oç it's a thursday night here in japan. i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to "newsline". we start off with a quick look at the hour's top stories. the new u.s. commander for the asia-pacific region has tough words for china about the spratly islands. japanese lawmakers are now engaged in heated debate in the diet over proposed new security legislation. and american and swiss authorities have indicted

several high ranking members of football's world governing body on suspicion of taking millions of dollars in bribes. there's a neumann at the helm of u.s. military forces in the asia-pacific. admiral harry harris has shown he's prepared to deal with the flury of activity in the south china sea. [ applause ] >> reporter: harris was speaking at a change of command ceremony in hawaii. he said the u.s. base has no shortage of challenges but ready to meet them. [ applause ] >> from north korea with its quest for nuclear weapons and means to deliver them to china's claims and land reclamation in the south china sea. the u.s. will rebalance to the pacific. our joint force will work closely with our allies and friends and into the asia-pacific region. >> reporter: u.s. defense

secretary ash carter was at the event. he laid out the u.s. stance on the south china sea. >> the united states will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. as we do all around the world. we will remain the principal security power in the asia-pacific for decades to come. >> reporter: six parties including china are locked in a sovereignty dispute over the spratly islands. u.s. officials have confirmed that china is carrying out reclamation work at seven locations there. the u.s. and philippines are concerned that chinese are constructing a landing strip that could be used for military operations. u.s. officials have suggested they may send military vessels to waters china claims to be its territory. the waters are within the radius of about 22 kilometers from the

reclamation projects. american military personnel have stepped up aerial surveillance. >> you see here the landing strip hundreds of meters in the past couple of months that have been built. >> reporter: this video was released last thursday. it was taken aboard a u.s. navy plane operating in the south china sea. audio transcripts capture radio contact between the u.s. and chinese. a member of the chinese navy tells the american plane it's approaching china's military zone. he tells the aircraft to leave the area immediately. the u.s. crew member responds that he's operating in airspace according to international law. chinese officials say they will never compromise on territorial claims in the south china sea. >> translator: the chinese

military will take necessary measures towards u.s. military aircraft that are conducting reconnaissance activities near china in accordance with the law. >> reporter: admiral harris and defense secretary carter are traveling to singapore for a conference on asia-pacific security that begins friday. leaders around the world are keeping a close eye on developments in this part of the world. u.s. officials are calling for continued peace and say they are committed to supporting regional security. >> thanks for that update. japan coast guard officials say three chinese patrol ships entered japanese territorial waters off the senkaku islands on thursday. the officials say the vessels stayed in the waters for more than an hour and left before noon. the ships are now navigating in

the contyingous zone outside of the territorial waters. officials are warning vessels to stay out of japanese waters. this is the 15th day so far that such inintrusions have taken place. japanese lawmakers are debating changes to security. thursday's session took up the criteria for when and how personnel are dispatched overseas. prime minister shinzo abe attend a special committee session in the lower house. the deputy chief of komeito. he questioned the prime minister about logistic support sdf would provide to foreign troops. >> translator: the proposed legislation requires a u.n. resolution and an approval from

the diet without exception. why are there such strict conditions? >> abe responded logistic support would be provided in accordance with international laws. abe stressed the importance of prior diet approval. >> translator: the new legislation requires prior diet approval without exception for sending the self-defense forces overseas for international peace cooperation activities. this is to ensure such shursure sufficient understanding of the japanese public as well as civilian control. >> abe outlined three criteria for sending the sdf overseas. he said before any dispatch j.p. should exhaust diplomatic

option. and would only apply when deemed the mission is suitable. let's now get a business and financial perspective on recent developments with ramin mellegard. thank you very much. the dollar is on a roll. the green back touched 124 yen level overnight in new york. then it backed off a touch during early hours in tokyo but it got back its strength in the afternoon hitting a level not seen in more than 12 years. now the dollar buying spree was pretty much ignited by a comment by federal reserve chairman janet yell jones last friday. she hinted the fed is ready to raise interest rates by the end of the year if all goes well with the u.s. economy. the dollar last reached its current levels in late 2002. then in 2011 it fell as low as the 75 yen level amid lingering effect of the global financial

crisis and european credit woes. the trend reversed as japan entered monetary easing. now to get more insight on that we're going to speak with the chief japan affects strategist at bank of america merrill lynch, global research. a lot going on here with the dollar/yen, obviously focussing a lot of attention. what is your view on this current situation with the dollar/yen. >> yes the move is very strong. something similar to what we saw last autumn. this time different. back in the autumn of 2014 there were plenty of catalyst backing the yen's weakness and dollar strength. this time we don't have the

catalyst for yen weakness. there's some hope for u.s. economy rebound but this is still a hope and we'll have to see the actual data coming out in the next few months. i think what's driving this time around is really the speculation. >> speculation. now a lot of people focusing on the pace of the yen's slide. what do you make of that? >> so i think it's a very interesting aspect of the foreign exchange market. a couple of months ago, you know the market was basically assuming the dollar/yen was moving nowhere. then when the market moves no one is repaired. so, you know, speculators will have to chase this move and this kind of move you know, grows the trend. we saw it in the winter of 2013. we saw it in the autumn of 2014. and we're seeing this again. >> so catching a lot of people who are making wrong footing in the market.

