welcome to "newsline." it is 9:00 a.m. in tokyo. new japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda has decided the key post in his ruling democratic party and plans to inaugurate his cabinet as early as friday.

noda was elected prime minister by the diet on tuesday. he then offered the influential post of dpj secretary gen gal to koshiishi who is close to ichiro ozawa and former prime minister yukio hatoyama. noda picked the former foreign minister seiji maehara as policy chief. this is a former chief cabinet secretary. >> translator: i filled key positions in a way that unified the party and to show my commitment to work for the japanese people. >> on the formation of his cabinet noda said his priority is party unity. he's considering creating a philippines ter exclusively for administrative reform in order to slash budget spending. noda wants to ready his cabinet to address immediate issues such as the nuclear crisis in

fukushima and reconstruction of the disaster-hit areas. earlier we spoke to nhk's senior political commentator about japan's new prime minister. >> thank you for coming in. what is the first order of business for the new prime minister? >> noda has to take his cabinet members and fill executive posts and he'll likely use these appointments as an opportunity to ease friction within the democratic party. noda has already given promotion to a member of the camp that didn't support his leadership. the most important post in the party is secretary general. >> noda has many challenges ahead. two of the biggest i would think are man the ongoing nuclear crisis and drawing up a new energy policy. what can we expect when it comes to these two tasks? >> well, noda is opposed to the

idea of reducing japan's dependence on nuclear power but he says the plants that have passed so-called stress tests should be restarted in order to fulfill japan's electricity demand. he also insists this country should start increasing the amount of energy it gets from renewable sources. but he doesn't have any concrete plan for how to supply enough power without relying on atomic energy. >> a very tricky situation when it comes to nuclear power. for the last couple years we've seen japan go through this, what we might call a revolving door prime ministership. six leaders over the past five years. so how long can we expect mr. noda to keep his job? >> well, it will all depend on how much public support he can win back for the government. you know, the political situation hasn't changed a bit. noda will also have to face a divided diet where he cannot pass bills without help from the

opposition parties. noda says he will do his best to get the opposition to cooperate because he knows that his administration will be cornered sooner or later if he cannot pass important bills. but the general party wants a general election because it believes it can defeat the ruling dpj and regain power. the most important bills for noda will be the ones to enact next fiscal year's budget. if these bills don't pass, the government will not be able to carry out its policies. next april could be a crucial time for noda. he may be forced to resign if he cannot win cooperation from the opposition by then. but in that case the japanese public probably won't accept another new prime minister without a general election. >> and there ongoing plit colit

uncertainty is no doubt taking a toll on japan's foreign rel relations. the scheduled summit talks with u.s. president barack obama had to be canceled because naoto kan seemed likely to resign. >> the new prime minister is expected to hold summit talks with the u.s., china, and south korea by the end of this year. but any work noda wants to do will be held up by further political change in all of these countries as well as russia will have presidential elections or a transfer of power i 2012. he may al north korea may also experience a transfer of power. also there may be a rise of nationalism in china, south korea. japan is involved in nuclear

disputes with all three of these countries so his abilities will definitely be put on a test. >> before we let you go mr. noda has been talking about ways to raise the income tax to fund reconstruction efforts. will he be able to address that issue any time soon? >> i don't think so. noda is also in favor of a tax hike to finance increasing social security costs but finding a consensus within the dpj won't be easy. you know, more than half of the dpj members might come out against the tax hike if their minds turn to the possibility of a general election in the near future. that is possible. >> thank you very much for coming in. that was nhk world's political commentator. >> u.s. president barack obama says he is looking forward to working with japanese prime minister yoeshihiko noda to tackle the various economic and security issues facing both countries.

