Sydney hostage crisis and asking what really happened inside the sieged cafe. Gunmen have attacked an armyrun school in peshawar, northwestern pakistan. Theyve killed at least 84 people. Pakistani soldiers have cordoned off the site. Local reports say several hundred students and teachers were in the school at the time. The school is run by the army. Students ages range from Elementary School to university. A pakistani official tells nhk that five or six armed men, wearing Pakistani Security force uniforms stormed the school. A huge blast occurred just afterward. Local officials said the gunmen have killed 84 people, including many students, as well as wounded more than 80. Military Officials Say many students and staff have escaped, but the armed group is still inside. They continue to Exchange Gunfire with pakistani troops. A spokesperson for the Pakistani Taliban told nhk they are responsible for the attack. The spokesperson said it is in retaliation for a Pakistani Army offensive. The army has been carrying out antiextremist operations in northwestern pakistan since june. Officials with a Japanese Power Company have applied to have a new oma Nuclear Plant screened by the government. Their application is the first for a facility under Construction Since new regulations took effect in july last year. Senior representatives of electric Power Development or jpower, submitted their application to the Nuclear Regulation authority. The facility in northern japan will be the worlds first commercial plan with a reactor that operates solely on milwaukees fuel. Thats a mixture of plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel and uranium. Construction in oma town was suspended after the fukushima accident in 2011 and resumed in october 2012. The city officials filed for a Court Injunction in april to halt the plants construction. Hakudate lies to the north across a strait and is located within 30 kilometers of the facility. They say their community could suffer extensive damage if an accident occurred. They say its regrettable that jpower is not addressing the concerns of local residents, and pushing ahead with procedures to start the plant. All 48 reactors in japan are currently offline. The utilities have filed screening applications for 21 reactors. Two reactors are under inspection to determine whether they can still be used. Officials with Kansai ElectricPower Company invited the media to see how the inspection process is going at their tack hama plant. Workers remotely controlled an ultrasonic device and a reactor to examine the interior of its containment vessel. Last year the government limited the operational life span of Nuclear Reactors to 40 years in principle. Operators must decide whether to decommission their aging reactors to apply for permission to extend their life spans. They would need special inspections to assess how the facility is deteriorated. Seven reactors across japan have been in use for around four decades. People in sydney are mourning the victims of an attack that happened in the citys busiest district. The crisis ended after 16 hours, when police stormed the cafe and killed the iranborn hostage taker. Nhk world followed how the incident unfolded in australias biggest city. Hostages running out of the cafe, one after another. The image shocked many in australia, just a couple of weeks before the holiday season. The hostage crisis ended with what Police Called an Emergency Action plan. The modern place siege ended with the death of the lone gunman, and tragically, the loss of two hostages. Reporter one victim was 28yearold katrina dawson. She was a barrister and a mother of three children. Local media called her a rising star at the commercial bar. Another deceased hostage was 34yearold tori johnson. He managed the cafe. Hundreds of people have been coming to this makeshift altar on a street near the cafe. They lay flowers and pay for the victims. Prime minister abbott came to lay his bouquet, as well. Many australians are still shaken by the violent incident that took place in a usually peaceful city. Its just really sad that these things happen, and i wish that people didnt have to get hurt. Well, its a tragedy for sydney, australia, especially to have such violent acts. Were not used to it in very friendly sydney. And its going to change the way people think about security in sydney, unfortunately. Reporter the gunman is a 50yearold man. He was born in iran and was granted asylum in australia in 1996. He was out on bail for numerous charges, including accessory to murder and sexual assault. On whats believed to be his website, the selfdescribed muslim cleric espoused strict islamic views. During the siege, some hostages were seen holding a black flag that read, theres no other god but allah in arabic. But its not known if he had any links with the Islamic State group. Police are investigating the motives of the attacker, and whether the Police Operation was carried out appropriately. Nhk world, sydney, australia. Oil prices continue to drop, and while its easier at the pump for pump for others its less income. Ron madison is here with more on this. Ron . Weve seen this dour trend for awhile. People in the markets are wonders just how low these oil prices are going to go and that is really hitting Global Markets now. Concerns over the russian economy, as well as a slowdown in china, added to the Global Economic woes, denting investors appetite for risk. The benchmark brent crude fell below 60 a barrel. Thats the lowest level since may, 2009. The Energy Minister of an opec member country denied that there were production cuts. Sending oil prices even lower. In asia almost all markets ended the day in the negligentive. Investors sold off Energy Related shares. Hong kongs hang seng shed more than 1. 