here in japan, it is tuesday evening. welcome to the "newsline." u.s. military planes and bombed targets near baghdad as the offensive against islamic state militants. and we'll show you how some people in the u.s. have kept a

sacred japanese shrine that washed ashore and now returning it back to where it belongs in japan. japanese officials are trying to get international support for plans to resume whaling in the arctic. now the plans have hit a snag and nhk world irichiokijima explains. >> reporter: they gathers in slovenia every two years. delegates are proposing a change of rules. whalers submit plans to the gathering of the commission's scientific committee. the change requires them to submit them to the group biannually. many oppose whaling. japanese government officials say the new rules would cause delay for japanese whalers. they are urging delegates from

20 countries to back them. japanese crews began research whaling in 1987 to study whale populations in the antarctic ocean. they are collecting data to show the animals are at levels. they want to build a case for whaling. japanese whale hunts have expanded over the years. the catch has more than tripled since the program began and reached 1,000 specimens. and japanese ships have been sailing over a wider area. government officials decided in 1994 to begin sending boats to the pacific ocean. crews were able to catch 100 whales per year. now up to 380. but the program suffered a setback in march. the international court of justice ruled against the

research whaling in the antarctic ocean. >> killing and treating of whales under the special permits granted for japan is not for purposes of scientific research within the meaning of article 8. >> reporter: in response, japanese government officials halted research whaling in the ant arctic until next march. they limited the catch for crews by nearly half. officials say they want to resume research whaling in the antarctic again next april. >> if the japanese government goes ahead with whaling in the southern ocean, then we are prepared to intercept the fleet and shut them down. >> reporter: delegates at the meeting are divided over where to take things from here. those from australia say ruling against japan was significant. they say research that leads to the killing of whales is

unnecessary. but their counterparts from laos and other countries support research whaling. they say they'll vote against new . delegates are unsure if they will win the necessary backing. some countries who have been staunch supporters are shipped in positions. analysts say delegates may be trying to win points with the u.s. and european countries that oppose whaling. if new zealand's proposal passes, japan's efforts to continue research whaling will face an uphill battle. and chances of some day resuming commercial whaling would become more unlikely. reporting for nhk world, tokyo. officials from across east asia have gathered in tokyo to discuss another creature the sea. trying to figure out ways to replenish stock of japanese eels. many people in east asia consider the eel to be delicacy.

in june, the conservation group put it on the species list. they are raised until they are mature enough to eat. delegates from japanese, china, south korea and taiwan are taking part in the conference. it is time to discuss the framework for eel resources. japanese representatives are proposing the farmers reduce the fish by 30%. other delegates are considering similar restrictions. participants are discussing thousand set reduction targets for each area. u.s. military commanders have expanded offensive of the group of the islamic state. they launch fresh air strikes in iraq. including one near baghdad. officials with the u.s. central command said pilots bombed targets on sunday near the

northwestern town of sinjar. they were fighting iraqi forces southwest of baghdad. president obama said last week he was broadening the campaign to destroy the militant group. he said the strategy is beyond protects u.s. citizens. the president said the u.s. will deploy 75 additional service members to iraq. he indicated he is willing to launch air strikes on the islamic state militants in syria. members of obama's administration are trying to build a coalition. they have been pressing leaders in iran. the supreme leader is rejecting the request. ayatollah khomeini spoke on state-run tv. he said washington's goal of maintaining influence in the middle east is hollow and self serving. iran is a predominately shia

nation and on alert with the fighters in the group. some analysts said iran and the u.s. may team up against the islamic state. residents of ukraine hope the cease-fire would hold. people in the city of donetsk got caught in a battle on sunday. six residents killed and 15 wounded and some homes destroyed. monitoring with the organization for security and cooperation with europe saw vehicles come under attack. still president poroshenko is following through with another peace plan. the newspaper says he is proposing limited self rule in areas for three years. nato commanders have been monitoring the fighting. they started a joint drill with forces in western ukraine. more than 1,000 personnel from 15 countries are training for 12 days. they are preparing to take part in peacekeeping missions.

some are honing skills operating tanks and other vehicles. the nato secretary-general says russia has used economic pressure and military action to decrease ukraine's presence. members of the alliance must stand together. officials in the u.s. have harsh words for north korea. criticizing authorities for the prison sentence for the american citizen. pyongyang news agency says the man was sentenced to six years hard labor. matthew miller was arrested in april. north korea officials say he destroyed his tourist visa after entering the country. >> despite official claims the u.s. citizens arrested there are not used for political purposes. it is clear the dpk case is using the citizens as pawns for political agenda.

