welcome to nhk "newsline" i'm gene otani in tokyo. here is a look at stories we are following this hour. government forces and u.s. strikes battle islamic militants. cease-fire in gaza. israeli forces and hamas militants agree to lay down arms for 72 hours. a man caught up in

philippine immigration limbo is able to visit his japanese father's hometown. the prime minister of iraq fighting for a third term in office even though he lost support at home and abroad. the political crisis is playing out as iraqi and kurdish forces try to fight back with help from u.s. air strikes. >> malaki wants to keep the job he held since 2006. he went on television to accuse by violating constitution by not appointing someone to the post by sunday. still the senior american

official announced on twitter that the u.s. supports masum as a garrenter of the constitution. many accuse malaki as being incapable of forming an inclusive government. he is staying put and news agencies say shi'a forces loyal to him have formed in the capitol. asking nations for weapons to help his fighters. they have taken back territory thanks to air strikes by the u.s. military. president barack obama authorized the campaign last week and says the strikes would stop the islamic state advance and protect american personnel

at the consulate. obama is monitoring the situation while on vacation. he called the air strikes a long-term project and will give forces a time to revamp, resupply. the other objective of the u.s. campaign is to prevent what obama calls a potential act of genocide. the militants have executed hundreds and enslaved women in the intent to convert the group to islam. tens of thousands have fled their homes. some went to syria and turkey and some are trapped in mountains near the town of sinjar and are desperate for food and water. >> translator: all i want is for my daughter and her family who are still in the mountains to return safely.

i want security to be restored. >> u.s. fighter jets and drones have hit positions nearby allowing some of the trapped to escape. american planes have dropped food and water. the hope is this u.s. intervention will help turn the tide against islamic state. the militants control wide areas of northern iraq. they are considered ruthless. prime minister malaki doesn't seem ready to step aside yet meaning this will go on and continue to undermine the campaign to save iraq and its people. israeli forces and hamas fighters have agreed to put down their weapons and accepted a proposal for a 72-hour

cease-fire and the truce appears to be holding. the two sides have been fighting for more than a month. representatives of israel and hamas have held indirect talks of cairo through egyptian mediators and are expected toos resume those discussions in the truce holds. the last cease-fire expired friday. health officials say israeli air strikes killed 13 people alone. ukrainian military leaders say they are gaining the upper hand in their fight against pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. they say they've cut off a key supply route. the separatists control the cities of donetsk and luhansk and have been using a road between them to bring in more personnel and supplies.

but ukrainian commanders say they've blocked it. ukrainian media are reporting that government forces have tightened their grip around donetsk and they say troops have taken control of a checkpoint leading to the city center. the leaders of the self-proclaimed donetsk people's republic says he's ready to discuss a cease-fire. he says he wants to stop the spread of what he called a humanitarian catastrophe. but some separatists are down playing any talk of a truce. they are accusing the ukrainian military of ramping up their bombing campaign. russian media are reporting one of the latest attacks in horlivka. they say 52 people were killed and about 170 others wounded. the russian president is calling for a peaceful resolution to another conflict. vladimir putin has urged the leaders two of former soviet republics to end a long-running territorial dispute. putin met with armenian president and azerbaijani

president in sochi. forces from the neighboring states are vying for control of the south caucasus region. putin urged his counterparts to agree to a truce but officials with russia's foreign ministry says the leaders didn't make any head way. forces from armenia and azerbaijan have been fighting over the territory since the collapse of a soviet union. nagorno-karabakh is in azerbaijan but most who live there are ethnic armenians. the leaders signed a cease fire in 1994. since then, armeni has maintained influence over the area. voters in turkey have chosen their president directly. they went with a familiar face. some turks are worried he may use it to reinforce his power.

