♪ hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa. we begin in tokyo. 311 new infections were confirmed in the metropolis on monday. authorities say 70 people are now in serious condition. that's the highest figure since the nationwide state of emergency was lifted in late

may. >> translator: we absolutely must stop the spread of the disease. tokyo will take all possible measures in a concentrated short-term push to overcome this crucial moment. >> an expert on inftious diseases says the situation will remain severe in tokyo for the next f weeks. >> translator: the rapid spread of the new coronavirus may subside temporarily, but we have to think that the number of seriously ill people will continue to increase for a while. >> the central government has temporarily excluded osaka and sapporo from the go to travel domestic tourism campaign because of rising cases in those cities. but tokyo is still part of the campaign, which offers discounts to people traveling to the area. >> translator: the content of the campaign keeps changing. we want the government to clearly decide whether to

continue or stop it all at once across the country. >> aocal governor is calling on tokyo to be excluded saying most visitors to the northeastern prefecture of akita come from the capital. >> translator: tokyo is now experiencing its worst numbers. the campaign should be stopped. just as it was for osaka and sapporo. >> but the government says it has no objective evidence to suggest that its travel campaign has led to recent outbreaks despite his advisory panel opposing trips from advisory hot spots be excluded. >> translator: as for how to deal with the campaign in places where infections are increasing, we'll consider the opinions of the government advisory panel and governors in the areas. we continue to make thorough efforts to prevent the spread of infection while appropriately operating the campaign.

>> officials reported over 1,400 new cases across the country on monday. more than 149,000 people in japan have been infected since the pandemic began. over 2,100 people have died. meanwhile, many foreigners in japan cannot return home due to the pandemic. japanese immigration authorities have temporarily allowed them to work part-time in the country as? are struggling financially. the immigration services agency put the measure into effect on tuesday. the latest step is aimed at about 21,000 non-japanese including those who came to japan for short-term stays or as technical trainees. the agency said many of them find themselves stranded, often because of their country's tightened entry restrictions. in order to be able to work part-time they need to apply to the agency. one month after a deadly earthquake and tsunami in turkey relief workers are increasingly

concerned about the spread of coronavirus infections in the hardest-hit areas. the magnitude 7.0uake struck in the aegean sea on october 30th, leaving 117 dd in turkey and two more in greece. in the turkish provincef izmir more than 4,500 buildings were damaged or destroyed. authorities said 854 evacuees were living in temporary shelters as of november 26th. a member of a non-governmental group doing relief work told nhk the coronavirus is spreading across the country and cases are being seen among evacuees and aid workers. >> people have to walk out of their safe households, from the safety of their tents, even to visit the lavatory, even to get a hot meal. of course they are exposed to these much more. >> he says the shelters are not a doable solution because of

insufficient infrastructure such as sewage and electricity. china's new export control starts tuesday amid trade tensions with washington. the government must now approve exports of products and services it says could threaten national security. shipments to specific foreign companies could be banned or restricted. the regulations also target exports of raw materials and parts used to make products in other countries. the restrictions cover military supply items that could be diverted for military use, technology services and data. but so far no specific ims have been announced. offenders will be fined and could face criminal charges. so what kind of impact will china's new law have on its trading partners? we spoke with marikama tomo at the university of tokyo. he's an expert on china's

economy and industries. >> the law places restrictions on services and items deemed to have a harmful effect on china's national security and national interests. it is also seen as a form of retaliation against stricter export measures on chinese companies imposed by u.s. president donald trump. but marukawa says the u.s. won't feel much of a difference. >> this shouldn't be any impact on the united states because it is unlike that china is exportg weapons and nuclear-related items and dual use technology to the united states. >> he says a major objective of the law involves maintaining stability on the domestic front. >> it is possible that chinese authorities can put pressure on

those organizations and countries that are supporting dissidents in china such as those who are advocating for the independence of the uighur nationality or the democratic movement in hong kong. >> reporter: for japan a big issue is rare earth. china is a major producer of these materials, which are essential in high-tech manufacturing. but marukawa says the new law does not pose a threat t japan's industry. >> i don't think that this law is applicable to rare earth. because air earth itself is not directly related to weapons or dual-use technology. and also china failed to control its rare earth exports before by using the environmental protection as a pretext.

