it will still be some time before negotiations on north korea's nuclear program can resume. thus the opinion of the u.s. envoy who spoke at the end of two days of talks with north korean officials. we have more from beijing. >> reporter: davies met on friday for second base.5 hours with first vice foreign minister in beijing. he's a u.s. special representative for north korea policy. someday vees said they changed views on various issues and he now has a clearer idea of the problems and a better understanding of north korea's viewpoint. >> i think we made a little bit of progress. i think we have to evaluate it. look at what it was that the north koreians had to say to it. >> reporter: but he did not disclose any details and said

the result is far from a breakthrough. in december the u.s. proposed sending biscuits and vitamins to the north in a bid to persuade it to halt its uranium enrichment programs. north korea instead asked for agriculture crops. despite the rejection, the north remains positive about receiving food assistance from the u.s.. in the meantime, north korea is planning to hand out food aid to its people on april 15th. the 100th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder. the delivery will help bolster the image of the newly instaled regime of kim jong un. this week's talks were the first between the u.s. and north korea under the leadership of kim jong un. davies reported the context of the talks to chinese envoy chairman of the six-party talks on the north nuclear program.

davies will travel to seoul and tokyo over the weekend to brief officials on the outcome of the talks. >> united nations spokesperson say syrian government officials at the highest levels are responsible for crimes against humanity. the u.n. report estimates more than 8,000 people have been killed since anti-government protests began last march. the u.n.'s human rights council interviewed about 370 people in syria and neighboring countries by phone or in person. the report says government troops have been firing of crowds of protesters in locations across the country. the document says syrian security officers interrogated demonstrators using electric shocks at a hospital in the central city. the report says the u.n. has received a list of senior government and military officials involved in the crackdown. the united nations and arab league have appointed former u.n. secretary general kofi

annan as their special envoy. annan headed the u.n. for ten years until 2006. he won the nobel peace prize during his tenure. the former u.n. chief has experience in conflict resolution. after leading the world body he helped negotiate an end to ethnic conflict in kenya. through the appointment of annan, the u.n. and arab league said they aim to underscore their commitment to stopping the violence in syria. the japanese government will extend $3 million in emergency aid to the recent victims of violence in syria. the program will distribute food and medicine to people forced to flee their homes. the aid will be distributed in cooperation with the international committee of the red cross and other organizations. >> translator: japan needs to assist syrian civilians for humanitarian reasons. we will continue our calls for the syrian government to halt the violence against its people.

>> the u.n. says 100,000 to 200,000 people have been displaced within syria. and another 20,000 have fled to neighboring countries. next we continue our series of special reports from vietnam. we go to the capital, hanoi. >> reporter: we conclude this week's special reports by focussing on how central vietnam is overcoming the legacy of the vietnam war. central vietnam was the site of many hard fought battles during the war. and nearly 40 years later deep scars remain. but in fast developing urban areas it is a different story. i found out how people here in hanoi feel about the nation's defining conflict. the vietnam military history museum is located in the middle of hanoi. visitors can see real tanks and fighter jets from both the north

vietnamese and u.s. armed forces. cluster bombs and chemical weapons dropped by the united states are also on display. the museum describes how they killed and maimed vietnamese people. this national mu semiwas set up to record the country's turbulent and military past and the wars it has been through, including the vietnam war. but that conflict is about to be forgotten by people here in rapidly growing hanoi. >> translator: the war ended many years ago. vietnam is now developing. >> translator: the vietnam war is history. our country is growing at a pace to catch up with world powers. >> reporter: as we have reported, people in hanoi and other big cities today rarely

feel the lingering impact of the war. but for those in the still poor central region, the site of many hard fought battle the scars remain unhealed. the legacy of agent orange sprayed over forests is particularly harsh. but there's now a substance that holds hope and not only for restoring devastated forests, but also in fighting poverty. and that substance is arga wood. a fragrant wood produced in central vietnam what fetches high prices in countries like china and japan. just a gram of this first grade wood costs about $520 in japan. this three kilogram tree is estimated to be worth at least $1.5 million. we have more on this story. >> reporter: this village is pinning hopes on the wood to

rejuvenate its economy. it sits in the district of a luoi in the mountains border laos. bomb craters remain as ponds. u.s. aircraft that spread agent orange during the war used to be in area. in high concentrations it's still being detected. the u.s. military sprayed a massive volume of highly toxic herbicides and defoal i can'ts during the war to deprive fighters of cover. even now, many children are born with defects. the village is the smallest in the district with little in the way of local industry. in 2009, a japanese scientist

working alongside a local ngo presented 25,000 wood seedlings to the village. the objective was to establish economically and environmentally sustainable production. the wood is even more valuable than gold. but most of the trees have been destroyed and are now endangered. instead, they are grown at plantations. this man is a member of the ngo in charge of the project has been watching the area since after the vietnam war. >> translator: before the war there was jungle all over here. but the agent orange killed the forest. 1400 villagers have begun growing the trees at their homes. >> translator: this tree is very

nice if we leave it as it is, small branchs will sprout. >> reporter: the trees don't need intense labor or even much space to grow. that's specially beneficial for some. this woman is a rice farmer. her daughter has a birth defect blamed on wartime defoal i can'ts. the wood seeds offer a glimmer of hope. >> translator: life has been tough, but when i received the seedlings, i thought i'll be better able to support my child. >> reporter: it's a promising market. the trees are now exported to be used in herbal medicines. for vietnam suffering the harsh legacies of war, these trees offer a better hope of a future.

