welcome to "newsline." it's 9:00age in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit nagano prefecture in central japan at 8:16 a.m. japan time thursday. japan's meteorological agency registered tremors with an intensity of 5 plus on the japanese scale of zero to seven. the agency says the epicenter was in the central part of nagano at a relatively shallow depth. for those of you just tuning in a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit nagano prefecture in central japan at 8:16 a.m. japan time on thursday, that's about 45

minutes ago, japan's meteorological agency registered tremors with an integrity of 5 plus on the japanese scale of zero to 7. the agency says the epicenter was in the central part of nagano at a shallow depth. now to what could be considered the biggest problem daunting japan's damaged nlear plant, highly radioactive water keeps building up at fukushima daiichi. tokyo electric power company has released an estimate of how much it expects to decontaminate over the next three months. tepco said wednesday it plans to reduce the amount of tainted water at the facility by some 34,000 tons. at this point, 120,000 tons have accumulated at the plant. tepco started an operation on monday to use the decontaminated waste water as coolant and recirculate it back into the damaged reactors. but the procedure has been stopped twice since then because of pipe leaks. tepco workers temporarily halted things on wednesday after they detected a leak in a storage

tank. the utility maintains the system holds the key to stabilizing the reactors and reducing the amount of contaminated water at the plant. tepco's estimate of how much water will be filtered over the next three months is based on the assumption that the new set-up will function at 90% capacity. right now, it's only operating at 55% capacity. now tepco doesn't just have to worry about keeping fukushima daiichi's volatile reactors cool. it also needs to stabilize the spent fuel rods at the nuclear plant. it appears to be making progress on that front. the utility says the new cool system for the number three reactor spent fuel storage pool should be functional in a week. as we've been telling you, the march 11th accident crippled the cooling mechanisms that control reactors number one through four and their fuel storage pools. tepco has been working to install systems that will chill water and circulate it inside those pools. the utility maintains it

restored full and stable cooling functions for the number two reactor's pool in late may. work to install a similar cooling system for the number three reactor was completed wednesday. a test run is scheduled for thursday. but tepco hasn't been as successful with the number four reactor spent fuel pool. a hydrogen explosion in march damaged water pipes that are connected to it. the company is reviewing its installation plan. workers entered the fifth floor of the number four reactor building on wednesday for the first time since the explosion to see if other pipes can be used instead. tepco is planning to have the spent fuel cooling systems in place by the end of july but it expects the problems with the number four reactor could make meeting that deadline a challenge. a japanese branch of save the children is planninging to build free recreation facilities available for kids left homeless or alone by the march 11th disaster.

thois of children are living in shelter or temporary housing because their parents are busy looking for jobs or clearing or rebuilding homes. the tokyo branch of the international ngo says it will make a total of 300 facilities in iwate, miyagi and fukushima prefectures. the estimate costs of the plan including running the facilities for the next five years is about $12.5 million, which will be covered by donations. the first building will be erected on an empty lot near temporary housing units. japanese families celebrate children's day on may 5th by hoisting streamers four to five meters long that are in the shape of carp. this is to pray for children's healthy growth as the carp is a symbol of strength. in one of the areas hit by the

march quake and tsunami, survivors are putting up carp streamers to pray for their community's reconstruction. karabuku ishibuku reports. >> reporter: 92% in hakozaki town were washed away in iwate prefecture. many survivors took refuge outside the town and only 20 residents remain in their community. fisher mann petuhiro nishiyama lost his home and his workplace was reverely damaged. >> translator: i lost everything except my boat. >> reporter: immediately after the big jolt, nishiyama got in his boat and sailed it offshore to protect it from the tsunami. only 8 of the 500 boats belonging to local fishermen survived. nishiyama has mixed feelings about this. >> translator: if i hadn't gone

out in my boat, i might have been able to save a few lives. >> reporter: one day, nishiyama, his spirit battered, found the carp streamers in his hometown. he hoisted it at his former elementary school. the japanese word for carp, koi, also means come back. nishiyama thought he could raise more carp streamers to encourage former residents and the spirits of the deceased to come back. but it wasn't easy to find carp streamers in the disaster-hit area. volunteer worker seichi watanabe came forward to help. >> reporter: nishiyaa told me carp streamers symbolized his return for people to return to the town, i suggested calling them carp of hope. >> reporter: watanabe put a

