♪ hello. glad to have you with us on nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. we begin with the latest on a powerful typyphoon sweweeping through the islands of okinawa in southern japan. the region is bracing for winds strong enough to knock down houses. in the prefectural capital police say the wall of a building was ripped off and carried away. two cars parked nearby were

damaged. four people have been slightly injured by the wind. people called the fire department after buildings had their roofs blown off. local power companies say over 30,000 households in okinawa had no power as of 7:00 a.m. tuesday morning. more than 240 flights to and from the prefecture have been canceled. many bus and ferry services are not operating. for more details on the typhoon and what to watch out for we turn to our meteorolologist. yoko? >> the typhoon is pushing through the islands of japan at this moment. heavy rain and destructive winds are reported. we saw gusts of nearly 200 kill meters per hour at the airport and rainfall of 151 millimeters fell in just 12 hours. on top of that additionanal rainfall of 200 millimemeters i expected through the next 24

hours.s. heavy rain and typhoon strength winds will continue to impact okinawa through the day on tuesday. this is a large storm system packing gusts of 234 kilometers per hour. most of the okinawa region is under strong wind warnings. waves can be up to 30 meters high. in addition storm surges could be the highest we've ever seen. strong winds from the storm will push water toward the coastal areas and storm surges could reach 3.5 meters. that may lead to coastal flooding. heavy rain and destructive winds are expected in okinawa throughout the day on tuesday and some winds and waves will persist in the area at least wednesday morning. that's all for now. stay safe. >> thank you, yoko. a delegation from israel is

in the united arab emirates to discuss normalization of ties between the countries. the aircraft crossed the air space of saudi arabia with which israel has no diplomatic ties on the way. its fuselage bore the word for peace in hebrew, arabic, and english. it carried the israeli group and u.s. officials including president donald trump's son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner. >> there are tremendous amount of common opportunities b betwe the countrieses and it i is wit the interests of both countries to move forward. >> the israeli delegates revealed that they started discussions with their counterparts on the opening of embassies and other topics like visas. prior to the talks nhk had an exclusive interview with the director of policy planning at the uae's foreign ministry. >> the subjects are very technical ones.

such as aviation, culture, economics, finance. >> however, palestinian authority prime minister criticized the israeli trip to uae. he said it was a clear violation of a middle east peacece deal tt rejects the normalization of ties with israel unless israeli occupation comes to an end. india's gdp shrank by the fastest on record in the latest quarter as the coronavirus undermined economic activities. gdp shrank 23.9% in the april to june quarter from a year ago. that is according to the latest government data. it was the steepest fall since india began keeping quarterly figures in 1996. the economy has struggled since the country introduced one of

the world's toughest lockdowns in march. the gdp plunge was the worst among asian countries that have reported figures so far. the government began easing the lockdown in phases since june but nearly 80,000 new cases are still being confirmed d daily. as a resulult india's economy i ghly likely to contract this fiscal year overall. china is continuing to push to strengthen international ties amid deteriorating relations with the u.s. the country's foreign minister is currently crisscrossing europe. now beijing says another top official will travel to myanmar, spain, and greece. chinese communist party political bureau member yang jiechi will visit the countries between tuesday and friday after trips to s sgapore and south korea last month. meanwhile, wang has spent the last week meeting officials in italy, ance, andnd germany among

others. it is his first overseas trip since the coronavirus outbreak began. the diplomatic flurry is coming at a tenuous time for beijing.. it is facing international criticism over its initial response to the coronavirus and its increasing pressure in hong kong. tensions are also high with the u.s. over trade and the disputed south china sea. washington has historically remained neutral on the issue but secretary of state mike pompeo recently said most of beijing's claims are completely unlawful. meanwhile, china's foreign minister is denouncing the czech delegation for traveling to taiwan. it as rare visit for a country that has diplomatic ties with china. he said whoever attempts to challenge the one china principle is making himself enemies of 1.4 billion chinese people. he went on to say china would not sit idly by in the face of what he describes as open provocation of the czech senate

speaker toward china. the czech senate president is on a six day visit to taiwan leading a group that includes political and business leaders. the head of the senate i is the second hhest post after the president. he expressed hope that the two sides would deepen economic cooperation and is scheduled to address taiwan's parliament on tuesday. the czech president, who has tried to forge closer ties with beijing, is opposed to the visit. earlier this month u.s. secretary of state mike pompeoo expressed his support for the visit when he delivered a speech in the czech parliament. > 8 million tons of plastic garbage is thought to end up in the world's oceans every year. when fish eat it the results can be deadly. as you will see in our next

