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. supporters of ousted egyptian president mohamed morsi are gathering in cairo to demand his reinstatement. his opponents plan counterrallies. officials investigating the asiana airlines crash found no evidence the controls were not working correctly.

>> and as prime minister shinzo abe goes for more power in an upcoming election, we'll examine why japan's neighbors are giving his foreign policy the cold shoulder. egyptians are recognizing one of the most important days on the muslim calendar with tensions and clouds over their head. they're holding their first friday prayers of ramadan. supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi are gathering in cairo to protest what they call a military coup. members of morsi's power base, the muslim brotherhood, and other islamist groups are trying to organize mass rallies in the capital. many people have gathered near the presidential palace. >> reporter: i came to show that most of us egyptians want to see morsi back in power. we don't approve of the interim government. >> translator: this is an

important day for muslims. i pray to allah for a victory. >> the military deposed morsi last week and suspended the egyptian constitution. morsi supporters have confronted security forces since then. more than 50 people were killed in a clash on monday. prosecutors have ordered the arrest of senior members of the muslim brotherhood on suspicion of inciting violence. opponents of morsi are also planning rallies. they're gathering in a square in central cairo and other locations. the united states and china are sharply divide over several issues. that point was underscored during an annual meeting that ended thursday in washington. senior officials clash the over the case of edward snowden and cyber attack against u.s. interests. akihiro mikoda reports. >> reporter: the official discuss economic and strategic economic issues.

u.s. diplomatic of state william burns expressed disappointment that china allowed edward snowden to leave hong kong for moscow. >> we were very disappointed with how the authorities in beijing and hong kong handled the snowden case, which undermined our effort to build the trust needed to manage difficult issues. >> reporter: but china's state counselor defended hong kong's actions. >> translator: with regard to the snowden affair, the central government of china has always respected the way the hong kong government handles matters. they have done everything in this case in accordance with the law and are beyond reproach. >> reporter: the u.s. government has charged snowden with disclosing details of secret u.s. surveillance programs. he's believed to be hiding out at the moscow airport. during the meeting, the u.s. government also demanded that

china deal with cyber attacks on american government agencies and private companies. but the two countries achieved some positive results. these included an agreement to begin negotiating a treaty government investment. >> china announced intentions to negotiate a high standard bilateral treaty with us that will include all stages of investment at all sectors. a significant breakthrough in the first time china's agreed to do so with another country. >> translator: when it comes to trade and economic relations between china and the u.s. in particular, we still see growth increasing overall, albeit slowly. >> reporter: the u.s. wants china to apply the same rules to its state-run firms as it does to u.s. companies investing there. the chinese officials apparently believe the treaty will benefit companies planning to expand

investment in the u.s. at this round of annual talks between the u.s. and china, both say they see progress on economic matters. the talks have reinforced the need to build mutual trust as a key step toward building a stronger partnership. akihiro mikoda, nhk world, washington. >> china eastertorial disputes with its asian neighbors were also on the agenda during the two-day talks. u.s. president barack obama took up the issue when he met with the chinese delegate. white house officials said obama urged china not to try to settle its maritime disputes through threats or force. obama was apparently referring to china's claims to islands in the east and south china seas. they include the senkaku islands which japan controls. but state counselor repeated beijing's stance the sten ka ku and other islands are china's

inherent territory and china aims to settle such territorial issues through dialogue. a senior u.s. diplomat says negotiators may be able to work out an agreement to keep some american troops in afghanistan beyond their pullout date. nato-led combat forces are scheduled to withdraw from the country by the end of next year. >> of course without an agreement on our presence in afghanistan, we would not remain. but we do not believe that that's the likely outcome of these negotiations. unlike iraq to which comparisons are often made, the afghans actually need us to stay. >> dobbins spoke at a senate hearing following an announcement by white house spokesperson jay carney, carney said the so-called zero option is on the table. that would mean the complete withdrawal of u.s. troops by the end of 2014. around 60,000 american forces personnel are currently stationed in afghanistan. the question of whether some of

them should stay after the end of the nato combat mission is a sensitive one. tensions between the two countries flared last month when u.s. officials announced they would hold direct talks with the taliban. the afghan government reacted strongly saying it would suspend talks on a bilateral security pact. u.s. leaders say the final decision on the pact will be made in negotiations with their afghan counterparts. political analysts say members of the obama administration are growing frustrated. investigators probing the crash of asiana airlines flight 214 say they've found no evidence to back up a claim by one of the plane's pilots. they say there's no sign that the jet's auto throttles malfunctioned shortly before last week's accident in san francisco. two people died. and more than 180 others were injured. the pilot said the auto throttles were not working as

