♪ hello. and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. we begin in japan, where scientists have safely received a capsule likely containing samples from an ancient asteroid. the hayabusa2 space probe traveled 5 billion kilometers to pick up the precious cargo destined for research. japan's aerospace exploration

agency believes the capsule contains sand from the ryugu asteroid. it was retrieved from an australian desert on sunday. about one hour ago it arrived at tokyo's haneda airport. from there it will go to jaxa's institute of space and astronautical science near the capital. the project team is due to hold a news conference after completing post-arrival work. it's expected to start analysis in june on samples it hopes will provide clues to the origin of life. now to the pandemic. december 8 marks one year since the first human infection with the new coronavirus was that has now infected more than 67 million people. but the world is no closer to finding out exactly where and how the virus originated. five months ago the world health

organization sent a team of experts to beijing. the head of the group would -- only say he hopes to have a team on the ground as soon as possible. the team would see a wuhan greatly changed since a strict lockdown brought infections under control. many shops are back to normal. but the seafood market linked to many of the first reported cases remains closed. in february chinese government experts said the virus likely originated in bats and jumped to humans via pangolins. they later suggested the virus was detected in food imports and could not rule out the possibility it was brought in from abroad. but a w.h.o. expert told nhk the evidence seems to point to the first hypothesihypothesis.

>> we also know that the closest relative of the virus is a virus that was detected also in yunan in china in 2019. so all this would make it all logical that this virus originated in part of china. >> others, most notably u.s. president donald trump, have suggested the virus may have escaped from a lab in wuhan. but china rejects the claims, and the w.h.o. says it has found no evidence to suggest the virus was manipulated or created in a lab. meanwhile, concern is growing about china's lack of transparency and the apparent detention of those who have spoken out about the country's coronavirus response. indonesia has received its first batch of coronavirus vaccine from chinese pharmaceutical firm sinovac

biotech. the vaccine is still in its final phase of clinical trials in southeast asia. the indonesian government said 1.2illion doses of the vaccine arrived from beijing onsunday. the country is scheduled to receive another 1.8 million doses next month. the government is ready to authorize emergency use of the vaccine as soon as its safety and efficacy are established. it also said it will prioritize health care workers in its vaccination plan. however, none of the coronavirus vaccines being developed in china have gained formal approval and their clinical trials are still ongoing. indonesia has the highest numbers of cases and deaths from the virus in southeast asia at over 580,000 and 17,000 respectively. in japan medical institutions are straining to cope with clustered infections. group infections occurred at around 100 hospitals in november. more than three times as many as the previous month. two hospitals in the northern

prefecture of hokkaido have been hit with more than 180 infections each. the governor is set to ask the self-defense forces to send nurses to help alleviate the shortage of health care workers. the western prefecture of osaka is also experiencing a medical care shortfall. the prefecture set up a new facility with 30 beds all equipped with ventilators to treat serious coronavirus cases. governor yoshimura hiromi says 80 nurses have been secured so far but noted this is not enough. he is also asking for sdf nurses to be sent in for reinforcement. a hospital in hokkaido investigated how 16 people, including patients and nurses, became infected. the hospital says the cluster appears to have started with a patient who tested negative in a pcr test on admission. the patient was hospitalized with a different disease in late october and was discharged two days later. about ten days later, two nurses

who looked after the patient reported fever and upset stomach and tested positive for the virus. >> translator: we must assume that every patient may have contracted the virus the day before taking a pcr test. and we should treat our patients on the assumption that they may show covid-19 symptoms anytime until about two weeks after contracting the virus. >> a clustered infection on a remote island is pushing medical workers in southern hokkaido to the brink. 53 people or about 2% of the population of okushiri island have been infected. many of the infected people were sent to a hospital in the town of esoshi on the main island of hokkaido, but the hospital says its beds are almost full. some of the patients from the island were sent to hospitals in

hakodate city, straining the entire area. >> translator: we can still accept some more patients, but if infecti clusts occur in hakodate or other places the number of cases could surge and cause a panic. >> more than 1500 new cases were reported across japan on monday. over 165,000 people have tested positive in the country since the pandemic began. and more than 2,400 people have died. japan's mitsubishi motors says hundreds of its workers have agreed to retire early. that comes as the firm drives down costs in the face of the pandemic. e auto maker started offering a voluntary retirement program in mid november for staff aged 45 or older. it says over 650 employees have now applied, more than the 550 it was hoping for. the workers have been offered extra retirement pay.

the company expects the scheme to cost about 7.2 billion yen, or nearly $70 million. the car maker has forecast a net loss of about $3.5 billion for the business year ending next march. covid has been casting a shadow over the firm's already sluggish earnings. many athletes coming to the olympics in tokyo next year has a story of overcoming obstacles. but some of those obstacles have been bigger than others. in the case of one wrestler hoping to compete they involve civil war. nhk warlord's ahmed magdi reports. >> reporter: the egyptian city of alexandria has a history of more than 2,000 years. amin ahmad has been -- he came

from syria where he won the national wrestling championship 18 times. >> translator: my dream was to become an olympian as a member of the syrian team. >> reporter: the syrian civil war, however, seemed to put an end to his dream. his neck and hands were injured amid the conflict. even now his recovery is not complete. amir and his family fled to egypt. he founded a restaurant and consigned wrestling to his past. after starting a sports class for syrian refugee children, he thought about returning to competition himself. he says the kids' smiles give him the courage to try again.

