hello and welcome to "newsline." it is wednesday july 10th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. supporters of egypt's ousted president are rejecting a plan to hold new elections. they want mohamed morsi reinstated. and many of them say they won't rest until he's back in power. members of morsi's power base, muslim brotherhood, demonstrated near the presidential palace in

cairo. they oppose a decree issued by interim president adly mansour. he's promising a national referendum by the end of the year to establish a new constitution. a parliamentary election would follow the next year and then a presidential election. >> translator: i will continue to protest with everyone. >> translator: what the military is trying to do is meaningless. mr. morsi will regain power. >> egypt's military forced the president out of office after he failed to resolve a political deadlock that sent millions of protesters into the streets. violence on monday left more than 50 people dead. it's the highest number since morsi was removed from power. a car bomb has rocked a stronghold of a shia militant group hezbollah in the bustling district of bay route. at least 30 people are reportedly injured. local reporters filmed the aftermath of tuesday's incident.

sunni and shia muslims have experienced raised tension as sectarian strife spills over from neighboring syria. hezbollah members are fighting there in support of bashar al-assad. the syrian rebels have threatened to target the shia group in lebanon. investigators are piecing together the moments before a plane crash landed in san francisco. two chinese high school girls died when the asiana airlines passenger jet went down at the city's international airport. the head of the national transportation safety board, deborah hersman, said the jet was traveling too slowly to land. she said it was moving at about 190 kilometers per hour just before making contact with the ground. the target speed for landing is about 250 kilometers per hour. hersman said the pilots were trying to pick up speed to make another attempt at a landing. a u.s. television network aired

footage of passengers escaping from the wreckage of the airliner. the footage shows people using two escape chutes on the left side of the aircraft. black smoke is pouring from the fuselage as they flee. the cabin attendant said it seemed like the plane was trying to climb at the moment of impact. >> translator: it felt like we were taking off again when there was a huge crash. then i felt another jolt and the plane swayed strongly from the left to the right. >> she said a fire broke out as the crew was trying to evacuate the passengers and that she escaped after making sure everyone else was off the plane. the european union has delegates from russia are the new faces around the table at

the world health organization. already they are facing a trade dispute. eu delegates criticized the russians for what is called a recycling fee. they say the russians are overcharging to protect domestic car makers. they say the maximum fee for new cars is $3400. for vehicles older it is $2,200. tariffs have caused imports to fall by 7% while russia's domestic department expands. >> we have such recycling fees here in europe. the fact is, russia doesn't impose that same recycling fee on its own cars. so that's where the problem lies, is a discrimination against the european manufacturing. eu representatives want to meet with those from russia to

discuss the issue. they say if they can't find a solution within 60 days they may ask officials to decide whether the tariffs are equal. american fugitive edward snowden is making progress in his bid to win political asylum and avoid prosecution for exposing secret surveillance programs. venezuelan president maduro says his government received an asylum request from the former intelligence contractor. >> translator: we received an application letter for asylum. if he definitely wants to fly here, he'll need to decide when. >> snowden did contract work for the national security agency. he disclosed documents that show nsa agents collect phone and internet data at home and abroad. american authorities want him on espionage charges. snowden is reportedly holed up inside a moscow airport. u.s. officials have revoked his passport. they've asked countries not to help him escape prosecution. aside from venezuela, the leaders of bolivia and nicaragua

have offered snowden asylum. nicaraguan officials cited on saturday that they had entered asylum in moscow. japanese officials are looking for ways to reduce dependence on rare metals from china. they are getting ready to carry out a survey of deposits. oofficials will conduct the first survey next week. they are scheduled to visit a mountainous region to look for deposits. antmony is used in electronic devices and housing materials. members of japan's maritime self-defense forces will have an extended call of duty. japanese leaders have added one year to their anti-piracy mission. commanders currently used two

destroyers and two patrol aircraft to guard commercial ships in the area, but they were due to come home this month. cabinet members on tuesday approved the extension. they said the situation remains unpredictable despite a decrease in pirate attacks. commanders will supply one destroyer to a multi-national force on the request of other powers. defense officials in tokyo have been monitoring chinese ships, and they're concerned by what they see. they say authorities in beijing have ramped up their activity around japanese-controlled islands in the east china sea. their white paper on defense policy says chinese vessels have repeatedly entered japanese waters around the senkaku islands. china and taiwan both claim the territory. the report says some ships behaved so dangerously they could have caused emergencies. it says china's expanding maritime activity is a regional and international threat. a chinese government spokesperson dismissed the white paper's findings.

