here in japan it's a friday evening. emergency workers looking for the missing following landslides in hiroshima have resumed their search after rain forced them to put the operation on hold. u.s. defense secretary says they are in imminent threat. chinese leaders say they

won't sacrifice the environment for economic growth but local authorities don't seem to be getting the message. search teams in hiroshima are digging through the mud to find those missing in the landslides. rain had forced them to stop their work for a while. at least 39 people were killed when self-hillsides gave way. as many as 47 others are missing are unaccounted for. here is the latest. >> reporter: emergency workers have seen what can happen after heavy rain. but they fear even a light rain could trigger more landslides. so when it started falling, they put their operation on hold. but more than 600 self-defense force personnel and firefighters have resumed their search. they're morning one of the -- they're mourning one of the

firefighters who worked along side them. he was trying to save a 3-year-old boy, but he and the boy were killed. >> translator: he tried his best to save the child. i can only imagine how he must have felt. >> reporter: authorities say the landslides destroyed or damaged at least 40 homes and damaged another 140. >> translator: about a quarter of my house was destroyed. i don't think i can live there anymore. >> reporter: more than a thousand people have been forced to leave their homes and move into shelters. hundreds are without water and power. some were wondering where they will live in the long run. developers responded to a lack of space by pushing neighborhoods up hillsides. under japanese law, authorities are required to designate areas

at risk to landslides as caution zones. inspections were started nine years ago in the two areas where the landslides hit. many residents have grown anxious watching the operation unfold. some don't think the work is proceeding quickly enough. and they just want to see the debris cleaned up. takafumi, nhk world, hiroshima. >> officials are still very concerned about the weather in hiroshima. our meteorologist is here with the forecast for western japan. the landslide this week was triggered by heavy down pours. why are officials concerned about rain that may be less intense than earlier this week? >> the reason why is because we are talking about a compounding

effect where the land is saturated with moisture. just a little bit of rainfall can lead to problems. we are taking a look at the doppler radar for a three-hour period. drizzle does not show up on radar returns because they are just too small. even that can be a problem mechanism as we go throughout the next 24 to 48 hours. let me remind you that there has been a lot of rainfall in western japan. because of that the ground is excessively saturated. some areas has just turn into mud. because of the loose structure in place, just a little bit of rainfall, nowhere near the intensity of what was earlier this week. there is no resistance that takes place. that is when we end up seeing the landslide possibly reoccurring. this is the reason why officials are having to monitor the situation to see if they want to start the rescue progress or

step back from it. it looks like we are dealing with more instability as cold air with warm moisture. we are looking at 70 millimeters of rainfall to up to 120 millimeters. as we go throughout the next few days it looks like we will be dealing with rainfall for sat, sunday and monday. we'll take a look at the rest of the world weather forecast coming up in just a little bit. russian authorities are investigating a japanese survey ship they say left the permitted route without notice. the ship was observing whales. a research body linked to the japanese government commissioned for a visual survey of whales that began in early august. the study was based on a plan from the international waiting commission. japan's fisheries agency says

russian border guard authorities have been carrying out the inspection since august 15. the agency says none of the 20 people on board have been detained. in addition to the crew japanese and russian researchers were on the ship. japan's fisheries agency says there are no clear rules on how detailed notifications for changes in navigation must be. the agency says it is communicating with the ship's crew and asking russia to complete the inspection as soon as possible. they are beyond just a terrorist group. they marry ideology, a sophistication of strategic and

tactical military prowess. they are tremendously well funded. this is beyond anything that we have seen. >> hagel cited the execution of american journalist james foley. he said u.s. air strikes stalled the momentum in northern iraq and said commanders are studying all options. spokesperson stressed the government does not pay ransom to terrorists. marie harp said doing so would destroy capabilities. >> we believe paying ransoms would put all americans overseas at greater risk for kidnapping and harm's way. >> u.s. media reported the government rejected demands wanting more than $100 million for the release of james foley.

people caught up in the fighting in eastern ukraine could soon be getting supplies they desperately need. trucks from russia carrying humanitarian aid are rumbling across the border after a delay of two weeks. officials with the red cross are overseeing the deliver. nhk world's craig dale is following the story. >> leaders took days to decide what to do. and blame the russians backing the separatists and worry the convoy was a ploy to send in weapons or spark a stanoff to allow russian troops to invade. but the trucks are now passing through a border crossing on their way to the hard hit city of luhansk. officials want to ensure the cargo contains aid and not

military supplies. red cross staff have been reminding both sides of their obligations to stop fighting so as to not disrupt distribution. ukrainian forces have laid siege to the city in their operation to end the uprising. they've taken control of most of the city, which is part of the territory the rebels declared independent. residents have no running water, no electricity and need food and medicine. the situation is also dire. day after day ukrainian soldiers have been advancing on separatists and seem to be gaining the upper hand. the conflict in eastern ukraine has left more than 2,000 people dead. soldiers, separatists and civilians. more than 340,000 people have been forced from their homes. the president of ukraine is working to find a diplomatic solution saying the world is tired of war. he is scheduled to sit down next week with russian president vladamir putin. putin has said he's not directing this uprising.

