here in japan, it's a monday evening, i'm james tengan in tokyo, welcome to "newsline." here are some of the stories we're following this hour. unmanned u.s. spacecraft maven has entered the orbit of mars. nasa says the probe will study the atmosphere for a future mission to send humans to the planet. japanese pitchers in u.s. major league baseball are reportedly prone to elbow injury because of differences in equipment, and playing styles.

and we'll show you how a vegetable farmer in northern japan is catching the eyes and wallets of shoppers. u.s. space agency nasa says its unmanned spacecraft maven has entered the orbit of mars. the probe arrived at 2:24 utc on monday after a ten-month journey. scientists cheered at a control center in the u.s. state of colorado when they confirmed the news. unlike the agency's other mars probe, curiosity, maven is not designed to land on the planet, but to study its atmosphere. nasa administrator charles boldin said the probe will provide data for a mission to send humans to mars in the 2030s. scientists say life existed on the planet in the distant past. nasa plans to study how its environment has changed. maven's mission is to continue for one year. the foreign ministers of iran and saudi arabia have sat down for talks in new york. analysts say the meeting hints

at possible improvements to the two nation's strained ties. iranian foreign minister mohammed javaz zarif met face to face with prince saud al faisal. their meeting came on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly meeting. iranian media is reporting that the ministers exchanged opinions on important regional issues to deal with the islamic state militants. iranian leaders have long been at odds with their saudi arabian counterparts over nuclear developments, and the conflict in syria. zarif says the talks mark a new page in bilateral relations and prince saud says cooperation between the two countries should favorably affect efforts toward peace in the middle east. japan's foreign minister says the country will announce new greenhouse gas reduction targets as soon as possible. fumio kishida spoke to foreign and environmental ministers from other countries during a meeting on climate change in new york. the meeting came ahead of the u.n. climate summit scheduled

for tuesday. the next round of u.n. talks on combatting global warming will be held at the end of next year. known as cop21 its aim will be creating a framework to go in effect from 2020. kishida stressed the need to move beyond the current framework, which requires only industrialized countries to cut emissions. he said countries need to create a fair and effective replacement that involves all nations. many of the ministers at the meeting expressed concern on the lack of global progress on climate change. prime minister shinzo abe gave an exclusive interview to nhk world just before leaving for new york to attend the u.n. general assembly meeting. he spoke with our senior political commentator masayo nakajima. >> the leaders will be gathering at the u.n. general assembly, what will be your message to the world?

>> translator: i will go again this year to deliver a strong message regarding, for example, japan's policy of serving as a pro-active contributor to peace. and what else japan plans to do to contribute to the world. the world right now faces major problems, such as the ebola outbreak, and the islamic state that require immediate international cooperation under the united nations. i hope to talk about how japan is determined to show leadership, and deal pro-ackively with these problems. the united nations will mark its 70th anniversary next year so i also hope to outline japan's ideas on how united nations should become an organization that is suited to the 21st century.

>> we hear you may meet former u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton in new york. >> translator: i am due to meet her to talk about creating a society where women can shine. women's rights are being violated around the world, in conflict zones, and territories trapped in poverty. so in all these areas, japan will provide the kind of support to allow women to develop their abilities. >> i understand that japan wants to become a permanent member to strengthen its voice in world affairs. what are japan's chances? >> translator: 70 years ago, based on the outcome of world war ii, the united nations was launched with five victor nations becoming permanent members of the security council. japan is the world's third

largest economy. within the u.n., it has also made huge contributions. for example, to peace building activities. so, i think japan should become a council member. a permanent council member, to make solid the contributions. >> things are not necessarily going well when it comes to japan's relations with china and south korea. you have expressed hope of holding a japan/china summit during the apec meeting in november. what are the chances of such a meeting taking place? >> translator: china is japan's biggest trading partner. you could say the two countries are inseparable. but because there are problems and challenges, i believe it is all the more necessary to engage in dialogue, especially dialogue between leaders. the apec meeting will be held in beijing.

so, i would very much like to hold a summit on that occasion. >> what about south korea? what chance is there of a summit with park? >> translator: japan and south korea share the values of freedom, democracy, and basic human rights, as well as a common strategic situation. i believe i will have chances to meet president park in multilateral settings. i hope to take advantage of such opportunities to have dialogue. >> but developments in ukraine must mean there are difficulties in terms of japan's policy with russia. the issue of sanctions, and cooperation with the g-7. what is the likelihood of putin visiting japan later this year? >> translator: president putin

and i have held five summits since i became prime minister for the second time, a year and nine months ago. and today happens to be my birthday. i received a congratulatory phone call from president putin. of course, regarding the situation in ukraine, changing the status quo through force is utterly unacceptable. that's japan's basic stance. so, in coordination with the g-7 japan hopes to continue to ask russia to behave as a responsible nation, and dialogue is also necessary in this regard. at the same time, japan and russia still haven't signed a peace treaty. i hope to make efforts toward the goal of resolving the issue of russia's occupation of the four northern islands, and sign a peace treaty. regarding president putin's visit to japan, make

comprehensive studies and decisions on the matter. dialogue between leaders is absolutely necessary. >> thank you very much, prime minister abe. >> thank you, too. okay. here on "newsline" ron madison from our business desk joins us now to give us the latest in biz news. ron? >> all right, thank you, james. managers of supermarkets in japan saw bad weather slow their business this summer. sales in august fell for the fifth straight month. officials at the japan chain stores association report that sales across the country totalled about $10 billion. that's down 0.1% from the same month last year. the officials say poor weather meant people did not buy as many summer clothes, and seasonal goods, like sunscreen as they did last year. but food sales were up 1%. that's the first increase since the consumption tax hike in april. food stuffs make up about 70% of

total supermarket sales. the officials say they're seeing signs of a recovery, but they note that it's still fragile. they also say that as the weaker yen pushes up import prices, household spending could decline. bad weather also hit sales at convenience stores. they fell 2.4% in august from the same month last year. that's the largest decline since the tax hike. let's get a check of the markets now in asia and see how they started off their week. investors really sold equities today. they locked in profits from recent gains in major asian benchmarks. as you can see all of the majors are down. shanghai really underperforming the rest of the region. investors are waiting cautiously for the release on tuesday of chinese factory data. here in tokyo the nikkei average down 0.7%, 16,205. that snapped two days of gains. on friday it reached its highest level in just about seven years. traders were cautious after the rapid rise in share prices. and in china the shanghai composite sank 1.7% to finish at

2,289. that was the first decline in four days. investors adjusted their stock holdings ahead of sales of new shares by 12 companies this week. and in sydney the s&p asx 200 down 1%, 5,362. that's the lowest close we've seen there in five months. iron ore prices weighed on overall sentiment. investors moved out of heavyweight mining stocks like rio tinto. officials with the bank of japan are getting ready to release their latest survey on business confidence. economists expect the tankan to show that japanese managers have grown slightly more pessimistic. they say they're still feeling the effects of the tax increase in the spring. dodge officials will release the tanging on october 1st. economists at ten research institutes expect the index for major manufactures will show a second straight decline. they forecast the index will come in somewhere between nine and twelve points. the quarterly survey measures the percentage of respondents who are optimistic versus those who are pessimistic. the economists say sentiment has

likely deteriorated among major nonmanufactures, as well. they say auto sales in the housing and retail sectors have been slow to recover from the tax hike and they say business conditions have gotten worse in some sectors, including construction. a shortage of workers is pushing up labor costs while a weaker yen has led to higher raw materials prices. government officials are concerned about japan's public pension system. they predict as the population ages, future benefits will have to be gradually reduced. the welfare ministry is focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises or smes. officials plan to set up a new system to supplement existing programs. ministry officials believe pension payments will fall short of what people will need to cover their basic retirement, post-retirement expenses. they want to provide a top-up of the existing benefits. that would include employees of smes. the new plan is aimed not only at helping out the workers, but reducing their employers' burden as much as possible.

