hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." it's wednesday july 13, 9:00 a.m. in a long-awaited decision, a tribunal in the hague has dismissed claims by china in the south china sea, the first legal decision by an international judiciary on any of the sea's multiple disputes, and could be felt around the region. the philippines filed the case in 2013. it argued that beijing's claim on almost all of the sea is contrary to international law. other countries in the region have their own claims there. they want the ability to exploit

resources, including rich fishing grounds and oil and gas fields. china boycotted the proceedings. it argued that disputes should be settled by the parties involved. it has unilaterally declared the so-called nine-dash line and asserts historic rights over the area. the tribunal concluded there was no evidence that china had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or their resources and it says there's no legal basis for china to claim historic rights over the area. the tribunal also says china breached its obligations to refrain from aggravating disputes. it referred to the country's recent construction of artificial islands. the ruling is legally binding and it cannot be appealed. but there is no penalty if china violates it. china stressed that it will not accept the decision, but suggests that it may seek a resolution through dialogue.

the president was quoted as saying that china's territoriable sovereignty and maritime interests will not be affected under any circumstances. she also reported that the country will not accept any claim or action based on the ruling. the foreign minister was also critical but suggested that china could negotiate with the philippines over the issue. he noted comments about the new government there that it may resume talks. the remarks is intended to ward off international criticism. on the other side, the filipino foreign secretary welcomed the ruling and called on all parties to exercise restraint. >> the philippines strongly affirms its respect for this milestone decision as an important contribution to ongoing efforts in addressing disputes in the south china sea.

>> the philippines chief lawyer also hailed in outcome. >> it's a total and complete victory for the philippines. >> despite china's vow to ignore the ruling, he says chinese leaders may eventually decide not to defy international law. >> i think that china's leaders are very wise and very mature and they take the longview of things. and they undoubtedly recognized that there has to be a diplomatic settlement and there can only be a diplomatic settlement if all sides agree and the only way that all sides can agree is if they feel that their legal rights are respected. >> countries around the region have also been weighing in including those with their own

disputes with ch disputes. the country strongly supports settling disputes by peaceful means, and that including legal and diplomatic processes. like the philippines, foreign minister expressed serious concerns over the situation, but they decided not to release it in the face of opposition from some members, including cambodia, the japanese government is urging china to accept the decision of the tribunal. japan plans to cooperate with the related countries at international meetings to persuade china to accept the

rulings, member nations will hold trade talks in mongolia and the association of southeast asia nations will meet in laos later this month. it ups controlled and built artificial islands in the disputing waters. here's some background of the dispute. >> reporter: a series of clashes has erupted. beijing has set up what it calls a maritime boundary marker or the nine-dash line. the country declares the marker has historic rights. chinese workers have begun construction of 50i8s.

china has also installed missile systems elsewhere in the south china sea. >> interpreter: these islands in the south china sea have been chinese territories for a long time. the chinese government has the responsibility of protecting its sovereignty and maritime rights. >> reporter: frustrated officials have looked to the law to challenge china. the officials told the tribunal the nine-dash line is groundless under international law. they also said the artificial islands, while originally locks and low-tide elevations. the u.n. convention on the law of the sea does not recognize exclusive economic zones or other maritime rights among such features. manila's latest protest was sparked in 2012 when china's ships took control of the scarborough shoal from the philippines. the waters have been a precious

fishing ground for generations of filipino fishermen. but chinese surveillance vessels constantly patrolling the area have made it difficult for them to do their job. >> interpreter: chinese crewmen shouted at me to get away. then their vessel rammed my boat several times until there was a hole in it. it was frightening. >> reporter: the philippines hope stronger defense ties with the united states can help it take on china. the u.s. has been sending naval vessels to waters near the artificial islands, the partners are aiming to step up their patrols in disputed waters. washington is exerting additional pressure on china to abide by the

but china has refused, stressing territorial disputes should be resolved by the concerned countries rather than a third party. >> the only position we've taken is, let's not resolve this by unilateral action. let's resolve this through rule of law. >> reporter: the first ruling by an international arbitration tribunal has put the ball back in the chinese court. the next move belongs to beijing. >> now let's get a check of the latest business news. investors in markets around the world have welcomed abe shinzo's readiness to economic -- >> i pulled out one of abe's pillars of policy is to increase gdp to 600 trillion yen which is

over $6 trillion over got five years. to do that the country needs annual growth of 2% and that is not an easy target. officials at the cabinet office have now revised down their economic forecast for this fiscal here to 0.29%. but they reviewed that figure citing weakness in consumer spending, they were also concerned by spreading global uncertainty by spreading the slowdown in emerging economies and the brexit vote. for fiscal 2017, the cabinet office has predict eed growth o 1.2% in real terms. now let's see how markets are doing, u.s. stock prices rose for a third day in a row as market sentiment improved. over on wall street, the dow jones industrial average closed at a record high at 18,347, that

