ahmadinejad's response. the iranian leader weighs in on an oil embargo by the west. ma mumd ahmadinejad has lashed out at western leaders over new sanctions. iran's president dismissed the effectiveness of an oil embargo by the european union. he said the eu, not iran, will lose out. ahmadinejad made his first public remarks about the sanctions in a speech in southern iran. he said iran won't suffer because only about 10% of its oil goes to the eu. other iranian leaders have said the share is closer to 18%. ahmadinejad said tehran is ready to revive talks with six nations over its nuclear program.

he made no mention of threats from iranian leaders to close the strait of hormuz. millions of barrels of oil pass through the waterway every day. nato's secretary-general urged iran to keep shipping lanes open. >> i urge the iranian leadership to live up to its international commitment, including stop the enrichment program and ensure free navigation in the strait of hormuz. >> rasmussen said nato leaders have no plans to irpt ven. egyptians are preparing for another day of protests. mass rallies have been called on friday when prayers are held to demand that the military rulers hand over power to a civilian government. the rallies began on wednesday on the first anniversary of the start of the uprising that brought down former president

hosni mubarak. tens of thousands of people gathered in cities around the country to express their frustration at the military leadership. on wednesday night, several hundred people held a sit-in in cairo's tahrir square. the square was the focal point of last year's protests. protesters filled the square again on thursday morning demanding that the military hand over power immediately. >> translator: i will keep sitting here. >> translator: the military administration is almost the same as in the mubarak days. we will force military leaders to step down. >> in the evening, the protesters marched from the square to a state-run television building where troops were standing guard. the u.s. defense secretary has announced plans to shrink the military while maintaining or boosting forces in the

asian-pacific region. >> it's something that obviously will cause some pain, but at the same time, we recognize that defense has to play a role in dealing with the national deficit. >> panetta outlined a $6 billion cut from current levels in the budget plan for fiscal 2013. the obama administration plans to eliminate almost $500 billion from defense spending over the next decade. panetta said that over the next five years, two army brigades would return from europe and he said the army would shrink by 80,000 personnel to 490,000. the marine corps would drop by 20,000 to about 180,000. the air force would also delay the purchase of some f-35 stealth fighter jets. the pentagon will maintain its navy and marine corps numbers in japan. army personnel levels in south korea will also remain unchanged.

spending on military hardware in some areas will increase with new combat vessels to accompany marine units to be deployed in australia and singapore. the obama administration announced a new defense strategy earlier this year that puts priority on the asia-pacific region. analysts say this is part of the u.s. strategy to contain china. the japanese are paying less for goods and services. ai uchida with the latest cpi numbers. >> just released this morning. japan's consumer prices in december fell for a third consecutive month. the internal affairs ministry said the consumer price index was down 0.1% from a year ago. it does not reflect volatile fresh food prices. a drop in the price of durable goods including televisions and refrigerators pushed the index down. cigarette prices were so longer pushing up the index because it's been a year since a tax hike on tobacco was introduced.

meanwhile, the cpi in 2011 fell by 0.3% when compared to the previous year. this marks the third straight year of declines. japanese appliancemaker nec says it will cut 10,000 jobs globally as it forecasts a full year loss. that's about 10% of the total workforce. nec says the company's business results for the fiscal year through march will plunge to show a loss of about $1.3 billion. the previous estimate was a profit of $193 million. the company expects a loss because sales suffered in the aftermath of the recent thai floods forcing its local plant to shut down. sluggish demand for mobile phones was also a negative factor. nec president endo said on thursday the planned job cuts include about 5,000 nec corporation employees and 5,000 at affiliated firms and

subcontractors. endo went on to say the company had no option but to cut jobs. >> translator: we were hit hard by the floods in thailand, the march disaster and also the european debt crisis. we may face extreme difficulties if we don't take action now. >> nec is not alone in the electronics industry in bearing the brunt of the strong yen and more intense competition from overseas. tdk, another leading electronics partsmaker announced last october that it will slash 11,000 jobs in its entire corporate group. tokyo electric power company may join forces with other electricity and gas utilities to get natural gas resources. the goal is to curb the higher costs in operating thermal power plants. tepco estimates that its fuel costs will rise by more than $10 billion in the current fiscal year through march. the increase stems from the

