thanks for watching nhk world. welcome to "newsline." here are some of the stories we are following this hour. people in different corners of japan are dealing with heavy rain. a record of testimony from the late manager of the fukushima daiichi plant shows how the company failed to respond appropriately to the crisis. and the first britain

infected with the ebola virus is back in london for treatment. people in parts of japan are seeing rain like never before. up to 200 millimeters has fallen in western and eastern japan. and to the north residents saw down pours said to hit once in 50 years. all of that rain has brought with it a lot of damage. nhk world reports. >> reporter: mudslides swept away mountains killing 50 people. the landslides are said to have reached a speed of 40 kilometers per hour. >> translator: we have never experienced a disaster like this

before. >> reporter: around 30 people are said to be missing. >> translator: let's focus and do our best to save as many lives as possible. >> reporter: police and firefighters have resumed the search for the missing, but they face difficulty due to possible secondary disasters resulting from continuing rain. on sunday evacuation advisories were issued in some cities because of torrential rain. in one residential area houses were partially buried by landslide and roads were flooded by overflowing canals. >> translator: the water came up to my knees. this is an old town but i never

experienced such a disaster before. >> reporter: also on sunday rebun experienced rain. such heavy rain happens only once in 50 years. it caused landslides in at least 15 places. two people were killed when a mountain slope gave way and it buried their house. >> reporter: on monday island authorities sent officials to the site of the landslide to investigate and will also go around the island to check for more damage. since july 30 japan has been suffering serious damage because historically heavy rain and a

typhoon. the country's weather agency has named the series of disasters the torrential rains of august 2014 and says the incident should be remembered as lessons for the future. the agency is warning people to stay alert as japan can get more rain soon. nhk world. the japanese government plans to release records of interviews with the late manager of the fukushima daiichi plant. they show tep co executives failed to react appropriately causing confusion at the site about how to respond. nhk world reports.

>> reporter: he led efforts to save lives after the disaster. he was in charge of a range of tasks including communicating with the head office in tokyo. he gave hours of testimony about those experiences to a government investigative panel before he died last july of cancer. the panel members issued the report but did not release the interviews. nhk has obtained those records independently. the fukushima daiichi plant entered a critical phase on march 11, 2011. officials in the plant noticed that the emergency cooling system was not working. but he wasn't informed until late that night and the reactors had already started melting

down. >> i'm very regretful about this. we failed to establish a system to receive warnings from the employees on time. >> reporter: the former chief of the plant condemned tepco's head office for mishandling the crisis. the following day yoshida decided to inject water to cool it down. tepco officials wanted to delay the plan as they had yet to obtain approval. >> i remember vividly tepcoofficials told me to stop right away. i decided not to follow the orders. >> reporter: yoshida testified that tepco officials did not know what type of things were needed. >> tepco sent things that were

not suitable to fix the situation. this was troublesome as we had to take time to analyze what they were. >> reporter: after radiation around the plant increased tepco head office stopped delivering the equipment and instead dropped it off at a facility 50 kilometers away. >> i had to dispatch workers to get those things. i thought please do not disturb us with all of this at this very crucial time. >> reporter: while the three nuclear reactors were melting down yoshida was at the helm securing new equipment and making first important decisions. this former head of the plant was closely acquainted with yoshida. >> translator: we can learn a lot from this interview. it's very important that officials in charge learn how to

improve the organization, measures to respond to emergencies and management. >> reporter: the government plans to disclose almost all of yoshida's interviews as early as next month. the records should be closely examined to find out what the country can learn from the experience. four crippled reactors. a constant build up of contaminated water. radioactive leaks threatening the environment. the people in charge of fukushima daiichi are struggling to control the plant. how will they stop the leaks? get the latest on the after maths of the nuclear accident with in-depth reports and special features. nuclear watch only on "newsline." islamist militants are extending their reach.

