♪ thank you for joining us. from our studio in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline." we begin with the japanese economy which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. the bank of japan's latest quartetey surveyy shows t that business confidence among large manufacturers plunged to the lowest level in over a decade. it shows that sentiment at large

manufacturers fell to minus 34. the previous survey was minus 8. the index shows the difference between the percentage of companies saying business is good and those says it's bad. the index declined for the sixth straight quauarter to its lowes since 2009. that's due to a sharp drop in exports and production in april and may when japan was under a state of emergency. business sentiment also worsened among non-manufacturing sectors such as tourism and retail. turning to hong kong. residents are waking up on this anniversary of the handover from britain. it is the first day that china's national security law for hong kong is in effect marking a new historic day for the territory. the committee unanimously approved the law on tuesday. the law defines four criminal

acts that it says endangers national security, secession, subversionon, organizatation an terrorist activities and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements. people convicted could face up to life imimprisonment. many hong kong residents have voiced concern the law undermines the one country, two systemems framework whichch is supposed to guarantee a high degree of autonomy. >> translator: if human rights are taken away, hong kong will be no different from mainland china. i'm very worried. >> the law also allows chinese authorities to set up a security agency inside hong kong. in cases, chinese laws will

apply to investigations, prosecutions and trials. the enactment of the law is drawing strong criticism from the european union and the united states. >> this is undermining the high degree of autonomy of hong kong and having a detrimental effect on the judiciary and we implore this decision. >> european commission president warned of consequences for china in terms of european business confidence in hong kong as well as the mainland's reputation. in national security council at the white house issued a statement tuesday soon after china's top legislative body approved the law. the statement said the u.s. will continue to take strong actions against those who smothered hong kong's freedom and autonomy and urge beijing to reverse course. the u.s. has already announced that it will impose visa

restrictions on chinese officials and also will end controlled exports to hong kong. as we move into the summer holidays, the european union has agreed to lift travel restrictions for 14 countries from july 1st. the eu has banned entry from outside the block in principle since march due to the coronavirus pandemic. but the eu is now considering lifting restrictions in stages for the summer vacation season as economic activity starts. thee 14 countries include japan australia, south korea, and canada. as for china, the eu will allow travellers to enter only if the country accepts visisitors from the eu. the eu sets the criteria for opening its borders. one of them is that the number of cases per every 100,000

people in the last 14 days must be lower than the eu average. because of this, some countries such as the united states and russia are not included this time. the eu will review the list every two weeks after watching trends of infections. it's still not known whether unrestricted travel will take place immediately as immigration control is under the jurisdiction of each member nation. someme countriesay ilate visitorsrom outsi the bck for a certain period. the fight against covid-19 continues worldwide. there are now over 10.3 million univerty in the united states.ns the deatholl has exceed 500,00 as the number continues to surge, scientists across the globe are rushing to develop a vaccine. researchers in japan launched the country's first clinical trial on tuesday. pharmaceutical company anges

sasays trials are being conduct on 30 healthy people at a university hospital in osaka. the vaccine is said to create antibodies that prevent the virus from binding to human cells. subjects will be injected twice to assess its safety a and effectiveness. the company says it plans to expand the clinical trial in the coming months. the number of new cases in japan continue to rise with about 140 cases reported on tuesday. that's the highest figure since the nationwide state of emergency was lifted in late may. tokyo has seen the bulk of new cases, reporting more than 50 infections a day for the past five days. tokyo officials have decided to use a new set of indicators to help them prepare for another possible surge. one of the seven indicators is the number of cases whose infection routes cannot be traced. another is monitoring the number of emergency patient who is have been rejected by multiple

hospitals. officials plan to use the data to determine whether it should ask residents to refrain from non-essential outings. researchers in china say they've found a new flu virus in pigs that have the potential to infect humans and lead to a pandemic. the team announced its findings in the u.s. journal proceedings of the national academy of scientists. the the researchers looked at influenza viruses found in pigs from 2011 to 2018 in 10 areas including the chinese province of hubei. they found the same strain of h1n1 virus at multiple pig farms. the scientists say the virus is similar to the h1n1 plague that caused the pandemic in 2009. they say about 10% of pig farm workers surveyed tested positive for antibodies, indicating they had been infected with the virus. the researchers warn of possible

human to human transmission and stress the need to monitor workers in the swine industry. canada's cirque e du s sole entertainment group i is f fili for bankruptcy protection and cuts thousands of jobs after the pandemic forced it to stop it's shows. the group said on its website on monday it had requested protection from creditors under canada's companies creditors arrangement act as it looked to rebuild. the montreal-based company shows are popular across the world but it suspended per formans from march due to the pandemic. the company did not reveal liability but canadian public broadcaster cdc says the firm has about $900 million of debt. the company says it plans to cut about 3,500 workers as part of the restructuring. it's also considering filing for

bankruptcy protection in a u.s. court. cirque du soleil president and ceo said with zero revenue since the forced closure of all of our shows due to covid-19, management had to act decisively to protect the company's future. retailers across japan are being forced to rethink their approach to business in the post-coronavirus world. as we'll see in our next story, some are applying a repurposed technology to offer their customers improved safety and peace of mind. >> reporter: a home improvement store near tokyo. since may, the building has had monitors and 3d sensors at every entrance. the sensors keep track of people entering and leaving, and the monitors indicate how crowded it is inside. the level of congestion is indicated by the color. when there are more than 500 customers in the store, the display turns red.

