welcome to "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. here's a look at some of the stories we are following this hour. the u.s. ambassador to china has visited tibet where he urged authorities to loosen security restrictions and welcome more foreigners. chinese authorities are trying to ease concerns about a credit crunch that has many investors on edge. and from russia with style,

the far eastern city first fashion week fueling dreams of aspiring models across the country. the aftermath of rioting in northern china is worse than first thought. state-run media say the unrest in the uygur autonomous region has left 35 people dead. members of the minority have risen up against the majority in the past. xinhua news agency says rioters started stabbing people on wednesday at police stations, a local government building and a construction site in lukqun. it reports 24 police officers and civilians died. 11 rioters are dead, too. the incident is one of the worst since riots in 2009 in the regional capital urumqi. the chinese government says 200 people were killed then. many uygurs are upset with government oppression of their religious activities. xinhua says 16 of the civilians who died in the latest violence

were uygurs. authorities say order has been restored and they are restricting foreign media from reporting in the area. u.s. ambassador in beijing has visited another chinese region with a history of unrest. gary locke is in tibet, where he is urging authorities to allow foreigners to travel more freely. he is the first u.s. ambassador to travel to the region since 2010. locke has been visiting tibet since tuesday. members of his family and embassy staff are with him. china restricts journalist access to tibetan areas of western china and to tibet itself. foreign visitors need to apply for special permits to visit the region. >> ambassador locke discussed the importance of opening up access to tibet and emphasized the importance of preserving the tibetan people's heritage including cultural traditions.

>> patrick ventrell says the administration is urging china to engage in substantial dialogue with the dalai lama. japanese leaders have decided to relax visa requirements from tourists from southeast asia. they hope attracting foreign travelers will play a key role in revitalizing the economy. deregulation will take effect on july 1st. thai and malaiysia tourists wil no longer need a visa for short-term stays. the length of short-term stays for indonesians will double to 30 days. japanese transport minister ota met with ambassadors from four southeast asian countries. >> translator: we would like to promote the wonderful attractions of japan as a brand. for example, the beauty of the four seasons and our delicious

cuisine. >> that it would be opportune for both asean and japan to introduce new initiatives especially tourism cooperation in elevating our relationships towards new heights. >> japan hopes to attract 10 million foreign visitors this year, that's nearly 2 million more than than in 2012. a south korean judge has convicted a group of men of stealing a number of buddhist statues and cultural treasures from shrines and temples in japan. but little hope is being held out for them being returned any time soon. the district court judge sentenced the mastermind of the theft to four years in prison. two accomplices were given three years. south korean police arrested the defendants and four others in january. they were suspected of stealing the treasures from an island in nagasaki prefecture in southwestern japan. police have retrieved two buddhist statues that are designated as important cultural

assets. the japanese government has asked officials to return the statue's based on an international treaty. but that may take a while as a south korean temple claims original ownership of them. japanese police have taken their search online to try to find out details about people who might have been abducted by north korean agents. this follows a government pledge to thoroughly investigate the abductions even ones that have not been officially confirmed. the police have uploaded personal information about 169 possible abductees on prefecture websites. the information includes names, photographs, addresses, ages, occupations, as well as when and how they vanished. the government has officially confirmed that 17 people were abducted. the cases are still under investigation, however another 864 people are missing. police say they can't rule out

involvement by the north. more than half of them have been missing for more than 30 years. the national police agency has posted the information online in the hopes of gathering information from the public. seat belts in automobiles are what you might call the final lifeline. they're supposed to protect people involved in traffic accidents. but recently there's been an increase in the number of injuries they cause. elderly people are particularly vulnerable. that's prompted japan's transport ministry to take a closer look at safety standards. nhk world explains. >> reporter: seat belts are known to save lives, both drivers and passengers in japan have been required to wear them since 2008. the national police agency says seat belts drastically reduce the risk of dying in a traffic accident by more than 90%.

