damage. >> this morning, soaring gold prices are leading to a new crime target in oakland. police are warning neighbors about jump of robberies of people wearing gold jewelry. >> i'm nick smith in the abc7 news room. after a few days of falls, there is persistent worry about the economy and europe debt problem. there is a silver lining in the dark cloud. i'll have a live report coming up. >> good morning. a live look downtown san francisco. the clouds are out there, thick and dropping drizzle. check flight arrival delays at sfo. this is the first day of this. we'll talk about how long the cooling trend will. >> good morning, i'm sue hall in the abc7 traffic center. we have high wind advisory over the altamont pass and accident toward the caldecott tunnel. >> it wasn't my imagination. it was breezy driving in. the car got knocked around a little bit. 4:31. thank you for joining us. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. the top story, in japan many

people's nerves are rattled after magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit off the northeastern coast. centered 185 miles northeast of tokyo, south of where the catastrophic 9.0 quake was centered on march 11. tsunami advisory triggered after the quake but was lifted a short time later. the tumbler hit after 2:30 in the afternoon tokyo time. that is about 10:30 p.m. our time last night. so far, there are no reports of damage or injuries. it was the first sizable earthquake in japan in a month. >> in this country, we begin with another day of jitters on wall street and whether the market will continue to hemorrhage or make back yesterday's losses. the dow dropped more than 4 400 points yesterday. asian markets followed suit overnight. abc7's nick smith is live with a preview. nick? >> good morning. the global financial markets plunged again on renewed fears of a looming u.s. recession and stability of european banks.

it looks like wall street will be in negative territory once again when trading begins in about two hours from now. asian markets have already fallen in overnight trading. stock exchanges in tokyo and hong kong lost 2 to 3%. south korea's market closed lower. trading in europe is down at this hour. dough futures were down 150 points this morning. all this follows the 419-point plunge in the dow yesterday. after more discouraging encourage news. new jobless claims were up above 400,000 again this month. this volatility in the market has investors worried. >> the psyche of the american investor has been damaged. no question about it. >> fear-based decision-making when it comes to investments will always cause you to lose wealth. >> we think that the problems are going to continue to unfold over the next 18 to 24 months. >> but there are a few bright spots in the otherwise bleak economic outlook.

mortgage rates hit the lowest level in history and oil prices continue to drop. they fell to near $81 a barrel in asia this morning. with lower gas prices expected to follow. in the abc7 newsroom, nick smith, abc7 news. >> thanks a lot. more bad news. thousands of bank of america workers may be losing their jobs. the "wall street journal" and the "new york times" report b-of-a will slash 3500 jobs this quarter and they will be across the board and implemented by the end of september. the bank is working on a broader restructuring plan that could eliminate 10,000 more jobs, 3.5% of the workforce. analysts say bank of america was hit hard by the bursting of the housing bubble. >> high price of gold is catching the attention of thieves. at a new record high. that's $18 36 per -- $1,836 an ounce. at that price, the criminals are ripping it off the neck of women. tomas roman has more from oakland.

>> reporter: myra says she will leave the gold behind next time she comes to the bart fruitvale station. >> i would never come here from berkeley. i'm registering for school and this is the way i'm going to get to school. >> she learned that men in the early 20s target mostly women wear gold jewelry in the fruitvale district and lake merritt area. >> they walk up to them on foot. most of the females are distracted by cell phone and they snatch the gold chains off their neck and run away. >> sergeant says dozens of the robberies have taken place the last three months. the price of gold being $1800 an ounce has a lot to do with the thefts taking place in daylight hours. especially around commute times between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00. the robberies are also on the rise. oakland police have some advice for women using public transportation. particularly in the fruitvale area. wear gold jewelry under your clothing. avoid using cell phone coming or waiting for public transportation. walk in well-lighted areas

