strings. eu leaders agree to impose stricter budget discipline, but they're still at adds over greece. european leaders have spent months trying to overcome their problems with debt. now they've agreed on a new treaty to stop overspending. they hope tighter rules will convince investors they'll get their debt under control and they want to shore up confidence in the euro.

ai has been watching it. >> the leaders are trying to get can you ever on themselves with how much they spend. the summit yesterday appears to be one step forward. the agreement came at the first summit of the year in brussels, belgium. 25 of the eu's 27 countries agreed to the fiscal compact that would impose almost automatic penalties on members that exceed a 3% debt ceiling. only britain and the czech republic refused to back the new pact. they agreed to launch a permanent bailout fund in july, one year earlier than planned. eu leaders urged greece to continue negotiations private bondholders to restructure its debt. if no deal is reached, greece

could default. the proposal was met with strong opposition. switching gears, here in japan, recent jobs data showed unemployment rate in december worsened from the previous month. the internal affairs ministry says the seasonally adjusted jobless rate 4.6%, up 0.1 percentage point from november. the number of unemployed 2.75 million, while people with jobs stood at a little over 62 million. separately, the labor ministry says job availability in december rose. there were 71 positions available for every 100 job seekers. the labor ministry says the job market is showing signs of improvement, but it calls for a close watch over the effects of the strong yen on unemployment. over on wall street, the markets closed slightly lower, recovering earlier losses on some bargain hunting.

worries on greek debt talks continue to weigh down sentiment. let's see how the markets are opening here. for that, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, a lot for investors to focus on with jobs data coming out of japan and key earnings results to go over as well. >> definitely a lot for investors as you mention there. the unemployment numbers coming out a little bit worse. also, we had preliminary industrial production numbers, which was up 4%, and that's the first gain in two months. so preliminary industrial production numbers, a little more of a positive there. let's look at the opening levels this tuesday morning. a bit of a muted reaction. nikkei down marginally, topix down 2. the nikkei ended lower yesterday for the third straight day. so we're looking for a fourth straight day if it keeps going like this. also with continued jitters

around the eurozone, the yen gained. we may see further selling for exporters. as you said, earnings a big focus in japan. this week, big names like sony and honda and some major banks. yesterday after the bell we had canon coming out saying they posted a net profit for the year, and also expecting net profit for the remainder of this year, even with the dollar yen around 75 yen and euro yen around 100 yen. we're going to keep tabs on that sector as well. fuji film said net profits fell by around 50% in the quarter ending december. however, it is also proposing a capital tie-up, pretty interesting, with olympus. we'll keep track of that development as well. let's look at some of the currency levels this tuesday morning. concerns about bond yields in eurozone countries especially portugal caused the euro to weaken against the dollar.

you can see the euro yen 100.28-33. it was trading 101 yesterday. it has weakened against the yen. ai? >> you mentioned earnings that came out this week there. we still have key earnings due out here in japan, and not to mention economic data from the u.s. >> definitely still a lot on the plate. more i'd oh manufacturing, make the kpasors for iphones and ipads, strong sales expected there, and honda and also middle east a hoe financial. a lot for the investors to take in. >> indeed a lot to digest. >> we will have all the price action and share action at the close for everyone to see the developments today. but for now, the nikkei and topics marginally lower this tuesday morning. back to you. >> thanks for that. that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. let's also look at some other market figures.

we are seeing the nikkei trade barely in the positive. we will keep on top of all that. that's the latest from business. back to catherine. the australian government says it may delay the purchase of 12 state of the art f-35 fighter jets. a similar announcement by the united states last week has raised fears that the cost of the planes could soar. australia will take delivery of two of the war planes in 2014. it had planned to purchase 12 more over the following three years. but australian defense minister

steven smith said monday that the government will review that plan. >> we will now make a judgment about whether the timetable for the second 12 remains on the current timetable. >> japan announced last month it would buy 42 of the new war planes for the air self-defense force. the people of north korea have had a new leader for more than a month now. but the country's state-run media is continuing its efforts to help them get to know kim jong-un. and cement his authority. kim took power in december after his father, kim john-il died. earlier this month, state run tv broadcast a biography about him to mark his birthday.

