this american land, this is bruce burkhardt. hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, september 14th. 11:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. lawmakers of the ruling democratic party of japan will vote for a new party president on tuesday. the race is a close contest between former party secretary-general icihro o zau

ozawa and naoto kan. they started their campaigns on september 1st. it has been a tough competition. during the campaign, ozawa stressed he has the leadership to implement the needed policies. >> translator: i'll work hard until the last moment. >> reporter: kan said the party had to do away with old-style money politics and become more transparent. >> translator: i'll do my best to convey my ideas at the party convention. >> reporter: all of the ballots will be added up based on a points system. each of the lawmakers has two points, making for a total of

822. 100 points are set asided for local assembly members. rank and file members and supporters account for 300 points. the ballots of local assembly members and supporters have already been received and were being counted on tuesday morning. kan is thought to have more support from local assembly members, party members and supporters. but the race among lawmakers is too close to call. thanks very much. the race for the dpj leadership officially started it at the beginning of this month. the two candidates fought an active campaign. >> reporter: ozawa began criticizing kan in june during the campaign for the upper house election. >> translator: we don't have time to celebrate having taken power. we must act on the promises we

made to the public. >> reporter: the democratic party lost the upper house election in july. ozawa's criticism of kan only grew louder. a lot of democratic lawmakers were worried that the party would be divided if the two powerful politicians fought for the top job. then former prime minister hatoyama volunteered to be a mediator between ozawa and kan. he suggested to kan that ozawa wouldn't run against him for the party leadership if kan gave him another important post in the party. but kan refused to give in to ozawa. >> translator: it's time to get rid of the old type of politics which so often involves financial scandals. >> reporter: and so the race to lead the democrats in japan was on.

the public didn't seem enthusiastic. >> translator: they cannot afford to fight within the party when the japanese economy is in trouble. i just hope they will make a decision soon and do what is good for the country. >> reporter: ozawa and kan started to rally support. ozawa visited every dpj lawmaker. he also went out to meet people across japan in cities and the country side. >> translator: if i become prime minister, i'll devote my political life, even my own life, to the job. >> reporter: ozawa expressed concern about japan's economic outlook with the yen getting stronger. he said he wanted more stimulus measures.

>> translator: our priority should be economic recovery. there's $29.9 billion in the budget reserve fund. it should be spent right now. >> reporter: kan sent his wife to talk to some lawmakers. he said his work as prime minister was more important than his party leadership campaign. kan met female members of local assemb assemblies. >> translator: very important for women to be active in local politics. >> reporter: kan told the public he'd protect jobs. he called for lower corporate taxes. >> translator: i've asked the government's tax commission and the party's tax council to consider reducing corporate taxes as a way to stop corporations from going abroad. >> reporter: both candidates

said they'd work together after the election, whichever of them came out on top. we'll find out who will come on top later on today. we'll keep you posted on the developments of this story. over to the world of business. ines joins us now. >> the yen's appreciation against the dollar continues on the tokyo foreign exchange. the yen dipped tuesday morning. the greenback is changing hands at 83.46-47, while the euro is at 107.40. the dollar yet 43 yen earlier. that came as momentum carried over from earlier markets. many staying on the sidelines as japan's ruling democratic lawmakers prepare to vote for a new party leader later in the day. the result of the vote may accelerate the yen's rise.

tokyo stocks moved within a narrow range on tuesday morning as investors waited to see whether the yen strengthens any further. the nikkei end the session at 9,300 on the dot, down 21 ticks. the broader base closing down 21 ticks. investors are shying away from active trading as they wait for results from the democratic election. here's a look at the long-term interesthe ten-year japanese government bond. the hang seng is up 0.3%. the shanghai up 0.6%. and the sse composite up 0.4%. the euro zone's economy is predicted to grow at a rate of 1.7% this year, revise friday

0.4% forecast in may. the european commission issued the latest economic outlook for the euro zone countries on monday. germany stands out with a projected growth rate of 3.4%. germany's growth is due to brisk exports to emerging economies such as china and india. the netherlands and france revised their forecast to 1.9% and 1.6% respectively. spain's economy, which is struggling with fiscal reconstruction, expected to shrink by 0.3% this year. china's currancy, the yuan, reached a new high against the dollar since 2005. on the shanghai foreign change on monday, the reference rate was set for a second trading day at 6.7509 per dollar. in actual trading, the yuan

closed the day at a five-year high. at the past three months, the yuan only gained 5%. in june, the chairman decided to allow half a percent fluctuation. before that. the yuan had been fixed at 6.83 per dollar. market players say the yuan upside will be capped at 2% this year as beijing aims to minimize an impact on its export industry. the japanese government filed a complaint against canada for unfairing subsidizing its solar energy sector. the ontario government is planning to increase their ratio next year. japan said the subsidies are not fair to japanese solar panel makers operating in canada and

