hello there. glad to have you. it's 11:00 a.m. in tokyo. tokyo electric power company or tepco said on thursday that the number one reactor at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant is believed to be in a state of meltdown. >> translator: considering that the fuel rods are likely to have melted and fallen to the bottom of the reactor, we can say that

the number one nuclear reactor is in a state of meltdown. >> earlier in the day it found the coolant water in the reactor was at a level that would completely expose nuclear fuel rods if they were in their normal position. judging from the reactor's surface temperature, tepco believes that the melted fuel is being cooled down. however, it suspects the meltdown may have damaged the bottom of the reactor causing water to leak into the containment vessel. it also suspects that water is leaking into the reactor building. the company is planning to fully fill the containment vessel with water by increasing the amount injected. the company says, however, it must review the plan in a lot of latest finding. the revised plan is due to the released on tuesday next week. tepco also says that an operation to transfer highly radioactive water pooled in the turbine building of the fukushima plant's number three reactor resulted in

contamination of the nearby ocean. highly radioactive water was found leaking into the ocean from a pit near the reactor's water intake on wednesday. the company transferred about 1,000 tons of radioactive water from the turbine building of the number three reactor earlier this month. it says that during the transfer radioactive water leaked out from an underground pipe connected to the pit. the company admitted in a news conference on thursday that prior inspections to prevent leaks were inadequate. >> translator: the leak apparently occurred between tuesday and wednesday. we have to consider carefully about the possibility of contaminated water leaking into the ocean. >> last month highly radioactive water also leaked into the ocean from a pit near the number two reactor. tub tubu electric power company has

begun preocedures to stop the hamaoka power plant in central japan. they plan to shut down the number four and five reactors as requested by the government due to earthquake concerns. the company started inserts control rods into the number four reactor to stop nuclear fission at 3:30 a.m. on friday. it halted power generation by the reactor later in the morning. operation of the reactor is expected to fully stop at around 3:00 p.m. the power company says it will start the operation to shut down the number five reactor on saturday. the number one and number two reactors at the plant have been previously shut down for decommission, and the number three had been stopped for regular inspection. after the number four and five reactors are stopped, all five reactors of the nuclear plant will be nonoperational. we have more on tubu electric from the biz desk. ai. >> following the government's

request to shut down the nuclear power plant, a u.s. credit rating agency has downgraded the power firm's debts. standard & poor's cut the credit rating by one notch. the rating agency expects the power company's profits to suffer because it will need to rely more on fossil fuel fired plants and therefore face higher fuel costs. as all the reactor at the nuclear plant will be turned off. the agency said the rating will be under more downward pressure unless they reduce costs, raise electric it city charges or receives support from the government. the march 11th disaster took it's toll on the seven leading auto makers. they had losses over $3 billion in the business year through march. the total figure includes losses of over $1.3 billion by toyota,

$900 million by honda and nearly 500 million by nissan. they had to stop operations because parts supplies from stricken regions came to a halt. automakers had to repair their own factories and dealer showrooms. the leading automaker september mazda posted an increase in profits for the business year due to strong sales overseas. none released forecasts for the business year through march 2012 as the effects from the disaster are expected to continue for some time. a japanese government survey shows that business confidence rose slightly among people with jobs sensitive to economic cycles, but the march disaster continues to weigh down on the country's economy. the cabinet office released the result of the economic watchers survey for the month of april. it asked about 200,000 people

how they saw business compared with three months ago. the index for the current state of the economy rose 0.6 points from march to 28.3. a reading above 50 suggests an economic improvement, whereas a figure below 50 indicates a downturn. the low reading for april is due to slow corporate output caused by disrupted supply chains. the jobs situation also remains tough because companies concerned about the future are reluctant to expand their payrolls. the number of travelers who used tokyo's airport during the long spring holiday was down this year due to the disaster and nuclear crisis. japan's immigration bureau said on thursday that slightly over 580,000 travelers used the airport between april 28th and may 8th. that is a 20% drop from a year earlier. the decrease was smaller than the airport's operator expected. it had predicted a drop of 50%.

the immigration bureau says the decrease was limited because many japanese made last-minute decisions to go overseas for the holiday. another factor was that 134,000 foreign nationals who left japan following the disaster returned to the country by the end of the holiday. that number represents 80% of re-entry permit holders who left after march 11th. share prices are moving within a narrow range in tokyo on friday morning ahead of the release of corporate earnings reports. the key nikkei index closed at 9,693. that's down 23 points or a quarter of a percent from thursday's close. trading is mixed as investors are considering the effects of the quake in northeastern japan. now to currencies on the tokyo foreign exchange. the dollar is slightly lower against the yen. the greenback is currently as 80.93 yen. the euro is at 114.88 yen.

