glad you could join us here on "newsline." i'm james tengan in tokyo. it's a friday evening here in japan. here are some of the stories we're following this hour. the u.s. defense secretary has called on a top chinese military official to halt the country's land reclamation in the south china sea. and chinese president xi jingping's power base is expected to strengthen after a court finds a former member of the nation's top leadership guilty of corruption.

the u.s. defense secretary has called on a top chinese military official to halt the country's land reclamation in the south china sea. ash carter met in washington with general fong chong loon. he's the highest level to visit in six years. fong is the vice chairman of the central military commission. pentagon official says they extended an invitation to him earlier this year in response to the rising activities in the south china sea. carter called on fong to halt the country's reclamation of reeves on the sprattly islands and cease military operations. they hope they will reach consensus by autumn on rules to reduce the risk of accidents when the two countries' aircraft operate close to one another. a court in china has handed down a life sentence for accepting bribes. the ruling comes as president xi

jingping aims to show he's committed against widespread corruption. zhou yongkang was the ninth highest ranked. zhou zhou and his family allegedly took more than $20 million. >> prosecutors indicted zhou in april. he was tried behind closed doors. the trial is not open to the public because it involved state secrets. our reporter in beijing explains how people are reacting to this

news. >> the chinese communist party is saying zhou's sentence shows anyone breaking the law will be punished regardless of rank. it showed jinping's strong commit i want to fighting corruption. many are also expressing support for xi's efforts. >> translator: big political figures like zhou must be punished severely. i strongly support the government's anti-corruption campaign. >> translator: i think his sentence is a bit too light. corruption on this scale deserves harsher punishment. >> zhou yongkang was he head of the china security apparatus. he said to have strong influence over the oil industry. zhou is also seen as a close ally of former party chief.

some said zhou and bo were plotting against xi. and some believe that president xi regarded xu as a threat to his power led to his harsh sentence. have been going after former high ranking members of the people's army and senior government officials. putting a former political member behind bars shows just how strong xi jingping's power base has become. >> thank, naoki, for that report. populous. prosperous. pushing ahead. china's rise brought it wealth, power, and problems. an income gap divides its people. pollution threatens their health. and differences over territory strained relations with its neighbors. find out the challenges china faces on "newsline."

south korean officials say they're making an all-out effort to contain the spread of the mers respiratory virus. but they're confirming an 11th death. and they say there are four new cases bringing the total number of patients to 126. nhk world's tomoko kamata reports. >> reporter: south korean officials said this week was the most important in stopping the spread of the infection. 3,800 people who may have come into contact with the patient have been quarantined. many schools across the country remain closed. mers is a respiratory disease caused by a virus. it was first identified in 2012. the symptoms include fever and pneumonia. it is transmitted through close person-to-person contact.

south korean authority identifies the first patient late last month. dozens of medical staff and people who came in contact with the man became infected in a chain reaction. authorities have admitted they did not fully inform hospitals about the risk. citizens are now struggling to cope with the impact of the outbreak. people are wearing face masks and are avoiding crowded places. department store officials say sales last week were down 17% compared to the same period last year. >> translator: i'm anxious because anyone could have the virus. >> reporter: countries neighboring south korea are also stepping up their border controls. quarantine officers at the

japanese port are screening body temperatures of people arriving from south korea. officials with the organization say about 70,000 people have canceled plans to visit the country this month. experts from the world health organization are conducting an investigation in the country to study the nature of the virus and its transmission route. the south korean government is calling people to act calmly and to make decisions based on accurate information. tomoko kamata, nhk world. nhk has obtained a report by the international atomic energy agency on the nuclear accident at fukushima daiichi. three of the plant's six reactors melted down following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. the report says japanese officials didn't do enough to prevent the disaster.

the summary report was prepared by 180 scientists from more than 40 countries. the iaea board examined it this week before a final version is issued in september. the report says there were projections that a magnitude 8.3 quake would lead to tsunami measuring up to 15 meters high. it says officials at tokyo electric power take necessary precautions. the report also points out measures to prevent the flooding of emergency diesel generators were inadequate. they have proposed a period yachtic review of safety requirements. and also a scenario where multiple natural disasters dr simultaneously. the decontamination team has a delay in a key initial step. officials from the government and tepco approved the revised plan. it refers to two important tasks. the removal of spent fuel rods

in koolg ponds and cleaning up melted nuclear fuel. officials pushed back the schedule to remove the rods by three years. they say they first need to remove debris and decontaminate the buildings. experts still need to locate and study the melted fuel inside the reactors. and they need to consider new removal methods that don't use water. the initial approach involved filling the reactor containment vessels with water before removing the melted fuel. but officials couldn't guarantee the vessels would stand up to earthquakes and wouldn't leak. the new road map keeps the initial target of beginning the fuel removal process within six years. there's no change to the overall goal to complete the decommissioning work in 30 to 40 years. all nuclear reactors in japan remain offline. some utilities are turning to coal-fired power generation as a low cost and stable alternative.

