glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's wednesday, june 10th. i'm catherine kobayashi. in tokyo. iraqi government troops are struggling to push back islamic state militants. and they've stepped up their offensive to try to retake territory controlled by the extremists. wednesday marks one year since the insurgents seized the country's second largest city of mosul. the militants have since expanded the areas they control in iraq and neighboring syria. they unilaterally declared the establishment of an islamic state. iraqi forces are mounting counterattacks. they're being supported by u.s.-led air strikes. and they reportedly regained parts of the northern city of

baiji earlier this week. they're locked in a fierce battle to retake ramadi, the key city in the western province of anbar was captured by the militants last month. three members of islamic state carried out suicide bombings tuesday at a local government building in anbar killing eight people. the group claimed responsibility on the internet. they've been planting massive amounts of explosives on roads to block the entry of iraqi troops. now the militants say they're gaining momentum in libya. they say they've taken control of a power plant that delivers energy to central and western parts of the country. libyan media say the extremists attacked forces on tuesday at a power plant near the northern city of sirte. they posted a message on social media saying they now control the area. secular and religious factions have been vying for power in libya since the overthrow of moammar al gadhafi's government in 2011. the u.n. and leaders in neighboring countries are urging

the two sides to stop the fighting and form a unified government. but attempts at reconciliation have made little progress and islamic state has been able to take advantage of the political chaos. a senior chinese military official says china will host a meeting of asean defense ministers in mid-october. china and the association of southeast asian nations began holding the meetings four years ago. they're normally hosted by the asean chair country. malaysia is this year's asean chair. the official said china would propose strengthening maritime risk management holding joint drills at sea and talks to promote the freedom and safety of navigation. china continues its land reclamation work around reefs in the south china sea amid territorial disputes with some asean members including the philippines and vietnam. the united states and japan oppose the reclamation. they call it a unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force.

but china says it will protect the peace and stability of the south china sea in cooperation with asean members. nhk's reporters as china attempts to place itself in a favorable position in a framework that does not include the u.s. or japan. a japanese government official has defended proposed security legislation saying it's logically and legally consistent with the views of past governments. the opposition bloc urged the government to present its view on the consistency issue after all three experts invited to the lower house panel on constitutional affairs said the bill submitted to the diet are unconstitutional. cabinet bureau chief yusuke yokobatake sent his views to the parties. a previous administration expressed a view in 1972 that japan's use of force would be allowed only if an armed attack

took place against the country. but the current administration says in light of the changing security environment in japan an armed attack against a foreign country could threaten japan's survival. the government says three new conditions it has set governing jan an ps right to collective self-defense are more stringent than those prevailing under international law. but it says that if a foreign country came under armed attack japan could use force in limited cases to protect its people and ensure the nation's survival. it says the new security legislation is consistent with the logic of past administrations' positions and is legal. a new document shows that more than 50 self-defense personnel committed suicide after being deployed on missions to iraq and the indian ocean. defense ministry officials say they don't know if the deaths were directly linked to their overseas assignments.

nhk world has more. >> reporter: the document shows that 56 sdf personnel killed themselves while on active duty. 27 of them took their own lives after returning from a refueling mission in the indian ocean. government officials ordered the mission following the september 11th attacks in the united states. a number of sdf ships supplied fuel for vessels taking part in the u.s.-led military operation in afghanistan over a period of nine years. the report also looks at suicides among sdf personnel who served while on reconstruction mission in iraq. it says 29 members of the ground and air self-defense force took their own lives after returning home. the mission started in 2003 and lasted six years. the personnel were deployed in a southern iraqi city.

