hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja prad hahan in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. officials in the obama administration outland a threat and they're promising to destroy the capabilities. russian president vladimir putin has laid out his vision of how to end the fighting in ukraine and he's hoping for an agreement by the end of the week. and japanese ministers have been getting down to work, a day

after prime minister shinzo abe reshuffled his cabinet. the u.s. defense secretary reacted angrily to the executions of two american journalists. islamic state militants this week released a video showing the beheading of a second reporter. chuck hagel said the u.s. will deal with attempts to threaten his country and allies around the world. >> what the commander chief asked of us is to provide him those options and those plans to accomplish the mission of destroy and degrade the capability of isis. >> but hagel said air strikes alone will not accomplish the mission. he said iraq also needs a stable and inclusive government. now, obama's counterterrorism chief is also talking about the threat posed by islamic state. he says if left unchecked, the militants will turn their attention to the west and perhaps to the u.s. >> theumber of europeans who

travel to syria and certainly some of them, perhaps many, joined forces with isil, they are thenes who are returning home. that is sort of the model that we're most concerned about. >> but olsen said there is no evidence that foreign fighters are operating in the u.s. he said any plot at this point would be limited in scope. olsen said the group has more than 10,000 combatants including many young europens and americans. he said they're collecting about a million dollars a day in an illegal trade of crude oil and ransom payments. and he said they're recruiting more new members online. russian president vladimir putin has outlined plans for a cease-fire in eastern ukraine. he spoke over the phone with ukrainian president petro poroshenko and putin said he believed government forces and pro-russian separatists would agree to stop fighting.

>> translator: our views on the way to resolve the conflict as it seemed to me are very close. >> putin revealed a seven-point plan to end a conflict that killed more than 2600 people since april. he called for the separatists to halt offensive operations and for ukrainian forces to pull back. he asked for an end to ukrainian air strikes and creation of humanitarian aid corridors. he suggested damaged infrastructure be rebuilt and prisoners be released. representatives of russia, ukraine and the organization for security and cooperation in europe will meet in minsk, pell ru belarus, to discuss a truce. putin said he thought they could reach an agreement. poroshenko suggested his conversation with pewt utin had injected some momentum. he said before the cease-fire, the separatists will have to disarm. putin wants an unconditional cease-fire. now, french leaders too are signaling their objections.

aides to francois hollande said he's putting plans on hold. russian defense officials had agreed to pay $1.6 billion for two amphibious assault ships. they signed a contract three years ago with a french ship building firm. the first vessel was supposed to be delivered next month. officials at the french presidential office say that won't happen now. european union leaders announced the ban in july on weapons sales to russia as part of a round of economic sanctions. french officials said at the time that they would go ahead and deliver the first ship. they said the sanctions do not cover contracts that had already been signed. but they face pressure from the leaders of other countries to put the deal on hold. now, the leaders of nato member nations are meeting to discuss the challenges they face. they're expected to focus on the crisis in ukraine, and their support for the government in kiev. the heads of nato's 28 member

nations are spending two days together in the uk. the leaders of poland and three baltic states are worried about the growing presence of russian troops outside their own country. delegates are expected to discuss the creation of a rapid reaction force. they would be able to send thousands of soldiers to a hot spot in two days. the leaders will also discuss ways to improve ukraine's armed forces. the country is not a member of nato, but president poroshenko is attending the conference. and it is now time to see what's making headlines in the world of business. here's ron madison with the latest. >> all right, thank you, raja. policymakers at japan's central bank say the country's economy continues to recover moderately despite the consumption tax hike in april. they have kept the assessment unchanged. the board members unanimously agreed to continue their monetary easing measures to achieve the central bank's inflation target of 2%. the policymakers wrapped up their two-day meeting on thursday. they said consumer spending is

showing resilience as job and income conditions are steadily improving. they said the impact of the higher consumption tax is gradually waning. the policymakers said exports are showing some weakness and industrial production is increasing at a moderate pace as a trend, but has recently shown some weakness. as for housing investment, a decline has continued after the consumption tax hike. the board members are believed to have been engaged in an intensive debate. they wanted to determine whether the effects of attacks were continuing longer than they had expected. various economic indicators have recently shown weakness in personal spending as well as exports. boj governor spoke to reporters after the policy meeting. he addressed the recent gains in the dollar against the yen. >> translator: economic fundamentals suggest that it wouldn't be strange for the u.s. dollar to strengthen further. that's because the u.s. economy is continuing to move forward on its recovery path in a firm and

