a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. members of the u.n. security council plan to adopt a resolution aimed at choking off funding for islamic state militants. how to protect the lives of victims in modern warfare. the president of the international committee of the red cross joins us in the studio. and the abduction of children has become a major social problem in china, and for

many parents, the search for their missing kids never ends. members of the u.n. security council are considering a new plan to crack down on the militant group islamic state. they're looking at a resolution that would help starve the militants of funds. the plan calls for countries to put an end to all oil deals, and to stop paying ransom for hostages. russian officials submitted the draft resolution. it focuses on major sources of revenue for islamic state and other extremist groups including oil, ransoms, and the antiquity trade. it threatens sanctions for countries that violate certain rules. security council members have already adopted several resolutions to contain islamic state. observers say this one is likely to pass as officials from western nations have raised no objections. the head of the international organization

overseeing chemical weapons warns that islamic state militants may have already come into possession of chemical arms. the head of the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons says there are reports that the group has already used chlorine gas in iraq. >> clearly, this would be a very dangerous move if they were able to produce or to get those kind of substances toxic chemicals, from different sources. so we hope that this will not happen. >> uzumcu says the reports have not yet been verified. he called for increased global efforts to halt the proliferation of chemical weapons. the opcw was scheduled to destroy 12 chemical weapon facilities in syria by june. but uzumcu says technical

difficulties and ongoing conflicts in the country are hampering the mission. he says it may take until september to complete the work. a pentagon official has told nhk the u.s. has no evidence that an american held by islamic state died in a recent air strike. the militants claim the bombing by the jordanian air force killed the woman. the officials say the strikes targeted a weapons depot outside the syrian city of raqqah on islamic state stronghold. the official said it's not clear whether the hostage kayla mueller was being held there. islamic state posted a statement online claiming she was the only person killed in the attack. mueller is an aid worker. she was helping people along the turkish/syrian border. u.s. officials believe militants captured her about a year and a half ago in the syrian city of aleppo. japanese leaders want to keep citizens away from areas under islamic state control.

foreign minister fumio kishida says they'll consider overseas travel bans on a case by case basis. the officials confiscated the passport of a photographer on saturday after finding out he was planning to go to syria. >> translator: freedom of travel freedom of expression, and freedom of the press are all guaranteed by the constitution. so, we have to address this issue with prudence. i believe we need to consider each individual case with due deliberation, and discretion. >> kishida said officials confiscated the passport under extraordinary circumstances. he noted that islamic state militants claim to have killed two japanese nationals and are threatening to kill more. the violent campaign being unleashed by militants with islamic state is overshadowing other conflicts. syria's nearly four year long civil war is raging on and creating an enormous demands for

international aid organizations. we're joined in the studio now by someone who understands that. people in conflict zones endure peter moore is the president of the international committee of the red cross. welcome to the studio mr. moore. >> thank you. >> first off icrc's main mission is to assist victims of armed conflict. this has been going on ever since world war i. you have been longtime intermediator for things like this. tell us how your organization gets involved in situations. how like the recent situation in syria. >> well, i think we are confronted today with an international environment with a conflict environment which is increasingly fragmented and difficult. well decades ago we could negotiate access with countries and there were front lines, we see front lines disappear, movements disintegrate and to even find out the command and control structures in those

conflict environment is extremely difficult. we need days and month in order to negotiate just a convoy from the massacres to aleppo because there are so many groups on the way, which you have to get hold on. so it's changing fundamentally the access and security regimes for an organization like the icrc. >> briefly, if you may, your thoughts on kenji goto mr. yukawa and the situation with mr. moaz? >> look on a personal level for myself and all my colleagues this is always a shaking experience in 150 years of existence of the icrc we never got used to people being abused tortured killed and this is as shaking as many other events are. on the professional level, it's

exactly an expression on what we see in today's battlefields. an extremely radicalized siation, violence getting increasingly -- violence getting increasingly radical. and this is an environment in which access and security for humanitarians, protection of civilians, which is at the core of our mandate, is increasingly difficult to deliver. we have difficulties accessing those parts in the world. we are not present at the present moment in areas controlled by islamic state group. but we have from time to time the possibility to negotiate humanitarian accesses. so it's a completely different international environment, and difficult conflict environment in which we are moving today. >> why are more journalists getting attacked? and detained. and aren't they supposed to be off limits?

