welcome. i'm catherine kobayashi. tokyo electric power company is taking steps to deal with the waste water at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. the company is checking a decontamination system with the goal of conducting a test as early as friday. more than 100,000 tons of the toxic waste water accumulated at the plant after months of pumping in water. the water is hampering efforts

to bring the facility under control. tepco is struggling to find storage space for the water accumulating at a rate of 500 tons daily. the french made device uses a special chemical agent to treat the contaminated water. the u.s. made device is designed to remove radioactive cesium. tuesday's test showed it reduced cesium by a factor of 3,000. tepco planned to reduce the number of substances by 10,000 before moving the decontaminated water to temporary tanks. technical problems delayed the test by four days. we're getting another look at the extent of the damage at fukushima daiichi. tepco released video inside the number three reactor building. the footage was taken last thursday when workers entered the building to check radiation levels. the roof of the facility is missing because of a hydrogen explosion on march 14th. the video shows the workers wiping the floor with paper

sheets to check the concentration of radioactive substances that have been scattered there. it also gives a look at the water that's accumulated in the reactor building's basement. it's believed to be water leaked after it was injected to cool the reactor. the highest dosimeter reading during this information was about 100 millisieverts per hour, that means the workers would receive the maximum allowable level of exposure, 250 millisieverts within 2 1/2 hours. tepco has begun constructing giant frames or sheets. on monday tepco started assembles the first frame some 50 kilometers away from the nuclear power plant. workers put together the steel frame from gigantic pillars and beams with a 140-meter tall crane.

the frame will support a huge polyester cover for the number one reactor building. tepco is prefabricating the frame to hold a sheet 40 meters long, 40 meters wide and 50 meters high. the goal is to minimize workers' exposure to radiation. tepco hopes to ship the frame to the plant by late july. it plans to assemble similar coverings for the damaged number three and four reactor buildings. japan's science ministry started releasing readings of radiation levels across the country measured at the same height as general human activity one meter from the ground. since a series of accidents at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant in march, the ministry has been making daily announcements of radiation levels. but the height of monitoring posts has varied according to prefecture ranging from 1.5 meters to 80 meters above ground. people have been calling for radiation levels to be measured inhe way which reflects the realities of the influence of radiation on human bodies. the science ministry has decided on a standard height of one

meter to measure radiation levels using a portable detector. the ministry started releasing such data from 35 out of the 47 countries prefectures on tuesday. it said in four prefectures radiation levels measured at a height of one meter were more than twice as high as previous recordings. japan's nuclear agency instructed power companies to ensure the safety of electrical devices like the one that burned at a nuclear power plant after the earthquake. a high voltage power supply board at the number one reactor of the onagawa nuclear plant in miyagi prefecture short circuited and erupted into flames shortly after the quake. the nuclear and industrial safety agency believes the fire began when parts suspended inside the device were shaken violently and collided with each other. the agency found 71 such devices are in use at four nuclear plants without stabilization

measures. the locations include the fukushima daiichi and daini plants. the nuclear safety agency has given the utilities one month to implement safety measures. china says it will invite firms from japan's disaster-stricken regions to its biggest trade fair to support the country's reconstruction. commerce secretary or rather commerce ministry spokesman yao jian made the statement wednesday. a special zone will be set up for japanese firms at the fair in guangzhou and in act. imports from japan have risen less than 10% year on year since the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. falling imports of automotive

parts and electronic goods have affected not only japanese firms operating in china, but also chinese firms. chinese plan is seen as supporting not just japan's reconstruction but curbing the impact of the disaster on its own economy. the 21-member asia-pacific economic cooperation forum plans to discuss corporate disaster management when they meet in the japanese city of sendai in august. the city is close to the disaster zone. the meeting is sponsored by japan and the united states. the theme of disaster management for businesses follows the tsunami and quake that struck eastern japan affecting companies inside and outside the country. government and other officials will discuss how to secure parts when suppliers are hit and how to help disaster-hit companies in developing nations. the outcome of the discussions will be summarized in the report to the apec summit in hawaii in november. ai uchida joins us now the

latest in business news. ai lots going on with greece once again in the spotlight. >> that's right, catherine. greek debt is once again raising concerns around the world. in fact thois of greeks have taken to the streets to protest higher taxes and higher austerity measures by the government which is in deep financial trouble. in the greek capital athens, the protesters massed in front of the parliament building on wednesday. police used tear gas to disperse some stone-throwers. last year greece was given a 110 billion euro or $160 billion bailout package mainly by eurozone countries in exchange for austerity steps. but the government has failed to meet its financial targets and announced further firings of civil servants, higher taxes on luxuries, privatizations and other belt-tightening measures.

