welcome to nhk world "newsline." u.s. president barack obama led a moment of silence for the six people who died in a shooting rampage in it tucson, arizona. we are speaking directly to our sense of loss but also speaking to our hopes for the future. and how out of this tragedy we can come together as a stronger nation. the president, first lady michelle obama, and his staff

gather on the white house south lawn on monday to take part in the vigil. [ bell tolling ] arizona residents also observed a moment of silence. they gathered with investigators at the site of the shooting. the incident on saturday left six dead and 14 injured, including congresswoman gabrielle giffords. she remains in critical condition from a gunshot to the head. among the dead are a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. at the elementary school where christina taylor green attended, students and teachers put up messages of sympathy. she was born on the day of the september 11th terrorist attacks. the fbi is investigating the suspect, jared loughner, who opened fire at a gathering for giffords. the 22-year-old has been charged of murder and attempted murder. investigators are trying to determine the motive. they say loughner is barely responding to their questions.

a note found in loughner's home suggests that he may have planned to assassinate the lawmaker. french president sarkozy has pledged to work with the united states to tackle trade imbalances. sarkozy met u.s. president barack obama in washington monday. he told obama he wants to discuss the trade and currency issues during the group of 8 and group of 20 summits to be hosted by france this year. >> translator: i'm aware of the importance of the u.s. in the world's economy and how important the u.s. dollar is as the world's number one currency. >> sarkozy also said the 21st century requires new ideas for the prosperity of people around the world. he suggested reviewing the existing international currency system and looking at ways to stabilize food prices.

france wants to debate the current global order that relies on the dollar as the key reserve currency. the u.s. is expected to call on european countries to continue tackling the region's fiscal debt problems. america's so-called big three carmakers are showcasing their latest models in the detroit auto show in a bid to underscore their comeback. the north american international auto show opened to the media on monday. over 50 manufacturers from around the world are taking part. chrysler unveiled a new large sedan highlighting the firm's recovery. general motors introduced a small sedan making the segment of the u.s. market even more competitive. having relisted its stock last fall, gm stressed that it can rival japanese makers in the segment for quality and fuel efficiency. meanwhile, ford motor announced an electric car. among japanese makers, only

toyota and honda talked to reporters on monday. toyota president akio toyoda introduced two new hybrid cars. nissan is not participating this year. china's new car sales topped 18 million units last year. the record high figure makes the china auto markers the top for the second straight year. the china association of automobile manufacturers said new car sales grew 3.2% to over 18 million unit in 2010, exceeding the figure for the u.s. market by over 6 million units. china's robust sales came as rapid economic growth boosted the income of many consumers. sales figures were helped by tax cuts and state subsidies for eco-friendly vehicles. while the tax cuts expired at the end of the year, continuing subsidies for fuel-efficient cars are attracting more buyers. industry watchers say that in 2011, china may become the first

auto market to sell over 20 million new units in one year. chinese exports grew more than 30% last year to a record high. the figure makes it almost certain that china will be the world's top exporter for the second straight year. f. chinese customs officials say they grew to $1.58 trillion. the export volume rebounded just one year after marking the first decline in 26 years. the recovery is due mainly to strong exports to emerging economies in southeast asia. are robust domestic demand pushed up china's imports to $1.4 trillion and its trade surplus shrank to $183 billion. the united states and other countries have been criticizing china for keeping its currency

undervalued to expand its trade surplace. the subject is likely to come up between chinese president hu had you jintao and barack obama next week. let's look at the markets. tokyo stocks were slightly down on tuesday morning after a three-day weekend. the nikkei ended the morning session at 10,516, down 0.2 per cent. the yen's gains against the euro and dollar are weighing down share prices. the dollar edged down against the yen in tokyo on tuesday morning. the greenback is changing hands at 83 yen. they attribute the decline to

euro selling on overseas markets stemming from concerns about debt problems in portugal. south korea has made a counter proposal to north korea for talks after rejecting the talks for dialogue. it could the talks would focus on yeonpyeong island. they call for holding a talk on february 21st. they made the announcement on monday and dismissed the north's offer and called to offer propaganda to present itself as a peaceful nation and a tactic to divide south korean society. they called to discuss the north's responsibility for sinking a south korean naval ship and attacking yeonpyeong island.

