akgo the water to search for two

missing pilots. syanorces shut down their plane friday over the mediterranean sea near the border between. turkish officials asked nato to get involved. ambassadors for the alliance member states held an emergenc meeting in brussels. cutyf temr state have beenhrted ic i the emergency meetin but the solutions are not s easy to come by. rasmussen spoke after the srarfointernationaaho norms and peace. >> we consider this act to be unacceptable aonmn it in the strongest terms. >> rasmusss the alliance

will consider whether further acons necessary. but he didn't mention any military options. nato members have ereed concern about the detiorating situation in syria, b t osct of using military force presents too many risks, given the curren diplomatic approach to the syrian conflict. th aiaeil be forced to adopt a cautious stance for now. takashi icno, nhworld, brussels. meanwhile, turkish prime minister tayyi erdogan for the fit me cmeedn the incident. he issued a tough warning against nassirian miany semohe tuish border. the rules for endangerment for turkish armed forces changed and ylent fm syria that poses a security risk or danger will be treated as a military

target. the syrian government officials y was the turkish military plane that violated the nation's airspace. fightingontinues in the suburbs of the syrian capital damascus. nine people were killed on tuesday and many others are wounded. the death toll is the highest for this area since the public uprising began. a human rights act vist told nhk that syrian government forces bombarded an area ten kilometer we odamascus with motors and rockets. the activist says the attack gaindiscriminately around 3:00 a.m. and most were civilians. observers say the government on tisppr t be aimed at preventing free syrian army fighters from entering the capital. a human rights group reported that 56 people were kiedcrs rionuesday. 80 people died on monday. russian presint vdir

putin has called on israel and palestine to avoid any unilateral action and to resume middle east peace talks. putin met palestinian president mahmoud abbas in thees bk wn of bethlehem. he earlier met benjamin nenyahu. criticized israel for building settlements for jewish migrants in the occupied west bank and easteralem and called on palestinians to exercise self-restraint for seinanndenntta. abbas restated that negotiations with israel remain his key goal. he asked for russian cpeti to resume the peace talks that were suspended two years ago. a taliban officials say the afghan insurgent group i willing to resume peace talks with u.s. negotiators but first

he says the obama administration needs to make good on its agreemen thbendheces talks between the two sides have been stalled since march. din hads a member of the taliban's political bureau and represents the group in peace talks with the u.s. he spoke with nhk tuesday during a si to kyoto. mohomed says he opening the discussions is not possible right now because the u.s. has not followed through wit eaie reen. one of them includes releasing taliban members in american custody. he says the taliban is ready to advance the dloef.s leaders show good faith. mohamed also spoke to nhk about thu. pn lveome of its troops in afghanistan after ending its combat mission in 2014. he argues all foreign troops bust leave the country. he says the tibanelieveshe presence of international soldiers has a negative impact on prospects for peace. global leaders worry about

european debt contagion. they're waking up to a new concern every morning. ai uchida from t business sk joins us now. what's the latest? >> catherine, it's only wednesday. so far we've managed to have something new every single day of the week. one day after the credit ratings of spanish banks were downgrade by moody's, italian leaders are struggling to shore up their finances. they say an injection of state funds into an ailing major bank is inevitable. the italian authorities decided to give a capital infusion in the amount of $2 billion euros. that's about $2.5 billion. the government will buy up the bonds issued by the bank. this will then boost the capital foundation of the financial institution. european union officials are demanding that banks increase their capital by the end of the month to demonstrate their health. officials say they were not able to secure the necessary funds by

themselves, so they asked for help from the government. the eu president will propose greater integration in banking supervision at the eu summit that begins on thursday in brussels. he'll also suggest the introduction of common eurozone bonds. herman van rumpi issued a report on friday entitled toward a genuine economic and monetary wr union. he drew up a plan for the next ten years with three other eu leaders. the report proposes integrating banking supervision to prevent bank failures which burden state finances and calls on member nations to get approval from the eu if they need to issue government bonds above a certain level. another proposal is the introduction of common bonds that would be jointly issued by member nations. but a heated debate is expected as germany and some other members oppose the bond plan. they're concerned that richer countries will have to cover the

costs for debt ridden members. greek prime minister anthony samaras has appointed a respected economist to fill the post of finance minister. the prime minister's office said samaras chose the leader of an influential economic research group. the first choice, banker vassilis rapanos quit after being hospitalized with abdominal pains. the prime minister launched his conservative led government last thursday. he, too, entered the hospital to undergo eye surge. samaras is out now. still he'll miss the eu summit in brussels on thursday and friday as he recovers from the surgery. eu leaders will discuss a multibillion dollar aid package to greece. the president will head the greek delegation. they're expected to ask eu partners to ease the authority