request for carp streamers on a website that provides assistance to disaster hit areas. within a month 300 streamers were donated. in mid-june, watanabe returned to hakozaki with the carp streamers. each streamer carried a message from its donor. this one is from a former resident of this area. >> translator: it says the donor raised children here for four years, and she hopes the coastal region will recover as soon as possible. >> reporter: the streamers came from all parts of the country, like hiroshima, tokyo and nagano. there was a letter from a mother who lost her son in an accident. it says "i couldn't part with the streamer for the sake of my son, but i'm going to put the past behind me by sending this to you.

i hope you will be able to hold your head high and begin moving ahead." >> translator: i can understand her feeling, so i want to put up the streamer with great respect. >> reporter: when the day came to hoist the 300 carp streamers, 15 fishermen gathered at the elementary school. they used seven ropes to put up the streamers. their handling of the ropes and teamwork were just what you'd expect from fishermen. the streamer donated by the mother who lost her son has a message that reads "carp of hope, fly in the skies, join others, encourage hope and love and fly high in the skies." the fishermen completed the task of decorating the streamers in a little over five hours. the 300 carp streamers have

brightened up hakozaki. >> translator: we must do this every year, nishiyama. we'll come every year to help. >> translator: can we add 300 more carp? let's double the number in the coming year. >> translator: i'm really grateful to the people who sent carp streamers. i felt that so many people are backing us. >> reporter: nishiyama plans to hoist carp streamers on march 11th next year and again on children's day. he will do this each year until everyone returns to hakozaki. kaoruko ishibushi, nhk world. "newsline" offers the latest information and insights into japan's ongoing crisis on nuclear watch, every thursday night at 8:00 and 11:00, and

friday mornings at 8:00, japan time. we take a look at the latest in business news now ai uchida. good morning. >> good morning to you, catherine. let's start with overseas news. u.s. president barack obama has called on republicans to end tax breaks for oil companies and the super rich as part of efforts to trim the nation's massive debt. his remarks come as the u.s. faces default on its financial obligations unless congress approves a plan to raise the federal government's debt ceiling by august 2nd. obama met with reporters on wednesday at the white house. he said if the tax breaks stay, scholarship programs could suffer and taxpayers may have to shoulder more medical costs. the president said the yellow warning light is flashing. >> nobody wants to put the credit worthiness of the united states in jeopardy. nobody wants to see the united states default. >> observers say obama is

responding to accusations by republicans that he is trying to raise the debt limit and hike taxes without promoting fiscal reforms. greek lawmakers have approved a key austerity bill. this paves the way for a new rescue package for the country that suffers from massive debts. 155 members of the 300-seat parliament approved the bill on wednesday. it is one of two bills that must be passed in order to receive fresh billout loans from the european union and the international monetary fund. the legislation outlines the nation's basic budget plan. greek lawmakers are expected to pass a second bill on thursday. it will specify how the austerity measures will be introduced. both bills call for tax increases, a cutback on the number of government workers and privatization of statent prizes. however, the bills are not being received well by some greek citizens. angry protests against the

austerity package are growing. demonstrators clashed with riot police on wednesday in front of the parliament building. here in japan, electronicsmaker hitachi may join toshiba and sony in a planned integration of their liquid crystal display business. demand for small and mid sized lcd panels used for smartphones and other multifunctional terminals is growing worldwide. toshiba and sony are now in talks to merge their lcd units. sources say hitachi's lcd subsidiary, hitachi displays, is considering joining the business integration. the merged company would receive most of its capital investment from the government-backed innovation network corporation of japan, a fund that promotes business restructuring. a private research firm says that in terms of global market share for smaller lcd panels, toshiba ranks number four, hitachi six and sony seven. if the three integrated, the new

