here in japan it's 7:00 p.m. on a thursday. i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to "newsline." a russian spacecraft is on its way to the space station and there's a japanese astronaut on board. >> three, two, one. engines at maximum thrust. >> the soyuz lifted off from

kazakhstan. nine minutes later it detached. it entered altitude around 200 kilometers. the crew will stay aboard the iss for months. the former airline pilot is the 11th astronaut from japan to go into japan. onishi will help conduct gravitational experiments with mi mice. it's hoped it will reveal more about the aging process in mammals. the soyuz spacecraft includes upgrades to the docking equipment. dozens of people gathered at a science museum in tokyo to see onishi take off and one of his friends flew in from shanghai to watch. >> translator: he's a very responsible person so i'm sure

he'll carry out the mission. >> onishi is expected to arrive at the international space station in two days. the japanese space agency is also marking another achievement. scientists there had a breakup of an orbiting telescope. they say they got the first-ever close look at superheated gases around a black hole. they plan to pub establish the data in "nature." then went out of control and broke up. the program director says their quality makes the loss of the satellites all the more regrettable. hitomi cost about $310 million. it stopped communicating before it went into full operation. scientists later learned it had failed because of human error. they abandoned it in april. we continue to monitor

typhoon nepartak as it prepares to make landfall in taiwan. jonathan oh has the details. >> hello. we're going to monitor the storm very closely. we're looking at the timing to be around friday especially through the overnight period into the day. now, we're not talking about just taiwan, though. notice the spread of the clouds all the way into portions of okinawa. and i want to show you the visible satellite imagery. notice the eye, the clarity of it. this is a very powerful storm. already the outer bands of this storm are moving on shore. that's going to be just the beginning of what's going to be a long 24 to 48 hour period. here's a look at the current track. this system is moving to the west/northwest at 28 kilometers per hour. gusting up to 306. this is a very strong storm. the track takes it through the southern portions of taiwan. once again the outer bands cover

the entire outer island and already spreadi towardshe north and east. places like naha westward, you'llee the impacts from this system thiss theorecast for the next 72 hours in terms of the ecipitation. notice how dark the shades of purple are on this model. that means it is dumping a lot of rainfall. you may be dealing with rain rates close to 150 millimeters an hour potentially. because of the mountainous terrain especially on the western side of the island, a lot of that will flow back to the valleys and low lying areas. some of that accumulation could exceed 800 millimeters in a 24 hour period. wave heights up to 8 meters. they're going to be quite high especially towards the okinawa prefecture. winds gusting up to 126 kilometers per hour on the ground level. dangerous flooding conditions due to torrential rainfall.

landfalls expected in taiwan. we'll have more in world weather in just a bit. back to you. >> thanks. in bangladesh, militants have attacked near a mass prayer meeting killing two policemen. they were gathered to celebrate the end of the holy month of ramadan. the attack came after a hostage crisis in the capital dhaka. officials said the militants threw homemade bombs at a group of police officers in kishoreganj. north of dhaka. nine other policemen were wounded. officials said it was brought under control and people were asked to go home. the government has been on high alert since friday when an armed group took hostages at a cafe in dhaka. the siege ended after a hundred commandos stormed the building. 23 people were killed. most of them foreigners

including italians, japanese, an american. a video on the internet warned of more attacks. a group calling themselves a local affiliate of the group claimed responsibility for the dhaka attack. the government rejected that saying a fundamentalist group played a significant role. a long awaited approach on the uk's decision to join the iraq war. tony blair did not represent the threat. and said he didn't give the risks and consequences enough conseration. the inquiry was launched by the british government and took seven years to complete. its chairman said on wednesday the intervention went badly wrong. >> we have concluded that the uk

chose to join the invasion of iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. military action at that time was not a last resort. >> the report denies there was a realistic threat from iraqi weapons of mass destruction. that was the main justification the u.s. gave for invading iraq. it said if sanctions against hussain's regime -- and it would have taken the country several years to deploy long range missiles. the report also said that blair's government believed the saddam regime had biological weapons. but intelligence on the potential threat was not established beyond doubt. it also points out that blair wrote to the then-u.s. president george w. bush saying i will be with you whatever. and it claims this shows the two

leaders had agreed to overthrow saddam before the start of the war. blair said wednesday he accepts full responsibility for his actions. >> the decision to go to war in iraq and to remove saddam hussain from power in the coalition of 40 countries led by the united states of america was the hardest, most momentous, most agonizing position i took in my ten years as british prime minister. >> blair said he disagrees with the decision that it triggered the chaos in the middle east. he said saddam himself was a source of terror and a continuing threat to peace and to his own people. he claims the world was and is a better place without him. iraq's government says sunday's attack in baghdad is the deadliest since the beginning of the war in 2003. the attack killed 250 people.

