hello and welcome back to "newsline." i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the headlines. iraqi leerds have launched full scale military operations to fight against al qaeda linked insurgents. and people in southwestern japan are celebrating a newly discovered portrait of a young japanese christian who traveled to europe five centuries ago. fighting is intensifying in iraq where the military's

launching full-scale operations against al qaeda linked militants. insurgents have responded with an attack on a military facility. leaders of neighboring countries and the united states say they're ready to provide support to help fight the militants. nhk world's yuri spt ito has more. >> reporter: military helicopters have been conducting a series of air strikes on insurgent positions and vehicles. on sunday they bombarded at least five locations including areas close to tikrit in the western city of fallujah. the military says the attacks have killed ma eed more than 20 people. m meanwhile the militants have posted photos on twitter. other photos appear to show them being shot. the islamic extremists have been advancing south toward baghdad since capturing iraq's second largest city of mosul last week.

the al qaeda-linked militants have strengthened their base in the civil war in neighboring syria. the group joined syria's anti-government forces and became significantly stronger. they recruited foreign fighters and secured arms and money from other countries. the militants have also been gaining more influence because of growing antagonism between iraq's shia muslims and sunnis. the sunnis have been unhappy with prime minister nuri al maliki's preferential treatment of the shia majority. sectarian divisions deepened after a political bloc led by maliki won parliamentary elections in april. analysts say the militants have played on sunni dissatisfaction and managed to gain ground in sunni-populated areas. u.s. president barack obama has suggested he needs several days to figure out how to respond to the iraqi insurgency.

he ruled out sending ground troops. >> we will not be sending u.s. troops back into combat in iraq, but i have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support iraq security forces. >> reporter: the pentagon has ordered aircraft carrier "u.s.s. george h.w. bush" to go to the persian gulf to give the u.s. more military options in iraq. obama says the u.s. will intervene only if iraqi leaders overcome sectarian divisions and work toward political stability. iraq's neighbor, iran, also a shia-dominated country, did not rule out the possibility of cooperating with the u.s. >> translator: if the u.s. is going to fight the terrorists in iraq, iran will consider cooperating. >> rouhani's statement comes despite ongoing differences with the u.s. over iran's nuclear

development program. but analysts say iran's involvement would highlight the shiite sunni conflict and risk it spills over to other countries in the middle east. they say obama faces a tough decision as he needs to stop the insurgency from becoming a full scale civil war while trying to launch a military intervention. yuri ito, nhk world. the latest business stories from ron madison. >> thank you, shery. boeing executives hope to develop closer production ties with japanese companies. the u.s. aircraft giant said last week that one fifth of the fuselage for its new passenger plane will be built in japan. boeing's japan president made the comments at a meeting of about 30 japanese firms. george mathayo said boeing hopes to expand beyond fuselage production to develop closer ties with japanese partners. nissan motors is among the companies that said the offer has potential. >> reporter: we haven't done

business with companies in the aircraft industry. but our cutting edge automobile technology might be valuable for airliners. >> japanese companies built about 35% of the fuselage for boeing's 787 and are said to build about 21% of the next generation wide body 777 x been economy ministry officials say japanese companies have made little headway in sales of flight-related systems and cabinet equipment. government and company officials are facing the challenge of protecting confidential and personal data from new types of computer viruses. now major japanese electronics maker nec has unveiled its latest facility against cyber attacks. nec says they're able to monitor client networks at the new facility in tokyo. one signs of virus infections are detected, they take appropriate steps. >> translator: the initial

response time is crucial. we must quickly find holes in the system and respond. that's the key to protecting our customers from data leaks. >> nec is planning to build similar facilities in and outside of japan. another electronics maker, fujitsu, set up an organization back in january to try to head off cyber attacks. honda motor has been showing off its latest tech no long cal star. its electronic vehicle that drives itself into a port to recharge its battery. a smart phone is used to instruct the vehicle to drive into a garage. the vehicle finds the charging port from an installed map using sensors along the way to avoid obstacles. once the car settles down, it begins to recharge through a wireless device. >> translator: the system would be a great help for drivers who find parking difficult. and it allows efficient

