glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." i'm katherine kobiashi. president obama's speech to

congress ended moments ago. in the speech obama unveiled a new jobs plan. let's go straight to the business desk. >> very good morning. business as uncertainties over the u.s. economy are on the rise, president barack obama unveiled new stimulus measures to tackle unemployment in the country. >> the purpose of the american jobs act is simple, to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. it will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for long-term unemployed. it will provide a tax break for companies who hire more workers and cut payroll taxes in half for every working american and every small business. >> speaking to congress on thursday, obama added that the package will provide a boost to

the stalled u.s. economy. he urged congress it pass this jobs plan right away. the new proposal is to tackle the jobless rate, which has stayed high at around 9% for more than two years. meanwhile, u.s. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke downplayed concerns over inflation, but he did not say how or whether the bank would take steps to boost the economy. bernanke gave a speech on thursday at the economic club of minnesota. he said he sees little indication the higher rate of inflation this year has become engrained into the economy. he also said inflation is expected to moderate in the coming quarters. bernanke repeated that the f.e.d. consider a range of options in the next policy meeting scheduled for september 20th and 21st, but he did not provide details. some people are calling for more monetary easing, but others say

further easing could make inflation worse. the european central bank has kept its key interest rate unchanged as concerns over the regional economy are on the rise. the bank decided on thursday to keep the benchmark rate at 1.5% after raising it twice since april. president told reporters the risk of a down swing in the euro zone economy are increasing and uncertainties are particularly high. also on thursday, the bank downplayed its quarterly job growth. the rate ask projected to be between 1.4% and 1.8% this year and between 0.4% and 2.2% next year. the economies of greece and other european economies are slowing down due to austerity measures aimed at reducing huge budget deficits. the central bank is facing the

task of easing credit concerns. now with obama's jobs plan, bernanke's speech, and the european central banks decisions out, let's see how these events are being in japan, we go to the tokyo stock exchange. what can you tell us at the open? >> good morning to you. following the u.s. session, stocks ending lower, weekly jobless claims numbers coming out lower than analysts expected. that follows the main jobs numbers we had on friday last week, which showed zero growth for august. markets also taking a little bit of a negative out of the speech from f.e.d. chairman bernanke, which also drove markets a touch lower, but let's look at how that's affecting the nikkei and topix here. both trading lower, let's not forget the nickkei closed

higher, gaining on the slightly weaker yen and also encouraging news out of the eurozone markets and we did see gains on the back of the week again, also tracking a couple of stand-out stocks among the most actively traded on the tokyo stock exchange, mobile gaming and social network sites, which have churned out pretty strong profits. now, in the u.s. speech by f.e.d. chairman bernanke, added little in the way of what he said in a keynote speech at jackson hole, wyoming, just a couple of weeks ago, not really changing much of the wording there, so a lot of focus on the meeting towards the end of september, but the currency markets took it as a positive for the dollar, gaining against the euro and yen, mid 77 yen

levels. that compares to lower 77 this time yesterday, and talking of speeches, of course, a lot of focus now on president obama's speech given to congress as he's laid out his plans for a revitalizing or reviving the jobs picture in the u.s. we're going to see how all the markets react to that in asia, but for now, the nikkei and topix trading lower. >> thank you, that was our reporter from the tokyo stock exchange. let's look at other market figures.

that is all for now in business news, now it's back to katherine. >> thanks very much. observers say north korea appears to have changed part of its national slogan due to a lack of progress in economic reconstruction. north korea held a rally on thursday, the eve of the anniversary of its funding. in a speech at the gathering, repeatedly mentioned a goal of becoming a strong and prosperous nation. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> according to a tokyo-based news agency, radio press, north korea previously used great nation, but that has been simplified to nation recently.

a strong and prosperous great nation was displayed in huge letters in a stadium during the annual national games last year, but the phrase "2012 strong and prosperous nation" was exhibited at this year's event. the competition started last month. a north korean official says there's little difference between "a great nation" and "a nation," but observers say the difficulty in rebuilding the economy may have led to the modification. russia has opened a pipeline in the country's far east. it hopes to boost liquefied natural gas exports to japan and other parts of the asia-pacific region. a ceremony was held to mark the completion of the pipeline. the 1,800 kilometer system runs to the region's largest port city.

