the weekend in vladivostok, russia. they are expected to approve initiatives toward integrating the region's economies. they'll focus on liberalizing trade and investment. the leaders are expected to agree not to restrict food exports. extreme weather has affected crops worldwide, and that's driving up prices. they'll promote agricultural investments in an effort to improve productivity. the leaders are expected to examine regional supply chains, too. the earthquake and tsunami last year in northern japan and flooding in thailand disrupted production in a number o industries. apec leaders are expected to include all of these efforts in a joint declaration at the end of their meetings on sunday. japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda will meet with russian president vladimir putin on the sidelines of this summit. noda and putin are expected to discuss economic cooperation. and noda plans to raise the issue of russian-held islands claimed by japan. noda is also expected to promote

cooperation in energy and other fields. he says he hopes this might lead to talks on the territorial dispute. russian leaders are using the apec sumit to show their focus is now aimed at asia. one thing they can offer the region is substantial reserves of crude oil and natural gas. developing those reserves is helping russia develop its far east. nhk world's yusuke kitamura reports. >> reporter: the crude oil terminal was built three years ago on the outskirts of vladivostok. more than ten large oil tankers come through the port each month. last year, over 15 million tons of crude oil were exported from here to ten countries in the asia-pacific region, including japan, the united states and singapore.

there are large oil deposits. most of the crude exported from the terminal originates in this area. during the soviet era, the oil fields of western siberia were the center of russia's oil production. however, after nearly 40 years of productivity, they will soon be depleted. to take their place, production has been stepped up in eastern siberia. one of the oil fields now being developed by russian oil company s is the size of switzerland. it was first discovered during the soviet era. at that time, there was no way to transport the oil, so it was left untouched for nearly 50 years.

>> translator: currently, we have five tanks with a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters. one for processing and four for storage. and construction recently began for two tanks of 10,000 cubic meters. >> reporter: for decades, the population of the local village has been falling. there were no jobs. the oil field development prompted the population boom. it's also brought new infrastructure to the village. >> translator: the number of children has increased, and there are too many to enter our kindergarten. more people are getting married and having babies. we're seeing many new families. >> reporter: at one time, transport of the region's crude oil was handled in part by the

trans-siberian railway. but by december of this year, there will be about 4,700 kilometers of pipeline directly connecting the oil fields to the port. more than doubling the export capacity. this oil field untouched until now will soon be going online. oil companies think that will boost the economy of russia's far east which remains underdeveloped. >> translator: the two-headed eagle on the russian coat of arms symbolizes looking to both the east and the west. russians are now starting to look at asia more seriously than ever before. >> reporter: for russia, east siberia's mineral resources are a treasure trove. developing the oil fields in its

far east region, russia has arrived as a full-fledged member of the asia-pacific region. yusuke kitamura, nhk world. stocks globally have rallied, and there's a lot of action on bond markets, too. yongi khan joins us from the business desk. what's going on? >> there are a lot of expectations ahead of the european central bank's policy meeting on thursday. we saw stocks rally around the world, including the united states and here in asia. the european central bank decided to buy an unlimited amount of government bonds in the eurozone. this will help member nations such as spain lower their borrowing cost to help them contain their huge debts. the focus now will be whether spain and other countries will actually ask for financial assistance. under the plan announced on thursday, the ecb will buy government bonds from the markets. the operations will focus on

bonds that mature within three years. however, there are conditions attached. countries asking for help must implement reforms and get the agreement to use funds contributed by eurozone states. the government bond yields the nations with debt problems. this enables those countries to issue bonds on their own and borrow money from the the market. challenges remain to resolve the region's debt woes. struggling nations will need to boost their economic growth while undertaking austerity measures. now the decision appears to have calmed down the bond market for now. spanish and italian government bonds were bought back. the yield on the spanish benchmark ten-year bonds declined from the mid6% range to just over 6%. the yield on the italian benchymark ten-year bonds fell from the mid-5% range to the 5.2% level. in late july, the spanish government bonds were trading

