of power from kim il sung to kim jong-il to kim jong-un. >> translator: we plan this event in a bid to make north koreans realize the reality and help them rise in revolt. we hope unification will come soon. >> reporter: among the defectors, there are people who believe kim's death is a turning point for their cause. this man left north korea when he was 14 years old. he lost his parents when he was young. he and his sister risked their lives to escape the north's food shortages and poverty. he went on to study in japan and now works for a group in seoul that supports people from his

homeland. >> translator: i am deeply attached to my home country. i would like to contribute to developing north korea and the korean peninsula as a whole. >> reporter: while the defectors are hopeful that the death of kim jong-il could bring about change, they also know that change won't come easy. they are going to try to play their part in shaping the future of north korea. susumu kojima, nhk world, seoul. there is speculation that a young woman who was seen paying her respects to the late north korean leader kim jong-il may be the sister of the new leader kim jong-un. video aired by korean central television on wednesday shows an unidentified woman standing behind kim jong-un when he was

greeting mourners. she was the only woman among top officials. the press that monitors north korean reports say it's possible that she's a relative of kim jong-un. it says she appears to be a prominent person by the way she was seen bowing in front of the late kim's coffin standing slightly in front of the officialses. a japanese national who was the late kim's cook for 13 years through 2001, kenji fujimoto says the woman is kim jong-un's younger sister kim yeo jeong. his younger sister kim kyong hui is now believed to be acting as kim jong-un's guardian. xi jinping has agreed with vietnamese leaders to seek a peaceful resolution in a territorial dispute over islands in the sea. xi is holding talks with the secretary of the vietnamese communist party nguyen phu trong

and president truong tan sang. he said it showed the understanding that the territorial issue should be settled in accordance with international law. xi is widely expected to succeed president hu jintao. the vietnamese leaders are believed to have asked xi not to escalate military activities in the south na sea. china wants to ease concerns over asian nations over his territorial claims by resuming friendly relations with vietnam. cambodians caught up in disputes can now turn to a civil code. the khmer rouge abolished the legal system in the 1970s. a ceremony in phnom penh to inaugurate the new laws. masafumi kuroki said itill help boost economic development. cambodian lawmakers established a new constitution in 1993 but

without a criminal or civil code. legal experts have been working on a new legal system supported by industrialized nations and international organizations. french lawyers helped draft a criminal code, which came into effect in 2009. japan has sent legal experts to cambodia over the past 12 years. they've helped draw up the civil code and dratrain lawyers. new evidence has emerged which shows japanese optical equipment maker olympus asked banks to conceal attempts to hide losses from securities investments. olympus allegedly concealed investment losses of more than 100 billion yen by transferring losses to overseas funds and then tried to cover them up through corporate acquisitions. tokyo prosecutors and police searched about 20 locations including olympus' headquarters in tokyo on wednesday. the alleged former executives submitted false security

reports from 2006 to 2010 that contained no mention of losses. sources close to investigators say the company secretly obtained loans from banks in liechtenstein and elsewhere. the money was transferred to overseas funds to buy securities that had incurred losses. sources say former auditor hideio yamada and hisashi mori were behind the manipulation. they say yamada tried to prevent bank officials from acknowledging the loans when asked by outside auditors. we wanted to get more insight on the olympus investigation. so w spoke with nhks kaori nagao. >> the focus has shifted now to finding the money. they diverted funds overseas to hide the losses. sources say the evidence showing the cash flow has already been discarded. data on a pc of former olympus

accounting employee put the losses at 118 billion yen as of 2003. that's more than $1 million at today's exchange rate. however, the final tally might never be known. official or unofficial documents detailing the losses have been disposed of. they're trying to find out whether anybody made money out of this scheme. prosecutors are likely to speak to people outside olympus. three former investment firm employees are accused of instructing former olympus auditor hideo yamada how to hide the losses. they also allegedly suggested setting up the overseas funds to hide the debt, and in addition these individuals are accused of proposing olympus acquire three domestic companies to further offset the losses and inflate the broker fee for the buyout of a british firm. an independent panel said olympus paid them 50 million yen

for their help. the case has sparked serious doubt from foreign investors about japanese corporate governance. we spoke to an ex-prosecutor who investigated many cases of corporate fraud. >> translator: the scandal has put not just olympus but other japanese companies under international scrutiny over their transparency and fairness of their accounts. what's more, foreign investors are also moving to launch a probe. this means confidence in japanese companies will be undermined unless the investigators in japan conduct a rigorous examination to uncover what was behind the scandal. >> but that will take months. stakeholders have to wait for answers. in the meantime, japanese business reputation will remain under scrutiny. >> that was nhk world's kao

