welcome back to "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo with the latest at this hour. as a fleet of u.s. navy ships sailed toward the yellow sea to take part in a joint drill with south korean forces, a top u.s. military commander has taken steps to reassure south koreans. u.s. army general walter sharp told residents on the yeonpyeong island on friday that the u.s. and south korea will work closely together following the north korea's artillery attack.

>> what i see here physically is that north korea attacked this island, which is a clear violation of the armistice agreement. >> on friday afternoon, the sound of artillery shells being fired was heard six times coming from the north, but sources say it was just regular artillery training. military authorities fear the north may strike again as the u.s. and south korea are scheduled to begin joint military drills in the yellow sea on sunday. president lee myung-bak visited a hospital near seoul where the bodies of two soldiers killed in the attack are being kept. he expressed his regrets to the soldiers' families. according to a public opinion survey, nearly half of south koreans say the government should take military countermeasures. north korea state media reported a planned military drill by the united states and south korea is pushing the korean peninsula to the brink of war.

>> an nhk camera crew has been on yeonpyeong island. earlier we spoke with a reporter chloe jung. >> what is the latest there? >> reporter: i am in the island residential area. the damage on the street is not so bad but about 150 meters from here, many houses were directly hit by the artillery. i went to the area where the damage is said to be among the worst. this is part of the island which was the most severely damaged. after being hit by artillery, as you can see, the flames moved into all of these houses and burned down the building. the roof fell down and the windows are burst out. everything inside is remaining ashes.

a total of 21 houses on the island were destroyed. on the ground, the shattered glass of windows and the remains of concrete walls. even the houses that are still standing seems to be very unstable. the walls are badly damaged and have been left blackened from fires. the houses could collapse at any moment. people fled their houses quickly leaving everything behind. for the moment, only 30 civilians are still on the island. the rest of people here are military officials and the media. a survey of the damage is ongoing. the civilians are shocked, scared and unable to hold their anger. >> translator: i didn't imagine this kind of thing could happen on our island. until recently, tourists would ask me if i wasn't afraid of living near the border, and i would reply, this is a nice

place to live. but this time i was shocked beyond words to see the houses and military facilities burning across the island. >> reporter: looking at the damage, it's impossible to say when the houses will be rebuilt. the islanders worry about their futures. back to tokyo. >> that was chloe jung reporting from yeonpyeong island. anger is mounting in south korea, not only against this week's shelling by the north, but also against the government and armed forces slow response. south korea's defense minister kim tae young submitted his resignation on thursday in what is being seen as a virtual dismissal by president lee myung-bak. he came under criticism for his slow response to the north's attack on tuesday. south korea's military said north korea fired 150 shells from the coast 13 kilometers north of yeonpyeong. the south korean troops

responded by firing 50 shells, but the return fire began only 13 minutes after the north began its attack. the south korean military says its troops evacuated first, which is why it took so long. people in south korea have been critical about the military's fumbling of its initial response. the south's parliament overwhelmingly adopted a resolution, not only condemning the north korean attack, but also calling on the government to respond firmly to any further provocations by the north. after the resignation of south korea's president named former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff kim kong jing as the new minister. the government also decided to review the military's rules of engagement to enable it to respond quicker to any further attacks by the north. japan's prime minister naoto kan, says he will ask china to use its influence over north korea. kan was speaking at a diet committee on friday.

>> translator: north korea's uranium enrichment activities have been confirmed and one of kim jong-il's sons is set to succeed him. north korea is in the midst of major changes.ellings may have been a planned attack. >> kan said he will ask china to try to pressure north korea so as to calm the situation. later in the day, defense minister toshimi kitazawa said japan will keep a closer eye on the korean peninsula. he said his ministry has already strengthened its information gathering and analysis. >> translator: the defense ministry has increased its number of personnel, that has allowed us to carry out around-the-clock intelligence gathering. >> kitazawa said that japan's

maritime self-defense force has deployed ep-3 intelligence aircraft to support the p3c planes that support the region. japan deploys five aircraft from its western base in yamaguchi prefecture. the aircraft are equipped with technologies such as advanced radar to gather electronic information emitted from military facilities. the ep-3 is able to intercept radio signals transmitted between military units, communications between aircraft and control towers, and radar waves emitted by weapons systems. the japanese government is preparing to conduct a survey of its indigenous people, the ainu. 24,000 live in hokkaido in the country's north, but there is little information about the number residing in the rest of japan. these people have suffered discrimination for years, so

many of them have chosen to conceal their identity. the japanese government adopted policies to assimilate the ainu in the late 19th century. it banned them from using their language and practicing their traditions. even in 1986, japan's prime minister at the time remarked his country was homogenius. but things started to change for the ainu in 2007 when the united nations adopted the declaration on the rights of indigenous people. a year later, the japanese government officially recognized the ainu as an indigenous people. today we focus on a prominent member of this group, a singer whose diagnosis of a terminal illness pushed her to finally take pride in her ainu heritage. nhk world has the story. ♪

