glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobiyashi in tokyo. iraq's military is striking back against islamist militants. the leaders of the u.s. and australia have agreed to resolve the disputes in the south china sea. and businesses in japan are cashing in on world cup fever by selling football themed souvenirs. iraqi forces launched air strikes to stop an offensive. by islamist militants.

the militants swept through northern iraq. iraqi commanders are determined to stop them. the militants captured iraq's second largest city mosul earlier this week. they pushed south to tikrit. they're now about 100 kilometers from the capital baghdad. government commanders ordered helicopter crews to attack and they dispatched units for street to street fighting. sunni muslims make up much of the populations of the cities that have been captured and many are critical of the government of prime minister nouri al maliki who is a shia. shia form the majority in the cities to the south and military officers are recruiting volunteers to join in the fight. u.s. president barack obama says what he's seen suggests iraq is going to need more help. >> i don't rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold.

>> drone attacks are believed to be one option under consideration. white house officials say they're not considering sending in ground troops. the militants only started their offensive a few days ago but what's happening has already pushed up oil prices. ai uchida joins us now. give us the details. >> iraqi producers pump out millions of barrels of oil every day. most of that does come from southern iraq. but the militants are threatened some facilities already and investors fear they could disrupt supplies. those worries have pushled oil prices to a nine-month high. traders fear the fighting will affect exports. benchmark futures are trading at $107.34 a barrel. investors were already worrying about the fighting in ukraine and the possibility of that curtailing supplies from russia. they have seen disruptions from fighting in libya, too. now many think the prices will soar even higher.

the conflict in iraq is affecting other markets, too. investors on wall street sold stocks overnight. all the major indices were down with the dow jones industrial average losing 100 points for a second day. here in tokyo, investors are also selling shares. the nikkei opened almost 1% lower and it is down about .6%. currency investors are also jittery. analysts say traders selling the dollar to buy the yen and the swiss franc in times of political uncertainty seeing the currencies as safer investments. the dollar is now trading in a narrow band against the yen at k

they'll outline the plan in a draft of the government's growth strategy. the cabinet will approve it later this month. economic revitalize minister and ruling party officials agreed to low ter rate from 35% to below 30%. the reductions will start in the next business year and will be spread out over several years. they agreed they will have to find alternative sources of revenue. the cabinet is scheduled to approve the growth strategy later this month. chinese premier is headed to britain. he wants to drum up investments for chinese firms and improve ties. he will arrive in london on

monday. he'll hold talks with prime minister david cameron and he has been granted a rare meeting with queen elizabeth. british officials want to make london the main offshore hub for trading chinese currencies and bonds. he also wants to approve deals so chinese firms can invest in infrastructure including a high speed rail system and the construction of a nuclear plant. british government officials have criticized the chinese for their record on human rights. leaders in beijing have rejected the accusations saying that the british are interfering if their domestic affairs. the u.s. senate has confirmed a new vice chairman of the federal reserve. fisher served as first deputy managing director of the international monetary fund.

he is known for having p bernanke. they will lead u.s. monetary policy, which will include measures to shift from the near 0 interest rates. japanese producers craft characters and stories known by fans around the world but it's they found much of what they dream up gets stolen online. content creators have joined hands to stop the content stealing. >> reporter: one of japan's largest pop culture publishers announced last month it will integrate with a tech company. they started out by selling literature books after world war ii. the company then shifted to publishing fiction for young

adults, manga, and games. recently managers are looking for a way to expand their business to reach more to international readers. so they teamed up with the people who run dwango. the company manages a video sharing platform used by 14 million people around the world. mergers of internet-based and traditional media companies have happened before. in 2001, aol acquired time warner. the company split after ten years. but executives have high hopes. >> translator: we want to make a new type of media of the 21st century. >> reporter: japan's population is aging and people are having fewer children. it means domestic demand for entertainment targeting young adults is shrinking.

publishers face other challenges. as smartphones and other digital devices spread, people aren't buying as many books as they used to. then, there's the issue of piracy, the japanese government estimates that in north america alone losses from bootleg manga and an may amount to $20 billion annually. this publishing firm has started to find ways to fight piracy. it used to take them several months to translate popular japanese ma ga into other languages. impatient fans outside of japan found illegal versions on the internet even before the latest episode was released. >> we could not keep up with the speed of pirate sites with our previous way of doing business.

