welcome to nhk world "newsline." japan's central bank has decided to take additional monetary easing steps to fight deflation. the decision came at the bank of japan's policy board meeting on friday. the bank will expand its asset purchasing program by 5 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen, that's more than $860 billion. the central bank's policymakers said at the same tim japanese economy is showing clearer signs of picking up. they pointed to increased demand from reconstruction efforts following the march disaster

last year. the boj revised its growth forecast for the current fiscal year upward to 2.3% from 2%, and for fiscal 2013 to 1.7% from 1.6%. the central bank also changed its outlook for consumer inflation to 0.3% in fiscal 2012 and 0.7% in fiscal 2013. >> translator: we believe it's likely that the japanese economy will return to a sustainable growth path with price stability. those measures are meant to make sure this will happen. >> the board members agreed unanimously it will take time for consumer prices to rise 1%. this is the goal that bank of japan set up in february to pull the economy out of deflation. top japanese and american officials have signed off on a long awaited deal to shift the u.s. fighting force in the asia-pacific region. it means thousands of troops will leave the southern island

of okinawa. the announcement comes days before prime minister yoshihiko noda visits washington to meet president barack obama. the bilateral agreement calls for the transfer of 9,000 marines to guam and other regions in the asia pacific. around 10,000 troops will stay in okinawa. >> we think it breaks a very long stalemate on okinawa that has plagued our politics. >> the transfer of u.s. marines to guam is expected to cost $8.6 billion. japan will pay about a third of the tab. the united states will return 13 military facilities in okinawa to japan. both sides are presenting the effort as a way to quickly alleviate the burden of the american military presence on the southern island chain. >> translator: the deal achieves positive and concrete results, reducing okinawa's burden comes first. >> the agreement doesn't cover the relocation of the u.s.

futenma air station within okina okinawa's main island. a number of locals are opposed to the move. they want the marine base off their island entirely but american and japanese officials say the current plan of shifting futenma to an area further north is the only feasible option at this time. originally the joint statement was to be released on wednesday. but it was postponed after opposition in congress. we asked nhk world's takeshi kurihara to expln more. >> tokyo and washington carefully reworded the joint statement following statements from three u.s. senators. the changes make it sound like there may be some alternatives for a possible relocation site but the japanese government has no intention of giving any serious consideration to the idea of relocating the air station to anywhere but nago city, henoko district and okinawa. senior foreign minister official says japan agreed to reword the joint statement just to save

face in the u.s. congress. tokyo apparently made the concession in order to release the joint statement by the time japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda meets u.s. president barack obama on monday. the japanese government hopes the bilateral agreement to alleviate the burden on okinawa will lead to a breakthrough in the stalled relocation talks with the prefecture and nago city. but even after release of the joint statement, with the joint statement both the prefecture and the city remain opposed to the relocation plan. given the displeasure expressed by influential u.s. lawmakers, attention will be focused on the moves in the u.s. congress too. japan's nuclear and industry safety agency or nisa says it will draw up new safety

standards regarding the impact of tsunami on nuclear power plants. in addition to the height of tsunami, the standards will also address the penetration and pressure exerted by the powerful waves. last year's giant tsunami flooded emergency generators at the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant, a situation that led to multiple meltdowns. experts say assumptions regarding the potential for the tsunami were inadequate. the plans were 7 meters above frothed levels. they inundated all major facilities. a turbine building closest to the shore was flooded to a height of 5.5 meters above the floor. the pressure of the tsunami forced the entrance door and water gushed in through air vents and hatches. the emergency generators and power panel located in the basement were flooded. nisa announced it will use a new yardstick for the design of nuclear power plants. new criteria will include the pressure exerted by a tsunami and the areas it is likely to

reach. experts discussed the use of these criteria to check the resilience of safety equipment. they will also examine how frequently large scale tsunami occur. workers at fukushima daiichi are trying to prepare the facility for the four decade long decommissioning process. but they're facing an extensive to do list. one of the most pressing problems, stopping radioactive water from seeping out of reactors. before they can do that, though, they need to track down the source of the leaks. tokyo electric power company engineers sent a robot inside the suppression chamber of one of the reactors in april for first time. that's an area located at the bottom of the containment vessel. the robot had five cameras and a dosimeter t traveled around much of the suppression chamber, which is 125 meters in circumference. earlier nhk world told us about the results of the inspection.

