. ♪ welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm gene otani in tokyo. we begin in beijing where china's congress has approved a resolution to press ahead with national security legislation for hong kong. the step has unleashed a fresh wave of protests in the territory and sparked a rebuke from other major countries. >> translator: the legislation is aimed at maintaining the one

country/two systems framework while ensuring hong kong's long-term stability. >> officials in beijing say the plan would allow intelligence agencies from the mainland to set up in the territory if needed, b but many of the specifics remain unclear. the proposal has brought thousands of protesters into the streets of hong kong again after months of relative calm due to the coronavirus. concerns are spreading that the proposed legislation would undermine the territory's autonomy. on thursday, one of the leaders of the pro-democracy movement called on resints to statand up and fight back. >> i think now is the time we will continue our international advocacy and seek for bipartisan support. >> the plan has also provoked international criticism. on thursday the top diplomats of the u.s., britain, australia, and canada issued a a joint statement. it says they are extremely

concerned that china's action will worsen deep divisions in hong kong society. >> we urge china to step b back frfrom the brink andnd live up its responsibililities as a leadading membmber of the international community. >> u.s. president donald trump says he will hold a news conference on friday. he's expected to outline stepsp to pressure beijing over its treatment of honong kong. japan's foreign ministry has also conveyed its unease to the chinese ambassador. >> translator: we are deeply concerned about the situation in hong kong. we will continue to closely monitor events and take appropriate measures in cooperation with relevant countries. >> the ambassador responded that the legislation is simply intended to safeguard china's national security. the fault lines in the china/u.s. relationship continue to be exposed with president trump doubling down on his claim that china is to blame for the

coronavirus. that's as the number of confirmed u.s. fatalities has passed 100,000. in a tweet on thursday, trump called the virus a very bad gift from china. he added that the virus marches on all over the world. in another tweet, trump acknowledged the u.s. death toll had passed 100,000, calling it very sad. he said he wanted to extend his heartfelt sympathy to the friends and families of those who have passed. trump said in march that if the number stayed below 100,000, we would have done a very good job. some media outlets criticized him for having no comment after johns hopkins university said on wednesday the count had reached that mark. all 50 states have now started reopening their economies, but the daily death toll remains around 500. trump is a heavy user of twitter. he is now going after the company. he signed an executive order

targeting social media sites after his tweets were flagged with fact-check links by the social media site. >> a small handful of powerful social media monopolies controls a vast portion of all public and private communications in the united states, and we know what they are. >> trump wants to review a law that protects twitter and other social media platforms from being held responsible for content posted by their users. free speech advocates say removing the liability shield would effectively kill online discussion, something the president himself frequently stokes with his tweets to his 80 million followers. twter fa-checked elier this week two of trump's posts about mail-in votin in november's presidential ection. the presidentit back wh a post accusing twitter of interfering in the race. the company's ceo jack dorsey responded with a tweet of his ow wring that fact-cheing

false clas does not mak us an arbiteof truth. our intention iso connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. details of the executive order remain unclear, but american media say it is likely to face legal challenges. the tokyo metropolitan government will decide on friday whether to further ease its request for measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, taking into consideration the impact on the economy. tokyo government officials listened to experts' opinions on monday and held a discussion, but they could not reach a conclusion on going to the next step as they said the experts were takaking a cautious attitu. >> translalator: we asked e exp for their analysis today. i will consider their opinions and make a final decision on

friday. >> the central government lifted its remaining emergency declaration on monday, including tokyo. totokyo government officials started to gradually easy its requests and is studying the possssibility of allowing retai shops dealiling in nonessential goods to reopen. but the number of confirmed cases in tokyo has increased for three days in a row until thursday although the daily increases remain low. south korea is stepping up measures in and around seoul to stop the coronavirus from spreading further. this comes after a recent surge in new cases. >> translator: the next two weeks will be very important. if the infection cannot be prevented now and the epidemic spreads, there will be no choice but to impose regulations as before. >> health and welfare minister park neung-hoo said many public facilities in the seoul metropolitan area will be closed through june 14th. these include museums and art

galleries. the government said it confirmed 79 new cases on wednesday. that's about double the figure of the day before. the spike is due largely to an outbreak at a logistics center near seoul. residents are being asked to avoid going out and to work from home. the government began taking a more relaxed approach earlier this month to allow life to return to normal while preventing new infections. as a condition to maintain the easier restrictions, it hopes to limit new cases to no more than 50 per day. wednesday's count exceeded that for the first time. the pandemic is exposing social risks around the world, and south korea is no exception. life there is particularly hard for thousands of people who have applied for refugee status. some of them are trying to turn the crisis into an opportunity by lending a helping hand. nhk world's kim chan-ju explains.

