ome of the stories we are following this hour. japan's ruling party leader is to speed up deliberation on security bills while opposition members claim they violate the constitution. the head of japanese firm takata has publicly apologized for worldwide recall of faulty air bags. and senior u.s. and chinese

officials have wrapped up a series of meetings in washington during which they directly addressed some of their differences. the leaders of japan's ruling parties have agreed to speed up talks in the diet on a key piece of security legislation. lawmakers are deliberating bills that would allow japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. senior members of the liberal democratic party and its coalition partner komeito met wednesday and made the decision. lower house lawmakers have already spent about 50 hours discussing the bills. they still have a lot to hammer out. the ruling chief parties say they will allow plenty of time for discussion. the current diet session was scheduled to end on wednesday. but lawmakers have decided to put off their recess by 95 days. the extension is the longest ever for a session. ruling party leaders want to

enact the legislation during the current diet session. earlier "newsline"'s mickey yamamoto spoke with our tomoko kamata in the studio. >> what's behind this decision? >> well prime minister shinzo abe is determined to see the national security bills become law and soon. he promised the voters last september during the lower house election. he made a similar promise when he visited the united states in april. but deliberations in the diet are not going as smoothly as the ruling block had hoped. during the past few weeks, lawmakers have debated the constitutionality. some question whether they conform with article nine. the provision of the constitution which renounces war. the discussion became heated when members of a diet panel on

the constitution held a meeting. panel members invited three legal experts to offer their opinions about the bills. all three including those invited by the ruling party said they are unconstitutional. they said using force for collective self-defense would violate the supreme law of the land. >> well members of abe's cabinet and ruling party members have dismissed those views. how do they explain the bill's constitutionality? >> let me show you the article in question. article 9 says the people of japan forever renounce war. it goes on to say japan renounces the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. academics are divided over whether this allows japan to use force over a closely related

country to comes under attack. members of the ruling party say it does. and they say their logic is backed up by a supreme court ruling in 1959. it says that under the article, it is natural for japan to take measures necessary for self-defense to maintain peace and security. abe says he's completely confident about the bill's legitimacy. and he says he wants to carefully explain his reasoning to the japanese people. >> translator: we must decide what measures for self-defense encompass always taking into account the surrounding situation. we cannot ignore international security and abandon our responsibility to protect the lives of the people. >> but members of the opposition are not convinced. some have criticized the diet

extension as absurd and are showing no sign of backing down. >> translator: this would violate the constitution. it's the same as leaving it up to each administration to decide whether or not to use force and whether that is constitutional. >> ruling and opposition lawmakers have agreed to resume the deliberations on friday. and it's possible when they do that more sparks will fly. >> thanks, tomoko. the head of the japanese firm caught up in one of the world's biggest auto recalls has faced some tough questions. gene otani joins us from the business desk with the latest developments. >> we're talking about the company called takata who made the faulty air bags. they are responsible for a recall of tens of millions of vehicles and they're counting the costs. takata booked a net loss of

about $240 million for the fiscal year. they had nothing to pay out to shareholders as a result. today chiefthe chief executive held his first conference since the news came out. >> translator: we apologize. we're extremely sorry. we would like to offer our condolences to people who have died due to defects in our company's air bags. we'll also like to offerur apologies to anyone who's been affected. >> takada also apologized to shareholders in tokyo. some of them called on senior executives to take more responsibility for the crisis. others demanded the firm speed up an investigation into the air bag defect. executives promised to do their best to steer the firm through the crisis. they said directors had already given back up to half of their

salaries for the last fiscal year. the people at another big japanese firm are also in trouble with their investors. toshiba executives have apologized for bookkeeping irregularities that caused the foirm overstate profits. the president told shareholders they will make sure it doesn't happen again. officials say they'll write down profits for five fiscal years through march 2014. they say they're still settling accounts for the most recent fiscal year. they're waiting for an independent panel to complete an investigation. the officials promised to increase the number of external board members to improve oversight. some shareholders weren't satisfied. they called on the president and the chairman to step down. but toshiba officials proposed keeping the board of directors until investigation wraps up in mid-july. and shareholders backed the proposal.

the u.s. senate has approved a bill that gives president barack obama more authority on trade deals. he will be able to fast track negotiations for the transpacific partnership. the senate passed the trade promotion authority or tpa bill by 60-38. legislation will go into effect when obama signs it. the house of representatives approved it last week. obama and republicans have worked together to pass the bill since it was submitted in april. they were successful in persuade persuading some democrats to go along with it too, even though many had previously argued a trade pact would threaten u.s. jobs. japanese prime minister shinzo abe welcomed the passage of the bill. >> translator: this is a major step. japan will take a leadership role along with the united states to help conclude the tpp talks as soon as possible.

