welcome to nhk world "newsline." the protest staged in manila on friday involves scarborough shoal in the south china sea. the territory is claimed by both china and the philippines. the demonstrations come one month after china deployed vessels in the area. nhk world's kathleen ocampo reports from manila. >> china! >> back off! >> china! >> back off! >> reporter: nearly 150 demonstrators gathered outside the chinese embassy in manila,

voicing their criticism of recent actions by the chinese government. >> to take away something without even taking consideration your neighbors, i guess that is not a proper way. >> reporter: the latest row began april 10th when chinese marine survey ships prevented a philippine navy vessel from seizing chinese fishing boats near the shoal. as the standoff continued china instructed authorities on may 2nd to step up checks on bananas and other food grown in the philippines. there's speculation the move is effectively a countermeasure on china's part. china accuses the philippine government of being behind the backlash on friday. >> translator: it was inappropriate for the philippines to incite its people

to hold the rally. this will only complicate and worsen the situation. >> reporter: the governments of both nations claim the shoal and are refusing to be the first to put out their boats. the standoff has virtually escalated to be a lateral confrontation intended to save face. with no breakthrough in sight, public frustration in the two nations is only growing. kathleen ocampo, nhk world, manila. a last minute political effort is under way in greece. the socialist party is trying to avoid another parliamentary election by forming a coalition government with a wide range of parties. the socialist pasok party is the latest to try its hand at forging a coalition. evangelos venizelos met the leader of the small moderate democratic left party which won

19 seats in the 300 member parliament on sunday. the democratic left offered to cooperate on condition austerity measures are gradually eased and the coalition is open to participation by a broader range of parties. meanwhile, the largest new democracy party has expressed its intention to join the coalition if the second largest radical left coalition and a large number of other parties participate. venizelos is expected to meet with the radical left coalition, which opposes austerity. but he could face difficulty in obtaining its cooperation in forming a coalition. investors have been fretting all week, the uncertainty has driven down the euro. and economists are wondering about greece's place in the european union. >> translator: i can't rule out the possibility that greece will leave the eurozone. if it does, it is likely to cause more problems for the greek economy. >> ikeda said the impact would be limited, compared to what investors have seen in greece over the last year.

the value of greek government bonds held by financial institutions has decreased significantly. the number of greeks who are jobless underscores the pain of austerity measures. unemployment hit a record and the situation may get worse. the jobless numbers for february put unemployment at more than 21%. that's up 0.4% from a month earlier. the rate has surged 6.5 points over the past year. the situation is particularly serious for people under the age of 25 with one in two out of work. the spending cuts in the austerity package have pushed an increasing number of businesses into bankruptcy. >> translator: half the people in our circle are now without work, half. in one family there may be two or three people who are unemployed. in some cases more. >> members of a business association estimate that 60,000 greek firms went under in the past two years. they warn that another 60,000

are on the verge of failing. the leader of syria's main opposition group blames the government of president bashar al assad for the bombings that killed more than 50 people in damascus on thursday. in an exclusive interview with nhk, syrian national council chairman burhan ghalioun called on the international community to step up its pressure against the government. >> translator: the assad regime has colluded with terrorist groups in and outside the country to terrorize citizens and justify the crackdown. >> ghalioun said monitoring of the cease-fire and mediation efforts are not enough to halt the violence because of the differences among u.n. members. >> translator: the united nations security council should adopt a resolution that allows the use of military force against the assad regime if it fails to comply with the cease-fire. >> ghalioun also acknowledged the need to overcome divisions

among opposition groups. u.s. officials say they're ready to pursue a security council resolution that would eninclude an arms embargo against the syrian government if the cease-fire fails. >> any and all violence that results in the indiscriminate killing and injury of civilians is reprehensible and cannot be justified. >> the state department spokesperson said the tactics employed in the damascus bombings are different from those used by opposition forces. she singled out potential third elements who seek to derail the transition process. russia's foreign minister has reiterated his country's opposition to foreign interference in syria. sergey lavrov said russia will not vote for a u.n. security council resolution to approve intervention. he said only syrian government and opposition forces can end the violence. after four years as russian prime minister, vladimir putin is back at the helm as

