welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at some of the stories we are following this hour. a state of emergency in liberia. the president announced the latest step to deal with the ebola outbreak. gaza has entered its second day of truce. an nhk crew is in one of the areas hid hardest by israel's attacks. and justice at last. two cam bode yaps who oversaw

the khmer rouge's reign of terror in the 1970s have been sentenced to life in prison. the president of liberia has declared a stated of emergency as the country struggles with an ebola outbreak. allen johnson sirleaf says it poses a threat to state security. sierra leone made a similar move late last month. the ebola virus has an extremely high fatality rate it has been spreading through liberia, sierra leone and guinea on an unprecedented scale. johnson-sirleaf says the state of emergency will be enforced across the country for 90 days. more than 900 people in west africa have been confirmeded or are suspected or have died from owe beale la. nearly 300 of the deaths were liberia. she said extraordinary measures are needed to protect her country and its people. the outbreak in liberia has claimed the lives of 32 medical

workers and forced a major hospital to close. the world health organization ask asking for more staff to help ease the strain on the medical system. liberia's vice president is calling for border control. joseph bokai told african and u.s. leaders there needs to be restrictions on the movement of people across national boundaries. bokai was free, to the spread of the virus after many people returned from neighboring sierra leone to attend funerals. he also said his country needs financial support to fight the outbreak. a>> we need your support by coming together, by working with the ambassador, by providing your support, financial support as well as mobilizing resources. >> u.s. president barack obama said the united states is working with the w.h. o. to contain epidemic quickly and said the illness can be controlled if proper resources

are provided. >> the ebola virus, both currently and in the past, i is controllable if you have a strong infrastructure in place. >> owe bam says he wants information on the new ebola drugs being developed. palestinians living you in the gaza strip have woken up the past month to the sounds of shelling. they have seen a temporary cease-fire take hold, but it's scheduled to end on friday. leaders of israel and hamas are talking about whether to extend it it. the two sides are negotiating in the egyptian capital, kai row, but not face to face. mediators are working as a go-between. they expect they won't reach a deal before friday. sources close to hamas expect the truce to be extended 48 hours. they say hamas negotiators agreed to the proposal and are waiting for israelis to respond.

residents of gaza are starting to see some things return to normal. shops are open for the first time in weeks. people are driving again and children are playing in the park. people are visiting what's left of their homes. this man lost a cousin, his factory, and his home. >> translator: everything precious to me is gone. >> more than 1,800 palestinians have been killed in a month of fighting. 9,000 others have been wounded. aid workers are continuing to run shelters for the tens of thousands of resident hose have lost their homes or fled and say life for the refugees may never be the same again. >> reporter: this is one of many schools run by the united nations. 1,000 people have been taking shelter here. a truce is holding right now, but they don't know where to go. many of the refugees come from

gaza to this district. it is one of the areas hit hardest by israel's attacks. mona fled the area with her five children. she says even if the truce holds, she has nowhere to go back to now. she says even if t holds, she has nowhere to go back to now. >> translator: my children will have to begin going to school but our house was destroyed. i cannot think about the future. >> reporter: hajaj showed me a photo of her husband. she says he told her to flee with the children while he stayed back to gather some necessities. but an israeli shell hit their home and she found his body in the rubble a week later. the school where hajaj lives now has no running water for toilets or showers. and that's taking a toll on

their health. hajaj says her children have a diarrhea and can't stop coughing. >> translator: there respearen' enough diapers for my kids. my life has never been harder. >> reporter: u.n. officials say 187,000 people have taken refuge in their camps. and one health expert says the consequences could be dire. >> i'm very much worried about the disease condition and outbreaks in the future, but also, what is more important than the entire community i entire family, their lives destroyed because of the war? >> reporter: the people here are waiting to see if the cease-fire holds. but the shelling has left heavy scars. the peace deem would only be the start of a long process to rebuild the cities and their

