♪ thank you for joining us. from our studio in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline." we begin a global look at the coronavirus. deaths worldwide have topped 1.5 million according to johns hopkins university in the united states. about 10,000 people have been dying around the world every day since last month. the situation is intensifying in

the u.s., with the highest daily death toll yet reached on wednesday. 2,804 people died from the virus. a private research institute says more than 100,000 people are being treated at hospitals, resulting in a shortage of medical staff and beds. in an interview with cnn on thursday, joe biden said he will ask all americans to wear masks for 100 days following his inauguration in january. a number of municipalities across the u.s. are urging residents to refrain from going out at night, as well as putting operational restrictions on restaurants. but a joint study by u.s. universities shows social activity and mixing with people outside individual households has significantly increased from april. on wednesday, demonstrators rallied on staten island in new york city to protest the arrest of pub owner who refused to

follow the state and city's coronavirus measures. moving to britain, where local media report the first batch of coronavirus vaccines arrived. the british government was the first in the west to authorize the use of the vaccine developed by u.s. pharmaceutical giant pfizer and germany's biontech. it says it will start vaccinations early next week. one challenge is how to ship and store the vaccines, which needs to be kept at around minus 70 degrees celsius. residents of nursing homes and caregivers, as well as people aged 80 or older l be the first to get the shots. vaccinating these people is expected to take until the spring. prime minister boris johnson has warned that it's too early to think the fight against the virus is over. >> it's all the more vital that, as we celebrate this scientific achievement, we're not carried

away with overoptimism or fall into the naive belief that the struggle is over. it's not. >> in the united states, there is high possibility that medical workers will be vaccinated against the virus this month. a survey conducted by a research firm from october to the beginning of november found that 58% of respondents were in favor of vaccination, while 42% said they were against it due to safety concerns. former president barack obama told a radio interviewer he would be willing to receive his vaccination in public. >> people like anthony fauci, who i know and have worked with, i trust completely. so if anthony fauci tells me this vaccine is safe, and can vaccinate, you know, immunize you from getting covid, absolutely i'm going to take it.

former presidents george w. bush and bill clinton are also willing to be vaccinated in public as a way to encourage other americans. here in japan, officials in the western prefecture of osaka are urging all residents to refrain from leaving their homes until the middle of this month. the governor said medical resources for seriously ill patients are extremely strained. 131 patients in the prefecture were reported to be in serious condition as of wednesday. he said the occupancy rate of the prefecture's hospitals is expected to soon reach 70%. >> we would like to ask for cooperation until december 15th.

>> translator: it cannot be helped. that's the coronavirus. >> i have the impression that the number of people in the street is decreasing. i wonder what i should do if it decreases further. >> a doctor in the prefecture calls for immediate measures. >> translator: i hope the governmentill take tough measures to prevent further infection. i feel a sense of cris at the current situation could trigger a breakdown of the medal system. >> meanwhile, in the capital, an expert pointed out that the current situation is making it difficult to balance ordinary health care services and coronavirus treatment. japan's health ministry will likely recommend that prefectural government set criteria for hospitalizing coronavirus patients as part of efforts to ease the increasing burden on medical institutions. authorities across japan confirmed more than 2,500 cases.

that was on thursday. the number includes 533 cases in tokyo. the number of seriously ill patients around the country reached nearly 500 as of wednesday. more than 2,200 people have died. the chinese government plans to announce more items that will be covered by its new export control law. beijing dismissed concerns about the impact on foreign businesses. the law is designed to strengthen export control on products that can be converted for military use. the law took affect on tuesday. china's commerce ministry spokesperson said more items subject to the law will be announced in due course.

the ministry has lifted products and software related to data encryption. the spokesperson stressed china will control it based on the new law, so foreign firms have no need to worry. many manufacturers in japan have been concerned that the controls may cover rare earth metals they need to make high-tech products. staying in china, the country is looking to diversify its trading partners and it may not have to look very far. it signed up to the regional partnership, hoping the deal will soften the impact of the pandemic and increasingly tense u.s. relations. as nhk world reports, many chinese firms see it as a strategy for growth. >> reporter: this expo is promoting trade and investment between china and member countries with the association

of southeast asian nations. for the first time, asean overtook the european union as china's largest trading partner. china's direct investment in the region for the six months through june rose by over 50% year on year. >> translator: with the china-asean relationship has grown into the most successful del for cooperation in the asia pacific. >> reporter: ecommerce is rapidly expanding at the borders. this logistics firm handles about 20 million parcels between china and southeast asia, from january through september. that's a sevenfold increase on the same period last year. since 2019, the company has established relationships with five members. it built eight distribution bases in thailand alone, hiring 2,600 delivery workers.

