hello and welcome back to "newsline." i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the headlines. japan's prime minister shinzo abe explains why his cabinet wants to enable the country to use its right to collective self-defense. delegates from tokyo and pyongyang have wrapped up on bilateral talks in beijing. north korea's envoy offered details about a committee to probe the fate of abducted japanese. israelis gather to mourn the deaths of three teenagers as

their leaders blame the militant palestinian group hamas and threaten action. japan's cabinet members have approved the country's new defense policy. japan's leaders have reinterpreted the constitution to enable the country to use its right to collective self-defense. now personnel will be able to defend other countries under attack. prime minister abe explained why he made the change. >> translator: as a peaceful nation japan will continue to follow the path for peace. that is why we made the decision at the cabinet today to further reinforce our efforts. >> past administrations maintained the constitution would only allow japan to use force if it was directly attacked. the cabinet's decision will permit the use of a minimum amount of force to defend a

closely related country under attack. it says the right should be limited to when there are clear dangers that japan's existence is threatened and the rights of its citizens are fundamentally overturned. the cabinet says japan may use force when there's no other appropriate means to repel the attack to protect the country and the citizens. >> translator: for example, if a conflict suddenly erupts overseas and the japanese nationals flee the conflict zone, when the united states ally with capability rescue and transport the japanese the u.s. vessel may come under attack near japan. this is not an attack to japan itself, but to protect the lives of the japanese, the self-defense force will defend

u.s. vessel. the cabinet decision today allows this activity. being fully prepared is effective in discouraging any attempt to wage a war on japan. this is deterrence. the cabinet decision today will further less.the fear of japan being involved in war. that is my conviction. japan will never again be a country that fights war. let me affirm that once again. the global situation surrounding japan is becoming ever more difficult. we need to assume all possible

situations and protect the lives and livelihood of the people. in order to do so we need to establish seamless security legislation. >> now we went out to the streets to ask people what they think about the change in policy. >> translator: they didn't need to be in such a rush. i think they should have taken more time to listen to the opinions of a broad range of people. >> translator: we must defend our country in an emergency. each one of us, every citizen, should be willing to do that. but some people lack that kind of spirit. >> translator: japan could get dragged into a war, and i worry that it's our children's generation that could be affected the most. >> translator: we'd have to respond to an armed attack. i'm not sure whether i can

totally support the change, but i do think people need to talk thoroughly about being prepared. >> legal scholars and experts on security and foreign affairs are also weighing in and they're divided over the cabinet's decision. former diplomat miyaki says today's security environment makes it essential for japan to increase its deterrence. >> we are witnessing some potentially dangerous phenomena surrounding our territorial waters. and islands in the south. so under these circumstances, this is -- unlike the cold war days, we may have a physical potential threat in the south. so we have to deter it. it's not cold war days anymore, it's a reality. it's a present danger.

>> attorney ito says government leaders have failed the people they're meant to serve. >> translator: only the people have the right to change the constitution. but the government totally ignored the views of citizens and went on to change the interpretation anyway. that's ignoring the authority of the people. the cabinet's decision is totally unacceptable. >> nhk world senior political commentator nakajima joins me now. abe has wanted to make this change in the country's security policy for years now. it dates back to the first time he was prime minister. what does this shift mean for japan? >> well, it's a drastic change in the country's understanding of security. japan's constitution is defined in many ways by article 9 which

renounces war. government leaders have long maintained that the country does have the right to collective self-defense. but they have said that given the wording of the constitution, japan should not exercise that right. past administrations have maintained that this country should only use armed force if it faces an imminent and legitimate act of aggression that cannot be stopped by other means. in these cases, any use of force is expected to be kept to a minimum. abe's change this time allows japan to not only defend itself, but its allies too. >> now, you said it's a drastic change. it hasn't come easy. what did prime minister abe have to do in order to make this happen? >> well, allowing japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense has been a long-held political goal for abe. he made it a priority after his liberal democratic party won

