hello, and welcome back to "newsline." i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the headlines. u.s. president barack obama offers to help broker a cease-fire in gaza as the conflict between israeli forces and palestinian militants escalates. u.s. vice president joe biden has hinted at further sanctions against russia if the country continues to support separatists in east ukraine. and we follow one of sumo's rising stars as he gears up for

the july tournament. u.s. president barack obama says he's willing to help negotiate a cease-fire between israeli leaders and palestinian militants in gaza. israeli forces have been targeting members of hamas in retaliation for rocket attacks. dozens of palestinians have died, and there are fears the violence could worsen if israel launches a ground offensive. more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: palestinian militants in gaza are firing off rockets day and night. [ sirens ] israelis have been rushing to bomb shelters. and while some of the rockets hit their marks, most end up as white puffs in the sky, blown up by israel's sophisticated aerial defense system known as the iron dome. the israeli air offensive in

gaza has been much more punishing. buildings reduced to rubble or engulfed in flames, residents rushed out on stretchers and cars turned into piles of mangled metal. israeli leaders say they're targeting members of hamas. the islamist militant group that controls gaza, but civilians are dying, too. >> we face the risk of an all out escalation. >> reporter: members of the u.n. security council met to discuss the conflict. >> it is now more urgent than ever to try to find common ground for a return to calm. >> reporter: both sides made emotional appeals. >> 15 seconds, that's how much time you have to run for your life. >> reporter: israel's ambassador says no country would tolerate rocket attacks. the palestinian representative urged the security council to act. >> failing to do so, it will

further diminish its own credibility and be complicit in allowing innocent children, women and men to die. >> reporter: the seeds of this latest conflict were sewn last month. three israeli teens disappeared in the west bank. authorities in israel blamed hamas and launched a crackdown. hamas responded with rockets. then, after the teens turned up dead, a group of israelis allegedly kidnapped and killed a palestinian teenager out of revenge. the cycle of violence and lingering tension is familiar. the israelis sent ground troops into gaza in 2009, and they last went to war there in 2012. at this point, prime minister benjamin netanyahu is only saying expect more, but palestinian president mahmoud abbas argues a ground operation could start within hours. u.s. officials are offering to broker a cease-fire. >> de-escalation ultimately is

in the interests of all parties. >> reporter: it's unclear if statements such as that will stop the violence. hamas leaders accused israel of carrying out war crimes by killing civilians, but the israelis say they're going after terrorists and that they have long days of fighting ahead of them. craig dale, nhk world. international negotiators are struggling to reach a final accord on iran's nuclear program by a july 20th deadline. now the foreign ministers from the six world powers engaged in the talks have been invited to vienna in a bid to breathe new life into the negotiations. european union foreign policy chief catherine ashton and iranian foreign minister javad zarif have been leading the attempt to find common ground. ashton's spokesperson said the ministers of the six world powers have been invited to participate. a u.s. state department spokesperson says secretary of state john kerry will travel to vienna this weekend.

french government sources said foreign minister laurent fabius will arrive on thursday. they are at odds over the scale of iran's uranium enrichment program, including the number of centrifuges it should be allowed to use. they're also divided over how to lift the economic sanctions imposed by western nations. officials with the international atomic energy agency warn insurgents in iraq have seized nuclear materials, but they say the substances do not pose a significant threat. iraqi government officials informed the iaea that the insurgents took the material from a university in the country's second largest city of mosul. reuters says nearly 40 kilograms of uranium compounds were kept at the university for research purposes. the iraqi government is asking the u.n. for help to stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in iraq or abroad. iaea officials say the materials are low grade, but they say any

loss of regulatory control over nuclear and other radioactive materials is a cause for concern. over the last month, sunni militants have taken control of a number of cities in an offensive across northern and western iraq. u.s. vice president joe biden has indicated that his country could move forward with another round of sanctions against russia. biden spoke by phone with ukraine's president, petro poroshenko, about cease-fire negotiations that are going nowhere. white house sources say poroshenko told biden that the kremlin and pro-russian separatists in ukraine had rejected numerous proposed venues for peace talks. biden told poroshenko the u.s. is discussing with its partners in the international community the need to hold russia accountable for its continued support for the separatists. the sources say the two men agreed the separatists should immediately release captive ukrainian soldiers. they also agreed the organization for security and

cooperation in europe should monitor the ukraine/russia border. last week, poroshenko told biden that his country's ready to implement another cease-fire, if the separatists lay down their weapons and meet certain other conditions. "the new york times" has reported that chinese hackers broke into the computer networks of a u.s. government agency. the system stores personal information related to everyone who works for the federal government. the paper says the hackers gained access to some of the databases of the office of personnel management in march. the hackers appear to be targeting the files of tens of thousands of applicants for top-secret security clearance. the "times" reported that homeland security officials have not confirmed whether hackers obtained information that could identify individuals. it said the department has assembled a team of experts to investigate.

