update a time honored tradition. security is tight in china's tiananmen square on the 25th anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. hundreds of people were killed in the incident. chinese leaders aren't allowing any memorial events, and they're trying to muffle all criticism. nhk world has the story from beijing. >> reporter: tee rnman square is crowded with tourists, but many police officers are keeping watch over the scene. officials have installed metal detectors at all entrances to the square. the police are frisking people for weapons. these measures have been in place since at least tuesday, but on wednesday, security officials began searching everyone's bags, as well. they've also deployed more officers. and we can see police vehicles inside the square. the police questioned a british man who was taking pictures. he later told us he has been asked to show i.d. on three separate occasions. chinese officers blacked out the nhk world premium channel at noon on wednesday. while the network was airing a segment on tiananmen square. authorities are apparently hoping to block the news from chinese citizens. on june 4th 1989, chinese troops opened fire on protesters in tiananmen square. tanked crushed their barricades. the chinese government says 319 people were killed. opposition groups say the number is far higher. grieving families are calling on officials to make an apology and to open an investigation into what really happened. but chinese leaders have called the event a riot and said force was necessary to contain it. in the run-up to the anniversary, security officials have begun a new crackdown. this photo was taken last month at an apartment in beijing. the apartment is a gathering place for families who lost loved ones 25 years ago, and for those involved in the pro-democracy movement. the authorities detained five people for allegedly starting a disturbance. one of them is a well-known human rights lawyer. chinese leaders are aware that students are growing frustrated with one-party rule. many people claim that bureaucrats are corrupt and abusing of power. the the administration of president xi jinping is apparently trying to scope critics from organizing new anti-government activities. now some of the students who led the protests fled china for the united states. a quarter century on, they're still pushing for democracy in their homeland. nhk world reports. >> reporter: a public hearing at the u.s. house of representatives. former student leaders of the 1989 movement condemned their government handling of the crackdown at tiananmen square 25 years ago. >> we saw the people's liberation articlemy were randomly shooting at protesters. >> today the conditions in these areas are much worse. >> reporter: june 4th, 1989, students were protesting at tiananmen square in beijing. chinese authorities sent in troops. many protesters were killed or injured. fan junk, now 47, lost both of his legs on that day. he left china five years ago. now he and his family live near san francisco. he was a senior college student of sports during the protest. he left the square, but he says soon afterwards, a tank drove in to them. >> translator: i was heading back to school when i came across the tank, i was trying to help a female student when the tank plowed in to us from behind, running over a lot of students. i lost both my legs. >> reporter: what added to his despair was that the school didn't allow him to appear in graduation pictures. >> translator: the school feared that the pictures would remind many people of the crackdown if i, an amputee, was in the pictures. >> reporter: fang spent 20 years in china, but authorities restricted his freedom of movement and tapped his phone. after years of what he calls house arrest he decided to leave his country. >> translator: in china, there are three outcomes for those who told the truth. death, a life in exile, or prison. >> reporter: former student leaders show frustration at the authorities' stance to the democracy movement they did nothing wrong. >> china has already extended its domestic brutality and ruthlessness in to the international arena. by bullying its neighbors. and without democracy, it will not rise peacefully. >> reporter: a quarter century of the tiananmen incident, former student leaders now outside the country continue to call for china's democratization. but their message doesn't seem to reach china's leaders. masayoshi tanaka, nhk world. voters in syria have cast their ballots in a presidential election. president bashar al assad is widely expected to win. opposition groups and many western leaders criticized the race as being rigged from the start. nhk world has a report. >> reporter: in the capital damascus, loyal supporters marched in the streets. throughout the campaign. >> i support president assad, the courageous warrior, the young leader who protects our country until the end. >> reporter: this is his third election. assad jumped into the political spotlight in 2000 after his father, who had ruled the country for 29 years, died. he won more than 99% of votes. seven years later assad was elected again. but this time, voters had a choice. at least on paper. two other candidates ran. but both expressed their support for assad. people were only able to cast their ballots in the areas that assad's regime controls. syria is in the midst of a civil war that has killed 160,000 people over the last three years. it has caused millions of people to fwlee from their homes. critics say assad is using this election as a platform to send out a strong message that he is the only legitimate ruler. away from the campaign and in the refugee camps like this one in lebanon, people are desperate. the constant fighting has forced about 100 syrians here. this woman left her home last july with her husband and their four children. her brother was killed in attacks by assad forces. she fears that with assad in power any hope of rebuilding syria will be crushed. >> translator: this election is a farce. only those who support assad will get richer. assad won't allow his oppositions to even take one breath. >> reporter: after the election, another seven-year term will start for the president. but millions who have crossed the border, like this one, still won't know when they can return home. hiroshi shimazaki, nhk world at the syrian border in lebanon. koichiro tanaka of the institute of economics in japan is an expert in middle east politics. he talked to us about the impact the election is likely to have in syria and beyond. >> in certain parts of the country where he does not have the authority to hold an election, there will be no elections. meaning that people would not be able to cast their ballots. and that would mean that the turnout would not be nationwide, so he cannot claim that he is the