welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, june 25th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the man who exposed government surveillance programs is at the center of diplomatic discussions. the state representatives are trying to get their hands on edward snowden.

they are negotiating with russia to extradite the former contractor who is charged with espionage. state department spokesperson said the americans believe snowden is still in moscow. he nodes deputy secretary william burns and otherer officials are holding talks with their russian counterparts and hope the russian government will look at all available options to return snowden back to the u.s. to face justice. the state department officials believe russian authorities did not allow snowden to leave the country in consideration of the u.s. position. snowden arrived in moscow on sunday from hong kong and did not board a plane on monday for the cuban capital even though his name was on the passenger list. the foreign minster said snowden requested asylum and said a u.s. embassy requested his government not comply, but he stressed a

decision will be made with law and un resolutions on human rights. wikileaks founder gave a news conference on monday by phone from ecuador's embassy in london where he is staying. he suggested he is not a traitor or spy, but a whistle blowerer who exposed injustice. foreign minsters have thrown support behind a proposal for an international conference on syria. u.s. and russian leaders have been pushing if are the meeting to negotiate an end to the country's civil war. foreign minsters from 27 eu nations agreed to work towards a solution in syria. they said peace talks should be convened with represent 2i6s of the government and opposition forces. they lifted a ban on arms shipments to syria. members are permitted to send weapons to forces. they decided to hold off for

now. u.s. and russian officials will hold a meeting for the conference on tuesday in geneva. but the syrian government and opposition forces remain far apart on preconditions for taking part in the talks. a court in milan has convicted berlusconi of paying for sex with an underage prostitute. the judge sentenced him to years in prison and barred him from public office for life. berlusconi is appealing the decision. the court ruled berlusconi is builty of abusing the power of his office. he attempted to cover up the scandal by pressuring police to drop theft charges against the prostitute. the sentence is a year longer than they asked for. berlusconi is maintaining his innocence. >> we will appeal and if necessary will go to the highest court.

>> the former prime minister won't have to serve prison time until he exhausts the appeals process. another italian court previously found berlusconi guilty of tax evasion and involved in leaking information. he is appealing those rulings too. >> workers at the damaged nuclear plants have detected unusually high levels of radioactive substances off the coast of the guilt. the plant operator is not ruling out the possibility that contaminated ground water is seeping into the sea. tepco workers tested samples from a port near fukushima. they found the water contained ten times more radioactive right to yum than previous samples and it's less than 150. workers found them exceeding the safety level earlier this month in water drawn from a well near

one of the plant's reactors. they will reexample the data from the sea and well water. they hope to determine whether the polluted ground water is reaching the ocean. they will use chemical to reinforce the ground and stop the keepage. chinese dissident is criticizing the authors for allegedly forcing a u.s. university to dismiss him. they pressured new york. >> translator: authorities are reacting sharply. they will never be able to silence us using these kinds of methods. >> chen spoke in taiwan where he was on a visit with his wife and children. he declined to comment on his future projects.

it would be natural for him to return to china. the dhi these government spokesperson responded. >> to refrain from undermining the state's interest. >> the spokesperson said china's foreign ministry. they will discuss china's growing strength at sea. they say they will stand against a unilateral show of force. they met in tokyo and discussed china's recent rise in maritime activity. japan and the if il beans each have issues with china over islands in their connectioning seas. any action to change the status quo by force will be

unacceptable and said disputes should only be solved through international law. >> they said the philippines hopes a peaceful solution can be found for any crisis. investors are desperate looking for reassurance that the global equity sell off is done and losses are only snowballing into more losses. good morning. why are investors so worried? >> investors are disagreeing with the u.s. central bank about when to taper the monetary easing and add to that fresh concerns about banks in china. u.s. stocks tumbled after a heavy sell off in shanghai adding to jitters about the plan to taper bond buying. risk aversion is prominent. the dow jones average closed at a two-month low of 14,659, down 139 points or 0.94%.

the benchmark plunged more than 240 points at one stage. fears of tapering by the fed pushed the yield on treasuries higher. those on 10-year government bonds closed at the highest level since august of 2011 in new york. the spike in u.s. treasury yields also rippled through to europe. the effect was particularly evident in the debts of fiscally strapped countries. the yield on the spanish bond rose above 5% for the first time in 2.5 months. on the italian government bonds it exceeded 4.8%, marking the highest level in about three months. they saw sharp declines following the deg negative performance in asia. to see how this is affecting all of this, we will go to the tokyo stocks exchange. another day of volatility.