officials say they can now handle the entire delivery process to anywhere in thailand. the firm hopes when it takes affect, a relaxation of red tape will boost demand even more. >> translator: we will invest more in southeast asia businesses with confidence and determination. >> reporter: young entrepreneurs in china are snapping up new business chances. this 26-year-old runs an online clothing store targeting young consumers in southeast asia. the startup has 40 employees. it began making inroads into thailand last year. to cut costs, the company handles all its business by

itself, from product design to developing its own app. >> translator: our clothes are cool but inexpensive. and that's our strong point. items priced lower than $20 are popular with young shoppers in thailand. >> reporter: last month, a popular thai influencer helped the company launch a discount campaign, promoting the products to followers in a ve stream. the retailer has more than a million customers with sales growing 30% evy month. the company plans to expand into more asian countries, including malaysia and indonesia. >> translator: we think more young entrepreneurs will set their sights on overseas markets and sell chinese products in

member countries of rcep. >> reporter: china has moved quickly from the impact of the pandemic and is expanding its influence in trade. entrepreneurs have been quick to take opportunities, and their moves into promising markets are only likely to accelerate. ♪ turning to world weather with our meteorologist. it looks like the skies are clearing up in the u.s. atlantic coast on thursday after a strong winter storm. how is the forecast looking for the weekend? >> it's going to be dry across the east coast on thursday. another low pressure system moves over the gulf coast bringing more showers and windy

conditions over the weekend. we are looking at the new low pressure over the gulf of mexico. it will develop as it tracks northeast. avy rainnd wind will increase across the coast of the u.s. and canada on friday evening going into saturday. they may see blizzard-like conditions making it dangerous traffic situations. we are expecting stormy weather on the other side of the country. a jet stream is dipping down to the south with moisture from the tropics to the west coast of north america. back-to-back storms have brought rainfall in alaska. state troopers in alaska say that six people were missing after a massive mudslide hit. some parts of the state broke the record 24-hour rainfall record on tuesday and wednesday.

30 people have been evacuated. some residents say this is the worst storm they have seen in many years. a series of rainstorms will produce more and more rainfall along the northeastern seaboard from alaska all the way down to the pacific northwest. heavy rainfall may reach 200 millimeters and heavy snowfall is expected in the higher elevations. that could trigger avalanches. a similar weather pattern is over northern europe. strong low pressure from the atlantic will bring widespread showers and heavy mountain snow, up to 86 meters of snow is expected in the alpine region. gusts could reach 130 kilometers per hour, creating blizzard-like conditions. showers could cause flooding in parts of italy. there's a chance of severe thunderstorms in rome as we go

into friday. wet weather will persist in london and paris with highs in the single digits. that's all for now. stay safe.

that's all for this hour. thank you for watching nhk "newsline." hope you'll join us again. ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." i'm shibuya aki. war. it's the most destructive and cruel of human acts. its consequences so vast as to shape history. for many people in japan, war has become a thing of the distant past. living as we do in the so-called long peace. younger people fortunately have

simplyeen untouched by it now the hiroshima and nagasaki atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, are aging and taking their firsthand accounts with them as they pass away. their personal stories, which can paint a full picture, are valuable beyond estimation. how to keep their experiences alive? and how to do this so it resonates? today, the younger generation is carrying the torch, finding ways to make these stories more than just stories but something concrete that hits you personally. this fall the u.s. treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons reached 50 ratifications, ushering the way for it to come into force in january. a high school student who is a member of the hiroshima and nagasaki peace messengers played a small part. she's been carrying on the

mission of her mentor. he campaigned over decades for the abolition of nuclear weapons. tanaguchi fought for it right up until his death. ♪ >> just hours after the news of the treaty's ratification was announced in nagasaki, a-bomb survivors renewed their pledge to world toward the abolishment of nuclear arms. >> translator: strong we live, we hope to walk together with our peace-loving friends toward a world without nuclear weapons. >> atomic bomb survivors are aging. many did not live to see this moment. tanaguchi, the man who lunched a petition for years ago in nagasaki, was one of them. >> translator: we must accomplish our goal no matter what. >> the bomb was dropped when he

was 16 ravaginhis back he frequently attended u.n. meetings and demonstrated the horror of nuclear weapons by showing his red back to the international community. >> translator: i can't die in peace without being assured that nuclear weapons are abolished completely. >> up until his death three years ago, he campaigned for the treaty from his bed. >> translator: i hope that countries without nuclear weapons will pressure nuclear states so that the weapons will be abolished as soon as possible. >> this nagasaki high school junior is one of the younger generation taking tanaguchi's message to heart. this came about with the shock of seeing the image of his wound

while in elementary school. >> translator: it was horrendous. i couldn't believe that something like this, being lifted in the air suddenly and burned severely in an instant actually happened to people. it was a true reminder of the horrors of nuclear weapons. >> her great grandmother was a an-bomb survifer, but rarely talked about her experience. did she suffer pain like tanaguchi? every week as a member of hiroshima and nagasaki peace messengers, she's been out on the streets collecting signatures. >> translator: i think the enactment of the treaty is an important step to advance our efforts. and i hope it will motivate people to build a world without nuclear weapons.