although only serving in a supporting role, they were not immune to violence. a roadside bomb exploded near an sdf convoy damaging one vehicle. and the sdf's camp came under repeated rocket attacks. officials at the defense ministry looked at the possible causes of the suicides. they found that 14 of the sdf personnel had been suffering from mental illnesses. 13 had family or financial problems. and 3 were related to official duties. the officials say they don't know if there was a direct link to the overseas deployment. members of japan's diet are currently discussing a set of government proposed national security bills that would expand the scope of sdf activities abroad. bonji ohara is a former navy captain with japan's maritime self-defense force. he says many sdf personnel

experienced higher levels of stress during and after the missions than before because the reality was tougher than expected. >> the number of the ratio shows us the treatment was not enough. so medical training must be enhanced, strengthened. and also fundamentally they need the support from family members and also the japanese people. >> reporter: defense ministry officials say they will do all they can to find out why the suicides occurred and take steps to prevent them from happening in the future. keiko yamamoto, nhk world. figures just out of the cabinet office give us a hint of how company managers view japan's economic prospects. ai uchida joins us from the business desk. you've been looking at the number numbers. what do they tell us?

>> when managers feel more confident about the economy they reinvest in their businesses upgrade more equipment. when managers aren't feeling so confident they do put off these upgrades. machinery orders in april rose for a second month in a row. the officials at the cabinet office say companies in japan placed orders worth more than 7.2 million. the figures don't include orders in the ship building and power sectors which tend to fluctuate a lot. orders from manufacturers rose 10% while those from nonmanufacturers fell 0.6%. the european union says greece has presented a new proposal to end the standoff over a possible bailout deal. an official for the european commission spoke to reporters but did not give details. >> the best proposals are being

circulated including new suggestions which were received earlier this morning. the three institutions are currently assessing this suggestion with diligence and care. >> the greek government delayed a debt payment to the international monetary fund and set a lump sum of about $1.8 billion for the month would be paid june 30th. the announcement raised concerns that athens may default on its loans. the eu has demanded that greece adopt stricter measures including cuts in pensions as a condition for additional loans. but greek prime minister has dismissed those demands calling them absurd. he's scheduled to meet german chancellor angela merkel and others on wednesday in brussels. now, let's see what's happening on markets this morning. over in the u.s. stock prices did decline. trading volume was modest as

well as investors remain focused on the prospect of higher interest rates. the dow jones ended marginally lower and the tech-heavy nasdaq falling 0.1%. we go to ramin mellegard who is at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. what are you seeing over there? >> very good morning to you. indeed, the prospect of higher interest rates in the u.s. really guiding global markets right now especially after the jobs numbers last friday which proved to be more robust than expected. so let's have a look at how the nikkei and topix. june 10th. both marginally in the negative. we did see the dollar weaken against the yen. that's another guide for a lot of investors here. analysts cite the volatility in the bond markets and currency markets as a major factor in stock losses. because investors are beginning to shift funds into u.s. assets

as they see rates heading higher and thus higher returns. now, all the focus will be on the u.s. retail sales data due out on thursday and if the may report does prove to be stronger than expected then it just adds more argument for a lot of analysts for higher rates perhaps this year in the u.s. so that's going to be a big focus. >> as we wait for the retail sales figure, we're seeing the dollar steady for now. bond yields though they're going higher. how is that affecting currencies? >> exactly. having a look at some of the levels, actually the dollar's in a bit of a tight range against the yen, 124.34. and definitely off those highs we saw at the end of last week. but looking at the bond yields. let's bring those up. u.s. ten-year treasury note touching the highest in eight months. also its equivalent in germany, the ten-year bond yields also higher. so that's a big factor for a lot

of investors looking at returns on bonds as well as volatility in currencies and how that affects their valleyation of stocks. now, speaking of stock evaluations, we got a look at the shanghai composite. it fell just a touch tuesday, but it's been on a tear or moving higher recently gaining significantly, china related issues continued to be a focus today. that followed morgan stanley international decision to delay including chinese "a" shares in its market this year. the inclusion is expected to attract billions of foreign investment money going into "a" shares. it's important to note that hong kong shares of china also known as "h" shares are actually they have a sizable presence already on the msci index. a big focus on what's developing there as well. back to you, ai. >> thanks a lot. we'll check in with you in a few

hours time. the people who run some life insurance companies in japan are feeling the effects of the country's lingering low interest rate. they've been forced to rethink their portfolios and are looking at investments that have higher returns but may come with a higher risk. >> reporter: this distribution center is in a tokyo suburb. more than 10 million cds and dvds are stored here to be shipped across the country. the facility is owned by one of major japanese insurance company's nippon life insurance. the firm's executives are betting that online sales of dvds will expand. the company leases the facility to a logistics company. >> translator: how's the occupancy rate? >> translator: by september, all the vacant spaces will be filled so we'll be operating at full capacity.

