visitors and they're finding new ways to make their guests feel welcome. japan's prime minister has made a diplomatic decision aimed at reaching closure on an issue that has gone on for decades. shinzo abe will lift some sanctions against pyongyang, he says he'll do that once north korean investigators start a fresh probe into the abductions of japanese citizens. >> translator: we've come to understand that north korea will set up an organization that can make national decisions at the forefront. therefore, based on the principle of action to action, we will lift some of the sanctions that japan has imposed. >> abe spoke after meeting with other members of the national security council. government leaders say north korean agents kidnapped at least 17 japanese nationals in the 1970s and '80s. abe said north korean leaders will give a special committee the power to launch a thorough investigation into the abductees. he says committed members will be able to look into any organization in north korea. the chief cabinet secretary provided details on the scope and timing of the probe. >> translator: the special investigative committee has been given a special authority by the highest organ of the state, the national defense commission, to investigate all relevant organizations. the committee will be headed by an official who saits on both te national defense commission and the ministry of state security. and the member organizations will include the ministry of state security, the ministry of people security, and the ministry of people's armed forces. >> he said the special committee will have several subcommittees that will be responsible for looking into matters such as japanese nationals who are missing and japanese remains in north korea. suga said no investigation will take priority over the others. he said all will proceed in parallel and the two sides discuss the timing of north korea's first report on the probe. he said both sides agree to aim for late summer or early autumn. he said the north koreans agree to expedite the investigation to meet his request that they finish it within one year. the japanese government will lift three sanctions on north korea, they cover restrictions on travel, port calls by ships and money transfers. but government officials remain concerned about the north's nuclear and missile development programs. officials say they'll keep an asset freeze in place based upon a u.n. security council resolution. and the abe administration will maintain its ban on a ship. the north koreans have been pushing japan to ease restrictions on the vessel. north korea's envoy for normalizing relations with japan says his country is ready to begin its full fledged probe. he told reporters that delegates had a fruitful discussion in beijing on us ituesday. he explained how the north will proceed with a fresh investigation on abductees and missing japanese nationals. >> translator: suga said he wants the investigation to be finished within a year. we will remember this time frame. we will immediately start our probe and report the results. >> north korean leaders have been weighed down by international sanctions for years as punishment for nuclear and ballistic missile tests. but the restrictions imposed by japan were much tougher. nhk world explains. >> reporter: the u.n. security council adopted a resolution immediately after north korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006. it called on member states to prohibit or freeze north korean funds or goods that could lead to the development of weapons of mass destruction. japanese officials went ever further and imposed individual sanctions. they banned all imports and exports from the north. north koreans are no longer allowed to enter japan except for people carrying special permits. north korean residents living in japan can still travel between the two countries on humanitarian basis, but japanese officials are discouraged from traveling to the north. north korean ships and chartered flights have been banned from entering japan. rules oversea iing transfers ha been tightened. >> the father of one of the abductees sounded an off tptimi on the announcement. he said this is possible because the new investigation committee has the backing of the north's high profile government bodies. north korea says yokota's daughter megumi is dead. >> translator: north korea surely has all the data on the eight abductees it says are dead. so i think it can verify what is true and what is not. if they have the will to do so. >> yokota said he wants to continue to try to bring the abductees back home as he believes his daughter is still alive. china's president is visiting south korea for first time since taking office. jinping will discuss strengthening economic ties. nhk world reports. >> reporter: since become president last year, jinping has taken a series of diplomatic steps toward neighboring countries. this marks first time that the chinese president has been to south korea before going to north korea, china's long time ally. one day ahead of the visit in the south, the north fired two rockets into the sea of japan. observers think china will be careful not to irritate north korea too much, for fear of triggering an extreme reaction. >> translator: i believe china notified north korea of the visit in advance as