♪ hello and welcome to this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo with the latest at this hour. t total cases since the pandemic started have topped 3 million. on thursday officials across japan reported mosh than 90,000 cases for the second consecutive day. that's a new record. 911 people are in serious condition. that's up 25 from wednesday.

tokyo reported more than 20,000 new cases for the second day in a row. experts monitoring the situation in the capital say the medical system is under strain. they say that's partly because many health care workers have caught the virus or become close contacts of infected people. the spike comes in spite of quasi emergency measures in place of 34 of japan's 47 prefectures. the government plans to add the western prefecture of wakayama. the measures are expected to come into force there on saturday. they include asking bars and restaurants to close early and not to serve alcohol. the surge in new infections is also putting a burden on local governments. officials in sew sack ka say they were slows to report more than 10,000 cases because they could not enter the huge volume of data into a computer system quickly enough. they also said they had a technical glitch. japan's foreign minister has

poked a hole in the u.s. military's explanation for why it eased coronavirus testing measures last year. both sides agreed in july 2020 u.s. forces personnel entering japan would adhere to the nation's en industry rules including mandatory pcr testing. but when vaccination numbers increased, the u.s. dropped the requirement. the change came last september. the military issued a statement to nhk saying it kept japanese officials informed of measures being taken. but japan's foreign minister says that timeline doesn't add up. >> translator: we have conveyed to the u.s. military that it was wrong in saying that it notified us earlier than december 24th. >> the issue of military restrictions came to light after several bases reported coronavirus outbreaks. infections in nearby cities surged shortly afterward. now to the united states where coronavirus cases are on the decline.

health officials continue to urge caution. >> hospitalization rates are still quite hig and certainly having hospital capacity challenges in many parts of the country still. the omicron variant swept across the united states last month fueling a spike that saw more than 1 million new infections logged in a single day. tallies have plunged, but the nation still averaged about 440,000 daily cases for the week ending monday. the decline has spurred talk of easing restrictions. still the director for the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention says the situation at hospitals remains unpredictable. medical institutions are under strain with 2,300 deaths recorded a day. now france has averaged more than 300,000 new cases of the coronavirus cases per day since january. the government lifted its work-from-home and outor mask

mandates as part of a phased easing of restrictions. officials say they expect new cases to start declining in a few weeks. from wednesday, people in france are no longer required to work from home or wear masks outdoors. tran tran i hate wearing masks and i thought they were meaningless outdoors. >> translator: i will never remove my mask because me and my family have breathing problems. >> germany reported a record daily count of more than 208,000 new cases on wednesday. federal health minister carl lock ter bach says that figure could reach 400,000. the german government is urging more people to get vaccinated. chinese president xi jinping says his countries is ready to make the beijing winter games a

success. he made the remarks during a video message to an international olympic committee session one day before the opening ceremony. >> translator: the world is turning its eyes to china, and china is ready. we will do our best to deliver to the world a streamlined, safe and splendid games and act on the olympic model of faster, higher and stronger together. >> beijing will become the first city to host both the summer and winter olympics. ioc president thomas back said the upcoming games will help make the upcoming games more profitable in china. >> from this tremendous growth, the winter sport industry across the globe will greatly benefit because of the high demand for infrastructure, equipment and expertise. >> bach was full of praise for what he called the meticulous

preparation of anti-coronovirus measures. he also mentioned the dark crowds of the growing politicization of sport. this was an apparent reference to the diplomatic boycott by the united states and other countries in response to alleged human rights abuses in xinjiang. bach said the ioc has been working hard to preserve the game's unifying mission. russian president vladimir putin is one of the foreign dignitaries who will be in attendance at friday's opening ceremony. he's also set to meet with president xi. his presidential office says this will be the first in-person summit between the two since november of 2019. a skrem lynn spokesperson indicated russia's on going talks with the united states and flay toe will be on the agenda. experts say putin hopes to explain russia's security concerns over nato expsion in eastern europe and gain xi's

support to counter the united states together. next, the u. nfrmt security council has spoken out to end the violence in myanmar one year after the government was over thrown. continued unrest has cut people ofoff from their homes and basi necessities. members of the security council said they're alarmed by the situation and called for citizens to be protected. about 1,500 people have died in a military crackdown on protests. facilities providing health care and education have been targeted. the council's statement condemned all violence. one year on, the military is still detaining pro-democracy leaders including aung san suu kyi. the council called for their release. the military junta has extended a year-long state of emergency form another six month. it says it will hold a new election in august 2023. in other news, turkish warplanes have attacked suspected kurdish militia in

neighboring iraq and syria. local media said the strike hurt several civilians. turkey's defense ministry says the air strikes on wednesday hit close to 80 targets. they included ammunition depots and training camps. iraqi media are reporting eight people died and 17, including women and children, were wounded. the violence there has been intensifying. kur tisch militants killed three turkish soldiers in an attack in northern iraq last december. the strikes come as international attention remains focused on ukraine. ice hockey is one of the most watched sports at the winter olympics, but in japan, the fastest game on ice has never taken off in a big way. nhk world's chris core day shares the story of a team helping to build a home for hockey here in tokyo.

