hello there and welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, july 17th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. israeli authorities have agreed to suspend their attacks on the gaza strip. they responded to a request from the united nations to allow humanitarian aid into the palestinian territory. they're expected to cease-fire during the day for five hours. the promise of a break follows more than a week of aerial assaults. israeli forces bombarded 50 locations on wednesday alone. they warned residents of northern gaza to evacuate. then they targeted sites controlled by the islamic resistance movement hamas. they say they're trying to stop rocket attacks on israeli

territory. a strike along the coast killed four palestinian boys. the youngest was 7. the oldest 10. israeli military officials say they're looking into what happened. a u.n. report says about 20,000 palestinians have fled in an attempt to escape the raids. many have taken shelter in schools. >> translator: we are thirsty. when there is water, we fill the bottles and finish it quickly. and the water smells like gasoline. >> translator: we sleep on blankets on the floor and cover ourselves with our clothes. children are now suffering from diarrhea and are throwing up. >> aid workers are concerned about the state of hygiene at some facilities. u.s. leaders are calling on the israelis to exercise restraint. >> obviously there have been a number of lives lost in gaza, including the lives of children,

and that's absolutely tragic in our view. >> psaki criticized leaders of hamas for rejecting a cease-fire. she said they're putting their own people at risk. egyptian diplomats proposed a cease-fire earlier this week. she said secretary of state john kerry has been in close contact with them and with other arab league officials to push again for a truce. syrian president bashar al assad has been sworn in for a third term. he's held on to power for 14 years and through three years of civil war. but he's promised to go on fighting. assad delivered his inaugural speech at the presidential palace in damascus. he said he'll continue to fight what he calls terrorism until order is restored. assad spoke about islamist militants who have crossed over into neighboring iraq and seized a number of cities. they've declared an islamic

state in areas of syria and iraq under their control. assad said members of his government warned this would happen. he said arab and western leaders would pay a high price for the support of terrorism. assad is said to have won 90% of the votes in the presidential election last month. he faced off against rival candidates for the first time. but his critics say the election was a sham. >> good morning, catherine, cake provider comcast rivalled by time warner cable back in february and in may, directv. media giant 21st century fox was looking for a change, but they've been rebuffed in an $80 billion bid to buy its rival, time warner.

time warner owns tv stiegss including c nerks n. officials from both companies say they're not discussing the matter at the moment. investors turned, again, to buying stocks on wall street. strong business results helped lift sentiment. the dow jones industrial average set yet another record and that's for the 15th time this year. let's get a full update from ramin melagard. good morning, ramin. what's happening over there today? >> good morning, yi. weaker yen should really be supported for japanese exporters today. we shall see. but let's have a look at opening levels for the nikkei and the broader topix for july 17th. and the nikkei and topix both in the positive right now.

1,277.74 for the topix. yi, of course, time warner rejected fox's $80 billion takeover offer. and shares surged on wednesday by just over 17%. so a lot of activity there in the share price action. quarterly earnings releases are in full swing in the u.s. analy expectations and its shares jump jumped 27%. profit forecasts, job openings as well as overall ordinary reasonings are reflecting any optimism as a path to the economic recovery in the u.s. these earnings are a bit focused. economic data, let's not forget that. gdp out of china yesterday, also providing investors with a little bit of incentive. we did see hang sing rallying

for three day ins a row. still, a rallyist that was actually on air, nhk world did highlight the fact, despite the jump in that number, there's still questions about the sustainability of some of the growth targets in china. that may be a little bit of a concern for investors. yi? >> ramin, turning to currencies, where is the dollar trading today against the yen? >> trading is 1 01.62-67. overnight, the dollar was bought against major currencies, but less so against the yen. currency trader wills be waiting for u.s. housing starts for some direction. euro-yen, 137.45-48. i want to mention the world cup may be over, but that hasn't stopped corporate sponsorship deals in the hugely popular global game. manchester united and japanese

instant noodle maker nishi foods group may be in focus as they're making quick moves to gain further publicity and sales in the global markets. for now, a built of a mixed picture for the nikkei and topix. back to you, yi. >> the u.s. central bank officials report the country's economy continued to expand from june to early july. the federal reserve report released a beige book report on wednesday. it's based on interviews with people on a viert of business sectors in the bank's 12 districts. it says manufacturing activity expapded, notably in the metal and auto-industry. the report shows labor market conditions with slow to moderate employment. it says real estate activity was varied. home sales fell due to low inventories and rising prices in

