welcome to nhk world "newsline." japan's central bank has decided to take additional monetary easing steps to fight deflation. the decision came at the bank of japan's policy board meeting on friday. the bank will expand its asset purchasing program by 5 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen, that's more than $860 billion. the central bank's policymakers said at the same time that the japanese economy is showing clearer signs of picking up. they pointed to increased demand from reconstruction efforts following the march disaster last year. the boj revised its growth forecast for the current fiscal year upward to 2.3% from 2%, and for fiscal 2013 to 1.7% from

1.6%. the central bank also changed its outlook for consumer inflation to 0.3% in fiscal 2012 and 0.7% in fiscal 2013. >> translator: we believe it's likely that the japanese economy will return to a sustainable growth path with price stability. those measures are meant to make sure this will happen. >> the board members agreed unanimously it will take time for consumer prices to rise 1%. this is the goal that bank of japan set up in february to pull the economy out of deflation. top japanese and american officials have signed off on a long awaited deal to shift the u.s. fighting force in the asia-pacific region. it means thousands of troops will leave the southern island of okinawa. the announcement comes days before prime minister yoshihiko noda visits washington to meet

president barack obama. the bilateral agreement calls for the transfer of 9,000 marines to guam and other regions in the asia pacific. around 10,000 troops will stay in okinawa. >> we think it breaks a very long stalemate on okinawa that has plagued our politics. >> the transfer of u.s. marines to guam is expected to cost $8.6 billion. japan will pay about a third of the tab. the united states will return 13 military facilities in okinawa to japan. both sides are presenting the effort as a way to quickly alleviate the burden of the american military presence on the southern island chain. >> translator: the deal achieves positive and concrete results, reducing okinawa's burden comes first. >> the agreement doesn't cover the relocation of futenma air station within okinawa's main island. a number of locals are opposed to the move.

they want the marine base off their island entirely but american and japanese officials say the current plan of shifting futenma to an area further north is the only feasible option at this time. originally the joint statement was to be released on wednesday. but it was postponed after opposition in congress. nhk world's takeshi kurihara covers diplomatic issues. so, takeshi, what do you think will happen with the futenma relocation issue? >> yes, tokyo and washington carefully reworded the joint statement following statements from three u.s. senators. the changes make it sound like there may be some alternatives for a possible relocation site but the japanese government has no intention of giving any serious consideration to the idea of relocating the air station to anywhere but nago city, henoko district and okinawa. senior foreign minister official says japan agreed to reword the joint statement just to save

face in the u.s. congress. tokyo apparently made the concession in order to release the joint statement by the time japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda meets u.s. president barack obama on monday. the japanese government hopes the bilateral agreement to alleviate the burden on okinawa will lead to a breakthrough in the stalled relocation talks with the prefecture and nago city. but even after release of the joint statement, with the joint statement both the prefecture and the city remain opposed to the relocation plan. given the displeasure expressed by influential u.s. lawmakers, attention to will be focused on moves in the u.s. congress, too. >> all right, keep us posted on this. thanks for coming in, nhk world's takeshi kurihara. the largest ever joint naval drill involving china and russia has ended friday.

the exercise brought together a flotilla of warships in the yellow sea for maneuvers. china mobilized 18 vessels including submarines in the six-day exercise off its eastern province of shen dong. russia sent a missile cruiser and six other warships. a spokesperson for the russian pacific fleet says the two navies conducted int pirate and anti-submarine drills and practiced a rescue following an accident at sea. china's state run xinhua news agency quoted the deputy commander of the chinese navy ding yiping as saying the drills had deepened the strategic partnership between the two nations. observers say the drill was intended to counter the united states, which is bolstering its military alliance with asia pacific allies such as japan, south korea and the philippines. chinese government officials have taken another step that is sure to upset their neighbors around the south china sea. they say they built a supply

dock on the disputed paracel islands. the dock would be built with private investment. it will provide fuel to tourist ships and fishing vessels. vietnam also claims sovereignty over the islands. vietnamese personnel have been also conducting a five-day naval drill with u.s. troops in the south china sea. political analysts say they expect the enemy's leaders will redouble their protests against chinese intentions to control the waters. north korean military officials unleashed more verbal attacks against their neighbors in south korea. and they're promising they'll soon back up their words with so-called special actions, something they say will be more severe than their deadly shelling of a south korean island back in 2010. they say the actions will be in response to what they call

