glad to have you with us on this edition of "newsline." it's friday, december 26th. people in many parts of asia are looking back and remembering the families, friends and homes they lost ten years ago. the tsunami left more than 220,000 people dead or missing. about 5,000 mourners gathered on thursday at a mosque. the region suffered the most casualties with over 160,000

deaths. they prayed for the victims to rest in peace. one woman says she lost nearly 30 of her relatives in the disaster. >> i recall it as if if it happened yesterday. i still feel deep sorrow. >> a massive quake hit off the coast of sumatra island on december 26th, 2004. triggering a major tsunami. international assistance has helped to rebuild homes and roads. but analysts point out the need to raise the public's awareness of the disaster. people would gather in other areas on friday to commemorate the anniversary. now, a city official is -- to ensuring that such a tragedy doesn't happen again. he's promoting disaster apairness.

>> reporter: the tsunami was held this october. the exercise is meant to help people remember their experiences of the indian ocean tsunami. but only about 1% of residents participate. three years after the tsunami, he feels a sense of crisis as more new residents move into the city. the fear of tsunami is fading. after the disaster, people revealed a hurry -- says one consequence is that many of the stay's roads remain narrow and winding. he says the creation of escape

routes and majors have been -- >> translator: towns must include disaster preparation measures in their reconstruction plans. the residents must examine ways they can be prepared for the next zas e. authorities have studied the preparation of the -- of the place us devastated the great -- authorities around in japan

residents where mapping out evacuation routes. >> residents had eventually prepared for disasters by stocking up. it's important that people get ready by themselves. >> reporter: >> reporter: advocating people on this importance of being ready for the disaster. this tsunami building was elected six years ago with japanese aid. the foster rebuilding is equipped with a rescue helicopter and used as a community center. but many of the residents are unaware of the function as an evacuation point. the building is equipped with internet and encourage more

people to use it. he then leads to people on the need for the preparedness. >> in japan, people try to prepare themselves for disasters as everyone is is aware of how fierce nature can be. i hope the make the most of what i learned in hiroshima. >> on the tenth anniversary of the massive tsunami approaches, authorities have -- makeshift cities and measures as secure as possible. some theet rs in the u.s. have started showing the controversial film, the interview. it's about a fictional plot to assassinate kim jong-un. at one theatrtheatre, more than people lined up. police cars were stationed

around the building. sony pictures has initially canceled the release of the comedy after suffering a cyber attack allegedly by north korea. the decision fueled debate in the u.s. over freedom of expression. >> yes, i think they made a mistake. >> the company reversed its decision and released the film on thursday as some 300 mainly independent theatres. >> it wasn't a serious attack on anyone, i think it was just kind of a silly movie that was ultimately a lot of fun. >> i think it's important that we all share freedom of expression and creativity. it's not good to point a finger at just one person or one race. that was the problem i had with it. >> the number of theatres showing the film is only about one tenth of what was planned, but many people went to the

premier largely due to the controversy. the coed tor in chief of variety magazine said the decision to cancel the release will have a considerable impact on the film industry. andrew wellenstein was speaking to nhk on thursday. >> we've heard about another project that was supposed to be sent north korea that's been canceled. i think within the industry, there's going going to be a chill effect in the short-term with movies that are controversial. >> he said sony did its best in a very difficult situation, but added it's handling of the crisis was not ideal. the chinese government has strongly rejected a u.s. call for the release of chinese nobel peace prize laureate. john kerry made the demand to

mark the anniversary of hua's conviction. >> we advised the u.s. to practice self-examination, to put right its own behavior that violates human rights and refrain from interfering in other country's domestic affairs under the pretext of human rights. >> kerry said the u.s. is deeply concerned that china continues to inkars nate him and keep his wife under house arrest. he urged china to release him and remove all restrictions from his wyaichl. he had released documents nonline and seeking democratic reforms. in 2010, he became the first chinese national to win the nobel peace prize. the chinese quovt did not allow him to attend the awards ceremony.

the japanese government has released more interview accounts of the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant accident in 2011. one controversy has been that tokyo electric power company refused to use the term, meltdown, at the time. tepco operates the crippled plant. 772 interviews were conducted in 2011 and 2012 bay government committee that investigated the disaster. the testimony came mainly from government officials and tepco workers. 127 interviews were made public on thursday after receiving consent from the participants. one is from an employee at the tepco headquarters. he analyzed conditions inside the reactor in early 2011. he said the thought the upper half of the nuclear fuel rods in the number one reactor core must have completely melted down. cooling water was only covering the lower half of the rods.