>> the documentary is 50 minutes long. it focuses mostly on kim jong-un's links to military. it shows him riding horseback and getting on a tank. state media reported kim jong-un went with his father in april 2009. he made it clear he will press forward with the military first policy promoted by kim jong-il. >> it's likely a sign of the regime's eagerness to show him as kim jong-il's legitimate successor. kim jong-un made his first appearance in september 2010. it happened during the new party leadership.

a photograph showed him sitting two places to the right of his father. he held the title of vice chairman of the party's central military commission. kim jong-un featured during his father's funeral. he became commander in chief on december 30. the state tv biography you mentioned repeatedly shows kim jong-un in situations similar to ones his father was in. for instance he rides a horse. kim jong-il used to appear on a white horse. these images are meant to show his legitimacy as leader. it is continuing to create a cult of personality around kim jong-un as was done for his father and grandfather. kim jong-un is being portrayed as man of the people.

citizens are told how he ordered food to be delivered, or how he can apply to letters from ordinary workers. expected to declare a bid for generosity. north korea is preparing in the coming months. they include the 70th anniversary of kim jong-il on february 16th and the birthday april 15. even a curable test for the new leader who will likely be eager to display his legitimacy. of course the big question is whether kim jong-un will be able to control the country's army and ruling party. he is still in his training and lacks political experience. north korea is to conduct a

strong and prosperous nation this year. however, international sanctions will make rebuilding its economy difficult. observers are watching to see how kim jong-un will guide his country during these tough times. south korea has asked a leading international ratings agency not to downgrade its bonds. government leaders say the death of north korean leader kim jong-il poses no threat to the south's economy. they expressed concern that they see that as increased risk for south korean economy. he referred to a fallen share prices after kim's death on december 19th. he said they sent a task force to standard & poor's on monday. the team which includes senior

ministers. also spoke with moody's last month. "newsline" is the place to turn to post march 11. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" the efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss nuclear watch and the road ahead on "newsline." the area hit hard by the march 11 disaster has experienced a net decline of more than 40,000 people. the internal affairs ministry announced results monday. it is based on a demographic survey last year in some prefectures. it shows that nearly 130,000 people moved out of the areas, while about 88,000 moved in. it is the first time since 1970 the population in the regions

has decreased more than 40,000. fukushima prefecture lost more than 30,000 people. the worst among the three prefectures. the ministry says the data indicates many people left fukushima prefecture after the earthquake and tsunami and the accident at the nuclear power plant. japanese scientists have unveiled a new robot for work at the fukushima daiichi power plant. it will map the radiation levels. it was designed as chiba institute of technology and other organizations. an older version became tangled in power lines inside the plant. it was retired three months ago. the new model is about the same size, but is designed to avoid getting caught in the cables. the robot has six rolling belts that allows it to move freely over debris and staircases. it can communicate wirelessly with its handler.

two of the machines will be sent into the plant. one will measure radiation levels. the other will have a scanner to map the plant's interior. >> translator: we have developed these robots to avoid a repeat of the previous problems. the role is to reduce worker's exposure to radiation. >> the two robots will be deployed at the fukushima plant by mid-march. japan could be a very different country half a century from now. a new report predicts the population will shrink by about 40 million by the year 2060. to put that in perspective, that's roughly the same number of people who live in spain. the institute of population and social security research released the numbers are prompting some released the statistics. experts to call on the government to overhaul its social security system. japan's population stood at 120 -- 128 million million as of 2010.

the report says it will fall below 100 million by mid-century. it's expected to drop to 86 million by 2060. the average life expectancy for men was more than 79 years in 2010. the report says that figure is likely to rise to more than 84 years. the average expectancy for women was more than 86 years in 2010. in 2060, women are expected to live longer than 90 years. the proportion of the population aged 65 or older was about 23% in 2010. the estimates say it will be almost 40% in 2060. researchers predicted five years ago the average number of babies born per woman would be 1.26. this latest report says in 2060 it will increase slightly to 1.35. still the general trend is

toward having fewer children. they began to campaign for the upcoming elections. she will continue the tour around the country to garner support for other candidates from her party. she received an enthus particular welcome as she visited daiwai. >> translator: in the elections, every single voter has their vote, and every vote is equally valued. with your support, nld will work for development of the country.

please vote for our party in the election. >> she's the one that fulfills our hopes. i am thrilled to see her. >> the government recently approved the official registration of the national league for democracy or nld and released many political prisoners, including major pro-democracy advocates. myanmar's economy is one of the least developed. the government shift towards democracy appears to be part of its effort to get economic sanctions lifted by western countries. the bi-elections are scheduled for april 1st, will be fought over a total of 48 seats in the upper and lower house fs parliament and local aaccept bliss. the nld is fielding candidates in nearly all those seats. she's running for a lower house seat in a constituency which

she's widely expected to win. the reforms in myanmar altered many witness about the country, but the new sense of optimism isn't shared by everyone. for years, many people from myanmar fled the country in search of work or freedom. reports from the thai border, they often find their new lives are also filled with hardship. >> translator: every day, people cross for myanmar, often illegally, to look for work. they total about 20,000 a year. they expect a better life.

