hello and welcome back to "newsline." i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the headlines. ban ki-moon has criticized militants for hiding rockets at a u.n. run school? gaza saying it puts the lives of civilians at risk. a taiwanese passenger plane crashed on a small island after getting caught up in stormy weather. and some declassified documents are giving new insight into the relationship between

japan and the united states. the united nations secretary-general is criticizing militant groups in gaza for hiding weapons inside a u.n. run school. ban ki-moon says those responsible should be held accountable for putting people in harm's way. this is one of the latest twists in the 16-day long conflict between israeli forces and the islamic group hamas. craig dale is following developments for us. >> the united nations released a statement saying the secretary-general is alarmed to hear that rockets were hidden inside a u.n. run school and they subsequently went missing. the statement goes on to say those responsible are turning schools into potential military targets and endangering the lives of innocent children, u.n. employees, and anyone using the schools as shelter. tens of thousands of palestinians have been staying at these facilities to get out of the way of israel's air and ground offensive. the u.n. statement will come as no surprise to the israelis.

they accuse hamas of hiding weapons in command centers in schools, mosques and hospitals. israeli commanders say they're trying to destroy the weapons, and they say they're working to demolish tunnels hamas fighters use to infiltrate their country. israel defense forces spokesperson say militants are also using the umbrella of the u.n. to conceal tunnel building activity. they say hamas members use bags from a relief agency meant to hold wheat to store dirt and hide evidence of their work. these accusations and revelations are further fueling this conflict, which left hundreds of palestinians and dozens of israelis dead. excuse me. a cease-fire between israel and hamas doesn't seem imminent. in fact, the hamas leader says he won't agree to a truce until the israelis agree to lift their economic blockade of gaza. he spoke in qatar and said his group will only accept a cease-fire if the blockade ends. the general consensus here is hamas leaders want to walk away

from the war with something to justify their losses, which have been significant. however, the israelis have faced continued criticism about the number of civilian casualties in gaza. their wore planes have hit hospitals, mosques and at least one of those u.n. run schools we were talking about. most members of the u.n. human rights council have expressed concern. they're launching an investigation into possible human rights abuses in the palestinian territories. >> they expect the right to life including children should be a foremost consideration. >> a 29 council members voted in favor of the resolution calling for the investigation. 17 abstained and the u.s. representative voted against it. u.s. officials say the resolution was one sided because it didn't mention hamas. the fighting has taken a human and economic toll. some european airlines suspended flights to israel for the time

being. some u.s. airlines had also suspended flights this week, but the aviation authority in the u.s., the faa, has lifted its ban, which will be welcomed by israeli leaders who criticized the bans that have been put in investigators in taiwan are trying to find answers in the wreckage of a passenger plane. the airliner got caught up in the tail end of a typhoon. the pilot tried to land at an airport, but the plane crashed into a village. 48 people were killed. 15 others were hurt including five people on the ground. the transasia air ways plane took off with 58 people on board. it was headed to penghu island. the pilot tried to land at an airport there but failed. aviation authorities say he told air traffic controllers he would make another attempt, but soon after they lost contact. >> translator: i heard a loud bang. and i thought it was thunder. then i heard another bang and

saw a ball of fire. >> japan's foreign ministry officials say most of the passengers were taiwanese. their families had to wait to find out what happened to them. >> a typhoon slammed into taiwan before the crash. it was still raining. but aviation authorities suggested it was possible to make a landing under the conditions. >> translator: we apologize for the accident. >> the plane was a model called the atr 72. the twin engine aircraft can carry up to 70 people. the same type crashed two years ago in siberia. 31 people were killed. two years before that, another went down in cuba, killing all 68 people on board. an international team has

taken charge of the investigation into the down of a malaysia airlines plane. the jet was shot down last week over eastern ukraine. ukrainian forces have been fighting pro russian separatists in the area and fears about safety have prevented investigators from getting to the site. malaysia airlines flight 17 bound from amsterdam to kuala lumpur went down last thursday. all 298 people on board were killed. the dutch safety board issued a statement saying experts from the netherlands, ukraine, ma larb why and russia launched a full scale investigation. the team is set to be collecting and analyzing data in the ukrainian capital kiev. but the investigators have not visited the crash site itself. pro russian militants control the area and on wednesday, two ukrainian fighter jets were shot down not far from the site. australia media report the government there is considering sending a 100 member team of police and military personnel to ukraine. and dutch media say the