south korea also said it needs to confirm that the north is sincere about scrapping its nuclear program. meanwhile, north korea responded positively to recent remarks by the japanese foreign minister. it may be looking for ways to reopen direct talks with japan. at a news conference last tuesday, seiji maehara said it is important to build direct talks. he said it would be a top priority for japan this year. he also expressed his intention to carefully handle china's proposal for talks with the north. north korea weekend maehara's remark as a positive step in a commentary posted on the state-run news agency website kcna. it says it is ready to talk with countries that are friendly. it went on to say that if japan moves to improve ties with the north, it would contribute to peace on the korean peninsula and in northeast asia, but it stopped short of referring to the abduction issue. the commentary is apparently north korea's first positive

reaction to a remark by a japanese minister since the democratic party took power in september 2009. bilateral talks between the two countries have been stopped since august 2008. japan and south korea will begin negotiations to strengthen defense ties between the two countries. japanese defense minister toshimi kitazawa met with his counterpart kim kwan jin in seoul on monday. they said they will discuss establishing an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement, or acsa. it would enable japan's self-defense forces and the south korean military to provide each other with water, fuel and other supplies during joint military exercises and disaster rescue operations. they also agreed to negotiate methods of sharing military intelligence. this would help prevent classified defense information from being leaked to other countries. they agreed that their defense ministers and vice ministers would meet regularly.

kitazawa and kim also condemned north korea's attack on yeonpyeong island and its uranium enrichment program. some south koreans support improved ties with japan, but there is still strong opposition because of japan's former occupation of korea. the united states and china have agreed to resume military exchanges. they were suspended early last year following a u.s. decision to sell weapons to taiwan. u.s. defense secretary robert gates and chinese defense minister liang guanglie reached the agreement at a meeting in beijing on monday. the two sides arranged for china's military leaders to visit the united states in the first half of this year to discuss bilateral cooperation over counterterrorism and disaster relief operations. they also agreed to work on a framework for dealing with collisions between military vessels or other incidents that

could lead to conflict. the u.s. defense secretary stressed the importance of china's commitment to stability in the region. >> we acknowledge and appreciate china's constructive actions late last fall in terms of trying to tamp down tensions on the peninsula. >> despite these agreements, liang once again criticized the u.s. arms sale to taiwan. >> translator: we are against u.s. weapons sales to taiwan. it has undermined china's core national interest. >> following the bilateral defense talks, u.s. president barack obama and chinese president hu jintao will meet in washington next week. myanmar's transfer to civilian rule is expected to take place as early as february. the country held a general election in november, the first

in 20 years. but the international community has criticized the election as unfair. the military government announced on radio on monday the two-chamber parliament will hold its first session on january 31st. they will be inaugurated after the country elects a president. myanmar will transfer power from military to civilian rule for the first time in 23 years. however, the general election has been criticized for favoring pro military powers and excluding aung san suu kyi. one quarter of military seats were allotted to military nominees regardless of the vote. more than 80% of the seats are held by military personnel. european countries and the united states say this amounts to nothing more than a change of uniform and a military dictatorship will continue. attention is focused on how far the international community will

deal with the new myanmar government, including the lifting of sanctions by some countries. more than 20 people have been killed in clashes that erupted friday through sunday near sudan's north/south border. villages inregion rul mple. su.