>> reporter: they teamed up with a u.s. company that owns a popular anime platform. now they distribute the latest manga series at home and abroad on the same day and fans are happy. >> the more content that is available the happier the fans of manga are. >> reporter: people who make japanese anime videos are finding ways to fight piracy. they joined hands to establish an online video platform. all the content on the website is free. executives hope to make money by selling related products. >> translator: we want overseas fans to watch our content and buy related goods just like in japan. >> reporter: japanese government

officials are doing their part too. they plan to launch a website in july that combines official sources of japanese manga and anime content. they want to create a revenue stream that will benefit the creators and producers. >> translator: to maintain japan's position, we need fans to watch and read official content. otherwise new creators won't emerge. >> reporter: for japanese content holders, attracting overseas fans may be the only way to breakthrough the shrinking domestic market. >> and i'll have more business headlines for you next hour. for now i'll leave you with a check on markets. > and i'll hav headlines for you next hour. for now i'll leave you with a check on markets.

every morning, investors turn their attention to asia. the tokyo market leads the way. in markets around the world follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an econon follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an econod follow. >> from the decisions that could change the course of an economy. >> to the companies at the

forefront of change. >> up to the minute market reports. >> and analysis by specialists from around the world. >> get all the latest business news and insight every day here on "newsline." chinese defense officials are denying an accusation one of their fighter jets flew close by planes from japan and they're leveling a similar allegation at the japanese. they released a video they claim is evidence. staff at china's defense ministry put 90 seconds of video online. they say two japanese fighters flew 30 meters from a patrol aircraft. they claim that seriously affected their crew's safety. japan's defense minister itsunori onodera rejected those accusations. >> translator: i've seen the video, but it doesn't show the incident as claimed by the chinese. the video shows japan's self-defense force jets keeping their distance and flying steadily. i think the chinese may have released it because of a feeling of guilt about the incident. >> all the planes were flying where the chinese and japanese air defense zones overlap.

defense staff in tokyo had reported a different incident there on the same day. they said a chinese fighter flew dangerously close to two of their planes. japan's defense minister said the two countries need to set up a system for communication between their defense personnel. u.s. president barack obama and australian prime minister tony abbott have been discussing security and economic issues in the asia pacific region and they used the talks to turn up the pressure on china. they talked about sovereignty disputes over parts of the south china sea. obama urged china's leaders to help resolve the tensions. >> what's also important is that as china emerges as this great world power that it also is helping to reenforce and abide by basic international law and

norms. >> abbott say that australia would stand side by side with the u.s. >> there are a whole range of security issues which the united states is leading on and where australia is doing our part to secure the freedom and the safety of the world and its citizens. >> obama and abbott agreed to try to speed up talks for a transpacific partnership free trade pact. they said the accord would boost jocks and growth and bring long-term prosrity to the region. experts are calling for major reforms at one of japan's leading research centers.

the riken institute has been hit by a stem cell scandal. the members of an independent panel say part of the center should be disbanded. riken determined researcher haruku obokata committed misconduct in publishing studies on what she calls stap cells in the british science journal "nature." the experts criticize the center for developmental biology to which obokata belongs. >> translator: the stap cell issue was not just a problem with one researcher. there was an organizational and structural problem at the center for developmental biology. the center must be disbanded. if it's restarted, it should have entirely new leadership. >> the members also accused the riken headquarters of not trying hard enough to uncover the truth about what happened. they urged the institute to strictly punish the people who were responsible. they want riken to investigate all the suspicions raised so far about the credibility of obokata's research. the experts recommend that

obokata conduct experiments to prove her claims about stap cells under the supervision of more experienced scientists. finally, brazilians are celebrating a victory. the tournament kicked off with a carnival style ceremony, then host brazil took on croatia in the opening match and pulled off a come-from-behind victory. the biggest sporting event on the planet began with a rousing opening ceremony. dancers and performers gave it an amazon theme. brazil's hosting the world cup for the first time in 64 years and expectations are high.

but the home fans were left stunned when croatia opened the scoring in the 11th minute thanks to an own-goal by defender marcelo. 18 minutes later, brazil's star striker neymar leveled the game. the host took the lead in the 71st minute. brazilian striker fred went down in the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. neymar stepped up. croatia's keeper got a hand to the ball but couldn't make the save. midfielder oscar sealed the victory in injury time. brazil's bid for a sixth title is off and running. neymar said he was focused only on winning but was happy to score twice.

brazil's next challenge will be mexico on tuesday. and that's all for thursday's action. well, japanese fans will be cheering when their team takes to the field this weekend. japan will face -- supporters are reaching deep into their wallets. nhk world's hiro morita explains. >> reporter: this is the place for learning all about the japan national soccer team. it's the japan football museum in tokyo. as the team's matches are just around the corner, the number of visitors is surging. at the gift shop, world cup gear is flying off the shelves. replicas of players' uniforms are selling seven times faster than during the previous world cup.

>> reporter: many people sense great business opportunities in one of the world's biggest sporting events, the world cup soccer finals. competition to sell related products is heating up. a tokyo beer hall introduced a special menu that's team japan all the way. add a splash of blue curaco to a glass of beer and you get a cocktail that's the same color as the national team's samurai blue. this appetizer set is a plate of tatoes and meatballs arranged to look like a soccer pitch. >> translator: the blue gets me excited. >> translator: i hope our team wins. >> translator: i think the excitement will build with each victory so i hope japan keeps winning.

