♪ glad to have you with us on nhk "newsline." i'm yuko fukushima. the response to the coronavirus is widening with countries like the united states and australia, criticizing both china and the world health organization for their handling of the crisis. the prime minister of australia has called for an indndependent international review into the origin and spread of the coronavirus. >> we will need an independent

inquiry that looks at what has occurred here so we can learn the lesson. >> morrison said he will put the invevestigation at next month' annual meeting of the world health assembly. he urged all member nations to support a review. the european leaders appear more reluctant, with germany's angela merkel calling the w.h.o. an indispensable partner, and britain and france saying now is not the time. it's a bid that will likely gain support in washington where president trump has said his government is conducting an examination of its own into the pandemic's origin. he said he would cut off funding for the w.h.o. at least temporarily, after criticizing it for being what he called china centric. the t trump administration is calling on china to allow access to its labs in the city of wuhan to see whether virus there is are being handled properly. this comes as media outlets have

raised the possibility the virus originated in a lab in wuhan. >> translator: american politicians are trying to brush aside their own failures and evade responsibility. that will not help improve the situation in the u.s. or benefit international cooperation. >> the chinese foreign ministry spokesperson criticized australia's proposal for a review, calling it political ma lip nation. the outbreak i in china is thout to have originated in a wet market in wuhan. the w.h.o. said the virus is likely of animal origin and not constructed in a lab. as muslims celebrate ramadan on friday, many nations are restricting outings due to the pandemic. with mosques across egypt closed and large gatherings banned, muslims are trading communal

prayer for solsolitude. this has made it impossible to practice the ramadan tradition of sharing free evening meals with the needy. instead, a nongovernmental organization distributed food, such as pasta and sugar, to poor residents. a market in central cairo is filled with shoppers buying food, accessories and other goods ahead of ramadan. but one store owner said the market was only about half as credit before the month. >> translator: i pray that the coronavirus will disappear, and the crisis will end. so people can return to normal life. >> muslims fast during the daytime hours for the roughly one month period and are encouraged to think of the disadvantaged. they also congregate in mosques to offer prayers. but authorities in many nations have been enforcing restrictions on people's movements to prevent infection from spreading. and in the sacred city of mecca, officials have banned praying in

mosques. this comes as the country hopes to hold its annual pilgrimage there later this year. u.s. president donald trump has signed an executive order to suspend some immigration. he says he is helping americans who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic. >> this will ensure that unemployed americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy reopens. we have to take care of our great american workers, and that's what we're doing. >> trump says the executive order will last 60 days. he says the government can amend or extend it depending on the labor market. the restrictctions affect peopl applying for permanent residency, but some are exempt. they include medical workers who are combating the coronavirus, spouses of american citizens, and people who already live in the united states. observers suggest trump's executive order reflects his hope of winning rere-election ts autumn. they say he appears to be making a show of protecting american workers and limiting immigration

to appeal to his conservative support base. in japan, health officials say more than 430 new cases and 29 deaths from the virus were reported on thursday. officials say the total number of confirmed cases now tops 12,000. more than 700 others are linked to the diamond cruise prince ship which was quarantined near tokyo in february. more than 130 cases were reported in tokyo on thursday. the governor calalled on peopleo reducece their outings to supermrmarkets and shopping districts. >> translator: i would like to ask everybody to only go shopping about once every three days. i am calling the 12-day period from april 25th to may 6th, stay home week to save lives. please just stay home and reduce

human-to-human contact. these t two weeks are extremely crucial. >> more than 300 people have died across the country. among them was a man in his 50s. he initially showed mild symptoms but his condition worsened while he waited at home to be hospitalized. >> translator: health officials tatalked to the victim and preparared for his admdmission hospital. but the followining day, his condition worseneded, and he passed away. itit is very regrettable. we wilill look into o the case seek ways to improve the adadmission process. >> the case prompted a change in government policy. the health minister said he would instruct local authorities to send people with mild symptoms to hotels or other facilities where they can be monitored closely. also on thursday, the well known japanese actress okae kumiko died at a tokyo hospital of pneumonia caused by covid-19.