observers say it prompted buying of the euro against the dollar. this also weakened the greenback against the yen, and that momentum carried over to tokyo. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond is up one basis point so far this session. a mixed picture this friday morning. hong kong is down 0.16%, shanghai trading in positive territory. and i will be back in a bit, but for now back to the main news with katherine. >> thanks very much, ai. the nuclear crisis in fukushima has had a devastating impact on the surrounding communities. many of those who have had to evacuate their hometowns are people who make a living from the ocean. next is a story on one young fisherman who has been unable to go out fishing since the start

of the emergency. >> this man has been a fisherman since he was 19. he managed to move his boat away from the shore just before the tsunami hit so it wasn't destroyed. the harbor is only 7 kilometers from the power plant. the residents had to evacuate their homes. >> translator: how frustrating. the sea was always full of fish to catch. i want it back the way it was. >> reporter: two currents meet off the coast. the diverse sea life makes it an ideal fishing spot. in winter there are many flounders and octopuses. summer brings japanese seaperch and flatfish. over 200 people in a town make

their living from fishing. >> translator: when i lifted my net, i could see how beautiful the morning sun was on the horizon. watching the sun, i had many things on my mind, such as it was a great catch today or i'll work harder tomorrow to catch more. >> reporter: he's now taking shelter in an inn with his mother and father, who also fish with him. >> reporter: on this day he travels to minami souma city.

before the disaster he was building a new boat there. planned to finish it by june. >> translator: the shipyard was over there beyond the grass. >> reporter: but the shipyard has been demolished. there is no trace of his boat. >> translator: i really wanted to see my new boat. looking at this, i can't help but cry. >> reporter: this port is about 40 kilometers from his town. he has been repairing his old boat and waiting for the day he can fish again. >> translator: this boat is the

only possession i was able to save from the disaster. i want to turn on the engine, put it in gear, and speed off across the vast ocean. >> reporter: he doesn't know when he can return to the familiar stretch of ocean. his frustration is building. >> translator: please, give us back our ocean. i'm begging from the bottom of my heart. see, it looks like nothing happened. but because of the power plant we can't fish. if it had just been the earthquake and tsunami we would have already cleaned things up and would be well on our way to recovery. we would be looking towards the future and to fishing again. because of the nuclear situation we can't. it's terribly frustrating.

>> just one of the many heart-breaking stories coming out of the devastated region. now the japanese government says there's no room for reviewing the u.s. futenma base relocation plan by okinawa despite calls by influential u.s. senators to re-examine the plan. >> translator: we'll proceed with the current relocation plan in line with our may 2010 agreement with the u.s. government. >> reporter: he told reporters on thursday that although the request was made by influential u.s. senators, it represents the views of only a few lawmakers. the japanese and u.s. governments agreed in 2006 to relocate the marine corps air station in futenma to a less-populated area in okinawa and reconfirmed the accord in may last year. carl leavve levin described the

relocation plan as unrealistic. they're asking the u.s. defense department to reconsider integrating futenma into the air force base also in okinawa. they want some units to be transferred to a base in guam. the japanese government maintains there is no reason to re-examine the katena integration plan, which has drawn local opposition, as well as repeated objections from the u.s. military. it will closely watch how the u.s. administration responds to the latest request. u.s. nuclear regulators say the situation at japan's troubled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant is unstable but not cause for undue concern. on thursday the nuclear regulatory commission held its first hearing on the nuclear accident in japan. the executive director for operations bill borchard said while conditions are not entirely stable they're not changing at a pace to cause

concern. he said the fukushima plant still faces problems. >> there's the natural challenge that -- they're now entering into the rainy season, which will just complicate more the activities around the plant. >> he expressed concerns that high levels of radiation is still being detected near the reactors and that the structure with a spent nuclear pool at the number four reactor may not be strong enough. the hearing went on to discuss how to enhance the safety of nuclear power plants in the u.s. the commission said it has found that preparations for an extended loss of power at the plants are inadequate. it has instructed plant operators to immediately re-examine their implementation of safety measures and report back. the commission aims to release an interim report of the safety improvements in july. the european union has postponed making a decision regarding safety tests for

nuclear power plants in the region until next week. nuclear safety authorities of the 27 eu nations met in on thu methods of stress tests for 143 nuclear reactors operating in the region. safety tests are likely to include earthquake resistance of nuclear power plants and measures against emergency power failure due to natural disaster such as earthquakes and floods. some members strongly objected to including measures against terrorism attacks as one of the test items. nuclear safety authorities were divided over ways for the eu to assess the results of safety inspections conducted by member nations. discussions are scheduled to continue next thursday. yemeni secure forces have fired on protestors. it has been reported that 19 people were killed and more than 200 injured over the past two days.

