. hello and welcome back to "newsline." i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the headlines. residents in southern japan are hunkered down against dangerously high winds as typhoon neoguri brushes past okinawa. iraqi lawmakers can't agree on the way forward even as they face the threat of militants pushing toward the capital. the professor in western japan is seeing some big potential in tiny bubbles.

people in southwestern japan are on high alert for what could be one of the worst storms in decades. typhoon neoguri is bearing down on okinawa and ka garb show prefectures. more than 500,000 people have been advised to find safe shelter already weather officials are warning of heavy rain, high winds, waves and storm surges. authorities have advised around 590,000 residents throughout okinawa prefecture to evacuate. officials are telling people to head to emergency facilities or stay inside structures that can withstand strong winds. 19 people have been injured. one man was blown over by strong winds and broke his wrist. the okinawa electric power company says nearly 100,000 households are without electricity. airlines have canceled all flights to and from okinawa. ferry services between the islands have been halted. the typhoon has also forced public schools to close.

officials say the storm could affect people in other parts of japan as well. >> translator: we need to be extremely cautious about heavy rain and landslides in western japan. >> he's calling on people in the region to evacuate before the typhoon gets any closer. now our meteorologist jonathan oh is here with the latest on neoguri's impact and its track. >> we have been tracking the storm for the past through days and throughout monday evening into tuesday, emergency warnings were in effect for okinawa because of the intensity of the waves, the strong winds, and it looks like that the winds are starting to shift now because originally as it was tracking toward the north, the easterly and southerly winds were battering the coast. now as it continues to track northward the westerly winds will start to filter in, so a different part of the island willsy more of an impact.

the western side. because of this wind shift. i want to show you the visible satellite perperspective. you can still see the clearly defined eye which means it is still a very strong typhoon, currently packing winds of 162 kilometers per hour, moving north at 30 kilometers per hour. it is expected to eventually turn north and east by around wednesday and then continue to make its track toward kyushu and the western portions of japan going throughout the rest of the week. very strong winds are reported. the wind gusts here anywhere from 173 to 191 kilometers per hour in tokashiki on tuesday. it looks like these strong winds will continue to persist into other portions of japan as the system moves toward the north then the northeast. the rain will start to affect a good portion of japan going into wednesday and thursday. we'll have a detailed look at the world weather coming up in just a bit. let's now head over to iraq

where lawmakers have taken another step backward in their effort to form a united front. they've delayed parliament for more than a month. they're under pressure to cobble together a new government to deal with an insurgency by islamist militants. more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: day after day iraqi government forces have been fighting to regain territory from sunni extremists. they have been hitting militant positions from the ground and from the air. but they marked no major victories. the same could certainly be said for the country's bitterly divided lawmakers. they've been unable to form a unity government and they've now suspended parliament for at least five weeks. many blame prime minister nuri al maliki. they say he's long favored his fellow shia muslims at the expense of sunni muslims and kurds. >> put the interest of the country first. >> reporter: u.s. officials say

all parties need to put aside sectarian divisions and political ambitions. >> to be blunt about it, reaching those agreements and making those difficult decisions are necessary for iraq to survive. >> reporter: the sunni extremists swept into iraq from their strongholds in syria. they seized towns and cities in the north and west and then they announced they were establishing an islamic state. iraqi forces have been challenged to stop their advance. so much so, they have started building a two-meter-high barrier 100 kilometers northeast of baghdad. iraqis are seeing the impact of the conflict in communities across the country. civilians killed or wounded in a government air strike in the north and more deaths following a suicide bombing in the capital. regional leaders are warning the future looks grim. egyptian president, abdel fattah al sisi, says people need to know the region is being destroyed in the name of

religion. so again and again the discussion goes back to whether prime minister maliki is capable of leading iraq out of this crisis. >> i think it's time for mr. maliki to leave the scene. >> reporter: former iraqi prime minister, ayad allawi, has added his voice to the chorus of those calling for maliki's resignation. >> if he says on i think there will be a lot of significant problems in the country and a lot of troubles. and i believe that iraq would go the route of dismemberment. >> reporter: for now, iraq is still iraq but its future won't just depend on these soldiers, it also hinges on these lawmakers and their ability to find common ground in the face of a common threat. craig dale, nhk world. israeli military jets have launched an attack against targets in the gaza strip. palestinian authorities say at least 24 people were wounded

