back to you, ai >> thanks, ramin. that was market reporter ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. let's get you a look at other market figures now. that is all for now in business news. back to catherine. >>> in afghanistan taliban fighters have attacked the u.s. embassy and other facilities in the capital kabul. at least seven people have been killed. afghan police say armed insurgents fired rockets at the u.s. embassy on tuesday. the nearby headquarters of the nato-led international forces was also a target. police say the attacks soon developed into gun fights between the taliban and afghan security troops. the interior ministry says the shooting killed four. the u.s. embassy says four afghan citizens who happened to be inside the embassy applying for visas were injured. the bombings killed three people. a taliban spokesperson told nhk that the organization is responsible for all the attacks. president hamid karzai on tuesday released a statement condemning the actions. he said this will not stop the transi

back to you. >> thanks for that, ramin. that was our market reporter, ramin from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> after apple released its ipad last april, other makers entered the market. now amazon.com, u.s. on-line retailer, said it will release its own tablet at less than half the price of a an ipod. amazon, largest retailers of electronics books said on wednesday, it'll launch its tablet on the u.s. market in mid november. amazon says it will sell the new device for $199. that's well below apple's ipad which is priced at $499. in the tablet pc market, tap el continues to dominate with over 60% share. these devices are becoming popular as they are lighter than notebook computer and boot up straight away. they are determining whether amazon can catch up with its low price tablet. >>> now time to get your recap of the latest market figures. >>> that is all for business news. back it catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. >>> the leader of the fukushima daiichi power plants says there is high nuks on the number one reactor. the

back to you. >> good stuff, thanks a lot ramin, ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> u.s. president barack obama is aiming to reduce tax breaks for wealthy individuals and businesses in a bid to secure enough funding for his job creationplan. white house budget director jack lu told reporters on monday how the administration plans to fund obama's $447 billion stimulus proposal unveiled last week. liu said a limit on households earning $250,000 or more would generate $400 billion for the next ten years and with addit n additional firms on investment managements the government would be able to secure more for the jobs plan. with republicans strongly against tax hikes confrontation between the ruling and opposition camps over stimulus funding is expected to heat up over the coming weeks. >>> and now a recap of the latest market figures. that is all for now in business news. now back to catherine. >>> a russian military official says the latest military drill off russia's far east is designed to protect its sovereignty over the continental shelf over the region. 50 warships a

back to you. >> all right, ramin, see you again on monday that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. the nikkei down 1.2% for now. that is all in business news. back to catherine. >> thank you very much, ai. >>> the so-called arab spring in yemen will likely stretch into fall, perhaps longer. anti-government demonstrators and security forces have been fighting for months now. presidents want saleh to resign, but he is refusing to give in as he recovers in neighboring saudi arabia from an assassination attempt. we wanted to take you inside this troubled country. an nhk crew travelled to yemen during the summer to hear from both sides in this violent conflict. reporter keenan mussa filed this story. >> reporter: tensions remain high in yemen's capital sanaa, where reactions between government forces and opposition forces continue intermittently. the district where the government buildings have been destroyed in fierce battles. some of the buildings are abandoned and government functions have been partly paralyzed. as military clashes continue, anti-government demonstrations a

back to you. >> ramin, thanks for that. that was our market reporter at the tokyo stock exchange. let's also get a recap of other market figures. >>> that is all for now in business news. back it catherine. >> thanks we much, ai. >>> japan's prime minister noda and u.s. president barack obama will hold their first talks next wednesday in new york. noda will be in new york from tuesday to attend the general assembly session and the u.s. security and safety of atomic generation. they will confirm the importance of the japan-u.s. alliance and are expected to talk about deepening relations in various fields. as to the location of the u.s. marines air station in okinawa, they are expected to confirm an existing agreement between the two nations on the issue should be achieved. the agreement reached in may last year stipulate that the functions of the base should be transferred to a new airfield to be constructed on the coast of nago city, also in okinawa. in a message to the world economic forum, noda said japan will contribute to the international comnity despite the march 11 disaster

. >> thanks a lot, ramin, that was our reporter ramin melgard from the tokyo stox exchange. >>> toshiba will acquire an additional 20% stake in its subsidiary u.s. nuclear power plantmaker westinghouse electric. the purchase of nearly $1.7 billion worth of shares from u.s. engineering and construction firm shaw group will raise toshiba stock group to 87%, if completed. but toshiba says it's considering selling part of its stake to firms who could help expand its business overseas in emerging economies where demand for nuclear power is still strong. toshiba says several companies have expressed interest in acquiring shares of westinghouse. >>> japanese business leaders agreed with china's vice premier to boost cooperation between the two firms in two countries. on tuesday a delegation met chinese vice premier li qing. in the meeting japan and china agreed to boost bilateral cooperation for technological advances in environmental and energy saving technologietechno. japan asked the chinese government to drop its export restrictions on rare earth metals. however, li said the measure is int

