hello. a very warm welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto in tokyo. we begin with kay otherics scenes in washington. supporters of president trump have stormed the capitol building. the mob stormed past police barricades to the enter the seat of american government, occupying the balcony and waving

flags. protesters broke into lawmakers' offices. u.s. media say one woman was shot and later suck condom cumb injuries. national guard troops have been deployed to help secure the area. he called the development a fine of national democracy under threat. >> at this hour our democracy is under unprecedented assault. unlike anything we've seen in modern times. and it must end now. i call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward. >> trump had called for a massive protest in the capital on wednesday. but he has now released a video message asking the crowd to ghoem and repeating his baseless

claims of voter fraud. >> i know your pain, i know your hurt. hadn electio that wa stolen fm us. it w a landslideeltion and everyone kno it eecially but y haveo goome now. we haveo have pee. we haveo have law and order. hav toespe our great pele in w and orr. >> the joint session of congress was convened to count 538 elect tors present from each state, officially certifying the results of the november election. the proceedings are usually completed quickly but they were suspended and members of congress were evacuated from the building. biden's victory is expected to be finalized once the proceedings resume, since it is unlikely that congress will approve any oks made by republican lawmakers. local media are projecting that democrats rafael warnock and jon

ossoff have won two runoff elections in the state of georgia. that means the democrats will control the senate and house of re79ives for the first time in years. in new york, share prices rallied on wednesday, lifting two of the major indices to record highs. bets that democratic win in georgia will lead to more fiscal stimulus and infrastructure spending. the dow jones industrial average ended at 30,829. that was up 437 points or 1.4% from the previous day's close. results from tuesday's runoff elections in georgia these democrats would have control of the u.s. senate. investors now believe the biden administration will have an easier time implementing new spending programs to give a boost to the pandemic hit economy. in the bond market, the yield on

the ten-year treasury note rose to the 1% level for the first time in ten months. large scale fiscal stimulus will prompt the government to issue nor bonds, thereby increasing their supply and lowering their surprises. in japan, officials reported over 6,000 daily coronavirus infections on wednesday, setting a new record. the surging numbers are prompting concerns it could overwhelm the country's health care system. the increase comes as the central government prepares to declare another state of emergency for tokyo and three neighboring pregnant feck churs, kanagawa, saitama and keeba. it now accounts for half of the daily infections. a final decision is expected on thursday. the declaration will likely be in effect until february 7th. it will give prefectural governors the legal authority to urge residents to cooperate. the foreign governors will ask

people to refrain from nonessential outings after 8:00 p.m. they will request that bars and restaurants close by that time. schools will not be asked to close. but the government plans to step up restraints on the number of speck tate ost allowed at live events. it will also ask companies to encourage remote work. the head of the medical association hopes the move will lessen the strain on the country's health care system but cautioned more action may be needed. >> translator: depending on how the virus spreads, we may have to consider a nationwide state of emergency. >> cases continue to courage in the capital. tokyo reported a record 1,591 is new indications on wednesday, 113 people are seriously ill. that figure is also the highest to date. meanwhile, japan's national institute of infectious diseases says it has isolated the new variant of the coronavirus that

has been spreading in the united kingdom. it was cultured and identified from samples taken from people who had tested positive upon arrival in japan. 25 people have been found to have new strains of the coronavirus in japan. the institute says it will provide samples of the new variants to scientist around the world for further study. china says it is still discussing with the world health organization the timing of a visit by an expert group to probe the origins of the coronavirus. the who hopes to send the international team to china this week to investigate what happened in the early stages of the outbreak there. w.h.o. director general said tuesday he was very disappointed china has not finalized entry permission for two members. a foreign ministers spokesperson acknowledged the frustration who called the issue of the origins of the virus very complex.

translator: the two sides have maintained a communication route for a long time. there may have been misunderstanding in the topic. chinese health officials and experts are busy dealing with sporadic cases of coronavirus infections. a senior iran diplomat has told nhk the country will stop enriching uranium to 60% purity if the u.s. lifts economic sanctions. the deputy foreign ministers spoke on wednesday in his first interview since iran began the 20% enrichment. it violates the nuclear deal with major powers known as the gpcoa. he said iranians have suffered for four years.

