and tokyo area. and outside of the city, could be seeing some accumulations of snow to the downtown area, and looks like flurries will be falling here. doesn't look like it will be accumulating up and more snowfall. sea-affect snow machine begins to turn back on. and on your monday meeting going into christmas day. meanwhile, high pressure dominating in the northeast. keeping things chilly. beijing minus three for your high. and in mongolia, only minus 27 on saturday. and tropics, expect afternoon rainshowers and thunderstorms to continue to pop up as well. europe, specifically here into the balkans and turkey. been watching a very strong storm system. i want to show you some video out of instanbul. snowfall coming down here, causing headaches for traffic locally in the area. also seeing people really just attempt to clean up the mess from the road crews and this looks like the snow has been falling for the last several days. now starting to clear up and then unfortunately monday to tuesday, the next

he is the hand-picked successor of former tokyo governor ishihara. >> translator: tokyo is the center of japan, the heart of the country. i believe the revival of the entire nation depends on tokyo. i want to start the revival here in tokyo. >> inose has been the deputy governor since 2007. he's involved in management reforms of tokyo electric power company following the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant last year. inose says he'll carry on his predecessor's policies including a campaign to host the 2020 summer olympics and boosting the capital's preparedness for major earthquakes. >>> north korea is marking the first anniversary of the death of former leader kim jong ilon monday. it is expected memorial events are taking place around the country. north korea officially announced kim jong il died of a heart attack last year. now they have invited scientists and technicians in the launch of the long-range missile last week. they are going to report on the success of the launch. as of the first year anniversary, they broadcast a ceremony for the late leader. journali

nhk world, tokyo. >>> under 10 degrees celsius weather continues in tokyo.speta is here with the forecast. robert. >> well, that's right, gene, it is very chilly across much of tokyo and much of japan today for that matter. we're seeing high pressure come in from the west but the good news is going into saturday and sunday it's going to start to warm up. the reason is this cloud cover down here towards the south. this is a low pressure area that's starting to push off here towards the northeast. behind it you'll see some cold air spill in across much of eastern china here, but ahead of it, it's moving in from the south and that's going to be raising up temperatures across much of japan, but unfortunately it's not going to be a fair weather week. it's going to be wet showers across much of the country here. actually down towards kusha, you could see 100 to 120 millimeters of rain throughout your day on your friday going into saturday here. then as it pushes off towards the northeast, you've been seeing some snow across northern hanshu. the threat with that is

and tokyo area. and outside of the city, could be seeing some accumulations of snow to the downtown area, and looks like flurries will be falling here. doesn't look like it will be accumulating up and more snowfall. sea-affect snow machine begins to turn back on. across the western portions and towar hokaido. and on your monday meeting going into christmas day. meanwhile, high pressure dominating in the northeast. keeping things chilly. beijing minus three for your high. and in mongolia, only minus 27 on saturday. and tropics, expect afternoon rainshowers and thunderstorms to continue to pop up as well. europe, specifically here into the balkans and turkey. been watching a very strong storm system. i want to show you some video out of instanbul. snowfall coming down here, causing headaches for traffic locally in the area. also seeing people really just attempt to clean up the mess from the road crews and this looks like the snow has been falling for the last several days. now starting to clear up and

tokyo at 16. that's because of their warmer winds i was talking about coming up along the pacific edge. but very cold and so minus 4 for the high. shanghai at 1 degree on your thursday. europe is looking messy. the snow is really causing problems in central europe and further out to the west over the british isles. a lot of low pressure systems dotted around and it's still frigid. the cold air right down to the mediterranean. so plenty of snow is available. down to the southeast, it's going to be rain rather than snow. heavy rain heading into turkey could cause flash flooding problems. and in fact, the black sea region has been stormy recently. i want to show you video from tuesday. this is showing you what happened when a cargo ship was brought in due to engine malfunction. two other incidents off the turkish coast left two dead and 12 missing, according to coastal authorities. one of the boats sank. this was a rescue boat caught in the rough seas there. when stormy conditions like this happen, u

i'm gene otani in tokyo.

