found on tuesday off the sea of japan coast. they're reportedly saying that they saw no future in the north. on wednesday, the justice ministry allowed the detectors to land in japan on a provincial basis. they're questioning the group of nine north koreans including three boys to determine how they defected. the refugees said they had heard that a higher standard of living and more freedoms available in south korea and other countries. the group leader says he is a fisherman who worked to procure funds for the military. they say they have more money than farmers in north korea who suffer tremendous hardship. the nine refugees were relatively well dressed and immigration officials believe they wish to flee north korea to seek a better life abroad. meanwhile, nhk has learned that south korea's ready to accept the nine north korean defectors. government sources say that

under humanitarian conditions japanese authorities have begun unofficially talked with south korea. the south korean government apparently conveyed the readiness of humanitarian grounds. japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda will meet with south korean president in new york on september 21st to discuss north korean nuclear and abduction issues. noda will begin the visit and attend the united nations general assembly. the prime minister will speak to world leaders about nuclear safety and scheduled to meet separately with u.s. president barack obama. noda will hold talks with the south korean president for the first time since becoming prime minister. noda said he wants to discuss north korea's nuclear program and abduction of japanese nationals and added that he hopes to confirm japan, south korea and the united states will cooperate to resolve these

issues. sources close to noda say japan and south korea are likely to agree on the resurvegs of negotiations toward an economic partnership agreement for free trade and investment. south korea has also made a formal request for talks with japan regarding korean women forced to work in military brothels during world war ii a. treaty signed between japan and south korea when relations were normalized in 1965 stipulates that south korea waves the right to request any form of compensation. however, south korea's constitutional court ruled last month that it's unconstitutional for the government to make no specific effort to resolve the dispute over the refusal of sex slaves known as comfort women. on thursday, the south korean foreign ministry delivered the proposal to japan's deputy chief of mission in seoul. japan maintained that all

compensation issues were addressed in the 1965 bilateral treaty. japanese officials in seoul say they'll take the latest request home for appraisal. diplomatic sources believe the issue is likely to cause renewed friction between the two countries. central banks around the world will work to ease credit jitters in europe. we have the latest in business news. give us the details of that story. >> absolutely, catherine. the european central bank announced on thursday a new measure for providing ample dollar funds. the aim as catherine said to ease credit concerns in europe. the european central bank says it will provide three-month loans in accordance with the u.s. federal reserve, the bank of england and the bank of japan. the measure will be on top of the one-week loans the ecb has been providing since may last year.

credit anxiety in europe fueled concern of the health of banks holding government bonds of greece and other euro zone nations whose market prices plunged. the situation pushed down the stock prices. the european central bank is believed to have decided on the new measure to ensure banks have the large amount of dollars they need through the end of this year. german chancellor rejected the idea of joint euro zone bonds saying they are absolutely wrong to ease credit worries in the region. >> translator: prices step by step but only if you do it this way not search for the one and only solution. keyword. euro zone bonds. i think it is absolutely wrong. >> merckel said to bring about standardized interest rates for state bonds issuing nations must

be equally competitive and have a similar budget status. she said simply sharing the debts would not be acceptable. the chancellor's comments a day after european commission president baraso said he would soon propose options for euro zone bonds. merckel's rejection of joint bonds reflects mounting concerns in germany over financial support of debt-strapped countries that use the euro. and now let's get a check on the markets. u.s. markets closed higher for a fourth day in a row due to receding worries on the debt problem in europe. for details we cross over to the tokyo stock exchange. how are markets kicking off this friday morning? >> very good morning to you and seeing the nikkei rising in the first few minutes of rising. just having a look at the opening bells right now. nikkei up 132 points and that follows the more positive news out of the euro zone economies