5 falling to a sevenmonth low. Tokyos nikkei also declined 2 . Hitting a 1 1 2 month low. Indonesian shares gave up more than 1. 5 as the rupiah tumbled to a 16year low. Major indexes in europe, though, are looking a bit better. Theyre rebounding from their recent declines. London is up by 0. 75 . Paris is up just marginally there. Frankfurt is gaining about 0. 5 . Market players are picking up major Government Bonds as safer assets. The yield on the benchmark ten year japanese Government Bond slipped to a 20month low of 0. 35 . Meanwhile the yield on the tenyear german Government Bond fell to a record low on weak private sector data. Moving on to currencies now. Global risk averse moves are prompting Market Players to seek the safety of the yen. The dollar fell to a onemonth low against the currency at 116. The mid 116level. Currency pair is now at 116. 49. Also around the same level. Market players are focusing on whether the u. S. Fed will indicate the timing of any rate hike at its policy meeting starting later on today. Well, hitachi has decided to set up a power grid joint venture with a leading swiss heavy electric machinery firm. Hitachi anticipates demand in the donmestic power grid busines will increase with the separation of Power Generation and distribution. Executives of hitachi and abb announced that they will set up a new firm in tokyo for Technology Used in transmitting electricity. Hitachi will take an equity interest of 51 and abb, 49 . And the joint venture to be launched next april. They plan to share their expertise to develop an efficient electrical Power Transmission system. And to supply related equipment. Hitachi executives have set a target of raising sales from the electrical Power Transmission business to about 1. 7 billion dollars by fiscal 2020. Total Foreign Direct Investment in china is up marginally. But investment from japan continues to decline. Thats despite indications that bilateral relations are improving. Officials at chinas commerce ministries say that investment by foreign firms from january to November Rose just 0. 7 yearonyear to about 106 billion. The modest gain is attributed to rising labor costs. In addition, the stronger yuan is making investment in china more expensive for foreign firms. Investment from japan for january through november fell nearly 40 yearonyear. U. S. Investment slipped about 22 . While the amount from the European Union declined nearly 10 . Officials of a japanese Industry Group said there are signs that bilateral ties are improving. But they said it will take a little while longer for investment to recover. Japans Prime Minister shinzo abe has asked Business Leaders to hike wages following his general election victory. Business leaders signed an agreement promising efforts to realize abes plan. Abe made the call at a meeting of government, business, and labor representatives. Economic revitalization minister akira amari also attended. 1y57en Business Federation chairman and the chairman of the Japan Chamber of commerce and industry were among those representing the business side. Translator i hope companies will raise wages in the next and following years so that the effects of abenomics will be felt across the nation. Abe also asked companies benefiting from the weaker yen to help subcontractors by paying them more to cushion the impact of higher costs. He says that should come in addition to raising wages, and wraps up capital investment. Translator the costs of Raw Materials and utilities are rising. But smaller firms have not been able to pass those costs on to their customers. Well try to get them to raise their product prices. Translator the Business Community will take steps to share the fruits of economic recovery with workers. Well urge profitable firms to hire more employees and hike pay. Now the government and Business Leaders confirm that they will regularly check how the agreement is being implemented. Well, india was long seen as an outsourcing destination for companies in europe and the United States. But todays india is starting to transform itself. The countrys i. T. Industry is aiming to become a Global Innovation hub. Nhk world has the details. Reporter an i. T. Event was held in bangalore in october. It showcased 120 companies, all of them startups. Users of this application can chat with restaurants and make reservations, and place orders on the spot. A variety of items are displayed from several fashion websites. Users can pick