glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's wednesday july 1st. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. people in greece are facing an uncertain future. officials at the international monetary fund say the country has missed the deadline for a debt repayment. it joins somalia, sudan and zimbabwe in a list of countries in arrears to the imf. greece failed to repay a debt of 1.5 billion euros by the deadline of midnight on tuesday. managing director crist even lagarde will soon report to the

imf's board of directors that the poverty-stricken country is officially in default. greece is the first developed nation to be classified as in arrears by the imf. credit rating companies say they won't treat the case as a default that causes losses for private investors. greece also owes 184 billion euros or over $200 billion to the european union. attention is focused on how the eu will handle that debt. greece will hold a national referendum on sunday on austerity measures demanded by the iu. prime minister alexis tsipras made a last-ditch effort to win support from creditors. he sent a new proposal hours before the deadline and asked for another extension on the current bailout program and two-year funding and debt restructuring program. the ministers discussed the proposal tuesday night but they

denied him the 11th hour extension. >> it runs out in a couple of hours. but politically the situation hasn't changed. there's no new ground to go back to that. >> the ministers will further discuss how to deal with the matter. the deadline for greece's repayment to the imf has come and gone. to see how investors are reacting we're joined by ai uchida. >> european markets actually seem like business is usual. on wall street investors seem to have shrugged off concerns surrounding greece's default. the dow jones industrial average did manage to finish in positive by just 0.1% while the tech-heavy nasdaq finished up more than 0.5% higher. this was after that initial shock yesterday that greece may default. even germany slammed the door on appeals. it didn't seem to have too much

of an impact because investors have been bracing for this moment for quite some time now. tokyo is no exception. the benchmark nikkei snapped a three-day losing streak yesterday. to see how markets are reacting today, let's go to ramin mellegard. what is happening? >> thank you, very much. very good morning to you, ai. let's actually go to the opening levels for july 1st, and both indexes here trading in the positive. pretty much carrying on from what you just mentioned about the u.s. markets. the drama, of course continues to surround greece and all the players involved. traders and investors actually seem a little bit less concerned as we can evaluate from activity in equities and they pretty much leveled off following that initial kneejerk reaction we saw monday. european indices did end lower, but also looking at the bond markets across eurozone portuguese bonds, investors bought those assets.

an interesting development here. >> it looks like the euro's holding steady. where is it trading? >> the euro actually has been pretty resilient holding steady looking at the euro/dollar right now. the single currency is actually stronger against the yen and the dollar. analysts pointing out that the price action in currency bond and stock markets shows an overall lack of concern but also shows that many are quite happy to just digest the quarter end or half-year end of the year with the direction of u.s. interest rates actually one of the most highly anticipated events in the global markets. meanwhile, china stocks continue to attract attention of global investors. yet again we saw a highly volatile session of the shanghai composite with wild swings. it was down more than 5% at one point yesterday. and then ending up 5 1/2%. so quite a lot of focus on the shanghai composite. now back here in japan, sumitomo

mitsui banking corporation has also agreed to buy a private equity finance unit of general electric really to boost its exposure to overseas business. a lot of japanese financial institutions are chasing after opportunities to increase their falling profit margins here domestically. now, another big focus is of course, the latest quarterly business sentiments survey for manufacturers and nonmanufacturers both big and small. i know you're going to have a lot more details on that in a second but i'll have another wrap-up to see how the nikkei and the topix trade throughout the morning session. for now both indexes are in the positive. we're following on from the positive session that we saw generally in the u.s. ai, back to you. >> thanks a lot for that update. we'll check in with you in a few hours' time. first, for more insight into the greek situation we're joined in the studio by project

professor at the university of tokyo's graduate school of public policy and an expert on global finance and the economy. thank you for your time today, professor. >> sure. >> now, the fact that greeks missed the imf deadline that may not be coming in as much of a surprise but there was no agreement between the eu and greece that may be a little unexpected. how should we interpret this current situation? >> we thought greece and the eu would come up with some sort of agreement, but at the end of the day, greece decided that it should go back to the people and should ask for the people's willingness. essentially the greek position is that greece has been suffer ing over the past several years

since 2010 by outputting so-called austerity fiscal measures by cutting mentions and increase ing increasing taxes and so forth. the economic situation has not been so good. the economy, after all, has sh rung -- shrunken by about 25%. the rate of unemployment is very high. and the debt is very large. it's about 170% of gdp. so greece thought that it would not be able to continue the kind of austerity measures that it has been pursuing. but on the other hand the eu wants to make sure that greece would pursue its own fiscal reform so that the eu can provide additional financing.

