o. welcome to "newsline." here are some stories we're following this hour. lawmakers in japan's lower house have passed a key bill that would alter security. the stadium for the 2020 olympics has sparked debates on whether to review its design. and japanese government

officials are pushing ahead with a plan to scale back nuclear power and take more energy from green sources. japan's prime minister and his coalition government have moved a step closer to enacting a key package of security bills. lawmakers in the lower house have approved legislation removing one more hurdle to the final passage. the bills would expand the role of the self-defense forces and allow japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. the full lower house convened on thursday for the vote. opposition lawmakers walked out in a show of protest. they said they couldn't vote on legislation that was rammed through. but the governing coalition of the democratic party and komeito has a two-thirds majority in the chamber. they got additional votes from other supporters of the legislation. the bills will now go to the upper house where the debate

could heat up. opponents are intensifying their criticism and planning their next moves. if members of the upper house don't vote on the legislation within 60 days a provision would allow the governing coalition to use its two-thirds majority in the lower house to enact the bills. prime minister shinzo abe and his coalition hope to have the legislation become law by late september when the current session of the diet ends. abe spoke to reporters after the vote. >> translator: we plan to have deep discussions appropriate to the upper house known as a center of sound judgment. everyone in our party will make their utmost efforts to deepen the public's understanding of the bills. >> he said the bills are necessary to prevent war and to protect the lives of the japanese people. lawmakers from the ruling party are welcoming the approval

of the legislation, but members of the opposition are strongly criticizing it. >> translator: we want to make a solid frakwork to prevent war. we will be building up deterrence in our diplomacy. we are the party advocating peace. >> translator: this is unacceptable. discussion will start in the upper house after this. it will take a long time. let's gain people's support through the debate and scrap the bills. >> translator: we would not have abstained from the vote if they had treated our original bills properly. we are strongly frustrated with the governing coalition because they broke off the discussion regardless of our sincere behavior. >> translator: i strongly protest the forced passage of the war bills that are against

the constitution and which most citizens oppose. i will never forgive this act of tyranny and dictatorship that undermines the principle of democracy. >> the passage of the bill also drew reaction from neighboring countries. >> translator: our government's position is that japan's defense policy should be transparent and stick to the spirit of the pacifist constitution and contribute to regional peace and security. >> chinese foreign ministry spokesperson sounded a note of caution. she described the passage of the bills as something unprecedented since world war ii. she said it could lead to significant changes in japan's military and security policies. the estimated price tag for a new national stadium in tokyo has sparked debate within the

japanese government. some officials are calling for the design plan to be reviewed because of the rising construction costs. but others say it's not needed. japan's sports minister said last month that construction of the main stadium for the 2020 tokyo olympics and paralympics will cost $2 billion. that's $700 million more than the initial estimate. members of opposition parties and some from the governing coalition are criticizing the revision. >> translator: i think officials need to fully explain to the public to gain their understanding. >> some officials are calling for measures to lower the cost. they've suggested holding off on completion until after the 2019 rugby world cup to be held in japan. and others want a redesign. but people who worked to win the olympic bid oppose a review. they argue they would have to consider holding another international design competition

and they say a delay could affect the completion of the stadium. the man responsible for choosing the design for the stadium says there was no thorough debate on the cost. renowned japanese architect ando chose the committee that chose the design. >> translator: the competition was aiming to choose the idea of the main stadium. i think there was no thorough debate on cost. >> ando accepted the design in 2012. he explained that the committee was looking for an original and symbolic design that would help tokyo win the bid. he says he's responsible for the design selection. but he thought the japanese team of designers and hadid would hash out the construction and cost at the planning stage. ando doesn't think it's possible to drop the design but he says the estimated cost is too

expensive and wants a thorough discussion on ways to reduce the cost. now, sayaka mori from our weather desk joins us with the latest on the approaching typhoon. >> yes. conditions are getting worry across the west. nangka in some western areas. we have video coming out of shikoku. up to 9 meter waves were reported. warnings for rains, floods winds are all posted in the region. take a look at this radar. this indicates heavy rain is falling on the east of shikoku. now, the kanto region is far from the center of the system however, already seeing lots of rev vi rainfall. in fact, parts of tokyo had heavy rainfall of nearly 190 millimeters over the past 24 hours. that's a record-breaking number. fukushima had about 80 millimeters an hour.

waves are going to be high across the south as well. wakayama had waves up to 9 meters. the center of nangka will likely hit shikoku by tonight as a strong typhoon and then move up towards the north aiming for the shikoku region. this is a large system and also a strong system. that means wide area will be impacted by the stormy conditions for a long period of time. now, the worst conditions will likely happen across the coast with counterclock wise circulation. very strong winds expected up to 180 kilometers per hour. enough to cause structural damage and topple trees. waves are going to be very high. especially shikoku and the key peninsula. up to 10 meters expected. thursday and friday water levels are extremely high so coastal flooding is highly likely. on top of that torrential rainfall.

