lifelines cut. government forces block food and supplies in two syria's commercial capitol and strike at rebels from above. the streets of aleppo have raids. trying to fit off opposition fighters from their positions and they are reportedly blocking essential supplies. an antigovernment activist in damascus says the military is indiscriminately bombing aleppo and says they cult off supplies of electricity, water and food. residents lined up to buy food in rebel controlled areas.

united nations official say at least 200,000 people fled the city. those people are passing others returning to fight alongside opposition forces. many syrians are fleeing into turkey over this border. the checkpoint is about 50 kilometers west of aleppo. a truck driver from suburban aleppo says the city is devastated. he says outsiders have to intervene immediately to save the lives of children. opposition figures have been calling on syrian youth to join the fight against forces loyal to president al-assad. many answered the call. man returning to aleppo says al-assad continues to kill women and children. so the man said he today return to protect his family and his neighbors. a senior syrian diplomat has

become the latest to resign from assad's government. british officials say he is no longer willing to represent the regime that has committed such violent and oppressive acts against its people. prosecutors have charged the former graduate student accused of conducting a shooting spree in a u.s. movie theater. james holmes faces 142 charges, including murder, attempted murder, and possession of explosives. he is suspected of killing 12 people and wounding 58 in aurora, colorado earlier this month. holmes spoke just once in monday's court appearance. he said, yes, when the judge asked if he understood the charges. the kies case is likely to hing his mental state at the time of the shooting. he was facing psychiatric treatment before the crimes. prosecutors will consult victims' families before deciding whether to demand the death penalty.

lawyers for the world's two leading tech companies are going head-to-head over patents. ai joins us from the business team. ai, we are hearing about this yet again. >> yet again indeed and roots run deep on this one, catherine. number one and number two makers of smart phones around the world. and they are business parters np you might have guessed. it is apple and samsung electronics p. they have entered another legal battle over smart phones and tablet computers. jury selection began at the federal courthouse in san jose california. the firms have fought about 50 similar trials around the world since april of last year. lawyers for apple are asking the court to stop samsung from selling its smart phones and tablet computers in the u.s. and they are demanding compensation for the loss of market share. the apple side says designers at samsung copied the iphone after the smart phone hit the market

in 2007. samsung lawyers argue it wasn't an original design. they say apple based theirs from sony. samsung counter sued. lawyers claim apple infringed on patents for communication technologies. the trial is expected to take at least four weeks. billions of dollars and control of the u.s. smart phone and tablet market are at stake. as court's gather the jury it is clear the face off is only getting more intense. the two firms were almost on par for global share of the smart phone market last year. apple had 18%. samsung had 17%. however samsung has been gaining momentum since the beginning of this year thanks to a new smart phone model the company launched in may. samsung leaped to 32% share for

the april to june quarter while apple dipped to 16%. for tablet computers for the time being at least, apple had an overwhelming global share last year of 62%. what's complicating the two companies relationship is that apple is actually samsung's largest client. the u.s. computer giant relies on the korean conglomerate for many of its core parts, including semi conductors for mobile phones. now let's get a check on the markets. dow jones industrial average gave up earlier gains to end down just a touch as market players wait on key essential bank meetings and u.s. jobs data at the end of the week. let's see how stocks are trading on tuesday. we go to the tokyo stock exchange for that. rammin, it is the last trading day of july. what is your guess how we will end the day today? >> ai, very good day to you. >> we will have 21 trading days in july and so far 12 of the

days ended closing lower and a lot of those with triple digit losses. and unless we make up 370 points or thereabouts today, we will end july on a negative. it is as simple as that. let's look at numbers from the opening levels for the nikkei and topix. and we are trading lower. so it doesn't look likely that july will be an up month. and basically we have also had unemployment data coming out before the markets open, which show improvement for japan. but a lot will be on the earnings here in japan as we enter the earning season full swing and really big names coming out to you this week. but also, due to concerns lingering debt, issues in europe, market players may just take a little bit of step back and volume may be lower than average. as we saw for the dow for instance overnight, federal reserve of the u.s. also kicking off this meeting and it will wrap tomorrow, a lot of focus