the company's monthly contributions would be capped at around $50 per employee. and the ministry also wants to lighten the administrative load for the smes. the firms would be able to farm out much of the procedural work to financial institutions that already manage pension funds. the welfare ministry plans to submit a bill on the program to a diet session early nt year. many japanese farmers struggle to make a profit in a country that imports more than half of its food. one farmer in northern japan is using innovative marketing techniques to stand out from the crowd, and he's watching his bottom line grow. we explain. >> reporter: at the airport in hokkaido, the guyway to japan's far north. many airport stores sell fresh seafood to travelers. but there's one store that's attracting customers with a sales system called all you can stuff into a container. six kinds of organic cherry

tomatoes are sold by the cupful. customers try to stuff as many tomatoes as possible. >> translator: i didn't know there are so many different types. i'd like to try them all. >> reporter: we visited farmer hiroki to see how the produce is grown. he and his wife grow 22 kinds of organic vegetables, including cherry tomatoes, eggplants, italian parsley, on 18 hectares of fields. his farm earns a million dollars in annual sales. only about 1% of hokkaido vegetable farmers make this much. the reason for his success is his motto. never to sell products in the same way as other farmers. one of his popular products is

dried sweet potatoes that are selling extremely well. thanks to his unique way of marketing them. usually we don't see many varieties of dried sweet potatoes at the supermarket. but osuka offers products made from five types of sweet potatoes. the $6 cost may seem to be a lot to pay for a bag of dried sweet potatoes. but consumers don't seem to mind the price. annual sales have reached $170,000. >> translator: i can't survive if my products don't make an impression on customers. >> more varieties of produce translate into more sales. >> reporter: otsuka's ideas have

opened up a new market for water spinach, a popular ingredient in chinese cooking. >> reporte >> translator: i thought it was delicious when i tasted it in taiwan. i was convinced that it would sell well so i decided to give it a try. >> reporter: but people in hokkaido weren't familiar with the vegetable. otsuka felt he needed something extra to attract customers. he developed sauce for pan-fried water spinach. it includes sesame oil, garlic and lemon juice. he attaches a small packet of the sauce to each of the vegetable bags. the product has become extremely popular because customers can use theauce to cook pan fried water spinach in just a few minutes.

>> translator: i'm looking for something that no other organic farmer in japan is offering. >> reporter: otsuka's marketing ideas make his product attractive to customers by giving them added value. it's these efforts that are the secret behind his success. nhk world. all right. that is going to do it for biz this hour. i'm going to pass it back over to james now. >> thanks very much, ron. one of japan's most famous baseball players has returned to the pitching mound. new york yankees ace masahiro tanaka won his 13th game against the toronto blue jays. tanaka made his first appearance at yankee stadium since developing elbow pain in july. he struggled to control the ball in the first inning and gave up a run.

but tanaka saved the team by using his splitter pitch. he threw 70 pitches over 5 1/3 innings giving up five hits and striking out four batters. a crowd of over 48,000 cheered for the right-handed pitcher. the yankees went on to win the game by a score of 5-2. >> yankees manager joe girardi said the pitching was extremely encouraging. tanaka is expected to make his next start on saturday. tanaka isn't the only major league pitcher from japan to be sidelined by an elbow injury. several have suffered the ailment. due to differences in equipment

and playing styles between the two countries. >> reporter: wara joined the baltimore orioles two years ago. but he tore a ligament in his elbow due to subtle differences between the balls used in the u.s. major league, and in japan. wada had surgery and was forced to leave the orioles without taking the mound. >> translator: oh, is this a japanese baseball? wow i've missed how it feels. the japanese ball feels more comfortable. the size is definitely different. >> reporter: professor david burress says the standard size and weight of balls are the same in both countries. but he adds that minor discrepancies in regulations have led to subtle differences in the ball's physical features and behavior. researchers measured ten randomly selected balls in each country. >> the japanese balls are

smaller, they've got higher stitching which increases your ability to actually grip the ball. >> reporter: another major difference is the friction coefficient. this is a measure of the ball's ease of grip. >> the american ball is right here, friction coefficient of 0.3. the ms. uno ball, the japanese ball here, is about a factor of 2 higher in friction coefficient. and so if you think about you gripping the ball, you're gripping it, there's no slip, and when you feel slip happening, that tends to tighten your grip on the ball, which may further increase the stresses on the ligaments in your elbow. >> reporter: dr. david alcheck examined tanaka of the yankees. he says japanese pitchers who adapt to the u.s. major league style can overexert their ligaments without knowing it. >> injury to this ligament is velocity.

