so anyway, the safety is the utmost priority. you're watching nhk "newsline." the tsunami warning for japan's northeast and eastern coastal areas has been downgraded to an advisory. we are now currently looking at video of the coastline, sendai in miyagi prefecture. rather, it is live video in miyagi prefecture there perform a series of tsunami reached the

coast after an earthquake the coasts. it's the area that was devastated by the by 11 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident. anyone in an advisory area should listen to local authorities and disaster management officials for information and instructions. many people living along the coast had to evacuate to higher ground following the tsunami warnings. this is along the coastal area of fukushima on tuesday morning. >> translator: i felt strong shaking but it was weaker than the earthquake in 2011. i thought something terrible might happen so i tried to escape to higher ground right away.

>> translator: large furniture didn't fall over. but books and things did. i wasn't seriously hurt. but as i was evacuating, i pulled a muscle in my lower back. >> an official with the meteorological agency is calling on people in the affected areas to stay on the alert for another possible quake. >> translator: there is possibility that a quake with the same strength could occur in a week or so. if a quake occurs off the coast again, it could also trigger tsunami. >> we have the latest information on the tsunami levels from japan's meteorological agency. officials say a 1.40-meter tsunami hit sendai port in miyagi prefecture. a 90-centimeter tsunami struck

soma port shortly after 7:00 a.m. japan time. an 80-centimeter tsunami was observed at three locations, miyagi prefecture's ishinomaki, iukawa, and iwate prefecture's kusii port. these are the tsunami heights that have been observed in japan so far. the agency is warning that higher tsunami may have reached or will possibly reach japanese coastal areas. officials are urging residents on the coast to evacuate as soon as possible. a video posted to twitter by a man shows a river in iwate city, fukushima prefecture, slowly flowing upstream due to the influence of tsunami waves.

the man said he took the video from a bridge over the bindavela river just before 7:00 a.m. tuesday. he quickly escaped from the riverside. the man said he felt scared as he witnessed such a scene for the first time. another video uploaded by a local woman to youtube shows tsunami waves moving upstream in tagajo city, miyagi prefecture. the woman took it at about 8:00 a.m. from her condominium. the video shows powerful waves splashing as they flow upstream. the woman said numerous large waves moved upstream and she was very scared of the power of the water. the nuclear regulation authority says a cooling system for a spent nuclear fuel pool at officials say there are no

reports of abnormalities in other reactors at the plant. the regulator says as of 7:55 a.m. there are no reports of irregularities at the fukushima daiichi plant which was crippled by the 2011 quake and tsunami, nor any other nuclear plant or facility in the area and say there are no changes to radiation levels at monitoring poemss posts in the area. we'll continue to keep an eye on the situation and bring you updates as details come in. let's go to ai uchida from our business desk. >> catherine, thank you very much. the earthquake hit in the early morning as people were getting ready to start the day, and one business that we are hearing from is nissan motors. the company has a factory in the city of iwate in fukushima prefecture and officials have decided to suspend the plant's operations until further notice. they say people who are already at the factory are safe and are accounted for and that they're going to check to make sure things are running properly when

they can. now as for tokyo, things shook here too but not enough to cause major disruptions and that includes markets. they are operating as normal. we did see a reaction in currencies. the dollar weakened against the yen immediately after the quake. the japanese currency is considered a safe haven asset in times of risk. the pair dropped from the lower 111 yen level to right now mid 110 yen level as you can see. share prices in tokyo, they opened lower. and they are fluctuating in a very narrow range so far this morning. the nikkei 225 still trading above 18,000 this morning. the market impact from the jolts do appear to be limited. shares of tokyo electric power, the operator of the fukushima nuclear power plant, are lower. and let's also see what is happening with other markets open in the asia-pacific region.