suspension of its nuclear power plants following the accident at its fukushima daiichi plant. tepco is now considering a joint investment with gas utilities to set up an entity that will specialize in getting natural gas supplies. it's also thinking about the joint management of facilities with other companies. specifically, these include natural gas pipelines to supply power plants. the front-runner in france's presidential election says he will renegotiate the new eu treaty if he wins. the election is scheduled for april. socialist candidate francois oland has a higher support rate in polls compared to president nicolas sarkozy. oland said the new treat sde not fully consider economic growth and job creation, especially for young people. the treaty is designed to tighten fiscal discipline among eu members. >> translator: it's important to have the determination to make

change and rebuild the economy and fiscal situation. >> hollande also announced in his manifesto tax hikes for big companies and the wealthy. the socialist candidate stressed that through these measures, he would balance the budget by 2017. on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar is losing ground this friday morning. the american dollar is currently trading against the yen at 77.36-38. sources say that market players worldwide are selling the dollar against other currencies. this came after the fed's announcement on wednesday that it would maintain its ultra low interest rate policy for longer than originally forecast. however, the market is little changed as some participants are waiting for the data on the u.s. gross domestic product due out later in the day. tokyo share prices are also little changed on friday morning as many market players want to

confirm the business results of listing companies for the current earnings reporting season. the nikkei currently stands at 8849. the broader topix is at 764. both are trading flat. sources say that many investors are on the sidelines waiting to see how the yen moves against the dollar. a look now at the latest long-term interest rates. the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond is down by one basis point. let's also take a look at some other market figures.

gold back above 1700. that's the latest in business. back to catherine. >> thanks, ai. the accident at fukushima daiichi prompted the japanese government to implement a new inspection system for its network of nuclear plants. the so-called stress tests are meant to ensure reactors can withstand strong earthquakes and towering tsunamis. the first results came back in the fall from the ohi facility on the sea of japan coast. experts from the international atomic energy agency are checking the findings. the ten-member team is trying to gauge the effectiveness of the safety procedures. it will report to the japan nuclear watchdog, the nuclear and industrial safety industry, or nisa. the inspectors watched the safety drill on thursday and plant workers connected cables to an emergency generator. they based the drill on the

assumption that external power was cut off. that's what happened last march at fukushima daiichi. all four of the reactors at the ohi plant are offline. the operator carried out safety tests on two of them and submitted the results to nisa last year. the utility said the reactors could withstand a strong earthquake and tsunami more than 11 meters high. that's four times the projected height. >> it gave us a much better view and understanding of how the utilities across japan are going to be implementing the instructions that nisa had provided them. >> more than 90% of japan's reactors are not operating right now. they need to pass the safety checks before they can be restarted. we're focussing on japan's new reactor stress test system on this week's "nuclear watch." we'll look at the process and the concerns it's raising. engineers ran computer

simulations on reactors three and four at the ohi plant. based on this data they concluded the reactors are ready to go back online. members of nisa held a panel discussion last week to analyze the findings. some people who have doubts about the stress test process demanded to sit in on the meeting. nisa turned them away. then one of its panel members walked out on the discussion. >> translator: i doubt the safety review process is any different from how it was in the past before the accident at fukushima daiichi. >> nisa ended up approving the stress test results on the ohi plant's reactors. a team of experts from the international atomic energy agency is now reviewing the entire stress test's methodology. nisa will get a report from the iaea by the end of this month. then it will finalize its conclusions on the two reactors. after that, the government will consult with people who live in

