hello and welcome to nhk newsline. around the world governments are trying to figure out how to deal with the pandemic destroyingg lives and livelihoods. the government is working on a plan to keep people safe even after restrictions are eased. all of japan has been under a

state of emergency for about a month but they're forced to lift the declaration for 80% of prefectures. of those, 5 are likely to see a change. tokyo and neighboring prefectures were among the first to introduce stay at home measures and will almost certainly see those continue for the time being. an early draft of the governments plan suggests criteria for reopening that says they'll needd to have fewer tha 0.5 infections per 100,000 people in the recent week. that means tokokyo will need to see a drop of fewer than 17 new cases a week. the minister in charge of japan's coronavirus response says even prefectures need to keep some antivirus measures in place. >> there c could be further

outbreaks if people begin to let down their guard. >> he says folks should continue to avoid travel to and from prefectures on special alert. residents shohould also continu social distancing and stay away from places where the virus can spread including large scale events and fitness centers. japan has over 16,000 confirmed cased. more than 680 people have died. a professional susue mmo wrestl one of the virus's youngest japanese victims. he was in the sports fourth highest division. he died on wednesday at the age of 28. a japanese government survey shows that sentiment among workers has plummeted to the lowest ever amid the coronavirus crisis. the view of the economy developed to 7.9 on the index in

april. that extends a record low set in march. it covers more than 2,000 workers including shop clerks and taxi drivers. the mood among workers at restaurants and bars was particularly gloomy as many establishments have been forced to temporarily close. the government urges people to stay home. another survey also indicates the severe impact that covid-19 is having on businesses in japan. private research firm says 142 firms have failed because of the pandemic. they have started bankruptcy procedures. many of them are hotels, restaurants and retailers. the research firm says some

restaurants and service providers that are now temporarily closed may never reopen. >> the world health organization is warning of a critical shortage of nurses worldwide and japan is no exception. it had too few before the pandemic but the current situation made things worse. nhk world is going to take a look. >> it is very stressssful. >> due to the lack of sufficient protective equipment as you know and then we m may infect our family. overworking combined with the fear of contracting the virus

left some nurses with post-traumatic disorder. they need four more patients than normal to treat patients with covid-19. there's been infections reported inside of hospitatals across th country. in early april, the head of the national association issued an urgent call to get retired nurses back into hospitals. they were hoping 50,000 would respond but as of monday, only about 600 had gone back to work. two former emergency room workers told us why they hadn't been able to help. they spoke to nhk on the condition thahat we protect the identities. for one of them it's a chronic social problem. for the other, it's the stigma

created by the pandemic. >> i couldn't get my son into child care. he's still on a waiting list. >> i'm also afraid of discrimination that parents of my children's friends may harbor against hospital staff. >> the japanese nursing association stresses that there's less risky jobs in the industry such as phone consultations. it's asked the government to offer hazard pay to help sure up the rents of front line nurses but so far the request has gop unanswered. in other parts of asia some health authorities are dealing with nursing shortages by using robots and smartphone apps to help monitor patients. ththe kind of innovative approaches will be needed in the long struggle to contain thehe coronavivirus here in japan.

>> we have to still cononsider e second wave or third wave we need to arrange and we have to have new strategy. >> now is a time to tackle these issues and help keep health care services from collapsing under the weight of this public health crisis. nhk world, tokyo. >> the death of several chinese students is prompting people. three teenagers died in the past month. in response, the chihinese minister is bending the use of medical grade masks during gym class. at least one of the students was wearing a n-95 medical mask. they're considered highly effective in stopping the spread

of coronavirus but the masks can dangerously restrict the flow of oxygen when worn during the exercise. in japan, at least one regional board of education is now lifting a requirement for students to wear masks during gym class. instead, the officials said classes should be held outdoors or in a well ventilated area. students should also stay a fair distance from others. there's also been concerns that masks will heighten the risk of heat stroke as temperatures continue to rise. countries around the world are easing lock downs and slowly reopening their economies. we'll hear how different countries are reacting. >> president vladimir putin met the head of the state run oil firm face to face to discuss ways to rebuild the ailing oil industry. in response to putin's decision

