you're watching nhk "newsline." we start this hour here in japan. officials are reporting nearly 6,000 daily coronavirus infections on wednesday. it comes as the central government prepares to declare another state of emergency. the area now accounts for half of the country's daily infections.

a final decision is expected on thursday. experts met at the health ministry to analyze the situation. they unveiled new data showing the average number of new infections rose 9% in the week through monday compareedded to a week earlier. in tokyo the figure was 23%. they also discussed health care capacity in the capital region and how to deal with infections from new variants of the virus. after the meeting, the chairman of the panel emphasized the importance of immediate action. >> translator: people are being urged to refrain from actions that lead to an increase in infections. all levels of government should be united in their message. >> the state of emergency for tokyo and kanagawa, saitama, and chiba prefectures will likely be in place for around a month.

it will give the legal author y authorities to urge residents to cooperate with prevention efforts. the four governors will ask people to refrain from nonessential outings after 8:00 p.m. they will also request that bars and restaurants close by that time. schools will not be asketo close. but the government plans to step up restraints on the number of spectators allowed at live events. it will also ask companies to encourage remote work. officials in tokyo reported a record 1,591 new cases in the capital on wednesday. they say 113 people in tokyo are seriously ill. that figure is also the highest to date. a japanese scientist who promoted social distancing is preticking a challenging time for tokyo's efforts to curb the surging virus.

the government seems poised to declare a state of emergency, but measures may not be as strong as last april. in this next report, we look at several options to address the issue. fpz >> translator: i want people to remember why i called for efforts to cut back on human to human contact by 80% during the first ve of thoutbreak. >> reporter: when he was part of the government's first coronavirus task force, he made a persuasive case to the public. limit your outings now so you can enjoy life later. streets emptied. workers stayed home. schools and gyms shutdown, and big events were canceled during the april state of emergency. the number of daily infections dropped significantly, but since then case numbers have soared higher than ever, putting the health care system under strain. as the government plans its second declaration, he has a new message. >> translator: depending on the

measures, some emergency declarations are more powerful than others. >> reporter: countries around the world are projecting the virus's spread using reproduction rates which estimate how many people each carrier will infect. a number higher than one suggests cases will continue to grow. he calculated a reproduction rate of 1.1 in tokyo, which he used to independently estimate the potential growth of the outbreak under several conditions. if no new measures are introduced, he predicts the daily tally will rise to 3,500 by the end of next month. by the end of march, the figure would nearly double to just more than 7,000. if limited measures are introduced including asking bars and restaurants to close early, tokyo would flatten the curve, but daily infections would remain relatively high. but if strong measures can bring tokyo's reproduction rate to 0.72, the expert simulation shows daily cases could be brought below 100 by the earned of next month.

he says regardless of the measures taken, a state of emergency would need to be in place for at least two months, twice the length planned by the government. >> translator: it's very important for a state of emergency to produce conete results like an obvious decline in new cases. if we can't get those results, there will be major social and economic repercussions. i thk we nd to take responsibility for devisin measures to drastically reduce the number of new infections. >> reporter: he says that means once again cutting back on personal contacts. he suggests asking people to stay home unless they need to go out, including working from home. >> and now some major japanese firms are making further efforts to promote working from home. telecom giant nippon telegraph and telephone is discussing additional measures to promote

remote working for the group's 180,000 employees. half or more of its personnel in the general affairs planning and other areas are already working from home. mitsubishi electric plans to limit the number of workers at its offices in tokyo and three surrounding prefectures to 30% of normal levels or less. another telecom giant, kddi, this month reduced by 40% the number of seats at its head office in central tokyo. but some people in tokyo say taking further measures to work from home will not be easy. >> translator: we try to hold an online meeting, but the senior workers couldn't adapt to it. it's a delicate issue. >> translator: i will probably be commuting. my company hasn't said anything about it yet. >> reporter: a november survey by a tokyo research firm involving 10,000 companies suggests 30% of them have

employees working from home. more than a quarter said they no longer do. 43% said they never introduced remote working. the leading music awards ceremony in the u.s. has been postponed due to the pandemic. organizers of the grammy awards announced on tuesday that they have rescheduled the 63rd annual event to march 14th. it was originally due to be held in los angeles on january 31. announcing the postponement organizers said nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show. johns hopkins university says the number of coronavirus cases in california has reached almost 2.5 million, the highest figure among u.s. states. the top u.s. film honors the academy awards have already been postponed about two months to april.