when bombs hit their homes. an nhk reporter in the area says large explosions could be heard for several hours early tuesday morning. the attack comes after more than 60 rockets hit israel from gaza. israeli commanders say they ordered the bombing to prevent terror attacks against their citizens. they reportedly gave advance warning to people in the homes that were targeted. members of the islamic fundamentalist group hamas effectively control gaza. leaders call the bombing outrageous and said if the air strikes continue, they'll attack a wider range of targets. tensions have escalated in recent days following the murders of three young israelis and a palestinian teenager. afghans have been waiting to find out who will be their next leader. electoral officials have given them a hint. they've released preliminary results from the presidential runoff vote last month. former finance minister, ashraf ghani, is leading the race to replace hamid karzai. the officials say ghani has more

than 56% of the vote. they say former foreign minister, abdullah abdullah, has just over 43%. abdullah got the most votes in the first round of the election but he fell short of an outright majority. he's accused electoral officials of fraud. he says he won't accept any result unless there's a full investigation. the officials have admitted that senior members of the security forces and high-ranking government officials engaged in vote rigging. they say they'll carry out an investigation and then announce the final results. the two candidates draw their support from different ethnic bases and some fear a disputed result could widen the ethnic rift. japan's prime minister is in australia seeking to open a new era in trade and diplomacy. shinzo abe has addressed members of article at, becoming the first japanese leader to do so. he explained japan's new approach to security and he called for closer cooperation with australian leaders. >> japan is now wanting to

change its legal basis for security so that we can act jointly with other countries. in as many ways as possible. we want to make japan a country that will work to build an international order that upholds the rule of law. >> members of abe's cabinet decided last week to reinterpret the constitution to enable japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense. they want personnel to be able to defend allies under attack. abe told members of the australian house of representatives that japan will keep a vow of peace made after world war ii. the prime minister also referred to maritime security. >> let us join together all the

more in order to make the vast seas from the pacific ocean to the indian and those skies open and free. >> japanese and other leaders have voiced concern over china's efforts to assert its claims in the east and south china seas. now abe's mission in australia was not just about strengthening security cooperation. another important element was signing a trade agreement. ron madison joins us with more on that from the business desk. >> that's right. after years of negotiations, abe and australian prime minister tony abbott have finally signed a bilateral economic partnership agreement. with this japanese people will be able to eat australian beef more cheaply and australians can buy japanese cars at lower prices. the signing ceremony was held in the capital canberra.

>> translator: the japan/australia epa is a very important framework for bilateral trade and investment and has historic significance for our close bilateral relationship. >> today's visit is about a friendship, a special relationship, which has now been well and truly on foot for six decade the agreement says that japan will reduce its tariffs on frozen australian beef from the current 38.5% to 19.5% over the next 18 years. tariffs on chilled australian beef will also be reduced to 23.5% within 15 years. australia will immediately remove the 5% tariff on imported japanese cars with engines of 1,500 to 3,000 cc displacement. tariffs on other types of japanese cars will be reduced to zero over the next three years. it took negotiators seven

years to reach this deal. fujita joins us to talk about how trade negotiators were able to get this deal done. it took years in the making to get this done. why were negotiators finally able to work out a deal? >> well, both sides were well aware of the merits of making this work, particularly for beef farmers and automakers. and prime minister abe had considered the implications for a much bigger deal on the transpacific partnership. he offered the lowest tariffs on beef for australians. in april they reached the outlines of an agreement with the australians. just before u.s. president barack obama arrived in tokyo for a summit with prime minister abe. japanese officials had had trouble reaching an agreement with their u.s. counterparts on their part of the tpp. and they wanted to nudge the americans into making some concessi concessions. in 2003, japanese officials halted imports of american beef after an outbreak of mad cow

disease. they've resumed trade under certain conditions, but the australians still enjoy the top share in the import market. and the epa would put u.s. beef at a further disadvantage if the americans do not move fast to conclude the tpp talks. >> okay. now the auto trade also a big sticking point in these negotiations. what did the negotiators really have to consider in their discussions on this? >> well, in terms of autos, japanese carmakers have the top share in the australian market. but the rivals from the u.s. and south korea are close behind. soaring labor costs have forced many carmakers to pull out of australia. so australian officials are walking a fine line. they've already abolished tariffs on u.s. vehicles and they signed a free trade agreement in april with the south koreans. tariffs on small and mid-sized south korean cars are set to be eliminated later this year. the japanese wanted to ensure their automakers would be able