how is tokyo kicking off this tuesday morning? >> we have seen the figures if are europe and the u.s. a lot of volatility in the market. let's see how we are kicking off for june 25th. i can you volatility here as well. they are in the positive and io positive. let me remind the viewers that the nikkei fell and as you said, there is a big focus on bond yields and the bank of japan trying to call markets with its own on buying procedures as well. comments by central bankers are either here and the u.s. and taking on extra meetings as investors look for signs and assurances both from the u.s. and japan central banks as they both embarked on market shifting policies which is really created that volatility that we have seen in stocks, currencies as

well as bonds as well. i need to bring up another point and that is really the focus on china markets and after we saw the plunge in the shanghai composit composite. the hang seng index is seen right now on the screen. there is a concern over the growth issues or cash crunch as investors like to say. they are a wait and see policy about what the government may take to ease market concerns. >> indeed it being loos like investors are looking if are a clearer picture on all fronts. currency, where do we stand on some of the pairs? >> a big issue of course. that has been a big focus. it's down against the yen compared to this time yesterday. comments if are federal reserve officials sent the dollar lower and some called if are a lowering of expectations of an early tapering of the bond

buying program. that's playing into the markets at the bottom of the screen. so that's a focus as well. further market direction may be dictated by the government officials and a lot of data coming out of the u.s. the goods orders and consumer confidence and new home sales. that will be a big focus as well. we will keep track of china's shares as well. given that plunge that we saw yesterday. a lot of focus on that and the nikkei is in the positive and the topix in the negative. >> thanks for the update. from the tokyo stocks exchange. the economic researchers said the mood of the moment for big manufacturers is optimism. the weaker yen is taking industry on an upward trend. they gave predictions for the bank of japan's quarterly survey

to be released next monday. the measure of business sentiment ranges from minus 4 to plus 5 points, up from the minus eight points of the previous report in march. now six of the ten institutes predicted a great improvement with major makers with the forecast on mitsubishi research institute. a wide range including autos and electric machinery makers. the up turn is thanks to the weaker yen. it's amazingly the u.s. the forecast for small and medium sized manufacturers showed a smaller uplift. they had minus 17 points to minus 12 points. that's an improvement over 19 points of the previous report

that marked a fifth consecutive decline. sentiment among the smaller businesses will likely snow a slight and dpradual improvement and that's because many of the companies depended on fuel and the weaker yen is sending their costs higher. more in business for you in the next hour. here's a check on the markets. . australia's attorney general is preparing to make the case for outlawing ja upon these whaling in the antarctic ocean.

they are leading a legal challenge at the international court of justice in the hang. >> we want to move for whaling to stop and that includes the so-called scientific whaling program that japan has been carrying on for many years. japan has long maintained the whaling is for research purposes. the australians say that's just a cover for commercial whaling. they accused them of breeching international law. lawyers are expected to argue the whaling has led to many scientific discoveries. they are expected to say that any whale meat that goes on the market is sold on accordance to international agreements. judges will deliver the ruling at the end of the year. do you means show a late south korean president took a jab at japan during talks with north korea when he was in power. south korea's national

intelligence service issued the transcript from a 2007 summit. he referred to the japanese citizens abducted in the 1970s and 80s. he said officials in tokyo were urging those to,a lou the abductees to return home and claimed other japanese citizens were held captive. he said the officials incested north korea cannot be trusted. he did not understand what japan wanted. flooding and landslides have taken a toll on northern india. they believe the number of dead will rise above 1,000. rescue workers are struggling to reach survivors as forecasters call for more heavy rain this week. monsoon season started and rainfall has been more intense than usual. the weather is hampering rescue

efforts. army officials suspended operations on monday because of reduced visibility. more than 10,000 people including pilgrims and tourists remain stranded. parts of the state have been cutoff for days after landslides severed communications. people in isolated mountain areas have to deal with shortages of food and coeld temperatures at night. people in southeast asia have seen trade and economic activity take off. businesses are benefiting from the cross border highways linking nations on the indo china peninsula. they include the southern economic corridor that runs 1100 kilometers from bangkok and thailand to ho chi minh city through the capital. nhk world traveled along the 700 kilometer section to see the changes coming down the road.

>> the last section of the southern corridor. the law provides local businesses with a chance to expand their lead. this faxry outside of bangkok plopgs to a major factor. they transfort the seasoning products across the border to cambodia. it's about 700 kilometers away. the load used to be narrow and is only one lane each way. safety improved years ago with the central device. four hours after leaving the factory, we arrive at the border. there is a long wait to pass through customs.

drivers kill time by the roadside. inside cambodia, the first town we come to. the highway brought dramatic changes to this once isolated town. shops are crowded with people and imported goods such as alcohol and accessories. >> translator: i never imagined it would be a thriving town like this. this area used to be a jungle. >> a new driver takes over for the next 400 kilometers. the load in cambodia is filled with imports.

