The streets on the First Anniversary of a bloody crackdown, but they were met with heavy security. People in japan are remembering the end of world war ii. Theyre gathering together to honor those who died and reflecting on the contributions the fallen made. About 6,000 people attended a government sponsored ceremony. They mourned the more than 3 million war dead. Prime minister abe said the peace they enjoy now was built upon the sacrifices of those who died. Translator we will carve out the future of this country for the sake of the generation that is alive at this moment and for the generations of tomorrow, facing history with humility and engraving its lessons deeply into our hearts. The participants paused at noon for a minute of silence. About 80 of the relatives of the war dead who attended the ceremony this year are 70 or older. Prime minister abe has chosen not to visit a shrine that honors the war dead. They include leaders convicted of war crimes after the war. An aid delivered an offering made in abes name. He said abe asked him to pray for those who died for their country and for eternal peace. Abe did not visit last august either. Then too he made a similar offering, but he visited in december a year after he took office for a second time. A group of lawmakers did pay a visit to the shrine on friday. Three cabinet ministers visited the shrine separately. Officials from china and south korea criticize the offering to the shrine and the visits by cabinet ministers. A spoerks person released a statement saying beijing is firmly opposed acts that represents the governments wrongful attitude toward issues. It deeply reflects upon its history of aggression. The ministry did not summon the ambassador to lodge a protest this year as it did last year. A south Korean Foreign minister spokesperson also issued a statement. This years commentae mementary the environment. They need to demonstrate genuine remorse through actions. Japans ties with south korea and china have been strained. There are new signs seoul and even beijing are changing their stance. Reporter south korea and chinese leaders met in seoul in july. A spokesperson said the two leaders shared concerns over japans policies. Translator both leaders were in agreement on the concern over japans historical revisionism. Reporter some south korean media are critical of their government. An editorial writer is calling for a policy shift. Translator it was wrong for south korea to have sided with japan and to make people think they have hostile relations with japan. Reporter the United States has made moves towards strengthening unity with japan and south korea to counter chinas growing presence. Hes concerned that siding with china could tip the Regional Security balance. He says the president should not stick to criticism of japan. Translator were proposing through various means that south korea should take flexible approaches. It should hold a summit with japan without any preconditions. Reporter other major south korea media organizations have started calling on the government to explore opportunities for dialogue with japan. South korea made a move last saturday at a meeting in mee january march. South Korea Foreign minister and his japanese counter part sat next to each other. He offered to shake hands and they held talks for the first time in about 11 months. He also met with a foreign minister from china. He said hes taking a concerted stance with south korea on historical issues involving japan. But he said the two ministers merely laid out their respected positions, underscoring views on japan. Signs have also emerged for a change in chinas firm stance against japan. The former japanese Prime Minister met with chinese president last month. He met with his counterpart in mee january march. It was first talks since Prime Minister abe took office in late 2012. But China Remains firm on its condition that their preconditions with improving ties with japan. Chinese Officials Say they want abe to recognize a territorial dispute exists over the islands. For the second straight here, abe did not visit the shrine on august 15th, the day japan marks the end of world war ii. But the move hasnt eased chinas concerns. They will closely watch to see if abe visits during the august festival. A summit slated for november. The focus will be on weather two leaders will hold talks on the sidelines. Nhk world. North korea media say the countrys leader directly super advised the testing of what appears to be a new type of rocket. It may be aimed at keeping in check a joint military exercise scheduled to start next week. The korean newspaper says the test was of a tactical rocket. It says that kim ordered the launch and that the rockets capacity was confirmed. Its believed to refer to the test firing of five missiles on thursday from the east of the country into the sea of japan. Tokyo electric Power Company is moving closer to choosing a partner to help rebuild its business. It could trigger a realignment of japans energy industry. Tepco is considering chubu electric Power Company. They say they will rebuild aging power plants. They are weighing heavily on tepco which has been forced to take all its Nuclear Plants offline. Tepco may be leaning toward chubu electric