i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more updates we'll be back with more updates at the top of the next hour. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. do stay with us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> the tokyo stock exchange is likely to continue listing scandal hit optical equipment maker olympus. designated in the alert category, which requires improvements to internal oversight. official decision is planned for january 20th at the tsc board of governors meeting. the tse has been investigating possible violations of criteria for listing, because they hid massive investments losses for many years. investigators found the company was not running a capital deficit, and only a handful of top executives were involved in the coverup. therefore, necessary criteria were not breached. however, tse plans to did he say ig anyways olympus in the alert category. it will require them to submit an annual report that explains improvements to internal oversight. they could be delisted after three years if the exchange finds internal oversight has not improved. >>> time to recap the latest market figures. >>> that's the latest in business. back to katherine. >> thanks very much, ai. >>> voters in taiwan have two main choices in saturday's pre

to see how stocks here are opening in tokyo, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, how are things looking this friday? >> a pretty positive start this friday, ai. as you mention, weekly jobless claims coming out better than market consensus. and we have ibm, intel, we saw positive trading in those shares as well. the focus for japanese markets will likely be on high tech shares. we will follow that through the day. let's look at the opening levels and you'll see what i am talking about. nikkei up over 100 points. now above 8,700. they extended gains a third day in a row. now above 8700. positive momentum there. a lot of sentiment has been coming from strong data out of the u.s. as well as successful bond auctions this week in eurozone countries. we had portugal and germany earlier, and just yesterday spain and france coming out with pretty smooth bond auctions, so that's helped some of the positive sentiment, and also it helped the euro. let's look at some of the currency levels, you can see what i am talking about there as well. if you focus on the euro yen

and welcome to this hour's "newsline" coming to you from our studios here in tokyo. >>> it's a new year and that mean as new set of priorities for u.s. president barack obama as he tries to secure a second term in office. addressing the current situation in east asia is near the top of his to-do list. that means the obama administration will be relying heavily on its alliance with japan. u.s. officials are weighing the timing of the summit meeting between obama and japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda. they say they plan to invite noda to washington in the first half of 2012, perhaps in spring. the meeting is intended to strengthen bilateral ties in order to cope with the changing situation in north korea following the death of its leader kim jong-il in december. the u.s. government needs stronger cooperation with japan to monitor the situation on the korean peninsula and trying to resolve the issue surrounding north korea's nuclear development program. but some american officials say obama shouldn't meet one-on-one with noda until progress is made on the relocation of the u.s. marine

i's tengan in tokyo. thanks for watching. >>> and that concludes this

is about right in downtown tokyo, pretty unusual see this fourmulation was evening hours. we've seee city in a cause have been numerous this commute isving n eye out on your road right the snow are we continue more precipitation for thecountry. it i snowy the he getting 24 you may see more snoh out.side includingo, sunshine returns the daytime. in theing, we may see lighter s heavy a as we we seens continue across korean peninsula majority of there ison popping up her sow 12 for hong in and seoul looks cold minus todegrees, berning. as we loo quite the deep sounight. that was creating all to on itstoday, looks like ren impact south this is another are for potential stormy conditiop freezingce and snow spread area. new england stat see mprecipitation. regionng to be the next hours. thontinues stay quite wet. vancouver, up to meep up tocoast, teenses like new y and finally, europe.ettled for a we have a series frontal in place. icy, wintry impact youere's going to be heading i into as medi low is bringing showers a upper balance turkey as well as southern highs onfor london

highs on tuesday look like this. 9 in tokyo. seasonal. 1 in seoul. 9 in shanghai and 20 degrees in taipei. getting over into the americas, it is going to be a picture for the gulf coast. trio of lows here and continue to bring in more moisture, trigger some stronger storms in texas. looks like we'll continue to see some stormy weather for the lower mississippi valley as well as in towards texas and oklahoma. now towards the north a lot of this precipitation is going to be falling as snow. heavier snow expected to spread in the northern rockies and really central, eastern sections of canada looking at a little bit more snowfall for the course of tuesday. highs across the board look like this. 8 in new york. wild on the aseaboard. 11 in chicago. 9 one denver and seasonal 6 degrees in seattle. lastly getting into europe and here the alpine region has been dealing with quite a bit of snow since the weekend. plenty of heavy snows impacting the area. let's get a look at the situation. we have some video coming in first from austrua. t

