Yingluck shinawatra has been found guilty of dereliction of duty. The duty bans jing luck from political activity for five years. And another setback at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The operator cannot keep the schedule for dealing with the buildup of tainted water. Japans Prime Minister has seen the deadline to free two nationals taken by Islamic State pass. Members of his administration assume they had until 2 50 p. M. On friday japan time to pay a ransom. And theyve been casting a wide net looking for help. The video emerged online tuesday showing a purported member of Islamic State threatening to kill two hostages. He demanded 200 million in ransom within 72 hours to save their lives. Abe has been urging his cabinet members to do all they can to secure the release of kenji goto and haruna yukawa. A japanese official went to jordan to help handle the hostage crisis. He referred to Islamic States criticism of japans assistance to the middle east. Translator we havent changed our stance. Our assistance is for nonmilitary projects. The japanese government aims to provide only humanitarian aid such as helping refugees and providing sustainable medical care. As spokesperson for Islamic State told nhk well soon release a statement on the two japanese hostages. Nhk spoke to the man and exchanged online messages with him early friday japan time. The man criticized japan, calling its citizens infidels who fight the group. And he pointed to text in english and arabic about the aid pledge. It reads the 200 million is for humanitarian assistance and infrastructure development, and is nonmilitary in nature. Part of that text is identical to whats on the Japanese Foreign ministrys website. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga says the government has yet to confirm the status of the two men. The mother of one of the two captives has made a plea for her sons release. Junko ishidou is the mother of freelance journalist kenji goto. Translator over the last three days ive been grieving, and confused. Kenji was a very tender and warmhearted child. He was very kind to other children. So i think he decided to go to help his friend leaving behind his wife and newborn baby. She said her son always expressed his desire to save children in war zones, and took a neutral position in his reporting. Translator kenji always fights for justice. If he is released im sure that he will contribute to creating a better world for children around the world, and their future. Id like to say to all the people of Islamic State that kenji is not your enemy. Please, release him. She also pleaded with the japanese government to save her sons life. Before goto disappeared, he told his guide he was heading to raqqah in northern syria. He said he was hoping to get information about yukawa. Translator al adeem al zaeem was his guide in syria. He want to try to get some news or information about his friend, mr. Yukawa. And also he want to go to make report about isis. What civilian life under isis. Reporter zaeem said goto entered syria from the southern turkish town of kilis on october 24th. He says the following day goto traveled to aleppo into territory controlled by Islamic State. Dont go please, and its not safe for you. I tell him you are going to people they are not like iraq or afghanistan, they are different. Reporter goto started his own Video Communications company 19 years ago in tokyo. Over the years, he supplied tv networks with footage, and also wrote several books. He mainly focused on children affected by conflict, disease and poverty. He filed this report for nhk world in february last year. He described peoples lives in the northern syrian city of aleppo, where the Government Forces were dropping what they called barrel bombs. Severe fighting has turned this asian city into rubble and debris. Reporter children are terrified. Many are crying. Reporter before departing for raqqah in october, goto recorded a video message. In it he says he understands the risks. If something incident happens, know all responsibility is on me. So please dont claim any claim to the syrian people. Reporter in the video, goto makes a promise to come back alive. Joining us in the studio is a Senior Research fellow at the institute of Energy Economics japan. Hes a specialist in the middle east and has been following the Islamic State. Thanks for coming in today. Mr. Osaka what is the Current Situation of the hostage crisis . Well the situation is very critical. Im very much worried about the lives of the two japanese hostages. The time is running out. But, we still have to keep our hopes up that they can be rescued. This is the first time Islamic State has taken japanese nationals hostage. Yeah. Now why did they target japanese . Well Islamic State has never criticized japan, and the japanese government or the japanese people in their previous statements. I doubt it is specifically targeting japan as it has the u. S. And uk. Those are its primary targets. As those countries led the coalition against the Islamic State. The two japanese may have been caught up in ambush attacks. Awfully short deadline. 