democracy in transition. people? egypt not satisfied from what they got from their revolution. egyptians have seen a lot of change the past year, but many say they've not seen enough. tens of thousands of protesters rallied on the first anniversary of the start of a popular uprising. the movement pushed president mubarak from power.

the protesters held rallies in city around the country. some of them had posted messages onine. they called for a new round of demonstrations against the ruling generals who took over for mubarak. similar cars on the internet last january sparked the uprising that forced the mubarak administration out of power within 18 days. thousands of protesters gathered in tahrir square in the capital cairo. the plaza was the focal point of last year's uprising. they said nothing has changed since the fall of mubarak. >> people are angry because they haven't settled yet. their demands were not met yet. >> the generals have promised to surrender power to a democratically elected president by this summer. diplomats in the u.s. and europe have acknowledged they hold out little hope their

sanctions will persuade iranian leaders to change course. they boycotted iranian oil in an effort to get tehran to halt its nuclear program. they're encouraging their allies to join them. japanese leaders have agreed. at the same time, some jaepds are trying to -- some japanese are trying to promote ties with iran. we have this report from tehran. >> reporter: this is a japanese ceremony, and a lot of people are enjoying it. they can experience a traditional ceremony. a group of iranians also perform sportsmanship and other japanese martial arts. -- swordsmanship and other japanese martial arts.

>> japanese always follows what the u.s. says. it worsens our relations with japan. >> translator: i have never seen japanese martial arts, but they are similar to martial arts in iran. we seem to have many thing in common. >> reporter: photographs of areas in northeastern japan that were devastated in last march's disaster are on i ddisplay. the two countries have enjoyed economic and cultural relations for decade. but japan is in a difficult position now that the united states and the european countries have stepped up their economic sanctions against iran. some japanese firms operating in

iran have already with drawn from the country. nhk world, tehran. human rights activists have reported more violence in the chinese province of sezchwan. the london-based advocacy group says security forces shot two ethnic tibetans. those forces killed two other protesters earlier in the week. members of the tibetan government in exile say the protesters rallied against the chinese government crackdown on religious activities. government officials confirmed the unrest in the county but say the police acted to restore order. a u.s. state department spokesperson criticized china's policies. victoria newland called on chinese officials to speak with the exiled tibetan spiritual leader. >> and we urge the chinese

government to engage in constructive dialogue with the dalai lama or his representatives as a means to address at this timet et -- tin concerns. >> she said u.s. officials will likely raise the issue during a visit to the u.s. next month pie chinese president, the chinese vice president. chinese officials have hung portraits of leading figures on government buildings in the tibet autonomous region's central city. the pictures include those of former leader mao zedong and hu jintao. officials have handed out thousands of photographs and flags at homes and at buddhist temples. analysts believe the chinese government is trying to promote patriotism while suppressing discontent about china's handling of tibetan issues. another japanese nuclear power plant is about to be shut down for regular inspections. the decision to close the plant

means that 51 of japan's 54 reactors will soon be off line. the electric power company says it will begin shutting down reactor number two at its power plant on thursday evening. the work is scheduled to be completed by early friday morning. the plant's only other reactor's already off line and is undergoing a checkup. the additional shutdown means all of the nuclear power plants run by the company will be suspended. the company is conducting stress tests on its reactors, a prerequisite for deciding whether to resume operations. the prefectural government and local municipality are insisting that the utility should first thoroughly examine last year's nuclear accident in fukushima and seek better understanding of local residents. all 54 reactors in japan will be off line by late april follow there are no restarts before then.

federal reserve chairman ben bernanke has extended easy monetary policy. we have more from the business desk. the low lending rates were set to expire middle of 2013, next year. but that's been pushed back by more than one year. the u.s. central bank says it will keep key interest rates at very low levels until at least late 2014. in a statement released after the open market committee meeting on wednesday, the federal reserve said it will extend its ultra easy monetary policy by more than one year. the fed says corporate capital investments are slowing and that the u.s. housing market remains sluggish. fed chairman ben bernanke says credit woes in europe have strained financial markets around the world and could pose a risk of severe economic deterioration. >> we continue to see headwinds

emanating from europe coming from the slowing global economy and some other factors, as well. i don't think we're ready to declare that we've entered a new, stronger phase at this point. >> bernanke also said the fed is prepared to take further steps if it sees that the recovery is faltering or if inflation is not moving toward the fed's newly adopted target of 2%. the fed announces its economic growth projection every quarter. this time it downgraded its forecast of real gross domestic product for 2012 to between 2.2% and 2.7%. two months ago, the fed projected growth as high as 2.9%. the fed downgraded the projection for 2013, as well, to between 2.8% and 3.2%. however, on the unemployment rate, the fed revised the jobless rate projection for 2012 to between 8.2% and 8.5%.