>> well, they are supposed to be protected people according to the geneva convention as civilians are, and the icrc in its work entertains a hotline for journalists in order to warn them and to inform them as good as we can on what they have to do as a protective measure in order not to get entangled into today's warfare. at the present moment i think more journalists get involved because the communication part of the armed conflict becomes an integral part of the conflict itself. it's not only the weapons speaking, it's also the communication on the violence and i think we have seen it over the past couple of weeks and month. not only with islamic state, with other groups as well that communication is an integral part of warfare and therefore journalists are in more danger today than probably in any time before. >> we often hear about some of

the failures in terms of negotiations. has there been much success when you have intruded in becoming negotiators? >> success is a big word in that context, which is so difficult. but we consider it for instance a success that today we can still, in the whole of syria, not every day, every place, but we can operate in the whole of syria. we can bring water and sanitation and food and medical assistance, together with our partner the syrian arab crescent for instance. we can operate in iraq. we can send medical goods to the hospitals, in mosul, or in fallujah so these are small successes of negotiation in an environment which is immensely complicated, and i would never pretend that we are out of the woods, and we are in a situation where this is by far

satisfactory but we are in country. >> we touched on it a little bit before. islamic state. they are not a country. it's not like a prisoner of war situation. what's different about this organization? >> well we have a debate whether anything is different compared to some of the movements we have encountered in the 1960s, 1970s, or '80s. i think we have a broad experience. today it's certainly the unwillingness to engage in any sort of humanitarian space to create, or to respect any humanitarian or other kind of work being done which is quite different. but, it doesn't mean that in five or ten years from now we will talk the same way and islamic state group will be the same organization. we have been able over the past 12 years to have relations and

spaces negotiated with the taliban, in yemen, in the drc, in other places of africa so the big question is will in five years from now, will this look different or not? >> we're almost out of time. i want to ask you, you have a trip to hiroshima and you have long history with the city of hiroshima ever since the bombing, atomic bombing of the city. tell us what your plans are there and what kind of message you intend to have. >> well since icrc has been the first international organization to come to hiroshima in '45, 70 years after the promise of disarmament is still unfulfilled. and i think it is time today to remind the world community states that this is a promise still unfulfilled. so i want to go there, i want to talk to the survivors, and also to sensitize the public opinion

worldwide that this is an important work to be done still. >> we thank you very much for your time today. >> thank you. >> we've been talking to peter moorer, president of the international committee of the red cross. canada wants to expand beyond their printers and single lens camerases. ron madison is here with the latest on this story. >> certainly looking to diversify. this would be a huge acquisition for canon. the precision equipmentmaker is aiming to expand its video surveillance system business. the company plans to buy swedish security cameramaker axis for roughly $2.8 billion. now canon executives say that they will launch a tender offer to acquire all of axis' shares. axis is the world's largest company in the surveillance

camera sector. the popularity of smartphones has caused a decline in sales of canon's mainstay digital cameras. canon executives are hoping to boost earnings by strengthening the business. canon officials say the offer is friendly in nature. they say axis' board of directors has decided to recommend the firm's shareholders to accept it. well investors in greece are getting nervous as greece and its eurozone partners remain engaged in brinksmanship over the debt situation and negotiations that greece is going through. this has been casting a shadow over some investor sentiment today. and looks like major benchmarks in europe are doing fairly mixed right now. we're seeing declines for london, while frankfurt and paris are hanging on to earlier gains. the shanghai composite in terms of asian trading closed up 1.5%. 3,141. investors bought shares on speculation that authorities will launch more stimulus measures due to the slowest inflation rate in five years in china.

