hello and welcome back to "newsline" i'm shery ahn. let's get started with the head lines. chinese officials say they'll discuss a standoff in the south china sea, but only if vietnamese ships leave the area first. a huge blast destroys a hotel in syria. fighting between government forces and the opposition has intensified ahead of a presidential election.

and people who look after china's world heritage sites face a growing challenge, visitors who are leaving behind more than just footprints. chinese authorities have accused the crews of vietnamese ships of intentionally colliding with their vessels. last week a state-owned chinese company parked an oil rig in disputed waters in the south china sea, and now dozens of boats from both sides have gathered around it. the chinese are urging the vietnamese to pull out so they can begin talks. the crews are facing off near the paracel islands. their ships have collided several times. vietnamese police are trying to stop the chinese from drilling. but the crews of chinese government ships are keeping watch. >> translator: vietnamese ships have intentionally rammed chinese boats to disturb the company's operations.

>> yi says chinese officials are ready to talk. but he says the vietnamese have to leave first. >> unilateral decision by china to introduce its oil rig into these disputed waters, the dangerous conduct and intimidation by the vessels, is concerning, and certainly is representative of provocative actions. >> psaki urged those involved to talk so they can resolve their dispute. japan is also expressing concern. foreign minister fumio kishida said his country is deeply worried that china's attempt to drill for oil is increasing regional tension. >> translator: we think the incident is part of a series of unilateral and provocative maritime activities by china. china should explain to vietnam and the global community the legal basis and details of its activities.

>> kishida says the global community should urge china to follow international law. now countries bordering the south china sea are keeping a close eye on the situation, as well. in the philippines, a group of journalists has been allowed to cover a joint military exercise among u.s. and filipino forces. the drills are taking place along the coast of luzon, near disputed waters between the philippines and china. the war games are held every year at this time. military units from the two countries landed on a beach under the scenario of taking back an island seized by enemy troops. the operation is being led by a philippine commander. the u.s. and the philippines signed an agreement in april, aimed at boosting military cooperation. they're using this year's drill to improve their forces' maneuverability at sea. that's one of the goals outlined in the agreement. now, china has been increasing its maritime

activities concerning another area of the sea, and a group of islands japan controls but china and taiwan claim. now u.s. lawmakers have reaffirmed their position that the senkaku islands are covered under an existing treaty with japan. members of the house armed services committee unanimously approved the national defense authorization bill for fiscal 2015. the bill says the united states opposes any unilateral action that would seek to undermine japan's administration of the senkakus. it says the u.s. remains committed under the u.s./japan security treaty to respond to any armed attack on the island. the bill supports prime minister shinzo abe's policy of pro-active contribution to peace. and he says the u.s. endorses recent increases in japan's defense budget, and other actions that will enable japan to bear greater responsibility under the alliance. now the bill will be sent to the house, and the senate for approval.

many japanese companies are expecting the biggest profits in fiscal 2013 since the global financial crisis. japan's earnings season reached its peak on friday. about 18% of the companies listed on the tokyo stock exchange, or 438 of them, have announced their earnings for the year that ended in march. analysts at snbc nikko security expect the operating profits of all listed firms to total about $390 billion. that's up about 30% from the previous year. big winners are electronic appliance, auto, and steelmakers. as well as real estate firms. they benefited from the yen's decline, and a nationwide shopping spree ahead of the sales tax hike last month. but in the current fiscal year the companies are bracing for

slower profit growth, because of concerns about emerging economies. and here is how major steelmakers did in fiscal 2013. japan's biggest steel manufacturing nippon steel and sumitomo metal posted a group operating profit of $2.9 billion. that's more than an eight-fold jump compared with the combined profits of nippon steel and sumitomo metal before they merged in october 2012. another steelmaker, jfe holdings, showed a profit of $1.5 billion. that's 3.8 times the amount in the previous year. and kobe steel earned $1.1 billion, a tenfold rise. but a leading barometer for the japanese economy is down for a second straight month. now, this is mainly due to expectation among smaller businesses that their sales will slow down following a recent consumption tax hike. now officials at the cabinet