lives. akira saheki, nhk world, gaza. a series of bombs has exploded in baghdad. iraqi officials say at least 51 people died. two car bombs went off in sadr city, a district where most are shia muslims 36781 were killed. explosions went off in two other predominantly shia neighborhoods and killed 20. no one has claimed responsibility. analysts suggest the bombings were revenge attacks launcheded by sunnis. the government had announced an air strike killed 60 rebels in the northern city of mosul. sunni mill at that moments have been in control there since early june. cambodians who lived through a reign of terror have waited decades for justice. now, a u.n.-backed tribunal has

sentenced two former leaders of the khmer rouge to life in prison. the judge handed down the verdict in phnom penh. nuon chea and khieu samphan were found guilty in their roles in the forced exodus of millions of people in the 1970s and other crimes against humanity. the judge said it was clear both men were at the center of the regime and were responsible for making political decisions. they are the first senior leaders to be held accountable for their crimes and the sentence is the heaviest penalty possible for the tribunal. nuon chea was the right-hand man of khmer rouge ruler, pol pot. khieu samphan was the regime's head of state. they are also on trial for genocide. a separate court is taking up that charge to accelerate proceedings. survivors of the atrocities had gathered outside courthouse. they welcomed the verdict. >> translator: i'm very satisfied with this decision

because i suffered so much when i was a prisoner under that regime. >> translator: i completely accepted the verdict, but i suggest the court should offer personal compensation in accordance with the civil party law of cambodia. >> pol pot oversaw the removal in the 1970s of millions of people from cambodian towns and city. more than 1.7 million are believed to have been killed through forced labor, execution and starvation. there was about 20% of the population. chinese communist party officials have got together to do something they have done every summer, they gathered to discuss personnel and policies ahead of formal meetings in the all tim. analysts believe one of the things on the agenda is the crackdown on corruption. analysts believe the informal gathering takes place in the

resort of bay die hur. party leaders are expected to talk about how to deal with a former member of the politburo standing committee, the central disciplinary commission is investigating joe young can for suspected violations of discipline. the leaders are expected to review their anti-corruption members for party members and bureaucrats. police in thailand say they found nine babibies anded to letters in a condominium. he claims to have fathered the children. even so, they are looking into possible links to child trafficking. police say the children range in age from several months to about two years. they say nine babysitters were taking care of them. you see the children appear to be healthy. they placed them in the custody of welfare authorities. the man's lawyer says his client works in japan but travels frequently to thailand. the man claims to have fathered the children through surrogate mothers. the lawyer say the man had been

eager to have children. they are looking into the story and plan to look whether the children's births are registered. officials at the tokyo stock exchange have taken a look at hundreds of shares in major companies and say some of them aren't profitable enough to be used on one of their indexes. that includes big names like sony and skymark airlines.profi used on one of their indexes. that includes big names like sony and skymark airlineprofita used on one of their indexes. that includes big names like sony and skymark airlineprofitad on one of their indexes. that includes big names like sony and skymark airlineprofita on one of their indexes. that includes big names like sony and skymark airline profitd on one of their indexes. that includes big names like sony and skymark airlines.they reviewed the lineup each august based on a profit indicator known as return on he can quick quickty. they decided to rescrew charts. new faces include panasonic, and snackmaker, kellby.

r.o.e. shows how efficiency t l they use funds from shareholders. let's take a look at the markets. asian stocks face selling pressure over lingering returns about developments in ukraine, but in the afternoon, investors turned their attention to their own market he is. the nikkei traded in negative territory most of the day but analysts say speculation the government pension fund may purchase more japanese shares triggered a wave of buying. the nikkei ended the day up 0.48%, snapping five days of declines. investors in australia couldn't quite recover from weak job numbers much the unemployment rate in july jumped to the highest level in more than a decade. the s & p/ssx 200 ended up 0.5%. hong kong was driven to sell casino stocks. yang singh ended 0.8 lower.

