it's a wednesday evening here in japan. i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to "newsline." chinese authorities are trying to determine the cause of the deadly explosions last week in a warehouse in tianjin. local media say a hazardous chemical used in explosives may have ignited the blasts. experts have been checking water, soil, and rubble to see what chemicals were involved. the state-run xinhua news agency quotes a warehouse source as saying a fire started and may

have caught on to a chemical called amoan yum nitrate. more than 200 tons of the substance were stored near where the fire broke out. but the report says the investigations are ongoing. it describes the situation at the blast site as complex. more than 40 kinds of hazardous chemicals were reportedly stored in the area. officials say 13 of the dead are still unidentified. 65 people remain missing. residents around the area are concerned about the hazards of pollution from the blasts. chinese state-run broadcaster cctv quoted fire officials as citing nerve gas and cyanide were detected tuesday from air samples. thai police suspect the two separate explosions in bangkok were carried out by the same group. they say the bombs had similar features. the national police chief said the bombs were made from pipes and were of equal force.

he suggested the bombings were intended to deal a blow to the military-led interim government. at least 20 people, including foreigners, died in monday's explosion in a busy area of the thai capital. 125 others were injured. another blast occurred in blank dock on tuesday. an explosive device was thrown into a river from a bridge. no one was injured. investigators are searching for a suspicious man who was caught on a surveillance camera near the site of monday's blast. russian president vladimir putin is raising eyebrows on a visit to crimea. moscow annexed the territory last year after residents voted to split from ukraine. putin reasserted russia's claim to the region. >> translator: the people of crimea determine their own future. they voted to reunite with russia. that's it. end of story. >> officials say putin made the trip to discuss economic development. he took time to visit the port.

the city is home to a russian naval base. putin also went for a ride on a miniature submarine. in march last year, residents of crimea overwhelmingly voted to join the russia federation. putin moved quickly to annex the territory. ukrainian president petro poroshenko criticized the visit. he described it as unauthorized and said it's a challenge to the civilized world. government officials in syria are trying to keep priceless artifacts safe from militants who want to destroy them. they've moved thousands of relics from museums across the country to the capital of damascus. officials with the director general of antiquities and museums are taking charge of the project. they're restoring stone statues and creating a photographic record. the director general said many items are now safely out of reach of islamic state

militants. earlier this year, the extremists seized the central city of pal mere ra and reportedly smashed roman statues. u.n. representatives adopted a resolution condemning the destruction of cultural heritage and called on countries to help stamout the black market for valuable ancient relics. officials at japan's aerospace agency are making final preparations for a supply mission to the international space station. the h2b rocket is scheduled to lift off late wednesday from the tanegashima space center in southern japan. engineers at the space center have started fuel injection. once in orbit, it will dispatch a cargo carrier with water, food, and equipment for the iss. the unmanned transfer vehicle will separate from the rocket and dock with the iss about five days after the launch. people are gathering to watch

the rocket's liftoff. >> translator: i'm really looking forward to seeing the moment of the launch. >> translator: i hope this mission will be successful so the space station will be saved. >> the rocket is scheduled to be launched a the 8:50 p.m. wednesday japan time or 11:50 utc. the launch of the kounotori is attracting attention around the world. the mission is an important reminder of the role japan is playing in the operation of the international space station. nhk world's jun yoths moto has more. >> reporter: kounotori takes its name from the japanese word stork. and now another important

journey for the kounotori spacecraft. it's the sixth mission in the past four years. the previous four were all successful. other space cargo ships transporting supplies to the iss haven't always been as successful. the iss has been facing a shortage of supplies since last october because of a series of problems that hit u.s. and russian cargo craft. the problem can be serious when something absolutely necessary for living is lacking. on the station, drinking water is made by purifying urine and sweat collected from the astronauts. now the stock of filters for the purification system has run out, and astronauts are using filters with an expired use period. it was early in july that nasa

urgently requested the japan aerospace exploration agency to transport the needed supplies. nasa flew its emergency supplies to an airport on tanegashima island late last month, but the cargo had been decided six months earlier. there was no room on board, but they came up with a way to make space for the badly needed supplies in the last-minute effort. >> translator: with only one month left, the jaxa staff members managed it just in time. it was also a difficult task for the workers at the site. we are confident about the decision and are determined to make the mission a success. >> reporter: two japanese astronauts are playing an important role in the mission.

