Accumulated inside the number one reactor since the march 2011 nuclear accident. Workers began dismantling the cover of the building month to remove the debris. But their full pledged work to dismantle the cover will not take place until march of next year. Researchers say they need to build new facilities and cranes and they say that will take time to do. The current timetable says complete decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant will take 30 to 40 years. People of the u. S. Federal reserve have pumped billions into the economy every year, and now theyve decided theyre done. Good morning. What can you tell us . Well, catherine, as you know, this practice of buying billions of dollars worth of bonds was never meant to be permanent. It was a measure after the financial crisis of 2008. Policymakers have done three rounds of quantitative easing since. They have repeatedly said the end of qe3 would be dependent on the health of the labor market. The level is now below 6 and policymakers feel the time is right to call it quits. They reached decision by a majority vote. After a decision in the meeting they point to a more stable job market and underutilization is easing. The government bought up u. S. Bonds and other securities to boost the money supplied by 85 billion per month. But in december last year they decided to cut back on their buying. They regularly reduced purchases by 10 billion. The focus will now be on when the fed will raise its key Interest Rates which are close to zero. In a statement, policymakers said they will maintain the current rates for what they term a considerable time, thats the same language as in their september statement. All in all officials have spent six years pumping money through the market. Theyve been trying to revive the economy following the biggest bankruptcy in u. S. History. Reporter limon brothers lost Global Financial markets in 2008 when it went bust. Officials at the u. S. Federal reserve responded by cutting the Interest Rate to almost zero. But that wasnt enough to help the economy. So they upped the ante with some unconventional measures. Theyd already been buying up mortgagebacked securities. They also started acquiring huge amounts of longterm government bonds, and they kept on buying them. It was only last year the American Economy started to recover. Personal spending and Housing Starts picked up. In june, the feds thenchairman made an announcement that surprised everyone. If the incoming data are broadly consistent with this forecast, the committee currently anticipates it would be appropriate to moderate the monthly pace of purchases late this year. Reporter the message threw Global Markets into confusion. Investors started shifting their money out of emerging economies and back to the u. S. The volatility in Financial Markets made officials more careful about how to phase out monetary stimulus measures. Another six months passed before they decided it was time to start scaling back. Since then, theyve been steadily winding down the size of their purchases. Good afternoon. In the middle of this year, they agreed to end the quantitative easing by october, but only if the economy continued to recover. Six years after they embarked on this drastic course of action, fed officials have finally reached a point where they can see the finish line. Investors around the world are trying to figure out what the feds announcement means for the economy. We spoke with michelle meyer, a senior u. S. Economist at bank of America Merrill lynch and asked for her take on the feds decision. The fed decided to end qe as largely anticipated and that reflects the fact that the risks to the downside have diminished. When qe3 was put in place as an openended Quantitative Easing Program we were in an environment when there was a lot of uncertainty from the federal government threatening a debt default, threatening a government shutdown. The economic environment in the u. S. And also globally looked a lot weaker. Were in a much healthier backdrop now for the u. S. And for the global economy. Theres still challenges, of course, but broadly speaking the economy has made a number of steps towards healing and towards that eventual recovery and healthier trajectory of growth. The next step, of course, is when does the fed finally start hiking Interest Rates. They importantly kept considerable time in their forward guidance. But they changed the description of the labor market. They took out the phrase significant underutilization of resources. That was a step in a bit of a positive direction. The next step is when does the fed finally start hiking Interest Rates . I think were still several months away from that. Our baseline forecast at some point in the second half of next year theyll begin higher Interest Rates. But one of the things theyll be monitoring very carefully is the trajectory of inflation. Were well below the feds target of 2 and some of the recent data showed Downside Risks to inflation and the fed acknowledgeded this in their statement, saying nearterm risks are to the downside as a result of the decline in Energy Prices and other factors. The risk that would worry me is if Global Growth continues to slow. Weve been surprised by the weakness weve seen in the euro, and the weakness weve seen in developing economies as well. If Global Growth continues to weaken, if inflation globally continues to weaken, that will matter for how we think about the risks here in the u. S. Well, in the markets currency traders are always the first to react. In their response to the feds announcement was to buy the dollar against other major currency. Against the yen, the dollar surged to a threeweek high. Good morning, what can you tell us . Investors here should get a boost from the rise of the dollar against the yen. At one point it hit 108. 90. That should really provide a boost here. 15,610. Up almost 0. 