>> reporter: this is an ainu jazz singer. she now sings in her native ainu language. but it has taken her a long time to get here. she was born in 1952 in hokkaido. she was bullied in elementary school. sometimes her classmates threw rocks at her. she moved to tokyo at the age of 15 to escape the discrimination. >> translator: i was not able to be proud of being ainu because of the experience i had when i was young. >> reporter: but four years ago, her life took an unexpected turn. she was diagnosed with colon

cancer. then in april of last year, her doctor told her she had only one year left to live. she started to feel a desire to get in touch with her roots. that's when she remembered her grandmother, who was an ainu folk singer. folk songs are not just music for the ainu because the ainu language is not an original one. >> translator: it's the language of my own blood. when i feel the languages coming out naturally from me, i think

my soul is coming out from the blood. >> reporter: she started going to school to learn the ainu language because she believed it would help her re-establish her identity. in amazing grace, a british master thanks god for redemption. >> translator: i might not be able to start over, but i think it's not too late to change my attitude toward life. >> reporter: before she gave her first performance in the ainu language in hokkaido, she visited her hometown. more than 40 years had passed since she left.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> reporter: she now feels closer to her grandmother, a woman who devoted her life to passing down ainu tradition to the next generation. ♪ >> her version of "amazing grace" has been chosen as the closing song for tokyo ainu, a

documentary film about ainu people searching for their identity. the film opened in this autumn in japan and is scheduled to be shown abroad next year. she is going to sing her song at screenings outside the country. the u.n. climate change conference will start next week. japan's environment minister is trying to drum up opposition to a plan to extend the kyoto protocol. the treaty exempts the united states and china from cutting greenhouse gas emissions. the conference is supposed to discuss an international framework to replace kyoto. the agreement expires in 2012. china and other developing countries are pushing for an extension. the treaty obliges japan and other industrialized nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. the u.s. has not ratified the treaty. the european union has signed on. it is considering accepting an extension, but it wants major polluters such as the u.s. and china to press to cut emissions.

japan's environment minister ryu matsumoto said it will not help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. matsumoto promised japan plans to do everything it can to create a new framework that will include all major emitters. japan's domestic auto production dropped in october for the first time in a year as sales tumbled following the end of the government's subsidy program. eight japanese carmakers said on friday their output during the month totaled some 720,000 vehicles, down 9.4% from a year earlier. the decline is attributed to a plunge in domestic new car sales. they went down more than 24% after the government's subsidy program for equal car buyers ended in september. output fell at seven of the eight manufacturers. toyota reported a drop of 22%. and nissan 12%.

exports rose 10% due to strong demand in other asian markets, but that wasn't enough for the carmakers to maintain their past production levels. the manufacturers predicted their output is likely to remain sluggish, at least for the rest of the year, because of the weak domestic market. japanese electronics manufacturer toshiba has set up a laboratory for developing a next generation electricity network that will harness natural energy like solar and wind power. toshiba on friday unveiled its research facility for the development of a so-called smart grid network. the smart grid is expected to promote environmental protection and energy conservation with a stable supply of power generated from natural sources of energy. the lab has a solar power generation system linked to batteries. they plan to conduct research to effectively control the power volumes with the use of i.t. technology. china and other emerging economies are planning to build smart grids as part of their

urban development projects to achieve energy conservation. other manufacturers including japan's hitachi have already joined the business leading to growing competition. i'm sure you never imagined that the hakuho-kaio match would be the most important match at the kyushu grand sumo tournament. that is exactly the situation on day 13. the two co-leaders fighting in the final tilt of the day. kaio feeling the love from all his hometown fans, not enough to overcome a 5-25 record against hakuho. at the the beginning, 38-year-old kaio is able to absorb the hit by the yokozuna and give him his favorite left-hand grip. the yokozuna is persistent and eventually gets the grip he wants.

when he does, it is all over. a forced-out victory puts a damper on the party. but kaio is not the only one having a dream basho. rank and file toyonoshima is also one of the co-leaders. he is looking to become the first to win in back to back tourneys, facing a stiff test in kakuryu. he has dominated the recent meetings, but toyonoshima shoots out with plenty of determination. he follows it beautifully with a pushing attack denying him grip at the same time. toyonoshima earns a well deserved yorikiri. there is one other man in the kyushu picture, that is baruto facing kotooshu, whom he has lost to three straight times. after a sloppy effort the previous day, baruto comes back

with some sharp sumo and doesn't waste any time popping this throw and an overarm throw. baruto maintains his position one step behind the co-leaders. so this final tournament of the year comes down to four men. here are all the winners and losers on the 13th day.

