. hello, and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we start here in tokyo where officials are reporting the lowest number of coronavirus infections in more than a month. they announced 23 new cases in the capital on thursday, that's the smallest increase since march 30th and the fifth day in a row that the number has fallen below 100. more than 4,700 people have tested positive for the virus in the city of 14 million. it was announced afterer a a st of holidays.

people across the country were asked to stay home and refrain from non-essential travel during that period. officials say there has been a 70% to 80% decline in the number of visitors at sightseeing spots here in japan. a nationwide state of emergency was originally due to expire on wednesday, but it's been extended to may 31st. the governmentt wants companies in tokyo and other prefectures on a special coronavirus alert to continue allowing staff to work remotely as much as possible. > translator: the number of cases in tokyo does not indicate any major change in the situation in the coming week or so. we would like to ask the 13 prefectures to continue taking the samame measures. >> the tokyo government plans to ask shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities to remain shut or keep shortened business hours until the end of the month. public schools in the city will

also remain closed. meanwhile, some prefectures where the spread of the virus is limited are gradually easing stay at home measures. public schools in the western prefecture of tottori reopened on wednesdayay. as a precautionary measure, students get their temperature checked before entering and classroom windows are opened to allow for extra ventitilation. some businesses are also trying to restart operations. a department store in the southwestern prefecture of fukuoka has reopened its food section. it's providing masks to customers who aren't already wearing them and asking for donations to support medical workers in return. major construction companies are also restarting work at more than 1,000 sites across the nation. the central government plans to hear frorom experts nexext week whether to lift the state of emergency for each prefecture.

the chief cabinet secretary says the criteria will include the number of rae cent infections and the situation in the local health system. >> translator: it is possible that the state of emergency declaration will be lifted before it expires, regardless of whether the prefecture is covered by the special alert or not. >> across japan more than 15,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus. over 580 have died. a young south korean girl in india has flown home to be treated for lou keek yeah with help from the japanese government. the 5-year-old and her it familiar when i having trouble maki making travel arrangements due to the pandemic. officials at japan's embassy in new delhi say the government secured seats for the girl's family on a flight it had arranged to bring japanese nationals home.

they took off monday and touched down in tokyo. the girl was diagnosed with a disease while the family was staying in india. her parents had been trying to take her home to their home country for treatment but all commercial flights into india had been canceled. health officials in the u.s. state of california have been aggressive in fighting the coronavirus. but people living on the margins are desperate for help. nhk world's andrew beale explains. >> reporter: compton is a suburb of los angeles. but it feels far away from the glamour of hollywood. more than one fifth of the people live in poverty. most residents are members of minority groups. this junior high school was shut town because of the virus. officials reopened it as a food bank. each meal includes fresh vegetables and fruit, cheese and bread. volunteers hand them out every

t day at more than 60 locations around l.a. county. mr. rios picks up food for his family of five. he's from mexico and came to the u.s. about 30 years ago for a better life. he's supported his family as a welder. but that changed last month. >> translator: the factory was shut down with the government's order. we were told we were being let go. >> reporter: now he wonders about what comes next. >> translator: i can't pay for the rent, elelectricity, gas an water withoutut income. >> reporter: experts say the u.s. unemployment rate could h t 15%. more and more residents of los angeles find themselves on the streets. many come to this shelter in the

city's skid row neighborhood looking for a place to sleep. >> 96.5. masks! >> reporter: antwon sanford helps them find beds. but he and his co-workers have been struggling with the surge. >> i had to give it up. because this has been scary. but our staff has been on the front lines every day, taking, putting themselves at risk to continue to help people. >> this one is full. this one is empty. this one is full. >> reporter: they make sure to practice social distancing, but that limits the number of people they can take in. >> we don't know how many people out there who is just living in tents who haven't went to the interest, who might have it, who might have the symptoms. >> reporter: u.s. officials have rolled out plans for businesses

and unemployed. but that's not enough to help the people he sees every day. >> there have been some things implemented to help, but it's not enough. it's a big task. it's a big task. you have 60,000 people homeless inin los angeles, a and those numbers ririse every day. >> reporter: the pandemic is devastating economies around the u.s. andrew beale, nhk world, los angeles. and as the united states ramps up its rhetoric around the origin of the virus, the world health organization is in talks with china to send a followup mission to the country to discover how it spread. >> there are discussions for a further mission, which would be more academic in focus and really focus on looking at what happened at the beginning. >> the technical lead of the

w.h.o. health emergencies program also referred too repors a pneumoniaia patient in france whose samples were taken on december 27th had the coronavirus. france reported its first infection on january 24th. it was also the first confirm the case in europe. she suggested someone infected may have traveled from the chinese city of wuhan to other locations in december. she added she didn't want to speculate, but it was important to hook furthlook further into . now u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo continued his criticism of china. >> china could have prevented the deaths of hundreds of thouousands off people worldwid. >> pompeo said china is still refusing to share information with the united states, including virus samples he says are needed for global vaccine research. in an op ed, china's ambassador to the u.s. said blaming china

