at 20:00 (JST), January 14 AS

Israel's Prime Minister says the country's military carried out an airstrike on Iranian targets in Syria.

China is reporting its 2018 trade surplus with the United States surged more than 17 percent compared with the previous year.

Record snowfall , near the Alps, has left At least 24 people have dead snow related incidents in Europe this month particularly Germany and Austria.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20190114200000_english_1.mp3


Key words : israel
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_04/

Israel's Prime Minister says the country's military carried out an airstrike on Iranian targets in Syria.

Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that the air force attacked Iranian warehouses containing Iranian weapons near the international airport in Damascus.

He said that Israel is determined more than ever to take action against Iran in Syria.

Syrian media also reported that the Israeli military conducted an airstrike around the Damascus airport on Friday night on military facilities of Iran and the Lebanese Shia Muslim group Hezbollah.

Israel has reportedly been attacking the positions of Iran in Syria, saying the country is involved in the Syrian civil war and extending its power.

But it is rare for Israel to acknowledge its attacks.

The US decision to withdraw its troops from Syria has raised concern in Israel that Iran may further expand its presence in Syria.

Netanyahu's announcement is seen as an effort to stress to his people that Israel will not ease its hardline policy on Iran.

Key words : China is reporting
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_14/

China is reporting its 2018 trade surplus with the United States surged more than 17 percent compared with the previous year. The surplus also hit a record high for the second year in a row.

China's General Administration of Customs announced on Monday that total exports to the US last year rose by 11.3 percent, while imports grew slightly by 0.7 percent.

As a result, the trade surplus with the US rose to more than 323 billion dollars. That's up 17.2 percent from a year earlier.

The US has been imposing tariffs on a wide range of Chinese imports since last March, and China has struck back with levies on a similar scale.

Helped by the robust US economy, China's exports to the US grew, while imports from the US shrank since September 2018.

The world's two largest economies are engaged in trade negotiations to reach an agreement by a March 1st deadline.

The US is laying out specific plans to increase Chinese imports of US goods. China's latest trade data is expected to prompt US President Donald Trump to apply further pressure.

Meanwhile, China's global exports for 2018 grew to over 4.6 trillion dollars, marking a rise of more than 12 percent from the year before. China marked a double-digit percentage increase for the second straight year.

A spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs, Li Kuiwen, told reporters that the external environment is still complicated and many instabilities remain in place. He said the global economy will likely slow down, affecting China's trade and investment.

Key words : mayor Poland
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_12/

The mayor of Poland's northern city of Gdansk is in a critical condition in hospital after being stabbed at a charity event.

Local news reports say Pawel Adamowicz was attacked by a man who rushed onto the stage at an annual fundraising event for hospitals on Sunday.

Video footage shows the assailant showing his knife on stage. He was subdued by security guards.

Hundreds of people were taking part in the charity event.

The 27-year-old suspect was reportedly shouting that he had been wrongly jailed when a party that the mayor used to belong to was in office.

During the 1980s, Adamowicz joined Poland's pro-democracy movement. He was first elected as Gdansk mayor in 1998 and has served in the post for more than two decades.

He is known as a liberal who expresses support for sexual minorities.

Key words : at least 24 people
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_16/

Record snowfall in Europe, particularly Germany and Austria near the Alps, has left at least 24 people dead this month.

Local media say a group of skiers heading onto a closed trail in western Austria was hit by an avalanche on Saturday. Three died and one is missing. They were buried by the avalanche despite having airbags to protect themselves from snow.

In Germany, a nine-year old boy died after being hit by a tree weighed down by snow. In the southern town of Kempten, authorities closed 11 sports facilities due to heavy snow, which has blocked roads and disrupted public transportation.

Snowfall in southern Germany and Austria has tripled that of normal years, in what a weather expert in Austria called a phenomenon occurring once in 30 to 100 years.

Local weather authorities are urging caution against more avalanches, as more than 50 centimeters of snow is expected to accumulate in the areas by late Tuesday.

Key words : Japanese tourist killed
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_18/

The family and friends of a Japanese tourist who was killed in Thailand in 2007 have called on the country's investigative authorities to solve her case.

Tomoko Kawashita was 27 years old when her body was found stabbed in the neck in the Sukhothai ruins of northern Thailand.

The country's Department of Special Investigation joined forces with local police to deal with the case. But no suspect has been arrested.

Her parents and friends from Japan attended a memorial ceremony at the ruins on Monday. They prayed silently at an altar as a Buddhist monk recited sutras.

The group also visited the site where the victim's body was found and laid flowers. They then went to the local police headquarters to be briefed on recent investigations.

Investigators have carried out DNA checks on some 300 people and are offering a reward of about 50,000 dollars for information leading to the arrest of the murderer.

