glad you could join us on this edition of "newsline." it's friday september 24th, 11:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. japanese prime minister naoto kan and u.s. president barack obama held talks in new york on thursday. this was their second meeting since kan assumed office in june and was aimed at deepening the japan-u.s. alliance. kan was expected to explain his plan to steadily move forward with the relocation of the u.s.

futenma air station in okinawa based on the bilateral agreement reached in may. he is also likely to have asked obama to help reduce the burden on the people of okinawa. the two leaders are also expected to have agreed to advance bilateral cooperation in wide-ranging areas, including the economy, security and development assistance. this year marks the 50th anniversary of the revision of the japan-u.s. security treaty. the two leaders are also likely to have exchanged views on the global economic situation. kan is believed to have explained to obama about the recent intervention by the japanese government in foreign exchange markets to stem the yen's rise. kan takes the view that rapid fluctuations of foreign currency rates are not favorable and would have a negative impact on the japanese economy. now, attention is focused on what opinions kan and obama have expressed on the incident involving a chinese fishing boat and the japan coast guard near the senkaku islands earlier this month. japan's foreign minister seiji maehara and u.s. secretary

of state hillary clinton met on thursday in new york. the two foreign ministers confirmed that the disputed senkaku islands in okinawa prefecture are covered by the existing japan-u.s. security treaty. during talks on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly thursday, maehara explained to clinton about the incident involving a chinese fishing boat and japan's coast guard vessels. the senkaku islands are under japanese control but are also claimed by china and taiwan. maehara says he told his counterpart that he'll try to solve the diplomatic problem from a comprehensive viewpoint because the islands are an integral part of japan. maehara says he conveyed his appreciation that the existing japan-u.s. security treaty covers the senkaku islands. he says clinton agreed that article 5 of the security pact would be applied in case of an armed conflict. maehara also said clinton hoped japan and china would solve the issue through dialogue as both countries are important for

stability in the region. >> in the talks, maehara also referred to the relocation issue of u.s. futenma air station in okinawa. he told clinton he'll tackle the issue with respect to the bilateral agreement established in may to relocate the base within the same prefecture. meanwhile, china is taking measures that might be seen as retaliation againspan over thincident near the senkaku island it's believed that china is apth of a chinese fishing boat inese

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wednesday's close. export-related issues such as electronics and precisionle t de stronger yen. mount tension between japan and chin over a territorial issues also dampeningseimt. to currencies now. on the tokyo foreign exchange the dollar is weaker agast the yen. the greenback was sold overnight on speculation thathe u.s. federal reserve may ease monetary policy further. the momentum carried over to tokyo. but the dollar's down side was limited as participants are cautious against a possible intervention by the japanese orit grnback is currently changing hands at84.52 to 56. and here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark 10-year japanese government bond. now to gold futures. the gold price for december delivery is currently at $1,293.90 an ounce. now back to the main news with catherine. >> thanks very much, ines. u.sint bac obama

has reiterated the importance of international cooperation in his speech at the u.n. gly he noted that the u.s. has made a wide range of achievements, including nuclear disarmament. in his speech on thursday, obama first refeede 08 financial crisis. he emphasized how the world's largest economies coordinated to bring about a recovery. >> and in an age when prosperity is shared, we could not do this alone. so america has joined with nations around the world to sr ow. and the renewed demand tt uld start job creation. >> he also referred to the signing of a u.s.-russia nuclear disarmament treaty and the agreement to strengthen nuclear nonproliferation, both during the past year. obama thanked the u.n. for its adoption of strong sanctions against north korea and iran over their nuclear programs. the u.s. president then stressed

that hexpts a pce agreement to be reached between israel and palestine. he said he hopes the talks that began this month will lead to a new member of the u.n., an independensoren atof paste living peacefully with israel. foreign ministers from ten nonnuclear countries have issued a instemt atay they will make efforts to create a world without nuclear weapons. japanese foreign minister maehara and his australian counterpart kevin rudd helped make this meeting a reality. on wednesday evening in new york, ministers from germany, poland, and turkey joined the first nonnuclear state conference. maehara said that he believes the world wants to resolve the issue nle as duio he said the ten nations should coordinate ideas and take practical and responsible steps toward a nuclear-free world. the conference's final statement called for the world to be less threatened by nuclear weapons as it works towards their abolition.

