edition of nhk "newsline." three leaders have been handed prison sentences for the role in an unauthorized protest last year. joshua wang have rallied support for their cause for years poet

in hong kong and abroad. wong received a 13-month sentence while cihow will spend seven months. those inside the courtroom say ciao broke down in tears, but wong remained defiant. he shouted to the gallery, the coming tas will be tougher, but we will hang in there. the three pleaded guilty to charges of inciting and participating in a demonstration outside police headquarters. they led the defungt group which disbapded hours before a new national security law took effect.k he was worried about an b uncertain future, put felt confident personal pain and suffering would fuel efforts to push for democracy and justice. people in hong kong reacted sharply.

>> i feel the punishment is not fair. what they have it done, i hope they stay safe and remember that we all are waiting for the.ç >> this was one of many pending legal cases against activists stemming from incidents that took place in the new restrictions on protests. nhk world has been following the story in hong kong and reports on what this means for activists still fighting to have their voices heard. >> this is clearly bad news for the pro democracy movement. the territory government says it's brought calm to the

streets. others say it forced activists. now at a cross roads, their actions are few. there are few lawmakers remaining in. the movement helps to gain international support, but with the conviction of figures like ciao, the past becomes even more uncertain. a group of u.s. lawmakers is calling for congressional action to help hong kong disdents >> thehallenges posed by the thcommunist party are not partisan.communist party are no partisan.

>> the u.s./china economic and security review commission says beijing is becoming more aggressive both at home and abroad. it says washington should remove barriers pro democracy activists hoping to flee prosecution. when china passed a new national security law t disregarded obligations to the territory by violating the framework. it says that fundamentally transformed china's relationship with democracies around the world. the report also recommends the u.s. has strengthened its ties with taiwan as china intensifies military operations around the island. china's actions show its promise to reunify with taiwan while respecting its autonomy is hollow. the report also warns china is trying to use economic and political control to expand its international influence and sub verse u.n. agencies.

china wants to create global standards for techtology to ensure countries must rely on their products. they are calling to put aside partisan differences and address these concerns. britain has become the first country to approve the coronavirus vaccine from u.s. drug maker pfizer. it confirmed the safety and evidefficacy of the vaccine. pfizer claims the vaccine is % effective based on analysis of clinical trials. serious side effectsrts of britain's authoties have been conducti rolling reviews of the vaccine. that involves quick screening without full clinical trial data due to a public health emergency. the vaccine will be made available across the uk starting next week. authorities in the united states are also drawing up plans

for vaccine rollouts. experts advising the centers for disease control and prevention say health care workers and nursing home residents should be first in line. >> vaccination is the initial phase of the covid-19 vaccination program. phase 1a should be offered to both health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities. >> two vaccines are already being screened for emergency use in the country. one is being developed jointly by u.s. drugmaker pfizer and its german partner viontech. the other by u.s. firmoderna. botcould get the green light soon. the cdc expects around 4.6 million doses will be available immediately and 40 million by the end of december. the panel's recommendation comes as infections continue to surge in the u.s. john hopkins university says there were 4.3 million new cases reported in november more than doubling from the previous month. that's putting an enormous strain on the medical system. one recent survey found there

are nearly 100,000 covid-19 patients currently in hospital. senior infectious disease experts have been calling for national measures such as a mask mandate to get the situation under control. authorities in japan are taking more measures against the virus as i objectfections rise with tokyo reporting 500 new cases on wednesday. the government is prepare iing open a hospital in mid-december specializing in coronavirus patients with nonsevere symptoms. it will have 100 beds. the air pressure of each room can be lowered so the virus will not spread outside. the hospital will be equipped with six voice translation

machines that can interpret for 58 languages. the head of the japan medical association is warning front line health care workers are under great strain. >> translator: if infections continue to increase rapidly, it will be difficult to provide medical services to covid-19 patients and people with other diseases. actually in some areas, some hospitals already find it difficult to continue accepting cancer, cardiac disease or or stroke patients. >> the central government is stepping up antivirus measures saying we're in a crucial period to curb the spike in cases. more than 154,000 infections have been confirmed in japan in total. over 2,200 people have died. researchers in japan announced a discovery regarding the coronavirus. it appears many people have antibodies for at least six months after they are infected.

