debra hersman chaired the u.s. national transportation safety board. she said a lithium ion battery sparked a fire on a jet in boston. >> this investigation has demonstrated that a short circuit in a single cell can propagate to adjacent cells and result in smoke and fire. >> engineers packaged eight cells together in designing the battery system for the dreamliner. hersman said they didn't place them far enough apart so trouble in one could affect the others. they have not determined why the batteries short circuiteded. another battery fire forced the pilot of an all nipon airways pilot to make an emergency landing in japan. u.s. authorities grounded all 787s. officials at boeing said the batteries were likely to cause smoke only once in every 10 million flight hours. japan's government will look at russia's intent after the air space violation by russian war plane. two russian war planes briefly entered japanese air space. officials launched a protest with russian authorities. the russian defense ministry denied the claim saying there was no air space incursion. japanese officials plan to exchange data with russian counterparts and further look at what happened. the government looks at it seriously as it appeared after a a frigate's radar lock on came to light. japanese senior diplomats say they don't know russia's intention but the move doesn't seem designed to coincide with chinese activity. india's defense minister has voiced his concern over china's recent acquisition of control over a strategically important port in pakistan. his remarks came a week after pakistan's announcement that it would change the management of its southwestern part of gwadar to a chinese state-run firm. the transfer is a matter of concern for india. the port was built with chinese assistance and opened in 2007. it's situated near the strait of hormuz, a key oil shipping lane from the middle east. china has been helping india's other neighbors, particularly myanmar and sri lanka to construct and maintain port facilities. >> i can say it is a matter of concern to us. >> india is wary that china may be trying to increase its influence in the indian ocean, following similar efforts in the south china sea. south korea's next leader has called politicians together to come up with a strategy to deal with with north korea. military leaders in pyongyang have threatened to carry out another nuclear test. >> translator: now is the time for both ruling and opposition parties to unite and call on north korea to stop its reckless behavior. >> park met with moon hee-sang, a senior member of the largest opposition democratic united party and the head of the ruling party, hwang woo-yea. they agreed to work together during the leadership transition to protect national security. park will be sworn in february 25th. she said further nuclear tests could hurt efforts to rebuild trust. diplomatic sources in beijing say the foreign ministry summoned north korean's ambassador to persuade pyongyang to exercise restraint on the issue. the north rejected china's demand. the row appears to underscore north korea's uncompromising stance on nuclear policy. iran's supreme leader ayatollah khomeini rejected a proposal for direct talks with the united states, saying the country is pushing negotiations with the threat of military force. khomeini spoke on thursday in the capital tehran. the supreme leader say that u.s. politicians should know that pressure and negotiation are not compatible. he also said the ball is in the u.s. court, suggesting he wants to see further action by the country. his remarks came days after u.s. vice president joe biden said the united states is prepared to hold bilateral negotiations with tehran, if the talks are real and tangible. negotiators from iran and six major powers including the u.s. will resume talks on february 26th. after an eight-month suspension to discuss iran's nuclear program. mario draghi said he expects the region's weakness to prevail for some time. policy makers at the bank decided to keep the key interest rate unchanged. it is at a record low to support europe's ailing economy. the members of the central bank decided the rate should be maintained at 0.75% for the seventh month in a row. mario draghi said the decision is essential to support the region's economic activity which remains weak. >> the economic weakness in euro areas expected to prevail in the early part of 2013. later, in 2013, economic activity should gradually recover, supported by our monetary policy stance. >> draghi said he'll continue monetary easing measures while carefully watching how foreign exchange rates impact euro zone's economy and prices. he said commercial banks have paid back over $180 billion of funds the centurile tral bank provided. he said this reflects improvement in the financial market. japan's current account figures were just released. the current account balance for december was in the red for two consecutive months. that's the first time since 1985 that two straight months of declines were shown. finance ministry officials say the december current account deficit was $2.8 billion. the trade balance registered a deficit of about $6 billion. exports fell 6.9% while imports were up about 0.8% from the previous year. as a result, the ministry said the current account surplus for the whole of 2012 was down for two years in a row. now u.s. stock prices ended lower. the dow jones industrial average lost nearly a third of a percent to end the day at 13,944 on thursday. that's after poor productivity data as well as comments from the ecb president which sent the euro lower. for more and for how stocks are trading here in tokyo, we are going to ramin mellagard at the tokyo stock exchange. we have had two pull-backs. are we headed for another? >> it looks like it. the drop we have seen in trade appears like that. the 2% drop in productivity for the fourth quarter in the u.s. as well as those slightly taken as negative comments from ecb president mario draghi may have more bite. we are definitely seeing that in the opening levels. let's have a look at those. 