i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. first a look at the headlines. a taiwanese passenger plane has got ought up in stormy weather and crashed on a small island. people across the netherlands are mourning the victims of the downed malaysia plane as some of the bodies arrive on dutch soil. and investors from japan and elsewhere have looked up to find there's gold in the strength of the sun. taiwanese authorities have

launched an investigation into the crash of a passenger plane. the aircraft got caught in the tail end of a typhoon. the crew tried an emergency land bug didn't make it. 47 people were killed. 11 others, hurt. the taiwan easy transasia turboprop plane took off with 58 people on board. crew members tried to land at an airport but they lost contact with air traffic controllers. and the plane ended up crashing in a nearby village. >> translator: i heard a loud bang and i thought it was thunder. then i heard another bang and saw a ball of fire. >> japan foreign ministry officials say most of the passengers were taiwanese. their families had to wait to find out what happened to them. [ speaking foreign language ].

>> a typhoon had slammed into taiwan before the crash. the center of the storm had moved on to china but it's the winds were still strong and visibility was limited. >> translator: we apologize for the ac. >> the plane was a model called the atr-72. the twin-engine aircraft can carry up to 70 people. the same type crashed two years ago in siberia. 31 people were killed. two years before that another went down in cuba killing all 68 people on board. people across the netherlands have stopped to listen to the tolling of church bells. government leaders declared wednesday a day of national mourning. two planes carrying bodies from the downed malaysian airlines jet arrived on dutch soil. the planes tuchd down at an airport in the city of -- they

were carrying the remains of 40 victims. malaysia airlines flight 17 was shot down last week over eastern ukraine. most of the 298 people on board were touch. authorities ordered that the national flags of the victims' countries be flown at half staff. king -- and prime minister -- were among those who observe one minute of silence. officials took the remains to a military facility where investigators will identify the victims. they have invited family members to help. >> translator: i hope we can ease the families grief and pain. >> translator: when i saw the cars passing by, i couldn't hold back my tears. >> dutch leaders say it will take a few more days for all the bodies to arrive in the country. ukrainian military officials

say two of their fighter jets have been shot down in eastern ukraine. the officials say it happened near where the malaysian airliner was brought down. the pilots of the jets had taken part in a mission near the russian border. a spokesperson says they were flying at an altitude of 5200 meters when they were hit. that is above the range of weapons held by pro-russian militants. the spokesperson suggests that the jets were struck by missiles fired from russia. russian foreign ministry officials are proposing a truce. they've called on ukrainian forces and pro-russian militants to agree to an immediate ceasefire. a ministry spokesperson, alexander lukashevich made the offer in a statement. he wrote that people on board the malaysia airlines plane fell victim to the civil war. he said ukraine's government refuses to listen to reason and rejects any proposals for a ceasefire. but he said a truce is critical to save the lives of children,

women and the elderly. he said it would create the conditions for a thorough investigation into the tragedy. the leader of the islamist group hamas is refusing to agree to a ceasefire with israel until his demands are met. -- says the israelis must lift their economic blockade of gaza before he'll support a truce. the conflict has left near listen 700 palestine yans and 30 israeli soldiers dead. nhk world's craig dale is tracking developments for us. >> israeli forces have hit hamas hard over the past two weeks in their campaign to try to stop rocket attacks on their country. the general consensus here is that hamas wants to try to walk away with this war with something to justify their heavy losss and that's what -- is trying to do. he spoke in qatar and said his group will only accept a

ceasefire if israeli leaders lift their economic blockade of gaza which has been in place since 2007. -- did say he is willing to agree to a humanitarian truce for several hours. both sides agreed to a five-hour truce last week to allow aid to get into gaza. but the israelis accused hamas of continuing to fire rockets into israel during that time and they launched their ground offensive soon after. u.s. secretary of state john kerry has been shuttling around the region to find a way out i have the conflict. he met with palestinian president, mahmoud abbas. he controls the west bank and has been at odds with hamas in the past. but the two groups formed a unity government in june, much to israel's displeasure. kerry went to tel aviv to talk to egyptian prime minister benjamin n netanyahu has hi own conditions for ending this campaign. he wants hamas to stop firing the rockets at israel. he says the ground offensive is

