tv Newsline LINKTV March 2, 2020 5:00am-5:31am PST
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♪ hello, and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara. we begin with the coronavirus around the globe, disrupting transportation, shaking financial markets and forcing governments to take drastic measures to curb the spread. but inside the country at the center of the outbreak, there are potential signs of hope. in china, more than 2,900 people have died and the number of infections have toppeped ,000, but h health authohorities say
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outbreak t there has peaked. theyey say half of t those infe have recoverered and left t hospital.. state-run tv also report there are now empty hospital beds in wuhan, the city where the disease is believed to have originated. they say the number of patients released from hospitital is outpacing newly confirmed infectctions in hubebei provinc, where wuhan is located. researchers in mainland china say they're learning more about why the new virus is hard to diagnose. a new paper by a team of chinese researchers analyzed data on about 1,100 patients. it found more than half did not have a fever when they were hospitalized. the vast majority showed mild symptoms. of those, 18% displayed no abnormalities in tests such as x-rays. the researchers say these factors make diagnosing the virus difficult in the early stages.
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wuhan is marking 40 days since its lockdown. for residents, the restrictive reregime has become their new reality. one captured by a professional videographer who posted his popular vlogs to china's social media. he's also a volunteer in his hometown during the lockdown. we have his story. >> reporter: for ling, life under lockdown has been reduduc to just the basics. >> translator: i stillll have t vevegetables i bought a few day ago. i eat very little because there are too many things to work on. i always eat a little randomly, only simple food, like dumplings. >> reporter: ling'g's posts cald
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"wuhan diary," began n on januay 23rd and have garnered more than 5 million followers. as a volunteer driver for medical staff, he's seen the impact the coronavirus has had on daily life. >> reporter: he's also met frustrated apartment residents forced to stay inside. >> translator: wuhan is not just a city of people who are infected or ill. there are people who are as healthy as i a am. i want to show that all of us in this enclosed environment are experiencing the i impact of th
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virus, even though we're not infected. >> repepter: ling says the city's strtrength has bebeen te, but seseeing exampleles of peop hehelping othersrs gives him h despite the loneliness. it's a feeling shared by another volunteer driver of medical supplies. >> translator: when i drive through the city, i feel like i'm the only car on the road. it's miserable. and sometimes i just cannot help crying while driving. i have to do whatever i can so that wuhan will return to normal sooner. >> reporter: when ling was delivering donated drugs to patients, he visited the wife of an infected doctor. >> translator: she told me that her husband was seriously ill and showed me his ct scan.
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i gave her the medicine. she took it and pretended to be calm, trying to smile. i saw her strong heart at t tha time. and it makes the situation even sadder. after i was really sad in the car and i i cried. >> reporter: with no official confirmation of when the lockdown might end, lin says the road ahead for wuhan will be difficulult. >> translator: after everything is ovever, a long recovery peri is bound to be required. this recovery is not only economic recovery but also must include the psychological recovery of people in the city. >> reporter: while wuhan's future is still unknown, lin says the people in the city are
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clinging to empathy amid the uncertainty and dreaming of simple pleasures once unappreciated and now longed for. >> reporter: yao zinru, nhk world. as economic worries mount over the new virus, japan's prime minister says policymakers are looking at how to deal with a worst-case scenario. >> translator: the government will quickly draw up legislation, similar to the spspecial law that exists to combat new types of influenza, to take measures to minimize the outbreak's impact on people's lives. these measures include the case of a declaration of a state of emergency.