>> translator: the main purpose of the inspection was to check for any damage to the suppression chamber at reactor number one to number three, high temperature melted fuel, made a hole at the bottom of the pressure vessel and part of the fuel had fallen to the bottom of the containment vessel and is lying there in highly radioactive water. tepco had initially thought the water level in the containment vessel of number two reactor was 3 meters. but inspection using an endoscope found the water is just 60 centimeters deep. this indicates the water is leaking from the suppression chamber. the government and tepco are planning to fuel the containment vessel with water to retrieve melted fuel rods inside. any water leak must be located and repaired before filling it with water and this inspection was the first step in achieving that. this is an image of the south side corridor. the cover for heat insulating

material wrapped around piping fell off, but the heat insulating material itself remains in tact. so tepco thinks no damage was done to pipes and the cover fell off due to the earthquake or corrosion. a red cylinder-like thing here is an inspection manhole cover leading to the inside of the suppression chamber. before the inspection tepco had assumed water is leaking from here, but no water leaks or damage was found this time. when the camera of the robot was tilted downward it showed a water surface through a scaffold. it is believed to be radioactive water leaking from the containment vessel. tepco checked about 90% of the upper part of the suppression chamber but found no serious damage to pipes or facility, which means water may be leaking from the lower part of the chamber, or from the pipes connecting the suppression chamber and the containment

vess vessel. the lower part is submerged in the water and not easily accessible. so tepco needs to develop new method for inspection. the inspection has just started. so we can't say anything with absolute certainty. but tepco has learned this time locating leaks is difficult even at number two reactor, which is less damage, therefore chosen to be inspected first. as for the number one and number three reactors damaged by hydrogen explosions, tepco has no idea at all when to start inspections. the decommissioning process at fukushima daiichi is expected to take 40 years. but without decommissioning, there is no end in sight. it is not an easy process. but tepco needs to use all available knowledge in japan and elsewhere to bring the situation under control as early as possible. >> nhk world's hidehiro hanada.

the u.s. economy grew by an annualized 2.2% in the first quarter of 2012. figures indicate the recovery is slowing down. the u.s. department of commerce released preliminary gdp figures for the january to march period. stronger consumer spending was offset by cutbacks in government expenditures and private sector investments. the difficult fiscal situation pushed state and local government expenditures down by 1.2%. the recent improvement of job figures showed an optimistic outlook for the u.s. economy, but caution may prevail due to the slowdown first quarter. leading japanese electronicsmaker sharp has booked a record loss in the fiscal year that ended in march.

the company says the net loss came to a little more than $4.6 billion. sales totaled about $30 billion, down nearly 19% from the previous year. sharp attributes its poor performance to flagging sales of liquid crystal display televisions. >> translator: i regret that our efforts to come up quickly with one unique product after another weren't enough. >> the company plans to relocate 2,000 workers to solar powered generation and other growth businesses in the coming two years. samsung electronics profits surged to a record high in the first quarter this year. it was boosted by brisk sales of mobile devices. the south korean electronics giant said on friday that operating profit amounted to $5.2 billion between january and march, that's double the amount a year earlier. sales reached about $40 billion, an increase of 22%.

the company traced the gains to brisk smartphone sales especially in emerging markets. those sales soared 86% year on year. samsung plans to unveil a new model of its galaxy smartphone early next month and the company's confident about further expanding its share in emerging markets. more tension in the south china sea. china is pressing is claim on a disputed group of islands, while vietnam's navy flexes some muscle. in bangkok, we have the details. the trouble spot this time is the paracel islands, specks of land in the southern reaches of the south china sea. china says it's proceeding with a plan to build refueling stations on the islands. china and vietnam both claim ownership of the paracels. chinese officials say the project involves construction of

