o. welcome to "newsline." here are some of the stories we're following this hour. japanese astrognat kimiya yui and two other members have boarded the international space station for a five-month stay. the russian air force is reportedly deploying bombers to crimea to enforce its presence in the region. and measures prevents wild animals from destroying crops

could also put people in danger. kimiya yui is on his first space voyage. a soyuz craft carrying him and two others took off. we have what lies ahead during his mission aboard the iss. >> reporter: yui is the tenth japanese astronaut to go into space. his crew members on the soyuz from russia and the u.s. they lifted off from kazakhstan. about nine minutes later, the rocket separated and the capsule started its orbit around earth.

>> translator: my heart was racing when the rocket lifted off. i was so excited. thinking my son has become superman. >> reporter: yui is a former air self-defense force pilot. the 45-year-old was selected to be an astronaut six years ago. he was chosen from a field of 1,000 applicants in japan. >> translator: i'm going to work hard and successfully accomplish my mission. and in the future i hope to become a shining star representing middle aged people. >> reporter: many people in his hometown showed the liftoff that was broadcast live online. an air base was also watching. >> translator: i am so proud to see someone i once worked with assigned to such an honorable mission. and the spacecraft lifted off successfully.

>> range is approximately three meters. >> and we have contact and capture docking -- >> reporter: the soyuz craft docked with the space station around 2:45 utc on thursday. the men opened a hatch and made their way on board. the station will be yui's home and office for the next five months. he will conduct a number of experiments. >> reporter: another job will be to operate the station's robotic arm. yui will be guiding a japanese craft in august. he will get a helped hand from earth. fellow japanese astronaut wakata

will be at the ground control center when the craft arrives. wakata is the first to assist the iss. >> translator: yui always grasps the big picture and executes whatever is necessary at the moment. i believe the mission will be successful. >> reporter: yui aims to follow wakata's footsteps and become an iss captain. family, friends, and colleagues back down on earth are looking forward to hearing about his achievements. they see yui as an astronaut leading japan's space development. naoki makita nhk world. a top government spokesperson is dismissing criticism that japan is fanning the flames of confrontation. the two sides are at odds over gas projects in the east china sea. officials in tokyo say they have

confirmed that china has built 12 new structures since june 2013. and they provided maps and photos showing the location. they later held negotiations on the treaty. but talks were suspended in 2010 after a chinese fishing boat collided with patrol vessels in japan's territorial waters. officials in beijing were voicing their criticism. they say it is not constructive in improving the situation. but yoshihide suga rejected their claims. >> translator: we've been calling on china to halt unilateral work like this. we hope china will change its attitude and resolve the issue in a constructive manner. >> he also says the two sides had agreed to make the area a sea for peace and friendship. u.s. state department officials say good relations between japan

and china are beneficial to the u.s. and asia. and they say they'll encourage a cooperative approach to addressing the issue. russian military officials are reportedly ramping up their fire power in crimea. they say they'll send in mid-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons. a russian defense ministry source made the claims in an interview with the interfax news agency. military commanders will dispatch bombers to crimea and may entually send more. the source said russia is reacting to a decision by u.s. forces to operate a missile base in romania. leaders in moscow have slammed u.s. plans to develop a missile defense system in europe. analysts say russia is trying to show the world that crimea is now firmly part of its territory. russia annexed the region in march last year. let's now turn to developments on the business and

financial fronts with gene otani. gene? >> james, thanks. a u.s. investor has sued for compensation from toshiba in connection with the accounting scandal. an attorney for the plaintiff said other investors may join the suit filed in california. the investor claims to have suffered large losses from a plunge in toshiba's plunge in prices after the scandal came to light. the partner in the rosen law firm spoke with nhk and said a third panel party had concluded there were accounting irregularities. >> the issue with respect to fraud, i think is pretty much set. there'll be other cases moving forward as far as who's included in the case will be the big issues. >> kim indicated the possibility of other investors joining the lawsuit. >> several dozen. but there are other law firms as well that are looking as well.

so i don't know what their response is. but we did file the only case. but other law firms are out there. >> kim said the third party panel's conclusion that they had admitted responsibility would work to the investors' advantage. checking the markets, share prices in japan ended higher this thursday. our business reporter gives us more details from the tokyo stock exchange. >> japan released its june trade data this morning showing an overall deficit. although analysts had been expecting a small surplus, exports did rise at the fastest pace in five months. so the benchmark nikkei average ended in the positive. up by .4% closing at 20,683. the topix also rose .6%. the nikkei was helped by export-related stocks. we saw shipments of electronics

and cars rise in june. sony up almost 3.7%. also to boost tourism. the record number of foreign visitors is also helping shares. as for the losers asai is down more than 5.8%. tanked on the back of disappointing data for an experimental alzheimer's treatment. and stock for energy-related companies continue to feel the impact of low oil prices. cosmo oil fell 1%. and idemitsu kosan fell. investors are now keeping an eye on a batch of corporate earnings figures due out of the u.s. moving on to other markets in the asia pacific region. in china the shanghai composite

enjoyed its sixth straight day of gains. it closed up 2.4% at 4,123. market watchersay investors would continue offering support to the market. in taiwan weaker sales of apple iphones continue to weigh on the market. it hit its lowest close in nearly nine months. apple suppliers and other tech firms led the slide. hong kong rose by about .5% following the upward momentum in shanghai. sydney was dragged down by lower commodity prices. investors went on a shopping spree for japanese stocks in the first half of this year. tokyo markets outpaced most others. u.s. stocks remained flat in the six months to june. in germany, the dax added 11%. shanghai jumped but was hit by intense volatility. in tokyo the nikkei 225 rose

