♪ hello, and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yoshi ogasawara. we begin here in japan, where the governmentnt is moviing ahe with its decision to expand the areas under the state of emergency to nationwide after getting feedback from an advisory panel of experts. the government declared the government declared the state state of emergency for tokyo, osaka, and five other prefectures last week to curb the spread of the coronavirus. it will be in place until may 6th. officials held a officials held a meeting of an

advisory panel of experts to ask for their opinions about expanding the zone. >> translator: infection has been spreading from urban to rural areas due partly to people moving. we need we need to urgently take measures to minimize the movement of people during the long holiday period from late april to early may.+++f< government's plan. officials plan to hold a task force meeting later on thursday to officially expand the declaration. it would allow governors across japan to take various measures to fight the virus. more than 9,000 people have teststed positive in the countr. that does not include 712 cases linked to the "diamond princess" cruise ship, which was quarantined in yokohama in february. more than 190 people have died, including the 13 from the ship. tokyo has reported more than a quarter of all confirmed

infections in japan. officials announced 149 new cases on thursday. prime minister abe shinzo is proposing more relief to help deal with the pandemic's economic fallout. he's planning to give handouts of 100,000 yen, or about $930 per citizen. a senior official of the governing liberal democratic party says abe aims to secure the funds by revising the supplementary budget bill. the cabinet approved the bill earlier this month. it was due to be submitted to the diet next monday. abe has told yamaguchi natsuo, the head of the opposition party komeito,o, that there would be income cap for the 100,000-yen payment. it could carry a price tag of 12.6 million yen or $117 billion. the finance ministry says there's never been such a

large-scale revision of a supplementary budget. the coronavirus pandemic has reached another grim milestone. johns hopkins university says more than 2 million people have now been infected around the world. over 137,000 people have died. europe remains a major coronavirus hotspot, along with the united states. in italy, there are still hundreds of new cases being confirmed each day, but there was a small glimmer of hope. on wednesday, the number hit its lowest level since the middle of last march. even so, there is little relief from the unrelenting daily tally of deaths. [ sirens ] sirens still occasionally break the calm of emptied french streets. the country is in its fifth week of lockdown. more cases are being confirmed on a french aircraft carrier. hundreds of sailors aboard it

and other naval vessels have the virus. at the same time, germany plans to gradually ease its national lockdown. the country will start that work next week when it allows some small shops to reopen. then, in early may, some schools will open their doors. but restaurants will remain closed, except for takeout and delivery services. major events are banned until the end of august. the situation in russia is getting worse, as confirmed cases topped 24,000 on wednesday. one doctor used social media to shed light on the outbreak's crushing effect on the health care system. >> moscow has seen 60% of the country's infections. in response, the government is

imposising ststrict, new condit on travel within the city. americans in a number of states have left their homes to protest orders to stay at home. they're angry with what they say are restrictions on their freedoms. they want to get back to work. nhk world's catherine kobayashi reports. [ honking g ] >> reporter: americans don't usually volunteer to getet stuc in a traffic jam, but drivers from across michigan came here to show their frustration. conservative groups organized a protest against the state governor's order to stay at home. >> and i have bills to pay and i want to keep my credit good,, ad this affects -- i know this is affecting my family. it's affecting thousands and millions of other families. >> reporter: the millions are growing frustrated with practices they hadn't even heard of a few months ago -- social distancing, self-isolation, shelter in place.