insults of their country's new leaders. they criticized president lee myung-bak and some south korean media for showing disrespect. the north's committee for the peaceful reunification of the father land posted comments on its website thursday. the body serves as a liaison with the south. committee says the revolutionary armed forces never uttered abt words. it warns south korean authorities are mistaken if they think the retaliation will be on the same level as the artillery attack on yeonpyeong island. north korean forces fired dozens of shells at residential areas on yeonpyeong in 2010. the attack killed four people and injured 18 others. some analysts say the latest threat from north korean authorities is propaganda aimed at tightening domestic control but others are concerned leaders could be planning acts of military provocation against south korea. pakistani authorities have deported several members of osama bin laden's family to saudi arabia.

bin laden the leader of the international terrorist network, al qaeda, was killed by u.s. forces in may last year, a mini bus carrying 14 family members including three widows left a house in islamabad for an airport friday morning. the us about' windows were blacked out with curtains. the family members were convicted of entering and living in the country illegally. they were caught on the same day bin laden was killed. one of the widows told police that she had lived with bin laden near islamabad for eight years, until his death. they had four children together. little is known about bin laden's life in hiding. the u.s. economy grew by an annualized 2.2% in the first quarter of 2012. some 0.3% below market expectations. the u.s. department of commerce

released on friday preliminary gdp figures for the january to march period. stronger consumer spending was offset by cutbacks in government expenditures and private sector investments. the u.s. economy grew by an annualized 3% during the last quarter of 2011. leading japanese electronicsmaker sharp has booked a record loss in the fiscal year that ended in march. the company says the net loss came to a little more than $4.6 billion. sales totalled about $30 billion, down nearly 19% from the previous year. sharp attributes its poor performance to flagging sales of liquid crystal display televisions. >> translator: i regret that our efforts to come up quickly with one unique product after another weren't enough. >> the company plans to relocate 2,000 workers to solar powered generation and other growth businesses in the coming two years.

samsung electronics profits surged to a record high in the first quarter this year. it was boosted by brisk sales of mobile devices. the south korean electronics giant said on friday that operating profit amounted to $5.2 billion between january and march, that's double the amount a year earlier. sales reached about $40 billion, an increase of 22%. the company traced the gains to brisk smartphone sales especially in emerging markets. those sales soared 86% year on year. samsung plans to unveil a new model of its galaxy smartphone early next month and the company's confident about further expanding its share in emerging markets. the world bank is making a show of confidence in myanmar. it will open an office in yangon in june. the bank released a statement that says it will explore ways to assist the agriculture and finance sectors for the first time in 25 years.

officials with the bank suspended aid to the country in 1987 when it was known as burma. vice president for east asia pamela cox will soon travel to myanmar to make an assessment first hand. the bank's announcement follows decisions from u.s. and european union leaders to ease sanctions on myanmar. those leaders say they, too, are encouraged by democratic reforms. here are the latest market figures.

workers in chernobyl are marking the 26th anniversary of the accident there with another effort to limit the damage. they're building a new shelter to cover the one built after the disaster. they fear their old shell might collapse and release radioactive substances. the word got under way 26 years to the day after the reactor exploded during a test. ukrainian government officials plan to build an arch shaped containment building more than 100 meters high. it will cover the shell around reactor number four. workers expect to complete construction in three years. the cost? more than $1.2 billion. >> translator: i am pleased to say that ukraine was not left alone to face the tragedy. we felt the whole world came to help us. the evidence of that is the financial support of the countries that donated to the chernobyl fund.