>> reporter: that's going to wrap up our special series on the challenges and opportunities faced by emerging central vietnam and we'll keep you informed as the region moves forwards and towards the economic development forefront here in southeast asia. thank you very much for joining us. >> today on the road ahead, we meet a film maker who shot a documentary in japan evoking nature's power to destroy and renew. lucy walker filmed the tsunami and the cherry blossoms shortly after the march 11th disaster, mow it's in the running for the

best short subject at the 84th annual academy awards. >> reporter: luky walker began filming her 40-minute documentary not long after the tsunami. the disaster and loss was beyond imagination. the film captures the grief of those who lost families, friends, homes and possessions. one month after the destruction, cherry blossoms started to flower and with that, the survivors' faith and hope also began to grow. the flowers symbolize the way japanese think about the philosophy of life. the film's director lucy walker is based in los angeles. several of her documentaries focus on issues like nuclear weapons and poverty. before the disaster, walker was preparing to make a documentary about japan's cherry blossoms. but when the tsunami hit, she

headed for the most devastated region. >> it was the most difficult time i think of my life. it was so shocking to be there and see it because everywhere you turned was destroyed. i realized that we had this very powerful story and that we had this very strong footage from people in the area whose voices i felt like really had a lot to teach the world. >> these people dared to speak to me and to share their true, true experience. that is what is powerful on the big screen is people being honest, which i know is very -- for me is very hard to be

really, really honest about difficult emotional, painful life and yet, you know, that is what as human beings is really interesting and really important to listen to. >> reporter: cherry blossoms have symbolized the view of life and death here since ancient times. beautiful but fragile, the flower blooms for only a few days. walker's film follows the landscape of disaster. it also reveals the landscape of the survivors' minds, decemberlated yet hopeful. >> there is so much interesting, deep philosophical food for thought around the cherry blossom culture in japan. for me it's an incredibly strong symbol of abusism and shintu and

awareness of transience. and important of beauty and culture and community and the way the blossoms frame important moments in life i think is something very nice to talk about in the film. >> reporter: through the film, the director offers a message from the survivors of hope for a better future. >> it's not cliche or corny to say there is hope and renewal. even after such great tragedy as human beings it is so impressive to me that the people can get up and carry on. a very eloquent guy says one day you want to give up, but the next day it's like i'm going to decide i keep breathing. i'm going to move forward. that is the movement of the film. it starts with the tsunami and destruction and ends with the sakuru, the new hope and moving

into the future with a lot of beauty and grace. >> lucy walker will find out if she has won the oscar for documentary short this sunday at the academy awards in los angeles. >> an earthquake that jolted a nation. a tsunami that swallowed a coastline. a nuclear plant that spiralled out of control. japan marks the first anniversary of the march 11th disaster. what lessons have been learned? find out on "newsline" starting monday, march 5th. then sunday joins us at 2:00 p.m. japan time for lessons of march 1 19, one year on. >> australian legislatures are preparing for a showdown. the country's current and former prime ministers will face off in a leadership contest next week to resolve a long running power struggle within the governing party. former leader kevin roth told reporters on friday that he will

challenge the prime minister in a labor party vote next monday. he said the labor led government has a lot of work to do if it is to regain the confidence of the australian people that he is ready to start restoring that trust. he was forced from office in june 2010 when gillard led a party revolt. she named him as a foreign minister, but he resigned on wednesday. gillard announced the showdown to put an end to the divisive conflict. votes will be cast by all labor legislatures. polls show roth is more popular with the public. japan's auto production surged in january going up nearly 19% from a year earlier. the own kuhn tri's eight car makers say they produce a total of 799,000 vehicles in the latest reporting month marking the fourth straight monthly increase. they boosted output to make up

for the declining costs by last year's earthquake and tsunami. honda production shot up 42%. mitsubishi motor was the only car maker that showed a production decline in the month. japanese and u.s. negotiators are trying to figure out a way forward in okinawa. they've got stuck again on an agreement to relocate a u.s. marine corp. base. the futenma air station surrounded by residential neighborhoods and people there worry about accidents. a helicopter crashed in 2004 just outside the base. the residents' concerns have put the process in doubt. so have the worries of residents of the city where negotiators had hoped to move the base.

