hello an welcome back to "newsline" i'm shery ahn. a let's get started with the head lines. rescue efforts are under way in turkey after an explosion in a coal mine killed more than 200 people, and left dozens more unaccounted for. philippine officials say china has been reclaiming land off disputed islands in the south china sea, and they may be constructing a military facility.

and the first japanese commander of the international space station has returned to earth after six months in orbit. rescuers in western turkey are working around the clock after an explosion in a coal mine. they're trying to reach dozens of miners trapped underground. more than 200 people have been killed. officials said about 780 people were in the mine at the time of the explosion. 205 have been confirmed dead. rescue workers have saved more than 360 people. they're still searching for at least 100 others. officials suspect a flaw in the mine's electrical system triggered the blast. turkish prime minister recep tayyip erdogan expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. he canceled a diplomatic trip in order to visit the site. turkey has been developing mineral mines to meet its energy demand but a string of accidents has raised questions about the safety of the facilities.

philippine military leaders say their chinese counterparts are ramping up tensions over the disputed land in the south china sea. they say china is preparing to build a military facility on a reef off the spratly islands. philippine officials say china has been moving earth to the johnson south reef in an effort to expand the spratlys. the islands are claimed by china, the philippines, and others. the philippine officials say china's leaders may be attempting to turn the reef into a military foothold to increase their control of the area. and tensions are rising in other parts of the sea, as well, after china moved a large oil rig into an area claimed by vietnam. a state-owned chinese company parked the oil rig near a group of disputed islands two weeks ago. since then, vietnamese and chinese crews have been facing off in the sea. vietnamese maritime police say a chinese ship has rammed another vietnamese boat. now this picture taken on tuesday shows ships sailing

alongside each other. the crew of a chinese vessel is seen spraying water. chinese government officials did not say their crews were using water cannons. but they said they have to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of people on the rig. the chinese want to drill near the paracel islands. both countries lay claim to them. more than 80 chinese ships and more than 20 vietnamese vessels are reported to be in the waters around the islands. u.s. president barack obama has been hosting syria's main opposition leader at the white house. and he promised to keep supporting the group. obama says president bashar al assad has no place in the country's future. obama set syria national coalition's jarba at a difficult time for the opposition. assad's forces have retaken control of the city of holmes a one-time insurgent stronghold. white house officials say obama criticized assad's plan to hold

a presidential election next month. he said the president has lost all legitimacy. jarba thanked obama for sending humanitarian aid. the leaders agreed to keep pushing for political solution to the civil war. officials in washington gave the syria national coalition a boost this month by officially recognizing it as a diplomatic mission. europe's top court says people have the right to be forgotten in cyberspace. the court ruled that internet search companies must delete links to personal information when requested to do so. the ruling came on tuesday at the court of justice of the european union. the complaint against google was filed by a spanish man. he was upset that a google search of his name contained a link to a notice of unpaid debt published 16 years ago in a local newspaper. the man said the debt was settled long ago, and demanded google delete the link.

the court stated that a search company should comply with users' requests to remove links to websites containing outdated information. the ruling does not apply in all cases, however. the court said one exception would be information concerning a public figure, when the public interest in knowing outweighs the right to privacy. google said in a statement it's disappointed -- it's disappointed with the ruling. it said the decision affects not only search engine companies but other online businesses, as well. let's now get the latest business stories from ron madison. >> all right. well many big name japanese companies are releasing earnings reports this week. several report good results. but sony has fallen into the red for the first time in two years. poor sales of pcs and tvs are key factors behind the group's net loss for the fiscal year that ended in march. >> translator: i regret that our

performance was poor. and we apologize that we could not meet the expectations of shareholders and other stakeholders. >> the executive says the loss amounts to more than $1.2 billion. its core electronics division suffered a loss for a third straight year. the tv business posted a loss for a tenth year in a row. sony managers also gave a gloomy outlook. they expect to suffer a net loss again of $490 million in the current fiscal year. they cite costs to streamline operations in the electronics division. the sluggish performance led about 40 sony executives, including sony's president, to give up their bonus for this fiscal year. all right moving on to the markets now, asian shares showed a mixed performance. many investors lacked clear trading cues today. here's how major bench marks ended out the day. jackets like hong kong and jakarta posted solid gains. meanwhile other markets like tokyo saw minor losses. in hong kong, the hang seng

