♪ thank you for joining us. from our studio in totokyo, thi is nhk "newsline."." we startrt this hour here in japan. weather officials are urging people in the northeastern part of the country to stay safe after torrential rain caused the river to overflow. the meteororologicalal agency s

unstable conditions brought record rainfall to the prefececture on tuesday. the river overflowed its banks late tuesday and early wednesday. the a agency and the land mininy are calling o on residents to exercise maximum cauaution a an stay up too datee on lococal evacuation information. the risk of flooding is extremely high in other places along the river where water levels may stillll be rising. if flooding has already begun, people are advised to seek shelter in sturdy buildings nearby or on the upper floors of their home. unstable conditions are forecast for wide areas of the country on wednesday. eastern japan and northern kyushu could see localizeded downpours. the meteorological agency is urging people to stay on the alert for mud slides, landslides, and gusting winds. the coronavirus continues to

spread a across japan. nearly 1,000 cases were reported on tuesdsday with several prefectures reporting new daily records. >> translator: we've confirmed 155 infections. the number shows that the virus isis spreading through communit transmission. >> to try and curve the spread, ososaka officials are asksking residents and businesses to refrain from holding parties of more than five people for most of next month. the central prefecture of aichi reported 1 110 infections, the highest daily figure since the pandemic began. the governor described the development as shocking. >> translator: we urge residents to realize that the situation is extremely severe. we are asking them to change their daily routines and avoid infection risks. >> kyoto, gifu, and okinawa prefectures also conrmed a

record number of cases on tuesday. biggest hot spot with 266 cases on tuesday. its governor is calling on residents to stay home as much as possible during the coming summer vacation season. nearly 33,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the country. more than 1,000 people have died. meanwhile, in europe, countries are trying to contain a resurgence of infectioions, which could deal another blow to the hardest hit tourism industry. spain is seeing a rise in cases, mainly in the northeastern region off catalonia. the country reported more than 900 new infections on tuesday. in response, germany is urging its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to catalonia and some other regions of t the country. france saw its daily tally top 1,000 for two days straight last week.

officials there say they are tracking 135 infection clusters. the virus is spreading in germany as well. the country reported more than 800 new cases lasast friday. the head of the robert institute for diseases says he's very worried because people in the country have become negligent. he's urging the people to take measures like social distancing and hand washing. johns hopkins university says worldwide there are more than 16 million coronavirus cases. over 600,000 people have died. the race for a vaccine has taken another promising turn with the united states the latest country to have one in the final stage of development. >> today is a historic day because today, here at the university of miami, we will begin the first phase three clinical trial for a coronavirus

vaccinine in the united states. >> biotechnology firm moderna and the u.s.s. national insnstis ofof health made the announceme on monday. the late stage trial is designed to evaluate safety and efficiency. as manany as 30,0,000 volunteer will be recruited at about 90 research sites nationwide. moderna has received financiala supppport from the government totalingng nearly $1 billionon. experimental vaccines are also reportedly at the final stage in china. and there is another in britain being developed by oxford university and pharmaceutical giant astrazeneca. the heads of four u.s. tech giants are scheduled to testify to congress in antitrust hearing to justify business practices. critics claim the companies have taken advantage of their power in the marketplace to hinder

competition. the ceos are jeff bezos of amazon.com, tim cook of apple, sundarar pichai of google and mk zuckerberg of facebook. the hearing is part of investigations by the house just dish yar committee. it's been looking into whether the four firms violated antitrust law. the chief executives are expected to be grilled on their business practices including whether they've made a monopoly of technologies or data. attention is going to be focused on the firm's role in the economy, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. britain's foreign secretary is urging china to rebuild trust with the international community. relations between the two countries have soured since

