welcome to nhk world "newsline." investigators are on the scene of a deadly shooting in a suburb of the u.s. city denver. a gunman opened fire at a movie theater in aurora, colorado. police say 12 people are dead and 40 others are wounded. they've arrested a suspect. the shooting happed after midnight. people were watching the premiere o oththnenebabaan movie "theheararknight ris reses popoce say the s spepe held at lelet t o guns. a local rarao o ation reportrthe

was wearing g gagamask and set off a smoke e t tr r s bomb. ergency crewewhaha rushed the e wowoded to the h hpipil.l. the injurereininude those whwh gogohuhu while trying totoscsce from the t tatat. is theater attacaccomes ononhehe heels s a ahohoininin alabama eaeaieiethis week thth w wndnd 17 people. anti-government forces in syria are gaining more ground in their campaign to topple president bashar al assad's regime. they have been fighting on a number of fronts in the central part of the country and in the capital damascus. now they've seized several border crossings. the anti-government forces say they've taken control of some positions on the border with turkey. online video shows opposition members destroying a portrait of president assad at one site. a senior government official in iraq says the syrian opposition has also captured a crossing on the border with that country.

the violence has been escalating since an explosion on wednesday in damascus killed three senior figures, including the defense minister. security forces loyal to assad are retaliating for the attack. state television reports that assad's forces have restored security in the midan district south of the capital after fierce fighting. a u.k.-based human rights group says at least 280 people died across the nation on thursday alone. that would be the highest daily death toll since the violence began 16 months ago. security authorities in ighboring lebanon estimate some 18,000 people fled there from syria over the past couple of days. the association of southeast asian nations says it's united over the south china sea issue, but there's still no full communique. dhra dhirakaosal has an update. >> last week, asean ended its

meetings without issuing a joint communique. on friday, the chair country cambodia made a statement about basic principles about the china sea issue but didn't touch on the controversial parts of the dispute involving china, the philippines and vietnam. earlier this month, asean foreign ministers peting in phnom penh couldn't agree on the wording of their communique. on one side of the disagreement were the philippines and vietnam. two countries in dispute with china over the south china sea. on the other side was cambodia whose top financial supporter is china. marty natalegawa has been on a two-day mission visiting the asean nations involved. the shuttle diplomacy was to try to unify asean's position. cambodia's foreign minister called for unity. even so, the statement issued friday only mentioned basic principles such as solving the south china sea issue peacefully

without military force. it didn't mention anything about the standoff between philippine and chinese vessels that lasted more than two months. manila had demanded the incident be included. asean has again failed to solve the central reason for the row. cambodia's economy has moved on from the pol pot era but even today the chaotic past causes lingering problems. one example centers on the construction boom. some households that can't prove they own their land are being forced from their homes. nhk world toshiyuki tarazawa reports. >> reporter: cambodia's economy is growing by more than 5% annually, a sign of the times is a new high-rise buildings, bridges and roads and the construction in the capital city

of phnom penh. but there are victims behind the scenes of this large development. the government holds development rights and is forcing out residents opposed to its projects. it's not rare for clashes between the authorities and residents to result in injuries or even in death. observers estimate that tens of thousands of people were displaced by development projects in the past few years in phnom penh alone. cambodia's history is complicating the program. many residents of the capital were forced by the pol pot's government to move to farming areas in 1970s. the regime later banned property deeds and real estate registries. now it's unclear who owns what

land and residents have little choice but to obey government eviction orders. this woman lives in phnom penh with her nine famil members. now officials are demanding the family leave the area where an irrigation facility planned. the government said the family is effectively occupying the land legally. her family moved in more than three decades ago. she has a document she received from a local powerful person proving her residence. she believes the document proves that the land belongs to her. >> translator: i have lived here for more than 30 years. i'm not occupying the land illegally. >> reporter: but authorities

