welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. a death sentence has been given for the first time in a judge trial in japan since the system was introduced in may last year at the yokohama district court. a panel of judges, including ordinary citizens, handed down

the sentence to a man charged with robbery and double murder. the unemployed man was found guilty of killing two men and taking $160,000 in june last year. one of the men operated a mahjong parlor in central tokyo. the defendant dumped the bodies in yokohama port. prosecutors said the defendant deserved a death sentence for what they called a cold-blooded crime. they said the man killed one of the victims with an electric saw while he pleaded with his life. in a lay judge trial, six randomly chosen citizens serve along side three professional judges to determine guilt and sentence those found guilty. japan's space agency has confirmed that most of the particles brought back to earth by the unmanned probe hayabusa are from the itokawa astroid. it marks the successful attempt

to bring back astroid particles from space. the high bayabusa returned home a seven of year journey in june. scientists collected particles from the unmanned probe and have spent months examining the tiny particles which are 0.01 millimeters across. the researchers say that the ratio of iron and magnesium in the mineral are similar to that of meteors that have fallen to earth. it was initially unclear whether the hayabusa was able to collect samples from the astroid because they had problems during landing.

the japan aerospace agency says it plans to distribute particles of the astroid around the world. a fire in an apartment building in shanghai killed 42 people and injured about 100. there is a public outcry against the city authority for failing to provide prompt rescue. the fire broke out on monday afternoon in a 28-story complex in the city center where there are men high-rise condominiums and commercial buildings. most of the residents were elderly people. it took about six hours to extinguish the claims, even with more than 80 fire engines. >> the blaze spread rapidly and forcefully, which kept ladder trucks and helicopters from getting near.

some who called for help were left waiting in the building for a long time. the city authority said an outer wall on the building was under renovation when it caught on fire. the police and fire department are investigating the cause. japan plendged a new aid package to flood-affected pakistan. representatives from 30 countries and international organizations, including japan, the united states, and britain, participated in the pakistan development forum in the capital islamabad on monday. they discussed post-flood reconstruction of the south asian country. massive flooding in july affected 20 million people in pakistan. some seven million people are living in makeshift tents. economic damage is estimated at more than $10 billion. vice foreign minister said japan will provide $275 million of aid to international

organizations. the funds will help rebuild roads and bridges. japan already pledged $68 million in aid. it at the forum, pakistani prime minister galani asked for long-term support. >> we need your long-term consistent support in helping us to support our institutions. our systems, so together we can start a new journey which will make pakistan and its people realize their full potential. >> their representatives called on the pakistani government to carry out economic reforms and to be transparent about how the aid money is used. the u.s. agricultural agency said one-third of north korea is facing food shortages and needs

serious aid. this was represented at an international conference in seoul on monday. she said north korea is short 1.4 million tons of grain and nearly 9 million people need food aid. >> as a result of what is going on in korea, young children are going hungry. >> she said north korea's food shortage is expected to continue into next year, since flooding in the summer damaged many farms and caused a shortage of seed. she said the country also requires an additional 700,000 tons of fertilizer to improve its agricultural production. investigators in tokyo will not arrest the coast guard officer who leaked sensitive video of the collisions between a chinese trawler and japanese patrol boats in the east china sea. they say they will continue to question him on a voluntary basis for allegedly breaching government confidentiality. the 43-year-old officer made

a public appearance early tuesday, the first since his questioning began last week. he admitted to uploading footage of the incident onto youtube. he left his office in silence and with his head bowed but his lawyer read a statement on his behalf. >> the statement reads that he only wanted people to know what is happening in japanese waters. the video showed the collision in september, near the senkaku islands. china and taiwan also claim the islands. investigators believe the officer violated a national public service law that prohibits civil servants from leaking confidential information they learn at work. they say they decided not to arrest him because there are no major discrepancies in his

story. they also say it is unlikely he's hiding evidence or planning to escape. >> in europe, a recurrence of another credit crisis is looming. this comes after greece's deficits were revised as higher than previously estimated as well as continuing fiscal worries for cash-strapped portugal. the eu statistics agency euro stat said on monday it revised greece's budget deficit from 13.6% of its gdp to 15.4%. it found large deficits in railway and bus operations and added them to the original figure. it's likely to put pressure on the greek government to take measures. there is growing concern the government will not be able to rebuild the country's finances.