well over the 7% threshold, a level at which a country is set to become financially unsustainable. it's time to check on the markets. u.s. markets rallied on thursday marking strong gains on on the dow and nasdaq following the ecb policy meeting. the dow surged 1.9% at 13,292 points. this is a fresh closing high since the failure of lehman brothers in 2008. now to see how stocks are trading this friday here in tokyo, we go to ramin mellegard standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. investors were waiting for some kind of signal. it seems like they got it. >> yeah, they did get it, yonggi. positive signals almost everywhere you looked. first the ecb announcement of unlimited bond purchases which you just covered in detail. and then, of course, data out of the u.s. jobs released data. we had the private sector adp

numbers and also the weekly jobless claims which turned out to be pretty positive as well. let's see how all of that is translating into the markets here in tokyo. and pretty strong signals here as well. up over -- just over 2% for the nikkei. 8862 and the topix there up almost 2% at 732. so pretty positive start here. now after closing thursday nearly flat on the day, we could see up market sentiment for the nikkei and the topix and specifically on higher volume. especially after the lackluster sessions we've had so far this week waiting for all the news that we just got on thursday. and i can tell you, just by looking at the currencies this morning, we should see a pick-up for key exporters on the weaker yen. so let's turn to currencies right now. specifically dollar/yen and the euro/yen. looking at the dollar/yen, 78.88-90. the dollar did actually jump after the u.s. private sector jobs data. the adp data shod the biggest

gains in five months up by 201,000. now the euro, of course, did get a huge boost, also, following ecb president mario draghi's statement of intent. currently at 99.70-74. almost at that 100 level. not far from that. mario draghi's statement of intent if you will, where he really backed up a lot of his rhetoric recently of saying that he's going to try everything to help the euro and the eurozone economy bond markets by announcing a new plan. what he calls omts or outright monetary transactions. so we'll keep track of euro sensitive shares here as well. yonggi? >> ramin, we are seeing stocks rallying across the globe here in asia and the united states and europe. but there seems to be some caution ahead of the key u.s. jobs number. >> definitely. and as much as investors want to get a clearer picture of what the ecb and eu leaders are doing to try to resolve the european economies, investors also very focused on the u.s. jobs numbers which are due out on friday.

and there is a positive vibe. but still we could get a bit of a shock tomorrow. and there's no direct correlation between the private adp jobs data and the main nonfarm payrolls and unemployment data which we'll get on friday. so market players and investors still a little cautious ahead of that. definitely a positive start here for this friday in tokyo. yonggi, back to you. >> all right, ramin, thank you for that update. ramin mellegard reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. the leaders of germany and spain have stressed they will cooperate to ease market conditions over spain's fiscal situati situation. german chancellor angela merkel and spanish prime minister mariano rahoy met in madrid. in a news conference after the meeting, rahoy said spain will decrease bad debts held by banks and conduct structural reforms to rebuild the country's financing. he added that his country will also work to achieve economic expansion.

merkel said each country must deal with its issues. she called on spain to implement austerity measures to restructure its financing. and that's all for now in business news. i'm going to leave you with the latest market figures. the people responsible for disaster preparedness in japan have drawn up a picture of widespread flooding in tokyo. their scenario shows floodwaters washing down residential streets

and through business districts. the government council agreed on a set of guidelines on how to prepare and react. the council of cabinet ministers and sdaflter prevention officials drew up the recommendations. they call on central and local governments to coordinate efforts to deal with the damage. they estimate residential, commercial and business districts would be flooded if the banks of the river in northern tokyo were to collapse. in the worst case scenario, as many as 2,000 people could lose their lives. around 867 h 60,000 people could be stranded on rooftops and other high places. more than 1 million people live in areas prone to flooding. the guidelines call on local governments to re-examine their evacuation plans and the conditions for issuing evacuation orders. the recommendations say municipalities should coordinate their efforts to prepare evacuation facilities. they point out that residents may not be able to return home