claim otherwise saying the document has no legal basis. >> translator: they do not have the legal right to claim the land. we can ask them to leave any time if necessary. >> reporter: in an effort to reduce programs involving land rights, the japan international cooperation agency has embarked on a two-year project to improve cambodia's land registry system. however, the project team has to work from scratch because the former regime destroyed almost all of the land registries and killed many legal experts. >> in japan, it has taken for granted that there are land laws. it's a pity that cambodians cannot prove their rights due the lack of such laws. we hope our project will help

cambodia create a law to protect resident rits. >> reporter: the eviction issue continues in cambodia despite the country's strong economic growth. the japanese team hopes their painstaking work will restore rights to cambodians. toshiki terezawa, nhk world, phnom penh. in indonesia, millions of muslims are getting a jump on this year's ramadan celebrations. a large islamic organization has told its members to begin fasting on friday, one day ahead of the official start of the holy month. ramadan is a time when followers of islam show piety by fasting from dawn to dusk. it's also an opportunity for prayer, self-reflection and doing good deeds. >> translator: i'm especially grateful this ramadan because natural disasters that killed

many of our brothers in recent years didn't happen this year. >> malaysia and bangladesh have declared ramadan shall start on saturday. and india on either saturday or sunday. in southern thailand, authorities warned that islamic militants were likely to attempt a large-scale attack ahead of ramadan. and on friday, a car bomb destroyed a four-story commercial building in the southern most province. the blast injured eight people and heightened the sense of fear among the local community. thailand's deep south has been plagued by violence since 2004. at least 5,000 people have been killed in frequent attacks blamed on muslim separatists. and that's wraps up our bulletin. i'm dhra dhirakaosal in bangkok. officials at japanese

automaker suzuki say they aren't sure when their company's subsidiary in india can reopen an assembly plant. they are investigating a deadly riot that erupted at the factory this week. a fight between a worker and supervisor ignited the violence at the maruti suzuki plant in the northern state of haryana. 100 workers stormed the office and set it ofire and assaulted officials. it left an indian worker dead and two japanese plant managers injured. police have arrested about 100 workers on suspicion of arson, attempted murder, and other charges. suzuki officials say no serious damage has been done to the plant, but they add the factory will remain closed for some time as the police investigation continues. india accounts for 30% of suzuki's group net profit. china's near monopoly on the extraction of rare earth minerals has prompted a worldwide race to secure

alternative sources for supply. now researchers say japan will be able to exploit massive reserves found beneath its own waters within three years. professor yasuhiro kato at the university of tokyo says the reserves found last month by his team will be highly profitable. he proposes using crude oil exploration methods and magnets to extract the metals efficiently. his team uncovered 6.8 million tons of deposits at a depth of 5,600 meters. the site is located near the island of minami-torishima some 2,000 kilometers southeast of tokyo. according to the team's calculations, the deposit would cover japan's current consumption needs for the next 200 years. major japanese railcar maker nippon sharyo has opened a new factory in the u.s. state of illinois. it's the firm's first overseas production facility.

illinois governor pat quinn and over 400 other people attended the plant's opening ceremony in rochelle. >> investing in rail, in passenger rail, commuter rail, is a very good investment for jobs in illinois. >> the 140,000-square-meter factory cost about $53 million to build. it has the capacity to make 120 passenger railcars a year. nippon sharyo will make double-decker cars for a railway network in illinois. in the future, the company hopes to produce railcars for export. calls for job creation and the development of local manufacturing plants are increasing in the u.s. in the countdown to the presidential election this autumn. many japanese railcar makers are considering setting up production facilities in the u.s. as they face intense competition for overseas contracts.

officials at japan's space agency are getting ready for a special launch. the h-iib rocket is set to lift off just after 11:00 a.m. japan time on saturday. the rocket has already reached the launch pad at the space center in southern japan. it will carry an unmanned cargo vehicle. its job is to carry supplies to the crew of the international space station. officials are watching the launch with great interest because the cargo includes an unprecedented experiment. nhk world's daisuke azuma at the tanagasha space center in southern japan has the details. >> reporter: the iss orbits the earth at an altitude of about 400 kilometers.

