>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." japan's current account surplus fell in november for the first time in three months. that came as imports surged due to higher prices of natural resources such as iron ore and liquefied natural gas. the finance ministry said in a preliminary report on wednesday november's trade surplus stood at just over $3 billion. that's down by nearly 47% from a year earlier in yen terms. imports of flat-panel televisions from china also soared. consumers rushed to take advantage of government subsidies for ecofriendly appliances before they were reduced in december. meanwhile, the income surplus came to just under $10 billion. that's up 13% compared with a year earlier. these figures result in a current account surplus of $11.2 billion, which means a 15.7% decrease year on year. the ministry says, wel while th effect of the government subsidies is temporary caution is needed over the strong yen's impact on trade balances. >>> the united arab emirates

. >>> you're watching "newsline." in other news, the united states and european countries are criticizing the sentence that's been handed to mikhail khodorkovsky. the former russian oil tycoon embezzlement and more years in money laundering. he was considered vladimir putin's political rival. a russian court sentenced him on thursday. the former president of the now defunct yukos oil company is already serving an eight year prison term for fraud and tax evasion. he was arrested in 2003. khodorkovsky once criticized and challenged putin's authority when the russian leader was president. the united states and european countries say both sentences are reprisals for his opposition to putin. the u.s. denounced the verdict as politically influenced. the russian government countered saying politicians do not exert pressure on the country's judiciary. >>> the vatican has taken action to enhance its financial transparency following an investigation by italian police into allegations of money laundering. the vatican bank offici

\s newline >>> hello and welcome to "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. demonstrators are protesting in cities across egypt friday following noon prayer. they are demanding the end of hosni mubarak's 30-year rule. in giza, mohamed el baradei, nobel peace prize winner, joined the rally. he intends to run in the presidential elections this fall. thousands of protesters shouted down with mubarak. egyptian police used water canons and fired tear gas on the demonstration. egyptian authorities deployed security forces nationwide. they have also sealed off major roads leading to government and governing party buildings. access to the internet and mobile phone networks has been disrupted since friday morning. these pro democrat cease demonstrations spread into egypt after being sparked by events in the north african country of tunisia. last month, an unemployed tunisian man who was selling vegetables without permission committed suicide by setting himself on fire. he was protesting against a police crackdown

newsline is taking a close look at china's booming economy. today we focus on how the country's rapidly growing economy is affecting people's livelihoods. china's consumer price index shows the up trend over the past several months. last december saw a 4.6% year on year increase. food products went up most at a hefty 9.6%. china's central bank has raised interest rates twice since last fall. shifting to a tight money policy in an effort to curb inflation. while consumers wait for the measures to take effect, they are trying to cut their expenses wherever they can. nhk world's lisa komiya has the story from beijing. >> reporter: a fair held in beijing this month attracted many visitors. companies and farmers hoping to boost their sales gave discounts of nearly 50% or even more. at exhibitions like this are not new in china but with skyrocketing prices, consumers are finding the events more useful than they expected. >> translator: i am so happy. the prices are really cheap. ma jianmae is 38 and lives with her husband in beijing. she's one of th

>>> welcome back to "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. chinese president hu jintao is wrapping up his first official visit to the united states in five years. one of the main objectives of his trip was to ease deep-seated mistrust on the economic front among u.s. congress and business leaders. did hu succeed? nhk world's junpei yoshioka in washington. >> reporter: on thursday hu attended a luncheon in washington with corporate leaders. there he stressed that the strengthening of bilateral economic ties would help revitalize the u.s. economy. >> reporter: the united states had a $250 billion trade deficit with china as of november 2010. some participants in the keptic about the benefits to the u.s. of boosting economic ties. >> i think they were addressed, but many of the issues have a great deal of work that remains to be done. >> reporter: the chinese government has agreed to business deals with the u.s. worth $45 billion, including the purchase of 200 boeing aircraft. the deals were timed to coincide with hu's visit. but the perception

glad to have you with us on "newsline." i'm yuko fukushima in tokyo. >>> japanese defense minister, toshima kitazawa, will hold talks with his south korean and u.s. counterparts next week. these are part of efforts to strengthen defense cooperation between the three nations. the talks come amid growing concern that east asia is becoming more volatile. kitazawa will visit seoul next monday for two days of discussions with south korean defense minister kim kwan jin. kim took office last month. the two defense ministers will exchange opinions on heightening tensions on the korean peninsula in the aftermath of the north korean shelling of a south korean island in november. they will also strengthen a plan for periodic reciprocal visits by the top japanese and south korean defense officials. kitazawa will meet u.s. defense secretary robert gates in tokyo on thursday of next week. they will discuss how japan and the u.s. can cooperate on the korean peninsula issues. china stepping up activity in the east china sea including water

