welcome to "newsline." i'm keikichi hanada in tokyo. here are some of the stories we're following this hour. returning home to tackle mountains of rubble as a cease-fire between israel and hamas holds. a leader of pro russian separatists in eastern ukraine is making a new push for the creation of an independent state. and more and more people across china have a problem with

obesity. but many are trying out innovative ways to take off the extra weight. israeli and hamas leaders are both claiming victory in the aftermath of the latest war in gaza. they signed an open ended cease-fire during a mediated talks in egypt, and they're preparing for difficult negotiations ahead. for now, people on both sides of the border are trying to move forward. more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: the people of gaza are picking through the remains of their homes and businesses. cleaning up and getting ready to rebuild. nobody likes war, says this shop owner. they should find a real solution. across the border in israel, most are thankful a cease-fire is in place. but they're guarded. >> i'm a little skeptical as to whether it is really going to hold and if hamas will follow through. >> reporter: israel and hamas

went to war for seven weeks. palestinian militants fired off rocket after rocket. israeli forces responded with air strikes and a ground invasion. more than 2100 palestinians died along with 70 israelis. in the aftermath, there have been competing claims of victory. gazaens have rallied among the ruins and marched in the streets alongside heavily armed fighters. hamas leaders sound jubilant. ismail haniyeh says the resistant had the upper hand. israeli leaders seem more subdued. but no less triumphant. prime minister benjamin netanyahu says his country made a huge military achievement. some say their government sur rended to terrorism. but others argue fighting won't resolve the deep seeded issues with the palestinians. >> they have to be a state.

if they have a state to lose, something to lose. >> reporter: palestinians in gaza have lost a lot already. they made some gains in the cease-fire talks, brokered by egypt. the israelis and egyptians are allowing humanitarian aid to cross the border. building supplies will soon follow. but everyone agrees the next round of negotiations will be difficult. hamas leaders want to construction a seaport in gaza and rebuild the airport. the israelis have demands too, including a call for hamas to disarm. before the talks can even begin, though, the cease-fire has to hold. israeli troops have been pulling away from the border. but prime minister netanyahu says if hamas starts firing again, they'll be back. craig dale, nhk world. pro russian separatists have pushed for months for more autonomy in eastern ukraine. they have seen hundreds of their comrades killed in fighting against government forces. but one of their leaders says

they're committed it their cause. denys pushylin spoke in moscow about the fight for independence. he said people have become victims, so he said he's against the idea of a united ukraine. earlier this week, the ukrainian and russian presidents met for the first time to discuss the crisis. petro poroshenko and vladimir putin sat down together in minsk, the capital of belarus. they failed to narrow their differences, but agreed to keep talking. two main separatist groups are operating in eastern ukraine. their leaders say they want to unite to form an independent state called novorossia. but right now the fighting is leading more people to flee their homes. more than 600 arrived on wednesday near vladivostok in russia's far east. >> translator: i'm afraid that i won't be able to go home again.

>> russian leaders have set up more than 530 shelters. they say more than 57,000 refugees are living in them. the leader of a group of exiled uygurs is demanding an investigation into last month's riots in the autonomous region. mobs stormed local government buildings on july 28th. a chinese government news website reported that 37 people were killed and blamed members of the east turkestan islamic movement. the group is claiming independence for the autonomous region. the head of the world uygur congress released a statement in washington. >> translator: a lot of uygur civilians have been killed by chinese security forces. but there is no significant reaction from the international community. >> she said it is impossible to

know the truth because the chinese authorities have cut off internet access and imposed tight restrictions on the media. kadeer also said the authorities are using drones to collect information on terrorist suspects. all right, to the latest in business now and earnings news kicks us off this hour. executives at australia's quantitioqantas air ways are struggling to turn their business around. on thursday, they announced the company posted a record loss. officials say qantas posted a net loss of 2.6 billion u.s. dollars for the financial year that ended in june. ceo alan joyce put part of the blame on a price battle with virgin australia. soaring fuel costs and a writedown of aging aircrafts also dragged on the bottom line. >> there is no doubt that today's numbers are confronted,

but they represent the year that has passed and we have now come through the worst. >> in february, qantas executives adopted a restructuring plan. they're laying off 5,000 worker, just about 15% of the total workforce. joyce expects the company to return to profit during the first half of the current fiscal year. total car output in japan dropped last month for the first time in 11 months. executives at major automakers say this is partly due to the recent consumption tax hike. the eight car manufacturers say they produced more than 840,000 units, down 2.2% from the same month last year. toyota saw a 3.7% drop as demand fell for its autos. the firm has just about cleared its backlog of car orders that were received before the april sales tax hike. meanwhile, nissan's output was down more than 20%. the automaker transferred part of its production to overseas plants. mazda also seeing a decline of