researchers in tokyo are telling a different story. they conducted a study that concludes many people involved in traffic accidents are actually being injured by seat belts. researchers say most of these injuries are compression fractures to the chest. this is especially true for elderly people whose bones tend to be brittle. they looked at serious accidents that occur between 2004 and 2006. about 35% of people over 70 who were wearing seat belts suffered chest injuries. that figure is lower for younger people. the transport ministry says

reducing pressure from the seat belt to the chest is key to scaling back injuries among elderly people in traffic accidents. current safety standards require that seat belts not dig into the body more than five centimeters during an accident. but those standards are based on the physique of the average american male. the transport ministry says it will study ways to diminish the force exerted by seat belts to reduce injuries among the elderly. as they review those standards, ministry researchers are discussing the issue with authorities from the eu and elsewhere. they want japan to be a leader in producing cars better adapted to a rapidly aging society.

>> translator: japan adopted safety standards established overseas and used them as their own standards. so i believe it is very important that japan introduce its own safety standards to the world. >> reporter: in the past decade, the number of japanese drivers aged 65 or older has grown more than one and a half times. those numbers are certain to increase. japan's new safety standards will help ensure that an important element of traffic safety is truly a lifeline for all who depend upon it. nhk world, tokyo. worries about a credit crunch in china have been keeping many investors on edge.

now chinese monetary authorities are trying to ease these concerns. the country's central bank chief says the bank will keep pumping enough liquidity into financial markets to keep them stable. >> translator: we will take various steps to adjust market liquidity in a comprehensive way and at appropriate times to maintain market stability. >> the governor of the people's bank of china spoke at a financial forum in shanghai on friday. chinese markets have been volatile this week. short-term interest rates have surged touching off fears that higher rates could force financial institutions to run short of funds. he said monetary authorities will continue to monitor financial institutions and try to keep their lending practices and balance sheets. they will guard against easily lending to prevent a fixed asset bubble. comments gave some relief to the markets. shanghai stocks finally staged a

rebound from the previous seven straight sessions of closes. closed at 1,979 jumping 1.5%. it was the best percentage gain in two months. however, for this week the main benchmark tumbled 4.5%. this is particularly due to a 5.3% nosedive recorded on monday. the market players remain nervous about instability in the domestic banking system throughout the week following a jump in short-term interest rates. this is soon to be impacted by views that beijing aims to crack down on informal lending outside the banking system also known as shadow banking. analysts say chinese leaders are walking in a fine line as they try to manage their vast economy. nhk world tells us why the situation is so delicate. >> the wild ride on the chinese markets reflects a shift in the nation's monetary policy. premier now in control of

economic policy and steering his country toward a more market-oriented approach. he sent a clear message to investors and traders that the government will pursue national reform. he's vowing not to involve those in reckless investment and unsustainable property development. central bankers have played off these policy and limit market liquidity to squeeze money flow into shadow banking. the bank of china is also trying to stop the housing market from overheating. investors have worried there could be capital flights from china following the announcement from the u.s. federal reserve that it may start slowing down its stimulus by the end of the year. chinese central bankers say they have provided liquidity to stabilize the market. that means rising interest rates. most analysts believe chinese authorities are still very much in control of the situation, but

they'll need to hold on tight. reports suggest the size of shadow banking may have reached $3 trillion. and if the latest gdp figures that come out in mid-july show slower growth than is expected, the reaction could trigger another rollercoaster ride on the markets. >> speculation about the u.s. federal reserve's future policy course is rocking commodity markets. gold futures temporarily plunged to a 27-month low in tokyo. sell orders began flooding the tokyo commodity exchange soon after it opened on friday. they drove gold futures down to 3,750 yen per gram at one time. that's off 166 yen from the previous day's finish. and also the lowest price in two years and three months. later, some investors bought back the precious metal and futures closed at 3,838 yen per