but environment ministry officials are against the plan to build a new power plant in western japan citing global warming concerns. an operator that has secured funding from j power and osaka gas has planned to build a 1.2 million kilowatt plant in ubei city. environment minister machusuki said he will enter a letter to the group that has the authority to approve the plan. >> translator: i fear it could undermine japan's efforts to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions goal. >> earlier this month the government proposed a 26% cut in emissions from 2013 levels. environment ministry officials are encouraging the use of renewable energy such as solar and wind power. they're calling for limited coal-fueled power generation. which involves sizable carbon

dioxide emissions. but industry officials support the method because it is a low cost and stable way of doing things. it's time now to get a business perspective on the day's developments with gene otani who's here to tell us how visitors to japan will be able to see more of the country from off the beaten path. gene? >> well we're getting a record numbers to come visit now to japan. but many gravitated toward the big cities. officials at the japan tourism agency want to change that by encouraging the visitors to explore some of the country's outlying regions. the officials have selected several suggested routes. the tourism agency officials picked seven routes among 129 local governments. they say each can be travelled in about a week. one cuts eastern hokkaido taking in the kushido marshland and the natural world heritage site. there is a route that involves a

boat trip along the seto inland sea. another highlights the nature and culture of kyushu including natural hot spring resorts. >> translator: it's important to have foreign travelers visit regions across japan by improving the local tourism resources. >> a record 13 million visitors came to japan last year. they look to aim to reach 20 million. half the cost of projects related to the routes. these include providing internet access and overseas promotion efforts. officials at tokyo bank say they have reached a basic agreement to enter merger talks with a regional group. shin begin koe's mismanagement plunged it into crisis.

the officials say they aim to clinch a deal with tokyo ty financial group by september. the bank officials hope the integration takes place in 2016. the plan is to turn shin begin goe after they exchange shares. the government launched in 2005 to help amid a credit crunch. if the deal is struck the metropolitan government would effectively pull out of the bank's management. checking the markets, tokyo stocks managed to extend their gains. the nikkei average ended a touch higher at 20,407. some investors booked profits from yesterday's strong rally. but others stayed on the side lines. index ended the week slightly lower. seoul's kospi shed 0.2% to

2,052. the index slid for the third straight week. concerns over the mers outbreak have dampened market sentiment. key rate was lowered to boost the economy. sydney retreated for two days of gains. an overnight fall in commodity prices dragged down resource-related shares. finally, in china the shanghai composite added 0.9% to 5,166, its highest point in more than 70 years. investors bought shares on expectations of further stimulus steps by the government. investors have seen chinese stocks rally from last year. this year it topped 5,000 points. it hit a record high at more than 6,100 in october 2007. then tumbled to about 2,000 during the global financial crisis. our ai uchida spoke to larry

hu to find out what's ahead of the rally. >> i would say three reasons for that. first, not many investment -- especially prompting investment is less attractive. second because the economy in the down cycle for the government to keep injecting liquidity. and third, the chinese government are supportive to the equity market. to give especially investor confidence to add in it. i would not say it's a bubble yet, but it's looking more like a bubble. >> okay. and are you expecting authorities to impose restrictions if the market rises further? and if so, what kind could we expect? >> i don't think a chinese government has intention to kill the bull market. because equity market would play a more important role in china's

next phase of economic development. but at this stage because the market rise very fast so expect the government probably will want to cool down the market a bit. because they want a slow build market, not a quick bull market. they could tie liquidity to slow the market down. >> speaking of that economic development, let's talk about the pros of equity financing. you know some say it's easier for beijing to carry out m & a's because state run companies will be able to expend capital and higher stocks could help pay off debts by selling stocks. do you agree with that? >> i partly agree with that. look, if you look at the chinese government what's the two most important thing for them to do at this moment? china is not no longer poor country. its income per capita is about $8,000 this year.

so they're targeting to find new growth drivers. second, to leverage the economy. for this purpose, the stock market could help. symptom market could finance new emerging companies at the same time the chinese government could sell stake on asset to pay down their debt. >> all right. and larry finally i want to ask you about the risks that could put the brakes on this rally. >> well i would say there are two risks at this moment. the first risk is a runaway inflation. currently inflation is very low around 1.2%. however, because if commodity price rise faster than expected the economy recover stronger than expected. then inflation could rise above 2.5% by the year end.

it would make chinese government tight on liquidity rate because the market is so liquidity driven. so inflation could slow down the market. and second risk is u.s. tightening. so these two risks i have in mind. officials from 12 pacific rim countries have been negotiating the transpacific free trade pact for years. now they wonder if they'll be a step closer a a deal this weekend. the u.s. house of representatives will vote later on friday on the trade promotion authority bill. it's also known as the fast track bill because it would give president barack obama more power to make decisions on deals like the tpp. on thursday the house voted by a narrow margin on a rule that allowed friday's vote. many democrats are against the tpp saying it could take jobs away from americans. republicans are backing the deal. but some are opposed to giving

president obama greater authority. experts expect the voting to be close. the 12 countries and tpp talks plan to hold a ministerial meeting. japan's rising stock prices have been a benefit not just to institutions but to individuals as well. the balance of investment trusts or mutual funds sold in japan has topped 100 trillion yen or $810 billion for the first time. the figures from the investment trust association are dated to the end of may. it says the total net assets of investment trusts and stocks and bonds hit a new high of about $830 billion. association officials attribute the growth to how the nikkei stock index shot up more than 1,000 points last month. new sales of investment trusts were also brisk. that's mainly due to tax-free accounts for individuals known as nisa introduced in january 2014. that's it for business news.

