hello, there. welcome to newsline, it is friday, february 19th. i'm catherine kobayashi. the white house has announced president obama will make an historic trip to cuba and meet president raul castro, the first time for a sitting president to visit cuba in years. >> an important opportunity this trip. historic in nature, but we also see it as a means to pushing forward the normalization process. >> on social media, obama said he'll make the trip to advance efforts to improve the lives of the cuban people. in addition to his meeting with castro, obama is expected to meet members of civil society

and stress the need to improve human rights. united states and cuba restored diplomatic ties in 2015. it had been 54 years. washington has been gradually lifting sanctions on the island and they've been slowly making economic reforms. obama has also signed legislation imposing new sanctions against north corey. it aims to punish pyongyang after its recent nuclear test and what is widely believed to be a long-range ballistic missile. the sanctions will freeze the assets of any person or company doing business in north korea related to the pro plif ration of human rights or cyber crimes. penalties include banning those from activities from entering the u.s. congress approved the bill last week. japan's government decided to impose its own stiffer sanctions against north korea, including

tighter restrictions of movement of the people between the two nations. south korea suspended all operations at an industrial park it ran with the north. in may, north korea's ruling party will hold a congress for the first time in 36 years. prior to the event, hundreds of propaganda slogans are being announced and many promoted nuclear and missile programs. the central committee and central military commission of the worker's party released the slogans thursday through state media. one says die namcly waged momentum gained in the successful hydrogen bomb test. . much of the world believes it was a nuclear test, but they say it is false. send more satellites into space. earlier this month, the country launched a rocket it claimed carried a satellite. but many believe it was actually a long-range ballistic missile test. another refers to an annual joint military ecker size by its

rivals, the united states and south korea, scheduled to begin on man 7th. calls on north koreaens to scatter the war games and bring an end to the hostile policy by the u.s. the slogans come at a moment of high-tension with the international community, as the world discusses new sanctions against the country, because of its recent actions. turkey's prime minister blaming syrian kurdish forces for the deadly explosion in the capital. his country is continuing attacks against them. the blast occurred wednesday evening during rush hour. >> translator: i heard an explosion and saw a flash. i can't stop shaking. >> the explosion killed at least 28 people and injured dozens more. it happened in a government district near the parliament and military.

personnel as they were waiting at a red light. prime minister said a man linked to the syrian kurdishmalacia has been identified as the suicide bomber and authorities have detained nine suspects. >> turkey will track down all those who are involved in the attack. and bring them to justice. >> on thursday, another blast in the country's largely kurdish southeast killed six security officers, blaming kurdish militants. they've blamed acce -- turkey i part of the u.s. coalition fighting islamic state militants in iraq and syria. after they gained ground near the border. the u.s. and russia have supported the group in the conflict and the u.s. says it's not clear who carried out the

anch ankora attack. >> the biggest banks, arrested five senior employees with industrial and commercial bank of china on suspicion of machine laundering. the alleged staff laundered about $45 million in deposits from a chinese criminal network. spanish authorities recently teamed up with law enforcement officials to investigate chinese enterprises. they say they were able to follow the trail back to the bank. officials with the bank issued a statement to say the madrid office has complied with spanish laws. they say the bank is cooperating with authorities. >> officials at the organization for economic cooperation and development are making their predictions for the year. they're less up beat than they were before. joining us now from the business desk, what are the officials saying. >> the uncertainty when they

look around is greater than before. so they field they i need to cut down on the growth forecast for the year and not just for one or two countries, it's for the world. back in november, officials at the oecd, they were expecting growth of exactly 3%. officials cited a decline in capital investment due to dropping crude oil price. they were concerned about the outlook for the u.s. economy. they downgraded the growth forecast from 2.5 to 2% due to sluggish personal spending. the organization cut the forecast for japan from 1% to 0.8 mer 0.8%. to hold back on wage increases and reduce exports. the officials referred to the bank of japan's newly introduced negative interest rate policy. they said that it had a positive effect initially, but that fizzled out shortly after due to

economic slow downs overseas. officials said they need more time to evaluate the lasting affecting of the policy. the oecd left the growth projection for china unchanged at 6.5%, saying the country slow down was within the expected range. policymakers at the indonesia central bank have cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year the move intended to ease policy and boost economic growth. bank indonesia held a meeting of its board of governors on thursday and decided to lower the rate from 7.25 to 7% exactly. the central bank had been cautious over lower rates, as its priority has been to control inflati inflation. even so, the first rate cut in january, after noting prices had leveled off. the officials said commodity prices appeared to be contained due to a decline in the price of crude oil. the country's consumer price