the app responds by temporarily restricting the number of people coming in. >> translator: we can see how many p people are inside, so we don't need to worry. potential customers can alsoso e how crowded it is, and they might use that information to dedede not to o enter. so it's a plus for both sides. >> reporter: the original idea behind the technology was to help shops gauge customer movements and purchasing hababi. but with the spread of the coronavirus, the developer realaled the pototential f for system to measure congestion levels too. >> translator: of course customers are important for business, but the benefit of this system is that it reduces stress for the staff. >> this promotional video explains a new kind of restaurant ordering system currently in development. the menu is projected onto a table. customers navigate it by touch.

there's no need for interaction between staff and diners. that reduces the chance for infection. diners can use a qr code to pay at the table so they don't have to hand over cash or a card. because the system doesn't involve printed menus or handheld devices, employees only have to disinfect the table. >> translator: the original purpose for this was to address japan's labor shortage, but we could see that it's also useful for prpreventing clolose contac between people. we're hoping to commercialize and release it soon. >> reporter: with a few tweaks to existing technology, businesses are finding ininnovative ways to keep consumers safe from harm. and n now for world weather let's check in with our

meteorologist tsietsi mow mary. tsietsi, parts of japan are expecting heavy rains last week. what are we expecting? zbler expecting more of the same for the next couple of hours to come. you can see from the last couple of hours that the storm has affected much of central japan where in aichi prefecture they saw all-time record of 159 millimeters of rainfall. and in osaka, breaking records already at about 182 millimeters of rainfall also. as the system moves to the eastern direction, it will bring slight lift towards much of japan. should expect clear conditions there, but there might be stronger winds. rainy conditions are moving slowly towards the tokai region where there could be close to 200 millimeters of rainfall, signifying there are still chances of flash flooding and mud slides in certain places. please take care along those parts. we're expecting the rainfall to come and go in certain periods,

especially here in tokyo. for wednesday, do expect rainy conditions. and a bit of a break by thursday and again towards the end of the week. temperature frs sapporo slightly cooler, wednesday 26 and cooling down to about 23 on thursday. and we're seeing again that frontal system with the seasonal rainfall affecting much of southern china. chongqing has experienced a lot of rainfall where they saw people being rescued on live boats and more rainfall could bring mud slides in certain parts of chi nachlt temperatures good in most parts but hot tetemperatures towards the philippines and taiwan. do expect much rainfall to come your way there. across north america, focus much of the eastern side will be seeing also strong chance of rainfall, especially towards kentucky and missouri areas where there could be between 70

to 80 millimeters of rainfall. flash flood warnings are already in place. take care. in towards the western side, that's where you should expect slightly dryer and hot weather. temperatures fairly hot in places such as california. that's all for the weather e. have a good one. ♪ ♪

thank you for watching this edition of nhk "newsline." we'll be back with more, so please stay with us. ♪ ♪ welcome to "newsline in dedepth." >> businesses and countries that are lifting their coronavirus restrictctions are reopening thr doors to a much-changed world. restaurant owners are finding it particularly hard to get back up and running. many are being forced to innovate to adjust to the new normal or post-covid-19 life.

today, we start by taking a look at restaurants that are focusing on safety. they're aiming to use social distancing to give their customers peace of mind. and this new way of doing things is actually bringing in more people and profits. >> this restaurant has produced lots of changes including thihi new seating map to help people find their own table. it's an effort to reduce contact by staff and customers by 80%. after being greeted through the monitor, you check the map and help to your seat by yourself. waiters no longer hand out menus. instead, customers choose what they want by smartphone after skooni scanning a qr code.

>> the food is left a short distance away under a plastic cover. the only time patrons come face toto face with staff is when th are paying the bill. >> translator: under the current circumstances, we believe that contact-less customer service provides better hospitality. >> reporter: a project called the north sea restaurant is now working to legalize establishments that put measures in place. it's developed in consultation with a doctor to avoid close contact. doctors visit participating

restaurants to offer advice and to see whether key measures are in place. limit the number of customers to allow them to maintain social distancing. avoid face to face seating. keep indoor spaces well ventilated and let customers know about the risk of infection from droplets produced while eating. >> translator: gloves could spread infections. don't wear gloves if you can wash your hands in the kitchen. or if you can use disinfectant. >> after the doctor's inspection, the restaurant gets a seal to display for customers. nearly 20 establishments, mainly in tokyo, have signed up for the project so far. >> translator: i am very

grateful because i was able to get a doctor's opinion which makes me feel less anxious about the situation. i hope this will give our customers peace of mind so they will feel better eating with friends which is important. >> reporter: opening the doors is only the start of the process for restaurants in the city making dining a fun, safe and profitable in the coronavirus era. >> many restaurants around the world have reduced their seating to free up space between customers. it's just one of several measures designed to ensure a less crowded dining experience. take a look at this app. it shows how crowded these restaurants are and sanitation arrangements. more than 200 visitors have already signed up. it wasn't so long ago that it was a pont of pride for restaurants to be as full as possible. now the aim of the game is to show off empty space.

