hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." on the eve of his inauguration, donald trump says he can bring about change. >> we're not going to let other countries take our jobs any longer. we're going to build up our great military. we're going to strengthen our

borders. >> trump addressed thousands of supporters at a welcome concert on the steps of lincoln memorial. he said he wouldn't just work for them but all americans. earlier in the day trump and mike pence visited arlington national cemetery. 54% of the respondents do not view trump favorably. his approval rating is among the lowest of the presidents who have taken office in the past 40 years. he will take actions on trade deals. >> it will be done by executive order. i think you'll see those happen very shortly. the new u.n. secretary general has spoken at the world

economic forum to stress the importance of world leaders understanding each other and working together. >> sometimes people have the idea that if the world is multipower equalibrium will be generated. nothing is more false. multipolarty can be a risk. >> the only way to avoid fatal clashes is for the main players to cooperate and create conditions for everyone to benefit. it's apparently a veiled reference to donald trump who has adopted a protectionist stance. trump has expressed skepticism about it. >> this is something we're

hearing from the governor of the bank of japan. he says he doesn't think protectionism will take root after trump takes office. >> translator: protectionism is unlikely to spread to such an extent that it will badly hurt global trade. this is because not only the u.s. but also japan, europe and china are intertwined in a global supply chains. >> british prime minister may gave a speech at davos. >> our decision to leave the european union was no rejection of our friends in europe with whom we share common interests

and values and so much else. it was no attempt to become more distant from them or to cease the cooperation that's helped to keep our continent secure and strong. >> may added she want the uk to emerge as a truly global britain with new trade deals. analysts say her comments seemed to indicate the prime minister wants to promote investment from other countries and prevent other foreign institutions from leaving britain. donald trump's nominee for treasury secretary has said he'll do what he can to maintain a strong dollar. steve mnuchin was speaking at a confirmation hearing before the senate finance committee. >> i will enforce trade policies that keep our currencies strong on the world exchanges and create and protect american jobs. >> mnuchin touched on trump's

earlier comment that the dollar was too strong. he said when the president elect made the comment, he wasn't referring to a long term trend. mnuchin said he thinks the comment meant a strong dollar could hurt u.s. trade in the short term. tokyo stock prices opened in the negative. let's look at where it is now. it's trading up by .1 of a percent. traders are also waiting for china's gdp to be released in less than an hour. let's take a look at currencies. the dollar briefly bounced to the mid 115 yen level but it has given back most of those gains. the dollar yen pair steady. trading at the upper 114 yen levels. that's up from the 112 yen level

earlier this week when trump said the dollar was too strong. the euro dipped after the european central bank said it's keeping rates unchanged but the decision was largely expected and the single currency recovered. let's move onto markets uncovered this hour in the asia pacific. we're seeing losses elsewhere. australian shares are down by two-thirds of a percent. kospi is lower by about .1. china markets open less than half an hour. a 40-car train is loaded with vehicles and home appliances. it set off from cargo terminal in the capital before dawn. it's about 2,200 kilometers away and the round trip journey will take seven days.

a japanese lo ggistic firm is working. the man for freight rail sflss is rising in india with its economic growth.sflss is rising in india with its economic growth.sersflss is rish its economic growth.vsflss is r with its economic growth.isflss with its economic growth.csflss with its economic growth.esflss with its economic growth.sflss a with its economic growth. is ri with its economic growth. is rih its economic growth. japan is also involved in plan line. japanese officials are hoping that more extensive cargo rail in india will be a benefit for japanese businesses. now, japanese merchants once relied on them to tally up sales and school children used them to learn math. but most people gave us the beads and bars of the abacus decades ago when calculators swept the world. people are trying novel ways to revive the age-old industry behind the enduring devices. >> reporter: this is an abacus

town. at one time, nearly 800 crafts people were based here in western japan. every year, they produced one million abacuses. fast forward to today. and it's a very different story. the town wants to change that. it's trying to reinvigorate the centuries' old industry. students at this vocational college are taking a course in rehabilitation. they're work ing with the university that borrow features of the abacus. the aim is to help people overcome physical ailments. one student says the abacus is

ideal for this purpose. >> translator: it's true that an abacus is good for calculating. but it's good in other ways, too. for example, turning the beads, moving them, flipping them up and down to make nice sounds. i think somehow these features are a good match for rehabilitation training. >> reporter: the students built a device to help with hand rehabilitation. users toss beads on to metal bars to make different sounds. another innovation is called touch. it features some 4,600 beads across dozens of strings. users can move them around to

create pictures or patterns. it's the kind of device that appeals to people of all ages. the designers spent five months putting it together. the hardest part was choosing the material for the strings. they needed something thick enough to keep the beads from falling. eventually, they settled on three bundles of nylon thread tied together in a braid. they took the idea from women's hair. recently students held an event to show off their prototypes to abacus makers and buyers. >> translator: i think it's great. students are very creative. they have interesting ideas. >> translator: it will be great if lots of people find out about our work. and if that serves to promote our abacus. >> reporter: people here are keen to preserve a craft dating back hundreds of years. many accept that sometimes the best way to safe guard tradition is through innovation. >> i'll leave you with the latest.

