welcome back to "newsline" from tokyo. first the headlines at this hour. islamist militants linked to al qaeda are pushing deeper into northern iraq. they have taken control of mosul and they're advancing through other cities. customers in europe worry supplies could be cut off. people who run businesses on the border between china and vietnam say strained relations are hurting their bottom line.

islamist militants linked to al qaeda advancing daerp into iraq. they have captured the second largest city, mosul, and vow to keep pressing on further south. nhk has more. >> reporter: the militants belong to a group called the islamic state and attacked the consulate general of turkey in mosul. they seized about 50 people including the consul general. they reportedly forced half a million people to flee. >> translator: any harm to our citizens and staff would bemetted with the harsh -- be met with the harshest retaliation. >> reporter: the secretary general ban ki-moon and members of the council have denounced the actions. >> i'm condemning in the strongest possible terms such terrorist attacks against

diplomatic officers. >> reporter: the spokesperson for the u.s. state department says secretary of state john kerry discussed the situation with turkey's foreign minister. >> we are in touch with the governments of turkey and iraq and stand ready to provide any appropriate assistance. >> reporter: iraq's prime minister says military commanders will launch an operation to contain the insurgents and is calling on the iraqis to join the fight. the spokesperson for the u.s. state department says that secretary of state john kerry discussed the situation with turkish foreign minister. he said that u.s. officials are ready to provide appropriate assistance to the governments of turkey and iraq. the militants have been fighting against government forces in syria. the syrian president bashar al ashad issued a statement calling them terrorists and said his government is ready to cooperate with iraqi leaders to fight their common enemy. the militants are advancing into other iraqi cities. from mussel they swept south to baiji and forced the largest oil refinery to shut down.

then they moved to tikrit, the birthplace of saddam hussein. the militants saying they plan to escalate their fight further in baghdad. analysts say the militants are preparing for a full-pledged assault on the iraqi capital. nhk world. millions of europeans fear their natural gas could be cut off. they get their supplies from russia, but it passes through ukraine, and energy ministers from those countries have failed to settle a dispute over the price. the ukrainians have fallen behind in their payments, russian producers raised the price in april and warned they would turn off the tap unless the ukrainians paid up. the ministers met in brussels to try to reach a compromise. russia's alexander novak suggested they restore a discounted price, $385 per 1,000

cubic meters of gas, that's $100 lower than the previous offer. but the minister from ukraine said the price was not low enough. yuri prodem demanded an even better deal. the european union's energy commissioner called on both sides to keep talking. he pushed them to try to reach an agreement by a monday deadline. russian president vladimir putin said it's not clear why the ukrainians are insisting on more reductions. he said they appeared to be trying to drive the issue into a dead end. u.s. national security adviser susan rice has called for a code of conduct in the south china sea. she said cooperation is the key to resolving international problems and avoiding what she called maritime bullying. >> our security also relies on defining and upholding rules that govern our shared spaces, rules that reject aggression, impede the ability of large

nations to bully small ones, and establish ways to resolve conflicts peacefully. >> rice was speaking to an audience in washington. the speech comes amid growing tensions between china and vietnam in the south china sea. a state-run chinese company parked an oil rig in disputed waters early in may. chinese and vietnamese crews have been facing off ever since. rice said the u.s. is working with regional partners in asia to enhance maritime security and strengthen the rules of the road in the south china sea. people who run firms across japan have pulled back from ordering new equipment. economists are confident managers will keep reinvesting in their businesses. managers placed machinery orders in april worth about $8.3 billion. officials at the cabinet office

say that's down 9.1% from last month. the numbers don't include orders for ships and from electric power companies because they just around too much. managers at automakers and chance port equipment companies invested less in equipment. and orders from manufacturers were down more than 9%. people in the transportation and financial sectors ended up investing more. orders from non-manufacturers grew 0.9%. analysts at the cabinet office maintained their assessment saying machinery orders are on a rising trend. the people working on the transpacific partnership have agreed to meet again in their push for a free trade deal. the chief negotiators will gather next month in vancouver. ministers from the 12 countries participating in the talks met last month in singapore. they agreed to try to build some momentum for a final agreement. the chief negotiators are planning to meet in vancouver over a period of ten days.

they will try to work through differences on tithes for farm products and rules for trade and investment and will discuss issues such as intellectual property and competition between state-owned and private firms. u.s. trade officials are leading the negotiations. they're under pressure to complete a deal before americans go to the polls in midterm elections in november. members of a subcommittee of the house of representatives are weighing in. the japanese maintain tariffs on five key agriculture products including beef and pork. committee members are urging them to change their position. >> in negotiations for the transpacific partnership or tpp, i am concerned the administration is not holding japan and canada to the level of ambition that congress has demanded. if any countries insist on

retaining tariffs, we must complete the negotiations without them. >> the head of the national cattle men's beef association also urging the japanese to eliminate tariffs. bob mccann said they should accept the same rules as other countries in the talks. japanese and american trade officials will meet to discuss their part of the deal before the chief negotiators gather in vancouver. the people at general electric have their sights set on french energy giant alstom. some of the rivals are trying to spoil the plans. japanese and german executives are in talks to make a joint bid. executives at mitsubishi and germany's siemens are hoping to counter the weight of ge. they could submit an offer as early as monday. the people at mitsubishi are expanding overseas and have their eyes on alstom in europe, middle east, and south america. executives at ge have made a bid of $17 billion.

