Vice foreign minister held separate talks with the ambassadors of china and russia. They agreed their countries will coordinate a response at the u. N. Security council. And state minister for Foreign Affairs is scheduled to meet ambassador from nine nonpermanent members of the u. N. Security council on thursday. He hopes to seek their cooperation on the matter. Defense Ministry Officials believe if a missile is launched, its path would be similar to the norths last launch in 2012. The launch is expected between february 8th and the 25th. In preparation, the ministry is deploying two destroyers with advanced Radar Systems and intercepters to the east china sea. It is also sending Additional Air defense missiles to the area near the planned flight path. And it has already set up interceptors around tokyo to shoot down any incoming missile. The government will also brief officials from across japan on a Communications Plan in the event a missile is launched. United nations officials have tried to end syrias civil war. Delegates in geneva since last week, but rocky from the start. The special envoy says the talks will resume in three weeks. There is more work to be done, not only by us, we have done our part, but by the stakeholders who have been telling us the country go and start this initiative. During government and opposition groups are blaming each other for the suspension. President bash sha ra says they couldnt negotiate because the opposition failed to present a unified team. Opposition groups say they wont talk until the government stops air strikes. Some observers blame a government strong holds in syrias north for bricking the talks to a halt. The opposition has condemned the government for killing large numbers of civilians as it unfolds. People in charge of trade along the pacific rim are gathering in new zealand. Free up trade. Business in charge, but they still have a lot of work to do. Absolutely, catherine. Weve covered the Trans Pacific many times. Their jobs far from over, now leaders need to get further approval at home. Ministers from japan, the United States and ten other countries attended the signing ceremony on thursday in ouk land, the tpp will create a huge zone with 800 million accounting for nearly 40 of the worlds growth domestic product. The ministers held a News Conference after the ceremony. This is the product of a diverse set of countries, large and small, developed and developing asian, western hemisphere countries of the appropriate standards for this region. The ministers showed resolve to speed up procedures so the tpp can take effect soon. But its unclear when that will happen in the u. S. Republicans in the Congress Want to postpone deliberations until after the president ial election in november. A Chinese Government official says the country will set a target growth rate for this year of between 6. 5 and 7 . The announcement comes ahead of the annual meeting of the National Peoples congress. In march thats when officials will decide on the target as well as economic policies for the next five years. The chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission disclosed the goal, he says china is capable of achieving it because the conditions are right. But he did not say whether the government would come out with a range or an exact number between 6. 5 and 7 . The minister admitted that downward pressure on the economy is relatively strong. Undermining peoples expectations for stable growth. Well, asia markets are mixed following a volatile day on wall street, commodities and currencies, the dollar tumbled after u. S. Services data slowed to a two year low. Traders took it as sluggish growth and bought safer assets like the japanese yen. Thats for a Third Straight session. The nikkei slipped between 17,000 and down 1. 3 . 16,962. Most sectors are lower, but some are seeing gains as the dollar slump helped oil prices stage a come back overnight. The key index erased all the gains shown in the two sessions followed the bank of japans decision last week. Lets check on current shes. The yen advanced, all its losses, the dollar yen, currently at 117. 76 to 79. The dollar dropped sentiment was dampened on the weakened services data. The euro climbed above 1. 11. Lets look at other markets opening in the Asia Pacific Region and tokyo is the one thats down, but so far, this morning, south korea and Australian Shares are higher. Australia up more than 1 . Auto makers around the world taking the covers off their new models ahead of a motor show in india. 1,500 Car Manufacturers and parts suppliers are taking part of the auto expo. That kicks off in new delhi on friday. Its expected to keep growing, unlike china and other emerging places, theyve shifted into low gear. S suziki, over 40 , Company Officials gave immediate preview of their first locally developed model. Plan to roll out 15 mu models in the country over the next five years to maintain their dominance. Translator we focus on small models for first time buyers, but we will also roll out higher end models for customer whose want to trade up to more sophisticated cars. Other manufacturers including japans honda and south koreas hyndui, sports utility vehicles to diverse fig demands from motorists. 