at least for now there no street lamps. the load is pitch black after sunset except for the glow of headlights. that doesn't deter some brave drivers from overtaking. >> translator: driving in this darkness isn't easy. sometimes the car in front stops suddenly. some is vehicles don't even have brake lights. >> 12 hours after crossing the border, we arrive at 2:00 the next morning. they stop boy a parking facility and he takes a nap. >> he waits if are morning when the factory opens and unloads the seasonings. this is just one of seven trips

he makes each month. >> translator: sometimes i become sleepy at the wheel. or find it hard to drive. i'm relieved to deliver the goods safely. >> seasonings travel a long way along the southern corridor along the area and shipped to consumers in cambodia. it's changing the way good goods are distributed and as more companies use it, they saw the need for improvement and it also grows. nhk world. >> more and more people join the ranks of senior citizens every year in japan. the country has the highest proportion of elderly people in the world. business managers see this as an opportunity. they are recruiting older employees because they bring in customers and profits. >> one of japan's largest cell

phone companies introduced a new look to the sales staff last month. >> tap this when you make a call. >> the sales clerks in their 70s explain the benefits of smart phones to customers about the same age. the managers think that elderlies are qualified for explaining products to aging customers. >> this magnifying glass is a great addition. >> the sales clerks avoid english words or technical terms and concentrate on how to operate the phone. >> move your finger like this. then you do this quickly like this. >> translator: we are testing to see whether it's worthwhile to matchup elderly customers with

sales staff who are also seniors. if it is, we will consider adding more. >> some is business people say sales have gone up since the addition of the older staff. the cosmetics department is usually considered a store's anchor. most of the staff are young. so this 64 yore old sales clerk stands out. the company that sells cosmetics reemployed staff older than 60 on a contract basis. >> translator: your skin looks a bit drier today. doesn't it? >> my moisturizer ran out. can you tell that? >> as they age, people stop noticing spots and wrinkles, so the company hires elderly clerks who can relate to aging customers. this store found since it hired

elderly workers, customers have been spending 30% more. >> translator: i can relate to my customers because i have the same concerns as them. it's because of this that i feel i can provide the kind of service they need. >> as more seniors hope to work past retirement age, many experts say jobs need to be created for them. . >> translator: in the past, companies were reluctant to hire older people. so the challenge now is to find a way to use their skills and keep their motivation high. >> couples realize that adding aging workers cost extra. they know their customers are aging and they see the market potential in hiring older staff who can relate better to the

shoppers. >> time for a check on the weather. people in northwestern areas of china are dealing with severe flooding after a bout of heavy rain. we have the latest. >> it is the rainy season and we see these pictures annually, but it's going to be another severe event across the area. places in china, let me show you what the situation is like. people on the northwest china province suffered points of rainfall on sunday and monday. they saw more than 100 inches of water. some people have their houses buried by landslides and fortunately no coz yultys were reported and we will have some rain. however it being loos like the extreme weather has gone across the area and it's moving to the east and the rain will be falling across south of it it as

this front remains in place. the next heavy rain is across this area and the province has seen 100 millimeters of rain and additional rainfall is hickly. another area we are watching is due to this low pressure system and surging across the southern areas of china. it's being seen 300 millimeters of rainfall in the past 24 hours. we are likely to see about 100. 200 millimeters could be possible into the next 24. it reaches all the way into western japan and patches across in towards central japan. this is an area where we have been seeing about 270 upon millimeters and the line is very well soaked. we do not have reports of casualties and the concern due to the additional amount of 100

millimeters into the next 24 hours. tokyo at 28 degrees with sunshine and it's going to be overcast, about you random showers will be spread widely due to the unstable conditions. to the south of that, 33 degrees and chances of thunderstorms there as well. shanghai is going to be a moderate to heavy rainy day at 28 degrees. over to the north and eastern pacific, you can see a mass of cloud formation and this is the tropical storm which is going to be a hurricane status over tuesday morning local time. but the good news is it's going to be moving away from the land masses and not making any landfall as we predict. it it will be bringing storm surges across the coastal regions and also supplying moisture to dump heavy rain across the coastal area.

stay away from the coastal vicinities if you are around there. across the mid-section of the u.s., we have reports of tornados in iowa and that is likely to continue with possibilities of large hail as well as damaging winds and very heavy rain. chicago at 32 degrees. toronto at 32 as well. you are seeing a taste of summer across the eastern half and it's soaring hot there in phoenix at 41 degrees in a lock at the forecast.

. >> that's all for this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: the supreme court decided against striking down affirmative action today, opting instead for a narrow ruling that sends the dispute back to a lower court for a second look. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we get analysis from marcia coyle on that and other rulings today, plus a debate about what the high court's limited decision on affirmative action means for the future. >> ifill: then, n.s.a. leaker edward snowden remains on the run. from hong kong to moscow, to who