glad to have you on this edition of "newsline." it's tuesday, june 7th, 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. japan's nuclear safety agency says there were 800 to 1,000 kilograms of hydrogen in two of the reactors at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant shortly after it was hit by the quake and tsunami in march. the nuclear and industrial safety agency studied the data that tokyo electric power company provided last month. the agency says about 1,000 kilograms of hydrogen were produced in the number one reactor when the fuel rods became exposed two hours after the quake and the metal fuel

containers oxidized an hour later. it says the same happened in the number three reactors some 43 hours after the quake, creating the same amount of hydrogen. as a result, hydrogen explosions blew the tops off the number one and three reactor buildings. the japanese government will restructure its nuclear organizations to clarify roles and responsibilities if a nuclear disaster occurs. nhk obtained a draft of a report. the report says the government will make the nuclear and industrial safety agency the country's nuclear regulator independent from the ministry of economy, trade and industry. it also says that the operator of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant, tokyo electric power company, should improve the design of its nuclear plants to ensure that cooling systems continue to function in the event of a serious accident. the storage pools for the spent nuclear fuel are located too high in the troubled plant and have hampered efforts to cool

the reactors. the report also says the government will conduct a study on nuclear safety with the help of the international community to identify ways to strengthen global nuclear safety. the government's nuclear disaster task force reviews the draft report on tuesday. it will then be submitted to the international atomic energy agency ministerial conference on nuclear safety in vienna that starts june 20th. the director general of the international atomic energy agency says he will propose measures to strengthen nuclear safety at an upcoming international conference. yukiya amano made the remarks in his opening speech at the iaea board of governors speech on monday. amano reported on the agency's activities such as sending a team of experts to japan last month to assess the safety issues following the accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. he said the team is now preparing its final report to be submitted to the iaea mib st

ministerial conference in vienna starting june 20th. >> the coming ministerial conference in june will be extremely important and it will determine the way ahead for the nuclear safety after the fukushima accident. i plan to make some practical suggestions drawing upon experience in assisting member states in the area of nuclear safety. >> he suggested that the iaea will look to forming a global nuclear safety framework at the meeting. now an internal document from the agency lbs reveals that an emergency response office called an off-site center was nearly dysfunctional at the time of the plant's nuclear accident. the document obtained by nhk contains details about the malfunction of the center five kilometers from the plant

opinion off-site centers had been established at 22 stations in japan after a criticality disaster in ibaraki prefecture in 1999. local governments, police and self-defense forces are supposed to gather at such offices in the event of nuclear accidents. the document shows that the center near the plant suffered a power outage soon after the quake. an emergency diesel generator did not work at all, communications were down, and other critical functions were lost. the document shows that officials from only three out of more than 20 organizations went to the center seven hours after the quake. the next day, radiation levels in the center began rising after an explosion at the plant's number one reactor building. on march 15th, the authorities decided to relocate the center's functions to the fukushima prefectural government office 60 kilometers from the plant. highly radioactive debris is

still hampering work to bring the fukushima daiichi plant under control nearly three months after the disaster. on monday, tepco removed about five centimeters of debris with radiation levels of 950 millisieverts per hour. the debris had been found saturday near the number three reactor building. in april and may, radiation levels of 900 to 1,000 millisieverts per hour was discovered in the area. radiation levels remain high near the building, which was badly damaged by a hydrogen explosion. tepco is also struggling to dispose of more than 100,000 tons of highly radioactive water thought to have accumulated in the basements of reactor and turbine buildings. the company is preparing to start operating a filtering system next week. ai uchida joins us now for the latest in business news. as more firms focus on growing new markets, business

collaboration is on the rise. >> that's right, catherine. toshiba and sony are considering a tie-up to expand business in smaller size lcd panels to capture growing demand for smartphones and other mobile devices. sources say the electronics giants are in talks over a possible consolidation of their subsidiaries that make small and mid sized lcd panels. they are planning to set up a new firm with a capital injection from the innovation network corporation of japan, a government-backed fund for promoting business restructuring. the move comes as the two makers see rising demand for panels for mobile devices amid tough competition for low priced lcds from other asian makers. toshiba and sony are aiming to produce production capacity and also likely invest in the field of electroluminsecent panels, a next generation technology, to gain a competitive edge. now let's get a check on the markets. the dow fell for a fourth day in a row amid increasing worries an