japanese leaders are fleshing out plans to make japan a friendlier place to do business. official from the government and the ruling party have agreed to lower their corporate tax rate to make firms more competitive. but they're still working on the numbers. members of the cabinet are on track to approve their growth strategy later this month. economic revitalization ministers discussed the cut with the head of the liberal democratic party's tax committee. they plan to cut the rate gradually over the next several years from 35% to below 30%. noda and others say they will need other sources of revenue to make up for the lower rate. he said companies will be more profitable and will end up paying more taxes overall. people walking into japanese busy are seeing more and more signs of something missing in the economy. the signs read "help wanted." managers can't find enough workers to fill open positions.

many of them are turning to foreign students to do the job. nhk tells us more. >> reporter: international students read aloud a company motto at the morning meeting in chinese. 70% of the workers at this chain restaurant come from abroad. most of them students from china. they make about $10 an hour, the same as their japanese colleagues. more than 100,000 international students have taken part-time jobs. that's up 50% over the past five years. some managers have changed their training programs to attract new trainees.

she started here as a part-timer. now she works full-time and leads training. >> translator: here you go. >> translator: you made a noise. please do it more slowly. if you serve like that, you might spill some stew. >> reporter: japanese law prohibits international students from working more than 28 hours a week. so managers keep track of everyone's schedule so when employees don't go over the limit. >> translator: we'll listen to what the foreign workers have to say and create a better work environment for them. >> reporter: the language school has taken on a new role.

about 1,200 students from 40 countries are studying at this school. and the people who run it have launched a company to attract even more. school officials want to support those who want to study and earn their living at the same time. the company received more than 500 calls from managers looking to hire at restaurants, hotels, and distribution farm. >> translator: our challenge is to figure out how we can find good matches between the students and businesses looking to fill openings.

>> reporter: and the phones keep ringing. managers looking for the right people to get the job done. security forces in the philippines have captured one of the men on the u.s. government's most-wanted list. the senior commander in the extremist group. officials were offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to his capture. police found him in a slum near

manila national airport. manila international airport. they believe he is an expert in bomb making and was behind a series of attacks and kidnappings. they believe he is the spiritual leader of abu sayyaf which has links to al qaeda. u.s. officials have been supporting a filipino military campaign against the group. they believe only a few hundred core members remain. police say the arrest will deal a severe blow to the group. system design to keep them safe. and taking matters into their own hands. we have more from seoul. >> reporter: in a sports center near seoul, elementary school students take a swim class. the center also conducts

seminars on what to do in accidents in the water. it's only one of two locations that offer these kind of lessons to elementary school students. at this local indoor swimming pool, third graders are learning how to survive a water accident wearing a life jacket. the course is intensive. the children receive detailed lessons on how to save themselves in water-related accident such as how to use plastic water bottles to stay afloat. >> translator: after of the accident parents and teachers are concerned about safety issues. >> reporter: because of the accident, many students and others want to attend the seminar. local officials are considering

starting courses for junior high and high school students as well as adults. officials from other regions are thinking of setting up similar programs. so they flood the office with questions. it's not only water safety that south koreans are focussing on. the seoul accident has prompted more people to visit the safety theme park. it was built after a subway fire in 2003. visitors learn how to react in accidents and fires and earthquakes. this exhibit simulates a fire in a subway car.

visitors listen to an emergency announcement. they learn how to open train doors by hand and get out while covering their mouths with a hand or cloth. >> translator: it was kind of scary. the way out was filled with smoke and i couldn't see anything. i think i can do what i practiced here if i'm ever in a real fire. >> translator: i think children would benefit from more safety training in schools. >> reporter: the facility is busy. lot of families from all over the country book weekend seminars. all slots are reserved through august. >> translator: visitor numbers have increased and more visitors are asking our staff questions. concerns about safety have risen a great deal. >> reporter: members of the group bring concerns to government and education

officials. the activists call for emergency training to be included in the school curriculum. >> translator: what we have to do is give people a thorough education on how to make good decisions in emergencies. >> reporter: south koreans are turning the seoul accident into an extraordinary opportunity to learn how to save lives during emergencies and disasters. nhk world, seoul.

some people who run travel agencies in china are struggling to stay afloat. they get much of their business from vietnam. but they've seen relations deteriorate over territorial dispute, and the sales have plummeted. nhk world reports. >> reporter: on the other side of the vifr vietnam. there are stores selling fruit and visibilities and foods brought in across the border. many people still remember when this border area was a battleground between the two countries. the vietnamese war broke out in 1979 following vietnam's invasion of cambodia. after the two countries re-established ties in 1991,

trade between them grew rapidly. in the ten years through 2013, bilateral trade has increased to 14 fold to more than $65 billion. last year, the two sides agreed to visa requirements in both directions. this led to a surge in the number of people crossing the border here. there are more than 30 tribal agencies in the city catering to chinese tourists who want to visit vietnam. but few of them are open now here in the tribal center. the local government has ordered travel agents not to elect tourists sign up for sightseeing trips to vietnam. the reason for this, it says, is that chinese tourists may come under attack if they visit vietnam. this tribal agency has expanded

first since last year as the number of tourists rose. its work force grew to over 30. now it's had to lay off most of them. this is affecting its profits. >> reporter: >> translator: this is a city of 130,000. how can a small travel agency stay in business? >> reporter: this city that serve as a gatesway to vietnam, the growing hostility between the two countries is starting to have a big economic impact. nhk world. pharmacies and drugstores

cross japan can sell most over-the-counter drugs via internet. the deregulation of online drug sales follows a supreme court decision last year ruling the government's blanket ban invalid. but there are conditions operators must have a brick and mortar store. they have to provide a telephone number for patient consultation. ministry officials say more than 1,000 pharmacies and drugstores plan to register their websites with local authorities. the officials have contacted private companies to monitor distribution of fake medicine. and they plan to set up local consultation centers where customers can report violations. it is a rainy thursday here in tokyo. time to find out how the skies

are looking around the globe. we have an update. >> it's raining heavily as we speak. we have heavy rain warnings in place in a couple of prefectures out here. and the rain and wet conditions -- excuse me, windy conditions will prevail across hokkaido. we have report of more than 130 express trains canceled throughout the day across the northern tip. another round of severe weather will likely happen due to this system which used to be a tropical storm this morning. has transformed itself to a low-pressure system. it's moving over toward the region yet again. as we speak, we're seeing a little break from the rain. but another round of very heavy showers, possibly about 50 millimeters in an hour type of sudden burst of showers will be likely. also rain is now impacting the prefecture with heavy rain warnings in place here. and that's likely to provide more rain toward the sea of japan side, as well. it's very unstable across the

korean peninsula. the sudden burst of showers are reported in southern areas of the korean peninsula. this is due to the unstable conditions and the unsettled atmosphere likely it continue for a while longer. it's clear and fine across northern locations in eastern china, but the high-pressure system is bringing the temperatures quite high. beijing looks normal, but still very hot. it's likely to continue. and we're likely to see jinan heating up to 38 degrees both friday and saturday. and also in zhenzou. please stay hydrated in these conditions. we're looking for a low-pressure system to develop into a tropical depression by friday. the water is still warm, feeding the system, and enhancing the southwesterly monsoonal flow and will making for a real heavy rainmaker. it's likely to bring a heavy rain warning already in place in the southern tip of taiwan which is likely to continue for a while longer. some areas could actually exceed

about 350 millimeters of rainfall in just three days. we're also looking at the northern zone being battered by real heavy rain. in fact, into the next couple of months we're probably likely to see more rain than normal. across europe, unsettled conditions was the topic for this continent. it looks like it's going to be weakening, but even though it's on a weakening trend, it will be bringing severe weather across croatia, slovakia, czech republic, and the northern balkans. but after that, atlantic high pressure system will cover much of the continent in the northwesterly locations. 24 with beautiful sunshine in london. paris, as well. too hot in the bavarian peninsula, and that's likely it continue into the weekend with the 30s. seville, look at that, 38 degrees for your saturday. now another huge hot topic for the world is the world cup beginning soon. let me first talk about the concern of floods across

argentina and in brazil. here's a picture coming up from there. a unesco world heritage site has been closed because of flooding. murky water cascaded over the falls blocked walkways and viewpoints. nine people have been killed in the state, and 3,600 others have been stranded. back to our picture, we're not looking at any precipitation across sao paolo, and the high-pressure systems will be dominating the area. and as for the kickoff time, about 5:00 p.m. your local time in brazil. 25 degrees, nice and fine, and a little bit of light rain and maybe foggy in the morning. clear and fine in the afternoon and night hours. i'll leave you now for the extended forecast.

that's all for this -- for

this edition of "newsline." thank you all for joining us.

that's all for this edition

ooh, what a day. so i've arrived in the prefecture, i'm here by the coastline. where i'm about to go is up into that snow-capped mountain range just over there. >> the mountain range rises above the waters of the tateyama bay and sea of japan. since the