protesters in north carolina say they'll r return every week unt the state reopens. demonstrators in ohio carried a similar message to their governor. they, too, want to return to work. they're encouraged by the president's hints to reopen the country, even by the end of the month. new york's governor says a reopening can't happen all at once, but any return would have to go in phases, and he says if people don't keep their distance, infectionons could ri. >> it's over when we have a vaccine. it's over when people know, i'm 100% safe and i don't have to worry about this. >> reporter: cuomo says developing a vaccine could take a year or more, and he says, if people don't learn the lessons of this situation, then all of this will have been in vain. catherine kobayashi, nhk world, new york. the head of the world health organization says the

international agency is still figuring out exactly what it will mean to lose its single biggest donor. >> we regret the decision of the president of the united states to order halt in funding to the world health organization. we support from the people and government of the united states. w.h.o. works to improve the health of many of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people. >> donald trump said tuesday that he's suspending his country's contributions, which totaled $400 million last year. trump called the w.h.o. china-centric. he says his administration will now review the w.h.o.'s response to the coronavirus pandemic. tedros welcomed evaluations by member nations, sayining the epidemic will provide lessons for everyone. for now, he said his

organization must focus on stopping thehe virus andnd savi lives. as the coronavirus spreads, worries over press freedom are mounting. an international group of journalists is urging the united nations to condemn governments that try to curb the media. reporters without borders on tuesday listed cases of censorship, arbitrary detention, harassment, or violence against journalists in nearly 40 countries. the group says reporters have been arrested in algeria, zimbabwe, and jordan. it also says the suppression of journalism in china helped the epidemic spread in wuhan and then to the rest of the world. the group is calling on the u.n. to take concrete steps, such as pushing for the release of the imprisoned journalists. in a statement last week, the u.n. high commissioner for human rights said she was concerned by restrictions on media freedom and the freedom of expression.

she referred to news of journalists in some countries being punished for reporting shortages of protective masks. the u.s. government says china may have conducted nuclear test blasts, but china says it's honoring a moratorium. the u.s. state department issued a summary of report on compliance of agreements on nuclear compliance. that summary says china maintained a high level of activity at the nuclear test site in the uighur autonomous region throughout last year. it says the activity included extensive excavation. the summary also says there's a lack of transparency about china's nuclear testing activities. it says china frequently blocks transmissions of monitoring data

to the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty organization. in february last year, the united states conducted a subcritical nuclear test. that's a type that d does not cause an explosion. also, the u.s. is depeploying wt are known a as low-yield nuclea weweapons, which have relativel low destructive power. south korea's ruling party has won a parliamentary election. people voted across the country wednesday, breaking a nearly 30-year-old turnout record. they wore gloves and masks because of the coronavirus. the election commission says the democratic party and its associate won a majority with 180 seats out of 300. democratic party leaders are celebrbrating the wiwin and pleg to continue to fight against the coronavirus. >> translator: we recognize that overcoming this national crisis and economic recession must be our top priorities.

we will do our best. >> the opposition, united future party gogot 103 seats. the party'ss chief hwang kyo-ah says he'll step down amid the loss. the results paved the way for moon jae-in to push forward with reviving the sluggish economy and reforming the prosecutor's office. the presidential office quotes moon as saying he feels a heavy responsibility after the election and that the people's choice has empowered the government to continue the fight against the coronavirus. among the results, this candidate made history. can a thae yong ho is the first defector from north korea to win a seat in seoul. the current conservative politician ran on a platform of changing the country's policies toward the north. much of the u.s. is in the

grips of unseasonably chilly air this week. even record-low temperatures have been set. our meteorologist sayaka mori joins us now with the forecast. >> hello, there. winter weather is impacting many places of the united states, from the rockies through the midwest. even recordsds were broken in several places. rochester, minnesota, had the morning low of minus 13 on wednesday, making the record low for the day, and minus 6 degrees was reported in omaha, and heavy snow hit chicago. take a look at this footage. snow blanketed chicago on wednesday morning. over 7 centimeters of snow has fallen there. temperatures dropped below zero degrees. although the traffic was light due to coronavirus, car pileup occurred involving 50 vehicles because of slippery road conditions. now, very cold air will continue to greet much of canada and also many places of the united states. the south could even see some mountain snowfall because of frigid temperatures. and we will see very low

