hello and thank you for joining outside this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo with the latest news at this hour. we begin in japan where the coronavirus is spreading. officials reported 2,414 cases across the nation friday, making it another record-breaking day. that followed the higher than ever count in the northern prefecture of hokkaido and another tally above 500 here in tokyo. officials in the capital reported 522 new cases. the rising numbers have prompted the metropolitan government to raise its alert to the highest

of four levels for the first time since september. data also shows the number of people whose infections cannot be traced is sharply rising. tokyo governor koike yuriko stressed the need to prevent the health care system from collapsing. she's also promoting a five-point dining strategy. keep groups small, keep meals short, keep voices down, keep portions separate, and keep up a number of other anti-virus measures, including ventilating rooms and wearing masks. chief cabinet secretary kato katsunobu said there's no immediate plan to call another state of emergency but called on people to be vigilant. the world health organization says it does not registering the antiviral drug remdesivir to hospitalized coronavirus patients regardless of how ill they are. the w.h.o. made the recommendation as part of the

set of guidelines on use of part of its guideline for clinical care on covid-19. the health body analyzed results from clinical trials from patients hospitalized around the world. the report says evidence suggests the drug has no important effect on mortality, need for medical ventilation or time to clinical improvement. drugmaker gilead sciences has yet to officially respond, but it questioned the clinical trial's interim results when they were released last month. it said the data appeared inconsistent with studies published in peer reviewed journals. the united states authorized the emergency use of the drug in may. japan also issued special approval. according to japan's chief cabinet secretary, the health ministry sees no need to review the approval for the time being. separately, a senior w.h.o. official commented on the surge of infections in europe. he says lockdowns could be avoided if nearly everyone wears a mask when social distancing is difficult.

>> mask use is by no means a panacea and needs to be done in combination with other measures. however, if mask use reached 99%, lockdowns would not be needed. but at the current 60% or lower mask use, it is hard to avoid lockdown s >> some people in europe continue to refuse to wear masks in close contact with others. mask use wasn't common before the pandemic and it's still not mandatory in some countries and areas he also said vaccines and treatment options are being developed at unprecedented speed, but these aren't silver bullets. he said good science takes time anthe supply of vaccines wl fall short of demand, especially at the beginning. health officials in the united states are making their own plea as the nation reports record-breaking numbers. johns hopkins university says

thursday's tally for new infections topped 185,000. and 250,000 people have died. the centers for disease control and prevention is urging people to wear masks, keep a social distance, and stay home for thanksgiving. every year people meet up with family and friends to express their gratitude over a roast turkey feast. now many aren't so sure. >> i think that traveling during this time is definitely difficult. i'm a college student, so i don't really have much of a choice. but i think that any unnecessary travel should be avoided. >> i'm going to see my family in chicago, and i'm so excited to go. just follow the rules. >> cdc officials say the trips and the meals could spread the virus. airports say it's hard to know how many people will take a flight, but they're trying to ensure all travelers are safe. >> this year we know that the airlines have sold half the amount of seats they sold last

year, and those people who are showing up to the airport, we don't know if they're going to make their flight. so we don't know what the prediction will be. >> some families say the tradition is just too important. ohio state university asked people across the country if they plan to have a meal with at least ten people. nearly 2 in 5 said yes. if you're one of them cdc has some final advice. consider eating outside. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo has become the first top american diplomat to tour an israeli settlement in the occupied west bank and golan heights. palestine and syria have already condemned the visit. pompeo's trip on thursday represents a break with decades of u.s. foreign policy. he said president donald trump laid the groundwork for the visit when he recognized israeli sovereignty over the region. >> president trump recognized what previous presidents had refused to do, that this is a part of isrl and a central

part of vial. >> palestinians in the west bank responded by taking to the street calling pompeo's trip illegal. >> this settlement is 100 or so settlements throughout the west bank. all of them are illegal no matterho visits them or who doesn't. >> israel seized most of the golan heights from syria in the 1967 six day war, annexing it in 1981. most of the international community refused to recognize it. syria's foreign ministry condemned pompeo's visit there. the country called it a provocative move, at trump's administration comes to an end, and a flagrant violation of syrian sovereignty. u.s. media suggests pompeo hopes to woo pro-israel conservative voters, including evangelical christians, ahead of a possible presidential bid in 2024. shifting now to a meeting of leaders from across the asia-pacific. the economic forum known as apec

is holding the event online, and free trade is high on the agenda as the 21 member states wrestle with fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. japan's prime minister promised to work closely with the other members to achieve prosperity in the region. he says his country will play a leadership role in areas such as digital innovation. >> translator: japan will, together with apec, aim to realize a sustainable society and economy in which everyone can take an active part and enjoy the benefits of growth. >> suga spoke on the sec day of the event, which is being hosted remotely by malaysia. he said japan will work to establish rules on digital trade, including e-commerce. the prime minister said japan will also foster free trade in the region by pushing to expand an agreement between 11 countries from the transpacific partnership. here in japan, a captain is under arrest for allegedly

causing a ship to go down while it was bearing sixth graders on a school trip. the japan coast guard received a call for help on thursday after a ship in waters off kagawa prefecture began taking on water. 20 minutes later, it went down, setting 60 people, including children and teachers, adrift. this man used his personal boat to help with the rescue. >> translator: there were people in the sea holding on to flotation devices and waiting to be rescued. >> all passengers and crew were rescued. two students and one other person were taken to hospital with symptoms of hypothermia. japan's transport safety board is looking further into what may have caused the accident. officials suspect the 45-year-old captain navigated the vessel in an unsafe manner, steering it into shallow waters and sinking it. china has set a target of

ending rural poverty by the end of this year. as part of the project of president xi jinping beijing is building modern housing facilities with a goal of bringing rural residents into the 21st century. >> reporter: high in the mountains of southwestern china, a brand-new housing complex slowly comes into view. this is a village in sichan province that's home to minorities. the complex houses more than 200 families. the chinese government recently allowed foreign media to tour the site in an apparent bid to underline its anti-poverty initiatives. the old houses were built of soil or wood.

the rooms were gloomy with fill windows to allow in sunlight. the new housing complex comes with vegetable fields, which has created more than 100 jobs. >> translator: i now earn between $200 and $300 a month, which is lot more than before. >> reporter: this complex is home to 65 households. local government officials say the residents are happy in their new homes. >> translator: it's quite nice here. rain used to leak through the roof in my old house and i couldn't sleep well at night. but i don't feel scared anymore. >> reporter: the housing units include a kitchen, a bedroom, and a toilet. fixed onto the wall is a poster of president xi. another complex with over 1,400 units was given a name that

expresses gratitude to the communist party. party slogans are common sights in the complexes. children are attending the new kindergarten are taught in standard chinese and not their own language, to ensure they're fluent in chinese before they enter elementary school. but slogans aside, some residents admit they're having a hard time adjusting to their new lifestyle. >> translator: previously, all i did was graze my sheep in the morning and bring them back in the afternoon. to be honest, i didn't want to move. >> reporter: xi is hoping to pull villagers out of poverty by providing them with a better living environment. but the move could also be sn as an attempt to merge ethnic minorities into the greater

chinese society under the rule of the communist party. oyama yoshihiro, nhk world. a book by a japanese-born korean writer has won one of the most prestigious literary prizes. "tokyo ueno station" is part of a larger trend of novels by women in japan gaining international attention. >> reporter: ueno station is a bustling, crowded commuter hub. it's where people get off for a choice of world-class museums, grab an ice cream, and walk around ueno park, or attend the famous ueno zoo. but the station is another home for some of tokyo's homeless population, and it's the marginalized, often forgotten

people who are the focus of yu miri's book. >> this year's national book award for translated literature goes to yu miri for "tokyo ueno station." >> oh, oh! >> reporter: yu, who is korean and was born in japan, was inspired to write a novel by her personal exchanges with people in fukushima, which was devastated by a powerful earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in 2011. in her acceptance speech, she said she wanted to capture the sense of having nowhere to call home. >> the main character of "tokyo ueno station" is a m from minamisoma. i would like to share this joy with the people of minamisoma who are on a path of hardship after the earthquake.

>> reporter: yu's main character arrives ateno ation e year before tokyo hosted e olympi games 1964. he needso work tsupport s family he dris as a mrant worr and bemes homeless. the story depicts, in haunting prose, his hardships as japan experiences an era of rapid growth. while the book was influenced by the events of 2011, yu says the current coronavirus is another touchstone for readers and makes the novel even more relevant. >> translator: the moment i heard the expression "stay at home," i thought about the homeless people i met at ueno station and ueno park. the spread of the coronavirus drove people who had nowhere to go even further into the corners of society.

>> reporter: yu is not the only female writer in japan whose writing is turning heads and turning pages around the world. recent translations into english are introducing the books to a whole new audience hungry for fresh voices. tawada yoko won a national book award for best translated work for "the emissary" in 2018. this year ogawa yoku's "the memory police" was short-listed for the international booker. >> translator: translators are using their skills to help sne a spotlight on the dialects and language used by young japanese, which can be difficult t accurately capture. >> reporter: he predicts the success of writers like yu and

yagawa will encourage other writers in japan to express their thoughts too. and international bookworms eager for more work out of japan. . switching gears for a check on world weather with meteorologist jonathan oh. people in northeastern parts of china dealt with heavy snow earlier this week. jonathan, are we expecting anything like that here in japan for the weekend this. >> an active pattern across northeastern portions of china. in the process, we did see that moving through the middle of this week and falling in the form of rain toward the northern portions of japan as we went through friday. let me show you video coming out of china to give you the idea of what the scene looked like. look at all that snow coming on the ground as we saw this taking place. that led to authorities asking residents to stay home for the rest of the week. the weather department issuing oranlertsor heavy snow,

ra, and ver cold weather. and you can tell right there, workers deployed toork on roads, railways, even power lines. and some flights ended up being canceled because the airports were temporarily closed in the area. on the chillier side, and we are looking at another cold front moving through. with a high pressure system moving in, maybe a little on the drier side for most of the weekend. but it's still unstable into northern portions of japan. we had that low pressure system rolling through, so we are looking at more rain into sapporo for the entire week into monday as well. showers developing into eastern side of china with another system rolling through there. a closer look at japan. it was quite warm in portions of the country. we're setting records. 26.6 degrees in portions of shikoku. that's the high on friday in hiwasa, november record. takata, 28.1 degrees on friday. it's november. we're not supposed to be this

warm. but we definitely will be seeing a change coming as we head into the weekend. some spotty showers along the north and northeastern side of japan. and once we see the cold front moving through, temperatures will also sink. looking at some snow in sapporo on monday. tokyo and osaka looking at highs near the 20-degree mark, then starting to move down toward the mid-teens on monday. fukuoka stepping slowly down as we go through the weekend. meanwhile, across europe, we have a system rolling toward the united kingdom and ireland. that's going to be bringing some unstable weather as we go through friday. we have another cold front that's swept through from the scandinavian peninsula into russia. as it did that, it's sinking the temperatures, dropping the temperatures in the process. we're seeing a much colder pattern for the northeastern sections of europe. another wave of rain and snow expected from that front that will move from the united kingdom into the scandinavian peninsula. thunderstorms expected in stockholm as you go into

saturday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. and that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline biz" with ramin mellegard, so stay right there. ♪

♪ it's "newsline biz." i'm ramin mellegard. a major car show has starred up in southern china as the world's biggest auto market clicks into gear again after it was hit hard by covid. car companies from around the world are showcasing about 1,000 vehicles at the guangzhou motor show. japan's nissan motor is touting an electric suv that will be on the road next year. it can travel as far as 610 kilometers on a single charge. a chinese firm showcased a system that can replace electric

