Are likely to continue under the state of emergency, at least until the end of the month. But the Central Government seems poised to lift the declaration for at least twothirds of the country where fewer infections are being reported. The governors held an Online Meeting on tuesday. Those from the most severely affected regions argued that lifting the declaration will send the wrong message to thee public. Translatotor itts been wi reported that ththe statete of emergency will be partitially lifteded on thursday. I a am very much concernrned th will make p people too relaxed. Translatotor the second a thirdd waves are coming. We have to p prepare for that. The statete off emergency gi governors the power to ask people to limit social interactions and to request businesses change their hours. Leaders from other areas hope they can retain somome of that influence. Authorized to issueue requests ththe public. Liftiting t the declaration not the end. We must take further steps. The governors agreed to continue asking people to refrain from nonessential travel acrcross prefectural borders. They will also call on the Central Government to keep providing financial support. Abe shinzo is expected to finalize the partial lifting after consulting an expert panel on thursday. More than 16,000 people have been confirmed to be infected with the virus in japan, more than 670 of them have died. Japans Health Ministry plans to approve a test for the coronavirus that uses saliva, stoking hopes of boosting the number of tests carried out in the country. Taking saliva is easier and safer than the cururrent methodf swabbibing mucus from the back the patients nose. Medical workers currently need to wear full protective gear as inserting swabs into nostrils tends to induce sneezing or coughing. Thatat is one of f the reasons d for the low number of the Chain Reaction or pcr tests given in japan. The ministry is studying ways to ensure there are no major differences between the results of salivabased tests and conventional nose swabbing ones. In south korea Health Officials are scrambling too contntact more than 3,0,000 peo who may have been exposed to the coronavirus at seoul nightclubs. More than 100 confirmed cases have now been tied to the localized outbreak. Officials say that tally includes club patrons and their family members. Authorities compiled a list of more than 5,000 people who visited the popular district in early may. But so far fewer than half of those people have been contacted. Seoul officials in seoul say club goers who have not yet come forward can do so anonymously. Anyone intentionally avoiding the test faces a fine of about 1 1,600. Both russia and india are turning attention to getting economies back up and running despite being battered by the coronavirus and the effects of weeks long lockdowns. President Vladimir Putin began removing business restrictions in phases on tuesday. He also deported from holding video conferences, meeting this person with the head of staterun oil firms to discuss rebuilding the countrys ailing oil industry. On tuesday, various companies resumed operations. Local media also reported a rising volume of road traffic and more subway passengers. The partial Business Restart came as russia continues to see more than 10,000 new cases every day. Public frustration over the worsening economy is also growing. The government said on tuesday the total number of infections rose to around 232,000, giving russia the second highest number of confirmed cases in the world. With over 70,000 cases in india, Prime Minister moody is extending the stay at home orders that had been in place since late march but suggested there would be some relaxation. Translator the new lockdown will be executed with a new set of rules. He also announced a 266 billion economic recovery package, equivalent to 10 of indias gross domestic group, targeting various sectors including medium and small enterprises, laborers and the middle class. A whos who of stars went online for a virtual telethon that raised more than 100 million for the state of new york, the epicenter of the outbreak i in the united states. Burn the churches up i in harlemem a Charity Organization called rorobin hood hosted the statar studded d event on monday too h people who have lost jobs due to the pandemic. Just a castaway dont let go entertainers who have ties to the performed from their homes or recording studios. The event was broadcast on local tv andnd radio stations. Were going to get through take caref all our neighbors, e including our children. Robin hood organizers say the event raised 150 million, well over initial targets. The money will go towards providing struggling new yorkers with food, shelter and rent. These little towns many hospitals and Nursing Homes in japan have banned visitors due to the coronavirus outbreak. The policy applies to everyone, including family members. But as we will see in our next report, relatives of patients and residents with dementia are worried about how this could affect their loved ones mental and physical health. Translator he hasnt seen his wife for almost three months. She is 77 years old, and lives in a nursing home where she receives special care. Translatotor im very worri about her. It would be helpful if i could receive a message, even a short one, saying shes doing well and eating regularly. Reporter yasako has been living in the nursing home since she was diagnosed with dementia seven years ago. He visited her almost every day. He hoped to slow the progress of her dementia by eating with her and taking her for walks. This is the nursing home where yasako lives. The facility banned visitors when the coronavirus outbreak began. It sterilizes the facility, checks residents temperatures and ventilates rooms often. The ban on visitors includes family members. Many relatives are worried about the condition of their loved ones. The nursing home shares that concern. Translator we must avoid infection inside our facility. That would be a disaster. And were aware of ththe mental bubuen faced by residents and their families. Were trying to deal with that. Reporter