welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. ukrainian government officials are trying to piece together how a malaysia ai liar passenger plane was shotdown over eastern u pro-russian militants say they have the recorders and they're not going to hand them over to ukrainian authorities. investigators have tried to get to the crash site of flight

mh-17, but pro-russian sepati who control the area in eastern ukraine have been blocking their access. separatist leader in donetsk says the flight recorders are being kept securely under their control. he told a news conference the so-called black boxes will only be given to experts. >> translator: we are ready to hand over to the international civil aviation organization. >> ukrainian government officials fear if pro-russian separatists obtained the flight recorders, they'll destroy the e passenger jet was carrying 298 people on board. all of them are believed to be dead. ukrainian deputy prime minister slod myrrh grois man said 219 bodies have so far been found at the crash site. he said most of them have been put on a refrigeration train at a nearby station, but he says the militants won't let the

train move. >> translator: t to move because those bodies need to be examined and identified by experts. but pro-russian s are blocking the train. >> there's growing international criticism over the slow progress in the collection and identification of the remains. malaysia's prime minister is also urging pro-russian militants to return the bodies of 43 malaysians who died in the tragedy. >> coup lum purr was the destination of fliekt mh-17. one woman says she lost two of her relatives and said it's hard to accept what's happened. >> i'm sad, but i hope that i

need the truth. u.s. secretary of state john kerry has pointed the finger at russia for providing pro-moscow separatists with a surface-to-air missile system that downed the passenger jet. kerry made the comment in an interview with nbc television. he said the u.s. government has not made its final conclusion, but he said there is a buildup of extraordinary circumstantial evidence that russia provided the weapon. kerry said several weeks ago rocket launchers and other weapons transported in a convoy of about 150 vehicles were transferred to the separatists. he added that the u.s. has satellite images of the missile launch and its trajectory. he also said voice and social media records show separatists were talking about launching the missile. the governments of britain, germany, and france have agreed that the european union should

consider additional sanctions against russia. british prime minister david cameron, german chancellor angela merkel and french president francois hollande spoke on the phone. they agree russian president vladimir putin should use his influence and persuade the separatists to allow rescuers and investigators to have free and total access to the crash site. they also afwreed that if moscow fails to take nec measures, the eu must reconsider its approach to russia and that foreign ministers should be ready to impose further sanctions on the country when they meet on tuesday. later, cameron talked to putin by phone. the british prime minister said now that the world is watching, putin must change course and work to help bring stability to eastern ukraine. putin expresses willingness to cooperate in an international investigation, but he criticized the western powers for suspecting the involvement of pro-russian separatist and

russia in the downing of the plane. putin said it is important to refrain from hasty conclusions and politicized statements until the investigation into the crash is completed. israeli soldiers have focused their shelling on a gaza city residential neighborhood. that sparked the fiercest battle since israel's latest attack on the gaza strip began earlier this month. the number of dead is surging on both sides. israeli forces expanded their ground operation in the gaza strip on saturday. they mounted an intensive bombardment on sunday in eastern gaza. it's where the islamic militant orgaas dug tunnels to fire rockets into israel. gaza health officials say this latest offensive has killed at least 60 people, including civilians. they say more than 400 people

have been killed in sincee isr earlier this month. the dead and wounded palestinians were taken to a hospital. at one mortgage ware, bereaved relatives expressed anger and grief. about 20,000 civilians fled the israeli attacks on sunday alone. more than 80,000 residents have been forced to evacuate to schools and other facilities. so far, 13 israeli soldiers have also been killed. the u.s. secretary of state will visit egypt in a bid to forge a cease-fire between israel and hamas. egypt is serving as a mediator in the conflict. a spokesperson for the u.s. state department said john kerry will travel to cairo on monday to meet egyptian officials and discuss the situation in gaza. the spokesperson said the united states is deeply concerned about the risk of a further escalation in the conflict and the loss of more innocent life. u.n. secretary general been urging israel to exercise restraint.

ban made the statement during a visit to qatar. >> under this atrocious action, israel must exercise maximum restraint and protect the citizens. i repeat my demand to all sides that they must respect international humanitarian calls. the violence must stop now. >> ban held a joint news conference with qatari foreign minister on sunday. qatar has been giving assistance to hamas and has some influence over the group. later in the day, ban met palestinian president mahmoud abbas, who is also visiting the country. ban has been in the middle east to step up efforts toward a cease-fire. the united nations nuclear watchdog has confirmed that iran has made its uranium stockpile

safer. leaders agreed to do so with six world powers last year. the first phase required iran to dilute its 20% enriched uranium to a concentration of 5% or less or to convert it into a form unusable in weapons. concentrations of 20% or higher can be easily converted into weapons-grade material. the international atomic energy agency released a report saying iran finished diluting on converting its holdings of more than 200 kilograms. the report saying iran is not producing any new uranium with a concenn greater than 5%. construction has also been halted on a heavy water reactor, which could produce plutonium for nuclear bombs. sunday was the initial deadline for a comprehensive deal on iran's nuclear program, but the country and the six world powers extended talks to this november. the six powers include the u.s.,

russia, and european countries. north korea has threatened further provocations against the united states and south korea. the official korean central news agency has released a statement from the national defense commission's policy bureau. the statement says recent launches of short-range ballistic missiles and rockets were military activities planned in advance. the launches are described as a lawful right to protect autonomy. th north has denounced the united states and south korea for criticizing the launches. it says if the u.s. and the south continue hostile acts against the north, they will face retaliation. a commentary published in the korean workers party newspaper on monday criticizes an ongoing drill aboard the aircraft carrier "uss george washington." japan, the u.s., and south korea are taking part.