but often they find reality is tough. this garbage dump is close to the river. i am standing at a gar bj mountain on the thai border with myanmar. here, people from myanmar make a living collecting garbage. >> the mountain of trash is guarded with people, searching for scraps of steel and plastic to sell. 13-year-old came here with his family five years ago. he earns about a dollar a day, too little to feed his family of

four. picking things out of the garbage is the only way to get enough to eat. >> translator: my father is sick so i have no choice but to do this. >> reporter: a local ngo has built a school near the site to help the children. about 150 students attend the school. they all live at the dump, but get medical checkups and free meals. his younger brother started at the school two years ago. he stayed collecting garbage.

he goes to the school to pick up his brother. he wishes he was also playing with his friends. but he has to support his family. he hopes one day he, too, will go to school and become a doctor. >> translator: working at the dump site is no fun at all. it's just that there's no alternative job. i want to return to my hometown someday. >> reporter: it is a tough job to support his family, but that doesn't stop him from dreaming that one day things will get

better. nhk world, northern thailand. >> that will wrap up our bulletin. tokyo commuters are making their way to work under fair skies, but the skies aren't so clear in other parts of japan. we have the weather picture for here and elsewhere. >> hello, welcome to your weather update. let's begin with japan, of course, the main story is going to be very heavy snow along the western side, an additional 20 to 70 centimeters are still expected in the next 24 hours. and very strong winds are preventing much of the nation that is resulting in high waves on the coast. a low pressure system will move into northern japan tomorrow, so

more intense snow showers, thunderstorms and gusty winds are expected from wednesday. these conditions could, of course, create avalanches as well as traffic disturbances. the pacific side will stay largely dry again. as for the korean peninsula, widespread wintry precipitation will cover much of the region. as we pull back, a high pressure system is bringing dry weather across most of china, so dry weather for you again. as for the indochina peninsula, heavy rain in southern thailand will move south word and effect much of that peninsula today. today highs look like this. getting up to 32 in bangkok, 17 degrees in hong kong. tokyo, cooler than average at 8 degrees. heading to the americas, mostly dry from coast to coast. temperatures are on the warmer side. we will show you the figures in a moment. there are a few things to talk

about, a long frontal line brings freezing rain and snow from alberta to the great lakes, and southern ontario and quebec will see heavier precipitation on tuesday. out to the west, a series of low pressure system has been bringing gusty winds, mountain snow and heavy coastal rain, and stormy conditions will also spread to the pacific northwest on tuesday. and out across the south, heavy rain as well as thunderstorms are effecting northeast mexico and the southern tip of texas. that will move out to sea. however, we develop and affect the south wednesday. highs tuesday as follows. up to 23 degrees in houston, 19 degrees in oklahoma city. we're going to see a huge warmup on the eastern seaboard. highs get up to 17 degrees in d.c. and 12 degrees in new york.

finally, let's go to europe. we can see a completely different picture between the east and west. a high pressure system is bringing dry and sunny conditions to much of the eastern sections. we can see multiple systems over western areas. we are looking at winter precipitation in ireland, france and thunderstorms in italy. over the next 24 hours, the peer knees and alpine will get snow. much of ireland and northern ireland gets dryer starting tuesday evening. arctic chill continues to cover much of the area, pushing down temperatures. only 2 degrees expected for tuesday's highs in paris, 4 degrees in london. across the east, minus 14 in kiev, which is ten degrees lower than average. here is the extended forecast.

once again, ai uchida joins us with the outcome of the eu summit. >> they are trying to get tougher on themselves with budgets and how much they spend. the summit yesterday appears to be one step forward in this direction. >> translator: today we have come to agree on a new fiscal treaty. >> the agreement came at their first summit of the year in brussels, belgium. 25 of the eu's 27 countries agreed to the fiscal compact.

it would impose penalties on members whose deficits exceed 0.5% of gdp. only britain and the czech republic refused to back the new pact. the leaders also agreed to launch a permanent bailout fund in july one year earlier than planned. >> we recognize that financial stability is in itself not enough to get out of the economic crisis. we must do more, in particular on economic growth. >> the eu leaders also urged greece to conclude negotiations private bondholders to restructure its debt. if no deal is reached, greece could default. germany proposed before the summit opened that greece surrender control of its budget and fiscal authority to outside institutions in the european commission, but the proposal was met with strong opposition. we'll follow this story, bring more details throughout the day.

for now, i will leave you with the latest market figures. as ai said, we will have the latest on the