so the two sides did not quite come to an agreement. >> professor, we have been talking about the greek debt crisis for years. how did it become such a big problem? >> well a debt problem arises because of the continuation of fiscal deficits. and a fiscal deficit comes from the revenues and excessive spending. so tax revenues had not been enough but spending had been very large. in particular spending on pensions. and germans and many other europeans think that greece is paying too much money for pensions. so the eu wants greece to focus on, you know how to restore

fiscal balance by cutting spending in particular on pensions and increasing taxes. >> and what kind of a market reaction can we expect here in asia particularly keeping in mind stronger yen against euro chinese stocks falling? >> right. obviously, this lack of consensus agreement is a disappointment, so surprises in asia have been down and flight of money away from the eurozone and asia have been taking place and japan and other asian economies continue to be affected. >> i see. what are the events then that will or will not unfurl? what are you expecting going forward? >> we have to see the next few

days, there's goging to be a national referendum and greek people will have to decide whether they the austerity measures or reject. and then alexis tsipras or a new prime minister may come in and start negotiating with the eu. if people say no and reject the eu demand for austerity measures, then we don't know what's going to happen because greece is not going to have money to run the economy. the banking sector is really in bad shape, the government has to

pay pensions and other government service ss and there's no money on the part of greece. so eventually greece may be forced to get out of the euro eurozone, adopt new currency and generate inflation, but we know that it's not going to be a very good solution for greece. >> rocky times ahead. i'm sorry, we have to wrap it up there. but thank you so much for your insight. we'll just have to see what happens this weekend. big events coming up. professor, thank you for your time. >> thank you. i want to quickly turn to japan where bank of japan officials have released important data on business sentiment. the bank's quarterly tankan survey says the mood at major manufacturers has improved for the first time in three quarters. the survey covers sentiment at more than 11,000 firl. major manufacturers is three points up from the previous

survey released in april at plus 15. at the same time confidence at major nonmanufacturers also improved. the index was at plus 23 which is up 4 points from before. the index said that business respondents who say the economy is good versus those who say it is not. we like to turn your attention to the united states and cuba now. the leaders of the two countries have formally agreed to normalize diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies. ties were severed more than 50 years ago. a senior u.s. government official told nhk on tuesday that president barack obama and secretary of state john kerry will announce the agreement on wednesday. america broke off ties with cuba in 1961 two years after the cuban revolution. it adopted containment policies toward havana including economic sanctions. obama announced in december that washington would start normalization talks with havana reversing the previous u.s.

policy. in april, obama and cuban president raul castro held the first summit meeting between the two country' top leaders since ties terminated. in may the u.s. removed cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. in morocco, abortion is illegal and highly stigmatized, but single mothers and their children face a number of difficulties. now some people are taking on a deeply rooted taboo and calling for abortion to be legalized. nhk world explains. >> reporter: morocco's population is almost entirely muslim and relationships between unmarried men and women are frowned on. but now, thanks to cell phones and social media sites, it's easier for people to meet and more young people can conduct relationships in secret without their parents finding out. this has led to a growing number of pregnancies outside of

marriage. however, abortion is illegal in morocco. in keeping with the teachings of islam. >> translator: abortion is a horrible word. it's nothing other than killing an innocent fetus that's unable to defend itself. >> reporter: in this facility abandoned children are living. and there's a case that a newborn baby was left in front of this facility. this orphanage is home to about a hundred children between the ages of 3 and 15. recently a growing number of children are being left there. the reasons for this is the strong stigma against single mothers in moroccan society. this facility provides support for women who have been rejected by their families after becoming

pregnant outside of marriage. >> translator: i haven't seen my family since i gave birth. it's been a year and three months. >> reporter: because they are unable to support themselves financially, some women end up homeless. >> translator: single mothers are considered unacceptable in our society and under islamic teachings the children are also stigmatized as illegitimate. >> reporter: many women search out illegal abortion clinics. often this results in physical damage and emotional scarring. one woman is confronting this issue head-on. s should the founder of an ngo that campaigns for abortion to be legalized. to achieve that goal she

organizes frequent study groups and discussions. in a local television debate she gave a rousing speech calling for the legalization of abortion. >> translator: it's not right to force your religious values on other people. this is a matter of personal choice. >> reporter: but opponents are equally intense in their views. >> translator: infringing on the baby's right to life is impermissible. >> reporter: in may morocco's king muhammad ordered parliament to loosen the law to allow abortion in cases of rape or incest. for her, this is not enough but she understands the sensibilities of this deeply conservative society. >> translator: we are breaking many taboos and touching on subjects that are very sensitive in morocco.

for us just opening the subject for discussion is a victory. >> reporter: while the taboos remain in place, the first steps are being taken to consider the widespread issue of unwanted pregnancies. reporting for nhk world from rabbat. police in japan say a man who set himself on fire aboard a moving bullet train has died. they say another passenger was killed and 20 others were injured. they're investigating the incident as a case of possible arson. nhk world reports. >> reporter: the bullet train bound for the western city of osaka made an emergency stop in odawara city west of tokyo due to a reported fire at around 11:30 a.m. local time. both of the dead were found in the front car.

witnesses said a manpowered a flammable liquid from a plastic container on to himself and set fire with a lighter. about 800 passengers were on board. they were told to stay inside the car until the preliminary police investigation was over. with no electricity or air conditioning. it took more than two hours before the train resumed service. >> translator: soon after i heard that someone poured an oil-like liquid i started moving back. everyone in the first car moved to the second or third car. i didn't see any fire. the smell was awful, like some kind of gasoline. >> translator: i saw a child who looked covered with smoke. he escaped from the second car. he said that someone poured oil over his head and set himself on

fire using a lighter. >> reporter: police found a copy of a driver's license on the dead man showing the identity of a 31-year-old. one female witness has told police the man was wandering about the train saying illogical things just before he set himself on fire. shinkansen bullet trains started service in 1964. it is the fastest train system operating in japan. it's also known for its safety record. kei tamura, nhk world. whiskey has been a popular drink in japan for decades, but its core customers are in their 50s and 60s. beveragemakers are trying to change the image of what was considered an old man's drink. nhk world takes a look.

