thank you for joining us on nhk world. this is newsline. u.s. federal investigators say a cyber attack against a hollywood studio was the work of north korea. they've been looking into breaches of computer systems that sony pictures -- they say the actions they uncovered gave a grave threat to national security. officials at the fbi have enough information to conclude the government in pyongyang is responsible. intruders used a north korean malwear and tools are use the against south korean banks last year. sony pictures had been preparing to release a film about a fictional plot to assassinate north korea's leader.

hackers stole information on salaries and copies of unreleased movies and rendered thousands of company computers unusable and taking the network offline. president barack obama spoke about the attack in his year end news conference. he said hackers caused a lot of damage across the country. we cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the united states. we will respond. we will respond proportionally and respond in a place and time and manner that we choose. it's not something i will announce here today at a press conference. sony executives decided not to distribute the film in any form. it is a comedy centering on two

journalists the cia asks to kill kim jong-un. north korea officials denied being involved in the cyber attack. kim jong-un could soon make his first trip aboard since taking power. russian officials invited him to a ceremony to mark the 70th year anniversary over nazi germany. demetri episkof hold celebrations in may. did not say whether he received a reply. north korea leaders are trying to strengthen ties with russia as their relations with china are cooling. workers party secretary visited president putin last month and gave him a letter from kim. analysts believe they had a discussion that paved the way for putin and kim to meet. south korea's constitutional courthouse changed the country's political landscape. it has ordered the disillusion of pronorth korean abolition party.

this is the first time the judicial body has made this type of ruling since the nation became a democracy in 1987. a panel of judges said on friday that the minority left wing unified progressive party adopted a north korea's ideology and say the group organized meetings to discuss a rebellion in an effort of war with the north of the the party's principles and activities were in violation of the constitution. government officials have asked the court to ban the upp following the indictment of several party members over charges last september. the decision strips all five of their seats in parliament. leaders of the largest opposition say they are deeply concerned that political freedom was undermined and they criticized the ruling saying

judgment should be made by voters. some left wing organizations are also condemning the high handed approach taken by the government. a senior official in beijing spoke about the forthcoming 70th anniversary of the war's end and said chinese will keep a close eye on japanese show towards historical issue. shang is the fourth highest member of china's communist party. he touched on a statement made in 1993. that statement expressed sincere apologies and remorse to those recruited to work in comfort stations during world war ii.

he said those words had clarified japan's stance on historical issues and left a deep impression on chinese people. he said agreement made last month to improve relations, said both governments need toe honor it. promoting economic cooperation would have a positive impact on japanese public opinion about china. the -- met interim prime minister and agreed to help build a railway from the north of thailand to the south. the line will run 860 kilometers between the city and coastal province. it's likely to cost more than $11 billion. thai officials say it will boost tourism and trade. age lifts say leaders in beijing

want to strengthen relations with thailand by helping build infrastructure. the chinese hope to link the railway it the line they already agreed to help lay through laos. it will run into china. thai leaders hope to build a line through their country from east to west with help from japan. >> an nhk world survey revealed in the past decade, more than 1,000 children in japan have been neglected to the point of being isolated from society. poverty prevented some from going to school while others were kept at home by their parents. and experts say more young people are at risk.

kinichi nokomoto has more. >> reporter: this teenager in western japan. he was out of school for five months when his father forced him to steal bicycles. he had to help his father dismantle the bicycles and sell them for scrap metal in the middle of the night. >> i was told i had to do something to bring in money. i wanted to go to school because i was at the age for considering which high school was right for me. >> reporter: a teacher visited some boys home and spoke with his father at the door. but was not allowed to meet the student. one day when his father was not home, the boy left and went to

the police for help. >> i hope more people can notice if something is wrong with children. >> reporter: nhk world surveyed over 1,000 child welfare facilities. they reported 1,039 children forcibly captive from society. 63% of them were abused or neglected by their parents. economic reasons were a factor in 31% of cases. in one case, a child was confined at home for 11 years. another was tethered and kept in a cage. a child abuse say the cases paint a troubling picture. >> i think there are other children who we need to find and help. >> reporter: in may, skeleton remains of boy found in tokyo. his father locked in in the

apartment without food. the child's whereabouts were unknown for nearly a decade. he had missed a mandatory health check and never attended school. authorities failed to act. some responses to the survey say it's difficult to look into family affairs to know whether a child's absence from school is due to neglect. >> translator: it's hard for children to call for help. it's not a problem we can just leave to the schools, so the relevant agencies must work together. >> reporter: other surveys suggest it's important for people around the children to pay careful attention for signs of problems. kinichi tokomoto, nhk world world.

