Theyll soon introduce a bill to approve the construction of an oil pipeline. Obama is cautious about the project due to environmental concerns. The white house says the president will exercise his veto if Congress Passes the bill. I can confirm for you if this bill passes this congress, the president wouldnt sign it either. Obama says he intends to issue executive orders to promote policies opposed by republicans. But he also says hes ready to seek their cooperation in matters such as the Transpacific Partnership free trade act. Two years remain in president obamas tenure. Hong kong is still facing criticism over its political reform process. The government will launch its second round of public consultations for electing the territorys next chief executive. The current leader said Public Feedback will resume on wednesday. The announcement came after hong kong submitted a report to the Chinese Government on the studentled protests. They continued for more than two months until december. Translator intimidation cannot make anything legal that is outside or inconsistent with hong kongs constitution. A student representative criticized the report. Translator the report is meaningless because it fails to touch on why such massive protests occurred and where the core of the reform lies. The remarks were apparently aimed at protesters. Theyre opposing the mainland state councils decision that effectively excludes pro democracy candidates from the first direct election for chief executive in 2017. South Korean Defense officials express concern about north koreas ability to make Nuclear Weapons. The report points out that the north is presumed to have secured some 40 kilograms of Nuclear Weapons grade plutonium. Ministry officials said the north is unlikely to have already deployed Nuclear Weapons, but its technology to make smaller warheads has advanced significantly. The norths First Nuclear test was eight years ago. The ministry believes the north has missile capabilities that could threaten the u. S. Mainland and could develop submarines with ballistic missiles. President park wants to sit down for talks after kim jongun suggested dialogue could be possible. Kim said in his new years address that he can no longer tolerate the tragedy of a divided korean people. He said he wants a turnaround in relations, on the condition that seoul stops causing tensions. Park welcomed kims remarks, but she also called on north korean officials to show a commitment to improving ties through action. Translator i hope north korea will come forward promptly to enter dialogue. I hope pyongyang will cooperate and make substantial contributions to specific projects toward peace and unification on the korean peninsula. Last month the Park Administration proposed ministerial talks in january. She wants to discuss issues including the reunion of families separated by the korean war more than 60 years ago. Government officials in china have dropped their limits on exports of strategically Important Minerals that are widely used to make smartphones. Theyve seen hightech companies around the world reduce their reliance on chinese supplies and will give more access to materials known as rare earths. Developers in china produce almost all of the worlds supply of the minerals until now theyve been bound by export restrictions that the Chinese Government said is designed to preserve the countrys natural resources. Representatives from japan, the u. S. And European Union in 2012 filed a complaint. They said china was violating trade rules. Members of a World Trade Organization panel last year ruled in their favor. The Panel Members said china had not shown the export quotas were needed to preserve stocks of the rare earths. President xi jinping is key to show china the respects of the International Trade and supports fair competition in the marketplace. Japans Prime Minister says hell release a statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii. Maintaining the stance of past cabinets on historical issues. Diplomats from china and south korea say theyll keep a close watch on what he has to say. Translator china is interested in the attitudes and signals japans government and leaders will express about the past aggression. He also said he hopes japan will remain true to what it has pledged regarding historical issues and take the path of peaceful development. In 1995 then Prime Minister moreyama expressed what he called deep remorse and heartfelt apology for japans colonial rule and war aggression. And expressing sincere apologies to those referred to as comfort women. South korea has called on abe to uphold the positions of the previous Prime Ministers. Translator we hope the japanese government will act in good faith for a correct awareness of history in order to gain the trust of neighboring countries and the international community. He stressed that the south korean government will pay close attention to what japan says in the statement. Falling Oil Prices May be good news for consumers. But investors have a different take on the situation. Ai joins us now from the business market. How are the markets reacting . Pretty negatively. Crude oil prices on monday fell below the 50 bench mark. That rattled market players. And they dont see prices bottoming out anytime soon. Continuing oversupply briefly pushed crude oil prices in new york on tuesday to the lowest level in nearly six years. The benchmark west texas intermediate at one point fell below 48 a barrel the lowest its been since april 2009. Oil futures were sold heavily on expectations that prices will slide further as russia and iraq increase output. Reports that saudi arabia has cut oil prices for european customers also prompted selling. Market players see the possibility of greece leaving the eurozone slowing growth in europe. That could mean lower demand for oil. The plunge in Oil Prices Made investors on wall street nervous. Share prices in new york tumbled. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost more than 200 points but it later made up for some of those losses on buybacks. It did close down at 17,371. A loss of about 3 4 or 130 points from monday. Investors here in tokyo also dont like what they see. The nikkei opened down 0. 4 tracking the overnight losses that they saw on wall street. But it has recovered some of the lost ground as bargain hunting kicked in. Thats after the punch yesterday of more than 3 . The benchmark index is trading in a tight range this morning, going in and out of negative territory. Analysts say investors are worried about Weak Oil Prices and the Political Uncertainty in greece. Now, currency traders are also worried and pushing the dollar lower against the yen. This morning in tokyo, the dollar is trading at the upper 118 yen range. Its traded as low as 118. 04 in overseas markets. The yen is also higher against the euro. The single currency is at twomonth lows against the yen. Right now, right around the 141 yen range. Investors are also moving their money into what they consider safer assets like Government Bonds. The yield on the tenyear japanese Government Bond posted a record low for a second straight day. Dipping to 0. 265 at one stage. In other markets in the asiapacific region south koreas kospi down just a touch. Lets see whats happening down under. Australias benchmark Index Trading lower below. 6 . Many Japanese Business leaders say the private sector should raise workers wages to boost consumption and end deflation. The head of the leading furniture maker and retailer agrees. He wants to raise mothly wages of the firms employees by more than 3 . That meeths all employees would see a basic pay increase. Wages would also be raised based on seniority. Labor and management at the firm last spring reached an agreement on a monthly pay raise of more than 2 . He said raising wages will boost consumption and help the overall economy. Officials at mcdonalds japan say there havent been any more reports of foreign objects in a popular chicken dish. A customer last week discovered a piece of blue vinyl in a serving of chicken mcnuggets. The object was found on saturday in an outlet in the northern prefecture of aomi. Mcdonalds halted sales at a plant in thailand the same day as those containing the vinyl. They recalled about 190,000 orders. The Officials Say the menu item had been supplied to outlets in 852 Stores Across the country, and they say almost all of them have been sold. Officials at the fastfood chain asked an outside body to examine the vinyl object. They want to confirm whether the material was used at the factory in thailand. More for you next hour in Business News. Ill leave you with a check on markets. Every morning investors draw their attention to asia. The tokyo market leads the way. And markets around the world follow. From the decisions that could change the course of an economy. To the companies at the forefront of change. Uptotheminute market reports. And analysis by specialists from around the world. Get all the latest Business News and insight here on newsline. Makers of electronic gadgets are gathering in las vegas. Theyre rolling out their latest projects at the International Consumer electronics show. The biggest names in televisions are showing how they put a new spin on a familiar device. Heres our report. Reporter asian manufacturers dominate the Global Market for tvs. Many of them have come to see the show armed with tvs that contain new features and technologies. Sharp of japan has unveiled a highdefinition 4k model. It has four times as many pixels as current highdefinition tvs. Company representatives say the set even makes recording images look better. It does that by showing the images at the equivalent of 8k resolution. Sharp is positioning the tv as a flagship model for the higher end of the market. Executives aim to begin selling it in japan and in the u. S. This year. Translator we cant raise profitability merely by engaging in a price war. Its important to launch any products with our original technology at the core. Reporter Lg Electronics of south korea is showing off their televisions. The company has also rolled out a new product using quantum dot technology. Company Officials Say the name refers to particles used to backlight the liquid crystal display. They say the tvs generate more colorful, lifelike images than other 4k models. This year features color prime technology in several series which will expand the color gamut up to 30 . Reporter tcl of china also unveiled a quantum dot tv. Its extending its global reach and became the worlds Third Largest maker of lcd tvs in 2013. They said theyll beat their rivals by offering their products at a lower price. Were taking the leap, one, two, three. Reporter the show is a chance for industry executives to promote other products, too. Some of the items on display this year include Wearable Computers and Audio Devices offering better sound quality than regular cd players. Manufacturers say theyre confident technologies like these will sell. Many of the gadgets are due to hit the store shelves soon. And then its up to consumers to decide which one will come out on top. Nhk world. The people who run japans Railway Service are looking to raise the bar. Theyve seen