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> egypt's military rulers have announced they'll lift a state of emergency during the day. the date marks the first anniversary of the birth of the democratic movement that ousted hosni mubarak. lifting the state of emergency was one of the protesters' main demands. military council chief mohammed hussein tantawi spoke to egyptians in a televised announcement. >> reporter: egypt and its people celebrate the first anniversary today of the january 25th revolution which ushered in a new era for the people of egypt who made sacrifices to achieve freedom, a life of dignity and social justice. >> the state of emergency was imposed in 1981 after the assassination of president anwar sadat. the laws give the military the right to imprison people without warrants. egyptians view them as a negative legacy of the mubarak era. the council chief says authorities can still arrest people for what he called acts of thuggery. he failed to spell out the details. the military h

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

i'm james tengan in tokyo. thanks for watching. stay tuned tomorrow here on nhk world. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> my girl is touchy, and she doesn't cook. or anything. >> i work from morning 'til night. even on holidays. but i never get a raise. it's not fair. >> my boyfriend is a women p. -- a wimp. when he is angry, he takes it out on me and cries. >> grumbling. complaining about things beyond one's control. today on documentary 20 minutes, we'll listen to the grumblings of ordinary people on the streets. shinsaibashi is busy in osaka and streets are bustling with people. they come here after work for a drink. i was strolling the streets after the last train had left, looking for something interesting. what's this? >> translator: we listen to people grumbling. >> that's interesting. >> now they are friends from high school. they're 23 years old. every friday from 11:00 at night to 5:00 in the morning they sit on the sidewalk and listen to people gripe. let's hang out and see how they do it. >> you listen to grumbli

olympus filed a suit at tokyo district court. the company is seek up to $47 million in compensation for damages. the lawsuit came after a third party panel of lawyers concluded an investigation into current and former board members. the panel named the former president, former auditor, and former vice president played key roles in hiding investment losses worth more than 100 billion yen at the time. the president has been criticized and five other directors for failing town cover the fraud. olympus spokesperson said current executives accused of fraud will resign at the next shareholder meeting scheduled for march or april. >>> firefighters in tokyo will soon be better prepared to deal with nuclear emergencies. the city's fire department is introducing a new response unit. the crisis at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant prompted the move. the department currently has four special units for disaster response and rescue. one of them is trained to handle radio active and chemical substances. those firefighters went to fukush

i'm catherine kyobiashi in tokyo, do stay with us.

that's how long tokyo has gone without rain. let's go to sayaka mori for the weather picture here and elsewhere. >> welcome back to your weather update. let's take a look at what is happening across japan. things are getting wet across the west. this newly developed low-pressure system is bringing widespread showers to the western half of the nation, and rain is expected to expand to central japan in the next 24 hours. in tokyo, it's been so dry, we've had no rain over one month. but finally rain is in the forecast, starting early friday morning into sunday. and the dry weather will finally come to an end. so that's good news. however, it's a different story for the northern half of japan. it's staying dry and settled thanks to a high pressure system. as for the korean peninsula, the southern half of the region will continue to see a wintry mix throughout today and across china, showers will develop in much of the nation. and because we have a cold air aloft, areas to the north of the yangtze river, most of the precipitation wil

temperature-wise we're expecting 9 degrees in tokyo and 0 degrees in seoul. still cooler than average in shanghai with 7 degrees in taipei and heating up to 32 in bangkok with a chance of thundershowers. heading over to europe, multiple systems have been creating very gusty and wet conditions. on thursday the northwestern portions were severely affected. let's take a look at some video out of the area. thscene was taken in the u to his roofo ineaeras b m to the winds a komer pen italys lls looks like th ang dre i weexpti 4he fef ndg wnf e blive gg ia onre a ndg wnf e blive gg ia onre a thug for bay area vista. as you probably know, bay area vista is your show. we're talking about your community, talking out what's importal ofere in the bay area. ilwysthank you for the great job that you do in our bay area. so, that's what taypm h kcsm, are all about. please join us then.

