hello there, welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, july 4th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. military commanders in egypt have shown the power of protest can trump ballot box decisions. they force the country's first democratically elected leader out of office. president mohamed morsi's supporters call it a coup. his opponents call it a triumph. the head of the army is

promising new elections. >> translator: the military has suspended the constitution to hold a presidential election as soon as possible. until a new president is elected, we have appointed the chief justice of the constitutional court as provisional head of the government. >> general abdel fattah al sisi says that president morsi had failed to meet the demands of protesters. tens of thousands of demonstrators in tahrir square greeted the announcement with fireworks and cheers. they chanted, good-bye president morsi" and waved egyptian flags. protesters say the economy and public security have worsened since morsi took power a year ago. they demanded he resign immediately. morsi rejected an ultimatum from the army to end the crisis within 48 hours or step down. soldiers have cordoned off major roads in the capital cairo deploying armored vehicles at a number of locations. the military controls the

state-run tv station. morsi's whereabouts are unknown, but messages on his twitter account accuse the army of staging a coup and say people with common sense will reject it. they urge egyptians to protect the constitution. some reports say security officials ha told domestic airports to stop morsi and leaders of his party, the muslim brotherhood, from leaving the country. egyptians elected morsi after widespread unrest in 2011 ended the 30-year rule of hosni mubarak. united nations leaders have been closely watching the crisis in egypt. deputy secretary-general spoke before the army announced it had ousted morsi. he said the u.n. hopes egyptians will resolve their differences through peaceful and democratic means. >> we appeal for tolerance and peaceful coexistence. the world is watching egypt at this crucial moment.

it will have a significant impact on egypt and also on the region. >> he said he's deeply concerned about the future of democracy in the country. bolivian president evo morales says he's not a criminal but he says that's how he felt after three european countries forced him to divert his private jet. they suspected he was harboring edward snowden, the fugitive former intelligence contractor. morales was on his way home from russia. france, italy and portugal canceled air permits for his flight. the plane had to make an emergency landing in vienna, austria, delaying the president for more than 14 hours. snowden was not on board. >> translator: i couldn't accept it. first of all, i'm not a criminal. and besides, you all know international rules say a president's right to go anywhere

in the world is inviolable. >> he was delayed for 14 hours. u.s. authorities asked countries to deny snowden the right of entry or transit. they've revoked his passport and charged him with espionage for revealing secret programs. people in japan will be hearing a lot about their politicians in the coming days on the street, on tv and online. the official campaign begins thursday. prime minister shinzo abe's trying to break a political deadlock in the diet by wresting control of the chamber away from the opposition. 121 of the o 242 seats in the upper house will be at stake in the vote. 73 seats are allocated to constituencies nationwide. and 48 are assigned to a proportional representation

system. a survey suggests that 430 candidates are expected to run. this will be the first national vote since prime minister abe took office last december. they control the house along with their coalition partner new komeito. they need the upper house to push forward their agenda known as abenomics. they'll consider whether to hand him more power so he can move ahead with his plans to amend the constitution. energy policy will also be on top of people's minds. japanese have been talking about it since the 2011 nuclear accident in fukushima. now, the official campaign for the upper house election will last 17 days. "newsline" will bring you extensive coverage leading up to the vote and will have results and analysis once the polls close on election day, july 21st. a top japanese official has voiced concern china might be building a natural gas rig in the south china sea.