is a gain of .66%, actually ending above 5,000 for the first time this year and erasing all the gains for 2016. now let's see what's happening here in tokyo. as market players see the familiarout from the brexit as less extreme than initially thought. but let's have a look at the nikkei here. and you can see that further gains for the nikkei and the topics for wednesday july 13, up 1.94%. the nikkei rose on tuesday with

a gain of 6.5%. the reversal of dollar strength aiding exportes here. solidifying its political base following the weekend's upper house election wins. now another factor which may boost sentiment was the surge in crude oil prices pushing the energy sector higher, british crude rose 4.5%, and that's after the petroleum exporting companies said nonopec countries would fall more than expected. the second quarter earningings and outlooks will be the next big focus, j.p. morgan, chase and citigroup will be reporting this week. >> you mentioned the dollar and we did actually see the dollar move higher, almost 2% against the yen and we also saw the british pound move. give us an update on some of the

pairs there. >> sure, definitely we saw the moves in the dollar, the dollar moves 104.57-50. also the dollar -- safe haven trades after having bought the yen recently. sterling continues to rebound against both the dollar and the yen, up over 2% on the dollar and over 4% against the yen. you're looking at sterling dollar there. the returning of a semblance of uncertainty in the uk and the political vacuum with the leadership of the conservative party becoming a little bit more clear. so that helps. let's get a quick look at the asian markets that are open right now and they're pretty positive right now in seoul and in sidney. chinese markets will be back in an hour and a half and investors

may be anxious to see any reactions if any to the ruling on the south china sea. >> thanks for that update, we'll touch base with you in a couple hours time. another development that may affect the european union after the brexit, finance ministers of the eu have agreed on their plan to impose sanctions on spain and portugal for violating euro zone's budget rules. the eu requires each country using the euro to keep its budget deficit within 3% of gross domestic product. but spain and port gal have been unarnl to meet that condition since 2009, and that's even after they received massive financial support from the eu. officials at the european kmugs will work out the -- couldism pose fines of up to 0.2% of gdp. spain's economy minister expressed his determination to rebuild the country's finances, he pledged that spain would keep its budget deficit within 3% of

gdp next year. portuguese prime minister also released a statement. he said he would shortly explain the financial reconstruction measures to the european union. washington has yet to lift a trade embar coe on cuba. yet that isn't holding back other countries, japan included. here's a report on what's attracting their interest. >> reporter: this bus representing about 30 japanese companies is on a scouting mission organized by japan's main trade organization. they start by meeting officials from state run firms. they've got lots of questions about doing business in cuba.

this man works for a refrigerator maker. he is planning to open a branch in cuba. >> we need to meet people in cuba and ask them what they need. and what their problems are. >> soon, a state wide enterprise that operates refrigerated warehouses, inside he is thrown three cooling machines, but only one of them works. >> parts were removed from this machine so they could be installed in another machine that's working. >> reporter: this freezer stores chicken. ideally the meat should be stored at minus 18 degrees celsius, the aging machine can only manage minus 12. >> translator: our equipment is agesing.

i think we will need new freezing machines at some point in the future. >> he sees potential here, but his company will need to act fast. some big rivals are eyeing the same markets. >> translator: we must lay the ground work before u.s. companies come. we can't compete unless we get a head start. >> reporter: not all japanese firms are selling products. at least one of the visiting delegates is a potential investor. jackie has come to a nightclub in havana, he runs a cable tv channel that plays music from across the globe. music lies at the heart of cuban culture. he's interested in the island's

infectious dance music, suns m arama. >> cube man musicians are highly skilled and the sound is dense. >> he is negotiating with the copyright holder for more than 1,500 tunes. they agreed to discuss a contract. the doors are opening, but cuba is a socialist country and some major challenges remain. aging infrastructure and strict regulations are at the top of the list. for the refrigerator maker, the first problem comes when trying to find an office to rent. the places he is shown are either not suitable or too expensive. >> translator: there are so many business opportunities in cuba, but there's still amount we don't know about contracts and payment. we'll just have to learn as we go.