>> harf said the behavior would not have gotten him arrested in the u.s. or countries around the world. in recent years, tokyo has seen a surge in the construction of high-rises, but the market for new condos is not looking up as ron madison tells us. >> that's right, james. the number of new condos going on the market in tokyo and neighboring prefectures dropped in august for the seventh straight month year on year. researchers at economic institute say 2100 new condos went on sale last month. the number was down 49%. the largest declines since september of 2008. buyers rushed to ak ficquire un before the rush on taxes. that is making developers cautious. the researchers predict the

condo supply will remain low for some time. rising labor costs putting a damper on foreign investment in china. officials at the commerce ministry says the investment puts $7.2 billion in the economy. more foreign managers think manufacturing in china is less profitable as labor costs rise. the commerce ministry officials say the figure for january through august was about $78 billion, that's down 1.8%. souring relations with china is a reason. falling 43% in the same period. direct investment by eu countries was down 18% and declined 17% for the u.s. the government is simplifying procedures to encourage investment.

investors here in asia are cautious with the out come of the policy meeting in the federal reserve. they are waiting to see if the fed will give signals on the hike in interest rates. most benchmarks have finished the day lower. many nervous about the state of the chinese economy following a string of lack luster data. including the drop in foreign investment. the shanghai dropped 1.8%. 2,296. the lowest close in two weeks. investors were jittery about the fresh round of initial public offerings. the nikkei shed .25%. that is the first drop in six days. the index has been overheating following the rise. investors locked in some profits. in taiwan, it's index taiex is dropped to .91%.

shares of high tech companies came under pressure after the u.s. tech heavy benchmark nasdaq took a bit of a beating on monday. microsoft executives have been setting sights on the consumer market. the latest target is video gamers. microsoft officials say the firm will buy the swedish game maker for $2.5 billion. it is known for minecraft. it is a game of blocks. it was launched in 2009 and downloaded more than 100 million times. microsoft's ceo says video games are among the most popular forms of software that people use on pcs, tablets and smartphones. games are a growth opportunity. japanese government offis have seen people at the firms caught up in scandals. they introduce a law to appoint

more directors without ties to the company. some face risks. they could be sued if the company breaks the law. members at the nippon group are offering a safety net. they decided to provide insurance to people who take on the job. officials at aiu insurance are providing that coverage. other insurers raised maximum payouts for directors if they come from within or outside the company. the people at japan's major non life insure ors are trying to reduce risk after the disasters. shortening the term of fire insurance contracts. japan's fire insurance policies also cover damage caused by natural disasters, landslides and floods. the term of the longest contract is currently 36 years. major non life insurers say recent disasters have made it hard for them to assess risk. they will stop issuing fire contracts with terms longer than

ten years. the change could take effect in about a year. workers in japan put up homes and other buildings, chances are the wood is from abroad. demand from emerging countries has driven up imports. japanese loggers have gone back into the forest to find trees are ready to harvest. >> reporter: this is a saw mill open this may. it has state of the art machines that can make high quality lumber. this saw mill uses a fully automatic cutting machine. first, the machine measures the cross sections of the individual log at several points. a computer then decides where to cut the log to secure the least

loss of wood. and the machine cuts it to those dimensions. japanese's forest industry has been developing factories that use this kind of automated equipment. >> translator: with the large scale saw mill, we can produce high quality low cost lumber. >> reporter: this lumber market in the prefecture in central japan is one of the largest in the country. the trade in japanese lumber was long stagnate because of inexpensive imports from russia and canada. >> translator: this is all domestic wood. >> reporter: but japanese lumber has bounced back. one reason is the increased demand for wood in china and developing countries is pushing

up import prices. also, many trees planted after the war in japanese forests have matured and are now ready for harvesting. all these are giving japan's forest industry a chance to increase the country's use of domestic wood. to grab that chance, it is using the wood to develop new construction materials. two years ago, the lumber company began developing a panel called cross laminated timber or clt. it's an engineered wood panel consisting of several layers of precut wood. the layers are arranged so the grain runs at right angles to each other. the layers are glued and pressed together to form structural panels. this gives them strength equal

it is said you can build a ten--story building with them. in march, this company successfully built a three-story building using clt as an experiment. but clt is yet to be approved under the japan building standard act. the company is hoping to win government approval by improving lumb lumber. it aims to market the panels in two years. >> translator: clt will open the way for lumber for tall buildings. if we open a new market, we hope to provide a lot of domestic lumber. >> reporter: for a long time, japan's forest industry is left in the shadow of imported timber. now, it hopes to expand production of domestic timber by reducing costs and improving technology. >> that is it for business hour.

