hello and welcome back to "newsline." seem shery ahn. let's get started with the head lines. iraq's military striking back against islamic militants before advancing towards baghdad. japanese leaders are calling on their counterparts in beijing to set up a security hotline after aircraft fly-abouts over the east china sea. and japanese prime minister shinzo abe has pledged to lower corporate taxes to below 30% in

an effort to bolster the economy. iraqi forces have launched counterattacks to halt the advance of islamist militants. the militants have swept through northern iraq, and are vowing to march on to baghdad. iraqi commanders are determined to stop them. nhk world reports. >> reporter: the militants have captured iraq's second largest city of mosul and other cities. more than half a million people have fled their homes. tents have been set up as more and more residents try to escape the violence. >> translator: i was at home when i heard an explosion. i thought i'd have a heart attack. >> translator: these two children have no place to go now that they've lost their father. >> reporter: the militants reached mosul earlier this week. they pushed south to bajii and samarra. they're now about 100 kilometers from the capital baghdad.

government commanders are getting ready to take back the cities the militants have seized. they ordered helicopter crews to attack and they dispatched special units to fight on the ground. sunni muslims make up much of the population in the captured city. many are critical of the government of prime minister nuri al maliki who is a shia. shias form the majority in baghdad and other cities to the south. military officers there are recruiting volunteers to join in the fight. u.s. leaders are offering helping hand. vice president joe biden told maliki over the phone that the u.s. is prepared to expand its security support. u.s. secretary of state john kerry suggested the u.s. is not just a passive observer. >> i know the president of the united states is prepared to make key decisions in short

order, and as he made clear earlier, options are on the table right now, and at the appropriate time, i'm sure you'll hear from the president. >> reporter: members of the u.n. security council are also paying close attention. council chair vitaly churkin said the group held an informal meeting on the issue, and agreed to back the government. >> the members of the security council expressed their unanimous support to the government and people of iraq in their fight against terrorism. >> reporter: the latest insurgency comes at a time when the rift between the majority shias and the minority sunnis is getting wider. analysts say the militants are taking advantage of the political instability to strengthen their position. sack itcho takeda, nhk world. japanese and chinese officials have been trading accusations about fighter jets from their countries buzzing each other over the east china sea. japan's defense minister is

calling for the immediate launch of a security hotline with china to dial down tensions. itsunori onodera was speaking two days after a chinese fighter jet came dangerously close to self-defense forces aircraft. he says a similar incident happened late last month. chinese officials say two japanese fighters buzzed their patrol aircraft on a separate occasion. they released a video that they say backs their claim. both incidents happened where the chinese and japanese air defense zones overlap. onodera says officials from both nations agreed years ago to set up a hotline. he says all that's needed is for beijing to give it a go-ahead. >> translator: i believe a hotline can be launched swiftly if japan and china make a political decision. >> he mentioned the comment by chinese ambassador to japan cheng yonghua that beijing is positive about the idea. onodera said the japanese government is ready to start the hotline. let's now get the latest

business stories from ron madison. all right. thank you, shery. prime minister shinzo abe has just made clear his plan to lower the corporate tax rate starting next year. his aim is to get it below 30% over the next few years. he wants businesses in japan to become more competitive and make the country more attractive for foreign investors. nhk world has more. >> investors around the world have been waiting to see if abe followed through on his promise to cut the corporate tax rate. ed tax cut will be a key future of his growth plan to revitalize the yes's economy. >> translator: japan's corporate tax will be transformed to one that is growth oriented. with this step, we're going to ensure steady employment and try to improve the living standards of our people. >> japan's effective corporate tax rate is currently about 35%, second highest among developed countries. in south korea, it's 24%, and in