a dock and other facilities. they say the dock will allow fishing and tourist boats to refuel in the paracels. vietnam wound up a joint naval exercise with the u.s. navy. the five-day training took place in danang. a port city facing the south china sea. the cooperation is seen as a challenge to china's expansion in the region but some vietnamese people have mixed feelings over enhancing military ties with their former foe. nhk world's akiko ichihara reports from denang. >> reporter: the u.s. navy ships have just arrived to the port of danang. the u.s. and vietnamese navy will have five days naval exchange activities. the u.s. navy's 7th fleet arrived at danang on monday. the freight commander expressed strong hopes for boosting ties between the u.s. and vietnamese navies. >> and i'm very encouraged by how it is advancing from my perspective between the

vietnamese people's navy and the 7th fleet. >> reporter: the joint training began in 2010. the u.s. is already a key trading partner for vietnam. now, they are stepping up military cooperation. danang hosted the u.s. airbase during the vietnam war. the area saw some of the fiercest battles. 74-year-old farmer le khec phien fought against the u.s. as a soldier in the north vietnamese army. he lost members of his friends and family in the war. he has bitter memories of that time. he takes care of a village temple dedicated to those who died in the r. he has mixed feelings about vietnam joining hands with the u.s.

he finds it hard to forgive the former enemy, but says cooperation for the benefit of both countries. >> translator: frankly speaking, i still bear a grudge against the u.s. but when looking five or ten years ahead, it might be a good idea to cooperate with the u.s. >> reporter: the two navies are taking those mixed feelings into consideration. the training does not involve military maneuvers. instead, they are practicing disaster response and civilian rescue. the crews are also visiting each other's vessels. >> translator: learning about the u.s. fleet's devices is very significant. >> reporter: vietnam and the u.s. are eager to include cooperation in a bid to protect

china's growing maritime power but those efforts will require more work to enhance public understanding. akiko ishihara, central vietnam. myanmar is pressing ahead with democratic reforms. international financial organizations are responding with offers of assistance. the latest comes from the asia development bank which is reengaging with the country after a hiatus of 25 years. nhk world has more. >> reporter: the adb chief was speaking to reporters ahead of an annual meeting that starts on may 4th. president haruhiko kuroda said the bank will resume aid to myanmar that was suspended in 1987. >> translator: the international community has said it will

support myanmar because of its progress in democratic reforms. as a result, the adb will also support the country. >> kuroda said the adb decided to review its policy on myanmar after european nations suspended their sanctions. he raised some obstacles that have to be cleared before resuming aid to the country. one problem is the country's 490 million u.s. dollars in outstanding debt. as a result the bank will start by offering technical assistance and human resources development. another major funding organization, the world bank, announced on thursday that it will set up an office in yangon in june. myanmar is seen as the last

frontier in southeast asia, and international banks are starting to extend more funding. kenichi tanaka, nhk world, manila. and that wraps up our bulletin. i'm dhra dhirakaosal reporting in bangkok. the largest ever joint naval drill involving china and russia has ended friday. the exercise brought together a flotilla of warships in the yellow sea for maneuvers. china mobilized 18 vessels including submarines in the six-day exercise off its eastern province of shengdong. russia sent a missile cruiser and six other warships. a spokesperson for the russian pacific fleet says the two navies conducted anti-pirate and anti-submarine drills and practiced a rescue following an accident at sea. china's state run xinhua news agency quoted the deputy commander of the chinese navy vice admiral

ding yiping as saying the drills had deepened the strategic partnership between the two nations. observers say the drill was intended to counter the united states, which is bolstering its military alliance with asia pacific allies such as japan, south korea and the philippines. thursday marked an occasion that the country of ukraine would rather forget. it was the 26th anniversary of the chernobyl nuclear accident. despite all-out efforts, the country is still struggling with the disaster more than two and a half decades later. now a japanese diet commission has just completed a visit to chernobyl and it has gotten a glimpse of what could be in store for japan. nhk world reports. >> reporter: this is one of the commission members. she used to own a flower shop about five kilometers from the stricken fukushima plant.

