hello and welcome to nhk world "newsline." >> turkey's prime minister said he will not yield to protesters. he demanded an immediate end to two weeks of demonstrations. the protesters entered the temple square again under a cloud of discontent, police sent them scatters under clouds of

tear gas. they fired the tear gas into the crowds and targeted some protesters with the force of their water cannon. protesters fled into side streets and buildings and gradually made their way back to the square. by evening, 10s of thousands of demonstrators had gathered to e renew their call, step aside. some protesters have set up camp in a nearby park the government plans to redevelop. they see the redevelopment as yet, another example of what they say is the authoritarian style. the latest police response may jeopardize talks. south korean diplomats are trying to sal advantavage meeti their high level counterparts. they could not agree on who

should do the talking. representatives were to gather, and disagreed on who would lead the organization. a spokes person for south korean's unification ministry said it was absurd. a suicide bomber struck outside the afghan extreme court in kabul, the car bomb exploded near mini buses. local police say the 15 victims included women and children walking nearby. about 40 others were wounded in the blast. taliban insurgents claimed responsibility, and in a statement they say the supreme court has infringed upon people's rights. they say there will be more attacks against legal courts if they continue to hand down unjust verdicts on detained taliban comrades.

taliban fighters launched an assault on kabul's airport this week. they also attacked the office of the international organization for migration last month. the afghan government has tightened security in kabul as further attacks are expected. most foreign troops will withdraw from the country by the end of 2014. they will hand over security to local forces at that time. chinese leaders are further along in their race to get a better position in space. they have launched another manned spacecraft. it's the country's fifth such mission. astronauts will conduct docking tests with a prototype space station. the spacecraft blasted off from the satellite launch center in inland china. officials say the craft has entered its planned orbit. three astronauts are on board. two men and one woman. they will conduct docking tests with the trial space laboratory module.

chinese president visited. they broadcast it around the country and around the world. the flight is scheduled to last for 15 days. the flight is scheduled to last for 15 days. it will be china's longest manned space mission. government officials in beijing have had their sights set on space for many years. they started their manned mission in 1992. 11 years later the chinese successfully launched their first manned spacecraft. then in 2008, one of their astronauts walked in space for the first time. china launched a prototype space station three years later. last june a trio of chinese astronauts flew into orbit and succeeded in docking their craft with the station. only crews in the u.s. and russia have pulled off this feat. government officials from western nations are concerned about china's space program mainly because the military plays a big role.

the people's liberation army still controls the satellite launch center where the latest spacecraft took off. the facility in the gobi desert was originally built to test fire missiles. the military effectively screens astronauts and trains them, and it develops the rocket used to go into space. u.s. defense officials say people's liberation army strategists see the ability to use space and deny rival nations access as central to enabling modern warfare. chinese officials have repeatedly said their manned spacecraft project is for peaceful purposes only. analysts have been mapping out china's space strategy to see how it fits with the country's overall goals, and they've been looking at the timing of this mission. >> translator: space development entails a major military role, and it's important to continue to grow. china is playing up its comprehensive military role over

wide areas, ranging from deep seas to outer space and cyberspace. >> he says it's no coincidence china launched the manned spacecraft right after president xi's summit with president obama. >> translator: china has already surpassed the u.s. in terms of the number of rocket launches. china already reached a high level quantitatively and qualitatively. it's catching up with the u.s. real fast. >> chinese leaders are planning to build their own space station. they hope to have it up and running by around the year 2020. reformist groups are rallying around one contenders. one contender has dropped out of

the race. former first vice president said he respects the reformist calls for a single candidate. his exit means they will support their support. he was a nuclear negotiator. he has gained support from voters dissatisfied with the conservative government. he leads a party that wants more relationship with the west. they are also considering ways to consolidate their support base. vietnam's political leaders have faced a confidence vote for the first time. the results were released on tuesday. the vote is a rare attempt to grade the leaders of vietnam. nhk world's ichihara reports. >> reporter: they cast their ballots on monday for 47 leaders in top positions in the national

government including president and prime minister. members could vote on whether they had high confidence, confidence and low confidence in the officials. the vote is part of changes approved by the legislature last year. all leaders survived the vote, but the prime minister received a blow. more than 30% of members gave a low-confidence vote on his performance. it could be a sign of public dissatisfaction with the country's slowing economic growth. the lowest ranked among the 47 leaders is the central bank governor. who received low-confidence votes from more than 40% of members. the communist party closely controls both the parliament and media in vietnam. it is very rare for political leaders to be subject to such evaluation.