singapore 17%. business leaders have repeatedly said that japan's tax rate is too high compared with its asian rivals. they welcomed the announcement from the prime minister. >> translator: we're cheered by the tax cut. this will put japan on an equal footing with its international rivals. >> reporter: but many questions remain, including where the government intends to find sources of revenue to fund the cut. abe stopped short of providing an answer. opponents including members of his ruling party have said a corporate tax cut would delay efforts to rebuild the economy. the supporters of the plan have argued that the tax revenue increased from an economic recovery will be enough to cover the losses. abe wants to spur economic growth and rebuild the nation's public finances but he must face

the past challenge of balancing u)j at the same time, kyoko fujita, nhk world. and policymakers at the bank of japan have taken a look at what's ahead for the economy, and they haven't changed their assessment. they say japan is still on a path of moderate recovery, despite the higher consumption tax. the policymakers have been pumping billions of dollars into the markets every month to boost the money supply, they're hoping to move inflation closer to their 2% target. they decided unanimously to continue with their current policies. consumers across the country rushed to buy goods before the tax hike in april, and then demand stopped. still the boj governor kuroda stresses the impact of the tax hike is limited. >> translator: the environment for employment and income is expected to continue to improve. personal spending remains firm. i think the effects of the higher tax are likely to start

weakening after this summer. >> policymakers have found that exports have leveled off recently. business investments are said to have increased moderately, and corporate profits have also grown. well market players in tokyo cheered on by prime minister abe's decision to lower corporate tax rates. they're hoping that his growth strategy will prompt more foreign investors to buy japanese equities. the nikkei average finished higher today more than 0.8%, 15,097. that did erase all the declines that we saw in the morning session. many investors bought back shares on heightened expectations for the government's new economic policies. other asian bourses did finish out their day mixed though. china's latest industrial output data showed growth from a year earlier supporting regional sentiment. markets in seoul and sydney fell on worries of rising geopolitical risks. the shanghai composite finished at 2,070. the country's new bank lending in may expanded more than what many economists had expected. and this pushed stock prices higher. south korea's kospi suffered the

biggest one-day drop in seven weeks. it was down more than 1%. 1,990. market heavyweights like samsung electronics ran into pretty sharp selling. japanese producers craft characters and stories known by fans around the world. but they found a lot of what they create gets stolen online. now some creators have joined hands in an effort to stop the stealing. nhk world has more. >> reporter: one of japan's largest pop culture publishers announced last month it would integrate with the tech companies. they started out by selling literature books after world war ii. the company then shifted to include publishing fiction for young adults, manga, and games. recently, managers were looking for a way to expand their business to reach more international readers.

so they teamed up with the people who rung duongo. the company manages a video sharing platform used by 14 million people around the world. mergers of internet-based and traditional media companies have happened before. in 2001, aol acquired time warner. the company split after ten years. but kuoaka executives have high hopes. >> we want to make a new type of media of the 21st century. >> reporter: japan's population is aging and people are having fewer children. it means domestic demand for entertainment targeting young adults is shrinking. publishers face other challenges. as smartphones and other digital devices spread, people aren't buying as many books as they used to.

then, there's the issue of piracy. the japanese government estimates that in north america alone, losses from bootleg manga and anime amount to $20 billion annually. this publishing firm has started to find ways to fight piracy. it used to take them several months to translate popular japanese manga into other languages. impatient fans outside of japan found illegal versions on the internet even before the latest episode was released. >> translator: we could not keep up with the speed of pirate sites. with our previous way of doing business. >> reporter: they teamed up with a u.s. company that owns a popular anime platform. now, the company distributes the

latest episodes of some manga series at home and abroad on the same day. and fans are happy. >> the more content that is made available, the happier the users, readers, and fans of manga abroad are. >> reporter: people who make japanese anime videos are also finding new ways to fight piracy. they've joined hands to establish an online video platform. all the content on the website is free. executives hope to make money by selling related products. >> translator: we want overseas fans to watch our content and buy related goods, just like in japan. >> reporter: japanese government officials are doing their part, too. they plan to launch a website in july that combines official sources of japanese manga and anime content.