tens of thousands of people gathered at the prime minister's office in the capital on wednesday night and demanded the resignation of the president. security forces sprayed hot water and fired upon protestors to disburse them. clashes between protestors and security forces were reported across the country. he has ruled yemen for over 20 years. protests calling for him to resign began in january, and more than 160 people have been killed in clashes with security forces. in april saleh expressed his intention to accept a proposal by neighboring countries and step down within a month. later that month he retracted the decision. welcome back to "newsline

business." japanese consumers have cut back on spending. how long will this trend continue? our market reporter spoke with the chief market economist on his outlook for personal consumption. >> ever since the march 11th disaster, personal consumption has remained very weak. in fact, household spending showed a record drop in march. what is your analysis of people's spending behavior? >> yes, of course, we had very bad numbers, especially in the consumption area. in march we saw household spending was down 8.5%. we saw minus 51% plans of nuclear. after the earthquake struck,

japanese consumption was pushed down strongly. however, i think there was i'd say a sporadic direct point on the need of obtaining water or bread or milk. when we see convenience store sales in march, then it was up 7.7%. in supermarket sales we see plus 0.3%. so generally the sentiment of consumers are very bad after the earthquake struck. however, to get food, water, or small batteries or even toilet paper, in some areas the data shows some positive numbers in consumption statistics. >> given the sharp drop in consumption in march, do you think this pattern or trend will

continue for long? >> no. i expect some slow but steady consumption as early as late summer or early autumn. this time the shock in the japanese economy is on the supply side, not the demand side basically. they were hit by a shortage due to fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant's accident. there was the collapse of the supply chain as a result of parts. however, japanese corporations are doing their best efforts to recover, and yes, there are some corporations that have announced

that a schedule is now proceeding very good. >> specifically what kind of measures do you think are needed to spur consumption here in japan? >> i'd like to point out three major measures that should be conducted by the japanese government. the first one is effective, say, population increasing measures to introduce people to make more babies. the second one is the form of the pension system, i think. other people have a lot of financial assets. however they're now anxious about their future, especially the public pension system. so the government must make make

reform of the public pension system. the third mission, the perfect end of the nuclear power plant crisis is if it could be accomplished then for tourists to come here again and the japanese population increasing policy would be conducted smoothly, i think. >> that was the chief market economist at misaho securities. now let's get you a recap of the latest market figures.

>> and that wraps up business news. welcome back to your weather update. for east asia we're still talking about a lot of rain impacting areas, first of all, across the southeast china coastline. really concentrated amounts here. we're looking at more rain developing in inland areas of china as well. definitely you want to watch out for flooding as well as landslides. it's equally wet across the southeast of asia, too. areas like the philippines and through the indochina peninsula looking at sharp downpours as well as thunderstorms again. up towards the north, northeast china will remain wet. we have a low moving very

slowly, and some of that moisture heading across into northern japan mostly in the area. parts of the region are looking at continuing showers or chance of light showers throughout today. for friday we show 43 degrees in manila and 45 in bangkok. 27 for taipei as well as shanghai. tokyo is going to be looking much warmer, too. 28 degrees for your high today, so that's a big jump from yesterday. now, to the outlook for those quake-affected areas, we'll show the chance of precipitation on friday for these couple of cities, but that's going to be in the morning hours. it should let up by now. hachinohe is the exception. there's a slight chance of showers. on saturday things dry out nicely although there's heavy cloud cover. gusty conditions continue into

saturday as well. dry skies for both days here, and in mito nice and warm here, 25 degrees for both friday and saturday. some very warm conditions to look forward to. all right. and in towards north america, still the core of the really active systems remain in the mid-section of the united states. we've got a couple disturbances. still looking very, very active. lots of warm air coming in from the gulf, and then we have a lot of cool air behind this low. so that's all mixing and producing that stormy weather, and again tonight we're looking at a severe weather threat for a couple of different areas. parts of the midwest here, and this large section of the central plains towards southern sections. right now parts of eastern nebraska at risk for tornadic activity. you want to keep a close eye on your local warnings if you are in the area. definitely not ruling out the chance of tornadic activity, and, of course, there will be large hail, strong to severe

thunderstorms that you want to be on the watch for. now, rainfall, too, is lingering in the area from really right along the mississippi valley into eastern canada. a wide area will pick up on rain again. it's a slow-moving system here we're dealing with. rainfall amounts starting to accumulate. not good news for middle to lower areas of the mississippi valley. still dealing with very, very serious flooding issues. out west looking much drier, and those showers are on the way out. highs are recovering nicely in vancouver, 17 for you on friday and even up to 19 in seattle. all right. that's a look at your weather conditions for now, and here is your three-day outlook.

that concludes this edition of "newsline." thanks stretvery much for joini.