hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm ross mihara in tokyo. members of japan's ruling parties have spent the last eight months trying to agree on a new national security policy. now they have signed off on a plan's outline to make it easier to deploy the self-defense forces abroad. they say it will allow japan to make greater contributions to international peace. leaders of the liberal democratic party and junior coalition party komeito have agreed on three principles for draing up legislation.

it must be justified under international law and must have public support and civilian over sight and the safety of personnel must be guaranteed. leaders of both parties want the sdf to provide logistical support for foreign troops if it agreed to peace and stability. they agreed to lift limits on geographical limits. under the current system the government must get approval from the diet each time they are sent abroad. there have been fierce debates among lawmakers. they hope a new package of legislation will remove that hurdle. more than 100 protesters rallied near the diet building in tokyo responding to a call by pop position parties. they say they are concerned by

the way the legislation is being drawn up and its potential impact. >> translator: i want my children as well as other children to grow up in a peaceful society. that is why i'm here. >> translator: top government leaders and members of the ruling parties are pushing through the legislation on their own. they should hold open discussions to seek public approval. >> opposition democratic party leader okada said most people don't understand what the legislation is really about. >> i'm deeply concerned by the ruling party's proceeding without significant debate. >> chief cabinet secretary suga said the government will take time to explain the bills so they can win the public's understanding. major european countries say they will join an international development bank proposed by china, but japan remains cautious. prime minister shinzo abe said officials in tokyo need to study

whether to get involved very carefully. abe spoke at an upper house committee meeting about the asian infrastructure investment bank. chinese leaders said it will help developing countries in asia. abe said it will be different from the international monetary fund, the world bank and the development bank. he cited a note of caution about getting involved. >> translator: cautious study is needed on some points. can fair governance be established and will extending loans not cause dodge other creditors as well. >> japanese officials say it is not clear how the proposed bank would divide its row with the asean development bank and not it is not clear how it would reflect the power plays of

member nations other than china. the asian infrastructure development bank has gained another likely member. switzerland has shown it is likely to get on board. they are following other european countries including britain, germany and france and nations in southeast asia and the middle east. chinese leaders say governments should apply by the end of the month to join discussions on working out the new bank's framework. swiss government officials say their country would be well positioned by being a founding member of such an important financial institution. they say joining the bank would strengthen their relations with china and other countries in asia. the chinese government has refused to deliver japan's legal complaint against a man who rammed his fishing boat into two japanese coast guard patrol ships. the clash occurred in september 2010 off the senkaku islands. japan controls the islands

in the east china sea. the japanese government maintains they are part of their territory. china and taiwan claim them. last year the japanese government filed a suit in southern japan. it demands the captain pay damages of $120,000 to pay for repair costs for the coast guard ships. they say they asked chinese authorities to deliver the complaint to the captain but that request was denied. judiciary sources say government officials are considering whether to ask the court to publicly post the document which would be regarded as a legal alternative to serving the complaint. the captain was arrested on suspicion of obstructing coast guard officers but his indictment was suspended. he was released and returned home. he was officially indicted in 2012 but procedures for his criminal trial have been canceled because chinese officials refuse to deliver the indictment to the captain. a high court judge in central japan has taken another

look at the results of last year's general election and ruled the december 2014 poll was held in a state of unconstitutionality. he said there was a disparity in the value of votes between densely and sparsely populated areas. the presiding judge of the nagoya high court considered the diet's reduction of single seat districts, and he said a structural problem remained but rejected a demand from the plaintiffs to nullify the results. the group of lawyers filing the lawsuits said they will appeal to the supreme court. they've filed 14 lawsuits nationwide and argue that the disparity violates the quality of the vote guaranteed by the constitution. a vote cast in the general election in the least populated district was worth more than double of that of one in the most populated district. the ruling came a day after the tokyo high court said the same election was constitutional.

many people in japan pause on march 20th to reflect on what was a scary and painful time in their history. 20 years ago members of a religious cult released sarin gas on the tokyo subway system during the morning rush hour. 13 people died and 6,300 others were hurt. people held a memorial ceremony at one of the subway stations targeted in the attack. they held a moment of silence at 8:00 a.m., around the time the members of the cult released the gas. families of the victims and others laid flowers and offered prayers. >> i always thought i could be one of the victims and that thought brought me here today. >> as a bereaved family member i want to keep telling the next generation about this tragedy.

