hello and welcome to nhk world "newsline." it's wednesday, june 12th. i'm catherine kobiyashi in tokyo. turkey's prime minister says he will not yield to protesters. erred juan has demanded an immediate end to almost two weeks of demonstrations. but protesters entered istanbul's thaksin square once

again under a cloud of discontent. police sent them scattering under clouds of tear gas. riot police stormed the square at the heart of central istanbul. they fired volleys of tear gas into the crowds. they targeted some protesters with the force of their water cannon. protesters fled into side streets and buildings, but gradually made their way back into the square. by evening, tens of thousands of demonstrators had gathered to renew their cause that erdowan step aside. some hurled stones at police who responded with the same tactics they used earlier in the day. some protesters have set up camp in a nearby park the government plans to redevelop. they say the redevelopment is yet another example of what they say is erdowan's authoritarian stale. the prime minister was scheduled to meet during the day with protest leaders, but the latest police response may jeopardize those talks. south korean diplomats are trying to some vaj meetings with their north korean counterparts.

the two sides were set for their first high-level talks in nearly six years, but could not agree on who would do the talking. representatives were set to gather during the day for two days of meetings in seoul, but disagreed on who would lead their delegations. the south koreans wanted the north koreans to send a senior negotiator in charge of relations between the countries. but officials in pyongyang refused. so the south koreans decide to send their dpult unification minister. the north koreans say that rank was not appropriate. a spokesperson for south korea's unification ministry says the response was absurd in terms of common sense and international standards. still, diplomats in seoul say the window for dialogue remains open. members of the taliban have claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside afghanistan's supreme court. at least 15 people were killed. about 40 others wounded. a car filled with explosives

approached mini buses carrying people who worked at the court. when it came up beside the buses, it exploded. police say the victims included women and children who were walking past. a statement from the taliban said the supreme court has infringed upon people's rights. it said there would be more attacks if the courts continued to hand down what the taliban calls unjust verdicts on their comrades. the attack was a second large scale assault on kabul in two days. on monday, taliban fighters targeted the main airport there. most foreign combat troops will withdraw from afghanistan by the end of next year. they are gradually handing over their responsibilities to afghan forces. but many residents are worried about what might happen once the foreign troops pull out. chinese leaders are further along in their race to get a better position in space. they have launched another manned spacecraft. it's the country's fifth such

mission. astronauts will conduct docking tests with a prototype space station. the sheng joe 10 spacecraft blasted off from the satellite launch center in inland china. officials say the craft has entered its planned orbit. three astronauts are on board, two men and one woman. they'll conduct docking tests with the space module. show engine ping encouraged the crew. state division broadcast the launch live across the country and around the world. the flight is scheduled to last for 15 days. it will be china's longest manned space mission. now government officials in beijing have had their sights set on space for many years. they started their manned mission in 1992. 11 years later, china successfully launched the first spacecraft, schenn joe 5. in 2008, one of the astronauts walked in space for the first

time. china launched a prototype space station three years later. last june, a trio of chinese astronauts flew into orbit and succeeded in docking their craft with the station. only crews from are the u.s. and russia have pulled off this feat. government officials from western nations are concerned about china's space program, mainly because the military plays a big role. the people's liberation army still controls the jew chew juan satellite launch center where the latest spacecraft took off. a facility in the gobi desert was originally built to test-fire missiles. the military effectively screens astronauts and trains them and develops the rockets used to go into space. u.s. defense officials say people's liberation army strategists see the ability to use space and deny rival nations access as central to enabling modern warfare. chinese officials have repeat repeatedly said their manned

spacecraft project is for peaceful purposes only. analysts have been mapping out china's space strategy to see how it fits with the country's overall goals. and they have been looking at the timing of this mission. >> translator: space development entails a major military role and it's important to continue to grow. china is playing up its comprehensive military role over wide areas, ranging from deep cease to outer space and inside of space. >> hiada says it's no coincidence china laujed the manned spacecraft after president xi met last week with u.s. president barack obama. >> translator: china has already surpassed the u.s. in terms of the number of rocket launches. china already reached a very high level, quantitatively and qualitatively. it's catching up with the u.s. really fast. >> chinese leaders are planning to build their own space

