i'm gene otani in tokyo.

tokyo looking at 33 on your tuesday. ulaanbaatar really chilly out there at 17 degrees for the high. moving over to the americas now, around the four corners, especially in and around colorado, you may see some few strong thunderstorms that will be moving in towards the texas panhandle. still this stalling front will be lingering in the similar areas so the southern gulf states. do be aware of a few thunderstorm activity. new york, washington, d.c., you are a little bit in the lower than average temperatures so a taste of autumn there. but still sizzling hot here in oklahoma city at 31 degrees. in europe, while things are still very hot across the south and the temperatures are reflected there, budapest at 37 degrees. and we're looking at vienna still at 32 and madrid, 39 degrees. here's our extended forecast. >>> once again our lead story -- human rights activists say the latest fighting between syrian government troops and opposition forces has claimed the lives of dozens more civilians. spokespersons for the london-ba

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

at the tokyo stock exchange. what can you tell us? >> it's the last trading day of the week, but markets have light to digest now. let me give you japan's latest economic indicators that came out right before the market opened. these numbers are all for the month of july. first of all, japan's industrial production is at minus 1.2% compared to the previous month. that is worse than what market participants had expected. the actual number coming in negative. japan's jobless rate at 4.3%. that is unchanged from the previous month and in line with the market consensus. finally nationwide core consumer price sbexz excluding volatile fresh food prices at minus 0.3% in july compared with the same month last year, and the third straight month of falls and inline with the consensus. let's turn our attention to markets. we're seven minutes into trading on this friday morning, and the nikkei is at 8,918, down about three quarters of 1% and the topix down three quarters of a 1% now at 738 points, so both in negative territo

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. rums play funky space-rock] ♪ ♪ (jane joyce) wetlands are among the most productive and useful ecosystems on earth. wetlands filter and cleanse water of harmful chemicals, act as storage basins to control flooding and recharge groundwater, and support thousands of species of animals and plants. in the northern great plains, wetland basins called "prairie potholes" are important breeding areas for waterfowl in north america, producing as much as 80% of the continent's total duck population alone. but much of this valuable wildlife habitat has been drained and converted for farms, homes, and roads. today, less than half of the original wetlands in the united states remain. when we convert these rich natural systems to agriculture we lose a lot of biodiversity. we may be down to hundreds instead of many thousands of species. (jane joyce) after centuries of wetland destruction, efforts are underway to preserve and restore these vital ecosystems. (dr. carter johnson)

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. 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. anan is resigning when his term expires at the end of this month. >> i do not intend to continue my mission when my mandate expires at the end of august. >> 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 ac

well, to see how stocks are performing here in tokyo we go to the tokyo stock exchange. it looks like markets in the u.s. are just taking a step back after recent gains. >> very good morning to you. we have existing home sales and fomc meetings due out later today in the u.s. and those two factors may have been a reason we saw the u.s. markets just fall back a little bit. investors staying on the sidelines just a touch. of course as you mentioned there apple shares just falling back a touch following the gains that it made the previous day and apple is such a heavily weighted component of the nasdaq it always has an effect whether up or down. let's see how it all plays into the opening levels here for this wednesday in tokyo. just having a look at the nikkei and topix both indexes barely in the positive 9,# 157 for the nikkei and 765 for the topix. the nikkei actually snapped three days of gains yesterday. a little profit taking we saw in key exporters after we saw the yen gain just a touch yesterday. we'll see how it's faring later on. however, because of apples pending

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. strained relations between some neighbors have made a routine exercise anything butt. south korean forces run regular drills. claimed the takeshi ma islands and have complained since bak visited earlier this month. south korea has controlled the area since 1954. twice a year, military personnel stage exercises there along with police. they're scheduled to start their next drill in one week. navy destroyers and submarines will take part in the exercises. dozens of marines are scheduled to land by helicopter. touched off a series of complaints on both sides. still south korean foreign affairs says the military should go ahead with the exercises. >>> chinese officials say they're pressing ahead with their investigation into a diplomatic incident on the streets of beijing. chinese foreign ministry officials say several government departments are taking part in the investigation. embassy officials want those involved to be arrested immediately. but they say police have not provided them wi

in japan a tokyo court has rejected the u.s. high tech giant's argument that its south korean rival violated its patents. apple filed a lawsuit against samsung electronics japan arguing that samsung infringed on its patents this what is called sin kronization technology. that permits muse ek from other computers to smartphones other other tablet computers. the judge dismissed apple's claim on friday. he said that the two firms use different mechanisms to compare files in the process of synchronization. apple and samsung are suing each other over their patents in ten nations. this is first ruling by a japanese court on the patent dispute. the tokyo court is now weighing cases and other patents of the two companies. apple in japan did not give a formal statement on the ruling. however, a company spokesperson said that the ruling covered just one of the contested patents and does not mean the u.s. firm lost the entire case in japan. it also cited apple's victory over its rival in the united states. it considers friday's court decis

