reaching across the aisle. u.s. president barack obama called for unity as he embarks on his second term. barack obama avoided the words "democrat" and "republican." but he's made it clear he wants americans of different political stripes to work together. he laid out his vision for his next four years in his second inaugural address. obama was sworn in in public,

something he had done in private the day before. former president, state governors and members of congress braved the cold alongside him. >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> the office of the president of the united states. >> obama described his priorities for his second term from the domestic economy and diplomacy to climate change. he talked about values and principles common to all americans. he said prosperity must rest on the shoulders of the rising middle class. >> no single person can train all the math and science teachers we'll need to equip our children for the future. or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. now, more than ever, we must do these things together as one nation and one people.

>> obama begins his second term with several battles looming. he'll try to work with republicans in the house of representatives to revamp gun control laws and avoid defaulting on the national debt. ♪ the rockets red glare ♪ the bombs bursting in air >> pop star beyonce sang the national anthem. her performance capped off the official proceedings ahead of the inaugural parade. then the president walked the capitol route from the building to the white house. the inauguration four years ago drew almost 2 million people. this time an estimated 475,000 turned out. prime minister abdelmalek sellal says 37 foreign hostages

have been confirmed dead in the eastern city of in amenas. sellal said the victims were from at least eight countries. most of the terrorists were militants from east algeria or niger. >> translator: they were trying to take the foreign hostages and flee. >> the prime minister said the number of hostages made the rescue mission difficult. but he said they had to storm them before the militants could flee with their captives. >> translator: we can't accept this kind of terrorist act. we attacked the militants with force to protect our people. >> sellal said most of the 790

workers survived the hostage crisis, but some are still unaccounted for. prime minister shinzo abe said seven japanese workers are among the casualties. >> translator: i have received confirmation from parliamentary vice foreign minister minoru kiuchi in algeria. he visited the hospital to identify bodies and confirmed seven japanese workers from the engineering firm jgc corporation are dead. >> abe expressed his condolences to the bereaved families. ministers will send a plane to algeria as early as tuesday to repate riate the bodies of the dead. he called it an unacceptable cowardly act. the government said five other countries including britain,

rumania and the phillipines have confirmed their workers were among the casualties. israelis plan to keep prime minister benjamin netanyahu in power. netanyahu called early elections in october after his coalition failed to agree on the annual budget. his national coalition party have consistently led the polls. but the ultra-nationalist jewish home party is rapidly increasing its support. the party opposes peace talks with the palestinians. netanyahu resumed the building of jewish settlement in occupied territories two years ago. the construction breaches international law and contributed to a breakdown in the peace process. central bankers in japan are searching for the right words. they'll release their latest statement in just a few hours, and many expect them to adopt a different tone. ai joins us from the business desk. ai, you studied bank statements

before. what do you expect this time? >> there's going to be a few things different or expected to be different, rather. first, it's not only a statement from the boj. second, i expect it to be much more agressive than previous statements. actually, these are both things that the prime minister shinzo abe has been asking repeatedly for. policymakers are set to give the prime minister what he's been pushing for in a joint statement with the government this afternoon, bank of japan officials are likely to announce a 2% inflation target. now, the target is part of abe's plan to tackle deflation with bullish monetary easing measures. eight other board members will decide the policy together with the minister as the two days wrap up. they are still discussing the precise wording of the statement. the announcement will likely refer to a 2% inflation target. it will also say financial authorities will try to reach

the target at an early stage. the document is also expected to clarify the role of the government in japan's economic reform, including how politicians will promote growth and fix fiscal health. boj officials are expected to agree at the meeting on fresh monetary easing measures. they announced similar moves last december. this would be the first time in nearly a decade that the bank decides on such action at two consecutive meetings. and now let's get a check on markets. u.s. markets were closed monday for martin luther king, jr. day, but all eyes here are on the boj meeting. for more details on how markets are trading ahead of this key event, we're going to ramin mellegard who is at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, tell me, aren't markets pretty much already expecting a surge in outcome from the boj meeting? >> very good question. a lot of traders that i've spoken to over the last couple weeks have really told me that