to lift nationwide business restrictions, somee companies resumed ecoconomic activities o tutuesday. >> the partiaial business resta came as russiaa continues to se 10,000 new cases every day. with over 70,000 cases in india the prime minister is extending the stayy at home orders that have been in place since late march but suggested there may be some relaxation. >> the new lock down will be executed they eased stay at home

restrictions on monday. >> it's been difficult as we could only sell merchandise online. we looked forward to reopening. >> the french government is carefully easing restrictions in phases according to the level of infections and medical situations in different areas. >> restrictions have been eased while some restrictions remain in place in the red zones. in the red zones, more than 10% of patients brought into emergency care are suspected of having the virus. the reopening of middle schools has been postponed and parks willll rein shut. meanwhile, chinese mededia s san tuesday thatfficialsls in the city of wuhan, the original epicenter of the outbreak would test everyone throughout the city for the virus over a ten day period. the plan emerged after the first new case in about a month was confirmed on saturday followed by five more residents of the

housing complex. president xi jingping expressed a sense of caution that the second wave could hit the country and stressed the need for thorough measures to prevent this. >> it's time now for world weather. people in tokyo had a sunny and warm like day on wednesday and those in the north had

thunderstorms and hail. >> summer like warm weather still continuing across many places of japan and particularly central japan is experiencing early to midsummer-like conditions and because of the warm temperatures near the ground and cooler air aloft, very unstable weather conditions in the north of the region, take a look. clouds developed on wednesday afternoon causing a lot of hail. some hail is as large as 1 centimeter in diameter. the ice covered the ground turning white. a tornado watch was in effect in the area but no twisters were observed. may is the hail season and the most hail prone area is the northern region where the video came from. unstable weather will continue across northern japan. especially going into thursday morning.

it's going to be sunny and warm once again. the high will be 26 degrees on thursday. that's cooler compared to what we saw on wednesday and it's going to be more humid with a high of 27 degrees. so the risk will soon remain but on saturday it's going to be cooling down for the low 20s. meanwhile, across the south there's a tropical storm that has been intensifying to a severe tropical storm, by the way, this a first named storm over the western pacific ocean. it's packing gusts of 144 kilometers. it's continuously intensifying. it could intensify to a typhoon and then it could make lalandfa by friday morning local time and then after that it's going to get toward tawain. it will likely even move over on

friday as well as saturday. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪

thanks for watching and do stay with h us for more. welcome to newsline index. today we look at the primitive weapon that's ablble to kill an maim long aftfter it's initial dedeployment. that's t the lanand minene. antipersonnel mines lie buried around the world despite efforts to ban and clear them. they even lose track of where they lay them while the conflicts that lead to their use

may be going. they cause more than physical harm. they prevent farmers from using their fields and children from going to school. today's program follows the announcement this month by the u.s. trump administration that will it lift restrictions on land mine use outside of the korean peninsula. it's dismay from those struggling to eliminate the regions. they're especially concentrated in camboia and thailand. we visited those countries to look at recent activities. first we visit camboia where a man that was forced to leyland mines has for the past 25 years been turning his efforts to undoing the damage. >> it has one of the highest

concentrations of land mines anywhere in the world. had it's a time consuming task requiring a lot of manpower. the mines explode. >> he visited several japanese cities on a fund-raising mission to expand his team. he spoke about his country's tragic situation. >> when i find a land mine, i

destroy it. ii feel happy helping my fellow cambodians. as long as i i can i w want to continue removing land d mines until there's none left.t. >> h h was bnnderer the mmunist regime in the970 at that ti, familie were purposully separad. fr a babyye w raise by soldiers along with other children. >> he created these paintings based on his memories of the genocidal regime. they forced people to work in rural areas and kill many of their perceived enemies. >> he was given his first gun at the age of0 and started laying