the excitement continues on day 14. that's because the contenders will meet. toyonoshima faces kaio and hakuho and baruto will fight. i'll be back here on "newsline." here is some of the news received from broadcast stations across asia. we begin with this item sent by rtm malaysia. malaysia has made it compulsory for all overseas workers to have health insurance coverage, except maids, from january 2011.

the health minister said on friday that the rule is necessary because government hospitals already face $5.7 million worth of unpaid bills by foreign workers. under the new scheme, workers will have to pay an insurance premium of about $38 per year. it is not yet clear who will shoulder the costs, the workers or their employers. china's national broadcaster, cctv opened their african head office in the kenyan capital of nairobi on friday. the regional center is designed to relay asian news to african nation and enhance cctv's coverage of african affairs. cctv is aggressively expanding its international presence with the inauguration of a moscow bureau last tuesday. by the end of the year it will have established 50 offices and seven main bureaus around the world. an international paramotor competition in thailand, southern province took an ugly turn when two participants got injured on friday.

the accident occurred when the paramotors of two participants from malaysia and singapore got entangled while landing. both of them have been rushed to hospital and out of danger. 30 people from thailand, indonesia, malaysia and singapore participated in the paramotor challenge 2010. powered power gliding aims at promoting tourism in these countries. hello there. time again for another world weather update. we're going to head into eastern asia to see what's going on here. we have a winter storm. and this is one going to be spread out across northeastern china, pushing into the korean peninsula and then japan. it is going to be snow back here, it is getting quite cold. as it goes across the korean peninsula, we'll see the snow get lighter. that system will redevelop before hitting the sea of japan side of japan on saturday night and into sunday. mostly with rainstorms and thunderstorms, but on sunday,

some of that could turn to snow. it is getting very, very cold across the north. a few showers we have been seeing here towards southern china, getting a little bit more intense into our saturday. but still just moderate showers, not too much to worry about. more heavy rain will be hitting parts of central philippines. that's because of our very strong northeast monsoon coming in with all of that energy, all of that humidity, and we could potentially be seeing some flooding problems here as it will continue in right through the weekend. temperatures are shaping up like this. on saturday, 14 in tokyo. 6 in seoul. and 5 in beijing. really cooling down. 16 in chongqing. and shanghai, you'll see 18. fairly mild for you. 22 in taipei. 31 in manila. all right, let's look now to north america. of course we have been tracking our storm across the east. now the beginning of the day is going to be quite unsettled for many of you in the southeast. but the good news is that it should start to settle down by the afternoon. and, in fact, by the evening, most of this is already gone.

so in behind will be a much dryer and cooler friday night. and into saturday. you will still see storms lingering across the florida peninsula. to the north as well, that snow is not going anywhere quite as fast. you'll still see some pretty significant snowfall across ontario and the great lakes and then a bit of a mix of freezing rain, rain, and snow into the northeast. then we have our next round over here in the west. you'll notice this coming down. this is going to be pretty significant again in terms of snow for parts of southern bc. about 30 centimeters here. it is also going to be a very strong wind event. those gusts getting up to about 110 kilometers an hour. so you really need to watch that, especially if it is going to be snowing heavily at the same time. very dangerous driving conditions. rain all the way down the coast, pushing down into northern california. that will hang around into the weekend as well. temperatures are on the up in central portions, nine degrees in denver. that's an improvement. but look down towards houston, texas, 13 degrees, you're looking about 30 yesterday.

so that's definitely going to ma maky you want to bundle up if you want to head out of doors today. now, as for europe, well, you can see lots of cloud cover here. there is lots of snow. lots of rain as well to the south. there certainly isn't going to be much in the way of sunshine around unfortunately. let's take the clouds away. you can see all of this across france, the british isles. this is mostly going to be snow. some of that across the alpine region, down towards the northern balkans. it is starting to get a little bit lighter though here towards the mediterranean. you'll continue to see thunderstorms, though, in parts of greece. the southern balkans. and actually pushing into western turkey here as well. also very wet for you in parts of northern africa and southern portugal and spain. temperatures, 3 in london for you. 3 also in paris. and 7 in vienna. we have minus 8 in stockholm, 2 in kiev and 0 in moscow. keeping it warm in athens, though, at 23. here is your extended forecast.

japan is a country famous for creating cutting edge robots. so no surprise it has an awards ceremony to honor the best of the best. the 2010 robot of the year award was handed out on friday in tokyo. top prize went to a group led by toyota motor. here is its creation.

a one-armed industrial robot that puts spare tires in car trunks on automobile assembly lines. this kind of machine is usually not safe enough to be used near humans, but this robot can work with people on the same assembly line. it is equipped with functions to prevent workers from being hurt in accidents. 11 other robots also won awards. among them, this creation. it can change facial expressions and hold simple conversations. it can also walk and has even been used in a fashion show. another award winning robot is designed to harvest strawberries. it has a camera and sensor and can pick ripe berries without damaging them. that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm hideshi hara in tokyo. we'll be back in half an hour. thanks for joining us on nhk world. jj