shares and casino operators sought biggest declines. u.s. mobile phone carrier, sprint, has named a new chief executive, marcelo chlor ray, served as ceo at a subsidiary of sprint's parent company, soft bank. chlor ray will take the reins of the third largest wireless carrier in the u.s. he is expected to start work on monday. chlor ray built up miami-based cell phone wholesaler, bright star. last year, softbank bought out the company. executive in the softbank group had been negotiating a takeover of the fourth largest carrier, t mobile u.s. but feared reg wlirts not allow the deal to go through so they decided to drop the bid. softbank's chief executive said in a statement he believes the consolidation in the industry would enhance competition and benefit customers. he said softbank needs to focus on making sprint a successful carrier. japanese airline passengers are bound to get a bit more freedom in the skies. authorities at the transport

ministry will allow them to use electronic devices during takeoffs and landings. current regulations require air travellers to switch off their devices at the beginning and end of their flights. that's because radio waves may affect the airplane's control system. but ministry officials plan to ease some of those restrictions, starting september 1st. passengers will be able to use smartphones if the devices are in airplane mode. they can also use computers and digital cam thanks don't emit radio waves but large pcs and cameras may still need to be turned off. the ban on wave-emitting devices during the middle of the flits will remain in place but passengers can switch on their phones after landing. this will allow them to send or receive text messages before getting off the plane. >> translator: very useful. i can quickly tell people that i've arrived. >> translator: the scenery from the sky is really beautiful. it will be nice to take

pictures. >> for safety reasons, the new rule will not apply to some smaller or older aircraft. people across japan hold events every august to remember world war ii and all that was lost. tens of thousands gathered in hiroshima on wednesday to mark 69 years since a u.s. warplane dropped an atomic bomb on the city. and on saturday, thousands more will come together to honor the victim its of the bombing of nagasaki. this week, we are looking at how people are remembering hiroshima and nagasaki and how they are working to keep memories and campaigns for a nuclear-free world alive. some have been doing that with art. barefoot gang is a manga depicting the life of a boy who survived the hiroshima attack. the story has been translated into more than 20 languages.

the author based the character and events on himself. he died in 2012. a poem he left behind came out last year. the poem soon evolved into a song and the music is helping to convey his message to people around the world. nhk world reports. ♪ >> reporter: this woman is a well-known singer in japan. her latest song pays tribute to hiroshima, a city reborn from the ashes of the world's first atomic bombround the world.

atomic bombtomic bomb. ♪ >> reporter: a poem inspired the song. manga artist nakazawa wrote it in hospital several years ago. by then, he was too ill to create more manga stories. he died in 2012.

nakazawa was 6 years old when the bomb was dropped on hiroshima, his hometown. his most famous work, "barefoot again" is a vivid reflection of what he endured. the blinding flash of the explosion, the widespread death and destruction, and the sight of people jumping into rivers to find relief from their excruciating burns. many drowned. every time nakazawa walked past the rivers that run through hiroshi hiroshima, he remember the suffering. his widow, masao, worked to turn his poem into a song so the message could reach more people turn his poem into a song so the message could reach more peopsan

his poem into a song so the message could reach more people turn his poem into a song so the message could reach more people. >> translator: i think what he saw after the bombings was burnt into his eyelids that's why he chose to write the poem about the river. >> reporter: a score was written based on the poem. she wanted her husband's favorite singer to record the piece. she readily accepted the request. >> translator: we shouldn't let the story die. our generation should not forget the feeling that we need to pass on the message that "barefoot" carries. >> reporter: kato wanted to share the song with a wider audience, so she recorded an english version. ♪

>> translator: i want everyone to sing this song. when you do, you can relieve what is depicted about hiroshima inhe lyrics and feel it inside you. >> reporter: kato hopes to translate the song into other languages so it can reach the hearts of even more people.