measures required for the bailout. now let's get a check on how stocks are trading here in japan. we're going to go to ramin mellegard for that at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, investors appear to be maintaining a cautious stance. key u.s. housing index showed an improvement. i heard there were tough words out of germany that might dampen sentiment going forward. >> yeah, definitely, ai. we did have the case-shiller home price index which showed an improvement, in showing that the housing sector in the u.s. is steadily improving, albeit it a little bit slowly. then in europe, and ahead of the key eu summit meeting, words from german chancellor angela merkel poured cold water over the prospect of a common eurozone bond. she actually called it economically wrong. so some tough words there from the german chancellor. let's see how it's playing into the nikkei and the topix this wednesday morning. both indexes trading lower. 8,65 for the nikkei and the

topix at 738. political tensions not only playing into the market sentiment in europe but here as well with the contentious consumption tax hike bill being pushed through the lower house and prime minister yoshihiko noda also facing huge repercussions for his own ruling party as well. so amid some of these uncertainties, investors were a little bit sidelined yesterday. we'll see if that plays through the markets today. so far, the nikkei and the topix trading a little bit lower but not a massive move. we may see that continue into the rest of the day. now, as we move into the end of june, some bargain hunting moves have come into play as well, after some recent decliners. and also some investors locking in some dividend payments also ahead of the end of the month. still, the yen really has been the major focus. and it's gained a little bit. having a look there on the screen.

it's coming up now. it's currently still a little bit stronger against both the dollar and the euro. 79.38-41, and the euro/yen, 99.08-15. so lower 99 yen levels and that was trading around the mid to 100 yen levels just a few days ago. ai? >> ramin, what else is expected ahead of the eu summit which might move markets today? >> yeah, well we still have economic data in the u.s. as such. we'll be looking at durable goods and also pending home sales. and that will be a focus. of course, the housing sector a big focus also in this election year in the u.s., along with jobs data. with the looming tax hike here in japan, some investors might be looking at gold and other pressure metals which are susceptible to the consumption tax hike if that goes up. so we might see plays in those sectors as well. back to you, ai. >> ramin, thanks a lot for that update. ramin mellegard as always from the tokyo stock exchange.

tokyo markets are down. as ramin said, nothing major. south korean and australian markets are also open. i'll leave you with a check on those. japanese leaders are looking into the future and seeing red. the country's national debt is growing and so is the number of senior citizens who rely on government support. so prime minister yoshihiko noda is trying to shore up finances. he and other members of l lower house of the diet passed a set of bills to double the consumption tax and change the social security system. one bill would increase the tax

on goods and services from 5% to 10% by 2015. 363 lawmakers voted in favor of it. 96 voted against it. politicians hope the revenues will help them pay down japan's substantial debt. they also want to cover the rapid rise in spending on things such as pensions. the opposition liberal democratic party and new komeito party voted with the governing coalition but 57 members of the ruling democratic party voted against the consumption tax bill. they include former party leader ichiro osawa. 16 other dpj members abstained or were absent. the state of reforms were sent to the upper house where they're expected to be passed into law. prime minister noda spoke a few hours after the lower house vote and stressed significance of the reform bills.

>> translator: there is no time to waste in reforming the social security system. the aim of the planned comprehensive reforms is to secure a stable financial source for social security services and at the same time improve fiscal health. that stable financial source is the consumption tax. >> earlier, gene otani spoke with nhk world's senior political commentator. >> why is the prime minister incisioning on insisting on raising the consumption tax when he knows not all but some japanese are against the move? >> japan is carrying a greater proportion of debt on its books than any other developed nation in the world. experts point toward greece as a warning of the need to get this country's finances in order. debt as a percentage of gross domestic product in japan is higher than in any other

industrialized nation. and net public debt, the figure, is rising second by second. but the consumption tax, when you compare it to that in other wealthy nations is relatively low. on top of that, japan has one of the highest proportions of citizens older than 65, as noda mentioned. paying for social security is putting an increasing strain on national finances. >> so i guess the question is, will this work? would it support the aging population, at the same time, get rid of a lot of the debt that japan has? >> noda's focusing on a two-stage increase toward 10% tax, as we've been talking about. of course, a personal consumption changes year by year, but still we know that raising the tax will increase revenues by billions of dollars. noda knows that that's not the

concrete solution for restoring fiscal health, but he said it will be a step toward balancing the budget. and economists say that there's still room to increase the tax rate beyond 10%. actually, analysts at the international monetary fund have recommended that japan eventually increase the consumption tax to at least 15%. >> noda faced opposition with h his own dpj party and 57 of his lawmakers did not support the bills. how will this affect his administration? >> i just said noda has repeatedly said he will risk his political career on this issue, so now he may say he fulfilled his promise, but at the same time, once again, as you said, 57 lawmakers of noda's own party did not support the bills. that's about 20% of the ruling dpj. the democrats would lose their majority in the lower house if

more than 54 lawmakers left the party. and that would open up the possibility of a nonconfidence motion. in that case, prime minister noda will be forced to call a general election or he will have to simply resign and that could happen in the near future. >> thanks, as always. more than 200,000 people died in the battle of okinawa during world war ii. it ended on june 23rd, 1945. events to mark the anniversary took place on the weekend. for one 90-year-old woman, though, the memories come more than once a year. the past is right next door. >> reporter: her home is near the u.s. marine corps futenma air station. she's been living in this town for more than 60 years.