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 he

. >>> tokyo stocks rallied on the first trading day of the year. let's find out if the momentum is still there. for that ai uchida joins us from the business team. ai, good morning. >> good morning, catherine. well, as for wall street, the dow jones industrial average did continue its winning streak for a second trading day. its winning streak so far this year, gaining for a second trading day in a rope. so let's see how stocks here are trading. for that we do go to ramin mellegard who's at the tokyo stock exchange. looks like auto sales figures in the u.s. helped boost sentiment over there. how's that playing into tokyo trading? >> yeah, very interesting point there. good morning to you, ai. the u.s. numbers for awl auguto there showing positive gains for the big three, ford, chrysler, and general motors. somewhat negative picture for japan's automakers after being severely hampered by the march 11th disaster last year and also the flooding in thailand, which affected the sales numbers for honda and toyota. but before i get to that let's have a lo

i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you for watching. bye-bye.

tokyo stocks are up slightly this tuesday. the nikkei currently up 50 points, a gain of 0.6% at 8428. the broader topix also higher by 0.4%. >>> bargain hunters are buying back recent decliners, but the up side is capped as many investors refrain from more active trading on persistent concerns over europe's credit problems. that's after s&p downgraded the european bailout fund. other market players are waiting on the latest gdp figures for china, which is due out later in the morning. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond is trading higher by about one basis point this session. >>> one of japan's biggest finance groups is taking to the skieses. sumitomo midst suey financial group is said to acquire the aircraft leasing wing of the struggling royal bank of scotland. the price will be over $6.5 billion. sources say sumitomo mitsui and sumitomo corporation outbid multiple financial organizations. rbs is in the process of selling its assets to boost its f

see how stocks open this friday in tokyo. we go to the tokyo stock exchange. how are things here reacting this morning? >> bit of a mixed reaction here, actually. we're seeing the topics in the negative and the nikkei just in and out of positive. very small moves, in fact. you can see what i'm talking about. just marginally in the positive for the nikkei and marginally lower for the topix. the nikkei did end lower yesterday. let's not forget. but let me actually add it's been up over 4% so far this january. so the positive momentum does continue overall. signs of weakness in new home sales in the u.s. was enough to push the dow into the negative into the close, but if you look at the leading indicators and also the four-week average of jobless unemployment claims, benefits, they do suggest still a bit of an improvement in the u.s. economy as we head into 2012. now, here in japan earnings season is in full swing. yesterday after the bell we had earnings from nec and lp all posting losses. nec came out and said it's going to cut around 10,000 jobs globally. we'r

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. join us again.

tokyo's high expected to get up to 7 degrees. the return of sunshine should help make things feel a little warmer than monday. as we take a look at the americas, meanwhile, we have a very well series of storm systems that rolled through the southern end and it did cause quite a bit of damage. here is a look at clay, alabama, power lines down, and actually an f-3 tornado did strike the area. wind gusts estimated to be about 240 kilometers per hour. so this is a very, very damaging wind. you can see homes, sever homes were heavily damaged. and it did turn out to be quite a deadly scene. those systems are going to be heading out today, so that at least is good news. but looks like renewed energy will be moving into the southern texas region instead. so you do want to watch out here for the potential for stronger storms. meanwhile, that well developed low is going to be heading in towards eastern canada bringing all sorts of wintry conditions. watch out for freezing rain, snow as well as icy conditions. over towards the west, four co

. >>> tokyo share prices are rising on friday morning. concerns over the european debt crisis eased slightly following those smooth auctions of italian and spanish government bonds. the nikkei index now stands at 8499, just shy of that 8500 mark. currently up 1.3%. the broader topix is up by 1.2% currently at 735. sources say investors are placing buy orders on exporters to europe such as electronics and precision machinery makers. the euro is a little stronger in tokyo on friday morning as concerns over the regional debt crisis eased. the euro is now moving at 98.37 to 43. that's against the yen. let's take a look at where it's trading against the dollar. it's currently at 1.2815 to 2819. the favorable auctions for spanish and italian government bonds have led to buying of the euro against the yen and the dollar. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. >>> the tokyo stock exchange is likely to continue listing scandal-hit optical equipmentmaker olympus bu

on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar is losing ground against the yen. the american currency is trading at 76.36 to the 41 against the japanese. euro dollar is currently 1.3154. sources say that investors are buying the yen to wait on the outcome of the greece debt talks. >>> this is the yield on the bench mark ten-year japanese government bond. >>> let's take a look at other markets that are open this hour. >>> a positive start to asian markets this tuesday. we will see where china opens next hour. >> thanks. >>> the australian government may delay the cost of the f-35 jets. the statement similar by the united states last month raise fears that the cost of the planes could soar. it planned to purchase 12 more over the following three years. australian defense minister stephen smith said the government will review the plan. >> we will now make a judgment about the timetable for the second traunch. the current timetable. >>> the people of north korea have had a new leader for more than a month now. the country state run media is continuing the efforts to

