calling it quits. >> i do not intend to renew any mission. >> kofi annan took on the job of u.n. arab league envoy to syria nearly six months ago. at the time he called stopping the fighting in the country a very difficult assignment. while that assignment proved too difficult. annan is resigning when his term expires at the end of this month.

>> the former u.n. secretary-general made the announcement on thursday in geneva. he condemned the government of syrian president al-assad. annan also criticized the u.n. security council for being locked in a standoff with russia and china on one side and western nations on the other. >> at a time when we need, when the syrian people desperately need action, there continues to be finger-pointing and name calling in the security council. >> annan took on his role last february. since then he worked to resolve the syrian crisis by mediating between the assad administration and members of the antigovernment opposition. u.n. secretary-general moon says he accepted annan's resignation with great regreat and will start looking for a possible successor. united nations officials are

feed itself is compromised. the aggregate sector is in trouble and people will likely need food aid in the next 12 months. representatives of the u.n. world food programme and food and agriculture organization assess the situation with members of syria's ministry offing ary tul tour of /* -- of agricultural reform. the report says the worsening conflict sent farmers fleeing to safety and destroyed farm land. it has affected wheat and vegetable harvest along with live stock operations. the report estimates that agricultural sector lost $1.8 billion this year. it says people who have fled fighting in cities and households headed by women are having difficulties security food. the agencies are calling for international aid, including monetary help. fao representatives says the livelihood of vulnerable people will collapse in a few months if

timely asustance is not assistance is not provided. . >> translator: i can confirm there are clear signs that these people could be planning a terrorist attack in spain or other european countries and that the three of them belong to al qaeda. >> interior ministry released pick tires of the suspects. investigators say one is from turkey and two others are from russia. authorities haven't released their names. they say they found enough explosives at the turkish man's home in southern spain to blow up a bus. police detained the other two suspects while they were traveling on a bus from southern spain to the frefrmg border. european authorities are on high alert for suspicious activity with the olympics going on in london. spanish investigators say they have not found any link between

the alleged plot and the sum irgames. torrential rains brought by severe tropical storm has battered taiwan. at least five people died in the deluge that forced 6,000 residents to evacuate. taiwan's central weather bureau says the tropical storm made land fall in the east early thursday. hovering over the east coast later in the day. in some areas more than 1700 millimeters of rain has fallen since tuesday. downpours inundated thousands and vehicles and disrupted road transportation. disasters prevention authorities in taiwan say mudslide and flooding left at least five people died, six others injured and two unaccounted for. there are 6,600 people to evacuate homes for fear of possible mud slides. at international airport in suburban taipei, a boarding bridge collapsed in the strong gusts. dozens of flights were cancelled

across the island. our weather team has been tracking the storm for us and we will bring you the latest information later in the program. central bankers hold a lot of power in the markets. their decisions on monetary policy can boost or shake investor confidence. the latest announcement from the european central bank is doing more of the latter. let's get ai from the business team. >> here is a great example of high expectation, low return. the head of the european central bank says he will tackle the region's debt problems by buying financial difficulties but he didn't say when or how. market players aren't happy about his announcement. president mario draghi said at a press conference at the interest rate announcement that the bank is ready to make

tright open market purchases but did not give details. this field speculation that the ecb will take strong measures like the immediate purchase of government bonds. after the news conference, the yields on spanish ten-year government bonds rose again to 7%. this is a level which is considered unsustainable. stock prices plunged around 5% both in madrid and milan. the euro fell to the 94-yen level at one stage for the first time in a week. well, u.s. markets fell after european stocks tumbled as the ecb failed to come up with concrete steps to solve the debt crisis in europe. dow jones was down by 0.07% closing the day at 12,878. let's see how stocks are trading

this friday, here in japan. we are going to go to ramin mellegard. >> well yesterday was no different following words from ecb president, last week he did come out and say he would do everything to help the euro. but the statements yesterday gave no concrete measures as it that effect and left markets flat as we just saw with european markets and u.s. markets. so let's see how the nikkei and topix are kicking 06 this friday. as can you see both indexes down 1%. now we did have some key earnings reports here in japan. we are in full swing in earnings season in japan with sony and sharp coming out after the bell yesterday. and sharp as we reported

yesterday as well, ai, have announced that they will be cutting around 5,000 jobs to deal with all of these losses and their earnings report yesterday came out and said they showed a group loss projected of around $3 billion. now sony announcing a loss for the quarter as well. also costs due to divestments of its deal with sweden's eriksson mobile phone venture also dented sony's numbers as well. now following the ecb meeting and mario draghi's words, the euro took a fall having a look at levels right now. our yen should trade at a tight range ahead of the u.s. job numbers later. 78.13-21 right now. the euro did lose a little ground against both the dollar and currently the yen following the ecb meeting. some hope is began after a lack

