hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm kiko kitagawa in tokyo. the united states says it will punish russia for what it calls a cyber attack. president barack obama has sanctioned nine russian diplomats for hacking to influence the american election. these include two intelligence services four intelligence officers and three companies that supported the operations. the white house has also ordered 35 russian government officials including diplomats to leave the

u.s. within 72 hours. they say it's in reaction to diplomatic harassment in russia. in october the u.s. announced that russian authorities tried to influence the election through a cyber attack. the hacking in june led to officials of democratic party being leaked. russian-u.s. relations were already poor following the u.s. announcement of sanctions against russia over the conflict in syria and ukraine. russian officials have reacted sharply for the new u.s. sanctions. moscow considers the measures unjustified and illegal under international law. he said that president vladimir putin will decide on a reciprocal reaction, a former official in charge of human rights said that obama's actions

will damage the chairman of the international affairs committee in the upper house of parliament calls the measures the death throes of the obama administration. he said the outgoing administration has no political or ethical right to put the u.s. on a path toward destruction. fill peechb president duterte has called u.s. ambassadors spies. he says most u.s. ambassadors are spying and they try to undermine foreign governments. duterte referred to a story carried by a local newspaper earlier this week. it said a recent former u.s. ambassador to the philippines outlined the list of strategies to undermine duterte and cause his eventual ouster.

duterte has been ratcheting up his criticism of barack obama demanding american troops leave the philippines. obama is critical of duterte's bloody campaign against the illegal drug today. a nationwide cease fire has begun in syria. the government and opposition groups agreed to the truce which went into effect on friday. the government of president bashar al assad, it's ally russia and opposition supporter turkey announced the agreement on thursday. a leading opposition group supports the cease fire. syria and turkey say the truce excludes the islamic state groups and militants linked to al qaeda. russian president vladimir putin called on the syrian government and opposition groups to honor the agreement and take part in peace talks in kazakhstan. this is a third cease fire for syria this year. the previous two deals brokered in february and september by the united states and russia collapsed. government forces secured a military advantage earlier this

month by recapturing the city of aleppo. previously the largest opposition stronghold. this accord was mediated by russia and turkey as their diplomatic ties regain strength. he hopes the deal will help end the five-year civil war. authorities in china's far western region are investigating a deadly bombing. is state run news agency says attackers drove into a communist party facility and detonated explosi explosives. two people were killed and three others wounded. the bombing happened in the southern part of the region. the three bombers wide receiver attacked and killed. people have criticized

government policies in the region calling them oppressive. a former top aid to south korean president park has denied colluding with the leader. this came out at the second hear of a trial relating to the crimes of park's long time friend choi. the former presidential secretary appealed at the seoul central district court. the president is enmeshed in an influence peddling scandal. chung was channelled with leaking 47 documents to choi allegedly at the president's approval. during thursday's trial, his lawyer admitted his client handed the documents to choi. but the lawyer denied that chan conspired with the president. saying the former aid did not receive specific instruction from park. during the first hearing last week, the lawyer suggested his client would admit to conspiring with the president. two other people have been

indicted. choi and former presidential aide, an chong-bum. both have denied colluding with park. french authorities are investigating the disappearance of a japanese student in the country's east. nhk has learned that the chilean man police are searching for has already returned to his country. the authorities have detained 21-year-old after he went missing after having dinner with a chiliian man in his 20s on december 4th in a restaurant. she's a junior and studying in eastern france. authorities suspect she may have been abducted, held captive or the victim of other crimes. the paper said the authorities on monday referred him to interpol as a material witness. police in chile told nhk the man has repatriated. they are now searching for him.

low lying bangladesh is one of the asian countries most at risk from climate change, it's also one of the region's poorest nations, lacking adequate funds to protect its lands. thousands of people lose their homes to water lands every year. >> reporter: the village of singapore is nearly 200 kilometers from the sea, but even here, climate change is a growing over the past five years, land about 200 meters from the original river bank has been eroded. over 100 houses and fields have been swept away, forcing 2,000 villages to leave. a school building swamped as the rising river has worn away its foundation, it's too dangerous for children to study here anymore.

the water is forcing waves of residents from their homes. this 46-year-old former farmer lives with his wife and 1-month-old baby girl. >> we won't be able to live here if more land is eroded. in that case, we'll have to leave this village. >> reporter: they already had to move once four years ago when the rising river swept away their home. and without farm land, he has to find a different job to provide for his family. other villagers are also concerned that their homes may soon be swept away. >> translator: nobody will be able to live in this village if no counter measures are taken.

in about a decade, our village may disappear completely. >> reporter: half the language in bangladesh is less than 10 meters above sea level. experts say that as ice on the himalayas melt, a vast amount of water is flowing down into the river, sharply raising its height. rising sea rivers, high waves and floods caused by cyclones are making things worse. the bangladeshi government is pushing to build embankments and evacuation shelters, but the shortage of funds has slowed the progress. some studies suggest about 18% of bangladeshi land may be lost at the current rate. people are flocking to the capital dhaka, many have to live in slums. there are more than 5,000 people living in this tiny land, just the same as two football grounds.