an iraqi health ministry official told nhk about 200 others were injured when a car bomb detonated in baghdad's largely shia district. the islamic state militant group claimed responsibility. iraq says it is beating the militants on the battlefield but the security situation is deteriorating. baghdad and surrounding areas have been struck by a series of retaliatory attacks. last month iraqi government forces regained fallujah which was under the control of the militant group for two years. u.s. president barack obama has revised his strategy for exiting afghanistan again. he said he's slowing the removal of american troops because of the worsening security decion. >> the decision i'm making today is ensuring continued progress in afghanistan as well as the flexibility to address the threat of terrorism as it

evolves. >> obama had initially pledged to pull out all troops from afghanistan during his presidency. later he said he would cut the number to 5,500 by the end of this year. now he says the u.s. will maintain about 8,400 troops into next year through the end of his administration. obama said he strongly believes it's in the u.s. national security interest to give afghanistan the very best opportunity to succeed. obama has cited the resurgence of the taliban and other security concerns for reasons on revising the exit plan. the latest policy shift comes ahead of a nato summit this weekend in poland. they are expected to discuss the afghan situation in the meeting. afghanistan's president welcomed obama's decision. he said in a statement that he new policy showed the cooperative relationship between the countries will continue. investors are waiting to see how the bank of japan will react

to the turmoil of recent weekings when policy makers meet later this month. gene otani joins us for more on that and other business headlines. >> the bank of japan governor has been dropping clues on which way policy makers might go at their next meeting. kuroda told them he is monitoring the strong yen and risks from overseas and if the situation calls for it, he will expand the monitory easing program. he saidt is for weak exports and production. but he said a domestic economy is recovering at a moderate pace and is expected to continue on that path. checking the markets, japanese stocks closed lower for a third day. concerns from the brexit are continuing to weigh on sentiment. for the details, our reporter phoebe amoroso reports.

>> investors are staying cautious despite kuroda's optimistic outlook while the federal reserve to hold off a rate hike have boosted confidence. closing levels for this thursday, july 7th. the nikkei closed at 15,276. and the topix fell by a similar margin. despite the strong yen, we've seen investors shift position selling more defensive stock. so while suzuki motor an casio computer both gaining, kddi was down 2%. really underperforming was supermarket giant aeon. its shares plummeted more than 8%. that's after it posted an operating profit decline from march to may year on year. investors are understandably taking a weight and see approach given the high levels of

uncertainty. they're also watching for the u.s. non-farm payroll data. and moving onto other markets in the asia pacific region, let's start with the shanghai composite. little change. 3,016 for the closing number today. hopes for stimulus measures still supported sentiment. moving to seoul, the kospi index gaining 1,974 was the ending number. electronics jumped after posting better than expected earnings for the april to june quarter. other markets, the hang seng gaining. sydney's index also saw a gain of 0.6%. but gains were capped as standard & poor's downgraded to

negative. holiday markers from around the world are heading to japan in record numbers. but some find when they get here, they struggle to make sense of common signs. that may be about to change. government officials are discussing the matter with representatives from rail operates, hotels, and other businesses. they founded a panel that will consider changes to logos and emblems that some mig find confusing. the plan is to improve the experice for foreign visitors before the 2020 tokyo polympics and paralympics. looks like a restaurant for hot dishes. they said it would be clear if there were people in the image. they want to use the more universally accepted "i" in its place. the panel also wants to create a service for wi-fi services available. it plans to review 70 signs and

add about 40 new ones. a major i.t. firm says it will launch a driverless bus service in a park near tokyo next month. dna got help on the project from a company that develops self-driving technology. the bus can carry 12 people. it has cameras and sensors and automatically stops when it detects something around it. dena plans to introduce self-driving vehicles in malls and parking lots. here's a look at other business stories we're following. the south korean court has suspended a government ban on sales of a nissan sport utility model. the environment mistry in may ordered the local arm of the japanese automaker to halt sales of the kashkai model. it violated exhaust regulations. nissan has filed a suit seeking

a nullification of the decision. said the ban should be decided. grapes grown on the sea of japan coast have fetched a record price at auction. the bunch of 30 ruby roman grapes sold for $11,000. growers in the prefecture spent a decade developing the variety which is famous for its size and sugar content. japanese craftsmen are known for making beautiful high quality products but finding success in overseas markets has been challenging. now they're trying to change that by teaming up with distributors in europe. nhk world's maiko eriaku has more. >> reporter: every year they flock to the fair, the largest in the world. this included products from gifu in japan.

such as ceramics and furniture. gifu's government helped make it happen. officials have been supporting small and mid-sized companies that want to do business abroad but have struggled. >> translator: local companies face obstacles. they make excellent products but transporting them costs a lot. brand recognition has also been a challenge. >> reporter: their solution? team up with distribution networks. in europe distributors have developed products and then they market them to retailers. officials from gifu wanted to find someone with ties to many distributors. they found this designer from switzerland. his clients include top brands such as louis vuitton and

bugari. he saw potential in gifu's industries and agreed to help. >> for us as designer to see all these beautiful skills in japan is to have inspiration to the project. >> reporter: the partnership is showing signs of promise. high end furniture maker from takayama was the first to benefit. it had already been doing business with companies in china but has struggled to enter the european market. >> translator: chairs and tables came from western culture and we want to sell our products in those markets. >> reporter: reymond thought the company's skills and products would appeal to buyers in europe.