index climbing more than 1%. it finished out at 22,582. shares of chinese property developers got a boost from an announcement by china's central bank. it reportedly took steps to spur mortgage lending to first-time home buyers. and in indonesia, the key benchmark there finished 1.4% higher, 4,991. market expectations are growing that jakarta governor is gaining in chances to win the july presidential election, and that he will push for more economic reforms. tokyo's nikkei average did decline. it was down over 0.1%, 14,405. investors booked profits from a surge on the previous day. also a pause in the yen's slide weighed on market sentiment. trade ministers from around the asia pacific region are trying to give a push to talks on a free trade deal. ministers from the 12 participating nations -- nations participating in the

trans-pacific partnership will meet next week in singapore. japanese negotiators say they and their american counterparts are still at odds over their part of the deal. the two sides struggled to narrow their differences before and during a summit last month between japanese prime minister shinzo abe and u.s. president barack obama. the negotiators had hoped to resume talks in early may. but japanese officials say u.s. farmers want them to eliminate tariffs on beef and pork. and they say there is no prospect of resuming one-on-one discussions with the americans before the trade ministers meet. japan's economic revitalization minister hasn't given up hope. >> translator: i think japan and the u.s. need to calm down a little and take time to look at the situation. >> japanese officials say they hope to resume talks with the americans when they meet in singapore. smartphone makers and other high tech firms need flash

memories that can hold more and more data. major electronicsmaker toshiba is building a new plant to cash in on that growing and increasingly competitive market. toshiba is the world's second biggest producer of flash memory. company executives say they're planning to build a factory in central japan to make flash memory that can store 1 terra byte of data. they expect to start production in fiscal 2015. toshiba officials say the company will invest $5 billion in the plant. together with u.s. chipmaker sandisk. managers at japanese companies are feeling the effects of an increase in the consumption tax. analysts at the bank of japan say prices of goos traded among companies in april rose more than 4%. now that's the 13th straight monthly rise, and the biggest jump in more than five years. people across japan started paying a higher sales tax last month. they went up from 5% to 8%. the analysts say the increase made a range of products more

costly. corporate prices went up on average 4.1%. the analysts say they would have risen 1.4% without the consumption tax. a rise in the price of electricity for industrial use, for example, caused rates for electric power, gas, and water all to go up. many beer drinkers in japan seem to have stocked up on their favorite ones before the tax went up in april. domestic shipments of beer and beer-like beverages nose-dived 21% in the month compared to a year ago. that's the largest drop since comparable data became available in 1992. but industry officials say the plummet was within expectations. they hope to secure annual sales at the same level as last year by selling more beer during the peak summer season. the managers of many businesses across the u.s. are not yet ready to raise their glasses. some just aren't that excited about the state of the economy. but those in one industry are toasting their fortunes. they're high in spirits because of a traditional spirit.

nhk world explains. >> reporter: americans who like whiskey have long reached for buschen. they've been drinking it for more than 200 years. but latedy they're drinking even more of it. sales have shot up as the economy recovers. and many drinkers are asking for borbons that cost a little more. >> i enjoy the taste. it's delicious. yeah. producers anywhere in the u.s. can make bourbon. but those in the state of kentucky make 95% of the world's supply. many distillers set themselves up in the suburbs of louisville. they're supporting the regional economy and building on tradition. people at this company have been making bourbon and whiskey for 140 years. last year they hit a record,

with annual sales of more than $3.7 billion. that was up nearly 5% from the year before. producers are shipping more cases overseas. to japan, europe, and emerging economies, too. >> even though we now get around 60% of our sales outside the u.s., so there's this huge opportunity. >> reporter: and it's not just the distillers who are enjoying the boom. they need somewhere for the bourbon to mature, and barrelmakers can't make enough of them. employees in this division are getting lots of overtime. they're keeping the production line humming at full capacity. but they need to make even more barrels. so the owners decided to invest more than $60 million in a new factory, and hire 60 more workers. >> working two ten-hour shifts five days a week, an occasional