kaori nenog. a three-day holiday weekend in japan begins this friday. it's one of the busiest times for retailers with many people looking for last-minute deals on electronic goods. nhk world's rina nakano shows us a year seen through japanese consumers' eyes. >> reporter: christmas is just a few days away. many people are coming to electronics stores like this one to get their hands on this season's hottest new gadgets. they're looking for the latest portable gaming systems, tablet pcs and the smartest smartphones. >> translator: i'm thinking of getting myself a tablet pc. >> translator: the screen's bigger and the quality is nicer than my old phone. >> reporter: while some shoppers are staying connected, others

are being practical. this robotic vacuum makes housework a little easier. it might look like electronic retailers are making a clean sweep, but 2011 has proven to be a tumultuous year for them. sales of flat screen televisions spiked earlier this year as japanese tv networks stopped broadcasting in analog and only provided digital service. but experts consider the increase temporary. >> translator: on average, a family uses a television set for about nine years. so for the next decade, tvs just won't sell that much. >> reporter: flooding in thailand delayed production and imports of many holiday favorites such as slr and video cameras. consumer demands in japan changed sharply after the march 11th disaster sparked an energy crisis. in some cases, that prompted people to go back to basics.

>> translator: these nonelectric kerosene heaters are big sellers. compared to last year, sales have quadrupled. >> reporter: heaters aren't the only products flying off the shelves. this energy-saving initiative has also inspired customers to purchase things such as l.e.d. lights, air circulators and fans. >> translator: until last year, consumers were focused on buying what was was cheapest. people are now seeking more energy-efficient items. >> reporter: experts say this trend will continue. consumers are expected to struggle through more severe power outages next year. so they'll keep looking for products that save energy. rina nakano, nhk world, tokyo. number crunchers in the japanese government are looking to the future.

ai uchida join us with the latest. >> what these japanese government officials are going to be doing is expand spending in areas that are deemed important for the country's future growth. the special allocation will be boosted to nearly $13 billion. and that's up from the original $9 billion. in drawing up the budget for next fiscal year, the government set aside a special portion to encourage investment in growth areas. these include new energy and human resource development. items under this arrangement include space and ocean programs. $53 million will be spent to bolster japan's own gps satellite system while $230 million will be allocated for the development of marine resources including rare earth on the ocean bed. $390 million are being set aside to help japanese firms expand overseas in infrastructure and energy development. nearly $620 million are also

being earmarked to promote education and research at universities. the european central bank has lent euro zone commercial banks a record amount of money to cope with the region's problems. this is much bigger than what the markets had expected and suggests the banks are facing funding difficulties. the ecb offered a total of 489 billion euros, that's about $640 billion on wednesday. the central bank said that over 500 commercial banks asked for the three-year loans. market sources say the massive loans may ease concerns about the bank's funding situations for the time being. in europe, the flow of money between commercial banks has slowed due to fears about the credit standing of counterparty banks amid the ongoing crisis. a leading japanese credit rating agency has downgraded japan's government debt for the first time.

rating and investment information or r & i on wednesday downgraded japan's sovereign debt by one notch to aa plus. that's down from the top aaa rating. the agency said this is due to the country's fiscal instability. r & i cites the possibility there may be no review of expenditure for fiscal 2012 including social security expenses. it also says the consumption tax may not be raised as planned. japanese government bonds have already been downgraded this year by u.s. rating agencies standard & poor's and moody's. on the downgrade bank of japan governor stressed the importance of restoring fiscal health. japan's fiscal situation is one of the worst among industrialized countries. >> translator: achieving a sound fiscal condition is vital. because of the loss of confidence in government bonds would pose a shock to the economy.