there on any new language that they may use which may give a hint as it whether they might boost the u.s. economy. so we will watch out for that. but before the fed does decide to make any moves, it still has it deal with a lot of data. we will have key consumer spending and also the home price index as well as ism manufacturing. basically covering the three main areas, of people spending habits and the housing sector as well as a key manufacturing sectors as well. now of course we have the jobs data due out on friday as well. now ahead of the european central bank meeting on thursday, the euro has taken a little bit after hit compared to the bounce that we got the end of last week, if you remember, on the words of ecb president saying he will do anything to help europe. now we are below the 96 level, the euro again showing weakness. ai? >> ramin, a lot of earnings

today in japan. what is expected? >> yeah, quite a lot. abo 60 companies. we will have toshiba and panasonic. as far as autos, honda. then, of course, we have mega banks. and then from the telecoms, soft bank, which is one of the carriers of apple's iphone. so a lot for investors to take in. tokyo stock exchange is going to be a very busy place later today. back to you. >> and keeping you busy, i'm sure, ramin. now, as ramin just mentioned in his report, japan's unemployment rate improved in june. the internal affairs ministry said the seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood up 4.3% 37 the number of people without jobs was about 2.9 million while people with jobs stood at over 63 million. separately the labor minister

says it marked its 13th straight month of increases. 82 positions were available for every 100 job seekers. the labor ministry said the job situation is showing signs of improvement in some areas, especially fukushima even miyagi prefectures. partly due to construction demand after the disasters of last year. ministers say they will continue to work on creating jobs. that's the latest from business this hour. i'm going to leave with you a check on the asian markets. experts with the international atomic energy agency are going inside a

nuclear plant in northeastern japan to find out how it weathered last year's disaster. the onigawa plant faired much better than fukushima daiichi. for one it's three reactors shut down just as they are designed to do. the iaea team wants to apply what it learns to global nuclear safety standards. nhk world reports. >> reporter: avoiding a total blackout that could have caused a melt down unlike fukushima daiichi. the iaea team wants to investigate what made the difference. 18 experts arrived monday at the facility in miyagi prefecture. they interviewed plant officials and nuclear regulators. the plant faces the pacific ocean, as does fukushima daiichi. the disaster knocked out power at the fukushima plant leading to melt downs and explosions. own onigawa's shut down

prevented major damage. the iaea experts will investigate what impact there was on the demonstration of the pikes and pulls of nuclear fuel. >> when you look at all three units, at this point, because it is the beginning of the mission, we have not any focused area to look at. so once we look at the information, we will decide where we will look and what areas. >> they will also research the sea wall around onigawa. the structure is believed to have helped the plant with standard tsunami in contrast to the break wall at fukushima daiichi. the iaea experts hope to use their findings to strengthen the quake resistance of plants around the world. nhk world, from onigawa.

one of the world's natural wonders, australia's great barrier reef, is under growing pressure from shifting tides of climate and industry. a recent conference sounded the alarm over the future of the world heritage site. nhk world has more. >> reporter: stretching more than 2,000 kilometers of the most eastern state of queensland, the great barrier reef is the world's largest coral system. it is home to over 1500 species of fish and sea turtles. the water was cloudy on the day we filmed, while we could still observe the treasure trove of marine life. the reef also attracts masses of international tourists. >> yeah, it was great. we saw sea turtles and lots of

fish. >> we have always liked to go snorkeling on the reef and just seeing the beautiful reef life. which is very, very colorful. >> however, climate change and development issues are threatening the precious preef reef system. an international conference was hosted on the reef. it attracted about 2,000 researchers from 80 countries and territories. >> so there are two main concerns for the barrier reef into the future, escalating the impacts of global warming, ocean certification and continued degradation from run-off. >> rising sea water temperatures and acidity is effecting the