station. they hope to have it up and running by around the year 2020. company executives are not quite convinced that the japanese economy is recovering. we are joined now about machinery orders. >> good morning. it's a leading indicator of corporate capital investment and japan's machinery orders in april fell. that's for the first time in three months. cabinet officials say machinery orders for april stood at $7.5 billion, that's down 8.8% in yen terms from a month before. the data excludes orders for ships and power generators. orders fell after double digit growth in march. the fall was due to decline in demand in pulp and paper and petroleum products. well, u.s. stock prices declined on tuesday, and that's after losses in tokyo sent global equities lower. the dow jones lost three fourths of a percent to end the day at

15,1 22 points. and for more, let's go to elien lee at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. the bank of japan kept its monetary policy unchanged yesterday. this appeared to hurt investor sentiment, not just in japan but also globally and led to the yen's sharp rise against the dollar. tell us more about that. >> good morning. and yes, the dollar fell sharply against the yen overnight in the u.s. but first here are the opening levels for wednesday, june 12th. the in this case kay is lower at 13,016, approaching the 12,000 level. and that's after it fell almost 1.5% on tuesday. the broader public says it's also lower by more than 2% at 1,075 points. let's have a look at where the yen is trading at right now. the dollar yen is at 96.15 to 17 compared to the upper 98 level

before the bank of japan concluded its meeting overnight. 95 at one point. investors are selling the dollar and buying back the yen to unwind their short position in the japanese currency. let's have a look at euro yen. the currency pair is now at 127.97 -- now it's 128.01 to 06, with the euro also lower against the yen. retreating from the 131 level it was harboring at when we started the trading session tuesday. we'll see how the yen relates to shares today. also, a lot of focus is on interest rates. the yield on the japanese government bond rose after the boj decided not to implement measures to calm the volatility in the bond market. and we'll continue to keep track of this, as well as stocks, sensitive to interest rates such

as realistic develop tors. to refrain from additional commitments is adding on to concerns about global central banks cooling the stimulus measures. and that's amid speculation that a u.s. federal reserve may taper this asset-buying program so investors here in japan as well as globally will be closely monitoring how the banks move forward with their policies. back to you. >> all right, thanks for that update. eileen lee at the tokyo stock exchange. officials in debt-stricken greece are shutting down the state-run broadcaster as part of their drive to cut costs. a government spokesman said tuesday that hill ennic broadcasting corporation known as ert would go off the air at the end of the day. he cited its wasteful operations. the spokesman said such spending shouldn't be tolerated, as greece needs to slash its deficit and end its financial crisis. he said the government will set up a new, leaner broadcaster to replace ert.

ert is greece's only public broadca broadcaster. it employs about 2,500 people, who will lose their jobs, at least for the time being. workers rallied in front of the broadcasters at the head office in athens to protest the closure. european union officials have been in the city since monday to assess greece's austerity programs and discuss its fiscal reconstruction. that's all for now in business news. i'll leave you with a check on markets. reformist groups in iran are now rallying behind one candidate ahead of friday's

presidential election. and they're hoping voters will do the same. a high-profile contender has dropped out of the race to replace outgoing leader, mahmud ahmadinejad. rose self says he his exit means they'll be able to pull support for rah knee, a nuclear negotiator underca tammy. he has gained support from voters dissatisfied with the can conservative government. they want better relations with the west. they're coming under intense pressure from security authorities. conservative hard-line candidates close to supreme leader eye totalliy ali ham anyway are leading in the polls and considering ways to consolidate their support base. vietnam's prime minister finds himself dealing with some discontent after a rare show of public scrutiny. u.n. tan zun went before parliament in the country's

