nhk's craig dale is following developments. >> officials with hamas said that the egyptian proposal fell short of what they were looking for. they have been pushing for israel to ease its blockade of gaza. and they want the israelis to release imprisoned hamas members. hamas fighters launched 120 rockets at israel shortly after the israelis accepted that cease fire proposal. one of the shells killed an israeli man. he is the first israeli fatality since the attacks began. the israelis responded with more air strikes. they are going after what they call terror targets in gaza. they argue that hamas keeps its rockets and command centers hidden in densely populated areas. these air strikes have killed 190 palestinians and wounded 150 others. prime minister benjamin netanyahu says israeli soldiers will continue to act with great force. he says israel will strike whoever tries to harm israel. and when there is no cease fire their answer is fire. israel's 2012 war in gaza went on for eight days before a cease fire brokered by egypt ended the hostilities. keep in mind, this conflict is entering

more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: these palestinians are camping out here because they have nowhere else to go. they have fled to united nations run schools to escape israeli raids on the islamist group hamas. >> translator: we sleep on blankets on the floor and cover ourselves with our clothes. children are now suffering from diarrhea and are throwing up. >> reporter: aid workers are concerned about the state of hygiene at some facilities. along with the availability of clean drinking water and food. for the past ten days, israeli forces have been hitting what they call terror targets in gaza. the territory hamas controls. hamas fighters have fired hundreds of rockets at israel. israeli troops shoot down most of them with their so-called iron dome aerial defense system. the conflict has left more than 210 palestinians and one israeli dead. hamas leaders and others have criticized israelis for killing civilians. and people have protested in different parts of the world, from paris to buenos aires, all of them calling for an end to the violence. but israeli leaders show no si

craig dale has more. >> reporter: president netanyahu said, quote, there is no war more just than this. netanyahu went on television to tell israelis that this war won't be over any time soon. the prime minister says stamina and determination are required in the struggle against hamas and its allies. he repeated one of his goals the demilitarization of the gaza strip. now, netanyahu says to do that, his troops must continue to destroy tunnels that hamas fighters use to infiltrate israel. israeli commanders say they have demolished about half of tunnels. they have been trying to disable launch positions to stop hamas fighters from firing rockets at israel, something that happens multiple times a day. our nhk colleagues in gaza say israeli soldiers are carrying out attacks across a wide area from north to south and describe the fighting as the heaviest in the past few days. but the israelis are denying accusations that one of their air strikes is to blame for this. an explosion in a park in gaza killed ten people, almost all of them children, it happened has palestinians celebrated the e

nhk world ease craig dale is following developments for us. >> ban ki-moon is just a high level player to get a ceasefire between israel and hamas. israel launched its offensive in gaza two weeks ago to go after hamas and its allies to stop them from launching rockets at their country. ban went to tel aviv to urge benjamin netanyahu to urge maximum restraint. many palestinian civilians have died in the fighting. the secretary-general is calling on both sides to end their attacks and to deal with the root causes of the conflict. >> we must address these underlying issues, including the mutual recognition, occupation despair and denial of dignity. >> u.s. secretary of state john kerry is also saying that israel and hamas must look at their fundamental differences. he met in cairo with egyptian president, abdel fattah el-sisi. u.s. leaders support a ceasefire that builds on the one proposed last week by egyptian officials. that called for both sides to stop attacks immediately and send representatives to cairo. israel accepted it but hamas rejected it. hamas leaders are pushing for israel

nhk world's craig dale is covering developments. >> reporter: those representatives will meet in belarus with a delegate from the organization for security and cooperation in europe. they want to be able to get investigators access to that crash site. and to do that they need to find a way to get a truce between russian -- pro-russian separatists and ukrainian forces who are fighting in the east. a missile brought down flight mh-17 two weeks ago, killing all 298 people on board. more than half of them from the netherlands. international team of investigators led by the dutch have tried time and again to access the site, some remains of along with debris.ll in the forensic experts need to go through the evidence to figure out what happened to the plane and give families of the victims some closure. but investigators have feared for their own safety because of fighting nearby between ukrainian soldiers and the separatists. and in some cases the rebels themselves have blocked them from going to th. >> unfortunately we don't expect the security situation to improve enough over the next days

craig dale, nhk world. >>> israeli military jets have launched an attack against targets in the gaza strip. palestinian authorities say at least 24 people were wounded when bombs hit their homes. an nhk reporter in the area says large explosions could be heard for several hours early tuesday morning. the attack comes after more than 60 rockets hit israel from gaza. israeli commanders say they ordered the bombing to prevent terror attacks against their citizens. they reportedly gave advance warning to people in the homes that were targeted. members of the islamic fundamentalist group hamas effectively control gaza. leaders call the bombing outrageous and said if the air strikes continue, they'll attack a wider range of targets. tensions have escalated in recent days following the murders of three young israelis and a palestinian teenager. >>> afghans have been waiting to find out who will be their next leader. electoral officials have given them a hint. they've released preliminary results from the presidential runoff vote last month. former finance minister, ashraf ghani, is leading

