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ecb. the europea central bank will cut its benchmarknterest rate to help the europe debt crisis and boost its sagging ec rucon seven months. the record low 0.7. >>n parti tensions in some euro aaoveign debt markets and theired conditions unemployment are expected to wait on the roh momentum. >> he pointed out at repeat ncns remain about the future of the euro zoneom meanwhile, china's central bank also cut its key iert re for a second straight month. this indicates that the gornstein u tis.ures in its monetary easing thpeleank of china said

the bench mash lending rateil beowedy 0.31 percentage points to 6%. eepitatill be cut by a quarter of a percentage point to 3% the new rates will become effective friday. china's economic olo i becoming uncertain because of sluggishxptso european countries as a result of the region's debt cris eupes china's biggest trading partner. cha'coumio also remains low. the central bank's ren me ames to support the coy's economy and secure jobsit roer monetary easing. well, let's seeow ts affecting markets. over on wall street, u.s. stock prices ended on aixmo. for details on how stocks are trading here in jan,e' intoo to ramin melonguard. markets back in full swing after independence day liy. how are tokyo stocks looking? >> let's go straight to the lelsctllth fday morning, and we can see exactly

how we're kicking off here in tokyo following the u.s. and european markets, and bh des trang lower. 06foth nikkei can you remember, and 675 for the topix. a mechanics b ihe.s we did have the nasdaq trading actually unchanged onhe day, but it was helped by shares from apple and the dow andhe s&p 500 actually trading lower and that was weighed down by neti sentiment following some services data. i'll come tt isecond. slowing growth really is one of the keyoces across the globe, and that's really been proven by some of theenal ba mes that we've seen specifically china, of course of course cutting rates. the european central bank yesterday, thursday, cutting ras, as expected, and also the fos w is following the jobs numbers later today ith.s could the federal reserve also takeomeimaraction. that's really the question for

global markets now as well now, mixed data still keeping investors a little bit on their toes. thu. enomy had the private sector aep jobs rert wch wafavorable. also, though, weekly jobless claims. in other words, people claiming benefits also showed a drop. s les i a month and a half, in fact, but then the ism services data was showing a contraction, which also flo the ism manufacturing data earlier this week,hich ao showed a contraction. that's a little bit of a concern there. hee,helitl mixed picture for the u.s. economy. now, here in too, of course, the u.s. markets back from end penicillin day, so volume should ckp lile bit, although traders, investors really waiting to see how those jobs numbers pan out later today. now, the drop in the euro may hold back some exporters. let's have a look at the fx levels as well for this friday here in tokyo trading hours. the dollar didai a touch,

which also could lead to dollar dominated commodities. ldnd l. look at the euro-yen. 98 to 98.0 a. the euro fell around 1% against the yen after the ec rate cuts. >> that's right. you know, we talked about the ecb. we talked about the people's bank of china. you mentioned the fed, but jt ne week the bank of japan is meeting here in japan, and given recent data here what is expected? >> yeah. thxptaonou be that the bank of japan may not have to take any steps. we had a regional economic report this week, which also shed mere recovery. we also had the tancan busines september meant survey, which was an improvementn the previous quarter, and if the u.s., europe, and china central banks have already made their moves, the bank of japan may wul not immediate to make any moves. we'll have to e,f course, later today after the jobs numbers in the u.s. how everything pans out. back to you. >> all right. so a lot to look forward to,

but, first, u.s. jobs numbers. all right. ramin from the tokyo stock exchange. all right. we also have other asian markets open this hour, so let's see how they're doing. pakistani officials have opened their country's supply routes to u.s.-led nato forces in afghanistan for the first

time in seven months. on thursday a truck carrying supplies to nato forces crossed the border. pakistani officials closed the routes in retaliation for cross border air strikes by the u.s. military last november that mistakenly killed 24 pakistani soldiers. on tuesday u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton apologized for the botched raid for the first time. at a news conference on thursday, a pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson expressed hope that the re-opening will lead the u.s. to soon resume most of its assistance to his country. some observers in pakistan have criticized the government for deciding on the re-opening, though the u.s. has not agreed to halt air strikes by unmanned drones. tension is rising due to the decision. islamic extremists declared they will attack u.s. military trucks carrying supplies to afghanistan. an international conference to support afghanistan will be held in tokyo. japan is negotiating with nations and international agencies to raise a total of $15

billion in aid for the country by 2015. the japan initiated conference will bring together representatives from about 80 countries and international organizations. they will include afghan president karzai, secretary of state clinton and u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon. karzai is expected to ask the international community from vied afghanistan with annual aid of $3.9 billion. the money will go towards reconstruction and development after foreign troops leave the country in 2014. the japanese government hopes the international pledges will reach the requested amount. donors have criticized karzai for years for failing for reign in corruption. police, military, and government officials routinely demand bribes. nhk world melt with the man responseible for cracking down. >> it's very serious. you know, it is the most corrupt country, you know, in the world.

