japanese authorities are sending chinese activists back to hong kong. in the latest flare-up over a group of disputed islands. hello. welcome to "newsline." japanese immigration authorities have made a move in a case that has created friction with china. they've begun to deport a group of activists and journalists. police arrested them after they landed on the senkaku islands. japan controls the territory. china and taiwan claim them as their own. 7 of the detainees, 5 activists and two journalists were taken

to the airport after being detained. they board a plane and left for hong kong on friday evening. they were arrested on wednesday. seven of them landed on uotsuri island, one of the senkakus. the remaining members will return to hong kong soon. chinese government authorities demanded japan release the group m immediately. noda met with ministers to discuss the issue on friday. they decided not to pursue indictments and to deport the group back to hong kong. no one lives on the senkaku islands. they're in the east china sea. japanese government officials say documents show japan incorporated the islands into it's territory in 1895. they saw the senkakus are under japanese control and that no issue of territorial sovereignty exists. china and taiwan began to claim the senkakus as theirs in the early 1970s after researchers found potential petroleum resources on the continental

shelf nearby. two years ago a chinese troller collided with a japanese patrol boat near the islands. the skipper was deported without being indicted. for a more in depth look sherri ann spoke with a professor from university of tokyo, a specialist on jan/china relations. >> how should we interpret the japanese government's response to the latest incident? >> i suppose the japanese government wants to send a clear message that it doesn't want to make the problem any bigger. you know, the background to this is the fact that in 2004 the cabinet at the time did a very similar thing. they just sent back the chinese activists who land on the senkaku islands, and that was much appreciated by the chinese side. by doing the same thing the japanese government wants to send a clear message to the chinese government that at the present times the relationship to be more stable and wants to

go back to the normalcy of the japan/china relations that it should be. >> what do you think led the hong kong activists to go to the senkaku islands in the first place? do you think the chinese government could be involved? >> i don't think the chinese government instigated the incident, but at least it did not prevent the tiactivists fro going. by letting them go they send a message to the japanese side that it doesn't like what the japanese have been doing about the senkaku islands. the other is that they need some safety valve as it were to lower the pressure of nationalistic sentiment that is developing in the chinese society now. another point we need to take note of is the fact that it wasn't the mainland activists, but it was the hong kong activists. you know, china is going to have its party congress coming up very soon, and the civility of

society is something that is very much treasured by the leadership of the time. therefore, i think they also want to send a signal to the chinese society and to the japanese side that they don't not the nationalistic sentiments to flare up in china. therefore, it was the hong kong activists and not the activists from mainland china. >> there's a difference how the chinese government views them. how will this latest incident affect bilateral relations? >> i suppose one is point is how the chinese side will interpret the action by the japanese government this time. how well they can be united within the leadership. how well they can control the nationalistic sentiments in china. on the other hand on the japanese side, because of the landing certainly there will be some nationalistic sentiments on the japanese side to be aroused.

what kind of form that will take in its expression is something that we need to look at from now on. >> government leaders also decided to take a dispute over territory in the sea of japan to the international court of justice. the japanese call the islands takeshima and the south korean called them dokdo. they need to agree before they hear the case. >> reporter: japan will propose to south korea that we settle the takeshima issue based on international law in a calm, fair and peaceful manner by bringing the issue to the international court of justice for arbitration in the near future. >> he said japan regards south korea as an important member of the united nations. he appealed to the government in seoul to allow the matter to be heard in court.

foreign minister gemba has summoned the south korean ambassador to inform him of the decision. south korean president bac made an unprecedented trip to the islands on friday. they say he entered the territory lylely and they summoned the japanese ambassador from seoul. this dispute between japan and south korea has been going on for more than half a century. the takeshima or dokdo islands are in the shimane prefecture. there's two main eye lets and several other smaller rocks. the japanese government stated in 1905 that the islands fell under shimane's jurisdiction and named them takeshima. they adopted an ordinance in 2005, the 100th anniversary of japan's claim. they declared february 22nd the day the eyelets came under their

jurisdiction and called it takeshima day. south korean leaders have refuted japan's claim for many years. they took action to control the territory in 1954. members of the coast guard landed on the islands and started building several facilities. that same year japanese official proposed that the two countries jointly take the matter to the international court of justice. the south korean refused. they said no territorial dispute existed. in 1962 the japanese proposed for a second time that they bring the case before the court. south korea again refused. japan's finance minister is hinting at the possibility of canceling some foreign exchange agreements with south korea. at a news conference on friday, he officially announced he would postpone his planned visit to south korea later this month. he was to hold talks with his south korean counterpart.

>> translator: the south korean president's recent moves are very disrespectful, and the japanese people are deeply offended. >> azumi then said he has to take all matters into consideration whether discussing an expansion of a foreign exchange arrangement. a currency agreement was set up between the japanese and south korean governments back in 2005. the most recent arrangements were expanded last year to prevent a fall in the south korean currency. it was made between the leaders of the two countries. azumi's comment indicates that the expanded portion of the foreign currency swap could end before it expires at the end of october. a professor that's an expert on korean affairs at the university of tokyo spoke with sherri ann.

