welcome to nhk "newsline." we start this hour here in japan where the regular session opened on monday. in etc. fist policy speech since taking office, the prime minister stressed the government's continued frts to fight the coronavirus. >> translator: i am dooeply sorry that the government has to ask people to live under restrictions again. now i call for everyone's

cooperation to overcome the difficulties. i myself shall be on the front line of the fight against the virus. >> the government aims to revise to enhance the effectiveness of the b ain't virus measures. he said the legislation will include support for dining establishments to make sure that they comply with requests for shorter business hours. penalties are also on the table for those who don't follow the guidelines. a rollout of vaccine could begin in february after screenings for safety effect andiveness. he also touch ed on the tokyo olympic games postponed to this summer because of covid. >> i al determined to hold the games to send hope and courage to the rest of the world.

>> he said the games will be proof of humanity's victory over the virus. meanwhile, health care professionals will meet to discuss how to secure hospital beds with the number of patients in serious condition at a record high. medical institutions are set to launch a task force this week as they struggled to deem deal with surging cases. forcing some facilities to turn people away. government research say private hospitals are accepting fewer coronavirus patients than their public counterparts. those facilities say that's because they are smaller and have limited staff. the president of the jan dical association told an nhk program the group is considering how to work together.

>> one viable idea is creating a system in each region to expand the number of beds for patients at large hospitals for limited times. small and medium size hospitals will temporarily able to take over medical care for the larger facilities. >> the largest hot spot remains the capital tokyo from over a quarter of the total covid cases have been reported since the pandemic started. it top ped the 1,000 mark for sx straight days. we spoke to one of the key officials working to make the games a reality as the pandemic rages on. >> she may have one of the toughest jobs in international sports. as game delivery officer with

the tokyo 2020 organizing committee. he plays a crucial role in negotiating with the international olympic committee. and other stake holders. >> he admits the current state of emergency in tokyo poses challenges to the committee work. but says the plan remains the same. >> there's no change in plan for having the event due to the emergency declaration. we'll provide the safe and cure situation. when entering japan this summer. and moving into tokyo. and visiting a venue. watching and making participating. >> one challenge is maintaining public support in a city will people are for more concerned about surging infection numbers. opinions are mixed.

>> if people start gathering we'll have the same vicious cycle again. we shouldn't hold the games. >> i want to watch the games. some athletes are practicing hard. they may not be able to compete in the next olympics. >> survey found only 16% of the respondents want to see the games held as scheduled. 38% said they should be cancelled. and 39% say should be postponed one more time. >> the organizing committee is still aiming for the opening ceremony to be held july 23. they have released a plan detailing the antivirus strategies they hope will keep people safe. these include limiting the olympic movements and setting up a special medical center to quickly detect and contain infection. keenly aware of the public

opinion stands. he wants people to understand why he believes the games are needed. as a source of hope. >> in the true meaning they only begin next summeis the global impact to assure for the everyone that the over come the covid-19 and get tether. >> still, even some figures within the movement have been raising doubt about whether the ent should proceed this year. one member recently told the bbc that the trajectory of the virus remains the elephant in the room. as planning ramps up. >> he's adamant the games can help heal the global division caused by the pandemic. he says organizers and other

interest parties have to be flexible to make them happen. diffusing growing opposition will be no small feat. joe biden is to be sworn in as the 46th president of the the united states on wednesday. he plans to rejoin the paris climate accord and make other policy changes using his executive authority upon his inauguration. incoming white house communications director commented in an interview on sunday. >> president-elect biden is going to come into office and take decisive steps to roll back some of the most egregious moag the trump administration. you're going to see him make movement on racial equity and movement on climate.

>> his incoming chief of staff listed the plampbs this a memo to staff saying he will sign executive on some ten steps during his first day in office to deal with major challenges. the planned actions include the return of the u.s. to the paris agreement, lifting the travel ban on muslim countries and issuing a mask mandate for travel. the memo says biden's other plans for his first ten days include extbdsing a pause on student loan payments and expanding coronavirus testing. meanwhile the bureau of investigation is warning of potential armed protests in the capitol and states across the country as ina august ration day approaches. authorities have erected fencing and security check points to search people's belongings. they have restricted access to the center of washington to people in vehicles.