>> japanese negotiators are hoping to speed up talks with their u.s. counterparts. they want to settle disagreements on tariffs for autoparts and products like rice beef and pork. all nations taking part in the tpp are hoping for a ministerial meeting next month. they want to conclude the deal as soon as possible. the progress of peace talks dampened sentiments around the world. here the nikkei ended down nearly .5% at 20,771. some investors are cautious ahead of extended talks between eurozone finance ministers later today. in china the shanghai composite plunged about 3.5% to 4,527 after two days of gains. investor sentiment remains unsettled after the index tumbled 13% last week. but investors in taiwan were

bullish ishish pushing up the taiex. semiconducts and other high-tech firms led the rise. other markets in the region ended lower. hong kong lost nearly 1%. indonesia is down by .7%. and seoul's kospi finally ended its six-day winning streak. aifpeach aviation is becoming the first to come out of tokyo. the low cost carrier will offer flights between hanada and taipei. the service will begin on august 8th. two low cost airlines are already providing international flights out of hanada.

japan has lost 53 local train lines over the past two decades largely due to a declining population. but rather than thinking about the loss some communities are trying to bring the trains back to life in a different guise. >> reporter: here's a sight you don't often see. a train carriage hitching a ride on a huge trailer truck. this sleeper train is called dawn. it retired in march 2014. now it's heading for a railway theme park in kosaka town, northeastern japan. this park occupies the site of a railway that closed six years ago. the once-deserted facility has been reborn as a popular tourist

slot. railway fans can drive diesel-powered locomotives and try other hands-on experiences. but there's a problem. the local area has just one hotel. tourists coming all the way to visit the park have nowhere to stay. this is where it comes in. town officials wanted a retired sleeper express. their plan works like this. during the day, a diesel train carries visitors around the park. at night the sleeping cars will be called into service. okay, the cars are more cramped than hotel rooms, but railway fans will get a kick out of staying in a sleeper. >> translator: having a place to stay here in kosaka is also a big plus in terms of promoting

tourism. >> reporter: the akibono has three types of sleeping compartments. the bed in the second class private room has a view of the night sky. this is the first class private compartment. it once made the roughly 770 kilometer journey from tokyo to northern ai mor ree prefecture more comfortable. >> translator: i have such fond memories of using the train. i would love to try the sleeper. >> translator: i'd love to take a ride. >> reporter: the town plannings to put the train to use in october once repairs are finished. they bought the akibono to give people the thrill of riding in a train and then sleeping overnight. though retired, the akibono is

about to start moving again carrying the dreams of new generations of fans. that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets. senior officials from the united states and china have wrapped up a series of annual

meetings in washington. they used strategic dialogue to nurture ties and air concerns. prident barack obama weighed in on a key issue during talks on the sidelines with chinese officials. nhk world's ma gu mee nakanishi reports. >> reporter: white house officials said obama conveyed u.s. concerns over china's activities about the spratly islands in the south china sea. beijing's locked in a sovereignty over the islands with several southeast asian governments. the chinese are strengthening their presence in the region. they are building facilities. u.s. officials have called for an end to the project.

remarks at the conclusion of the talks suggest the two sides remain apart. >> we believe that countries with competing claims should exercise restraint, refrain from preventive unilateral actions and settle their differences in accordance with international law. >> translator: i have repeatedly stressed that china will firmly defend its sovereignty and maritime interests. and we will continue direct talks with the parties involved. >> reporter: o'hara is specialing in asia. he said the difference in security policy. >> china recognized china must control the south china sea for prevent united states to access

nearby chinese offshore freely. but on the other hand united states recognize they must access everywhere freely. tension in south china sea between united states and china is very high now. but they will keep discussing how to avoid the war between united states and china. >> reporter: the two sides are also divided over breaches of cyber security. they will try to make more progress on the issue before china president xi jingping's visit to the u.s. in september. megumi nak knee shee nhk world. pro-democracy protesters in hong kong are weighing out their next move in the standoff with beijing. many are reluctant to get excited about china's efforts to influence their elections. they know they face a drawn-out

struggle. nhk world's takuma nikosha has more. >> reporter: members of hong kong's legislative council sent a message to beijing. they voted down a bill that would have given the mainland power for the to be jop. groups in hong kong are relieved by the outcome. but they are not celebrating. they say they have a long way to go to achieve true universal suffrage. citizen groups stage a rally ahead of the votes. they wanted to display a united front against beijing. organizers called for 50,000 people to take part but they got fewer than 4,000. many students stayed away. it was a far cry from last year.

when student-led demonstrations drew tens of thousands of people onto the street night after night. people from all walks of life joined forces in a show of defiance. they demanded the hong kong government withdraw the plan. protesters clogged main roads across hong kong for two months. but they failed to get what they wanted. students began to bicker among themselves. they disagreed over what to do next. some called for more zrastdrastic action. others resisted. a few wants to pull their unions out in protest. sunny is the leader of one leader that left. he's been calling for more aggressive approach.