index in january increased 4.1%. that's within the bank's inflation range of 3 to 5%. officials also said they're also less concerned about the outflow of funds as the u.s. federal reserve is likely to rise the interest rate moderately. last year's gdb growth in indonesia was 4.7%, the lowest since 20009. it's believed to be a direct result of a plunge in the price of raw materials, such as coal. one of indonesia's main exports. japanese transport authorities deciding how to divide a new set of slots at the airport for flights to the united states. they plan to decide on the allocations for japanese carriers by early may. flights to and from the u.s. only take place at night at

haneda, but they've allowed daytime departures and arrivals. two new they'll be divided equally. late night and early morning flights will be reduced from the current eight. one each to japanese and u.s. carrie carriers. four of the five daytime slots for japanese carriers will be shared equally by all nipon airways. remaining slot in the daytime and night time are to be decided later. finalize the plans flight schedules around early may. haneda to the mainland are expected to take off this autumn. tokyo's stocks opened lower this morning, lower prices, overnight slump on wall street. also weighing on investor sentiment. the nikkei 225, trading below

16,000, the index now down 2%, 15,866. there is risk aversion with fluctuating oil prices. crude oil futures are down, affidavit at that showed a build-up in u.s. en, the wti, $3.42 ex ended hours. weighing on energy stocks in tokyo. on to currenciecurrencies, one against the yen after federal reserve policymakers said the fed should raise key interests rates gradually. now at 112. higher against the euro, risk off mode on the rise. right now, that pair is trading at 125.50. markets opened this hour are showing declines, australian shares down, kospi down a quartequart

percent. some businesses think it's a shame food being thrown away, so they're taking the concept, too precious to waste and spinning into commercial gold. >> this is tokyo's fish market. one of the largest in the world. the market handles about 1,700 tons of seafood a day. whole sale to sell products. >> if the customer next to you at a restaurant is eating this rock fish, wouldn't you think that yours is kind of small? so the small one is a tough sell. >> this is a restaurant owner who has spotted a business opening. he buys the leftover seafood and serves at discount prices. >> i'll cook them up well.

>> the restaurant uses the word motiono, waste not not want into a selling point. deciding the menu can be tricky. nobody knows what the real ingredients are until the day he starts. >> translator: i take a look at the ingredients and then i decide the best way to cook them, such as boiling or stir frying. >> they open at 5:30 p.m. >> translator: today we have crabs with broken legs. they were caught this morning. >> this crab is an expensive treat, high end restaurants. the broke en legs make them look a little less appealing. there is no difference in quali quality. they're perfect for customers who prefer modest

>> translator: if you eat this at another restaurant, it will be much more expensive. i agree with the idea of this. >> food prices at this restaurant are 20 to 30% cheaper than average. he is confident that his concept can be expanded. >> translator: since i opened the restaurant, i learned that there are more of these products. i want to look for rice and vegetables, too. >> it isn't just in the food industry. this is color by the citrus fruit called amika.

the peels are normally tossed away. but they can be mixed with clay to provide the color. coffee grinds are used for this color. the outer leaves of cabbages went into this one. the products have five varieties. the children's clay was displayed at the event in tokyo this month. the products have another unique feature. they' their odor. >> it smells like cabbage. i wanted to produce clay that people can play with, while nurturing the idea that we shouldn't waste vegetables. >> it is one that japanese people have long taken to heart. now, a new generation of business people is trying to give it a modern spin.

nhk world. nikkei trading lower this morning. i'y yitcheck on markets. now let's turn to other news happening in asia. nike, excuse me, they've announced it has ended its sponsorship of manny pack

kiekow. criticism after he said on tv that gay people are worst than animals. after fierce protests over his comments, he apologized tuesday, but said he remains opposed to same sex marriage, in a statement, nike said his comments from horrid. the company said it has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the lgbt community. >> translator: actually, nike made a decision, and i respect it. they sponsored my shirts for each fight. but our contract has ended. >> same sex marriage is not recognized by the country's mainstream church or by the state. more than 80 million of the country's citizens are roman catholic. >> translator: this is what i can say. since it did hurt us, then we're

not ting for him. this is what other gays and lesbians can take from his comment. >> it's not right to compare people to animals. he has to apologize for that. but regarding same sex marriage, that is wrong, whatever your religion may be. >> he fought his way out of poverty to become an eight time world boxing champion. he is also a congressman an running for the country's senate. demonstrations have spread across india, following an arrest last week of a student union leader, who organized an event to protest capital punishment. the student was taken into custody last week for his alleged unpatriotic remarks. criticizing the execution of a terror convict. university students in at least six cities protest his arrest. thousands of people from labor unions took to the street in the capital. students prime minister is

trying to crack down on critics by labeling them as unpatriotic or antinational. they asserted that indy yeah's democracy and freedom of speech are under >> we are not going a against the country. it's not the country i was looking for. >> on wednesday, in front of a courthouse, they believe to be supporters of the governing party beat up the students. nobody was arrested, despite a large police presence. another student committed suicide after being branded as antinational by a senior governing official. his death has media coverage. a planned canal for thailand

