Community must continue to do its utmost against terrorism. Abe and netanyahu announced a joint document that calls for deepening defense exchanges. It also says their countries will start preliminary discussions on an investment pact. Abe also said this year marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of the cities hiroshima and nagasaki. He stressed that japan attaches great importance to the control and nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. Abe urged israel to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty and quickly ratified the comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban treaty. Before the News Conference abe laid a wreath at the yad vashem Holocaust Memorial in jerusalem. He pledged to contribute to world peace so as not to repeat the tragedies of war. The memorial is dedicated to the 6 million jews who died in concentration camps during world war ii. Abe signed a book to express sympathy for the victims. Translator i declare my determination never to allow such tragedies to happen again in the year marking the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii and the liberation of auschwitz. Abe said people must continue to strive for a world free of discrimination and war where human rights are protected. He said japan is determined to contribute even more proactively to world peace and stability. Japans defense minister has visited selfdefense force personnel engaged in international antipiracy efforts and a u. N. Peacekeeping mission in east africa. Gen nakatani visited djibouti to inspect the maritime selfdefense forces antipiracy operations in waters off somalia. Members of sdf have been guarding commercial ships in the area since 2009. About 600 personnel are currently deployed. Along with two destroyers and two patrol planes. More than 200 piracy cases were reported each year from 2009 to 2011. The number fell to 15 in 2013 and 11 in 2014. Nakatani also visited south sudan to observe ground selfdefense force personnel who are helping to improve roads in the capital juba. Translator i hope they will faithfully carry out their missions as a member of the united nations. They have a lot to do. Nakatani suggested that he will prepare bills to allow the personnel to use weapons when coming in the aid of foreign troops or Nongovernmental Organization members taking part in peacekeeping activities. He also indicated that the government will extend the sdfs mission beyond february at the request of south sudans government. Foreign ministers from around the European Union are joining forces to fight terrorism. They met face to face on monday in brussels, and theyre now calling for an International Conference on how to stop the flow of funds to terrorist organizations. Eu high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy federica magorini says they see the importance of the cooperation and they agree that terrorism is a Common Threat for europe as well as african and middle eastern nations. I have to say that probably for the first time, there was a real deep awareness of the needs to work together. Theyve pledged to work closer to share information on terrorism threats. Theyve also decided to hold regular talks with some middle eastern and african countries to help them overcome political instability and civil war that often fosters terrorist groups. Antiterrorism measures are expected to be high on the agenda at an eu interior ministers meeting later this month. Media in belgium are reporting that a suspect has surrendered himself to police. Authorities believe the man sold weapons used in one of the attacks in paris. Earlier this month Amedy Coulibaly used automatic rifles and other guns to take hostages at a kosher market in eastern paris. Four hostages were killed before police stormed the building and shot coulibaly dead. Reports say the man arrested in belgium is a known arms smuggler and is believed to have given coulibaly weapons in exchange for a car. Reports also say the arms dealer had been in contact with coulibaly for months before the attack. A search of the dealers home turned up documents detailing transactions with coulibaly. And the reports say the car exchanged for the weapons was registered in the name of hayat boumeddiene. The woman was believed to have been coulibalys partner and has been on the run since the attack. A Nongovernmental Organization dedicated to fighting poverty says the wealthiest 1 could own more than the rest of the worlds population by next year. Oxfam international released the report on monday and called for action to stop inequality from growing. Researchers say the richest 1 have seen their share of Global Wealth increase from 44 in 2009 to 48 in 2014. They say it will top 50 next year if the current pace continues. They say members of that group had an average of 2. 