self-defense force are taking part in joint exercise with their u.s. and indian counterparts. and one community in japan is stopping the killing of unwanted pets. we have the latest data on china's gdp in the third quarter. gene otani has the latest details. >> chinese officials say their country's gross domestic product in the third quarter grew by 6.9% year-on-year. they suggest the economy has lost momentum. the gdp during the july to september period was down 0.1 percentage point. that's the lowest since the first quarter of 2009. officials in beijing have set their annual growth target at around 7%. they want to shift their focus to the quality of economic expansion rather than speed and want to move the economy away from reliance on exports to one based on domestic consumption. they pledge to double gdp and per capita 2010 levels by the year 2020. my colleague spoke earlier with peter morgan about the latest gdp. he's a senior consultant for research at the asian development bank institute and a specialist on china ease economy. first he went through how chinese leaders view the figures. >> the growth rate was just a touch below the 7% target. probably not too bad in their eyes. i think they have to be a bit concerned. first it's the lowest growth rate since 2009, and the trend is still down. we don't see an obvious turning point in the data yet. >> analysts say the actual growth rate is lower than the official numbers we've seen today. what's your take on what some of the analysts are thinking? >> a number of analysts think the official numbers are overstated at this stage. first, it's well known that a local government official's career in china depend on the growth performance of their region. there's a big incentive to exaggerate the growth rates. secondly, we know that if you add up all the provincial growth rates, they're higher than the national growth rates. there's adjustments which are going on already. analysts who look at some of the more market-oriented figures, such as industrial production, electricity output, railway shipments, exports, estimate the actual growth is probably around 4% or 5%. and the stock market crash had a negative impact on growth. >> they've cut lending rates five times since november and devalued the yuan several times in august as well. how effective have these measures been? >> in terms of policy easing, we've seen some moderate pickup in the growth of money supply and bank lending. i think that's gradually feeding through. also, it seems the real estate market is a bit firmer than previously. the main problem for exports is the weak global environment at this stage. >> now, everyone is thinking about the federal reserve as well. they're going to have a policy meeting later this month. if they do, or if the fed raises the key interest rate, how is that going to play into china's economy and some of their plans? >> in terms of growth, i wouldn't be worried. if the fed raises rates, that will reflect their confidence about the growth potential in the u.s. economy. but if rates do rise there, then that would put greater pressure on capital outflows from china, and therefore, could put downward pressure on the u.n. >> policymakers, do you think they'll be able to achieve their target and what other measures do you think they'd have to take to get to it? >> i think the measure they have taken so far, wouldn't be enough to reach the 7% level. there's only one quarter left, and the trend is still downward, slightly, but i think if you're talking about 7%, then they're probably okay. i would say the bigger concern is next year that if therend is still downward, then they would have to do more both in terms of monetary policy and fiscal policy stimulus, do more. the main two obstacles will be the strength of exports and the second would be the apparent unwillingness of the government to take large stimulus measures. i think they are concerned about the debt situation there and don't want to repeat the experience of the big fiscal program during the global financial crisis which led to a lot of problems afterward. that's not necessarily a bad thing, because those problems did sort of plague officials after for some time. japan's central bank chief says the country's economy is recovering moderately despite a slow down in major economies. he said the slow down is affecting japanese exports and production. he was speaking at a meeting of the bank's branch managers. he expects japan's core consumer price index to remain around 0% for some time due to fall in energy prices. the index excluding fresh products shows the index falling for the first time in more than two years. the bank will continue massive monetary easing as long asness to achieve the target of 2% inflati inflation. asian stocks are volatile. tokyo's nikkei fell for the first time in three sessions. our business reporter has the details from the tokyo stock exchange. it's all about china today. we saw a lot of volatility today after china's economic data came out mixed. data sales were slightly higher but industrial production data came in lower than kmats. take a look at the graph of monday's trading, the nikkei pops into the positive at one point but soon fell into the negative. the nikkei closed down 0.9% at 18,131 and the top picks fell 0.7%. china is the world's top consumer and producer of steel and mixed chinese data pressured the steel sector here in japan. so kobe steel and jfe holdings both fell by about 3%. the real estate sector follow as scandal that an apartment complex inno cou o kn no yokoha. nip son soda jumped to 14% and shiseido rose 3.5% after positive earnings. equities in tokyo were rattled by chancellor economic data but investors