australia trading higher up by more than 1%. we're seeing gains on seoul's kospi as well. that's trading higher this morning. let's see if we can get seoul's kospi up on the screen for you. that's up by .66%. china markets will open in just under a half hour. other headlines in business, u.s. president-elect donald trump has confirmed that washington will leave a major free trade deal once he takes office. >> on trade, i am going to issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the transpacific partnership, a potential disaster for our country. instead, we will negotiate fair bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto american shores. >> the website of trump's transition team says leaving the tpp is a priority issue to be tackled in the first 100 days of his presidency. during the campaign he promised that on his first day in office

he would announce the u.s. withdrawal from the free trade pact. taiwan's third-largest airline has suspended all domestic and international flights scheduled for tuesday. officials didn't say why. people at transasia airways announced the move monday night. they said they'll provide details on tuesday following a board meeting. transasia airways serves cities in taiwan and mainland china. it also operates routes to japan. company officials say customers who had bookings for tuesday will be reimbursed. aviation authorities in taiwan say the suspension could affect about 5,000 passengers. facebook executives are stepping up efforts to identify misinformation on their social networking site. this follows claims that false news posted on the world's largest site might have affected the outcome of the recent u.s. presidential election. chief executive mark zuckerberg

said facebook takes misinformation seriously. he made the comment in a post on his own facebook page. he said the firm aims to improve the mechanism for detecting false news. the firm also plans to enlist the help of more third-party fact-checking organizations and add warnings to articles that are likely to be false. facebook automatically displays news that users may find interesting. that's based on their preferences and the articles they have read recently. some media outlets and experts have pointed out that the news included false information that might have swayed the election to donald trump's advantage. a research company says 44% of adults in the the u.s. rely on facebook for news stories. analysts predict more calls for facebook to take responsibility for its news content in line with what other news media do. wine and sake, they are tax at different rates in japan.

officials at the japanese finance ministry have decided it is time to change that. similar production methods for the two beverages put them in the same category for taxation purposes. ministry officials say wine and sake will be taxed at 35 yen or about 30 cents per 350 milliliters. the new rate will be phased in from next year through to 2030. that means a tax cut of about 17% for sake but a 25% increase for wine. officials have also decided to unify the tax rate for beer. a beer-like drink and a malt-free beverage that tastes like beer. all three will be taxed at 50 cents per 350 milliliters. that plan is to phase in the new rate from 2017 through to october 2026. that means a tax cut for beer but an increase for low-malt drinks. that's the latest in business for this hour.

it's back to catherine now. >> thanks very much, ai. as we've been reporting, a 7.4 earth bake hit off the coastline of fukushima in northeastern japan. tsunami warnings that were issued have been downgraded to tsunami advisories. residents are in evacuation areas, many outdoors. let's go to meteorologist robert speta for the latest in world weather. >> yes, definitely a very chilly morning occupant there across much of northern japan. this is definitely very important for people that had to rush out of their homes quickly, especially elderly vulnerable to the cold. temperatures across much of the tohoku region dipping down to near freezing, well into the single digits. as we look ahead, things are going to continue to gradually warm up today but still chilling off as we go ahead through tuesday night into wednesday morning. plus we had some drizzle reported up and down the coastal areas of honshu here. mainly a result of these low pressure areas just back there towards the east. and the big thing is that, good

news we didn't see this weather system that we're expecting here by wednesday into thursday overhead here, at least this morning. because as we look ahead, we actually have a lot colder air coming in. we have seen some of that sea-effect snowfall in the forecast. take a look at least for the next 24 hours, though. it does look like fukushima prefecture, temperatures getting up to 15 to 16 here today as we go ahead into the early afternoon before things really cool off heading into the overnight hours, dipping down to the freezing point out there. but it will continue to get colder as i mentioned. high pressure back toward the northwest continuing to dominate much of northeastern china. some areas across mongolia dipping down into minus 30 to minus 40 celsius. you're not going to see any of that over towards japan at all. but it is going to be colder. so anybody in temporary evacuation shelters as we look ahead the next 24 hours, it's going to continue to cool off. hopefully everybody is staying inside and staying warm with this as we go ahead over the mid

part are of your week. take a look at the forecast. seoul with a high of 5. beijing at zero. ulaanbaatar minus 16 for your high. all that cold air continues to flow south. one thing i do want to note is that we're actually expecting below-average temperatures across most of japan combined with low pressure that will be developing by wednesday night into thursday morning. and there is the potential for even snowfall in the tokyo area. yes, by wednesday night, early thursday morning, a little bit of a rain-snow mix in the expected outlook. same for sendai and fukushima, of course definitely seeing that snowfall there by thursday, just with that cooler air and that moisture really mixing things up. so definitely bundle up out here. if you have any travel plans, one thing i have noticed, flights in and out of japan throughout the day, air traffic pretty much normal at this time. so if you are heading over