their bullet Train Service set the pace in speed and safety in more than 50 years. Theyre now looking to give passengers an even better experience. Just two months to go until these attendants will be serving customers for real. You cant reach from the front. So serve sideways like this. The instructor used to work as a firstclass cabin attendant on international flights. Now she trains train attendants. Over 100 so far. Translator i want the attendants to aim to take our level of service even higher. Reporter the new line will leave tokyo in two and a half hours. Theyre fitted with grand class cars. Thats where the attendants will be working. A oneway ticket in grand class will be about 230. Although food and drinks are included in the price, its still almost twice as much as an ordinary ticket. These luxurious cars were introduced four years ago on another bullet train line. The attendants welcomed the passengers onboard. Serve them food and provide other amenities. Takahashi has been in charge of the class from the start. The manual covers all details from the job, from fares and running times to how to respond in the event of an accident. Translator ive been writing and rewriting this manual since the start. I wonder if it will ever be finished. Reporter the training will continue until the trains go into service in march. One thing that takahashi makes sure her students remember. Translator smile. Smile. Youre not smiling enough. Reporter she understands that to provide the upper level of service, the biggest factor of the attendants is to smile, and create the atmosphere of traditional japanese hospitality. Translator the passengers lking at you the whole time so you shouldnt look too serious. You need to smile. Translator she says my good points and that makes me want to work even harder. Translator i criticized you a lot. Translator yes. But sometimes you praise me, too. And that makes me very, very happy. Translator i just want to hear the passengers riding in the grand class karsay it was a great experience. Thats my only goal. Reporter for takahashi, she has a hometown connection Offering Service with a smile. A female suicide bomber has detonated explosives at a Police Station in istanbuls historic district. A Police Officer was killed and another was injured. The attack took place on tuesday afternoon near the blue mosque near the museum. It was the Second Attack against police in a week in istanbul. Turkish Police Detained a man last thursday. He threw a hand grenade and began firing at officers near the Prime Ministers office. No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attack. But Police Suspect it was carried out by the same leftist group. Tens of thousands of people in germany have taken to the streets. Some are calling for tighter controls on muslim immigrants. Others are promoting a message of tolerance. Members of a group campaigning against what they call the islamization of europe have been holding rallies. But mondays gathering in the eastern city of dressden drew a record crowd of 18,000. Many say theyre concerned about terrorism on home soil. More than 500 people from germany have reportedly joined the Islamic State militant group. Demonstrations were also held in berlin and hamburg. They oppose the antiislam movement. People appealed for an end to discrimination. In could loan the lights of the cathedral and the city hall were turned off to make a statement against racism. Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her new years address that hostility toward foreigners has no place in german society. A salvage team in britain is trying to save a ship and its precious cargo. Its carrying hundreds of luxury cars. The cargo ship began listing soon after leaving port on course to germany. Officials of the shipping company say the captain decided to ground the 180meterlong vessel on a bank to prevent it from overturning completely. All 25 members of the crew were rescued. The ship is tilted at a 45degree angle, creating a challenge for salvage workers. Its quite substantial and will be quite difficult for going onword to walk on the vessel. A team has boarded the ship to assess damage and make a salvage plan. Local media report the cars onboard include Luxury Brands such as jaguar and rollsroyce. The cargo is estimated at over 50 million. Its time for a check of the weather. People across much of turkey are bundling up as they deal with extremely low temperatures, and snow. Mai sho ji has the latest. Over turkey this is creating heavy snowfall and winter wonderland. He have pictures coming up from here. This is what people are dealing with right now, the first snowfall of the season which swept over the capital of turkey on tuesday. The heavy snowfall was accompanied by a chilly air mass with temperatures dropping to about minus 17 degrees. In istanbul the governmental offices were closed on tuesday. Further south in israel heavy snowfall is falling there. This is the heaviest seen in this area since december 2013 when the worst storm in 50 years swept over the eastern mediterranean. Im afraid to tell you that the residents across this area will be dealing with more heavy snowfall, and theyre going to be having to dig up this snow. Not so much in istanbul but ankara will see more snowfall up to 9 centimeters now in additional amounts. So avalanche risk roofs will be very dangerous. Athens will possibly see some snow there as well. There are actually some water spouts and lightning, damaging lightning that has been reported from greece. Now, ankara the snow will be tapering off. The temperatures down to minus 10 degrees on y