police in hong kong have moved in on people staging a sit-in to demand greater democracy. officers arrested more than 500 demonstrators. the previous day tens of thousands of people marched through the territory. crowds filled the streets on the 17th anniversary of hong kong's reversion to china. they called on authorities in beijing to respect hong kong's autonomy. the organizer said the rally drew 510,000 people, an unprecedented number. the police say by their count, nearly 100,000 people showed up. more than 1,000 demonstrators, many of them young people, continued their protest after the main march ended. they staged a sit-in on roads in the financial district. police began removing them in the morning. officers said they were disrupting traffic and undermining public safety. many hong kong residents take part in protests on july 1st every year. they say they're worried over the chinese government's continued interference in hong kong's affairs. a car bomb has ripped through a crowded marketplace in northeastern nigeria. at least 50 people were killed. no one has claimed responsibility. but security officials say they believe islamic extremists are behind the attack. the bomb went off in the city of maiduguri in the state of borno. the explosives were reportedly hidden under charcoal inside the vehicle. investigators are treating it as an act of terrorism. they believe islamic extremist group boko haram is to blame. the group kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in borno two months ago. on sunday, people believed to be members of boko haram attacked churches and homes in northeastern nigeria. this also left dozens of people dead. iraqry lawmakers opened their first session of parliament under pressure to form a national unity government. but the meeting soon ended. sunni and kurdish lawmakers walked out. the lawmakers prime prime minister nuri al maliki for helping to plant the seed for the insurgency that threatens iraq. maliki is set to seek another term. the lawmakers want someone else to take his place. the acting partmentry speaker began the session with a call for unity. he said it's necessary to restore security and stability all over the country. the session ended after an hour and a half because of the walkouts. the speaker said lawmakers will meet again in a week. maliki's political bloc won the largest number of seats in april's parliamentary elections. opponents blame his shiite dominated government for inviting sectarian unrest and they say he's responsible for letting islamic militants gain an increasing foothold in the north and west. the leader of iraq's kurdish autonomous region says he plabs to hold a renn renn dumb on independence within months. masoud barzani says the country is already effectively partitioned. barzani made the comments in an interview with the bbc. he says current would play a part in the political solution to the fighting. he said independence is their right. in the past month kurdish fighters have moved into areas abandoned by iraqi forces including kirkuk. the city has one of the country's largest oil fields. kurds have argued with iraqry leaders for years about sharing oil revenues and longed for an independent state. the turkish prime minister is seeking another mandate from the people in a new role. recep tayyip erdogan announced his running for president. next month's vote will be the first time turkish citizens can directly elect their leader. >> translator: i'm not running for president of a party or group. i will be president of the entire turkish republic. no one must doubt that i will be a leader for everyone, regardless of whether they vote for me or not. >> up until now, the president has been appointed by parliament. erdogan announced his candidacy at a meeting of his ruling justice and development party. turkish media say he's the clear front-runner over the candidate jointly fielded by the two main opposition parties. erdogan became prime minister in 2003. they credit him with achieving economic growth while protecting islamic values. critics say he has become increasingly aauthoritarian. they point to his use of security forces against anti-government protesters. he's also blocked social media networks such as twitter. there are concerns if erdogan is elected he may broaden the position's power. analysts say he'll likely try to ascend his rule by stressing his legitimacy as the first directly elected president. lest now push to the latest business stories with ron madison zbl( thank you, shery. officials a t the bank of japan have set an inflation target of about 2%. managers at many companies expect consumer prices to rise more slowly. the central bank asked about 10,000 businesses in its latest quarterly survey what they think the rate of inflation will be next year. their average projection is the same as the previous quarter at 1.5%. the forecast doesn't include the impact of the con us sumpgs tax hike in april. bank officials are pumping massive amounts of money into financial markets to try to end years of deflation. they've set a target of 2% inflation for next fiscal year. but business people project that three years from now the rate will be 1.6% and 1.7% in five years' time. all right. let's get a check of the markets now. investors in asia showing increased risk appetite. here's how major boards end the region and finish out the day. record closures on wall street boosting market sentiment. sydney and hong kong posted a solid gain of more than 1%. nikkei climbed to a one-week closing high. added .3% today, 15,369. that's a gain for a third consecutive session though the buying momentum was capped by profit taking on recent gains. in australia the main index there seeing gains of nearly 1.5%. 5,455. investors bought back shares after the index dropped on tuesday to a level not seen since mid-april. had a pretty wide range of shares being bought today. mining shares led the advance. in hong kong the hang seng index gaining as well nearly 1.5%. finished at 23,549, marking this year's closing high. investors returned from tuesday's holiday and played a bit of catchup. they digested the latest data on chinese factory activity, which is showing a pickup. continued tensions in iraq are pushing up gasoline prices in japan. prices at the pump rose for a tenth straight week. officials at the oil information center say the average retail price per liter of regular gasoline as of monday was 168.4 yen. it was up one yen from the previous week. the largest increase since august last year. crude oil prices are slightly below recent highs, but analysts expect retail prices to stay at this level as some gasoline stations have been slow to pass on the higher costs. indian pharmaceutical companies are known for producing cheap generic drugs. they see japan as a promising market. representatives of about 70 indian drug companies showcased their products on wednesday here in tokyo. indian government officials say their country accounts for about 10% of global drug production. firms specialize in producing low priced versions of medicines whose patents have expired. they think that the time is right for them to enter the japanese market. >> given the financial burden on the japanese health care system with its rapidly ageing population, there is an urgent need to reduce costs without sacrificing quality. and it is only the indian pharmaceutical industry that can provide a credible solution. >> officials from the japanese pharmaceutical sector are also eager to take advantage of indian know-how to make low priced drugs. to our feature report this hour. top consultants suggest firms with more women in management positions perform better than their competitors. in japan, women hold about 11% of positions in corporate management. that's the lowest among developed countries. prime minister shinzo abe says that by 2020 that ratio will rise to 30%. some business leaders are already making some changes. nhk world's karako ishiguchi tells us more. >> reporter: a website for female professionals was launched in may, and it's gaining popularity. so far, about 17,000 women hoping to land management positions have posted their educational backgrounds, language skills and career history. companies then directly contact app llicants who have the skill they are looking for. the website has received a flood of inquiries from companies in need of capable female managers. why aren't there more female managers in japan? 60% of women quit their jobs when they have their first child. this major i.t. firm develops games and other online services. among the hundred managers, the number of women can be counted on one hand. for the past two years, female workers have been leading an effort to encourage women to stay on the job even after having children. they have drawn up criteria. among these are allowances to cover a portion of child day care expenses and to help hire babysitters at low cost. shizuka tako's ambition is to become a manager and raise her 2-year-old son. thanks to the company's new system, she was able to hire a babysitter whenever her child became ill. >> translator: the system has been very helpful. even when my child suddenly becomes sick, i don't have to miss work. >> reporter: another company has been trying to increase female managers by changing the mind set of male leaders. this major consulting firm decided that nurturing female leaders is an important task for male managers who hold 90% of supervisory positions. but even senior managers will admit that it's not easy to train female subordinates. >> translator: i can naturally understand my male subordinates. but to be honest, there are some things about female workers that i just don't understand. >> reporter: the company have set numerical goals for the development of female managers, and progress is closely monitored. an evaluation includes whether female manager candidates are assigned critical clients, are given proper roles, and whether they have the right sponsors who can guide them. green indicates achievement levels of 80% or higher. while red shows tasks that have been achieved only halfway or less. too much yellow and red indicates the division chief will have to submit an action plan. the company intends to double the ratio of female managers from the current 10%. sashika humoko has been studying the characteristics of companies that have many female leaders. >> translator: many advanced companies evaluate the performance of male managers by how they guide their female subordinates for promotion to managerial positions. this helps men identify female workers who have the aptitude to become supervisors by giving them challenging tasks. >> reporter: how best to promote more female workers has been a long standing challenge facing japanese firms. not only women, but investors as well, are closely watching whether this time just a change will be made. karuoka ishibushi, nhk world, tokyo. all right. that is going to do it for business hour. i'll leave you