but ukraine's national security spokesperson says the russian military was on their side of the border last week. officials with the nato military alliance confirmed that, but the russians deny it. the impact of this blame game is playing out in europe. farmers and wholesalers in greece, france and other nations are feeling if results of the sanctions. the tit for tat dispute is causing prices to rise in russia and fall in europe. farmers say without the russian market, they'll go bankrupt. agricultural ministers are planning to hold an emergency meeting to discuss ways to deal with the sanctions. i hand you to ron madison for the latest in biz news.

investors in asia like those -- investors will be trying to find out about any hints on whether u.s. central bank might raise interest rates. price flu chuuations were key. most did end higher. tokyo shares did go down after quite a long winning streak. japanese stock prices snapped their ninth day of gains and finished at 15,539. others adjusted stock holdings ahead of the key event. some investors reacted to news that it was cleared the way to

have a new president in october. the index had risen more than 1% over the previous four days. in taiwan climbing to 9,380. banking and technology names were among major gainers today. the jobless rate fell to its lowest level in six years. bank of america will settle $16 billion. the justice department accused the bank of selling mortgage securities without fully explaining the risks before the 2008 financial crisis. the department says it is the largest settlement of its kind every reached. j.p. morgue chase agreed to pay $13 million in a settlement with u.s. authorities in november. bank of america also faces nearly $10 billion in separate

claims. the bank agreed to that figure in march this year. the litigation costs shaved the bank's profit for the april-june quarter. u.s. authorities have been trying to determine the responsibility of large financial institutions in the financial crisis. litigation costs and settlements have weighed down the balance sheets of those companies. sprint is offering an attractively priced unlimited use plan. sprint unveiled a plan for talk, text and data for $60 a month. the plan is $40 cheaper than a program offered by t mobile. sprint is the only company among the four largest u.s. carriers to have recently seen a decline in its subscriber base.

soft bank pulled out of talks to acquire t mobile through sprint. executives were apparently worried that u.s. regulators would not approve the deal because of anti-trust concerns. japan's government and construction industry have drawn up an action plan. it is aimed at addressing a labor shortage ahead of the 2020 tokyo olympics. infrastructure administer and industry representatives decided on the plan. the government and the industry aimed to double the number of construction workers within five years. the plan calls for firms and associations to set up more changing rooms at sites and hold training courses to help women return to work after maternity. the number of construction workers in japan has decreased nearly 30%. demand for workers is expected to rise because of reconstruction work in areas

affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami as well as the need to build facilities for the tokyo olympics. investors around the world are keeping a close eye on china's real estate market because new home prices in july fell across the country and the decline is spreading from rural areas to the cities. officials say new housing prices rose in just two of the 70 cities surveyed in july as compared to the previous month. prices fell in 64 cities. the pace of decline was more than 4%. people who watched china fear a worsening property market will drag down the broader economy. for insight we spoke earlier with head of regional economics. she started by asking him about some recent developments.

>> china's real estate market is now suffering and struggling. housing transactions have plunged and the problems have spread to the taiwan cities. sales plunge hits cash flows and funding sources of developers and transition jobs is also a real blow to future reinvestment. there is also evidence that many foreign investors have been lick -- liquidating their portfolios. so i think the bubble is at least deflating, if not bursting. and more importantly local governments rely on land sales to pay their debts. so these debts are represent another very weak link in the country's credit spectrum. and i think next quarter or even next year will be the peak for these debt repayments. so if the real estate market continues to struggle, i think many other industries will be affected.

