welcome to nhk world "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. tur irk police stay on stand by protesters retreat from a square in istanbul and prepare for a meeting with the prime minister. sparking concerns about security in the afghan capital. two conservative candidates in

iran work to sell their hard line message ahead of friday's presidential election. turkish police are on alert and anti-government protesters are regrouping after a violent confrontation in istanbul. demonstrations have morphed into a call for the country's l lead to step down. purchase recep tayyip erdo gan erdogan agreed to meet protest leaders. nhk world join us live from taksim square. >> reporter: i'm on a rooftop overlooking taksim square. things are calm but still tense. police are still on guard with water cannons on standby. cleanup crews have cleared away debris and tents. for first time in two weeks, cars allowed to come into the square. the uneasiness among protesters

grew on tuesday as police entered the square. officers tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. some demonstrators responded by throwing stones and firebombs. an association says that more than 5,000 of them were hurt in the confrontation. defiant members of the anti-government movement haven't left. they're staying in a nearby park and have set up barricades. prime minister erdogan made clear his patience is running out and told tparliament the issue is over and no tolerance for demonstrators. the prime minister seems confident that he will prevail but the demonstrators are not backing down either. they say erdogan is trying to enforce the conservative view on them. >> the demonstrators are brothers, we are united. >> we will continue the protest

until the prime minister resigns. >> the demonstrations are hurting the country's economy. >> translator: it is natural in a democratic country that people have the right to demonstrate. but, when it spreads to this level, it really has an impact on my business. >> reporter: some turks worry it could affect the istanbul as ability to host the olympics and allies are concerned about the ongoing crisis. for now both sides seemed to have settled in a potentially dangerous statement. south korean officials are pressing their neighbor to live up to an agreement and sit down at the negotiating table.

authorities in north korea backed out of meetings set for this week in seoul. these would have been the first high level talks between the two koreas in nearly six years, but neither side could agree on who should lead each delegation. the north koreans then announced they would not attend. >> translator: the stalled talks represent the growing pains of creating new interkorean relations, pyongyang should show sincerity if it wants to move forward. >> another senior south korean official said his government now has no intention of renewing its offer. north korean authorities hinted through state-run media they would join the talks but the south koreans say two phone calls they made on wednesday over a hot line that links the countries went unanswered. if the meetings happen, both want to discuss a number of issues including the reopenly of

a jointly run complex and tourism destination. taliban militants are stepping up attacks in kabul. this week they targeted a key facility and supreme court staff. two separate incidents on consecutive days raised concerns that the taliban may be preparing further action targeting the afghan capital. >> a suicide car bombing on tuesday targeted buses carrying employees of the country's supreme court. local police say at least 15 people were killed and around 40 others were injured and the victims include children and female pedestrians. >> translator: the violence is increasing and we are terrified by the situation. people aretimism for the future. >> reporter: the taliban claims in a statement that the supreme

court infringes upon people's rights and justifies oppressive rule by handing down rulings favoring nonmuslims. the car bombing comes one day after the assault on the international airport in kabul. afghan security forces suppress the attack and the airport escaped damage. the government says the incident proves the local security troops are improving their capabilities. but there is growing fear that the insurgents may stage more terrorist attacks on key facilities and government employees in the capital. the united nations points out the civilian casualties from fighting and attacks have increased this year. the u.n. is particularly concerned about the size in the death toll among children.

a u.n. representative says taliban is showing its intentions by stepping up attacks. >> we'll try to prove that the afghan national security forces are not in a position, not capable to do so. >> reporter: security responsibilities are being transferred to the afghan military and other international forces prepare to end combat operations by the end of 2014. the taliban is staging massive attacks in kabul, where key government entities and 40 embassies are concentrated. this is apparently a move to damage the credibility of the government of the president hamid karzai. the afghan government is facing a crucial test, it is under pressure to show it can maintain security in the lead up to the presidential election in april of next year. nhk world, kabul.

the president of the philippines marked the 115th anniversary of the country's independence with a vow to protect its sovereignty. the president's speech comes amid tensions with china over the spratly islands in the south china sea. aquino says the people of the philippines are not prone to aggression but will tackle challenges. he reports the southeast saz yan country will spend $1.74 billion in the next five years to modernize the armed forces. china and taiwan and vietnam and philippines claim all or some of the spratlys. china is increasing the military presence in the south china sea where the islands are situated. last month the philippines protested the presence of a chinese warship, two surveillance vessels and fishing boats off a shoal occupied by philippino troops in the sea. iranians are voting in a

presidential election. we're looking at some of the main candidates vying to succeed mahmoud ahmadinejad. today we're talking about the conservative hard liners. the guardian council xraened 686 candidates and chose eight based on factors such as devotion to islam. two have dropped out. three are conservative and two are independent and one is m moderate conservative supported by reformists. two of the conservative candidates leading in this race are close to ayatolla khomeini. here's more about who they are and what they stand for. >> reporter: this is the conference center, conservative

supporters are chanting, he should be the next president. he is loyal to the islamic regime. >> translator: we will expand the influence of israel around the world and won't back down against the united states or other domestxt. domineering nations. if taking charge of the negotiation of the iran's nuclear program. just after the talks, jalili explained in an interview that iran will not yield to the west on the nuclear issue. >> translator: the entire nation is united in terms of the nuclear development issue. iran will take this path and

demand its rights in solidarity. >> reporter: jalili is 47, the youngest and he lost a leg in the iran-iraq war and lacks experience in national policies but tried to cast himself -- also generating support of the growth led by ahmadinejad. >> jal ili is the only candidate to get the economic sanctions lifted. >> reporter: another strong contender is thought to be a rival of ahmadinejad and feels the current administration has brought about economic turmoil. he is touting his current and

past position of chief of police. >> translator: it could have turned the decrease in the oil income into an opportunity to make iran a country less dependent on oil. i promise to focus to stabilize rates. >> reporter: he is well known in the capital and surrounding areas. but he has yet to gain recognition in remote area where 80% of the constituents live. >> translator: with the enthusiasm of young people in the province, we will have the highest vote for ghalibaf. >> translator: today unemployment is serious among young people. i will restore the economy

within two years. >> translator: i think ghalibaf has the ability to run the government thanks to his previous jobs as mayor and police chief. jalili and ghalibaf, they continue to heat up as the people to go to the poll on friday. nhk world, tehran. and just a reminder, on thursday on "newsline," we'll tell you more about the reformist candidates who are campaigning to become iran's next president.

a leading civil rights organization is suing the u.s. government over a recently exposed surveillance program. a lawyer with the american civil liberties union says the top secret initiative violates the constitution. >> this is a massive and unprecedented grab of information by the intelligence agencies. they are sweeping up or tracking literally every call made in the country and the constitution simply doesn't allow the government to do that. >> britain's guardian newspaper and the "washington post" interviewed a whistle blower who gave details of the national security agency program, former worker, edward snowden revealed the government collects phone and internet records as part of counter terrorism efforts. the aclu is demanding the government immediately halt the surveillance and delete all of its records. british authorities are taking more security precautions ahead of next week's group of

eight summit. police have detained hundreds of activists who are opposed to the meeting. activists marched through the streets of london. they said they're against capitalism and the g-8 summit. the gathering of top leaders starts next monday in northern ireland. >> i don't think the world's most powerful countries should be getting together and forming agendas in this way. it's very undemocratic and based on the fact they have the most money and most weapons. >> earlier in the day, 100 police officers searched a building in london used by activists and detained 67 people on suspicion of hiding weapons. one anti-capitalist group posted a map online. it called for protests against those institutions. this is not first time british authorities have faced demonstrators at a meeting of world leaders. in 2009 protesters gathered in

large numbers in london during a g-20 summit. flicking through the channels but they can't find some of their favorite programs. officials shut down the public broadcaster as part of spending cuts. employees and viewers are opposing the closure and the government's austerity measures. the government spokesman said that ert would stop its television and radio broadcasting at the end of tuesday. he criticized ert's operations as wasteful. a spokesman says greece needs to slash its fiscal deficit and end the country's economic crisis. he said the government will prepare bills to set up a new leaner broadcaster. >> it was a shock 2,000 people and now they will be without a job tomorrow. and i hope that they would have given us a notice. >> employees and viewers protested the closure in front of the broadcaster's head office in athens.

european union officials arrived in the capital on monday to assess the country's austerity programs and discuss its fiscal reconstruction. russian lawmakers have passed a bill to restrict the activities of gay people. they also passed a bill to penalize those who disrespect religion. the lower house of parliament overwhelmingly passed the anti-gay bill. it calls for heavy fines for anyone who provides information about nontraditional sexual relations to minors. one of the law affects could be the banning of gay parades and other activities. the legislatures also passed a bill imposing up to three years jail on people who offend religious feelings at churches and other places of worship. ruling party lawmakers sponsored the bills. they say russians should respect the home country, their families and each other's feelings. conservative voters form a major support base for president vladimir putin and his government. members of the punk band pussyriot upset the establishment when they

criticized putin inside the main cathedral last year. two of the band members are serving 2-year jail terms. human rights groups warn the latest bills may be aimed at containing criticism of the government. film directors and actors are working to protect the industry. they are warning on the eu to exclude movies from planned free trade talks with the united states. a delegation from the film industry visited the european parliament ahead of friday's meeting of eu trade ministers. it included director costa gavras, they met the european president and others. they say if cultural exceptions aren't included in a free trade agreement, film makers will be unable to obtain subsidies and

this would kill diversity and result in only big commercial films being made. they say u.s. businesses would overwhelm the european film industry. >> i insist with the protection for the cultural sector because as i've said, the cultural exception is not negotiable. >> other eu members remain divided. japan's lawmakers have passed a bill to better promote japanese pop culture abroad. the legislation will help finance companies involved that operate globally. under the bill enacted on wednesday, a public/private sector entity will be set up later this year. the government will hold 50% of the entity. the newly formed organization will underline government plans to capitalize on the international appeal of japanese culture as one of the pillars of

economic -- its economic growth plan. companies that qualify for assistance include those for online distribution of japanese animation and movies and firms that sell related products. also covered will be businesses that for example operate restaurants that serve japanese firm or offer japanese brand clothing. reretailers in commercial centers overseas. two rival gamemaker consoles have squared off with each other at the exhibition in los angeles. e3 kicked off on tuesday. 200 companies took part. sony entertainment and microsoft show cased new models at the annual eye vent. at sony, many tried out the playstation 4. and sharing the game screen with a number of others over the

internet. the playstation 4 is scheduled -- $399 ahead of the year end holiday shopping season. >> it's significantly better than the playstation 3. and controls feel really good. i really love the controller and the graphics are really amazing. >> microsoft's new machine also attracted attention. the new console is equipped with a function to allow users to control functions with gestures or their voice. microsoft plans to begin sales of xbox one in november at $499. >> the fact you can do multiple things, advertised the all in one system, games and movie and skype and everything like that, that's amazing. >> the trade show will be held until thursday. here are the latest market figures.

tropical storm yagi is causing heavy rains in parts of japan. rachel ferguson has been closely watching that story. >> yes, it has been bringing heavy rain across portions of japan but it is on the way out. this is a weakening storm. it looks like it's going to be becoming a tropical depression within the next couple of days. we're seeing gusts up to 90 kilometers an hour it is moving east at 15 kilometers an hour. it's still produce gs rain so 100 millimeters of rain or so in the next 24 hours.

and that's significant rain. we can't dismiss that but certainly it's good to know that conditions are not good for this system to be developing and turning into a more intense storm and we will see its gradual demise over the next couple of days. heavy rain will be pushing across southern portions of china. this is below providing the moisture northern taiwan as well. these places are -- have already received very significant amounts of rainfall this season we've seen severe flooding in southern portions of china and mudslides and landslides as well. the ongoing rain is cause for high concern. much of the rest of the china is going to be staying dry. but it is also going to be hot. getting up to 34 degrees on thursday. 31 in beijing and taokyo gettin up to 23. a heat wave occurring across northern japan.

temperatures reaching above the 30 degree mark. they will be coming back down to normal levels by the weekend. on into the americas, severe weather is breaking out through the central plains and coming into the upper midwest. it's going to be stretching from illinois towards the great lakes region. although covering a wide area, that's where it's going to be most intense of the severe weather, we could see tornadoes popping up, but what you're more likely to see is very intense damaging straight line winds. that's the main thing to watch out for with this storm system. in addition, there will be significant rainfall. that could lead to flash flooding issues for you. in the northwest, it's very unstable as well through the canadian rockies, most of the rain will be affecting you in montana. you could see flooding issues as well. there's also strong winds here and potential for large hail. it looks hot and dry in the southwest and fire warnings from nevada down through new mexico.

we've got 33 degrees in denver, 34 in oklahoma city. 31 in d.c. as well. up in toronto, 22 for you, cooling off a little bit. you'll see sunshine, wet and chilly i'm afraid to the northwest. vancouver and sseattle, that's . it looks showery to the west but nothing too severe. we have been seeing severe storms through the balkan peninsula. the center looks dry and settled but we're still dealing with flooding here. i want to show you what's going on. this video coming out of croatia. we have workers and volunteers fighting off the waters from germany to croaticroatia, it br another levee as floodwaters continued to the north sea, at least 22 flood related deaths have been reported in central

europe this far and 23,000 residents had to leave their homes. the record breaking flooding was kicked off by an unusually persistent cutoff low but now it's all of the water coming downstream that's causing this continuing flooding. so still very serious situation there in central europe. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast.

before we go, experts in japan put their senses to work to judge some of this year's wines. they gathered in one of the largest wine producer regions. the event featured 87 offerings from 29 wineries. nine judges examined each entry and checked for flavor, aroma and color and gave scores on a scale of 1 to 5. >> translator: this year's wines all have fruity aromas and deep flavors. i'm sure everyone will enjoy them. >> 85 received an official endorseme endorsement. that's "newsline" for this hour, i'm gene otani in tokyo.

>> from the scent of the earth, come the color of the seasons. exploring the four seasons of japan.