things they like, and see how they look when they are put together. So we are doing a lot of marketing, and so far past three months we have been growing over more than 30 . Reporter india has achieved rapid Economic Growth as an ideal outsourcing destination. But, an innovative industry is starting to emerge in the country. Young people who studied Computer Programming at university have gained experience working for overseas firms. A company specializing in big data employs 3,500. The firm has developed Artificial Intelligence that can support purchases of stocks in foreign currencies. They analyze investment data. Very quickly i can understand just from this visualization that theyre closer together and further apart. Im looking at the principle branches. I dont have to go and buy the whole branch. I can just buy one from each branch to achieve diversification very quickly. Reporter the program can analyze data in a split second, and fix stocks to buy or sell. The company has also created a service that could revolutionize marketing. Cameras are used to capture customers faces up close. The software an lizs the images, and measures the changes in body temperatures. And indicates the customer is entrusted in the product. Such information is crucial when developing new products and planning advertising. You dont like it, you put it back. I can understand whether you like the product or not, and then i can now trigger new things. Reporter the firms skills are attracting the attention of businesses across the world. Visitors are eager to learn more about the firms successful products. An official from a japanese i. T. Company was impressed by the highly Skilled Development team, and their freewheeling thinking. Translator india is changing rapidly. Its catching up with developed nations in technology and can now solve problems facing the whole world. Im amazed it has companies that can be in areas like big data. Its going to be the next silicon valley. Bangalore is going to be the next silicon valley. I think the companies are taking to the next level with innovation. Reporter india has many competent workers. Theres a strong possibility the country will become a Technology Hub that can bring sweeping innovation to the world. Neha gupta, nhk world, bangalore. Okay. That is going to do it for biz this hour. Lets close things out with the markets. The captain of a chinese fishing boat has gone on trial in japan. Prosecutors accuse him of poaching coral near a group of japanese islands. Dozens of chinese Fishing Vessels were in the area in october and november. The skipper is the first person to face charges in connection with the alleged poaching. Nhk world reports. Reporter shu ijon appeared at the hearing. Hes charged with illegally harvesting coral in japan waters. The Japan Coast Guard has arrested eight other chinese fishing boat captains. The prosecutors say shu was told hed be able to double his pay by poaching coral off the ogasawara islands. Theyre about 1,000 kilometers south of tokyo. The islands are a unesco World Heritage site. Theyre known for natural treasures such as red coral. Coast guard officials in september began seeing more chinese boats near the islands. They say at one point, there were more than 200 in the area. A coast guard stepped up its patrols. The officials suspected the chinese crews were illegally harvesting coral. The coast guard arrested three skippers. They have been charged with poaching. The officials ordered other boats to stop when they were inside japans exclusive Economic Zone but they say the crews ignored their orders. Members of the coast guard arrested the captain of six of those boats. Investigators have been questioning the nine skippers. This kind of case is nothing new. Japanese authorities in march 2013 arrested the captain of a vessel suspected of coaching coral in okinawa prefecture. They arrested him again in october for allegedly poaching off the ogasawara islands. The red coral the chinese fishermen are accused of illegally harvesting fetches a high price. In its unprocessed state it now goes for an average 20,000 a kilogram. Coral poachers used to face light fines, but authorities are cracking down. Members of the diet last month raised the maximum fine for poaching in japanese waters. It was 33,000. Now its about 250,000. That fine also applies to foreign vessels operating in japans exclusive Economic Zone, without authorization. Triple the previous penalty. The number of chinese boats near the ogasawara islands fell off sharply to almost none in late november. But since then coast guard officials have seen several vessels in the area. The trial of the fishing boat captain is expected to set the tone for the other chinese skippers who have been arrested. Noriko okada, nhk world. Health ministers from across asia have met to discuss measures to prevent the spread of the ebola virus in the region. They gathered in bangkok to attend the association of Southeast Asian nations. Agrees on measures for the preparedness and response to Ebola Outbreak that will be implemented at the National Regional and global levels. Officials