constant manner. so i think the currency movement we're seeing now, the dollar is strengthening against the yen, won't result in an especially negative situation for the japanese economy. >> and about the consumption tax, kuroda indicated it would be desirable to raise the rate to 10% from october next year as planned. he said if the tax hike does not occur, people in the financial markets would doubt the government's resolve and efforts to restore the country's fiscal health. on to the markets now, some investors in asia took profits from recent gains, while others stayed on the sidelines. their focus is on upcoming major events. the european central bank is scheduled to announce its policy decision later on in the day. also we have got u.s. nonforeign payroll data coming out on friday. you can see most of the major dch mark benchmarks finished with

declines. nikkei was down .33%, 15,676, that comes after reaching a seven month closing high for two days in a row. the yen's pause in weakening was not a positive for the market. in sydney, the s&p asx 200 index down more than .4%. 5,631. that is a second straight day of declines there. pulling the index lower today was resource stocks. they came under pressure due to falling iron ore prices. and in china, the shanghai composite climbing .8%, recovering that 2,300 level for first time since may 2013. shares in the sector went higher today. a federal district court in the united states upheld a $6 billion judgment against japan's largest drugmaker. the court says takeda pharmaceutical hit cancer risks associated with its diabetes drug actos. in april, a jury in the state of

louisiana ordered the company to pay the money in punitive damages. the suit was brought by a man who claimed actos caused him to suffer bladder cancer. takeda officials say they, quote, respectfully disagree with the verdict. they say they're planning an appeal. $6 billion is four times the drugmaker's operating profit for all of last fiscal year. the company has been fighting other cases over the drug in u.s. courts. judges or juries in five other lawsuits have ruled in favor of takeda. executives at toyota motor are addressing growing concerns about vehicle safety. they say they'll install automatic braking systems in almost all models sold in the u.s. by the year 2017. the officials announced the plan at a safety technology conference near detroit. automatic braking systems are growing more common in japan, even for many vehicles. in the u.s., the system is used mainly on luxury models.

farmers in japan want to give europeans a taste of japanese beef. last year authorities in europe lifted a ban on imports. now japanese executives are trying to sell people on the merits of wagyu. >> reporter: this man promotes japanese beef. today he visits a butcher in central paris to discuss wagyu sales. he asks the shop keeper what the french think of wagyu. >> translator: fatty meat is not popular with french people. it will probably be tough to sell it in france. >> reporter: europeans prefer lean meat, so it is no wonder tata feels it is a challenge to promote beef that is not only expensive, but also marbled with fat.

he sought help from the paris office of the japan external trade organization, or jetro. they're going to come up with a plan to distribute wagyu in france. >> translator: for french consumers, there is no precedent for eating this kind of beef. so we'll study how this meat can be cooked and served. >> reporter: how do they go about persuading the french to eat their product? they visit a three-star restaurant in paris. pierre is the restaurant chef. he's known for his skillful use of ingredients from around the globe. he asks the chef for tips to bring out the best flavor from

the marbled beef. >> translator: add vinegar? it will help ease the fatty taste. >> reporter: many japanese would consider this innovative. >> translator: it is best to use just a small amount of wagyu because it is expensive. the meat is fatty. but above all, it is soft. >> reporter: in july, jetro organized a promotional event. some 100 people were invited, including chefs and owners of high end restaurants. they watched a demonstration of how to cook wagyu. donier addressed the crowd. he cooked wagyu in the traditional french style of

braising. he cut them into bite size pieces and covered them with sauce. like foie gras, a small amount of wagyu is enough to give a dish some zest. >> translator: i enjoyed the natural taste. it seemed the beef melted in my mouth. >> translator: i would definitely use wagyu. for us, it is a new ingredient. to cook it, new skills are needed. >> reporter: tata received 50 inquiries from people interested in wagyu. >> translator: the next step is to figure out how to make sure the demand for this beef never drops. >> reporter: japan has just started exporting wagyu to europe. the key is to convince people who eat luxury foods that this unique japanese beef belongs on their menu.