it carries a japanese experiment module. it is scheduled to dock there in about a week. they can fit in the palm of your hand. astronauts with use of robot arm and the module for the experiment. unlike many experiments on the iss, they will not need to venture outside the space station. the satellite will be placed inside special containers. the orbit arm will carry the satellites outside the station and release them. >> translator: satellites are usually launched with rockets, but the massive vibrations caused by rocket launches requires sat rights to be very strong structurally. if japan can release satellites from the experiment module, small satellites won't need to be so durable.

premade parts can be used to reduce production costs. >> reporter: officials hope a successful experiment will add another option for launching satellites. the crew of the iss will share a shipment of supplies. that's why russia and europe are also developing transfer vehicles. if these vehicles can carry small satellites to the iss and release them using a robot arm, it will increase the number of satellite launches. that would encourage more private companies toenture into such a business. it should enter orbit some time in september. if all goes well between now and then. daisuke azuma, nhk world, tanagashima island. >> if everything goes according to plan, the h-iib rocket is scheduled to lift off at 11:06 a.m. local time on saturday.

japan will not send any professional baseball players to the world baseball classic tournament next march. the athletes say they're unhappy with the distribution of revenue from the event. the japan professional baseball players association says the united states major league baseball is refusing to answer requests to distribute revenue more equally. the association calculated japan's share was limited to 13% of revenue against 66% to american players and the major league. >> translator: it was a difficult decision, but we had no choice. it's for the sake of all future baseball players. >> an executive in charge of the event told nhk the revenue is distributed fairly. he said the organizer spends a large sum of money on insurance against players injuries and support for countries where baseball remains a minor sport. >> the number one objective of

the tournament is to give baseball in general a platform in which we can grow the game around the world. it's a tremendously expensive tournament to operate. >> japan won both previous tournaments in 2006 and 2009. 16 teams took part in the event. about 100,000 people are still forced to live in evacuation shelters and temporary housing due to radioactive fallout from last year's nuclear accident in japan. the government has compiled new guidelines to speed up compensation claims addressed to the plant's operator, tokyo electric power company. the guidelines say evacuees who cannot return home for at least six years should be paid the full value of their houses. they also recommend setting compensation for old properties to at least 20% of their initial value. people who lost their job or business in the evacuation should receive a lump sum adjusted to their line of work. the compensation process has been delayed by differences between evacuee claims and the amounts the utility was willing to pay.

tepco says it will present next week a new set of compensation standards that reflect the government's guidelines. chinese are drinking more wine than ever. as their thirst grows, winemakers at home and abroad are sniffing a good business opportunity. already some chinese vintners are making wine so good that overseas customers are buying it. nhk world's susumu kojima reports on china's growing wine industry. >> reporter: even though wine cultivation is not part of china's culture, scenes like this have become more common in recent years. chinese are drinking twice as much wine as they did five years ago. >> translator: i love wine. i always drink it.

>> reporter: amid the boom, some chinese have been putting up their own version of a building seen in france's wine growing areas. these chateaus, as they are called, indicate the owner has both a vineyard and facilities for processing wine. i'm in shandong province, a coastal region of eastern china. wine production is increasing here to meet the strong demand from chinese consumers. china's biggest wine producer with a history of 120 years owns the chateau. built ten years ago, it's the country's first. the chateau attracts tourists by the droves. last year, more than 120,000 people visited. >> translator: first, you check the color of wine.