report some high school students in japan have found a way to interrupt that process and protect the animals. >> reporter: the group is about to find out if its idea works. the students cut a plastic grocery bag into small pieces. they then mix the pieces into bait. and gave it to their fish. the fish ate the b bait but spa out the plastic pieces. the students had worked out a test to see if mixixing ingredients that fish don't like into plastic bags would prevent the fish from ingesting them. watanabe kokomi came up with the

concept of trying it with grocery bags. she noticed trash washed up on the beach and wanted to do something about it. >> translator: we can pick up some of the garbage that gets thrown away but not all of it, so i came up with the idea of making grocery bags that fish dislike. >> r reporteter: watanabe's tea learned about a substance called denatonium. toy makers often use it to prevent kids from accidentally eating something they shouldn't. it is bitter but not poisonous. with university assistance, the high school scientists were able to devise the experiment. theyey foundnd that m most f fi spit out the plastic when 4% of the mixture was denatonium. the project won second prize in the high school business

contest. the students are now working with the company to turn their design into a product. for a greater effect, they're combining the denatonium with biodegradable materials. in that way the bags will decompose in the ocean within a couple of years. >> translator: we really need to show our project to people who keep throwing out plastic garbage. i want to let them know that it can begin with something this simple. >> reporter: grocery bags only account for a small portion of plastic waste. but they are a place to start in keeping the ocean and its inhabitants healthy. let's bring back our meteorologist for more weather updadates.

>> this is t the strongest typhn for the season so far. gustss could uproott trees and even turn over cars and trucks. high waves and a storm surge may trigger widespread coastal flooding in okinawa. through the next 24 hours, maysak is likely to move northeast toward kyushu. it will likely make landfall in south korea by late wednesday evening. as it does so that is going to be the fourth tropical storm to hit the korean peninsula so far this year. rainfall will increase in western japan and south korea for the next couple of days. rainfall could total 400 millimeters in south korea and even more in parts of kyushu. heavy rain will appear in okinawa throughout the day on tuesday and some showers will persist at least into wednesday morning. rainfall and winds will increase in fukuoka and seoul wednesday

afternoon into thursday morning. now we are looking at another storm near the ogasawara islands. it will become the next named storm by tuesday evening. it could affect japan directly through the end of the weekend. we'll keep you posted. now people in the central u.u.s. are s seeing severe weat on monday. some of the thunderstorms created large hail and tornadoes. a cold front will pass through okinawa and texas into tuesday producing more severe weather. meanwhile, the weather will persist in the southwest. it will be 24 degrees in l.a. and 25 degrees in seattle. some severe thunderstorms are expected in oklahoma city with a high of 29 degrees on tuesday. that's all for now. stay safe. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

and one more story before we go. the olympic flame for the postponed tokyo games is being put on public view in tokyo from tuesday. a ceremony marking the event was held on monday at the japan olympic museum. fromom greecen march.ught too j it's been kept in tokyo since the torch relay in japan was canceled following the decision to put off the 2020 games for one year. >> translator: athletes aiming to participate in the olympic and paralympic games are training hard while under great stress. i believe the olympic flame will provide them with encouragemene. >> translator: the tokyo games will be proof the world has overcome the coronavirus. the government will do all it can to hold a successful event

and convey its legacy to the world. >> the flame will be displayed until november first. that's nhk "newsline" for this hour. i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. thanks for joining us. xxxx ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." the spread of the coronavirus pandemic has made it increasingly risky for people to visit medical facilities and this has affected children just as much as adults. today we look at how this is impacting the medical assistance, community support, and home care that is provided

for children who require constant attention. over the past dozen years the number of special needs children in japan has doubled. this is due to recent advances in medical procedures for newborn babies which has saved the lives of many. most of these children require essential medical assistance such as tube feeding. often this means they are unable to attend regular kindergarten or elementary schools. although specialized daycare services have been set up the spread of the coronavirus has disrupted their ability to help these children in need. ♪ >> reporter: this care center is in hokkaido. it currently caters to 15 children who need medical care such as frequent suction of

phlegm. for kids who can't easily go to school or kindergarten, it is also a place where they can mature by interacting with other children as well as adults. this woman started this facility three years ago with her husband using their own money. they run a local pharmacy. that is how they realized there was nowhere in the a area for these children to go. >> translator: people told us they were struggling. we didn't think we could leave things as they were. no matter what medical care children need, they need to get out of their homes and develop in various ways. that's very important for them as they go through their lives. >> reporter: for the children, this is indispensable. this 7-year-old goes to a school

for children with disabilities. she also comes here twice a week. a rare genetic disorder has severely impaired her brain and physical development. if her daily routine is disrupted, she has epileptic fits. since she started going to school and coming here, her epilepsy has been under control for more than a year. >> she comes home smiling so i think she is having a great time. this is essential for us. >> reporter: but it is in financial cririsis. people who book visits for their children often have to cancel. with kids who need medical care, cancellations are unavoidable. >> translator: this is a month's attendances and absences. four out of five canceled this

