. thailand has been hit with the worst flooding in half a century, which is also severely affecting its economy. the situation is also serious for neighboring cambodia. welcome to "newsline." i'm catherine kobiyashi in tokyo. thailand is facing the

consequences of the overflow. the capital remains on alert as water continues to flow down from the north. nhk world's way juan howiwan reports. >> reporter: the feared weekend deluge in central bangkok was averted but people living near rivers and canals remain vigilant as rains continued on monday. thailand has been ravaged by floods in july. at least 307 people have lost their lives and more than 2.5 million have been affected. in the suburbs of bangkok, the situation worsened on monday. another major industrial area was inundated. waters from a canal breached

sandbags and slowed in to the navanakorn industry area. they suspended production and ordered employees to evacuate. >> translator: i feel terrible. i'm afraid we can't handle it. there might be lots of damage. >> reporter: it is the oldest industrial zone in thailand and the sixth to fall victim to the floods. the central bank estimates that economic damage from the floods could exceed $3 billion. in neighboring cambodia, the situation also remains serious. waters have begun to recede but many homes are still swamped. 17 of cambodia's 23 provinces have been affected. according to reuters that covers

about 1.5 million people, the floods are the worst to hit the country in more than a decade. at least 247 people have lost their lives so far. and with rains still falling, this regional disaster is still far from over. nhk world, bangkok. over to business news now with ai. so ai, wall swal bearish again. when's behind the overnight fall? >> catherine, investors are still worried about the situation in europe. new york stocks tumbled over 240 points on monday on concerns that this weekend's eu summit will fail to ease europe's credit problems. the dow jones industrial average finished the day at 11,397 even, down 247 points. that's a loss of 2.1%. investors sold a wide range of shares after a german government spokesperson warned that

european union leaders will not be able to solve all issues when they meet on saturday. they're aiming to draft comprehensive plans including boosting capital for banks but investors are worried that resolving the debt problems will take time. well, tokyo stock markets have just opened so let's see how japanese stocks are faring this morning. we cross over to the tokyo stock exchange. good morning to you. issues with sovereign debt just keep coming back. but we also have some key data and earnings to look ahead to. >> that's right, ai. very good morning to you. markets yet again held hostage by words from german officials saying that it might take a little bit more time to resolve the debt crisis and that sent the nasdaq and the dow plunges by around 2%. let vees a look at how the nikkei and the topix are opening this morning and you can see there, quite a drop there down 141 on the nikkei and 11 for the

topix and may put a stop to strong gains yesterday and also chip-related stocks. those stocks were initially boosted by hopes of a faster progress in resolving some of the sovereign debt and banking issues in europe but some of those hopes were pretty much dashed and just having a look at the currency levels, you can see that very quickly reflected in the euro/yen and the dollar/yen. 105.66 euro/yen compared to 107 this time yesterday and the dollar/yen around 76.85 compares to lower 77 this time yesterday. so some currency sensitive stocks may see a little bit of selling on the back of that stronger yen and keeping an eye on olympus after the c eo and president stepped down last week

and down around 40% in the last 2 trading sessions. but also, some key data out of china. we have the july to september -- sorry, gdp from china and may keep volume just a little bit low until the numbers come out later this morning and let's not forget, of course, key earnings out of the u.s. later today. after the markets close, apple will be coming out with its earnings, as well as intel and from the banking side, goldman sachs and bank of america. we'll keep track of all of that. for now, back to you. >> ramin, thank you for that. that's our reporter from the tokyo stock exchange. now, on to the next news. the flooding in thailand continues to have a huge affect on the economy and on japanese firms that operate there. over 400 japanese-affiliated companies at 6 industrial complexes in the country have been inundated by the heavy rains. parts makers have been

unavailable to deliver their orders on time and many major japanese auto firms have been forced to temporarily shut down. >> the tie finance minister says the eventual flood damage could cost up to 1. % of the country's total gdp. among the companies affected is japan's toyota motor. due to a shortage of parts supplies. toyota's three plants in thailand have not been directly hit by the flooding but with suppliers affected, the company was forced to stop production until saturday. the auto giant now says it may extend the shutdown for another week. it fears that the flooding could affect production in other asian

countries. the company plans to source parts from japan and ask suppliers in thailand to relocate production to undamaged factories. it is time now to get you a recap of the latest market figures. >> that's all for this hour in business. now it's back to catherine. >> thanks very much. the operator of the damaged fukushima daiichi nuclear plant says the water injection system using external pipes is most likely to cause problems in the

future. the system was built as an emergency response to the crisis after the march 11th disaster. tokyo electric power company calculated the risks that could stop the supply of cooling water and cause more damage to the reactors cores. tepco analyzed seven scenarios in which a cold shutdown is undermined due to the water supply halts for more than 18 hours. a cold shutdown means the reactor temperature is below 100 degrees celsius and stable. the scenarios include damage to the water injection system and external power outages. tepco found that the highest risk involves the water injection system being swept away by a massive tsunami and stopping the water supply to the reactors. the second most dangerous scenario is where the system is destroyed and it fails to resume. the company found that the outside pumps and pipes are ten times more likely to sustain