of action by the ecb pretty much disappointing the markets. ai? >> and ramin, as you just mentioned, all of the focus on u.s. jobs numbers out later today, following the ecb and fed policy meetings later thon week, so what is expected for jobs? >> yeah a lot of focus on jobs. of course the central banks are out of way and key earnings. though another big one coming up. but should the jobs numbers come out as a shock perp markets may expect the fed to come in with an emergency mood ahead of its september meeting. but the other focus here in japan, toyota will come out with earnings numbers after the bell today. so that will be a big focus as well. ai, back to you. >> thanks for that, ramin. both the nikkei and topix down by 1%. now, rami, people at toyota

motor, plan it roll more vehicles this year than ever made in the company's history. they will produce more than 10 million units by the end of 2012. the group includes daihatsu motor and hino motors. the figure will be more than 2 million higher than last year's pro dukes of 7.8 million vehicles. toyota increased its assembly in the first half of this year. it's been compensating for output plunges following last yar's disaster in northeastern japan and floods in thailand. now the company does predict brisk sales of vehicles will continue mainly under north america and emerging economies. that's the latest from the business team for this hour. i'm going to leave with you a check on asian stock markets.

tb calls to mind a disease from the past that killed tens of thousands of people. but tb is still the number one contagious disease in developing countries. the world health organization says some 8.8 million new patient were diagnosed last year and that 1.4 million of them died. 80% of the patient were found in 22 countries. the situation in regions such as southern africa and asia is especially serious. japan succeeded in keeping tb under control. thanks to a nationwide campaign dating back to the 1950s.

the country's experts decided to develop a training course half a century ago to share their knowledge. nhk world reports. >> reporter: delegates from countries with a high prevalence of tb discussed the current situation in a symposium in tokyo. participants from indonesia and uganda reported that thousands of young people who make up critical work forces are killed every year by tb. >> we must strengthen our ability to treat all cases. >> reporter: the tb research institute in tokyo holds an annual three-month course for doctors. public health experts from around the world come to learn how it's brought tb-related deaths down from pandemic levels to almost zero.

doctors from 14 countries participated this year. some 2,000 physicians from 97 countries have completed the course. among them is this man, from zimbabwe. his country has one of the highest tb infection rates in the world. the number of patients has increased sixfold in 20 years. and hiv infection doubles the risk of contracting tb. hiv's prevalence in the country is the reason behind the spread of the disease. >> the way to use data, analyzing data, identification of problems, that is major,

major thing that we are here to learn. >> reporter: he took part in a lecture focusing on tb countermeasures in poor communities. most developing countries like zimbabwe are desperately short of doctors. so many countries recruit and train basic health care workers in communities to monitor tb patients in their homes. they make sure medicine is properly taken until the patients are fully cured. he and his peers discuss how they can help community workers do a better job. >> financial stability is crucial -- >> especially in low-income cities. >> even more here than at a

patient's house. >> most are volunteer. >> but maybe they will put money in the pocket and do nothing -- >> reporter: he says he learned about how physicians in other nations deal. he says this information will help him draw up anti-tb programs to prevent transmission from neighboring countries. he says he's developed bonds with his colleagues facing similar challenges. he says he'll call on them for advice in the future. >> i am hopeful. things are looking up. and with more support, not just from in-country, but the region and international partners, i think we can make significant

strides in reducing tb. >> reporter: participants will finish the course on friday. they're vowing to continue the fight against tb with a renewed sense of urgency. nhk world. last week's openinger is menny for the opening of the olympics featured british pop music. former beatle paul mccartney was unof the artists at the july 27th event. a commemorative album hi the stores on thursday and is quite popular. from the beatles to disney. all about celebrating british music culture and now the albums are seeing the sales rocket. the compilation album has been available with an on-line

download since a day after the ceremony. it topped the charts, not just in britain, but also in france, belgium and spain. people were seen buying the cd at a store in the heart of london soon after it went on sale. >> i watched it on friday night, opening ceremony. i thought the music was fantastic. i thought i would come down here. i was going to wait for a few days, but i wanted the album as well, so i came down this morning to get it. >> it is currently the best selling album overall. but we think that new that the cd is out and with strong sales over the weekend, it will challenge to be the best selling cd of this week. a lot of people are buying it, not just uk residents, but tourists who want a souvenir of this wonderful experience. >> other albums containing tracks played at the ceremony are also selling well. sales of the 1973 blockbuster,

tubular bells, rose more than seven-fold. he also said he is looking forward to the closing ceremonies for the music it will feature. nhk world, london. thailand's growing middle class is getting a taste for premium coffee. it is market that doubled in just ten years. we're not only talking about lattes and cappucinos, thai farmers produce some of the most expensive coffee using beans processed in a very unusual way. our reporter went to savor the flavor. >> in thailand a special cup of coffee costs more than $30 a cup. that's 20 times the normal price for coffee.