he said he would work tirelessly to have them removed. >> once sanctions are again lifted and once iran can benefit from sanctions lifting in the jcpra, we would obviously go back to our applications and 20% of enrichment can be easily and swiftly reversed. >> outgoing u.s. president donald trump unilateralry withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018. he also commented on washington's possible return to the pact. >> there is no enthusiasm for the return of the -- for the u.s. to the jcpa. we don't open our arms to welcome them in the jcpa. it is up to them to decide. >> referring to the incoming administration of president-elect joe biden he said iran will wait and see if the u.s. wants to return to the

pact and on what terms. hong kong police have arrested 53 pro democracy activists on suspicious of violeting a national security law for the territory. it is the biggest crackdown so far under the new legislation. the arrested include district council mex. diplomatic party sources confirm that a party leader is among them. police say they are suspected of subversion. translator: they tried to hamper and destroy administrative functions. simply put, they try to paralyze the government. >> the arrested politicians took part in pro democracy primaries

for the legislative council election that was supposed to be held last september. they'd been hoping to win a majority in the legislature and reject the government arson budget bill and force hong kong's chief executive to reresign. this is the first time it's been made since beijing imposed law in june of last year. translator: the government no longer cares about public opinion. translator: i feel powerless after so many pro democracy activists were arrested. >> the chinese government stands behind the hong kong authorizes. translator: we support efforts by the hong kong police to fulfill its duty based on law and to protect the stability of the territory. >> about 30 people have been arrested for suspected violation of the security law by wednesday.

it's time to check out the world weather with our meteorologist. on top of a record buildup, what's expected looping the sea of japan coast. >> you can see that it is going to get more intense. they've reported a lot of snowfall and what that's going to mean is a draw. people are urged rather to stay indoors than go out unless it's absolutely necessary and people are asked to please put on some snow tires for those that are going to be traveling because slippery conditions could be a very big major hazard. there is the number, 23 centimeters snow and going up north where in hokkaido we saw

20 centimeters. you should definitely expect more snowfall particularly toward the japan sea side of the country. we've seen close to 300 centimeters of buildup expected up until sunday and even for people up north should expect 100 and maybe 140 centimeters of snowfall coming your way. there will be blowing snow in fukuoka. temperatures dropping to the single digits. we're expecting snow all the way up to saturday. sapporo going to subzero temperatures and tokyo will get back into the slimgts from friday on. please do be prepared as cold weather will be sinking in. some of it will be affected a lot of south and north korea as well. for people in europe, well, there's lots of storms developing starting in from the iberian and into the balkan peninsula. please do be california for people along portugal and spain

and also the northern parts of africa as well. another approaching the british aisl isles. thursday into friday there could be some heavy rainfall developing for you there and things could be a little more challenge as you navigate throughout your day. temperatures for stock home and moscow going to be fairly cool. snowfall is expected there, particularly towards the high grounds. minus six for moscow, and then slightly warmer than usual toward the southern part. istanbul. tropical storm weather towards athens, around 17 degrees. you have a tale of different stories from the north to the southern parts. the gem idea is it's going to be quite cold for most parts of europe. that's your weather. stay safe.

that's all for this edition of nhk "newsline." thank you for staying with us for nhk world japan. >> welcome to "newsline in dept depth". thank you for joining us. today we begin with this photograph. doesn't the family look happy and joyful? photos like this capture a home in time and create a memento that can be treasured forever. the image was taken by asada, a

professional photograph who specializes in family portraits that have a distinctive flavor all their own. in our first story we look at how asada manages those special moments in people's lives. >> asada held an exhibition in tokyo in september. many families enjoyed his unique and imagine active photos. asada has been a professional photographer for the past 13 years. his specialty is family portraits. asada got the idea of creating a new kind of family portrait when he was in photography school. he was given an assignment. take a photo that expresses yourself. he recreated an incident from his childhood.