>> reporter: the difficulties don't seem to deter the business delegation or other international companies. cuba's economy expanded more than 4% last year, and in terms of solid growth, that's the best they have seen in years. >> that's the latest in business for this hour, it's back to catherine now. we take you to singapore now where a court has sentenced four bangladeshi workers to prison for planning an attack from the islamic state militant group. prosecutors said the man aged between 26 and 31 raised money in february and march to finance for attacks in bangladesh while working in singapore. the court says they wanted to target bangladeshi politicians to target the government. two weeks ago militants attacked

a cafe in the bangladeshi capital, more than 20 people died. the death toll from a train crash in southern italy has risen to 23. about 50 people are injured. two commuter trains collided head on in the southern region shortly before news on tuesday. the crash happened on a single stretch of track in an olive grove. rescuers pull people from carriages crumbled by the force of the impact. debris was spread over a wide area. the prime minister pledged a thorough investigation. japan's region. people in the pearl industry there produced the pins, now two

months later, they're working to make the most of the global exposure. >> reporter: jewelry firms from around the world gathered at a business fair in hong kong. more than 200 came from japan. pearl firms were part of the presence. george showed prospective attras made to promote the pearls. >> this is the pin that we made for the g-7 summit. >> reporter: in may, the pins were seen around the world during a group of several summit right there. >> it's a very unique and different design than i have ever seen before, i would certainly wear it myself for sure. >> reporter: the jewelry is a public symbol of the area's industry. it was the first place in the

world to cultivate pearls. companies have made a point of emphasizing quality. but the collapse of japan's bubble economy more than two decades ago hurt sales. the number of pearl producers continues to decline. a year ago, people in the industry focused on the summit as an opportunity. this man came up with the idea of firms involved in different aspects of the business working together. he envisioned making the world's best accessory by the summit. pearls of three millimeters in diameter were the starting poinpoin point. >> referee: the pearls come in a wide range of sizes, the small ones are especially beautiful, they're world class. >> he asked one project members to create pearls fit for the occasion. the process starts with inserting a small ball called a

nucleus in an oyster. multiple nucleii are put in to get small pearls, but there's no guarantee it will work. he has years of experience coaxing things of beauty out of oysters. >> i thought the leader wearing products would be good publicity for our pearls. it would motivate young producers too. >> a year in the making, here's the result. seven pearls on a 3 centimeter, 18 caret gold. >> this design draws the utmost beauty from the pearls. >> reporter: the summit gave the pearls and their producers an opportunity to shine. >> they look great on the chests of the leaders. i was impressed.

>> these men will spread the word at trade fairs, it's an opportunity to cultivate the business of pearls. >> really beautiful there. here in tokyo, it is a warm wednesday morning. our meteorologist joins us now with a check of the weather elsewhere. >> we have been looking at the heaviest rain showers that have been persisting for several days now, definitely starting to cause problems across the area, actually you see kind of that training effect coming in from the southwest, one after the other have been lining up just over the past 24 hours, in some of these areas upwards of about 200 millimeters. you have to remember this is also on top of the rain we have been getting since the start of the week, which in total is starting to add up to 400 to 500 millimeters across this region. landslides actually the extreme risk levels in place here in

part of kumar moto, some evacuation flood advisories. but even if you're traveling across this area, there will be some train delays not to mention some landslides in some of these locations. there's that extreme level risk starting to add up there in yamaguci and hiroshima. more rain expected out here, it is moving toward the east of tokyo, the hot and muggy morning is going to give way to hot afternoon hours. it's going to give way to light precipitation, the heaviest precip still expected out here, up to about 200 millimeters overall. heavy showers expected out

there. also quite unstable, we do have this upper level low moving through and that's going to fire up some thunderstorms along the coastline. you have already seen wind reports out there up to 100 kilometers per hour here on wednesday morning. so more of that is also possible. also looking at scattered showers in eastern china still, some of these areas will see up to 150 millimeters. look at the temperatures, taipei at 31, hong kong at 31 as well. talking about the severe weather, let's mention our front that's been pulling across the high plains, extending across the western great lakes, you can see the squall line right in there, continuing to bring some thunderstorms. i want to show you what this did in minnesota on monday. we'll go ahead and roll that video of this tornado damages coming out of this area, where we actually saw roofs ripped off of buildings, cars were tossed

around, no injuries reported out of this situation, but definitely some different situations there. we still have flood warnings in place across much of the midwest, extending down the mississippi river towards the south here, that's going to be one of the big issues heading through tuesday afternoon, and into wednesday. ahead of this front, look at your temperatures along the eastern seaboard continuing to heat up. 30 in new york.

and that wraps up this edition of nhk news line. thanks for staying with us.

>> this week, on global 3000, we go to ethiopia. we had to new york. it is a city becoming the domain of the super-rich. we visit india, where a quarter of the population has been hit with droughts. our planet is experiencing crazy weather, at the moment. india has been hard-hit. it is home to 18% of the world's population and has only 4% of the world water resources. 330 million people there are suffering the effects of heat wave and drought.