from 13 countries and the World Health Organization agreed to Work Together to develop drugs and vaccines. Experts fear the regions warm and humid climate could contribute to the spread of the disease. Thai government Officials Say the participants plan to step up monitoring of any arriving from anyone arriving from countries affected by the outbreak. Asean members will inaugurate a regional Economic Zone next year that will enable more movement of people and goods. Theyre urging the need to increase measures against ebola and other Infectious Diseases before its launched. Spanish prosecutors have filed match fixing allegations against the coach of Japans National soccer team javier agiurre. Theyre accusing him and 30 others of rigging a top match in the Nations League three years ago. The prosecutors filed the case in court on monday. They requested starting a formal investigation. Agiurre has denied any involvement. The match in question was played in may 2011 between real zaragoza and levante. Agiurre was managing zaragoza. The team won, and missed relegation. The head of the Japan Football Association said it will seek more information and consider a response. If the Spanish Court begins formal investigation, aguirre could be summoned for questioning, and sparking concern in japan as he is scheduled to take the helm of the National Squad for the asian cup in january. People in eastern japan are facing strong winds, heavy rain and snow. Our meteorologist sayaka mori joins us with the details. Yes, gene things are getting stormy across the eastern half of japan. Clouds are moving from the west to the east. Thats causing rain for the south and snowfall to the north. We have some video coming out of sapporo. Warnings for heavy snow, strong winds, and high rains are posted as wilder weather is expected on wednesday. Schools will be closed and about 100 flights from northern japan will be canceled. Authorities are advising people to stay on the alert for possible whiteout conditions. Now we have a couple of low pressure systems near japan, and these systems will intensify significantly as we go in to wednesday, as they get very close to hokkaido on wednesday. Were expecting gusts of about 1800 kilometers per hour. Under such conditions you may not be able to stand without support and heavy rainfall, as well and waves of up to ten meters. Strong winds will whip up snow, causing whiteout conditions, blizzard conditions, and causes very low visibility. So we have highly advise you not to go out. But if you must travel, make sure to avoid traveling by yourself, and keep the gas tank near full, and keep Winter Travel kit, including water and food in case of emergency. The blizzard conditions will happen in hokkaido on wednesday, going into thursday, as well. Very cold air moving in for much of japan. So not just hokkaido but also much of japan will see some snowfall instead of a rainfall on the wednesday. Upwards of 100 centimeters likely for the hokuriku region. Up to 60 centimeters in tohoku region and western japan will see upwards of 50 centimeters in mountainous locations. Please watch out for snow related incidents. Snow will continue in hokkaido going into thursday, tokyo will see sunny weather on wednesday as we go into friday. The temperatures will stay below average, actually should be around 12 degrees for this time of year. So very chilly in tokyo. Now across the United States and canada, we have a couple of systems to mention. This one here is bringing some snowfall and freezing rain for the northern areas, and line of thundershowers for the eastern areas of the u. S. , that will move toward the east, and then back behind it, very cold air is coming as the temperatures will be on the low side. Out west, rain and snowfall for the Western Areas from california, towards British Columbia again and temperatures are as follows. In the Single Digits once again for vancouver and seattle cooling down to minus 12 degrees. Despite partly sunny skies in winnipeg, down to 6 degrees for the high chicago on your tuesday. Finally, over in europe, messy pictures once again, because we have a very slow moving low pressure system in the mid part of the mediterranean countries. This low will head toward the western balkan peninsula. We actually have the red alert for heavy rain posted for the western parts of balkan peninsula. Croatia you may see one month worth of rain fall in the span of 24 hours so flooding, mudslides will be very high risk. And a mixture of rain and snow once again for the northern areas. Temperatures are in the Single Digits for the northern half while the double digits across the mediterranean countries. Heres the extended forecast. And thats newsline for this hour. Im gene otani in tokyo. nu click here are your latest headlines. Siege haschool age killed at least 130 people come 84 of them believed to be students. Military Officials Say at least six armed men entered the military school in peschel are peshawar. They were suicide attackers. And aftermath after the 17 hours siege at the australian cafe by an islamic extremist. The countrys Prime Minister paid tribute to