72 hours. Yeah. Why do you think it was set at that time frame . Actually, im into the sure. But i think they are trying to put a lot of pressure on the japanese government by setting a time limit. In any case its not enough time to prepare such a huge amount of money. You talk about huge amount. What do you think of the ransom demand . Well 200 million ransom is ridiculous. I doubt the Islamic State really want that money. The figure is exactly the same as the same amount of humanitarian aid Prime Minister mr. Abe offered to the region during his recent visit to the middle east. The ransom demand seems to be timed to coincide with the visit visit. They must have been waiting for the best time to use the two hostages to shake the islamic the international community. Mr. Abe was visiting the middle east and referred to Islamic State, and pledged 200 million in aid. They may have seen this as a good time to use the two hostage as negotiation cards. What should be done about this crisis . Well the japanese government is now in a very difficult situation. But, it is trying to trying with all its might to negotiate with Islamic State and locate contacts that can put in touch with the group. The government is for instance calling for other countries in the region to help secure the safety of the two japanese hostages. It is also asking influential muslim clerics and tribal chief s believed to have a direct access to the military militant group. They are hoping to persuade Islamic State leadership to release the two japanese hostages. It is very important for the government to make what it is doing clear to the muslim public stressing that japan is playing a big role in for instance, the middle east peace process, and humanitarian aid in muslim countries. What stance should japan take towards Islamic State . Well as you know japan did not participate in the u. S. Led coalition against Islamic State. But the message the group is sending to the japanese government, and the japanese people, is that it considers japan an honorary member of the coalition. Al qaeda has had japan on its enemy list since 2004. But these situations are more complicated. The japanese hostage crisis coincided with the paris attacks. They were carried out aqap a rival group of Islamic State, and resulted in the spread of islam phobia socalled, in europe. It is very important for the japanese government to fight Islamic State, and terrorism. But at the same time they have to make clear that the government and the people always stand behind islam and muslims, and have to continue potential islam phobia in japan. Mr. Hosaka thanks very much. Thank you. Tsuji hosaka senior fellow at the Senior Institute of economics japan. Thailands military selected interim parliament has found ousted Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra guilty of dereliction of duty. Its been holding an impeachment hearing in bangkok. We have a report from bangkok. Reporter the resolution bans yingluck from Political Activities for five years. She wont be able to run in a Parliament Election expected to come next year. The National Anticorruption commission accused the former Prime Minister of dereliction of duty for huge financial losses caused by her flagship rice purchase program. The National Legislative assembly found her guilty by 190 votes to 18. Yingluck appeared before the hearing on thursday and denied the charge against her. She said banning her from Political Activities would be a violation of her human rights. Under the subsidy program, the government paid above market prices to buy rice from farmers. Rural areas, especially in the populous northeast, were yinglucks power base. The scheme triggered major antigovernment demonstrations. Critics said it caused huge damage to public finances and bred corruption. Most protesters were from the middle class, and urban elite. Yingluck was ousted in may last year following a Constitutional Court ruling shortly before the military seized power in a coup. Yingluck and her supporters claim her impeachment is politically motivated. Areas around the parliament are under tight security. So far weve seen no disturbances around the Parliament Building but theres growing concern that the impeachment could destabilize the political situation. The Attorney Generals Office said on friday that yingluck will Face Criminal Charges of negligence in the supreme court, in connection with the rice purchase program. Thai politics has appeared calm since the military coup but the underlying economic and social divisions havent been resolved. Nhk world, in bangkok. Saudi arabias staterun television says King Abdullah has died. The monarch had been in a hospital for several weeks. He was about 90 years old. King abdullah took power in 2005 after his halfbrother king fahd died. He led a country that plays a key real in the middle east. Saudi arabia has the Worlds Largest oil output. He was known as a powerful ally of the united states. Following the 9 11 terror attacks he led a crackdown against terrorism in his country. Most of the people involved in the attacks were saudi nationals. King abdullah also supported the rebellion in syria against bashar al assad. He encouraged improvements to womens social status despite the nations conservative islamic rule. He appointed 30 women to the nations top advisory