fighters with the group islamic state captured an air base. more than 5 million were killed in the battle. state television says government troops fled from the base and now are regrouping in an effort to retake it. the base was the last in the area held by the government. it is about 50 kilometers from the stronghold. from there militants launched attacks on syrian government and opposition forces. over the last few months they pushed into northern and western iraq and now they are locked in a fight with iraqi and kurdish forces. a british man infected with the ebola virus has been brought back home. he was flown to london on board a military cargo plane and moved

to the hospital. a spokesperson for the british health department says he is not in serious condition. he says he will be treated in an isolation unit and says the risk to the public remains very low. more and more health care workers across west africa are being infected. officials with the world health organization say a w.h.o. staff member is among the latest to contract the virus. japanese leaders say they are ready to provide a drug to health authorities who ask for it. chief cabinet said in countries hit by ebola they still lack some that they need. he said managers at the company say they are receiving inquiries

from many countries. >> translator: japan is ready to cooperate with the firm in providing the unapproved drug if asked by the w.h.o. >> he said the government would respond to requests in individual emergency cases under certain conditions. earlier this month w.h.o. officials approved the use of experimental drugs in treating patients with ebola. we will keep you posted on the latest developments concerning the ebola virus on "newsline." up next is the latest in biz. japanese currency fell to a new low. climbed back to the highest level. the nikkei to 15,613.

investors locked in profits from the rally over the past two weeks. taking a look at the overall picture in asia. major benchmarks finished mixed. investors didn't trade that actively ahead of a meeting. the shanghai composite declined half a percent. 2,229. last week it inched closer to the 2,250 mark, a level not seen since last december. investors were becoming a bit nervous about the market overheating. japan, china and south korea briefly set aside strained ties in the interest of trade making it easier to move goods between the countries. the ministers signed a joint statement calling for stronger cooperation to make logestics operations smoother and cleaner.

that follows the deadly sinking of a south korean ferry in april. the joint statement encourages cooperation to cut emissions. thanks to the weaker yen and growing popularity of japanese food abroad, officials at the agriculture and fisheries ministry say the exports came to $2.7 billion. that's up more than 10% in yen terms from the same period last year and the highest value since comparable data became available in 2006. beef exports were up more than 27% and fruits and vegetables by just under 24%. shipments of soft drings and

snacks. if the trend continues food exports for 2014 will likely surpass last year's $5.3 billion. government officials want to double food exports to about $10 billion a year by 2020. the target is part of prime minister abe's growth strategy. officials will encourage to launch new brands and plan to urge countries to ease restrictions on japanese food imports set up after the fukushima nuclear accident. sales at restaurant chains fell. food safety concerns stemming from china and bad weather were the reasons. the latest figures show sales fell 2.5% in july from the year earlier. the number of customers fell due to the effects of typhoons. another negative factor was the food scandal in china.

officials said sales at some fast food chains dropped. sales dropped 5.6% at fast food chains, 6.1% at pubs compared to a year ago. japan's electronics firms are gearing up to compete for buyers of ultrahigh definition tvs. the last of japan's big makers to join the market for so-called 4-k televisions. the initial model will come in two sizes. the 58 inch version will likely sell for about $4,800 and the 65 inch for $6,700. one feature would allow customers to use apple iphones and ipads to record programs. tosheba was the first to bring a 4-k television to the market. sales have been rising since

last year but market research firms say they still only accounted for about 3% of the units sold in july. japan's recovering economy is getting a boost to its electronics makers. federal earnings made them bullish on investing on their home turf. oki has expanded assembly lines. the company plans to add even more capacity to meet growing demand. >> translator: we will be closely watching the economy and we plan to increase investment every year. >> meanwhile sharp is planning to spend more on its domestic production base for liquid crystal display panels. and a similar story at panasonic. the company plans to increase capital investment and spend much of it on lith yn ion

batteries. japanese apparel companies have for years paid to use international brand names and have had licensing agreements to sell products using their names. the times are changing and the brands aren't renewing their contracts. so the japanese firms are adopting a new business strategy. nhk world tells us more. >> reporter: japanese shoppers with deep pockets have long loved the british luxury fashion house burrberry. apparel company has paid a licensing fee to sell products with the burberry brand. it has styled items to better fit japanese sizes and tastes. executives with the firm say their licensing agreement expired next june. >> translator: we have long consultations before we decided