kimiya yui has been on board the iss since last month. he'll operate a robotic arm to dock the spacecraft. >> translator: we want to show japan's power to make people in japan proud and give them strength to move up. we want to show the world what we can do. >> reporter: also closely involved is koichi wakata who served last year ass iss' first japanese commander. he's communicating with yui to support him on the ground in houston. it's the first time a japanese team is working both in space and on the ground at the same time. jun yotsumoto, nhk world. , we'll keep you updated on the launch here on "newsline." high school students from hiroshima and nagasaki want nuclear weapons to be abolished. the teens from the two atomic

bomb cities made their plea at a u.n. conference on disarmament. a citizens group in nagasaki chose 21 students to serve as peace ambassadors. one of them spoke on behalf of the group. >> the strongest wish of the survivors is to have no more war in the future. therefore, it is my mission to convey their message to people around the world. >> the group later visited the u.n. office for disarmament affairs. another student has grandparents who survived the atomic bombing in nagasaki. >> i have taken it as my duty to relive the experiences to as many people as possible. >> the u.n. supports students to spread the message of peace. >> i think that's important that this next generation is passing on the message that disarmament, including disarmament of nuclear

weapo weapons, is very important. as you know, it's at the core of the work of the united states. >> the studented submitted a petition and presented paper cranes as a symbol of peace. the number of foreign tourists coming to japan this year has grown at its fastest rate on record, topping 10 million. a weaker yen and relaxed visa requirements for people from mainland china are big draws. officials at the japan national tourism organization say more than 11 million people from overseas visited japan in the first seven months of 2015. that's up about 47% from a year earlier. the number of visitors hit the 10 million mark for the year three months earlier than in 2014, marking the fastest pace since the survey began in 1964.

most of the visitors were from mainland china. they more than doubled during the period to 2.7 million. south koreans placed second at 2.1 million. that's up more than 41% from the year before. tourism officials predict japan is on track to bring in more than 18 million foreign visitors by year end. time for a check on the markets. chinese stocks showed some big swings after tuesday's 6% plunge, but the shanghai composite managed to finish the day in positive territory. the benchmark index added 1.2%. it sank below 5% at one point in the morning. analysts say chinese government-related funds seem to have stepped in with share purchases to prop up prices. the smaller shenzhen composite tacked on 2%, but the turnaround on the mainland wasn't enough to stem the losses. markets throughout the asia

pacific showed a mixed picture. seoul fell on worries over china. tokyo was among the losers. trading hours were coincided with with the declines that hit china's markets. for the details, we go to the tokyo stock exchange. >> thank you very much. welt, the sharp downturn we saw in china's stock markets pret advertise much weighed on sentiment here. let's have a look at how the markets closed for wednesday, august 19th. we can see quite a fall there. the nikkei, 20,222, down 1.6%. topix at 1,648. japan's own economy also fact factored. gdp data showed a contraction for the last quarter. we were tracking industrial robot maker fanuc as well as komatsu.