to compete on equal footing. >> why did prime minister abe decide this time to go ahead and travel to australia for the meetings? >> well, prime minister abe sees the value of australia for economic reasons and for national security. japan used to import many raw materials, including coal and liquefied natural gas, from australia. japanese officials fear what might happen if the chinese were to look to australia to satisfy some of their energy needs. so they made sure the australians would inform them in advance about changes to exports of food and other resources. government leaders hope that by strengthening ties with australia before the chinese, they will be able to increase their influence in the region. >> all right, key yoko, thank you very much for that. to get a check of the markets now, asian equities paused after reaching recent highs. here's how major benchmarks finished the day. fluctuations limited. jakarta extended its winning streak into a third straight

session. now the key index closed up three-quarters of a% building on maryland's 1.7% gain. investors appear be positioning for victory in the presidential election. he is favored in the business community as he's expected to push for reforms. chi china's shanghai composite rose .2%, finished at 2064. investors staying cautious ahead of the release of chinese economic data. inflation figures are due out on wednesday. meanwhile, here in tokyo the nikkei average seeing declines of .4%. 15,314. that's the lowest close in a week. a strong yen prompted some selling but the decline was capped today. some traders were eager to cherry pick recent decliners. well, japanese leaders have their latest update on the state of the economy. they are looking through the broadest measure of trade and investment with the rest of the world. the current account hit its surplus for the fourth month in

a row. finance ministry officials say in may the surplus reached more than $5 billion. that was higher than many analysts had expected. still it is down $430 million from the same point last year. all nuclear plant in the country are offline, so the people who run utilities have been importing more and more fuel to power businesses and homes. that's led to a deficit in trade of $6.6 billion. but overseas investment made up for the shortfall. the primary income account reflects how much japan earns from those investments and the account hit a surplus of $14.5 billion. corporate bankruptcies in japan fell to the lowest level in 23 years in the first half of this year. and that's due to the ongoing economic recovery. some firms went bankrupt because they were just unable to find enough workers in a tightening labor market. analysts at private credit research firm tokyo shoko research say the number of bankruptcies came to 5,073 between january and june.

that's down 9.7% year on year. the total amount of liabilities tumbled 41.4% to $10.4 billion. but labor shortages and rising wages put strains on many businesses, including construction companies. ten firms went under after having difficulty hiring workers. another ten got into financial trouble because of soaring labor costs. working people in japan are seeing their business pick up again after a tax hike in april. sentiment in the country improved in june for a second straight month. officials at the cabinet office asked more than 2,000 people, mainly in the service sector, how they felt about the economy. the sentiment index in june rose 2.6 point friday the previous month to 47.7. workers in wide-ranging areas including supermarkets, electric appliance shops, and car dealerships said sales were recovering from a slump following the tax hike but the workers cited gasoline prices as a concern, casting a shadow on the outlook for a few months from now.

the index went down 0.5 points to 53.3. it is the first time in three month s for the outlook index t decline. officials brushing aside the decrease as minor and they actually revised their assessment upward. they said impacts of the tax increase are waning and that japan's economy is continuing on a mild recovery path. all right, that is going to do it for "business hour." let's get a check of the markets.

a japanese professor has come up with a technique to assist some local farmers. he is pumping tiny bubbles into the water and he is now seeing a big benefit. >> reporter: under the water at a fish farm in kochi prefecture, western japan. you can see bubbles being pumped in. and they're no ordinary bubbles. the diameter of each is less than 0.1 millimeters. they're called microbubbles. professor takashi hata has been studying the microbubbles for six years. >> translator: microbubbles are very small but have big potential, i believe. >> reporter: hata has been attracted by the unique characteristics of microbubbles.