>> afghan anti-corruption office absolutely says corruption is already pervasive even among high-ranking government officials. >> from police -- traffic police on the road until our ministers. yes. there are a lot of these corrupt people. i have to cases from ministers. i have cases from the environment, from the governor of provinces. >> reporter: he also knows that less than 10% of cases were prosecuted last year. >> i was not very happy with the cases that we sent to anti-corruption, but since last week the president was very serious. he talked to the regional office, and then you have to be serious and to give as soon as

possible the results and to bring it to court. >> reporter: public criticism is mounting against the afghan government. some say corrupt officials are now hampering reconstruction efforts in the country. they know that to secure support president hamid karzai would have to declare clear, effective anti-corruption measures. he must assure to us that france will not be diverted into the pockets of the corrupt officials. officials in moscow have unveiled a plan to build agriculture facilities on russian-held islands also claimed by japan. fisheries agency chief announced the project in the capital. he said the government will spend $160 million to set up eight agriculture farms on two islands.

prime minister medvedev says they should prioritize the islands among its issues related to the far east. observers say russian officials announced the plan right after the prime minister's trip to make clear their intention to develop the islands despite japan's claim. the philippine government has protested china's move to place disputed islands in the south china sea under the jurisdiction of a newly created city. the chinese government announced in late june that it had integrated its administration districts of three island groups into the new city. this includes macclesfield back and spratley island. they're also claimed by the philippines and other asian nations. the filipino foreign ministry condemned the move. they said it dominated their sovereignty over the island. tennings between the two nations are mounting fueled by a recent incident. patrol ships from both countries

were locked in a standoff near a disputed shore for two months. china and vietnam are also at odds over the sovereignty of the disputed island groups. vietnamese officials are looking toward other emerging economies to increase trade. they hosted a meeting with government and business leaders from latin american countries, including brazil and argentina. the prime minister says the vietnamese want to increase economic cooperation with the 15 visiting nations. he is hosting the meeting for the first time. >> translator: latin america has abundant natural resources and a population of 570 million people. it's an essential partner of vietnam's economic growth. >> the european debt crisis has been a drag on the economies of industrialized nations. vietnam has relied on its biggest trading partner, china, but government officials are trying to diversify the countries they trade with.

they're finding interest among latin americans. many representatives say they hope to increase trade among emerging economies. rapid growth is boosting consumer confidence, and the trade between vietnam and latin america has been increasing steadily. until recently hospitals in japan have focused on treating the most common forms of cancer, such as lung or colon cancer, but last month the government announced a change in policy to provide treatment for less common types of cancer, including those affecting children. nhk world has more. >> reporter: 5-year-old yuki imai lost her sight in both eyes due to cancer. her parents first noticed something was wrong with her eyes three months after she was born. they took her for check-ups at

four different hospitals, but all of the doctors -- they even took scans of her entire brain. the cancer showed up as the cloudy areas in the eyeballs. even so, the doctor gave her diagnosis of no abnormality. finally, yuki was found to have an extremely rare children's cancer called latimo blastoma. her parents noticed something was wrong, and over a year had passed. >> translator: i do wish that a specialist had discovered her cancer while it was still at an early stage. >> translator: if the cancer is discovered early and if it isn't too close to an area that affects vision, there is a strong possibility of saving the child's eyesight. >> reporter: there are other

cases in which children have such rare forms of cancer that doctors find it hart to diagnose. yusei kihara is now 6. three years ago doctors found he had a tumor in his left thigh. however, over period of two months he was misdiagnosed three times before the exact form of cancer is discovered. li pos p liposarcoma. by the time his condition was correctly understood, he had already undergone the wrong chemotherapy, causing serious side effects. >> translator: this is a country with advanced medical facilities, but there are very few places that know how to treat small children with diseases like this. >> reporter: in the case of

yuki, the eye cancer was discovered too late. her parents face a difficult decision. surgery to remove her eyeballs to stop the cancer from spreading or radiation treatment which would leave her eyeballs intact that leaves the possibility of the cancer recurring and spreading. her father wrote a letter for yuki when she grows up. >> to the very end we could not accept the idea of you losing both your eyes, but the highest priority is saving your life. even if you lose your eyesight we want you to be able to have a long life. >> rirchlgt the day after yuki's left eye was removed. later, her right eye had to be removed as well because the cancer had spread. at the time she was still only 22 months old. yuki now attends a school for