recharging. we want to make it ready for practical use in the near future. >> engineers say they will test to determine if the system functions properly in storms, heavy snow and other severe conditions. all right. let's get a check of the markets now. major borises in asia finished mix at the start of the week. many investors stayed on the sidelines. escalating tensions in iraq hurt their risk appetite. shanghai outperformed the region after encouraging economic data out of beijing. the nikkei the worst performer in the region today. it declined more than 1%. finished at 14,933. investors locked in profits. a stronger yen prompted selling across a wide range of stocks. in jakarta the main index there also seeing declines of nearly .9%. 4,885. declining financial and technology shares weighed on the broader market. in shanghai the composite index, the bright spot in the region.

it was up three-quarters of a percent. 2,085. investors continue to take heart from recent chinese economic data including solid infrastructure investment. now, they do signal that the government stimulus measures are working effectively to try to stabilize the economy. managers at japanese electronics makers say the con sumgts tax increase in april has hurt their sales. they're launching new products earlier than planned to try to make up for that. the people at panasonic say they'll put the firm's latest compact digital camera on the market in july. that's one month earlier than usual. it's the first compact digital camera to use 4-k high definition technology. panasonic hopes to attract consumers who are thinking of buying a new camera with their summer bonuses. managers at mitsubishi electric say the company will launch its new line of refrigerators this month. mitsubishi usually rolls out the new products in september ahead of the year end sales campaigns. the firm says it will start selling its new rice cookers in

july. that's two months earlier than usual. a mitsubishi official says the higher tax has dampened sales, but he does say the company can counter that trend if it launches new products earlier. another electronics maker, toshiba, has already begun selling its new microwave ovens and rice cookers ahead of schedule. the hike in the con sumgts tax is causing headaches for owners of some of japan's smaller businesses. they must pay more for the things that they purchase. but nearly 40% of them say they haven't been able to cover their expenses by raising prices. an association of small business owners last month conducted a nationwide survey. people at nearly 4,800 companies responded. 63% said they have been able to cover the tax increase by raising prices. 27%, though, said they could not fully offset their expenses. while 10% said they haven't been able to raise prices at all. japanese leaders are considering to raise the consumption tax again next year to 10%. pollsters asked small business

owners what they think. a quarter of respondents said plans should proceed as scheduled. nearly the same said the government should postpone the increase or scrap it. people who work in the japanese food industry are uncertain about what lies ahead. they're worried about a shrinking population. some have their sights set on markets abroad and market at one point 6 billion muslims, in fact. more from nhk world's maki yokoyama. >> reporter: these people are trying japanese food. >> translator: i love the subtle flavor. >> translator: it's good. >> reporter: the dishes contain potatoes and beef. but they don't include a common ingredients that is pork or seasonings containing alcohol. this agriculture company employee is planning to deploy the special food to southeast

asia. >> translator: they look like ordinary japanese dishes. it takes creativity to change the ingredients. >> reporter: the company works in many areas including raising livestocks and operating restaurants. but japan's declining population makes the future of the domestic market uncertain. the company is focusing on malaysia. 60% of the population is muslim. and the economy is growing. this halal marks a key to selling food here. halal certification from malaysia has high credibility with muslims in other countries. so malaysia is a gateway to business opportunities in other markets. >> translator: one in four of the people in the world are

muslims. and most of these haven't experienced japanese cultural food. so business opportunities are unlimited. >> reporter: the company wants a subsidiary especially for exports. they are working with food producers, including this grower of stitake mushrooms. >> translator: consumers want cheap products. i want to maintain production levels by expanding overseas. >> reporter: members of the company made a research trip to malaysia. they learn japanese food is very popular with malaysians. deli counters sell sushi at prices five times higher than other products. >> yes. of course i eat japanese food. >> first, the quality. then, the taste. if it's good, i will buy it,

definitely buy more. >> translator: i hope to expand our business and sell japanese farm products in new markets. >> reporter: japanese food producers have high hopes for expanding sales in muslim markets. nhk world. zbl( that's all for this hour in business. here's the markets. art investigators in italy have put a name to a face featured in a centuries old

