Populations so theyre turning to the internet to raise funds. North koreans are celebrating the birthday of the countrys founder kim ilsung. People in the country consider april 15th the most important day of the year. Theyre holding many special events over the next several days. North koreas staterun media says leader kim jongun visited the palace in pyongyang. The body of his grandfather lies in state there. Senior military officers accompanied kim. He laid flowers in front of statues of his grandfather and his late father, former leader kim jongil. The public recognizes the eldest kim as the founder of north korea. People offered flowers and bowed in front of the statues. The government has put up sign boards to justify north koreas hereditary leadership. Some people in south korea are marking the birthday of kim ilsung rather differently. Members of a conservative group burned portraits of north korean leaders in seoul. One member of the group says South Koreans condemned north korea for firing Ballistic Missiles and threatening to carry out a Fourth Nuclear test. Top envoys from china and the u. S. Are trying to figure out a plan for dealing with north korea. They met to discuss how to respond to recent provocations by leaders in pyongyang. Wu dawei and glynn davis held three hours of talks in new york. The talks have been stalled since 2008. Authorities in north korea last month fired a series of rockets and missiles, including two Ballistic Missiles that flew toward the sea of japan. Members of the u. N. Security Council Condemned the launches. Officials in the north responded by saying they may conduct new forms of nuclear tests. The envoys are believed to have confirm that chinese and u. S. Officials will urge the north to exercise restraint. Theyre scheduled to meet two more times this week. Japanese government sources have revealed that the Prime Minister met with a former chinese president s son. The talks between shinzo abe and hu deping took place last week. Hu is believed to be close to chinese president xi jinping whose late father hu yaobang worked to develop ties between china and japan in the 1980s. Hu visited japan for about a week. He left on sunday. The sources said hu met abe last tuesday. Its thought the two men exchanged views on improving ties between their countries. A meeting between hu and Yoshihide Suga had already been made public. Translator i told him that japan china ties are one of the most important bilateral relationships. Translator the two countries need to return to the principles of strategically and mutually beneficial relations. Despite specific disagreements. Strategically and mutually beneficial relations. Despite specific disagreements. Strategically and mutually beneficial relations. Despite specific disagreements. Suga said hu told him that he will convey the japanese governments view to chinese officials but suga declined to comment on whether abe had met with hu. He said chinese officials wanted hus meetings in japan to take place in a calm environment. U. S. And european leaders have hit russia with more sanctions overs worsening situation in ukraine. They say president Vladimir Putin is behind the separatist unrest, something he denies. Armed prorussian activists are occupying government buildings in the east, and theyve ignored an order from authorities to put down their weapons. More from nhk worlds craig dale. Reporter the crowd cheered as the building burned. Prorussian activists in Eastern Ukraine claimed another prize. A police station. Theyre occupying other government buildings, as theyve done for more than a week now. We came here to express our support for a referendum says this man. They say they want greater regional autonomy, and theyve ignored a deadline to disarm set by the interim government. Leaders in kiev had promised to launch a military operation, but held off. Theyve accused russia of fuelling the unrest as they say it did in crimea before annexing the ukrainian republic. President Vladimir Putin denied that in a phone call with u. S. President barack obama. He blamed the turmoil on ukrainian leaders who he says arent considering the interests of ethnic russians. I dont think denials of russian involvement have a shred of credibility. Reporter european Foreign Ministers met to impose further sanctions on russian officials, such as travel bans and asset freezes. Theyre also promising up to 1. 4 billion in aid to help ukraine deal with its massive debt. We strongly support the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine. We call upon russia to do so, as well, and to pull back its troops from the ukrainian border. Reporter the u. S. Is threatening to expand its sanctions. There have already been costs imposed on russia. There will be further costs. Reporter and its signed a deal guaranteeing 1 billion worth of loans. Many ukrainians want their nation to stay united. Demonstrators raglied in kiev to urge their government to resolve the situation. Some analysts say the country is fighting for its survival. If the Central Government loses control, and especially if no president ial elections are held, as they are scheduled to be held in may, then we are talking about a situation of a state, were talking about a failed state in the heart of europe. Reporter senior officials from ukraine, the u. S. , the eu and russia are scheduled to meet on thursday to try to come up with a diplomatic solution. Ukrainian leaders have already promised to give the east more autonomy, and theyve said theyre not against holding referendums. How theyll hold the country together with talk or force remains an unanswered question. Craig dale, nhk world. U. S. Military commanders are blaming the russians for what they called provocative