>> reporter: many young japanese turn their noses up at whiskey. >> translator: it doesn't taste so good. >> translator: i don't drink it straight up. it's too strong. >> reporter: brandy managers at suntory are trying to change their minds with a new highball. whiskey is added to a glass of ice, soda water, fresh-cut grapefruit and a little syrup. the company's targets the 20 and 30-somethings. the smell of the whiskey is definitely there, but it's counter balanced by the fruity sweet aroma of the grapefruit. customers are buying it. >> translator: it's easy to drink and refreshing.

>> translator: ilic beverages. so this is just right for me. >> translator: before it was mostly older customers who ordered whiskey drinks, but now a wide range of people from different generations are drinking whiskey. >> reporter: suntory made this highball with jim beam bourbon. they bought beam the u.s. company that owned the whiskey brand, last year. suntory plans to roll out this drink in a can, first product gopped using the whiskey. it will hit stores next month priced about $1.50. >> translator: our current goal is to sell over 5 million cans by the end of the year. we hope to add more flavors and expand our whiskey business in the long run. >> reporter: they're also trying to reach tout younger drinkers.

the company is banking on a shaved ice drink mixed with the flavored whiskey with added lemon syrup. asahi breweries has opened a temporary whiskey bar in roppongi a popular nightlife area in tokyo. it sells 19 types of whiskeys for $2.50 a shot. the firm has set up tablet computers where customers can read japanese whiskey stories and the history of what they're drinking. >> translator: my understanding of whiskey has changed. >> reporter: whiskeymakers hope to lure the young back to a drink they have long shunned and perhaps even trigger a whiskey boom in the hot summer months ahead. reporting for nhk world, tokyo. well people in tokyo are also enjoying some light rain while residents in western japan are dealing with torrential

downpours. meteorologist robert speta joins us with more. >> we are seeing right now, if you take a look at the satellite picture, is actually most of the country is under the cloud cover. in tokyo this morning some light rain out there. i brought an umbrella with myself. but if you are in parts of kyushu, it is coming down quite hard. in some areas here in the past 48 hours we've seen upwards of 391 millimeters of total precipitation. this is on top of what we've already seen so far this month, specifically there in kagoshima prefecture where some cases they've seen over 1,000 millimeters of total rainfall. there is that threat of flooding here and even the chance of landslides as this continues to push overhead. this whole low itself is not just bringing those heavier showers into kyushu. if you are in tokyo through the midand latter part of wednesday, you will see heavier showers there. you want to have the umbrella by if you are commuting across much

of the city or even traveling in and out of tokyo, look for the threat of thunderstorms that could cause some delays. as far as forecasts is concerned, i would love to see high pressure is going to set in, but that's not really going to be the case here because we're going to be seeing an additional 200 millimeters in kyushu, but the band that rainy season front continues to linger. it will set up just off the pacific coastline throughout the rest of the week. not going anywhere very fast and definitely going to see well consistent light to moderate rain showers through the next several days. let's take a look at what's going on here over towards china with all the rainy season front continuing to linger there for you and that will be bringing scattered showers out here across the yangtze river basin, but where i do want to take your attention is down towards the south and the tropics because we have that monsoonal belt. but just towards the east of guam we have our ninth named tropical system of the year just

starting off julied ay ed ajuly. 72 kilometers per hour. do want to watch out because it's expected to intensify. could be a typhoon by the time it approaches guam. let's take a look at what's going on in europe. the big topic is this ridge of high pressure. it's dominating the british isles down through the iberian peninsula and it is bringing some hot weather with it. let's go to video we have. this is coming out of france here into paris where the temperatures are continuing to soar. people trying to get out there in the sprinklers trying to get in the shade. this is one way to cool off. the high temperatures this time of year have not been recorded in 60 years. high heat warnings have been put in place, many people trying to get out here and really just cool off. officials saying this heat wave is expected to continue. that high pressure ridge not going anywhere very fast. we'll see this linger back towards the west across the

british isles we have southerly winds coming in. but it's dragging all that warm air out of northwest portions of africa and that will keep the temperatures in place. three-day forecast paris, 39 on your wednesday. that doesn't take into account the humidity and the heat index. that will continue to linger for the next several days. if you are watching the match here in wimbledon wednesday's high is 32. record high for the match out here, 34 droeegrees. right near the record. if you are oton court, because of the heat coming off the asphalt. maybe some showers on thursday as well. all right. i'll leave you now with your extended outlook.

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

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