hello and welcome back to "newsline," i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the head lines. a spokesman for pakistan's largest islamic militant group has told nhk it is responsible for the deadly attack on an airport in karachi. ukraine's new president is calling for fighting in the eastern regions to stop by the end of this week. and, a new picture book in braille. why parents can now share the joy of reading a classic japanese illustrated story with

their children. a pakistani military spokesman says a siege at the international airport in karachi is now over. security forces stormed the airport after militants attacked a terminal and they killed all the gunmen. at least 26 people died in the attack. nhk world reports. >> reporter: it's been one of the most brazen attacks to hit the airport serving pakistan's economic capital. it came as government officials had been trying to improve security in karachi. a group of ten militants stormed one of the terminals just before midnight and the building was engulfed by fire. the gunmen were apparently wearing suicide vests, and armed with grenades. they exchanged fire with security forces throughout the night. >> my security forces -- >> translator: our security forces confronted and killed them. they destroyed them. the operation was over in about four to five hours.

>> reporter: a hospital spokesperson says the dead include security personnel, and airline employees. the country's largest islamic militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. a spokesman for the pakistani taliban spoke to nhk by phone. he said the attack was retaliation for the government's targeting of innocent people, despite ongoing peace negotiations. analysts say any government response may lead to further attacks, and start a vicious cycle of more violence. yuri ito, nhk world. ukraine's new president says fighting in the eastern part of the country must stop. petro poroshenko called for dialogue to help end the violence between government forces and pro-russian groups. poroshenko met in the capital kiev with the german and russian ambassadors to ukraine and a special envoy from the organization for security and cooperation in europe.

he said it's unacceptable that people in eastern ukraine are dying every day. and he called for a halt to the fighting by the end of the week. poroshenko suggested that officials from the eu, russia, and ukraine should hold daily meetings to discuss the situation. he said his country needs to increase security along the border with russia. he said it's necessary to stop the influx of militants and weapons. government forces and pro-russian fighters continued their battles in the city of slavyansk on sunday. the city is a stronghold of the separatists. the leader of a pro-russian group says its members are prepared to continue fighting. let's now get the latest business stories from ron madison. >> all right, thanks a lot, shery. japanese managers are more optimistic about the business climate. they've been reinvesting in their companies. government officials say that's making the economy grow faster than they'd expected.

gross domestic product rose 1.6% in real terms in the january to march period from the previous quarter. that works out to an annualized growth rate of 6.7%. cabinet office officials estimated last month that the figure would be 5.9%. they say managers in the transportation and financial sectors invested more than they'd projected. consumers spent more, too. people rushed to buy things that they wanted before the government raised the consumption tax in april. and some more good news today for japan's government. ordinary people say they are feeling the benefits of the improving economy. consumer sentiment is up for the first time in six months. officials at the cabinet office say consumer confidence in may stood at 39.3. that's up 2.3 points from the previous month. the officials surveyed 8400 households every month asking their spending outlook for the next half hour. officials attribute the rise to recovering stock prices and the improving job market. they say increases in wages at many companies also helped to boost sentiment.

now they've revised up the overall assessment of consumer confidence for the first time in eight months, saying it is showing signs of recovery. japanese government officials are also seeing signs that the impact of the sales tax hike in april is already waning. another survey indicates the sentiment among working people has improved. the economy watchers surveyed also by the cabinet office shows the sentiment index went up 3.5 points in may from the previous month to 45.1. cabinet office officials asked more than 2,000 people nationwide what they thought about the economy. many respondents at major retail stores, restaurants and other places reported that sales had recovered following a plunge in april due to the higher tax. japanese finance ministry officials have added up the broadest measure of trade and investment with the rest of the world. they found the surplus in the current account is just a fraction of what it was a year ago. ministry officials say the surplus dipped to about 1.8 billion dollars. that's the smallest its been in april since 1982.

