♪ hello. a very warm welcome to nhk "newsline." we begin in hong kong where pro-democracy rallies were held to mark one year since mass protest. aside from a gap from the coronavirus, the demonstrations have continued unabated.

several hundred people gathered in cre in central hong kong island. they called for independence from mainland china. >> it's my duty to be here. as we all know, this year is a really tough year. we must do our best to voice out to let the government know that we don't want this law. >> reporter: the protesters defied a government ban on meetin meetings of more than eight people, put in place to keep the coronavirus from spreading. police say 53 people were arrested on suspicion of attending unlawful gatherings. last year on june 9th people attended a bill that would allow extradition to china. the bill has been withdrawn. beijing's recent plan to introduce national security legislation for hong kong has become a new rallying point in the territory. china's state-run media reported that the standing committee of

the national peopoples' congre will meet beginning june 18. the legislation could be enacted during the three-day meeting. a funeral service was held in texas on tuesday for george floyd, the african-american man who died after being pinned down by a white police officer in minneapolis. floyd's relatives and friends gathered at a church in his hometown of houston. the event was broadcast live. his niece said in a speech that laws were already put in place for the african-american system to fail. >> these laws need to be changed. no more hate crimes, please. someone said make america great again, but when has america ever beenen great? >> reporter: former u.s. vice e president joe bideden, the presumptive democratic presidential nominee sent a video message. >> we cannot leave this moment

thinking we can once again turn away from racism. >> floyd's death has sparked nationwiwide protests which some local governmen h have pledged toarryut police refo. the mayors of new york and los angeles have revealed plans to slash police budgets and allocate more funds to providing social services for minorities including african-americans. many european countries are opening up again for tourism, which is, of course, a major industry there. but visitors haven't returned to italy yet. they've staged demonstrations calling for continued government support amid the coronavirus pandemic. the guide tels held protests on tuesday saying they are out of work and out of funds. hotel and tourist facilities in europe are reopening ahead of the summer vacation season.

italy opened its borders again to travel from other eu countries last week, but many international flights have yet to resume. and few sight seers have come. the italian government has provided self-employed workers including tourist guides with monthly financial support worth about $650. but the payments ended last month. >> translator: we have real problems. we simply ask two things, the suspension of taxation since we worked last year. but from last march we have been flat. and an allowance to help us survive until march next year. >> a survey by johns hopkins university says thehere are ove 235,00000 confirmed cases inn iy withth more thahan 34,000 d dea. thee number of confirmed infections has topped 7.1 million worldwide. the total global death toll

stands at more than 408,000. people in the u.s. are seeing the economy slowly start to reopen, but concerns remain for workers who keep the food supply up and running. nhk world's andrew biel has more. >> reporter: this california ranch raises about 2,000 heads of cattle. they're a breed known as angus that produces a popular steak. rancher mark lacey says the pandemic has drastically affected his b business. many meat processing plantss ar closed over concncerns about th virus. lacey says that's hampered h hi ability to sell his cattle. >> there's plenty beef. ththis is the problem. the processers just are not able to work through this. we're carrying a millilion headf

cattle, possibly, u until thehe of the y year thahat we may not able t to get toto. >> reporter: one expert says the shutdowns highlight the impoportance off protectining essential workers in the fooood industry. >> thehe challenge, the choke point, if you will, is the processing sesector. and the p problem there has bee disease and d concerns abobout didisease a among thehe empmplo. so, thohose plants are going to operate at less than their prior speed. >> reporter: managerers at this grapefruit plant in california have implemented measures to protect their workers. most of the 1,000 people who work here are immigrants who don't speak english. so, the managers offer guidance on how to avoid infection in spanish.

>> reporter: workers have also been receiving printed information. the leaflets warn against rumors and false information. workers have begun to practice social distancing by keeping six feet away from each other, even during lunch break when they usually enjoy socializing. >> translator: everyone has masks. we all need to be careful. >> so far we haven't had any workers that we know of that have had the coronavirus. but the uncertainty over what

would happen if there was a big outbreak, how would we deal with that, what we can control is the health and safety of our workers and the safety and quality of what we produce. >> reporter: u.s. food producers face an uncertain path to overcome the coronavirus. but they're taking action to make sure everyone can put a meal on the table. andrew biel, nhk world, los angeles. the latest data from japan's labor ministry is bad news for part-time and temporary workers. it shows they make up about 60% of people who have recently lost their jobs amid the pandemic. the ministry says just over 4,200 people were forced to stop working or were expected to lose their jobs in the week through last friday. nearly 2,600 of them were so-called non-regular workers. such staff accounted for about 80% of the 1,360 job losses in the food service industry. other hard-hit sectors include

accommodation, manufacturing, retail, and entertainment. that is the second straight week more than 4,000 people have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus. the total since january has reached almost 21,000. the ministry is urging employers to apply for government subsidies to help keep people in jobs. meanwhile, japan reported 45 new cases of infection on tuesday. that brings the nation's total to 17,268 with 920 deaths. japanese business giant softbank group found about 0.4% of people have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies in a survey it held. having antibodies means that a person has contracted the virus in the past. the group released the preliminary results of the survey in a live stream event on

