welcome to "newsline" it's friday, january 20th, 10:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. north korea has harsh words for the south korea president. now, media are calling him human trash. he visited the zone for the first time since the death of north korean leader, kim jong-il.

he instructed forces to remain cautious. he called them the world's most belligerent nation. it's a profanity for the people now in mourning. the agency warned the military and people would punish them without mercy. leaders criticized them for not sending an official mission for kim's death. they will never deal with such a government. south korean and u.s. marines are going to do their first exercise together in 20 years. south korean military officials say it involves landing and flairing exercises in the southeastern city. those stationed in okinawa japan may take part. they plan to conduct military

exercises every other year. they did not specify when they would hold this year's drill. it's likely to be part of an annual joint exercise in march. it's a show of force to check military by north korea following kim's death. japan's minister in charge of the abduction issue says he welcomes a north korean diplomats remark they intend to continue bilateral dialogue. abduction minister, the north korean diplomat in charge of normalizing ties with japan. >> translator: since coming to office, i have been saying in order to resolve the abduction issue, it's important not to rule out any possibilities. i also think it's necessary to hold ongoing dialogue with north

korea. i believe that mr. song is sending a positive message to japan in response to my statements. >> matsubara said he will try to resume bilateral talks with north korea on the abduction issue. an american auto maker is back at number one. >> not so surprising when considering the company bounced back so quickly from bankruptcy a few years ago. general motors is back as the top seller of new cars for the first time in four years. gm announced on thursday they sold 9 million units worldwide last year. it's up 7.6% from 2010. they have steadily recovered since 2009 and has become the

top auto maker in 2010. volkswagen sold over 8 million units in 2011. toyota said new car sales are expected to be just below 8 million units for the year. toyota was the leading auto maker for the past three years. it will fall to third place due to the impact of the march disaster in japan and floods in tieland. in the u.s. key economic indicators were released. let's start with new home building. it fell 4.1% from the previous month. there's a mixed picture in the american housing market. the commerce department says december housing starts stood at 657,000 units. that was below the market expectation of around 670,000

units. new construction of homes rose almost 55% in the midwest but marked a sharp decline of 41% in the northeast. the figure also fell 17.5% in the west and 3% in the south. building permits an indicator of future constructions fell by 0.1%. meanwhile, u.s. consumer prices remained unchanged in december from the previous month. that means prices have remained flat for a second consecutive month. the u.s. labor department said while gasoline prices fell 2% and clothing kouts down.1%, food rose by.2%. the economic outlook remains strong. the federal reserve may take easing measures to support the economy. they will decide on the policy by monitoring the price trend making sure there won't be rapid

inflation. tokyo stocks are higher this morning as concerns over the debt problems receded. the nikkei is trading higher by over 100 points, a gain of 1.25%. broader topix trading higher by 1.45%. new york stocks were pushed higher. the sentiment carried over to tokyo. they gained ground on friday morning following auctions of french and spanish auction bonds. the euro is going against the yen. it's 99.96 to 100.01. against the dollar, the euro is fetching 1.2955 to 2960. the greenback against the yen is

changing at 77.15 to 20. news that the imf will boost the lending capacity was a positive factor for the euro. here is a look at the interest rates. the government bond up one basis point. the u.s. photographic film maker kodak filed for chapter 11 from creditors on tuesday. the firm says they will continue to operate as usual for the time being on loans it secured from banks. late last year, it sought buyers for patents to raise cash. the negotiations got nowhere. the chief officer says they are taking a significant step to make a transition. the iconic u.s. company was founded in 1880. it launched the world's first roll and color films. the company failed to ride the

wave of digital technology. in recent years the film centered business model could no longer compete with cameras in smartphones and other mobile devices. the bankruptcy filing in the u.s. does not immediately affect its business in japan. the japanese operations will carry on as normal. japan's nikkei is up this friday. let's get a check on other asian markets now. >> that's the latest in

business. back to kathryn now. >> thanks. arab leaders wrapped up their mission in syria. human rights activists questioned the effectiveness of the mission. the government agreed to allow the monitors into the country last month. a team of 150 observers visited several cities across the country. some went to the central city of homs. the monitors are expected to present their findings to the arab league saturday. representatives will try to figure out what to do next. human rights activists gathering information says security forces have not let up. the government troops killed more than 40 people in the last two days alone. the group criticized the arab league monitors. they called the observers a useless group of amateurs. journalists have had a tough time reporting from syria.

