And what should people be bracing for . The typhoon affect the the Northern Areas of the philippines. The typhoons are not too rare but it was the strongest typhoon on record to hit the philippines on record. But it moved over the south of luzon on Christmas Day as a very strong tide, the second high highest category on a typhoon scale. The system moved toward the west, and it was near manila today. It has weakened slightly packing winds of 180 kilometers per hour. The good news is the system is starting to pull away from the country but still strong winds are blowing over parts of luzon. The next start is going to be the south of vietnam as we go into later this week. In fact the system couould get very clolose to the country y a tropical depression by thursday afternoon local time. As it does its goining to have nortrtheasterly flow. That means strong winds and heavy rain is expected for the central portions of vietnam which has been continuing with flooding over the past couple of months. Thank you very much. Three chinese patrol ships have entered japans territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in the east china sea. Japanese coast guard officials said the vessels intruded monday morning into the waters. The ships sailed in the area for about an hour. The Japanese Foreign ministry launched a protest with the Chinese Embassy in tokyo over the incursion, reaffirming the senkakus are an inherent part of japans territory. Japan controls the islands. China and taiwan claim them. Japan denies that there are any grounds for a territorial dispute. Japans top Government Spokesperson has commented on another maritime matter. Yoshihide suga says the appearance of a chinese Aircraft Carrier in the Pacific Ocean demonstrates t the rise of chins naval capability. Translator the government will keep close watch over the activities of Chinese Naval vessels around japan. We will do all we can to conduct surveillance activities. Officials with the japanese marititime selfdedefense force confirmed the sighting. They say it and other warships passed between okinawas main n island and miyako island sunday. They say its the first time theyd spotted a chinese Aircraft Carrier in a high sea exercise in the waters. Japans Prime Minister is preparing for a trip to pearl harbor, hawaii. He will leave on monday night. There shinzo abe will meet with american president barack obama. They will pay their respects to the victims of a japanese attack on the naval base that drew the u. S. Into world war ii. Abe says the visit will confirm the importance of bilateral ties before the inauguration of president elect donald trump in january. Abe plans to visit the National Memorial cemetery of the pacific where american war dead are buried. Abe will also lay a wreath at a memorial dedicatated to nine students from western n japan. They werere killed nearby when u. S. Submarine mistakenly sank their Training Vessel in 2001. On tuesday, abe and obama are scheduled to hold their last meeting. They will visit the uss arizona memorial and lay flowers before delivering remarks. Abe says he intends to express japans resolve to never repeat the calamity of war. A new year brings the opportunity for new experiences. But some things are hard to forget. In japan, people are remembering a lion 71 years after its death. The animal was the symbol of a zoo. As air strikes intensified in world war ii, concerns arose about t the lion breaking frfre. The hardecision ththat had to be mamade. Reporter the king of the beas was roaming across this terrain. The 200 animals living in the zoo that was right here. An article celebrated the zoos opening on new years day in 1930. The story talked about the main attraction, the lion. People who saw it are up in years now. But they remember. Translator the lion left a profound impression on me. It looked huge as it strolled around in its cage. Reporter world war ii broke out in 1941, making the United States and japanan enemies. People suffered, animals t. American air raids were not limited to military facililitie and factories. That created a risk of wild animals escaping if the bombings destroyed their cages. The japanese government told zoos to slaughter lions, tigers, elephants and bears. The directive put kagawa in a difficult position. He was the head zoo keeper in takanatsu. His grandson kazumi is now 83. He used to live with his grandfather in a house on the zoo grounds. The boy was allowed to feed the lion at a time when many people barely had enough to eat. Kazumi rodode his bicycle to ho farms to collect food for the animal. But that ended. Translator in march of 1945, unfortunately,y, the lion was st to death. Reporter kagawa ended up asking a hunting club to kill the lion. He was being kept in a wooden cage. The zoo could not afford concrete. Translator on n that day, i couldnt bring myself to see the lion and say goodbye. It didnt feel right. I didnt give it its final meal. Then i heard the gunshots. They were loud. And