welcome to nhk world "newsline." tokyo stocks rebounded on thursday morning, reaching the 10,500 mark for the first time in about eight months in intraday trading. in foreign exchange -- the nikkei rose 1.17%, or 121 points, and ended the morning session at 10,502. that as exporters including auto and electronic makers are

leading the gainers. the rise in tokyo comes as upbeat u.s. unemployment data pushed the dollar higher against the yen overnight. taking a look now at foreign exchange market, the dollar is being bought against the yen on expectations for a u.s. economic recovery. the dollar has gained more than one yen on thursday morning. the greenback is trading between 83.28 to 30. the euro now at 1.3132-3134. market sources say the dollar buying was encouraged by better than expected u.s. job figures on wednesday, which raised hopes for a u.s. revival and gave tokyo traders their cue. u.s. president barack obama is going to have a tougher time working with congress now that republicans have a majority in the house of representatives. as the 112th congress started on wednesday, republican john boehner took over as house speaker from democrat nancy pelosi. >> our spending has caught up with us. and our debt soon will eclipse

the entire size of our national economy. >> the republicans plan to overturn obama's health care reform legislation which he managed to push through congress last year. president obama hopes to put the country's economic recovery on a solid footing by swiftly passing a new economic stimulus bill. but with republicans in the house of representatives adopting a confrontational approach, he faces an uphill battle. obama is reshuffling his staff, and white house press secretary robert gibbs has said he will leave his post soon. gibbs made the announcement on wednesday and looked back on his two years in the job. >> i would not trade the worst day i've had here for many of the best days that you might have in another job. >> gibbs has been on obama's staff for almost seven years. he plans to leave his post in early february after obama's annual address before a joint session of congress later this

month. gibbs is expected to play a major role in preparing the ground for obama's re-election campaign. the united states and china have agreed relations between north and south korea must improve to resume the stalled six-party talks on the north's nuclear program. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton and chinese foreign minister yang jiechi met in washington on wednesday, ahead of chinese president hu jintao's scheduled visit to the united states from january 19th. they spoke to reporters before the meeting. >> both the minister and i feel a great sense of responsibility to ensure that it continues the positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship between our two countries. >> i think china/u.s. relationship is on the right track. it is in the best interests of china, the urkts and the wornit the world for to us continue to work together. >> the state department says

clinton and yang discuss aid wide range of issues including the north korean and iranian nuclear programs, measures to counter global warming, and china's human rights record. and they agreed to strengthen cooperation to resolve issues of mutual concern. the two countries also agreed that north korea must take steps for denuclearization and pointed to the need for improved north and south korean ties to restart the six-party talks. meanwhile, the u.s. special representative on north korea is in beijing and will likely ask china to use its influence on the north to ease tensions on the korean peninsula. stephen bosworth arrived in the chinese capital on wednesday, after visiting south korea. on thursday he will meet senior chinese officials including envoy wu dawei, who chairs the six-party talks. s expted to ask boswort toccep cha' proposal of an er chief negos of the talks.

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onal picminier koicro gemnd mgolian president tkhgi elbeorj. canet minte in crge of energy andsources re also present. they agreed the government and a japanese semi-governmental body will celerate tir researc with an eye on the future joint developmentth minerals. the mongolian leaders said they would accept japanese help in developing the country's mineral resources such as country wants receive japanese technical aid as well. the twoides also agreed to

start talks in april on an ec agreement between japan and mongolia. the japanese government plans to diversify its sources for rare earth metals to reduce t untry's heavyelnc o china. the move came after china effectively restricted rare earth exports to japolsion by a trawler with japanese patrol boats near the sengoku islands in early september. china iooin i economic psence in europe and has promised financially troubled spain it will continue buying the european country's nd chinese vice premier lee k ke kyung met spanish prime minister jose luis rodriguez zaparo on wednesday. li arrived in spain the previous he told zapatero a strong and stable europe is important to inand they will continue to buy spanish bonds. china also signed $7.5 billion mprth of deals with spanish the agreements include