an overloaded school minibus crashed into a pond in china, killing all 11 people aboard, including 8 kindergarten children. the state-run xinhua news agency says it occurred on thursday. the children were being taken home. the father of one of the children said the vehicle was carrying even more students when it left the school, but some had already been dropped off. >> translator: the bus only has 7 seats, but it was carrying 14 or 15 passengers. >> xinhua reports that the driver had been hired only several days before and was not familiar with the route. overloaded vehicles are often involved in accidents in china. a major hotel in seoul has abruptly canceled the japanese embassy's reservation for a reception on the eve of the event. the reception would have marked the anniversary of the establishment of japan's self-defense forces. the embassy had invited south korean government officials and

lawmakers as well as foreign diplomats stationed in south korea. the lotte hotel cited anti-japanese feeling as the reason for the cancellation. the hotel said it was unaware of the purpose of the reception at the time the reservation was made, but the embassy says it made its intention clear from the beginning. a major south korean newspaper, the "dong-a ilbo," earlier ran an article criticizing the event for the sentiment. the hotel says it's received many calls protesting the event, including groups who said it would hold rallies in front of its facilities. >> translator: regardless of the reason, it's highly regrettable that the hotel unilaterally canceled the reservation on the eve of the scheduled event. >> kishida said his government launched a strong protest with the hotel via the embassy.

all right, to the latest in business now. chief negotiators in the trans-pacific partnership free trade talks are meeting in canada to try to resolve their differences. japanese delegates are hoping to make progress in bilateral tariff negotiations. officials from 12 countries began working-level discussions in ottawa last saturday. japan's deputy chief negotiator, hiroshi oe held talks separately with the chief negotiators for mexico, chile and new zealand. oe sounded out new zealand on the idea of imposing low tariffs on a certain volume of dairy products that japan imports from the country. new zealand officials are demanding that japan eliminate all tariffs on these products. japanese and u.s. negotiators have been working to set up a similar system on some dairy products. japanese delegates are hoping to obtain concessions from the u.s. and new zealand. well, asian markets are pretty calm this friday, even after worries about the financial health of a major portuguese lender rattled investors in europe and the u.s.

on thursday. major indexes across the region finished mixed. traders took this as an opportunity to book some profits. others not so worried about the latest developments in the eurozone. they thought the possible impact would be fairly limited. china's shanghai composite saw gains today, up 0.4% to finish at 2,046. that was the first uptick that we've seen in three days. some participants bought back shares as the index slid to a two-week low on thursday. tokyo's nikkei did decline. it was lower by 0.3%, 15,164. that's the lowest close in just about two weeks. a stronger yen hurt overall sentiment today, and that put a drag on some of the exporters. the index, in fact, seeing a weekly drop of 1.8%. it fell every single day this week. and over in jakarta, the key index there closing down 1.3%, just about, 5,032. the decline coming after hopes for the country's new president had pushed up the index 4.3%

over the past four trading days. still, investors a bit cautious. they're waiting for the official outcome of the presidential election. well, tokyo government officials looking to the u.s. now, and they're seeing a way to raise some money. they're calling on american executives to invest in their city in the lead-up to the 2020 olympics. the officials hosted a seminar in new york for dozens of investors and businesspeople. they said more and more opportunities are popping up in their city in the years leading up to the games. they said many international companies have head offices in tokyo. they said it's a safe place to do business, and many people seem to be getting the message. >> we'd love to, you know, open an office there that would serve the larger asia population as our business grows. >> i think a lot of foreigners feel a lot more comfortable looking at tokyo and a lot of the incentives, the english-speaking infrastructure that's being put in place i think would make people consider tokyo more carefully than in the

past. >> some, though were less enthusiastic. they said it's difficult to access the market in japan and they say corporate taxes are just too high. well, back here in japan, government officials are taking steps to make the country more attractive. they're preparing to get an ultra high-speed communications system up and running also before the olympics. a government panel of experts drafted a plan for a next-generation communications policy. the panel members expect foreign visitors to descend on japan in large numbers in 2020. they'll be using plenty of devices, like smartphones and things like that. so, they're calling on the communications ministry to team up with industry and academic researchers and develop a fifth-generation mobile system. the system is expected to have a speed that's about 100 times faster than at present. a president of the world bank has spoken over and over about the role that the private sector can play in helping those in need. jim yong kim is leading a campaign to end extreme poverty

