it's been seven months since the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. more than 2,000 people in the devastated area are still living in shelters as the severe winter season approaches. however, some survivors are starting a new phase of life. in the last of the city's shelters will close today. about 50 survivors got together on monday at one of the remaining evacuation centers. authorities are closing the

shelters as the evacuees have all moved out. about 50,000 people were staying at city's 250 evacuation centers at one point. the survivors presented letters of gratitude to the volunteers that helped run the shelter. they shared memories of the seven months they spent together. >> translator: i'm so grateful for the sport. to be honest, i don't want to leave here, but at least i know two people who will be moving to the same area. >> translator: >> i always remember the way people helped each other in the shelter. that's encouraging me to make a new start. no matter where i live, i will always try it to stay positive. >> meanwhile residents of the disaster hit town in miyagi

prefecture began moving into new temporary housing on montana. about 220 residents are still living in shelters. the town is surrounded by mountains and has limited space for construction. an architect offered a solution with two and three story temporary housing units made from shipping containers. the town built 189 of the residences on a baseball field. >> translator: it was difficult to secure land. the multi-story housing was the only solution. i believe the new houses will bring cheer to the people of onagawa and help them to move on. the japanese environment ministry has revived its plan to clear away radioactive substances from the crippled fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. it announced details on monday at a meeting of nuclear experts.

ministry officials say they will decontaminate areas where radiation levels are higher than 1 millisievert per year. the ministry plans to decontaminate places with levels above 5 millisieverts per year, but municipalities in fukushima prefecture with readings below 5 millisieverts argued to be included in the cleanup. the government will be responsible for the decontamination of the no-entry zones and government-designated evacuation zones. local governments clean up all other affected areas. it prioritizes areas with radiation levels higher than 20 millisieverts per year. in areas with less than that, radiation will be reduced by up to 60% over the next two years. environment ministry officials say the government will help prefectures that have a massive amount of radioactive waste. the government will discuss the decontamination plan further before the cabinet formally

adopts it. >> translator: the japanese government promises to carry out the contamination, but it hasn't done anything. i want the government to begin quickly so it's safe for my children and grandchildren. >> translator: the detailed decontamination policy has been announced today, but realistically i think it will be difficult unless we work very hard. we have to put maximum effort into addressing the issue. >> experts from the international atomic energy agency have ebb observed the japanese government's experimental decontamination of a farm in iitate village. it's in the government designated evacuation zone. they arrived in fukushima on sunday to give advice on clearing radioactive substances. they visited a rice patty on monday where experimental decontamination is being carried out. government officials explained that radiation levels were cut

by 75% after workers removed 4 centimeters of topsoil. they also said the radiation in unpolished rice was about 0.1% of that in the soil. iaee experts say these radiation levels are low and pose no danger. they also inspected an incinerator that turns greenery into charcoal. the process heats plants to 400 degrees celsius, reducing their weight for easier disposal. a member said they had yet to devise a plant to efficiently burn massive amounts of plants. after the visit the team leader told reporters that the decontamination process needs to be streamlined, collecting as much data as possible about the process. >> we are very happy to receive very, very interesting information, and we are maintaining very open and very

professional discussion with the people in charge of the different places. >> the experts are scheduled to meet the fukushima governor on tuesday. their last day in the prefecture. "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. now take a look at the latest in business news with ai. ai, most world markets rallied overnight. what was behind all that? >> positive developments in europe pushed higher european markets on monday, and that sentiment carried over to wall

street. u.s. stock prices surged overnight after german and french leaders agreed to boost the capital of european banks to stem the region's debt crisis. the dow jones industrial average gained 330 points or nearly 3% to end the day at 11,433. concerns over the spread of europe's debt crisis eased following talks between german chancellor merkel and french president nicolas sarkozy on sunday. another supporting factor was the decision made by the french and belligian to split up dexia. this brought a sense of relief to investors. now let's take a economic on tokyo shares. as you know, u.s. stocks rallied due to optimism, so how is this affecting tokyo trading? let's go to the tokyo stock exchange. what are we seeing here in japan this tuesday morning? >> well, ai, let's look at the

opening levels straightaway, and we can see how the nikkei and topix are opening up this tuesday morning. looking at the opening levels for the nikkei and to approxima pix right now. continuing the rally we saw in the u.s. markets rallying there that german and french leaders pledged to take firm measures including shoring up european banks affected by the region's debt problems that you mentioned there. also friday's jobs report in the u.s. gave more optimism. the next piece of economic data is retail sales, which is due up on friday this week. another focus there. let's not forget amidst all of this news we're entering earnings seasons and u.s. global companies come out with earnings starting this week announcing their results. earnings from japanese companies are a focus as we mentioned 11th disaster.nths after the japanese companies will be