>> japan has not appealed to the international court of justice since a treaty to normalize ties with south korea in 1955. what drove the government to go to the court now? >> japan has long sought it to resolve this issue through the international court, however, they have refrained from doing so because they knew it could harm the relations with south korea. but because of the unprecedented visit to the island by president bak, the government leaders decided it was time for strong countermeasures. remember, that the two countries have different interpretations of the dispute over the islands. japan insists it's a matter of territory. why south korea sees it in relation to japanese misdeeds due to their rule. so i think by taking this to the icj, japan wants make their stance much clearer to the international community.

>> now, lee is the first south korean president to visit the islands. of course, he muff known this could hurt bilateral relations so why did he do it? >> let's look at the background. lee has been losing public support and his administration has been weakened, so he wanted to regain political support through this bid. also, his administration has suffered a bit of a diplomatic brain drain. he can't get sound advice on how to maintain good relations with japan. i think it reflects his frustration over japanese attitudes towards the issue of many korean women were forced to provide sexual services to japan soldier during world war ii. finally his visit reflects his view that japan's influence in the international community is waning. i presume lee thinks if he can maintain good relations with

other countries, he can be a bit more rigid with japan. >> so what do you think will happen after japan takes the matter to the international court of justice? >> i am positive that the south korean government will not back down. they've denied a territorial dispute exists and said the island belongs to them. if japan takes steps such as altering the terms of the foreign currency swap, south korea could bring this dispute to the international community. the only way to solve this deteriorating relationship would be to reinforce things behind the scenes, such as negotiations among its leaders. a south korean football player has learned the hard way that politics and sports do not mix. first, park was barred from receiving his olympic bronze medal in london for displaying a politically charged banner. now the international olympic committee is investigating. the korea football association

maintains park is innocent and his action was not premeditated. >> translator: the incident was not planned, not at all prepared. i explained that to fifa. >> the secretary-general of the korea football association, joo-sung made the remarks after visiting the headquarters of the governing body in zurich. he explained to fifa officials park's action after they won the match on august 10th. the international olympic committee says making political statements cannot be accepted at the olympics. fifa will hold a meeting to consider south korea's explanation and then report its views to the international olympic committee. after the match park held up a banner with the message asserts south korea's sovereignty over a

group of islands. the islands in the sea of japan are called takeshima in japanese and are part of japan. two major banks are planning to extend additional loans to leading electronics maker sharp. the firm is in financial trouble due to poor sales of tv and other products. back in march sharp agreed to receive about $830 million in investment from its business partner in taiwan honhei precision industry. they're seeking to cut the amount after sharp's stock price plunged. the negotiations are still going on. under the circumstances sharp's main banks plan to support sharp by providing additional loans worth about $830 million as a

stop gap measure. the two banks consider sharp an important firm for japanese industry. they're trying to support the firm's efforts to rebuild its core tv and liquid crystal display businesses. sharp is also discussing the sale of this tv assembly plant in china and mexico to its taiwanese business partner. u.s. authorities have delay the resumption of import of beef from japan falling the concerns of the nuclear crisis. japan suspended beef exports to the u.s. in april 2010 after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. experts were due to resume on saturday, but u.s. authorities postponed their approval on thursday. they asked for additional information on japanese measures to detect radioactive contamination linked to last year's nuclear accident. officials from japan's agriculture ministry say the country's beef is safe for consumption. they say radioactive substances

in the meat are below official safety limits. japanese government officials have been busy planning how they'll spend their money next year. they've kept their eye on the debt. they've approved guidelines aimed at refocus on areas such as energy. government ministries and agencies used the guidelines when requests budget allocations. they say spends is capped at cloes to $900 billion including the cost of servicing bonds. that's about the same level as in the current fiscal year. the guidelines emphasize energy supply, medical and welfare services and agriculture and forestry and fisheries. they have selected these fields as the most important for revitalizing the economy. it will deal with rebuilding areas after the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. australia plans to spend

some 50 million u.s. dollars over the next four years trying to draw more tourists from asia, especially from china. >> with this increased budget, the new marketing activities will build on the strong platform that tourism in ace tra australia already has. it was already achieved in the asian market as reflected in figures in the most recent years. >> australia had 38,000 visitors from china in the 12 months through june this year. that's up 15% from the preceding 12-month period. to lure more tourists from china, australia plans to step up pr activities in inland regions in addition to major cities like beijing and shanghai.