bebeijing introduced its nation security law in hong kong. dominic raab told his chinese counterpart wang yi over the phone that britain will closely watch the legislative council in september. he also said beijing must uphold obligations in home to many of the uighur muslim minority. britain suspended extradition treaty with hong kongng afterhe national security law started. it also plans to cut chinese telecom giant huawei from 5g next generation mobile networks by 2027. while the new security law continues to reverberate in hong kong and beyond, it may be a case of deja vu for the man in our next storory. he was one of more than 300 lawyers and vaactivists detaine after a similar measure came into force on the mainland in 2015. he spoke with nhk about the hardsh

hardship he's endured, and bha he says about the rule of law in his country. >> wang's five-year ordeal came to an end in april when he was finally returned to his family in beijing. for much of that time, they didn't know whether he was alive or dead. even though, wang remains under strict police surveillance. >> as a human rights lawyer, wang's clients included people fighting forced evictions and members of banned religious groups. after wang himself fell into the authority's cross hairs, he says he was tortured by his interrogators. >> translator: i was forced to keep my hands raised from 6:00 in the morning untntil 9:00 at night for about a month. it was painful. the officers spat in my face and kicked me. they would offer to give me a

lighter sentence and let me keep my lawyers license if i cooperated. >> wang maintained that he had done nothing wrong, and he refused to be represented by his court appointed lawyers. when his t trial finally opened three years later, it was held behind closed doors because officials argued that state secrets were involved. the end result was a suspended sentence of four and a half years for the vague crime of state subversion. and he lost his lawyers license. >> translator: in the courtroom, six or seven police officers restrained mee as the trial unfolded. the authorities trampled on their own laws governing criminal cases. >> in early july, the u.s. secretary of state released a statement marking the anniversary of the crackdown. mike pompeo said human rights

lawyers like wang continue to face a wave of repression. officialals in beijing disputed that claim. >> translator: china is a country governed by lalaws, and everyone musust abide by the la. >> but wang says the legal system, which is controlled by the chinese communist party, is used arbitrarily. e goal is to help thehe partyty ststngthen its grip on society. wang is now concerned about what that means for hongkongers living under the new national l security law. >> translator: national security is a vague concept that can be interpreted very broadly. the authorities are using it at their discscretion to give themselves more authority. they're not even abiding by legal restrictions. the situation is horrifying. >> despitee the personall risks wang says h he's determined to ntinue hisis missision.

he's suing over the torture he suffered, and he's appealing his case to get his license back. >> translator: human rights lawyers only want those in power to govern according to the law and that citizens are guaranteed the rights they're obligated to. we're working to ensure the social system. we're absolutely not damaging those things. and now for world weather, we're t turning too our meteteorologist tsisietsi monar. hello, tsietsi.. >> hello.. >> so, there's heavy rainfall stretching from south korea to the norththern part of japan. that can lead to urbrban floodi. how much rain are we talking about? >> it's quite a lot of rainfall coming up. the stationary front is still lingering and hovering above south korea going all the way in towards central japan. the amount of rainfall we saw over the past couple of hours

include record breaking for july which is 57 millimeters in three hours. they've had amounts of rainfall going above 55 millimeters or so. for the next couple of hours, there could be up to 18 millimeters in south korea by wednesday evening. and thursday morning, central part of japan could get up to 100 mill meters of rainfall. and that could pose a risk and threat for flooding and landslides because the soils are still very loose and still very easy to move around. terms of temperatures, it's looking like it's going to get cooler for tokyo. 31 degrees is what we should be feeling this time around. but they'll be dropping to 26 for wednesday and 25 by thursday. so, much cooler weather coming your way there a all due to hig pressure system across the sea and bringing slightly cooler conditions for much of japan. the rest of asia might not be so

cool as we're seeing hot weather towarding chongqing and chiang high. taiwan will be around 36 degrees. crossing towards india, also hef ri rainfall here and it's going to stick around even further, particularly towards the northeastern south side crossing all the way towards asan as well. and upper 30s expected d for ne delhi, islam bad, as well as those in calcutta. just over 35 degrees. north america has had unstable weather, especially towards northeastern side into canada stretching all the way down in towards the central and southeastern parts of the united states. that frontal system causing unstable weather conditions. there could be large hail, damaging winds and temperatures are still fairly warm. washington, d.c. at around 35 degrees. that's all for your weather. take care. ♪

