♪ hello and thank you for joining us on this edition of nhk "newsline" we start with the worsening coronavirus situation here in japan. the government is now considering extending its state of emergency for four prefectures, including osaka and tokyo beyond may 11th. they're under the state of emergency which is set to end

tuesday. residents there are being asked to stay home as much as possible. bars and restaurants are urged not to serve alcohol and close by 8:00 p.m. but the number of crically ill patients has continued to rise. hitting an all-time high on wednesday. and osaka's medical system is overwhelmed. a shortage of beds has led some patients to be admitted to hospital only after their condition worsened. >> translator: our healthcare system is literally collapsing. we may not be saving lives that could well be saved. >> officials say for the first time every bed set aside for those in serious condition is full. and on thursday, owe akaka reported 747 new cases. asking the central government to extend the state of emergency. tokyo's governor is similarly concerned. especially about the rise of

more contagious variants. >> translator: we believe the state of emergency needs to be extended based on analysis from a variety of angles. >> the capital reported 592 new cases on thursday. the daily tally is down 436 from a week earlier, but experts say the drop could be linked to the recent spring holiday since many facilities processed fewer tests. japan's foreign minister has announced japan will give $50 million in aid to help the india cases. the talks were supposed to happen in person but were held online after two indian delegates tested positive for the coronavirus.

conveying condolences for the many lives being lost to koeft and the southeastern country. the newly announced funds will likely help with a shortage of oxygen supply in the country. also expressing concern about the china growing assertiveness an will continue to work with india to achie what he called a free and open independent oo-. >> the united states has declared a waiver of property rights for vaccines. washington had previously been reluctant to pass the waiver as a way to ease vaccine shortages in developing countries. u.s. trade representative announced the biden administration support in a

statement on wednesday. said the global health crisis created called for extraordinary measures. she said negotiations of the waiver will take time given the consensus based nature of the institution and complexity involved. w.t.o. rules require a unanimous agreement. and offering a lower priced generic vaccine. negotiations had stalled due to options from the u.s., european and other industrialized nations hope to major pharmaceutical firms that developed the coronavirus vaccine. they had argued lifting protection would harm future innovation. the head of world health organization welcomes washington's leadership. meanwhile, an international

federation representing the pharmaceutical agency said a patent waiver for covid vaccines was a wrong answer and said such moves will not provide an answer or solutions to battle this global health unprovoked attacks on asian-americans. a warning some viewers may find images disturbing. >> reporter: san francisco's chinatown is busy. now also daily patrol site of volunteers on guard. >> in chinatown, they are not reporting because they are scared of the language barriers.

we are here to assist them and let them know. >> another shocking had crime happened on tuesday. two asian women in their 60s and 80s were stabbed. local media report police arrested the suspect and a possible link. >> san francisco isn't alone. a study at california state university, san bernardino found the number rose to 95 in the first quarter of 2021 in 16 major u.s. cities. an increase compared to the same period last year. >> on the busy streets of new

york city, one resident came up with an idea to help others based on her own fears of taking public transportation. launching an online initiative that pays for ride sharing for asian people. they can use the service five times a week and be reimbursed. this woman, born and raised in new york has been a frequent user. >> it gives them a peace of mind and sense of clarity and calmness in going home. it removes a lot of the stress for a lot ofeople. i thinks that so helpful. jo with may, ma asian-american and pacific island heritage month, helping

asian-americans safe in their communities. next, an update on the issue of how to change japan's post war constitution that has never been amended. ruling and opposition law makers have held a vote to mak the vote more convenient. one sticking point that demand that add vert izmentes be more heavily regulated. >> translator: it is important to find common ground between political parties and rival factions. i think we've reached a satisfactory conclusion. we've welcomed the fact we have reached the situation to make fairer rules to govern.

>> the issue will be re-evaluated about three years after the bill takes effect. the bill is likely to be enacted in the session. changing the post war constitution requires at least two-thirds support from two houses in the diet and majority of votes in the national referendum. no party has ever formally opposed an amendment. a new report says food insecurity has reached level in the ten worse-hit nations more than 100 million people were acutely food insecure and in need of immediate assistance. an alliance of international organizations cited the democratic republic of the congo, yemen, afghanistan and syria as areas where conflict was the primary driver.

the report also points to economic shocks mainly caused by covid-19. it predicts that this year the pandemic will have an even more serious economic impact affecting household incomes across the globe. >> humanitarian assistance is key but it is not sufficient. we need to work at the root causes. >> the report also cites extreme weather saying it continues to push millions of people into acute food insecurity. now to myanmar where pro-democracy forces say they've created a people's defense force to protect civilians from the military crackdown on anti-coup protesters. the national unity government which was set up last month by opponentof military rule, announced the formation of the

force on wednesday. the n.u.g. said in a statement that the new force is a precursor to establishing a federal union army. that's expected to include armed ethnic minorities that have been in conflict with the military for decades. but there were no details of how the new force will be organized. the military has issued arrest warrants for members of the n.u.g. it says an unlawful government was formed to subvert the top decision-making body established by the military. the n.u.g.'s ministers include members of aung san suu kyi's democracy party. a local human rights group says 769 anti-coup protesters and others have been killed by security forces as of tuesday. ♪ more than 200 human rights groups have called on an embargo. >> no government should sell a single bullet under these circumstances. imposing a global arms embargo is a minimum sp the security counsel should take. >> a total of 205 groups issued

a statement approaching a surge in violence. organizations including amnesty international and human rights watch held a conference. >> some of the biggest arms supplier are also some of those countries like russiand china and ukraine, turkey, serbia, israel. >> the group urged un security stage to open arms talks embargo and as they are able to >> the coronavirus pand has proven to be an immense

challenge for local businesses around the globe. in austria having their businesses turned upside down and found a way to land on their feet. >> at her workshop in vienna, making snow globes. the glass decorations pioneered by h grandfather. the products hand-made here. the best snow domes are clear and bright. if you shake them, the snow stays suspended just the right amount of time. the domes use alpine water. the material for the snow is a company secret.