always. and i think the north launched its rockets to remind both china and south korea of its presence and revive tensions on the peninsula. >> reporter: china also wants to send bilateral cooperation by finalizing a free trade agreement with the south, which it hopes will boost investment. the port city of qindao is pinning its hopes on the two sides signing an agreement. since bilateral diplomatic relations were established in 1992, it's been a stepping stone for south korean businesses entering the chinese market. many chinese people calling ancestry who speak korean have moved to qingdao in search of jobs. this street was named after a south korean company. many factories located here and they employed many workers. but the situation is changing. china's strong economic growth has led to higher labor costs, forcing some companies to pull out of the city. figures show that the number of south korean companies in qingdao dropped 20% in 2013. many restaurants have had to close. >> translator: there are fewer factories, and those that are left are smaller midsized businesses. in last two or three years, our sales have dropped by half. >> reporter: if the two countries do sign a free trade agreement, duties will be eliminated in many areas. officials hope this will lead to a rebound in south korean investment, since they still have a large korean speaking population. this professor believes an agreement will also have an important strategic value. >> translator: if there is progress toward a free trade agreement between china and south korea, it will strengthen the ftas china has with asean countries. this will be an asset in the future, as a counterbalance to the trans-pacific partnership between the u.s. and japan. >> and people in japan are feeling the effects of a recent tax hike. ron madison joins me with the results of the latest survey. ron? >> officials have been watching very closely for any negative impact from that higher tax and now it seems more people in japan feel their livelihoods have gotten worse. bank of japan researchers say this reflects the impact of higher prices after the consumption tax hike in april. every three months the central bank researchers ask 4,000 people about how they feel about their lives. in the latest survey, the diffusion index on how respondents responded stood at minus 10, down 3.6 points from a month ago. the index is on tand by subtracting the ratio of respondents who said the economy is better from those who said it is worse. only 9.2% of the respondents said their earnings went up while nearly 40% said they went down. 42.6% said spending rose. while 17.5% said it had declined. boj officials say large companies are making moves to give higher wages, but the pay raises are not likely to offset the impact of the higher sales tax. let's get a check of the markets. investors are waiting for jobs data due out later in the day. here is how indexes rounded out the trading session. market sentiment was broadly supported by a better than expected report on the u.s. labor market. in australia, the main index climbing over .6%, finishing at 5,491, a one-month high. bhp billiton was boosted by a rise in copper prices. shanghai, the composite index, a gain of .2%, 2,063, investors taking heart from upbeat data. china's service sector expanded in june at its afastest pace in 15 months according to a survey. the nikkei average saw a declines of just over .1%, 15,348. that snapped three days of gains. investors remained cautious as the index does look a bit overheated following recent advances. well, the people at an arm of japanese electronics giant toshiba found fewer opportunities at home so they're looking now to europe to sell some of their nuclear technology. they're hoping to win a $5 billion deal to build a plan in bulgaria. officials with toshiba group company westinghouse are expected to sign the contract to build the plant. it will have a capacity to generate a little bit more than 1 million kilowatts. managers are also considering taking a stake in the state controlled firm that will operate the plant. all nuclear reactors in japan are off line, so managers at electronics firms have been looking overseas. those at toshiba and hitachi acquired power companies that plan to build plants in britain. managers at hitachi are also negotiating to win a contract in lithuania. japanese startup companies have gotten the chance to show off their ideas to big businesses. an expo in tokyo brought the two sides together to explore the possibility for tie-ups. 100 startups in fields such as it, machinery, agriculture and medical services took part. they net with delegates from about 150 large companies. one startup has developed a special speaker for people with hearing problems. and an engineer from a large electronics manufacturer showed some interest. >> translator: many startups are not so capable in terms of manufacturing. so the tie-up will help us both. >> translator: even if we come up with new ideas and products, it is not so easy to grow. so we're hoping to cooperate with large companies. >> government officials have said they want startups to play a key role in reviving the economy. well, millions of tourists flock to japan every year, wander through the ancient sites of kyoto, wonder at the cherry blossoms and gaze up at mt. fuji. tour