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>> meanwhile, the health ministry has compiled new guidelines on ways to stop the virus from spreading. they include allowing local governments to ask people with mild symptoms to recover at home if a hospital bed shortage appears likely. at present, all those found to be infected are being hospitalized. the updated plan says virus tests ininreas with h rampant outbreaks w will be carried out only on seriously ill patients. it also calls for setting up medical facilities in each region to cope with infected patients who are pregnant or need dialysis. child care facilities across japan are facing longer working hours and other challenges after the government called for school closures to help contain the coronavir coronavirus. prime minister shinzo abe last week urged schools to close from monday until the start of spring break in late march. child care facilities are scrambling to cope with for
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their services from working parents. one facility opened at 8:30 a.m., five hours earlier than usual. four extra staffers were on hand to oversee children who would normally have been in school. nine children showed up. they washed their hands and had their temperature taken before starting their homework. a mother making use of thehe facility said she's glad it was open early as working from home is not an option for her. >> translator: we've had to make sudden changes to staff work hours. we're having a hard time. >> the manager went on to say that she and her staff are taking precautions to prevenent the children from infection. meanwhile, in europe, more than 20 countries are now reporting infections. the hardest hit is italy, where the number of cases jumped on sunday to nearly 1,700 with 34 deaths. the government has effectively
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locked down nearly a dozen communities in the north, where the outbreak is centered. schools are closed in areas where mass infections have been confnfirmed. bars and pubs in these areas are being urged to keep customers at least one meter apart. venice is in one of the affected regions, leaving the touririst hohotspot largely empty. in france, the number of infected people has reached 130. officials have closed the louvre museum in paris, shut down schools and banned gatherings of more than 5,000 people. they are also advising people against shaking hands or kissing on the cheeks, a customary form of greeting in europe. the decision comes after the french president was seen kissing the italian prime minister on the cheeks last week, prompting extensive media coverage. in the middle east, iran now has more than 900 infectitions, maiy in the capital. the death toll has risen to 54, the second highest in the world
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after mainland china. we turn now to the philippines, where a hostage situation is unfolding. a gunman has shot and injured one person and taken dozens of others hostage in a mall in the capital. it is in manila. officials told media the gunman is a former security guard who had recently been fired. they say the gunman claims he has a grenade, though officials are yet to confirm that. >> we are exerting all efforts to resolve this peacefully, and the internet command system has been set up, and we are now doing our very best to resolve this peacefully. >> the shopping complex lies in a residential area. officials say both shoppers and staff have been evacuated.
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switching now to another story that we're tracking. the south korean joint chiefs of staff say north korea has launched two unidentified projectiles from the eastern city of wonsan towards the sea of japan. officials say the projectiles flew about 240 kilometers with an altitude of around 35 kilometers. japanese government officials believe the projectiles did not fall into its exclusive economic zone. it's not yet clear what was launched. the south korean military and its u.s. counterpart are gathering and analyzing information. the development comes after north korean leader kim jong-un reportedly inspected an artillery drill on friday. it's the first time this year the north has reportedly launched projectiles. the last time the country did so was back in november. it carried out 13 launches in total last year, including a test fire of a submarine-launched ballistic missile in october.
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japanese officials said the north's repeated launches are a grave concern to the international community and they will continue to monitor the country. it's been almost nine years since the great east japan earthquake. for one woman who's made fukushima her adopted home, it was the second major tragedy she's lived through, but she continues to help survivors, warming their hearts with a gift from her native country. nhk world's juneats moto has the story. >> reporter: this isn't just any cup of coffee for marie louise. it's a taste of home. grown in rwanda, where she was born and raised. for years, she has been making it for people who are forced to flee due to the nuclear accident. when she visits, evacuees gather to talk, helping to build a sense of community.