will focus on earnings from individual companies. thanks. moving on to other markets in the asian/pacific region. the shanghai composite fell at 0.14% to 3386. some investors booked profits after the index touched a two month high. indonesian stocks outperformed the region. jakarta composite gained more than 1%. banking shares pushed up the index. some moved out of negative territory. mumbai ended up by almost .6 of a percent. and here's a look at some of the other business stories we're following. japanese beverage firm is ending its joint venture with tsingtao brewery. growth stalled in the competitive chinese beer market. suntory will sell totsingtao. a japanese panel began gating the fare structure for mobile phones. households pay an average of $16 per year. president abe asked to find ways to bring fares down. the panel plans to compile a report by tend of this year. that's it for business news. i'll leave you with the markets. sloppy construction work is causing concern on condominium residents. data on the pilings supporting the structure was fabricated. workers at the condo complex began making preparations for a detailed survey of a problematic building at the site. officials admitted data on 70 piles at the site were falsified. eight of the support structures do not go deep enough to come in to contact with bedrock. residents are concerned about whether this is the whole extent of the fault. to address these worries workers are to check another 24 piles under a different part of the building. assessments of the underpinning of the three other building in the complex will also be carried out. the case has alarmed eases of other condos that are unsure of their buildings. japan ships joined u.s. and indian navys in exercises. we have more. >> reporter: the joint drills are being held about 300 khalid sheikh mohammad east of india. this is the u.s. aircraft carrier. u.s., japanese and indian personnel are on board. the japanese destroyer joined a navigation training drill with the indian and u.s. navy. >> a lot of things are happening and going very well. >> reporter: similar drills took place in the indian ocean eight years ago. china then strongly opposed japan's participation. it feels being insulted by other powers. what's behind the latest drills? the indian ocean where the drills are taking place is in an important area. crude oil passes through here on their way to japan. >> highly significant to be able to train in these waters. >> reporter: india, japan and the u.s. are deeply concerned with china's increased maritime activities in the indian ocean. last september a chinese submarine made a cruise around sri lanka. ind india's prime minister stressed the importance of cooperating with the u.s. and japan. >> this will send them our maritime cooperation. >> reporter: the joint drills have helped protect the sovereignty of sea lanes and addressed shared concerns over stopping china's activities. all of these forces are coming to india for the simple reason that we want to work closely with india and japan. together we can accomplish much for the benefit of this region. >> reporter: with the joint exercise india is demonstrating strategic policy of forming closer ties with japan and the u.s. >> for stability on the high seas and since the interes of u.s. and japan coincides and on the global common. >> reporter: with the environment changing, ties between japan, the u.s. and india are being closely watched. thank you. a palestinian gunman has killed an israeli soldier and wounded several others. the attack comes after growing tension. the soldier was shot with a pistol in the central bus terminal of beersheba on sunday. the gunman used the soldier's tomatic rival to kill others. police shot and killed the assailant. >> security is continuing in the area and police units are still around the central bus station. >> during the attack a man from eritrean was beaten by an angry mob after being mistaken for the assailant. tensions between jews and muslims has led to a series of attacks by palestinians since the beginning of this month. canadians will be casting ballots at a general election on monday. the liberal party is leading. a liberal victory would bring an to end a decade of conservative rule. this will be canada's first general election in four years. it was prompted by prime minister stephen harper's dissving of the lower house in august. voters are divided over immigration policy. the issue came to head after a syrian boy's body was washed up on a beach. the country has long been known for its open door policy towards refugees but could change under harper's government. the ruling conservatives say canada has already accepted enough refugees. the operation, liberal and new democratic party says the country should accept more. japan's ageing society is seeing more pets abandoned as their owners get older and pass away. one community has become the first to keep its cats alive. they managed to not put down a dog for two years. >> reporter: many of the animals here were abandoned a brought to a local government-run shelter. this event is held every month together with animal worker groups. >> translator: i heard of cases of euthansia and i came to see what these dogs are like instead of going to a pet shop. >> reporter: the animal protection center is responsible for all parts of the prefecture except the major cities. the shelter cares for about 50 dogs and 20 cats. a third of the animals are here because their owners passed away or became too old to take care of them. centers like this still put down abandoned animals after a period set by each municipality. but here most of the pets come here for care. one of the groups is called