he said it's too close to an economic border between china and japan. representatives from both sides five years ago agreed to jointly develop gas fields near the area. but japan's chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga says a chinsz crane ship appears to be working on a new marine platform without japan's involvement. suga said it's just 26 kilometers from the line that divides the country's economic zones. >> translator: if china is union lateralteerally developing sour the area, it will not be tolera tolerated. >> chinese foreign minister spokesperson hua chunying told reporters there's nothing to dispute. she said china is working in waters under its own jurisdiction. now japan coast guard crews say a chinese vessel entered japanese waters without consent. they say they spotted the

research ship in japan's exclusive economic zone near oaken o torishima island. they discovered the ship north of the island. oaken o tore shima lies south of tokyo. the ship was heading south dragging a wire through the water. foreign vessels need consent before conducting research work in the exclusive dmik zone. japanese officials say the ship did not apply for permission. coast guard officials say the chinese ship did not respond to radio contact. it's the first time since 2004 that a chinese research ship has been seen off okinotorishima island. north korean officials have told the south they'll allow limited access to a jointly run industrial zone. operations at the complex have

been on hold since they withdrew workers in april. pyongyang notified the ministry about the development. it said it would allow company officials from the south to visit the site. south korean manufacturers want to remove equipment from their factories in the complex. the unification ministry says pyongyang has agreed to resume an inter-korean hot line. pyongyang cut the hot line when talks that were due to be held between the countries last month were aborted. thousands of residents are still waiting to go home. vast tracts of land are still waiting to be restored. and more than half of fishing ports on the pacific coast must be rebuilt. people in northeastern japan still face challenges following the 2011 disaster, but step by step they're moving forward. see their stories every wednesday on "the road ahead" right here on "newsline."

japan's nuclear regulators have given the green light for two nuclear reactors to stay online when strict safety rules come into effect next week. the ohi plants three and four reactors are the only two operating in japan. officials from the nuclear regulation authority inspected the plant to see if it conforms to the new requirements. they concluded that there's no immediate serious safety problem. >> translator: we've decided that there's no need to halt the two reactors at the ohi plant. >> the reactors will keep r running until their next maintenance check in september. the fukushima daiichi plant continues to be plagued with problems. engineers there say chemical corrosion is the likely cause of a leak last month of contaminated water from a new filtering system. the system is designed to remove radioactive substances from the

water. workers at the plant found the leak in a part of a stainless steel tank that had been welded. when they emptied the tank, they found two holes and more than ten dents inside. each dent was two to five millimeters in diameter. officials of tokyo electric power company say a chemical to remove impurities likely reacted with the vessel. they say they plan to apply anti-corrosion resin to the steel. about 400 tons of contaminated water accumulates every day at the plant due to groundwater seeping into the crippled reactor buildings. picking up your life after an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear crisis is a daunting task, but that's exactly what a japanese school girl did in 2011. instead of letting the triple disaster get her down, she was inspired to devote her life to helping people in her home town. >> translator: i could never get a good night's sleep. i worried the building might

collapse and crush me or that i might be exposed to radiation. >> reporter: she evacuated from fukushima to neighboring yamagata prefecture. at a meeting in a local high school, she describes the moment when she and her parents have to leave her grandparents behind in fukushima. >> translator: when life is normal, we don't experience things like that. it was heartbreaking. >> reporter: her troubles began after her junior high graduation ceremony. on march 11th, 2011, the day of the earthquake.

the residence sits just eight kilometers from the fukushima daiichi power plant. so the family decided to set out for a city nearly 200 kilometers away. but it meant that she had to give up her dream of enrolling at a local high school and becoming a nurse. the family stayed at this evacuation shelter. local high school volunteers visited her and other evacuees. some had hearing impairments, and that would have a bearing on her new life. meantime, she enjoyed getting together with her new friends. >> translator: for two or three weeks after the disaster, i didn't have many opportunities to speak to anyone. so being with the volunteers was fun. i even laughed for the first time in quite a while.

>> reporter: later, she went on to attend high school in the city where she joined a volunteering club. now she leads it. because she befriended hearing impaired people, she's keen to master sign language. she's given up her dream of becoming a nurse, but she is determined to become a speech therapist. >> translator: my dream is to get two national certificates. it may be too much, but i'll study to be a speech therapist first and then to be a nurse. >> reporter: she is clear about where she will practice. >> translator: fukushima. i can't abandon my birthplace. i'll return there. it's only normal to want to go back to the place where i was born and raised. i will return.