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much of the region, significant the country today.tern flank of ndins ee during the day but not really another storm system will be arriving from the west, bringing thfiedthcotr the evening. though, will stay dry and fine. across the korean peninsula and into northern and centl ina, the weather will stay dry for the most part, but the cold air certainly dominating much of northern regions. making its way down into the soh wl,urnghara into snow, and ice in some areas, but as you can see it will be drying up by the end of the day. it will stay unsettled though for places like taiwan and in the philippines dealing with some hefty showers especially in the central portions of the uny. 15 degrees in taipei today, 8 in chongqing, minus 1 in beijing and minus 2 in seoul. here it remains bitterly cold out here. rth america, widespread snow developing across the lower midwest of the u.s., two systems

ing , e wa t southeast bringing thundershowers as well as snow in north carolina and then one mi o othceraplns is going to be gaining a bit more energy as it moves across the mississippi valley, and then bringing widespread and heavy blowing snow. out towards the west, the dry conditions generally that snow easing over the northern rockies but from the pacific a new syst wl ri, inng more rain in the days to come here. los angeles coming in at 19 degrees, chilly towards th north, seattle, and 1 in vancouver, minus 2 in chicago and 8 degrees in houston, chilly down here as well. heading into europe finally, still going to see scattered snow showers, places like scandinavia, western russia and the mountainous areas of poland and germany, seeing the change in the weather here with milder air coming in from the west, osngheigesp, temperatures up i should say. we are going to see more rain rather than snow, widespread

rain anticipat for france with isolated heavy downpours and then british isles will be in for wet and windy weather in the days to come. lo othdehowers bubbling up in italy as well. now the big jump in the temperatures has caused lots of problems, flooding problems in germany. you've got footage coming out of the area, widespread flooding affecting much of the country here, the snow and ice melting at a fast rate due to the big jump in temperatures. rivers have flooded in 14 out the 16 states. one person has died, another is missing. central germany especially is said to be particularly ha-h, where two major rivers converge. in terms of the weather, things will continue to warm up throughout the week in many areas as you can see, so additional flooding problems are anticipated over a wide area here.

elsewhere looking at fairly mild conditions as well, 9 degrees in paris, 7 in london and 4 degrees in vienna. heres your extded foreca.

once again, the headlines this hour. u.s. president barack obama led a moment of silence for the six people who died in a shooting rampage in tucson, arizona. >> we are speaking directly to our sense of loss, but also speaking to it our hopes for the future. and how out of this tragedy we can come together as a stronger nation. >> the president, first lady michelle obama, and his staff, gathered on the white house south lawn on monday to take part in the vigil.

arizona residents also observed a moment of silence. they gathered with investigators at the site of the shooting. the incident on saturday left six dead and 14 injured, including congresswoman gabrielle giffords. she remains in critical condition from a gunshot to the headed. among the dead are a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. at the elementary school where christina taylor green attended, students and teachers put up messages of sympathy. she was born on the day of the september 11 terror attacks. the fbi is investigating the suspect, jared loughner, who opened fire at a gathering for giffords. the 22-year-old has been charged with murder and attempted murder. investigators are trying to determine the motive. they say loughner is barely responding to their questions. a note found in loughner's home suggests he may have planned to

assassinate the lawmaker. french president sarkozy pledged to work with the united states to tackle trade and currency imbalances. sarkozy met u.s. president barack obama in washington on monday and told obama he wants to discuss the trade and currency issues during the group of 8 and group 20 sum imits to hosted by france this year. >> translator: i'm aware of the importance of the u.s. in the world's economy and how important the u.s. dollar is as the world's number one currency. >> sarkozy also said the 21st century requires new ideas for the prosperity of people around the world. he suggested reviewing the existing international currency system and looking at ways to stabilize food prices. france wants to debate the current global order that relies on the dollar as the key reserve currencies. the u.s. is expected to call on european countries to continue tackling the region's fis you

cal debt problems. america's so-called big three car makers are showcasing their latest models in this year's detroit auto show in a bid to underscore their comeback. the international auto show opened to the media on monday. over 50 manufacturers from around the world are taking part. chrysler unveiled a new large sedan, highlighting the firm's recovery. general motors introduced a small sedan, making this segment of the u.s. market even more competitive. having relisted its stock last fall, gm stressed it can rival japanese car makers in quality and fuel efficiency. among japanese makers, only toyota and honda talked to reporters on monday. toyota's president introduced two new hybrid cars. nissan is not participating this year. we'll be back with more news in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani. jj