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. do you remember what you did with your last cell phone? in the us alone there are over 500 million cell phones laying around ready to be recycled. what happens to all these old chargers and cell phones? unfortunatel y, many of them are thrown away. cell phones contain lead, mercury, arsenic and other poisons. these toxic chemicals can find their way into our water supply when they're thrown into landfills - and pollute our air when they're incinerated. right now, less than two percent of our used cell phones are being recycled, but we can change that. when you're ready to toss your old cell phone, check out your local recycling program, or go online recycle my cell phone. (dot) org there are lots of easy, free, and tax- deductible ways to recycle your phone. now that makes sense!

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. u.s. republicans open their national republican convention in tampa, florida. then just as quickly they closed it for the day. tropical storm isaac churned offshore in the gulf of mexico so they called a recess. organizers cut the four day schedule down to three. they'll restart the convention later in the day. delegates will nominate mitt romney as the republican challenger to barack obama. he will make a speech to accept the nomination on thursday, the final day of the convention. he will nominate paul ryan as his running mate. the most recent poll suggests romney has overtaken obama. by one percentage point. >>> yoshihiko noda hopes a letter to chinese president hu jing tao. to express the importance of the streej sick mutually beneficial relations. they will commemorate the 40th anniversary in september. noda is expected to call for talks amongst senior officials on a range of issues including trade and north korea. senior vice foreign minister yamaguchi will deliver the letter during

another 35-degree day. 33 in tokyo. and down toward the south, we have 35 in bangkok, and 27 in manila with a few thundershowers moving through. all right. let's go now to our other tropical system. this one is ernesto. it's heading through the western caribbean. you can see now the tropical storm warnings along the northern coast of honduras. then we run into a hurricane warning for the yucatan peninsula. so this system is likely to make landfall in the yucatan peninsula tuesday morning, early, and that will be local time. after making landfall, you're going to see it downgrade to a tropical storm again, but then over the gulf, it could become a hurricane once again before making a second landfall in southeastern mexico here. so we're talking about some very strong winds. gusts now up to about 120 kilometers an hour. remember, this is an intensifying system, and we are going to be seeing for much of eastern and central america upwards of 100millimeters, maybe up to 200, and, in fact, locally, you could see 300 millimet

a tokyo zoo is helping them cool off in the scorching weather. the animals at the tama zoological park look exhausted as daytime temperatures topped 35 degrees celsius in some parts of tokyo. the zoo is using electric fans and sprinklers to cool its reindeer. visitors watched snow leopards beat the heat with some cool mist. a zookeeper says the animals seem to appreciate the help they're getting to cool down. >>> many people from fukushima feel people in the rest of the country don't understand the problems they face. they've lived in uncertainty since last year's nuclear accident. the survivors of another catastrophe are offering support across the generations. nhk world's maho arikawa has the story. >> reporter: 82-year-old masahito hirose survived the atomic bomb in nagasaki. he is one of the survivors corresponding with people in fukushima prefecture. >> good evening. tomorrow, doctors will examine my thyroid gland. i hope they won't find anything, but i'm still a bit worried. >> dear yuko, you'll probably do fine tomorrow, but i also think t

also same temperature there in tokyo here on your tuesday. now over towards the americas, tropical storm isaac really has been the topic here. did cause some deaths out here in haiti last week. now it's moving off towards the gulf of mexico. tornado watches are actually in effect across much of florida due to these outer rain bands. see the higher cloud taps on the map. really setting its eyes in on the gulf states. look at these. hurricane warnings already in effect across louisiana over towards mississippi. even some evacuation orders already been in place here across southern louisiana. and these very low lying areas. a very shallow slope leading up to these coastlines here. what that means is that a storm surge is really high at risk. you remember seven years ago, this week, hurricane katrina made landfall and that just goes to show how prone this region is to storm surge and the effects of tropical systems. this is not going to be as strong as that storm but really that storm surge could be kicking up and also the heavy rainfall. 400 mil

