north korea agrees to return to talks about its nuclear program for the first time since the death of kim john-il. the united states is wading back into the waters with north korea. americans have been frustrated in efforts to kick start talks over the nuclear program. the obama administration

announced envoys will meet next week for the first time in four months. the delegates from the two sides are scheduled to meet on february 23rd in beijing. these will be the first such talks since kim jong-un took over as leader in december. representatives of the united states and north korea last met in october in geneva. u.s. state department spokesperson said the u.s. wants to see if north korea is ready to take concrete steps toward denuclearization. the talks have been stalled for more than three years. the u.s. envoy will visit seoul and tokyo in the days following the talks. davies will report on the progress. trade his a high, 62% jump from the previous year reflects the north increasing dependence on china. china's customs authorities say

there was $5.6 billion worth of trade between the countries. north korean leaders have been inviting foreign investment, aiming to boost the country's infrastructure as well as supporting manufacturing and agricultural sectors. but north korea has been increasingly isolated and seeing little economic progress. the country has been forced to rely on neighboring china, a long time ally. the american president is laying out his plans for the coming year. ai uchida has the latest budget proposals. good morning. >> very good morning to you. u.s. president broemd unveiled a plan for 2013 that includes cuts in military spending and higher taxes for the rich. that's because 2012 will likely leave a huge fiscal deficit for the country, the second highest on record. >> recovery is speeding up. and the last thing we can afford

to do now is to go back to the very policies that got us into this mess in the first place. the budget that we're releasing today is a reflection of shared responsibility. >> he added the proposal calls for a more even distribution of the tax burden among the population. obama predicts the federal budget deficit will top $1.3 trillion in the current fiscal year through september. that would be the fourth time in a row america's annual deficit exceeds $1 trillion. this comes as a delay in economic recovery is dampening tax revenue. obama expects the deficit will shrink to slightly above $900 billion in the next fiscal year from october. but he will unlikely be able to deliver on his promise of cutting the deficit by half during his four years in office. the government plans to trim the nation's deficit by $3 trillion over the next ten years by cutting expenses further on

national defense and healthcare. here in japan, optical equipment maker olympus projects a net loss for the business year, but it says the effect of last year's financial scandal on its sales will be limited. olympus president announced the firm's earnings forecast for the 2011 business year which ends march 31st. >> translator: we are trying to minimize the negative impact of the march disaster, strong yen, and flooding in thailand. as a result, we should be able to bring back annual sales and operating profit for fiscal 2011 to nearly the same level as the previous year. >> annual sales are predicted to be about $11 billion. that's up 1% from the previous year. annual net loss is forecast to be about $416 million. the president says the loss coverup scandal had limited

effect on sales of key products like endoscopes. he added the company will establish a new management team by mid march. >> translator: in order for us to rebuild the company, capital and business tie-up the with other firms are needed in some areas. in terms of rebuilding olympus, we'll hand over the baton to the new management. >> all right. let's get a check on the markets. u.s. stocks ended higher as investors welcomed greece's approval of austerity measures for additional aid. let's see how stocks are opening in tokyo this tuesday. for that, we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. >> very good morning to you, ai. as you mention, the austerity measures in greece coming through the markets did add a boost of positive sent meant for global stocks. we saw it in u.s. markets.

a little concern still in markets about how the country is going to get through belt tightening measures with job cuts and wage cuts going through the country, but before that, let's look at the opening levels here this tuesday morning. the topix, both indexes are trading a touch lower. little hesitancy in the markets in the first few minutes. we did manage to close just below 9,000 yesterday on the nikkei. traded above that at one point yesterday. just looking hesitant today. we'll see if we can continue back up above 9,000. we shall see. but also looking at currencies and the euro, despite gaining initially on the back of the latest news from greece is now being pegged back. why? because just before the markets here opened, we had breaking news from moody investments which downgraded six eurozone members, and that played into

some euro weakness. just having a look at some of the currency levels playing into the markets this tuesday in tokyo, 102.04-09. i can tell you when that news came out, it broke below the 102 levels to upper 101. so again, a little hesitancy there for the euro and the yen gaining on the back of that. ai? >> we will have to see where euro yen takes us for the rest of the day. ramin, we had results from olympus. figures are a sharp reversal from the net profit it reported the same time last year. >> exactly. you went over some of the figures earlier with the full year net loss forecast, and of course a lot of focus there on olympus. they already fired senior executives. they were almost de-listed from the tokyo stock exchange, and as we also saw earlier, positive capital tie-ups with a few firms there, and olympus trying to

clean the slate for the next fiscal year starting in april. bank of japan will be wrapping up a two day meeting. a lot of focus on the on-going policy meeting about how implementation to tackle deflation, so that will be a focus, and also coming up in the u.s., we're going to get retail sales in the u.s. to get a check on consumer spending in the world's biggest economy. for now, the nikkei and topix, marginally lower this tuesday. back to you. >> ramin, thanks for that. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. let's also look at other market figures.

