challenger. voters in taiwan weigh relations with china and the economy as two main candidates vie to be the island's president. saturday is election day in taiwan. people are deciding whether rel

because the fast pace of the

relation -- cross exchange actually create more domestic problems. even fsai didn't say much about the relations at this point. she will try to build up something. that in the long run that should be a stable relationship. i don't think taiwan will become a problem -- taiwan will become a new problem in these asian countries we already know how to deal with the chinese government. so it's still, i think won't be -- no matter who got elected, who gets elected, i think it won't hurt -- create some factor into her disability of the east asian region. >> reporter: yu said that even if ma wins the margin will be small and he's face a completely

different situation from four years ago when he won a landslide victory over the dpp candidate. ma will have to do something for the people who feel they haven't benefitted from the improved relations with china. yu said if tsai wins she'll have to craft china policy taking economic ties into consideration. but some analysts think the election result could trigger increased tension between china and the u.s. which is keeping close watch on the country's military buildup. voters in taiwan will begin casting their ballots of saturday. >> now to the political story that's playing out here in japan. frm noda is trying to get his team in top shape. he's reshuffled his cabinet. he terminated two ministers that had fallen out of favor. he brought in some fresh talent to press forward an ambitious agenda. the emperor appointed five new

ministers at a ceremony friday at the empeerl palace. it's the first time noda has reshuffled his cabinet. later in the day the prime minister said the shakeup is expected to help him carry out reforms. noda wants to overhaul japan's social security and tax systems. he called the upcoming session crucial for this country. lawmakers will discuss a proposed increase in the consumption tax. he said the state needs stable revenue sources to maintain social security. he added his government should not shy away from decisions that might seem unfavorable to voters. instead it should push on while appealing for understanding. the head of japan's largest business group has expressed hope that the new cabinet will resolve serious issues that are facing the nation. >> translator: i'd like to see the new cabinet exercise strong leadership. i'm hoping that it will quickly and decisively settle important issues including the planned

integrated reform of the tax and social security systems. >> he urged both the rules and opposition parties to hold discussions to implement measures to deal with these and other issues. the utility that operates the fukushima daiichi plant has been hit with another big bill. the insurance policy returns out sunday. that means tepco's had to hand over a $1.5 billion deposit to the government. utilities operating nuclear plants in japan are legally required to be insured for 120 billion yen to compensate for any accidents. tepco is losing its coverage from the japan atomic energy insurance pool. 23 nonlife insurers established the organization. the group decid last august it would not renew the company's contract. the utility deposited the funds friday with the tokyo legal affairs bureau. the science and technology

ministry says the payment is the first of its kind by a power company. tepco spokesperson say the utility is still seeking coverage from private sector insurers. next we go to bangkok to find out what's going on in the region. >> in myanmar dozens of political prisoners have been released as part of an am messity by the government. another sign the country is moving tentatively towards democracy. it could further encourage western countries to consider lifting economic sanctions against southeast asia's most reclusive nation. myanmar says 651 prisoners were included in the presidential pardon. and nhk correspondent outside a jail confirms that political detainees were among those released. freed inmates were reunited with

loved ones and supporters. organizations that campaigned for the release of political prisoners say dozens of them were freed on friday. >> translator: i'm grateful, but i want all political detainees released. >> former prime minister was also freed from house arrest. he was removed from his post in 2004 following a power struggle with the then military leader. >> translator: i'll not be involved in politics, but i'll do something that would benefit the people. >> on thursday, myanmar's government signed a cease fire agreement with one of the nation's largest ethnic rebel groups after more than 60 years of fighting. the series of recent moves by the civilian led government is seen as a message to the united states and european nations to

encourage them to lift economic sanctions. nhk has spoken with one of the people recognized as being the brains behind myanmar's reforms an advisor to the president. we wanted to know how sincere the government is about it. >> in the past we were under the socialism for 26 years. and again 23 years under the military regime. two governments didn't make the country to be developed. >> reporter: this doctor is a special advisor to the president. in may last year he submitted a report to the president that set