given the price action we've seen so far with the weakening trend of the nikkei, the markets are pretty much expecting the boj, bank of japan, to take steps to make sure a more agressive monetary stand and fight against deflation pretty much in line with prime minister abe's aims. now, let's have a look at how the markets are opening before this big day, and a bit of a mixed picture there. the nikkei just barely above the positive and the topix just marginally in the negative. as we did see some profit taking on monday, that wasn't such a surprise, and we should really expect a narrow range today as well. now, given the fact that we had a 300-point gain on friday, and also given the jump in the n nikkei since parliament was divided on monday, profits are minimal. we might trade in a narrow range

so far today. ai? >> those were some real gains we saw, especially last week. nevertheless, ramin, what about people in the markets? i would imagine they would still be feeling a bit worried whether or not there is enough resolve on part of the abe administration to deliver on their promises since, after all, we've seen past governments trying to battle deflation and then backing out. >> exactly. crucial facts and very good point, ai. this time around is really one of the major reasons why abe and his government officials have tried to be in lock step or in line also with the bank of japan, rell, to in order sustain that 2% inflation target instead of the previous 1%. they are both going to give -- that's going to be interesting to see as well. >> tell us about the current si markets. how is the yen trading ahead of all of this. >> the dollar/yen and the euro/yen, of course, the yen has been a primary factor in the

week's rise. 44 to 66, compared it was add ri -- revised before the euro/yen. we have 1.33, comparing to the euro/yen. we may just see the nikkei and the euro/yen trading at a narrow range. >> thank you, ramin mellegard, from the tokyo stock exchange. the nikkei with a gain of one-tenth of a percent. they have voted toyota camry the car of the year. domestic makers dominate the market. representatives from the japanese automaker collected the trophy for the u.s.-built sedan at a ceremony in seoul.

the journalist praised the car's price competitiveness. it beat 44 models introduced last year, including vehicles by south korea's kindai. they recently began shipping cars from the u.s. to south korea. our free trade agreement between the countries have slashed terrorist. >> honda and other japanese automakers have also increased ship makers from the u.s. to south korea. south korea is continuing to buy cars for their friendly technology. and that's the news on business. here's a check on markets.

part of a rocket launched by north korea in december made by china could influence the u.n. security council's discussion. south korea's military has analyzed debris from the rocket salvage from the yellow sea, including a first stage fuel tank. sources say some of the debris appears to be from china and other foreign countries. they banned other countries from exporting missile parts to north korea. many countries view the launch as a test of the long-range missile technology. china has traditionally defended the north at the council. thousands of defectors living in seoul have been

compromised. they have arrested the man they suspect as leaking the information. the 33-year-old man is reported to be working at seoul city office. he visits their homes and gives them advice over the phone. the man himself fled from north korea to 2004. about 20,000 defectors now call south korea their home, but 47% may have had their data passed on to north korea, wondering if the suspect came to south korea as a spy. japan's nuclear regulators have been wondering how to save the nuclear power that crippled fukushima. authority officials are preparing new filter vents for

pourt plants. the vents would reduce pressure in the containment vessel and filter contaminated steam. they worked on them after the tsunami. they are considering a proposal to build stand-alone facilities to cool down its reactors. workers would inject water from a safe distance. the nuclear regulatory body will release a final draft by the end of this month. the proposals will then face a public review. they are to announce the new standards by july. when a massive earthquake hit western japan in january 1995, it killed over 406,400 people. many businesses were unprepared, a bigger quake could have occurred on the west end of japan. they profile two that are taking the warnings seriously.