>> reporter: losing tenants is always a risk but the insurance company expects stable revenues. >> translator: this logistics facility plays an important part in our plans. we'll be going more deeply into this area. >> reporter: the insurance company is also expanding its investments overseas. the firm's president recently paid a visit to an affiliated company in singapore. he emphasized his intention to facilitate investment in road construction and other infrastructure projects that can benefit from economic growth in asia. >> translator: we expect you to lead the way in expanding our overseas and asset management business. >> reporter: the firm plans to invest up to $8 billion in those sectors in the next three years.

>> translator: we guarantee a certain level of yield to our policy holders in this era of superlow interest rates. we want to manage our funds to at least match that guarantee. >> reporter: life insurance is big business. about 80% of japanese people are said to have a policy. and that's made insurers find new ways to secure the future for themselves and their clients. more for you in business next hour. here's a check on markets.

japanese food manufacturers are looking at innovative ways to ensure the safety of their products. they're responding to a series of consumer complaints in which foreign objects have been found in food. one company has resumed sales of instant noodles after the popular brand was taken off shelves. >> translator: this is my favorite. i waited a very long time for this day. >> they stopped sells its noodles after a consumer found an insect in the product. they will do all they can to ensure food safety. technologies designed to detect foreign objects inside food products are drawing attention at the international food machinery and technology

exhibition. this equipment will automatically remove a product from the production line if it detects a foreign object. another machine has x-ray images and multiple censors that allow a scan to quickly detect unwanted materials. >> translator: our new system can detect a foreign object in the earliest stages of production. >> some workers have brought foreign objects into the workplace. to prevent this, an electronic i.d. is embedded in the arm of this uniform. if the worker is cleared for security, the door will open. >> it's important how we can prevent workers from bringing a foreign object into the production line. this system obliges them to enter work rooms empty handed. >> about 680 companies are taking part in the four-day exhibition. anti-whaling group sea shepherd has agreed to pay damages to japanese whalers for

violating aus court injunction and continuing to interfere with their research whaling in the antarctic ocean. the plaintiffs including the japanese institute of cetacean research founded a lawsuit in 2011 with the u.s. federal district court. they tried to stop the group from interfering with whaling operations. in december the u.s. court of appeals in san francisco said sea shepherd violated a provisional injunction banning the group from impedeing japanese whalers. it ordered the group to pay damages. the u.s. supreme court on monday dismissed sea shepherd's appeal. the group gaeed to pay $2.55 million to the plaintiffs but litigation continues at the federal district court over sea shepherd's harassment with the 2011 lawsuit pending. a panel of international scientists has recognized the top ten most fascinating plants and animals recently discovered. it added a japanese creature to

their list that's been at the heart of the mystery of the deep. >> reporter: on the sea bed of southwest japan is a strange sight. it looks like a work of art. the artist that created this two-meter-wide design is a small puffer fish. last month researchers from around the world selected it as one of their top ten new species of 2015. this underwater photographer discovered this new species. he's taken photographs in waters all over the world. he first came across the geometric designs 20 years ago off the coast of omami. he had never seen them before. >> translator: i was startled. i wondered what a design like that would be doing there.

>> reporter: the years passed. okata saw the same pattern many times. he and his colleagues used to speculate about how they were made. >> translator: local divers and i started calling it the mystery circle. >> reporter: then four years ago okata saw something unexpected while photographing a circle. a small puffer fish appeared. it started digging a groove. wiggling its body it dug a groove in the sand. moving up and back again, it steadily deepened the groove. then it moved to the central area, it raked the sand using its fins like a broom. in the space of a week the tiny fish had created a beautiful design two meters wide. in human terms, that's the equivalent of 30 meters across.

males of this species create the circles as spawning nests. the ridges are thought to protect the eggs from water currents. it's extremely rare for fish to create such complex designs for this purpose. last year okata and japanese researchers announced the new species naming it the white spotted puffer fish. global fame followed last month when the fish won a top ten ranking from the international institute for species exploration. the u.s.-based group uses the list to promote awareness of biodiversity. >> translator: i didn't know it was a new species. i'm proud it was selected as one of the top ten in the world. >> reporter: the institute lists about 2 million known species around the globe. it estimates about 10 million more have yet to be discovered.