the government controls who goes where. we have some rare pictures of protesters on the run from security forces. nhk world reports. >> reporter: they rally in dara in syria. they are chanting, their signs. even the face paint conveys the same message. >> translator: if we don't take action, nothing will change. >> reporter: they gather at night to avoid security forces. but they often have to scatter. video showing the real situation

in syria. a syrian human rights group took these images for nhk. it's trying to show what is happening here. >> translator: we want to show the syrian people's hope for freedom and the crimes against humanity committed in our country. >> reporter: syria's first antigovernment demonstrations happened last march here in dura. this is how authorities responded, with force. since then, the governments had the city under surveillance.

these soldiers depicted from the army because of the way the regime is leading with demonstrators. >> translator: we have created a new force called the free syrian army. >> reporter: they are planning to act to resist a movement against the government. some are fighting, others are fleeing. jordan is seeing an influx of refugees over the border it shares with syria. this facility belongs to a group. more than 1,000 families are believed to have escaped into jordan. >> translator: children couldn't sleep at night because of the sound of gun shuts. we were going crazy. >> reporter: he lost his son in a crackdown.

security forces are during the rally last april. his family planned them for torturing the teen, then killing him. he was beaten so badly, they could barely recognize his body. >> translator: this is his x-ray. we can clearly see his neck is broken as well as his teeth. >> translator: my dear son. i wasn't there when they tortured my son so terribly. >> reporter: the government is fighting against this standing by the force. but the people were supposed to say average citizens are the

ones being punished by his regime. iranian leaders suggest they may be open to talks in the wake of more western sanctions. the united states is planning more sanctioning. the aim is to hold iran's nuclear program, which continues in defiance of a u.n. resolution. iran is threatening to close the strait of hormuz in protest. the united states has responded by deploying two aircraft carriers to waters near the persian gulf. >> in terms of any threats to the region, in terms of dismiss behavior they have conducted in the region, that we'll always be prepared to respond militarily, if we have to. >> the european union has agreed to join the sanctions. foreign ministers are expected to agree to ban crude oil imports in a meeting on monday. iranian leaders say they're willing to resolve the issue

through talks. they say they'll september nuclear inspectors later this month. they are showing a positive attitude toward resuming negotiations with six countries on the nuclear program. talks have been stalled for a year. iran's foreign minister says he is willing to negotiate. >> we would like to have this negotiation. the date is not yet certain. but it will be soon. chinese premier says the strait of hormuz is an important international channel. he says it normal passage of ships should be protects under any circumstance. he says china maintains a normal oil trade with iran and this should be protected. the u.s. sanctions are scheduled to go into effect in march. japanese government officials say they'll speed up efforts to prepare for the boycott. japanese and u.s. government officials discussed the sanctions during two days of talks in tokyo.

japanese representatives requested an exemption. u.s. officials responded by saying a significant reduction in crude oil would be an unnecessary condition. the japanese government will try to clarify before the march deadline how much it needs to cut iranian oil imports. the head of the petroleum association of japan says japanese firms have no option but to reduce oil imports from iran in compliance with the u.s. sanctioning. the association president made the remark on thursday. after the u.s. asked for japan's cooperation in the sanctions. the u.s. holds a bar from having transactions with iran's central bank. teppo says the japanese government stats is not the point. he says if japanese banks stop doing business with iranian banks for fear of u.s. pressure, the japanese oil companies will not be able to settle their imports.

>> translator: i expect japanese oil companies will have to reduce imports from iran and try to find other sources. he adds saudi arabia has idle production capacity that could cover for the lost exports from iran. he does not expect global oil supplies to suddenly get tighter. we have two segments offering two perspectives on the fallout of the tsunami. information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi. don't miss nuclear watroad ahea" the first camera to be inserted into one of the

crippled fukushima nuclear reactors was disappointment with visibility marred by steam and radiation. tepco used an endoscope. the radiation resist tent endoscope was inserted two meters into the vessel to shoot images in various directions. it shot seven pictures inside. some images showed internal plumbing. they were unclear. many white spots obscured the pictures caused by radiation or steam from the radioactive water. it failed to register the surface of the cooling pool or other details of the interior inner structure. >> translator: as far as we can tell from these pictures, there doesn't seem to be any mayor damage, but i expected to see

