From a country where coffee has long been king. Delegates from japan and north korea are preparing to hold talks about a decades old issue. Theyre meting in beijing to discuss the northeast past abductions of japanese nationals as planned, even after pyongyang on sunday launched ballistic mist siels towards the sea of japan. Nhk worlds takafumi terui reports. Reporter the north korean delegates were reported in beijing by a sea of reporters. They addressed members of the media but stayed tight lipped about the talks. Translator well let you know the specific details of our discussions when they are finished. Reporter and the japanese delegation departed from tokyo. They want to hear their counterparts explain a special investigative panel. Its members will look into the fates of japanese nationals abducted by north korean agents in the 1970s and 80s as well as other missing japanese. But just two days before the scheduled talks, pyongyang made a provocative move. Two shortrange Ballistic Missiles were fired toward the sea of japan. The Workers Party newspaper on monday showed pictures of kim jongun and what appears to be a flying missile. Top japanese government officials held a National SecurityCouncil Meeting on monday to discuss the situation. Prime minister shinzo abe and four cabinet members confirmed the delegation in beijing will file a strong protest against pyongyang over the missile launch. And chief cabinet secretary yoshiri suga said the talks will go on. Translator its also an opportunity to talk about security concerns such as missiles and nuclear programs. Reporter an expert on north korean politics says he believes officials in pyongyang were well aware of the impact the missile launches would have. Translator i think north Korean Leader anticipated japans protest, but they want to test japans determination towards continuing dialogue and observing the bilateral agreement. I think japanese officials should appeal to the International Community that the development of dialogue between the two nations is a step toward resolving not only the abduction issue but also the missile and nuclear programs. Reporter japanese government leaders will evaluate if the north korean panel can effectively conduct the investigations. And if they determine the probe to be adequate, they will lift some of the sanctions. Takafumi terui, nhk world, tokyo. Sunni extremists in iraq have made a move that is as much about psychology as it is about strategy. Theyve declared the establishment of as Islamic State. The militants have swallowed up territory in syria and iraq, and theyre pushing toward baghdad. The Iraqi Military is trying to stop them with a fresh counteroffensive. More from nhk worlds craig dale. Reporter more and more iraqi soldiers are taking aim at tikrit. Theyre bringing in heavy artillery to try and regain control of the northern city, the birthplace of late president saddam hussein. Iraqi commanders will soon beef up their campaign with newly purchased russianbuilt fighter jets. The chief military spokesperson boasted that the morale of sunni extremists has started to collapse, and he said some militants have been fleeing in womens clothing, although that could just be talk. Fighters with the Islamic State of iraq and the levant have upped their rhetoric too. They took control of tikrit and other areas earlier this month as they swept in from their strongholds in neighboring syria. Isil spokespersons say theyve established a call fate and made its definition Islamic State their new name. They say leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi is calling on allegiance. Isil is an offchut of al qaeda. Its members have used brute force in its push to control syria and iraq. The sunni extremists are opposed to the shialed muslim government of nuri al maliki. Maliki is under pressure in and outside of iraq to step down. Members of parliament are scheduled to meet on tuesday to start discussions on forming a new government. Britains foreign secretary argues they need to choose a leader who will unite iraqis of all backgrounds. Clearly they need a new, more inclusive government where people have a sense of Genuine Partnership in government. They are facing a lethal threat, a mortal threat. Reporter that threat has forced a number of iraqis to flee to the safety of refugee camps. Living in tents, facing food shortage, its not how they imagined spending the holy month of ramadan, which just began. Elsewhere, the countrys christians are growing increasingly anxious about the future. We think that our survival here is at stake and is very threatened. Reporter the iraqi army is getting support from u. S. Military advisers, but most agree theres no quick fix. The sunni militants are well armed and well financed. All signs suggest this conflict will only intensify. Craig dale, nhk world. As armed militants battle their way through ike and syria, theyre gaining support across the region. Nhk worlds sho beppu reports from lebanon. Reporter