. glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're flowing this shower. people in japan are feeling the impact of a severe thunderstorm that's made landfall packing heavy rain and high winds. israeli forces are carrying out intensive strikes on the gaza strip. and government leaders and company managers in finland are doing everything to foster the next big idea.

a severe tropical storm is blowing wind and dumping rain in communities throughout southern and central japan. the storm called neoguri has made landfall on the island of kyushu. authorities say more heavy rain is on the way and they're warning people to watch out for mudslides and flooding. officials with the japan meteorological agency say the storm hit the city of akune and is traveling toward the east. scientists with the agency say the storm will keep traveling along the southern coast. they forecast some areas will receive as much as 80 millimeters of rain per hour. at least three people have died. two fell entire gags -- entire gags ditches. more than 40 others have been injured. the storm has destroyed at least three homes. about 400 have been flooded. government officials have issued evacuation advisories for

40,000 households. about 8,000 households have lost power. let's get an update on the storm from mai shoji at the weather desk. >> neoguri is now a severe tropical storm status right before it made landfall. this morning. you can see the cloud formation dispersing but still covering much of the archipelago with rain clouds. so the system has picked its pace to 30 kilometers per hour and is moving in an easterly direction. and the wind gusts are 126 kilometer per hour. however, no matter how weaker the winds die down it's more the rain we are concerned of. it will be just dumping heavy rain. this is due to a rainy season band stalling over northern locations of this country, pulling and surging in all that moisture. it's going to be traveling while it dumps lots of rainfall in much of this country. here are your digits. it is look like this. up to 400 millimeters in some locations in the southern areas and on top of that due to the

rain band pulling to the northern locations we are talking about additional amounts of 200 millimeters in hokkaido. i'll be back for more later in program. >> even as the storm dumps rain across japan, southwest china is being drenche mudslides and floods have left dozens of people dead or missing. china's xinhua news agency says a moist air mass has been bringing heavy rain since last month. 60 people are dead or unaccounted for. 17 people are missing after mud and rock debris hit the border near myanmar. another mudslide swept away houses in a village in dali killing six people and leaving eight missing. the chinese government has sent a search and rescue team to the province.

israeli forces are bombarding the gaza strip. residents of the occupied territory have seen air strike after air strike over the last two days. hospital officials in gaza say 43 people have been killed and more than 430 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. more than 70 rockets from gaza have landed on their territory but 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 and -- says he will not agree to a truce unless they stop their attacks.

israeli commanders have warned of a lengthy campaign. israeli troops have mobilized thousands of soldiers along the gaza border. indonesians have voted on wednesday in a presidential election. electoral officials have not counted up the ballots yet but both candidates say they won. jun yotsumoto has more. >> reporter: just a few hours after voting closed wednesday night, joko widodo claimed victory in front of a large crowd. as joko appeared waving to the crowd so many supporters here cheering, cheering, celebrating his victory. [ speaking foreign language ].

prabowo subianto celebrated his own win. [ speaking foreign language ]. >> reporter: indonesia's election commission will take about two weeks to officially declare the results. and a new president will not take office until october. for now, both candidates are relying on independent quick counts. the tallies are from sample votes cast around the country. outgoing president, susilo bambang yudoyono urged both sides to restrain themselves and he also asked not to allow their

supporters to declare victory until the election commission announces the winner. during the campaign, 53-year-old joko, the governor of jakarta kept a significant lead until a few months ago. supporters consider the self-made businessman the new guard because he does not have ties to indonesia's powerful families. 62-year-old prabowo, an ex-general and former -- of late president suarto picked up quickly in the campaign. he picked up endorsements from many of the country's largest political parties. observers have characterized this election as a watershed moment in indonesia's democracy. but now some fear the division over who will lead indonesia may cause confusion and instability across the country. jun yatsumoto, nhk world, jakarta. managers at companies across

japan are holding on to their money. ai uchida joins us with the details on that and other stories. >> japanese leaders had hoped that managers would reinvest in their companies but managers are not following through. they have cut back on machinery orders and the numbers for may suggest they're cautious about what's ahead. managers ordered $6.7 billion worth of equipment. officials at the cabinet office say that's down 19.5% from the previous month. and the largest monthly decline ever. the figures do not include orders for ships and power companies because they fluctuate too much. orders from manufacturers were down more than 18%. those from non-manufacturers were down by about 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. central bankers have propped up the u.s. economy for years

buying up billions of dollars of bonds every month. but they agree it may be time to end their stimulus program. and they're taking steps to unwind it. the federal reserve released the minutes of its policy meeting in june. policymakers have been trimming monthly bond purchases every month. but the minutes said if the economy goes as they expect, they would end their program in october. they've also been keeping key interest rates near zero. they agree they will keep that policy in place for now but come up with a plan by the end of this year to change course. some policymakers suggest that investors may be underestimating just howe -- how much risk there is in the market. analysts say stock investors are relieved the fed confirms and wall street ended higher.