expected. the system automatically provides thrust to a plane when its speeds falls below preset level. deborah hersman of the national transportation safety board released the results of the analysis of the jet's flight data recorder. >> there is no anomalous behavior of the autopilot, of the flight director, and of the auto throttles based on the fdr data reviewed to date. >> the pilot also told investigators he realized the plane was approag the runway at a lower than usual altitude when it was about 150 meters above the ground. but hersman said data indicate the flight crew did not speak about the speed needed to maintain altitude until they were about 30 meters above the ground. ntsb officials are concluding their investigation at san francisco international airport. they will continue analyzing flight data and interviews before ruling on the cause of the accident. the two victims of the crash

were both 16-year-old girls from china. they were schoolmates and friends. residents of the los angeles suburb where they were headed held a vigil in their honor. ♪ they were both high school students on their way to attend an academic summer camp at a school in west hills near l.a. about 250 people gathered at a church in the town to honor them with prayer and song. >> i felt really bad for the parents in china. i felt really bad for their family members and for them, since they were very young. i wouldn't want to die at that age. >> asiana airlines has published an apology in major chinese newspapers. the advertisement says the company apologizes most deeply to all the passengers and their families for the distress that was caused by what happened. the company promised close

cooperation with authorities to look into the cause of the accident. a frantic search is underway in western indonesia after more than 150 inmates broke out of a crowded prison. the mass jailbreak occurred after the prisoners lit fires and started to riot. the escapees include convicted terrorists. the unrest began thursday evening while the inmates were protesting power cuts and water shortages at the prison in medan in north sumatra about 1,000 police and military officers have been deployed to search for the prisoners. there are nearly 2,600 convicts in the prison, more than double the facility's capacity.

a man enraged by a dispute involving taxes threw fire bombs inside a city hall in western japan. at least five people were injured. the attack occurred when a man threw two fire bombs over the counter of the taxation department. about 600 people were inside the building at the time. the 63-year-old man was arrested just after the incident. police say he was arguing with an official. city authorities had confiscated his apartment because he failed to pay his property tax. >> translator: this is very shocking. why did this happen? >> firefighters extinguished the blaze after about one hour. five people were taken to the hospital after inhaling smoke. executives at a power company in western japan have

filed applications to restart their reactors. the units must pass stricter safety checks put in place in response to the 2011 accident at the fukushima nuclear plant. officials at kyushu nuclear power company applied to restart two reactors. the officials have raised their estimation of the highest possible tsunami to hit the area around the plant from two to three meters. they say no new levee is needed because the facilities are 11 meters above sea level. the step brought the number of reactors under nra review to 12 at six plants across japan. nra experts are screening the applications to determine if the utilities have taken all necessary steps to ensure the safety of their plants. they say it will take at least six months to process each application. the utilities also need to obtain consent of local authorities before restarting a reactor.

only two of the country's 50 commercial reactors remain online. japanese politicians will be spending the weekend at work. they're campaigning for an upper house election. for voters, it's a chance to weigh-in on prime minister shinzo abe's first six months in office. abe is trying to consolidate his power. he and his liberal democratic party control the lower house. but opposition parties hold the majority of seats in the upper house. and that's created a divided diet where passing legislation can be tricky. in the days leading up to when japan decide, we'll be looking at some of the key campaign issues and hearing from voters about what matters to them. candidates from these nine parties are running in the election. the groups qualified for political party status. they include long-established parties and others that are relatively new on the scene. several groups that failed to meet the standards are still

fielding candidates. in all 433 candidates including independents are running in this election. many voters have been watching prime minister abe shape his foreign policy. they've seen him notch up some successes along the way. but they're keenly aware they'll need more time to improve relations with two of japan's most powerful neighbors, china and south korea. nhk world's susimo kojima reports. >> reporter: prime minister argues became unstable during the former administration. he met with president obama to try to smooth things over. then he went to japan to join talks for the u.s. transpacific partnership despite opposition at home. >> japan must work even more closely with the u.s.

>> reporter: abe sat down with russian president vladimir putin and convinced him to resume negotiations. and he actively promoted japanese industry abroad including nuclear power technology. >> the diplomacy has been very active and dynamic one. and he's been able to visit so many countries in such a short, short time, which is rather amazing when you think about previous experiences of many candidates. >> reporter: some media describe abe as a hokish leader. his response to issues has had an impact on regional relations. chinese leaders dispute japan's control over the senkaku islands in the east china sea. abe has stressed no room to back

down. chinese president xi jinping has taken a similar stance. they haven't met. japan coast guard officials say chinese government ships continue to enter japanese waters near the islands. >> i'm very concerned because if china continues sending these vessels, an accident can happen any moment. and once an accident happens, things can escalate very bad badly. >> reporter: relations with south korea have also hit touch. some analysts expected they would get better when president park geun-hye took office in february. but things soured after visiting the shrine. the shrine honors japan's war dead. leaders convicted of war crimes after world war ii are also remembered there.