members of the staff have come up with a solution. They borrow takawas cell phone and take a video of her. This is a video they shot for me. Im relieved to see that her face hasnt changed much seeing that shes leading what looks like a normal life is a source of comfort for me. Reporter an organization that supports dementia patients and their families says more facilities should use Technology Like video chat. Translator r ementia p paties find it especialllly difficult understand the current situation. Their m mental and physical cocondition could rapidly deteririorate if they become anxious aboutut their f family memberss not visiting. Reporter many facilities face logistical and personnel hurdles in setting up online links between people in care and their families. They say they need more support, including governmnment aide for that to happen. Its time now for World Weather with our meteorologist. A Tropical Storm is spotted near the philippines, and looks like it will bring Severe Weather in the area. But where exactly is the storm headed and whats the impact going to be . Hello, there, yes, its been spotted, a Tropical Storm at the moment and its moving towards the western direction for now. Looks like its going to be affecting much of the central and northern philippines. Please do take care and we will keep you updated on the movement and to let you know what you need to look out for. The area of influence seems Strong Enough it might affect much of the central and northern part of the philippines by friday in towards your weekend. Make sure you are safe at all times and otherwise we will be seeing a little bit of showers and moisture towards eastern parts of china. Otherwise, clear and dry for much of the north and due to a High Pressure system thats sichlted to the northern part and also the winds from that High Pressure system, not only keeping it quite clear, and central japan and south korea, but it could bring yellow dust towards the coast and approaching some parts of south korea as well. Temperatures in seoul will be at 22 degrees. You can see lovely sunny sky from taiwan all the way up north, as far north as mongolia. At around 22 degrees. Japan is slightly warm. In fact, some temperatures will be quite high, 29 for tokyo. A bit of cloud cover, but its going to be quite lovely and sunny towards western japan. And the united states, well, theres a bit of a mixture here. The warmer air from the south mixing with the cold air frorom the north, possibly creating unstable weather conditions. You can see its quite intensifying, and the zone here where we normally see unstable weather conditions that could lead to some charge hail and some thunderstorms. So please make sure you are safe at all times there. But the good news is that as you aprea apreach proech the end of the week, some temperatures will come closer to your average temperatures, particularly towards houston, Oklahoma City and chicago. Do expect moisture for your wednesday, and temperatures to be in the upper teens for new york. Thats all for the weather. Have a great day. Before we go, Major League Baseball is likely to postpone next years world baseball classic until 2023 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The world baseball classic began in 2006. Games for its fifth edition next year will be held in the united states, japan and taiwan. The number of teams was expanded from 16 to 20, four slots remain undecided. Sources say mlb gave up on holding the tournament next year as it had to cancel qualifiers scheduled for march because of the pandemic. There were concerns that if the wbc went ahead in 2021 players would be overburdened as they also face a rescheduled Tokyo Olympics next year. The decision will l be finalize after mlb gets consent from other organizers of the international tournament, including the world baseball softball confederation. And that is all for this edition of nhk newsline. Thank you for staying with us on nhk world japan. Stay safe. Welcome to newsline in depth, today we look at the primitive weapon thats able to kill and maim long after its initial deployment. And that is the land mine. Antipersonnel m mines l lie bu arouound the w world despite efs to ban and clear them. The conflicts that led to their use may even be forgotten. Land mines cause more than physical harm. They prevent farmers from using their fields and children from going to school. Todays Program Follows the announcement this month by the u. S. Trump administration that it will lift restrictions on land mine use outside of the korean peninsula. The decision prompted dismay from those who are struggling to eliminate the weapons. Part of asia with uncleared mines are especially concentrated in cambodia and thailand. We visited those countries to look at some recent demining activities. First we visit cambodia, where a man who was forced to lay land mines from the 1970s has for the past 25 years been turning his efforts to undoing the damage. The area bordering thailand in cambodia has one of f the highest concentrations of land mines anywhere in the world. An ngo has been working to remove mines from isolated rural areas. Akira is the founder of cambodian selfhelp demining. It takes one person a full day to demine 25 square meters of land. Its a timeconsuming task requiring a lot of every rainy season people step on mines poking out of the ground. The mines explode, and this year there were a lot. Reporter he visited several japanese cities on a fund raising mission to expand his team. He spoke about his countrys tragic situation. Translator when i find a land mine, i destroy it. I feel happy to be helping my fellow cambodians use our land safely. As long as i can, i want to contntinue removing land mines until there are none left. T. Reporter r akira was born under the communist regime in e970 at t thatimeamililie w wer purposelyy separated. From a baby he ss raised by poll pssoldrs, alo wh her chiren. He created these pntingsased on his memors of the genocidal regime, people were forced to work in rural areas, and many perceived enemies were killed. Aki ra was given his first gun at the age of 