>> translator: some of the assessments in japan's report are not based on fact. china has been conducting normal maritime activities in line with domestic and international law. >> the spokesperson added the japanese government has recently been triggering regional tension and confrontation by overstating the threat posed by china. japan's nuclear regulator will begin processing applications found by four power companies to restart their nuclear reactors. the utilities submitted their applications on monday to restart ten reactors at five plants. the five include the tomari plant run by the electric power company and the ohi and takahama plant. operated by konsai electric. the others are ikata plant and the sendai plant. the nuclear regulation authority will set up three teams. each will be in charge of three to four reactors. utility representatives will

explain their safety measures to the nra at a meeting on july 16. they'll also relay their assessment of possible quakes and tsunami. japanese earthquake researchers are going deep to create a faster, more precise warning system. a large-scale underwater network of seismographs are being put along the eastern seaboard. a ship began putting recorders off chiba prefecture in tokyo. these will detect tsunami by observing changes in water pressure. the instruments are contained in metal tubes. these will be installed at 150 location on the sea bed along the japan trench. this deep sea trench runs off the coast of eastern japan. observation data will be sent via an underwater cable nearly 6,000 kilometers long. if a quake occurs near the

trench, the seismographs will enable the meteorological agency to issue faster warnings. the tsunami recorders will also offer quicker detection. >> translator: i hope the improved data gathering will help save lives and reduce damage by giving precise information. >> the national research institute for earth, science and disaster prevention plans to complete the project in about two years. now he is setting his sights on amending the constitution but his party must make a strong showing. less than a year after putting abe in power japanese voters have a chance to judge him on his record. don't miss our special coverage leading up to the july election here on "newsline."

people in india are suffering through more flooding. >> more than 100,000 people have been displaced by floods. the situation could worsen as water levels continue to rise. a week of almost nonstop rain has caused the river and its tr tributaries to overflow. this year's monsoon season has been the most devastating in years for parts of northern india. flooding last month killed more than 800 people at a hindu pilgrimage site. at least 3,000 people are still missing. the monsoon season lasts from june to september. farmers depend on it to produce good harvests. soil erosion have created a

build up of sediment making rivers quick to flood during periods of heavy rain. the asia pacific region is one of the fastest growing for air travel. more established airlines are going the other way and taking luxury to new heights. >> reporter: this is singapore airlines new first-class seat. when it's pulled down, it becomes a full, flat bed with a length of 82 inches. and it's very comfortable. the new first class seats were designed by a subsidiary of german automaker bmw. singapore airlines is investing nearly $150 million to upgrade the cabins of eight aircraft.

the planes will go into service in september on flights between singapore and london. airlines can make many times more profit on premiere plus passengers compared with those traveling in economy. this contribution to profitability is driving competition. emirates has started offering a new range of premium services. they include onboard showers for first-class customers and chauffer-driven car transports for passengers in business class or above. local carriers have managed to capture a significant portion of the business from middle-class customers. so full-service airlines are now refocusing on the upper market. >> the airline business is more competitive by the day and product cycles are getting shorter. as we always say, in this business, if you're staying

still, you are actually moving backwards as your competitors catch up quickly. >> reporter: airlines in asia know that innovation and investment are the keys to winning the loyalty of asia's expanding class of wealthy travellers. nhk world, singapore. bangladesh is making progress raising living standards, thanks in part to its economic role as garment factory of the world. the world bank says the number of people living in poverty declined by 16 million in a decade. the bangladesh poverty assessment report says the number of poor declined by 26% between 2000 and 2010 despite an overall increase in the population. the report says the largest contributing factors were higher incomes and changes in demographics. bangladesh depends on the international garment industry to drive its economy, which grew

6.3% last year. cheap labor is a big attraction for foreign companies. bangladesh is home to more than 4,000 garment factories, and clothing accounts for about 80% of exports. concerns about labor conditions were exposed in tragic circumstances when a factory collapsed, killing in are than 1,100 people. a fire at another garment factory last november killed 112 workers. the accidents triggered calls from around the world for bangladesh to make immediate improvements to working conditions. that wraps it up in bangkok. 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 "newsline."

floods and land slides have submerged a town. more than 50 omillimeters of rain. land slides cut off roads and tunnels. swollen rivers swept away bridges. flood water has reached a height of seven meters. buildings damaged in the 2008 earthquake were preserved as a reminder of the disaster. the quake left 87,000 people dead or missing. state run media reports say some parts of the province are experiencing the worst floods in 50 years. local authorities have received reports that pedestrians and cars have been swept away. they are carrying out rescue operations and are trying to assess the extent of the item.