a u.s. economic slowdown. to see how stocks are kicking off in japan let's cross over to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. >> reporter: good morning to you, ai. we're seeing the nikkei and the topix trading in the negative in the first few minutes of trading, extending the losses yesterday and extending losses from the u.s. session. u.s. stocks have been in a bit of a down trend in the last month following increasingly negative economic indicators out of the u.s., and even just with the jobs data last friday causing more jitters in the energy markets. we did see crude oil prices on the new york mercantile exchange dropping below the $100 a barrel and that was on fears of a stalled u.s. economy. now we did also see some key banking stocks just as jpmorgan and bank of america also weighing on the dow. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke is due to speak at a conference later today in the u.s., and a lot of analysts are

keen to hear what he has to say about the latest weakness in the u.s. economy. also, many economists here in japan are going to be paying strong attention to any wording and if the fed may, in fact, be considering another round of quantityive easing or qe3 as it's known in the markets, if the u.s. economy continues to falter, so that will be keenly watched. here in japan elsewhere the crisis founding the fukushima nuclear power plant and also its operator, tokyo electric power company or tepco continues. we did see shares of tepco fallg 27.6% to an all-time closing low, so tepco also continues to be in the focus. the other worries surrounding tepco is also for japanese banks, many of which may come under pressure if they fail to get back a lot of the loans that they've paid to deficit-laden tepco. now moving on to currency markets, the yeb also a little bit stronger against both the

dollar and the euro currently trading around the lower 80 yen, broke below 80 yen in london time for the first time in a month, also gaining against the euro and that's followed continuing concerns about the overall bailout package that's planned for greece, but the nikkei and the topix in the negative for the first few minutes of trading. back to you in the studio >> thanks a lot, ramin, that was market reporter ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. as many countries seek ways to exit from nuclear power generation as a result of the accident at japan's fukushima daiichi plant, an energy watch dog says global demand for natural gas will jump more than 60% by 2035. the international energy agency forecasts global demand for energy to rise by 37% from the 2008 level by 2035. the demand for natural gas in particular is estimated to rise by 63%.

demand for natural gas will exceed that of coal by 2030, becoming the second largest energy source after oil by 2035, natural gas will account for more than a quarter of global energy demands. the iaea says the boom in demand for natural gas is spurred by its relatively low price and a sharp increase in unconventional gas production such as that of shale gas. another factor behind the decline in nuclear power generation in some countries such as germany results from safety concerns. this comes after the march accident at a plant in fukushima raised many questions about nuclear power use. and here's a recap of the latest market figures.

that's all for this hour in business news. back to catherine with the main news. >> thanks very much, ai. ban ki-moon has announced his intention of running for a second five-year term as secretary-general of the united nations. he is almost certain to be reelected as no other country is fielding a candidate. >> this morning, i sent a letter to the membership of the general assembly and the security council offering humbly myself for consideration for a second

term as secretary-general of the united nations. >> reporter: ban told a news conference at u.n. headquarters in new york on monday. he says tackling global warming continues to be his priority. he also referred to the unrest in the middle east. >> act boldly now before it is too late. let me say it again, this is a once in a generation opportunity to advance freedom and democracy. >> reporter: the former south korean foreign minister became u.n. chief in january 2007. he has been criticized by some european countries for lacking leadership and failing to address human rights issues. but china's u.n. ambassador, li baodung said u.n. ambassadors met and unanimously to ban's re-election. the five permanent members of the security council have also backed him for a second term.

ban has built an alliance with the obama administration to address foreign policy issues through the united nations as much as possible. ban will serve through the end of 2016 if he wins a second term. widad franco, nhk world, new york. and in other news yemeni president ali abdullah saleh has reaffirmed his intention of staying in power and says he will return to the country within days. saleh flew to saudi arabia on saturday to receive medical treatment after a rocket attack on his presidential palace. many yemenis interpreted his flight as signaling the end of his presidency but yemen's state-run tv said sunday that saleh called vice president hadi to say his declaration of returning to the country.