obama made the remark in a statement on tuesday and congratulated noda on his election as prime minister. obama said the u.s./japan alliance has served as the lynch pin of peace and security in the asia pacific region for the last half century. he said the u.s. and japan can ensure the next half century enjoys the same stability and prosperity. the u.s. has been seeking concrete progress on the long delayed relocation of a u.s. marine air base in okinawa within the prefecture. it is hoped that japan will also join negotiations for the trans pacific partnership at an early stage. the u.s. government wants to hold a bilateral summit late september at the earliest when noda will attend the u.n. general assembly in new york. time now for the latest in business news. we've had some fresh manufacturing come out and industrial production is a closely watched indicator in japan. what kind of numbers are we seeing? >> indeed. since april, right after the earthquake, we have managed monthly gains and industrial

production for the month of july also rose 0.6% and that does mark an increase for a fourth consecutive month. the ministry of economy, trade, and industry announced that the output index at factories and mines was 93.2 in july against a reference value of 100 for 2005. the rise is largely due to more production of machinery. it was forecast that the index would remain weak due to mandatory energy saving measures in place for many factories. however, output was maintained as many factories responded accordingly by adjusting working times and factory practices. the minutes of a recent u.s. central bank meeting show some policy makers are calling for additional monetary easing to prop up america's economy. on tuesday the federal reserve released the minutes for the policy meeting held on august 9th. they said most members agreed that the economic outlook had

deteriorated. the minutes also said some participants noted that additional purchases of assets such as government bonds could be used to provide more liquidity. others suggested increasing the average maturity of the fed's portfolio to achieve a similar result. some policy makers judged more monetary easing would likely do little to promote a faster economic recovery. given these conflicting opinions, focus is now on whether the fed will take a more substantial move in the next policy meeting in september. japan's new prime minister is expected to reaffirm with the u.s. treasury chief japan's commitment to work together to stabilize the world economy. prime minister yoshihiko noda and u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner are set to hold talks by phone soon. the talks are being arranged amid credit worries in europe, growing concerns about the u.s. economic outlook, and the historic surge of the japanese currency. noda kept in close contact with geithner while he was japan's

finance minister. noda is expected to convey his resolve to rebuild japan's economy and help stabilize global finances. he is also likely to explain a plan to send a new finance minister to the group of seven meeting scheduled for next week in marseilles, france. let's get a check now on the markets. u.s. stocks ended higher for the day after minutes from the last federal reserve meeting provided a boost to overall sentiment. to see how stocks are trading here in japan this wednesday morning let's cross over to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. a very good morning to you. how are markets reacting following the industrial production numbers? >> very good morning to you. a little bit of a negative reaction. as you mentioned the industrial production rising for a fourth month in a row up 0.6% for july but having a look at the opening levels and you can see what i'm talking about both the nikkei and the topix trading a touch lower. not a massive move by any means but a little bit lower. diverging a little bit from the

u.s. markets. markets here in japan are going to be digesting the news of the neural confirmed prime minister noda and also as you mentioned there the appointment of key cabinet members and also how they're all going to deal with the pressing issues of domestic growth and the stronger yen and how all of that is really affecting key exporters. the nikkei came close to the 9,000 level yesterday. we've backed off from that but still creeping up to levels we've seen only two weeks ago. we'll see how it fares today. the u.s. session a little bit of a mixed session. we have consumer confidence number is a little worse than expected by economists and that continues to give further evidence of a faltering u.s. economy but then as you said the minutes from the last fed meeting providing a little bit of a boost to sentiment as some officials there are calling maybe for stronger measures to boost the u.s. economy. switching to the currency markets just having a look there at the dollar/yen and euro/yen,

dollar/yen continuing around the upper 76 yen level so the yen holding strong there but the euro falling a touch currently at the 110 yen levels compared to 111. this time yesterday. and that was after continued worries about euro sovereign debt after a less than spectacular italian bond auction and also consumer sentiment falling in europe as well. we're going to keep track of exporters, how they fare with the stronger yen against the dollar and the euro. commodity markets also we saw october weti crude prices on the new york mercantile exchange actually hitting a four-week high so we'll keep track of energy related stocks as well. but for now, the nikkei and the topix trading a touch lower. back to you in the studio. >> thanks. that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. now let's take a look at other market figures.