portugal's finance minister hinted to the british newspaper, final times, that his country may ask the european union for financial assistance. observers say ireland may also seek aid from the eu. finance ministers from the 16-nation euro zone will meet in brussels on tuesday to discuss how to combat credit uncertainty. u.s. retail sales in october rose to better than expected, 1.2% from the previous month. that marks the fourth consecutive month of growth. the department of commerce said on monday that retailers post just over $373 billion in sales last month. the expansion of 1.2% was the fastest pace of growth in seven months. it beat market forecasts. the strong result comes as sales for cars and auto parts increase 5%. those were for construction

materials grew. amid a consistently high unemployment rate consist latest figure eased concern over sluggish consumer spending. attention is now you on whether the trend will continue into the year-end holiday season which accounts to up to 40% of revenue. japan airlines will dismiss pilots and flight attendants. they reached the decision because the number of employees retiring voluntarily fell short of its target of 1,500. they felt that was essential to down-sizing its business. they offered voluntary retirement packages on three occasions. j.a.l. says it will soon begin negotiations with labor unions to decide which employees will be let go. more than 80 pilots have filed for court injunction to stop the airline from forcing them to retire.

some unions plan to go on strike. japan airlines filed for bankruptcy protection in january. it includes eliminating 16,000 jobs. a japanese government survey shows that the averaging starting salary for this year's university graduate was down from a year earlier, the first drop in three years. the labor ministry on monday released the results of its survey of companies that hire new graduates in spring. over 13,000 firms responded. the average wage paid to such recruits were nearly $2,400 a month, down from the previous year. by industry recruits and the service sector, enjoyed the highest pay at $2,600. those at financial and insurance companies fared the worst. the ministry said the growing number of firms seem to be paying less to new recruits to keep wage levels as low as possible at a time of economic uncertainty.

china has completed laying the tracks for high-speed rail linking beijing and shanghai. the rail ways minister attended a ceremony on monday to mark the event. the 1,300-kilometer line had been under construction since july. they expect the trinz cover the two cities in less than five hours at up to 280 kilometers per hour. they hope it will relieve the increasing air/traffic congestion. the line is expected to open in october of last year after the final phase of construction is completed. here's the latest market figures.

finding ways to prevent overfishing is now a major global challenge. japan has introduced a unique eco-labeling system that promotes sustainable fishing practices. >> reporter: star dust shrimp are a specialty of this bay in central japan. these cherry pink crustaceans are only about 5 centimeters long. they're sold raw, boiled or

dried for us in tempura and japanese pancakes. last year, a group of fisherman received eco-label certification from the japan fisheries association. star dust shrimp, with this label are sold for $10 for 30 grams, higher than average. >> translator: i think we can maintain a higher price. consumers recognize that eco-labeled products such as these are value-added items. >> reporter: about 40 years ago, there was a dramatic drop in star dust shrimp due to overfishing. since that time, local fishermen have made an effort to protect marine resources in the bay. fishing for star dust shrimp is allowed for four months each year in spring and autumn. and only at night for a few

hours when the shrimp come up to the surface from the deep sea. during the season, union representatives meet every afternoon to decide the day's quota and where boats can fish. a pooling system has been adopted to it divide revenues equally among the 120 boats. the quota for the season is based on scientific data from the marine technology research center. on the first day of autumn fishing in early november, shrimp samples were gathered from eight different locations to evaluate the population. they found relatively few adult shrimp and more baby shrimp than in an ordinary year. so the fishermen decided to wait

another week and check samples again before starting. >> translator: getting the eco-label raised awareness among fishermen. we must take responsibility for sustaining marine resources. >> reporter: the japan fisheries association, the largest organization of its kind, introduced this new eco-labeling system three years ago. their screening process is rigorous. it's based on guidelines set by the united nations food and agricultural org. they're proud of their procedure for being faster and cheaper than other eco-labeling systems. more efficient cooperatives are applying for this labeling system. in central japan, the local fishing industry limited the quota of these extremely small

to maintain levels of 2 billion. and in northern japan, fresh water clam fishing is now restricted based on results of scientific research. >> translator: japan's local fisheries have long been concerned with developing sustainability. consumers haven't been aware of our efforts until recently. by using these ecolabels, we hope they will continue to support our activities. in the foothills on the rocky mountains in the u.s., there's conflict as the number of gray wolves increases, they attack more livestock. so the farmers want to kill off the wolves. while conservationists are doing all they can to save them. we have the story.

>> reporter: the northern rockies area of the u.s. here many wild animals coexist with humans. it's a place where we can see animals that once faced extinction. a large population of gray wolves lives in the area. many tourists visit to see gray wolves in the wild. here they see a confrontation between the wolf and the buffalo. people have hunted wolves almost to extinction, mainly to protect livestock. but the wolves were classified as endangered in 1974. so killing them was against the law. in 1995, animal rights groups started a campaign to bring gray wolves from canada into the u.s.

they were able to restore the wolf population in the rockies to 1,700. >> i thought i may never see wolves come back during my lifetime because of how much they had to face here. now the challenge will be keeping them. >> reporter: as the wolf population increased, they started to attack farm animals. 1,000 attacks were confirmed last year. it's believed the number is much higher. sheep farmer jeff sillway has lost animals to attacking wolves. >> 2009, and we had 36 rams that we found out here dead. >> reporter: in the last year, he suffered $75,000 in losses

from wolf attacks on his livestock. he says raising lamb is not safe from wolves. >> when you sustain those kinds of predator losses, the sheep business just isn't good enough. i'd love to shoot the wolf if i could just ever see one to shoot it. but -- >> reporter: in response, the conservation group started the project three years ago to protect the farm animals and livestock. the sheep were protected by flags on the electric fences and trained guard dogs. it was a success that limited, but so many people still want to reduce the wolf population. in spite of the conservationists' efforts, killing wolves became legal again last year. after the government removed the animals from the endangered

list. officials said there were enough wolves. the conservation group held a symposium hoping to find a common ground with wolf support. but not everybody agreed with them. >> some environmental organization wanting to take away somebody's way of life. >> you know, it's not just about dividing this culture and trying to make us win versus the other. we have to do this together. we can coexist with wolves. we just have to have a means for doing it. >> reporter: the courts will decide if gray wolves can be killed or protected. the conflict between man/beast continues. >> the animal rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging the decision to allow the killing of wolves. the government lost the case and

is now appealing. here's the weather forecast with sumi zushi. time for your world weather update. it's a much calmer day across northern japan. a good start of sunshine to return this afternoon as well. staying across the pacific side of the country. temperatures are well below averages. they're not colder than usual. the korean peninsula is dry but quite cool. good spells of sunshine but it turns cloudy into central portions of the country. wet conditions for the southwestern corner as well. meanwhile, southeastern asia dealing with heavy showers once again. central vietnam, hearing reports of torrential rain in the last 24 hours. flooding and landslides do remain the main concern.

the storm system is actually weakening off. it doesn't look like that vein will be weakening for the next couple of days. the philippines looking at very unstable conditions once again. a low pressure system approaching the southern end of the island. heavy showers once again. flooding cannot be ruled out here. of course, the peninsula too, another wet day. it will threaten the area with more flooding and landslides. over the bay of bengal, we have a low pressure system that continues to move toward southeastern india. it will gain more energy. quite an active storm system and likely to bring torrential rains on your wednesday. something to watch out for here as well. 32 degrees in bangkok. looking quite cloudy in shanghai as well. let's head over to north america then. another round of winter storms, really affecting the northern rockies today. montana looking at heavy snow accumulation on your tuesday and

blowing snow. winter storms really affecting alberta and saskatchewan in canada. looking very wet, miserable and windy in the pacific northwest as well, british columbia and oregon looking at more wet weather. in the deep south, thunderstorms brewing up again. that will be heading into preside eastern seaboard. look out for heavy storms and showers. washington, d.c., rainy tape for you. 14 degrees. 14 in new york. los angeles, 22 degrees. warming up in denver. 12 for your daytime high. very frosty and cold night across the british isles. we will see some clearing on your tuesday. there is that heavy rain coming in from the west. heavy bursts of rain anticipated later on in the day. central europe continues to contend with heavy rain and upper elevation snow. this low pressure system

continues to move slowly. fortunately, it looks like the low country that has been dealing with heavy rains recently will escape the worst of the weather. the eastern -- parts of eastern europe will start to see that rain move in from the west. that will cool things down across belarus and western russia. rain coming into athens. 22 degrees. looking at 19 in rome with rain as well. here's your extended forecast.

once again, the headlines this hour, a death sentence has been given for the first time in a lay judge trial in japan since the system was introduced may last year. on tuesday, a panel of judges, including ordinary citizens, handed town the sentence to a man channeled with robbery and double murder. the 32-year-old unemployed man was found guilty of kill two men and taking about $160,000 in june last year. one of the men operated a mahjong parlor. the defendant dumped the body abouts of the victims in the water. prosecutors said the defendant deserved a death sentence for what they described as a cold-blooded crime. they said the man killed one of the victims with an electric saw while he pleaded for his life. the defendant had admitted to all charges. in a lay judge trial, six

randomly chosen citizens serve along side three judges to determine guilt and sentence those found guilty. that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm gene otani. we'll be back in half an hour with the latest news and weather. jj