Million. Tokyo officials are monitoring the situation using seven indicators including the number of new infections in the past week and the rate of positive results in virus tests. The governor says tokyo currently meets the criteria set by the Central Government for lifting the state of emergency, which has been in placece since apriril 7th. Translator we need to reason economic and social activities while preventing the Infectious Disease from spreading. We will achieve this by establishing new norms and daily routines. Officials plan to gradually ease their request for public facilities and businesses to be closed. Step one includes reopening Indoor Sports facilities that will allow professional baseball and basketball leagues to restart, but without spectators in the stands. It will also allow top athletes to resume practicing at National Training centers. Shop owners in a popular district are hoping business will pick up, but admit it may take some time. Translator i hope more customers will come shopping on their way to and from the museu museums. Translator im afraid it will take a while for people to feel comfortable to walk around and shopping like before. Right now restaurants and bars are being asked to close at 8 00 p. M. Except for take away. But under step one theyll be allowed to stay open until 10 00 p. M. Tokyo officials plan to implement the plan as soon as the Central Government lifts the state of emergency, which could come as early as monday. The declaration has been lifted for most of japan, but its still in place in tokyo, its three neighboring prefectures, and the northern prefecture of hokkaid hokkaido. To the capital braces for a second wave of coronavirus infections. Koike made the request when she met the minister in response to the virus. We agreed that we need restrictions and measures wherever necessary to prevent a fresh outbreak. Koike has said she asked the Central Government to provide sufficient Financial Support to people affected by the pandemic such as rent subsidies for business owners. Now, in western japan, social and Economic Activities are gradually resuming after the state of emergency was lifted in osaka, kyoto prefectures. A buddhist temple reopened to visitors on friday. A maximum of 150 visitors at a time will be allowed to enter the temple. They are urged to maintain social distancing and will be given disinfectant before entering. I was stuck at home for a long time, so it feels good to be able to go outside. The three prefectures have also decided to allow Public Events as long as organizers meet certain requirements. Indoor events will be restricted to a maximum of 100 people and Outdoor Events will be capped at 200 on the condition that people practice sococial distancing. A multipurpose facility in central osaka is planning to reopen next month. Translator were gearing up to resume operations and are introducing measures such as putting up notices calling on people to try to prevent the spread of the virus. Now, the bank of japan is introducing a new system to help small and mediumsized businesses affected by the coronavirus. The doj held an extraordinary Monetary Policy meeting on friday to deal with the worsening economy. Policymakers decided to create a system enabling the boj to provide funds to select private Financial Institutions at a 0 interest rate. The move aims to encourage banks to participate in an Interest Free Loan Program for small and mediumsized companies. The scheme was launched by the government earlier this month. The japanese government has officially approved the resignation of the chief prosecutor of the tokyo high public prosecutors office. He was embroiled in scandal after admitting hed illegally gambled on mahjong during the state of emergency. He visited the apartment of a newspaper reporter in tokyo on the night of may 1st and 13th. This is while authorities had asasked residents to stay at ho and refrain frorom social activities. Its illegal to play mahjong for money i in japan. He submitted his resignation on thursday and the cabinet approved it thursday. The Justice Minister apologized for the scandal. Translator r as Justice Minister, i apologize for causing anger and anxiety to the people and for undermining public trust in prosecutors and the administration. She said she will not be stepping down herself after prime e minister abe shinzo ask her to stay. The biggest political event of the year in china is finally underway. The National Peoples congress was delayed by more than two months due to the coronavirus, and in recognition of the pandemics impact, beijing has decided not to announce an Economic Growth target for the year. Thee preremier addressed t thou of delegates who gathered in beijing from across the country. All had to be tested for the virus before they could atatten. The coronavirus has killed about 4,600 people in china and led to increasing tensions with the United States. Despite the fallout, he said a major strategic achievement was made under the leadershihip of gin ping. Its very rare beijing has opted not to set a target for the chinese economy. He stressed the government will focus on stabilizing businesses and employment with tax reductions and Financial Support among other measures. He also revealed 140 billion of government bonds will be issued for coronavirus control. Now, the Chinese Government says the countrys defense spending in 2020 will rise by 6. 6 from last year. The planned growth is smaller than the 7. 