office say the leading index stood at 106.5 in march, down 2.2 points from the previous month. the sales outlook for smaller firms in the auto and electric appliance industries has gotten worse. they expect a drop in demand after a higher sales tax came in to effect in april. a new job offer at wholesalers, retailers, hotels and restaurants, climbed, as well. but the coincident index that represents current business activities went up 1.1 point. that's due to strong demand for cosmetic and electronic appliances ahead of that tax hike. let's now get your check on the markets. asian equities finished the week with a mixed performance. here's how major indices ended the day. tokyo continued to bounce back from a sell-off on wednesday but chinese shares came under pressure on the latest sign of tepid domestic demand.

tokyo's nikkei average added a quarter of a percent to end at 14,199. shares of blue chip companies like it to toe motor and toshiba benefited from strong earnings report and their gains supported the index. the shanghai composite shed 0.2% to close at 2,011. china's consumer price inflation slowed a slower than expected rise in april and this hurt market sentiment. in manila, the key index jumped 1.2% to 6,847, its highest close in nearly a year. investors were encouraged by news that standard & poor's raised the country's credit rating. now things are not looking too great for china, though. its economy will likely lose momentum this year. the organization for economic cooperation and development cut its growth forecast for gross domestic product to 7.4% in the world's second largest economy.

now that's much lower than the previous estimate of 8.2% and below the chinese government target of around 7.5%. growth for 2015 is expected to slow down further to 7.3%. the organization says the downgrade reflects the government's efforts in curbing credit risks and controlling excess capacity. for insight, ai uchida spoke with daniel so in hong kong, a strategist at cmb international securities. >> at this time it is a reasonable one because the forecast six months, 8.2%, was way too optimistic. perhaps they have underestimated china's new leader's determination in reform. premier li keqiang is more pro-reform. this new forecast is not a

scenario because 7.4% is still higher than the official bottom line. which is believed to be around 7.2%, a level which can keep employments low. >> as the report pointed out, one difficult task for authorities is to control shadow banking. as they do that there's the risk of defaults. what are your thoughts on that? china needs to allow some orderly reports on wealth management products. once investors realize that these kind of products are not with risk the size of shadow banking can be under control. but officials have to be very selective and careful, as some defaults on large corporations may lead to some systematic risk. so have to be very careful, and i believe such defaults may happen as soon as this month, as many trust and firms are

starting to make sure in may, and another thing has to be done is to allow bank deposit rates to be raised. otherwise depositors may still prefer to put their money in shadow banks, which yield higher. >> with some industries like -- with overproduction like steel and cement they're believed to have state-owned enterprises with vested interests. how can leaders go through with reforms? >> reforms won't be easy, but they are manageable. now excess capacity in this status may hurt some smaller players, and some of them may even can survive. but those large soes may actually benefit because smaller players are mostly from those private sector while those large soes can benefit from smaller competition. even if some soe's do get hurt

and complain that should not be an obstacle to reforms. that has been illustrated by china's investigation into some top officials and soe management over the past year. this has shown that interest can be bridged. >> let's now get another check of the latest market figures.

opposition fighters in syria have blown up a hotel in the northern city of aleppo. it was used to house government troops. and british human rights group says at least 14 soldiers were killed.d british human rights g says at least 14 soldiers were killed. british human rights gr says at least 14 soldiers were killed. opposition fighters tunnelled underneath the hotel and planted explosives linked to remote detonators. they have withdrawn from another city where they and government forces have been battling for control. they pulled out of homs after agreeing last week to cease-fire. observerses say the fighting could intensify ahead of next month's presidential election. u.s. government officials are increasing pressure on the government of syrian president bashar al assad. they're imposing additional economic sanctions. the u.s. treasury department announced a freeze on assets held in the u.s. by a russian bank and its senior executives.

