hello. thank you for joining us on this edition of news line. i'm in tokyo. here's a look at stories we're following this hour. the people of scotland will decide on thursday whether to vote yes or no in a referendum on break ago way from the united kingdom. australia's prime minister says sweeping rain as in the country have spoiled a major terrorism plot. u.s. commanders are staging

a large scale military drill to prepare for a threat in the asia pa a sific. voters are in scotland are heading to the polls to decide whether to leave the united kingdom. they've begun to cast their ballots. recent polls suggest it's a close race. 48% of decided voters support independence, 52% do not. 10% are undecided. voters are deciding whether scotland should be an independent country. they'll answer with yes or no. scotland's future will be decided by majority. if yes, scots will mark the independence day march 24, 2016. market players are closely watching the referendum. if people vote for independence, british pound and shares are expected to drop. it could affect financial markets around the globe.

australian police have detain add 15 people in an anti-terrorism raid. abbott says the group was planning demonstration killings in the country. authorities searched 30 locations in sydney thursday. some of the men detained had plotted to kidnap and kill a random member of the public. the report say the plan including filming a victim draped in the islamic state flag before execution and posting it on the internet. prime minister abbott says directions were coming from an australian member from the islamic state. >> people here in this country, who despite living here, despite enjoying the australian way of life, they would do us harm. it's very important that our police and security organizations be one step ahead of them. >> government leaders raised their national terror threat alert last week to the second

highest level on a four tier scale. a major u.s. military exercise is underway in the waters over guam. officials say they're countering a new threat. they did not aim the simulated enemy, but the aim may be to deter china. we have the detaildetails. >> the drill is one of the largest in the age of the region. it involves 19 ships, more than 200 aircraft and 18,000 personnel. u.s. military officers say they want to improve their skills at sea, in the air, hyper state and in space. they've been improving naval capabilities. a u.s. defense department report says china is creating a strategy to defer or encounter

third party intervention particularly by the united states. the u.s. commander declined to offer details about the exercises scenario but admitted they had an assumed enemy in mind. >> against that emerging threat, yes. that's part of the purpose of the exercise. >> china's top naval officer criticized the u.s. military for reconnaissance missions over the sea. last month a chinese fighter jet flew close to a u.s. plane over the south china sea. china said the foiighter was keeping appropriate distance. >> translator: if u.s. navy will not change operations, neither will the people's liberation army change counter measures. >> he said he put china's position to top u.s. navy officer.

the two met at the international symposium in which navy world leaders participated. >> there's a particular area we disagree on. we believe lee and i that our job is to make sure there's no miscalculation. >> the head of the japan force was also as the symposium. he met formally with woo. >> i agreed on close communication between jmsf and chinese navy to avoid unexpected incidents. >> japan's ties with china are at lowest level until years due to perceptions of wartime history and territory. prime minister abe and jinping have jyet to hold talks. a u.s. sub economy has conducted

a draft for china and neighboring borders. the document mentions chinese military behavior towards japan in the east china sea. it also said china has increased tensions with vietnam over activities in the south china sea. the subcommittee chairman said china is increasingly confrontation. he added that the united states must support regional allies and partners. resolution calls for resolving these matters peacefully. nhk world. >> now u.s. president obama has been working to expand the campaign against islamic militants. he's been helping to create a plan to fight them. lawmakers approved legislation authorizing the government to equip and train fight hers the

syria. it passed the chamber by a majority. the measure is part of a stop gap spending bill that would expire in december. the legislation would authorize the government to assist moderate opposition forces in syria as part of the u.s. fight against islamic state. the obama administration has requested $500 million to support the syrian opposition. >> i want to start off by saying thank you to house members, republican and democrat, who came together today to pass an important component on our strategy for dealing with this terrible terrorist organization. >> the bill will now go to the democrat controlled senate. if it passes, obama will sign it into law. an american doctor who survived ebola is asking u.s.

lawmakers for more help in combatting the disease. kent brantley caught the virus in liberia and left the hospital in united states last month. brantley said ebola is spreading because of a shortage of medical facilities and personnel and because families want to look after patients at home. he asked to help build medical facilities and give accurate measures. he says measures to contain the disease need a rethink. >> the world health organization as mentioned remain bound by bureaucracy. their speeches have not resulted in significant action to stop this outbreak. >> governmental and non governmental organizations must work together on the front lines, he says. the world health organization r says 2400 in west africa are confirmed or suspected to have died from ebola. u.s. government officials have

promised to send soldiers to help build clinics. gunmen attacked a college in nigeria wednesday. boko haram is suspected which is expanding influence into the northern part of the country. at least 13 people have been killed. the attackers stormed a teaching college in the northern state of kono. they fired at students and detonated ex employees pifs. local police say at least 13 are confirmed dead and more than 30 wounded. most are students. two gunmen died in an exchange of fire with police. boko haram rejects western style education. in april t the group kidnapped more than 200 school dw girls from their dormitoriedormitorie. the girls remain missing. next what's making headlines in the world of business. here's ron madison with the latest. >> the real estate market was once a bright spot in the chinese economy. it stig nates.