7 million last year and they say about 30 of the worlds 1,645 billionaires are americans. Officials with oxfam released their findings ahead of the annual World EconomicForum Meeting that opens on wednesday in davos, switzerland. Executives at a Japanese Trading Firm are set to benefit from sweeping reforms in china. Ai uchida joins us now with details on that story and more. Ai . Catherine, leaders in beijing say they want to do business with the rest of the world and they vowed to open up their finance, their culture and Health Sectors to foreign investment. Well, executives at idochu corporation in japan are heeding the call. Theyre getting ready to sink billions of dollars into a chinese stateowned conglomerate, and theyre teaming up with counterparts at a thai firm to get the deal over the line. Executives at itochu and thailands pokopan group will invest in the Hong Kong Listed main unit of citic. Sources close to the deal say theyll contribute half each to the 8. 5 billion investment and the money will buy them about 20 of shares. Itochu executives want to use the network in china to expand their business in real estate and infrastructure. The people at citic focus largely on Financial Services but they have interests in a wide range of other sectors too. Analysts say the deal will create one of the biggest Business Networks in asia. Theyre calling it the latest step in the transformation of chinas stateowned enterprises. Managers at Japanese Department stores say their disappointing run has stretched to nine months. They say sales in december last year were down from the same period in 2013. They reported a slump in sales every month since the consumption tax went up in april. Officials at the japan Department Stores association surveyed 240 stores nationwide. They say the stores brought in about 6 billion, down 1. 7 . They blame bad weather for keeping customers away. But they also say sales in december 2013 were higher than usual because people were spending heavily in the leadup to the consumption tax hike. Still, they say sales for all of last year came to about 5 about billion, up 0. 3 from 2013. Its the Third Straight year the figure has been up. People in the United Arab Emirates are getting a closeup look at some of the brightest ideas in Renewable Energy. Theyre checking out hundreds of innovations at an Environmental Technology expo in abu dhabi. Representatives from more than 600 firms and organizations worldwide are showing off their designs. Officials from japans space agency jaxa are taking part. They want to use a solar plant in space to send microwave beams to earth to generate power. Translator we got a lot of questions. I felt people were very interested in the idea. Engineers at a Japanese Firm unveiled a plan to create a building one kilometer tall on a manmade island. They say it would produce enough Renewable Energy to meet all of its electricity needs. They say the only thing they need to make it a reality is money. Now lets take a look at markets. Stock investors here in tokyo are in a positive mood this tuesday morning. Helped by a weaker yen against the dollar. And theyre cheered by growing hopes that the European Central bank will unveil plans to buy sovereign bonds. The nikkei average trading higher by more than 1. 1 this morning. Now, Market Players are eagerly waiting for chinas gdp numbers, which is due out in less than an hour. Now, on currencies the Dollar Remains Firm at the higher 117yen level, bouncing back from the lower 116 range we saw last friday. People who track currencies say traders are now less risk averse so theyre selling safer assets like the yen. The euro is regaining . Ground after hitting an 11year low last week. It was below 1. 15 against the dollar last friday. It is now edging closer to about the 1. 16 level. And in other markets in the Asia Pacific Region south crease kospi is trading higher by more than a third percent, above that 1,900 line. Lets see whats happening in australia. The benchmark index there. Trading lower by just about a quarter percent. So we will see where china takes us today. And ill have their latest gdp figures for you next hour. For now ill leave you with a check on other markets. Pope francis wrapped up a fiveday visit to the philippines on monday. 80 of the countrys 100 Million People are catholics. And the first papal visit to the country in 20 years was emotional for many. Nhk worlds Charmaine Deogracias reports from manila. Reporter a crowd of an estimated 6 Million People gath yertd for an open air mass in manilas rizal park sunday. Translator i cant explain any my feeling. My joy is overwhelming. Reporter residents of tacloban waited patiently for the pope before he visited them on saturday. The island was devastated by a huge typhoon that left 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013. Rose angeles says faith kept her Family Strong after the typhoon destroyed their home. Like many others she spent the night at the venue waiting for the pope. Hes bringing us hope. To carry on. To carry on with our lives. Hes bringing hope to all the victims. Reporter pope francis told the crowd estimated at more than 100,000 people that he wished he had come sooner. Translator when i saw from rome that catastrophe, i felt i had to be here. And in those days i decided to come here. Im here to be with you. A little bit late, i have to say, but im here. Reporter people listened in pouring rain from an approaching