tokyo markets. ramin, good morning. >> good morning to you. markets really keeping a close eye on the weaker yen here, and if it's going to weaken further, in fact, and really that's been leading to the gains in stocks that we've been seeing. i also need to keep an eye on the developments of the u.s. fiscal cliff and whether that's going to be resolved or not in the coming days. let's have a look at the opening levels for december 25. 10,000. we're back above that level today, 10r,097. for the nikkei, 10,098. with large volume, i may add coming from both domestic and foreign importers. also sectors who may benefit from the more expansive monetary policy measures that may be forthcoming such as banks and real estate sectors, too, so we'll follow those as well today. however, we should expect to see in trading a lot of key indexes across asia will be closed today, the hang sang as well as singapore and australian inde s indexes. but let's have a look at currency that's really been the main topic of co

he studied at tokyo's ko university. park is said to set up her administration this week. >>> russian president vladimir putin spends christmas eve in india, and he sees the chance to sign billions of dollars worth in trade and defense deals. putin met indian prime minister singh in new delhi. they agreed on a deal for india to purchase components of fighter jets to assemble. they also agreed to set up a $2 billion fund to set up joint trade and economic projects. they decided to add two nuclear reactors to southern india. but they reportedly failed to agree on terms of compensation in the event of an accident. >>> wrestling fans turned out >>> some people will line up for the smell of baked goods. developers are offering them a machine that can replicate the handy work. >> reporter: japanese consumers loved stuffed bred especially sweet read bean buns. this factory churns out 1300 buns day. breds like these are usually made by hand. dough contains live yeast. if it isn't handled with care the final product could lose th

i'm gene otani in tokyo.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

we asked people in central tokyo what they expect from the abe administration. >> translator: i hope it will fix the economy and energize japan. >> translator: i want a new cabinet to use tax-free on the tsunami survivors. i really have a high expectation about this. >> translator: i want a new administration to listen to the voices of young people and do something new because nothing really seems to have changed. >> abe takes charge as japan is embroiled in some difficult relations with its neighbors. a former u.s. official hopes the new government will rebuild regional ties and those with the u.s. former deputy secretary of state james steinberg was a leading advocate for the asia pacific region. he welcomed abe's plan to make his the first foreign destination. >> i think there's no substitute for leader to leader discussions. given the delicacy and importance of issues in east asia now. >> steinberg expressed the concerns over the senkaku islands. japan controls the islands in the east china sea. china and taiwan claim them. >> the re-elected leader in the united states and new le

ceiling panels as many as 150 came crashing down, sparking a fire on this major highway connecting tokyo to central japan. witnesses describe a scene of chaos as people ran to safety. flames and smoke billowing through the 3-mile-long tunnel. one truck driver trapped under the rubble called for help. but there was so much smoke, fire fighters had to halt rescue efforts fearing another collapse. late sunday, rescue crews pulled the charred remains of several bodies, including the truck driver. investigators say the tunnel had just passed a routine inspection in september. aqui akiko fujita, abc news, tokyo. >>> in egypt, protests against president mohammed morsi are spreading this morning on the streets and in the courts. demonstrators filled tahrir square once again, chanting against morsi's power grab late

bank of france governor christian noyer spoke in tokyo on monday. he said concerns over europe's debt crisis have now eased somewhat. >> the ures financial situation has improved over the past few months. long-term bond yields are long-term bond yields are falling sharply in spain, for instance, and showing positive signs, among others, that point to a gradual return of confidence to the euro area. >> noyer noted borrowing costs for spain, france and other countries in the region have declined that he pointed out is due in part to a european central bank program to buy bonds of debt-ridden nations. the governor also said a stable bond market is necessary for every central bank to implement effective monetary policy. >>> most nuclear powers plants in japan are offline after last year's disaster. another energy-saving campaign is now under way to avert power shortages this winter. the government and power companies are calling on households and businesses to reduce electricity usage through late march. this is to cope with heating demand during the co

, you're seeing rain into western tokyo. on the other hand a mix of the white stuff in there. doesn't look like it will be accumulating too much in the downtown area. don't be surprised if you do so 'see a flurry or two of the white stuff throughout the overnight hours. behind it a break in the weather going through saturday. cloudy skies will linger but then we have another system out of eastern china. this is also bringing freezing drizzle and that's going to work into korea going into sunday as well. bringing snowfall. you'll be seeing a high of minus 6 on sunday and working towards japan on sunday as well bringing widespread rain. expect it to clear up going into new year's eve and new year's day. the threat is as that low runs off the sea effect snow machine will be setting back up and bringing cloud cover and snow off there towards the northern portions of japan on the sea of the japan side. if you want to go out and watch the sunrise new year's morning, clear skies are going to be expected down towards tokyo. get out

, you're seeing rain into western tokyo. on the other hand a mix of the white stuff in there. doesn't look like it will be accumulating too much in the downtown area. don't be surprised if you do so 'see a flurry or two of the white stuff throughout the overnight hours. behind it a break in the weather going through saturday. cloudy skies will linger but then we have another system out of eastern china. this is also bringing freezing drizzle and that's going to work into korea going into sunday as well. bringing snowfall. you'll be seeing a high of minus 6 on sunday and working towards japan on sunday as well bringing widespread rain. expect it to clear up going into new year's eve and new year's day. the threat is as that low runs off the sea effect snow machine will be setting back up and bringing cloud cover and snow off there towards the northern portions of japan on the sea of the japan side. if you want to go out and watch the sunrise new year's morning, clear skies are going to be expected down towards tokyo. get out