home prices fell in almost every major city. the monthly survey shows 70 cities where prices dropped in 68, most since comparative data became available in 2011. cost of a new home fell 1.2% in beijing and more if in shanghai. the total amount of floor space sold between january and august dropped 10% from a year earlier. consumers are putting off new homes as they expect prices to drop even more. u.s. central bank officials announced they would keep key interest rates near 0 for a considerable time. the federal reserve policy maker said they'll scale down bond purchases with the aim of ending them next month. the central bank issued a statement after the two day federal open market committee. it said the fed will reduce monthly purchases of bonds by $10 billion bringing the buying amount down to 15 million.

after the meeting, janet yellen explained what was meant by a considerable time. >> i want to emphasize, there's no mechanical interpretation of what the term considerable time means. as i've said repeatedly the decision the committee makes about what is the appropriate time to begin to raise the target for the federal funds rate will be data dependent. >> policy makers also indicate add they could raise rates faster than earlier expected. for the end of next year, the projection is 1.375%, a quarter of a percentage point higher than previously in june of 1.125%. the markets in asia encouraged by the feds stat on change what it called a

considerable time. tokyo benchmark reached a level we haven't seen since january. nikkei jumped 1.13% to close above 16,000 level first time in months. weaker yen opened sentiment pushing up the export linked issues in particular. taking a look at the picture for the region. major benchmarks closed mixed. seoul and hong dong finished lower. hong kong 9% lower nearly. shares of property developers took a hit after the latest data show aid down trend in the property market. seoul down two quarters of percent. they thought the price was too high. for an outlook on the equity and currency markets, we spoke

to chief global strategist at niko asset management. >> it's not surprising the stock is rising. it was undervalued before. we thought it would have upward movement by the end of the year. the market still has very attractive evaluations and earnings should be growing quite quickly especially now that the economy should bounce back this the second half. as the yen is weakening further. what's truly quite logical, it's surprising it didn't happen earlier given the fact that the fed is gradually tight inning policy and tapering its qe while japan is continuing to expand its qe qqe program quite aggressively. we don't i the yen will weaken a

great deal further. perhaps in next three months it will be around the 110 level which is accommodating for japan and economy. if it weakenings fufrther than that, i guess might have complaints from the united states and other countries. land prices in japan are showing signs of recovery after years of declines. the average cost of residential property in major cities rose for the first time in six years. officials at the land ministry surveyed prices at more than 21,000 locations as of july 1st. they found cost rose .5% in tokyo, osaka and nagoya since 2008, the start of the global financial prices. commercial land prices rose for the second straight year in the three places. the price of business and residence dishl property continues to drop nationwide. the rate of decline has slowed.

they attribute the positive news to overall economic recovery and low interest rates. they say they're seeing limited impact from the consumption tax hike in april. now to our feature this hour. many enjoy a cold beer after a long day. some find it makes them ill. japanese beer drinkers have a unique advantage over counter parts, a brew good for their waistline and joints. >> japan will release these on the same day. the present of one will turn up the promotion event for the beer. makers are cutting the levels in their drink tops close to zero. these are natural substances found in the body and food. they also cause gout. the ingredients raise the level

of acid in the body, so does alcohol. drinks too much doubles the risk of gout. >> i know i should choose the zero product. >> i'd try it if it tastes good. >> he suffers from gout. he wants to try the new zero purin drinks. three years ago he found something wrong at base of his be big toe. the strange sensation grew so painful late their the day he could hardly walk. >> reporter: you'd never believe the pain unless you experienced it yourself. i had to crawl to the toilet. >> he used to enjoy beer with dinner everyday. >> translator: rows of beer were also neatly lined up hon this

side of the shelf. >> a government survey ten years ago found 870,000 people suffering from gout. today, the average age of sufferers is getting younger. >> translator: some would gain 10 years within graduating from university. less are getting gout these days. >> for last ten years, japanese beer makers have tried to find ways to cut back on the ingredient in their products. activated charcoal removes purens but also a minuamino acid flavors from the beer. scientists went through trial and error before finding a way to use the charcoal. they put activated charcoal in tanks of beer for various

lengths of time. they found the best time to leave the charcoal and beer to remove only purins but not the flavorful ingredients. >> we can now only remove purins while leaving other substances. that's key. >> after years of research and development, beer brewers are ready to introduce the zero purin products. which will best quench the taste of beer lovers? the shrinking beer market in japan continue. all right. that's going to wrap it up for business this hour. let's get a check of the markets.

