common ground. air rain league officials pressure syrian opposition groups to get together to rescue their country from crisis. opposition figures in syria have fought for more than a year to bring down president bashar al assad but they have been divided by in-fighting. now syria's neighbors are urging them to unite. about 250 delegates gathered at the arab league conference in

cairo. opposition members called on all disdent groups to bring a different asset. they said such a government would include assad. they blocked a cause that would have called for the president to step down. >> translator: we are disappointed with the agreement reached at the geneva conference. >> chida said members of his group want to bring priority to bringing down assad. secretary general anders fogh rasmussen says that they have no intention to step in.

>> i think that the right way forward is to find a political solution. >> rasmussen called on the u.n. security council to speak with "one voice" to pressure syria . this demonstrates an urgent need for an international treaty on weapons. they had to delay the meetings because members couldn't agree on whether to allow the palestinians to participate. nhk reports from new york. >> reporter: this gun sculpture at the u.n. headquarters represents peace as they talk about how to regulate global arms trade. they have come to new york to talk about a treaty that's been in the works for years.

international protocols regulate the weapons of mass destruction but similar rules don't apply to conventional arms, such as tanks and guns. guns, ammunition, and other weapons and terrorism around the world. it kills one person every minute. supporters of the treaty say it could save thousands of lives. the group held a press conference pushing for strict regulations. >> translator: it is difficult for us to control regional conflicts in which small weapons are used. we in japan must create an environment in which we can contribute to peace-building. >> reporter: but the key players are big weapon producers such as the united states. the u.s. is the world's biggest weapons exporter, accounting for

one-third of the total value of global arms shipment. washington initially opposed the treaty. but president obama reversed that position. his administration is not so forthcoming on some of the scope of the treaty, though, such as small arms or ammunition. guns are very popular in the u.s. a new poll indicates more than 40% of american households own a gun. some lawmakers resist any international law that might, in their view, infringe american people's constitutional right to arm themselves. the u.s. is also the biggest exporter of ammunition and produces over seven billion rounds a year. the country has resisted the proposed inclusion of ammunition in the scope of the treaty on the ground that it is impractical. russia and china have also

raised concerns. the countries are also among the world's largest arms exporters. negotiations over this global arms treaty will go on for most of this month. negotiators say now the question is not if there will be a treaty but how effective or not it will be. nhk world, new york. delegates from iran and six world powers meet in istanbul later in the day for another round of talks on iran's nuclear program. the eu's foreign policy chief has urged iran to make concrete pledges this time. the seven parties have met three times since april without a breakthrough. the eu's catherine ashton says she hopes the iranians seize this opportunity to address the concerns of the international community. western officials want iranian scientists to stop enriching uranium to 20%, which can lead to the development of nuclear weapons.

iranian leaders claim they're developing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. technical experts will meet in istanbul to determine whether there's enough common ground for full-fledged talks. but the meetings are expected to be strained. an eu embargo on iranian oil imports took effect sunday. the u.s. and eu authorities have put new sanctions in place to try to stop iran from developing its nuclear program. the measures target crude oil exports and financial institutions to stop doing business with the country. iranians are seeing the results. they are facing higher prices for food and medicine. they are also facing safety risks. nhk world reportsrom tehran. >> reporter: an iranian jet made an emergency landing at an

airport. it made the landing without its front wheels. it could have been a disaster. the captain told nhk what was going on in the cockpit. >> translator: i told the co-pilot to deploy the landing gear. but the instruments showed something was wrong with the wheels. >> reporter: in january 2011, another iran air passenger plane crashed into the northern part of the country. 80 people were killed. both accidents last year in both planes made by boeing, the u.s. aircraft manufacturer. the economic sanctions are said to be behind the accidents. airline companies are finding it increasingly difficult to import essential parts. they have no choice but to fly old planes that lack adequate

maintenance. >> translator: the confrontation between iran and western countries is a political matter. it shouldn't put people's lives and safety at risk. >> reporter: the economic embargo is steadily undermining the iranian society. >> reporter: the latest round of u.s. and eu sanctions have already begun heavy inflation in the iranian market. chicken, for example, used to be at $2 a kilogram is now standing at 4. food prices have soared since the beginning of the year. the official inflation rate is 20% but people say the actual figure is probably higher. >> translator: there is no way we can make a living. >> reporter: the sanctions are even affecting people's health.

