hello there. and welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, june 4th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. people across turkey are gearing up for a nationwide strike. demonstrators have spent the past for days on the street.

the unrest began on friday. police attacked them with tear gas and water canyons. protest began on friday. police attacked them with tear gas and water canyons. protesters across the country rally. they accused o prime minister of trying to institute islamist policies. they are calling on him to step down. >> translator: i'm here for freedom. i'm here as an educated person to protest against facism. >> some protersters approached the prime minister's office but they were sent away.

authorities in taiwan says former president has tried to commit suicide. they say prison guards stopped him and he's in stable condition. he's serving a 20-year prison sentence for corruption. he tried to hang himself with a towel on sunday evening. they say they'll monitor his health more closely and increase surveillance to prevent another attempt. he was diagnosed with severe depression last october. he recently applied to rejoin the main opposition democratic party but party leaders have yet to formally respond. his supporters say he should be granted parole on medical grounds. they say he's receiving unfair treatment. a former japanese cabinet member is taking a stance. japanese and chinese leaders

have been arguing over the sovereignty of the senkaku islands. he says the leaders of both countries agreed to shelf the issue in 1972. the remarks were made in beijing with communist party official. former japanese prime minister and former chinese premier agreed when they agreed to strengthen ties. >> translator: as a living witness, i would like to share what i clearly heard from the two leaders. >> japanese leaders say their side has never shelved the issue, because they say there's no territorial dispute. chief cabinet secretary suga recited the government's stance. he says they're a part of japanese territory based on history and international law. the head of the

international atomic energy group has expressed his frustration. the iaea director general says iran is still installing century finals, he says the activities contravene u.n. resolutions. there have been ten rounds of talks sense january 2012, but no progress. iran's leaders must answer about their activities and they should allow investigators access to the site. they believe they have developed nuclear weapons there. this is one of the candidates in a presidential election later this month. arms dealers from around the world are facing their first ever international regulation.

they have signed a treaty to control the global arms trade. delegates attended a ceremony on monday. the treaty opened a new chapter responsibility and transparency. members overwhelmingly passed the motion in april. the united states voted for regulation but representatives from russia and china both major arms producers abstained. arms dealers will be banned under the treaty from moving conventional weapons that violate u.n. embargoes or support war criminals. >> translator: the treaty will only be effective when major arms exporters and importers ratify it. i will work on encouraging countries to join. >> delegates must now take the

treaty home. 50 countries have to ratify it for the treaty to take effect. they ended their three day meeting on monday. japanese prime minister abe gave the final address. >> translator: we pledge our support for africa. we are committed to promoting the goals that we are determined to accomplish. and we will fulfill those promises. >> africa, once again, is open for business. and our japanese brothers can rest assured that investing in ing to be a very

rewarding experience. >> leaders adopted a pledge called the yokohama declaration. economic growth by encouraging trade and private investment. they emphasized energy, transport and water. leaders also agreed to yes, ma'am prove farms in africa. they set a target of 6% growth in the agricultural industry. they want to double rice production in the next five years. good morning. we're seeing a slightly stronger yen. is it here to stay? >> actually analysts are saying the weaker yen is still the trend. in fact, we've seen it weaken from its high overnight. yen level aders have been busy at one point. traders sold the dollar to lock in recent gains as lower than manufacturing data raised concerns over u.s. economic outlook. it was the first time in a month

for the u.s. currency to hit the 98 yen mark. the dollar is at 99.86. the dollar fall under a hundred yen doesn't mean any change in the overall trend. some say it could have an impact on investor sentiment. >> translator: the fact the dollar broke under the hundred yen mark gave traders a sense of achievement. i think a one sided currency trend is not likely. we might see some corrections happening for a while. >> the focus is how long the fed will maintain its easy money policy. analysts say if more investors believe the central bank will reverssoon.