near areally 6%. honda, fuji and suzuki reported increased production. thanks to brisk demand for their newly introduced models. the u.s. economy is still trying to get back on track it seems. authorities at the congressional budget office say gdp growth will be lower this year than expected. but they do see signs of a recovery just around the corner. cbo officials released their most recent budget and economic outlook saying gdp growth this year will be a weak 1.5%. they say cold weather early in the year is partly to blame. but officials say there is reason for optimism. they predict the economy will pick up before the end of the year. they say corporate investment, consumer spending and home building will lead to recovery. they estimate gdp to grow 3.5% in 2015 and 2016. officials seeing good news in the labor market. the unemployment rate is 6.2%. they're predicting it will drop

to under 6% by the end of the year. and will fall even further by the end of 2017. on to the markets, investors in asia taking profits on recent gainers and this was due to a lack of fresh trading cues today. major benchmarks finished lower. revised gdp figures are due out later on in the day. and economists are expecting a slight downward revision for the second quarter. here in tokyo, the nikkei average seeing a decline of just about half a percent, 15,459. export related issues ran into selling as the yen gained ground. many turned their attention to a slew of japanese economic data scheduled for release on friday. these do include consumer prices as well as industrial output. in the philippine, the major benchmark seeing losses today. that's only the second time in 12 trading days the index has declined. shares came under pressure today, though, following the recent 4% run-up there. in jakarta, the key benchmark seeing gains of .4%, 5,184.

traderers heard that a cut in the country's fuel subsidies won't come into effect before the next president assumes office in october. they have been concerned about the impact of an expected change in the policy. executives at some big international companies are getting interested in drones. they want to use the flying machines to expand their business and now managers at sony are hoping to get in on the trend. sony holds the leading market share for sensors that work like the human eye. they're used in devices like digital cameras. executives think the technology could be used in drones. possible applications include inspecting aging infrastructure, like tunnels and bridges. they could also check how crops are growing. analysts say the economicic pact of droenz will be more than $76 billion in the u.s. alone by 2025. and the technology could help sony rebuild its finances. the company's tv business has been losing money for about the past ten years.

managers at major i.t. firms are already announced plans to deploy drones. officials at u.s.-based retailer amazon.com say they want to use the machines to deliver products. executives at facebook are planning to use drones beam internet signals to parts of the world that aren't wired. engineers at the company have begun to develop solar powered drones that can stay airborne for long periods of time. and developer are coming up with other things that seem straight out of science fiction. robots that can hold their own in a conversation, and also things like self-driving cars. engineers are racing now to do even more with artificial intelligence. but some of what they're building could end up putting some people out of a job. >> reporter: this robot developed by leading electronics company greets visitors as they arrive. there are two cameras installed in its head, allowing it to

identify and name objects that it sees. >> translator: what is this? >> reporter: the robot's brain is controlled by artificial intelligence. it searches the internet for images similar to the object spotted by its cameras. once the robot has found the commonly used word, it guesses what the object is and responds. in conversations, emiew can understand the meaning of the sentence, even if it is expressed in different ways. >> translator: what's the height of mount fuji. how high is mount fuji? >> reporter: the robot's key feature is that it can learn on its own, using its data and

experience. it doesn't have to be taught. we hope it can be introduced at hospitals, shopping centers, and other places. >> reporter: artificial intelligence is already being used by some businesses. this company conducts research to find corporate wrongdoing and provide legal support. it checks e-mails and document files for evidence and materials that might indicate wrongdoing. one large computer can store over a million files, so artificial intelligence is needed to sort through large volumes of data. at most law firms, the staff have to go through every single file and e-mail one at a time to check for any wrongdoing. to program the digital brain, documents relating to both legal and illegal acts are first

inputted, roughly 100 each. it can then scan documents and sort them into two categories. it sorts documents 4,000 times faster than people, and as it gains experience, its accuracy improves. in this demonstration, the digital brain was able to sift through about 300,000 items of data in 30 minutes. it was able to identify requests for money that used the code word alpha. >> it found the word alpha was being used to ask for money in exchange for something. we would never pick that up unless we had input it first. artificial intelligence is gaining greater accuracy than people in making judgments. humans sometimes make errors,

but artificial intelligence doesn't. so i trust it. and use it. >> reporter: before long, humans may find themselves facing off against robots and artificial intelligence in the workplace. >> okay. that is going to wrap it up for business hour. let's get a check of the markets. japanese health authorities are dealing with two more cases

of dengue fever contracted inside the country. they only just confirmed first domestic infection in almost 70 years. officials say the patients are a man and a woman in their 20s who live in the tokyo area. the man is in hospital with a high temperature. the woman is in stable condition. so is a teenage girls officials recognized as infected the day before. officials say all three attend the same school in tokyo and have not been overseas. the officials say they may have been infected by mosquitos during a dance practice in a tokyo park. city workers collected mosquitos there and found they were not carrying the dengue virus. they're spraying insecticide as a precaution. dengue fever is transmitted by mosquitos, not directly from person to person. staff at the health ministry are

trying to figure out whether someone carried the virus from overseas. a 9-year-old girl has accidentally killed her shooting instructor at the firing range in the u.s. state of arizona. she was visiting the range monday with her parents. the sheriff's office released this video. the man standing next to the girl is showing her how to use an automatic submachine gun. >> all right, go ahead and give me one shot. all right. all right, full on. >> when she pulled the trigger of the uzi submachine gun, it recoiled upward and fired a bullet into his head. he was airlifted to a hospital but later died. the shooting range is about an hour's drive from las vegas in neighboring nevada. it mainly attracts tourists. its website says children from the ages of 8 to 17 are allowed to fire guns if they're with their parents.