saudi arabia has been called on supporting a demand for saleh's resignation. germany has decided to shut down all of its nuclear power plants by 2022 as a result of a policy review prompted by the accident at japan's fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. chancellor angela merkel's government approved the country's new energy bill on monday. the government says of germany's 17 reactors, it will not restart eight whose operations were suspended for safety inspections or problems and that the rest will be scrapped in phases. the bill is to be sent for parliament for debate and expected to be enacted by next month. nuclear power generation accounts for 22% of germany's electricity supply. the government plans to make up for the loss by increasing power generation using coal and gas. it also plans to increase its use of energy generated from renewable sources from the current 17% to 35% by 2020.

the government initially supported promotion of nuclear power generation but public objections to nuclear energy grew rapidly after the fukushima accident. germany is the only group of eight country to abandon nuclear power generation. the recent disaster and the rolling blackouts that followed have led japanese to take a good look at the benefits of smoke-dried food. it's an old and easy method of preserving food and recently it has been enjoying a revival. >> reporter: we are at the matsuoka families home. the husband started smoke drying food two years ago.

matsuoka loves being outside. he began this as a hobby. everything in his house is completely electronic, so when the blackouts started after the disaster, his family couldn't cook anything. suddenly his hobby had taken on new importance. >> translator: i had a lot of eggs that were going to expire around the day of the blackout in my area. i dry smoked them and we were able to eat them over several days. >> reporter: smoke drying removes moisture from food like this cheese, making it last longer. after the rolling blackouts began, matsuoka started to dry smoke all kinds of food. >> translator: my husband was just doing it as a hobby, but since the earthquake, we have

realized that it has become very practical for our daily living. >> reporter: sales for smoke drying appliances have increased. people want to preserve food in case of disasters and blackouts. this set consists of a cardboard box and aluminum plate and wood chips. this special pot makes it easy to dry smoke food on a kitchen stove top. many people are buying pots called dutch ovens that, during normal times, are used to cook food outdoors. >> translator: it's nice to smoke dry food in my kitchen. >> translator: i do my dry smoking on my viranda and i don't need gas or electricity to cook hot food. >> reporter: these people are learning how to dry smoke food. >> ooh! >> reporter: the number of participants in the class was greater than expected.

>> translator: you can do it without gas or electricity. it seems easy, because you just need wood chips and ingredients. >> reporter: they learn how to make a smoker. place one cardboard box on top of the other. open the flap at the bottom to insert the wood chips. from lighting a flame to setting the wood chips, the process is quite simple. >> translator: put it through this opening and set it down. >> reporter: you can cook anything from fish cakes to eggs. first, remove food from the refrigerator and let it sit until it reaches room temperature. it should be cooked after an

hou hour. >> the more you dry out the food, the longer it lasts. the longer it stays in the smoker, the better. >> very interesting. i think i may be starting a new hobby there. time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters aroun asia. we begin with this item sent by ddi india. india hosted the main events marking this year's world environment day in new delhi on sunday, pledging to play a constructive role in protecting the environment. this is the first time india has been the primary host since the united nations instituted the environment day in 1972. the theme this year was forests, nature at your service. india's environment minister said that the theme highlights the importance of striking a balance between environmental protection and economic development. he added that india is a good example of the effort to

conserve forests while boosting economic growth and creating new jobs at the same time. sri lankan president mahindra rajapaksa inaugurated the country's tallest transmission tower on monday. it will connect northern parts of the nation with the south. the tower will be used to transmit digital radio and television signals to the entire northern province. tamil rebels destroyed a similar tower in 1990 during the long fight for an independent state. they wanted to cut communication with the singhalese majority in the south. the ministry of mass media and information began the construction of the tower in august 2009 and spent about $4 million to complete the project. a traditional dragon boat festival has been held in the maluo river in the central chinese province of hunan. 12 teams competed on monday in the event, which is held to remember a patriotic poet who drowned in the river 2,200 years ago. the race is a modern version of