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>> reporter: marie louise first came to fukushima more than 25 years ago to study garment-making. after returning to rwanda, war broke out. then genocide. more than 800,000 people were killed, including her brother. she and her children had to flee for their lives. with the help of friends in japan, they were able to settle in fukushima. then in 2011, disaster struck again. the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami killed thousands. it also triggered a nuclear
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disaster, forcing tens of thousands of survivors to leave their homes. for marie louise, it brought to mind her experience in rwanda and a promise she had made. >> i will be using this life to serve whoever needs support. i can m maybe bring hope to somebody else. >> reporter: so, she has been bringing coffee and encouragement to the displaced, first at the evacuation centers, then at temporary housing facilities. but the last such facility in nihomatsu was demolished in 2013 as evacuees moved into permanent
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housing. that has meant separating people again. and for marie louise, she lost a place to hold her coffee gathering. after three months withh no caf, marie louise was able to bring people together at a new venue, and there were many faces she had been hoping to see. >> oh! >> reporter: while these people are still left in limbo about whether they can one day return home, she wants them to forget about their worries, even if it's only for a short time. >> translator: i was feeling lonely, like a string that was suddenly cut off, but now that we can get together again, i'm so happy that my heart is beating like a drum. >> translator: i think talking with people is the best. otherwise, i may get depressed
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and develop dementia. i'll join this group whenever there is an opportunity. >> those smiles, they are my comfort. it's also for me, not only for them. >> reporter: marie louise says she knows the pain of being separated and the joy of reunion, so she wants to continue sharing that joy over a simple cup of coffee. jun yotsumoto, nhk world, fukushima. it's time now for world weather with our meteorologist, sacco mori. midwinter-like cold weather is gripping the area. what's the weather like for the rest of the week? >> monday will be warm like sunday but cooling down. temperatures will be like a roller coaster ride in tokyo this week. yes, it was a cool day today, the daytime high was only 70
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degrees. it was more like midwinter, but you know, it's meteorological spring. it started on march 1st, but winter doesn't want to move away yet. now, across the north, there is a low pressure system that is expected to move through the tohoku region. it is expected to bring blowing snow and also high waves to totohoku as well as parts of hokkaido for the next couple of days, and temperatures will be as follows for the next four days -- sapporo 3 for the high and snow will return on thursday. as for tokyo, 17 on tuesday. that's ten degrees warmer compared to what we saw on monday, but cooling down once again. only 11 degrees for the high on wednesday and rain is expected to continue, at least into thursday, and it looks like rainy weather is expected for places like osaka as well as fukuoka on wednesday. meanwhile, we have a couple low pressure systems over northern china, and these systems expected to dump snowfall in gin lyng province and then potential frontal system can be found across southern places of china.
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it is expected to dump heavy rainfall in guanxi and then spre through guangdong province through wednesday. and these storm systems will affect parts of japan as we go into wednesday as well as thursday. and temperatures will be minus 13 in ulaanbaatar on thursday and then in the double digits for you in both beijing as well as seseoul. meanwhile, in australia, we talklked about a cyclone named ester. the system made landfall in the northern territory. it dropped nearly 400 millimeters of rainfall. the system has become a low pressure system, but it's still very significant, and surprisingly, it is expected to maintain its intensity and then will likely cut across the continent, across the southeast, so it looks like many areas will actually see some heavy rainfall, plus strong winds. we will see h heavy raiainfall places like sutni, too.
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parts of california had itsts driest february y in recorded history. we have a low pressure system over southern places, so that is expected to bring some showers. meanwhile, we will continue to see heavy rainfall acrososs the eastern united states and snowy weather across eastern canada and temperatures will be very warm in washington, d.c. that's it for me. have a nice day. ♪ and that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thanks for watching and do stay with us for more.