by 2030. and nhk world's iko dodden sat down with him to talk about poverty, growth, and also the risks that he sees ahead. >> reporter: so, we meet again. >> thank you for having me. >> reporter: thank you for taking the time. in june, the world scaled back its forecast for economic growth for 2014 from 3.2% to 8.2%, but he said the major downside risks have been alleviated. >> we're now in a much sounder footing. but there are still some risks. if the tapering of monetary easing of the u.s. fed is more bankrupt than we hope, there could be some real bumps, especially for emerging market economies. you know, we're still hoping that the growth of the high-income countries will really take off. and while growth is not going to be as high as any of us wish, we really think that so many of the really severe downside risks

have been minimized. >> reporter: and what about the situation in argentina? how worrying is the situation? will argentina be able to meet the deadline for paying interest on its government bonds? >> argentina's a member of the world bank group. we continue to watch that situation very carefully. the argentinean authorities have told us that they want to move back to a more normalized relationship and then begin borrowing again from us. the impact in the region could be substantial. and again, we just, we're very much hoping that some kind of agreement can be reached. >> reporter: last month, shinzo abe's government approved his strategy for economic growth. jim yong kim pointed out that the focus within economics encouraging women to work is necessary to revitalize the japanese economy. >> i think it's exactly what needs to be done. i mean, if there is a huge,

unused resource in japan, it is the women in the workforce. and so, it will require a pretty fundamental shift in culture, but i would say that both as the president of the world bank and as an anthropologist, we've seen shifts happening in other places that happen fairly quickly where women became involved in the workforce much more quickly than anyone had expected. >> reporter: the symposium convened to discuss how innovation by japanese entrepreneurs can help reduce poverty around the world. >> innovation is critical for us at the world bank group. our goal is to end extreme poverty, meaning bring it down to as low a level as possible, which is, we think, about 3%. >> reporter: but you've set the goal to be 2030. that's 16 years away. isn't that a bit ambitious? >> it's one of the most ambitious targets that the world bank has ever adopted. but think about it. this will be the first time in

human history that we can actually talk about an end to extreme poverty. you know, we know now that more than 90% of all the jobs in developing countries are created in the private sector. so, building a robust and healthy private sector is a huge part of our plan to end poverty. >> reporter: recently, japan has placed off around $5 billion in grants and loans, more than any other country, but kim says what is more important is the innovation of young japanese people to achieve the goal of freeing the world of extreme poverty. aiko doden, nhk world, tokyo. >> all right, that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's see how things are looking on the markets.

japan's july grand sumo tournament starts next week in tokyo, and among the contenders entering the ring is a rising star named ikioe. his success in the last tournament has many expecting big things this time. nhk world sumo expert and commentator hiro morita watched him gear up for the competition. >> reporter: the 27-year-old has an ideal frame for assumer. he's 1 meter and 94 centimeters tall and weighs 162 kilograms. his name, ikioe, conveys the notion of spirit, momentum and strength. he's been competing at the top

division since march 2012. he's particularly strong from a stance called migiotsu, where he grabs his opponent's belt with a right-hand, inside grip and stay close to him. he says he modeled his technique on hakuho, one of the three reigning sumo grand champions. he has shown steady improvement since the beginning of this year. during the last tournament, he won 11 of the 15 bouts, 9 of them consecutively. his fine performance earned him the fighting spirit prize. >> reporter: how do you rate your performance at the may tournament? >> translator: i felt a positive tension. i was in good shape and i think my fundamentals were sound.

so, it went well. >> reporter: part of ikioi's charm emanates from the contrast between his aggressive style inside the ring and his kindness during regional sumo tours. he's won many fans in all age categories. ♪ >> reporter: another ace up ikioi's sleeve is his talent as a singer. last month, he threw a karaoke party for his fans. more than 1,300 people from around japan applied to be among the ten singers at the event. >> translator: after today, i like him even more. >> translator: i'll continue rooting for him for a long time. >> reporter: ikioi has come to play an important role in promoting sumo and increasing the number of fans. in the upcoming nagoya