out strategies for making myanmar more democratic. the report itself hasn't been made public, but he sat down with nhk to talk about its contents and the motives behind the government's decision to embark on the road of reform. i would say the secret things between myself and the president. i've written a process. in short, the capitalism, the free market. the economy and the political, you know, democratic ways. these combinations are only the birth -- the combinations -- this is only the way to develop the country. >> reporter: he set a goal in the report of reaching the final

stage of his plan within five years. after receiving the report he began a dialogue with prodemocracy leader. he says even though some members of the government are concerned the changes are too fast, they are united about the goal. some people, you know, they want to get a change with speed. some people a little bit cautious. they just want to go slowly, that's all. different point of view. different idea. that's all. the mission is there. we're all convinced we have to go there. this is only the way. >> reporter: he's a businessman who owns several hotels.

he says the government is rushing the reforms because of the country's poor economic state. myanmar's per capita gross domestic product is the lowest in southeast asia. the country receives support from china during its rule. but now he says it's eager to open its doors to western countries, too. >> whatever we received, there would be no problem. the matter is who will give us more benefit. we have to welcome to the investment from the west, too. >> reporter: he seems to suggest that the myanmar government will continue to maneuver for economic cooperation from the western countries and china.

>> that will wrap up our bulletin. >> cruising northeast gentleman -- cruises in northeastern japan has been working nonstop removing rubble, repairing buildings and putting up new structures. the tsunami put countless assets at risk saving these national treasures is proving to be a difficult job as we find out in this week's road ahead. >> reporter: this man is a curator. he is in the no entry zone which was created after the nuclear crisis. the town government has a makeshift office in a

municipality outside the zone. he's been trying to raise awareness about the body of cultural assets for many years. but the problem is that no one knows for sure the eent of the damage. municipal authorities haven't even been able to salvage some of the items. he conducted a survey last november to gauge the situation. people throughout the museum are now discussing how to move the cultural treasures out of the building. the water leak has caused mold on the ceiling. the excess moisture is making the situation worse for preserving the artifact.

some noticed broken fragments of ancient earthen ware about 5,000 years old. the temperature control has not been working because of a power outage. ancient documentings and other assets may be damaged. they will have to be removed immediately. he and his team couldn't stay long enough to move them due to high radiation levels in the area. >> translator: cultural assets represent our regional history. they should be passed on to future generations. and preserved to serve as a bond for the community. >> reporter: meanwhile another

town has managed to pick up the cultural assets but is facing difficulty. >> translator: you can see is tsunami damage here. >> reporter: the tsunami devastated the cultural center. the center was home to over 100,000 regional artifacts. the items were recovered and now the challenge is organizing them. sadly, the tsunami left some cultural center employees missing. it also washed away the catalogs. a fresh endeavor is now underway to put recovered items in order. thanks to a local printing factory about 3,000 culture assets from the center are being stored there. work is also in progress to

catalog them. >> translator: we're making a new catalog. the new data will help curators with their research and restoration work. >> reporter: the government plans to collect the items that are being kept at various locations across the country and put them on display again. >> referee: not just a year or two, it could take several years. reconstruction from the disaster won't be completed until the cultural assets have been restored. >> we have sumo up next. at the new year's sumo tourney, three ozeki remain perfect after five days.

that hasn't happened since the 2007 may tournament. let's see if they were able to keep their momentum on day six. baruto has found himself in danger of losing a couple of times, but has been able to recover and win in the end with a never say die attitude. the wily veteran comes in hard, but can't budge him. he has an easy time sending his photothe clay with the slap down. with the recent arrival of new ozeki kotooshu looks motivated to show his pride. she 5-0 since the 2010 september basho. kotooshu takes the match by using his long reach and nailing his opponent to the deck. late last year he had surgery to remove a boil in his buttocks but he looks to be in good shape. he comes in low and takes advantage. and then lifts up his opponent