but they say tokyo investors are weaker than forecast because of japan machinery orders. the nikkei currently in negative territory. but currency traders sold the dollar. right now the dollar against the yen is fetching 101.53-55. and the euro is at a one-week high against the dollar. the kospi is trading higher. in china, shanghai's key index is in positive territory. in hong kong we're seeing the hang seng also up. that's also up by just about .5%. u.s. and chinese officials have sat down together to share ideas about security and trade and spying. but they don't see eye to eye. they are arguing about the chinese approach to controlling the chinese currency, the yuan. the officials are meeting for a strategic and economic dialogue.

u.s. treasury secretary, jack lew is urging the chinese to be more flexible with their currency policy. >> we support china's effort. to allow the market to play a more decisive role in the economy. moving to a market determined exchange rate will be a crucial step. >> the americans complain the chinese are keeping the value of the currency low to make exports cheaper. china's finance minister said the intervention is necessary. lou jiwei said the economy has not recovered and he said u.s. monetary policy is causing some fluctuations in china and other emerging economies. u.s. magazine "fortune" has named 95 chinese firms in the list of 500 companies. "fortune" we leased the global 500 list of the top-ranked firms by revenue. the u.s. had the most with 128

companies. china came in second place with six more companies than last year. three chinese firms made the top ten. that's the most of all the countries. oil and gas producer -- group ranked thirty and china national petroleum was fourth. state grid was seventh. people in finland live in one of the coldest climates on the planet. but they are trying to create a better environment for hot ideas. government leaders and business managers are doing everything they can to foster more innovation. >> reporter: employees at this will 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 the employees can find all kinds of ways to relax. some take a sauna. others play pool in the games room. >> it's just about us having a workplace that we enjoy going to every day that we enjoy being part of. >> managers have asked employees to post how they feel on this board. with a smiley or a sad face. >> you get so much more out of a team when they really -- the communication between the teams are really fast and easy. and just more fun, more motivating and more productive. >> reporter: government leaders -- one company to lead

growth. nokia became the world's biggest manufacturer of cell phones. but its managers hesitated getting into smartphones and now their business is struggling. so government officials are going all out to promote innovation at other firms. they joined up with academic and business leaders four years ago to found ailto university. they hope it will serve as a base for developing innovative products. designers created offices they hoped would spur creativity. walls are made of glass so everyone can see what their colleagues are working on. facilitators organize workshops so people with idea they want to hone can develop them with the help of others.

managers in 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's really important to have versatile background of people in one space. popping people together making an engineer a designer and vice versa, that's versus important. >> reporter: students got caught up in the spirit. he wanted to create a microphone for lecture halls. students can ask a question then toss it to a classmate. he calls his product the catch box. he is planning to sell it online within a few months. >> you know they are throwing countless hours making their own

things happen. yeah, it's just -- this whole -- i think it's 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 entrepreneurs a platform for innovation. >> and that's all for now in business news. i'll leave you a check on markets.

argentina has advanced to the final of the world cup for the first time in 24 years. the argentines faced off against the dutch for the right to play germany. no one scored during regular time and it was still scoreless after extra time. but the argentines won 4-2 on penalties. defenders managed to keep some of the best attackers in the world at bay. leonel messi tried but couldn't get past the netherlands's wall. the deadlock appeared to end in the 75th minute. the goal slammed into the net but the goal was ruled offside. the dutch also struggled to build attacks. robben was among those frustrated by the argentine

defenders. after 120 minutes the match went into a penalty shootout. argentina goalkeeper romero saved two dutch penalties. the argentines got all four of their shots into the net. people have been celebrating in bay -- dutch fans' dreams of a world cup victory was dashed. argentina will face the germans in the final for the third time. they are going for a third

title, germany, a fourth. the dutch will take on the host brazilians on saturday in a battle for third place. james rodriguez is still the leading scorer with six goals. thomas meuller of germany is in second place with five. . brazilians are still reeling from their game on tuesday. a small number of them have turned violent. at least 20 buses have been torched in sao paulo. smoke was seen rising from the vehicles after the match. some soccer fans may be venting their anger on the city. there are reports of skirmishes and disorder of angry fans. police say they arrested at least 20 people. and another team dumped from the tournament is dealing with the after math. nigeria has been suspended from international competition by

fifa. they took action after nigeria's government fired the football leaders in revenge for failing to bring home the world cup. the ban means all nigerian teams including club teams are banned from playing internationally. the impact will be felt soon. if the suspense stays nigeria is out of the under 20 women's world cup. nigeria's football federation was dissolved after the national team returned from brazil. nigeria was stopped in the second round of the tournament. investors around the world are drawing on computers that can buy or sell a stock in a millionth of a second. half of the deals in the u.s. are done with high frequency trading. some critics are calling the technology an unfair advantage.

rosa sobrino explains. >> reporter: major stake holders who testified at a recent senate hearing on high frequency trading took conflicting positions on the issue. >> it is one where with increased disclosure and increased transparency everyone knows just how the game works but right now a lot of it is opaque. >> today our equity markets are the most liquid, transparent, efficient and competitive in the world. >> reporter: what is the problem with high frequency trading? some say it might enable predatory trading. imagine investors who try to make a large one-time purchase of a certain stock. to keep the purchase price low the investors buy through a broker that purchases the stock via several different stock exchanges and trading venues.

but the purchases are not completed at the same time. the first purchase alerts predatory hft traders who have high-speed computer servers and systems. they can figure out the demand and in a fraction of a second can corner the market. as a result the price of the stock goes up and the investors must spend more money to complete their purchase. a japanese/canadian executive in the finance industry testified at the senate hearing. brad katsuyama plays a key role in the best-selling book about the problems of high frequency trading. it was written by acclaimed author michael lewis. the book sparked heated debates on wall street. he founded a new trading venue last fall to help reform the market. on his company's trading platform, transaction speed is limited to prevent predatory high-speed traders from exploiting the system. >> the market has to be fairer.

it has to be stable and it has to be relatively simple so that the most people can get the most value from that marketplace. technology has delivered huge benefits but those benefits have been dampened by the fact that the market has in a way, disadvantaged certain people. >> reporter: not all high frequency trading strategies are bad for the market. but questions remain about how to make the system more transparent and fair. rosa sobrino, nhk world, new york. and in tokyo one out of every four trades is said to be high frequency. since april, government leaders in europe have been implementing restrictions on securities firms who use the practice. have been forcing companies to report high frequency trading. as we have been reporting people in southern and central parts of japan are seeing severe

gusts and heavy rain. let's turn back to mai for an update. >> once again the severe tropical storm system neoguri is now making its way towards the region as it will be dumping heavy amounts of rainfall. this is due to the kpas peration of the rainy season band. much of the archipelago will be blanketed with rain clouds once again. it's more of the waves and the strong winds considered for the korean peninsula, however. and the waves will still be high with typhoon warnings still in place. it's also the surge of the tropical moisture and the warmth carried all the way to the north. even the midsection of china and the korean peninsula will see temperatures soaring in the 30s. beijing up to 35 degrees. and pyongyang at 31. seoul looking at 33 degrees. due to the surge of the moisture and enhancement of the southwestern monsoonal flow,

from the ex-typhoon neoguri, manila will see chance of thunderstorms and will likely see further flooding conditions. indo-china as well. with more heavy rain to pound the locations. eastern half of this continent is also looking at severe weather. this is due to a low pressure system sagging this active cold front. it is moving away to the eastern seaboards. the bulk of the very heavy severe thunderstorms will be in and around the mid atlantic and new england states. it will be pulling away by thursday. but we are likely to see the tail end of the cold front act initiative the gulf coast. thursday afternoon and evening hours those conditions will continue here in the south. the central plains will likely chance of thunderstorms and more rain to pound the southwest especially in the four corners. and a flash flood watch in place. the heat is surging all the way to boise at 36 degrees and las vegas hitting 40 degrees. do watch out for heatstroke. now here across europe, the

central locations still looking very messy. we have low pressure systems and the difference between the upper could air and surface warm is creating thunderstorms. peppering across a similar locations towards the east. and looking at this condition to prevail into saturday across these areas. flooding will be a huge concern as well but it's in the north, temperatures are heating up with the high pressure system dominant and the temperatures will be likely really above the average mark and people in denmark are having fun cooling down in lakes. that's how they are cooling themselves down. on that note i'll leave you for your extended forecast around the globe.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo.

yuko aotani will bring you the latest at the top of the hour. thanks for joining us on nhk world. er

good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. first a conversation about ethics and politics a day after the house committee reversed disclosure that would have made trips by outside interests harder to explain. we have jack abramoff, of course, one of the most powerful lobbyist until he went to prison for conspiracy and fraud. he's a advocate for campaign finance reform. we'll turn to a conversation with david s. rose who has put it into text "angel investing." we're glad you joined us. those conversations coming up right now.