i'm james tengan in tokyo. welcome to nhk "newsline." japan's prime minister will visit pearl harbor late this month. shinzo abe will join president barack obama on december 26th and 27th to pay tribute to victims of the attack. we'll bring you more details as they come in.

defense officials in seoul say they're closely monitoring north korea for possible provocative acts following the adoption of fresh yooup sanks against pyongyang. slapping stricter sanctions on pyongyang. the move came in response to the north's latest nuclear test in september. they have also announced their new measures. state-run media has been reported on kim jung un's units. officials in seoul are on the alert saying there could be another provocation from the reclusive nation. >> north korea may consider sanctions and a good opportunity to engage in provocation. >> the spokesperson issued a warning of retaliation. acts that sharply raise tensions

would result in the north's leadership. north korea will mark several five-year anniversaries this month, including the death of former leader kim jung il on the 17th and the assumption of the top military posts on the 30th. the country has in the past conducted provocative acts on such milestone days. this week many south koreans could get their wish to get the president removed from office. a number of key ruling members will vote for park geun-ye's impeachment. the latest in a candle that has gone on for weeks. for the sixth saturday in a row hundreds of thousands of people converged on central seoul to demand that park step down immediately. the latest an it i-park rally yet. the ruling party met the following day. the anti-park faction says while it plans to vote in favor of the

impeachment motion set for friday, it could still consider. agree on a plan for park to resign. however, it seems unlikely they will do so. park said last tuesday she's prepared to resign before her tenure ends in early 2018. she said she would leave it to parliament to come up with a plan for to happen. donald trump has taken to social media to social media. accused beijing for manipulating its currency. trump's tweet on sunday said did china ask us if it was okay to build a massive military complex in the middle of the south china sea? i don't think so. that is trump's first reference to the disputed water since he won the election in november. the u.s. and some southeast asian countries have express ed.

china has carried out land reclamation building air fields and other facilities. in another tweet, trump questioned whether china has asked if it was okay to devalue its currency making it hard for u.s. companies to compete and questioned what he described as heavy taxes on u.s. products entering the country. during the election campaign, trump accused china of manipulating its currency and pledged to impose higher tariffs on chinese goods. japan's foreign ministry has lodged a protest with the u.s. embassy over another intrusion into its territorial waters. four vessels came close to the islands in the east china sea. coast guard officials say the patrol ships spent two hours in coastal waters. it's the 34th day this year that chinese government ships have entered the area.

japan controls. the government maintains they are an inherent part of the territory. japan's prime minister has reached a milestone not many of his predecessors achieved in a country that has been fickle with its nebs. abe is the fourth longest serving prime minister in the post war era. >> i will make the utmost effort every single day to deriver results. >> abe became prime minister in september of 2006, but quit about a year later citing poor health. he made a comeback in december of 2012 and has remained in office since then. he has now served 1,807 days. that includes his first term. japan central bank chief has been sharing his views on digital innovation. joining us from the business team with more on that and other stories. >> bank of japan governor

acknowledged the penetration of new technologies into the financial system, but he said the bank is not considering use of a virtual currency in its settlement system. many financial institutions are introducing new financial services that intricate the latest information technology. if fintek could help channel support to new ideas it could help grow the economy, but he added while the boj is studying new technologies, including virtual currency technology, it is not thinking about using it. canada's central bank has announced a plan to work with commercial banks on testing to apply the virtual currency technology to a settlement system, but some experts say it may be difficult to apply this to central banks. checking the markets, the euro fell sharply against the dollar after italian prime minister matteo renzi said he

would resign afterveryone

here has come to say good-bye. >> translator: i just want to convey my appreciation. thank you for giving me the chance to enjoy beautiful landscapes. >> translator: i think i will feel empty without the railway. i wish this many passengers had been onboard every day. >> reporter: there have been fewer and fewer passengers on the 16 kilometer section so the railway company decided to shut it down. when the route went

lines, but currently only these ones are running. in november, the railway company announced 13 sections becoming too difficult to sustain. together, they add up to 1,200 kilometers, about half of their firm's entire operation. shutting them down would have a huge impact on the people who live across the region. >> translator: i need train service for my hospital visits. i have no idea how i can manage with new means of

transportation. >> reporter: and residents aren't the only ones v please stand byn in other parts of japan. the public transportation system is a problem for rural communities. >> reporter: jr hokkaido proposed in which local government own part of the railway facilities. for now, these governments must figure out how to keep things moving for the communities without relying on railway. nhk world. when japanese people fall ill most don't need to worry about the quality of their health care but when foreign visitors get sick or injured,