portrait. they've determined the subject of a painting from the late 1500s was a devout japanese christian. and despite challenges, he stayed true to his faith. nhk world's june takahashi has the story. >> reporter: the identity of this young man, clad in a european costume with a ruffled collar, remained a mystery for generations. that is until five years ago when the painting's owner asked paula delico to investigate. she only had one clue to work with. the name mansio, that was written on the back of the painting. >> reporter: the painting was very beautiful. i was fascinated. i felt like i had fallen in love. >> reporter: di rico traced the owner's historical records, and she discovered the painter was

domenico. the artist was the soft of a 16th century painter, jocobo. >> translator: the workshop of tintorento agreed to paint this portrait. this means he received special treatment because this workshop was the most famous in venice. >> reporter: di rico identified him as mansho ito. he was one of four japanese christian boys who traveled to europe and pet pope gregory xiii in 1585. mansho was the son of the warrior whose lord used to have a castle here. the castle fell in the battle in 1577 and mansho had to flee.

when mansho was around 10, he was baptized and studied with a spanish missionary. three years later, he was chosen to read a group of four japanese christians. it took them eight years to reach -- then back to japan. they brought back various european technologies, including a printing press of ghutenburg's message. in his hometown people were excited about the discovery of the portrait. mansho is a well-known figure here. and the children learn about him from their teachers. >> translator: he went to rome and brought knowledge of technology back to japan. >> translator: he's a brilliant

and famous man. >> reporter: after mansho came back to japan, his life was full of hardships. rulers increasingly depressed christianity as they feared european powers would invade. but mansho refused to abandon his faith. he spent his life as a missionary, helping the sick and the poor. residents of his birthplace are now collecting signatures to ask that the painting be brought to japan. >> translator: he is our pride. i think it's interesting for people of japan. >> translator: we want something real about mansho. nothing real is left here. everything we have had about him so far is a replica. >> reporter: mansho died a t the age of 43. after more than four centuries since his death, many local people feel that mansho has come

back alive through the portrait. jun takahashi, nhk world, saito, miyazaki. now the latest from the world cup in brazil. the four teams in group "e" saw action for the first time on sunday. france launched a convincing win against the central american nation of honduras. france opened the scoring right at the end of the first half. popopa went down in the penalty area. and benjamin converted from the spot. three minutes into the second half, benzuma had a shot on target. the honduran goalkeeper seemed to have it covered, but the new

goal line technology confirmed the ball had crossed the line for a goal to france. benzuma added a third in the 72nd minute. that gave france a comprehensive 3-0 victory. the other match in group "e" pitted switzerland against ecuador. in the 22nd minute, ek war dorian forward valencia headed the opener from a free keek. memedi tied the match for the swiss in the 48th minute with a header from the corner. just before the end of the game sevarovich add a second to give switzerland a 2-1 victory. france and switzerland sit on top of group "e" with three points each while ecuador and honduras are pointless. in group "f" bosnia hertz go veen ya played argentina in the first ever world cup appearance.

the argentinian star struck his first goal of the tournament in the 65th minute. bosnia herzegovina pulled one back in the 85th minute, but argentina held on for a 2-1 victory. argentina leads group "f" which sees its next match on monday when iran meets nigeria. thousands of excited fans over the weekend watched japan play its first world cup match against godivar. nhk world's norika okata reports. >> reporter: japanese fans watched the game live on screens across the country. more than 5,000 fans gathered at this stadium near tokyo to cheer their team. in kotivar's largest city

abgeneral, thousands of people gathered at an open space in the city's center to cheer their team. in brazil's largest city sao paulo, japanese clad in the blue uniforms gathered to cheer for japan. the start whistle sounded. japan opened the scoring 16 minutes into the game. star striker kahunda slammed the ball into the net with his left foot. the team seemed to be gaining momentum. fans celebrated the goal, hugging each other and exchanging high-fives. in northeastern japan where the earthquake and tsunami struck in 2011, soccer fans were bursting with excitement over hunda's stunning goal.

coe divar was struggling to score. the coach gave the order to step up the pressure on japan. national hero drogbehr came off the bench at the 62nd minute to huge applause. two minutes later, the team equalized the score. then scored again in the 66th minute. the fans back in kodivar were filled with joy. the japanese fans didn't lose hope. but japan disappointed, losing its first match 1-2. the people in kodivar were overjoyed for the superstar's performance. >> translator: it's going to continue like that. that's what we're going to do. >> reporter: japanese fans are still expecting a victory in the tournament. japan meets greece on friday.