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♪ the governor of the bank of japan is trying to calm investor worries amid the coronavirus outbreak. haruhiko kuroda says the boj will provide ample funds to ststabilize the fininancial sec and carry out appropriate market operations and asset purchases. his statement came as shares in tokyo tumbled at the start of monday's morning session. the boj has since announced it will inject 500 billion yen or $406 billion into the market by
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purchasing governmnment bonds. the government also bought about $1 billion worth of exchange-traded funds in the stock market on monday. that's the boj's biggest ever one-day purchase of etfs. this is "newsline biz." i'm gene otani. it was good news for some investors. the nikkei average started the day more than 1% lower, but it turned around after the boj governor's unexpected statement. the nikkei 225 ended monday about 1% higher from friday's close. that's the fifth gain after a five-day losing streak that erased nearly 10% of the benchmark's value. some other markets in the asia-pacific region also bounced back, lending support to the nikkei 225. share prices in shenzhen surged by 3.8% and shanghai also rose by 3.1%. the benchmark in sydney ended 0.8% lower, marking seven straight days of losses. the coronavirus outbreak is also casting a deep shadow on
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consumer sentiment in japan. sales at major department stores and auto dealerships both dropped sharply in february. four out of five major department stores saw double-digit declines. sales at j. front retailing which operates two chains were down 18%. bothth hahankyu hannshin and is mitsukoshi holdings saw a klein of 15%. they say it won't improve unless concerns about the outbreak are eased. major outlets plan to close on selected days or shorten business hours to prevent the virus from spreading further. auto industry groups say domestic new vehicle sales last month were down 10.2% from a year earlier. that's the fifth straight monthly decline since october, when the consumption tax went up from 8% to 10%. major automakers have beenn releasing popular models since
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mid-february, but industry officials say fewer customers are visiting dealerships due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. investment by japanese firms to upgrade their production equipment fell late last year. it was the first drop in more than three years. that's before the coronavirus outbreak. government officials think the decline is due to the slower global economy. the finance ministry says corporate capital investment in the october-to-december period was down 3.5% from a year earlier in yen terms. it totaled about $107 billion. investment by manufacturers dropped 9%. spending went on manufacturers were down 0.1%. finance ministry officials say companies are investing less on equipment used in making semiconductors and auto parts as the global economy slows. the survey also shows corporate
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sales fell 6.4%. pretax profits dropped 4.6%. salted duck eggs have long been a staple in chinese cuisine. now their unique flavor is proving a hit in other parts of the world. we take a analytic at how this distinctive food is winning new fans in southeast asia. >> reporter: the shop in central singapore is attracting crowds of customers. bags of potato chips and fish skins seasoned with salted duck egg sell for a steep $12 u.s., but people come to stock up, even from overseas. >> very addictive. yeah, very famous also. we have like a separate bag just for this. >> reporter: people are going crazy for the seasoning. it's rich, salty, and boasts a lingering sweetness. the snacks weree the brainchild
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of irv gunowan, an indonesian living in singapore. he used to have a restaurant where his eggs were a big hit. a few years later, he is doing business in six countries and has over 300 employees. >> thehe vision of our company to bring the asian food globally. one day we are able to reach the whole global market. >> reporter: salted duck eggs have long been used as a preserved food and seasoning in chinese cuisine. the recent popularity in southeast asia means factories like this one in thailand are rushing to meet demand. duck eggs are soaked in brine for three weeks. then the yolks are dried.
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mixing salted eggs with oil produces a great sauce for seafood, especially fried crabs. for many people, the flavor is an indispensable part of their favorite foods. >> the flavor of salted eggs, it's strong. it's very asian. it's very unique. and not all c consumers w will ththat kind of flavor,, but may it wouould appl to some consumers, but not eveveryone. >> reporter:nternational food chains are cashihi in on the boom, putting theeasoning on pizza. >> it' the s salted egg extravagza!! >> reporter: and even doughnuts. these salty sweets are selling well in bangkok, even if corporate headquarters in thehe u.u.s. wasas initiallyly relucu ababout the idea.
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>> translator: my friend said they're good, so i came to check them out. >> reporter: in this era of social media, word of mouth about food trends spreads faster than ever before. it is creating an opportunity for local snacks to become international hits. all right, let's have e a lk at the markets. ♪
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mourns the economic impact from the coronavirus will be significant. the death toll from the epidemic has now risen past 3000, the majority still i in mainland china. boborders in -- voters in israel had back to the polls for the third time in it or year. it is expected to result in more of the same with the two main parties connect. and turkey's president says he's hoping for a cease-fire in idlib after peace talks with vladimir putin scheduled for thursday. ever reporter is standing by on the turkey border with syria. also coming up,
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