and it was just as inconsistent with wto rules. >> still, marukawa warns frt possibility of beijing using the law as a weapon during the trade war. >> there are several international arrangements regarding the exports of dual-use technology in nuclear-related items and weapons. so don't think that this law will be inconsistent with the current global trade order. however, it is possible that china will tryo misuse it if others a misusing and regulating exports to china as the united stes i currently doing against china. iran's state-run television has reported the weapon used to kill one of iran's top nuclear scientists last week was made in

israel. mohsen fakhrizadeh was killed in an attack on friday. he's believed to have played a key role in iran's nuclear program. his funeral was held monday in tehran. iranian defense minister amir khatami has vowed retaliation. >> translator: iran will seek revenge for the assassination of one of its people. >> he warned the enemy knows full well that he cannot commit a crime without getting a response from the iranian people. iran's english language press tv reported a source as saying the weapon collected at the scene of the terrorist act bears the logo and specifications of the israeli military industry. israel's intelligence minister told a radio station he did not know who was responsible.

the japanese space probe hayabusa2 is on course to deliver rare and precious cargo to earth. japan's space agency says it's planning to release a capsule from the probe so it can re-enter the earth's atmosphere in the early hours of december 6th. the space agency jaxa launched hayabusa2 in 2014. the probe is returning home after refroefg samples from an asteroid called ryugu. it's expected to land in a desert in southern australia. the project manager said adjusting the orbit of the probe has been perfect. he added they will continue focusing on the process as procedures before and after the capsule separation are crucial. after the release hayabusa2 will

change course and go to another asteroid on a separate mission. ♪ ♪ it's time now for a check of the world weather with our meteorologist yoko komagata. so people living in northeast asia dealing with wintry cold temperatures this tuesday morning. yoko, how long will the cold weather continue? >> it will continue to get a few

degrees cold colder than normal temperatures throughout the week. strong siberian-held arctic cold air has been affecting northern china providing a winter wonderland last week. take a look at this video. snow-covered peaks above the clouds created wonderful scenery like an ink painting. ectators climbed to the top of building points to see snow-covered trees. in some areas people can see a frozen lake with some large pieces of ice floating nearby. conditions will be mainly dry in many parts of china and the korean peninsula. however, northeastern japan will see some snowfall and ee if snow develops. sapporo will continue to see some snowfall as we go into tuesday evening. meanwhile, tokyo, seoul, and beijing will continue to see sunny skies. further to the south most wet weather will affect taipei. there is a chance of heavy

rainfall. in india we have a depression over the bay of bengal. this may be the next storm system to hit southeastern india in a week as a cyclonic storm. the previous storm caused major floods and deadly landslides last week. unfortunately, we are expecting more heavy rainfall and storm surges as it moves closer and pushes into southeastern india and sri lanka over the next couple days. total rainfall may reach 300 millimeters. the ground is already saturated. so additional rainfall could cause further flooding and landslides. finally, in north america a strong winter storm known as nor'easter is creating destructive weather in the northeastern u.s. and eastern canada on tuesday. heavy snowfall will be seen in the eastern great lakes region, as much as 30 centimeters. in addition, strong winds could produce blizzard-like conditions in places like toronto, causing some -- that's all for now.

stay safe. ♪ ♪ ♪

that's all for this hour on nhk "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us. ♪ ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." today's topic is ethnic minority groups in asia and the struggle to maintain cultural identity. we'll be looking at how languages and traditional rituals have been suppressed today and in history and what one group is doing is revive their heritage. our first report comes from china's inner mongolia

autonomous region. around 4 million mongols live in this region. that's about 70% of the population. han chinese are the dominant ethnic group here. many mongols send their children to schools that teach in the mongolian language instead of mandarin, china's official language. but just ahead of the new school year starting in september beijing suddenly announced that key subjects will be taught in mandarin only. mongols fear this change in policy is undermining their language and by extension their cultural identity. we have changed the voices of some people in our report to protectheir identies. >> rorter: thousan of protested the curricum change andoycotted schools in inner mongolia. their demand? keep mongolian education as it subjectsaught in mandarin.

but when nhk visited holhach, the regional capital, the city seemed to have calmed down. we saw banners in two languages, mandarin, the official dialect, and mongolian. children were back in school. it looked like normality had returned. but there were signs of tension in the form of a police presence around ethnic schools. we tried to speak with local residents. but with little success.