saturday. i've been here 13 years. i've never seen that type of volume. >> reporter: to make bourbon, you need corn. farmers who grow it are sending truck after truck to distillers. bernard peterson is considering building a new silo to keep up with the demand. >> i'm very bullish. local store's demands have gone up, as well. so those are some of the opportunities that we're looking at from a farming business standpoint. >> reporter: years ago, some distillers worried about the future of the american whiskey industry. now they can't make enough bourbon to quench the global thirst. regina bediako, nhk world, louisville, kentucky. well, nearly two weeks ago executives at japan's suntry holdings completed their buyout of the u.s. company that makes jim beam. they wanted a foothold in the

u.s. market and are hoping to take advantage of bourbon's popularity. all right that is going to wrap it up for biz this hour. let's get a check of the markets. the first japanese commander of the international space station has returned to earth. astronaut koichi wakata spent

six months in space. wakata boarded russian soyuz spacecraft along with his colleagues from russia and the u.s. he landed on in kazakhstan in central asia around 8:00 a.m. local time. after receiving a physical checkup, a helicopter took them to an airport in northeastern kazakhstan for a welcoming ceremony. >> translator: i was commander for about two months. and i was able to fulfill my role thanks to the great teamwork of everyone involved in the international space station project around the world. >> wakata arrived at the space station in november and took command four months later. he led five other astronauts during the mission. wakata released microsatellites into space, and recorded

high-definition images of a comet. he also carried out an experiment to resuscitate dormant insects. wakata handed over command of the station to u.s. astronaut steve swanson. now wakata managed to complete his experiments while organizing clues from both the u.s., and russia. but further space cooperation between the two nations is now uncertain. nhk world's yuji osawa explains. >> reporter: as part of his mission, wakata conducted experiments having robot/human combinations with the first robot of this type ever brought to space. he is programmed to process questions, and select words from its vocabulary to construct an answer, instead of giving p

pre-programmed responses. scientists hope the technology can be used to heal an astronaut's loneliness while on the international space station, as well as potential flights to mars. however, the long-term future of iss is in doubt. space cooperation has been the hallmark of u.s./russia relations after the cold war ended. but russian leaders said on tuesday that they would reject the u.s. proposal to prolong the $100 billion project for another ten years. analysts say russia's decision is in response to u.s. economic sanctions placed against russia over the annexing of crimea in ukraine. >> translator: at the moment we think we'll lead the iss only until 2020. >> reporter: the u.s. has relied on russian soyuz capsules to fly to and from the space station since nasa retired its space

shuttle fleet in 2011. nasa now pays russia more than $60 million per person to fly its astronauts on soyuz capsules. the u.s. government is now reviewing proposals from at least three american firms to develop a commercial space taxi to break the russian monopoly on crew flight services by 2017. yuji osawa, nhk world. japan's first female photo journalist has captured key moments of the country's post-war history. she is preparing to focus on a more personal milestone, her 100th birthday. she'll celebrate the next phase of her career, as well as an exhibition of her work. >> reporter: in a tokyo bar, two japanese women entertain u.s. soldiers during the post-war occupation.

the wives of striking coal miners during a prolonged labor dispute in western japan. a march in memory of a student who was killed during violent demonstrations against revising the key u.s./japan security treaty. scenes from japan's turbulent post-war history featured in an ongoing retrospective in the work of photo journalist sasamoto. >> translator: those pictures were all taken during the upheavals of the post-war period. i hope many people see them and learn what happened. >> reporter: sass moto was still in her 20s when she started working as a photo journalist. she continued to work as a photographer even as she approaches her 100th birthday in september. >> translator: i feel if i tell

people i'm 100, they'll say, can you still push the shutter button, or can you still see okay. that's why i haven't talked about my age up to now. >> reporter: sasamoto says people often think she's 20 years younger. for more than 30 years now, she's always had a glass of red wine with her evening meal. >> translator: it's so good. especially when the moon is out. i do like to have a glass while looking at the moon. >> reporter: her curiosity never wanes. every day she jots down notes about things she notices, and clips newspaper articles that camp her interest. >> translator: here are some notes i wrote in english. i was studying hard every day. i clip things that are important. for example, this is someone i want to meet some day. my notebooks are where i collect