members are suing for damages and claim the company that owns the power plant deprived them of their homes and history and relationships. the city of minamisoma, one district is a no entry zone. people who have homes there lived elsewhere as evacuees for three years and nine months. suing tokyo electric power company demanding the firm double their monthly compensation. and they say it should pay them $84,000 each for destroying their means of living in their hometown. they want a total of more than $57 million. >> translator: the nuclear accident deprived us of our hometown, jobs, and pleasure of being at home with our families. it took away our whole lives. >> company representatives say they'll hear the claims in court and respond in good faith.

a team of information security specialists gathered in tokyo to discuss cyber attacks and ways to counter them. the experts came from the u.s., europe, and asia. part of a security network that aims to use skills for the good of society. a south korean engineer explained how small remotely controlled drones are especially vulnerable. they're often used by the military and tv crews. he said certain drones have flaws in their communication software that put them at risk of being infected by viruss that could take control of the craft. he also said hackers could spread viruss through remotely controlled kopters and invade wireless networks to attack

other computers. said game consoles and home appliances connected to the internet should be protected by security patches. >> translator: when equipment is linked to an online network, it's easy for hackers to access other people's devices. >> shinoda said these problems should be tackled by society as a whole. >> many cubans will spend the weekend talking about a decision that could forever change their country. u.s. president obama announced he's normalizing diplomatic relations with a communist nation. businesses are welcoming the move as are many americans. others in the u.s., including some republicans, say it amounts to a reward for a regime with a terrible human rights record. craig dale reports. >> in a place that appears lost in a bygone era, citizens have been digesting the biggest news in a long long time. this is the best that could

happen to our people and to havana, others are equally as possible. >> everybody is taking out of their drawer their cuba plan, cuba strategy. . >> reporter: it's been a long and winding road from revolution to the brink of war to assassination attempts and everything in between. u.s./cuba relations have been downright nasty, that's now set to change. >> after all, these 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. it's time for a new approach. >> president obama's announcement has polarized his nation. some cuban americans have said -- >> it's great. >> it's about time. >> others have protested. and among republicans even those of cuban descent, there are

accusations the president chose trade and travel over human rights and cuba gave up nothing. it's a e eterrible tradeoff, mo banking and commerce and more remittances. no matter this deal is done and analysts are already crunching the numbers. >> the u.s. exports to cuba would be about 6 billion per year. cuban exports of goods and services to the u.s. would be about 6.5 to $6.7 billion per year where now there is nothing. >> business after business after business in the u.s. wants a piece of the action. >> we had at least five very significant clients. we're talking fortune 50 entities call us yesterday to start a cuba conversation. >> americans are also talking. they get better access to everything from cigars to natural resources not to mention the chance to freely visit a caribbean destination enjoyed by

millions of other travelers. cubans would see their meager economy grow along with the standard of living. >> cuban leaders would likely keep a tie control on any changes and president obama has work to do from setting up an embassy to removing cuba from a list of states that sponsor terrorism. only congress has the power to lift a far reaching trade embargo and ban on americans traveling to the island. with republicans in control, it's unlikely they'll play ball given how they feel about cuba's human rights record. craig dale, nhk world. japanese electronics firm toshiba settled the damages suit with south korean chip maker sk highnix. an engineer gave the company stole an flash memory data.

toshiba executives say the south korean firm agreed to pay out of court settlement worth $278 million. that's less than the roughly $900 million toshiba demanded from skhinex and the engineer. the male engineer used to work for u.s. chip company that had a joint venture with toshiba. the man quit and moved to seoul to work for skhinex. he legally provided with toshiba's flash memory data. in a court session held last month, skhinex said the firm is not using products with the stolen data. the two firms also agreed to jointly double up manufacturing technology for next generation memory chips as part of the settlement. officials at the bank of japan wrapped up two-day policy meeting. they decided to keep their

overall assessment unchanged. they say the economy is continuing its moderate recovery trend. the officials voted 8-1 to maintain their monetary easing measures. they have expanded the program late october to achieve the bank's goal of 2% inflation and revised upward, the assessment of exports. they previously said the sector was more or less flat. now they say exports are showing signs of picking up. they also see an improvement in the state of industrial production. officials maintain the view that the private consumption is resilient with the employment and incomes steadily improving. they also assessed the continuing impact of the consumption tax hike. they say it has put a damper on demand but that the effects of this have been on the way. officials are believed to have discussed the impact of sliding oil prices on the economy and

