. >> joining us now, nhk world's daisuke miyashita, who specializes in military affairs. we're going to speak in japanese with simultaneous english translation. >> translator: why has japan chosen f-35 as its next generation fighter jet? >> translator: to make a selection weight is given to the performance. f-35 is the latest rating radar-evading fighter with stealth capability. a stealth fighter is launch an attack before its discovered by the enemy. out of the three candidates, f-35 is the only jet with stealth capability. japan's neighbors, namely china and russia, are developing the stealth jets. air defense in japan has been requesting f-35. >> translator: but it seems there are some challenges regarding the f-35. >> translator: yes, the largest concern is a possible schedule delay. ministry of defense takes f-35 as a successor to f-4 fighters. which were deployed about 40 years ago. the majority of them are to be retired by 2021. defense ministry believes the delivery should be made by the end of 2016 to allow enough time for pilot training. however, defects of f-35

nhk world's daisuke miyashita kicks off the story. >> reporter: here the members are learning about south sudan, they are willing to participate in the u.n. peacekeeping operations there. >> 300 members of the country attended the briefing at a base in itsunomiya, north of tokyo. the first party of 200 members is to leave for the country in mid-january. sanitary conditions in south sudan are said to be extremely poor with almost no water or sewage systems. instructors ordered the personnel to take extra care against infectious disease. they were advised not to drink untreated water or eat raw vegetables. and to receive shots for malaria which can be caused by mosquito bites. >> translator: every member of a peacekeeping unit is expected to play an important role. i want to make sure no one gets sick and has to be taken off duty. >>> western europe and southeast asia are seeing stormy conditions. >> hello, welcome to your weather update. let's look at what's happening across east asia. let's first about tropical storm washi. washi is situated east of the philippines, packing winds of 65 ki

. >> that was nhk world's daisuke miyashita reporting for us tonight. >>> u.s. congress has aproved new sanctions against iran. president barack obama is expected to sign the measures into legislation. the senate voted in favor of defense bills which include the sanctions. they would ban foreign financial institutions that process transactions through iran's central bank, from doing business with the u.s. banks. the sanction would in effect halt foreign business dealings with iran. >> the goals that the administration and the congress share, which are to maximize the pressure on the government of iran, are implemented in a manner that affects iran, but also protect the legitimate interests of america's friends and allies around the world. >> nuland added that clause may exempt some banks from sanctions. the measure is aimed to dry up oil revenues. the sanctions would have a severe impact and japan and other countries that import oil from iran. >>> next, we go to our bureau in bangkok. pachari raksawong is there to find out what's going on in the region. >>> we b

nhk world daisuke miyashita kick off the story. >> here sdf members are rounding up troops in the u.n. peace keeping operations there. >> 300 members of the unit attended the briefing in a base north of tokyo. the first party of 200 members is to leave for the country in mid-january. sanitary conditions in south sudan are said to be extremely poor with almost no water or sewage systems. instructors ordered the personnel to take extra care against infectious diseases and advised not to drink untreated water or eat raw vegetables and to receive shots for malaria caused by mosquito bites. >> translator: every member of a peace-keeping unit is expected to play an important role. i want to make sure no one gets sick and has to be taken off duty. >>> here are some other stories from this hour. we're starting off with the fine art of forecasting volcanic eruptions. japan ghees size mol gists have triggered artificial earthquakes to study the condition of magma at an active volcano. weather researchers detonated dynamite thursday morning. collisions with the substance alter the direction and