>> last year, he upgraded the damage would be far bigger than previously predicted. they are bracing for the worst. >> translator: its crisis management team has been reexamining its kris rcrisis res plans. >> there is going to be damage from the tsunamis. it's inevitable. >> to vanish from the 12004 earthquake, he heads industries over $10 million. it took nearly three months before work resumed and all the company's plans. >> we've experienced an actual earthquake. we know our old disaster plan isn't good enough. glirch the growing threat from a future quake or tsunami, other

industries ni industries. for some countries, disaster planning is crucial, physically determining whether or not they continue to exist. this is a medical product company based in korea. it keeps 10,000 of cell samples for testing in refrigerators and freezers. the cells are special. but if a power outage were to occur, they could all be lost in less than that hour. >> if the city stopped working after a quake, it would be a disaster for us. everything we built up in the past 30 years would be wiped out. >> in the past, the company stores enough fuel to keep its own generators working for the

next 24 hours. . officials realized they needed to have enough fuel for at le t least. she signed a contract on a priority basis in the event of an emergency. the company is also reviewing the weight of its touristless. >> translator: we have to think which spells and specimans are the most valuable assets for the company and set priorities. we can't protect them all. >> since the company's own generator might be disrupted, officials decided they need to do prioritize which specimans are particularly important. they're creating copies of the cells to be kept in labs of

different companies. sorting 1,000 types of cells and ensuring the temperature and transportation of time and money. but the company says, they have no choice. >> translator: we are taking extra steps to improve our disaster readiness plan. we have to be able to respond to unexpected events. we have to think one step ahead. >> in the ongoing economy slowdown, the unthinkable is difficult. thousands of people waiting to go home. tons of debris waiting for disposal.

vast tracts of land waiting to be restored. overcoming japan's 2011 disaster won't be easy, but step by step, people are leaning forward. find out how on "the road ahead" right here on "newsline." russian oil exporters now have better access to fuel-hungry markets. they're making shipments using the world's longest pipeline which took years to build. they began sending their first delivery to japan last week, using the entire network. n it stretches for 1,800 kilometres, connecting oil fields. the project took six years to complete. now, when the construction of the pipeline is completed, rush is making progress to become the

big player in the. >> my growing up took place. russia was watching all markets for many years. >> translator: the new brand of oil is being born. in the international market it's known as espo. >> a section of the pipeline opened three years ago. oil was bought through the terminal in 2012, exporting to ten countries in the asian pacific region. more than 30% will ship to japan.

china is 24%, slightly more than the united states. under putin's orders, there are orders in eastern siberia. they export to asia to more than 45 million tons within the next few years. the focus is now on developing human resources. it's got three years to go training oil and gas engineers. students learn about the quality control. she wants to go work at an air force base in siberia. >> i plan to start working as a welder. and if i do really well, i could even end up as an oil tycoon.

>> we don't have enough engineers and workers. that's why all the oil companies want us to produce more skilled people, especially technicians for the project that is on the way. >> welcome to the new pipeline. russia is a promising alternative. faster delivery a key benefit. it can take more than 20 days for oil to reach japan from the gulf. the pipeline will cut this to three days. users could banish it in the form of cheaper school. it's over 5 months percent.

oh, it's stuck. catherine, things are very severe in the u.k. in fact, heavy snow has been paralyzing the traffic. let me show you a video coming out from that area. london's heathrow airport canceled 100 flights with more snow expected. some passengers couldn't see where they are. numerous car accidents have occurred because of the changing temperature conditions. they will remain low but clear. pulling back, i can show you that these clouds are covering much. this is the low pressure system that will be intensifying over

the uk. . all combined, very favorable for heavy snow conditions. there is an orange alert for heavy snow across the edinborough area. bringing a yellow alert to southwestern areas of the u.k. youth. this sea effect snow remains in place. even down toward the iberian peninsula, this is going to be mixed, this pre suspicion. lies in the southern balkan,

southern italy as well as southern turkey. you can see how these double digits in the southern half of the continent mean london staying at 1 degree for your high on tuesday. moscow minus 11 degrees. biting cold out there. lots of biting cold in mongolia sws. so i made muir that's much. low gentleman gentleman. west, giving a start to. . until then, the region could pile up to 47 centimeters in higher elevations with the snow fall, and 27 metres even in the

low-lying areas. tokyo at 8 deers for you're high. for our high, i could he -- in the 30s in much of the tropic regions. if you can take a look at this satellite picture, the thinking of the told air is plunging. . it would be two centimeters into wednesday, you new englanders reaching this as well. new york, dc, foebl. you're look snow-liar. i'll leave you now about with your extended forecast.

that wraps up this edition of "newsline."

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. please stay with us.