Question who is working at their homes. And big plans for the far east. Norths koreans are celebrating the birthday of previous leader kim jung il. The launch is widely regarded as a long range Ballistic Missile test. People laid flowers at the foot of kim jung ils statue. His birthday is a national holiday. State run tv aired a performance an all women band at an event to celebrate the launch of the rockets. Kim jung il was lauded for making north korea a Nuclear State with the possession of satellites. Vice Foreign Ministers from china and south korea have been discussing how to respond to the recent test and rocket launch. Jong conveyed his opposition to the deployment of the thaad defense system. After the talks, he told reporters he and yen had aagreed to adopt tougher sanctions against the north. South korea says it will enter official talks with the u. S. About deploying the thaad system. It is hoped the country will exercise caution. Gene otani joins us with business headlines. Bank of japan policy makers have implemented their much talked about negative Interest Rate policy. They are now applying 0. 1 to some current account balances. Boj policy makers hope this will compel the banks to take money out and put it toward loans and investments instead. That in turn would hopefully encourage more corporate and consumer spending. The banks started reacting late last month when the boj fore shadowed the move. They lowered Interest Rates on deposits and mortgages. Now they are facing lower returns. Not on just some of their accounts on the boj but also on loans they give to clients. The negative rate will initially applied to about 87 billion worth of funds. Executives at mitt sue bish si aircraft are expecting an order with 20 more of their mrj racing jets. The Japanese Firm has received more than 400 orders for the mitsubishi regional jet. The first locally produced passenger aircraft in half a century. They have had to postpone the first batch of deliveries by a year. It was a volatile session in tokyo on tuesday but shares managed to extend some gains as the dollar remained steady against the yen. We go to our Business Reporter at the tokyo stock exchange. Higher Commodity Prices helped brighten the mood in asia. Shares managed to end in the positive thanks to the surge in heavy weight soft bank. Nikkei eventually closed at a oneweek high of 16,054. The broader topix closed just a tad below 1300. The Company Soft Bank announced a 14. 4 million shares buy back. And that was on concerns over soft banks u. S. Arms. Now, it looks like investors really took this buyback plan because soft bank shares soared and ended the day up nearly 16 . And real estate stocks were hoping the boj changes will boost sales. Kirin hoeltdings had disappointing earnings. One Market Strategist i spoke to said there are fears hanging over the markets from china, oil, and negative Interest Rates. Most other bench marks in the Asia Pacific Region ended higher. In china, take a look the shanghai composite gained by 3. 3 , jumping to 2836. It posted the sharpest oneday rally in more than three months. Some investors shared comments that hinted at further stimulus measures. Seoul kospi finished up 1. 4 after the bank of korea decided to keep its Interest Rate unchanged as expected. A rebound in oil prices propped up many the market in some regions. Chinese Officials Say the ratio of bad loans at commercial banks has hit a level not seen since the financial crisis. The regulators say the nonproving loans totaled 1. 27 trillion yuan. Or 200 billion last year. The figure is up 50 from a year ago and it accounts 1. 67 of all loans, marking a Third Straight year of increases. A growing number of manufacturers and other businesses are struggling amid slowing Real Estate Investment and weaker exports. This is causing pain for many lenders. Some analysts say the actual ratio may be several times bigger, citing the countrys lax screening standards. Heres a look at some of the other stories fear following today. Monthly spending by japanese households in 2015 was down from the year before. Government Officials Say households with two or more people spent on average about 2,500, down more than 2 from a year earlier. Officials say people spend less on cars, p. C. S and clothes. More than 1. 8 Million Foreign Tourists visited japan in january. A record for the month and an increase of about 50 from a year earlier. Government officials credit the weaker yen and the School Holiday period in asia for a surge in visitors from south korea and china. Japans gdp contracted in the last quarter in 2015, one of the main factors is a drop in domestic consumption. Nhk World Reports on a disturbing trend, disposal income is declining and young working households are hurting the most. Reporter retailers across japan are reporting a slow down in business. This manager says the sales are at the worst level in ten years. Translator sales are hoar than a year ago. Were counseling on elderly customers or those in their 40s or other who can afford to spend. Reporter among those cutting spending are the sato family. They are in their 30s, both work and they have two children. They say their disposable income is shrinking year by year. One reason is the increase in social insurance costs. Translator Monthly Health insurance premiums rose from 106 to 115. Reporter income tax and pension premiums have also climbed. These payments are withheld from his monthly salary. The deduction last month was up 5,000 yen from a year earlier. Thats nearly 45. Translator the heaviest burden is probably the pension premium. Translator although salaries have hardly changed, taxes