she was 63. she had appeared in many dramas and variety shows winning popularity across a wide range of age groups. her agency said she developed a fever on april 3rd. she was hospitalized three days later as her condition worsened suddenly. a test confirmed she was infected with the coronavirus. she had undergone an operation for early stage breast cancer late last year. her agency says her weakened immune system may have contributed to her developing such serious symptoms. meanwhile, two japanese suppliers of cough masks are recalling all undistributed ones following come blaming of quality control. the masks were being delivered to households across the country as part of the government's handout program to address the shortage. but many recipients say the masks were stained or contaminated with human hair and dust when they arrived. ththey w were made overseas, according to the two companies,

pharmaceutical makaker and the trading house. they said they'll improve quality control through extra inspections on imported masks, in addition to screenings at plants acorrode. the government will spend about 46 billion yen or $427 million toto deliver two masks to each home address in japan. one group suffering the pandemic's impact in japan children from disadvantaged backgrounds. the need for social distancing has forced cafeterias to temporarily closed. children's cafeterias serve free or low-priced deals to kids with difficult circumstances. around 40% have closed at the request of local governments or because they can't get enough volunteers. some have switched to delivering food or packed meals to kids and theirr f families.

he higighlighteded the vitital ththey play. >> translator: they're a lifeline foror people whwho rea needed them. if thosese people no longer hava place to go, it's a worrying situation. >> he says groups that run children's cafeterias need to practice social distancing and ensure kids in need stay socially connected. as the coronavirus spreads, schools around the world have closed their doors while children are stuck at home and parents are getting stressed. that's prompted one japanese artist to come up with a color solution. >> reporter: this school has been shut since march and this 9-year-old spends all of her time at home. >> translator: i've been really bored because i can't see my friends. i've got homework, but after

that, there's not been much to do every day. >> reporter: her dad's discovered a way to ease the monotony. he's printed out pictures from a website for her and her brother to color in. the kids have seized the chance to get creative. she worked on this picture of people from different countries united in song. >> translator: i found it interesting that these people are from various countries araround the world. some parts are difficult to fill in, but it was fun to try. >> translator: i thought my children would feel really happy coloring in these pictures.. >> reporter: miyazaki kensuke is the artist who drew the original pictures. he's been uploading them to his website, hoping to help frustrated kids find inspiration. in the past, miyazaki has visited places to help kids

paint murals when locals are hit by conflict or poverty. the pictures on his website are based on those works. >> translator: because we're facing really tough times, i hope people from different places will be happy when they're coloringng in these pictures. >> reporter: the images have been downloaded about 1,000 times around the world. this child in britain colored in one as the country adjusts to o lockdown conditions. chilildren have beenen sending through the pictures they color from his site.e. they make for colorful viewing. >> translator: i think if you stay home all the time, you can get stressed and become unable to smile. i want to offer help by offering pictures to color in and making the whole family smile. >> reporter: more and more kids and their parents appear to be turning to the pictures to relieve the tedium of life

behind closed doors. they seem like a bright fix to a dull problem. back-to-back intense storms are bringing damaging winds and heavy rain to the southeastern u.s. our meteorologist tells us what residents need to watch out for. >> hello there, m more sevevere weather is expected over the coming weekend, where people already expererienced massive totornadoes. over 50 tornados have beeeen reported in the deep south since early this week, and causing widespread power outages. one of the strongest tornadoes hit parts of texas on wednesday. the t tornado killed thrhree pe and injnjured at least 20.. local authorities say twisters destroyed 46 homes and damaged 245 more in t the area.