that was our market reporter ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. let's take a look at some other market figures. >>> that is all afor this hour n business. now back it catherine. >>> thank you, ai. >>> afghan president rabbani was killed in kabul tuesday evening. a major explosion occurred near rabbani's home before 6 p.m. local time. a government spokesperson told nhk that the perpetrator exploded a bomb he was carrying when he visited rabbani. he said the blast killed the former president. rabbani was elected president in 1992. he was ousted by the taliban when the islamist militant group took power four years later. rabbani's headed the country's high peace council said up by karzai to negotiate with the taliban. karzai is visiting the u.s. to attend a u.n. general assembly. his office said he will cut short his trip and return home np obama called rabbani's death a tragic loss. he also pledged continued is you pour for bringing stability to the country. >>> china expressed support for palestine's bid for full u.n. membership. >> translator: chi

ramin, how are tokyo markets reacting? >> very good morning to you, ai. the nikkei is plaching playing catch up. let's look at the nikkei and topics right thousand np nikkei is down over a hundred points and no real surprise, as you said, they are following the declines in europe, u.s. and also key asian indexes yesterday. in fact we saw a two-year low yesterday. now let's be pretty clear though, the euro zone debt issue continues to command market attention and that's really following the focus on greece, spain and italy. and that's a focus for stock, bond and currency traders. and if you have a look at currency levels right now, again, just having a look at the euro against the yen, you can see there it is still weaker against the yen and dollar. it fell below 104 in new york trading. rebounding a touch off those losses. but again following the breaking news, that u.s. ratings agency standard and poor's down grade editly's sovereign date rating. the next focal point for a lot of market players is the meeting which kicks off today and wraps up wednesday.

ramin are, how are things looking? >> a court ruling set that germany could continue to help with bailouts for economies and also an austerity plan in italy, helping with positive sentiment. that is pretty much playing into the markets right now. having a look at opening levels for the nikkei is up over a hundred points in the first couple of minutes the and the topix is trading well as well. that is a 2 1/2 years closing low the previous day. we are seening continuation there for the positive move. many stocks were near lows yesterday and the day before. and some sectors had been heavily eversold. that's why we are seeing the move higher an largely the move lower had been on the back of moves in the u.s. and europe. we are seeing a lot of those rebounding now with a strong upward move for a lot of those stocks. financials, autos and tech sector stocks will be a focus here as they were heavily involved in the volatility recently and not only that but also involved in the currency moves which have been affected by stock

for details, we cross over to ramin at the tokyo stock exchange. there is an announce many of a new prime minister line-up here in japan. how are stocks kicking off here this friday morning. >> good friday morning to you. a bit after negative start actually following on from the u.s. sessions. let's look at the opening levels and you can see there quite clearly the nikkei down. it closed in the positive yesterday and actually also closed above 9,000 for the first time in two weeks but we are seeing a decline here right now and we are likely to see investors tread a bit more carefully today ahead of those key u.s. jobs numbers. as you mentioned, ism manufacturing in the u.s. showed a slight drop in august but the contraction was a lot less than what economists expected and still showing an expansion. however, the affect for europe was not as good. we did see a contraction there in the pmi figure. just a look at the currency levels you can see there that the euro actually lost ground amidst all of that following the ism numbers. both in the u.s. and

. >> ramin thank you for that. that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> honda srling 210,000 subcompact cars worldwide due to faulty window switches. it will recall about 203,000 fit vehicles in the country produced between october 2005 and october 2007. more than 12,000 units of the fit aria manufactured by the thai subsidiary. it says soldering on the driver's side could melt and worst case could cause a fire. there are 260 problems with the switch in japan. fire broke out in eight of the cases causing minor burns to two people. honda will start replacing the switch free of charge from tuesday in japan. it says another 720,000 cars made in china, malaysia and other countries will also be recalled. >>> and now here's a recap of the latest market figures. that's all for now in business. now it's back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. >>> today "newsline" brings you part two in the series "9/11 defining a dead kad" about the al qaeda attacks against u.s. targets ten years ago. observers say f

. >> thanks a lot, ramin. that was ramin from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> now let's give you a look at some other market figures. >>> that is all for this hour in business. back to catherine now. >> thanks very much. >>> nationwide earthquake drills are taking place across japan today on the 88th anniversary of the great earthquake in 1923. government estimates suggest as many as 11,000 people could die if an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 strikes below the northern part of tokyo bay. it talks about what might have if it occurs in the tokyo metropolitan area. a task force has been set up to gather information on the damage. following the march 11 earthquake and tsunami, the participants will practice how to transport relief supplies to the disaster hit areas. they will dry to drill for what happens when millions of commuters cannot return home when transportation systems are disrupted. the tokyo metropolitan government and other prefecture cities are also conducting drills. >> the march 11 disaster. the

so for details and to see how markets are kicking off here in tokyo let's go to ramin mellegard, he's at the tokyo stock exchange. how are stocks looking at the open? >> reporter: good morning to you ai. a bit of a choppy open as you said. u.s. and european markets providing a bit of a relief after the vote from the german parliament to supply further bailout funds for weaker eurozone economies and that's had a lot of volatile sessions throughout this week based on the issues surrounding eurozone debt and also concerns now both in france and germany about that final exact amount needed for the bailout funds and on the political front, there's still some questions there, regardless of how the voting has gone. let's have a look at thepening levels here this friday morning, and you can see both indexes trading just a touch lower, not any major move, but just in the negative there. some fundamentals also in the u.s. market, which provide a short term boost as well as you mentioned there for the dow which had a pretty volatile session, we saw jobless claims actually dropping to its lowest