but there is a limit to what i can do. i want young people to become interested in knowing what happened in the incident. >> aum shinrikyo passed through lines where the government is located. they left sarin-filled bags on a number of trains. two days later, police stormed the compound and arrested the founder and his followers. nhk learned police were investigating the cult four years before the attack was staged and they were planning to conduct a raid on the cult's facilities only two days prior to the attack. japanese police apparently had opportunities to carry out the raid but missed them. nhk world explains. >> translator: now i remember. there used to be an office

there. >> reporter: nhk contacted senior police officials who were in charge of investigating at the time. this diary belongs to the late leader of the tokyo police investigation team. former members said that in august of 1991, they were conducting a secret investigation of the cult's facilities in the city. this was based on a tip that a cult member was involved in the 1989 murder of a lawyer, his wife and baby son. >> translator: my boss told me never to tell anyone and that this was top secret. he said the aum cult would definitely commit some kind of crime in tokyo. >> but police sectionalism came into play, and the tokyo police had to call off the probe after less than two months. the murder of the family took

place in yokohama in kanagawa prefecture. the case fall under the prefecture of the kanagawa police. >> translator: we stopped our investigation right then and there. we could have prevented the sarin gas attack if we would have gone one step further at that time. >> nhk has also learned that police were preparing to conduct a raid on at least one location in tokyo on march 18th, just two days before the subway attack. communication records show that a senior police official had told tokyo public prosecutors about the planned raid. he said it was related to another killing of a notary public which happened three weeks earlier. the fingerprints of a follower was found in the vehicle used to

abduct the notary. but neither prosecutors nor the police agency agreed to the planned raid. they feared that all members could use the nerve gas to counter the raid, citing the sarin gas carried out the previous year. they said the police should raid multiple cult facilities all at once, including those in yamanishi prefecture where the cult was suspected of producing the deadly nerve gas. in the end the police decided to coordinate their raid on march 22nd to give them more time to prepare. lessons were learned from the series of aum-related crimes. the police role was revised in 1996 to enable each police force to launch an investigation of their own into organized crimes covering wide areas across prefecture forces.

counterterrorism involving toxic gas, germ and other biological and chemical weapons were set up at police headquarters across the country. an expert of the police investigation said it is important to remain vigilant. >> translator: verification of what aum did has yet to be clarified. terrorism is borderless and knows no boundaries. so we need to heighten the nation's awareness. >> 20 years after the day of shock and grief, efforts continue to clarify what led to the heinous crime to ensure that a similar one won't happen again. ayimi chikaraishi, nhk world, tokyo. suicide bombers have attacked two mosques in the yemeni capital sanaa.

they killed at least 100 people. someone purporting to represent a branch of the islamic group. a statement purportedly issued by a local branch of the islamic state group appeared online. claiming responsibility. shia militants who opoise the government have controlled the capital since february. they and forces loyal to the government have been stepping their attacks on each other. the president fled to the south of the country and is trying to reform the government. they are gaining strength as security worsens. security officials in tunisia say the militants who attacked a museum in the capital tunis this week are members of a domestic extremist

group. they attacked 21 people mostly foreign tourists. three of them were japanese. police gunned down two suspects. they were members of an extremist group operating in the country. they had received training in neighboring libya. militant groups in libya have been fighting for leadership since the ouster of al gadhafi in 2011. amid the confusion, islamic state militants have expanded their influence. about 3,000 tunisians have traveled through libya and other places to join the militant group in syria and iraq. tunisian officials are questioning nine suspects in detention to find out if they were part of any transborder terrorist network. european union leaders said they will help the tunisia government boost security. they discussed the attack in

tunis and wrapped up with sympathy and a promise of action. >> we condemn the appalling terrorist attack in tunis this week and agreed to intensify cooperation with tunisia in order to counter the terrorist threat to strengthen its promising democracy and to assist its economic and social development. >> the eu leaders promised support for tunisia's economy and hope that will discourage young people there from joining the islamic state group. north korean officials are hoping to revive their country's economy by getting investment from china. they've been encouraging business people to get involved with projects in a special economic zone. representatives of a state-run north korean company helped run a seminar in shenyung. they told corporate executives

about the economic zone. they encouraged the chase to invest in projects including production of a ski resort and stressed the property of foreign investors is protected by law. >> translator: it's good that north korea is trying to promote development and carry out economic reforms. that will be welcome by all countries, not just china. north korean officials plan to invite investors in may to tell them more. analysts say the north koreans may struggle to attract investment because their nuclear and missile programs have brought them under international sanctions. forest fires are causing serious pollution in northern thailand. patchari raksawong in bangkok is following the story. >> the thai army has sent troops to help put out the fires. this type of haze is a major problem in southeast asian countries.

heavy smoke has affected nine northern provinces for more than two weeks. the thai authorities say the main cause is burning vegetation to clear fields. hundreds of thai troops have joined the firefighting operation. singapore armed forces have sent two helicopters and 50 personnel. the cooperation is based on a joint disaster mitigation that asean nations signed in 2005. health officials say more than 40,000 people were rushed to hospitals when the smoke began to affect their health. officials at the airport said flights have been delayed or canceled. two years ago thick haze drifted to singapore, malaysian. the former president apologized for the severe air pollution. a passenger train has derailed in northern india. ap said 26 people have died and at least 30 are injured. the train jumped the tracks on

friday morning in northern utrapredesh state. british, police and railway security guards are trying to rescue people trapped in the crashed coaches. >> the train was supposed to stop at a crossing. it was traveling at a very high speed when the brakes failed. >> train accidents are common in india. more than 23 million people use the country's railroad network every day. most accidents are blamed on poor maintenance and human error. many coastal communities in indonesia were devastated by the indian ocean tsunami in 2004. one researcher touched by the disaster is working hard to keep alive the memory of the earthquake and the deadly tsunami. by raising people's awareness, he hopes to prevent another tragedy. nhk reports.

