. hello and welcome back to "newsline." i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the headlines. people in japan are feeling the impact of a severe tropical storm that is triggering landslides and flooding across the country. israeli forces are carrying out intensive air strikes on the gaza strip in retaliation for attacks from the territory. and people in australia are working to protect the great barrier reef. they fear it will erode away.

weather officials in japan are warning residents to be be ready for more rain as a severe tropical storm churns off the coast. it is being blamed for three deaths. the storm has soaked southern and central communities triggeringing landslides and flooding. authorities say two people died after falling into irrigation ditches. the storm has injured more than 50 people. and it flooded hundreds of homes. officials have issued evacuation advisories to nearly 700 households. roughly 450 households don't have any electricity. the residents of some towns watched and worried as the rain kept falling hour after hour. all that water caused part of a hillside in the central prefecture of nagano to give way. nhk shows us what happened. >> reporter: you could hear it coming. then this.

a torrent of mud rushed down a hillside, scattering uprooted trees and dirt and coating a community. >> translator: the house shook violently. i thought it was an earthquake. i opened the window and saw earth and sound rush into the house, so i held on to a pillar. >> reporter: municipal officials say the mudslide washed away a house. a mother and her three sons were inside. one of the boys died. the officials say debris spilled over the banks of another mountain river in the same town. some homes were damaged. people who took shelter in a local elementary school didn't sleep well. over breakfast, they watched tv to get updates on the impact of the storm.

>> translator: we suffered serious damage. i don't know what to say. >> reporter: officials have started on site investigations to find out the extent of the damage. >> translator: i'm saddened by the loss of the 12-year-old child. we have to do everything we can and take all appropriate measures to ensure the safety of residents. >> reporter: authorities are warning people to stay on guard for the coming days. kurando tago, nhk world. workers at japan's crippled nuclear plant are also on guard. they're taking precautions in case the fukushima daiichi site gets hit by heavy rain and powerful winds. crews are pumping rain water out of barriers surrounding storage tanks for contaminated water.

they're concerned the tanks could be leaking and don't want anything radioactive to spill out of the barriers. they also attached weights to cranes to hold them steady. workers used cranes to clear debris from areas around the reactor buildings. let's now bring in our meteorologist, jonathan oh. we haven't seen much rain in tokyo yet, but the winds are picking up. what can we expect? >> shery, looks like you will eventually start to see rain as the system interacts with the rainy season front. and we're talking about a copious amount of rainfall, which will lead to flooding and also landslides. let's take a look at the statistics. this is this moving to the east, northeast, 45 kilometers per hour. it has weakened to 90 kilometers per hour, but still it is packing winds and the greatest threat with this particular system is the rainfall that will be accompanying the interaction. so it has the southerly flow bringing in the moisture from the south, along with the rain already in the north. so in some places we can see up

to 400 millimeters of rainfall, just in the next 24 hours into the noon hour on friday. and up toward the north, on top of the 200 millimeters of rainfall, we could see another 150 millimeters of rain as w go into saturday. so certainly not a good situation when it comes to the amount of rain that will be falling. we'll have more at a look at the world weather coming up in just a minute. israeli forces are bombarding the gaza strip. residents have seen air strike after air strike over the last two days. hospital officials in gaza say 43 people have been killed, more than 430 have been wounded. israelis and palestinians blame each other for the violence. israeli commanders launched the offensive to stop rocket attacks from inside gaza. they bombed more than 500 sites. the targets include the homes of the leaders of the islamic

resistance movement hamas. israeli officials say more than 70 rockets from gaza landed on their territory. they have not reported any casualties. egyptian mediators are trying to arrange a cease-fire. but the political leader of hamas blames the israelis for the latest fighting. khaled meshaal says he will not agree to a truce unless they stop their attacks. israeli commanders have warned of a lengthy campaign and mobilized thousands of soldiers along the gaza border. the pro palestinian demonstrators rallied in new york, urging israel to stop attacking the gaza strip. about 100 people took part in wednesday's protest. they called for the fighting to end immediately and demanded palestinians be freed from israeli occupation. >> i'm protesting today because of the collective punishment that is happening against palestinians. >> and the solution is the united states to stop funding the state of israel. >> the u.n. security council will hold an emergency session