they want to create a revenue stream that will benefit the creators, and producers. >> translator: to maintain japan's position as a production base of quality manga and anime, we need fans to watch and read official content. otherwise, new creators won't emerge. >> reporter: for japanese content holders, attracting overseas fans may be the only way to break through the shrinking domestic market. nhk world, tokyo. all right. that is going to do it for biz this hour. i'll leave you with 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." >> a high-speed ferry carrying more than 230 people has crashed into a breakwater near the port

of macau. 70 people are being treated for injuries. the accident took place at about 9:30 a.m. local time on friday. the vessel was coming from hong kong. the ferry's operator said the ship was moving at a speed of more than 60 kilometers per hour at the time of the accident. >> translator: just as the ferry was arriving in macau it suddenly collided. i felt a very strong so the, and the ferry leaned to the right. >> the authorities are looking into what led to the crash. this is the latest in a series of accidents on the hong kong-macau ferry route. in may a ferry and cargo ship collided injuring dozens. in november more than 80 people were injured when another ferry crashed. nigeria will get more support to help combat militant islamic group boko haram. the group has kidnapped more than 200 nigerian schoolgirls. african and western officials say their countries will work together in the fight to get them back. ministers from nigeria's four

neighboring nations as well as the u.s., france and britain met in london. they agreed the five african countries will form a regional intelligence unit, aided by the west. they'll also work together in patrolling the region to counter cross border activities by the extremists. >> defeating boko haram will be a long and difficult task, but the atrocities committed against innocent and vulnerable communities are too important to ignore. and all of the countries gathered here today have shown that we are certainly not going to ignore them, and our resolve to defeat them has been further increased. >> boko haram wants to create a nation following its own version of islam. members have been increasing attacks and bombings throughout nigeria. the kidnapping of the schoolgirls in april focused world attention on them, and demands for action.

women in china often have a choice in how they give birth, and many opt for cesarean sections. china has one of the world's highest rates of the elective surgeries. now health authorities are trying to encourage women to consider a more natural birth. nhk world's kengo okamoto reports. >> reporter: chenk young and chang ying are expecting their second child in december. when chan had their first child, doctors warned her the birth could take a long time. rather than face a painful delivery, she decided to have our cesarean section. >> translator: doctors said c-sections were easy. and didn't hurt so much. i believed it, and that's why i had one. >> reporter: in a cesarean birth or c-section surgeons deliver the baby by making incisions in

the mother's abdomen. the procedure is common when a birth has complications. but it can also be dangerous. health experts say it can lead to excessive bleeding, infection, and a four to ten times higher rate of maternal death. despite risk, of quite a few healthy chinese women have been choosing c-sections. a recent survey shows they make up over 45% of chinese births. that's three times as much as the 15%, and up to a fourth of those operations are said to be medically unnecessary. why are cesareans so popular in china? one reason may be they suit ancient beliefs. parents-to-be can logon to websites that calculate the most auspicious time to give birth.

the cesarean is conducted on demand. another factor may be financial. doctors can charge more for performing cesareans than for assisting natural births. health authorities are now trying to reduce the number of c-section births. the maternal and child health care of china association runs workhopes where medical professionals learn to discourage the procedure wherever possible. >> translator: a cesarean section is many times more painful than a natural birth. >> reporter: the group has invited him to teach. he is a doctor who works in the u.s. and has visited china for the last six years. his mission is to promote natural births. >> if i can teach the doctors

and midwives, i can change millions, millions of people's lives. that's very meaningful for me. >> reporter: they have also started holding workshops for new mothers and fathers. these provide detailed information for the parents. more and more people are taking part. zhang, who is expecting in december, was at the workshop. she now believes a natural birth is better for the health of both mother and child. >> translator: we came and expect to bring the c-section rate down to a reasonable level. it's been a struggle to get it down so far. we hope to match the international level. >> reporter: as the issue of cesarean births attracts growing interest, concerned doctors and young women are thinking harder

about health and safety. kengo okamoto, nhk world, beijing. strong storms rolled through tokyo on friday. our meteorologist jonathan oh joins me now. jonathan, how is the weekend looking? >> shery, i have some good news. i think the weekend will bring some much better weather for japan, as the system responsible for bringing those strong storms starts to move toward the north and east. you can see the low pressure system that is spinning and is moving toward the north and east and it brought some stormy weather into western tokyo, and i have some video coming, where you can see the hail falling, and really this is a big part of the story. not only did the hail fall, strong winds were in place, and also we had some strong lightning in place.