tournament, he's hoping to secure a promotion to the rank of san yack you, the rank just below yokozuna and the second highest rank of ozeki. to achieve his objective, he'll need to win at least 8 of the 15 bouts. that will be no easy task, as he competes against other top-ranking wrestlers. >> translator: my goal is to unsettle the yokozuna and the ozeki with my technique. it's all about taking them head on and not letting them brush me aside. >> reporter: ikioi's kind and cheerful, but once he steps inside the ring, he turns into a formidable foe. now he's set to fight his way up through the ranks, like his name suggests, with a combination of spirit, momentum and strength. hiro morita, nhk world. and thrill-seekers over in the u.s. have met their match. they're lining up at a resort in

kansas city to ride the world's tallest and maybe scariest water slide. the slide is a towering 50 meters high. that's the equivalent to a 17-story building or taller than the statue of liberty. riders need climb up 264 steps just to reach the starting point. they've had to wait more than a year to take the plunge because construction crews couldn't meet their deadlines. the slide failed several safety tests, so builders were forced to slow down the speed and put up a net to prevent riders from falling off. but many daredevils are still willing to take the risk. officials say they're limiting each person to one white-knuckle ride down the slide. now, the weather here in japan has changed from stormy to hot and steamy. our meteorologist jonathan oh joins me now. jonathan, happy friday. so, what's the forecast?

>> causing some problems earlier this week has dissipated, has now moved off. it's now bringing in much brighter conditions. in fact, oguma prefecture, temperatures topped off at 38 degrees. so, yes, it's a little bit hot out there and the humidity behind the tropical system departing from the area. it's feeling a little bit sticky outside. now, also into china, in the hubei province, there's a high of 38 degrees also reported there, but the contrast in china is that there will be rain. we do have that rainy season front still being a part of the problem, and so, more rainfall is expected, anywhere from 50 to 100 millimeters of rain during the next 24 hours. i do want to draw your attention down toward guam, as a tropical depression is now spinning around there, moving toward the west at 15 kilometers per hour, packing winds of 54 kilometers per hour. this system is already causing tropical storm watches and

warnings to be in effect. saipan under a watch, guam under a warning. and it looks like the rain is going to still be a part of the problem. the strong winds are also part of the picture. temperatures topping off at 30 degrees. however, the rest of east asia, there are some bright spots. a little bit warmer than average. tokyo, kyoto, you'll be above average, temperatures in the low to mid-30s. and if you're traveling to other parts of east asia, also seeing some dry conditions with a few clouds moving in from time to time. let's take a look at the forecast in the americans. we've been talking about a cold front that was draped across the eastern seaboard. unfortunately, it caused some problems for residents in eastern virginia. let's look at some video coming out of that region where we had some storms rolling through thursday. at least ten people were injured in virginia beach. the storm left significant damage in its wake. and unfortunately, a tornado in virginia also snapped some trees and damaged several homes as well. the good news is, as we take a

look at the map, is that this system will be pushing off toward the east. yes, we'll still see some embedded storms down toward the deep south from time to time, but it will eventually clear the area. high pressure will be taking over, bringing some fair weather for a good portion of the weekend. we're also looking out for another low located near nebraska, may be causing some instability. strong winds up to 90-kilometer-per-hour gusts are possible with some rain and thunderstorms expected. so, anywhere from denver into chicago looking at some wet weather. also down toward the deep south, yes, but d.c. and new york, sunnier skies, high of around 30 degrees. let's take a look at europe's forecast now. we've talked about a couple of low pressure systems that have been stuck in gear, haven't really moved into any locations. bulgaria seeing about 50 millimeters of rainfall during a 24-hour period. more rain along with strong winds, anywhere from 60 kilometers per hour on top of a 20 to 40-millimeter rainfall expected for these areas. and eventually, that will push toward the east, high pressure

will be moving into the iberian peninsula. sunny skies, highs in the mid-30s in lisbon, but another low pressure system will be moving in, bringing some more rainfall into western europe as we go through the weekend. let's wrap things up with a look at the forecast for brazil. the world cup about to come to an end this weekend. here's a look at the forecast. the third-place match will be partly cloudy, 25 degrees. and then for the final between argentina and germany, 22 degrees, partly cloudy skies on sunday. 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. gg99ññww

hello and welcome to "live from paris." it is 1:00 p.m. in the french capital. let's look at headlines this hour. u.s. president offers to broker asease-fire in gaza palestinians say at least 100 have died since israel began their aerial campaign tuesday. johnsecretary of state kerry says afghanistan is at a critical moment as he heads to kabul. several thousand have gathered in bosnia for the 19th anniversary of the massacre of 8000 muslim men by ethnicds