first-ever confidence vote. nhk world reports from hanoi. >> reporter: members of the parliament cast their votes on monday. they assessed the performance of 47 leaders in top positions in the national government, including presidents and prime minister. members could vote on whether they had high confidence, confidence and low confidence. the vote is part of changes approved by the legislature last year. our leader survived the vote but the prime minister -- more than 30% of members gave low confidence vote on his performance. the harsh -- could be a sign of poverty with the country's slowing economic growth. the lowest rank among the 47 leaders is central bank

governor, who has a low confidence vote from more than 40% of members. the communist party closely controls both the parliament and media in vietnam. it is very rare for political leaders to be subject to such evaluation. vietnam's say the country's first-ever confidence vote should promote accountability in government. observers say the results show to some extent the personal judgment of each parliamentary member. the votes can be seen as reflection of public frustration over the scandal and economic policies. nhk world, hanoi. myanmar president ten sane has held his first meeting with the sean state army, the biggest minority group in the country.

the government has reached cease fire agreements but fighting continues with other groups, including the shaw. the meeting took place on monday. according to ap, state army leader, jod sirk, said the president agreed to his proposal to set up a committee with the aim of working out a peace process. the country has lagged behind due to the civil war. we came to discuss how we can cooperate in the future to end this civil war. >> an minn, the minister, says the main problem is that the same areas are used by both the shan state army and government forces. >> translator: fighting continues, because we do not have clearly-marked land for the separate forces. the president said we need to allocate zones based on

priority. without clear demarcation, the troops encounter each other, and that is when fighting breaks out. >> the international community is watching how the reformists taken sane government will work toward national reconciliation. last month, the government agreed to a temporary cease fire with another ethnic group, the cuspen people. observers say the meeting with the shan state army and move by the government to show that it's making efforts. emerging economic powers still struggling with poverty. emboldened citizens still demanding democrats accuracy. 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 world "newsline." russian-held islands claimed by japan are back in the spotlight. a senior official from russia's

far eastern province unveiled infrastructure plans for the disputed islands. he spoke to reporters in the main city. the infrastructure projects will be on the curl islands, the four disputed islands seized by russia immediately after world war ii. he said the federal and local governments will spend about $200 million to carry out 14 projects. one project is constructing a pier on the island for large cargo vessels by this autumn. housing hospitals and sport facilities will be built on chic owe tan islands. he said chinese and south korean companies are already taking part in the projects. >> translator: we are interested in japan's latest technology for agriculture and vegetable cultivation. using geothermal generation.

president vladimir putin discussed the islands with japan's prime minister shinzo abe when they met in april. putin said he must improve the lives of the island's russian residents. a railway engineer from india has been invited to study shing can sen bullet train and subway technology at the university of tokyo. india is refusing up its railway systems. plans are under way for new subway lines in deli, and high speed railways across the country. the 32-year-old engineer is employed by the operator of the new dehli metro. he'll be at the university's graduate school for two years, starting in october. he's also scheduled to learn train inspection skills, as an intern at a railway maintenance facility. this will include shing can sen bullet trains. this is the first time for the university of tokyo to invite a student from india to study railway technology.

by the year 2030, as many as 4 out of 10 japanese will be living alone. many will be older than 65. unmarried and childless. if they become ill, they may have no one to look after them. that's prompted some people to ban together so they can avoid that fate. nhk world's saudi in that case ga would reports. >> reporter: these women between the ages of 40 and 80 are on their way to a meeting at the funeral home. each one lives on her own, some never married, others are widows. they're attending an informational meeting held by a nonprofit organization. they hope to achieve peace of mind about their end of life plan. the organization handles everything for its members.

the members visit the mortuary. >> translator: i feel so relieved. i'm glad. >> translator: i was very worried about who would deal with my body after i die. >> reporter: the organization also helps members prepare for old age and make plans by connecting to people in the community. about 900 people belong to the group. and more women with no family to rely on are joining. >> translator: in 10 or 20 years, people who live alone without any family to help them will face problems. they have to make new connections to take the place of their families. >> reporter: she is a member.

she worked at a large manufacturing company. she focused on her career and never got married. her parents have passed away, and her siblings live out of town. she has no one to handle emergencies. she is preparing instructions on how she would like to be taken care of if she becomes ill. >> translator: based on the average life expectancy, i have about 20 years left. this just provides me with a safety net. i want to make sure that i'll be taken care of. >> reporter: once in a while, they socialize with members living close by. the organization put them in touch. here, the members bring information in case of emergency.