but, it cleared out relatively quickly, and so now, a much drier weather pattern should be in place. but we did see some other areas of some strong weather for the past 24 hours in hokkaido. 124 millimeters of rain fell with winds up to 70 kilometers per hour, and it looks like at least for the duration of friday into saturday, since the low is close to hokkaido, it will continue to bring some rain and stormier conditions. but the drying pattern should begin for the rest of japan, so by the weekend, sunnier skies. and warmer conditions should be in place. there is a high pressure system located down toward the west, and that should be building in for the weekend. meanwhile we do have an extension of that low pressure system. a cold front and a stationary front that's interacting with the monsoonal pattern. also tropical depression near the philippines that is bringing a lot more rain into the area. in fact, over into taiwan, 170 millimeters of rain were reported over a 24-hour period. as we look forward toward the

weekend, and into next week it looks like the rain will be accumulating anywhere from 100 to 250 millimeters of rain from the philippines, into taiwan, so looking out for flooding possibilities, and also the potential for land slides. with the high pressure moving in, we are going to see warmer conditions. look at those temperatures into the low 30s for kyoto. some areas into the 40s. so make sure that you are taking precautions if you're going to be spending time outdoors under the very warm weather conditions. over into europe now, we have this low pressure system east of the scandinavian peninsula, and extended cold front dragging across down toward the southern portions of the continent that was responsible for creating some severe weather earlier this week. still unsettled, so expecting some rain and thunderstorms as we go throughout our friday and into saturday. high pressure, though, building in from the west, bringing some very warm conditions. 25 in paris, 24 in london. into the mid 30s in lisbon. so much warmer conditions for friday. wet weather from stockholm into

kiev. we're now looking at the americas. cristina still a hurricane moving away from mexico. a couple low pressure systems for canada and also into the united states bringing very unsettled weather. so rain and thunderstorms possible. i am concerned about this low pressure system in the rockies that may be bringing some severe weather for saturday, with winds up to 100 kilometers per hour possible, maybe some tornadoes and some hail. we will have to keep our eye on that particular system. and you can see here, the unsettled weather pattern coming up for the eastern half of the united states. toronto, you will start to dry out with a high of 25 degrees. let's take a look now at the forecast for the world cup. on the second day, unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be a little bit wet for the game sites here but relatively warm with highs in the upper 20s to the mid 30s. now coming up for saturday, the northern half will still be dealing with some rain, but for the southern half, a little bit drier, cote d'ivoire and japan, that particular game looking warm and cloudy, but i think it will remain dry.

hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

before we go, sake has been considered japan's national drink. but these days it's catching on around the world. new yorkers recently got a chance to learn more about this traditional beverage. >> drink sake for health.

>> the 1y57en society hosted the promotional event. it aims to increase sake consumption in the united states. participants got to sample more than 30 kinds of sake from 11 brewers across japan. for some it was a chance to revisit old favorites, and make some fresh discoveries. >> we don't know exactly. we don't have to choose the perfect sax so for us it's a great opportunity to come here. >> officials at a japanese trade organization say sake exports to the u.s. have doubled over the past decade. >> i come here every year. i feel people's knowledge of sake has been growing year by year. >> the more you know, the more you want to know about sake. and that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm cher j ahn. thank you for watching. gg99ññww

>> welcome back to the france 24 newsroom for a new our. these are the headlines. jihadist fighters in iraq are coming closer to the capital of baghdad, this as the u.n. says the number of victims from the takeover of the iraqi city of mosul may be in the hundreds. fromhe movement of tanks russia over the border into causes issues. it is being called unacceptable. and