coral reef. the problems are aggravated by resources development. northeastern australia is a major coal production area. about 3500 ships navigate the area to make port. in april 2010, a chinese registered vessel carrying coal run aground. the ship released heavy oil causing extensive environmental damage. meanwhile, the queensland government is stretching the sea bed to expand port function. it is looking forward to continuing high demand from china and the other asian countries for coal. on the nearby island, more work is under way. resource developers are developing a natural gas plant. this is fuelling concern about harm to the reef, including decreasing the water quality. >> the development of ports needs to be better planned. and by limiting the amount of damage by developing only a

small number of ports, and certainly not creating any new ports, i think that's the way forward. >> unesyo is also alarmed. officials recommended last month that australia forbid construction of a newport that could undermine the reef study. the global body also asked the australian government to take measures to protect the reef. unesco officials warned that unless the situation improves, the reef could be added to the list of world heritage in danger as early as next year. members of the australian government say they will promptly consider measures in consultation with local authorities, responsible for port construction permits. however, the government has to balance protecting the world heritage site with bolstering the resource industry. a pillar of the country's economy. >> what the australian government agreed to do is to

conduct a strategic assessment of the regulations and legislation. we accept that it is a marine-managed area with economic and social activity recreation as well as conservation. >> this natural treasure of australia and the world is fast emerging a test case for juggling resource development, and the environmental sensitivity. nhk world. one of the emerging economies want to have an annual growth rate of at least 6%. the government set up a new ministry to help achieve the goal. gene otani asked senior kplen tator to tell us more about the new ministry and indonesia's ambitious goals. >> how would you describe the current economic situation in indonesia? >> ountry has

recovered from the political rest it experienced about a decade ago, after the fall of the president. it has been stable growth with annual rates with 5 and 6%. now the president want to take into issue one step further. >> the fruits of economic development must be fairly distributed. to allow the entire nation to enjoy its bep fits. >> indonesia's strength rise in its population of 240 million people, the largest in southeast asia. and the youth of its work force. this chart shows how the proportion of the generations has grown over the past 40 years. this kind of demographic provides a great quotation for national development. but having many young people also means you have to provide them with jobs.

every year, between two and two and a half million people enter the labor market. analysts say indonesia needs to maintain a growth rate of at least 6% to absorb this additional work horse and that's for the government. >> so what needs to be done to reach this target? >> two factors that are particularly important. increasing productivity. meaning that industries need to move throughout the creation of more value-added product. >> the government is addressing this issue both in the field of agriculture, which remains a top sector of the economy, and the service industry. the president launched a new mainstream called ministry of tourism and created an economy specifically for it. sz >> i think the challenge with creating different economies, is how do you create creative

ideas, a good idea, to have economic value and become viable commercially. you know, how do you make that step? how do you create entrepreneurs. how do you have financing? how do you protect the intellectual property rights of the music, of the film, of the design. >> all right, what else needs to be done to continue growth for indonesia? >> that they be maintaining stability under the tourism of the president and treated as a process. but this kind of failed to with stand the asian financial crisis and how it is supposed to resign. the current president enjoys a broad and stable sport for now. but it is easy to maintain that situation in such a vast country and he is well aware of it.

to avoid the appearance of his predecessor, usually he is promoting cooperation between the public and private sectors. he his administration is a system of public, private partnerships to boost investment in the countries infrastructure. >> whether it's airports, ports, roads, power generation within water treatment systems, these are all opportunities because we will do public/private partnership. and we want it prior ties accelerating development in the number of locations in indonesia. and have it spread out throughout the country. we've had no chaos, no, you know, violence. so i think this is a very different indonesia. this is an indonesia which is modernizing.