landslide victory in the 2012 lower house election. abe handpicked bureaucrats who support his view and he put them in positions that would allow them to influence the process. he responded decisively when members of his coalition partner new komeito dragged their feet on this issue. he put pressure on them by threatening to reach out to other political parties. he announced even a deadline to speed up the talks. >> actually abe did extend that deadline. why did he do that? >> well, the new komeito members had quite cautious as they had been all along. party members and supporters feared that it would be hard to draw a line on how far japanese forces could go when defending an ally, and they also know that this is the fear of many japanese citizens. but they opted to preserve their

coalition, eventually. they have asked for strict limits on xeexercising the righ to collective self-defense. and abe changed some wording, for example, from danger to clear danger. foreign country to a foreign country with which japan has close ties. >> i guess the question now is, what happens next? >> well, the two parties were not able to reach an agreement over the individual cases in which collective self-defense would apply. lawmakers will soon hold discussions in the diet on this issue. the debate over individual conditions will certainly be heated up, even among ruling party members, as lawmakers prepare related bills. but i guess that won't stop this policy shift from going ahead. >> thank you as always.

government officials from tokyo and pyongyang have wrapped up talks in beijing. they discussed the kidnappings of japanese citizens by north korea. the focus was on the details of a special committee set to probe the decades-old abductions. the japanese delegation was led by the chief of the foreign ministry's asian and oceanic affairs bureau ihara. north korea was represented by its envoy for normalizing ties with japan. the talks were held in the north korean embassy in the morning after a couple of hours' break they restarted the talks in the japanese embassy in beijing. pyongyang promised in late may to set up a panel to investigate the fates of the japanese citizens it abducted in the 1970s and '80s. ihara said he hopes to have a constructive debate aft.

he wants reassurance the panel will have authority to investigate state agencies in north korea. and he wants to know if the head of the secret police will be among panel members. song said both sides should responsibly play the roles required of them to make sure their agreement is met. ihara also launched a strong protest against pyongyang's ballistic missile launch into the sea of japan on sunday. he said it breaches u.n. security council resolutions. song says the launch is justified as pyongyang does not recognize u.n. resolutions. now a senior official of japan's national police agency is taking part in the talks. the official will help japanese delegates analyze the north koreans' explanation about the investigation. japanese delegates will look at who is named to north korea's investigative panel. they want to know if panel members will be able to investigate every north korean government agency. probes involving the country's intelligence agencies usually

require special permission from leader kim jong-un. japanese police have collected dna samples of family members of more than 600 people they suspect were abducted by north korean agents. police will test those samples if north korea submits dna from the missing people. now past tests have revealed discrepancies. japanese scientists analyzed dna from a set of remains the north koreans said were from megumi koyota, one of the abductees, but the tests showed it came from a different person. to the latest in business now. managers at companies across japan are feeling less positive about the state of the economy. they responded to the bank of japan's latest takan survey of business sentiment. their answers reflected a change in mood after the consumption tax increase in april. bank officials measured the percentage of respondents who are optimistic. first those who are pessimistic.

for the first time in six quarters they found respondents were less upbeat. the index slipped 5 points to reach plus 12. managers at nonmanufacturers are feeling less positive. that index fell 5 points. managers saw the increase in the sales tax hurt car sales and sluggish exports didn't help their outlook. but managers at large manufacturers are predicting better times ahead. they expect conditions will improve this quarter. bank officials say many managers believe the effect of the tax hike will be temporary. the latest data out of beijing indicate that china's economy is picking up steam. business sentiment among chinese manufacturers has improved for four straight months apparently due to government stimulus measures. china's national bureau of statistics says the purchasing managers index ticked up 0.2 points in june from may to 51. a reading above 50 indicates business is growing. analysts trace the rise to stepped-up public works projects and monetary easing steps to help boost lending to smaller firms. but they see negative signs in

the real estate sector. housing prices have reversed the recent uptrend and private investment in the market is slowing. analysts say they hasn't sure whether the economy will continue to recover in the future. all right, let's get a check of the markets. japanese equities were pushed higher. the nikkei average gained more than 1% today, 15,326. that's the strongest close in a week. some investors found the tankan survey encouraging. large companies revised up their investment plans for this fiscal year. here's how other asian indexes finished out the day. shanghai ended higher after the latest manufacturing figures out of china indicated that the country's economy is stabilizing. the shanghai composite seeing a gain of .1%, 2050. and that was the second day of gains. a private hsbc survey showed china's factory activity expanded in june for the first time in six months. singapore's index closed lower, .4%, 3242.