the Islamist Militant Group is expanding influence in countries in the region. Their presence is being felt here in the coastal city of tripoli in northern lebanon. We saw the blackandwhite flags of the group flying almost everywhere in this district. The group aims to establish an Islamic State based on its interpretation of islam. They have made claims to territories in iraq, syria, and the surrounding countries, including lebanon. The civil war in neighboring syria has ignited the conflicts between the shiite and the sunni communities. The group has its support from some in the sunni community. Translator the Islamic State is good and better than maliki because they give people their right. Yes, for sure, they do. Translator we support the idea of having an Islamic State in this world, and i encourage this. We are all muslims fighting together. Reporter abu mustafa, muhammad, had a son who joined the group in syria. He died in the battle against forces of the assad regime. He was only 22 years old. Mohammed is considered a martyr here. His picture is proudly displayed in public. Abu feels his sons death would be worthwhile if the jihadist ideology expands across iraq. Translator all muslims all over the world are happy to achieve an Islamic State, either through this organization or any other islamic organization. The main target is to build an Islamic State. Reporter support for the group stretches beyond iraqs borders and is reaching many parts of the region. Sho beppu, nhk world, lebanon. Lets now get the latest business stories from ron madison. Thank you, shery. Extives at Major Japanese Companies gave their workers the biggest pay raises in 15 years this year. The government had prodded them to take such a step as part of efforts to revive the economy. Officials at the Japan Business federation reported the results of the annual Wage Negotiations at 109 companies. The report said monthly wages went up about 72 on average, showing a 2. 2 increase year on year. The machinery and Metal Industries showed the biggest rise of 3. 1 . That was followed by the auto industrys 2. 5 . Wages have been rising both in the manufacturing and nonmanufacturing industries. Well, consumers across japan have cut back on spending since they started paying more in consumption tax. Still, factory workers are keeping production lines running though. Officials at the Economy Ministry say that production is up. Industrial output rose in may by 0. 5 . It snapped back from a slump in april when it dropped more than 2 . Ministry Officials Say the main reason was that workers produced more vehicles, electronic parts, and clothing. But they say overall production activity does appear flat. They expect the lingering effects of the tax hike will cause output to fall this month by 0. 7 . And japans Housing Market is still struggling. Housing starts plunged in may at the fastest pace since the Global Financial crisis. Consumers went on a buying spree before the consumption tax went up, but the Land Ministry says Housing Starts fell for a Third Straight month last month. New Home Building got under way for about 67,800 units in may. That is down 15 from a year ago. Its also the largest drop since december 2009. The Ministry Says the market is likely to stay flat as Construction Costs are expected to rise. Lets get a check of the markets now. Investors in asia waiting for Major Economic data scheduled for release later in the week. Heres how the regions benchmarks finished out the day. Investors especially looking to see chinese manufacturing data on tuesday as well as the latest u. S. Jobs report. Thats on thursday. Now, the nikkei average, one of the gainers in the region was up today 0. 4 . It hit 15,162, i believe. That was a rebound from fridays charp fall. But the buying momentum wasnt all that great due to the stronger yen right now. And the shanghai composite seeing gains as well of 0. 6 . Analysts say the advance was due to recent advancement in the economy. Meanwhile in australia, the main index there seeing gains of or declines rather of 0. 9 . That was the second drop in as many sessions. Investors closed out their positions as the countrys Financial Year ended in june. Well, japanese tea producers are responding now to changing tastes by growing their business overseas. Theyre seeing sales dwindle at home but are enjoying a surge in demand from the united states. People long devoted to coffee there are switching to what they see as a healthier brew. Nhk worlds Sandra Barron explaining. Reporter Southern California is the land of clean living and fitness fanatics. Its where many of Americas Health trends are born. And the Health Conscious people here in los angeles are developing a taste for tea. This popular tea shop on the west coast has all kinds of tea. Black teas, white teas. One of the most popular teas is green tea. Customers say theyre drawn to its health benefits. Its packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Exports of japanese tea