welcome to nhk's "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following at this hour. >> fire fight in kabul. militants launch an attack near the presidential palace. we have an exclusive report. >> brazil's leader is pledging more money for public services in response to widespread public demonstrations.

the lebanese militant group hezbollah, is deepening its involvement in the syria civil war and deepening sectarian divides at home. the taliban penetrated deep inside kabul on tuesday launching a daring raid near the presidential palace. nhk world was inside the palace at the time of the attack. we have footage and description of what happened. >> reporter: the assault began around 6:30 in the morning. i was at the president's palace to cover an event hosted by president hamid karzai. the sound was a series of deafening explosions. i counted at least seven blasts. soon after, a gunfight erupted between militants and security forces. the journalists were taken into the basement of the palace.

we could hear the battle for about another hour. nhk world, kabul. >> a suicide bomber and four other attackers died during the fire fight. three security guards were also killed. the taliban released a statement claiming responsibility. they said the presidential palace, the defense ministry and the hotel used by foreigners were the targets. the palace is located in a heavily guarded part of the afghan capital near the u.s. embassy and the u.s. security force. this month kabul has witnessed a surge in taliban violence. the group earlier targeted the international airport as well as bus transporting workers from a judicial court. last week the taliban opened an office in qatar to facilitate direct talks with the united states, but the first round of talks has been postponed and not yet rescheduled. on monday afghan president hamid karzai and u.s. special envoy james dobins discuss how to move

the process forward. tuesday's attack is being seen as an attempt by the taliban to undermine karzai. in a separate attack the same day, a roadside explosion hit a minibus in the southern province of kandahar. officials say militants deliberately targeted civilians. computer hackers have targeted government websites in south korea. the site for the presidential office was among their targets. the cyber attack coincided with the anniversary of the start of the korean war. spokespersons for the presidential office say the hackers left messages on the site praising north korean leader kim jong-un. technicians returned things back to normal after about six hours. the hackers also hit websites for the ruling party and a newspaper. the government advised officials and the public to take security measures.

in march hackers breached a number of websites and servers at financial institutions in south korea. investigators later determined north korea was responsible. the president of brazil is trying to get in front of a nationwide protest movement that's shaken her country. she says her government will increase funding for public services. >> she spoke at a meeting of local governors and announced a spending package of $22 billion for public transportation. she vowed to increase spending on education and health services. she met with leaders to hear their demands and promises to continue talking to citizens groups. many want to invest in services instead of putting vast amounts of money into a tournament. officials say they are committed to holding the tournament in

brazil. >> the work cup will be played in brazil so that is just to make things very clean. >> this would offer benefit from hosting the world cup. u.s. and russia leaders are trying to organize a conference to organize an end to the syrian war, but opposition forces remain far apart on preconditions for joining the talks. they are continuing their armed struggle. troops loyal to president bashar al assad have been regaining ground. the lebanese militant group, hezbollah, has helped them. but its involvement is bringing the war across the border. nhk world has more. hermel is a hezbollah stronghold. portraits of the militant group's leader adorn the streets. in some areas his image is side

by side with that of syrian president bashar al assad. lesser known people are also honored here. this man's relative was a hezbollah militant who died fighting in syria. >> translator: i'm proud of my cousin. he died as a martyr. >> reporter: this narrow waterway on the outskirts of hermel divides lebanon and syria. armed hezbollah fighters cross the border freely. many went to the syrian town of qusair in may and june to support assad's troops. they helped them push out

anti-government forces. by aiding assad, hezbollah is trying to ensure its own survival. for years its shiite allies in iran sent money and military support through syria. hezbollah supporters favor intervention in the conflict, but some have paid a heavy price. this man says his 20-year-old daughter died after the anti-government forces shelled the town. >> translator: only a parent knows what it's like to lose a child. it's heartbreaking.

>> reporter: and many in lebanon support the syrian rebels. most of them are sunnis, the same as the rebels. they held an anti-hezbollah rally earlier this month in beirut. the protesters clashed with supporters of the militant group. some people were injured. this 28-year-old died. >> translator: hezbollah killed my brother. they call themselves a party of god, but their deeds are evil. >> earlier i talked with our reporter in dubai. i asked him how serious the impact of the syrian civil war is in lebanon. >> it's very, very dangerous. lebanon has its own experience

of a civil war, which was a long and bloody one. these fresh sectarian divisions could escalate tensions within the country. the syrian conflict started as a protest against the assad regime, but now in its third year it has turned into something entirely different. islamic extremists from arab countries such as libya and tunisia have fought alongside sunni-led rebel forces. the jihadist influence within the syrian opposition has been growing. atrocities are widespread. a rebel force commander reportedly desecrated the body of a government soldier. and rebels executed a teenage boy for blasphemy. the assad regime has carried out its own share of violent

attacks. and now that hezbollah has joined the fighting, it could turn the civil war into a sectarian war between the sunni and the shiites, which could engulf the wider region. >> the obama administration concluded the syrian government used chemical weapons in the war. he has promised unspecified military support for opposition forces. how will this affect the conflict? >> quite a lot. russia has been providing weapons for the assad regime along with iran. and now that if the united states also provide military help, the confrontation could only get worse. the united nations have been calling countries not to provide arms in this civil war, but major powers are ignoring that call. u.n. officials want this conflict to be resolved with