could revolutionize shipping. pacific oceans, like this one, come with concerns. nhk world reports. >> this is the malay in thailand. at its narrowest point, it is 50 kill meters high. >> most of this land is flat. people have been making canned el -- candles here for a long time. >> this is a model for the new canal. this man is a man behind the project, known as the great canal. he submitted his plan to the government way back in 2005. >> translator: what's important is that the canal would be a shorter route to deliver oil to two major economies, japan and

china. >> goods being sent to east asia are currently transported with containership on through the straight. the academics say building a new canal on the peninsula will slash three-days from the journey. >> he says it would also help ease congestion in the straight. but the cost, about one-third of thailand's annual national budget has raised eyebrows. the china asian infrastructure in the bank may help bush the project forward. the bank is trying to stimulate infrastructure in asia, using the huge reserve of funds. he says he has received several inquiries from chinese firms and organizations. >> translator: china is looking closely.

china is highly likely to invest, because the canal project would benefit the country. >> the prospect of chinese investment has few expectations that the canal will be built. this thai firm produces feed for fish farms. it has a plant on the east side of the peninsula. so it exports its products only to china and other east asian companies. company officials say the new canal will allow them to ship products to india, myanmar and elsewhere. >> the canal would cut our shipping costs and expand our exports. we believe it will create a bright future. >> but some neighboring countries, particularly singapo singapore, are not enthusiastic. many tankers passing through, mainly to switch cargos,

shipping accounts for 7% of singapore's gdp, this expert spells out the concerns. >> the concern on how it will impact singapore's economy. if the canal is built, essentially the bulk of the maritime traffic that passes through will deviate and use the canal as business is going to shift towards thailand in this case, and thailand will become the new maritime hub so to speak. >> it's clear that thailand would benefit greatly from the canal. government officials seem to be carefully assessing these benefits. as well as the cost and the risks. including a position from the country's neighbors. nhk world, bangkok. people in tokyo are seeing

sunny blue skies this morning, and it's warming up out there. meteorologist robert speta joins us with the weekend weather forecast. >> yes, we are going to be looking at definitely some improving conditions across most of japan. we have an area of low pressure, developing here over towards eastern areas of china. you have to remember where the storm systems develop from, because the source region is really kind of key here. that's going to be pulling in one warm air out of taiwan, and that means temperatures on the rise. but this does come at a cost, though. if you don't like the rain, it is bringing it with it. actually we have widespread rain fall across parts of okinawa already. that's going to continue to shift off toward the northeast, bringing the showers first by friday night into saturday morning across parts of shikoko, and even saturday afternoon, the rain in parts of tokyo as temperatures start to go up. behind it, things will be

cooling off. if you domt like the warmer weather, it will be colder by the time saturday and sunday starts to roll around. seoul with only a high of 6, partly cloudy skies, beijing, up to 8. 17 for the high, 5 to 6 above average. let's take a look at what's going on across parts of western india over towards pakistan. we have a trough of low pressure, which is continuing to dominate across the region. really one of the big problems we've been seeing around new delhi is the haze that has been impacting this area quite recently. this is going to clear up for a couple of days. but it is bringing those rain showers with it. expecting showers, maybe thunderstorms by saturday afternoon across parts of new delhi. temperatures, they're lingering in the 20s. northern regions down towards the south, still exceptionally

hot. 31 on saturday, 32 by your sunday. now, let's take a look here into europe. actually, we have several storms we're going to be talking about. one back towards the east. we were talking about asia, pulling in warm air from the south and pushing off towards the north. poland even extends towards austria as well rainfall. rumbles of thunder as well. snow in the higher latitudes. meanwhile, towards the west, storm pushing against the north sea. 80 kilometers per hour winds. cloudy skies, warsaw 6, rain showers in the forecast. mosco moscow, snow here on your friday. let's quickly wrap up here, across the americas, we have been watching a storm, which is

moving from the pacific northwest across the rockies. it is bringing some cold air with it. we have a severe thunderstorm threat. do watch out for that. but this is another big topic. gusty winds up to 80 kilometer. here is the extended outlook.

and that's all for this edition of newsline. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for staying with us.

stacey thunder: on this edition of "native report," we meet emma garrett, a skilled basket maker of the eastern band of cherokee. and i start it here at the bottom, and the i make corners. forrest parker: trout were really not historically a huge part of the cherokee culture. stacey thunder: we see how the eastern band of cherokee indians' fisheries resource is managed. a rainbow trout. stacey thunder: and we learn about dakota astronomy. it is kind of distinctive in the night sky. we also learn something new about indian country and hear from our elders on this "native report." announcer: production of "native report" is made possible by grants from the shakopee mdewakanton sioux community and the blandin foundation. [theme music]