have tripled in value over the past ten years, and young affluent consumers in the u. S. Are a big part of that growth. This shop carries dozens of kinds of green tea. They include tea shipped straight from shiuzoka prefecture. Japanese first flush that just came in a few days ago. Its a beautiful tea. Very, very light. And very, very fragrant. I drink a lot of breakfast tea, green tea. I think theres a healthy aspect for it too. Reporter executives with starbucks have been looking to expand beyond coffee, and the fastgrowing tea market proved irresistible. Last year starbucks bought specialty tea retailer teavana for a reported 620 million. Executives say they hope to have 1,000 tea outlets within ten years. This is the period of time where were going to see the greatest retail tea expansion in the u. S. Ever. For the next five years. I think that japan is very, very strongly positioned to benefit from the growth of green tea. Reporter several thousand tea buyers and sellers gathered in los angeles in may for the world tea expo. The event featured products from kenya, sri lanka, china, and of course japan. This man is president of tokyobased tea supplier. His company has more than a century of history. He brought a range of Premium Green teas that his company produces with growers across japan. Dobashi has been working with one of the growers for something new on the u. S. Market. Theyre producing flavored green teas with subtle sents such as plum, kelp, and shiso. One blend is particularly unusual. This one has a chocolate banana flavor. Dobashi says they may be experimenting with unorthodox flavors, but theyre careful to keep the deep, rich taste of the tea. The banana chocolate was surprisingly good. Its a nice balance. Its not overwhelming, too strong. Reporter dobashi says he received many inquiries about the flavored blends, and hes feeling confident. Translator sales of green tea are rising in the u. S. We see this as a major opportunity to expand our customer base. Reporter the healthy brew is finding new fans in the u. S. , and thats great news for the growers on the other side of the pacific. Sandra barron, nhk world, los angeles. Okay. Thats going to do it for biz this hour. Heres the markets. A former member of a notorious japanese cult has been convicted for her role in a 1995 bomb attack. Judges in tokyo sentenced north america yoe koe kikuchi to five years in prison. She was arrested in 2012 after spending 17 years on the run. She stood trial in connection with a parcel bomb attack. The attack on the tokyo metropolitan government building left an official seriously injured. Nowk kikuchi was charged with attempted murder by transporting materials used in making the bomb. She had pleaded not guilty and prosecutors had demanded a sevenyear sentence. The presiding judge at the Tokyo District Court ruled kikuchi was aware the chemicals she transported may be used for murder. He said that senior members of the cult carried out a series of incidents to divert and confuse the police and they tried to prevent aum founder from being arrested. Kikuchis lawyer said she will appeal the ruling. The cult is known for committing a series of crimes, including the 1995 sarin gas attack on the tokyo subway system. 12 other members have been sentenced to death. Some students in japans southern prefecture of okinawa have marked the anniversary of a tragic accident. 55 years ago a u. S. Fighter jet crashed into an elementary school. On june 30th, 1959, a plane from the nearby u. S. Air base slammed into the elementary school. 18 people, including 11 students, were killed. More than 400 students attended the commemorative ceremony. The students rang the bell of peace, which was placed in the School Grounds after the tragedy. They also hung chains of folded paper crains and recited a poem about peace. Translator its scary to imagine what would have happened if we were here. Translator i pray that the victims will rest in peace and pledge to do my best along with my schoolmates to keep okinawa a peaceful place. The prefecture was under u. S. Administration at the time of the accident. And the action at the world cup in brazil is heating up as the netherlands face mexico in the round of 16. Mexican forward dosanto scored the opener in the 48th minute. The netherlands kept up the pressure. And in the 88th minute, Wesley Snyder grabbed a late equalizer after a knockdown from a corner. Then in added time, huntolar kept his nerve and put the netherlands through to the quarterfinals. Now, the second knockout match of the day pitted a determined Costa Rica Team against greece. Costa ricas brian luis scored in the 52nd minute. But with the clock running down, greeces socrates fired in an equalizer to take the game into extra time and the scoreless 30 minutes brought a penalty shootout. After the costa rica keeper received the fourth kick, it was slotted home for a 53 win, putting the central americas through. Next up for costa rica, a quarterfinal meeting