>> so far, the hiroshima and nagasaki peace messengers have presented over 2 million signatures to the u.n. since 2001. recently, due to the pandemic, the organization has launched an online petition drive. of course, it continues with its mission to send messages to the world about the horror of nuclear weapons. over the years, many peace activists have forged deep connections with hibakusha. hearing their personal stories in their own words. but this precious opportunity will not exist for the next generation. documenting their past while there is still time is paramount. high school students in hiroshima are doing that with new technology. let's take a look. >> a quiet shopping street.

this is what hiroshima looked like 75 years ago. until that day, august 6, when the atomic bomb was unleashed. a flash of light filled the sky. then everything plunged into pitch blackness, as flames enveloped the city. high school students in hiroshima created these computer graphics. under a teacher's guidance, they amassed a huge collection of materials, about how people lived in those days and what the city looked like to ensure the accuracy of their computer simulation. they have also archived more than 400 testimonies by hibakusha, people who survived the bombing, to understand their experiences and reflect them in

the simulation. a tornado of fire and smoke tore through the building. the sun disappeared and i was surrounded by a sea of fire. a member of the team says he never had a chance until now to think in depth about the damage caused by the bomb. >> translator: without a deep understanding of what happened, it will just feel hollow. this work has been really important in helping me develop my own ideas. >> the students also ask survivors to view their work, using a virtual reality headset. this 91-year-old man was living close to ground zero when the bomb was dropped. >> translator: the position of the mailbox was on the other side. and the color of the wall needs working on a bit. it wasn't so bright. it was darker and faded.

>> they were able to fix the location of the mailbox and adjust the shade of the wall. the completed footage has brought to life the cityscape of hiroshima before its destruction. shop signs have been faithfully reproduced down to the font type. photo inserts show what the streets look like today for viewers to compare. >> translator: for us, the important thing is to show what the people live thing would have seep. using this technology, we want to pass on memories of the past so they live on into the future. >> the high school students are now expanding the scope of tir virtual reality simulation to encourage as many people as possible to appreciate the importance of peace.

>> wow. that really took me back in time and gave me a whole new perspective. virtual reality is an excellent way of reaching younger people by using their language. in the future, they want to take this software to various overseas panels to get a dialogue going. hope they succeed. our next story features another way technology is keeping the memories vivid. >> two siblings playing with their dolls. on a river bank. these photos are of the family of suzuki, all of whom died in the atomic bombing in hiroshima in 1945. they were taken before the war. originally in black and white.

suzuki ran a barbershop 500 meters from the center of the explosion. a university student is bringing hiroshima back to life by combining monochrome photos of that era to color. she uses several different ai software programs to transform the black and white photos into color. she explains that the ai has learned to distinguish colors automatically. by combining the different programs in various ways, she can approach the true colors of the subjects. >> translator: when i first saw colorized monochrome photos, i thought that things that seemed far away were now close and that people in the images could start to talk.

we can empathize with more aspects of their lives by using this technology. >> more importantly, she makes a point to speak to people who actually knew the subjects. she has paid many visits to a relative to help duplicate the colors he remembers. as she shows him the photos, she is working on, they discuss his memories of the colors of buildings and people's clothing. >> translator: when you add color to the photos, it feels as if everyone has come back to life. his wife would have been so happy if she could have seen this color photo.

she looks so beautiful. >> translator: i think that these colorized photos inspire even people who are not connected about the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, or about peace, to consider the magnitude of what this technology steals from our lives. >> to try to understand war is a way to try and avert it. we are seeing young people today putting their heads together, to make sense of history so removed from them yet not so far in the past. that has left endeavors like the photography projects, which are media that can get the message across to people here and overseas. they can also spark dialogue,

which is a step toward peace. that's all for this edition of "newsline in depth." thank you for watching and see you soon. xxxxxxdñoooooooo.

the number of deaths linked to coronavirus passes 1.5 million. several countries see record high numbers. ♪ this is al jazeera live from doha. also coming up -- >> this is not a football competition. we are talking with a life and health of people. >> written faces criticism for its approval of the pfizer vaccine. concerns for