dialogue, not fighting. one way that if this is to happen is the american and russian leaders to pressure both sides to sit down and talk. but for now, plans for a conference to find a negotiated end, a political solution to this civil war, are not moving forward. a bumpy ride continues on stock markets in asia. many shares in this region were swayed by moves in chinese markets throughout the day. investors are worried that tight liquidity in china's financial system may hurt the growth of the world's second largest economy. mainland chinese equities extended losses to five days. benchmarks closed at 1959 down 0.19%. fallen 5.7% on cash squeeze

concerns before bargain hunting helped trim most of the losses toward the close. other markets in asia pacific, hong kong share snapped a losing streak. tokyo stocks lost 0.72% as investors jumped china-linked stocks. general shareholders meetings are in full swing in japan for businesses that have reported their earnings for fiscal 2012. overseas investment funds and others are putting japanese companies under strong pressure to boost their corporate value. the moves come as share prices have risen this year. railway operators faced a showdown with u.s. investment fund at its shareholders meeting on tuesday. an effort to wield greater influence, shareholders voted it down. top company managers said they would consider a proposal made by another u.s. fund, third point. the fund wants sony to spin-off its entertainment business and build off its main electronics

business. japanese holdings have been holding down spending and building up reserves since the global crisis in 2008. estimated now about $720 billion. shareholders are closely watching to see how companies plan to invest their cash reserves for future growth. japan's economic researchers say large manufacturers are optimistic. they say the weaker yen and recovering demand is taking the sector on an upward trend. ten private economic research institutes gave their predictions to be released next monday. the measure of business sentiment among major manufacturers ranges from minus four to plus five points. that's up from the minus eight points of the previous report in march. six of the ten institutes predicted a great improvement among major makers with the forecast by mitsubishi research institute the most positive. reports say business is improving across a wide range of manufacturing including autos and electric machinery makers. the upturn is due to the weaker

yen. another factor is the improvement in overseas economies, mainly the u.s. on the other hand, forecasts for small and medium size manufacturers showed a smaller uplift. their mood ranges from minus 17 points to minus 12 points. although that's still an improvement over the minus 19 points of the previous report which marked a fifth consecutive decline. the researchers say sentiment among smaller businesses will likely show only a slight and gradual improvement, that's because many of those companies depend on imported parts and fuel. the weaker yen is sending their costs higher. salaries of executives at some japanese companies may be on an upward trend. nissan motors chief executive carlos ghosn says he earned around $10.1 million in the last fiscal year through march. ghosn announced at a stockholders meeting on tuesday that his remuneration rose by about $10,000 from the previous

year. he's the highest paid executive among listed firms in japan according to tokyo shoko research. he said compensation was decided after reviewing how much executives at other global automakers and manufacturers are paid. nissan sold over 4.9 million vehicles worldwide last fiscal year due to robust demand in u.s. and asia. the firm renewed its record for a third year in a row. japan's all-nippon airways joining malaysia based airasia. officials of a.n.a. holdings said they will turn air asia japan into a subsidiary to make it profitable. >> translator: airasia failed to game name recognition in japan. we couldn't set up an effective operating system to fit the japanese market. >> airasia japan began service only last summer. a.n.a. holdings has a 51% stake.

airasia the lowest cost. currently serving five domestic and three international routes. a.n.a. holdings plans to decide by the end of next month whether to continue operations on the same routes. it's also hoping to come up with a new name for the airline. here are the latest market figures. japanese leaders plan to extend a mission to guard commercial ships from pirates off the coast of somalia.

they're going to make one maritime self-defense vessel part of a multinational force. two destroyers and two patrol aircraft have been deployed in the region since 2009. they escort japanese and foreign merchant ships. the current one-year mission will expire in a month. a senior defense ministry official outlined the plan to lawmakers from the ruling liberal democratic party. he said one of the destroyers will join the multinational force around december. the force includes ships from the u.s., britain and china. >> translator: we aim to cooperate with other countries in an effort to fight piracy. the planned mission will be handled within such a framework so it does not infringe on any constitutional issue. >> government leaders have traditionally believed japanese should have the right to collective self-defense, but they say the constitution doesn't allow them to exercise that right. more japanese people are waiting to get married or have children. those are the findings of a government report that shows no

sign of a turnaround for japan's low birthrate. officials blame lack of job security and low salaries for contributing to the long-running problem. the report says that in 2011 the average age at which japanese men got married for the first time was nearly 31. it was 29 for women. that's about three years later for men when compared to 1980. it's almost four years later for women. it also says that the average age for women to have her first child was older than 30 for the first time. it was slightly later than the previous year. as of 2010, a record percentage of men and women remained unmarried into their 50s. the cabinet approved the annual report which proposes a range of measures to address the trend. >> translator: we have to implement emergency measures to address this critical situation. we'll support people at these stages of their life, marriage, pregnancy and childbirth. this is in line with the government's economic growth strategy.