[ speaking in a foreign language ] >> translator: we will continue building infrastructure in the far east. natural energy will bring farther regional development. >> japan and russia have agreed to build a plant to export gas to japan. russia has also agreed with north korea that the two countries will cooperate to extend the pipeline to south korea through the north. the country intends to develop new gas fields in eastern siberia to increase production and export of liquefied natural gas. mean while, reaction was favorable to the plan. during a kbs-tv debate on thursday, referred to the agreement indicating south korea's readiness to assist in the pipeline project. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> translator: if it is stopped halfway, then both north korea and russia will incur losses. >> a representative of south

korea's grand national party says russia, north and south korea, may hold talks in november to discuss the liquefied natural gas pipeline. observers say the new plan may help break the impasse in relations. two russian bombers took an unusual course circling around japan. the defense ministry says two tu-95 bombers from the russian air force approached japanese air space on thursday morning. fighter planes from japan's air self defense force scrambled to track the bombers. the aircraft later through southward over the east china sea. afterwards, it moved to the pacific side before skirting northward. the bombers continued flying over the strait before heading south on the japan's seaside

before leaving areas of japan. theombers did not violate japan's air space, but it was an unusual route for any russian military aircraft. the russian air force has been active around japan recently. bombers and spy planes have approached japanese air space five times since last month. now, a russian defense ministry spokesperson revealed that its bomber planes had, in fact, circled japan. the spokesperson says the bombers were tracked by ten jet fighters from japan and south korea's air force. he said the russian bombers were doing flight training over the ocean. the spokesperson added that the country's air force regularly patrols international waters without violating international law. prime minister has visited fukushima for the first time since taking office. he infected the

fukushima-daiichi power plant and asked workers to care for the disaster. he inspected the damaged reactor buildings, then spoke to about 200 people at the plant. >> translator: the whole world is waiting for japan to bring the nuclear accident under control. the efforts of everyone here will be the key to whether the nation can overcome the challenge. >> noda also said that thanks to them, levels of radiation in waste water inside the plant have fallen by a factor of 10 million. the prime minister also visited northwest of the power plant where relatively high levels of radiation have been detected. he watched officials measuring radiation levels in a ditch and was briefed about decontamination work. japanese researchers have estimated that a total of 15,000 radioactive substances have been

released from the plant into the sea. researchers at the japan atomic energy agency, kioto university and other institutes made the observations from late march through april. the combined amount of iodine 131 and cesium 137 is more than triple the estimate made by the plant operator tokyo electric power company. they detected the radioactive from water released into the sea in april and may, but the researchers say their estimate includes a large amount released into the atmosphere and entered the sea after being mixed with rain. they say they need to determine the total amount of radioactivity to accurately assess the impact of the disaster on the sea. they say it will begin stress tests at its nuclear plant. the reactors are currently out of service due to regular

check-ups. tepko says it will conduct the first stage on the numbe one and seven reactors of the plant starting on friday. in july, the government introduced an additional safety assessment as a response to the fukushima-daiichi crisis. it uses computer simulation to see how well nuclear power plants can withstand earthquakes, tsunami, and loss of external power. but the governor of nigata prefecture has expressed caution. the governor has said conducting stress tests will not lead to the prefecture approving the resumption of such reactors and said the prefecture will not make a decision until the results of the investigations into the fukushima accident are published. a tepko official says the

company wants to confirm the safety of the plant through stress tests and explain the results to local communities. the march 11 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." 2:30 p.m. japan time for the 3/11 disaster. today "newsline" brings you part five in the series "9/11 defining a decade" about security in afghanistan. soon after the september 11 attacks by al qaeda, the u.s. spent troops to afghanistan. almost ten years later, the u.s. and its allies have begun

withdrawing its troops. they also started handing over security control to afghan authorities. now, the taliban is stepping up terror attacks in many parts of the country. more than 1,400 civilians have been killed in the fighting during the first six months of the year. the taliban also infiltrated the security forces. >> this highway leads to the capital of kabul. this truck was attacked by the taliban, has been abandoned here ever since. it was carrying fuel for the international forces. this checkpoint is manned by afghan police. recently, people pretending to be police officers by wearing the uniform are being carried out terrorist attacks. the taliban conducted a suicide

attack against this military hospital in kabul. another attack in the northern province targeted the government's compound. in both attacks, the taliban attackers wore army and police uniforms. the police are now cracking down. they are making army and police uniforms. they are trying to find out if the terrorists have illegally sold the uniforms to insurgents. [ speaking in a foreign language ] obtaining a permit is not difficult. almost anyone can get permission to make uniforms. the government seems unable to stop this. >> translator: i'm sure that

some shops illegally make uniforms for anti-government forces. we are doing our best to crack down. >> our investigation shows that the taliban ill filtrated afghan security forces. >> i joined the forces to carry out a suicide bombing against the u.s. military while wearing the u.s. uniform. he shows a certificate showing he received a special training from the u.s. military. he says he had a problem to conduct a suicide bombing after international forces, but he missed his chance, so he returned to the taliban. >> translator: besides me, there are hundreds of other taliban

fighters who infiltrated the armed forces and the police. we do this to carry out suicide bombings against the u.s. army. >> the number of civilians who are losing their lives in the taliban attacks is rising. he lives in terror, a city in the eastern part of the country. he lives with his four grandchildren. in february, a suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed his son. >> translator: i feel sad and lonely because dad isn't ever coming home again. >> since he was killed, getting by has become difficult. for the family to survive, he must send his grandchildren to work. what angers him even more than the taliban is the karzai government.