4 . The nikkei rose to a threeweek high on wednesday. And the dollar jumped higher. Analysts say traders are buying the dollar because they now see an earlier time line for the fed to begin raising rates. Some analysts say in the middle of in next year. The dollar rose to a threeweek high against the yen. The tone was more aggressive regarding the policymakers views on the pace of u. S. Economic growth. So a lot of focus there on how the markets are playing out following the fed announcement. Ai . And ramin, Something Else on investors minds, many Japanese Companies will be reporting their investing. Many have already come out with their earnings. What can you tells about them . Exactly, theres a couple of names. Lets start with them. Now. To start, hitachi. They have infrastructure related businesses, not to mention rice cookers. It raises outlet for the whole year and the net worth soared threefold from the year earlier. Nintendo logged better than expected earning reports with strong sales of game devices. Analysts say the upcoming Christmas Shopping period will be a quest whether nintendo can sustain the positive trend. On another note of interest, they will spend more than 600 million to take sizable stake in eretailer snap deal. Well monitor that as well. Now coming up today, of course. Further earnings reports here in japan, electronics sector, toshiba. Also south korean mobile phone rival samsung will be reporting today. So with the fed meeting out of the way now, a lot of investors according to what analysts are telling us will be focused on earnings and economic data. Some of the fundamentals there will be taking center stage. Ill have a full round of how the shares will trade today and also some of the asian indexes as well. Ill have another update in a few hours. Back to you, ai. Great, ramin. Well talk to you then. Bill back next hour with more of your business headlines. Heres a check of the market figures. Japanese officials have wrapped up talks in pyongyang with their north korean counterparts. They met to discuss the progress of an investigation into the fate of missing and abducted japanese nationals. The head of the japanese delegation says he reiterated his call for a swift investigation and a report of the results. Translator the purpose of this visit was to stress to north korean officials directly that the japanese government considers the abductions issue a top priority. At the same time, we expect to learn as much as possible about the details of the norths ongoing investigation. We heard their explanation on this point. Ji ihara is japans top diplomat, and they met with north koreas head of the special investigations committee. Ihara says the committee has four panels including one focused on abducted japanese. He says his team was briefed about missing nationals, those left behind during world war ii, and the japanese spouses of north koreans. There is also a Panel Handling the issue of the remains of nationals who died there near the end of world war ii. The chief of that investigation Kim Hyon Choi gave an update. Translator we organized the Investigation Panel and conducted a thorough investigation of cemeteries and burial places containing japanese remains. We hope japanese side about the details and our findings. The talks lasted for more than ten hours over two days. It is the first time in a decade the two sides have met face to face in pyongyang. Japans government maintains at least 17 nationals were abducted by north korean agents in the 1970s and 80s. Five returned in 2002. Relatives of abductees are closely watching how the talks with north korean officials play out. Translator i strongly felt that we want to avoid a situation where other issues, aside from the abduction issue, will become the focus of the talks, and abductees will be left behind. Iizuka says he wants to look carefully to see what kind of actions the japanese government will take after meeting with the north korean officials. Officials at the World Health Organization say the number of people who have been confirmed or suspected to have the ebola virus has topped 13,000. They say theres been a substantial increase since the number of infections passed 10,000 last saturday. They say nearly 5,000 people have died of the disease. Assistant director general bruce illworth says the rate of new cases seems to be decreasing in liberia, the country hardest hit by the ebola outbreak. Were not seeing it hasnt dropped off a cliff like this. What were seeing is a reversal of that rapid rate increase to the point where there seems to be right now. Aylworth says the situation needs to be completely monitored before concluding that the situation is under control. A former japanese Prime Minister has held his second meeting in three months with chinas president , xi jinping. Yasuo fukuda is in beijing on a threeday visit. He is the chairman of the forum for asia. It organizes discussions among political, business and academic leaders. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the forum. Only the beginning of the meeting was open to the media. Xi said the forum has achieved remarkable results in the past several years. Fukuda said china should play a bigger role in asia, but he said with that would come greater responsibility. After the meeting, he told reporters he could not disclose the contents of the talks, but he was positive. Translator japanchina relations were not on the agenda. The conversation was more general. When fukuda last met xi in july, he passed along a message from Prime Minister shinzo abe. Abe said hes open to the idea of holding a summit with xi on the sidelines of the asiapacific Economic Cooperation forum in beijing next month. Chinese foreign minister wang yi told reporters he hopes japans leaders will show sincerity in resolving issues with china. Wang was briefing them on the upcoming apec meeting. Foreign media asked him about the possibility of a japan china summit. Translator it is a fact that the two countries