>> the jerseys all sport the symbol of canada. but this is hockey night in suburban tokyo. >> got a mix of some canadians, americans, japanese, and it feels good to have that little thing from home, so to speak. >> reporter: a group of expats formed the tokyo canadians 26 years ago. they shared a passion for hockey in a city where it's not a big thing. >> hockey community here is such a small. so pretty much we know everyone. >> reporter: these are competitive players, but this is not professional hockey. their goal is just to play games and make connections. the canadians' captain is an american who came to tokyo 16 years ago. the friends he has made through hockey have helped make it his home. >> i think the team has a

different meaning for each member. for me personally when i came to japan, i didn't know anyone, didn't have any friends, any family, and the team became my family here in japan. >> reporter: at the start, the club was focused on traveling outside japan and charity work. in thailand, they played a lot of hockey, but they also sponsored an orphanage and supported kids, including one girl who they helped for years as she went through school. >> part of it is the tournaments overseas, to play in countries like thailand, et cetera, where we can make more of an impact, not just hockey. >> reporter: these days, the team has 40 players who get on the ice as often as they can. organizing hockey in tokyo isn't easy. there are only about five or six rinks in the entire city. ice time is very expensive, and it's hard to find the players who have the skills to keep up. but there is home-grown talent. many of the players are japanese who lived overseas and played

high-level hockey, like shu hayakawa. when he moved back from toronto, he didn't want to hang up his skates. >> i had to find a way to play hockey in japan since i came back. it's a great atmosphere to be here, because everyone shares the same hobby. >> reporter: satoshi kumagai grew up playing hockey in northern japan, where it's a bit more popular. what do you love about hockey? >> just the speed and physical. lots of contact. kind of fighting too. >> reporter: fighting and hitting are not a part of these games, but the team is in a different fight, to find places to play. a number of rinks have shut in tokyo. the ones left are shared with other ice sports like figure skating. they've held tournaments with other japanese teams to help promote hockey, but they say without rinks, it's hard for it to grow. >> i guess the best thing that could happen for japan and for the hockey community is if there was a way to get more rinks to open and spread the game.

>> it's one of those sports that once you get hooked on it, it's very hard to play other sports. and i think one day maybe we'll have more kids playing, i hope. >> reporter: they're helping with that on a small scale. some players have kids who are born in tokyo, and they're learning to play. one is now old enough to join their games. another generation with big skates to fill. chris corday, nhk world, unibashi. sumo health exercise. yah!

moving now to the weather. people living along the sea of japan coast are again facing huge dumps of snow. our sayaka mori has the outlook of weather for the weekend. >> tomorrow marks the start of the spring in the chinese calendar, but it's still in the middle of winter in reality. we still see a lot ofnow piling up over northern japan. there's a no belt cold, the japan sea, jpcz forming over the sea of japan. lots of snow is still on the menu.

in fact, the heaviest snowfall of the season so far. different story in the south. heavy rain is pounding the okinawa region. rain actually means spring is approaching to the area. lots of rain is expected for the area over the past 24 hours 100 millimeters of rain has fallen there. meanwhile tomorrow, the opening ceremony for the olympics will be taking place in beijing where it will be sunny but cold and windy. it's going to be warmer and calmer as we go into the weekend. meanwhile, there's a cyclone which is still approaching madagascar. it's intensifying, near the indian ocean island nations. we saw 514 millimeters of rainfall in 24 hours in the islands and heavy rain and strong winds are hitting the other islands. take a look at this video from mauritius. it brought strong winds and high

waves to the nation. the capital saw winds peaking at 151 kilometers per hour. the storm also left at least 7,500 homes without power. it downed trees and power lines. telephone services were also disrupted. public and air transportation were halted while banks and shops were closed. this system will likely make landfall in madagascar on saturday and it will continue to move over the island into sunday. it could be one of the strongest storms to hit the country in recorded history. that's it for me. stay safe. ♪ ♪

one more story to share with you before we go. artists in southwestern japan are looking to craft a more open society using only a simple brush and ink. each of these drawings was made by someone with foreign roots and ties to the southern prefecture of saga. they express a humble yet profound concept, free your heart of borders. these characters mean family. a woman from britain was

inspired to write it after spending two years separated from their loved ones due to the coronavirus pandemic. she said a friend she made here now feels like family. a man wrote the phrase peace be with you myanmar. his home country was taken over by the military last year. organizers say artists from more than 19 countries and regions contributed to the exhibit. >> translator: it feels like each piece of art expresses the life of the person who created it. >> people in saga city will have more chances to appreciate the art before the exhibit wraps up in march. that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm raja pradhan in tokyo. coming up next is "newsline" biz with gene otani, so don't go away.