key exporters also lower as the yen remained resilient against the dollar. the likes of tdk, isuzu all falling. one standout was toshiba, rising over 7%, ending 7.7% after the company announced a new board in a bid to improve its corporate governance and to renew investor sentiment after some accounting scandals. still, with commodity prices continuing to fall, the likes of mitsui mining as well as sumitomo metal and mining ended at new lows. concerns over growth in china really remains one of the major obstacles for any positive sentiment, if you will. that's all for me. back to you in the studio. >> thanks very much. china's slowing economy is making japanese companies

jittery. they cut their amount of direct investment in china from january to july by more than 20% from a year earlier. officials at china's ministry of commerce say direct investment from japan was about $2 billion. that's down 24% compared with last year. but total inbound foreign direct investment was up nearly 8%. much of the growth came from europe. an executive at a japanese corporate association in china says his compatriots appear cautious as the local economy loses steam. he also says the explosions in tianjin are raising concerns over china's management system. officials monitoring a volcano in southwestern japan are urging locals to stay alert. they've reported a very minor

eruption. and they're warning a much bigger one could follow. officials are keeping an eye on mt. sakaurjima. video they captured beforehand showed nearby clouds and smoke glowing red, a sign of volcanic gas. the officials have recorded a string of volcanic earthquakes, and they say the mountain is swollen. they raised their eruption alert level on saturday. they're urging people who live within three kilometers to watch out. they say a bigger blast could send rocks flying and trigger flows of hot stones and ash. business owners in a popular hot spring resort near tokyo are seeing fewer tourists. they're near mt. hakone, which experienced small-scale volcanic eruptions a few months ago. now they're trying to lure back visitors with a traditional

festival. nhk world's yuji osawa reports. >> reporter: a large fire lit up hokone on sunday. they have a history of almost 100 years, but this year this traditional event was nearly canceled. an increase of volcanic activity since may has resulted in a sharp drop in the number of visitors. yoichi tamura runs a local restaurant and is a member of the tourism association. he felt he needed to help his hometown, so he's left his kitchen and is trying to win back visitors. >> translator:e have to do something. we decided to eliminate the concerns about the volcano in this difficult situation one by one.

>> reporter: tamura pinned his hopes on the annual bonfire as a way to show tourists the area is safe to visit. but some fellow members of the tourism association voiced concerns. >> translator: we should think about the risks involved if visitors gather for an outdoor event. >> translator: i don't want to give the impression that we'll cancel the event because it's dangerous to visit. >> reporter: tamura managed to persuade them into holding the bonfire after a thorough review of safety measures. tamura led the tourism association to draw up and distribute new disaster prevention manuals so everyone would know how to evacuate to safety. thousands of people flocked to

hokone to watch the festivitief. 350 torches were lit to make a 100-meter-wide bonfire on the mountain slope. >> translator: despite the volcano issue, i'm glad that we could come and watch it. >> the whole festival was really a lot of fun. >> really fun. >> the fireworks show was awesome. the mountain was new to us. >> translator: the volcanos are a natural blessing that made this region into what it is. we must never forget that and find ways of developing a new type of tourism. >> reporter: tamura and the others are determined to move forward, reassuring visitors and respecting the volcano.

yuji osawa, nhk world. some visitors to the japanese city of kyoto are getting more than the standard sightseeing experience. they're not just looking at ancient buildings and learning about the past. they're also making a little history of their own by turning their visits into a lasting memory. >> this is not a wedding or a fashion shoot. it's a little bit of both. this couple from hong kong have come to kyoto ahead of their big day to be photographed among the cherry blossoms. they'll show off their pictures at their wedding party. >> i feel good, and the weather is very nice now. the city is very pretty and there's historical buildings nearby. >> kyoto's historical beauty

makes it perfect for this kind of wedding tourism. the prefectural government offers special services to couples planning events. >> translator: there are many fashions that japanese people may find hard to imagine but which appeal to customers abroad, so we should not only promote what we want to sell but gather information and study trends. times have changed. we must try many different things. >> of all of kyoto's new wedding packages, this one may be the most unusual. a bride poses in a traditional garden. there is no groom. the customers for this service are given a wedding dress to wear. a professional photographer takes their picture. the package is called the solo wedding. it's the brain child of a kyoto travel agency. the staff who work here are all female. they started by offering other women only packages. some are more novel than others.