have issues and obstacles affecting the development of their relations. We cannot evade that. I hope that japans leaders will focus on those issues and address them sincerely. Wang apparently wants japan to make concessions on its perception of history and over its stance on the Senkaku Islands in the east china sea. Japan controls the islands. The japanese government maintains they are a part of japans territory. China and taiwan claim them. The japanese government says there is no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved, concerning the Senkaku Islands. A Hong Kong Assembly member has been criticizing the chief executive of the territory as prodemocracy protests continue. A key Chinese Government advisory body has now expelled james tien. He told reporters last week that the chief executive should consider resigning. Local media said it was the first time a member of the probeijing camp had urged him to quit. Mainland Media Outlets report the chinese peoples political conference frontative conference has revoked tiens membership. Tien accepts the decision. Translator i urged the chief executive to resign because hong kong is getting a bit ungovernable. Demonstrators had been occupying sections of major roads for more than a month. Theyre demanding beijing reverse its decision to screen candidates for the 2017 election to choose the chief executive. Tiens dismissal is widely seen as a show of support for lien by beijing, and a call for prochina groups to work together. A baby chim pan chimpanzee at a zoo in japan is getting a lot of attention. She was born handicap and had to have special care. But that special care is helping her grow stronger. She was born partially paralyzed and had to be handreared by zookeepers but that special care has helped her grow stronger. Nhk worlds atsumi fujishia has that story. Reporter this is miyuki. She was born in july last year at the zoo in koichi prefecture. She was born with a disability. Miyuki had a difficult delivery. Her mother had never given birth before, and there were difficulties in her labor. So she was given an assisted delivery. But miyuki had no heartbeat when she was born. The zoo staff struggled to save her life. Miyuki was placed in intensive care. Nobuhiro yada was one of the staff who kept a close watch on her. Steadily, she began to grow. Translator we didnt think shed survive, so we were very happy. Reporter miyukis mother had been under when she gave birth and shes showed no interest in her baby been when yamada tried to introduce her to miyuki, she didnt recognize her at all. The zoo staff decided to raise miyuki themselves. When she was about a month all, their mother noticed there was something strange about her vision. It. Translator like human babies humans commute with their mothers by eye contact with you miyukis doesnt seem to be functioning properly. Reporter she also falls over a lot because the right side of her body is weaker than the left. Professor hidekki takeshida studies the physical and Mental Development of chimpanzees in comparison with humans. In human terms, miyuki has cerebral palsy. The right and left sides of her body are growing unevenly. Her growth rate is extremely slow. Reporter miyuki always tends to use her left hand as its her stronger side. Takeshida has come to rectify that. For the first time, miyuki uses her right hand to grab the toy. Translator her desire to grab the object was so great she moved her right hand. Its the first time, and its so good to see that. Reporter yamada has begun giving miyuki rehabilitation exercises to develop her right arm. Translator miyuki is very motivated and were quite optimistic. I know this is going to take a long time, but i intend to stay positive and keep taking it one step at a time. Reporter miyuki is now very popular and many visitors came to see her grow strongly. Atsumi fujishima, nhk world. Efforts to rescue more than 100 people in sri lanka after a massive landslide have been temporarily called off because of bad weather and the arrival of nightfall. The landslides struck on wednesday. It was triggered by torrential rain, and at least eight people have been confirmed dead. The disaster occurreded in the official of badulla in central sri lanka. At least eight people have been the disaster occurred in the district of badula in central scree lanka. Officials reported about 300 people have been buried. The number was revised downward after some people were rescued and others found safe. Hundreds of military personnel and other rescuers are searching for the missing. The monsoon season started in sri lanka earlier this month. Weather Authorities Say the rain around badula had been heavy over the past four days. The governor urges residents on hillsides to move because of concerns of mudslides, but most of them have remained, citing lack of funds. Mai shoji joins us with more on the situation. Catherine, im afraid i cant give you great news. The rain will be continuously plaguing sri lanka, the second round of the monsoonal season, this is a week before but really it doesnt look that staggering but the areas are receiving an amount about 120 millimeters have been falling across some locations in sri lanka. This is the area near the devastated locations. Unfortunately, rain will be continuing at least into saturday, and it could be some sudden burst of showers on and off showers with thunderstorms also going to be of potential. So into the next couple of days, or even few more days ahead, were looking at more additional rainfall of about 120 millimeters in and around the area so the situation im afraid could get worse and the Search Operations could well be hindered. We have another system that is going to be affecting pakistan and india. This is neofar, likely to decrease in intensity before landfall but 50 to 250 millimeters of rainfall will be pulling in and it will be starting to impact these locations by thursday, certainly the lifet