council. The staterun television said in an announcement that he has been succeeded by his brother king salman. Analysts say that salman will continue King Abdullahs policy concerning crude oil and diplomacy. U. S. President barack obama has issued a written statement about the kings death. It says that abdullah took bold steps in advancing the Arab Peace Initiative an endeavor that will outlive him as an enduring contribution to the search for peace in the region. The statement says that as a leader, King Abdullah was always candid and had the courage of his convictions. Japanese government officials also express sorrow over King Abdullahs death. He visited japan in 1998 when he was crown prince. Translator the late king played an Important Role not only in his own country but also in the islamic world. He contributed to global peace and stability for a very long time. Suga added that King Abdullah worked to enhance relations between japan and saudi arabia. He said the government is considering sending his special envoy to saudi arabia to offer official condolences. Decommissioning work at the crippled Fukushima DaiichiNuclear Power plant has hit another setback. The plants operator says it will not be possible to keep the schedule for cleaning up radioactive water at the site. Tokyo electric Power Company president reported the delay to the head of the governments energy agency. Translator i am very sorry, it has not been possible to treat the water as planned. I am aware that the issue makes residents very anxious. There is a buildup of highly radioactive water at the site and runoff from nearby mountains and others sources increases the amount by 350,000 liters her day. The water is stored in holding tanks. A leak in august 2013 led to 300,000 liters of contaminated water flowing out of one of the tanks. Tepco promised the government it would remove radioactive substances such as strontium and cesium by this march. Over 250 million liters of contaminated water were stored at the facility as of january 15th but the main system called alps set up to process water at the site has been shut down repeatedly due to technical problems. The company repaired the system and installed another one that only removes strontium from the water. The firm revised its definition of cleaned water to mean water with strontium removed. But even this lowered goal it meant processing 4 million liters of water per day to meet the deadline. The company says it will decide on a new timetable by midmarch. We have the latest assessment on the nations economy. Ron madison is here to explain. Ron . Well, gene japans government has kept its Monthly Economic assessment unchanged. It says the economy is on a moderate recovery track. The government approved the report for january at a ministers meeting. The report upgraded the assessment of Industrial Production saying it is on a trend of picking up. Last months report said production was bottoming out. The upward revision came as vehicle output recovers. It suffered a dent from the consumption tax hike last year. Production of electronic parts and devices such as chips for smartphones is increasing moderately. Now, the assessment of private consumption remains the same. Its described as holding firm while weakness can be seen in consumer confidence. On shortterm prospects, Officials Say a moderate recovery can be expected supported by the governments stimulus measures, and sliding oil prices. Well japanese factories continue to use less power, but the decline has slowed. Electric industry officials view it as a sign that factory activity will improve in coming months. The federation of electric Power Companies says sales to industrial users in december fell 0. 5 from a year ago. The figure has been in negative territory for eight months in a row now. But the rate of decline was far smaller than the fall of it 2. 3 marked in october. An increase was marked among machinery makers, the Largest Consumer by sector for the first time in six months. They were using more power than a year ago. An executive with the peoples bank of china has backed the European Central banks bond buying program. But the official with Chinas Central Bank also expressed concerns over the possible side effects on the worlds financial system. Translator its obvious that the ecbs decision for quantitative easing will feed large amounts of funds in to markets. That risks causing uncertainties in the International Capital flow. He acknowledged that the ecb move will boost chinas exports, as it will help revive the eurozone economy. But he said the easing measure will also strengthen the dollar and could put downward pressure on the chinese yuan. Lets get a check of the markets now. Investors cheered the ecbs decision. They expect that the measure will help pull the eurozone out of deflation and boost the inflation rate. Heres whats happening now with the majors in the region. Were seeing all of them in positive territory. Paris is leading the pack right now, its up by 1. 6 . Now in the Asia Pacific Region markets were pretty upbeat. The nikkei had its best close since december 29th finishing at 17,511. That snapped a threeweek ling streak. Sydney closed up 1. 