hello there, welcome to "newsline." it's friday, august i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. united nations secretary-general ban ki and u.s. sre kerry have announced a cease-fire in the gaza strip. israeli forces and fighters the islamic militant group, hamas, have been trading fire for three weeks. but ban and kerry released a parties had agreed to an unconditional, humanitarian truce. under the deal, the forces wou stop fighting for 72 hours, starting at 8 a.m. local friday. those on the ground will rem in place, but ban and kerry them to act with restraint u the cease-fire begins. they say it is critical to giving innocent civilians a much-n

violence. represents from israel and the palestinians are expected to to cairo for talks with egyp government officials about how to pro-long the cease-fire. israeli forces launched thei offensive july 8th, respondi to increased rocket attacks inside gaza. health officials from the territory say more than 1400 palestinians have been kille more than two-thirds of them civilians. leaders in sierra leone ha quarantined areas where the ebola virus has been found.

local firefighters believe gas explosions. residents in the area say it shook like an earthq. media quote a witness that firefighters were at th site before th because of the the expl overturned and witnes at the s explosio they were resp people had s leaders in sierra leone quarantined ar ebola viru reside first saw signs of t in march, tori offici organization say 7 been directly or associated with owe beale la 233 people in sierra leone h died from the virus. the president said his count is in a great fight. he announced a series of emergency measures tha expect government officials will se off areas where the disease been identified, restrict publ meetin screen people for signs of the

virus. an internation investigators has finally reached the crash site of >> about 50 more will head there with. the virus is spled through bodily fluids and cdc officials have warned their staff to avoid coming into contact with patients' sweat and blood.

france and germany have warned n nonseshlt . an international team of inve reached the crash si malaysia airlines mh17 in eastern ukraine. they could not access the si previously due to nearby between ukrainian for and separatists. officials from the organizat europe are accompanying the investigators to the area. they arrived on thursday, tw weeks after the plane was shot down. the osce officials posted on twitter. they said four experts from netherlands and australia reached the crash site via a route. the experts arrived at the s after the ukrainian governme unilaterally declared a 24-hou truce. ukrainian government officia said on thursday that pro-russian separatists repeatedly shelled areas aro the area.

because the truce is for a limited time, it's unclear whether the experts can cond a full investigation. russia has dismissed as unfounded u.s. accusations t it violated a nuclear missil treaty. moscow added it has its own complaints against the u.s. regard to the treaty. a u.s. government official issued a statement on monday sayingol intermediate r forces treaty. russia's foreign ministry on wednesday said the allegatio are completely baseless. the ministry noted a planned u.s. defense system in easte europe capable of launching midrange missiles is banned under the treaty. the treaty was signed by the soviet union and the united states in 1987. it was designed to eliminate ground-launched cruise missi with a range of 500 to 5,500

kilometers. it bans their possession, production and testing. the place amid a between russia a states o ukraine crisis. >> at least 25 people have died in boat accidents. a ferry sank on tuesday in a river. 70 passengers were on board. local media said some swam to shore, but 18 people died. police officers suspect a crew overloaded the vessel with . in north sumatra on wednesday, a river ferry carrying 48 people went d 7 died and 13 are missing. over-crowded busses and ferries during the holidays has led

the workers and local people dug through swirling mud, rocks and the debris of shattered homes in the village of ambigowen. the landslide hit a village ea reuters says 46 people were >> in our house, there were 8 people of which 2 surviv. but the other six are buried in the mud. >> we cannot rule out >> a flood killed at least four pe. in june last year, hit by the heaviest rainfall on r 900 people died.

and more than 5,700 went missin it was the first type for the philippines since may, 201 the move is aimed at choking off inflat the consumer price index for june was up 4.4% from a year ago. the philippines has been seeing

an inflow of money by the u.s. federal the spill over is heightening securities about a surge of real estate prices. >> the decision is a preemptive response to signs of inflation pressures and elevated inflation expectatio. >> market sources say investors have been moving money into real estate markets in southeast asia ever since the u.s. loosened its monetary polic they say if local food prices continue to rise, the philippine central bank will be under pressure to take more drastic well, argentina government officise missed a deadline to pay int eye >> catherine, they're saying that the and that they are blaming the u.s. for a legal fight that forced them to miss the debt

but the people at ratings firms officials were trying to negotiate a deal to bond creditor but hedge funds insisted they'd be paid first. negotiators were trying to reach a compromise until the last money , but t. investors are worrying it could make it harder overseas. argentina's benchmark maribel index shed 8.4%.

