hello there. welcome to another edition of "newsline." it's thursday october 7th, 11:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. we first take a look at the latest business news with shery ahn. >> thanks, catherine. chinese premier wen jiabao has urged the european union to stop pressuring china to revalue its currency in a speech in belgium. wen spoke at a meeting of european business people in brussels on wednesday, ahead of a summit with the eu leaders.

wen said a rapid revaluation would force many chinese exporters out of business and migrant workers to return to their villages, causing social turmoil. the eu has stepped up calls for china to allow the yuan to appreciate, arguing that its exchange rate is being kept too low. wen pointed out, however, that china has helped european countries saddled with fiscal deficits. meanwhile, in washington u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner has urged emerging economies to be more flexible in their foreign exchange policies. geithner made the remark in a speech on wednesday that came just before the weekend meetings of the group of seven nations. the international monetary fund and the world bank.

>> we believe it's very important to see more progress by the major emerging economies to more flexible market-oriented exchange rate systems. this is particularly important for those countries whose currencies are significantly undervalued. >> geithner didn't specify it was china he was referring to. he only said large economies that act to keep their currency undervalued may encourage other countries to do the same. but geithner added that recent intervention by japanese monetary authorities won't lead other countries to competitively devalue their currencies. speculation about another easing in u.s. monetary policy is pushing the dollar lower against the yen. at one point in morning trading the dollar fell to the upper 82-yen range. that's the lowest level since september 15th, when japanese monetary authorities intervened in the market. the greenback is currently at

82.91-92. the euros at 1.3152 and 35. and turning to markets, tokyo stocks are little changed on thursday morning. the nikkei ended the morning session at 9,702, up 11 -- up 0.12%. trading was mixed. there was some profit taking after the index gained over 300 points in two days. the yen's rise to a new 15-year high against the dollar also weighed down on export-related shares. investors are also buying stocks on speculation the u.s. may further ease credit. that's after the bank of japan reinstated a 0 interest rate policy on tuesday. and here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark 10-year japanese government bond. and in other asian markets hong kong's hang seng is 0.2% higher.

the shanghai's key index for major blue chips as well as the sse composite are both closed for holidays. the international monetary fund has revised down its forecasts for the u.s. economy this year and next, citing the stagnant job market. japan's growth rate for next year has also been downgraded. in its latest forecast the imf lowered this year's u.s. economic growth from the 3.3% estimated in july to 2.6%. for next year u.s. growth has been marked down from 2.9% to 2.3%, or 0.6 percentage points down. imc cites the lack of improvement in the employment situation and the stagnant u.s. housing market for its decision. the fund also lowered the forecast for japan's growth next year from the previous 1.8% to 1.5% as export growth is expected to be restricted. but the forecast for the

european economy this year and next have been revised up due to an expected increase in german and other exports helped by a weaker euro. the imf says strong growth will continue in emerging economies such as china, india, and brazil. the forecast for this year's growth of the world economy on the whole was raised by 0.2 percentage points to 4.8%. japan is planning to use $1.2 billion of this year's supplementary budget to stabilize supplies of rare earth minerals that are vital in high-tech manufacturing. the move is part of government efforts to wean the country off its heavy reliance on rare earth material imports from china. china is the world's largest producer of rare earth materials. in july it said it would cut its exports of the metals. those shipments to japan were later suspended after a chinese fishing boat and two japanese coast guard vessels collided

near the senkaku islands in the east china sea. the government is planning to develop substitutes for rare earth minerals and find other countries that can provide the metals. the global market for next-generation power supply networks will become a $70 billion market in a decade. that's according to a japanese private research firm. research firm fuji kezai is basing its forecast on a market survey of high-volume batteries and other smart grid-related devices. solar and wind power use has been on the rise in recent years, but they're still unstable power sources since they're dependent on the weather. however, their shortcomings can be resolved by storing the power they generate in battery systems. fuji kezai also says the smart electrical meter market will also become a $16 billion market in europe and asia by 2020. they're expecting demand for meters with telecommunication

capabilities to surge. the research firm also predicts demand for high-performance electrical cables to increase rapidly. japan's mitsubishi motors has begun producing electric cars for export. the automaker held a ceremony on wednesday to mark the start of output for the overseas markets. the initial shipments are bound for europe. on display at the ceremony were the plan models to be introduced by mitsubishi and peugeot citroen. both companies have a tie-up at the operational level. mitsubishi plans to raise its monthly output of electric cars three times to around 1,300 units by march 2011. it also aims to export to the u.s. in autumn next year. mitsubishi president osam osama masuko told reporters the automaker will launch sales in

japan, europe, and the u.s. and aims to make electric cars that people worldwide will want to drive. and india is bustling as hindus celebrate the traditional diwali festival. and thanks to the fast-growing economy the whole nation is shopping even more vigorously than usual. nhk world's rakesh inagar reports from new delhi. >> reporter: throngs of shoppers are flocking this mall on the outskirts of india's capital, new delhi. it's packed with people buying groceries and daily goods. >> we buy a lot of things. earlier they used to carry handbags. now they carry big trolleys. >> reporter: this man is the general manager of sales and marketing here. he says customer numbers have been growing 25% annually. since the mall opened three years ago. >> more people have jobs in india. the disposable incomes are higher.

the indian economy is booming. and that is why they are doing more and more shopping. >> reporter: he is now gearing up for the sales for the diwali shopping season. large festivals are being held in various parts of the country from september through november. consumption typically surges during this time because of the traditional belief that those who spend money during the festivals will reap a fortune in the future. what's particularly grabbed the attention is the construction boom in and around new delhi. apartments building where the families have been popping up in many places. he decided to target new apartment buyers by boasting his inventory of furniture and home appliances. >> a lot of new flats and new offices are coming up. people need furniture.

people used to go to high street market for furniture. >> reporter: the mall has expanded its product range significantly. he wants to make this a one-stop shop for busy double-income earners so they don't have to visit multiple stores to get everything they need. >> this is -- >> reporter: he is also thinking beyond the shopping season and planning to build a new complex that combines brand name boutiques and a hotel to satisfy ever-growing customer demand. >> we have a mall. all are available for middle income group and higher middle income group. we want to catch them. we want to bring them here. >> reporter: festival or no festival, shoppers in india will likely keep spending for some time. rakesh nagar, nhk world, new delhi. now let's take a look at the latest market figures.