announcing their earnings towas the end of month. currency markets are a bit of a focus there showing optimism over the weekend for the euro there. they're trading around the mid 104 levels. that compares to the upper 102 yen levels when we left off on friday. dollar yen keeping as usual stubbornly to the 76 yen levels. with the rallies in the stocks in mind, we'll keep track of financials. we saw morgan stanley, bank of america and jpmorgan all surging higher, and also shares of apple surged around 5% on the announcement that preorders for its new iphone 4s has hit about a million units. apple will be announcing its results next week. also, benchmark wti crude oil prices surged around 3%, and that was on the new york mercantile exchange. we'll keep track of energy stocks as well. it's $10 higher a barrel than last week. for now the nikkei and topix

trading considerably higher this tuesday morning. back to you. >> thanks a lot. the nikkei is trading higher by nearly 1.9% this tuesday morning. now, an economic indicator for august has come in. japan's current accounts surplus fell for a sixth month in a row compared with the previous year. the trade balance meanwhile fell into the red for the first time in three months. the finance ministry said in a preliminy report on tuesday that the surplus for the month was over 407 billion yen or more than $5.3 billion. that is a decrease of 64.3% in yen terms from a year earlier. the trade deficit stood at over $9 billion. that's the first time in three months the trade balance fell into the red. this is due to higher prices of commodities such as crude oil. imports rose 22.4%, while exports were up 4%.

the income accounts surplus rose more than 18% in yen terms to more than $17.6 billion due to to increased dividends from securities investments. japan is debating whether to join the free trade talks on the trans pacific partnership, otherwise known as tpp. ministers concerned are expected to hold a meeting later on tuesday. financial support for farming, forestry and fishery will also be part of the agenda. these industries are afraid if japan joining the tpp, cheaper imports without tariffs will wipe them out. the government plans to draw up an action plan it this month to revitalize these sectors. the prime minister stressed on monday that there is no time to waste. >> translator: i've instructed senior government officials and democratic party executives to decide on the issue as soon as

possible. >> the noda administration plans to hammer out a plan before an upcoming meeting of the asia-pacific corporation. the gathering is to be held in hawaii in november. now back to katherine. the european union has decided to sign up to an extension of the kyoto protocol on global warning on the commission that major carbon emitters commit to the pac. the minimum strers outlined the bloc's basic policy on global warming ahead of the climate change conference which beginning in latd november. eu virltal commissioner told reporters member states will back a second period of the kyoto protocol, as long as major carbon producers, including china and the united states

indicate when they'll take part the first period of the protocol expires at the end of next year. though developing countries call for the extension, japan is refusing to sign up as it only obliges advanced economies to cut the emissions. two american economists are sharing the top honor in their field. they have joinlt jointly won this year's nobel prize in economic sciences. >> the royal swedish academy of sciences has decided to award the prize of scientific prizes in memory of noble to professor thomas j.sargent and christopher a. sims. >> the swedish academy made the announcement on monday. professors sargent and sims have

together developed methods for better analyzing and understanding the casual relationship between policy measures and different macro economic variables such as gdp, inflation, employment and investments. egypt's ruling military council has pledged to investigate the clashes between christians and security forces that killed 25 people and injured 300 on monday. the christians were protesting the interim government's response to the burning of a church last week. the demonstrations turned deadly on sunday with tanks driving into the protestors. on monday the military council announced on state television that it would ensure the violence did not recur. it pledged to set up a committee to probe the deaths and punish those responsible. the army is facing growing criticism that it responded to the demonstrations with excessive violence. political leaders of different parties met in the capital on monday and denounced the army

and police force for inflaming the tensions. the military council hopes to hold parliamentary elections, the first since hosni bubarak was ousted. they spoke on monday at a ceremony marking the founding of taiw taiwan. the ceremony coincides with the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution. doctor and political leader led the drive to overthrow the imperial dynasty. the taiwan administration held a military parade for the first time under his leadership. authorities exhibited anti-air missiles and supersonic anti-ship missiles developed by taiwan. >> translator: we will enhance our defense capabilities and build up state-of-the-art

military forces in the text ten years to defend our sovereignty. >> he avoided holding a military parade since he took office in 2008 in an effort to cement relationships with china. he appears to have used the opportunity to show he's taking a firm stance against china's security threats. he's trying to be re-elected in january when taiwan holds its presidential election. activists in south korea sent a message on monday they hope will make it to north korea. they floated balloons carrying ten of thousands of leaflets towards the border. the action coincided with the 66th anniversary of the founding of the north korea workers party. north korean defectors and supporters sent about 200,000 leaflets in all. it calls for an end to the three-generation dynasty that has controlled the country since

1948. the group says it also attached 100 radios and 300 dvds to the balloons. representatives say they want to help deprogram brainwashed north koreans. the event also marked one year since the death of the man who was the highest ranking north korean detector and a focal critic of kim yong il's regime. 200 south korean officers guarded him. an assassination plot was uncovered last month. north korea has warned it will not hesitate to take military action to retaliate against the activists. there are 18 million displaced people in asia in need of help according to the uhnhcr.