says they violate wto rules, which ban unfair treatment of imported products. japan says it will ask the organization to establish a committee of experts to resolve the case if agreement through talks is not reached between the two countries. the government says it has taken that case to the wto to prevent the rise of protectionism in environmental-related industries. the solar energy sector is forecast to see substantial growth. the united states and the european union are expected to file complaints. prime minister kan has asked california governor arnold schwarzenegger to invest in japan's bullet train system for the united states' plans transportation system. he said there had been no fatal accidents since it was introduced more than 40 years ago. the prime minister asked the governor to compare the safety

record with train systems of other nations. >> we want to talk to the transportation officials and the experts in high-speed rail. we are looking forward to riding them. >> earlier, japan's transport minister also met schwarzenegger and made a similar sales pitch. he emphasized the safety features such as excellent earthquake resistance and added its adoption would lead to train coaches in california, boosting local employment. california plans to construct a rapid rail line linking san francisco and anaheim. france, germany, china and south korea are competing with japan for the project. next is a recap of the latest market figures.

that's all for now in "biz news." back to catherine. >> the japanese coast guard confirmed that a taiwanese boat has been cruising around in the south china sea. the boat was spotted inside japan's exclusive economic zone, about 40 kilometers northwest of the islands. the coast guard is warning the boat not to go further into japan's waters, where it is prohibited to enter. the boat left a port in northern taiwan monday afternoon with two members of a taiwanese protest group on board. the group is protesting against last week's arrest of the chinese of a trawler that collided with japanese patrol boats in japanese territorial

waters. the activists are also demanding the release of the captain and that japan allow taiwanese to fish near the islands. like china, taiwan also claims territorial rights over the islands. the japanese coast guard is enforcing tight security in the area, deploying patrol vessels and aircraft. the japanese government set up a crisis management team in the prime minister's official residence on tuesday to monitor the protest boat. the team is collecting information about the boat and coordinating ministries and agencies concerned. one of the crew of a chinese trawler we were just mentioning has denounced japan for detang them. they were arrested or released after questioning and an investigation of the collision in japan's territorial waters near the islands.

china's state-run central television reported monday night that the 14 crew members returned to china earlier in the day. the ship's captain is still in custody in japan. the tv report said the japanese government released them in response to repeated protests by the chinese government. at an airport, one of them denounced japan and demanded that the captain be released immediately. the chinese government has postponed a senior official's visit to japan. the move seems to be more reaction to the arrest of the chinese captain. the chinese embassy in tokyo notified japan on monday that it will put off the trip by vice chairman of the national peoples congress. it said that china considered various factors and decided to postpone the five-day visit which was to begin wednesday. lee was scheduled to meet the president and the speaker of the upper and lower houses and go to kyoto in western japan. the visit was part of an annual

exchange program that started in 2005 for japanese and chinese law makers. this is the first time china has unilaterally canceled the tour. the chinese government has not given any reason but diplomatic sources believe it is in protest against the arrest of the chinese captain. what lies behind china's response to the seizure of the fishing boat? we report from beijing. >> reporter: the government is paying key attention to public sentiment regarding the seizure. the government is concerned it will be criticized as weak if it fails to issue a strong public protest against japan. in china, online postings critical of the government have been appearing every day since the incident. some critics have demanded that the government take a tougher approach. a spokesperson for china's foreign ministry issued a statement after japan released 14 of the boat's crew members

but not its captain on monday. the statement reiterated that china demands that japan immediately free the captain. china's government is expected to refuse to compromise until japan releases the skipper but china apparently hopes to prevent public sentiment from spiraling out of control as five years ago, when demonstrations erupted across china. the government will decide on its future responses after closely watching people's reactions. india's security forces have opened fire on anti-u.s. demonstrators in the northern kashmir region. 13 people died and more than 40 were wounded. a series of anti-u.s. rallies took place in kashmir on monday. they were called to protest a canceled plan by a christian

past nor florida to burn copies of the koran on the anniversary of the september 11th attacks. the plan ignited anger around muslims around the world, including predominantly muslim kashmir. the indians fired at some of the demonstrators, setting fire to buildings. in new york, ban ki-moon expressed concern about how the religious conflict has spread around the world. >> it's quite unfortunate we have seen mostly recently some polarization of extreme abuse. this is totally not the desirable, not acceptable at this time. >> ban told reporters that the united nations will convene a high level meeting of the alliance of civilizations, a forum for tackling cultural and religious disputes. he said the u.n. will discuss the issue with u.s. president barack obama and other world leaders when they gather in new

york for the u.n. millennium summit next week. japanese foreign musliniste okada apologized for prisoners suffering in world war ii. they were taken to japan to be slave laborers. the pows are in japan for a week at the invitation of the japanese government. foreign minister okada told them they had been treated inhumanely and suffered greatly at the hands of the imperial japanese army. they said as a representative of the japanese government and foreign minister he extends his heart-felt apology. 90-year-old lester tenny is the group leader. he is a survivor of the death march and said he came as a marriage for the pows. >> this is our opportunity to seek the justice we have looked for all these years.