>> translator: each year 18,000 new species are discovered. anyone could find one, but if no action is taken when something unusual is discovered it will go unrecognized. i think interest and curiosity are very important. >> reporter: scientists now know what the patterns are for, but they haven't yet discovered why they're so large and beautiful. perhaps it's a case of males trying to impress females. that's something any species can relate to. just some fascinating stuff there. well, it is time for a check of the weather. it is the height of the tornado season in the u.s. many people are dealing with severe weather. mai shoji joins us with the latest. >> yes, if you can recall for the past week we have been seeing lots of tornadoes spawning, and, fortunately, we're not looking at a lot of tornado activities today. however, it's still the peak of the tornado season.

you can clearly see from this bar graph that may and june are the height of the tornado averages in the year. so we actually have one picture coming up from the central location today to show you an incredible image coming up from colorado, just surfaced on the internet. this twister hit the oklahoma town last thursday. it picked up a lot of dirt but no structural damage was reported fortunately. the unique thing about this tornado though is its spin. it's rotating clockwise or anti-cyclonic, so this is very rare and typically only happens once a year. it is often the result of a large thunderstorm that splits leaving one rotating clockwise and the other the counter, thus giving us this very unique view. so i did want to share this with you, even if it was last thursday. as for today we are not looking at a lot of tornadoes, as i mentioned, but this system is still creating severe weather across the eastern locations and pulling down this cold front.

so the tail end of the system has been bringing us some live thunderstorms reported in the deep south and gulf coast. back behind that high pressure system to dry and calm weather out here but another system is pulling in. and this cold front is quite active. so showers, sudden burst of showers and thunderstorms are capable of popping up on the central plains into your wednesday and thursday. as you can see we are looking at some precipitation, some of it very much welcoming in california, but that's going to be associated with some thunderstorms. it's actually the remnant low pressure system of the tropical storm that hit baja, california, and that's creating this image. so we're likely to see about up to 45 millimeters of rainfall. towards the north of this, we were looking at some heat advisories in place, medford, oregon, you saw 40 degrees, record-breaking temperatures on monday. that's going to cool down and looking at bismarck at 23 degrees that's down from the 30s on your tuesday. out here across eastern continental asia we are still

talking about the stationary boundary living up to its name. it will be lingering here for quite some time. today not so much compared to yesterday, about 60 to 75 millimeters of rainfall, but that's enough to cause more severe flooding concerns and on top of that, into tomorrow, it's -- you're likely to see about 130 millimeters on top of that. so it's not really going anywhere, and it is also impacting southern kyushu, up to 150 millimeters of additional rainfall could certainly be enough to trigger flooding out here. but the rest of the country is looking at some high pressure system predominant and the temperatures will be reaching into the high 20s, 28 degrees, it's going to be a lovely day for you to do your laundry, a break from that rainy season here in tokyo. seoul reaching up to 32 degrees, and a lot of thunderstorms will be flaring up in and around beijing. out here across the arabian sea we are looking at this cyclonic

storm. not so much impact on the western areas of india, but it will actually bring about 300 millimeters of rainfall in a month. we usually only see about 13 millimeters for the average monthly rainfall so that's enough to create some devastation, so we'll keep you very much updated. it will downgrade into a tropical depression before making contact on land masses. that's the good news. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast.

and that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us.

help those worse off in far-away countries actually become part of the problem? that's just one of the questions

we'll be exploring on today's programme. here's what we have coming up -- slum tours, is it all right to make money with trips into urban ghettos? shifting hardware, we look at how dubai has become a hub for global aid. and how taking local fisherman on board could help biodiversity in mexico.