his father was injured when his foot got stuck in the doorway. asada's older brother rushed down from the second floor but he fell down the stairs and was also injured. asada saw what was happening and panicked. he also fell down and got hurt. the three of them went to the hospital where asada's mother worked as a nurse. he recreated the scene to show who the members of his family really are. translator: by taking this photo based on my memory, i thought i could take the best photo of my life. i took this photograph of the four of us as a way of expressing the strongest memory that i have of the members of my family. >> asada realized all families

have such precious memories. he started asking people to pose for similar photos. here is one of them. a woman's father have long supported his family by working as a fisherman, but he had to give up his boat. his family wanted to preserve his sense of pride through this photo. the man in this photo loved sipping in front of people. dementia robbed him of the ability to show emotion, but he was all smiles as he sang his favorite song on a big stage his family had set up. asada has taken 45 family portraits so far. each one is a precious record of people's love for each other.

his photos give people the strength to get through hard times. so sake ai knows this well. asada took a photo of her family 11 years ago. translator: the photograph is always with us in a place where every one can see it. >> it shows ai, her husband and their two children. their eldest son, takumi was undergoing surgery for a brain surgery. seeing him suffer the results of anti-cancer drugs took a heavy emotional toll. i asked asada to photograph her family. she was curious how he would depict them. asada was deeply moved by an episode from their past. one day, ai and that kconsume ay

looked out the hospital and they saw a rainbow. takumi smiled but the rainbow soon disappeared. that inspired asada. he asked ai and her family to draw rainbows on white t-shirts, photographing them meant they would never disappear. >> it had been months since the whole family had slept together side by side. it was such a peaceful time. i was overjoyed to see takumi sleeping soundly and peacefully. >> reporter: six months after asada took the photo, takumi died. the picture gives the family

emotional support. translator: i remember that peaceful moment very clearly. the photograph gives us the strength to go on. it's like a lucky charm for us. i can keep looking at this photo forever. it always makes me feel happy. translator: i will keep trying to take photos that people enjoy looking at every day and that help bring happiness to their lives. >> reporter: every family has special moments that tell the story of who they are. asada's work helps them keep memories of those precious times alive, as they slip into the past. >> asada's photos have struck a

deep cord in people. not just his subjects, but now with the wider audience. a movie based on his work recently won best asian film award at the warsaw national film festival. asada continues to take portraits of his own family, too. a practice he says has deepened ties within his home. asada says that photos of every-day life, not just a formal or special occasion, can add up to create a precious record. for our next story, we start with this photograph. it shows shuri castle in okinawa which has a 500-year history and remains the symbol of the kingdom in the archipelago in the far south of japan. in 2019, a huge wave destroyed a reproduction of the original structure built at the unesco

world heritage site. thefire time after a renewal. we need a photographer whose career has developed thanks to his special relationship with sury castle. over the decades his life and work has been linked with the castle and that hasn't changed even with the inferno. >> reporter: 79-year-old photographer lives in naha city. at 4:00 a.m. on that fateful day he shot the castle from this spot. translator: the fire from the roof was burning with incredible force and looked like a dragon rising agonizingly towards the sky. i've never seen anything like it. i feel sad and so discouraged. >> otsuka used to work as an

advertising photographer for an auto maker in osaka. in 1980 he moved to okinawa and went free lapse, shooting landscapes and events. he is particularly captain vivay the way the castle changes depending on the season and the time of the day. the post war reconstruction efforts of the castle began at about the same time otsuka launched his new career in the environment of okinawa. his career advanced in tandem as the castle was being rebuilt. translator: it might sound presumptuous but i found comfort in the fact that the castle and i were taking a similar pamt. i've been energized by the cassling. >> reporter: in 2000, the kyushu okinawa summit was held and the castle became the center of world attention. images taken from otsuka were

put in the official photo books. his picture of glowing red in the dark is one of them. since the fire, otsuka has been regularly visiting the castle to photograph its preconstruction. translator: the reconstruction efforts are certainly moving forward. i'm convinced that my mission is to record the process through photographic images, and i hope to help the project as much as possible. >> reporter: otsuka has long felt an affinity with suri castle and is determined to document its progress until it's brought back to its former glory again. >> as we've seen, photographs have the power to keep alive memories of the past and give us courage to move forward. they can be an immense source of

strength, especially in difficult times like these. and that's all for today's news line in depth. thank you for tuning in. we leave you with a look at a group of high school students in okinawa who also have a very special relationship with suri castle.

assault on the people's representatives, capitol hill police sworn to protect them. on the public servants who work at the heart of our republic. an assault on the rule of law like a few times we have ever seen.