company would have a share of over 20% and become the world's largest lcd maker. the three firms aim to boost their global standing and compete with south korean and taiwanese makers. and now let's go to the markets. major stock indexes overseas extended their gains on wednesday. for more we're joined by business reporter yongghi kang at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. we've seen some solid gains in global stocks. how are tokyo stocks trading this thursday morning? >> good morning to you, ai and thank you very much for that. global stocks continue to be on an uptrend as concerns over greece are easing, let's see if japanese shares are maintaining that upward momentum. taking a look at the nikkei, the average is in fact in the positive, up about 30 points from the previous session, recovering the 9800 mark. we saw some positive moves in global markets on wednesday as the nikkei ended at a seven-week high and the dow finished at a

four-week high. the gains in new york had a lot to do with the passage of an important austerity plan in the greek parliament as we mentioned earlier. greek lawmakers approved a five-year tax increases and state asset sales all necessary for greece to fix its troubled state finances and get more financial aid from the imf. bank of america reached an $8.5 billion settlement. finished at at 12,261, up about 2740, that's up about 0.4%. market sentiment has been improving of late as we're seeing some positive signs regarding greece's debt problems but many analysts do not expect the mket to chase the upside so easily. for now investors will be keeping an eye out for key

economic indicators including the bank of japan's tankan survey of business sentiment and ism manufacturing data in the u.s. which will be out on friday. turning to currencies the yen is stronger against the dollar. yesterday e dollar was trading in the 81 yen range, we're now back in upper 80 yen and against the euro the yen lost ground, changing hands in the upper 116 yen levels. we're about 50 minutes into trading and the nikkei and the topix both trading in the positive. back to you. >> thanks a lot for that, yongghi, that was our reporter yongghi kang from the tokyo stock exchange. let's also get you a look at some other market figures.

that's all from business news for this hour. back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. myanmar's prodemocracy leader aung san suu kyi says her country needs to further democratize. aung san suu kyi expressed the view during a meeting on wednesday with japan's parliamentary vice foreign minister kikuta. kikuta was dispatched to myanmar in march, the first in 23 years. kikuta said myanmar took the first step by freeing the leader from house arrest last november and releasing political prisoners in may. she said japan is ready to press

myanmar for further democracy. aung san suu kyi responded by asking japan as an aid donor to consider supporting the democratization process and maintaining regional peace and stability. the two sides of the korean peninsula failed to agree on the revival of a joint tourism project in the north mt. kumgang resort. officials of the south reunification ministry and the tourism resort held talks with korean officials. the north's representatives refused to listen and demanded separate talks with officials of the tourism country. the south's delegation called off the talks without scheduling a next round. the project was suspended in 2008, after a south korean tourist was shot by a north korean soldier. the north unilaterally seized the south korean owned facilities at the resort but talks on reopening the resort were reopened after the north recently requested them.

the presidents of china and sudan have agreed to continue strengthening their countries' bilateral relationship even after southern sudan achieves independence next month. hu jintao met omar al bashir wednesday. the official chinese xinhua news agency said hu would keep his friendly policies toward sudan in place despite the change in the african nation's domestic affairs. hu pledged continued cooperation in resource development and agricultural assistance saying he backs investment in sudan by top rated chinese businesses. there has been global concern over china's invitation to bashir who is wanted for genocide in darfur. in january, people in southern sudan voted in a referendum and overwhelmingly chose to separate from the north. the south will declare independence on july 9th.

observers say china aims to maintain its rights to oil and other resources in sudan by reaffirming ties to its current government andorging a relationship with the newly independent south. time to check on some of the stories we've gathered from broadcasters around asia. we begin with this item sent by ddi india. the prime ministers of india and new zealand met in new delhi tuesday to discuss ways to boost bilateral trade and enhance ties in education and science and defense sectors. manmohan singh and john key agreed to conclude a free trade agreement by 2012. and they agreed to strengthen ties in assuring the safety and combatting piracy. bilateral trade has more than tripled over the past six years from $190 million to $620 million. china's largest braille library for the visually impaired was inaugurated in beijing on tuesday.