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. japanese self-defense forces commanders have deployed personnel around southern islands. the defense minister has passed on the order to self-defense forces commanders. >> translator: we're preparing our defenses in accordance with that offer. >> north korean leaders plan to launch the rocket between december 10th through 22nd. the leaders of other countries say they are carrying out a test of a long range ballistic missile. the deployi ining surface to ai missiles throughout the region. the prime minister held a meeting with his ministers. he approved the order to mobilize the missile defense systems and shoot down any debris. this will be the third such order issued by the government. the last time was in april when north korea launched another rocket. it blew up less than two minutes after lift off. s. officers are also on alert. >> those ships are capable of participates in defense. we will go forward with that as we did in the last time. >> he said officers will be able to track

in tokyo we're looking at 12 degrees. over towards the americas still things are very messy across much of the southwest. this is due to this winter storm system, and it is going to be a very heavy snowmaker. that will be moving into the four corners. welcoming rain will perhaps be in the phoenix region, but the mountainside will perhaps see about 30 centimeters of snowfall in nevada and new mexico. colorado, you may see more than that, and southern california you'll still see those rain but higher elevations will possibly pack up 5 centimeters of snowfall. across much of the southeast, things are looking very clear and the temperatures are rising here in chicago. that's well above your average. in fact, people in chicago actually broke the record for the longest stretch with no measurable snowfall. you haven't seen snow since march 4th last year, so 283 days of no snow. we're wondering when that snow will start there, but freezing rain has impacted paris. it was a slippery day for us out there. still a slippery thing. lo

tokyo will turn sunny this afternoon. instead strong northwesterly winds will produce breezy conditions throughout the nation and heavy snow along the north western flank of the nation. 30 to 40 centimeters likely from tonight to tomorrow morning. a new system will form and produce snow hoshowers around seoul. rain will also spread into the southern islands of japan. midwinter like weather is affecting the north. zero degs in seoul. it's a different story. tokyo rising to 14 degrees. let's go over to the american continent. the series of pacific storm systems in the west coast bringing stormy weather. significant rainfall has caused roads to to be inendaenindate d of oregon are experiencing dry conditions. the next storm system is on its way. rainfall total could reach 230 millimeters in parts of oregon into wednesday morning. lots of rain is going to be pounding across this location. very warm for this time of year in many locations. 13 in chicago and 21 degrees expected in washington on tuesday. here is the extended for

tokyo dropping down by about 7 degrees since yesterday.g winds are creating sea effect snow along the sea of japan side of the country, from hokkaido down toward western honshu. daisen has received as much as 55 centimeters of snow over the past 24 hours. an additional 40 to 50 centimeters lookly for a large area. that could raise the risk of avalanches on top of strong winds and highways. on the other hand the pacific side should be staying largely dry. finally, let's go over to the americas, then. it's going to be a very busy travel week because a christmas holiday is coming up next week. unfortunately, many drivers may run into hazardous conditions due to heavy snow. we have a winter storm affecting the four corners region with snow as well as howling winds. the system will quickly intensify and head toward the northeast. these conditions are likely across parts of kangs cancel and colorado, and snow will also spread into the upper midwestern states from your wednesday night. as much as 50 centimeters of snow is likely in wisconsin. and

this is the largest quake we have felt in tokyo this year. to give you an idea of the intensity, in japan, they have a one to seven scale. this was about a five. it's a very strong quake, felt all the way out here. the big concern right now is the possibility of a tsunami along the northeast coast of japan. that is the same area that was devastated last year during 2011. right now, we have not seen any reports of tsunami waves just yet. the meteorological agency here has forecast waves about three feet high to hit the miyagi prefecture. we've not gotten any reports of a tsunami. but all of those cities along the coast have been told to evacuate, just as a precaution. you can imagine, they're taking that warning very seriously after that whey experienced last year. >> i was going to say, any immediate dangers reported right now, though? >> reporter: we are not hearing of any immediate reports of damages or injuries. i got off the phone with tepco that operates the fukushima nuclear plant. they have no reports. they had about 3,000 people worki