he was particularly keen on a new material made from japanese cedar. the wood is compressed to one-third of its original thickness. it's beautifully grained and strong. >> something you can only produce here in japan. it was for us to use specific materials. >> reporter: the company created a new table and chairs with the material using reymond's design. they showed them in milan. that led to an international marketing deal with a luxury italian brand. >> translator: this helps us enhance our brand too. we're happy to have this opportunity with a valuable partner. >> reporter: now officials in gifu want to help companies in other industries connect with distributors. so they can also make inroads in

markets overseas. maiko eriaku, nhk world, gifu. >> and that's it for business news. i'm going to leave you with the markets. more and more businesses in japan are catering to muslim clients. it remains a tiny consumer market, but there's plenty of room to grow as some beauty salons near tokyo are finding out.

>> reporter: akibari has an appointment at the beauty salon. she's on scholarship from iran. clients block the windows and usher the client inside. only women can be present during the treatment. according to her faith, the only men allowed to see her hair are members of her family. >> translator: i didn't know there are places like this. i've lived in japan for some time and this has always been a problem. i'm really happy now. >> reporter: the new service took shape last year. it's one of 11 beauty parlors in shiba catering to muslims. at first the idea was to target tourists from the middle east and southeast asia. so far all customers have been muslims living in japan. previously these women had no access to hair professionals. >> translator: muslim women have to ask their friends to cut their hair. i never thought about it before.

>> reporter: privacy isn't the only consideration. the salons offer certified alcohol-free shampoo and spaces for prayer. >> can i take your coat? >> reporter: the language barrier needs bridging too. training includes english lessons. charmin is from bangladesh. she's making her second visit and drove an hour to get here. >> translator: now i can get the hair style i want. i'm so happy to be able to use a professional service. >> reporter: those services include putting down the scissors when it's time to pray. >> translator: as a beautician, i like to make foreign customers happy. i'm glad i can be helpful. >> reporter: three hours later, the cut is finished.

>> translator: lovely. >> translator: mommy's hair is beautiful. >> reporter: sharmin's husband gives an idea of her new hair style. >> translator: i'm no good at drawing. i'm the only man she could show. so it's up to me to praise her. >> translator: i want all my girlfriends to see my hair. i'm going to tell everyone about this beauty parlor. >> reporter: that kind of word of mouth helps a business to grow. the beauty barrier for muslim women is coming down. nhk "newsline" comes to you live from tokyo. jonathan oh is back with a look at the rest of world weather. >> hello.

east asia is going to continue to monitor a typhoon. nepartak continues to bring all this moisture already bringing the outer bands into taiwan and eventually making its way towards china as well. the mainland portion of china, the coastal areas. and the concern we have with this is the fact that if we look further to the north, we already had hundreds of millimeters of rainfall over the yangtze river. we have a saturated area of moisture. then we have more rain coming from the south. that is the concern we have when it comes to the flooding situation. notice the proximity is not that far away. actually when it comes to typhoon and the yangtze river basin. even though it may not make direct landfall, all the moisture will be approaching the area. here's a look at the track for nepartak. moving to the west/northwest at 20 kilometers per hour. packing winds up to 216 and

gusting at 306. into saturday and sunday, we're expecting a lot to get torn up as it crosses over the mountains of taiwan. but all that moisture continues to move to e the north. and all of that southerly flow from the eastern periphery of the system will be the concern as it tries to interact with what is left of the rainy season front at this point in time. so we'll watch that very closely. hundreds of millimeters of rainfall possible as we go forward in time. friday taipei wet, windy, stormy. all of that part of the forecast. very warm to the north. we had highs in the mid-30s in portions of japan. 32 in tokyo with more sunshine coming up on friday. shanghai dry for now with a high of 31 on friday. as you look at the forecast for north america, very unstable weather continuing to plague the upper midwest. there is another area of low pressure that continues to push toward the east. one just exited is now moving into quebec. but another low pressure system is coming out of the central portions of the united states.

so we're looking at t possibility of unstable weather, possibility of severe thunderstorms. some may include strg winds, heavy rainfall, frequent lighing, maybe even ha. so we'll look and watch that situation very closely. notice even in chicago some purple shades, heavy rainfall possible throughout the day. high of 28 in the windy city. thunderstorms along the eastern seaboard of the united states. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

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it, click on contact us for your thoughts and comments. from all of us here on nhk "newsline," thanks for watching.

♪ anchor: think you for joining us. you are watching live from paris. here are the headlines. a new police shooting in the u.s.. a black man is fatally shot in his car in minnesota. his dying moments filled by his girlfriend and streamed live. this comes to days after the death of an african man killed at the hands of police officers. the conclusion of britain's chilcott report as fuels to the contentment over tony blair's decision to go to war.