with the markets. members of the japanese cap net have approved a new national security policy. they've reinterpreted the constitution to enable the country to use its right to collective self-defense. so personnel will be able to help analyze under attack. >> translator: japan has consistently followed a path of peace. we're not changing the country's course, rather we're trying to further strengthen our stance. the cabinet decision shows our resolution and commitment. >> they maintain the constitution would allow the use of force only if japan was attacked directly. it will promote the use of a minimum amount of force to defend a closely related country under attack. cabinet members say the right should be limited to when there are clear dangers that japan's existence is threatened and the rights of the citizens are understoodmentally overturned. they say japan may use force when there are no other appropriate means to repel an attack to protect the country and its citizens. some japanese are upset about the new policy. thousands of people headed to the prime minister's office to protest. the demonstrators started gathering on tuesday morning. they stayed there until late afternoon when the cabinet gave its approval. some pointed to the article of the constitution that renounces war. they held up banners that said, don't destroy article 9 of the constitution and don't go to war. >> translator: it's a very bad situation. the government is trying to change the policy through a cabinet decision without any debate on the constitution. and without amending it. >> some lawyers are calling on government leaders to retract their decision. >> translator: we're extremely concerned about what will happen once the reinterpretation of the constitution takes place. how each government will interpret it. and how they'll exercise the right to collective self-defense. >> members of the japan federation of bar associations point out the government is bound by the constitution. they say the cabinet has effectively changed article 9 without thorough discussion among the people. they say this runs counter to the principles of constitutionalism. government leaders are pressing ahead with plans to set this change in stone. earlier we spoke with yoshio muto, the cabinet counselor of the national security secretariat. >> the japanese government until today considered that the use of force is permitted under the constitution only when japan is under attack based on individual right of self-defense. however, if you look at the security environment surrounding japan, it has been transformed fundamentally if you compare that from the time when the constitution was made or even from the time the cold war ended. and, for instance, there has been the shift, the major shift of power balance. and also the rapid innovation in the technology. and also there exists some cross-border threats, such as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. or the cyber attack. or the international terrorism. so under such situation, no one country can secure its own peace only by itself. so against such background, the japanese government has reached the conclusion that not only when japan is attacked, also when some foreign country is attacked, the use of force could be committed under the constitution, under the so-called new three principles. including that this armed attack against foreign country occurs, which threatens the survival of japan. and also there's a clear danger that the rights of the japanese people may be fundamentally overturned. and this use of force which will be permitted under the constitution in some cases, when looked from the international law, it's based on the collective self-defense right. the advisory panel submitted its report to the prime minister on the 15th of may. on that same day, the prime minister presented the basic orientation in the press conference. and ever since, there has been a very intensive discussion that took place between the ruling parties. and the government presented some scenarios to the -- to the ruling party discussion. and that has been very thoroughly examined. so if you look at those process, it is not really the case that the whole discussion was proceeded too fast. if you look at a way forward, there should be still further discussions as we proceed towards the legislation. the government will now start drafting the legislation. and once the preparation is completed, we will submit the draft legislation to the diet for its deliberation. the japanese government has been maintaining the so-called exclusively defense oriented policy as its basic policy. and the government of japan will maintain that policy. and also the course japan has been taking as a peace loving nation will remain unchanged. and prime minister abe has repeatedly expressed in the diet session that the dispatch of the self-defense forces to the foreign countries' territory generally speaking is not allowed in case of individual -- individual collective self-defense rights. and that same principle applies in the case of the use of collective self-defense right. he also mentioned that the self-defense forces will not participate in wars like gulf war or iraq war. that is to say that the self-defense forces will not take part in major operations such as major air raid or bombardment or invasion enemy's territory. what i want to stress here is one important purpose of this cabinet decision which was made yesterday is that japan is going to more proactively