15%. our business reporter tells us what to expect going forward. >> reporter: in the first half of 2015 we saw the nikkei shoot up to its highest level in two decades. japan was also the best performing developed market. the question then becomes who's been leading the rally and will it continue? the nikkei kicked off the year prettylow. but it steadily moved higher and higher until it hit 20,900 a level we haven't seen in more than 18 years. i spoke with goldman sachs' japan. she says she's seeing a new trend. the nikkei saw a rally. what boosted the rally and who were the big players? >> i think that attracted valuations and you had significant inflows.

interestingly not from your typical investor base which often is foreigners. but this time it was very much led by domestic investors. namely public pension funds as well as the bank of japan. but also don't forget corporates were very active buyers of their own stocks. so share buy backs were also a prominent player in the first half in terms of demand for japanese equity. >> reporter: matsui says foreign investors are starting to get more confidence in corporate japan. they're seeing increasing share buybacks and dividend growth. corporate governance reform is one of prime minister shinzo abe's key growth strategies. >> of course in the beginning i think with these top-down driven government-led initiatives, most investors outside of japan were rather skeptical. because this is something that sounds very good but they know

the reality might be very different which often is the case in japan. so it was kind of show me the money, show me the evidence that things are truly changing. >> reporter: so the case has always been the weaker the yen, the better for japanese stocks. but recently we're seeing a diversion. do you think the correlation has broke down? >> now we're in phase two of the rally where we don't need additional yen weakness for the market to rally. why? because wages are finally growing again. because we don't have a consumption tax hike like we had last year. that's going to allow for consumption to do better. companies are earning record profits right now. that's going to encourage them to invest more in cap-x. >> reporter: matsui says she's expecting some positives in the second half of the year such as increases in corporate earnings and wages. on the downside she says a potential rate hike by the u.s. federal reserve could cause short-term ripples in equity

markets around the world. so you recently upgraded japan in terms of the broader topix. how do you view the rest of 2015 to play out and also next year? >> so we believe that the nikkei overall and topix will be more range bound kind of between 1600, 1700 on topix. nikkei kind of 20,000 20,500 sort of range because of the tug of war factors between now and the end of the year. beyond this year i think there'll be a more clearer set of positives like i outlined earlier on the earnings front on the policy front, political front. i just think it would be more positive than negative factors playing in the first half of 2016 which should help the nikkei rally to 22,000 23,000. topix around 1,850. >> reporter: she's especially positive about domestic oriented sectors. like financials real estate

and i.t. service companies. and she suggests buying on any kind of weakness from now until the end of the year as she expects stocks to rise into 2016. mayu yoshida, nhk world, tokyo. japanese government officials have drawn up the guidelines for the 2016 budget. they're pushing a growth agenda. the officials presented the guidelines at a meeting with members of the ruling parties. the plans include spending up to around $32 billion to promote economic growth. they plan to cap on increase on spending on social security. they plan to accept requests for up to about $5.4 billion. beyond the amount in the initial 2015 budget. in other areas the officials plan to ask ministries and agencies to reduce discretionary policy spending by 10%. they include public works projects. they are expected to approve the guidelines on friday. the people in charge of

south korea's top car maker say profits have taken another tumble. hyundai motor executives blame the strong yuan. they stretch their disappointing run to five straight quarters. the executives say from april to june they made an operating profit of $1.5 billion, down 16% from last year. worldwide, they sold about 1.2 million vehicles. down nearly 3%. they say slowed growth is hurting the business. they're hoping extra cost-cutting measures and suvs can help turn things around. that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets.

some people in rural areas of japan say a relatively new feature of farming is making them nervous. electric fences deter wild animals from damaging crops but they can also be deadly to people as a recent tragedy showed. nhk world's jun yotsumoto has more. >> reporter: the accident occurred on sunday in a rural town in the isu peninsula.

people from two families came here to take a holiday. two died when they were electrocuted in the river. five other people suffered minor injuries. >> translator: local people who went to rescue them said they were not able to get in the water there where the river is electrified. >> reporter: here's what appeared to have happened. police say a part of the electric cable snapped and emerged in the river. a man and two children who entered the river were electrocuted. then four others tried to rescue them. but they also received electric shocks. it's not the first time fatal accidents have happened. two people were killed by electric wires in 2009 and 2011. and a 95-year-old woman on friday touched an electric fence and collapsed. she was taken to hospital but

wasn't injured. recently wild boars and deer have been entering farms and damaging the crops. agricultural groups and local governments have encouraged farmers to install electronic fences. they are effective and inexpensive. farmers can easily buy a kit on the internet. they don't need a license or a registration. but experts warn it could be hazardous if they don't take shock prevention measures as required by law. one is a mechanism tt runs electricity in intervals. electricity is supplied only for a split second to prevent anyone being electrocuted. >> translator: electricity is discharged just for a split second. only when the light goes on. sometimes i accidentally touch the cable and give myself a shock and that's very painful.