the demonstration took place during a 24-hour general strike called by major labor unions in protest of the new measures. the effect of the crisis on the rest of the eurozone is causing concern. euro zone members are considering extending more financial aid on the condition that greece reconstructs its finances. selling pressure grew on greek government bonds sending the benchmark ten-year issue almost to the record low on wednesday. market sources say that bonds are falling as bailout talks among european countries are facing difficulties. they need to work out how much banks and other private sector investors should be asked to shoulder for a rescue plan. over in the u.s., indicators announced on wednesday showed the economy is facing weak growth and inflation. the federal reserve bank of new york stated that conditions for new york manufacturers deteriorated in june compared with market expectations.

the general business condition index was minus 7.8, slipping below zero for the first time since november 2010. separately consumer price index in may rose 0.2%, according to the department of labor, that's on a seasonally adjusted basis. the index for all items excluding food and energy increased 0.3%. that is the largest increase since july 2008. the main factors for the advance included apparel and autos. and now to the markets. concern over greek debt and the u.s. economy pulled the dow jones down nearly 1.5% overnight. to see how tokyo stocks are doing, let's cross over to ramin mellegard who is at the tokyo stock exchange. hi there, ramin. what kind of action are you seeing this thursday morning? >> reporter: very good morning to you ai, and as you see there, the nikkei and the topix extending losses. the nikkei was down almost 100 points just when the marts kicked off, and that follows the

concerns overseas. we did see quite a move across equities, bonds and currency markets on the back of concerns over greece's pending debt restructures plans as well as the manufacturing data for the new york region that you mentioned as well. now the reaction in currencies was pretty clear-cut with the euro losing out against a basket of currencies on the back of those debt concerns, it fell around 2% against the dollar, and is currently trading around 114 against the yen, compared to 116 earlier in the week, showing the yen's strength there. we have to mention crude oil as well, which fell on the back of the rising dollar as well as the drop in the u.s. manufacturing data, as well as the greece debt concerns, so oil also a major move there in the markets. so we did see west texas intermediate crude oil prices on the new york mercantile exchange dropping almost 4% to just under

$95 a barrel, so we're going to watch out for a lot of commodity and energy related stocks today, as well as exporters on the back of the strength of the yen, going higher against key currencies, investors shifting out of some of those assets into the relative safety of the yen during volatile times in global markets. now, markets are also going to be continuing to watch how events unfold in greece. we did see their massive protests over the austerity programs that greece is going to have to undertake and also further economic data out of the u.s. still to come for the housing sector, a usually sector of the u.s. economy, a lot of analysts are going to be seeing how further indicators give a picture of the state of the u.s. economy but for now the nikkei down 90 points with the topix lower as well. back to you in the studio. >> thanks a lot for that, ramin that was our market reporter ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. major japanese shipping firm

nippon yusen unveiled a cargo vessel designed to minimize carbon dioxide emissions. the 60,000 ton freighter is used for shipping autos. it's originally fitted with sew lorre panels but the power sfli was unstable due to weather changes. to address the problem the freighter is now loaded with nickel hydrogen batteries to store surplus solar power. when not enough power is generated from the solar panels the batteries will be used instead. per year nippon yusen expects the fuel will save 21 tons of oil used as fuel for the power generator. >> translator: the new see lar power system's current goal is to cut co2 by 180 tons a year. now let's get your recap of the latest market figures.