but the impact of the weaker yen on japan's economy, what's your view on that? >> so, it depends on whether it stays here or not. assuming it stays here at the weaker rate it's still going to be positive for the japanese economy probably because japan is the world's largest creditor and japan still runs current account surplus. but then the impact would diverge sectors. exporters will continue benefiting from the weaker exchange rate and stronger competitiveness in the global market but then businesses feel higher export price. >> so given that what's your outlook for the dollar/yen? >> based on what i said over the next few months we should see some cool down in the market but if you look at the next 12 months the fed will enter the tightening cycle and the bank of

japan will keep its easing policy with risk of easing later this year. that should drive the dollar/yen even higher 125 to 130 over the next 12 months. >> thank you very much for your time. now let's check on other markets. investors in tokyo welcomed that currency move. dollar surge drove the nikkei to its strongest rally since 1998. it's on a ten day winning streak. it rose nearly.4% to 20,551. investors are bullish on berngts for japanese exporters. in china, shanghai composite tumbled 6.5% following a seven day rally. biggest one day fall in four

months. shares in security firms saw a big selloff after major companies said they would tighten requirements on margin financing. let's switch to sidney. the main index declined after private-sector investment posted a sharp 4.4% drop in the january to march period. it shed 0.2% closing at 5713. lower commodity prices including gold also weighing on resources related shares. in other markets in the asia-pacific region hong kong dropped more than 2% dragged down by the sliding momentum we saw in shanghai. philippine se composite index that declined 1.23% after gdp grew 5.2% lower than many analysts expected. managers at car factories across

japan are reporting another batch of disappointing figures. they said production in april fell sharply. that's the tenth month in a row numbers have been down. executives at japan's top eight automakers say their firms turned out about 670,000 vehicles down more than 8% from 2014. they blame weak demand for many vehicles after the consumption tax rise last year. they had a better time overseas. shipments of vehicles mostly to the u.s. and europe rose 0.9%. it was the second month in a row that exports have increased. some automakers are taking advantage of the weaker yen by shifting their production sites back to japan. mcdonald's japan is still reeling from a series of food safety scandals. executives have responded by cutting the number of outlets that are open 24 hours a day. about half of the chains restaurants have been operating around the clock as a way of

attracting young consumers. the number at the end of last year was about 1460 but sources say by the end of march it was down to around 900. macdon't's has been gradually reducing outlets operating 24 hours due to sluggish sales in the early morning hours but they are speeding up the measure following the scandals last year a chinese supplier was found have used expired meat and in january several customers found foreign objects in their food. the company saw sales fall that month 38% compared to a year earlier. japanese government officials concerned that the growing popularity of drones poses a threat to privacy. they are working on guide the lines advise people on the appropriate use of footage they capture with the aircraft. experts appointed by the communications ministry have been discussing the rapidly developing technology. they are compiling draft guidelines that advise drone

users not to live stream images they take from around people's homes. the experts also say internet service proviers should comply with requests to delete images. some of them said the guidelines should not be treated as regulations. they say the government should only issue instructions to drone users. now students from university of tokyo battled it out in a global competition to promote bold new ideas in aviation. they maid to it the final round of competition but lost out in the last hurdle to a team from the netherlands. people from 90 countries pitched more than 500 innovative ideas. airbus engineers and other experts short listed five for the final round in hamburg, germany. members of each team took their turn of pitching their ideas to a panel of judges and audience. the students from university of tokyo proposed using drones to

guide airports safely from airports to nearby nesting grounds. they were the first japanese team to make final round. students from netherlands came up with a material that harvests energy from vibrations in jet wings. their idea won the competition. >> translator: i'm happy with the result because i thought any of the finalists kos have won but to be honest i really wanted to be number one. >> that's all for business news for this hour. i'll leave you with a check of the markets. the world's most popular

sport has been rocked by scandal and allegations of corruption. american and swiss authorities have indicted several high ranking fifa officials for their conduct off field. they suspect the men accepted millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. >> reporter: it's an ugly situation for the world's most lucrative sport. nine if a if i executives are under investigation by u.s. authorities. among those indicted are two who have served as the organize agencies vice president. >> they were expected to uphold the rules to keep soccer honest and protect the integrity of the game. instead they corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and to enrich themselves. >> reporter: be officials say a total of 14 individuals including sports company

executives from the u.s. and argentina are involved. they allegedly accepted bribes totalling more than $115 million over more than two decades. investigators say the bidding process for the 2010 world cup is among those being probed. they said jack warner was offered $1 million by a representative from world cup in exchange for his vote for the country hosting the event. they say officials from south africa tried to pay $10 million. south africa ended up winning the bid. police arrested him on wednesday in trinidad and tobago his home country. the world cup is a major source of revenue for fifa. the organization takes in multiyear contracts for media