>> reporter: another mechanism that's required will ultimately stop electricity from being discharged when a short circuit occurs. an inspection found the fence in question was not proper. they say they are questioning the man who installed the fence. an expert on accidents. he says the risks of being electrocuted in water are greater than on the ground. he also pointed to a cable that sends electricity to a fence nonstop. >> translator: the longer the electricity flows through people's bodies the heavier the burden on their hearts becomes. it means they face the danger of dying. >> reporter: police say they will examine if there were shortcomings in building the

fence. and officials will discuss introducing new safety measures. they are considering keeping people better informed of the dangers electric fences pose. jun yotsumoto, nhk world. researchers at a british university say they have found one of the world's oldest manuscripts of the koran. they say the document had been stored in their library for a century. it may shed light on how the scripture was compiled in book form after the death of the prophet muhammad. university of birmingham officials say radio carbon analysis dates it two 645.

mohammad is believed to have died in 632. the researchers tested animal skin on which the text was written. the document contained several chapters of the islamic holy book written in an early form of arabic script. some experts believe the author may have known mohammad in person. it was one b of several manuscripts collected in the 1920s. it was stored in the library. >> a treasure that is of global significance to heritage and islam as well as being a source of great pride to the local community. >> the university plans to put the manuscript on display in october. possibly a first-hand look at the prophet, quite exciting. currently in tokyo it's cloudy partly fair with a temperature reading of 28 degrees celsius or 82 degrees fahrenheit. people in europe are having to stay hydrated to deal with the baking conditions. as jonathan oh tells us in this hour's weather update.

>> hello. we have been monitoring the steady rise in temperatures from the southern areas and now into the central portions of europe. we had high pressure that was responsible for pushing the moisture from the south into the area. because of that some areas were getting close to the 40 degree mark. i want to take us to the czech republic where we are seeing temperatures rising up. you can see the haze from e the heat that's taking place. this isn't a normal hot period for those living in prague. that made it the hottest day of the year. areas to the north of the city had highs of over 39 degrees. and so people trying to get out getting some sun, but also trying to stay cool in the process here. the heat has come after the hottest june on record for the country. temperatures will remain above average into saturday. but it is expected to get back to normal by sunday. and so yes, yeah you probably need sun screen being out there

in the process. but it is also important that you stay hydrated and cool. and if you're not finding cool in the water, you need to go inside if at all possible because the heat is very oppressive. now, we are watching a low pressure system and a cold front pushing toward the south and east. this is going to be an area of severe thunderstorms possible as we go throughout thursday. and so you can see here highlighted in orange this area we're looking at for the possibility of some thunderstorms. high pressure still bringing very hot weather over into the balkans. and that's streamy in that southerly flow that will be both the instigator for the thunderstorms and also these hot temperatures as well. look at the highs here. we're looking at 34 degrees in madrid coming up on thursday. 38 in rome. 32 in vienna. and warsaw 29. we're looking at the possibility of thunderstorms, some of them maybe strong throughout the day. now, i want to point out other locations as well. average high temperatures in the upper 20s to low 30s.

looking at temperatures in the mid-30s in some of the other locations here from kiev. definitely need to say cool. as you look at the forecast for north america, we had a stationary front that was slowly pushing to the south. because of that and those of you located in georgia, the carolinas, even as far west as louisiana looking at the possibility for some thunderstorms as we go throughout the day here. atlanta, 31 degrees on thursday. 34 in miami. new york city with a high of 30 degrees throughout the day. 36 in oklahoma city. thursday, rain into los angeles. with which is good news. we need the rain. now, as you look at the forecast for east asia notice thelouds all over the southern portions of china. we're seeinrain and storms some of them strong to where we see even trees being knocked over in hong kong wednesday.

and we're going to see this unsettled weather continuing as we go throughout the next couple of days as we still see the streaming of the moisture from the south. the rainy season continues to affect the peninsula and parts of japan. and halola is now moving towards the west. expected to make a turn to the north by the weekend as we go into the first part of next week. looking at the forecast sunny skies and clouds in tokyo with 33 degrees as the high on friday. rain extending from the korean peninsula throughout the day. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

that's it for this edition of "newsline." but there's more to come here on nhk world so stay with us.

ted talk bailout once again. the latest from athens. the government is ready to get back at the table with euros and lenders tomorrow. the prime minister seeing off rebels overnight in his own party to pass key reforms demanded by greece's creditors. kurdish militants claim responsibility for killing two turkish policeman on wednesday. the pkk group saying it's revenge on the state for not protecting kurds