the projection two months ago was over 8.5%. well, u.s. stocks rose following the fed's statement, but shares in tokyo are moving within a narrow range in mixed trading. let's take a look. the nikkei average is now down by .1% at 8,875. but the broader topix is trading at 767. market sources say the fed's decision to extend its near-zero interest policy is encouraging investors to buy stocks. but some are placing sell orders to lock in profits. let's take a look at the currencies now. the fed's announcement is helping to slightly weak not the dollar against the yen and the euro. the euro's currency is now trading between 77.76 to 78 yen. the euro against the yen is at 101.85-90 yen. a look now at the latest long-term interest rates. the yield on the benchmark

ten-year japanese government bond is down 1.5 basis points so far this session. and looking now at movements in the european government bond market, the price of the portuguese ten-year bond hit a record low. that is since the euro was launched. on wednesday, the yield on the portuguese ten-year bond climbed to the 15% level at one point. selling pressure increased on portugal's sovereign debt. the country received a bailout package last year. meanwhile, the ten-year bond yield of the euro zone's third largest economy, italy, traded at the lower 6% level while spain's was at the lower 5% level. european leaders will visit china next month. they'll ask the country to provide money for the eurozone bailout fund. diplomatic sources say that the council president together with european commission's president

will meet with wen jiabao in february. the leaders are expected to ask china to provide funds to the european financial stability facility. they'll also ask china to cooperate in boosting the capital of the international monetary fund. the committee members also planning to to see india before visiting china. here in japan, the national budget for the fiscal year starting april is set to exceed last year's. this means a third straight year of budget increases. in a plan submitted to the diet, the government has requested a total budget of about $2.9 trillion. that is an increase of 3.9% from the current fiscal year through march. the government says the increase is due to rising social welfare expenses, stemming from an aging population, and the costs of rebuilding from the march 11 disaster. analysts fear that japan's fiscal situation, the worst among industrialized nations,

will deteriorate even more. the country's debts outstanding are set to reach about $14 trillion at the end of march, 2013. time for a recap now of the latest market figures. that's the latest in business for this hour. back to you. >> thank you very much, ai. we go straight to bangkok to find out what's making headlines there. >> reporter: myanmar's foreign minister said the government is fully committed to the path of democratic reform. his comments came during an official visit to india on

wednesday. >> myanmar has entered into a new era. the new constitutional government is pursuing the national goal of building a modern, developed and democratic nation. >> reporter: luinn underlined the achievements already made and said the government is working with the people to create a democratic nation. he referred to the participation by myanmar's pro-democracy leader aung san suu kyi, in a lower house by election in april. he said such reforms are challenging, but myanmar is committed to democratization. >> the reform process that we have started is irreversible. there will be no turning back or derailment in the road to democracy. >> european countries, the united states and japan, have

taken steps to improve relations with myanmar following the recent reforms. the foreign minister's remarks are likely intended to encourage further reconciliation, such as the lifting of economic sanctions. those sanctions have left myanmar isolated from much of the world economy for years. that's one reason why its medical facilities lag behind those of some other rcn countries, but efforts are under way to service even the remote areas of the country, using a solution that's both portable and affordable. nhk world has more. >> reporter: this state lies on the border of bangladesh. residents are mostly ethnic rakhine. their villages are scattered

across a wide area, meaning few health care facilities. instead the government distributes medical kits with the assistance of a japanese charity organization. representatives from remote villages gather at the ceremony in the state capital to receive them.the project was started th years ago to help make drugs available to people in rural areas. rakhin is the last state in myanmar to receive the kits. inside are basic drugs, herbal remedies, bandages and other first-aid supplies. each community receives one kit and villagers can use them for less than a dollar, sometimes just a few cents.

when supplies run out, government officials come and restock. >> translator: this is a great change for villagers who could barely receive medical treatment. >> reporter: this village of 1,000 people has just received its medical kit. a village meeting is held to tell people how to use it and what effect each drug has. this man and his wife make their living from fishing. they are worried about their

6-month child who often gets sick. having access to cheap drugs is a great relief. >> translator: the baby will get well soon. i'm really happy. >> translator: we work hard to deliver medicines to more villages. it would be great if we can provide every village with a medical kit. >> reporter: the medical kits are providing some relief in people's daily lives, especially in remote villages that used to have little access to health care. turning now to some flash news from around the region.