it is a country with the largest muslim population. >> it is relatively safe from the effects of the credit crisis in europe. in fact, the figures indicate that direct investment reached record levels. the government is now hoping to expand development efforts outside with the ultimate goal of the sustaining growth across the country. not just olympic athletes that are wowing crowds in london. the statuis are also entertaining visitors with their new looks. nhk world reports. >> here we are in london, where people are on their way to work. but there is something slightly different about this place today. admiral nelson is sporting some new headgear. the iconic statue is wearing a union hat made by london's oldest hat maker.

the company actually designed nelson's original hat more than two centuries ago. >> it's very good. looks very good. wish i had a cap like that. look very good. yeah. very impressive. >> wow. >> oh, that's pretty cool. >> that is cool. >> head designer. that's awesome. >> how do you think he would look like w a hockey helmet on? >> the company made a life size replica of the statue's head. it is used to place the hat on the 50-meter high monument. the mayor of london, fashion magazine and leading british hat makers collaborated to give 20 london statues a makeover. >> it was important for us. there are a lot of dynamic and fantastic talents working in the industry in england and it was important for us to give them a showcase when they are also the unsung heros behind the designers.

it was good to get them out there and on a stage. >> also statues of winston churchill, william shakespeare and queen victoria. they will wear this headgear until thursday. nhk world, london. >> some serious fashion statements there in london. there or two tropical storm in the pacific heading towards eastern china. rachel furgason joins us with the latest. >> absolutely correct. we have two storms in the western pacific and let's start off with damrey. this one is just sitting over the ogasawara islands. really bringing in the stormy conditions right now. some

it is moving about 30 kilometers an hour. that's good news. no prolonged heavy rains. wind gusts are at 150 kilometers, almost, powerful enough to generate high waves along the eastern seaboard of japan already. as that system moves closer, of course, those waves are going to get higher and we're going to see potential for land fall towards the end of the week, either in southern japan here or if it moves a little bit further towards the south and views around to the yellow sea, it'll be northeastern coast of china. once it enters the yellow sea, it'll weaken off. i don't know if this one will be reaching typhoon status. severe tropical storm right now should be wakening. we have another tropical storm and it is expected to invigorate and become a strong typhoon within the next 24 hours. already this has done a lot of damage in the northern parts of the philippines. it is now moving very slowly in

towards taiwan and also effecting the okinawa island here as well as taiwan. in addition, we also have the rain. unlike the other system we just mentioned, damrey, this is moving slowly which means fro longed rain. we could see as much as 300 millimeters for the northern half of taiwan, that includes the capitol of taipei. as the system moves on, we expect land fall somewhere along the eastern coast of area. we just need to keep an eye on it. it is moving very slowly. quite difficult to see exactly what it will do at the moment. more heavy rain will be affecting northern china. we will see anything from about a hundred to 250 millimeters of rain in provinces. that could definitely exacerbate any flooding situation here. the land is already saturated and really coming down for the last several days. south of that, things are looking high and dry. that means heat. 35 for you in shanghai and temperatures are widely in the low to mid 30s across much of japan as well.

with the potential for thunderstorms during the heat of the day. more thunderstorms in east portions of the u.s. we have storms right through ontario into northern quebec and down through the great lakes region. towards the west, mostly dry and calm. monsoonal rate to the three corners. there is the potential for flooding in some areas. okay, let's talk about temperatures though. 42 degrees in oklahoma city. that is not going to change for the next several days. through thursday, a high of about 42. as we head on into europe, things are getting quite unsettled across the british aisle and through scandinavia as well pch we have thunderstorms

moving through the ball tick sea bbaltic seas pch. and toward the balkans. let's talk about your olympic weather. can you see this rain, quite blustery and showery on tuesday. those showers should settle down by the afternoon hours. wednesday, cloudy. up to 23 degrees. cooler once again with rain coming through wednesday. very hot towards the south. we have 38 in madrid and 37 in athens. here is your extended forecast. and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.

thanks for joining us. yy