>> translator: if japanese leaders forget about history and continue anarchistic behavior, they'll pay for it. >> reporter: park and abe haven't met, but park has held a summit with president xi. they vow to unite on issues but stop short of japan. experts say members of the obama administration are closely watching how these tensions play out. >> we don't want to see our largest and our most important ally in the pacific, which is japan, we don't want to see japan marginalized. >> reporter: there are no easy solutions for the problems that exist between these nations. but their economies are interconnected and share billions of dollars worth of trade. in one sense, improving relations is a must. it remains the biggest foreign policy challenge for japanese

leaders. susumu kojima, nhk world, tokyo. we'll be looking at a number of issues ahead of the upper house election. our coverage continues on tuesday with the first in a two-part series on prime minister abe's push to ae amend japan's constitution. we'll analyze his plan to change his pacifist core and make the self-defense forces more like a military. prime minister shinzo abe has worked to reshape japan's economy and get back to growth. now, he's setting his sights on amending the constitution, but his party must make a strong showing in this month's upper house election so it can push its policies forward. 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 21st election right here on "newsline." the asean economic community is gearing up to launch in 2015

potential japanese business partners are in hanoi to try to get in on the ground floor. nhk world's akiko reports from hanoi. >> reporter: japanese chamber of commerce in asean, the japanese business in southeast asia. members of the group met with asean secretary general in hanoi on friday. the japanese business leaders have great hope for the asean economic community. >> asean is most important -- >> reporter: when the asean economic community is established in 2015, it will allow the free movement of

people, goods through its member nations. the community is poised to become a global economic hub with a combined population of 600 million near china and india. however, there are wide gaps in the gdp per capita among member nations. and many for business activities. japanese business leaders are urging asean to implement measures to have japanese involvement. they want asean to simplify import and export procedures and beef up intellectual property protection. they also want to see the introduction of a so-called business travel card, which business people could use instead of a visa throughout the economic community.

>> translator: the requests from the japanese side were very practical, so we want to improve or business conditions in response to them. the federation made a special request based on feedback from japanese people working in southeast asia. when the asean economic community launches in two years, it will have a combined population larger than that of the eu. so business leaders around the world are eager to ride on the momentum of the expected growth. nhk world, hanoi. >> and now here are the latest market figures.

typhoon soulik is slamming southern japan. rachel ferguson from the weather team has been following this storm for us. rachel. >> hi there. yes. actually, we have some visuals coming out. show you right now at 9:55 japan time. the storm is really starting to batter the island now. we've had gusts recorded 171 kilometers an hour, storm surge occurring as well. this is just the start of what is going to be a very tough weekend with soulik. here's our storm. it's going to be moving towards taiwan and making a landfall

here during the overnight hours friday and into saturday. then a second landfall is expected in fujan province saturday afternoon. we are currently seeing sustained winds of 144 kilometers an hour with wind gusts at 216. there's been some marginal strengthening there. it is likely to produce not just storm surge and flooding from that also, but there's going to be a lot of rain coming off of this system. so up to 300 millimeters actually is seeing 200 on our model, but much of taiwan is likely to see about 300 millimeters of rain when all is said and done from this system. after making landfall in fujan province, you're going to see it's going to weaken down very quickly. probably to a tropical depression. but the rain is going to continue. so we're going to be seeing a lot of heavy rain and flooding from this system over the next couple of days. now, speaking of flooding, we can't forget this rain ban to the north. over the last several days we've been seeing rain stretching from

northern china through the korean peninsula and up into northern portions of japan. and the amounts are pretty significant. 100 to 200 millimeters on a daily basis. this is another area of great concern as we head through into the next couple of days. the tail end of this front was affecting sichuan province earlier in the week. we have some video coming out to show you the effects of these very intense thunderstorms. rainstorms devastating floods have been impacting much of central and southwestern china this week. 36 casualties have been reported because of the heavy rains and landslides as a result. the worst storm hit earlier this week in deyang city. you can see buildings just collapsing into these flood waters. this was on tuesday. so some very serious weather situations here across eastern asia. not forgetting the heat that has claimed lives certainly here in southern portions of japan.

we've got a couple very strong high pressure systems. and themptures will be way above average. 35 degrees in tokyo. we'll see things cooling down with rain in shanghai on saturday, but 37 inland china and chongqing also. let's take a look into north america. you're going to see storms here in the southeast and up through towards the mid-atlantic. lots of moisture coming in over the weekend. so that's not likely to change. up to the north severe weather here, could even see trntd tornadoings, hail, thunder and lightning and heavy rain moving east over the weekend and more storms and heavy rain, potential for flash flooding in the southwest too. here are your temperatures then for the americas. i'm going to leave you with your extended forecast.

before we go, an old

japanese saying describes sake as being the best medicine. a group of visitors to a buddhist temple in western japan have gotten to sample that medicine combined with the health giving power of lotus leaves. about 100 varieties of lotus are now in full bloom at the temple near kyoto. the temple priests hold the sake tasting event every year. temple staff pour sake onto lotus leaves. tourists then use the stem as a straw to drink the rice wine. the stem is rich in calcium and minerals. drinking sake in this manner is said to have originated in china, where people drank it for good health and longevity. >> that's "newsline" for this

hour. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for joining us. see you soon.