the areas surrounding the ohi plant. will try to get their approval to restart the reactors. then it will make its final decision. we wanted to find out why some people in japan lack faith in the government's approach to nuclear safety and why they say this stress test system is flawed. so we asked nhk world's commentator noriyuki misono to explain it to us. he spoke in japanese. we'll provide simultaneous interpretation. >> translator: conflict at the panel discussion was caused by nisa's decisions to shut the anti-nuclear citizens out of the room but underneath, there's a possible distrust in the government. stress tests check the nuclear power plant's margin of resistance to greater than expected disasters such as tsunami before the reactor's cores are damaged. but there's a growing mistrust of the validity of the tests as a measure that the government should use to decide whether or not to restart the nuclear power plants. most of the assumptions used in

the tests are based on the safety standards designed before the march 11th disaster which proved the standards were not relevant. if they adopt stricter standards in the future, even if a facility is pronounced safe based on the old safety safe standards, you will be only natural for people to be unwilling to accept that. and that is why there's a view that the tests are being conducted with the foregone conclusion to restart the nuclear power plants. many nuclear power plant operators claim they are taking emergency safety measures in response to the fukushima accidents by putting power supply vehicles and firefighting pumps in p the facilities. but they are not more than makeshift measures. there's no doubt it will take time to entirely rewrite the current nuclear safety regulations. but the committee appointed by

the government to probe into the causes of the fukushima accident has released the interim report last month and i think the government needs to work on regaining public trust by drafting the tentative safety standards based on the lessons shown in that report. the iaea team will only examine whether the procedures involved in the stress tests are appropriate or not. they are not going to decide if the nuclear facilities are fit to restart operation. in fact, the iaea team leader told the reporters that it's up to the japanese government to decide whether or not to restart the power plants. on thursday, the number two reactor at the chigugo shimani power plant will shut down for periodic inspections leaving 51 out of all 54 nuclear power plants in japan in idle. and there's a concern for the power shortage. the government wants to get some nuclear facilities restarted

before spring when all nuclear power plants in japan are due to shut down for regular checkups. they say prime minister noda will make the final political decisions on that matter. however it looks difficult for the government to have its way since the local resistance near the nuclear power plants say they will not let the facilities restart. given a growing public opposition, the government needs to make its case on the tests, including if they will continue to use the current tests as a measure to decide whether to restart the facilities. "newsline" 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" bring you insight and information on the crisis, and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline."

next we go to patchari raksawong in bangkok. we start off in afghanistan, where a deadly blast killed at least four people and left dozens wounded. an official says all the dead were afghan civilians. the blast happened in helmand province in southern afghanistan on thursday morning. the official described it as a suicide bomb attack targeting a nato-sponsored reconstruction team. those teams are collaborations between international forces and civilians designed to boost support for the afghan government. helmand has been one of the most volatile areas of taliban resistance against u.s.-led efforts to bring southern afghanistan under greater government control. and in india, a new long-range missile has been unveiled during an annual military parade. the domestically produced

missile is evidence of progress as india urgently upgrades its aging military hardware. nhk world fumio sugaya reports. >> reporter: india holds a military parade in new delhi every year on republic day which celebrates the country's constitution. this year's parade was attended by prime minister man mohan singh and the senior military officials. a fly past included c-130 aircraft delivered from the united states last year. and a missile was shown in the public for the first time with the range of between 3,000 and 4,000 kilometers, it could potentially reach most major cities in china. it's also capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

india is currently working on the ebony-5 with a range of more than 5,000 kilometers. a test launch is planned for next month. india's military is more than 1.3 million people strong across land, sea and air forces, but its war planes and military hardware are aging. modernization is becoming an urgent task. earlier this month, india received a nuclear submarine on loan from russia. it's also planning to purchase 126 fighter jets from overseas. the country is expected to continue upgrading its arms while keeping a wary eye on its neighbors china and pakistan. fumeio sugaya, nhk world, new delhi. bangladesh was until recently among the world's