same president, even though he may win. he may not be able to claim that he's -- or he has the same authority, just like his current term. and that's going to be a very difficult situation. and that would also make him sort of an illegitimate leader inside syria. even though he is likely to win, his authority would not remain the same. >> and tanaka says international efforts to mediate in the civil war have failed, and he fears there's no end in sight. >> syria is not forgotten, has not been forgotten, has not been deserted. but it may not be the same conditions that the syrians might long for if they are willing -- if they are willing to see some sort of intervention from the west and that's not going to happen. in june 2014 we have seen that the opposition forces do not carry that sort of a force that will be able to -- to eliminate assad from his -- from his powers. but on the other hand there are concerns among the regional countries that they should provide more weapons to the opposition forces. that -- so that they can counter the aggression from the state forces. so that means that eventually i think there will be sort of a stalemate on the war front inside syria. japanese researcher haruko obokata has spent months defending research once hailed as a scientific breakthrough. she's been refusing to retract a paper that her peers have said was flawed. but now she says she's changed her mind. obokata was lead author of a paper published in january in the science journal "nature." she had claimed to have found a faster way to create cells that can develop into any type of tissue. she called them stap cells. but other scientists questioned her research. her research institute riken launched an investigation and concluded that she manipulated some of the data. riken officials say own cat to agreed on tuesday to withdraw the paper. one of the co-authors has also reportedly agreed to retract the paper. harvard medical school professor charles vacanti had been standing by the research. the decision effectively cancels their work on stap cell research. let's now get the latest business stories from yuko fukushima. >> japan's steady aging and shrinking population is putting pressure on insurance executives to find new markets. many had been looking at the u.s. it's the world's biggest insurance market, and still growing. officials at daiichi life insurance have confirmed they're buying an american insurer. it's the biggest purchase ever of a foreign firm by a japanese insurance company. executives at dai-ichi life say they'll buy protective life for about $5.7 billion. the u.s. insurer is based in alabama and is listed on the new york stock exchange. the officials say the two firms agreed dai-ichi life acquire all shares of protective life by january. to fund part of the purchase dai-ichi life will issue up to about $2.4 billion worth of new shares. protective life had premium income of about $2.9 billion last year. the two firms will have a combined premium income of about $45 billion. let's check on the markets now. many investors in asia took profits following gains in the previous trading sessions. as you can see, most markets in the region finished in the negative. many investors are waiting for a major event later in the week. their focus is on the european central bank's policy meeting scheduled for thursday, and the u.s. jobs data on friday. now the shanghai composite gave up more than 0.6% to end at 2,024, its fourth straight day of decline. investors sold property shares and they became more concerned about the weaker demand in the country's housing market. in hong kong, the hang seng index closed down 0.6% at 23,151. shares of casino operators like galaxy entertainment, fell sharply due to sluggish outlook for casino revenue in macau. now meanwhile the nikkei average gained 0.2% to end at 15,067, raising for a third consecutive session. a weaker yen prompted investors to buy export related shares. now a group of japanese regional leaders is pushing for an earlier launch of a next generation train service. they're putting their hopes on the potential economic benefits from the high speed train that is magnetically levitated. the central japan railway company is preparing to begin construction work on the line later this year. the plan is to start the service first between tokyo and nagoya in central japan in 2027. then, it plans to extend the route to osaka in western japan by 2045. about 270 people from nine prefectures along the planned route met in tokyo. participants expect the maglev train to become a key economic driver. but they say that can only be fulfilled when the line goes into full service between tokyo and osaka. they're hoping they would not have to wait for more than 30 years to see that happen. well, the people at one of japan's biggest railways have something for travelers who want to move about in style. executives are planning to roll out a new lunchery train. railway officials hope to attract people from japan and abroad who are looking for a novel experience. passengers will get on board for four-day tours through the northeast. they'll be able to relax in dining and lounge cars of the train ten coaches long and they'll head off to sleep in one of 17 sleeping compartments. passengers can pick deluxe suites and they'll be able to look at the sights from the first car which has windows all the way up to the ceiling. executives are expecting to launch the service in three years. they're hoping to take advantage of a trend toward luxury travel. the people at kyushu railway rolled out seven stars and executives are planning to enter the market too. computers and other modern tools have made many older business practices obsolete. but in japan people from office clerks to top executives still honor the custom of exchanging business cards. well now, the traditional cards are getting a digital face-lift. nhk has more. >> reporter: yoichi koizumi is a music promoter. he exchanges name cards with clients every day. >> translator: look, with this card i can do this. >> reporter: when he holds his business cards up to a tablet it activates what are called augmented reality images. a promotion video appears on the screen. >> translator: if your boys card has an impact you'll be immediately remembered. the page view for the promotion video rises sharply. this certainly helps my business a lot. >> reporter: to use it, all you have to do is download a special app and register the url address of whatever you wish to show. you can display anything from a restaurant menu to a company mascot. the service costs $20 a month. these high tech business cards are spreading into various fields. more and more people are using business cards as presentation tools. this singer is offering tapes to entrepreneurs. a lecturer advises them to include