for a long time in the event of widespread flooding. the fukushima accident prompted people in japan to rethink their dependence on nuclear energy. they have held discussions, protests and public forums about how they should power their country. the dialogue continued thursday in tokyo at an international conference on renewable energy. nhk world's chie yamagishi takes us there. >> reporter: japanese i.t. tycoon masayoshi son has been the driving force behind the symposium. son is the president of the mobile phone company softbank. his foundation organized the meeting. he's been calling for japan to replace nuclear power with renewable energy since the fukushima daiichi accident. >> translator: japan has enough technical ability to use natural energy and has resources for wind, solar, geothermal and

hydropower generation. >> reporter: about 600 people attended the symposium, including researchers, members of the business sector and representatives of energy -- of ngos. >> translator: the national energy market is said to have growth potential so i came to gather the latest information. >> translator: i want to learn more about renewable energy and whether it's possible to use it to replace nuclear power. >> reporter: it is possible as officials from countries such as germany and denmark showed. they talked about how they developed renewables in their countries. at another session, participants from asian nations such as south korea and mongolia, exchanged opinions on how countries in the region could benefit from an international grid to trade electricity.

>> east asia is already connected by undersea communication cable network. this shows the supergrid is not an impossible scenario. >> reporter: japan has been slow to expand its renewable energy sector. before the fukushima accident, nuclear power provided about 30% of the country's electricity. renewables accounted for around 10%. the japanese government is aiming to increase the supply of renewables so that they provide more than 25% of the country's electricity by 2030. national policy minister motohisa furukawa spoke at the symposium about what he called a green energy revolution. >> translator: we must create a new society with an aim to stop

depending on nuclear power which poses a risk of serious accidents that can force people to stay away from their homes for years. >> reporter: a recent poll suggested more than half of japanese agree and want their government to abandon nuclear power. if the government invests in the necessary technology, the timing could be right for the new age of renewables. chie yamagishi, nhk world, tokyo. peaches produced in fukushima will go on sale in thailand next week. it's the first overseas sale of products harvested in the prefecture since last year's accident at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant. fukushima growers have campaigned hard to stress the safety of their food products and had them undergo numerous radiation tests. many countries have halted or restricted food imports from fukushima due to fears of radioactive contamination.

now about 800 peaches will be exported to thailand. they will be sold at a department store and a large shopping mall in bangkok. last month, fukushima prefectural officials invited a department store and trade company agents from thailand to give them a tour of peach orchards and facilities that check radiation. >> translator: i'm very delighted because we can now help to dispel rumors about alleged radiation contamination. we'll continue to promote the safety of our products. community counselors help people across northeastern japan recover from trauma. they support survivors of the disaster in march of last year when they're available. counselors are quitting in large numbers, leave something people without the care they need. nhk world's nao sato explains. >> reporter: yuka is making house calls. she works as a counselor for the

local government. she listens to the problems of residents and checks on their health. >> translator: hello. how are you? >> reporter: she lost her father in the tsunami. he was a firefighter, one of many who died trying to help people escape. she returned home to live with her mother who survived the disaster. >> translator: the survivors open up and talk to me as they know i had a similar experience. i feel rewarded doing this job. >> reporter: they've hired 170 counselors. many work part time. most are disaster survivors themselves. but the government is finding it harder to provide this important service. about 40% of its counselors have quit in recent months.

ironically, the reason is the recovery taking place in the region. many people are going back to their old jobs. mariko abe is one of them. she quit her counseling post in march to reopen her clothing shop. her new shop is in a temporary housing complex. >> translator: many people were sorry to see me leave, but i am very happy i can open my store again. >> reporter: it's not the only community struggling to find counselors. a wave of resignations across the area has hit 20%. >> translator: i'm glad some people can return to their original job or workplace. but we don't have enough counselors. i am worried about the future.