the federal reserve may soon temper its massive bond buying program. the dow jones gained .9 of a percent. all the the drama of may seem to be carrying into june with the dollar yen tumbling below 100. how are things looking this morning? >> good morning. dollar yen is back in the spotlight but first let's take a look at the opening levels for tuesday, june 4th. the nikkei is slightly higher at 13,318. the topix is higher by 0 hadn't 01%. the nikkei lost 4% on monday ending the session at lowest closing levels since april 18th. the index has fallen 15th in eight trading sessions. still higher than before the

bank of japan began aggressive monetary easing program at the start of april. let's check on the currency level. let's see if we can bring those numbers up. the dollar yen is at 99.79 to 81. below the 100 level since may 9 this year. the currency fell as low as 98.86 to be exact before rebounding to its current level. one factor behind this is the closely watched institute of supply management reports. it showed a contraction in activity. this increased expectations that the fed will continue a similar plus program. let eets have

let's have a look at the euro yen. it's at 130.41 to 44. data showed manufacturing in the euro zone fell at a lower pace. we also received a report on overnight auto sales showed japanese inkricreased their sal year on year. back to you. >> thanks for that update. the leader of japan's largest business lobby has urged the government to clarify how it plans to restore fiscal health and achieve economic recovery.

he also said that rebuilding state finances is essential for a full recovery. he indicated they will step up calls for the government. officials at the united states en department have for the first time approved exports of liquefied since the state of japan. nhk world spoke with tokyo gases vice president about what's at stake. >> hello. >> nice to meet you.

>> i understand that the current administration has the positive position for the export. we expect a few more project will be approved in the next few months. our project we already have a contract with the resources and energy from cove point is one of them. >> reporter: tokyo gas has already sign add deal with an american firm to buy from shell gas. the deal had blocked exports until now. experts say shale imports will cut the overall fuel cost by up to 15% by the year 2020. tokyo gas is building the world's biggest underground tank to store the imports. 72 meters wide and nearly 62

meters deep. the company hopes to expands its domestic business using cheaper gas. >> how will it change your business strategies? >> the energy to japan and asia already been diversified from the various sources like asia, australia, middle east and russia. u.s. shale gas will make diversification. the contract specify that this nation and limited this nation. however the u.s. shale gas energy is free. in the future occasions and we can neutralize those energies for the trading or to bring

those energies to other asia markets utilized for the gas business or energy business. >> reporter: the company also bought a 25% stake in the barnett shale assets, a texas based asset. this has allowed the firm to secure a stable supply and sell in the u.s. these projects will boost his firm's overseas energy business. the company aims to expand international profits as a share of overall profits from 10 to 25% 25%. that's by tend of a deend of a . >> also we're look at the power plant. that kind of change we're trying to promote. we will increase on our

investment an energy related project upstream and midstream. u.s. shale gas will create more opportunities for other places of the world in terms of the international business. >> tokyo gas is not alone. several utilities and trading fir firms have invested. that's the latest in business. i'll leave you with a check on markets.

to bombings in afghanistan have highlighted to security situation. a suicide bomber killed 16 civilians in the eastern provins and a roadside bomb killed seven. a person on a motorbike set off a bomb. it killed nine school children and a police officer. a roadside bomb exploded earlier in the day. it destroyed a car and killed all seven passengers. the group had been fathering firewood. local government leaders condemn the incident. taliban insurgents have launched regular attacks in afghanistan using ieds. they plant the devices beside roads to target vehicles led by

the international forces. they say 70% of the ieds contain chemicals smuggled into the country from pakistan. now taliban leaders say they've been holding talks with officials in another neighboring country. she say they sent a delegation to iran. the insurgent group issued a statement saying their officials spent three days in iran. they say authorities invited them to discuss issues of mutual interest. they didn't say who they met. senior qatar based officials met in 2010. they discussed the possibility of peace talks but they failed to reach an agreement and suspended the talks last year. they may be trying to use the

people in vietnam saw their troops level 40 years ago. but some vietnamese still feel the war's lingering effects. american soldiers during the conflict widely used the chemical weapon agent orange. now people from a nonprofit organization are working to help those who are still suffering. nhk world has more. >> reporter: in central vietnam, a group led by an american was opened in the city three years ago. this group member is a vietnam war veteran. the group offers direct aid to those in need. on this day, the members visited a 75 year old woman.

show has been taking care of her handicapped son and his sister. >> translator: the u.s. has ruined our lives. it seems i've been stuck in jail for 40 years, just taking care of my children. >> reporter: the u.s. government hasn't offered any compensation to vietnamese people suffering from defoliant related health problems. members make regular visits to the sufferers, assessing their situations and helping them. >> i feel that what the united states did here was terrible. we are quickly approaching the fourth generation of agent orange. there's no relief in sight. we have no idea how long this is going to last.