with the netherlands. Host country brazil meeting colombia on friday. Its the first time in the quarters for both colombia and costa ree can. That should keep you up to speed with todays world cup action. Lets now bring in our meteorologist robert speta for a check of the weather. Robert, i got caught in the storm here in tokyo yesterday. It was pouring. I was totally, completely soaked. Well, shery, even myself, i was out there. Really surprised and kind of caught off guard by one of these strong storms in the afternoon hours. How can i prepare this week . It does look like the big thing to get ready for is during the afternoon and evening hours. You really want to be prepared for that daytime heating and the strong thunderstorms that typically pop up around 3 00 to 4 00 p. M. Thats what we were seeing basically all weekend. Like i said, i went out for a walk. It was sunny skies, but some of these storms just erupted rather quickly. Thats going to be the problem later on this week. Were also still watching the rainy season. You can see on the satellite picture, the other storms popping up across parts of central japan, but western japan was that persistent rainfall. We have Sichuan Province highlighted in china because that same feature extends toward the west. Weve been seeing that heavy rainfall there. We have footage of some severe flooding. Its incredible footage where that heavy rain just came down. Its stranding over 100 people. Look at this footage of this van just getting swept away there in the flood waters. Firefighters actually had to rescue 17 people. 100 people were evacuated, including several malaysian tourists here as well. Landslides and the flooding have been causing problems out there on the roads. Thats still going to be a problem as we look ahead through this week. As i mentioned, that rainy season front is still lingering. Upwards of 120 to 130 millimeters of rainfall. Thats definitely going to be adding to that problem of the flooding out here for you. Eventually, thats actually going to sweep over towards the east and bring yet more showers out there to parts of western japan. As we take a look ahead, though, that front is going to continue to linger. The monsoon and tropics still bringing scattered showers for you. North of the front across the korean peninsula, a few isolated showers. The biggest problem is going to be the haze out here. Seoul with a high of 31. Some partly cloudy skies there expected for your tuesday. Lets move over towards the americas now. I do want to start off with this feature on the satellite imagery. Fairly obvious. This is a tropical storm. Tropical storm douglas. Im not going to show you the track because this one expected to weaken. Its heading out to sea. Thats the good news with that. Definitely going to becoming a tropical depression as we look ahead to the next 48 hours. Looking at storms toward the north centered there into parts of saskatchewan. Manitoba, you saw wet and windy conditions this past weekend. Its this low. Thats moving off toward the east. Attached to it is this cold front. Its broken off and become a separate low. Thats going to bring in the threat of severe thunderstorms to the eastern portions of the plains and midwest as we look ahead through monday. Sunday night has already been rough for many of you. That threat is still there for large hail, damaging winds, and more tornadoes. Now, on the flip side of things, that low is pushing through. But i want to talk about just off the eastern seaboard of the florida peninsula. The National Hurricane center has put out a risk for development later on this week. We could have our first named tropical system in the Atlantic Basin coming up. We want to key keep an eye on that. Lets look at your temperatures. Into the 30s across the eastern seaboard. New york with the sunny skies. 31 in your forecast. Winnipeg up to 21. Some rain showers there on your monday. Lets take a look at europe. Storms in the east. Several areas, actually, continuing to erupt following rough weather back in france this past weekend. Now its over toward the balkan peninsula. Thats going to be the big topic as we take a look ahead here through the next 24 hours. Showers actually in warsaw and vienna. Want to wrap up really quickly with the forecast at the world cup. I know a lot of you are watching the games here. If youre watching france versus nigeria, sunny skies, high of 27 there on your monday. Heres the extended outlook. Thats all for this hour on newsline. Im shery ahn. Thank you for watching. And paris, but top stories for you that our slamic militants change their name to the Islamic State, demanding allegiance from muslims worldwide. Trying to push the insurgents from the northern city. Psychiatrist who examined Oscar Pistorius for a month in south africa have given their of valuation. They say the track started was not suffering from a mental condition that would have distinguished is the ability from right and wrong when he shot his girlfriend