the commentary also denounces a joint u.s.-south korean military exercise scheduled for next month. it says the more such drills take place, the more rockets north korea will launch and the more nuclear armaments it will stockpile. some real estate agents in china are seeing a once red-hot market cool off. they're dealing with new data that shows housing prices in many major cities are falling. and they've now begun to look at new ways to attract home buyers to view their listings. nhk world's daisuke azuma reports. >> reporter: at a housing company in beijing, the employees have gathered for their morning meeting.

despite the enthusiasm, the future does not look bright for them. this two-bedroom condominium was put up for sale three months ago. even thoug pre-owned, it was priced at $.5 million because of its location in central beijing. however, since then, the realtor has had to cut the price. >> translator: ne has bought it, so we cut the price several times. now it's 10% lower than the original price. >> reporter: on wednesday, china's national bureau of statistics released data of new homes sold in the first half of this year. it said that total value of sales was down 9.2% compared to the same period last year. this has not happened by chance.

to slow down the rising prices, the government introduced limited property for investment and interest rates on home loans. in the face of declining sales, real estate companies are going the extra mile to attract potential buyers. >> translator: the properties are 30 kilometers from central beijing. it's very convenient with good transportation. >> reporter: this company offers two-day bus tours to view a new development with meals and accommodation free of charge. the participants are visiting a new town near beijing. a 10,000-unit residential development is being built here. each visitor is assigned their own individual guide who

explains dimension and layout of the properties. one condominium is priced affordably at $150,000. but buyers are concerned that the value might fall in future. >> translator: we must be careful about housing investments. i'd like to see whether the current prices are the lowest or if they could go lower. >> reporter: the number of visitors taking tours like this has also started to drop. >> translator: the number of visitors from beijing and nearby cities has dropped by two-thirds. >> reporter: many people in china believed that re pricin would just keep on rising. but analysts say that period is over.

>> translator: i'm not so optimistic about chi economy in the second half of this year. i'm expecting housing sales to remain very sluggish, and i believe this is a sign that the housing bubble is about to burst. >> reporter: housing and related industries make up 15% of china's gdp. so declining home sales could make a significant impact on china's overall economy. daisuke azuma, nhk world, beijing. crews at the fukushima daiii nuclear plant are carrying out decommissioning work that will take decades. managers at the plant are stepping up efforts to improve their employees' long-term working environment, but they're facing many obstacles. nhk world's yoichiro tateiwa

went for an inside look. >> reporter: cleaning up fukushima daiichi is a big job. workers are removing radioactive contamination and decommissioning damaged reactors at the same time. the area around the crippled buildings still has high levels of radiation. people here work in shifts and take breaks every few hours. this is a resting place for workers. so whenever workers finish their work or they wait for another work, they spend the time here. like a relaxing -- maybe have a cup of tea, water, or reading magazines. as many as 6,000 workers come to the site every day. their schedules are designed to minimize radiation exposure. tepco officials explain most of

the people here are employees of subcontracting companies. it means the utility is not directly responsible for their safety. but tepco officials have started taking measures to improve conditions at the plant. >> translator: we consider improving the working environment to be a top priority. >> reporte the construc a new facility for workers. the building will have a dining space where hot meals will be served. it will also have devices people can use to check their internal radiation exposure. it's not just spaces for breaks th getting improvements. an example is this vehicle repair factory. nothing like it existed here before it was built. that the worried many workers. the vehicles here can't leave

because they may be contaminated, so if one broke down or needed repairs, there was no way to fix it. now that problem has been solved. >> translator: ensuring worker safety is essential for safe and speedy decommissioning. >> reporter: but experts say more needs to be done to ensure the safety of workers. >> translator: at fukushima daiichi the task of checking workers' health is handled by the companies that hire them. but what we need is a centralized system for checking the health of all workers. >> reporter: the japanese government needs to establish a system for making sure the workers are healthy. there are other issues to consider. when workers finish a shift, they are required to take off

their protective gear. their clothing and equipment is treated as contaminated waste. tepco is now constructing an incineration facility to deal with it. but the manager overseeing the project says he's not sure when it will be ready. >> translator: all of us have to stop working right when our shifts ends to minimize radiation exposure. it's not like a normal construction site. >> reporter: he says under these conditions, it's hard to stay on schedule. tepco has a lot riding on the safety of the plant's workers. their health and well being is critical to the success of the decommissioning project. yoichiro yoichitate nhk world, fukushima daii

people living in the philippines are still cleaning up from last november's super typhoon. high winds and strong ocean surges killed thousands of people. officials are warning that a similar type of stord h japan or other parts of east asia, and they're helping the public get prepared. >> this computer simulation shows what could happen if a super typhoon struck japan. the air pressure at the eye of the storm reaches 880 hectopascals. that means this super typhoon is stronger than the one last year in the philippines. this professor says the scenario he created is not the stuff of fantasy. he says the day when people in japan experience a similar storm is closer than they might think.