animal protection. they often take in old and sick dogs. this dog was left after her owner died. the dog was already in poor health. they get check ups at discounted rates. this dog was riddled with fleas. the group says the commission of these dogs suggest they may have had years of neglect. after the check up it's time for a trim. the groomer helps the group by providing the service for free. it took half a day to clean up these dogs. days later the dogs were brought to a foster home. this woman takes care of 13 dogs. eventually the animals will go to an adoption event to find a permanent home. some dogs aren't adopted, but she's keen to take care of the aged or sick dogs until the end even if it means spending her own money for the extra treatment. she still takes care of the remaining dogs that ended up dying in her care. without the dedication of these volunteers it would be impossible for the dogs to avoid euthansia. >> translator: these dogs may have been neglected or abused earlier in their lives. i want them to learn at the end of their lives that humans aren't all scary. >> reporter: the success in protecting these lives has created another issue. more owners are trying to bring in their pets. the volunteers and local government are facing a dilemma. >> translator: from our potion we can't keep counting too much on volunteers. the situation requires a long term situation not a short one. we must do something to put less of a burden on the volunteer groups. >> reporter: one of the dogs that came into the group's care died after her health deteriorated. she was the victim of a pet boom in the ageing society. in three years the prefecture hopes to have a larger animal protection center with more activities for volunteers. before then officials and animal welfare volunteers say they want to raise awareness among pet owners to go to zero abandonment. changes in attitudes in raising a new awareness will be pertinent in finding a solution. moving on to weather a slow moving storm system continues to impact parts of the philippines as we have this update. >> reporter: koppu made landfall and now stormy conditions are affecting the western side of luzon. two people have been killed and eight people are missing because of the storm. now because it's a slow moving system as you said, it has caused tremendous amounts of heavy rain. some areas have seen up to 500 millimeters of rainfall over the past several days. now the central is located to the west of luzon and expected to make a u-turn towards the northeast and so more stormy conditions into wednesday. right now severe tropical storm packing wind gusts of 144 kilometers per hour. the next area is taiwan. it will affect this area in the mid-part of this week. now the system will likely cause additional 500 millimeters of rainfall over luzon, total rainfall could be one millimeter in some areas. landslides are a high-risk as we go into the next vaefl days. high pressure system is in control over china and japan so this system is preventing koppu from moving up to the north. then we have another storm over the water. right now a strong typhoon packing wind gusts of 234 kilometers and slow moving system and expected to affect the islands on thursday. we'll keep you posted. now let's go north america. weather has been wild over the southwest. now last week los angeles was hit by flooding and phoenix had a dust storm. we have video out of california and arizona. flash floods sent a tore rent of mud and debris on to roadways trapping dozens of motorists. thursday's downpours left 200 vehicles stuck in 1.5 meters of mud. the greatest downpours with 19 minneapolis of rain, most of it in just 30 minutes. now let's go to phoenix. phoenix, arizona, known for its dust storms was slammed with another one friday. the haboob created a wall of dust in the city. the strong winds packed 105 kilometers per hour brought low visibility to the south valley. heavy rain and flash flood warnings were issued because of the storm and then another low pressure system is moving into the southwest. more unstable weather for you into monday. meanwhile high pressure system bringing dry conditions and also causing lake-effect snow over the eastern areas of e great lakes region. some areas in new york have 25 centimeters of snowfall over the weekend. mostly dry across the east and temperatures cooler than normal. frost advisories and freeze warnings posted for the eastern united states. 11 degrees for the high in new york city on monday. africa, northern africa we're heading in to a cooler season. the intertropical conversion zone is located near equator. nigeria, cameroon are dealing with rainfall. now here's you three day extended forecast. protests in a temple have held a buddhist ceremony to restore a statue. priests carried out a ceremony for one of two status. workers removed stains and fixed damaged parts. they also cleared dust and coated the wooden surface with reis in. the statues are about 800 years old and created by two master sculpt sculptors. restoration on the other statue which has an open mouth was finished in december. the newly unveiled statue has a closed mouth. >> translator: i'm really glad to have the two statues together to welcome people who come to visit the temple. >> this was the first time two statues were restored in more than 20 years. >> don't forget to visit when you visit japan. i'm james tengan here on "newsline". thanks for watching. do tune into "newsroom tokyo" at รบ 24.ou're watching france these are the headlines. spendnds of migrants another cold night outdoors as countries in eastern europe tighten or completely block their borders. turkey confirms the identity of ankara suicide bombers.