rescue workers havee starteded helplp people trapped in their homes. the area of a severe storms will push east ward across the mid-atlantic up through new england as we go into friday. there is a possibility of tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail. conditions will improve on saturday, but another storm system will develop and produce more unstable weather back towards the west on sunday. a few showers and severe thunderstorms will persist from miami all the way up to new york as we go into friday and more showers spread into oklahoma city and chicago on friday. meanwhile in l.a., hot weather will persist in the area with a high of 36 degrees. now we are looking at mostly dry weather across much of japan on friday morning, but you may see some showers in the afternoon as a small low pressure system moves through, so have your umbrella nearby. back to the northwest, another storm system will create wider

spread windy conditions across northeastern china and the korean peninsula. the flow is carrying yet low sand to the east. beijing may see some thick, hazy conditions on friday and some haze could spread into seoul. also, the winds will create much cooler conditions. the high in beijing will drop to the lower 20s for the sunday. that's all for now. stay safe.

that's it for this hour on "newsline." ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." it's fair to s say life would b very different without information technology. the race to be at the forefrono of this cutting edge industry is heating up. as small countries look to secure the best human resources. today, we show you some of the latest developments in asia and beyond. in march, ultrafast 5g internet

connections were rolled out in japan for commercial use. the high capacity networks mean a two-hour movie can be down loaded in only three seconds. this won't just make smartphones a lot faster, it's expected to revolutionize entire industries. >> at the construction site on the outskirts of tokyo, a 5g test run is underway. the heavy machinery is controlled remotely from 200 meters away. the operator uses a video game handset. he keeps an eye on the machinery through momonitors. digging up the earth and hauling it away is all done remotely. ththat's possible, t thanks to high definition images. the 4g networks can be a bit shaky. ththerefore, remotee usese of industrial machinery is limited

to disaster sites and other locations that a are hard d to access. butt 5g can traransmit many mor pixels of data. that means operators can monitor the video with few hitches. the construction company envisions running its machines at several different sites from a single command center. that would be a huge industry for an industry coping with the serious shortage of labor. >> if this technology evolves, we may be able to operate heavy machinery and monitor safety from our home. we hope to manage our construction sites with fewer people. >> another company imagines a system that would connect multiple devices at the same time. this major electronics maker has plans for factories where robots would be controlled wirelessly. the engineers remove all their cables and run them from a

tablet. on the current factory floor, robots have so many cables attatached that make them hard move. one production line can normally only make a single product. but with 5g, it's possible to run h hundreds o of robots at t same time. factory workers can move around the robots s easily. this means a tv production line can be converted into one that makes smartphones. the easy retooling makes it possible to quickly adapt to market means. the company has already had inquiries for more than 300 potential customers. >> 5g is not just a network. it's a new type of industrial infrastructure. we wantt to develop a wide rang of innovations and solutioions. >> for now, 5g services are limited to japan's bigger

cities. but they're set to expand around the nation. that could mean big changes in how we live and work. >> in japan, the need to secure talented i.t. professionals is particularly urgent. the government estimates a shortfall of about 450,000 workers in the field, just ten years from now. the situation has seen some firms turn their attentions to the brightest young things from eastern europe. >> this game is based on ancient greek warfare. it's set to be launched this year by the japanese game developer sega. a lot of attention to detail has gone into the movement of the characters. the game is being developed in the studio, in the bulgarian capital. a subsidiary of sega acquired

the company in 2017. around 170 people now wowork there. sega already has studios in the uk and france. but it says it plans to make bulgaria its development center for the whole of eastern europe. it higighly rates the programmi and the design skills of the workers there. >> the workers who draw the images and do the 3-d and other artwork are all highly educated. there are many students and professiononals with such skill in sophia. itit's an ideal plalace to crea video games. we want to invest more. we've had good results over the past three years, and have high hopes for the future. >> there is a reason why bulgaria proves such capable i.t. professionals. the eastern european countries