>> yanukovych stressed that international cooperation has become more crucial after the accident last year at fukushima daiichi. the president promised to help the 2 million people affected by the disaster. still, former plant workers and residents held a rally in kiev. they say the government is not doing enough. a japanese diet commission looking into the accident at the fukushima daiichi plant has just completed a visit to chernobyl. its objective was to see firsthand what measures have been taken ever since the 1986 nuclear accident. nhk world's hideo ama reports. >> reporter: reiko hachisuka is one of the commission members. she used to run a flower shop about five kilometers from the stricken fukushima plant. she was supposed to evacuate along with everyone else. she says she joined because she wanted to see how they are handling the cleanup of

chernobyl and hopefully learn something to help with the restoration of her hometown. the group went to visit the town near chernobyl where the plant workers used to live. the former residents have not been allowed to return to their town, now a ghost town, since they were told by the government that they would have to evacuate for only three days. the distance from their home to the plant is almost the same as the distance from here to chernobyl. >> translator: it breaks my heart seeing the situation here. nuclear accidents must not be allowed to happen again. >> reporter: hachisuka and other members visited the facility within the restricted zone where the radioactive materials are being buried.

they watched truckloads of waste being brought in one after another. although 26 years have passed, the disposal work is still not complete. the facility has been accepting more than 50,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste a year, but it's expected to reach full capacity soon. workers say a new burial site must be built elsewhere. the ukrainian government conducts regular environmental assessments of the contaminated zone within 30 kilometers of the chernobyl plant. it measures and monitors the water and air in this area and regularly catches fish in the rivers and lake to check their radioactivity level. that's because radioactive substances accumulate on the bolt bottom of lakes and rivers. hachisuka thought many parts of

the system that ukraine is using to monitor radioactivity are applicable to fukushima. >> translator: as i look back on myself a year ago, i realized that people in chernobyl have walked the same path. there's so much to learn from what happened here. >> the commission will release a report in june on the fukushima accident. it will include details of the visit to chernobyl. japan is working with countries affected by the nuclear accident, including ukraine and belarus as it tries to come to grips with the fukushima crisis. bo xilai's fall from grace is turning into a free fall. the once senior chinese politician and his family are facing more allegations of wrongdoing. the latest charge, wiretapping. the new york times reports aides to bo were involved in monitoring the phone calls of national leaders including president hu jintao. the paper quotes party insiders as saying bo set up a large

scale wiretapping operation several years ago in chongqing. they said he monitored phone calls last august by president hu. the times says communist party leaders view the wiretapping as a direct challenge. it was among several reasons they removed bo from his senior post. the paper quotes party insiders as saying the wiretapping revealed just how far bo was prepared to go to move up the ranks. >> reporter: a power struggle, intrigue, even murder. beijing is cloaked in a political scandal, the worst in years. at its center, bo xilai, former party chief of chongqing city and rising star in the chinese communist party. bo was a strong contender to join the top ranks of leadership. but his sudden fall from grace is causing ripples in and outside the country. much is shrouded in mystery, but

it all started in february when bo's right-hand man and former chongqing police chief turned up at a u.s. consulate, reportedly seeking asylum. in march, the communist party removed bo from his post, as the top party official of chongqing. another demotion followed in april, the party suspended bo from the politburo for what it called serious discipline violations. and then came the criminal twist. state media reported that bo's wife was suspected of murdering a british businessman. >> translator: it has been learned that neil hayward was murdered. both wife and a household aide have been detained as suspects in the murder. >> reporter: few other facts are known, but bo's downfall is seen as evidence of a power struggle at the top.

the party is preparing for a change of leadership this autumn. deep rifts as a result of the scandal would have national, possibly global, repercussions. >> the scandal is generating intense speculation. for more on the subject, my colleague yuko aotani has more from beijing. >> there is so much mystery. how are chinese people reacting to the scandal? >> nhk has visited chongqing. the city seems little changed. at least on the surface. but talking to residents has caused shock and confusion. here is the reaction of one man. >> translator: i don't know what is going on. but chongqing citizens have a favorable view of bo because he made the city safe and led its development.

