back in guangzhou city, police arrived to keep the demonstrators away from the newspaper's office. they removed the flowers and got into a quarrel with some of the protesters. >> translator: if we do not stand for this newspaper now, we won't get support next time. >> reporter: a new group of leaders took control of china's communist party last fall. these demonstrators and members of the media are finding out some of the old ways are still in practice. nhk world, beijing. >>> wildfires have broking o brn 130 places in australia. the southern island of tasmania has been hardest hit. flames burned down 250 buildings and policere still trying to locate dozens of missing people. >> reporter: the fires have covered tasmania in shrouds of smoke. the temperature in the state capital hit a record, 131 degrees celsius. a heat wave, dry air and strong winds made for a disastrous combination. >> we didn't know it was going to be so sudden. it was horrendous. it was just unbelievable. just all totally devastated now. >> reporter: the fires have destroyed hundreds of buildings, a police statio

. >> reporter: these demonstrators in guangzhou want the government to stop ordering the media. more than 300 gathered at the headquarters of the newspaper. they said freedom of speech has been buried. and they laid down chrysanthemums to back up their accusation. the flower is traditionally handed out at funerals in china. >> translator: it's a violation of our rights. i can't stand it. we're at the boiling point. >> reporter: things have been heating up for several days. plants have run a new year's message, calling for greater democracy and more freedom of speech. but the journalists say local authority has ordered major edits. once chinese citizens found out, they wrote message after message to show their opposition to the censorship and support for the journalists. most of their reports have been deleted. china's citizens want freedom of speech and freedom of press. but communist party officials sometimes order the media to stay away from stories that put the party or the government in a unfavorable light. staff at a newspaper affiliated with the party took the rare step of

100 people gathered on tuesday at the headquarters of the nanfang zhoumo newspaper in the city of guangzhou. reporters at the paper say local communist party officials forced them to change an editorial calling for greater democracy and freedom of speech. more than 30 police officers ordered protesters to leave. they asked reporters to show i.d. cards. no local newspapers reported on monday's protests. some papers carried an editorial from a communist party affiliated newspaper calling for calm. >>> journalism is a tricky profession to practice in china. we went to the staff at "the global times" to get insight. the newspaper is affiliated with the chinese communist party publication "the people's daily," and it's known for hard-line stance toward foreign countries, including japan. nhk senior correspondent had a rare interview with the editor in chief of "the global times." they talked about japan-china relations and factors that influence chinese media. >> translator: there is no purely private media in china. chinese media are influenced by the government to a certain extent. however, it

. >> the crowd gathered in the southern chinese city of guangzhou. they laid chrysanthemums, a flower traditionally used that chinese funerals. the demonstration came after government censors blocked a new year's article in the popular liberal newspaper, calling for greater reforms from the communist party's newly elected leader xi jinping. egypt has resumed talks with the international monetary fund over a 3.6 billion euro loan to help stabilize the country's currency. >> the value of the egyptian pound has slid to record lows against the us dollar in recent weeks as egyptian purchase foreign currencies out of fear the economy could collapse. two years of political upheaval have discouraged foreign investors and caused a sharp drop in tourism, one of egypt's most important industries. the imf loan was originally agreed on in november, but then delayed by cairo as the government rushed to approve a controversial new constitution. >> germany's former president, christian wulff, and his wife have separated less than a year after he resigned in disgrace

." >>> chinese protesters in guangzhou have been rallying against a government newspaper.n taiwan people are also protesting about the media. they're worried about the increase of pro-china ownership and coverage. nhk world's naoki makita reports from taipei. >> reporter: the apple daily is one of taiwan's four major newspapers. until recently it had more readers than all but one of its competitors. owned by hong kong interests the daily was known for articles that criticized china's government. but in november that changed. in a purchase that is expected to receive the approval of the authorities, a consortium of companies bought the paper. and the major partner wang wang group is pro-china. if there had been any doubt, the company showed its colors in september. a fleet of taiwanese boats entered waters around the senkaku islands in protest against japan's control over the islands. the boats displayed the company banner and mascot. the chairman of the company helped finance the expedition by donating $140,000 to it. the apple daily joins a list of other taiwan media outl

. >> the crowd gathered in the southern chinese city of guangzhou. they laid chrysanthemums, a flower traditionally used that chinese funerals. the demonstration came after government censors blocked a new year's article in the popular liberal newspaper, calling for greater reforms from the communist party's newly elected leader xi jinping. egypt has resumed talks with the international monetary fund over a 3.6 billion euro loan to help stabilize the country's currency. >> the value of the egyptian pound has slid to record lows against the us dollar in recent weeks as egyptian purchase foreign currencies out of fear the economy could collapse. two years of political upheaval have discouraged foreign investors and caused a sharp drop in tourism, one of egypt's most important industries. the imf loan was originally agreed on in november, but then delayed by cairo as the government rushed to approve a controversial new constitution. >> germany's former president, christian wulff, and his wife have separated less than a year after he resigned in disgrace

