hello, you are watching newsline i'm shery ahn. japan is locked in some territorial disputes with its neighbors. ministers decided to deport activists and journalists from hong kong. authorities arrested 14 people on wednesday after they

illegally entered japanese territory at the senkaku islands. japanese and china claim them as their own. yoshihiko noda and several of his ministers confirmed the decision to deport the group. japanese officials made a similar decision when they deported chinese activists who landed on the senkakus. the prime minister at the time said he wanted to maintain relations with china. analysts say the government decision is based on that judgment. government leaders also decided to take a dispute over territory in the sea of japan to the international court of justice. the japanese called the islands takeshima islands. the south korea government officials need to agree before the court will hear the case.

japan regards south korea as an important member of the united nations and apepealed to the government in seoul. foreign minister koichiro gemba has summoned the ambassador. to inform him of the decision. south korean president lee bak made a visit to the islands on friday. japanese government officials say he entered theirtorytory illegally. they recalled the ambassador from seoul. the international court of justice will not handle any legal dispute without the consent of the party concerned. south korea refused proposals to take the dispute to court.

in 1954 and 1962. british government officials say they will never allow safe passage to a man who is of interest to a number of countries. julian assange is trying to avoid extradition to sweden. the founder of wic -- wikileaks has been holed up in the ecuador embassy in london. he faces arrest if he leaves embassy grounds. people around the world clicked on wikileaks after the site released thousands of secret u.s. documents. authorities in sweden want to question assange over accusations of sexual assault. police in britain arrested him two years ago. the british court ruled he should be extradited to sweden. assange took refuge in ecuador's embassy in june and applied for asylum. >> translator: our country has decided to grant asylum to julian assange.

>> foreign minister said ecuadorian leaders believe assange's fears of political persecution are legitimate and his human rights might be violated. his supporters gathered in front of the embassy. they cheered when they heard the ecuadorian government's decision. >> julian assange freedom fighter! british police are on stand by around the building. they could arrest assange if he tries to leave the grounds. british foreign secretary william hague said his government was legally obligated to extradite assange to sweden. >> under our law, with mr. assange having exhaust ed all options of appeal, we will not allow him safe pass acknowledges out of the united kingdom. >> ecuador says british counterparts demand they hand over assange. or police would enter the

embassy. the ecuadorians call that an open threat and violation of diplomatic immunity. the u.n. security council has decided to end its observer mission in syria. the decision represents the international body's failure to halt violence that killed more than 17,000 people. nhk world's widad franco has more. >> reporter: on thursday, united nations is stopping the peacekeeping operation in syria. they decided formally not to renew the mandate that will expire on august 19th. instead, the u.n. will have a much smaller liaison office in damascus. >> the mandate is over. as you -- the dismantling will starten a few days. there will be what is the most important thing, a u.n. presence.

>> reporter: the mission was deployed in april of this year with its mandate to monitor the situation and help end the violence. despite the efforts, fighting between government troops and opposition groups increased. killing over 17,000 people. they suffered attacks from both side too. joint special envoy of the u.n. and arab league, kofi annan's diplomatic efforts failed to achieve a cease-fire and produce a peaceful outcome. he will resign at the end of august. a three-time double veto by china and russia, blocking any possibility to impose sanctions on the assad government served as encouragement to the regime and highlighted the deep divisions in the security council on the way forward on this conflict. the termination of the u.n. peacekeeping mission in syria symbolizes the failure of the

international community to achieve a peaceful resolution for the syrian population. in the meantime, the violence continues and the death toll increases day by day. widad franco, nhk world, new york. the japanese government is expected to give a group of people permission to do something they haven't been able to do for years. visit north korea. the people want to inspect what they believe are the remains of their relatives. the group is made up of family members of japanese who died on the korean peninsula before and during world war ii. they have been asking the government for permission to visit north korea to inspect the remains. government officials imposed sanctions against the north in 2004 for the nuclear program and missile tests. they asked the public to refrain from visiting the country. officials from both countries have agreed to hold their first

talks in four years. they're expected to meet in beijing this month. they will discuss what to do with those remains and other issues. if the government gives the go ahead, members of the group will be among five people who will visit the north later this month. officials in belgium decided to postpone restarting a nuclear reactor which may have cracks in the containment vessel. the reactor will be shuttle down until at least the end of september. inspectors found the possible cracks in the steel vessel on the number three reactor in june. officials said the reactor would remain off line until the end of august. the federal agency for nuclear control held a meeting of experts from nine countries to share their expertise. the group included representative s from the united states, spain and sweden, where the same type of reactor is used. the agency's director general said more time is needed to complete

