welcome to "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo with the latest at this hour. coalition talks in greece have failed. the leader of the radical left coalition party said he would not join a coalition government with parties that want to continue austerity measures. alexis' decision means greece would have to hold another parliament election next month under constitutional rules. socialist pasok party leader tried to find partners after the parties that placed first and second in last sunday's election failed to form a coalition. the greek president will gather the leaders of all parties for a

final mediation attempt as soon as next week in hopes of achieving a coalition government. european leaders fear the political turmoil in greece will worsen the eurozone debt crisis. the leader of the business community in athens criticized the radical left coalition leader. he accused cyprus of chasing popularity rather than taking responsibility to solve the political crisis. >> we will have the coalition government emerging. otherwise, i fear if we go to a second election, either on president 10th or the 17th of june, there will be a government in place, but maybe the country will be destroyed by then. >> he said greek politicians must keep trying to form a coalition government in order to avoid another election. the european union's top officials say they expect the eurozone economy to shrink this year. they're expecting a slow recovery to begin in the second half. >> the european economy is estimated to be currently in a

mild but short-lived recession. >> european commission members say they expect eurozone gdp to shrink by 0.3% this year. they're forecasting gdp contractions of 4.7% in greece, 3.3% in portugal, and 1.8% in spain. analysts say the forecasts show austerity measures are putting a damper on the regional economy. european commission members say they expect the eurozone economy to start recovering in the second half of the year. the eu leaders, the leaders of eu governments are expected to look for ways to balance austerity and growth when they meet at the end of this month. japan's earnings session for fiscal 2011 has now reached its peak. a lot of companies suffered losses. that's mainly due to the yen's sharp appreciation and natural disasters in and outside japan.

snbc nikko securities tallied the financial results of 700 companies listed on the tokyo stock exchange. those firms had released their earnings by thursday. the tally shows that their combined pre-tax profits fell 13.3% from the previous fiscal year. that's the first drop in three years. the decline is attributed to the yen's rapid advance as well as credit uncertainties in the midst of europe's sovereign debt crisis. the earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern japan in march last year and floods in thailand also cut deep into the earnings of electronics and automakers. looking ahead, though, snbc niko says about 77% of st companies expect fiscal profits in this coming year. expected to grow 15.7% from fiscal 2011. as the snbc analyst explains the

background behind the expected gains. >> translator: if europe's debt problems are solved and the chinese company regains momentum, we can fully expect the japanese economy to return to a path of recovery. negotiators from japan, china, and south korea will issue a joint statement on launching formal talks in a trilateral free trade agreement by the end of this year. a meeting of trade ministers in beijing on saturday comes a day before the leaders of the three countries hold a summit in the chinese capital. in a draft of the joint statement the ministers say it attended to contribute not only to increasing trade investment but also establishing a comprehensive, cooperative framework. ministers hope the new pact will strengthen ties among the three countries. the draft document says three countries will agree to start

negotiatio negotiations within a year. each country will begin procedures to prepare for working-level talks. japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda spoke to reporters a day before he leaves for beijing. >> translator: i want to work with my counterparts to begin formal negotiations on a free trade agreement. we are now in discussion about details before i leave for beijing. i will also reveal them at the summit and hope to achieve the result. >> noda will also meet separately with chinese and south korean leaders during his three-day visit to china. it will be the first time for noda to hold talks with chinese leaders since the controversial announcement by the tokyo governor of plans to purchase the disputed senkaku islands from the current owner. japanese officials have issued an entry visa to the leader of a uighur group. chinese officials say they opposed the japanese decision,

because they believe the group has links with terrorists. members of the world uighur congress will gather in tokyo on monday. they'll be joined by their leader. the japanese decision to allow him into the country drew a backlash from government officials in china. >> translator: the world uighur congress has ties with terrorist groups. it's a separatist anti-china organization. we firmly oppose the japanese government's decision. >> more than 10 million uighurs live in china's shenzhen uighur autonomous region. uighurs are an ethnic minority. because of what they see as domination by the majority. chinese leaders appear worried the presence in tokyo may draw attention to the uighur cause. japanese leaders are extending the country's peace keeping mission in south sudan.

they're taking the action of receiving a report on fighting in the area. >> translator: the report says the clashes are limited to a region on the border. we believe they won't affect japan's participation in peace keeping operations. >> 330 ground self-defense force troops will head to south sudan in stages through the end of june. they'll relieve a group that's been deployed since february. the mission will focus on building roads and other infrastructure. japanese weather experts think they know the cause of three tornadoes that hit the same part of the country last sunday. they say the tornadoes were probably caused by huge thunder clouds called super cells. the three tornadoes hit northeast of tokyo. they killed one person and injured more than 50. an nhk survey found the

tornadoes damaged more than 2,000 buildings. researchers at the japan meteorological agency say all three tornadoes occurred at the same time. they say such an event is very rare. the biggest tornado left damage over an area 31 kilometers long and 650 meters wide. that's the second worst damage caused by a japanese tornado in the past 50 years. the researchers ranked the damage from the biggest tornado at 2 or 3 on an international scale from 0 to 6. they said all three tornadoes were likely caused by huge thunder clouds called super cells. they said the super cells were 10 to 20 kilometers wide. the opening ceremony for the 2012 international expo was held on friday night in the southern coastal city of yasu in south korea.

more than 2,000 people attended the opening event. its theme is the living ocean and coast. governments and companies from 104 countries are participating in the three-month-long event along with ten international organizations. ♪ 76 pavilions will open on saturday. the event will also feature many kinds of music and dance performances from traditional folk dance to pop. the expo is crucial for south kor korea's revitalization of local areas. organizers expect to attract 10 million visitors from around the world until the august 12th closing. that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us.