>> translator: i want japan to win the next match. city center across japan will be filled with the color of samurai blue as the tournament continues. noriko okada, nhk world. let's now bring in robert speta for a check of the weather. robert, we had gorgeous weather over the weekend here in tokyo, but i hear people in china were not so lucky. will the rain be reaching us any time soon? >> yes, shery. yes and no on that same system reaching over towards japan, but what we are going to be seeing is it really wrapped up with the rainy season as we head through mid-week. western japan, even tokyo, showers are coming this way. now, what we're talking about is our tropical storm hagidas. it made landfall sunday afternoon there into southeastern china. we actually have video out of there just showing the flooding and that rainfall that took place here as the storm came

ashore and brought some high waves, heavy rain, about 83 kilometer per hour wind gusts as well. over 140 millimeters of rain fell there in the city. also into taiwan off towards the east, we saw some pretty heavy rainfall and flooding and landslides reported there as well. so a lot of people were impacted by this storm system. now, what we are going to be seeing is a track off there towards the north. it's getting wrapped up with that rainy season front. still another 120 millimeters is very likely across parts of fujan over towards guongdong province. we could see that push east into southern japanese islands. expecting gail force winds tuesday and wednesday morning also much of western japan. imani prefecture, 120 millimeters likely as we head towards tuesday. that's on top of what's already happened out here. eventually that's going to create more instability across of much of central japan and over towards northern japan by wednesday. tuesday afternoon to wednesday afternoon tokyo could see some of that daytime heating with afternoon thunderstorms.

for the most part partly cloudy skies, high of 27. still seeing those showers back towards the west. also talk about rain showers, central portions of europe. for the most part europe on the other hand very beautiful weather out here. high pressure is dominating. but we do have a low that has been bringing large hail over towards greece. about two centimeters in diameter hail reported. also a tornado in southern portions of poland. this whole system still bringing that rough weather. that's going to work its way off towards the east. expect frequent lightning, heavy rainfall, even more hail over toward the balkan peninsula and continuing into italy where rome, still expecting thunderstorms. a high of 25 there on your monday. let's stay on that p topic of severe weather. across the high plains we're still watching a low pressure area. see it pushing toward ontario. cold front extends towards the south. along that more severe thunderstorms could be popping up. actually, just yesterday we saw some -- several reports of tornadoes, about ten reports of tornadoes, large hail out of this storm system.

that is still a threat into the midwestern states. also the southwest some fire weather in place there for you. but this is the big topic i want to say. you have that low. warm air pumping in ahead of it. and while this is typical for this time of year, into the 30s across the gulf states. but look at these high temperatures across the northeast. it sure feels like summer out here, here in mid-june. washington, d.c., getting up to 34 on your tuesday into wednesday. up to 31 and to 32 there into new york city. staying on the topic of feels like tropical weather, let's talk about the world cup as well. because hot and humid. you have the usa versus guana out here into northern portions of brazil. remember, this is the amazon. hot and humid afternoon storms always erupting out here. definitely if it doesn't rain, people are going to be sweating with a high of 28, humidity very high. also down there towards the south in salvador, expect those showers really to persist throughout the day. here's the extended outlook.

that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching.

"france 24" newsroom, it is one p.m. here in paris. headlines at this hour, western embassies are ordered to evacuate the iraqi capital despite assurances that their forces are repelling the rebel offensive. in ukraine they have carried out mass killings. the palestinian president condemns the abduction of three israeli teenagers that went missing in the west bank four days ago. israel said that they were taken by hamas. russia shuts off the gas. that is according to ukraine, just after the deadline in which they would hto