a year ago it reached more than $7 billion. the figure was dragged down by a deficit in trade. the shortfall was about $7.6 billion. the largest it's ever been for april. the officials point to the weaker yen, which pushed up the import value of liquefied natural gas. now spending by foreign tourists helped to drive up the travel accounts for the first time in nearly 44 years. it spent more than what japanese tourists spent abroad. business owners also earned more in foreign dividends and interest payments. the income account hit a surplus of $17.8 billion. but that figure, too, was smaller than the year before. japanese prime minister shinzo abe says he intends to push ahead with corporate tax cuts. he says the cuts will start in fiscal 2015. that's part of his plan to keep japan's economy growing. >> translator: the world is keeping an eye on japan's corporate tax rates.

of course, we'll proceed with restoring the nation's fiscal health, but we're also determined to implement corporate tax reform to achieve economic growth. we'll begin tax cuts from april next year. >> abe spoke to an upper house committee on monday as the recent group of seven summit abe told his counterparts that the tax cuts are key to his growth strategy. japan's corporations are currently taxed at about 35%. abe also referred to the upper revised gdp figures. he stressed the importance of a growth strategy to keep the economic momentum and pull the country out of deflation. let's get a check of the markets now. japan's benchmark index reached its highest point in nearly three months. investors risk appetite incre e increased on the back of global stock rallies. the nikkei up 0.3% at 15,124. that's a level that we haven't seen since about mid-march. investors were cheered on by the revised gdp figures. other bourses in asia finished higher, tracking wall street's

strong performance. this came after key u.s. data showed an improvement in the labor market. investors also took heart from solid export numbers out of china. the latest data showed china's exports grew for a second straight month in may from a year earlier. the hang seng index closed up nearly three quarters of a percent, 23,117. that was a rebound from three-day losing streak. in taiwan the taiex gained 0.3 finishing at 9,162. high tech heavyweight shares got a boost from upbeat sales figures in may. japanese researchers are developing new ways to use something that is going down the drain. they've refined techniques for recycling sewage, and they believe there might be some profits down the pipes. >> reporter: plump, ripe tomatoes. they're not from someone's garden. they were grown at a sewage treatment plant in central japan.

researchers from a university in the area, and local government officials, have been carrying out tests since may. they irrigate the plants with water from the treatment facility. methane gas produced by sludge solids is used to generate electricity. heat produced during the process is used to keep the greenhouse warm. carbon dioxide emitted by the burning methane gas is fed into the greenhouse through a duct. that helps promote the photosynthesis of tomato leaves. >> translator: the yield is up 30%. the sugar content tends to be higher. >> reporter: this is the first system in the world to fully recycle sewage. nothing is wasted.

>> translator: i think we can create new value here, by combining energy production, and food production. >> reporter: and researchers at a university in western japan are conducting tests to see whether sewage can be used to power fuel cell vehicles. they are trying to make hydrogen fuel in the sewage treatment process. they do this in the lab by heating methane and treated sewage to 800 degrees celsius. the resulting chemical reaction creates hydrogen. researchers will give the process a trial run next year. at a sewage treatment center in the area. the national government will pay the $13 million needed to build the test facility. they plan to produce enough hydrogen in one day to power 70 fuel cell vehicles.

>> translator: in terms of producing and consuming energy locally, it's very significant that an urban area can produce this much energy. this is the first step of the huge task of creating a low carbon society. >> reporter: government officials see sewage treatment as a key part of japan's infrastructure export strategy. they estimate the global market will grow to $355 billion in ten years. and they see developing countries as their biggest potential customers. >> translator: a sewer contains water and energy resources. using them will help solve problems facing local communities. >> reporter: where there are cities, there's sewage. people have high expectations for technology that helps

communities use sewage as a resource, and not just a waste product. >> okay. that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's get updates on the markets. every morning investors turn their attention to asia. the tokyo market leads the way.

and markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy. >> to the companies at the forefront of change. >> up to the minute market reports. >> and analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news and insight every day. here on "newsline." many democrats in the u.s. say they would choose a woman who's already spent time in the white house to become their next president. the results of a poll suggest hillary clinton would have a commanding lead heading into the 2016 presidential campaign. the polls were from abc news and "the washington post." they asked democrats and those leaning towards the party who they would vote for. results suggest 69% favor clinton while 12% choose vice president joe biden. voters were also asked about clinton's job performance as secretary of state. 59% approved regardless of their

party affiliation. 34% did not. overall 67% of americans said they viewed clinton as a strong leader. pollsters also asked people who they would vote for if the democratic candidate was clinton, and the republican candidate was senator rand paul. 53% said they would vote for clinton, and 43% chose paul. pope francis has joined israeli president shimon peres and palestinian president mahmoud abbas to pray for peace in the middle east. it's unusual for the pope to invite political leaders from areas of conflict to the vatican. ♪ the pope welcomed peres and abbas to a session of christian, jewish and muslim prayers on sunday. >> translator: peacemaking calls for courage. much more so than warfare. it calls for the courage to say,

yes, to encounter, and no to conflict. >> peace seems distant, we must pursue to bring it closer, and if we pursue peace with determinati determination -- >> oh, lord bring comprehensive and just peace to our country and region so that our people and the peoples of the middle east and the whole world will enjoy the fruits of peace, stability, and coexistence. >> a vatican official says the pope is not seeking to get politically involved in the middle east peace process. but he showed concern over the situation during his trip to the region last month. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is refusing to take part in further peace talks. he strongly is protesting the involvement of islamic fundamentalist group hamas in the formation of a palestinian unity government earlier this month.

egypt's new leader has vowed to bring stability to the country. former army chief abdel fatah al sisi has been sworn in as president. sisi took the oath of office at the supreme constitutional court in cairo. >> translator: i swear to god, to sincerely safeguard the republican regime, and respect the constitution and the law. and to fully attend to the interests of the people, and to maintain the independence of the nation, and the unity and safety of its land. >> sisi secured an overwhelming victory in the presidential election last month. electoral officials say he won 97% of the vote. last july, sisi led a group of generals that overthrew president mohamed morsi after months of processes. the leaders of the interim government have not managed to bring an end to the turmoil. islamist militants have carried out a series of attacks. the economy has stagnated, and tourists are staying away.

some hope sisi will be able to put an end to the chaos. others are concerned a president backed by the military will lead to more authoritarian rule. a south korean ferry accident in april has prompted japanese operators of such vessels to review their safety procedures. one of them held a fire drill on a ship docked in kobe, western japan. the exercise was conducted as if a fire had broken out on the vessel while it was cruising. the crew carried out fire extinguishing preparations and told staff acting as passengers to stand by. the boat's skipper says containing such a blaze would be impossible, and ordered an evacuation of those on board. the crew also practiced procedures for leading passengers and lowering lifeboats. the sinking of the ferry sewol left more than 300 people dead or missing. authorities indicted 15 of the ship's crew for failing to save passengers.

the captain and three others face charges of homicide for abandoning ship. their trial is to start on tuesday. a japanese publisher has tailored a classic children's story for a new audience. they took on the challenge of converting the popular picture book into braille and have done it with the help of a visually impaired mother, eager to share the joy of reading with her kids. ♪ >> reporter: guri and gura, two mouse brothers who love eating. since it was first published 50 years ago, the book has sold 6 million copies in japan. the picture book is considered a beloved masterpiece, treasured by children from one generation to the next.

for ages, mitsuko dreamed of reading a braille version. she has had no sight since birth. for the past 30 years she and a team of volunteers has run a service that loans picture books to blind parents and children. the team have converted regular picture books into braille editions. they also create a relief effect by using cutouts. what started her on this road was her inability to read picture books to her two sons. >> translator: when my boy was hospitalized a heard a woman reading books to her son. i could just picture the boy looking at the book and suddenly i became envious and thought that if only i could see. >> reporter: once she and her team tried converted the copies of guri and gura to braille. but it took months to complete a single book. she a watt to approached a publisher to make the book especially for blind parents. she succeeded.

the company decided to make a braille edition of guri and gura on the 50th anniversary of the book's first publication. long story picture books in braille like guri and gura are often bound with rings to avoid pressing the pages. >> translator: on a page like this the ring would go right through the picture of the egg. this ruins the composition of the picture. >> reporter: the book binding company came up with a solution. they added a rim so that no pressure would be applied to the page itself. so the braille dots and raised pictures are not flattened. at last, 5,000 braille editions of guri and gura were printed.