and closed subway stations. up to 25,000 national guard troops are expected to be deployed in washington. by inauguration day. >> blockades are everywhere. i wonder if it's too much. and i'm sad for what they felt like they had to do. biden will give us boring back. that's all we want. >> following the storming of the u.s. capitol on january 6. by protesters including supporters of the president trump. some at the resulting damage to the building is still visible. footage shows shattered panes in the door of an entrance to the seat of america's national legislature. a russian opposition leader poisoned by a nerve agent has been te did tainted shortly after returning to his country. he has received treatment in

berlin. the outspoken critic landed sunday saying he was not afraid to return home. he was taken away during immigration procedures despite a protest by his lawyer. russian media quote the prison service is saying he was detained for failing to appear at a probation hearing. last august he was flown to germany for treatment after falling unconscious during a russian domestic flight. experts say detected the nerve agent in his system. a journalism group claimed russia federal security service was involved in the alleged attack. navalny's arrest has drawn international condemnation. the european counsel president called it unacceptable. and demanded immediate release. u.s. secretary of state spoke out about the arrest. saying his detention is the

latest in a series of attempts to silence people critical of russian authority. north korea appears eager to move ahead on their five-year economic plan. the top legislative body approving the strategy laid out by leader kim jong-un during a recent ruling party congress. the north state-run media said monday that the supreme people's assembly was held on sunday. representatives from across the country took part. the assembly also announced new members of the cabinet. some details were revealed on the country's spending priorities. the defense budget will be unchanged from last year. it has helped improve its capabilities.

a 2.5% increase in public health spending was also approved. a nod to nationwide efforts to fight coronavirus. kim was expected to assume a new post at the session, but he did not attend. he was elected general secretary of the ruling worker's party at the congress that wrapped up last tuesday. that post was previously held by his late father. it's been 26 years since a magnitude 7.3 quake devastated the surrounding area in western japan. it killed 6,434 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. as memories of the disaster fade, one survivor is finding a new way to teach the next generation about disaster preparedness. >> reporter: the destruction is striking.

buildings reduced to rubble. freeways toppled, homes destroyed, lives transformed forever. including kubo rikiya. he was just a baby when the earthquake hit but the event has shaped his life. it motivated him to attend a high school that offered special courses in disaster preparedness. while in school, another major disaster struck japan. on march 11th, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit the tohoku region, triggering a massive tsunami. nearly 16,000 people died. kubo and some of his classmates traveled to the area to learn about the disaster and volunteer with recovery efforts.

>> translator: i tried to do as much as i could, but i was frustrated because i felt like it wasn't enough even though i was studying disaster preparedness. >> reporter: during his time there, he met a local high school student, kikuchi nodoka, who told him about her desperate escape from the tsunami. they forged a friendship and kept in touch over the years. united by their passion for disaster preparedness, last year the pair founded a company aimed at redesigning how kids learn. rather than a separate program, their plan is to integrate disaster training into the general curriculum, to make learning more practical and seamless. for example, here is a question that would be used in a math class. a tsunami generated by an earthquake will advance at 36 kilometers per hour after making landfall. how many meters will it advance in one second? the answer, 10 meters per second. >> translator: junior high

school students might not understand how fast 36 kilometers per hour is. but what if we compare to a car race? >> reporter: the plan has created interest among many teachers who say there's an urgent need to teach students disaster preparedness. >> translator: it feels like teachers don't have enough time on manpower to help students. >> reporter: the pair hopes to get feedback from students this year, with the goal of a wider rollout in the coming years. >> translator: it would be a beautiful thing if we could save lives. and that's my ultimate aim with disaster preparation education. a blizzard is bring iing th threat of avalanches. our meteorologist joins us now with the the details. >> northern japan has seen heavy

snow this winter. we will see more snowfall, especially into tuesday. we have a couple lows over the sea of japan. this system will intensify and move over the country and as it does so, frigid air will be moving if from the continent. we'll see heavy snow along the sea of japan side of the country into tuesday. we might see up to 70 centimeters of snow in the region. be careful of avalanches and also snow falling from the roof. nearly 130 kilometers, so gusts are anticipated. it could cause dangerous positions. let's get a look at temperatures. tokyo will see 2 degrees on the morning. but the sea of japan side will see snowy weather persisting for the next several days. and temperatures are below freezing every day. disasters have been happening across indonesia including a big

