hello. glad to have you on this edition of "newsline." it's friday, june 10th at 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the operator of the fukushima daiichi plant has announced detailed plans to filter 100,000 tochbs water contaminated with highly radioactive substances. tepco reported how it intends to proceed with the job to the nuclear and industrial safety agency on thursday. about 500 tochbs contaminamid water is accumulating daily within the reactor structures

due to continued injections of fresh water to cool the facilities. tepco plans to decontaminate 1200 tons of the water daily. the power company says it will separate oil from contaminated water before transferring it to u.s.-made equipment that absorbs radioactive cesium using minerals like zeolite. the water will then be transferred to french-made equipment that absorbs radioactive substances using chemicals. tepco says the devices will reduce the concentration of radioactive substances in the water to 1 thousandth to 1 ten-thousandth of the level. the firm plans to on stain the c -- obtain the consent of the agency filtering and then start operations around next wednesday. tepco says it will use facilities at the plant to store

highly radioactive waste that results from the filtering process. but the utility has not decided how to decontaminate the waste. >> the leftover waste would be completely new to experts in japan. they would have to research from scratch how to treat it. >> the agency says the waste will be kept in storage while processing methods and legislative steps are considered in what will likely be a very long process. japan's central union of agricultural cooperatives has requested that the government buy all disaster-affected farmland and then restore it. the union known as ja, submitted an agricultural recovery request thursday, saying the government should temporarily purchase and then restore all affected farmland. farmers would buy back the fertile areas in the future.

ja has asked the government to set up a new institution that would consolidate land and divide among farmers to it could be cultivated efficiently. ja executive director shigeo fuji said in a news conference that the government should outline its policy as farmers are deeply worried about their future. radio activity was detected in tea made in shizuoka city. shizuoka prefecture is one of the most famous tea-producing areas in japan. a tea distributor in tokyo reported to the prefecture that it had detected high levels of radioactivity in the tea shipped from the city. the prefectural government confirmed the contamination on thursday detecting 679 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium. the legal limit is 500.

they asked the company to refrain from shipping out the product. this is first time that radioactivity was found in tea leaves picked in shizuoka prefecture. after the accident at the fukushima nuclear power plant, tea plants and processed tea contaminated by radioactivity has been found in a wide area around tokyo. a government panel of seismologists says major aftershocks from the march 11th earthquake could still occur in the sea off the coast of northeastern japan. at a meeting on thursday, the government's earthquake research committee examined the impact of the march quake on the seismic activities in the country.magni aftershocks or stronger could hit sea areas off the pacific coast of northeastern japan. it said that in some sea areas close to the japan trench, major quakes accompanied by tsunami could occur. the panel said the risk of earthquakes from some active

faults in the inland areas is higher than before. one fault straddles miyagi and fukushima prefectures. another runs between the western part of tokyo and neighboring saitama prefecture. the panel chief abe called for continued caution saying that although the number of tremors is declining nearly three months since the march disaster, aftershocks could occur. the heat is on japanese prime minister naoto kan to announce when he will resign. so far he's giving no date, but the race to replace him as leader of his ruling democratic party and, therefore, prime minister, is already under way. some senior government officials are throwing their support behind finance minister yoshihiko noda. prime minister naoto kan indicated at a meeting of a lower house committee on thursday he hopes to stay in office until august. >> translator: i want to continue in my role until the

jobs of building temporary housing and removing debris are nearly complete. >> but it's uncertain he'll be able to last that long, especially now that an unofficial leadership race is under way. support is building among members of the democratic for finance minister noda. senior government officials say the current economic and fiscal policies need to be kept in place and that noda is not overtly antagonistic to factions in the party that don't support kan. noda did not mention his possible candidacy. he said all he needs to do is to fulfill his role as finance minister. >> translator: i will work hard as finance minister. media reports about my candidacy have bothered me. >> some other possible candidates are former environment minister sakhihito

