once rna was transported to mars, it was transported on meteorites eventually leading to the creation of life. thanks for watching. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- welcome to "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. u.n. inspectors are packing up their equipment and preparing to fly out of syria. they've finished gathering evidence on the use of chemical weapons. the experts have spent four days collecting samples and interviewing hospital staff. they were looking into allegations president bashar al assad's troops used chemical weapons last week. several hundred people are believed dead from the attack. the inspectors will now send material for laboratory analysis, then they'll report to

u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon. syrian state tv has reported foreign minister walid al-moallem spoke over the phone with tun chief. he said syrian leaders would reject the report if they judge it incomplete. u.s. president barack obama says he has not made a final decision on how to respond to the chemical attack. obama said the syrian military's use of chemical weapons poses a security threat to the united states. he said he's considering a limited narrow military action but will not send ground forces. >> part of our obligation as a leader in the world is making sure that when you have a regime that is willing to use weapons that are prohibited by international norms on their own people including children that

they're held to account. >> obama said he will talk with members of congress and foreign allies, then make his final decision. secretary of state john kerry says u.s. leaders have evidence syrian troops fired chemical weapons on a suburb of damascus. >> we know for three days before the attack, the syrian regime's chemical weapons personnel were on the ground in the area making preparations. >> kerry said syrian troops had orders to wear gas masks. he said u.s. leaders know chemical rockets hit only opposition strongholds and when and where they landed. japanese government officials are mon syria. prime minister shinzo abe told ministers to figure out how they can help bring stability. japanese leaders have given $95

million to help syrians who fled their country and they've lent $240 million to jordan which is taking in many of these refugees. the japanese say they aim to give more financial help. officials are also thiing of helping evacuees inside syria by sending food and medical supplies through the u.n. and nongovernmental organizations. u.s. president obama is struggling to convince citizens of the need for military strikes against syrian forces. a public opinion poll shows opponents of u.s. action outnumber supporters. british prime minister david cameron's coalition government proposed a motion that would have authorized british forces to join a strike. a majority of lawmakers including members of cameron's own party rejected that motion. >> it is clear to me that the british parliament reflecting the views of the british people does not want to see british military action. i get that and the government will act accordingly.

>> some u.s. allies in the war on terror are cautious. officials in poland, italy and canada say their militaries will not take part in any action without the endorsement of a u.n. security council resolution. leaders in turkey say they want the americans to attack syrian forces on such a scale that they bring down the assad regime. an anti-government activist in syria says troops loyal to president assad are moving tanks and scud missiles out of their base. the activist told nhk that troops have spent two days trucking the equipment out of a facility 80 kilometers north of damascus and the activist says troops used the facility in the chemical attack last week. families of soldiers have reportedly evacuated from neighboring barracks. the activist says u.s. and other foreign forces are likely targeting the base. syrian government officials have

accused israeli leaders of committing their forces to a potential attack. israeli commanders want to be prepared for any retaliation, so they've deployed an anti-missile defense system in the city of tel aviv. the iron dome system fires radar-guided interceptor missiles to shoot down project ils. israeli troops have used it to intercept rockets fired from the palestinian territories. commanders reportedly fear an attack from government forces in syria or from the syrian president's allies among hezbollah fighters in lebanon. commanders have also called up reserve troops to beef up israel's defenses. people in south korea have honored the return of the remains of a man forced to live far from home during japanese colonial rule. the man labored as a conscript on the island of sakhalin and died there after world war ii.

south koreans held a service at their national cemetery in memory of yoo heung-jun. yoo's remains are the first of any south korean conscripted to sakhalin to come home. officials from the japanese and russian embassies paid their respects. russians took sakhalin from the japanese at the end of world war ii and have held it ever since. yoo had to leave what's now south korea six months before the war's end. he left his wife and son behind. south korean officials found yoo's remains in a cemetery on sakhalin and asked the russians to return them. yoo's son placed his father's remains in a tomb and hopes they will rest in peace in their homeland. some south koreans conscripted to sakhalin under japanese rule have been able to go home with financial help from japan. leaders in tokyo continue to offer that help on humanitarian grounds.

managers of duty-free stores in south korea are seeing a drop-off in customers from japan so they're trying to attract more with the help of some of south korea's biggest pop stars. staffer from the lotte duty free chain held a promotional event in tokyo. ♪ the star attraction was the south korean boy band cho shin sung, also known as supernova. the singers talked about reasons to visit their country. they said japanese can enjoy shopping for the latest korean fashions and cruising at night on the river in seoul. fewer and fewer japanese are showing up in south korea's duty-free stores. they're staying away because of strained relations and a weaker yen. lotte duty free marketing director kim bo jun said he hopes more japanese will experience what his country has

to offer. here's the three-day world weather forecast.

that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo.

thank you for joining us.