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. police have spent the week taking calls and making inquiries about a diplomatic incident. the ambassador's car was topped this week and a flag ripped off the hook. police say they've identified all of the suspects. chinese foreign ministry officials notified officials in beijing. police have not arrested no one yet. officials informed their contacts at the ministry that they want it keep in close contact. the embassy staff say they are waiting for developments in the investigation. on monday, two vehicles followed then stopped the car carrying ambassador niwa. man got out of one of them. then he ripped off the japanese flag on the car and fled. japanese officials say anti-sentiment may have cause he the accident. there is a dispute over the senkaku islands if the east chinese sea. both countries claim sovereignty in the sea of japan. a japanese proposal was rejected to approach the court together. a south korean document handed to the diplomat asserts there is no territory dispute to

temperaturewise, tokyo, you are getting up to 30 here. going to be seeing some rain showers potentially there on your saturday. toward the west, chongqing up to 38. definitely stay out of the sun if at all possible here. now towards the americas, talking about ernesto. it's moving across southern mexico now. starting to work its way in towards the pacific ocean. while it's doing that, it's grabbing moisture here and dumping it along the west coast. so potentially could be seeing some flooding along the western mountains. not to mention it's still grabbing moisture out of the east and bringing it there. it's now a tropical depression. continuing to weaken as it pushes off there toward the west. as far as the north here, though, we have a low pressure area moving through the northern rockies. this could be producing some dry lightning. potentially could cause some wildfires there. in towards the east, a cold front continuing to push off toward the east. this has produced golf ball-sized hail. additional severe weather could be possible with

temperaturewise, tokyo, you are getting up to 30 here. going to be seeing some rain showers potentially there on your saturday. toward the west, chongqing up to 38. definitely stay out of the sun if at all possible here. now towards the americas, talking about ernesto. it's moving across southern mexico now. starting to work its way in towards the pacific ocean. while it's doing that, it's grabbing moisture here and dumping it along the west coast. so potentially could be seeing some flooding along the western mountains. not to mention it's still grabbing moisture out of the east and bringing it there. it's now a tropical depression. continuing to weaken as it pushes off there toward the west. as far as the north here, though, we have a low pressure area moving through the northern rockies. this could be produce something dry lightning. potentially could cause some wildfires there. in towards the east, a cold front continuing to push off toward the east. this has produced golf ball-sized hail. additional severe weather could be possible w

where do we stand this wednesday morning here in tokyo? >> let's have a look at some of the currency pairs. dollar yen currently unchanged, but having a look at the euro yen at the bottom of the streen, 898.75 to 76. that was trading at the lower level when is tokyo stocks closed yesterday. in fact, dipping below 98. traders may bet that the ecb might be waiting to make some announcements at its meeting next week. we'll see how all of that pans out. back to you, yuko. >> thanks, ramin. >>> honda motor is considering building a motorcycle factory in myanmar. it aims to capture growing demand in the emerging economy of southeast asia. sources say honda will set up an office in myanmar, the first ft country. the staff will conduct a feasibility study for plant construction. they look at the potential of the motorcycle market and analyze the country's infrastructure and labor situation. honda also plans to start selling motorcycles made in china and thailand by the year-end. that's after the maker concludes an agreement with local sales agents

in the 30s in the midtropics and 33 here in tokyo. we'll be starting to see some sunshine afternoon hours. all right. moving over to the americas, we are seeing this storm system. this is ernesto which is heading towards the yucatan peninsula. especially possibly making landfall in and around belize in the next 48 hours. accumulating hefty amounts of rainfall here as well and then moving over a land mass, moving towards the gulf of mexico. perhaps also in jamaica we found 100 millimeters in the past 24 hours, but additional of the similar amounts will be found here as well. coastal flooding is going to be just very high. also storm surges and high waves to be aware of. temperaturewise, here across the canada and americas regions, oklahoma city down to 30. still very hot, though, and phoenix reaching up to 44. excessive heat warnings are posted up here. moving over to the european continent, the developing low pressure system is going to be affecting much of the scandinavian peninsula with some stormy conditions. and then the cold fron

he talked with a group of survivors in tokyo. daniel decided to come to japan after he got to know a family of atomic bomb victim two years ago in the united states. during themeeting, they said they are determined to keep on talking about their experiences so no one else will have to endure what they've gone through. >> translator: it's been 67 years since the terrible incident. the atomic bombing only lasted for a few seconds. but my suffering will continue until i die. >> translator: the u.s. president said he will make efforts to bring an end to all nuclear weapons. so from now on, we, the hibakusha, are looking forward to our new and better world. >> daniel said he appreciated the opportunity to meet the survivors. he said he's more hopeful about the future after the talks. >> i hope that i can do the same to work to hopefully rid the world of nuclear weapons. >> daniel will attend the memorial services on august 6th in hiroshima and nagasaki three days later. the u.s., british and french ambassadors will also attend the ser