day. one child had started vomiting in the morning.. ananother couldn't be put in th car because of phlegm. this can't be helped. >> reporter: centers like this get most of their income from the national and local governments. presently around $180 per child per day. but that falls to $8 foror any child who cancels. they have racked up $55,000 of debt inn three years. >> translator: we've already contributed as much as we can out of our own pocket. >> reporter: and now they face another challenge. the coronavirus has been spreading in hokkaido. the children who come here are at high risk of getting seriouy ill iff they are

infected. saito must decide whether them keep coming. she has made the tough decision to suspend services at the center. instead, she has decided to start home visits. she'll take advantage of a special government program that is designed to protect kids from the coronavirus by letting them receive services at home. she and her staff are visiting the girl whose school is temporarily closed and she can't go to hanailo ever. when her routine was disrupted her epilepsy flared up but with the home visits her condition has gradually stabilized.

>> transnslator: i was delighte they do home visits. >> reporter: more than a month after hanailo closed its doors, children are here once more. and with the combination of on site services and home visits, it is surviving financially. parents worry about their children's health and want to keep receiving home visits but it is not clear how long the government's special program will continue. >> translator: no matter how much debt we get in i want to keep doing what we're doing. until these children grow up i want to be by their >> because of the need to take

care of special need children flexibility is required with care facilities like the one in the report. although they only started home visits at the response to the exceptional circumstances of the coronavirus, now many care givers are expressing their wish to continue offering this kind of home assistance even after the coronavirus situation is resolved. by increasing the range of options it offers this will expand the choices available to the children and their parents. it will also help improve its financial stability. the name of the facility was chosen to reflect the wish that the children will live and blossom each with their own color and unique personality. some children have disabilities that require sophisticated equipment rather than medical care. in our next report we introduce a girl who uses a prosthetic hand. this is a type of prosthetic

that can be moved by the person wearing it using electric signals emitted by their own muscles. for most families, this kind of equipment is prohibitively expensive.e. after years of using rented prosthetics, at least this girl has received a hand all her own funded by a public grant. >> reporter: this 7-year-old girl was born with a rare disorder called congenital limb deficiency, so she uses a prosthetic hand. >> translator: i was desperate to do something for her even if it was just one small step forward. >> reporter: not wanting to see her life limited by her disability, her parents looked into artificial arms and found a hospital offering myo-electric

hands. this is how the device works. when people engage certain muscles they emit electrical signals. sensors in the hand pick them up. the data is instantly translated and moves the hand. it is capable of a strong g gri and precise movements. she started her training as a baby and it wasn't easy. the 300 gram device was heavy for her small body. but she practiced every day. >> t translator: if you start using a myo-electric hand late in life it'll only be useful as a tool but if you start practicing at an early age the hand will become ann extension f your body. >> reporter: eventually she came to call her hand buddy.

>> reporter: for a long time, however, buddy was not hers. one of $14,000. it hasn't reached many people or even this year she finally received her own myo-electric hand in recognition of her six years of dedicated training. >> translator: it's like a magic hand, a hand you need, a hand that leads to a

>> reporter: with her own buddy at last, she keeps taking on and discovering a new world. her parents hope to see these magic hands become more widespread to expand other people's potential. nhk world. >> during the time she was off school because of the coronavirus outbreak, she had more time to practice using her new buddy, doing one of her favorite hobbies, paper cutting. she has made great strides, as you can see, from this butterfly that she cut out. just look at the fine detail in this pattern of the wings, so elaborate. her new hand is significantly larger than the one she had on

loan. since children grow so fast, they need new, larger models frequently. researchers at the university are now working to develop a lower cost alternative. myo-electric prosthetics that people can practice with. using 3d printers, they have brought the cost down to just about $280 per piece, about 1/50th the cost of a high tech limb. the practice hands are not intended for every day use. they have a weaker grip and don't look like actual human hands. but they are about half the weight of an actual prosthetic, which makes them easier for children to practice o on from early age. as we saw in our report today steps are being taken too suppot children with individual requirements. however, as children g grow, flexibility and technological advances will be needed to maintain this level of support to match the speed of their

growth. the road ahead will not be easy, but we are looking forward to following her progress. perhaps we will feature in our future editions. thank you for watching.

>> venezuel's president pardons more than 100 opposition figures in the interest of national conciliation. hello. you are watching al jazeera live from london. a former ambassador and political unknown is appointed lebanon's new prime minister. countryses to put the on the path to recovery. on the path to recovery. >> donald trump has been