shares of property firms took a bit of a hit because of the country's housing data. private home prices feld for a third straight quarter in the three months to june. here's what's going on in europe right now. major indexes are all higher. london is up by nearly .5%. gains of .3% for frankfurt. paris gaining .6 percent. the french bank agreed to pay a fine of almost $9 billion for violating sanctions. 101.58, little changed from the levels that we saw in asian trading hours. they're waiting for a bit more trading cues like the ism manufacturing report that's due out later on tuesday. meanwhile, euro/yen at right around 139.11. japan's budget airline market is getting crowded. malaysian-based low-cost carrier air asia will be teaming up with

other firms to re-enter the japanese market. they made the announce in the meantime tokyo. they'll create a joint venture air asia japan. rockten will put up 18% of the capital. >> what we're trying to do at air asia japan is bring the world to japan by making it affordable and by connecting places that have never been connected to japan before. >> ceo tony fernandez also said he is happy to be able to work with new business partners. rockten ceo nikitani expressed full hope to make use of his company's i.t. technology to expand the business. >> translator: there's a wide variety of assistance we can offer from selling tickets to providing inflight entertainment. >> the now company is hoping to start service in the second half of next year. flight routes and other days have yet to be worked out. air asia first joined japan's

domestic market back in august 2012 together with major japanese airline ana. the alliance was involved in june last year due to some policy differences. struggling electronicsmaker sony has spun off its loss-making pc business. a new company named vaio has kicked off business under a new owner. vaio is owned 95% by a japanese investment fund and 5% by sony. >> translator: we want to build the kind of company that is worthy of support from our customers. we want to regain the loyalty of our product users. >> streamlining is key to the new firm based in sony's former pc plant in central japan. the workforce will be slashed to just one-fifth, about 240 people. the company will also narrow its product lineup. it will release only three models beginning next month in an effort to become profitable again. the u.s. justice department

has fined france's largest bank. they bought nearly $9 billion for breaking economic sanctions against countries black listed by the united states. the penalty is the largest ever for this type of case in the u.s. >> bnp gained in a complex and pervasive scheme to illegally move billions through the united states financial system on behalf of sanctioned entities. >> the justice department has accused bnp of conducting illegal transfers of money from 2004 to 2012. the transactions involve countries like sudan, iran, and cuba that were subject to sanctions for aiding terrorist activities. the french bank admitted to the charges and agreed monday to pay $8.97 billion. it has also been ordered to halt some of its dollar transactions in the the u.s. in a statement bnp said a number of managers and employees involved in the violations have been punished and some have been

fired. the bank says it expects the fine to have no impact on its operational and business capabilities. that is going to do it for "business hour." here's the markets. israeli forces are striking back against a militant palestinian group hamas over the deaths of three israeli teens. they bombed dozens of targets belonging to hamas.

its members say they're not to blame and israel is just looking for an excuse to go to war. nhk world's craig deal reports. >> reporter: israelis have come together to mourn. they have gathered across the country to remember three young lives lost. >> it's terrible and it is heartbreaking to everybody here. >> reporter: everybody had been hoping the 19-year-old, 16-year-old, and the other 16-year-old would be found alive. the boys disappeared in mid-june near hebron in the west bank. the israeli defense forces launched an intense search. they arrested hundreds of palestinians connected with the militant group hamas, which has called for israel's destruction. local residents say at least five palestinians died in the operation. israeli soldiers found the teens' bodies buried beneath rocks in a field.

authorities think they were shot soon after being abducted. >> israel mourns three teenagers brutally murdered by the hamas terrorists. >> reporter: prime minister benjamin netanyahu says hamas is responsible and hamas will pay. but officials with the group deny involvement and they say any israeli action would open the gates of hell. at this point it's all just words but it's another sign that full-scale confrontation could be looming. over the weekend, palestinians fired rockets into southern israel. israeli forces responded with air strikes. with the teens dead, hamas blamed, and the peace process in limbo, what happens next is a question on many minds. u.s. president barack obama is urging all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation.