and that's it for this hour in business. now to our series "china rising." it's a country where car has become king. china sales of new cars reached more than 18 million a year. international manufacturers are trying to corner the booming inland market but some of them have had a rough spring because of japan's march 11th quake and

tsunami. nhk world's yutaka yano reports on the lessons learned from the disaster. >> reporter: glitz, glamour, and status. selling cars and the lifestyle they offer hasn't been hard in china in recent years. but as the taste of the country's growing middle class become more refined, companies are using international auto shows such as this one in the inland city of wuhan to prove they can cater to their needs. >> translator: we want a big and comfortable car because we have another child. >> translator: i want a car with a famous brand. >> translator: i want a red car. >> translator: she likes red cars. >> reporter: 60 brands in all were on display here in late may. while chinese in metropolitan areas such as beijing and shanghai are now looking at purchasing a second car, more than 90% of customers in inland

cities are looking to buy their first vehicle. in wuhan city, automakers from around the world are strengthening their production to meet the rising demand from inland china. wuhan city is now home to international brands such as honda, nissan, and peugeot citroen. they've established manufacturing bases alongside some of china's national companies. collectively, they produce more than 1 million units every year, earning wuhan the nickname car capital of china. but that made the city even more vulnerable to the impact of japan's march 11th disaster. many suppliers suspended production after the earthquake and tsunami. international shipments froze, forcing automakers to decrease production. that meant a drop in sales for dongfeng honda automobile,

honda's joint venture in china. it sold 37% fewer vehicles in may compared to the same month last year. the problem was a shortage of high-tech car parts from japanese factories which produce a large percentage of the world's supply. these devices are used to operate windows, navigation systems and control an engine's speed and displacement. >> translator: we import many spare parts and depend on each and every one of them. the shortage of electronic components in particular had a big impact on our business. >> reporter: but not all carmakers struggled. nissan's local joint venture dongfeng motor suffered a very limited 1.8% slump in sales in april. it had already recovered by may. to protect themselves against risk, car manufacturers have spread their supply chain around the world. but following the march 11th crisis, it turned out some

suppliers located in china were themselves importing parts from japan. automakers realized the importance of having a detailed understanding of where their parts come from even among spare parts suppliers. >> translator: after the disaster in japan, it took us a very long time to determine which parts would be affected and to draw a list of the parts imported from japan. that's how spread out the car industry is. it cannot function within a single country. >> reporter: in wuhan, the car capital of china, the latest estimates suggest automakers will be able to resume normal production by july. but they have yet to define a clear strategy to overcome similar crises in the future. yutaka yano, nhk world, wuhan, china. >> since march the japanese government and automakers have been talking about revising manufacturing and procurement strategies for spare parts.

some are calling for standardization so other companies can take over production in the event of a major disruption. but our reporter yutaka says car manufacturers will likely oppose that idea because it would entail sharing secret information and could threaten the identity of their brands. japan protested a visit by a south korean cabinet minister to disputed islets in the sea of japan. the islets called takashima and dokdo in south korea are under korean control but japan claims sovereignty over them. maeng has young kyu made the visit wednesday. vice foreign minister kenichiro sasae protested to former vice foreign minister shin kak oo. sasae said it is unacceptable.

he said japan strongly demands that no such ministerial visit be repeated. he said the islands are south korea's territory but added that he will convey the message to his government. researchers in japan believe they observed something scientists have not seen until now. their experiment involved the fundamental particles known as neutrinos. they say they've seen neutrinos make a transformation that's never been recorded. the researchers say the observation could provide an important clue about the origin of the universe. the finding was announced on wednesday by a group led by professor takashi kobayashi at the high energy accelerator research organization in ibaraki prefecture. the team generated a large amount of neutrinos at the japan proton accelerator research complex taken aimed them at the super-kamiokande observatory in gifu prefecture about 300 kilometers away. that allowed the researchers to observe neutrino oscillation. the group says it saw signs that

muon neutrinos can transform into electron neutrinos. >> translator: we have only obtained science of the transformation. we want to conduct further experiments as soon as possible to confirm the discovery. >> scientists say when the big bang created the universe more than 13 billion years ago, equal amounts of matter and antimatter were prese however, for some unknown reason, antimatter disappeared a short while later. japanese physicist masatoshi koshiba praised the achievement. he won a nobel prize for his research on neutrinos nine years ago. koshiba says the findings will help shed light on the nature of neutrinos, which is an indispensable step in solving the mystery of the disappearance of antimatter. the u.s. marine corps has unveiled a new transport aircraft it plans to deploy at