700,000 people are expected to visit the five day event. Car makers worldwide are reviewing for poll position in the approaching era of driverless technology. Refining the tools vehicles need to surroundings and make decisions. Locked in a race to set the standards for maps that theyll rely on all over the world. Lets take a look at what japanese mapmaker is doing now. Translator Software Engineers are hard at work building an intricate digital landscape. They need huge amounts of data so they contain enough detail. For example, they have to get the height of a curb accurate to within one centimeter. The curb is represented by this border next to the sidewalk. Cars understand they cant cross that border, that way, they dont veer up onto the sidewalk. The engineers are ennering all kinds of details from the gradients to the radius of every turn. They mark the center of a lane with an invisible rail that keeps cars on course. Translator digital mapping is very much under the spotlight as a crucial component of selfdriving technology. We think it has really big market potential. In october, engineers from around the world gathered in tokyo to discuss some concerns. They called car makers to temporarily put aside their differenting approaching and a global standard. I would like to discuss Foreign Countries and discuss about which will be the most appropriate standards. Currently, there is no international nam standard about how precise the map information should be. That means for export vehicles, auto makers will have to install different systems, and that would be a costly exercise. Japanese carlf of the vehicles they make domestically. If theyre saddled with extra cost, that will put them at a big disadvantage. No one wants to see that happen. German auto makers got a head start than other countries. Executives at bmw, dom letter and audi, bought one of the leading lap makers. A firm in berlin, with 200 offices across the world, already supplies maps for the gps 80 of vehicles in europe and north america. Now theyre working toward a bigger goal. Were determined to be the leader in the development of maps for selfdriving cars, as a unit of the worlds leading auto makers. Japanese auto makers dont want to be left behind. Theyve joined the nationwide effort to catch up and overtake the competition. Government officials are overseeing the project which brings the firms together with mapmakers and Electronic Device man knack tu manufacture manufacturers. We want to ensure japan has a competitive advantage. Japanese auto makers know time is of the essence. Theyre going all out to win a race that could have big repercussions for their industry. More in business next hour. Heres another check on myanmars Aung San Suu Kyi says theres still plenty of time to pick a president. She said she was thankful for ensuring a smooth start for the new parliament. Translator the parliament successfully started as we expected. Everyone cooperated with us. So, i assume this is a good sign and a good symbol. She said candidates for president and cabinet ministers have yet to be selected. Translator well still have enough time for nomination of president. We dont have to rush. It will all happen in good time. The current constitution bars a person whose family members have foreign citizenship from becoming president. Aung san suu kyis sons are british. And lists say she could be seeking to become president herself through a constitutional revision or other means. The president of the Regional Government in eye wrack has called for the region for a referend referendum. He made the proposal in the face of ongoing fierce fighting between iraqi kirds and Islamic State militants. Conditions are now suitable for the kirds to make a decision on their future. He added a referendum would not necessarily lead to an immediate declaration of state hood, but it would show that the will of the people, the wilf his people regarding their future. He did not refer to the exact timing of the poll, but local media reported last month that he told Political Parties it should take place by november of this year. The kird government is trying to strengthen its ceconomy. Turkey through pipelines oil. Kurdish fighters as a key force against Islamic State militants. If he pushes ahead, the Central Government is likely to react shortly and that could affect the fight against the militant group. A special zone runs along the border tweeng hong kong and main lane china. A legal migration to the mainland, but the zone remains offlimits to the public except for the residents. People complained their lives are on lockdown and asking authorities to open the door. Now, i am in mainland, china. Across the street, now, i have just arrived in hong kong. This route is a place where people from the mainland and hong kong can mingle freely. No permits required. The street name, chung think chung ying is named. It was at the heart of a thriving commercial area. Shoppers from the mainland came in droves to get their hands on foreign made products, such as cassette recorders. A cornerstone stood in the middle of the road to represent the border, Police Officers from brittain and china stood facing off on either side. Today, the hustle and bustle is just a memory. Chinese authorities lifted travel restrictions through hong kong after the territories hand over in 1997. Mainland shoppers flock to downtown hong kong bypassing chung ying street. A checkpoint stands at one end of the street. Behind the gait is an area called cha tau. Many shops are now closed. Some of the areas 3,000 residents are calling for authorities to lift the no entry restrictions. Translator living in the area is like living in a jail. He runs a drugstore. His job was once packed with people looking for medicines that are not available in the mainland. But now, he sees no customers on some days. He says he has been left behind in the Economic Development on both sides of the border. The isolation has put unfair burdens on the residents. Translator if our area is opened up, well have new opportunities. Otherwise, it will remain a ghost town. Some residents disagree. Terry lees family is on the street. Housing prices in hong kong have surged with the inflow of chinese money. Lee says the cost of living will rise here too, if authorities open up the gaits. Translator these noodles cost 25 hong kong dollars here. In the city center, they cost nearly twice that. Despite the inconvenience, lee and his neighbors say there is a lot about the area that is rich and colorful. Its a way of life, theyre hoping to pass on to the next generation. Nsk world, hong kong. Ahead of the Lunar New Year on monday, Chinese Media say fireworks shipment