5 in 2019. Total spending will still reach about 178 billion. Turning now to south korea where the pandemic has dealt a severe blow to the arts with performances and other events across the nation canceled. Thats put artists and staff out of work forcing them to search for new ways to make ends meet. Nhk worlds kim john you reports on how some of them are striving to overcome the crisis. Reporter since canceling its performamances in february, thi seoul Theater Company has replaced rehearsals with talks on survival. Even i in the best of times, sml Theater Companies take in limited profits. Now with the box offices closed, actors are working parttitime scrape by. Translator ive worked at a convenience store, cafe, and also delivery company. Im thinking about taking on another job. My Current Employer slashed my work hours due to the crisis. Reporter there are concerns not only for actors liveliho s livelihoods. Translator thehe most serio concern is our passion, our emotion. Money aside, art is about the will to express our inner world even in difficult times, right . But now weere in chaos. People are demoralized. How can we remotivate them . I think this is the biggest challenge. Reporter ticket sales took heavy blow from the pandemic with figures in april just a fraction of what they were in january. Inn a bid t to keep performi arts alive, south korereas largest cultural complex started Live Streaming pererformances i march. The program is free and fully subsidized by the city of seoul. It features performances that usually do not take place at the center, such as theater plays by Small Companies and even young musicians. Translator its our role to ensure that artists can go on stage. E. Thats because art involves not justst performers but a also ma Staff Members and organinizatio. We need to create an engine so that art will circulate and stay in motion as an ecosystem. Reporter after implementing safety measures, some performing arts spaces have been reopening their doors. Even seating is arranged f apprririate social distancicing but ththese effortrts arent en ensure pfits can be made. One eert says the pdemic should be used as an opportunity to reaeassess how to support th ar arts. Translator after the crisis passes, people wilill want to enjoy the arts and culture again, but they may discover thatat theyve disappeared. Its necessary to protect these fields and guarantee peoples creative activities during this emergency. We need to consider how that can also sustain us emotionally. Reporter a young actor i interviewed stresses people should understand cha perfothat performers are like any other worker. Their very survival is critical for the successful rebuilding of ouour lives, kim chanju nhk world. Taking a check with our meteorologist jonathan oh. I havent seen much sun come into work this whole week, and its been much cooler. Any chance of brighter skies over coke owe . We should be seeing a little bit more sunshine as we go towards next week when we finally get these clouds out of the area. The week before, it was sunny outside. This past week it was wet. We had this constant pattern of clouds and rain in the area, and so because of that, weve been dealing with this drippy kind of feeling, and yeah, we havent seen sun for the past several days, and so we should eventually see that coming in to the picture around sunday into monday. Theres our stationary front down towards the south. Its just kind of lingering around in the area. Low pressure up towards the north and thats helping to drive up some of that moisture. As we go through the day saturday, well be seeing showers possible in tokyo and areas into the region. Have the umbrellas nearby. By sunday we should finally see a little bit of change here. Its been on the chilly side, highs in the upper teens in tokyo, 20s on saturday, mid20s by sunday to monday and yes, now were going to be seeing a little bit more in terms of sunshine. Osaka and few coca upper 20s in the highs, showers come into the picture by monday. Across north america, weve been watching for some severe thunderstorms that have been moving through the plain states. Watch closely here. You see these right there, big, you know, blotches of white clouds showing up, which means there are intense storms showing up. We have an enhanced risk for severe thunderstorms in some of these places. Please make sure you Pay Attention to the weather in your area. We had this cutoff low thats been spinning around virginia and north carolina, so thats been bringing some flash flooding in the area, and that is still going to be of concern as we go through friday. So be on the lookout for that. Looking at some thunderstorms also up towards the north into canada, winnipeg a high of 27 as we go through friday. Thats a look at your forecast. Hope you have a good day wherever you are. And that concludes this edition of nhk newsline, im raja pradhan in tokyo. Theres much more to come on nhk japan so please stay with us. Welcome to in depth. Today we look at a project that brought a migrating bird back from brink of extinction. That bird is the illusion tackling goose. It lives on an island in rush thats shown on the screen behind me through the warmer months, and along with many other birds, flies south to my awe gee prefekture in japan. Back in the 1970s, habitat loss and over hunting almost drove them to extinction. This week representatives of sk japan and russia will gather for their annual meeting on a treaty to protect the birds. One man in miagi has also been hard at work. For half a century hes been trying to save the beautiful creatures and has recently had success with the illusionn tackling goose. Nhk worlds catarina ma git ska went to miagi to report on his conservation efforts. Its morning, about 80,000 wild geese fill the sky. They migrate to japan from eastern siberia each winter. Translator i was impressed at how splendid the geese looked in the morning sun. So many geese flew by, and i was surprised that they were beautiful and cool. One mans life was changed forever when he first saw the messy flock of birds back in 1970. He has devoted himself too thei conservation for almost half a centu centu century. Translator you have to stay 100 meters away from m the bird. If you get closer, the geese fly off right away. Theyre one of the most easily frightened of all birds. Many species spend the winter here. The most common is the greater whitefronted goose. This species likes beans, not surprisingly its known as the bean goose. But the 70yearold has a special place in hisheart heart the aleutian tackling goose. Historical recorords showw that the 18t8th century, the bird waa common s sight in n japan, but the e early 20th century, many its b breeding ground in the Aleutian Islands had been destroyed. The culprits, foxes, introduced by humans who prized the animals for their fur. Records show only one of the birds flew here in 198181. The following year kurechi and his conservation groupup launch a project to revive the species. Translator many