every morning investors turn attention to asia. the tokyo market leads the way. markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy. >> companies at forefront of change. >> up to the minute market reports. >> analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news in insight everyday here on

news line. japanese researchers are doing something they've never done before. they've unveiled a plan for clinical test on a drug created with reduced stem cell or ips cell technology and anticholesterol stats to aid in bone growth for people with dwarfism. the team is led in japan by the professor. they derived cells from the patients with abnormality in cartilage growth resulting in cells. they found the cells multiplied and began producing cartilage tissue. they compared it to mice with dwarf i678 and found bones grew to almost normal length. medical authorities will study whether it's safe for children. they plan clinical tests on a

new drug in the next two years. >> translator: i want to start clinical testing as soon as possible and make the new drug available for patients. >> a noble prize and professor developed the cells. he plotted the result of the test. he said it's significant because by virtue of the ips cells, a widely used drug could become effective on different diseases. a japanese politician who's sobbing made him an international laughing stock made him in trouble. he's admitted using public money. he resigned in july from the assembly many western japan after coming under scrutiny for the way he was using public funds earmarked for political work. officials suspect issed he was spending that money on other

things and filed a criminal complaint. he agreed last week to answer police questions. he admitted spending most of the money on things that were nothing to do with his job. he said he made hardly any of 350 business trips for which he claimed expenses. he received over $150,000 over three years. officials say he's returned it al all. it's now time for a look at the weather. rain and floods in europe are causing problems for r people living in southern portions of the continent. our meteorologist jonathan is here with the details. >> hello. yes, we have been talking about a low pressure system bringing lots and lots of rainfall into the balance can peninsula. i wanted to show the aftermath of heavy rains causing serious

flooding during the past several days. residents who returned home found their houses damaged. you can see here with the mud that had strewn all over the place in those houses. cars wash add way or destroyed. one was killed in this incident with three others missing. this is not the first time the area has experienced fatal floods in this year. in may, several flooding occurred killing 57 people causing economic loss of $1.9 billion u.s. this low pressure system will shift east. i think it's finally going to lose influence over the peninsula. another system is causing problems in spain, liberian peninsula. moisture it's pumping toward italy is affecting the western portions. we're going to deal with wet with weather again. looking possibility of strong thunderstorms maybe hail and isolated tornado into spain and

parts of france. of course a lot of rainfall coming thursday. madrid, lisbon, paris, look for rain and thunderstorms as far east as rome. for those of you going to polls in scotland, rain should hold off. mainly cloudy skies. temperatures in the teens in the afternoon hours. we now look at the forecast for north america. our big focus is desert southwest. the remembnants of odile causes flash flooding possibilities again for thursday. be on the lookout. polo toward the western side of mexico, now a category 1 system hurricane moving west northwest. the good news is it doesn't look like it's going to actually make landfall at theses locations. there's the possibility of seeing influence of moisture in these areas. up to 80 millimeters of rainfall

for this western side of mexico. odile remnants causing problems for new mexico and arizona. those of you in the upper united states and southern canada, very nice conditions. clear sky, highs in the teens for chicago. 21 winnipeg thursday. overnight lows chilly. some areas below freezing as you wake up friday morning. we wrap up with a look at east a sha. we have the remnants causing problem for southern china. we have a new tropical storm causing problems for the philippines. now it's already rain saturated and about to approach during the next 24 hours and dumping a large amount of rainfall. then eventually turning and setting sites for taiwan and the south eastern coast of china and western western islands of japan. we have to keep an eye out for this. some areas dealing with 300

millimeters of rainfall in the next 27 hours. manila friday, shanghai. nicer conditions in seoul. slight instability for tokyo gives clouds for friday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

and that's all for now on this edition of "news line."

from all of us at nhk world, thanks for joining us. gg99ññwçç

minutes livefor 60 around the world. these are the headlines. votes today on whether to stay in the u.k. or become an independent nation. and gordon brown have already cast their votes. --ajor counterterrorism terrorism plot foiled. a french citizen is effected with the -- infected with the ebola virus for the first time.