ozawa and shinji taoka. and michihiko kano. it isn't going over well with other party members. >> translator: i'm not happy that various names have surfaced and the idea of a grand coalition has been rumored even though kan has not yet mentioned when he will step down. >> former party leader ichiro ozawa says rebuilding japan has nothing to do with intraparty factions. he says it's important for the dpj to act in a unified way. ozawa indicated his faction will support a candidate on the basis of political experience and the relationship he could forge with opposition parties. today in our series on the aftermath, we look at the psychological impact of the ongoing fukushima nuclear accident. people worry about how their

health is affected by longterm exposure to radiation. mothers with small children especially feel the strain. now a team of doctors from tokyo and the united states are helping fukushima residents cope with their mounting stress. our reporter yuko fukuyama has more. >> reporter: this doctor specializes in treating children with cancer. this man is a psychiatrist who's worked in major disaster areas around the world. the team is visiting fukushima prefecture to set up mental health guidelines for residents living in fear of nuclear contamination. this woman is expecting her first baby in a month. she says all her friends worry that the radioactive timebomb is ticking in their bodies. >> translator: can we have babies? many couples are planning to have children. but do we need to take extra precautions?

>> translator: records from chernobyl show that the number of deformed babies did not increase but many miscarriages did. many mothers were highly stressed. you need to find your own way to cope with fear. >> reporter: t in both mebl stress became the major hemt problem lasting 20 to 30 years right up to this date. in fact, nearly 7,000 children were diagnosed with thyroid cancer after chernobyl accident. but more than 99% were eventually cured. however, widespread depression among parents resulted in many children suffering from mental disorders. >> translator: the biggest impact was on children's mental health.

emotionally disturbed, traumatized kids. people still suffer after 25 years, but the fukushima accident just happened recently. if we take action quickly, things might change. we want to assess people's psychological situation, then devise action plans to meet their needs. >> reporter: in real practice, the doctors are well aware that simple solutions to dispel people's anxieties don't come easily. this is the mother of two small children. she has stopped eating locally grown vegetables and she doesn't buy milk and dairy products any more. he produces a radiation monitor just for her comfort. the doctor thinks that food in shops are safe as they have en screened, but he doesn't object

to her decisions on which products to buy. her proactive way to deal with radiation fears gives her a sense of being in control of the situation. the doctor says that this can be an effective first step in letting go of anxieties. >> translator: if you have the slightest doubt, don't eat them. if you feel you can control the radioactive substances on your own and you don't let your children eat contaminated food, that will give you confidence. it will probably reduce your anxiety a lot. >> taking care of yourself, being happy and optimistic is very good for your children. i think the lack of clear guidelines is us and i think one thing that would be very helpful would be the development of practical steps and reasonable steps that people could take to protect themselves

from the radiation. >> reporter: she says after speaking with the experts, she feels relieved. at home, her children now drink soybean milk. knowing more about children's health risks as well as cure rates of thyroid cancer. she feels confident that she can cope with the fear of radiation. >> translator: i still worry, but worrying too much won't get us mothers anywhere. the doctors say we might not need to be so concerned now. i kind of feel family will be safe here. i've been trying to smile, live happily every day and now, knowing that i have the right attitude, i'll try to share what i have learned with my friends. >> translator: anxiety spreads like an infectious disease. i think we need to provide

people with correct information that they can rely on. >> reporter: the team hopes to organize a local network of nurses and school teachers to provide care. many school grounds remain off limits, but some safer yards have been reopened for children. the team is hoping to come up with guidelines within a few weeks to bring more smiles to children and their parents. yuko fukuyama, nhk world. and in other news, a russian-made soyuz spacecraft has linked up with the international space station. the spacecraft was launched earlier this week and docked with the station at 9:18 p.m. utc on thursday. the three new crew members including japanese astronaut satoshi furukawa will move to the international space station after performing a series of

safety checks. furukawa along with mike fossum and sergei volkov will live and work at the space station for about five months. they will conduct scientific experiments and carry out research. japan's defense ministry has released video footage showing a chinese navy ship passing through international waters between the islands of japan's southern-most prefecture of okinawa. this is the first footage of a chinese navy vessel video released by japan's self-defense forces. the chinese navy has been increasingly active in recent years and passing through okinawa's main islands. the defense ministry says the self-defense forces are continuing to watch the chinese fleet. they believe the chinese navy aims to improve its long-term activities in the open sea. china's defense ministry has said the navy fleet will conduct exercises in the west pacific from mid through late june, adding that the drills are routine and comply with