people thought it was impossible, but we definitely wanted this project to be done. Geese raised at an institution in the United States were sent to japan to take part in a breeding program. The idea was to release the birds into the wild, but there was just one problem, they seemed to prefer warm, comfortable itzunuma. They had lost their sense when to fly and didnt bother. Translator we wanted to revive the annual migigration o the geese. They shohouldnt stay in japan l year long. We decided to capture t them an brought them back to the zoo. Kurechi realized getting the birds to migrate meant releasing them in their traditional breeding grounds in russia. The islands were once japanese territory, but russia took them over in 1945. It was basically impossible for japanese cititizens to conduct resesearch on n the islandnds, eveverything c changed with the collapapse of the soviet union 1991. The cold war was over this oemd the door to f further collllaboration betetween japap and russian reresearchers. We found one suitable island withouout foxes. The geese are very small and foxes are really dangerous predato predators. Dozenens of geesese bred in captivity in japan and russia were taken by helicopter to an uninhabited volcanic island. The lack of predators means the geese can safely bring up their young. They learn how to migrate byy watching otherer s species of g that fly by. Translator in the end, it worked out in the best way possible. The efforts of kurechi and his team finally paid off in 2007. A group of geese migrated to spend the winter in japan. More than 5,000 cackling geese made the journey this winter. Transnslar i thanked the birds f from my heheart. I was really grateful that they came back. The geese are so sweet to my eyes. But now there is another problem, shrinking wetlands. Translator a wide area on the right bank seemed to be marshy, many geese used to flock there temporarily. I dont know how things are now. Japan has lost more than 60 of its wetlands in the last 100 years, mostly for agricultural. As wetlands disappear, too many geese are concentrated in a small area. This could make the entire species vulnerable to disease. Kurechi has been working with local governments to turn abandoned areas into new wetlands. Translator there used to be rice paddies here, but the wetlands that serve as a resting place for the birds have dwindled, so we asked for the help of locals and turned the place into wetlands. He hopes this conservation technique will spread nationwide to provide new homes for the returning geese. Its been 50 years since kurechi began his struggle to save these wild geese from extinction. It hasnt been easy, but the magnificent sight of flying formations always fills his heart with joy and gives him the strength to c carry on. Transnslator every year the geese migrate to exactly the same place traveling 4,000 kilometers without any tool. For me, theyre more than just birds. I feel like theyre my old frien friends. Nhk world. Joining us in the studio is our reporter, catarina, that was an interesting story, and it was amazing to see all the geese flying across the sky. About 5,000 of the birds have come to japan this winter. Extinction is a concern when there is less than 1,000, so we can say the aleutian cackling geese have escaped this for the time being. Thats amazing. Many other migrating birds are still in danger. What efforts are being made to protect them . Japan and russia have a treaty thats been in effect for three decades and covers nearly 300 species of birds. Tokyo and moscow have introduced domestic laws for the protection of birds and are conducting joint study projects. This year, too, r researchers wl be exchanging the results of their work. It looks like things are headed in the right direction. Are there any worries, though . Yes. Another type of migrating bird known as the snow goose is endangered. Their white coloring makes them an easy target for hunters. To restore their migration patterns and population, researchers put snow geese in other species that migrate to japan. The idea is that the snow goose chicks will safely migrate with theirr step families. Some measures like this are helping the situation. There was a point when we saw almost no snow geese in japan, but this year more than 1,000 of them spent the winter here. Researchers were ecstatic seeing such large flocks for the first time in decades. I can imagine they were, and that is an interestiting idea. Now, we haveve footage showing e wild birds are also attracting tourists to lake izinuma. Its thanks to preservation efforts that vast numbers of geese are gathering through the dawn and dusk. Theres still a long way to go, isnt there . You mentioned a lack of wetlands in your report. Can you elaborate . Yes, wetlands are vital for waterfowl because theyre a safe place to sleep. Kurechi is calling for wetland preservation in other parts of japan to so there is some progress here. The same cannot be said for the rest of asia. In china the number of geese migrating has dropped sharply in recent years due to habitat destruction. Some researchers believe that the geese have started to choose japan as a winter destination instead, and that has increased the number of birds coming here. Right, and are there any other things that influence migration patterns . Yes, one thing is global warming. We are having a warm winter in japan this year, so large numbers of geese are leaving early. Changes in behavior can affect breeding patterns. Snow geese, for example, breed in arctic regions and the warmer temperatures have allowed drastically more chicks to survive. Researchers are looking at how ecological changes are affecting the life soocycle of geese. I will be keeping up with developments. Looking forward to it. Thank you for your insight. My pleasure. Thats all for todays newsline in depth. Thanks for tuning in. Tom welcome back. We begin with news, a passenger plane flying to Pakistan Airlines has crashed in a residential area outside of the capital of karachi. The flight was carrying 170 passenger and crew and took off from lahore and was due to land in karachi. It appears that the plane came down in a densely populated area with black smoke billowing. Units have been deployed to the