the mayor of tehran says 20 firefighters have died in a high rise building collapse. the historic structure caught fire thursday morning. iranian rescue workers are searching for the missing. more than 200 firefighters were trying to douse the flames when the 17 story tower collapsed. state run media say at least 70 of them were injured. they had warned people to leave the building there are reports that some reentered. the high rise was built in the 60s, it was one of the oldest in tehran. it housed 600 companies. fire department authorities had

issued repeat warnings the building did not have a sufficient fire fighting system such as sprinklers. authorities have removed a body in a hotel this italy. there's about 30 people at the hotel when the avalanche hit. it was so strong it wiped out parts of the building. several earthquakes struck hours earlier including one with a magnitude of 5.7. rescuers saved two people who managed to leave the building. the organizers of an international sporting event have asked a hotel chain in japan to avoid controversy. the firm is sparking protests in china over a book found in the room but says it won't back down. the book was written by the ceo

of the hotel. a group says it denies a part of the history. the war that began in the late 1930s that began between japan and china. and the hotel in the northern city is to house athletes during the asian winter games next month. officials of the game's organizing committee says it asked the hotel operator to avoid sensitive issues. but apa told nhk the firm has no intention of withdrawing the book. its managers find no fault with its contents. >> translator: the statute is a human rights issue related to comfort women. we would like to point out that two issues are totally different

in nature. >> the islands are known in japan as takeshima. they had called the statue plan improper. some local assembly members are collecting donations for the statue. hong kong's former financial secretary said he'll be running for the city's leadership in march. he was the third most powerful person in the government and will face a tough race against a former number two. media outlets say she's backed by beijing. hong kong media say beijing did not accept his resignation as financial secretary for more than a month. it's a precondition for filing for candidacy. they report the mainland government doesn't support him, partly because he listens to youth activists. a growing number of people say the city's high degree of autonomy is being eroded by

beijing. >> i don't think this is a simple solution to the discord we have witnessed in the past few years. that's clearly a whole number of different issues that have caused that. >> his main opponent is carrie lam, she's refused to bend to activists. the majority is loyal to beijing but supporters have secured more than a quarter of the membership. malaysia's prime minister is urging the world's biggest islam body to stop the persecution of ethnic muslims in myanmar. >> we call on the government to cease discriminatory action and attacks against the rohingyas immediately. and for the perpetrators to be

brought to justice. >> the pep perpetrator have been accused of rapes and killings, the country says it's countering insurgency after police were killed in october. an estimated 66,000 people have fled into bangladesh. the secretary general of the organization of islamic cooperation warns it could lead extremist groups to gain prominence in myanmar. >> translator: just as the oic reiterates its condemnation of violence against the rohingya, it calls on myanmar to insure the security forces apply maximum restraint towards civilians to keep those from fanning religious hatred and put

an end to unjustifiable acts against the muslim community. >> last month, police detained an indonesian man they believe was planning a terror attack in myanmar. thailand is preparing its youth for a globalized world and the efforts start at a very young age. nhk world reports. >> reporter: in kindergarten in bangkok has been teaching english he to its people for the past three years. children were recently speaking english everyday as a draw to the language. >> it's fun. >> reporter: there's a reason behind it. there seems to be endless streams of foreign companies making inroads into thailand. the launch of art in the community demonstrated how important it is that thailand become more open to the rest of the world. compared with other countries, thailand has fewer people who speak english. some say this might negatively

impact the country in the international arena. so the government recommended that thai children start learning english at kindergarten level instead of waiting until elementary school. and not just the government. the thai government also eager to keep up with -- styles have been increasingly possible. and parents are eager for children to have place in the international community. children, aged 9 to 16, are taking part in this seminar. they are learning how to use a knife but are apparently having a hard time. thais usually hold a spoon in

the right hand and fork in the left. >> translator: stick the fork into the vegetable and don't move the knife in your right hand and then put the food into your mouth. report it is understandable that it is a bit awkward. >> translator: this is very difficult because it is totally different from our culture. >> translator: in thailand we use a spoon and fork so it is natural for them to struggle with a knife. >> reporter: but that is all the more reason for parents to send their children to lessons. >> translator: learning international manners will surely boost their confidence in the future. >> reporter: it seems as though the globalization sweeping thailand is gaining popularity. nhk world, bangkok.