and program the oakland police department emergency number in the cell phone. 510-777-3211. the sergeant says none of the victims have been hurt so far. >> we know criminals often time become more comfortable, become more brazen and more violent. >> oakland police say the description of the young robbers are generalist to be useless. young men in their teen, early 20s, african-american or latino. they don't know where the robbers are selling the jewelry they're stealing. they've alerted pawnshop and gold buyers in the area. tomas roman, abc7 news. u.s. coast guard found the body of a man matching the description of a missing canoer in san francisco bay. the crew recovered the body last night near richmond brooks island found near an overturned canoe. 52-year-old michael butler was canoeing with two friends wednesday night with treasure island when the boat overturned, the canoe. the two friends swam ashore and butler stayed behind. he was missing when the friends returned after leaving to get out of the

wet clothing. butler was not experienced canoer. menlo park police are investigating a shooting that led to highly charged confrontation. it happened at 6:00 last night, at newbridge street. officers had to restrain a crowd gathered at the scene. police say the driver of one car was shot and killed by someone who fired from another vehicle. the victim's car crashed outside a church. police had to hold back members of the victim's family from getting close to the crime scene. the suspect's car is described as a red, older model with large rims and a spoiler. california attorney general kamala harris says her office may investigate the hacking of the bart police officers association website. hackers posted names addresses and password of 102 bart police officers on wednesday. harris said she is concerned about the privacy and safety of police officers. >> they do very dif cult work and they should be, and their families should be

protect and we should do everything to make sure they're safe and not exposed to any harm. theft is something that concerns me. >> the f.b.i. is investigating the hacking. they say it was to block a protest last week. 4:37. federal investigators will present the time draft report in august 30 in washington, d.c. the national transportation safety board is expected to reveal the cause of the pipeline rupture that led to last september's explosion, which killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. revisions will be made to draft before the ntsb issues the time version of the report. san bruno's mayor and city manager are among the city officials who will travel to washington for the meeting. 4:38. you say it was breezy this morning, huh? >> remember the winds of change mike talked about for

this morning? good thing you weren't surprised. >> i thought he was talking philosophically so i had to go to the libe brair. >> were you talking in terms of weather or something philosophical? >> pretty literal. i'm a pretty literal guy, but every once in a while i get philosophical but not on camera. as far as what is going on outside, it's breezy this morning. that is the sea breeze it's bringing back. extra clouds and cooler weather. the onshore flow dominates the weather. right now, pleasant. 61 in antioch, 61 in mountain view. rest of us in 50s. cool spot, san rafael is 52 degrees. temperatures are well below average from 58 at half moon bay, mid-to-upper 60s, san francisco, richmond, oakland, san mateo. mid-to-upper 70s in south bay. the north bay valley, mid-80s in east bay valley. clouds are strong along the coast, heading to the monterey bay.

more sunshine inland. but still cool. low 80s for gilroy and morgan hill. the accuweather seven-day forecast -- tomorrow is cooler than today. sea breeze will taper sunday, monday, tuesday and wednesday of next week. get warmer than average inland. good morning. >> westbound 24 toward caldecott tunnel. no significant slowing in the area. we have a high wind advisory as we've talked about over the altamont pass. if you are travelling in from the central valley be aware it's breezy out there. 80 westbound, san pablo road. this is a live shot from the carte carte maze through berkeley. kristen, eric? >> sue, thank you. 4:40. >> still ahead, your brain on silicon. amazing new computer chip

program to think just like we do. >> and why caltrain may be ready to say goodbye to amtrak. hey! you want that? you want a warm, super-delicious strawberry toaster strudel yeah but now i have nothing to eat sureou do. hey! you can have the pop tart! pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat with totino's pizza rolls. big pizza taste in a bite size roll that my kids can't resist. plus i get two box tops for their school. totino's pizza rolls. the pizza way to snack.