carried quite a distance. I dont think ill ever forget that sound. Reporter kazumi stayed away from the site, unable to face the evidence of what had happened. Four months later, takamatsu was indeeded bombed. The zoo, however, was not damaged. Translator the cage survived the air raids. If we had known what would happen, we would have kept the lion alive. I myself could never point a gun at an animal thats full of energy and spirit. When i think of that lion, i realize the importance of peace. Reporter after the war, people got on with their lives. They didnt talk about the lion much, and new generations never heard of it. Now they know. The king of beasts has become a symbol of the need for peace. Sho nakamura, nhk world, takamatsu. Japanese researchers want to dig deeper when it comes to disposing of nuclear waste. They want to find out whether its possible to bury it some 5,000 meters deep, compared with the governments current plan of more than 300 meters. The researchers are from the governmentaffiliated japan agency for marine Earth Science and technology. They will carry out a basic survey at a Remote Island that lies on the geologically s stab pacific plate. Theyeyll use a research vesselo collect data on the topography and geology of the area. No technology now exists to Bury Nuclear Waste 5,000 meters deep. Government officials are planning to bury highlevel radioactive waste from Nuclear Plants in final disposal facilities more than 300 meters deep. Theyre now looking for potential sites. Nanagasaki university y profess suzuki is a former member of japans Atomic Energy y commission. He says its too soon to discuss technology that has yet to be developed but thinks the agencys research could lead to more options. Svetlana alexievich was awarded the 2015 nobel prize in literature for her writing about human suffering through the testimonies of witnesses. She has been highly praised for her oral history of the chernobyl disaster. The belarussian author and journalist visited japan last month with an important goal. Reporter alexievich headed to Fukushima Prefecture in the tohoku region. Since the Nuclear Disaster five years ago, many former residents are living as evacuees. She visited People Living in temporary housing and listened to their stories. Translator do you remember when the accident tookok place . Translator i couldnt forget it if i tried. Reporter her books are written collages of testimonies by ordinary people. Her book chernobyl prayer a chronicle of the future, published in 1997, is representative of her work. Its a collection of statements from the victims of the chernobyl Nuclear Disaster 30 years ago. Alexievich spent more than 10 years interviewing over 300 people, sometimes on camera. She then wrote about their deep shock and continual sadness. Translator in the last few days, whenever i lifted my husbands body, his skin would peel off and stick to my hand. Reporter last year alexievich won the nobel prize in literature for what the committee called a monument to suffering and courage in our time. Translator i try to listen to people no one sees or hears. There is much more power in their emotions than in economic or medical data. So i think its important to remember their lives. Reporter alexievich came to japan to hear what people in Fukushima Prefecture have to say. She met with hasegawa. His town is still under an evacuation order. Before the earthquake, hasegawa had about 50 cows. He was living with Seven Members of his family, spanning four generations. Hasegawa drove alexievich to his former home. Its still empty. After the accident, all of his cows had to be put down or let go. Unable to continue dairy farming due to radiation, hasegawa decided to demolish the cow shed. His family is now scattered. Translator wasnt it difficult to leave home . Translator yes, it was. We cant live the way we did before the accident because of the radiation. Reporter alexievich was also told the story of a dairy farmer who committed suicide. A close friend of the farmer took her to the place where he died. Translator he left a note saying, i wish thered been no Nuclear Power plants here. Translator no one completely understands the horror of Nuclear Power. Literature should communicate it and d so should philosophers. Its not a job for politicians alone. In other words, we need to look at what happened in chernobyl and fukushima and put them together to form new knowledge. I saw the future, not the past. And we need to work on that future. Reporter the future depends on never letting the voices of the ordinary people go unheard. Thats the message from Nobel Laureate svetlana alexievich. Israel is continuing to push back after the u. N. Security Council Passed a resolution demanding an end to settlementbuilding. The country lodged a protest with the ambassadors of nations that backed the resolution. The measure was passed on friday. It condemns settlementbuilding in the west bank and other areas as a violation of