the clothes worn each have different patterns. so they can be recognized by touch. this two-page spread features many animals. each is overlaid with a larger version to enable readers to see the details. iwata's long-held dream has finally come true. >> translator: i can identify guri and gura immediately when i touch the pages. the care that's been put into the texture and the way it feels on the fingers is delightful. i feel so happy that it's finally been done. >> reporter: this family gets a lot of enjoyment out of this special book. mitsuro has been blind since birth. she has two sons.

she had always wanted to read to her children. now at last, she can. >> translator: which one is guri? does he feel rougher? >> translator: this one is guri. i love sharing the experience with my children of touching the pictures and recognizing the characters as we read along. >> reporter: the braille edition of guri and gura is a monument to the wishes of blind parents. now the rainy season here in japan living up to its name. our meteorologist jonathan oh joins me now. jonathan, we had an awful wet weekend. it seems to have let up a bit today. what can we expect this week? >> hello, shery. yes, i think, though, that we're going to see even more rain. we call it the rainy season, as opposed to just a rainy forecast, because it's an extended period of time where we

see the precipitation lingering over japan, in fact, i have some video to show you coming out of tokyo, where the rain was falling at a rate of 50 millimeters per hour. it wasn't consistent rain. it came down in short bursts from time to time. but you can see here near the crossing outside of the station where people had to hold onto their umbrellas because of the rain falling down. being under those trees probably was not particularly helpful. you can see the rain ponding on the roadways. other areas seeing rain, shizuoka prefecture saw 500 millimeters of rain. this is what defines the rainy season, continuous periods of rain, heavy downpours at times and then it moves on and then another system continues 20 come in its place and brings even more consistent rainfall. and it looks like more rain is expected, in fact, heavy rain warnings in effect because the rain continuing throughout

monday night and into tuesday. now, japan's not the only place dealing with the rainy season. we have a low pressure system starting to develop right north of the philippines, and near taiwan, and that's where we're going to see even more rain. the concern is also some heavy downpours and strong winds about 130 millimeters of rain fell in the southern portions of taiwan, and it looks like that the rain will continue to pick up. torrential rain advisories are in place there, and it looks like that you will be dealing with even flooding concerns for the western coast of luzon coming up during the next few days. and so urban flooding with damaging gusts a big part of the forecast. and so the rainy season also turning into a stormy one as we go into tuesday. 29 for your high in hong kong. 29 in taipei. manila seeing rain and thunderstorms. highs will be in the low 30s. now we look at europe. more of the significant weather taking place through the western portions of the continent. we have a low pressure system spinning off the british isles that will be pulling in warm moisture along with this low. the interaction creating the concerns for even more severe

weather, and we even have this threat in the purple shaded areas of some of the strongest weather yet for europe coming up for monday and tuesday. we're talking about tornadoes, some large hail, strong wind gusts, as a big part of the forecast. heavy rainfall, as well. this extends all the way into poland, down into spain, as well. and so definitely want to make sure that you keep an eye out for this weather pattern because it looks like it's going to be very active. rain and thunderstorms in paris with a high of 28. 23 in london. very warm weather, though, in the central portions of europe. highs will be in the low 30s cop coming up for our monday in vienna. finally a look at the americas. once again we're talking about very active weather. this time, looking down in to the deep south and also into parts of texas with a low pressure system that's moving over the rockies. another low pressure system back over toward the ohio river valley. and that cold front associated with the system bringing in a lot of moisture, and some strong weather. so we're talking about some severe thunderstorms, anywhere from dallas, into parts of memphis, and flash flooding into

parts of kansas, nebraska, and as far east as alabama. so, yes, it is going to be another very active weather day for the deep south. we see here, the weather forecast is rain and thunderstorms for portions of houston, into atlanta, and along the eastern seaboard, as we go through our monday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

and that's all for this hour

of "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. 1go

>> welcome back. it is 1:00 in paris. we will be to get it for the next hour. for a look at the latest news and analysis on the date's events from around the world. 27 people have been killed in a battle in pakistan busiest pakistan, including the 10 assailants that attacked the airport latest night. a pakistani taliban say they carried out the attack to avenge the leader -- killing of their leader in a drum strike last year. he