its bases in its southernmost prefecture of okinawa next year. okinawa is home to u.s. forces in japan and there is a growing concern over the aircraft's safety record. the mba-22 osprey was shown to japanese journalists at marine corps air station in miramar in california where 25 of them have already been deployed. it can turn rotors upward for vertical takeoff and landing and fly twice as fast as a conventional helicopter. the u.s. marines took the journalists on a routine flight over a residential area and said there have been no complaints about noise from residents in california. they also demonstrated a flight simulator used for actual training and stressed that the computer controlled osprey is far safer than conventional helicopters. >> it's going to balance the flight for you. it's going to put the nose where it needs to . it's going to do a lot of things for you that previously was done almost exclusively by the pilot. it's going to be mechanically quieter and it's going to be

quieter from the fact it gets up and away from the air field much quicker. >> the u.s. defense department announced last week it will deploy the aircraft at marine corps futenma air station in okinawa in the latter half of 2012. it says the deployment will help extend their field of operation in the north and the south china sea. it is located in a densely populate city of ginowan. a military helicopter crashed on the university campus near the base several years ago. there's growing concern over the aircraft's safety following crashes during development. >> translator: u.s. transport aircraft crashed before. enough is enough. >> japan's defense minister, toshimi kitazawa presented data on tuesday claiming when measuring accidents per 100,000 flight hours the osprey is safer than helicopters now used at the base.

however okinawa governor hirokazu nakaima say people of okinawa remain haunted by the memory of the accident seven years ago. >> translator: my top priority is securing the safety of the residents and their property. the u.s. data falls far short of proving the safety of the osprey. hello. time now for your weather update. heavy rain reported in parts of eastern asia once again. southern japan, southeastern china reporting about 200 millimeters in the last 24 hours. now the seasonal rain remains very active indeed, and this low pressure system will continue to ride along it, heading towards japan. and it looks like western areas of japan will experience some torrential downpours today.

northern kyushu expected to pick up as much as 250 millimeters. elsewhere upwards of 100 millimeters as well. the ground is quite saturated, in kyushu so flooding and landslides a big concern. also stormy weather conditions across the area as well, and the heavy rain eventually reaching tokyo by the end of the day. looks like northern japan will hold on to the sunshine. meanwhile, southern japan that heavy rain eases slightly but there's still plenty of moisture about, that's because of the tropical depression over the south china sea. heaviest rain in the southwestern corner around sichuan, will experience some, plebt plenty of heavy showers. across the bay of bengal as well as the northern tier, a couple of low pressure systems in place. and really enhanced by the southwest monsoon will keep that heavy rain in place for north, central, as well as northeastern india, across bangladesh as well. temperatures hotting up in chongqing today, 34 degrees.

28 in beijing and 31 in seoul. tokyo looking slightly cool at 23 degrees. now for north america, dry conditions really continuing to prevail down in the southwestern corner here. winds really starting to pick up from the south and the west as well. so looking at critical fire where the conditions for arizona as well as new mexico. now where this warm air meets the cooler air in the northeast is where we'll find this -- lots of thunderstorms and rain developing for the eastern u.s. looking particularly stormy for places like tennessee, southern illinois, down towards alabama and georgia. some welcome rain coming in to florida as well. but as you can see, extensive rain stretching into the great lakes and back towards western canada here. 19 degrees in vancouver today. stays hot down in the south. hotting up to 37 in houston. now for europe, some more showers will prevail across the british isles. nothing too severe, but could get quite blustery and wet at

times. ahead of this system, we've got this cold front that's going to be sweeping across western europe. that will turn intense during the day, bringing widespread rain to france, the low countries eventually arriving in germany. just ahead of this, though, high pressure system will keep conditions dry across poland, down towards the balkans. but as we head towards the mediterranean, we will run into this heat and moisture. again, southern italy as well as greece will be in for some afternoon thunderstorms. athens coming in at 28 degrees. some showers will affect kiev and also moscow as well. but bright spells of sunshine in vienna, warming up to 30 degrees. all right, here is your extended forecast now.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. ccccccccccccc'ca