even over towards tokyo, some light showers on saturday night. nothing too heavy and definitely not going to be seeing the the snowfall there. seoul, though, with a high of 3. beijing at 1. ulan bator, though, minus 12 throughout your week. let's change our attention here to the americas, because moisture inflow across northern california, plus these high winds creating a very messy situation. these high winds could be knocking down tree branches, knocking out power to many residents across this area, but not just that. the flashflooding potential. all this moisture pushing onshore is going to be bringing about 200 to 300 millimeters throughout the weekend. so there in northern california you're going to be seeing that very high risk. that is the very high elevations in the rockies, snowfall up to about 30, even 60 centimeters of snow in some of these higher areas. if you have plans on traveling across the area, any flights, do they can in on them ahead of time because this is going to be messy and potentially dangerous. talking about the snow, l

in tokyo barely hanging on to the double digits. moving over to the american continent, can't tell you much here. not good news. severe thunderstorms are going to be possible across eastern texas and in louisiana. here damaging winds, hail and also tornadoes cannot be ruled out. this is due to the warm air and the cold air clashing. the cold air is plummeting toward the south. in oklahoma you'll see the heaviest of snowfall. that will be 50 centimeters, which is quite rare for this time of year. 19 degrees. houston looking at 24 degrees. just above that oklahoma city you're looking at minus 2 for your high. let me first show you a video from the ukraine. a cold snap has claimed the lives of 83 people and hundreds of others have suffering from frostbite. temperatures have been freezing over the last nine days. those suffering from extreme cold be get some relief. temperatures are expected to get back to normal. in moscow things are going to still be cold. we'll take a look at those temperatures later. this system is going to be very

the quake was so strong it was felt in tokyo.traight ahead. >>> and check out what happened when an escalator malfunctioned at a macy's department store. >>> and one of the most anticipated boxing matchers of the year. manny pacquiao and juan manuel marquez battle it out tomorrow in vegas. this hour our own john berman sits down with manny. looking forward to that. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans. it's 30 minutes past the hour. >>> updating you on breaking news, a massive earthquake rocking japan, it hit off the coast about 300 miles northeast of tokyo. rattling buidlin rattling buildings and raising the risk of a tsunami. there is no -- there is no widespread threat of a tsunami in the pacific. >>> it is 31 minutes past the hour. we are anticipating a new swell of rage after friday pairs in egypt. opponents of president mohammed morsi are expected back on the streets. last night in cairo they called on morsi to resign saying his government lost legitimacy. opponents are angry at his d

both from seoul and tokyo. hiroki, so why did north korea go ahead in the face of strong opposition? >> well, kim jong-il was to preserve the nation's sovereignty. this included peaceful use of nuclear technology and space exploration. the north koreans insist this launch is such for peaceful use. on april 15th, in his first speech after the last-minute launch, kim jg-un said pea isrecious b thahe dnity of the people under sovereignty of the nation are even more precious. he indicated his intention to follow his father's footsteps and this launch is seen as part of that, i think. >> so why did the north koreans choose to launch now? >> well, experts point to two reasons. and the one is that the timing relates to a scheduled satellite launch by the south koreans. they had planned to send up a satellite on november 29th but postponed. the two koreas are competing to be the top satellite-launching countries. it is opposed by the north. those in pyongyang believe such opposition is caused by what they call the host

the quake was felt as far south as tokyo. lucy craft is in tokyo. what can you tell us? >> reporter: no reports of damage or injury. it's still way too early. we have a tsunami warning. the tide is about three feet or two meters or one meter, i should say. very interesting, this time the warnings came very fast and furious. the announcer was yelling at people to get to higher ground. big difference this year. >> we were watching in our newsroom as the alerts came in. what did you feel, what did you experience there? was it anything noticeable? >> i was talking to someone on the phone and she said she should get off the phone, this is a big one. my windows were rattling. my pictures, i thought i was going to have to grab them before they fell off. fortunately they didn't. a much more powerful earthquake than we're used to. >> early indications, are you seeing people taking this seriously? what has the response been from people? >> you know, tokyo, again we're pretty far away from the area where the tsunami and the major magnitude was felt this time around but i don't thin

leaders in tokyo pushed for these in-depth talks. analysts from the three countries have already been sharing key information on north korea. south korea's chief negotiator, lim sung-nam, also traveled to the u.s. capital. >> translator: i would like to step up diplomatic efforts with the united states in a bid to prevent north korea from launching a missile. >> sugiyama and lim will be meeting up with glynn davies, the u.s. special representative on north korea. the three senior diplomats are expected to demand north korea exercise restraint and will likely refer to a u.n. security council resolution banning such activity. they're also expected to discuss plans of action in case the launch happens. the diplomats are likely to request the security council to issue a strong condemnation. >>> police in central japan are trying to find some clues as to why a highway tunnel collapsed. they've searched the headquarters of the company that operates the highway. police suspect officials with central nippon expressway of professional neglige