definitely we see tokyo shares gaining ground this wednesday. this is, of course, the first trading day for 2012 for tokyo. the rise follows an overnight rally on wall street. the nikkei index is up over 110 points at 8,574. that's a gain of 1.4%, but take a look at the broader up topix. it's up. market sources say investors are buying automobile and machinery issues. new york's stocks briefly surged more than 260 points on tuesday. that was the first trading day of the year for them. the rise was due to expectations for a u.s. economic recovery. market players may be looking forward to the presidential election in november. in past election years ruling parties have introduced economic stimulus measures to win voter support. share prices have gained in 7 out of the 10 presidential poll years. during tuesday's trade, buy orders increased after the release of better than forecast manufacturing data for december. but later investors sold advancing shares. the dow jones industrial average closed aat t 12,397. on the tokyo foreign exchange market, t

another chilly one shaping up in tokyo. rachel is up next with the full weather picture. >> hi there. indeed we will check out what's happening in eastern asia, starting in japan. things are stormy for the northeastern edge. it is quite a large system. now starting to pull away. as you can see, still gusts and snow on the eastern edge for our tuesday. as for the northwestern side, it is our usual winter pattern. lots of sea effect snows. somewhere else picking up significant amounts of snow, the korean peninsula, especially to the western edge, you will see that snow coming down in the next 24 to 48 hours. the rest of the north is looking fairly quiet, but temperatures are way below average. freezing cold air descending across much of northern china. i will show you those figures in a second. this is a mixture of rain to the south, turning to snow. lower lying areas is not going to be too significant, but upper elevations, snow will start to pile up. as for the philippines, a developing system is moving in, and as it does s

another chilly one shaping up in tokyo. rachel is up next with the full weather picture. >> hi there. indeed we will check out what's happening in eastern asia, starting in japan. things are stormy for the northeastern edge. it is quite a large system. now starting to pull away. as you can see, still gusts and snow on the eastern edge for our tuesday. as for the northwestern side, it is our usual winter pattern. lots of sea effect snows. somewhere else picking up significant amounts of snow, the korean peninsula, especially to the western edge, you will see that snow coming down in the next 24 to 48 hours. the rest of the north is looking fairly quiet, but temperatures are way below average. freezing cold air descending across much of northern china. i will show you those figures in a second. this is a mixture of rain to the south, turning to snow. lower lying areas is not going to be too significant, but upper elevations, snow will start to pile up. as for the philippines, a developing system is moving in, and as it does s

tokyo, ten degrees. we're a little warmer across taipei and hong kong than we were on tuesday and wednesday. okay, i want to take you to north america. first of all, we'll start with just what is happening here in the east. still a few thunderstorms to come across the southeast. they're not going to be too, too heavy but you'll be feeling that along the southeastern coast and into florida. also another little low moving across the great lakes, in behind that round of snow will be some pretty frigid air. temperatures coming down in the upper midwest, but let's focus on our big weathermaker right here in the pacific northwest. this one is going to be causing a few problems for quite a few of you. here in -- you can see the pink just clinging to the coast here of oregon, down to northern parts of california. that is going to be bringing, well, enough rain to cause some flash flooding, maybe 200 millimeters in some places in the next 24 hours. along with the flooding rain, gusts up to 145 kilometers an hour.

to see opening this go toegard at the tokyo stock what kind of startseeing there? >>ai.e start. at the levels and a bitunting aft 1% on the up up 3 topix. nikkei closed week lowhe u.s. markets off monday may see nevertheless follo poors downgrade eurozone bailout fun the we may see capped there. the day also talking aboies and theeuro let's have ano the there. and yen you mentio did hit lows we saw a negative on orters with exposure to m canon, cinimum oath u.s. or week ains on earnings names like manufacturing and data is d this investors may stay ahead of th also, we havchina's gdp numbers, and we have seen considera growth in slight slow littlethere for companies sell markets. ramin, to add of catherine had a story back in today. whatthat? >> report came opened likely to former auditors yesterday were down4%.n volatile of the ep track of that olympus aor we will follow it end of rts, of ack to >> thanklot. trading >>> time toigures now.s th latest in business. pledged relocate residents ofock built fromntaminated concrete.ctive cesium was dethe building. floor had to microsie