towards the u.s., though, we have been seeing some delays, especially in the northeastern u.s. widespread lake-effect snowfall out there. pretty heavy, especially in update new york through new england. back towards the west, we have another storm starting to develop, that's going to continue to pull off toward the east and trigger up that threat of strong thunderstorms across parts of the central plains. and then another round of snowfall. i know you've really been seeing it there in the northern plains. take a look at the temperatures, though. los angeles 21. some rain actually tapering off. denver at 8. snow there in your forecast. oklahoma city 22 expected there for you on tuesday. that's a look at your world weather. as we've been reporting, the tsunami warning for japan's northeast and eastern coastal areas has been downgraded to an advisory. a series of tsunami reached the coast after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck off fukushima prefecture tuesday morning. japan's meteorological agency

says waves up to 1.4 meters hit the coasts. it's the area that was devastated by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident. anyone in an advisory area should listen to local authorities and disaster management officials for information and instructions. now emergency response officials say at least six people have suffered minor injuries. a woman in fukushima prefecture was hit by a falling cupboard. another woman in miyagi prefecture sprained her ankle while evacuating. many flights to and from sendai international airport have been canceled. transport ministry officials say no damage has been reported on runways but airline companies suspended their operations because of the tsunami warning. there's no word yet on when they'll resume. now many people living along the coast had to evacuate to higher ground following the tsunami

warnings. this is along the coastal area of fukushima on tuesday morning. >> translator: i felt strong shaking but it was weaker than the earthquake in 2011. i thought something terrible might happen. >> translator: large furniture didn't fall over. but books and things did. i wasn't seriously hurt, but as i was evacuating, i pulled a muscle in my lower back. >> up towns along the coast are setting up evacuation centers. inmy nammy soma, fukushima prefecture, a local community center has been designated a shelter. about 70 people are currently using the facility. mostly local residents and builders who were working near the shoreline.

an official with the meteorological agency is calling on people in the affected areas to stay on the alert for another possible quake. >> translator: there is possibility that a quake with the same strength could occur in a week or so. if a quake occurs off the coast again, it could also trigger tsunami. >> we have the latest information on the tsunami levels from japan's meteorological agency. officials say a 1.4-meter tsunami hit the sendai port in miyagi prefecture shortly after 8:00 a.m. japan time. a 90-centimeter tsunami struck soma port 7:00 a.m. japan time. an 80-centimeter tsunami was observed at three locations, ishinomaki ayukawa, ishinomaki, and kuji port before 8:00 a.m. japan time. and a 60-centimeter tsunami hit

the onohama port in fukushima prefecture shortly before 7:00 a.m. japan time. these are the tsunami heights that have been observed in japan so far. the agency is warning that higher tsunami may have reached or will possibly reach japanese coastal areas. officials are urging residents on the coast to evacuate as soon as possible. some local residents witnessed tsunami waves flowing upstream in the tohoku region. a video posted to twitter by a man shows a river in iwate city, fukushima prefecture, slowly flowing upstream due to the influence of tsunami waves. the man said he felt it was dangerous and escaped from the riverside. the man said he felt scared as he witnessed such a scene for the first time. another video uploaded by a local woman to youtube

shows tsunami waves moving upstream in tagajo city, miyagi prefecture. the woman took it at about 8:00 a.m. from her condominium. the video shows powerful waves splashing as they flow upstream. the woman said numerous large waves moved upstream and she was very scared of the power of the water. the nuclear regulation authority says a cooling system for a spent nuclear fuel pool at the fukushima dinai plant has resumed operation after briefly halting following the quake. officials say there are no reports of abnormalities in other reactors at the plant. the regulator says as of 7:55 a.m. there are no reports of irregularities at the fukushima daiichi plant which was crippled by the 2011 quake and tsunami, nor any other nuclear plant or facility in the area and say there are no changes to radiation levels at monitoring posts in the area.