netherlands government is also considering sending troops to protect the investigators. japanese government officials have released some old documents that shed new light on relations with the u.s. they have declassified diplomatic papers from the 1970s on negotiations over an important japanese industry at the time, textiles. the papers reveal some of the frustrations of then u.s. president richard nixon. nhk world looks back. >> reporter: officials at japan's ministry of foreign affairs have opened a window into the pas documents on negotiations that took place from 1969 to 1971 on textile exports to the u.s. have

now been made public. it might not sound like much now, but the negotiations caused a considerable amount of friction. during these negotiations, the prime minister had to promise to make concessions to the u.s. but in 1971, japanese textile makers announced volunteer limits on u.s. bound exports. the americans complained that the limits didn't go far enough, but the japanese government supported the textile makers. among the recently declassified document is a letter from u.s. president richard nixon to prime minister sato sent shortly after. nixon expressed his disappointment at sato's support for the textilemakers. he said, it seemed impossible to continue the negotiations. at the same time, japanese and american negotiators were

locating tugs. the americans used those tugs to successfully press the japanese to make concessions on textiles. as a result, some people criticized sato saying he had sold out people in one of japan's leading industries. one expert on diplomacy said the letter suggests president nixon felt that sato had betrayed him. >> i think the -- this sort of very personal and also at the same time sentimental angry expressed by close ally, by the united states, prime minister sato apparently thought his promise in the talks was just a -- kind of a very convenient remarks to get the reversion of

okinawa. but in the talks, nixon, president nixon was really encouraged by his personal promise. japanese government at that time took this letter so seriously, but the problem is that government of japan at that time did not know how to resolve this textile issue. >> reporter: he says that u.s. government officials -- textile negotiations and reversion which were different issues and he points out a similar situation in current relations. >> we might have seen the same kind of picture in the last summit talks in april. tpp and senkaku issues. what was not linked, but in that

talks, summit talks, it was actually linked. the united states delayed actually to release joint statement before japan considered on tpp issues. so we can see this kind of troubles repeatedly. >> reporter: he emphasizes that the personal relationships between top leaders is a key to resolving difficulty issues regardless of the times. nhk world. let's turn to the latest business stories with ron madison. >> all right, thank you, shery. the trade deficit from january to june is the highest ever for a happier period. rising fuel imports are calling the imbalance. preliminary trade figures for

the first half of 2014 show a deficit of almost $75 billion. that's the largest since officials started keeping comparable data back in 1979. exports for the period rose 3.2% in yen terms from a year earlier. officials attribute the drag on exports to slowing demand in emerging economies. imports for the period shot up 10%. japan bought more liquefied natural gas from australia and qatar and crude oil from saudi arabia. the deficit in june added up to $8.1 billion. that's the 24th month in a row that the trade balance has been in deficit. get a check of the markets now. investors in asia somewhat encouraged by the latest sign of improvement in china's manufacturing activity. major benchmarks looked like this. we got chinese factory activity in july expanding at its fastest pace in 18 months. this is according to an hsbc survey. the shanghai composite extended its recent winning streak to a three month high.

it was up 1.3%. finished at 2,105. investors poured more money into the market on hopes that it would be easier for foreigners to invest in shanghai stocks as cross border trading in equities are expected to start as scheduled. in hong kong, the hang seng index seeing gains as well of .7%, 24,141, a three-year closing high. shares of property developers rose thinking more chinese cities will ease restrictions on house purchases. the nikkei was down .3%, 15,284. investors a bit cautious as they refrained from active buying ahead of corporate earnings from major companies. and in south korea, shares ended in the negative, the country's economy grew .6% in the second quarter. that's the slowest growth rate in more than a year. that dispute between argentina and u.s. creditors continues as a deadline to strike a settlement draws