they could struggle. boost tourist numbers and the pressure to look after nonjapanese people is rising. >> a concert inside a hospital. it's a rather unusual occurrence. this event was arranged bay taiwanese musician as a way of saying thanks for his treatment here. in january, sung came down with a gallbladder problem during his trip to wujapan and had to undergo emergency surgery. >> translator: words can't describe how grateful i am. >> reporter: hospitals in japan are seeing more and more nonjapanese patients. expects a record 24 million visitors this year. meanwhile, the population of foreign residents now stands at 2.3 million and is also rising. sung was treated at tokyo's

national center. last year the hospital set up a special department for foreign patients. english-speaking nurses are on hand to assist them throughout their treatments. >> about 3:00 p.m. today. okay for you? >> should be. >> reporter: currently the hospital can handle 20 languages working with interpretteres familiar with medical terms. >> translator: it is dangerous to work without interpreters. without proper communication, patients will be nervous and doctors will find it hard examining and treating them. >> reporter: a nepaly man has come in complaining of a throat problem. an interpreter joins the conversation on the phone.

>> translator: it's very difficult to get treated in a hospital if you don't understand the language. the interpreter was very helpful. >> reporter: however, there are still not enough medical interpreters in japan. in a survey last year most hospitals said communicating with foreign patients is the issue of greatest concern. workshops are being organized for medical experts to discuss the issues posed by patients from aboard. topics include ways to find interpreters as well as the common problem of nonpayment for services. hospitals are advised that countries have different systems and to provide patients with more advance notice of costs. >> translator: in one case the patient says they had used up their money for their visit.

>> we should make treatment prepaid. >> reporter: amid the explosion in tourist numbers, japan's health ministry is studying how to improve visitor health care. a goal is to deliver peace of mind for everyone, even in an emergency. >> you're watching nhk newsline live from tokyo. time to get a weather update from jonathan oh who starts off with the stormy conditions. >> i think the conditions are going to be improving as we go forward in time the winds should start to die down. that will help change the scenario. but during the weekend we had a system crossing out of the balkans and heading towards the southwestern portions of russia. let me show you some video. water coming onshore because an intense storm impacted sochi saturday with 124-mile-per-hour winds causing massive waves and that left flooding problems in the city. a small tornado right there was also seen over the city. roofs of several buildings were

damaged and some electricity lines were broken. the storm also caused delays at the local airport. so, this was a bit of a storm that moved through the area. we do have a change, though, coming up, as we go forward in time. high pressure is now starting to move over turkey. eventually as it continues to move towards the east, the winds should start to relax and bring an improvement in the conditions. in the meantime in the north, not only dealing with snow possibilities but strong winds from time to time. a low-pressure system down here towards the ibeerian peninsula and this will continue to move towards the east. may bring some showers into the northern portions of spain as we go throughout the day. and we'll be seeing some temperatures still a bit cool, though. 19 in lisbon and 15 in madrid, again, snow possibilities in to moscow. take us down towards india and we do have a system that seems to be getting a little bit

better organized as it continues to move towards the north and west. ift does, ather nam system. i think for the next few days we're not really worried about impacting land, but we may see some showers around the periphery. as it continues to move towards the north and west, that is when we will be more concerned. looking into east asia, we do have a low pressure system moving towards the northern sections of japan. bringing a southerly flow into tokyo with a very sunny and warm day. looking for the conditions to last for a day or so more and then see the temperatures descending. chilly lows in the morning hours. high pressure dominating most of china and that will help keep things a bit sunny as we go forward in time. overnight lows still chilly. in tokyo a low of 5 as you wake up for the next five mornings and below freezing with snow in the forecast. look at this, a chilly, maybe a little bit more moderate by

thursday, but still a bit cool as we go forward. 17 for the high in tokyo. 5 in beijing with partly cloudy skies. as you look at the forecast tomorrow in the united states, a low pressure system that is moving out of the deep south and that is going to be bringing a chance for some rainfall. we had some thunderstorms especially down toward the south and west into texas and also into louisiana like lake charles. that area was dealing with some storms. as the system continues to move north and east, rain from toronto all the way down to miami and back towards the west high pressure bringing sunny skies. vancouver and seattle coming up on monday. here's your extended outlook.

our top story, once again. shinzo abe the first sitting japanese prime minister to visit pearl harbor with a u.s. president. he will visit on december 26th and 27th. and along with president barack

obama, they will pay their respects to the victims of the 1941 japanese attack. abe will offer flowers at the arizona memorial and also hold talks with obama. >> in december, 1941, the now defunked japanese imperial navy attacked military bases in hawaii. abe says his visit will symbol

the reconciliation between the two countries. more updates and special reports at the top of the hour on "newsroom tokyo." i'm james tengqéa1ú@ñ

genie: hello, everyone. this is "france 24." i'm genie godula. these are the headlines. a crippling defeat for the italian prime minister. matteo renzi says he will resign after his attempts to change the constitution are overwhelmingly rejected in a referendum. french prime minister manuel valls is set to declare he is running for president. that announcemen