11,247. less than 1% on the nikkei. topix at 961. we had more than 400-point surge on wednesday. does look like the negative factors are prevailing so far. we'll have to see how friday developing. earnings and the weaker yen have been a major focus in japan. many major exporters expressed hope that the weaker yen will help. it's a lot of restructuring and cost cutting measures that have been the major factor for some of the turnarounds we have seen. now, sony was a big focus yesterday after the bell. they came out with earnings and said it showed a turnaround in the operating profit, as you can uh see there of around $495 million. that's for the three months to december of 2012. mainly from the finance and film divisions. the main consumer electronics sector is in the red with digital cameras, p.c.s and games devices hit hard by the intense competition from smartphones which pretty much handle everything nowadays. >> indeed. we have seen ups and downs for the yen this week. what can you tell us about the euro? it's fallen a bit of draghi's comments. >> that was a big focus after his comments. let's look at the pairings starting with the euro/yen. 125.43-46. don't forget it was around 127 levels on wednesday. so the euro there losing a little bit of ground against the yen. let's switch to dollar/yen. 93.64-67. that's still off the levels on wednesday when it was trading above 94 at one point. we are getting key data out of china later today such as cpi figures for january. that's going to be vital for japanese investors as the lunar new year holidays kick off in china. so we won't see more market directing moves from china. but that will be a focus for this morning. back to you. >> thanks for the report. ramin mellegard. >> tokyo is not the only asian market open this hour. i will leave you with a check on those. authorities in the solomon islands are sending emergency teams and relief supplies to help residents in the archipelago. a magnitude 8.0 earthquake rattled the south pacific on wednesday sending tsunami racing ashore. at least six people are confirmed dead and four others are missing. 3,000 people are believed to have been affected by the disaster. nhk world's takeo nakajima reports from the solomon islands' capital honiara. >> reporter: this is honiara, capital of solomon islands. ship is loading supplies which will be sent to the islands which was hard hit by tsunami. they are working as fast as they can, stocking the ship with food, utensils and plastic tanks full of fresh water. the crew will then travel 600 kilometers to the hardest hit of the solomon islands. nendo. the journey will take more than 30 hours. the nearly one meter high tsunami swept away house after house on nendo. members of the international aid group world vision captured photos of the destruction. the images show only foundations are left in places. some houses are full of debris. solomon islands authorities say nendo's power and water supply has been cut off, and they say telephone communication is still difficult. along with supplies, they're planning to send relief workers to the area. a man who helped load up the ship in honiara is hoping to make the trip, too. >> my brothers and sisters were all dead from a tsunami. >> i brought some bags of rice, as well as clothes to send over to my family. >> reporter: people in this archipelago are hoping the worst is over. but they remain on high alert. they've been shaken several times by magnitude 6.0 aftershocks. takeo nakajima, nhk world, solomon islands. from earthquakes to tsunami, when it comes to disaster, people in japan know just how unforgiving nature can be. since 1997, just two years after the great hanchin earthquake an annual exhibition of emergency equipment has featured products to help save lives in catastrophe. they expect a record number of people this year. >> reporter: nearly two years have passed since the earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern japan. since then, designers have been turning out more and more life-saving products. one example is a moving shelter for fleeing from a tsunami. this huge object is an emergency shelter with an engine. the shelter can hold as many as 25 people. it can move at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour an hour or up to 100 kilometers. >> translator: we have had many calls from people interested in boats for escaping from tsunami. we developed this product to meet the demand. >> other products are for people who have lost their homes. this jacket has 44 pockets that can hold almost everything needed in an emergency, including food, water, and blankets. backup water and power supplies are also on display. this device can purify two liters of water in just five minutes. there is also a portable solar panel with two wheels. it is small enough to carry around and set up anywhere and can charge 50 cell phones or light up a room for more than 24 hours. in the past, most businesses at the exhibition were civil servants involved in public safety. but organizers say now more people from the private sector are coming to the a a looking o improve disaster preparedness and protect their employees. many remember the events of 2011, when companies struggled to provide food and shelter to their workers. >> we are trying to be fully prepared for various types of disasters. we are with here today to learn more about what we can do. >> disasters teach us lessons. and there's plenty to learn in disaster-prone japan. thu events like this one, more people are learning how they can prepare themselves for the worst. iko tanaka, nhk world. thousands of people waiting to go home. tons of debris waiting for disposal. vast tracts of land awaiting to be restored. overcoming the challenges of japan's 2011 disaster won't be easy. but step by step, people are moving forward. find out how, on "the road ahead," every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time, right here on "newsline." from the surface of the earth to distant galaxys. this mysterious image isn't composite or manipulated digitally. this is the work of an amateur photographer and it is attracting worldwide attention. it's 10:00 p.m. in the mountains of nagano. time for the photo shoot to start. the photographer is out to take another of his trademark images. the majesty of the night sky with scenes of nature in the foreground. >> i will open the