♪ hello. glad to have you with us on nhk "newsline." i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. we begin in new york where a thursday freefall on wall street due to fears of a possible second wave of the coronavirus has cast a gloomy shadow on the economic forececast. the dow jones industrial a avere enended the session a little ov

25,000 on thursday, down over 1,800 points or 6.9% from the previous day. the drop is the sharpest since march 16th. the tech h heavy nasdaq lost 5%. the s&p500 was down nearly 6%. economic outlook on wednesday, jerome powell warned there would be a long road to recovery. a potential second spike in infection numbers could have a long term impact on the u.s. economy added more fuel. and let's take a quick look at the market here in tokyo which has just opened. the nikkei index is currently trading at 22 now 074, down 1.78% from thursday's finish. the number of coronavirus cases in the united states exceeded 2 million on wednesday with new infections rising in nearly half the states. according to analysis by "the

new york times," daily numbers of confirmed cases are rising in 21 of the country's 50 states including california and florida as governors ease restrictions. the newspaper mentioned increased pcr testing capacity in those states as a possible factor in the rise of new case numbers. the coronavirus death toll in the country has now exceeded 110,000, but the daily number of deaths has been falling recently. experts have voiced concerns that ongoing nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice also may lead to a rise in infections. in tokyo the metropolitan government has lifted itsts coronavirus alert. all busininesses including entertainment spots will be allowed to reopen next week. >> translator: the tokyo alert has b been liftfted, and the metropolitan government has decicided to shift the

restrictions at midnight from the current step 2 to step 3. >> last week, governor issued a tokyo alert after a spike in cases in the capital. it urged residents to remain vigilant in guarding against the virus. but the government said the situation has improved recently and three criteria to relax the alert have all been met. she called step three as the final phase of restarting businesses in the city. from friday, karaoke pubs, pa chien coe parlors, and amusement parks will be allowed to reopen. restaurants and bars can stay open until midnight. and friday of next week, the government is ending virtually all requests to suspend business. hostess bars and live music clubs, where a series of infection clusters were reported, can reopen at that time. across japan, more t than 17,00

people havave tested positivive the coronavirus. nearly one-third of them were in tokyo and over 900 people have died in the country. as part of japan's response to the pandemic, the country has been banning the entry of people from more than 100 countrieses d territories. initially, this also included foreign nationals who lived and work in japan. that appeal has led japan's immigration authorities to make some exceptions. nhk world has more. >> translator: i'm very sorry. >> reporter: this is a south korean businessman who runs a trading company in japan. he and his family have lived near tokyo for 11 years. in late april, his mother die but he had to give up his plan to attend her funeral in south korea. >> translator: i found a way to go back to southth korea, but

japan's justice ministry told me there would be no exceptions and i would not be given approval to reenter. >> reporter: two prevent further spread of the coronavirus, japan had imposed strict entry ban. even foreigners are not allowed to reenter unless the reason is deemed exceptional. lee was told that mother's death did not qualify as an exceptional reason, so he was unable to fly back to south korea. >> translator: my mother loved me unconditionally and gave me everything. i'm devastated that i couldn't be there to say good-bye. >> reporter: japan's entry restrictions are both strict and unclear. germany allows foreign nationals with long term residents to

enter, and australia has laid out clear criteria for e entree applications and grants humanitarian exceptions. the issue was raised in diet. the government then decided to grant exceptions if there are humanitarian considerations as with lee's case. this will apply if relatives have died or in critical condition. lee has now been allowed to return to south korea for the memorial 49 days after his mother's death. there are also work-related reasons for reentering japan. a taiwanese man who does business in both japan and taiwan went back to taipei for shareholders meeting. he would have lost his job if he hadn't been there. he flew out to taiwan before

gaining re-entry approval. now, he's separatated from his wife and young child back in tokyo. >> translator: foreign residents who work and pay taxes in japan and contribute to the economy should not be treated like tourists. it's nonsens. >> reporter: business has also expressed its concerns. it points out that foreign residents and workers will play an important role in rebuilding japan's economy in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. nhk world. and now japanese officials plan to ease the ban on visits by peoplee from many parts of te world, not just foreign residents. they will allow business visits from four countries that have brought the virus mostly under control. japan is giving the green light to business travellers from thailand, vietnam, australia, and new zealand.

starting this summer, it would admit up to 250 per day. visitors will have to test negative for the coronavirus before they fly, and they will also be tested when they land. japan may wave its requirement for two weeks of self-quarantine for those who submit plans of their movements and where they will stay. any easing of travel restrictions will likely be mutual. japanese business people may have to test negative for the coronavirus before other countries let them in. officials may set up test centers for those preparing to fly. still, they say, officials in australia and new zealand have told them it may be too soon to admit people from japan. in other news, america's top military officer has apologized for taking part in president donald trump's photo op at a church after authorities

dispersed peaceful protesters to clear the way to the site. joint chiefs of staff chairman general mark milley issued an apology on thursday in a video commencement speech to the national defense university. >> i should not have been there. my presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. the commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that i learned from. >> the demonstrators were rallying near the white house on june 1st following the killing of george floyd, an african-american man in police custody. but law enforcement officers removed the protesters to make way for trump to move to the church where he posed with a bible for photographers. general milley joined trump on the walk. critics say the authorities violated the protesters' constitutionally guauaranteed rights. milley's remarks may further us

from trait trump as he tries to deal with protests. another senior official who joined trump at the church, defense secretary mark esper did not support the president's suggestion that federal troops be deployed to quell the protests. >> the operatotor of the vid calling platform zoom has suspended the account of a u.s.s.-based human rights group that held an online event to commemorate china's tiananmen square crackdown. western media say more than 250 people attended the event on zoom on may 31st. the media say a video recording of the event was streamed over 4,000 times in china and elsewhere but add that t the group's account was frozezen on sunday. thee media say a stozoom

communication expe acacknowdged, pticipapas within tse countes are requiredo comy with their respective local laws. the rights group was founded by this man who took part in the tiananmen protests. he now lives in the united states. he tweeted on wednesday that the group's account has been reacted, but he also wrote that zoom has not yet communicated with the group and that they want to know why the accouount s suspspended. it's time now for world weather. people in western and eastern japan have been dealing with rainfall. we go to yoko komagata for more on this. yoko, what's the latest? >> hello there. the wet season front has officially started in many parts of japan. we already saw nearly 300 millimeters of rain in parts of

gu ma, 86 millimeters fell in just three hours. more rain is on the way to the country this weekend. the heaviest rainfall will be seen in the kyushu regions through the weekend, total rainfall up to 150 millimeters is expected. the ground is already sacturate in many parts of western japan so another rainfall could trigger flooding and landslides. rain and winds will be in osaka as we go to saturday and showers spread into tokyo on saturday. temperatures may reach 30 degrees in some places so you should watch out for heat stroke as well. the rainy season front has also produced downpours in south and eastern china since the earlier part of the week. firefighters were called to rescue people trapped in floods. in east china, some cities had

over 100 millimeters of rain by wednesday. people were adviseded too f fine shelter as more rain is expected this weekend. the rain band will linger across the basin through the korean peninsula bringing heavy downpours over the next couple of days. at the same time, there is a tropical depression over the philippines. as the storm system moves north over the south china sea, it's likely to intensify into a tropical storm by saturday. it could affect hong kong this weekend. sunny and hot weather will persist but showers increase in the area as we go into sunday. that's all for now. stay safe and have a nice weekend. ♪ ♪

and that's nhk "newsline" for this hour. i'm yamamoto miki in tokyo. we'll be back at the top of the hour. please stay tuned. ♪ ♪ welcome to "newsline in depth." i'm marie yanaka. today we'll show you three stories about breaking stereotypes through performing arts and music. we begin in bangkok. the thai capital is enjoying economic growth but also dealing with a widening wealth gap.

a school in the city's largest slum is tackling the negative image of the district. it's giving the children there some options for the futurure b teaching them music. ♪ >> reporter: it's not a concert you would expect to hear in the slum, and these aren't your typical musicians either. ♪ they are children from the slum, home to the emanuel music school. ♪ ♪ the school offers free for children in the area. it's funded by domestic and international donations. >> translator: i like to come here because i can learn music and play with friends. >> the school has its own very

visible success story. the only full-time teacher was once one of its first students. he went on to study music at college and become a professional musician, performing in thailand's best-known orchestra. four years ago, he decided to come back to the school that shaped him, this time as a teacher. >> translator: i wanted to widen the perspective of the kids in the community. i wanted them the know about the outside world so that they could make better choices. >> he is now preparing to open a second school and looking for new teachers. one of his students is a candidate. the talented violinist now goes to a prestigious music college on a scholarship.