>>> hello and welcome to "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. nhk has obtained official myanmar government documents that outline legislation for mandatory military service. the documents show that the mandatory military service legislation was enacted on december 17th last year. the government will introduce a draft for men and women age 18 and older. men between ages 18 and 45 and women between 18 and 35 will be drafted into the army for two to three years. the government requires citizens of eligible age except those physically challenged to register with local authorities. those who fail to register or try to evade the draft face imprisonment of up to five years. following the country's first general election in 20 years last november, the new parliament is expected to convene as early as this month to establish at least an appearance of civilian government. the last-minute decision to introduce the draft system before the new government's integration is likely to set off protests from the public. >>> top officials from japan and the united

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. >>> the minutes of a u.s. federal reserve meeting show that policy makers agreed to maintain additional credit-easing measures amid a persistently high jobless rate. the fed's move raised criticism that it may lead to higher long-term interest rates, which could delay the recovery of the housing market. critics also said further monetary easing may also cause more inflation than necessary. but the minutes from the december 14th meeting, released on tuesday, showed that the agreement was reached as risks outweigh the possibility that u.s. economic recovery could pick up its pace due to rising consumer spending. the risks include a worsening of the housing market due to continued high employment. state and city governments may cut spending or raise taxes due to deteriorating fiscal health. and the european debt problem may also negatively impact the u.s. economy. the minutes add that u.s. long-term interest rates rose due to an improving economic outlook and because the fed's additional easing fell below some ma

>>> hello and welcome to "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. >>> the new cabinet of prime minister naoto kan was officially launched on friday. there are six new cabinet ministers, 11 lawmakers have kept their posts. former finance minister kaoru yosano who served in several ministerial posts in past ldp governments left a small opposition party to join the cabinet. newly appointed chief cabinet secretary yukio edano announced the new ministers. he is a 46-year-old lawyer in the former hatoyama government. he led efforts to eliminate wasteful government spending. yosano now serves as economic and fiscal policy minister. he oversees the prime minister's priority policy of reforming the social security and tax system. yosano advocates increasing the consumption tax and fiscal reconstruction. with regard to other key posts, foreign minister seiji maehara, finance minister yoshihiko noda, defense minister toshimi kitazawa and national policy minister koichiro gemba kept their jobs. the opposit

>>> hello and welcome to "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. nhk has obtained official myanmar government documents that outline legislation for mandatory military service. the documents show that the mandatory military service legislation was enacted on december 17th last year. the government will introduce a draft for men and women age 18 and older. men between ages 18 and 45 and women between 18 and 35 will be drafted into the army for two to three years. the government requires citizens of eligible age except those physically challenged to register with local authorities. those who fail to register or try to evade the draft face imprisonment of up to five years. following the country's first general election in 20 years last november, the new parliament is expected to convene as early as this month to establish at least an appearance of civilian government. the last-minute decision to introduce the draft system before the new government's integration is likely to set off protests from the public. >>> top officials from japan and the united

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." tokyo stocks rebounded on thursday morning, reaching the 10,500 mark for the first time in about eight months in intraday trading. in foreign exchange -- the nikkei rose 1.17%, or 121 points, and ended the morning session at 10,502. that as exporters including auto and electronic makers are leading the gainers. the rise in tokyo comes as upbeat u.s. unemployment data pushed the dollar higher against the yen overnight. taking a look now at foreign exchange market, the dollar is being bought against the yen on expectations for a u.s. economic recovery. the dollar has gained more than one yen on thursday morning. the greenback is trading between 83.28 to 30. the euro now at 1.3132-3134. market sources say the dollar buying was encouraged by better than expected u.s. job figures on wednesday, which raised hopes for a u.s. revival and gave tokyo traders their cue. >>> u.s. president barack obama is going to have a tougher time working with congress now that republicans have a majority in t