to conclude our agreement. >> reporter: shoppers are shocked. >> translator: it is a problem for me. i need japanese sized clothing. >> translator: i'm really disappointed with their decision. the quality of stitching on burberry clothing in japan is really good. >> reporter: company managers say they will strengthen their brands but analysts say they will face difficulties because a large portion of their sales come from burberry products. the licensing market in japan has shrunk about 30% over the past decade. major fashion brands have begun pulling out of agreements in recent years. ralph lauren and marc jacobs has opened their own stores. brands are trying to maintain consistency. >> translator: fashion has

become globally connected through the internet. consumers can easily get information from the source so labels want to unify their brand image. but i want to point out that the success of burberry's business in japan is all because of the local company's effort. >> reporter: japanese businesses are being forced to adapt. this sports apparel company once made 40% of the sales through a licensing agreement with germany's adidas. it went into the red after the contract ended in 1988. so they purchased rights from umbro. they don't have to worry about rules or contracts expiring. >> translator: we were able to stabilize our business and build a long-term branding strategy.

with licensing agreements we would be affected when the brand company changed business plans. >> reporter: company managers supplied uniforms to a pro soccer team in japan to build brand recognition. their change in direction is paying off. they estimate overall sales this year will hit a record. and they're expanding. last year they purchased umbro trademark rights for south korea and will roll out products in january. it may take a while for some companies to recover from the lost profits but finding the right burst of innovation can spark new opportunities to help these firms grow. nhk world, tokyo. >> that is going to do it for biz this hour. let's check in on the markets.

search and recovery efforts are underway in hiroshima. our meteorologist joins us now.

i heard there is a risk of more landslides in the region. can you tell us more on that? >> five days have passed since the landslides occurred in hiroshima. heavy rain has been falling over there region because we have a stalled frontal system and hot and humid air continuously moving in from the south. and today is not the exception. an additional 80 millimeters of rain is likely to fall into tomorrow. that will be accompanied with strong winds, as well. the heavy rain will likely make its way towards central japan as we go into the next couple of days. hiroshima you start to see sunny weather on your wednesday. across hokeido it looks like dry weather will likely continue. rain is falling heavily across south korea. thunderstorms are happening over northeastern china and torrential rain is falling along the valley. just to the north a high pressure system is staying there and bringing sunny weather.

beijing at 32 degrees for the high. down to the 20s in seoul as well as tokyo. rain is on the menu on thursday. daytime thunderstorms. across the americas as opposed to the eastern pacific the atlantic has been quite quiet in terms of tropical storms. we have the third tropical storm named cristobol. this one will likely intensify to a hurricane by wednesday night and move away from the united states as we go into the next several days because of a stationary system it is expected to produce heavy rainfall probably about 200 millimeters or even 300 millimeters in central parts of the bahamas for the next several days. watch out for flooding as well as mudslides. flooding concerns remains quite high over the western parts of the great lakes region.

we have flooding problems coming out of chicago and other areas. residents in the midwestern region in the united states dealt with flooding at the end of this week. flood waters at the end of the week. flood waters soaked homes and cars when rainfall rates up to 70 millimeters fell in less than an hour. up to 200 millimeters fell in parts of the area. roads had to be closed as many neighborhood streets were completely under water. we really don't need more rainfall but i'm afraid more heavy rain is likely because of the intense frontal system expected to produce flooding rains over the western parts of the great lakes region. now, ahead of the system quite hot air is surging in from the gulf of mexico raising temperatures. take a look at this chart. chicago your high could be 33 degrees on monday, about five degrees higher than normal. hot weather will likely continue

for the next couple of days. heat is number one weather related killer. to avoid heat stroke drink plenty of water and don't get too much sun and spend more time in air conditioned places if you can. that's it for me now. up next is your three day forecast.

a giant of british cinema has died.

richard attenborough had been in poor health for some time. he was born in 1923. he began his career as an actor on the stage. he went on to appear in many films including "the great escape" and "jurassic park." his cinematic tribute to gandhi won eight oscars. he struggled with his adaptation with the musical "a chorus line." richard attenborough was 90. losing yet another figure in the world of cinema. that concludes this hour's "newsline." thanks for watching. =ú?x

>> the french prime minister is tapped with forming a new government by tomorrow. leadership has been slammed for bad handling. an american journalist held captive for two years is released by a group linked to al qaeda in syria. this comes as a much-needed reprieve from the gruesome killing of another u.s. journalist last week. the 70th anniversary of its liberation from the nazis at the end of world war ii.