>> reporter: no region was hit harder by the indian ocean than banda aceh. this is a researcher at a local university where he specializes in disaster management. he interviews local residents to find out what they know about planning for emergencies. the coastal areas have revived with the arrival of new residents, but because more and more of the people here didn't live through the tsunami, the population is losing its awareness of disaster management and this is a concern. >> if we meet the newcomers, for example, i think for him or for her, maybe not -- maybe they are not 100% familiar. and in the case of his relatives come, maybe at the time they

don't know where to go. >> reporter: this area was overwhelmed by the massive tsunami ten years ago. most people didn't imagine a tsunami would strike after the earthquake. this man was no exception. he believes his ignorance cost him his parents and siblings. >> because i didn't know about tsunami, i had no experience so i didn't tell her to escape. in case they -- maybe they would be safe. >> reporter: he is teaching new residents what to do in an emergency. on this day he gave a seminar on disaster management. >> translator: i'd like you to think, where do you think the evacuation map should be put up? inside of the house or outside? >> i would put it inside of the house, in the kitchen or in the room where the family watches tv. >> by discussing evacuation

plans he wants people to learn where they can escape to and how to get there. he's also trying to educate children who were too young to experience the tsunami. this school lost many teachers and students in the tsunami 10 years ago. he encourages the school to hold disaster drills. >> reporter: when the buzzer alarms of an earthquake, the children take cover under their desks. when told the tremor has subsided, they evacuate the classroom. they run as fast as they can toward the hill behind the school. the tsunami ten years ago arrived within 15 minutes of the earthquake. the goal of the drill is to evacuate all of the children in half of that time, or about seven minutes.

>> translator: the children know nothing about tsunamis. but we can help them imagine one. people who have experienced tsunamis can also teach them. >> so this drama will make the people learn a lot, so this will transfer of experience and knowledge. >> reporter: it is his wish that no one will ever experience what he went through. he wanted to turn his sadness into something positive by giving what he learned to save lives. ayu ikeda, nhk world. >> that wraps up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok.

a team of japanese canadian baseball players have visited japan on a double mission. they came to discover their heritage and also pay tribute to the team that helped their ancestors settle into a new home a world away. nhk world has more. >> reporter: a teenage baseball team has arrived from vancouver. all of its members are japanese canadians. the squad was created last year to mark the century of a team that played a very special role for the japanese community in canada. the vancouver asahi was formed in 1914 by second generation immigrants. at the time, 40 workers faced

different types of discrimination. and eloymen prospects limited. 94-year-old kiji is the only surviving member of the baseball team. >> translator: the team travels to many places for friendly games as we wanted people to understand japanese emigrants. we wanted to become friends with white canadians. >> reporter: the squad's success became a source of pride for the community, and it was famous for its spirit of fair play. from 1937 the vancouver asahi won the pacific northwest championship five consecutive times, an achievement that contributed to their induction in the canadian baseball hall of fame. japan's attack on pearl harbor

marked the end of an era. the team was forced todisband. the 100th anniversary of the vancouver asahi gave the japanese canadian community an opportunity to reconnect with its roots. it toured the baseball club and revived the asahi logo. >> it's very important they understand where they came from and the traditions associated with it. >> i just think i want to op their horizons to see just a difference way of life a different cult are and expectations and mannerisms and things like that. >> reporter: during their recent japan tour the players did their best to live up to the vancouver asahi's reputation and showed respect towards the other

s an we're about. >> reporter: more than a century after their ancestors left japan, these teenagers are rediscovering their heritage and building new bridges between canada and japan. here is the weekend weather forecast.

that's all we have for now on "newsline." thank you for watching, and have a good day.

. >> we watched him grow up right before our eyes. he began his acting career at the ripe old age of 5 as paul newman's son rally around the flag boys but became a fixture on tv in such classics as ozzie and har yerkts dick van dyke show and the lucy show. but it was as ernie the adopted son of fred mac murray steven douglas on my three sons we all came to know and love him.

more recently he has been on mad men and two and a half men and in the film zodiac and the social network. i'm ernie manouse coming up on innerviews our conversation with classic television actor barry livingston.