earthquake and also volcano eruption. flood b has been a major issue for the island. take a look at this. heavy rain has caused widespread floods and numerous landslides in western areas. the hardest hit area has received nearly 500 millimeters of rainfall in jus four days. plus water has reached 1.5 meters in some places. more than 100,000 people have been displaced. this after a state of emergency has been declared in the island because of the threat. we had had see rainfall once again not going to be too heavy, but more rain could lead to more flooding in parts of the south and as you can see, thunderstorms and heavy rain is anticipated for many places of indonesia. meanwhile, we have a couple cyclones to talk about across the southern hemisphere. we have this one. this system is now a category 2

cyclone. it's expected to stay near the coast of queensland at least into wednesday. significant rain could lead to flood iing. drubtive winds and we will see a rainy weather into thursday at least. we will have another cyclone expected to keep northern areas on wednesday and then into the weekend. that's it for me. stay safe.

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

this is news line had biz. a japanese research firm says the number of companies in the country that have gone out of business due to the impact of the pandemic has reached 900. data bank says the data includes firm it is a have filed for bankruptcy and those that closed for liquidation procedures of this year. restaurants and drinking establishments were the hardest hit followed by hotels and ends

with 72. construction firms had the same number going out of business. economic conditions have wors worsened this year with the declaration of a second state of emergency in and around tokyo and other parts of the country earlier this month. japan's government has submitted a record high budget to the diet. it's security and other spending and covers fiscal 2021 that starts in april. this year's regular session began on monday. the draft tops 106 trillion yen or $1 trillion. $345 billion is allocate d for social security and the population continues to age. that amount is about $1.5 billion more than in fiscal 2020. $51 billion will go on the

fence. that's also the biggest ever. and up by nearly $590 million. they expect tax revenue to shrink during the next fiscal year despite the increased expenditures. they are projected to bring in $554 billion, down about $58 billion from before due to larger earnings by corporations struggling amid the pandemic. a new survey suggests more students about to graduate university are having difficulty finding jobs due to the academic fallout from the pandemic. japan's labor and education ministry has hassed students ask expected to graduate from 62 universities. the survey found at the beginning of last month, 82.2% had job offers. that's down 4.9% from a year earlier. it's the third largest decline

ever recorded in the month of december. the biggest drop was 7.4 points in 2009 after the global financial crisis. the labor ministry says it's working with colleges to provide support as some businesses may decide not to hire new recruits until the pandemic subsides. china's government points proudly to a strong recovery in the economy. that was affected by the coronavirus pandemic. one of the sectors thhas been fueling growth is real estate. but now there's growing concern that property prices may be overheating.

>> that includes cities. a major japanese trading house is developing this residential and commercial complex with a local developer. it will have 650 units as well as various stores and offices. >> the large window is attracting customers. >> construction is due to be finished in march. advanced sales stopped early last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. but they grew steadily as the economy recovered. all the residences and commercial spaces have now been sold. this type of apartment is aimed at upscale buyers. each unit has three floors aboveground and two below. the asking price is between $900,000 and $1.8 million. these units are especially popular with local business owners. they sold faster than cheaper

apartment units. >> i didn't hesitate to buy it. if you like it, you should go for it. >> people in china are placing a premium on a better living environment as they spend more time at home during the pandemic. the developers say word spread about the development's high quality and excellent design. >> some people bought property between $1.2 million with cash. there's an amount for nice homes. demand will keep growing as the economy keeps expanding. >> investment in real estate development through february last year. but the accumulated total from january through december was 7% year on year. this has led to a housing in some cities. research institute says a

growing number of new residences remain unsold across the country. the nationwide total floor space was 7.8% in november from a year before. reaching a level not seen since 2016. big apartment buildings have been going up one after another that's raising concern about oversflie splooi. the government issued a notice encouraging sellers to cut apartment prices. >> they are building too many apartments when more younger people are moving out of the city. >> the central government wants to ensure a soft landing as the economy bounces back and is taking various steps to deal with increasing fears over the future of the real estate market. china faces a tough balancing act as it heads into the post coronavirus era.

>> let's have a lock at the markets.

from the team in tokyo, thank you for joining us.

>> an old border disput a reignited. ethiopia and sudan blame each other for hostilities in the al-fashaga region. what's really behind the latest violence? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome to the program. ethiopia and sudan are warning each other against