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. the prime minister of turkey says demonstrators will have to leave the square in central istanbul within 24 hours. the slide on the tokyo stock market has erased gains after japan took action to boost the economy. a japanese composers has written

a piano sonata for the quake victims. turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan showing no signs of let up. he urged young people to stop camping out in nearby gezi park. he says police will have to disburse them otherwise. the anti-government demonstrations began two weeks ago. people were angry about a plan to redevelop the park. protesters joined in a movement against what they called the government's heavy handed tact ims. riot police are used tear gas and water cannons. erdogan offered to hold a referendum on the plan. some demonstrators say they won't stop the protests until the prime minister steps down. the american whistleblower

who broke the silence on a u.s. surveillance program says there's more to it than initially reported. the secrets he's sharing are creating fallout around the world. nhk world reports. >> reporter: edward snowden finds himself living in the shadows. he's been in hong kong since revealing secrets about his former employer, the u.s. government. now he's sharing more of what he knows. snowden told the south china morning post that the national security agency's intelligence gathering was more extensive than initially reported. he says u.s. agents conducted more than 61,000 hacking operations accessing computers in china and around the world. and he says agents also targeted universities, government officials and companies in hong kong. snowden worked at the nsa as a contract employee.

last week he revealed the agency has been collecting telephone and internet records in its fight against terrorism. britain's "guardian" newspaper and "the washington post" were the first to report on the story. the director of the national security agency has defended the program. >> its dozens of terrorist events that these have helped prevent. >> reporter: snowden's disclosures have sparked global debate about how far governments should go to combat terrorism. leaders of the group of eight nations will meet next week in northern ireland. britain's prime minister is chairing the eventment david cameron says participants will discuss the intelligence gathering activities. they reportedly received the information from the u.s. government, but cameron says british agents broke no laws.

snowden told the south china morning post that they carried out operations for years. he says he's speaking out what he calls the hypocrisy of the u.s. government. the 29-year-old has moved to an undisclosed location in hong kong since going public. i'm not here to hide from justice, he says, i'm here to reveal criminality. he's promising to stay where he is and tell the world more of what he knows. nhk world, tokyo. the head of the united nations is painting a grim picture of life for children in conflict zones. secretary general ban ki-moon's new report says they face unprecedented threats and calls the situation in syria, mali and the central african republic extremely worrying. ban releases the report on children in armed conflict every

year. it says troops loyal to syria president bashar al assad made children walk in front of them as human shields. it says anti-government fighters have forced children to serve as combatants. the report notes armed groups in northern mali have done the same kidnapping boys and using them as soldiers. >> we would like to see parties take their responsibility to ensure that children are not paying such a high price. >> the report says children are more vulnerable in recent crises because there are no clear front lines and combatants are hard to identify. the crisis in syria will be one of the main items on the agenda next week at the g-8 summit. japanese government officials say prime minister shinzo abe will announce aid for the syrians displaced by the war. the g-8 leaders will gather in northern ireland. in addition to syria they'll talk about the global economy

and the nuclear programs of iran and north korea. prime minister abe's expected to call on countries to work together to resolve the syrian crisis. officials say he will announce around $100 million to help jordan deal with the influx of syrian refugees. and they say he'll promise about $10 million in humanitarian aid for syrians displaced by the conflict. when it comes to north korea, abe's expected to say the g-8 must send a strong message they will not tolerate the country's nuclear ambitions. officials say he will call for authorities to follow u.n. security council resolutions. a group of farmers in the u.s. state of idaho are suing a biotech giant they say genetically modified wheat was o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o oregon. no genetically engineered wheat has been approved for u.s. farming. japanese farm ministry officials suspended wheat imports after last month's discovery. japan is one of the largest

importers of u.s. grain. the idaho farmers say the japanese restrictions are inflicting heavy losses on the u.s. wheat market. thousands of farmers have been affected. representatives told nhk the strain was only found on one farm and never entered the food chain. a consumer group and farmers in the states of washington and kansas have filed similar suits. tokyo stock prices plummeted, investors rushed to curb their risks as the yen has shot up. the nikkei average finished at 12,445, the lowest level since april 3rd, that's before the bank of japan unveiled its large scale stimulus measures. by close the index plunged 6.35% posting the second biggest loss this year. the tokyo stock market opened sharply lower after the dow

jones posted three straight days of declines. bank of japan governor says he is still optimistic about the market despite the nikkei's steep fall. >> translator: the real economy is recovering steadily. i think the market will gradually calm down reflecting the economy's positive performance. >> kuroda made the comment to reporters after meeting with prime minister abe. he told the mistet the b.o.j.'s firmly committed to supporting the japanese economy with easing money. we asked ceo of a capital management company for his analysis of the nose dive in the tokyo stock market. >> i think there are a couple of reasons combined by today's fall affecting market price. one is obviously the strong yen which the market didn't expect to happen today. the other reason is the