on thursday to discuss the escalating hostilities. secretary-general ban ki-moon and the arab league requested the meeting. >> this is one of the most critical tests the region has faced in recent years. gaza is on a knife's edge. >> analysts are waiting to see how the united states will respond. the u.s. has been mediating peace talks between the two sides. iraqi leaders are struggling to keep their country from breaking apart. sunni extremists are entrenched in several key cities and are fighting to grab more land. militants seized the second largest city of mosul a month ago. iraqi military commanders launched an offensive to drive them out, but the militants are hanging on. the insurgency is edging cleeser to the capital. members of the kurdish minority who want to split from iraq are

seizing their opportunity. last month they took over the city of kirkuk, home to one of the country's largest oil fields. and their leader masoud barzani announced an independence vote. maliki criticized the kurds in a speech on television. he accused them of exploiting the country's crisis. u.s. vice president joe biden is trying to convince the kurds' leader to consider his push for independence. biden told barzani by phone that u.s. leaders back iraq's leaders in their fight against the militants. iraqi lawmakers are scheduled to convene again on sunday. they'll resume talks aimed at forming a national unity government. former u.s. national security agency contractor edward snowden has applied to extend his stay in russia. his current one-year residence permit is about to expire at the end of july. snowden faces criminal charges in the united states, leaking details -- for leaking details of highly classified government surveillance programs.

last year he received a temporary permit to stay in russia as a political refugee. moscow is expected to approve an extension. russian president vladimir putin rejected demands from the u.s. government to hand over snowden. putin said there is no legal basis for such a move. the case remains a sticking point between the two countries. the relations are already strained over the fighting in ukraine. over in north korea, authorities are playing up their missile program. state run media has published photos of kim jong-un inspecting a launch drill. the korean central news agency says kim gave orders to fire. the report says the drill took place in what it refers to as the western front. it didn't specify when it was held. analysts believe the images were taken on wednesday when the north koreans fired two short range ballistic missiles into the sea of japan. the devices took off from the western province of hwanghae.

officials say they were the first launches from the area in more than a decade. last week the north koreans set off devices from a location in the east. the military officials say authorities in pyongyang are trying to prove they can fire missiles anywhere at anytime. the u.s. state department spokesperson says the north koreans are antagonizing their neighbors. >> such provocative actions unilaterally heighten tensions in the region and will not provide north korea with the prosperity and security it claims to seek. >> authorities in pyongyang have staged four launches in under two weeks. let's turn to the latest business stories with ron madison. >> well, managers at companies across japan have looked into the future and they're a bit cautious about what's ahead. the latest numbers show they're holding back on reinvesting in their businesses. managers placed machinery orders in may adding up to about $6.7 billion. officials at the cabinet office

say that's down 19.5% from april. it is the largest monthly decline ever. the figures do not include orders for ships and from electric power companies. those do tend to fluctuate too much. orders for manufacturers were down more than 18%, those from nonmanufacturers down by roughly the same margin. most analysts expected to see managers place more orders. but those at the cabinet office say the growth trend has come to a stand still. and consumers in japan could end up paying more for the things they want and need. the prices of goods traded among companies rose 4.6% in june from a year earlier. that's the biggest increase in nearly six years. officials at the bank of japan say the increase in april in the consumption tax pushed up prices on a range of products. and the fighting around oil fields in iraq has driven up the price of crude. so businesses are paying more now for gasoline and diesel. bank officials looked at what prices would have been without the hike in the consumption tax, and they found prices still would have risen 1.7%.