my ideas. >> reporter: around the time she turned 70, she began photographing women who had achieved success in various fields. >> translator: until after world war ii, women in japan faced discrimination and had no power. they didn't have the right to vote. and were treated as though they were children. but even so, there were women who had jobs, and were raising families. i felt such great respect for them, and i became obsessed with reporting on them. >> reporter: ahead of her 100th birthday, sasamoto has a new focus. with her customary vigor she's examining the theme of cold age, both in japan, and abroad. >> translator: you should never become lazy. it's essential to remain

positive about your life, and never give up. you need to push yourself, and stay aware so you can move forward. that's what i want people to know. >> reporter: as sasamoto prepares for her landmark birthday, she is not looking back. she's celebrating the start of the next stage of remarkable life. and let's now bring in our meteorologist jonathan oh for a check of the weather. jonathan, strong storms hitting the balkan peninsula now. what kind of severe conditions should residents watch out for? >> hello, shery. the residents are going to have to look out for anything from very large hail to strong winds, possibly even tornadoes. now this particular system was tracking from northern italy, and it was pushing eastward.

now it's over the balkan peninsula and it's going to be a very active weather day coming up on this wednesday. let's take a look at a picture out from tuesday. very strong lightning bolt with this particular picture. and it looks like that you're going to see more of this activity for those of you in bulgaria, romania, and even into parts of greece. you will be seeing the system, because it is intensifying as it continues to push toward the east. we have also a very deep trough that's helping to energize this particular system. so it looks like that as this system continues to rest over the balkan peninsula we're looking out for the possibility of some severe weather. again looking out for possibly some large hail, also tornadoes are possible, strong winds, and very heavy rainfall over the next few days, because the system is not moving very quickly. you can see here during the next 72 hours, we're looking up to 80 millimeters of rainfall, and so we have to also look out for the possibility of some landslides, because of the heavy precipitation. temperatures are going to be in the teens for many areas.

16 in vienna, also in warsaw. paris you should be seeing a diminishing of the rainfall as the ridge builds in to your area. but it looks like you may still be hit with a little bit of shower activity. meanwhile the iberian peninsula continues to see sunny conditions. 24 degrees in madrid for your wednesday. let's take a look at the americas. we have been tracking this particular front that has been moving across the united states during the past couple of days and it looks like it will continue to be a focal point for some severe storms. we have this trough set up that is pushing against the warm air that's moving in from the south, and so anywhere from ohio down in to the deep south you'll be looking out for the possibility of some severe weather with the possibility of some tornadoes in the ohio river valley. so make sure that you stay tuned to the local weather updates for that particular situation. colder air filtering behind this system, but, over on the west coast, we are seeing a large ridge with the santa ana winds so it is not only warm, it is extremely dry and windy. so we are looking out for

possibility of some dangerous fire conditions. look at this, up to 128 kilometer per hour winds in terms of gusts in sill hill, up to 115 kilometers per hour in big black mountain. so yes we're continuing to look out for those wind gusts as we go throughout wednesday. los angeles, up to 38 degrees. for your wednesday. in the deep south, rain and thunderstorms, atlanta you will also see temperatures moving into the upper 20s as you go through your wednesday. finally, east asia, we are seeing the continual rainy season moving in to southern china, and also western japan. and kagoshima, 77 millimeters of rain during the past 24 hours and it looks like more rain is in store for us, both in western japan, and also down in to southern china. look, up to 120 millimeters of rainfall during the next 72 hours. so definitely look out for that. hong kong you will see a high of 28 degrees with a chance for some rain. also, extending all the way in to tokyo, we're expecting some rain with a high of 22 for thursday. a little bit drier toward beijing, though, and warm with

highs in the upper 20s. hope you have a good day wherever you are. here's a look at your extended forecast.

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

>> you are watching "france 24." these are the headlines this hour. an explosion in turkey leaves at least 200 dead. rescuers are racing against time trying to save the 200 more still trapped inside. rolledy of a 26 are journalist was found tuesday by -- a 26-year-old journalist was found tuesday. officials say she was caught in an ambush. the cannes film festival kicks off today but not without controversy.