>> as he mentioned, people want to know more. the main problem is the lack of information. reports are being heavily censored. the censorship is even more obvious on the internet. search results for bo xilai are blocked on popular blogging sites. so that shows how sensitive this case is for chinese authorities. >> i see. but bo seems to be an astute and popular politician. what is exactly is he being accused of? >> the communist party says bo was involved in a number of serious discipline violations. but it is not clear what exactly those violations are. bo's wife is being investigated for murder. now, the committee reports that bo is suspected of involvement in the same case. there are also allegations of bo amassing a fortune. >> i see. so how is the scandal likely to

unfold from here then? >> well, the communist party will hold a convention this fall to select a new leadership. so it will be a time of intense political maneuvering. vice president xi zinpin will be on track to become president of china next year. but other top politicians have yet to be decided. politburo members want to prevent the dramatic downfall bo xilai from deepening rifts within the party. but the case has already created upheaval rarely seen in beijing. it remains to be seen whether the party can contain the fallout. >> all right, nhk world in beijing. it has been raining in tokyo for a couple of days. robert speta with the forecast for here and elsewhere. robert? >> it has been raining across tokyo and all of eastern japan since thursday. but now good news.

that's starting to push off towards the east. high pressure is ridging in from the west, bringing much fairer weather up and down the japanese islands. this is going to extend out through your sunday. in tokyo, actually, looking at a high in the mid-20s for your saturday and sunday. however, here in the southern japanese islands, going into sunday night, thunderstorms will start to roll in from the west. this is due to an area of low pressure developing out of southeastern china. already in the guangdong province, you have seen up to 100 millimeters of rainfall in the past 24 hours. it does look like in the next 24 hours another 50 to 100 millimeters of rain could fall there and also in macau and hong kong. there is the threat of low lying urban flood here ing here going your weekend. to the north, especially toward northwestern china, the threat of yellow sand is coming out of the gobi desert. what this is going to be bringing is reducing visibilities there towards the korean peninsula on saturday. that creates hazardous driving,

so do slow down on the roadways out here if you do encounter some of the yellow sand. and then going into sunday it will continue to blow off towards the east, affecting hokkaido. and that does bring the threat as well of respiratory issues for anybody who does have any problems breathing. and not only that, if you do have any of your clothes outside, drying after washing, do take them inside, it happened to me a few days ago and created a messy situation. and no one wants that. let's pull back the picture here and look at the temperatures. ulan batur with a high of 9, very chilly out there towards the north. beijing at 22. hong kong at 26. hot and steamy down towards the south. bangkok looking at a high of 40 for your saturday. now, into the americas, we are still watching a developing low pressure system coming out of the eastern rockies. this is already dropped three reports of tornadoes here. one damaging a structure out here into the northern rockies, the same system is continuing to

bring snowfall. 20 centimeters of snow could be n the next 24 hours. a late winter storm being felt in here, especially in wyoming. now, going into your weekend, the system will continue to push towards the east, bringing that rough weather with it. and then going into your saturday and sunday, even out towards the midwest, you'll be seeing some increase in rainfall. i want to zoom in on this spot here. in the eastern portions of kansas and the western missouri, these are areas you're going to be wanting to have your weather radio ready or a tv or radio on because there is the risk of a large and damaging hail, strong tornadoes could be felt here. national weather service has put out warnings already on this area. so be careful. especially going into your friday afternoon and evening hours. now, let's take a look at temperatures, though. houston at 29. as well as in oklahoma city, very warm down here towards the south, though in the north, it is a different story. chicago, you're looking at a high of 12. same in winnipeg with a high of 13. your overnight hours could be

dropping below freezing. that's why freeze warnings have been put in place across much of the great lakes for your friday night. here is a look at your extended outlook.

once again, our lead story, japan's central bank has decided to take additional monetary easing steps to fight deflation. the decision came at the bank of japan's policy board meeting on friday. the bank will expand its asset purchasing program by 5 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen. that's more than $860 billion. the central bank's policymakers said at the time that the japanese economy is showing clearer signs of picking up. they pointed to increased demand from reconstruction efforts following the march disaster last year. the boj revised its growth forecast for the current fiscal year upward to 2.3% from 2%. and for fiscal 2013 to 1.7% from

1.6%. the central bank also changed its outlook for consumer inflation to 0.3% in fiscal 2012 and 0.7% in fiscal 2013. >> translator: we believe it is likely that the japanese economy will return to a sustainable growth path with price stability. those measures are meant to make sure this will happen. >> but the board members agreed unanimously that it will take time for consumer prices to rise 1%. this is the goal of the bank of japan set up in february to pull the economy out of deflation. we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.