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that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thank you very much for staying with us. ♪ ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." the covid-19 pandemic has slowed down economies around the world. one side effect has been a temporary reduction in environmental pollution. cities in china and india, for example, have experienced their clearest skies in decades.

but these short-term effects have not stopped climate change. recent record rainfall in japan resulting in further evidence of that. can these trends be reversed? green recovery is the new catch phrase of hope. it refers to the process of engineering a global recovery from covid-19 that reduces climate change and protects natural habitants. on today's "newsline in depth," we'll be looking at new ways japan is delving into this new era. let's start with plastic waste. japan is second only to the u.s. in its per capita use of plastic containers and packaging. many countries have banned the use of plastic bags at storores while otherss have customers pa for them. at the beginning of f this mont japan joined their ranks by introducing a charge for single

use plastic bags. our first story looks at how two high profile companies are coming to grips with the issue. >> reporter: it's still a popular sight in japan, a small purchase in a bag. the government hopes that having to pay a few cents extra will make shoppers s think twice abo taking them. >> translator: i think it's a little inconvenient. >> translator: if garbage is reduced it's better. i used to throw them away except when i was using them as a garbage bag, so i was crcreatina lot of waste. >> reporter: they have a lot of retail stores across the country. they started charging 3 yen a bag started july 1st. to get people ready for the change, it's making eco-friendly bags. customers will be able to get them in exchange for reward

poin points. but bags are only part of the problem. the company is also trying to reduce the use of plastic cups by changing to paper. >> translator: i've heard plastic doesn't decompose easily and has a negative effffect on animals. we would like to take on the challenge of improving the global environment. >> reporter: plastic waste is huhurting the world's ocean and the animals who live there. the world economic forum says that my 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.. this restaurant is still handing out their beef bowls in plastic bags for free. that's allowed under the new rules as long as they are made with at least 25% plant-based materials. yoshi naoya says for now it's the safer and cleaner option. it also says it's faster not

having to ask customers if they need a bag, especially since more people are opting f for takeout because of the coronavirus. >> we cononsideredd the safetyy hygiene of customers. we want customers to feel safe as they eat and give them a new bag with each purchase. >> reporter: japan hopes this change will make people use less plastic. but with the environment ministry saying takeout bags only make up about 3% of japan's plastic waste, it will take much more to solve the problem. nhk world, tokyo. >> hitting customers where it hurts seems to work. the convenience store featured in our story reports that plastic bag usage dropped 70% this month. and in the latest twist on greener packaging, some department stores have started offering water proof paper bags

in their food sections also for a fee. phasing o out p plastic bags is small step, but if it gets consumers thinking about the environment, that seems like a good start. now, let's take a deepeper dive intoto marine pollutiti. our oceces arere in dadanger, a one alarming example is the great barrierer reef off the cot of australia. the coral is dying off in large numbers, and researchers blame a sharp increase in seawater temperatures. warmer seawater is affecting marine ecosystems across the globe. seaweed is disappearing because it cannot survive the higher temperatures. on the other hand, the sea ururchin population is explodin. that may not sound like a bad thing. in japan, sea urchin is a high end sushi topping. but it's also regarded as a menace because inn large enough numbers, they can strip t the ocean floor of vegetatation. now a business start up is

working on the profitable solution. >> reporter: fishermen in oita prefecture have little interest in thehe sea urchins that grow theirr local waters, as they don't containin much. look under the surface, and you see t there are far too m many the sea urchins. because they've eaten up the seaweed that's their main food, the urchins don't reach full maturity. whwhile sea urchins have had a serious impact on the ecosystem, one local start up sees this challenge as a business opportunity. >> translator: these are the sea urchin tanks. >> reporter: it takes just two months for them to mature and develop plenty of their rich delicious row. the feed pellets are made from seaweed, using the leftover parts that cannot be sold for