the dough jones industrial average suffered its worst day since early february and was down for t. let's see how tokyo markets are reacting. definitely, the spread to tokyo is off. let's have a look at it on this first trading day of august. you can see this down 0.64%. it was down over a hundred points now, after having been up a hundred points on thursday, the nikkei wiped out those gains yesterday and we're seeing the negativity, as w now, some earnings reports from banks and consumer electronics came in less than consensus expectedatio. for the month of july, the .ikkei did rise more than now, some more positive news, pan sonic and sony were among

some of the companies which gave investors a little bit of good cheer and they both reported higher earning it was boosted in igts games console sector and network divisions out weighing some of the losses for its mobile phone . in fact, overnight, investors bought sony shares in the u.s. known as receipts which actually rose over 5%. i'll keep track of how sony is trading today. however, it did see its profits growing 11 pnts by expanding its overseas operations. this week, investors have and still have a lot of data to take in about the u.s. economy. where is the dollar trading against the w. >> let's have a look at the dollar yen.

102.76-79. market players seem to be more convinced the u.s. interest rates may rise earlier after data that came out on thursday pointed to strong wage growt however, investors will be holding onto verify that t the euro is very weak dwens the dollar. it's 137.69-54. releasing data to the manufacturing sector and, of course, we'll keep an eye on earnings-related news here ipa also, the likes of sharp. but a negative start here for the nikkei down over a hundred . back to you. >> all right, rami, thanks a lot for that u economists at the international monetary fund have taken a close look at the situation in japan and they've backed a view held

by some that the government needs to keep lifting the consumption ta prime minister abe needs to carry through with a plan to raise the tax next year from 8-10%. the economists released their annual assessm they say the government is on the right track to fiscal cons but needs to go further. they say it should consider raising the tax gradually t japanese officials lifted the tax in april from 5-8%. still, the people at the imf are forecasting 2 economy will grow this yea. they say japan will struggle. the economists also recommend that japan push ahead with a range of growth stra. they say it needs to get more women and foreigne. more headlines for you in bu

here's another check on mark

japan's cabinet decided ju interpretati constitution to nation to exercise its right t collective s the decision heightened tensions over nor korea's missile laun china's stepped up maritime activi today, we take a look at jap defe >> reporter: japanese offici worry about a number of thin as they look out aro. north korean missile launche china's mariti last november, china declare air identification zone over east china sea. it includes the senkaku isla in okinawa prefecture, which japan controls and both chin and taiwan claim. >> translator: the new zone is designed to protect china's sovereignty and the safety o

its territory and airspace. >> reporter: china says airc in the area have to obey instructions from the chines defense ministry and the cou may use force against aircra that fail to comply. this has put the japanese government on high alert. in may, a chinese warplane fw dangerously close to two japanese self-defense force aircraft near the median lin between the two countries. similar incidents occurred i june as well. amid the tension, prime mini shinzo abe visited australia a met with his counterpart, to abbott, in july. they signed a pact to jointly develop defense equipment. the two nations plan to hold joint defense drills with th

prefecture to strength defen ties. japan's maritime self-defens force also took part in a jo drill between the nave advic the united states and india july. it was the first time in fiv years that japan has taken p defense minister odonera boa a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. he is the first japanese cabin minister to japan is tryin ties with >> the defen us in the studio. our political commentato about japan's national defense policy and where it is heade >> thank you very much today joining us. you went on board an aircraf carrier and watched the operation. that is an unusual thing to for the japanese defense minister. what was behind it >> translator: it was possib

for a defense minister to vi an american aircraft carrier while it was taking part in exercises, because of the alliance because of japan an the u.s. this alliance is a long-standi one it is important to strengthen it in the wage of stability of east asia. >> reporter: india took partn the drills as well as the japa and u.s. and you are plannin exercises with australia. some say japan is trying to constrain china. what is the goal behind thes multilevel exercises? >> translator: we are conduc these -- we are not conducti these he exercises to constr any country.