tok tokyo's nikkei ended up over 0.9% after nearly reaching the key 10,000 yen level. in china shanghai composite ended up 0.1%, while hong kong's hang seng slipped just about 0.1%. in india, the sensex closed up about 0.7%. >>> the dollar is little changed against the yen. traders are awaiting the outcome of the boj's two-day policy meeting start wednesday. dollar/yen changing hands at 83.87. euro/yen 110.50. they say a meeting between ldp and boj governor appears limit. >>> foreign direct investment in china fell in november for the sixth straight month due to global uncertainties. a chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said on tuesday that overseas companies invested $8.3 billion in building factories and other projects last month. that's down 5.4% from a year ago. foreign district investment for the first 11 months of this year was $100 billion. that's a decrease of 3.6% from the same period last year. rising labor costs in china and a slowdown in global economic growth triggered by europe's debt crisis is seen as the reason behind the decline. japanese direct in

i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for joining us.e a great day wherever you are. tavis: good evening. smiley. -- from los angeles, em tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation with 14- time grammy winner alicia keys. "girl on fire" features many artists, including john legend and bruno mars. our conversation with alicia keys starts right now.

the first group of 33 members of the self-defense forces arrived at narita airport in tokyo on monday. government officials decided earlier this month to recall the peacekeepers earlier than planned. securing their safety had become difficult because of the civil war in syria. defense ministry officials say the remaining 14 members will wrap up their mission by mid-january. >>> japan first sent sdf personnel to the golan heights in 1996 as part of a united nations mission to monitor the cease-fire between syria and israel. members have been transporting supplies and providing logistic support. >>> a truck rammed into a bus in pakistan on sunday. police suspect it was an act of sec say sectarian violence. the bus burst into flames, killing at least 19 people. 25 people were hurt and are being treated in the hospital. police say the truck was loaded with explosives. witnesses say its driver appeared to have targeted the bus. shiite muslims were headed to a pilgrimage. new york human base watch says attacks on minority shias are on the rise in pakistan. more than 300 shias have been kill

tokyo share prices are trading in a narrow range. the nikkei is down 1/4 of a percent at 9,409, a loss of 24 points from tuesday's close. they're sidelining after taking profits if recent gainers at the open. they're refraining from major moves to confirm the next steps in the u.s. budget talks. the obama administration and opposition republicans remain at odds over how to avert the falling off the fiscal cliff. let's take a look at currency markets. the dollar is also little change against the yen as u.s. budget talks continue. dollar/yen is in the upper 81 levels, 81.88 to 90. the euro, that is higher against the yen, 107.27 to 30 at the moment. worries are reseeding over eurozone debts. let's take a look at other markets in the apple open. kospi is trading flat on the day, 1,934. looking at australia, the benchmark index is trading higher by 1/10 of a percent, 4,508. modest moves so far this morning in the asia pacific. >>> japan and india launched a new framework to provide bilateral credit in u.s. dollars. the aim is to ease the

minus 17 in ul-lambatur. 10 degrees in tokyo. shy of the frigid air mass toward the north. 11 in chongquing and shanghai and further down to the south and the tropics, into the 30s there. let's head on into the americas. central portions are looking calm and clear. a storm from the pacific, dropping down from b.c. to central california. chilly showers to post coastal areas. and we'll be seeing some snow, a few inches on the sierra nevadas and moving inland as well. strongest gusts bringing temperatures down in portions of southern california in the next couple of days. out toward the east, we've been watching a stubborn system move away out over the atlantic, but what will be left over is heavy showers in the eastern gulf states as well as in the florida peninsula and you can see some severe thunderstorms erupting there too. here are temperatures. a big drop out in the northeast. new york city, 9 degrees today. 9 in d.c. a drop of 10 degrees between monday and tuesday. further up toward the north. that's your high temperature. wi

buildings in tokyo shook for several minutes. the good news is that there have been at no immediate reports of injuries or damage. the tokyo electric power company says they have had no problems at any of their plants. we do know that the airport is closed right now. no flights going in or out until the tsunami warnings are lifted. we will continue to follow the story. >>, for that. there is reason this morning for a neighborhood plagued by flooding to be optimistic. a proposal to overhaul the system is under way. john is like to explain the system. >> later this morning, the mayor will be out here at the filter plant to make the official announcement to make repairs. after more than 30 years of bad flooding, residents say they cannot wait. >> possible hope for people living in this battered local neighborhood drowning because of a series of bad floods. already line, it is worth three major storm drains converge. any time a storm happens, they do not stand a chance. >> we will have to hold our breath until next year. we have to h