>> reporter: around 3,000 marines and civilian workers are based in futenma. the marines update the aircraft. these helicopters flew to the uss germantown, a ship off the coast of okinawa. the ship then headed to waters near thailand carrying a large number of troops. after a week they left okinawa. the u.s. marines have appeared in thailand. a joint military drill was in full swing. it was being conducted by seven countries including japan and

the united states. >> we support the blt and other units attached with air assets flying them to and from places and whatever they ask us, and whenever we're needed they call us and we support them. >> reporter: tokyo and washington picked the coastal area of nago city in okinawa for the futenma relocation. construction can only begin after okinawa's governor gives the go ahead. but the govern insists the base be moved outside the prefecture. he cites opposition from local residents and the lack of environmental safeguards in the government's plan. the uncertainty has led to concerns in okinawa that the futenma base might never be moved. >> translator: the japanese defense minister came to okinawa

and clearly described the futenma air station as the world east most dangerous base. no country should allow such a perilous facility to exist near its people. >> reporter: the two countries argue that it's difficult for marine ground troops to be stationed apart from the area that supports them. one of the strength of the marines is their ability to respond quickly to crisis. this is possible because air and ground units operate in an integrated manner. in this exercise, the help of the unit conducted the training operation in an area without an armory. >> we're a small piece of the pie. we work with several different units. we'll work with other marine units like ground units. we don't really operate independently too often.

it's a group effort. we're all one team. >> reporter: japan and u.s. are sticking to their plan to relocate the futenma base to nago city. okinawa is demanding a move outside the prefecture. it's unclear how these differences can be bridged. >> rachel ferguson is up next with weather. held ehlo again time to get you all caught up and look at the weather. in the east asian continent things are quite. some showers down to the south and east of china. as for japan we're going to be seeing a lot of wet weather into saturday. most of it will be taking aim at the pacific edge of the country. and rainshowers will turn over

to snow as they hit the frigid temperatures over the north. it is going to move fairly quickly. 9 degrees in tokyo. 6 in seoul. that figure is going to come down by a few degrees into sunday probably down to 3. taipei and hong kong both looking for 17 for the high. you'll be seeing some showers. into north america we go. much of the u.s. and central canada will have nice, clear, calm conditions will lots of sunshine. there is a new storm coming in. this one once again rolling in from the pacific bringing in coastal rain and mountain snow. you could see maybe 20 to 40 centimeters of snow on the mountains in the ex-next 36 hours. it's going to be accompanied by some very strong gusts as well. enough to reduce visibility where the snow is coming down and to bring some structural damage as well. we're talking about small trees

coming down and maybe some power outages as well. out towards the east a mixed bag. towards the north this is going to be snow and he have snow anywhere from the eastern great lakes right through into new england. then we have a band of severe weather as well from the mid-atlantic down in towards the eastern gulf of mexico. potential for some thunderstorms to turn a little bit nasty with hail and maybe even tornados popping up. temperatures ahead of that front coming in are going to be really on the rise today on your friday washington, d.c. 24 degrees. but very windy. now that's going to drop by about 10 degrees to just 14 degrees in fact on your saturday. 17 degrees with showers in atlanta. meanwhile 13 in oklahoma city. chicago 2. toronto 2. some really wet snow coming down in both places. we've got 4 and lots of sunshine in denver. in los angeles lots of sub sunshine and the warmer temperatures 24 for the high.

let's go into europe and see what's happening here. down towards the south and west of -- southwest it's going to be nice and sunny. no problems here at all. it is going to be gusty towards the north. there is some precipitation. most of it is fairly light anywhere from central locations in towards the low country it's mostly going to be rain, maybe some sleet. it will turn over to snow as we hit the more eastern locations. temperatures here will be falling just back down to seasonal averages. it's been a little bit warmer than usual in the last couple of days. we'll see temperatures in warsaw and kiev heading down to the freezing point. down towards the southeast. athens 19 degrees lots of sunshine for you. rome 16. 18 for you in madrid. nice, bright conditions in vienna as well. a bright day in stockholm. plenty of sunshine 3 degrees for you. 11 degrees in london and some sunny spells as well. here's your extended forecast.

a japanese arty san has given a second life to trees felled by last year's tsunami. a renowned guitar maker presented a stage director with instruments made from pine trees damaged from the tsunami. one guitar was made to produce a powerful sound. its design features tsunami waves and an iconic pine tree that survived the disaster. another generates softer tones with cherry blossoms and a sailing boat symbolizing

reconstruction. the manufacturer says the difficult part was to dry the food as it was found soaking in sea water. >> the guitars will debut in a musical in tokyo. the theme of the show will be revival from the disaster. that's our broadcast for this hour on "newsline." we'll be back with more news in half an hour. thank you for watching. bye-bye.

4.6 billion years since its creation, the earth has continued to surprise us with its natural wonders. today, we will journey to a sea just below the equator home to so many creatures.