moving to the high stakes elections in the state of georgia that could reshape the political landscape. they have won one of the two senate seats up for grabs. president-elect joe biden is hoping fell low democrats will gain control of the senate for the first time in six years. e latest results show democrat warnock is set to become georgia's first black senator. >> we were told that we couldn't win this election. but tonight we pved that with hope, hard work and the people by our side, anything is possible. >> attention is now focused on

the other race between democrat john ossoff and the republican incumbent david perdue. the results are still too close to call, but media outlets say ossoff is in the lead. if the democrats win, the senate would be split 50/50. na would give kamala harris the deciding vote as vice president she will also be president of the senate. if the republicans win, they would retain a slim majority and could block legislative agenda. this comes as members of congress prepare to certify the electoral college vote on wednesday to confirm the winner of the november presidential election fpz opened for the first time in five years and weeks before u.s. president-elect joe biden takes

office. the party's newspaper reported on wednesday that leader kim jong-un kicked off the congress with a speech. kim admitted there had been an economic slump, saying a five-year economic plan that was due to finish last year had failed to meet its goals in almost every sector. when it comes to diplomacy, he said he will suggest strategic and tactical policies for the cause of national reunification, promoting external relations and strengthening the work of the party. it's likely a new five year economic plan will be unveiled during the gathering, potentially taking into consideration the negative impact of the u.n. security council sanctions and border closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. amendments to party rules and the election of some party leaders are also on the agenda. attention is focused on what policies will be laid out. the u.s. research group says t

satellite images take b on december 31st indicate yang is prepare iing for a military par to coincide with the congress. the group says 400 large vehicles parked on a parade ground and troop formations training along the practice route. tokyo is set to host the olympic games that have been postponed until this summer. one stop it made was malaysia, but the torch relay helped unite a young sports-loving country. nhk world reports. >> reporter: he was one of

mahmoud lay sha's torch carers. it was in 1957 when he witnessed his country declare independence. >> i was at that time in singapore. my father wanted me to come back to the country because he said the country declared independence only once. >> reporter: during the ceremony, the 13-year-old saw the national flag and heard th anthem for the fst time. >> i said one day they will play this for me. i'm happy to tell you now i made them do it 11 times. games aived for the torce

rey. heas askoakeneap nt.d with theame. >> people hadathered tre ma hoursbefo. whe witn a mine o two, an athlete would run around and p the would cheer. it was very motivational. it didn't take long. >> reporter: there was great anticipation in malaysia for the tokyo olympics. former and current british colonies joined the federation just a year earlier. this grew the olympic team size to 62 athletes, the biggest number to date he came the country's first sprinter to make it to the olympic semifinals. he came away from tokyo games with a new national record.

after the 1968 mexico city olympics, he retired and went on to become a doctor. but he continued to devote himself to athletics as a sports official. he has been involved in a combined ten olympic games either as a competitor or in other roles. over half a sencentury after th torch relay, he is a legendary athlete in malaysia. his career saw him win 11 gold medals at international events. he said sports played an important role for the country. >> the population for sports was a unifying factor. they all shared in the victory of any malaysian. it was something that we were all excited. >> reporter: he is a firm believer in the power of sport. he believes they can bring

people together not only within the country, but across the entire world. nhk world. >> he says this summer's tokyo olympics faces many challenges such as whether vaccines are successful and how to safely tour the stadium. we should not lose hope because the olympics are a dream for athletes around the globe. it's time for a check on the weather. it's a windy day, but i hear it's about to get colder over the next couple days. how cold are we talking about? >> hello.

temperatures are going to be dropping into the single digit after seeing a stretch of low teens. we will be dealing with significant snow along the sea of japan's side of the nation. here's a look at the past 24 hours. and we still have some snow that's falling along the coastline and into the mountains areas, but mainly the focus was for the region. that's about to expand in a significant way. two reasons. really cold air out of asia. that's moving to warm waters of the sea of japan. it helps generate a hot of precipitation. and there's a couple areas of low pressure that are going to roll through. it's a pointed focus of snow into the area. here's a lock at the forecast. notice the change from the blue to white and how far spread it is. we are looking at snowfall.

here's a look at the forecast. we're expecting late wednesday into saturday. over that time period, along the general area, we're looking at 300 centimeters of additional snowfall. that's three meters of snow. that's a lot. we're talking like snow possibilities of 160 centimeters into points westward. so again, we're looking at a lot more in terms of snow. and also talking about strong winds. some of the areas highlighted in red could see 100 to 140-mile-per-hour wind gusts through thursday. winter is going to be coming here and feel like it. snow for the next several days and tokyo from 12 to 8 on friday and staying in the single digits through the wednesday. that cold air impacted areas back to the north and west into china and the korean peninsula.

it's going to be frigid. bundle p bundle up. we're talking about a much more of a rain situation. and we're concerned about landslides. the rainfall that's in the area, the rain will continue as we have this pattern with this felon tall pattern moving through washington state and oregon. and so that's going to be a point where we will be dealing with the rain and snow through wednesday and also into thursday as well.

that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." thank you for watching. stay with us.

this is "newsline biz." i'm gene otani. japan's two biggest shipbuilders launched a joint business venture in a field. the country wants to dominate it. they set up the home shipyard on january 1st. >> the two companies have a common understanding we have to win in globl competition. >> the head of the new venture says they came to produce

maximum benefits through the alliance and to make the most of each other's qualities. japanese spbuiers udo commdheiggest marke shar but ty ra number ina d south koa.industrs in the japanese government is preparing a bill to support the ship build. measures include tax breaks for estaishing new ventures and subsidies for dwmt. president trump made another move to ratchet up tensions youon his way out of office. he signed an executive order tuesday that will ban transactions with eight chinese software applications. they include payment service and its rival we chat. it'sperated by an aaffiliate. the executive order will go into

effect one month after president-elect joe biden takes office. trump administration officials say they made the move based on national security risks. the chinese government. he signed an order banning transactions with i.t. firms. his administration has barred investment in the telecon giants and sanctioned the chinese fi s firms. joe biden will be b inaugurated as u.s. president on january 20th. he will deal with washington's tangled relationship with china. on day three of the reports on key economic issues for 2021, we look at whether third quarter earnings conference call find common ground. the u.s. economic future remains unclear because of the coronavirus pandemic. china continues to show signs of recovery. we spoke with two experts who

offer opposing viewpoints on china's outlook. >> reporter: ke long is a senior fellow at the tokyo policy for research. he says china's economy will encounter serious problems if beijing does not make concessions and work together with the u.s. >> translator: if the u.s./china decoupling advances further, we may see supply chains being production lines, but complete value chains may be moved out of china. as a result, the country will suffer damage in two ways. first, if multinational corporations with advanced technology leave china, the ability of chinese firms to catch up will be significantly delayed. second, if foreign companies move production to other countries, local workers and engineers will lose their jobs, which could lead to social instability. >> reporter: ke also says

china's fundamentals are still weak in the face of the world's number one economy. >> translator: china still lags far behind in building up technology. and there are many areas where the country actually does not possess essential technology. china is not able to produce the most advanced chips. there is a discrepancy between the appearance of strength and reality. >> reporter: but the chief economist at mitsubishi ufj morgan stanley securities believes china will choose its own path even while maintaining dialogue with the u.s. >> tralator: china still relies heavily on the u.s. for manufacturing. like in the past china will try to buy time offering some concessions. using that time china will make progress in its economic strength and technological innovation. in that sense it is unlikely

that an improvement in bilateral ties at a fundamental level will happen. i think the u.s. and china will gradually de-couple. >> reporter: lee adds the pandemic has shown the world that china can function effectively without relying on other countries. >> translator: china issued decrees to allow the restart of manufacturing before anyone else. resuming the production of food, medical equipment and other essential products has greatly contributed to dampening the effects of the outbreak. that's helped with the country's diplomacy as a result. several sectors are growing as china exports goods to countries struggling with infections. the communist's party top down system and production capacity at all levels have proven effective. for the party, the results will likely serve as good promotion in developing nations. >> repter: the new administration will soon take power in washington. but that doesn't mean ties between the world's two biggest

economies are on a path toward improvement. officials are cautiously t optimistic. the resumption of activity from the pandemic should help achieve growth of 4% the latest prediction is the turn around from the grim outlike for last year when the estimate for retraction. they expect it will, pand 7.9% up 2%. they predict it will grow 3.6% and the u.s. 3.5%. growth for japan is projected at 2.5%. all economies will be recovering from negative for toir. bank officials stress the need for the international community to contain the coronavirus. they say failure to do so could lead to a severe downside scenario with the global economy shrinking again this year by

0.7%. the outlook remains unclear citing risks including whether vaccine production and distribution will proceed as planned. let's have a look at the markets. ♪

from the "newsline biz" team in tokyo, i'm gene otani. thanks very much for joining us.

host: the headlines on al jazeera, gulf leaders signed a declaration to restore full d-up o-matic ties with -- full diplomatic ties with qatar. it was agreed at a summit in saudi arabia attended by the amir of qatar. at least 23 pro-democracy politicians have been arrested in hong kong for violating the national security law. they are cues of subversion for taking part in unofficial election primaries in july. china declared the polls illegal and warned hundreds of thousands broke the law.