yokohama city university and other institutions conducted a study of 376 people in their 20s to 70s. the subjects were infected between february and may and gave blood samples six months later. the researchers found what are called neutralizi antibodies in the blood samples. they were present in nearly all of those with mild or no symptoms and in everyone who had suffered moderate or serious symptoms. neutralizing antibodies are believed to weaken the functions of a virus and prevent subsequent infections. the researchers say that people who have been in serious condition tend to have stronger antibodies. that suggests there may be a lower risk of reinfection for at least six months. the researchers say the finding is good news for developing vaccines which are designed to trigger an antibody response. they say they will carry out a follow up study after another six months. japan is putting a system in place so that when vaccines for the coronavirus are ready they can get to the people who need them. the diet enacted revisions to

the relevant law on wednesday. the law now stipulates that municipalities will handle vaccine distribution. the central government will cover costs. the updated law also says if vaccines are found to cause health problems the government will cover treatment costs as well as any damages paid out by drug companies. the government is busy with other preparations such as securing freezers to store doses. it is briefing municipalities with the goal of starting vaccines in the first half of next year. priority will be given to health care workers, the elderly and people with pre-existing health problems. the upper house also approved a revision to the quarantine law. it extends the power of authorities to put people who test positive upon entry into japan in isolation beyond february of next year. now, once the vaccines are approved one of the biggest

challenges will be finding a safe and effective way to distribute them. let's take a look at the crucial component of the supply chain. >> they may just be storing bottles right now, but if all goes according to plan these freezers could soon be filled with vaccines. currently being devoped es require ultra cold temperatures tomaintain a long shelf life. for example, s. drugmaker pfizer and german firm viontech say their vaccine can be stored in conventional refrigerators for about five days but can last up to 6 months if kept between minus 60 and minus 80 degrees celsius. the ceo of an ohio based manufacturer says it's caused orders for their ultra cold freezers to now double this year. it's boosted production line staff by 50%. >> what we're trying to do is ramp up to get through the backlog, reduce our lead times and make things much more available in support of broader

vaccine distribution not only here in the u.s. but on a global basis. >> japanese manufacturers are also reporting rising demands both at home and abroad. orders at this factory increased by 50% from this time last year. it's now planning to operate around the clock beginning next month. >> translator: we will carefully assess future demand and plan accordingly. we hope to contribute as much as possible to curb the coronavirus pandemic. >> while a vaccine could be available by the end of the year distribution remains a logistical puzzle, but it's a problem being made easier as more freezers like these are brought off the production line.

another member of abe's cab in the is facing scrutiny over money transfers. the businessman in question was the head at the time. he reportedly told others about the alleged cash transfers which took place in 2018 and 2019. he was a known lobbyist for the poultry industry. nhk has not found any record of the transfers and reports filed by his office. japanese law requires politicians to report all donations. the allegation stems from a boat buying case involving the former justice minister and his lawmaker wife. the couple is also based in hiroshima. both were members of the ruling democratic party. osetors have been invesgating akita foods which backehim on tse campaigns.

he released a statement on wednesday apologizing for the trouble. he said he will cooperate with investigators. . a u.n. expert wants china to do more to stop companies ul legally smuggling products. it's part of erts to curtail the nuclear program. but the international body says its continued to trade with companies by illegally transferring products like coal from ship to ship. thisu.n. expert told nhk observers have seen such moments in chinese waters and wants the country to >> i think they are ready t accept is a document they are given and to believe that

there's no problem. we would like to see that. >> the united states is providing an incentive. a senior state official told a think tank on tuesday the department is setting up a tip line. its offering $5 million to anyone with information about effort ofs to be sanctioned. morgan welcomed the news and also said china reported it would investigate the allegations and take action if evidence is found. turning to pandemonium in canada. fpz the were relying on imports obama boo from china, but the pandemic

made it difficult to import fresh bamboo. according to the zoo, each adult panda consumes about 40 kilograms obama boo daily. the two pandas left khcanada la friday. during their marathon flight back home, they managed to chow down abo 200 kilograms of bamboo and apples. it was a ten-year agreement between the nations. it's time now for a check on the world weather with jonathan oh. conditions are control iling pas of australia with some residents dealing with wildfires. how is the faft looking for thursday? >> we're going to be dealing with more hot weather. that's going to be a concern for those triying to deal with wildfires. you notice that everywhere else is relatively dri dry.

firefighters are battling bla s blazes. they have been dealing with fires for six weeks. they have been charred, which is almost half the size. over 1 million leaders of water have been dropped since saturday. tourists on the island should be prepared to leave at any time. fire bans have been in place in australia and as i mentioned, the high pressure system that is bringing in some of the drier weather is going to remain in place. we have this front that's moving off wean queensland and new south whals. that's going to bring showers. and we're looking at showers and thunderstorms on thursday. it will have the tail end moving to the east wind. so be on the lookout for that.