tuesday. it connected 44,000 tests on its employees between mid-may and monday. it said 191 people or 0.43% tested positive. the positive rate among 5,850 health care workers was 1.79% while that for the rest was 0.23%. antibobody tests are deemed not very accurate, and it remains unknown whether people with antibodies can be infected with the coronavirus again. but the tests are believed to be useful in giving an idea of how far the virus has spread in a community. >> translator: this is important ththat peoplee with symptoms ge tested for the virus swiftly before a seconond wave of infection. >> the japanese health ministry has started antibody tests on about 10,000 people. ♪

it's time now for world weather with our meteorologist tsietsi monare. tsietsi, it looks look heavy reign fall leading to flooding are increasing in parts of japan. where can we expect these severe coconditions to happen? >> hello there. those conditions are expected towards the western-most parts of japan including the islands of shikoku as well as kyushu where we're seeing a stationary front bringing seasonal rainfall in copious amounts.

in those areas we could expect between 200 millimeters of rainfall in just a single day and that could lead to mud slides and also possibilities of flooding. so, please do take care at all times. then the high pressure system closer towards japan is going towards the eastern side and that's leaving open for the frontal and low pressure systems to bring heavy rainfall along those parts. temperaturewise also a bit of a concern as it's getting hotter for places like fukushima. 35 degrees is what you should expect for wednesday. tokyo will be 30 and do expect slight cooling down by thursday with also rainy conditions expected throughout much of the major cities of japan. and also in some parts of asia as well, more rainfall is expected all due to the extended frontal system. as you saw early on, it stretches all the way in towards the far western side of china leading to heavy rainfall in places. chongqing, hong kong, those areas will be affected including parts of taiwan where

temperatures will be fairly warm there. 33 as wellll. slightly cooler for shanghai at 28 and do expecect cooler weath towards. the united states feeling the consequences and impacts of the tropical cyclone or storm cristobal which is now just a low pressure system but still leading to heavy rainfall in places like the great lakes and much of northern eastern united states. please do take care at all times there. temperatures for chicago 29 and on the opposite side hot weather and humidity in phoenix. 39 is what you will expect for the daytime high. strokes could be a major concern. stay in air conditioned places and stay hiydrated as much as yu can. that's all for the weather. have a great day. ♪ ♪

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and that is all for this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. thanks for joining us. ♪ ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." we come to you from the rooftop of nhk'k's headquarters in shibuya, tokyo. that lush greenery behind me is yo yogi park. we've come out from our studios once again to get a bird's eye view on the coronavirus pandemic and the world that comes after. in today's peak over the

horizon, we have an exclusive interview with economist and thinker. our viewers may know attali as adviser to several french administrations. back in 2009, he had already warned of the need to prepare for an unprecedented pandemic that would threaten the survival of individuals, companies, and nations. in ann interview withh me i in april, he warned againin that unless we decide to oveverhaul r economieies, there is no way we can move. that sounds likike a tall order but atattali's tone was positiv a word he lives by. i have been following your blog and was struck b by the consistt optitimism, c cheers for life, k and live positive.e. >> b being optimist is being

spectacular and think of the probability that your team will win. being positive means that you are a player of the match and you think that you can win the match if you play well. i think thatt mankind, japan, france, companies can win the match if we do the best thing for our own security and do believe we're the best off takig into account what we learn f fr that and thehen changing the economomy. i think that t this is a very gd opportunity to move towards what i call a positive economymy whi meanans an economy which i is focucusing on lonong term and focusising onn what i call the economy o of lilife, life induss which means industries lding to w what you needed for l life whicich is food, health,

educatation, research, innovations, digital and maybe forget some other sectors. i think we'll win against the crisis. i don't know if we'll find drugs or vaccines, but i think we'll win i in some months. it may take two, threree, four, fifive, six,x, months, i don't'. it's's a matter foror doctorsrs sasay. butt i donon't think we will win the l long term. inin the lonong term, we have t totally reinvent our e economy. in time of war, we have an economy of war whehere compapan are forced from producing cars to p producing bombs or airplan. we need too do the same t thi, not to produce bombs or airplanes, but produce more what i just mentioned, medical equipment, housing, health, hygiene, water, good food, et

cetera, et cetera. but it needs a huge conversion of the industry. >> attali is positive, but he does not shy away y from o obli truth. the pandemic has exposed again the inequality of our world, not just in terms of wealth but in terms of health as well. >> i want to mention disparity like in asia and africa. there can be dramatic growth but also pockets of poverty are quite visible. would i be right saying they are the ones who are going through this pandemic with acute pain? >> death is equal for all of us. and we see ao around t the world aa lot of wealthy and supposed o be well-protected people which are targeted by this advantage. but it's clear that the poorest