and the credit pressure will spread to other areas that rely on this real estate boom. so i think there will be wider impact on the economy. >> sound like more the reason for officials to want to boost sales. now, a growing number of local governments have eased restrictions in recent weeks on property purchases. a authorities also saying they are encouraging banks to approve more home loans. how successful do you think these measures will be? >> in the short-term they can be quite effective. but i think over time their effects will be fading because the problem with the market is not because demand is being restricted. rather, this market bubble has the characteristics of being overbuilt, over leveraged and overpriced. so by removing these

restrictions however the demand measures won't actually help substantially. and this has happened in places like hong kong or singapore. short-term demand measures were not so effective if the bubble begins to burst. >> and in fact many banks acting cautiously not only towards individuals but to developers as well. are you expecting the people's bank of china to step in any time soon? >> yes, i think banks and trust companies are cutting back on financing to developers. tapering pressure from the fed has also started to hurt. many developers rely heavily on foreign debt, especially the dollar financing from hong kong. so the building costs have gone up. and i think the people's bank of china could do more if it wanted to. when the fed begins tightening

later, early next year, i think the pboc could start cutting again in order to counteract the pressure from the fed. but any aggressive monetary easing will put downward pressure on china. so the central bank will have to balance this very carefully. and there will be constraints on what the central bank can actually do. and that is all for now in business news. let's close things out with the markets.

people across china have seen their economy grow year after year over the last three decades. they've also seen a wave of environmental destruction. now president xi jinping is trying to turn things around, but local governments don't seem to be following his lead. nhk world traveled to a city in inland china to get the view from there. >> reporter: a massive construction project is under way. workers are building a new city near the airport.

>> reporter: the new industrial zones were planned in 2010. they will cost $200 billion. their purpose is to boost the economy. economic growth still reflects well upon local leaders. >> translator: we must first develop this area, development is our top priority. we can address other issues later. >> reporter: but a change is in the air. president xi jinping is approving new limits on such public works. his policy now promotes conservation. his government said it will reward those who protect the environment while achieving growth. this concern for the environment has brought some major

construction projects to a halt. this building site is known as china's largest ever endeavor of a mountainous region. the plan calls for the demolition of 700 mountains. but insiders tell us the project will be suspended by the end of this month. workers say construction has already stopped. >> translator: i came to work here more than ten days ago. but i've had nothing to do since then. >> reporter: but even after the project is suspended, environmental problems remain. the land has been left bare. a cloud of dust floats in the air. people must cope with constant clouds of dust from abandoned

building sites. the white sand accumulates everywhere. water trucks try and keep the dust down. but the effect is limited. the environmental impact of the pollution is significant. >> translator: the dust blocks the growth of many farm crops. >> translator: all our mountains have been demolished. >> reporter: china may be shifting away from its policy of growth at any cost. but local governments see development as their greatest goal. stopping or changing a project mid stream is not easy. people cannot easily see the

economy recover and economic effects are negative. these are some of the issues that xi jinping is juggling. meteorologist is back with a look at the rest of the forecast. we are going to begin with a look at east asia. i want to direct your attention to japan because this is an area that is a primary concern. we have a cold front pushing through the country and targeting two very different areas. one towards northern japan and another one. both areas received up to 170 millimeters of rainfall during the past 24 hours. it does not look like the end is in sight. we have the cold front that will continue to push towards the east. this high pressure system is pushing in the warm moisture. that contrast is where we see the rain constantly moving through. looking out into the weekend

more rainfall expected for northern japan and also into western japan. landslide concerns will continue as we go into saturday and sunday. meanwhile, heat continues in tokyo. 33 expected for saturday. so the central portion of japan looking out for heat problems. please make sure you take proper precautions. down towards the south we are seeing rain into shanghai looking at more rainfall as we go into saturday. let's take a look at the forecast for north america. we do have a couple of systems that are located towards the northern portions of the united states. this storm system may actually produce strong gusty winds on top of ping-pong sized hail. look out for severe weather there. meanwhile down towards the deep south this high pressure system is not only pumping in a high amount of humidity but also a lot of heat. we are talking about hot temperatures for friday. columbia, south carolina up to

37 degrees. heat indexes into the 40s. please make sure you take precautions of staying indoors and staying hydrated as much as possible. rain and thunderstorms in the windy city. hazy conditions into southern california. we wrap up with a look at europe. we have a few low pressure systems tracking across the northern portions of the continent keeping the area very wet. stockholm a chance for rain for friday. back towards the west london high of only 19. this has been a week of very cool temperatures for you. teens expected once again coming up for friday. rain in paris and down towards the south here. 37 degrees for athens with sunny skies. again, we are talking about hot conditions. please make sure that you stay hi hydrated and stay cool out there. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here is your extended outlook. 6

. and that was this hour's news round up. thanks for watching. # gg99ññwççsx4xc

>> thanks for joining us on "france 24." the u.s. defense secretary calls the threat from the islamic state organization we aunt anything we have seen. he says the extremist militants are an imminent threat to u.s. interests. the first trucks in a russian convoy cross into eastern ukraine. ukrainian state security chief calls it a direct invasion by russia. senegal joins south africa in closing borders to prevent the spread of ebola as one