800 millimeters likely in shikoku. it's over the next 24 hours. more heavy rain expected afterwards. so critical conditions expected over many parts of japan. at least into friday. back to you. >> thanks sayaka. she'll join us again later on in the show. government officials have settled on a mixture of energy sources they say should power japan into the future. gene otani has all the details on that story from the business desk. >> james, this has obviously been a closely watched topic after the accident at fukushima daiichi. officials have decided how much different power sources should contribute to japan's energy needs by 2030. they say nuclear plants will still have an important role to play, but some experts have voiced concern. yoshihiko yamatani reports. >> reporter: an industrial

presented on the first day. as expected, the government wants to bring the nuclear energy back online. none of the 50 or so nuclear reactors are currently in operation. by 2030 the government wants around 22% of the nation's power to be nuclear. that compares to 28% before the fukushima disaster. at the same time officials want more power generated from clean energy. they've set a goal of 24% from sources like wind and solar. that's more than twice the makeup in 2013. the government says the remaining energy needs should be met by thermal power which makes up 56% of the mix. some say the plan is realistic. nagano university professor says a life span of nuclear power

plants currently set at 40 years means they can't meet the government's energy quota. >> translator: even if all the reactors scheduled to remain until 2030 remainline online they need to win the approval of local residents for restarts. >> reporter: the clean energy plan has its critics too. they say relying heavily on renewable power sources are not affordable option. this company near tokyo uses large amount of electric power to melt iron. the company's president says he's struggling to deal with rising energy costs. three years ago, the government

slapped an extra fee on electricity users. a measure aimed at promoting clean energy. the chart shows how much electricity the company has used and how much it paid for it. their consumption hasn't risen, but bills have gone up substantially. he says the higher fuel costs are to blame. >> translator: the levy and rising material costs are putting pressure on your business. we're forced to bear higher costs for renewable energy than most other industries. we want measures to ensure these costs are shared nationwide. >> reporter: government officials say they are listening to people's concerns and will review its policies for clean energy. another issue is whether japan

can meet its reduction target for greenhouse gases. officials aim to curb emissions by 26%. >> translator: nuclear power may not be as available as planned. in that case japan may have to continue burning fossil fuels. that would make it very difficult to achieve the goal of cutting emissions by 26%. >> reporter: given uncertain future of the nuclear power, takamura says the government needs to work out ways to lessen its reliance on fossil fuels. aging plants, rising costs, and emission targets. japanese officials have many barriers to clear to put the energy plan into action. yoesh hee toe kamata knee nhk world. the chair of the u.s. federal reserve has returned to capitol hill to update lawmakers

on her plans. janet yellen again hinted on the timing of a rate hike. yellen told the house financial services committee that the u.s. labor market and the economy as a whole will likely see further improvement. >> if the economy evolves as we expect, economic conditions likely would make it appropriate at some point this year to raise the federal funds rate target. >> yellen also commented on a note by officials of the monetary fund saying the fed should wait until the first half of next year for the rate hike. >> an advantage to beginning a little bit earlier is that we might have a more gradual path of rate increases. >> she said gradual hikes could set off any harmful effects. tokyo stocks hit a three-week high after lawmakers approved the bailout plan in

greece. the nikkei closed at 20,600. in china the shanghai composite was up nearly half a percent at 3,823 rebounding from yesterday. analysts say the market remains volatile and investors are still cautious. australia's index was up nearly 0.6% posting its best close in three weeks. demand was high for financial sector stocks. most other markets in the region extended in the positive following gains in shanghai. seoul's kospi rose more than .7% of a percent. indonesia is closed for the holiday through next tuesday. the president of delta says the u.s. carrier is keen to be a sponsor for failed japanese

airline skymark. edward bastian says they had been fairly open about its interest. skymark represents an opportunity for the u.s. carrier to expand its business in japan. skymark's major creditor has named delta as a potential sponsor for the carrier's rehabilitation effort. the line filed for bankruptcy protection in january. delta involvement could be at odds with skymark's own plan. they want the operator of all nippon airways. and that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets.