will not end the pandemic and called for an end to the blame game. chinese scientists and surveyors are climbing the world's highest mountain. they plan to take an accurate, new measurement of the height at the top. it they are under a mission from the chinese government. the s state-run broadcaster cct

reports they've left base camp at the foot of mt. everest and started to climb. the ministry of natural resources says the survey team has 53 members. it says they arrived in the region in march, got used to the altitude and conducted preliminary surveys. they aim to reachch the top arod tuesday next week and then take a measurement. mt. everest's height is widely accepted as 8,848 meters. but an earlier chinese team put it at 8,844. but american teams say it is 8,850. taking a check on the weather with our meteorologist jonathan oh, people here in tokyoo had a windy thursday aftr a string of holidays. somehow the forecast heading into the weekend? >> it looks like we're going to be dealing with continued try weather for the next couple days

and a bit less windy. we were dealing with a lot of windy weather. we had more of a stormier day on wednesday, especially during the evening hours, that was due to a lee pressu low pressure system moving out. the systems don't play will together. we saw a may record with 79 kilometer per hour gusts. so here's that scenario again. the low that is responsible for that wild weather wednesday night, off to the east, high pressure will be coming in as we go through friday, andd that means we're going to be dealing with calmer weather friday and saturday as well. relatively calm there. we do have showers developing back to the west, eastern areas of china moving into the korean peninsula for friday, but be on the look out for wet weather ahead. looking at the forecast, 22 in tokyo, mid-20s by saturday. clouds on the yincrease by

sunday. naha in the upper 20s as we go through the next few days. i mentioned the rain developing through the eastern areas of china. there's that stationary boundary to the south and east, looking at decent amounts of rain with this and sures will push eastward. here's a look at what's happening across europe. relatively calm for most of the area. we're talking about a messy scenario due to a couple areas of low pressure. those systems are likely to bring a chance for some rain as we go through the day thursday and even friday. high pressure will be controlling the weather for the next couple days. showers in paris with a high of 23. berlin looking at mid to upper teens for friday over toward the east hope you have a good day wherever you are.

one more story for you before we go. the street a aist known as banky

has paid tribute to britain's health service with his late east work. the piece went on display in a hospital in southampton. it shows a boy playing with a super hero nurse doll, wearingna facece mask. totoy batmann and spiderman figs lay apparently discarded in a bin next to him. uk media reported the artist also left a note for medical workers that read "thanks for all you're doing. i hope this brightens the place up a bit even if it's only black and white." >> it warms the heart. >> i'm really proud of my team and my hospital. >> the artwork will be on display at the hospital until after the lockdown and then auctioned to raise money for the national health service's charity. and that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo.

thanks for joining us. welcome to "newsline in depth." i'm marie y yanaka. today we feature tsunami and what we can learn from them. but first a warning. the following images may cause some distress. what are the key take aways from the disasters? and what more can be done to help people face future natural hazards? let's think about these things as we look at recovery efforts concerning two major tsunami. the first one occurred in 2004. a massive earthquake off sumatra

island triggered the biggest tsunami in decades. that indian ocean tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people across southeast asia and east africa. in sri lanka, the indian ocean tsunami swept over 70% of the coastline and claimed nearly 30,000 lives. rebuilding after a major tsunami is a major challenge under any circumstance, but especially so when undergoing a sustained recovery. the trees once thrived on the coastline. but were decimated for farming. now they've been massively replanted, but the majority aren't taking root. >> disaster brought people's attention to the many mangroves along the coast.

they are natural barriers.s. this shrimp farm is built where mangroves stood for years before the tsunami. for yearsrs they y had been cho down for farming and charcoal. such logging led to the significant loss of life in the tsunami. now there's a nation-wide effort to revive the mangrove forest as part of disaster mitigation measures. a non-governmental organization grows saplings from seeds. the group now cultivates 100,000 a year. it sent them across the country for planting programs. >> translator: it takes a long time to revive a man grove forest. but it requires a whole forest, not just a sapling to reduce tsunami damage. >> this woman participants in the program.