to destroy the tunnels that hamas fighter built to infiltrate the country. both sides are standing their ground. it appears the fighting will continue. more than 110,000 palestinians have fled their homes. war planes hit a hospital in gaza. they say it housed a hamas command center and launch pads for rockets. and they say they confirm by phone there was no patients there. israeli troops have hit other hospitals along with mosques and schools. most members of the u.n. human rights council have expressed concern at an emergency meeting. they launched an investigation into possible human rights abuses in the palestinian territories. >> the respect of the right to life, includeling children, should be a foremost consideration. not abiding by these principles may amount to war crimes and crimes against humidity. -- humanity. >> 29 members of the council voted in favor for the resolution.

kaling for the investigation. 17 members abstained and the u.s. member voted against it. and the u.s. officials say the resolution was one-s now this conflict has gone on longer than the one in 2 not as long as the one in 2008-2009. but both sides are feeling the immaterial ---ism pact -- impact over the last several weeks. more international carriers have temporarily cancelled flights to israel because of safety concerns about the fighting in particular this rocket fire from hamas. >> craig dale for us. in other news, japan's trade balance and every month they are finding similar results. ai uchida joins us with the details on that and more of our business stories. what's going on? >> people at the finance ministry say imports have exceeded exports every month for the last two years. the latest data is for the month of june. this fills in the trade data for the first half of the year.

the numbers add up to another month in the red and the biggest half-year deficit ever recorded. officials say the preliminary figures for first half of 2014 show a deficit of more than $74 billion. that imbalance is the largest since officials started keeping comparable data back in 1979. exports for the period rose only 3.2% in yen terms from a year earlier. finance ministry officials attribute it to slowing demand in emerging economies. and imports rose 10% as japan bought more liquified natural gas from australia and qatar and crude oil from saudi arabia. the deficit in june added up to $8.1 billion. that's the 24th month in a row that the trade balance has been in deficit. those figures, the deficit, was wider than market forecast. still investors have kept the

nikkei in positive territory. they have been waiting for a private sector reading of manufacturing plant activity in china. the data was better than expected, suggesting that china's economy is still solid. the any kaye is still higher by more than .10%. currency leaders are less worried about the ukraine. the dollar is trading in a tight range. but they say concerns that further sanctions against russian are keeping the euro under selling pressure. in south korea, the kospi is trading higher. in shanghai the key index is up .7%. in hong kong, the hang seng is up by more than .3%.

facebook logged sharp earnings growth in the april to june period. they are raking in the revenue from strong mobile advertising sales. facebook executives say sales for the period rose 61% from the previous year to $2.9 billion. net profts jumped 138% to more than $790 million. facebook now has 1.3 billion monthly users. that's up 14% from a year ago. and it's pushing up ad revenues. ceo mark zuckerberg says people in the u.s. spend nine hours of their day using digital media but less than an hour on facebook. he says there's still a lot of room to grow. senior u.s. trade official wendy cutler says conditions are ripe for concluding talks with japan for their part of the transpacific partnership free

trade pact. >> and the most difficult issues are generally dealt with at the final stages. we feel confident that there is a shared commitment and common ground we can reach a tpp agreement. >> american and japanese negotiators made some progress last week on beef and pork tariffs. they discussed implementing safeguards which would allow the japanese to raise tariffs temporarily. if imports surge. cutler said talks on agricultural tear riffs will resume early next month in washington. some investors believe they can find some wealth in the power of the sun. two years ago the japanese government launched a program to promote more solar power and other renewable energies and investors from japan and abroad have rushed in to get a piece of the market. nhk world's keiko aso has the