vietnam's state-run media say the country's first-ever confidence vote should promote later accountability in government. observers say the secret ballot means the results show to some extent the personal judgment of each parliamentary member. they both can be seen as a reflection of public frustration over the corruption scandal and the hindering of economic policies. akiko ichihara, hanoi. singh has held his first meeting with the state army. it's the biggest minority group in the country. the government has reached cease-fire agreements with several ethnic groups. but fighting continues with other groups including the shan. the meeting took place in the capital naypyidaw on monday. according to a.p., the state army lead said the president

agreed to his proposal to set up a committee with the aim of working out a peace process. >> translator: even though myanmar has rich natural resources, the country has lagged behind due to the 60-year-long civil war. we came here to discuss how we can cooperate in the future to end this civil war. >> the minister of the president's office says the main problem is that the same areas are used by both the shan state army and government forces. >> translator: fighting continues because we do not have clearly marked land for the separate forces. the president said we need to allocate zones based on priority. without clear demarcation, the troops encounter each other, and that is when fighting breaks out. >> the international community

is watching how the reformist government will work towards national reconciliation. last month the government agreed to a temporary cease-fire with another ethnic group. observers say that the meeting with the shan state army is a move by the government to show that it is making efforts. emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still demanding democracy. the threat of violence, the push for peace, the shadow of conflict. get news and insight on south and southeast asia every weekday live from bangkok only on nhk world "newsline." russian held islands claimed by japan are back in the spotlight. a senior official unveiled infrastructure plans for the disputed islands. sergei ababkov spoke to reporters in the main city. the infrastructure projects will be on the islands. these include the four disputed

islands seized by russia immediately after world war ii. ababkov said federal and local governments will spend $200 million to carry out 14 projects. one project is constructing a pier on an island for large cargo vessels by this autumn. housing, hospitals and sport facilities will be built on two other islands. ababkov said chinese and south korean companies are already taking part in the projects. >> translator: we are interested in japan's latest technology for agriculture and vegetable cultivation. using geothermal generation. >> president vladimir putin discussed the islands with japan's prime minister shinzo abe when they met in april. putin said he must improve the lives of the islands' russian

residents. japan's crown prince is visiting madrid for events to mark the 400 anniversary of ties between japan and spain. the prince spoke at the opening ceremony of a committee tasked with developing economic cooperation between the two nations. the committee has been relaunched after ten years. >> spain's crown prince phillipe also expressed his wish to further develop ties between the two countries.

by the year 2030, most japanese will be living alone. if they become ill, they may have no one to look after them. that has prompted some to band together. these women live on their own. some never married and others are widows. they are obtaining information on help, and hope to achieve peace of mind about their end of

life. the organization handles everything for its members. the members visit a mortuary. >> translator: i feel so relieved, i'm glad. >> translator: i was very worried about who would deal with my body after i die. >> the organization helps members prepare for old age and make friends by connecting to people in the community. about 900 people belong to the group. and more women with no family to rely on are joining. >> translator: in 10 or 20 years, people who live alone without any family to help them will face problems. they have to make new connections to take the place of their families.

>> she is a member. this 65-year-old woman lives alone. she focused on her career and never got married. her parents have passed away and her siblings live out of town. she has no one to count on in emergencies. she is preparing instructions on how to be taken care of if she becomes ill. >> translator: based on the average life expectancy, i have about 20 years left. this just provides me with a safety net. i want to make sure that i'll be taken care of. >> once in a while, she socializes with members that live close by. the organization put them in touch. here, the members are safe to

talk about how to react in emergencies. >> translator: i wrote down where we can evacuate to. >> after the -- they felt that people living alone could be isolated and she is glad to know she has a place to find shelter with others. >> translator: it's comforting to know that there are people nearby thinking the same thing i am. i have to create a community . myself. >> she visited the cemetery that she plans to be buried in, the organization has prepared a giant burial plot for its members. already, 20 are buried here. >> translator: it's good to team up with people, so we can help each other.