>> that's the latest from business. tokyo electric power company says a faulty thermometer is likely to blame for the rising temperature at the fukushima daiichi power plant. one of the thermometers inside the number two reactor started to show high readings late last month. temperature exceeded 80 degrees celsius, the critical level sunday. it rose to 94.9 degrees at noon monday. the utility says it thinks the thermometer is broken. two other instruments in the reactor showed the temperature dropped to about 33 degrees. >> translator: a cable inside the thermometer is probably cut, resulting in a false reading. but since the actual temperature is below 80 degrees, we think

conditions are okay. >> tepco has received billions in public funds since the march 11 disaster. now the government is demanding more say in how tepco runs its business. the industry minister issued a warning to tepco, saying the owner of the crippled "nuclear watch" plant will not receive public money unless the government gets adequate voting rights in return. he told the tepco president on monday that the government will not otherwise accept the business revival plan the utility will be drawing up by the end of march. tepco needs a large amount of public funds for compensation for nuclear disaster victims and for thermal power generation. >> translator: as long as i am in charge, we will not accept any request for a capital injection unless we get sufficient voting rights that reflect our amount of investment. >> he said after the meeting

that the comment cannot be taken lightly, but he added he is still opposed to the government's control. >> translator: the creativity of the private sector is indispensable. i think this is also important for a power company. >> tepco says meanwhile that it has been losing more money than it thought. the company says it expects a net loss of $9 billion for the fiscal year that ends next march. that's about $1.2 billion more than the utility projected in november. tepco's electricity sales have been falling while the company is suffering special losses because of its effort to dismantle the damaged nuclear power plant. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and

tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis, and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." the head of the u.s. fifth fleet says iran is still building a naval force near the straight of hormuz. vice admiral mark fox spoke in bahrain. he said iran deployed more submarines and high speedboats, capable of carrying out suicide bombings. >> some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large war head that could be used as a suicide explosive device. >> but he said the u.s. navy is ready to confront any hostile action. iran has been threatening to close the straight of hormuz since december. it is in retaliation to economic sanctions imposed by the west over the country's nuclear

program. the strait leads to the persian gulf. it is one of the world's most important delivery routes for oil. the wife of an israeli diplomat and three others were injured in a car explosion in the indian capital of new delhi on monday. the woman and driver were in the vehicle and the two others were in another car nearby. police say witnesses saw a motorcyclist place a device in the car when it stopped in traffic. it burst into flames shortly after. it occurred near the prime minister's residence. the area is home to many politicians and is under heavy security. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu said iran is behind the attack. he called the country an exporter of terror. iran has denied its involvement. the israel foreign minister also said they found a bomb on a car belonging to an embassy in georgia on monday. the country has warned its embassies around the world to

take extra precautions such as to avoid traveling by car. the afghan government has condemned the international forces operating in the country. it says they have killed 15 civilians, including children, in recent weeks. a government team investigating civilian casualties held a news conference in the capital, kabul. it said french troops were responsible for the deaths of eight children last week in the northeastern province. the officials also said u.s. air strikes caused the deaths of seven people, including one child, late last month in the eastern province of kunar. the investigators condemned the international forces. they showed photographs of the dead children and said it is unforgivable to kill innocent civilians. they asked nato forces to ensure the tragedies are not repeated. >> translator: we cannot allow international forces in the

country if they continue to kill the people with air strikes. >> the united nations says 3021 civilians were killed in afghanistan through combat or terrorism in 2011. it says 187 of them were killed in air strikes by international troops. syria has rejected a proposal by the arab league to set up a joint arab, u.n. peace keeping force to end the 11 month conflict. the country's state run news agency quoted the ambassador to egypt monday. he dismissed the idea as hostile and designed to destabilize syria. the arab league adopted the plan sunday. foreign ministers met to discussion the situation in syria. the league plans to propose to the u.n. security council to send a joint peace keeping force and also offered political and economic assistance to opposition forces in syria. meanwhile, in moscow, the russian foreign minister told

reporters that a peace keeping mission would be difficult under the present circumstances. lavrov said such a mission would only be possible if the syrian government and opponents reach a ceasefire agreement. al qaeda's top leader has stated that the group supports syrian opposition forces raising concerns that interference by islamists will further exacerbate turmoil in the country. he posted the statement sunday on websites and called for overthrow of the administration of the syrian president for the sake of freedom and justice. last friday, bomb attacks on the military and security service buildings took place. the government suggested that islamic extremists were responsible. but opposition forces say the country's pro-democracy movement has nothing to do with islamic extremists, and criticized the

government for using the attacks to justify its oppression of opposition forces. japanese aid workers are changing the way they help people in other countries. once japan gave more official development assistance or oda than any other country, but tight finances forced japanese officials to cut its oda budget. now it's half the level of 14 years ago. officials also decided to shift spending from building infrastructure to humanitarian projects. they believe this type of aid better reaches grass roots communities. we have a report on how the new approach is working in bangladesh.

when japan cut the budget, it changed the forecast from building projects to directly helping people. here, staff from the japan international corporation agency has been busy. they are working on reducing -- the program started four years ago. this is about 60 kilometers from the capital. one out of every 26 newborns used to die here. now all newborns survive.