details. >> reporter: an array of solar panels cover the hill in -- prefecture. his initial investment was $200,000 u.s. every month he earns a profit of about $700. >> translator: i'll make another investment with the profits from the solar power operation. >> reporter: a company helped kimura launch his business. it's been promoting solar power to investors since the government's program got underway. power companies buy electricity generated by renewable power suppliers at a price set by the government in principal for 20

years. that price is about twice as high as in germany, the company with the world's highest installed capacity. >> translator: at first individual investors took a wait and see attitude. but they started paying more and more attention. >> reporter: the high price offered in japan has not escaped the notice of companies in the united states, europe, and asia. they are also launching solar power projects in japan. even so, some programs have surfaced since the program started. as of march, about 1.2 million projects have been approved to sell their generated solar power. but the number of projects in operation is half that figure. according to an industrial association official, the

capacity of the power grid is too small to handle the surging market, which has been growing faster than expected. another problem is getting concern of local residents. >> translator: local people often say they can't accept a contract to lease their land because they're not given enough explanation. >> reporter: a south korean company has been able to address such concern its strategy is to put the priority on building good relations with the local community. the company started to generate solar power from a 42,000 square-meter field. in one year, it recorded sales of $1 million. the company entrusted the power station management to a local organization.

the company has signed a new lease for land in the area. it's invited local representatives to its ground-breaking ceremony. >> translator: as a member of this community we hope to be of help to you. we think we know the way of thinking of our business partners in japan to some extent. but the most important thing is to narrow the perception gap more. >> reporter: market players need to come up with smart strategies and well-planned efforts. that's because japan has a limited supply of suitable land while more and more businesses are entering the solar power business. keiko aso, nhk world toke

shimaa. >> and that's all for business news. i'll leave you with a check on markets. senior officials from japan and south korea have revisited a topic that has long divided them. they have met in seoul to discuss so-called comfort women. they discussed the results of a japanese study into how the government composed a 1993 statement on the issue. the chief on the foreign minister, junichi ihara led the

japanese delegation. lee san-deck led the team from seoul. they discuss the statement issued 21 years ago. ihara says he explained the results of the study el-sisiier this year into how the statement was composed. the statement said that many of the women were recruited against their will to work in brothels at the request of the japanese military during world war ii. excludeing those from japan many of the women were from the korean peninsula. the statement expressed apologies and remorse. ihara said the japanese government conducted the study in the interest of accountability. he said there is no change in the government's stance of upholding the statement. but lee criticized the japanese government for conducting the study. he says efforted to compromise the statement will only lead to japan's reputation being damaged. the japanese and south korean foreign ministers are scheduled to attend a conference next month in myanmar. japanese officials are hoping

they can meet one-on-one. police in shanghai have detained five people who work for a company who were accused of selling expired meat. to mcdonald's, kfc and other chains. a tv station exposed the scandal on sunday and reported that the workers repackaged old beef and chicken. police say it was part of an organized effort. the company provides meat to clients in china and japan and managers of some fast food restaurants are having trouble finding supplies. chinese media say investigators have begun looking into products shipped from the firm's factories across china. some 13 tons of processed meat have been withdrawn in guangdong province. similar measures have been taken in other locations. many chinese are sensitive about food safety following a string of scandals over the past decade.

officials with japan's environment ministry are trying to save some tiny creatures. they're worried about insects indigenous to islands that have been name adieu necessary co world heritage site. lizards are driving the bugs to the brink of extinction. the authorities have stepped in to try to protect them. >> reporter: there are so many species that are unique to these islands that -- has been called the galapagos of the orient. the native wildlife arrived here by chance and then evolved into a unique ecosystem through the ages. there are almost 600 species of animals and plants here that can't be found anywhere else in the world. snails are a striking example. a few varieties that arrived in the islands adapted to the local conditions and have evolved into over 100 species. the original ecosystem has been best preserved on anijima, a

small uninhabited island close to the main -- islands. kuniyuki sawa works for the ministry of the environment. its his job to project the nature on anijima. but he is facing a formidable enemy. green lizards are gobbling up the indigenous insects. they arrived in the 1960s and rapidly spread on the two main islands. there are thought to be several millions of them now. they have had a catastrophic impact. then in march last year, they were sighted for the first time on anijima. this island's ecosystem has been untouched up to now. sawa and his team are doing all they can to keep it that way. these red boxes are lizard traps. more than 40,000 have been installed here. the reptiles get stuck on strong adhesive sheets. already, some 8,000 have been caught this way. but there are many more left on the island.

