Part in what has become an annual ritual. They recited the names of nearly 3,000 victims. And my brother, i miss you. Its been a long 13 years. Terrorists hijacked four passenger jets on the day of the attacks. They flew two of them into the twin towers. Flew another into the pentagon. The fourth crashed in a field in pennsylvania. President barack obama took part in a private ceremony at the pentagon for relatives of the 184 People Killed there. We carry on because as americans we do not give in to fear. Ever. Obama spoke as commanders were planning to take on another threat. Hes authorized them to expand air strikes in iraq and syria on militants with the Group Islamic state. Americans prayed that they would never see another 9 11. Russian president Vladimir Putin wants to test the combat readiness of his troops. Hes ordered them to carry out drills in the far east. Similar snap exercises earlier these year raised fears of a russian intervention in ukraine. Officers will drill with armed units for a week. Defense officials did not specify how many soldiers would take part. The exercises will include checks on civilian ministries and agencies to test preparedness. Theyve staged a number of exercises. On wednesday the crew of a Nuclear Powered submarine in the arctic ocean test fired a new type of ballistic missile. It can carry a nuclear warhead. European Union Announced that new sanctions against russia will go into effect on friday. The eu had earlier yesterday on a package of sanctions to punish russia for its involvement in ukraine. European Council President and other officials made the announcement on thursday. The new sanctions reinforce policies that e. U. Imposed in july targeting russias financial defense and energy sectors. The package restricts three major Russian Energy companies and three major defense firms from accessing e. U. Capital markets. It also further restricts state own banks from procuring funds in europe and providing Arctic Oil Exploration is also restricted. The e. U. Suggested it may review the new sanctions this month depending on the russian response and where the ceasefire is observed. In washington, u. S. President barack obama said his country is joining the eu and u. S. Will deepen and broaden sanctions on russias Financial Energy and defense sectors. If russia fully implements its commitment in ukraine, the u. S. Sanctions can be rolled back. If russia continues its aggressive actions, the cost for the country will continue to rise. The Russian Ambassador in tokyo says sanctions japan imposed because of the crisis in ukraine are affecting relations. He says a visit the japanese are expecting from president putin this autumn could happen at a later time. Ambassador Evgeny Afanasiev made the remarks to a russian government newspaper. He said officials worked out a detailed plan for putins trip, but now see the schedule slipping. He said whether the president visits japan this autumn after all is ultimately up to him. Japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe met putin in february and invited him to visit. Putin said hed come in the fall. Senior diplomats from japan, china, and south korea have agreed on the need for a highlevel political talks. Japanese Deputy Foreign minister Shinsuke Sugiyama met his chinese and south Korean Counterparts liu zhenmin and lee kyungsoo in seoul on thursday. Strained relations between the nations have resulted in the suspension of summit talks for more than two years. The diplomats agreed to continue negotiations toward organizing a trilateral summit meeting, but they failed to agree on when the summit should be held. We agreed with each other among the three that we should maintain the momentum of the trilateral cooperations among our three. The delegates also agreed on the importance of continuing Cultural Exchange programs between the countries. The japanese government has released transcripts that help paint a picture of what happened the hours after the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Kan flew to the plant the day after accident and demanded the plant manager explain what was happening. Yoshida was busy trying to stabilize the reactors and later testified it was difficult to convey an accurate picture to was talking in a threatening manner. Kan testified he majored in science at university and thought he was better equipped than other politicians to understand what was going on. Kans adviser said kan should not have left tokyo. Government leaders declassified the records three and a half years after the accident occurred. Translator the government decided to make the information public after consulting yoshidas bee reefed family members. The president of one of japans largest newspapers has apologized about the testimony. They have printed a retraction. The paper carried an exclusive report in may in what yoshida said to his employees, 90 of them defied orders and fled to another plant 10 kilometers away. But the transcripts show yoshida told them to find a safer place nearby. The papers president said it is extremely regrettable the article proved to be inaccurate. Hell consider resigning and pave the way for an editorial overhaul and apologized for errors on another topic. Last month they retracted stories they ran an socalled comfort women. They were based on information provided by a man in the 1980s and 90s and claimed to have forcibly gathered women on a korean island on world war ii and sent them to worth in japanese brothels, they interviewed 40 people on the island to confirm the story but could not find any evidence to support the mans version of events. Prime minister abe says the articles on the comfort women must have hurt the reputation and abe made the remark during a Radio Program and not in a position to comment