the blind where she is learning to use her ears and hands to compensate for her lack of eyesight. >> translator: there are so few medical cases like hers. hospitals need to do more to collect data and accumulate know-how on treatments. we need a medical system that can support patients and overcoming the difficulties they face. >> reporter: every year around 2,500 children in japan face cancer. strong steps need to be taken to provide them with adequate diagnosis and treatment. new legislation introduced by the government calls for a specialized high quality treatment for children's cancer to be provided at about ten major hospitals around the country. this network will also act as a model for treating adults

diagnosed with rare forms of cancer. one of the world's biggest events promoting japanese pop culture, japan expo, opened on thursday in france. ♪ >> the annual event is taking place just outside paris. japanese comics and animation are popular in the country. many french are visiting the site, including young people dressed up as popular animation characters. they're buying french language versions of the japanese manda and animation dvds as well as character themed merchandise. >> translator: this expo offers lots of things to see. i like it very much. >> reporter: the japan tourism agency and travel agents have set up booths to promote travel to japan. some areas have been set aside for traditional japanese culture and crafts.

volunteers are selling goods and donating the proceeds to reconstruction efforts from last year's disaster in northeastern japan. >> i hope the japanese people, we work hard, so that reconstruction will go smoothly. the japan expo will run through sunday. organizers expect about 200,000 visitors. japanese food makers are to sell new products that help make consumers feel cal this summer. this is because power shortages are expected across japan forcing people to save energy and use air conditioning sparingly. food products unveiled their new products designed to beat the sweltering heat. they developed a cup noodle that tastes best when eaten iced. it uses oil that does not get greasy even at low temperatures. you pour a small amount of hot water to soak the noodles and then put in ice cubes before eating.

and there's wine that should be served on the rocks. it's a sweeter version, and it's sweeter than memorial ones drunk without ice so the taste does not get so diluted when the ice melts. the food industry is taking advantage of people's increased awareness for power saving by promoting cool food products this summer. people in southern japan are dealing with heavy rain and flooding. residents of the north america and europe are facing severe heat waves. rachel ferguson has the latest in her world weather forecast. >> good morning, catherine. there is certainly a lot to get through, so let's just get started. that heavy rain that's been impacting parts of japan and china is now taking aim at the korean peninsula. in the last 24 hours parts of south korea have seen over 250 millimeters of rain. they're still likely to see heavy amounts to the tune of about 40 millimeters just in the period of one hour as we head on through friday, so that can lead to flash flooding. very, very dangerous situation here. as the low pressure sitting over

the front heads in towards japan, there is going to be more heavy rain coming in to the country. in fact, you'll see a lot of rain through much of honchu and the west as well. particularly heavy are going to be kushu, so a critical situation there. we're talking about already saturated land, floods, landslides occurred as well. this is extremely unwelcome rain and a very serious situation. down towards the south of the continent we're going to be seeing more heavy rain as well. the southwest monsoon is in full effect, but particularly heavy rain is going to be coming to parts of northern myanmar, northern thailand, as well as laos as we head to the next 24 hours, so there's going to be a risk of flooding here as well. now, temperatures have been soaring through parts of eastern china for the last several days. no change today, shanghai. 37 degrees forecast for you. right through towards chonching in the upper 30s. let's take a look at north america. as we mentioned there we're

seeing a heat wave persisting into the weekend. severe thunderstorm as well. now to add to it a tropical storm. let's go through and see what's happening with tropical storm daniel. there is good news with this one. although it's going to be developing very quickly to rricane status and intensifying there, can you see it's moving away from land masses. so it doesn't look like it's going to be posing a threat. just something to keep an eye on as we head on through the weekend. let's get back to these storms. you can see where they're going to be coming down through ontario. the great lakes region. and down towards the four corners. large hail, damaging winds, potential for tornadoes with these as well. then we run into rain rather than storms here. this is the monsoonal flow coming up through mexico into new mexico. it's really helping a lot of this rain to alleviate those very dry fire conditions we've been seeing for the last several weeks. there will be the potential for flooding as some of the rain is going to be on the heavy side. all right then, to the heat wave and temperatures. not much in the way of good news, i'm afraid. look at some of these digits.

39 degrees in chicago. 41 in st. louis. you're going to see temperatures in the 40s for the next several days. up to about 42 on saturday. however, the upper midwest is going to see thunderstorms coming through, and that will help drop your temperature by about ten degrees. still, a hot day. it is going to persist, that heat, right through to the mid-atlantic. d.c., 38 degrees for you, and it's going to be a hot weekend. all right. into europe we go. thunderstorms rattling through central and western locations and out to the east it's going to be hot. this is the basic setup. the heaviest of the rain is taking aim at the british isles, so we have warnings and watches there posted for flooding and out to the east and that heat persists particularly in southwestern poland as well as into hungary, and there are red alert warnings there for the heat. do take care with that. here's your temperature. i'm going to leave with you your extended forecast now.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobaishi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com