temperatures for the next two days or so. this is your forecast. morning-low forecast into the next three days. chicago should be 4 degrees, but zero degrees for friday and minus 2 on your saturday. and cheyenne, you'll see minus 17 on friday. that's over 15 degrees cooler compared to average for this time of year. and snow will once again hit metro denver, and again, snow will shift towards the east and will likely reach chicago on your friday. the west coast of the u.s. will see unseasonable warmth. 24 in los angeles on thursday, 21 in seattle, and the northern half of mexico could see a heat wave for the next couple of weeks, so stay cool. and let's go to europe. we will see unusually warm temperatures in western and central europe. it's going to be more like mid-summer in paris, 23 for the high on thursday. 23 also in vienna. and in the north, 11 in

stockholm and berlin could see 18 degrees with sunny weather on your thursday. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪ and that's a all for this hr on nhk "newsline."

i'm yoshi ogasawara in tokyo. thanks for watching and do stay with us for more. ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." i'm aiko doden. today we feature two stories about health care professionals who are drawing on personal experiences to bring change to their fields. their work is leading to improved medical care. japan is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. as a result, comprehensive disaster management programs are in place. but identifying victims of disasters has long been problematic, as we saw in the deadly great east japan

earthquake and tsunami. dna, fingerprints, and dental records are used to identifify remains. but in the chaos of the disaster aftermath, these procedures were sometimes neglected, resulting in more than 20 remains getting mixed up and handed over to the wrong families. one specialist alarmed by this situation has made it her mission to raise the bar on national dental identification techniques. >> reporter: akiko isn't your average dentist. after the march 2011 disastster she decided to devote her career to forensics. she put her expertise to using morgues across her home prefecture of iwate, which was hit hard by the tsunami. >> translator: this is the chart we use to record data about the deceased. we start with the teeth at the back. >> reporter: kumagi matches what

she finds with existing dental records to find out who the victim is. like dna and fingerprints, each person's dental records are unique. they have become an important way of putting names to the missing or the deceased. kumagi still remembers one heartbreaking request she received at a morgue after the quake. it was from a man carrying a memo with his spouse's dental information, which provided crucial clues. >> translator: he said to me, "i think this body is my wife. will you take a look at her teeth?" dental characteristics are useful in identifying someone only if we have their existing records to match them with. otherwise, it is extremely difficult. >> reporter: dentall informatio has helped identify more than 1,200 of the victims, but the tsunami swept away clinics where

many people's records were kept. kumagai thinks that if this information had been centralized, it would have made a big difference. >> translator: if there was a database that was stored safely, it would play a vital role in identifying disaster victims. >> reporter: the japan dental association wants to make that idea a reality. as a first step, it's standardizing the format for dental records to make them easier to share. some regions are also starting to collect dental information for people who give their consent, but efforts to do that on a national level have been running up agagainst rules on h personal information is handled. >> translator: if the law is changed to allow us to share this information, there could be a chancnce to build this databa. >> reporter: kumagai says her fellow dentists also need special training. last month, she took part in a

disaster drill to share her expertise. dentisists paired up to learn h to record the condition of each tooth. >> translator: you need to write precisely, but also in a way that everyone can understand. and you need to do that in a chaotic situation,n, so it takea lot of practice. >> reporter: more than 1,000 dentists from across the country were involved in the identification process after the great east japan earthquake, but kumagai says there was a big range in their level of expertise. she plans to continue training her c colleagues so t they'rerer prepared in future. >> translator: we can't ignore the lessons from 2011. we need to learn from that experirience and improveve the identification system. >> reporter: while kumagai continues to push for change, about 60 sets of remains from the disaster are still without

names. she hopes to help reunite those long-lost victims with their families. haruka nochi, nhk world. >> kumagai is pursuing change to the field. she organized workshops where she invites dental forensic experts fromm abroad to help thm share their knowledge. she also travels overseas to talk about the lessons of the aftermath of the great east japan earthquake and tsunami. she hopes that not only dental identification techniques in japan improve, but also that international collaboration will become more common when disasters occur. next, a story about an author of this book here, who is a palliative care doctor and cancer patient himself. over the course of his career, he has treated scores of patients, including his own father, helping them emotionally, or so he assumed. his own cancer challenge has