on specific stories but generally speaking news reports can have a major influence at hole anme and broa. Media organizations must keep that in mind and make sure the reporting is responsible, accurate and credible. Currency traders are flocking to the dollar. Good morning. The dollar has been on a strong run. A ninth straight week of gains. It has gone from 105 to 106 and now above 107. Investors feel the American Economy is recovery solidly and Interest Rates may be raised sooner than expected and thats driving demand for the dollar. Lets get the details. Whats driving tokyo markets . Good morning to you, all of the action is in currencies as you are saying. Lets look at the levels before i come to stocks and dollar continues to climb against the basket of major currency, including the yen, of course and the euro, thats on hopes of a stronger u. S. Economy. The dollar is at six year highs against the yen and 14month highs against the euro. Many in the market will watch very closely next week for signals from the Federal Reserve that arise in rates is on the way following the twoday policy meeting on wednesday. Now, lets have a look at how share prices are reacting and lets have a look at the nikkei and topix for september 12th, 15,923 and broader topix trading in the positive. The nikkei ended at an eightmonth high on thursday and broader topix hit a sixyear high. We continue to see gains in major japanese exporters from Consumer Electronics to autos and analysts say the highly anticipated move by the government pension investment fund, the worlds biggest to buy more japanese stocks is also spurring other Pension Funds to shift assets and funds into stocks and away from lower yielding government bonds. So thats also an interesting factor to watch out for. It looks like Commodity Prices like oil, are falling. Whats going on there . Theres another key focus for a lot of investors globally. Looking at Wti Crude Oil prices at 93. 01. Brent futures dipped to two year lows on concerns that supply is outstripping demand. Theres also related news weve been covering, chinas Economic Growth appears to be slowing and that is weakening demand for resources not combined, that doesnt tend to help commodity sensitive economy such as australia and weve seen sydneys s p, looking at levels right now, fallen to 5 and a half month low against the u. S. Dollar and china stocks are down for the week. Hell keep track of those to see how they head into the weekend and how japanese shares relating to both china markets and emerging economies fare today as well. So far were seeing nikkei and topix in the positive. Well see if that continues into the morning session. Thanks for that update. Ill talk to him in a few hours. A panel of experts has been taking a close look at the health of japans economy. Theyve just handed in their report card. More than half say the things are Getting Better. Government officials invited 61 people to sift through all of the evidence. Prime minister abe will consider their views before deciding whether to go ahead with a government plan. Hes considering whether to raise the sales tax to 10 in october next year. 32 experts said the economy is in better shape than it was three months ago. 15 members said the situation is worse. The experts also looked at Capital Investment and corporate earnings. They considered data on wages and employment. More than twothirds said things are Getting Better across those categories. But they were evenly divided on another issue. People in japan cut back on their spending after government officials raised the sales tax in april. 26 experts said spending is now recovering. But 25 said its not. Government officials plan to conduct more inquiry before abe makes his decision on the sales tax. Regulators in china are cracking down on Foreign Companies they say are manipulating prices. They find two firms that represent german and u. S. Automakers for violating antitrust laws. The regulators say people at firms that sell volkswagen and chrysler cars fixed prices. The regulators ordered the company to pay more than 40 million and penalized chrysler sales firm 5 million. The regulators are also investigating a japanese automaker. And last month chinese authorities fined 10 japanese auto parts makers for price fixing. The chief of chinas ant antimonoply denied the claim. We treat foreign and domestic firms equally. We arent targeting specific firms. He said foreign firms account for 10 of those under investigation. More for you next hour in business. Heres a check on markets. Islamist separatists in the philippines attacked forces in the southern government. Two soldiers were killed, government and countrys largest militant group signed a peace deal but some oppose the agreement. About 20 militants Late Wednesday attacked an Army Detachment in cotabato, the troops dispatched to the site and insurgents continue to gun fight for two hours. Two killed and six wounded. A bill was submitted to establish a government in min dinao. It calls the banks basic law and centerpiece of the agreement signed in march by the government and islamic labor race front and put an end to four decades the conflict. Islamist insurge enlts have battled the Central Government since the 70s seeking separation from the country. More than 120,000 people have been killed in the conflict. 