an ancient ritual of fishermen, who searched the river for the poet's body and scattered rice balls to prevent fish from eating it. as the water level in the river has dropped due to drought, organizers of the event dredged the river and built a temporary dam to raise the level. and welcome to your weather update. we're still keeping a close eye on this rainy front. our seasonal rain fronthat stretches right across east china, or rather east asia and still looking at heavy rains. the core of the really heavy stuff right now falling below this low pressure area, so the southern islands of japan, the amami islands have already been reporting pretty hefty showers in the overnight hours and that's looking set to

continue throughout day. some showers will also be moving through the southern half of japan as well while the tail end of the frontal line bringing rain into the southern end of china although it should be easing a little bit more as we head through the rest of today. by the evening hours, heavy stuff should be gone and hopefully looking for slightly drier conditions. northeast china, meanwhile, will remain wet as well. widespread area picking up on showers. heavy rain could be developing tonight. you do want to watch out for that. for southeast asia, also talking about plenty of tropical activity, too. showers and thunderstorms across philippines in toward the indo china peninsula and the bay of bengal as well we're still talking about plenty of showers hitting area along the bay. toward india, too, west coast, that is, continues to see rain linger along the coastline. it is going to be another wet day here. highs for tuesday, pretty warm conditions, 36 degrees for beijing. really hot for you. 27 in seoul. fairly warm as well. tokyo remains at 25. slightly cooler than yesterday. gray clouds will make it feel a little better as well.

over toward the americas, central america looking at lots of activity going on here. tropical activity starting to pick up. two lows and both looking active already. this one just south of mexico looks like it may be developing into a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours. we'll keep a close eye on that one. also large low pressure area here in the caribbean as well already bringing hefty showers to areas like jamaica, haiti, as well as cuba. central america, too, looking at plenty of thundershower activity. watch out for flooding as well as landslides. now, for the u.s., the core of the really heavy rain is going to be featured here in the intermountain west. also chances of severe thunderstorms tonight. do want to watch out for that as well. widespread area here across montana, idaho, wyoming, looking at flood watches and warnings. river levels are getting very, very high. highs on tuesday, still looking pretty hot toward the east coast, getting up to 30 degrees in new york. now for europe. it's going to be still an

unsettled picture, really across the region, especially continental europe. thundershowers, again, really over a wide area. some stormy weather could be featured in parts of the scandinavian peninsula, as well, especially near the low pressure area here. for the british isles, another low is going to bring more persistent rains. perhaps not thundery here. definitely more rain to come over the next few days and temperatures remaining mild across the board here. 20 degrees for london. 21 in paris. 26 degrees in berlin. the same also for vienna. central europe, in particular, still looking pretty warm. then 33 degrees for athens, really hot weather for you again on tuesday. all right. that's a look at your weather for now. here is your three-day outlook.

our lead story this hour. japan's nuclear safety agency says there were 800 to 1,000 kilograms of hydrogen in two of the reactors at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant shortly after it was hit by the quake and tsunami in march. the nuclear and industrial safety agency studied the data that tokyo electric power company provided last month. the agency says about 1,000 kilograms of hydrogen were produced in the number one reactor when the fuel rods became exposed to two hours after the quake, and the metal fuel containers oxidized an hour later. it says the same happened in the number three reactor some 43 hours after the quake, creating the same amount of hydrogen. as a result, hydrogen explosions blew the tops off the number one and three reactor buildings.

yemeni president ali abdullah saleh has reaffirmed his intention of staying in power and says he will return to the country within days. saleh flew to saudi arabia on saturday to receive medical treatment after a rocket attack on his presidential palace. many yemenis interpreted his flight as signaling the endf his presidency but yemen's state-run tv said on money saleh called vice president abed man sour hadi after his surgery to say his health is improving and state his intention of rushing to the country. the opposition is trying to stop his return and has called on saudi arabia to support their demand for saleh's resignation. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do join us again. we'll be back with more of your updates at the top of the next hour.