the cost of medicine has risen more than 30% since the sanctions began. drugs to treat heart disease and high blood pressure are particularly hard to obtain due to restrictions on transactions with foreign firms. >> translator: this medicine cost about $6 last year. i had to pay twice as much today. >> translator: my mother used to take medication imported from overseas. but we can no longer afford it. it's just gotten too expensive. >> reporter: the sanctions against iran show no sign of ending any time soon. meanwhile, ordinary iranians trapped in what they see as a political conflict and a daily struggle to survive. nhk world, tehran.

americans are facing headwind as overseas economies slow down. from the business desk, more on that. so what's the story there? >> well, manufacturing that just came out yesterday, it's a key indicator of the u.s. economy and it shows that u.s. factories produced less goods in june for the first time in three years. the figure comes as europe's credit problems and slow downs in emerging economies, like china, means fewer people now want the things that america makes. the institute for supply management says its index of national manufacturing activity fell 3.8 points from may to 49.7. an index of less than 7 indicates a contraction. specifically, the index for new orders tumbled over 12 points to 47.8. the figure for exports also fell by 6 points to 47.5.

now, attention is now on whether these numbers are going to be reflected in upcoming quarterly earnings reports which are due out from next week. well, investors sold stock in response to the contraction in the u.s. manufacturing. the dow jones industrial average closed slightly in the negative, ending down 12,871. so for more on how stocks are trading here in tokyo, we're going to switch over to ramin at the tokyo stock exchange. what can you tell us? >> good morning to you. yes, indeed. the market is mixed in the u.s. the dow is trading lower but nasdaq trading higher. the ism manufacturing data may be a little bit muted and that's because investors are waiting for the main jobs number due out on friday in the u.s. let's have a look at the opening levels here for this tuesday morning here in tokyo. and both indexes trading higher. let's not forget the nikkei

snapped three gains yesterday ending three points lower after profit kicked in. in asia, hong kong closed yesterday, investors sidetracked by one of the key members of japan's ruling, democratic party resigning and taking 49 lawmakers with him. so that may cause a little bit of a political instability there. and that's also maybe dealt a new political blow to prime minister yoshihiko noda. there have been six prime ministers in the last six years. that's a major focus. investors may be a little side lined. some focus from oil and gold and the commodity markets as well. gold was trading below $1,600 per ounce and wti crude trading

lower on the nymex. you can see it there. it's fallen 1.5%. commodities may have a bit of a focus in light of absence of other market direction. let's look at foreign currency levels as well. the markets always a focus. dollar/yen holding steady. the euro gaining against the dollar. 93 to 96 now. >> and speaking of the euro/yen, anything to watch out from europe this week? >> in absence of the u.s. markets, the european central bank will meet on thursday and the unemployment data has shown there are continuing problems there. the ecb is likely to cut rates. if it goes more than 25 basis points or a quarter of a percentage, we may see a pop higher in the euro so that should be a focus can.

obviously the eu agreement on friday was a bit of a boost there to supply extra funds for failing banks. really the euro zone, the main focus with the u.s. on holiday on wednesday. back to you. >> ramin, thanks a lot for that update. ramin from the tokyo stock exchange. executives at a leading japanese semiconductor maker are set to announce streamlining measures that include massive cuts to their workforce and plants. established in 2010 after they unified their semiconductor divisions, it has struggled to cope after last year's tsunami and earthquake and the historic appreciation of the yen. the company posted net losses of more than 60 billion yen. that's roughly $790 million for the business year that ended in march. now, under the downsizing plan,

up to 14,000 jobs may be slashed at the head office and group firms. that's about 30% of the payroll the company also plans to close or sell eight of its 18 plants acrossapan and consider the sale of another two factories in the future. company executives are set to announce the plan on tuesday. they are preparing to notify the municipalities that host the plants as well as labor unions. i have more business news for you next hour. i'll leave you with a check on asian markets.

flooding in india's northeast has left at least 65 people dead and 11 others missing. government officials from the state of assam. some 2,000 villages have been flooded. officials say more than 400,000 people have been evacuated. they say about two million people have been affected by the floods. prime minister flew there on monday and promised to drop food and other necessities in the area. neighbors country bangladesh is also experiencing monsoon

downpours. landslides there have left about 100 people dead. north koreans are hearing about their leader kim jong un. they say state news outlets produced 81 stories about kim jong unin the first six months of this year, that's through more than kim jong-il in the time that he was in power. the media also reported kim jong-il's activities months after the fact but generally put out stories of kim jong-un within days. the analysts say the high exposure suggests officials are trying to ee lay concerns about kim's lacks lack of experience. at a first glance, the

people on russia's east coast appear to be firmly rooted into the 21st century. they've revitalized the city, turned it into an energy hub. many young people feel wiftful about a by-gone era. >>. >> performing a dance recently, many young russians have become -- >> translator: i'm wearing a silk hat and gloves. i came dressed in a costume from that time period.

