>> and ramin, we are approaching the last week of august. what else is in store for global investors? >> well, of course with the fomc meeting minutes out of the way now, the next focus may likely be on the jackson hole, wyoming, economic symposium at the end of this month, where fed chairman bernanke will be giving a speech, and he tends to give a little bit of information or hints as to what he or the federal reserve may be inclined to do, so that could be another focus. let's shift to the euro and in europe, of course, key meetings there between german chancellor merkel and the greek prime minister samaras on friday and that will give further indications as to the direction of the euro and of course eurozone debt and bond yield, so still some key events there to look forward to for the markets but for now the nikkei and the topix in the first few minutes of trading lower this thursday morning. back to you, yongghi. >> all right, ramin, thank you very much. that was ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. >>> toyota motor will join ha

yongghi, back to you. >> that was ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. and that's all for now in business news. i am going to leave you with the latest market figures. >>> people in japan have been wrestling with the consequences of using nuclear power ever since last year's accident at fukushima daiichi. they've focused on the safety of the country's 50 reactors. they've also debated the future use of atomic energy. now there are concerns about the by-product of the nuclear process, highly radioactive waste. nhk has learned top scientist its are going to urge the government to rethink its final disposal plan for this waste. we've obtained a draft proposal by the science council. the government says there are approximately 235,000 containers filled with highly radioactive waste. each one is about a meter long and almost half a meter wide and they weigh half a ton. utilities store them in stainless steel containers. the nuclear waste inside is vitrified liquid so it's esebially solid. because of its dangerous nature it needs to be stored away from people

back to you. >> thanks, ramin. and i'll be back next hour with the latest on the markets. but for now back to catherine. >> thanks very much. >>> doctors seeking to abosh nuclea wponsnded a three-day convention in hiroshima on wednesday. they discussed how to pass on to future generations the experiences of the bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki. some have personal reasons. >> translator: the doctors call themselves international physicians with the prevention of nuclear world. they hold their congress every two years. they chose hiroshima as a host city to remind the world of the nuclear bombing there. the ipp theme this year is from hiroshima to future generation. by choosing that topic, the organizers wanted to stress that the number of doctors who survived the blast and who can pass on their experiences is declining because of aging. one of the major events this time was the symposium of physicians of second generation atomic bomb survivors. dr. shima came from brazil. his father is an atomic bomb survivor. hibaksusha as they are called in chinese. >> translator: i'd l

that's all from me, back to you. >> thank, ramin. ra mean mel guard at the tokyo stock exchange. >>> there is an economic slow down in china. falling between january and june for the first time in three years. the japan external trade organization says experts totalled nearly 74 billion in the first six months of this year. that's down 5.7% from a year earlier. shipments of steel, construction, and semi conductor equipment showed declines. that reflects flagging demand in china due to effect o europe's debt crisis. officials say japan's imports from china hit a record of more than $91 billion. 7.5% due in part to rising smart phones imports. as a result, japan's trade deficit with china grew it a record high of about $18 billion. officials say exports through china are expected to continue to fall as production in the country is likely to remain sluggish. they also predict japan's bilateral trade deficit for the enre year will also set a record. that's all for me from now. i will leave you with the latest on the market figures. >>> t

ai, back to you. >> thanks for that, ramin. both the nikkei and topix down by 1%. >>> now, rami, people at toyota motor, plan it roll more vehicles this year than ever made in the company's history. they will produce more than 10 million units by the end of 2012. the group includes daihatsu motor and hino motors. the figure will be more than 2 million higher than last year's pro dukes of 7.8 million vehicles. toyota increased its assembly in the first half of this year. it's been compensating for output plunges following last yar's disaster in northeastern japan and floods in thailand. now the company does predict brisk sales of vehicles will continue mainly under north america and emerging economies. that's the latest from the business team for this hour. i'm going to leave with you a check on asian stock markets. >>> tb calls to mind a disease from the past that killed tens of thousands of people. but tb is still the number one contagious disease in developing countries. the world health organization says some 8.8 million new

ramin mellegard joins us now from the business desk. so what are exactly investors looking for from the u.s.? >> investors looking for any hints or clues as to what the federal reserve may do. you might get that hit at the jackson hole wyoming meeting that kicks off this week. ahead of that, u.s. central bank says the country's economy continues to grow at a moderate pace. a recovery in employment is slowing. the federal reserve released on the economic conditions from july to early august. this is based on surveys from 12 district banks across the nation. the detail the report known as the beige books personal consumption rose in much of the districts. the report also notes a recovery in the real estate market. housing starts and home prices are on the rise. it points to a slowdown in the factor citing ruced sales and orders. it also says employment has not seen a major improvement. so the assessment is slightly more cautious than the previous one released in july that pointed towards a modest expansion. investors are focusing on wheth

ramin has that story and more. >> chinese leaders are looking for reassurances from european leaders about the debt crisis, and the german chancellor slookisloois looking to reassure them. she's grown in stature aamong power brokers in europe and she traveled to beijing to calm fears about europe's debt crisis. she met with the chinese premier to discuss the economic relationship between europe and china. he reassured merkel but stopped short of making concrete promises. he said china will buy european bonds as long as it can can evaluate the risks. merkel said the there's strong political well to make the euro a stable currency again. ceos of major german companies joined merkel in beijing and signed business deals over $6 billion. >>> japan's struggling electronics maker sharp will keep negotiating firms with its taiwanese partner hon hai industry. they hoped to include the deal on thursday, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement. the firm canceled a meeting scheduled for friday, but sharp and hon hai executives plan to continue with the talks into the weekend. hon hai want

. >> 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 myanmar. the country is said to be moving towards a full-fledged democracy, and the leaders are going ahead with economic reforms. japanese automakers hope to benefit from this new growth market. looking at other japanese competitors, suzuki plans to build a car factory in myanmar. that is all for me for now. i'll leave you with the recap of the markets. >>> chinese are going through a boudreaux wine bubble. the price of the french wine is on the rise, so some business people from china are buying b