of former soviet bloc place high importance on math and science, the basisis of i.t. more than 30 schools in bulgaria offer elite matath educatioion. they also focus on alglgorithms whichh are essential in programming. this is a special district in sophia. it's been designated as a place to nurture i.t. as an industry. the government provides relate support and encourages collaboration with universities. some 25 companies from europe has set up labs here. the president of bulgaria visited the sega studio in february. he was intrigued by the new game under development. >> it's a combination of history, art. >> yes, it's a mixture of

everything. technology and greek history. it's very creative. >> this man is a former air force commander. he tried his hand on the shooting game. hi says the government is ready to consider financial support for the company, possibly a tax break. >> the future belongs to technology. but the future belongs to people and companies who dare to go beyond the box of standard thinking. japanese investment contributes to developing high technology in bulgaria and bring here a new progressive model of successful business. >> japan is looking at bulgaria's neighbor, romania. companies are starting to scout promising young candidates who want to work in japan. a japanese recruiting firm

called human resourcia has signed partnerships with three romanian universities andnd has begun holding job interviews at one of them. >> i'm interested in jobs in japan, because i would like to improve my country like japan. yeah. that's why i came here today. >> i.t. companies from the u.s. and other parts of europe are already recruiting and operating in romania. now japan is joining this trend. >> recruiting in romania m mean wewe can get highly skilled engineers at good labor costs. many other countries, including china or south korea are also looking at romania. so the global competition is heating up. >> with such talented and eager i.t. professionals coming out of eastern europe, japan is joining a tough competition to hire them.

bulgaria and romania have since declared states of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. employees at the sega studio are working from home, while the recruiting firm has suspended operations. both countries belong to a region known as the silicon valley of europe. it's hoped the talented people there will eventually pick up where they left offff to shape e area's future after this extremely testing time. it's no secret that southeast asia is one of the most rapidly developing regions in the world. but amid the boom, laos has found itself lagging. recently, there have been positive signs as young entrepreneurs work to change people's lives for the better. >> in the capital of laos, the global information technology boom is catching hold.

over the past ten years, the percentage of internet users in the country has grown 15 fold. local businesses are increasingly taking advantage of the change, offering online delivery services, and digital payments. this person runs an i.t. firm that spied a unique opportunity, offering ride hailing services aimed at tourists from abroad. and expat residents. >> i started to do the survey again, and it turned o out tourists, expat, and business people that come to laos. >> when people take three wheel taxis, they usually negotiate

fees. but tourists often pay much higher rates. that's where his ride hailing app comes in. people enter their destinations, and the fees are set automatically. the service is becoming popular among people from overseas. the company also plans to target domestic users, who see heckling as a hassle. >> five, ten years, they might be able to afford this. and we'll have soon to introduce more serious the domestic that people can use. >> but one big problem for the cocountry is thehe shortage of local, skilled workers in the industry. the country has had to depend on foreign firms to fill the gap. the government is now trying to change that. it's been holding seminars every

month to equip engineers with the latest, with the help of an expert from india. >> the country will lose a lot of opportunities if it fails to be a player in the age of digitalization and globalization. the government needs to hurry up and develop the resourceses the industry n needs. >> officials hope their efforts will give the local i.t. industry the resources it needs to keep up with changing times. >> the coronavirus pandemic has surely dealt a heavy blow to the ride hailing industry in laos, which stopped issuing tourist visas. still, other senior sectors may cope during this difficult time, such as delivery services. the pandemic has forced many people around the world to work from home or take classes

online. the sitituation is c certainly stressful, but showsws just how vital information technology is to modern life. no doubt it will play a key role in the post coronavirus world. that's it for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for watching and see you again next time.

>> new figures from the u.s. showed 26 million americans have lost their jobs in just the last five weeks. ♪ you are watching al jazeera live from london. also i had, -- >> this pandemic has showed a spotlight on the overlooked and undeveloped corners of all society. >> the who warns up to half of the covid-19 related deaths in europe are in care homes. south africa's reserve forces are deployed to enforce the lockdown.