>> translator: military planes fly until around 10:00 p.m. it's terribly noisy. >> reporter: u.s. forces landed on okinawa's main island in april 1945. the japanese army put up fierce resistance. slowly the fighting claim closer to her town. her husband was called up for military service. she was pregnant at the time. she took shelter in a cave with her two small children. shooting erupted near the shelter. many of her neighbors were killed. >> translator: i was inside the shelter and i could hear screaming. i knew more people were dying. >> reporter: her hideout was discovered. she gave birth to her second daughter in a u.s. detention camp. her husband did not survive. after the war, sakima raised their three children by herself.

>> translator: life was really tough at that time, but i couldn't even find the time to weep because i had children to take care . >> reporter: sakima was desperate to find work. she eventually landed a job at a u.s. military base. the americans set up bases in many parts of okinawa. >> translator: this was my i.d. for the officer's club. >> reporter: she worked as a waitress at the office's club. many of her colleagues were war widows. sakima had another job. house maid for american soldiers. as time went by, she came to harbor mixed feelings about her work. the bases were linked to war and the trauma of the past. but sakima kept on working. her three children were now in high school and there were bills to pay.

>> translator: the u.s. had been our enemy, but i kept serving meals for the soldiers. i didn't think i had any choice. i had to depend on those who paid me. >> reporter: in 1972, the u.s. returned okinawa to japanese rule. sakima quit her job at the military base just before the hand-over. and 40 years on, she still has a u.s. base near her home. talks on relocating the futenma air station have stalled. inside the fence lies the grave of her parents. it was built before the war, but visiting the grave is not easy. she needs an entry permit. >> translator: it's off limits. that's what the sign board says. it's as if strangers are living

in there. surrounded by a fence. no matter what happens, peace is my fervent wish. >> reporter: but that wish for peace is one sakima holds for future generations. the battle of okinawa and the u.s. military presence to find sakima's life and continue to do so. people in southern areas of the united states are dealing with the effects of a storm. sayaka mori joins us with the latest on that and more in her world weather forecast. >> hi there. stormy conditions are ongoing in northern florida. good news is that tropical storm debby has been downgraded into a tropical depression and moving over northern florida. right now, packing sustained winds are 55 kilometers per hour. winds are starting to die down. it looks like it will likely head out to sea by wednesday

afternoon local time. and then redevelop over the water into a tropical storm. so, again, winds are starting to weaken, but heavy rain will likely continue. an additional 200 millimeters is likely in parts of northern florida and southern georgia over the next 24 hours. some areas have received over 500 millimeters, so additional rain could trigger further flooding. so once again, debby's now a tropical depression and moving over northern florida. we'll keep you posted on its progress. meanwhile, heavy rain will continue in eastern canada and new england states into wednesday morning. but back behind it, this high pressure system is keeping things dry and hot across the great lakes region and parts of the northeastern states. then we have a low pressure system over the u.s./canada border producing stormy, actually unstable weather. there's a risk of severe weather in and around montana and saskatchewan into tonight. but to the south, things are

different. dry. the combination of hot, humid i should say, dry air and hot temperatures are raising the risk of wildfires even more. getting up to 34 degrees in denver and 44 degrees in phoenix. but out toward the northwest, still on the cooler side. 18 degrees expected in vancouver. all right. head into asia. we have a tropical storm formed over the pacific. th packing sustained winds are 65 kilometers per hour with gusts of 83 kilometers per hour. it will likely get very close to or make landfall in luzon by late thursday and aim for southern china as well as taiwan afterwards. although it's still far away from the philippines, bringing lots of heavy rain across much of the country because it's enhancing the southwesterly monsoonal flow. so heavy rain and stronger winds are expected across much of the

philippines over the next couple of days. we'll keep you posted on its progress. meanwhile, heavy rain is coming down across southern japan as well as the yahntzee river valley. you'll likely see rain over the next 24 hours accompanied by thunderstorms. all right. temperature-wise, getting up to 25 degrees in tokyo and another hot day for you in seoul with a high of 32. all right. finally, let's go over to europe. stormy weather is expected to expand much of finland. the baltic states and northwestern russia over the next 24 hours. out west, scattered showers are affecting much of the british isles and will likely intensify as we head into thursday because another system moves in. temperatures are still soaring in the iberian peninsula. 38 degrees in madrid and 36 degrees expected on your wednesday. out toward the east, looking mild. 21 in moscow and 18 degrees in

warsaw. here's your extended forecast.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.