welcome to "newsline." it's thursday august 15th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the leaders of the government which are trying to restore order with crack downs on protesters claimed more than 235

lives. authorities on wednesday began with new supporters of the depos posed president morsi. they are exchanging sit ins in cairo. they bulldozed through barricades around the cabs and fired tear gas into the crowds. more than 30 people died. the bloodshed set off protests in other parts of the capital and the central city. they attacked gunmen at the facilities. they declared a month long state of emergency and imposed a night time curfew in 14 provinces. they gave security forces the power to detain people without arrest warrants. the authorities appear set to launch further crack downs on members of morsi's support base. the brotherhood responded by calling on supporters to launch fresh protests. the vice president can no longer serve in the government.

they quit in protest over the bloody crack down. he tendered a resignation in the letter to the president. he said he couldn't accept responsibility for the way the interim leadership acted. he had been reluct apt to use force to remove morsi supporters. he called on the 1ds to result the crisis through dialogue. leaders from the u.s. and the united nations condemned the crack down. they say it will push egypt further into turmoil. u.s. secretary of state john kerry issued a statement denouncing the actions of security forces. >> the united states strongly condemns today's violence and bloodshed. it's a serious blow to reconciliation and the hopes if are a transition towards democracy and inclusion. >> the white house spokesperson josh earnest said the obama

administration was unlikely to suspend financial aid. they will give egypt $1.5 billion this fiscal year. most will give to the military. the secretary general said he sympathized with egyptians who were weary, but urged them to take a path towards democracy and prosperity. china issued a statement on japanese prime minister abe's decision not to visit a controversial shrine on thursday. the anniversary of the end of world war ii. the shrine honors the war dead including leaders convicted of war crimes after the war. however visits to the shrine by government officials each year sparks anger in countries occupied by japanese forces during the war. the chinese spokesperson called on japanese leaders to abide by the commitment to recognize the country's history of aggression. the attitude of leaders towards

the shrine is a reflection of whether the country can examine the history of militarism and help the feelings of victim countries in china. they called on them to speak and act cautiously so they can gain the trust of people in asia and the international community. instead of visiting, abe decided to pay for an offering of a branch from a sacred tree. the chinese spokesperson did not comment on how beijing views that decision. the sclip has been a source of tension for decades and it is a place of worship dates back more than 140 years. >> the shrine was established as a national institution in 1869 to honor those who sacrificed their lives in the process of building ja pap. later soldiers who died in the war, the russell japan war and world war ii were enshrined there.

he now honors 2.46 in il yon people and include civil servants and citizens who worked with the military along with taiwanese and korean w soldiersy in world war ii. after the war and the state must remain that. in the late 1970s, they decided to get military and political leaders. all had been convicted of major war crimes. that sparked further controversy by making an official visit. some japanese criticized him, saying he was violating the constitution. people abroad said the visit appeared to legitimize the actions of the japanese military in world war ii.

and the cabinet minsters and lawmakers visited the shrine sparking further criticism from china and south korea. >> these belong to japanese soldiers. they wrote messages, wishing them luck. the soldiers took some to the u.s. as memorability. 68 years after the war, flag made it home. this 85-year-old holes his brother's. it came from america. his brother died in what is now myanmar. his remains were never recovered. . >> translator: when i touch this flag, all the memories come flooding back. it makes me feel so sad.

he knows how special these flags are for people who lost relatives. the 87-year-old from new york collects these and other items to send them back to where he thinks they belong. we have a report. . >> she holds her dead son's. >> my mother stares at the flag with tears every day. that makes me painfully aware of the horrors of war. i really hope more belongings can be returned to the families. . >> he dedicated his life for the yearnings of japanese soldiers. he sent more than 100 items back to families over the last 40

years. >> i just say it's the right thing to do. i know how i would feel if one of my youngsters which i thought was gone 60 or 70 years ago. >> at 18, he joined the u.s. marine corps. he was sent to the island of iwojima. it was a site of one of the bloodiest battles. more than 20,000 japanese and 6,000 american soldiers died. many japanese were taken from the dead and brought to america. in 1970, conor returned to the island for joint memorial service. he saw a family receiving an item that belonged to their son

and was greatly moved. since then, conor made it his mission to return the possessions of the soldiers. he attends monthly meetings of veterans, urging them to join his cause. he feels that time is running out. world war ii veterans are aging and dying. conor said more and more memorability is appearing at collectors markets. >> i hope they have trouble selling them and they should send them back. >> conor receives news of a discovery.

her father died last year. when he was cleaning up his house, she found a flag. >> it just has been folded up. this looks like the reverse side. we wanted to return it to japan hopefully to a family who may have closure if are the loss of a son. >> she also found a cloth. it means 1,000 stitches. each stitch symbolizes a prayer for safety. >> it's not a dead issue. no, no. it's still a lie. this is proof of it. this is maybe something that we should maybe have a message to us. don't give up. go after them.