because it expects significant Cost Reduction from the deal. Tepco is also reportedly negotiating a tie up separately with tokyo gas. Tepco is expected to choose a priority negotiating partner as early as september. Officials with Swedish Alliance manufacturer have announced theyre in talks to buy general electrics Home Appliance unit. It includes refrigerators and washing machines. It has been struggling for years. They say the two companies are in negotiations, but ge has made no official comment. Analysts say the takeover would help the Swedish Company expand sales in the u. S. They want to strengthen growth areas and sell off the money losing appliance business. U. S. Media outlets say several other appliance makers also have approached ge. Investors in china have been cheered by the pledge of government help from domestic firms trying to secure borrowing. That helped send asian stocks mostly higher today. They released a statement lowering costs for companies. This came after the countrys bank lending fell sharply in july. It fell to 2226. Earnings remain a focus in hong kong. The hsi closed up. Large Market Value Share china mobile jumped. Investors believe the companys 4g Services Business will push up its process. Tokyo had a quiet trading day. The nikkei average ended flat after moving in a tight range. American pork farmers are putting pressure on u. S. Trade officials taking part in talks on the Trans Pacific partnership. They say they wont support the free trade deal unless they get their way. Members of the National Pork produce Producers Council sent a letter. They wrote the highest priority in the talks is the elimination of all tariffs. If we dont have a very significant improved new offer from japan on pork specifically the gate price and tariffs are eliminated, tpp is dead on arrival on capitol hill. Japanese negotiators have proposed lower tariffs for pork and beef instead of abolishes them. Here are the latest market figures. United nations officials are scrambling to deal with the growing crisis in iraq. Theyve declared the situation a level three emergency. Tens of thousands of people lack food, water and shelter because of the threat posed by sunni militants. A threat iraqi leaders are trying to confront with a political shakeup. Well, its a shakeup some say was a Long Time Coming and one many are welcoming. Al maliki has announced hes stepping aside. Maliki resigned on state television flanked by members of his islamic party. Hed been under pressure for weeks internally. He was plucked from relative obscurity nearly a decade ago to run. He stayed in power for two terms and had designs on a third. His critics argue he favored his fellow shias instead of kurds. They are designating alabadi, a member of his party. He lived in compiexile abroad d much of saddam husseins rule. The most pressing concern recently has involved members of the yazidi minority. Thousands of whom have escaped a mountainous region near the town of sinjar. Civilians and iraqi officials have told u. N. Staff of how Islamic State is treating iraqs minority. They have received accounts of detention of girls and boys and reports of savage rapes. Some 1,500 ya sdozidis and christians may have been forced into sexual slavery. Some remain. They fled either on foot or airlifted out by the iraqi military. Sinjar is west of the city of erbil. U. S. Jets and drones hit islamic positions around there and sinjar. The situation remains dire. President obama says those attacks will continue as will the delivery of aid. U. S. Forces have so far air dropped more than 114,000 meals. Britain, australia and other nations are pitching in because the need in the north has exploded. Thats why officials have declared a level three emergency. They cant handle the situation with local infrastructure, so theyre bringing in more experienced staff and more supplies. More than a million iraqis are now considered internally displaced. The priority for u. S. Forces is protecting them from the Islamic State. And that was nhk worlds craig dale. Demonstrate traitors across egypt have marked the anniversary of a Police Crackdown and again they ran into security forces. At least five people in and around cairo were killed. Last summer military leaders overthrew president mohammed morecy. Security forces moved in. Human rights activists say more than 800 people were killed. The leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood believe president cece ordered the crack down and his government. Authorities responded by tightening security in a place thats been at the heart of the protest movement, cairos square. Thousands of pakistanis have climbed onto trucks or following along on foot in a slow march towards the capital. They say their government is corrupt and they want Prime Minister shah reef to resign. The protest set all from the second largest city. The head of the party says they were cheated in an election last year and they want to hold another vote. Government officials are allowing the demonstration to go ahead, but theyve deployed soldiers and Police Officers across the capital. Thousands of people have joined a second convoy. Protestors of the two groups plan to meet up in islam bad. Russian leaders are poised to send a convoy of trucks