>> translator: thanks to japan's assistance program, no newborns die any more. >> they teamed up with local medical people to teach hygiene, to expecting and nursing mothers. japanese government officials will cover the whole nation. >> we recognize that not just construction but humanitarian aid is so important. >> jica is key role in this project. thinks it is essential medical practitioners be present when women give birth. she recruited volunteers and organized a support group to

prevent mothers or newborns from dying. she had volunteers indicate where pregnant women and newborn babies live. she knew she had to accommodate local tradition into her program. for religious reasons, mothers are separate from their family after childbirth. after two weeks, families reunite. after then, the mother and baby stay in this hut. it is made from straw, held together. nothing covers the ground. the chance of infection is high. >> i have no control over their religious affairs. it's a challenge. >> to improve hygiene, the team

made a proposal. they persuade villagers to replace walls with sheets of aluminum. support organizations like this one now number about 150. a member of one group has gone to the home of a young mother in desperate need of treatment for severe diarrhea. the ride to the hospital took just twenty minutes. on foot, the journey would have taken three hours. the hospital staff also treated the mother for malnutrition. >> i am thankful for their help. >> translator: i am now convinced if we cooperate, we can save human lives, which

might otherwise be lost. >> japan now has assistance programs to meet the needs. the officials are confident the world will recognize the value of the new programs. >> beautiful smile there. it is another overcast day in tokyo. will there be rain today? rachel ferguson joins us with the world weather picture. >> well, we could see a few showers maybe in the late afternoon in tokyo. but if they come, they're probably going to be fairly light and move away quite quickly. at the moment, there's a system moving across western japan, coming into central portions of the country, but it is going to be as i say departing, heading further towards the east. there's another round of moisture on the way from eastern china. you can see it here. it looks like it is going to be

intensifying tuesday. it is going to be maybe snow showers to the north, but heavy rain on the river on tuesday. to the north, fairly settled. a low pressure system is moving across from northeastern china. this is going to redevelop over the sea of japan, and then bring winter storm conditions to northern parts of the country. they will see high winds and waves picking up on the northwestern coast. towards the philippines, more heavy rain here. you see the purple in central parts of the eastern coast, showing you the heavier rain is on the way. this is an area that's already seen heavy rain on and off the last week or so anyway, so saturated land here could lead to the risk of flooding and land slides. 25 degrees, a hot day in taipei. 7 in seoul. haven't seen that in a while. 9 in tokyo tuesday.

these figures will fall through the course of the week as cooler air descends. let's head to north america. we have a storm for the southwest, bringing coastal rain to california. then some fairly light to moderate snow showers across the southern rockies as it heads to the four corners. will be a little heavy in places. then another system is moving across the midwest at the moment. northern parts will be seeing snow, then it heads to the south with rain and thunderstorms. as you can see, as it pushes east, it is weakening off and breaking up. temperatures are going to be moderating at 11 degrees tuesday in oklahoma city, after a very chilly monday. i think you made it to 3 degrees. that will feel like an improvement certainly. up to the east, up to 8 degrees in new york city. all right. into europe we go. towards the west, let me show you things are going to be a little bit cool, excuse me, i should say dry and cloudy for the british isles. but we have a warm front moving

across much of western continental europe. scandinavia seeing snow and gusty winds, and then turning to a mixture of rain and snow for the lowcountries and france and into northern spain here. temperatures generally will be moderating as we head through the week. we should see good improvements up to seasonal averages for western europe. as for the south, fairly unstable here. this is going to be mountain snow. generally rain and thunderstorms for the central mediterranean down to the south. still very cold in the southeast, black sea region. you're going to be seeing north of that some snow and snow could get heavy in turkey in the next couple days. temperatures are going to be falling here, too. let's look at your tuesday highs. minus nine in kiev, minus 13 in moscow. 2 degrees in berlin. it has been awhile since we have seen that rise above the freezing point. 8 in london, 7 in paris, and 14

in lisbon. here is the extended forecast.

our lead story this hour. the united states has been frustrated in its efforts to kick start talks over north korea's nuclear program. but now the obama administration has announced that envoys will meet next week for the first time in four months. the delegates from the two sides are scheduled to meet february 23rd in beijing. glin dave east will represent the u.s. these will be the first such talks since kim jong-un took over in december. representatives of the u.s. and north korea last met in october in geneva. u.s. state department spokesperson victoria nuland said the u.s. wants to see if north korea is ready to take concrete steps towards

denuclearization. talks have been stalled more than three years. the u.s. envoy will visit seoul and tokyo in the days following the talks. davies will report on what he learns. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com