president. he now faces some unusual new challenges. putin aims to strengthen the country through a program of modern economization with aims to use russia as a status of a global super power. military parades and displays of modern weapons are a traditional way for countries such as russia to demonstrate their strength. one such parade was held on wednesday at moscow's red square. over the past two decades russia's strength has been undermined by an enemy that is not so easy to target. since the collapse of the soviet union, unemployment and economic instability have undermined russia's birthrate. at the same time, alcoholism and heavy smoking have contributed to a shortened life expectancy. russia's population has declined ever since it peaked in 1993 with 148.6 million people. according to some projections, the country could lose some 40 million people by the year 2050. the government is well aware of

the phenomenon, which it sees as a serious threat. nhk world's kazunori yoshimi has more from moscow. >> reporter: vorkuta is a russian town just north of the arctic circle. at the end of the soviet era the population topped 110,000, but it's been declining ever since. >> translator: nobody wants to live here anymore. they're all disappearing. >> reporter: the streets are lined with deserted buildings. some 3,000 families used to live in this district. but now the number of households is down to 100. president vladimir putin has repeatedly stated that this

threatens national security. >> translator: demographic decline is russia'most serious problem. we are facing a critical situation. the russian people need to understand that. >> reporter: for several years the russian government has responded with a campaign to raise the birth rate. it set up a modern program in the western region. yuri and maria elikhova, a young couple, last year maria gave birth to nakita, her second child. the family was rewarded with a check from the government worth approximately $12,000. the checks go out every time a family gives birth to more than one child.

the system was launched by the putin administration in 2006. yuri was also in for a big surprise. a russian-made suv named the patriot. the car is among the prizes of a lottery run by the local government for families with a newborn child. as a farmer, yuri earns the equivalent of $375 per month. this will be his first car. >> translator: many families decide to have more children for economic reasons. this system really helps. >> translator: in any case, i want to have a third baby.

>> reporter: every year russia spends nearly $1.4 billion on childbirth and educational subsidies. >> translator: we will build clinics for pregnant women all across the country. >> reporter: this policy managed to push russia's birthrate from 1.2 births per woman in 2000 to 1.5 in 2009. the figure remains below the number needed to stabilize russia's demographic decline. the question now is whether putin's government can come up with additional measures to reverse the trend. kazunori yoshimi, nhk world, moscow.

japan's earnings season for fiscal 2011 has reached its peak. a lot of companies suffered losses during the business year that ended in march. and that's mainly due to the yen's sharp appreciation and natural disasters in and outside japan. smbc nikko securities tallied the financial results of about 700 companies listed on the tokyo stock exchange. those firms had released their earnings by thursday. the tally shows that their combined pretax profits fell 13.3% from the previous fiscal year. that's the first drop in three years. the decline is attributed the yen's rapid advance as well as credit uncertainties in the midst of europe's sovereign debt crisis. the earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern japan in march last year and floods in thailand also cut deep into the earnings of electronics and automakers. looking ahead, though, smbc

nikko says about 77% of the company's expect bigger profits in this fiscal year. they're combined earnings are projected to grow 15.7% from fiscal 2011. gains. ko analyst explains the >> translator: if europe's debt problems are solved and the chinese economy regains momentum, we can fully expect the japanese economy to return to a path of recovery. >> panasonic announced a large net loss for the business year that ended in march. it was the word ever result for the company. the japanese consumer electronicsmaker said on friday that it posted a net loss of about $9.8 billion in fiscal 2011. that's a reversal from the previous business year when it posted a net profit of just over $900 million.