closer. argentina risks its second default in 13 years unless it negotiates a deal with the bond holders by wednesday next week. argentine president insists her country will not go into default. she says buenos aires has been paying its debts on time to creditors who reduce to debt obligations from the 2001 default. the u.s. supreme court ruled last month argentina cannot pay other investors unless it pays off the bond holders who are demanding full repayment. argentina rejects the order since those creditors refuse to accept reduced payments. negotiators from both sides are expected to meet in new york later on thursda a poll shows that a third of japanese companies have been struggling to secure enough workers. the survey by a private research firm examined japan's labor shortage. the recruit holding survey polled more than 1,000 companies with at least 30 employees. the pollsters asked about the firm's situation from april to june. they found that retail, food services and transportation were

the sectors hit hardest by the worker shortage with around 40% reporting they had trouble hiring enough people during that three-month period. the poll asked the companies if they believed that japan's labor shortage would be resolved in the future. just over half said they saw no signs on the horizon. a recruit holdings analyst says japanese companies need to take a structural review of their human resources situation so that they can continue to do business with limited workforces. motorists in japan may get relief agree the summer holiday season gets under way. gasoline prices at the pump this week fell for first time in 4 1/2 months, reflecting the lower cost of crude oil. the latest data from the oil information center shows as of tuesday the average price of regular gas per liter was 169.8 yen, that's about $1.67 and also down .1 from the previous week. it is a very slight decline, but first drop we have seen since march 3rd. the movement follows a small reduction in the price of crude

oil, which has prompted petroleum wholesalers to lower their prices. crude oil prices were on a rise since tensions erupted in iraq last month. analysts aren't sure whether cheaper gasoline will become a trend. they cite a range of uncertainties including ukraine. a university research team in japan developed a new model of drone plane that can fly indoors without using gps. it will be used for inspecting the fukushima daiichi power plant. a group developed the unmanned plane. it is about one meter both in width and length and has six propellers. about ten firms including electronics makers cooperated in the project. to fly indoors where gps does not work, conventional drones had to have positioning information provided from outside by infrared or other rays. this new model has a sensor for figuring out its position and surroundings. it is designed to avoid obstacles on its own. global competition is becoming

intense for the drone market. amazon and google of the u.s. are among those that are deve p developing unmanned planes. some investors believe they can find some wealth in the power of the sun. two years ago the japanese government launched a program to promote more solar power and other renewable energies. and investors from japan and abroad rushed in to get a piece of the market. nhk world has more on that. >> reporter: an array of solar panels cover the prefecture in western japan. it generates from a plot here. the initial investment was 200,000 u.s. dollars. every month he earns a profit of about $700. >> translator: i'll make another investment with the profits from the solar power operation.

>> reporter: a company helped him launch his business. it has been promoting solar power to investors since the government's program got under way. power companies generate renewable power suppliers at a price set by the government in principle for 20 years. that price is about twice as high as in germany, the country with the world's highest capacity. >> translator: at first, individual investors took a wait and see attitude. but some people showed good results, they started paying more and more attention. >> reporter: the high price in japan has not escaped the notice of companies in the united states, europe and asia. they are also launching solar power projects in japan.

even so, some programs have surfaced since the program started. as of march, about 1.2 million projects have been approved to sell generated solar power. but the number of projects in operation is half that figure. according to an industrial association official, the capacity of the power grid is too small to handle the surging market, which has been growing faster than expected. another problem is gaining consent of local residents. >> translator: local people often say they can't accept a contract to lease their land because they aren't given enough explanation. >> reporter: a south korean company has been able to address such concerns.

its strategy is to put priority on building good relations with local community. the company started to generate solar power from a 42,000 square meter field. in one year, $1 million. the company entrusted the power station's management to a local organization. the company has signed a new lease in the area. it invited local representatives to its groundbreaking ceremony >> translator: as a member of this community, we hope to be of help to you. we think we know the way of thinking of our business partners in japan to some extent. but the most important thing is to narrow the perception gap

more. >> reporter: market player need to come up with smart strategies and well planned efforts. that's because japan has a limited supply of suitable land, while more and more businesses are entering the solar power business. keiko aso, nhk world, tokushima. okay, that is going to do it for business hour. let's get you a check of the markets.