some districts. but commercial construction 5:00 tichty strengthened across the country. that's the latest in business. i'll leave you with a check on markets. leaders from five emerging nations have held a summit meeting in brazil. the brics countries of brazil, russia, india, china and south africa are aiming to create a new global order and move away from a u.s.-centered world. among the big hitters, china came away from the talks with both positives and negatives. nhk world's akihiro mikoda has more. >> reporter: at the summit, held

in brazil, chinese president xi jinping was out to strengthen cooperation between the brics economies and other developing countries. russia, which is becoming increasingly isolated, gave strong support to xi's push for a global realignment. it left a group of eight major countries after sanctions were levied against it for annexing crimea in southern ukraine. at the meeting, russia sided with china to voice opposition to the existing world order led by the united states. a joint statement issued after the meeting stressed the important of multi-lateralism with united nations playing the central role. it also includes wording criticizing unilateral economic sanctions. this reflects the views of both china and russia. participants also agreed to set up a new development bank based in china's economic hub, shanghai. with $100 billion, it's designed to pave the way for new world order led by emerging economies.

it appears china wants to exert greater influence over other economies through the bank. >> translator: i'm grateful to everyone for supporting setting up the bank. we'll work closely with all parties to start operations as soon as possible. >> reporter: but it's unclear whether everything will go as china hopes. xi met with indian prime minister narendra modi on the sidelines of the summit.

they agreed to cooperate on infrastructure building and other areas. at the same time, xi invited modi to a meeting of the asia pacific economic cooperation forum in beijing in november. but modi brought up a bilateral border issue, underlining the gap between the two countries. india, in an effort to rebuild its economy, has been placing greater importance on ties with japan, whose relation with china has been cold. although differences among the brics nations remain, xi is making his push to establish a new world order, both politically and economically. akihiro mikoda, nhk world, brazil. the people in charge of a

>> suggested both sides put discussions on the back burner. he says they should put their hands together now. >>. >> translator: i think we share the view of people in both countries must try to avoid any incidents over the sake of violence. >> tag also braught up the japanese decision earlier this month to allow for the right to collective self defense. tang says leaders in china are concernd that that may erode jap japan's pacifist principles. both countries need to speak frankly with each others if

they're to solve problems. officials in japan and south korea will boost cooperation on dealing with north korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs. japanese foreign ministry representative junichi ihara met with his south korean counterpart to share concerns over the north's recent ballistic missile launches. japan recently lifted some of its sanctions on the north after pyongyang started to investigate the fate of japanese nationals abducted in the 1970s and '80s. wang says seoul supports japan's efforts to resolve the abduction issue, but he hopes it will not negatively affect bilateral and trilateral coordination with the united states on the north's nuclear and missile issues. the two officials agreed that pyongyang should take specific steps toward denuclearization as a prerequisite for restarting the six-party talks. the talks have been on hold for more than five years.

>> translator: there was a stranger there and then stuck it right in my face. >> one woman lost her lips. another was assaulted by her husband in front of her children. these abused women in new begin knee are in a video created by an aid group called child fund australia. members say 70% of women in papua new gunieu have been

victims of domestic violence. last year, it began a program to help abused women. >> what we are trying to do is give support to to survivors. second is generatining involvemt within the communities so that the violence stops. >> this shelter receives support from child fund. it's a place for women who run away from abusive men. when we visited last month, five women and their children were taking shelter. each woman is given her own room

and stays at the facility from 4 to 6 weeks. during that time, they prepare to return to society and start the process of healing. >> well, we take care of them, we feed them, they are provided counseling by the staff that is a very capable staff that is here. they're provided with medical care. we have some vocational training that e try to get them involved in. >> jenny messa is from a mountainous area. she arrived at the facility at the end of may with her two children. she says she could no longer put up with her common law husband's violent behavior. >> my husband beat me and cut my fingers where a naive. he also slashed my head. >> economic growth has given people more spending power.

some use their money on drugs and alcohol. experts say that fuels more abuse against women. messa is taking legal action so she can live separately from her partner. but she says she sjt sure she can raise two children on her own. >> translator: i need to live apart from my partner, but i need money to raise my kids. i'm a housewife but need a job. >> the government has passed a law to protect abused women. community leaders say all of society needs to pull together to keep women safe. nhk world, papua, new gunieu.