gram. that is down 78 yen from thursday. investors unleashed sell orders on speculation that the fed will scale back its bond buying program early choking off the flow of investment money into the market. back in february this year gold futures in tokyo rose to an all-time high of 5,081 yen per gram, but they have been falling since late last month. let's check on how the markets are performing on this final trading day of the first half of the year. starting with currencies, the dollar/yen right now 99.01-02. the u.s. currency has been rising above the 99 level in more than two weeks as investors are easing their purchase of the yen as a haven. meanwhile, many participants are waiting for the release of u.s. economic indicators later today. they include the consumer sentiment index. euro/yen right now at 129. turning to european stocks, investor appetite appears to be waning after three sessions of

solid gains. investors are adjusting their portfolio at the end of the quarter. london's ftse down, the dax declining by .73%. cac40 dropping. earlier in tokyo the nikkei average surged 3%, the index reached the highest level in one month at the close. upbeat japan economic data. the kospi rise to 1,863. that's the highest level in more than a week. buy orders from foreign investors gained momentum. for the week the index climbed 2.2%. this is helped by a rise of almost 3% on thursday. south korea's current account surplus in may rose to a record high level as exports swelled and imports shrank on a monthly basis. for a closer look at what's going on with the

export-dependent economy, we spoke with professor of international economics at university in seoul. >> the bank of korea announced yesterday that korea recorded a current account surplus of about $8.7 billion in may. the cumulative current account surplus for the past five months is about $23 billion. compared to the figures for the same period last year, korea's export has increased by 7.4%. and import has decreased by 4.8% in value terms. in fiscal terms, however, import has increased. the drastic reduction in import value was due to significant cut and prices of international raw materials. korea has been continually running current account surplus for 16 months now. and this trend will continue for some time to come. this optimistic evaluation is

based on the slowly coming economic recoveries of the u.s., europe and japan. however, there are some concerns about export sales in the second half of this year. korea's exports in electronic products and automobiles may slow down as the global markets are to be readjusted by the adverse effects of the u.s. exit strategy. >> here's more of the latest market figures. young women around the world aspire to become top models, some in russia are seeing their

catwalk dreams turn into reality. the fashion industry there is growing and doors are opening. nhk world reports from russia. >> reporter: this is the first time they have hosted a fashion event of this kind. people gather to see the big show. the idea is to give the region an image that is more fashionable and appealing to young people. there are visitors from near and far. >> i'm very, very impressed. an amazing amount of fantastic models. >> thanks to russia's recent economic growth, more women are

becoming fashion conscious and demand for models has surged. there are over 1,000 agents in russia now with more than 100,000 models on their books. this 21-year-old is an aspiring model, tall and lean, she has the perfect proportions for the job. >> translator: my dream is to conquer the greatest catwalks around the world. i hope it comes true. >> reporter: her hometown is 700 kilometers away. she's now a student at a university in vladivostok. since signing up with the agency, she's slowly been getting jobs and even featured on the cover of a local magazine. living away from home isn't easy. to make ends meet, she does a part-time job as a babysitter three days a week.

she shares a small apartment with a friend. the rent is about $500 per month. as a model, she has to watch what she eats both for quality and quantity. she said the key thing is to live an orderly lifestyle. >> translator: first of all, you have to be very patient. it may look as though model is very easy just striking poses, but it's not easy at all. >> reporter: darya is training hard for an upcoming competition, to lead to a modeling career. she has been billed as one of only 15 contestants from russia and three other countries. if she does well, this could open up opportunities abroad. darya is taking classes to tone her upper body so she can project a strong image on stage.