every morning, investors turn their attention to asia. the tokyo market leads the way. and markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy. >> to the companies at the forefront of change. >> up to the minute market reports. >> and analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news and insight every day here on "newsline." still big problems, meteorologist jonathan oh is here with the latest. what should people expect? >> folks over in the eastern portion of china have to deal with a lot of rainfall. a tropical system typically brings copious amounts of

precipitation. when it starts to slow down it going to dump a lot of rain for an extended period of time and that's when trouble starts to happen. here is a look at the satellite imagery. you see the circulation now fully inland and starting to move toward the north. it is still dumping a lot of rainfall. let's look at some video out of the fujian province. you see the flooding where the storm made landfall wednesday evening. the capital city was seriously inundated and vehicles were soaked in water. people had to wade through knee deep water along the sidewalk. the storm triggered landslides and strong winds and many fishing vessels were also overtu overturned. on top of that, over the last three days, close to 700 millimeters of rainfall fell in some places. that's a lot of rainfall. and that's something that needs to be taken into account as we go throughout friday and into the weekend. here is a look at the statistics, moving to the north at 25 kilometers per hour, holding winds at 72, gusting up to 90, expected to move off the

shore into waters as we go into late friday. at that point, it is expected to weaken into just a depression. but the waves are expected to kick up and eventually it will bring some rain and a lot of it into the korean peninsula by the weekend. meanwhile, high pressure controlling the weather for the western portions of japan. so very warm air moving in and tokyo, highs reached around 34 degrees on thursday. more warm weather is expected as we progress through the next few days. again, lots of rain from eastern china into the korean peninsula. but dry conditions over japan. and speaking of japan, let's look at the three-day forecast as we look to the weekend. above average temperatures, highs in the low to mid-30s for many places. tokyo, nagoya, tuck o sapporo, average temperatures for this weekend. the forecast for the americas, we have a cold front that moved through the eastern portion of the country. you see the tail end of that cold front some storms blowing

up here near oklahoma. in oklahoma, here is a picture where the lightning bolts strike in the middle of the strong storms and clouds rolling in. the reason why this happened is because whenever you have colder air pushing into an area very warm air in the deep south, that collision causes the strong storms. looks like the more cold air is going to spark up some thunderstorms down into the carolinas, as we go into thursday, and also possibly into friday. meanwhile, high pressure with this very amplified jet stream bringing very warm air, fire danger weather does continue for the western half of the united states. l.a. at 33. 34 in denver. 35 degrees in oklahoma city. let's wrap things up with a look at europe. you can still see here the swirl of clouds with an upper level disturbance, low pressure is causing problems with strong winds and also heavy rainfall. looks like this will continue to be a problem as we go into thursday and also into friday. so down toward rome, you'll see some scattered showers.

you see in athens rain expected. a high of 32 degrees. but a very different story into the scandinavian peninsula. oslo, 36 degrees. that's a lot warmer than the average of 21 degrees. 15 degrees above average for thursday and friday. yes, we will see a cooldown for saturday and sunday, but still going to be quite warm. have a good day wherever you are. we bring you breaking news this hour. media reports say aviation authorities have lost contact with an air algerie passenger aircraft. flight ah-5017 was en route to algiers. the airliner is reported to be carrying 110 passengers and six crew members. the plane disappeared from the radar 50 minutes after it took off early thursday morning local time. the aircraft is mcdonald douglas

md 83. once again, for those of you just tuning in, we have breaking news this hour. an air algerie passenger aircraft disappeared from radar. media reports say the airliner was carrying 116 people. flight ah-5017 was flying from the capital of the west african nation of beurkina faso to algiers. this just in, aviation authorities reportedly lost contact with an air algerie passenger plane. the plane was mcdonald douglas md 83. flight ah-5017 was flying from burkina faus faso to algiers. it disappeared from radar 50 minutes later. we'll bring you updates on this story and more at the top of the hour. gene otani will bring you the latest in about 30 minutes.

thank you for watching. thank you for watching. a7guc

>> hello, and welcome to the studio here at "france 24." you are watching live from paris . here's a look at our top stories this hour. army leaders and israeli commanders refused to budge on their positions, sending the conflict into its 17th day. more than 700 palestinians have died. denying responsibility, a top russian official says the mitch -- missiles that shut down ukrainian fighter jets were