rebound. markets perk up in new york and send signals to investors around the world. global market worries appear to have eased. wednesday's new york stock prices marked their biggest advance this year. the dow jones industrial average closed at 12,414, gaining more than 220 points. investors responded to remarks by european central bank president. he hinted at measures the central bank might take,

including a further reduction in interest rates. it looks like investors wednesday on a buying spree after the comments. what did he say? >> he hinted ecb may lower interest rates in the near future. there's another focus investors may be buying on. market players say that speculation that the u.s. federal reserve may further ease its policy was also behind the rise in stocks. fed chairman ben bernanke will testify before congress on thursday. investors are hoping some kind of measures by the federal reserve to spur growth in the u.s. economy. so for more on how stocks are trading here in tokyo, let's go to the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. a pretty strong rebound for the dow. we saw gains in the nikkei yesterday. how are things starting off

today? >> very good morning to you. there's some hopes there in the market following on from the european central bank that you mentioned. either politicians or central bankers will take some measures, extra measures, really to cope with the scale of the global picture that we're seeing for the global economy right now. let's have a look at the nikkei and topix. we're seeing a positive start. the nikkei up 1.2%. the topix just up over 1% as well. the nikkei did gain ground yesterday as well. it was up around 2%. yen weaken around 1% as well, which really did help those exporters, which have been heavily sold off in recent sessions as we very well know. as you mentioned, their focus on the european central bank. they held steady on rates, but really the focus also on what the federal reserve may say and

words from chairman ben bernanke later today in the u.s. as you mentioned at a joint banking committee. testimony there. really, the fed in its latest economic reading still also came out and said that economic activity in the u.s. is proceeding at a moderate rate. so not only did we see stocks actually trading higher, but also we're keeping track of commodities as well. we did see gold gaining significantly to its highest level in app month. also, wti crude oil prices rising. we're going to keep track of shares and sectors in japan which will be affected by those aatur vels as well. that really tells picture. the yen haween a touch

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>> he says it's important for n involved in the talks to ss they must set aside tiate. their own interests when they e 19th. s hinted at something for the suggested israeli officials have carried out cyber attacks. he said israeliecit ofcis n'be lders in the field. heaid they want to prevent damagehrgh cyber defense. he said they canls bef from offensive action. before this, israeli leaders said their cyber activities were limited toatrinfmaon and protecting infrastructure from terrorists. a computer virus caused the

malfunction of enriching uranium in iran. a new, me shisticated virus was reported last week. people injan'oreast are focused on overcoming the challenges of th2011 disaster, but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild me bunees, entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 ewin"pimern one of japan's biggest real estate companies has announced plso build a huge solar power plant in the disaster hit northeast. the plant will be located on go crsfoedo os after last year's nuclear accident. mori trust plans to invest more than 0 mlin the ten

megawatt facility in the southern fukushima prefecture. the company hopes to begin building in october and start supplying electricity by summer 2013. it says it will gradually expand the plant, eventually supplying enough electricityor13 households. new legislation requiring power firms to buy locally generated renewable energy comes into effect next month. >> translator: i believe it is important to use the golf course as aenab energy factory. the project will help bring life back to the local cmuty >orth a year after the earthquake and tsunami, a young

woman uses maa t tlhe survivors' stories. in today's edition of "the road ahead" we'll meet her and fd t yhe taken this road. >> reporter: this shows what victims went through in the disaster and how they're trying to recover. the thas the stories on actual conversations with survivors. she a graduate student is the story teller. she began posting it onerlo soon after the disaster so readers understood the victims' ordeal. >> mom, someone, anyone, please help me. my mother's down here. >> reporter: her blog caused a sensation. she published a book. an englisheronolweso pele around the world knew about the tragedy.

she volunteered to help clean up a rdit town. she spoke with disaster survivors about what they feel and about their tu. >> translator: i thought about what i could do to stopeoe forgetting about what happened. i decided to draw a manga that tells the story of each victim. >> reporter: she wrote "hometown, field of cole." it's about a man who clears debris along the river side to plant cole flowers. he wants the blossoms to encourage people not to give up. >> i'm not doing anything extraordinary, but if i can clean up this whole place, i hope i can get everyone to smile again. if the town is covered by pretty cole flowers, smiles would return to people's faces.

>> reporter: she returned on may 11. >> reporter: the area overflowed with color. after hearing about the man's passion, locals and volunteers helped plant the flowers. >> translator: how are you? you look well. >> reporter: once again, she found the man. >> translator: the flowers are a symbol of everyone's love and cooperation. one day a field of cole. >> translator: the dream came true. >> translator: yes, if we wish hard enough, dreams do come

true. >> reporter: the field of flowers became a place where survivors heal. after returning to tokyo, she put together another story about the field of flowers. she says she feels for the people waiting for the recovery. >> translator: one year isn't enough time. i want to tell my readers that recovery efforts are going much slower than we imagined, and it will take longer. >> reporter: people should never forget the disaster nor let it defeat them. she hopes to continue telling her inspiring stories about the

survivors' recovery and hope. in other news we're following here, the prime minister of kosovo has appealed to japan for more investments and demanded wider recognition of its independence. the nation declared independence from the former yugoslav republic in 2008. >> translator: japan was one of the first countries to reck nice kosovo's independence. i came here to deepen bilateral relations. >> kosovo was an an to mouse territory of serbia. in the 1990s, violent clashes broke out between authorities and albanian residents seeking independence. four years after winning that independence, conflicts still