the number continues to grow. this year is the 60th anniversary on the united nations convention on the status of refugees. in the final installment of our week-long series, nhk speaks with a representative of the world body on the situation in this part of the world. >> joining us today is johan seltz. he's been working on these issues for nearly 20 years. thank you very much. first of all, let's take a moment to remind ourselves about some of the significant event in asia over the creates that have created refugees. first of all, the vietnam war caused people to take to boats in the late 1970s fleeing their homeland to spend their lives in refugee camps. now 30 years later tribunal is

starting and cambodians abroad are waiting for the final judgment. we focused on refugees from myanmar in japan that they worked for this for more than 20 years. one of the latest development, r the controversy over refugees in austral australia. mr. cels, what would you say are the most significant changes you've seen over the years in asia in particular? >> i think this is changing the nature of conflict. whereas, most of the conflicts were between states and now the majority are within states. that means that people are more internally displaced rather than fleeing across borders. more and more work in comfort zone, which for us is much more dangerous and difficult. as a consequence you have many long-standing refugee problems in asia. you have also some of the caseload which was nepal, et

cetera. >> also, has their conditions causing people to become refugees changed over the year? >> i think yes. one of the links to this changing nature of conflict is actually the impact of climate change. as a consequence, the increasing number and intensity of natural disaster which of course here in asia we experience on a regular basis. because of the natural disasters, it means that there's more and more conflict about resources, access to land and water which has an impact on foot security. therefore, more and more we see that the issue of the conflict is linked to that. that makes it much more difficult to address and resolve. >> right. obviously the asian region is prone to a lot of natural disaster. >> indeed. you have the cyclone this august, you had the flooding today you're speaking of in pakistan, last year in pakistan also, and of course also here in

japan we had following the earthquake and the tsunami approximately half a million people who were displaced here in japan. >> i see. now, thinking of the nations that have been accepting refugees, has the nations on that side changed in any ways? >> i think more and more you see that many countries, unfortunately, are closing their borders and becoming more restricti restrictive, less welcoming and open. >>s why that? >> partly is because of economic reasons. the perceived burden that a refugee costs or imposes. the question is still that often they have a lack of adequate migration policies of dealing with -- how one can deal with the movement, increasing movement of people across borders. >> in the case of australia, are they still accepting, or is it the resettlement program not working? >> in the case of australia, it's more complex. australia has been very generous in resettling refugees for many

years. there the question is more a question about continual ashls and how human smuggling it being addressed. unfortunately, many refugees fall victim of traffickers and who are abusing the system. this is at the center of the issue. >> a number of nations in asia have become more prosperous in recent yeens. are you expecting them to do more for refugees? >> very important point is that, first of all, asia remains an open asylum policy. it keeps its border open. more importantly is asia's leadership role in terms of politically helping out, resolving some of this long-standing refugee crisis. take the case of japan and it's role towards afghanistan.

for the last ten years japan has played a key roll in providing help to refugees, helping refugees to return but also to the rebuilding of afghanistan. that is important. all i think asia as more and more countries become prosperous is to freeway financial assistance to refugee swax. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you very much. welcome back to your weather update. let's get a look at the weather conditions across asia and southeast asia in particular has seen a lot of rain and it continues today. off the eastern end we have a trop depression that brings in rain. over towards the indochina peninsula as well we have a couple of lows in place. really we're talking about just a lot of wet weather in the area. it has been a wet past couple of

monthsments and a serious flooding situation. you can see more rain again today. it is just going to remain very, very serious for the time being. towards china as well, looking quite unsettled along the southern coastline. for central sections too, a little more rain spreads in from inland areas today. towards japan, the southern islands continuing to see some hefty showers and stronger downpours. otherwise it should remain largely dry, although in the afternoon we may see a couple spots pick up. tokyo's high expected to reach 24 dprees today, so another plecht day. 23 for the high, 21? beijing and expecting 24 years for xhong ching. over towards the americas it is pacific just off the western end of mexico looking at a lot of tropical activity. we have two tropical systems set to make landfall on this pacific side of mexico within the next

24 hours happening yesterday afternoon into the evening. that will bring in rough sea conditions as well as rainfall and winds will intensify as that system approaches. right behind it, too, we have tropical storm irvin looking to weaken over the next couple of days. that is at least good news. however it could bring a second round of heavy rainfall to the same area, so we need to keep a close eye on the region over the next couple of days. a couple of severe storms impact parts of soes coast and corner of the united states. some heavy rain is possible and the pacific northwest is looking unsettled. we're looking at the highest elevations on snow especially across mountains of british columbia. vancouver as well as for seattle in high teens. we expect 23 degrees in denver on tuesday. finally getting a look at europe here, some strong storms are going to be possible for this

southeast corner of europe across the southern end of the balkan peninsula and over into turkey. you may see stronger thunderstorms, and looking active along this long frontal system across the northern end of europe today. we're looking at cold rain, upper elevation of snow as well as winds especially, winds strong along this northern end of continental europe. as for those temperatures, definitely looking cooler. moscow into the single digits now. 9 degrees only expected for the high. looking at 16 in berlin and then 19 for both london and paris. on the other hand it's sunny for the ibearian peninsula and the same in lisbon. that's a look at your weather conditions for now, and here is your three-day outlook.

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