first greece. now italy. the european debt crisis is having a domino effect. welcome to "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. debt concerns are weighing down bond prices. for details, we go to business news this hour. >> thanks, katherine. when bond prices go down, yields

go up. the yield on italian government bonds hit a new high on european markets. the surge comes amid rising concerns that italy may be the next country to be dragged into the debt crisis. the yield on ten year italian government bonds briefly led to a record high of 6.6% on monday. bond prices recorded lowest level since the euro was introduced. >> there were serious instability in italy. the markets think the country will probably have elections next spring. italy can't restore its fiscal health with things as they are. >> the situation in italy has prime minister silvio berlusconi fighting for political survival. a vote on the budget is scheduled for tuesday in the lower house. it's being taken as a lit must test as some members of the

ruling party are opposed to the proposals. this puts berlusconi in danger of losing his majority in parliament. should the government lose, the prime minister will come under renewed pressure to step down. cabinet members close to berlusconi hinted he may dissolve parliament if he loses to stop results from ruling party members. pushing austerity measures like tax increases and welfare cuts to help fiscal help. there are allegations of corruption and so implementation of economic stimulus measures. his approval rating has fallen to a historic low. greece's ruling and opposition parties continue talks on appointing a new prime minister and incident rum coalition ministers. this comes after they agreed to implement the eu bailout package sunday. as talks continue into tuesday, sunday's agreement will see

prime minister george papandreou stepping down to pave the way for a coalition government. greek television reports the candidates for seat of prime minister have been narrowed down, but disagreements remain over details of a general election reportedly planned for february. also, the two sides have yet to agree on the number of cabinet posts to be given to the opposition camp. the french government will raise taxes to help the country's fiscal help amid the debt crisis in europe. the prime minister announced a new package of austerity measures monday. the move came after the government revised down the growth forecast for fiscal 2012 from 1.75% to 1%. >> bankruptcy is no longer an abstract word. it will take a long time to recover fiscal health. the burden is necessary.

>> the package includes tax hikes and spending cuts amounting to 7 billion euros. about $9.6 billion. these measures are aimed to slash the deficit to 4.5% of the gdp in 2012. the government will raise the value added tax as well as taxes for major corporations. french president nicolas sarkozy and his cabinet agreed to freeze their salaries. they have also called on business leaders to follow suit. he said the retirement age will go up from 60 to 62. it will take effect 2017, one year earlier than originally planned. the prime minister said 110 billion euros or $151 billion are needed to balance the budget by 2016. euro's finance ministers have agreed to compile concrete measures to boost an eu bailout fund by end of the month to help

countries meyered in the debt crisis. finance chiefs from 17 euro zone countries reached the agreement monday as an eu meeting in brussels. the ministers agreed to implement the measures of the eu bailout fund known as the european financial stability facility next month. on greece's debt problems, they welcome agreement between the ruling and opposition parties to launch a new coalition government. the ministers decided to demand that greece submit a letter confirming the country will implement the eu bailout package. they also agreed to send an inspection team to italy in the next few days to monitor the country's efforts to rebuild its finances. the international monetary fund will oversee the reconstruction. and now let's check the markets. u.s. stocks turned higher in late trading after comments from an ecb official alleviated worries about the euro zone debt issues. to see how things are kicking

off in japan, let's go to the tokyo stock exchange. how are markets reacting this tuesday morning? >> good morning. the european central bank came out and said he expected the euro zone debt issues to be resolved within two years, and that helped clear up a little concerns after we saw italian bond yields as you mention there hitting record highs as a result of greece's debt problems, all batched together. that is a major worry for markets. let's look at opening levels for the nikkei and topix. both trading lower. down 16 points for nikkei, and topix 647. they may trade in a range today, and on lower than average volume that we saw yesterday as well, and that's because we have some major earning results due out later after the bell from

toyota. and that will wrap up the earnings results from the big three autos after honda and nissan. that will be a focus for investors. flooding in thailand, strong yen, and the recovery from the march 11th disaster may all come out in the numbers today, so we'll be watching that very closely. and actually since the high of the toyota share price in february, it dropped around 35% since that point. so quite a big drop for toyota share price. now, let's move on to the currency levels there, having a look at the euro yen. the yen actually gaining a touch there against both the euro and the dollar. you can see there at 107.36-41 against the euro yen, and 78.07-11 the dollar yen, so we'll be keeping track of that. now, as the earnings season both in japan and the u.s. starts to wind down, really this story in

europe and the debt crisis is going to be center stage. we're going to see how that effects stocks and currencies. the focus for japan will be toyota's earnings after the bell today. back to you. >> all right, thanks for that update, ramin. let's also look at some other market figures. that is all for now in business news. back to katherine. >> thank you very much. more residents in the thai capital were advised to leave

their homes as the waters flow. it is five kilometers from the center. bangkok authorities monday advised residents in the east of the city to evacuate. the area the 12th to receive such a warning. about a quarter of the city's 50 districts are now subject to evacuation advisories. drainage has gun in an industrial park, 70 kilometers north of bangkok. workers began draining the park on monday. it is one of eight industrial parks inundated by flood water in thailand. it effects over 50 firms. the park has been flooded since october 8th.