a series of car bombings and sthooting ha shootings and have killed more than 50 people in iraq. it happened during the end of the holy month of ramadan. it underdiscourscores the diffi they have in maintaining the security. it ripped through kirkuk on thursday. at least two people died and about 20 were injured. the victims included civilians who came to market to prepare for the end of ramadan on the weekend. groups allegedly affiliated with al qaeda and sunni muslim extremists have continued to carry out attacks around the country since u.s. troops withdrew from iraq last december. more than 150 people have been killed this month alone. a u.s. think tank says north korea may be a lot closer to obtaining a nuclear arsenal than earlier thought. the institute for science and international security says pyongyang could possess up to 48

nuclear weapons by the end of 2016. the institute issued a report titled north korea's estimated stocks of plutonium and weapon-grade uranium. the report says the north currently has enough weapons grade material to make at least six nuclear bombs. it says construction work on a light water nuclear reactor may be completed by late next year. the report says it has yet to be confirmed if the facility will be used to produce pollute tone yum. it says it's not known if north korea has one or month plants that can produce enriched uranium. the institute estimates that by the end of the 2016 the north may possess enough weapons-grade plutonium and uranium of 14 weapons and a maximum of 48. the report calls on the united states and it's allies including japan to boost cooperation to prevent further nuclear development by the north.

saudi arabia's massive oil wealth has ushered in huge social changes, but not all of them are for the better. unemployment is rising, and it's now 40% for people in their early 20s. the government is concerned that its measures are having little impac impa impact. the problem? it seems young saudis are not keen on working. >> reporter: in april saudi arabia held its first ever job fair. organized by the government, it featured 60 saudi companies in a range of fields from construction to private security. >> translator: we intend to use all means available to give young people opportunities to find work.

>> reporter: but it's not that simple for the government. although 15,000 young saudis attend a job fair, few of them are seriously looking for employment. >> translator: i'm looking for work as an accountant, but there it aren't many openings. >> translator: i want an office job where i can sit in a nice, air-conditioned room. >> reporter: life is easy for the citizens of oil-rich saudi arabia. they don't pay taxes or medical expenses, and the education is also free. this means that many young people don't have to work. they just live off their parents' wealth. however, the population is growing fast, and now 60% are under the age of 30. if more and more of these young

saudis are not working, then the current system, depending on oil revenues, may collapse. these days 90% of the private sector workers in saudi arabia are from other countries. this has led the government to revise its policy on foreign workers. it wants to encourage companies to hire more young saudis. last year mandatory quotas came into force requiring private sector companies to hire a certain number of saudis.

the government is hoping it will lead to 300,000 saudis getting jobs. there is one problem. young, affluent saudis are not interested in the kind of jobs that companies are offering. this paint factory hired 12 young saudis last year. they were paid over $750 a month, more than twice what an experienced foreign worker would get. even so, two-thirds of them found the work too hard and left. >> translator: i understand that it's my responsibility to society to hire saudis, even if it cuts into my profits, but young saudis have no work ethic.

they quit right away. >> reporter: a growing population of young people and an unemployment rate that just keeps rising, saudi arabia is starting to find that its oil riches may not be enough to shield it from social unrest. >> unlike the government, young saudis are said to be unconcerned about the growing burden on the welfare system. in fact, they're demanding even higher unemployment benefits. that was the news. let's now take a look at weather conditions in cities across the globe with the lovely mai shoji. we're monitoring a storm system over south china sea. this it has made landfall over the western guandong coast right near hanoi and hinan. in hinan we have a report in excess of 300 millimeters of

accumulation in the past 24 hours due to this storm, so drenching amount of rainfall will be tracking towards northern vietnam. could be targeting the capital city here, so urban flooding is going to be a very primary threat. it's going to be at very high risk. also due to the storm surge from this storm system both combined could bring some coastal flooding issues. so people in these vicinities should take precautions. we'll keep a very close eye on this system. the amount of rainfall accumulation in the next 72 hours could be as much as 200 millimeters in and around hanoi. so really do want to be watching out for that. across much of japan here we're going to be seeing a lot of thunderstorms to erupt. it's a pop-up thunderstorm scattered aacrocross the island chain, and especially into the evening hours continuing into

our saturday. we're looking for wet and thunderstormy weather for our weekend. not good news, but on sunday we have a pacific high that will be pushing in towards the country making things much drier for us. however, that means that that will be blocking the severe weather across much of the korean peninsula and into northeastern china. not good news for that area. tornadic activity cannot be ruled out. the primary threats being damaging winds, hail, and also very locally heavy downpours i should say. temperature-wise tokyo at 30 degrees. by early next week that should be cooling down into the normal territories. moving over to the americas now, with the cold front, which is very strong, heading towards the eastern seaboard along and ahead of this will be the area that will be fired with some

thunderstorm eruption, especially with the surge of moisture from this gulf of mexico in and around the gulf states across these regions. we'll probably see very locally heavy downpours and hail the size of golf balls to tennis ball size could be some primary hazards. across northern texas some of these rains could be beneficial to the drought-stricken regions. however, the localized heavy downpours in a very short time could trigger some flash flooding. very cool air will precede here over the weekend. however, in the wake of that still heating at 36 in portland. here in the european continent, things are going to be self-explanatory if i show you this. it's very hot in the south and over towards the north cooler and wet conditions. the british isles may see showers that could be heavy at

times. temperatures are soaring in paris at 35 degrees, and madrid is 9 degrees above your average. here's our extended forecast. and that was this hour's "newsline." don't go away, because there's more to come here on nhk world.