>> reporter: because of the 2011 disaster, a young girl has set out on a different career path. eventually, it will take her back to her home town where residents will benefit from all her health care skills. the people of tsunami-hit riz uconn tanaka have hope for the future. artists have restored a lone pine tree from the disaster. local saw the tsunami wipe out majestic pines along their coast except one. the miracle lone pine became a symbol of reconstruction until it died. city leaders decided to restore it so the symbol could live on. locals appreciated the work at an unveiling ceremony. the artisans preserved the original trunk and added branches and leaves of resin. they placed the restored tree in the exact same spot.

>> translator: i hope the pine tree will watch over the city's recovery and continue to be loved by the people. >> people from all over japan helped pay for the monument. now they visit rick uzen tanaka they can see it light up every evening for one year. a u.s. drone strike in pakistan has reportedly killed 16 suspected militants but caused outrage in islamabad. patchari raksawong in bangkok is following the story. >> the drone attack looks to further strain u.s./pakistan relations. wednesday's strike was the second since pakistani prime minister nawar sharif took over in may promising to oppose the u.s. military strategy. the missiles hit a house in north waziristan tribal region and 16 suspected militants were killed. that would make it the deadliest drone attack this year. the targets were thought to belong to the afghan haqqani

network supposedly loyal to the taliban. the attack drew a quick and angry response from the pakistani government which called it a violation of sovereignty. nawaz sharif won the election in may because of his opposition to drone activity. the obama administration has refused to change its policy and says drone strikes are legal under domestic and international law. a deadly strain of bird flu has claimed another victim in cambodia. the healthinistry says nine people died from the h5n1 virus so far this year. a 6-year-old girl from a village in a southern province died last friday. the girl was likely exposed to infected poultry. the health ministry says 13 cases of h5n1 bird flu have been confirmed in the country this year. the world health organization says 20 people were infected worldwide between the start of january and 4th of june.

15 of those cases resulted in death. the w.h.o. says the virus is endemic among poultry in cambodia. children seem to be most vulnerable because they often like to play in areas where poultry also graze. packed subway trains are part of everyday life for singaporean commuters. congestion is getting so bad the transport authorities are now offering free fares for people who travel early, but not everyone is planning to set their alarm clocks. nhk world reports. >> reporter: it's just before 9:00, as you can see there's a huge crowd coming out of the station, but with the new scheme singapore is hoping to see changes. singapore's population has swollen nearly 30% over the past decade. thanks to steady flows of immigration. subways in the cities, they are packed to capacity, especially during rush hour.

the government affiliated subway operator thinks its has a solution. travel will be free of charge for passengers who disembark at downtown stations from the first train until 7:45 a.m. >> so i can save some of my money for my future. >> the train has been a little bit less crowded. i got a seat today which was really lovely. i could read my book. >> reporter: some passengers say a free ride just isn't worth jumping out of bed for. >> i think it's too early. yeah. sleep in and save a little time. >> reporter: congestion peaks have fallen 7% since the new rules came into effect in late june. the train operator hopes to reduce overcrowding by 10% to 20% before the one-year trial

period ends. some businesses are even reportedly considering moving to flexy-time so employees can travel to work for free. early birds might think that sounds like a dream come true. yuko fun na zachy, nhk world, singapore. >> that wraps up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. people in japan have a big appetite for bluefin tuna. now researchers in western japan may have found a way to keep supplies ahead of demand. fisheries research agency officials held a launch party on wednesday in nagasaki. they unveiled the world's first farm for bluefin tuna on land. >> translator: bluefin is a very important fishing resource for

japan. to stabilize its farming, the egg supply is especially important. >> researchers previously farm tuna in off-shore enclosures. but the spawn was susceptible to water temperature and hours of daylight. officials say lab-based facilities can provide the right conditions for breeding. bluefin farmers catch all over japan. but overfishing could deplete the stock of young fish. the farm operators hope by 2016, they'll produce 100,000 tuna every year. judges on the tokyo district court have handed suspended jail terms to three former executives of olympus. they conspired to cover up a black hole in the optical equipmentmaker's books totaling more than $1.2 billion. former president tsuyoshi kikukawa and two other executives set up funds overseas