shutter. >> he uses a single camera to capture his images. he starts moving away from the camera. he shines his flashlight on some trees about 50 meters away. >> the greater the distance, the longer the exposure that is needed. okay. close the shutter. >> he gives the exposure two whole minutes. it comes out like this. with the large trees glowing yellow against a night sky filled with stars. this is how he does it. first, the camera is pointed at the starry sky at maximum aperture to let in as much light as possible. focused on the stars he opens the shutter. the camera sensor picks up the faint light from the stars. after a minute he reduce it is aperture, keeping the camera in the same position. next, it's time to shoot the trees. he takes out his flashlight. the large trees are no longer hidden in the darkness. he closes the shutter when he feels they have been exposed long enough. the result is this powerful image. he's self-taught. it is his hobby and he still has a company job. he developed this through trial and error. it is a style that's completely original. last year the royal greenwich observatory picked him as one of the astronomy photographers of the year and praised him for his ingenuity and artistry. >> translator: i'm surprised people abroad chose japanese scenes ahead of the impressive landscapes in other countries. >> his assistant worked as a local camera store. she was so impressed she asked to work with him. he said his photographers are more successful now, thanks to his assistant. this is one of the photos they created called galactic lily. by sharing the workload they produced images that make them almost three dimensional. on this day, they have gone into the mountains to capture a typical winter image. the shoot starts at 11:00 p.m. the temperature has dropped to 1 degree celsius with a dusting of frost. the image is called frosted leaf galaxy. the constellation orion glows majestically out of the winter sky. >> it was really cold. but we got some great shots. i'm quite satisfied. >> there is plenty of room for improvement with my lighting methods. >> the photographs bring together the separate worlds of earth and sky. next, he's planning to add a further dimension by incorporating underwater shots. >> beautiful there. all right. well, people in northern japan are being slowed down by heavy snow this morning. here's more in world weather. >> residents of northern japan are dealing with heavy snow. typical winter pattern combined with siberian cold air brings snow to japan. already 45 centimeters of snow and gusts of 117 kilometers per hour has been reported in yamagata prefecture. people are shoveling every day. there is a report of 61 people dead from accidents related to clearing the snow away. now, this winter storm will continue to batter much of northwestern flank of japan. additional snowfall amounts could exceed as much as 60 centimeters widely across the region. snow already gusts are reaching more than a hundred kilometers per hour in some areas, picking up as much as nine meters high today for waves. dangerous around the coastal areas. gusts could reach 126 kilometers per hour. enough to down the trees and power lines. please do be cautious, if you are out and about. the rest of the country looks clear and dry. the frigid siberian cold air impacts much of the northern half of the eastern continent. asia bringing temperatures down. even precipitation here could turn to snow in the northern areas of the yangtse river valley. that could be heavy and blowing. all of the humid moisture makes wet weather across china. temperatures are shaping up like this. shanghai 3. seoul, minus 7 for the high. the low is around minus 17 this morning. please bundle up. try to stay indoors if possible. here in tokyo, 9 for the high. so a bumpy ride yesterday with about 15 degrees. here in north america, we have a couple of systems to talk about. but this is going to be a potentially historic event with with a very strong winter storm. a couple of systems are impacting the area as of now. this one is bringing wet weather due to warm air aloft and thunderstorms as well as severe hail possibly with the associated cold front. another system is impacting the southeast. that will be moving along the atlantic coast. merges with the other system, making it a really potent winter storm. we are talking 60 centimeters of snowfall. wind gusts up to 120 kilometers per hour forecast. even the major cities such as new york city could see 25 centimeters of snowfall. blizzard watches and warnings are posted widely across the region including boston. in boston we are talking about in addition to all of that, coastal flooding due to the high tide. temperaturewise, 1 for boston for the high. new york at 4. that will be dropping from the system both combining and making it possibly a top ten snowfall event. here's your extended forecast. one more story before we leave you. runners from around the world competed to see who is the fastest to climb to the top of the empire state building in new york. [ horn ] the participants dashed from the lobby and climbed more than 1500 steps to finish at the observation deck on the 86th floor. some gave up running halfway and walked up step by step, holding onto the railing. australian mark born won the men's division with a time of 10:12. >> it's always tough to go up something like that. yeah. good satisfaction of competing it is enough. to win it makes it even better. >> most participants take 20 to 25 minutes to complete the course. this year over 600 contestants from 18 countries took part a in the annual race. that's a workout. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

Related Keywords

New York , United States , Pyongyang , P Yongyang Si , North Korea , Japan , Tokyo , Australia , Shanghai , China , Iran , Beijing , Boston , Massachusetts , Gwadar , Balochistan , Pakistan , Russia , South China Sea , Brunei General , Brunei , Solomon Islands , Sri Lanka , Seoul , Soul T Ukpyolsi , South Korea , Greenwich , India , Tehran , Honiara , Solomon Islands General , America , Australian , North Korean , Chinese , Russian , Japanese , Debra Hersman , Takeo Nakajima , Iko Tanaka , Indian Ocean , Catherine Kobayashi , Mario Draghi , Joe Biden ,