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 israe

more from nhk world's craig dale. >> reporter: palestinian militants in gaza are firing off rockets day and night. [ sirens ] israelis have been rushing to bomb shelters. and while some of the rockets hit their marks, most end up as white puffs in the sky, blown up by israel's sophisticated aerial defense system known as the iron dome. the israeli air offensive in gaza has been much more punishing. buildings reduced to rubble or engulfed in flames, residents rushed out on stretchers and cars turned into piles of mangled metal. israeli leaders say they're targeting members of hamas. the islamist militant group that controls gaza, but civilians are dying, too. >> we face the risk of an all out escalation. >> reporter: members of the u.n. security council met to discuss the conflict. >> it is now more urgent than ever to try to find common ground for a return to calm. >> reporter: both sides made emotional appeals. >> 15 seconds, that's how much time you have to run for your life. >> reporter: israel's ambassador says no country would tolerate rocket attacks. the palestinian representative

nhk world's craig dale is following the story. >> leaders in the u.s. and eu have been putting the squeeze on putin ever since he decided to the ukrainian back in march. now they are further punis putin. they accuse him of supporting pro-russian separatists who are fighting for control of eastern parts of ukraine. president obama says it will hit banks, energy and defense firm >> it does not have to be this way. this is a choice that russia and president putin in particular has made. there continues to be a better choice, the choice of deescalation, the choice of joining the world in a diplomatic solution to this situation. >> european union leaders coordinated their action with the u.s. they'll stop state-owned banks from raising funds on europe markets. they'll impose an embargo on the weapons trade and they'll prevent russian oil companies from getting ahold of some technology. putin has already seen sanctions bite into different parts of the russian economy and the u.s. and eu have imposed measures against his aides and other russian officials, incl

. >> nhk world's craig dale. >>> syrian president bashar al assad has been sworn in for a third term. he's held on to power for 14 years and through three years of civil war. but he's promised to go on fighting. assad delivered his inaugural speech at the presidential palace in damascus. he said he'll continue to fight what he calls terrorism until order is restored. assad spoke about islamist militants who have crossed over into neighboring iraq and seized a number of cities. they've declared an islamic state in areas of syria and iraq under their control. assad said members of his government warned this would happen. he said arab and western leaders would pay a high price for the support of terrorism. assad is said to have won 90% of the votes in the presidential election last month. he faced off against rival candidates for the first time. but his critics say the election was a sham. >> good morning, catherine, cake provider comcast rivalled by >>> the heads of brazil, russia, india, china and south africa want a greater role on the world stage but don't all agree on how that shoul

craig dale joins us with more. >> people have been speculating for days whether leaders would launch this ground invasion, prime minister netanyahu said it was a possibility and hours ago it became a reality this is video from gaza of the gaza skyline from time to time we can tell you we've seen explosions and heard gun fire or the thud of tank shells. nhk teams on the ground there say they have heard the sound of severe fighting coming from the eastern part of gaza. the israeli defense forces released images of soldiers around the time of the invasion, commanders say this is a new phase in operation protective edge. they say they have been going after tunnels hamas built between gaza and israel. they say some heavily armed palestinians used it but stopped the soldiers are expected to continue the work. the ground invasion comes on the heels of a five hour truce that awe lowed supplies. leaders accused hamas of not ordering the truce. they say hamas is to blame for the continued conflict because they did not accept seize fire proposed early they are week by egy egypt. >> hamas closed

. >> nhk world's craig dale there. dutch authorities are preparing to take the lead in the investigation into the downing of malaysia airlines flight 17. the plane was shot down last week over eastern ukraine. 298 people were killed. a majority were dutch. now officials in ukraine are sending the remains to the netherlands. the plane went down in an area where government forces have been fighting pro russian activists. investigators have moved the bodies in a refrigerated train to the city of kharkiv and ukraine's vice prime minister says about 50 bodies are being flown out of the country on wednesday. >> translator: we recommended that the netherlands lead the international investigation into the cause of the crash. >> ukrainian authorities have wrapped up their search at the site. they confirmed the deaths of everyone on board. they will continue to work with forensic experts from other countries until friday, to check the rest of the remains. then the officials plan to send the bodies to the netherlands for autopsy

