♪ hello and welcome to this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan with the news from tokyo. we begin here in japan, where the government says the next three weeks will be critical in the fight to contain rising coronavirus infections. the nation reported over 2,500 new cases on thursday. authorities are asking bars and restaurants in many places to shorten their business hours as the medical system comes under strain.

the number of seriously ill patients in tokyo reached 60 on thursday for the first time since the nationwide state of emergency was lifted in may. 40% of hospital beds in the capital allocated for serious covid-19 cases are now occupied. this medical center says almost all of its 16 beds for patients with moderate symptoms are full. >> translator: emergency care centers will be busiest in december and january. it will affect the capacity for handling ordinary emergency patients. in some cases, they could fall into life threatening conditions. >> tokyo officials have asked bars and restaurants that serve alcohol to close early from this weekend. authorities in osaka, sapporo and nagoya are making the same request. the prime minister is urging people to take basic precautions

such as wearing masks, washing hands, and aiding the three cs, closed spaces, crowded places, and close contact settings. >> translator: the next three weeks will be an extremely crucial period. i want to work cloly with u to overcome the spread of infection at any cost. >> the transport ministry has asked taxi drivers to crank up ventilation systems in their cabs when they need to keep windows closed because of the cold. that's after super computer simulations showed the increase in air flow could help limit contagion. the computer showed the amount of droplets spread when a mask wearing passenger coughs is just 30% compared to those not wearing masks. over 141,000 people have tested positive in japan since the outbreak began. more than 2,000 have died. the valuesa pets held by the bank of japan surged to a record

during the current fiscal year as the central bank increased purchases of government bonds to support the economy in the face of the pandemic. the bank's total assets reached just over 690 trillion yen, about $6.6 trillion at the end of september. that's up 21% from a year ago. the amount equals 1.2 times japan's fiscal growth of 2019, the 13th time it's set a record. japanese government bonds made up the largest proportion of the boj assets with a value of around 529 trillion yen, rising 10% from a year earlier as the bank tries to boost the economy with massive monetary easing. the boj says it will closely monitor the economic impact of the pandemic and carry out additional easing, if needed. japan's prime minister has held talks with the crown prince of saudi arabia.

suga said japan will support the middle eastern country's push to reduce its dependance on oil. suga spoke with the crown prince by phone on thursday. he congratulat him on the recent group of 20 summit, chaired by saudi arabia. the crown prince expressed gratitude for japan's cooperation. suga also said japan appreciates saudi efforts to stabilize the international crude oil market. president moon jae-in says close ties with china have helped in tackling the pandemic. he made that remark when he welcomed the chinese foreign minister wang yi. moon says he hopes their countries can develop their strategic partnership by boosting cultural exchanges. wang said they'll survive the difficulties posed by the coronavirus, and continue they marked the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2022. moon and wang agreed their

countries will work toward a visit to south korea by president xi jinping. they also affirmed the need to work together to realize a nuclear-free korean peninsula. china's customs authorities say the value of the trade with north korea plummeted in october. the border was closed during the month because of the pandemic. the officials say the bilateral trade was worth almost $1.66 million, down 99% from a year earlier. the total fell 76% from january through october. north korea has suspended flights and trains to and from china in response to the coronavirus. its leadership has been calling on factories and farms to boost production in what it calls an 80-day battle. the initiative comes ahead of a ruling party congress scheduled for january. hacking is a growing problem for companies around the world. now about half the japanese firms taking part in a survey

say they have been hit by ransom ware attacks in the past year. i.t. security firm crowd strike surveyed data security staff across the globe. in japan 200 officials responded from major companies in sectors such as finance and the auto industry. 103 say they suffered attacks involving ransomware in the past 12 months. such software encrypts the victim's da and demands paymen to restoraccess. 33 respondents say their firms paid ransoms spending an average of about $1.2 million. a crowd strike official warns some hackers could carry out follow-up attacks where they threaten to expose stolen data. >> the important thing is not pay rans requests because you are paying criminal industries. you are inviting them to carry out more attacks. >> he urged companies to keep their software updated.

♪ huge crowds of mourners have gathered in the argentina capital to pay a final tribute to madradona. thousands of people lined up to pay their respects. his coffin was draped with the national flag and an argentina soccer jersey emblazened with the number 10. >> translator: he's someone who moves me. i love football and loved seeing him play and his patriotism, his love for the flag, his humble origins, the way he represented ord fainary people. it is not possible to explain how i feel. it moves me to see him play. it touched me.

>> scuffles took place as authorities started to close down access to the central square on thursday, until police resorted to rubber bullets and water cannons to disburse crowds. the casket was interred on thursday. the government declared three days of national mourning through friday. in the italian city of naples, crowds placed flowers, candles and scarves outside the grounds of its former club, fc napoli. many have paid tribute to the sporting legend. they met several times at the vatic vatican. he took part in matches for peace to drum up support for education in developing countries. people in japan are still learning lesson prs the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country's tohoku region almost a decade ago. as nhk world reports, the father of one young victim is doing

what he can to save others from a similar fate. >> translator: 74 people were killed when the tsunami struck the elementary school. my daughter was one of them. it happened just a week before what should have been graduation day. >> reporter: he is invited here to speak. that's how he begins his story. his daughter was 12. >> translator: she was on this earth for only 4,433 days, but i know her life wasn't wasted. >> reporter: she was a student at this elementary school in nishino maki. the building was devastated. he returned time and again to search for her. >> translator: i thought, it must be cold.

scared, too. very scared. please come home. >> reporter: five months later, her body was found nearby at sea. in hopes of saving other children in future disasters, he began a series of talks in schools. he also spoke at a conference of experts in miyagi prefecture on disaster prevention. >> translator: each school has someone in charge of disaster management. but we need to change our mindset so that everyone is responsible. as a team. >> reporter: his suggestions are part of the material to be incorporated in the conference report. the message he brings to young students is that every life has

meaning. >> translator: your minds are young and flexible. i hope you will use them to think about how to save others. this is one of the reasons you study. you may face great difficulties in life. but these challenges always have a purpose. their meaning will become apparent when you encounter some person or event in the future. >> reporter: that is the lesson this school principal wants to make sure is well learned by every student he can reach. sato keisuke, nhk world. s >> >> time to check on the weather with our meteorologist. yoko, we have spring-like temperatures here in tokyo on thursday, but people woke up to cold and gloomy skies this morning. i saw people bundling up to get to work.

so what should we expect this weekend? >> it's going to be mainly dry on the pacific side of japan, including tokyo friday going into sunday. but some snowfall is expected in northern japan this weekend. we have a low pressure system over the sea of japan. it will move east and produce wet weather, especially along the northwestern side of the country. there is the possibility of severe thunderstorms with a chance of hail and damaging winds. some rain could turn to snow in the tohoku region and parts of hokkaido as we go into sunday. sapporo will get snowy weather on sunday. and tokyo will have much cooler temperatures on friday. the high will be 13 degrees. that's 5 degrees colder than what we saw yesterday. for the rest of east asia, a large high pressure system will create dry conditions across many parts of china and the korean peninsula, but the high will also carry cold air from the north. highs will be in the single digits in beijing and seoul on

friday and going into sunday. minus 14 degrees for the -- will be the high for kuala lumpur. in the south, most of the rain will increase in manila. there is the possibility of flooding and landslides. now we're looking at the remnants of this storm in india. that made landfall in the southeastern portions of the country on thursday, leading to torrential rainfall. it's expected to weaken further on friday. winds and rain will be going down over the weekend, but another storm system could develop over the bay of bengal next week. that may affect and produce more heavy rainfall yet again in southeast india. floods and landslides will continue to be concerns. some stormy weather will persist on friday, but you will see improvements as we go into sunday and saturday. but once again, we can expect more heavy rainfall in the

earlier part of next week. that's all for now. stay safe.

that concludes this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo, and from all of us at nhk world-japan, thanks for watching. ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." i'm yanaka marie. thank you for joining us. today, we begin with this photograph. doesn't this family look happy and joyful? photos like this capture a moment in time and create a memento that can be treasured forever. the image was taken by a

professional photographer who specializes in family portraits that have a distinctive flavor all their own. in our first story, we look at how he manages to capture those special moments in people's lives. >> reporter: he held an exhibition in tokyo in september. many families enjoyed his unique and imaginative photos. asada has been a professional photographer for the past 13 years. his specialty is family portraits. asada got the idea of creating a new kind of family portrait when he was in photography school. he was given an assignment, take a photo that expresses yourself. he re-created an incident from his childhood.

his father was injured when his foot got stuck in the doorway. asada's older brother rushed down from the second floor, but he fell down the stairs and was also injured. asada saw what was happening and pan panicked. he also fell down and got hurt. the three of them went to the hospital, where asada's mother worked as a nurse. he re-created the scene to show who the members of his family really are. >> translator: by take thing photo based on my memory, i thought i could take the best photo of my life. i took this photograph with the four of us as a way of expressing the strongest memory i have of the members of my family. >> he realized all families have

such precious memories. he started asking people to pose for similar photos. here is one of them. a woman's father had long supported his family by working as a fisherman. but he had to give up his boat. his family wanted to preserve his sense of pride through this photo. the man in this photo loved singing in front of people. dementia robbed him of the ability to show emotion. but he was all smiles as he sang his favorite song on a big stage his family had set up. asada has taken 45 family portraits so far. each one is a precious record of people's love for each other.

his photos give people the strength to get through hard times. this man knows this well. asada took a photo of her family 11 years ago. >> the photograph is always with us in a place where everyone can see it. >> it shows her, her husband, and their two children. their eldest son, takumi, was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. seeing him suffer the side effects of anti-cancer drugs, took a heavy, emotional toll. she asked asada to photograph her family. she was curious how he would depict them. he was deeply moved by an episode from their past. one day, ai and takumi looked

out the window of his hospital room. they saw a rainbow and takumi smiled. but the rainbow soon disappeared. that inspired asada. he asked ai and her family to draw rainbows on white t-shirts, photographing them meant they would never disappear. >> it had been months since the whole family had slept together side by side. it was such a peaceful time. i was overjoyed to see takumi sleeping soundly and peacefully. >> six months after asada took the photo, takumi died. the picture gives the family emotional support.

>> i remember that peaceful moment very clearly. the photograph gives us the strength to go on. it's like a lucky charm for us. i can keep looking at this photo forever. it always makes me feel happy. >> i'll keep trying to take photos that people enjoyed looking at every day, and that help bring happiness to their lives. >> every family has special moments that tell the story of who they are. asada's work helps keep those precious memories alive, as they slip into the past. >> asada's photos have struck a

deep cord in people. not just his subjects, but now with the wider audience. a movie based on his work recently won best asian film award at the warsaw international film festival. even as his photography gains recognition, asada continues to take portraits of his own family, too. a practice he sayses that deepened ties within his home. he says that photos of everyday life, not just at formal or special occasions, can add up to create a precious record. for our next story, we start with this photograph. it shows shuri castle in okinawa, which has a history of more than 500 years and remains the symbol of the kingdom in this archipelago in the far south of japan. in 2019, a huge wave destroyed a reconstruction of the original

structure built at the unesco world heritage site. the fire came completion just months to restore the site. we meet a photography whose career has developed, thanks to his special relationship with shuri castle. over the decades, his life and work have been linked with the castle, and that hasn't changed even with the inferno. >> reporter: this 79-year-old photographer lives in naha city. at 4:00 a.m. on that fateful day, he shot the castle from this spot. >> the fire from the roof was burning with incredible force and looked like a dragon rising agonizingly towards the sky. i've never seen anything like it. i feel sad and so discouraged. >> reporter: he used to work as an advertising photographer for

an automaker in osaka. in 1980, he moved to okinawa and went freelance, shooting landscapes and events. he is particularly captivated by the way the appearance of shuri castle changes depemdzing on the season and the time of the day. the postwar era reconstruction efforts of the castle began at about the same time he launched his new career in the environment of okinawa. his career advanced in tandem as the castle was gradually being rebuilt. >> translator: it might sound presumptuous, but i found comfort in the fact that the castle and i were taking a similar path. i've been energized by the castle. >> reporter: in 2000, the kyushu/okinawa summit was held, and the castle became the center of world attention. images taken were included in

the official photo books presented to the leaders of the participating nations. his portrait of the castle glowing read in the dark is one of them. since the fire, he has regularly been visiting the castle to photograph its reconstruction. >> translator: the reconstruction efforts are certainly moving forward. i'm convinced that my mission is to record the process through photographic images, and i hope to help the project as much as possible. >> he's long felt an affinity with the castle and is determined to continue to document its process until it's brought back to its former glory again. >> as we have seen, photographs have the power to keep alive memories of the past and give us courage to move forward.

they can be an immense source of strength, especially in difficult times like these. and that's all for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for tuning in. we leave you with a look at a group of high school students in okinawa who also have a very special relationship with shuri castle.

legend. thousands in argentina pay tribute as he is laid to rest. ♪ hello there. this is al jazeera. coming up, pharmaceutical company astrazeneca says it may need to run a new global trial for its coronavirus vaccine amid questions about its efficacy. half a million people in the firing line. ethiopia's government says the final offensive in tigre has begun. anger in france as authorities