. >> that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> tokyo electric power company has begun sending out forms for people affected by the nuclear disaster to apply for compensation. similar forms have already been e-mailed to evacuees but tepco has become under fire for making the procedures complicated. a legal team was set up last month to help people affected by the crisis at the fukushima daiichi plant, since the volunteer lawyers started this counseling service last month they have received about 400 inquir inquiries. many were complaints the forms sent out by tepco were too complicated. other applicants say they're dissatisfied with the tilt's compensation terms. the company sent out some 7,000 forms on tuesday. the legal team says the utility's payment terms are negotiable and if applicants are unhappy with the offer they're given, they can take their case to a government organization that will mediate compensation disputes. >> translator: tepco has not explained that victims can take their case to the government organization that's been set up to settle disputes. we w

con la nfl que tambien producira programas especial dos de ellos se tramitiran este fin de semana ramínen los programas de este fin de semana donde telemundo esta celebrando el fin de semana de la herencia hispana??? jessi losada dice: bueno precisamente por ese motivo hemos convocado a varias figuras de la nfl como mark sanchez quaterback de los jet tony romo quaterback los cowboys de dallas pero tambien a otras figura jovenes que estan tomando grandes pasos dentro de la liga y esperamos que van hacer figuras importante de la nfl y por cierto hablando de dallas vamos ha estar visitando el campo de entrenamiento karin estuvo por alla vamos tambien con las porristas de los cowboys de dallas que son bien famosas y legendaria en fin un poco de todo anivel nacional acerca de lo que esta s ---esa es la informacion deportiva cesar regresamos contigo... cu ---nueva pausa... take vo ---le cuento porque decenas de bomberos de san francisco tuvieron hoy que brincar a las frias aguas de la bahia.... wipe vo sot maria alejandra prato dice: "mas adelante les tengo acceso total a dos historias que le

. >> ramin, thank you i for that. >>> now in other news, japanese automakers are expanding their operations in booming southeast asian markets. the move comes as exports are shrinking due to a strong yen and demand is sluggish in the u.s. and europe. mitsubishi motors says it aims to nearly double the market share in southeast asia to 12% in four years. the target countries include thailand, independent neez yarks malaysia and the philippines and vietnam. to achieve this goal, mitsubishi plans to make thailand an export platform for the asian markets. it will build a new plant and double output in two years. the company will start to make compact cars in indonesia and malaysia also. >>> toyota says it will boost its production kpaps capacity in indonesia by more than 60% and launch new compact cars there. nissan will also introduce over 10 new models across the region. >>> now let's look at what is coming up in japan's business calendar this week. domestic auto production is due out on wednesday. a recovery in supply chains for automotive parts is feeding through to tangible improvements ea

ramin, we are going to move on. let's take a call from chevy chase, md.. >> good evening. lincoln wasn't -- once referred to play as his ideal of a statement. i always believed the men had never met, however, recently i came across a web page to the purported to show a book and was described by clay to lincoln. could the panel comment on this? what is the thinking now? the clay and lincoln ever meet? -- did play and lincoln ever meet? >> we do not know, basically. there is one person who left a memoir that said that person had seen the two in lexington. mary todd lincoln, who was from lexington -- her family was very closely allied with the clay's. she came to kentucky several times. he certainly heard henry clay speak. whether they met is unknown. you have to think they tried to meet its nothing else. if lincoln had come to ashland, the two of them would sit in the parlor. they would go back and forth. but clinton never said he met clay. in think he would have said that had he met him he did say in 18601864 things to write the inaugural with. clay's a effect on abraham li

ramin, we are going to move on. let's take a call from chevy chase, md.. >> good evening. lincoln wasn't -- once referred to play as his ideal of a -- to play as his goal ideal of a statement. -- statesman. i always believed the men had never met, however, recently i came across a web page to the purported to show a book and was described by clay to lincoln. -- inscribed by clay to lincoln. could the panel comment on this? what is the thinking now? the clay and lincoln ever meet? -- did play and lincoln ever -- did clay and lincoln ever meet? >> we do not know, basically. there is one person who left a memoir that said that person had seen the two in lexington. abraham lincoln married mary todd lincoln. mary todd lincoln, who was from lexington -- her family was very closely allied with the clay's. her family knew the classes. she came to kentucky several times. he certainly heard henry clay speak. whether they met is unknown. can you not imagine what a great time it would have been? you have to think they tried to meet its nothing else. if lincoln had come to ashland, the