please tilt your glass at 45 degrees. you can enjoy the ruby red color. >> reporter: the tour ends with wine tasting. the guide explains how to drink it and what to appreciate. this helps visitors understand the wine culture. >> translator: this place made me feel like i'm deep in wine culture. >> reporter: the company exports some of its premium wines to more than ten countries. the winemaker operates five other chateaus in china and plans to build two more in four years. >> translator: by visiting our chateaus, tourists will understand more about the role of the chateau and wine culture. this will lead to further development of china's wine market. >> reporter: now foreign

companies are coming to china to grow wine. a french wine group that owns one of the most popular brands among chinese consumers started planting this vineyard in shandong province in march. john colin heads the project. he also helped find the location. >> how long does it take for you to find this place? >> three years. four years. >> reporter: colin says shandong's climate and soil are suited for wine production. the brittle soil does not lap up water and lets the roots grow deep. >> 15 years ago when i come in china, all my friends tell me, you are crazy. you cannot make a good wine in china. now he said all people come and

we can make a good wine, sure. >> reporter: the owners plan to start selling locally made wine in four years. they aim to produce quality wines. they also want to show chinese consumers how wine is made in bordex. >> chinese people understand how to -- and need to understand how to drink wine, how to know this wine is good or not. and these need time. but we want our vineyard also to explain. >> reporter: chinese and foreign winemakers work hard to spread the wine culture among the chinese hoping to encourage them to buy more wine. susumu kojima, nhk world, shandong province, china. for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji.

mai? >> heavy downpours have been affecting much of the eastern continental asia. especially in kyushu region as well as kinki region. let me show you a video from fukuoka prefecture. the visibility almost close to none with this really heavy downpours. 137 millimeters has been accumulating in the past 24 hours here in fukuoka. in hyogo, 87 millimeters in just one hour span have targeted the region. so if we can pull back, i can show you that this is going to be an ongoing situation across much of the western half of japan due to this high pressure just sitting over water, bringing all the ample moisture and dumping buckets full of rainfall. now the additional accumulations could be as much as 150 millimeters in the northern kyushu region. kinki has already seen its peak and that's going to be gone. however, short time heavy rain

could also still be possible in and around these regions. about 50 millimeters in an hour. across much of the eastern and northern japan, we have a high pressure that is lingering around this area bringing a lot of cool air around the ridge of this high pressure system. so temperatures are still going to be on the cooler side, especially in kanto region as well. you can see this tropical storm here. that's a tropical depression as of now but will be intensifying in the next 24 hours as a tropical storm. and that's going to be moving across the luzon area affecting heavily with those downpours, especially on the western seaboards of luzon. already 100 millimeters of accumulation has been saturating the land and rising the water levels. but additional of 150 to 200 millimeters could be possible across much of northeastern china as well. this heavy rainmaker band will be bringing 250 millimeters, especially in and around beijing region. temperaturewise, we're looking at a pair of 31 in seoul and in

beijing with chances of thunderstorms. tokyo just seeing 22 degrees. that's about the same as today. what a huge drop from what we saw thursday which was about 36 degrees. moving over to the americas now, the midwest and across the mid-atlantic regions, this is where the severe weather would be found for your saturday. now this low pressure system will be bringing short time heavy rain which is going to be really dangerous for flash flooding. it's going to be upping the risk of it. and then the cold front will be sagging in toward northern appalachians and along here is where the severe weather could also be found. the dakotas and minnesota, you'll also be targeted with a few thunderstorms. across much of the rest of the continent, looking at still record-breaking drought conditions. where we really want that rain, it's here in the arklatex region but you can see you'll be seeing none to very low percentage of rainfall accumulation there in the next 24 hours.

heating up in oklahoma city at 41 degrees. also all the way up to winnipeg at 27. denver reaching 38, well above average, but staying cool in new york at 23 degrees. moving over to the european continent, a lot of you are worried about the weather here in london as there is the olympic hype. but it looks like it's going to be a really sunny and warm weekend ahead of you. temperatures are going to be rising. london at 21. but early next week you'll be seeing that in the mid-20s. here's our extended forecast.

we'll be back with more

updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo. from all of us here at nhk world, thanks for joining us. have a great day wherever you are.