>> translator: i thought that i was helping the children, but they were actually helping me. >> reporter: an opportunity came about. the international olympic committee chose him as a candidate for the refugee team. he received financial support and began training with the egyptian national team. he has been allowed to take part in international competition, a requirement for any olympic athlete. his return to the mat was his first match in eight years. he lost. but he was happy to be on a path that could lead to the games in tokyo. but then another setback. the covid-19 pandemic. training had to be canceled and

the olympics were postponed for a year. again, his students lifted his spirits. this time their handprints on a handmade flag representing syrian refugees. >>ranslator: i must work hard for my students. >> reporter: part of that hard work involves offering self-defense classes online. with support from the international olympic committee and a sponsor. he hopes to raise awareness around the globe of the challenges refugee athletes f e face. >> translator: i want to prove to all refugees who are feeling hopeless that it's possible to overcome these hardships. >> reporter: success is never

guaranteed. but awad refuses to let circumstances pin him down. ahmad magdi, nhk world. let's check out the world weather with our meteorologist yoko comgata. so yoko, people in europe's alpine regions are dealing with an unexpected amount of snow. how dangerous is the situation there? >> so we have a big storm maker over central europe producing mountain snow and heavy rainfall along the coastal areas. people living in the alpines and balkans may see blizzard-like conditions on tuesday goingnto wednesday. the storm has brought more than three meters of snowfall in parts of austria since friday. let's take a look at this video. austria was hit by heavy snow over the weekend. on monday firefighters were clearing blocked roads and fixing broken power lines. some schools have been closed

while others have been completely closed off. locke the authorities believe there is a high risk of avalanches and landslides from higher areas. people in parts of france a serbia had damaging winds as well. these strong winds and heavy snowfall will persist in the alpines italy and the balkans for the next couple of days. you may see up to 80 centimeters of additional snowfall in parts of austria and rainfall may reach 50 millimeters. there is a possibility of flash flooding. rainfall will increase in rome as we go into tuesday evening and wet weather will persist in lisbon and madrid as another low pressure system approaches. people in the western united states are dealing with dry conditions. critical fire weather will be seen in california. but some relief will arrive in these areas as we go into mid-week. a little moisture from the pacific will push inland and produce showers and much cooler conditions.

vancouver and seattle will get some showers on tuesday and dry and mild temperatures will persist in l.a. and denver over the next couple of days. but it will get much cooler and wet conditions as we go into thursday. finally, in northeast asia a big high pressure system will provide calm weather across a good portion of china and the korean peninsula on tuesday. it's going to be mainly dry in many parts of japan. however, a few snow showers will develop along the northwestern side of the country as we goin into tuesday. sapporo will have some snow on tuesday. meanwhile, it should stay on the dry side in tokyo and osaka. that's all for now. have a nice day. ♪

and that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. please stay safe and stay healthy wherever you are. thanks for watching. welcome to "newsline in depth." the unprecedented loss of life and suffering resulting from the world war ii is well documented. so is the misery endured by civilians, often far from the front lines and long after the fighting ceased. even so, 75 years after the

war's end tragic stories continue to surface. today we focus on two such records. the new facts they reveal and the people trying to preserve the evidence. it's widely known that during the pacific war the u.s. government incarcerated citizens of japanese descent. 120,000 of them were classed as enemy aliens and sent to internment camps. less well known is that foreign civilians were also interned in japan. authorities here set up detention facilities immediately after the war began. among them was a british citizen who was detained for the entire duration of the war. he kept a detailed diary of his experience. >> reporter: 80 kilometers west of tokyo dewa hitoshi is commemorating his father, who was interned as an enemy of japan. at the grounds where he was

held. now silently marked by a vacant scroll. >> translator: it's deeply moving for me to be standing in the place he was interned. surely, he also gazed upon these mountains. >> reporter: dewa's ther, sidinphan duar was born in japan to a japanese mother. he was raised in yokohama, a cosmopolitan port city, home to a large foreign community since the mid 19thcentury. his fher wilam was diand importer. at the outbreak of the pacific war japan began holding civilian nationals of allied nations such as the u.s. and uk.

on his path to becoming a physician the 22-year-old student was thrust into a cruel detention that lasted nearly four years. initially interned in yokohama he was transferred to an isolated site to avoid the air raids. he and 52 other non-japanese sins were forced into the camp merely because they held passports of allied countries. >> translator: i rarely ever heard him speak of his internment. i think it was a horrific experience for him. i believe he did everything he could to avoid thinking about that time. >> reporter: initially only men age 18 through 45 were detained. but eventually women and elderly were also dispatched to camps

around the country. the government claimed it was to prevent espionage and to protect the internees. during detention sid filled four notebooks with his reflections. in both japanese and english. >> what a narrow-minded country japan is. aren't they ashamed of interning students such as myself and the elderly? the 70-year-olds? >> reporter: sid's diary pages often take up his treatment from the hard labor to the guards usurping the internees' rations. >> worked half day in the hild and we received two tiny sweet potatoes. they are saving thousands of yen due to our free labor and won't

even feed us properly after all the work. the days of slavery are not gone yet. >> reporter: life here was unforgiving. food was scarce. and even though the winter temperature dipped below freezing, there was no heat. this photo shows a room from sid's camp. >> we must spend another winter in this frigid room. besides, there's no heat and we're fed poorly. they treat us like criminals or slaves. >> reporter: by the war's end 5 of the 53 internees were dead. p.o.w. research network japan's komiya mayumi, who has long researched the internment of non-japanese civilians, says this camp was one of the worst.

>> translator: the fact that five people died reveals the center didn't do anything to protect the internees. they weren't cared for. they weren't fed much. and they became malnourished. basically, they were left to die. >> reporter: in 1980 a local historian interviewed one of the guards about camp conditions. the guards' testimony includes mention of the internees who perished. behind the schoolhouse a simple tombstone engraved with the names of the two internees who had no one to retrieve their remains. it was sid who dug their graves.

>> translator: he had no medical attention. they just let him die like a dog. >> reporter: sid was brutally honest about his complex feelings concerning his plight. >> japan treats me as an enemy. but as for me, i love japan. >> reporter: after the war he resumed his studies, becoming a doctor. he obtained japanese citizenship in 1973 and died in 1990 at the age of 70. >> translator: when considering differences in nationality, race and culture, there are enormous lessons to be learned from war. i believe that my father's diary of his experience in the internment camp is important to share as one aspect of war.

>> with me in the studio is masuda tsuyoshi. thank you for joining the program. >> i'm happy to be here. >> the duer family was involved in trade but what kinds of other people were interned? scl ov . >> over 1,200 people nationwide were interned. many of them were christian school teachers and -- far from being spies, they had contributed to the development of education and the culture in japan since the meiji era. >> at least 1,200 people experienced internment as sid duer did. but what are you trying to accomplish by exposing what the internment facilities were really like? i mean, what's to be gained by making this information public now? >> the diary exposes harsh treatment in camps during the war. the government justified

internment as a means to prevent spying and to protect foreign civilians of enemy countries. foreign nationals may have been protected but their treatment was extremely poor. about 50 lost their lives to illness and other causes. despite internment many maintained their pro-japanese attitude. instead of hating they spent the remainder of their lives helping to rebuild post-war japan. i think we all could learn from this. >> and sid's diary exposes human weakness during war time, but it also demonstrates the strengths to overcome hatred. is this entire diary available for us to read? >> mm-hmm. dewa negotiated with a japanese

publisher to publish the book next spring. dewa's sister kay translated the japanese into english and the english into japanese. by making the book available in both english and japanese, the siblings want to inform generations that have not experienced the world war of the civilian internment camps previously buried in history. >> well, thank you for sharing with us the story. >> thank you. next, another piece of evidence that's shedding light on a forgotten episode of history. this time an audiotape recorded in hiroshima. four months after the atomic bomb was dropped. the recently restored tape contains a recording of an nhk radio broadcast regarding the plight of war orphans. >> reporter: the reporter who filed the story passed away 23

years ago. recently his daughter, shirayi kazuko, found the recording while she was sorting through his belongings. this is her father, moriy moriya masashi. he went to hiroshima at the end of 1945 to report on a city had been turned into a wasteland in a single atomic flash. the tape in question is a 6-millimeter tape. on the box it said the war obser orphans report. >> translator: i really want to know what this report on war orphans contains. >> repter: i july shirai brough the te to k, where the audio was succefully restored. r father's rort depicte the harsheality othe seets o morehan 2,000 phans. he to

lear about these w orphans with empty cans.e strt >> reporter: afterwards she visited her father's grave. >> translator: my father was hoping pple would never have to go through this again. having their lives devastated in an instant. i must heed my father's words so that his story about war orphans

will never have to be reported. >> reporter: officials in hiroshima say their archives have few materials about the war orphans. shirai's find may help fill an important gap in the historical record. hirama kazuaki, xxxxxxxññweweñel

>> a warning of dark times ahead as the u.s. struggles to stop the spread of covid-19, and records its deadliest week in six months. ♪ i am rob matheson this is al jazeera live from doha. still at odds over a crucial brexit trade deal. another round of talks between the eu and u.k. fails to resolve differences, as a deadline looms in three weeks. 10:00 a.m.'s book -- ghana