into ukraine with or without the consent of authorities in kiev. 280 trucks left the western russian town on thursday. Russian Authorities Say theyre carrying humanitarian supplies. Ukrainian Authorities Say they havent been given detailed information about the cargo or where its heading. They said on wednesday they would accept the aid if the trucks are under the control of the International Committee of the red cross. Fighting left people in the cities of donetsk short of food, water, and medicine. They say russia will stand up for itself, but not at the cost of confrontation with the outside world. Putin made its second visit to ki kiev. Putin met with Prime Minister, other members of his cabinet and lawmakers in the country mee january parliament. He said by 2020 u russia would contribute nearly 20 billion to develop the region. The troops would join forces already there. Thousands of russian personnel are stationed in cry mia. Putin is also explowing projects to make life a bit easier. He met with a french entrepreneur who is looking to build an entertainment complex. He said he welcomes cooperation with european businesses. Authorities in the u. S. State of missouri are trying to bring calm after days of rioting. People in the city of ferguson are protesting against the Police Shooting of a black teenager. Protestors first hit the streets over the weekend. Some complained police are using heavyhanded tactics. Officers have arrested dozens of people and theyve used tear gas to disperse the crowds. Investigators are still trying to figure out what happened during the shooting. The teenager was unarmed and witnesses say he had his hands in the air. They say Police Killed him anyway. Police say brown struggled with the officer who shot him. President barack obama has tried to diffuse the situation. Nows the time for healing. Nows the time for peace and calm on the streets of ferguson. Nows the time for an open and transparent process. The demonstrations show no sign of ending. Last year riots spread over an unarmed black teen. A jury found the man not guilty. Extremely heavy rains are wreaking havoc in northern india where a bridge has collapsed. For more on that, here is our meteorologist. We have been talking about drenching downpours for days in northern parts of india. Its august. Its one of the wettest months of the year. So flooding and swollen rivers are common seen during this time of year, but the situation seems worse than normal. We have some incredible video. Heavy rain continues to fall in northern india and its having serious consequences. A flooded river snashed into a bridge sweeping it away in the flow. At least one person died because of the incident. Indias monsoon season takes place from july to september. The consequences of the downpours lead to many deaths each year. So we really dont need anymore rainfall, but im afraid to say theres more to come in the northern ears from the east up towards the northern tip of india. It will raise potential flooding and landslides even more day by day. Torrential rains are affecting most parts of japan. We have a stalled frontal system which is quite intense. It has dropped about 220 millimeters of rain and this place was hit by about 2,000 millimeters of rainfall in a span of ten days several days ago. And across nagasaki, about 170 millimeters has fallen over the past 24 hours. More heavy rain is likely, up to 150 millimeters rain is likely into next 24 hours and additional stronger gusts and even lightning are possible for a wide area of japan. Staying dry in tokyo on saturday. We have the spinning cloud underneath it, various kinds of Severe Weather is happening. We sawdust storm in Washington State and a tornado in wednesday. And more Severe Weather could happen. Meanwhile, lots of rain is pounding the midpart of the u. S. , but dry weather for the east and parts of the u. S. With the exception of the New England States because of this low pressure system which has a history of producing unpress departmented rainfall. Heavy rainfall is still pounding the New England States and eastern parts of canada as well. New york city and washington d. C. , sunny weather will return on friday. Temperatures are comfortable. Down to 22 degrees toronto and nice comfortable weather in chicago as well. 25 for the high on the last day of business week. Finally over towards europe, there are three spots of Severe Weather. One is over siberia and one is into ukraine and western russia. Theres a possible of tornados. Back behind it, cooler air is flowing in lowering temperatures once again. About 20 degrees in many places, but blazing hot conditions continue in athens at 39 degrees for the high on friday. Heres the extended forecast around the globe. Thats newsline for this hour. Im gene otani in tokyo. Gg99nnw welcome back to the france 24 newsroom. Prime minister almaliki stepped down from power. The move welcomed on domestic and International Levels as the country faces an ongoing sunni jihadist threat. Inspection of a russian aid convoy begins. They are concerned the trucks are cover for a military incursion by moscow. Thousands in the u. S. Hold a vigil in honor of a black teen killed by st. Louis police. Andas sparked rioting opened the debate about police fertility