made him reassess patients' needs and given him deep insight into how to talk about them. he's using his own experience to improve palliative methods and pass on this knowledge to doctors and nurses. >> reporter: yohe has spent the past 15 years caring for people at this palliative cancer ward. just over a year and a half ago, the 56-year-old rushed to the toilet in the middle of the night, only to find he had passed a a vast amount of blood. a malignant tumor was discovered in ohashi's stomach. the doctor had cancer. mostst of his stomach has since been removed. further tests showed the disease was not only extremely likely to

return, but also spread. the significance of being both a cancer doctor and patient wasn't lost on ohashi. despite the pain, he started writing candidly. in august 2019, his thoughts were published. >> translator: after facing the fact i don't have much longer left, i lost the motivation to do anything at all. being diagnosed made me understand the true feelings of cancer sufferers, probably for the first time. i felt like i wanted to apologize to my former patients. >> reporter: live a better life. leave no regrets. ohashi overused phrases like this when treating people with cancer, especially those at the

terminal stage. >> translator: i used to encourage my patients to keep on being who they are and to focus on improving their life. >> reporter: but after being diagnosed himself, ohashi realized the futility of his old mantras. thinking about it was like getting a taste of h his own medidicine. because he now knows the difficulty of living with cancer, let alone living well. for a start, there was pain from his huge incision, not to mention severe heartburn and nausea. ohashi's weight dropped from 100 kilograms to just 60. often, he will sit by the sink all night because laying down made him sick. >> on the one hand, i lose

weight and strength if i don't eat, but on the other, eating leads to severe acid reflux, which also causes me to lose strength. >> reporter: ohashi finally knew what cancer felt like. conforming to the mantra of other people was no longer an option. >> translator: it's absolutely impossible to improve your life whwhen you're so weak. but you know what? i still want to live. i decided to do just that, no matter what, even if i stopped being myself, i must live. >> reporter: ohashi's attitude has dramatically shifted. he is now taking it day by day, urge by urge.

>> reporter: the doctor is true about himself now.w. opening up about the pain is easier. his family have also come to understand that suffering from cancer is no bed of roses. >> translator: say whatever you want to say. be mean to us, if you like. if it helps you, it also gives us peace of mind. >> reporter: ohashi still works four mornings a week at the palliative care ward. the way he speaks to his patients is a far cry from the doctor he once was. he no longer pitches a one size fits all coping mechanism. instead, ohashi opens up about his own ordeal. he tells his patients they don't need to behave as others expect,

but be free and even selfish. >> translator: if it hurts, then say so. any pain in your body, heart and soul, it's better to let it all out. >> translator: we are more like friends than doctor and patient. i'm really grateful you shared your experiences. it's helping me cope with the tremendous fear. >> reporter: last spring, ohashi's cancer spread to his liver. he knows death is on the horizon and is working to transcend the typical relationship boundaries seen in hohospital. >> traranslator: it's difficulto lilive the life you might want, but i try to encourage people by sharing my own weaknesses. it's okay to be self-centered. this is how i'm trying to

survive, and i won't stop. >> reporter: clearly, ohashi's desire to keep on going and help others do the same remains as strong as ever. just don't tell him to live a better life. nhk world. >> ohashi's main mantra for people with intractable illnesses -- accept them, then live mindfully. for him, that means lecturing to colleagues and students on the importance of doctor-patient communication, especially listening skills. he also says that he counts the days he lives as opposed to counting down from life expectancy. and in that way, he sets a new record evevery day. today we saw how medical professionals are working from inside to bring broader advancements to their fields.

their scale may be small, but they are effecting big change. and that's it for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for watching and see you again next time. ♪

>> u.s. president donald trump threatened to shut down congress and that he will announce plans for lifting lockdown the off the nation. covid-19 inhs from america reaches another 24 hour high. inlors have been treated hospital after an outbreak of covid-19 aboard the country's biggest aircraft carrier. the difficulties of imposing lockdown in kenya, where stringent