>> translator: we have violence, suicide bombings and murder every day in parts of our country. it's obvious that the karzai government can't keep its citizens safe. >> more afghans are becoming frustrated with the karzai government. the taliban has taken advantage of this with more civil attacks. stability in afghanistan seems to be slipping farther out of reach. nhk world, kabul. >> all right, do tune in on sunday where we'll be bringing you 9/11 defining a decade. now the accident at fukushima-daiichi prompted the government to reduce the country's dependence on nuclear energy, but it won't be easy. we'll look at the challenges on friday in our weekly segment, "the road ahead." wind, solar, and other forms of

green energy are developing in japan, but slowly. we'll examine the efforts to turn renewable resources into a reliable power supply. in other news, libya's ousted leader, moammar al-gadhafi denies report. the broadcast was aired on thursday on syrian satellite television. in the five-minute audio, gadhafi denounced a report he was traveling in a convoy to niger. he said it was a lie meant to deceive his supporters. he's ready to attack enemies in tripoli and other cities, but many gadhafi strongholds in libya are surrounded by forces of the national transitional council. negotiations for surrender are underway. the u.s. government says it believes gadhafi is still in libya. time to check on stories we gathered around asia. we begin with this sent by cc-tv

china. the chinese government has outlined a detailed plan to sharply reduce energy consumption by 2015. the blueprint was released on the government's website on wednesday. to meet the goal, the government will reign in high-energy consuming industries and step up efforts to recommission outdated factories.lso control new projects in energy-consuming and polluting sectors and those with overcapacity. stressing the need to promote cooperation between bangladesh, india, and nepal. the president welcomed the indian leader saying his visit to bangladesh will boost bilateral relations. india is the key to enhance

cooperation with bangladesh in various sectors. authorities seized a major hold of drugs on wednesday. the drugs worth about $100 million were being smuggled into thailand. police chased a pickup truck for two hours when it refused to stop at a checkpoint. the smugglers fled after abandoning the vehicle. police recovered about 2.4 tablets of methamphetamine, and 3.4 kilograms of heroin. welcome back to your weather update. getting a look at the weather in east asia, we are keeping an eye

on a tropical storm system south of japan, it is moving past southern islands of japan, aiming for the okinawa islands over the course of today and into the start of the weekend. after that, looks like it's going to continue heading more towards the northerly direction heading in towards the korean peninsula. by then we'll see it start weakening from a tropical depression. really small and compact system, but definitely strong winds, high waves and rainfall to watch out with this system. showers are going to start affecting, of course, islands in the south but parts of southern mainland japan as well. that will include hard-hit areas, areas still well saturated from last week's flood risk, land slide risk will remain very, very serious in some of these areas. china, remains wet towards the east. scattered showers today, so

unsettled weather here, shanghai's high remains at 29 degrees, so pretty pleasant here. tokyo at 31, it will be on the humid and sticky side for a change. over towards the americas, good rotation here, this will be hurricane katia, bringing some dangerous rip currents to the east coast of the u.s., it will start heading out towards the sea, but we are keeping an eye on tropical storm nate in the gulf of mexico. remains at a slow, slow pace, about 4 kilometers per hour and expected to become a hurricane by friday and will bring in lots of rain to the yucatan peninsula and high waves. in the caribbean, of course, there is tropical storm maria. this one is expected to weaken a little bit as it moves through the leeward islands as a tropical depression, but after that it is expected to become a

tropical storm system, so this will need watching over the next few days or well into next week. and finally, a look at europe, here, a lot of clouds heading out towards the east. lots of showers and thunderstorms moving through the northern half of europe this weekend. it is now starting to move into areas like western russia and eastern europe, but even behind that, doesn't completely clear out, especially tonight, showers lingering across portions of germany, poland. for the british isles, along the eastern side friday, but tonight, that is, but starting friday, more showers coming on, especially on the northern end, could be intensifying at times. here's a look at highs, stockholm coming in at 19, also on the cool side in berlin, showers out east will make you feel cool. 15 in kiev, paris hits 25

degrees and london warms up to 23. that's a look at your weather conditions for now, and here is your three-day outlook.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." do stay with us.