the bubbles in the left beaker are ordinary ones used in domestic tropical fish tanks. the other one contains microbubbles. ordinary bubbles are big, so soon disappear. but microbubbles stay in water longer because they are so much smaller. >> translator: microbubbles take time to disappear. that means they can dissolve oxygen in water more efficiently. >> reporter: hata thought that characteristic could help the fisheries industry. by improving the flow of oxygen to the fish. farm operators periodically use chemical drugs to kill parasites in the fish. but if there are too many fish in a pool, overcrowding can lead to a shortage of oxygen.

typically, fish then die off which hits the fishery's bottom line. but since hata started pumping in his microbubbles to increase oxygen levels, operators now say it's rare for fish to die. >> translator: the work has become easier and efficiency has increased. we're really grateful for the microbubble machine. >> reporter: the technique has also been applied to the production of ginger, one of the region's specialties. the bubbles help clean the root vegetable. microbubbles are negatively charged when in water. soil on the ginger on the other hand is positively charged. so the bubbles stick to the soil and wash it away. this mechanism makes it easier to get the ginger clean. using microbubbles reduces the amount of water needed to clean the ginger by half.

>> translator: creating microbubbles requires only air and water. so i think there are many fields in which we can easily apply the technique and support local industry. >> reporter: kochi prefectural government has started funding the microbubble project. hata is now researching if giving crops water containing microbubbles can boost harvests. and he'll be hoping for another success that won't just burst and disappear. let's now bring back jonathan for more on the weather. jonathan, it looks like that typhoon neoguri could turn quite dangerous. how is this going to affect us in tokyo and the rest of central japan? >> as it continues to move north and shifts north and east there is a little bit of a ray of hope because we are expecting the system to start falling apart as it moves toward the north and east. however that doesn't mean that we're going to be completely dry

as we go through the next few days. in fact we are expecting quite a bit of rain from this particular system as we go through thursday and friday here in tokyo. here's a look at neoguri as it continues to move to the north and eventually the north and east. the outer bands are starting to touch kyushu. already rain saturated we're going to see more rain as we go throughout the rest of the week. look at this, anywhere from 184 millimeters up to 374 millimeters in some parts of kyus kyushu. that's a lot of rain and it's going to -- we're expecting from 200 to 250 millimeters of rain after we go through another 24-hour period. so we have all this moisture coming in from the south. and because of that, tokyo and also parts of osaka, you're feeling the humid air right now. but relatively dry for the moment. as this system continues to move toward the north, that's when you're going to see increasing cloud cover and more rain as well. look at this, rain accumulation up to 200 millimeters in some

places. i think that the kanto plains may be spared out of the heaviest amounts of rainfall. but further toward the north near hokkaido, you'll be dealing with a lot more rain. here's a look at the americas. and specifically in the central u.s., you can see how the clouds are blowing up over into iowa and missouri. this is going to be another focal point for some strong storms. already saw strong storms on monday. as we go into tuesday this frontal passage will introduce severe possibilities of storms from the northeast into the tennessee valley area. sob prepared for some rain, thunderstorms, some hail possibilities, some strong wind gusts are also part of the forecast going throughout our tuesday. another area dealing with severe weather, the central portions of europe. anywhere from germany down to serbia as this frontal system moves eastward. already the western portions of the continent into france saw a lot of heavy rain. some possible wind gusts and damaging hail will be a part of

the picture from tuesday into wednesday as we go into the central portions of the continent. look at this, berlin, vienna, paris all seeing thunderstorms. highs will be anywhere from the low to upper 20s. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

before we wrap up, a group of japanese kabuki actors is bringing a tale of revenge from beyond the grave to new york. they're performing a play based on a ghost story during a six-day run at lincoln center.

♪ kabuki master founded the company. his son now leads the troupe. they're performing a play from the 19th century that tells how a ghost takes vengeance on his killer. the actors rehearse in front of the media before the first show on monday. the play features a waterfall that uses a huge amount of water. kankuro switches between three roles with lightning speed. >> translator: my father really wanted to perform this play here. we'll convey his passion and our own passion throughout the week so new yorkers can enjoy kabuki. >> it's the third time the troupe has performed in new york since 2007. that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. a7guc

>> you are watching live from paris. "france 24." the headlines we are covering for you today -- israel launches an offensive against gaza, bombing 50 targets. early this tuesday, more have been ordered. meanwhile, in afghanistan, presidential contender abdullah abdalla declares he is the over ashrafite -- ghani, becoming the president. a powerful typhoon has