action. A spokesperson for the pentagon said a russian fighter jet made repeated closerange passes near a u. S. Ship. The uss donald cook was patrolling on saturday in International Waters in the black sea. Spokesperson colonel steve warren said the aircraft appeared to be unarmed but he said it approached the destroyer 12 times in an hour and a half. He said the ships crew made multiple attempts to contact the pilot without any response. He said these continued acts of provocations and unprofessionalism do nothing to deescalate the situation in ukraine. The Washington Post and the Guardian Newspapers are among the winners of this years pulitzer prize. They were singled out for their coverage of secret surveillance programs by the u. S. National security agency. The Pulitzer Committee announced the winners in more than 20 journalism and arts categories in new york. They awarded the Public Service prize to the Washington Post and the u. S. Operation of Britains Guardian newspaper. The papers reported on nsa programs to collect personal information. The coverage was based on documents leaked by former Agency Contractor edward snowden. The stories raised questions about whether reporting based on classified documents should qualify for the prize. Should note that theyre cited for revealing widespread secret surveillance by the National Security agency. And helping to stir public discussion of the balance between security and privacy. Snowden issued a statement expressing gratitude to the news organizations. He says the stories will contribute to a better future, and a more accountable democracy. Firefighters are struggling to put out flames burning through a port city in chile. The fire in valparaiso has killed at least 12 people and more than 10,000 residents have had to leave their homes. The fire began on saturday. Strong winds helped spread the flames to hillside homes. More than 2,000 of them were destroyed. The president has declared a state of emergency. Valparaiso is registered as a unesco World Heritage site. Buildings in the city date from the late 19th century. Authorities say the fire has not damaged the Historic Quarter or port facilities. Time to get you caught up now with the latest in business. Bank of japan govern Haruhiko Kuroda seems to be determined to achieve the banks 2 inflation target. He has stressed the boj will take additional easing measures if necessary to attain that goal. Kuroda made the remarks to reporters after conferring with Prime Minister abe on tuesday. It was their first meeting in four months. Translator we will not hesitate to make policy adjustments if domestic and overseas Economic Conditions make it difficult for us to attain the inflation target. Reporters asked kuroda whether abe had asked for further stimulus measures to supply more money into the economy. He replied that the Prime Minister had made no specific requests. Lets get a check of the markets now. Asian equities finished mixed. Upbeat u. S. Retail sales data released on monday provided some support to regional sentiment but many investors were keen to find more clues on the u. S. Economy. Also waiting to see the results of chinese gdp figures. Those are due out on wednesday. Here in tokyo the nikkei average gained 0. 6 , finished off the day 13,996. Some Market Players were out there looking for bargains after the index had fallen for two consecutive sessions. Trading volume pretty thin, though, today. Chinas shanghai composite with declines down 1. 4 , 2,101. Banking shares took a hit after data showed that the chinese money supply in march grew at its slowest pace in more than a decade. A senior japanese trade official is on his way to washington now. Hes taking part in a workinglevel meeting to forge ahead with the Transpacific Partnership free trade agreement. The deputy chief negotiator for the tpp left tokyo to meet acting u. S. Trade representative wendy cutler. Translator there are many issues we have to discuss. And i dont think we can easily wrap up our talks. We want to narrow our gaps, and hope the u. S. Will take a more flexible stance. Negotiators from japan and the u. S. Met last week, but failed to find Common Ground over the issue of tariff reductions on five agricultural products. These do include beef and pork. The two sides are also at odds over nontariff barriers on automobiles. Japanese trade minister akira amari expressed hope for progress in the upcoming negotiations. Translator weve said that the japan u. S. Summit meeting to be held in tokyo on april 24th isnt a deadline for concluding the negotiations. Nevertheless, were hoping that the two sides will be able to reach some form of agreement. Amari also plans to hold talks with u. S. Trade representative michael froman. Again later on this week. Now separately u. S. Officials have begun making arrangements for tpp talks among chief negotiators of the participating nations. That will be in vietnam in midmay. And japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe wants to cut corporate taxes as part of his attempt to stimulate the economy. But his Ruling Liberal Democratic Party is urging the government to exercise caution. Ldp tax panel chief met the Government Tax Commission chairman. The commission began discussions on a tax cut plan last month and aims to reach a conclusion by june. Noda warned that a rate reduction would inevitably lead to a drop in state revenue. He said the taxes should be lowered only when the government has another source of income to make up for the shortfall. Noda said the government should consider imposing a tax on companies that are now exempt or eligible for lower rates. Japans corporate taxes stand around 35 . Theyre much higher than those in other asian countries. People