contribute to the peace and stability of the international community based upon the so-called proactive contribution to peace based upon the principles of the international cooperation. let's now bring in our meteorologist, robert speta, for a check of the weather. robert, i hear people in the great lakes region in north america have been battered by severe weather. how do conditions look over there? >> yes, shery. we have been seeing across much of the central and eastern u.s. this past week really is the severe weather which has been continuing to blow up. yes, across the great lakes area, we have been seeing this most recent line of severe thunderstorms just rolling through. you can see on the satellite picture right now extending across the ohio river valley off there towards the northeast you still have those severe thunderstorms dropping large hail, damaging winds. and we actually have video coming out of wisconsin now where this severe weather just knocked over a lot of these trees and caused many residents there in the southeastern parts of wisconsin to wake up to this scene on tuesday after the powerful storms rode through the area. strong winds and a heavy rain knocked down those trees, cut off electricity to thousands of people. and local officials are saying the storm caused the worst power outage in nine years out here. so definitely some really intense stuff being seen. now that severe weather threat is still working its way off there towards the east. we have this line of severe thunderstorms that is going to work its way along the eastern seaboard. so if you're into boston, new york city on thursday, you could be seeing a few rumbles, or hearing a few rumbles of thunder, seeing a few flashes of lightning as that does continue to push overhead. down towards the south it is remaining very hot and humid in the southeast. and all that moisture in the air is fueling into our storm system. this is tropical storm arthur. now, arthur is intensifying, actually, continuing to gain some strength over the next 24 hours. and on thursday into friday, this is actually expected to become a hurricane just off the carolina coastline. up and down the eastern coast we actually have the gulf stream rate in here. if that runs over that, it very well could intensify rather dramatically. we could be seeing some high winds all the way up there toward cape hatteras, extending into the northeast. the other big threat of this is going to be the heavy rainfall. if you're along the florida coast, georgia into the carolinas, there's that threat of flooding coming out of this. a lot of impact to be had. e with definitely want to watch this one through the coming days. if you're into jacksonville, florida, thunderstorms in your forecast on wednesday over towards thursday. washington, d.c., do think that this is going to be more so due to the severe thunderstorm in the north on wednesday apd thursday. as we look towards friday, rain showers start to kick in, gusty winds, and that is going to be arture coming up the coast. let's take a look toward eastern asia p p the rainy season front still dominating parts of china. we have a new low developing out of this. that is going to move over toward the east on thursday and friday. first impacting southern portions of south korea. basically thursday morning you're going to be seeing widespread showers. kyushu by friday morning, or thursday night into friday morning, you could see upwards of about 200 millimeters of rainfall. that's going to push its way off toward the east, bring heavy showers for you. eventually by friday tokyo and much of the kanto plains, you're going to be seeing those showers. should taper off by saturday morning. we're going to continue to watch that, but it is going to be working its way off there towards the east. southwest monsoon still dominating the tropics. we have a few tropical areas, actually, back here towards the east. could become a named storm system. but it's enhancing the monsoon in the philippines. watch out for that flood threat in manila. let's wrap up quickly into what's going on in europe. high pressure dominating the east. but we do have a few areas of some strong thunderstorms. so if you're in madrid, watch out for the showers. but paris, 26 there and sunny skies on wednesday. here's the extended outlook. and before we wrap up we take you to paris where a world famous japanese conductor has taken the baa tan. it was saiji o za hua's first appearance in three years. ozawa performed with an ensemble of 21 young string performers. they're students of an academy he established in switzerland. for 17 years ozawa has been suffering from poor health. but he conducted. >> translator: ozawa's performance was so dynamic. i couldn't believe he's been ill. he paid attention to all the performance. i was really impressed. >> ozawa underwent surgery for cancer in 2010. he's been battling health problems since then, but announced a full comeback last year. that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. gg99ññwc ." you are watching "france 24 here are our top stories. nicolas sarkozy under formal investigation after the former french president spent 15 hours in police custody answering questions linked to a corruption scandal. clashes break out in jerusalem after the body of a palestinian teenager is found there. he is thought to be the victim of revenge attacks after the killing and kidnapping of three israeli boys. botherland and the usa losing in overtime in the world cup.