nhk world reports from istanbul. >> reporter: there are three candidates taking part in the presidential election. prime minister erdogan, the former head of the organization of islamic corporation, and head of a political party. the turkish constitution gives executive power to the prime minister. the post of president is largely ceremonial. historically, the position has been chosen by members of parliament. but erdogan changed selection process to make it a direct popular vote. erdogan also wants to shift executive power to the presidency. he's banned by his party from serving more than three consecutive terms as prime minister. that means erdogan intends to continue being a player in local politics. but now, as president.

erdogan won a clear majority in sunday's vote. >> translator: we will continue our struggle to further improve democracy and implement its standard. we will do everything to further improve the country. >> the victory is attributed to his achievements during 11 years in office. he won praise for handling of the economy. turkey's per capita gdp has increased more than three times to more than $10,000 under his leadership. he also raised turkey's profile as a regional power. he accelerated negotiations to join the european union. and helped mediate the conflicts in gaza and iraq.

>> translator: erdogan brought change and development to turkey. the country will improve further under his presidency. >> reporter: but some people are worried. this is a college student. he campaigned for one of the other candidates. he says he took part in protests last year in istanbul when government troops opened fire with teargas. he says several of his friends were injured or detained. he continued to protest using social media. but in march, the government blocked access to twitter and youtube to silence criticism on a corruption scandal. he is worried that erdogan may try to exert greater power as the first directly elected president.

>> translator: i don't have much hope for the future. i wonder where my country is heading. i'm worried things may get worse. >> reporter: erdogan says an executive presidency is better than parliament bound prime minister. for exerting strong leadership in an unstable region. people inside and outside the country are now wondering if he will turn out to be a hero or a tyrant. nhk world, istanbul. onesumer -- consumer sentiment rose in july. officials at a cabinet office say the consumer confidence

index stood up 41.5 in july. the survey asks consumers about the spending outlook for the next six months. in addition to better job market corporate earnings are up as economy recovers. officia they said despite the improving sentiment they are keeping a close watch on high gasoline and food prices. investors in asia bought back shares last friday. tokyo jump to 15,130 almost making up for a 3% slide on friday. weaker yen boosted export-linked issues. media reports say some local

governments eased restrictions on house purchases. property developments went higher helping major benchmarks to post solid gains. shanghai gained to 2,224. here is more of the latest market figures.

the operator of the damaged fukushima fukushima daiichi power plant wants to apply for a permit to build facilities for a plan. the firm is building an iron barrier as part of the system. engineers of the company say they want to pump up water from the ground and wells near reactor buildings so they plan to decontam nate it. fishermen say it could spark harmful rumors about the safety of the marine resources. the top diplomats from the u.s. and china have argued over territorial issues in the south china sea. u.s. secretary of state john

kerry and chinese foreign minister wang yi were taking part in discussions at the asean regional forum in myanmar. the chinese are caught up in a number of disputes over territory. some delegates quoted kerry as saying unilateral action is destabilizing the region. he supported a proposal from delegates from the philippines to introduce a moratorium on activities that could escalate tensions. foreign minister wan said the involvement of some countries from outside the region is confusing the situation. and he said it will take time to consider the plan. cambodia has close ties to china and cambodian delegates also expressed their reluctance to support the proposal. north korea's foreign minister delivered a speech saying the nuclear program counters a threat proposed by the u.s. the senior diplomat said the

united states has increased tensions on the korean peninsula by adopting a hostile stance for the north and says nuclear programs are aimed at preventing war. he said the counter parts in seoul have rejected propousals. the north korean diplomat did not rule out the possibility of another nuclear test and says its country will exercise whatever rights it has to strengthen nuclear deterrence. they discussed a number of contentious issues. >> translator: i had an opportunity to talk with north korean foreign minster. i explained to him japan's stance concerning the investigation into the abduction of japanese nationals and security issues including the nuclear and missile programs. >> he urged him to ensure north

korean authorities conduct a thorough investigation. officials in tokyo believe north korean agents kidnapped at least three japanese in the '70s and '80s. he urged them not to engage in further provigations. a man who has lived his entire life in the philippines has dug into his roots. he obtained japanese nationality. the man has been able to find out more about where he came from. nhk world explains. >> reporter: he is 70 years old. he has waited a long time to be