many companies pass increases on to consumers, so people could soon see some changes when they get to the checkout counter. now despite that news, japanese shoppers seemed to feel that the economy is recovering. consumer sentiment is up for the second straight month. officials at the cabinet office say the condition assumer confidence index stood at 41.1. this survey covers 8400 households and asks consumers about their spending outlook for the next six months. officials attribute the rise to an improvement in wages and the job market. the cabinet office revised upward its overall assessment of consumer confidence from showing signs of recovery to recovering. let's get a check of the markets now. investors were reassured that the u.s. federal reserve will not be in much of a rush to raise interest rates based on the minutes from the latest policy meeting. and this supported stock market sentiment. here is how major boards in the asia pacific region finished out

the day. it showed both exports and imports rose in june from the same month a year ago. these figures, though, did not reach what markets had initially expected. analysts say the figures suggest external demand remains weak and domestic recovery is a bit fragile. the shanghai composite did rise as much as .3% earlier, but ended at 2,038. in jakarta, analysts welcome the prospects of joko widodo coming to power. he's seen to likely press head to reforms to attract more foreign investment. this did push the main benchmark to the highest level in more than a year. meanwhile here in tokyo, the average has seen declines of more than half a percent, finishing at 15,216, falling for the fourth straight day. it was a bit disappointing, hurt by disappointing numbers on japanese machinery orders. large tech companies are getting more and more concerned about so-called patent trolls.

now, six of them including google and japan's canon are forming a network to deal with the problem. patent trolls are businesses that buy patents and then file lawsuits against companies claiming infringement. canon executives say this kind of litigation has been on the rise. they say about 6,000 patent cases were filed in the u.s. last year alone. companies in the network which share the right to use each other's patents, canon executives say they'll cooperate with google to increase the number of companies joining the network. the editors of fortune magazine have compiled their annual list of the world's 500 biggest companies. this time the list includes more chinese firms than ever before. editors ranked the fortune global 500 by revenue. 128 u.s. firms made it on to their list. walmart topped them all. the number of chinese companies rose by six to reach 95. three chinese firms made it into the top ten. sinopec group came in third, china national petroleum fourth,

and china's largest state owned energy company state grid came in seventh. to our feature this hour, government leaders and business managers in finland doing everything that they can to try to foster more innovation there. nhk world takes a look. >> reporter: employees at this software company enjoy perks their friends can only dream about. u.s. researchers chose it as europe's best workplace two years in a row. they praised managers for promoting communication among the staff. and employees can find all kinds of ways to relax. some take a sauna, others play pool in this game room. >> it is just about us having a workplace that we enjoy going to every day, that we enjoy being

part of. >> reporter: managers have asked employees to post how they feel on this board. with a smiley or a sad face. >> you get so much out -- more out of a team when they really the communication between the teams are really fast and easy. and so on. and so just more fun, more motivating, and more productive. >> reporter: government leaders once relied on one company to lead growth. nokia became the world's biggest manufacturer of cell phones. but its managers hesitated in getting into smartphones and now their business is struggling. so government officials are going all-out to promote innovation at other firms.

they joined academic and business leaders four years ago to find alto university. they hope it will serve as a base for developing innovative products. designers created offices they hoped would spur creative activity. walls are made of glass so everyone can see what their colleagues are working on. facilitators organized workshops so people with ideas they want to hone can develop them with the help of others. the u.s., germany and japan are taking note. they are doing what they can to work with researchers at the school. >> if you're doing product design, it is really important to have versatile background people in one space. people together, making an

engineer and designer and vice versa, that's really important. >> reporter: this student got caught up in the spirit. he wanted to create a microphone. students can ask a question and then pose it to a classmate. he calls the product the catch box. he's planning to sell it online within a few months. >> you know, they're throwing countless hours making their own things happen. yeah, it's just this whole -- i think it is just the whole atmosphere, the whole experience. >> reporter: the people who run the university are hoping to do even more. they want to spread their approach throughout the country and give other entrepreneurs a platform for innovation. nato shimimura, nhk world,

helsinki. that will do it for business hour. let's get a check of the markets now. scientists in australia fear a tourist destination visited by millions of people every year will wash away. they're seeing coral on the

great barrier reef erode, so they have undertaken a plan to save the natural wonder. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: the great barrier reef is the world's largest coral reef. it stretches over 2,000 kilometers off australia's northeastern coast. but now this natural wonder is in danger. this coral has been bleached. the cause is linked to the rising ocean temperature. if it stays at this level, more coral will die or deteriorate. the australian institute of marine science says in the last 30 years the great barrier reef has shrunk by 50%. some researchers say pollution is the cause. among them is professor john brodie, his research focuses on water runoff from land.