and pension premiums are rising, so we have to lower our standard of living. Reporter a look in the garage reveals one change. Theyve replaced a car with a smaller model to reduce running costs. Translator the smaller car should help reduce taxes and insurance premiums by about 260 a year. Reporter the satos are not alone, according to a Government Survey of working households. This data for november excludes pensioners. Income declined slightly from one year earlier. At the same time, deductions from wages, thats social insurance costs and taxes, rose. That pushed down disposable income. That caused people to tighten their purse strings, and the result is a decline in consumer spending. At the supermarket, the satos are working hard to reduce their food bill. Theyre eliminating all unnecessary items. Translator its so expensive today. Reporter junko looks for discounts and plans a weekly menu around the cheaper ingredients. Translator i often end up preparing dishes with inexpensive ingredients. Now, i wouldnt think of buying this or that to cook a special dish. Our tight budget does not allow it. Reporter what concerns them the most, the hard times show no sign of ending. The Research Institute compiled this data on Household Budgets from 2011 to 2015. It shows a slight rise in the incomes of working households in those four years, up around 2 . But the deductions rose much faster. Taxes jumped more than 7 , and pension and Health Insurance premiums posted a doubledigit increase. Daiwas economist Hitoshi Suzuki says japans Social Security system places too much importance on benefits to elderly people. He says thats weighing on the nations economy. Translator i believe japan needs policy reforms to distribute more resources to working people, childrearing families, and younger people. Foreign investors may not be attracted by the course japan is taking with the social insurance and tax burden increasing, people spending only the minimum and vitality being lost. We need to think very hard about ways to prevent our country from becoming such a gloomy, aged society. Reporter the ballooning cost of Social Security isnt even discussed in japanese politics so its likely to continue pressuring young households and in turn to remain a headache for japans economy. Yuko fukushima, nhk world. Thats it for business news. Ill leave you with the markets. Japanese police have arrested a former worker at a nursing care facility on suspicion of killing three of his residents. The cases left people shocked and concerned for the safety of loved ones who stay in care homes. Nhk world has more. Reporter on monday, Police Arrested a 23yearold man who was working at the facility when the three died. He reportedly admitted to throwing an 87yearold man to his death. Investigative sources say hayato imai has also admitted to killing two others. The news has rocked the local community. Translator i was shocked that such tragic incidents occurred so close to me. I will never feel at ease to receive services at the facility. Reporter this is a nursing facility where imai worked. His arrest shocked the families who are staying here. Translator im truly sorry for the matter. Ive heard that imai was an ordinary man with no specific distinction. Reporter abuse toward the elderly is unfortunately not unusual these days. Reports though that cases of elder abuse by nursing care workers is increasing year after year in japan. Translator when we become frustrated and overwhelmed by the excessive am of work, some workers beat the elderly. People were pushed to their limits. Reporter experts say the underlying fundamental problem, too few high quality nurses. Translator the problem of the a shortage of quality workers wont be solved unless we pay higher wages. To ensure such tragic incident isnt repeated, Society Needs to evaluate how workers are facing the burden of an excessive workload day in, day out. Translator hayato imai worked taking care of the elderly. He admitted to murdering three people in his care. If hes found guilty, this case races important questions by relatives of who is taking care of our loved ones. Japan top police chief is prepping officers on security measures for the group of seven summit in may. Members of Japans NationalPolice Agency met tuesday, exactly 100 days before the summit. Translator the Islamic State militant group has threatened to target japan. There have been an increasing number of cyberattacks on government websites. The police chief also urged customs and related agencies to heighten security checks. A japanese politician who caused a stir by requesting paternity leave is back in the spotlight. He has resigned after admitting to having an affair. Lawmakers in the lower house of the diet accepted the resignation on tuesday. Miyazaki offered an apology and said his behavior was not consistent with the policies he had endorsed. In december he announced he wanted to become the countrys first diet member to take paternity leave. He requested time off to support his wife when she gave birth to their son. His resignation drew a strong rebuke from Prime Minister shinzo abe. Translator as the partys leader, im very sorry about this. I want ldp members to shape up and work hard to meet the expectations of the people. The partys secretarygeneral said he blamed himself for failing to mentor younger lawmakers. Other ldp executives said the episode could hurt the Publics Trust in politicians. Big plans. Russia is forging ahead with the development of special Economic Zones in the far east. One possible location is on an island claimed by japan. One possible location, an island in the disputed northern