next, let's take a look at some restaurants that are banding together to get through the coronavirus crisis. they've decided the best way forward is to adopt a sharing business model that helps them all through difficult times. and that includes sharing the kitchen. >> reporter: this is one of tokyo's most popular tourist destinations, but the tourists are gone. one restaurantt in thee area is betting on an innovative concept. this chef is making a japanese-style lunchbox. the other is cooking hamburger. both come from different restaurants. they're using the space as a shared kitchen. five eateries currently share the space, giving customers a wider choice of cuisine in a single location.

here is food delivery. the group shares the same service, meaning all the dishes appear on one single menu. >> the advantage of this business model is the absence of up front costs. each restaurant simply contributes a portion of its profits. one eatery even shut down its own space and joined the group save on rent and overhead. the owner of this shared kitchen is this woman, who used to run her own restaurant here. she opened last november hoping to cash in on the tourism boom from the 2020 olympics. but her hopes were dashed by the covid-19 pandemic. visitor numbers plunged in

march. realizing tourists wouldn't return for a long while, she decided the in may to transform her restaurant into a shared kitchen. >> translator: i thought i should shift my focus to providing s services to local customers. by joining forces with other restaurants, we're developing a whole new market. >> the response has been great. saka tries to expand her business as a match maker. saka is here to introduce a chef hoping to start his own business to an owner interested in launching a shared kitchen. >> translator: by sharing our kitchen, we can potential arovi variety of services to the community. and the system really helps restaurants too. >> translator: we can change the system to allow chefs from different restaurants to work as

a team and help each other. i think we can lead the way toward a new business model that's better suited to the life tile of today and tomorrow. >> saka hopes her shared kitchen recipe can make a difference across japan. >> the pandemic has forced the world t to re-evaluate its traditional business practices. given t ts pivotot to a shared bubusiness coconcept, restauran will have to re-examinine the w they brand and differentiate themselves. some fewers watching this program may have enjoyed virtual lunch or tea online. our next report builds on this concept. it involves restaurants that connect with customers online and help themm rere-create the experience of their favorite establishment. we originally brought you this story in may when tokyo residents were being asked to stay home. >> reporter: this popopular old

style entertainment area, the narrow ally ways are lined with restaurants and bars. these days the area is quieter as people self-isolate at home. this local resident wanted to do something about that, so he set up an online service that connects customers with their favorite eateries.. >> translator: i w wanted to beiningt the park or restaurant drinking or chatting to whoever's there, even if it's just online. >> reporter: this small thai restaurant is one place that has started using the new service. its nine-feet counter is popular with the customers who gather there and chat with the cooks among themselves. since the chart of the state of emergency, the restaurant has only offered a take-out service, andd it's seen sales drop by 90. so, t t restataurant signed u u the new servrvice, which cononn it to customers v via online confencing system.

customers first pick a favorite pub or restaurant in the kich joe ji area that they want to access. simply by clicking on a seat, they're connecteded and their faces show up on the screeeen. ththen they can speak with the staff and with the other onlini customers. >> besides chatting, customers can also order food. this restaurant has started offering delivery within a two-kilometer radadius. ththe couririers a are people w out of w work d due to the coronavirus ououtbreak.

>> translar: t thi bringngs it home too me how much i enjoyy chatting withh people. ofof course i i'm lookiking foro the restaururants reopening, bu it's fun to enjoy them from home. >> translator:r: the situations really tough, and doing notothi just makes it worse. i decided to start using this as a way to see some hope for the future. for me, it't's been a lifesaver. and my customers enjoy it too. so, i definitely plan to continue with it. >> in the f first threeee weeks afafter this restauranant signe for the onlnline service, as ma

as 25 customers visited on some days. and about 30% of them ordered food deliveries. >> that report was about an initiative that's drawing people together across the local business district. but some services have started connecting people from around the whole country. this website provides a service that connects customers with bars and restaurants nationwide. customers can order food through the site and have it delivered to their home. then while they are dining, they can visit bars and restaurants online and enjoy meeting other customers with similar tastes. this model is making us rethink our restaurant habits and challenging our notion of what we are really looking for when we dine out. t the survival plan for the restaurant industry goes beyond the immediate situation. the changes we're seeing now could become the basis f for a long-term business model.

thanank you for watching "newsle in depth" and see you again next time. ♪

host: fears all dissent wilbe crushed as china imposes a new security law on hong kong. ♪ this is alal jazeera live from london. also coming up -- >> i would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day. host: the bleak warning from the top u.s. coronavirus experts that the situation is only going to get worse. the ethiopian prime minister calls for, after the shooting of a singer leads to protetests.