welcome to nhk "newsline." it's september 19th. policy makers at the u.s. federal reserve had to throw investors for a loop. many who work in the markets expected the people at the fed would decide to start retreating from their stimulus campaign.

the policy makers surprised them when they announced they would stick with their strategy of easy money. chairman ben bernanke said the economy is growing at a moderate pace. he pointed to rises in household spending and business investment. he said the job market still lacks steam. >> in evaluating whether a modest reduction in the pace of asset purchases would be appropriate at this meeting, however, the committee concluded that the economic data do not yet provide sufficient confirmation of its baseline outlook to warrant such a reduction. fed officials noted that an uncertain outlook on the debate over the u.s. budget is holding back economic growth and prices for goods and services are below targets. the central bank will keep buying $85 billion worth of treasury bonds and mortgage backed securities every month. bernanke said policy makers could start tapering bond purchases later this year if they can confirm more signs of sustained improvement. they said they'll keep the key

interest rate near zero as long as the jobless rate stays above 6.5%. the most recent data puts it at 7.3%. investors raektd react by pouring into stocks and commodities. assets that analyst pz qualify as risky. tell us, why is this happening. >> catherine, what analysts are telling us is that with the fed pouring money into the economy, investors are feeling that there's money left over for them to buy these risky assets and as for wall street stocks, investors bought a wide range of shares pushing the dow jones industrial average to close at a record high. the benchmark index ended at 15,676. that's up 0.95%. market players saw the tech-heavy nasdaq close 1% higher at 3,783, and that's the highest in 13 years. investors place buy orders for u.s. government bonds, and they saw long-term interest rates

fall sharply. the yield on the ten-year bond fell below 2.7%. meanwhile, a commodities sort. gold also climbed to the 1,300 level. for house stocks here are opening. let's go to ram even who is standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. ramine, what's the reaction on tokyo markets? >> thank you very much. pretty positive reaction. let's have a look at the opening levels. in fact, for the nikkei and the topix, on the screens, up by more than 1% for both indexes. following the dow's record closing high, we're seeing stocks trading higher here. investors really stepping into buy. however, i have to thad the yen strength continues right now against the dollar. that may weigh on exporters. i'm going to keep track of all of those sectors.

in fact, let's have a look at currency levels. of course, a crucial factor in how stocks trade. dollar-yen right now 98.25-27. we're going have to monitor how the dollar-yen trades. the dollar did fall against major currencies and touches the lowest level this month in new york trading, but now with the rally in stoko stocks, the yen may face downward pressure as well. investors are shifting their funds into riskier he assets and lowering the appeal of the safe haven yen. euro dollar -- the euro actually rose against a dollar following the fed's announcement in new york. the euro reaches the highest level in seven and a half months. let's have a look at the euro-yen. bottom of the screen. 132.85-88, so quick focus there on the currencies. investors in a way relieved that the u.s. central bank will continue to pour cash into the u.s. economy as it looks more closely at the jobs market, which is really one of its primary objectives to gauge how

employment continues in the u.s. and when to begin to taper its bond buying program and judging by the last jobs data that we had, it was weak, so japanese markets continue higher on this news. i am going to obviously monitor key sectors and shares. let me also add that chinese and south korean markets are going to be closed today so we're going to get very little direction from those indexes, but we'll continue to watch how the dollar-yen trades and how that affects exportered as i mention, but a pretty positive start so far in the first five minutes. back to you. >> all right. thanks a lot for that update. well, bernanke said the decision was a precautionary step. he said policymakers want to make sure the economy has adequate support. nhk world was listening to what he had to say, and she joins us now in the studio. now, why did policymakers did decide not to change course?

>> well, chairman bernanke said he was unsatisfied with the improvement in the job market. the unemployment rate has come down a bit, but many economists point out that it's because a lot of people just gave up looking for work. bernanke hit it a few months ago that he and his colleagues might start withdrawing from the stimulus. in response, mortgage rates rose, and applications for home loans plunged. there are other risks. lawmakers expected to rejoin the debate soon about the limit on how much the federal government can borrow. officials at the fed say that's holding back the economic growth. >> so when would fed officials actually start tapering? >> bernanke says there is nothing scheduled, but he also said if they can gain more confidence in the outlook, they could move later this year. there may be something else at play. bernanke's term expires in january. all the easy money measures over

the past five years have bloated the fed's balance sheet. it has more than tripled since 2008 since the financial crisis hit. he may want to clean things up before he leaves. president barack obama says he will nominate a successor this fall, and that may undermine bernanke's influence on monetary policy. members of the federal open market committee will present a new economic outlook in december and since investors are already reacting to the possible scaledown, there's a good chance the fed will follow through by the end of the year. >> all right. thanks so much for your insights, always. that does it in business for this hour. much more to come. i'll leave you with a look at markets.