cooking. the pellets have to be processed so they don't dissolve too quickly. this gives the urchins time to eat plenty. >> translator: thanks to this technology, sea urchin will soon be a local specialty. >> reporter: this approach was first pioneered in norway. seabed desidification has become a major problem there, so researchers have looked for ways to make use of the troublesome sea urchin. however, since norwegians don't eat sea urchin, the project has no commercial value. instead, one norway-based company has set its sights on japan. it launchehed a joint venture along with one fisherman in oita. >> translator: if we can find sea urchin japanese fishermen find delicious, we can turn this into a luxury product.

>> reporter: the new company is starting to cultivate a market for its sea urchin. one major selling point is that they're available year around. >> translator: if they can offer a consistent supply of fresh local sea urchin, i'll certainly consider it. >> translator: we hope that stressing the ecological aspect will make many people keen to eat it. >> reporter: the company is planning to start marketing its sea urchins from april next year. and eventually, it hopes to supply this new specialty to gourmets in other countries too. nhk world, oita. >> other areas of japan are working on programs to cultivate sea urchins. flourishing seaweed will bring back fish and help absorb carbon dioxide. that could be a win/win for both the planet and sushi lovers. our last story focuses on an alternative source of food.

industrial livestock farming accelerates climate change by releasing huge amounts of methane gas. but there's another abundant source of protein on this planet that can be produced with much less harm to the environment, insects. th only c challenge is getting more people to eat them. here's one such effort in western japan. >> reporter: these crackers hit the market in may. they may look like ordinary sta snacks, but they're made of something different, cricket powder mixed with potato starch. at first they taste like crackers. a company in fukushima provides cricket powder using the crackers. this man started the business. he is an insect ecology

researcher at tokushima university. his team is raising 700,000 crickets. they are big ones. overtime, the team is raising them from eggs. in a month they'll be three centimeters long. the fast growth makes them a quickly renewable source of protein, and they need less space and food than cows and pigs. >> translator: we're using crickets as food, so we need to keep good records from the moment they hatch until they're harvested. we have to make sure they're safe to eat. >> reporter: the crickets made of wheat that is often discarded in the milling. that makes the project even more eco-friendly. recently, they've also been feasting on overripe citrus in

the area. it's part of an experiment to produce a new version of the cricket powder. when they are fully grown, the crickets are freeze dried and turned into powder. watanabe has teamed up with a large company that likes to be environmentally aware. cricket cooperation with him, every shipment is selling out. >> translator: i didn't expect people to accept the product so easily. putting it on the market has definitely proven to be worth while. >> translator: if people start eating edible crickets or edible insects as a s supplement to me, that would be a great result. we may face difficulties, but i'm determined to keep going.

>> reporter: the goal now is mass p production. if watanabe has his way, we'll all be eating insects without getting bugged. nhk world, tokushima. >> the cricket crackers went on sell in 11 store this is month and the makers say the new product is flying off the shelves. it's definitely an appealing way to get people more familiar with the insect-based food. and there's another payer for the facility. residents at a facility for people with disabilities helped grow the crickets. and with growing, there are plans to expand proroduction. the united nations announced in early july that due to covid-19, it's unlikely that the goal's sustainable development goals will be achieved by 2030. however, there could be a silver

lining. the pandemic has forced us to reflect on our lifestyles. startling small, these changes could transform how we do business and run our economies. thank you for watching and see you again next time.

anchor: spain's summer season under threat as coronavirus cases spike in some regions. the british and german travelents with advisories. ♪ hello, you are watching al jazeera from london. also, relations former prime minister found guilty of corruption charges butut stays t of jail for now. u.s. attorney general william barr defends the trump administration's response to recent antiracism protests. and