Sources Say Committee officials have more than 400 proposals for antivirus steps. Theyre using saitama super arena, the basketball venue, as a model. The measures for athletes cover transportation by bus, media interviews, and doping tests. In locker rooms, athletes will be asked to refrain from eating or shouting. During media interviews, athletes and interviewers are to remain at least 1. 5 meters apart with a transparent partition placed between them. Spectators will be asked not to shout and will be required or asked to wear face masks. The proposals also include mandatory use of cashless Payment Systems at shops. The committee will assess the feasibility of the proposals. It will then look into measurer for all 43 venues for the games by year end. Latest figures show the global coronavirus pandemic has continued to pick up steam. Data from Johns Hopkins University Puts confirmed cases worldwide at over 15 million. The global death toll tops 617,000. Infections hit t the 5 million mark on may 21st. The number had doubled to 10 million by the end of june. The pandemic has kept accelerating with new caseses reaching the 15 million threshshold less thaa a month lalater. Rerecord singledaday increasese been renewed on a near daily basis this month. Over 250,000 cases were confirmed on july 16th. The resumption of Economic Activities has been blamed for the infection surge in countries with the most cases, including the u. S. And brazil. Thailands government says it will extend the nationwide state of emergency until the end of august. Thats despite no coronavirus transmission being reported within the country for nearly two months. Its the fourth such extension by the government. Officials say the measure is necessary to control the spread of infection. Translator its nenessary to keep the emergency decree because were opening up the country. Criticism is mounting over the extensions. Last week, thousands of people demonstrated in central bangkok, saying the decree enables the government to ban gatherings, including political ones. The government says it will only use the Emergency Powers to contain the pandemic, not to block rallies. China has claimed sovereignty over a Wildlife Sanctuary in eastern bhutan, saying it falls within an area where the border between the two nations has been disputed for decades. The move, the latest in a series of territorial assertions, is likely to increase the sense of caution among beijings neighbors. According to the minutes of an International Meeting on the environment in developing countries last month, chinas representative said the sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is located in china bhutan disputed areas. But representatives for a group of neighboring countries including bhutan rejected the claim, saying the sanctuary is an integral and sovereign territory of bhutan. Bhutan says it has preserved the 650 kilometer sanctuary since 2003. Beijing maintains the sanctuary is included in the area subject to border negotiations. Translator china calls for a resolution to the border issue through bilateral negotiations and is opposed to bringing up bilateral territorial disputes at international occasions. The two countries have held talks to try to settle the border dozens of times since 1984, but sources say those negotiations only cover the disputed western and Central Regions and did not include the Wildlife Sanctuary. In june, a military clash between china and india at their disputed himalayan border left at least 20 indian troops dead. It was triggered by indias construction of roads and air strips to match chinas growing border infrastructure. The white house has confirmed that it ordered china to close its consulate in houston, texas. State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on wednesday that the closure was to protect American Intellectual property and americans private information. She also highlighted how state ts have a duty not to interfore in the internal affairs of a host natation accordingng to th vienna convention. Meanwhile, secretaryry of state mimike pompeo m met reporters dg his visisit to denmark. Without offering spspecifics, h referred to the a accusatioions chchinese theft of u. S. Intellectual property. Were going to take action that protect the american people, protect our security, our national security, and also protect our economy and jobs. Republican senator marco rubio, known to take a hardline stance against china tweeted his support for the closure. He wrote chinas consulate in houston is not a diplomatic facility. He aedded that t the building mt close. The Chinese Government appears set to retal yacht. Multiple outlets have ordered that china will order the closure of the u. S. Consulate in wuhan, a move that will chill bilateral relations. Sumo wrestlers are back in action at the july tournament in tokyo. Our sumo announcer Morita Hiroshi has the details. Reporter the wrestlers have finally returned to the ring after four months of downtime due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. To prevent infection, the arena is at just a quarter capacity, meaning wrestlers compete in front of no more than 2,500 spectators. A couple of highprofile wrestlers are taking command early. They are asanoyama and hakuho who are both undefeated. Asanoyama is a newly promoted ozeki while hakuho is gunning for his 45th title. The ozeki, asanoyama, is already aiming higher saying he has aspirations beyond the second highest rank. A fierce pushing and thrusting battle. Daiesho advances but asanoyama shifts away and sends daiesho up from the rear. It wasnt pretty, but the new ozeki delivers again and goes to 40. The top dog, hakuho, wants to prove he is still the king of the ring by winning backtoback championships. Full attack fast. Takanosho pushes fast and hakuho thrusts him down. Hakuho is perfect after four days. Now here is the story of a dream comeback for former ozeki terunofuji. The 28yearold mongolian has suffered from injuries and illness, but hes battled to earn a fairy tale return to the top division for the first time in more than two years. Terunofuji says it was a tough and grueling past couple of years, but hes glad he didnt give up. Chiyoshoma gets a double inside grip and tries to attack but terunofuji locks up the arms. He flexes his muscles and forces chiyoshoma back and out. Terunofuji has four wins and no losses and is looking good. And thats it for today. Ill be back next week with an update for the championship race. So, see you then. Heres a threeday Weather Forecast for selected cities. That wraps up this edition of nhk newsline. Iim Keiko Kitagawa in tokyo. Thank you for watching. On ceramic treasures we take you around japan to encounter enchanting pottery. In this episode we look at ontayaki. Potters