coffee luck has its origins. its unique taste attracts coffee lovers from all over thailand. >> translator: it is really different from ordinary coffee. >> the coffee owner is also a farmer. he has production of coffee luck in island. he was asked the secret of his success. >> translator: you can't produce coffee luck without the wild animals who have an appetite for coffee berries. they consume the fruit but leave the coffee beans undigested in their droppings.

on their journey through the animal's body, the beans react with enzymes to create a sweet flavor. only producing coffee beans a year, it takes this many beans to make one cup of copy. coffee. he has struggled for years to perfect this coffee luck. first, raising the animals is a challenge. they easily get sick, away from their naturally wild habitat. he has been trying to improve the quality of his quality to make it better than the original from indonesia.

he still drys the beans in thai sun for a month. makers would wash them, but he believes during that, it reduces the flavor. he also stores his beans for at least a year claiming the taste gets better over time. . >> so this is a coffee made in thailand. it goes through five courses. let's taste it. strong aroam why. not as bitter as regular coffee. it also appears very fresh. >> even with some 50, we can only process 100 kill grams of the coffee a year. demand is much higher than supply right now. i hope people who want the world's best coffee, to think of thailand every time.

>> and his dreams may be coming true. coffee companies from japan, hong kong and south korea have already shown interest in his coffee. the coffee made with modern. nhk world, bangkok. >> a lot of work getting into that one cup of coffee. we have seen pictures of people in taiwan dealing with heavy rain and strong gusts. this is due it a powerful storm making land fall there. rachel furgason gives us an update in her world weather forecast. >> just hovering around taiwan for the last several days, earlier in the week it brought intense flood together northern part of the philippines and also affecting, of course, taiwan. southern parts of okinawa and the southeastern coast of china

over the last several days because it's been moving extremely slowly. we've had just incredible rain fall totals, mountainous regions of northeastern taiwan according to the meteorlogical bureau there, 1.2 meters of rain in the last few days. it has been raining there since monday. we can add on to the totals in the next 24 hours. too we will see additional rain fall here. the good news that i can tell you is that the storm started to pick up the pace. it also weakened off to a tropical storm. it was a typhoon, a strong typhoon. it is about to make land fall. unfortunately, that means that the rain will spread into somewhere else. it's got to go somewhere. we can see additional totals of up to 200 millimeters of rain. still a potent storm system. and it's not the only one we have in the region. you remember damrey.

damrey came very close to the tip much kyushu on wednesday. it became a typhoon after making land fall recently. it has been a severe tropical storm once again. by the evening, it should be a tropical depression. now situated in southern shandong near the province and looks like it'll head up towards the north. so seeing that heavy rain spread up towards northeastern china, it is also going to be prompting some very heavy rain across northwestern parts of north korea and that's another area that's been experiencing flooding over the last several weeks. unfortunately, there is going to be more heavy rain coming in here. i should point out another tropical system here, a depression that formed just east of the island. this is the same area that

damrey formed, just at the beginning of the week. so we will be watching this one for signs of intensification and to see which track it will take. temperature wise very hot in inland china. 35 is the figure we are looking for in seoul on friday. and so 33 in tokyo. much of japan is under a strong high pressure system. we will see a few pop up thunderstorms but generally pretty hot throughout much of the country. okay, into europe we go. out east, clear and calm. storms around the black sea region. hot in the southeast. then we have a front moving through central europe. this one will be producing heavy rain to the north and to the south of the front. so parts of norway as well as hungary, you will see intense rain fall and strong winds for the coast of poland. as we head into the british isles. a low over the atlanta, that will send in periods of heavy rain.

but is it going to be affecting the olympics? well take a look at your olympic weather over the next three days. everything is looking pretty steady. low 20s, few showers, nothing dryer. nothing too dramatic for you weatherwise. we hope you the event will bring you the weather you need. here is your extended forecast.

taking another look at our top story before we leave you this hour. kofi annan is resigning as u.n. arab league to syria when his position expires this month. the u.n. secretary-general condemned the government of al-assad and criticize he the u.n. security council for being locked in a standoff with russia and china on one side and western nations on the other. >> at a time when we need, when the syrian people desperately need action, there continues to be finger-pointing and name-calling in the security council. >> annan took on the role of mediator last february. since then he tried to resolve the syrian crisis but acting as a good-between, between the assad administration and antigovernment opposition. we apl jaz for the technical trouble there. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.