here is a check of the markets. people in the small community in northern japan received surprising news about the fate of a gate to their sacred shrine. they thought it was lost forever when the great tsunami engulfed their community, but hit thousands of kilometers away. it was located on a beach on the west coast. those who found the gate are hoping to give it back. miki ibara has more. >> reporter: this monument in

newport, oregon, is part of the debris that drifted from japan all the way across the pacific. it was a concrete pier destroyed by the great tsunami in march 2011. people of oregon decided to erect this of the disaster that could happen in this part of the world. >> japan and oregon have very similar seismic faults. so, the disaster that the tsunami that happened in 2011 could happen here any day. >> reporter: last year, wally found another object on the beach in oregon. >> probably right about over in the there. >> repor it was a part of the wooden gate to a sacred shinto shrine. he lived in japan in the past and that helped him recognize

what it was. >> i knew what i was looking at the that time. so, i took some pictures. >> reporter: following the information, parks authorities of the state of oregon immediately got in touch with the curator at the japanese garden. luckily, the wooden object had some writings in japanese, including a name of someone who donated the gate and the date of the donation. >> translator: this part says best wishes for big catches. i thought the person who donated it was a fisherman. >> reporter: in may, he and his colleague visited the region hit by the tsunami in hopes to find any clues about where the gate belonged. but the affected coastline stretched very far. after the week long visit, he had to go back to the u.s.

clueless. but two months later, a local historian found out that the gate was donated by takahasi. a fisherman who lives in the prefecture. he donated the gate on the eyelet in the community 26 years ago. but the tsunami waves crashed into the gate and destroyed it. people thought the gate was gone forever. so they donated a new one. he was surprised to hear that it reached the american continent. >> translator: i look closely at the photos. yes, it was my name written on it. i was very surprised it traveled that far. i was greatly surprised. >> reporter: back in oregon, he visited the house to let the authorities know that he found

where the gate came from. >> this individual mr. takahamshi is alive and 85 years old. >> to reunite this with the place where it came from and with the people who created it, that meant it was worth it. >> reporter: he feels thankful that people in oregon took care of the object for this long. >> translator: i am grateful for the person-to-person connection. i would like to carry it forward. >> reporter: he hopes the sacred object will somehow become a symbol of u.s./japan friendship. he plans to visit again to meet takahashi in american november. miki ebarra, nhk world. >> thanks, miki for that report.

weather wise, a typhoon left a trail of destruction in the philippines. the storm is zeroing in on vietnam next. we have our meteorologist jonathan oh here with us. the rain soaking rains and now a typhoon. >> james, you do not need to be seeing anymore rain in the china peninsula and southern china. unfortunately, this typhoon is headed in your direction. the already rain saturated area is about to see more rain. the system is departing from the philippines and made lawful on the hainan island and setting sights for northern vietnam. i want to show you what is going on on the ground. and the name of the typhoon made lawful on the island tuesday morning. fierce winds knocked down billboards and trees in haiku.

students and workers have been asked to remain at home because of the danger. that is leaving empty streets. flights have been canceled. this typhoon made landfall sunday and ended up killing at least eight people. i want to show you what is happening. give you have oriented perspective. north in this direction. this is west. this system is moving to the west at 35 kilometers per hour with gusts up to 180. it is expected to make landfall in northern vietnam as we head into tuesday night local time. it will weaken, but slowly progress across the southern areas of china into vietnam. this is going to be a major rain situation with rainfall amounts from 150 to 250 millimeters possible as we go through the next couple of days. so definitely watching out for that. we have a low pressure system east of the philippines that may turn into a tropical depression for the next day or so. looking out for a possible

development with this system. meanwhile, in northern japan, we have a low pressure system bringing rain and some snow being reported in the highest peak of hokkaido. that is showing wintry anticipation, i guess. colder air is moving in aloft. that means clouds and showers for tokyo on friday with 25. 24 in seoul. southern china seeing more rainfall because of the typhoon. we are watching for odile. this is a tropical storm. earlier this week, it was a category 4 hurricane. it has weakened significantly. the problem is this is a slow-moving storm in an area that does not need to see a lot of rain in one period of time. major flooding as it moves to the north along western mexico. the desert southwest going to see a lot of rainfall. we are seeing up to 250 millimeters possible of rainfall here as well going through the next couple of days.

high pressure dominating the midwestern portion of the united states bringing cooler and clear conditions, but instability to the deep south giving us rain and thunderstorms for tuesday. wrapping up with europe. we have the low down to the baltic. a tornado reported in france. i think we will see some more rain for western europe as we go throughout tuesday. look at the forecast. 27 in madrid. 22 in lisbon. aspen, you will see rain coming up for tuesday. hope you have a good day whenever you are. here is your extended outlook.

for all of us here on "newsline" thank you for watching. there is more to come here on nhk wo gg99ññwçç

hello and welcome. it is 1:00 p.m. here in the french capital. parliament votes to give limited role to the country's east while offering an amnesty for all who fought in the conflict. signed anev has historic pact intended to bring it closer to the eu. taking on the islamic state organization, washington launches its first day of strikes southwest of baghdad as the u.s. continues to build an international alliance. president barack obama ok for the u.s. to send 3000 military personnel to help fight the evil outbreak in west africa.