the statement says countries with nuclear arms will be asked to report how their reduction programs have progressed. the ten nonnuclear countes lltu their own action plans and meet again next year during the u.n. general assembly. fbi director robert mueller says u.s. authorities have indicted 63 homegrown terrorists sie st ar. he also says detecting terrorism is becoming harder because the domestic threat continues to grow. elr made the comments on wednesday, before the senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee. he expressed concern that islamic extremists based in somalia are aggressively trying to connect with members of muslimomniesn e united states. homeland security secretary janet napolitano also appeared before the commite. it is diversifying in terms of sources. it is diversifying in terms of tactics. it is diversifying in terms of

thtaet >> napolitano said the threat is evolving in ways that make it more difficult for law enforcement or the intelligence community to detect and disrupt pls. the fbi is going to reinforce its system of collecting information to combat terrorist threats. it will mobilize 480 agents to form a liaison with the muslim community in t utestates. international researchers say they have discovered 51 new marine species in the waters off kumejima island in okinawa prefecture, southwestern japan. the research team is led by ryukyu unirsity assistant professor toru nagase. the team carried out its first survey of marineife aund the island last november. the survey covered an area extending ten kilometers offshore to a depth of 600 meters. they say 51 new species of shrimp, crab, and other shellfish were discovered. a two-centimeter-long shrimp

that resembles a spider in shape was found at a depth of 130 meters. transparent white crabs we captured in waters 6 to 13 meters deep. nagase said that research in these areas is not developed. he added that regular surveys will be needed to understand the marine biology of the region and monitor the effects of global warming. a large number of whales became stranded and died on a beach in northern new zealand. this follows a similar beaching incident in august. about 80 pilot whales were found stranded along a five-kilometer section of spirits bay on wednesday. more than 100 rescue volunteers tried to save the whales. however, the new zealand department of conservation says at least 40 of the mammals have already died. >> these are beautiful creatures that we can't let just die on the beach. you've got to at least try. >> in august, more than 70 pilot whales were found washed up on a beach about 90 kilometers south.

most of them were dead. scientists say that for some reason the whales might have lost their natural ability to navigate by sonar. japanese makers of electric appliances are boosting their output of air-conditioners. they need to prepare for the upcoming winter sales season as the hotter than average summer has reduced inventories. the record-setting temperatures this summer led to high demand in japan. most air-conditioners are also used for heating and cold weather. according to a japanese research firm, domestic sales for the week through september 5th rose over three times compared with the previous year. in the following week they increased almost 2 1/2 times. air-conditioner manufacturers say they are running short of supply. production might not be able to meet demand toward the end of the year. strong sales are likely to continue through autumn, thanks

to government subsidies on ecofriendly home appliances. the u.s. economy, the epicenter of the crisis, is showing signs of recovery, but some people warn that it might head into recession again, or a double dip. our business reporter spoke with richard koo, chief economist at research institute for his views on the direction of the u.s. economy. >> the fed held its meeting earlier this week and decided to keep monetary policy unchanged, but it also hinted at further easing in the future. now, taking into account what came out of the meeting, how do you view the u.s. monetary policy going forward? >> well, i had occasion to visit washington not too long ago and speak to some of the people who are involved in these policy making. and i get the sense that the main scenario is still moderate

growth. very moderate but still moderate growth. and as long as that is the main scenario there's no reason to take any action at the moment. but people there also told me that even though that is the main scenario, the confidence they attach to the main scenario isn't all that high. so as soon as they see something that dislodged them from the main scenario, i'm sure they will take actions. additional quantitative easing of some sorts. >> u.s. midterm elections will take place in november. now, you said in your report that we're seeing the worst political polarization in u.s. history. now, how do you think political trends will affect the u.s. economy in the longer term, including the possibility of a double dip? >> well, you never become a hero avoiding crisis. and if you continue to avoid crisis, you'll be bashed.

and that's the situation we have in the united states today. obama did all the right things to keep the gdp from collapsing. in the view of the fact the private sector in the united states has been in this massive deleveraging mode. but because nothing happened, and then you just see a huge bill for fiscal stimulus, a lot of people saying gosh, we spent all this money, nothing happened. you must have been wasting this money on some of the silliest projects around. getting a bad name. and in the midterm election, if the current trend continues and if democrats lose at least the lower house, if not the senate, then the republicans will try to pull the plug by reducing fiscal stimulus or ending it altogether.