i'll leave you with the markets. the iss lambic state militant group is drawing in young recruits from around the world. now a russian teenager suspected of heading to syria to join the group has been returned to her family. the 19-year-old moscow state university student was detained by turkish authorities last week. they say she went there without

telling her family. she was suspected of trying to cross the border into an area of syria that's controlled by the militant group. more than ten other russians were with her. the student returned to russia with her father on thursday. she's said to have studied islam and the arabic language intensively. russian security authorities say they'll question her about her motives for joining the group. about 1700 russians are believed to have gone to syria and iraq to join the militants. u.s. judicial authorities are also cracking down on people supporting the group. they've charged a 17-year-old in the state of virginia with raising funds and recruiting fighters by using social media. >> as a result of this case i would like to urge parents to be aware of your sons' and daughters' activity online. do not underestimate the influence that social media access can have on our impressionable youth. >> the indictment says the teen

sought to collect funds and promote the militant group's extremist ideology using twitter last year. he's also accused of recruiting an 18-year-old and helping him travel to syria by introducing an intermediary. the teen has reportedly posted about 7,000 messages on twitter to encourage extremism. he had more than 4,000 followers. the justice department has also indicted a 29-year-old in new york for helping his acquaintances join the extremists. time for world weather. looks like western europe will have to brace for more storms that are approached. jonathan oh has details. >> hello. we have been keeping an eye on a low pressure system that has been spinning west of europe and has been bringing a lot of rainfall into the iberian

peninsula. look at the spin of this low right here as it continues to swirl around. and it's stationary. it's not moving anywhere, so it continues to spin around dragging in all the moisture and dumping it over spain. in fact, i want to take you over into madrid. show you what's happening in terms of the video. you can see the rain just swarming over and this is where the severe weather moved in thursday cause canning severe flooding and bringing a city to a standstill. you can see here the hail the climax of this severe weather. this is all combined together with the flood waters. and that's the problem that we're seeing here in madrid. it related in traffic jams and subway services were disrupted. thankfully no one was injured. but we are still waiting on the totals in terms of the estimates of the damage that came from this. and it's not the end of the story. that low continues to spin southwest of the iberian peninsula still bringing in that moisture. the instability will continue as

we go throughout the day friday. in fact, here's a look at what we're looking at into saturday morning. possibility of more thunderstorms. significant hail the larger hail or massive amounts of hail along with wind gusts, excessive rain, and possibly tornadoes. the red highlighted areas on the southern coast of france needs to really look out for this possibility. some areas may also see heavy amounts of rainfall in a short period of time in the next 24 to 48 hours close to 120 millimeters of rain is possible here. so looking out for that in paris and madrid in terms of the rain and thunderstorms. and much sunnier conditions for the north and east. now take a look at the forecast for north america. we have this long area of clouds associated with some strong thunderstorms. a low pressure system is moving closer and closer toward the great lakes. that's going to bring another opportunity for some rain and possibly even some thunderstorms. a low also up towards canada bringing rain for the southwestern portions of canada.

down in mexico we're keeping a show on this tropical storm named carlos. it is moving slowly to the north/northwest packing winds of 95. we are under a tropical storm watch for a portion of the southern coast of mexico. it is expected to become a hurricane as we head into the weekend. and this is very similar to our previous storm. it's a slow mover. i think we'll keep an eye on this. even though the main core of the rain is expected to be off shore, heavy rainfall is something to keep an eye on through the weekend. eastern side of the u.s. staying active with thunderstorms. i also mentioned a low pressure system in the southwestern portions of canada. well, more matches taking place for the fifa women's world cup. we're looking at wet weather for vancouver through friday. a little drier toward winnipeg but temperatures in the mid to upper 20s. yikes. a little bit warm there. wrapping things up with a look at east asia. we do have that rainy season continuing to progress in the southern portions of china.

we're looking at some areas close to 120 millimeters of rainfall the next day or so. look out for that. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

you can contact us by logging onto our website. looking forward to hearing from you. i'm james tengan. thanks for watching this edition of "newsline."

' ories. not guilty in a french court. dominique strauss-kahn with restitution involvement. there is a lack of evidence against the former imf chief. france opens an investigation over the germanwings crash. and the boston telecom giant orange apologizes to israel over a growing boycott scandal. to top stories. kate moody will be here and will explain why zimbabwe has decided to bid farewell to