investment by a chinese oil company and a spanish project to develop energy ibrazil. a spanish i.t. company also won a contract to develop air-conditioned systems in chinese airports. vice premier li will next visit rmy d itain, continuing china's efforts to assert itself in europe. last year china offered to buy greek bonds whenths rum issuing them. the country has also said it would help debt-ridden portugal. wooden boxes called masu are used for dnking sake in japan, but in the past they were used as measuring devices. the stagnant economy has hurt the masuinst, but one company in gifu prefecture is bouncing back. they're developing unique designs which they hope will get them through these tough times.

>> reporter: weddings celebrate e arof nife for the bride and groom. masu are commonly used at sh events. >> translar: it's delicious. >> reporter: this is ogaki city in gifu prefecture. this area produces 80% of masu in japan. wer,roctn s ne down since around the '80s. now they make half of what they used to. hiroyuki ohashi runs a company that makes masu. until recently his company has been struggling with sluggish siss >>ralator: there's a wide variety of alcoholic drinks nowadays. people have so many options. and many don't drink a all. we developed with the sake

industry. so we're struggling now. >> reporter: ohashi's company sttemangmasu with novel designs, and profits rose as a result. the women employees thought up the idea. these are decorated with colorful ad this is a lamp. the company started making hit masu products driny feminine aesthetics. >> translator: we're working to make products more appealing to young people. we're trying to ce up with cute designs. >> reporter: the company also makes useful household products. this is a humidifier. >> translator: this thin shaving is a by-product of carvingmasu. and this water basin is made from the same technique.

togeer the me a humidifier. >> reporter: water is poured into the basin. the sls are inserted into the groove. they naturally soak up the water. as the wood gets wet, the scent of cedar wafts through the room. another product is used for measuring. you can measure different ingredients to make bread rolls. just knead the dough, stick it in the oven, and you're done. the company developed them as a new way for people to use masu in their kitchen. ohashi also offers classes on

how to make masu. many people have heard about their beauty. >> translator: it's so pretty. i can't believe i made it. >> translator: we have to promote our products so that people will use them in their everyday lives. we are hoping to take on new challenges. >> reporter: masu have been made in japan for over 1,300 years. they are gradually dispaeappear. but the industry is working hard to make sure masu will survive. >> at one point this company's profits dipped as low as $600,000. but this year it looks like they will bring in double that. $1.2 million. they also plan to reach out to overseas markets in the future.

the children of thailand have far fewer opportunities to read books than do youths in other industrialized countries. but one japanese woman has made it her mission to provide thai children with better access to books and to awaken them to the magic of reading. nhk world's kemapa kemapad rothwanchichkun has more. >> reporter: a bookstore in bangkok. a mobile library comes here to arrange readings of books for children. the mobile library, known as the always reading caravan, is run by yochimi horiyuchi, who is progressively blind.

along with local student volunteers, she narrates in fluent thai the stories she has memorized. >> translator: i'm so happy she reads us stories. >> reporter: horiyuchi moved to bangkok in february to begin preparations for the mobile library. when she studied in thailand as a university exchange student, she learned that the children there have little access to books. books are expensive. and books for children are scarce in thailand. though visually impaired, horiyuchi had her family read books to her. she says this broadened her view of the world and it is what made her desire to help thai children experience the joys of reading.