let's go to our domestic services again for more information that we will be having simultaneous interpretation. >> translator: japanese meteorological agency at 7:26 this morning have issued tsunami warning for chiba and ibaraki. japanese meteorological agency had a press conference from shortly after 8:00 a.m. the earthquake was observed at 5:59 when the earthquake occurred with a magnitude of 7.4 which had been upgraded from 7.3 which was issued immediately after the earthquake. japan meteorological agency observes that the magnitude was upgraded from 7.4 -- to 7.4 from 7.3.

koji nakamura from jma says the tsunami advisory had been upgraded to tsunami warning formy yaugmy yakgy prefecture a urged people to evacuate at earliest time possible. ishinomaki city, miyagi prefecture, residents evacuated to higher land looking onto the sea surface. at fukushima daini the function

of the cooling pump has resumed. tsunami had arrived, no abnormalities otherwise reported including the value of the radioactive -- radioactivity at the monitoring post of the sites. transportation had been influenced by the earthquake as well. shortly weave 9:00 a.m. sendai port has had tsunami of 1.4 meters. soma port of fukushima port had a tsunami of 90 centimeters at 7:06 a.m. 9:46 japan meteorological agency have downgraded tsunami warning to tsunami advisory. for fukushima and miyagi. aomori, chiba, and island

chains, tsunami advisory had been lifted. jma still issue tsunami advisory in iwate, miyagi, fukushima, ibaraki, and urging people to stay away from the coast line in these areas. chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga stated as follows. "on the part of the japanese government, we will continue collecting needed information working closely together with the local municipalities, we'll take every measure to respond to the machine situations." live report from sendai and fukushima. "from sendai the updates of miyagi situation." live report from ishinomaki city. ishinomaki is now under tsunami advisory. i am reporting from a spot about one kilometer away from the

shoreline. approximately 50 people have evacuated to this spot. within ishinomaki city, emergency radio warning had been issued. we can also see the mouth of a river flowing into the ocean. ishinomaki port has had a tsunami of 80 centimeters this morning. there is also an evacuation order in these areas as well. a man in the 30s stated that today's construction work had been canceled with no resumption of the construction work in sight. reporting from ishinomaki city. >> in miyagi prefecture, evacuation instructions and orders are still in place. so far in the entire area of

kisinuma and coastal areas, shigahama, yamamoto-cho, and also as you can see on the screen in the entire area of tagajo city had the evacuation orders in place. and also in other places. and in miyagi, evacuation instruction has been issued in local areas in the coastal areas of ichio and others. and also the inland area of shiokama, evacuation preparation order is in place. and also the damages in miyagi according to fire station in sendai due to earthquake around 6:00 a.m., a 65-year-old woman fell from staircase and sustained light injury in her legs and was taken to hospital,

according to miyagi. so far there is no report of damage to buildings due to tsunami. but right now they are confirming. next we go to fukushima. >> translator: due to the earthquake in the coast aal are, a tsunami warning was issued. now at 9:46 it's down graded to tsunami advisory. still the local municipalities are calling on people to evacuate to higher grounds. at onohama port, there was a tidal wave. also at soma port, a 90 centimeters high tidal wave was observed. in the wider area of nakadori, a

magnitude earthquake 5 was observed. and magnitude of 4 was observed in other areas. and a 60-year-old woman in soma city fell because of the shock from the earthquake, and she broke her arm. and the observatory are calling on people to stay away from slopes or cliffs and also remain on alert for the next seven days for magnitude earthquake of the scale of magnitude 5. and also in the fukushima dinai nuclear power plant, the reactor number three cooling function suspended for a while, but after the checkup, it was found that there was no abnormality. and in the cooling pool, there are spent fuel rods. but right now, the cooli ining

function is in place. and also in thex0

>> hello and welcome to "euromaxx highlights." here are the best bits of the week. the sky's the limit. a dutch artist and his indoor clouds. underground art. an italian city brightens up its subway stations. drone alarm, when quadrocopters light up the sky in austria. for someone who has his head in the clouds, dutch artist berndnaut smilde seems to be very well grounded. he generates a storm of attention with his work by creating indoor clouds. his creations really make you question reality, even if its only for a split second. we accompanied smilde on a shoot