who have to -- who cannot afford to confine because they have to go out to work simply to find food for their family, these people will be much more infecteded than the others. as always, in h history we have seen bad things for centuturies. the p pandemic affect m more p than the rich. atat the end rich are also reached. >> that suggegests that there's didisparity notot only in terms wealth but in t term of heaealt well. >> always. i mean, if you look at statistics in life expectancy of poor people, it's always been shorter than thehe lifee expxpey of r rich people except when ri people use their wealth to get

diabetes by eating too much. > some weeks after that interview, cities around the woworld have gradually begun to ease coronavirus restrictions as cases of new inn fefections go . but attali's warning that developing countries could suffer the most seems to be coming true. by the middle of may, africa reached more than 100,000 confirmed cases of covid-19. but just when the world needs to come together to address the pandemic, international religions are widening. at the recently w.h.o. meeting, not only was u.s. president donald trump absent, washington threatened to put a hold on funds t to the orgrganization, accusing it of favoringg china and f failing t to do it its jo. the finger pointing and threating are distraracting the world at a c crucial time. experts warn we need to brace for a second and possibly third wave of coronavirus infections.

attali showed a cartoon bunny running off a cliff. he asked if we are not like this bunny that fails to realize there is no ground left under its feet. his point is that few people realize the gravity of the economic falalut b brought by covid-19 and he a asked whehen we going to wake up to the threat posed to our future by another wave of pandemic infections. this is something else attali warned of in our interview. he said humans tend to look away from problblems in the hopee t s will justt go back to normal. instead of averting our eyes, he says we should be looking for opportunities.s. you once said that history teaches us that humanityy evolvs

only when we are afraid. are w we precisely at that poin where we have to rerethink thehy we live in orderr to evovolve? >> yes, absolutelely. i hopee we don't n need fear. i hope w we don't't need cataste to move. and i do not wish such a catastrophe. i would prefer by m magic touch the pandemics of now does anything else. as i it is now, wee have too us help usove i in the good direction of the a altruistic societety, what i call a positi society,y, a and that is someth that we can learn fromhat. but man kind is very l light in itits c capacity too think of a futurere a and forget very ofte are very often able to forgrget anything t that is creating problelems. we don't like souvenirs.

ththen we g get rid of them ande backck to our normal life. i do hope that we will not have that kind of weakness now. >> you talk about empathy and altruism. what is meant by altruism? when people are panic buying supplies? countries closing borders? some meisei you found a selfless stay if i meisesei so. no, no, n no. altruism is thehe best definiti ofof rational selfishshness. bebecause w we need -- inn a gi countrtry, we nd to be sure tt others are not infected in order toto keep me from being infecte. therefore we an interest in being altruistic in the country. japan has a strong interest in

the fact that china is working well to redevelop the economy. japan has a strong interest in seeing the u.s. developing well and getting out of the crisis bebecause of relations between u.s. and japan. and japan has a strtrong intere in seeeeing europe b being well. and morore than anythingng, jap which isis very well connected d invested m more than anymanyny countrieies, in africa, h has a strong interest in developoping the capacitieies because in the long term the rational selfishs interest of japan to see the wealth in order to develop markets. >> so, you're saying that altruism is not sacrificing everything for the interest of others but about the realization that protecting others will be in our own interest too and in the interest of the family, community, and country and t th humanity? > absolutely.

altruism is the most rational self-ish behavior. >> but in spite of the fact that you warned us many years back as well as other intellectuals who gave us the warning, why did w not all realize that the altruism wouould be the key?? >> i hope it would make us realize. i'm a aaid peoplple are going t forget as soon as the crisis is over. >> if thehere weree going to bey silver lining to ththis, what would that be? >> wellll, it could be the decle of deathth rate a aundhe world. it could bee good news off vacce or drug that works. that could be the good things we have. >> and in terms of longer perspective view of the planet that we live, in terms of

reinventnting t life thahat we have. >> i think it woululd bee goodd anany companies,s, governrnment individuals would begin to make decisions according to the interest of the next generation. in a family, you make decisions taking into account the interest of your children if you have some. and we need allll of us to take care of the intnterest of next generatition. if everyonee wasas moving as a parent, ass consumer, as labor, citizens to vote in favor of next generation, that would be good. >> confronting the pandemic is of course a matter of priority. and naturally, we focused on the here and now. but my interview with attali makes us realize that this health crisis i is very much abt our future and that caring foro others means not just caring for those around us today but those

in future generations as well. so that they can carry on where we left off. we have to learn our lessons well now and use them to shape the post-pandemic world. that's it for todays "newsline in

>> his death will not be in vain. his name? >> georgfloyd. >> vowows to end r racial injuse as george floyd's family and friends celebrate his lifife. a funeral procession is on the way to the cemetery in houston, where he will be laid to rest. ♪ >> i am lauren taylor. this is "al jazeera," live from government. burundi's government says president pierre nkurunziza