flare between the residents. in neighboring serbia, a hard-line nationalist leader won the presidential runoff last month. he disapproves of kosovo's independence. >> translator: it has become more difficult for kosovo to improve relations with with serbia since the president came to power. but the only option left for us is to try to continue and develop dialogue. >> japan is one of 91 countries that regular nice kosovo's independence. two members of the u.n. security council reject that independence. russia has had historically close ties with serbia. china with its own ethnic problems is reluctant to encourage separatist movements. given that background, there's little chance kosovo will win u.n. membership. the country is also barred in taking part in the upcoming london olympics. >> translator: it is unfair to

prevent talented kosovo athletes from taking part in the olympics under the national flag. i believe kosovo's independence has helped the region's stability and prosperity. i want to call on countries that have yet acknowledged our independence to do so. >> he said he's committed to building economic ties with japan. kosovo's per capita gross domestic product is about 2,400 euros, only 10% the eu average. unemployment is about 40%. japanese business has been slow to invest. not a single japanese business has set up operation in the country. >> translator: japan has provided the most assistance for kosovo. i now look forward to more investment. i want japanese people to know that although kosovo is a small country, there are a lot of big

opportunities there. north korean leader kim jong-un has outlined the country's military approach in his second speech since succeeding his father. he spoke at an event to celebrate the anniversary of the korean children's union. about 40,000 children attended. >> he closed his peach by wishing for a bright future for the next generation. later, kim waved and applauded as the children marched around the stadium. analysts say the speech was aimed at showing that kim wants to communicate directly with his people in the style of his grandfather, the national founder. the new russian ambassador to japan says his country is ready for territorial talks.

japan has long sought negotiations with its neighbor over four islands in the north of the country. japan claimed sovereignty over the islands. the islands are controlled by russia. >> translator: japan and russia see the territorial issue differently but have agreed to work toward a mutually acceptable solution. if talks are to go forward, neither side should impose conditions. >> the ambassador held his first press conference in tokyo since assuming the post in april. he said the two nations will be able to solve difficult problems only after improving bilateral relations in fields other than the territorial issue. the four islands are close to japan's northern prefecture of . they're surrounded by abundant fishing waters. a new discovery has been

unearthed at the world's largest man made structure. it has been found that the great wall of china is more than twice as long as previously thought. chinese government officials said the structure stretches about 21,200 kilometers. three years ago, officials said it was 8,851 kilometers long, but they looked more closely at the composition and ruins of the wall. the wall was built by successive chinese dynasties to defend against invasion by northern tribes. the great wall was registered as a world heritage site in 1987, but over thousands of years, much of it has been damaged by wind and rain. a chinese government project team plans to repair and re-enforce those areas. definitely a site i want to see one day. tokyo residents are enjoying sunny skies this morning. here is the world weather forecast. >> good morning.

yes, it's going to be dry, sunny, and pleasant here in tokyo. the high is expected to be 26. so about three degrees higher than yesterday. eastern hokido is still under the influence of these clouds. so on and off showers will likely remain this morning. then we have another set of clouds over northeastern china and southeastern russia producing thunderstorms and gusty winds as well as hail. because this is a stationary one, unstable weather will likely remain for the next several days. down towards the south, seasonal rain is still affecting much of the southern half of china. as for southeast asia, strong southwest monsoons are producing another wet day for you, particularly wet in the southern and central portions of thailand today. about 120 millimeters of rain has fallen on already saturated ground, raising the fear of flooding and landslides.

as for the highs, 31 degrees expected in hong kong with isolated showers. 31 degrees in taipei. up towards the north, 28 in seoul with cloudy conditions. all right. let's go over to the americas. ample moisture continues to flow in from the gulf of mexico, producing thundershowers across the gulf states. it looks like texas and much of the florida peninsula will remain unstable into thursday. the warm air is extending all the way up towards the north, clashing with cooler air from the north, producing thundershowers across much of the plains. conditions are quite severe in these green zones. and there is a tornado watch in effect across parts of nebraska, colorado, and wyoming. there is an area of snow across the northern rockies. that will move into british columbia. but as you can see, another

system is moving in. that will produce another round of snow in the northern rockies. as for the highs, still on the chilly side in vancouver. 16 degrees for your daytime high on your thursday. 15 degrees in seattle. 29 in winnipeg. out towards the east, 25 in new york city. you may be seeing some pop-up thundershowers during the heat of the day. all right. finally, let's go over to europe. a developing low pressure system is moving in from the atlantic. it will produce stormy conditions across much of the british isles into your saturday, and the associated front will sweep across the western continent producing gusty winds and even hail. out towards the east, there are more potent storms sitting over you're, producing thunderstorms. temperature-wise, many locations

are looking quite seasonal. 22 in moscow. 21 in kiev. that's it for me now. here's your extended forecast.

>> our top stories this hour, market players were cheered by the possibility of more stimulus measures by the european central bank. wednesday's new york stock prices marked their biggest advance this year. global market worries have appeared to ease. the dow jones industrial average closed at 12,414, gaining more than 280 points. buy orders increased in new york, mainly on banking issues.

the european union has announced a bill that will boost the power of regulators in member nations to oversee their commercial banks. the bill aims to break a vicious cycle of governments losing money after they've pumped public found bail out ailing banks. eu commissioner for internal market and services made the announcement on wednesday. the proposal would allow national regulators to step in to prevent banks from failing. this includes appointing special executive officers to lead rebuilding efforts. the bill also aims at shifting responsibility for bailing out banks fr banks. the proposal is not likely to take effect until 2014 at the earliest. this has led to criticism it would not be effective to resolve the current banking

problems in spain. and that wraps up this

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