glad to have you with us up this edition of "newsline" nhk. i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we begin here in tokyo where there are some encouraging signs that efforts to curb the spread of the coronavivirus are workin. officials reported just five new cases i i the ccapital on tuesd. it comes as ththe city remains under a state of emergency. the number of confirmed infections has been below 30 for the tenth consecutive day. in total more than 5,000 people have tested positive in the city of about 14 million. the central government is

expected to decide on thursday whether to lift the state of emergency for tokyo, osaka and six other prefectures. last week, the government canceled the nationwide declaration for the other 39 prefectures. the governors of tokyo and three neighboring prefectures held a video conference on tuesdsday. they reiterated their call to stay alert and maintain social distancing. >> translator: more people are coming out of their homes. we need to remind residents to continue taking thorough preventative measures. >> economic and social activities are gradually resuming following the partial lifting of the state of emergency. and an aquarium located outside tokyo reopened on monday after being closed for more than a month. >> translator: people have been mostly staying at home. i hope they'll enjoy spending time with various creatures here.

>> starbucks has started reopening more than half of the 1,500 coffee shops across japan. other chains are planning to do the same. to help people cope with the financial fallout, the govovernment will offer up to $1,900 to postsecondary students whose income from part-time jobs has fallen due to store closures. the program will benefit about 430,000 people including foreign students. it will be funded by a $1.1 trillion economic package that also includes a cash handout of about $940 for all residents. more than 16,300 people have tested positive for the coronavirus here in japan. over 770 have died. the united states is slamming the world health organization over itsts handlin of the coronavirus pandemic. in an annual assembly being held online. the two-day world health assembly opened on monday with government leaders and other representatives appearing via

video conference. the u.s. health and human seservicees secrcretary arguede andnd thehe w.h..o. failed to pe the ininformatation the worlld needded. >> in aan apparent aattem to o concceal thehe outbbreak one me state mmade a mockery out of f their obliligations with tremendous c cost for tthe enti world. we saw thahat w.h.o. failed at s corere mission of infoformation sharing and transparency when member states do not act in good faith. >> u.s. prosecute donald trump also criticized the w.h.o. and renewed a threat to cut off funding. >> they're a puppet of china. they're china centric. >> trump revealed he sent a letter to the w.h.o. urging the organization to demonstrate independence from china. he warned that if the w.h.o. does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days we will make he

his temporary freeze of funding to the organization permanent. meanwhile chinese president xi jing ping pledged $2 billion over two years to help developing countries combat the coronavirus. next, favela residents have taken to the streets to demand greater support during the pandemic. 500 marched to the state government officer in sao paulo. they complained of lack of food and water and cannot survive if they stay at home. coronavirus cases in brazil have been concentrated in the country's heavily congested shanty towns. >> translator: the government is more and more distant from us. they want us to be isolated but it doesn't help us. that is why we are doing this

prootest. >> brazilian president has been accused of down playing the virus and two have vacated their posts since it began. brazil has more than 240,000 cases and 16,000 deaths. now to italy where businesses including shops and restaurants are reopening after more than two months in lockdown. it comes as the daily death toll from the virus dipped below 100 for the first time since early march. italy has reported morere than 32,00000eaths inin total. the government is now allowing people to freely move within their provinces as well as many businesses to reopen. the move comes as the number of cases worldwide tops 4.8 million. the global death toll stands at more than 310,000. a restaurant in the capital rome opened the doors again after disinfecting and arranging tables more than one meter apart.

>> translator: it's part of our great cultlture to dine togethe so i believe customers will come back. >> for the time being restaurants can only accept customers who book in advance and obliged to keep customer lists for o one month to help wh contact tracing if needed. stores and salons can reopen, but only 60% of the country's businesses are believed to have reopened on monday. president conte is aiming to get the economy back on track. he plans to reopen the country to tourists from other eu nations on june 3rd. the thai government has approved a plan to bring the flagship airline intoto baankruy protection.

thai airways was already struggling before the coronavirus pandemic. the company says it's still able to operate as usual, but will now restructure under court supervision. they posted a net loss in 2019 for the third consecutive year due to fierce competition from low-cost carriers. it had been expected to receive a bailout of $1.7 billion from the government which has a 51% stake in the airline. the company was slow to compile a restructuring plan forcing the move toward bankruptcy protection.

malaysia is in the midst of political turbulence after prime minister stepped down. but as we report, the plan hit a snag on monday. >> it was the procession when thehe country's new leader was sworn in. lawmakers were masked and practiced social distancing to prevent infections. mahathir insists he cacannot be recognized as prime minister because he does not have is support of the majority of lawmakers. he proposed the no-confidence motion earlier this month. but monday's session ended with only a speech from the king.