the ongoing inspection and determine possible safety risks. belgians rely on nuclear power for more than half their electricity. they will scrap all nuclear plans by 2025. japanese government officials have been busy planning how they'll spend their money next year. they have kept their eye on the debt. the guidelines aimed at revitalizing the economy with a focus on energy. government ministries and agencies use the guidelines when requesting budget allocations. government officials say spending will be capped at close to $900 billion, excluding the cost of service and bonds. that's about the same level as in the current fiscal year. the guidelines emphasize energy supply, medical, and welfare services and agricultural forest

reand fisheries. the cabinet selected these field as the most important for revitalizing the economy. the framework also prioritizes outlays to help with rebuilding areas devastated by the march 11th earth quake and tsunami. now, americans will get a chance to eat japanese beef, after going without for a while. japan will resume exports on saturday. the u.s. government was among several that slapped a ban on japanese produce two years ago. several cows to have found foot and mouth disease. the disease was no longer a problem in japan. confirmed last year that the disease was no longer a problem in japan. so several countries decided to lift their restrictions. officials with japan's agricultural ministry say their u.s. counterparts informed them this month they would resume imports. the u.s. market accounted for 10% of japanese beef exports. japanese producers hope lifting the restrictions will help them

win back that share. ministry officials will urge officials in vietnam to lift their ban. the country has accounted for more than half of japanese beef exports. the people at toyota motor are trying to appeal to drivers who don't just view vehicles as a way to get from a to b. they unveiled a new sport car. their first in 13 years. the to toyota 86 can be customized. one of the auto makers chief engineers led the design team. he talked to us about how he thinks the model fits in the new world of car manufacturing and marketing. >> tada and his team took five years to develop the toyota 86. it's equipped with a new 2 litre engine. generating up to 200 horsepower. the car's performance is not the

best compared to other sports cars on the market, but its low center of gravity and good cornering make it a good, pleasurable drive. >> translator: the driver should play the leading role, not the car. that's the concept we produced for the 86. the car itself is very low tech. no special technology is used. but we took good old technology and matured it making sure that the motorist gets really excited when driving the vehicle. >> after a tough two years, toyota is recovering the status as the world's leading carmaker with strong sales in the first half of this year. the automaker's best selling models are the prius and its fuel efficient compact cars. what prompted toyota to come out

with a new sports car and why now? >> translator: it is said that people are losing interest in cars. toyota has taken steps to reverse this trend, but we can't stop it. a vehicle is becoming another commodity. we're about to face an era when car prices are going to be decided simply by size and fuel efficiency. to overcome that, we have to add some extra value. such as status or a better driving experience and create cars that would not become mere commodities. to do that, a sports car is the perfect offer. >> tada broke with past toyota practice to prevent the sports car from becoming just another commodity.

>> translator: toyota cars, including lexus, are put on the market only after clearing all three board meetings, which are called design examinations. almost all executives attend them. in the meetings, designs become sophisticated eliminating all strange elements. in the process, it's often said that unique features will also be cut. when it comes to sports cars, likes and dislikes matter, not good or bad points. those meetings cannot decide what consumers like or dislike. so, after much debate, i asked for the design examinations to be stopped. >> tada showed his prototype of the vehicle to the 200 employees of toyota who drive sports cars to work. the 86 is the result of their feedback. in the first three months, toyota sold 13,000 units. that was more than had originally been predicted. the sales environment for the vehicle is also unique. the leadership is equipped with a variety of parts and staff are ready to help buyers customize

their vehicles. the automaker created a system from data from a driving run that can be transferred to a console. drivers can use this to assess their skills. >> translator: i think that the business model for making a profit through car sales has changed. after the collapse of lehman brothers, we learned that an infinite increase in auto sales is nothing but an illusion. what's next? we need to shift to making a smaller profit for a long time. sports car drivers basically have a habit of enjoying various events and changing auto parts after they buy the car. i thought we should take advantage of that in the 86. >> toyota engineers took many bold steps to create the 86.

tada hopes it will become a major test case in the future of car making in the changing auto market. commanders order the crew of the battleship to okinawa with virtually no air cover. thousand of sailors died. now, a man who followed the battle as the it happened is trying to find out why the orders went out. nhk "world's" kristina gan has

the story. reporter: near the end of the second world war this was the former headquarters of the combined fleet. members of the public can now tour the once command center, six or seven years after the war ended, a huge network of tunnels and bunkers, reinforced with concrete. >> translator: i had no idea tunnels like this existed. i learned a lot. >> reporter: this 88-year-old worked in the underground trench. he was a junior naval officer at the end of the war. >> desks were leaned s were li here. many radio operators were working with headphones. >> he had been a preuniversity student where the command center was located. he was asend signed to the communications room.

