hello, and thanks for joining us on nhk world japan. this is nhk "newsline." businesses across japan are slowly reopening even before the government makes a final decision on lifting a nationwide state of emergency. more than half the country's prefectures are likely to ease restrictions put in place last month. department stores like this one

are getting back to business but not back to normal. some areas remain closed, and customers are asked to maintain physical distance from one another. >> translator: i don't want to stay in the store too long. i'll leave as soon as i'm done shopping. >> translator: the state of emergency has not been lifted yeye but we'rere doing our besto help customers go about t their daily lives. >> some schools are also reopening. this elementary school in niigata prefecture has shortened its school days and students must wear face masks. >> translator: i'm happy to see all my friends. >> other parts of the country are unlikely to see measures lifted this week. that includes tokyo. but that hasn't stopped commuters from heading back to work following the end of spring holidays. shinjuku station, one of the world's busiest, had been quiet in recent days but saw a bump in

activity monday, even as shops and restaurants remained closed. >> translator: i go to work as usual. due to the nature of my work, i have to meet with clients. so it's hard for me to work from home. >> the government is still deciding when and how to lift its state of emergency. officials are set to discuss plans on thursday with a panel of experts. prefectures will likely have to show a sustained decline in the number of new cases before they can ease restrictions. japan now has about 16,000 confirmed cases. the death toll stands at more than 650. in a sign the japanese economy is restarting, clothing chain uniqlo has reopened its flagship store in tokyo's ginza district. it was shut down for a month due to the outbreak.

the operator of the chain, fast retailing, welcomed customers to the store on monday, saying it's employed anti-infection know-how at its shops at home and abroad. at the ginza store, customers are required to wear masks and use hand sanitizer at the entrance. they will also have their temperatures checked and will be refused entry if they're found to have a fever of 37.5 degrees celsius or higher. clear plastic sheets are installed at the cashier counters to help prevent possible transmission of the virus. all floors will be disinfected every two hours and staff will limit the number of customers if the store gets too crowded. fast retailing closed 311 or nearly 40% of the uniqlo outlets in japan when the state of emergency was declared in early april. >> translator: we are making thorough efforts to secure the safety of the customers and staff.

>> the company plans to resume operations at other stores in japan where preventative measures are in place. many uniqlo stores overseas are also reopening. and staying with the business world, japan's biggest business lobby has drawn up guidelines aimed at reducing the risk of coronavirus infections in workplaces. once companies resume full operations. the japan business federerion compiled two setss of advice on covering office work and the other full factories. both call for measures to reduce commuting with emphasis on telework, staggering employee hours and adopting a four' day workweek. the guidelines encourage office workers to refrain from non-urgent business trips and suggest companies consider holding meetings and job interviews online. the keidanren says companies

should exercise rights so they don't have to attend shareholder meetings. the guidelines also suggest that workplaces should be partitioned according to tasks and workers are given different time slots to use locker rooms. the group says it will finalize the guidelines after seeking input from infectious disease experts. russia is moving ahead with lifting its nationwide lockdown despite a new surge in coronavirus infections. the country now has the fourth highest number of cases inn the world. in a televiseded statement on mondnday president v vladimir p announced the lockdown would end as scheduled on tuesday but emphasized it would be gradual. regional governors will be able

to decide their approach depending on local conditions including restrictions on outings and preventive measures. putin also unveiled new support measures for businesses and families. unemployment in russia has doubled to 1.4 million in a month. the government announced on monday that the number of coronavirus cases in russia had reached 221,000, surpassing italy. more than 10,000 new daily cases have been reported recectly. the latestt figigures f from jo hopkins university showw the numbmber of coronavirus cases worldwide exceed 4.1 million. south korea's health ministry says the number of infections connected tonight clubs in seoul has risen to 86. an infection cluster emerged among those who visitednith clubs in the cities district on may 2nd during a four day national holiday. ministry officials told reporters on monday they have

detected fururther infections among club patrons, their relatives and others around the country. they say 30% of those with the virus exhibit no symptoms. the officials are tracking down all club visitors concerned but cannot locate about 60% of them or about 3,000 people. the korean government has decided to postpone a reopening of schools scheduled to start on wednesday. a major newspaper reported an expert as saying there is a strong chance of a resurgence of the controversy pandemic and that the country could regress to where it was two months ago. as worldwide demand for fish increases fears for sustainability are rising, too. in our next story we see how

japapanese fisherman and researchers -- >> he fishes off the coast of western japan. he chooses his fishing grounds using a newly developed forecasti forecasting system. it tells him the direction andn speed of the current and other vital information. he says it can accurately predict the ocean's movement up to three days in advance. his net stretches 10 kilometers and can take up to 6 hours to pull in. it's essential he knows what the currents are doing. the new technology helps him prevent the net from being dragged away or snarled on the rocks. >> translator: if the current was faster than about 2 kilometers per hour i wouldn't fish here. today's okay, but tomorrow won't