>> that's all for this hour in business. back to you. >> thanks very much. libya's opposition leader has urged the followingers of moammar gadhafi to surrender before saturday. he said if not, the opposition forces will opt for military action to put them under control. the head of libya's council spoke to reporters in the

eastern city of benghazi on tuesday. he said the leader remains a threat to the libyan people until he is placed in custody. gadhafi's regime has matched since opposition forces seized control of the capital tripoli last week. gadhafi supporters are maintaining resistance to his hometown of sert and other places across the country. the ntc is continuing talks with loyalist tribes on a peaceful solution while mobilizing troops around sert where gadhafi is said to be hiding. >> the march 11th disaster. the september 11 attacks. two anniversaries. one source for in depth coverage. join nhk world for japan, six months on, and 9/11, defining a decade, beginning september 5th. then on sunday, september 11th we'll mark the anniversaries. 2:30 p.m. japan time for the 3/11 disaster. 9:40 p.m. for the 9/11 attacks.

>> tokyo electric power company has discovered five active faults near the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. tepco made the discovery after the government requested agencies to re-examine faults around nuclear plants. the directive followed a strong earthquake on april 11th from a fault that was thought to be inactive some 50 kilometers away from fukushima daiichi. geological formations were observed for the first time at five faults suggesting they are active. the utility says it will continue drilling to investigate the faults though it believes any tremors would be within the plant's quake resistance capacity. besides tepco, two nuclear agencies have reported nine potentially active faults near their nuclear facilities in neighboring prefecture. the company responsible for the world's worst nuclear accident,

tepco, and the worst in more than two decades, has a new plan to help people affected. tokyo electric power company's compensation package will cover damage caused by the fukushima daiichi meltdown between march 11th and the end of august. >> tepco announced details on tuesday. they're based on a government panel's mid-term guidelines compiled on august 5th. the compensation includes travel expenses for government ordered evacuations within fukushima prefecture. it adds up to about $65 per trip per person. lodging fees up to about $104 a night for evacuees will also be covered. tepco says it could pay more than the standard amount in some cases. the utility is also offering evacuees about $1,300 a month for mental suffering. people dealing with injuries or

illnesses related to the evacuation get the same amount for medical fees. lost income will also be covered. tepco has already set up an initial compensation package. it says it will finish delivering that money on september 11. the next day the utility plans to start sending out application forms for this new payment scheme. it expects to start paying people as soon as early october. tokyo electric power says it will also fully compensation farmers, fishermen, and small and medium sized businesses for damage, including harm caused by rumors. tepco has already paid about half of what farmers have claimed in provisional compensation. the utility did not disclose that estimate of how much this new reimbursement plan will cost. it is expected to carry out full fledged compensation procedures with the help of a government backed entity. >> translator: we want to receive compensation as soon as possible. we don't have a home and we can't live without money.

>> we don't have clear prospects for the future so i'm still worried. >> researchers in japan are trying to figure out how to remove radioactive substances from rice paddies. they started testing a new method in an evacuation zone near fukushima daiichi. the government asked the national agriculture and food research organization to conduct the test in the village more than 30 miles northwest of the damaged nuclear plant. the researchers used a power in a paddy on tuesday to break up three centimeters of surface soil that had been hardened on a solidifier. they collected the dirt with a vacuum hose. the researchers will check the remaining soil for radiation to determine the effectiveness of the new method. before the test, the level of radioactivity was 12,000 per

kilogram of soil more than double the legal limit for planting rice. >> we want to establish a set of methods so farmers can safely resume their work as soon as possible. >> in other news, the tokyo high court in a retrial ordered by the supreme court has acquitted three former executives of the failed credit bank of window dressing accounting books. the three including the former chairman and former president were accused of submitting undervalued bad loans and false financial statements for fiscal 1997. the tokyo district court in 2004 found the three guilty of failing to follow the finance ministry financial guidelines and concealing bad loans. in 2009 the supreme court ruled that assessment using the old guidelines was acceptable and

sent the case back to lower court to determine whether such loans were collectible. in the ruling on tuesday, tokyo high court presiding judge said most of the loans were partly collectible and concluded that the assessment was reasonable and did not constitute window dressing. >> we were ready to take any risk, believing that rebuilding the bank would help stabilize japan's financial system at that time. i welcomed the ruling. >> the credit bank failed in december, 1998, becoming one of several banks that collapsed after the burst of japan's bubble economy. japan's maritime self-defense force will join a mine sweeping drill in the persian gulf with the united states and british forces for the first time.