and carries him out of the ring. he loses for the first time. and let's not forget the top dog hakuho. he's the other undefeated after five days. he took on a feisty goeido. he fails to show any in this bout. hakuho marches without any trouble and blows his a opponent away. here are the current standings after six days -- on day seven, the top division highlight bout will feature one of the leaders baruto taking on his opponent. baruto can't afford to lose if he wants to capture his first title. join us again to find out the result of the exciting matchup. >> residents of okinawa have

re-affirmed their opposition by recent moves of the japanese government to re-elect a u.s. military base on the island. a majority of assembly members voted for a resolution criticizing the government. it comes after the delivery of a controversial environmental assistant report last month on a site for the u.s. marine corp. air station. >> translator: the government delivered the report before dawn and at the end of the year. what it did was unprecedented. >> the government took the measure because protesters had blocked delivery of the report during the day. the resolution says such action reflects a subordinate attitude of the administration toward the united states. it also says the local people cannot accept the government neglecting their wishes. many want the base moved elsewhere in japan or overseas. the assembly will deliver the resolution to a regional wur bureau of the defense ministry.

a nationwide manhunt for a convict who escaped from a prison in western japan on wednesday is over. police recap chaured a chinese national on friday. lee was found on a street near an elementary school in the afternoon only two kilometers from the prison. police say he was carrying a knife. the 40-year-old man was sentenced in 2006 to 23 years in prison for attempted murder. he has served about 3.5 years of his term. lee escaped by climbing scaffolding set up next to the prison wall under repair. he was arrested after being stopped by police. he said he had not eaten in several days. lee has been taken to the police station for questioning. we have weather up next. hi there welcome back. let's take a look at your

weekend weather forecast. starting off with japan we have been experiencing very heavy snow in the north japan region especially a region we have some video coming up. in the past 24 hours we've already seen 50 centimeters of snow fall. today it's very busy snowplows are busy. people are very busy clearing the snow. actually more than 65 people are reported injured while engaging in clearing the snow. avalanche danger is high, advisories are posted. temperatures will be biting cold on friday and saturday staying just around the freezing point for the high. which means that there's a risk of layer of ice forming very rapidly, very dangerous for driving conditions as we can pull back you can see that snow fall totals are exceeding three meters high. 330 centimeters. that's the current condition. all the way down towards 233 centimeters.

and the video coming out still here at 285 centimeters. this wintry pattern looks like it's going to be intensifying so many heavy snow to come. and we're talking about 50 to 60 september meters in the next 24 hours. especially in some regions. pacific side will be remaining dry. but here very windy condition will be continuing and also waves could be picking up reaching up to about four meters high in the western seaboards. now let's take a look at a broad view of asia. here sunny and dry weather will be prevailing in much of the eastern continental -- in the north. here in southern china 4 heavy downpour could be pretty heavy localized flooding could be triggered from this heavy rain moving towards taiwan and then targeting the southwestern islands of japan in the end of

the week. we're also talking about very heavy local downpours here in southern philippines. waves are also going to be high reaching up to five meters in some coastal areas. and localized downpours could be triggering further landslides and mudslides in this region. southern thailand looking very messy and unstable for the next couple of days. tokyo at 8 degrees. cold surge -- the low is about 3 degrees. seoul at 3. beijing at 4. staying warm in the tropics. let's head over to europe. the winter storm very massive clouds as we can see is making a spiral in the eastern continent. this is all going to be snow. widespread showers of snow and also very windy condition that could also be blowing snow

dangerous for driving conditions there as well. towards the west, dry the iberian peninsula a system comesing in friday. before that enjoy your nice weather. lisbon at 14 degrees. london staying cold at 5. paris at 7. here's our extended forecast.

before we wrap up, we wanted to show you how state of the unions in japan are preparing for high school and university entrance exams. they're doing plenty of studying, but they're also doing plenty of wishing. this tunnel of wishes has been set up at a shrine north of stoke owe. about 3,000 tablets are on display. people write their wishes on wooden plax a-- plaques and the hang them up. they're looking for all the help they can get. i hope to pass the exams, this says. japanese students write their tests to get into high school or university starting this weekend. that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in

half an hour. thank you for watching. bye-bye.