the official said moscow based tempbank has provided the assad administration with millions of dollars. six syrian government officials are also on the list. they're cited as having been involved in the development of missiles. the u.s. secretary of state held talks with the president of the opposition syrian national coalition. >> i look forward today to continuing our dialogue on the full range of our shared concerns in syria, including putting an end to the violence. >> jarba expressed gratitude for the u.s. support. now, the head of the mission that's overseeing the destruction of syria's chemical agent stockpile says the task has almost been completed. but there is a problem. the remaining munitions are in an area that's controlled by anti-government forces and that's inaccessible. >> two other sites that are in the vicinity of this location, which is not far out of damascus, have been overtaken by

armed opposition groups. the roads themselves to the site are not reachable currently. >> she says 92% of syria's chemicals have been destroyed or removed from the country. she says the remaining 8% are in an area outside the capital damascus. she is unable to say whether armed groups may get a hold of the weapons. pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine are going ahead with plans to hold a referendum this sunday to seek greater autonomy. they met in donetsk to discuss russian president vladimir putin's request to postpone the vote. analysts say putin wants to pave the way for talks with kiev authorities. the separatist leader told reporters after the meeting they decided voters will cast their ballots on may 11th as

specialed. ukraine's military has been trying to evict armed pro-russian separatists from public buildings their occupying in slavyansk and several other eastern cities. many civilians on both sides of the conflict have been killed or wounded since fighting intensified last week. ukraine's acting president oleksandr turchinov said on thursday his government is ready to meet with representatives of local governments, and activists. now, he said he won't talk to armed people with blood on their hands. russia's foreign minister is seeking the help of western countries to resolve the crisis in ukraine. sergey lavrov spoke over the phone with his counterparts in germany, france and the u.s. lavrov expressed concern over the continued military operations for ukraine's interim government. in talks with u.s. secretary of state john kerry, lavrov called on western leaders to use their influence to get the interim government to hold dialogue with pro-russian groups.

meanwhile, russia's energy minister says starting next month, ukraine will have to pay for its natural gas deliveries in advanced. alexander novak sayses ukraine has not made a payment since march, and owes $3.5 billion. russia's apparently ready to halt natural gas delivery to ukraine unless the interim government agrees to a prepaid deal. an electrical accident has killed a worker at a soccer stadium in brazil. the country's preparations to host a fifa world cup have been marred by accidents and delays. the man was installing communications equipment. construction there was suspended for an investigation into the accident. he is the eighth worker to die during the building of world cup arenas. president rousseff inspected another stadium under consfrukz

strukz in sao paulo. it's set to host the opening match between brazil and croatia on june 12th. this year's world cup will be the first in brazil since 1950. but the construction work needed to host such an event is a race against time. three of the 12 stadiums are unfinished. workers are still adding seats and building parking lots. a panel of experts suggests a worrying trend in japan's demographics. they predict at nearly 50% of japanese municipalities may see their young female population halved. members of the japan policy council projected the populations of cities, towns and villages for 2040. the study warns that some rural municipalities may disappear because of the outflow of young women to larger cities. a decrease in age groups that are actively reproducing is also a factor. the policy panel estimates that 896 municipalities would see the populations of women in their

20s and 30s decline by more than half by 2040. the report urges each municipality to create an environment that allows women to raise children comfortably. it also proposes the creation of regional hubs attractive to young people. >> translator: central and local governments, as well as businesses, should do all they can to deal with the issue. >> masuda heads the study team. he added that the country should work toward preventing an extreme population concentration in tokyo. although on overall population reduction cannot be avoided. caretakers of world heritage sites in china are seeing unwelcome changes. some visitors have been leaving their mark, by vandalizing cultural assets.

nhk world shows us how authorities are trying to tackle the problem. >> reporter: the summer palace is one of beijing's most popular tourist parks. it's a world heritage site that unesco called a masterpiece of chinese landscape design. the officials who run it do their best to keep things in top shape. but no matter how hard think work, some visitors have other ideas. here, and at many other precious cultural sites, graffiti is a growing problem. it has attracted the notice of the national authorities. china's state-run media instructs tourists to refrain from damaging cultural assets.