>> okay. that is going to do it for business hour. let's see what's going on in the markets. members of japan's new cabinet are getting down to business and prime minister shinzo abe says he too has a new perspective. >> translator: i will put all my energy into revitalizing the economy and reviving regions with a fresh mind. >> abe's cabinet includes five women. that's a record.

haruko arimura replaces masako mori as consumer affairs minister. >> translator: please give dreams and hopes to mothers in this country. as a representative of all of them. >> translator: as a mother, i want to listen carefully to people's voices. i will try to ensure consumer safety and enhance the quality of public welfare. and i will demonstrate the vision clearly as they are important missions for the abe administration. >> arimura spoke to about 250 members of her staff. she told them it is her duty to listen to those who are weak and vulnerable. she said the agency is relatively new, so the people who work there have a chance to make history. chinese president xi jinping has done something he doesn't often do. he delivered a speech on what

the chinese call victory day. and he mentioned a long-term friendship with japan would benefit both nations. ♪ all seven members of the politburo standing committee including xi and others attended the ceremony on wednesday. it marked japan's surrender in 1945. president xi later delivered a speech. he said china would not allow any denial or distortion of history or any return to militarism. analysts assume that's a warning to the government of prime minister shinzo abe. beijing has repeatedly criticized japan for what it sees as a shift to the right. but xi said a long-term friendship benefits both nations and he said his government and the people of china will make more efforts in this direction. and there is another sign the debate on japan may be changing. an online conversation in china has been raging about the benefits of bilateral ties. the debate was triggered by an

article called has japan done anything other than harm china? the article said japan paid more than $36 billion in development assistance to china over the 30 years until 2008. it included a photo of japanese rescue workers praying for the victims of the 2008 earthquake in sichuan province. some people responded by writing they hoped for better ties and that there are many lessons to be learned from japan. meanwhile, japan's top government spokesman has again called for talks between leaders of japan and china. chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga was commenting on president xi's remarks. suga said japan has respected many countries for its consistent efforts as a peaceful nation during the 70 years since the end of world war ii. and he stressed the importance of friendship with china. >> translator: japan and china share responsibility for the region's peace and safety. the world is paying attention to

our relations. >> suga said prime minister abe has always maintained that the door for dialogue is open. he said it is important that leaders of the two countries meet and talk, even when they have contentious issues. japanese officials are hoping for a meeting between abe and xi on the sidelines of the asia pacific economic cooperation summit in beijing in november. and the chinese president gave japan a mixed message. he took hard and soft lines in a speech on relations. an expert on china explains why. >> translator: president xi appealed to people in china saying the government will not bend to japan. and they will continue criticizing japan over historical issues. the public supports this attitude. but this alone could result in sending a wrong message to japan that china doesn't want to promote relations with japan.

that is why xi mentioned friendship with japan in his speech. the two messages seem contradicto contradictory, but he has reasons to appeal to people inside china and to japan at the same time. one reason he changed his attitude is because the domestic political situation has changed. xi tried to be a hard-liner domestically and diplomatically to establish his authority. he also tried hard to diminish his political rivals, but when he looked around, the relations between vietnam and japan are strained. and its relations between north korea and the united states also aren't good. in a way, china is surrounded by enemies. xi hopes to calm tensions diplomatically. he believes the apec meeting in

china in november is a good opportunity to create better relations between other countries. i think it is possible that he will have a meeting with prime minister abe at that time. china's economic growth has slowed and investment from japan has declined. the xi administration wants to receive investment from japan and to boost its economy. but sino japanese relations have been unstable due to domestic reasons on both sides. it is possible that china will change its attitude if a domestic political struggle occurs. so it is uncertain if the two countries can maintain a good relationship after the apec meeting in the fall. officials in tokyo worry that the scale of the dengue

fever outbreak will be more serious than they initially thought. there are now 56 people infected with the virus. all of them were in a central city park last month. the outbreak was first confirmed last week. tokyo metropolitan government officials announced on thursday that researchers detected the virus in mosquitos in several spots around yoyogi park. they believe insects with the virus are still breeding in the park. so they're keeping people out while they spray pesticides. dr. kyoko sawabe of the national institute of infectious diseases shed light on the role mosquitos play. she said only a few in every thousand carry the dengue virus in areas where it is common. sawabe suspects there are many more infected mosquitos in the park. she said officials need to find out exactly where they're living and breeding and destroy them. and it is now time for world weather. people in northern india are seeing floods once again because of heavy rainfall. our meteorologist jonathan oh is

