demolishing the debris. crews on the u.s. pacific coast start slicing up one of the biggest pieces of tsunami junk as concerns linger about the cleanup costs. welcome to nhk world "newsline." it's a long way from japan to the west coast of north america. some 8,000 kilometers. the gigantic mass of debris the sea swallowed after last year's tsunami is slowly making that journey. now people in the american state of oregon are starting to dispose of one of the largest chunks to arrive. as nhk world tells us, it's the

beginning of a long and costly cleanup. >> this is agate beach, oregon, where the dock from aomori prefecture is being demolished. crews are using a diamond-coated cable to cut through the structure. the 20-meter-long pier is made of concrete and contains polystyrene which helped it float. >> this is a reminder that it's a very, very dangerous natural event that you have to take very seriously. >> it is something that we have to take care of and get rid of. you know, looks like there may be more coming. we've got to learn how to deal with it and how to dispose of it properly and efficiently. >> reporter: last year the tsunami ripped the dock from its moorings at a fishing port in japan's aomori prefecture. it traveled across the pacific and washed ashore in oregon in june. the aomori prefectural government didn't want it back. the oregon officials decided to dispose of it.

the demolition job will cost the state government $84,000. it is a fraction of the estimated tsunami debris bill. >> it could cost us anywhere from $1.5 million to $3.5 million just for oregon for the next two-year period. >> reporter: workers will cut the dock in five sections and use a crane to bring the pieces onshore. then they will slice those pieces into smaller chunks. some parts will be saved to be displayed as a memorial. mayumi mariyama, nhk world, newport, oregon. >> the wave of tsunami debris began with a rusty fishing boat and then other items started showing up. sports balls, motorcycle and plastic containers. much more garbage is on the way. and so more people are asking who will cover the cost of the cleanup. japanese government analysts estimate as much as 1.5 million

tons of debris is floating across the pacific. they say about 40,000 tons of it will appear on the west coast of north america in early 2013. u.s. politicians are asking the federal government to outline how the debris will be cleaned up and who will pay. >> i know noaa has further plans to monitor this problem, but my constituents, to be very honest with you, are asking, with this debris already here, what's the plan? how are we going to deal with this? how are we going to clean it up? >> there are no international rules or regulations covering who is responsible for cleaning up debris from a natural disaster. so right now, the people receiving this well-traveled garbage are reluctantly covering the cost of the cleanup. representatives of the japanese ngo plan to visit the u.s. at the end of this week. they will meet with members of an american ngo to discuss how to work together to tackle the tsunami debris issue. officials from japan's

environment ministry will go along as observers. the european central bank says it will maintain its benchmark interest rate. the bank's policymakers decided to keep the interest rate at a record low of 0.75%. the ecb had cut the rate at its monthly meeting in july to support the region's ailing economy. the deposit rate will also be maintained at 0%. ecb president mario droge said at a press conference that the central bank is ready to make outright open market purchases to stabilize eurozone borrowing costs. the greek people are struggling to cope with harsh austerity measures. life in greece may soon become even more difficult. the greek government has agreed to further budget cuts. the country needs to sharply reduce spending to obtain more money from its creditors. greece will have to find additional savings of 11.5 billion euros, or over $14

billion. the european union and other international bodies will provide bailout funds in return. the three coalition parties discussed the deadline for making the cuts. the leaders of the -- leaders of two of the parties demanded a two-year extension. they blamed the current austerity policy for the shrinking economy and job losses. the conservative prime minister samaras convinced them to accept further changes. he urged them to take further action to remain in the eurozone. more state-owned corporations will be privatized. pensions will be lowered. the greek people are expected to strongly oppose the new measures. badminton players usually struggle for attention in the shadow of better-known athletes at the olympic games. they are gaining notoriety in london for something they never hoped for. the badminton world federation disqualified eight women for trying to lose in a preliminary