disappointment towards mr. abe's growth strategy. i think people accepted more of the very positive and quick growth policy which will stimulate the japanese economy positively, but mr. abe's cabinet said so many things. but obviously these things are very important. but we are not quite sure when it's going to work to the japanese economy. the third reason is the decision made by bank of japan very recently to not do anything even though there's instability in the japanese bond market. i think by combining by all these factors that made the japanese equity market to fall. obviously the market overjoyed very much by mr. kuroda's shock maybe too much. i think it's reaction to the excitement which we have

experienced since the beginning of april. but i'm not very much worried about the japanese economy itself. we can see that the japanese economy -- the actual japanese economy is rather steadily growing by exports and also by private consumption and also by housing. so i think this is the time we see too much excitement of the sentiment is now adjusting towards the actual economy. the market may wait until the result of the upper house election will come out some time in july. i think mr. abe what he should do is that he should at least say what kind of importance he will take in his growth strategy. and he'll also have to show the time schedule of how he's going to realize his policy before the election. >> the japanese government has

formlated its long-term economic and fiscal policies. the document states it should balance its budget by fiscal 2020 and even consider cutting social security costs to reduce the nation's snowballing debt. a government panel finalized this on thursday. the plan calls for achieving an average gross domestic product growth of about 3% in nominal terms and around 2% in real terms over the next decade. the plan expects the nation's per capita gross national income to increase by more than $15,000 in ten years. the government has be urged to have its primary balance deficit by 2015 and turn the balance into a surplus by fiscal 2020 as it has pledged. the plan specifies social security as an area where the government should consider cutting costs but stopped short of setting numerical cabinets. the cabinet is expected to approve the plan on friday. here are the latest market

figures. a japanese composers wants to help the people who died in the quake and tsunami two years ago. he has written a piano sonata in their memory. he lost his hearing 14 years ago due to illness. he is often called a modern day beethoven.

♪ >> intense passages express the anger and suffering of the victims. the music islslso rich and peaceful melodies that represent prayers for the dead. >> translator: i'd like many people to listen to this sonata to keep memories of the disaster from fading. >> translator: i'm so happy to have discovered this wonderful piano music. it really makes me want to keep going. ♪ >> he hopes the people who died on march 11th can find peace. he believes performing his music will relieve their suffering and

anger. iranian voters will soon be filing into polling stations to choose a new president. we're looking at some of the leading candidates this week on "newsline." anti-u.s. conservative hardliners have been gaining momentum, but reformists haven't given up. they're candidate hoping that will make a difference. we have a report from tehran. >> reporter: this video was filmed june 4th. until recent ly arch government

focused. the demonstrations show that public discontent. >> translator: people can't afford anything due to inflation. >> reporter: active in the election campaign for reformist candidate. he was detailing potential roll in the anti-government demonstration. the authorities have been keeping a close eye on the paper. on the walls the photographs of former u.s. president john f. kennedy, current u.s. president barack obama and other politicians, but the photos were hung without his knowledge. he believes that the authorities are intimidating him to try and get him to stop supporting

reformists. the government is expressing grief on the media. >> translator: an economic reporter used to sit there. a social affairs reporter used to sit here. a cultural affairs reporter and two political reporters used to work here as well. they were all detained. >> reporter: reformists have long been -- they are now pinning their hopes on one candidate. rohani, chief negotiator. rohani has a lot of international experience. in 2004 he negotiated with the west to halt uranium enrichment. rohani can get support from some conservatives. he's also getting backing of reformists by promising to kick

start the economy. >> translator: all the problems can be solved with wisdom and hope. the nuclear development issue can be solved. the economic sanctions can be lifted. economic growth isn't just agreement. >> reporter: rohani's supporters went so far as to sing a song. >> translator: rohani will win success in negotiations with the u.s. and make it lift the economic sanctions. >> reporter: things became even more difficult for the reformist and their supporter, but at the end of the campaign the other

reformist candidate put his support by rohani. rohani's camp is now gearing up. >> translator: if the voices of the reformists remain unheated, this nation will further isolate itself. they'll no longer have any hope for the future. >> reporter: the pro-u.s. reformist camp is trying to catch up with the anti-u.s. hardliners. a preliminary count is expected as early as saturday. nhk world, tehran. traditional japanese sweets are pleasing on the eye shaped like flowers or leaves. they get you thinking about the seasons. but two young women decided it was time to try something new. they're creating snacks that stimulate all the senses starting with your sense of