he added he heard tepco feared that a misunderstanding could occur as there was no exact definition of the term, meltdown. fuel melted at the one, two and three reactors and tepco only admitted the possibility of meltdowns in may of 2011. health officials in fukushima prefecture say four young people may have thyroid cancer even though they passed a screening shortly after the nuclear plant accident. experts say there's a lot they don't know about how children develop the cancer. the officials stress they'll continue to monitor the situation carefully. the latest round of screenings started in april. a panel of experts announced the results on thursday. use between 6 and 17 years old at the time of the accident. >> translator: the ultrasound scan is not 100% perfect and these results mean something not initially detected has appeared this time.

>> the panel doesn't have da to to prove nuclear fallout led directly to the cancers. experts believe the radiation was not high enough to cause the illness. fukushima prefecture has been conducting the check ups regularly on those who were younger than 18 at the time of the disaster. the first round of screenings in 2011 found 108 likely cases of cancer. people in japan are paying a lot of attention to a china of islands. nearly three out of four respondents are interested in the senkaku islands in the east china city. the government ran a survey last month covering 3,000 people aged 20 or older. japan controls the senkaku islands. china and taiwan claim them. the japanese government claims

they are a part of japan's territory in terms of history and international law. it says there's no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them. the surveyed response was 60.9%. among those who responded was 74.5% who indicate an interest in the islands. that's up eight points from last year's survey. those who showed little interest fell to 23.8%. the survey asked what aspect of the islands they're interested in. the majority had 63.3% had japan easter tor yal rights to the islands. the second answer was the historical background chlgt the survey asked about the tack shim islands in the south of japan. the japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of japan's territory.

it says south korea is illegally occu occupying them. the survey shows that 66.9% are interested in the islands. that's a drop of 4.2 points from last year's survey. 30.7% of respondents expressed little or no concern. managers at plants across japan are seeing less activity on their factory floors. yuko has more on that. tell us what's the story here. >> people who run manufacturing firms had seen their work pick up, but in november, that changed because government officials say industrial output fell for the first time in three months. the economy ministry officials say production was down 0.6% in october. output decreased this eight of the 15 sectors they surveyed. they say the decline was

particularly strong for semiconductor and battery modul modules. they expect things to be better in the months ahead. 5.7% in january. internal affairs ministry officials say prices for every day goods and services rose by 2.7% in november compared with last year. the price index has been climbing for 18 months. officials don't factor in the cost of fresh food because it tends to distort the result. the increase in the con supgs tax in april is partly responsible. they estimate that without the tax hike, the consumer price index would have about .7%. officials say as prices went up, many people in japan tightened their pursestrings. households of two or more people spent an average of $230.

spending has been falling for eight straight months. the jobless rate was unchanged from october. to seekers was was up from the previous month. there were 112 for every 100 people looking for work. officials say that shows japan's job market is strong. now, let's get a check on markets. investment seems to be trading off that latest data. share prices are at a narrow range in early trading, the previous day's trading level. the nikkei average is largely lower than yesterday. investors have few cues to trade on as many are offseason holidays and that's the same in

the currency markets as well where trading active is lackluster. the dollar is hovering at the 120-yen level. and looking at other markets in the asia pacific region, the equity market in south korea is back in business after a christmas day holiday. the benchmark kospi is slightly higher, up is 1-.5% and in taiwan, the benchmark is up about a quarter of a percent. that is all for now in business. i'll leave you with the market numbers.

tens of thousands of people flocked to st. peter's square in the vatican. they were there to hear the pope's annual christmas message and to receive his blessing. the pope expressed deep concern for christians and other minorities in the middle east. he said christians in iraq and syria have suffered the effects on conflict and persecution for too long. he said he prays that people in need will receive humanitarian assistance and be able to live with dignity. he called for an end to

conflicts in african countries and thanked those who were helping victims with the ebola epidemic. prays that weapons will be transformed into plow shares and hatred into love and tenderness. britain's queen elizabeth ii has used her annual christmas speech to -- in her nation. opinions remain divided in scotland after voters refused independent dense from the united kingdom. >> in scotland after the referendum, many felt -- while others felt belief and bridging these difficulties will take time. >> the queen called for cooperation for the future of their country. but support for independence continues to grow.

