welcome to "newsline," it's friday august 5th. markets are the focus this morning with global concerns weighing on investors minds. let's go straight to business news. >> good morning to you. following market intervention by japan's authorities to weaken the yen, the japanese currency regained some ground against the dollar overnight in new york. came after u.s. share prices plunged on concerns over a slowdown in the american economy. the japanese currency rebounded to the upper 78 yen level at one point on the new york foreign exchange, that's after the yen had weakened to just above --

for the first time in about three weeks. the yen's decline followed japan's intervention on thursday, the first such move since shortly after the march 11th earthquake. the bank of japan's decision to take extra credit easing action weighed down on the yen. in tokyo, trading at 79.10 to 12 yen against the dollar. market players say the focus is how long japan will continue with the intervention when the dollar remains under selling pressure due to worries over the economy. now the intervention by the monetary authorities has so far been unilateral meaning other countries have not taken part. about such a move the european central bank expressed a negative view. a comment was made to reporters on thursday after he was asked if he supports the solo action by japan to buy the dollar and sell the yen. trichet said market intervention should be based on multinational

decision. a few days after the march 11th earthquake and tsunami in japan, g-7 nations intervened jointly as the yen surged to a record high against the dollar. new york stocks plunged across the board on thursday sending a key stock index down more than 500 points. the dow jones industrial average ended the day at 11,383. that is down 512 points from wednesday's close. the dow fell more than 500 points for the first time since december of 2008 when the layman shock triggered an economic slowdown. sell orders surged on the back of lingering worries about the u.s. economic slowdown. remarks by european central bank trichet suggesting concerns on the outlook weighed on market sentime sentiment. 500-point plunge results in a 4% loss with the dow ending in an

eight-month low. to see how tokyo stocks are doing, we'll cross over. how are things kicking off today? good morning to you, bit of a negative start following from the losses on the dow with the nikkei down 190 points, the topics trading lower as well in the first few minutes of trading. the immediate market reaction following on from the u.s. session, the dow had its steepest one day loss in more than two and a half years. it looked like markets were in a bit of a panic and any economic data we're getting out is being seen as a negative. and all of this just ahead of the crucial jobs data later today in the u.s. a lot of focus is going to be on that later on today. yesterday in japan obviously the biggest move was the unilateral decision by the monetary authorities in japan to stem the rise of the yen. we did see that popping over 80 yen after the intervention from having been trading around the

lower 77 yen levels. that was backed off a little bit from those weaker yen levels and we're going to see how that affects exporters today. yesterday the blue chip exporters did get a bit of a boost following that intervention mood. following from the reaction in the europe and the u.s., it looks as if the market reaction didn't take on board that much what the central banks and monetary authorities in japan were doing as we saw those losses in the european and u.s. markets as well. however, on a positive note in japan yesterday,he intention of mitsubishi and electronics giant hi tach chi, it was welcomed by the markets. we saw a boost in shares yesterday as both companies tried to regain a bigger share of the global power generation and infrastructure markets. m mitsubishi and hitachi competing

to get some market share in the renewable energy sector, which is highly competitive. for now the nikkei down over 190 points. we'll see how that trades throughout the session. back to you in the studio. >> thanks a lot. the nikkei has plunged further down over 300 points or a loss of 3.4% so far this friday morning. the yen is at 79. dollar yen 79.05. back to the main news. the japanese government is planning to buy up cesium tainted beef that has reached the distribution chain. the plan will include beef with radio active cesium at levels within the national safety limit. the agriculture ministry developed a plan in response to calls for more support by beef cattle farmers. under the plan the government will buy 3500 head of cattle which are suspected to have been fed rice straw containing cesium in excess of the safety limit.

the cattle will be cinerated. farmers who are unable to ship their cattle due to restrictions will receive about $630 per head of cattle. the government will also provide financial support to prefectures that are buying up beef cattle which have become too old to ship due to the ban. august 6th marks the 66th anniversary of the atomic bombing of hiroshima. the prime minister will deliver a speech at the annual hiroshima peace memorial ceremony on saturday. kan will call on the country to lead international talks on nonproliferation and work towards a world without nuclear arms and expected to acknowledge that the fukushima daiichi accidents caused anxiety around the world. in addition, kan will announce