and followed a concerted effort as you were talking about there by five central banks to provide dollar funds for commercial banks. that move helped ease some tension in the markets. but again, at the same time, yet another piece of discouraging news emerged in the banking sector and with that, the arrest of a trader who may have created a $2 billion loss for ubs and that also revolves around derivatives trading. a little bit of bad news there and the central bank move overshadowed the markets and that positive sentiment really moved through in to the currency markets, as well. you can see there the euro yen currently around mid-106 levels compared to mid-105 this time yesterday. let's not forget the euro yen ranged from 123 in early april to 103.88 on september 12th and that shows the market volatility reflected from the euro zone debt problems. you can see that playing through

in fact currency markets. here in japan stocks may trade in a little bit of a narrow range ahead of a three-day weekend coming up here. focus on the banking sector following the central bank moves we saw in the u.s. and european markets so we'll see that and how it affects brokerages, as well. chip memories, japan's biggest memory chip maker rose 5% yesterday. we did see a spike higher in d ram chip prices, as well. we'll keep a look out on the tech sector, as well. the backdrop of data not painting a pretty picture for the u.s. weekly jobless claims rising and new york and philadelphia manufacturing indexes both dropping for september. now, next week and also later today euro zone finance ministers meeting in poland and u.s. treasury geithner will be there, as well. next week, the fmoc meeting is a crucial focus of markets, as well.

nikkei and topix trading higher this friday. back to you. >> thank you for that. and now let's get you a look at some other market figures. >> that's all for business for this hour. now it's back to catherine. >> thank you very much. researchers say a melt down of the number two reactor at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant could have been avoided if cooling water had been injected four hours earlier. fuel meltdowns occurred at the plant's number one, two and three reactors. it has been estimated that most

of the environmental contamination was the result of an explosion at the number two reactor. researchers at the japan atomic energy agency created a computer simulation of the number two reactor to see if its meltdown could have been prevented. the plant operator began manually pumping cooling water into the number two reactor at around 8:00 p.m. on march 14th. the following day, the reactor overheated and a hydrogen explosion occurred. the first simulation examined what would happen if the water injection had started two hours earlier. it shows the temperature of nuclear fuels dropping for a short while but then rising again. once the fuel temperature exceeds 1,200 degrees celsius, a meltdown will occur. in this case, the water level in the reactor was already too low to prevent it from overheating. in a second simulation, water injection began four hours earlier. at first the temperature rises, but then begins to fall before it reaches 1,200 degrees.

the agency has concluded that the meltdown could have been prevented if cooling water was pumped into the number two reactor four hours earlier. >> translator: the cooling operation faced a lot of difficulties. however, considering there was enough time to spare, it is necessary to look into why it took such a long time to begin pumping water in to the reactor. >> tepco says it doesn't believe that emergency operations were significantly delayed. officials added that workers did their best amid high radiation levels and other severe conditions. insurers say the final payout for structural damage from the march earthquake and tsunami will likely top $15 billion, 15 times the previous record following the 1995 kobe earthquake. the 25-member jenin shurns

association of japan released their cost projection on thursday. association chairman sumi told the news conference as of wednesday nearly $15 billion had been paid out in about 690,000 claims. he said insurers are still processing about 800 new claims per day and when all the claims are dealt with, total payments will likely exceed $15 billion. from the onset of the nuclear accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant, workers have been risking their lives and braving fears of radiation to contain the crisis. international media reports have described them as the heroes of fukushima. earlier this month they were given an award by spain's prince foundation which praised their courageous actions. the uphill battle against radiation continues. as the crisis drags on more

workers are exceeding their exposure limits. in today's "nuclear watch" we look at how much radiation they are actually being exposed to. >> reporter: the people working at the crisis site are staying at a lodging facility 20 kilometers south of the plant. around 7:00 a.m. every morning they leave for work in cars and buses. about 3,000 are assigned to contain the accident on a daily basis. their tasks include operating facilities to decontaminate and reuse water for cooling down the reactors and installing covers on the reactor buildings to prevent the release of nuclear materials. radiation levels are still high inside the buildings and in areas contaminated by debris. before the accident the workers' radiation exposure limit was set at 100 millisieverts by the japanese government, but immediately after the accident the health ministry raised the limit to 250 millisieverts for fukushima daiichi.