>> reporter: this group from nigeria makes house calls to elderly people living alone. social distancing has left many isolated, but t the group wantso show them they're not alone. >> thank you. >> reporter: kim david came here in 2004. he applied for refugee status after his younger brother was captured and killed by nigerian forces. but the south korean government has not granted him asylum. king david supports his family with the meager income he earns as a handyman for other refugees. >> translator: we lived here for almost more than three, four months with that payment. the landlady, she was angry. every time she was complaining. she called my lawyer and even an

asian friend. >> reporter: asylum seekers are not eligible for financial help from the government. they also face rising xenophobia due to the coronavirus outbreak. this organization provides support to refugees. she explains their motivation. >> translator: some of them just wantnt to g give sometething ba south korean society after all it has done for them. some hope that by doing volunteer work, they can improve people's awareness of refugees. >> reporter: king david and his group have come to a blood donation center inn a city near seoul where many migrants live. they're here to help because the pandemic has caused a severe shortage of donors.

>> this is my first time giving blood. i'm comfortable. i'm okay. >> reporter: in another show of neighborly spirit, king david and his compatriots clean up a garbage dump. their hard work wins over some locals. >> translator: i've n never see this side of them before. i feel bad. i realize that i was prejudiced. >> translator: it would be great if they could form a bonond wit the local community. it's heartwarming to see them work like this. >> actually, some of our members found it so difficult, but they are so happy to be here. you can see everybody laughing. nobody is complaining.

so happy to do this. >> reporter: the south korean government said it wants to create a society where different cultures live together in harmony. the pandemic has given people like king david a chance to show that refugees are ready to play their part. kim chan-ju, nhk world. japan's emperor emeritus went out for the first time since march to visit a laboratory where he used to do research. emperor emeritus akihito had been staying home because of the coronavirus pandemic. he made his outing after the state of emergency was lifted across japan. the emperor emeritus and empress emerita moved into t temporary accommodationn in late march. they're waiting for the end of renovations at the palace. people in tokyo saw sudden

bursts of thunderstorms last night, but we woke up to clear skies on friday morning. our meteorologist yoko komagata tells us how long the sunny weather will continue. yoko. >> well, we are expecting thunderstorms on friday afternoon as temperatures rise. a high pressure system will bring sunny conditions and pretty hot temperatures to a large portion of japan on friday. at the same time, upper cold air will spread into the country, creating unstable conditions. we may see some isolated thunderstorms in the kahn tu region, including tokyo in the afternoon and into the evening. some of the thunderstorms could produce sudden bursts of downpours, hail, and damaging winds. also watch out for flash flooding in the urban areas. it's going to be midsummer like temperatures in many places. over here in hokkaido, we'll have a high of 27 degrees. that's about 10 degrees warmer than usual. also 27 in tokyo with a chance

of thunderstorms in the afternoon. an active rainy season front will continue to bring widespread showers across southern china. as the front shifts northward, showers will move across eastern china and western japan as we go into the weekend. expect 150 millimeters with the risk of flash flooding. wet weather will persist in hong kong and shanghai on friday. some showers will also move into beijing with a high of 32 degrees. to wrap things up in india, people are dealing with a deteriorate heatwave this week that has reached nearly 50 degrees in northern india and in pakistan. people in india are struggling with a severe heatwave. some cities have seen temperatures as high as 50 degrees. may and june are usually the hottest months in india just before the wet monsoon season.

showers will bring some relief in heat conditions this weekend. the high will drop to 33 degrees in islamabad and 38 degrees in new delhi with a chance of thundershowers. that's all for now. stay safe and have a nice day.

that's the news this hour. i'm gene otani. for all of us here at nhk "newsline," thanks very much for joining us. ♪ welcome to "direct talk." i'm marie yanaka. today we look at foreign residents in japan and what may be their biggest stumbling block -- communicating. getting by in a new language makes daily life difficult. but in cases of emergency or the need to make a living, it can be a serious hindrance. in our two stories coming up, we

meet people trying out new ways to cross the language barrier. let's start with a report on establishing trust in the workplace. japan is currently home to more than 1 million workers from overseas. some are receiving vocational training under a government-backed internship program. however, many are fleeing their jobs before the end of the five-year period. the reasons include miscommunication due to language barriers and harsh employment conditions. though authorities are trying to tackle the issue, one company has come up with an unconventional way to interact with its trainees, and it seems to be working. >> reporter: five vietnamese inters work at this metal processing plant north of tokyo. this individual arrived in may.

>> translator: life in japan is kind of hard. japanese is difficult. i study every day. >> reporter: to support nguyen in settling into life in a foreign country, the company gave her what's known in japan as an exchange diary. every evening she writes in japanese about her day and any concerns she has about work. nguyen shares the diary with the company president, masanori tada. he responds with his own thoughts. he proposed the exchange system as a way to get to know his interns individually. >> translator: reading the exchange diary entries showed me that there are a lot of things that confuse the interns. some even write about delicate subjects that may be difficult toto talk about in person. >> reporter: he came up with the idea after an intern suddenly quit three years ago.