this 40-year-old was a fisherman in a southern coastal town and his home has been flooded out twice. he sold his fishing nets and moved to dhaka last year. >> translator: my life is dhaka is tough, i have no land. i want to go back to my hometown, but i have lost my home, land, assets, everything. >> reporter: the harsh reality of climate change is affecting more and more people around the world. more needs to be done to help them keep their land, their homes and their jobs. nhk world, singapore, bangladesh. the loss of a loved one can push people to action, that's

the case in our next story of a japanese woman who lost her young son to tragedy. nhk world reports from ghana, she's making sure others aren't at the same risk. >> reporter: she speaks about the importance of first aid at an event in the capital of ankara. >> cardiac arrest and ventricular defibrillation can start suddenly or by being hit in the head or chest by a soccer ball. >> her son died in ghana two years ago, he got into difficulties while surfing, he might have lived if only there had been proper equipment at hand, such as an automatic exterm defibrillator, an

is a heart shocker, a machine that uses electric shock to revive a stopped heart. she founded an npo called the fund. one of her goals to distribute as many aeds to ghana as possible. >> i realized when i came to ghana that many people can't get the level of medical care that we get in japan. so i decided to start this project to distribute aeds. >> reporter: the aeds that were sent last year are being used in this teaching hospital. she helps demonstrate the device, along with some emergency resuscitation methods. >> use this part and push hard. look over here. >> reporter: doctors say the donated aeds have already saved lives. >> i think that every hospital in ghana has to have it and be able to use it efficiently to save life.

>> i feel reassured seeing the hospital using the aed and watching the students learn resuscitation methods, it makes me feel like my son's death was not in vain. keep going with this project. >> reporter: the group raises money through its website and word of mouth. while nothing will bring her son back, the program may help others to live. american actress debbie reynolds has died.

she was the lieading figure in american comedies in the 50s and 60s. reynolds was 84. her death on wednesday came a day after the passing of her daughter, carrie fisher was best known for her role as princess leah in the "star wars" movies. reynolds rose to stardom for her role in the 1962 musical "singing in the rain." she was nominated for best actress for her role in the 1964 the unsinkable molly brown. reynolds was at her son's home in beverly hills planning her daughter's funeral when she fell ill. the cause of her death has not yet been revealed. her son told local media that the stress of his sister's death may have been too much for reynolds. now this is the season for holiday traffic as 2016 comes to a close, many japanese are heading to either their hometown

or on get away for the holiday period. the exodus from major cities gachb began an thursday, some travellers are taking advantage of a new line linking tokyo and the northern most prefecture of hokkaido. >> i'm going back to my parents to rest at my parents place. the new line is very convenient. >> many domestic flights are also packed through. passengers has formed long lines at the airport. >> i'm going to the maldives. >> we are traveling to sri lanka. >> i want to enjoy local cuisine. >> the airport also said that on

thursday alone, around 50,000 people left for destinations overseas. concern for the welfare of animals is leading some japanese farmers to raise livestock in more humane, natural ways. consumers are learning that such practices are not just good for the animals, they also result in products that are more flavorful and safe to eat. >> reporter: this chef hung a sign outside his restaurant, it encourages support for animal welfare. he advocates the humane treatment of livestock. the pork he serves has been raised to very high standards. >> the meat is tender and has great texture. >> this kind of meat appears in many dishes. including grilled spare ribs and stews. his customers approve.

>> it's got a very rich taste. >> pork at supermarkets sometimes have a strong smell, but this doesn't. >> reporter: the pork comes from a farm in the suburbs of tokyo. the animals are raised according to a set of constructs that originated in the uk. one of them is allowing animals the freedom to express normal behavior. pigs live outdoors and are never confined. they can roll around in the mud and they sleep on a fluffy hay mat. farmers normally dock the tails because the pigs have a tendency to bite each other, but here the tails are left alone. >> reporter: the concept here is granting animals freedom from pain, injury or disease. the pigs at this farm lead stress free lives so there's no need to cut their tails. the farmer sometimes feeds tasty

squash to her pigs. she says her methods result in better products. >> my pigs walk around and exercise, and so they build fine, lean, muscles, the meat has a chewy texture and tastes like pork should taste. >> reporter: concern for animal welfare is spreading, in may, a group of farmers, veterinarians and researchers established the japan farm animal welfare association, they're about to launch a certification program to appeal to consumers. the director is an expert on animal welfare. he hopes that certification will help make the concept more popular in japan. >> translator: certification will add value to these products and help them stand out. i think the label will capture the attention of consumers and make them think about where their food comes from. >> reporter: this dairy farm in

hokkaido has joined the organization. he's seeking certification for his milk. the requirements are very strict. in addition to granting his animals freedom of movement, he must maintain high standards of hygiene. so he has a special shower room where he can gently wash the cows teets, he gently cleans them with a sterilized cloth before he starts milking, as a result, the raw milk has les bacteria. his milk costs twice the national average but he has some very loyal customers. in september, a hotel in tokyo started using his milk in its desserts. >> the hotel bought my milk because it's produced humanely.

