welcome to nhk "newsline." it is thursday, july 7th, 9:00 a.m. along awaited report into britain's decision to join the iraq war in 2003 has delivered a scathing verdict. the independent inquiry has found that former prime minister tony blair did not accurately represent the threat. and it says he didn't give the risks and consequences enough consideration. the inquiry was launched by the british government and took seven years to complete. its chairman said wednesday the intervention went badly wrong. we have concluded the uk chose

to join the invasion of iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been and military action was not a last resort. >> the report denies there was a realistic threat from iraqi weapons and mass destruction. that was the main reason given for invading iraq. if sanctions against saddam hussein's regime remained effective, iraq could not have developed nuclear weapons and would have taken the country several years to develop and deploy long range missiles. the report also says blair's government believed the saddam regime was continuing efforts to produce chemical and biological weapons. but the intelligence on the potential threats was not established beyond doubt. it also points out that blair wrote to then u.s. president george w. bush saying i will be with you whatever. and it claims this shows the two leaders had agreed to overthrow

saddam before the start of the war. blair said wednesday he accepts full responsibility for his actions. >> the decision to go to war in iraq and to remove saddam hussein from power in a coalition with over 40 countries led by the united states of america was the hardest most agonizing decision i took in my ten years as british prime minister. >> blair said he disagrees with the criticism that removing saddam triggered the current terrorism creating chaos in the middle east. he says saddam himself was a source of terror and continuing threat to peace and to his own people. he claims the world was and is a better place without him. the u.s. is putting more pressure on north korea. it's imposing sanctions against leader kim jong-un for the first time. ten other regime officials are also being black listed over the country's human rights record.

>> human rights abuses in the dprk among the worst in the world. the government continues to conduct killings and forced disappearances and forced labor and torture. >> kirby hinted a plan to add nor north korean individuals to the list and said the u.s. will continue to identify more people in entities in future reports. north korea has already subject to heavy u.s. sanctions for its testing of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. >> government forces in syria have declared a unilateral three-day cease fire starting wednesday for the whole country but fighting continues. the truce coincides with the start of the islamic festival to mark the end of the islamic holy month of ramadan. the anti-government free syrian army accepted the truce. the group is backed by western nations. but another anti-government group reportedly attacked a town

outside damascus after the cease fire announcement and the britain based monitoring group syrian observatory for human rights says artillery attacks continue between the syrian army and anti-government rebel group outside aleppo. they had agreed on a ceasefire in february but fighting flaired again and it seems unlikely peace talks will restart any time soon. >> britain's vote to leave the european union came as a shock to many investors and worried it could result in a drop in prices. so much uncertainty out there. >> with the impending british exit, people don't know what's going to happen to things they own in the united kingdom, for example stocks and property prices and regarding the latter, uk real estate prices have been rising as funds flowed in helped

by the easy monday policy of central banks around the world. now many are pulling their money out and that led six investment firms to freeze assets totally more than $19 billion. that's about 60% of the real estate fund market. mng investment said it halted withdraws from its fund on tuesday. officials say more and more investors are asking for their money back. the five other asset management companies had frozen their assets by wednesday. analysts warn the uk property prices could nose dive, a company by surge by nonconforming bank loans if more real estate funds are put on hold. a newly released document shows that policy makers at the u.s. federal reserve board decided against raising the key interest rate last month, citing u.s. jobs and british referendum on eu membership. the fed released on wednesday the minutes of the federal open market committee meeting held on june 14th and 15th.

the document says almost all of the participants judged that a surprisingly weak employment report for may increased their uncertainty about the outlook for the labor market. the policy makers also mentioned the british referendum which hadn't been held yet. thy warned it could trigger turbulence in the financial markets hurting u.s. economic performance. many financial market players are expecting that the instability in the aftermath of the vote will make the u.s. central bank cautious about a rate hike. >> global markets remain jiterring as they feed declines in the british pound and banking shares across europe. major european stock markets ended lower and wall street did manage to fight off the bears and ended higher on positive u.s. data and dow jones closed by three quarters percent.

let's go to the tokyo stock exchange. good morning, ramin, tell us what you're seeing at the open. >> almost two weeks after the brexit vote and that's really still overshadowing market sentiments despite the gains we saw in the u.s. but really the pound sterling again getting hit and there's continues concerns over the banching sector and china's currency. i'll come to all of that in a second. let's look how the nikkei and topix are kicking off. nikkei down a third of a percent, 15,329 and the nikkei fell to its lowest level in more than a week on wednesday. investors piling back into the yen on a risk off mode, still minutes from the fed's june meeting showing a split among policy makers about the health of the u.s. economy and the pace or indeed the time line of the next rate hike. still a possible fallout from