his intention to implement string ent safety measures for nuclear plants and says it is a lesson for human kind and it's japan's duty to tell the world about it. a plant will be shut down soon for regular inspection. this is the first reactor run by tokyo electric power company to undergo an inspection since the fukushima accident. the number one reactor at the nuclear plant will reduce power output starting friday afternoon and stop it entirply early saturday morning for a two-month inspection. after the reactors shut down, only three of tepco's re-17 reactors. another reactor is scheduled for a regular inspection from late august. to make up for the lost power,

tepco plans to increase output at the thermal plants but calling for the continuation of ongoing energy saving efforts. he won't decide whether he'll restart the reactors until the cause of the accident at fukushima daiichi is disclosed. time now for nuclear watch. our weekly segment that brings you the latest on the crisis at the fukushima daiichi power plant. the nuclear regulator is facing more criticism in the wake of the march 11th disaster. japan announced on thursday that it will dismiss three senior nuclear administration officials for their mishandling of the crisis. >> translator: i've been thinking about reshuffling the ministry for about a month.

it will be -- >> the three officials are the vice minister of the economy trade and industry ministry and director general of the nuclear and safety agency and director general of the national resources and energy agency. a key factor behind the dismissals is the nuclear and industrial safety agency's attempt to min ip late public opinion in favor of atomic energy. >> it dates to a government sponsored symposium that happened four years. it's the home of the ham mocha nuclear plant operated by the electric power company. the event was intended to win local support for a controversial plan to burn mixed uranium and plutonium fuel, a near capacity crowd of 524 people attended the symposium. a recent probe by chubu electric

found the nuclear and safety officials had urged the utility to send participants to the symposium. they wanted scripted questions to be asked in support of the so-called plu thermal plan. they refused to comply citing possible compliance problems but the executives did ask staff and affiliate companies to attend the event. as a result, the utilities employees reportedly accounted for around 30% of the audience. >> translator: i was shocked. i never expected such a thing could happen. >> translator: that's what i've always suspected. >> translator: i think this is an extremely serious situation. if in fact it's proven the government tried to influence public opinion, i would greatly regret it as someone who's in charge of the relevant ministry.

>> reporter: if the allegations are true, why would the nuclear and industrial safety agency try to generate support for atomic energy instead of doing its job as a regulator. the nuclear and industrial safety agency is under the jurisdiction of the ministry of economy, trade and industry. this ministry also controls the agency for natural resources and energy, which is in charge of promoting nuclear power. some experts say the nuclear and industrial safety agency is far from fair and neutral and should be dissolved immediately. >> translator: what the nuclear safety agency did is unforgivable. few people are aware that the energy agency and the nuclear safety agency jointly promote nuclear power. this is an awful practice.

the government has no choice but to dissolve the nuclear safety agency. >> earlier we talked for more details. >> translator: they have been exposed to manipulate public opinion and people are having distrust. >> the nuclear and industrial safety agency should ensure the safety as a neutral institution. but what we know now is that the agency had in effect been promoting nuclear energy so the implications are very serious. >> it means that the symposium was held not to seek the understanding of the residents but for the sake of being able to say the government and power company informed the residents. >> so we have no choice but to say so far nuclear policy has totally ignored the public. one of the main reasons behind the problem is that the nuclear and industrial safety agency is inside the ministry of economy

and trade and industry, which is promoting nuclear power and there is a lot of movement of personnel from the ministry. often senior officials of the agency of natural resources and energy, which is a proponent of nuclear energy may become responsible for regulatory measures at the nuclear and industrial safety agency. at the top of the whole setup, the minister of economy trade and agency. if the agency is so tied in with the nuclear energy propontit n'plemen strict as.inentists ue sse sc fusma academic independencef e fe

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th wirst mtif nohean u.s.icials ptnf the six-partyce december of 2009. kiis likely to have aed china to support aassertion that they are intended for puos a per generation. the u.s. is demanding the no uranium enrichment. the ipmat is scheduled to return home on friday. smallapes cpaes including those based in regions ar in a by the march 11th trade fair in china's economic center ofshanghai. the japan external trade

organization or jetro is sponsoring the fair to help companies enter the chinese market. a section of thas t aside for companies from the disaster stricken ars. 18 companies from the northeast including miyagi and fukushima precres are displaying products. jetro says these companies acao in china with the high quality and stngra nes if they are given help to gain a foot holdhe country. a company executive from miyagi prefecture said he hopes the chinese market willn poan business inhe future. >> translator: even though this is the first time, g a very positive response. >> the number of soo bullying

cases in japan increased in the 10chl yr for first time inouars. an education ministry survey revealed the number ofulin cases recognized in elementary, junior high and senior hh schools rose 3.5% from the previous yr t 75,295 ses. w t first increase since 2006 when the definition of bullying w riedo include all cases, in which a student lter s was being bullied. the review flod iree in suicides by victims. 26% of the cases we veed thugquestionnaires, 23% reported by the victim and in 20 oth cases a teacher noticed the bullying. theintr h bnrgg schools nationwide to use questionnaires to detect buyi.