a staple item for chinese consumers is back on the menu. authorities in shanghai halted the trade of live poultry in april over concerns about bird flu. the strain killed more than 40 people. shopkeepers recently got the go-ahead to resume sales, but some people are worried that could trigger new infections. nhk world reports. >> reporter: this supermarket is in the suburbs of shanghai. live chickens have just hit the shelves for the first time in two and a half months. many people have been waiting for this day. shoppers rush to buy the live chickens. >> translator: live chickens are much better because they are fresh. >> during the bird flu epidemic, the world health organization suspected the market selling live birds to be one of the

roots of infection. to prevent the disease from spreading, shanghai city closed its live poultry markets. the number of infection cases declined. with concerns still remaining, we asked people in shanghai which they prefer, live chickens or prepacked meat. >> translator: live chickens. they're fresher and taste better. >> translator: i prefer live poultry. bird flu is over. we just have to be careful. >> of the 30 people we asked, 21 said they would buy live birds. during the ban, prepacked meat was sold instead of live chickens, but it wasn't well received by consumers. in the shanghai area, most people buy live chickens at market and cook them while they

are fresh. stewing the whole chicken right after slaughtering it is considered hospitality. since live chickens disappeared from shops, many people just stopped eating chicken altogether. >> translator: no fresh chicken for so long. delicious. >> reporter: another reason people stick to live chickens is because they know what they are getting. food safety scandals are commonplace in china. in may, a series of incidents surfaced, including a case in which red meat was being sold. in other case, the meat of pigs that died of disease was being sold. that's why most people want to know for themselves that the meat they buy is safe.

inundated with requests, shanghai authorities issued a green light to sell live poultry again. in the meantime, the city has also laid out measures to lower the risk of infection with barred food. the city government has tied regulations to the poultry trade, cutting about half the number of markets that can sell live chickens. sales will also be suspended during the wintertime when the risk of infection increases. but the government plans to avoid the selling of live poultry for meat altogether in the future. >> translator: our ultimate goal is to abolish the trade in live poultry, but it needs to be done in a phased manner. it's permitted under certain conditions for now, but we'll raise the bar and tighten controls in the future. >> reporter: the trade in live poultry has resumed, but the

fear of another food outbreak remains. for the authorities, the challenge now will be convincing people to give up buying live chickens permanently. nhk world, shanghai. fishing boats have returned to ports in northern japan with unusually big hauls of pacific saury. the fishing season opened on monday. the number of boats was the fewest of three years due to soaring fuel prices. but at a port, 502 tons of saury was unloaded, far more than the first haul last year. >> translator: the haul was bigger than last year, but high fuel prices make business far from profitable.

the su aury fetched as much as 4.6 kilograms at market. that's higher than last year. the fish were sold at a local market for about $5 each. let's take a look at the markets now. time to get a check on world

weather. good morning. it seems a powerful typhoon is heading towards japan and taiwan. what is the latest? >> we have been tracking this quite serious system. this is the typhoon. you can clearly see the defined eye heading towards taiwan and the southern islands of japan. it is likely to bring waves up to about 5 meters and 7 meters high into tomorrow. then it will start to intensify over the warm sea surface water. it looks like it will become a violent typhoon status which is the highest level of any of the typhoons before it approaches these countries. so taiwan is also in the line of fire already packing wind gusts of 234 kilometers per hour. it will be 270 by thursday or friday local time. it is already a very strong

typhoon already intensifying. we will keep a very close eye on this system. now, apart from the stormy conditions that will be brought from this storm it is actually feeding the heat to japan indirectly. yesterday's record high temperatures hit 39 degrees. tokyo at 35 degrees. we have been seeing these digits for the past few days, some areas are seeing close to 40 degrees in the mercury level. about more than 600 locations saw above 30 degrees. and this is likely to continue for the next few days which means there is a very strong high pressure system overhead and daytime heating will create thunderstorms. talking about the rain and showers along this rain anywhere we will see additional amounts of about 150 millimeters.

we have already seen about 500 millimeters of rainfall. the flooding condition is disastrous. on top of that more rain to come. and just in the span of a day about 256 millimeters has fallen in the western province. no more rain is welcome there. across the countries seeing temperatures in the 30s. take a look at shanghai. 38 degrees well above your average with plenty of sunshine there. now to the americas. we are looking at chantel, a tropical storm system. it looks like it will maintain intensity as a tropical storm and it is already bringing hurricane-force winds. we have hurricane watches posted in some of the countries especially hispaniola. it looks like it will be tracking towards the countries and florida peninsula. we are seeing lots of rain and severe thunderstorms. we have several reports of tornadoes already falling from

this phenomenon. now, to the temperatures as we see death valley reaching 48 degrees. it is quite hot there or sizzling hot. some people are actually know how to cool off especially in new york. let me show you a picture. some new yorkers are escaping from the blistering heat at this newly opened bar called minus 5. the temperature remains minus 55 degrees celsius. everything here is made out of ice including the bar, glasses. the admission is $20. back to the temperatures. you are looking at 31 degrees. so it's a good idea to enjoy cooling off around there. i will leave you now for the extended forecast.

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. glad to have you with us. we are going to leave you with a site of flowers that signal the arrival of summer. residents in western japan are feasting their eyes on 60,000

sun flowers in full bloom. they saw them in late june. the rainy season dried up and the hot summer began. take in the breath taking sight until mid july.