>> reporter: since last year, the group launched a two week tour across vietnams for u.s. nationals. participants are taken to former battlefields from the vietnam war. they can see for themselves the damage agent orange has caused. mike kerber is a veteran of the vietnam. he says he still vividly remembers the war. particularly, the heavy u.s. air attacks and the jungle after being prayed with defoliant. >> the whole valley, and many of the mountaintops were all brown. lots of agent orange was sprayed there. i think i can be more at peace

with what went on here. >> reporter: kerber was taken to a facility that cares for victims of the defoliant. this city alone has three such facilities. carver was shocked at what he saw. and he's puzzled by the u.s. government's lack of action to help the sufferers, especially responsibility for offering aid. >> it was very sad to see them, you know, with the mentally disabled and the physically disabled from agent orange. >> reporter: the man who organized the trial says it's vital to raise u.s. public awareness about the harm caused by agent orange. >> people like me, we're not looking for the united states to apologize or to say even that we're guilty.

but i would, i would say that the united states government should from a humanitarian perspective do something positive for the victims of agent orange here in vietnam. >> reporter: the u.s. and vietnam are strengthening ties, mainly on the economic front. but for the vietnamese people, the war is something they can never forget. meanwhile, the u.s. is being pressed to face up to the reality of what it did in vietnam. nhk world. time now for a check on the weather the tokyo commuters are feeling warm, maybe even hot as they get to work today. we get the latest in world weather.

>> good morning. it's quite warm this morning. what can we expect up ahead? >> good morning. it's going to be a hot and sunny day here in tokyo. the high could rise 28 degree, feeling more like july today. the reason is that we have a big high pressure system cresting overhead. that is keeping things dry, and also keeping the frontal system away from the country. a wealth of sunshine will continue into the next several days for much of the country. mean whale, the southwestern islands of japan, taiwan and southeastern china are still dealing with heavy rain due to a stalled system. one province may get up to 1 millimeters of rain. mostly dry for the northern half of china. but there are two areas of rain around beijing and monsoonal rain for much of the indochina peninsula. 28 degrees for you in seoul. and coming at 31 degrees in osaka. and very hot in chongqing, 35 degrees in store for your tuesday. in north america we can see a long frontal system lying over the eastern u.s. underneath lots of heavy rain.

flooding has been reported including urban cities. i want to show you the scene coming out of new york city. thunderstorms battered a large part of the tri state area on monday. overnight rains flooded the brooklyn district. well, unfortunately, the risk of heavy rain will linger across the new york city into tonight. but as we go into tuesday, as this problem tal system pushed away, our conditions will improve and sunny skies will return on your tuesday. however, the southwestern corner of the u.s. will be a different story.

you will be on alert for heavy rain into your friday. and a new system is moving into the central plains, the plains once again there is a risk of severe weather from south dakota down to northwestern texas. even tornados cannot be ruled out. and heavy rain for the u.s./canada boarder. temperatures will be extremely high across the southwest. phoenix, 40 degrees for you. but denver will see a cool down. 24 degrees. it was 32 on your monday. and across the east, nice and comfortable. 26 in the u.s. capitol and 24 in new york city on your tuesday. okay. finally in you know them, heavy rain has caused serious flooding in many areas across central europe. the balkan peninsula will see rain intensifying over the course of the day. thunderstorms are possible. rain is increasing across central parts of europe. the risk of flooding will remain for a couple days. looking dry for the british isles. london getting up 20 degrees. the same goes for paris as well as berlin. 29 in athens. and still at 26 degrees in

moscow with plenty of sunshine. here's your extended forecast around the globe.

that is all for this edition of "newsline." thanks for joining us.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: the supreme court ruled today that, even without a warrant, police may take d.n.a. samples from suspects under arrest. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, marcia coyle dissects the 5-4 decision, which split the court in surprising ways. >> ifill: then, violent demonstrations raged across turkey for a fourth straight day. we get the latest on the protesters calling for the prime minister to step down. >> it really started as this tiny sit-in, but this kind of progressive, powerful reooks by the police b