security has been doubled at tepco headquarters in tokyo.of police officers are on duty, alongside the nuclear provider's own security staff. the firm is not involved in the major work in the evacuation zone. that is the job of the japanese government and local authorities. tepco is only accepting responsibility for the fukushima plant. and on that front, it is expecting only good news ahead. at the end of last year, the firm proudly announced that the fukushima reactors have reached the stage of cold shutdown. the message was that it now has a handle on the crisis. >> there is still a lot to do, but we have reached an important stage. we had the nuclear power plant under control but the situation is stable. >> but can tepco be believed? these video images have been distorted by reactivity. for the first time, workers have successfully inserted a microscopically small camera inside reactor two. tepco wants to find out how much water is in the reactor core and whether the fuel rods are being kept sufficiently cool. there is little to see, but

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 cath

tokyo is warming up to 6 degrees. not as warm as we thought it was going to be. certainly an improvement on today's frigid cold. into north america, we've been seeing a weakening of the big snowstorm that swept across the pacific northwest. there is another storm on its way. it's starting to move inland here. this one is going to be bringing more heavy rain very strong wind i should point out right here as well as you can see. in terms of the rainfall another 100 millimeters or so is expected anywhere in the red. from california through oregon and all the way up into british columbia the potential for troublesome rain here. we've had damage reported from coastal flooding in some communities really impaired there. there is going to be snow with this system as well. maybe even as much as a meter, 90 centimeters forecast for the cascades. lower lying areas probably seeing any snow turning over to rain, freezing rain, sleet as well because those temperatures come up. i'll show you those? just a second. let's head over to the east. mostly it's going to be rainshowers,

we are expecting 10 degrees in tokyo and staying in the sub zero mark. with minus 3 degrees and chilly at 4 degrees in shanghai. ed heading over to the americas. the eastern portions are running way below average in some snow is lingering in the northeast states. we have hard freeze warnings in effect for the deep south on wednesday. meanwhile, this high pressure area is bringing very warm air from the south pushing up temperatures. we will show you the figures in just a moment. this low pressure system is moving into the b.c. area. that will bring heavy coastal rain and mountain snow and freezing rain. winds will be problematic with gusts over 100 kilometers per hour reported in b.c. and the stormy conditions will spread to the pacific northwest on wednesday. temperatures as i said are very cold in the east. we expect only minus 2 in new york and 2 in washington d.c. we are expecting 11 degrees in seattle. 15 in denver. 29 degrees in los angeles. definitely feels like summer here. finally, let's go over to europe. a series of low pressure system is brin

for that, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, a lot for investors to focus on with jobs data coming out of japan and key earnings results to go over as well. >> definitely a lot for investors as you mention there. the unemployment numbers coming out a little bit worse. also, we had preliminary industrial production numbers, which was up 4%, and that's the first gain in two months. so preliminary industrial production numbers, a little more of a positive there. let's look at the opening levels this tuesday morning. a bit of a muted reaction. nikkei down marginally, topix down 2. the nikkei ended lower yesterday for the third straight day. so we're looking for a fourth straight day if it keeps going like this. also with continued jitters around the eurozone, the yen gained. we may see further selling for exporters. as you said, earnings a big focus in japan. this week, big names like sony and honda and some major banks. yesterday after the bell we had canon coming out saying they posted a net profit for the year, and also ex

. >>> investors in tokyo have just started another day of trading. >> a favorable federal reserve report on regional economy activity did help boost sentiment, though markets did end mixed on wednesday. for more on how stocks are training in japan, good morning, it seems like a tug of war right now between economic activity in the u.s. and developments in the euro zone. >> yes, very much so. a bit of a tug of war there, the federal reserve regional economic report came in more favorably, which also highlights some of the upbeat economic activity and numbers we've seen out of the u.s. recently and also with earnings season kicking off in the u.s., a lot of investors keen to see how corporate america is progressing into 2012, however, there's still a very keen eye going on in euro zone economies and that's keeping markets a little bit hesitant and if we look at the opening levels, little bit of hesitation in the opening levels, both indexes a touch lower. the nikkei has traded in quite a tight range in the last couple of days, which highlights what we're seeing how government bond auctions