tokyo announced its hosting plan in february. the city centered its vision on boosting reconstruction after the march 11th disaster. critics say the city's weak point is low public support. nhk asked the community member what the team thought of the london games and what he learned to improve its presentation plans. >> first of all, we have run very nice system of transportation. i know it was a little bit difficult, but finally they managed very smoothly. they used the public transportation as much as possible. so as you may know the tube system in london is very fantastic so you can move to any place by the tube, and also they provide free ticket for the tube in case the fans received ticket. this is the first point. and then second point is transport -- there are so many ca cars. and also they could create the olympic lane that can be used by only the dedicated car. that help us -- a lot of the smooth transportation. we believe that we need to improve a lot, especially for the transportation, security accommodation management

now, it will be the first direct flight to tokyo since american airlines featured one for 16 years. that was up until about five years ago. the difference this time, though, is ana as timed it so the arrival from san jose to tokyo will allow passengers to connect to other asian destinations like singapore, taipei, delhi, beijing, hong kong ma kong, that manila. the list goes on. you can begin book august 30th. the first night happens january 11th and will happen five times a week. that is crucial. american airlines had just one every week. it happened about the same time the city talked to others about having more international flights to london, maybe even frankfurt. live at san jose international, stephanie chuang, nbc bay area news. >>> a fast-food restaurant has become a lightning rod for controversy. it's planning a new location in the bay area. the independence journal reporting chick-fil-a is plan ong moving into a billing in novato currently home to a carl's jr. it would still be at least a year before chick-fil-a would take over the site. the atlanta-based company has becom

temperatures, heating up in seoul, a 35 degree day. 33 in tokyo. and in the south we have 35 in bangkok and 27 in manila with thunderstorms moving through. let's go to the other tropical system ernesto. the tropical storm warnings in honduras and a hurricane warning for the yucatan peninsula. it is lely to make landfall tuesday morning early, local time. after making landfall you will see it downgrade to the tropical storm but over the gulf it could become a hurricane before making a second landfall in mexico here. gusts up to 120 kilometers an hour. this is an intensifying system and we are going to see much of eastern and central america up to 200 millimeters -- and locally you could see 300 millimeters of rn from the system. not much in the way of rainfall in the u.s. and canada today. there is monsoonal moisture in new mexico again. that could lead to problems with flash flooding. but we're drying out toward the northeast of the u.s. unfortunately the storms continue the southeast. let's get the temperatures then. a roasting hot day in the sout

here is your extended forecast. >>> i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. we leave you with dramatic images of a cultural exchange. japanese actors will perform in israel for the first time. it is to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. >>> the japan foundation will stage the performance in jerusalem on thursday and friday. actors will then take their show to tel aviv for two days. an actor impersonating a woman will dance in one of the two acts. the other will feature a dancer acting as a lion. popular actors will be included in the cast. the actors will also talk to audiences about kimonos and kibuki make-up. they have been under many nations around the world, including the united states and mexico. he says he is excited to perform in israel where the culture is so different from japan. kabuki is a cultural heritage.

i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. badminton athletes struggle and they are gaining notoriety for something they never hoped for. one team each from china and indonesia and two from south korea played poorly in qualifying matches. believed they were trying to face easier opponents in future matches. chinese players, are world champions and they were the gold medal favorites. members of the federation disciplinary panel said they did not use their best efforts to play the match. they said this is detrimental to the sport. they will be replaced with pairs from russia, canada, australia and south africa. >>> u.s. defense secretary leon panetta is asking leaders to be patient over iran. the israelis argue sanctions have failed to persuade them to change course on their nuclear program and they warn a time for a peaceful solution is running out. panetta met with ehud barak. the israeli defense minister. panetta insisted that u.s. and european sanctions are having an impact on iran and all non-military measures should be exh

japan and china agreed to sharply raise the number of regular flights linking tokyo's airport and china next spring. under the deal announced on wednesday, daytime flights using haneda airport will double to 16 per day and four night time flights will operate as new services. the airport is located near central tokyo and has been open for regular flights to international destinations since 2010. the two governments also signed an open skies agreement. this gives airlines of the two nations freedom in setting routes and flights connecting regional airports in both countries. the total number of chinese travelers to japan topped 1 million a year. japanese officials are hoping that the increased number of flights will help boost economic activity. >> toyota motor is eyeing the south american auto market as european sales remain sluggish due to the region's debt problems. managers in brazil say they aim to sell 200,000 vehicles there in 2013, that's twice the unit sales forecast for this year. >> translator: brazil will host a world cup soccer tournament and the olympics. we have high hopes

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.