News Wrap: Obama announces new sanctions on North Korea

HARI SREENIVASAN:

President Obama announced fresh sanctions on North Korea today, in response to its cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment. The executive order names three companies, plus 10 North Korean government officials, some who work in Iran, Syria, China, Russia, and Namibia.

The U.S. has had sanctions on North Korea since the 1950s, most recently for its nuclear programs. These mark the first sanctions punishing the regime for its alleged hacking of Sony executives' e-mails.

Twenty-one more bodies from the AirAsia plane disaster were recovered from the Java Sea today. At least 30 victims have been found so far, and some were still trapped to their seats — strapped to their seats. Their remains were flown to Surabaya, Indonesia, for identification.

Aircraft and ships painstakingly searched the waters off Borneo for more bodies. They're also still looking for the plane's fuselage and black box flight recorders to help determine exactly what caused the crash.

YOSY HERMAWAN, Helicopter Pilot (through interpreter):

It's about a 30-mile area that we are searching. The first priority is to evacuate survivors if any are found or to recover bodies and, second, to find debris or objects that can help the National Commission of Safety Transportation.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

Four of the victims have now been identified, including a flight attendant and an 11-year-old boy. Their remains have been returned to their families.

U.S. and coalition warplanes went after the Islamic State group's de facto capital in Syria today, hitting them with more than a dozen airstrikes. The air raids on Raqqa, in Northeastern Syria, were the heaviest since the militants captured a Jordanian pilot last week.

Meanwhile, Iraqi troops took back ground from Islamic State fighters in Iraq's Anbar province. They targeted a complex known to be used for bomb-making.

A record number of rhinos were killed in South Africa last year, where more than 90 percent of the world's rhinos live. South African government figures showed at least 1,020 of the animals were illegally slaughtered in 2014. That amounts to more than three rhinos poached each day. The animals are killed to meet a growing demand for horn and ivory in Asia, particularly ahead of the Chinese new year in February.

Stocks on Wall Street began the year on a flat note, with very little movement. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 10 points to close at 17833. The Nasdaq fell nine points to close above 4726. The S&P 500 dropped less than a point to close at 2058. For the week, the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P each lost more than 1 percent.