this service is heartbreak taxi. for a fee, customers can vent their sorrows to cab drivers, who take them to sites famous for their healing powers. the company launched the solo wedding package in june last year. >> translator: some women who are not married continue to dream about wearing a wedding dress. so we thought we'd provide them with this opportunity. >> this 37-year-old woman from tokyo has come to kyoto to fulfill her dream of wearing a white wedding dress. the two-day package costs about $3,000. it includes an overnight stay, dress rental, makeup, and a photo session. the company says over 50 women have signed up for solo wedding

so far and inquiries are coming from overseas. >> translator: these two days were just wonderful. the staff worked very hard. they gave me every service i could have imagined and made me feel like a princess. >> translator: i think our customers are happy with the feeling of going somewhere special and also the experience of transforming themselves. >> kyoto is already a major tourist spot, but weddings lend a new twist to sightseeing. here on "newsline," we now turn to world weather with jonathan oh who starts off with the inundating rains in southern china. >> yeah, james. we're talking about some very serious weather taking place over in southwestern china. the reason why, we have a system

that continues to draw in all this moisture. it continues to remain unstable. so whenever the moisture comes in, it drops over the area, we see severe flooding. unfortunately, we had casualties with it as well. let me show you what it looks like at ground level. it will tell you the story right away of how serious it is. two days of heavy rain and severe flooding. eight people died and 19 other people are missing at this point. about 300 millimeters of rain have been reported. on top of that, 3800 houses have collapsed. rescue workers are trying their best to repair those roads that were damaged and blocked by mudslides, but it's not looking good. it looks like we're going to see even more rainfall as we progress forward in time. the instability remains over in the southern portions of china. we're looking at possibly and

additional 60 to 100 millimeters of rainfall over the next three days. that may not sound like a lot over the next three days, but when you already have flooding and mudslides taking place, additional moisture is a problem. that's something we'll have to watch very closely. we're also watching two typhoons very closely. you can see the big red blobs showing up over the western pacific. that's the indication of the moisture that these systems are packing. koni is continuing to move towards the west and is making its way closer to taiwan and the okinawa islands. looks like it's going to make a big impact in that region as we go into the weekend. meanwhile, look at the large eye here that's clearly defined. this is becoming a stroker and stronger storm. we're expecting this to become a violent typhoon just in the next day. so here's a look at what we're expecting for the next few days. first koni, moving toward the west. as we go into the weekend, this is going to take a sharp turn to the north and northeast, looking at making a real impact over the

okinawa islands. as we look at the four-day forecast, ishigaki looking at wet weather from friday through sunday, and probably further past that. naha also looking at impact from this particular system. tokyo, meanwhile, expected to be a little drier. now, looking at the forecast for north america, we're looking at possibly some strong storms in the upper midwest into the central plains as a low-pressure system continues to move this way toward the east. we're looking at rain and thunderstorms going forward in time, but the western half of the u.s. looking at very dry conditions once again and hot temperatures. we're looking at the mercury moving up toward the 40s for many areas. so this is not going to help out with the drought situation as we go through the rest of this week. now wrapping things up with a

look at europe. we do have instability continuing to linger over the central and southern portions of the continent. drawing in that moisture is a low down toward italy. so we're look at the possibility of some severe weather, some flash flooding possible as downpours are in the menu for wednesday with rain for rome with a high of 29 degrees. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's your extended outlook.

visit our website for feature stories and special reports. for all of us here on "newsline," thanks for watching.

>> hello and welcome to "france 24." i'm aurore dupuis. we are broadcasting live from paris. the german parliament overwhelmingly approved the greek bailout. , 104 votes for against. time police offer a reward of more than 25,000 euros for any information about the bangkok bomber. authorities are still hunting down this man who they believe is the suspect. the number of migrants looking for the european eldorado keeps increasing. last month alone, one in 107,000