>> >> translator: my family and i have been making our product by hand. since migrate grandfather's time, each is filled with our thoughts and memories. >> reporter: since the pandemic, the workshop has had to swrapi swr swapping ideas. this snowman is wearing a face mask. and this star is a roll of toilet paper. an elephant might seem an odd choice for a wintery setting but there is a reason for

the baby elephant is a social distancing symbol. orders for this flooded in. so far, 13,000 have been sold. the playfulness and message to stay safe have hit home. >> snow globes can bring a little joy and peace. even if we are all facing a crisis due to the pandemic. we need some comfort because the world is in turmoil. >> the family has found a way to work alongside the paean as they remain focused on spreading their own brand of happiness. time now for a check on the

weather with our meteorologist. the rainy season has started in southwest japan. >> after seeing some dry weather for the latter part of thursday, as we head to friday, rain will be a part of the forecast. bringing influence to the north, so we are seeing some of this rain now pushing to the east, the front with morning showers and that front moving through. that will move towards the north. bringing the influence, we'll be dealing with showers. the western area as we go to the early part of friday east. either way, you need the umbrella. look at this, 23 which is warmer

thab the other locations down to the south. we are looking at the rain to end with highs in the upper 20s and coming up on saturday and sunday. we are looking at some of the warmer weather coming some heavier rain has been associated with it. we'll go through friday. meanwhile. the pattern will continue as we go through the rest of the week. a video as we go through texas. strong thorms and foot alk out of weatherford.

rescue teams worked through the night to pull people from the debris. we are looking through another system rolling through the western portion of the united states bringing another chance the second pave east friday with another system for development to the west. memphis and miami thunderstorms thursday and friday. that's a look at forecast. hope you have a good day wherever you are. ♪

that's it for this edition of nhk "newsline."

i'm raja pradhan from tokyo. coming up is "newsline biz" with ramin mellegard. don't go away. this is "newsline biz" i'm ramin mellegard. gaming giant, anyonintendo is rg a wave of demand. annual net profit the last fiscal year was an all-time record. the net profit for the year through march grew almost 86% from the previous year hitting

$480 billion yen or $4.4 billion. the latest animal crossing game was a big hit and sold nearly $20 million in profit. sales of the switch sold the highest amount from the debut. forecasting net profit will fall nearly 30% following last year's big jump. >> estimating jan pan's economy will shrink. they blame the dip caused by the second state of emergency. >> 12 research students have reached projections ahead of the gop announcement mid-may. expecting negative annualized growth ranging 3.5 to minus

8.8%. projecting falling 1 to 3% as restaurant and hotel industry took a hit. estimating export industry has hit because of tepid growth in the u.s. showing one member warning the bank to make sure the changes wouldn't be misunderstood. at t gathering, the central bank made some tweaks to curb the side effect. including scrapping a goal for buying exchange rated funds or etfs. one member urged caution, the bank adopted a less accommodating stance. officials also agreed this would

allow interest rates to fluctuate around plus or minus 1 to 5% forcing a focus on the upper range. >> nissan selling its roughly 1.5% share for equivalent of about $1.4 billion. following a similar move from nissan's french partner renault in march. it will use the funds to become more competitive and promoting elect indication. the car giant has been realing from weak sales. its partnership from daimler won't be affected by the sale. the two aim to create a massive auto group firm where they can work together on things like

developing compact cars. the partnership didn't accept rate as hoped. an adventure calls out to >>hose yeaingor aeala ride to adventure. king partn the 20. clbing tn aitudefter expeencing three minutes of weiglessne after ming a parachute landing. rgin galc and/obegi orgin for

the first fght t space. a way to help meet that roughl # 0 perts of the is covered by trees. >> the idea that selling trees could help reach carbon neutrality. that's the premise. masks made of cedar thrd and sustainable straws. >> they are amazing. >> the explanation is rooted in post war years when for estimates were planted across japan. those trees absorb plenty of co 2 but already passed their peak.

more than half artificial forests are now more than 50 years old. researchers say removing and replanting will boost. developing some new goods. >> this year is liquor made from wood. fermenting powdered wood and disstill it. different species of wood produce different a roach yous we can is encourage regrowth of trees this helps with forest conservation. >> they also helped extract material extracted from cedar

saw dust. when mixed, the material becomes light weight and high in strength. that material is already being used in components in speakers. carmakers are looking at it for exteriors and aviation companies think it could work for wings. >> translator: new materials and advanced technologies are coming from japanese mountains. we can lead the world with these new and original teches. there's now an experimental factory in the works. working to put the potentially climate saving material into production. okay. let's get a check on the markets. ♪

s. that's it for "newsline biz" from our tokyo studios, i'm ramin mellegard. thank you very much for watching. tñññvvvvvrrzozozozoñ?ñ

births at once is eight. ♪ this is al jazeera. u.s. president joe biden has backed a proposal that would temporarily lift intellectual property rights for covid-19 vaccines. it would allow more manufacturers to make the jabs and help millions of people get inoculated. we have more from watch to see -- watch to see -- washington dc reporter: there has been pushed back and the biden team has been discussing with representatives. on the other hand you have immense pressure coming fromso