territories. The plan is a major Sticking Point between moscow and tokyo. Nhk world recently visited the russian controlled territory and has this report. Reporter concerns over ongoing population decline, president Vladimir Putin is putting the far east region at the top of his priority list. He wants to set up special Economic Zones at more than ten locations. Etorofu island is considered a location, an island also claimed by japan. Once granted the status, the businesses will be in for Corporate Tax breaks and simplified red tape. Several russian firms have already announced to start operations in etorofu. Among them is a company dealing in sightseeing in the northern territories. The companys president plans to build a hotel there with an investment of about 7 million. She is seeking investment from businesses from not only russia but also china, south korea, and japan. Translator we are looking for partners throughout the asian region who wish to take part in our plan. Reporter last decemb, a muicomplexeaturing Movie Theater d gymnasm was mpleted. Translator i am surprised with the russian government for building such a great facility. Reporter on top of the private money the russian government has promised 900 million over the next decade for development in the eastern region, which includes the northern territories. All these development isnt sitting well with the japanese government. It maintains the position that the northern territories are an inherent part of japan. Translator involvement by any third countries in Economic Activity on the four islands goes against our stance on the northern territories. Its unacceptable. Reporter japan and russia are in the middle of negotiating a summit between Prime Minister shinzo abe and president Vladimir Putin. High on the agenda will be russias actions on the islands. Meanwhile tokyo Officials Say they will continue to engage their russian counterparts on the issue. Kim yana, nhk world. Newsline comes to you live from tokyo where we had a gorgeous tuesday, clear skies with highs around 10 degrees celsius or 50 degrees fahrenheit. Its currently 9 degrees celsius. Jonathan oh has the World Weather report for us starting with stormy conditions in spain. Hello. Were keeping an eye on an interesting jet stream pattern that is impacting europe in general. It is interesting how the air stream is moving around in the southern portions of the continent thats ushering in very cold and heavy snow weather back toward the west and very warm weather to the east. Let me take you to spain to give you an idea. Monday, a storm system passed through the Iberian Peninsula and caused Stormy Weather to northern spain. Snowplows were working throughout the day when the snowfall began. Flooding like you see right there. 20 roads were closed to snow and high winds in the country. Heres what i mean by the unusual jet stream pattern. We have a ridge back to the north and west due to a High Pressure system but then it dips way down to africa and a trough set up which is this southwes r southwesterly northwestern set up. The low that was responsible for the active weather is over italy. We will see an active weather day for tuesday with rain, possibly thunderstorms for your tuesday with a high of 16 in rome. Look at the cold weather, cooler weather. Single digit highs once again. Athens, you are pushing 23 degrees on monday. As you look at the forecast for north america, two very different weather situations on both ends of the united states. Lets start off with los angeles, where a record high of 32. 3 degrees celsius was sett lo Beach Airport on monday. That heated is expected to continue into tuesday. Meanwhile, down in southeastern portions of the united states, as of 6 00 utc, 16 tornado reports, 73 win reports. Let me talk about the west coast, we have a front, stationary front moving to the north and thats going to bring some rain to the pacific northwest. Thats going to result in dry and hot weather once again for tuesday. We will have a system though coming out of the pacific that will help to cool the air down with some wet weather by the middle of the workweek. Over toward the east, the system thats responsible toward the south. Thats going to bring the possibility of freezing rain, yes the nasty stuff that makes it on the roadways, on tuesday, especially the border between the u. S. And canada. Heavier snow into the great lakes. Flash flooding in the appalachian mountains. Snow from toronto through rain in new york city and down to washington, d. C. Notice the warmth, were looking at teens for highs on tuesday. Quickly whats happening on south of the equator. Were keeping an eye on this. Meanwhile, very calm conditions, relatively speaking for most of east asia although we are looking at sea effect snow to continue impacting the northern portions of japan as we go through the day wednesday. Hope you have a good day wherever you are. Heres your extended outlook. Bank of japan policymakers renouned japanese conductor has won a grammy, ozawa. He released a statement saying he wants to share the joy with the performers and he called the rehearsals and performances rewarding. Ozawa serveds as music director of the boston symphony for nearly 30 years. He has won accolades with other leading orchestras. Hes been nominated for a grammy multiple times but this ises his first time winning. What a great milestone in his career. At the top of the hour is oyj4jj welcome. It is 1 00 p. M. In the french capital. Envoy meets with the syrian foreign minister about the dire need for humanitarian aid. Two schools and Medical Center have been struck in aleppo. Talks with european commission