>> nearly two decades ago, a bitter civil rivalry divided the country. nhk reports. >> reporter: an unvailing in sarajevo where bosnia serves. its owners the essential who fired the shots that killed the archduke. he's printed as a hero.

in serbian schools, about action from an early age. during the proceedings, he argued that he shot the archduke, the pride of the essential yan people. >> i acted to support our ideals. i did it for the sake of my people. >> translator: we must not forget the historical truth of what this serbian man did. >> however, in sarajevo, the assassination is impuding an entirely different light. among the different ethnic groups in bosnia, there are big differences in the way printed text is in schools.

in textbooks, he's considered an assassin. >> translator: his action triggered that huge war. what he did was really stupid. >> the difference in history divides the difference between them. tensions else clated into a civil war. salina lived through the civil war. she teaches in school. her father served on the front line during the fighting. and she spends her days dodging weapons fired. i was so young, so i didn't understand why we were at war. i just wanted the fighting to

stop. >> the difference of living peace alongside each other. she decided to create some history teaching material that they all can agree on. >> translator: just the interpretation of history also changes. there is more to history than textbooks. >> the ability to describe the assassination and then they decided to use newspaper arti e articles to show the different ways

viewed. a serbian newspaper described the work of one individual and said the entire population should not be held responsible. on the other hand, an al tier ya newspaper was described as critical. described the assassination as butchering. >> translator: i hope this framework will be a step toward working through the differences in opinion. >> so, for the next year, around 250 children from europe will come to bosnia with their history teachers to view these materials. >> it's time now for a check of the weather.

people in tokyo are dealing with hot and sunny weather. >> yes, good morning, catherine. it's already hot in tokyo and sunny, and it is going to be quite hot throughout the day. seasonal rain band has lifted to the north. instead this high pressure system is sending sunny weather and high humidity so areas to the south of the frontal system is going to be a sweltering day. tokyo at 32 degrees for the high. we may see some thundershowers. nagoya rising to 35 today. kyoto 34 as we go into friday. watch out for the heat stroke. thundershowers are popping up in northeastern china and hailstorms hit the beijing area yesterday. this was the scene. heavy rain and hail pounded beijing on wednesday afternoon, affecting urban traffic. during the evening rush hour hailstones as big as ping-pong balls. the sudden rainstorm caused travel disruptions and inconvenience to many without an umbrella. conditions are looking up in the beijing area, but instead, north

korea and northeastern china will see daytime thundershowers and a risk of hail too. now, in the south we are seeing some heavy rainfall due to a stalled frontal system, and on top of that a new system will be moving in. this is typhoon rammasun which battered the philippines yesterday. 150,000 people were evacuated and financial markets were closed due to the typhoon. the center is located over the south china sea but still engulfing the capital of the philippines. the center is located in this place packing wind gusts of 180 kilometers per hour and it's going to move northwest. it may make landfall in hainan by friday morning local time by friday as a strong typhoon and then reach northern vietnam by

saturday night local time. and lots of rain is on the cards for you for southern china and northern vietnam and also the western parts of the philippines where we see lots of rainfall. now, in the americas, record low temperatures were set in many places in the eastern parts of the u.s. for example, in kansas city, missouri, your low on wednesday was only 13 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 14 degrees. meanwhile, quite hot conditions are persisting in the west. so in between, severe weather is happening in and around the central rockies and central plains. there's a possibility of large hail, damaging winds, and even some isolated tornados in this place. and heavy rainfall of up to 100 millimeters of rain is likely. that's more than the monthly rainfall for many places.

flash flood is going to be a very high risk across the northeastern parts of the u.s. as well. by thursday temperatures will be looking up, conditions will be looking up, so sunny conditions will come back in new york city as well as washington, d.c. cooler than average, in oklahoma city 22 for the high thursday. that could be the lowest temperatures for the day and across the west, still on the hot side, 37 in boise. 26 in seattle. here's the extended forecast.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline." thank you so much for joining us.

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today's ""asian voices"" comes to you from tokyo. our guest this time is japanese-american actor, george takei. now 77, he is still at the top of his game as a performer. takei rose to stardom in the '60s as the helmsman, mr. sulu, on the popular tv series, "star trek." during w