>> japanese nonlife insurer tokyo marine holdings says it will buy a u.s. insurer to boost its overseas business. tokyo marine president told reporters on wednesday that it will invest about $2.6 billion to buy up all the shares of delphi financial group. delphi operates across the u.s. offering both life and nonlife insurance. it earned premium income worth $4 billion last year. tokyo marine took over another u.s. non-life insurance group three years ago. tokyo share prices are moving within a narrow range on concerns about europe's credit crisis. the nikkei is currently trading at 8423, down 36 points, a loss of 0.4%. the broader topix is also down by 0.5%. market sources say that the european central bank's new three-year loans to the banks across the euro zone has eased

investor worries for now. but they're still cautious. participants think it will take more time for those nations to reduce budget deficits. the dollar is higher against the yen in tokyo trading. the greenback -- the u.s. dollar is at 78.08 to 09 yen. the euro against the yen at 101.81 to 86. news of massive lending by the ecb has refueled concerns over the liquidity situation for european banks. this caused the u.s. currency to gain ground against the euro and the dollar also rose against the yen. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese bond is up just slightly. let's look at other asia markets that have opened.

that's all for now in business. back to catherine. >> thank very much, ai. people of different nationalities and faiths are celebrating a number of holidays over the next little while. let's see what kind of weather we're going to get in our global weather forecast with sayaka mori. >> hello. time now for your weather update. let take a look at what's happening across east asia. a threatening storm is approaching japan. it is said to contain blowing snow conditions from hokkaido down to japan starting tonight. we're talking about more than 50 centimeters of snow in the northern center and 30 centimeters in the western area in the next 24 hours.

winds are going to be a big concern as well. the waves could reach seven meters along the coast tonight. in contrast, the pacific side will stay largely dry throughout the day today. heading back to our bigger picture. the korean peninsula and much of china will stay very dry and settled, but down towards the south still wet again across the philippines. an area of rain is moving into mindanao. an area stril struggling with the aftermath of tropical storm washi. so any additional rain is not good news here. across the west seasonal rain is continuing in vietnam as well as much of the peninsula. temperature wise very cold over the northern sections. we're expecting minus 17 in ulan bator and minus 5 in seoul. lower than average. tokyo will drop to the single digits starting tomorrow.

still wet across the eastern seaboard, but most of the precipitation will be rain rather than snow because of warm air coming in from the gulf of mexico. but in new england and southern quebec, you're seeing snow, but that will change to freezing rain tonight. the system will move northeastward and more of a concern is this low pressure system. it's set to develop over the mississippi valley and could produce gusting winds as well as thunderstorms on thursday. across the west an area of heavy snow southward over the rockies. in denver area, you could be seeing about 20 centimeters of snowfall and winds are a big concern as well. so that could certainly create the risks of avalanche and also dangerous driving conditions. southern california strong santa ana winds are expected to continue into friday afternoon. temperature wise, 17 degrees in los angeles but very chilly in denver, minus 7 with the low of minus 19. but across the east very warm.

we're expecting 12 in new york and 16 in d.c. and getting up to 22 in atlanta. finally, let's go over to europe. a front is producing widespread snow across the -- from the southern scandinavian peninsula all the bay down to the alpine region. particularly snowy in austria and very windy in the northern uk and down towards the south, the east mediterranean is still dealing with stormy weather, severe thunderstorms, gusting winds and mountain snow will likely continue in the southern balkan peninsula and western turkey. and in bulgaria more than 30 centimeters of snow are possible by late thursday. we're expecting zero degrees in moscow with a mix of rain and snow and minus 1 in quay everybod kiev. i'll leave you with your extended forecast.

our lead story this hour, a japanese panel says a lapse in communications led to the explosion at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. they say they halted the number

three cooling system without informing the plant director. the suspension on march 13th allowed it to heat up for seven hours and led to an explosion the next day. the operators stopped the cooling system in the early hours of the day. the operators tried to use fire pumps instead. they were afraid the system's batteries might lose power. the members say the operators could not pump water into the reactor because there was no power to open the reactor's valves so they could not reduce the inside pressure and pump water in. the operators gave up on the pumps and tried to switch back to the cooling system, but it wouldn't restart. they finally managed to pump water into the reactor seven hours later using car batteries to open the valves. panel members say the director was only informed about the suspension more than an hour after it occurred. a u.s. nuclear expert says it's impossible to predict how long it might take to decommission the reactors.

charles casto represents a team from the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission sent to japan at the start of the crisis. he told nhk that he and others still don't fully understand what's going on inside the reactors. >> you can't make a solid estimate until you know what the level of damage is inside the reactor. >> casto said his team advised the japanese government to continue injecting seawater into the reactors along with fresh water to cool down spent nuclear fuel. he said they were upset with their japanese counterparts for providing only limited information from a small number of engineers soon after the accident. the japanese government declared last friday that the reactors had reached a state of cold shutdown, the second phase in the program to bring the facility under control. that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.