international laws. on thursday, three more chinese navy ships were spotted on the same route. vietnam has accused china of harassing its oil exploration vessel for the second time in two weeks near disputed islands in the south china sea on thursday. foreign ministry spokesperson nguyen phuong nga spoke about the incident on thursday. she said three ships presumably chinese fishing boats cut an exploration vessel while they surveyed waters off the southern province of bac lieu. [ speaking foreign language ] vietnam previously criticized china for obstructing another oil probe vessel in the south

china sea on may 26th. it also said warning shots were fired at vietnamese fishing boats by chinese ships on may 31st. mounting anger towards china sparked recent rare protest demonstrations in vietnam. observers say the latest announcement may lead to further opposition against china. south korea is looking for a breakthrough that will lead to the resumption of the six-party talks on north korea's nuclear program. its chief envoy to the talks has again visited china to figure out a way to end a stalemate that lasted for 2 1/2 years. wie sung lac met wu dawei in beijing. wu chairs the six-party talks. later in the day wie told reporters that the meeting was fruitful. north korea has been increasingly confrontational toward south korea. it recently cut off military communications and says it will no longer deal with the

administration of lee myung bak. they've disclosed information about secret negotiations for an inter-korean summit. wie said that south korea is now trying to determine what's behind the growing hostility. we're joined with the latest in business news. midweek we heard from the u.s. central bank and yesterday we heard from the european central bank. so the focus is on interest rates. >> that's right, catherine. and the ecb didn't raise interest rates yet for this month, but many are expecting them to do so next month. the european central bank announced that it willeep its key interest rate unchanged as the credit crisis continues in greece. at its policy board meeting in frankfurt on thursday, the central bank made the decision to keep the rate at 1.25%. in europe, the credit crisis continues in greece as it struggles to rebuild its economy. the central bank kept the interest rate unchanged at a relatively low level, making it

easier for companies and financial institutions to borrow money. however, concerns over inflation continues in europe as crude oil and food prices remain high. many market players anticipate that the central bank will hike its key rate in july. >> on balance, risks to the outlook for price stability are on the up side. accordingly, strong vigilance is warranted. on the basis of our assessment, we will act in a firm and timely manner. we will do all what is needed to prevent recent price developments giving rise to broad based pressures. >> and i have fresh economic data as well. in japan the prices of goods traded among businesses rose in may for an eighth consecutive month. japan's central bank said on friday the corporate goods price index stood at 105.5 against a reference value of 100 set in

2005. this is up 2.2% from a year earlier. the index is a measure of the pri prices of goods traded among japanese firms. by category, petroleum and coal products surged 14.9% while nonferrous metals rose by 7.6%. now, let's get a check on the markets. the dow snapped six days of losses on the back of favorable trade data out of the u.s. let's see how stocks are performing here in japan. we cross over to ra mean mel la guard who is at the tokyo stock exchange. how are stocks trading here in friday morning? >> good morning to you, ai. pretty interesting stuff here at the tokyo stock exchange. not only has the nikkei broken above 9500 but it broke above 9600 for a moment there before backing off a bit. that follows the gains that we saw in the dow which ended higher for the first time in seven trading sessions and it snapped the longest losing

streak since july last year. that was for the dow. now t trade data in the u.s. narrowed in april, but if you look at some of the details there, a large part of that was due to the sharp drop in imports from japan, with key exports of autos and parts having been severely hampered due to the march 11 earthquake. some of that coming into the trade data for the u.s. and sticking to autos, one key release today after the markets close, which will be of interest will be toyota's earnings forecast for this business year ending march 2012. another one to look out for. and relating to japanese exports the strong yen has been playing into markets all week this week, thand has been a bit of a thorn in the side of japanese companies which are selling in to the u.s. we've seen the dollar/yen having dipped below 80 yen several times this week just hovering above that this morning. and that's much higher at -- well, the yen is actually much