i'm very grateful. i want to promote the concept so it's nice to see the hotel serving my milk. >> reporter: japan's government is encouraging farmers to embrace these practices in order to create more choice for consumers and consumers are learning that companies that sell products that come from humanely raised livestock are learning that happy animals make for happy customers. the bookstores in japan have come up with a new marketing strategy, but we don't want to give too much away. it seems that the trick is to

keep your customers in suspense. >> reporter: they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. in one corner of this bookstore, you don't get a choice. no title, no author's name. the cover is hid on, wrapped in a recommendation note written by hand. >> it was our best selling book last week. >> reporter: one of the employees came up with the idea. he was looking for a catchy way to market a book. >> i want to get as many customers as possible to read, with no preconceptions, just pick up a book. >> reporter: he called it paper back x. on the cover, he wrote a personal note. >> translator: as you read, the author's dedication to discovering the truth really hits home. it's very moving. i really hope you will experience this work too. >> reporter: customers were intrigued. three months after going under cover, the book has sold about 3,000 copies. >> translator: it did capture my interest. >> translator: someone must really want me to read it. the recommendation caused me to try.

>> i have never seen anything like this. >> reporter: the book is sealed, the only way to find out what's inside is to buy it. now more than 200 bookstores in the country are selling the paper back x style. in this store, this woman volunteered to promote a book as a paper back x. >> translator: as a bookstore employee, i have in the past wanted to sell certain books that i thought were important. but it's never worked out very well. i never sold very many. >> reporter: she followed his formula. she made her review emotional and personal. >> this book shocked me so much, it left me shaking, i couldn't believe it. i thought really? i read it many times over. they say bookstores really sell, but i think everyone is looking for a book that's fun or interesting to read. they just need a little push to

take that book in hand. >> reporter: bookstores are losing customers to digital media, creating a little mystery in their products might be one way to win them back. it's time now for the world weather. tokyo woke up to a beautiful sunny morning. nice weather will stick with us to the new year's day? >> it will be continue to be sunny for a while and temperatures expected to be warming up. on january 1, it's going to be more like march than january. so let's look forward to that. in japan, heavy snow is falling. over the past 24 hours, 45 centimeters of snow fell. things are going to be improving in general. these are your expected highs in

the next few days, warming up a little bit as we go into sunday. as for tokyo, 13 degrees on january 1 and 14 degrees on january 2. and it's going to be abnormally warm, especially in the west. srk saporo will see weather. and across china, right now a high pressure system is causing warm weather, but temperatures in the morning are quite low. right now the air quality legal in beijing is hazardous, conditions will stay the same into your saturday. the remnants of the typhoon are sending moisture into the mid portions of vietnam, more rain expected so the risk of flooding is getting higher and higher every day. friday 10 degrees for the high in beijing, hazy weather, minous 13 with partly sunny conditions. and let's go to southeastern europe. there's a potent low pressure

system that is causing widespread snowfall and also significant rainfall for turkey. we have video coming out of mersin. that weather has been affecting the mediterranean coast from late wednesday into thursday. the heaviest rain since 2001 has caused fatal flash floods. two people were killed. in the northern city, a bus traveling to the city of istanbul plunged over a cliff on sunday. 14 people were injured. more bad weather is likely to happen across turkey and the balkan peninsula, we're talking about heavy snowfall and also heavy coastal rainfall which could cause some more flash floods. temperatures are going to be quite low at least for the next few days, ankara will see minus # degrees for the morning low on

your sunday and athens you'll see snow persisting into the first day of 2017. let's go to north america. there is an intense low pressure system over eastern canada which could cause up to 50 centimeters of snowfall, plus blustery conditions, driving is going to be quite hazardous. so stay safe. in the upper part of the continent, more snow is expected for the mountains in british columbia as well as washington. the cascades could see an additional 45 centimeters of snowfall. in the middle of the continue innocent it's going to be calm. houston 22 degrees, los angeles, sunny weather will come back by january 1, have a happy holiday. here's your extended forecast.

>> that wraps up this edition of

nhk "newsline." thank you for watching.

records here. rita aspinwall (voiceover): on this edition of native report, we meet artist ben pease, and view his works of art that combine iconic celebrity images with crow influences. i've kind of appropriated native american regalias with the white weasel ermine skins here. ernie stevens (voiceover): learn about the historical significance of the buffalo for the crow nation in montana. rita aspinwall (voiceover): and we interview crow nation senator rudolph knute old crow, sr. as a nation, as you know-- that's probably why i'm wearing a hat. we're very horse oriented. we also learn about what we can do to lead healthier lives, 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, the blandin foundation, and the duluth superior area community foundation. [theme music]