nhk world's craig dale is covering the story for us. >> well, many people expected this ground invasion would increase the number of civilian casualties in this 11-day -- or casualties in this 11-day-old conflict, the last time israeli soldiers went into gaza, back in 2009, hundreds of palestinians died. now, so far, we've seen explosions and heard gunfire or the thud of tank shells. nhk's team in gaza has reported hearing the sound of severe fighting coming from the east. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his security cabinet ordered this invasion. they say they're trying to stop fighters with hamas and its allies from infill rating israel via tunnels. netanyahu said they already worked into the country but the attack was stopped. israelis have destroyed part of the underground network. soldiers are continuing the work. the prime minister briefed secretary of state john kerry about the ground invasion. kerry asked netanyahu to ensure the operation is precise and focused on those tunnels and to do more to prevent civilian casualties. now, the ground operation follows a five-

craig dale is following developments for us. >> the united nations released a statement saying the secretary-general is alarmed to hear that rockets were hidden inside a u.n. run school and they subsequently went missing. the statement goes on to say those responsible are turning schools into potential military targets and endangering the lives of innocent children, u.n. employees, and anyone using the schools as shelter. tens of thousands of palestinians have been staying at these facilities to get out of the way of israel's air and ground offensive. the u.n. statement will come as no surprise to the israelis. they accuse hamas of hiding weapons in command centers in schools, mosques and hospitals. israeli commanders say they're trying to destroy the weapons, and they say they're working to demolish tunnels hamas fighters use to infiltrate their country. israel defense forces spokesperson say militants are also using the umbrella of the u.n. to conceal tunnel building activity. they say hamas members use bags from a relief agency meant to hold wheat to store dirt and hide evidence of their work. th

nhk world's craig dale has more. >> reporter: leaders from the u.s. and other nations blame the separatists for firing the missile that brought down flight mh-17 and killing all 298 people on board, and they've also been criticizing the rebels for blocking access to the site. when pro-russian separatists stopped investigators from entering the website, some fired weapons into the air. the separatists are accused of contaminating the evidence and looting luggage in duty-free bags. president obama asks what are they trying to hide? now the separatists have agreed to a cease-fire within 10 kilometers of the crash site so investigators can do their jobs. now, as to who fired that missile, the separatists are the prime suspect. russia is accused of providing the weapon and providing the training. the separatists blame ukraine, and russian officials are saying that ukraine had multiple surface-to-air missiles in the area along with a warplane at time of the crash. russian president vladimir putin says this wouldn't have happened had the ukrainian military n

craig dale, nhk world. >>> it's time now for the weather forecast with our meteorologist robert speta. >> yes, we'll start off talking about what is going on across much of europe today where we are seeing some storm in the west, but also in the east where a cold front really blew through eastern portions of europe. now moving into western russia, bringing in some heavy rain, strong thunderstorms with this. even a tornado reported down towards the balkan peninsula in croatia, bosnia, you saw large hail coming out of this storm system. i do want to show you video out of poland this past weekend and really into monday where you saw heavy rain. just bringing in some unfavorable conditions. actually very unideal weather. heavy rain and these temperatures around 18 degrees. definitely ruining plans for many families out here waiting to go on vacation in nearby mountains and waterways in poland. the weather is forcing these people to really reconsider traveling out and about there into the low countries and extending off there into eastern europe. take a look at the forecast. it's still goi

nhk world's craig dale is covering developments for us. approved this cease-fire just moments before the deadline. egyptian government officials gave each side until 9:00 a.m. to approve this plan and stop attacks in the next 12 hours. so far the palestinian militant group hamas which controls gaza hasn't said anything. israeli forces have been pounding targets in gaza for days now. they say they're responding to rocket fire from members of hamas and other islamist militants. the air strikes have demolished a number of buildings, they've weakened hamas, they've also been deadly. u.n. officials say 70% of the victims were siftians. israeli leaders blame hamas for hiding their weapons in densely populated areas. they say the militant have fired hundreds of rockets at their country. some have landed, some israelis have been hurt, although none has died. israeli military commanders shoot down most of the rockets with their aerial defense system the iron dome. his troops and tanks have been parked at the border with gaza and there had been fear

. >> vieira: his tour guides for the day, dale mason and alan gilmore, have been carrying out craig'sision since universal orlando resort broke ground on the project last year. mason: i think it's kind of interesting, no matter all the models we built, and this little slice here... yeah? ...is narrower than i imagined when you stand in it. yeah. crescent. which is good. >> vieira: if it seems closed-in, that's exactly how it's intended to feel to faithfully represent old london. but the design is nothing more than an illusion masking the reality that the scope of the universal parks project is enormous. woodbury: when you arrive in london, it's going to be as if you arrived in london. i mean, this is a real, full-scale environment. you'll have king's cross station. you've got the knight bus that will be parked out in front. and then you get to go through that wall of london, if you will, and into the actual magical area of diagon alley. welcome, harry, to diagon alley. >> vieira: the project may be ambitious in size, but the creators know that their success or failure lies not in its