hello. glad to have you with us on "newsline." i'm yukio fukushima. the japanese government is partially lifting its ban on the shipment and transportation of beef cattle from miy acht gi prefecture, northeastern japan. it imposed the restriction after levels of radioactive cesium were detected in beef. the cows had been fed rice straw that became highly contaminated from the fallout of the fukushima daiichi

nuclear accident. >> translator: the decision is based on securing safety and management. we are assuring that only proper cattle whose meat is safe to eat gets to market. >> chief cabinet secretary yukio edano said friday miyagi prefecture has a shipment to prevent cattle with levels of radioactive cesium from exceeding the government safety limit. before transport resumes, miyagi will test all cattle that had ate the contaminated feed. blanket testing will be conducted at farms where straw feed has yet to be inspected. other farms are required to test only the first animals they intend to ship out. >> translator: i've waited for the ban to be lifted, so i'm very happy. we want to show that miyagi beef is safe to eat. >> a ban on beef cattle shipments is still in place in three other prefectures surrounding fukushima daiichi. two governors from japan's

devastated northeastern region have visited taiwan in a bid to boost tourism. the tohoku area has seen a major drop in the number of foreign tourists since the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. governor norihisa satake of akita prefecture and mieko yoshimura of yamagata prefecture were at a gathering of taiwan's tourism and airline industries in taipei on thursday on a promotion campaign. the two governors spoke about the frost-covered trees in the winter, the hot springs and the local delicacies. they also proposed new package tours to the tohoku region and asked for taiwan's cooperation in sending more tourists. the number of visitors from taiwan to the two prefectures which totaled 70,000 last year, has dropped significantly. chartered flights connecting taiwan with yamagata and akita have been suspended since the earthquake struck. >> translator: the tohoku area should be reconstructed as a whole.

i'm here on behalf of all six prefectures. we want to work together to reinvigorate the region. israel has launched an air raid on the palestinian controlled gaza strip. the retaliatory measure came after a series of attacks in israel. seven israelis were killed on thursday near the red sea resort of eliat in three separate attacks on busses, a car and a military vehicle. the israeli military blamed militants in the gaza strip and bombed southern gaza on thursday night using unmanned fighter planes. six palestinians including leaders of the militant group were killed. speaking to reporters, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said israel would not fail to retaliate against terrorism. united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon criticized his

remarks in a statement. >> he is concerned at the risk of escalation and calls for all to act with restraint. the u.n. food and agriculture organization is urging the global community to do more to help millions facing starvation in east africa. somalia and other countries are dealing with famine after their worst drought in 60 years. tens of thousands of people have died during the past several months. more than 12 million people require food aid. the fao says it needs at least $160 million to pay for seeds, vaccines for livestock and other work, but so far only one-third of the funds have been contributed. the fao held a second emergency meeting at its headquarters in rome on thursday to call for more support. fao director general jack duke says it is unacceptable that so many people are at risk of starvation, given the financial resources, technology and expertise available in the world today.

>> to save lives, food and water, medicine, all of the basic needs are very important right now. representatives from japan and china's tibetan autonomous region have agreed to work more closely together to build economic and cultural ties. japanese ambassador to china met the director of the tibetan autonomous region on thursday in the capital lhasa. he said the re-entry restrictions on foreign tourists has a negative impact on its economy. he also asked for help and cooperation in organizing exchange events. they will commemorate next year's 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between japan and china. baima chilin says they welcome more japanese businesses. he also agreed to increase exchanges. his four-day trip to the autonomous region started wednesday. it is the first official visit to the region by a japanese ambassador to china.

>> translator: to build good relations with china, we also need to have a good relationship with the people who live in this area, which makes up two-thirds of the country. 12 japanese high school students have delivered a petition to the u.n.-sponsored conference on disarmament calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. the petition was signed by more than 80,000 people. the students are mainly from hiroshima and nagasaki, they have been appointed high school peace ambassadors by a peace organization in nagasaki. after observing the disarmament conference at the u.n. european headquarters in geneva, switzerland, they submitted the list of signatures to a senior official of the conference secretariat.

>> the students will conduct a petition drive before returning to japan next wednesday. the world's largest personal computer maker is planning on hitting the refresh button. hewlett-packard says it's going to explore spinning off the pc business into a separate company. hp will evaluate its low profit personal systems group and make the decision on the spinoff within the next 18 months. it acquired compaq computer in 2002 and currently holds a nearly 20% share in the global pc market. but the company is reevaluating things because the growing demand for tablet computers and smartphones is hurting personal computer sales. hewlett-packard apparently plans to shift its focus to higher profit businesses including cloud computing and corporate software services. the company also says it agreed to purchase the british software firm autonomy for $10.3

billion. now let's bring you a look at weather forecasts around the world. this summer some young people from areas in japan hard hit by the march 11th disaster are getting a chance to get away and visit other countries. the latest group is on a trip to

russia's far east. 33 junior and senior high school students from iwate and miyagi prefectures arrived in the region on friday. russian first lady medvedev invited them. the group visited a state-run resort facility where about 500 students and others were on hand for a welcome ceremony. bread and salt were served as customary in russia to welcome guests from far away, traditional dances and songs were also performed. ♪ >> translator: i hope you enjoy good rest and make a lot of good memories during your time in russia. >> translator: russian students offered us a warm welcome. i was so glad. >> the japanese students will enjoy music and

sports with local teams and sight-seeing during their week-long stay. that's going to do it for now on "newsline." i'm yuko fukushima. we'll be back at the top of the next hour. see you then. good-bye for now.