have dropped 25 in beijing. People are concerned about the air pollution in the capitol, despite celebrating the new year with a bang. Nearly 700 shops have started selling fireworks and fire crackers in the city. Many residents are not buying them, because of the poor air quality. Last december, beijing authorities issued their highest air pollution warning ever. Translator i think the best way to breathe fresh air here is not to buy fireworks. The beijing City Government said they will ban them if the air deteriorates. It has already ordered fireworks retailers to agree in writing to suspend sales if air pollution becomes dire. Translator we cant do anything if the local government enforces the ban. Chinese media say fireworks sales have dropped for the fifth straight year. Tour imism in japan have be trying something new. Come up with a way to draw more visitors during the off season in winter. When people think of nala, two things, usually comes to mind. Great buddha statue, and very friendly here. But local planners hope to give visitors other reasons to come to japans asian the solution, light up the cold winter nights with a brand new festival. The Main Attraction is glowing floats called each one is more than 7 meters tall and costs about 180,000 to build. Local volunteers push the floats in time to the beat of the drums. The festival is held on the grounds of ageold plals, which dates back to the eighth century. Translator that was great. Lots of people were shouting. It was very lively and fun. Im happy such a fun festival has started here. Holding the festival at night in winter might sound unusual. But there a reason why the organizers chose to do this. Nara has the lowest overnight guests in japan. Most come on day trips. The problem gets worst in wintertime. Translator its quite cold in january and february, so thats when we have the fewest number of overnight guests. We decided to hold the festival through the evening and night, to encourage visitors to stay. Officials in nara are doing other things to give tourism a boost. Theyve spent about 1 million to offer victositors discounts. Hotel operators already reaping the benefits. Business was really slow in wintertime, but this year, our guest numbers are up by 20 . Organizers rest mate more than 50,000 people attended the festival over its five day run. The event highlighted traditions from all over nara, including dances and acrobatic feets. Visitors had the chance for local seasonal specialties, steaming bowls of japanese stew. Translator we didnt expect this many visitors would come. Were delighted. E goingohi fest again next year and in the future. Organizers already started planning that the festival will coincide with the Lunar New Year,o theyll pitch the festival to china and taiwan. Nhk world. It is time now for a check of the weather. People in areas of the United States are trying to recover after Severe Weather. We were talking about this storm system, started towards southwestern areas of the country. Parts of baha in northwestern mexico, pulled off towards the northeast. The low was starting to move into ontario and quebec. It just left a wake of damage out here. Heavy snow falls. Kind of going straight in a line here across parts of california. We saw 70 to 80 centimeters. Good news for you out there. You need the snow, drought, snowcaps that were lost last season when you didnt see any, but back towards the east, into colorado, 104 centimeters. You saw about 30 to some areas of nearly 50 centimeters of snow fall, combined with winds gusting 90 to 100 kilometers. Thats why we had several thousand flights delayed and canceled across this area. So definitely people are digging out today not to mention the Severe Weather with the tornados. Georgia on wednesday evening, now all of that is continuing to drift off here towards the east. Flash flooding still a threat in the south. North, specifically canada, heading towards Northern Areas of new england, combined with high winds. Something to keep in mind if youre across the area. Want to know that we might see a few flurryiies there. Over to new york city as well, just because of that colder air mass thats diving in. We still have more moisture coming in from the south. For now, though, things are clearing up, atless chicago, minus 1, partly cloudy skies, winnipeg, los angeles, high of 21 out here. Lets now move here towards northeastern asia. What we have going on, at least it across parts of japan, low pressure, pulling off towards the east. Precipitation across Northern Areas of the country. Back in the west, High Pressure is definitely dominating, and that is making things very chilly. In fact, there was one location into mongolia, minus 46 sellious. It is creating some stagnant here. Haze advisories, issued by the Chinese Agency down there. South, precipitation forming against parts of taiwan, all that will start to shift off towards the east, bring more rainfall over the next several days and tay pipei, lets wrap here with a southeastern europe, heading towards turkey. Cloud cover, diving in from the north. That is some of the energy coming from henry that hit the british aisles. It is going to move through track off here towards the east. Bring with it some rain, also snowfall, but in fact, cooler temperatures as well. Look at jerusalem, 17 for high on thursday, dropping down to 11 by your saturday. All right, here is your extended outlook. And that concludes this edition of newsline. Im Catherine Kobayashi in tokyo. Thanks for joining us. X0 host hello and welcome to in good shape, the show about your health and fitness here on dw. Having trouble breathing is one of the most frightening experiences in life. Just try it for yourself. Try closing your nose and breathing in and out through a straw. This is how patients with asthma may feel trade asthma will be the topic of our studio talk today. This is what else we have for you on the show. How your senses stay on alert while you sleep