and u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon said both sides shouldn't do anything to further escalate this highly tense situation. so far the israelis are chasing two palestinian suspects they call hamas operatives. and they're telling president mahmoud abbas of the palestinian authority to scrap a reconciliation pact with hamas. >> if the palestinian leadership says that it's opposed to terrorism, they cannot be in a political alliance with the murderers of children. >> reporter: as leaders on both sides weigh their options israelis continue to wrestle with grief. they know what the teens represent in death. but they're taking time to remember the boys for who they were in life. craig dale, nhk world. it's time now for the weather forecast with our meteorologist robert speta. >> yes, we'll start off talking about what is going on across much of europe today where we

are seeing some storm in the west, but also in the east where a cold front really blew through eastern portions of europe. now moving into western russia, bringing in some heavy rain, strong thunderstorms with this. even a tornado reported down towards the balkan peninsula in croatia, bosnia, you saw large hail coming out of this storm system. i do want to show you video out of poland this past weekend and really into monday where you saw heavy rain. just bringing in some unfavorable conditions. actually very unideal weather. heavy rain and these temperatures around 18 degrees. definitely ruining plans for many families out here waiting to go on vacation in nearby mountains and waterways in poland. the weather is forcing these people to really reconsider traveling out and about there into the low countries and extending off there into eastern europe. take a look at the forecast. it's still going to be rather wet and drizzly over the next several days and temperatures below normal. that cold front pushing through. and your temperatures while still into the mid-20s out here,

partly cloudy skies there for you, but it's going to be below normal. so definitely want to bundle up. i know you saw the high temperatures. they seem rather warm. but the lows getting into the teens. take a look elsewhere though. that storm system's move off back toward the west. we do have rough weather in northern porings of the british isles and extending across much of the low countries over towards the alps. you are looking at that threat of large hail. 5 to 7 centimeters possible as we look ahead into your tuesday and even out towards wednesday. especially in these areas right there along the western slopes of the alps. take a look at your temperatures though. 23 there in paris. sunny skies for you. then to london, 21. staying relatively cooler there on your tuesday. let's look over towards the americas now. we have a few areas i do want to talk about in the tropics. the pacific ocean, we have two tropical storms. these are expected to weaken. delivering some rain along the western seaboards of mexico and also some high waves out there for you. i do want to talk about the

storms that are directly impacting people now, though. it's the severe weather across the central u.s. also extending into southern canada. actually these areas in yellow, you could be seeing scattered thunderstorms as we look ahead into tuesday, especially in the afternoon hours, extending from eastern portions of ontario, western new york, the ohio river valley. a few of these storms could be producing damaging winds and it's already produced some damaging weather. back towards iowa here on monday, 300 homes damaged due to golf ball-sized hail. pretty incredible stuff. now it's going to continue to work its way off there toward the east. you can see the northern part of the satellite picture. i want to key in on this. it's a tropical depression just starting to spin up there. and that is going to be slowly moving its way off there toward the north along the eastern seaboards of the u.s. as we look ahead for the next several day something to watch out for, could be a flood threat. talking about flooding and heavy rainfall, central and eastern portions of china, it really has been coming down for you. still flooding possible as we

look ahead through the next 24 hours. as far as japan is concerned, inland areas, you could see some afternoon thunderstorms. a few of those could produce about 100 millimeters of rainfall. but as far as tokyo is concerned, i do think most of the showers are going to stay outside of the city. high of 28 here on your wednesday. here's the extended outlook.

and that's all for me today. gene otani will bring you more

updates at the top of the hour. thank you for watching. gg99ññwc

>> in paris, our top stories for you this hour. israel bombs dozens of sites in the gaza strip, raiding the homes of 2 suspects thought to be behind the killing and murder -- kidnapping and murder of israeli teenagers. prime minister says he is running for president. erdogan has dominated turkish politics for a decade. the presidency could keep them there for at least five more years. and former french president nicolas sarkozy is in custody, being questioned over the alleged trading of