2 million have been displaced. It has been described as the bloodiest battle in asia. The conflict has kept them from the benefits of Economic Growth. Its now the poorest region in the country. The law gives help for the future of the second largest island rich in Mineral Resources and productive farmland. Insurgents are still demanding full separation from the philippines fueling concerns over the planned establishment of an autonomous region. More than 19 north korean athletes and coaches arrived in south korea for next weeks asian games. Over 100 members of the south korean member gathered at the airport to cover the arrival of the north korean team. A flight carrying 94 North Koreans deported from pyongyang on thursday. The participants include players and coaches of mens and womens soccer teams, the first group of more than 270 North Koreans scheduled to take part in the competition. The games will begin on september 19th. Members of the a civic Group Promoting better interkorean times met a group at the airport. They raised a banner claiming we welcome the team. Athletes from the north waved back. Police are beefing up security as south korean as opposing the athletes might stage protests during the event. They initially planned to send a cheer leading group but dropped the idea saying seoul was against it. An artist has been painting pictures of her devastated hometown for about three years. It lies in Fukushima Prefecture and was heavily damaged in the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Through her paintings she tells the story of a broken and deserted city returning to life. Reporter this solo exhibition is taking place at the fine arts university. The paintings depict roads, some lead to the sea, others to the setting sun. The artist was inspired by scenery in areas affected by the great east japan earthquake. These paintings spoke to me because the colors are vivid and they have a clear strong message. She comes from the city and left home after graduating from high school and has been studying abstract painting at university. Translator i dont want anyone to forget about the disaster, thats my main motivation for painting scenes from my hometown. Three years ago, they was re reeling from the effects of a triple disaster, an earthquake and tsunami and nuclear accident. Access to part of the region is still restricted due to radioactsive contamination. When the earthquake and tsunami truck she was at her parents home and tsunami almost reached the house. Translator there was a very dark wave coming towards us carrying all kinds of rubble. It seemed to be approaching quietly and that made it even scarier. Reporter she survived but after the nuclear disaster, she watched residents evacuate from her hometown. What can you do for a hometown thats been completely transformed . For sachauchi, the answer was to paint it after the disaster. I dont know whether its my calling but painting is the only thing i can do. I hope to preserve an image of the town as it is now and blends that with the scenery i have in my memory. Sackauchi painted this picture two summers after the disaster. She combined her memory of a boat that the tsunami had thrown onto the land with an image of resilience. Weeds sprouting from under rubble. As a symbol of the reconstruction efforts under way, she painted concrete blocks newly installed on the shoreline. They are designed to break up waves. With this picture, she aims to convey her hopes for a bright future. Why dwo i paint is the big question. Ill always turn to my hometown as the answer to that question. I think it will always be my theme. Reporter on this day, sakauchi visits a shrine. From this spot the whole shoreline is visible and it changes. Theres more color here than it was three years ago. A lot of weeds are growing here. She hopes to document the recovery through art and believes the paintings project an image of a bright future. I think that the town will be rebuilt and eventually return to normal. Id like to watch that process unfold in the years to come. She hopes to continue showing her works and pass on the story of her hometowns rebirth. Its time for a check of the weather. People in Northern Areas of japan are dealing with heavy rain and flooding. They are hoping weather conditions will improve. Robert speta joins us with more. Were going to be seeing as we head through the weekend is some improving conditions, but for now, at least on your friday morning, more rain showers are definitely coming down. We have a low pressure area towards the west of hokkaido and its been pumping in the southerly moisture. You can see on the radar imagery, it almost likes the same as weve seen on thursday morning with the line of showers pushing over to the region just south of sapporo. Lets show video of where the rain has been coming down. It has been quite strong. This is some of the heaviest rain to hit the area in several decades, a total of 293 millimeters fell since tuesday. This is already exceeded the average for the month of september, which is typically 167 millimeters. Definitely this is resulting in the threat of flooding. More rainfall in the forecast as well, we could see as much as 70 millimeters an hour and across hoe k hokkaido. Farther to the south we have westerly winds, those are still going to kick up thunderstorms across northern portions of honschu and saturday into sunday, conditions should improve as High Pressure works in from the west. Looking at showers across central and eastern portions of china. Theres a risk of flooding out there and then i want to talk about our tropical depression. This one as we go through the rest of the weekend, this is where you want to watch out for if youre out here in the philippines. Do think this is going to become a Tropical Storm. This will be a named storm system. Eventually impacting eastern portions of luzon, with heavy rainfall. Thats going to be a big issue out here. The threat of flooding sunday into monday and showers kicking into the manila area. As we look towards the americas and want to talk about our other Tropical Storm out here, this is expected to become a hurricane, pushing north. Right now we do have Tropical Storm watches in effect around western mexico. As that mo