and marketing rights. fifa took in more than $4 million in revenue. brazil's executive was also among those indicted. swiss prosecutors say they opened their investigation after suspicions of mismanagement and money lawnering came to light in connection with two future events. they be suspect one for the 2018 world cup to russia and 2022 event to qatar. but russian leaders say they have done nothing wrong. >> translator: we may assume that this situation is possibly a way to put political pressure on russia in an attempt to cancel its hosting of the games. >> reporter: fifa president

sepp blatte stepped in. he said such misconduct has no place in football. u.s. said he's not part of this investigation. some world leaders are applauding the investigation. brazilian president said it will allow for greater professionalism in soccer. in just two weeks, the eyes of the soccer world will turn to the world cup in canada. but officials say they are confident the event will not be brought into the scandal. fifa is scheduled to elect a new president on friday. blatter is seek a fifth term but he's facing stiff competition from jordan's prince. whoever is elected will face a tough task of putting a stop to this misconduct. and they will be handing out red

cards to organizers who are not willing to play by the rules. members of the u.n. security council have taking a stand on violence against members of the press. they unanimously adopted resolution condemning attacks against journalists around the world. deputy secretary note ad troubling increase in the number of journalists killed over the past decade. he said criminals and members of terrorist groups target journalists in africa and the middle east. the secretary-general of reporters without borders said more than 90 journalists have been killed since the beginning of last year. he said the world should treat attacks on journalists as war crimes. a japanese representative spoke about journalists killed by the

islamic state group. >> the group murdered many journalists. the group with other perpetrators are still walking freely under blue skies. >> he said those responsible for the killings must be brought to justice. the security council resolution calls for the release of all media professionals who have been kidnapped or taken hostage. movie fans in china are catching a release that could be a sign of better relations with japan. they haven't seen movie theaters because the government hasn't given its approve approximately now "stand by me" was a hit last year. the title character is a robotic cat. he showed up at the entrance of

a theater in beijing. his chinese fans are thrilled to see him on screen especially as relations with japan have been strained. >> translator: i love japanese movies. i want them to show more. everyone here would be delighted. >> translator: it's a political issue. nothing to do with people like us. all we're doing is showing good films. >> japanese embassy staff say there hasn't bean lease in two years. fair to partly cloudy is the forecast for us here in tokyo with highs around 27 degrees celsius or 80 degrees fahrenheit for those planning to come to tokyo this weekend. jonathan oh is here with the latest outlook. >> hello. i think we'll see a little bit of a cooloff. we had clouds over the area. cooler than what we saw in the past two days. we saw rain in the forecast.

that's going bring temperatures down just a little bit more. it won't last for a long time. temperatures will rebound by next week. but for a little bit we'll see slightly cooler temperatures. here's a look at what's happening right now. you see the cloud cover for most of the western side of japan coming out over the korean peninsula and we have another batch of moisture developing back towards the northern portions of china and that's going to bring a little bit more rain as we go into the weekend. i do want to draw your attention to this stationary front, for those of you who are really observant with what's happening. you may notice it's ticking up northward just a little. rainy season is further south. as time progressing through the sum terrify front pushes to the north. okinawa, you're going see the rain pick up a little bit more as we go through next few days and more persistent as the rainy season starts to pick up four. we'll see a little bit of moisture dloip the southern

portion of the plains as the lolo indicated to the eastern side of the front slowly move to north and east mainly going to be dry day but we do have a chance of seeing some moisture and we'll see temperatures dropping into 27 degrees as opposed to close to 30 degrees in tokyo. 28 in beijing and down toward the south rain all the way into hong kong as the rainy season continues going into friday. i do want to bring our attention over to india keeping an eye on this weather situation. the heat that continues to really flare up over the northern portions of india into the neighboring countries of south asia as well. as we look at the next five days not much in terms of relief. you may notice a couple of thunderstorm icons showing up in new delhi on monday and tuesday. in one aspect that's pretty good the temperatures will drop but introduce moisture into the atmosphere, humanity may be a problem. heat index is something to look out for as we go into next week.

other areas staying dry and hospital with highs in the 40s. now as we take a look at the forecast for europe you may notice there's a couple of areas of swirling clouds. that's a low pressure system. one located towards the south and east and another located towards the north and west. these areas will see clouds and chance for some rain. towards the center portion of the continent we'll see drier conditions and sunny skies. i do want to point out we're seeing very warm temperatures way down towards the middle east, we're seeing temperatures in thor 20s to dplo es degrees. people trying to get relief from that. upper 20s in moscow and kiev coming up on thursday down towards lisbon 31 for the high on thursday. now wrapping things up with a look at north america. again we're seeing these storms flare up particularly in the southern plains. we do have a risk of seeing strong thunderstorms again extending from places like nebraska and kansas down into texas and we are also looking at the possibility of flash

flooding again. so please make sure you're weather aware as we go through thursday. unstable weather pattern extending from denver down to houston all along the eastern seaboard going throughout the day. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook. and with that we conclude

this edition of "newsline". james tengan in tokyo. thanks for watching.

re are your stories --concern among fifa sponsors. the scandal prompts calls for president sepp blatter to go. reform the european union and keep the united kingdom, that is the message from david cameron. the britain in-out referendum looms. malaysian authorities detain a dozen police officers in connection with human trafficking. we talked to our