it feared that the regular limit would force workers to be quickly sidelined due to overexposure, delaying the containment operation. the ministry based its decision on the 500-millisievert exposure limit for severe accidents set by the international commission on radiological protection. the plant operator, tokyo electric power company, says 12,000 peoplhave worked at the crisis site and 6 of them have exceeded the exposure limit of 250 millisieverts. 97 have exceeded the regular limit of 100 millisieverts. earlier michio kijima spoke with nhk world's reporter mikio tanabe for more details. >> so mikio, how are the workers coping with the radiation exposure? >> on the whole the workers are being exposed to less radiation than they used to right after the accident. the problem now is workers are suffering higher doses of radiation than expected or from other complications.

on wednesday, at least four workers were exposed to higher doses of radiation. last month, two workers accidentally got exposed to radioactive water. following a series of these incidents, the nuclear and industrial safety agency instructed tepco to control radiation exposure to workers and improve safety measures. >> in japan, temperatures have been about 30 degrees celsius during the day due to the heat wave. it must be hard for workers, especially when it comes to wearing protective gear. will the company be able to secure enough workers? i know it's going to be a long haul. >> tepco said in a news conference that it has enough workers. however, i learned that things are not that simple after visiting the area near the

plant. i found out that an employment agency in fukushima prefecture had contracted people to work at the crippled facility but now the firm does not dispatch workers to the plant anymore. the agency has set its own limit for radiation exposure to 15 millisieverts per month for its employees. but because several workers had been exposed to radiation at that limit, the company canceled its contract at the plant. the firm's president said the decision was unavoidable. he had to protect the employees. >> translator: if i kept sending my employees to the site, they would have to stop working if they exceed the radiation limit. i don't want to lose any of my skilled workers. >> i met a long-time worker at the plant.

he said working at the nuclear plant is complicated and only those who worked there do understand. he wonders how many skilled workers would continue to work there. >> so what is tepco doing to resolve these problems? >> tepco plans to train 4,000 people as radiation experts by the end of this year in order to manage exposure to workers. they will closely monitor the level onsite. the power company also plans to install 50 units of equipment by early next month. the equipment can measure internal radiation exposure. with those measures, tepco will try to keep the level of exposure to workers as low as possible. on wednesday, tepco told reporters that it is concerned about a shortage of skilled workers in the future. the firm said it will try to

train more people. it added that it will encourage those working at other facilities to go and work at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant. it's expected to take decades to remove the melted fuel rods and decommission the reactors. tepco challenges its managing radiation exporter to its workers in securing enough experienced and skilled workers. >> thanks, mikio. that was nhk world's mikio tanube reporting for us tonight. appreciate it. and other news, thailand's newly-elected prime minister yingluck shinawatra has met her counterpart. they failed to discuss the removal of troops deployed along their common border. the two countries remain at odds over a territorial dispute of a world heritage site near their

border. both sides continue to deploy military forces in the area despite a withdrawal order by the international court of justice in the hague. on thursday the two sides agreed to continue a dialogue toward solving the issue but failed to touch on the subject of troop withdrawal. >> i believe that from the good environment of the relationships we think we can talk in peaceful ways so that's why we have the coordination and bilateral. >> on friday yingluck's brother former thai prime minister thaksin shinawatra held talks in cambodia. they're expected to hold further discussions aimed at solving the dispute. a magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred near the fiji islands on thursday, around 7:31 friday morning local time. japan's meteorological agency

says there's no possibility of tsunami. so far there are no reports of damage caused by the quake. the agency says the epicenter was located near fiji. roughly 593 kilometers beneath the sea floor. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline. rivers in western japan have been blocked due to landslides triggered by tropical storm that las. a mayor asked residents living near a damned up river not to return to their homes as more

downpours are forecast on friday. the village held a meeting where about 60 people who evacuated from districts at risk of additional mud slides and floods. the mayor explained if lakes which have been formed by landslides blocking the river become flooded then houses in the district could be affected. he called on the villagers to stay away from their houses to remain safe. >> the land and traffic ministries officials also explained the current condition of the dammed up river saying people in the village would be promptly informed if any risk arises.