>> translator: i wrote down where we could evacuate to. >> reporter: after the earthquake in march 2011, she began to feel that people living alone could easily become isolated. she is relieved to know she has a place to find shelter with others. >> translator: it's comforting to know that there are people nearby thinking the same thing i am. especially since i live alone. i have to create a community myself. >> reporter: she visits the cemetery she plans to be buried in. the organization has prepared a joint burial club for its members. already, 20 are buried here. >> translator: it's good to team up with people so we can help each other. now i just want to live my life to the fullest until the end.

>> reporter: as society changes, people are looking for new ways to support each other. nhk world, tokyo. time now for a check on the weather. many areas of europe, especially central europe, are flooded. our weather desk gives us the latest. >> good morning, catherine, you're right. the brunt of the flooding rain continue to cross central europe, which includes the germany, the czech republic, as well as hungary, but also the peninsula is looking at some flooding conditions. let me show you video from both of these areas. central europe has been hit by its worst flooding in years. conditions are slowly easing but a dike gave way.

meanwhile, northern spain residents said they have never seen the river rise so high. taking you back to the satellite picture, this is going to be good news for everyone out there. it's going to be clear across the peninsula, as well as the low countries in much of the central regions of europe. czech republic, you still have the red warnings for flooding, but finally these rains will be dissipating. but it will be making its way towards the east to the balkan peninsula. and this is the area where we have numerous reports of thunder thunderstorms, hails have been reported in bulgaria and in romania. so this is the area where unsettled conditions will continue on for the next several days. out towards the british isles, this system is actually the remnants -- what's left over from the tropical storm andrea. this is bringing wet and windy conditions to the british isles, as well as the low countries. and it's pulling cold air from the north, making things quite on the chilly side. london at 17 degrees with some

localized heavy rain. and madrid looking at 31, so hot down there. warsaw and kiev at 25 degrees. let me give the updates of the tropical storm still over water. now it's starting to deform, and dissipate before it moves towards the western regions of japan. already, though, the gusts are reaching up to 110 kilometers per hour so the pacific side is looking at some waves quite high. but you can see that the speed has really decreased. it was about 35 yesterday, now down to 15 kilometers per hour. but this is bad news, because this system will linger across similar areas, and the stormy conditions will be continuing. not just directly hitting the islands and -- but it's actually activating, energizing this stationary boundary. and heavy rain could be found across the contour region and all wait down into kutsche u.

heavy rain in the korean peninsula and towards the northeastern areas of china. but the southeastern coastal chinas, let me look at some ongoing story with localized heavy downpours. shanghai, 25. hong kong, 28. taip taipei, locally heavy rainfall at 31 degrees. also 31, heating up here in akin at that. now towards north america, still the southwest looking at some really hot conditions, critical fire weather is in store for you. the severe weather is up here now. the upper midwest regions and northern plains. but that's going to shift towards the southern areas of the great lakes regions and to your wednesday, we cannot rule out the tornadic activity. chicago down to 27 from your 30, so a little bit of a relief there. now the extended forecast.

and that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. stay with us. we'll be back with more at the top of the hour.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: u.s. lawmakers called today for edward snowden, the man behind the leak of classified government surveillance programs, to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, we get two takes on the n.s.a. story. first, we examine how the intelligence community's reliance on contractors may put top-secret information at risk. >> woodruff: then, google is the first tech giant to respond on- camera about its role in the prism prog