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." u.s. president barack obama led a moment of silence for the six people who died in a shooting rampage in it tucson, arizona. >>> we are speaking directly to our sense of loss but also speaking to our hopes for the future. and how out of this tragedy we can come together as a stronger nation. >>> the president, first lady michelle obama, and his staff gather on the white house south lawn on monday to take part in the vigil. [ bell tolling ] arizona residents also observed a moment of silence. they gathered with investigators at the site of the shooting. the incident on saturday left six dead and 14 injured, including congresswoman gabrielle giffords. she remains in critical condition from a gunshot to the head. among the dead are a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. at the elementary school where christina taylor green attended, students and teachers put up messages of sympathy. she was born on the day of the september 11th terrorist attacks. the fbi is investigating the suspect, jared lo

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." tension remains high in egypt at anti-government protests continue across the country. security authorities detained more than 500 people on wednesday alone. >>> at least three citizens and one police officer were killed in clashes between demonstrators and riot police on tuesday during the country's biggest protests in years. the rallies follow an uprising in tunisia that ousted the country's long time president. on wednesday, about 3,000 demonstrators occupied streets in central cairo demanding an end to president hosni mubarak's nearly 30-year rule. riot police fired teargas and protesters responded by throwing stones. egypt's government is cracking down on the demonstrations. among those detained 24 cameramen from a british tv news agency covering the rallies. calls for further protests are continuing online. the security authorities have blocked access to some websites. in washington, u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton voiced concern over egypt's response to the protests. >>

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." u.s. president barack obama gives his second state of the union address. he told americans democrats and republicans have a shared responsibility for the country's future. >> thank you. thank you so much. with their votes, they've determined that governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties. new laws will only pass with support for democrats and republicans. we will move forward together or not at all for the challenges we face are bigger than party and bigger than politics. >> obama's speech was heavily focused on job creation. he said the country has reached another sputnik moment. >> this is our generation's sputnik moment. i will be sending a budget to congress that helps us meet that goal. we'll invest in biomedical research, information technology and especially clean energy technology. an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet and create countless new jobs for our people. >> thousands of egyptians clashed with riot police, demanding an end

>>> welcome to nhk "newsline." chinese president hu jintao is visiting the united states. he and u.s. president barack obama met in washington on wednesday and discussed a wide range of issues including tensions on the korean peninsula. the two leaders held a news conference after the summit. obama praised china for increasing the flexibility of the yuan but urged hu to let the currency rise further. the president called on china to respect universal human rights including freedom of speech and religion. regarding north korea's nuclear issue, obama called on china to play a more aggressive role. >> north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile program is increasingly a direct threat to the security of the united states and our allies. the international community must continue to state clearly that north korea's uranium enrichment program is in violation of north korea's commitments and international obligations. >> hu said the u.s. and china share common interests and responsibilities on a wide range of international issues, but he added that there's still a gap between thei

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." an explosion at moscow's domodedovo airport killed at least 30a 35 people on monday afternoon. investigative authorities suspect it was a suicide bombing. the blast occurred in an crowded international arrival hall near the baggageanin ar. russia's emergency ministry says at least 35 people are dead and more than 160 people, including foreign nationals, are injured. >> a spokesperson for the investigative committee, vladimir markin, talked to nhk and other reporters. >> president dmitry medvedev convened an emergency meeting and vowed a thorough investigation. >> more than 22 million people used domodedovo airport last year. the hub is located about 20 kilometers south of moscow. 's russia's largest international airport, serving 77 carriers. >>> u.s. president barack obama and u.n. secretary-general ban ki moon both condemned the bombing. white house press secretary robert gibbs read obama's statement at a press conference on monday. >> i strongly condemn this outrageous attack of te

so newsline of business is doing well. in the export of used plastic has been increasing by thirty percent a year in two thousand and seven front sent seven hundred thousand metric tons of plastic and brown. you see the build up from france if you see from the label you may be able to identify the bottle that maybe you have you'll think of a lot of it but these have come here now and they will be teeth like gold and made again into valuable bottles more product which could be you of the again. the plastic recycled my future it comes from western countries quite legally the recyclers hope that by showing us how we'll take our boat rubbish delinquent just european consumers to send the. message to the utopian customers utopian whole homeowners are utopian man or woman it's very straight and simple who took our polyesters is hope to be associated in keeping the environment and clearly had wood for the human belief i have a week i liked those bottoms which you throw in the dustbin i got what they did to those products that you