the loss is mainly due to the record high yen and intense competition with foreign rivals. stagnant sales in the core television business brought about heavy losses, riding off the losses from buying out sanyo electric also led to the decline. meanwhile in the current fiscal year through 2013, the firm may return to a moderate profit. it expects to post a net profit of $625 million. the firm says restructuring, especially in its tv business, will spur the recovery. in contrast, one japanese carmaker nissan managed to past a slight gain in its profit. the company outpaced rivals like toyota and honda which both reported a profit decline. nissan announced on friday that its operating profit rose 1.6% in the fiscal year, when calculated in yen, totalling about $6.8 billion. it said expanding global sales, especially in rapidly growing countries like china as well as central and south american nations helped offset the impact

of the yen's strength. nissan president carlos ghosn told a news conference he expects his company to do even better in the current fiscal year. he expects profit to jump more than 28%. ghosn said the profit goal will be reached through brisk auto sales. he sees global sales topping 3.5 million cars, renewing a record. >> i still think the biggest risk is the strength of the yen. we are protecting ourselves by just making sure that we are as much as possible using international capacities for markets and holding the export from japan to the minimum level, to the minimum level possible. relatives of japanese abducted by north korean agents are in the united states looking for help. they've asked a key member of congress for further cooperation in resolving the issue. members of the association of

families of victims kidnapped by north korea met ileana ros-lehtinen in washington, the chairperson of the foreign affairs committee of the house of representatives. the group says it told the republican lawmaker about an american man who was allegedly kidnapped by north korea. the man went missing in china's yunnan province in 2004. ros-lehtinen reportedly expressed strong interest in the case and said she will discuss the matter in congress and with the state department. she also said she wants to tackle the abductions of japanese nationals and suggested that imposing more sanctions on north korea may bemportant in resolving the issue. >> translator: i want americans to see that the abduction issue matters to them as much as it does to people in japan, and that the two countries should jointly work to resolve the problem.

voters in the u.s. are divided over one of life's certainties, taxes. the parties have made their positions clear ahead of the presidential election this november. republicans favor extending tax cuts on the wealthiest americans. president obama and the democrats want the rich to pay their share. nhk world reports from washington. >> reporter: demonstrators are calling for measures to overcome the wealth gap. they're unhappy that a small percentage of the population -- a majority of the country's wealth. >> we're all workers. this is like institutionalized slavery when only the people at the top can be successful and we're not being rewarded for our hard work. >> reporter: the middle class has long been a backbone of american society. but declining wages and other effects of the weak economy have hit the middle class hard.

15% of the population now live in poverty. it is the highest figure since 1993. wealthy americans have been seen as the cause of the widening income gap, but they have also begun calling for measures against the increasingly contentious problem. the catch phrase is tax me. wealthy americans are asking the government to raise the rate at which they're taxed and to use the money to collect the wealth gap. >> we think that wealthy americans like me should pay higher tax rates than middle income class americans, not lower rates. >> reporter: eric schaumburg is an investor. he lives in an upscale residential suburb of new york city. his great grandfather was an immigrant to the united states.

his father launched a computer-related business and made a huge fortune. back in those days, the american dream was possible for anyone who was willing to work hard. but he feels that things have changed a lot since his father's days. >> what i'm doing is trying to ensure that the american dream is available to everybody. i mean, i really believe in what america stands for, which is the opportunity for everybody to get ahead through their own efforts. >> reporter: shownberg thinks growth should be redistributed through tax hikes on the rich. he releases his tax papers on the internet to argue that millionaires like himself are paying lower tax rates than ordinary americans. he says more and more rich people are supporting his cause. >> i think vast inequalities of

wealth are inherently problematic, that they create the -- they create a lot of tension in society. i don't believe that's as valuable as working to ensure that they grow up in a society that works for everybody. >> reporter: the widening wealth gap is causing serious problems. many americans including the rich are feeling a sense of crisis. the issue and how it should be solved will surely take the center stage in the upcoming presidential campaign. nhk world, washington. economic growth in southeast asia has led to booming demand for high rise buildings. japanese construction companies with technical know how tested by natural disasters are setting foot into this growing market. nhk world's yoshio arima reports from singapore. >> reporter: japanese designed high-rise buildings present a number of advantages.