poorest countries, but the economy has been growing rapidly thanks to its large labor force. skillful workers have helped turned the country into a low-cost manufacturing hub. now increasing numbers find they have money to burn and foreign firms are taking note. nhk's world wakako hiseda reports. >> reporter: the economy of bangladesh is thriving. with steady growth of about 6% a year. dakkar today has more shopping malls packed with shoppers. the economic boom has taken consumers' purchasing power to new heights. >> translator: expensive, yes, but people like them. we sell five to seven pieces a day. >> reporter: foreign automakers are particularly keen on making inroads. owning a car is the number one

status symbol for bangladeshis. a new vehicle here costs at least $36,000, but most months, this dealer sells more than 100 vehicles. manufacturers estimates that domestic demand for cars will increase tenfold over the coming decade. >> i haven't made up my mind. my family will choose the color. >> reporter: used cars account for 80% of the auto market. but this firm aims to boost sales of new cars by offering better after-care service. hiring retired employees is the key. naoki yamamoto is one of them. he is an expert on customer care with 30 years experience in japan. on top of his technological skills, yamamoto instructs staff on japanese-style customer service.

>> reporter: sales staff test out their new skills by making unannounced visit to potential customers. komo ahmed runs a clothing factory that serves companies in the u.s. and europe. his sales have doubled over the past ten years. they encourage him to replace his used car with a new one. >> you get an advantage to buy the brand new vehicles. if you use it to go to workshop the next day. >> knowing i can buy this one is a lot of guarantees. this one is a -- good service also. >> thank you, sir. >> okay. thank you. >> reporter: the extra services

eventually appeal to ahmed. he decided to consider buying a new car. >> see you soon, s. >> thank you. >> reporter: as more bangladeshis gets richer, businesses are racing to gain dominant position in this market. and that will wrap up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. some stormy weather is churning through waters off australia. let's go to sayaka mori for the latest world weather picture. hello. welcome back to your weather update. let's first talk about australia. we are monitoring tropical cyclone iggy approaching western australia. it's now a category 1 system packing wind gusts of 120

kilometers per hour. it's moving very slowly towards the south-southeast. it could become a category 3 system within the next 72 hours. parts of the northwest coast willtart to see intense showers today and also gale force winds on saturday. watch out for flooding. we'll keep you posted on the progress. as we pull back, we've got a tropical low right here that's been bringing damaging winds and substantial rain to much of the eastern areas. so if you are near the coast, watch out for abnormally high tide and as well as destructive waves. as the system moves southeastward, rain in queensland and new south wales will become even heavier. flooding and landslides have been reported here. so any ongoing rain -- additional rain could worsen the situation. now moving on to japan, the coldest air of the season is still blanketing much of the

nation bringing lots of wintry precipitation on the western side. the heaviest snow has been impacting the hokuiko area. 70 centimeters are still expected in the lower elevations. that's quite a lot and strong winds are blowing. and the rest of the area, too, will begin to see snowy weather into next week. so the rink of avalanches is getting extremely high. across the south, showers are developing and affect the southern islands of the country as well as the next 24 hours. a high pressure system is in control bringing dry and settled conditions to much of china, but the southeastern corner will see showers develop as we head into saturday. so today's highs are looking like this. we're expecting 10 degrees in chongqing and the same goes for shanghai. so we'll be coming in at 4 degrees. it's slightly warmer than average in tokyo. the morning low dipped below

zero, but temperatures will rise to 9 degrees during the daytime hours. now moving on to europe, very powerful, i should say very large clouds are covering much of northwestern sections. those are very slow moving low pressure systems. so strong winds in the british isles and norway as well as scattered rain and snow in a wide area will likely continue here through friday. but the exception is going to be the british isles. brighter and drier conditions are expected from friday evening. meanwhile, turkey is still struggling with stormy weather with lots of heavy mountain snow and gusty winds. but things will improve over the course of friday so that's good news for you. temperatures are looking like this. we're expecting minus 13 -- 12 degrees in moscow and minus 13 in kiev. and across the west, dip into 7 degrees in london and 9 degrees expected in paris. all right.

here's your extended forecast. and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.