be. >> reporter: the system also shows temperatures at the seabed. he says having such information helps him locate where certain fish can be found. gonda says without the new forecast he would have to sail to a fishing ground to check the conditions, often searching several spots before deciding. now the accurate forecast let him decide in advance making his job more efficient saving both time and fuel. >> translator: since i got this system i can find out what i need to know and fish the way i want. >> reporter: the technology is the brainchild of a professor of physical oceanography at kyushu university. he produces weather reports and topographical data about the seafloor. he also applies observational data from about 80 fishing boats like gonda's. based on what they provide in

realtime the system overrirides its predictions and corrects its calculations. the accumulated information lets the system improve its accuracy day by day. >> translator: i'm confident these are the most accurate calculations in the world. >> reporter: hirose meet fisherman to talk about it. people in the fishing industry are seeing their catches dwindle every year. they are increasingly concerned about conserving resources. >> translator: because we're starting to find out how many fish there are and in which locations we'll know how many there are in total, and that will tell us how much we can take sustainably. >> translator: if we can take the least amount necessary it will help us protect our resources.

>> reporter: hirose believes his technology could eventually help solve the problem how to protect fisheries. >> translator: i want to keep eating fishh caught in the wild and make sure my children and grandchildren can do the same. i feel this system is an essential tool to help us leave an appropriate number of fish in the sea. the rainy season just started in the southwestern islands of japan. torrential rainfall has already been reported in okinawa. our meteorologist tells us what residents will need to watch out for in this world weather update. >> we are expecting more heavy rain in the okinawa regions throughout the day on tuesday. we've already had a large amount of rainfall in a short period of time increasing the risk of flooding. the rainy season has started in okinawa. the island had strong rain and lightening on tuesday morning. an all-time record of 120

millimeters of rain per hour have been reported. because of an active rainy season front falling across the area heavy rain will continue to fall in the same locations. we could see 180 millimeters of additional rainfall. the land is already saturated so people in the area shouldd watc out for flooding and landslides. we're looking at thehe firirst tropical deprpression of the season east of the country. it will continue to move west as we go into the weekend. it's likely to become a tropical storm by tuesday night. thunder showers will increase monday along with a high of 36 degrees on tuesday. in the meantime it's very hot and dry in beijing and shanghai. the highs will be nearly 30 degrees. also hot temperatures are expected in tokyo with a high of 26 degrees.

meanwhile people in the north eastern u.s. and eastern canada have experienced record breaking cold temperatutures. we even saw snow in toronto and the state of new york on monday. a blast of cold air will continue to produce winter-like weather in a large portion of eastern canada and the north eastern portions of of the u.s. the high will be only 9 degrees in toronto, 16 degrees in new york. but the morning low could dip down to 5 degrees. that's all for now. stay safe and have a nice day.

and that is it for nhk "newsline." thank you for watching. welcome to "newsline in depth." i'm aiko doden. today we are focussing on plastic waste. we're looking at some clever projects people in asia have come up with to tackle a problem that is harming our environment on land and sea. we go first to india where a fast growing economy and rapid urbanization are lifting people

out of poverty and in the process creating mountains of trash, much of it plastic. one young entrepreneur is hard at work creating a nationwide recycling system. and he found a critical part of his project lying right there on his doorstep. >> the pile of trash at this dump is nearly 70 meters high. people say that this year it will be taller than the taj mahal. india generates thousands of garbage every day and a shortage of new sites are becoming big problems. workers known as -- make their living going door-to-door to collect trash that can be recycled. like paper and plastic bottles. they sort it and sell it to recycling companies for less

than a dollar per kilogram. they are not organized, so their activities can be inefficient. several may show up at the same house while none might visit another. matthew runs an organization to create a a network. he has wantedd to solve his countrtry's gararbage proroblem he was a student. he's realized the solution might lie with a work f force that ma have overlooked. >> in india we have over 1.5 million. wii don't we figure a way we can connect them with waste generators. >> he chose leadersrs from loca communities and found teams under them. he then had each team divide up

the areas it could cover. he leads one such team of around 10 workers. he buys the waste they collect, packages it, and sells it to recycling companies. by working together they can visit homes in an efficient manner. the amount of recyclable waste they collect has increreased by 50%. >> translator: sometimes people used to dump waste without recycling, but awareness has increased now to a level where many regard trash as an asset. >> the project is also working to improve conditions for the waste collectors. it has persuaded recycling operators to increase what they pay giving them about 20% more.