although tada's company had paid for the intern's language classes and travel expenses, he left after only ten months. >> translator: i didn't notice anything different. we were even eating meals together the day before he left. >> reporter: he realized that he hadn't been communicating w wel with the intern and had no sense ofof his true feelings. tada set out to work on building trust with the interns by responding to their everyday concerns. the workers are also working to improve relelations with their boss. they invite tada to share a vietnamese feast. >> translator: the work is hard, but it's fun. >> translator: i'm still struggling. we're trying to find what works, but we can't give up. i want our company to be a place wherein terns are happy and have

a good e experiencnce even if i not perfect. >> reporter: as many japanese businesses look toward welcoming an influx of foreign workers, tada's way of bridging cultural gaps clthrough close comomnicatn might become a model for progress. >> shared diaries were a common communication tool for japanese teenage girls back when i was in school. i remember it was easier to write about personal things than it was to talk about them, so i can see how a diary could help the trainees express themselves better. the president of the company says he wants to not only make the interns feel welcomed, but also encourage them to improve their japanese. he says this could open up more opportunities for them and keep them interacting with japan even after the trainee program is over. now, one of the trickiest challenges for foreign residents is also one of the most crucial,

and that's getting medical care. language barriers can lead to life-threatening situations. authorities are tackling the problem by providing subsidies to hire interpreters. as we see in our next story, if foreign workers can access doctors in their own languages, this can save a lot of time, money, and most importantly, lives. >> reporter: this individual from myanmar is employed at a meat factory in saitama. she works part-time five days a week packaging products. her colleagues withh whom she communicates in english and broken japanese depends on h he skill. >> translator: this job is vere

good foror me, so i'm working vy hard. >> translator: our product processing and productivity are supported by people like aung. they're very important to us. >> reporter: in myanmar, she was living with her family, but she left for japan four years ago to find work to support her aging parents and siblings back home. but three months after starting her job at a sewing factory, she was overcome with acute abdominal pain. >> translator: the pain was so unbearable that it made me shake. i threw up, sweated a lot, and my belly became as hard as a rock. >> reporter: she visited a nearby clinic. she complained frantically about the pain in broken japanese. but her difficulty in making

herself understood. prescription drugs did not even alleviate the pain. then three months later, more excruciating pain led to her the hospital where english language services were available. after careful examination conducted in english, she was diagnosed with a type of bowel blockage. aung underwent a surgical procedure to remove part of her intestine. the doctors told her that if the blockage had beeeen found soone chances were high that it could have been treated just with medication. she had to take a prolonged leave of absence from work to recuperate.

>> transnslator: had i been abl to convey my symptoms more accurately, i could have been treated with medication at the first hospital. it makes me sad when i think about it. >> reporter: at hospitals across japan, communication problems with non-japanese are common. this individual with the university of shizuoka surveyed medical institutions nationwide on this issue. she received reports on specific cases from 270 hospitals. one reported that its doctors performed the wrorong surgery oa foreign patient. anotherr said lack of communication prevented them from providing necessary care to a pregnant woman, which led to a risky childbirth.

>> translator: receiving proper medical treatment is a matter of life or death. it's very important that foreigners c can receive treatmt without any problems. this is something we need to guarantee if we are g going to bring in talented foreign workers from abroad. >> reporter: this clinic in yamato is taking its own measures to respond to the need of the city's large foreign community. it hires medical interpreters to serve its non-japanese patients that come in each week. five interpreters specializing in thai, tagalog, and three other languages work here in rotation. the intnterpreters interview patientsts before they enter

examination rooms. this is to gather information necessary for doctors who are usually pressed for time. >> reporter: the interpreters summarize their findings for the doctors. these interpreters are highly skilled at not just conveying words in two languages but also at offering emotional support to patients as well as having

medical knowledge. >> translator: the foreign patients that visit our clinic reside in japan as our neighbors. they don't just live here but work here and pay taxes here. it's a matter of course that we offer services to protect their health. >> as foreign workers in japan become more commonplace, their access to appropriate medical care is improving. but there's still a long way to go. just over 4% of hospitals currently offer such foreign language assistance. part of the problem is physical. there will always be a a challee in getting e enough interpreter on-site at institutions. that's why one hospital in osaka tried out an online interpreting service.

>> the system operated during the g20 held in osaka in june. the city installed tablets at 23 hospitals and clinics, and services were available in five languages. even after the trial ended with the summit, many institutions have shown interest in signing up. >> translator: this kind of interpreting service really helps us to provide an accurate diagnosis and choose an appropriate treatment. >> japan still has a lot to do to increase the number of places to where migrants and visitorss can comfortably turn for medical help. as more foreign residents live and work in japan, communication becomes ever more important. we've seen the benefits of better language skills and online technology but also the

valuable of cultural understanding where old-fashioned methods like shared diaries can really help. and that's all for today's "newsline in depth." thank you for tuning in, and make sure to do so next time too.

>> this has been a rapidly evolving situation. we first learned of it in the early morning hours of tuesday. the sbi reached out directly to me. we have been working on this case nonstop since we were notified. we understand the severity of the situation unfolding. it breaks my heart to see what is going on in our streets in minneapolis and in st. paul and some of our suburbs. i am pleading with individuals