>> translator: a one-degree change in the ocean temperature has a big impact on a storm's strength. so as ocean temperatures rise in the future, typhoons will become much stronger. >> giant typhoons form every year over waters to japan's south. mof them weaken as they pass over cooler waters further north. but global warming could change that if ocean temperatures were to increase by 2 degrees, typhoons would reach japan at full strength. >> translator: the disaster that hit the philippines could strike japan in the future. we need to start preparing for that now. >> powerful typhoons strike japan nearly every year. 55 years ago a major typhoon hit

central japan. it caused flooding over a vast area. more than 5,000 people were killed or went missing. in the years after the disaster, local and national leaders built higher embankments along the shores. they hoped that would prevent future floods. but experts say they would not be able to stop flooding caused by a super typhoon. they looked at what would happen if such a storm were to hit. they projected that the colored zones would be flooded, and they say if a storm surge breached the barriers, over 400 square kilometers would be under water. >> translator: we need all kinds of strategies to protect people. building things like embankments

requires time and money, so we need to supplement that with other measures that can be implemented quickly and easily. >> government officials are trying to help. they've created a computerized map to help residents chart their escape. people can use it to create an evacuation route. first they enter their location and destination and the time they plan to flee. the software then tells them if the route is safe. people in areas prone to flooding are using the software to prepare. these residents are saimulating an evacuation. in this scenario a woman has heard that the embankment has been washed away. she plans to go to a shelter but tries to drive home first.

the surge washes in faster than she expected. >> translator: if you don't do this regularly, you won't know where to go during an emergency. >> experts say super typhoons are coming. the question is when. citizens and government leaders must work together to get ready. there is yet again another typhoon setting its sights on east asia. our meteorologist jonathan oh is here with the details and a look at the world weather. jonathan? >> hello. we are keeping an eye out on typhoon matmo. now, earlier last week, we were talking about rammasun. it caused a lot of problems down in the philippines. matmo is not helping out with the situation because of the monsoonal front and the system

pumping in that moisture. we're seeing a lot more rain into places like luzon. it looks like more rain will be affecting that area as we go throughout the next couple of days. but the direct impact of the system is more toward southeast china. i want to quickly show you this visible satellite imagery right before sunset on monday. you can see some of the bubbly clouds showing the little punctuation of this system as we continue on. it looks like it's going to intensify just a little bit more. here's a look at what we are expecting. winds currently we're seeing anywhere from 130 kilometers per hour. but it is expected to intensify to around 140 kilometers per hour by tuesday. then eventually we will see it move towards southeastern china. taiwan, you'll be seeing the effects of this system as we go into tuesday. then by wednesday, southeastern china will see the system. there's the center circulation. a lot of rainfall with this. we're looking at up to 360 millimeters of rainfall in parts

of taiwan as we go through the the next couple of days. even into parts of the philippines, more rainfall is expected as we go through the next 72 hours. meanwhile, let's look at other portions of the forecast. japan, we are seeing a relatively dry forecast. for the western half of japan, you're not out of the rainy season. but it looks like we'll see some showers trying to move into portions of northern china and parts of the korean peninsula. clouds for beijing. some showers possible, 31. again, dry w conditions for seoul and tokyo. rain for taipei and manila because of matmo. let's take a look at the forecast in europe. we're looking out for this low-pressure system that may be bringing in 90 to 120 illimeters of r of days. there's also rain into peninsula once again. meanwhile, high pressure up toward the scandinavian peninsula bringing pleasant conditions. sunny skies. highs anywhere from the mid-20s to around 30 degrees in madrid

as we go through your monday. finally, let's take a look at the americas. i want to point out the clouds that are developing to the northern portions of the rocky mountains. we have a very amplified jet stream setup where we're going to see a potential development for strong storms for the northern portions of the united as we go throughout monday. what's happening is we hig pressure pumping in warm moisture, colder air coming in from canada. that collision setting this up for the possibility of damaging winds and also the possibility of some hail. so for those of you in north dakota into portions of minnesota, you'll be dealing with a moderate risk for severe storms. also, other portions into the southern portions of ontario, you'll be dealing with thunderstorm possibilities as well. some stron at that. so temperatures will be very warm ahead of the system. 36 in denver with a chance for some thunderstorms. also a low-pressure system in the deep south bringing rain and thunderstorms.

hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

and that's "newsline" for this hou gene otani in tokyo. a7guc

>> hello and welcome to live from paris. let's look at what is making news. world leaders are calling for restraint in gaza while the un security council is demanding an immediate cease-fire. this is the palestinian death toll has surpassed 500 and 20 israelis being killed in the two-we campaign. and violence in the middle east spills over to the streets of paris as protests turner to riots. the french government has condemned the instance. washington is pointing the finger at russia for downing the malaysia