and welcome back to your weather update. we're monitoring a couple tropical storm systems in the pacific and the newest one is well out at sea at the moment but looking to veer in toward japan over the next few days. this is tropical storm donsuk and veering to japan and well away before heading right back out to sea. no direct threat to land right now but we'll keep a close eye. right now it's going to be tropical storm roki and aiming right towards okinawa islands of southern japan. already bringing in the tropical storm force winds and looks like stalling out here right over the islands over the next few days so it is going to mean prolonged period of very stormy conditions. high waves. strong winds.

as well as ample amounts of rainfall. actually, though, with this system the heaviest rains are going to be impacting more of the northern and eastern end of the tropical storm system so the pacific side of mainland japan looking at ample amounts of rain moving on in today. lots of rain especially for central sections of japan and includes very hard hit areas still dealing with the aftermath of tropical storm that lasso the additional rainfall is of a very, very big concern. meanwhile, northern japan, too, starting to look wet this afternoon. more rain off of the korean peninsula and behind it looks drier heading in to the evening hours but for central china, this slice looking at another area of rain coming on in so that will be a lot wetter as we head in to the rest of friday. there's a highs, 31 in tokyo. so hot and also 30 degrees in seoul. still summer heat hanging on here. meanwhile, for the americas, we're looking at the tropical

storm maria here. rather it's now strengthened in to a hurricane and category 1 hurricane but the further strengthening is going to be possible, just a little bit more but as it aims for the very eastern tip of canada here and newfoundland, it could make landfall over avalon peninsula so we have warnings, watches issued already. things getting stormy here late thursday into friday. so watch out for that. meanwhile, the u.s., too, looking largely unsettled thanks to a long frontal system along it. scattered showers, really across much of the country. as for those highs still on the cool side, especially northeast. new york into the teens. we have 15 in toronto. 20 degrees only in d.c. and oklahoma city, too, is still going to be on the cool side. and lastly, a look at europe here. finally for the scandinavian peninsula, much drier conditions to come on in. this rain lingering and headed out tonight. meanwhile, more rain coming in off the west so france as well

as the iberian peninsula looking at showers and more rain into the british isles. as for highs on friday, 15 in moscow. 17 degrees in warsaw and even 18 degrees in kiev. looking cooler here out west. all right. and that's a look at your weather forecast for now. here's your three-day outlook.

nine north korean detectors found on tuesday in a near small boat off the sea of japan coast. they're reportedly saying they saw no future in the north. on wednesday, the justice ministry allowed the defectors to land in japan. japanese 0 authorities are questioning the group of nine north koreans including three boys to determine how they defected. the refugees said they had heard that a higher standard of living and more freedoms were available in south korea and other countries. the group leader says he is a fisherman working to procure funds for the military. they say they have more money than farmers in north korea who suffer tremendous hardship. the nine refugees were relatively well dressed and immigration officials believe they wish to flee north korea to seek a better life abroad. meanwhile, nhk has learned that south korea is ready to accept

the nine north korean defectors. government sources say under humanitarian conditions japanese authorities have begun unofficial talks with south korea. the south korean government reportedly conveyed the readiness to accept the refugees on humanitarian grounds. the european central bank announced. concerns in europe. the european central bank says it will provide three-month loans in coordination with the world's major central banks including the bank of england and the bank of japan. the measure will be on top of the one-week loans the european central bank has been providing since may last year. credit anxiety in europe fueled concerns about the health of banks holding government bonds of greece and other euro zone nations whose market prices have plunged. the situation has pushed down the stock prices of major

european banks. the european central banks believed to have decided on the measure to ensure a large amount of dollars they need through the end of this year. and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobiyashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more of your updates at the top of the next hour.

>> this special on the colorado river is funded by-- and montgomery watson harza. >> hello, everybody. i'm huell howser, and we're getting ready to start a two-day adventure. now here's the setup-- even those of us with just