operator ares are banking on a government plan to draw more visitors and they're coming up with new ways to welcome their guests. >> reporter: this shrine is located 160 kilometers north of tokyo. it is registered as a world heritage site and is visited by 220,000 foreigners every year. in april, the shrine introduced a new guide service for foreign tourists. >> the gate is the most important front gate. >> reporter: simply touch the pamphlet with a special pen and you can hear the names and explanations of structures inside the shrine's precincts. this pen and pamphlet rental service costs about $5. there are translations for english, chinese, and other foreign languages that can be added. >> you learn a lot more about the site than you would otherwise. and it makes it a lot more relevant for us as tourists. i have to say it is fantastic, really, really good. >> reporter: the system was developed by a pen manufacturer in tokyo. the company has been manufacturing fountain pens for more than 100 years. so far it signed agreements for its foreign language travel guide system with seven popular tourist spots. the company intends to expand by providing the service to as many as 200 site seeing spots in two years. >> translator: in the future, we think providing such services will be very important. we're shifting from being just a pen manufacturer to a pen manufacturer offering tourism services as well. >> reporter: last year, the number of foreign visitors to japan exceeded 10 million for the first time ever. the government wants to raise that number to 20 million. more companies are starting to see tourism as an attractive industry with growth potential. this major leasing agent sees the rising number of foreign visitors as a perfect business opportunity. the agent is talking with landlords and property owners about renting vacant apartments in tokyo to foreign visitors. this year, the government designated special zones for drastic trade deregulation. the government will allow vacant private homes and apartments in these zones to be leased to foreign tourists. the leasing agent is planning to attract foreign visitors by leasing residences that are less expensive than other accommodations. >> translator: i hope foreigners who come to our country will appreciate the japanese way of living. >> translator: owners will benefit by filling their vacant residences. we can make the most of the special zones by providing this service to our customers. >> reporter: the leasing agent has signed a tie-up agreement with a travel agency. a website is being designed to advertise inexpensive rooms to foreign tourists. issues that need to be addressed include the safety of the tourists and handling any problems with neighbors. the travel agency is planning to set up a call center to help foreign tourists. the leasing agent plans to begin accepting foreigners visiting japan from september. its goal is securing 3,000 apartments in tokyo. with more foreign tourists coming to japan, companies anticipate a profitable future in the tourism industry. >> okay, that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's get a check of the markets. every morning investors turn their attention to asia. the tokyo market leads the way. and markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy. >> to the companies at the forefront of change. >> up to the minute market reports. >> and analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news and insight every day here on "newsline." iraq's prime minister has made an appeal to members of parliament. nuri al maliki expressed hope lawmakers will make progress on forming a new government the next time they meet. the members have gathered this week for their first session. they're planning to choose a new speaker. but the meeting broke up after 90 minutes. sunni and kurdish lawmakers oppose to maliki walked out in protest. the prime minister gave his response on state run tv. he said he hopes lawmakers can overcome their problems when they meet on tuesday. he said they should work with openness and cooperation. maliki also criticized a leader of the kurdish autonomous region. masoud barzani plans to hold a referendum in the coming months to seek independence. maliki said barzani is trying to take advantage of iraq's confusion. he said a referendum would violate the constitution. maliki is expected to seek another term in office. observers say he's trying to show the iraqi people that he can bring calm to the nation. sunnis and kurds are demanding that maliki step down. they say the preferential treatment he's given to fellow shia muslims help fuel the count country's crisis. nicolas sarkozy denied claims he tried to use his influence to avoid a probe into illegal campaign funding. the former french president is now under a formal investigation. he appeared on a news program to claim innocence. >> translator: i want to say to all those who are listening or watching that i have never betrayed them. and have never committed an act against the republic's principles or the rule of law. >> it was his first public appearance since being released from custody this week. investigators questioned him for hours. they allege he obtained information from a judge about a probe into his 2007 election campaign and they suspect sarkozy offered the judge a new post. judicial