>>eporter: meanwhile, these high-definition 4k tvs are selling briskly in tokyo. the manufacturers have this year's world cup in mind when they launched the new product. with four times the resolution of normal high definition tvs, they're just the thing for fans who want to watch every detail of the action. just before the higher sales tax went into effect on april 1st, consumers rushed to buy new tvs. in april, tv sales dipped. then in may, they shot up by 30% over the year before. >> translator: many consumers want to get a large-screen tv. mainly a 4k tv. before japan plays its matches. the world cup is having a big impact on sales. >> reporter: department stores are also jumping onto the world cup bandwagon. they're coming up with all kinds of ways to recover from the stagnating sales of recent

years. straight from brazil, these bathing suits and sandals come in bold patterns andright colors. to encourage customers to spend more, this department store has come up with its own special item. it's a yakata, a light summer kimono in the colors of the host country brazil. this yakata was designed by a brazilian artist. the robe displays the country's famous ipanema beach. >> translator: brazilian colors give people energy, and i want to expand the product line and brighten up the sales floor with colorful patterns like these. >> reporter: a lot of businesses are cashing in on the world cup. an opportunity that comes only once every four years. hiro morita, nhk world.

it's time now to get a check of the weather. a powerful storm in the arabian sea is heading towards oman. mai shoji joining us with the details. >> a cyclonic storm has developed over the central arabian sea. moving towards the eastern coast of oman. looks like it's going to become a tropical depression by the time it reaches any land masses. but it will be bringing widespread thunderstorms across the eastern locations of oman and gusts reaching up to 100 kilometers per hour. this is nanauk and we don't usually see rainfall across the locations. possibly none throughout june. so sometimes it could be blessing rainfall. not really the thunderstorms and lightning. but too much rain is associated with this in the outer bands and it is enhancing the southwestern monsoonal flow in india. take a look at what happened in mumbai.

just too much rain out here and the gusts were quite high. high tide caused flooding in the low lying areas of mumbai and brought the city to a stand still with traffic jams making the daily commute troublesome. the waves measured as high as 4.6 meters and houses inundated, damaging property. flooding is common in the four-month long monsoon season which is expected to begin within several days. let's take you back and show you where the onset of monsoonal flow is. due to that system you can see how elevated this monsoonal flow is. it's looking like it's starting any time soon but usually it should be around the northern locations. but take a look at. sinks towards the south. which means that extreme heat will continue for a little while longer. where we want the precipitation we are not getting in allahabad. 45 degrees into your saturday. also reaching 45 in jammu and not seeing any relief in sight for the foreseeable future and

mumbai where we don't want more additional rainfall, where that video came out from, rain will continue and it's going to be an ongoing story in mangloe as well. here across the eastern locations, the flow is affecting indochina peninsula and more rain here in taiwan as well as northern locations of the philippines for the coming -- for the next coming few days. here in japan, wet and windy conditions are slamming hokkaido we have numerous reports of real gusty conditions. it's going to be intensifying due to these systems merging and making it into a huge rain storm make it for these kind of very severe conditions. down towards the south, meanwhile, central locations in the west looking very hot. but the temperatures 31 in saitama. 29 in tokyo. these hot temperatures provide for real unstable atmosphere,

especially after the daytime heating so do watch out for the changeable weather and goes with the korean peninsula. across europe, we are looking at real unsettled conditions yet again under the cold front and likely to condition but it's too hot in the mid section and the iberian peninsula where the temperatures will soar into the 30s. look at seville at 39 degrees. i want to finish off with what's looking here on your friday with all the matches taking place. i'll leave you now for an extended forecast.

we'd like to remind you of our lead story this hour, iraqi forces have launched air strikes to stop an offensive by islamist militants. iraqi commanders are determined to stop them. the militants captured iraq's second largest city mosul this week. they are now about 100 kilometers from the capital, baghdad. government commanders ordered helicopter crews to attack and

they dispatched units for street to street fighting. sunni muslims make up much of the population in the cities that have been captured and many are critical of the leadership of nouri al maliki who is a shia. military officers are recruiting volunteers to join in the fight. u.s. president barack obama says what he is seeing suggests that iraq is going the need more help. >> i don't rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold. >> drone attacks are believed to be one option under consideration. white house officials say they are not considering sending in ground troops. and we'll keep an eye on this developing story for you. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo.

we'll be back at the top of the hour. tavis: good evening.

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight a conversation about the brain and had to keep it working at optimum levels. joins us.b. agus toheimer's is predicted affect 16 million baby boomers are and then a conversation with clark gregg with a new movie, "trust me," a secure go look at how hollywood treats child actors. we're glad you joined us. coming up right now. ♪