faltering debt obligations by italian banks and fears of contagion in the banking industry on the whole is gripping markets and really overshadowing markets as well in addition to the continuing brexit concerns. >> tell us about currencies because we're seeing volatility still in the dollar yen, actually wild swings there. give us an update. >> volatility still remains because of uncertainty in the markets, dollar yen, 101 spot and dollar fell to those lower 100 yen levels at one point overnight but it bounced back quite a bit after u.s. institute for supply management services sector data showed a jump to 56.5 in june hitting a seven-month high. new order surged and companies hired more people. however, some concerns are plaguing through the markets on fears of capital flight on eu jitters, chinese currency has

fallen for five straight days against the dollar dropping to the lowest level in five and a half years. if these concerns continue, they would put additional pressure on asian and china sensitive currencies as well. let's get a picture of the markets open right now. kospi is up and also trading higher by 3/4 of a percent. i'll be back in a few hours with more and key sectors and shares here in the nikkei. for now, that's all back to you. >> that's for that update. >> japanese craftsman are known for making beautiful high quality products but finding success in overseas markets has been challenging. now they are trying to change that by teaming up with distributors in europe.

here's more. >> every year the milan largest event of its kind in the world. this year's fair included products from gifu in central japan, such as ceramics and furniture. the government helped make it happen and officials have been supporting small and mid sized companies that want to do business abroad but have struggled. >> local companies make excellent products but transporting them cost a lot. brand recognition has also been a challenge. >> the solution, team up with european distribution networks. in europe, distributors have developed products from the -- then they market them to retailers.

officials wanted to find someone with ties to many distributors. they found this designer from switzerla switzerland. his clients include top brands such as louis vuitton and burberry. he saw potential in different industries and agreed to help. >> for a designer to see all of these beautiful skills in japan is an exhibition to inspiration to the project. >> the partnership is showing signs of promise. a high end furniture from the northern city of tack yam ma was the first to benefit. it had already been doing business with companies in china but it struggled to enter the european markets. >> chairs and tables came from

western culture and we want to sell our products in those markets. >> raymond thought the company skills and products would appeal to buyers in europe. he was particularly keen on a new material made from japanese cedar. the wood is one third of its original thickness. it's beautifully grained and strong. something you can only produce here in japan. to use the specific model. the company created a new table and chairs with the material using raymond's design. they showed them in milan and that led to an international marketing deal with the luxury italian brand. this helps us enhance our brand

too. we're happy to have this opportunity with a valuable partner. >> now officials want to help companies in other industries connect with distributors. so they can make -- in markets overseas. nhk world, gifu. >> that's the latest in business, i'll leave you with a check on markets.

>> we're getting details about the terror attack in dhaka from one of the hostages. a bangladeshi woman spoke to nhk about her ordeal. the attack left 23 people dead, most of them were foreigners. she was at a cafe celebrating her daughter's birthday which it was stormed by gunmen. >> they told us are you muslim? we just nodded. they told okay, don't worry if you're bangladeshi muslim we won't do harm to you. >> they told her to put her head down on a table and she heard people screaming for help as they were being killed. the attackers target the the foreign hostages within the first 30 minutes. >> they asked my husband to stand there and he was standing in front of the glass door and that -- the video you have seen the back side of my husband, he is standing in front of the

glass door. they told him to put his hand up. >> parveen says she and her daughter were gripped for fear believing they would die. the gunman ordered the bangladeshi hostages to answer cell phones and explain what was happening. police believe the attackers aim in targeting foreigners was to stoke international fears. they are examining why government officials ignored warning signs ahead of the attack. he says authorities had detected several online messages on the day of the massacre suggesting there would be an attack. but police thought embassies or major hotels would be more likely targets. islamic state group since posted a video online warning of mover attacks in bangladesh. an organize calling itself a local affiliate of the group claimed responsibility for friday's attack.

but the government hasn't found any links. officials say they will crack down onion line posting related to the group. friends and families have been mourning the victims among those killed were nine italians. on tuesday, a government plane carried them to rome. many worked in the clothing and textile industries one was a pregnant woman planning to return home. a moment of silence was observed with the victim's families. students and faculty at the u.s. university had been mourning a loss of a friend. jain was studying at the university of california berkeley. >> all of the tweets are inspiration -- took her away

from us much too soon through this act of violence. >> and forever. >> jain had gone for an internship at a bank in dhaka. muslims living in japan have prayed for the victims as they mark the end of the holy month of ramadan. about 250 people gathered on wednesday at a mosque north of tokyo. they included people from bangladesh and pakistan. some 600 bang da deshis are said to be living there. one worshipper said terrorism and murder go against the teachers of islam. he urged everyone to pray for those who were killed. >> i'm very sad that people who are working to make things better were killed.