parts of the area remain under more than two meters of water, but the level is receding outside the complex wall, allowing drainage work to begin. >> many japanese firms shifted operations to japan or elsewhere in thailand. as we have been reporting, drawn out floods in thailand are effecting production by japanese car makers. toyota will reduce domestic output by 30% in november due to electronic parts shortages. sources say toyota plans to produce 230,000 vehicles in japan, down 100,000 units from the earlier target. the company will halt production of a wide variety of minivans and reduce output of some luxury

sedans by half. the automaker had been ramping up production since september to make up for losses caused by the march disaster, but the floods in thailand forced toyota to idle its local assembly lines nearing a month. overtime work has also been curtailed in japan, southeast asia, north america, and africa. as the crisis drags on, the impact of the animal heritage is also mounting. the well being of the eye kwon elephant is now under threat. we have this report. >> these elephants are taking shelter on high ground. several kilometers from the city center. the elephants have evacuated here because of the flood. elephants are one of the big tourist attractions.

but for the last two months, many of the animals have been stranded. at shelters. they're surrounded by water, up to two meters deep. transport in the area has been disrupted. caretakers normally give each elephant 250 kilograms of sugar cane, bananas and other fruit every day. but it's fallen to 150 kilograms. many of the dying animals are losing weight. >> translator: look where the hipbone is. can you tell it's nothing but skin and bone. the chest, shoulders and forehead are also skinny. >> health problems are mounting. this 25-year-old female has an eye infected with bacteria.

her handlers clean and disinfect the wound. but the vet is worried that without proper treatment the eye could go permanently blind. >> translator: i feel sorry for them, but there's nothing i can do to help. >> elephants are more than tourist attractions in thailand. for centuries, their speed revered of animals unlike any other. that makes their current suffering even harder to watch. nhk world. newsline is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two statements offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" shows efforts to recover and rebuild.

don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." japan's nuclear agency has confirmed that sustained nuclear fission did not take place last week at the fukushima daiichi power plant. the safety agency disclosed the results of expert studies on a report by tepco. the utility detected a small amount of radioactive material, xenon 135 in the containment vessel in the damaged number two reactor last tuesday. tepco initially feared it was a sign of an ongoing nuclear reaction. the substance was produced by spontaneous fission and not from sustained physician or krit kalety. they say criticality did not occur. density didn't change when boric

acid was injected into the reactor. the agency ordered tepco to check the substances in the vessels regularly and report any changes. the cabinet office parliamentary secretary said on monday, it's regrettable that tepco was slow to report the incident to local governments. he called on the utility to share information as quickly as possible. environment ministry researchers are trying to figure out how much radiation is lingering in the towns and villages around japan's damaged nuclear plant. they started a detailed survey on monday. the information they collect will enable government authorities to draw up decontamination plants for the contaminated 20 kilometer zone surrounding fukushima daiichi. evacuation zones with levels of about 20 millisieverts will also be included in the survey. 30 people gathers on monday at a monitoring point in the designated evacuation zone.

power employees are work ago long side government officials. they recorded levels in helicopters and cars equipped with measuring devices. >> translator: nearly 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate. with that in mind we'd like to do all we can to press ahead with the decontamination plan so evacuees can return home sooner. >> environment minister researchers will provide an interim report on the results in december. workers are expected to use the radiation surveys to plan their full scale cleanup efforts which are set to begin in january. a doctor said the physical development of children in fukushima prefecture may be affected by a lack of outdoor activity. due to the nuclear accidents. the results of weighing the children 60 kilometers from the

plant show an average weight gain of 0.81 kilograms over the year. through june. the figure for children in the same age group the previous year was 3.1 kilograms. children in one of the kindergartens got one and a half hours of outdoor activity, but have only been allowed to play indoors after the accident. >> translator: the smaller weight gain could be related to reduced appetites due to lack of exercise as well as changes in secretion of growth hormones due to stress. the children may not be getting enough protein to develop their muscles. >> the decrease may be temporary, but that more checks are needed to prevent children's stunted growth. aid from overseas began