authorities have since launched a full fledged investigation which may lead to a trial. sarkozy said those authorities are politically motivated and want to humiliate him. he has not been involved in politics since his defeat in the 2012 presidential election. but observers believe he's planning a comeback. people in the philippine capital have been preparing for a possible disaster. they held a drill in case they get hit by an earthquake and tsunami. >> two, one, press. >> planners in manila based the exercise on a quake with a magnitude of 7 to 8. more than 1500 officials and volunteers took part. an earthquake siren alerted people to get out of buildings and head to evacuation points. then came a tsunami warning. people followed instructions to get inside buildings and head upstairs. city officials say the area hasn't had an earthquake strong enough to destroy buildings for around 40 years. still, they say the region has an active fault and a powerful quake every 400 to 600 years. heavy rains are having an impact on parts of japan and china. meteorologist robert speta joins me now. robert, so how serious is the situation? >> well, shery, at this time, across parts of central and eastern china, it is actually rather serious out here. we'll talk about flooding and risk of landslides in a few areas. and then heading over to japan, the showers are coming down. we'll talk more on that in a second. first, video out of eastern china where we have been seeing significant flooding. you see right off the bat here, we have showers coming down, flooding on the roads. this all occurred here on tuesday. the storms brought hail, high floodwaters, and firefighters had to rescue people stranded on a hillside here as well. the waters became too powerful to cross in one area. landslides and overturned vehicles were a common sight in some locations. and water logging continues to be a problem in some urban areas. so this is still going to be a problem as we look ahead into the forecast. additional 50 to 100 millimeters could occur across the river basin, some areas as much as 130 millimeters. that same low tracking to the east. that will bring some showers to western parts of japan. it is already been coming down actually. and let's look actually at the reported past 24 hour rain totals. look at that, nagasaki, 315 millimeters has occurred out here. even further to the north and mountains, 200 millimeters has been reported. it does look like over the course of next 24 hours we're still going to be seeing rain totals out here on top of what has already been falling. flooding an landslides is still a risk out here into western parts of japan, through thursday night. into the key peninsula, you're impacted out here. by friday morning, this is going to work its way off there towards the tokyo and kanto plane area. friday, you definitely want to have an umbrella ready out here. showers are going to continue to come down. and still back there toward the west in shanghai, high of 28. and continuing to have that impact of rain showers here on your friday. let's take a look now over towards the americas. i want to talk about the tropics here because we have our first named tropical storm of the season. this is tropical storm arthur. just off the coast of florida, continuing to spin up. now, this is one imagery we often use from space. the infrared imagery. let me show you what it looks like from the international space station. you can see right there on the right of the screen, on that big bright white area, that is our tropical storm arthur. we have this big banding coming in around the storm system allowing it to intensify. there is the florida peninsula right there. that's the coastline. and you have been seeing some high waves out here, the last several days, scattered showers. storm systems move on there to the north, becoming a hurricane here in the near future before clipping the north carolina coastline out there near the cape. actually hurricane warnings are already in effect at this time. so don't be surprised if you see some damaging winds and heavy rainfall, some areas as much as 150 millimeters could occur. there really is that serious risk of flooding with this storm system. now, as it does continue to track off there, it is going to miss the east coast of the northeastern u.s. but the thing is, you're not going to be missing out on any severe weather because what is pulling this north is this cold front and that is already bringing some strong thunderstorms out here that could be the risk of hail and some damaging winds with the front. not a direct impact from arthur, still bringing some foul weather. showers up and down the eastern coastline here on thursday. that's a look at your world weather. here is the extended outlook. and that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. gg99ññwc >> welcome back. it is 1:00 here in paris. you are watching "france 24." i will be with you for the next hour. we will be getting all the latest news and analysis. we begin with these headlines. there are fears of more violence in east jerusalem today as preparations are made for a funeral. the murder of a teenager yesterday sparked fierce clashes. warplanes pounded the gaza strip. militants hit back with rockets. france's former president fights back. nicolas sarkozy says the french ju