the governor of okinawa has acquired another tool in his fight against the relocation of u.s. air base within his southern prefecture. members of an independent panel say they found legal flaws in the approval process for land reclamation. the panel submitted their report on thursday to the governor. they spent the last six months on how his predecessor gave the go ahead for the reclamation. the construction is part of the central government's plans to build a base in a district called henoko. officials have agreed to move the futenma air station there. they want the facility built outside of his prefecture. panel members say they found flaws in the approval process. they questioned the government's

claim that the reclamation is necessary. they also doubt the government is doing enough to protect the environment. onaga says he will fully respect the report. he's now expected to decide whether he will cancel the approval. >> translator: i will carefully consider my most effective options. that includes canceling the approval for the reclamation. >> the government's top spokesperson stressed that decision has already been made. >> translator: japan is ruled by law. we're proceeding on the principle that government work should always move forward regardless of who's in power. >> sources tell nhk that onaga will take some time to study the findings, but they say he's expected to make his decision as early as next month. the first closeup photos of pluto are bringing into focus a mountain of mysteries.

nasa's new horizons spacecraft flew close to the planet and sent back images it captured. nasa released the pictures at a news conference wednesday. one image shows part of pluto's southern hemisphere. no craters are visible. but 3500 meter high mountains can be seen. they point to the possibility the mountains are still growing. researchers also say the features of the surface suggest pluto is far more active than they had previously thought. the spacecraft is sending observation data to earth while it's flying away from pluto. it's expected to take 16 months to download all of the data. nasa officials say they're looking forward to getting more information. they say tiny pluto is still full of big surprises.

south korean engineers have built a robot that goes where humans can't. they beat out their rivals at a recent international competition held in the u.s. and they're hoping the humanoid draws attention to their nation's mechanical eng knewty. nhk world's kim janju has the story. >> reporter: driving a car and maneuvering over piles of debris. just a few of the tasks the robots have to perform in this competition. the 23 participation teams came from 7 countries and territories including the u.s. japan, and germany. they have to control their humanoid robot remotely as it attempted to complete eight separate tasks. the robots had to deal with

difficult conditions such as strong wind. many of them fell over. pitted against some of the most advanced robots in the world, the south korean entrant came in first. completing all of the required tasks in the short time. this is hubo the robot that took the south korean team to victory. it's taller than me at 175 centimeters and weighs 80 kilograms. hubo uses its legs when climbing over piles of debris. but it also has wheels on its knees and heels which allows it to travel across flat ground which allowed it to complete all the tasks safely and rapidly. >> hello. nice to meet you.

it's my robot hand. >> reporter: hubo was developed by dr. ojinho. he's the head of the humanoid robot institute at the institute of science and technology. he began his research in robot engineering in 1997 after being amazed by the sight of a japanese humanoid robot walking. >> translator: we are late comers to robot development. our aim has been to catch up with leading countries with robotics such as japan and the united states. >> reporter: in 2004 he completed the first version of his hubo humanoid robot. since then he has kept on improving the design. he has assembled a team of the best engineers from all over south korea. ahead of the competition, they

worked day and night developing hubo. as part of the process, oh encourages a constant exchange of opinions with his students. >> translator: after i put forward my proposal dr. oh came back with another idea. after a lot of debate i came to see that he was right. >> reporter: dr. oh is continuing his research to make further improvements to hubo. his aim is to create an autonomous robot that can act independently without human instruction in places that would be unsafe for humans. >> translator: there are currently 25 operating power plants. the goal of my research is a robot that could respond in the end of a major disaster. >> reporter: south korea has been developing humanoid robots

for the past 18 years but there is still little awareness. oh hopes his recent victory will help propel them into robotics. kim chan-ju, nhk world. >> thanks for that report. sayaka mori joins us again with the latest on other storm systems in the pacific. >> yes. on top of typhoon nangka we have another typhoon approaching japan. typhoon halola which is now located far from japan but is expected to get closer to eastern japan into next week. across the west we have another system to mention. two more actually. one is a major hurricane dolores which is expected to provide rough sea conditions for the next several days. now, i want to talk about nangka once again.

nangka will likely hit shikoku by tonight as a strong typhoon and then head towards the north. very strong typhoon and also a large typhoon. so very wide area will be affected by this typhoon for a long period of time. it's packing winds of nearly 200 kilometers per hour. shikoku will see gusts nearly 180 kilometers. that could cause structural damage and trees toppled as well. across the eastern portions of china, heavy rain is anticipated. the east will see an additional 200 millimeters of rainfall. so flooding is going to be happening. and across the south, the southwest monsoon is quite active. so the north of the philippines will face active weather. quite hot in chongqing of 34

degrees. now in europe we have warmth across the western portions of the continent. look at these numbers. madrid, your high will be 37 degrees on thursday. staying quite hot as we go into the rest of the work week. cordoba reaching the 40 degree mark thursday and friday. the warmth will hit central japan into the weekend. in the south of france tour de france is taking place. it's going to be extremely hot. that's it for me now. here's your extended forecast.

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