his job was to receive telegraph messages from the front line and report them to superiors. >> translator: i spoke to no one. it wasn't allowed. climbing up and down the 126 steps and going in and out of the communications room, that's all i remember. he has another memory, the sinking of the battleship, and the pride offp japan's navy. command ordered the ship to head for okinawa to stop the allied invasion. the war was now going bad low for japan. lacking air cover, the carrier was at the mercy of u.s. bombers. the ship sank with 3,000 soldiers and officers on board. he delivered a minute by minute account. >> the ship was bombed and

torpedoed. i received radio messages, put them together and report. that was it. >> six months after baeing ase d assigned to the command center. >> translator: empty. just empty. i couldn't accept that the war had finally ended. >> reporter: after the war, he became a hard working company employee. this was the era of economic growth. the underground bunker was forgotten. the memories resurfaced. the former radio onnperator beg questioning. he poured over documents and record just to know why japan had to wage that war. he was beginning to think he shared responsibility. >> translator: i just can't help blaming myself for what

happened. after all, it was the command that issued unilateral orders. >> he began putting down his thoughts on paper. he has the written close to 60 essays, they ex-plaplain how thr ended so many lives and so many dreams for the future. military ruled the nation of japan during the war. no other idea or belief was tolerated. it was an era of madness. we lived at the time when japan plunged into a senseless war. our most valuable days, were sacrificed. >> translator: we should never, ever let a war be waged again. i feel strongly that i must hand down my message to as many people as i can.

>> reporter: he distributes copies of the messages to his friend. proper exposure he believes can stop it from happening again. a typhoon about to make landfall in southern china. sayaka mori has more about that. >> strong typhoon is about to make landfall, producing heavy rains and strong wind to southern portions of china as well. here is the projected path. it will make landfall in guangdong, and once it makes landfall it will quickly weaken and become tropical depression by sunday. very heavy rain and strong wind are already in southern china.

as for rainfall. 150 millimeters of rain has been reported, and likely see addition of 250 millimeters in guandong, and in the next 24 hours into tomorrow morning. and on saturday, northern vietnam, may be seeing upward of 100 millimeters. so, very stormy conditions are on the way. we'll keep you posted on the storm's progress. meanwhile, up toward, heading over to the america's. strong low-pressure system is stretching from ontario down through the southern plains. bringing widespread heavy showers. there is a risk of severe weather in, along the, this cold front. as the system moves toward the east, things will turn quite stormy in the eastern u.s. parts of the eastern canada. we will see an area of severe weather from west virginia down toward mississippi on your -- on your friday. so, severe thunderstorms and gusty wind are expected. out toward the west, a lot of

moisture can be found across the -- southwestern corner of the u.s. and down toward the south, there is a new -- disturbance. west of the yucatan peninsula. very heavy rain across this region about 200 millimeters of rain has been recorded and we'll look low s likely see more rain. the system could become a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours. out toward the west. another tropical depression, tropical storm over the atlantic. this is -- gordon. it could become hurricane status by friday. and heads towards the west. there is a possibility of it impacting the azures, late sunday, as a tropical storm status and then move toward the west and headed toward the iberian peninsula early next week. all right, temperaturewise, getting up to 36 degrees in houston. 31 in oklahoma city.

out towards the northwest. extremely hot. 38 degrees in portland. that's about 10 degrees higher than where there should be this time of year. and 35 degrees in seattle. above the temperature, in the pacific northwest. will continue at least into your weekend. all right, finally, let's go over to europe. and a massive low-pressure system. still in place over the british ais isles. stormy weather. the scandinavian peninsula will see stormy conditions. down toward the south. very hot. very dry. temperatures are getting up to 39 degrees in madrid on your friday. we are expecting it to become 40 degrees as we head into your saturday. here is the extended forecast.

here is a recap of the top stories. japanese prime minister, sat down with a couple of his ministers today to work through some thorny, use of foreign policy. japan is locked in territorial disputes with its neighbors. ministers decided to deport a group of activists and journalists from hong kong. authorities arrested 14 people on wednesday after they illegally entered japanese territory, the senkaku islands.

china, taiwan both claim the islands as their own. the japanese prime minister met with several of his ministers. then confirmed their decision. chief cabinet secretary, fujimora said the activists are now with the immigration authorities and will soon be deported. japanese government officials made a similar decision in 2004 when they deported chinese activists who landed on the senkakus. the prime minister at the time said he wanted to maintain relations with china. analysts say the government decision is based on that judgment. government leaders also decided to take a dispute over a territory in the sea of japan t international court of justice. the south korean government officials need to agree before the court will hear the case.

he says japan regard south korea as an important member of the united nations. he appealed to the government in seoul to allow the matter to be heard in court. foreign minister summoned south korean ambassador to inform him of the decision. south korean president bak made an unprecedented trip to the island last friday. japanese government officials say he entered their territory illegally and they recall their ambassador from seoul. the international court of justice will not handle any legal dispute without the consiveco consent of the parties concerned. south korea refused proposals to take the dispute to the court in 1954 and 1962.

that's all for this hour. i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching.