♪ welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm ramin mellegard in tokyo. we start with the covid-19 situation here in tokyo, officials say they have confirmed 389 new cases on friday. it is the first time in five days that the daily tally of infections has gone above 300.

more than half of the cases in their 20s and 30s. tokyo has 14 million people. total cases here now exceeds 17,000. the tokyo governor koiko yuriko is calliling on residents not t travel, visit hometowns for family reunions, or dine out in groups. she is also warning people to be on guard against the summer heat. >> translator: we are having an unusual summer. we urge residents to take steps to avoid heat stroke in addition to measures to prevent coronavirus infection. >> the virus has affected many gatherings including events to commemorate world war ii. a government-organized ceremony on saturday to mark the end of the war will be greatly scaled down. so on friday, relatives of people who died in the conflict visited chidorigafuchi national cemetery in tokyo. >> translator: i think it will be crowded here tomorrow, so i decided toto practice socialal

distancing. >> translator: i like the quiet. it's sad that the deceased probably did not meet with a peaceful end. >> israel and the united arab emirates have reached a deal to normalize relations with israel agreeing to suspend its plans to annex parts of the occupied west bank. u.s. president donald trump, who helped broker the deal, made the surprise announcement on thursday. >> this deal is a significant step towards building a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous middle east. now that the ice has been broken, i expect more arab and muslim countries will follow the united arab emirates' lead. >> in the joint statement, the three countries called the agreement historic and a breakthrough toward peacacin the middddle east. dedelegations from israel and t uae will meet in the coming weeks toto sign bilateral dealsn areas including security and the establishment of reciprocal embassies. israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu said in a news conference on thursday the deal represents a new era for his country. >> this is the greatest advancements toward peace between israel and the arab world in the last 26 years, and it marks the third formal peace between israel and an arab nationon. >> the uae's minister of state for foreign afaffairs also praid the deal. >> it's a win/win deal for peace in the region, a and it t bring actually a ray of f hope in a vy difficult time in our region, not known really for good times anywayay. >> as the two sidedes hailed th accocord, the palestinians voic their strong disapproval and called for an urgent meeting of the arab league. the deal also firms up opposition to regional power iran, which the three countries view as a threat in the middle east. iran's foreign ministry denounced the agreement calling it shameful and dangerous.

they raja pradhan also warned the uae and states that may follow must be responsible for the consequences. trump has voiced his first criticism over the arrest of the founder of the hong kong newspaper "apple daily" which is known to be critical of china. it's owner jimmy lai and nine pro-democracy activists were arrested on suspicion of violating hong kong's new national security law. theyey were later released on bail. >> we gave tremendous incentives to hong kong because of freedom. we want freedom. and we were giving tremendous economic incentives to hong kong, and we have now withdrawn all of those incentives, and it will be impossible for hong kong to compete with the united states. >> trump also said he hates to see what is happening to hong kong. last month following china's implementation of the new law, he signed an executive order

ending the preferential economic and trade treatment the u.s. had granted hong kong for years. the remarks are trump's first direct criticism of china over the matter. secretary of state mike pompeo and other members of his administration have denounced the law, saying it deprives hong kong of its freedom. the trump administration has designated the confucius institute u.s. center as a foreign mission of china in a move to impose tighter controls. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo said in a statement on thursday that the confucius institute is an entity advancing beijing's global propaganda and malign influence campaign on u.s. campuses and classrooms. confucius institutes are set up around the world by the chinese government in cooperation with local universitieses to promoto chinese languages and culture. there are reportedly 75 such institutes in the united states. the designation will require the organization to regularly

provide information to the u.s. government on its personnel, funding, and operations in the country. amid growing tensions between the u.s. and china, lawmakers known for their hard-line stances on china say beijing is trying to increase its influence through the organization. some of the institutes in the u.s. have been closed. china's military says it has conducted a drill in waters that include the taiwan strait. this comes at a time when tensions between beijing and washington are ramping up following the visit of a high-ranking u.s. official to taiwan. a spokesperson said on thursday the exercise was aimed at strengthening operational coordination between a number of different unitits. china had announced its military would be conducting five days of live ammunition drills in waters near taiwan ststarting this pas tutuesday. the spspokesperson madade an indidirect referenence to thu.u saying recent moves by major powers have been sending the

wrong g message to p pro-indepet foforces on the e island. e official added these developments pose a serious threat to peace and stability in the taiwan strait region. the drill comes asas u.s. healt secretary alex azar wrapped up a historic visit to taiwan on wednesday. he met with president tsai ing-wen and several other cabinet ministers in what was the first trip to a high-ranking u.s. official to the island in over four decades. a chinese foreign ministry spokesperson denounced azar's visit, saying the u.s. should not be involved in matters concerning his country's core interests. he warned those who play with fire will get burnt. turning now to north korea, leader kim jong-un has decided to lift a three-week lockdown of a city near the border with south korea, saying its coronavirus quarantine has been well managed. the city of kaesong was sealed off after a defector to the south returned there and was suspected of having the

coronavirus. the latest edition of the ruling party newspaper "rodong sinmun" says the decisision came at a politburo meeting on thursday. pyongyang hasn't disclosed whether or not the defector tested positive for the virus but it maintains there have been no confirmed cases in the north. meanwhile heavy rains across north korea have reportedly left 22 people dead and four others missing. the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies told nhk on friday that it learned of the death toll from north korean officials. north korean media say the politburo was notified on thursday that the disaster left more than 16,000 homes destroyed or flooded. but no casualties were mentioned. kim jong-un reportedly instructed officials to avoid seeking outside assistance to recover from the disaster. he told them to keep the borders closed because of the coronavirus risk.

