In Japan, the president of TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, has resigned after the company reported a record loss of $15 billion. The plant was wrecked by this year's earthquake and tsunami. Masataka Shimizu has resigned to take responsibility for the nuclear disaster. 

 

One of the owners of the oil well that was involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has agreed to contribute $1 billion to BP's compensation fund. MOEX Offshore is a subsidiary of Japanese trading house Mitsui. It owned 10% of the Macondo well that leaked millions of barrels into the sea last year. 

 

And to the markets, the local share market ended the week about 0.5 per cent lower because of falls in the mining sector. Elsewhere in the region, markets have traded lower except for Hang Seng, which was up about 36 points. In the United States, the Dow Jones and the S&P500 closed lower. And the Australian dollar is hovering around the 106 US cent mark.