good morning. friday. 4:42 is our time. take a live look outside on traffic on 680 and walnut creek. light so far, you can see the camera moving a little bit. talking about the breezes. cooler temperatures. we'll check in with mike and sue in a moment. >> it's heading to north main. that's part of the way i come to work. you can see why i was complaining about the weather. 4:43, as chrshe said. they may part way with caltrain. they are recommending that the board of directors approve a new contract with transit america services at

the next meeting september 1. officials say the new deal wouldn't save the commuter train agency immediate money pew anticipate savings over the duration of the five-year contract. under federal railroad laws, current conductors would be offered the job with the new operator. if the proposal is approved it would take five months to change over from fastrak to transit america. computers are one step closer to thinking the way people do. researchers at ibm unveiled a new chip they say is modelled after the human brain. abc7's jonathan bloom has a first look at it. >> imagine a computer that can be taught in the same way as you would teach a dog. good dog, bad dog. >> computer scientists mota might call this his brain child. >> we have produced in working silicon a tiny chip that has the core element of the brain. >> mota says it's the missing piece to the puzzle of modern computing.

computers have been good at crumpling numbers and follow -- crunching numbers, like the left side of the brain, but not so much of recognizing patterns like the right side of the rain like now. they call this the brain wall. this represents a new chip. each white dot represents the neuron inside the chip every time it fires. >> as the ball moves, the neuron see the ball. >> researcher john arthur shows us how the new chip can play the video game pong by looking at the screen. >> they trained it to read handwritten numbers and predict which way it's drawing. it's still in the infancy. the applications can be far-reaching from detecting threats to airport security and sniffing out rotten food at the grocery store. it started as a man's dream but now a team of 100 people proven it has worked. >> fundamental perspective changed from what if, to what now? >> in san jose, jonathan

bloom, abc7 news. 4:45 now. another member of the royal family is coming to california. coming up, the mission drawing prince harry here. changing rules for people in the u.s. illegally. the new obama policy and why immigration advocates aren't buying it. tension intensify in the middle east. next, the deadly new fighting between israel. scientists peer deep in the sun and figure out a way to predict sun spots and what it could mean for you and i on earth.

welcome back. if you're leaving us today, look at these temperatures. hotter in phoenix and humidity, too. temperatures around 90 in st. louis. same in washington. only 80 in new york. 85 in boston. 78 in seattle. 81 in portland. still in the low 90s around salt lake and denver.

denver will be an area that could have severe weather. the flight delays right now, only confined to boston logan international airport. anytime you travel, check out the flight tracker. abc7news.com. kristen? >> all right, mike. thanks a lot. 4:48. tensions in the middle east intensified overnight. organize militant launched barrage of rockets deep in israel this morning and israeli aircraft struck target in the palestinian territory. the military says they hit seven targets, including a weapons manufacturering site. tensions risen sharply after gunman who crossed from the egyptian desert launched a series of attacks that killed israelis yesterday. they threatped to destabilize a volatile border region that includes hamas-ruled strip. the obama administration has announced a major change in policy for thousands of illegal immigrants going through deportation proceedings. they now may be able to stay in the country. here is abc7's lilian kim with the story.

>> anna isn't giving us her last name because she is in the country illegally but says she is a recent graduate of mission high and is now cleaning houses to make money before starting college in the fall. >> we work here, we contribute to this community. >> the obama administration now wants to provide relief for people like an anna. under the new policy at the department of homeland security, will suspend the deportation proceedings on young undocumented immigrants who pose no threat to public safety or national security. it will not give illegal immigrants a pass to legal permanent residency but will let them apply for a work permit. homeland security secretary janet napolitano says the president said on numerous occasions it makes no sense to expend the enforcement resources on lo-priority cases. rick is with the tea party coalition and predicts the new policy will bring in new illegal immigrants in the country. >> this sends a green light to everybody on the planet if they can get to the

united states and not be convicted of a crime, they get to stay. >> bay area immigration advocates are not happy through the policy either, but for different reasons. many are deeply suspicious of immigration officials who under obama administration expanded a program to allow them to check fingerprints of anyone arrested. immigration advocates said it led to illegal immigrants convicted of even minor offenses. >> it should help the standing with latino voters heading to the 2012 election. lilian kim, abc7 news. another british prince is headed stateside. prince harry will be coming to california and arizona to take part in intense military training, focussing on apache helicopters. they didn't give a date but said it should last up to three months and harry is following in his brother william and sister-in-law kate path to the golden state who were here earlier in summer. they are urging california blondes to be on alert.