in a small village in south western japan have been making vessels like this for generations. Hita city in oita prefecture, an abundance of water from the surrounding mountains enriches peoples lives and industry. Lets take a drive into the mountains, 30 minutes from the center of town. Potters here have been making ceramics for around three centuries. This is the home of ontayaki. One of the main features of ontayaki is its handmade method. No machines are used. And naturally this elegant twirling p pattern is a also crd by h hand. The potters who use these vessels work only around oita. Lets look at their special characteristics. The village occupies an area of only 14 hectares. And of the 14 houses in the village, ten are ontayaki kilns. We visit a kiln with a 150year history. The kiln master is this 37yearo 37yearold. He takes us to the edge of the village where the clay is dug up. Since ancient times, the potters have used soil from the surrounding mountains. The villagers look on the clay as a valuable resource. They ban together to dig it up twice a year. Then they distribute it among the ten kilns. Next, kuroki takes us to a shed along the river. These karausu or clay pounders crush the clay into fine powder. The river runs through the village center. Along it are 15 karausu sheds. About 40 karausu machines operate throughout the year. To turn the raw material into firm particles takes about one month. The villagers carry the clay to the kiln yard where they dissolve it in water. Then they filter it to remove foreign substances such as sand. The process is repeated until the clay is clean. The clay is then dried in the sun for ten days. Once the excess moisture has evaporated, it is firm enough to be scooped by hand. Its dried for another ten days until its more elastic. It takes months to process the raw soil into clay for ontayaki. The pottery wheel the manually operated. Its a kick wheel. This sort of wheel demands expert skills to achieve an even shape. The villagers also produce white clay. It provides a strong contrast against the base material, which turns blackish when fired. Kuroki has taken the dish and half dried it in the sun for about three days. Now its time to apply the pattern. As he turns the wheel, he uses a special tool. Its called a kanna. Its a thin flat blade. This one is made from the spring of an antique clock. The potter presses the kanna against the dish as it turns. Seconds later, these distinctive marks emerge. They called the technique tobikanna, or chatter marking. The blade hits the halfdried surface, which is coated with white clay. It chatters across the surface of the dish, leaving marks. This is the completed piece after curing. It has a rhythmic geometric spiral. The potter adjusts the wheels speed and the pressure of the kanna, can create many different designs. Kuroki shows us another classic technique of ontayaki. This brush stroke pattern is known as hakeme. Kuroki pats itt d delicately on the surface of the dish. As hes doing this, he turns the wheel at a steady speed. This is a finished hakeme piece. Each brush mark appears to cast a gentle shadow as together they radiatee outward. They resemble the petals of a chrysanthemum we asked chim about how modern artists feel about it. A short stroll lets us see how ontayaki is rooted in village life. Another thing we notice on our stroll, there are far more women moving around the village than men. In onta, most tasks, except for making pots, are left to the women. This wheelbarrow is whiled with ababout 20 kilograms of clay. The woman pushing it makes several trips every day. Ontayaki craftsmen never sign their vessels. They inscribe only the characters onta. Thats because the people regard ontayaki as the work of everyone in the village. They share pride in what they see as the onta brand, so no indivividual takes the spotligh. The potters of onta follow village customs and hand down their skills to the oldest son. Among them is a young man named takuma sack mow toe. Hes the youngest potter in the village and hopes to pass down the tradition. To kuma made this plate. He still has a lot to learn. Coji sakamoto is his father and the master of this kiln. Since his early days as a potter, koji has enjoyed high acclaim for the detail and beauty of his work. He now works silently alongside his son. Thats how takuma will pick up the craft. In onta, the way of teaching is not to teach. They say Young Artists must steal their techniques t throu observation. Like his son, koji learned by watching his father work. Onta limits the numberr of w whs to two for each family. The point of sustainability to, leave enough clay for future generations. Those w who have passed on thei skills step aside for the next generation. The potters have followed this way for centuries. With few kilns existing today, this village continues to cherish the customs of creating pottery by hand. For the last years, this Small Community has come together to build a strong bond. For as long as the rhythm continues, ontayaki is sure to be passed on. How is your daily life at home . Very different than usual. I used to traravel a lotot, and usused to be verery fewew days home. And it would be two months that ive been here, so its probably a record for me. We had to stop skating. We also got the news that would the world would be cancel ld. It was midmarcrch. It was pretty difficult to accept the situation because my skaters most important goal of the season was suddenly gone. And we didnt knonow for how lo its goingng to be. So, therere was a lot of unknow factors that was putting us in a big question mark situation. With my athlhles, i i statayed contactt every day. And also important to keep the contact. Even though we are notot togeth, its i important to stay with se news andnd explain how it t is g here, how it is going there. There was a really nice solidarity and friendship among our g group of skaters. And like i said before, from the start of this situation, we have settled downn this rhythm. So, itit became our usual rhyth for this period. And it was really useful to keep our motivation and to keep our activity. And letets switch, go. 1, 2, 3. Onlyly going to twist, okay . And 2. Andd lets go. And come up. And deep squat. Relax. And come up and 2. I think the mental and the body is connecting nonstop. So, in orderr to stay healthy mentally, it was really important to stay active anchchor the u. S. Consulate in toas, u. S. Orders china close it over spying accusations. Hello, i am bararbara seserra. This is al jazeera, live from london. Also coming up President Trump we will surge federal law w enforcement toto e city of chicagago. Says he President Trump is deploying federal agegents to chicago. Plus it is not
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