she still has mental scars. she clung onto mangroves with her husband and her son when the tsunami hit. but her 1-year-old daughter she was holding was swept away. >> translator: i've always been in agony since that day. sometimes i feel like i'm tying and that i've nothing to live for. but i plant manangroves to save the lives of future john ratige after we've gone. >> other groups are doing similar programs. a local university has been surveying mangroves. 19 out of the 23 major spots have failed. the professor believes the government should create a certification agency so that only people were the right expertise can do the planting. >> you need to protect them at

least up to five years. there should be an establishment for man grove planting. when they give you permission, they should check with the experts. >> people in sri lankaka are working towards effective solutions to minimize the damage in the inevitable future of another major earthquake hitting the region. nhk world, columbo. >> as we saw, restoring these vital mangrove shrubs known as the forest of the sea is difficult. they've also discovered issues such as unsuitable restoration sites, non-native species of mangrove and incorrect care of seedlings. it's also essential for the

locals to be given more information on long-term management of the mangroves. next, we look at another report on the same tsunami near sumatra. of all the regions hit, the indonesian province of aceh suffered the worst damage with 160,000 lives lost there alone. over 15 years have passed since that fateful day, and the younger generations have only hahazy or no memory of the mega disaster. we meet an enterprising woman who's determined to raise awareness among the young through art. >> reporter: the students and teachers at this language school in aceh are busy reenacting that december 26, 2004 earthquake and tsunami. the play is aimed at educating the growing number of young people who weren't born when the

tragedy struck. about what happened on that day. >> translator: i learned about tsunami through the play. i now know how to protect myself. >> reporter: this is a teacher at the school. >> translator: children these days don't know about the tsunami itself. we must pass down our experience. i'm sure it will help them in the future. >> reporter: she was 8 years old when the tsunami struck. the water washed through her family home, despite being four kilometers from the ocean. >> translator: the house was flooded up to here with muddy water. >> reporter: she and her family were visiting relatives on that day and escaped harm. but the memory lingers.

>> translator: i had a very close friend who died in the tsunami. i no longer had a friend to play with. >> reporter: in the 15 years since, aceh has largely been rebuilt. there are still reminders of the tragedy. but the sense of fear that prevailed after the disaster is fading. she is afraid that what's also fading are the lessons learned. in addition to the play, she has produced a film to document the accounts of tsunami survivors. >> translator: we heard a warning, "waves are coming, waves are coming." the first wave came and the next

wave swallowed everything. >> reporter: she is still collecting survivor accounts to pass down lessons from tsunami to future generations. >> translator: we know that a similar disaster will happen again one day. it might be ten years or even 50 years from now. no matter, i want to convey the experience of the great tsunami in every way i can. >> reporter: she believes that collecting survivors' accounts and passing them down will prove helpful in saving lives in the future. nhk world, baugh nda aceh, indonesia. our next report is on another natural disisaster. the 2018 sue la waysy disaster.

so authorities developed hazard maps for potential earthquakes and tsunami and used them to determine where to rebuild towns. now japan is shariring this technology with the people of sue la waysy. >> reporter: the w wake struquan september 28. more than 700 people are still unaccounted for. this was a city that was hardest hit. nearly 30,000 people still live this tempora in temporary housing. this is one of them. she has lived in the shelter with her husband and three children since her husband was

buried by mud. his parents d died and he lost s job. he now works as a tday laborer. the familily s struggles to mak ends meet with little thought for the future. >> translator: i hope my husband can get a stable job and we can live in a decent house again. >> reporter: the government plans to build new houses for those who lost their homes. they would be located in areas consnsidered safee in the event another disaster. that means hazard maps marking high-risk areas are essential. the japan international corporation agency or jica is helping. they are built on lessons learned from the 2011 disaster that devastated japan's northeast. at-risk areas are marked in red. the darker the hue the greater

the danger. threats include a tsunami hitting the coastal region and liquefaction and landslides. they are conducting surveys with survivors to demarcate where people can live safely and where they can't. >> translator: i'm grateful for japan's support in creating these maps. >> reporter: but some people are opposed to relocating. this is a fisherman, and his family has been for generations. his house was washed away by a tsunami. two months later, it was rebuilt in the same place. local officials want him to relocate inland, citing fears of another tsunami, but he wants to stay near the sea so he can keep fishing. >> translator: i will keep living here, no matter how risky it is. i can't live somewhere far from

the ocean. >> reporter: to rebuild their lives, balancing the safety of survivors with their wishes to stay where they are is a major challenge. nhk world. this is indonesia's first large-scale relocation plan, and many residents are not happy. japan encountered the same problem. one of the lessons learned is that residents in recovery efforts tend to be most successful in forming a consensus. in one city, proposals that came from the res tents were able to get a more than80% approval rate. jica has been working with local governments and agencies affected by the disaster to collect their experiences and share them with people in seouea way see. we live in a world where natural

disasters are rising. learning lessons from past tragedies mean we can possibly mitigate and decrease the impact of future disasters. and that's all for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for watching.

>> french prime minister outlines the full details of the government's exist or to g just four days before the nation is to begin easing lockdown restrictions. also the bank of england warns the pandemic will push the u.k. economy toward its deepest recession on record. it says the economy is on course to shrink by 14% this year. university -- ununiversities and schools closed, we e meet a youg