her grandmother is the sole provider in the family. >> translator: i i always encourage her, be strong to obstacles. >> translator: music is the opportunity that i have received, and it is something i want to pass on to the kids. >> they're hopoping to changnge sterereotypes of the slums for outsiders. >> t translator: i i want to sh them the slum is not a place of drugs and gangststers. it can be a a place that produc good musicians. >> as their popularity grows, they are now asked to perform at bigger venues. ♪

sounds from the slum, providing a track for children who can now see and hear a brighter future. nhk world, bangkok. ♪ n now our second story is ao about music. ♪ the sound you're hearing is an example of minyo or traditional japanese folk tunes.. we meet a band that's putting a new twist into the mix. here's their take on it. ♪ >> in 2019, the minyo crusaders embarked on their european tour. minyo crusaders fuse traditional

miminyo sonongs with cuban rhyt to create an exotic new sound. >> we love you. >> we love you. >> come back very soon. >> the band toured eight cities in sixix countries over ten day. >> minyo is old japanese folk songs, long, long, history. >> the crusaders learned music and won the hearts of audiences in europe. the band has ten members. all of them work regular jobs, but they meet once a week to rehearse. freddy is a lead vocalist. he has been a professional minyo

singer for 30 years. minyo was once sung everywhere. popularity declined.ts he says it is now usually performed only for competitions. he is frustrated that minyo had become so removed from the people. >> translator: these days, minyo is just something people learn from teachers to perform in competitions and get rated by judges. i see little fun in it. i felt the need to do something about it. >> minyo is derived from folkloric songs, everyday life. everyone would sing minyo, and the songs have been passed down through generations.

his aspiration to revive the music led to the crusaders. first and has been an inspiring collaborator. minyo sounds are different but their subject matter overlap, everyday life, love. they thought they could be fused to create a new folk style. tanaka noted that the rhythm of shi mow toe bu shi folk song is similar to the lively music from columbia. ♪ >> translator: the melody can easily be matched with the beat. we don't need to change the way

of singing the song. >> by looking to the elemental aspects of minyo, they are creating compelling music people can sing and dance to and enjoy around the world. minyo music was always about providing simple joy. ♪

>> the crusaders say they hope to bring the joy of minyo to audiences. nhk world. >> the mininyo crusaders are to play in new zealand and australia next month. another form of japanese culture, traditional puppet theater. performances have attracted international acclaim. the puppets took the stage at unesco headquarters last autumn. a woman from america who

specializing in theater stayed there for a season to study it while a professor of japanese literature founded a puppet group in the u.s. and even moved to japan. ♪ >> the performance features expensive narration. it's carrying a lot of cultural importance in japan. songs from abroad have even been coming here to study. she gave up her whole life

before she left. >> enjoy the show. >> the puppeteers express certrtain emomotion. in many european shows, a single person controls each movement. but here three people walk together. >> what i've been working on for three months here in japan, so it was a really special experience. >> the performance is expert on japan literature. two years ago, he moved to japan to work. he set up the show to perform in the u.s., the the only one of

its kind there. they've already performed 200 tombs across north america. >> translator: i love it and hope to perform with other people who will study the art in tokushima. >> his first performance in october features the god of mgod fortune. translatotor: it's completely different from the puppet shows i usually watch. i want to see another new performance. >> he said he wants to introduce the jewelry to other parts of the world.

nhk world, fukushima. >> the idea is to combine with halloween was unique. the group is now looking for new members from around the world. as we saw in our three stories today, art can inspire people to revitalize traditions and co

anchor: 100,000 infections in 18 days. the coronavirus accelerates throughout africa. ♪ i'm barbara farrow. you're watching al jazeera. also coming up. >> we cannot and will not stand by as our people are threatened by kangaroo court. withr: the u.s. threatens sanctions over investigation into alleged work crimes in afghanistan. mass graves are found in a libyan city that was the stronghold