consumer prices as well as the effects of their monetary easing steps. b.o.j. governor held a news nference aer t policy meing. translator: we have sn th positive effects of adtional monetary easing. as a result, the deflationary mindset is improving and we think it will continue to improve. we are sticking to our stance receiving an inflation target of 2% as soon as possible. >> also referred to the shop sharp plunge of russia's ruble. he said the impact on the economy will be relatively small. as japan's trading investment with russia is lower compared to europe. he said a repeat of the 1998 currency crisis unthinkable because russia now has a huge amount of foreign reserves. and now here are the latest market figures.

pakistanis have been mourning the victims of a deadly school attack that killed more than 140 people. they were shocked and horrified by the cruelty of the attack. many students who witnessed the assault say they are too scared to go back to school. the government dlared three days of national mourning through friday for the more than 140 victims of the attack. people across the country staged a vigil as parents gave final

during a mass funeral. in peshawar on tuesday, they stormed a military-run school killing 148 people. they targeted the school in retaliation for operaons conducted against it by nation's military forces. authoritieare tightening security in the area around the school. most students who actually saw how they were killed are torm t tormentedy fear. >> translator: some students don't want to study and go to school and say t terrorists will come back and kill us all. >> the outright assault on children has stunned the country. >> translator: this massacre is unimaginable. we don't have any answers for it. even our elders are speechless. the attackers have no connection with islam.

people like that can't b muims. >> reporte thessociate press reported that pakistan's military mounted air strikes and ground operations on thursday and friday in the northwestern region where the extremists have bases. military officials say two-day operation killed 67 alleged militants. there are growing concerns that mutual retaliation between the government and militant group could escalate. a group of young chinese entrepreneurs are looking to the sky and dreaming big. they are study gs up the country's first publicly run rocket company and now have their sights set on reaching or bet. more from nhk world.

>> reporter: five engineers check out a rocket engine. they work for link space, the first private company in china's space industry. everyone is in their 20s. hu is a ceo. he started the business in january with university friends. the start-up created a start in china and now people call him rocket boy. >> translator: there are a lot of privately owned space businesses abroad, but there are none in this country. i think china also needs the involvement of private companies. >> reporter: china is catching up the frontline of the space development with other countries. earlier this month, the chinese

successfully launched a satellite with a rocket, an all-china undertaking. the rocket differs from the one developed by the state. it's a sounding rocket, research rocket. only a few meters long. the satellite launched by larger scale rockets usually fly more than 250 kilometers above the earth. by pair comparison, planes and balloons can reach heights of 50 kilometers, a small research rocket could operate in the band between them. the small rocket could collect air samples and experiment th materials in microgravity conditions. hu saw that research rockets

have an advantage. his team hopes to cut the marketplace by two thirds and secure orders from institutions and businesses. the team uses as many as inexpensive over the counter materials as possible. china's government recently announced a policy of encouraging private businesses to enter the space industry. >> translator: many people who work for state-run enterprises are watching to see if link space can really succeed. in fact, they want to try the same thing themselves and link space is their model. >> reporter: last month, hu successfully carried out an engine combustion experiment and the team hopes to have a commercial launch in 2021.

hu's team must improve tech no logical reliability before funding let's out. >> translator: i don't know whether this company will eventually be listed on the stock exchange or whether it will succeed or fail. but i will put my heart and soul into my work. >> observers in and outside of china are watching how companies like hu's fare amid china's strict government regulation. >> translator: at the moment, it doesn't look as if there will be any big setbacks for link space, but some day they may get support from the government and develop a large clientele and grow rapidly. that's why we have to pay close attention to these developments. >> these young innovators continue on their push to become

trailblazers in china's space industry. nhk world. now let's check out the world weather.

that's going to do it for "newsline" at this hour. thanks for watching nhk world.

this week on "moyers & company" -- the long, dark shadows of plutocracy. >> these buildings are a whole new level of super, super luxury condo. >> blotting out the sunshine in the premier park. where was the outcry? >> housing is a right! >> if we don't get together and do something, we'll be left with a city that's only accessible to millionaires and billionaires. >> announcer: funding is provided by -- anne gumowitz, encouraging the renewal of democracy. carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement and the advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide.