years. this brown powder is dried mud taken from the seabed near an island 200 kilometers south of tokyo. the researchers say the mud contains high concentrations of rare earths. translator: if we can develop the rare earths it will have a great global impact. rare earths are a key resource for the high-tech industry. they are used in hybrid vehicles and liquid crystal displays but they are only found in limited place neps u.s. geological survey says china accounts for 97% of the world s production. chinese government officials cut exports of the minerals by 40% in 2010. they said they were protecting the environment. in september that year, a chinese fishing vessel collided with japanese patrol boats. exports of rare earths to japan have been sporadic ever since. japanese firms starts to look elsewhere for supplies. the university of tokyo scientists carried out a seabed survey. they analyzed the mud samples and discovered the high concentration of rare earths. they esti
in deir al-zor, there are violent clashes. a syrian human rights group says more than 200 civilians have been killed in the past week. president assad insists that the fighting is not a crackdown, but is merely in response to attacks by rebels. he says he wants to cooperate with the u.n. team. the march 11th disaster and nuclear crisis caused a sharp drop in the number of foreign visitors to japan, but now they re starting to come back. authorities say last month saw the first year on year increase since the catastrophe. it was also a record for visitors from china. the national tourism organization says 679,000 foreigners visited japan in march for sight-seeing or business. the figure was up 92.4% from march 2011, the first annual increase since the disaster. but it remains 4.4% below the level recorded two years ago. travelers from china rose to more than 130,000, a record for the month of march. visitors from taiwan and britain are also on the rise. the european union
in deir al-zor, there are violent clashes. a syrian human rights group says more than 200 civilians have been killed in the past week. president assad insists that the fighting is not a crackdown, but is merely in response to attacks by rebels. he says he wants to cooperate with the u.n. team. the march 11th disaster and nuclear crisis caused a sharp drop in the number of foreign visitors to japan, but now they re starting to come back. authorities say last month saw the first year on year increase since the catastrophe. it was also a record for visitors from china. the national tourism organization says 679,000 foreigners visited japan in march. the figure was up 92.4% from march 2011, the first annual increase since the disaster. but it remains 4.4% below the level recorded two years ago. travellers from china rose to more than 130,000, a record for the month of march. visitors from taiwan and britain are also on the rise. the european union has agreed to ease sanctions