round. organizes introduced a round robin format at these games in place of a win or go home system. officials believe that doubles teams from china, indonesia and south korea were trying to face easier opponents in the next round. the chinese players were favorites for the gold medal. members of the federation's disciplinary panel say the players did not use their best efforts to win a match. they say this is abusive and detrimental to the sport. one of the chinese players, yu yan, apologized in a tv interview. chinese's olympic delegation urged the head coach and disqualified pair to prevent step for a repeat of the scandal. people in beijing have mixed feelings about the incidents. >> translator: it's a shame they behaved against the spirit of sports. and the olympics. >> translator: the tournament system is irrational in some

ways. disqualification is too harsh. i feel sorry for the players. >> some south korean newspapers reacted harshly. they say it's shameful the country's players copied the chinese, but others say the south koreans were just dragged down by the chinese pair. they point out that this has happened before. they say what happened in london was predictable. >> translator: they should have acted on their better instincts. it's regrettable our players just followed the chinese. >> translator: i don't think what they did was wrong. the aim of athletes at the olympics is to get the best results while acting in good conscience. the tokyo high court will hold a retrial for a neplease man who had been serving a life sentence. he was in prison for a 1997 murder before the discovery of a new evidence -- of new evidence

won his release in june. the restril of govinda prasad mainali was confirmed after prosecutors said they'll not file a special appeal against it. prosecutors had already lodged one appeal against the new hearing. but the tokyo high court rejected their claim. the retrial can be held without the presence of mainali who is now in nepal. he's likely to be acquitted. all previous retrials have ended in not guilty verdicts. prosecutors in mainali's case admit they lack an appropriate reason to file a special appeal but they say they will continue to argue that mainal si guilty. he was sentenced to life over a high-profile murder in which a japanese woman was found robbed and strangled in a tokyo apartment. his lawyers turned up new dna evidence and won his release in june. the tokyo high court granted him the retrial.

any return to nepal later that month. he said in a statement he's very happy and expects the decision not to appeal his decision will help close the case quickly. he added that he expects justice will be served as soon as possible. sharp and sony reported huge losses for the april to june president. the two japanese electronics giants are part of a struggling industry that's suffering from weak demand in the core business of televisions. sharp reported a net loss of nearly $1.8 billion. the latest in -- in the latest quarter. the loss has gone up almost three times from the same period last year making it a record loss for the april to june quarter. the company says the setback is due to a 50% drop in sales of liquid crystal display tvs compared to the previous year. sharp announced a plan to cut 5,000 jobs by march 2013.

that's almost 9% of its global workforce of 57,000. the company says it will implement the job cuts through measures that include early retirement. sharp has revised its full-year forecast to a bigger loss which amounts to about $3.2 billion. it cites significant costs for streamlining. that's more than eight times the loss they had initially forecast. sony also reported huge losses due to sluggish sales of lcd tvs and the impact of the strong yen. the net loss for the latest quarter came to about $314 million. the company also revised downward its full year profit forecast by one-third to about $255 million. sony had earlier announced a plan to reduce its head count in japan and abroad by about 10,000 by march 2013. japanese chipmaker renaissance electronics will shut down or sell about half of its plants in japan to turn around its business.

company officials announced the plan as they aim to pull the firm out of deep trouble caused by last year's earthquake and the strong yen. 8 out of its 18 domestic plants will be sold or closed over the next three years. the plan affects three facilities in western japan and five others, mainly in the northern region. as part of restructuring, renesas will also offer next month early retirement for over 5,000 employees. unprofitable businesses are also being assessed. suzuki posted earnings growth in the april to june period for a third straight quarter. this was due to strong domestic sales. suzuki executives say net profit came to about $310 million and rose more than 30% in yen terms. sales increased over 6% compared to the previous year when calculated in yen. total sales came to about $8.2 billion. a rise in domestic sales compensated for a decline overseas. sales abroad dropped dr eped du