here with the details. jonathan, is there any relief in sight from the monsoonal rains? >> raja, doesn't look like we're going to see any relief anytime soon because of the way that this pattern is set up every year around this time. we have copious amounts of rainfall as the moisture comes in from the ocean and into the northern mountain. so because of that, we run into a lot of flooding problems. want to show you the video coming out of jumaa and kashmir region. the water is portiuring through because of heavy rains. people trapped inned in waters, being rescued by the army wednesday and because of the rains, the route of a river changed and started to flow towards residential areas. now, in august, torrential rains hit the himalayas, inundated villages, 80 people were killed and thousands of people became homeless in the process. india is one of the disaster prone countries in the world and 1.2 billion people live in the areas vulnerable to natural disasters. now, let me top that off by also

mentioning that the monsoon is very critical to farmers in india. this is the main moisture source and it always happens around the summertime. and we're now moving to september, we'll start to see the rain tapering off as we go through the month. but as long as the heat of the day continues to develop low pressure, when air rises, we have an area of low pressure, it drags in moisture from the ocean, and it moves up against the mountain, moisture does not carry over mountain very well. and so we'll get pushed back, and that's when we have the flooding. looks like we have that pattern going into friday. you see the moisture continuing into the mountains, and in the far northern portions of india as well. now, speaking of rain, we're going to shift focus, looking at the koreas and also into japan. we have high pressure now moving into north and south korea. that's clearing the skies, but forcing cooler air up against a warm moisture pattern that is moving into japan. so we're going to see the rain continuing up to 200 millimeters of rainfall possible. and as we go into the future, the rain will continue to slide slowly to the east, already

hokkaido also getting rainfall. now, tokyo and also the koshin region you'll see the rain scattered for friday and more copious into the weekend. down here, in manila, we have a low pressure system that has developed over the philippines and is likely to become a tropical depression as we go through the next couple of days. we'll be keeping an eye out for that. speaking of a tropical system, we'll now move over to the eastern pacific and you can see here hurricane norbert that is now continuing to move to the north and west. it is a hurricane with winds of 130 kilometers per hour. so tropical storm watches and warnings posted in the southern tip of baja, california. this will move parallel to the coast and will weaken as it hits the colder waters but will still have an impact. we're talking about rainfall as high as 150 millimeters over the next few days. flash flooding is possible. please make sure you are cognizant and aware of the situation as we go through the week. mexico city, 21 for thursday. 34 in houston. we also have a severe weather

setup taking place in the upper portions of the united states. a look for the possibility of heavy rainfall, maybe some damaging winds as the severe thunderstorms try to roll through the area. wrapping things up with a look at europe, we have a low pressure system still keeping this area very wet. the balkan peninsula seeing some heavy rainfall and it looks like we're going to be dealing with more rain also with the possibility of seeing a water spout and very strong winds as well. elsewhere, though, high pressure brings very nice and pleasant conditions. sunny skies for thursday, 22 in warsaw. 21 in stockholm. 24 in berlin. very warm down here into spain. the iberian peninsula still seeing dry conditions, high of 33 degrees for your thursday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here is your extended outlook.

and here's one more story for you before we go. a japanese tennis player has gone where no japanese men's player has gone in more than 80 years. nishikori made it through the semifinals of a grand slam at the u.s. open in new york. he faced the australian open champion of switzerland. he could not catch up with serves as fast as 210 kilometers per hour. he had trouble finding his rhythm and dropped first set.

but he came back with a 7-5 win in the second and took the third in a tie break. warinka fought back to win the fourth. in the end, nishikori secured a 6-4 victory. he said he didn't know how he managed to last. people in his hometown were watching and cheering him on. >> on saturday, he will meet the winner of the quarterfinal between novak djokovic of serbia and andy murray of britain. and he isn't the only japanese player having a strong tournament. date-krumm made it to the semifinals with her partner

storikova of the czech republic. that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. from all of us at nhk world, thanks for watching.

>> you are watching "france 24." these are the top headlines. world leaders are in wales for what could be the most important nato summit since the alliance was created. show aaders want to united front against rush over the conflict in ukraine. -- russia over the conflict in ukraine. france suspends the delivery of a warship to moscow. they did not stop it entirely. family sotloff's