and shifted investment losses. the presiding judge said kikukawa bears grave responsibility for having authorized the cover-up. he said only a limited number of executives had gained access to key information, and he noted the board of directors and auditors were not performing their supervisory role. but he added it cannot be ruled out that the former executive hs to inherit the losses from their predecessors. the judges also ordered olympus to pay a fine of nearly $7 billion or rather $7 million. honda motors humanoid robot is famous for its ability to walk on two legs and ride a bike. now company engineers have revealed another feature. it's ability to interact with people. he showed off these skills at a demonstration in a science museum in tokyo. the demo will go on for about a month. honda wants to test the rorobot

ability to make its own decisions on what to say and how to move. it is installed with cameras and sensors and can recognize the positions and movements of people around it. for example, it can respond to people raising their hands. it can understand a majority vote of hands for different options and give a response. it can also point to whoever raised his or her hand first as well as answer questions. >> translator: asimo can make its own decisions. it shows computers are evolving rapidly. >> translator: i hope asimo's abilities will assist people in their daily lives. >> reporter: honda says it hopes to install the robot at train stations and airports to help direct people to their destinations. now take a look at the market figures.

time for a check on the weather with meteorologist sayaka mori. what's the latest? >> that's right. it's going to be another wet and windy day across japan due to a stalled frontal system. it brought quite heavy rain and thunderstorms have caused scattered power outages. even tornadoes cannot be ruled out throughout the day. we're expecting about 150 millimeters of rain for western japan, 100 millimeters for northern japan, which is quite a lot for this region. it looks like the tokyo area will miss the worst of it where we may see some sudden bursts of

showers. during the daytime heating thunderstorms and heavy rain and also gusty winds will be a concern over much of japan today. similar situation for the south of the korean peninsula and central china include iing shangdong provinces. but towards the front of the system quite dry and hot. heavy rain for the southwest coast of the indochina peninsula. very hot in shanghai going up to 37 degrees for the high on thursday. it will stay almost the same into the weekend. heating up once again to 30 degrees and shooting up to 30 in tokyo and more sweltering conditions are on the cards for you as we go into monday. tokyo shooting up to 34 on saturday and sunday. the average temperatures is only 28 degrees. sendai, 31 for you over the weekend. so get hydrated and take precautions against heat stroke.

in north america, as we have been reporting, there are three distinctive features over the u.s. record high temperatures across the west and cool and dry conditions in the center and lots of thunderstorms across the east. but we're going to see some changes as we go into the independence day. the frontal system will move towards the southeast so the northeast coast including new york city and washington, d.c., will see some dry weather on your thursday. so that's good news. but heavy rain and thunderstorms will continue across the southeast. even tornadoes cannot be ruled out for the next several hours. but across the west, quite warm. heat is still hanging on across the southwest. 40 degrees in sacramento. meanwhile, towards the northwest, we'll see nice relief from the hot weather. 23 for you in vancouver. and 23 as well in seattle. meanwhile, chicago 27 degrees. it was only 20 degrees for the high on wednesday. so a big jump up. finally in europe, a series of

low pressure systems are moving in. we have a strong system moving across the british isles. some isolated -- excuse me, thundershowers, gusty winds and even hail are likely. the previous storm is now affecting central europe with widespread rain and strong winds. conditions will be particularly severe in the alpine region. lots of thunderstorms are on the horizon on your thursday, and unstable weather still remains across the black sea region and some of it will reach the eastern part of the balkan peninsula on thursday. temperatures will be quite mild in some places. 23 in berlin and 24 in paris. the hottest temperatures can be found across the iberian peninsula, 35 in lisbon. and it will stay almost the same as we go into the weekend. here's the extended forecast.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

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