>> the minister said officials will look at successful attempts to increase birth rates around the world, such as making it easier for young people to find housing. thousands of residents are still waiting to go home. vast tracts of land are still waiting to be restored. and more than half the fishing ports on the pacific coast must be rebuilt. people in northeastern japan still face challenges following the 2011 disaster, but step by step they're moving forward. see their stories every wednesday on "the road ahead" right here on "newsline." workers at japan's damaged nuclear plant have detected unusually high levels of a radioactive substance off the coast of the facility. plant operator tokyo electric power company isn't ruling out the possibility that contaminated ground water is

seeping into the sea. tepco workers tested samples from a port near fukushima daiichi. they found the water contained ten times more radioactive tritium than previous samples. but they said the figure is still less than one-fiftieth of the government-set safety limit. workers found tritium exceeding the safety level earlier this month in water drawn from a well near one of the plant's reactors. tepco managers say they will re-examine the data from the sea and well water. they hope to determine whether polluted ground water is reaching the ocean. they say that's happening. they will use chemicals to reinforce the ground and stop the seepage. children who were forced to leave their homes after the fukushima accident have offered a symbol of solidarity to other evacuees. they presented flowers to families in temporary housing in their new community. the 19 children attend the only remaining elementary school from

their hometown namie in the fukushima no-go zone. the school is temporarily based about 50 kilometers to the west. the children grew flowers at school and took them to temporary housing communities around the city. they wrote messages on the planters to wish for deeper ties and good health. residents at one site were delighted by the offering. >> the children also delivered flowers to four other sites. a very unusual storm in singapore. rachel ferguson from the weather team has an update. rachel. >> yes, indeed. it is pretty rare to see hail in singapore, but that's exactly what we saw this afternoon. we've got some video too to show you just what was happening. now, it's pretty large hail we're seeing here in western

singapore this afternoon. it's not unheard of completely to see hail in the tropical city, which lies just two degrees from the equator. the last report of this event was in 2008. so it's just not so frequent. the storm also brought damaging winds causing trees to snap and superficial damage to structures. despite the strong storm and rainfall that came with it, the air in the city still remains hazy this evening. we'd like to see an improvement there in the air quality. what we do have up towards eastern portions of asia and towards the north is going to be some significant rainfall. southern japan dealing with that oncoming rain dealing with the stationary front kinki and toki regions, significant rainfall in the next 24 hours. but kyushu will get the worst of it. now, on thursday that's finally

going to start to abate, not before it moves further north. thursday it's going to start to get a little bit better here. but as for china, not so much. more heavy rain coming down the basin over the next 72 hours and you can see where the reds and oranges are popping up. the rain is already falling on saturated land, so that ups the risk of further flooding as well as landslides and mud slides to occur. up towards the north unstable here as well. northeastern china and the korean peninsula dealing with some frequent thunder and lightning as well as persistent showers for the next couple of days. and you're getting some of that action in beijing. 30 degrees tomorrow, but coming with those storms. seoul staying dry at 31. and down into chongqing, hong kong, taipei, we see the rain and thunderstorms also popping up in bangkok. all right, into the americas. more severe storms here. again, same picture really as we

saw on monday. tuesday's going to be bringing you severe storms from basically saskatchewan and manitoba and great lakes and even further towards the northeast potential for severe storms. the heavy rain, the flash flood threat is going to be just to the southwest there of the great lakes. and if we push further west, we'll see where that stream of moisture is coming from. and also that it stays very unstable here in the northwest from b.c. into northern california you're going to see yet another 24 hours of those showers and potential for thunderstorms here too. inland it's looking dry and very hot. and this is really going to be a big story as we head on through the rest of the week. las vegas 38 degrees on your tuesday. 39 i think on wednesday. and then a big jump up to about 43. the forecast is to see 46 degrees on saturday and sunday. so extreme heat coming to the southwest. on into europe, things are looking clear across the west.

it has been quite chilly in central portions of the continent. and that's because of this storm system and the jet stream coming very low allowing that cool air to come in. now, as that pushes up towards the north, we're going to be seeing things improving temperaturewise. the heavy rain though is going to be pushing up toward the baltic states scandinavia weakening as it goes, temperatures improving a little bit. something to look forward to for the end of the week. here's your extended forecast.

>> before we wrap up this edition of "newsline," we'll take a look at how people in japan are observing some time honored tradition from a ceremony that lasts one day to a ritual that lasts less than one minute.

every year staff at the shrine in kyoto decorate the main gate with a wreath. people pass through it while praying for good health, prosperity and wisdom. >> translator: i'm here to wish for good health for everyone in my family including my grandchildren. >> and in nagano prefecture more than 100 people hiked up a path to take part in what is known as japan's shortest festival. they stood before a monument. it marks the site where an emperor stopped to rest more than a century ago. participants bow for about 20 seconds and that was the end of their ritual. that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for joining us.

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wow. that must be a real energy booster. these voracious young men are part of the only professional soccer team in okinawa. they work hard to achieve the dream of promotion to j1, the top tier. after a match, they must be really hungry. look at the packed bento lunch they are having. there is so much food in them. think it's no big deal, do you? there are seven side gives which add up to 600 grams. here, have a look.