damage than conventional ones inside the building. step owe plans to reinforce the emergency facilities to maintain the water supply in case of a huge tsunami. the city of fukushima about 60 kilometer from the crippled plant started to remove radioactive materials from all the houses in the city. the decontamination work began on tuesday. in an area with 360 households where relatively high levels of radiation have been measured. under the plan, professional cleaners commissioned by the city will scrub the radioactive substances from roofs and ditches with high pressure equipment. the topsoil on gardens will be removed. roads used by school children and forests near residential areas will also be decontaminated. the city will ask residents and volunteers to do some of the work. the plan aims to lower radiation levels to 1 microsievert per

hour or lower in all 110,000 households in the city in the next 2 years. but how the contaminated sludge will be disposed of has yet to be determined. the government is under pressure to come up with a solution soon. amid the confusion and human tragedy taking place in the minutes and hours after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern japan in march, one calamity has so far received little attention. oil from tanks swept away by the tsunami was set alight creating a sea of flame off the city. new safety measures are being called for to prevent this sort of fire from breaking out in the future. shortly after the earthquake on march 11th the bay off miyagi prefecture was awash with flames. this video taken from the roof of a nearby building shows the waves washing away a huge oil tank. the tsunami waves surged above the breakwater. about 90 seconds later, a tank

floats up and slowly rolls over. a photo of the city before the earthquake shows 23 oil tanks lined up along the shore. 22 of them were swept from their moorings by the tsunami. the other tanks were washed away by the waves. oil from the tanks spreads across the surface of the bay. the tanks were fixed in place to prevent damage from earthquakes or strong winds. but the tsunami submerged the half-full tanks causing them to break their moorings and float upwards. >> translator: if there is enough liquid inside, the tanks will not float. but if they are only half or a third full, it's almost

impossible to prevent them from floating. >> there are old tanks in seaside locations all around japan. many of which could be similarly affected by a tsunami. a tsunami off the indonesian island of sumatra in 2004 washed away oil tanks that were lined upd on shore. japan's disaster management agency responded by setting up a committee to study measures to prevent such occurrences and submitted a report in 2009. a panel concluded that if the largest possible tsunami occurred, oil tanks could be inundated to height of 4.4 meters but they would only move sideways and would not come loose or float away. no sif they measures were taken after the report was handed in. the agency now aims to lay out a set of concrete measures that can be taken to safeguard against a threat of tsunami hitting oil tank installations or petrol oil plants. a new committee is to expected

to draft a panel. legally binding guidelines will be then passed by parliament. a fruit grower in the fukushima disaster area won an award for the contribution to advances in agriculture. the u.n. food and agriculture organization organized or rather recognized 62-year-old satoko anzai as a model farmer. she is the first japanese to be awarded by the fao. the award ceremony was held in bangkok, thailand, on monday. thigh princess presented the award. anzai grows peaches, apples and other fruit with her husband and son. she is known for the pioneering work in developing chemical-free cultivation methods with high yields. she's also organized a nationwide network that studies agricultural management from the

woman's standpoint. fao hopes it boosts the spirits of those suffering from the march 11th disaster and subsequent nuclear crisis. >> anzai ice home and warehouse were damaged in the quake and tsunami. but she offered food and support to those who fled their homes near the crippled nuclear power plant. the accident at tokyo electr electric's fukushima daiichi nuclear plant is having a great impact on farmers producing rice, japan's main staple. fukushima prefecture is inspecting the rice crops for radiation in the wake of the march 11th disaster. as a result, all of the rice grown this year has been tested safe by the national standard and cleared for shipment. on the other hand, the nuclear

crisis prompted the government in april to ban rice production in certain zones in the prefecture's 12 municipalities affecting about 7,000 farms. but one farmer refused to knuckle under despite the ban. >> this village with a population of 3,000 lies 21 kilometers southwest of the crippled nuclear power plant. even though an evacuation advisory was lifted for the community late last month, 90% of the residents have not returned. a single rice paddy waits for the harvesting season. 68-year-old yashi never left the village despite a ban on rice cultivation. >> translator: rice paddies used to be everywhere and you see the

golden waves of the rice plants as far as that residence over there? but now the area is overrun with weeds. >> until the nuclear accident, soon after the march 11th tsunami, more than half the households in the village farmed rice. the village had originally obeyed the government decision and told him not to plant rice but he insisted on planting it anyw anyway. >> translator: this is the brand of rice that i planted on may 15th. i thought it essential to make detailed data available including the cesium so people could judge how the rad radioactivity affected rice farming.