how the water is flowing inside the reactor, which would help our research, but nothing is clear. >> tepco needs to grasp the condition as it prepares for decommissioning them. they will consider using other monitoring devices to get a better view. the environment ministry says cesium has been found in firewood ash in northeastern japan. in the wake of the nuclear accident, the municipalities will collect and dispose of the ash because it may be contaminated. they burned samples of wood collected from two gardens. after being asked by the city last november if the stove fuel could pose a health hazard. the maximum level of cesium was 44,000 becquerels per milligram.

firewood contaminated with over 40 becquerels should not be distributed. the environment ministry decided to examine how firewood is kept and used by residents in fukushima and surrounding prefectures. tokyo electric power company paid fukushima preif he canture $320 million to help those affected by the nuclear power accident last march. they made the first payment on thursday based on a negotiation. it's to be used for full body counters that measure levels of internal exposure to radiation and other programs. last august, a government panel

had guidelines for determining the scope of such things. they have been holding talks to rk out details. fukushima officials say they plan to request compensation for decontamination work. i pulled out my umbrella today for the first time in over a month. let's look at what is happening with the weather here and around the world. welcome back to your weather update. let's begin with japan and tokyo after a long period of dry weather, we are experience iing wet day. we are looking at the first snow flakes of the season. it's pretty light but because we are not used to snow, some transportation delays are possible. meanwhile, inland areas of central japan have quite a bit

of heavy snow. 20 centimeterses are possible in the mountains and 10 centimeters for the lower elevations. over the next 24 hours, most of the precipitation will be. they will stay wet all day today. a bigger picture, showers are affecting much of china. the northern sections are experiencing snow. a cold air mass. some of the areas may see a change over to snow. in shanghai, you may see light snow on sunday. so, today's highs are looking like this. we are expecting only minus 26 degrees with a low of minus 35. minus one in beijing and tokyo is only six degrees. across the south, heating up to 34 and 31 in bangkok. moving on to the americas, a change of winter storms has been

impacting the northwestern states with a huge amount of precipitation and very strong winds. coastal areas of northern california and oregon have been dealing with torrential rain and the mountain areas are still being hit with lots of heavy snow. 45 centimeters of snow is still expected in the next 24 hours. another powerful storm is expected to impact them friday afternoon. the stormy weather will like ly continue into the weekend. we are concerned about low visibility and more trouble delays. across the east, an area of light snow is moving over the northeastern states and eastern canada, even no new york city you may see snow tonight. across the south, showers are starting to develop over the deep south. thunderstorms are possible, too. temperature wise, the southern third of the u.s. are enjoying very warm temperatures, getting

up to 25 degrees in houston on friday and 15 degrees in oklahoma city. the northern parts are still on the cold side. in winnipeg, despite the sunshine, temperatures are struggling to rise. the highs are expected to be minus 19 degrees here and minus six degrees in chicago. before wrapping up, let's have a look at video of chilly sights out of moscow. in moscow, people jumped into icy waters to mark the russian orthodox. the water is meant to wash off their sins. it's also believed bathing in freezing water is good for the health. temperatures have remained well below zero. it must have felt very, very cold. very brave people out there. here is the extended forecast.

our lead stories this hour, north korean media has harsh words for the south korean president. they urged the army to be warry of the north. now, they are calling him human trash. he visited a front line unit near the zone for the first time since the death last month of leader kim jong-il. he urged them to remain cautious. the state run news agency there said his remarks are intolerable profanity for people in mourning. the military and people would punish the south korean government without mercy. leaders criticize d them for no sending an official mission to

express condolences over kim's death. they will never deal with such a government. south korean and u.s. marines are planning to conduct their first major exercises together in more than 20 years. up to 10,000 military personnel are expected to take part. south korean military officials say it will involve landing and firing exercises. they said u.s. marines stationed in okinawa, japan may also take part. south korea and the u.s. plan to conduct marine exercises every other year. they did not specify when they will hold this year's drill. analysts say it's likely to be part of an annual exercise in march. the exercises are designed as a show of force to check military by north korea following kim's death. that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm kathryn kobayashi.

stay with us. we'll have more updates at the top of next hour.