there was a reason for their silence. local police have uploaded photos of the protesters. there's a reward for information about them. one human rights group says more than 4,000 people have been detained. meanwhile, beijing is shrugging off criticism from the international community. >> translator: foreign media are inflaming the situation politically with motives. a country's official language is a symbol of sovereignty. learning and using it is the right and obligation of citizens. >> reporter: given the sensitive circumstances, we tried talking to educators and parents in inner mongolia by phone from

japan. the head of a rural district said he worries forced assimilation is now the policy of the chinese government.

mongols living abroad are also concerned. in tokyo they marched in defense of their culture. >> translato we will lose our culture. we are even worried about existence of our ethnic group. >> people in inner mongolia have not caused any trouble. they've been peaceful. why is the government suddenly trying to take away our

language? >> reporter: about 1,000 mongols took to the streets of tokyo, calling on beijing to safeguard mongolian language education. one of the protest leaders was ba bold. he came to japan to study 20 years ago and took citizenship and is now a professor at a university near tokyo. bold was born in 1963. he grew up during the cultural revolution. inner mongolia saw political persecution and violence on a huge scale at that time. still, he was able to study in mongolian from elementary school through college. now that opportunity bold

enjoyed is about to disappear. >> reporter: china's communist party aims to unite all ethnic groups within one chinese family. but its recent hard-line policy has stirred ethnic pride.

what this means for china and the mongol people, only time will tell. a u.s.-based group, southern mongolia human rights information center, estimates that at least 8,000 mongols were placed under some form of police custody during the recent unrest. we move to japan now tooo effor to revive the ethnic culture of the ainu, this country's indigenouminority. hoaidond in the pross theyne forced the ainu people to adopt the customs the mainland. the unique ainu culture including their language and ceremonies was at risk of fading away. in 1997 the japanese government reversed their policies, enacting a new law to support ainu culture. and last year the diet enacted a law officially recognizing the

ainu people as an indigenous group. the new policy bore fruit in july of this year with the opening of a national museum and park inookkaid cledal upopoi. it's dedicated to revitalizing and expanding ainu culture. upopoi means singing together in a large group. our next story looks at a young woman who is seeking to improve her performance in this group and also find her roots. ♪ >> reporter: a traditional ainu dance brought 26 young adults to the stage. they are to perform a ceremony called iomante, sending the soul of a brown bear back to the world of the gods. in ainu culture they are worshiped as deities that

provide pelts and meat. for a long time iomante was forbidden under a government policy of assimilation. now it's seen as something to be celebrated. one of the dancers to perform at the new facility is shintan i shiori. shintani was raised without any opportunity to learn about her ainu heritage. >> translator: my mother told me that my great grandmother often sewed children's clotng. i never had the chaps to see any of her work. >> shintani spent her university years in kyoto. the appreciation of history there inspired her to try to raise awareness of ainu culture.

>> i want to live my life as the proud daughter of an ainu woman. >> reporter: however, she worries whether she's capable of doing just to the traditions. in a different time from her ancestors. >> nowadays we don't have the experience of bea meat and fur being essential to our lives. >> i think what we can do is dance together joyfully. >> reporter: a person who has taken part in ceremony before told shintan not to worry about sticking too close to history. >> i think it's fine to create a ceremony that reflects the present day. be flexible. culture isn't fixed.

>> at the dress rehearsal shintani decided to incorporate impromptu ainu chants. >> it's not historically accurate, but i hope people can appreciate this rendition as an interpretation of the tradition. >> bear meat and fur may no longer be essential. but visitors to upopoi can be enriched by the tradition they inspired. fukada ohei, nhk world, sapporo. >> and people do seem to find upopoi inspiring. more than 150,000 people have visited the center since it opened in july. the spread of the

coronavirus, however, has forced the center to suspend the iomante dance you saw in the video. when the coronavirus pandemic ends, the iomante dance will return to the stage again, helping to reawaken a unique cultural heritage. that's it for toda anchor: amerit

modernity seeks approval for its covid-19 vaccine from health regulators in the u.s. and europe. this is thomas. also coming up, a double blow for donald trump attempt to ovturn the election as states certified joe biden as the winner. deforestation in the brazilian rain forest it's a 12 year high. ethiopia's prime minister dismisses