here in tokyo, though the benchmark nikkei fell 0.3% 17,652. investors were a bit worried by the chinese data as well as the deepening friction between greece and its creditors. here's how other markets closed out the day. hong kong, as you can see there, finishing pretty much flat on the day. sydney slipped about a quarter of a percent. moving on to currencies the dollar is gaining ground slightly against the majors dollar/yen is at 118.95. dollar euro is at -- or euro dollar, rather is at 1.1281. now some market players remain cautious about the outlook for greece' bailout prime minister before the eurozone finance ministers meeting on wednesday. well japan's exports of foreign and fishery products hit a record high last year. that's thanks to a weaker yen and the growing popularity of japanese cuisine around the world. agriculture ministry officials say the exports of farm forestry, and marine products in 2014 topped the 600 billion yen

mark for the first time since statistics on this began back in 1955. the figure was nearly 5.2 billion dollars. that was up more than 10% in yen terms from the previous record set in 2013. now the officials also attribute the rise to lifting import restrictions from other countries. the measures were adopted after the 2011 nuclear disaster. beef and rice exports both soared right around 40%. by destination hong kong was the largest importer followed by the u.s. and taiwan. >> translator: we hope to reach our export target sooner than planned. the public and private sectors will continue to collaborate to promote japanese products. in the eu, the u.s., and elsewhere. government officials are working to expand foreign and fishery exports as part of their growth strategy. they say target of 1 trillion yen, about $8.4 billion a year,

by the year 2020. japanese electronics firm panasonic is developing new technologies ahead of 2020 tokyo olympics. and paralympics. they'll be including a wearable device that can translate conversations with foreign visitors. >> i would like to go by train. >> well this gadget offers audio translations in japanese english, chinese, and korean. a technology to display translated conversations was also inveiled. panasonic officials expect that it can be used at hotel reception counters. panasonic is also working on technology to link images captured by seven cameras installed at a competition venue. a goggle shaped wearable device will allow users to see that venue from particular angles. honda motor gearing up now for its first formula one motor race in seven years. the japanese automaker has

unveiled the car to be used for the f-1 season which opens in australia next month. honda has joined hands with british racing team mclaren in providing its engines. honda executives say the 1.6 liter engine can deliver 600 horse power. they say the car also comes with the eco-friendly technologies required under f-1 regulations. the technologies installed include a hybrid system that collects the heat from the engine's exhaust. >> translator: developing eco-friendly technologies required for formula one is a great challenge in energy management. i believe they will help further improve honda's technologies. >> well president ito also said he believes that the technologies developed for f-1 races can be applied to ordinary vehicles in the future. all right. that is going to do it for biz tonight.

some 200,000 children reportedly go missing in china each year. some are abducted and sold. this practice has its roots in the past and lives on despite the country's rapid development. enhq world has more. >> reporter: these are scenes from the movie dearest, a big hit last year in china. it's based on a true story about families dealing with the abduction of children. one reason so many chinese children go missing is a lingering custom in rural areas. many farmers are willing to pay money for boys who can some day support them. >> translator: many people in china's farming villages need boys to take care of them when they get old. they're concerned the government can't provide adequate support. >> reporter: the fear of child

abduction is so widespread that parents crowd outside schools every day to wait for their children. >> translator: i'm worried. there are many malicious people now. >> reporter: new products are appearing to help tackle the problem. these shoes are equipped with a global positioning system. parents can use a smartphone application to keep track of their children. when a child ventures beyond a certain area the parents get a warning. the shoes went on sale in september. the manufacturer expects to sell 1 million pairs a year. there are no simple solutions when children disappear. for many families life becomes an endless search. now, parents from around china are speaking up.

this month they called on residents of zhuang due to come forward with information on missing children. it's one of several cities where children have gone missing. this man is from shaanxi province and has spent more than six years looking for his only son. >> translator: this is my son. >> reporter: the boy was abducted at the age of 1. he said someone abducted him while he and his wife were sleeping. he went for help. so he and his wife have been searching near and far on their own. >> translator: the chance of finding our son is very small. but if we don't look for him, we'll never find him. >> reporter: wu says many people have contacted him with information.