harry hunters as they call them. >> as you know, the apache helicopter is the army main attack helicopter. >> we talk about different things here. >> mike, how are you doing? >> great. nothing to add to that. let's look outside to show what is going on. we'll attack the weather forecast here in shades of gray as the clouds are back. expect the flight arrival delays at sfo. they will announce them in an hour, hour and 10 minutes. we'll let you know or check out our flight tracker abc7news.com. it's breezy this morning. especially if you are heading from east to west. watch out for that. white knuckler in the altamont pass. is that where? yeah. she'll talk more about that. it's going to be a different morning for you weatherwise. 52 in san rafael. 60 in antioch and mountain view. mid-to-upper 50s with cloudy

conditions around the monterey bay. talk about the highlights headed to the weekend. today and tomorrow. the coolest one in the forecast. more drizzle than this morning. the highs will rebound next week and get back closer to where they should be for this time of the year. today, not close. here is why. the real indundation of the clouds. air is saturated with the moisture. it remains that way until 9:00. south bay and east bay erase first with clouds, then the north bay. by noon, we have clouds around the bay. hang out, at least one finger through the golden gate to berkeley and oakland. you're in the 60s, with 70s around the bay. 80s inland. we have 50s at the coast. los gatos, warm spot in south bay. mid-to-upper 70s. millbrae and san mateo, breezy and upper 60s.

the raw mid-to-upper 50s along the coast. downtown south san francisco, saucelito in the mid-60s. the valleys are mid-to-upper 70s. union city, fremont, castro valley, hercules could crack 70 degrees. east bay, look at this. san ramon valley in upper 70s. low to mid-80s for everybody else. low to mid-60s for monterey, watsonville, salinas. 67 in santa cruz. more sunshine, 75 in hollister. low 80s for gilroy and morgan hill. traveling around the state, cool weather makes it to sacramento. only 89. chico, 91. 95 in fresno. still 106 in palm springs. tahoe at 79 degrees. talk about the accuweather seven-day forecast -- today's temperatures are three to seven degrees cooler than yesterday. more degrees of cooling tomorrow before the slow warming trend begins sunday. have a great day. sue? >> all right.

we have an accident on westbound 24. this is san rafael. very good. i want to have you look at this, because there is roadwork northbound from f rvsheites parkland. southbound, your commute drive direction is very light. hardly any traffic coming through. look at westbound 24. an accident at the caldecott tunnel. cleared from the lanes now. you will find very little traffic. want to remind you that bart is offering a new free shuttle between lake merritt station and alameda, every 30 minutes in the morning drive commute. no delays of any mass transit this morning. abc7news.com is the latest. >> toyota and the company that ran the nummi auto plant in fremont agreed to

pay money to settle a lawsuit. workers on the medical leave in the months before it closed last year claimed the rights were violated under the americans with disabilities act because they were denied bonuses offered to employees that worked during that time. >> i can't believe they'd treat us like, this after the work we put in that place. >> people that worked there one year got more money than we did. who does that? >> they will contribute to a fund for people who missed out on bonuses. >> slower is safer and that saying is put in effect around many bay area schools as the kids get back to school. city officials are in the process of putting up sign, lower the school zone speed limit to 15 miles per hour. the current limit is 25

miles per hour. the speed will apply to all one-lane streets near city schools. 1,000 signs will go up around 213 schools by the end of next year and they will offer warnings at first and then citations. >> scientists at stanford said they made a break through to protect electrical grid, sat lied and radio communication on earth and astronauts in space. researchers believe they can predict sun spots two days before they appear. sun spots are enormously powerful storm that blast particles to space at the speed of light. it can wreak havoc with orbit on the ground. they made discovery measuring acoustic activity of storms at the sun's interior. 4:57 now. next on abc7 news at 5:00 -- preying on the desperate. california top cop reveals a scam that stolen millions from thousands of

homeowners. >> with the price of gold going out of sight, they are warning women to keep the jewelry out of site. >> the oakland zoo has a new program to help you save wildlife around the world.

i'm terry mcsweeney live with the story of the new gold rush, but this comes with a warning for women in two neighborhoin