the monarch cited a ceremony held in august to commemorate the 108th anniversary of the start of world war i. she said countries on both sides came together to remember in peace. leaders in japan and china are trying to build relations. they took a step forward last month by holding their first talks, but the japanese ambassador of beijing says there's a lot more to do. >> ambassador to china two years ago. people across the country have been shown hostility toward japan.

he outlined what he felt he needed to do. >> my first duty is to deepen the friendly relations between japan and china. the japanese and chinese governments fell into a prolonged diplomatic standoff. then prime minister abe reached out to each other and led official for the first time. they sat down together last month at the asia pacific economic cooperation summit. that was a big step forward. >> they took a major step by agreeing to improve relations. jap

japanese business leaders have told me they've been able to meet some chinese officials for the first time. so, we're seeing a variety of positive developments. nothing would make me happier than to see things improve for our governments and for businesses. the leaders also agree to create a hot line to help them avoid accidental conflict at sea. >> japanese and chinese officials are communicating in line with the agreement our leaders reached at the summit. i'll assume they'll start talks for setting up the hot line sooner or later. >> he is started the job with a commitment to get japanese and chinese to talk and work together.

>> cooperation between japan and china stalled. relations were at a low point. i'd like to put them back on track and help produce results. that won't be easy, but i'll make my best efforts during 2015. >> the ambassador told me he's making the long route. they're looking forward to laying a ground work for better understanding. weather. people in the russian capital are dealing with their first big snowstorm.

>> some may be feeling relieved due to the winter weather that finally hit mott cow. in time for christmas. take a look at the video coming out today. after both average warms in mid december, moscow got its first day of heavy snow thursday just in time for christmas. the snow came usually late this year as moscow typically sees its first big snowstorm in mid october. more than 150 flights were delayed or canceled, stalling christmas day for travelers. along with the snowfall, bitter cold temperatures swept over the city. the mercury will continue to drop to mines 15 degrees. this will continue for the next few weeks because we have a cold air mass covering much of the northern locations of europe, so for thursday, the jet stream is me andering in the central locations. by friday, it's going to be dipping down and covering the boot of italy and that's going

to be making things for really cold temperatures. the temperatures will be about 2 to 3 degrees below average. london will be escaping from the snow, but a little bit of precipitation for the next 24 hours. low pressure system in the western balkans is is now bringing wet and windy weather. in fact, it's very windy in croatia. where you want to be is in the peninsula, where it's going to be heating in double digits and you're likely to see plenty of sunshine out there. out here across the americas, two storms are pulling in. one is actually pulling waway from land, which is great news. very close to each other, so bringing very gusty conditions to the extreme east of canada and 80 millimeters of rainfall should be adding up. to the west, we have an incoming

winter storm. we have avalanche warnings in place, as well as winter storm advisorie advisories. up to about 40 centimeters of additional snowfall could be piling up in the lower elevations and is going to be dipping down into the four corners regions. things are fine at 18 degrees. we're looking at denver at minus 6 degrees on your boxing day with some snow in the forecast. take a look at the eastern areas. new york, d.c. and atlanta. all in the double digits and plenty of sunshine. great day to shop. on about 165 millimeters of rainfall over the past 24 hours. the rain are continue to fall for the next few days. malaysia has been seeing floods and due to a low pressure system

that is east of -- likely to see scattered thunderstorms to be continued. these are temperatures for asia, tokyo at 10 degrees for the high today, but we actually marked 0.4 degrees for the morning hours and snow keeps on falling across the sea of japan. more than 2 meters high in some locations, which is likely to continue with about 60 centimeters of additional snowfall in some locations. here are your new year eve outlook all the way into new year's on wednesday. your extended forecast for selected cities around the globe.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." thanks for staying with us.

great to have you with us on asia biz forecast and our last program of the year. i'm yuko fukushima. today we look at what's in store for asian economies in the coming year. we have three expert guests, all from different parts of the region. joining us from our studio in singapore is nick lar harbinson. he focuses on overseas markets in the asian-pacific region. here we have ronald wan from asia capital holdings. also here in tokyo is