hum humor. >> all eyes at this recital are on the musicians and a row of traditional japanese sweets. almost traditional. gracing the top of each sweet is a tiny musical note. the theme of the sweet is eating sound. the audience gets to savor who cultural experiences at the same time, food for the soul and the mind. the fun treats are the work of two kyoto confectioners. she used to work at a publishing company, her interest in sweets started with a book assignment. she quit her job and moved to kyoto to learn more. and she came to the capital for college. soon after she developed a taste for old style confection nair

a and started working at a sweet shop. they share a hunger to create their own style of sweets and set up their own business. their creations are characterized by stylish or funny fun funfu funny motifs. this se e design is called tetris. it's named after a popular computer game. this one is 3:00. the hands of the clock are set for tea break. this one is food for deeper thought. it's called the grass is always greener. >> translator: we just wanted to make something that would make people laugh when they ate it. >> the two sweet chefs are always working on new ideas and motifs. they carry a notebook with them

at all times. they have a sharp eye for the funny and quirky side of life. >> translator: i always have my antenna up. i ride my bike a lot, and i always pay attention to what i see. if i found something interesting, i'll write it down. posters or someone's hair style, for example. >> the women started out making sweets for weddings and tea ceremonies, but word on their creations is spreading. they now sell directly to the public once a month. a line forms outside whenever their shop is open. >> translator: the names are great. and they are stylish little treats. they are really cute. >> translator: they have one called the apollo with just one little footprint on the moon. then there's another, the moon walk, which has many footprints.

it's such a cute idea. >> the two sweet maestros recently published a book of their designs. it went into a second printing almost immediately. >> translator: we just hope that people who become interested in our work will head to japanese sweet shop and learn about all kinds of sweets both modern and traditional. >> translator: i hope, for example, people enjoy the design of sweets at a museum and then they can eat it later. our goal is to create something that can be enjoyed both visually and for its taste. >> they say they've found their calling. they're in the entertainment business and the kitchen is their studio using rice flour, sugar and beans and a strong pinch of humor. the kyoto confectioners are putting their on stab on a

japanese tradition. there's a strong storm heading through the united states. rachel ferguson has more on that. rachel. >> all right. yeah, we've been tracking a really big disturbance moving through south of the great lakes and heading in towards the east now. it's going to be spreading out across much of the east in fact on your thursday and into friday. severe weather along the cold front here. that's going to be anything from severe and damaging winds to golf ball size hail, tornadoes not out of the question either. and there will be heavy rain. short time heavy rain can lead to flash flooding. that's going to be to the north of those severe storms. now, on friday, a lot of that is going to start to move out. and you should be left with a much clearer day, some cooler temperatures as well. heavy rain also pushing through parts of montana and ses saskatchewan. there's going to be a little

rain to the south, but not significant. in fact, dry thunderstorms could ignite wildfires here because it is going to be generally dry and hot with low humidity. now, let's take a look at those temperatures. 34 in denver. 33 in oklahoma city. we're also seeing the mid-30s in houston. miami, atlanta, d.c. even getting up to 31 with thunderstorms here. temperatures are going to start to drop off as that system comes through. just 18 and showers for you in new york city. heavy showers i should say. and then out towards the northwest a little warmer and drier for you today. all right, let's go now to australia. a severe storm erupted here in the east. and i want to show you that video right now. this is a transitional period as well in the southern hemisphere. and it can really spawn the threat of severe weather just like in the northern hemisphere. this village of pratten, people here just picking up the mess left behind by what was probably a tornado that passed overnight

on wednesday. the wind storm was said to have been 100 meters wide but had winds within it strong enough to rip several buildings apart. despite the damage, only one person suffered minor injuries as a result of the storm which is certainly very good news. now, heading back to our graphics here. you can see that the storm has passed in that eastern victoria, you're still going to be seeing pretty heavy rain here on thursday, but high pressure will move in and keep things nice and dry up to the beginning of next week. all right, here we are in asia. and heavy rain continues to impact southern portions of china. we have a low pressure system that's now become a tropical depression just in the south china sea here. it's really kicking up a lot of moisture particularly along the coastal areas here of southern china. so places like hong kong and macaw, we could be seeing some pretty bad flooding here as these areas just get some really intense amounts of rain. 250 millimeters in a 24-hour

period. and it will be ongoing for the next several days as well. you can see where it's just going to be the heaviest along the coast here. but actually showers reach up through northern taiwan and in towards the shanghai area as well. as for japan, well, you're going to be seeing some showers coming through on friday. and maybe some intense storms as well friday into saturday. as for friday, it's going to be rainy with 25 degrees, warmer through in seoul and staying dry at 31. 35 in chongqing and down towards the south we've got 34 and scattered thunderstorms for you in bangkok. here's your extended forecast.

that's "newsline" for this hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo.

♪ a constant presence in every aspect of daily life. japanese lettering. japanese words are written by combining the largest number of characters of almost any language in the world. the shape of those characters carries a special weight.