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." >>> japanese prime minister naoto kan met with u.s. defense secretary robert gates in tokyo. they agreed to continue working together to bring stability to east asia, including north korea. before the meeting kan told gates he is determined to deepen the japan-u.s. alliance. kan added that he is looking forward to expressing the sentiment to u.s. president barack obama when they meet in the spring. gates agreed with kan. he said sustaining strong relations between the two countries is important amid the unstable situation in the region. prior to the talks with kan gates met with foreign minister seiji maehara and defense minister toshimi kitazawa. >>> u.s. president barack obama has mourned the victims of the shooting rampage in arizona. six people died, and a congresswoman was left in critical condition. obama spoke at a memorial service in tucson on wednesday. >> we mourn with you for the fallen. we join you in your grief. and we add our faith to yours that representative gabrielle giffords and the other living victims of this traged

so newsline of business is doing with. their export of used plastic has been increasing by thirty percent a year in two thousand and seven front sent seven hundred thousand metric tons of plastic abroad. you see the build up from france if you see from the label you may be able to identify the bottle that maybe you have you'll think of a lot of it but these have come here now and it will be teeth like gold and made again into valuable bottles more product which could be you of the again. the plastic recycled money future comes from western countries quite legally the recyclers hope not showing us how women take care of our rubbish dealing come in just european consumers to send the. message to the utopian customers utopian whole homeowners are utopian men and women it's very straight and simple who took up polyesters is hope to be associated in keeping the environment and plea at good for the human belief i have a week i liked those bottoms which you throw in the dust bin at god what they did to those products that you use

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." >>> japan's debt has been downgraded by u.s. credit rating agency standard and poor. it's the first downgrade in eight years and nine months for japanese government bonds. standard and poor's said on thursday it has cut the double-a credit rating on japan's sovereign debt by one notch to did you believe a minus. japan has the highest ranking out of 21 notches. it has the same rating as kuwait, saudi arabia and china. >> our level of confidence of the ability of the government to carry through with fiscal consolidation had evaporated to a point where we thought we needed to lower the rating. >> the rating firm says japan's fiscal health is the worth among industrialized nation. s&p said it will consider an upgrade if the government takes steps to reduce the debts. it cited japan's net foreign assets, which are the largest in the world. the yen's role has a major reserve currency. >> japan's cumulative national debt is nearly 200% of its gross domestic product. japan's finance ministry estimates its national debt will swell to mor

so newsline of business is doing well. the export of use plastic has been increasing by thirty percent a year in two thousand and seven front sent seven hundred thousand metric tons of plastic and brown. you see the bales up from france if you see from the label you may be able to identify the bottle that maybe you have you'll think of a lot of it but these have come here now and they will be like gold and made again into valuable bottles more products which could be you have the again. home from the plastic recycled my future comes from western countries quite legally the recyclers hope not showing us how we'll take care of the rubbish delinquent just european consumers to send the movie. message to the utopian customers utopian whole homeowners are utopian men and women it's very straight and simple who took our polyesters is how to be associated in keeping the environment and clearly had wood for the human belief i have a week i liked those bottles but you throw in the dustbin that got what they did to those products th

so newsline of business is doing well. in the export of used plastic has been increasing by thirty percent a year in two thousand and seven front sent seven hundred thousand metric tons of plastic and brown. you see the bales up from france if you see from the label you may be able to identify the bottle that maybe you have you'll think of a lot of it but these have come here now and they will be teeth like gold and made again into valuable bottles more products which could be you of the again. the plastic recycled money future comes from western countries quite legally the recyclers hope by showing us how women take care of our rubbish just european consumers to send the. message to the utopia that customers are utopian whole homeowners are utopian men and women it's very straight and simple who took up on your sister's is how to be associated in keeping the environment and please add wood for the human belief i have a week i liked those bottles which you throw in the dust bin at god what they did to those products that y