higher velocity, higher incidence of injury. >> reporter: ligaments in the elbow are very small measures just three centimeters. the moment a ball is thrown the ligaments stretch to transmit the body's entire force to a person's fingertips. continuous pitching at speeds of over 150 kilometers an hour puts a huge amount of strain on the elbow. causing the ligaments to tear gradually. this can even cause complete tears as in wada's case. he moved to the chicago cubs, but experienced a prolonged period of rehabilitation. he finally made his major league debut in july. by that time, he had revamped his pitching form. his form before surgery is shown on the left, and after surgery on the right. he modified his form to throw over his shoulder with his elbow higher. >> translator: the elbow tends

to move this way to the side but if i control it to move this way vertically, i won't hurt my elbow. >> reporter: these days the problem isn't limited to the japanese players. the new york yankees are having a tough time this season, dealing with injuries among starting pitchers. the team is considering adding another starting pitcher to the roster so everyone can have more rest. >> years ago you didn't, you know, nobody believed you should have a five-man rotation. so, it's major -- it's a major step to talk about. >> reporter: starting pitchers earn very high incomes. so the new system could hurt the team's finances. now the major league needs to decide what it can do to protect its key players. >> now weatherwise people in taiwan are now having to deal with serious floods and landslides because of drenching rainfall from tropical storm fung-wong which also reaped widespread havoc in the

philippines. our meteorologist joins us now. how about is the situation in toy juan? >> yes, james. fung-wong is not a strong storm system. however because of the slow movement it has caused tremendous amounts of rainfall. take a look at this number. nearly 1,000 millimeters of rain, which is about one meter of rain, fell in the course of just 72 hours over 650 millimeters of rain in southern taiwan, as well. and very strong winds batter many areas in taiwan, as well as southwestern i'lls of japan. we have some video coming out of taiwan. take a look. after impacting the philippines, killing ten people, tropical storm fung-wong battered taiwan on sunday. the storm dumped nearly one meter of rainfall, as i said, in the south, leaving one person dead. roads turned into rivers as the water poured through the area. now the center of the system is moving away from taiwan, so conditions are improving. that's good news. however the next target is going

to be eastern china, south korea, or japan, as we go into the next several days. the center will likely get very close to shanghai tomorrow, and then make a 90 degree turn towards the east, because we have a high pressure system over the continent. that is preventing the system from moving up to the north. so on wednesday and thursday, fung-wong will probably move through south korea or central japan or western japan. the heavy rain is anticipated in many areas. nearly 300 millimeters of rain is expected in and around the shanghai area for 24 hours. and then heavy rainfall. the heaviest rain could fall in south korea on your wednesday. i think the heaviest rain in japan will be found across the southern areas of cue shoe, as well as flooding, landslides all of them very high risk over areas of east asia. across the americas, heavy rain and wind warnings in place for eastern parts of canada such as newfoundland and nova scotia. but that's going to move away as

we go into tuesday. what will be left behind is cooler temperatures for most of eastern canada as well as eastern parts of u.s. so we may see some snowfall in the northern areas. now across the opposite side of the u.s., if you remember, deadly floods occurred in the four corners region last week, and still rain is falling heavily so flash flood warnings and watches are widely posted in the eastern parts or i should say western parts of texas, as well as the southern half of mexico. and new mexico, i should say. and out towards the north after days of dry weather finally a heavy rainmaker will be on its way to affect the pacific northwest, as well as british columbia. temperatures are going down to 25 degrees in portland. you saw 34 degrees on your saturday. so a little change in store for you. the cooler temperatures for you in chicago, as well as toronto, and in the low 20s in washington, d.c., as well as new york city on the last day of summer. finally over towards europe. significant rainfall and hail was reported in many areas in eastern and central europe.

we have a low pressure system and connected front over the north and the south. the worst will happen in and around switzerland and austria on your monday. hail thunderstorms and even heavy rain is anticipated. now, out west, dry weather is expected for parts of germany, as well as paris, and other parts of france on your monday and temperatures are quite comfortable. paris at 19 degrees for the high, 18 degrees for you in london, and 18 degrees for moscow with plenty of sunshine. here's extended forecas

i hope the weather is looking good in your neck of the woods. for all of us here on "newsline," thanks for watching. 

>> a new message from the islamic state group called on muslims to kill citizens from countries taking part in an international coalition against it. brent is particularly targeted by a senior is official. and one of the longest airstrikes in history, but hope is inside. a three-month extension on france to expand its low-cost carrier. the issue that first cause the pilots to walk off the job. and thousands of students in hong kong kick off a weeklong boycott of their classes. they are angry over news from