we start here in thailand where a lunar new year's celebration became a tragedy. festivals in the central province turned deadly after fireworks exploded into flames, showering a dense residential community with burning debris. at least three people were killed and more than 50 injured. over 50 homes and structures in the area were damaged. please are still investigating the cause of the blast. in sri lanka's largest city, at least 31 people have been injured following a riot at a prison in sri lanka. local media say the unrest broke out when guards conducted a raid in the jail. it's the largest

maximum-security prison and holds hundreds of tammal tiger rebels. that will wrap up our headlines. from bangkok, i'm patchari raksawong. now let's look at the market figures. there's little yelling at one restaurant in tokyo. the people who run it can't hear. >> reporter: in late december, a restaurant with a difference opened in tokyo. all the staff working here are deaf. they communicate with customers with sign language or by writing down their words. [ laughter ]

>> reporter: the owner is 39 years old. he's been deaf since birth. for past two years, it's been his aim to open a restaurant with a welcoming atmosphere where other deaf people can feel at home. the idea evolved from his own personal experience. he's found that very few people working in restaurants can understand sign language. >> translator: in a restaurant, usually you have to say what you want to order. you can't just point at the menu. that's hard for me. >> reporter: there's another reason why he opened this restaurant. he used to work as a job adviser for the disabled. he realized there are very few rewarding jobs for people with disabilities. he contacted several large restaurant companies about

opening a franchise but was turned down each time. >> translator: i was told that talking is essential for serving customers properly. they said that we'd never be profitable, and we'd never make a business out of it. >> reporter: finally, he found someone who thought it was a great idea. the owner of a specialty soup restaurant based in nagano. >> translator: there are very few places that make it easy for deaf people. there are also people who want to learn sign language. if we can attract both groups, that could be a good business opportunity. >> reporter: as soon as it opened, the restaurant was busy every day. some customers come from quite a distance.

they love being able to communicate with the restaurant staff in sign language. >> translator: this is a place for us deaf people. we can feel comfortable here. >> reporter: not all the customers have hearing impairment. the restaurant is also drawing local office staff and students. for those who don't know sign language, there's a tablet computer to help them order. some customers say it's made them want to learn sign language. >> translator: i wish i understood some basic sign language. i need to learn a bit before i come back here.

>> translator: i want this to be a place for everyone, not only for deaf people. i want people to feel they can meet here and communicate. and i hope they leave with a different perspective. that is my aim, and i'm going to work to make that happen. >> just an inspirational story there. he says he's thinking of setting up a consulting firm. he want to help other people with disabilities start up businesses of their own. it's near the freezing point in tokyo. so some ice and snow are still left on the ground after snow flurries at the start of the week. we have more on the latest world weather picture. welcome back to your weather update. let's begin with japan.

the most freezing air of the season is blanketing much of japan, bringing lots of wintry precipitation on the western side. the area has already received 50 centimeters of snow, but an additional 80 centimeters are still expected in the next 24 hours. and today even parts of the pacific side may see miserable snow and strong winds have been impacting much of the nation. that is resulting in high waves along the coast and raising the risk of avalanches in the mountains. up at the pacific side including the tokyo area, largely dry. as for the korean peninsula, snow will redevelop over the central sections. meanwhile, a high-pressure system is in control bringing dry weather across most of mainland china, but showers are expected to expand over the southern areas starting tonight. so today's highs are looking like this -- we're expecting 14 degrees in hong kong and 15

degrees in taipei. in seoul, after a long period of cold weather, temperatures are finally returning to normal. but it looks like very cold. still, tokyo coming in at 6 degrees as we head into the daytime hours. now, heading over to europe, a stubborn low-pressure system has been impacting the balkan peninsula and much of turkey with very heavy precipitation as well as gusty winds. many thunderstorms have been reported in greece, while the rest of the balkan peninsula and turkey have been severely affected by heavy snow. we have some video coming out of turkey. snow started falling here on tuesday night, blanketing many areas. daily life has been heavily affected. residents and officials are struggling to clear roads and dig out cars and homes, but the children seem to be enjoying the

winter weather. again, it's a very slow moving system. so the heavy snow will likely persist here into friday. over the weekend, things will be clearing up, but temperatures will dip way below average in turkey. meanwhile, a large low-pressure system is moving into the british isles bringing very heavy snow to ireland and very strong winds to much of the region, as well as norway as the system pushes on to the east. southern norway will start to see heavy snow, and the line of showers will move over western europe. meanwhile, a central europe will stay largely dry thanks to a high-pressure system. expected highs on the first day are as -- on thursday are as follows -- warmer than average in london with 9 degrees, 11 in paris. the arctic chill continues to sag southward reaching in kiev, we're expecting only minus 11 degrees for the high. here's your extended forecast. ♪

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." thank you very much for joining us.????ovív"ddhú#$