5 hitting a twomonth high. The ecb stimulus has fuelled speculation for a rate cut in australia. Shanghai erased all of its losses from mondays plunge and closed up a quarter percent. Currencies now, the euro is extending losses against the dollar. Right now we have the pair at 1. 1232. The single currency has plunged to its lowest level in 11 years and four months. Analysts say the currency traders are selling because the ecbs 60 billion euro program of asset purchases was larger than consensus. The common currency is also losing ground against the yen, briefly hitting a oneyear low. Weve got the pair right now at roughly 132. 86. Investors really keeping a close eye now on the outcome of the greek elections on sunday. Okay. Thats going to wrap it up for biz tonight. Lets get a check of the markets. Snow in the mountains of south asia has intensified the cold weather in the region. Our meteorologist jonathan oh is here to explain the details. Jonathan . Hello, gene yes. We are talking about some cold weather gripping this area. Typically around south asia we have more of a temperate weather setup, so its not quite as chilly. But, we now have a trough moving through thats dumping some snow and some wintry weather and thats causing temperatures to fall. Let me go and show you what it looks like on the ground level as we take a look here. Cold weather sweeping through south asia temperatures are below average by 5 to 10 degrees celsius. In the urhumpur district visitors enjoyed snow covering the mountainside as temperatures fell to negative 2 degrees. Now in dharamsala rain forced people inside because of the colder temperatures. Residents typically see milder Winter Weather with highs in the upper teens. Were talking closer and closer toward the freezing point. And i think were going to see a little bit more in terms of the wintry weather and the colder temperatures as we progress on through the weekend. Heres a look at the forecast. Looking at some snowfall taking place in the mountains, and moving towards the east and toward the south. So it brings south asia expect temperatures to stay chilly as we progress through the next couple of days. Now were talking about a little bit of a moderating trend for east asia as we look over here. High pressure is pushing eastward past the korean peninsula, as we go into the weekend. And thats going to allow southerly flow to increase temperatures. We are going to see a little bit of a disturbance down toward the southern portion of china. Thats going to produce a little bit of rain. Meanwhile, over here in japan, were going to see some wintry weather wrapping things up for saturday, and then by sunday the warmer air will actually return. Well see some improvement but in the mean time look out for some windy conditions. Gusts will be up to 108 kilometers per hour. Waves up to 5 meters and snowfall in hokkaido. 30 to 40 centimeters. And then the low departs from the area and we will see improving conditions. 11 for the high in tokyo on saturday. 6 in seoul. 4 in beijing. Again that rain in hong kong down toward the southern portions of the area where temperatures ss topping off at 18 degrees. Were talking about a lot more rain fall in europe down to the Mediterranean Sea we go into italy we have this low pressure system spinning and bringing in all that moisture with it and dumping it over the southern portion of italy and along the coast of the Balkan Peninsula we are looking at the possibility of seeing some Severe Weather excessive rainfall part of the equation along with strong winds and gusty conditions. Some large hail cannot be ruled out along with some isolated tornadoes and thunderstorms. So be prepared for another wild start to the weekend, as we go in to saturday. Rain does extend up toward the north into warsaw vienna and kiev and some snow into moscow. Temperatures quite chilly in the single zing its to below freezing. Back toward the west were seeing temperatures at 2 to 4 degrees from paris into london. So quite chilly once again. Wrapping things up with a look at north america were keeping an eye on this low pressure system that brought record amounts of snowfall into amarillo, texas, thursday. It is now picking up more moisture. Were looking at the possibility of some heavy rainfall maybe even Severe Weather along the coast of the carolinas and down to the gulf coast in florida and to look out for some very wet weather. Strong winds cannot rule out an isolated tornado in the process. As this system continues to move toward the north and east may become a noreaster and bring heavy snow fall into the northeastern portions of the united states. Look out for that. Sunny skies there new york high of 3. 2 in toronto. Hope you have a good day wherever you are. Heres your extended outlook. Thats newsline for this hour. Im screen otani in tokyo. ÷gp÷ throne after the death of 90yearold King Abdullah. The new monarch promises to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor. Yemens political turmoil deepens. The president and Prime Minister we sign as rebels tighten their grip on the capital. Russianbacked rebels are in control of donetsk airport after the deadliest clashes in ukraine since september. Those are the top stories we are following. Also this hour in business