so newsline of business is doing well. in the export of use plastic has been increasing by thirty percent a year in two thousand and seven from sent to seven hundred thousand metric tons of plastic and broke. as you see the bales up from france if you see from the label you may be able to identify the bottle that maybe you have you'll think of a lot of it but these have come here now and it will be teeth like gold and made again into valuable bottles more product which could be you of the again. the plastic recycled money future comes from western countries quite legally the recyclers hope the showing us how women take care of the rubbish dealing come in just european consumers to send the. message to the european customers utopian whole homeowners are utopian men and woman is very straight and simple who took our polyesters is how to be associated in keeping the environment and please add wood for the human belief i have a week i liked those bottles which you throw in the dustbin that got what they did to those products t

so newsline of business is doing well. in the export of use plastic has been increasing by thirty percent a year in two thousand and seven front sent seven hundred thousand metric tons of trucks to control. as you see the build up from france if you see from the label you may be able to identify the bottle that maybe you have you'll sent over. these have come here now and it will be teeth like gold and made again into valuable bottles more product which could be you of the again. the plastic recycled money future comes from western countries quite legally the recyclers hope that by showing us how we'll take our boat rubbish delinquent just european consumers to send the. message to the utopian customers utopian whole homeowners are utopian men and women it's very straight and simple who took up all your stores is about to be associated in keeping the environment and please add wood for the human belief i have a week i liked those bottles which you throw in the dust bin at god what they did to those products that you use ev

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." heavy rains continue to lash wide areas around the world, causing floods and landslides. in the southeastern australian state of victoria hundreds of people have evacuated their homes after rain-swollen rivers overflowed their banks. >> we can keep bagging up, bagging up. you know, we've tried to block off a few of the stormwater pits to make it a little slower to come through. i've got a relative over the road there. it's all part of the experience, isn't it? maybe the first time in a couple hundred years. >> this follows weeks of flooding in northeastern queensland state that caused huge economic damage and affected roads, railways, farms, and businesses. 31 people are known to have died. and more than 30,000 houses and businesses are swamped. torrential rains have also caused major flooding across sri lanka. in the philippines 40 people died in floods and landslides. floods and landslides in brazil caused by record rainfall last week also claimed the lives of more than 600 people.

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." we begin this hour with a look at japan's cabinet reshuffle. prime minister naoto kan has vowed to form what he calls the most powerful line-up in order to carry out reforms in a divided parliament. all the ministers have stepped down in preparation. former finance minister kaoru yosano is expected to join the new cabinet while it looks like both the chief cabinet secretary and transport minister will lose their posts. kan accepted the resignations of all his ministers at a cabinet meeting on friday morning. the prime minister has unofficially decided to remove chief cabinet secretary and justice minister yoshito sengoku. the democratic party's deputy secretary-general, yukio edano-l succeed him as chief cabinet secretary. the opposition-controlled upper house censured both sengoku and transport minister sumio mabuchi in late november for their handling of the september 7th collision between a chinese trawler and a japanese patrol boat. opposition part yies had threatened to boycott debate in the upcoming ordinary session unless both ministers

>>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." chinese president hu jintao has arrived in washington and will meet with u.s. president become barack on wednesday. the focus of the meeting will be on whether the two nations can narrow their differences in areas such as appreciation of the chinese yuan and security issues. he was welcomed by vice president joe biden at an airport outside washington on tuesday afternoon. this is the chinese president's first official visit to the u.s. in five years. the two presidents are expected to discuss the value of the chinese currency and ways to handle tensions on the korean peninsula. the united states is calling for the appreciation of the yuan against other currency. hu has indicated that it's time to change the international financial order centered on the u.s. dollar and this may also be discussed during the summit. relations between the u.s. and china have been tense since january last year when the obama administration decided to sell weapons to taiwan. china apparently wants to demons

. >>> welcome to nhk world "newsline." japan's current account surplus fell in november for the first time in three months. that came as imports surged due to higher prices of natural resources such as iron ore and liquefied natural gas. the finance ministry said in a preliminary report on wednesday november's trade surplus stood at just over $3 billion. that's down by nearly 47% from a year earlier in yen terms. imports of flat-panel televisions from china also soared. consumers rushed to take advantage of government subsidies for ecofriendly appliances before they were reduced in december. meanwhile, the income surplus came to just under $10 billion. that's up 13% compared with a year earlier. these figures result in a current account surplus of $11.2 billion, which means a 15.7% decrease year on year. the ministry says, wel while th effect of the government subsidies is temporary caution is needed over the strong yen's impact on trade balances. >>> the united arab emirates plans to extend oil field rights for japanese f