we welcome the opportunity to start a dialogue between the japanese administration. >> tenny said it's regrettable that private japanese companies have yet to offer an apology to former pows. the companies used them as slave laborers. a plane carrying 51 people crashed in eastern venezuela on monday, killing 15. the twin engine turbo prop atr-42, belonging to venezuela's state-run airline crashed about 10 kilometers from the capital shortly before 10:00 a.m. the plane went down on the property of a steel foundry. it was on a domestic flight from the island of margarita to an industrial city. the government said 15 people have been confirmed dead. the remaining 36 people survived

and are treated in hospital for injuries. the cause of the crash is not yet known. a local governor said the pilot radioed flight controllers seconds before the crash telling them that the plane became uncontrollable due to a mechanical failure. hi, there. welcome back to your world weather update. japan today is dry for the most part. we did see some pretty heavy showers last night. it's since eased off this frontal boundary. far to the south now. it's helping to pull in a lot more cooler air. some of the intense heat is finally taking a turn for the cooler. a couple of showers may show up across tokyo this afternoon. that will be about it. the korean peninsula and northern china remaining dry. we see rain starting to move into mongolia. that could work its way further

south. central sections of china along the coastline still looking at a lost of showers developing. southwest, it gets heavier. parts of northern vietnam getting some of that very heavy rainfall today. tokyo's highs today at 30 degrees. we're expecting 27 in seoul. 18 degrees in lampator. as for the united states, this low here across the central plains set to produce some pretty stormy conditions tonight. there are already tornado watches, warnings in effect for this corner across kansas, nebraska, iowa as well as missouri. do stay on the watch for the strong, sudden storms to develop. other storm areas across the new england states, wet and windy weather. that extends across a lot of eastern canada as well. as for highs today, we're

looking at 32 in atlanta, 32 also in miami. pretty hot in houston as well. up towards winnipeg, a high of 16 degrees. morning hours expected to be a lot chillier. we are looking at frost advisories in effect for you. a pretty interesting picture we've got coming in. this was taken from the international space station on monday. this is hurricane igor. you can see a well-formed eye toward the center. it is definitely a major hurricane to contend with. it's still a category 4 storm system packing winds of up to 240 kilometers per hour. gusts will be much, much higher. luckily, it ke manz well offshore in the atlantic. forecasts are calling for it to remain out in the sea. it's expected to remain its strength well into wednesday. it looks like it might start moving into bermuda later on this week. we'll keep a close eye on its progress.

tropical storm juliet following behind igor moving away right now. likely becoming a hurricane in the next couple of days and hopefully staying offshore. we'll keep a close eye on this one too. for europe, a well-developed system into the mother sea. that's why the wet and windy weather will be. anywhere across the scandinavian peninsula and europe will be feeling stormy weather. otherwise, it should be a fairly calm and settled night. as for highs on tuesday, it's going to be pretty hot. the iberian peninsula. 33 for lisbon. here's your three-day outlook.

lawmakers of japan's governing democratic party will vote to choose their party leader later on tuesday. the race is a close contest between former dpj secretary-general ozawa and prime minister kan. the winner of the election will most likely be the country's prime minister. nhk tells us more. >> reporter: i'm at a hotel in central tokyo. the dpj convention is scheduled to start here at 2:00 p.m. japan time. former secretary-general ozawa and prime minister kan started their campaigns on september 1st. it has been a tough competition.

during the campaign, ozawa stressed he has the leadership to implement the needed policies. >> translator: i'll work hard until the last moment. >> reporter: kan, meanwhile, said the party has to do away with old-style money politics and become more transparent. >> translator: i'll do my best to convey my ideas at the party convention. >> reporter: all of the bal otsz will be added up based on a points system. each of the lawmakers has two points, making for a total of 822. 100 points are set aside for local assembly members. rank and file members and supporters account for 300 points. the postal ballots of local assembly members, party members and supporters have already been

received and were being counted on tuesday morning. kan is thought to have more support from local assembly members, party members and supporters. but the race among lawmakers is too close to call. >> all right. we'll keep you up-to-date on that story as it develops today. we will find out who gets the top job in japan's political scene. now, the yen's appreciation against the dollar continues on the tokyo foreign change. the greenback dipped to the lower 83 yen range on tuesday morning reviewing the intra-day low. it's changing hands at 1.2871. the dollar briefly hit 83.42 yen. in other markets, the dollar was sold against the yen overnight. many players are staying on the sidelines as japan's ruling

democratic lawmakers prepare to vote for a new party member later in the day. the results of the votes may accelerate the yen's rise. tokyo stocks moved within a narrow range on tuesday morning as investors waited to see whether the yen strengthens further of the nikkei ended at 9,300, down 21 points. the topix closed down 0.15 points. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. in other asian markets, the hang seng is trading higher at 0.1%. the key index for major blue chips chose 0.2%. and the sse composite is down 0.03%. that wraps up this edition

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