now, i just want to live my life to the fullest until the end. >> as society changes people are looking for new ways to support each other. nhk world, tokyo. now let's take a look at the market figures.

you take hard knocks at the top of the sport like bicycle motocross, or bmx, they are an official olympic event. the best rider and hope is a girl. she has won the world title in her age group for two years in a row. >> reporter: sae is 14 years old. all she ever wanted to do was race bmx. sae has made a name for herself for her powerful jumps. they're as strong as those of much bigger males. >> translator: it's fun to pull off a big jump or clock a better time. that's really why i ride. >> reporter: sae has been on a bike since before she remembers. she started racing bmx in her brother's footsteps.

by age 4, she was practicing on racetracks. she won race after race in local competitions after entering elementary school. she then started racing internationally. she has three world titles so far. >> translator: i want to be the world's fastest racer in women's bmx. >> reporter: the family is backing her dream. sae's father tunes her equipment every day. >> translator: you feel lighter today? you must be in good shape. >> reporter: her mother works part-time so sae has the funds to race abroad. >> translator: she's putting her whole self into the sport.

i'll do anything i can to support her. i want to accompany her to overseas races, too. >> reporter: when it comes to rivals, sae has no equal in japan. but she still needs to improve if she is to be a serious threat in women's open competition abroad. miyagi is one of her trainers. he was a coach for the japan bmx squad at the beijing olympics. on this day, he's working on her jumps. >> translator: it's tricky. just 10 or 15 centimeters in where you take off makes a huge difference in how far you can jump. >> reporter: sae practices over and over so her muscles remember the timing. >> translator: she never hesitates. she gets up her courage and just jumps, even in places where it's pretty frightening to do so. but she's got the momentum.

i want to send her to the 2020 olympics. >> reporter: a national bmx championship was held in osaka last month. sae led from the start. she held off her opponents. and she won, overwhelmingly. but she was not satisfied with her performance. what went wrong? this is her first jump. she loses her balance. with a clean jump, she would have gone a lot faster. >> translator: i wish i had done

better. that's why i want to keep up my tough training. my dream is to take part in the olympics and to race in the u.s. as a pro. >> reporter: as long as sae continues to jump, her dreams look firmly within grasp. >> sae will aim for her third consecutive title at the world championships to be held in new zealand in july. and here's the weather forecast for the next three days. the flooding rain continues to flow across the czech republic. it's looking at flooding

conditions, let me show you video from both of the areas. central europe has been hit by the worst flooding in years, as in northern germany conditions are easing. meanwhile, heavy rain has caused the river to break its banks in northern spain. residents said they never saw the river rise so high. taking you back to the satellite picture. this is going to be good news for everyone out there, it's going to be clear as well as the low countries and in central europe. czech republic, you have the red areas for flooding. it will be making its way to the east and this is the area where we have numerous reports of thunderstorms. so, this is the area where

unsettled conditions will continue on for the next several days. towards the british isles, this is the system that is left over from the tropical storm andrea, it's bringing wet and windy conditions to the british isles and it's making things on the chilly side. and madrid we are looking at 31. that is hot down there, warsaw at 23 and kiev at 25 degrees. let me give you the updates of the tropical storm that is over water. now it's starting to dissipate, before it moves towards the western regions of japan. already though the gusts are reaching up to 110 kilometers per hour, so the pacific side is looking for waves that are quite high and the speed has decreased. it was 35 yesterday and now it's down to 15 kilometers per hour.

this is bad news, the system will linger around the similar areas and the stormy conditions will be continuing. not just directly hitting the islands and -- but this actually activating, energizing the stationary boundary and heavy rain could be found across the region and down to kushu, and heavy rain could be found in the korean peninsula. but the southeastern coast of china, looking at the ongoing story with localized heavy downpours. taipei will see heavy rainfall at 31 degrees and 31 heating up here in akita, now towards the north america, still the southwest looking at sbh really hot conditions. critical fire weather is in store for you. the severe weather is up here now. the upper midwest regions and the northern plains that will

shift to the southern areas of the great lake regions and we cannot rule out tornadoes. chicago down to 27. i will leave you now for the extended forecast. that is all for this edition of

newsline, thanks for joining us.