>> reporter: but even the great wall is not immune. and it seems as if non-chinese are also among the culprits. this is one of the best preserved paths of the great wall. but this section has frequently been the target of graffiti in chinese and other 49 languages such as english. people who need to carve their names don't care if they damage the ancient stone walls. as a way to discourage them, officials applied some psychology. rather than try to catch offenders, they put up a covering on the walls inside one

watch tower. here, people can satisfy the urge to leave a mark. >> translator: we wrote our wish for this year. we want to have a baby. i think this covering is a good idea. it prevents damage to the building but still allows people to write something. >> i think it's nice. but i think they have to change the paper quite often. it should be quite full very fast. bye-bye. >> reporter: the idea has prod so popular that officials are looking at using it on other watch towers, too. it's not the perfect solution to help the city protect its treasures. what's really needed is to discourage people for good from defacing public monuments. kengo komoto, nhk world, beijing.

let's now get the weather forecast from our meteorologist robert speta. robert we're seeing some severe weather in parts of japan today. how are things looking over the weekend? >> oh, shery the good news, if you are here in japan, actually a pretty decent weekend looks like it's going to be shaping up out here. here on friday evening across parts of tokyo and even just north of tokyo we did see some strong to severe thunderstorms out here, even some hail off towards koshigi prefecture. that same storm system will continue to track off towards the northeast going through your saturday. and then back towards the west, high pressure is going to start to ridge its way in. that's going to bring some sunnier skies, not just for japan but even back across much of the korean peninsula. down towards southeastern china you're not going to be sharing in on that decent weather. actually some fairly heavy rainfall has already been occurring in hang dock up. had black rainfall warnings, the

highest level they go to. also across guangdong up to 190 millimeters of rain fell in the past 24 hours. don't think on saturday and sunday you're going to be seeing as heavy of rain. but take a look at the forecast. those showers do continue to linger out here. even in the hong kong over towards taiwan. and eventually out there towards the northeast. and really just the next 72 hours, there is still that threat of flooding. some areas as muches 200 to 300 millimeters of rain very well could occur. something to watch out here throughout the rest of your weekend. down towards the south, though, pop-up afternoon thunderstorms continue to dominate the forecast in the philippines. manila, high of 34 there for you. shanghai at 21. those showers on your saturday. then partly cloudy skies in tokyo, 25, for the high. do want to look over towards the middle east here in the eastern portions of the mediterranean. we have been seeing some fairly heavy rainfall across much of lebanon into israel. the past several days. actually here on thursday, southern portions of israel you

saw about 35 millimeters of rainfall in just a 24 hour period. i know that doesn't sound like a lot but in the desert that really causes flooding. we have been seeing the flooding. the good news, the forecast will be helping out on getting rid of some of that water. partly cloudy skies here on your saturday, sunday and even over towards monday, temperatures into the low 20s to dry things up. back off towards the north if you're in the british isles, not so much the case. actually through the low countries, as well, there's still the threat of some severe weather out here going through your friday. even the possibilities of some tornadoes, high winds, germany you saw some 96 kilometer per hour winds already reported. once this low moves off towards the east and it's going to start to weaken out behind it another low comes in, throughout the day on saturday, and even into sunday. that's going to track across much of the british isles bringing some gusty winds, over 70 kilometers per hour and along with that heavy rainfoul out here going into your weekend. take a look at your temperatures, partly cloudy skies in london. paris with a high of 19. rain showers there for you. and then the iberian peninsula,

pop-up afternoon thunderstorms could be isolated. but for the most part actually some pretty decent weather out here into madrid and down towards lisbon. i do want to wrap things up over here towards the americas. where we do have this cold front which is continuing to really push across the central u.s. it's not just one particular location here. actually in the northern plains, all the way down towards texas on thursday, you saw reports of tornadoes. even some damaging winds, large hail coming out of this. the hot spot at least on friday, though, will be the western portions of the ohio river valley down there towards the lower mississippi river. damaging gusts, large hail, and even a threat of tornadoes, still possible with this one. it will weaken out through the weekend but you're still looking at some wet weather across the eastern seaboard, or back towards the west, another low comes into the picture and that's going to bring some rain showers there for you in vancouver and seattle. that's a look at your world weather. here's the extended forecast.

and that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. gg99ññww

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