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> e bp oil spill in the gulf of mexico has damaged the lives of the region's native people. next we see what one tribe has gone through and how it's pressing ahead. nhk world's yasuo taguchi has the story. >> reporter: the 12 members of the houma tribe in southern louisiana, b t fer government does not recognize them as an indigenous tribe. they live in the bayou, close to the gulf of mexico, where the oil disaster occurred. r gerio the houma made a

living by catching small fish and shrimp. but after the 1930s, oil refinery activities eroded the bayou. their canals changed the water flow, and let sea water get in, ruining the tribe's livelihood. brenda daldarabisho, the principaiedshetre. she wants the u.s. government to formally recognize the houma is an indigenous tribe. this would let them regulate their land and water and help protect it. for over 30 years the houma have titioned t government for recognition, but the authorities neither granted recognition nor formally explained why. >> the oil and gas industry has played a major hole in our

federal recognition efforts. they have lobbied against our petition for federal recognion d eye lomore powerful than we are. >> reporter: then in april, the oil spill disaster in the gulf ofexo. the water in which they fish became polluted. all fishing was banned for three months. john parfait fishes for shrimp. though he's allowed to fish agn,heri oshmpas fallen since the oil spill. coumers are reluctant to eat shrimp exposed to chemicals. >> i do worry because like i said before, if somebody would get sick from eating the seafood, well, naturally they're going to close the season. that would put a lot of fishermen out of business. >> reporter: as the anxiety

spread, dardar robichaux heard from the white house press secretary. wtehetoescribe the damage caused by the oil spill. >> we have never been contacted by the white house, so this is the first time that theyav reached out to us as a nation, as houma people, and offered assistance. so it's quite refreshing. >> brenda is the -- >> reporter: dardar robichaux believes the government has changed its attitude. at a recent tribal meeting she asked the houma to speak out about the damage they suffered. she hopes their efforts leads to federal government recognition. >> the efft it's havg on our communities. >> but with federal recognition we would have our own reservation, we'd have our own tribal lands that our people could live, and we would be a sovereign nation. >> since receiving the white house letter, dardar robichaux has been in regular contact with the u.s. coness in wasngton.

on behalf of the tribe she requested compensation for problems caused by the oil spill. there are still many obstacles to overcome before getting federal recognition. but dardar robichaux vows to intensify her efforts. and now let's take a look at the global weather forecast with sumi zushi. >> hello there, and welcome back to your world weather update. well, you can expect some fine weather once again across japan today. it will be quite mild as well. the korean peninsula too. similar story for you. and much of china will be enjoying dry weather if not a little bit cloudy. now, over towards the north, much, much cooler air and wet weather coming into mongolia. the widespread rain expected here, and that is also going to be turning to snow or sleet at nighttime. now, the main story in east asia continues to be this tropical

depression hovering over hainan island. it has already produced ample amounts of rain, not just in the last 24 hours but over the last week. and it will continue to produce heavy amounts of rain in and around hainan islands, parts of southern coast of mainland china as well looking the upwards of 200 millimeters in some cases. still that rain sort of lingers in parts of vietnam as well, where the flooding situation is very, very serious indeed. so it is going to be very vulnerable to further flooding and landslides. now, over to the other side of indo-china, things not looking much better either. very wet picture indeed from myanmar across thailand and then all the way into eastern india. we have a tropical low in place really impacting the east coast of india right now but also pulling in a lot of moisture elsewhere around the bay of bengal. and that's set to continue this weekend, producing more heavy

rainfall, especially in and around bangladesh. so flooding is going to be quite possible here as well. taking a look at your temperatures then, we've got 26 degrees in hong kong. cloudy skies again. with some showers. 24 in chongqing. and we're looking at 25 degrees in shanghai. cloudy here as well. and let's take a look at north america, then. we can expect some severe storms to break out again down in the southwestern corner due to the cold air aloft. cooler temperatures as well. but much of central and the eastern u.s. basking in sunshine due to high pressure system. now, widespread rain is going to be moving into eastern canada today, lingering in new england as well in the u.s. so you can expect those showers to continue throughout your thursday. mild, though, in toronto today, 19 degrees. 23 in new york as well. doing a little bit better in los angeles as well. 23 degrees for your daytime high. finally, take a look at europe then, the good spell of sunshine returning to the british isles,

staying little bit windy, though. some more rain on the cards for spain and portugal. the heaviest of rain is going to be really targeting norway and sweden, today accompanied by strong winds as well. but much of central and eastern europe, it will be largely settled and dry. down in the southeastern corner looking a little bit wet for turkey and also parts of the balkans, you'll be dealing with heavy downpours as well as thunderstorms at times. 21 degrees in athens. a little bit cooler than average today. 13 degrees in moscow. so milder than yesterday, with sunny spells. sunny spells in kiev as well. much milder, though, in paris. 22 degrees. and 18 in london. here's the extended forecast. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. gene otani is up next at the top

of the next hour. hope to see you then.