who run communities across japan are having some trouble making ends meet. An aging population and lower birth rates have eroded the tax base. So municipal officials are turning to the internet to raise money through crowd funding. Nhk world explains. Reporter a train ride from central tokyo brings you to the city of kamakura. About 20 Million People visit the city each year. Its one of the most popular tourist destinations in eastern japan. City workers are busy putting up signs to make it easier for tourists to get around. The signs were not paid for by tax revenue. But by individuals and groups whose names are engraved on the sign. Kamakura officials turned to crowd funding for the first time. In only three weeks they successfully raised 10,000 from 100 people. The city has long been financially stable. But as its population grays its finances have deteriorated and officials expect the situation will only worsen. Translator we would like to use this method again to raise funds to improve our tourist facility. Reporter kamakura isnt the only government in japan trying to tap into the potential of crowd funding. Other areas are using the tool to pay for projects they just cant afford. The city of nagoya in central japan raised about 50,000 last year to grow eucalyptus trees to feed koalas in the local zoo. The city of takeo in western japan collected 1100 from 24 contributors. People want to create a source and make it into a local specialty. Its not only municipalities that are searching for new ways to raise funds. The prefecture in western japan has one of the highest ratios of senior residents in the country. Officials there are backing projects to rejuvenate the area by encouraging people to use crowd funding. One of them is a plan to make use of food that grows in abundance in the region, popo. It has a rich flavor, a cross between mango, banana and pineapple. But theres a problem. The food ripens quickly and its harvest time is limited, so getting it to market is difficult. The project members think they can overcome that by turning the fruit into ice cream. We dont have any specialty in this region so we definitely want to make this happen. The members appealed online and raised 3,000. This allowed them to produce an ice cream sample, and the 60 donors will be the first to taste it. Prefecture Officials Say crowd funding is not only a source of funding, but provides a place where people from rural areas can promote their projects to a larger audience. Translator crowd funding allows participants to raise funds on their own for their projects. Nice projects have the potential to revitalize the Community Without relying on subsidies. Reporter tanaka says other government officials from around the country are also expressing an interest in crowd funding. Theyre increasingly looking at it as another way to secure resources without putting a burden on taxpayers. Chei tanaka, nhk world. Okay that is going to do it for biz this hour. Lets see whats happening in the markets. Nhk conducted a survey to find out what people in japan think of the proposed Transpacific Partnership free trade deal. The poll also asked them about restarting some Nuclear Reactors in the country. More than 1,000 people took part over the phone last weekend. 31 said they support japans participation in the tpp. 14 said they dont approve. 45 were undecided. Nhk asked peoples opinions on Nuclear Plants. All of the countrys 48 commercial reactors are offline. Authorities will allow facilities that meet new Safety Standards to resume operations. 20 of respondents said they support restarting them. 45 were opposed. The people who oversee the crippled Fukushima DaiichiNuclear Plant are under pressure after a series of troubles. In the latest, workers pumped radioactive water into the wrong building. Water injected to cool the melted nuclear fuel becomes highly contaminated. Crews then send it to storage buildings before its processed. Tokyo electric Power Company officials have blamed four pumps for misdirecting about 200 tons of water. They said on monday the pumps should have been out of use. Tepco representatives say workers will be interviewed if necessary. They have disclosed little about the latest problem, including why an investigation was only started a day after the incident. A similar case happened in february, when more than 100 tons of contaminated water leaked from a tank after a valve was left open. Officials spoke with about 100 employees, but have yet to find out exactly what happened. Local authorities have criticized the utility for a series of problems, and a failure to pinpoint the causes. Four crippled reactors. A constant buildup of contaminated water. Radioactive leaks threatening the environment. The people in charge of Fukushima Daiichi are struggling to control the plant. How will they stop the leaks . And decommission the facilities . Get the latest on the aftermath of the Nuclear Accident with indepth reports, and special features. Nuclear watch only on newsline. Time now for a check of the weather. People in new zealand are dealing with heavy rain and flooding. Our meteorologist jonathan oh, has the details and more. Hello, keiko, yes, we are definitely tracking what used to be ita, departing from australia, and now moving toward new zealand, and this is of some concern because, yes, flooding, and the torrential downpours, along with some strong winds, are expected with this particular system. It is expected to also intensify as it moves toward the south and east. Its going to bring a lot of rainfall. Not just for tuesday, but in to wednesday, thursday, and in to friday. So it is going to be a persistent system. And so because of that, were going to look at anywhere from 120 to 180 millim