mis. as a childoldier he spent his ys fighting. deatwawas a ily realy. underhe gime,ife didn't em impornt o he any value. no onehought death w a reasonorsadness. people diedll the time. i saw injuries, illness and deat e every day and it all jus seemedikike a normal part of life >> then in 1978vietnam invaded cambodia. they wer ctured b t vietnase army and forced to figh them iluding h friends and relaonship tfs. friend and relatives. >> i wast alled to make my owdecions. i wanteo survive i h to obeyhoever w inharge of tholitical situatn.

>>eople oen tol me before th civilar t vilges were safend peaful and prosperous and i couldn't understand what that meant. >> eventually his life took a turn for the better. in 1991, an international peace treaty was signed bringing an end to the conflict. many were injured over the past 40 years. he stardted working with the transitional authority in cambodia removing the very land mines that he used to bury. >> by laying land mines i killed people and animals. since there's still so many land mines buried here, people are fareful and unable to use the

land. i wanted to make a change in myself too. i wanted to take something bad that i did and turn it into something good and save my country from the danger of land mines. >> he became an expert in clearing land mines after the transitional authority with drew from cambodia in 1993 he decided to continue the work on his own. >> land mines lay in straight rows. when i find the first one i check the way the grass is growing in the surrounding area. grass doesn't grow over mine. >> he responded to requests from many villages removing about 50,000 land mines for free using his handmade stick and knife.

in 2008 he set up the ngo. the group focuses on four remote farming villages clearing fields and areas that other organizations haven't been able to reach. the ngo also set up a program to build free primary schools and villages. there's currently 3,600 children studying at 27 such schools. >> i wasn't born into a world whwhere i couould freely choose now there's schools. children have choices. i don't want these children to have a hard life like i did. i want them to get an edge gags and live good lives.

>> he works with as many as 25 colleagues. they have cleared around 180 as you can see on this map and the group's efforts go even farther. he's also built a museum for the explosive that he has gathered. he hopes locals and tourists will learn something and the region's conflicts. villages are still being long after the end of hostilities. there's a sad deja vu for me in this. i reported from the thai cambodia border and land mines were already wounding and killining innocent people then. we nowow go to thailand for a rt at another grass r roots m mini initiative there.

they are believed to be buried along the border with cambodia. a government organization is working to remove them. he is a member of the group. he started working with the group 15 years ago taking time off from his work. i was devastated when i heard my father stepped on a mine.

after about ten minutes he finds one.e. he carefully exports the device. is its important to control my emotions. >> since it began in thailand in 2000 around 75,000 mines have been cleared. but over 3,500 people have been killed or wounded over the same

period. he knew it was a risk but needed the work for the money. >> people would be much safer if all the mines were removed. >> they have been educating people about the threat imposed by mines and it's paying off. last year, they were just ten causalities in thailand causese by mimines. >> iff mineses were totally eliminated some day they will no longer be a reminder of the war but people in the cities shouldn't forget about people living in the border areas. >> it goes on and it's important to also remember the need to

support the victims. >> nhk world bangkok. >> it is important not only to clear land mines but also to educate those most in danger they help children learn how to protect themselves since land mines can be mistaken for toys. they show examples of the rious weapons a a a a a a a a aa warning notices look like. recent technology is also improving land mine clearance there's jobs and infrastructure in the area where mines have destroyed livelihoods. for the time being. the reality that those around the world continue to use land

mines and will ensure that no matter how long ago the conflict, war will never be over. that's it for today's newsline in depth. thank you for watching.

♪ >> under fire over its handling of the coronavirus crisis, the u.k. government eases the lockdown in england with many people returning to work. this is the u.k. economy shrinks at its fastest pace since 2008. the eu commission has recommended extended traveling restrictions until june 15. but have asked member states to reopen their borders from that date on to allow people e to moe within the schengen area. u.s. secretary of state mike