>> pollution comes from agriculture and cultural development including ports. the first stapge of that was 20 years of science and research. we did lots of research and science and showed in fact that agricultural pollution was a real problem for the great barrier reef. >> reporter: fertilizers and pest sized used on farm land empty into rivers and into the sea, harming water quality. this in turn has a deadly affect on coral. the situation is so critical that australia's government has launched a plan to halt a coral reef decline by 2050. >> we need to sustain the effort. it took us 100 years to cause the problem. it will take some decades to repair the water quality. >> reporter: the government's policy has encouraged many local farmers to start making changes. this sugar cane field, more than

100 kilometers inland, has its own water catchment system. it prevents vert li er if th fe getting into the river and into the sea. water from the field is collected in a catchment. and then recycled and pumped back out to the field. students take part in the conservation effort. this school teaches that water quality is vital for the health of coral reefs. water for raising fish and growing vegetables is treated before it's released. >> if we don't protect the reef, it won't be here for future generations. >> little is a big thing. we don't want that to get to the great barrier reef. >> it is has everything to do with protecting our reef from

watching what -- how much rubbish you have, because that can go into drains to ruin the reef, around looking after water streams, looking after the biodiversity. >> reporter: people, both young and old, do whatever they can to preserve the reef. their study efforts continue. takao nakajima, nhk world, sydney. and we'll hand it back to jonathan for the world weather forecast. jonathan? >> hello. let's take a look at the forecast beginning in japan. yes, we're continuing to keep an eye on know duneoguri, but we'r getting anywhere from 200 to 400 millimeters of rainfall possible from central japan all the way into hokkaido. so make sure that you are paying

attention and be situationally aware because landslides and flooding are definitely a big possibility as we go forward into the forecast for the next couple of days. for are the western half of japan, we will see an improvement. now, for friday, yes, it is going to be wet because of the remnants of what is the remaining clouds along neoguri continues to linger around. by saturday and sunday, much brighter conditions and going to be a lot warmer. look at this. 37 on saturday and 36 on sunday, so definitely much warmer conditions behind the departing system. so be prepared if you're planning to go in that direction. now, there are other areas that are also dealing with some flooding into the hubei province, up to 120 millimeters of rainfall in the next 24 hours in china. the rainy season continues there. make sure you're taking precautions. we're also keeping an eye out for a developing tropical depression down south of guam. this is something that is way out in the pacific. we'll look at this closely as we

go through next few days. i think it may be something we're watching out for specifically next week. for next fu dew days, nothing t worry about. shanghai, taipei, manila, dealing with rain as we go throughout friday. here is the look at the forecast for the americas. we have a cold front that is moving across the eastern half of the united states, earlier this week causing some problems. here is some pictures from rome, new york, on tuesday, where trees were knocked over. we had a barn that collapsed because of the severe storms and the strong winds. and also you can see here some dramatic pictures with the trees being snapped in half. now, it looks like there will somebody storms along the frontal passage and anywhere from the eastern coast to the deep south. so look out for that possibility of seeing some strong storms. also another low will be bringing some unstable weather for the central plains. for denver, you'll be seeing a chance for thunderstorms, down to houston, atlanta, d.c. and new york. you also see some rain and thunderstorms coming up for our thursday. let's wrap things up with a look

at europe. we're seeing heavy rains, strong winds from a couple of low pressure systems located in stra central portions of the continent. flooding concerns do exist. and it looks like all the way into russia we're going to seat possibility of some rain and thunderstorms for thursday. highs will be in the 20s. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

and that's all for this hour

on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. a7guc

>> it is 1:00 here in paris. you are watching "france 24." are headlines this afternoon -- our headlines this afternoon. israel dramatically escalates its aerial offensive as palestinians continue firing rockets into israel. the security council is set to meet to discuss the crisis. ban ki-moon has warned that gaza is on a knife edge. kurds call on a hysterical nouri al-maliki to quit after he accuses israel of harboring terrorism -- terrorists.