and that i think will lead to a double-dip. >> reporter: on japan koo says last week's currency market intervention to weaken the yen confirms that the kan administration is moving away from a policy of inaction. koo acknowledges that the absence of an intervention over the last 6 1/2 years was in fact good for the global economy as it helped avoid a competitive devaluation of currencies. >> the two years with the lehman shock mostly behind us, some of the markets already back to the level before the lehman shock and the economy also doing much better than a year or two ago, maybe mr. kan and the people at the ministry finance okay, we did enough. since no one is expressing any appreciation what we are doing anyway, maybe we have to look after our own interests.

and i mean, this extreme strength of yen relative to the state of the japanese economy, it's very difficult to put the two together. in that if the japanese economy is doing very well and the yen is strong, you could argue that yes, the fundamentals support the exchange rate. but that is simply not the case. so i think after two years with lehman shock mostly behind us maybe they thought it's okay to ipt veen intervene to bring some stability back to the exchange rate. >> that was richard koo, chief economist at the nomura research institute. next is a recap of the latest market figures. ♪

and that's all for now in biz news. next is the weather forecast with sumi zushi. hello there, welcome back to your world weather update. first looking at japan, it's looking more like autumn here. it's fine and dry and lots of comfortable temperatures in store. toward the east it's a different story, though. got strong blustery winds in place with rain as well. now, down in the south of japan we're monitoring typhoon malaka. so that continues to churn its way across the pacific. and it is due to really hit some of the islands in the next 24 hours with torrential rains and fierce winds.

over the next few days it will continue to take a northerly path, staying away from mainland japan but still over the weekend we're looking at that strong winds and the high waves to impact the east coast of the country. elsewhere across asia, southern china is contending with some showers over the week, and of course this is the area where we really don't want any more rainfall after devastating floods that hit the guangdong region. now, we've got some footage coming out of guangdong. let's take a look now. this is due to the remnants of typhoon fanapi, which first made landfall in taiwan and made its way into fujian province as a severe tropical storm. floods washed away roads and bridges. many people are missing. and at least 55 people dead. and now it looks like there will be some more showers over the -- over the area, over the weekend. humid air over from the south china sea is going to be meeting that cooler air from the north. and that's going to be helping to intensify those showers,

especially as we head into your sunday. so we're not out of the woods just yet. keep updated with your local weather reports. now, up in ulan bator 19 degrees, quite mild today on friday, but that's going to be dropping dramatically down to subzero figure for your saturday morning and then struggling to the temperatures, struggling to rise here on saturday. tokyo's going to be quite cool, though, 20 degrees for your daytime high today. all right. let's head to the americas, then. over the caribbean we are monitoring tropical storm matthew, which steadily moves toward the honduras and nicaragua area. it could be making landfall here on saturday and then making a second landfall on sunday in belize. now, it is rapidly intensifying, could become a hurricane by saturday. so we have to keep a close eye on where this is going to be in fact hitting honduras or not. but still, we're looking at very stormy conditions to really affect the area with the

torrential rains and fierce winds here. as for the united states, you can see quite a powerful system moving across the midwest again and again. this frontal line is -- just between this warm air and also the very cool air up in the north. so looking for the severe conditions such as damaging winds, tornados, and also flooding rains are going to be a major concern here. over towards the northwest we have also a new system that's arriving from the west, and that's going to be producie ini lots of rain as well as snow activity up in the northern rockies here. temperatures, you can see a big difference in the temperatures here. 36 degrees in washington, d.c. 31 in new york. while up toward the north it's going to be a much, much cooler day for you. 14 degrees in winnipeg. that's all for me just now. here is your extended forecast. ♪

♪ ♪ taking a look at our top story, japanese prime minister naoto kan and u.s. president barack obama held talks in new york on thursday. this was their second meeting since kan assumed office in june and was aimed at deepening the japan-u.s. alliance. kan was expected to explain his plan to steadily move forward with the relocation of the u.s. futenma air station in okinawa based on the bilateral agreement reached in may.

he's also likely to have asked obama to help reduce the burden on the people of okinawa. the two leaders are also expected to have agreed to advance bilateral cooperation in wide-ranging areas, including the economy, security and development assistance. this year marks the 50th anniversary of the revision of the japan-u.s. security treaty. the two leaders are also likely to have exchanged views on the global economic situation. kan is believed to have explained to obama about the recent intervention by the japanese government in foreign exchange markets to stem the yen's rise. kan takes the view that rapid fluctuations of foreign currency rates are not favorable and would have a negative impact on the japanese economy. now, attention is focused on what opinions kan and obama have expressed on the incident involving a chinese fishing boat and the japanese coast guard near the senkaku islands earlier this month. and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. my colleague gene otani will be

up next at the top of the hour with more of your updates. do stay with us.