international law. Israeli media say the Foreign Ministry summoned the envoys of ten countries including japan to receive the protest on sunday. Japanese diplomatic sources say that d due to a scheduling conflict, the deputy ambassador went instead to explain japans position. The resolution was adopted after the United States broke with its tradition of vetoing those types of measures and abstained. Local media say summoning ambassadors is highly unusual and that israel may become more isolated internationally. Pope francis has used his christmas message to call for peace in syria. The pontiff spoke to thousands of people from around the world at st. Peters square on sunday. He urged immediate help for what he called the exhausted population of f aleppo. The pope said the International Community needs to work hard for a negotiated solution to syrias civil war. He said civil coexistence must be restored to the middle eastern country. The pontiff also wished peace to people who suffered because of terrorism. And he offered prayers for refugees and migrants. Security around the vatican was tight after a truck rammed into a crowd last week at a Christmas Market in berlin. Indodonesianan police have dead two suspects they say were members of a group that supports Islamic State militants. They say they were planning to attack police. A spokesperson says an antiterrorism squad killed the two men on sunday about 80 kilometers from jakarta. Police were led to the hideout after interrogating members of the same group who had been arrested hours earlier in the capital. The spokesperson said police demanded the suspects surrender, but the men tried to attack them with machetetes. The officers responded with gunfire. Police say they found several machetes and documents detailing their plan to carry out the attacks. Authorities have recently foiled a series of plots by supporters of Islamic State militants. The government is deploying about 100,000 police and military personnel around the country during the yearend seasonon. French police say a man with possible knowledge of a missing japanese student is likely to have left europe. Narumi kurosaki is 21 years old and was studying in eastern france. She disappeared on the evening of december 4th after going to a restaurant with the man, who was also an international student. Police suspect foul play. French media say Security Camera footage shows him visiting kurosakis dorm that night. They say there were reports of screams coming from the building. They also say the man left france three days later. A senior French Police officer tells nhk the mans flight reservations and credit card records suggest he flew somewhere outside europe. The officer would not name the country but said police have referred the case to authorities there. Now its time to check the markets. Tokyo stocks edged lower, extending losses to a thirird d. Lets go to ramin mellegegard w has the e details from our n nh market studio. Volume and overall participation has been low as Market Players winding down into the last trading week of the year. Some investors booking some profits after the recent rally. Lets have a look at how the markets closed for monday, december 26th. The nikkei, 19,396, down 0. 16 . The broader topix, 1538, down 0. 37 . So with a pause in t the recent rally in t the dollar, the strongerer yen weieded on major exporters. None more so than the auto sector. Toyota, honda, and mazda all losing ground. However, on the upside, we were tracking nintendo. It rose after a media report sayiying its to launcnch more its console games on smartphone apps, adding to the alreready susuccessful launch of super mao run. So Market Players will be waiting for the latest data on japans economy y due out on tuesday. Including consumer prices. Ramin mellegard repoining fr nhk market stuos. Cininem in china can on run filmshat have governme approva witht it, inpendent filmmakers are limited to showing their works on smaller private screens, and they say things are getting tougher. Our next report comes from the countrys Inner Mongolia region where some young filmmakers are trying to find an audience. Reporter one venue for the Film Festival is the middle of the mongolian grassland. Organizers are showing more than 20 w works binindepeent t director some of the films depi t the tough li e ethniminoriries facecen todays chin how people strurule to ho ono their ther tones. D there e themesf religigion. Such as tibetan buddhism. Gu tao was a key organizer of the event. He grew up in this region and became a filmmaker. Hes won several awards overseas. His documentaries focus on families whose traditional lifestyles are affected under beijings rule. This is the story of a boy who has to leave his mother to make a living. Translator i want to capture the lives of minority grgroups a real and true light as i see them. Reporter some filmmakers say president xi jinping has been tightening control over th screening ofof unauthorizezed