on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar made little movement again the yen on wednesday morning. the dollar is at 76.92 to 94 yen while the euro is at 97.98-01 yen. many are waiting to see the outcome of a summit between german and italian leaders later today expected to talk about how to contain the credit crisis. the yield on the ten-year japanese government bond is down half a basis points. >> a growing number of japanese firms are setting up plants. this chief minister conveyed a quest by japanese companies doing business. she said she's aware of the need for better infrastructure and will promptly take up the issue. >> the state government and a japanese consortium agreed on tuesday to build an industrial park for small and medium-sized japanese businesses. india has huge economic potential and even small businesses will find it an attractive market if there is good infrastructure. >>> that's the latest in business. back to catherine. >> thanks very much. >> countless numbers of children in northeastern japan are still struggling with the aftermath of the march 11th earthqua

tokyo looking for 9 tomorrow. 18 in taipei. 20 in hong kong. and 33 in bong dock. probably with some early morning fog to deal with. north america most of you across the belly of the united states and down into mexico going to be seeing fairly dry conditions. we have a couple of storms to talk about. one is up here across the inter mountain west. this one is bringing significant snowfall. almost a meter about 90 centimeters of snow is possible in the next couple of days up in the mountains. and gusts could get up to 100 kilometres per hour. so you can work that out. we're looking at blowing snow, reduced visibility. snow brift drifts as well. out here toward the east around the low pressure this is mostly going to be snow and then down along the front very, very stormy. mississippi as well as alabama, you could be seeing severe thunderstorms today. this is the outlook if you want to look at it easier there. severe weather down here towards the gulf. lots of rain and then heavy snow extending across parts of northern new england back in across the great lakes and of

tokyo at 8 degrees. cold surge -- cold weather surging in the -- the low is actually 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 you 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 this arthritic system coming in towards you by sunday. please enjoy your nice weather. lisbon at 14 degrees. london staying cold at 5. paris at 7. moscow at minus 1. here's the extended forecast. >>> before we wrap up, we wanted to show you how students 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 the shrine north of tokyo. about 30,000 tablets are on display. people write their wi

tokyo police are investigating its accounting fraud. plus, there's pressure to overhaul senior management. last month's report by an independent panel criticized the corporate climate that allowed executives to engage in illegal practices. the panel called for a clean slate. the president of olympus has promised to appoint a new management team by april. but he isn't saying whether he will stay or go. analysts say whatever happens with olympus could have an impact on the japanese market as a whole. some foreign investors could be scared off, because they might think other japanese companies are no different. >> that was nhk world's mitsuko nishikawa. >>> u.s. president, barack obama, says the united states will boost its military strength in the asia pacific region. the increase comes even as the pentagon decreases the overall size of the u.s. armed forces. >> so our military will be leaner, but the world must know the united states is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for th

tokyo police are investigating its accounting fraud. plus, there's pressure to overhaul senior management. last month's report by an independent panel criticized the corporate climate that allowed executives to engage in illegal practices. the panel called for a clean slate. the president of olympus has promised to appoint a new management team by april. but he isn't saying whether he will stay or go. analysts say whatever happens with olympus could have an impact on the japanese market as a whole. some foreign investors could be scared off, because they might think other japanese companies are no different. >> that was nhk world's mitsuko nishikawa. >>> u.s. president, barack obama, says the united states will boost its military strength in the asia pacific region. the increase comes even as the pentagon decreases the overall size of the u.s. armed forces. >> so our military will be leaner, but the world must know the united states is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for th

azumi met with timothy geithner in tokyo. geithner firmly asked for japan's cooperation on economic sanctions against iran. the u.s. is trying to block iran's oil trade by barring transactions between its central bank and foreign financial institutions. >> translator: japan depends on iran for 10% of its crude oil imports. but we will strive to cut imports as soon as possible. >> azumi said japan's trade with iran is not limited to oil imports. he called for a mother tomorrow on sanctions against other economic deals. treasury secretary timothy geithner says the iran sanctions must be put in place as soon as possible. but to make them effective he needs to get another country on side. geithner spoke with nhk world about the challenges he faces. >> how are you? >> hi, mr. speaker. >> u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner is welcoming japan's cooperation on iran sanctions. >> what were your thoughts on that? >> let me say that my sense is japan is going to be with us and is going to work with us and with europe to try to mak