♪ this is "newsline biz." i'm gene otani. making it easier for wheelchair users to fly and transfer to rail or road. mobility is a service for joint channels including booking multiple modes of transportation. airlines, train and taxi companies share details before travel with the approval of passengers of people with disabilities. they include the size of their

wheelchair or the kind of assistance they need. the new system notifies officers of thessenr's rte and is expected t enabl them t respond smoothln case of deys or other oble. evious pple wh sabilityad to prode infoation toach transportation operation separately to get assistance. >> translator: we want to realize their wishes, such as going wherever they want or going on a trip whenever they want. >> the trial is due to run until the end of february. a group of companies has begun a trial run of an autonomous vehicle in central tokyo. it's part of the capital's plan to launch self-driving services. the group is testing the vehicle along a two kilometer route in the shinjuku area. the car is equipped with cameras thvehicle ceivesata fro afc lieso learnbout the situatio in t oosit lane and howany mor seconds rain

bere the sigls ange th test run but does not touch the steering wheel. >> translator: self-driving vehicles cannot be realized on their own. they need infrastructure, so we will keep community development in mind. >> the trial runs until friday. the group will use the results to program self-driving cars to avoid parked vehicles and to respond to suddenly being overtaken. the metropolitan government plans to offer the service in the fiscal year starting in april 2023. electronics giant panasonic is set to add new manufacturing capacity to its plant in western japan. it's to prepare for mass production of high-capacity batteries for tesla vehicles. >> translator: we've received a very strong request from tesla. we will make our first priority shifting to full-scale mass production. >> panasonic chief financial officer said the production line

will be built at its battery parts factory in wakayama prefecture. the company is developing a new lithium ion battery for the u.s. car manufacturer. the new sill lynd cal battery has a diameter more than twice that of its predecessor and five times the capacity. the new battery is expected to dramatically extend the range of the vehicles and cut costs. the budget for building the line and timing for starting full-scale production have yet to be pro r decided. sony group has posted record earnings for the first nine months of the business year mainly due to global box office proceeds from the latest spiter man movie. the group says sales between april and december grew 13.2% from the same period a year earlier, roughly $67 billion.

its operating profit jumped almost 20% at $9.3 billion. the brisk results have led to upward revisions of full-year sales and operating profit forecasts. the group says it managed to minimize the impact of the pandemic that resulted with -- they'd like to find a plant to avoid having to invest in large scale facilities or developing batteries on its own. u.s.i.t. giant meta platforms formerly known as facebook reported lower net income since december, the first quarterly fall in 2.5 years. meta says net income in the fourth quarter of 2021 fell over 8% to just undover $10 billion.

they say the changes have made it difficult to distribute user tailored ads. sales were up nearly 20% and marked a record high of more than $33 billion. brazil's central bank raised its key policy rate to highest level in about 4 1/2 years to curb double-digit inflation. policymakers on wednesday hiked the benchmark interest rate by 1 1/2 to 10.75%. there have been increases at eight straight policy meetings since last march. people in brazil are facing soaring living costs, inflation topped 10% first time in six years. record-setting droughts have made agricultural produce more expensive. gasoline prices surged by nearly 50% in 2021 due to higher global energy costs.

people often throw away old clothes they no longer use. one japanese fashion designer has spotted a business chance in collecting such vintage garments and the personal stories associated with them. that's to give these old threads added value for the younger generati generation. nhk world reports. >> konnichiwa! >> reporter: visits the home of 80-year-old retired company manager. >> reporter: nagai looks through the man's clothes from many years ago. she is going to collect them to

resell. >> translator: can you tell me about how and when you use each of the items? >> when she meets a client, nagai asks them to share their memories of the clothes they donate to her project. >> translator: this is my morning coat. >> reporter: the man brings out the formal attire he wore at his wedding. >> translator: it's been over half a century. i got married when i was 24. >> reporter: nagai writes it down and includes a note when she sells the clothes. >> translator: when i ask my clients about the clothes, they come up with lots of memories. these stories give each item additional value. >> reporter: nagai is an active fashion designer, but she was shocked to see that lots of old garments that could still be used are being thrown away.

she started this project to help give old good quality clothes a new life. a stylish and ecofriendly project is appealing to the younger generation. >> translator: this is actually women's clothing. >> reporter: this white jacket belonged to a former businesswoman currently in her 70s who often traveled abroad for her work. student bought it after hearing the story. >> translator: unlike my ordinary clothes, this piece gives me a thrill. when i wear it, i think my mood will change too. >> reporter: in july last year, nagai founded the business with university students to sell the collected vintage clothes online. sales are brisk.

>> translator: i believe there will be many more clothes found in people's closets. instead of throwing them away, i hope to put them to good use by passing them on to many more generations to come. >> reporter: nagai hopes to open pop-up shops around the country so she can help more people see the value of wearing old clothes with interesting back stories. nhk world. let's ha a look at the markets. ♪ ♪

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

the headlines on al jazeera. surviving a to attempt and saying the situation is under control. he says the attack was aimed at killing him, the prime minister, and cap members. there was gunfire around the capital. >> today, we are facing an assault. i was in the middle of a counsel including the prime minister, and we were attacked with very heavy weaponry for five hours. now, everything is under control. one thing i can assure you, there is