located downtown, the china braille library houses 250,000 volumes and 660,000 tapes and cds. the state-of-the-art facility has ten sections, including a tactile museum and a reading room for children. the library also provides readers with special memory sticks to scan the pages they wish to read. they can save the content for later use on an audio system. the thai government has restricted the transport of pigs to border provinces following an upturn in smuggling of the animals to cambodia and vietnam in recent months. thailand exported 180,000 pigs in the first five months of this year, in comparison to just 92,000 during the same period last year. the increased demand comes as pork prices are on the rise in vietnam and cambodia. from thursday, the government will require approval before transporting more than ten pigs in the 24 provinces bordering

cambodia and vietnam. those violating the regulation will be jailed or fined about $3,300. hello there. time now for your weather update. now the intense heat will really hang on to much of japan today. we've got some showers coming in from the west as well, affecting northern japan. but also by the afternoon, lots of moisture being pulled in from this high pressure system will bring plenty of thundershowers across much of the country. meanwhile, the rain remains pretty hefty for the korean peninsula under this frontal system. here the winds are pretty strong as well, and then that rain continues to affect much of southern china here. this compact but fairly active low pressure system brings in lots of moisture from the south china sea. looking at heavy showers. especially in around guanxie here. the philippines unsettled again, especially for central and southern portions dealing with

some isolated heavy downpours. 34 degrees in taipei today. thundery conditions and 34 in shanghai. as well, a couple of thunderstorms to watch out for in tokyo coming in at 32. so another hot day for you here. now over towards central america, tropical storm arlene is getting very, very close to the east coast of mexico here. lots of rain clouds building over the region, already starting to bring some stormy conditions. by tonight, we'll start to see those really intense winds, high waves, high tides to watch out for as well. it looks like it's going to be making landfall here as a tropical storm on thursday morning local time. and could possibly near hurricane strength as well. and after that, it will continue to trek its way westward as a storm system. so the prolonged rainfall is going to be the biggest concern here. total rainfall accumulation could be as much as 200 millimeters in many areas for eastern new mexico. also ample amounts of showers affecting southern mexico as

well, and up in the mountains we could certainly see more than that, in excess of 300 millimeters. so flooding rains are going to be our biggest concern here. across the u.s. we've got this pacific storm that continues to steadily move further and further inland, becoming quite intense as well. so already reporting, hearing reports of large hail, strong wind gusts and looking quite thundery across montana at night. ahead of this, strong winds kicking up across the four corners and that could produce dry thunderstorms, produce lightning and of course ignite new fires as well. ry dangerous conditions. and the heat starts to really spread into the central portions of the u.s. as well. lots of 30s showing up here. we've got 37 in houston. now looking very unsettled for central and eastern europe today, especially across germany, the alpine region dealing with heavy rain, thunderstorms as well as strong wind gusts.

the rain remains pretty active over norway as well. over tard the east, this low pressure system slowly starting to lose steam, but lingering over the region, so looking wet and thundery for the most part. the northeastern corner, dry and hot for northwestern russia and into finland here, and looking pleasant out towards the west, we can expect good spells of sunshine for the british isles. 20 degrees in london. 23 in paris. and another warm day for madrid and lisbon. all right, here is your extended forecast.

a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit nagano prefecture in central japan at 8:16 a.m. japan time on thursday. japan's meteorological agency registered tremors with an

intensity of 5 plus on the japanese scale of zero to 7. the agency says the epicenter was in the central part of nagano at a relatively shallow depth. a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit nagano prefecture in central japan at 8:16 a.m. japan time on thursday, that's about an hour ago, japan's meteorological agency registered tremors with an intensity of 5 plus on the japanese scale of zero to 7. the agency says the epicenter was in the central part of nagano at a shallow depth. now this could just be considered the biggest problem daunting japan's damaged nuclear plant, highly radioactive water keeps ilding up at fukushima daiichi. tokyo electric power company has released an estimate of how much it expects to decontaminate over the next three months. tepco said wednesday it plans to

reduce the amount of tainted water at the facility by some 34,000 tons. at this point, 120,000 tons have accumulated at the plant. tepco started an operation on monday to use the decontaminated waste water as coolant and recirculate it back into the damaged reactors. but the procedure has been stopped twice since then because of pipe leaks. tepco workers temporarily halted things on wednesday after they detected a leak in a storage tank. the utility maintains the system holds the key to stabilizing the reactors and reducing the amount of contaminated water at the plant. tepco's estimate of how much water will be filtered over the next three months is based on the assumption that the new set-up will function at 90% capacity. right now, it's only operating at 55% capacity. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

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