>> translator: reading books, you use your imagination to create the world depicted in the story. you can also discover different parts of the world. i want children to experience that. >> reporter: on this day horiyuchi visited a primary school in a farm village. in this poor farm village children have little access to books other than textbooks. horiyuchi showed the pupils about 200 picture books for children she had brought from japan. all the stories had been translated into thai with the assistance of the japanese and thai staff. in no time at all the children

were absorbed in the books. >> translator: while i'm reading, i feel like i'm having an adventure. it's thrilling. >> translator: i like books because they allow me to dream. >> translator: for children who can't access books, i want to bring the books to them by giving the books legs, so to speak. we're working hard on that. >> reporter: horiyuchi's mission is to deliver more books to more thai children. even one more child makes a difference and the work never ends. . and hemmapat rhojwichkun, nhk world bangkok. >> an amazing individual. horiyuchi says her dream is to visit all the villages in thailand to introduce children to the wonders of books.

let's now take a look at the latest market figures. ♪ ♪ hi there, and welcome back to your world weather update. now, for east asia still looking at a lot of much clearer skies

across the major portion of the asian continent here. the korean peninsula. much of china under this area of high pressure. so things are staying dry. now, there is a little bit of precipitation along the southern coast, but we can see that pulling away very, very quickly. so by the end of today looking a lot dryer for those of you here as well. now, japan, however, looking at much more ample precipitation moving in today. and a lot of that is going to be snow. all the way into friday morning we are expecting quite a bit of snowfall mainly along this western flank of japan, right along the sea of japan coastline. up to 16 to 20 centimeters is going to be possible across this wide area. areas here looking to pick "up" to 60 centimeters of snow. much more snow expected. definitely could cause some traffic problems. so do stay on the watch for that. tokyo, meanwhile-l see sunny spells, high rising to 9 degrees. ks getting quite cold, in seoul minus 6 for you. also getting chilly in shanghai

with 4 degrees only for your high today. now, for australia the eastern side has been receiving a lot of rainfall. queensland reporting widespread flooding since last month. still looking at showers impacting the coastline again in the next 24 hours, anywhere from queensland all the way into parts of new south wales, rockhampton especially has been seeing some very high water levels with more additional rainfall we could see conditions worsen for you here. as for north america, things are going to stay largely settled and calm. just a little bit of snow right now spreading into british columbia, as well as washington state. that heads further inland into parts of central canada on thursday. otherwise, ahead of that some lake effect snows impacting the great lakes area. also, in the southeast here some showers, thunderstorms impacting the deep south. for the southern appalachians, mountain areas picking up a little bit of snow tonight. as for highs, 11 in denver and 19 in l.a. and southern california will continue to see some more dense

fog again tonight into thursday. so watch out for that. minus 5 in chicago. so quite chilly. and minus 1 in toronto. finally getting a look at europe here. looking at much more precipitation headed your way if you are in western and central sections of europe. we're going to see that all the way. moving into the scandinavian peninsula. then on in toward the baltic states as well. areas here will be looking to pick up snow as well. especially for upper elevations. british isles not too bad. dry. a little bit of snow in parts of northern scotland. also rain impacting the southern edge. but that will be just about it. out east staying dry. turkey, however, and parts of greece too looking to see some thundershowers as well as rain. minus 1 in stockholm today. minus 9 in moscow. minus 3 in warsaw 3 degrees for berlin. paris up to 12 degrees for your high on thursday. that's a look at your weather for now. and i will leave you with your

three-day outlook. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ once again, the headlines this hour, u.s. president barack obama is going to have a tougher time working with congress now that republicans have a majority in the house of representatives. as the 112th congress started on wednesday, republican john boehner took over as house speaker for democrat nancy pelosi. >> our spending has caught up with us, and our debt soon will eclipse the entire size of our

national economy. >> the republicans plan to everytuever overturn obamas health care legislation which he managed to push through congress last year. president obama hopes to put the country's economic recovery on a solid footing by swiftly passing a new economic stimulus bill. but the republicans in the house of representatives adopting a confrontational approach. he faces an uphill battle. obama is reshuffling his staff. and white house press secretary robert gibbs has said he will leave his post soon. gibbs made the announcement on wednesday and looked back on his two years in the job. >> i would not trade the worst day i've had here for many of the best days that you might have in another job. >> gibbs has been on obama's staff for almost seven years. he plans to leave his post in early february, after obama's annual address before a joint session of congress later this month. gibbs is expected to play a

major role in preparing the ground for obama's re-election campaign. we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani.