nuclear program. they have done their best to make it difficult to do new business there. now there's more economic penalties on iran banning trade and transport. >> reporter: eu foreign ministers made the decision on monday. they said they took the steps because they've made little progress. the measure excludes medical and humanitarian aid. they've decided to impose a total ban on imports of iranian naturalgas. the current amount of import is quite limited. the union already banned iranian crude imports in july.

>> we've said sanctions are there to apply pressures to meet international obligations. they are not aimed at the iranian people. >> reporter: the eu's latest move is an attempt to gain concessions from iran regarding nuclear ambitions. >> leaders are calling for national unity in a show of defiance. a spokesperson said a natural gas embargo would have no affect. iran has the second largest natural gas reserves in the world. they plan to expand imports to turkey and other neighboring countries. the latest sanctions could affect those planned.

the penalties have caused the value of iran's currency to plummet. thousands of people took to the streets of tehran this month in protest. he called on the iranian people to unite. eu foreign ministers agree to tighten sanctions against syriae ed ttoo. the ministry share their concerns. they agree to impose sanctions on more individuals and countries. >> we've added 28 people to the list. two additional entities were targeted with an asset freeze. >> 54 entities and 181 people are now subject to sanctions including assad and members of hids family. this is the 19th time the eu has

introduced the economic penalties. a pakistani girl shot by the taliban has arrived in britain for medical care. doctors have been treated her sin she was attacked last week. government officials say she needs long term care abroad. the pakistani government offered to pay for her transport and treatment. doctors flew with her in an air ambulance. she's 14 years old. she wrote a blog advocating girls education. that angered some fundamentalists. they boarded her school bus and shot her in the head. the pakistani taliban have

confirmed. sales clerks across the u.s. have been ringing up more customers at the check out counter. what are we seeing here? >> looks like more americans are loosening up their pursestrings and opening up their wallets because u.s. shoppers were busy again in september pushing retail sales higher for the third straight month. commerce department officials said on monday retail sales reached $412.9 billion last month. that's up 1.1% from august and better than market forecasts of around .7%. sales at department stores fell by two-tenths of a percent but most other retailers saw increases. electronics and home appliances rose 4.5% while gasoline sales were up 2.5%. autos were up over 1%. continued improvement comes after the nation's jobless rate

fell below 8% in september for the first time in three years and eight months. market analysts are turning their attention to july to september p figures. they wan to see if the economy can stay on the recovery track. u.s. markets ended higher largely on the back of improvements in the banking sector and economic data. see how all that is affecting stocks. we go to ramin. good morning. how are tokyo stocks performing this morning. >> following the u.s.'s rise and that was better than expected than you just mentioned for september and also let's not foet the august number was revid higher. earnings from citigroup also coming out to a bit stronger than analysts expected which boosted financial sector stocks. let's see how all that is translating into the opening

levels for this tuesday. the nikkei up just over three quarters of a percent. let's not forget yesterday the nikkei did snap four days of lo. volume was a little bit below average. investors were reluctant to push stocks higher. inver investors looking for any reason to buy. we should also keep an eye out for china related shares as well. that follows the expordata thate had ove theeekend and the cpi, inflation data that we had yesterday which was

positive. we did see a bounce in china related shares. there are some shares that saw heavy losses. we're seeing a bounce and a rebound. we'll track of those today. softbank really hogging the headlines or stealing the focus from the markets there following its 70% stake in sprint nextel. that's catapulted softbank's profile in the mobile network in the u.s. the financing of the deal left investors unenthusiastic. we've seen the share price of softbank dropping around 25% just in the last two trading days. 17% on friday and around 8% yesterday. >> we've seen the yen falling back against the doctor. >> we're going to keep track of

those. having a look at the currency levels right now. back to you. >> thanks. ramin reporting for us at the tokyo stock exchange. now for a completely different sort of rket, the sh market. this could be good or bad. conservation experts say the bluefin population has increased. it raises fear of a return to overfishing. report by the international commission for the conservation of atlantic tuna says observers have spotted a clear cut increase in recent years. the bluefin population declined

from the 1970s to the mid 2000s. the report says the population recovered as reach ratifying country reduced its catch in line with commission guidelines. it could encourage expanded fishing quotas. the commission is said to meet next month to discuss management of atlantic bluefin tuna stock. that's all for me for now. i'll leave you with the market figures.

a chinese spokesperson is warning the.s. totay t of the territorial dispute between china and japan. japan controls the islands the china and taiwan claim them. he explained japan's stance on the issue. he said the islands are an inherit part of japanese territory and explained japan is trying to facilitate dialogue with cnese officials while asking them to act calmly. he replied he understands japan's move so far.

>> translator: we urge the united states not to take a specific position on the issue between japan and china. >> american leaders have said the islands are subje to e u.s.-japan security treaty but they refuse to take sides in the dispute. government officials from japan, china and south korea have emphasized the importance of cooperation to overcome confrontation. they met monday in seoul to mark the first anniversary of an organization to promote peace and prosperity in the area. the top issues were the territorial dispute pitting japan against its neighbors. the islands are ctrolle by south ykorea and claimed by

japan. >> translator: i believe that cooperation will play an important role in resolving disputes among our three nations. >> a south korean expert explained the leaders are unable to show initiative because of the leadership transitions expected later this year. a japanese participant sai ty should refrain. japanese self-defense force officials say they are hoping they can use dialogue to work out any problems with their neighbors. a security meeting will be held from countries in the asia pacific region. it opened monday in tokyo. 20 officers are taking part from 19 nations including the united states, canad and australi

three are from china and south kor korea. the college's vice principal says oceans are public property and should be accessible to any nation. >> i strongly believe that face-to-face meeting like this program will promote mutual understanding on the confidence of individuals. >> participants at the ten-day meeting plan to discuss disaster rescue operation, humitarian assistancend workiogether rarite safety. more japanese companies basiced by the march 11th disaster of last year are taking part in one of biggest trade shows in china. they are pinning their hopes on the market. >> reporter: the latest installment of the china import on export fair opened in

southern province of guangzhou on monday. about ,000 domestic and foreign are participating in the event which runs until november 4th. japanese companies are showing their products. some are from areas devastate bid the tsunami. makers have set up exhibition booth. this is almost double the number that took part last autumn. representatives from japan explained w their products work and exchanged business cards with potential chinese buyers. >> translator: there are many problems in relations between japan and china at present. we want to continue selling our products in china.

i hope these issues will be resolved soon. >> reporter: about 6,000 japanese attended the fair last autumn looking to buy chinese goods. the event organizer warned that the number may be lower this time around. russian voters have been casting ballots for governors for the first time in eight years and they've thrown their support behind the ruling party. five provinces held polls on sunday. ru the president began appointing governors but they faced basic s accusations of fraud.

russian prime minister said the latest elections were held in a democratic manner.russian prime latest elections were held in a democratic manner. opposition parties have criticized the elections. they say some of their members re barred from standing. they couldn't get their candidacies approved. ten years ago they gained independence from i understand gle indones indonesia. recently a group of women have been fighting.

is -- the country is now in the process of rebuilding. they are fighting during the fight for independence. she now works as a weaver. traditional textile feature designs of animals and other simple motives during the long fight for independence. the -- after independence the

women were able to start making things again. they faced many difficulties and it's hard for them to make a living. >> translator: each of us is working independently so marketing our work is difficult. >> reporter: recently she joined a group of weavers who visited okinawa with a program organized by the group. they met with weavers in village who rebuilt their textile tradition after the devastation of world war ii. >> reporter: the women realize they could work while staying at home. >> reporter: there's a long

textile tradition. after the figing was over they revived their tradition especially those whoa h had los their husbands in the war. they sit up a co-op to make it easier to save their work and improve their expertise. >> translator: the job is to handle the marketing and sell the work of its member and buy the thread of its members. it can help weavers who do not know how to sell their work. a cooperative can help in many ways.

it were s . >> translator: i lost my mother when i was seven. we both suffer hardship. >> reporter: meeting these women who have experienced similar adversity has given lena a sense of encouragement. >> translator: i found the situation is similar to what happened in okinawa. i'm going to do all i can so we can gradually revive our weaving tradition. >> reporter: after returning home from her two-week visit to okinawa she had a meeting with other women who were weaving the tradition. in okinawa orphans or widows came together to weave like us.

she urged the other women to organize themselves like the women in okinawa. >> translator: if we sell our work as a cooperative, it will help all of us. working together we can overcome our difficulties and revive our traditional weaving. >> reporter: the weavers want to make a living inspired by the women in okinawa. from japan's southern island we go to where one man has renewed his record as the world's oldest living man. at 115 years old he's lived through the invention of radio, television and the airplane. he set a word for oldest man last year and this year. he was born in april 1897.

an editor visited his home on monday and presented him with a certificate of the record. >> thank you very much. you are very kind. >> kyotoite worked at a post office. he spends most of his day in bed but does not have any significant problems. he had 25 grand children. the world's oldest man to date lived 115 years old. that's 115 years and 252 days before he died in 1998. he could break that record if he lives to december 28th this year. time now to kmcheck on weatr concerns around the world.

we're following a typhoon in the westerpacific. rael gives us details. >> we have our typhoon here. it's a large system. you can see the eye of the storm clearly there in the cloud. it hasn't been moving quickly. it's moving southwest very slowly. it will quickly continue to move in a westerly direction and then we're hoping to see it curve around toward the northeast. it has been moving very slowly but it is in the forecast for it to pick up the pace and start to move in a more dynamic way towards the northeast. we may see it come very close to the eastern coast before it takes off completely. we could be seeing these storm conditions by the weekend. before that it will continue to bother okina warks. you'll see rain and thunderstorms. it will be time for concern for things like coastal flooding.

we also have a second storm in behind it as well. maria which is moving a little bit more quickly in a more finite kind of direction. it is expected to take off to the northeast just avoiding the main islands of japan. let's go to the rest of the continent to see what's going on. we're seeing a large low pressure system moving across into north eastern china. this is accompanied by really chilly winds from the northwest. it's going to be bringing heavy snow. as it moves in on wednesday it will be rain but dropping the temperature by about 7 degree from about 22 today to 15 on wednesday. some rain also moving down toward the south of china. temperature wise very wintry to the north. zero with minus 12 for the low. 16 degrees in beijing. we also have 22 here in tokyo today. a bit cooler than it was

yesterday. that's because of those northwesterly winds reaching in across the country. let's go to another tropical storm in the americas. this one is rafael. we now hav tropical storm warning in place for bermuda. we're going to start to see the sea swells reach the coast as the system draws ever closer. beyond bermuda it's going to head up toward the north maybe becoming quite close to eastern canada before taking off towards europe probably as a remnant low. we're still seeing a lot of rain from the system. one more system to talk about. this is hurricane paul. yesterday a tropical storm. today a categorthree hurricane ading towar the california baja peninsula.

we have a pretty storm system. this will keep things wet for western canada. you can see 50 sent mecentimete snow. anher system will be bringing storms through canada. temperatures are looking like this. very warm in the southwest. no problems with snow there.

>> that's all for this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us. are you totally unprepared?

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captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: the presidential candidates stayed mostly out of public view to prepare for tomorrow's town hall debate, as a blitz of political ads continued to dominate the airwaves. god eving. i'm judy woodruff. >> suarez: and i'm ray suarez. on the newshour tonight, npr's peter overby analyzes the big money behind the ad wars. >> woodruff: plus we have two takes on close congressional contests, starting with gwen