reunited with his japanese relatives. >> translator: i have utterly become an old man and it has been my dream to meet all of you. >> translator: he looks exactly like his father. i'm so happy to have a close cousin. >> reporter: he was born to a japanese father and filipino mother on the island. his father was drafted to fight in world war ii and then went missing. she was unable to prove his father's existence. he spent his whole life without nationality. in march all of that changed as japanese governmental organization helped him find proof of his father's family register and his relatives. and he now has japanese

nationality. he planned to visit his father's hometown in southern japan but immigration authorities refused to let him leave. they said he first had to pay a fine of more than $30,000 and they claimed he had lived in the country illegally all his life. the energy officials and japanese embassy staff in the philippines urged the authorities to reconsider and they did. they allowed him to make the trip for humanitarian reasons. she visited his father's hometown and the local temple said to house his father's ashes. >> translator: i have longed to

visit his grave. i have really wanted to meet him. >> reporter: in 1941 around 30,000 japanese men lived in the philippines. many of them married filipino women and started families. when the war began the japanese military occupied the philippines. many resented people of japanese desent. when the war ended authorities deported japanese immigrants and more than 3,000 children were left behind. >> translator: the children left behind were forced to discard any documents which proved they were japanese to hide their japanese identity as the children of murderers. >> reporter: since 2006 they

helped 130 people get their japanese nationality. there are still many more like shin. >> translator: japanese filipinos dream of visiting their father's homeland. we ask for support to allow these people to visit japan. >> reporter: last week six other japanese filipinos visited japan and they asked the government for help to recover their japanese citizenship. officials with the ministry of foreign affairs say they will provide as much support as possible. nhk world, tokyo. the remnants of typhoon

remain around. >> excessive amounts of heavy rain fell. the system moved through yesterday. we have video to show how bad the situation was yesterday. two people were killed with one missing and more than 90 people were injured. over 500,000 households were advised to evacuate. at least 270 houses have been damaged due to high winds. authorities are now investigating whether it was a tornado or not. not just wind damage has caused tremendous amounts of heavy rainfall. about 1,000 millimeters of rain fell in 48 hours in parts of

koji. over 2 meters of heavy rainfall since the beginning of august. flooding has occurred in many places. now situations are improving in many parts of japan. a new low pressure will mean rain continuing starting tomorrow. into the north the remnants are located over the sea of japan and bringing stormy conditions. hokaido dealing with rainfall. excessive amounts of heavy rain and flooding has caused numerous problems in southeastern united states. the situation is not improving because the low pressure system will continue to sit here for the next couple of days. to the north due to a new low pressure system quite stormy and

rain will likely move into the northeastern u.s. starting on your tuesday. temperatures will be cooling down to the mid 20s in many places. to the south atlanta, columbia rainy weather continues into your tuesday. sunny skies come back on wednesday in atlanta. the remnants of hurricane bertha is affecting most of the northwestern corner of europe. it dumped excessive amounts of rainfall plus numerous damaging winds as well as damaging tornadoes in parts of the united kingdom and france. staying stormy in the northwest and this front will produce a risk of thunderstorms, damaging winds and risk of tornadoes for the next couple of days. ahead of the system winds are

higher than average. 32 degrees for the high. moscow staying wet. 29 for the high. thunder showers. across the west sunny weather will come back in berlin on your monday with 24 degrees. quite hot in madrid with 34 degrees. thunderstorms in london and paris quite wet on monday. that's it for me now. up next is your three day forecast.

before we go here is a story about some thrill seekers in the u.s. who got a bit more than they bargained for. 24 people became stranded on a roller coaster after it broke down at an amusement park in maryland. the passengers were stuck for five hours in the hot sun. firefighters gave them umbrellas and bottles of water. they were lowered to ground in a bucket lift. no one was injured. the people who operate the ride say they have taken it out of

service while they investigate the problem. that is "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. a7guc

>> welcome to the "france 24" newsroom.