>> translator: we all have different ideas about where to go from here. but i think if we keep doing the same thing, we won't change china's position. sometimes we need to take radical action. >> reporter: residents have been put off by the strident calls to action. >> translator: i oppose violence. we should deal with this issue peacefully and calmly. >> reporter: luke wong has been following the student protest from the outset. he's a teacher at a high school. early on he joined his students after work to take part in sit-ins. wong says he could understand their resentment and he was impressed by the way they peacefully pursued their goals. but he's become disillusioned.

he said pro-democracy groups are no closer to achieving their goals. >> translator: i do feel relieved that the bill was rejected, but i don't think that means i have cause to be happy. there's been no progress in hong kong's democracy movement. the future of our political system is very much uncertain. >> reporter: leaders in beijing say they won't back down. so people in hong kong know their fight won't be over any time soon. takuma yoshina nhk world. south korean authorities are doing more to try to contain middle east respiratory syndrome. they believe many people have caught the virus from patients in emergency rooms. so they told hospitals to restrict victimsits by relatives and friends. officials say mers has killed two more people and they confirmed one more infection.

>> translator: the number of people who've died is 29. the total number of confirmed mers cases is 180. >> health ministry staff say the latest patient had shared a hospital room with someone who was later diagnosed. authorities have isolated more than 2,600 people at home and at hospitals. they suspect those people had come into contact with mers patients. it's time to check in on the world weather. deadly heat continues to scorch southern pakistan and little relief is on the way. our meteorologist jonathan oh is here with a look at the forecast. jonathan, how much longer will this heat wave last? >> hello. it looks like it's going to last for quite some time because the southwest monsoon will not be

triggering in that particular region any time soon. it's going to take at least another couple of weeks in terms of the normal schedule. you can see here the sunny skies, maybe a few clouds here or there. but not much in terms of precipitation. let me show you what type of impact this heat is having for those living in e the southern portions of pakistan. you can see people trying to get around, trying to stay warm here. but the worst heat wave in decades are is killing hundreds of people. the hardest hit area you're seeing here temperatures over 40 degrees celsius thursday. and frequent power out annals shortage of water, all causing problems. you could see the ice blocks being distributed in some areas. but when you have temperatures this hot, it doesn't really matter. those things melt you don't get a lot of relief. look at the temperatures from the past six days in karachi. 40 on thursday 41 on friday 45 on saturday. still seeing 40s into tuesday.

keep in mind the average temperature is 33 degrees for the high. overnight lows were around 33 degrees. so not much in terms of relief during the overnight period. and we're looking at very little relief in terms of rainfall. the rain is staying mainly down to the southern portions of india. but look into pakistan. staying absolutely dry. and the next three days also staying dry. 37 for the high friday saturday, and sunday. we'll take a couple weeks before we see moisture moving north and west. we are seeing the wet weather continuing as we look at the forecast for east asia. the rainy season from japan into shanghai. we will still see this rain system continuing. kujira is now a depression and continuing with rainfall enhancing the moisture flow for the southern portions of asia. and then the moisture coming out of the peninsula and japan as we go through friday.

hong kong will also see wet weather continuing. looking at the forecast for north america, another active weather situation taking place. we do have a low pressure system that brought a couple of tornado reports coming out of the upper midwest. as it pushes towards the east this story sounds familiar warmer from the south. we have thunderstorms once again. look at the risk for severe weather. anywhere from washington, d.c. stretching back into cincinnati the ohio river valley and missouri. we'll see the slight enhanced risk through thursday. hail concerns along with tornadoes, winds, and flash flooding all part of the equation. we had the storms toward the east, hot air towards the west. the temperatures are going to be booming up into the upper 20s. some areas close to 30 degrees. this ridge of high pressure bringing warm weather conditions here. 27 in los angeles. 28 in seattle. 25 degrees in vancouver. while the stormy conditions taking place further back toward the east.

chicago, 22. 34 in atlanta. and we'll also see 30s up into d.c. and as we look at the forecast up toward canada quite warm. mid-20s expected for ottawa and montreal as the fifa women's world cup quarter finals take place. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm keikichi hanada. on behalf of our team, thank you for staying with us.

reece and its creditors. finance ministers are back around the table and brussels. on tuesday gets bailout agreement with the eu runs out. kurdish control in the town of kobani looks to be in trouble. a second bomb set by islamic state group reportedly went off after reports that the jihadists have killed 20 kurds in a nearby village.