now the more they encourage recycling the higher their own incomes. recycling is still a minor induststry in india, but it cou eventually be worth billions of dollars. a bit of share will finally go to the people doing the hard work. nhk world, new delhi. >> joseph's business approach to recycling seems to be paying off. his foundation is already working with 270 collection teams in cities across the country. the group has recycled 1 million kilograms of waste. it's even launched an app that

people can use to hail a collector. even the most ambitious recycling project would have its hands full in thailand. thais throw away nearly 40 billion plastic bags every year. that's one of biggest consumptions in the world. the government plans to ban plastic shopping bags in 2022, but that raises the problem how to replace the packaging we've all come to rely on? >> most products here are sold by weight. customers bring in their own containers to fill. >> i only need to buy what i want so it reduces food waste. i like this store.

>> food stores are ubiquitous in thailand, but what happens to all the plastic containers they use? most are throne straight into the garbabage. if it ends up in the sea animals can mace take it for food and eat it. there have been numerous cases of animals dying as a result. plastic pollution is an increasing threat to the marine ecosystem. nationwide efforts have been launched to tackle the problem. major supermarkets and retailers stopped giving out plastic bags. starting on january 1st this shop in bangkok also sells by rate. it has 200 food items the

seasonings indispensable to thai cooking. the owner saw her first refill store in germany and thought thai might like the system. >> i want to reduce the amount of things that will end up as garbage. >> customers can buy just as much as they want. with the men. quantity set at 1 gram. they can bring containers of their choice, whether it's paper bags or e empty cans. the containers are weighed before the merchandise is put in, and the weight is deducted from the total when calculating the price. it also helps reduce waste and keep prices down because the store doesn't have to pay f for

packaging. >> translator: i've cut my spending by 20% to 30% because i only buy what i n need. i hope shops like this will become commonplace. >> translator: i want this shop to be part of the customers' daily lives. we need to reuse things over and over as much as possible instead of just throwing everything away. >> her retail model is a challenge to thailand's throw away culture, but thais still have to change their mind-set before it becomes mainstream. nhk world, bangkok. >> it should be mentioned these companies are taking extra care as a result of the coronavirus epidemic that's an issue for all retailers. reusable containers could not have seemed an unusual idea to shoppers in earlier times but

it's also true removing all plastic packaging won't be easy. despite that our environment is under threat, and any measures old or new that can help hold back the tide of plastic waste deserves consideration. staying in thailand a final story looks at efforts to deal with traffic congestion. bangkok's notorious traffic jams worsen air pollution, stress out residents and hold back the economy. one tech company claims artificial intelligence can help clear the air. >> this is one of the most congested roads in bangkok. as you can see behind me drivers need to wait for a long time to pass through this juncture. the thai capital has some of the world's worst traffic jams. a drive that norm eel takes 15 minutes can take over an hour in

heavy traffic. >> translator: i have to leave early in the morning, and it takes me at least 2 hours to get home because of the traffic. >> sometimes traffic police have to step in. they use remote controls to switch lights at around 500 intersections. they rely on walkie-talkies to communicate with officers at other intersections and also monitor the situation using street cameras. but it's not enough. >> translator: i use my experience and what i can see to know when it's best to change the lights. but sometimes the congestion worsens. >> one developer from a major thai telecom thinks art

financial intelligence can turn things around. he setup a team last april to develop an ai app to help the police. >> it has the satellite and mobile operator and then the ai will suggest how they should setup in the traffic light. >> she wants users from her company's mobile phones to share their realtime location data to estimate how many vehicles are on the road. the team will also feed the ai a range of data such as how long a light staying green affects vehicle speeds. a police officer will also be able to check a phone app to know when to change the lights.

the ai team believes the s syst could cut peak hour traffic by 25%. >> we believe that this technology can contribute and help us to create some innovation and solve the critical issue for this society. >> within about 2 years she hopeathize app will be installed at every intersection in bangkok. before too long ai may give drivers a reason to relax in traffic. nhk world, bangkok. >> it seems unlikely that one phone app on its own can unclog the traffic in bangkok. that's going to require society at large answering some tough questions on transport, infrastructure and lifestyles. but there's little question big data will one day play a role in

unlocking the gridlock. hopefully for the sake of the environment and for those of you stuck in traffic that day is not too far away. that's it for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for watching and see you again next time. the british prime anchor:

minister outlinenes his plans to lead the country out of the pandemic but critics say his message is confusing. ♪ anchor: you are watching al jazeera, live from london. andhe move again, france spain start lifting some of the toughest coronavirus restrictions in europe. president trump announces a massive boost in funds for testing but the money is not new. disneyland reopened's in mainland china.

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