>> reporter: the great earthquake in 1995 highlighted the important role counselors have to play. the quake itself killed more than 6,400 people. then came the post-disaster tragedy. hundreds of survivors who died alone in temporary housing. 1 1/2 years has passed since the march tsunami. experts say survivors are now more vulnerable than ever. haga is happy with her job, but she is facing a decision. she was a hairdresser before the tsunami. she knows that is where her future lies but still finds it hard to quit her job as a counselor. her father died trying to save people in her hometown. she feels it's her duty to take care of the survivors.

>> translator: it is difficult for me to decide on my future. to tell the truth, i am caught between this job and my plan to be a hairdresser. >> reporter: haga's dilemma is now common around the disaster zone. a small consolation in her case is that whether she returns to hairstyling or continues counseling, her clients can always count on a trustworthy friend. she's determined to stop the tsunami from taking more lives. nao sato, nhk world, misami-sanriko. rachel ferguson joins us now

with the world weather forecast. rachel, it seems like it's going to be another hot day in tokyo today. >> morning, catherine. yes, i think you're right. it is going to be hot and sunny across much of the country as well. but into tomorrow, we're going to see rain moving across from china and coming up across much of western and into central japan. the same band of rain will be impacting south korea. you could see as much as 30 millimeters of rain in the space of just one hour. so that kind of short time heavy rain can lead to flash flooding. the ground here is already saturated so that's going to be another thing to factor in. we have another low developing over chongqing. that's going to be bringing significant rainfall as well. maybe 50 to 100 millimeters off of this rain band. it will be intensifying as it heads east over the weekend. southern china still seeing thundershowers along the coast. heavy rain has been falling in northern vietnam. we've had reports of more than 300 millimeters of rain in the last 24 hours. also parts of southern and central thailand have warnings for heavy rain. we just got this trough of heavy

rain, in fact, from northeastern india right through to the philippines here. and that looks like it's going to be very active into the weekend. temperatures are starting to fall a little bit. we're going to be finding highs in the range of the upper 20s to the lower 30s. but cooling down towards the north. 25 degrees in beijing on friday. and 21 is expected in ulaanbaatar. we go to the americas. let's check on hurricane leslie. this massive cloud you can see over the atlantic. at the moment it's almost stationary. not really moving anywhere very fast. but it is expected to continue its path toward bermuda. coming close to the island on sunday biwhich time it should be a category 2 system. so it is continuing to intensify as well. beyond that could head up to the canadian maritimes by the middle of next week. already eastern canada has been dealing with heavy rain. this low and frontal system moving offshore at the moment. things will start to ease in eastern canada. but leftover will be that tail end of the front in the

carolinas. and in north carolina, you could see the potential for flash flooding as well. some thunderstorms are going to turn a little bit severe from the central plains in towards the midwest today. tornadoes are not out of the question here. certainly damaging winds and hail can be expected. out to the west, it's going to be warm. we have a high of 30 degrees in seattle. but we're starting to see things cool down across the midsection. the upper midsection of the continent. 21 degrees in denver down to 24 in chicago. however, the very persistent heat will remain towards the south. oklahoma city, 37 degrees. and 37 in houston also. and just along this barrier, this border with the hotter and cooler air that we're going to see those most severe thunderstorms. all right. as we head on into europe, again, the north is looking very wet and wild. very windy in fact. you can just see how close those isobars are together indicating the strong wind. it's going to be particularly gusty for southern parts of finland. the rain will be heaviest just where you see it here along the

coast of norway. and still looking very unsettled for northern parts of the british isles. it is going to start to settle down, though in much of western europe. on the continent also looking very warm in fact. and settled as we head into the weekend, which is some good news. even this very stubborn low that's been persisting throughout the week for the central mediterranean is starting to ease off and break up. so it's going to be warm and pleasant for many of you. 25 in london. 24 in vienna. still in the 30s in athens, as well as madrid and lisbon. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline."

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

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