there was no vote on the motion. >> translator: i would like to advise the honorable members of parliament not to drag the country into more political uncertainty. the honorable member should always show political maturity. >> reporter: officials in parliament say the session was kept at two hours to keep the virus from spreading. analysts say the move will give muhyiddin's government time to consolidate power. mahathirr was not h happy aboboe decisision. >> that will spell thehe end oo democrracy wheree we cannonot s as representatives of the people. >> reporter: public reaction to the escalating political rivalry has been mixed. >> translator: i can't figure out who is better, prime

minister muhyiddin or mahathir. it's national politics so i think political decisions should be made i in parliament. >> reporter: mahathir is a very capable politician. but he's too old. it is about time for him to step aside. reporter: thee no-confidenc vote is now postponed until july when the next session of parliament is scheduled. in the meantime there are growing concerns that the political situation may affect how the country handles the coronavirus. limling fong, nhk world, kuala lumpur. chile's supreme court has confirmed the extradition of a man suspected of murdering his former japanese girlfriend in france four years ago can go ahead. french h investigators hhave pld

29-year-old on the list for the murder of kurosaki narumi. she went missing while studying at a french university. zepeda returned to chile shortly after her disappearance. she is still missing and presumed dead. the evidence provided by french investigators is credible. a french prosecutor welcomed the decision saying it will allow a trial to go ahead with the presence of the suspect. the chilean court cautioned the transfer of zepeda could be delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country. it's now time for a check on the world weather with our meteorologist, jonathan oh. people in bangladesh are tracking a tropical system over the bay of bengal so what's the latest? >> we are talking about a system that has a lot of powerful winds

along with a lot of water associated with it. ththe storm hass been movinng te north and east over the past 24 hours and it is already starting to bring some of those outer bands into the coastal areas. we are concerned about the fact that even though it will likely weaken just a bit as it continues to approach the area, there's a lot of rivers in this area along with low-lying land. we could be talking about with the powerful winds a storm surge that can exceed four to five meters above the tide level. that is pretty serious. in the next 24 hours the rains will continue to be part of the story, by again the storm surge right here will be concerning. if you look at the wind spinning here, this is where we'll see the most strong, intense winds. right toward the north and northeastern portions from the center of the system. so anywhere along this area, you'll be dealing with those storm surges. literally waves of water just coming on shore. so this is going to be a problem. for those of you also concerned about the waters coming on shore, you have to battle the

heavy rains. we're looking at some places seeing up to 20 millimeters of rain and that's within a short period of time. over a several hour period. by we get to wednesday and thursday this will be a real problem. look at the forecast in calcutta, rain on thursday and friday and other places in bangladesh, three days of rainfall. across north america, we are keeping an eye on arthur, that's moving over the atlantic. a low pressure system nearby will bring some rain and thunderstorms to the eastern side of the united states. another low back to the west is going to help develop some rain and maybe even some snow, possibly, way up into the highest elevations of the mountains here. ahead of that system though, lots of warm conditions, a high of 30 in denver on tuesday. i hope you have a good day wherever you are.

and that concludes this edition of "newsline" nhk. i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. there's much more to come here

on nhk japan, so please stay with us. welcome to "newsline in depth." around the world, many people may have welcomed the new year with a festive toast. today, we look at ways in which places for alcoholic we have ram rajs are changing. but first to china. although the amount of beer drunk there is not increasing much these days, the amount people are spending on their favorite booze has increased by nearly 40% in the past five

years. that's because young, affluentn consumers are in urban areas and developing a taste for premium beer including craft beers. >> craft beers comes in many tastes. 90 breweries from home and abroad joined in the trade fair in shanghai. it attracted huge crowds. >> translator: this is fruity. i like the taste. >> some taste sour, some are bitter and somee taste llike coffee or chocolate. it is very interesting. >> reporter: there are an estimated 800 craft brewers in china. some came into the business from other fields. soon yi runs a business. >> translator: this is our

factory. we make beer on the third floor. >> reporter: soon a devoted beer lover set up on the brewery five years ago. he outfitted his brewery with equipment from germany and invited a belgian brew master to teen him the trade. his beer is made from select impoported ingredientnts. he uses high-quality water drawn from a nearby mountain. his beer won an award for excellence from among 1,100 brews at a domestic competition. soon's company brews about 15 kinds of beer and ships them to local hotels and other venues. >> translator: >> translator: domestically brewed beer is only 1%. >> reporter: this man became a beer importer after working in