>> the shooting is tragically similar are to this one in 2008, when an 8-year-old boy fired an uzi, it recoiled killing him. >> the accident is making headlines in the u.s. it is fueling debate about whether it is appropriate to allow children to use guns. china's booming economy has created a social problem that is only getting worse. about 46 million people there are obese. 300 million are overweight. only americans have a greater problem with obesity. but some chinese are finding new ways to take off that extra weight. nhk world reports from beijing. ♪ >> reporter: in this park in

beijing, a growing number of middle aged and elderly people dance to music every morning. >> translator: dance if you're overweight and your waistline will shrink. >> reporter: but some workers shun the morning exercises. many come to specialists to diet in clinics instead. the aim is to lose weight by combining exercise and traditional treatments including acupuncture. >> translator: this works for me. i used to have to eat a lot before i felt full. thanks to the treatment of this clinic, now i eat much less. >> reporter: the doctor says a number of young people coming to the hospital has been growing in recent years. >> translator: children are getting fatter because they are busy with school work and doing

less afterwards. they are sitting all day at home, playing computer games. >> reporter: obese children are opting to spend 40 days away from home at this special camp. the price tag, more than 2,000 u.s. dollars. >> translator: the government's one child policy is one of the causes of obesity. parents and grandparents dote on their children, giving them whatever they like. high school student li weighs 114 kilograms. this summer, he's determined to

shed 20 kilograms. li has exercised little all his life. he can now barely keep up with the elementary school students. ♪ the strict diet and the six hours of exercise a day are gradually helping him shed the weight. though he clearly still has some way to go. >> translator: at first, i was the weakest in the group. now i'm getting stronger thanks it daily hard exercise. >> reporter: this is the last day of the camp. so what result of all that

sweating, dieting and running? 94.9 kilograms. li has lost about 19 kilograms. >> translator: the hard work paid off. i lost more weight than i expected. >> reporter: many chinese people have -- lives than ever. but it has come neighbors. find out the challenges china faces on "newsline." the tropical storm marie is sending dangerous big waves to the california coast. our meteorologist has the details. >> many people are flocking to the beaches in southern california to see giant waves. take a look at this scene in long beach.

surfers headed out to the beach in southern california wednesday to catch the massive waves. it is producing swells as high as 4.5 meters near long beach. the dangerous surf led to the death of one surfer. lifeguards are urging beachgoers to stay out of the water as the waves are large and can quickly sweep people out to sea. the waves are costed by marie, which is now a tropical storm, but used to be a hurricane as you can see clouds are disorganizing on a weakening track. because of its movement toward the north, dangerous surf will continue to battle the coastal locations over baja and much of the california coast. probably into your friday, waves remain quite high, as much as five meters or so. so venturing out to sea definitely not a good idea. across the atlantic, we have a hurricane named cristobal sending rough seas over the atlantic coast over the u.s. as well as bermuda.

we have tropical storm watches in effect. it will remain as a hurricane into your friday night and move to the north, probably reach iceland as a low pressure system over the weekend. we'll keep you post open the progress. across the americas, we're looking at heavy rainfall in the middle part of the u.s. flash flood watches in place moving towards the great lakes region as we go into thursday afternoon. there is a risk of flooding across this location and across the west, quite high temperatures. l.a., your high will be 33 degrees, about five degrees higher than normal. 33 also in houston. but cooler temperatures. chicago, only 24 for the high. but that doesn't mean summer has gone. actually heat will be rebuilding starting friday or are saturday. reaching 32 degrees on saturday in cleveland. 30 degrees on friday. now, cool temperatures can be found in many places of japan because cooler air is coming in from the north and we're seeing

some rainfall over the eastern half of the country across the south. quite heavy rain is falling across the southern parts and more rain to come across western japan as we go into the next 24 hours. temperatures are quite low today. the high in tokyo is only 22 degrees. that's eight degrees lower than average and more like mid-october. across osaka, 26 degrees. yokohama, 10 degrees lower than seasonal. cool temperatures continue into your saturday. now, across china, heavy rain is falling over the middle part of the country and tropical depression is situated over northern parts of vietnam. this is a very slow moving system. so rainfall total could be quite significant over the northern areas of the indochina pennsylvania and other provinces. over towards europe, we have intense system coming into the british isles and western content. this will move into france, low countries and germany as we go into thursday. and then spotty heavy thundershowers for the eastern

parts of europe. temperatures a little bit on the chilly side in moscow, high only 19 degrees. but while the temperatures are returning to the central areas of europe, up to 23 degrees in berlin. here is the extended forecast.

and that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm keikichi hanada. on behalf of our team, thank you for staying with us.

>> from prime minister to erdewan is set to be sworn in in turkey. the president of ukraine has canceled a trip to turkey saying that there has been a russian invasion of his country. the french president said bashar ally in is no per -- the fight against isis.