the new year grand sumo tournament is in the home stretch and battle for the emperor's cup is heating up. we go to resident sumo expert for the latest action. >> at the start of day 12 with just four days remaining in the first tourney of the year, we have a dandy in tokyo. after 11 days, ozeki champion was leading the pack with just one. he has no margin for error. if he want to claim his first emperor's cup. critics say one reason he has yet to win a championship is lack of mental strength. when the going gets tough, will he get over the line of this tournament? on day 12 he faced ikioi who is desperate to face his record with more wins than losses.

ikioi charged. kisenosato recovers and charges. kisenosato can't finish ikioi off the. but he stays calm and keeps up the pressure. ikioi resists as hard as he can. but in the end, kisenosato gets the job done. going to 11-1. sticking right hand kisenosato in the grand champion, the 37th time champion, gunning for his first title in fewer tournaments. he lost over back to back days earlier in the week but bounced back with two consecutive wins. he said he will do everything he can to stay con in contention until the end. he is challenged on day 12. hakuho. a walk in the park for hakuho. he remains at two losses. a couple other contenders have been getting in on the action.

they are tacka noah and itcha nojo two ranking fighters. mongolian tacka has an aggressive fighting style that overwhelms his foe so far. right hand and nishikigi gets a hold of his arm. he misses the target. takanoya takes his aggression and forces nishikigi out. looking sharp, too. the mongolian lost 20 kilograms and since his agility and speed improved dramatically. hokutofuji runs into ichiojo the mongolian runs into him and he is in command. he attacks. and ichiojo advances to 10-2. now, here are the standings after 12 days. sinno satto is still alone at

the top on 11 wins and 1 loss. hakuho was takanoiwa and ichinojo have two losses each. and that's all for today's summary. keep delivering and closing the deal this time or hakuho and company deny his dreams again. we will see how things unfold. i'll be back sunday to let you know who came out on top. >> looking forward to that championship. people are starting to see some snow. robert speta has the forecast for here and elsewhere in the world weather report. >> start off here across japan. we're looking at this area of low pressure pushing overhead. it's not just the moisture.

plenty of temperatures down around the freezing point into tokyo area and once you get that combination we're talking about the white stuff out here and already some areas around the region, that's a greater tokyo area. we have been seeing a few flakes come down. it's not heavy. more of a rain/snow mix but those are out there who want to see it. that's what we'll be looking at now. as we look into the afternoon, things should start to clear up a bit and maybe another chance of rain/snow mix as we go into the overnight hours. once this low pulls by, it's this one right here. it's a little more potent. it's going to bring in some fairly gust y winds with it across the mountains. you can be looking at some snowfall out there.

winds combined with that could be able to tie 126 kilometers per hour. that's when we're talking about white out conditions. very dangerous wind chills and slick road conditions. it's a migratory low unlike that stagnant weather pattern we seen last week. rather chilly out there for you. beijing with a high of only one. seoul at minus one. shanghai getting up to six.

that's a little bit of warm up from what you were seeing just a few days ago when the highs were around minus 20. now we take a look across the americas. i am going to be talking about this in just a second. low pulling in across eastern half of the u.s. the northwest right now where we have an area of low pressure that's been really hitting the area. it's been bringing some heavy rain. even snow up to about 50 centimeters in forecast through your friday. also freezing rain warnings are in place. very slick conditions especially if there's some of those mountain passes. if we look back toward the east rain in forecast on friday. this is big because we have the presidential inauguration going on. a lot of people will be turning their attention to that area. as we look into friday morning, scattered showers expected into the d.c. area. should taper off into the afternoon hours but still you do want to bundle up.

temperatures around 8 degrees. about 47 to 48 degrees fahrenheit. lows will be a little bit cooler but cloudy conditions heading into the evening hours. all right i'll leave you now with your extended outlook. that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." thanks for joining us.

ernie stevens: on this edition of "native report," we visit the shako:wi cultural center of the oneida nation of new york. rita aspinwall: we'll interview noted artist, writer, and curator rick hill. other times when we did make agreements with them, we made a wampum belt to commemorate that agreement. ernie stevens: and we'll learn about the clan mother system of the onondaga nation. and it all started a very, very long time ago. we also learn about what we can do to lead healthier lives and hear from our elders on this "native report." narrator: 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. [music playing]