they are used for transporti oil and other supplies. military exercises with countries that have close ti with us are important for protecting irrigation >> does japan ne p in multicultur as those that only involve j and the u.s.? >> translator: yes. for instance, consider international exercises know rim pack. they are hosted by the unite states. rim pack are exercises that reduce the risk of an uninte conflict. they play an important role maintaining a peaceful environment. i believe we need to have lo of military interaction with countries. >> reporter: how about japan relations with china? things are quite tense. how do you plan to proceed? >> translator: china is increasingly active on the maritime front. some big problems involving th philippines and vietnam are

arising in the south china s and china is affecting japan expanding its areas of activ in the east china sea. china's growing maritime activities should not be cau tensions with neighboring countries. issues involving territory a seabed resources should be resolved through

line with international rule changing the status quo usin force is not acceptable. that's the view of countries i asea i believe closely together to addres these issues with china throug dialogue. >> reporter: you mentioned a mechanism for dialogue betwe japan and china. >> translator: any unintende clash between military force sea or in the air could escalate. that's great concern. so we need hotlines between military forces at the level personnel in the field and a the level of top commanders. the first abe administration agreed with china's then-president, hu jintao, t establish that kind of mechasm for maritime communications, unfortunately, our discussio stopped two years ago. we will keep urging china to work on this. >> reporter: what are the prospects? >> translator: i believe the

chinese have the same intent that we do, unfortunatel say japan and china have problems involving the senka islands. i don't think this single is should stand in the wa efforts to establish a hotli. a co ta so we will keep letting the chinese >> reporter: t much. it's time now for a check the robert speta. good morning. you have been tracking a storm in southern japan. what's happening with ? >> yes, catherine. we have been seeing out here this storm pushing over the southern japanese islands an actually, right now the cent of circulation very close to okinawa, what we have been seeing is that wind field extending out well to the ea and toward the west, we also have been seeing winds as hi as 120 kilometers per hour o here to kagoshima and heavy rainfalls across much of area.

i want to first show you a landslide out of miyazaki prefecture here on thursday evening where upwards of 267 millimeters of rain fell and damaged several homes out he you see that slide pushed through. no injuries were reported in this. also in okinawa, thursday evening, seeing the precipitation come down. thursday meaning, saw 100-kilometer winds come thr the front part of the system. the s continue to track off toward north. it is very calm in the cente but those winds extend out f it, so, that's going to slow push off the backside of it throughout midday hours, if you're in the southern japan islands, it is going to out here. looking at winds gusting upwards, 120, 120 kilometers p hour. heavy rainfalls, as much as 20 to 250 millimeters could fal down here and also, the high waves. you want to stay away from t immediate coastal areas that i pushes through. eventually going into the weekend, also heavy showers across parts of kyushu, a fl threat here and south korea into shanghai, this has a bi reach on it shanghai could e

as much as 100 millimeters o precipitation. definitely something we ar going to watch through the n several days and meanwhile, have here, on wednesday that impa moving off there toward the west. by next week, this could have typhoon. this is some to watch closely looking ahe into the forecast. meanwhil mainland japan, toward crete has been hot. the threat of afternoon thunderstorms is going to be there really, you do want to stay cool and try to avoid h stroke because temperatures climbing. actually, in western portions honshu, records for july out here, nearly 37 degrees ther for you, kyoto saw 37.3. even sapporo, city known for cooler weather, it feels like the middle of summer out the definitely. still, afternoon thunderstor are going to surge across th area, combined with that humidity coming in from knoc

down towards the south, temperatures, they will be h and definitely very muggy he on your friday and even over toward saturday, if you're not dealing with that precipitat meanwhile, the americas, wel thunderstorm watches still i affect out here, flash flood watches into the carolinas, have a low pressure area pushi through here. also, severe thunderstorm th in ontario and over toward quebec, the cutoff low just spinning in place up there, been producing some severe weather, even over toward ne england. you're going to see this pus through and off there toward east on the saturday. so if you have travel plans in

the washington, d.c., new yo some of those storms are goi there as well. shou the west, winnip high. passing showers in at chicag but nothing too severe. meanwhile, 33 for your high on your frida here's the extended outlook. >> and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobyoshi in tokyo. thanks for j

shock and disbelief, but malaysian airlines was in trouble long before double tragedy struck. south korea is courting its biggest trading partner, but some think that china embraces too tight. hello, you're watching "asia biz forecast." i'm yuko fukushima. management gurus like to talk about crisis management, but who could even conceive that the tragic hand it dealt to executives at malaysian airlines. the carrier has lost two planes in the space of four months. the disappearance of flight mh370 and a suspected missile strike over ukraine that brought down mh17. malaysian airlines is the