the two-week drill will begin in mid october. the defense ministry says the msdf was invited to join the drill by the u.s. and british navies. they had been holding such exercises off bahrain on an irregular basis. the ministry also said it will deploy the mine sweeper and the mine sweeper with a total of 180 crew members onboard. japan first joined mine sweeping operations in the persian gulf in 1991 soon after the cease-fire in the gulf war. it is believed the participation is aimed at securing waterways crucial for japanese oil shipments in the persian gulf. >> hi there. time now for your weather update. across asia we're seeing a lot of clouds building over japan from the west and also this very large typhoon over the pacific that is slowly but surely approaching mainland japan.

the typhoon maintained its strength packing winds of about 120 kilometers per hour gusts reaching 180. right now it's moving in a westerly direction but of course it is expected to veer to the north and then aim for mainland japan. it could make landfall early friday morning anywhere along the pacific coast in central and western portions of the country. it continues to be a very large storm system, bringing some fierce winds, torrential rains to the islands and we'll also start to feel the effects of the storms, strong winds, heavy, blustery winds will really impact central portions of the country starting tonight into your thursday. we're looking at up to 250 millimeters to fall here. looking quite showery across northern japan as well today. meanwhile, rain bound moving into northeastern china developing as it goes dumping moderate rain here and the southeastern corner of china. not much change i'm afraid. the tropical storm still with us. it continues to meander towards

the coastal line here but it does look like it will be making landfall during the day today as a tropical storm. as you can see not much has changed. it's still the same area as taiwan, that continues to bear the brunt of the storm, strong winds and also heavy rain continues to really impact the region. southern taiwan reporting over 300 millimeters in the last 24 hours. it has caused havoc here and additional rain will fall. looking at about 100 milliliters in some of these areas so risks of flooding will be extremely high indeed. over the next couple days the rain will slowly move away from the region but as you can see for the northern philippines we'll continue to see southwest monsoon being enhanced by the storm system. temperaturewise, 33 degrees in hong kong today. up to 32 in shanghai. now over to europe. we have a very large low pressure system that continues

to linger in the northern areas of europe. scandinavia, the baltic states, north coast, poland and germany again looking very unsettled. british isles under high pressure systems so it is going to be generally calm out here. somewhat cloudy and cool again and then for central and eastern europe it remains fairly settled. good spells of sunshine once again. just a couple showers to watch out for across italy, the west coast of the balkans, and we are starting to see that significant rain moving into the iberian peninsula so portugal, western spain looking very wet tonight and into your wednesday. looking at 29 degrees in madrid. cooling down considerably in lisbon as well. 29 for your daytime high. 18 in london and berlin coming in at 19 degrees with cloudy skies. all right. here is your extended forecast.

our lead stories this hour new japanese prime minister noda plans to inaugurate his cabinet as early as friday.

noda was by the diet on tuesday. he then offered the influential post of dpj secretary general to koshiishi who is close to party heavywght ichiro ozawa and former prime minister yukio hatoyama. noda paid the former foreign minister seiji maehara as party chief. >> translator: i filled key positions in a way that unifies the party and to show my commitment to work for the japanese people. >> on the formation of his cabinet, noda said his priority is party unity. he is considering creating a minister exclusively for administrative reform in order to slash budget spending. noda wants to ready his cabinet to address immediate issues such

as the nuclear crisis in fukushima and reconstruction of the disaster hit areas. u.s. president barack obama says he's looking forward to working with japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda to tackle various economic and security issues facing both countries. obama made the remark in a statement on tuesday and congratulated noda on his election as prime minister. obama said the u.s./japan alliance has served as the lynch pin of peace and security in the asia pacific region for the last half century and said the u.s. and japan can ensure the next half century enjoys the same stability and prosperity. the u.s. has been seeking concrete progress on the long delayed relocation of a u.s. marine air base in okinawa within the prefecture. it is hoped japan will also join negotiations for the trans pacific partnership at an early stage. the u.s. government wants to hold a bilateral summit late september at the earliest when noda will attend the u.n. general assembly in new york.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." do stay with us.