vehicle batteries in just 20 seconds. >> translator: taxi drivers in china don't want to waste time waiting for batteries to charge. we believe vehicles with replaceable batteries will be a big part of future markets. >> toyota unveiled a new gasoline-powered vehicle. chinese demand for cars has been on the road to recovery since april. the government is planning more steps to rev up sales. the japanese government is weighing additional measures to support airlines devastated by the coronavirus. that's according to sources who say officials are considering a further reduction in airport landing fees for the next fiscal year. the government has already slashed the fees about i 45%, but it's looking into additional cuts that would cover domestic

flights at state-operated airports such as haneda in tokyo. sources say the government is also considering further cuts in fuel taxes for domestic flights, a 30% reduction is already in place. but officials are wary of slashing these fees too much, as they're partly used to finance airport maintenance. shipments of large home appliances rose to a 26-year high in japan last month as the coronavirus pandemic prompted people to spend more time at home. the japan electrical manufacturers association says domestic shipments in october totaled about 180 billion yen or more than $1.7 biion, almost 23% more than a year earlier, and the highest since 1994. shipments of washing machines and refrigerators each posted a 27% increase. those of air conditioners rose almost 20%. air purifiers were in

particularly strong demand surging nearly 130%. those with electric grille plates jumped 86%. that's also true for air purifiers for industrial use. kubota plans to increase its production, a ten-fold jump from before. kubota says offices, nursing facilities, restaurants, and gyms are placing a growing number of orders. the company also aims to lower prices of its mass-produced models. other japanese manufacturers are stepping up their production of industrial air purifiers. panasonic has already tripled output cacity at its factory in aichi prefecture. sharp has raised production by around 50% since april compared to last year. mitsubishi electric says a cloud system operated by a contractor has been hacked.

it says personal information linked to thousands of bank accounts have been leaked. the company says the hack took place monday and 8,635 bank accounts held by business partners have been compromised. the leaked data includes names, addresses, and phone numbers of account holders. mitsubishi is no stranger to cyber attacks. the company was targeted in a large-scale hack last year in which the personal data of more than 8,000 people may have been leaked. the company's known for its household appliances, but is also involved in sensitive businesses such as communications and space and defense programs as the world see new ways to feed its growing population, singapore is making strides in creating food options that don't rely on traditional farming. with support from the government, some startups there aim to show a little bit of land can go a long way. >> reporter: the heavily urbanized city-state has limited space for farming, so food

security has long been a concern. the government is targeting to raise the food self-sufficiency rate from less than 10% to 30% by 2030. >> climate change can hit us hard. temperaturessoar ocns heat up. affecting o foo supply. less to buy, less to eat, less foodcurity. at's why wre changin the game. >> reporter: singapore's government is promoting the development of food alternatives as a growth industry. for some firms, the lack of land is not a deterrent ca. case in point this is startup, whose products include a crab cake substitute that is based on micro algae. the micro algae is mixed with the straining leaves of soybeans and malt, then stirred in a bio reactor and fermented for three days. the result is a biomass that can be processed into protein powder to be used for crab cakes and

other foods. the company says it requires only 0.02 hectares of land to make one ton of what it calls urban protein. >> if we can make it here, we prove to the world even tiny singapore, with not much space, with no freshwater, and we can grow protein at this level, wow. >> reporter: startups are also developing more efficient methods of dairy farming. this firm aims to produce so-called clean milk from mammals by using cell culture technology to reduce reliance on dairy cattle and vast tracts of land. among livestock action cattle for beef and dairy products are seen as the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases. >> we know current dairy is not sustainable. as a matter of fact, 30% of methane emissions are due to these reasons.

we're able to produce really high-value components of milk and bio-similar milk products that can actually feed the world. >> reporter: singapore's government continues to collaborate with companies to improve its food self-sufficiency. one official foresees the day when the country's food tech innovations may be adopted beyond its borders. >> i think this is a very unique position that singapore is in. eventually we will be able to develop the technology that is possible. let's get a check on the markets.

that's it for "newsline biz." from our tokyo studios, i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very much for watching.

>> this is al jazeera and these are the top stories. joe biden has criticized the his victory.ident for denying he branded donald trump's obstruction to the transition as responsible and debilitating. >> we are witnessing incredible irresponsibility, damaging messaging sent to the rest of the world. and i think it is