>> as a bangladeshi living here, i felt very ashamed to learn japanese people had been killed in my homeland. >> bangladeshi students and their families gathered at the university dorm in the western prefecture and read from the koran and prayed for the victims. >> very sorry for that incident. we didn't think that could happen in bangladesh. >> the man said he does not want people to equate islam with terrorism. >> more and more businesses in japaner catering to muslim clients. it remains a tiny consumer market but there's plenty of room to grow as beauty salons near tokyo are finding out. >> reporter: she has an appointment at the beauty salon.

she's a student on a scholarship from iran. staff block the windows and usher the client inside as she's muslim, only women can be present during the beauty treatment. according to her faith, the only men allowed to see her hair are members of her family. >> i didn't know there are places like this. i've lived in japan for some time and this is always been a problem. i'm really happy now. >> reporter: the new service took shape last year. it's one of 11 beauty parlors catering to muslims. at first the idea was to target tourists from the middle east and southeast asia. but so far all customers have been muslim living in japan. previously these women had no access to hair professionals. >> translator: muslim women have to ask their friends to cut their hair. i never thought about it before. >> reporter: privacy isn't the only consideration, the salons

offer halal certified alcohol free shampoo and places for prayer. >> can i take your coat? >> reporter: the language barrier needs bridging too. staff training includes english lessons. she is from bangladesh and making her second visit and drove an hour to get here. >> now i can get the hair style i want i'm so happy to be able to use a professional service. >> services include putting down scissors when it's time to pray. >> as a beautician, i like to make foreign customers happy. i'm glad i can be helpful. >> reporter: three hours later, the cut is finished. >> so lovely. >> mommy's hair is so beautiful.

>> her husband gives us an idea of her new hair style. >> translator: i'm not good at drawing. i'm the only man she can show so it's up to me to praise her. >> i want all of my girlfriends to see my hair. i'm going to tell everyone about this beauty parlor. >> reporter: that kind of word of mouth helps a business to grow. the beauty barrier for muslim women is coming down. >> after the nuclear accident some cattle breeders in fukushima suspended business or gave it up. five years on, cattle farmer has restarted on a trial basis in a town near the crippled fukushima

daiichi plant. the town's government decided on test breeding to pave the way for reviving the livestock industry. >> four female calfs were delivered to his farm on wednesday. >> i'm so happy to be able to keep cattle once again. >> the test breeding will continue until the end of this year to confirm its safety. town officials say they hope farmers will resume full operations in january. >> we have to start all over again raising calfs. it will take a long time. >> a calf cost about $9,000. the town pries subsidies but farmers must shoulder half of the sum. it takes two years to ship the cattle meaning no revenues until then. let's get a check on the weather. authorities in taiwan are

warning people there to prepare for stormy weather. a typhoon is heading their way. robert speta has the latest. >> this is a dangerous typhoon and people visiting taiwan need to be making the proper preparations, definitely heeding warning and evacuation advisories already in place out ahead of this. you can see on satellite pin picture, this is a perfect circular motion around this. that will help maintain intensity as it comes off towards the west and also has plenty of moisture feeding into it which results in the threat of flooding and landslides, look at the moisture flow down towards the philippines bringing thunderstorms out there and even over towards the southern islands of japan. you're not going to be directly impacted by this storm but in okinawa, you're going to be seeing gusty winds and that persistent rainfall throughout the day on thursday into friday. look at the satellite picture.

this is one thing i want to take out of this. there's an eye wall. inside of that we're looking at winds over 300 kilometers per hour. that's very serious but a very , that means this is ll definitely confined energy. wherever this comes on shore, that's going to be very damaging winds here we're expecting to come on around 3:00 to 4:00 a. prior to sunrise in southeastern taiwan. and really anywhere just north of that circulation where you'll see the high winds and also the rainfall. that's one of the big issues here. that is one of the biggest threats talking about taiwan. the people down here know this and you have 3,000 meter high mountains and every time you get a storm with the moisture slamming into those mountains and that squeezes out the moisture and we're looking at incredible amount of precipitation with flooding and

also landslides. people very well could be stranded and that's another thing you want to keep an eye on. as this moves over taiwan throughout the day on friday, it eventually will reform into the province in southeastern china and lift towards the north. you have to remember the rainy season front has been impacting china out here for some time. last week alone have seen 500 to 600 meters of precipitation. we want to show you new video. . western china, five people were killed in this instance due to flash flooding that took place over 100 people stranded. look at cars floating away. the last week alone, over 120 casualties have been reported across all of china, including eastern areas.

this is just on wednesday. already saturated and rivers overflowing. the last thing you need is this storm coming in from the south and bringing more rain. that does look like that's going to be a major threat over this coming weekend. a lot going on with this. at the very least, if you like the warm weather in japan, even here in tokyo, kind of a side effect of this, 34 for the high southerly winds coming in around the right side of that storm system. definitely keeping an eye there in eastern china. here's your extended outlook.

>> and that wrapsz up this edition of nhk "newsline." thanks for joining us.

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