in the southern areas and the concern is this general area saw a storm just the other week. so this is going to bring heavy rain here. as it moves over the area the next three days. we look at the possibility of seeing close to 600 millimeters of rainfall in some locations. that's going to compound any of the flooding area that's going to be in place. meanwhile, we had a low pressure system located down south of tokyo. that brought some showers into the area as we went through wednesday. we're going to see a drier pattern coming up on thursday as the low moves out to the area. another low will be moving across the sea of japan. that's going to reinvisit rate the flow into japan, which means

the mountains will be seeing snow. drier as we go into thursday. hope you have a good day wherever you are. edition of nhk "newsline." coming up next is "newsline

biz." stay right there. this is "newsline biz". nasdaq is proposing a rule to force all listed firms on the u.s. stock exchange to have a their boards. the measure would oblige the firms to include one female

director and one director from an underrepresented minority. smallerer companies would be allowed to meet the requirements with two women. firms that don't comply and can't explain why would be delisted. nasdaq says its aim is to champion inclusive growth and ensure companies are transparent about their boards. it's part of a wider push for diversity in the u.s. u.s. business software giant salesforce.com agreed to buy the operator of work chatting service slack for $27.7 billion@ salesforce will use cash and shares and complete acquisition bis next july. it allows people to exange messages using their pcs and smart phones. 140,000 businesses around the world use the service.

it will transform the way everyone works. other i.t. firms have been focusing on senatimilar service including microsoft teams. the acquisition is likely to trigger fierce competition. credit card data suggests consumer spending slowed in the fist half of november as coronavirus cays surged. data research firm and jcb analyzed spending by customers. that's 3.6% down from the second half of october. spending at restaurants was mite none 17%. down 4.7% from the latter half of october. declines were most pronounced at casual drinking and dining places. travel was up 3% due to the

go-to travel campaign, which subsidizes domestic tourism. due to the sharp rise in case, some areas have been excluded from the campaign. bars and restaurants have also shortened hours. there's a chance people will choose to stay home. which will slow consumption even further. developing new varieties of froouits and other crops can be time consuming and expensive. japan is ramping up controls on seeds and saplings as it look s to protect its food industry. lawmakers revived japan's plan to feed act on wednesday. that allows developers to limit export destinations and production areas in japan for recommendatigistered new variet crops. anybody who exports illegally could face up to ten years in prison or fines of up to 10 million yen. that's about $96,000. seedlings of a high quality

variety have previously been shipped to places such as china without authorization. the agricultural ministry say it is will control the distribution of seeds and saplings. it takes effect nx april. s. the pandemic has around the world i object colluding the luxury tourism sector prompting some in the industry to come up with innovative ways to attract new business. in our next report, we see how a hotel in india is taking to the road to offer its guests a unique hospitality experience. >> the taj mahal is usually bustle iing with tourists. but this year it was closed to

the public for about six months due to the coronavirus. even when it reopened in september is, there was a strict cap on tourist nebraska numbers and almost no visitors came from abroad. >> it's been really tough. and if tourists don't show up, i won't be able to stay in business. >> the hotel industry is also in a difficult situation. this global chain reopened one of its hotels in august. but occupancy is only about one-third of last year. so it came up with a new concept to attract guests. converting a large spot into a hotel suite. guests sit in comfortable reclining seats. they can watch sports and play games on a 50-inch tv screen. the bus is also equipped with washroom facilities.

a chef prepares gourmet meals and there's a wide selection of beverages. the bus starts move iing. and becomes a luxurious mobile hotel room. visitors can visit tourist spots not only on day trips, but also orphan on overnight excursions. they can travel safely by avoiding contact by people outside their social bubble. >> they experience the services in the closed door. all the things. >> the guests on this day are celebrating a birthday. the race is about $700 for an 8-hour day trip that takes a a party of five to a nearby city.

>> had 11 groups have hopped on board since it went into service three months ago. the hotel manager says there may be enough demand to add another and add that the business also has value as a moral booster. >> i would say that's learn iin for us. getting into some positive sentiments and that was the rb why to have some sentiment for the industry. >> let's get a check on the markets.

>> that's it for @aaa qqqwrmumuc .

we will see you soon. ♪ >> will india's protesting farmers force the prime minister into a climbdown? modi is resisting calls to repeal reforms. what are the political risks? this is "inside story." ♪