>> the atmosphere moved. >> and there are images of women informal gowns. she says the world wasn't so frantic in the 19th century. she started making her own dress. so far, when you dance a court dance, it feels so amazing. i think anyone would love it. women become ladies and men become lords. it's magical. >> reporter: she choose to join

the roman dynasty. every week they practice in the 19th century atmosphere. in the dance, they become nobles. about 100 people showed up. everyone wore 19th century attire and competed to be the most elegant. they behave right down to how

they wear their gloves with the opposite sex. five years ago, france hosted this and over the years more people joined in. >> i want to hold more dances like to convey how important our history and culture is. >> reporter: now the dance of thousands of people revives the lifestyle of the ruling class in 19th century are russia. nhk world. people in southern areas of japan are dealing with torrential downpours. rachel ferguson is joining us with the situation there and more in her world weather

forecast. >> that's absolutely correct. kyushu as well as shikoku have been dealing with very heavy rain. there's also the risk of tornados and a raised risk of landslides. as well in kyushu where the same rain band brought very heavy rain on sunday. and we've had reports, in fact, of 50 millimeters of rain falling in just the space of one hour. so that's some really seriously heavy rainfall. that's going to continue and the heavy rain will spread in toward central locations, coming into tokyo by the late afternoon hours and through the evening. now, if we follow that rain band right through eastern china and down towards sichuan province you'll notice very heavy rain. you can see a low form over the front. that is going to be producing between 100 to 250 millimeters of rain during the course of the day today. up towards the northeast of china we still have that very

slow-moving system bringing thunderstorms, gusts and also hail here and down to the south. lots of scattered thunderstorms for the philippines and indochina as the southwest monsoon continues. as it will do so the next few months. but today we have a low crossing the philippines and that will really enhance the rainfall across central locations of the archipelago. again, an increased risk of landslides and flooding here. temperatures are going to be generally between the low to mid 30s. but we're really hotting up in places like shanghai. 35 here. taipei as well. and even in beijing getting up to 35 degrees. so really seeing some heat spreading all the way up towards the north, reaching mongolia. ulan bator seeing 27 for the high today. 27 also in tokyo. a clear day turning wet as we head into the evening hours. all right, into north america. not much change from yesterday. we are still dealing with severe outbreaks of thunderstorms along the u.s./canada border, coming into the upper midwest.

just along this low, around this low is where the storms are going to be most severe. another area will be breaking out from virginia down through the carolinas during your overnight hours. rain will be widespread. however, it's not really going to be enough to make a dent in the temperatures. and it's really the temperatures that are responsible for these outbreaks of thunderstorms. all this humidity, all this heat, is making the air very unstable. and that's why we see those thunderstorms. let's take a look at the temperatures as we head into tuesday. over there in d.c. 37 in chicago. 36 in oklahoma city as well as in denver. that is going to persist into the next couple of days, actually raising the temperature by a couple of degrees in places like chicago as we head on into wednesday. up towards the pacific northwest and western canada, 17 in vancouver. 18 in seattle. a little bit warmer but still very cool for you here.

all right, as we head on into europe, more heavy rain has been targeting the british isles. very unwelcome rain last week. widespread flooding was reported here. well, we're just getting band after band of rain coming off of a low pressure system sitting out over the atlantic. and that could lead to further flooding. we've also had reports of thunderstorms delivering golf ball-sized hail here. central locations seeing very severe thunderstorms. again, the czech republic, eastern germany, poland, you'll be receiving the worst of it. lots of humidity energy coming up from the south. it's just moving around as a dome of high pressure. that's why we see the same areas being affected by these storms. this dome of high pressure, of course, is keeping all the heat around the balkan peninsula. 38 in budapest today. 32 in vienna. warming up in the southwest. just 18 and wet in london. i'll leave you to your extended forecast. our lead story this hour.

our lead story this hour. the head of the arab league as urged opposition groups to get together to rescue their country from crisis. about 250 delegates gathered at an arab league conference in cairo. members of the syrian opposition

joined ministers from across the arab world. telling delegates they must seize the opportunity before them. they called on all groups to come together to bring down president bashar al assad. representatives in geneva agreed to call for a democratic government. such an administration would include members of the assad government and opposition. but russian representatives the clause that would have called for the president to step down. >> translator: we are disappointed with the agreement reached at the geneva conference. >> sida said members of his group want to give top priority to bringing down assad. that concludes this edition of "newsline." do stay with us. we'll be back at the top of the hour with more of your updates.