they are highly resistant to earthquakes. the construction period is relatively short and it requires less manpower. that is the message sent by 50 japanese companies, ranging from construction firms to steelworkers who hosted a two-day seminar in singapore to promote their building technologies. >> translator: construction of large facilities and high-rise buildings is booming in singapore and malaysia. asia, with its huge population, offers enormous market potential. >> reporter: the risk of major earthquake is smaller in southeast asia than in japan. this has led to a different approach to construction. internal steel structures that are normal in japan for

high-rises are left out. reinforced concrete is the favored option. this saves 20% to 30% on materials and labor. this 200-meter skyscraper lacks a steel frame, as do around 95% of singapore's high-rises. most projects entrusted to japanese companies so far have been built with reinforced concrete. different building materials are not the only obstacle. japanese construction face deep competition from chinese companies which have won several major contracts in recent years. >> translator: we'll promote our technologies that use steel frames. to gain a competitive edge we aim to highlight our technical know-how for projects involving

unique designs or high-rises. >> reporter: price competitiveness is a common issue for all japanese firms as they try to remarket shares in asia. in the construction field, the question is whether the technology used in japan will provide the key to unlocking the southeast asian market. yoshio arima, nhk world, singapore. mai shoji with the weather forecast for here and elsewhere. >> as for here, gene, well, we look like we're going to be having a sunny weekend ahead of us in metropolitan tokyo. and much of the country, except for northern japan. as we speak, we are seeing some snow in the northern region of hokkaido, especially towards the east. that's going to be tapering off, however, by sunday. so much of the country will be

looking at some clear skies, so great weekend ahead of us. high pressure will be dominating the korean peninsula as well, however, very different story here in central china and that will be moving towards the eastern region hunan province is where deadly tornado and rainstorms have hit the region early this week. now, this looks like another rainstorm is redeveloping over the regions and bringing some heavy downpour, which could exceed as much as 250 millimeters in the next 24 hours in and around hunan province. this is where the ground is very, very saturated, still, so upping the risk of flooding, landslides and mud slides. now, this rainstorm could be producing severe thunderstorms as well, damaging gusts and large hail. tornadoes cannot be ruled out from this system as well. so lots of things happening here in china for the weekend. over towards the north and eastern mongolia, very intense low pressure system will be ushering very cold air in the

wake of this system, dropping the temperatures down. and strong winds could be generating some dust storms over northern china. you can see that ulan batur just 6 for saturday high. we're not talking about low temperatures, this is the high for ulan batur and you'll be seeing some white stuff piling up there as well. but keeping things warm in beijing at 25 degrees. just in the middle, in tokyo at 19. but staying in the mid-30s in the tropics. all right, let's move over to the americas. things are going to be clearing out here in eastern coasts as high pressure will be replacing the low that has brought torrential rain. torrential rain still lies here in and around texas region. we have tornado watch across much of the eastern coast of texas and that is going to be moving towards louisiana. so as it gradually weakens, this system will be moving towards the gulf states. now, this could also bring some tornadic activity and hail, which could be large, as much as

a baseball size. and gusts could reach as much as 110 kilometers per hour. all right, let's take a look at your temperatures. well, winnipeg, if you can remember, yesterday we saw 29 degrees for the high. and 16 for friday high. so that's a very bumpy ride there. new york and washington, d.c., a pair of 22s. moving over to europe now, couple of low pressure systems will be affecting the scandinavian peninsula, bringing unstable conditions. and the associated front stretches all the way towards the iberian peninsula, and as this descends this is when things are going to get very cool and wet, unstable conditions there. and bringing the temperatures down. friday, we saw 29 in paris, dropping down to just 16 for the high on saturday. warsaw, looking at 28 to 17 degrees and then on sunday dropping down just to 13 degrees. so that's another roller coaster ride there too. here is your extended forecast.

we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes.

i'm gene otani in tokyo. thank you very much for joining us on nhk world. have a great day wherever you are. q