welcome back to your weather upteor etasia, we've been keeping a close eye on a tropical storm system. it is getting close to the center of the storm towards t islands of okinawa. still maintaining that strength and a strongypon aill stay that strength as it heads tohe china sea and aims for central china. we are concerned about thestmye okinawa island since saturday. it is set to continue today and into saturday. this is a slowovgsyem we are going to really continue to see that srmyeather last for a while longer. rainfall amounts asucas 0 millimeters going to be possible in addioto allf that we'll be talking about these strong winds, well over 0 ker per hower. wave heights at 11 mets and storm surge. all of these islands will need

to watch out for the srmy weather that will last well into saturday. meanwhile in the pacific another tropical storm system remains wi u ati strengthening track but luckily forecasts are calling for it to remain well at sea. meanwhile there's plenty of motu impacting areas across japan. the korean peninsula and eastern china as well, we'll continue to see scattered shower r stn china, the korean peninsula, warmer weather will head your way this weekend into next week as therocastm approaches. we'll need to keep a close eye on developments here. as for highs on friday, getting up to 31 in seoul, it will h 32 in shanghai and the same in taipei. asor t caribbean, we've been keeping a close eye on the tropical storm system emily. it has since broken up over haiti, that is good bt still a soaker to those

producing plenty more rain, 300 millimeters possible for hispanio hispaniola. the threat of flooding landslides will remain high. for the united states, we'll see cplfhe frontal boundaries extending across the area. scattered showers all along it. a couple of places maybe lki ateve atr threat in the midsection of the united states but other areas too will see possibly some heavier downpours as well as thundershowers. highsemn pretty hot in the southeast, 44 in oklahoma city and 40 degrees in houston too. atlanta see mpatesis i the mid-30s. and finally a look at europe and scattered showers and thunderstorms will be widespread across a lot ofonneal europe today. also looking at showers that have been impact the british isles into the peninsula. along the alpine region and these mountain areas will be particularly vulnerable to the

heavyowou awe a potentially stronger thundershowers. we want to watch out for that. highs on friday, 24 in paris and 25 in london, not too bad. 25lsin vienna. still hot in athens coming in at 35 degrees. that's a look at your weather for now. he'southree-day outlook.

global markets fell 3, 4, 5% on thursday. in new york the dow jones fell 4% or 500 points. let's see where tokyo shares are trading. >> thanks a lot. tokyo shares no exception, they are down sharply as katherine said, we are following an overnight plunge of more than 500 points in new york on concerns of the u.s. outlook. we are down currently 3.6% a loss of over 350 points with the nikkei at 9,306. the nikkei is at 9,306 this friday morning. tokyo share prices are taking a beating from a recent string of u.s. economic data worse than

market forecasts. uncertainties over the global economy as mentioned by the head of the european central bank on thursday, also dampening investor sentiment. we are back in the 78 levels despite the market intervention by japanese monetary authorities on thursday. we are back at 78.71 to 76 yen against the dollar this friday morning. the euro yen is at 110, the upper 110 yen levels and we'll keep track of that as the day goes on. following market intervention by the authorities to weaken the yen, the japanese currency regained some ground against the dollar overnight. yen buying came after u.s. share prices plunged on concerns over a slowdown in the american economy. the japanese currency rebounded to the upper 78 yen level at 1 point on the new york foreign exchange after the yen weakened to just above 80 yen in london for the first time in three

weeks. the yen's decline followed the intervention on thursday, the first move since after the march 11th earthquake. the bank of japan's decision to take credit easing measures weighed down on the yen. in tokyo, the currency is at 78.75 to 79 against the dollar and euro 111 to 06. they say the focus is on how long japan will continue with the intervention. and now it is back to katherine. >> all right, thanks very much. we will keep in touch with you to get the latest on that and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.

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