The victim's father, Yasuaki Kawashita, expressed hope that the case will be solved quickly so that such a tragedy will never happen again.

Key words : group of young
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_17/

A group of young people in western Japan has marked a rite of passage by climbing steps to the top of the country's tallest building.

Monday is Coming of Age Day, a national holiday that honors people reaching age 20, the legal start of adulthood in Japan, with ceremonies across the country.

In Osaka City, a group of 20-year-olds marked the occasion by going to the top of the 300-meter Abeno Harukas under the motto "Let's Step to Adulthood."

Over 100 participants wrote down their hopes for the future on a white sash and ascended the 1,637 steps, wearing kimonos or new suits. They made it to the top of the 60-story building in about an hour.

A woman in a long-sleeved kimono said that although the ascent was harder than expected, she and her friends were able to make it by cheering each other on.

Key words : internal affair Okinawa
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Key words : survey shows
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190115_04/

A survey shows that many young people in Japan want to have their Coming of Age ceremony when they are 20, even after the legal age of adulthood will be lowered to 18.

Monday marked Coming of Age Day, a national holiday honoring new adults who have reached the current legal age of 20 in Japan. Many local municipalities hold ceremonies for them around this time.

Amendments to the Civil Code last year will lower the age of adulthood to 18 in April 2022, but there is no law stipulating the age of the Coming of Age ceremony attendees.

The Nippon Foundation conducted an online poll in December asking 800 boys and girls aged between 17 and 19 when they think it would be appropriate to have the ceremony.

Nearly three-fourths of them said they wanted it to be held when they were 20, while one-fourth said when they were 18.

Among those who wanted it when they were 20 were asked why and were allowed to choose multiple replies.

Over 60 percent said it was because a ceremony at the age of 18 would overlap with entrance exams. Nearly 40 percent said they wouldn't be legally allowed to drink or smoke at 18, and over 30 percent said they wouldn't have much money to spare.

Key words : Ebizo
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_10/

Kabuki star Ichikawa Ebizo says he will assume his family's prestigious stage name of Danjuro next year.

Ebizo told reporters at the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo on Monday that he will become the 13th actor to use the name Ichikawa Danjuro, beginning with a performance in May next year.

The stage name has been handed down through generations since the 17th century. Ebizo's father, who died 6 years ago, was Ichikawa Danjuro the 12th.

Ebizo was born into a famous family of kabuki actors. He is known for dynamic performances across a wide range of roles.

Ebizo said his 5-year-old son, Kangen Horikoshi, will take the name of Ichikawa Shinnosuke the 8th.

Key words : teenager
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_11/

A teenager from Japan has won the women's division of the inaugural Street League Skateboarding World Championships in Brazil.

17-year-old Aori Nishimura impressed judges with a performance that nudged her fractionally ahead of the Brazilian runner-up.

Street League skateboarders perform tricks and jumps on courses fitted with obstacles resembling urban settings, such as rails and stairs. They are judged on the difficulty of tricks, the height of jumps, and other elements.

The World Championship finals took place in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

The finalists vied based on the total points earned in their four highest-scoring tries out of seven.

Nishimura pulled off a spectacular rail trick in her final attempt. She clinched the title with 32.6 points in total. That was just 0.1 point higher than her closest competitor.

Nishimura said she planned to attempt the most difficult tricks she could.

Skateboarding is making an Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Key words : music major
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_15/

Music majors of Japan and the United States have performed Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" in the US state of California, accompanied by animation using artificial intelligence.

The concert on Sunday at a theater in downtown Los Angeles brought together students and faculty of the music departments of Tokyo University of the Arts, or Tokyo Geidai, and the University of Southern California.

They performed for about 900 people.

Tokyo Geidai President Kazuki Sawa greeted the crowd, saying he hoped they would enjoy the premiere of a multimedia collaboration of AI, animation and a live performance.

As a string ensemble with harpsichord began playing, an animated film appeared on a 300-inch screen.

What was called a "true visual euphony performance" used an AI program that listens and synchronizes animation with music.

Ririko Takagi, one of the violinists from Tokyo Geidai, said she was able to enjoy playing as the animation synchronized with them, and not the other way around.

Key words : sun pillar
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190114_13/

A midwinter "sun pillar" phenomenon has been observed in Hokkaido, northern Japan, amid severe cold.

Frozen water-vapor particles floating in the air reflected light and shone in what is known as a sun pillar in Kamifurano Town on Monday morning.

A camera also captured another phenomenon, called a "sun dog." It's a bright spot that appears in the sky on either side of the sun.

A regional weather official says both phenomena can often be seen on cold, sunny mornings. The temperature in the area dropped to minus 23.8 degrees Celsius -- so far the lowest this winter.