typhoon, which forced the pope to return to manila earlier than planned. The visit came at a delicate time for the Catholic Church in the philippines. Some say its influence has been waning as the economy grows and societys values change. A controversial Reproductive Health law permitting the use of contraceptives was passed into law in december 2012 under the government of president benino aquino. Pope francis emphasized importance the church places on traditional family values. We know how difficult it is for all democracies today to preserve and defend such basic human values as respect for the inviolable dignity of each human person. Respect for the inalienable right to life beginning with that of the unborn. Reporter the Catholic Church has been a cornerstone of life on these islands since the time of spanish rule. The church seemed to grant want to use the popes visit to underline the durability of the institution and the faith in an era of changes and challenges for the philippines. Charmaine deogracias nhk world manila. The woman at the center of the nut rage case has appeared in court for the first time. The former korean air Vice President was indicted after delaying a plane over how nuts were served. Cho hyuna has pled not guilty to charges of violating aviation safety law. Nhk worlds kim chanju reports from seoul. The trial opened on monday in seoul. Cho, the daughter of the airlines chairman, delayed one of its flights at an airport in new york on december 5th. Shed been outraged when a cabin attendant offered her nuts in a bag rather than on a plate. The plane was taxiing for takeoff, but she demanded that it return to the gate. She also ordered the Cabin Service chief off the flight. South korean prosecutors indicted her this month for forcibly changing a flight plan in violation of aviation safety regulations. About six weeks since the inflight outburst, the socalled nut rage incident continues to rock south korean society. Scores of local and foreign journalists have gathered at a District Court in seoul to cover the first session of her trial. In the hearing, chos lawyer said shes very sorry for what she did. But they added that since the plane was only 17 meters away from an apron when it returned, the action did not violate regulations. The case has drawn a storm of criticism in south korea. People say cho acted the way she did only because shes the chairmans daughter. She has since resigned from all of her posts at the airline. Translator i am deeply sorry for causing this problem. Reporter chos father is also the chairman of one of hanjin one of south koreas most powerful business conglomerates. Its assets include the airline and a leading maritime shipping firm. Translator my parenting was lacking. I will do my best that nothing like this happens again. Reporter tv and newspaper reports on the scandal appear nearly every day. Some focus on conglomerate executives arrogant leadership style or inflated salaries. If convicted of violating aviation safety rules, cho could face up to ten years in prison. Kim chanju, nhk world, seoul. A former aide to south korean President Park geunhye has testified in the defamation trial of a japanese journalist. He denied he and park met on the day of a deadly ferry accident in april. Hun ye made the testimony at a court in seoul on monday. Former bureau chief of a newspaper tatsuya kato is on trial over a column he wrote about parks whereabouts at the time of the disaster. Last august, he quoted in the column an article from a south korean newspaper that said park was missing for several hours that day. He indicated that she may have been with chang. The former aide told the court he was having lunch with an acquaintance and did not see park. But katos defense argued that chong suddenly recalled the lunch during prosecutors questioning and that his schedule that day remains unclear. Government officials in tokyo and seoul have reached a fishing agreement on japans exclusive economic zone. Theyve been trying to crack down on the number of south korean ships that repeatedly catch more than their quota. South korean officials agreed to reduce the number of boats that use long lines with multiple hooks by about 20 over the next five years. Theyll also increase the penalties for illegal operations. And they may start to impose higher fines. The agreement allows fishermen to resume operations that were suspended last july. Representatives from both nations negotiate every year how many fishing boats can operate in each others economic zones. They began their latest talks last april and their negotiations took six months longer than planned. A teenage group from japan is bending heavy metal into completely new shape. Babymetal is a trio of girls aged between 15 and 17. Theyre not typical head bangers, but theyre already performing alongside the genres very best. Nhk worlds yuji osa has more. Reporter babymetal made their major debut in 2013. Their signature style mixes the aggressive sound of heavy metal with the girls own take on cuteness. The adventure started on youtube. Is this promo video for the song give me chocolate became an instant hit