stronger than the assumed level of around 85 for a lot of japanese companies. the euro also has been caught up in a bit of a tug of war there between concerns over greece's second bailout package as well as prospects of a possible rate hike in july. although the euro has been keeping pretty steady so far this week around 116 to the yen. still, the risk of atrong yen has been eating into stocks. we've seen analysts saying a little bit of shift of money into defensive stocks such as telecoms and pharmaceuticals and railway companies. we'll have that backdrop with prime minister naoto kan playing into the markets. we'll see how that affects the closing levels here. for now the nikkei above 9600. back to you in the studio. >> thanks a lot. that was our market reporter ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. new car sales in china dropped

by nearly 4% in may compared with a year ago. it marks a second straight month of declines. the china association of automobile manufacturers said on thursday that new auto sales came to just above 1.3 million units. that's down about 4% from a year earlier an was the second monthly decline in a row. in april, sales mark their first drop in over two years when a modest fall of 0.2% was posted. the decline comes after government subsidies for new car purchases introduced in response to the global financial crisis came to an end. the move by beijing to limit the number of new cars to cope with traffic congestion and air pollution also damped demand. another factor is the ongoing difficulties that japanese makers face in getting parts. sales by toyota motor and honda motor declined by over 30%. now, china was the world's biggest auto market for a second

straight year in 2010 when over 18 million units were sold. the slowdown in the country's auto sales is fueling concerns about its economic outlook. now let's get you a recap of the latest market figures. that's all for now in business news. and welcome back to your weather update. now we're keeping an eye on a

tropical storm system that is going to be just north of the philippines. tropical storm sarika. it strengthened from a tropic at depression past a couple of hours. it is not going to be strengthening too much more. that is good news, but it is still packing winds of over 65 kilometers per hour. it is a storm system we do need to watch out for. looks like it will be aiming towards southeast china, possibly taiwan so we can keep an eye on it. it will gradually weaken as it heads into northern cooler waters. by the way, the system has already been bringing quite a bit of rain to the philippines, and it looks like it will start bringing showers where it's headed, so you do want to watch out for that. but today our big rainmaker is this big frontal boundary and accompanying low. it has been bringing heavy rains to eastern china, and it's going to continue again today before the bulk of the heavy rain starts aiming for southern japan. by the afternoon hours, southern japan is going to be at risk for some very heavy showers to develop and that is going to continue as we head into saturday morning.

so you do want to watch out for that. northeast china still looking at unsettled weather coming on in. heavy showers are going to be possible in pockets. and then the southeast, too, tropical showers and downpours still continuing again today. highs for friday will feature slightly cooler temperatures for eastern china. shanghai gets 28 and 31 for beijing. not the extreme heat we've been seeing. instead seoul is getting hotter. coming in at 29 for today. as for the americas, we've got a hurricane in the pacific here. and it's showing some really good signs of develop. we've got a clear eye developed that is now a category 3 major hurricane. it has rapidly developed over the past couple of days. and it is continuing on a westerly track. so away from land. that at least is good. but still pacific coastline of mexico is going to be at risk for some very high surf as well as dangerous rip currents. we do want to look out for that. there's already been a lot of showers impacting central america.

that's looking to continue again today. and the caribbean islands still looking at ongoing showers because of that tropical low and the rain will start moving into the bahamas today. as for the rest of north america, showers will continue to impact this whole northern tier of the united states and severe weather is going to be possible from new england states and down in towards the central plains. so here you want to watch out for those strong storms tonight. rain will continue to move through the midwest in the next 24 hours. and the new england region should look a little bit drier as we look into friday. as for highs, a little bit cooler for new york. 29 on friday, but still hot for d.c. and the heat will continue to hang on for much of the deep south as well. as for europe, scattered showers and thunderstorms will be really widespread across the area. western europe more rain is going to be coming in again today and showers will continue to impact the british isles as

well. as for temperatures, eastern europe and warsaw will remain at 20 degrees. looking for seasonable. kiev, 27 is your high. and athens in the lower 30s as well. that's a look at your weather for now. here is your three-day outlook. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'mn

tokyo. thanks for joining us.