but he thinks most of them are merely after reward money. someone sent this doctored photo. the picture on the right is the one wu distributed. it's clear the other one has been manipulated. >> reporter: wu is not giving up hope. for several months he has been raising a campaign to find missing children and raise awareness. he visits village after village and tries to persuade farmers to stop the practice of buying children. >> translator: it has been devastating. i hope these kidnappings will end.

if people raised only their real children then eventually i would find my son. i'll keep looking. >> reporter: for now, parents like wu continues long search to find the children they love, and have lost. nhk world, hunan province. >> a massive snowstorm blankets the northeastern u.s. our meteorologist sayaka mori joins us for the details. sayaka. >> it's another round of significant snow is affecting the northeastern u.s. especially the new england states. in boston you've had about two meters of snowfall since the start of this winter. i want to show you some video coming out of massachusetts. take a look. a record-setting round of snowstorms has pounded the northeastern states over the past couple of weeks. authorities are running out of spaces to pile the snow. schools were closed on monday. hundreds of flights were

canceled. and boston's transit system was delayed. some 50 centimeters of snow fell on boston since the start of the storm on sunday. now, an additional 40 centimeters of snow could fall in the new england states as we go into the rest of tuesday. but by wednesday, conditions return calm. that is not the end of snowfall actually. we have another batch of snow coming in across the west. you can see a batch of snow moving over the u.s./canada border, bringing snow and freezing rain, too. that will be reaching the northeastern u.s. by thursday. so take a look at this forecast. boston minus 2 degrees. for the high on tuesday, with snow on the menu. there's a chance of snow on wednesday, but mostly sunny. and then heavy snow will come back on thursday. note the temperatures will be much, much below average for many areas like minneapolis, chicago, down towards new york. so, please do bundle up. now across the western pacific, we have a very strong typhoon.

this is packing winds of 250 kilometers. powerful system but this one will likely weekend by friday and move over the waters as we go over the next several days. it's not going to affect any big land masses. so that's good news. but heavy rain is affecting many people in indonesia. in fact in jakarta, you've had 370 millimeters of rain sunday into monday and we've got an additional 120 millimeters of rain, so widespread flooding is happening over this area and more rain is anticipated, probably an additional 100 millimeters of rain could fall into the next three days or so. so flooding is going to be a very high risk as we go through the rest of the work week. now, snow is still falling over the northern areas of japan, about two or three meters of snow has piled up in several places in northern japan. more to come probably upwards of 40 centimeters in hokkaido

and 30 centimeters for the tohoku region in the next 24 hours. the peak of heavy snow is over. but still snow will likely continue into the weekend. i think temperatures will rise so some snow could change over to rain for the coastal locations. but that will actually raise the potential for avalanches and also flooding as well. now finally over towards europe. snow is falling in a wide area over turkey. we have a lingering low pressure system over the eastern parts of the mediterranean. that is packing very cold air. so not just the mountains, but also low area and athens will see some snowfall. upwards 20 centimeters likely for turkey and a chance of snow continues in athens on tuesday. your high is going to be only 3 degrees. that's 10 degrees lower than average. here's the extended forecast. around the globe.

the festival has been held in fukushima city to pray for a good harvest. the annual ritual saw people carry a massive straw sandal through the streets of their neighborhood. the festival has been held annually for more than 300 years. about 100 people took turns carrying the two-ton sandal which took about two weeks to make. they paraded around a mountain in the city before offering the sandal to a shrine. about 70 elementary students followed the procession carrying smaller versions of the sandal. >> translator: it was heavy, but fun. >> translator: the festival has a long history. we're carrying on a tradition handed down from our elders. this is actually the third time i've taken part. that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

from all of us here at nhk world, thanks very much for joining us. until next time. good-bye. c

e way forward on the future of ukraine. the u.s. has yet to rule out military support to kiev. dominique strauss-kahn takes the stand. a blow to the minister of india as an upstart anticorruption party wins a local state election in a landslide. the value of the swiss franc is hurting big companies.