movies. Two years ago, the authorities shut down an annual Film Festival in beijing. There are reports of similar stories across the country. Gu made sure he had the correct approval. He promised the head of the local government that the event wouldnt contain any antigovernment messages. Translator theyve told me to run their promotional clips at the event. What can i do . I cant say no. Reporter gu also dropped the word independent from the event title. The word could provoke authorities. Among the guests is someone whos appeared in gus past works. Yu go has followed gus footsteps to become a filmmaker. Yus film is a raw look at life in his own family, an ethnic minority. He sticks to the principle of trying to show the true situation, just like his mentor gu. Translator we ethnic minorities often feel inferior, but i want to keep making films to tell the trututh about our lives. Reporter people in china are well aware of the governments control of freedom of expression, but gu and his fellow filmmakers are trying to keep the spirit of independence alive. Japans government is taking steps to make sure that foreign visitors can be kept informed in the event of a natural calamity. With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and paralympics in mind its preparing a new Disaster Information Service when earthquakes and other emergencies occur. Officials will use Lessons Learned fromom the s series of eaearthquakes inin kumamoto o i april. Thats when local municipalities failed to properly inform foreigners of proper actions to take. One idea is to designate personnel to be dispatched as information coordinators. Susuch personnel will visit temporary shelters to provide foreign evacuees with information and listen to their needs. Its time now to go to World Weather with meteorologist sayaka mori. Lets go this time to japan starting off with tokyo where residents enjoyed a nice day today in the sun, but it seems a rainmaker is approaching us. Rain will likely start tomorrow morning. And we could see some heavy rain at times during the noon hours in the tokyo area. Right now a storm is affecting western japan with heavy rainfall and also o powerful winds. The system will likekelyead towards the eaeast. This is actually a fastmoving system, so by ththe afternoon hours ththings are going tbe improving. But afteththat, owow will likely increase across the northwestern side of japan. We may see up to 30 centimeters of snowfall in the north. Temperatures are going to be as follows. Tokyo will see quite warm weather tuesday. 17 for the high. But as we go into wednesday, things are cooling down dramatically. Only 10 degrees expected for your daytime high. Sappororo right now, about0 0 centimeters of snow is on the ground, which is nearly three times higherer than average fo this time e of year. As you can see, more snow is expected at leasast into your friday. Temperatatures are going to be below freezing into the e rest the work week. Now lets go across china. We will see some snowfall across inland areas and rainfall across the coastal locations. And a system which is a typhoon is moving away from the philippines. This is good news. Temperatures are going to be only 1 in n seoul. 1 1 degree expxpected in beijin your tuesday. Minus 17 for the high with snowflakes expected in ulaanbaatar. Lets go to north america. Snow fell in the south of california. Lets go to video from san diego county. A snow storm battered mt. Laguna on christmas eve. 15 centimeters of snow fell. It created a winter wonderland, making skiers happy. But snow also caused dangerous road conditions,ororcing drivevs to put chains on their tires. Now snow has let up in california butnsnsteadlilizzard conditions are hpenining in tht dakotas and also manitoba. Blizzard conditions will likely head east into tuesday, watch out for that. Temperatures are going to be minus 9 in winnipeg. In the Single Digits in washington, d. C. As well as new york city on your monday. And snow is expected for seattle as well as vancouver on your monday. Lets go to europe. Its blustery in the northern half of europe. Winds are going to be up to 130 kilolometers per hour in places like germa, as well l as norw. We have a risk for avalanches posted for parts of norway, please watch out for that. Across the south, mostly dry. Temperatures are going to be on the warmer side. 10 in vienna. 12 in berlin. 11 in paris. Things are going to be cooling down significantly as we go into tuesday. Heres your extended forecast. That wraps it up for this edition of nhk newsline. Well see you again at the top of the hour. Im minori takao. Thanks for joining us. If i could touch your body everybody days ofhe less you 2016, we lose yet another music legend. George michael, the 53yearold british artist, dying of suspected heart failure. Russian authorities are saying either pilot error or a technical problem was likely to be the cause of sundays plane crash over the black sea. 92 people on board were killed, with the f