another device the team is trying is a special fence to confine the lizards in specific areas. >> translator: we place a smooth sheet here so they slip down. then they are unable to climb back up. every small delay increases the risk of lizards spreading. so we're working as fast as we can. >> reporter: those measures are still not enough. the lizards are even being spread through the air. the -- because zards that often feed on them often carry them alive to their nests. some lizards escape and go on to breed. >> translator: if we don't do something, they will spread and damage the island's natural heritage. we need to do whatever we can to prevent that. >> reporter: with victory against the lizards far from assured, the island's natural

heritage is at a critical phase. time for a check of the weather. people in eastern regions of india are dealing with severe floods. mai shoji joins us with the details. >> over 100 villages in eastern india are dealing with severe floods. take a look of a video coming out from these regions. homes, schools, hospitals and many roads became flooded. the showers are not above average but local scientists say poor management of water levels and dams have led to this fooding. but the conditions will be improving over the coming days. this is actually and directly associated with the ex-typhoon that hit taiwan. so it is affecting other parts of the world as well. is it on a weakening trend. a bit of tapering off of the heavy rain. but a bit of peppering of heavy rains in northern locations

where about 140 millimeters have already fallen. any additional rain could trigger further flooding. this is matmo we have been tracking which slammed taiwan over night. and is it now over fujian province at a tropical storm status. it will become a tropical depression in the near future but wind gusts are packing up to 90 kilometers and moving at 25 kilometers an hour toward the north. stormy conditions will continue across much of eastern china. that includes shanghai area. for now, 300 millimeters of additional rainfall could lead to flooding and landslides. it is letting up here across taiwan whi is great news. but again another round of really heavy rainfall across the western coast of the philippines. here in japan, very heavy rain is found in the tohoku region today but it's clear and hot heat advisories are posted widely across this country.

a lot of locations saw in the mid-30s on your wednesday. tokyo was up to 33. 35 in nagoya was the first time it hit 35 in the summer and is likely to continue on. unfortunately, over 3,000 people have been carried to the hospital over the course of just one week for heatstroke. so please watch out for heatstroke. drink plenty of water and try to stay indoors in an air-conditioned room as much as you can. here across the americas we have a low pressure system quite active in eastern canada pulling that cold front. anywhere along it we will see thunderstorms, large hail and gusty conditions. as you can see, this is apparent that the cool down of that temperature due to the cold front pulling the cool air and dropping the temperatures to the east. but to the west it's a warming trend. really hot in the midsection of the u.s. and a spot of that cold air is rain coming in in washington state. in fact in the airport near

seattle we have about 50 millimeters of daily record rainfall already. and the number keeps on growing. 43 in las vegas and oklahoma city, 35 degrees. last but not least here in europe, still messy in central locations. that is likely to pull in to the west over the course of the day. bringing large hail, gusty conditions. to the nor hot. oslo yet again, you're looking at temperatures soaring in the mid-30s and people are in their bikinis. this is coming out from oslo, norway, where our fellow nhk world worker went for vacation trying to look for a cooler place. but the tourists are not enjoying this heat at all and it's likely to continue on into friday unfortunately. and a weakening cooling down trend but still in this -- above the average range. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. first a conversation with best-selling writer max brooks whose novel about a zombie invasion earned him a devoted following and success in movie theeters with the blockbuster film srring one brad pitt. his latest work takes a much more realistic turn called the harlem hell filers and honors african-american infantry regimen in world war i. then we'll to our music guest. she builds on relationships they developed in his first cd. she'll perform a song for us tonight called "run" from the new cd. we're glad you could join us and the conversations and a performance coming up right now.