10 and started laying mines. As a child soldier akira spent his days fighting. Deathh was a daily reality. Translator und the poll pot regime life didnt smm poportan orr hee any value. No one t thought death was a reason for sadness. Deh every day. Ne and e. Noal part of life. D like a reporter then in 197878 vietnam invaded cambodia. Aki ra was captured by the Vietnamese Army and forced to fight the rouge, including his friends a relative tnslator wasntllowed ob whoever w inharge of f ti. Olital situaon at th olde peopleften tol mehat beforehe civ war the llages we safe, peaful and osperous but iouldntnderstan what thatmean life too aurn forhebeer. Ras in 1991 an International Peace treaty was signed, bringing an end to the conflict. However, millions of land mines remained. More than 60,000 people have been killed or injured over the past 40 years. Aki ra started working with the United NationsTransitional Authority in cambodia, removing the very land mines he used to bury. Translator by laying land mines i killed people, and animals. Since there are still so many land mines buried here, people are fearful and unable to use the land. I wanted to make a change in myself too. I wanted to take something bad i did and turn it into something good, and save my country from the danger of land mines. Reporter aki ra became an expert in clearing land mines. After the Transitional Authority withdrew from cambodia in 1993 he decided to continue the work on his own. Translator land mines are laid in straight rows. When i find the first one i check the way the grass is growing in the surrounding area. Grass doesnt grow over mines so i can pinpoint where they are. Reporter he responded to requests from many villages, removing about 50,000 land mines for free using his handmade stick and knife. In 2008 he set up the ngo. The group focuses on poor remote farming villages, clearing fields and areas near homes and schools that other organizations havent been able to reach. The ngo also set up a program to build free primary schools in villages. There are currently 3,600 children studying at 27 such schools. Translator i wasnt born into a world where i could freely choose my part. But now there are schools and children have choices. I dont want these children to have a hard life like i did. I want them to get a broad education and live good lives. Aki ra works with as many as 25 colleagues responding to the mining requests. They cleared around 180 areas as you can see on this map and the groups efforts go even further. Aki ra has also built a museum for the explosives hes gathered. He hopes tourists will learn something of the toll taken by land mines and the regions conflicts. Villages are still being maimed long after the end of hostilities. There is a sad de ja vu in this for me. Around 2000 i was based in bangkok. I reported for the thai cambodia border and land mines were already wounding and skilling innocent people then. We now go to thailand for a look at another grassroots demining initiatives there. Reporter here in eastern thailand, around 400,000 mines are believed to be still buried along the border with cambodia. A Nongovernmental Organization is working t to remove them. Sanya is a member of the group. Now 40, he started working with the group 15 years ago, taking time out from his farming work. He has seen his father and friends killed by mines. Translator i was devastated when i heard my father had stepped on a m mine since i was child i have been been thinking about h how we could get rid of them. Reporter he h heads into th jungle where many mines are buried. He wears protective equipment weighing about 20 kilograms. Cautiously searching for mines with a metal detector. After about ten minutes he finds one. He carefully removes the dirt to expose the device. Bebefore asking specialists to detonate it safely. It is said that one mine for every square meter in the area. Translator ive seen so many mines but cant get over the fear. Its important to control my emotions. Reporter since the mining work began in thailand in 2000, around 75,000 mines have been cleared. But over 3,500 people have been killed or wounded over the same period. This man was injured in the leg last year. Whenen the mine blew up while h was collecting mushrooms. He knew it was a risk but needed to work for the money. Translator peoples lives would be much safer if all the mines were removed. Reporter the ngo has been educating people about posed by mines and its paying off. Last year there were just ten casualties in thailand caused by mines. Translator if mines are totally eliminated some day, ththey will no longer be a reminder o of the war. But people in the cities shouldnt forget about People Living in the border areas. Reporter afterward of clearing the mines and educating people goes on, its important to also remember the need to support the victims. Nhk world, bangkok. It is important not only to clear land mines but also to educate those most in danger, whether adults or children. As we saw aki ras team give sessions in mine risk education. They help children learn how to protect themselves since land mines can be mistaken for toys. Team members show of examples of the various weapons, and what public warning notices look like. Recent technology is also improving land mine clearance, but the task is colossal. Whats also needed besides education is opportunities for survivors, such as jobs and infrastructure in areas where mines have destroyed livelihoods. For the time being, however, the reality is that combatants around the world continue to use land mines and the casualties they cause will ensure that for those who live with land mines no matter how long ago the conflict war will never be over. Thats it for todays newsline in depth, thank you for watching. The top u. S. Infection disease expert warns if lockdowns are lifted too quickly. Hello. I am Maryam Nemazee in london. You are watching al jazeera. More criticism of bertens government. It now accounts for a quarter of all coronavirus deaths. States and cities in brazil move towards stricter lockdowns against the will of president bolsonaro