beyond japan. More than 20 Million People have already watched it. Babymetals big turning point came in july at the songsphere festival in the uk one of the Worlds Largest heavy metal events. The band performed alongside heavyweights such as iron maiden and metallica. Most hardcore metal fans had no idea who the teenagers in black and red dresses were. Of the 65,000strong audiences they took to the group instantly. We realized music can reach the hearts of people despite any language barrier. Our music has been accepted by many, and that makes me extremely happy. Reporter a major british heavy metal magazine fell in love with babymetal. It has frequently featured them as an upandcoming band. And babymetals first album reached the top of the billboards world album chart in september. Babymetal became so cool they even earned a spot on a tour with lady gaga. The response of the audience was such that organizers added solo performances in new york and london. Translator were striving for a style that makes us stand out from the rest. We believe in babymetal. Thats who we are and who we will continue to be. Reporter babymetal are preparing a new tour for may that will take them once again to europe and the united states. Just like their music, their ambition to conquer new audiences is simply relentless. Ouji yuji osawa, nhk world. Time for a check of the weather. People in some areas of southeast africa are deal with severe flooding. This comes after the region was battered by a powerful storm. Mai shoji joins us with more in world weather. Reporter people in southeastern africa are dealing with storms. This is after the cyclone barnsi which had triggered severe flooding the past week. You can see it was a very intense storm system. Thats actually not the moon but the reflection of the moon but thats actually lightning. Incredible image coming out. The satellite image doesnt show it has been moving over water. Another storm, though you can see. Its dispersing but it is still surging that moisture. So the rain band is still here across northern madagascar malawi and mozambique. We have some images to show you. The condition of the severe flooding. Heavy floods in malawi has killed at least 176 people and displaced at least 200,000. Submerging whole villages in some areas, drowning crops and washing away livestocks as you can see here. The threat of Waterborne Diseases such as malaria, coal rah, diarrhea have become the priority according to the aid agencies. And mallorys government said it is working on a Disaster Preparedness strategy as we speak. Looks like the conditions arent going to be improving. Im afraid to tell you we have got more accumulation of rainfall in the area where the images came out from and the river is already bursting its banks. Its the highest level since 1971, and any additional rainfall could trigger further flooding im afraid. Here in the north we have more rain in southern areas of sicily where 80 millimeters of rainfall fall in a span of six hours. Flooding is going to be a huge concern here as well. And in northern locations the avalanche risk is very high. Out here in the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula we have an incoming system that will provide very wet and windy conditions. Gusts could reach about 100 Kilometers Per Hour across the British Isles. London at 3 degrees. Actually down toward the south in madrid were likely to see another round of snow for your tuesday. Out here we have a tropical depression that used to be a too foon typhoon that slammed into the philippines. Weakening but likely to bring winds about 100 Kilometers Per Hour in typhoon. Thats going to move over naha, okinawa and merge with another system bringing mixed precipitation to the korean peninsula. As we can see, in the next 48 hours the wet weather will be engulfing much of japan. Thats going to be bringing avalanche advisories very high. So we do have advisories already widely posted here. Today is daikon. Its supposed to be the coldest days of the season. But it looks like were seeing 11 degrees, hanging on to the double digits in tokyo. Northeastern u. S. Stilt seeing a few centimeters of snowfall and thats going to be combined with 90 clmz per hour gusts of blowing snow. From canada as well. Wind advisories in place. But take a look at that. Likely to see warm conditions toward the south pape little too warm in los angeles. That combined with gusty condition, critical fire weather is still in danger. Out toward the north were likely to see more snow piling up, especially around the Northern Rockies and the cascades. Vancouver at 10 degrees with partly sunny skies. Ill leave you now for your extended forecast. And that wraps up this edition of newsline. Im Catherine Kobayashi in tokyo. Thanks very much for staying with us. X e frozen german capital, where winter has finally arrived. We got these warming stories together for our next edition. Why quality teas are becoming ever more popular. Hungarian hideaway. A photographer who built himself a home in the forest. And, what makes kitzbuhel in austria a favorite. 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