personal information on their cards, such as their passion for their jobs, or even their hobbies. he says this can serve as the conversation starter with potential clients. >> translator: you can't win business deals unless you promote yourself as an individual, rather than as a member of a company. this is a growing trend in business. >> reporter: it's not only the business cards you hand out that are undergoing a change. but the cards you receive, too. cloud-based business card management services for corporate clients are expanding rapidly. this recruitment agency is using such services. after its employees come back they scan the business cards they receive and the information is stored on the central database. this enables all the company's employees to share the information of who met whom and when. >> translator: look here. one of us has contacted the same client. >> reporter: with this in mind, he speaks with his colleague and exchanges details about this talks with the client. this makes it easier to prepare for the next strategy. a company official said ever since it started making use of the business card management system, its sales have risen. >> translator: this system makes it possible for us to see what each sales person is doing, and what kind of strategy he or she is taking. >> reporter: the name card management system was developed by a company led by tomioka. he says demand for such services around the world is growing. in may, it began offering its product in the u.s. >> translator: people are beginning to be aware of the merits of opening up personal ties and connections. >> reporter: his business card itself is a promotion tool. it comes in the shape of a cookie. people who receive one can scan and store the data, and then eat it. people have long used business cards. the new high tech versions will only add to their effectiveness. and make them a more powerful business tool. nhk world, tokyo. >> that's all for now in business. i'll leave you with the latest markets. asia every weekday live from bangkok, only on nhk world "newsline." let's now bring in our meteorologist robert speta for a check of the weather. robert the rainy season is starting in parts of western japan. when will it arrive in tokyo? >> shery, you're right. we have been seeing the last several days is these showers really kicking up across kyushu, rainy season officially starting there. i would not be surprised if we go ahead into thursday and friday if it does start into tokyo and much of the kanto region. we have this very large low pressure system pushing overhead and it is dropping an abundance of rain fall. miyazaki prefecture we've seen upwards of 395 millimeters of total rain fall. other locations about 300 millimet millimeters. this low is going to continue to work off toward the east so into tokyo and the kanto region basically starting on thursday and extending out through the weekend, have a umbrella ready because the showers are going to continue to persist, very rainy season like. and that's going to be one of the major problems with this 237 just that persistent rainfall. hokkaido you remember earlier this week you've been battling the heat. it's still fairly hot out here and we have upper level cold air, once you get that happening we're going to start to see some strong thunderstorms really flare up here and even across parts of the hoe cue region. the big topic is the rainy season. you can see the west, taiwan, southern portions of china, just north of hong kong, 100 to 150 millimeters of rainfall very likely here as well going through the next 24 to 48 hours. southwest mat monsoon continues to kick up for the tropics. towards bangkok on the topic of the tropics i do want to talk about tropical storm boris. you can see on the satellite picture it's not that impressive, not that organized. this is a low end tropical storm. 65, gusting up to 83 kilometers per hour. just barely holding onto that density. with that said it is going to be a rainmaker. and that's the big problem with this one. it's pushing that moisture onshore. we also have a weak tropical low just off here towards the north. so that combined is bringing that threat of flooding out here into southern portions of mexico, just towards the east of salina cruz where this is making landfall and also over towards guatema guatemala. that's something you want to watch through the coming days. elsewhere in the americas we are looking at severe thunderstorms. that's the big topic towards the north. look at this flaring up area of convection pushing out towards the ohio river valley. this storm system already has brought some severe weather back towards the west. i'll show you this video actually coming out of nebraska, where the heavy rainfall and the severe thunderstorms really rolled through on tuesday leaving behind significant damage. storms reportedly produced about baseball size hail. also several unconfirmed tornadoes, flash flooding and damaging straightline winds. flights were interrupted for hours in omaha. and the weather has also been disrupted in iowa, actually, impacting the primary elections which were going on there. so a lot of impacts coming out of the storm system. if you have travel plans in these areas in the yellow going through the next 24 hours be ready for some delays. not only on the roads but also at the airports, even back towards the west. now this is the severe weather. south of that jet stream, south of the storm system, hot and muggy in the southeast. and hot and dry in the southwest. relative humidity here, about 5% to 10%. you get that combined with some winds, any wildfires that do erupt it's going to spread exceptionally fast. take a look at temperatures. oklahoma city, 36. houston at 33. atlanta up to 31. do want to quickly touch in on europe. we have several low pressure systems here. one making for a messy day in the uk and much of the british isles over towards the low countries. watch out for this one. keep a umbrella ready. that's going to bring rainfall and strong thunderstorms into the southeast. we're talking about the balkan peninsula. if you're up towards the north, specifically moscow, beautiful day setting up here on your wednesday. here's the extended outlook. and that's all for this hour on "newsline." i'm shery ahn. thank you for watching. a1x1x >> thank you for watching i am invingt-quatre," paris. here are the headlines this hour. barack obama threw his weight behind eastern europe, saying it would not stand alone. he gave a speech in warsaw after telling the ukrainian president-elect that the u.s. is absolutely committed to the ukraine's future. china turns over security to try to snuff out any commemoration of the pro-democracy protests at kamman square -- tiananmen square. -- 25 been 30 years since years since troops left thousands dead.