♪ the people in charge of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant have yet another problem on their hands. they say they've found cracks in the brace supporting an exhaust pipe. authorities are concerned the pipe could collapse in another earthquake. the 120 meter tall pipe stands between two reactor buildings.

workers used it to release radioactive vapors and prevent an explosion after the disaster at the plant. officials with tokyo electric power company say they spotted cracks in eight places that hold the pipe upright. they expect the earthquake two years ago caused the problem. they say there's no evidence of any damage to the pipe itself. overseers are demanding that company officials investigate immediately. they want to know whether the structure can with stand another earthquake. tepco officials say they're dismantling a tank at fuch neema daiichi that's caused them a number of problems. last month more than 300 tons of highly radioactive water leaked out. some of it may have flowed into the pacific ocean. official with ptepco say they began taking apart on tuesday.

about 350 similar tanks are installed on the ground of the plant. fishermen who work near the plant are also concerned about the leaks. members at one cooperative had planned to start catching small amounts of young fish to test for consumer interest and safety. now they say they postpone their trial to the coast. about 40 fishermen from the city agreed to delay the catch until next spring at the earliest. they say it will be too hard to convince consumers to buy the fish. they blame tepco officials for the way they've handled the leak. >> it's only natural that every fisherman is angry about the situation. >> they detected no radiation. it contained low levels of radioactive substances. they'll go ahead with trial kachlz further off shore

starting later this month. >> thousands of residents are still waiting to go home. vast tracks of land are still waiting to be restored, and more than half of the fishing ports must be rebuilt. people in northeastern japan still face challenges following the 2011 disaster, but step by step they're moving forward. see their stories every wednesday on the road ahead right here on newsline. a senior north korean official says his country is ready to resume long stalled nuclear talks. chief nuclear negotiator made the statement at a symposium about his country's nuclear program in beijing. it was attended by officials and researchers from the six countries involved in the talks. negotiations between north and south korea, china, japan, the

united states, and russia have not taken place in almost five years, but as nhk world reports, north korea's announcement comes amid new suspicions about its nuclear activities. >> the symposium was titled retrospect and outlook, a decade of a six-party talks, and on wednesday north korea's first vice foreign minister said his country is ready to move ahead. >> translator: we support the talks, and are willing to resume dialogue, including small scale discussions within that framework. >> reporter: the offer comes with one condition. that there be no preconditions for negotiations to restart. that conflicts with the long-held position that north korea take steps for denuclearization before a dialogue can resume.

on wednesday japan's chief cabinet secretary reiterated his country's similar stance. >> translator: we will work closely with our allies, including the u.s. and south korea, to tell north korea that it must fully implement what was previously agreed in the six-party talks as well as in u.n. security council resolution. >> reporter: diplomatic sources have told nhk, north korea tested an engine last month. it could be used in a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile which was recently on display at a military parade. american researchers have also said they suspect north korea has restarted a nuclear reactor that's capable of making weapons-grade plutonium. china's foreign minister, wang yi, who chaired the symposium, said maintaining the six-party

process is a practical and effective way to denuclearize the korean peninsula. the last time they met was in 2008. so they could not agree on a system to verify north korea's nuclear activities. in 2009, north korea announced it was quitting the talks and resumed its nuclear weapons program. it went on to conduct underground nuclear tests. but wednesday's call to resume negotiations could indicate a new approach to the international community by the north korean regime. still, analysts say north korea's intentions are unclear. earlier this year, it was issuing threats of a nuclear attack. and reports that it may have resumed nuclear activities have the given cause for concern. michio kojima, nhk world. a verdict in the case of deposed chinese communist bo

xilai is expected on sunday. prosecutors accuse him of corruption and abuse of power and have demanded he be handed a tough sentence. but the former political heavyweight denies all charges. bo is the former party chief of chongqing city. he is accused of accepting $3.5 million in bribes, embezzling public funds and blocking an investigation into the murder of a british businessman by his wife. the case against bo is china's biggest political scandal in decades. the court took the unprecedented step last month of uploading partial transcripts from the trial on the chinese social network website sina weibo. but bo has strong support of some. >> ab income gap provided

people. disputed seas strain relations with its neighbors. on newsline. japanese researchers are getting a better picture of what happens to people with alzheimer's disease. they develop technology to take images of proteins that accumulate in patients' brains. they say the pictures will help doctors tee ticket the disease in early stages. researchers believe two kinds of proteins build up abnormally in the patient's brains. ameloid beta and t on. c.t. scans of imageing can provide pictures of ameloy beta, but no one had developed technologies to capture the proteins tao. a team of japan's national institute of radiological sciences developed a drug that combines exclusively with tau. it emits low levels of red yags. the researchers injected it into a patient's brain, then saw

pictures of the protein. they say their findings could have doctors diagnose the disease earlier and help patients avoid developing some symptoms. executives of a jab knees railway company have unveiled final plans for their next generation super speed train. the magnetically levitated will travel up to 500 kilometers per hour. central japan railway company made the announcement. he disclosed the route and stations. the train will connect tokyo and nagoya, a city in central japan. both terminals will be built deep under ground and there will be four stations between the cities. workers will dig new tunnels through the mountains. the service will link the two cities in 40 minutes. that's about one hour less than the bullet train. railway executives plan to eventually extinned the route