>> harvest day has arrived. >> translator: nothing makes me feel better than harvesting rice. >> he harvested about 1 ton of rice this year but he had to throw it all away except for a small amount needed for radiation checks. rice in the zone where farming is banned must be disposed of even if it's free of radio acti active material. he harvested all the plants. now, after the harvest, not a rice plant can be seen in his paddy. >> he says he disposed of the

crops on his own in the presence of a prefectural official. >> translator: i'm very sorry about the rice. on which i lavished so much care for so many months. someone had to pave the way for farmers in this remote village to keep rice cultivation going. doing nothing would leave them with no way to move ahead. i hope my attempt leads to breaking the stalemate. >> the results of the radiation checks will be made available in november. normally, anyone who violates the farming ban would be penalized. so far, the prefectural and village offices have deemed his rice as harvested to check

radiation. >> the farmers' whose rice his rice as harvested to check radiation. >> the farmers' whose rice cultivation was terminated have suffered a loss beyond words. farmers who able to ship the rice are concerned about the results. the prefecture says they'll step up guidelines to consumers. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings youen sight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead"

japan's efforts to recover. don't miss them only knowledge. the japanese government is moving forward with its controversial plan to relocate the u.s. futenma air station to no ga, okinawa prefecture, from another site in the same prefecture but it faces strong opposition from the local government. defense minister yeah saw ichikawa met with okinawa governor and the mayor on monday to convey the government's position. by the end of the year, the central government is planning to hand over the assessment on the environmental impact of the relocation to nago. the central government needs to ask the oak that juan governor to ask the runway to be built on landfill off the coast of nago. >> translator: the contents of the assessment plan are not clear yet. but it's not easy to accept the

landfill of the candidate site. when the plan is defective. >> mayor said the democratic administration of japan is not considering public opinion in okinawa and is deferring to the united states. the united states appears to be seeking an early resolution to the relocation issue. u.s. president barack obama pressed prime minister yoshihiko noda for tangible progress at last month's summit. and now let's take a look at the global weather forecast with saki ochi. >> and welcome back to your weather update. across east asia, largely dry skies for china and the korean peninsula and japan. we have a frontal system off in open waters and looking to head northward over the next couple of days and bringing rain first to the southern islands of japan

likely about wednesday but should stay largely dry for the day today. for northern areas of japan, first snowfall of the season falling in parts of who kye do. for southeast asia, meanwhile, still scattered showers and tropical thunderstorms mainly for areas like the northern philippines and the indochina peninsula. very wet picture for you, especially vietnam and then down through the southern end of the peninsula. as highs for tuesday look like. 16, quite cool again in seoul. tokyo, too, at 22 degrees. will be a couple of degree drop from yesterday. 22 degrees in shanghai, as well. and then looking at 27 in taipei so slightly warmer here. and over towards the americas. lots of activity continues in the caribbean. a lot of cloud development here. we have a pretty active system to continue to bring in locally heavy rain and gusty conditions to areas like southern mexico

through parts of cuba and even thousand in towards sections of southern florida. now, this system is headed northward and will start bringing in precipitation to the deep south. also, coupled with this system that's going to be heading eastward, the eastern half, the southeastern corner here of the u.s. looking pretty wet as we head in to tonight and tuesday. some areas looking at heavier amounts of rain, mostly across georgia and the carolinas. for eastern canada, active system in place and starting to lose steam. it looks like the precipitation is easing off and the winds should be dying down, as well. out west, british columbia, still staying on the wet side a little bit more moisture coming in nicely along the coastline. here's temperatures. lots of cooler air coming in. winnipeg at 6 degrees. much, much cooler here on tuesday. 12 degrees in chicago. cooling off for you, as well. the east coast, not too bad. 20 in new york. we have 23 expected in d.c.

and atlanta looking to get up to 26 degrees. and finally, a look at europe here. it is northwest corner here that's looking at lots of activity. we have a couple of well-developed systems that continue to bring in rain, as well as winds. some of that is going to start spreading in to continental europe and france, low countries and then on in towards central europe. out east to finland and the baltic states feeling the affects, as well. system's not moving a whole lot. just spreading that wet weather and british isles, scandinavian peninsula looking unsettled. the black sea region, we're still looking at lingering thundershowers and some rain. some of this precipitation northward to parts of ukraine and bell ruse. highs on tuesday look like this. 14 degrees in london. 15 degrees in paris. warmer at 25 in madrid and up to 29 degrees in lisbon. all right. so that's a look at your weather for now. here's your three-day outlook.

visitors at the shrine east of tokyo were treated to a special performance on monday when a chef prepared food for the gods. the ritual reportedly dates about 1,000 years to pray for a good harvest. the shrine in chiba prefecture is dedicated to the god of cooking. the chef carefully cut up a 70 centimeter sea breen with knife and chop sticks and laid out in the shape of a flower. the technique was developed so human hands don't touch the food in the gods and defile it. >> translator: i feel like i've been purified. i am a chef so my attitude

towards cooking will change. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobiyashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.