strong yen and economic stagnation in europe. toesh hero suzuki says he's not sure when an assembly plant in india can reopen. they are investigating a riot that erupted at the factory. a fight between a worker and supervisor ignited the violence last month and maruti suzuki's plant in haruyana. it left an indian worker dead. >> translator: suzuki has been operating in india for 30 years. we'd like to overcome this incident as soon as possible so we can supply good vehicles for the people in india. >> suzuki said if the plant stays idle after all inventories run out, the firm will lose about 8 million of sales every day. india accounts for about 30% of the suzuki group's net profit. we've been looking at

emerging asian economies all this week on "newsline." today we focus on vietnam. political and business leaders in the country are struggling with inflation and a slowdown in economic growth. the communist party is the nation's sole political entity. leaders have set the nation on a path of economic development. they've seen a modest trade surplus in july and enjoy a cheap pool of labor. now they're forging ahead with negotiations on regional trade under the proposed trans-pacific partnership, the tpp. earlier i salked with nhk world's senior commentator hirome hirose to get more insight into vietnam's economy. vietnam has thrived on trade throughout its history but now it faces a major turning point. how would you characterize the current state of the country's economy? >> in a phrase, it's reform aimed at promoting the economy with open-door policies while maintaining the country's system

under collective leadership of the communist elite. this reform has helped nation achieve high rate of economic growth over the past decade. the vietnamese economy had been growing about 7% each of those years. but this year it is expected to dip below 6%. >> what's behind this slowdown? >> the global economy -- played a part but the vietnamese need to transform its industrial structure. being a sociostate does not ensure the country from competition. vietnam is affected in the downturn, just like most other countries. so that means vietnam can no longer afford to simply rely on its cheap labor pool and growing cooperation. >> so what specifically needs to be changed now that vietnam is at such a point? >> its domestic industry needs

to be reinforced. rise in the seafood exports are competitive internationally except for the products, hardly competitive products except textiles. vietnam's leadership facing a challenge in industries of high added value. even though vietnam's economic growth rate has been high, its industries were not built on solid foundation. and that makes the country vulnerable to rising inflation, as we see in other emerging economies. >> you talk about some of the domestic stuff. what about relations with other countries? >> vietnam has actively been taking step to bring its economy into line with international standards by lifting regulations on labor and capital. vietnam's active participation

in tpp negotiation shows a desire to reduce its dependence on its giant neighbor, china. expectations are high among vietnamese businesspeople for the tpp's economic potential benefits. >> new zealand, wonderful. it will open the trade area to many country. and so more country that can benefit. >> why is vietnam focusing so much on external trade? >> that has to do with problems facing countries around the world. the vietnamese can see that neither -- economies nor free economies doing well on these base. >> economy already collapse but open 100% market economy like u.s.

if you let economy, they do by themselves, you open. free. free market. 100%. also some problem. and you need some control from the government. but not all at one government. now you need control by many government. >> how do you see vietnam evolving from here? >> the leadership is addressing a number of economic woes. they are struggling to lessen economic disparities and reforming state-run enterprises among other actions. whether we see vietnamese trade taking big stride forward in peaceful cooperation with its neighbors is something we need to watch. >> and that was hiromi hirose. here's the latest market figures.

thailand's growing middle class is getting a taste for premium coffee. it's a market that has doubled in just ten years. and we're not only talking about lattes and cappuccinos. thai farmers now produce some of the world's most expensive coffee using beans processed in a very unusual way. our reporter satomi aso went to try the flavor. >> reporter: this coffee in central thailand offers a special cup of coffee that costs more than $30 a cup.

that's 20 times the normal price for coffee. it has its origins in malaysia. its unique test attracts coffee recovers from all over thailand. >> translator: it is really different from ordinary coffee. >> reporter: the coffee owner is also a farmer who pioneered a production of coffee in thailand. he shared with us the secret of his success. >> reporter: you can't produce kofi luk without the 50 centimeter long wild animals. they have an appetite for coffee berries. they consume the fruit but leave the coffee beans undigested in their droppings.