she was supposed to evacuate along with everyone else. she says she joined because she wanted to see how they are handling the cleanup of chernobyl and hopefully learn something to help with the restoration of her hometown. the group went to visit the town near chernobyl where the plant workers used to live. the former residents have not been allowed to return to their town, now a ghost town, since they were told by the government that they would have to evacuate for only three days. the distance from their home to the plant is almost the same as the distance from here to chernobyl. >> translator: it breaks my heart seeing the situation here. nuclear accidents must not be allowed to happen again. >> reporter: hachisuka and other members visited the facility within the restricted zone where

the radioactive materials are being buried. they watched truckloads of waste being brought in one after another. although 26 years have passed, the disposal work is still not complete. the facility has been accepting more than 50,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste a year, but it's expected to reach full capacity soon. workers say a new burial site must be built elsewhere. the ukrainian government conducts regular environmental assessments of the contaminated zone within 30 kilometers of the chernobyl plant. it measures and motors the water and air in this area and regularly catches fish in the rivers and lake to check their radioactivity level. that's because radioactive substances accumulate on the

bottom of lakes and rivers. hachisuka thought many parts of the system that ukraine is using to monitor radioactivity are applicable to fukushima. >> translator: as i look back on myself a year ago, i realized that people in chernobyl have walked the same path. there's so much to learn from what happened here. >> the commission will release a report in june on the fukushima accident. it will include details of the visit to chernobyl. japan is working with countries affected by the nuclear accident, including ukraine and belarus as it tries to come to grips with the fukushima crisis. it's been raining in tokyo for a couple of days. robert speta with the forecast for here and elsewhere. robert? >> it has been raining across tokyo and all of eastern japan since thursday. but now good news. that's starting to push off towards the east. high pressure is ridging in from

the west, bringing much fairer weather up and down the japanese islands. this is going to extend out through your sunday. in tokyo, actually, looking at a high in the mid-20s for your saturday and sunday. however, here in the southern japanese islands, going into sunday night, thunderstorms will start to roll in from the west. this is due to an area of low pressure developing out of southeastern china. already in the guangdong province, you have seen up to 100 millimeters of rainfall in the past 24 hours. it does look like in the next 24 hours another 50 to 100 millimeters of rain could fall there and also in macau and hong kong. there is the threat of low lying urban flooding here going into your weekend. also want to take your attention off to the north, especially toward northwestern china, because the threat of yellow sand is coming out of the gobi desert. what this is going to be bringing is reducing visibilities there towards the korean peninsula on saturday. that creates hazardous driving, so do slow down on the roadways out here if you do encounter

some of the yellow sand. and then going into sunday it will continue to blow off towards the east, affecting hokkaido. and that does bring the threat as well of respiratory issues for anybody who does have any problems breathing. and not only that, if you do have any of your clothes outside, drying after washing, do take them inside, it happened to me a few days ago and created a messy situation. and no one wants that. let's pull back the picture here and look at the temperatures. ulan batur with a high of 9, very chilly out there towards the north. beijing at 22. hong kong at 26. hot and steamy down towards the south. bangkok looking at a high of 40 for your saturday. now, into the americas, we are still watching a developing low pressure system coming out of the eastern rockies. this is already dropped three reports of tornadoes here. one damaging a structure out here into the northern rockies, the same system is continuinto bring snowfall. 20 centimeters of snow could be seen in the next 24 hours. a late winter storm being felt

in here, especially in wyoming. now, going into your weekend, the system will continue to push towards the east, bringing that rough weather with it. and then going into your saturday and sunday, even out towards the midwest, you'll be seeing some increase in rainfall. i want to zoom in on this spot here. in the eastern portions of kansas and the western missouri, these are areas you're going to be wanting to have your weather radio ready or a tv or radio on because there is the risk of a large and damaging hail, strong tornadoes could be felt here. national weather service has put out warnings already on this area. so be careful. especially going into your friday afternoon and evening hours. now, let's take a look at temperatures, though. houston at 29. as well as in oklahoma city, very warm down here towards the south, though in the north, it is a different story. chicago, you're looking at a high of 12. same in winnipeg with a high of 13. your overnight hours could be dropping below freezing. that's why freeze warnings have been put in place across much of the great lakes for your friday

night. here is a look at your extended outlook.

we'll be back with more news

in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us on nhk world. have a great day wherever you are.