streaming in to japan after the earthquake and tsunami. volunteers from around the world are still helping nearly eight months later. one of them survived her own catastrophe. we have that story. >> this is a temporary shelter. a woman from rwanda works here to help residents who went through the devastating disaster in march. she's 46. she's a resident of fukushima. she started helping evacuees right after the disaster. >> it is well known for tasty coffee and tea. sipping it takes your heart to rwanda. it's a moment you no longer feel

homesick. she was a school teacher in 1993. she visited fukushima to study at the vocational school. she moved out of rwanda, but soon after the country descended into genocide. she not only escaped this and ended up in a refugee camp. people in fukushima found out about her plight and helped her move to japan. they have been living there for 17 years now. >> translator: i would probably not be alive today if i had not had the chance to stay in japan

before the civil war in rwanda. japanese people have brought hope and dreams back to me. they saved my life. >> she wanted to do something. on september 11, just six months after the march disaster, she was back in rwanda. she organized support of the quake and tsunami victims in japan. after returning to fukushima, they are living about 20 kilometers from the nuclear

power plant. >> they assisted her in fukushima for many years. she shows them a dvd from rwanda. >> the messages have encouraged me. i'm now determined to fight on. >> even in a difficult situation i will always be there for them. i will be there as a family member. i hope they will understand that. >> her sad experience has taught her a lot.

she's now determined to support disaster survivors in japan that need help in a time of need. she found a new mission. >> mary luis has helped a lot of people in fukushima. we asked our reporter what drives her to help out. >> her brother went missing in the genocide. she says she understands japanese feelings. it was so moving to see evacuees respond to her. she said rue wand ands cannot afford to give financial support, but wants them to know they share their pains. some killed by the tsunamis seven years ago are returning after japan helped them rebuild. actually, i was in cairo on a

business trip at the time of march disaster. many people there gave me words of encouragement. some donated money, even though -- i took expression of gratitude for japan's long running assistance. not just from the government but also -- it made me so proud. tokyo had mild temperatures and fair skies on monday. let's see what's in the forecast for japan and the rest of the world with saki ochi. >> and welcome back to your weather update. let's look at conditions here. east asia looking at more settled skies for japan, especially the pacific side,

enjoying nice sunshine today. temperatures will be a little cooler than yesterday. for the sea of japan side, this western flank, we have more cloud cover in place, and there's a chance of light showers throughout the day. in the korean peninsula and towards northern china, largely settled picture. light moisture showing up, but shouldn't be too major. a look to the south, things get more active. looking at widespread showers for southeast corner of china. we have a tropical depression that has formed in the south china sea also, that's all triggering heavier rain, especially for coastal areas of southern china. you want to watch for heavy rainfall in the course of today. accumulations could get into the triple digits. stronger winds, high waves possible on the coastal areas. for the indochina peninsula as well, vietnam, cambodia will see more rain again today. thailand, largely settled

picture. bangkok not ruling out the possibility of afternoon thundershowers again. 33 degrees is the expected high. 25 expected in hong kong. gets cooler going towards north, 18 in tokyo. dropping away from the 20s that we've had the past couple days. and as for the americas, it is the united states looking at more active weather showing up here. we have a couple of lows dropping out of the rockies, looking to develop in the next couple of days. widespread rain stretches along the midsection of the united states, and for the southern end of this wet area, chances are you may see strong storms. already seeing tornado watches in texas and oklahoma and so you want to watch for tornadic activity and strong thundershowers. snow also lingering a little longer in the four corners region, then the cold precipitation starts to head to the central plains. here, too, you may see a little snowfall during the day. as for the pacific northwest,

quite unsettled. mostly for british columbia, coastal rain and mountain snow again, and temperatures continue to be low. 3 degrees the high in denver. winnipeg is high at 5 degrees tuesday. and finally, a look at europe. it is still looking unsettled in the mediterranean. we have stubborn lows in place. while the activity is not as severe as over the weekend, definitely talking about a chance for showers again for italy as well as coastal areas, the alpine region. watch for additional rainfall as grounds here are already pretty saturated. towards the atlantic coastline, the iberian peninsula and ireland, more precipitation may move in. otherwise, a largely dry picture for continental europe. the exception, western russia. an area of rain moving in that will include moscow. you may see a mix of cold rain and snow as it is chilly.

highs remain only 2 degrees in moscow. only 6 degrees expected in kiev. here is the three day outlook.

that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com