>> conor saved up for as long as he is able. he continued his mission. nhk world, new york. >> hiroshima, nagasaki, the atomic bombings killed thousands in an instant and left survivors suffering in the ruins. "newsline" is looking back on what happened then and what's happened since. don't miss our special coverage. war to peace, lessons of 1945 through thursday, august 15th. >> israeli and palestinian negotiators have resumed peace talks in jerusalem with low expectations for what they might achieve. officials convinced them to come back to the table after a three-year deadlock, but each side harbored doubts about the

other. neither side revealed any details, but the negotiators are trying to reach agreements on issues that divided them for years. they need to define the borders between israel and a palestinian state. they need to figure out what to do with jerusalem and both sides want them as their capital. negotiators were suspicious from the start. israeli leaders, proved the construction of hundreds of new homes in occupied territories and the palestinians are outraged. they say the settlements deprive their people of their future homeland. some say the israeli actions threaten the talks before they began. they have a former spokesman and a veteran analyst. he said the building of new settlements puts the process in jeopardy. >> if israel would continue these steps, that sooner or later that will kill the peace negotiations process. it is difficult for the two

processes to remain moving forward. one of them has to kill the other. >> he said u.s. mediators need to convince them that they need to stop building homes in occupied territories. people in japan will be relying on nuclear-free power next month. the operator of the last two reactors online plans to help them for regular inspections. they want to shut one reactor at the plant on september 15th. it already applied to stop the other on september 2nd. japan took all the reactors off line for checks after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. the nuclear regulation authority allowed the reactors to restart after they passed new guidelines. operators of five other plants have applied to put their

reactors back online. >> green energy advocates have high hopes if are solar and wind power. japanese researchers are pioneering something different. they set up the world's only plant for ocean thermal and energy conversion or otec in okinawa. they are making electricity from seawater. >> the island is 1600 kilometers southwest of tokyo surrounded by deep blue sea. >> in late march, they had an experiment there. the raw materials are surface saw water heated boy the sun and ocean water pumped from the depth of 600 meters. the system works by using surface water by heating up a chemical called a flowero carbon with a low boiling point. this generates steam to power a

turbine. it will coos the chemical back into a liquid and can be used all over again. >> the deep water is 9.8 degrees celsius. it should generate 10.7 kilowatts of electricity. >> in fact the experiment went better than expected. it generated 12 kilowatts. the good result was due to the high efficiency of a device called a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the seawater to the chemical. a venter capital firm engaged in the research and development of otec. it has been developing heat exchangers for more than a decade. heat exchangers have many layers of plates. they work by sending the seawater into alternating gaps between the plates. the biggest challenge until now

has been how to use seawater to boil the chemical efficiently. >> translator: it's a corporate street so i can't show you from the front, but you can see it from the side. >> the ribs on the plate hold the key to its high heat conductivity. when liquid flows, the ribs obstruct the flow and create a whirlpool. this means more fluid touches it so it can heat up quickly. they have experimented with more than 50 types of designs. >> translator: the technology we developed could provide electricity to about 20,000 households on a remote island. i believe we have come up with the optimum plate. >> a major steal maker kobe steel produced the material for the new plate.

it's made of titanium, resistant to rust even when exposed to seawater. on the surface is tiny bumps. this is a boiling experiment. on the right is the newly developed material. the conventional material generates larger and fewer bubbles. they rise slowly. the new one generates small bubbles that rises faster. the new plates conduct heat about 20% more efficiently than the older ones. researchers have been studying them for more than 40 years. the recent experiment has taken the technology to the next stage. >> the time has passed when all we could do is talk about our visions. new power plants are being developed all over the world. and the island project has given us a head start.