between the biggest city in western japan. they hope to begin construction sometime next year and start the service in 2027. people flying into the city of toyama in central japan are not only seeing baggage on the conveyor belt at the airport. tourism promoters have come up with a unique campaign to get visitors to sample local delights. nhk world explains. >> reporter: this is the family at the end of a plane journey. giant dishes of mouth-watering sushi of white shrimp, squid, ten kinds of sushi altogether. they almost look real. there are models, of course, made to promote the taste of

prefecture. local craftspeople do the work. the project -- the sushi pieces were terrible. they didn't look real or appetizing. so the team wanted to vindicate themselves. they remade the sushi, paying closer attention to texture and other subtle details. to bring out the freshness, they made edges turn up just a little. >> translator: here we have real sushi. >> before painting, the team

took a good look at the real thing. >> translator: when you paint this, pay attention to the redness here. try to bring out the freshness. cool and fresh. >> translator: this is the painting in his day job. he paints only the outside of fish. doing the -- he manages to bring out the texture. after the work, the sushi arrives at the airport and receives a final inspection. it's the first time she has seen the finished product. >> translator: wow. they look terrific. they look so fresh, incredibly

fresh. i'm overjoyed. >> finally, the sushi sight. >> translator: at fest i thought it was luggage. i had to laugh. >> translator: it looks so good. almost like the real thing. >> reporter: people couldn't keep their eyes off it. the promotion was fantastic. unami was delight. . >> translator: it was a great success. we hope we can capture a lot of people's attention and encourage them to taste the wonderful flavors of toyama after had he they leave the terminal. >> translator: when it comes to ideas for promoting local sushi,

they have no fears. >> certainly does look real. time now for a check on the weather. people in taiwan are bracing for a typhoon heading their way. we get the latest in world weather. >> well, catherine, good morning. yes. we have been monday are toring the system right over here east of northern -- you can clearly see the defined eye. it is a strong typhoon status, and it looks like it's going to even intensify into a very strong typhoon status, and we're talking about usagi, which means rabbit. not a cute one at all. it will be downgraded a little bit before it reaches southern taiwan. possibly making landfall before the weekend comes. already packing gusts of 200 kilometers per hour and the waves just around the center of the system is about ten meters high, and southwestern islands will start to see the highways. about seven meters already starting tonight. it is going to be a very stormy

week, and a weekend ahead of you here in northern and southern taiwan. the drenching rainfall will be some staggering amounts. we'll be topping as much as 200 to even more in some locations. another storm system we have been monitoring is this over here. this is a tropical depression. it looks like it will be making landfall possibly in eastern vietnam. as a tropical depression status. this is already packing so much rainfall. about 300 millimeters or even more in some localized areas in vietnam having reported it. northern thailand already has seen 200 millimeters of rainfall from this system enhancing the southwestern monsoonal flow. more rain to be pounding the similar areas, so landslides, mudslides, flooding will be varied. a huge concern especially, and also storm surges. do stay away from any of these waters. to the north high pressure is covering much of the regions, and we're talking about a very clear sky.

it is a perfect night to celebrate. the harvest moon. it's going to be a full moon too. it's quite rare for the full moon to be falling on the harvest moon day, and it's going to be about eight years later for the next full moon to be appearing on this day, so don't miss it. tokyo at 29 degrees. nothing autumn-like here reaching up to 36 here. new to europe. northern europe has been seeing unstable conditions. now to the south the region will be seeing some thunderstorms, and very gusty conditions. atlantic system moving in here in the british isles. dropping the temperatures here. berlin at 15. also warsaw at 14. moscow, 17. they'll be down to about 12 degrees on your friday. now, let's move over to mexico where coastal flooding has still been occurring here, and it looks like it will be pounding the reasonable with more heavy rain to come. man well once was a remnant low and became a tropical depression status again. 36 hours later. now looks like it will become a

hurricane status as it approaches western coast of mexico, and we've got hurricane watches posted there, but they were around this area. will be pounded with very heavy rainfall. another low pressure system will be redeveloping again into a tropical depression. likely we have 70% chance of that, which is making things very wet across much of the southern areas too. lots happening in mexico. severe weather will be in the northern plains today, and we cannot rule out the fact that it could spawn tornadoes. very hot here across the south. houston at 33 degrees. our extended forecast.

>> breess are carrying out an operation that tasz place once every ten years. the replacing the materials in a giant lantern that hangs inside the main gate. workers visited the temple in the district to remove the lantern. it weighs 700 kilograms. priest tiz temple have sent it away for repairs every ten years since the main gate was rebuilt in 1960. the original was destroyed by fire. >> it is a little sad, but i think visitors will be happy to see the main gate cleaned up.

>> that's all for this edition of newsline. we'll be back at the top of the hour. do stay with us.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: defense secretary chuck hagel ordered a full review of security procedures and clearances at military facilities worldwide in the wake of the massacre at washington's navy yard. we have an exclusive interview with secretary hagel tonight. >> the highest responsibility leaders have is to protect their people, is to take care of their people. when something like this happens something fails. something broke down.