the i.t. business. here she meets a famous brew master. she believes it better suits the asian tastes and matches the food. chinese craft beer lovers sampled some japanese made products to find out which ones appeal to the local palates. translator: this is from th hops. i haveve used malt to give it a strong body. >> reporter: the participants are very interested in japanese beer. >> translator: i was surprised. i never knew that craft beer is very popular and has an established market in china. i want to introduce chinese consumers to japanese-made product that can't be found elsewhere. >> translator: i want japanese breweries to produce even tastier beer using suggestions

from chinese brewers. >> reporter: craft beer is 6 to 8 times more expensive and nonetheless the popularity continues to grow with consumers seeking even more unique flavors. many breweries are ready to step up and fill their glasses. we turn to the u.s. where the bourbon whiskey industry has been impacted by the trade standoff. many distillers in the state of kentucky have found the exports hit hard by the higher tariffs imposed by the eu. but once more they're cultivating new followers to survive the present. >> reporter: nestled in the heart of lexington, kentucky, is james e. pepper a distillery that was established in 1780, just four years after the u.s. gained its independence from britain. the distillery was only rebuilt two years ago after being abandoned for decades, but thanks to the global whiskey

boom it has been shipping its bourbon as far as europe and japan. about 10% of the sales now come from exports. >> to really have a successful operation in the european union, you need to fund your own productship. you need to produce your funds and do it in a 700 millimeter bottle. >> reporter: but the european union imposed additional tariffs after president trump raised tariffs on other imports. it was a severe blow to the business. >> essentially both sides are collateral damage in the trade war that we did not start. and in response to things going on in various industries that we're not a part of. so if there's something going on in the industrial industry or, you know, commodities, steel and aluminum, i would say keep it in that category. why are you dragging our product into this? >> reporter: amid this tit for tat trade war, the owner amir

peay is focusing on the distillery tours. by showcasing the company's unique story and historical artifacts he hopes to show it's not just a whiskey producer but a living part of american culture. the distillery's famous bourbon has had well known fans, most notably presidents ulysses s. grant and he wants to spspread to the more diverse group of people. >> the tours is a growing and thriving part of our business and it taps into something that we love and that's the passion. again, for telling the story and sharing our whiskey with the world. >> reporter: as a resultlt of connecting the past to the present, tours of the distillery have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars making up for the loss on exports. and they have given the distillery hope that it can

continue to do what it does best -- sharing its all-american spirit with the rest of the world. esther oh, nhk world. there are fears that the u.s./eu trade dispute may intensify as the president trump is looking at tariffs up to 100% on wine and spirits from eu. but he says he will continue to offer tours to create a new customer base of bourbon lovers closer to home. next we focus on japan. japan's iconic alcoholic beverages are finding a growing appreciation around the world. but inside japan, there's another drink that's in hot demand these days -- gin. one key factor has been the popularity of craft gin made by small-scale distillers incorporating unusual herbs and natural flavors. new cocktails are being created

that complement japanese cue seep. producers are responding to this trend by developing their own unique gin products. >> reporter: in tokyo, gin-based drinks are especially popular. a distiller in the prefecture is flavoring the products with ginger for a little zing. more customers in japan are turning to botanical gins. >> translator: i'm fascinated by the ingredients. >> reporter: this is the country's largest maker of gins. >> translator: where is this central pepper from? >> translator: it's from the prefecture. it has a strong aroma. >> reporter: there were six ingredients chosen including cherry leaves, green tea,

citrus, and it's essential to create totally new flavors. using the time honored skill for blending whiskey, they created what is now gin. >> translator: we have the blending techniques to create the best aroma. that's one of the advantages. >> reporter: that allows the drinkers to taste the cherry leaves. now, the farm is busy marketing to people and restaurants. the sales staff explains that gin infused with domestic ingredients is easily paired with japanese cuisine.

>> translator: i feel it's okay to drink gin regularly. >> reporter: the manager says gin is overtaking sake in popularity among customers. >> translator: it's's no longer the old image of old people drinking gin and tonic at the par. we want to expand the boundary. >> reporter: the company plans to promote the gin to the restaurants by experimenting. and they're discovering that the taste for gin is demanding in the domestic market. >> the distinctive gin produced in japan is starting to find a market abroad. in 2018 it was exported to 28 countries with more than half of it going to the netherlands, the

birth place of gin. to close today's program we have a story introducing a similar level of craftsmanship. but focused on traditional japanese confectionery. with a family recipe, it's given rise to sweets that are as delicious as they are beautiful. ♪

that's it for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for watching and see you again next time.

>> in the midst of a global pandememic donald trump threate to cut off funding to the world health organization in 30 days. this after accusing the u.n. body of being a puppet of china. famine in india a as the cououn extends its lockdown u until at least the end of may. the natation's agricultural secr being the hardest hit by the pandemic. watching from afar, much of the world brought to its kneeses by the coronavirus, african countries are preparing for the worst case scenario. will its young population