. >>> chinese protesters in guangzhou have been rallying against censorship of a newspaper. over in taiwan, people are also protesting about the media, worried about pro china ownership and control here is a report from taiwan. >> reporter: this is one of taiwan's four major newspapers. until recently, it had more leaders but one of its competitors owned by hong kong interests, the daily was known for articles that criticized the chinese government. but in november, that changed. in a partnership expected to receive approval of the authorities, a consortium of companies owns the paper, and major part is pro china. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: if there had been any doubt, the company showed its colors in september. a fleet of taiwanese boats entered waters around senkaku islands in protest over japan's control over the islands. the boats displayed the company banner and mascot. the chairman of the company helped finance the expedition by donating $140,000 to it. the paper joins a list of other taiwanese media outlets owned by the group. it owns a major cable tv

and there was another staggering sight, an infrastructure collapsed in guangzhou. watch. a whole complex of homes swallowed by a massive sink hole, 30 feet wide, triggered by construction on an underground subway station nearby. 300 people were evacuated. no one was injured. >>> and down under now to australia, where this was the strange scene on the beaches there. sea foam billowing up at a level we've not seen before. entire beaches covered in it. spawned by a tropical cyclone that hit last week. the foam, a reminder of the fury of that cyclone. >>> and back here at home, the latest surprises in this season of extreme weather. watch this. it's an ice skating rink in wisconsin. last week, closed, because the arctic air was too cold. but today, it was closed, once again, this time, because the air is too warm and it's turned to slush. it's weather whiplash across this country from the great lakes and all the way across to the gulf. there are severe warnings out tonight, and abc's weather editor sam champion tells us what to expect. >> reporter: january has been a weather

staffers with "southern weekly" in guangzhou said today officials will no longer directly censor content before publication. other controls will stay in place. protests erupted after censors rewrote a new year's editorial that called for political reform. the washington national cathedral will begin performing same-sex marriages. the cathedral announced the decision today as part of an effort to build a more inclusive community. the 106-year-old cathedral is a spiritual center for the nation, hosting presidential inauguration services and state funerals. it will be one of the first episcopal congregations to allow gay marriage rites. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained 61 points to close at 13,390. the nasdaq rose 14 points to close above 3,105. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to jeff. >> brown: can a police office force a drunk driving suspect to take a blood alcohol test without a warrant? that was the question before the supreme court today, in a case involving fourth amendment rights. marcia coyle of the "national law journal" was in the

resolved a censorship dispute with an influential newspaper.t staffers with "southern weekly" in guangzhou said today officials will no longer directly censor content before publication. other controls will stay in place. protests erupted after censors rewrote a new year's editorial that called for political reform. the washington national cathedral will begin performing same-sex marriages. the cathedral announced the decision today as part of an effort to build a more inclusive community. the 106-year-old cathedral is a spiritual center for the nation, hosting presidential inauguration services and state funerals. it will be one of the first episcopal congregations to allow gay marriage rites. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained 61 points to close at 13,390. the nasdaq rose 14 points to close above 3,105. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to jeff. >> brown: can a police office force a drunk driving suspect to take a blood alcohol test without a warrant? that was the question before the supreme court today, in a case involving fourth amendment r

hundreds of people gathered in guangzhou, outside the headquarters of "southern weekly." they held hand-written signs and chrysanthemums as a sign of symbolic mourning for the death of press freedom. last week, the newspaper tried to print a new year's letter calling for political reforms. censors replaced it with a story lauding the ruling communist party. google's chairman, eric schmidt, began a private visit to north korea today. he arrived with a delegation being led by former new mexico governor bill richardson, who's been to north korea numerous times in the last 20 years. schmidt hopes to get a firsthand look at north korea's social media, and richardson said they'll also ask about a south- korean-born american citizen arrested in the north last november. >> we're here as individual american citizens to look at the humanitarian situation. we're going to ask about the american detainee who is here. we're interested in the economic and political situation. we are concerned about the missile launches and we're concerned about the importance of dialogue. >> sreenivasan

. >> suarez: protests in china turned to scuffles today in the southern city of guangzhou. supporters of the "southern weekly" newspaper, known for its relatively free-wheeling style, faced off with communist party supporters. the showdown has been brewing since new year's day. staffers say sensors force them to run this tribute to the party instead of a planned editorial calling for political reforms. journalists went on strike and drew support from local people who laid chrysanthemums at the paper's head quarters to symbolize the deaths of free speech. >> ( translated ): this act of suppressing the freedom of the press should be changed. otherwise it's going to be detrimental to the public interests of knowing the facts. >> ( translated ): i'm near say "the southern weekly" is not alone, there are lots of people supporting them. >> reporter: in response, the communist run "global times" newspaper warned no media outlet can occupy a political special zone. but the protests quickly drew support from scholars, celebrities and microblogs across china. late today came reports

this is all happening in a place called guangzhou, a little more than 80 miles from hong kong. in a rare protest, chinese rallied outside the offices of the southern weekly newspaper. they were supporting the journalists who say that the government rewrote an editorial calling for politic real form and gave it a positive spin. a very positive spin. howard kurtz host of "reliable sources" and the washington bureau chief of "newsweek" and "the daily beast." a lot of people surprised that they wouldn't be censorship of something like this. this newspaper's had a bit of rope in the past to play with. why does this incident be a flash point? >> certainly has seemed to touch a nev, michael. the idea of a few hundred people demonstrating outside a newspaper office doesn't sound like much to western ears. but in china where journalists can be and are thrown in jail for not towing the company line, in fact amnesty international says the highest number of imprisoned journalists are in china, it represents a sea change and a hunger for real news in a country where the censors control ever