♪ people are scrambling to contain the impact of an oil spill off f mauritius. aa japanese bulk carrier ran aground there more than two weeks ago. the incident is leading to growing worries about both local environment and the economy. about 1,000 tons of heavy oil are estimated to have spilled from the ship. although the country's prime minister pravind jugnauth said almost all the oil has been removed from the ship, the government says it still urgently needs international assistance. local volunteers are trying to clear up the oil. they're using handmade bags filled with dried sugar cane stalks as a barrier r to protec

the coast. >> it's going to really affect the communities down there, especially for the fishermen, for the local guys who live there. knowow, with the tourirists. ou >> as the full impact of the spill becomes apparent, reports are coming in about the impact of the pollution on local marine life. meanwhile, a team of japanese experts has told nhk that more commitment is needed if the country is to help restore the mauritian ecosystem. they say the main challenge lies in removing the oil that's polluting the coastline of the island nation. >> translator: i feel japan should think not only about the environment but also about how it can provide medium to long-term support to help rebuild the mauritius economy going forward. >> another member of the team said it is sad that a japanese ship was involved in the incident and that they hope to rectify the situation as far as possible. he also said the team will ask japan to send experts in fields

such as ecosystem restoration for an extended period. washing hands with soap and water is one way to control the spread of the coronavirus but a u.n. report says 43% of schools around the world did not have the necessary facilities last year. the report was issued by the u.n. children's fund, and the world health organization. it says 818 million children were at risk because of a lack of hand washing facilities. more than a third of those children were in subsaharan africa. the u.n. says nationwide school closures were in place in 106 countries and territories at the beginning of this month. they were affecting more than one billion students. that's more than 60% of school students around the world. the u.n. says schools must have hand washing facilities and clean drinking water to reopen safely.

♪ and here's the three-day forecast for selected cities. ♪

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now we leave you with an uplifting moment. he is a little boy who symbolizes new life after the devastating explosion last week in beieirut. a man was with his wife in the delivery room, ready to capture their child's first moments on camera. instead, he recorded the instance when the explosion wrecked the hospital. the medical team works by the lights of mobile phones. 17 people in the hospital were killed. still the baby got off to a healthy start. the hospital is named after saint t george, and in naming t baby, they took inspiration from thatat. >> translator:r: it's a day whe my b baby was bornrn. it will l surely remain a nice memory o omy child b being born amid all of these sad, difficult and hardrd circumstances, georg

was very well at the end. >> the father describes his newborn son as the light in the darkness. both parents say they're grateful for a safe birth in such difficult conditions. beautiful moment. and that's a wrap for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm ramin mellegard. thank you for joining us. wherever you are, please stay safe. welcome to "newline in depth." i'mian naka marie. 75 years have passed since the end of world war ii. as the people who lived through the horrors age, their stories grow more important. making the challenge all the greater is the spread of the

coronavirus. today we look at some of the ways people are confronting this problem. japan has two cities thahatere devastat by atomic b bombs in 19. the first struckiroshima onn th second hit nagasakiter ndreds ohousandsf people died. both cities have museums dedicated to the tragedy which usually draw people from all over the world, but the coronavirus forced them to temporarily close, and since reopening, visitor numbers have been down. now the museums are working with the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons or ican, to reach an international audience once again. together they've offered english tours on social media. we've compiled some excerpts for you to see. >> over here you can see the famous atomic bomb zone.

it was the hiroshima industrial production hall. due to the atomic bombing over '6,2000 mobilized students were killed. this set of shirt and pants belonged to a 13-year-old boy. he was at his building demolition site about 600 meters from the hyper center when the bomb exploded. his body was burned black and he was thrown into the river. >> as you can see, the clock ceased to tick at 11:02 a.m., august 9, 1945. that's when an atomic bomb was dropped here in nagasaki. >> located only 500 meters away from the hyper center, so it was almost completely destroyed. that is only a reproduction. here in this museum, there are

some remnants from the site -- from the ruins. here are some examples. these are melted roseries. >> t conavirus is also changing how war survivors share their accounts. the battle of okinawa was the bloodiest conflict onapanese soil. ofhemcivians, a quarter o the prefture's pulation on womanho lived through the tragedy is determined not to let the pandemic stop her from spreading her message of peace. >> reporter: uehara was nine years old when the battle of okinawa ravaged her homeland. the conflict claimed the lives of her father and brother. she's spent the past three decades sharing the stories of those painful experiences with

younger generations. but this year has been different. from february, the coronavirus outbreak forced the cancellation of her lectures. >> translator: i was very disappointed when i lost the chance to speak. i was really looking forward to it. >> reporter: in may, the situation improved. new infections in okinawa dropped to zero and schools reopened. uehara received a request to address this junior high school. she usually speaks in school halls, but this time, to avoid crowowding, she used the pa system. she wasn't able to see the students face-to-face, but that didn't detract from the power of her message. she talked about the time she and her younger siblings fled

the u.s. attacks by crawling into a cave. >> transnslator: it was dark ininside t the cave. there were about 200 people huddled together in there and they were all being very quiet. then the four of us arrived, and my 7-month-old brother was scared, so we started to cry. somebody said make him be quiet. i tried to comfort him, but he wouldn't stop. the more i tried, the more he sobbed. his screams were echoing around the cave. then some people said, you can't stay. get out, leave. it was the voices of people we knew, old ladies and mothers. they used t to be so kind.

>> reporter: uehara wanted the students to think about how the horrors of war climate changed people, a l lesson made even mo meaningful as the coronavirus continues to m make the future uncertain. >> translator: her stories help to bring the period in history to life for me. it made me realize how fortunate we are to have what we have. >> translator: the students give me a lot of positive energy. i feel more determined to stay healthy and keep telling my stories. i want the younger generation to have a bright future, so there must never be another war. >> reporter: as survivors of the war grow older, and with the war now facing a new threat, the

lessons they have to share are more significant than ever. >> in our next report, we meet another survir o the war,ne who isassing on stories through a picre bookok. she was orpned in t 19 u.s. air raids on tokyo which killed an estimated 100,000 people. for her and other children who lost their parents, the tragedy was only just beginning as illustrated in her book. >> that fateful night of march 10th. the roads were piled with burnt corpses. people had tried to escape the flames by diving head first into tanks of water, but their bodies were burnt to a crisp. i found m my uncle, and he told me, your mom and dad have died. >> reporter: these are the

memories off 86-year-old woman, the march air read in 1945 left her an orphan. after losing her mother and father, she went to live with relatives. she was 1 11 att the time. >> translator: i was more than just sad, but i simply had to keep living. i think that the people who suffer the most during war are children who don't have the power to fend for themselves. >> reporter: she made it thrhroh the hard times and went on to liveve a normamal life. 75 years on there are few people who experienced the war.

she began work on the picture book to share the stories of war orphanss for future generations. >> translator: i had to write about our experiences for people to know about the consequences of war. >> reporter: hoshino has collected testimonies from other war orphans. todaday she is visiting a woman who also lost her parents in the great tokyo air raid. >> translator: only my olderer brother had survived. after my parents died, i had absolutely no idea what to do with my life. >> reporter: in the aftermath of the war, japan suffered from severe food shortages. she recalls being treated as a nuisance even by relatives she was forced to depend on.

>> translator: e everyone at th table asked for seconds, but when i did it, my grandfather accused me of being a free loader. i was shocked to realize i was just a parasite to them now that my parents were gone. >> translator: you were so vulnerable. there wasn't anyone to protect you. >> repepter: hoshino uses texts and illustrations to bring the experiences of war orphans vividly to life. >> translator: one i day i had a stomach upset and accidentally wet my bed. my aunt got very angry and dragged me outside on a snowy night too doubt me withh a buck of half frozen water. all i could do was beg for forgiveness. she said she wished i had died with my parents.

>> we were bundled onto carts or motor try sickles and taken to orphanages. street children were seen as stray dogs and treated like trash. >> reporter: so far hoshino has turned experiences of 50 war orphans into illustrated stories. she says she hopes to keep creatingng them forss lonong as she's able. >> translator: i hope my book will show people what war really means. children can live normal, uneventful lives as long as their parents are around, but everything changes if their parents are suddenly torn away from them. that's what i want people to understand. hoshino's book concludes with a poem describing an orphan's dream.

if i had magical powers, all i'd want is a normal life. i wouldn't care if we were poor or lived in a tiny room as long as my mother and father were with me. m >> she's finding it harder to collect the testimony of other war orphans during the pandemic, but she hopes her books will reach people who are staying at home during this timeme. now hoshino isn't the only person who has used drawings to illustrate the horrors of war. the maruki couple were artists who drew hiroshima after the bombing. the museum they founded is seeing a decline in visitors amid covid-19, but its staff are eager to get their work out to a wider audience. they recently held online exhibitions in collaboration with the university and are now working on virtual tours supported by crowd funding.

only by learning about history through firsthand and other accounts can we hope to avoid repeating the worst of it. ensuring that the l l

>> thank you very much for joining us on "france 24." first the united arab emirates and israel have agreed to normalizize ties in a landmark deal brokered by the united states. the two sideses will be signing the agagreement at the white hoe in the coming weeks. the u.a.e. is the third arab cocountry to establish formal diplomatic ties with israel. the palestinian leadership has rejected the deal saying it signifies a betrayal to their cause. for momore, we bring in rob parsons. why has the united arab emirates agreed to this deal? >> i it's a goodd question. first of all, this is a really big deal for the united arab