the day of the competition arrives. darya leads the way down the catwalk. the contestants have to model in swimwear and other outfits. they're judged on their appearance and posture. and always the ora of the model. the grand winner is announced. darya had won the top prize, it's a scholarship to a top modeling school in new york starting this fall. >> translator: i'm overwhelmed. it's so wonderful and amazing. i'm so happy. i hope that going to study in new york will lead to many opportunities to model, not just in russia but in europe and of

course in asia. >> reporter: the door has opened for her to be a top model. the world will be her catwalk. nhk world, vladivostok. raining in parts of japan, meteorologist robert speta has more. robert. we have been watching this heavy rainfall especially in southern kyushu, upwards of about 150 millimeters reported in just a three-hour span this afternoon. that's actually record breaking out here. so definitely seeing that heavy rainfall continuing the stretch across the area due to the rainy season front which is dominating overhead extending out over central and eastern china as well. out here you've been seeing rainfall day in and day out and still risk of flooding out here. the ground is already saturated and it is really going to be coming down. let's look farther down towards the south at this our newest tropical storm. now, this is tropical storm rumia.

actually just formed up and starting to push off there towards the west. what it will be doing it's going to push across the philippines here, bring some high winds, some high waves especially towards the east coast of luzon and enhancing the monsoonal flow. you're going to be seeing some heavy rainfall out of this, even around the manila metro area, risk of flooding with this as well and landslides in the higher elevations. we want to continue to keep an eye on that through the weekend as it pushes off towards the northwest eventually re-emerging in the south china sea. talking about the rainy season front as well once we have the 72-hour accumulation up. look at that. that band stretching there it's really evident and fairly obvious where that front is. as far as the temperatures, shanghai with a high of 29 and cloudy skies there. beijing getting up to 30 here. some thunderstorms in the forecast. low pressure area actually lingering overhead in northeastern china. and tokyo on saturday 27 here for the high. partly cloudy skies. let's take a look over towards europe where really the low country some showers continuing to push through here even in the

british isles we're seeing a front move through as well. that's going to be bringing some heavy showers possibly at times about 80 millimeters within a few hour span. also stronger storms coming out of this upwards about 70-kilometer-per-hour winds. off towards the west high pressure comes in. in much of western europe you're going to be improving the weather conditions going into saturday and sunday. lisbon even getting up to 37 here. madrid at 31. london 21 here. little bit cooler, but some partly cloudy skies coming in your forecast. take a look over towards the americas though where really much of the eastern seaboard especially east of the appalachians, that is where you're going to be seeing rough weather, upwards about 100 to 150 millimeters expected in to new england. also this cold front atotached o it, you can see the storms firing up off the coastline, that front is going to linger near the coast and some of these

storms could produce 100-kilometer-per hour winds. and even hail. and there's a threat of flooding. farther towards the west this is what i really want to talk about. over here we have this high pressure ridge in place. we talk about these ridge in the troughs. you have to think about it in this context. ridge means high pressure. think of this as water flowing downhill into the trough. this is where you're going to be seeing much wet, cooler, storm off to the east. this is going to remain dry and hot. and that is what we are seeing out here. we could see a few thunderstorms, but the problem is it's so dry that once the rain falls it evaporates before hitting the ground. there's a risk of fire weather with that, but the temperatures are just scorching. death valley, 54 here by sunday. the record, the worldwide record also recorded in death valley upwards of about 56.7. so this is pushing that. las vegas at 47 as well. even feetiphoenix up to 48. that's a look at your world weather. here's your extended forecast.

adults and children across japan are looking forward to the summer holidays and their load of special events. we first take you to western japan where people are gearing up for the festival. the tradition comes from a chinese folk legend about a couple separated by the milkyway

about a couple who could only meet once a year. two streetcars were clad with milky way decorations ahead of the festival on july 7th. >> translator: it's very cute. >> hanging above the rails are special pieces of paper carrying wishes of health and other hopeful messages. the two cars are named after the couple in the folk tale. >> also in western japan, children from a kindergarten got a firsthand introduction to horned beetles, 10,000 of them are set free every summer at the beetle dome. the 1,000-square-meter structure in the forest is covered with nets. >> some children were a bit frightened at first, but soon they started enjoying watching the beetles climb trees and

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

♪ cebu island in central philippines.