>> large scale projects are also being planned in hawaii and tahiti, but researchers in japan has proven they can use it to get strong results. cemetery supporters will be keeping a close watch on where they go from here. >> sri lanka's elephants are auspicious animals according to buddhist tradition. they reach full swing at this time of year. the mood is not what it used to be. the number of elephants has seen a decline prompting one village to craft a replacement. we have a report. . >> this is sri lanka's traditional festival. that means a procession in the

local language. people parade along the streets, wishing for plentiful rain before rice planting season. at the tail end of the procession is an elephant. on its back stands a religious casket, normally kept at a temple. >> translator: elephants are the symbol of rain clouds. we believe the festival will bring the blessing of rain. the festival is not complete without an elephant. it's getting harder and harder to find an elephant for the festival. most festival elephants are supplied by agents. 15 years ago, asians had about 500 elephants to rent out. that number has since dropped to 140. many elephants are getting old and falling sick.

four out of every ten are no longer fit for work. >> most of the elephants are old age now. we can't use them. >> in 1975, the sri lanka an government acted to protect wild elephants by imposing a hunting ban. all the elephants were caught before that ban came into effect. come festival season, people around the country scramble to find an elephant. this village has gone without for several years. >> that's very difficult.

this history dates back 80 years. for three months, the villages have been discussing what to do. their solution is simple. they decide to make their own. using mostly recycled materials keeps the cost to about $10. the prooice is low, but the efft is high. the elephant's ears and nose are movable. . >> the head is made with steel pipes and bamboo. >> he can't wait for his 8-year-old son to see the festival and understand the bond they have with elephants. >> translator: i have never seen an elephant at the festival. >> translator: i want to teach

the importance of elephants to my children's generation. >> the day of the festival has arrived and there is an elephant in the parade for the first time in three years. he rides on top of the elephant with pride. it doesn't matter to him that it was man-made. >> translator: even though there were no real elephants, i was happy an artificial one could take part. >> translator: if we had used only dancers, our children and future generations would not know how elephants are supposed to be part of the festival. . >> awareness of wildlife conservation is growing. that would be something to

celebrate. . >> time for a check on the weather. a typhoon 345ed landfall in southern china. it since weakened and people are dealing with heavy rain. we have the details in world weather. >> yes, catherine. a typhoon made landfall so the hong kong area made the worst of it. the stock exchange was suspended and they were canceled in the area. the storm has weakened to a tropical storm, but it is packing a lot of energy to create more stormy weather. the tropical force winds in the yellow circle. the system will likely move at a slow pace for a couple of days. the stormy conditions will prolong an additional 300 millimeters. that's an already saturated ground and the flooding and landslides will be a risk across

southern china. up towards the north, the worst flood occurred in north eastern china. heavy rain and afternoon thundershowers are likely for most of japan. the main story for east asia will be the heat. heat warnings and advisories are posted for inland china and south korea as well as much of jap japan. as well as kyoto. people are trying to find their way to cool themselves off. i want to show you this video coming out of prefecture in inland japan. residents got a winter. they set up the snow making machine in the national park.

that turned tons of ice into snow. families got refrom the 36-degree heat as they played in the powder. the children even took parents on a ride. a slide as well. temperatures expected on the hot side. 35 degrees is the expected highs. hot weather across most of china and southern china and you will see nice relief through the heat. hong kong 24 for the high today. in north america, we have a disturbance over here which could be a tropical depression by thursday. head towards the yucatan peninsula. the lingering showers across the southeaste southeastern corner of the u.s. a potential for flooding further and fly and calm in the northeast of the u.s. and some spots of severe weather for the

mid-section, but back behind it, dry weather continues mainly in idaho and utah, raising the potential for wildfires further. we have red flag warnings for this area. temperatures are cooling off across the northeast. 25 degrees in chicago. nice conditions to do some outside activities and 26 for you in new york city with abundance of sunshine. finally in europe then, unstable conditions are continuing across the north. we are seeing quite heavy rain and gusty conditions as well as hail in finland and northwestern russia on thursday. similarly unstable in italy and the balcan peninsula and the system will drift into the british aisles and bringing heavy rain. i will leave you now with the extended forecast.

. that is all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do join us again.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: waves of violence rippled across egypt today. scores are dead and the toll is still rising, in the wake of a government crackdown on protests by supporters of the former president. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: a state of emergency has been declared, plunging egypt under a virtual martial law. we get the latest from cairo. explore how the six-week standoff devolved to bloodshed. >> woodruff: then, in a rare rebuke of wall street, two