on their journey, the beans react with enzymes to create a sweet flavor. one sivet can only produce three kilograms of coffee beans a year. it takes this many beans to make one cup of coffee. he has struggled for years to perfect this kofe luk. first raising sivets is a big challenge. the captive animals easily get sick away from their naturally wild habitats. he has been trying to improve the quality of his coffee to make it better than the original from malaysia.

he sterilizes the beans under the strong thai sun for a whole month. some would wash them but he believes doing that reduces the flavor. he also stores his beans for at least a year claiming the taste gets better over time. so this is a coffee made in theland. it runs through a five-year development process. let's taste it. strong aroma. it's not as bitter as regular coffee. it also feels very fresh. >> translator: even with some 50 sivets we can only produce so many beans every year. demand is so high right now. i hope people who want the world's best coffee, kopi luwak

to think of thailand every time. >> reporter: and his dreams may be coming true. coffee companies from japan, hong kong and south korea have already shown interest in purchasing his precious kop kopi luwak. the coffee made with more than a touch of luck. satomi aso, nhk world, bangkok. the nuclear accident in fukushima prompted the suspension of all fishing activities in the prefecture. but the industry is showing gradual signs of recovery. fishermen have unloaded their catch of octopus at tokyo's main fishing market -- or fish market for the first time in 17 months. wholesalers at the market traded about 110 kilograms of octopus in the early hours of thursday. fishermen caught them more than 50 kilometers northeast of the fukushima daiichi plant. the catch was screened for radioactive particles before shipment.

wholesalers checked the results of the tests during the bidding. >> translator: the quality seems better than before the march 11th disaster. fishing was suspended for more than one year so they've grown pretty big. >> fishermen in fukushima are waiting to see how well they sell before deciding to resume full-scale fishing. for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji. mai? >> yes, we have been monitoring a couple of very strong storm systems. unfortunately, we're going to be seeing another one developing in the next 12 hours. we have tropical depression just south of the ogasawara islands that will be developing and intensifying into a tropical storm in the next 12 hours. so three storms to talk about. but let me first start off with saola, an ex-typhoon. it has affected taiwan already, battering the area. especially elon county. devastation has already been occurring. but let me show you a video

coming out from the philippines where the ex-typhoon saola is still indirectly affecting much of the area. pushing across the country throughout the week. heavy rains caused landslides throughout the country damaging homes in the mountainous regions as you can see here. 23 casualties and 21 injuries have been reported across the philippines. about 2,800 homes have also been damaged in flooding and landslides. let's pull back and i can show you this severe tropical storm. downgraded but it has been lingering in taiwan for a very long while and it has accumulated rainfall accumulation of 1.8 meters in northern taiwan. now because of the -- due to the change of the wind direction, now the northwestern side of taiwan will be affected with deadly oi lely amounts of rainf.

about 400 millimeters in the next 24 hours. it is heading towards the southeastern coast of china, possibly making landfall early tomorrow morning. friday morning, i should say local time. still also affecting the philippines with the enhanced monsoonal flow. so lots happening here. and the rainfall accumulation is just going to be just staggering amounts that could cause further flooding conditions in the places where the flooding is not alleviated yet in and around elan county especially. we have another storm to talk about. this is the typhoon which is a very speedy one at 35 kph, kilometers per hour. it's heading toward shandong province in china and this is going to be bringing hefty amounts of rain as well. in the next 48 hours, in and around beijing we can probably see about 200millimeters. i think this is underestimated.

it could be about 250 millimeters or even 300 in some locations, so that's enough to cause further flooding conditions there as well. so due to the proximity of these two storms, it is feeding each other and also enhancing and surging all the copious amounts of moisture, dumping it as rain on very saturated land. so really want to be keeping a very close eye on these for you. let's go to the european continent now. we can see a very clear spiral here. that's the atlantic storm moving over toward the british isles. so you'll be feeling very gusty conditions. especially southerly winds and also some on and off showers across much of the northern uk and northern british isles. but in london, you're going to be seeing on and off showers but sunny spells as well especially on your saturday. temperatures not bad at all staying in the low 20s. here's your extended forecast.

we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.