the people in charge of fukushima daiichi are looking for approval from local fishermen. they want to discharge contaminated water from the nuclear plant at the ocean. highly radioactive water is seeping into the soil and mixing with groundwater. experts estimate about 200 tons of contaminated water leaks into the ocean every day. engineers with tokyo electric power company are building an iron barrier along an embankment to try to contain the problem. tepco officials planned to pump the water out. then they will use a decontamination system they are building to remove radioactive substances. officials say the barrier in the new system will be completed next month. but they have limited capacity and storage tanks to hold all the water at the plant. so they want to release some of the treated water into the ocean. they also want to decontaminate, then release ground water that's been collecting in wells near reactor buildings. the officials say they explained

the plan to members of the fukushima prefecture fisheries association and they will try to get approval from the local fisheries cooperative. they say they won't go ahead without the fishermen's consent. hurricane iselle is bearing down on hawaii, prompting warnings because of strong winds and heavy rainfall. our meteorologist, jonathan oh is here. jonathan? >> yes, gene, waiting hours as this system continues to approach the islands there. here is a look at eye sell, even though it doesn't have a clearly defined eye, it is still a hurricane. it is still going to bring a lot of powerful winds with it. and behind is julio. let's first talk about iselle. the expectation of the actual landing time is going to be around thursday afternoon local time on the big islands, but that's actually prompting hurricane warnings. the rest of the islands are under tropical storm warnings and watches because to the core of the widespread area of winds is actually very, very narrow. nevertheless, still very heavy

rainfall, expecting strong winds, very rough surf as this system continues to move over during the day thursday, affecting the weather into friday and part of saturday before it goes into the open waters. now behind it is julio. this is a category two storm now and this system will continue to move toward the west and we are looking at the weekend when this is going to bring the heavy rainfall and also the strong winds. now, fortunately, there's a little bit of ray of hope, the system is expected to make more northward turn, so it may not make a direct impact over hawaii. however, it's still going to affect the weather in a negative way. and so, as we take a look at the five-day forecast from thursday through monday, yes, lots of rainfall, lots of strong winds and very rough surf as we go throughout the next few days. if you are not prepared yet, please make sure you take preparations now. once the system starts moving through, the weather conditions will deteriorate very rapidly. we take a look at the forecast, east asia, we have another tropical system to talk about. this is typhoon as it continues to move towards the north.

this is not only going to be a big windmaker, right now, winds of 144 gusting up to 198, but it is also going to be a big rainmaker, especially for western japan. not a good thing, since some areas have seen close to 1400 millimeters of rainfall during the past several days. we are going to add maybe 3 to 400 more millimeters of rainfall once the system starts approaching western japan. so landslides, flooding, all big part of the picture coming up the next few days. here's a look at the forecast, very warm in tokyo, 33 for friday. rain in seoul with a high of 30. down toward the south, the monsoonal front continues to bring rain into the philippines, a high of 30 degrees with a chance for some rain. speaking of monsoon, we want to talk about the southwest monsoon because it's causing problems over in india. and i want to show you some video, let's take a look and see what's happening over there. this scene is over at the india began jess river, it burst its banks, causing widespread flooding over several villages in northern india wednesday.

a wooden bridge over the river was underwater, forcing residents to take off their shoes and raid weighed through the water. many houses, schools, hospitals, roads, all of them submerged and monsoonal rains are crucial, but unfortunately, scores of people die in land slides and floods every year because of the monsoon. and as we take a look at the forecast the next few days, we are looking anywhere from 100 to 150 millimeters of rainfall, only compounding the problem over northern india. now we take a look at the forecast in europe and wrapping things up, we do have a cold front that is extending all the way down from the scandinavian to the balkan peninsula. this is the focal point where we are going to see excessive precipitation, very heavy rainfall as we go throughout thursday and also into friday and then back toward the west, another front is moving in, meaning paris and berlin, you will be dealing with some rainfall coming up on thursday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here is your extended outlook.

that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us. a7guc

>> tens of thousands are on the run in eastern iraq. a day of mourning in australia mh-17.ictims of flight two former leaders of the cambodian khmer rouge are sentenced to life in prison for the roles in the reign of terror that swept the country in the 1970's.